Attuning to the Infinite

To chant a mantra at a deeper yogic level is to think with the entire universe and to access the wisdom and experience of all beings.

- Dr. David Frawley

When I conduct a yoga class I always start with the practice of Om chanting. To me it seems completely natural and even self-evident to do so. All the possible explanation of the benefits can be experienced simply by doing it. Still some students are put off. Perhaps they think I am indoctrinating them in a religion, or putting a spell on them. This is understandable. We are all a little resistant to encountering the unfamiliar. The practice of Om chanting requires lowering one’s guard to a certain extent. It is an effective way of promoting relaxation, lowering blood pressure, improving memory and concentration and going beyond the limits of our ordinary ego-centric minds.

In Mantra Yoga and the Primal Sound: Secrets of Seed (Bija) Mantras David Frawley suggests that “Perhaps the easiest way for us to understand mantra is as a kind of asana for the mind. Mantras provide focus, strength, plasticity and adaptability to the mind, just as asanas do for the body.” Mantras generally do not have a direct word to word translatability into English. Instead they challenge us to develop new meta-concepts; new ways of understanding ourselves and our relation to the universe. As Swami Satyananda has explained, mantras are used for their sound qualities not as a means of communicating intellectually. We have to experience the mantra to truly understand its meaning.

The mantra “Om” is central to the Yogic tradition. In the Yoga Sutras it is referred to as “Pranava,” meaning “that which pervades all life.” It is the universal hum of creation. Om is first mentioned in the Rig Veda which is estimated to have originated between 1700-1100 BC (some argue that it was much earlier than that). It is generally considered to be the outward form of the inner sound which experienced practitioners hear in deep meditation. By chanting Om aloud or silently within we attune to the underlying vibratory field of creation. Through attuning to Om we experience how the farthest reaches of space and our innermost self are intimately interconnected. Om is the fundamental sound of everyone and everything.

The Mandukya Upanishad offers an expanded understanding of the mantra Om as it relates to consciousness and its states. It gives us a sense of the transcendent aspect of consciousness as it is present in the conditioned states of waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep. Om represents both the immanent and transcendent aspects of consciousness. The first verse of this Upanishad dives deep into the significance of this mantra:

Om is the universal sound. Past, present and future are all contained within and that which is beyond the divisions of time is also present in Om.

Wow! If we pause to think about it for a moment this opening verse challenges us to go beyond our ordinary concepts and understanding. What is beyond past, present and future? We might be tempted to say “eternity,” but we usually envision this as an endless future. The Upanishad suggests that we should try to think beyond the linear notions of time. We might say that it is the “eternal now” and this might be closer to the point. Like a koan from the Zen tradition it pushes us to go beyond our conditioned mind.

Om, according to the Upanishad, represents the source or cosmic consciousness, Brahman. Brahman is sometimes translated as “God,” however most of us have been raised to understand God as some distant, authoritarian figure. Brahman is actually your innermost essential nature. It is the creative mind of the universe expressing itself in and through each of us. It is the universal flow of Loving Awareness.

This Universal Self is divided up within each of us as four states of consciousness: waking, dreaming, dreamless sleep and transcendent awareness. We are all familiar with the first three. We all go through cycles of waking, dream sleep and dreamless sleep. Sometimes, of course we have difficulty with the sleep part. The fourth state is not actually a separate state. Instead it is the witnessing awareness present in all states – even the “unconscious” state of deep sleep. Through meditation practice we can awaken to this inner witness and experience it more clearly.

The waking state is the one we are most familiar with. Many would refer to it as THE state of consciousness. From the Yogic viewpoint however it is a relative state of consciousness equivalent to dreaming. As Ramana Maharshi once stated, “The world does not exist in sleep and forms a projection of your mind in the waking state. It is therefore an idea and nothing else.” While scientific investigation seeks to know the external world of the senses, Yogic investigation inquires into the subjective aspect; the knower. Reality is basically experiential. We don’t know of any other reality. The world beyond conscious experience is purely hypothetical. We are usually so preoccupied with the seeming objective world of experience that we forget the “experiencer.”

When we experience through dreams, we encounter mind our imagination more directly. Often we dream of fragments of our waking experience. If we pay attention however dreams contain information beyond the limits of our ordinary consciousness. Dreams can be precognitive as well as about past events. Dreams can give us deeper information about our experiences in the waking state. They can be clairvoyant, transegoic and can actually bring about changes in the world of our waking experience. Dreams can bring us warnings and can give us visions of the course to take in life.

We tend to regard deep sleep as a waste of time. Of course it is valuable in restoring us both physically and psychologically. From the Yogic perspective, it has a deeper value. In the state of deep sleep we are free from all stress. We are free from desire, hatred and fear. We are actually connected with our infinite Being. The Mundakhya Upanishad refers to the deep sleep state as “prajna.” Prajna is generally understood as enlightened wisdom. “Prajna,” it states, “is the ultimate Being, the true knower, the creator and destroyer of all beings.” The problem however is that we are asleep!

Awakening in the spiritual sense means becoming aware of the true being buried within us; becoming aware of awareness itself. This is the fourth state of consciousness referred to as turiya. “Turiya is pure awareness,” according to the Upanishad, “neither subjective, nor objective nor in between.” Within turiya we experience peace, ecstatic joy and non-duality. We are at one with infinite being.

The mantra Om represents this awareness as it is present in all states of consciousness. In order to grasp this we must spell the mantra as AUM. A is the waking state, U is dreaming and M is deep sleep. The natural silence that we experience at the end is turiya. Om doesn’t just stand as a symbol representing this experience. Instead the practice of Om chanting both out loud and silently takes us into the actual experience. In fact, if we just try to understand Om intellectually we end up with endless “fascinating” discussions. The practice of meditation on Om takes us into silence, deep peace, joy and unity.

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