From the Chopra website:
The Creation of the Universe According to Sound
Science tells us that the Universe began with a big bang, whereas Vedanta says that the big bang is actually a big OM, which didn’t just happen once; it is ongoing. In fact, if the OM stopped for even a micro second, the whole Universe as we know it would disappear instantly! OM rises from Pure Consciousness, which is primary and underlies all existence, constantly unfolding as our experience of the Universe.
Imagine, if you can, a time before the Universe existed. Imagine a field of Pure Consciousness, an eternal silence. Not an empty silence, but one filled with the potential for everything. At some point, Pure Consciousness decided it wanted to have an experience but, as nothing else existed, it could only experience itself. Because all experiences are based on contrast, Pure Consciousness had to move within itself to experience itself.
Now, movement creates friction, and friction creates noise, so Pure Consciousness experiencing itself created a sound. However, Pure Consciousness, by definition, is silent, so this sound, which was OM, had to be forced out of the silence and became what we call conditioned consciousness. OM, or conditioned consciousness, is what we experience as the Universe in which we live.
The idea that God created the world out of nothing is also central today to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism—and many references to a god creating the Universe by sound (words) exist. In the Old Testament God created through His words when He said, “Let there be Light.” The Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word (the sound of OM), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Oneness).”
Chanting OM
As OM is the sound of the Universe, it’s always present, so technically we can’t chant it. We cannot create OM by a chanting of it; we only produce a vibration sympathetic with the vibration that is already there, which is OM. It is not a chant made by us, created by us, or initiated by us. Rather, we establish a connection between ourselves and the Supreme Reality, which manifests itself as sound vibration in the form of OM.
An alternative way of chanting OM is in its separate form. In one breath chant, “Aaaa—Uooo—Mmm,” followed by silence. The fullness of the “A” sound collapses into “U,” then “M,” and finally the silence of all three together once they have ended on the gross level. The waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states merging into the Oneness of the Absolute.
When OM is part of our mantra, such as in Primordial Sound Meditation, we experience the fully expanded level of creation, attuning our individual souls to the Ultimate Reality.
Listen
Sometimes, if you sit very quietly, you will hear the sound of OM, like a distant cosmic hum. Listen within you; it’s not outside you, it is you.
When your mind is quiet and you listen, you will hear God humming.
