I have admired this symbol but had never really understood its meaning. Now I have some idea.
I learned that Om or Aum is a part of Hindu belief and represents both the unmanifest and manifest aspects of God. The Hindus begin their day uttering sound Om. Om is viewed as an expression of spiritual perfection and many wear the sign of Om as a pendant. This symbol of Om can be seen in every Hindu temple.
Om is not a word but an intonation. It is made of three Sanskrit letters, aa, au and ma which, when combined together, make the sound Om or Aum. Within the Hindu faith Om is believed to be the basic worldly sound in that it supposedly contains all other sounds. Om is used as a mantra or prayer.
Written in Devanāgarī which is the alphabet of India and Nepal, Om reads like this..
ॐ
Devanāgarī is written from left to right and does not have distinctive letter cases.
Bilingual computer keyboard with Devanāgarī characters
According to about.com, "Om provides a dualistic viewpoint. On one hand, it projects the mind beyond the immediate to what is abstract and inexpressible. On the other hand, it makes the absolute more tangible and comprehensive. It encompasses all potentialities and possibilities; it is everything that was, is, or can yet be. It is omnipotent and likewise remains undefined."
"When we chant Om, we create within ourselves a vibration that attunes sympathy with the cosmic vibration and we start thinking universally. The momentary silence between each chant becomes palpable. Mind moves between the opposites of sound and silence until, at last, it ceases the sound. In the silence, the single thought—Om—is quenched; there is no thought. This is the state of trance, where the mind and the intellect are transcended as the individual self merges with the Infinite Self in the pious moment of realization. It is a moment when the petty worldly affairs are lost in the desire for the universal. Such is the immeasurable power of Om. "
I found the below quote which was helpful.
Aum is a bow, the arrow is the self,
And Brahman (Absolute Reality) is said to be the mark.
-Mandukya Unpanishad
When I saw the above quote I had no idea what Mandukya Unpanishad meant. I learned through online research that Unpanishad are philosophical texts considered in the Hindu faith. More than 200 are known. The Upanishads have been attributed to several authors.
Mandukya Unpanishad is the shortest of the Unpanishads and it explains the sound of Om.
Om consists of three mantras/letters which stands for diffrent psychological states.
In the word aum, "A" stands for the state of wakefulness, where we have external experiences. The "U" stands for the dream state, in which we explore inward. "M" represents deep sleep where there is no conscious desire.
There is a fourth state is that of silence or absolute emptiness where one is transcendent. It is a state of illumination.
The below was gathered from a book entitled The Mandukya Unpanishad from the website of Swami Krishnananda.
The Mandukya Upanishad
by Swami Krishnananda
Invocation
Om! Bhadram karnebhih s'rnuyāma devāh
bhadram pasyemākṣabhiryajatrāh
sthirairangaistushtuvam sastanūbhir
vyaśema devahitam yadāyuh
svasti na indro vriddhaśravāh
svasti nah pūṣhā viśvavedāh
svasti nastārkṣyo ariṣtanemih
svasti no brihaspatirdadhātu
Om śāntih; śāntih; śāntih
Om. Shining Ones! May we hear through our ears what is auspicious; Ye, fit to be worshipped! May we see with our eyes what is auspicious; May we, endowed with body strong with limbs, offering praise, complete the full span of life bestowed upon us by the divine beings; May Indra, of enhanced fame, be auspicious unto us; May Pushan, who is all-knowing, be auspicious unto us; May Tarkshya, who is the destroyer of all evils, be auspicious unto us; May Brihaspati bestow upon us auspiciousness!
Om. Peace! Peace! Peace!
Verses
aum ity etad akṣaram idam sarvam, tasyopavyākhyānam
bhūtam bhavad bhaviṣyad iti sarvam auṁkāra eva
yac cānyat trikālātītaṁ tad apy auṁkāra eva.
1. OM! - This Imperishable Word is the whole of this visible universe. Its explanation is as follows: What has become, what is becoming, what will become, - verily, all of this is OM. And what is beyond these three states of the world of time, - that too, verily, is OM.
sarvaṁ hy etad brahma, ayam ātmā brahma
so’yam ātmā catuṣ-pāt.
2. All this, verily, is Brahman. The Self is Brahman. This Self has four quarters.
jāgarita sthāno bahiṣ-prajñaḥ saptāṅga
ekonaviṁśati-mukhaḥ sthūla-bhug vaiśvānaraḥ
prathamaḥ pādah.
3. The first quarter is Vaiśvānara. Its field is the waking state. Its consciousness is outward-turned. It is seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed. It enjoys gross objects.
svapna-sthāno’ntaḥ-prajñaḥ saptāṅga ekonavimśati-mukhaḥ
pravivikta-bhuk taijaso dvītiyaḥ pādah.
4. The second quarter is taijasa. Its field is the dream state. Its consciousness is inward-turned. It is seven-limbed and nineteen-mouthed. It enjoys subtle objects.
yatra supto na kaṁ cana kāmaṁ kāmayate
na kaṁ cana svapnam paśyati tat suṣuptam
suṣupta-sthāna ekī-bhūtaḥ prajñānā-ghana evānanda-mayo
hy ānanda-bhuk ceto-mukhaḥ prājñas tṛtīyaḥ pādah.
5. The third quarter is prājña, where one asleep neither desires anything nor beholds any dream: that is deep sleep. In this field of dreamless sleep, one becomes undivided, an undifferentiated mass of consciousness, consisting of bliss and feeding on bliss. His mouth is consciousness.
eṣa sarveśvaraḥ eṣa sarvajñaḥ, eṣo’ntāryami eṣa
yoniḥ sarvasya prabhavāpyayau hi bhūtānām.
6. This is the Lord of All; the Omniscient; the Indwelling Controller; the Source of All. This is the beginning and end of all beings.
nāntaḥ-prajñam, na bahiṣ prajñam, nobhayataḥ-prajñam
na prajnañā-ghanam, na prajñam, nāprajñam;
adṛṣtam, avyavahārayam, agrāhyam, alakṣaṇam,
acintyam, avyapadeśyam, ekātma-pratyaya-sāram,
prapañcopaśamam, śāntam, śivam, advaitam,
caturtham manyante, sa ātmā, sa vijñeyaḥ.
7. That is known as the fourth quarter: neither inward-turned nor outward-turned consciousness, nor the two together; not an indifferentiated mass of consciousness; neither knowing, nor unknowing; invisible, ineffable, intangible, devoid of characteristics, inconceivable, indefinable, its sole essence being the consciousness of its own Self; the coming to rest of all relative existence; utterly quiet; peaceful; blissful: without a second: this is the Ātman, the Self; this is to be realised.
so’yam ātmādhyakṣaram auṁkaro’dhimātram pādā mātrā
mātrāś ca pādā akāra ukāra makāra iti.
8. This identical Ātman, or Self, in the realm of sound is the syllable OM, the above described four quarters of the Self being identical with the components of the syllable, and the components of the syllable being identical with the four quarters of the Self. The components of the Syllable are A, U, M.
jāgarita-sthāno vaiśvānaro’kāraḥ prathamā
mātrā’pter ādimattvād vā’pnoti ha vai
sarvān kāmān ādiś ca bhavati ya evaṁ veda.
9. Vaiśvānara, whose field is the waking state, is the first sound, A, because this encompasses all, and because it is the first. He who knows thus, encompasses all desirable objects; he becomes the first.
svapna-sthānas taijasa ukāro dvitīyā
mātrotkarṣāt ubhayatvādvotkarṣati ha vai
jñāna-saṁtatiṁ samānaś ca bhavati
nāsyābrahma-vit-kule bhavati ya evam veda.
10. Taijasa, whose field is the dream state, is the second sound, U, because this is an excellence, and contains the qualities of the other two. He who knows thus, exalts the flow of knowledge and becomes equalised; in his family there will be born no one ignorant of Brahman.
suṣupta-sthānaḥ prājño makāras tṛtīya mātrā
miter apīter vā minoti ha vā idaṁ
sarvam apītiś ca bhavati ya evaṁ veda.
11.Prājña, whose field is deep sleep, is the third sound, M, because this is the measure, and that into which all enters. He who knows thus, measures all and becomes all.
amātraś caturtho’vyavahāryaḥ prapañcopaśamaḥ sivo’dvaita
evam auṁkāra ātmaiva, saṁviśaty ātmanā’tmānaṁ ya evaṁ
veda ya evaṁ veda.
12. The fourth is soundless: unutterable, a quieting down of all relative manifestations, blissful, peaceful, non-dual. Thus, OM is the Ātman, verily. He who knows thus, merges his self in the Self; - yea, he who knows thus.
Om śantih; śantih; śantih
Om Peace! Peace! Peace!
Before I purchased the above pendant I asked myself, "Is it important to understand symbols in which we use as fashion?"
It seems silly to admire something that has such profound value for those who encompass it and then wear it simply for the aesthetic value. I couldn't do that.
I had a basic understanding of Om and related it to the concept of peace, inspiration, meditation, sound and introspective understanding. I figured that what I understood of Om was limited knowledge so I dug a little deeper.
Do, I now completely graps the concept of Om. Not by a long shot I'm sure. But I can embrace what I do understand.
Even so, I would not feel comfortable wearing this pendant in India or other regions where Om is practiced. Even though the Om symbol is visibly present in temples and other landmarks, I would fear that locals would view my pendent as insincerity.
When I was 21 in the year 2001 I wore my hair in dreadlocks. I kept my dreads from 2001 to 2005. I remember working in a Borders book store in 2001 and a customer walked up to me asking me why I decided to dread my hair. He himself had long dreadlocks and I noticed he was looking at me in a disgruntled fashion.
I felt uncomfortable and simply stated that I liked the way they looked. He gave me a condescending sneer and walked off. I remember feeling frustrated but all the while knowing that there is a large population of people who believe that dreadlocks are a sacred piece of culture and are not to be worn as merely fashion.
While not wanting to insult those who hold Om so dear I feel it is acceptable to learn about other cultures and embrace what can be a healthy influence in our own lives.
I will not wear my pendant with pride but with humility.
P.S. To get the Om symbol on your computer screen, open Microsoft Word and key in backslash ( \ ) in Wingdings font. You will type in Om.
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