Aum-The sacred word of all religions
Sound of god binds the universe consisting of people of different faiths belonging to different places, time zones, cultures etc. No matter where they live and what they believe in, universal sound binds peoples of all faiths together. All of us are mentally and physically different, yet universally the child of the same supreme divine reality. As AUM is the supreme universal sound and the vocabulary of all sounds, Influence of AUM is found in all religions including Buddhism, Islam, Zoroastrianism and Christianity.
In the preceding few articles, we have been discussing on the significance of AUM. If you haven’t read those articles, kindly go through the below links
How sages and mystics communicates with god by chanting AUM
AUM-The most sacred sound of the universe
AUM- the primordial sound that creates this universe
How chanting AUM or mantra changes your DNA
How to change body forms by chanting AUM or mantra
Aum-The sacred syllable and sound of God
Why AUM word in all mantras
How chanting AUM raises level of consciousness and is the way to Self-Realization
What is AUM?
AUM is not from any language or religion. Aum is the universal symbol for people of all faiths, religions and cultures. AUM is the universal cosmic sound of creation and destruction. AUM is just a sound that means nothing, yet can mean everything. AUM is the sound that maintains the consciousness of nature and mother earth.
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Notice the influence of AUM in all sacred words of the world
To an average reader, it may not be apparent at the first time that words ‘Aum’, ‘Shalom’, ‘Amin’ and ‘Amen’ means the same except they are linguistically different.
In all these words, MMMM sound are of utmost importance and extreme focus is given to prolonged pronunciation of MMM. To type this symbol in Microsoft word, Type backslash (\) in Wingdings font.
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AUM in Judaism
Judaism was highly influenced by Hinduism. Aum sound is one of such influences.
Like AUM, three letters in Hebrew is said to be the source of all articulate sounds. This three letters are Shin, Mem, and Aleph. Aleph is silent, Mem sounds like "Mmmmmm" and Shin like "Shhhhhh". So, phonetically, these three Hebrew letters is very similar to AUM.
Amen is said to be derived from Aman meaning “to nourish” and “make strong”. Hence chanting of Amen is meant to instill energy and nourishment in the body. Because there are many sanskrit words in Hebrew, many western scholars are of the belief that Hebrew and many European languages are derived from world oldest language ‘Sanskrit’.
AUM IN Islam
Inverting the AUM symbol at a certain angle or seeing the AUM symbol in front of mirror give us the Islam sacred number 786. This is because Islamic scriptures are written in Arabic and Since Arabic words are read from right to left, number 786 should be read from right to left.
Ameen, a sacred word in Islam, is phonetically very similar to AUM. Though Ameen does not appear in quran, muslims always say Ameen after closing the prayers from Surah al-Fatihah.
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In volume 6 of chapter 2, Sahih Al-Bakhari, Prophet Muhammad stress the importance of uttering ‘Amen’ to free the soul from all sins.
"If a Muslim says amen [that] coincides with the angels, than all past sins will be forgiven."
Though Ameen is not directly influenced from Hinduism, scholars believe this word was included into Hadith from Amen of Judaism and Christianity. Since Amen is derived from AUM, Ameen is indirectly derived from AUM.
Story of Swami Rama and Maulanas from lucknow
Indian Muslims are very secular though you may find some exceptional cases especially religious leaders. It is very common to see Indian mystics visiting Muslim conferences and Muslim Maulanas attending sat sang of Indian swami’s. In 1905, some of the Maulanas in lucknow came to swami rama to know the significance of AUM and its relation with ISLAM.
Swami Rama requested them to chant AUM 3 times which they did instantly without any hesitation. After some brief lectures on AUM, Swami rama extolled AUM as the universal name of god to which the maulanas objected as they didn’t find any mention of AUM as god in quran. They further requested Swami to quote any reference to AUM in quran.
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Rama (Gently): “Please listen to what is now being said. In the very beginning of your Koran, at the top, are three letters, alif (A), lam (L) and mim (M). Can any of you or any learned Mulawi of Islam explain what these three letters mean?”
Maulavi: This was a secret which Allah had kept to himself
Rama(Smilingly): When God has revealed the entire Koran for the benefit of mankind, as the Muslims often claims, it is very strange that Allah has kept its very heading a secret. No. It is not so. If you, the Muslims who put full faith in the Koran do not know the secret of the letters A, L, M, Rama will tell you what they signify. Alif, lam and mim are nothing but alif (A), wao (O) and mim (M), that is, AOM or OM.'
Some of the meanings by different Islamic scholars
Maulavi: Crap!!!How is letter ‘L’ same as letter ‘O’
Rama: Why not? In Arabic grammar, L is pronounced as O when O falls between a vowel and a consonant Ex: Name Shamsuddin is written as Shamsaldin and Nizamuddin is written as Nizamaldin. Letter ‘L’ here is silent and therefore the correct pronunciation should be (O or U). Therefore ALM is no secret; it is clearly and unambiguously OM and nothing but OM. It is Kufra, heretical or a sin, to blame God for keeping it a secret.
AUM IN Sikhism
AUM is invoked as “Ik Onkar” in Sikhism, spelt out as ਇੱਕ ਓਅੰਕਾਰ in Guru Granth sahib. Guru Granth sahib is the most sacred book of Sikhism. Ik onkar literally means “One god” thus emphaizing on oneness of god to resemble their monotheistic belief.
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Ik onkar by shreya goshal, India no.1 female playback singer
AUM is known by words like Shabd, Naam and "Bani” in sikhism. According to Sikhism, Shabad is the most powerful force that can create everything including the smallest of larvae.
Eternal Supreme Being is embodied in the fundamental mantra of Sikhism as
“Ek Onkar Satnam Karta Purush Nirbhau Virvair Akal Murat, Ajuni Saibhang Gurprasad.”
Translation:
“There is One and only One God who is transcendent as well as immanent. True and Eternal Name. Creator and Person. Without Fear and without Enmity. Timeless Form, Unborn, Self-existent. Realized by Divine Grace”
Based on his inspired vision and spiritual experiences, Ek-Onkar was the eternal symbol given by Guru Nanak to all Sikhs.
AUM in buddhism
AUM is also placed at the begining of Buddhist mantras. AUM mani padme hum is the sacred mantra of Esoteric Buddhists.
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AUM is also placed at the start of Bija mantra, Dharani and other mantras. AUM is referred by Buddhist mystics as the Transcendental Sound of Avalokiteshvara. In Tibetan Buddhist scriptures, aum is extolled as Roar of Dharmata. In Theravada Buddhism, AUM is called the Sound of Silence. AUM is chanted as HUM in Tibetan Buddhism.
In the Buddhist literature “Surangama Sutra”, listening to sound is the best method of self-realization.
Self-realization by chanting AUM
Below is the translation of verses that demonstrates the power of sound
"To hear your very Self, why not turn backward
That faculty employed to hear Buddha's words
Hearing is not of itself,
But owes its name to sound.
Freed from sound by turning hearing backwards,
What do you call that which is disengaged
When one sense organ has to its source returned,
All the six senses thereby are liberated.
Ananda and all you who listen here
Should inward turn your faculty
Of hearing to hear your own nature
Which alone achieves Supreme Bodhi.
That is how enlightenment is won.
Buddhas as many as the Ganges' sand
Entered this one gateway to Nirvana.
All past Tathagatas
Have achieved this method.
All Bodhisattvas now
Enter this perfection.
All who practise in the future
On this Dharma should rely."
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AUM in Christianity
Amen is the Christian equivalent of AUM. Many scholars believe that Amen is formed by combining the two words (Aum + men). This literally means that Aum is the father of all mankind. i.e AUM is god. Interestingly, book of revelation says the same as “Amen is a name of Jesus” and the Tibetan Gospel says the same as “Aumen is the name of Jesus”. As we all know that Jesus is mentioned as the father of mankind in the bible, Sanskrit word ‘AUM’ not only represent Hindu God ‘Brahman’ but also Christian god “Jesus”.
Sacredness of AUM is clearly evident from the first verse of bible that states "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."[John 1:1]
Above verse is very similar to the below verse from Tandya Maha Brahmana, written centuries before the holy bible. Below is the verse from Tandya Maha Brahmana.
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“This, [in the beginning] was the only Lord of the Universe. His Word was with him. This Word was his second. He contemplated. He said, “I will deliver this Word so that she will produce and bring into being this entire world.”
Tandya Maha Brahmana 20.14.2[1]
On the creation from cosmic sound, St.john said "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet"; i.e., "I was in spiritual ecstasy with the Lord and heard behind my conscious, subconscious, and super-conscious minds a voice like that of a great trumpet, the great commingled Cosmic Sound coming out of the 'thrum’ of lifetrons, protons, electrons, and atoms." [Revelation 1:10]
"Again, Udayin, I have proclaimed to my disciples the way whereby with the divine ear element [dibbasota], which is purified and surpasses the human, they hear both kind of sounds, the divine and the human, those that are far as well as near ( ...) And thereby many disciples of mine abide having reached the consummation and perfection of direct knowledge."
(See also St. Matthew 13:13-17.)
Aum in ancient Egypt
Like every other ancient cultures, AUM was also the sacred symbol of Egyptians. This shouldn’t be surprising as the Egyptian exchanged wealth of information and products from India. India was the centre of culture, spirituality, business and commercialism for Egyptians.
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Few of the Egyptian gods are named after ‘AUM’. One of the popular deities of Egypt was Amon. He was also known as Amoun, Amun, Ammon and Amen. Furthermore according to Egyptian scriptures, Amun Ra was the name of the supreme god who created this primordial universe. He was the chief of all gods and was regarded as the god of kings.
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Also read
<Are Egyptians ancestors Indian in origin
Did egyptians worshipped lord krishna
AUM in Ancient Greece:
First letter in Greek is alpha and last letter is Omega. Combining first two letters of both words give us the sacred word ‘AUM’. Also, Greek word Omega on the whole is derived from AUM. Greek word Omega means “to include everything”. Write omega in lowercase Greek language and turn it to its side to see the resemblance with AUM symbol.
Aum in Celtic culture
Celts are the original pagan culture of Ireland. Before turning to Christianity, they followed strange rituals and worshipped nature. After the arrival of Christian settlers into Ireland, sacred Irish sounds were not easily pronounced by them. To ease the pronunciation, druid priests created a new alphabet called ogham. Pronunciation of Ogham is same as AUM. This was by no coincidence as the sound was used in their daily worship of nature.
Gallic is the indo-European language of Ireland that has many Sanskrit roots. The very name of Ireland is said to be derived from ‘Eire(Aarya)’ Land. 'Eire' meaning Noble is said to be the linguistic derivative of arya. Aarya in Sanskrit means ‘Noble’. Aarya is used to denote indigenous Indians. Influence of Sanskrit in Celts culture is another evidence of ogham to be the derivative of AUM.
Chanting Amen has no effect on the body
Billions of peoples chant AUM indirectly as AMEN (AUM-EN) and Shalom (Shal-AUM). Jewish sacred word SHALOM and Christian sacred word AMEN is derived from AUM, but they are short of any spiritual significance. Chanting of Amen and shalom does nothing to the soul and body. To get the full benefit of word ‘Amen’, it should be pronounced as "Amn," or "Am” keeping the last two letters silent. Only then, it will create sound frequencies filled with divine creative power that aligns you with the cosmic sound of the universe.
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AUM is the complete word
None of the words were invented and discovered after the careful analysis of resultant sound effects. You may find the constant repetition of HMMMM sound in tribal fold dance. AUM is normally found in the beginning of many European languages. For Example, Latin word ‘OMNI’ means "all" or "every”, same as the meaning of AUM.
Aum-The most sacred word of all words
Let us see some of the others words beginning from OM and have the same meaning as that of AUM. Most of these words are used to express divinity
Omniscient - all knowing
Omnipresent - everything in the moment
omkara - I Am Existence.
omniana -information about all things
omnicompetent -competent in all matters
omnigenous - of all types
omniparent - the origin of all
Omnivorous - eater of all things
Omnipotent -all powerful
omnifarious - of all forms or variations
omnibus - conveyance for all
omnicorporeal - all competant
omnify - to make universal
omniumgatherum - collect all things
omnimodous - of every kind
omnist - a believer in all religions
omnium - total of all things
Ombudsman - a person having authority to pronounce a verdict.
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To know more on the influences of AUM in all religions, read the book “The aUM of all things” by “Ruzbeh bharucha”
Conclusion:
Aum is a single, indivisible sound that is the seed of the universe. Through this sound, gods set the motion of all the planets of this universe. Every second, AUM chant maintains this materialistic existence. Without AUM, there is no birth. Without AUM, there is no death. AUM existed, exists and will forever exist till the end of eternity.Sacred Sound of AUM vibrates the universe. AUM is the creative sound of the universe. So, it should not be surprising to see the influence of AUM in all major religions of the world. Chant AUM to realize the power of AUM.
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