I stumbled upon this video from Jaima James, who did a wonderful job of composing a very beautiful music to accompany the “Om Mani Padme Hum” chant plus some others. Even though the Mani mantra is Buddhist, James included images from other religious traditions into the video, making it more complete and more universal. The message of the Mani mantra is universal compassion. We open ourselves up totally with no remainder and dedicate every tiny bit of ourselves for the ultimate benefits of all sentient beings. This is what Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva is doing, and this is what we are also doing when we chant his mantra.
In this video there is also the chant of “Om Shanti, Shanti”. “Shanti” is Sanskrit for peace, and there is also the mantra of Tara: “Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha.” Tara is also the bodhisattva of compassion. In chanting these mantras we are becoming one with Avalokiteshvara or with Tara herself. The essence of the Bodhisattvas is present in the mantra. So when we chant them we are blessed by the very presence of the Bodhisattvas themselves.
So let us engage in meditation and reflection while we watch and listen to the video. Thanks a lot to Jaima for sharing this with us.
It’s a cool Saturday morning here in Nonthaburi where I live. I would like now to present a chant of the long mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Here is the whole text of the chant in Sanskrit:
Namo ratnatryaye namah aryajnana sagar vairocana vyuharajaya tathagatayah arhate samyaksambuddhayah;
namah sarva tathagatebhyah arhatebhyah samyaksambuddhebhyah;
namah arya avaoliketshvaraya bodhisattvayah mahasattvayah mahakarunikakayah;
tadyatha: om dhara dhara dhiri dhiri dhuru dhuru itiye vitiye cale cale pracale pracale kusume kusumvaraye ili mili cetam jvalam apnaye svaha.
The text is chanted in the style of Chinese music. May all sentient beings attain the status of Avalokiteshvara, one who is full of great compassion!
Here is another version of the Manjushri mantra I found on YouTube:
The mantra, Om A Ra Pa Dza Na Dhi, is the embodiment of Wisdom itself. It does not have any meaning, though it is said that the five syllables after the Om are from the first syllables of the five main teachings of the Buddha. The “Dhi” is the seed syllable of Manjushri, one we visualize when we perform a deity meditation on him.
May Lord Manjushri protect all beings and grant all beings with Wisdom of Liberation!
This is a video of the mantra of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. His mantra is “Om A Ra Pa Cha Na Dhi”. The music is quite Chinese. Those of you who are musically inclined might complain that it is repetitive. But that is precisely the point. The idea is to meditate through music and the Mantra.
I found this very interesting video on YouTube. It’s a modern singer singing the mantra of Maitreya Buddha. What is amazing to me is how the music is in some way still traditional, but the video is really modern. I have written an earlier post on Buddhism and music. Perhaps this one is a very good example.
Vignettes from the artist’s depiction of the Tara Great Stupa, a stupa that is going to be constructed at Tara Khadiravana, Hua-Hin, Thailand. For more information please visit http://www.taragreatstupa.org/
The background chant is Om Mani Padme Hung chanted by Kandroma Palden Chotsho.
The girls in the last post that you saw in YouTube were singing the “Buddha Jaya Mangala Gatha,” or “Chant to the Buddha’s Victories.” This is a very famous chant in Thailand and in other Theravadin countries. As far as I know the verses were composed by a Thai monk in the fifteenth century C.E. and were dedicated to King Naresuan the Great in his campaign for Siamese independence against the Burmese. It is said that the King was so fond of these verses that he requested that the monks chant them every time he went to war. And he was never defeated anywhere in battle.
The content of the verses, however, had absolutely nothing to do with wars. The prayer consists of eight verses, each depicint the Buddha’s victories against his opponents. However, the main thing is that it is the Buddha’s own victory against defilements and the Mara, who is the personification of defilements and everything that is the obstacles against achieving Buddhahood and Nirvana.
In the first verse, the Buddha defeats the Mara during the moment of his achieving Buddhahood. When Siddhartha Gautama was about to become the Awakened One, the Mara came to him together a full army and numerous weapons. The Mara was intent on bringing Gautama down so that he did not become enlightened. However, due to the merits that the bodhisattva had accrued in countless lifetimes in the past, the bodhisattva was able to defeat the Mara and the whole army. This is the most important episode in the whole life history of the Buddha. It shows the moment when an ordinary person actually became ‘Buddha’ or ‘Awakened One.’ All the weapons hurled to the Buddha were transformed into flowers and garlands. The merit that he had accumulated came to help him in form of a torrent of flood washing away the Mara and his army.
The remaining seven verses refer to other episodes of the Buddha’s victories, such as his defeat of the demon Alavaka, Angulimala and others.
The whole point of the chant is to reflect on the life and career of Gautama Buddha so that we ourselves follow his path and become free from all defilements ourselves.
This is where I post my thoughts, which are usually about Buddhism. I also post occasional pieces about politics and other things. As for Buddhism, it is mainly philosophical and concerns more the Mahayana tradition. The picture you see is that of the Khadira tree (Acacia Catechu), associated with Green Tara.
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