Mantra

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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shanyin
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Mantra

Post by shanyin »

How can I use mantras to alleviate suffering and come closer to happiness?

I have a copy of the mantra of great compassion, it is long. Too long for me I think.

I had a Reiki healer in my life and I thought he mentioned he was going to start me on a manta and then it never happened and out of hope and disappointment I kept going back to see him and I never accomplished much from it.

Sometimes in the not so recent past (a year or so ago) I would chant the heart sutra with the Youtube video. I read the Dalai Lama's book on the Heart Sutra but I still don't seem to understand it.

Maybe I could chant, "Om ManI padme Hum" or "Gate Gate Para Gate Parasam Gate Bodhi Svaha".

I welcome any questions.

So basically my other meditations don't seem to be bringing me happiness and mental health and I think a mantra isn't a subtle so to speak as the breathing and watching thoughts meditations.

How do I use mantras?
PeterC
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Re: Mantra

Post by PeterC »

shanyin wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 10:10 pm How can I use mantras to alleviate suffering and come closer to happiness?

I have a copy of the mantra of great compassion, it is long. Too long for me I think.
Well, it's a dharani technically and not a mantra. But are you saying that you want to alleviate suffering and come closer to happiness, but you don't want to be inconvenienced by having to chant something that's a little too long? Could you be a bit more specific about how much effort you're budgeting to achieve this happiness, and perhaps we could recommend something a little more appropriate for your lifestyle?
shanyin
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Re: Mantra

Post by shanyin »

It's is a difficult Dharani for me to take on. The syllables are hard for me to pronounce properly and sometimes I often stop after about 10 minutes because I feel uncomfortable. This happens with other meditations as well. Sometimes not from discomfort, but from distractions like my cats and people knocking on my door or the phone ringing. Also the Dharani seems to give alot of worship of a Bodhisattva and praise to the Bodhisattva. I am not in the frame of knowledge to understand what I am doing.

I can be a materialistic person when it comes to staying stimulated by entertainment in my life style and spending money.. I also like spending time with my family. So I put some effort into achieving happiness.
Inedible
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Re: Mantra

Post by Inedible »

In that I want to be helpful and answer the question, there are a lot of versions of mantras out there with the words put to a song. You can find one that you enjoy which makes you feel good and encourage it to get stuck in your head.

Also, if you haven't gotten attunements so you can give yourself Reiki, it is worth doing. If you are open to having it done at a distance you could try classes on Udemy.

Until then, YouTube is a good place to look for mantra songs. You can run them at low volume while you sleep.
cjdevries
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Re: Mantra

Post by cjdevries »

One time I was in a really difficult spot with very poor health and my health was getting worse and worse each day; so I called a qigong healer from China who I had been working with. She was very worried about me and my health and so she talked to a friend who was also a reiki master to try to figure out how they could help me. After consulting with her friend, the qigong healer told me that reciting Kwan Yin's mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" seemed to be the safest thing for me to do. She said this was Kwan Yin's mantra and reciting it would be very beneficial. I made that my main practice and it got me through the worst of my health crisis. Also, after I adopted that practice I had a dream that Kwan Yin was doing emergency energetic surgery on me one night - I think that connection to Kwan Yin was very beneficial.
"Please call me by my true names so I can wake up; so the door of my heart can be left open: the door of compassion." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"Ask: what's needed of you" -Akong Rinpoche

"Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents, never revenges itself." -Gandhi
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明安 Myoan
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Re: Mantra

Post by 明安 Myoan »

shanyin wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 10:10 pm How can I use mantras to alleviate suffering and come closer to happiness?
Yes, with the right aspiration (bodhicitta).
Namu Amida Butsu
shanyin
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Re: Mantra

Post by shanyin »

I think studying right speech and the precepts is best for me right now.
Last edited by shanyin on Mon Jan 03, 2022 5:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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明安 Myoan
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Re: Mantra

Post by 明安 Myoan »

Chanting a mantra or buddha-name can definitely help with that :smile:
Namu Amida Butsu
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Konchog Thogme Jampa
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Re: Mantra

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

Recite Om Mani Padme Hum
shanyin
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Re: Mantra

Post by shanyin »

Konchog Thogme Jampa wrote: Mon Jan 03, 2022 4:49 pm Recite Om Mani Padme Hum
What does Om Mani Padme Hum mean? How do I chant it?
shanyin
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Re: Mantra

Post by shanyin »

I'll google it. Sometimes I don't Google things because I don't like the results I get (pages). OK !! :guns:
muni
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Re: Mantra

Post by muni »


According to 14th Dalai Lama:

It is very good to recite the mantra "Om mani padme hum", but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast. The first,"Om" symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.

The path is indicated by the next four syllables. "Mani", meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.

The two syllables, "padme", meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom.

Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable "hum", which indicates indivisibility.


Thus the six syllables, "om mani padme hum", mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha"

—H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, "Om Mani Padme Hum"
https://buddhismnow.com/2017/01/21/the- ... alai-lama/
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