Pranava ~ in the Beginning was the Word

[Moon]

 

‘’(Ishwara) (Underlying Intelligence) rested in meditation and from those came the three sound..Bhur, Bhuvas, Svar..earth, air and sky. (Ishwara) end rested in meditation and from the three sounds came the sound AUM. Even as all the leaves come from the stem, all words come from the sound AUM. Aum is the whole Universe. Aum is in truth the whole Universe.’  

(Chandogya Upanishad).

 

 

 

The word means Humming. The word to be hummed is AUM. Aum is the alchemical process.

AUM is said to be related to Amen, Amin, Amun, Alm.

 

 

‘’Aum is the word denoting God (Ishwara).’’

Patanjali’s Sutra 27.

‘’The word Aum should be recited repeatedly while dwelling mentally on its meaning.’’  Sutra 28.

 

 

A relates to the world of the body, the conscious mind, the senses, the material world.

U relates to the subconscious mind.

M relates to the Unconscious mind. To the ‘’no-mind’.

 

 

Mandukya Upanishad.

http://gnosis.org/library/mandu.htm

Extracts :

OM is this imperishable Word. OM is the Universe, and this is the exposition of OM.
The past, the present and the future, all that was, all that is, all that will be, is OM.
Likewise all else that may exist beyond the bounds of Time, that too is OM.

The Waker, Vaishwanara, the Universal Male, He is A, the first letter, because of Initiality and Pervasiveness : he that knows Him for such pervades and attains all his desires; he becomes the source and first.

The Dreamer, Taijasa, the Inhabitant in Luminous Mind, He is U, the second letter, because  of Advance and Centrality : He that knows Him for such, advances the bounds of his knowledge and rises above difference : nor of his seed is any born that knows not the Eternal.

The Sleeper, Prajna, the Lord of Wisdom, He is M, the third letter, because of Measure and Finality : he that knows Him for such measures with himself the Universe and becomes the departure into the Eternal.

Letterless is the fourth, the Incommunicable, the end of phenomena, the Good, the One than Whom there is no other : thus is OM. He that knows is the Self and enters by his self into the Self, he that knows, he that knows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although Ishwara is formless there are means of approach or description or apprehension. These are mantra(sound) and yantra (geometrical forms/psychic symbols). Just as we cannot ‘’see’’ mathematical processes, we can apprehend them via expressed formulae.

 

The Shri Yantra is the geometric form of AUM.

Aum is the support for approach to the formless. Repetition is insufficient. There must be concentration on the meaning. It is said for understanding of AUM and thus for liberation, the Mandukya Upanishad is sufficient.

 

AUM is the vibration that came from Shoonya (the Void) to make manifest all things.

 

 

A is Creation.

U is sustaining.

M is dissolving.

 

It  is the primordial sound, said to contain all other sounds, said to be the sound heard by the Rishis in deepest meditation, the song of the spheres. It is the primal seed. It is not a ‘religious’ thing ~ it is a scientific vibration. It does not require belief...just practice. Make the M longer than the A and U sounds. AUM tunes the brainwaves to alpha state.

 

AUM signifies non-duality. All is one. The purpose of mantra is to make the whole mind flow in the one direction. It is but a faint shadow of the transcendental truth, but it will do to light our way.

 

 

“... By dedication (to the practice) comes mental power. From mental power comes sense withdrawal (pratyahara); this makes deep reflection possible. From reflection comes calmness of mind; this leads to illumination or conclusive experience of truth. This illumination intensifies remembrance of truth. This remembrance produces continuous remembrance. Continuous remembrance leads to unbroken, direct realization of truth. By such realization, a person lives in Atman.’’

(Mahanarayana Upanishad)

 

OM SHANTI

[Moon]

Realize Om and sing it in the language of feeling, sing it
with your acts, sing it through every power of your body. Let it
course through your veins, let it pulsate in your bosom, let every
part of your body and every drop of your blood tingle with the
truth that you are…the true Self!…A man who sings Om in all
these ways, chants it with his lips, feels it with his heart and sings
it through action, makes his life a continuous song.…But if you
cannot chant it with feeling nor chant it with your acts, do not
give up, go on chanting it with your lips. Even that is not without
use.…But chanting it through feelings and actions would naturally
follow if you commence humming it with the mouth.

~ Rama Tirtha

From a long Source on Om by Abbott George Burke ~ http://d20h0i7z8cvm2o.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/The-Word-Th...

Om Yoga Meditation Practice

Breath and sound are the two major spiritual powers possessed by us, and here is how they are combined for Om Yoga meditation.

1. Sit upright, comfortable and relaxed, with your hands on your knees or thighs or resting, one on the other, in your lap.

2. Turn your eyes slightly downward. Then close your eyes gently,. This removes visual distractions and reduces your brain-wave activity by about seventy-five percent, thus helping to calm the mind.

3. Breathe naturally. Your mouth should be closed so that all breathing is done through the nose. This, too aids in quieting the mind. Though your mouth is closed, the jaw muscles should be relaxed so the upper and lower teeth are not clenched or touching one another, but parted.

Be aware of your breath naturally (automatically) flowing in and out as you breathe through your nose. Your breathing should always be easeful and natural, not deliberate or artificial.

4. Now in a very quiet and gentle manner begin mentally intoning (“singing” on a single note) Om once throughout each inhalation and once throughout each exhalation. Fit the intonations to the breath–not the breath to the intonations. If the breath is short, then the intonation should be short. If the breath is long, then the intonation should be long.

Make sure the O and the M get approximately “equal time”–Oooommmm, not Oommmmmm or Oooooomm. Don’t torture yourself about this–approximately equal is good enough, and in time your intonations will automatically occur in this right manner. Also, your intonation of Om should begin when your inhalation/exhalation begins and end when it ends. In this way your intonations should be virtually continuous, not with long breaks between them. That is: OommOommOommOomm, or Oomm-Oomm-Oomm-Oomm, rather than Oomm…Oomm…Oomm…Oomm. Here, too, approximately continuous is sufficient.

5. For the rest of your meditation time keep on intoning Om in this manner–in time with the breath–listening to your inner intonations of Om. Let your awareness become fully absorbed in the mentally intoned sound of Om. No need to pull or push the mind–it will naturally come to rest in the sound. Just let the mind relax and sink or melt into it.

6. In time your inner, mental intonations of Om may change to an even more mellow or soft, subtle form, even to an inner whispering that is almost silent, but Om is always fully present and effective, and you will still be intoning Om in your intention. Your intonations may even become silent, like a soundless “mouthing” of Om, yet you will still be intoning Om in your intention. You may find that your intonations of Om move back and forth from more objective to more subtle and back to more objective. Just intone in the manner that is natural at the moment.

7. In the same way you will find that your breath will also become more subtle and refined, and slow down. Sometimes your breath can become so light that it almost seems as though you are not breathing at all, just thinking the breath.

8. In Om Yoga we do not deliberately concentrate on any particular point of the body such as the third eye, as we want the subtle energies of Om to be free to manifest themselves as is best at the moment. However, as you meditate, you may become aware of one or more areas of your brain or body at different times. This is all right when they come and go spontaneously, but keep centered in your intonations of Om.

9. Thoughts, impressions, memories, inner sensations, and suchlike may also arise during meditation. Be calmly aware of all these things in a detached and objective manner, but keep your attention centered in your intonations of Om in time with your breath. Do not let your attention become centered on or caught up in any inner or outer phenomena. Be calmly aware of all these things in a detached and objective manner–they are part of the transforming work of Om, and are perfectly all right–but keep your attention centered in your intonations of Om in time with your breath. Even though something feels very right or good when it occurs, it should not be forced or hung on to. The sum and substance of it all is this: It is not the experience we are after, but the effect. Also, since we are all different–unique, actually–no one can say exactly what a person’s experiences in meditation are going to be like.

10. If you find yourself getting restless, distracted, “fuzzy,” anxious or tense in any degree, just take a deep breath and let it out fully, feeling that you are releasing and breathing out all tensions, and continue as before in a relaxed and easeful manner, without strain.

11. Remember: Om Yoga meditation basically consists of three things: a) sitting with the downturned eyes closed; b) being aware of our breath as it moves in and out, and c) mentally intoning Om in time with the breath and listening to those mental intonations–all in a relaxed and easeful manner, without strain.

12. At the end of your meditation get up and go about your usual daily routine while continuing to intone Om in time with your breath. If sometimes you cannot intone in time with your breath, then intone Om over and over like the tolling of a bell until you can resume intoning with the breath. (See more on this in Chapter Four.)

 

From a shorter Source on Om by Abbott George Burke ~ http://www.ocoy.org/original-yoga/om-yoga/