AUM

Three States of Consciousness

By S.S.Raghavachar, M.A.
Dept. of Philosophy, University of Mysore, Inia
!This article "as "ritten on #$%&'%'()#*

+u,an e-perience passes through three states, .a/ing, Drea, an Deep%
sleep. These three ,ust 0e stuie closely an their istinctive characteristics
note.
In .a/ing, there is the e-perience of the soli e-ternal "orl through sense%
perception.
In Drea,, senses o not function. The i,pressions eposite in the ,in 0y
previous e-periences are revivifie an shape into the li/eness of "a/ing itself.
The internal perception 0y the ,in of these revivifie i,pressions loge "ithin
itself, as if they are realities of the "a/ing state itself, is rea,.
In Deep%sleep, neither the senses function nor the ,in functions. The self
"ithra"s into itself as it "ere, 0ut there is no self%unerstaning. The self is
covere 0y a pri,eval ignorance fro, "hich spring all "a/ings, an rea,s.
This ignorance covers the self in all its states, 0ut it oes not set up the
presentation of the non%self in the eep%sleep as it oes in the "a/ing an
rea,
This analysis of the states 0rings out the threefol nature of e,0oi,ent. In the
"a/ing state the self is e,0oie in "hat is calle the gross 0oy consisting of
the five gross ele,ents an their ,oifications. In the 1eic philosophy of nature,
at least three stages are iscerni0le.
In the first stage, as represente 0y the Chanogya Upanisa, three ele,ents,
na,ely, 2ire, .ater an 3arth are posite.
In the secon stage, as represente, for instance, in the Taittiriya Upanisa,
there is the aition of Air an Space. 2urther on, the e,pirical fact that these
ele,ents are not to 0e foun in their pure an un,i-e state an that they are
clearly inepenent su0stances is not ,uch of a e,onstrate scientific truth
,ust have le to the e-planation that the five ele,ents are pure an inepenent
only in their su0tle state, "hile as foun e,pirically they are ,i-e up a great
eal.
3ach e,pirically given gross ele,ent has "ithin it, accoring to this vie", all the
other ele,ents also. 2or instance, in the gross 3arth, half of it consists of pure
earth an the other half consists of the other four pure ele,ents. This process of
the co,position of the gross ele,ents is "hat is calle Panchi/arana,.
45ote6 7Panchi/arana7 The fivefol co,0ination "hich the five su0tle rui,entary
ele,ents have to unergo to 0eco,e gross ones.8
3-perience of these ele,ents an their proucts through sense%perception is
characteristic of "a/ing life. In the rea,%state the e,0oi,ent is sai to 0e
su0tle. The 0oy of the rea,%self, in the first place, contains the five organs of
/no"lege an the five organs of action, "hich are ten in all an are calle
Inriyas !organs*.
45ote6 The five organs of /no"lege are Tongue !taste*, 5ostrils !s,ell*, 3ars
!soun*, 3yes !vision* an S/in !touch*. The five organs of action are Tongue
!speech*, +ans, 2eet, organ of 3-cretion an the 9enerative organ.8
It also contains the five vital 0reaths calle Pranas. 45ote6 The five Pranas are
Prana, Apana, 1yana, Uana an Sa,ana. See page 7Prana%Apana%1yana7
colu,n on the left.8
It has the internal sense, !Antah/arana* consisting of intellect !Buhi*, ,in
!Manas*, an ego%sense !Aha,/ara* an the faculty of conte,plation !Chitta*. It
also contains the five su0tle ele,ents. In aition to these five factors, i.e.,
organs of /no"lege, organs of action, vital 0reath, internal sense an the su0tle
ele,ents, it also has their founation Aviya, :a,a an :ar,a. These eight
factors !accoring to 1artti/a of Sri Suresvara* constitute the su0tle 0oy of the
self.
Seventeen-fold Subtle Body
Accoring to another enu,eration, the su0tle 0oy consists of seventeen factors.
They are the ten organs of /no"lege an action, the five vital 0reaths, the
intellect an the ,in. This is the analysis of the su0tle 0oy as ecisively given
in so,e "or/s li/e San/shepa Sharira/a !;%#&*.
The Panchi/arana of Sri San/aracharya enu,erates the five su0tle ele,ents,
the five 0reaths, the ten Inriyas, Manas an Buhi as constituting the
seventeen%fol su0tle 0oy.
In eep%sleep the 0oy of the self is sai to 0e causal, ,eaning that it is the see
of the su0tle an the gross 0oies an that it is the pure unactualise potentiality
of the 0oy. It consists of the original 5escience !ignorance* fro, "hich spring
the pheno,enal ,anifestations of the rea, an "a/ing "orls.
This nescience is not the negation of the native consciousness of the At,an
!self*, for it ,ust itself su0sist in the presence of that consciousness, even as a
clou, ho"ever ,uch it ,ay conceal the Sun, o"es its 0eing to the Sun.
Moreover, it covers an oes not annihilate the self%effulgence of the At,an. This
nescience truly efies efinition, analysis an escription.
It is neither real nor unreal. 5or is it 0oth real an unreal. It is neither one nor
,any, nor one an ,any. It is neither si,ple nor co,posite, nor 0oth. All that can
0e positively asserte a0out it is that it is su0<ect to ter,ination 0y only the
/no"lege of the ientity of Brah,an an At,an. The pro0le, of e-plaining it
oes not arise "hen one is una"are of the At,an. .hen he co,es to 0e a"are
of the At,an, the ignorance has isappeare an oes not e-ist enough to call
for an e-planation.
It is only the co%e-istence of the clear a"areness of the At,an an ignorance
concerning it that "oul raise a pro0le,. But that co%e-istence is i,possi0le.
+ence the nature of the pri,eval nescience is ine-plica0le. But it positively
isappears "hen "e a"a/e to reality. This ignorance is the causal 0oy
operating 0y itself in the state of eep%sleep. Thus the At,an is encase in a
threefol 0oy.
Gross, Subtle and Causal Body
The three states an the three 0oies are relative to the self. .e can spea/ of
three selves fro, the e,pirical stanpoint in relation to the states an 0oies.
The self as e,0oie in the gross 0oy an unergoing the e-periences of
"a/ing is calle VISHVA.
The self as encase in the su0tle 0oy an unergoing rea,%e-periences is
the TAIJASA.
The self as resting in the causal 0oy in the state of eep%sleep is the PRAJNA.
This is the ter,inology to 0e aopte "hen "e ta/e an iniviualistic or
Microcos,ic point of vie". But if "e aopt the Macrocos,ic point of vie" an
regar the totality of 0eing, the Cos,ic Self or the Deity can 0e sai to ,aintain
itself in three planes of pheno,enal ,anifestation.
In its pri,orial plane as associate "ith Maya or cos,ic self%conceal,ent it
is AKSHARA.
As enfole in the cos,ic totality of su0tle 0oies an rea,%state, it is
Sutrat,an or HIRANAGARBHA.
In relation to the totality of the gross universe as reveale to "a/ing
consciousness, the cos,ic spirit is sai to 0e VIRAT. !pronounce 1iraat*.
Thus there are three phases of the iniviual self corresponing to the three
planes of the pheno,enal appearance of the universal spirit.
A!"
PRA5A1A or the sylla0le AUM consists of three co,ponent ele,ents. They are
A, U an M.
The Manu/ya Upanisa initiate the traition of regaring the three soun
ele,ents of AUM as corresponing to an as signifying the phases of the self
conitione 0y the three 0oies, an as ,anifesting itself in the three
pheno,enal states.
A signifies the 1IRAT in the Macrocos, an the 1IS+1A in the Microcos,.
! represents +IRA5=A9ARB+A in the Macrocos, an TAI>ASA in the
Microcos,.
" signifies PRA>5A in the Microcos, an A:S+ARA or IS1ARA in the
Macrocos,.
45ote6 1IRAT6 The Consciousness associate "ith the aggregate of all gross
0oies.
VISHVA6 The Consciousness "hich ientifies itself "ith the iniviual gross 0oy
an the "a/ing state. +IRA5=A9ARB+A6 The su0tle o0<ective totality. TAI>ASA6
The Consciousness associate "ith the rea, state an the su0tle 0oy.
PRA>5A6 The Consciousness associate "ith the eep%sleep state an the
causal 0oy or ignorance.
AKSHAR #AT"A$6 The inestructi0le !spirit*. IS1ARA6 The great cause of the
universe, the Pure Consciousness associate "ith its o"n po"er calle MA=A.
This fusion of the particular an cos,ic stanpoints is insiste upon an "e are
to see in the three constituents of AUM the signification of the three phases of
the one integral spirit.
Thus the "hole universe is vie"e in three levels, the causal, the su0tle an the
gross. The spirit "hich is the ulti,ate reality appears conitione 0y these. 5o"
the philosophical pro0le, for ,an is to ascen to the apprehension of the real as
transcening the conitions in "hich it is see,ingly e,0oie.
The spiritual pro0le, is to release oneself fro, these li,iting conitions an to
realise one7s ientity "ith the Ulti,ate Principle. The sy,0ol AUM is ,aintaine
to contain the irection for eveloping this transcenent integrality of /no"lege
an life.
The first soun%constituent of AUM, na,ely A represents the gross point of vie".
It connotes the native realis, an pluralis, of co,,on sense.
2ro, this "e ought to ,ove on to the level of thought represente 0y U. U
signifies the unerstaning of the "orl as the pro<ection of the universe 0y the
Spirit itself. The point of vie" is foun on the rea,%e-perience an its
philosophy ,ay 0e escri0e as Dyna,ic Iealis,. Spirit, through the
instru,entality of ,in, sets up "ithin itself the entire cos,os. .hen this
stanpoint reaches ,aturity, "e ,ust pass 0eyon it.
The ne-t stage is represente 0y M. The iversity of presentation con<ure up in
the rea,%"orl is nothing real. It is a pro<ection of the unreal. Such pro<ection is
foune upon the non%apprehension of the real. The realisation of this fact of
raical non%apprehension is pro,ote 0y the consieration of the e-perience of
eep%sleep.
.e rea, 0ecause "e are asleep. The "orl is ta/en as real in "a/ing is really
of the sa,e status as rea, "orl an the pre%supposition of such co,ic
rea,ing is the failure to see that the At,an is the sole reality.
This failure is ,ost clearly illustrate in eep%sleep. .e ,ust pass into the fra,e
of thought accoring to "hich our e,pirical life "hich is in reality a rea,, is ue
to our 0eing asleep to spirit, the funa,ental su0stance of our 0eing. .e are
,ost asleep "hen "e fancy ourselves ,ost a"a/e. 3ven as the chanting of the
sacre Pranava !AUM* cul,inates in the serenity of silence after the final soun
M, the philosophic conte,plation of ,an7s e-perience in its entirety ,ust pass
after the consieration of the state of eep%sleep into the unconitione
effulgence of the pure an transcenent Self.
The see of pheno,enal life na,ely ignorance ,ost stri/ingly present in sleep
,ust 0e estroye an the sleeper ,ust "a/e up to the infinite reality of the
spiritual essence. This ulti,ate self%affir,ation is the goal of conte,plation. The
agnosticis, of sleep ,ust 0e 0urnt up in this transcenent self%realisation.
2ollo"ing the Pranava !AUM* in all its phases, an to its farthest ,erger in
silence, one ,ust revie" the spirit7s ,anifestation in the three states an up to its
e,0oi,ent in the 5escience%0oy an pass 0eyon even that causal sheath
into the utter freeo, of its a0solute illu,ination. An analysis of ,an7s three
states oes thus fulfill itself in the vision of his Divine essence in all the glory of
its ?stateless? eternity.
Esoterically the 'a' stands for the first stage of wakefulness, where we
experience, through our gross body and the senses and the mind the
totality of external experiences. The 'u' stands for the state of dream sleep
in which mental experiences are available, though erratically, by the mind
which is the only thing awake, without the help of the external sense
organs or the presence of the discriminating intellect. The two kinds of
experience, namely, those of the waking state and those of the dream state,
contradict each other, in the sense that a man may experience hunger in a
dream though he has eaten in the waking state a few minutes earlier.
In the state of deep sleep, represented by the sound 'm' there is no
consciousness of any experience; even the mind has gone to sleep. But
still there is an awareness after the deep sleep is over that one has been
sleeping. The Maanduukyopanishad says that in the state of deep sleep the
aatman which is always present, has been the witness to the sleep of the
body and it is this which brings back the memory. It is the aatman which is
also present beyond the three states of experience and this fourth state
(turiiyaa-vasthaa) corresponds to the silence that ensues after one has
steadily pronounced 'om'. It is the state of 'no maatraa' ( = amaatraa). In
that state of silence Consciousness alone is present and there is nothing
else, and therefore nothing is to be cognized or be conscious of. So when
we recite 'om' we are advised to meditate on this common substratum of all
the three states of experience, and, during the silence that follows, merge
in the Consciousness that alone persists as a substratum. That
Consciousness is the aatman, that is the brahman.
Such is the symbolism behind the scriptures' repeated insistence that the
word OM is the supreme aalambana (= prop) to reach brahman, it is the one
thing which is talked about by all the vedas and it is for this alone that
sages do penance and undergo austerities. It represents both the brahman
with attributes and the brahman without attributes. It is a reminder of the
true state of being. Hence it is that OM is repeated at the beginning and
conclusion of everything. It indicates that we, as part of the universe,
emanate from brahman and finally dissolve into brahman. The jiiva which
leaves the body in the midst of conscious OM recitation is said to merge in
brahman itself, that is, attain moksha. The essential condition for this
conscious recitation at the time of death is the undeviating memory of the
Divine throughout life, through all its ups and downs. Hence it is that all
mantras begin with OM. Meditation on the word is recommended for the
yogi as a direct path to realization. As the generality of men cannot realize
the ultimate reality which is beyond all categories of time, space and
causation, the Maanduukyopanishad and its commentator, Gaudapada,
recommend the contemplation of the three sound symbols as the three
states of man's totality of experience and thus, analysing one's experience,
the student endowed with the mental and moral qualifications required for
the understanding of vedanta, is helped to reach ultimate reality.
Specifically, if one identifies the amaatraa state of silence with the fourth
state of experience and meditates on it without intermission, one realizes
one's self and 'there is no return for him to the sphere of empirical life'.