How the sound of O......M saved my life

By Amal Sircar - in a letter to Narad

I have read about what Sri Aurobindo and the Mother have written or spoken about the "very powerful word"..."AUM".

I never imagined that the mantric sound of "OM" would save my life.

In 1986 I was suffering from acute bouts of coughing, especially after taking food. Many doctors examined me and prescribe tests and medicines, without any success. My physical condition was deteriorating fast.

I came to Pondicherry. A doctor, the late Dr. Bipin Behari Prasad, an ex-student of the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education, said that since the specialists had found nothing wrong with my chest he suspected the trouble might be in my stomach. I laughed at his diagnosis. What has cough to do with the stomach? He took me to Pondicherry General Hospital for an upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract X-ray, also known as a barium swallow radiographic X-ray, an examination of the upper gastrointestinal tract, specifically the pharynx (back of the moth and throat and the oesophagus).

The X-ray revealed extensive damage of the protective lining of the oesophagus indicating that the food intake is blocked, resulting in bouts of coughing and bleeding. The doctors suspected that I was suffering from terminal cancer of the oesophagus and my days are numbered. Though I was not told about my 'death sentence' others sin my family were informed. A pall of gloom descended over my near and dear ones.

At that juncture I met an ashramite in the street. He enquired about my health and I informed him of developments. He requested me to accompany him to his house. He brought out a portable tape recorder and played a recorded talk between him and the Mother. This is published in the book, Sweet Mother, Harmonies of Light and the All-India magazine of December 2001. Though I could not follow the entire conversation between them because I did not know French, I could understand the salient features. What impressed me most was the way the Mother was chanting "O........M, O........M. Later on, I read in the English version of the talk, where Mother states, "With the help of OM one can realize the Divine. OM has a transforming power. OM represents the Divine... You will recall this O........M, O.....M, that's all. O.....M. It must be manifested. If anything goes wrong, repeat OM, all will go well. X advised me to chant. In addition to taking medicines I started chanting OM daily. After three months when I came for my check up at Pondicherry General Hospital, the doctors to their utter amazement found that there was no trace of my illness and I have survived. The called it a miracle. Such is the power and efficacy of the mantric word AUM or O.....M and the Grace of the Divine Mother.

P.S. It is interesting to note that the Pondicherry aerodrome transmits "OM" as the non-directional beacon (NDB) code. An pilot who wants to land must tune his radio frequency to the locator code of the station where he wishes to land. In the case of Pondicherry it would have been PY, but the Chairman of the Airports Authority of India, Air Marshall C.K.S. Raje, approved the call sign "OM" on the request of a devotee of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, overruling laid down procedures of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the apex body of aviation in the world.

During the inauguration ceremony of the Pondicherry Aerodrome, Shobadi and other Ashramites chanted AUM, a departure from Ashram and government protocol.