Vital music and spiritual music
God has created this universe; the universe has come out of God. God will always maintain the world with His inner Music. But His inner Music, His transcendental Music, is unfortunately not the same music that we hear today.God is the Supreme Musician. The music that God originally created is the music of the soul. He played for the soul and the soul wanted to play for Him. This music from the soul wanted to express and fulfil itself through the heart. But here a problem arose. When the soul started to play its music in the heart, the lower vital and doubting mind did not allow the heart to listen. Then gradually the vital became more powerful than the pure heart.
The music of the vital destroys our subtle nerves. Like a hungry tiger, it wants to devour the heart's divine qualities. Here in this world, when we think of music, the vital immediately comes to the fore. The vital of the world has been to the fore for quite a few years. But lower vital music will not always reign supreme on earth. The world also has soul. Eventually, the music of the soul will replace the music of the vital. Today the vital is nourished and the soul is starving. But when there are more aspiring people than unaspiring people on earth, naturally the inner, soul-elevating music will replace the music of the impure, unlit and obscure vital.
Right now the world may not seem to appreciate spiritual music, but if we continue to create, one day people will appreciate music from a spiritual point of view. Inwardly the world wants to make progress. Outwardly the world wants something new. That which is eternal is outwardly new. On the vital plane and in the physical world, the eternal always seems new. But in the inner plane it is not; there is nothing new in the soul's world. If we see a thing twice in the physical world, we may think it is different each time. If we see our own wristwatch in the morning and again in the evening, if we are in a different consciousness each time, we will feel that it is a totally different watch. But in the inner world, it is not like that. We all know outer music; outer music is very often destructive. But inner music is bound to be soul-stirring and soul-elevating. For God-realisation, inner music is of paramount importance. Again, if outer music is devotional music, if it is something that uplifts the musician's consciousness and spreads pure, unalloyed joy, that music also plays a considerable role.
Inner music one can hear and one can create while one is meditating. Thousands and millions of times at the age of thirteen or fourteen, I used to hear the cosmic gods and goddesses playing music. We can hear inner music through aspiration. What is inner music? We have learned from the Vedas that this music is the mother tongue of humanity, the language of the soul. It is through music that the Divine in us gets the opportunity to manifest itself here on earth.
Spiritual aspirants who have musical capacity can eventually show the world at large that inner music can be played outwardly and appreciated by the world. When artistic capacity is joined with spiritual capacity, the musician can break through the walls that other musicians have created. At that time, outer success will not only be worldly success but also divine success. With guidance from a spiritual Master, a musician's spiritual capacity becomes most powerful. Then it is very easy for the musician to help thousands of people at a time, because they appreciate his music and also see what kind of life he leads. He doesn't have to speak or anything. Others will just look at his face and see the difference between the spiritual life and their own unaspiring life. In this world, inwardly and silently everyone can judge us. Even if we remain silent we can really help.
Music can do much for the Supreme. It is a way to reach humanity and bring spirituality to humanity. The shopkeeper gives something to the customer and the customer appreciates it. Then, when the customer begins to have faith in that particular shopkeeper, the shopkeeper says, "You have appreciated my mango, but now I have something else for you; I have a guava also. This will also satisfy you and nourish you." Because the customer has faith in the shopkeeper, he will taste the new fruit and be satisfied. The time has come for musical people to say, "We can give you something else. It is called spirituality. Try it." When a musician leads a spiritual life, it is very easy for him to help thousands of people at a time, because they appreciate his music and the kind of life he leads. Spiritual Masters can only approach humanity if people come to them with real aspiration, whereas musicians have the means to approach humanity with their art. A musician's biography is written wherever he performs; everybody hears what he is playing. But for spiritual people it is not like that. In the case of spiritual people, their whole biography is written inside, and not all will be able to see it.
When I sing, I am a runner, running and running like an expert runner.
When I compose music, I am a driver, driving and driving like an expert driver.
Running is my life-preparation. Driving is my life-examination.
My life-preparation and my life-examination eventually see the face of God the Supreme Musician.
