MANTRA: SEED SYLLABLES

Bija means seed or syllable, and are the individual elements or sounds of mantra. A bija mantra, therefore, is a one-syllable mantra such as Aum. They are cabal in nature, and their origin has three interpretations:

1. Their creation is the deliberate product of a Tantric illuminati... syllables taken at face value for their corresponding emotive links, such as the malevolent Phat, are ascribed esoteric meaning creating a code sensible only to the initiate. This describes the Esoteric function.

2. They are the result of tradition which assumes the deities are unfond of being called by their proper names. In being superior, they prefer an more unfamiliar mode of address, and many of the bijas are either syllables contained in deity names or their alternate titles. This is the Honorific function.

3. The final hypothesis rests on the notion of vibration [spanda], giving each bija a power by right of its unique resonance, and the spanda it creates. A mantra-siddhi [perfected mantra] produces a perfect vibration and thus the result it was pronounced for. Often the 'true' pronunciation of a bija is hidden from a novitiate, its power likewise hidden until the student has attained a degree where it is deemed appropriate for the knowledge to be revealed.

Some promient bijas: Om, hrim, ram, hum, aim, klim, krim, srim, hum, phat, em.