ॐ - The Symbol of the Absolute

The Om symbol is a sacred syllable representing Brahman, the impersonal Absolute - omnipotent, omnipresent, and the source of all manifest existence. Brahman, in itself, is incomprehensible; so a symbol becomes mandatory to help us realize the Unknowable. Om, therefore, represents both the unmanifest (nirguna) and manifest (saguna) aspects of God. That is why it is called Pranaa, to mean that it pervades life and runs through our prana or breath.
Aum is said to be the essence of all mantras, the highest of all matras or divine word (shabda), brahman (ultimate reality) itself. Aum is said to be the essence of the Vedas.
By sound and form, AUM symbolizes the infinite Brahman (ultimate reality) and the entire universe.
A stands for Creation; U stands for Preservation; M stands for Destruction or dissolution.
This is representative of the Trinity of God (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva).
The three portions of AUM relate to the states of waking, dream and deep sleep and the three gunas (rajas, satva, tamas) The three letters also indicates three planes of existence, heaven (swarga), earth (martya) and netherworld (patala).
All the words produced by the human vocal organ can be represented by AUM. A is produced by the throat, U & M by the lips In the Vedas, AUM is the sound of the Sun, the sound of Light. It is the sound of assent (affirmation) and ascent (it has an upward movement and uplifts the soul, as the sound of the divine eagle or falcon.
It is a mantra or prayer in itself. If repeated with the correct intonation, it can resonate throughout the body so that the sound penetrates to the centre of one's being, the atman or the soul.
The Eternal Syllable:
According to the मंदुक्य उपनिषद् "ॐ is the one eternal syllable of which all that exists is but the development. The past, the present, and the future are all included in this one sound, and all that exists beyond the three forms of time is also implied in it".
The Vision of Om:
Om provides a dualistic viewpoint. On one hand, it projects the mind beyond the immediate to what is abstract and inexpressible. On the other hand, it makes the absolute more tangible and comprehensive. It encompasses all potentialities and possibilities; it is everything that was, is, or can yet be. It is omnipotent and likewise remains undefined.
The Power of ॐ :
While meditating , when we chant Om, we create within ourselves a vibration that attunes sympathy with the cosmic vibration and we start thinking universally. The momentary silence between each chant becomes palpable. Mind moves between the opposites of sound and silence until, at last, it ceases the sound. In the silence, the single thought—Om—is quenched; there is no thought. This is the state of trance, where the mind and the intellect are transcended as the individual self merges with the Infinite Self in the pious moment of realization. It is a moment when the petty worldly affairs are lost in the desire for the universal. Such is the immeasurable power of Om.

Whats common to the World Cup, निशब्द & The Board Exams?

What’s common to all three? Media hype of course!

After the media got over the ‘how-stupid-can-you-get’ Union Budget:
Here is a rundown of all the media reports I read and saw recently about the 3 vital issues concerning the country at the moment:
India has the best squad, the best batsmen, the best bowlers, the best physio, the best host, the best tarot card readers, the best advertisements, the best official cricket song, the best coverage and the best opinion leaders. Most importantly we have Sachin Tendulkar who through television channels advised people to remain calm and support the team in difficult times, which I think he foresees too clearly these days. The timings too are great this time. People would not feel that depressed and disgusted. They would just feel sleepy.
The business news channels reported an increase in sale of television sets and DTH sets during the World Cup 2007 -as it was in World Cup 2003…as it was in World Cup 19…
The media these days gave as much inportance to the ongoing board exams.
Media reports talked about poor public conveyance systems (in patrs of the country where there are public coveyances) which did not allow mant examinees to reach the examination hall in time.
Reports said that there was an increase sales of books during these examinations.{Like, a student who had found that ‘Together with Biology’ had got him/her a lot of common questions in the ICSE exams, the same day itself bought ‘Together with Chemistry’ and ‘Together with Physics’.} Moreover, the sales of coffee and Horlicks increased to greater heights along with stationary and other items. Parents, driven by the obsession of seeing their child do extensively well in examinations, don’t question such purchases.
I never liked my parents taking interest in my studies.
Only when these examenees enter college and graduate, they would understand that the board examinations weren’t the end all of their lives, as their teachers or their acquaintances made it out to be.
Almost all news programmes ended with the movie review of the much hyped up film Nishabd.
Quite obviously, BiG B can do nothing wrong. This time he is emotionally involved with a girl who is 18 years old, he himself being 60. Notice, the girl isn’t 17, 16 or 15. She is 18. And that is stressed upon all the reviews all the time.
No, I coudnt gather the guts to watch the movie yet ..but here is what I could gather for the reports, reviews and interviews shown on the news channels time and time again:

18 year old girls from Australia are essentially explosive, have uncontrollable urges to dance with hose pipes in front of the house, have a love for lollipops [which, I don’t know how, transmits basic sexual advances to the friend’s dad] and have the very unhealthy habit of poking tree branches in the friend’s dad’s ears while he is driving. They also incidentally dont get any trousers from Australia.
A 60 year old man would sacrifice the love of his life -his wife and children- to the hose pipes, the lollipops, the horrific accent, the poetry and the grammatical mistakes in speech which is enough to keep him alive.He is also turned into a peeping tom and a gifted photographer who happily clicks away pictures of his daughters friend from Australia.
Is a 60 year old man’s wife is always the dullest human being living on this planet earth?
Hats of to the director who can depict all this.
Why is the girl from Australia and not Newzeland or Canada or Mexico.There have been some reasoning behind that.Ramu G never potrays any character without solid reasoning.What dose a girl do when she finds out that her father is having an affair with her friend. Hey that’s the agenda…will have to watch the film for that.

Site meter for powerful tracking

Get a powerful tracking for your webpage/blog : Site Meter is a service which provides counter and tracking information for youe website/blog. It provides you information about their visitors, including the date and time of their visit, and more.
So do sign up with http://www.sitemeter.com for such info.