Explanation of the Six Syllable Mantra

Closing the doors to the six realms, this mantra frees sentient beings from sufferings to be reborn in Buddha’s Pure Land.

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OM closes the door to the suffering of being reborn in the gods’ realm. The suffering of the gods arises from their ability to foresee one’s fall from the gods’ realm.

This suffering comes from pride.


MA closes the door to the suffering of being reborn in the warring gods (asuras) realm. The suffering of these asuras is constant fighting.

This suffering comes from jealousy.


NI closes the door to the suffering of being reborn in the human realm. Humans suffer from birth, sickness, old age, and death.

This suffering comes from desire.


PAD closes the door to the suffering of being reborn in the animal realm. The suffering of animals is stupidity, preying upon one another, being killed by men for meat, skin, etc. And being beasts of burden.

This suffering comes from ignorance.


ME closes the door to the suffering of being reborn in the hungry ghosts’ realm. The suffering of hungry ghosts is hunger and thirst.

This suffering comes from greed.


HUNG closes the door to the suffering of being reborn in the hell realm. The suffering of the hell is heat and cold.

This suffering comes from anger or hatred.

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On the meaning of: OM MANI PADME HUNG


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 HUNG, 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 many 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, HUNG, 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 consciousness 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, HUNG 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 HUNG, 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


Teachings from ‘The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones’
By H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

“The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hung is easy to say yet quite powerful, because it contains the essence of the entire teaching. When you say the first syllable Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, and Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. Päd, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration, and the final sixth syllable Hung helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.”

“So in this way recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices from generosity to wisdom. The path of these six perfections is the path walked by all the Buddhas of the three times. What could then be more meaningful than to say the mantra and accomplish the six perfections?”


Teachings from ‘The Heart Treasure of the Enlightened Ones’
By H.H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

“Similarly, Chenrezig’s six-syllable mantra, OM MANI PADME HUNG, is the compassionate wisdom of all the Buddhas manifested as sound. Within it is contained the essential meaning of all eighty-four thousand sections of the Buddha’s teachings.

Of all the many mantras of various kinds, such as awareness mantras, dharanis and secret mantras, not one is superior to the six syllables of Chenrezig. The great benefits of reciting this mantra, commonly known as the mani, are described again and again in both sutras and tantras.

It is said that to recite the mani even once is the same as reciting the whole of the twelve branches of Buddha’s teachings. Reciting the six syllables of the mani perfects the six Paramitas and firmly blocks any possibility of rebirth in the six realms of samsara. It is a simple practice, easy to understand and accessible to all, and at the same time it contains the essence of the Dharma.

If you take the Mani as your refuge both in happiness and in sorrow, Chenrezig will always be with you, you will feel more and more devotion without any effort, and all by itself the realization of the Mahayana path will arise in your being.”