We live in a world of sound. This is because everything vibrates. “All life is vibration and the result of vibration is form, dense and subtle…”(A Treaties on White Magic p. 262, by Alice Bailey). Also in another Bailey book: Glamour a World Problem (p. 259-260) is this comment: “sound permeates all forms; the planet itself has its own note or sound; each minute atom also has its sound…”. So everything on this Earth, including all human beings, all animals, all vegetation and all minerals are vibrating at a certain rate and therefore producing a sound; but only a tiny fraction of this can be heard by the human ear. (Human hearing range is basically: low rate at 20 Htz (cycles per second)—like low distant thunder—to higher rate of 20,000 Htz, like some bird chirping or a high pitched whistle or a high tone played on a violin). Therefore, all the sounds we hear during the day and night are within this range of vibration. And this indicates there is much more sound happening in the world that we cannot hear; it’s either too low or too high. And this indicates, to me, that as we human beings evolve to a more refined physical body and to a truly intuitive level of consciousness closer to the vibration rate of the Soul, our sense of hearing will also evolve to a higher rate, such as other refined Beings (like Masters of the Wisdom) who are governing the gradual evolution of this Earth. This is a hope that should help to lift us all up the divine ladder of Life.
Now, what about some of the sounds we all hear during the day, like the sound of speech. When we speak we often project our feelings which are colored by a particular quality. The good or bad intent behind the words is sent forth by the quality of the sound. If our intent is to project our feelings of love and goodwill for another person, then the sound of the words will be pleasing and hopefully accepted. And an opposite intent would project forth feelings of disagreement, or even worse, a sense of hatred; the quality of the sound could even be a scream! (Such a sound could even be posted on a computer screen). Ordinarily, though, we all experience each day with harmonious conversations with friends and family members conveying pleasant and even joyful sounds. And the quality of the sounds we project depend a considerable amount on where we stand, low or high, on the ladder of evolution.
For example, the voice quality of a lecturer or a public speaker will determine how well his/her thoughts are understood by the audience. And it is the same with actors on stage, or over television. The projected sound must always convey the meaning in the person’s mind or in the mind of a character in a play, good or bad or somewhere in between.
Now what about the sound sung out by singers? Singers can, and many do, produce much beauty in the world, and we should all remember that producing and demonstrating beauty in this world is why we are here in the first place. And so if one is born with a great singing voice, and that voice is well trained, then it will bring much joy, happiness and comfort to the listeners, whether the singer sings a lovely ballad, a country tune, a classical piece, or even as an opera singer, the quality of the sound projected by the singer, as a soloist or with an ensemble or a chorus, will vibrate a warm feeling within the bodies of all listeners. This has been the case for thousands of years and a technique that is still evolving.
Music created by performers and musicians can produce much beauty, but it can also produce much irritation and anger. So much depends upon the intent of the composer, or in the case of an opera, it’s on the intent of the storyline in the libretto. Operas can convey a full range of sounds: happy and joyful to sad, somber, or tragic and hateful; many do. And chorus pieces can too, like Requiems, Masses, Cantatas and glorious sounds like Handel’s Messiah. So through the human voice sound can convey a full range of emotional feelings and thoughts.
This is what beauty does; it gives us pleasure to our senses. Saint Augustine believed that beauty is the pure manifestation of the good. It reflects divine qualities and serves as a bridge between the earthly and the transcendent. It is the connection between man and God.
I am reminded of a lovely musical film “The Sound of Music” written by Richard Rodgers and starred by Julie Andrews who beautifully sings the leading song: “The hills are alive with the sound of music / With songs, they have sung for a thousand years” etc. Here I would like to add a Google quote about this film: “nature itself is full of vibrant, joyful sounds, representing a deep symphony and symbolizing freedom and finding happiness in the simple beauty all around us, as famously sung by Maria in The Sound of Music. It suggests that music isn’t just human made but inherent in the environment—the wind, birds, and trees are all part of a grand, uplifting chorus”. This, to me, is a better example of beauty created by a very gifted composer.
It also says that Mother Nature creates music, it’s “inherent in the environment”. If you have ever had the opportunity to walk deep into a forest among the beautiful hills far away from the loud noise of a city and heavy traffic, then just stand quietly for a while and just listen; you will hear nature’s symphony; many subtle sounds; the sound of a light breeze blowing through the leaves, and the quiet sound of chirping birds, frogs, or crickets, and even small animals; all members of natures symphony orchestra.
A human composed symphony will also produce warm and beautiful sounds which can be compared with those of nature. An orchestra is created with many different type of instruments: violins, violas, cellos, basses, oboes, flutes, bassoons, clarinets, trumpets, trombones, tubas, and sometimes a piano, and many types of percussion instruments—drums, tympanis, etc. Each instrument gives a particular sound, and a composer must blend these sounds in a harmonious or dissonant way as the composer writes down the notes on paper. And all the players must learn to blend their instrumental sound with all the others. This blending of sounds is the same with a chorus of singers. No one in an orchestra or a chorus should sound louder than the others in order to create a smooth, harmonious sound. It is a group effort to blend in the creation of sound. I might add here that blending is the same in ballet dancing to a piece of music. Most dancers consider their bodies as instruments which, when dancing, create another style of beauty.
The sounds that God has created on this planet, whether sounds of love and goodwill or anger or hate, are the result of group work. Every kingdom—mineral, vegetation, animal and human—are now contributing a particular type of sound; all are types of instruments that when combined produce a planetary concert. And it is the intent of the Composer (God) to create a planetary sound of beauty. However, we are not quite there yet.
The sounds we in the human kingdom make are far from harmonious—the loud machinery, the loud traffic on the highways, the noise of shooting guns, the endless desire for war, the noise of warplanes, the shooting of missiles and bombs and drones, the misuse of the military forces and the screams of protesters, etc. etc. To me, these are sounds of selfishness. They represent a stage in our evolution. The major focus is “the love of money”, which as the ancient saying implies, “is the root of all evil”. It implies that many of us are still on the lower level of the ladder of evolution where the daily focus is still on the dense physical plane of matter.
But there are many millions of others whose focus is a bit higher. They also produce a sound, a more quiet and harmonious sound, the sound of sharing. This is the beginning of the sound of Love and Goodwill. Love is an energy that is flowing into the world and many people are responding to it in a positive way—like the way of sharing what they have—their money, their food, their housing to those in need—the homeless and many low income people. Many are also sharing their lives to help and uplift members of the animal kingdom, like the life of service of Jane Goodall. This sound of Love is also producing the desire to serve selflessly which is the quiet sound of the human Soul. This sound of sharing and service is in line with the divine intent of God; the divine Plan that HE has for HIS creation on this planet. It is that Life quality that will raise the human kingdom up the evolutionary ladder to the next kingdom—the Kingdom of Souls. This is why we are here on Earth: to produce the loving sound of unity and oneness; and for those who can, link up with your higher Self, your intermediary between you and God, and in a quiet state of meditation, see the inflowing energy of Love and radiate that divine energy into the world by sounding the purifying sound of OM.