For thousands of years, scientists have been trying to solve the mysteries of life, which the Yogis of the East have comprehended through meditation. Scientists have been foolishly employing methods that are not useful to discover the inner realm of consciousness. No scientific tool can fathom the depths of our inner selves.

Yogis have worked hard on their bodies, minds, hearts and souls. They have employed various methods of pranayam, mantra and tantra to attain inner harmony, culminating in super-consciousness. Most of the meditators use the sound of Aum, as some Tibetan yogis used their mool mantra Om Mani Padme Hum. The powerful chants of mantras, if done correctly, such as Aum, can create certain vibrations which help restore inner health, enhance the energy and expand consciousness. This has always been a mystery to the scientific minds of the Western world.

Many may have tried to understand this, but such experiments cannot be performed in scientific laboratories. For such an experiment, the human body itself is a laboratory. The science of the inner being is totally opposite to the science of the outer being.

Scientists have perhaps realised this and are now trying to bridge the gulf between the inner and the outer selves. There has to be a connecting device. What physicists call energy and electricity, the mystics call Naad, the sound within. This whole cosmos responds to that sound.

Recently there was news that some scientists have used sound to “talk” to an artificial atom, demonstrating a curious phenomenon in quantum physics that sees sound waves take on the role of light. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have succeeded in making acoustic waves couple to an artificial atom.

This research will certainly bridge the gulf between the inner and the outer selves. The mystics say that the divine resides in the inner and outer selves: Kan Kan Mein Bhagwan there is godliness in each particle of existence. The divine permeates every particle.

Researchers say that an artificial atom is an example of such a quantum electrical circuit. Just like a regular atom, it can be charged with energy which it subsequently emits in the form of a particle.

Osho explains that the sound is the basic element of existence. Just as physicists say that electricity is the basic element, yogis say that sound is the basic element. They agree with each other in a subtle way. Physicists say that sound is nothing but a modification of electricity and yogis say that electricity is nothing but a modification of sound. Then both are true. Sound and electricity are two forms of one phenomenon… For the yogi, electricity is not relevant. He is working in the inner lab of being. There, sound is more relevant, because through sound he can change many phenomena inside and through sound he can change the inner electricity also. Yogis call it prana — the inner bio-energy or bio-electricity. Through sound that can be changed immediately.

That’s why, when listening to classical music, you feel a certain silence surrounding you: your inner body energy is changed. Listen to a madman and you will feel you are also going crazy: because the madman is in a chaos of body electricity and his words and sounds carry that electricity to you. Sit with an enlightened person and suddenly you feel everything within you is falling in a rhythm. Suddenly you feel a different quality of energy arising in you.

Now look at the word atom. It is a very significant word, even more if you divide into two: At Om. Om is intrinsic to all that exists in the universe whether individually or collectively, and its sound waves create the fabric of whole cosmos. The Rig Veda also says, “First the absolute, the brahman, then waak, the sound, the vibrating energy which becomes the universe.” The Bible also says the same thing, but has missed the point in translation. It says: In the beginning there was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word and the God were one.

Osho concludes: Now scientists, physicists particularly, have discovered that existence consists only of vibrations. They call it “vibrations of electricity”. It does not matter what name you give, what jargon you use, but vibration means sound. That is the meaning of Aum. Aum is the unstruck sound; there is no instrument. When you become absolutely silent, suddenly it is there. Zen people have the right expression for it; they call it “the sound of one hand clapping”. If two hands are there, of course, the clapping is easy, but one hand clapping and the sound of one hand clapping seems to be absurd — but they are truly expressing the reality. When you go inside and you are absolutely silent you hear for the first time the inner music.

— The  Article written by Swami Chaitanya Keerti was published in The Asian Age and the Deccan Chronicle during summer 2014….