OM, a global spiritual recipe

Chanting of 'Om' is a good relaxation technique in today's stressful lifestyle.

The word 'Om' contains tremendous spiritual power. Meditating on the word ‘Om' or continuous recitation of 'Om' can bring internal happiness and peace within an individual. In scientific terminology, the word 'Om' is not confined to any particular religion but represents the universal voice of the nature.

The word 'Om' is formed by the combination of three letters, A, U and M. One of the accepted description is that the alphabet 'A' represents the physical plane (physical body and the pranic body), the alphabet 'U' represents the mental plane (mind, intellect and ego) and the alphabet 'M' represents the higher spiritual planes (astral or causal planes) and represent pure conscious state of an individual.

In terms of consciousness, the letter 'A' is the first state of consciousness and represents awake (jagrat) state. The letter 'U' represents the dream state and the letter 'M', the third state of consciousness, represents the sleep (sushupti) state. The combination of all the three states represent the word 'Om' which is called the fourth state or the ‘Turiya' state of consciousness. This practice can help drive away all worldly thoughts from the mind and help in achieving a state of mental relaxation.

All alphabets are hidden in the word 'Om' (AUM). The sound A is produced from the deeper part of the throat, the word U from the middle part of the mouth and the word M from the lips, labials and the teeth, the front part of the mouth. The word ‘Aum’, therefore, represents production of complete speech.

Mandukya Upanishad describes 'Om'. Other Upanishads also talk about this word. According to Kathopanishad ‘Om' is a great word of which all the Vedas speak about.

All of us have learnt about vowels and consonants. The consonant is a sound which cannot be spoken without the aid of a vowel. The alphabets ‘A' and ‘U' in Sanskrit are the parents of all other vowels. The alphabet ‘M' is a consonant which when spoken produces vibrations as it involves the movement of the lip, the mandible and the teeth.

During inhalation and exhalation (process of respiration) one produces the sound ‘so’ (inhale) and ‘ham’ (exhale). The word ‘soham', therefore, is repeated with every breath. From the word, 'soham' if the consonants (s & h) are deleted, the word 'oam' remains, which is also the form of 'Om'.

In Sanskrit language ‘A' is the first letter of alphabet and 'M' the last. Thus, ‘A' & ‘M' represent everything from a to z i.e. from beginning to the end.

If one listen to the sounds of nature like the one produced by the flowing Ganges, the sound from the Himalayas, the sound produced from the bustle of the market, the one which is produced when the fly wheel of an engine is set in motion, the sound of landslides or the bustles of the city, the sound caused by rains, the one which is produced when there is a fire or thunder, you will find that these are nothing but manifestations of ‘Om' in the nature. The creating force ‘Om' is the symbol of that creating source which many religions call as ‘God'. It is the monosyllable of sacred value and is the essence of traditional Indian Vedas. It can be considered like a boat, which can carry you to a journey towards internal happiness.

Whenever one has a physical pain the body produces a vowel sound - ah, ee, oui, ma, ii, oo etc. Chanting of vowels produces physical health.

When one is disturbed, he or she gets relaxed with weeping. Weeping sound is um, un, ong, unn spoken from the nose during expiration. Each one is the last sound of Sanskrit alphabets of each line. Chanting of weeping sounds has been known to produce delta activity in the brain EEG waves, which is consistent with tranquillity of mind. Weeping sound, therefore, produces mental relaxation. If one chants both a vowel and a 'M' in the weeping sound, one will get both physical and mental relaxation and that is what spiritual relaxation is.

All healing sounds have these two in common. ‘Ahmeen’, ameeen, hoong, im, um, aoung etc. are all mantra sounds in different religions and have the same spiritual significance as the sound of 'AUM'.

The word ‘Om' by its mere vibrations can destroy all germs which can cause diseases. The only thing required is to sit quietly at a place detached from the outside world and chant ‘Om' for just three to five minutes, two to three times in a day. This practice can help drive away all the worldly thoughts from the mind and help in achieving a state of mental relaxation. This practice, therefore, can be a good relaxation technique in today's stressful lifestyle.

(Dr. Aggarwal is Sr. Consultant in Mool Chand Hospital, Executive Vice Chairman, Heart Care Foundation of India and President, IMA New Delhi Branch.)