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The mantra ‘Aum’ (or Om as it is often spelt) is generally regarded as the mother of all meditation matras. The word itself defies English translation; it is the sound of the mantra itself that it is important, and is held to be the seed-sound from which the ebbs and flows of creation spring, and thus to chant the mantra is to gradually enter into the mysteries of the universe. For thousands of years, yogis and ascetics have chanted this mantra as their sole spiritual practice, and many have attained the ultimate goal of meditation - enlightenment or God-realisation - by doing so. Indeed, some of these sages have reached the stage where when they stopped chanting, they could hear the mantra being generated spontaneously in the inmost recesses of their hearts.

I first encountered the mantra Aum when attending meditation classes run by the Dublin Sri Chinmoy Centre. Even though I liked the classes very much and was inspired to ask Sri Chinmoy could I become a student of his, I never have really explored the mantra ‘Aum’ at all in the four-odd years between then and now, as I seemed to make more progress with silent meditation, singinging longer mantric songs, and the English (though no less powerful for that) mantra ‘Supreme’. However I was at a meditation class last night at which my friend Martin, originally from Graz in Austria but on a lengthy soujourn in Dublin, was talking about ‘Aum’ and he mentioned a specific exercise using japa (constant repetition of a mantra) to purify the being which Sri Chinmoy once recommended:

“The best way to repeat a mantra to attain purity quickly is to ascend by steps. You all know the significance of AUM, the sacred name of God. Today, repeat five hundred times ‘AUM,’ ‘Supreme,’ or whatever mantra your Master has given you. Then tomorrow, repeat it six hundred times; the day after tomorrow, seven hundred; and so on, until you reach twelve hundred in one week’s time. Then begin descending each day until you reach five hundred again. In this way you can climb up the tree and climb down the tree.”

“When you do japa, do not prolong your chanting too much. If you prolong the syllable AUM, you won’t have the time to chant five hundred or six hundred times. Just say the syllable in a normal but soulful way so that you will get the vibration.”

So I became inspired to try this for a month - that’s two up-and-down cycles of mantras. I began my first 500 aums this morning, and the practice definitely does fill you with plenty of energy for the day ahead. Let’s see how we progress….