05 Oct Om Mani Padme Hum Mantra
The last post was a quick look at mantra and how they may be used. In this post I thought it would be good to give an example of a widely used mantra and its meaning. Let us look at the Buddhist mantra Om Mani Padme Hum.
The Dalai Lama was asked by a young girl what the mantra meant. She said she has been repeating it over and over but nobody had given her an explanation of what it meant that she could understand.
The Dalai Lama replied by addressing the meaning of each word of the mantra and then the meaning of the mantra as a whole when these words are combined together.
Om means 3, and represents body, mind, and speech. It represents both impure body, mind and speech and pure body, mind and speech.
The following words of the mantra explain how to transform impure body, mind and speech into a pure body, a pure mind and pure speech.
Mani means jewel. The Jewel represents loving-kindness, compassion and altruism. It refers to our selfless concern for the well being of others.
Padme means wisdom.
Hum means a combination. Combining compassion with wisdom is the way to purify body, mind, and speech. Om Mani Padme Hum means to purify the body, mind and speech through the combination of compassion and wisdom.
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