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Oṃ maṇi padme hum
Oṃ maṇi padme hum (Tib. pron.: Om maṇi pehme hung). The mantra of Avalokiteśvara (Tib., Chenrezig). In spite of being the most well-known and commonly recited mantra of Tibet, where it is to be found inscribed everywhere, from homes to mountain passes and roadside rocks, it has been greatly misunderstood. Usual translations, such as ‘Oh, the jewel is in the lotus’ or ‘hail to the jewel in the lotus’, are misconceived. Oṃ and hum are invocation syllables which require no translation; maṇi (‘jewel’) is not a word but a stem, and therefore joins padme (‘lotus’) to make a single word, maṇipadme (‘jewel-lotus’) which is feminine and locative. This suggests a female deity being invoked, called Maṇipadmā, the problem being that no such deity is recorded anywhere. The usual translations may have no linguistic accuracy but they do closely express through the separation of the words jewel (male, form) and lotus (female, emptiness) a sense of the symbolism of opposites at the heart of manifestation in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The possibility of the present form of the mantra being a corruption of its original Sanskrit cannot be dismissed.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Oṃ maṇi padme hum." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Oṃ maṇi padme hum." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Omaipadmehum.html JOHN BOWKER. "Oṃ maṇi padme hum." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Omaipadmehum.html |
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Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ
Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (Skt.). The chief mantra associated with the salvific compassion of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, who is especially venerated in Tibet. The literal meaning of the mantra is often given as ‘Praise (Oṃ) to the jewel in the lotus, hail (hūṃ)!’, the lotus symbolizing the ordinary human mind with its inherent jewel-like potentiality for enlightenment (bodhi). However, such a reading presents grammatical problems. An alternative reading is to take the mantra as an invocation to a female deity by the name of Maṇipadmi (‘Praise to the goddess Maṇipadmi, hail!’), but no such deity is known. Many further speculative explanations of the significance of the mantra are found in Tibetan Buddhism. Most commonly, each of the six syllables of the mantra is associated with one of the six realms of rebirth in saṃsāra.
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Cite this article
DAMIEN KEOWN. "Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAMIEN KEOWN. "Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Omaipadmeh.html DAMIEN KEOWN. "Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Omaipadmeh.html |
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