Science neither confirms nor refutes the soul described; it sheds light on the phenomena that the text evokes.

• The shell. The cochlea, an organ of the inner ear, takes its name from the Greek kokhlias (“snail”): the image of the wave in a shell is anatomically literal here.
• The ear also emits sounds. Otoacoustic emissions, discovered by David Kemp in 1978, show that the inner ear itself produces faint sounds. Tinnitus is the perception of sounds without an external source: the brain creates an auditory perception.
• Silence is never total. In an anechoic chamber, John Cage reported hearing two sounds, one high-pitched (his nervous system), the other low-pitched (his blood circulation).
• The back of the skull. The auditory cortex is located in the temporal lobes, on the sides; the primary visual cortex is at the occipital pole, at the back of the skull. Anatomically, the back of the skull is therefore better suited to vision (Tejas) than to hearing.
• Inner light. Phosphenes are glimmers perceived without external light. Living tissues emit ultra-weak "biophotons," but their role remains debated and no link with the contemplative experience has been established.
• Energy and vibration. Physics describes particles as field excitations. In physics, energy is a conserved quantity, not a substance capable of consciousness: "universal energy" is a metaphor here.
• Organization and consciousness. Current theories (global workspace, integrated information) link consciousness to the organization of a system, which is related to "internal organization." None of them locates it at a point on the skull, and there is no consensus.
• Meditation. Imaging studies (e.g. Brewer et al., 2011) suggest that sustained attention alters the activity of the default mode network.
• The tree. Plants exchange electrical and chemical signals; no consciousness has been demonstrated, the debate remains open.
• The “divine feeling.” A sense of presence can be induced (sensory deprivation, temporal lobe stimulation). Science describes correlations; it does not definitively determine the reality of what is felt.

Hinduism

The Vakyapadiya of Bhartrihari (1, 1) makes Brahman a shabda-brahman, and the Mandukya Upanishad sees Om as the all. The Hamsa Upanishad enumerates ten inner sounds; the Hatha-yoga-pradipika (chapter 4) describes listening to the nada, first as the sea, then as the flute. The Self is present in every being, in the tree as in man.

Sikhism

The Shabad (the Word) and the Anahad Shabad, the unstruck sound, are at the heart of meditation (Guru Nanak). Divine light (jot) dwells within every being.

Buddhism

The Shuranga Sutra presents listening (the gateway of Avalokiteshvara) as the most accessible path to enlightenment. The Pure Land is a land of infinite light (Amitabha).

Judaism

The world is created by the Word: “God said, ‘Let there be light’” (Genesis 1:3). Sound and light together open creation.

Christianity

“In the beginning was the Word… and the life was the light of all mankind” (John 1:1-4): the Word and the light in the same prologue. The Hesychasts seek the uncreated light (Gregory Palamas).

Islam and Sufism

Sama, spiritual listening, leads to ecstasy among the Sufis; the Verse of Light (Quran 24:35) compares divine light to a lamp in a niche.

Taoism

Zhuangzi distinguishes between the music of men, earth, and heaven: the highest can be heard without ears.

The soul, between listening and light

There is within us a silent organization, older than our thoughts, which we call the soul. It does not remain distant: it inhabits the body as it inhabits the tree, a discreet presence that chooses neither form nor species.

It presents itself in two guises. Shabda, the soul that listens to itself: a murmur behind the skull, between the ears, like the sound of the sea in a seashell. Téjas, the soul that sees itself: a clarity, light itself.

The path begins with the ear, because it is the most receptive. Be silent, listen attentively, let the vibration refine its point until you can no longer tell if it comes from within or without. Little by little, the individual soul attunes itself to the soul that ceaselessly emanates from the universe.

None of this can be grasped. The divine is not an object offered to the mind; it is an experience, and the mind is merely its threshold. Those who do not dare this contact will long seek conclusions that never come, and the very meaning of this path will remain veiled.

But to whomever steps forward, something responds.

Divine feeling answers.