The mantra in Tibetan script.

"Om Mani Padme Hum", written in Tibetan script (vari-colored letters on left; red letters at right are a different mantra), on a rock outside the Potala Palace in Tibet.

"Om mani padme hum" (Sanskrit ॐ मणि पद्मे हूँ, oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ; see other transliterations below) is probably the most famous mantra in Buddhism, the six syllabled mantra of the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara (Sanskrit. Chenrezig in Tibetan). The mantra is particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara. The Dalai Lama is said to be an incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, so the mantra is especially revered by his devotees. Image File history File links Mani_mantra. ... Image File history File links Mani_mantra. ... Om Mani Padme Hum, the primary mantra of Tibetan Buddhism written in the Tibetan script, on a rock outside the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. ... Image File history File links Om Mani Padme Hum (on the left in different colors) and Om Vajrasattva Hum (on the right all in red), written in Tibetan on a rock at the Potala Palace. ... Image File history File links Om Mani Padme Hum (on the left in different colors) and Om Vajrasattva Hum (on the right all in red), written in Tibetan on a rock at the Potala Palace. ... Om Mani Padme Hum, the primary mantra of Tibetan Buddhism written in the Tibetan script, on a rock outside the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. ... Potala Palace The Potala Palace (Tibetan: པོ་ཏ་ལ, Mandarin: 布达拉宫), located in Lhasa, Tibet, was the chief residence of the Dalai Lama until the 14th Dalai Lama fled to Dharamsala, India after a failed uprising in 1959. ... Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Pinyin: XÄ«zàng or Chinese: 藏区, Pinyin: ZàngqÅ« [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... In Tibet, many Buddhists carve mantras into rocks as a form of devotion. ... Buddhism is a religion and philosophy focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who probably lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following the Buddhas death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia... Prince Siddhartha Gautama as a bodhisattva, before becoming a Buddha. ... In Mahayana Buddhism, Avalokitesvara or Avalokiteshvara is a bodhisattva who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas. ... Sanskrit ( संस्कृतम् ; pronunciation: ) is an Indo-European classical language of India and a liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. ... Shadakshari Lokeshvara is a common name for the Four armed form of Avalokiteshvara. ... The 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas (Tibetan: ཏ་ཱལའི་བླ་མ་ taa-la’i bla-ma; Chinese: 达赖喇嘛 Dálài LÇŽmā) form a tulku lineage of Gelugpa leaders which trace back to 1391. ...

Pronunciation

Here is the sound of the mantra as chanted by a Tibetan refugee: Wave Format and Real Audio Format. Tibet (older spelling Thibet; Tibetan: བོད་, Bod, pronounced pö in Lhasa dialect; Chinese: 西藏, Pinyin: Xīzàng or Chinese: 藏区, Pinyin: Zàngqū [the two names are used with different connotations; see Name section below]) is a region in Central Asia and the home of the Tibetan people. ...

English transliteration

In English the mantra is variously transliterated, depending on the schools of Buddhism as well as individual teachers. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Transliteration is a mapping from one system of writing into another. ... Buddhism is a religion and philosophy focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who probably lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following the Buddhas death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia...

Possible transliterations include:

• Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ (IAST transliteration)
• Om Mani Padme Hum, Om Mani Padme Hung and variations
• Om Ma Ni Pe Me Hung or Hum (Tibetan pronunciation reflects the fact that in a native Tibetan word the syllable "pad" པད་ is pronounced pe)
• 唵嘛呢叭咪吽 Ǎn Má Ní Bā Mī Hōng (Chinese "transliteration" uses characters to represent sounds)
• Om Mani Banme Hum (Korean version)
• On Mani Hatsu Mei Un (Japanese version)

IAST, or International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration is the academic standard for writing the Sanskrit language with the Latin alphabet and very similar to National Library at Calcutta romanization standard being used with many Indic scripts. ...

Meaning

This mantra possesses many meanings, a popular translation is "Hail the jewel in the lotus". Om = Hail, Mani = Jewel, Padme = Lotus and Hum sums it all up. Devanagari Aum Aum (also Om or Ohm, ॐ) is the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, symbolizing the infinite Brahman and the entire Universe. ... Mani may refer to: Mani Peninsula in Greece Maní, Yucatán, a small city in Yucatán, Mexico Mani, Evros, a town in the northeastern part of the Evros Prefecture in Greece Mani (prophet), a third-century Persian prophet, the founder of the dualistic Manichaean religion, which borrowed eclectically from... Jewel can refer to Jewel, American singer. ... Spoiler warning: Padmé Naberrie (46 - 19 BBY) is a prominent citizen of the planet Naboo in the fictional Star Wars universe. ... Binomial name Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. ... Hum refers to: hum, a sound Hum, like Zahumlje, a historic name for areas of todays Herzegovina Hum, locality near Roč in central Istria, Croatia, considered to be the smallest town in the world with just 22 residents Hum is one of the transliterations of the sixth syllable in...

Another meaning is purification of the six realms of existence in suffering.

A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. ... Illustration depicting the transmigration of the soul. ... Devanagari Aum Aum (also Om or Ohm, ॐ) is the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, symbolizing the infinite Brahman and the entire Universe. ... This article is about Buddhist deities. ... Asura in Buddhism is the name of the lowest ranks of the deities of the Kāmadhātu. ... Human beings in Buddhism are the subjects of an extensive commentarial literature that examines the nature and qualities of a human life from the point of view of human beings ability to achieve enlightenment. ... The position and treatment of animals in Buddhism is important for the light it sheds on Buddhists perception of their own relation to the natural world, on Buddhist humanitarian concerns in general, and on the relationship between Buddhist theory and Buddhist practice. ... A hungry ghost is a kind of ghost associated with hunger common to many religions. ... Naraka (Sanskrit) or Niraya (Pāli) (Ch: 地獄 Dì Yù, Jp: Jigoku, Tib: ) is the name given to one of the worlds of greatest suffering in Buddhist cosmology. ...

Karandavyuha Sutra definition

The first known description of the mantra appears in the Karandavyuha 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." 1 Tibetan Buddhism is the body of religious Buddhist doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet, the Himalayan region, Mongolia, Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia (Russia), and northeastern China (Manchuria: Heilongjiang, Jilin). ... Standing Buddha, ancient region of Gandhara, northern Pakistan, 1st century CE. Gautama Buddha was a South Asian spiritual leader who lived between approximately 563 BCE and 483 BCE. Born Siddhartha Gautama in Sanskrit, a name meaning descendant of Gotama whose aims are achieved/who is efficacious in achieving aims, he...

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 14th and current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (born 1935) The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (1876-1933) In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas (Tibetan: ཏ་ཱལའི་བླ་མ་ taa-la’i bla-ma; Chinese: 达赖喇嘛 Dálài Lǎmā) form a tulku lineage of Gelugpa leaders which trace back to 1391. ...

"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[...]"

Gen Rinpoche's definition

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?

Donald Lopez's definition

Donald Lopez provides a thorough discussion of the mantra and its various interpretations in his book Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West (ISBN 0226493113). Lopez is an authoritative writer and challenges the conventional analysis of the mantra as "The Jewel in the Lotus", an interpretation supported by neither linguistic analysis nor Tibetan tradition. He suggests that Manipadme is actually the name of a bodhisattva, a form of Avalokiteshvara who in any case has many other names, including Padmapani or lotus flower in hand. The Brahminical insistence on absolutely correct pronunciation of Sanskrit broke down as Buddhism was exported to other countries where the inhabitants found it impossible to reproduce the sounds. So in Tibet, for instance, where this mantra is on the lips of many Tibetans all their waking hours, the mantra is pronounced Om mani peme hum. Don Lopez as a USAAF fighter pilot in China, WWII Donald Lopez (born July, 1923 in Brooklyn, New York), is a former Army Air Corps and Air Force fighter pilot and current deputy director of the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum. ...

Karma Thubten Trinley's definition

Karma Thubten Trinley says, "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, PAD prevents rebirth in the Animal realm, MI prevents rebirth in the Hungry ghost realm, and HUM prevents rebirth in the Hell realm." Illustration depicting the transmigration of the soul. ... This article is about Buddhist deities. ... Asura in Buddhism is the name of the lowest ranks of the deities of the Kāmadhātu. ... Human beings in Buddhism are the subjects of an extensive commentarial literature that examines the nature and qualities of a human life from the point of view of human beings ability to achieve enlightenment. ... In traditional Buddhist cosmology, the six lower realms are six of the ten spiritual realms; these six realms compose samsara. ... A hungry ghost is a kind of ghost associated with hunger common to many religions. ... Naraka (Sanskrit) or Niraya (Pāli) (Ch: 地獄 Dì Yù, Jp: Jigoku, Tib: ) is the name given to one of the worlds of greatest suffering in Buddhist cosmology. ...

See also

• Aum
• Buddhism
• Mantra
• Samsara

Devanagari Aum Aum (also Om or Ohm, ॐ) is the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, symbolizing the infinite Brahman and the entire Universe. ... Buddhism is a religion and philosophy focusing on the teachings of the Buddha Śākyamuni (Siddhārtha Gautama), who probably lived in the 5th century BCE. Buddhism spread throughout the ancient Indian sub-continent in the five centuries following the Buddhas death, and propagated into Central, Southeast, and East Asia... In Tibet, many Buddhists carve mantras into rocks as a form of devotion. ... Illustration depicting the transmigration of the soul. ...

External links

• The Meaning of the Mantra in Tibetan Buddhism
• http://www.khandro.net/practice_mantra.htm