Namo YaoShi LiuLi Guang RuLai
Namo YaoShi LiuLi Hua RuLai
Namo XiaoZai YanShou YaoShi Fo
Glory Medicine Teacher Lapis Azulis Light Tathagata
Glory Medicine Teacher Lapis Azulis Transcend Tathagata
Glory Extinguish Disaster Extend Longevity Medicine Teacher Buddha
Namo - Glory
YaoShi - Medicine Teacher
LiuLi - Lapis Azulis
Guang - Light
RuLai - Tathagata
Namo - Glory
YaoShi - Medicine Teacher
LiuLi - Lapis Azulis
Hua - Transcend
RuLai - Tathagata
Namo - Glory
XiaoZai - Extinguish Disaster
YanShou - Extend Longevity
YaoShi - Medicine Teacher
Fo - Buddha
Introduction and History of Mantra Meditation
Mantras are words or phrases that are chanted out loud or internally as objects of meditation. Often these mantras are associated with particular Buddhist figures, whose qualities can be cultivated by the repetition of the relevant mantra.
Mantra meditation predates Buddhism, probably by hundreds of years. The origins of mantras go back at least to the Vedic tradition that preceded the Buddha, where mantras were used as incantations to influence, or even to control, the gods.
Throughout history, cultures have believed in the sacred power of words, and have believed that uttering certain words or names could control the external world, or control the unseen forces, like gods or spirits, that they believed acted upon the world. We can see that in the English word "spell", which can mean simply to put letters together to make words, or to use words in order to control the world. The words grammar and glamour have the same original meanings. Gramma-techne was the Greek term for the science or art of letters. This came into English as the word grammar, but also came in Scots (as "glammer") to mean "to cast a spell upon". The word glammer was anglicized as glamour, and came to have its more contemporary romantic and aesthetic associations. So the English language contains fossilized notions that words can have magical powers.
This was particularly so for the words that we call "names". In ancient India it was believed that if you knew the true names of the gods, then you could call upon them and compel them to do your bidding. If this sounds primitive, then imagine how you would feel if you discovered that someone had written your name of a piece of paper, put it in the toilet bowl before using the bathroom, and then flushed your name away. Most of us still, it seems, have a lingering belief in the special nature of names.
Although early Buddhism used chanting as a means of practice, and used the recitation of verses as a way of cultivating an awareness of the qualities of the Buddha (Buddhanusati), the use of mantras doesn't seem to have come into Buddhism until the rise of the Mahayana traditions, which incorporated elements of the non-Buddhist approach to spirituality known as "Tantra." Tantra made extensive use of mantras as ways of communing with and influencing the gods, and Buddhism co-opted this methodology as a way of getting in touch with the qualities of enlightenment. The Mahayana had already developed a "pantheon" of symbolical figures in human form to represent the diversity of the enlightened state. Given the close contact with the Tantric traditions, it was natural that these archetypal Buddhas and Bodhisattvas came to be associated with particular syllables and mantras.
Buddhist Mantras
Clicking on the link for each mantra below will take you to a page where you can read about that mantra, see the figure associated with the mantra (where applicable), and listen to an audio version of the mantra. You can chant along to the mantra until you're confident that you have it fully memorized.
There are ten repetitions of each mantra (more or less) to help give you time to learn the mantra and chant along. You can replay the mantra until you think you've got it.
Please note that the mantras as written here lack the diacritic marks that allow for accurate representation of the pronunciation. It's best to listen to the audio files in order to get a better appreciation of how they are pronounced (taking into account the fact that I have a Scottish accent). In the heading of each page I've represented long vowels with a double vowel (eg. aa).
Note: Tibetans typically pronounce some Sanskrit sounds in a non-standard way. For example they'll tend to pronounce "padme" (padmé) as pemé, and "svaha" as soha. Those who are familiar with the Tibetan pronunciation will notice some small changes here.
Mantras not associated with Buddhist figures
Sabbe satta sukhi hontu
Om shanti shanti shanti
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
Mantras associated with Buddhist figures
Avalokitesvara
Manjughosa
Vajrapani
Green Tara
Amitabha
White Tara
Shakyamuni
Padmasambhava
Om Mani Padme Huum
Avalokiteshvara is a Bodhisattva who represents compassion, and his mantra also symbolizes that quality. Avalokiteshvara means "The Lord Who Looks Down (in compassion)" There are various forms of Avalokitesvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan). The four-armed form is shown here. There is also a 1000-armed form -- the many arms symbolizing compassion in action. And in the far east, Avalokiteshvara turned into the female Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin.
Om, as I've explained before, has only a mystical meaning -- suggesting primordial reality. Mani means jewel, while Padme means lotus. Hum, like Om, has no conceptual meaning. Overall, the mantra is suggestive of the bringing together of the qualities of wisdom (the jewel) and compassion (the lotus). Wisdom, like a jewel, is clear and can cut through delusion. Compassion, like the lotus, is something that unfolds. And just as the lotus can exist in muddy water without being soiled, so compassion, when it is combined with wisdom, can exist in an impure world without becoming contaminated.
This is probably the best known Buddhist mantra. I remember hearing it chanted on an episode of the BBC Sci-fi series, Dr Who, when I was a young kid back in the 1960s
This mantra is very widely chanted in Tibet, and not only chanted but carved onto stones, printed onto flags, and embossed onto prayer wheels.
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