Shūm-Tyēīf is a Nātha mystical language of meditation (also simply known as Shūm) revealed in Switzerland in 1968 by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami (affectionately known as Gurudeva). It provides a vocabulary to accurately describe inner realms and inner states of consciousness.
The Shūm-Tyēīf Alphabet
There are eighteen basic images in the Shūm-Tyēīf alphabet, and 135 in all. Gurudeva writes: “The first thing to do in learning Shūm is to memorize the initial portion of the alphabet, and we’ll work with that first. A letter in Shūm is called an image. Learn to pronounce all the images correctly right away. As you pronounce each image of the Shūm alphabet, try to inwardly hear its sound with your inner ear. When you write the image on paper, draw it meticulously. Try to hear with your inner ear what you are writing while repeating it audibly. Through hearing yourself repeat it audibly, writing it down, seeing what you write, mentally seeing what you’re going to write and mentally hearing it as well—you can quickly learn the images of Shūm, for they are right out of the superconscious mind, which is as much alive within you now as it was within me when Shūm burst forth. In this way you catch the inner flavor of the language, the inner rhythm of the language. Take care in the basic alphabet of Shūm, for that is what puts the language together.
“Meditate on the alphabet as a totality. Repeat the alphabet as a mantra. You can also mentally chant the Shūm alphabet. That lifts all the wonderful pranic energies of the body up into the head. Repeat the alphabet time and time again until you pronounce each tone absolutely correctly, for each tone is a key to an area of inner nerve currents within the psychic aspect of your body. To turn that key—or to get those results, the release of superconscious energy—Shūm must be intoned correctly.”
Each Image Has a Color
Once the first eighteen images have been learned, the natyē studies the chart above to learn the colors connected to the images and uses the correct color to draw each image. Next, through visualization, each image is seen along with its color with eyes closed. Lastly, while breathing nine counts in and nine counts out, use the eighteen images to mark the counts while visualizing the color and the shape of the image. This practice is called sīflīmf. While referring to the chart, on the inbreath, count, “i, m, íng, líng, li, ni, ka, sím, vum,” and on the outbreath count, “reh, tye, a, bi, o, na, si, di, shum.” Mentally pronounce the sound and visualize the color. The eighteen colors are: ‘i’ bright yellow, ‘m’ soft pink, ‘íng’ soft blue, ‘líng’ bright turquoise, ‘li’ bright violet, ‘ni’ rich yellow, ‘ka’ rich turquoise, ‘sím’ bright pink, ‘vum’ rich purple, ‘reh’ bright orange, ‘tye’ rich orange, ‘a’ rich blue, ‘bi’ bright blue, ‘u’ soft ivory, ‘na’ soft green, ‘si’ bright red, ‘di’ bright green, ‘shum’ soft lavender.
The Extended Alphabet
Below you will find the 108 images of the Shūm alphabet, plus the three special characters that are used to add two dimensions to some words ending in ‘i’ sounds, ‘m’ sounds and any sound, respectively. A description and pronunciation is included below each image.
1) First image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a high pitched “ee,” as in sleep; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a bright yellow color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the first of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet.
1) Second image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a high pitched “mm,” as in moon; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a soft pink color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nadanadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the second of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet
1) Third image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a moderate pitched “ing,” as in ring; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a soft blue color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the third of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet
1) Fourth image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a moderate pitched “ling,” as in sling, 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a bright turquoise color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the fourth of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet
1) Fifth image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a high pitched “lee,” as in sleep; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a bright violet color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the fifth of the eighteen basic images of the 108 Shum Tyeif alphabet
1) Sixth image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a moderate pitched “nee,” as in need; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a rich yellow color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the sixth of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet
1) First image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a high pitched “ee,” as in sleep; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a bright yellow color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the first of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet.
1) Second image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a high pitched “mm,” as in moon; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a soft pink color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nadanadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the second of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet
1) Third image of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet; 2) pronounced in a moderate pitched “ing,” as in ring; 3) pure color of the inner mind as seen in meditation; 4) this sound produces a soft blue color; 5) part of siflimf, the Shum pranayama sadhana of moving awareness into the nada-nadi area of mind through kalibasa; 6) the third of the eighteen basic images of the Shum-Tyeif alphabet
