om & amen

I was baptized when I was less than one month old. I was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition but after the death of my father I began my journey along another path. My father was very influential on my religious leanings and I doubt that I would have taken the path I eventually took had he lived longer than he did.
I looked into Buddhism and Hinduism along the way. My early Meditation practice was essentially Hindu based. For many years my meditation revolved around the mantra OM. OM was my choice even during those periods when my meditation was "non religious" in nature.
As I returned to the Catholic Church and my meditation transformed into "Centering Prayer" it seemed more appropriate to change my "sacred word" to something less Hindu. AMEN seemed the logical choice for me.
As the word naturally altered itself during meditation, I soon came to believe that, perhaps, the two words came from a common source...Amen is Om and Om is Amen.
I put the two words together in a Google search and learned that my idea wasn't so unique. There are others who believe the same thing. Funny, though, I've seen the idea posted in forums and blogs and the Hindu based folks seem more open to the idea then Christians. I think that may be because most Christians have lost the meditative tradition of our religion.... not to mention the fact that many Christians see ours as the only path and the thought that there could be a small link to Hinduism may be too unbelievable for some.
There’s no question in my mind that there is only one God. I believe the Holy Spirit reaches out to all of us in ways we can understand. I also believe Catholicism to be the supreme path but the Holy Spirit reveals portions of the Truth thru other religious traditions. I don’t think God will condemn to eternal punishment an otherwise righteous person whose situation in life has lead them to another religion.
I’m not saying that all paths are equal; some only contain elements of the Truth. Each of us will be judged according to our individual situations. God is justice and God is love.