OM in Yoga is secular

Remember! That ‘OM’ is the symbol of the universe, which comes under the definition of the cosmic constitution of the Almighty and is applicable to all human beings irrespective any other narrow considerations. Ignore the hoarse Christ of the pseudo yoga men.

It has become a debatable point, which is widely discussed and disputed both in front media and electronic media, terming whom as a saffron symbol belonging to Hindu Religion. This article, I am sure, will dispel all the doubts. Because world home is “HIGHLY SECULAR” it is beyond realms of religion, caste, creed and politics of heat.

WHAT IS OM?

OM is the all-pervading sound that has come out of God. Om sound is the beginning of creation. Om has emanated from the cosmic vibration. Om is all in all. Om is the mystic word of power. Om is the magic word of marvelous potency. Om is the comforter and prop of all.

All religious ideas are centred in OM. The breath sings always OM, the song of infinity and Immortality. The thought of Om elevates the minds of all. The Christians, the Hebrews end their prayers with ‘Amen’ which is a modification of Om. The Muslims end their prayers with “Ahmeen,” also a modification of OM. The Mandukya, Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Chhandogya Upanishad, Prasnopanishad.

Philosophy alone, with the metaphysical discussion of the Ultimate Reality, and the method of approach to the Truth.

There is a real connection between Om, the symbol and absolute reality the thing signified by the symbol Om. Thought and word are inseparable. Om and Brahman are inseparable. When you think of the name of your friend, the name will bring to your memory the picture or image of your family. Then you think of the image of OM, the image will bring to your memory ultimate reality the thing signified. There is intimate relationship between the symbol Om and absolute reality signified.

Om is the common symbol. It will represent all the Symbols of God, all symbols of religions, all cults and schools. Just as a large-hearted spiritual man who is of catholic, liberal nature without prejudice of any sort, represents all and becomes the supreme head of conference of world religions, so also the common symbol Om, the basis of all sounds and all languages, represents all names and becomes the head of all names of God.

Prana vibrates. Air moves. Heat is generated. The heated air strikes against the vocal cords in the larynx or the sound box. Sound is produced. Sound is modified by its passage through palate, nose, tongue, teeth, lips, etc., and various kinds of sounds are produced. We have therefore gutturals, labials, dental, nasals, etc., etc. The larynx or wind box, the trachea or the windpipe, palate, mouth, nose, teeth, lips constitute the sound producing apparatus in this body. Sound ‘A’ is guttural. This is the root sound. This is the key.

When this is pronounced, any part of the tongue or palate is not touched. Sound ‘U’ rolls from the root to the very extremity of the sounding board of the mouth. Sound ‘M’ is labial and nasal. It comes from the end or extremity of the sounding board of the mouth. It is produced by the closed lips. ‘A’ represents the beginning of the range of sound, ‘U’ represents the beginning of the range of sound, ‘U’ represents the middle, ‘M’ represents the end. Thus OM covers the whole field of sounds and words.

Om represents the entire range of sounds and words. All words, all sounds are created in Om. Om is a magical, mysterious, divine, gramophonic record of all sounds and words. All words, all sounds, all languages proceed from Om. Therefore, Om is the right representative natural symbol or womb of all sounds and words. Om is and the natural symbol of Brahman, the source of everything, the source for sounds, words, languages and all objects. Therefore worship Om. Live in Om. Meditate on Om. Merge in Om. Rejoice in Om.

IMPORTANCE OF OM

The vibration produced by chanting OM in the physical universe corresponds to the original vibration that first arose. Hence OM is very important.

You will find in the Bible “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.” This is OM or the word of power. Even if they have the water of the oceans as ink and all the trees of the world as pens. Volumes have been written in the Sanskrit language on the significance of “OM”, the sacred and the mysterious monosyllable. “OM” is the womb for everything. This world has come out of “OM”, exists in “OM” and dissolves in “OM” during the cosmic Pralaya. The creation itself is set in motion by the vibration of “OM”.

‘Amen’ is used by Christians at the end of their prayers. ‘Amen’ is used very frequently in the sacred Bible. Muslims use the word ‘Ahmeen’ during prayer. ‘Amen,, ’ and ‘Ahmeen’ are all modifications of “OM” on when they perform prayers they chant “Allah Ho Akbar” starting with the letter ‘A’. “OM” is the matrix of all sounds. When you experience acute agony or pain, you utter the long sound of ‘hun’ or ‘hum’ again and again and get some relief. ‘Hun’ or ‘hum’ is a modification of “OM” only. ‘Hum’ is the partial utterance of “OM” which breaks on account of pain. When you suffer from pain you implore the mercy of the Lord by calling Him by His name. Laughter is nothing but a sound of many ‘hums’ repeatedly made.

When the child cries or weeps, it utters ‘un’ or ‘aung’. ‘Un’ or ‘aung’ is modification of “OM” only. As the child’s organ of speech is not well-developed it utters “OM” unintelligibly. Even when the child weeps it repeats God’s name. When the washerman washes his clothes he utters repeatedly ‘hung’ ‘hung’. This gives him relief. He does not feel exhaustion of fatigue. He unconsciously repeats God’s name and derives power, joy, peace and strength from within. The gurgling sounds produced in the bowels on account of flatulence, the whistling sound of the railway engine, the murmur of the running brooks, the sound of thunder, the howling of jackals, the roaring of lion, the sound of the mills and the factories are Om only. The sound of landslides, heavy rush of wind, the bustle of the city and that of the rainfall are Om only. You will clearly understand now that man utters Om, the name of the Lord or Brahman fully or partially, consciously or unconsciously at all times. If he utters with bhava and feeling he will realize quickly his own essential divine nature.

All colours are centred in the eye; all tastes are centred in the tongue; all touches are centred in the skin; all sounds are centred in the ear; all scents are centre in the nose; all senses are centred in the mind; all minds are centred in OM or Brahman, the Supreme Self, the Support for everything.

The humming of bees, the sweet melody of the nightingale, the seven tunes in music (Sa, Re, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni and Sa), the sound of the Mridanga and kettle-drum, the lute and the flute, the roaring of the lion, the singing of the lover, the neighing of horses, the hissing of the cobra, the clapping of the audience when an orator delivers his peroration – all are emanations from Omkara only. Om is the embodiment of the Vedas.

All languages and sounds come out of Om. The essence of the four Vedas is Om only. A, U, M cover the whole range of sound vibrations. ‘A’ starts from the root of the tongue. ‘U’ proceeds from the middle. And ‘M’ comes from the end by closing the lips. He who chants or repeats Om really repeats the sacred books of the whole world. Om is the source or the womb for all religions and scriptures of different parts of the world. Om, Amen and Ahmeen are all one. They represent the Truth, the one Existence. There is no worship without Om.

COMPOSITION OF OM

‘A’, ‘U’, ‘M’ are the life of all articulate words. ‘A’ and ‘U’ when connected together coalesce into ‘O’. Therefore the right way to write Om, is ‘AUM’. ‘A’ of the sacred monosyllable right way to write Om, is ‘AUM.’ ‘A’ of the sacred monosyllable

In AUM, the letter ‘A’ stands for the masculine principle the father, the letter ‘U’ stands for the female principle, the Mother; and the letter ‘M’ stands for the Son. It may also be said that ‘A’ stands for ‘I,’ ‘U’ for ‘This’ and ‘M’ for ‘not.’ So Om would mean ‘I this not’ aham etat na. it means neither ‘I’ nor ‘this’ nor ‘not.’ It signifies the one Self beyond names and forms, that which is, was and will be forever.

Om is the spirit, substratum or essence. Om is the immortal Soul. Om is the Holy Ghost. Om is the inner music of the Soul. Om is the music of the Silence. Om is cream of wisdom. Om is the supreme pinnacle of the magnificent hill of knowledge.

That wherein there is neither hunger nor thirst, neither, sorrow nor pain, neither ‘you’ nor ‘he,’ neither ‘this’ nor ‘that,’ neither ‘here’ nor ‘there’, neither yesterday nor tomorrow, neither east nor west, neither sound nor colour, neither light nor darkness, neither seer nor seen, is OM.

That imperishable Brahmic seat or ineffable splendor, that indefinable, inexhaustible, illimitable Essence which pervades the whole universe, that which is called the continuum or the residuum or the noumenon by the Western Philosophers, that place where all speech stops, all thoughts cease, where the function of the intellect and all organs stop, is Om.

“Om is this;” “Om is the support;” “One with the pure desires should concentrate his mind upon the Atman through Om which is the Atman;” “Om is Brahman;’ “The word Om is all”_ these and a number of other texts of the Srutis clearly point out the usefulness of Om in the process of realizing Brahman, the Immortal Self. They declare that Om, Brahman and the Atman are one and the same.

BENEFITS OF OM

Sages of yore who have attained Self-realisation have experienced the mysterious effects of repetition or chanting of OM. They having made along researches and experiments on OM and its vibrations, meditated on OM for a considerable period and have then given to the world OM as the right symbol of. This is not a hocus-pocus work or a juggler’s trick. This is authoritative assertion of the seers or a juggler’s trick. This is authoritative assertion of the seers (Apta Vakyam). Om served as a beacon light or light-house.

There is a mysterious inscrutable force (Achintyasakti) in OM. This force tears the veils, destroys desires, cravings and egoism and takes the aspirant to Om is the substratum or the matrix or the basis of all sounds or names. In OM all names or sounds or words are included. Om is the king of all sounds or words. Om is the ocean into which all rivers of sounds, names and words flow.

Om is the basis of all sounds. Om is the cosmic sound. Om is the primal sound of the universe. Om is the priceless treasure of a student in the path of Jnana. Om is the password of yoga prastanam. Om is the passport of those who are sailing in the boat of knowledge of the Self to reach the other shore of fearlessness and immortality of eternal bliss.

Om is the Soul of souls. Om is the Light of lights. Om is the panacea for the destruction of sins and the dire disease of death. Om is the celestial ambrosia that confers immortality. Meditate on Om. Plunge in Om. Have a dip in Om. This is the most sacred bath that will quench the fire of desires.

Om is the ladder which takes the aspirant to the loftier levels of super-consciousness and spiritual heights of splendor and glory. Meditation on OM will reveal to you the laws of the higher planes and the spiritual laws. meditation on Om will give you liberation, immortality, courage, inner spiritual strength, supreme peace, penetrative insight, and change your very being. It will transmute you into, a liberated sage.

You already know that radio waves travel in a second, seven times throughout the whole world. Mysterious indeed! Have you ever thought of this? Have you ever thought of the efficacy of this mysterious chanting of Om vibrations? If this scientific fact be true, what I believe is, that the vibrations of Om chanting have travelled throughout the world. From my experiences, personal and true, I boldly assert that it has experiences, personal and true, I boldly assert that it has brought solace, peace, full rest and cure to people suffering.

Om represents the canvas or the background. The forms of this universe represent the pictures on the canvas. The canvas is real, but the picture in the canvas is unreal, because fire in the canvas cannot burn your fingers, the knife in the canvas cannot cut your fingers, the tiger in the canvas cannot bite you. Even so, OM is the only solid reality. The names and forms are unreal like the pictures on the canvas.

Om, the real Atman is the substratum for all the sounds, languages, body, mind, Prana and senses. Just as the substratum is an under-stratum or layer, a fundamental element, the substance in which qualities exist, so also Om is the substratum or the underlying reality in which all objects appear as waves in the ocean. The waves are mere appearances. So also the forms are mere appearances. The forms are unreal. Forms are unreal in the sense that they are only relatively real, that they are changing and impermanent. In the example of the ocean and wave, the ocean alone is real. Even so, Om alone is real.

May you all enter the soundless Om by transcending the sounds, “A”, “U” and “M”. May you all meditate on Om and attain the goal of life, the Ultimate Reality, may the Om guide you. May this Om be your centre, ideal and goal. May the secrets and truths be revealed unto you.

By R. LAKSHMANA MOORTHY

The author is a Seminar Participant In Datta Kriya Yoga International Centre Of Sri Ganapathi Sachidananda Swamy, Mysore.