Book II / V

Shabd is not the Subject of Reading, Ritual or Reciting

*The Inner Sound Principle is all-conscious and too subtle for the ears, the tongue and the pen. It is an unwritten law and an unspoken language. It is self-existing, self-sustaining and self-supporting and yet is the very life of all that exists both in the animate and inanimate creation. But It can be realised in the deepest depths of the Soul, for the two are of the same essence, the Soul being but a drop of the Ocean of All-Consciousness.

In the Sikh scriptures, It is also called Sacha Shabd or the True Word:

With the True Word, one knows the Truth; with the True Sound, one sings the Glory of the Lord.

Guru Nanak, Parbhati M1

* (This section is adjusted to the Fourth Edition of 1981;
Editor’s Note 2011.)

Meditate on the feet of the Master, and leaving aside all thy cleverness, be absorbed in the True Word.

Guru Arjan, Sri Rag M5

Remember the Lord, oh dear Friend, and ever love the True Word.

Guru Arjan, Basant M5

It can be seen without eyes, It can be heard without ears.

Guru Nanak, Majh War M1

Lao Tze speaks of It:

The Tao that can be expressed is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be defined is not the unchanging Name.

Tao Te Ching 1

Maulana Rumi says:

The Turks, Kurds, Parsis, Goans and Arabs, they have all known It without the aid of lips and ears.

The Upanishadic sages have described It as Pranav or that which can be heard through the pranic vibrations, without the help of tongue, lips and palate, for It is reverberating of Itself in and out of space.

Sant Kabir has called It Videh for It is above the realm of physical existence and can be apprehended by the soul when it is unclogged from bodily raiment.

All sing of the Shabd without realizing that it is Videh or the Bodiless, no tongue can describe It, but soul may contact It within.

Kabir

Hazrat Bahu says in this context:

Everyone repeats the Kalma orally, by word or mouth, a rare soul may repeat It with the tongue of thought; and whoever repeats It within with loving devotion, he cannot describe It in words.

Again,

My Master has taught me a lesson, a lesson that goes on repeating Itself, and is heard in the ears without the aid of stop-cocks.

Maulana Rumi has beautifully described It:

Oh God, lead my soul to that blessed place, wherein the symphonies flow.