 Commentary on the Odes of Solomon – by Swami Nirmalananda Giri
 The “Father” of Knowledge
Previously in the Odes we have encountered verses with a peripheral connection with the subject of The Word. But now It is being referred to specifically: Father of knowledge
“The Father of knowledge, is the Word of knowledge.” The Source of Gnosis is the Word of Gnosis. Having lived most of his life in India, Jesus knew that the Word was the Pranava–OM–and taught his disciples accordingly. (See Om Yoga and the Bible.) In this verse he is stating two things: 1) God the Father is the Word, Om; and 2) Om is Itself the “father” of knowledge because It “begets” gnosis in the individual who invokes It.
“He Who created wisdom, is wiser than His works.” That is, Om is not an object of wisdom, but, as the creator-manifester of eternal wisdom, is superior to it–the source and illuminator of it. Therefore Om must never be equated with even the most significant esoteric knowledge. As stated in the Gita: “I know all beings: past, present and to come. But no one knows me.”
To know all we must “know” Om in Its totality by prolonged practice–which includes experience of Om in all Its permutations. “Therefore, become a yogi.”
The subsequent verses of this seventh ode refer to both God and Om, since they are the same. The innate blueprint
“And He Who created me when yet I was not, knew what I should do when I came into being.” “The Cosmic Spirit utters Om and by pure will creates the various objects.”
It is not uncommon for saints to know when we are thinking good thoughts and to respond to them. This is a happy event, but if we are reflective then we will realize that they know when we are thinking wrong thoughts–and still they retain a positive attitude towards us. From this we can realize that before we enter into relative existence God knows every silly and negative thought and deed we are ever going to think and do. Yet He loves us and provides for us even the things we need for those wrong thoughts and acts! This should give us hope when, regretting our past follies, we wish to turn around and tread the upward path out of the “valley of the shadow of death” in which such ways prevail. We need not dislike ourselves nor waste time in condemning ourselves. We need to go on to reforming our minds and lives. For God has provided all we need to that, as well. We have come into this world to learn, and learn we will–eventually. The seed of all we shall ever do or be is present from the beginning; and that seed is Om. That is why the upanishads say things like this:
“All the three worlds, with everything, animate and inanimate therein, take their origin from Om.”
“Everything, movable and immovable, has arisen from Om.”
“At the center of the wheel of creation is the Deliverer, the Syllable Om.”
“The Syllable Om encompasses and consists of all–whatever belongs to the past, the present and the future, and consists of all the eternal verities.”
Om is both the Relative and the Absolute and accompanies us all through our evolutionary journey to total liberation. Those who grasp onto It through meditation and continuous repetition throughout the day will move onward to the Goal in the most natural and speediest manner. For it will be Divinity Itself that moves us onward unfailingly and infallibly, since it is Om that brought us into relative existence and it is Om that shall take us beyond relativity into the Absolute, into “the bosom of the Father,” the transcendent depths of Om. Grace and sacrifice
“Wherefore He pitied me in His abundant grace, and granted me to ask from Him and to receive from His sacrifice.”
For the sake of our evolution, God has poured out Himself in the form of the cosmos, visible and invisible, and thus become Himself “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” We discussed this in the last article. All the worlds through which we evolve are the “abundant grace” of God, the manifestation of Om, The Word of Life. Saint John the Baptist assures us that “God giveth not the Spirit by measure.” Rather, in the Holy Breath, the Pranava, we find the totality of Being and assimilate It into our finite selves in a manner past understanding–but not past experiencing. Thus we “receive from His sacrifice.” The perfecting Source
“For He it is Who is incorruptible, the perfection of the worlds and their Father.”
Om is incorruptible in the sense that it cannot be put to any use other than the revelation of inner perfection, that it cannot be deflected from Its Godward movement. Nor can it ever be without positive effect on those who invoke It. Om is also both means and Goal in “the perfection of the worlds” and ourselves. Therefore the Katha Upanishad says: “I will tell you of that Goal which all the Vedas with one voice propound, which all austerities speak of, and wishing for Which people practice discipline: It is Om.”
Manu, the ancient lawgiver of India, wrote: “The monosyllable Om is the highest Brahman. …Undoubtedly a Brahmin reaches the highest goal by japa of Om alone, whether he performs other rites or neglects them.” This is a really intriguing declaration, the idea being that whether we practice ritual or not, it is the invocation of Om that enables us to reach the highest goal. Both ritualists and non-ritualists will find perfection through only one thing: the japa of Om.
The repetition of Om is both for living and dying; for the Gita tells us: “Uttering the one-syllabled Om–Brahman–and remembering Me, he who departs, leaving the body, attains to the Supreme Goal.”
Sri Ramakrishna expands on this, saying: “The sound Om is Brahman. The rishis and sages practised austerity to realize the Sound-Brahman. …By following the trail of Om you attain Brahman, of which the Word is the symbol. That Brahman has been described by the Vedas as the ultimate goal.”
His renowned disciple, Swami Vivekananda, taught that: “The goal of the universe is to realize oneness with the ‘Om’ or One Existence.”
Nearer our time, Sri Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh wrote in Japa Yoga: “You will realize your identity with the Supreme Self through Pranava Sadhana. May you meditate on Om and attain the goal of life, the ultimate Reality. May this Om guide you. May this Om be your center, ideal, and goal!”
Om is both “the perfection of the worlds and their Father.” That is why Jesus told his disciples before leaving them that they should baptize others “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” He was not referring to a ritual with water, but to immersing them in Om through the practice of Om Yoga meditation. Earlier he had said: “I am come in my Father’s name,” and spoke of his miracles and teachings as “the works that I do in my Father’s name.” And the Beloved Disciple saw in vision that the perfect spirits had the “Father’s name written in their foreheads”–as though Om was engraved within their illumined subtle bodies, in the thousand petalled lotus of their brains. Revelation
“He has allowed Him to appear to them that are His own, in order that they may recognize Him that made them, and not suppose that they came of themselves.”
One of the greatest flaws of any religion or spiritual philosophy is the presumption that spiritual truths can be figured out intellectually or by applying logic. Anyone with a modicum of self-observation is aware of both the limitations and the unreliability of the mind. This is why all authentic spiritual traditions tell us that the only viable working with the mind is that when enables us to go beyond the mind!
In the Divine Unity, the Supreme Spirit fosters the evolution of all the individual spirits which draw their being from It. Patanjali tells us in the Yoga Sutras that God Himself is the Guru of all. Mostly he teaches through providing the experiences that their own higher minds determine, but he does at times teach them through intuitions that arise from the depths of their own beings–where God is to be found.
The ancient tradition of India tell us that the primeval sages, the rishis, turning within in profound meditation, discovered Om as the essence of all Being–just as the ode says in this verse. In the Anugita, a section of the Mahabharata containing spiritual teachings of Krishna, we find this: “The gods, rishis, and the nagas, and the asuras, approaching Prajapati [the Creator], said to Him: ‘Tell us the highest good.’ To them who were inquiring about the highest good, the Venerable One said, ‘Om, which is Brahman in a single Syllable.’” Sri Ramakrishna said: “The sound Om is Brahman. The rishis and sages practised austerity to realize the Sound-Brahman.…That Brahman has been described by the Vedas as the ultimate goal.” It is also our Source, the power which has enabled our manifestation within relativity and which empowers us to ascend to the Absolute. Source of knowledge (gnosis)
“For knowledge He hath appointed as its way; He hath widened it and extended it and brought it to complete perfection.”
This is why we must persevere in the practice of Om Yoga japa and meditation, simple as they may seem. On the mechanical level they are simple–even childishly simple–but on the level of their effects they are as complex as relative existence itself. That is why the practice of Om Yoga can deliver us from the nets and snares of relativity. You will find that your experience of Om Yoga practice will be infinitely varied. On occasion, of course, your meditation and japa may seem to be the same day after day, but that is because your inner and outer bodies are adjusting to the plateau of evolution your practice has brought you to. The effects are being assimilated and permatized during such periods. But after a while you will perceive yourself moving on in the depths of meditation to new areas of development. At first the “way” of Om Yoga may seem simple, simplistic, and narrow in the sense of being minimal. But you will find it widening and extending, the path “that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he…maketh my way perfect.” And He not only perfects the way, he perfects those who walk the way. The way of Light
“And has set over it the traces of His light, and I walked therein from the beginning even to the end.”
Om, when continually invoked in both japa and meditation, is the Light that leads us onward, further into the Light. “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” Literally: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” “The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.”
Om is the first step in sadhana, Om is the final step in sadhana, and Om is the Goal of sadhana. Om does not lead us to something higher, but through our practice is revealed as The Highest. In the form of Om God shows us the way and IS the way, but it is up to us to walk the way, like the chick emerging from the egg. The rest
“For by Him it was wrought, and He rested in the Son.”
The journeying of the way is accomplished by the power of Om, Which makes us Its eternal “rest”–Its eternal abiding place. For we are ourselves the Sons of God in which Divinity comes to rest.
O God within my breast,
Almighty, ever-present Deity!
Life, that in me has rest,
As I, undying Life, have power in Thee!
More on the Odes of Solomon:
Odes of Solomon – text
Commentary on the Odes of Solomon:
1. The Crown of Life
2. Clothed in Love
3. The Changeless God and Ever-changing Man
4. Love, Hope, and Joy
5. Avoiding Evil
6. The Song of the Holy Spirit
7. Rejoice in the Lord!
8. The Meeting of the Two
1) Odes of Solomon 7:7 [Go back]
2) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) [Go back]
3) Odes of Solomon 7:8 [Go back]
4) Bhagavad Gita 7:26 [Go back]
5) Bhagavad Gita 6:46 [Go back]
6) Odes of Solomon 7:9 [Go back]
7) Yoga Vashishtha 3:67 [Go back]
8) Dhyanabindu Upanishad 16 [Go back]
9) Pranava Upanishad [Go back]
10) Narasingha Purva-Tapiniya Upanishad [Go back]
11) Tarasara Upanishad [Go back]
12) John 1:18 [Go back]
13) Odes of Solomon 7:10 [Go back]
14) Revelation 13:8 [Go back]
15) John 3:34 [Go back]
16) Odes of Solomon 7:11 [Go back]
17) Katha Upanishad 1. 2.15-17 [Go back]
18) Manu Smriti 2:83,87 [Go back]
19) Bhagavad Gita 8:12-14 [Go back]
20) The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 404 [Go back]
21) Swami Vivekananda, Jnana Yoga, section III [Go back]
22) Matthew 28:19 [Go back]
23) John 5:43 [Go back]
24) John 10:25 [Go back]
25) Revelation 14:1 [Go back]
26) Odes of Solomon 7:12 [Go back]
27) Anugita: Chapter Eleven [Go back]
28) The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, p. 404 [Go back]
29) Odes of Solomon 7:13 [Go back]
30) Proverbs 4:18 [Go back]
31) Psalms 18:30, 32 [Go back]
32) Odes of Solomon 7:14 [Go back]
33) Psalms 36:9 [Go back]
34) Psalms 119:105 [Go back]
35) Isaiah 60:19 [Go back]
36) Odes of Solomon 7:15 [Go back]
37) Emily Bronte: No Coward Soul Is Mine. [Go back] |
