APPENDIX FOUR

Two Mantras

The two most famous mantras in Tibet are the mantra of Padmasambhava, called the Vajra Guru Mantra, OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM, and the mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion, OM MANI PADME HUM. Like most mantras they are in Sanskrit, the ancient sacred language of India.

THE VAJRA GURU MANTRA

 

The Vajra Guru mantra, OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM, is pronounced by Tibetans: Om Ah Hung Benza Guru Péma Siddhi Hung. This exploration of its meaning is based on explanations by Dudjom Rinpoche and Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

OM AH HUM

The syllables OM AH HUM have outer, inner, and “secret” meanings. At each of these levels, however, OM stands for the body, AH for the speech, and HUM for the mind. They represent the transformative blessings of the body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas.

Externally OM purifies all the negative actions committed through your body, AH through your speech, and HUM through your mind.¹ By purifying your body, speech, and mind, OM AH HUM grants the blessing of the body, speech, and mind of the buddhas.

OM is also the essence of form, AH the essence of sound, and HUM the essence of mind. So by reciting this mantra, you are also purifying the environment, as well as yourself and all other beings within it. OM purifies all perceptions, AH all sounds, and HUM the mind, its thoughts and emotions.

Internally OM purifies the subtle channels, AH the wind, inner air or flow of energy, and HUM the creative essence.²

On a deeper level, OM AH HUM represent the three kayas of the Lotus family of buddhas: OM is the Dharmakaya: the Buddha Amitabha, Buddha of Limitless Light; AH is the Sambhogakaya: Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion; and HUM is the Nirmanakaya: Padmasambhava. This signifies, in the case of this mantra, that all three kayas are embodied in the person of Padmasambhava.

At the innermost level, OM AH HUM bring the realization of the three aspects of the nature of mind: OM brings the realization of its unceasing Energy and Compassion, AH brings the realization of its radiant Nature, and HUM brings the realization of its skylike Essence.

VAJRA GURU PADMA

VAJRA is compared to the diamond, the strongest and most precious of stones. Just as a diamond can cut through anything but is itself completely indestructible, so the unchanging, nondual wisdom of the buddhas can never be harmed or destroyed by ignorance, and can cut through all delusion and obscurations. The qualities and activities of the body, speech, and wisdom mind of the buddhas are able to benefit beings with the piercing, unhindered power of the diamond. And like a diamond, the Vajra is free of defects; its brilliant strength comes from the realization of the Dharmakaya nature of reality, the nature of the Buddha Amitabha.

GURU means “weighty”; someone replete with every wonderful quality, who embodies wisdom, knowledge, compassion, and skillful means. Just as gold is the weightiest and most precious of metals, so the inconceivable, flawless qualities of the Guru—the master—make him unsurpassable, and above all things in excellence. GURU corresponds to the Sambhogakaya, and to Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. Also, since Padmasambhava teaches the path of Tantra, which is symbolized by the Vajra, and through the practice of Tantra he attained supreme realization, so he is known as “the VAJRA GURU.”

PADMA means lotus, and signifies the Lotus family of the buddhas, and specifically their aspect of enlightened speech. The Lotus family is the buddha family to which human beings belong. As Padmasambhava is the direct emanation, the Nirmanakaya, of Buddha Amitabha, who is the primordial buddha of the Lotus family, he is known as “PADMA.” His name Padmasambhava, the “Lotus-born,” in fact refers to the story of his birth on a blossoming lotus flower.

When the syllables VAJRA GURU PADMA are taken together, they also signify the essence and the blessing of the View, Meditation, and Action. VAJRA means the unchanging, diamantine, indestructible Essence of the truth, which we pray to realize in our View. GURU represents the luminosity Nature and noble qualities of enlightenment, which we pray to perfect in our Meditation. PADMA stands for Compassion, which we pray to accomplish in our Action.

Through reciting the mantra, then, we receive the blessing of the wisdom mind, the noble qualities and the compassion of Padmasambhava and all the buddhas.

SIDDHI HUM

SIDDHI means “real accomplishment,” “attainment,” “blessing,” and “realization.” There are two kinds of siddhis: ordinary and supreme. Through receiving the blessing of ordinary siddhis, all obstacles in our lives, such as ill-health, are removed, all our good aspirations are fulfilled, benefits like wealth and prosperity and long life accrue to us, and all of life’s various circumstances become auspicious and conducive to spiritual practice, and the realization of enlightenment.

The blessing of the supreme siddhi brings about enlightenment itself, the state of complete realization of Padmasambhava, that benefits both ourselves and all other sentient beings. So by remembering and praying to the body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity of Padmasambhava, we will come to attain both ordinary and supreme siddhis.

SIDDHI HUM is said to draw in all the siddhis like a magnet that attracts iron filings.

HUM represents the wisdom mind of the buddhas, and is the sacred catalyst of the mantra. It is like proclaiming its power and truth: “So be it!”

The essential meaning of the mantra is: “I invoke you, the Vajra Guru, Padmasambhava, by your blessing may you grant us ordinary and supreme siddhis.”

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche explains:

It is said that the twelve syllables OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM carry the entire blessing of the twelve types of teaching taught by Buddha, which are the essence of his eighty-four thousand Dharmas. Therefore to recite the Vajra Guru mantra once is equivalent to the blessing of reciting . . . or practicing the whole teaching of the Buddha. These twelve branches of the teachings are the antidotes to free us from the “Twelve Links of Interdependent Origination,” which keep us bound to samsara: ignorance, karmic formations, discursive consciousness, name and form, senses, contact, sensation, craving, grasping, existence, birth, old age and death. These twelve links are the mechanism of samsara, by which samsara is kept alive. Through reciting the twelve syllables of the Vajra Guru mantra, these twelve links are purified, and you are able to remove and purify completely the layer of karmic emotional defilements, and so be liberated from samsara.

Although we are not able to see Padmasambhava in person, his wisdom mind has manifested in the form of mantra; these twelve syllables are actually the emanation of his wisdom mind, and they are endowed with his entire blessing. The Vajra Guru mantra is Padmasambhava in the form of sound. So when you invoke him with the recitation of the twelve syllables, the blessing and merit you obtain is tremendous. In these difficult times, just as there is no buddha or refuge we can call upon who is more powerful than Padmasambhava, so there is no mantra that is more fitting than the Vajra Guru mantra.

THE MANTRA OF COMPASSION

 

The Mantra of Compassion, OM MANI PADME HUM, is pronounced by Tibetans: Om Mani Pémé Hung. It embodies the compassion and blessing of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and invokes especially the blessing of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. Avalokiteshvara is a manifestation of the Buddha in the Sambhogakaya, and his mantra is considered the essence of the Buddha’s compassion for all beings. Just as Padmasambhava is the most important master for the Tibetan people, Avalokiteshvara is their most important buddha, and the karmic deity of Tibet. There is a famous saying that the Buddha of Compassion became so embedded in the Tibetan consciousness that any child who could say the word “mother” could also recite the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM.

Countless ages ago, it is said, a thousand princes vowed to become buddhas. One resolved to become the Buddha we know as Gautama Siddhartha; Avalokiteshvara, however, vowed not to attain enlightenment until all the other thousand princes had themselves become buddhas. In his infinite compassion, he vowed too to liberate all sentient beings from the sufferings of the different realms of samsara. Before the buddhas of the ten directions, he prayed: “May I help all beings, and if ever I tire in this great work, may my body be shattered into a thousand pieces.” First, it is said, he descended into the hell realms, ascending gradually through the world of hungry ghosts, up to the realm of the gods. From there he happened to look down and saw, aghast, that though he had saved innumerable beings from hell, countless more were pouring in. This plunged him into the profoundest grief; for a moment he almost lost faith in that noble vow he had taken, and his body exploded into a thousand pieces. In his desperation, he called out to all the buddhas for help, who came to his aid from all directions of the universe, as one text said, like a soft blizzard of snowflakes. With their great power the buddhas made him whole again, and from then on Avalokiteshvara had eleven heads, and a thousand arms, and on each palm of each hand was an eye, signifying that union of wisdom and skillful means that is the mark of true compassion. In this form he was even more resplendent and empowered than before to help all beings, and his compassion grew even more intense as again and again he repeated this vow before the buddhas: “May I not attain final buddhahood before all sentient beings attain enlightenment.”

It is said that in his sorrow at the pain of samsara, two tears fell from his eyes: through the blessings of the buddhas, they were transformed into the two Taras. One is Tara in her green form, who is the active force of compassion, and the other is Tara in her white form, who is compassion’s motherly aspect. The name Tara means “she who liberates”: she who ferries us across the ocean of samsara.

It is written in the Mahayana Sutras that Avalokiteshvara gave his mantra to the Buddha himself, and Buddha in turn granted him the special and noble task of helping all beings in the universe toward buddhahood. At this moment all the gods rained flowers on them, the earth shook, and the air rang with the sound OM MANI PADME HUM HRIH.

In the words of the poem:

 

Avalokiteshvara is like the moon

Whose cool light puts out the burning fires of samsara

In its rays the night-flowering lotus of compassion

Opens wide its petals.

 

The teachings explain that each of the six syllables of the mantra—OM MA NI PAD MÉ HUM—has a specific and potent effect in bringing about transformation at different levels of our being. The six syllables purify completely the six poisonous negative emotions, which are the manifestation of ignorance, and which cause us to act negatively with our body, speech, and mind, so creating samsara and our suffering in it. Pride, jealousy, desire, ignorance, greed, and anger are transformed, through the mantra, into their true nature, the wisdoms of the six buddha families that become manifest in the enlightened mind.³

So when we recite OM MANI PADME HUM, the six negative emotions, which are the cause of the six realms of samsara, are purified. This is how reciting the six syllables prevents rebirth in each of the six realms, and also dispels the suffering inherent in each realm. At the same time reciting OM MANI PADME HUM completely purifies the aggregates of ego, the skandhas, and perfects the six kinds of transcendental action of the heart of the enlightened mind, the paramitas of: generosity, harmonious conduct, endurance, enthusiasm, concentration, and insight. It is also said that OM MANI PADME HUM grants strong protection from all kinds of negative influences, and various different forms of illness.

Often HRIH, the “seed-syllable” of Avalokiteshvara, is added to the mantra to make OM MANI PADME HUM HRIH. The essence of the compassion of all the Buddhas, HRIH, is the catalyst that activates the compassion of the Buddhas to transform our negative emotions into their wisdom nature.

Kalu Rinpoche writes:

 

Another way of interpreting the mantra is that the syllable OM is the essence of enlightened form; MANI PADME, the four syllables in the middle, represent the speech of enlightenment; and the last syllable, HUM, represents the mind of enlightenment. The body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas are inherent in the sound of this mantra. It purifies the obscurations of body, speech and mind, and brings all beings to the state of realization. When it is joined with our own faith and efforts in meditation and recitation, the transformative power of the mantra arises and develops. It is truly possible to purify ourselves in this way.⁴

For those who are familiar with the mantra and have recited it with fervor and faith all their lives, the Tibetan Book of the Dead prays that in the bardo: “When the sound of dharmata roars like a thousand thunders, may it all become the sound of the six-syllables.” Similarly we read in the Surangama Sutra:

 

How sweetly mysterious is the transcendental sound of Avalokiteshvara. It is the primordial sound of the universe. . . . It is the subdued murmur of the sea-tide setting inward. Its mysterious sound brings liberation and peace to all sentient beings who in their pain are calling out for help, and it brings a sense of serene stability to all those who are seeking Nirvana’s boundless peace.