Letters on Yoga - III

Chapter III

Subtle Sights, Sounds, Smells and Tastes

Sights and Sounds of Other Planes

The sounds of bells and the seeing of lights and colours are signs of the opening of the inner consciousness which brings with it an opening also to sights and sounds of other planes than the physical. Some of these things, like the sound of bells, crickets etc., seem even to help the opening. The Upanishad speaks of them as brahmavyaktikarāṇi yoge. The lights represent forces—or sometimes a formed light like that you saw may be the Light of a being of the supraphysical planes.

When the inner senses open, or any of them, one sees or hears things belonging to the other planes automatically. What one sees or hears depends on the development of the inner sense. It depends on what you hear whether these are the symbol sounds only which have a connection with the sadhana or simply other-plane sounds of an ordinary character.

It depends on the nature of the sounds. Some have a connection [with sadhana], others are merely sounds of the other planes.

Subtle Sounds

When the mind becomes quiet, there are certain sounds that are heard, which are supposed to be signs of the awakening of the subtle senses and the inner consciousness.

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Sounds in the ear indicate a pressure to open the inner consciousness.

The sound is a very good sign. It comes when the inner consciousness is opening or preparing to open to the Yoga-force and the deeper experiences it brings.

They [subtle sounds] are the signs of a working going on to prepare something—but as that is a general thing, it cannot be said from the sounds themselves what the preparation is.

The sounds or voices you hear are like the sights (persons, objects) you see. As there is an inner sight other than the physical, so there is an inner hearing other than that of the external ear, and it can listen to voices and sounds and words of other worlds, other times and places, or those which come from supraphysical beings. But here you must be careful. If conflicting voices try to tell you what to do or not to do, you should not listen to them or reply. It is only myself and the Mother who can tell you what you should or should not do or guide or advise you.

Such sounds (bells, bees, crickets etc.) are stated in the Upanishad to be signs of realisation approaching. They come very commonly when the inner or subtle consciousness is awake.

The hearing of the bells has always been considered a sign or a premonition of the opening of the inner being to spiritual experience.

It [the sound of the conch] is one of the many symbol sounds one hears in Yoga. The conch shell is the sound of victory.

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Both of these [the sound of OM and of church bells] are usually sounds that indicate the opening or attempt to open to the cosmic consciousness.

The music you heard was the music of the divine call to the soul—like the flute of Krishna.

Subtle Smells and Tastes

It [experiencing subtle smells and tastes] was not an opening of occult knowledge and powers, but simply an opening of the inner consciousness.

Subtle smells of that kind [sweet smells] are a common feature of occult experience. Their exact nature and provenance varies, but they have no gross physical cause.

The smell [coming from a person] is due to something in the person's vital-physical. That something may not be prominent at all times. When it is, the smell is there.

I wrote [in the preceding letter] that the something may be of different kinds in different cases and one cannot give a rule that it is this or it is that. What has the dirtiest smell is sex.

Every man has a different smell; also there is a particular smell that goes with different states of the vital-physical. Animals (like the dogs) recognise a man and his character by the smell. The human sense has lost this acuteness, but it can be recovered by a development in the sense consciousness. That is what probably has happened in your case. There are others in the Asram who have the same experience.

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