10.14.05

Om the Sacred Sound

Posted in Buddhism, Religion/Philosophy at 6:03 pm by site admin

I have been reading Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse with Elisa. Near the middle of the book Siddhartha foresakes his life as a merchant and returns to his life as an ascetic. Eventually he reaches a river and debates on killing himself. As he questions his life, he hears a voice speak the mystical word ‘Om’.

So the question I had is why is Om a special word. For many Hindus and Buddhists, Om represents creation. It signifies God and and the one-ness of everything. According to ancient Hindu beliefs, God first created sound, and these sounds manifested themselves into the phenomenal world. While many years ago this belief sounded unscientific, more modern research in physics has shown that energy and matter are connect (e.g. E=mc^2).

So why does Om mean what it means?

By examining the Sanskrit we can see that ‘Om’ actually contains 3 sounds. First the diphthong ‘o’ which actually consits of two simplier vowels ‘a’ (short a, as in the english word ‘but’) and ‘u’ (short u as in the english word ‘put’). The final sound is the ‘m’ sound produced when your lips get closed.

Now the ‘a’ sound is a pure sonant (sound produced with the vocal cords). It is the simpliest sound one can produce using the vocal cords. Consequently, it should come as no suprise why ‘a’ is considered a primal sound present throughout all of the worlds languages. Since the ‘a’ sound is produced with an open mouth it can tangibly represent creation. Now the ‘u’ sound occurs when you begin to close your mouth. The point of vibration thus shifts from solely the throat to the mouth. And then finally when ‘m’ is produced, the point of vibration shifts to the now closed lips. Thus ‘m’ signifies destruction and the end of the cycle. ‘Om’ (or Aum) represents the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. When one utters ‘Om’ successively, the trinity of creation, preservation, and destruction presents itself in a continuous cycle.

Now there is considerable analysis of the written form of ‘Om’ and its various symbolic meanings. If you are interested in such manifestations of the way, check out http://om.exoticindiaart.com/, http://www.omsakthi.org/worship/mantra.html, and http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa022200.htm. Remember though, an oral languages preceeds its written form.

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