238 The Law of the Rhythmic Breath 



thought, " the primitive idea," reasons the Hindu, 

 " should be the common symbol." He, therefore, 

 seeks his fundamental in a root sound, asking him- 

 iself first, how sounds are uttered by the human 

 'voice, and then, " What must have been the first 

 sound? " 



What organs are called into action? The 

 larynx, and the palate as a sounding board. Now, 

 is there any word which contains in itself the basis 

 of all sounds ? Yes, A um (Om pronounced 

 like o in on, not like o in home, prolonging the 

 consonant and holding the voice to one key) is 

 such a word, and the only one. Analyzing its 

 " triple essence," the first letter, A, is the root 

 sound, or key. In all tongues, it is the natural ex- 

 clamation of emotion, whether of pain or joy 

 (ah!), and the first word the infant utters; and 

 it is pronounced without touching any part of the 

 tongue or palate. U rolls from the very root of 

 the tongue to the end of the mouth's sounding- 

 board; and M brings teeth and lips together and 

 closes mouth and sound. The three letters also 

 symbolize the three worlds, physical, astral (or 

 luminous), and heavenly; the latter embracing the 

 other two (see Glossary). 



Thus, Om is a fundamental word covering the 

 whole phenomena of vocal utterance. As such, 

 Swami Vivekananda pronounces it " the natural 

 symbol, the matrix of all the various sounds," be- 



