Reciting mantras as mind protection

[tsangpakarpo]

I recently read in a book that the meaning of mantra is mind protection. When we separate the two syllabus..'man' means mind and 'tra' means protection. I have been reciting mantras for quite some time and I know it is helpful but I do not truly understand how does it protect our mind.

I personally believe when we understand more about mantras, we can focus better when we recite mantras.

Can anyone here share your knowledge on this?

[Q]

Always remember, like what Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche said " A Mantra is like meeting the Buddha or Bodhisattva himself".

In Buddhism, reciting a mantra is considered to be a complete way to enlightenment in itself.

We all know that a mantra contains the essence of a particular teaching, ie Heart Sutra's mantra when recited is similar to reciting the Heart Sutra itself. Therefore, the mantra is the teaching of the Buddha, and if the Dharma can protect the mind, so does the mantra.

Mantras help to protect our minds from ordinary perception. Although the mechanism of how it works is too complex, perhaps inexpressible to us. However, being a spiritual sound rather than a physical one... mantras communicate the Dharma directly to the mind and not through cognitive concepts of logic etc.

Mantras can help us to connect us with our inner capacity for compassion, healing, and wisdom... it also helps us tap into our Buddha Nature.

[Aurore]

The very simple reason of why we do a certain mantra for example Avalokitesvara's mantra is to gain compassion because the mantra is associated with the qualities of Avalokitesvara who is the Buddha of Compassion. So, in reciting the mantra, one is calling those qualities to the mind. So we feed and protect the mind with these positive qualities.

From doing some research, a more literal meaning for mind protection would be an instrument of the mind. It is the instrument to practice mindfulness. As an object of concentration, a mantra can help to still the mind. While you are reciting a mantra out loud or internally, your mind becomes more focus because you are already taking up space in your mind and less space for thinking negative things.

Mantras can also help us to develop mindfulness. The sound of the mantra itself is a mental object. Therefore, focusing on the sound of the mantra can be a form of meditation. By bringing the mind back over and over again to the mantra and away from distraction, the mind can become more still. We become more alert and focus. Paying attention to the correct pronunciation of the mantra is also another way to become mindful. Summary is all the qualities, mindfulness, concentration and positive thoughts can protect our minds from negative thoughts.

[hope rainbow]

I recently read in a book that the meaning of mantra is mind protection. When we separate the two syllabus..'man' means mind and 'tra' means protection. I have been reciting mantras for quite some time and I know it is helpful but I do not truly understand how does it protect our mind.

I personally believe when we understand more about mantras, we can focus better when we recite mantras.

Can anyone here share your knowledge on this?

Reply from my guts:

A Mantra is always associated with a Buddha, it comes from the mouth on a Buddha, it is a series of words that are given by a Buddha for those who recite them to connect with this Buddha, it is rainbow bridge between the person reciting and the Buddha.

It is the simplest way to connect to a Buddha, because it can be done without initiation, without refuge, and even without any knowledge about it really.

It is also one of the most potent and comprehensive way to connect with a Budddha also, because with the knowledge, the refuge and other vows, with a clean Guru samaya, with a steady practice, it is a thunderbolt bridge between the person reciting and the Buddha.

Anyone reciting a mantra creates merit, because the action of mantra recitation itself is done within the realm of activity of a Buddha, because it taps from the merit field created by that Buddha.

Thus, because of:
1. the merit created through reciting a Mantra,
2. and the connection with a specific quality of enlightenment embodied by the mantra and the Buddha associated with the mantra,
it opens one up to enlightenment, to spiritual practice, to betterment of one-self, to spiritual horizons, and in this IT PROTECTS THE MIND of the one who recites it.

It's not magical, it's not mystical, it's just reality. A reality more potent and more obvious than credit cards, careers, cars, food, friends, TV programs, family and bank accounts. Not that it puts down all that as not important, no, not at all, in fact all that is very important, but all that does NOT protect the mind, mantra recitation is more potent because it protects the mind, because the effects are powerful and because they stay on after death too.

[triesa]

I recall my personal experience of chanting mantra, and it is very real to me. Even as I speak now, I can recall how calm and peaceful I was during chanting, at that time I was encountering some major obstacles. But I must say, just by chanting hurriedly without much focus and meditation won't yield much result. I was very focus then and have extreme faith in the power of that mantra, and the result was just astonished. Everyday, when I started chanting, my mind was so calm and peaceful and I knew my obstacles would be cleared with the blessing of the mantra.  It is indeed a mind protection for me.

But I had doubts that just by chanting mantra alone can gain full enlightenment.....there is another thread on "Can we gain enlightenment just by reciting mantras". Do drop your opinion there.
http://www.dorjeshugden.com/forum/index.php?topic=1796.0

[pgdharma]

 I remembered I had to recite a certain amount of mantras to help me clear some obstacles I was facing. It was very hard in the beginning and I wasn't very focus when I started reciting as I was very new towards Buddhism. However, I continued reciting daily and the more I recited, the more I felt a calmness in me and I became more focus. Reciting mantras is good as we are reciting the holy words of the Buddha and it keeps our mind focus instead of wandering and having negative thoughts.

[Dolce Vita]

I remember someone told me Mantra is given by the Buddhas to great masters in their vision as a 'sound' form to connect to the Buddhas when we need help.

A Buddha statue or image is the visible form of a buddha whereas a mantra is the sound form of the Buddha. Each mantra has got their own energy. By reciting the mantra, the vibration of the sound somehow helps to open our mind and spiritual practice. The pronounciation of the mantra is not very important, it is the motivation and faith that matter the most.

[biggyboy]

I personally believe when we understand more about mantras, we can focus better when we recite mantras.

Mantras are speech manifestation (holy words) and wisdom energy of Buddhas.  By reciting them is a blessing to one's mind hence the protection.  How would it protects one's mind?  Reciting and repeating the holy words create sound vibrations that awake the Buddha nature in one's mind that will help eliminates ignorance and opens the way to wisdom. One may not understand what is the full meaning of the mantra he or she is chanting as it will still blesses one's mind. 

Just like in the story of an old woman who is not bright, illiterate and knew nothing of Buddha's teachings.  Her educated son who is a practitioner himself was worried about his mother that when she died, she would go to hell and suffer.  Hence, he taught her that whenever she hears any kind of bell, she should immediately respond OM MANI PADME HUNG.  He would even either ring the bell at the door or jingled a few coins and she would say the mantra.  Even when she heard the clanging of collar bells of yaks, she would automatically respond OM MANI PADME HUNG too. How skillful the son gotten his mother to chant this holy words.  Due to her karma, she was whisked away to one of the hot hells where she found herself in a huge iron cauldron being stirred by a terrible demon with a great metal spoon.  Inevitably when the spoon struck the rim with a resounding CLANGGGG!!!  The old woman responded without even thinking, just as she had been taught OM MANI PADME HUNG.  She was eventually entered the Pure Land.

That is how powerful the speech/words of Buddhas that helps and blesses one's mind.

[vajraD]

My low level understanding… I may be wrong..

Reciting mantra is one of the easiest way to connect to the Buddha’s even one have not taken refuge. If one do not chant but heard someone else chanting the mantra they also do get the benefit of being blessed or have an imprint of holy words. Mantras to me is also the condense of the qualities of the Buddha’s, hence by chanting the mantra we create the causes to have the qualities same like the Buddha’s.

[jeremyg]

This is what I think, I am not sure if this is right at all, but, i feel that mantras are a form of energy. They help us open the seeds of what that mantra is for. It is a way to connect with the buddhas, in a way that everyone can do. Of course if we do not do mantras properly, it will not yield much result.

But please respond to me on this: If we do not pronounce the mantra entirely properly, but in our mind we still visualize properly, and we have the proper motivations, will the result be different, or is it the actual syllables and words which yield result?

[Big Uncle]

Mantras is basically the manifestation of the Buddha in the form of sound. Hence, mantras are used extensively in Buddhist practice to transform the mind. Mind transformation is the best protection for the mind. Mantras can purify a lot of negative karma, increase our merits and bring about tremendous mindscape changes that can affect our destiny within this life and also for future lives as well.

To have the best effect of a mantra, it would be best to receive an oral transmission from a qualified Lama who has held unto his vows well. This would be for most mantras except mantras that invoke upon Higher Tantric deities. These deities and practices like Heruka, Yamantaka, Hevajra, Guhyasamaja and Kalachakra would require initiation into the practice. This means one would be empowered to not just recite the mantra but also do the necessary visualisations that will have nuclear-like power to effect transformation within us.

[Tenzin K]

Thus mantra is the science of training the mind by repeatedly chanting the Mantra to protect one’s self. The power of Mantra is the ultimate protection if it is chanted repeatedly thousands of times in our life, with ultimate devotion and with a sprit of surrender and not just repeatedly chanting a fixed number of times as a mechanical ritual. It is the most secret and most sacred of activity that one undertakes to seek protection or to seek fulfillment of one’s desires in life from the lord.

Absolute faith and a spirit of surrender is necessary . I myself have experienced the power of mantra in my life, to protect myself from the greatest danger and also it has fulfilled my impossible desires few times in my life. A Mantra is a mystical formula composed of letters ( or phonemes) and words that is meaningful to the person who is chanting the mantra.

The mantra is a collection of “Akshara’’ categorized into a set of 5 alphabets in Sanskrit, meant to raise the Kundalini Shakti from the muladhara Chakra to the visudha Chakra in the first stage and either with or without a material objective in view. In this stage mantra is recited verbally in a specific rhythm a specific number of times daily. If it is done properly with single minded devotion, it is bound to give success in the material world by fulfilling material desires as well as all desires related to the Physical Plane of consciousness. In different stages of the practice both quantitatively and qualitatively.

[ratanasutra]

Mantras is basically the manifestation of the Buddha in the form of sound. Hence, mantras are used extensively in Buddhist practice to transform the mind. Mind transformation is the best protection for the mind. Mantras can purify a lot of negative karma, increase our merits and bring about tremendous mindscape changes that can affect our destiny within this life and also for future lives as well.

To have the best effect of a mantra, it would be best to receive an oral transmission from a qualified Lama who has held unto his vows well. This would be for most mantras except mantras that invoke upon Higher Tantric deities. These deities and practices like Heruka, Yamantaka, Hevajra, Guhyasamaja and Kalachakra would require initiation into the practice. This means one would be empowered to not just recite the mantra but also do the necessary visualisations that will have nuclear-like power to effect transformation within us.

Well said Big Uncle.

i also would like to add this quote from HH.Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Why is it so important to recite Mantras and what are they? Just as we visualize ourselves as a deity and the surroundings as a buddha-field in order to purify our impure perception of form, we recite mantras to purify our impure perception of sound. Mantra is a Sanskrit word that means “to protect the mind” since, while reciting mantras the mind is protected from its ordinary deluded thoughts. - HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

[Vajraprotector]

I have read that 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).  Notice that the first one is sound.

I only have a source of reference in my library, which is by Jamgon Mipham (d. 1912) a great Tibetan scholar in Luminous Essence:

Mantras, however, are believed to be divine and are recited with faith for this reason, whereas this is not the case with other forms of speech.  Moreover, if a mantra is thought to be something ordinary and not seen for what it is, it will not be able to perform its intended function. Mantras are like non-conceptual wish-fulfilling jewels.  Infusing one's being with the blessings of mantra, like the form of a moon reflected on a body of water, necessitates the presence of faith and other conditions that set the stage for the spiritual attainments of mantra. Just as the moon's reflection cannot appear without water, mantras cannot function without the presence of faith and other such factors in one's being.

Nevertheless, this is not to say that simply hearing the sound of the Thus-gone One's awareness mantras through the power of the inconceivable emanations of the Buddha is completely pointless. The Fundamental Intent of Manjusri explains:

Reciting the mantras of the thus-gone ones
Is, in this way, beneficial.
Even those who throw a glance,
Will become followers

Therefore, from the perspective of the way things appear conventionally, blessings occur once the mantras of the Buddha's teachings come together with one's own devoted interest.  Because the right causes and conditions have been assembled, blessings do indeed arise, just as a sprout will shoot up once a seed, water, and the other necessary conditions are in place, and like the blessings that occur when an individual with a pure being meets with a disciple who sees him or her as realized.

[bambi]

From what I understand, reciting mantra is the tool for mind protection against everything negative. Reciting mantras is one of the greatest ways of removing negative karma and creating positive ones. They help to neutralize difficult karma and also removal of obstacles. It is known as the meditation for the mind. So when we chant mantras, it helps us to perceive things in reality which in return makes us calmer, happier and more at ease. Our energy and consciousness will evolve into a more awakened state and attracting more positive energy that will enhance our mind transformation.


For eg. Lama Zopa gave a teaching on the benefits of reciting Om Mani Padme Hung.

"The benefits of reciting Compassion Buddha mantra are infinite, like the limitless sky. Even if one doesn't have much intellectual understanding of Dharma, even if the only thing that you know is Om Mani Padme Hum, still the happiest life is a life lived with an attitude free of the eight worldly concerns."

It is also mentioned in the tantras that by reciting this mantra you achieve the four qualities of being born in the Amitabha Buddha pure land and other pure lands; at the time of death, seeing Buddha and lights appearing in the sky; the devas making you offerings; and never being reborn in the hell, hungry ghost or animals realms. You will be reborn in the pure land of Buddha or as a happy transmigratory being.

When one who recites ten malas a day goes swimming, whether in a river, an ocean or some other body of water, the water that touches that person’s body gets blessed.

It is said that up to seven generations of that person’s descendents won’t get reborn in the lower realms. The reason for this is that due to the power of mantra, the body is blessed by the person reciting the mantra and visualizing their body in form of the holy body of Chenrezig. Therefore, the body becomes so powerful, so blessed that this affects the consciousness up to seven generations and has the effect that if one dies with a non-virtuous thought, one is not reborn in a lower realm.

Thus, when a person who has recited ten malas of om mani padme hum a day goes into a river or an ocean, the water that touches the person’s body gets blessed, and this blessed water then purifies all the billions and billions of sentient beings in the water. So it’s unbelievably beneficial; this person saves the animals in that water from the most unbelievable suffering of the lower realms.

When such a person walks down a road and the wind touches his or her body and then goes on to touch insects, their negative karma gets purified and causes them to have a good rebirth. Similarly, when such a person does massage or otherwise touches others’ bodies, those people’s negative karma also gets purified.