Om

THE ORIGIN AND THE UNIVERSAL CHARACTER OF THE SACRED SYLLABLE OM HE importance which was attached to the word in ancient India, may be seen from the following quotation: 'The essence of all beings is earth, the essence of earth is water, the essence of water are the plants, the essence of the plants ts man, the essence of man 1s speech, the essence

Govinda introduces Om as the culminating distillation of cosmic essence, grounding its universal character in the Vedic doctrine that speech is the ultimate refinement of all existing things.

Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960thesis

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →

THE UNIVERSAL PATH AND THE REVALUATION OF THE SACRED SYLLABLE OM preserve every word and command of the Master and every detail of the mode of living of his first disciples, created a codex of innumerable monastic rules and regulations, thereby forgetting the spirit over the letter

Govinda situates Om within a chapter explicitly dedicated to its 'revaluation,' arguing that institutional Buddhism's literalism obscures the living spiritual force the syllable is meant to transmit.

Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960thesis

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →

The root om- of the present stem ómnumi can be connected, as has been proposed long ago, with the Sanskrit verb am-, of the same sense, which is ancient and attested irreproachably in Vedic and Brahmanic texts.

Benveniste establishes a comparative-linguistic link between the Greek oath-root 'om-' (in ómnumi) and the Sanskrit 'am-,' suggesting a shared archaic vocalism associated with solemn, binding utterance.

Benveniste, Émile, Indo European Language and Society, 1973supporting

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →

The syllable is ram, and the animal is a ram. He represents the vehicle of the god of fire, Agni, the fire of the womb, the fire of the sun, the fire of the sa

Campbell demonstrates that within the Tantric chakra system each center is governed by a bija-syllable, providing the structural analogy within which Om functions as the supreme mantric sound at the crown of the psychospiritual hierarchy.

Campbell, Joseph, Transformations of Myth Through Time, 1990supporting

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →

A plenitude is that yonder [the transcendental essence which is the source and life of all]; a plenitude is this which is here [the visible, tangible world]. Plenitude is scooped from plenitude

Zimmer's presentation of the Upanishadic doctrine of plenitude articulates the metaphysical ground — the identity of Brahman and Atman — within which Om functions as the sonic symbol of that inexhaustible totality.

Zimmer, Heinrich, Philosophies of India, 1951supporting

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →

The method of the Kundalini is rather to recognize affirmatively the force and importance of this center and let the energies pass on through it, to become naturally transformed to other aims at the higher centers of the 'rich in happiness' sushumna.

Campbell's discussion of Kundalini and the sushumna channel provides the anatomical-energetic framework within which Om, as crown-chakra syllable, represents the apex of psychospiritual transformation.

Campbell, Joseph, The Mythic Image, 1974aside

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →

mudrad, 92, 94, 101, 116, 251 miiladhara, 139 f., 142, 145, 157, 174, 184, 186, 196 muni, 14, 226

The index entry listing mudra, muladhara, and related Tantric terms situates Om within the technical vocabulary of Tibetan mysticism, confirming its co-occurrence with the core concepts of mantra, chakra, and yogic anatomy.

Govinda, Lama Anagarika, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, 1960aside

Expand passageDig deeper with Sebastian →