Marcio: > Anyone know why MMY not advise the mantra "om" > in their meditation practice? > Yes. The mono-syllable 'OM', by definition, isn't a bija mantra at all, except by courtesy. OM is not esoteric in any way - it's just used as fertilizer, just like 'phat' or any other auspicious utterance.
OM does not appear in the Soundaryalahari composed by the Adi Shankaracharya. So, since OM isn't mentioned there, MMY decided to follow the Sri Vidya tradition of not including it in TM practice - OM is not supported by any Siddha tradition and was not given to any student by SBS. OM is just a literary device - not suitable for householders to use for deep meditation. OM is just a nonsense phrase you read about in books or on the internet or in a PDF. It's a place-holder for the actual bija you get when you are initiated. The meaning assigned to bijas or syllables by the faithful has no direct bearing on the actions and mechanics of TM bija mantra usage. It may be true that many mantras and bija mantras have been assigned exoteric meanings by devotees, however, true transcending meditation has been demonstrated to be effective when non-ideational mnemonic devices are used. This is because ideational thought patterns tend to keep the meditator on the concious thinking level, and to thus inhibit effortless transcending.
