So Ham-Ham Sa… Two words – Saha and Aham.  

Saha  is  ‘That’,  Aham is ‘I am’.  When we join the two, it becomes So Ham. That I am.

Ham Sa is the same – it comes from Aham Sa: ‘ I am That’.

Hamsa means a swan, and it also signifies an Enlightened One. And in this way you have the title Paramahamsa.  Hamsa, the swan, is supposed to have this quality to be able to take the actual solid matter, the substance from the milk, and leave the water.

It is said that the swan releases acid secretion into the milk, which causes the milk to curdle. It then eats up all the curd and leaves the water.

So one who has discovered, found the substance, the essential Reality discarding the non-essential is a Hamsa – one who knows the Truth about the Reality of things and is gone beyond all delusions and illusions is a Hamsa.

Ordinarily people are caught up, lost, infatuated in that which is on the surface, that which is unreal, that which is only the cover – that which is temporary and passing. Not having the insight, one does not perceive the eternal nature of the Reality, of what one sees – one sees only the material, the matter, the gross, only the sensual, not being able to perceive that which is beyond the senses.

We have a feeling, we are touched in the body – and we are lost to that!  We do not see that beyond the feeling there is the Spirit, the essential substance. We are lost in time, we are lost in the finite, and so the Infinity is not experienced, perceived, lived.

But the Hamsa separates the water from the milk, the husk from the rice…

So for the Hamsa the essential is God: That which is the support of what you see, perceive, touch, hear, everything; That which is the Reality behind the form; That which is the Reality that has taken to the form, the Reality which has become the form.

So the mantra to chant is So Ham. Saha – Aham. According to Sanskrit grammar when you join the two words, Saha – Aham, the visarga ‘ha’ in the end of Saha together with the vowel ‘A’ in Aham becomes ‘o’, hence, So Ham – That I am.

And the same mantra in reverse is Aham Sa – I am That. Aham Sa is reduced to Ham Sa through another set of rules.

So So Ham, Ham Sa is chanted, intoned so to speak, which makes it meditative for you alone abide – this is what has to be understood by this chant, this mantra.

When you sit for meditation you alone abide, there is no other thought, there is no other objective, there is only the one objective – to discover and awaken to the Reality, to be complete in oneself.

So the sadhak, the seeker sits in meditation, sits for meditation, sits for self-discovery, and chants this mantra not knowing what the Reality is – but he or she is to discover the Reality, is to realize the Reality that he or she is through this mantra.

So through the chanting, through the intonation, through the vibrations that are created and therefore becoming meditative, he or she arrives at a self-quiet space, a self-quiet intoxication, a self-quiet being.  Ultimately of course even with your eyes open you are quiet with yourself, you are in meditation because you are in yourself.

I am all there is – this is the essence of the mantra.   But it must become an experience, a realization, a discovery, a revelation.

Would that not create in oneself the intensity, the urge to seek the Reality?  Because we know not It as an experience, would then there not be a thirst? Would there not be a restlessness – to have it and not be content until one has it – and yet reaching finally to a contentment in oneself, a completeness in oneself?

‘I am the Reality’…  But these are mere words now. It is when the revelations, the discoveries, the Unfolding starts to happen that the thirst continues to increase.  In the meanwhile of course practice has its place – and faith, faith in someone who has had it, in all those who have gone before us, all those forefathers, foremothers – our ancestors. They have handed down a legacy, and we follow in their wake.  And they are standing out there, with their hands raised in blessing…

So one can sit for meditation intoning – chanting this mantra to oneself – loudly to begin with, remembering the meaning, feeling it, intoning it, creating a vibration within oneself, an urge, an inspiration, a thirst, a longing to know the Reality – That which is the Word – the mantra you chant!

Even when moving about doing one thing or the other, this can be done.  To remember to center yourself, to remember what is the objective of your life – a life spent in discovering the Reality that one is, discovering the Reality that God is.

So not only is the atmosphere, the environment that we seek outside that must be conducive for this, but we can also create an atmosphere, an environment within oneself, through keeping oneself with it.  But it must be alive, and one must be alert to it.

And yet as we go along the journey, depending on what stage, what level we are at, we also require moments of relaxation and rest, a moment or two of laughter, a few moments of assimilation.  And then again the concentration, the right effort, the right tension, until the intensity one feels in the whole of our Being.

So So Ham – Saha Aham, deep sounding. Through the deep sounding, through the deep chanting, you sound the depth of your being – you feel the depth of your being…

So Ham, Ham Sa.

That I am, I am That.

And it can be synchronized with the breathing: with the in-breath the So Ham; with the out-breath, I am That, Aham Sa, or Ham Sa.

We can chant for a while now, letting us reach to the depths of our Being.

Let us be touched in our hearts, in our longing for finding God, for finding the Reality.

We sit in a way that we are straight but relaxed.

You are seeking for God in yourself – through the chanting you are reaching to meditation.

So Ham…

The vibrations of the word, the sound of the word must sink in your Being…

Ham Sa…

It is intoxicating!

So Ham…

Ham Sa…   

Remember you have to be aware of the silence in-between and the silence that is there in the word itself – that is what will create the right atmosphere for chanting.

So Ham…

Ham Sa…    

It is also a very effective practice to get a drone, a tanpura and have someone play that as you chant.

So Ham…

Ham Sa…   

As I have said earlier, with all chants the vibrations must be felt in the whole of your Being, in the depth of your Being. In your every pore it must permeate, just as the Reality pervades and permeates everything that is – that which one sees through one’s eyes, that which one feels through one’s touch, that which one tastes through one’s tongue, that which you feel through your senses.

So Ham…

Ham Sa…

It can be taken in an enquiring sense also…   So Ham: ‘ I am that’ – but what?

Ham Sa: I am the swan; I’m the Enlightened One.  I am the one who knows the Truth. I live the Reality.  I perceive the Reality so therefore – Ham Sa.

I am all there is.  I am existence; I am non-existence.

I am that which words fail to describe.  All words come from me, they originate in me, they remain in me and yet I am beyond.

I am a swan that lives eternal flight of self-discovery.

And I am that. I am all that which is to be known, I am the unknown, and I am the known.

I am time and I am the timeless.  I am death, I am birth, and yet I am beyond birth, beyond death.

I am the seeker and I am also that which is the sought.

I am life, I am beyond life.  I am the immanent, I am the cosmos, and I am the transcendent.  I am above, I am below.  I am high, I am low, I am behind and I am in the front.

All directions originate in me.  All directions end in me.  I live in each and every direction and yet I am beyond all directions.

I am within, I am without.  I am the form, I am the formless.  I am the personal, I am the impersonal.

So Ham…

Ham Sa…  

I am the joy.  I am freedom. Through all this, it is joy that comes out in me.  I am joy – and I live in that freedom.

I abide in God, and God abides in me.

I am the Truth that is to be known.  I am the Truth that is unknown. I am the Truth that is known.

And That I am.

So Ham… 

Ham Sa… 

There must be moments of silence also so that you may imbibe, digest, assimilate, intensify what you have been saying to yourself, what you believe, what you say to yourself you believe in.  It is not a mere mouthing of words – it is the Reality!  It is only a matter of discovering it.

So believe in what you say.  This belief is of the soul.  It is a trust in oneself, and in what one says, speaks, and lives. Always live from the depths of your Being.

Through the chant seek the sacredness in yourself, the sacredness that abides everywhere.

So Ham… 

Ham Sa…

The chanting can happen even silently in the heart, to help you to reach within yourself.

And you feel the words, you feel the chant: you feel the vibrations of the sound of the words, and you feel your Self – feel your Soul.

So Ham…

 Ham Sa…

 

 

Arya Vihar

16 0ctober 1997