The most common meaning offered for the mantra is usually something like “ Behold! The jewel in the lotus!” But it is almost impossible to give one exact meaning since it has been interpreted in many ways. Om Mani Padme Hum can not really be translated into a simple phrase or sentence. It is said that all the teachings of the Buddha are contained in this mantra. It does not require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master). It is the most widely used of all Buddhist mantras, and open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it. The mantra originated in India as it moved from India into Tibet, the pronunciation changed because some of the sounds in the Indian Sanskrit language were hard for Tibetans to pronounce. Chenrezig and his love and compassion are within us. In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, however, the blessing and the power and the qualities of the enlightened beings are not considered as coming from an outside source, but are believed to be innate, to be aspects of our own true nature.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying the mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. In most religious traditions one prays to the deities of the tradition in the hopes of receiving their blessing, which will benefit one in some way.
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