October 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami-AUM

[Srivatsa Ramaswami]

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October 2025 Newsletter from Srivatsa Ramaswami–AUM

I am now half way through the 100 hr Vinyasakrama Yoga Program very well organized by Yogasoul in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Several sequences we have gone through and now we are in the midst of vinyasas of Sarvangasana and viloma Ujjayi pranayama. We have also completed the study of Samkhya karika verse by verse and started on the Yoga Sutra.  (. My Samkhya karika book is now available in India via Amazon priced at Rs 725 (hard cover book

https://www.amazon.in/Samkhya-Karika-Practitioners-Overcoming-Suffering/dp/B0D9TMMMG2/ref=sr_1_3?crid=5JZY9ZNKBTCR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.CS0FdhjisLhdfZBTyjycxWQGrGl4MATuiZpBTQCkRTSzRQGmH1b6XPm2CQX1eF7vMOMlFUvZxOSEy45SyQVn8FdeN9yc4ELr3bWIGzcv6Tos7CJe0ihkQSukyVrPDdwk.1yoh4zos2ehsgInyycmgtgNbVlbfQVcIewsuLIFElE4&dib_tag=se&keywords=srivatsa+ramaswami&qid=1759164009&sprefix=%2Caps%2C320&sr=8-3). 

Above is the picture of the group at  yogasoul in  Salt Lake  city

I am also scheduled to teach two shorter programs in the coming months in USA. In October I will be teaching a week-long program in Miami organized by Miami Life Center. Here is the link

https://miamilifecenter.union.site/events/miami-life-center-study-practice-with-srivatsa-ramaswami-senior-student-of-sri-krishnamacharya

In November I am scheduled to teach an in person/on line short program in Vancouver organized by One yoga, Vancouver.  Here is the link

https://www.oneyogavan.com/

AUM  ओम्

The pranava mantra is the most sacred of vedic mantras. The vedas start with  om.   Brahma is said to have started creation with this mantra (om iti brahma prasauti)

AU+M is OM

All the sounds are contained in aum pronounce  om  ओम्. The first sound when one opens the mouth is A ( अ  ) as in and the last letter or consonant is m (म्  ) as you close the mouth.  The siblings are only diphthongs derived from the vowels and consonants included already. So, it is said the entire vedas consisting of words made from "a अ " to "m  म्  "is contained in  om. ओम्

 Aum is Iswara in Yoga brahman in upanishads. The ‘A: is associated with creation “U” with sustenance and “M” with dissolution and the whole mantra refers to the Brahman the underlying consciousness the bedrock of the Universe immutable consciousness. Some yogis use this concept in their pranayama practice. As they inhale, they quietly think of the four faced Brahma the creative aspect of trinity arising from Brahman. Then while they hold the breath, they medicate on the two-armed Lord Vishnu the sustainer of the created Universe and then during exhalation, smooth and long, they focus attention of three eyed Lord Siva the Lord of dissolution. And between completing the exhalation and starting the next inhalation, they meditate of the absolute Brahman , the complete Pranava, the unvarying consciousness the source of this entire universe.  This is viewing Pranava as depicting the cosmos

The Mandukya Upanishad on the other hand considers “a अ ”: or akara as the waking state experience of the underlying Atman the pure Self. Then the “U उ ” is identified with the experience of the Atman as the experiencer of the dream state. And the” m”  म्akara as the state of deep sleep experienced by the immutable Atman. And then the state of complete OM is identified with the fourth state of consciousness which is Atman in it pristine glory

Manduka Maharshi then proceeds to state that the Atman in the fourth state called the turiya state is none other than the Brahman (ayam Atma Brahma) which is the substratum of the cosmic creation itself, It states that the Atman is none other than Brahman. And OM  ओम् represents the substratum of creation or the Brahman which is identified as Atman at the individual level as the unvarying Atman or Se