Meditation - What does OM mean?

The word Om (pronounced “aah-oo-em”) was first introduced to me about seventeen years ago whilst attending a meditation class. Once we were comfortable in a sitting position were then instructed to chant Om over and over again firstly out loud and then silently to ourselves.

While this experience was very nice, it was never explained to me why we use this particular word for meditation and I am sure I am not the only one who has been instructed to use this mantra for meditation without really understanding the true meaning and reasons for doing so.

Everything that stems from the Yogic traditions that has prevailed over the past 5000 years is based not only in philosophical ideals but is also backed by irrefutable scientific laws.

The use of Om in meditation is no different.

It is a sound to represent the highest of ideals, that is, the one supreme reality no matter what you call this supreme essence. Some will call it God, others will call it Braham, the Universe and so on.

But why Om?

Om has been chosen for three main reasons:

1. The sound is both articulate and inarticulate. Articulate sounds such as a language have limited application and appeal mostly only to the intellect. For example, in addition to my native English tongue, I am able speak a small amount of German which allows me to communicate with German speaking people but if I want to talk to a Spanish person who doesn’t understand the German language the meaning is lost.

Compare language to say music, laughing or crying which are inarticulate intonations. These inarticulate sounds are the language of the heart. Even though we may not speak another’s language if the laugh we know they are happy, if they cry we know they are sad and music has the ability to affect a person’s emotional state.

Being both articulate i.e. recited as letters of the alphabet and inarticulate i.e. a universal intonation the sound appeals to both our intellect and our hearts.

2. The second reason for the choice is that the correct pronunciation covers the full range of sounds that a human being is able to produce. “Aah” begins in the throat, the sound “oo” is produced by the rolling forward of the sound in the mouth and the sound “em” is made by the closing of the lips.

There is no sound beyond these extremities and therefore Om represents the entire human phenomenon of sound.

3. The Sanskrit symbol of Om is also called “Pranava” which means something that pervades life or runs through Prana or breath. In Western terms we would consider this to be “life force energy” or bioelectrical energy” as stated by Quantam Physicists.

In Vedanta teachings the three sounds represent the three stages of human consciousness as described by the ancient scriptures.

“aah” represents the material world that we observe in our wakeful state.

“oo” represents the experiences in our dreams and symbolism experiences commonly known in the West as synchronicities.

“em” represents what is known as the deep sleep state of consciousness as described by Vedanta or in Western terms it represents all that which is unknown to us.

The three sounds remind us that our consciousness pervades all realities whether we are consciously aware of them or not. It also helps to teach us to not attach ourselves to just any one of the realities that we experience because we are much more than just one reality; we are all of them!

Om is a tool, just as religious or philosophical knowledge is a tool to self realisation. As with all tools, once we reach a certain level of development we must discard the tools and simply be in the new state of being.

We use this mantra in meditation as a tool to experience the momentary silence in between two successive chants. The silence between the chants is known as “Amatra”. This is a glimpse of pure consciousness.

As we continue to practise regularly, the experiences of silence (Amatra) become longer and longer until we finally reach the ultimate goal of sitting in meditation, that moment when the individual self merges with the infinite Self, God or Universe.

It is at this point that we discard our tool and sit in pure silence and oneness, the ultimate goal of human life!

I hope this short discussion serves to assist in your understanding of why we use this mantra in our meditation practice as well as spark in you a new enthusiasm for doing so.

Namaste

Rohan James

SBI!