In the previous article we met the four parts of Om: A, U, M and the silence. Yogic teachers describe something more detailed still: seven levels of consciousness hidden in this single syllable. Understanding them turns Om from a sound into a map for the inner journey.
Four states and three doorways
Each of the three sounds of AUM stands for a state of consciousness. The silence after them is the fourth: awareness itself. Between these four states lie three transitions, subtle doorways that the meditator learns to notice. Together they make seven.
These levels are not a belief system. Every human being passes through waking, dreaming and deep sleep each day, whether or not they ever chant Om. The mantra simply makes them visible.
The seven levels
Open each level to read more.
1. Waking · A · Vaishvanara
The gross, conscious level. Here the mind faces outward and meets the world through the senses and active thinking. It is the “A” of AUM and the large lower curve of the ॐ symbol.
2. First transition · Unmani
The threshold between waking and dreaming, when outer attention fades and inner images begin to arise. In meditation it is felt as a softening of the senses: still awake, but no longer pulled outward.
3. Dreaming · U · Taijasa
The subtle, unconscious level: the inner world of impressions, memories and dreams. It is the “U” of AUM and the middle curve of the symbol. Much of what drives our moods is stored here.
4. Second transition · Aladani
The doorway from the busy inner world into the stillness of deep sleep, where images and impressions dissolve.
5. Deep sleep · M · Prajna
The causal level, the latent storehouse from which both the subtle and the gross arise. There are no dreams or desires here, only rest. It is the “M” of AUM and the upper curve of the symbol.
6. Third transition · Samadhi
The passage beyond the three ordinary states. In deep meditation, awareness remains awake even as the mind becomes completely still.
7. Turiya · the Silence
The fourth: pure consciousness, represented by the silence after AUM and the dot (bindu) of the symbol. Turiya is not one state among others. It permeates all of them, like the screen on which every picture appears.
- In waking, there is consciousness.
- In dreaming, there is consciousness.
- In deep sleep, there is consciousness.
Recognising this constant awareness behind every state is the goal of meditation on Om.
The symbol as a map
The written ॐ draws the same teaching. The lower curve is waking, the middle curve dreaming, the upper curve deep sleep. The small arc beneath the dot shows that the fourth state stands apart from the other three while still containing them. The dot is Turiya itself. Different texts use other names for these four levels, for example virat, hiranyagarbha, ishvara and brahman.
Going deeper
Om in the Yoga Sutras
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (1.23–1.29) recommend remembering Om together with a deep feeling for its meaning. This is described as a direct path to Self-realisation, one that also removes the obstacles which normally block it.
Om with other mantras
Om is very often joined with other mantras, usually as the first or last sound. Some traditions link it with a particular name of God; others see it as universal. How one uses Om is a personal choice. Whatever the tradition, the vibration of Om is experienced on the inner journey, just as waking, dreaming and sleep are universal realities.
How to practise with the levels
Repetition alone is not enough. The practitioner remembers the four parts of the mantra one after another, together with their meaning:
- A: waking, the conscious mind, the gross world
- U: dreaming, the unconscious mind, the subtle world
- M: deep sleep, the latent storehouse, the causal world
- Silence: pure awareness, which permeates all three
Gradually, attention moves from the sound to the silence. Try it with our guided Om practice.
Sources: this article draws on the teachings of Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, whose detailed article OM Mantra and 7 Levels of Consciousness was shared on our 2012 blog. We recommend it to readers who wish to go further.