Different kinds of mantra

General discussion, particularly exploring the Dharma in the modern world.
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JG1997
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Joined: Wed Sep 28, 2022 9:12 am

Different kinds of mantra

Post by JG1997 »

Hello everyone,

I was wondering what kind of mantras do you recite? Or do you think its a good idea to create your own that tackle problems or questions on a more personal level? Where do you get inspiration for mantras?

Best wishes :buddha2:
-Josh
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conebeckham
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Location: Bay Area, CA, USA

Re: Different kinds of mantra

Post by conebeckham »

Well, you don’t just make up mantras in Buddhist practice.

Most (ideally, all) mantras need to be transmitted from a guru to a disciple. And it’s a good idea to keep your mantra practice to yourself—though chanting the Mani is always good.
དམ་པའི་དོན་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ཆེ་བ་དང་།
རྟོག་གེའི་ཡུལ་མིན་བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་།
སྐལ་ལྡན་ལས་འཕྲོ་ཅན་གྱིས་རྟོགས་པ་སྟེ།
དེ་ནི་ཤེས་རབ་ལ་ནི་ལོ་རྟོག་སེལ།།


"Absolute Truth is not an object of analytical discourse or great discriminating wisdom,
It is realized through the blessing grace of the Guru and fortunate Karmic potential.
Like this, mistaken ideas of discriminating wisdom are clarified."
- (Kyabje Bokar Rinpoche, from his summary of "The Ocean of Definitive Meaning")
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Konchog Thogme Jampa
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Re: Different kinds of mantra

Post by Konchog Thogme Jampa »

Secret Mantras pass through lineage and are kept secret

Unless it’s Om Mani Padme Hum then you can draw it on rocks
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Different kinds of mantra

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

“Mantra” and “mental” are words that both share the same Sanskrit root. Although “mantra” has many applicable meanings in Buddhism (and Hinduism, etc) it literally refers to that which focuses the mind.

In various eastern spiritual traditions, mantras involve certain syllables (such as OM) and many Buddhist traditions, often abbreviated words specifically referring to a particular personage, place, or thing.

But if you are asking from a sort of casual perspective, about something that can be chanted to help calm or focus the mind, it doesn’t need to be a “mantra” per se. Nichiren Buddhists and Pure Land Buddhists each have traditional words that they chant throughout the day. I have a specific thing that now automatically begins playing in my head whenever a certain person (where I work) comes into the room (let’s just say we have communication issues). And of course, the whole new-age and self-help movements have developed all sorts of “self affirmations” which is a kind of watered-down practice loosely borrowed from mantra recitation.

Any Vajrayana Buddhist will recommend
OM MANI PADME HUM.
Pure Land Buddhists will suggest you chant some variation of OM NAMO AMITABHA (Namo Amitoufo in Chinese, Namo Amida Butsu in Japanese)
Nichirens will suggest Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.

Take your pick.
EMPTIFUL.
An inward outlook produces outward insight.
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