Sound of Aum

Joseph Campbell was on a quest to learn the truths and meanings from symbols, myths, and stories over all time. In his talks with Bill Moyers in The Power of Myth series he spoke of the sound of the universe, “aum.” He said “aum” is the sound of all being, birth, coming into being, and resolution. This is once again the universal theme of the circle that Campbell and Jung spoke of. Parahamansa Yogananda, one of the great spiritual teacher of the 20th century, spoke also of the sound “aum” and encouraged vocalizing that sound as a spiritual ritual coupled with meditation. So what and why would such a sound exist? Is it the result of some vibration linked with all that is? Campbell speaks of it as to reflect a congruency in the manifestation of the circle of life. It’s like the sound of “aum” is almost like a lullaby accompanying the whole cycle of life and death. And yet “aum” is also beyond the circle of life as we know it. It is also the “song” of all that is, seen and unseen, understood and not understood, physical and spiritual, embodied and disembodied, and all of feeling and that which is yet to be and never to be perceived. It reflects the mystery of what is.