Although I do see music having a connection to my spiritual life I do not see it as part of my SADHANA.
That is very surprising to me. Music can bring you into meditation just as well as sitting with crossed legs. Wasn't the sage Narada a musician? There is a term, maybe sanskrit, for a musician - bhagavathar. It means one who sings the praises of God. Music is a perfectly good path, but the can trip us up there. But the ego can trip people up in anything, including sitting with crossed legs. I believe its formal name is "nada yoga". But it is definitely a form of yoga. Why shouldn't music be a big part of your sadhana? I find that curious.
Robert Monroe gave us some wonderful insights into astral travel and told us much about the future which fits in with Sri Yukteswars picture of the higher yugas. But Robert also took his astral body into a higher time here on earth. So you see there are connections/pieces which fit into a larger puzzle that already have surfaced. It appears that such travels will be common in the future and the human body may just be used as a point of reference in the physical realm. Cars, vehicles, phones and the internet being old relics just as Wagon Trains, chariots and horses are to us. We will develop our mental abilities in the TRETA yuga or silver age to the extent that the physical vehicle will slowly loose it's significance....As our electrical/and astral body/ understanding increases.
I think while this stuff may be futuristic and may involve certain Siddhis, it won't get anyone liberated. That was kind of what I was driving at in my other post. I would like to add a quote from Ramana Maharshi to this effect:
"
There are two kinds of powers and one kind may well be a stumbling block to realization. It is said that by mantra, by some drug possessing occult virtues, by severe austerities or by Samadhi of a certain kind, powers can be acquired. But these powers are not a means to self-knowledge, for even when you acquire them, you may quite well be in ignorance." - Ramana Maharshi
Q: People talk of Vaikuntha, Kailasa, Indraloka, Chandraloka (the Hindu heavens). Do they really exist?
A:
"Certainly. You can rest assured that they all exist. There also a swami like me will be found seated on a couch and disciples will also be seated around him. They will ask something and he will say something in reply. Everything will be more or less like this. What of that? If one sees Chandraloka, one will ask for Indraloka, and after Indraloka, Vaikuntha and after Vaikuntha, Kailasa, and so on, and the mind goes on wandering. Where is shanti? If shanti is required, the only correct method of securing it is by self-inquiry. Through self-enquiry Self-realization is possible." - Ramana Maharshi
