Meditation by Pranava

I was listening to a beautiful sloka in Kaivalya Upanishad and wanted to share this with all of you. The sloka gives a beautiful example on how a beginner must meditate on “OM”. To understand this example, I have also attached a small video [from YouTube] on how fire is made with two sticks.

Translation from Sri. A. Mahadeva Sastri

Having made the A’tman the arani, and Pranava the upper arani, by practice of knowledge, by repeated churning, the wise man burns up the bond (pas’a).

Two pieces of wood (of the s’ami tree, respectively termed uttara-arani and adhara-arani, the upper and lower aranis) are used for kindling sacrificial fire by attrition, one being placed above the other. These two pieces of wood are rubbed together by churning with a stick which has a string running round it. The practice of meditation is compared to the process of churning fire for sacrificial purposes.

One’s own body, the aggregate of all the sheaths of the Self, corresponds to the lower arani ; the three-syllabled Om to the upper one ; manas to the churning stick ; the repeated act of meditating to the act of churning; and what is called the A’nanda- Atman or the Bliss-Self to the fire produced by churning. That is to say, by a constant reflection and meditation by means of Pranava of the thought “ I am Brahman, the Self of all,” the non-dual Self manifests itself in the heart of the yogin.

Once this fire of the non-dual Self is brought into existence, the yogin will be able ‘to burn up all ajnana and kama, which are known by the name of Pas’a (bond), giving rise to the ties of ‘I‘ and ‘ mine ‘. When these are burnt up, the Self will remain alone by himself.