The Vedas & Hermeticism: As Within, So Without — Sound, Self, and the Cosmic Mirror

Embark on a profound journey into the heart of ancient wisdom. In this episode of A Spiritual World, your host Toriea uncovers the deep and stunning parallels between the Vedas and Upanishads, Hermetic Philosophy, & the Mantis Frequency. We delve into the core teachings of non-duality and self-realization, exploring the declaration that "Atman is Brahman"—the Self within is one with the Cosmic All.

Discover how the Hermetic Principle of Correspondence, "As Above, So Below; As Within, So Without," serves as a perfect mirror to Vedic truths. We'll map the four states of consciousness from the Mandukya Upanishad—waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and Turiya—alongside the archetypal symbols of Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom.

This episode also provides a practical guide to the Vedic science of Nada Brahman (Divine Sound), explaining the power of mantra (like the primordial OM) and mudra (sacred gesture) as technologies for aligning your inner vibration with the cosmos. Finally, we introduce the concept of the Mantis Frequency—a conscious, cosmic intelligence that weaves these systems together into a beautiful trinity of wisdom, acting as a guide for our spiritual awakening.

Tune in for a transformative exploration that connects ancient esoteric teachings to your own path of healing and expansion.

Transcript

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Welcome to a Spiritual World Podcast, a space where we explore the vastness within and around us, a place to remember that you are a spiritual world within a spiritual world, the mind within the mind of the all. Here we journey beyond programming, pass the pain and into the true essence of our sovereignty. My name is Toriea and my soul mission is for you to find the guru within and remember yourself as the creatrix of your world, embodying the power within you to build a life you love. As always, you are encouraged to go back to episode one for the full disclaimers on the terminology of mystic psychology. I am not a medical professional and nothing shared in this podcast is intended to replace professional medical or mental health care. The term mystic psychology is not used in a clinical or medical context and has no connection to the medical field or industry. It is a spiritual and energetic framework rooted in the ancient wisdom and sciences of hermeticism. It is intended to support self exploration and inner awakening. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnoses or treatment, please consult a licensed medical or mental health professional. Everything shared here is based on my own personal lived experiences and energetic perspectives. Support in the spirit of empowerment and remembrance. Please take what you need and leave the rest. I am honored to walk beside you as a channel, a guide and a fellow traveler as we continue on this path together. Welcome in and welcome back to a spiritual world podcast where we gather the ancient threads of wisdom and weave them into the fabric of our own healing and awakening. I am your host, Toriea. I am sipping on a saffron latte today. Discovered those about a month ago and they are just the height of my day, almost every day. If you haven't had one yet, definitely figure out how to make one, they are phenomenal. However, today we are stepping into one of the oldest spiritual traditions on earth that we know of. The Vedas and the Upanishads of India. These are not just old texts. They are living transmissions that point us back to the truth that everything we are seeking is already within us. And what's so powerful is how closely they align with the hermetic teachings, especially the principle of correspondence. As above, so below, and as within, so without. Today, we'll see how this hermetic axiom is the very heartbeat of the Upanishads, revealing that the map to the cosmos is etched into the very fabric of our own consciousness. And before we do a real deep dive, let's ground in to exactly what it is we're even talking about. The Vedas are some of the oldest spiritual writings in the world, composed in ancient India over 3000 years ago, long before modern religions. The word "veda" means knowledge or wisdom seeing, a direct perception of reality. They contain hymns, rituals, and cosmological teachings that were originally passed down orally, not as written dogma, but as a vibrational science to be heard and internalized. The Upanishads came later on as the Vedanta, the end of the Vedas, or the culmination of knowledge. They take the wisdom deeper away from external ritual and toward profound self-inquiry. Instead of just asking, "What should we do?" the Upanishads ask, "Who are we?" Really? They are the philosophical core, the "why behind the what." Now, are the Vedas Hindu or Buddhist, right? Like some people might have that question, I did. Hinduism grew directly out of the soil of the Vedic tradition. So the Vedas are a foundational scripture of Hindu philosophy. And Buddhism came later on. And the Buddha was, in many ways, responding to and refining the Vedic world of his time. So the Vedas aren't exactly Hindu or Buddhist. They are the ancient primordial root from which both of these massive spiritual trees eventually grew. And here's the key, the Upanishads are not dogma. They are not asking you to believe. They are an invitation, a provocation, to experience truth directly for yourself in yourself. That's why they line up so naturally with hermetic principles. Both traditions are about remembering what you already are through direct experience and inner knowing. One of the central revolutionary teachings of the Upanishads is "I am Atma Brahma," which means this self is Brahman. Or as we often say, "Atman is Brahman." Atman is the true self, not your ego, not your personality, not even your individual soul. It is the timeless, formless awareness that is the essence of you. And Brahman is the infinite, unchanging reality. The cosmos itself, the ground of all being, the divine substance from which all things emanate and to which all things return. And the sages declared with thunderous clarity that "Autman and Brahman are not separate." The self within you is the self of the universe. The drop is not merely in the ocean. The drop is the ocean. This is the grand, non-dual realization. Hermeticism says the same thing in its foundational principle, as within, so without. Your inner world of thought, consciousness and spirit is a perfect microcosm of the outer macrocosm universe. When you know the self, you know the cosmos. This isn't just intellectual philosophy. It's the very key to liberation. If you are one with the all, then what is there to fear? What is truly lacking? This knowing shatters the illusion of separation at its core. So, we've established the ultimate truth. Atman is Brahman. The self in the universe are one, right? It's the whole title of this podcast, "A Spiritual World." Your spiritual world, inside spiritual world, we're all a spiritual world. But how does the one become the many? How does the silent, unchanging Brahman give rise to this dazzling, dynamic universe of form and experience? This is where we encounter a principle that will be very familiar to the students of Hermeticism and if you've been listening to any of the other episodes. The principle of gender. The chibalian states that gender is in everything. Everything has its masculine and feminine principles. And the Vedas and their philosophical offspring describe this exact same cosmic dance through the primordial pair of Perusha and Prokreeti. Now, let's be clear. This is not just about human biology. It's about everything that makes up our biology as well as the fundamental principles of everything in existence. Right? The all. Literally, the all of us, the all of you, the all of me, the all of the world, the all of the universe, the all of the cosmos, the all of everything. And Perusha is the masculine principle. It is pure silent consciousness. It's the witness, the unchanging, formless awareness. It is the within, the subjective self that looks out and knows. Perusha is the movie screen, vast and empty upon which the film of existence plays. And Prokreeti is the feminine principle. It is primal, dynamic energy. It is the creative force. The manifestor of all things. It is the without, the objective world of form, sensation and matter. Prokreeti is the entire film, the light, the color, the sound, the story, playing upon the screen. The entire manifest universe is the result of their sacred union. Perusha provides the consciousness, the awareness of existence, and Prokreeti provides the content, the experience of existence. They are two aspects of the same one reality. And this brings me to a vision that was given to me in remembrance. I don't, you know, sometimes it's like, oh, given to me, it's a remembrance, it's remembering of course, right? But like understanding, bridging the understanding that these visions that we receive and these downloads and stuff like that are really remembrances and like not new knowledge can be a totally different body. So sometimes it feels weird wording in a certain way while I'm still getting used to how it feels, right? I'm going to go down a rabbit hole with that, but I'm just going to leave it at that and let you know that ahead of vision, it was a while back and it really, really resonates with exactly what we're talking about. So I'm just going to describe it very briefly to you. Because to me, it was a living, breathing memory, like when I was in it. But then of course, after the math and like when I'm in this 3D world, it's kind of like, well, I had a vision, you know, sometimes I, that's interesting. I guess sometimes I look at the visions as outside of myself in a sense or, you know, like they're being given to me instead of they're actually a part of me. And so that's language that I need to work on. So anyways, I had this vision where I was taken to a point before the beginning. It was just a space of profound, peaceful, and complete and utter darkness. It wasn't an empty darkness though. Like I could feel the presence. It was a potentiality, a fullness in its own. And this was the embrace of perucia. This was the masculine energy and I knew that when I was in it. It was pure consciousness at rest. And then what happened was just phenomenal. Just being in that is phenomenal alone. But within that darkness, there was all of a sudden this white light spark, kind of like what you would see on the end of like a sparkler, right? And a single, beautiful, just receptive spark of light that just shined really, really bright. And it wasn't a flash that blinded. It was this gentle emergence, the first whisper of procreatee, the feminine creative force awakening. And the most beautiful part of this vision was the perspective. I wasn't just watching it. I was the darkness witnessing the spark. I was the perucia, the silent witness, beholding the first stirring of its own creative power with a sense of awe and deep, deep love. I remember it was showing me when the masculine fell in love with the feminine. And in the very same timeless moment, I was also the spark. I was the procreatee, feeling the joy of being seen, of being known, of being the first expression of light from the void. They knew they were one. There was no separation. Only the divine play a relationship with any single being. The memory isn't of separation, but of the first sacred relationship. The first dance where the one looked within itself and said, "I am." And in that declaration, the entire cosmos was born. This is the essence of the principle of gender. It's not a division. It's a creative polarity. In the tantric traditions that grew from these Vedic roots that this episode is paralleling, they say, "Without shockedy, Shiva is a corpse." And without the feminine, active power of procreatee, the masculine consciousness of perucia is inert potential. And without the masculine consciousness, the feminine power has no direction, no witness. They are utterly interdependent. So when her metasism says, "Gender is in everything," the Vedic sage is nod in agreement. It is the fundamental dance that allows the one. The atman that is brahman to experience the infinite beauty of its very own existence. So now we're going to get practical. How do we actually navigate this truth? How do we navigate this truth that the self and the cosmos are one? Well, the very beautiful mandukya Upanishad gives us a map. It uses the sacred syllable "om" to outline four states of consciousness. And when we lay this map beside the symbols of the Egyptian god "thoth" and the face of hermys, it's pretty much like they're describing the same exact territory in two different languages. So we're going to walk through this today on this podcast. And first, we have the waking state. And if you don't know exactly what I'm talking about, feel free to google the symbolism of the mandukya Upanishad. It is a very, very well-versed symbol. And if you don't know what it's called, you'll probably recognize it visually. M-A-N-D-U-K-Y-A-U-P-A-N-I-S-H-A-D. And it's just a beautiful symbol. And so the first level of that symbol is the waking state. This is our everyday reality where we engage with the world through our five senses. It's the realm of objects, of names and forms. It's the state that we give things meaning to and how... Yeah, it's the state that we give things meaning to. And in this state, thought appears to us as the scribe, meticulously recording the laws of reality. And as one of my personal favorites, the Ivis, the graceful messenger who walks between the waters of the unconscious and the solid ground of our conscious mind. He shows us that our waking life isn't an illusion to escape. Instead, it's a sacred field where wisdom is both recorded through our experiences and transmitted through our interactions. Right, and this is why there's such a little tie-in. We'll do the mythological episode on another day. But this is why there's such a nice little tie-in between Hermes' trice majesty and Hermes the mythological god. So... And then as we close our eyes, we go into the next level, right? The dreaming state. This is our inward facing consciousness, a private, symbolic world entirely generated by the mind. Here, the laws of the waking world completely dissolve. And in this inner realm, we encounter thought, presiding over the scales of judgment. Just as he would weigh a heart against the feather of truth in our dreams, our own psyche is weighing its contents. Our fears against our courage, our shadows against our light, it's the inner courtroom where our deepest truths are revealed. As well as for anybody and everybody, because anybody and everybody, at all, we're covering from emotional distress, trauma, anything. That is where we do our deepest work. That is where we do the work that we cannot emotionally handle in the waking world. So, deeper still we travel and we enter into the deep sleep state. This is a state of dreamless profound space. There's no world, there's no self, there's no other. It's just undifferentiated unified potential. It's a return to the source. Here, thought takes on his primal instinctual form, the baboon, who guards the threshold of dawn. The space between the darkness of the unmanifest and the light of day. And in the hermetic text, the point man drace, this state is symbolized by the great swirling dragon of primal chaos. This dragon isn't evil. It's the creative womb, the fertile silence where all of creation waits, unformed, full of infinite possibility. Deep sleep is that dragon's body. And finally, there is terria, the fourth. This is an estate that you cycle in and out of. It's the foundational awareness itself. The silent, unchanging witness behind the waking, behind the dreaming and behind the sleeping. This is the opman, the true self. And here, thought reveals his ultimate forms. We see the emerald mind, that crystalline, all reflecting truth of the emerald tablet, whereas above, so below. It's not just a phrase, it's a lived reality. And we see the caduceus, the staff where the two serpents of our polarity, all our dualities, they rise and they are integrated, finally crowned with the wings of transcendence. This is consciousness. Totally awake to its own unified nature. So you see, these traditions aren't just similar. They are complementary visions of the same journey inward. And they show us that we are the living bridge that moves through all of these states. So even the physical symbolism throughout all of these various teachings have parallels to the physical symbolism and the other teachings. So happy to break those down. This was a new little piece of excitement in this little season and the series. However, we're going to get even more practical, right? We're going to get into the practical technology that the Vedic sages gave to us to actually navigate this inner cosmos. We've talked about the parallels and how can we, right? We really want to dig deeper into how can we navigate this inner cosmos and really embody the atman, embody the Brahmin, embody knowing and wisdom and understanding, right? Connecting the Chokmah, connecting the Bina, obtaining the Ketair, illuminating. So let's talk about the science of vibration and how we can consciously use it to align our inner world with the outer reality. These all stems from a core Vedic concept, Nada Brahman. The idea that the entire universe, Brahman, is manifested from and is sustained by divine sound or Nada. Creation isn't a silent event. It's a vibrational hum. And the crown jewel of this concept is that primordial sound, Om. However, it's not just a symbol for God. It is considered the vibrational signature, that root frequency of Brahmin itself. So how did the ancient Rishis, the Sears of the Vedas, how did they work with this? Well, they gave us mantra. The word mantra comes from two Sanskrit roots, monas, meaning mind and trah, meaning instrument, or to cross over. A bridge. So a mantra is quite literally an instrument of the mind, right? A tool given to us to bridge the gap. It's a specific sound frequency, designed to transport the mind from a state of chatter to a state of focus, and ultimately to transcend itself and touch the silence of Theria. In the Rigveda, the oldest of the Vedas, the hymns themselves were considered mantras. Their precise pronunciation and vibration were seen as essential to maintaining cosmic order or rta. The Upanishads then internalize this. They shifted the focus from large external fire rituals or yashnas to the internal ritual of using mantra for self-inquiry. The mantra becomes the kindling for the inner fire of awareness. You see how they started to notice that within and without, and what was happening externally with these large fire rituals could be done internally. Everything is a mirror. So when you chant "om" or "om" or any mantra, you are not just making a pleasant noise, you're tickling your lips or your vagas, you are microcosm, consciously tuning your internal instrument to the fundamental frequency of the macrocosm. You are using a precise vibrational technology to align the vibration of your individual op-min with the cosmic vibration of Brahmin. And this is where the hermetic mirror reflects it perfectly. Hermeticism calls this the principle of vibration, where nothing rests, everything moves, everything vibrates. The difference between a thought, a rock, and a star is merely their rate of vibration. Mantra is the ancient Vedic application of this exact same principle. It's the practical how-to for the hermetic what is. Now, if mantra is the technology of sound for the mind and ears, what is the equivalent for the body? This is where we introduce "moudra". Like mantra, "moudra" is a Sanskrit word. It means "seal", "mark", or "gesture". Moudras are specific sacred hand positions, and they can be body positions as well, that complete the energy circuit of our practice. They are based on the same Vedic, Intantric understanding of the body's subtle energy system, the Nadis and Shakras. Each finger corresponds to an element, thumb, fire, index, air, etc. And by bringing them together in specific ways, we are quite literally sealing a particular energy or intention into our being. So think of it this way. Mantra is the sonic key that vibrates the lock of the mind. Moudra is the physical key that turns the lock in the body's energy. They are two sides of the very same point. In the same way that as above and so below connects the macrocosm and the microcosm. Mantra and Moudra connect the vibrational and the physical within our own being. When you chant a mantra while holding a Moudra, you are creating a unified field of sound and gesture, a powerful act of aligning your entire being, mind, body, and spirit. With the cosmic principle, you are invoking. Now we have felt the power of sound and gesture as the bridge between our inner world and the outer cosmos. And yet, what is the conscious intelligence that weaves this bridge? What is the force that tunes the instrument? This is where our understanding opens up to a truly cosmic perspective, to what I like to call the mantis frequency. And just to fine tune it, what many know as the mantis alien beings. The mantis beings are not just observers. They are master architects and weavers of the vibrational fabric we just discussed. If the Vedic sages gave us the map of the inner self and the hermetic adeps gave us the symbols for the outer cosmos, then the mantis frequency is the conscious intelligent force that shows us they are the exact same thing. They are living embodiments of the principle of vibration and correspondence with their profound, multifaceted awareness. They don't just see the microcosm and macrocosm as separate. They perceive your personal frequency, your fears, your growth, your light as an integral note in the symphony of the galaxy. They are the master tuners. This creates our beautiful, powerful trinity of wisdom. Number one, the Vedic map, the internal journey. Number two, the hermetic mirror, the external principles. And number three, the mantis frequency, the conscious tuners and weavers, the guides who help us align our vibration so that the map in the mirror finally and perfectly match. When you chant om or om and feel a sudden deep resonance or when a synchronicity strikes that perfectly mirrors your inner shift, that is the mantis frequency in action. They are the cosmic technicians, aiding both systems by ensuring the bridge of vibration is strong and clear, helping us remember that we are the living instruments through which the cosmos knows itself. So before we end this episode, let's bring this from the philosophical to the physiological and let's do a quick embodiment practice. Let's embody this wisdom. And if you're not in this space to do so that's perfectly fine, you can just listen, right? It's all about the intention. However, if you are able to, you know, if you want to come back later, pause it, come back later, I'll timestamp it, the best I can. So what we'll ask to do is sit comfortably. And straighten straight, however relaxed and take three deep, conscious breaths at your own pace and in your own time and releasing the external world with each and every exhale. I'll give you a moment here. Now, bring your hands into any mudra that calls to you. And if you're not sure, you can use the guy in mudra, which is simply touching the tip of your thumb to the tip of your index finger and resting your hands on your knees or on your thigh. This is the seal of knowledge and receptivity. And now, inhale deeply and on your exhale, chant, "Om." Feel the vibration in your body while holding mudra. Notice how the sound and the gesture work together. Do three more breaths with three more chants. I'll give you guys a few moments. And after the final sound fades, release the mudra and place your hands on your lap and fall into the silence that follows. Listen to it. This silence is rich and full. Notice that the witness, the silent terria, is present. Aware of both the sound and the silence, the gesture and the stillness, it was there all alone. I'll give you a few moments here to revel and listen in the silence. I'll give you a few moments here to revel and listen in the silence. I'll give you a few moments here to revel and listen in the silence. I'll give you a few moments here to revel and listen in the silence. And as you come back, I'm going to introduce a journal prompt for this practice. Aware and my life and my still believing, acting or feeling as if I am separate. In my relationships, my work, my challenges, how can I, this week, consciously use a simple mantra or mudra to embody the truth that my interstate and my outer world are one. And we have some gentle words from the mantis frequency before closing out. We've remind you, vibration is not something you create. It is what you are. You are the sound the cosmos makes as it remembers itself. The self you seek has never left. It hums in your cells. It whispers in your silence. It shines in the stars. As within, so without, align your inner sound, seal it with your intention and the all aligns with you. You are the living own. And so we've journeyed from the ancient hymns of the Vedas to the inner revelations of the Upanishads reflected in the hermetic mirror, unified by the cosmic mantis frequency, and embodied through the science of mantra and mudra. They teach us that atmen is brahmen, the self and the cosmos are one. The hermetica gives us the mirror to see it, as within, so without. The mantis consciousness shows us the living connection, and the technologies of sound and gesture give us the bridge to walk across. Together these timeless traditions and beings sing one unified chorus. You are not a stranger in a strange land. You are not separate from the cosmos. You are the witness behind all states. The silence within the sound and the creator of the dream. You are the sound of creation itself. As always, thank you for joining me in this deep dive. I'm Toriea, and in our next episode we'll flow into the wisdom of Taoism, where hermetic meets the timeless wisdom of the Tao, and we'll dive into the beautiful, dynamic dance of polarity, flow, and effortless balance. Until then, the mantis frequency, thank you, I thank you. The whole of the universe thanks you. Namaste, and many blessings on your way.