Richard
AUM
Meditation Lecture 3: AUM
The flow of all things is to be born, to live and to die. This flow is eternal, and is reflected in the breath of all creatures, and in the life of all matter, and even all thoughts.
Through meditation, we can become one with the wholeness of the world around us. We can sing in tune with the flow of life itself. Meditation is not about retreating into nothingness and emptiness, but is about embracing the simplicity and immortality of the whole of which our lives are one important part.
Here we will chant the mantra "AUM".
A (make the sound "ah") is a sound which comes from the throat, which leads into the resonance of U (make the sound "ooo"), which leads into the closing of the mouth and the humming of M.
The gutteral sound of A emerging from the throat is a birth. The sound emerges suddenly, just as we enter the world from the womb, or an idea flashes into our mind. U is the vibration of life. It is the fire of the sun, the flow of a river, the daily happiness and struggle of our own existence. Eventually it dies and subsides, and the mouth closes, and there is M. There is energy in this humming, but it is an energy changed and dispersing, ready to be transferred to give birth to other life.
The rise and ebb of life is in each breath, each pulsing of the heart, each flicker of energy in the mind; and this same rise and ebb is shared by all life. To chant AUM is one way of resonating with the flow of life, in its sound is a vibration which expresses the birth, life and death of all things.
- Richard Irvine