Amen and Aum
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1.1-4
This, [in the beginning] was the only Lord of the Universe. His Word was with him. This Word was his second. He contemplated. He said, “I will deliver this Word so that she will produce and bring into being all this world.”
Tandya Maha Brahmana 20.14.2[1]
The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
the first of his acts of old.
Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth.
Before he had made the earth with its fields,
or the first of the dust of the world.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
When he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
When he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I was beside him, like a master workman;
I was daily his delight,
rejoicing before him always;
rejoicing in his inhabited world,
and delighting in the sons of men.
Proverbs 8.22-31
Index
1. Derivation of Amen and Immanuel: Hebrew
1.1 Derivation of Amen
1.2 Derivation of Immanuel
1.3 Conclusion
2. Amen and Aum[en]: Hebrew and Sanskrit/Pali
2.1 Indo-European connection
2.2 The Amen and The Aumen as names of Jesus’ God
3. Conclusion
1. Derivation of Amen and Immanuel[2]
1.1 Derivation of Amen
According to Strong’s Hebrew dictionary, Amen is derived from A-man, which phonetically is Aw-man . This is a word for God the Father, or for faith in God the Father. [3] “The root of the word [Amen] comes from Hebrew aman, which means to nourish and make strong. Emunah (faithfulness) also comes from aman. The ancient Greeks used the word (AMHN) from Hebrew to mean ‘truth’, ‘surely’, ‘absolutely’. [4]
Aw-man is used in Numbers 11:12 to refer to God the Father, faithfully nourishing his children the Israelites.
Have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers? –Numbers 11:12[5]
The derivation of this ancient word Aw-man is unknown, listed simply as, from a primitive language root.
However, it breaks down into aw, which is aleph, First One, and -man, which could come from the ancient Hebrew word, manuth, meaning, man.[6] If that is the case, it has the meaning, First One With Man, or, God is with us.
1.2 Derivation of Immanuel
Immanuel is usually given as, God is With Us.[7]
Two derivations of Immanuel are possible.
The first is the more conventional:
1. Immanuel = Im [8] + anu[9] + El [10] = With + we + God = God is with us.
It is perhaps irregular that the subject pronoun we is used, instead of the indirect object pronoun, us.
There is a second way that Immanuel can be derived.
Immanuel = Im + manu + El
Derived from aw-mam + manuth (see p. 5) + El
= First one -Mother + mankind + El
The word im, meaning with, is derived from Strong’s 06004(see note 7), which is a-mam. A-mam phonetically is aw-mam and means, to be held dark.[11] This is a very similar word to aw-man, the root of Amen, meaning God the Father or the faithfulness of God the Father, There is no further root given for aw-mam save “a primitive root”. However, it breaks down into the syllables -aw and –mam,.
Aw- means, aleph, the first, as in the Alpha and the Omega, and –mam means, mother.[12] In Kabbalah, the Father is represented by the light and the Mother is represented by the darkness, which might explain why the root of “to be held dark” means, First Mother. This darkness is not an evil darkness so much as the sense of a being a vast, pregnant potentiality, like the universe of the night sky.
So, an alternative derivation of Immanuel might be,
Im + manu + El
Awmam + manu[th] (see p. 5 + El
= First one-Mother + mankind + El
= God the Father and Mother is with mankind
1.3 Conclusion
In Isaiah Jesus is called Immanuel and in Revelation 3: 14, Jesus is called The Amen.
“Now, the Lord will give you a sign. Behold! The virgin will conceive a child. She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means, God is with us).”
Isaiah 7:14
“This is the message from the one who is called The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s new creation.”
Revelation 3:14
It would seem that Amen and Immanuel are variants of the same word. The derivation of each means, God the Father [and Mother] is with Mankind. It is amazing for me as a Christian to discover that Amen has the same meaning as Immanuel. It is also amazing to think that every time I am saying Amen, I am repeating a true inner name of Jesus as stated in Rev. 3:14. I am convinced that the Word or Logos or Name is Amen, which answers a question that has puzzled me ever since I was a child. What is the Word, Mum?
In the beginning was the Amen, and the Amen was with God, and the Amen was God.
If a Christian would like to practice monologue with a rosary (japa with a japa mala), or repetition of the divine Name, a very easy way is to repeat Amen on the in=breath, Amen on the out-breath. You can pass a bead with each breath, or you can practise without beads if you have none or are good at mental concentration. [13] Amen.
2. Hebrew Amen, Sanskrit Aum, Pali Aumen
2.1 The Indo-European connection.
Sanskrit is an earlier language than Hebrew.
“Dating back to as early as 1500 BCE, Vedic Sanskrit is the earliest attested Indo-Aryan language, and one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family.”[14]
“Hebrew flourished as a spoken language in Israel from the 10th century BCE until just before the Byzantine Period in the 3rd or 4th century CE.”[15]
Some Hebrew words have Sanskrit roots in the Indo-European language family. [16] An example is the word for man, which is manuth in archaic Hebrew, and manu in Sanskrit.
“How was Indo-European discovered? Sir William Jones, (1746 – 1794), a British judge in India, compared lists of the same words in Arabic, Hebrew, Sanskrit (an ancient language of India and Hinduism), Avestan (old Persian, ancestor to the language now spoken in Iran), Classical Greek, Latin, Gothic (the language of the Germanic tribes who sacked Rome), Old Irish, and Turkish. Jones did nothing more than compare words in the languages, but through this, discovered that .. all the languages were related to each other.”[17]
One factor contributing to this attested connection between Hebrew and Sanskrit might be that in the time of Moses (15th c. BC) there was spiritual cross-fertilisation between Egypt, where the Israelites had been taken as captives a generation earlier, and Kashmir, north of India. The Essene tradition remembers Moses as a master of the Essenes (Greek), or Chitsonim (Hebrew), and records that he travelled to Kashmir to engage in spiritual training. Hence, the people of Moses were influenced by Indian language and ideas.[18]
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word Amen, may have come into the Hebrew language during the years of Israelite captivity in Egypt. “The Jews settled in Egypt for around 400 years4 from 1847 B.C. and … there is no doubt they would have been fully exposed to the worship of Amen-Ra. By the time of their exodus from Egypt in 1447 B.C.[19], Amen would certainly have been in their language .. It was a word that had associations with reverence and majesty. ..
… In ancient Egypt the creator God was symbolised by the Sun and called Ra, and all other gods and goddesses were forms of the Creator. One of these gods was Amen; a secret, hidden and mysterious god named variously Amen, Amon, Amun, Ammon and Amounra. For the first eleven dynasties (c. 3000-1987 B.C.) Amen was just a minor god, but by the 17th dynasty (c. 1500 B.C.) he had been elevated to be the national god of southern Egypt. .. his name became Amen-Ra, that is, a supreme form of God the Creator. “[20]
It is even possible to hypothesize that Moses brought back the word Aum from Kashmir and that this influenced the rise of Amen-Ra in Egypt. Amen-Ra was becoming more important in Egypt around roughly 1500 BC, and Moses led the Exodus c. 1447 BC.
2.2 The Amen and The Aumen.
In Hebrew, Jesus is called Immanuel and The Amen ( see above), and in the Pali language of the Tibetan Gospel, Jesus (Issa) called God, The Aumen and The Parents. There seems to be a connection between The Amen (Hebrew) and The Aumen (Pali) as names of Jesus or of the God Jesus worshipped. It is interesting to note the use of the definite article ’the’.
14 Moshe Announced To The Hebrew Slaves That He Had Delivered Them In The Name Of Their Aumen, The Deity Of Israel; And He Went With Them Out Of The Land Of Egypt.
Tibetan Gospel Sutra 2:14
7 This Divine Seed, To Whom Were Given The Name Of Issa, Commenced Even In His Most Tender Years To Speak Of The One And Indivisible Aumen, Exhorting The People That Had Strayed From The Path Of Righteousness To Repent And Purify Themselves Of The Sins They Had Committed.
Tibetan Gospel Sutra 4:7
14 For Aumen Hath Created Thee In Their Image; Innocent, Pure Of Soul, With A Heart Filled With Kindness, And Destined, Not To The Conception Of Evil Projects, But To Be The Sanctuary Of Compassion And Wisdom. [21]
Tibetan Gospel Sutra 9:14.
It is further interesting to note that just as a possible derivation of Immanuel is “God the Father and Mother”, The Aumen of the Tibetan Gospel, while “one and indivisible” are also The Parents and take the plural pronouns “They” and “Them”.
24 Issa Said: We Cannot Demolish What Has Been Given By My Heavenly Parents And What Has Been Destroyed By Sinners; But I Have Recommended The Purification Of All Stain From The Heart, For That Is The Veritable Temple Of Aumen.
Tibetan Gospel 10:24
14 Their Souls Were In Aumen, And To Communicate With The Parents, They Had Recourse To The Intermediary Of No Idol Or Animal, Nor To Fire, As Ye Practice Here.
Tibetan Gospel 8:14
15 Revere Aumen, Bow Down The Knee Before Them Only, And To Them Only Must Thy Offerings Be Made.
16 Issa Denied The Trimurti And The Incarnation Of Para-Brahma In Vishnu, Shiva, And Other Deities, Saying:
17 The Eternal Aumen, The Eternal Spirit, Composeth The One And Indivisible Soul Of The Universe, Which Alone Createth, Containeth, And Animateth The Whole.
18 They Alone Have Willed And Created; They Alone Have Existed From Eternity And Will Exist Forever, And They Have No Equal Either In Heaven Nor On This Earth.
19 Holy Aumen Share Their Power With No One, Still Less With Inanimate Objects As You Have Been Taught, For They Alone Possess Supreme Power.
20 They Willed It, And Through Aumen The World Appeared; By One Divine Thought, They United The Waters And Separated Them From The Dry Portion Of The Globe.
21 They Are The Cause Of The Mysterious Life Of Humans, In Whom They Have Breathed A Part Of Their Being.
Tibetan Gospel 5: 14 – 21
If The Amen is a name of Jesus and means, “ God the Father and Mother is with Man” in Hebrew then does The Aumen as the name of Jesus’ God also mean, “God the Father and Mother is with Man” in Sanskrit and Pali?
Aumen could derive from Aum + men
Aum in Sanskrit and Pali is traditionally is given as from A (aa) representing First-One and UM (auum) representing God the Mother[22].
There is a Pali word manusa, which means, mankind. [23] This is very similar to Sanskrit “manu” and Hebrew “manuth”. [24]
So Aumen would derive from Aum + manusa
= God the Father and Mother + mankind
The Aumen has the same meaning as The Amen.
In addition, they have the same sound. The first syllable of Amen is derived from ancient Hebrew root Am, which phonetically is Awm.(see above).
Aum appears to be a shortened form of Amen, meaning simply, God the Father and Mother.
3. Conclusion
Amen is derived from A-man and means, God the Father [and Mother} is with Mankind. Immanuel can derive from Im + manu + el, which resolves to God the Father and Mother is with Mankind. Aumen means, God the Father and Mother is with Mankind.
The book of Revelation gives The Amen as a name of Jesus, and the Tibetan Gospel gives The Aumen as a name of Jesus’ God.
Phonetically, the ancient root of Amen is pronounced Aw-man. That is, the first syllable of Amen is pronounced Aum.
So, by both meaning and phonology, Amen and Aumen seem to be variants of the same word. Aum is a shortened form of Amen, meaning God the Father and Mother.
Every major world religion uses this Name for God. Jews and Christians use Amen, Moslems use Ameen, Hindus and Buddhists use Aum. God is God, all over the planet. He who creates all people has planted a seed of himself within each one, in the form of the mystic syllable Aum/Amen.
It seems to me that it is fine for Christians to chant Aum, knowing that they are calling out nothing less than the Name of God.
Merry Spicer, 27/02/2009 2:33 PM
[1] http://www.unification.net/ws/theme012.htm
Strong’s Number: 0543
Original Word
Word Origin
!ma
from (0539) See next below
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
‘amen
TWOT – 116b
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Definition verily, truly, amen, so be it
Strong’s Number: 0539 See previous above
Original Word
Word Origin
!ma
a primitive root
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
‘aman
TWOT – 116
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Verb
Definition
- to support, confirm, be faithful
- foster-father (subst.) 1a
- foster-mother, nurse 1a
- trust, believe
[4] For Jews, Amen is also an acronym for El Melech Ne’eman, which means “Mighty, Faithful King”.
Muslims use Amen (Amin or Ameen) in the same way as Christians and Jews, even though the word does not appear in the Qur’an. Muslims say it after reciting Surah al-Fatihah, after completing their prayers.”
www.seiyaku.com/customs/pagan-symbols.html
[5] http://www.biblestudytools.net/Lexicons/Hebrew/heb.cgi?number=1&version=kjv
[6] I could not find “manu” in the Hebrew dictionary but there is a word, al-manuth, meaning, “widowhood”. The prefix “al” means “not” in Hebrew, so “al-manuth” could translate as “without man”. This suggests that there might be an ancient Hebrew word, “manuth”, meaning “man”, possibly derived from an Indo-European root, perhaps from Sanskrit, manu, which is the source of our own word, man.
Main Entry:
Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English man, mon human being, male human; akin to Old High German man human being, Sanskrit manu
Date:
before 12th century
Strong’s Number: 0491
Original Word
Word Origin
Twnmla
from (0488)
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
‘almanuwth
TWOT – 106
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Noun Feminine
Definition
- widowhood
Strong’s Number: 06005
Original Word
Word Origin
lawnmm[
from (05973) and (0410) with a pronominal suffix inserted
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
`Immanuw’el
TWOT – 1640d
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Proper Name Masculine
Definition Immanuel = “God with us” or “with us is God”
- symbolic and prophetic name of the Messiah, the Christ, prophesying that He would be born of a virgin
Strong’s Number: 05973
Original Word
Word Origin
~[
from (06004)
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
`im
TWOT – 1640b
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Preposition
Definition 1 a. with
Strong’s Number: 0580
Original Word
Word Origin
Wna
contracted for (0587)
Transliterated Word
‘anuw
Phonetic Spelling
Definition
1. we (first pers. pl. – usually used for emphasis)
[10] Strong’s Number: 0410 Browse Lexicon
Original Word
Word Origin
la
shortened from (0352)
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
‘el
TWOT – 93a
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
ale
Noun Masculine
Definition
- god, god-like one, mighty one
Strong’s Number: 06004
Original Word
Word Origin
~m[
a primitive root
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
`amam
TWOT – 1641
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Verb
-
- Definition to dim, darken, grow dark (Qal) to dim, eclipse, be held dark
Strong’s Number: 0538
Original Word
Word Origin
~ma
from (0517) See next below
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
‘Amam
None
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Proper Name Location
Definition
Amam = “their mother”
- a city in southern Judah
Strong’s Number: 0517 (see previous above)
Original Word
Word Origin
~a
a primitive word
Transliterated Word
TDNT Entry
’em
TWOT – 115a
Phonetic Spelling
Parts of Speech
Noun Feminine
Definition
- mother
- of humans
- of Deborah’s relationship to the people (fig.)
- of animals
[13] “Saikarali is a Sanskrit word that means something like, ‘a string of pearls’. Church of the East has been using this word for a very long time to refer to a string of beads that is sometimes called prayer beads. The Saikarali has been used since the fourth century, and according to tradition, St. Siphor (the captain who became one of the first priests of the Church in North India, about 60A.D) used the Saikarali to teach catechumens. The Saikarali is made of a string with 21 beads, the two ends meeting each other where two more beads and a cross are strung. A Saikarali fits over your hand, so that the beads can be slid through your thumb and forefingers.
The Little Prayer on the Saikarali is the primary meditation used with this ancient devotional aid. The Little Prayer is still today the best catechism anyone can do.”
Copyright © 2001 All rights reserved.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://churchoftheeast.ca/catechism1/images/Thomas1.JPG&imgrefurl=http://churchoftheeast.ca/catechism1/st%2520thomas.htm&h=558&w=405&sz=24&hl=en&start=38&usg=__MUo91dzpw1937K-ZAl-JtexNq1s=
[14] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit
[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language
[16] itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000208.html
[17] http://www.mit.edu/~ejhanna/language/genelang.html
[18] http://www.thaiexotictreasures.com/christ_of_india_essene_christianity.html
[19] An alternative date is 1462 BC. See http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/lds/meridian/2003/exodus.html
[20] www.seiyaku.com/customs/pagan-symbols.html
[21] http://www.essene.com/Issa.htm
[22] umA f. The name is said to be derived from %{u@mA} , `” O [child] , do not [practise austerities] “‘ the exclamation addressed to Pa1rvati1 by her mother) Hariv. N. of several women ; splendour , light L. ; fame , reputation L. ; quiet , tranquillity L. ; night L.
mAta 1 mfn. (for 2. and 3. see pp. 806 and 807) formed , made , composed (?) RV. v , 45 , 6 (others , `” fr. %{man} “‘ , others , %{mAtA} , mother “‘ ; cf. %{deva-mAta}).
http://webapps.uni-koeln.de/cgi-bin/tamil/recherche
[23] http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/showrest_?conc.6.1.26292.0.99.pali
m.) a human being, a man Mhvs 15, 64; f. mānusī a (human) woman J iv.231; Pv ii.41. — amānusa a superhuman being Pv iv.157. — pl. mānusā men Sn 361, 644; Pv ii.117. As nt. in collective sense=mankind Pv ii.113 (v. l. mānussaŋ; C.=manussaloka)
Yoga from the Jesus Tradition in India 
The Sanskrit AUM, or Om, appears first in texts like the Yajurveda and the Upanishads, as long as in the Buddhists texts where it opens and closes a text. Also used as an interjection and to denote “truth”, same in the gospels.
Scandinavian – OM-BUDS-MAN
Greek- OMphalas = umbillica from OM + bimba (nibha = navel)
Immanuel is the same title as the Buddhist Aryaman, a Manchi name for Jesus
Sans Arya, Pali Ayya = el(a) Aravanta = elephanta Allans = Aryans
I cover in more detail in my book on the Buddhist sources to Christianity (Father and Son, East is West)
I would like to meet Merry Spicer for a discusion.I also teach Christian Yoga.
Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus had the word ‘Aman’ and still it is used in the Liturgy of Syrian Orthodox Church. Aramaic is an ancient language not later than Sanskrit (if my knowledge is correct), from which Hbrew and Eastern Syriac languages are derived. Author of this essay if look into that aspect will be wise. Any way, the essay is more informative and explanatory. Good work!
Thank you,, sincerely Peter Stoltink visonary path http://communities.zeelandnet.nl/fohat
Thank you,, sincerely Peter Stoltink visionary path http://communities.zeelandnet.nl/fohat