OM: The Primordial Sound
After instructing one particular yoga class, the OṂ created by the collective stuck like sap within the walls of the studio, and one practitioner exclaimed, “wow that was a good OṂ.” It would be terse for a definitive conclusion of what a “good” OṂ entails, however the practitioner had felt the cosmic vibration carried by the sound, and it was “good” to her. OṂ, is recognized by most of the western world as a symbol and a sound. The first line of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad explains rather simply what OṂ truly is, and that is the whole world and beyond. The first line of the Upaniṣad states “OṂ-this whole world is that syllable!” one can attest that this simple statement is vastly complex as “this whole world” not only encompasses space, but time as we know it as past, present and future. This primordial sound is everything, the Whole, which is Brahman (the absolute, the supreme principle of Vedānta)[1]. How does one fully comprehend one that is everything? Sri Swami Sivananda explains that which is everything quite beautifully in Meditation on OṂ and Māṇḍūkya Upanishad. He states;
“Brahman is the highest of all. Om is His name. So, Om is to be adored. Om is everything. Om is the name or symbol of God, Isvara, Brahman. Om is your real name. Om covers all the threefold experience of man. Om stands for phenomenal words. From Om this sense-universe has been projected. The world exists in Om and dissolves in Om. Om is formed by adding letters A, U, M. ‘A’ represents the physical plane, ‘U’ represents the mental and astral planes, the world of spirits, all heavens and ‘M’ represents all deep sleep state and all that is unknown and beyond reach of the intellect even in your waking. Om is the basis of your life, thought and intelligence. All words that denote objects are centered in Om. Hence the whole world comes from Om, rests in Om and dissolves in Om.”[2]
If there is such a way to concisely define everything, Sri Swami Sivananda has succeeded, as well as he has begun to deconstruct the states of consciousness that OṂ represents. Although commonly mispronounced in many western yogic environments it is of utmost importance to understand the correct pronunciation of OṂ so that one may digest how the syllable relates to consciousness. The sound of AUM is spelled OṂ due to its’ Sanskrit origin making it a diphthong (a gliding monosyllabic speech sound (such as a vowel combination at the end of toy) that starts at or near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves to or towards the position of another), meaning that the sound of the A with U gradually slides toward the sound of the O.[3] Sivananda states, “all the letters of the alphabets of all languages are contained in this mysterious, sacred monosyllable-Om (AUM). Therefore, it is quite proper to regard Om as the symbol or name Brahman.”[4] This primordial, sacred monosyllable relates to and through all world religions. In the Bible it is said “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.” In Meditations through the Ṛgveda, Antonio T.de Nicolas asserts “In the beginning was tone and tone became chant and chant grew into human flesh through the sacrifice.”[5] Here one can surmise that OṂ is a non-secular, elemental, Mobius strip.
The symbol OṂ can be found gilded in gold jewelry, printed on college tapestries and tee-shirts, and tattooed upon countless bodies. Popular culture portrays happy, healthy and dazed yoga practitioners chanting OṂ at the end of a workout, with what usually seems to be a spacy teacher leading the chant. However, OṂ is none of the previously mentioned expenditures or decorations.
For OṂ to be completely understood one might have to meditate on the syllable or with it for a lifetime even into death (which is not the end of an existence but the beginning of a new one). The true essence of OṂ is clarified in the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad is the shortest of 108 Upaniṣads. However, upon closer examination it will be confirmed that its’ length is of no detriment to the explanation of metaphysics and the four states of consciousness held within the primordial sound OṂ. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad is commonly found in the Atharvaveda, “even though several teachers called Māṇḍūkeya are listed in the literature of the Ṛgveda…. This small document deals with the whole world, with Brahman, and with the self (ātman). The three constituent phonemes of the syllable OṂ are further identified with the three states of self-the waking, the dreaming, and deep sleep.”[6] Followed by a fourth state that is the cosmic vibration and a transcendent consciousness.
The Atharvaveda is the fourth of the Vedic texts after the Ṛgveda, Samaveda, and Yajurveda. Although it is surmised that the Atharvaveda was possibly comprised near concurrently, with the Samaveda and Yajurveda, between 1200 and 1000 BCE. There will not be an omnipresent focus on chronology throughout further discourse, however a minor explanation of chronology will inform the reader as to where The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad fits into the chronology of Vedanta literature, and was probably written between one and two CE. However, states of consciousness are also discussed in the Chāndoyoga Upaniṣad which was comprised in the first millennium BCE, therefore inserting the beliefs supporting The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad and the primordial sound OṂ into Vedic thought from much before the compilation of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad. The assemblage of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad is accredited to Guaḍapāda. Patrick Olivelle’s translation of the Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad begins;
“OṂ-this whole world is that syllable! Here is a further explanation of it. The past, the present, and the future-all that is simply OṂ; and whatever else that is beyond the three times, that also is simply OṂ-for this Brahman is the Whole. Brahman is this self (ātman); that [brahman] is this self (ātman) consisting of four quarters.”[7]
The first line of the Upaniṣad explains rather simply what OṂ truly is, and that is the whole world. In spite of the first line “OṂ-this whole world is that syllable!” one can attest that this simple statement is vastly complex as “this whole world” not only encompasses space, but time as we know it as past, present and future. This primordial sound is everything, the Whole, which is Brahman (the absolute, the supreme principle of Vedanta)[8]. How does one fully comprehend one that is everything? Sri Swami Sivananda explains that which is everything quite beautifully in Meditation on OṂ and Māṇḍūkya Upanishad. He states;
“Brahman is the highest of all. Om is His name. So, Om is to be adored. Om is everything. Om is the name or symbol of God, Isvara, Brahman. Om is your real name. Om covers all the threefold experience of man. Om stands for phenomenal words. From Om this sense-universe has been projected. The world exists in Om and dissolves in Om. Om is formed by adding letters A, U, M. ‘A’ represents the physical plane, ‘U’ represents the mental and astral planes, the world of spirits, all heavens and ‘M’ represents all deep sleep state and all that is unknown and beyond reach of the intellect even in your waking. Om is the basis of your life, thought and intelligence. All words that denote objects are centered in Om. Hence the whole world comes from Om, rests in Om and dissolves in Om.”[9]
If there is such a way to concisely define everything, Sri Swami Sivananda has succeeded.
If we relate AUM to āsana practice it can be very colloquially broken down. The waking state ‘A,” is when we first arrive for yoga instruction. We are carrying the weight of and consequences of our material world. The ego does its’ best to distract. As we begin to disconnect (to reconnect) we enter the “U”, the dream state. We move through our yoga glass with brief connections to the material world, just as in dreams we play out our hopes and fears, and also realize them briefly. As we move through our tapas inducing shapes the “M” or deep sleep state begins to manifest. Our mind still, and the thoughts, wants and needs, subside. The ego is quieted, and our breath is our main focal point. The final state of the yoga practice occurs in śavāsana. We moved through the states of consciousness to reach a point of zero….of just being. This is the vibration that we feel after the OṂ. This is the stillness of death with the subtle vibration of life because pure being is and never truly dies . This is the fourth state, called turīya…. Revere turīya….this is full realization.
[1] Mallinson, James, and Mark Singleton. Roots of Yoga. St. Ives Place, Great Britain: Clays Ltd., 2017, p. 283
[2] Sivananda, Swami Sri. Meditation on Om and Mandukya Upanishad. Tehri-Garwal, U.P., Himalayas; India. The
Divine Life Society, 1997, p. 4
[3] diphthong (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster.com. retrieved from http://www.meriam-webster.com/dictionary/dipthong
[4] Olivelle, Patrick, trans. Upaniṣads. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.289
[5] De Nicolas, Antonio T. Meditations through the Ṝg-veda: Four Dimensional Man. Lincoln, Nebraska Nicolas- Hays, Inc., 2003 p.49
[6] Olivelle, Patrick, trans. Upaniṣads. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.289
[7] Olivelle, Patrick, trans. Upaniṣads. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 2008, p.289
[8] Mallinson, James, and Mark Singleton. Roots of Yoga. St. Ives Place, Great Britain: Clays Ltd., 2017, p. 283
[9] Sivananda, Swami Sri. Meditation on Om and Mandukya Upanishad. Tehri-Garwal, U.P., Himalayas; India. The Divine Life Society, 1997, p. 4
Shaun-Meghan teaches Vinyasa on our rooftop space Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m as well as a Virtual Yin class, through our Mindbody platform, on Fridays from 7:00 – 8:15 p.m.
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