When you chant OM with the right understanding, it becomes a powerful yoga practice in it’s own right.
Chanting OM has it’s own effect, and can be a powerful meditation. While it is a general mantra that does not require initiation, it is useful to know WHY we chant OM when beginning the practice of yoga. Chanting OM creates detachment and empowers all mental and spiritual processes. It can take you all the way to deep states of yoga, if you have good concentration.
It is held that a mantra must be empowered by usage for a long time before it takes effect. Depending on the number of syllables in the mantra, it can take 16,000 or more repetitions before it “unlocks”. That’s if you’re concentrating though. Having your brain wander off on to unrelated things while chanting might make it take longer. So here ya go, read the following and practice chanting OM this way and shave off a few years from reaching the goal of enlightenment.
I hear so many variations of off-key and in-key people chanting when we do our beginning and ending OM mantras. I hear people starting with an UH sound, an O sound, EI, and an extended AU sound. So which is it?
First of all, I’d like to suggest that OM is spelled wrong! Not that this is unheard of, but in general, we should switch our spelling of OM to AUM. It is after all, a mantra with three separate audible parts.
Those three parts of the sound of AUM are said to include the totality of the 16 vowels of Sanskrit, which, in the Kashmir tantric philosophy of Matrika makes up the body of Shiva. The represents birth, the U -life, and M- death. Together it represents the entirety of the process of existence.
Being that AUM is the spectrum of all the Sanskrit vowels, the first A in Sanskrit actually has a UH sound and the second long A is like AHHHH. The last letter is AM. All together it starts with a sound of UH, moves into AHH, then UUUU and of course ends with M.
The mantra is said to have four parts; the beginning, the middle, the ending and the vibration afterwards. There are multiple correspondences for these:
“A” Beginning, opening, birth, Brahma, waking state of mind
“U” middle, sustaining, life, Vishnu, dreaming state of mind
“M” end, death, ending, Shiva, deep sleep state of mind
“ending vibration” - transcendence, samadhi
Those four parts also have their relevance to the four levels of speech: gross (vaikhari), subtle (madyama), energetic (pashanti), and divine (para). These four levels of speech is how all objects/nature (prakriti) come to manifestation.
“A”: gross, audible speech, concentrate at the throat center
“U”: subtle, reflecting deeply upon something, focus at the heart
“M”: energetic, the archetypes. focus at the navel
“VIBRATION/STILLNESS”: divine, the initial impulse of speech, the vibration after the AUM, concentrate at the space below the tailbone
Notice how the mind changes to become more subtle when you move your concentration down lower inside the torso. It’s interesting that we always focus on “going up” in yoga but here as you chant AUM you move downwards first. You must go down before you can go up!
It’s also a good thing to remember that AUM is not religious, we can say that it is the same as when Christians say “amen”.
Have a lovely day. Mucho love beams to you all, Adrian Cox
10 responses so far ↓
1 mkrajczar (locamorgan) // Feb 9, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Dear Adrian,
This is a great article and one that will help me in explaining “AUM” better. I had talked before about Awaking Dreaming Sleeping, but not about the parts of the body that correspond. The last paragraph on where the sound resonates, truly does resonate within me.
I get it!
Have a lovely day, Morgan
2 Bike riding in Bangkok | Downward Facing Blog // Feb 21, 2008 at 11:41 pm
[…] total of her energy is also represented in the seed mantra “DOOM”. Add a beginning of OM, which empowers all other mantras that follow, and an ending of NAMAHA or SWAHA which means, […]
3 MyRawYear.com // Feb 27, 2008 at 1:22 pm
[…] Just in case you were wondering how to chant the syllable, OM, here it is on the Downward Facing Blog. […]
4 Tricia // May 28, 2008 at 2:12 pm
hello my adrian.
i have to say my biggest problem with yoga is the Om-ing and the chanting and the spirituality bit. I like the stretching and the poses and the concentration, but having grown up Catholic, which is a very ritualistic religion, and no longer believing in any higher power, I really find this aspect of yoga deeply annoying. I just want to go and de-stress and I don’t want to chant, or take part in anything ritualistic. I don’t know what to do about this. It’s truly bothersome to me.
5 Adrian Cox // May 28, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Hey Tricia, yeah I didn’t figure you’d be going to yoga to do OM chanting
Not that I expect this to convert you, nor do I think it’s necessary buuuut…
The framework between the Christian/old testament faiths and the Vedic system is completely different however. Here there is no higher power or authority that is separate from you. Do you believe in a higher aspect of yourself? To demonstrate by contrast, are there days where you’re not at your best, an other days where you’re more giving, loving, open, etc? The higher power can start by being the best possible side and potential of Tricia Romano, that’s it.
If you were interested, you can find a way to understand these practices in your way. That’s what’s great about mystical work… it’s totally personal. If you’re not interested, then maybe check out other teachers? Iyengar yoga can be quite straight forward that way.
One day, you and I are gonna have an energy healing, prayer circle and all hug each other to nurse our wounded inner child and then pray to Jesus that you find a good husband and make lots of babies. HAHAHAHAHA Om shanti :-p
6 Jeroen // Sep 23, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Hey thanks for that, just came back from Yoga class. Next time I chant AUM three times it will have deeper meaning! Have a great day too.
7 Prem // Feb 21, 2009 at 10:27 am
Dear,
very nice article.
one difficulty, I did not understand the exact location of “concentrate at the space below the tailbone” please explain more
AUM AUM AUM
8 sarika // Apr 15, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Its really nice article
9 sudip kumar roy // Apr 22, 2009 at 9:05 pm
I am interested to know what is the time ratio to pronounce A U and M. Though it is not authentic, I learned that the ratio is 2:4:8. I practice this everyday during prayer and get such pleasure that I cannot explain. Thank you for your teaching that movement of AUM is downward. The cerebrospinal fluid is collected at Muladhar after its use in the brain and I think the last part of AUM can exite the specific chakra to bring that liquid to Sahashrar. Please teach me more about AUM is possible.
With heartiest respect
10 Neil // Dec 10, 2009 at 6:03 am
Tricia, I’m a “recovering” Roman Catholic. If references to some higher power make you uncomfortable, discard them.
To me, the OM is more of a symbol of the immediate experience of reality. It symbolizes my relationship to my immediate experience. There’s nothing new-agey or religious about it.
After all, what’s more real; stories your parents and priest told you about stuff that allegedly happened thousands of years ago, or your immediate verifiable experience in front of you?
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