The Word That is God

mantra [Pranava, Om] which is the essence [substance] of the Vedas. This is Brahman. It
should be meditated upon.” (Jabala Upanishad 3, 4)
Japa and meditation of Om are so simple, so “small,” that it is only natural for us to
wonder if such things could result in the attaining of Cosmic Consciousness. So his students
asked the great sage Yajnavalkya if life eternal, the knowledge of God, could be gained by
means of them. The answer was clear and unequivocal: Yes.
Kaivalya Upanishad
“By making his own inner sense [i.e., awareness] the lower arani and the Pranava the
upper arani, the accomplished adept completely burns up and reduces to ashes his ignorance
of the atman.” (Kaivalya Upanishad 11)
The inner consciousness of the yogi and Om, when “rubbed together” by japa and meditation,
produce the fire of divine knowledge which reduces ignorance to ashes. It is ignorance that
produces all the wrong and foolish actions engaged in by human beings, and those actions
produce all the sufferings of human beings. Ignorance, then, is the root of sin and suffering,
and eradication of ignorance is the only way to be rid of sin and suffering. Japa and meditation
of Om completely burn up our ignorance and reduce the seeds of our karma to ashes, ending
ignorance and rebirth for us and enlightening and freeing us.
Katha Upanishad
“I will tell you briefly of that Goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all
the austerities speak of, and wishing for Which people practice discipline: It is Om. Om,
indeed, is the Lower Brahman; this is, indeed, the Higher Brahman. Anyone who, meditating
on Om, wishes either of the Two [aspects], by him that is attained. This [Om] is the best
means [of attainment and realization]; this means is the Higher and Lesser Brahman. Meditating
on Om, one becomes worthy of worship in the world of Brahman.” (Katha Upanishad 1.
2.15-17)
Om is the aim of all spiritual aspirations, and Om is the means to attain them.
The terms “Lower” and “Higher” in this quotation refer to Brahman in His manifestations
as all Relative Existence and the Transcendent Absolute Existence. The idea here is that Om
embraces the total range of existence–the totality of God–and therefore is God (Brahman).
And God is Om, and can be attained through Om. The upanishad tells us that both aspects of
God can be attained by Om Yogis lest they think that the transcendental aspect, Nirguna
Brahman, is beyond their capacity to attain. Om attains everything. Since God includes all that
exists, Om is the key to everything–material, psychic, or spiritual–indeed, is everything. Thus
Om Itself is Cosmic Consciousness.
Om is the means to attain divinity; and those who so attain become themselves “deities,”
worthy of worship and able to assist those who call upon them. This is the secret of the “gods”
who, the upanishads tell us, took refuge in Om, thereby merging in That Which is Om and
becoming themselves Om and worthy of worship by those who would also attain the “world”
(status) of Brahman. Shankara in his commentary on this upanishad says: “‘Meditating on Om
one is worshipped in the world of Brahman.’ This idea is this: Getting identified with Brahman,
he becomes worshippable like Brahman.”
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