The Word That is God

consciousness absorbed in Me. Then he will be united with Me. Be certain of that. Whatever a
man remembers at the last, when he is leaving the body, will be realized by him in the
hereafter; because that will be what his mind has most constantly dwelt on, during this life.
Therefore you must remember Me at all times, and do your duty. If your mind and heart are
set upon Me constantly, you will come to Me. Never doubt this. Make a habit of practicing
meditation, and do not let your mind be distracted. In this way you will come finally to the
Lord, Who is the light-giver, the highest of the high.” 20
Those who continually invoke and meditate upon Om during their lifetime will remember
Om at the time of death, and by means of Om will ascend to the sun and beyond into the real
Beyond.
Darshan Upanishad
“Pranayama is composed of the Pranava, Om. [Therefore] he should repeat the Pranava
mentally. This only will be pranayama.” (Darshan Upanishad 6:2,5,6)
Pranayama is control of the subtle life forces–prana. Some yogis claim to accomplish this
control by means of various breathing exercises. But we have already seen in the verses from
the Atharvashikha Upanishad that the invocation and meditation on Om causes the yogi’s
various bodies and his consciousness itself to rise to higher levels of vibration. In this way,
then, japa and meditation of Om is the real pranayama, the yogic breath control being but the
barest shadow of it since it affects only the lower bodies. Breath being a manifestation of
prana, we join our intonations of Om to the breath and accomplish the real pranayama.
Dhyanabindu Upanishad
“The Single Lettered Syllable [Om] should be contemplated upon as Brahman by all who
aspire for emancipation. …He who does not know Omkara is not a Brahmin.” (Dhyanabindu
Upanishad)
Although “Brahmin” has come to designate a member of the highest Hindu caste consisting
of priests, pandits, philosophers, and religious leaders, it literally means “knower of Brahman,”
which is the sense intended here.
“The Pranava, Om, is the supreme Bija, with the Bindu and the Nada. What is above that
stands enduring forever. What is endowed with sound is the Pranava, typical of all soundphenomena;
when the chief ingredient [the differentiating substratum] is lost, the soundless
residuum is the highest seat [Brahman]. That sound arising from the heart, ‘Om’ of the
Pranava, is eternal, as borne out by the Scriptural text, ‘Eternal indeed is the Omkara;’ the
yogi who discovers that transcendent One which transcends that sound, stands clear of all
doubt.” (Dhyanabindu Upanishad, 2,3)
The statement that Om is eternal is most significant, for if It were only the outward-projecting
force that causes creation to emanate from Brahman, It would be intermittent–that is, It
would only be “uttered” or projected when creation was in manifestation, and would cease at
the time of the withdrawal of creation (pralaya).
This also tells us about the eternal nature of creation. Om is eternal–that is, creation even
20 Bhagavad Gita 8:5-10 (Prabhavananda translation).
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