OM - Correct Pronunciation?

Meditationtime Forum Post

Date: Posted 3 years before May 19, 2016

Thomer Scheepens 3 years ago

I returned back doing the Mantra Meditation which I have always done before, I find to have the best success with it and my mind seems to like staying on the mantra which I am repeating over and over with some nice vibrations running across the body.

The past 2 days I searched the whole internet finding the correct way to mentally chant the OM/AUM mantra.

I found out there are at least 3 ways that people chant the mantra.

1. AUM - emphases on the "AU" which sounds like this: LINK

2. OM - as saying the letter "O" like "Poke" "Wrote" "Bow" "Flow" (Long Vowels)

3. OM - saying the "O" as the sound of the letter "O" like "Box" "Plot" "Spot" "Fox" (Short Vowels)

The question would be: Are all these valid ways of mentally chanting the Omkara?

MiBeloved 3 years ago

Thomer,

This is not a good way to ask question, where the student gets a process or adopts one and then walks into the classroom and ask the teacher how to do it.

Suppose you are a teacher in a class. So I am your student. You are teaching me math. Or suppose I am not even your student. But I come into your class room, show you a book and ask you how to do something which I read of in that book.

How is that?

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Anyway, let us discuss this.

First of all give us some information. You know if you are going to attend a school, you have to fill out forms or your parents are required to do. So first let us get into the admission office and fill out the forms. And don’t worry about the admission fees. We will grant you a waiver, since you seem to be a spiritual orphan.

When did you learn about Om?

Which books did you read?

Who told you about Om?

What did the person say about the value, benefits or even purpose of chanting Om?

Thomer Scheepens 3 years ago

Before I started reading about OM I first started with the Mantra "AYAM" which I chanted for a while. I got this from Yogani in his Deep Meditation lessons. After a while a yogi might proceed to enhancements mantras which have a more powerful vibration and value such as "SHREE OM SHREE OM I AM I AM NAMAH NAMAH"

I didn't read any books which cover anything about the Mantra OM. Just single site sources on the internet, explanations and the value of the sound OM.

For example the OM vibration is the most powerful vibration which brings one to a higher conscious and spiritual perception. Might help/cause excessive Kundalini energy flow.

EDIT: Other than that I read some Bhagavad Gita verses about chanting OM.

There is this verse where Krishna talks of chanting that mantra at the time of death

"O Arjuna, I am the taste of pure water, and the light of the moon and the sun. I am the essential nature of the mantra Om mentioned in the holy scriptures, the sound in ether, as well as the courage and virility of human beings"

""The mantra Om symbolises Reality. At the time of death, repeat Om and you will go forth from the body and attain the Supreme Goal""

Which shows in a way that OM holds a great value. A standard mantra.

MiBeloved 3 years ago

Thomer Scheepens Wrote:

MiBeloved’s Response:

Okay, so this gave us some background on this. We know that Yogani is a respected authority on these subjects. However the word ayam in Sanskrit is pronoun meaning this in English. That it all it is. Was Yogani giving it more value and was he empowering this word in some way? That is something he may explain.

See this page and check elsewhere:

http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?tinput=ayam&direction=SE&script=HK&link=yes&beginning=

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Now for the other mantra words:

I assume that I AM is English.

The simplest translation of that in Sanskrit is aham asmi with asmi meaning am.

The actual mantra for this is So’ham.

But actually there is no such word in Sanskrit. So’ham is like when in English I say can’t.

There is no such word. It is a colloquial term for “can not”

So’ham = sah + aham = he + I am

Or I am he, I am that thing, the eternal spirit.

The word namah is a very heavy word in Sanskrit and it means that you are bowing down to whatever. Do you actually mean to use this word, because in the West that is not our culture to bow down to anyone, not even God. This word is also heard in its abbreviated form as namo.

The term shree is an honored title for deities and for spiritual masters both male and female but the person in the Vedic pantheon who is called by that name specifically is a female goddess named Lakshmi who is known as the goddess of wealth and the wife of Lord Vishnu. She is addressed as such because the full meaning of the term shree is opulence and beauty.

The term Om is considered the most sacred sound, so that mostly all of the mantras in Sanskrit begin with that term.

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Thomer Scheepens Wrote:

I didn't read any books which cover anything about the Mantra OM. Just single site sources on the internet, explanations and the value of the sound OM.

MiBeloved’s Response:

Om has great value but in India, the place where Om originated, Om is a sacred sound and is not to be used whimsically. In fact one used to have to get permission from a brahmin guru to use the Om sound.

In the Vedic times, if a person outside of the brahmin caste was heard saying Om, he was executed. There is actually a case in the Ramayana, where a guy who was an aborigine (an outcaste or no-caste) was heard reciting the Vedic mantras. One rishi instructed that he be killed by the King and the guy was executed. It was claimed that due to his reciting the mantras, drought took over the country.

Previously when there was a Vedic religious ceremony where the mantras were pronounced, a person of a low caste or an outcaste could not be within earshot of the sounds.

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Thomer Scheepens Wrote:

OM vibration is the most powerful vibration which brings one to a higher conscious and spiritual perception. Might help/cause excessive Kundalini energy flow.

MiBeloved’s Response:

Is this a fact? Because then we have to ask why is India not the most powerful country on the earth? Why is there so much poverty there? Why are so many Indians migrating to the Western countries? Why is there so much disgrace among the spiritual leaders in India who chant these mantras?

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Thomer Scheepens Wrote:

Other then that I read some Bhagavad Gita verses about chanting OM.

There is this verse where Krishna talks of chanting that mantra at the time of death.

""The mantra Om symbolises Reality. At the time of death, repeat Om and you wll go forth from the body and attain the Supreme Goal""

Which shows in a way that OM holds a great value. A standard mantra.

MiBeloved’s Response:

This is lopsided, because Krishna also told Arjuna to kill the relatives on the Warfield. So why pick out just this one part of his instruction.

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Special remark:

I do not see how anyone without a Vedic background, can really make use of the Om sound. There is a cultural component to it and when that is missing, it won’t yield the supposed results.

There is no harm in chanting it but keep that in mind.

By the way there is no such thing as a primary letter of “o” in Sanskrit. The letters are a-u-m when a and u are said in progression, then it creates a new sound which is represented by the letter “o.”

The m sound is nasal only it is not like em in English.

You begin with a sound and then you move back in the mouth to the u sound and then you finish off with the nasal m sound way back in the head.

There is no letter o in the sound but when you say a and then that moves graciously into u, it would sound like an o sound as those two sounds happen with the a flowing into and developing into the u sound but be sure that the m sound is way up in the head in the back.

Close your eyes and practice this and get back to me on this. I will try to help you to get to the real om in this way.

Here are the three stages, as you do this with eyes closed let the sound keep moving back in the head, back more and more, when you get to the m part, the sound will shift up and back a little. Keep repeating this for about 5 minutes minimum and then meditate.

Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh--uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

To find out about the m sound:

Sit with eyes closed and say this English word: murmur, repeatedly, you will hear a rolling sound that goes up in the head, that is similar to what happens when you come to the m part of this recitation.

Thomer Scheepens 3 years ago

Thanks for the extensive information about the mantra!

"Was Yogani giving it more value and was he empowering this word in some way? That is something he may explain."

It's true that according to Yogani's instructions one can use the Sanskrit mantra "Ayam" or go with the English version "I Am.

There is a lesson on the site explaining how the Ayam mantra changed into I Am.

This mantra is supposed to purify the spine from root to the brow.

However according to those lessons a yogi shouldn't get caught up on the meaning of the mantra and just mentally chant it correctly and let the vibration do its work.

But on many other teachings it's said that knowing the meaning of a mantra is very important and should come along even while chanting the mantra itself.

Actually I am unsure how one gets to go with a mantra other than when a Guru gives the student one.

If one should choose whichever mantra he gets attracted to, with the value and the benefits a mantra might give. a mantra which have been used and tested by many Yogis which give positive results.

Yet a person should settle on one mantra and practice it and not change it every time, not only will it confuse the practitioner more it probably will be just a waste of time not letting the mantra adjust itself by not repeating it plenty it sufficient time.

As for me, the reason for me going with AUM is simply because of it being a very sacred mantra, a mantra which is used by many practitioners who report having fine progress with it and talking about its value and benefits.

Until I practice the mantra for a very long time and actually see what it's worth for me, I can't know if I am using the right mantra for me. But who can?

MiBeloved 3 years ago

I agree that one should practice it for a time, and then see what results one gets from it and that goes for any spiritual discipline process.

Great conclusion!

Alfredo 3 years ago

Thomer Scheepens Wrote:

[Until I practice the mantra for a very long time and actually see what it's worth for me, I can't know if I am using the right mantra for me. But who can?]

Alfredo’s Response:

I was initiated into Mantra Yoga by Swami Jyotirmayananda and given a specific mantra with specific instructions.

Tratak or eye concentration on the deity related to the mantra while using a mala (rosary) was part of it. The practice should be then extended to daily life and one can repeat the mantra while working or doing chores. It then enters the realm of mental hygiene, and by using Pratipaksha Bhavana from the Yoga Sutras, if one can maintain that level of commitment and conscious efforts, then you start getting results. Moreover, if you repeat the mantra before going to sleep, then it repeats in the mind subconsciously and it is the first thought to arise upon awakening.

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