"Parambrahma causes creation, inert Nature (Prakriti), to emerge. From Aum (Pranava, the Word, the manifestation of the Omnipotent Force), come Kala, Time; Desa, Space; and Anu, the Atom (the vibratory structure of creation)." (Swami Sri Yukteswar, The Holy Science, Sutra 3)
"The Word, Amen (Aum), is the beginning of the Creation. The manifestation of Omnipotent Force (the Repulsion and its complementary expression, Omniscient Feeling or Love, the Attraction) is vibration, which appears as a peculiar sound: the Word, Amen, Aum." (Swami Sri Yukteswar, The Holy Science, Sutra 3)
"There are many meditators who take visions, colors and inner sounds to be the attainment. This is only natural, because the symbol of the ultimate is felt on the boundary of this plane. Then they feel that they have reached the destination. So I am not in favor of prescribing the practice of aum for persons in the fourth body, as this technique will have no effect on the first, second and third bodies. Its effect will be felt only in the fourth. This is why other words are used to cause the necessary impact on the first, second and third bodies.
"It is necessary to take one more point into consideration regarding the basic notes of a-u-m. Just as an example, The Bible does not say that God made the world; he did not perform the act of creation. It says, "God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." God pronounced the Word. The Bible also says, "In the beginning there was the Word" - and many old scriptures testify to the same. At the very beginning there was the Word and all else followed afterwards. Now even in India we say, "The Word is the Brahman," although this causes a great deal of misunderstanding. Many people tend to believe that the Word is enough for the attainment of the Brahman. The Brahman is attained only in the wordless state.
"The Word is the Brahman" means only this, that from all the sounds we know the most subtle of sounds is that of (Aum Symbol).
"If we go back, back and back toward the source of the universe until we come to the void from where the world must have started, there also we will hear the resonance of aum. As we reach nearer to the void by entering the fourth plane the sound of aum is heard. From here we begin to fall into that world which must have been in the beginning. From the fourth we go to the spiritual body; from there to the cosmic body, and finally to the nirvanic body. The last resonance, which is heard between the last two, is also that of aum.
"On one side is our individuality of four bodies which we call the corporeal world, and on the other side is our nonindividuality which we may call the Brahman. The resonance that vibrates on the boundary line of these two is aum. From this experience we come to understand that when the world of matter took form from the Brahman, the resonance of aum must have been ringing continuously. Hence, there was the Word. So the belief is that everything came into being through the Word. If the Word is broken into its basic components we find the three basic notes of a-u-m in it. This combination is aum.
"So for this reason it is said that there was aum in the beginning and there will be aum in the end. The end means to revert to the beginning, and thus the circle is completed."
OSHO
Search of the miraculous
Mysteries of body-electricity.
Chapter : 6:Shaktipat: the mysteries of body-electricity
"The all-pervading Brahman is expressed in the syllable Aum. The essence of Brahman cannot be ascertained through either higher or lower types of knowledge. Both noumenon and phenomenon are of no consequence in understanding Brahman.
How can Aum explain it?
Aum is a spontaneous sound, constantly going on by itself. It is the sound of Pranava. It originates in the Supreme Brahman. Yogis hear it. A yogi, following the trail of the sound Aum, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman.
The sound Aum is Brahman. The yogis practise austerity to realize that Sound-Brahman. Let us suppose that one hears the roar of the ocean from a distance. By following the roar, one can reach the ocean. As long as there is a roar, there must also be the ocean.
Similarly, by following the trail of Aum, one attains the Brahman, of which the Word is the symbol. Aum is described in the scriptures as the unceasing flow of oil, like the long peal of a bell. The letters a, u, and m are considered to stand for the creation, preservation, and dissolution of the universe."
— Avadhuta Gita
"States are the cause of the variety of objects in the world. Though the sound is one, there is variety. As all the sounds can be unified in Aum, so the whole of the objects can be unified in Turiya.
A student of philosophy should meditate on the AUM, understanding it to represent the totality of experience, and all the three states, while also knowing that the sound AUM disappears into the soundless.
Why is the lotus flower associated with AUM? The mantra means "All that exists." From all things, whatever the sage takes, the honey of Brahman, seeing Brahman in each object.
Everything is made of the same substance, whether it be inside—as in dreams—or outside, as in waking. Whatever is seen as object, heard as sound or name, is of the same substance. European Idealism has begun to suspect this truth. This is the great lesson to be learned. This is the meaning of the Mandukya statement, "Aum is all this."
"A U M.
The word AUM has been chosen because it is a short, easily remembered syllable. The separate sounds of the word are symbols, nothing more. The combination of these three letter sounds in the one word symbolizes the world's unity. The three divisions of time—past, present, and future—are also symbolized. Moreover, AUM contains three letters, and Atman contains three states. Finally, just as it requires four quarters to merge and make up a whole unity, so A, U, and M are three of these quarters.
A: When you think of yourself as seeing the waking state; but when you think of yourself apart from that, you are Atman.
U: You regard yourself as being in the dream state. This is a higher idea because you know that the world is an idea.
M: When you understand that through deep sleep, you are able to measure all else—that all other things (and the sounds A and U symbolizing them) merge back into Sushupti, are all found in it, and re-appear from it. This is a still higher degree.
Take any language you like, you find that A involves the opening of the mouth, whereas M involves shutting it. Now, all sound implies soundlessness because it begins from that and ends with that. Hence, the two always go together. Similarly, the Drik and Drsyam go together to form Brahman, are always present together, although we do not usually recognize it.
AUM = Turiya: This is not a state, as the ignorant pseudo-Vedantins say. This word includes all the three sounds, which have merged in it. So, the waking merges in a dream, the latter in sleep, and all three in AUM. The latter is a unity; nevertheless, it contains a trinity. Thus, when the word is made the subject of intelligent reflection, such meditation becomes a great help to attainment, as Sankara says, for it thus becomes an examination of the whole of life.
Sounds imply names, names imply objects, and objects imply the whole world. "Au" is the beginning of all sounds; "uM" is the end of all sounds; even other sounds are included within them, i.e., within AUM.
Whatever may come in the future, whatever object existed in the past, whatever thing you can think of in the present—all these are included in the single word AUM, because all are named, hence are ideas, hence within the single mind.
The word is a mnemonic, purposely invented to give men in one short syllable, in the smallest compass, a handy reminder that everything—this table, your neck-tie, that cow—is of one and the same essential character. Every time any object is seen, you utter Aum and thus remember that it, and all other things, are the self. Every object in the external world is indicated by a name. Hence, the phrase "the universe consists of names and forms." All names are but words. As soon as a word is uttered, what does your mind do? A thought comes. Now, all these words in every language, all these sounds, all these thoughts are compressed in the one word Aum, which also enables all objects to be comprehended by the Mind as being ideas. Hence, this word is unique. Nothing exists that is outside the scope of referential meaning AUM.
Aum, therefore, is the whole of existence, the universe. But why is this specific word Aum chosen for such high office? Take the first letter "AH." It is the sound phonetically uttered by the mouth when it first opens. "UM" is the sound it utters when at last it closes. Hence, all sounds, without a single exception, must be comprised between the opening and shutting of the lips, i.e., between "AH" and "UM." And as Brahman is silence, so ultimately, the AUM disappears with the sounding of "UM" into silence, because the mouth must then shut. You have to use words to denote things, objects. You have to use letters to form words. The word AUM summarizes all other words. Finally, even this word disappears when the sound of it goes. So, the letting go of AUM is to make you drop the whole world and think of Brahman. Thus, the mystery of AUM is wrapped in the meaning of words. Semantics aim at clarifying meanings, but AUM ultimately shows you that all words are futile because they cannot express the ultimate nature of anything: Silence alone does this.
We cannot produce any sound without opening the mouth, and the first sound we utter while opening the mouth is A. Thus, A is said to pervade all sounds. A is considered to be the symbol of the universe because all objects are indicated by ideas, all ideas are indicated by sounds, and all sounds are pervaded by the letter A.
When we utter the word "sound," how can we understand the meaning of sound? It is only by distinguishing it from soundlessness that we can understand sound. All sounds are derived from soundlessness. Similarly, all the states are derived from the Turiya, corresponding to soundlessness. We have to merge waking into dreams, then merge dreams into deep sleep. And finally, we have to merge even this into Turiya.
AUM is conceived as the whole universe, which has four quarters. How can I know that the universe and myself are identical? The answer is "Look into yourself—the Atman." This Atman has four corresponding quarters. When you utter the word AUM, the waking comes before you; when you think of a dream, the dream states come before you; and so also with sleep. Thus, every time you utter the word AUM, the three states come before you."
— Commentaries of Rajasevasakta V. Subrahmanya Iyer
"In ancient Indian scriptures we read repeatedly of Aum, the sacred Word pervading the three realms of bhur, bhuva, and swah (i.e., the physical, astral, and causal). Again, Nanak says:
The earth and sky are of naught but Shabd (Word).
From Shabd alone the light was born,
From Shabd alone creation came,
Shabd is the essential core in all.
Shabd is the directive agent of God, the cause of
all creation.
PRABHATI"
— Surat Shabd Yoga Intro To The Path Kirpal Singh
"The thought 'I am' is the seed of the sound Aum, the primordial sound or Nada at the start of the creation of the universe. It consists of three sounds: a, u, and m. These three sounds represent the three attributes—Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas—which have produced the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep (also named consciousness or harmony, activity, and rest). It is in consciousness that the world has emerged.
Indeed, the very first thought 'I am' has created the sense of duality in the original state of unicity. No creation can take place without the duality of the parenthood principle—male and female, Purusha and Prakriti.
The creation of the world, as an appearance in consciousness, has a ten-fold aspect: the parent principle of duality; the physical and chemical material, being the essence of the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, and earth) under mutual friction; and the three attributes of Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.
An individual may think that it is he who acts, but it is truly the essence of the five elements, the Prana, the life-force, which acts through the particular combination of the three attributes in a specific physical form."
— Maharaj points to the Eternal Truth that IS - before time ever was, by Ramesh S. Balsekar
"Salutation to Aum (undifferentiated Brahman, and yet the) Primal and Blissful cause, the transcendental consciousness shining as the unique mirror of the wonderful universe.
Note: The one undifferentiated Brahman signified by Aum polarizes as Sat-chit-ananda, taking shape as Parameswari, who, in Her crystal purity, displays the variegated phenomena that gyrate in equipoise within Her.
Neutral Brahman and the polarized Brahman are thus interchangeable. The idea of the mirror implies the non-separateness of the object from the subject (conscious being)."
— Ramana Maharshi - Book Extracts
"The four parts of the Om (Aum) are A indicating the macrocosm, the U signifies the microcosm, the M indicates the reason behind the existence of the body and the remaining half letter is nothing but the God himself. In other words they are the five basic elements, the art of living, the innermost feeling and the soul."
— The dasbodha. Shree Samarth Ramdas Swami
See Also
Amen
Brahma
Sound
Tone
Vibration
Vowel Sounds
Wave
Wave Field
Word