e., Om), represent the fourth or
highest condition of Brahman, "which is unaccountable, in which all
manifestations have ceased, which is blissful and without duality. Om
therefore, is soul, and by this soul, he who knows it, enters into (the
supreme) soul." Passages like these may be considered as the key to the
more enigmatic expressions used; for instance, by the author of the
Yoga philosophy where, in three short sentences, he says his (the
supreme lord's) name is Pranava (i.e., Om); its muttering (should be
made) and reflection on its signification; thence comes the knowledge
of the transcendental spirit and the absence of the obstacles (such as
sickness, languor, doubt, &c., which obstruct the mind of an ascetic).
But they indicate, at the same time, the further course which
superstition took in enlarging upon the mysticism of the doctrine of the
Upanishads. For, as soon as every letter of which the word Om consists
was fancied to embody a separate idea, it is intelligible that other
sectarian explanations were grafted on them to serve special purposes.
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