Om

Om is a sacred syllable in Hinduism, and it is honoured in Buddhism and Jainism too. It is chanted at the beginning and end of prayers, readings and meditation, and its written form is one of the best-known religious signs in the world. For believers it is first of all a prayer, and only then a symbol to wear.

A sound before a sign

Om begins as a sound. It appears in the later Vedic literature and is praised at length in the early Upanishads, philosophical texts composed in the first millennium BCE. The Chandogya Upanishad opens with a meditation on Om, and the short Mandukya Upanishad is devoted entirely to it.

In the Mandukya, the syllable is understood as three sounds, A, U and M, followed by silence. These are linked to waking, dreaming and deep sleep, and the silence to a fourth state beyond them, pure awareness. That is why Om is often written Aum.

Om is also called the praṇava, and Hindu thinkers have described it as the sound of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Many mantras begin with it, and it is spoken at the opening of rites, readings and the recitation of sacred texts. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna names himself as the syllable Om in all the Vedas, and the phrase Om tat sat is offered as a threefold name of the absolute.

The written symbol

In the Devanagari script Om is written ॐ, a flowing form with a crescent and a dot above it. In many popular explanations each part carries meaning: the curves for the states of consciousness, the crescent for the veil of illusion and the dot for the state beyond. Other Indic scripts, from Tamil to Tibetan, have their own beautiful forms.

Varanasi, on the Ganges, is one of the holiest cities of Hinduism, and there the sign is everywhere: painted on temple walls, carved over doorways and printed on the cloths of pilgrims. Across South Asia it appears above house doors, in shops and vehicles, and at the top of wedding invitations.

For many believers, Om is the sound from which all other sounds unfold.

In other traditions

In Buddhism, Om opens many mantras, among them Om maṇi padme hūṃ, the mantra of the bodhisattva of compassion, carved on stones across Tibet and the Himalaya. In Jainism, Om is understood as a compact form of the five supreme beings honoured in the most important Jain prayer. Sikh scripture opens with Ik Onkar, a declaration of the oneness of God, which is related to Om but distinct in meaning and form.

Wearing it with respect

Om pendants, rings and prints are worn by Hindus as an expression of faith and by many others who come to the symbol through yoga or meditation. Wearing it is generally welcomed, provided it is treated as what it is: a holy sign for hundreds of millions of people.

These customs come from a widely shared sense that sacred words belong in clean and honoured places, much as many people would never put a holy book on the floor. Respect costs very little, and it is noticed. There is more advice in wearing sacred and cultural symbols with respect.

How it is kept at home

In homes, Om is often placed in the family shrine, painted above the main door or hung where the household gathers. Silver and gold are traditional for jewellery, and many people keep their pendant clean and store it in a small cloth pouch when it is not worn.

Chanting Om softly before meditation is a practice that people of many backgrounds now share. If you learn to chant it, let the sound move slowly from the open A through the rounded U to the humming M, and then rest in the silence that follows. Teachers often say that the silence is as much a part of Om as the sound.

Relatives

Om belongs to the talismans of India and the Himalaya, where it often appears beside the Rudraksha bead and the endless knot. Like them, it is chiefly a sign of wisdom and inward attention, not of luck.

To wear Om is to carry one of humanity’s oldest recorded prayers. Worn with understanding, it can be a quiet daily reminder to listen, to breathe and to begin again.

taliaris describes beliefs and customs; it makes no claim that a talisman has an effect.