The Glories and Powers of Om

January 15th, 2025 by SunYogi

Swami Nirmalananda Giri authored a comprehensive book on the spiritual significance of the sacred sound OM. In the chapeter The Glories and Powers of Om, Swami Nirmalananda Giri cites many authoritative yoga texts and their teachings about the Om sound and the Sun. In this article we have included some excerpts from Swami Nirmalananda Giri’s book and links to read the complete text.

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The Gods and Om: Commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad

December 31st, 2024 by SunYogi

The Chandogya Upanishad is one of the “primary” (mukhya) Upanishads. It ranks among the oldest Upanishads, dating to the Vedic Brahmana period, before first millennium BCE. In this commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad, Swami Nirmalananda Giri teaches us about the connection between the sacred sound (mantra) OM and the Sun. “One should meditate on the sun as Om…. the energy of the sun is a manifestation of Om.”

Swami Nirmalananda Giri teaches us that the energy of the Sun is the subtle energy that enters and fills our subtle energy channels (nadis), bringing life to our physical body. Speaking of death, Swami Nirmalananda Giri states, “When he thus departs from this body, then he proceeds upwards through those very rays. He surely goes up meditating on Om. As long as it takes for the mind to travel, in that time he goes to the sun. That indeed is the door to the world of Brahman (Supreme God), an entrance for the knowers and a shutting out for the ignorant.” (Chandogya Upanishad 8.6.5) Those who pass through the sun are free from the compulsion to rebirth on the earth. Om!”

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