Beyond Sound is the Imperishable Brahman (Aaatmbindu Upanishad)

 

      In this last verse of the section, the Rishi stresses the most important characteristic of Brahman – Its Imperishability. Parallel with Brahman’s imperishability, the Rishi also stresses the most important characteristic of spiritual life: The supply of supreme peace is a matter of demand for it. If the yearning is strong enough, the supply will surely come. 1 The sound Om is a perfect symbol for Brahman, the Imperishable. Everything else changes or gets destroyed, including Om, the best symbol yet known for Brahman. 

    2 The sound of Om, too, has to dissolve eventually as one reaches the highest peak of Brahman. The chanting begins aloud, then it is done in a whisper, and finally it is done mentally. Thereafter, the sound symbol dissolves completely and Brahman alone remains. 3-4 An extract from Guruji’s commentary explains this point beautifully: “The Self is unchanging. The alphabet in Samskrit is called Akshara-Mala or a garland of letters. Each letter is called an Akshara. Akshara also means Imperishable. Letters form words, words form sentences, and sentences form language. All knowledge is in the form of language, be it literature, history or science. Different fields of knowledge may have their own specific languages, like the binary language of a computer or the mathematical language of formulae. They are all made up of letters. We need to learn to read and write the letters to get initiated into the world of knowledge through language. Words, their meanings, sentences and languages change but the letters of the alphabet remain the same. They are therefore called Imperishable, like Brahman.” Thus we are reminded again of the Om Upasana which we studied in verse 7, this time from the perspective of the letters themselves. Sound and letters are used only as symbols for the Supreme Brahman. Brahman is the ultimate quest. The symbols have to be given up at some point along the journey. This is what is meant by Ksheene, “the dissolution” of the symbol of Om.