INTEGRAL WORLD MAILING LIST http://www.integralworld.net Newsletter Nr. 587 Amsterdam, August 28th, 2015 THE JOURNEY - A Voyage of Light and Sound - DAVID LANE In this article we will focus our study on the surat shabd yoga tradition of India, which, due to its clearly elaborated process and technique, offers a viable method for those interested in understanding and correlating mystical insights. Such a phenomenological analysis will hopefully enable us to nurture the seeds for a transpersonal science, one that meets the necessary requirements of a genuine scientific enterprise. As Ken Wilber (1983a) points out: "1. Instrumental injunction. This is always of the form, 'If you want to know this, do this.' 2. Intuitive apprehension. This is a cognitive grasp, prehension, or immediate experience of the object domain (or aspect of the object domain) addressed by the injunction; that is, the immediate data-apprehension. 3. Communal confirmation. This is a checking of results (apprehensions or data) with others who have adequately completed the injunctive and apprehensive strands." Our examination, based largely upon the writings of the Radhasoami masters (including Shiv Dayal Singh, Sawan Singh, Baba Faqir Chand, et al.) and modern non- dual/monistic thinkers (Ramana Maharshi, Da Free John, and Ken Wilber) will as unfold as follows: A) A brief outline of surat shabd yoga tradition and practice, especially in relation to other spiritual traditions, e.g., kundalini yoga. B) A phenomenological description of how the surat (soul/attention) leaves the physical body during meditation and commences an inner voyage of light and sound through vast regions of existence. C) A summation of how surat shabd yoga can serve as a model methodology for firsthand encounters with spiritual realities, marking a safe and definitive program for future trans-empirical excursions. Read more: http://www.integralworld.net/lane101.html