Acharya Prashant begins by addressing the relationship between words and silence, clarifying that there is no inherent contradiction between them. He explains that the silence experienced in the session is an eloquent one. True silence is not merely the absence of words or 'wordlessness'. To hold an image of silence as wordlessness is to have a very noisy mind. Silence is the very state from which words are spoken and heard. To not think of silence is silence; to have an image of silence is great noise. If one considers silence to be a matter of the lips, then the Self and Truth also become superficial concepts. Silence is the source from which sacred words arise. When Shri Krishna speaks to Arjun, he is not noisy; his words come from inner silence. Similarly, when Ramana Maharshi spoke, he was in silence, and his words emanated from the silence of the present moment, not from a past silence. The speaker states that silence is not something to be acquired; it is what you are. The problem is the preoccupation with stories and thoughts, which makes one forget their true nature. The search for truth is itself a distraction born from a sense of unfulfillment. The right teaching helps one to forget, leading to a dissolution. This dissolution is not about acquiring something new but about letting go of the false. The search for truth is a ridiculous thing because it presupposes that one is unfulfilled and needs to attain something. The problem is not that the search is unsuccessful, but that one began searching in the first place. Acharya Prashant then decodes the sacred syllable 'OM', explaining that it represents the totality of the mind. The sounds 'A', 'U', and 'M' correspond to the three states of consciousness. 'A' is the waking state (Jagrat), where the experiencer, called 'Vaishvanara', is conscious of the external world (Vishwa). 'U' is the dream state (Svapna), where the experiencer is 'Taijasa'. 'M' is the deep, dreamless sleep state (Sushupti), where the personality dissolves, and only a seed of existence remains, a state of bliss and relaxation. The pronunciation of OM, tapering into silence, represents this journey of the mind dissolving. The silence that follows the utterance of 'A-U-M' is the fourth state, Turiya, which is the substratum of the mind, the Self, or Brahman. It is not a fourth state in sequence but the fundamental one upon which the other three are based. OM is a reminder that everything is the mind ('A-U-M') and that there is peace beyond the mind, which is silence. The purpose and climax of OM is this silence. Regarding the question of how a thinking mind can know Shiva, the speaker explains that a thinking mind cannot know 'about' Shiva as an object. Shiva is not a person, deity, or figure. There is only 'Shivaness' (Shivatva), which expresses itself in one's knowing. The mind becomes still when it sees the foolishness of its own movement.
