Mantra for the Month
OM

OM is the king among Vedic mantras. It is called the Mahamantra or the bull among sacred sounds. This mantra is chanted as an auspicious beginning before all human activities - be it pronouncing a mystic formula, starting a ritual or setting out on a work.

OM is the name of Supreme Brahman. By chanting OM, Brahman is realized. OM is chanted loudly, in whispers, mentally and then its sound is silently visualized.

OM vibration in Brahman manifests as the world - called Sabda Brahman. The world evolves in three stages: sleep/causal seed state, dream/subtle sapling state and waking/ gross tree state. The three constituent sounds of OM namely A, U, M in reverse order represent these three states of Sabda Brahman viz. the world.

OM chanting and meditation help the practitioner resonate with cosmic rhythm, attain body-mind purity and live in the bliss of Brahman.

OM is the elixir of life and source of total health. May the world find refuge in OM.
Swami Bodhananda
Kalamazoo, Michigan
2nd July 2008