Om Mani Padme Hum is an ancient Buddhist mantra. A powerful and pure mantra, meaning “Praise to the Jewel in the Lotus” it embodies the compassion and blessing of all the buddhas and bodhisattavas.
Mantra is a Sanskrit word, which comes from the Hinduism tradition. It is broken down into two parts – ‘man’, which is the Sanskrit word for ‘mind ‘and ‘tra’, which is the Sanskrit word for ‘instrument’.
Mantras can be used in daily life to raise your vibration and consciousness level. Each Mantra contains its own unique vibration of consciousness and produces unique and specific vibrations in the mind. They can lift karma and are said to be a pathway to enlightenment.
Mantras are a series of words or phrases that are repeated or chanted during meditation. They give the mind a focal point by producing a beat and flow that are easy for the mind and body’s energy system to grasp hold of. When the mind wanders out of that state, the mantra helps bring it back.
It’s important to state that just reciting words (without reflecting on their implications) does not qualify as a true mantra practice. Understanding its meaning has a powerful effect. – Source
Om Mani Padme Hum meaning:
Om is a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism.
Mani means jewel and relates to altruism and compassion
Padme means lotus flower (sacred flower of the East) symbolising wisdom
Hum represents spirit of enlightenment
“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 … altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassionate and loving…. 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…”
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama, www.sacred-texts.com and Wikipedia3
Click below image for online chant:
This post was written by Kim Booth