“When I let go of who I’m , I become, what I might be”- Lao Tze

asato ma sadgamaya

tamaso ma jyotirgamaya

mrtyorma amrtam gamaya

om shanti shanti shanti.

Literally it may mean-

Lead me from the non Real to the reality

Lead me from darkness to light.

Lead me from death to immortality

Om Peace Peace Peace.

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

It’s a prayer of a seeker to help him/her transcend the superimpositions and illusion he/ she is apparently bound in. The superimposition of unreality, darkness/ ignorance, ephemerality( death). This seeker realizes the temporary, dependent nature of articles beings circumstances and in general the world around him.

Because of ignorance he has superimposed the relative reality on the Existence, Awareness, Joy. He has his soul handcuffed and he has the key in his pocket. He can free himself and yet he keeps on living in the self created incarceration.

He wants to free himself from such misunderstandings regarding himself, the universe and Brahman. He is seeking true knowledge.

This mantra is played at the end of Matrix Revolutions movie. The matrix movies also demonstrate the deeper import of this mantra.

How Neo a seeker like us is caught us Matrix, a superimposition. The Matrix was a system of control to enslave mankind. It was designed to fool the mind into thinking that everything the senses felt was real, when in fact, it was a computer generated construct fed directly into the brain.

“The answer is out there looking for you. It will find you if you want it to.”- Trinity to Neo in matrix