The Word That is God

indeed, that highest power. The essence or nature of the ether found in the cave [of the heart]
is, indeed, that Syllable Om. Through It that power breaks or sallies forth, ascends, and is
breathed out; it may be without intermission, or it may be as a support for the meditation on
Brahman.
“In this process [of the Supreme Power which is the Pranava becoming active and moving
forth or upward], that power, during the motion of prana, emerges as the warmth throwing
the light into the background; and just as it occurs during the wafting of smoke [upwards and
about], after it [that power] has sprung up as a twig in the ether of the heart, it unfolds itself
further and becomes another twig or branch after the other one [rising up into infinity], just as
when a lump of salt is thrown into water or just as the heat in the melted butter or just as the
thought of one who meditates extends itself [into infinity].” (Maitrayana Upanishad 7:11a)
Tangled as the above seems, the idea is that during meditation Om attaches itself to the
subtle inner movement of prana and changes into a whisperlike form similar to the sound or
movement of respiration, and keeps going through an almost infinite variety of permutations
as It becomes increasingly subtle.
It is said in the upanishads that the inmost consciousness of the human being is like two
branches upon which two birds are sitting. On one branch a bird sits eating the fruit of the
tree, while on the other branch a bird sits merely observing the other bird and its eating of
the fruit. The first bird is said to be the individual consciousness which eats the fruits of its
actions in the form of karma. The second bird is the Supreme Consciousness which observes
the individual spirit in transcendent detachment and silence. Both the experience of the
individual and the witnessing of the Cosmic Being are made possible by the “branching” of
Om. Both rest upon Om for the experiencing and the witnessing.
“In this connection they cite the following passage: ‘But why is it [Om] called lightning-like?
Because no sooner is It uttered than It illuminates [brightens up] the whole body like lightning.’
That is why one should worship that immeasurable Power through the Syllable Om.” (Maitrayana
Upanishad 7:11b)
In the Rig Veda it is said that the evil ones, the Vritras, hid the sun in a cave so darkness
would prevail upon the earth. The aspiring ones, the Aryas, searched for the sun. When they
found the cave, by means of Om, the satya-mantra–the mantra that reveals the Truth [God], or
the mantra that embodies the Truth [God]–they broke open the sealed cave and the sun rose
into the sky and enlightened the world. That is why the upanishad earlier says: “Through It
that power breaks or sallies forth, and ascends.”
Om, when uttered, “illuminates the whole body like lightning.” When our consciousness is
centered on Om, then our bodies, physical, astral, and causal, are filled with the Light of God
by Its invocation. Om is both Life and Light. What else, then, can we offer God in worship than
Himself in the form of Om?
Maitri Upanishad
“One should continuously worship Brahman with the Syllable Om. For thus it is said, ‘This
Syllable indeed, is holy, this Syllable indeed is supreme. By knowing that Syllable indeed,
whatever one desires becomes his.’ And then it has been said elsewhere, ‘This Om is the
sound form of this [Self].’ Therefore by the utterance of the Syllable Om all these forms [of
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