Life and Death: Science of Life - Soham or Hamsa

By Malay Mishra

Soham is a combination of the two syllables so and ham. When we inhale, the sound produced is 'ham'; when we exhale, it is 'so'. Thus Soham is a combination of these two vibrations as breath comes in and goes out of the body. Soham or Hamsa mean the same.

Soham is derived from a text, Vigyana Bhairava, a science related by the primordial transcendental principle, Shiva or Bhairava. It is in the form of a dialogue between Shiva and his consort Shakti. A combination of consciousness which is absolute and energy which is creative is what makes the life breath for us.

That gives us the force which sustains the physical body. Each one of us is constantly going through this process of Soham which translates in Sanskrit to "that I am" - Soham, or "I am that" - Hamsa.

It is believed that the entire creation was manifested with the sound of Om, the Nada Brahman. Om is a combination of So and Ham. This sound vibrates every moment of our life till there is life in our body, till life continues to flow through the Kundalini.

The force which produces that sound, which moves the breath through the respiratory system, is the force which is consciousness, that which makes us aware that we are a part of the entire cosmic consciousness - Aham Vimarsa. I am awareness, the awareness of the Absolute 'I'.

When the sound travels through the various bodies it gets refined and the vibration ultimately merges in Om. It is constantly chanted within us and is thus called the highest mantra, the Mantra Maheshwara. Ham beejam, says the Guru Gita, which means the sound of Ham is the seed of the entire consciousness which pervades us.

In the Vigyana Bhairava, Shakti asks a series of questions of Shiva. Questions such as what is life are treated as part of a larger quest for living and thence discovering the fundamental process, the core being the importance of breath or subtle energy for life.

The spiritual aspirant focuses on the space between the eyebrows, agna chakra, and with eyes closed watches the breath as it comes in and goes out. In observing the breath he becomes a part of the process of breathing itself.

The space between the incoming breath and the outgoing breath is called madhya dasa. While breathing in and out, there is a split second gap between the two. In retaining the breath we expand that gap. That space is the time when the mind is absolutely stilled.

The more we prolong the duration of the space, the greater our mind develops to concentrate and purify the body through the breath and in the process we enable ourselves to reach the state of self- realisation.

The ultimate goal of human life is to realise the self, the most exalted state which is within each one of us. We draw from the same source of energy, the same breath which comes in and goes out. It is estimated that on an average day we take 21,600 breaths in all. In a lifespan of 80 years, this would amount to 62 million breaths.

Soham, therefore, is the science of life, a study through self-awareness. As the sun cannot be detached from light, so also we who possess light and energy cannot detach that from the self which is the illumination of our being. We may not be conscious of that at our birth but during the course of the evolution of our consciousness, we become aware of the basic principles and then the whole game becomes simple.

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See also: Life and Death, Life and Beyond, Death and Dying, Body Mind and Soul)