If you have to utter any kind of sound, without using the tongue. What are the sounds that you could utter? I want you to experiment and see.
Aaaaa – yes, for sure you can do ‘aa’. Ooooo – possible. Mmmmm – yes, possible. What else?
Suppose you did not have a tongue? What are the sounds you can utter? You can do ‘aaa’. You can do ‘ooo’. You can do ‘mmm’. Try any other sound. Someone who is unable to speak, a mute person who is unable to speak – what are the sounds that he makes? Aaa, ooo, mmm. Because these 3 sounds do not need the use of your tongue. See, if you remove your tongue, you are able to make only 3 sounds. Aaa, ooo, mmm. You are using the tongue, placing the tongue in different positions in your palette to mix these 3 sounds and produce all the other sounds that you produce.
If you know something about the colour television – you would know there are only 3 basic colours. Using these 3 colours, you see every other possible colour on the tube. Similarly, there are only 3 basic sounds. Using these 3 sounds, you are able to produce all these other sounds. The tongue is just helping you to mix these 3 sounds in many complex ways. Now these 3 sounds – aaa, ooo and mmm – are referred to as the basic sounds, universal sounds. Because these 3 sounds are the basis of all the other sounds that you can utter.
Aum is known as the universal sound, or the basic sound in the creation
If you utter these 3 sounds together – what do you get? It’s not ‘om’. Aaa-uuu-mmm. So, these are the 3 basic sounds which are the basis of all the other sounds that you can utter. So Aum is known as the universal sound, or the basic sound in the creation.
If this is true, how come only a certain religion seems to be using it as a ‘brand’ for themselves, and nowhere else it is known. That is not true. Wherever there is a realised being, there sound Aum will be there. For e.g., Christianity – born in Jerusalem, where the language at that time is Aramaic. Aramaic language has a certain infliction, where sound ‘nnn’ is dominant. So, in Christianity, whatever they close with today, whatever they say, they close it with ‘Amen’. If you look at it the way it is said at the Vatican, it’s always said – Aaaaammen. You take off the ‘n’, and say ‘Amen’. Aaaam – oh!
If you want to understand this – you can see a similar infliction in Tamil. See, now for e.g. Ram, you know Ram? Born in Ayodhya? He came down south. When he came south, when Ram entered Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, people called him Rama. Then he crossed the Tamilnadu border, people called him Raman. If Krishna comes to Tamilnadu, what will you do – Krishnan. If Arjun comes to Tamilnadu, what do you do – Arjunan. If Bheem comes to Tamilnady, what do you do – Bheeman. Whoever enters Tamilnadu border, they get ‘n’-ified.
This infliction of ‘n’ in Tamil is much stronger than Aramaic. Aaammen – take out the ‘n’, it’s just Aum. Today this ‘Amen’ has gone to United States of America and become ‘A-man’. This is cultural and language distortions which happen. Islam born also in the same region, under the same cultural and language influences. They are saying ‘Ameen’. take away ‘n’, and say ‘Ameen’ – ‘Aamm’. Oh! the same sound.
If you become silent by your own nature, sound Aum will reverberate in the system
Because wherever a human being becomes silent by his own nature. Not school teacher’s silence. Not plugging your ears silence. If you become silent by your own nature, sound Aum will reverberate in the system. Because the root sound, for your physical existence is sound Aum. When Aum reverberates, it starts from just beneath the navel, and ends at the tip of your nose. This reverberation will just happen by itself. So, wherever a human being truly sat quietly, utter quietness within himself – he always became aware of the sound Aum. When he transmitted it, it got distorted over a period of time, according to language and cultural influences. Even in India, Aum has become Om. It is not Om.
You open your mouth and say ‘Aaa’, gently close your mouth, it becomes ‘Ooo’, you close it, it becomes ‘Mmm.’ [Sadhguru demonstrates the correct utterance of Aum].
Sound Aum has innumerable benefits
Sound Aum has innumerable benefits. Even today if anybody come here with any kind of psychological disturbances, the first prescription is always Aum. You do this for a few weeks, you settle down, and then we go into other aspects. I can show you hundreds of people, for whom it was medically believed that they have to be on psychiatric medication for the rest of their life, have completely walked out of the need for medication – simply by uttering Aum.
If you are suffering from excessive fear, distorted dreams, bad dreams, nightmares, unstable mind, unstable body. If your general constitution is weak, you tend to fall sick too often. Particularly children, if they have attention disorders. Daily utterance of Aum for a few minutes a day will make a enormous difference for you.
You have problems that you are unable to do anything with a certain resolve in your life – daily utterance of Aum will be truly transformational for you. Within a couple of weeks, you can notice a phenomenal difference in the way you function. Because this is the basic sound in your physical existence.
