Notes regarding Mantra

A mantra is a powerful word or phrase that may or may not have meaning in the same way as a sentence. Compare spells incantations and prayer formulas in other spiritual traditions. The term is a Sanskrit word mantram that combines the root manas (mind) with tram (protection) so the literal meaning is mind-protection.

The Indian metaphysical tradition explains that the body is composed of the combination of five elements (Skt. pancha mahabhuta). They are: ether, air, fire, water and earth. These contribute to the tanmatras or subtle properties: shabda (sound), sparsha (touch), rupa (form or seeing), rasa (taste), and gandha (smell). Mantra is a characteristic element of the complex of Indian religions known today as Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma,) which uses Sanskrit as its holy language. Buddhism as we know it emerged from the Indian context and mantra is a characteristic, even an essential, part of it, too.

Etymologically, as Gonda pointsout, Sanskrit words in -tra (like the Indo-European -tro) often signify instruments of some sort. Thus, śrotram, or “ear,” is the instrument of hearing and jñātram, or “intellect,” is the instrument of knowing. Mantra, similarly, is an instrument (-tra) of the mind (man-), being derived from the same root as manas-, denoting “mind” in the very broadest sense, encompassing the activity, not only of thought, but also of the emotions, the imagination, and the spiritual faculty of a human being. A mantra, in brief, is a tool for doing something with this mind. What is really important, therefore, about phenomena such as Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ is not their meaning, but their function.

As Gonda remarks:

“A mantra is always a source of activity, it is always a potential means of achieving a special effect.”(Gonda, “The Indian Mantra,” p. 253f.)

In the words of a contemporary Tibetan lama, “A mantra is a series of syllables whose power resides in its sound, through the repeated pronouncing of which one can obtain control of a given form of energy.”-(Namkhai Norbu, Dzogchen,The Self-Perfected State (London: Arkana, 1989), p. 9. )In the case of Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ, this energy is conceived of as the power of Avalokiteśvara.