ÒM (ॐ)

 Most of us are familiar with the mantra OM. We routinely chant it at the end of a group meditation or a yoga class, without thinking much about it. Maybe we use a mantra that begins with OM, but what does it really represent? 

       

Om or Aum ( ॐ) is a sacred sound and a spiritual symbol in Indian religions. It signifies the essence of the ultimate reality, consciousness or Atman.More broadly, it is a syllable that is chanted either independently or before a spiritual recitation in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.The meaning and connotations of Om vary between the diverse schools within and across the various traditions.

Science tells us that the Universe began with a big bang, whereas Vedanta says that the big bang is actually a big OM, which didn’t just happen once; it is ongoing. In fact, if the OM stopped for even a microsecond, the whole Universe as we know it would disappear instantly! OM rises from Pure Consciousness, which is primary and underlies all existence, constantly unfolding as our experience of the Universe.

Now, movement creates friction, and friction creates noise, so Pure Consciousness experiencing itself created a sound. However, Pure Consciousness, by definition, is silent, so this sound, which was OM, had to be forced out of the silence and became what we call conditioned consciousness. OM, or conditioned consciousness, is what we experience as the Universe in which we live.

  

As the initial vibration of OM emerges from the unmanifest, it diversifies into all the different vibrations of the Universe, which manifest as the world we know. OM, therefore, contains within it all the mantras, sounds, and vibrations of the Universe. Everything in the Universe is a manifestation of OM and ultimately a reflection of Pure Consciousness from which it emerged. OM is the collective sound of the Universe, the Primordial Sound.

The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians says, “The One becomes Many, the Unity becomes Diversity, the Identical becomes Variety, yet the Many remains One.”

The four principal Vedas, Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva, expound on the knowledge of the entire creation. It is said that all the knowledge of the four Vedas is contained in the Rig and all the knowledge of the Rig Veda is contained in its first syllable “A”. Thus by fully understanding this first syllable, which is the beginning of the mantra AUM, we can have knowledge of the entire creation. According to the ancient Puranic texts, AUM represents the union of the three main masculine deities and the forces within the Universe. “A” means Brahma (creation), “U” means Vishnu (maintenance), and “M” means Shiva (destruction). In the great Indian text the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna (the Divine) says, “Of words I am OM.”

As OM is the sound of the Universe, it’s always present, so technically we can’t chant it. We cannot create OM by a chanting of it; we only produce a vibration sympathetic with the vibration that is already there, which is OM. It is not a chant made by us, created by us, or initiated by us. Rather, we establish a connection between ourselves and the Supreme Reality, which manifests itself as sound vibration in the form of OM.