The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.6 : presented the quintessence of the acme of thought and experience reached in ancient times, – the Upanishads.

30/10/2018
The Mandukya Upanishad - 4-1.6
Section 1: The Pranava or Omkara :-6.

The Manusmriti, the Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Upanishads describe the nature, the constitution, the structure and the glory of Om.

With Om, Brahma created this cosmos, and from Om constituted of the three isolated letters A, U, M, the Vyahritis came forth : - Bhuh, Bhuvah, Svah.

From these three Vyahritis, the three Padas of the Gayatri-Mantra emanated.

From the three Padas of the Gayatri-Mantra, the meaning of the three sections of the Purusha-Sukta emerged, and from the meaning of the Purusha-Sukta, the meaning of the entire Vedas emanated, and from this vast meaning of the Vedas, Brahma created this cosmos, say the scriptures.

So important is Om, not a chant uttered by Brahma, but a vibration that rose from the Supreme Being in the initial stage of creation – a comprehensive vibration. And when we chant Om, we also try to create within ourselves a sympathetic vibration, a vibration which has a sympathy with the cosmic vibration, so that, for the time being, we are in tune with the cosmos.

We flow with the current of the cosmos when we recite Om, and produce a harmonious vibration in our bodily and psychological system. Instead of tearing ourselves away from the world outside, we flow into the current of the world.

Instead of thinking independently as Jivas, we start thinking universally as Isvara. Instead of thinking in relation to objects segregated from one another, we think in terms of nothing at all. There is thought thinking itself, as it were. Can you imagine thought thinking itself?

This is Isvara's Thought. When a thought thinks of an object, it is Jiva's thought. When the, thought thinks only itself, it is Isvara's Thought, Isvara's Will and when we recite Om properly, with an understanding of its real connotation, we think nothing in particular. We think all things in general; this is Isvara thinking. We do not think at that time; it is Isvara who thinks through these individual minds of ours.

We, as persons, cease to be for the time being. We exist as the thing-in-itself, Isvara, who exists by His own stature, mind and status.

He does not exist as a Jiva in terms of other objects. We always exist in relation to something else. Isvara exists with relation to nobody else, and we, as seekers of the status of Isvara, or Brahman, wishing to exist by a universal nature, try, by this means of the recitation of Om, to flow into Isvara's Being like rivers trying to flow into the bosom of the ocean.

We are like streams wanting to rush into the sea, and just as by the force of the inclination of the waters, the rivers enter the ocean, we, by the inclination of the vibration of Om, enter the Universal Form of Isvara.

To be continued ...