Question: Is there a different sound for each person or is the divine Sound the same for everyone?

Sri Chinmoy: The divine Sound is the same for everyone. But if one's heart of receptivity has not grown sufficiently then he will hear the Sound only very faintly. And if when he is hearing it his mind starts functioning all of a sudden, then he will hear the divine Sound in a slightly different way. But the Sound is always the same. When an advanced person sees something, he sees it in its totality. But when someone is not advanced he sees only a portion of the reality. If a seeker is really advanced, his interpretation, his embodiment or revelation of the Sound will be different from that of others who have just heard the Sound on a lower level. God-realisation is like a tree; you can come and touch the foot of the tree, you can climb up a little, or you can climb up to the highest branch and stop. And again you can come down with the fruit. If you ask me if everybody will have the same type of God-realisation, then I will answer, "No." Somebody will touch the tree of God-realisation and say, "Oh, it is like this." Somebody will climb up part of the way and say something else. Still another will climb up higher to the Highest and he will describe it in a different way. Then somebody will bring down the fruit and distribute it. Naturally his experience of the realisation-tree will be different. So also, the experience of the divine Sound will be different for each individual, although the reality itself is the same.