The syllable Om is composed of the three sounds a-u-m, and the symbol's threefold nature is central to its meaning. It represent several important triads ~ The three worlds - earth, atmosphere, and heaven. The three gods - Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The three sacred Vedic scriptures - Rig, Yajur, and Sama. Thus Om mystically embodies the essence of the entire universe.
According to Indian spiritual sciences, God first created sound, and from these sound frequencies came the phenomenal world. Our total existence is constituted of these primal sounds, which give rise to mantras when organized by a desire to communicate, manifest, invoke or materialize. Matter itself is said to have proceeded from sound and OM is said to be the most sacred of all sounds.
It is the syllable which preceded the universe and from which the gods were created. It is the "root" syllable, mula mantra, the cosmic vibration that holds together the atoms of the world and heavens. Indeed the Upanishads say that AUM is god in the form of sound. Thus OM is the first part of the most important mantras in Hinduism, ie Om Namah Shivaya and also in Buddhism ie Om Mani Padme Hum.
Another ancient text equates AUM with an arrow, laid upon the bow of the human body (the breath), which after penetrating the darkness of ignorance finds its mark, namely the lighted domain of True Knowledge. Just as a spider climbs up its thread and gains freedom, so the yogis climb towards liberation by the syllable OM. The omnific and omniparous quality of OM makes it omnipresential, and in-omissible from any spiritual practice. As an omnipotent symbol, the yogi who penetrates its mystery is indeed truly omnicompetent and omnipercipient, and as an omniscient source, it is a virtual omnibus of sacred and mystical inspirations. 
Hari Om Tat Sat ~ Om Namah Shivaya! 
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