Monday Music: Tibetan Chant (Om Mani Padme Hum)

Tibetan script for "Om Mani Padme Hum"

In honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's visit to Birmingham this month, enjoy some Tibetan Buddhist chanting. The Dalai Lama will be in Birmingham this week as part of Human Rights week and will be at a public gathering at Region's Field on October 26.

"Om mani padme hum" is one of the most revered mantras in Tibetan Buddhism. It is often carved into rocks and written on paper and placed into prayer wheels. It's aim is to bring the liberation of enlightenment to all living beings. To read what The Dalai Lama has said about this mantra, scroll down below the video. You can read more about Om mani padme hum at http://www.dharma-haven.org/tibetan/meaning-of-om-mani-padme-hung.htm

                 On the meaning of: OM MANI PADME HUM

    "The jewel is in the lotus" or "praise to the jewel in the lotus"

  by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso The Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet

   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, is

composed of three pure letters, A, U, and M. These symbolize the

practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; they also symbolize the

pure exalted body, speech and mind of a Buddha.

   Can impure body, speech and mind be transformed into pure body,

speech and mind, or are they entirely separate? All Buddhas are cases

of being who were like ourselves and then in dependence on the path

became enlightened; Buddhism does not assert that there is anyone who

from the beginning is free from faults and possesses all good

qualities. The development of pure body, speech, and mind comes from

gradually leaving the impure states and their being transformed into

the pure.

   How is this done? The path is indicated by the next four syllables.

MANI, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factor of method- the altruistic

intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.  Just as a

jewel is capable of removing poverty, so the altruistic mind of

enlightenment is capable of removing the poverty, or difficulties, of

cyclic existence and of solitary peace. Similarly, just as a jewel

fulfills the wishes of sentient beings, so the altruistic intention to

become enlightened fulfills the wishes of sentient beings.

   The two syllables, PADME, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom. Just as

a lotus grows forth from mud but is not sullied by the faults of mud,

so wisdom is capable of putting you in a situation of non-

contradiction where as there would be contradiction if you did not

have wisdom. There is wisdom realizing impermanence, wisdom realizing

that persons are empty of self-sufficient or substantial existence,

wisdom that realizes the emptiness of duality (that is to say, of

difference of entity between subject and object), and wisdom that

realizes the emptiness of inherent existence. Though there are may

different types of wisdom, the main of all these is the wisdom

realizing emptiness.

   Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and

wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable, HUM, which indicates

indivisibility. According to the sutra system, this indivisibility of

method and wisdom refers to one consciousness in which there is a full

form of both wisdom affected by method and method affected by wisdom.

In the mantra, or tantra vehicle, it refers to one conciousness in

which there is the full form of both wisdom and method as one

undifferentiable entity. In terms of the seed syllables of the five

conqueror Buddhas, HUM is the is the seed syllable of Akshobhya- the

immovable, the unfluctuating, that which cannot be disturbed by

anything.

   Thus the six syllables, OM MANI PADME HUM, mean that in dependence

on the practice which is in indivisible union of method and wisdom,

you can transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure

body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. It is said that you should not

seek for Buddhahood outside of yourself; the substances for the

achievement of Buddhahood are within. As Maitreya says in his SUBLIME

CONTINUUM OF GREAT VEHICLE (UTTARA TANTRA) all beings naturally have

the Buddha nature in their own continuum. We have within us the seed

of purity, the essence of a One Gone Thus (TATHAGATAGARBHA), that is

to be transformed and full developed into Buddhahood.

(From a lecture given by His Holiness The Dalai Lama of Tibet at the

Kalmuck Mongolian Buddhist Center, New Jersey.)

Transcribed by Ngawang Tashi (Tsawa), Drepung Loseling, MUNGOD, INDIA

 (retrieved on 9/15/2014 at http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/omph.htm)

Note: His Holiness the Dalai Lama will be in Birmingham, Alabama at Regions Field on October 26, 2014 as part of Human Rights Week.

Tibetan Sand Mandala: Precision and Prayer

Mandala from Loseling Monastery brochure

Tibetan monks from the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Atlanta came the University of Alabama at Birmingham this week. They came to present "The Mystical Arts of Tibet" throughout the week. On the first day, following and opening ceremony of chants, music, and mantra recitation, they began construction of a sand mandala in the lobby of the Alys Stephens Center for the Performing Arts. One of the monks explained to those of us gathered that the mandala would be a tool for resolving conflicting emotions. The sand mandala would then be swept away after its completion (which would take several days) to symbolize the impermanence of all things.

At the opening ceremony the monks donned their hats and brought out horns, drums, and bells to accompany their ritual involving chants and prayers. It was the first time I had witnessed first hand the Tibetan chant, which involves a quite unusual vocal phenomenon involving a deep rich multiphonic voice. Each chant master simultaneously intones three different notes (don't ask me how they do that!). The group of nine monks filled the room with sounds and tones that for me seemed to have a centering and cleansing effect.

Before the ceremony began, the different colored sands and instruments used to place the sand were on display. A monk explained to one of the spectators that the sand is made from white marble that is ground to a fine consistency.

The monks began the mandala by setting out lines using something similar to a carpenter's chalk line. Then a large compass was used to mark chalk circles. Smaller compasses were then used to lay out smaller circles.

Lines were meticulously plotted out across the table. The monks had several rulers on hand, just like the ones used by students in algebra and geometry classes. 

While some engaged in the careful and steady preparation for the mandala, other monks were on hand to answer people's questions. I noticed a string of wooden Buddhist prayer beads. I told the monk that I was familiar with rosary beads which I use in meditation and asked him how the Buddhists use their prayer beads. "It is a system of counting," he told me. "We move one bead as we say each prayer or mantra. When we have done many prayers with the beads, then they contain a spiritual power that can protect us when we carry them. For example, if I put these beads around my wrist (the string of beads was the size of a bracelet), then if I become angry with someone and want to hit them, the beads remind me, 'No, I must practice compassion.' "

I had to leave to run some errands. When I returned a couple of hours later, I found that the monks had completed an inner circle at the center.

I went back three days later (Thursday afternoon). They had made great progress, still with some work left before completing the mandala. I asked them the name of the mandala. "Medicine Buddha," one of the monks told me, "also called Healing Buddha."

According to the local newspaper report earlier in the week, the monks never decide which mandala to do until they arrive, get a feel for the place and its energy, and come to a consensus. The mandala which was begun on Monday will be completed on Friday. Following a closing consecration ceremony, the colored sands will be swept up. The sweeping away of the beautiful and intricate mandala symbolizes the impermanence of all things. Half of the sand will be distributed to the audience for personal blessing and healing. The rest of the sand will be carried in a procession to a body of water to disperse healing throughout the community and the world.                                                      

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Here is a view of a mandala that some Tibetan monks did in Chicago. 

  

The Mystical Arts of Tibet tour, in addition to the sand mandala, involves presentations of music and dance. The purpose is to share Tibetan culture with others. The Drepung Loseling Institute was formed in Atlanta, Georgia in 1991 and is affiliated with Emory University. Its objective, according to their brochure, is to promote trans-cultural understanding and scholarly exchange.

Photo from Loseling Monestery brochure

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[For additional reading I would recommend:

1. The Jew and the Lotus, by Roger Kamenetz. This is a fascinating account of a delegation of rabbis who travel to Dharamsala, India for dialogue with the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama had invited them for a visit because he wanted to learn from them “the secret of Jewish spiritual survival in exile.” The book is a wonderful discovery of Tibetan Buddhism and Judaism.

2. The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton. Thomas Merton had studied Buddhism and felt that it was possible for a Christian monk to learn form the Buddhist discipline and experience. This is the journal he kept while on pilgrimage to Asia. It also includes other writings of his, including the address he gave at a conference on monasticism in Bangkok shortly before his untimely accidental death. Here one finds lively insights into Buddhist as well as Hindu thought. I read with great anticipation his journal entries leading up to and chronicling his visit with the Dalai Lama in India.]

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