The Bliss Sheath: Om

The following meditation is the most advanced of all the five-sheath meditations.  Don’t be discouraged if you can’t get a feel for it.  With practice, including the practice of any other meditations, this bliss meditation will soon become second nature (or, more accurately first nature!).

Sit comfortably with your back straight.  Close your eyes and breathe normally.  Focus on your breath.  Listen to it.  Visualize it.  Feel it moving in and out of your nostrils.  Stay with the breath for five minutes or more.

Now visualize the word “Om.”   According to yogic theory, Om is actually a sound meant to represent the original sound of the vibrating universe.  Om is like the sound of the origin of all things, and the continuing sound of all things that are one.   It is the sound of divinity, unity, and the only true reality.

Now, try the sound.  Begin softly, and let the MMM part of the sound vibrate and linger.  Repeat the word in a slow rhythm.  As you murmur it, imagine the slow turning of the Earth, the galaxy, and the entire universe.  Imagine you are making the sound of the universe breathing.  Feel it expand and contract with every breath, feel it rotate with every Om.  Focus on nothing but the sound of the origin of the universe.  If other thoughts surface, blow them away gently with the sound of Om.  Listen, speak, listen, and speak, until you see how you are able to make the sound of Om because you are the universe and the universe is you.  You are divinity and divinity is you.  You have always made the sound of Om, and you will always make the sound of Om.  You are the sound.  And look – the bliss sheath isn’t a sheath at all.  It is everything.

~ Taken from, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Meditation” by Joan Budilovsky and Eve Adamson