Hi. I've been hearing inner sounds for just over three years. They began about six months after beginning to practice hatha yoga and pranayama again after having decided not to engage in these practices for a few years.
This began gradually, with various discrete sounds, but I'm now what sounds like many human voices (40 to well over 100) singing. The sound is outside my physical body, because I can reorient myself to the sounds.
Could this be the Anahata Chakra opening?
Thank you.
—Caz, USA
Dear Caz,
While I cannot give you a definitive answer as to exactly what those voices are, I can offer some thoughts for you to consider.
First, are the voices are pleasant or unpleasant? If pleasant, then embrace them, enjoy them. They might be angel voices, a sign that you have entered into a deeper-than-usual state of receptivity. If the voices are not pleasant, then call strongly upon God and offer the experience to Him/Her, with the prayer, “This comes from you, and I offer it back to You. If it’s not good for me, please guide me as to what I should do about it. If it’s good for me, please show me how to relate to it, that I may absorb the blessing.”
As to the anahata chakra, “opening” a chakra means that all its energy is flowing inward and upward toward the brain. It doesn’t mean that the chakra was blocked, as your house’s plumbing might become blocked. Rather, a non-open chakra is simply a chakra that has energy flowing downward and/or outward instead of inward and upward. Our job is to withdraw that downward or outward energy, back into the chakra, and get more and more of the chakra’s energy flowing inward and upward.
Each chakra has its own distinctive sound. The anahata chakra, when you hear it, sounds like a deep gong bell, like a church bell. When heard less clearly, it’s more like a cow bell or even a tinkle bell. Hearing a chakra sound doesn’t necessarily mean that the chakra is open, but it’s nevertheless a good thing, as it indicates a deepening level of inner perception. Absorb your awareness in such a sound, as deeply as you can.
In general, let the sounds be as they will. Don’t get caught up in them, whether pleasant or unpleasant. Simply experience them with God, referring them back to that Inner Presence. Then S/He can guide you in the right way.
Blessings on your practice,
Gyandev
