Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
Om-mani-padme-hum 02.svg
The mantra in Tibetan with the six syllables coloured
Chinese name
Chinese 唵嘛呢叭咪吽
Transcriptions
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin Ǎn mání bāmī hōng
Karandavyuha Sutra name
Chinese 唵麼抳缽訥銘吽
Transcriptions
Mandarin
- Hanyu Pinyin Ǎn mání bōnàmíng hōng
Tibetan name
Tibetan ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ
Transcriptions
- Wylie oM ma Ni pa d+me hU~M
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese Úm ma ni bát ni hồng
Án ma ni bát mê hồng
Thai name
Thai โอมฺ มณิ ปทฺเม หูมฺ
Korean name
Hangul 옴 마니 파드메 훔
옴 마니 반메 훔
Transcriptions
- Revised
Romanization		 Om mani padeume hum
Om mani banme hum
Mongolian name
Mongolian ᠣᠧᠮ
ᠮᠠ
ᠨᠢ
ᠪᠠᠳ
ᠮᠡᠢ
ᠬᠤᠩ
Oëm ma ni bad mei qung
Japanese name
Kana オーン マニ パドメー フーン
オン マニ ペメ フン
Transcriptions
- Romanization Ōn mani padomē hūn
On mani peme hun
Tamil name
Tamil ஓம் மணி பத்மே ஹூம்
Sanskrit name
Sanskrit ओं मणिपद्मे हूं
Russian name
Russian Ом мани падме хум
Bengali name
Bengali ওঁ মণিপদ্মে হুঁ
Malayalam name
Malayalam ഓം മണി പദ്മേ ഹും

Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ[1] (Sanskrit: ओं मणिपद्मे हूं, IPA: [õːː məɳipəd̪meː ɦũː]) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan Chenrezig, Chinese Guanyin), the bodhisattva of compassion. Mani means "jewel" or "bead" and Padma means "the lotus flower", the Buddhist Sacred Flower.

It is commonly carved onto rocks or written on paper which is inserted into prayer wheels, said to increase the mantra's effects.

Contents

Transliterations [edit]

In English the mantra is variously transliterated, depending on the schools of Buddhism as well as individual teachers.

Most authorities consider maṇipadme to be one compound word rather than two simple words.[2] Sanskrit writing does not have capital letters leaving capitalisation of transliterated mantras varying irrationally from all caps, to initial caps, to no caps. All caps is typical of older scholarly works, and in Tibetan Sadhana texts.

Karandavyuha Sutra [edit]

The first known description of the mantra appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra (Chinese: 佛說大乘莊嚴寶王經 (Taisho Tripitaka 1050);[3] English: Buddha speaks Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra), which is part of certain Mahayana canons such as the Tibetan. In this sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha states, "This is the most beneficial mantra. Even I made this aspiration to all the million Buddhas and subsequently received this teaching from Buddha Amitabha."[4]

Meaning [edit]

Mantras may be interpreted by practitioners in many ways, or even as mere sequences of sound whose effects lie beyond strict meaning.

The middle part of the mantra, maṇipadme, is often interpreted as "jewel in the lotus," Sanskrit maṇí "jewel, gem, cintamani" and the locative of padma "lotus", but according to Donald Lopez it is much more likely that maṇipadme is in fact a vocative, not a locative, addressing a bodhisattva called maṇipadma, "Jewel-Lotus"- an alternate epithet of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.[5] It is preceded by the oṃ syllable and followed by the hūṃ syllable, both interjections without linguistic meaning.

Lopez also notes that the majority of Tibetan Buddhist texts have regarded the translation of the mantra as secondary, focusing instead on the correspondence of the six syllables of the mantra to various other groupings of six in the Buddhist tradition.[6] For example, in the Chenrezig Sadhana, Tsangsar Tulku Rinpoche expands upon the mantra's meaning, taking its six syllables to represent the purification of the six realms of existence:[7]

Syllable Six Pāramitās Purifies Samsaric realm Colours Symbol of the Deity (Wish them) To be born in
Om Generosity Pride / Ego 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 Lotus Throne (of Chenrezig)

14th Dalai Lama [edit]

"om mani padme hūṃ", written in Tibetan script on a rock outside the Potala Palace in Tibet
"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[...]"
-
--

Thoughts to be had whilst chanting transcribed in simplification keeping essence:

Being and non-beings proliferate loving compassion and indivisible intelligent equanimity; Om Mani Padme Hum.

That is the natural ubiquitous pervasive force of consciousness. These frequencies are in the Sanskrit tongue, act as a harmonic sound resonance against blocking energy, or sleeping energy. Plants reflect this action as well because of the phonetic strength of vibration that is stimulated by natural pronunciation.

—H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, "Om Mani Padme Hum"[8]

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche [edit]

Carved stone tablets, each with the inscription "Om Mani Padme Hum" along the paths of Zangskar
"The mantra Om Mani Päme 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. Pä, 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?"
—Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones[9]

Karma Thubten Trinley [edit]

"These are the six syllables which prevent rebirth into the six realms of cyclic existence. It translates literally as 'OM the jewel in the lotus HUM'. OM prevents rebirth in the god realm, MA prevents rebirth in the Asura (Titan) Realm, NI prevents rebirth in the Human realm, PA prevents rebirth in the Animal realm, ME prevents rebirth in the Hungry ghost realm, and HUM prevents rebirth in the Hell realm."

Variation [edit]

The mantra: Om Mani Peme Hung Hri

As Bucknell, et al. (1986: p. 15) opine, the complete Avalokiteshvara Mantra includes a final hrīḥ (Sanskrit: ह्रीः, IPA: [ɦriːh]), which is iconographically depicted in the central space of the syllabic mandala as seen in the ceiling decoration of the Potala Palace.[10] The hrīḥ is not always vocalized audibly, and may be resonated "internally" or "secretly" through intentionality.

Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism [edit]

The first known citation of the mantra occurs in the Karandavyuha Sutra published in the 11th Century which appears in the Chinese Buddhist canon.[3] However, some Buddhist scholars argue that the mantra as practiced in Tibetan Buddhism was based on the Sadhanamala, a collection of sadhana published in the twelfth century.[11]

Music [edit]

  • "Free Tibet" by Hilight Tribe
  • "Om Mani Padme Hum" by Snuffaluffagus
  • "Strange Phenomena" by Kate Bush
  • "All I Can Give (Om Mani Padme Hum)" by Spain (band)
  • "Om Mani Peme Hung" by Dead Skeletons
  • "Blink" by Infected Mushroom
  • Mani by Mantrasphere
  • "On Mani" by OOIOO
  • "Face of God" by R/D
  • "Om Mani Padme Hum" by Pedro Collares
  • "No More Sages" by Planet Gong
  • "Om Mani Padme Hum" by Deva Premal
  • "Universal Mother" by Don Cherry

Literature [edit]

Bibliography [edit]

See also [edit]

Footnotes [edit]

  1. ^ Pronunciation of the mantra as chanted by a Tibetan: Wave Format and Real Audio Format.
  2. ^ Lopez, 131.
  3. ^ a b Studholme, Alexander (2002). The Origins of Om Manipadme Hum: A Study of the Karandavyuha Sutra. State University of New York Press. p. 256. ISBN 0-7914-5390-1. 
  4. ^ Khandro.net: Mantras
  5. ^ Lopez, 331; the vocative would have to be feminine
  6. ^ Lopez, 130
  7. ^ Tsangsar Tulku Rinpoche, Chenrezig sadhana
  8. ^ Gyatso, Tenzin. Om Mani Padme Hum
  9. ^ Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones. ISBN 0-87773-493-3
  10. ^ Bucknell, Roderick & Stuart-Fox, Martin (1986). The Twilight Language: Explorations in Buddhist Meditation and Symbolism. Curzon Press: London. ISBN 0-312-82540-4, p.15
  11. ^ Li, Yu. "Analysis of the Six Syllable practice – the relationship between The Six Syllable and [[Amitabha]]". Retrieved September 1, 2008.  Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)

Further reading [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Om mani padme hum
Wikisource has the text of the 1905 New International Encyclopedia article Om Mani Padme Hum.

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