Shabda Quotes

“Even assuming that a mantra's shabdic ["sacred sound"] quality is an important component of its effectiveness, that quality can come into play only when the mantra is uttered by one properly instructed in the art of yogic visualization; for mantras have not only sound, but also form and color; the form or the archetypal image or symbol with which it is associated must be evoked at the moment of utterance, since that image is the repository of all the psychic, emotional and spiritual energy drawn from all the adepts who have ever concentrated upon that particular image or symbol since it first came into being. (That the energy generated by a succession of yogins throughout the centuries is present in such symbols is a concept that will not surprise those acquainted with C.G. Jung's teaching about archetypes.) […T]he lamas teach that the mantra appropriate to each of the divine forms contemplated embodies the psychic energy of that 'being'. In other words, the yogically visualized image of the deity or the mantric syllable that symbolizes it is a centre for the powerful through-associations built around it by countless yogins during past centuries and by the adept himself in his meditations; however, it also constitutes a particular embodiment of the energies streaming from the Source and it is to this aspect that the shabdic quality of the appropriate mantra probably pertains. As the sound is no more than a symbol of the mantra's latent power, mispronunciation of the syllables is no grave matter; for it is the adept's intention that unlocks the powers of his mind. Though the mantra may consist of syllables to which no conceptual meaning is attached, pronouncing them nevertheless enables him to conjure up instantly in his mind the psychic qualities he has learnt to associate with them.”
― John Blofeld, Mantras: Sacred Words of Power

“Shabda, Transcendent Word, or logos ( λόγος ) in Greek, is the exclusive means by which transcendent truths are revealed. This is the case because shabda, being of the nature of the spiritual, corresponds in essence with the spiritual nature of transcendent truths. It is only via consciousness
that we can know consciousness. It is only via spirit that we can know Spirit. It is only via atman (our individual soul) that we can know Brahman (God). It is only through shabda that we can know transcendent truths. Shabda represents the essential nature of spiritual realities as they exist in
the form of trans-empirical vibrational frequency (thus Word, logos, etc.). Truth, being an eternal and living reality, can be accessed by human beings who have purified themselves, and who have absorbed their subjective consciousness in the Absolute supreme subjective consciousness (God), to such a degree that qualitative separation between themselves and God has ceased to exist. At this point, the medium (pramana) between knower (pramatr) and object of knowledge (prameya),
which in this case is God, has evaporated. Thus, shabda is the only means of knowing in which we transcend even the use of a medium.

In such a state of oneness with the Divine, the sage now has the ability both to know the transcendent truth, as well as to reveal the transcendent truth of the Divine for all the world to know. Thus, Veda, or perfect scriptural authority comes into being as a result of such direct, non-mediated insight into the nature of the Divine on the part of the sage. Word, as the eternal transcendent reality revealed to sages in deep states of meditative absorption (samadhi), becomes "the Word" as written scripture when these very same sages then write their realizations down.”
― Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya, Sanatana Dharma: The Eternal Natural Way

“Shabda, Transcendent Word, or logos ( λόγος ) in Greek, is the exclusive means by which transcendent truths are revealed. This is the case because shabda, being of the nature of the spiritual, corresponds in essence with the spiritual nature of transcendent truths. It is only via consciousness that we can know consciousness. It is only via spirit that we can know Spirit. It is only via atman (our individual soul) that we can know Brahman (God). It is only through shabda that we can know transcendent truths. Shabda represents the essential nature of spiritual realities as they exist in the form of trans-empirical vibrational frequency (thus Word, logos, etc.). Truth, being an eternal and living reality, can be accessed by human beings who have purified themselves, and who have absorbed their subjective consciousness in the Absolute supreme subjective consciousness (God), to such a degree that qualitative separation between themselves and God has ceased to exist. At this point, the medium (pramana) between knower (pramatr) and object of knowledge (prameya), which in this case is God, has evaporated. Thus, shabda is the only means of knowing in which we transcend even the use of a medium.

In such a state of oneness with the Divine, the sage now has the ability both to know the transcendent truth, as well as to reveal the transcendent truth of the Divine for all the world to know. Thus, Veda, or perfect scriptural authority comes into being as a result of such direct, non-mediated insight into the nature of the Divine on the part of the sage. Word, as the eternal transcendent reality revealed to sages in deep states of meditative absorption (samadhi), becomes "the Word" as written scripture when these very same sages then write their realizations down.”
― Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya, Sanatana Dharma: The Eternal Natural Way