Mantra: om mani padme hum

[Celtaur]

I recited this mantra today.

It means "the jewel is in the lotus" or a close variation of such, but it also means much more, as the phrase points to a lot more meaning.

Essentially it is a mantra with the intention of becoming conscious of love, compassion and the enlightened self within and within all.

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 is composed of three letters, A, U, and M. These symbolize the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; they also symbolize the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.

Can impure body, speech, and mind be transformed into pure body, speech, and mind, or are they entirely separate? All Buddhas are cases of beings who were like ourselves and then in dependence on the path became enlightened; Buddhism does not assert that there is anyone who from the beginning is free from faults and possesses all good qualities. The development of pure body, speech, and mind comes from gradually leaving the impure states arid their being transformed into the pure.


How is this done? 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. Just as a jewel is capable of removing poverty, so the altruistic mind of enlightenment is capable of removing the poverty, or difficulties, of cyclic existence and of solitary peace. Similarly, just as a jewel fulfills the wishes of sentient beings, so the altruistic intention to become enlightened fulfills the wishes of sentient beings.


The two syllables, padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom. Just as a lotus grows forth from mud but is not sullied by the faults of mud, so wisdom is capable of putting you in a situation of non-contradiction whereas there would be contradiction if you did not have wisdom. There is wisdom realizing impermanence, wisdom realizing that persons are empty, of being self-sufficient or substantially existent, wisdom that realizes the emptiness of duality-that is to say, of difference of entity between subject and object-and wisdom that realizes the emptiness of inherent existence. Though there are many different types of wisdom, the main of all these is the wisdom realizing emptiness.


Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable hum, which indicates indivisibility. According to the sutra system, this indivisibility of method and wisdom refers to wisdom affected by method and method affected by wisdom. In the mantra, or tantric, vehicle, it refers to one consciousness in which there is the full form of both wisdom and method as one undifferentiable entity. In terms of the seed syllables of the five Conqueror Buddhas, hum is the seed syllable of Akshobhya - the immovable, the unfluctuating, that which cannot be disturbed by anything.


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. It is said that you should not seek for Buddhahood outside of yourself; the substances for the achievement of Buddhahood are within. As Maitreya says in his Sublime Continuum of the Great Vehicle (Uttaratantra), all beings naturally have the Buddha nature in their own continuum. We have within us the seed of purity, the essence of a One Gone Thus (Tathagatagarbha), that is to be transformed and fully developed into Buddhahood.
- 14th Dalai Lama

[Thetalpha]

As a Theravadist, I meditate with ›Aum me peme hum‹, since ›Om mani padme hum‹ is Tibetan. Nonetheless, the Dalai Lama's perception of this mantra is quite interesting.

However, I disagree with him in one major point: One should never, ever think of the meaning of a mantra while practicing mantric meditation. The purpose of mantric meditation is concentration on, or discentration of a certain thought or topic. That is how I manage to carry out physical excercise that would normally go beyond my level of fitness. Like holding up my arms in a straight horizontal line for twenty minutes.

The point being, knowing the meaning of a mantra isn't only unnecessary, it is completely contraproductive. And, even if you know the meaning (which of course I do), just don't think about it. There is no gain or loss for anybody if you think about the meaning of the mantra while meditating.

[Celtaur]

Should there be some context of knowing what one is saying or focusing on? There is power in words, in both their meaning/significance and vibrational sounds. I suspect certain mantra's are used for specific purposes because of their meaning and intention. I wouldn't want to use a mantra that didn't apply to my intention.

[Thetalpha]

I don't think the meaning is important. Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara meditated using a mantra that meant "Petals drink green elephants" in Tamil, a language he didn't really speak. Meditation is about vibrations, as you correctly assumed. In some way it has strong ties with brainwave clearing.

[brifae]

The saying is realted to love and the heart chakra thus petals of a rose. I did this meditation with some buddhists and this is how they help open the heart chakra, petals of the rose. Hence the "petals" and also "green" elephants...
The jewel is the heart, love, the lotus is the flower is my understanding.

I can appreciate TA's statement, a state of lazy unfocus focus is required, beleiving/nonbeleiving tightrope neutrality as we say in magic.

[Celtaur]

I wouldn't want to be reciting an invocation to demons to cause harm to someone if my intention was to be embracing and sending out metta energy. I think not holding onto the meaning and letting it go is important but I think I'm more comfortable at least knowing before hand so I know what I'm getting into. If I were to recite a tone without language attached that would be different, but when a mantra does involve language and meaning at it's basis, I think for me, it would make more sense to know the meaning of what I'm saying.

[Thetalpha]

Surely, but if you plan to stay in Buddhist meditation, you can rest assured because there is no single hateful or evil mantra in Buddhism.

[brifae]

I have just read something interesting about this mantra,
a chakra is seen as a flower, or a lotus, in this quote we are talking about the heart chakra.
The female genitalia is also referred to as a flower, as can be seen by the orchid.
Then the shiva linga or penis, or family jewels, are seen as the jewel.
So then we have the linga in the yoni, or sexual intercourse as being the jewel in the lotus.
divine female/male union like the hexagram.

[Blank Rune]

From: http://dharma-haven.org/tibetan/mean...padme-hung.htm

Are you saying the mantra correctly? No? Maybe your lucky...

The True Sound of Truth
An old story speaks about a similar problem. A devoted meditator, after years concentrating on a particular mantra, had attained enough insight to begin teaching. The student's humility was far from perfect, but the teachers at the monastery were not worried.*
A few years of successful teaching left the meditator with no thoughts about learning from anyone; but upon hearing about a famous hermit living nearby, the opportunity was too exciting to be passed up.*
The hermit lived alone on an island at the middle of a lake, so the meditator hired a man with a boat to row across to the island. The meditator was very respectful of the old hermit. As they shared some tea made with herbs the meditator asked him about his spiritual practice. The old man said he had no spiritual practice, except for a mantra which he repeated all the time to himself. The meditator was pleased: the hermit was using the same mantra he used himself -- but when the hermit spoke the mantra aloud, the meditator was horrified!*
"What's wrong?" asked the hermit.*
"I don't know what to say. I'm afraid you've wasted your whole life! You are pronouncing the mantra incorrectly!"*
"Oh, Dear! That is terrible. How should I say it?"*
The meditator gave the correct pronunciation, and the old hermit was very grateful, asking to be left alone so he could get started right away. On the way back across the lake the meditator, now confirmed as an accomplished teacher, was pondering the sad fate of the hermit.*
"It's so fortunate that I came along. At least he will have a little time to practice correctly before he dies." Just then, the meditator noticed that the boatman was looking quite shocked, and turned to see the hermit standing respectfully on the water, next to the boat.*
"Excuse me, please. I hate to bother you, but I've forgotten the correct pronunciation again. Would you please repeat it for me?"*
"You obviously don't need it," stammered the meditator; but the old man persisted in his polite request until the meditator relented and told him again the way he thought the mantra should be pronounced.*
The old hermit was saying the mantra very carefully, slowly, over and over, as he walked across the surface of the water back to the island.

************************************************************************

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.*
Buddha taught many very different methods for removing the cause of suffering, methods appropriate for the very different types and conditions and aptitudes of suffering beings. For those who had the capacity to understand it, he taught the most powerful method of all, a method based on the practice of compassion. It is known as the Mahayana, or Great Vehicle, because practicing it benefits all beings, without partiality. It is likened to a vast boat that carries all the beings in the universe across the sea of suffering.
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.
Chenrezig: The Embodiment of Compassion
In doing the visualization practice we connect with the body and voice and mind of the Buddha by the three aspects of the practice. By our posture and certain gestures we connect with the body, by reciting the words of the liturgy and by repeating the mantra we connect with the voice, and by imagining the visual form of the Buddha we connect with the mind.
Om Mani Padme Hum is the mantra of Chenrezig. 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

"Buddha of great compassion, hold me fast in your compassion. From time without beginning, beings have wandered in samsara, Undergoing unendurable suffering. They have no other protector than you. Please bless them that they may achieve the omniscient state of buddhahood.
With the power of evil karma gathered from beginningless time, Sentient beings, through the force of anger, are born as hell beings and experience the suffering of heat and cold. May they all be born in your presence, perfect deity."
The Meditation and Recitation of Four-Armed Chenresig


Glimpsing a Few More Facets of the Mantra

There are many ways to understand the meaning of the mantra. Here are a few of them:

The 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, as this story about a teacher in Tibet illustrates. The teacher had two disciples, who both undertook to perform a hundred million recitations of the mantra of Chenrezi, OM MANI PADME HUNG. In the presence of their lama, they took a vow to do so, and went off to complete the practice.*
One of the disciples was very diligent, though his realization was perhaps not so profound. He set out to accomplish the practice as quickly as possible and recited the mantra incessantly, day and night. After long efforts, he completed his one hundred million recitations, in three years. The other disciple was extremely intelligent, though perhaps not as diligent, because he certainly did not launch into the practice with the same enthusiasm. But when his friend was approaching the completion of his retreat, the second disciple, who had not recited very many mantras, went up on the top of a hill. He sat down there, and began to meditate that all the beings throughout the universe were transformed into Chenrezi. He meditated that the sound of the mantra was not only issuing from the mouth of each and every being, but that every atom in the universe was vibrating with it, and for a few days he recited the mantra in this state of samadhi.
When the two disciples went to their lama to indicate they had finished the practice, he said, 'Oh, you've both done excellently. You were very diligent, and YOU were very wise. You both accomplished the one hundred million recitations of the mantra.' Thus, through changing our attitude and developing our understanding, practice becomes far more powerful."



The Powers 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?"
The six syllables purify the six realms of existence in suffering.
For example, the syllable Om purifies the neurotic attachment to bliss and pride, which afflict the beings in the realm of the gods.




Om - Realm = gods (meant to purify...bliss / pride)

Ma - Realm = Jealous gods (meant to purify...jealousy/lust for entertainment)

Ni - Realm = Human (meant to purify...passion/desire)

Pe - Realm = Animal (meant to purify...stupidity/prejudice)

Me - Realm = Hungry Ghost (meant to purify...poverty/possessiveness)

Hung - Realm = hell (meant to purify...aggression/hatred)




"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.
H.H. The Dalai Lama has provided just such an analysis, in a Web page The Meaning of Om Mani Padme Hum.
He concludes his discussion with this synopsis: "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."



Now after really thinking about the above, can you tell me or at least guess why I have always recommended that when practicing Yoga (breathing and stretching exercises) westerners should NOT use the mantras?

[Prasanam]

I spent the 3 last years to recite this mantra and it'S wonderful. I think it's important to have a little understanding of what it means, but the best is to have an initiation with a master. When my master explained it to me he said that this mantra means; Om, precious consciousness, express yourself in my life. When I recite this mantra I'm not always trying to think about the meaning, but I look for a state of being. The state of being to be aware of everything.