Aum or Om
The sacred Indian Syllable
Katinka Hesselink 2007
I used to be a math teacher in Middle School. My students would invariably find out about this website, and when they wanted to be cool - would sit with crossed legs on a table and chant 'aum'. As a teacher I was not amused, but it does go to show how famous this Indian sound is. The mantra Aum is the sacred syllable in Indian religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, and most other Indian religions share a respect for this sound.
Blavatsky, whose books have started me on this quest, wrote the following:
Om or Aum (Sk.). A mystic syllable, the most solemn of all words in India. It is “an invocation, a benediction, an affirmation and a promise”; and it is so sacred, as to be indeed the word at low breath of occult, primitive masonry. No one must be near when the syllable is pronounced for a purpose. This word is usually placed at the beginning of sacred Scriptures, and is prefixed to prayers. It is a compound of three letters a,u,m, which, in the popular belief, are typical of the three Vedas, also of three gods-A (Agni) Y (Varuna) and M (Maruts) or Fire, Water and Air. In esoteric philosophy these are the three sacred fires, or the “triple fire” in the Universe and Man, besides many other things. Occultly, this “triple fire” represents the highest Tetraktys also, as it is typified by the Agni named Abhimānim and his transformation into his three sons, Pāvana, Pavamāna and Suchi, “who drinks up water”, i.e., destroys material desires. This monosyllable is called Udgītta, and is sacred with both Brahmins and Buddhists.
H.P. Blavatsky in her Theosophical Glossary, p. 239, 240
My Sanskrit teacher refused to give a meaning to the mantra, when asked, though he did say that the meaning is comparable to the Christian 'Amen'. But then mantras don't require a meaning. Blavatsky gives countles meanings to the aum in her work - but the essence is the sound itself.
Mantras, like all ritual acts, acquire meaning in the act itself. In this case: in the speaking of it. This is why Blavatsky hints at the 'purpose' with which 'aum' can be pronounced. In India mantras are sounds of power, literally. Mantra's when pronounced by a teacher into the ear of a student is not just a rite of passage. With the knowleldge of the mantra, abnormal psychic powers are said to be transferred. In the West mantra's are often used as a basis for meditation. In some Western religious groups with roots in India a student is said to get a 'personal' mantra to meditate on.
Aum stands symbolically, because it is the most sacred mantra, for the highest, the best, the essence... When talking about the universe, Aum stands for the Urground, the source, space, infinity. When the subject is a human being, Aum stands for the highest in a human being: their divine spirit, or Atman. In Mahayana Buddhist terminology: Aum stands for the Buddha-nature latent in all of us. (more on Atman and Anatman in Buddhism) Because Aum stands for the best and the highest, it also stands for the road to enlightenment. Since that path, the path of spiritual growth and purification, is the central theme of this website, it is only natural that I choose Aum (or Om) for my logo.
Footnote
The glyph as shown is from Devanagari letters. Devanagari is the alphabet Sanskrit is most often written in and on which most Indian languages base their script. The sign itself has become famous in its own right. People get it tattoed, it's on bracelets and necklaces, and many people will not know what it means - but will recognize it as vaguely spiritual.