The Meat of the Matter: Exponential Interiority and the Unlikely Success of a Blind Baul Musician

During my on-and-off fieldwork with the Baul ascetic musicians over the past six years, I most recently interviewed a respected elder at his home in West Bengal, India, in August, 2025. Based on this ethnographic data, I will argue that my informant's devotional singing practice and aural relationship with the goddess led him to visualize her speaking to him. This suggests that innovative devotees can effectively interiorize the process, relocating the ritual within the body. This blurs the boundaries between tantric (ritual emphasis) and bhakto (emotional emphasis), categories often misunderstood as distinct. His case study exemplifies resilient aurality as he mediates between the devotional interiority and the horrifying exteriority of the cremation ground. We witness his radical inverse sacrifice, and visions that do not require eyes. Through oral narrative, this paper documents a rare example of synesthetic religious vision without sight, underscoring the need for future research.