Om, also written Aum, is a sacred syllable in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Hindu tradition counts it the greatest of all mantras, and its written form, ॐ, is the most important symbol in Hinduism. It is chanted at the beginning and end of prayers, chants and meditation, and it opens many Buddhist mantras.
A, U, M and the silence
In Sanskrit the vowels a and u merge into o, so Om is made of three sounds: A-U-M. Hindu tradition reads them as a set of triads: earth, atmosphere and heaven; thought, speech and action; the three Vedas.
The Mandukya Upanishad, a short text devoted wholly to Om, adds a fourth part. A is the waking state, U is dreaming and M is deep sleep. The silence after the sound is the fourth state, called turiya, which lies beyond all three. Say the syllable slowly and you can hear the order: the mouth opens on A, rounds on U and closes on M, and then the sound fades into quiet.
Reading the written symbol
The sign ॐ is made of curves, a crescent and a dot. In one widely taught reading, the large lower curve stands for waking, the other two curves for dreaming and deep sleep, the crescent for maya, the veil of illusion, and the dot for turiya. The crescent does not touch the dot: the fourth state lies beyond the veil.
From about the 6th century the written sign was used to mark the beginning of a text in manuscripts and inscriptions. The syllable also goes by other names, among them pranava and omkara.
Om in Jainism
Jains read Om as the initials of the five supreme beings honored in their daily prayer: Arihant, Ashariri, Acharya, Upadhyaya and Muni. A, A, A, U and M blend into one syllable.
Om in Tibetan script and Buddhist mantras
In Tibetan Buddhism Om is often placed at the start of mantras. In Tibetan script it is written ༀ, and it is the first syllable of Om Mani Padme Hum, the six-syllable mantra of compassion. Our article on Om Mani Padme Hum explains the rest of it. The 14th Dalai Lama has described Om as three letters, A, U and M, that stand for the body, speech and mind of everyday life and for the pure body, speech and mind of a Buddha.
The same three appear in the seed syllables Om Ah Hum. They mark the forehead, throat and heart of Vajrayana deities. In Chinese Buddhist texts Om is written with the character 唵.
Wearing Om with respect
For many Hindus and Buddhists, Om is a prayer, not a pattern. Wear it where you would carry something you treasure: at the neck, on the wrist or on a mala. Keep it off anything that touches the feet, such as shoes or insoles. Hindu culture sees the feet as unclean because they touch the ground, so contact between feet and a sacred sign is a mark of disrespect. An Om charm on a mala pairs the syllable with the practice of counting mantras, and our guide on how to use mala beads walks through a round. You can find more in our malas.
