The Mysteriousness of OM

Why am I intimidated by this simple word?

Why do I feel blasphemous if I say it?

If I do say it, am I as a believer and follower of Christ indeed being blasphemous to God?

(This is the written Om.)

These were all questions running through my head when I began my yoga journey. I felt that my saying this seemingly simple word, I was somehow giving in to the serpent in my ear. Somehow, this word was going against God, and I truly struggled with saying it in classes and especially during my certification training. At the end of every practice and meditation for three weeks, we chanted and closed with Om. We were never pressured into saying it by my teachers or pears, however, I felt like I was missing out on something truly special when I saw the peace on the faces of those who were comfortable with the word. So I took my concerns to God after the first few days, and one morning early on in the first week, I felt an extreme peace when it came time to Om after meditation. Before I realized it, the word drifted

from my lips with such ease and grace bringing upon me an even greater sensation of peace. From then on, I knew this was not something to fear but to embrace.

Having numerous texts for the training weighing down my suitcase, I decided to keep my large study Bible safe at home, however, I turned on my computer to my electronic versions and stumbled across this verse:

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

Light bulb!

What was that Word? Was it indeed a single Word? Could it be the same "Om"?

There are many who believe the answer is "yes". If the first Word of the beginning and Om are the same, then why? Why this word? This extremely simple two-letter word? How could this possibly be the Word?

Well here is a very short and condensed version of Om history...

Om is a Sanskrit letter from the ancient Veda collection of hymns dating back to 1500-1200 B.C. that were sung in praise of the Divine. (Note that is a singular Divine with a capital "D". ) It was later written in the sacred Indian texts of the Upanishads from which yoga was birthed. Om was used as a means of connecting with the Divine because these early Vedics figured out that when repeated in a mantra, the vibrations and frequencies of the word Om, creates an elevation in the frequencies of the human mind to a higher level to connect with the Universe, the collective consciousness, the Divine. Essentially the same effect happens when one prays intently, begins speaking in tongues, has a profound spiritual experience, or is in a deep meditative state.

Om is considered to be the vibration of consciousness, the universal Truth, the Sound of Creation, the Sound of the beginning and the end of all things, the Sound of the Divine, the Alpha and the Omega. Our mouths even form and roll through the "ah" in Alpha, the "oh" and "mmm" in Omega, and the fourth part of Om being the silence that follows. This silence represents the "soundless, unutterable, a quieting down of all the differentiated manifestations, blissful, peaceful, nondual..." (Mandukya Upanishad). Essentially, the equality of all things since everything came from the One Creator.

So "Om" or "Aum" is the true sound, the sound from which all other sounds stem, the mother of sounds, if you will, the birth of Creation, the sound of the Divine, the sound of God. Whoever, whatever your God may be, God is God, a being so far beyond the limits of what our human minds can comprehend, we try to fit God into a box, as idea, a concept we can understand and relate to, but the One who created EVERYTHING can never fit into a box. The Divine can never be described in one phrase, one idea, even in one word. Even one of the words (Om) used to represent and describe God/ the Divine has so many depths and layers to it, we have to write and read articles like this one to try to grasp just a part of what it is, and this is just a brief look at what Om means. There are numerous studies on the frequencies of Om and the human mind, how they change when one meditates on the word, chant the word over and over, and the links between the Vedic hymns, the Upanishads and the Bible which are simply astounding.

If this has not blown your mind enough...

Taking Om one step further, the Bible tells us, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)

So yes, Jesus is the Word made into flesh...

Jesus is Om.

For a deeper look into OM, check out this article from Gaia:

https://www.gaia.com/article/what-meaning-om

and these readings on the Vedas, Upanishads and the Divine:

"An Ordinary Life Transformed" by Stephanie Rutt

"A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle

"Inside the Yoga Sutras" by Reverend Jaganath Carrera

The Bible