Mantras you can use daily

Welcome to Raffaello’s raffaellopalandri.wordpress.com and Amber’s diosraw.com collaboration project called “The Self Empowerment Series“.

Together we will provide you with the tools through words on how to empower yourself and face the world in your own divine sovereignty.

In our Holistic Awakening Sangha practice, we use Mantras daily.

Mantras are syllables, words, and sentences voiced or chanted repetitively during a self-grounding, consciousness-shifting practice. Each of them has a different scope and function, but they all help us to grow awareness and progress in our journey towards Awakening and Enlightenment.

Chanting a mantra can help us dealing with specific personal concerns or issues. A mantra can also improve our focusing ability on some meditative practices.

Here are some examples of mantras to try in our own practice:

The Avalokitesvara Mantra

This is one of the most known, and most widely used Mantra.
Tibetan Buddhists chant it as a prayer to invoke the blessings, power, and benevolent attention of Chenrezig (the Tibetan name for Avalokiteśvara or Padmapani), who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas.
This mantra allows the person chanting it to focus on giving and receiving compassion.

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om: I invoke the sacred Universal sound 
Mani: The jewel, and also the goal of Enlightenment, love and compassion 
Padme: the Lotus flower, representing wisdom 
Hum: the spirit of Enlightenment

In this text the mantra is seen as condensed form of all the Buddhist teachings. In English, this chant can be literally translated into “Praise to the Jewel in the Lotus“.

The Heart Sutra

This is the mantra from the Prajñāpāramita Hridaya Sūtra or Heart Sūtra.
Thus, it is said to bring the chanters the deepest knowledge from the Sutras.
Chanting this Mantra helps your wisdom, your understanding, your awareness to grow enough to find your true, most intimate nature.

Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasaṃgate Bodhi Svāhā

Gate Gate Pāragate Pārasaṃgate Bodhi Svāhā

Gate: means gone. Gone from suffering to the liberation of suffering. Gone from forgetfulness to mindfulness. Gone from duality into non-duality. Gate gate means “gone, gone“.
Paragate: means gone all the way to the other shore. So this mantra is said in a very strong way. Gone, gone, gone all the way over. In Parasamgate, the syllable sam means everyone, the sangha, the entire community of beings. So, “Everyone gone over to the other shore“.
Bodhi: is the light inside, enlightenment, or awakening. You see it and the vision of reality liberates you.
Svaha: Hail, or “allow the meaning of this mantra to take root in my mind“

So the English translation of this Mantra is “Gone, gone, gone all the way over, everyone gone to the other shore, enlightenment, Hail to thee!“

The Medicine Buddha Mantra

This mantra helps to bring about success in all areas of life, assisting in relieving suffering to pave the way for success, growth, happiness and Enlightenment: 

Tayata Om Bekanze Bekanze Maha Bekanze Radza Samudgate Swaha 

Medicine Buddha

Tayata: I now invoke 
Om: The Universal sound 
Bekanze Bekanze: Release the pain of illness 
Maha Bekanze: Release the pain and darkness of delusion 
Radza Samudgate: To achieve supreme spiritual heights 
Swaha: Hail to the Medicine Buddha or “allow the meaning of this mantra to take root in my mind“.

So the English translation of the Mantra is:  “I invoke you, Medicine Buddha, to release the pain of illness, to release the pain of delusion, to let me achieve the highest spiritual heights, Hail!“

Shakyamuni Mantra

Shakyamuni, also known as Siddhartha Gautama, is the so-called historic Buddha.
He embodies the most traditional Buddha nature, and this mantra represents a way to remember and invoke this Buddha.
This Mantra has a goal of bringing forth the Buddha nature that resides in us all. 

Om Muni Muni Mahamuni Shakyamuniye Svaha

Om: I invoke the Universal sound, Buddha nature 
Muni Muni: And the wise one, wise one 
Mahamuni Shakyamuniye: Of the Shakyans 
Svaha: Hail to thee!

A quite accurate rendering in English of the meaning of this Mantra would be: “Oh, wise one, wise one, greatly wise one, wise one of the Shakyans, Hail!“

Amitabha Mantra

This mantra  is recited to Amitabha Buddha, who embodies pure discernment and Light, the Limitless Light.
When you chant this mantra, you evoke the spirit of Amitabha Buddha, which represents pristine awareness, free from any delusion and attachment.
This Mantra protects the chanters from harm and help them to overcome obstacles standing in their path towards Enlightenment.
One’s loving, compassionate nature is enhanced, through this Mantra

Om Ami Dewa Hrih

Amithaba Buddha

Om: I invoke the Universal sound 
Ami: Infinite, limitless light 
Dewa: Deity, Buddha nature 
Hrih: With conscientiousness and self-respect.

The English translation of this Mantra sounds as: “Oh, Limitless Light Buddha, I respect you!“

Green Tara Mantra

This mantra helps the chanter to overcome physical, emotional, mental and relationship blocks.  Tārā is a savior goddess, a heavenly deity who hears the cries of all sentient beings experiencing misery in saṃsāra.
So, the Green Tara figure is invoked to receive assistance.
The only thing required while chanting this Mantra to receive assistance is for the chanters not to cling to any one outcome; the more detached and non-grasping we can be, the happier we can become. 

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Swaha

Green Tara

Om: I invoke the Universal sound 
Tare: And the Green Tara 
Tuttare: To bring deliverance from suffering and delusion 
Ture: Paving the way for compassion and Enlightenment 
Swaha: Hail to Green Tara or “allow the meaning of this mantra to take root in my mind“.

Green Tara is usually shown seated with one leg on the ground, ready to come to our defense.

White Tara Mantra

White Tara is the Tara associate with compassion and long life. The White Tara mantra is very often chanted with an individual in mind, in order to entreat Tara to bless them with the long life and the compassion that they need to overcome obstacles.

Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jnana Pustim Kuru Svaha

White Tara

Om: I invoke the Universal sound 
Tare: And the White Tara 
Tuttare: To bring deliverance from suffering and delusion 
Ture: And bring instead compassion and Enlightenment 
Mama: To myself and to… 
Ayuh: Long life and longevity 
Punya: Merit from living life ethically and with good intention 
Jnana: Wisdom 
Pustim: Abundance, wealth and good things 
Kuru: Like the auspicious land North of the Himalayas 
Swaha: Hail to White Tara or “allow the meaning of this mantra to take root in my mind“.

White Tara is depicted as seated in the diamond lotus position, with both legs folded under her, and her feet facing skyward.
White Tara has 7 eyes — with an eye in her forehead, and one on each hand and foot — that represent her compassionate attention to all the suffering of the world.

pavamāna abhyāroha MANTRA

This mantra comes from the Upanishads, one of the ancient philosophical yogic texts from India.

Asatao ma sadgamaya, Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya, Mrtyorma amrtam gamaya, Om shanti shanti shanti

ॐ असतो मा सद्गमय ।
तमसो मा ज्योतिर्गमय ।
मृत्योर्मा अमृतं गमय ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥

Asataḥ: “from falsehood”; ablative case of asat “falsehood”, from a (negation) + sat “truth”; becomes asato due to sandhi; can be a synonym for “evil”
Mā: “me”; first person pronoun, singular number, accusative case
Sat: “to truth”; accusative case of sat “truth”; here accusative case shows the destination; see also Sat (Sanskrit); becomes sad due to sandhi; can be a synonym for “good”
Gamaya: “lead”; causative, imperative mood, active voice, singular number, second person of root gam “to go”.
Tamasaḥ: “from darkness”; ablative case of tamas “darkness”; becomes tamaso due to sandhi
Jyotiḥ: “to light”; accusative case of jyotis “light”; becomes jyotir due to sandhi
Mṛtyoḥ: “from death”; ablative case of mṛtyu “death”; see also Mrtyu; becomes mṛtyor due to sandhi
Amṛtaṃ: “to immortality”; accusative case of amṛta “immortal”, literally “not dead”, from a (negation) + mṛta “dead”; becomes ‘mṛtaṃ due to vowel elision.

So, the translation into English of this Mantra would be:

Lead us from the unreal to the real
Lead us from darkness to light
Lead us from death to immortality
Aum peace, peace, peace!

The seed of thruth MANTRA

Used in the Kundalini Yoga practice, Sat Nam can be a way to find your intuition. Sat Nam is known as a bija (seed) mantra—a one-syllable sound that activates the chakras.

Sat nam

The translation of this mantra is: “Truth is my name“.

Contact me at raffaello@yourselfunderstood.com if you want to learn more about Mantras and the practices associated with them.

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