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Thread: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

  1. #1

    Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    I got a bracelet a while back with "om ma ni pad me um" mantra on it. Here is a pic of it.

    I believe the symbols on it are sanskrit (?). Anyway, the seller said that each syllable in the mantra translates into the following (which I have found are called the six perfections):
    Om = generosity or dana
    Ma = ethics or the precepts
    Ni = patience
    Pad = diligence or right effort
    Me = concentration or meditation
    Um = wisdom or prajna

    Is this true? Does that mantra even translate? I know we're not really supposed to be translating mantras in the first place, but there is a translation for "gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi, svaha" so I am curious about all this. I like the bracelet, so if this is all wrong I can live with it, at least I think so...

  2. #2

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Hello Al,

    If I'm not entirely mistaken you're holding the bracelet upside down, so at first I didn't recognize the script. It looks like it's in Tibetan, not Sanskrit.

    Anyway, the centre part, ma?ipadme, could mean "a Jewel in a lotus" in Sanskrit, depending on grammatical context. O? and h?? are sounds often used in mantras, but most often aren't translated. My very loose translation is something like "to the jewel in the lotus", but it could be faulty. Don't know what a jewel in a lotus is referring to though.

    The six syllables, to my knowledge, don't mean anything at all by themselves, they don't translate into the six perfections; however, if they somehow represent the six perfections I don't know.

  3. #3

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Hi, Alan.

    Philip's explanation sounds right to me . . . "hail to the jewel in the lotus."

    I like the seller's explanation, though. It is a nice reminder of the paramitas to carry on your arm.

    At worst, it's just a cool piece of jewelry.

    Peace,
    Eika

  4. #4

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    "Hail to the jewel in the lotus" is a lot easier to remember than which paramita goes with which symbol, although it is certainly good to memorize those also. And yeah, it is a cool piece of jewelry, and I do wear it as a reminder.

    Upside down, huh. I don't know my tibetan ABC's yet. How's this look?


    With a little imagination don't I sort of look like Geordi (sp?) from Star Trek: Next Generation :?: :lol:

  5. #5

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Quote Originally Posted by AlanLa
    "Hail to the jewel in the lotus" is a lot easier to remember than which paramita goes with which symbol, although it is certainly good to memorize those also. And yeah, it is a cool piece of jewelry, and I do wear it as a reminder.

    Upside down, huh. I don't know my tibetan ABC's yet. How's this look?


    With a little imagination don't I sort of look like Geordi (sp?) from Star Trek: Next Generation :?: :lol:
    Yeah! Nice!
    Neat bracelet

    Gassho
    Shohei

  6. #6

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Dear Alan,

    I believe Donald Lopez has a whole chapter dedicated to the alleges meaning of this Mantra in his wonderfully critical book "Prisoners of Shangri-La".

    http://books.google.de/books?id=mjUHF7k ... &q&f=false

    There's also a very interesting chapter in his book "elaborations on emptiness", dealing witht he fact that the Gate, Gate etc. dharani cannot easily be translated without cutting a whole lot of corners.

    On a popular level,both "hail to the jewel in the lotus" and "gone gone beyond..." appear everywhere because people kinda like these versiond and repeat them without questioning their origins...strictly speaking however, both of these are very doubtful interpretive translations.

    Mantras and Dharanis...their uses and meanings...a HUUUUGE topic best left to another thread.

    All the best and gassho,

    Hans

  7. #7

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Heya Hans!

    Quote Originally Posted by Hans
    On a popular level,both "hail to the jewel in the lotus" and "gone gone beyond..." appear everywhere because people kinda like these versiond and repeat them without questioning their origins...strictly speaking however, both of these are very doubtful interpretive translations.
    That's not entirely true. The reason "hail to the jewel in the lotus" and "gone gone ..." appear everywhere and is popular is because that is how they are translated, literally. For example, I had never heard the translation "hail to the ..." before, yet my translation came close to that one. That's not repeating them without question - anyone with skillz in languages could translate them, and get the same meaning. Not that I have skillz though

    I do agree with you, however, that there sometimes is an original meaning that is sometimes lost, but that doesn't mean that the translations are wrong or dubious.

    Those who use mantras as magical aids are the ones most infuriated by literal translations because they maintain that every attempt at translating is doomed to fail.

    Just pointing this out for the sake of Al's bracelet!

    But sure, we could start a new thread about this! I'm all in

    Gassho

  8. #8

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Quote Originally Posted by AlanLa
    With a little imagination don't I sort of look like Geordi (sp?) from Star Trek: Next Generation :?: :lol:
    Lol, that was exactly what I was thinking!

    I miss ST: TNG, badly. Watching reruns of ST: Voyager, but that's not the same. But I drift, I drift ...

  9. #9

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Quote Originally Posted by anista
    Quote Originally Posted by AlanLa
    With a little imagination don't I sort of look like Geordi (sp?) from Star Trek: Next Generation :?: :lol:
    Lol, that was exactly what I was thinking!

    I miss ST: TNG, badly. Watching reruns of ST: Voyager, but that's not the same. But I drift, I drift ...
    Hi.

    I watch stargate Universe.
    At first there was some difficulties with the serie, but i grows both on you and as a serie.
    But it will take some to match the good old startrek.
    Especially DS 9.

    Mtfbwy
    Fugen

  10. #10

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    My new avatar shows me in my special Zen-Tibetan Buddhist Visor (ZTBV) through which I am able to perceive the Ultimate Truth of the Dharma wherever I look as well as allowing me the six Paramita Super Powers. I need this form of Buddhist assistive technology, for without my ZTBV I am blind to delusion and have really bad karma :lol: 8)
    (and yes, I need to hold it in place with my giant fingers :roll: )

  11. #11

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Hello!

    Well, I was a Tibetan practitioner for a period of time and I can affirm that it is indeed tibetan! Haha, Om Mani Padme Hum is the mantra of Chenrezig, the Buddha of Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism. The mantra, in meditation practice, has many layers of functions and representations. To purify speech, to focus the mind, etc... It has be said to represent the 6 paramitas, 6 Buddha families, 6 purifications, 6 qualities of meditative absorption etc... Very dense mantra with many meanings!

  12. #12

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Hocus Pocus.

    I see some value in chanting, losing oneself (truly losing "one-self") in the music of the chant ... but study of the meaning of the chant must not be neglected, even if the meaning is not thought about, and merely felt in one's bones, during the chanting. Once you grasp the underlying meaning of the chant ... it is fine to then drop that away into emptiness, drop "you" away into emptiness (that "emptiness" being the Heart of the Heart Sutra, after all), and just chant to chant. "Just chant", just as we "Just Sit" ... for it is all "Zazen". Each note just each note, no where to "get to" even as we diligently and carefully more ahead. Shikantaza.

    I see some value in a short mantra as an object of focus in some forms of meditation, the same as some may focus on the breath or a Koan or a visual image of a Buddha (although we do not so focus in the flavor of Shikantaza encouraged around here). Absorption in a stop sign or mental image of a bunny rabbit will also serve if you wish.

    I see the value of certain mantras as a "short hand" reminder of something bigger Thus, if you find a meaning such as the following, I can see the meaning in doing so ...

    Om = generosity or dana
    Ma = ethics or the precepts
    Ni = patience
    Pad = diligence or right effort
    Me = concentration or meditation
    Um = wisdom or prajna

    (On the other hand, the dharani ... having lost all meaning, and said to have power just as naked sounds ... well, I cannot see any value. Perhaps I can, much as we find meaning and depth in many "meaningless" practices in Zen practice ... for not everything in life needs be done for "meaning". If one see that it is done as a pointless pursuit, done for no reason at all ... then I can see reason and a point in just that.).

    I can see the value of a mantra or dharani as the subject of a tattoo on someone's arm, but only to make them look cool for awhile until the Buddha's other teachings on aging and impermanence cause the thing to start to sag.

    I see the value of the dharani at the end (is there an end?) of the Heart Sutra chant ... although I do provide a translation ... although I know that such translation cannot capture all the richness expressed there ... although no words can capture all the richness of the Heart Sutra as a whole ...

    Gate! Gate! (Already Gone, Gone)
    Paragate! (Already Gone Beyond)
    Parasamgate! (Already Fully Beyond)
    Bodhi! Svaha! * (Awakening, Rejoice)
    But to the extend that a mantra or dharani has been turned into a kind of magic spell, with some type of cosmic power in the sound ... it is magico-supersticio hocus-pocus bunkum. I'd rather watch an episode of Star Trek ... something I often do find some profound truth within.

    Around Treeleaf, as I encourage, we usually do not chant the chant for some magical power in the chant itself, like an incantation or magic spell or prayer to request some good favor or luck from a Buddha ... although such types of chants exist all through the many schools of Buddhism, including Soto Zen Buddhism. Even old Dogen had various rituals like that performed around his temple, chants to prevent disease, fire, ask for protection from various spirits of his day. Such would have been a common understanding of the world in the 13th century in which he lived. Today, it is less common in Western Zen centers than in Asian temples, but true as well. I, however, do not emphasize that side of chanting at Treeleaf.

    Now that being said ... when we sit just sitting, or chant just chanting, well, there is a true "magic beyond magic" there, and absolute "cosmic" power. Do not get me wrong. It is more that we get beyond the "rabbit out of a hat" magic that people expect, and get down to the true magic of this life. We find all our wishes fulfilled when we are at one with this life. We also lose the distinction between praying to a Buddha without, and finding Buddha within ... for where is "in" or "out"? So, you see, there is infinite depth in these practices, even when we stop seeing them as some kind of "hocus-pocus" or "good luck wish".

    Thus, I do see the value of "prayer" in absolute, un-asking gratitude for life as it is ... asking nothing in return, making no demands for how things should be.

    (if you have a chance, please have a look back at something on this subject):
    http://www.treeleaf.org/sit-a-long/arch ... yield.html

    Gassho (a bowing with the hands much resembling prayer), Jundo

    PS - I admit that I am something of a hypocrite on this point ... for I sometimes "wink at the gods" ... like in the following, or when my son was sick in the hospital last year (at such moments, one will reach for any help one can get, any hope) ...

    It's traditional in Japan to have a Shinto Priest come out and 'appease the spirits (Kami)' when starting big construction like we are at Treeleaf. My wife insisted.
    .
    I don't know so much about appeasing the spirits, but I do know about appeasing my wife. So, we had it done. You can see a few minutes of the ceremony here (those Shinto priests sure have cool Heian Age clothes, and, like Japanese Buddhist priests, some smooth dance moves). Unfortunately, it all made Leon start crying (especially when the Kami-nushi, or 'Spirit Master', let out a couple of cries to wake the dead ... listen in the middle for that. Hope it made the spirits smile).
    .
    Watch O-Harai Ceremony:
    http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4948317634
    .
    My attitude toward such things is, well, 'Don't know if it will help, but it sure can't hurt'. Some of the rocks, trees, grounds and such around the building ... even the building itself ... sure feel sometimes that they might have a little spirit to them.?Who knows??
    .
    I don't think I believe in such spirits, or any god, but I could be wrong. So, I call it "winking at the gods ... asking for the benefit of the doubt too" ...
    .
    PPS - The almost identical bracelet is found around the match holder on our altar in the Dojo at Treeleaf, a souvenir of a trip twenty-five years ago to Tibet when I was a student in China. It is there ... because it is there, now there so long that I don't even think about its being there.

  13. #13

    Re: Om Ma Ni Pad Me Um mantra

    Quote Originally Posted by Fugen

    Hi.

    I watch stargate Universe.
    At first there was some difficulties with the serie, but i grows both on you and as a serie.
    But it will take some to match the good old startrek.
    Especially DS 9.

    Mtfbwy
    Fugen
    Hey Fugen,

    I watch SGU as well and couldn't agree more with your take. I don't meet that many folks who speak highly of DS9, but it was my favorite...mostly because of the exploration of the politics of religion and "godless" democracies. I often use the plot of the pilot to describe aspects of buddhism ("You exist here") to fellow geeks.

    Gassho,
    Dosho

    P.S. Love the new pic!

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