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 You have probably heard of the idea of the Music of the Spheres.  The idea has been around for thousands of years.  In Western culture, it is perhaps mainly associated with the great mathematician, musician and mystic, Pythagoras, who was said to have been able to hear the Music of the Spheres.  This celestial music is commonly thought to be the ‘music’ of the movements of the planets of our solar system.  Recently, an enterprising musician and mathematician calculated the movements of the planets, assigning different notes to each and produced a piece of music that was supposed to be the Music of the Spheres.  The idea of the Music of the Spheres goes much further and much deeper than this, though.  Let’s explore the broader picture...

All is Vibration
 Physics defines everything in existence as either matter or energy, matter being the tangible part that we can see, hear, touch, smell and taste, energy being the intangible part that ‘moves’ matter.  The Eastern parallels to energy and matter are, respectively, Spirit and the material world, Spirit being the hidden ‘mover’ behind the material illusion of the world.  The distinction we make between energy and matter (or Spirit and the material world) is useful in describing our perception of reality, but it is a distinction that is gradually dissolving into a more unified picture.
 It was Einstein who put it so clearly and eloquently in his famous equation, e=mc2.  Simply put, he said that matter can be changed into energy and energy can be changed into matter, so, in essence, they are the same thing in a different form.  From Einstein to the present day, physicists talk in terms of ‘waves’ and ‘particles’, waves being the energy component of every manifestation and particles being the matter component.  The two are seen to be inseparable parts of the same thing.  Particles (the matter component) are seen to be the result of the interaction of different wave fronts... if there are no waves then there can be no particles.
 Physics has tried to build larger and larger microscopes in order to finally see the smallest particle of matter... to see the building blocks of the universe.  What they are finding is that each time they think they have found the smallest particle - first molecules, then atoms, then electrons and nuclei, then protons and neutrons, then quarks, etc. - the next advance in particle detection shows that it, too, is divisible.  The current thinking is that there are no particles at all... just waves interacting with each other that we perceive as particles.  One of the latest theories is “string theory”, which proposes that all matter is made up of vibrating ‘strings’ of energy.
 In any case, what Einstein began to say decades ago and has become apparent to modern physics is that all matter is nothing more or less than vibrating fields of electro-magnetic energy, vibrating at innumerable different frequencies.  If we take the entire spectrum of electromagnetic energy, including the visible light spectrum, and broadly call it, as physicists do, “light”, then all Creation is nothing more or less than light in various stages of duality or polarisation.  These different stages of polarisation are, as we have said, an infinite number of different frequencies of vibration.  Everything in existence is vibrating.  Everything in existence has its specific vibratory frequency.
 So, in the ordinary way, what is music?  It is different vibrations of sound - waves travelling through the air, perceivable by our ears - organised in such a way as to convey meaning of some sort.  Music is vibrations.  If we expand our definition, we could say that all vibrations organised in a meaningful way, whether perceivable to the physical ear or not, are music.  If all of Creation consists of vibration, then everything must be music, too, by this definition.
 If this is so, then atoms make a kind of music, each having their own frequency or note.  When they interact with each other, they produce secondary vibrations or harmonies.  When grouped together to make molecules, they have a larger tone or note, specific to that molecule.  When many molecules are grouped together in a meaningful way, they form a yet larger note with its own specific frequency.  There are notes within notes and melodies within melodies in the atomic dance of matter.  If we could hear this, what would it sound like?

You are Music
 Each of us, too, is made up of energy and matter.  Thus we are, according to our previous definitions, vibrations of light.  At every level, from the quantum to the atomic to the molecular to the visible, there are hierarchies of vibrations... melodies and harmonies.  As a whole, each of us also has our own overall frequency, which is the sum total of all the sub-frequencies.  Each of us has a specific note.  Each of us is a symphony of meaningful vibrations that resolves into a single note.
 As we interact with the outside world and with other people, we make harmonies and counter-melodies as a result of these interactions.  What would these harmonies and counter-melodies sound like if we could hear them?  What would the music sound like when we are angry?  What would it sound like when we are in love?  When we are asleep?  When we fight?  When we talk to others?
 As we weave and wander through our lives, we are weaving melodies in the cosmic symphony.  Within that symphony, each one of us has a unique Song.  That Song is given to us by the greater Music of the Cosmos around us.  We Sing our Song whether we are aware of it or not, whether we wish to or not.  We cannot help Singing our Song.  We do have the possibility, though, of becoming more and more conscious of that Song and of Singing it more and more consciously as a Song of Love and Gratitude for Life.

The Cosmic Song of Creation
 So what is the greater Music of the Cosmos?  If we expand our picture yet again, we will find that each planet in the solar system and the Sun itself, all have specific vibrations... specific frequencies... specific notes.  Science now knows this.  For example, a recent “Scientific American” article (March ’97, “SOHO reveals the Secrets of the Sun” ) describes the nature of massive sound waves that criss-cross and interpenetrate the Sun.  This is in addition to the vibrations of the electromagnetic fields of the Sun and planets.  Each planet has its own note, which is a combination of all the sub-frequencies or notes within it... for example, the sub-frequencies of each living creature on it and each material manifestation.  Each planet, according to its specific movement, orbit, speed, angle of orbit and shape of orbit, traces out its own specific melody.  The planets and the Sun, all being in motion, each with its own melody, interact with each other in a vibratory sense, creating harmonies and countermelodies... the Music of the Spheres in the traditional sense.
 The symphony of the planets and Sun is the Music that gives each of us our unique Song.  The Song of the planets and the Sun at our birth is imprinted within us.  This is what astrology seeks to convey.  Our Song is a microscopic and holographic rendering of the greater Song of the solar system.  If we could hear the Song that is within our Hearts, we would be hearing the Music of the Spheres.
 Taking this picture to even greater expanses, each star has its own specific frequency or note.  Each star is spinning on its own axis as well as revolving in a orbit around the centre of the galaxy.  This movement is each star’s specific melody.  Each star interacts with all other stars in the galaxy forming harmonies and countermelodies on an increasingly vast scale of both space and time, forming the galactic symphony.
 All of this and more, on even smaller and on even vaster scales, is the totality of the Music of the Spheres... the Cosmic Symphony.

Ascending Melodies
 In music, it is no accident that we generally start with a ‘tonic’ or base note... a kind of harmonic unity.  We then move into diversity of melody and harmony, going through various transpositions, transformations and musical journeys.  Eventually we find our way back to the ‘tonic’, a sense of completion being apparent.  The main theme, when returned to at the end of the piece of music, not only feels like ‘home’, but we know it better and more deeply than the first time the theme appeared.  This is an exact metaphor for our lives and for our series of lifetimes.  We come from Oneness - the ‘tonic’ - and we journey through the melodies and harmonies of Creation - our lifetimes - going through various transformations and transpositions until we eventually find our way back Home.  We eventually return to the ‘tonic’... we return Home to greater Oneness and know ourselves better and more deeply than we did before.  It is a journey of the awakening of consciousness... our Song gradually becomes more conscious, more intentional, more grateful and more filled with Love.
 This process of returning to the ‘tonic’ - to Oneness - is a series of ascending melodies, ascending back to the Source.  These ascending melodies are also the paths of Healing.  We are bringing together the fragmented parts of ourselves - forgotten notes, wounded melodies, isolated chords and dissonant countermelodies - into greater harmony and greater Oneness.  We are learning to Dance to a different beat... to the greater beat of the Cosmic Dance of Creation which lies beyond our limited view of ourselves and our lives.

Hearing the Music
 Our lives are a process of awakening to the Music.  The Music is always there... we just fail to hear it.  Ultimately, we are the Music.  It is within our Hearts to hear, if we have the ‘ears’ to hear it.  How can we do this?
 If we consider the vibrations of atoms, we will see that they are extremely fast... too fast for us to hear with physical ears.  Likewise, the vibrations of the planets - their orbits, etc. - are too slow for us to hear physically.  The range of our physical ears, apart from depending upon air as a medium, covers a very limited band of frequencies in between.  So it is a question of time-scales.  Too fast or too slow and we cannot hear.
 So what can we do?  How are we to ‘hear’ beyond the narrow range of our physical ears?  How are we to expand our horizons to be able to hear the Music of the Spheres on a broader scale?  How can we expand our awareness of space and time to include more and more in our consciousness?
 If we were able to slow down time to such a point, we could perhaps hear the Music of atoms and molecules.  Conversely, if we were able to speed up time, we could perhaps hear the Music of the planets and the stars.  We would need a special kind of Time Machine.  Believe it or not, we have just such a Time Machine... it is called our Heart.  As we Heal the past and come into a state of Unconditional Love, time as we know it ceases to exist.  In Unconditional Love, all that was far becomes near, all that was past becomes Now, all that is in the Future becomes Present.  Unconditional Love allows us to approach the speed of light in our consciousness.  Einstein said that for a particle travelling at the speed of light, all time stops and the particle occupies every point in the Universe simultaneously.  The particle experiences the eternal Now.  In this state of consciousness, we can hear the Music of the Spheres... this is the state referred to by mystics of all cultures and all ages alternately as ‘nirvana’, ‘samadhi’, ‘enlightenment’, ‘satori’, ‘rapture’, ‘ecstasy’, etc.
 You may be thinking that this state is unattainable by us in our present stage of evolution.  This is not so... we all have moments of these states that come and go in fleeting seconds, sometimes leaving a trace in our conscious memory, sometimes not.  So what practical steps could we take in order to come relatively into this state, if only for a moment at a time according to our level of conscious evolution?
 In my experience, one of the most effective ways is the Healing of the past.  What does this mean?  Healing the past is a gradual process of learning to Love Unconditionally every event, thing, person and aspect of your life.  That is why you are here.  It is a simultaneous process of becoming Grateful for these same things, of seeing how each has Served you, helped you, benefited you and guided you in your life.  It is a gradual process of seeing the perfection of your life and of the lives of those around you, of knowing in your Heart that all is as it was meant to be, that all things Serve your evolution, growth and Healing... that all things are ultimately acts of Love from the guiding hand of the Universe.
 This is a process that never truly ends... we can only logarithmically approach our goal of Oneness.  On this journey, though, as we learn to Love Unconditionally more and more, as we become more and more Grateful for our lives, our consciousness expands and the Music of the Spheres slowly becomes apparent to us.  First, it is a small and almost imperceptible stirring in the Heart.  Gradually, it becomes stronger and louder.  For each thing that we learn to Love, we will gradually begin to hear its melody within our breast.  We will look at people and, in Love, will be able to ‘hear’ their Song.  We will look out at the world and, in Love, hear the melodies and harmonies around us.
 The more we Love, the more we will experience a kind of Inner Silence... an Inner Peace.  This Inner Silence - this Stillness within - is the cauldron of unborn potential.  It is the eternal Now, the pregnant Moment, the formless Void, waiting for the breath of Love to Sing out its Song of Creation.  It is the face of God within your Heart.  When faced with this mirror, how could you do otherwise but Sing your Song?  You are the Song.  You are the Singer.  You are the Singing... the Singing of Love, the Music of the Spheres.  It is you.