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of those who have gone in: a moment comes when the devotee is no more separate from the deity. A moment comes when it is no more a question of 'I' and 'thou', when it is no more a dialogue because there are no longer two persons left. Slowly slowly, as the prayer grows deeper and the ego of-the devotee melts, a moment comes when this declaration comes out of one's own innermost core -- not actually in words but as an existential feeling: 'I am that.' And in that very moment is enlightenment. That feeling precedes the moment of enlightenment.
It is not a question of repeating it. One can go on repeating 'Soham, soham... I am that, I am that' -- that won't help. One has to become so utterly silent that if there is some voice inside, some music inside, it can be heard. This is the music that is heard: soham.
And this word does not belong to any language. Formerly it belonged to Sanskrit, but it doesn't belong to any language really. If you silently listen to the sound of your breathing, you will feel it; this is the sound, this is the music of breathing. If one sits silently and listens to the breathing going in, coming out, this sound will be heard 'soham, soham... ' It is the actual sound of the breath. We don't hear it because we are so much in turmoil.
There are a few labs in the world for some scientific experimentation which are absolutely sound-proof. Once a musician was invited into such a lab which was absolutely sound-proof. He was surprised to hear the sound 'soham'. He looked all around, he enquired 'What is the matter? I don't see any sound coming from anywhere but I hear "soham".' The director of the lab said 'This is the sound of your own breathing. Because all sounds have been cut off, you are able to hear it.'
If everything is absolutely silent, one can even hear the blood pulsating inside one's veins; then again the sound is soham. So this is a pure sound -- it is not a word but a pure sound. And the same sound is heard like a great explosion when one comes closer and closer to reality.
Help people to know 'I am that.'
[A sannyasin couple are present. The woman says: I have this fear... I did T'ai Chi and
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