ॐ

ॐ  is sacred sound representing the eternal worlds of Brahman, it is a combination of three sounds 'a', 'u' and 'm'  representing Brahma ( The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver) and Mahesh ( The destroyer), the first and foremost mono syllable Mantra, which is considered as the most powerful of all Mantras, the sanskrit name for this mono syllable is pranava, it is chanted with a humming sound or drowning sound in to silence.

Every Mantra begins with this mono syllable Mantra, it is signifier of ultimate truth that all is 'one'. As it is very sacred, this mono syllable can be found almost every where in India, on the gates, walls, temples, schools, books etc.

This mono syllable is explained in Mandukya upanishad, 'the three matras'.

The ‘a’ stands for the first stage of wakefulness, The mind and the sense organs experience the totality of the external experiences.

The ‘u’ stands for the dream state of sleep in which only the mind is awake, the experience is limited to Mental only.

The sound 'm' represents the state of deep sleep, when even the mind has gone to sleep but there is a awareness that the body and mind is sleeping and the source of this awareness is, 'the soul' which has the memory of sleep.

The fourth state ( Turiya Avastha) corresponding to the silence after the three sounds of 'a', 'u' and 'm' had been recited and in this stage it is only the conciousness) which is present in silence, and it is Brahman.

Any meditation muct reach this silence through 'Aum'.

ॐ नमः शिवाय !

Sianala, Montreal, July 2007