Swami Sivananda, one of the foremost spiritual figures of our time, lived a life of dedication to humanity. Born in India on 8th Sept. 1887, he spent his early life as a medical doctor. While serving as a doctor he took to a life of renunciation and in 1924 settled in Rishikesh, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he spent the rest of his life as a great Yogi, saint and sage. Though remaining in Rishikesh, Swami Sivananda was a world spiritual teacher. Through the Divine Life Society, which he founded in 1936, and through his hundreds of books, reached countless people of all nationalities and creeds. In 1963 he entered Mahasamadhi, or final liberation from the body.
Om is everything. Om is the Name or symbol of God, Iswara or Brahman. Om is your real Name. Om covers the whole threefold experience of man. Om stands for all the phenomenal worlds. From Om this sense universe has been projected. The world exists in Om and in Om it is dissolved.
'A' represents the physical plane.
'U' represents the mental and astral plane, the world of intelligent spirits, all heavens.
'M' represents the whole deep sleep state and all that is unknown even in your wakeful state, all that is beyond the reach of the intellect.
Om represents all, Om is the basis of your life, thought and intelligence. All words which denote objects are centred in Om. Hence, the whole world comes from Om, rests in Om, and dissolves in Om.
As soon as you sit in meditation, chant Om loudly three or six or twelve times. This will drive away all worldly thoughts and remove the restlessness of the mind. Then take to the mental repetition of Om.
The repetition of Om has a powerful influence on the mind. The vibrations set up by this word are so powerful that, if one persists in taking recourse to them, they will bring the largest building to the ground. This seems difficult to believe until one has tried the practice, but once having tried it one can easily understand how the above statement may be true and perfectly correct.
Pronounced in its correct method, it arouses and transforms every atom in the physical body, setting up new vibrations and conditions, and awakening the sleeping power of the body.