I never thought I would be gearing up for chanting. It seemed cultish and strange to me with no benefit except for deepening some kind of new agey mumbo jumbo that I wanted no part of.

Boy was I wrong. This spinning prayer wheel graphic that I have included here is with the belief and intention that all who view it are transformed by it's power. As well as the phrase in any form wether spinning or just viewed as written or printed.

The confusion for me came from the Hindu approach to the phrase om mani padme hum. I studied kriya yoga for a number of years and left it behind because it was not speaking to me and in particular I did not understand the way they viewed the chanting of this phrase in the way that it was taught to me at the time. I was told that the loose translation from Sanskrit was "behold the jewel in the lotus" or “out of the mud the lotus comes.” That’s very nice but I could not see any value of chanting that and especially in another language!

Well, the confusion does not stop there because even in many schools of Buddhism the mantra is interpreted differently. Another and more well known interpretation is “praise be to the jewel in the lotus” and, well, that meant nothing to me because the step by step process of removing suffering and the seeds of negativity we have seen in the previous essays in this series were not addressed as in the four noble truths.

Photo by Bryan Minear on Unsplash

The Four Noble Truths

1. the truth of suffering
2. the truth of the cause of suffering
3. the truth of the end of suffering
4. the truth of the path that leads to the end of suffering.

More simply put that suffering exists and it has a cause. But that it also has an end and it has a solution to bring about its end. So, I want you and I to be fully aware of the power of the practice of this mantra so if you ever go to a yoga class and it is not explained in detail why they are offering this mantra up you can choose to participate in full confidence of how the mantra can be of use to you and your life. Perhaps you will take it up as a practice? Let’s move on and see about this…

The Six Syllables of Om Mani Padme Hum

Simply put, this phrase is shorthand for the entire teaching of Buddhism. As we saw in the Four Noble Truths above the teaching is that there is suffering and there is a way out of suffering. The mantra is central to Tibetan Buddhism and the Dalai Lama says:

Can impure body, speech, and mind be transformed into the pure, 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 impure states and their being transformed into the pure.

In previous essays in this series and the one before (see bottom) I have said over and over that all the practices are gradual processes to remove the impurities all human beings have in their mind generally known as kleshas. Repetition is key to learning and in Buddhism is no different but takes it a step further to actual purification of the mind and body with much repetition sometimes called polishing the mirror. I love that analogy. The polishing process or purification or removal of suffering by walking the path and practicing mediation. The mantra invokes the meaning of the complete teaching breaks down of this shorthand is as follows:

• Om
In the recitation of the mantra Om most importantly breaks the identification with the ego, the part of us that always asks what’s in it for me? Holding the meaning of this removes this selfishness and dissolves the attachment to this “little me.” It inspires generosity and benevolence.

• Ma
Purifies the seeds of jealousy and invokes pure ethics

• Ni
Purifies the seeds of grasping and inspires patience

• Pad
Purifies judgment and ignorance and brings forth diligence and right view

• Me
Purifies the distraction of attachment and allows the cultivation of concentration

• Hum
Purifies hatred and represents unity of all and wisdom

This is a very simplified explanation which is really all you need to prepare you for the profound underlying intention and meaning of the repetition and the practice.

Prepare to be amazed.

Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash

The Awe Inducing Reality of Emptiness

Emptiness is another often misunderstood “concept” that people tend to conflate with the word illusion and a misunderstand of the term illusion. People mistakenly say that everything is an illusion and therefore nothing is real. When you smash your thumb with a hammer is it real? Of course it is! What is missing from this interpretation of emptiness is that the illusion comes from interpreting reality through the lens of the kleshas the negative seeds in the human mind.

When we see through the distorted lens of the impure mind what we see is an illusion. Through the chanting of the mantra we polish the lens of the mind what we have the potential to reveal is the nature of radiant mind – emptiness. The Dalai Lama says:

Though there are many different types of wisdom, the main one of all these is the wisdom realising emptiness.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolised 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 trantric 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. ~The Dalai Lama on buddhismnow.com

The realization of emptiness is not “emptiness” in the ordinary sense that comes to mind where we imagine what might experience absolute nothingness…on the contrary we is experience our true self in the now moment without the usual attachment of ego, it’s thoughtforms, desires and suffering. We experience pure freedom and become “empty” of all things except an inner awareness. That mode of enhanced awareness gives us access to the intuitive knowing known as “clear seeing” to free ourselves from suffering.

That is enlightenment.

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

We’ll look at this more in the next essay on the tradition of chanting the mantra and the qualities it invokes for compassion for all sentient beings. And of course some science.

What do you think?

Thank you to dharma-haven.org fo the prayer wheels

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@soulsistashakti is a musical artist and writer based in NYC as well as a practitioner of Buddhist teachings. You can check out my music on my FB artist page at https://www.facebook.com/soulsistashakti