Om Sweet Om
(The August 20 Spirituality U. Weekly Insight
from Interfaith Paths to Peace)
The chanting of the word “Om” has become so common in popular culture that we sometimes overlook the deep, spiritual implications of this simple sound.
So, what does Om really mean?
The Mandukya Upanishad (a Hindu sacred text), says, "Om is the one eternal syllable of which all that exists is but the development. The past, the present, and the future are all included in this one sound, and all that exists beyond the three forms of time is also implied in it".
According to an article by Subhamoy Das, “Om is a sacred syllable representing Brahman, the impersonal Absolute of Hinduism — omnipotent, omnipresent, and the source of all manifest existence. Brahman, in itself, is incomprehensible; so a symbol becomes mandatory to help us realize the Unknowable.”
OK, but how does the chanting of Om actually work in spiritual practice?
According to Das, “Om is not a word but rather an intonation, which, like music, transcends the barriers of age, race, culture and even species. It is made up of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Aum or Om. It is believed to be the basic sound of the world and to contain all other sounds. It is a mantra or prayer in itself. If repeated with the correct intonation, it can resonate throughout the body so that the sound penetrates to the centre of one's being, the atman or soul.”
What is the benefit of chanting this sound? For one thing it helps our rational minds move to a level at which they can encounter the world and the transcendent more directly, without words, without thought.
Das says, “During meditation, when people chant Om, they create within themselves a vibration that attunes sympathy with the cosmic vibration and they then start thinking more universally. The momentary silence between each chant becomes palpable. Mind moves between the opposites of sound and silence until, at last, it ceases the sound. In the silence, the single thought—Om—is quenched; there is no thought. This is the state of trance, where the mind and the intellect are transcended as the individual self merges with the Infinite Self in the pious moment of realization. It is a moment when the petty worldly affairs are lost in the desire for the universal. Such is the immeasurable power of Om.”
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