Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
14th March 2016

The spoken

“Speaker, speaking and spoken are one”

Spoken words are heard and listened to in order to understand the meaning of the spoken words. Sound in music is heard or listened to as well, and so too the sounds that a baby makes are heard or listened to in order to understand the sound.

Foreign spoken words are sound and not words that are understood. This implies that a word of a language that is spoken and understood is just sound that is understood as words. This implies that a word is nothing but sound. But man is certain that he hears and listens to words and not sounds. How is man to understand that he hears and listens only to sound and not words? Man needs to understand that his certainty is a conditioned belief of words rather than the truth.

It is obvious that sound prevails in every moment of daily life. The human mind is limited and perceives sound only within a range. This does not mean that sound is absent above or below the human range of sound perception. Sound is nevertheless present every moment in life in general.The intelligence of life, which is light, is underestimated by the intellect present in the human mind. The intelligence of life manifests only particular sounds within the perceived, human range of sounds to appear as illusory words in the mind. This is obvious because the human ear only receives sound-waves, and only particular sound-waves appear as words and not all sound-waves, for example music and sounds present in daily life.

The sound-waves received by the ear are conducted through the auditory nerve as light signals. The light signals appear mysteriously as illusory words in the mind and the individual believes that the illusory words are not sounds.

Therefore, speaking is just hearing and listening. The sound that is heard or listened to is identified by a thought as a word. A thought, however, is invisible and the invisible cannot be heard or listened to. This implies that the spoken words that are heard and listened to are sounds and not real words.

This implies that the spoken is ONLY the speaking by the speaker, and neither this word nor that word. This means that the speaker, speaking and the spoken is one, meaning light, and that what is spoken is sound and not real words.

Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V.S. Shankar 2016

Editor’s Note:
One of man’s celebrated accomplishments is his or her power of speech with its attendant ability to teaching, persuade or even to indoctrinate. Dr Shankar is revealing here, however, from deep within intellect, that a spoken word is illusory; it does not have a real existence – it only seems to have. What’s more, this seeming is entirely convincing. And only particular sounds appear as illusory words, only those which are within the human range of audible sound. This understanding and appreciation of life is priceless.
Julian Capper, UK.

German Translator’s Note:
Dr. Shankar’s article “The Spoken“ reveals the mystery of mankind. Words are what differentiates man from animals. One should wonder how man as a baby functions naturally and spontaneously and after very few years free will is projected on the child, as a natural function of the parent’s minds. As spoken words are natural sounds such as any other sound in nature too, free will is the biggest illusion words provide in daily life. Thanks to the enlightened for sharing an understanding of this uniquely human phenomenon.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.

Note of the Dutch translator:
When we hear someone laugh, then it is just sound to us. It does have a meaning, but not as a word. Laughing escapes and cannot be stopped, this we can understand. This article explains that speech is also sound and also happens spontaneously. Speaking is an illusory vocal expression of sound in that moment from a certain speaker, just as only sound happens to any animal. Without meaning it can be as beautiful as the song of a nightingale or as terrifying as the roaring of a lion and everything in between. Because of the enlightened who point us the way, we are able to admire speech and are not confused by it.
Paula Smit, The Netherlands

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