The Electric OM
This well-known piece in the Tile Park is so good, it’s tattooed right on Natasha’s arm.
Or is the tattoo so good that it’s a piece in the Tile Park?
Sometimes it’s hard to determine what is inspired and what is inspiration. Regardless of which it is, the electric om(s) are near and dear to our hearts. They’re the pulse of the park.
What Is “Om”?
In many eastern philosophies, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism the word “om” is regarded as the sound of all things; the vibration from which literally everything and everyone originates. It is found in the hum of the earth, the bedrock itself. It is the sound of ants marching, and bees making honey. It’s in the ocean waves, and the screech of a hawk. It’s in every sound we make, and indeed, just like the earth itself, it’s in us even when we aren’t making any noise at all.
Om is that low level thrumming that underpins everything happening in this world, from the beat of your own heart to the roar of a jet engine.
If you’ve been to many yoga classes, you likely know that “om” is also a chant, a verbal totem. It is an anchor, a home base. It is a sound we can all make, from the moment we are born. From the universal om it builds into what will ultimately be our unique voice.
Just as one candle can light 1000 more without dulling its own flame, something magical happens when people add their unique voices to a chant of “om”. Everyone’s voice comes together as an auditory prism, with uniform yet singular facets, each as beautiful and rare as the last. It’s the most gorgeously-sung chorus you’ve ever heard, and it’s never the same twice.
Om is the silence after the chant too. The om after the om, if you will. On Sundays here in Vallarta, at the painfully early hour of 6am, the church bells come a-calling, reminding you that you’re alive. And to get to church. Over the course of about 30 minutes there is a series of bell tolls, each with a different rhythm to them. Om is in every gong of every bell, and it carries the silence afterward too. Om is the void that’s left when the vibration stops.
Because om is the sound of all things. It is the true vibration and it never stops.
Om, Light and Dark
The Tile Park has two om pieces, a light and a dark one. Our oms have a certain electric quality to them. These oms illustrate vibration, bounce. They’re bright and they sparkle, even the dark one does. They are round and they are sharp too. They are happy little oms, a centerpiece of the park.
They were among the first pieces to go up, because om is the original vibration. Just as the voices build in the room, the energy builds from what came before it. So the roots of the park are the most important things to us, the closest to our heart. The things that light the spark, the things that inspire.
Stop in and check them out! They’re near the west edge, by the amphitheater. Or if you happen to see Natasha out and about, just ask her to roll up her sleeve, it’s right there on her upper arm, close to her heart.