The sequence used in this series is to firstly place the text, followed by Śaṅkara’s commentary, and then subsequently a commentary in Light of the Unborn. The main translation used will be by Swami Nikhilananda, unless otherwise noted.
OPENING VEDIC INVOCATION (Swami Krishnananda)
[Aum], Shining Ones! May we hear through our ears what is auspicious; Ye, fit to be worshipped! May we see with our eyes what is auspicious; May we, endowed with body strong with limbs, offering praise, complete the full span of life bestowed upon us by the divine beings.
Aum. Peace! Peace! Peace!
Unborn Commentarius: We have chosen Swami Krishnananda’s translation of the invocation which employs the phrase “Shining Ones” which is so often used here in the hallowed halls of the Unborn to commemorate Divine Agencies. Yea, to be auspiciously bestowed means to be graced by the intercession of the Shining Ones. Our entire beingness is lathered with their Auspicious Touch.
CHAPTER I
AGAMA PRAKARANA
(THE UPANISHADIC CHAPTER)
I
*Hari Aum. Aum, the word, is all this. A clear explanation of it (is the following). All that is past, present and future is verily Aum. That which is beyond the triple conception of time, is also truly Aum.
[* Hari Om is a popular Sanskrit mantra, believed to erase all suffering and connect practitioners with universal consciousness. Hari means “the remover” or “the one who takes away,” and is the name used in the Vedas to refer to the Supreme or Divine Absolute who removes the sorrow and suffering of his devotees.]
Śaṅkara: Aum, the word, is all this. As all diversified objects that we see around us, indicated by names, are not different from their (corresponding) names, and further as the different names are not different from Aum, therefore all this is verily Aum. As a thing is known through its name, so the highest Brahman is known through Aum alone. Therefore the highest Brahman is verily Aum. And Aum is verily of the same essential character as the Ātman; for it is the name for Ātman.
Unborn Commentarius: Aum (Om) is the very primordial principle (sound) of which the entire cosmos consists. We are made of Aum and we shall return to Aum. First the Absolute Unborn (Brahman), then the vibrating chord which is ITs essential function. Thus, we literally Sing the Unborn! IT’s in our hearts and on our lips forevermore.
II
All this is verily Brahman. This Atman is Brahman. This Atman has four quarters.
Śaṅkara: All this is verily Brahman. All that has been said to consist merely of Aum (in the previous text) is Brahman. That Brahman which has been described (as existing) inferentially? is now pointed out, as being directly known, by the passage, ‘“‘ This Self is Brahman”. The word this, meaning that which appears divided into four quarters,* is pointed out as the innermost Self, with a gesture> (of hand) by the passage, “This is Atman’.
* Four quarters—Namely, Viśwa (the waking state), Taijasa (dream state), Prājna (Sushupti or the state of dreamless sleep) and Turīya which is same as Brahman or Ātman. These four quarters correspond to the three Mātrās of Aum and the Amātra of Aum. A, U and M are the three Mātrās. The fourth, which is known as Amātra or without a letter, has no corresponding letter or sound. This is silence or Ātman corresponding to Turīya. The idea of sound suggests the idea of soundlessness or silence from which sound may be said to proceed.
Unborn Commentarius: This fourth is similar to the “Soundless Sound” (Parato ghosa) of the deathlessness of the Unborn. This is the Primordial Mantra that activates the Higher Frequencies of Unborn Light and when properly intoned evokes (i.e., when karmic predispositions are preceded) the “soundless sound” of the primordial consciousness (Amala-vijnana) within the Sacred Heart of Suchness. *This coincides with a technique within Unborn Light Reiki:
It’s essential to keep this pulsating point in mind before moving on, as it is the point of transcendence from which the primordial vibrations will emanate from when the sacred mantra is initiated. All of this constitutes the first stage of the technique. Secondly, one begins to breathe rhythmically from within the depths of their Dantian, the location where the primordial energies are invoked; this is accompanied by intoning the mantra, OM, as one continues to hold this intonation on the out breath for approximately 40 seconds…this action is continued until one fully merges with the mantra, becoming ONE with it. The state of Oneness can be discerned when one’s breath is totally emptied out from within the Dantian, or until you awaken to the realization that your breath IS the mantra… At this stage, while continuing to gently intone the sacred mantra from the Dantian, one places the left hand over the left ear while resting the right hand gently upon The Self Chakra (the center of the chest, or heart). Now, this particular position is symbolic of how the Unborn Spirit turns a deaf ear to all passing phenomena and aligns ITself to the one constant that never fluctuates or changes…and that is the “Soundless Sound” of the Amala-vijnana, or the primordial consciousness that emanates from within the Sacred Heart of Suchness (Self Chakra); this is symbolically represented as the vibrating oscillations of the Sacred Mantra slowly fade away at the conclusion of your outbreath.