Swami Vivekananda On Om

“The goal of the universe is to realize oneness with the ‘Om’ or One Existence.” (Jnana Yoga, section III)

“Om is the greatest [mantra], meaning the Absolute.” (The Four Paths of Yoga)

“The underlying reality of nature, soul, and God is Brahman; but It (Brahman) is unseen, until we bring It out. It may be brought out by Pramantha or friction, just as we can produce fire by friction. The body is the lower piece of wood, Om is the pointed piece and Dhyana (meditation) is the friction. When this is used, that light which is the knowledge of Brahman will burst forth in the soul.” (Inspired Talks, Sunday morning, July 7)

“Japa is repeating the Holy Name; through this the devotee rises to the Infinite. This boat of sacrifice and ceremonies is very frail, we need more than that to know Brahman, which alone is freedom. Liberty is nothing more than destruction of ignorance, and that can only go when we know Brahman. It is not necessary to go through all these ceremonials to reach the meaning of the Vedanta. Repeating Om is enough.” (Inspired Talks, Monday, July 8)

“Ishwara is the Atman as seen or grasped by mind. His highest name is Om; so repeat it, meditate on it, and think of all its wonderful nature and attributes. Repeating the Om continually is the only true worship. It is not a word, it is God Himself.” (Inspired Talks, Sunday, July 21)

“The more you practice [repetition of Om joined with the breath] the calmer you will be. Just think of ‘Om’ and you can practice even while you are sitting at your work. You will be all the better for it.” (Raja Yoga, Chapter Five)

“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 generalization among all these words, some substratum, 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 manifestations, one which is the 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 centered 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 retained 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.” (Raja Yoga, commentary on Yoga Sutra 1:27)

“The first manifestation of the repetition and thinking of Om is that the introspective power will manifest more and more, all the mental and physical obstacles will begin to vanish.” (Raja Yoga, commentary on Yoga Sutra 1:29)

“In the universe, Brahma or Hiranyagarbha or the cosmic Mahat first manifested himself as name, and then as form, i.e. as this universe. All this expressed sensible universe is the form, behind which stands the eternal inexpressible Sphota, the manifester as Logos or Word. This eternal Sphota, the essential eternal material of all ideas or names, is the power through which the Lord creates the universe; nay, the Lord first becomes conditioned as the Sphota, and then evolves Himself out as the yet more concrete sensible universe. This Sphota has one word as its only possible symbol, and this is the Om. And as by no possible means of analysis can we separate the word from the idea, this Om and the eternal Sphota are inseparable; and therefore, it is out of this holiest of all holy words, the mother of all names and forms, the eternal Om, that the whole universe may be supposed to have been created.

“But it may be said that, although thought and word are inseparable, yet as there may be various word-symbols for the same thought, it is not necessary that this particular word Om should be the word representative of the thought, out of which the universe has become manifested. To this objection we reply that this Om is the only possible symbol which covers the whole ground, and there is none other like it.

“The Sphota is the material of all words, yet it is not any definite word in its fully formed state. That is to say, if all the peculiarities which distinguish one word from another be removed, then what remains will be the Sphota; therefore this Sphota is called the Nada-Brahman, the Sound-Brahman. Now, as every word-symbol intended to express the inexpressible Sphota, will so particularize it that it will no longer be the Sphota, that symbol which particularizes it the least and at the same time most approximately expresses its nature, will be the truest symbol thereof; and this is the Om, and the Om only; because these three letters AUM pronounced in combination as Om, may well be the generalized symbol of all possible sounds.

“The letter A is the least differentiated of all sounds, therefore Krishna says in the Gita: ‘I am A among the letters.’ Again, all articulate sounds are produced in the space within the mouth beginning with the root of the tongue and ending in the lips–the throat sound is A, and M is the last lip sound, and the U exactly represents the rolling forward of the impulse which begins at the root of the tongue till it ends in the lips. If properly pronounced, this Om will represent the whole phenomenon of sound-production, and no other word can do this; and this, therefore, is the fittest symbol of the Sphota, which is the real meaning of the Om.

“And as the symbol can never be separated from the thing signified, the Om and the Sphota are one. And as the Sphota, being the finer side of the manifested universe, is nearer to God, and is indeed that first manifestation of divine wisdom, this Om is truly symbolic of God.” (Bhakti Yoga, The Mantra: Om: Word and Wisdom).

“Remember the saying of the Vedas: ‘Om, this is Brahman; Om, this is the greatest reality; he who knows the secret of this Om, whatever he desires that he gets.’ Ay, therefore first know the secret of this Om, that you are the Om….” (The Vedanta)

“There is this whole universe, and behind that is the name, what is called the ‘Word’ in all religions, and behind that is God. The universal thought is Mahat, as the Sankhyas call it, universal consciousness. What is that name?…According to the Hindus that word is Om. The old Egyptians also believed that. The Katha Upanishad says, ‘That, seeking which a man practices Brahmacharya, I will tell you in short what that is, that is Om.…This is Brahman, the Immutable One, and is the highest; knowing this Immutable One, whatever one desires one gets.’

“This Om stands for the name of the whole universe, or God. Standing midway between the external world and God, it represents both.” (Addresses on Bhakti Yoga)

“‘He whom the Vedas declare, He, to reach whom, we serve with prayer and sacrifice, Om is the sacred name of that indescribable One. This word is the holiest of all words. He who knows the secret of this word receives that which he desires.’ Take refuge in this word. Whoso takes refuge in this word, to him the way opens.” (Notes of Class Talks and Lectures, Thoughts on the Vedas and Upanishads)