How to Recite a Mantra
At that time the great Brahma-king rose from his seat and arranged his attire. Joining his palms respectfully, he said to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, “Very good! Great One, I have attended innumerable assemblies of the Buddha and have heard various kinds of Dharmas and various kinds of dhāraṇīs. Never have I heard such wonderful phrases as in this Hindrance-Free Great Compassion-Mind Dhāraṇī. Great One, please tell us the features and characteristics of this dhāraṇī. This large assembly and I would be delighted to hear them.”
Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva said to the Brahma-king, “For the convenience and benefit of all sentient beings, you ask me this question. Now hearken well! I will briefly tell you all a few of them.”
Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva said, “They are the great loving-kind, compassionate mind, the equality mind, the asaṁskṛta mind, the no-attachment mind, the emptiness-seeing mind, the reverent mind, the humble mind, the unflustered mind, the not-taking-wrong-views mind, and the unsurpassed bodhi mind. You should know that such minds are the features of this dhāraṇī. Accordingly you should cultivate yourselves.”
—Sūtra of the Vast, Perfect, Hindrance-Free Great Compassion-Mind Dhāraṇī of
the Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva
Translated from the digital Chinese Canon (T20n1060, 0108a4–15)
The features of the Great Compassion-Mind Dhāraṇī are true for all the mantras pronounced by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. One would be wise to cultivate these features whether one recites a mantra, studies a sūtra, or carries on one’s daily life.
Those who have contact with Tibetan Tantrism may have some concern about receiving “transmission” of a mantra from a “highly realized” lama, vested with the authority of a certain lineage. This has never been a problem in the Mahāyāna tradition. First, the Buddha has always instructed us to do our best to disseminate His teachings, including the mantras. Second, the aspiration to recite a mantra arises from one’s own Buddha mind, one’s root lama. Can one find a lama higher than the Buddha or one’s own Buddha mind? Given the mantra texts, one can feel authorized to enjoy mantra recitation with a peaceful and grateful mind, in addition to those minds taught by Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva.
A mantra has boundless meanings if the meanings of the words are not known. However, some of the mantra words are well known to Buddhist students, and this knowledge by no means diminishes the power of the mantra. To look up the meaning of a mantra word, you can use the Monier-Williams Sanskrit Dictionary. Some mantra words are compound words, each formed with two or more words according to the Sanskrit rule of pronunciation. The component words of each compound word are given below each mantra.
