Review

Hari OM

'Text-days' are for delving into the words and theory of Advaita Vedanta.

The Upanishads are many, but of those many, there are key texts which form the very foundation of advaita vedanta. All the lesser known Upanishads are variations upon the so-called major teachings. Even between the ten or eleven 'senior' Upanishads, there is a common thread found. This is important as it demonstrates a consistency and cohesion to the overall teaching, whilst allowing for presentation in multiple contexts so that people of all abilities can grasp the essentials of the philosophy. There is something for everyone! What is more, if taught in a proper manner, it can also be found that there is a 'ladder', so that no matter how difficult a text is, if the steps have been taken correctly, no insurmountable difficulty will be faced.

Each of the prakarana granthas which have been presented here thus far follow a specific 'ladder' of learning, so that everyone can raise their understanding at their own pace.

Thus far there has been introduction to the BMI chart (use the labels listing in sidebar to access related items), there has been a discussion on saadhana and introspection to help self-assessment, there has been the occasional discussion about prayer, and we have read;

Saadhana panchakam (overview of the path of the serious seeker)

Tattva-bodaH (introduction to technical terminology)

Aatmabodha (introduction to the higher tenets of the philosophy)

On Wings & Wheels (introduction to deeper thinking about intention and purpose with reference to ethics)

That has been a well-filled three years … if it has made a difference in life. If it has been taken in and applied to life. If it has been seen to be a worthwhile modality of life.

We are reaching a point where much more serious study can be undertaken, where commitment needs to be shown. Yamini-amma is giving some deep thought as to how this next phase of learning might best be delivered. Until then, the texts of prayers will be explored. Today though, a video clip of a very short Upanishad, but one of the most profound, as it holds the entire concept of Vedanta in its few stanzas. This is an English rendition and, if you have read as is expected and inculcated as is hoped, then you will gain much just from the listening to this and will be able to 'fill in between the lines', as it were.

Do not be distracted by the pretty graphics - allow yourself a once-through watch, but note how the words can become lost due to the allure for the eye! Run it again with your eyes closed and listen closely. See if you note what was missed, and note what was heard and how it may differ now for the attention being paid to it. This is all part of learning, and of saadhana.

Chant

Hari Om

Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation

Mantra of OM for you today. A short one to start your day well...

OM - Start Your Day

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

Self-explanatory...

Take Meaning

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

A sound-byte today, from the Dalai Lama, which touches upon the subject in yesterday's post.

OM chant

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

On OM

Hari OM

Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.

Health is improving this side, but 'economising on energy' still, hence another video for your perusal.

OM focus

Hari Om

Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation

A simple OM meditation today, everyone! Keep re-assessing your aasana and praana; bring to mind any mananam you have lingering regarding OM; centre it in the 'mind's eye'. "See" only OM; chant aloud with the monks if it helps. Fade your ego into That...

OM Alone

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.

Following on from last week's discussion on sphota, we can now take up a response given by Swami Vivekananda to the question as to why OM was chosen as the 'thought concept' out of which the universe became manifest. He wrote:

"This OM is the only possible symbol which covers the whole ground, and there is none like it. The sphota is the material of all words, yet it is not any definite word in its fully-formed state. That is to say, if all the particularities which distinguish one word from another be removed, then what remains will be the sphota. Therefore this sphota is called the naada-Brahman, [sound-Brahman]. Now every word symbol intended to express the inexpressible sphota, will so particularise it that it will no longer be the sphota. That which particularizes it the least and at the same time most approximately expresses its nature, will be the truest symbol thereof; and this is the OM and OM only. These three letters A,U,M, pronounced in combination as OM, can alone be the generalised symbol of all possible sounds. The letter A is the least differentiate of all sounds. Again, all articulate sounds are produced in the space within the mouth, beginning with the root of the tongue and ending at the lips. The throat sound is the A, the U is the rolling forward of that sound over the tongue and echoed in the palate, and finally the lips come together as the sound presses still more forward, giving the vibration of M.

If properly pronounced, this OM will represent in itself the whole phenomenon of sound production and no other word can do this. This therefore, is the fittest symbol of the sphota and, as the symbol can never be separated from the thing signified, the OM and the sphota are one. The sphota being the essence of the manifest universe, it can thus be said that OM represents the creative principle, the Divine Wisdom…"

By now, you are grasping the importance of sphota… that part of sound to which we are mainly deaf but which affects us deeply. Its purest nature is expressed through OM and thus OM represents the entire universe, manifest and unmanifest - the Brahman - the substratum which is changeless and upon which all this world can play.

The importance and prominence of OM is now revealing itself. It is for the reason of its representation, that no mantra ever begins without the pronunciation of OM preceding it. Without OM at its head, any mantra loses its power - these bodies we inhabit are nothing without the breath we take and OM, as 'pranava', is the very breath of mantras. Vedantic students do well to meditate upon and to chant the single-syllable mantra that is OM; it is called pranava upaasanaa. What was not mentioned in Vivekananada-ji's quote, is the silence which prevails at the end of the M and before taking up the A once more. Turiiya is an important part of the chanting, as it represents the unmanifest and also that to which all returns.

Beyond this word, though, are the other mantras. We are going to be looking at one in particular, but before that, there is just a little more to understand; we shall take this up next week.

SAADHANA

Keep up your practice of aasana, prana, japa, using OM alone.

Grab The Vibe

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.

Delving into linguistics for a brief moment, let us discuss the concept of S)aeq/sphota. The most succinct explanation of this idea is that it is the 'essence of meaning distinct from sound'. If we can grasp the sphota within a sound, we gather a meaning far beyond the utterance of that sound and entirely separate from any imagery (lettering) attached to it. Think about music which touches you in parts of your being which has nothing to do with the act of hearing itself - the effect generated is the vibration set up within you in response to the sound heard. This is sphota.

Many languages have this potential - we all know about the 'power of speech', but tend to think of it as being based upon the words and dictionary meanings. Yet, if we have sat before a speaker of worth, that speaker may actually be using the simplest of language, but be imbuing it with meaning which comes from within them - or beyond them. They are a conduit for the energy of meaning. The vibration has to be  'just so'. It is this very thing which can split an audience, because the receiver also has to be attuned and open to the possibilities being presented. Those who are, will find themselves thinking on wider implications than were presented in the speech - those who are not will wonder what all the fuss is about!

Every now and then, though, will come along a speaker who somehow reaches a greater number of listeners. More than the words, there will be the timbre of the voice, the feeling and emphasis used, the engagement with the audience. The same simple speech given by three different speakers will have three different effects.  This is the nature of sound and has little to do with the words themselves. The same words presented (pronounced) differently will have differing results.

Sphota, then, whilst a purely Sanskrit concept, is actually something with which we are all familiar! It is, in part, sphota within language which aids communication when we travel in foreign places and do not speak the local tongue. Essence of meaning can be conveyed in many ways.

Thus, coming back to what we mean when we talk about the sphota in relation to OM, it is, in the simplest of terms, the vibration. (Still not completely accurate, but sufficient for our purposes here.) Sanskrit is a language ripe in sphota - particularly important when it comes to mantras. When we say our prayers, in the Western tradition, we are relying on the words almost entirely - with perhaps some emotion behind them - because we have externalised communication so much and are engaged (through our ego) with a desire for outcome. In mantra prayers, though, there is an in-built vibration which helps us to let go of our ego and surrender to the process of prayer without emotion or expectation of any kind.

What is more, there is a mantra for almost every contingent in life. Western tradition does have some 'set prayers' (note that we are talking about the individual seeker here, not formal service in places of worship), a prime example being the Lord's Prayer and in the Catholic church there are set prayers to certain saints (mimicking the Sanskrit tradition); but for the person who has some angst about this or that, or who wishes to give thanks and praise in a particular way, it is mostly left up to them to use whatever words they have at their disposal.

For the Hindu, though, there will be a specific mantra for the occasion. In this way, mantras might almost be considered scientific formulae, or for the more romantically-minded, as 'spells'. They have been tried and tested over millennia and are still used today.

Of all the mantras available, the shortest and, potentially, the most powerful is the single-word OM. It's essence cannot be ignored, even by those who never grew up in the tradition. OM chanting has become popular the world over.

It may be wondered how OM came to be the representative of the 'thought' from which the Universe became manifest…

...tbc...

Beyond

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.

The relevance of OM to the entire world was indicated last week. It is such a basic principle to the state of existence that it has no boundaries of culture or creed. The Maitraayana Upanishad, after stating that there is only one Brahman without words says that there came the 'word-Brahman' and that word is OM. Thus it is made clear that OM is a manifestation from the unmanifest. It is also called as 'pranava', that which pervades in the way that breathing pervades life. Another, more widely known upanishad, the Maanduukya makes its entire statement upon the syllable of OM. It is in this text that we find the OM explored in terms of the triavastaaH - waking, dream and deep sleep states, then moving onto the fourth state of 'turiiya'… this is done by noting that the sound syllable is made up of A, U and M then some characters which are not so much letter, but accents. We have explored this in an earlier post.

We can utilise the OM for meditation purposes by visualising the states as discussed previously. Our focus in the current series of explorations, though, is the sound quality - the 'mantra element' - of the symbol.

In every piece of music we have to take under consideration firstly its sound, secondly the laws of music and thirdly the meaning to be gained from it. We all do this when listening to any form of music, however unfocused we are! This is the magic of music. It reaches us and affects us even when we are not consciously listening to it. It is this very thing which makes the use of music in public places, in advertising and so on so very powerful.

Do not underestimate the power of sound as given out in musical tone!

With OM there is the sound - the pronunciation via the mouth; the technical - application of 'laws' upon one's character; and the meaning - the essence beyond the sound which affects one emotionally. OM is the representative of that which is beyond sound, the Eternal Self - that Self is indicated by the turiiya - the silence which surrounds the sound. Where A, U and M, as individual maatraas (sound elements) clearly represent the waking, dream and deep-sleep ego-self, OM as a complete symbol also contains that representation of that which is witness to all. Memory can only pertain to the individual. A brother cannot have the memories of his sister, nor she his. They may have similar memories around a shared event, but each will have only their own memories and these may have variations according to their own subjective natures. The law of memory is that the rememberer and the experiencer must be one and the same. This is the entity which knows what happens to the self in each of the different states and each of those states can only reflect the experiences of that individual, not of anyone else. That observer entity which is referred to as 'sakshii' in general usage, is here, in the OM, referred to as 'turiiya'. This is because there is a 'sound' a vibration, albeit "silence".

The A, U, M are as essential to the sound as the silence upon which they are imposed. Thus we can surmise that silence is ever-abiding and sound, representing the three states of living, is transient. Yet, by the very fact that sound can arise, we must say that sound has the potential to be ever-present in its naked form of silence. It is a part of silence. Without the presence of silence, sound would not be possible.

Without the presence of Brahman, we would not be possible…

SAADHANA

Review the 'AUM Explorer' posts. … review more! Constantly reinforce understanding, correct understanding, discover new understanding. This is the process.

OMKARA - The Letter to Bind Us All

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.

Saadhana Booster

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.

Last week we read about surrender. We must allow the process of japa and mantra to wash over us and permit purification. Make this week a saadhana 'booster' week. Lengthen the daily practice and enforce the discipline. It is Diwali, the time of setting new projects in place, so an ideal time to commit to saadhana!

For this week, regardless of any other mantra you may have been using till now, use only OM.

OM is the symbol of that Infinite Self, thus every prayer, every mantra, even every new endeavour ought to begin with chanting of that and that alone. All else which follows it then reverberates with the essence of OM, including the name of the Lord which we choose and also the prostrations we offer. Japa, properly undertaken, is not only a preparatory measure for meditation, it is itself a vehicle to the Higher and helps to ease our pains, reduce our imperfections and clear the path to the Infinite.

Next week we shall go again into study of the Gayatri Mantra. Till then, read over the japa notes once more. Practice, practice, practice - and may you at last begin to feel the pull and lift of japa yoga.

Gurudev on The Quest

Hari OM

Story-day is for cultural exploration, puraanas and parables and finding out about leading lights in spiritual philosophy.

As May is the focus month of Chimaya Mission on Gurudev, Storyday for the month is also paying homage.

Gurudev wrote;

 

I am unborn!

The day you decide to turn a new leaf and live a more meaningful, creative life, that is the BIRTH day. Make every day a new birth - and progress in our own inner beauty and outer achievements.

It is a strange bridge, from your stupid ego to the Infinite Reality. Each time you take two steps, the bridge behind you is burnt.

Practice at AUM

Hari OM

Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation.

Section four of the exploration of Gurudev's 'Meditation & Life' we will begin next week. This 'Leap' day, why not take the leap into full OM meditation?! Have shared this chanting with you before on Sounds-day, but it is absolutely on the mark at this point in this deeper study we have been making … and practicing - we HAVE, haven't we???

Settle yourselves in aasana, go through the breath-work  and mental check-in with the body to ensure minimal interruption from your own self. If it helps with the focus, use earphones to listen to this.

Start by chanting out loud along with the monks.. But gradually let them take over and internalise the chanting. Keep it going. Let nothing come in the way of OM. At the end of the recording there an extended period of silence. If you have focused well, you are likely not to notice that and hear only the internal chant you have set up within. See if you can then drop even that thought focus and enter the tuuriya - the place of silent awareness.

The Sacred Number

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

An Earthing Experience

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

108 Charm

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

Another fine OM chant with which to still yourself and the day.

Centre Yourself

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

Let us keep the chant of ultimate peace the theme of this first month of the year.

A.U.M.

Hari OM

Sounds-day is for listening/viewing a variety of devotional items from and for all ages and traditions.

Let us have a full hour of meditation today. Having been learning further about Om, settle yourselves with this as your guide.

Gaayatrii - The What...

Hari OM

Application - that is what 'Workings-days' are about!

We are now undertaking basic technical discourse on Vedanta. The text forming the basis of these posts is 'Kindle Life'. Please do reread previous posts using the labels 'Workings-days' or 'Kindle Life'.

Ch. 28 गायत्री मन्त्र /gaayatrii maantra (cont'd). Today we enter an exploration of the great Gaayatrii Mantra. For now, concentrate on assimilating the best understanding you can. At the end of the exploration (and therefore this chapter of KL), we will do a full practice of pronunciation and metre.

(c) ॐ  YAM-yum

A great many of you will have heard this mantra at some point or other. It holds an equivalent place in the canon of sanatana dharma as the Lord's Prayer of the New Testament.  Within sanatana dharma, there is a concept that this great prayer was uttered by the Creator - which many in the current age are inclined to disparage as exaggerated and over imaginative. However, it is also a fact that even Western scholars, the greater sceptics in this regard perhaps, by virtue of not having any emotional tie to this idea, have themselves declared the Gaayatrii Mantra as one of the oldest available hymns. Throughout all the twists and turns of history in sanatana dharma, the strong oral tradition of Sanskrit has preserved the teachings and this mantra, in particular, continues to wield compelling vibration in the heart. It is not simply a belief, but an actual observation, that by repetition of the Gaayaatri (with correct understanding of meaning), the ordinary, negative tendencies in a human mind can be erased to a large extent. This, of course, could be said of any dedicated prayer, given full focus and redirecting the mind from its distractions.

This mantra is never chanted for the purpose of material gains, physical or otherwise. Its invocation concludes with an appeal to the Pure Consciousness to illumine our heart even more. It is a prayer to the higher Self within us to drop its veil so that we may enter the Purest Wisdom.

Gaayatrii mantra is also called as Shavitrii mantra, which is in relation to the sun. The term comes from the earliest Vedic literature and it is there that we find the metre which is set in this first hymn of this type - there are to be found, subsequently, many other gaayatrii to various aspects of the divine. This, though, is THE Gaayatrii and considered the most important of all these prayers.

What exactly is the Gaayatrii metre, then? It is generally constituted of three paadas (lines), each containing eight syllables. This does not include the precursory chanting. Therefore the three lines of the Gaayatrii are -

Om tat-savitur varenyam

Bhargo devasya dhiimahi

Dhiyo yo-naH prachodayaat.

Strictly speaking, the omkara ( ॐ ) as also a precursor and not an actual part of the chant; it has been placed, however, to ensure the eight-syllables required. Traditionally, the last syllable '-nyam' of the first paada, is likely to have been clearly pronounced as 'ni' then 'am'. However this usage may have been dropped, as all mantras of any variety within Samskritam are preceded with omkara and, therefore, the syllable measure is satisfied.

Gaayatrii mantra is from the Rig-veda and is found in third mandala (book), in the sixtieth suutra (chapter - actually 'thread') and is the tenth mantra there. Mantra is the term used for all prayers and hymns in Sanskrit literature and refers to very specific rhythmic structure with potential for deep effects upon the chanter. The 'seer' (Rshi) of the mantra is the saint, Vishvaamitra, who is attributed with all the mantras of the third mandala of the Rig-veda. This Gaayatrii is also found in both the Shukla (white) and Krshna (black) Yajur-vedas.

The mantra is dedicated to Sri SavitR - generally accepted to be representative of the Sun. This makes sense, given that the Sun is responsible for life; it gives all illumination to the world and this prayer is for illumination, albeit beyond anything the physical Sun could actually provide. A translation of this mantra would be, "We meditate upon the auspicious light of Lord Sun; may that heavenly light illumine our thought-flow in our intellect." You will find many variations of this interpretation but all saying essentially the same thing… by opening our heart/mind to the teachings which bring the light of knowledge, we ourselves will become enlightened.

Next week, we shall learn a little more about the application of the prayer in the tradition.