Hari
Om
Monday is AUM-day; in search of meditation
For the next stage of our investigation on
meditation, we are going to study - and practice! - japa as a means to tame the
mind and we shall investigate the Gayatri Mantra.
Delving into linguistics for a brief moment, let us discuss
the concept of S)aeq/sphota. The most succinct explanation of
this idea is that it is the 'essence of meaning distinct from sound'. If we can
grasp the sphota within a sound, we gather a meaning far beyond the utterance
of that sound and entirely separate from any imagery (lettering) attached to
it. Think about music which touches you in parts of your being which has
nothing to do with the act of hearing itself - the effect generated is the
vibration set up within you in response to the sound heard. This is sphota.
Many
languages have this potential - we all know about the 'power of speech', but
tend to think of it as being based upon the words and dictionary meanings. Yet,
if we have sat before a speaker of worth, that speaker may actually be using
the simplest of language, but be imbuing it with meaning which comes from
within them - or beyond them. They are a conduit for the energy of meaning. The
vibration has to be 'just so'. It is
this very thing which can split an audience, because the receiver also has to
be attuned and open to the possibilities being presented. Those who are, will
find themselves thinking on wider implications than were presented in the
speech - those who are not will wonder what all the fuss is about!
Every
now and then, though, will come along a speaker who somehow reaches a greater
number of listeners. More than the words, there will be the timbre of the
voice, the feeling and emphasis used, the engagement with the audience. The
same simple speech given by three different speakers will have three different
effects. This is the nature of sound and
has little to do with the words themselves. The same words presented
(pronounced) differently will have differing results.
Sphota,
then, whilst a purely Sanskrit concept, is actually something with which we are
all familiar! It is, in part, sphota within language which aids communication
when we travel in foreign places and do not speak the local tongue. Essence of
meaning can be conveyed in many ways.
Thus,
coming back to what we mean when we talk about the sphota in relation to OM, it
is, in the simplest of terms, the vibration. (Still not completely accurate, but sufficient for
our purposes here.) Sanskrit is a language ripe in sphota - particularly
important when it comes to mantras. When we say our prayers, in the Western
tradition, we are relying on the words almost entirely - with perhaps some
emotion behind them - because we have externalised communication so much and
are engaged (through our ego) with a desire for outcome. In mantra prayers,
though, there is an in-built vibration which helps us to let go of our ego and
surrender to the process of prayer without emotion or expectation of any kind.
What
is more, there is a mantra for almost every contingent in life. Western
tradition does have some 'set prayers' (note that we are talking about the
individual seeker here, not formal service in places of worship), a prime
example being the Lord's Prayer and in the Catholic church there are set prayers to certain saints (mimicking the Sanskrit tradition); but for the person who has some angst about
this or that, or who wishes to give thanks and praise in a particular way, it
is mostly left up to them to use whatever words they have at their disposal.
For the Hindu, though, there will be a specific mantra for the occasion. In this way, mantras might almost be considered scientific formulae, or for the more romantically-minded, as 'spells'. They have been tried and tested over millennia and are still used today.
For the Hindu, though, there will be a specific mantra for the occasion. In this way, mantras might almost be considered scientific formulae, or for the more romantically-minded, as 'spells'. They have been tried and tested over millennia and are still used today.
Of
all the mantras available, the shortest and, potentially, the most
powerful is the single-word OM. It's essence cannot be ignored, even by those
who never grew up in the tradition. OM chanting has become popular the world
over.
It
may be wondered how OM came to be the representative of the 'thought' from
which the Universe became manifest…
...tbc...
