Siddham in the Taisho

The Chinese Tripitaka is an important source for Siddhaṃ. Many mantras are preserved using the Siddham script in the Taisho edition of the Canon. With the help of my friend Maitiu I have copied a couple of examples of the way Siddhaṃ looks in the Taisho, and for the enthusiast you can see the Chinese commentaries on pronunciation alongside.

The example here is from Taisho No.913 and reads:

oṃ a mṛ ta hūṃ pha ṭ - ie oṃ amṛta hūṃ phaṭ.

Amṛta means "immortal" or "undying", and can also refer to a kind of elixir of life. This example is on the scripts page, while another can be seen on the Siddhaṃ page.

Aum

Aum
Originally uploaded by parhessiastes

Om made to look like a Korean character. I have found some more of these in a book showing an 18th century Chinese manuscript. The characters are made to look a bit like Chinese Seal script. I will do some for Visible Mantra.

This is a nice example of the style and shows that it is a current practice. Good for scaring off ghosts apparently

17/2/2008 - I'm updating this entry to make it clear that the image shows a Korean Style character. My version is on the om page.