Mandukya Upanishad: 6 key ideas
The core ideas of Mandukya Upanishad, each in under a minute, written in our own words. Want the full depth? Get the book.
- IDEA 1 OF 6
Om holds all of time
The shortest Upanishad says Om stands for everything: past, present, future and what lies beyond time.
- IDEA 2 OF 6
Four states of being aware
It maps waking, dreaming and deep sleep, and then a fourth, called turiya.
Our whole inner life moves through these states every day.
- IDEA 3 OF 6
The witness behind every state
The fourth is not another state but the awareness present in all three.
Thoughts, dreams and sleep come and go; the knowing of them stays.
- IDEA 4 OF 6
Deep sleep hints at joy
In dreamless sleep we have no possessions or plans, yet we wake saying we slept well.
That hints at a peace that does not depend on anything.
- IDEA 5 OF 6
Peace beyond words
The fourth is described as peaceful, whole and beyond description.
Some truths can be pointed to, not explained.
- IDEA 6 OF 6
From sound into silence
Chanting A, U and M, then resting in the silence after, mirrors the journey from busy states of mind into stillness.
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