What is Om?
Om Shantihi, Shantihi, Shantihi. This Mantra of Yajurveda urges the God to keep peace. This is what the world needs today. If you have ever heard, read or chanted the Mantas, you would know that many mantras begin with Om.
What is meaning of Om?
Om: music of Soul. Om is a special sound in Hinduism. The mediators(Rishis and Munis) hard in the deep state of meditation that there is a sound that is hard continuously inside and outside of the body. They named that sound OM. OM, is the ultimate Mantra of the Hindu Vedas. There are many mantras or sacred chants, which can be just one syllable or whole sentences.
OM is the highest sacred sound & symbol in Hinduism. It is believed that the first sound that was heard was “OM”, which represents the creation of the universe. Its so powerful that this single word can produce intense positive vibrations which allows you to feel the whole universe.
Om is believed to be concentrated with powerful spiritualism. In fact, the whole universe is meant to be encapsulated in the word, OM. It appears at the beginning and end of most
Sanskrit recitations, prayers, weddings & yoga.
Patanjali, the father of classical Yoga says that when we chant this sacred syllable while contemplating its meaning, we become prepared for meditation when we experience the infinity within us.
Other name of Om/Struck sound
The other name of this special sound is Anhadnaad. Anhadnaad means endless and Naad means sound. According to Shiv Puran(religious book in Hindu literature), this endless sound generated by the collision of Naad (Sound) and Bindu (Light).
How to pronounce Om?
In Sanskrit language ‘O’ is a diphthong sound. The sound that is formed by combining the two sounds are diphthong sound. ‘O’ is formed by combining sounds ‘a’ and ‘u’. So Om is pronounced as aaaaa…uuu..mm. While changing Om stress should be given on ‘O’.
Om refers to Atman or soul, & Brahman, or Parmatma, the supreme spirit. There are 4 parts to Om. Although spelt as Om, it is made of 3 sounds: A U M
A: ah: waking state, conscious of our outer world
U: ooh: dreaming state or inner thoughts
M: mm: dreamless state of deep sleep
BY contemplating the meaning of each of these letters as we chant them, we are led through the three states of our ordinary consciousness to the mantra’s fourth part, the
anusvara (after-sound): om.
Science behind Chanting Om
The basic idea behind chanting Om is that it causes vibration in our body. The science behind it is the entire universe is the reverberation of energy. The vibration slowly dissolves into silence, symbolic of the transcendent state of consciousness, equated with Brahman (the Absolute), which is considered the most tranquil & blissful. When we chant Om, we feel the vibration in our body, and the body is relaxed. Om is chanted 3 times as it symbolizes the three worlds of the Soul: the past, the present, and the future.
