The Gods and Om: Commentary on the Chandogya Upanishad
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!”