For en yogi er der ikke noget symbol der er kraftigere end stavelsen Om. Som det fremgår af Mandukya Upanishad:
Om, dette uendelige ord er:
Alt hvad der var,
Alt hvad der er, og
Alt hvad der vil være.
I Sanskrit bogstavet symboliserer den nederste store bue: Drømmetilstanden.
Den øverste bue: Den vågne tilstand
og den lille bue, som har udspring midt i bogstavet, symboliserer:
Dyb drømmeløs søvn.
Halvmånen står for ”Maya” illusionens slør, og prikken står for Den Transcendentale Tilstand.
Når menneskets individuelle selv trænger gennem sløret og hviler i den transcendentale tilstand, frigøres han / hun fra de tre Gunas og deres egenskaber.
Om er symbol for Universet.
Aum eller Om
(devanagari: ॐ) er en stavelse, som tillægges stor
betydning inden for hinduismen, buddhismen, i megen
østlig filosofi generelt og ligeledes i visse
esoteriske og okkulte kredse.
Aum regnes generelt for det helligste af alle mantraer og indgår tillige i et utal af andre mantraer, hvorfor det er stort set allestedsnærværende i Indien og indisk religion.
Aum regnes generelt for det helligste af alle mantraer og indgår tillige i et utal af andre mantraer, hvorfor det er stort set allestedsnærværende i Indien og indisk religion.
Betydning
I hinduismen kaldes stavelsen udgitha
(højsangen) eller praṇavamantra
(det rungende mantra) og i visse tekster siges
hele den sansede verden at være opstået af den
resonans, der fremkom, da mantraet ved tidens begyndelse udtaltes. I den forbindelse siges en rest af
dette urmantras ekko endnu at gennemsyre hele
universet og hvert væsen i det, hvorfor mantraet
inden for hinduismen regnes for det helligste af alle
mantraer og indgår i stort set alle bønner. Mantraet
danner tillige grundstammen i de fleste andre
mantraer, noget der også gælder mere vestlige
traditioner som fx transcendental meditation.
Dette gælder i vid forstand også ordets brug i
vestlige, esoteriske sammenhænge, hvor lyden opfattes
som altets resonans; selve urlyden.
Man hæfter sig ved, at visse religiøse skrifter (som fx Johannesevangeliet) sætter "Ordet" ved altets begyndelser og opfatter dette ur-ord som stavelsen aum, der forstås som en manifestation af det højeste væsen, gud.
I esoterisk sammenhæng lignes mantraets tre elementer også med ild, vand og luft, og mantraet påstås undertiden at have samme udspring som ord som amen, amin og Amun.
Man hæfter sig ved, at visse religiøse skrifter (som fx Johannesevangeliet) sætter "Ordet" ved altets begyndelser og opfatter dette ur-ord som stavelsen aum, der forstås som en manifestation af det højeste væsen, gud.
I esoterisk sammenhæng lignes mantraets tre elementer også med ild, vand og luft, og mantraet påstås undertiden at have samme udspring som ord som amen, amin og Amun.
For a yogi, there is no symbol is more powerful than the syllable Om. (Aum)As shown in the Mandukya Upanishad:About, this infinite words:Everything that was,All there is, andAll that will be.In Sanskrit letter symbolizes the lower Great Arch: Dream mode.The upper loop: the waking stateand the little bow, which has origins in the middle of the letter, symbolizes: Deep dreamless sleep.Half Moon stands for "Maya" veil of illusion and the dot stands for the Transcendental mode.When human individual even penetrate the veil and rests in the transcendental state is released he / she from the three gunas and their properties.
Aum is the symbol of the Universe.Aum or Om (Devanagari:) is a syllable, which attached great significance in Hinduism, Buddhism, in a lot of Eastern philosophy in general and also in some esoteric and occult circles.Aum is generally reckoned the holiest of all mantras and are included in numerous other mantras, so it is virtually ubiquitous in India and Indian religion.
Meaning
In Hinduism called syllable udgitha (Song of Solomon) or praṇavamantra (the resounding mantra) and in some texts say all the sensory world to have originated from the resonance, which emerged as the mantra at the beginning of time uttered. In this regard, said a remnant of this urmantras echo yet to permeate the whole universe and every creature in it, why mantra in Hinduism is considered the holiest of all mantras and is included in virtually all prayers. The mantra also forms the backbone of most other mantras, something which also applies more western traditions such as transcendental meditation. This applies in a wider sense also the word's use in western esoteric contexts where the sound is perceived as everythings resonance; The eternal sound.One notices that certain religious writings (such as John) puts "the Word" by everythings beginnings and perceive this watch-word as the syllable aum understood as a manifestation of the Supreme Being, God.In esoteric context likened mantra three elements also with fire, water and air, and the mantra is alleged sometimes to have the same source as words like amen, amine and Amun.
Lyd og tegn
Mantraet er sammensat af tre lyde, nemlig [a], [u] og [m], hvoraf de to første danner en diftong. Disse tre lyd siges i den hinduistiske tradition at betegne de tre primære, hinduistiske guder:
skaberen Brahma,
vedligeholderen Vishnu
og ødelæggeren Shiva.
Alternativt siges de også undertiden at betegne de tre sindstilstande: vågen, drøm og søvn.
I den mest udbredte indiske skrift, devanagari, har netop denne stavelse et selvstændigt symbol, ॐ som også har nydt en vis udbredelse i Vesten – særligt i forbindelse med udsmykning.
I unicode kodes devanagari-tegnet ॐ med U+0950. Tegnet er en ligatur af diftongen औ U+0914 der udtales [au] og det diakritiske tegn chandrabindu ँ U+0901, der enten angiver en nasallyd eller som her et afsluttende "n" eller "m". Selvstændige symboler for aum-stavelsen findes også i en række andre østlige skrifttyper, således f.eks. tibetansk og tamilsk skrift.
Om or aum (written universally as
ॐ; i
Dev angari as ओंoṃ[õː],
औंauṃ[ə̃ũ],
or ओम्om[õːm])
is a mystical Sanskrit sound
of Hinduorigin, sacred and important in
various Dharmicreligions such as Hinduism, Buddhismand Jainism. The syllable is
also referred to as omkara (ओंकारoṃkāra) or
aumkara (औंकारauṃkāra),
literally "om syllable", and in Sanskritit is sometimes referred to as
प्रणव
(praṇava),
literally "that which is sounded out loudly".
Om is also written ओ३म् (ō̄m[õːːm]), where ३ is प्लुत (pluta, "three times as long"), indicating of lenght three morae (that is, the time it takes to say three syllables)—an overlong nasalized close-mid back rounded vowel —though there are other enunciations adhered to in received traditions. It is placed at the beginning of most Hindu texts as a sacred incantation to be intoned at the beginning and end of a reading of the Vedas or prior to any prayer or mantra . It is used at the end of the invocation to the god being sacrificed to (anuvakya) as an invitation to and for that God to partake of the sacrifice.. The Māndukya Upanishad is entirely devoted to the explanation of the syllable. The syllable consists of three phonemes, a ( Vaishvanara ),u ( Hiranyagarbha ), and m ( Ishvara ), which symbolize the beginning, duration, and dissolution of the universe and the associated gods Brahma , Vishnu , and Shiva , respectively. The name omkara is taken as a name of God in the Hindu revivalist Arya Samaj and can be translated as "I Am Existence".
Name, phonology and written representationThe Sanskrit name for the syllable is praṇava, from a root nu "to shout, sound", verbal pra-nu- being attested as "to make a humming or droning sound" in the Brahmanas , and taking the specific meaning of "to utter the syllable om" in the Chāndogya Upanishad and the Shrauta Sutras . More rarely used terms are akṣara (lit. symbol, character) or ekākṣara (lit. one symbol, character), and in later times omkāra becomes prevalent.Phonemically, the syllable is /aum/, which is regularly monophthongized to [õː] in Sanskrit phonology . It is sometimes also written with pluti, as o3m (ओ३म्), notably by Arya Samaj. When occurring within a Sanskrit utterance, the syllable is subject to the normal rules of sandhi in Sanskrit grammar, however with the additional peculiarity that after preceding a or ā, the au of aum does not form vriddhi (au) but guna (o) per Pāṇini 6.1.95 (i.e. 'om'). |
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The syllable "om" is first described as all-encompassing mystical entity in the Upanishads. Today, in all Hindu art and all over India and Nepal, 'om' can be seen virtually everywhere, a common sign for Hinduism and its philosophy and theology. Hindus believe that as creation began, the divine, all-encompassing consciousness took the form of the first and original vibration manifesting as sound "OM". Before creation began it was "Shunyākāsha", the emptiness or the void. Shunyākāsha, meaning literally "no sky", is more than nothingness, because everything then existed in a latent state of potentiality. The vibration of "OM" symbolizes the manifestation of God in form ("sāguna brahman"). "OM" is the reflection of the absolute reality, it is said to be "Adi Anadi", without beginning or the end and embracing all that exists. The mantra "OM" is the name of God, the vibration of the Supreme. When taken letter by letter, A-U-M represents the divine energy (Shakti) united in its three elementary aspects: Bhrahma Shakti (creation), Vishnu Shakti (preservation) and Shiva Shakti (liberation, and/or destruction).
Early Vedantic literature
Further information: Mandukya Upanishad
The syllable is mentioned in all the Upanishads, specially elaborated upon in the Taittiriya, Chāndogya and Māndukya Upanishad set forth as the object of profound religious meditation, the highest spiritual efficacy being attributed not only to the whole word but also to the three sounds a (a-kāra), u (u-kāra), m (ma-kāra), of which it consists. A-kara means form or shape like earth, trees, or any other object. U-kāra means formless or shapeless like water, air or fire. Ma-kāra means neither shape nor shapeless (but still exists) like the dark energy content of the Universe. When we combine all three syllables we get AUM which is a combination of A-kāra, U-kāra, and Ma-kāra.
The Katha Upanishad states:
"The goal, which all Vedas declare, which all austerities aim at, and which humans desire when they live a life of conscience, I will tell you briefly it is aum""The one syllable [evākṣara, viz. aum] is indeed Brahman. This one syllable is the highest. Whosoever knows this one syllable obtains all that he desires.
"This is the best support; this is the highest support. Whosoever knows this support is adored in the world of Brahma." (1.2.15-17)
The Chāndogya Upanishad (1.1.1-1) states:
om ity-etad akṣaram udgītham upāsīta / aum iti hy udgāyati / tasyopavyākhyānam"The udgi:tā ["the chanting", that is, the syllable om] is the best of all essences, the highest, deserving the highest place, the eighth."
The Bhagavad Gi:tā (8.13) states that:
Uttering the monosyllable Aum, the eternal world of Brahman, One who departs leaving the body (at death), he attains the Supreme Goal (i.e., he reaches God).In Bhagavad Gi:tā (9.17): Lord Krishna says to Arjuna - "I am the father of this universe, the mother, the support and the grandsire. I am the object of knowledge, the purifier and the syllable oṃ. I am also the Ṛig, the Sāma and the Yajur Vedas."
The Bhagvad Gi:tā (17.23) has: om tatsatiti nirdesho brahmanstrividhah samratah
"OM, tat and sat has been declared as the triple appellation of Brahman, who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss."
In the following sūtra it emphasizes, "The repetition of om should be made with an understanding of its meaning".
Puranic Hinduism
The
Om Parvat in Pithoragarh district. Its snow deposit is said to resemble the "om"
symbol.
God
Ganesha is sometimes identified with the om
In Purānic Hinduism, om is the mystic name for the Hindu Trimurti, and represents the union of the three gods, viz. a for Brahma, u for Vishnu and m for Mahadev which is another name of Shiva. The three sounds also symbolize the three Vedas, namely (Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda).
According to Hindu philosophy (see Māndukya Upanishad), the letter A represents creation, when all existence issued forth from Brahma's golden nucleus; the letter U refers to Vishnu the God of the middle who preserves this world by balancing Brahma on a lotus above himself, and the letter M symbolizes the final part of the cycle of existence, when Vishnu falls asleep and Shiva has to breathe in so that all existing things have to disintegrate and are reduced to their essence to him. More broadly, om is said to be the primordial sound that was present at the creation of the universe. It is said to be the original sound that contains all other sounds, all words, all languages and all mantras.
Advaita
Aum
symbol on a temple elephant's forehead
In Advaita philosophy it is frequently used to represent three subsumed into one, a triune, a common theme in Hinduism. It implies that our current existence is mithyā and maya, "falsehood", that in order to know the full truth we must comprehend beyond the body and intellect the true nature of infinity. Essentially, upon moksha (mukti, samādhi) one is able not only to see or know existence for what it is, but to become it. When one gains true knowledge, there is no split between knower and known: one becomes knowledge/consciousness itself. In essence, Om is the signifier of the ultimate truth that all is one.
In proper names
When Om is a part of a place name (for example Omkāreshwar), or is used as a man's name, it is spelled phonetically using ordinary letters of whatever Indian alphabet is used in the area. The adherents of Arya Samaj always use the ordinary letters अ(Ah), ऊ(ooh) and म(ma) to write om.
In Jainism
Depiction of om in Jain script
In Jainism, om is regarded to be a condensed form of reference to the Pañca-Parameṣṭhi, by their initials A+A+A+U+M (o3m). The Dravyasamgraha quotes a Prakrit line:
ओम एकाक्षर पञ्चपरमेष्ठिनामादिपम् तत्कथमिति चेत "अरिहंता असरीरा आयरिया तह उवज्झाया मुणियां"oma ekākṣara pañca-parameṣṭhi-nāmā-dipam tatkabhamiti ceta "arihatā asarīrā āyariyā taha uvajjhāyā muṇiyā"
"Om" is one syllable made from the initials of the five parameshthis. It has been said: "Arihant, Ashiri, Acharya, Upajjhaya, Muni" .
Thus, ओं नमः (oṃ namaḥ) is a short form of the Navkar Mantra.
In Buddhism
Buddhists place om at the beginning of their Vidya-Sadaksari ("om mani padme hum") as well in as most other mantras and dharanis. Moreover, as a seed syllable (a bija mantra) aum is considered holy in Esoteric Buddhism.
In Buddhist texts of East Asian provenance, om is often written as the Chinese character 唵 (pinyin ǎn) or 嗡 (pinyin wēng).
A key distinction should be made here between Buddhism as it arose in Nepal, and Buddhism after the migration of the teachings to Tibet under the guidance of Padmasambhava. In its original form, Buddhism in Nepal was characterized mainly by types of mindfulness meditation and did not involve the chanting of om or of mantras. Tibetan Buddhism, with heavy Hindu influence and merger with Bon Shamanism, is now characterized by the AH bija, which can be roughly translated as representing pure spirit (the fifth in the Tibetan system of elements).
As to its precise graphic form, the Vedic or Indian om is what most Westerners are used to, and the Tibetan alphabet om is less widespread in popular culture. Even Tibetan handicrafts made in India tend to use the Nepali-script om for recognizability.
"Onkar" in Sikhism
Main article: Ik Onkar
Ik Onkar (One God)
