According to Osho, Om is not a word but the symbol of the universe’s heartbeat—the sound of the soundless—from which Eastern scriptures begin. As one attunes to it, silence deepens; hence Shantih (silence) is intoned thrice, marking three steps into vanishing: by the fourth, ‘you’ are gone and only silence remains. Scriptures start and end thus, affirming the circle where beginning and end are one.
Om is the universe’s gentle hum, and saying Shantih three times means getting quieter and quieter until the “me” dissolves into peace.