Om and the Four States

The Mandukya Upanishad comes from the Atharvaveda and has only twelve verses, making it the shortest of the principal Upanishads. Yet tradition holds it in the highest regard. It begins: Om is all this. What has been, what is, what will be: all is Om. And whatever lies beyond the three times is also Om.

The second verse says: all this is Brahman, and this Self too is Brahman. 'Ayam atma brahma', this Self is Brahman, is one of the four Mahavakyas, the great sayings. The Upanishad then says this Self has four 'quarters' or states, and understanding them is like looking at a map of your own mind.

The first state is waking, called Vaishvanara. Here we see, hear and touch the outside world through the senses. The second is dreaming, called Taijasa. Here the mind builds a whole world inside itself. The third is deep sleep, called Prajna. Here there is no desire and no dream, only a calm, blissful rest, after which we say, 'I slept so well.'

The fourth state has no name; it is simply called Turiya, 'the fourth'. It neither looks outward nor inward, and words cannot capture it. It is peaceful, auspicious, one without a second. It is the true Self, always awake behind the other three states, like the screen on which all three films are shown.

Now see how this connects to Om. Om has three sounds: A, U and M. 'A' is the waking state, 'U' is dreaming, and 'M' is deep sleep. And the silence that remains after Om is spoken: that is Turiya. That is why chanting Om is traditionally seen not as just a sound but as a journey through the whole of consciousness.