Soham (Sanskrit)

Soham ( ) is the Sanskrit for "I myself" or "It is I". Inextricably linked with hamsaIn English language literature also printed as Hamsah, Hamso, Hansa, Hong-sau, Ham-karena/Hamkara/Hangkara=the sound of Ha ( in Sanskrit), sohamIn English language literature also printed as So’ham, So Ham, So-aham, Sohum, So Hum, Saham, Sa'ham, Sau-ha, Sah-karena/Sahkara=the sound of Sa is a voiceless mantraKnown also as and/or referred to as Ajapa mantra, Ajapa Gayatri, Hamsa Gayatri, Hamsa mantra, prana mantra, Shri Paraprasada mantra, paramatma-mantra etc and as such used notably on its own, in the meditation practice ajapa japa and in the kriya practice shabda sanchalana.
==Sources==
===So + ham===
In Advaita Vedanta several Upanishads (ca. 800-100 BCE)
* Dhyana-Bindu Upanishad
* Hamsa Upanishad
* Maha Vakya Upanishad
* Suka Rahasya Upanishad
* Surya Upanishad
* Tripuratapini Upanishad
* Yoga Chudamani Upanishad
* Yoga Sikha Upanishad
Tantras
* Gandharva Tantra
* Kali Tantra
* Kularnava Tantra
* Mahanirvana TantraMahanirvana Tantra is claimed to be a juridical fabrication in: 
* Niruttara Tantra
* Shri Nathanavaratnamalika
Stotras
* Bhaja Gaureesam
* Gowresa Ashtakam
* Shakthi Mahimnah Stotram
* Tripurasundari Vijaya Sthava
Adi Shankara's Vakya Vritti 
subsequent works in the Nath tradition foundational for Hatha yoga
* Matsyendranath's Yogavishaya
* Gorakshanath's Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati
* Gorakshanath's Yoga Bija
* Gorakshanath's Goraksha Shataka
* Jñāndev's LakhotaLakhota = sealed letter
* Jñāndev's Yogapar AbhangamalaYogapar Abhangamala = collection of songs on yoga
 
and foundational for Swara yoga the original script Shiva Svarodaya{{cite web|url=http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=4735|title=Shiva Svarodaya (51)|accessdate=2009-05-17|quote=The 
as well as the classical yoga treatises Gheranda Samhita<ref> and Shiva Samhita all makes mention of soham and hamsa describing its significance and when teaching uniformly teaches So on inhalation and ham on exhalation.
This traditional practice in its several forms and its background is described in numerous other books.
===Ham + sa===
Swami Muktananda - although teaching the traditional So on inhalation and ham on exhalation as a letter from 1968 to Franklin Jones reveals - later published a book teaching Ham on inhalation and sa on exhalation. This practice is described in several later books all refering to Muktananda.
The teaching of Ham on inhalation and sa on exhalation is alluded to a script important in Kaśmir Śaivism, the Vijnana Bhairava:
Verse 155a is however not found in the faximili and is not part of the Vijnana Bhairava first published in 1918 in the Kashmir Series of Text and Studies but is quoted from a commentary by the Abhinavagupta disciple Kṣemarāja in his Shiva Sutra Vimarshini (commentary on the Shiva Sutras) in later editions of Vijnana Bhairava. reprinted and published as: 
Yogananda taught a similar method termed Hong-Sau.
==Effects==
Hindu saints and gurusAmong them Swami Muktananda, in I Am That: The Science of Hamsa from the Vijnana Bhairava, Siddha Yoga Publications, 1992. state that one can attain moksha, or mukti (release) or liberation from the cycle of life and death by focusing attention on the natural breath. By doing so, one can transcend the mind and attain the turiya state.
==Etymology==
 
 is the sandhi form of , the nominatives of the 3rd and 1st person singular pronouns. can be prefixed to other pronouns for emphasis, as in "I myself; I, that very person" or "Thou thyself; Thou, that very person", but in a literal reading, the phrase means "That - I" or "He - I". 
==Significance==
 
 in mystical interpretations suggests the identification or dissolution of the Ego with the "Other": "That I Am". When the "I" merges with the "That", the ego of the "I" identity merges with the Other, who is Ishvara of the Vedas, Brahman of the Upanishads, Bhagavan of the Puranas.
"Sa" in Sanskrit is the combination of the "lifeless" (or, static) consonant S with the dynamic vowel A – that is, with the meaning of Prana or vital force. Also Sa is Vishnu and Shiva according to the Vedic Nirukta. The Sandhi means Yoga (union) or self-realization.
The meaning of the phrase might be expressed as follows: "I" am obviously not this body because the physical constituents of the body are changing every moment. Ultimately, the body dies. Atman the soul or self never dies – it is "That". "That" is Absolute Reality. It is the witness of all, it is what the mind does through the body. This self is always on the path of progression, which according to Shaivistic thought is Chaitanya or consciousness. The Shiva Sutra speaks of ‘Chaitanyam – Atma’. Consequently, Aham, myself, is Sah, that Self. This is called spiritual awareness.
==Notes==
==See also==
*Mantra
Category:Meditation
Category:Hindu mantras