The Sound of Silence

What is sound? According to modern science, it is vibration.

Where there is vibration there is a sound. Conversely, to produce a sound the vibration corresponding to it must also be created.

Among the five elements of the universe, Sound is the first and most subtle sense, making it the most powerful. Sound's object is akasha(Sky), the most subtle element.

Consider human beings and other creatures. What is it that determines their health and feelings? The breath that passes through our nerves and blood vessels, during respiration produces vibrations and on them depends the state of our health.

Breath is vital not only to the body but also to the mind. The mind which is the source of thought and the vital(pranik) energy that is the source of breath are the same. Healthy or unhealthy thoughts are to be attributed to different vibrations of the nadis.

In a sense, air going into our body in different ways is a manifestation of the yogic science: it is because of the vibrations caused in our nadis as a result of the passage of our breath that our emotions and powers take shape. There is a saying, "What is in the macrocosm is present in the microcosm. " As mentioned before, the vibrations within us produce vibrations outside also and these are the cause of worldly activities.

When you play the flute, the sound is produced by the air discharged in various measures through different outlets. Our throat has a similar system to produce sound. It is not that the throat alone is involved in this process. How do we speak and sing? Speaking or singing is an exercise that has its source below the navel in the "muladhara" or "root base" of the spinal column. From this point the breath is brought up in various measures as we speak or sing.

When the powers of nature are unfavourable to us, is there a way to change their behaviour and make them favourable to us? Is there also a means by which our mind could be brought under control when it goes haywire? If everything is caused by vibration, by sound, there must be a way of making the forces of nature favourable to us and of purifying our mind and bringing it under control through this very sound. The Vedas constitute such sound.

The Vedas are called "Sruti. " That which is heard is Sruti. "Srotra" means the "ear". The Vedas have been handed down orally from generation to generation and have not been taught or learned from any written text. That is how they got the name of "Sruti". Why were these scriptures not permitted to be written down? Because the sound of the Vedas cannot be properly transcribed. There are sounds or phonemes that cannot be accurately represented in any script.

On recognizing the power of the sound and its significance, the Vedas were taught with Sound as a key factor. There is a specific vibration to sound and it has been proven that sound can easily change the mental state of a person. Thus a sound can itself rise the level of Consciousness.

There is anomalous power in sound. When we spell the Vedas, the sound produced in the form of sound waves makes a rotation. These wave rotations become synchronous with those produced by the rotation of the earth. When this merging happens, anomalous energy gets produced.

You’ve probably heard the Sanskrit word paramahamsa, which literally means supreme swan. The swan is a symbol of purity. Incidentally, the Goddess Saraswati rides on a swan. The swan is also a symbol of So Hum, the basic mantra of the breath, the incoming (So) and the outgoing (Hum). When you reverse the mantra, it is hamsa which means swan. Saraswati is the Goddess of speech. She wears a white sari which she keeps white by purity, she wears crystal beads and she rides on a swan. Why a swan? The swan has a secret. If you pour milk on the water, the swan can take the milk out of the water, because there is an acid in the mouth of the swan that allows it to absorb the milk and leave the water behind. So the swans or the paramahamsas (the pure ones) know what is the nectar, the milk, and are able to drink in the nectar and leave the water (the world) behind. So by drinking in the sacred sounds of the Vedas and sounding the mantras you are in fact filling the glass of your being with this sacred milk, the Vedic sound vibration. This sacred milk fills your being and displaces all of the ink, the tamas or darkness, from your being. The real presence of the Divine occurs when the transcendental divine sound flows through us.

Om or Aum’ is a mystical or sacred Sanskrit syllable.Om is the universal name of the Lord.It is considered as the root mantra of all mantra.Om or Aum’ is the sound which is not the result of the striking of two objects. It, rather emanates on its own. It is the primal sound of the universe that contains all sounds in itself.

Om or Aum’ is the nearest sound which can be used to address the totality of consciousness.Om or Aum’ is the eternal sound. It is the sound of your soul.Feel it. Om or Aum’ is truth, vibration of consciousness.Om or Aum’ is peace, the primordial sound of the universe.

It is made up of the letters A (phonetically as in "around"), U (phonetically as in "put") and M (phonetically as in "mum"). The sound emerging from the vocal chords starts from the base of the throat as "A". With the coming together of the lips, "U" is formed and when the lips are closed, all sounds end in "M".

Four parts of OM: The OM Mantra has four parts. First, is the sound like "Ah," then "Uuuu," then "Mmmm," and finally the silence beyond the mantra. Thus, the mantra is also written as AUM, as well as OM. The three sounds, and the silence have the following meanings: 1. The A sound refers to the gross world. 2. The U part refers to the subtle realm. 3. The M refers to the causal plane, out of which the gross and subtle emerge. 4. The Silence after these three, refers to the absolute reality that is the substratum for each of the other three realities.

How to chant AUM:

Chant AUM beginning slowly with A sound increasing the sound U and slowly ending with M sound. While chanting AUM, the force should come from the stomach. Have you heard how airplane takes off?? first soft , loud and louder and softer.There are 4 things we should not forget while chanting AUM.Syllables There are 4 syllables in AUM. A, U, M and silence. while chanting AUM we should not move any part of our body even mouth should not be moved.Try to sit up straight.

How to say “OM”?
The saying or singing of the sound “om” (pronounced “aum”). Om is a simple sound that creates vibration, teaches slow & deep breathing, calms the mind.

Say/sing “ar” as in the start of “argh” for 2 seconds, then blend this into the sound of “u” like the end of “you” for 3 seconds, and end by blending into the sound “m”.

Try to create and feel the “a” starting in the abdomen, the “u” in the chest and the “m” in the mouth and lips. Your mouth will start open like a circle for a, half close to an oval or u and close fully to make them.

A: sound emanate from throat (force comes from stomach, force should come up toward your head)
U: sound emanate from tongue, sounds the loudest
M: Sound complete in back of your throat.
PAUSE OR SILENCE BEFORE ANOTHER A

At this time bring your concentration above your head. Please practice with this!!

BENEFITS
After you say/sing om, it becomes a memory too – a sound in the silence of your mind. When you say it is also a feeling, a vibration. When you do it, you learn that you need a deep inhale and a slow exhale (which is good breathing technique). Instead of a normal 12-15 (shallow) breaths a minute you reduce to about 4 (10 seconds exhale, 5 seconds inhale, repeated). It’s creates oxygen richer blood for the body …and brain.

IMPORTANT TIP
To ensure comfort and ease of breathing (and therefore clarity of say/singing om, sit upright so that your abdomen and lungs can freely expand and contract. Slouching restricts the lungs.
Yogi’s believe the body has a limited number of breaths.Therefore,

slower breathing = longer life
Life starts with breath, and ends when breath ends.In between we breath, non-stop, in and out.

Better breathing = better life