Mantras

[CosmicValet]

Discovered a mantra recently and thought I would share with you...

Om Mani Padme Hum

I would add some links but I'm still on probation, being the new kid on the block and all.

[sky]

Originally Posted by CosmicValet

Discovered a mantra recently and thought I would share with you...

Om Mani Padme Hum

I would add some links but I'm still on probation, being the new kid on the block and all.

Om mani padme hum is an ancient mantra that is related to the bodhisattva of compassion, Avalokiteshvara.



https://youtu.be/VkeeiEyNPMo

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by CosmicValet

Discovered a mantra recently and thought I would share with you...

Om Mani Padme Hum

I would add some links but I'm still on probation, being the new kid on the block and all.

When I visited Lhasa, Tibet, in the 1980s, I was more impressed with the spirituality of the Tibetan people than with any other ethnic group anywhere in almost 50 countries that I visited.

In the market place, for example, when a particular vendor had no customers, he/she would simply chant continuously, "Om Mani Padme Hum".

I also met an elderly man whom I asked (through an interpreter, of course) what he did in his spare time. He looked at me incredulously and responded, "I chant" (Om Mane Padme Hum).

Being in the Jokhang Temple in the center of Lhasa was a similarly inspirational experience.

That mantra reverberated continuously both throughout the city itself and even more intensely in the nearby Sera and Drepung monasteries.

Although that is not my personal mantra, it is indeed a mantra that resonates well with me specifically because of my unforgettably very positive experiences in Lhasa, Tibet.

P.S. Welcome to this forum.

[CosmicValet]

Here are some more if interested...
https://blog.buddhagroove.com/seven-buddhist-mantras/

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by CosmicValet

Here are some more if interested...
https://blog.buddhagroove.com/seven-buddhist-mantras/

Nice !

It's important to have a choice of mantras so that one can choose one that really resonates personally. One shoe does not fit all.

[bluemoon]

Thanks for sharing.

[Still_Waters]

I might add that I was not initially drawn to mantra meditation but it worked its way into my life quite naturally and surprisingly. It has become an integral part of my practice.

When I started yoga many years ago, they would regularly do mantra chanting immediately after the yoga postures were completed and I would duck out as quickly as I could to avoid it. However, at times, I would get "stuck" (from my perspective) in a part of the room where a graceful exit was not possible. Every time I got "stuck", it was invariably the same mantra that was chanted as if by divine design. In time, whenever I realized that I was "stuck", I sensed that they would chant that same mantra.... and they invariably did chant that same mantra. I eventually got to anticipate it in those situations and became drawn to it. Needless to say, it became "my mantra".

When I received spiritual initiation from my spiritual mentor, a revered sage of India, she asked if I wanted a mantra. I was hesitant at first because I knew which mantra worked for me but, trusting my teacher, I responded affirmatively. She gave me the same mantra and thus reinforced my belief in that mantra.

Years later, while walking across an open field near the Ganges River at the Khumba Mela in Haridwar (India), I was discussing japa (mantra meditation) versus aarti (devotional practice) with a friend when, suddenly, literally out of nowhere, a sage appeared to us and said the "same mantra" to me directly before disappearing as mysteriously as he had appeared. That was the culminating point in the story of "my mantra". (Regarding the mysterious appearance of that sage, my teacher and others confirmed afterwards that this sage appeared like this from time to time and that everyone knew that... except for me who was understandably stunned by such a manifestation. It was indeed a blessing, as my teacher duly noted.)

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

When I visited Lhasa, Tibet, in the 1980s, I was more impressed with the spirituality of the Tibetan people than with any other ethnic group anywhere in almost 50 countries that I visited.

In the market place, for example, when a particular vendor had no customers, he/she would simply chant continuously, "Om Mani Padme Hum".

I also met an elderly man whom I asked (through an interpreter, of course) what he did in his spare time. He looked at me incredulously and responded, "I chant" (Om Mane Padme Hum).

Being in the Jokhang Temple in the center of Lhasa was a similarly inspirational experience.

That mantra reverberated continuously both throughout the city itself and even more intensely in the nearby Sera and Drepung monasteries.

Although that is not my personal mantra, it is indeed a mantra that resonates well with me specifically because of my unforgettably very positive experiences in Lhasa, Tibet.

P.S. Welcome to this forum.

Did you ever get to Bhutan?

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by BigJohn

Did you ever get to Bhutan?

I had planned to go to Bhutan, but never made it there.