Title: Purifying Spiritual Practices with Om Tat Sat

17th Chapter: verses 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

23rd verse: “In the Vedic literature, specifically the Upanishads, it is stated that “Om Tat Sat” constitutes the essence of all vedic literature. It represents the triple designation of Brahman. These three words are behind the origin and creation of the Brahmanas, Vedas and Yajnas.”
Om represents the vedas. The entire vedic literature can be condensed into Om. All the vedas are an attempt to describe Brahman which can only be experienced. At the empirical level, Brahman is denoted with Om. Om represents the highest spiritual awareness, the highest wisdom, the highest existence, the highest consciousness and the highest blissfulness.

Sri Ramakrishna said that the highest level of experience cannot be explained. It is a deeply felt experience whose language is silence. Below silence is Om, which is the first audible, verbal symbol of the divine. When we elaborate Om, we get Gayatri. When we elaborate Gayatri, we get Upanishads. Below the Upanishads, there are many mythological books. All these books are meant to take us beyond books. The highest experience is beyond all these books.

Dharmaśāstra says: “All Vedas are founded on Pranava (Om). It takes you away from the transmigratory cycle of Samsara. It is the essence and totality of all verbal presentations. Any mantra without Om becomes meaningless.”
Every mantra is preceded by Om. It is because the mantra becomes sacred when associated with Om.

Omkara is not a letter symbol. It is a sound symbol comprised of three sounds A-U-M. It is pronounced with an elongated vowel sound. “A” represents the totality of waking state experiences. “U” represents the totality of dream state experiences. “M” represents the totality of deep sleep experiences. Together, they represent all our experiences, as we cannot have any experience outside of these three states.

“A” is pronounced with an open mouth. “U” is pronounced with the mouth half open. “M” is pronounced with the mouth closed. We cannot pronounce anything which does not belong to these three categories. And, since everything in the world has a verbal counterpart, A-U-M represents everything in this world.

“Tat” stands for the totality of existence. It also indicates Brahman. In the mayavakya “Tat-tvam-asi” -which means “The spiritual truth that you are seeking is non-different from yourself - “Tat” indicates Brahman.

“Sat” is explained in the 26th verse. It is used to denote the Absolute Reality. It also represents goodness, auspiciousness and steadiness in dana, tapah and yajna.

Why is the utterance of “Om Tat Sat” important? It is difficult for normal human beings to perform their spiritual practices with perfection. With the utterance of “Om Tat Sat”, when we perform any act - Yajna, dana and tapah – they become purified. They become auspicious and spiritually meritorious.

For full effect, “Om Tat Sat” should be uttered with a sense of sanctity and sacredness and with full awareness. Mantras gather potency because they have been recited by spiritual seekers and sages for thousands of years. They help us realize the spiritual truth when we recite them with full concentration on the meaning of the mantra.

24th verse: “Therefore, one should practice dana, tapah and yajna by uttering Om. When you do so, the activity becomes purified.”

Yajna refers to any noble, unselfish deed that is done with a sense of sanctity and sacredness and as an offering to God. Dana refers to any act of compassion, kindness and charity meant to help others. Tapah means austerity, activities that we do with the mind and senses focused on a single purpose.
25th verse: “When we perform dana, tapah and yajna with the utterance of Tat, it means we are performing that duty without expecting any fruits in return. We offer the...