OM MANTRA MEANING & PHILOSOPHY
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE OM, ’BOUT THE OM, ’BOUT THE OM, NO TREBLE!
Om is also known as omkara, aumkara, pranava omkara, aum. The sacred, mystical sound of ‘om’ transcends one from material existence into spiritual consciousness. By chanting and meditating on om, one can become free from material dualities and gain absolute knowledge. Om-kay?
OM CARRIES THE POTENCY OF ALL OTHER VIBRATIONS
Sure, aum sounds simple to the ear. But, this vibration carries the potency of all other vibrations. Just like white light seems simple to the eye, but carries the potency of all other colors: Clear light divides into a spectrum of seven colors when passing through a prism. In the same way, aum conveys knowledge of the Brahman, Absolute, Oneness, AND divides into seven sounds sa, ra, ga, ma, dha, ni and sa. {{Basically, it includes all other mantras in it, and the potencies and blessings of those mantras!}} Similarly, there are seven chakras in the body. Each of these seven – sounds, colors, chakras – are multiple modes of the oneness expressed as aum. Simple, right.
UMM OMM SPECTRUM ONENESS WHAT NOW?
Good thing that with mantras you’ll get the spiritual benefit of the meditation even if you don’t fully understand the meaning of the mantra. Because it’s all about the sound vibration which works on your consciousness spiritually whether you intellectually understand it or not. Which. Is. Great.
OM IS PRONOUNCED ‘AAHHH’, ‘OOOH’, ‘MMMMM’
Om is all about trinities:
- the sound of om has three letters of the alphabet – A, U and M
- these three sustain threefold aspects of material existence, including sattva, rajas & tamo (I won’t get into details, but basically goodness, passion and ignorance)
- AUM includes the Rig, Yajur and Sama Vedas (Vedas are the most ancient scriptures where all this philosophy comes from along with concepts like karma, samsara, yoga, etc.)
- various planetary systems known in the Vedas as Bhur, Bhuvar and Svar
- these three states: waking consciousness, sleep, and deep sleep
- omkara is the beginning, middle and end (and beginningless as well)
- threefold trinity of creation by Brahma, maintenance by Vishnu, destruction by Shiva
OM IS THE REPRESENTATION OF THE SUPREME SELF SITUATED IN EVERYONE’S HEART
In the Bhagavad-gita (7.8), Krishna says pranavah sarva−vedesu: “I am the syllable om in all the Vedic mantras”. Om is auspicious. Most mantras begin with ‘om’ to invoke this auspiciousness. Imagine beginning your day with om. OMMAZING!!!
If you haven’t done mantra meditation before, it can seem weird or kinda corny to just close your eyes and hum ‘aaauuummm’. But it’s so worth it. To me, it’s like an instant energy tune up. It immediately lifts my spirits up if I’m stressed or just feeling a little out of touch with my soul.
By: BHAKTI KULMALA
.................................................................................................................................................................................
Sabdah means sound, and whenever we hear any sound we should know that it is a vibration of the original sound, the pure spiritual sound om… Whatever sound we hear in the material world is but a reflection of that original spiritual sound om.
from On the Way to Krishna by HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhuada