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PERCEPTIONS
INDIA-2001
encyclopedia
OM
(THE COSMIC SOUND)
■V
o
A compound of the three letters,
a, u, m,
(A stands for Brahma, U for Vishnu and M
stands for Rudra, also Surya the Sun) OM is
declared in the Upanishads where it first
appears to have a mystic power and to be
worthy of the deepest meditation. The
Mundaka Upanishad
teaches a
Upasana
(meditation) based on OM.
"Taking as a bow the great weapon
presented in the Upanishads, fix on it
an arrow that has been sharpened by
meditation. Then stretching the bow
fidly, with a mind wholly absorbed in its
thought (i.e. of Brahman) do thou hit
the target which is the imperishable
reality. The Om is the bow, the mind is
the arrow, Brahman is the target. It is
to be hit with concentration, and one
should become unified with the target
just like the arrow."
To merge oneself in the Absolute, the
one without a second, is the goal of Advaitic
spiritual practice. With a view to attaining
this unity, a spiritual seeker may practise a
method of worship in which the worshipper
may identify himself with the object of his
worship — God or Brahman or any particu-
lar deity. To those who find this process
difficult, worship with the help of some ap-
propriate symbol is prescribed. The deity is
worshipped through the symbol. The
Upan-ishadic formula of Om as the mystic
syllable proved attractive because its
continuous repetition had the effect of
bringing about concentration of thought. So
it was made the subject of meditation and
was also regarded as the most natural
expression for Ishwara (God).
The earliest form of Om has a point
above its crescent. This symbolises the
immensity, Brahman. The crescent symbol-
ises air while the circles denote sound. The
semi-circle below the circle symbolises the
first wave of energy. The wave lines at the
bottom indicate the primordial waters.
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"Trikenu "
It is only when the sound A' joins
'U' and the sound 'U'joins 'M', that, we
get the complete sound of AUM. If the
three sounds do not join with each
other, we do not get the complete
sound of
Aumkar
T
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L
/
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m
r /
m
/ i \
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/
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m\
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m.
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m
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w
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m
m
m
OM : Original Mantra
In this new symbolism of 'OM' , 'O' indi-
cates the origin, as well as the 'point of sin-
gularity' or
shunya
from which this world
began. The letter 'M' represents the 'matter'
that emerged from this point? It also is a
simultaneous representation of particle and
wave, indicating an underlying unity.
OM is the Original Mantra, which
contains life's tantra,
OM is the Original Mystery, which
contains life's history,
OM is that Original Moment,
which witnessed the 'big bang' event,
OM is the Original Matter,
which is now widely scattered,
OM is the Original Miracle, manifested
both as the wave and the particle,
OM is the Original Music,
whose vibrations are cosmic,
OM is Omnipotent Mother,
representing all goddesses together,
OM is the Original Manas, which has
no distortions, in it one can see
self-reflection, and measure the
degree of one's distortion,
OM is peace and peace is OM It is
human's ultimate home.
—
"Trikenu "