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Summary of Question:	Is Ekonkar A Derivation Of Om?
Category:	Gurbani
Date Posted:	Monday, 1/17/2005 9:13 AM MST

Dearest moderators

my question to your selves is that about the very beginning of our bani

Ek On Kar - now I have read and listen to explanations about this,

The Giyanis at the "Dam Dami Taksal" in amritsar, say that OM refers to the 3, and that Onkar is pronounced O-ang-kar, and is derived from Om, is this correct?

now i fully understand their explanation, and it does make allot of sense, but it does talk of the 3 (barmha, vishnu, mahesh) and that god directs these

3 chillay parvan, ek sansari, ek bhandari, ek lay deebaann, jiv tes bhaave (GOD) tive challavay (THE 3) jiv hove furmaan, (please excuse my spelling)

my question may seem silly, but I have been on a quest to find god and guru within me, for the last few years. there are many stories of sikhs "selling out" to the (right winged hindu)indian governmeent, for this reason I am questionig all explanations given to me, even from the likes of the taksal. and there is ample evidence of people doing this and introducing the hindu faith into ours.

I just want to be sure that this is correct, and it is not people just leading us into follwing, the wrong ideas.

(REPLY) Sat Nam. Let me share with you the yogic technology of the sound currrent of ONG. First of all, we know that EK means "One." OM is the sound used by those who are calling upon God in his/its IN-FINITE state. Now, take into consideration that in Sanscrit (the oldest written language, from which many Eastern languages derived) the grammar rule is that when "m" is followed by "k" the "m" changes to "ng." Hence, we don't say "OMKAR" but rather ONG KAR. Furthermore, ONG is the sound that relates to God in His active role as CREATOR, and we, being God's creatures can call upon Him directly with this sound, with the intention of manifesting that divinity here on Earth, rather than chanting "OM" -- which carries a person away from Earth. (It's been said if you want to end up with a loin cloth and a begging bowl, you chant OM.) Chanting mantra, as our Gurus obviously understood, is knowing the right combination of syllables that are like knowing the right phone number to reach the desired party on the line! As Sikhs, we do not run away from the world, We appreciate all of the gifts that our Creator has bestowed upon us. We use them, knowing nothing "belongs" to us, since everything comes from God, and everything shall eventually return to God.