“I still believe in the things I can’t see… I believe in the things I can feel: Music, Love, and God.” – Lina Loy

The most prominent sense upon which we rely to experience the world around us is sight. For the most part, it is also through vision that we frame our modern concept of beauty. Even when we account for the subjective nature by which individuals define beauty, we say it “lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

My spiritual teachers taught me that the natural beauty we see in the physical world was created to reflect back to us a glimpse of the radiant source of all beauty – the Divine Unseen. How can we more directly experience this ultimate form of beauty? How can we move beyond the limits of sight and mind to connect with the Unseen in a way that resonates deep within our bodies and touches the innermost sanctums of our heart and soul?

Could it be through our ears – through music – that we have our greatest potential to experience the beauty of the Unseen, and to feel the power and emotion of our own spiritual nature?

The beginning of the universe, according to one theory of modern science, emerged from a Big Bang. I prefer an ancient Indian myth, however, which implies that the world came into being with a little more grace and eloquence.

According to the story, the goddess Voce created the world by singing it into existence. To give gratitude for the magnificent beauty and earthly treasures the goddess bestowed upon them, humans would express their praise back to the heavens through song. Whatever story we choose to ascribe to the beginning of life as we know it, there are direct correlations between that source of that life, our experience of beauty, and the essential nature of music.

Music is one of the most natural ways to connect to our own spiritual nature. She carries the golden key to unlock the gateway to our higher intelligence and an expanded universe. Once unlocked, she helps us embrace the magnificence of the cosmos and recognize the divine beauty within all living beings. Music has the unique ability to transform us independently of our thinking mind, to a place uninhibited by the judgments, doubts, and fears that too often dictate our thoughts and self-limiting beliefs. I know of no other medium that can transport us with such immediacy, on all levels of our existence, to this higher, often blissful state.

I was raised Irish Catholic, but my deeper understanding of spirituality comes from my study of the Vedas. Other sources of spiritual connection for me include quiet time immersed in nature and my personal yoga and meditation practices. The most reliable way I’ve found to awaken my inner voice, lift my spirits, and bring myself back into balance, however, has been through music.

Although society teaches us to identify beauty with what we see, those qualities we aspire to most – love, faith, sense of purpose and spiritual connection – exist in the realm of the Unseen. Music is the great intangible force that helps us to more deeply feel and express the beauty within all of these. Maybe that is why Beethoven referred to music as “the mediator between the spiritual and sensual life.” Music has the power to turn our most mundane and challenging moments into deeply resonating human — even divine — experiences.

People often ask me what kind of music is most spiritual. Is it Vedic mantras, Gregorian chant, or devotional Bhajans? Or could it be the great symphonies of Beethoven, traditional Gospel hymns, indigenous drums, or even rock & roll? I usually respond by saying that any kind of music that helps re-connect us to our essence – to our inner beauty and divine nature, is spiritual. As fellow producer Karsh Kale once said, “For someone, the sound of the bansuri is the sound of Krishna, while for somebody else, the sound of sub bass frequencies is a connection to spirituality.”

A couple years ago, I shared precious time on the banks of the Ganges River with a group of young Tibetan girls who had ventured down from their orphanage high atop the Himalayas. We gathered in a circle under the hot Indian sun, while I attempted to teach them, at their request, some popular songs. We all relished in the moment as I played guitar and they sang along to the refrains of Paul McCartney’s “Let it Be,” Ziggy Marley’s “Love is My Religion,” and Snatam Kaur’s “Ananda.” Was the experience of singing these modern-day mantras any less spiritual for them than learning the Tibetan chants taught at the orphanage? From the smiles on their faces and light radiating from their eyes as they sang their hearts out, I don’t believe so.

On that same trip to Rishikesh, a group of us had been eagerly awaiting Swami Vishwananda’s insights on the great spiritual teachings of Bhakti Yoga. Finally, late one night, he told us to follow him back to that spot by the side of the Ganges. His followers took out their instruments and began to play, chant, and dance in the moonlight, inviting us to follow suit as they celebrated their way into an ecstatic state. After an hour or so, as Vishwananda and his musicians packed up, Swami turned to us and said, “Now you know the true meaning of Bhakti.”

The spiritual nature of music transcends the frameworks of religion, culture or genre. Music is, at its essence, the sound of spirit. Although not all music is spiritual or created from a place of higher intention, I agree with the great late Fela Kuti and Ravi Shankar: It is the responsibility of the creators of music to recognize their influence and to express themselves with truth, consciousness, and integrity. When they do so, the effect on us – our thoughts, our emotions, and even our physical well-being, can be quite profound.

I feel blessed to have learned how to access the beauty and profundity of music. Nearly all known religions of the world include music in their expressions and rituals. I highly recommend bringing music into whatever spiritual practice or religious rituals that you follow. For years I would separate my morning meditation routine from my daily music practice, often running out of time for one or the other. One day I brought my guitar and my original melodies to my morning meditation ritual and discovered both practices, and my own sense of connection, were greatly enhanced by the union.

Just as music helped rescue me from some of the lowest points of my life, it has been the blissful soundtrack for many of my most loving memories. Through my practice, I have learned how to move beyond the beauty I can only see through my eyes. If words are the limited language of my mind, music has become the limitless calling of my soul. The more music continues to open my heart and light the path of my inner journey, the more beauty I can recognize in the world around me, the higher I am inspired to reach, and the deeper I long to delve into those mystical realms of the Great Unseen that await me.