mantra mantras yantra mantra meditation bija mantra shiva mantra gayatri mantra kali mantra mantra sound mantra japa ganesha mantra shakti mantra shanti mantra mantra siddhi guru mantra ganesh mantra hindu mantra durga mantra lakshmi mantra devi mantra chakra mantra goddess mantra mrityunjaya mantra kelty mantra 6 kelty mantra 7 mantra chanting

7. Conscious, Unconscious, Subconscious Mind

Levels of consciousness: The four parts of AUM also refer to the levels of conscious, unconscious, and subconscious, as well as the consciousness that permeates these. (Note that some psychologies or systems use the words unconscious and subconscious in reverse, or use different terms. The meaning is what is important, not the particular choice of words). The three sounds, and the silence have the following meanings:

  1. The " A" sound refers to the conscious level of mental functioning.

  2. The " U" part refers to the unconscious level of mind.

  3. The " M" refers to the subconscious level, the storage place of mind.

  4. The Silence after these three, refers to the pure consciousness, which permeates the conscious, unconscious, and subconscious levels of awareness.

Begin slowly: Once again, it is easiest to begin by remembering the mantra very slowly. With practice, it moves more quickly, as attention longs to rest in the silence.

  1. When the "A" of OM mantra arises in the mind field, be aware of the conscious level of mind. The easiest way to do this, is to contrast conscious to the unconscious. There is the conscious, that we are aware of here, in this external world, and there is the unconscious that is not seen in the deeper mind.

  2. When the "U" of OM mantra arises in the mind field, be aware, as best you can, that your mind is presently functioning at an unconscious level as well. There is a tremendous amount of thinking process normally going on, that is out of view. This is what psychologists call primary process. It is going on behind the scenes, much like the microprocessor in a computer that is invisibly doing its work.

  3. When the "M" of OM mantra arises in the mind field, be aware of the latent part of the mind, where all of the countless memories of people, objects, and day to day information is stored. It is there, like the information stored on a hard disk of a computer. Until it is needed, it just sits there in a latent, dormant form (It is actually in a formless form, somewhat like the data on the hard disk that is stored only as raw data, with no images as such). Be aware of that stillness, that is the storage of your deep impressions and habit patterns.

  4. When the Silence comes to the mind field, be aware of the consciousness that permeates all of the other three levels. In other words, consciousness flows through the unconscious functioning. Consciousness is there in the latent part of the mind, even though those objects are not awakened into action at the moment. Eventually, this Silence expands to being the awareness of the other three states. It is at this stage that one is called a Seer, in that all of the other levels of mind are witnessed from this vantage point.