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, many Buddhist s carve mantras into rocks as a form of devotion.]] A Mantra is a Religious Syllable or Poem , typically from the Sanskrit language. Their use varies according to the school and philosophy associated with the mantra. They are primarily used as spiritual conduits, words or vibrations that instill one-pointed Concentration in the devotee. Other purposes have included religious ceremonies to accumulate wealth, avoid danger, or eliminate enemies. Mantras originated in India with Vedic Hinduism and were later adopted by Buddhists , Sikhs and Jains , now popular in various modern forms of spiritual practice which are loosely based on practices of these Eastern religions. The Sanskrit word '''' (m. मन्त्रः, also n. मन्त्रं) consists of the Root ''man-'' "to think" (also in ''manas'' "mind") and the suffix ''-tra'' meaning, tool, hence a literal translation would be "instrument of thought". Mantras are interpreted to be effective as Sound ( Vibration ), to the effect that great emphasis is put on correct pronunciation (resulting in an early development of a science of Phonetics in India). They are intended to deliver the mind from Illusion and material inclinations. Chant ing is the process of repeating a mantra. INTRODUCTION Mantras have some features in common with Spell s in general, in that they are a translation of the human will or desire into a form of action. Indeed, Dr. Edward Conze , a Scholar of Buddhism , frequently translated "mantra" as "spell". As symbols, sounds are seen to effect what they symbolise. Vocal sounds are frequently thought of as having magical powers, or even of representing the words or speech of a Deity . For the authors of the Hindu scriptures of the Upanishads , the syllable Aum , itself constituting a mantra, represents Brahman , the Godhead , as well as the whole of creation. Merely pronouncing this syllable is to experience the divine in a very direct way. Kukai suggests that all sounds are the voice of the Dharmakaya Buddha -- i.e. as in Hindu Upanishadic and Yogic thought, these sounds are manifestations of ultimate reality. We should not think that this is peculiar to Eastern culture, however. Words do have a mysterious power to affect us. Accepted scholarly Etymology links the word with "manas" meaning "mind" and 'trâna' for protection so that a mantra is something which protects the mind -- however in practice we will see that mantra is considered to do far more than simply protect the mind. For many cultures it is the written and a Tibetan Buddhist . The analysis of Kukai, a 9th Century Japanese Buddhist is revealing. See below. While Hindu Tantra s eventually came to see the letters as well as the sounds as representatives of the divine, it was when Buddhism travelled to China that a major shift in emphasis towards writing came about. China lacked a unifying, ecclesiastic language like Sanskrit , and achieved its cultural unity by having a written language that was flexible in pronunciation but more precise in terms of the concepts that each character represented. In fact the Indians had several scripts which were all equally serviceable for writing Sanskrit. Hence the Chinese prized written language much more highly than did the Indian Buddhist missionaries, and the writing of mantras became a spiritual practice in its own right. So that whereas Brahmins had been very strict on correct pronunciation, the Chinese, and indeed other Far-Eastern Buddhists were less concerned with this than correctly writing something down. The practice of writing mantras, and copying texts as a spiritual practice, became very refined in Japan, and the writing in the Siddham script in which the Sanskrit of many Buddhist Sutras were written is only really seen in Japan nowadays. However, written mantra-repetition in Hindu practices, with Sanskrit in any number of scripts, is well-known to many sects in India as well. MANTRA IN HINDUISM Mantras were originally conceived in the great Hindu scriptures known as the Vedas . Within practically all Hindu scriptures, the writing is formed in painstakingly crafted two line " Shlokas " and most mantras follow this pattern, although mantras are often found in single line or even single word combinations. The most basic mantra is '' Aum '', which in Hinduism is known as the "pranava mantra," the source of all mantras. The philosophy behind this is the Hindu idea of nama-rupa (name-form), which supposes that all things, ideas or entities in existence, within the phenomenological cosmos, have name and form of some sort. The most basic name and form is the primordial vibration of Aum , as it is the first manifested nama-rupa of Brahman , the unmanifest reality/unreality. Essentially, before existence and beyond existence is only One reality, Brahman, and the first manifestation of Brahman in existence is Aum. For this reason, Aum is considered to be the most fundamental and powerful mantra, and thus is prefixed and suffixed to all Hindu prayers. While some mantras may invoke individual Gods or principles, the most fundamental mantras, like 'Aum,' the 'Shanti Mantra,' the ' Gayatri Mantra' and others all ultimately focus on the One reality. In the Hindu tantras the universe is sound. The supreme (para) brings forth existence through the Word (Shabda). Creation consists of vibrations at various frequencies and amplitudes giving rise to the phenomena of the world. The purest vibrations are the var.na, the imperishable letters which are revealed to us, imperfectly as the audible sounds and visible forms. Var.nas are the atoms of sound. A complex symbolic association was built up between letters and the elements, gods, signs of the Zodiac , parts of the body -- letters became rich in these associations. For example in the Aitrareya-aranya-Upanishad we find: :"The mute consonants represent the earth, the sibilants the sky, the vowels heaven. The mute consonants represent fire, the sibilants air, the vowels the sun? The mute consonants represent the eye, the sibilants the ear, the vowels the mind" In effect each letter became a mantra and the language of the Vedas, Sanskrit , corresponds profoundly to the nature of things. Thus the Vedas come to represent reality itself. The seed syllable Om represents the underlying unity of reality, which is Brahman. Mantra Japa Mantra Japa was a concept of the Vedic sages that incorporates mantras as one of the main forms of Puja , or worship, whose ultimate end is seen as Moksha /liberation. Essentially, Mantra Japa means repetition of mantra, and has become an established practice of all Hindu streams, from the various Yoga to Tantra . It involves repetition of a mantra over and over again, usually in cycles of auspicious numbers (in multiples of three), the most popular being 108 . For this reason, Hindu Mala s (bead necklaces) developed, containing 108 beads and a head "meru" bead. The devotee performing japa using his/her fingers counts each bead as he/she repeats the chosen mantra. Having reached 108 repetitions, if he/she wishes to continue another cycle of mantras, the devotee must turn the mala around without crossing the "meru" bead and repeat. It is said that through japa the devotee attains one-pointedness, or extreme focus, on the chosen deity or principle idea of the mantra. The vibrations and sounds of the mantra are considered extremely important, and thus reverberations of the sound are supposed to awaken the Prana or spiritual life force and even stimulate Chakra s according to many Hindu schools of thought. Any shloka from holy Hindu texts like the Vedas , Upanishads , Bhagavad Gita , Yoga Sutra , even the Mahabharata , Ramayana , Durga Saptashati or Chandi are considered powerful enough to be repeated to great effect, and have therefore the status of a mantra. A very common mantra is formed by taking a deity's name. Called Nama japa and saluting it in such a manner: "Aum namah --" or "Aum Jai (Hail!) --" or several such permutations. Common examples are " Aum Namah Shivaya " (Aum I bow to Lord Shiva), "Aum Namo Narayanaya "; or "Aum Namo Bhagavate Vasudevãya," (Salutations to the Universal God Vishnu), "Aum Shri Ganeshaya Namah" (Aum to Shri Ganesha ) and "Aum Kalikayai Namah" and "Aum Hrim Chandikãyai Namah." (i.e., mantras to Devi .) Some Hindu mantras The most representative mantra of all The Hindu Mantras is the famed Gayatri Mantra : |
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