Meaning of the “Om” Symbol & Sound

Do you know what the symbol Om means? And did you know watching the movie Inception can help us understand it? Here’s the tea!

”Om” is a concept which first came up in our ancient Vedas, with the Rig Veda calling it as the “udgitha,” meaning the sound of the Big Bang.

Om is like the ABC of all mantras, often referred to as the “bijmantra” & it’s the easiest way to do meditation because it helps us vibrate at the same frequency as that the universe, helping us climb up spiritually in our journey towards what Hindus refer to as Samadhi i.e. the ultimate salvation or merging with God.

The symbol of Om tells us this very story…

The lower curve is our waking state - the one you’re in now, which is “Jagrat.” It represents the “A” which is Bhrama or creation.

The middle curve is the dream state we see in Inception - this represents Vishnu or the soul & preservation. It’s called the “Swapna” & represents the U.

The upper curve is the Sushupti i.e. the sub-concious state, the Limbo, which is representing Shiva or destruction, charecterized by the ending “M.”

The curved semi-circle in the middle is called “maya,” which includes the illusions we all fall for, such as money, fame & success. The greed for these illusions is what keeps us trapped.

But if we meditate regularly, we may be able to break through this fake ceiling & reach the fourth state, the Turiya, representated by the dot - it’s basically the infinite silent version of God we call the Bhraman.