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atanu
10 March 2007, 06:42 AM
The goal which all the Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which men desire when they lead the life of continence, I will tell you briefly: it is OM. This syllable OM is indeed Brahman. This syllable is the Highest. Whosoever knows this syllable obtains all that he desires. This is the best support; this is the highest support. Whosoever knows this support is adored in the world of Brahma.


-- Katha Upanishad I, ii, 15-17



The sound OM is Brahman. The rishis and sages practiced austerity to realize that Sound-Brahman. After attaining perfection one hears the sound of this eternal Word rising spontaneously from the navel. "'What will you gain', some sages ask, 'by merely hearing this sound?' You hear the roar of the ocean from a distance. By following the roar you can reach the ocean. As long as there is the roar, there must also be the ocean. By following the trail of OM you attain Brahman, of which the Word is the symbol. That Brahman has been described by the Vedas as the ultimate goal."


-- The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna



(To Mahima) "You explain 'Aum' with reference to 'a', 'u', and 'm' only."Mahima: "'A', 'u', and 'm' mean creation, preservation, and destruction."
Master: "But I give the illustration of the sound of a gong: 'tom', t-o-m. It is the merging of the Lila in the Nitya: the gross, the subtle, and the causal merge in the Great Cause; waking, dream, and deep sleep merge in Turiya. The striking of the gong is like the falling of a heavy weight into a big ocean. Waves begin to rise: the Relative rises from the Absolute; the causal, subtle, and gross bodies appear out of the Great Cause; from Turiya emerge the states of deep sleep, dream, and waking. These waves arising from the Great Ocean merge again in the Great Ocean. From the Absolute to the Relative, and from the Relative to the Absolute. Therefore I give the illustration of the gong's sound, 'tom'. I have clearly perceived all these things. It has been revealed to me that there exists an Ocean of Consciousness without limit. From It come all things of the relative plane, and in It they merge again."


-- The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna



"The sandhya merges in the Gayatri, the Gayatri in Om, and Om in samadhi. It is like the sound of a bell: t-a-m. The yogi, by following in the trail of the sound Om, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman."


-- The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna

yajvan
10 March 2007, 07:37 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~

The sound OM is Brahman.



Namaste,
I do not see the connection to the heart... not the physical heart. What am I missing?
please advise.

atanu
10 March 2007, 10:46 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~


Namaste,
I do not see the connection to the heart... not the physical heart. What am I missing?
please advise.

Namaste Yajvan Ji,

You are not really missing anything (since I know it theoretically only).


There, where there is no darkness, nor night, nor day, nor being, nor
nonbeing, there is the Auspicious One, alone, absolute and eternal.
There is the glorious splendor of that Light from whom in the beginning sprang ancient wisdom.


My Guru teaches that this is the heart of the heart, wherefrom the Pragnya and then the thoughts sprout. And in this connection again:


Mandukya Upanishad

1. OM is this imperishable Word. OM is the Universe, and this is the exposition of OM. The past, the present and the future, all that was, all that is, all that will be, is OM. Likewise all else that may exist beyond the bounds of Time, that too is OM.

The silence at the completion of OM is that peace which is the heart that has become the Universe without itself changing a bit.


A Vedic Consecration to the Spiritual Heart

By Vamadeva

Published in the Mountain Path of the Sri Ramasramam (Ramana Maharshi)

The heart (hridaya) is the seat of the Self or Atman in Vedantic thought. Realization of the Self in the heart is the main Vedantic formulation of Moksha or liberation. The Upanishads laud the Self in the heart in many verses and make it the object of many vidyas (ways of knowledge). -------

Yet the heart is not just the seat of the Self; as such, it is also the source of all the main aspects and faculties of our entire nature as embodied souls. It is the seat of the mind (chitta) as the Yoga Sutras indicate. By this is meant not the outer mind but the inner, core or source mind, the source of all our karmas and samskaras. The heart is similarly the source of Prana or our life energy, the force that animates our various bodies from birth to birth, not merely as the breath but as the power behind all that we can do or think. The heart is also the ultimate source of speech and when we speak truly we speak from the heart.

The heart is the source of our entire being. All our different faculties are like different rays branching out from the central light of the heart which is like the Sun. All our energies are conduits of the energy of the heart, however far they may wander from it. In deep sleep we return to this inner light for peace and renewal, showing that we cannot remain apart from it even for a day.

Yet the heart is not just the source of our individual existence. It is also our place of unity and connection with the cosmic existence (Brahman). It spreads not just through our entire individual beingness but throughout the entire universe. In the heart resides our main connection with the Devatas, the great cosmic powers, the Gods and Goddesses which rule the universe, its evolution and its different planes of existence. Each one of our individual faculties arising from the heart has its corresponding cosmic Deva ruling a corresponding power of nature and the greater universe. The sun, the moon, the stars, the earth and all aspects of the cosmic creative force dwell within the heart.

This heart or hridaya is obviously not the mere physical organ. Nor is it simply the heart center, the anahata chakra of the subtle body, though it is closely related to it. This heart is the core of our being, which is the core of Being itself (Vishnu). The heart is where we experience our own self-being and through it contact the nature of all things. This hridaya could be better called the ‘spiritual heart’ in distinction to the physical and subtle heart centers.

The following is a beautiful prayer of consecration to heart from the Krishna Yajur Veda (Taittiriya Brahmana). It is still commonly chanted in ashrams and temples today, though not everyone contemplates its true meaning. It is often included in the greater Rudram chant sacred to Lord Shiva. It consists of a consecration of all of our faculties, along with their cosmic counterparts, into the heart and the Supreme Being within that. In this way, this heart prayer reconstructs the Cosmic Person (Purusha), the universal Self that is our true Being and is the Brahman, the being of the entire universe. Only when we place the cosmic powers into our individual faculties can we return them to our true heart that is universal.

Such a consecration in the heart is true Pratyahara in the Yogic sense, withdrawing all our faculties for the highest meditation. It is the reintegration of our scattered energy and attention into the Supreme Self, which is the supreme Yoga, the Yoga of the spiritual heart. It can be performed as preliminary to or along with Self-inquiry in order to make it more effective. It can be done along with any other Yoga practices as well.

1.May fire (Agni) be placed in my speech (Vak), my speech in the heart (hridaya), the heart in me (mayi), the I (aham) in the immortal (amritam), the immortal in Brahman.
2.May the Wind (Vayu) be placed in my breath (Prana), my breath in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
3.May the Sun be placed in my eye, my eye in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
4.May the Moon be placed in my mind, my mind in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
5.May the Directions be placed in my hearing, my hearing in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
6.May the Waters be placed in my generative fluid, my generative fluid in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
7.May the Earth be placed in my body, my body in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
8.May herbs and trees be placed in my hair, my hair in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
9.May Indra be placed in my strength, my strength in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
10.May the Rain God (Parjanya) be placed in my head, my head in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
11.May Rudra be placed in my spirit, my spirit in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
12.May my self be placed in the Self, the Self in the heart, the heart in me, the I in the immortal, the immortal in Brahman.
All these consecrations are different forms of placing the Self into the Self, merging the powers of the universal Self into the individual Self, into the heart, into the I, into the immortal, and finally into Brahman, the Absolute. All life really consists of such offerings of the Self to the Self, Brahman to Brahman, God to God.
13.May my Self return again. May my life (Ayur) return again. May my Prana return again. May my will return again.
14.May the Universal God increasing with his rays dwell within me as the guardian of immortality



Om is all this, to which one needs to be joined (yoked), part by part and then in whole, before one can attain Turiya, which itself is the Brahman.
Only when we place the cosmic powers into our individual faculties can we return them to our true heart that is universal. We need to gather all that the ego has scattered.



Or Surrender is easier.


Om Namah Shivayya