Inner Voice Part 1
I was in my thirties when I first read of the inner voice. In 1974, my older daughter had a second grade teacher with vision who invited to her classroom a poet-in-residence for her young students. Seeing my daughter’s poetry and becoming very interested in writing my own, I soon found an article on how another poet helped children become aware of their inner voice. He used a familiar example of how, when they did their addition, they probably heard the numbers in their minds. I realized that I did. And this is how I minimally began a journey that I have found unusual.
I was in my fifties in spiritual training in India when I read Meher Baba’s explanation of His voice within us, “I am never silent. I speak eternally. The voice that is heard deep within the soul is My voice—the voice of inspiration, of intuition, of guidance. To those who are receptive to this voice, I speak.”*
And in between these two vastly different levels of explanation of inner voice I would have many experiences.
During my writing years of 1977 to 1995, I was aware that words came through me without my methodically thinking about what I was writing. I call this writing guidance—not a separate voice received as a heard message but words coming through my writing hand.
Then in 1991 I had what I consider to be my first experience of true inner voice. The words were a short phrase from the Bible and comforting to me for my situation at that time. Even though I knew there was no one else in the room, I did turn and look. I was in my infancy and didn’t know of true inner voice. I remained rather quiet—thoughtful and wondering. I only knew that I had heard a voice that was not mine. The doctor who tested my hearing was quizzical about my explanation; my hearing was excellent.
“My realization is, “Seeds of our future may appear years before their season to sprout.”
*Meher Baba, The Silent Master, Meher Baba, compiled by Irwin Luck (Myrtle Beach, SC: Meher Baba Archives Publishing, 1987).