Other Practice in Advaita Vedanta- AuM sAdhana - The Pranava mantra

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Hari Aum, my fellow advaitins!

 

Aum - the Bija Mantra - the seed mantra!

 

The Vedas begin with AUM

 

The Upanishads begin with AUM

 

The Srimad Bhagwat Gita begins with Aum

 

The Sacred Gayatri Mantra begins with Aum

 

Aum in upanishads .....

 

Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanishad,

One should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation.

Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That,

Penetrate that Imperishable as the mark, my friend.

 

The mystic syllable Om is the bow. The arrow is the soul.

Brahman is said to be the mark.

By the undistracted man is It to be penetrated.

One should come to be in It, as the arrow [in the mark].

 

MUNDAKA UPANISHAD

 

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As the material form of fire when latent in its source

Is not perceived—and yet there is no evanishment of its subtle form—

But may be caught again by means of the drill in its source,

So, verily, both are in the body by the use of Om.

 

By making one's own body the lower friction-stick

And the syllable Om the upper friction-stick,

By practicing the friction of meditation,

One may see the God who is hidden, as it were.

 

Svetasvatara Upanishad

 

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Whereas one thus joins breath and the syllable Om

And all the manifold world—

Or perhaps they are joined!—

Therefore it has been declared to be Yoga.[32]

 

Maitri Upanishad

 

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The essence of all beings is the earth.

The essence of the earth is water.

The essence of water is the plant.

The essence of the plant is man.

The essence of man is speech.

The essence of speech is the Rigveda.

The essence of Rigveda is the SamAveda.

The essence of SamAveda is OM.

 

Thus OM is the best of all essences, deserving the highest place.

 

Chandogya Upanishads

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AUM, the word, is all this, the whole universe. A clear explanation

of it is as follows: All that is past, present and future is, indeed,

AUM. And whatever else there is, beyond the threefold division of

time-that also is truly AUM.

 

Mandukya upanishads

 

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Srimad Bhagwat Gita

 

The blessed Lord said

 

"The Blessed Lord Said:

 

"All the gates of the body closed, the MIND confined within the

heart, having FIXED his life-energy in the head, engaged in FIRM

yoga; UTTERING the one-syllabled "OM", Brahman, THINKING of ME, he

who departs, leaving the body, ATTAINS the Supreme Goal.

 

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GANESHA CHATHURTHI IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER. in this context. let me

share with you all why our lord ganesha is called 'omkara' -

 

Ganesha was born when the eternal couple Parvati and Parameshwera

contemplated on AUM. If you view Lord Ganesha sideways, then you will

see the symbol AUM in sanskrit. That's why Ganesha is called AUMKARA

and worshipped first.

 

AUM is praNava. What is meant by praNava. Pra is short for prakriti

and Navam means excellent boat. That is, AUM is the way to cross the

ocean of worldly existence.

 

The following stotra is from the narada purana, and is recited to

remove all troubles and get liberation.

 

praNamya shirasaa devaM gaurii putraM vinaayakaM |

 

salutation TO CHIEF God Gaurii's son *vinaayakaM*

 

bhaktaa vaasaM smaren.h nityaM aayuH kaama artha

siddhaye

 

 

One should bow the head and offer obeisance before the

son of Gauri, Vinayaka, whose abode is the devotees, and

remember Him always for the purpose of obtaining longevity,

desired powers and prosperity.

 

om shri ganeshaya namaha!

 

Aum can be chanted as 'saguna' mantra !

 

ADD "AUM" TO A DEITY'S NAME BEFORE CHANTING

 

Harihi Aum ( AUM as a suffix)

 

Aum Namo Bhagvate Vasudevaya (AUM as a prefix)

 

or Aum CAN BE CHANTED BY ITSELF AS A NIRGUNA MANTRA...

 

AUM sadhana is a fascinating subject .....

 

as Lord Krishna says " Among the mantras, i am the sacred syllable

Aum"

 

to be continued!

 

HARI AUM TAT SAT!!!!