AUM. You’ve heard it, chanted it or meditated to it. Yet, do you know what the sound really means?

The oldest known spiritual text, the Upanishads from ancient India, says that AUM is the sound of God. That’s a pretty bold statement, isn’t it? The ancient text goes on to explain that it also represents the three types of consciousness that we experience each day: waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. These states correlate with the birth, life and death cycle as well as our body, emotions  and soul. In Christianity, this corresponds with the Trinity.

To make this sound properly, start with the “A” in the back of the throat. If done properly, you will notice the vibration is strongest in the soler plexus, representing the strength of the physical body.  The “U” is made in the front of the throat. You might notice that the vibration of this sound is strongest in the chest or heart region, representing love, passion and energetic aliveness. With a long, slow, exhaling breath, bring the two vowel sounds together and end with the hum of the “M”. You may notice the energy shifting to the forehead or third eye region. This represents presence, mind, essence or soul. That’s how you voice it. Now let’s talk about the symbolism.

AUM is said to have four parts:

“A” is  the realm of awake consciousness and things, including the physical body.

“U”  is the realm of dream consciousness and symbols, including emotions and the energy body.

“M” is the realm of dreamless sleep and  unmanifest consciousness, including the mind and soul.

The silence surrounding and including the sound of AUM is Spirit itself, the non-dual source and container of the miracle and mystery of all creation.

The “A” represents waking consciousness and physical matter. This realm makes up our perceived reality of physical objects governed by the laws of cause and effect. Something happens and there is a result.

The sound “U” represents a dream state. This realm is the birthplace of myth, archetypes, religious and spiritual symbolism and non-ordinary states of consciousness. The non-ordinary states are realized through deep spiritual practices or drug-induced spiritual experiences. In the dream state, things appear to be separate from us, but we know that isn’t real. In our dreams, the things we see are all being created by our sub-conscious mind. The most common way to interpret dreams is that everything in the dream represents an aspect of you. In the dream state, there are no rational laws of cause and effect. Everything is a symbol of something in your mind.

“M” is dreamless sleep. Consciousness is present but with no awareness of any separateness. The experience of this state is called unmanifest consciousness. It is the goal of true spiritual yoga to achieve this completely stilled mind with no thoughts while being awake. This experience of a completely quiet mind is merged with Source and is the closest we can come to being with God.

The fourth and most important part of the AUM recognizes the silence that transcends and includes all of the former states. Pure consciousness is the ground of all being from which everything arises and into which everything falls back. With the recognition of the silence that surrounds and includes the sound of AUM, we move beyond the three realms and realize all is one and all is God.

To sum up:

“A” starts in in the back of the throat to the count of four and vibrates near the soler plexus stimulating the third chakra and stomach, liver and spleen.

represents:

• The physical body
• Birth
• Waking consciousness and present moment awareness
• The beta brainwave frequencies (12hz-38hz)
• Within the Christian trinity, Jesus living as a man on earth as the Son of God

“U” is made in the front of the throat to the count of eight and vibrates near the chest stimulating the fourth chakra and heart.

Represents:

The emotional, energetic, subtle body

• Dreaming, intuitive and symbolic consciousness
• life
• Alpha-theta brainwave frequencies (3hz-12hz)
• The Holly Spirit within the Christian trinity

“M” is made with the mouth and lips to the count of twelve and vibrates near the forehead stimulating the Sixth chakra and pineal gland.

Represents:

• The  mental realm, soul and causal body
• Deep dreamless sleep, psychic phenomenon and intuition
• Physical death
• Delta brainwave frequencies (0.2hz-3hz)
• The Father within the Christian trinity

“The sound of silence” to the count of 16 with a subtle awareness on the seventh chakra.

Represents

• The non-physical
• Non-dual and ever present awareness
• Eternity
• The element of Spirit
• The mystery  and intigration of the Trinity itself

With this new awareness, I invite you start your day with three AUM’s in the morning upon awakening, during your morning shower, or during your meditations. Then take three before going to bed. You can do them silently or say them out loud. Be aware of the realms or states of consciousness as you voice the sounds and let your mind flow from one state to another until you meet the perfect silence that surrounds the AUM. That’s where you will find the experience of God.

As always, your comments are welcome and you are welcome to pass it along to anyone

The intention of this article blog is to provide you with something that is both inspirational to feel and practical to do to begin from within in 2010.

Here goes!  (BTW-The pics are are from a Begin From Within New Years Celebration…. Karaoke was to follow )

We human beings occupy a unique place in the world. We’re said to have both an animal nature and divine nature. Think about it, like animals, we certainly have survival needs, desire to experience pleasure and want to be powerful. Don’t you? This corresponds with the lower three chakras that we share with the animal kingdom. Yet, we can and often do feel compassion for others who have no direct connection to us, are at least occasionally creative and have the capacity for self refection. This corresponds with the upper chakras, or our higher nature. As far as we know, there is no evidence that animals have developed this kind of higher nature, yet (our own pets excluded, of course).

This is the year to fully embrace your full nature. Embrace your wholeness! As a unique human being you are designed to experience meaning, aliveness, pleasure and to put to use your unique strengths to work in the in world in ways that add life to your years and years to your life. If you don’t regularly experience all three domains of meaning, passionate aliveness and pleasure, you’re not living your fullest life. And, research in the field of positive psychology reveals that the number one way to live a happy and fulfilling life is to find ways to utilize your strengths in ways that are meaningful.

You can begin from within in 2010 by taking these simple and practical steps:

• Discover your unique gifts and strengths. Then investigate unique ways to develop and express them. You can take a brief signature strengths inventory for free by registering at AuthenticHappiness.com.
• Consider the activities that provide you with the most meaning in your life. Take a moment now to determine specifically what these activities are? Write a few of them down. Then, inquire into the essence of what makes these activities so meaningful.  Once you’ve discovered this, you can let yourself wonder about what other meaningful activities to engage in this year.
• You can do the same process with the activities that cause you to feel passionate alive and those that you find most pleasurable. Get the idea?

No matter what your outer circumstances, you can find meaning, aliveness, pleasure and  learn to utilize your strengths in creative ways that will provide you with the peace, passion, purpose, power and presence of radical wholeness.

If exploring these ideas further in a group appeals to you,  join us at the Essence Circle this Tuesday the 5th at the Body Awareness Studio on Roswell Road. For a fuller experience, including your own personal MAP for utilizing your strengths to bring more Meaning, Aliveness and Pleasure into your life in 2010, check the MAPSS to Radical Wholeness One Day Workshop on the 16th at The Self Discovery Center.