Om mani padme hum is the mantra associated with Chenrezig, the bodhisattva and embodiment of compassion. Here's an explanation of the mantra found at dharma-haven.org The vast majority of information in this post is taken directly from that site with a few bits and pieces of my own words.
The Mani mantra is the most widely used of all Buddhist mantras, and open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it -- it does not require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master). Buddhists believe that saying the mantra (prayer), Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Viewing the written form of the mantra is said to have the same effect -- it is often carved into stones, like the one pictured above, and placed where people can see them.
Spinning the written form of the mantra around in a Mani wheel (or prayer wheel) is also believed to give the same benefit as saying the mantra, and Mani wheels, small hand wheels and large wheels with millions of copies of the mantra inside, are found everywhere in the lands influenced by Tibetan Buddhism. The Mani mantra is the most widely used of all Buddhist mantras, and open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it -- it does not require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master). However it is good to receive transmission if possible, when the opportunity arises.
As a side note, I have a prayer wheel that is nailed to the wall by my front door. It's a standard little prayer wheel, filled with rolls of the mantra inside. I was pleased when I found one that I can hang up, as it's so easy to stop for a moment and spin the wheel with mindfulness when entering or leaving the apartment. If you ever run across a mani wheel that you can hang by a doorway or an area you pass through often, I highly recommend investing in the prayer wheel. It's worth it! Folks like me do better with a touch of convenience mixed in with efforts I try to put forth. Digital prayer wheels for your computer can be found here.
The wall prayer wheel I have looks a lot like this. My hand-held wheel is nice too but it doesn't get as much use.
The six syllables of the mantra, as it is often pronounced by Tibetans -- Om Mani Padme Hum -- are here written in the Tibetan alphabet:
Reading from left to right the syllables are:
Om (ohm) Ma (mah) Ni (nee) Pad (pahd) Me (may) Hum (hum)
The vowel in the sylable Hu (is pronounced as in the English word 'book'. The final consonant in that syllable is often pronounced 'ng' as in 'song' -- Om Mani Padme Hung. There is one further complication: The syllablePad is pronounced Pe (peh) by many Tibetans: Om Mani Peme Hung.
Here is the sound of the mantra: Om mani padme hum It's pronounced slowly which makes it easy to follow along with if you would like to practice it.
The mantra originated in India; as it moved from India into Tibet, the pronunciation changed because some of the sounds in the Indian Sanskrit language were hard for Tibetans to pronounce. Here are the different spellings of the mantra. Chenrezig is also called Avalokiteshvara are the same bodhisattva/buddha.
People who learn about the mantra naturally want to know what it means, and often ask for a translation into English or some other Western language. However, Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or even a few sentences.
All of the Dharma is based on Buddha's discovery that suffering is unnecessary: Like a disease, once we really face the fact that suffering exists, we can look more deeply and discover it's cause; and when we discover that the cause is dependent on certain conditions, we can explore the possibility of removing those conditions.
Within the Mahayana the Buddha revealed the possibility of very quickly benefiting all beings, including oneself, by entering directly into the awakened state of mind, or Buddhahood, without delay. Again, there are different ways of accomplishing this, but the most powerful, and at the same time the most accessible, is to link ones own mind with the mind of a Buddha.
In visualization practice
we imagine ourselves to be a Buddha, in this case the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. By replacing the thought of yourself as you with the thought of yourself as Chenrezig, you gradually reduce and eventually remove the fixation on your personal self, which expands your loving kindness and compassion, toward yourself and toward others, and your intelligence and wisdom becomes enhanced, allowing you to see clearly what someone really needs and to communicate with them clearly and accurately.In most religious traditions one prays to the deities of the tradition in the hopes of receiving their blessing, which will benefit one in some way. In the vajrayana Buddhist tradition, however, the blessing and the power and the superlative qualities of the enlightened beings are not considered as coming from an outside source, but are believed to be innate, to be aspects of our own true nature. Chenrezig and his love and compassion are within us.
In the words of Kalu Rinpoche, "Through mantra, we no longer cling to the reality of the speech and sound encountered in life, but experience it as essentially empty. Then confusion of the speech aspect of our being is transformed into enlightened awareness."
That enlightened awareness includes whatever we might need to understand in order to save any beings, including ourselves, from suffering. For that reason the entire Dharma, the entire truth about the nature of suffering and the many ways of removing it's causes, is said to be contained in these six syllables. [Om Mani Padme Hum]
Here is a marvelous and brief recitation and visualization of Chenrezig practice and mantra. It's from FPMT (Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition): Chenrezig meditation
Even though this is already a very long post, I'll go on here with some more information about the meaning of the mantra. All of this information is taken from dharma-haven.com As you can see, the meaning of the mantra has many layers and likewise the mantra can resonate with us on many levels, with layer upon layer. I feel the information about this mantra and mantras in general is really valuable.
Transformation of Speech--[An excerpt from The Dharma, by Kalu Rinpoche, from a chapter on The Four Dharmas of Gampopa. ]
"The second aspect of transformation [of confusion into wisdom] concerns our speech. Although it may be easy to consider speech as intangible, that it simply appears and disappears, we actually relate to it as something real. It is because we become so attached to what we say and hear that speech has such power.
Mere words, which have no ultimate reality, can determine our happiness and suffering. We create pleasure and pain through our fundamental clinging to sound and speech.
In the Vajrayana context, we recite and meditate on mantra, which is enlightened sound, the speech of the [Bhodisattva of Compassion], the union of Sound and Emptiness. It has no intrinsic reality, but is simply the manifestation of pure sound, experienced simultaneously with its Emptiness. Through mantra, we no longer cling to the reality of the speech and sound encountered in life, but experience it as essentially empty. Then confusion of the speech aspect of our being is transformed into enlightened awareness.
At first, the Union of Sound and Emptiness is simply an intellectual concept of what our meditation should be. Through continued application, it becomes our actual experience. Here, as elsewhere in the practice, attitude is all-important...
The Power of the Six Syllables--The six syllables perfect the Six Paramitas of the Bodhisattvas. Gen Rinpoche, in his commentary on the Meaning of said, "The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom. So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?"
Quick explanation on the paramitas: The six perfections, or paramitas, are necessary elements to master on the path to liberation. To become a buddha, a bodhisattva must practice them. The list is as follows (with a brief explanation inserted):
1. The perfection of giving (dana paramita) This perfection is divided into four categories:
a) The giving of property
b) The giving of Dharma
c) The giving of refuge
d) The giving of active love (maitri).
2. The perfection of morality (shila-paramita)
a) The first aspect is the protection of our body, speech and mind from performing unskillful deeds. We have the tendency to act unskillfully, and this tendency needs to be controlled. We protect ourselves from acting this way when we stop using our body, speech and mind in harmful ways.
b) The second aspect is to protect others in the same way as we protect ourselves. For instance, when someone is about to kill an animal and we demonstrate that it is wrong to do so, we are protecting that person from committing harmful actions.
c) When we perform any skillful deed, this automatically protects us from performing any unskillful ones. This substitution of skilful action in the place of unskilful is the third aspect of the perfection of morality.
3. The perfection of patience (kshanti-paramita)
a) Patience when we are harmed by others. When we are harmed bodily or mentally by others we should not react by getting angry or harming them in return.
b) Patience when we are suffering.
c) Patience of keeping concentration.
4. The perfection of energy (virya-paramita) This means the protection of energy for dharma.
a) The first is the energy of the mind that stops the desire for unprofitable things. Energy for worldly things is weakness; energy for Dharma is real strength.
b) The second kind of energy protects us against tiredness. For instance, a meditator who suffers from such tiredness that even the mere sight of the meditation place brings on sleep, overcomes this weakness by this kind of energy.
c) The third kind of energy is the confidence that we are not too small, weak or stupid to obtain the fruit of Dharma practice. Weakness of this kind stands in the way of achievement of the object.
5. The perfection of meditation (dhyana-paramita)
There are two kinds of meditation: analytical meditation and concentration meditation. It is necessary to use both kinds of meditation to remove delusion and reach the goal. Some people say that thinking and learning about Dharma are not meditation, but the scriptures say that these activities are in fact also kinds of meditation. If we do not think carefully and know the nature of the object we cannot concentrate well. The bustle within the mind is mind-produced; to quiet it, therefore, action by the mind itself and nothing external is required. The primary action must be by the mind; on this basis, factors such as a suitable place and the meditation posture can help.
6. The perfection of wisdom (prajna-paramira)
The root cause of all our trouble is ignorance. We have to use our knowledge of emptiness to dispel ignorance; we must use our mind, purified by calm abiding and special insight, to cut the root of the tree of ignorance. In the drawing, at this stage, the practitioner is holding a sword, symbolizing the realization of emptiness, to cut the two black lines symbolizing the two obscurations: the defilement-obscuration and the knowledge- obscuration. The realization of emptiness is essential to remove ignorance. Once we come close to a thorough understanding of emptiness we are on the way to the perfection of wisdom—the complete comprehension of emptiness.
This list is courtesy of a teaching called "The Graduated Path to Liberation" by Geshe Rabten Rinpoche. You can read the complete teaching here at the FPMT website. You can also read a very good teaching on the six paramitas given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at this site.
Now on to more explanation of the meaning of Chenrezig's mantra, Om Mani padme Hum.
The syllable Om purifies the neurotic attachment to bliss and pride, which afflict the beings in the realm of the gods. Here is a list of what afflictions the syllables of the mantra purifies, and according to which realm a being is in. The Buddha taught that there are six samsaric realms and 31 planes of existence.
 | ||
"Behold! The jewel in the lotus!"
This phrase is often seen as a translation of the mantra. However, although some mantras are translatable, more or less, the Mani is not one of them; but while the phrase is incorrect as a translation, it does suggest an interesting way to think about the mantra, by considering the meanings of the individual words.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama said the following about the meaning of the mantra,"Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice which is in indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech, and mind of a Buddha." He defined the mantra in the following way,
- "It is very good to recite the mantra Om mani padme hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast... The first, Om [...] symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[...]"
-
- "The path is indicated by the next four syllables. Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.[...]"
- "The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom[...]"
- "Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility[...]"
- "Thus the six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha[...]"
Lastly, here is a grid that specifies several aspects of the mantra. I find it very useful. It's from a wikipedia page. I know that wikipedia can be a little bit dodgy, but this article seemed fine.
| Syllable | Six Pāramitās | Purifies | Samsaric realm | Colours | Symbol of the Deity | (Wish them) To be born in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Om | Generosity | Pride / Bliss | Devas | White | Wisdom | Perfect Realm of Potala |
| Ma | Ethics | Jealousy / Lust for entertainment | Asuras | Green | Compassion | Perfect Realm of Potala |
| Ni | Patience | Passion / desire | Humans | Yellow | Body, speech, mind quality and activity | Dewachen |
| Pad | Diligence | Ignorance / prejudice | Animals | Blue | Equanimity | the presence of Protector (Chenrezig) |
| Me | Renunciation | Poverty / possessiveness | Pretas (hungry ghosts) | Red | Bliss | Perfect Realm of Potala |
| Hum | Wisdom | Aggression / hatred | Naraka | Black | Quality of Compassion | the presence of the Lotu |
- So in conclusion, the mani mantra is very widely known and used. It's simple and short, only six syllables long and it's so useful on so many levels. If one wishes to attain the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha/Bodhisattva Chenrezig, this mantra is very important.
- Although earlier in this post I quoted a bit from dharma-haven.com that stated that transmission is not necessary to recite this mantra, it's good to mention too that it's always better to have received transmission for any mantra. It's true that one can recite Green Tara mantra or Chenrezig mantra without permission or blessings, but it's a more powerful practice if one has received empowerment. So any opportunity that arises to receive this would be very auspicious and recommended. In closing, I'd like to offer a brief prayer. I hope that some person out there in cyberspace might run across this post and find it useful. There's so much more that could be said about Chenrezig's mantra and mantras in general, but this is a start. My prayers and aspirations are that all beings swiftly attain the state of Chenrezig and be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings quickly come to reside in the pure lands and Buddha fields, and spontaneously assist others on the path to freedom out of immeasurable love and compassion. may all beings always be near to happiness and the causes of happiness, and be blessed with long life and the precious triple gem. Om mani padme hum _/|\_
Posts
1 comment:
I miss E-Sangha's 'Om Money Pay Me Hum' lol
Post a Comment