The Sacred Symbol and Sound of ‘ॐ’ – Om

PIC: mysteryofindia.com

The symbol ‘ॐ’, written as Om or Aum is well acclaimed as the most sacred and powerful word-symbol in not only in Hinduism but Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. This symbol has a deep spiritual meaning signifying the pure Atman or the Brahman, the Supreme Reality. The symbol Om is also known as Pranava Akshar, Pranava means which pervades life and Akshar is syllable. Hinduism regards Brahman or the realization of the Self as the ultimate goal of human beings where one can aspire to attain the supreme joy and peace. The seekers meditate on the sound of Om to reach this ultimate goal of life. We cannot reach or realize the Atman directly using our bodies are sense organs like eyes, ears, tongue, nose and skin. Neither can we realize the atman through emotions, thoughts or using the mind power. It is a state of self realization beyond expression. Many people try it by worshiping idols, a symbol of the Supreme. The Om syllable is also a form of an idol or a symbol. The sound of Om is pronounced as the most natural, most potent sound by ancient Indian yogis and sages to realize the pure Atman.

The syllable Om is often found at the beginning and at the end of chapters of Holy Scriptures of Hinduism like Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and many others. The sacred syllable is chanted before and during recitation of spiritual texts, during worships and offering prayers to the Lord. It has deep philosophical significance too. The chanting of Om is proven to have extra ordinary effect on human beings. It is a deeply revered symbol chanting of which helps one to attune with the Eternal Being. Chanting of Om is the part of ancient knowledge hugely beneficial to human being and as such it appears to be a purely misconception that one should relate it with any religion. It has been well accepted that the Om syllable is the most universal syllable which comes naturally to everyone, belonging to any religion and to even atheist too. Om is the symbol of ultimate reality and we, the people of the world must understand that the ultimate reality can be only ONE and can‘t be different for the people of different religions. Also, it has been found that even prayers in different languages end with the words like Amen, Ameen which are similar to Om. Science has no religion and scientific studies related to time frequency analysis of the Om chanting reveals that wave form is improved with regular spacing with almost perfect symmetry and harmony. The study concludes that the participants witnessed dramatic improvement in focus, concentration and steadiness. The participants attained higher level of peace and calmness reducing the mental stress.

PIC: jagran.com

The sound of Om is also associated with the concept of cosmic sound. There are reports that NASA is able to records the sound coming out from Sun which also resembles with the sound of Om. It is also said that Om is the sound of creation, the primordial sound. The sound of Om constitutes of three sounds from the three letters, A अ, U उ, M म. In Sanskrit language, A अ and U उ coalesce to form O. The three letters when read together forms the symbol Om. It is a wonderful fact that even a mute person can also produce the sound of Om easily. The syllable A is guttural sound which emanates from the throat, U is the sound which is produced through the mouth and M is the sound produced when the lips are closed. There is no sound beyond that and therefore the sound of Om covers the full range of sound. As such, the syllable Om is the only sound which is found to cover the entire phenomenon of sound. Mere rhythmic chanting of sound Om produces vibrations leading to peace and harmony.

The sound of Om syllable symbolizes the pure consciousness that pervades waking, dream and deep sleep states. The three sounds emanating from the Om, the ‘A’ signifies the waking state, the ‘U’ signifies the dream state and the ‘M’ signifies the deep sleep state, a state of nothingness. When the person meditates on the Om syllable it signifies that he/she is meditating on the three state of the human consciousness, which is supported by none other than the Lord, the Supreme Self.

Om is a powerful tool for meditation. The rhythmic chanting of Om during meditation comprises of the long chant of Om syllable followed by a silence and again rising to the chant of Om. One cycle of chanting of Om and a brief silence signifies a state of flow of thought and a state of thoughtlessness respectively. When one chants Om, the thought flows with it and when the silence takes place, the thought ceases. It has been experienced that during the state of peak of the meditation, the Om chants gradually ceases and only the silence sets in, meaning thereby that the meditator reaches a state of thoughtlessness. In such a state, the pair of thought and silence merges into deep silence and finally ceasing the intellect.  This state is called the supreme state of self realization where the meditator transcends both the mind and the intellect.

The sound of chanting Om produces positive vibrations in our body and mind. The science says that the vibrations are nothing but energy. The nature and the universe too are a set of vibrations. When the vibrations of Om chanting are tuned to the vibrations of the nature and universe, we achieve the universal consciousness. As a result, we accrue many benefits of Om chanting and meditating on the syllable Om. It includes attaining a feeling of happiness and inner joy, creating a positive aura around us, achieving overall wellness, improving focus and concentration, purifying the environment around us many more.

Happy ‘ॐ’ - Om Chanting