BUDDHIST MANTRAS

BUDDHIST MANTRAS

A mantra is very much like a computer program, a good program. As destructive as a virus can be to a computer, so equally as powerful to re-program and refresh to perfection are these prayer "codes". These mantras are appropriate for work within a Medicine Wheel or sacred circle.


HEART SUTRA

In preparation you will need to take some cornmeal (or tobacco) and go out as soon as you can, at or just after sunrise. The right hand is used in these ceremonies to make an offering.This artwork brings alive the mystic spell of the heart sutra. In the calligraphy the mantra flows like energy-waves creating a soft rhythm that invites the viewer to join the vibration of the mantra.

In the heart sutra it says:

Therefore the mantra of transcendent knowledge, the mantra of deep insight, the unsurpassed mantra, the incomparable mantra, the mantra which calms all suffering should be known as truth, for there is no deception. In transcendent knowledge the mantra is proclaimed:

GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA

Japanese rendering of the mantra:

GYATEI GYATEI HARA GYATEI HARASO GYATEI BOJI SOWAKA

English rendering of the mantra:

GONE, GONE, GONE BEYOND, COMPLETELY GONE BEYOND,ENLIGHTENMENT, HAIL




Mani Mantra

It is said that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this mantra: Om Mani Padme Hum which can not really be translated into a simple phrase or sentence.

Tibetan 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 the bodhisattva, 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.

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).

H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama's definition:

"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 [...] symbolize the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; they also symbolize 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[...]"
-- H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, "Om Mani Padme Hum"

The Mani Mantra is this:

Om Mani Padme Hum

You can purchase CD's of it and sing along or simply chant it out loud or meditate with it.

Click for more info: Mani Mantra or Wikipedia