Question and answer 28

What's really meant by saying that, during pratyāhāra, one should meditate on Oṃ silently, in the mind alone?

Here is what meditating on Oṃ is really about. Oṃ is made of three and a half beats: A, U, M, and a final half-beat. A stands for waking, for the soul in waking, called Viśva, and for the gross bodies. U stands for dream, for the soul called Taijasa, and for the subtle bodies. M stands for deep sleep, for the soul called Prājña, and for the causal bodies. That half-beat stands for the fourth state, turīya — the nature of the Self, the nature of 'I'. And beyond even that lies a state past the fourth altogether: sheer, measureless bliss. This very 'I' — the fourth thing already named in the meditation above, holding the other three sounds within it — is also called: the beat beyond measure; the silent syllable; the unspoken chant; chanting without any chanting; and the one non-dual mantra that is the very essence of every mantra there is. Meditation on Oṃ exists for exactly one reason: to make real this very meaning the Vedānta teaches. And the ripened fruit of that meditation — devotion that is simply sustained attention on the Self — is itself samādhi, and grants liberation, bliss beyond compare. This is exactly why the great ones say liberation comes through this one thing alone: devotion that is sustained attention on one's own Self.

What is the purport of saying that, in pratyāhāra, the praṇava (Oṃ) is to be meditated upon in the mind alone?

The purport of saying that meditation should be done on the praṇava is this: the praṇava is the sound Oṃ, made of three and a half mātrā-s (time-units) — the letter A, the letter U, the letter M, and the half-mātrā. Of these, A is said to be waking, the jīva called Viśva, and the gross bodies; U to be dream, the jīva called Taijasa, and the subtle bodies; M to be deep sleep, the jīva called Prājña, and the causal bodies; the half-mātrā to turīya, or the nature of the Self, or the nature of 'I'; and the state beyond even this to turīyātīta, the nature of sheer, measureless bliss. This same fourth thing, the nature of 'I' already spoken of in the meditation above, holding within it the other three mātrā-s (A, U, M), is also called: the measureless nature; the silent syllable; ajapā (the unrecited); reciting done without reciting; and the one non-dual mantra that is the essence of every mantra, the five-syllabled and the rest. Meditation on the praṇava is performed exactly in order to accomplish this Vedāntic meaning. The ripened state of this meditation — devotion in the form of sustained attention on the Self — is itself called samādhi, and grants the state of liberation, bliss beyond compare. The great ones, too, have said that liberation is to be attained through this one thing alone: devotion in the form of sustained attention on one's own Self.