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2010年5月28日 星期五

What are the differences among Namo, Namas, and Namah?

The most frequently used phrase in Taiwan is probably "南無." One could easily see the two words anywhere in a phrase like "南無阿彌陀佛", or "南無觀世音菩薩", or "南無地藏王菩薩" especially in road posts or electrical wire posts 。 "南無" are not pronounced as shown in Chinese characters "nan wu." Instead, they are pronounced as "na mo" which is more related to pronouncing in Taiwanese. The two characters "南無" in traditional Chinese characters are "Namo" which is in Sanskrit in origin. In some sutra, it was translated "Namo" as "拿摩", or "那摩". It means "homoage", or 「禮敬」、「皈依」、「歸命」 in Chinese.