Shabdabrahman

(“Brahman-as-sound”) This term
refers to the notion that the Supreme
Reality (Brahman) exists in its most
subtle form, not as matter, but as
sound. This idea is particularly prevalent in tantra, a secret, ritually based
system of religious practice, and helps
to explain the tantric stress on
mantra, or sacred sound, as the essential means through which one gains
access to this reality. In this understanding, the primary mantra (mulamantra) of one’s particular deity
would be the clearest articulation of
shabdabrahman, with other mantras
conceived as derivative forms of
that primary mantra; these latter
mantras were the source for everyday
speech and the mundane sounds of
ordinary experience.