There are many ways to understand the meaning of the mantra. Here are a few of them:
The Transformation of Speech
[An excerpt from The Dharma, by Kalu Rinpoche, from a chapter on The Four Dharmas
of Gampopa. ]
"The second aspect of transformation [of confusion into wisdom] concerns
our speech. Although it may be easy to consider speech as intangible, that it
simply appears and disappears, we actually relate to it as something real. It
is because we become so attached to what we say and hear that speech has such
power.
Mere words, which have no ultimate reality, can
determine our happiness and suffering. We create pleasure and pain through our
fundamental clinging to sound and speech.
In the Vajrayana context, we recite and meditate on mantra, which is enlightened
sound, the speech of the [Bhodisattva of Compassion], the union of Sound and
Emptiness. It has no intrinsic reality, but is simply the manifestation of pure
sound, experienced simultaneously with its Emptiness. Through mantra, we no
longer cling to the reality of the speech and sound encountered in life, but
experience it as essentially empty. Then confusion of the speech aspect of our
being is transformed into enlightened awareness.
At first, the Union of Sound and Emptiness is simply an intellectual concept
of what our meditation should be. Through continued application, it becomes
our actual experience. Here, as elsewhere in the practice, attitude is all-important,
as this story about a teacher in Tibet illustrates. The teacher had two disciples,
who both undertook to perform a hundred million recitations of the mantra of
Chenrezi, OM MANI PADME HUNG. In the presence of their lama, they took a vow
to do so, and went off to complete the practice.
One of the disciples was very diligent, though his realization was perhaps not
so profound. He set out to accomplish the practice as quickly as possible and
recited the mantra incessantly, day and night. After long efforts, he completed
his one hundred million recitations, in three years. The other disciple was
extremely intelligent, though perhaps not as diligent, because he certainly
did not launch into the practice with the same enthusiasm. But when his friend
was approaching the completion of his retreat, the second disciple, who had
not recited very many mantras, went up on the top of a hill. He sat down there,
and began to meditate that all the beings throughout the universe were transformed
into Chenrezi. He meditated that the sound of the mantra was not only issuing
from the mouth of each and every being, but that every atom in the universe
was vibrating with it, and for a few days he recited the mantra in this state
of samadhi.
When the two disciples went to their lama to indicate they had finished the
practice, he said, 'Oh, you've both done excellently. You were very diligent,
and YOU were very wise. You both accomplished the one hundred million recitations
of the mantra.' Thus, through changing our attitude and developing our understanding,
practice becomes far more powerful."
The Powers of the Six Syllables
The six syllables perfect the Six Paramitas of the Bodhisattvas.
Gen Rinpoche, in his commentary on the Meaning of said:
"The mantra Om Mani Pädme Hum 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 Hum 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?"
The six syllables purify the six realms of existence in suffering.
For example, the syllable Om purifies the neurotic attachment to bliss and pride,
which afflict the beings in the realm of the gods.
Purifies Samsaric Realm
Om bliss / pride gods
Ma jealousy /
lust for entertainment jealous gods
Ni passion / desire human
Pe stupidity / prejudice animal
Me poverty /
possessiveness hungry ghost
Hung aggression / hatred hell
"Behold! The jewel in the lotus!"
This phrase is often seen as a translation of the mantra. However, although
some mantras are translatable, more or less, the Mani is not one of them; but
while the phrase is incorrect as a translation, it does suggest an interesting
way to think about the mantra, by considering the meanings of the individual
words.
H.H. The Dalai Lama has provided just such an analysis, in a Web page The Meaning
of Om Mani Padme Hum.
He concludes his discussion with this synopsis: "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."