<P> The word which all the Vedas proclaim, That which is expressed in every Tapas (penance, austerity, meditation), That for which they live the life of a Brahmacharin, Understand that word in its essence: Om! that is the word . Yes, this syllable is Brahman, This syllable is the highest . He who knows that syllable, Whatever he desires, is his . </P> <P> The Maitrayaniya Upanishad in sixth Prapathakas (lesson) discusses the meaning and significance of Om . The text asserts that Om represents Brahman - Atman . The three roots of the syllable, states the Maitri Upanishad, are A + U + M. The sound is the body of Soul, and it repeatedly manifests in three: as gender - endowed body--feminine, masculine, neuter; as light - endowed body--Agni, Vayu and Aditya; as deity - endowed body--Brahma, Rudra and Vishnu; as mouth - endowed body--Garhapatya, Dakshinagni and Ahavaniya; as knowledge - endowed body--Rig, Saman and Yajur; as world - endowed body--Bhūr, Bhuvaḥ and Svaḥ; as time - endowed body--Past, Present and Future; as heat - endowed body--Breath, Fire and Sun; as growth - endowed body--Food, Water and Moon; as thought - endowed body--intellect, mind and psyche . Brahman exists in two forms--the material form, and the immaterial formless . The material form is changing, unreal . The immaterial formless isn't changing, real . The immortal formless is truth, the truth is the Brahman, the Brahman is the light, the light is the Sun which is the syllable Om as the Self . </P> <P> The world is Om, its light is Sun, and the Sun is also the light of the syllable Om, asserts the Upanishad . Meditating on Om, is acknowledging and meditating on the Brahman - Atman (Soul, Self). </P> <P> The Mundaka Upanishad in the second Mundakam (part), suggests the means to knowing the Self and the Brahman to be meditation, self - reflection and introspection, that can be aided by the symbol Om . </P>

What is the meaning of the hinduism symbol