Namaskar Oct 2012

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Yoga 101 OM: What hat’s all the Fus uss s about? Andrew Willner “Aum iti evam dhyayat atmanam….Svasti va paraya tamasah parastat” Meditate on the Aum as your inner self….may you cross over the darkness to the other side. Mandukya Upanishad Your Om is too loud, your Om is too soft, your Om is too short on the ‘mmmmm’, in fact your Om really sucks! So is there a right way to chant Om? Will I be a more enlightened being if I can just get my Om spot om? Aum is the sound of creation...quantum physicists are now confirming...as all things are energy vibrating Let’s start by going back in time to identify the roots of this mantra and then try to comprehend its meaning and determine whether there is any basis of argument on how an Om should sound. SOME HISTORY Om or Aum, as I shall henceforth refer to it being more correct, does not appear in the Vedas other than indirectly in the Yajur Veda. Also there have been no examples found from the Indus civilization of the Aum symbol on any seals or cave drawings. (Some scholars have argued that, just as the ancient Hebrews would never express the word “Yahweh” as it was too holy to speak, similarly maybe Aum was too sacred to be spoken of or written about). So the first direct reference is found in the Upanishads (800BCE-200CE) and in particular the Mandukya Upanishad which is devoted to this one topic! Thereafter we find plenty of references in the Puranas, in the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita and other Vedantic texts. WHAT IS IT? Aum is called the Mahat (great) Mantra. It symbolizes everything. It is the sound of creation and ultimate reality. It is the cosmic vibration behind all of the manifest universe, which quantum physicists and super string theorists are now confirming… as all ‘things’ are just energy vibrating . It is Brahman i.e. it’s a pretty important and far out concept. 18
the point above the crescent moon represents pure consciousness Unlike all other sounds, which require air movement to create their sound, in the case of Aum the fourth syllable is silent, the unstruck sound (anahat nada), and we shall come back to this when we examine how to chant Aum. The pictograph of Aum, which is familiar to most yogis (and anyone who happens to have seen the tattoo on my back) also symbolizes different aspects of our consciousness a) the waking state : jagrathaavastha “A”, b) the subconscious dream state: svapna-avastha “U” and c) the unconscious state: susupta-avastha “M’ and these states are represented by the three curves that combined look a bit like the number 30. Now for the really interesting bit - the point (bindu – which in metaphysics represents the point where multiplicity merges back into unity) above the crescent moon represents the unstruck sound I referred to earlier in this article. It represents the fourth state of consciousness called Turiya which is pure consciousness and transcends the other three states. In Turiya there are no thoughts and no “I” and no relative existence. The crescent moon below the bindu represents maya, (which in Vedanta is the illusion of the ‘reality’ of the manifest and in Tantra is the veil that cloaks the absolute from the relative). But let’s move on to consider how to chant. HOW TO CHANT AUM So once we are sitting comfortably we can commence our Aum japa. The first syllable is the “A” and is pronounced as ‘ahhh’ somewhat like the sound made when the doctor wishes to inspect your tonsils! It should come from the back of the throat with the lips in a quite wide horizontal elliptical shape akin to a wide-mouthed frog (if you ever happen to have spotted one)! It refers to the gross world i.e. the physical world. Then comes the “U” as the second syllable and is pronounced somewhere between an ‘oo’ and an ‘or’ with the lips closing slightly into an oval shape and resembles the sound you might make if the doctor then took your temperature using a very cold rectoral thermometer! It refers to the subtle astral world. Then comes the third syllable, the “M”, pronounced ‘mmm’ with the lips gently closed (which intensifies the vibratory resonance in the brain per Sri Dharma Mittra, whom many readers will know as a remarkable teacher of yoga with over half a century of experience). The sound is similar to that made after your first sip of hot coffee on a cold winter’s day. It refers to the causal realm and can be imagined as the canvas on which the subtle and gross realms are painted. Finally, last but by no means least, we arrive at the fourth syllable referred to earlier, which is the unstruck sound of silence, which does not sound like any other sound in the manifest world, wherein the practitioner may experience absolute reality which encompasses all three of the prior realms above. This last realm is the most esoteric and probably the one most students will take time to fully appreciate, but during the silence the practitioner can still experience the vibration of the mantra in the higher chakras, particularly in ajna (third eye) and sahasrara (crown) chakras. RATIOS There does not appear to be any scriptural text that defines the ratio of time of each syllable of the mantra, but typically most gurus and swamis (e.g. Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati), who have commented on this topic, suggest the “M” should be longer than the “A” and “U” but to varying degrees. Personally I think after practicing for a while, one develops a sense of what feels right for you, although in a class situation it is respectful to follow the lead of the teacher. Typically beginners with limited lung capacity may find their “M” is too short because they run out of breath, so unless you are an ex-deep sea pearl diver then try not to get carried away with the “AU” parts. DECIBELS So is there any guidance on how loud the Aum should be? Again, different traditions seem to have different approaches from soft to loud. In Sanskrit the word japa (repetition) derives from the root ‘jap’ which means ‘to utter in a low voice, repeat internally or mutter’, so that would suggest a softer Aum is appropriate. However, a louder chant can be invigorating and (per Omved) gives the practitioner a sense of the omnipotence of the Supreme. I would also add that chanting silently does not give me the physical experience of feeling the vibration of the sounds, not to mention in a group setting it would seem a bit solitary! So the only conclusion I can draw on this point is that the fourth syllable, the unstruck sound, should be silent, no matter which tradition you follow. FINAL FOOD FOR THOUGHT: In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna highlights the importance of chanting Aum at the time of one’s death: “Repeating in this state (of meditation) the divine name, the syllable Om that represents the changeless Brahman, you will go forth from the body and attain the supreme goal.” (Ch 8.13) But for those of you in more of a hurry to reach samadhi, I should like to refer you to the Shiva Purana which apparently states 1,080,000,000 recitations of Aum purify our mind and lead us automatically to salvation. By my calculations, assuming 30 seconds per Aum, if you chant 12 hours a day uninterruptedly for just over 2,000 years you will have reached the requisite number of recitations! Off I go….1,2,3….oh darn, there goes my Blackberry again! Andy is an enthusiastic yoga practitioner and now teacher too with a background in aerobics and martial arts. Outside work as a headhunter and practising yoga, he plays the saxophone for pleasure...his, rather than the neighbours’! 19
Page 1 and 2: namaskar A VOICE FOR THE YOGA COMMU
Page 3 and 4: Inside OCTOBER 2012 Dristi Death At
Page 5 and 6: NEWS YOGA TEACHERS WANTED Hong Kong
Page 7 and 8: WORKSHOPS KUNDALINI WORKSHOP SERIES
Page 9 and 10: combined with the discoveries of mo
Page 11 and 12: TEACHER TRAININGS KUNDALINI YOGA TT
Page 13 and 14: SERENITY OR SERENDIPITY? Danny Pui-
Page 15 and 16: Postponing Death Dr. Mihaiela Penti
Page 17: 17
Page 21 and 22: Steve Merkley 21
Page 23 and 24: Sanyal Mahasaya 1877 - 1962 Paramah
Page 25 and 26: Yoga Styles Dying from the Yin-side
Page 27 and 28: 27
Page 29 and 30: 29
Page 31 and 32: Conference A Reminder on Yoga & Hap
Page 33 and 34: 33
Page 35 and 36: Festival Yoga, Music & Magic in the
Page 37 and 38: 37
Page 39 and 40: Book Review Yoga In India A Journey
Page 41 and 42: 41
Page 43 and 44: 43
Page 45 and 46: Yoga Teachers & Studios AGAMA YOGA
Page 47 and 48: 47

Namaskar Oct 2012

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?