Talk:Aum

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[edit] Disambiguation

Is there a Wikipedia convention about where to put disambiguation links that don't merit a separate disambiguation page? I agree that Aum Shinrikyo isn't relevant to the topic, but I have frequently seen "Aum" used as a shorthand for it, and I don't know whether casual browsers (who might not know, or be able to spell, the full name) would scroll as far as the bottom. I thought I'd generally seen these links at the top, but then I'm relatively new here. Mike Capp 21:37, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)

If there is/are only one or two different meanings, why not like the Linux or Tungstenpage, place an italized paragraph on top? This may not be the official Wikipedia way (don't know).--Jondel 23:23, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)
I just moved it to the top. Btw, Wikipedia:Disambiguation does recommend this method as one of the ways to deal with disambigs, so I suppose it is an official Wikipedia way. -- Zawersh 00:40, 6 Feb 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Symbolism

This page needs way more on 'Aum'/'Om' symbolism, which is mainly seen within Hinduism. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 66.207.39.62 (talk • contribs).

[edit] IE 6

The page looks really screwed up in IE 6. Anyone else? --mjwilco —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 198.36.211.11 (talk • contribs).

Screwed in my IE6 too.--Jondel 08:48, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)
Fixed it I think. Is is better now?--Jond el 06:50, 23 Aug 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Redirect from Om to Aum; page transfer

I will probably be criticized by people for making this change (but that's inevitable in Wikipedia). I did it primarily because of the nature of the subject being discussed. Even in the Vedas and Upanishads and mystic Hindu texts that are the primary source for the syllable, "aum" is described as the threefold product of the sounds "a", "u" and "m". It makes little sense to transcribe it as Om. This goes primarily to accuracy. --LordSuryaofShropshire 21:28, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)

[edit] The true meaning of AUM

AUM has nothing to do with the universe, but with three gods Agni, Varuna and Marut. The misleading nonsense in this article is due to a war between the gods and the christian (islamic) god,which is just another wargod. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.202.37.226 (talk • contribs).

[edit] Sound sample

can anyone post a sound sample of Aum —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Psychomelodic (talk • contribs).

[edit] Aum or Om?

There should be a consensus about the spelling of the word. Aum, as LordSuryaofShropshire points out, it composed of the three seperate sounds, this is reflected in the Devnagri (i.e. original) rendition of the sound. Sfacets 12:50, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps there should be a disambiguation page, as 'Aum' is commonly used in Hindu or Hindu-based religions, whereas 'Om' is commonly associated with Buddhism. Sfacets 12:50, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Trance?

What on earth does goa/psychadelic trance have to do with this article on Aum? Sfacets 12:50, 24 March 2006 (UTC)

The symbol is very common in the trance scene, mainly among Goa trance fans. It has become one of their characteristics. Perheps I'll write a paragraph about it when I'll find the time. Psychomel@di(s)cussion 16:41, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

It isn't one of their characteristics. It became popular in the west in the 60's with the Hippy countercultural movement, and in doing so lost it's original significance. It was taken up again by The Goa trance scene, which some see as a progression/branch of the original Hippy movement.

In comparison to it's main use in Hinduism for example, it plays an extremely minor role in the Trance scene, and doesn't symbolise it - most people in the west would associate the Aumkara to either the Hippy movement, or Hinduism/Buddhism, not trance. Sfacets 00:36, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

The Aum shape is, for my opinon, the biggest characteristic of the Goa trance. The hippie culture is irrelevant, the point is that in these days, many non-Hindu people in the world see it as their representative. I don't think you are aware to the trance scene for making these statements. Here, visit psyshop, type "goa" in the search bar and check how many albums havingn Aum shape on the cover. And that's just the most commercial (aka the "full on" subgenre of psytrance and not real Goa) albums!
I also suggest you read Goa trance#History and make the diffrence between western "club trance" and eastern goa trance. Club trance has nothing to do with Aum. Psychomel@di(s)cussion 05:43, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

I re-added the mention of trance, and I was specific about Psychedelic Trance. The use of the symbol in Goa and Psy-trance is a simple fact. The only reason anyone would remove this item would be if they had a point of view they wished to enforce on the article. User:Transentient 17:08, July 8, 2006 (UTC)

I agree that it merits inclusion, however stating that the symbol AUM is the main symbol of Goa trance is an over-simplification.

Sfacets 22:29, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

But you can't have Goa without Hinduism. Goa trance came about when a bunch of generally wealthy new age / hippy westerners went to India looking for stimulation. They took some powerful psychedelic drugs and found themselvs face-to-face with a very old and well-developed culture that was built on a particularly profound spiritual foundation. Goa trance is, essentially, what Hinduism looks like to westerners on drugs. Therefore, the Aum is as important to the devotees of the Goa trance movement as it is to Hindus. User:Transentient 06:13, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Aum=Amen?!

According to 82.3.79.187, Aum would be the Sanskrit equivalent of Amen and Hum (Bhuddhism) - I have removed the sentence unless sources can be provided.

It seems unlikely though: Amen is an affirmation, commonly placed at ning of a prayer.

Also the fact that the Buddhist mantra is "Om Mani Padme Hum" shows that "Hum" and "Om" are very different. Sfacets 22:02, 1 April 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Names of God in other Religions

Would a "See Also" or some other link section, with links to the name attributed to/used for the deity in other religions, be useful here? Examples would be Allah and the Tetragrammaton. --Jm woltjen 20:38, 14 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Om in Islam

Many Shia Muslims belief that there first Imam Ali_Ibn_Abi_Talib is also Om. Om and Ali are the same person. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.69.59.69 (talk • contribs).

[edit] Om or AUM

This is the first time I have seen Om written as Aum. In my life I had never seen any spelling other than Om. Is there any source for Aum being a real word? (that is being more relevant than Om). Just curious. -Krazy —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 15.235.153.105 (talk • contribs).

[edit] Contradiction in Origin

The origin section says:

The OM symbol's left part, which looks like a figure 3, looks like the form of the ū vowel used as a syllable with no attached initial consonant (in the Devanagari script ऊ (Unicode U+090A); but it is actually based on a Brahmi version of ओ (the vowel ō as written without an initial consonant). The nasal sound is indicated by a chandrabindu (U+0901).

But the introduction says:

The Aum symbol is a ligature of Devanagari ओ+ँ (oṃ, encoded in Unicode at U+0950 ॐ, the Tibetan script variant ༀ at U+0F00).

How can it be a ligature of the Devanagari version if it is based on the Brahmi character? Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 11:44, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Sacreligious?

Would getting a tattoo of the Om symbol be a sacreligious action? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.230.128.180 (talk • contribs).

That depends on the religion of the person who is getting the tattoo. User:Transentient 07:00 8 July, 2006 (UTC)
I have a tattoo of this symbol on my upper back and I don't think that my action of putting it there is sacreligious. I got this symbol as a tattoo because of the importance of the symbol and my need to improve my life spiritually. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.110.214.246 (talk • contribs).
It depends who you're talking to about it ;) It depends where you had the tattoo done. It depends why you had the tattoo done. Sukh | ਸੁਖ | Talk 19:53, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Consistency

Since the page is at Aum perhaps all of the "Om"s in the text should be changed to Aum. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.218.135.228 (talk • contribs).

I agree... please discuss this proposal. Sfacets 04:11, 19 August 2006 (UTC)


I'm going ahead and doing so then... Sfacets 13:41, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Additional Western Appearances

It could possibly be further added that "OM" has appeared independently in Western Mystery Tradition through Enochian, in which the letters O and M combine to form OM, meaning "to know", "to understand", or "wisdom". —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.175.50.26 (talk • contribs).

[edit] Date of origin of the symbol

Does anyone know when was this symbol was first used? I know there are references to the Aum chant in the Vedas but I think the symbol might be quite a lot later. -- Chris Q 12:30, 19 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] what is the sound of Universe

if you keep a microphone in the outerspace, what kind of sound can you expect to record? is it an AUM? --ചള്ളിയാന്‍ 14:26, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Om not "Aum"

Writing "Aum" for Om is not an alternative spelling, it is simply *wrong*, as aum is a completely different Sanskrit syllable to om. As I'm familiar with Sanskrit grammar I feel it would be helpful for me to clarify this. In Sanskrit, the vowel o (always long) is grammatically (and in the writing system) equivalent to short a + u, and in fact if these coalesce in a word the result is o. The vowel au is considered to be composed of long a + u. This explains the frequent allusion in Indic sources to om being a+u+m in relation to the correspondence of these with gods or states of consciousness. The bija mantra aum is also encountered, particularly in tantric contexts, though far less frequently than om. The confusion of om with aum is particularly prevalent in works by new-ager dilettantes. Prime Entelechy 18:25, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Just a silly question

Could there be any chance that the Hindu 'Om' is linked to the Latin 'Homo' (both of them being IndoEuropean languages, after all) ? I'm asking this because I'm a Romanian, and in my language the word for 'man' is 'om' (from the Latin 'homo'). Also the similarity to 'Aum' is (for me, at least) intriguing, due to the fact that the 'o' in 'om' is preceded in speech by a mild, semivocalic 'u'. ['O' is read as the 'o' in 'coin'; and 'u' is read as the 'oo' in 'moon', only shorter]. Anyone any ideas/suggestions? Thank You.

P.S. : Is it true that the alternate/secret name of Zeus/Jupiter was 'Homo' ? (I'm asking this because I somehow got the idea that 'Aum'/'Om' is a deity, not just simply a mantra/sound suited for meditation). Thanks. -- Lucian.

no, iot couldn't be; the Sanskrit equivalent of homo would be kshamya. dab (𒁳) 14:37, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] cleanup

I embarked on the badly needed cleanup, removing essays, unsourced and offtopic material ranging from string physics to anatomy; feel free to add back closely sourced material to the pertinent section. The article could still be in better shape, and is rife with {{fact}} tags, but at least the more rambling and eccentric parts are gone, and the ToC is designed to accomodate topically sorted additions. If no citations are forthcoming, more uncited material will have to be removed per our WP:CITE policy. dab (𒁳) 13:46, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] OM in Indus Valley?

Some source [1] mention that this symbol was used in Indus Valley. Even if everybody may not agree with it, I feel it is worth mentioning.

                               203.197.96.50 14:33, 21 February 2007 (UTC)Adi


It's not. deeptrivia (talk) 21:03, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Other templates which may call this template"

The above is repeated over 7-8 times, I dunno what to do to fix it. Hopefully someone will see this error. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.74.35.166 (talk) 13:16, 24 February 2007 (UTC).

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