Errors and Oṃ vs Auṃ
While I do my very best to get things right on this site - I want it to be authoritative - occasionally I make errors of spelling in mantras. I recently discovered a real howler in the short Vajrayoginī mantra! (leaving off vowel markers in Tibetan). I have now corrected this. Apologies is this caused confusion.
I also took the time to change the Devanāgarī oṃ from this one - ॐ - to this - ओं. This is more than cosmetic since the ॐ is actually transliterated as auṃ rather than oṃ. The former is the long vowel the latter is short. (See also below). I use a web transliteration tool to create Devanāgarī text for the site and this was tuned to create ॐ even when I wrote oṃ, but I've now found a work around which is to use the Hindi version. Now that I've done this on one page I've realised that I need to make it more clear on the oṃ page! Which is an example of the law of unintended consequences I suppose.
I also took the time to change the Devanāgarī oṃ from this one - ॐ - to this - ओं. This is more than cosmetic since the ॐ is actually transliterated as auṃ rather than oṃ. The former is the long vowel the latter is short. (See also below). I use a web transliteration tool to create Devanāgarī text for the site and this was tuned to create ॐ even when I wrote oṃ, but I've now found a work around which is to use the Hindi version. Now that I've done this on one page I've realised that I need to make it more clear on the oṃ page! Which is an example of the law of unintended consequences I suppose.
Labels: Oṃ, updates, Vajrayogini
4 Read or leave a comment:
Jayarava,
I think you are Mistaken with this Om and Aum issue. Both can be used Replaceably.
Even in some hindu Texts (I am a hindu Myself), Om is representated ओं instead of ॐ, for that matter even ओम् or in its Pluta Form as ओ३म् Indicating Vowel Lengthening. So Indentifying Om as Buddhist Usage and Aum as Hindu Usage is highly Erraneous. These are all Alternate Usages.
Even Buddhists Separate Omkara as A, U, M Identifying each with a body of the Buddha. See Below,
"Son of a good family, what is the mother of dhāraṇī, the letter oṃ? The letter oṃ is a composite of three letters, a, u, and m. The letter a stands for bodhicitta ... It also stands for dharmakāya. The letter u stands for saṃbhogakāya. The letter m stands for nirmāṇakāya. Together these three letters form the letter oṃ, which has innumerable meanings, and therefore comes at the beginning of all dhāraṇī. ... The buddhas of the past, present, and future all attain bodhi through this letter. Therefore, it is the mother of all dhāraṇī. All bodhisattvas are born from it. All buddhas manifest from it."
Hi Vinodh
Thanks for your input. I am aware that oṃ and auṃ are used interchangeably in Vedic and Hindu texts and that they can be written variously in Devanāgarī - in fact ॐ derives from Siddhaṃ rather than Nāgarī as is clear from it's form. Changing it to ओं though cosmetic is more logical to my mind, and more aesthetic to my eye.
Personally I have not seen auṃ used in the way you suggest in any Buddhist text - where is the quote from? I would be very interested to follow this up.
Best Wishes
Jayarava
Hi Jayarava,
The Quote was posted in E-Sangha Forum by Ven. Eijo.
Here's the Link to the Specific Thread.
http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php?showtopic=73448
Thanks for the clarification. Eijo's post refers to The early East Asian tantric manual 守護國界主陀羅尼經, which is T19n0997_p0565c19-29.
I can only say that I don't put much store in a Chinese text, but that they must have got the idea from somewhere I suppose. I've studied what is available in English and most secondary material and haven't come across this. But then much remains untranslated and unstudied.
I don't think this is enough to completely refute my assertion, although I would have to soften it a little.
Best Wishes
Jayarava
Post a Comment
<< Home