Mandukya Upanishad

[satay]

Admin Note

Namaste,
The troll has been kicked.

[kd gupta]

Namaste,

Looking at devotee 's remarks, I have even further doubts. since ancient times, it was believed that the sun is revolving around the earth. But now we know that it is the other way around.


Similarly, we know that the vedas, this world, sanskrit language have come from Om. I also know that Om is a soundless sound/inner sound which has a definite existence. It can thus readily be assumed that the rishis MAY be wrong in there assumption of the significance of Om. But the amazing fact is that when u listen to Om, u feel like it is "God" only. So, i think the vedas direct us to Om only. We have to be careful about its interpretation ( it is interpretation only rather than fact )too.

That is the reason i said i believe in om rather in Brahman.

Even now i think that devotee has never heard Om. That is why he has no right to comment here.

Hari Om.

Aum kham brahman...aum space brahman...17/40 yajurveda
so aum is not brahman and aum contains three letters a u m .
When with the three-stringed charm came three strong eagles,
sharing the Sacred Syllable and mighty,
With immortality they drove off Mrityu, obscuring and conceal-
ing all distresses...8/28/5/atharvaveda 1

[scmittal]

While searching for Mandukya U. I came across this forum and am glad to have found it. It seems that there has been no discussion for over a year now and I am not sure if it can be revived.
I would like to ask a question about the practical aspect of AUM chanting. Specifically, how to interpret the three states of waking, dream and sleep and weave them into the AUM chanting. Let us take the waking state as an example. MA #3 states that Vaishvanara possesses seven limbs (earth, water, fire, air, ether, sun, heaven) and 19 mouths (5 karmendriyas, 5 jnanendriyas, 5 pranas, manas, buddhi, ahamkara and chitta) and enjoys gross objects. How do I bring in all these concepts while meditating on AUM. I would like similar guidance for the other states as well.
Another question I have relates to the sequence of awareness that I should follow. Should I focus first on Vaishvanara only until I feel that I have mastered the concept and then move on to Taijas? Or, should I develop an awareness of each of the three states in every session of meditation?
I would truly appreciate any guidance from the learned members of this group.
- Subhash

[devotee]

Namaste SCM,

I would like to ask a question about the practical aspect of AUM chanting. Specifically, how to interpret the three states of waking, dream and sleep and weave them into the AUM chanting. Let us take the waking state as an example. MA #3 states that Vaishvanara possesses seven limbs (earth, water, fire, air, ether, sun, heaven) and 19 mouths (5 karmendriyas, 5 jnanendriyas, 5 pranas, manas, buddhi, ahamkara and chitta) and enjoys gross objects. How do I bring in all these concepts while meditating on AUM. I would like similar guidance for the other states as well.

MAndukya Upanishad is for understanding the Reality/Brahman and the universe. This Upanishad doesn't say how to meditate. Therefore, learning meditation by MAndukya is out of question.

AUM is the Universal Reality that alone exists and which has been described as Self or Brahman. AUM is a "sound" (without vibration of any material thing ... also called the AnAhat or sound which is produced without striking at any object) which is produced from every pores of the universe and is heard continuously as the sound produced by striking a big gong made of bell metal while meditating by a person whose Heart Chakra is activated.

There are different ways to meditate upon AUM. You may meditate by focussing on AUM sound resonating from your chakras in the right ear by closing your ears and focussing on the sound that is most prominent. You may also practise AUM meditation by chanting AUM and progressively meditating on each chakra starting from MoolAdhAr chakra and ending at SahasrAr. You may also chant AUM ad meditate on point between your eyebrows. It all depends upon what your Guru tells you to do.

In my opinion, it is better to do it under the guidance of a Guru.

OM

[scmittal]

Thank you, devotee, for your response.
You write, "MAndukya Upanishad is for understanding the Reality/Brahman and the universe. This Upanishad doesn't say how to meditate. Therefore, learning meditation by MAndukya is out of question."
My understanding is that the knowledge of the Upanishads was revealed to the rishis during their meditation. When you say that MU is for understanding the reality/Brahman, I am assuming that you don't mean just an intellectual understanding. True understanding and knowledge can only come through deep meditation. That's the reason I raised the question of learning how to focus the meditation so we can grasp the concepts of MU.
Just by reading that A is the same as the waking state etc, it gives me no real understanding of what that is supposed to mean. Or, just by reading that AUm is the same as Brahman, it gives me clue as to what it is supposed to mean.
I would appreciate any guidance on how to develop a deeper understanding of the concepts presented in MU. It is unfortunate that I don't have a "guru" who I can go to for clarifications. That's why I am seeking guidance from the learned members of this forum.
- Subhash

[devotee]

Namaste SCM,

Upanishadic teachings primarily aim at intellectual understanding of the Reality except some Upanishads dedicated to teaching Yoga e.g. YogachURamaNi Upanishad etc. MAnudukya Upanishad aims at intellectual understanding and is not a practical guide on how to achieve it. The practical aspect traditionally has been with the Guru-Shishya parampara.

It is forbidden to teach someone meditation unless one is authorised to do so. That is why I am unable to tell you the complete process. However, if you so desire, you can go through NAd Bindu Upanishad which tells you how to meditate on NAd i.e. AUM sound resonating through your activated chakras.

http://www.yousigma.com/religionandp.../nadabindu.pdf

OM

[scmittal]

Thanks, devotee, for the reference to the Nadabindu U. I went through the document. However I did not find any reference to the chakras that you have mentioned. The technique mentioned therein is simply to start listening to internal sounds through the right ear. It describes the different sounds like a bell, musical instruments, conch etc that you may hear in the process. Finally, it says, you will get absorbed in "ashabda" or soundless para-Brahma.
This seems like a very beautiful technique. However, my main interest in posting the question is to try and understand the MU at a level which is beyond intellectual.
Thanks for your assistance.

[devotee]

Namaste SCM,

However I did not find any reference to the chakras that you have mentioned.

You are right. The Upanishad doesn't mention Chakras, as I have mentioned again and again in this thread. This was told to me by my Guru that the sound heard by the seeker depends upon his spiritual progress and the activated chakras. If the seeker has only MoolAdhAr chakra activated, he/she will hear sound of bees etc., if his/her SwadhisthAn/Manipur chakras are activated, he/she will hear a different sound. When AnAhat chakra is activated one hears the clear AUM sound as if coming from striking a big gong made of bell metal.

However, my main interest in posting the question is to try and understand the MU at a level which is beyond intellectual.

Our aim is to reach that level ... but that can be understood only when the Reality reveals Itself to you. Listening to the AUM sound as described in the NAd Bindu Upanishad is one of those techniques. It is a fast track meditational process which may lead to Self-Realisation quite fast as claimed in the VedAnta.

OM

[scmittal]

"

but that can be understood only when the Reality reveals Itself to you

I guess that's the real answer to all my questions - I'll just have to wait till reality reveals itself! I think what it means is that I keep doing my sadhana and it may come to me in a flash.

[Hindu33]

I just finished reading mandukya upanishad with gaudapada's commentary. It was very very exciting but i understood only a little. There are 1000 questions in my head. It says om is everything which corresponds to waking, dreaming and deep sleep. So where does god fit in this om? According to gaudapada, god is like a concept. He also equates waking state to dreaming state. This is almost like inception movie!!(in a very good sense btw)
Is it just me or is my understanding correct?