Hari
Om
Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation
For the next stage of our investigation on
meditation, we are going to study - and practice! - japa as a means to tame the
mind and we shall investigate the Gayatri Mantra.
There
are three types of mantras;
Those that invoke the low powers of nature
(taamasik)
Those that excite and manifest might and power
(raajasik)
Those that lead to spiritual experience (saatvik)
All
these fall under a further classification;
Those that need only be chanted without
necessarily knowing or understanding their meaning
Those that are invocational and require the
devotee to know and understand their meaning in order to focus correctly.
Further,
mantras may be written in prose form (yajus, or 'Yajur', veda), or in poetic
metre (Rk, or 'Rig' veda).
Of all the mantras, the most powerful and significant one is
the single-syllabled incantation called à[v/pranava - this is the OM. There are
endless writings on the importance and value of this apparently simple mantra.
So profound is the effect of OM that it is recognised globally, even if not
understood. No matter what one's background, listening to the vibrant sound of
the chanting of OM has a pacific and rejuvenating effect. So deeply, so
efficiently does OM wield its unifying and universal power, in most cases any
explanation or exploration of its depths is not required.
However,
for the ardent student of spirit, to truly rise through the transcendent ranks,
it is imperative to make this investigation. Little by little, all the Sanskrit
texts introduce and expand upon the nature and purpose of OM.
Pranava
is the first breath, the first sound. Think. In every alphabet, the first
letter is "A" (or it's approximation). It is the first sound a baby
makes. Not because it knows or understands 'a', but because it is a sound which
happens simply by exercising one's breath against the substance of the body
called the vocal chords. In the same way, when the Universe first came into
being, ether and substance rubbed against each other and the first ever sound
began… "A"… Just as a baby starts to shape its lips and begins to
understand it can alter sound, so the birthing Universe expanded its substance
and the ether relaxed somewhat… "U" … Then, as a baby learns that
closing its lips and still breathing it can make further sounds, so the
settling Universe grew stiller and more formed… "M"… As a baby stops
for a moment pondering the noise it has just made, so the Universe knows also
that from which it came, that which is beyond sound… "Turiiya"…
essential silence.
AUM
was the first triputi - grouping of three. The A stands for Brahma, the creator
("Father", U for Vishnu who sustains creation "Son", M is
for Shiva who ensures everything turns full circle and returns to source
("Holy ghost"). Birth, Life, Death. In AUM/OM we find that the Rsis
of the far distant past, sitting in their high Himalayan meditation seats,
'heard' the birth of the Universe, they 'heard' its background sound (something
modern science is only just
catching up with) and they understood the physics of the Universal creative
process. They also were able to perceive that before all the noise and bluster,
there was a silence, a peace which passeth all understanding.
There
is a verse in the vedas;
Prajapati vai idam agra asit
Tasya vak dvitiya asit
Vag vai paramam Brahma
"In the beginning was Prajapati, the Brahman with whom was the
Word, and
the Word was verily the Supreme Brahman."
Does this look familiar? It is very important for those of us of
Christian background to understand and accept that Yeshu, whilst absent for
some fourteen years from His home, was on a 'yaatra', a tour of spiritual
purpose, and had learned a great deal whilst he was away. Much of His teaching echoes Vedantic philosophy.
That His disciple John clearly listened well is evident in the use of this
phrase in the gospel attributed to him; "In the beginning was The Word and
The Word was with God and The Word was God". Remembering that the Sanskrit
teachings pre-date the Christian era by at least as many centuries again and
possibly three times the timeline, one cannot study them without returning to
the later words of Christ and reading with fresh and delighted heart. Gurudev
was once challenged as to his teaching Hindu scriptures to non-Hindus. His
response, "I do not seek to make Hindus of Christians but to make them
better Christians!"
Take time to be clear here and do not confuse the use of Brahma (a
name for 'God') and Brahman, the name necessarily we must give to that which is
nameless, the essential silence from which the word arose, the peaceful
conscious kernel of Existence in which the thunder of the Universe
erupted. Note also that 'pranava'
literally means 'pervasive breath', thus it is acknowledged that no life can
exist without it.
OM is all-pervasive and those who come into awareness of it never
lose it. We shall explore more next week.
