In plain words
By hearing these Vedic mantras we experience an Ānanda that is ever so sacred. That sweetness lies in the very sound of the Veda. That is precisely why the Veda is the very life of every one. Merely because the mantras are not known to us, we must not think there is no Veda. Regard your very in-breath and out-breath as the Veda: the breath you draw in is So... the breath you let out is Ham. So... Ham... What a sacred meaning these very in-breaths and out-breaths teach us! So is "I": that same is oneself, that same is God. Ham is "I". So means God. Ham is "I". I am God. With the feeling "I am God", one attains the feeling of oneness and becomes God oneself. This is what they called Brahmavit brahmaiva bhavati. To know Brahman, one must recognise the principle of Brahman. If one recognises Brahman, one becomes Brahman oneself. So regard these in-breaths and out-breaths as a mantra of initiation, and you must recognise the truth that the breath let out and the breath taken in, all of these, are what show my real form.
But we do our mantras otherwise. Saying the guru has blessed us with it, we go on doing Oṃ namaśivāya, Oṃ namaśivāya. But what is its fruit? A great devotee received from his guru the mantra Śivoham Śivoham. Without ceasing: Śivoham, Śivoham... It is a very sacred mantra indeed. If one recognises its meaning and lives by it, one becomes Brahman oneself. Whoever he spoke with: Śivoham, Śivoham. What is it, my friend, how are you? Śivoham, Śivoham. In this way he used to spend all his words on it. A friend stopped him firmly and asked. "What does Śivoham mean? Tell me its meaning," he said. He gave the meaning: "Śivoham, I am Śiva, I am Śiva." That friend put another question. "If you yourself are Śiva, what is Pārvatī Devī to you?" he said. Crying, "A sin, a sin!" he slapped his own cheeks. What does that mean? He utters "I myself am Śiva," but that feeling of Śiva is not in him. If it were truly so, he could have said boldly, "Pārvatī is my wife," could he not! If he is Śiva, why should Pārvatī not be his wife? Pārvatī means Śakti. Śiva means the inert. The oneness of the inert and Śakti is itself Śiva and Pārvatī. Today this courage is not there. They utter mantras, but they do not experience the meaning of the mantra with the feeling of oneness. Doing such mantras, however long, what use is there? That is precisely why we must first of all do the sādhanas it takes to regard oneself as God. We must try to recognise the truth that God is in all.
The upādhis may differ. Look: the casings of bulbs such as these appear in many kinds. The praṇava over there in front appears in the form of the praṇava. In that way, according to the upādhis above, the current goes on taking on those shapes. But the current that is in this one and in that one is one alone. In the same way, all our bodies too are like bulbs. They may take on many forms and names. They may be of many colours. Their various capacities, their powers, may differ.