A member of the 2012 Scenario discussion group asked what the high-pitched ringing sound is she hears in her ears.

Paramhansa Yogananda says that the high-pitched sound you hear in your ears is the first physical manifestation of Aum, the cosmic motor, the music of the spheres.

Unfortunately I no longer have the quote in which he makes that connection (which was in the SRF Lessons) but I have a near quote:

“The Aum vibration … reverberates throughout the universe (the ‘Word’ or ‘voice of many waters’ of the Bible).” (1)

Here is another near quote from Yogananda:

“The earthly sounds of all atomic motion, including the sounds of the body—the heart, lungs, circulation, cellular activity—come from the cosmic sound of the creative vibratory activity of Aum. The sounds of the nine octaves perceptible to the human ear, as well as all cosmic low or high vibrations that cannot be registered by the human ear, have their origin in Aum.” (2)

Here is someone who read perhaps the same quote I did and refers to it obliquely:

“[The ringing in your ears] probably the background static of consciousness. A yogi (e.g., Yogananda) will tell you it’s the OM vibration, the word of God. A Zen master will probably call it original sound. Concentrating on it is a form of meditation. When [kundalini] becomes active it turns into a roar like a waterfall.” (3)

Apparently, if you meditate on it, and move it through your chakras, it broadens out and has a spiritualizing effect.

I’ve been hearing it since time out of mind. When I do, I just acknowledge it: “Hello, Mother.”

Aum/Amen is another name for Shakti, the Divine Mother, or Holy Spirit. Shakti means “energy,” and is the Father’s first stepped-down transformation, from formlessness to form, transcendence to phenomenality, stillness to motion, and silence to sound.

See also: “What is That Ringing in My Ears?”

Footnotes

(1) Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, 17n.

(2)  http://www.yogananda.com.au/pyr/pyr_aum.html

(3) http://www.kundalini-gateway.org/threads/th_sound.html