Om
Om (also Aum ; Sanskrit : ॐ [ oːm ]) is a syllable that is considered sacred by Hindus , Jainas and Buddhists . The sound is closely related to the piercing deep sound of the shankha - snail horn . Many mantras that consist of several words are preceded by the syllable Om, for example the Buddhist mantra Om mani padme hum .
sound
The sound stands for the transcendent original sound, from whose vibrations, according to Hindu understanding, the entire universe arose. It denotes the highest concept of God , the formless Brahman , the impersonal world soul. This includes the realm of visible appearances and the realm of the transcendent.
Om is the most comprehensive and sublime symbol in Hindu metaphysics and was first used in the Upanishads . Om later became the object of mystical meditation as the combination of the three sounds a , u and m . Among other things, it symbolizes the triad of Vishnu , Shiva and Brahma . It corresponds to the states of waking, dreaming, deep sleep and deepest calm. In all Hindu religions it is considered the most sacred of all mantras .
Presence of the Absolute
Om also plays a major role in Buddhism, especially in Vajrayana as a mantric syllable. Om is both a symbol of form and sound and denotes the presence of the absolute. The sacred syllable is the subject of very much philosophical speculation in the various currents of faith.
Om sign
In many Indian scripts , the syllable Om is represented by a special character . The Om character in the Devanagari script (ॐ) is often perceived as a symbol of Hinduism; it occupies the code U + 0950 in the Unicode character coding standard. Another Devanagari-independent version exists in the Unicode block Various pictographic symbols as code U + 1F549 (?️). In the West, the Om symbol is often used for purely decorative or fashionable purposes.
A special character for the syllable Om exists u. A. also in the Bengali (ওঁ) and Tamil script (ௐ). In other Indian scripts, however, the syllable is written quite normally as a sequence of o and m (e.g. Kannada ಓಂ).
literature
- Heinrich Zimmer : Philosophy and Religion of India. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1973, ISBN 3-518-07626-4 , pp. 333–339 ( Suhrkamp-Taschenbücher Wissenschaft 26).
- Swāhānanda: Hindu Symbology and other Essays. Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras India 1983.
- VAK Ayer: Hindu Sastras and Samskaras. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay 1998 ( Bhavan's book university 209, ZDB -ID 1035578-9 ).
