| The commentator says the manifesting word of God is Om. Why does he emphasize this
word? There are hundreds of words for God. One thought is connected with a thousand
words ; the idea "God" is connected with hundreds of words, and each one
stands as a symbol for God. Very good. But there must be a generalisation among all
these words, some substraturn, some common ground of all these symbols, and that
which is the common symbol will be the best, and will really represent them all.
In making a sound we use the larynx and the palate as a sounding board. Is there any material sound of which all other sounds must be mani festations, one which is the most natural sound? Om (Aum) is such a sound the, basis of all sounds. The first letter A, is the root sound, the key, pronounced without touching any part of the tongue or palate ; M represents the last sound in the series, being produced by the closed lips, and the U rolls from the very root to the end of the sounding board of the mouth. Thus, Om represents the whole phenomena of sound-producing. As such, it must be the natural symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds. It denotes the whole range and possibility of all the words that can be made. Apart from these speculations, we see that around this word Om are centred all the different religious ideas in India ; all the various religious ideas of the Vedas have gathered themselves round this word Om. What has that to do with America and England, or any other country? Simply this, that the word has been re tained at every stage of religious growth in India, and it has been manipulated to mean all the various ideas about God. Monists, dualists, mono-dualists, separatists, and even atheists took up this Om. Om has become the one symbol for the religious aspiration of the vast majority of human beings. Take, for instance, the English word God. It covers only a limited function, and if you go beyond it, you have to add adjectives, to make, it Personal, or Impersonal, or Absolute God. So with the words for God in every other language ; their signification is very small. This word Om, however, has around it all the various significances. As such it should be accepted by everyone. *Samskaras = Inherent tendencies *Chitta = Mind Stuff By Swami Vivekananda Raja Yoga, courtesy of Vedanta Press |
