Padme Hum

What does om mani padme hum mean and do buddhists chant it alot?

Good evening Leonie.

The most commonly used mantra is OM MANI PADME HUM (pronounced HUNG in Tibetan) and, yes, it is chanted a lot. The most frequent explanation is the "literal" meaning of the mantra; "Behold the jewel in the lotus." There are, however, more subtle aspects to the mantra. The six colors of the letters (traditionally white, green, yellow, blue, red, and deep blue or black) typically seen in depictions of the mantra represent the various realms of existence.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains the meaning of this mantra as follows.

"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 an 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." (~from http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/omph.htm )

Another explanation of the mantra follows.

First, let us consider that each syllable allows us to close the door of painful rebirths in one of the six realms composing cyclical existence:
•OM closes the door of rebirths in the world of the gods (devas);
•MA the door of the demigod world (asuras);
•NI the door of the human realm;
•PAD the door of the animal world;
•ME the door of the hungry ghost world (pretas);
•HUNG the door of the hell worlds.
Each syllable is then seen as having a genuine purifying effect:
•OM purifies the veils of body;
•MA purifies the veils of speech;
•NI purifies the veils of mind;
•PAD purifies the veils of conflicting emotions;
•ME purifies the veils of latent conditioning;
•HUNG purifies the veil that covers knowledge.
Each syllable is itself a prayer:
•OM is the prayer addressed to the body of the Buddhas;
•MA the prayer addressed to the speech of the Buddhas;
•NI the prayer addressed to the mind of the Buddhas;
•PAD the prayer addressed to the qualities of the Buddhas;
•ME the prayer addressed to the activity of the Buddhas;
•HUNG gathers the grace of the body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity of Buddhas.
The six syllables correspond to the six paramitas, the six transcendental perfections:
•OM corresponds to generosity;
•MA to ethics;
•NI to patience;
•PAD to diligence;
•ME to concentration;
•HUNG to wisdom.
The six syllables are also related to the six Buddhas reigning over the six Buddha families:
•OM corresponds to Ratnasambhava;
•MA to Amaoghasiddi;
•NI to Vajradhara;
•PAD to Vairocana;
•ME to Amitabha;
•HUNG to Akshobya.
Lastly, one links them to the six wisdoms:
•OM = wisdom of equanimity;
•MA = wisdom of activity;
•NI = the wisdom born of itself;
•PAD = the wisdom of dharmadhatu;
•ME = discriminating wisdom;
•HUNG = mirror-like wisdom.
(~from "Chenrezig Lord of Love" by Bokar Rinpoche)

I apologize for the length.

May all be at peace.

John

Liberating Animals

I am very, very fond of all types of animals. I don't like them to be hurt or abused or slaughtered or eaten. I don't like that and I feel that when we hurt animals, it is a sign of cowardice because we are more powerful than them.

So it is due to our cowardice and our lack of courage that we abuse animals. Maybe in the past, food, nutrients and resources and all that was very limited. But now in the modern world especially in our country here, food resources are very, very plentiful. So we can get our nutrients and proteins and whatever our body needs from all other sources and we don't need to harm any animals. The tradition in China of praying and dedicating themselves to Kuan Yin and never harming an animal by taking flesh or bringing flesh into the temple is one of the best traditions I have ever heard of. If you believe in Shakyamuni, Amitabha, Kuan Yin, Manjushri, their nature is the same - not to harm others.

The first fundamental step is developing 'Tzepei' or compassion, the first fundamental step is outward. Outwardly take vows, when we take vows, we restrict our body, speech and mind from doing actions that will be contrary to becoming close with these Enlightened Being by nature and physically as well. Close by nature means to develop their character and physically close means to have visions and see them. In Buddhism, when we say get close to a god or get close to a Buddha, there are two ways of looking at it. One is physically close, they are guarding you and they are always around you. The real close is to become like them, to share their nature. That is the ultimate closeness that we wish to gather from an enlightened being such as Kuan Yin or Manjushri.

Therefore, one of the vows we take is not eating meat. People say Shakyamuni ate meat, so if Shakyamuni eats meat, it means we can eat meat. But Shakyamuni did a lot of things that we can copy but it won't have the same result. Example a great cook is in a restaurant cutting very fast. I can't go in there and copy, I will cut my fingers up. It may look like it but it is not the same

People say Shakyamuni ate meat, so if Shakyamuni eats meat, it means we can eat meat. But Shakyamuni did a lot of things that we can copy but it won't have the same result?

Shakyamuni, Manjushri, Kuan Yin are enlightened. Action that is associated with them will benefit that sentient being, even eating their flesh. Because Buddha is not eating from desire or attachment, Buddha is eating because if someone offered out of great compassion, it benefits that sentient being. So therefore, if we purposely kill and offer Buddha, of course that is not advisable but if it is already dead and that's from their heart and they offer, it is okay.

The karma that they kill to offer the Buddha is there but there is also good karma from offering to the Buddha. So it will benefit the animal and the being but that is not saying you should go and kill to offer to the Buddha. So for example, if we eat flesh, there is a mantra we recite. We can recite the mantra of the medicine Buddha- Tayatha Om Behkanze Behkanze Maha Behkanze Behkanze Radza Samogate Soha, Chenrezig or Kuan Yin - Om Mani Padme Hum.

Blow it on the flesh and it will help the animal to take a good rebirth. So if blowing the mantra onto the animal's flesh will benefit the animal then, if the flesh is eaten by the Buddha, there will be tremendous benefit. So you recite Om Mani Padme Hum on the flesh before eating and it benefits the flesh, that means the power of the mantra is as high as the power of the being the mantra represents which, in this case, is Kuan Yin.

In the Sutras, it is said that animals don't have the capacity to understand Dharma. But by the power of the Dharma, is condensed into sound when it is uttered in a mantra. When you recite and the animal hears it, when you recite and you blow on the animal directly or indirectly, it plants the seeds of Dharma inside their minds and streams through their bodies.

So the Buddha speech arises from his attainments. Then the attainments arise in the form of sound and sound becomes words. The words become meaning and the meaning is called Dharma. Why is it called Dharma? Because Dharma is transformation but the transformation starts from hearing the attainment in the form of sound. That is why mantras and chakras have a lot of power. So different mantras represent different forms of enlightenment.

Tsem Tulku Rinpoche
http://kechara.com

About the Author

Fulfilling his previous lives' prayers. His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche chose to take rebirth amongst difficult circumstances to be close to those who would need him most.

Recognised by H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 72nd Abbot of Gaden Shartse, Gedun Nyedrak, His Eminence's spiritual lineage actually begins as one of the eight main disciples of Je Tsongkhapa, the founding saint of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Kechara House Buddhist Association Malaysia, affectionately known as Kechara House or KH, is a Buddhist Centre founded in 2000 by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche of Gaden Shartse Monastery to avail the ancient wisdom of Buddha's teachings to practitioners in Malaysia and the surrounding regions. Buddha's wisdom has timeless and universal relevance, and can be practised by anyone in any culture, regardless of nationality, gender or age.

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