In the Chandogya Upanishad it is said that Bhuma should be realised. The Upanishad then goes on to explain what Bhuma is. Bhuma is a celebration of the auspicious qualities of the Supreme One. When Bhuman is seen and heard, nothing else is seen or heard. When Bhuman is known, nothing else is known.
This is not to be interpreted as sameness of Bhuman and chit and achit. Chit and achit are different and distinct from Bhuman. Bhuman is the atman in everything else. All entities depend on Bhuman for their existence. The Lord’s greatness is not supported by something. It exists of its own. In other words, Bhuma is not dependent on anything for support. It is svayam bhuma, elaborated M.K. Srinivasan in a discourse. It is in itself great, and imparts greatness to others.
The Upanishad also says that Bhuman should be meditated upon as ‘aham.’ This is not to be taken as meditation on oneself. Here the word ‘aham’ does not connote the jivatman. It means the self inside all of us, that is the Paramatman which has the Jivatman as His body. The word aham is not be interpreted as jivatma, because when one is talking about Bhuman, there is no question of the jivatman being Bhuman. The jivatman is not possessed of the qualities of Bhuman. It does not support everything as Bhuman does. Prana, desire, memory, ether, tejas, water, food, strength, knowledge, thought, sankalpa, mind, speech and mantras all come from the Supreme One.
Sanatkumara teaches Narada this upasana in the Chandogya Upanishad, and also says that such mediation is possible only with a pure mind, which in turn is the result of consuming satvic food. A pure mind helps us to cut through the bonds of ignorance and realise the Supreme One through meditation.
