Oṃ is a sound that symbolizes or expresses the truth of myself, being the radiant fullness of consciousness, beyond which there is nothing. It is also called a symbol without members (pratīka). This is because as a primordial sound (śabda), belonging to the element space (ākāśa), it symbolizes the link between the unmanifested and the manifested. Of course, it is what it expresses, what it means (lakṣyārtha), not the sound itself. In oṃ tat tat, oṃ means that all forms of the past, present, and future are this one brahman. (This) sound is an archetype that symbolizes all forms. Why? Oṃ can also be spelled AUM. A stands for all objects with words spoken from the throat. U for all objects with sounds in the middle of the mouth (U). M for all objects expressed by words spoken from the front of the throat. Pronouncing AUM is pronouncing the whole range of manifestations. It’s symbolism of course. We could go on like this, it’s a rich symbol. The māṇḍūka upaniṣad states that A stands for the waking state, U for the dream state, and M for the deep sleep state. This also means creation, maintenance and dissolution, which runs parallel to (all objects of) the past, present and future. The Bible confirms this by stating: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’. Why a sound, a word? Sounds, and specifically words, express meaning, and meaning stands for knowledge, and knowledge is an expression of pure knowledge, pure intelligence, which is unchanging consciousness. That is why the māṇḍūkyopaniṣad also states: oṃ ity etad akṣaram idaṃ sarvaṃ, Oṃ, the word is all this.

Tat literally means that. It means brahman as the intelligence behind all forms, which is called māyā (unmanifested) and īśvara (consciousness plus māyā manifested). It is all power and all knowledge as an ode to non-dual reality. Thus, I have the opportunity to celebrate the non-dual fullness in the love (bhakti) that I can direct to the Lord with meditation (upāsana). Why tat, that? Because the apparent manifestation brings about the divine miracle of a life in a world. It seems as if it is there, as if it is that, an object, but it is only an expression of myself. Knowledge and intelligence are actually pure knowledge and pure intelligence.

Sat is brahman in the sense of pure existence (shining as consciousness). I am this existence. Existence itself that makes everything stand out, ‘ex-sistering’ (apparently). These three words express the one thing that cannot be expressed. Oṃ tat sat takes you from forms to truth through the only possible link, intelligence. Oṃ tat sat is mentioned in verse 23 of chapter 17 of the bhagavad gītā, and explained in the 4 verses that follow.