Chant of the Month AUM 6

Many symbols but one entity

• The Aum sounds are links to India’s Vedic past, the many concepts are the world’s oldest continuous documented spiritual, and philosophical representations of a union between creation and all life forms in the Universe.
• Om is an entity and is symbolically represented by many symbols enclosing its divinity. All thinkers, Rishis, swamis of Vedanta, Upanishads, and Purans agreed about the word OM since the same word was revealed to them in their intellectual meditation.
• In Buddhism, OM is considered "the syllable which preceded the universe and from which the gods were created."8 Om is often the first word or sound in some of Buddhism's most important mantras.
• Om is the comforter of all. All religious ideas are centered on OM. The breath sings always OM, the song of infinity and Immortality. The thought of Om elevates the minds of all. The Christians and the Hebrews end their prayers with 'Amen' which is a modification of Om. Both are in harmony with the arrangement of vowels and consonants in the existing vibrations of the universe.
• Spoken syllable A vowel is a speech sound made with your mouth fairly open, the nucleus of a. A consonant is a sound made with your mouth fairly closed. (We will analyze this in later discussions)

• Many symbols are inspirational mantra japs as they are very important for understanding the supreme power of Paramatma and for grabbing his existence through mind, body, and intellect. Praying to the divine at short and regular intervals makes it easier to establish communication with supreme power hence the symbol of AUM helps the devotee to focus.