Om Mani Padme Hum and it's profound benefits

[Vajra Fist]

I've been wanting to write something about the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum for some months now. This started for me as merely something nice to listen to on my train commute about three years back, and has since evolved for me into the whole path in its entirety.

What is it?

The Mani, or the six syllable mantra, is perhaps the most widely practiced mantra in Asia and perhaps even the world.

I remember going to Nepal about 10 years ago and hearing it everywhere. In hindsight I find it funny how many times the mantra has popped up throughout my life.

The Mani might be extremely common, but that doesn't mean its benefits are superficial. In fact, they are extremely profound.

In 'The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones' Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoch writes:
 

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"Chenrezi’s six-syllable mantra, OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ, is the compassionate wisdom of all the Buddhas manifested as sound. Within it is contained the essential meaning of all eighty-four thousand sections of the Buddha’s teachings.

Of all the many mantras of various kinds, such as awareness mantras, dhāraṇīs, and secret mantras, not one is superior to the six syllables of Chenrezi.

The great benefits of reciting this mantra, commonly known as the maṇi, are described again and again in both sūtras and tantras. It is said that to recite the mani even once is the same as reciting the whole of the twelve branches of the Buddha’s teachings.

Reciting the six syllables of the maṇi perfects the six pāramitās and firmly blocks any possibility of rebirth in the six realms of saṃsāra.

It is a simple practice, easy to understand and accessible to all, and at the same time it contains the essence of the Dharma. If you take the maṇi as your refuge both in happiness and in sorrow, Chenrezi will always be with you, you will feel more and more devotion without any effort, and all by itself the realization of the Mahāyāna path will arise in your being."

Similarly, in the Karandavyuha Sutra - where the mantra originates - says that a person who practices the Mani completes the six perfections every day (generosity, morality, patience, energy, meditation and wisdom).

 

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“A noble son or noble daughter who repeats the six-syllable mahāvidyā will have indestructible mental brilliance. He or she will become a pure mass of wisdom. That person will have great love and great compassion. That person will complete the six perfections each day."

The benefits

The Mani is the "innermost heart" mantra of Avalokitesvara, known in male form in Tibet as Chenrezig and in female form in China as Guan Yin, and Kannon in Japan.

Avalokitesvara is the manifestation of the aspect of all Buddhas that is enlightened compassion. He is often described as one who has already attained buddhahood, but took on the aspect of a boddhisattva again with a vow to lead all sentient beings to salvation. Therefore he is often placed in an exalted position in the Buddhist pantheon. He sits at the right hand of Buddha Amitabha, in the pure land of Sukhavati, but he also has his own pure land - the Potala mountain - within the domain of Sukhavati.

Om Mani Padme Hum literally translates as 'homage to the jewel in the lotus', which may be a reference to the idea that devotees of Avalokitesvara and Amitabha are reborn in lotus flowers in the realm of Sukhavati following their deaths.

The mantra itself comes from the Karandavyuha Sutra. The sutra lists an impressive array of benefits. Chiefly among them is the accumulation of vast merit.
 

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'Virtuous man, I can count the number of all atoms of the universe, but virtuous man, if anyone chants this Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani just once, I cannot count the number of the merits and virtues that he gains.'

Lama Zopa Rinpoche adds detail based on the benefits recounted in the tantras.
 

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'Reciting the Compassion Buddha mantra just once completely purifies the four defeats of breaking the four root vows of self-liberation and the five uninterrupted negative karmas.

It is also mentioned in the tantras that by reciting this mantra you achieve the four qualities of being born in the Amitabha Buddha pure land and other pure lands; at the time of death, seeing Buddha and lights appearing in the sky; the devas making you offerings; and never being reborn in the hell, hungry ghost or animals realms. You will be reborn in the pure land of Buddha or as a happy transmigratory being.

When one who recites ten malas a day goes swimming, whether in a river, an ocean or some other body of water, the water that touches that person’s body gets blessed.

It is said that up to seven generations of that person’s descendents won’t get reborn in the lower realms. The reason for this is that due to the power of mantra, the body is blessed by the person reciting the mantra and visualizing their body in form of the holy body of Chenrezig. Therefore, the body becomes so powerful, so blessed that this affects the consciousness up to seven generations and has the effect that if one dies with a non-virtuous thought, one is not reborn in a lower realm.

Thus, when a person who has recited ten malas of OM MANI PADME HUM a day goes into a river or an ocean, the water that touches the person’s body gets blessed, and this blessed water then purifies all the billions and billions of sentient beings in the water. So it’s unbelievably beneficial; this person saves the animals in that water from the most unbelievable suffering of the lower realms.

When such a person walks down a road and the wind touches his or her body and then goes on to touch insects, their negative karma gets purified and causes them to have a good rebirth. Similarly, when such a person does massage or otherwise touches others’ bodies, those people’s negative karma also gets purified.

Such a person becomes meaningful to behold; being seen and touched becomes a means of liberating other sentient beings. This means that even the person’s breath touching the bodies of other sentient beings purifies their negative karma. Anybody who drinks the water in which such a person has swum gets purified.'

Prayer wheels

Alongside the recitation of the Mani there is the complementary practice of the prayer wheel. This is where it gets really powerful. Modern prayer wheels typically contain millions of mantras on microfilm. Therefore it is said that turned the wheel once generates equivalent merit to having recited the mantra millions of times. 

I first read in depth about prayer wheel practice in a book called 'Wheel of Great Compassion' by Lorne Ladner. The book is full of rare tantras containing details on the benefits of prayer wheel practice.

According to one of the tantras in the book:
 

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"In terms of temporary benefits, turning the wheel protects one from all contagious diseases and epidemics. It stops one from choosing bad directions. Contamination and pollutions from resentments will be overcome. Hosts of demons and interferers will be conquered.

Also, Manjushri said, "One is protected by the Guardians of the Ten Directions from all the obstacles and corners. This practice purifies the five uninterrupted karma and the ten nonvirtuous actions; it purified all evil-gone actions [causes of rebirth in the lower realms]. One will go to a pure realm of Buddha. One will enter and take birth in the lotus-heart on a lion throne in the Blissful Realm [Sukhavati]. One will develop the actions of all the buddhas in the ten directions."

 

The book also contains a tremendous meditation when using a prayer wheel, which is very similar to tonglen, in which you visualise rays of light from the wheel purifying the karma of sentient beings in each of the six realms of reincarnation. 

 

That's now my main practice. I don't claim any great attainment from the short time I have practiced. I remain without doubt a very flawed person, suffering from many huge attachments. But I find I'm a better person on days when I practice this than when I don't. I find that being kinder to others comes more naturally on those days, and I feel more peaceful and comfortable. 

There's a lot more that I could say about this practice. Because of my poor attainment I have probably made many mistakes above. But I hope it can be of some use nevertheless. 

 

Here's the mantra. Close your eyes and give it a listen when your brain is fried from work. It might just do for you what it did for me.

 

 

 

https://www.holylandprayerwheels.com

http://www.purifymind.com/Om29.htm

https://fpmt.org/education/teachings/lama-zopa-rinpoche/the-benefits-of-chanting-om-mani-padme-hum/

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by Vajra Fist
Grammar

[sagebrush]

thank you. I do enjoy that mantra. Sometimes I don't even need to know what they translate to. I just enjoy them.

at times comforting, relaxing. etc

I enjoy aud guray nameh as well and

jap man sat nam

 

so beautiful in musical format

the last two snatam kaur

I like a version of om mani ....I may share later

in PPD

 

 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2019 by sagebrush

[Miroku]

Yes! Reciting mani is a reason to rejoice! There are many benefits coming from reciting mani, for example reciting 1000 mani's per day (around 20 minutes of recitation) one's body is being blessed and when wind blows and touches the body, the wind is then blessed and sentient being touched by the wind have a contact with dharma. The same goes with water, or just seeing or being in contact with people.

 

Prayerwheel practice is an amazing thing by itself. It is an amazing method to develop compassion and love and also can help with healing and protection against harm (no, not by being used as a club ).

[Maddie]

I noticed doing this one makes a nice warm fuzzy feeling in my chest and puts me in a pretty good mood 😌

[RiverSnake]

Did a divination on the results of this mantra for the practitioner, here. Cool, may be a useful thing to have in one's toolkit. 

 

-Cleanses Karmic Entanglements 

-Opens up ones power of Compassion 

 

Edited April 20, 2020 by RiverSnake

[dontknwmucboutanythng]

Effect of rosary prayer and yoga mantras on autonomic cardiovascular rhythms: comparative study

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC61046/

 

“… Recitation of the rosary, and also of yoga mantras {om mani padme om), slowed respiration to almost exactly 6/min, and enhanced heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity…

 

… Both the Ave Maria and the yoga mantra had similar effects, slowing respiration to around 6/min and thus having a marked effect on synchronisation and also increased variability in all cardiovascular rhythms (table). This was seen not only in the respiratory signals but also in the RR interval, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, and in the transcranial blood flow signal…”

 

Edited June 30, 2020 by dontknwmucboutanythng

[Maddie]

I thought I would bump this one along with medicine Buddha as I enjoy these threads and want to learn more about mantra and its effects.

[Earl Grey]

Even when I did basic mantra siddhi level of 125k repetitions, I still feel drawn to this because it affects all sentient beings and the illusory existence. Vibrating beyond the sublime realms and down into the hells and hungry ghost realms, animal realms, and human realms, this is a fantastic and simple practice. It can't be understated even if one doesn't believe or has formal instruction in its use. 

[Vajra Fist]

Although the past year I been practicing nembutsu almost exclusively as my mantra practice, I've recently returned to the mani and the prayer wheel sadhana.

 

I think the most profound benefit from this mantra is that it awakens bodhicitta. In that way it goes to the heart of the mahayana path.

 

I realised I forgot to include the link to this excellent book in my original post.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Treasure-Enlightened-Ones-Meditation-ebook/dp/B0097D7E78/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3N0KBY0HFDDLX&dchild=1&keywords=heart+treasure+of+the+enlightened+ones&qid=1633446790&qsid=260-5036548-5484967&sprefix=heart+treasu&sr=8-1&sres=0877734933%2C0877735573%2CB00E3FYQ44%2CB00AYKPKYC%2C0385421281%2C1559392533%2C1559391219%2C1590303415%2C1559392649%2C1559394943

[Maddie]

37 minutes ago, Vajra Fist said:

Although the past year I been practicing nembutsu almost exclusively as my mantra practice, I've recently returned to the mani and the prayer wheel sadhana.

 

I think the most profound benefit from this mantra is that it awakens bodhicitta. In that way it goes to the heart of the mahayana path.

 

I realised I forgot to include the link to this excellent book in my original post.

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heart-Treasure-Enlightened-Ones-Meditation-ebook/dp/B0097D7E78/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=3N0KBY0HFDDLX&dchild=1&keywords=heart+treasure+of+the+enlightened+ones&qid=1633446790&qsid=260-5036548-5484967&sprefix=heart+treasu&sr=8-1&sres=0877734933%2C0877735573%2CB00E3FYQ44%2CB00AYKPKYC%2C0385421281%2C1559392533%2C1559391219%2C1590303415%2C1559392649%2C1559394943

 

I'd be curious to hear what your experiences with nembutsu is as well. I'm assuming from the spelling you do the Japanese version?

[Vajra Fist]

1 hour ago, dmattwads said:

 

I'd be curious to hear what your experiences with nembutsu is as well. I'm assuming from the spelling you do the Japanese version?

 

I guess, I'm a lot accepting of myself than I was. I figure if Amitabha is aware of, and accepting of my many flaws, then perhaps I should be too. In that process of acceptance, there's a kind of alchemy, what Taitetsu Unno describes as "bits of rubble turning into gold". Sometimes there's a feeling of being held, and of everything being alright. 

 

But speaking personally, I don't find nembutsu as obviously transformative in the way that other mantras or qigong practices are.That could be because I'm not a great practitioner, only managing a mala or two a day. But then I think for most, the benefits of pure land practice are more likely seen after death.

[Maddie]

15 minutes ago, Vajra Fist said:

 

I guess, I'm a lot accepting of myself than I was. I figure if Amitabha is aware of, and accepting of my many flaws, then perhaps I should be too. In that process of acceptance, there's a kind of alchemy, what Taitetsu Unno describes as "bits of rubble turning into gold". Sometimes there's a feeling of being held, and of everything being alright. 

 

But speaking personally, I don't find nembutsu as obviously transformative in the way that other mantras or qigong practices are.That could be because I'm not a great practitioner, only managing a mala or two a day. But then I think for most, the benefits of pure land practice are more likely seen after death.

 

I ask because I don't notice anything as obviously noticable either.

[Vajra Fist]

26 minutes ago, dmattwads said:

 

I ask because I don't notice anything as obviously noticable either.

 

There are traditions within the wider pure land school that are more orientated toward what Shinran called 'self-power'.

 

The Vietnamese approach to pure land is one that jumps to mind, under Thich Thien Tam. It's more like vajrayana in that it includes lots of esoteric practices. If you have that level of commitment to the practice, I have no doubt that it will transform your emotional and mental state.

 

https://www.dharmaflowertemple.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118:the-daily-practices&catid=41:books-english&Itemid=68

 

Personally, pure land is my safety net. I know at certain levels of practice in most spiritual paths, you need to spend time in retreat, as well as meditation for long periods of the day and night. As a middle-aged working dad, that's not something I'd ever be able to achieve.

 

Achieving enlightenment in this life is something that happens only for a fraction of even the most dedicated practitioners. For me, with a mortgage, trying to make school lunches while juggling work emails, there's very little reason to even attempt it, knowing failure is more than likely to be the result.

 

That said, I do a few types of meditation, yoga or qigong - whatever feels good and improves my mental, emotional or physical health. But I'm lucid enough of the limitations of such a limited commitment in yielding real results.

 

So pure land is my ultimate refuge. If I maintain the nembutsu, holding Amitabha in my heart, even though I don't experience energetic fireworks, I know at the end of this life, I will be reborn in a place outside of samsara, where I will complete my cultivation.

 

Seen within the context of pure land, the bodhicitta developed from the mani mantra practice means that such a goal is not for selfish reasons, but so that I might have the means to help others. 

[Eduardo]

I know some Vajrayana Buddhist practitioners, who recite the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum Mitra Svaha" and "Om Mani Padme Hum Hri" which according to their theories would be more powerful in their liberating effects of karma.
There is also a Tibetan monk who points out that the pronunciation "Om Mani Peme Hung" the most used in Tibet has a different effect from the Sanskrit "Om Mani Padme Hum".

[SAMANTABHADRA]

There was a woman with great faith in Tibet who misheard her lama say the Mani mantra, so she went on for most of her life chanting 'Om Mani Bepe Hung' and she became a siddha. Pronunciation may not be totally unimportant, but the intent and the faith behind the mantra are primary, as shown by her example.

[silent thunder]

1 hour ago, SAMANTABHADRA said:

There was a woman with great faith in Tibet who misheard her lama say the Mani mantra, so she went on for most of her life chanting 'Om Mani Bepe Hung' and she became a siddha. Pronunciation may not be totally unimportant, but the intent and the faith behind the mantra are primary, as shown by her example.

We are never separate from source. 

Perhaps one of my most treasured realizations in life.