Hey wonderful that you ask as many do not.

Shabd yoga is basically meditation on the sound or Surat Shabd Yoga “Meditation on the inner light and sound”.

Surat = Attention

Shabd = Audible Sound

Yoga = Union with the Divine

So as your attention which is the outer expression of the soul is connected to the inner light and sound it is pulled back to the Oversoul (Pure Consciousness).

This practice is done through meditation, instructions given by a Param Satguru. As they have transversed the physical, astral, casual, and supracasual planes and gone above into Sachkhand then merged into it that pure consciousness where it is absorbed into Alakh, Agam, and finally Anami.

Most Gurus or Mystics get the astral, few reach the casual, and very very few go above the Mind (Par-Brahm) and know their true identity. Some great souls that have passed away and most know are Guru Nanak, Rumi, & Kabir. Those were some of the truly perfected souls (SachKhand Region).

Well we all have this audible lifestream in us that can be had via meditation or some experience via a near death experience (NDE). One can practice it without a guide/guru but it will be very difficult to cross the inner regions without a Satguru. Even those who have NDE’s are like this ethereal realm (Between physical and astral plane) is so vast and they are guided by friends or a being of light because the domain is so vast and they don’t want to be led astray somewhere in that realm.

Ram Dass (oh bless his soul). I enjoyed many of his talks in the past as well as Be Here Now. May his soul rest in peace and may his inner journey continue to shine bright.

I definitely have much work to do here in the physical and in the inner regions haha (for goodness sakes) I’m on here chatting instead of mediating haha. The good o’ll mystic Sant Darshan Singh said “Positive Mysticism though. For one to life in the world as a normal human being but to do one practices each day. Not to run to the caves or jungle and spend all life meditating but to be an honest member or society but try during our lifetimes to thread the inner planes.

Hope this helps (my fingers are tired now) haha.