A -SYLLABLE

The Sanskrit prefix ‘ A ’ means ‘not’, the negative. Before another vowel a consonant may be added. (Humphrey).” The meditation on the Sanskrit letter ‘ A ’ is the most important meditation in Esoteric Buddhism.

“The entire system of doctrine and practice set forth in the Mahavairocana Sutra (key text in Esoteric Buddhism) is symbolized in concentrated form in the single seed syllable ‘A’.

The commentary on the Mahavairocana Sutra says, ‘The ‘A’ syllable gate is the king of all mantras.’

The sound ‘ A ’ is regarded as the source from which all words are produced. It is therefore termed the ‘mother of all sounds’.

It exemplifies the Mahayana doctrine that the world of change is immediately the realm of ultimate reality or, in other words, Samsara is identical with Nirvana.

‘ A ’ is also employed to suggest the idea of the evolution of all phenomena from thusness.

In Esoteric Buddhism, it symbolizes the unity of the whole world. Thence it is identified with Vairocana the primordial Buddha.