Acharya Prashant explains that the syllable 'Aum' represents the totality of the human mind through its three distinct states of consciousness. The first state, 'A', corresponds to the waking state or 'Jagrat Avastha', where the individual is identified as 'Vaishvanar', the one conscious of and connected to the external world through sense organs. The second state, 'U', represents the dream state or 'Swapna Avastha', where the individual becomes 'Tejas', existing in an entirely different world with a different personality. The third state, 'M', signifies the dreamless sleep state or 'Sushupti', where gross identities and tensions dissolve into a primordial, dormant seed form, offering a state of bliss and void closest to non-existence. Beyond these three states lies the silence into which the sound of 'Aum' tapers, representing the fourth state. While arithmetically called the fourth, Acharya Prashant clarifies that this silence is actually the fundamental substratum, the Self, Atma, or Brahman, which exists irrespective of the mind. The pronunciation of 'Aum' is designed to musically fade away, serving as a succinct reminder that all mental states must eventually end. It communicates the essence of reality: that while everything is mind, there is a profound peace and silence beyond it into which the individual must eventually dissolve.
