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om

Om is the most important MANTRA in Hinduism.

CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD discusses the significance

of om. There it is given the highest value, equiva-

lent to the RIG VEDA and SAMA VEDA combined; it is

said to be speech and breath combined. Om is also

said to be the Sama Vedic chant encapsulated.

In TAITTIRIYA UPANISHAD 1.8 om is variously

said to be BRAHMAN or the entire world. The MAN-

DUKYA UPANISHAD outlines the esoteric aspects of

om. It is said to be all that is—past, present, and

future—and to transcend time. Om is said to be

the Self (ATMAN). Esoterically, it is said to encom-

pass the four STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS: the waking,

dreaming, deep-sleep, and transcendent states.

For this purpose, using SANSKRIT grammar, the let-

ter o in the word om is understood to constitute

an a and a u. A is the waking state, u the dreaming

state, m the deep-sleep state; the fourth state has

no external marker and is the non-dual reality.

Later texts understand om to encompass all

visible and invisible worlds, and these are enu-

merated. It is seen to be the three gods: BRAHMA,

VISHNU, and SHIVA; it is seen to be this world, the

sky world, and the world of heaven; its letters are

seen to be the manifest and unmanifest world;

and so on. One of the most common MANTRAS

using om is om tat sat: “om is that reality: all that

exists.”

For a YOGI, to focus on the mantra om is

to focus on the ultimate reality. If the yogi pro-

nounces om, it reaches the crown CHAKRA; if the

O

Om, the most revered syllable and mantra in San-

skrit, is believed to encompass all visible and invisible

worlds. (www.shutterstock.com/Junji Takemoto)