The Word That is God

propeller which is in the form of light, which is sorrowless, ageless, free from death, which is
threefold, and which lies concealed in the cavity of the heart.’ Because it is said: ‘Having the
root above, It is the three-footed Brahman; ether, air, fire, water, and earth are Its branches.
That is Brahman and its splendor is that which is that sun and it is also the splendor of that
Syllable Om; that is why one should worship it [Brahman, the sun] unintermittently through
the Syllable Om. Because this is the one illuminator of man.’ As it is said: ‘Indeed, this
Syllable is sacred, this Syllable is the highest one; he who knows this Syllable–whatever he
wishes is allotted to him.’” (Maitrayana Upanishad 6:3,4)
Much of this has already been considered, but in the fourth verse there is an important
reference. Om is said to be “the guide or propeller which is in the form of light.” In the Rig
Veda there is a mantra known as the Savitri Gayatri which is recited for unfoldment of the
intellectual powers leading to enlightenment. When speaking of the divine sun of enlightenment,
Brahman, it prays: “May It impel us towards That.” Sri Ramakrishna said that Om is the
essence of the Gayatri mantra–that its recitation eventually replaces the Gayatri entirely. This
is borne out by the upanishad. Om Itself is the Light that propels us towards union with the
Light–with Om.
Although it has become the custom in Vedic religion to recite volumes of Sanskrit hymns
and mantras in worship, the Vedic Rishis understood that all worship could be done by the
recitation of Om. Even more, they realized that real worship of God consisted of offering
oneself to God by entering into union with Him. And Om effected that union–that worship.
Nothing more was needed.
Just as the sun is the sole illuminator of the world (at least in the natural order of things),
so the upanishad declares Om to be “the one illuminator of man.”
“And in another place it is said: ‘The Syllable Om is Its [Brahman’s] sound-form.’ [A long
listing of the various forms of Brahman follows; and in conclusion the upanishad says:] Therefore,
when one says Om, all the previously mentioned ones are adored and are included, along with
It [Brahman]. As it is said: ‘Indeed, O Satyakama, this Syllable Om is the higher and the lower
Brahman.’” (Maitrayana Upanishad 6:5)
By the invocation of Om, God in all His manifestations–as well as His unmanifest Being–is
worshipped. Japa and meditation of Om is the highest form of worship, therefore Sri Ramanuja,
the great Indian philosopher, taught that meditation is the real bhakti (devotion) and jnana
(wisdom). Everything else is egoic play and fantasy. And, speaking of the ego: the upanishad
now says:
“By the Syllable Om he ascends. Through that he attains to the state of egolessness and
on account of egolessness, he does not participate in joy or sorrow but he attains to absoluteness.”
(Maitrayana Upanishad 6:21)
The little joys and sorrows of earth which are produced by the (actually) small things of
earth are no more for him who ascends to the Highest by means of Om.
“It is said: ‘Indeed, two Brahmans are to be contemplated: the Word and the Non-Word.
For through the Word is the Wordless made manifest.’ Here the Word signifies the Syllable
Om. Ascending through this, one attains to the wordless or the non-word, to Nirvana. Then
further it is said: ‘This is the way, this is immortality, this is communion and blessed happiness.’
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