Saw a license plate yesterday - OmWard. Or maybe it was OmLand.
I forget.
But I thought, hmm. Good idea.
If you want to meditate, a lot of people offer that you can use the word OM.
What does it mean?
"a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts."
Okay, let's clear that one up, shall we?
Om can also mean "homage." (aum) As in I pay homage to the spirit within you when I put my hands together and bow to you.
When I say "Om Mani Padme Hum" (as the Tibetans say as a mantra, sometimes all day long) it literally means "Praise to the knowledge in the Lotus Sutra." (It's the same phrase that Nichirin discovered in Japan - the same exact phrase - but he said it in Japanese: "Nam Myoho Regne Kyo."
Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経) (also known as Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō) (English: Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra or Glory to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Supreme Law) is the central mantra chanted within all forms of Nichiren Buddhism as well as Tendai Buddhism.
Praise to the knowledge in the Lotus Sutra.
If you look it up, or ask a person in SGI you'll hear something else. "it's a magical phrase. It doesn't mean anything, but it brings gifts." Actually it does mean something very specific. Praise to Buddha's teaching about non attachment. It's pretty simple.
If you look up Om Mani Padme Hum:
According to 14th Dalai Lama:
It is very good to recite the mantra "Om mani padme hum", but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast. The first,"Om" symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
The path is indicated by the next four syllables. "Mani", meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.
The two syllables, "padme", meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable "hum", which indicates indivisibility.
So - "Praise to the knowledge of the Lotus Sutra teaching." You know the Lotus Sutra don't you? It's the teaching the Buddha gives that teaches how to "detach" or have the ability of "unattachment" to the mundane things in life, because they have "no inherent meaning." That sounds a bit elevated - but let's just say what he's saying in that teaching is "everything is vanity." (Vanum Populatum anyone?)
That we attach meaning to things out of a desire to own them, be part of them, or because we're inured to wanting them, or we can't get away from the desire to have them. A bit like the Dopamine Squirt - which is what happens when your cell phone dings, buzzes or rings.
Your brain squirts some dopamine in response - it's the idea of gaining a reward, like Pavlov's dogs waiting for food. We are anticipating some kind of response, and as "60 Minutes" put it the other day, that's addictive behavior, and the tech companies are trying to get you addicted to your cellphone, or your device, or your computer, or your website, because... well, it means money. (Excellent segment - check the link above)
So don't get attached, okay? Learn to turn it off. Just as we learn to turn off our attachment to "things" or to "fame" or to "celebrity" or to "beauty" or to any of the other things we seem obsessed with. Turn it off dude. Just let go.
As some of you have heard, I've been talking about "home" lately. That's the place where we go between lives, the place where two thirds of our energy always resides - back home, up there in the ether, up there in heaven, back there offstage when we aren't here on stage.
Home.
As I talk about in this book talk: "Home on the Range."
But it occurred to me, that Om and Home are the same syllable.
So why not use one instead of the other?
Try it. Say "Home" like you would say "Om." They say that "Om" is the primal sound of the Universe, or "Aum." Okay, so let that be the case.
Just draw it out, let your body resonate, let your voice take hold of the word and then - here's the fun part - allow your mind and heart to open up to the concept of "home" whatever that means to you.
No one has the same idea of what home is. We all come from different backgrounds and feelings, even twins - so there are no two versions of home on the planet. That's a strong thing to say - because it shows that we aren't all the same, we aren't all alike, we aren't all one species - that we aren't programmed robots - otherwise when I say "think of home" you'd think of the same place as everyone else does.
BUT NO ONE DOES.
Everyone has a different feeling of what HOME is.
What better way to honor your home then to allow it to be part of your daily life and routine?
So TRY IT WITH ME.
Let it out. Sing it. Just use the word as one long syllable ... open your heart, your lungs and say it aloud. Say it so loud that you're afraid someone is going to ask what's wrong with you.
HOME.
HOOOOOOOOOME....
HOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMEEEE....
And now - picture yourself in a space of comfort and peace and unconditional love. Because at its heart that's what home is. People say it all the time - "I feel it's a place of being relaxed, of being loved, of being in comfort." When I ask "what kind of love is it?" They almost always answer
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
HOME IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
Say it loud, say it proud.
Home.
I forget.
But I thought, hmm. Good idea.
If you want to meditate, a lot of people offer that you can use the word OM.
What does it mean?
ōm
noun
"a mystic syllable, considered the most sacred mantra in Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism. It appears at the beginning and end of most Sanskrit recitations, prayers, and texts."
Okay, let's clear that one up, shall we?
Om can also mean "homage." (aum) As in I pay homage to the spirit within you when I put my hands together and bow to you.
When I say "Om Mani Padme Hum" (as the Tibetans say as a mantra, sometimes all day long) it literally means "Praise to the knowledge in the Lotus Sutra." (It's the same phrase that Nichirin discovered in Japan - the same exact phrase - but he said it in Japanese: "Nam Myoho Regne Kyo."
Namu Myōhō Renge Kyō (南無妙法蓮華経) (also known as Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō) (English: Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra or Glory to the Sutra of the Lotus of the Supreme Law) is the central mantra chanted within all forms of Nichiren Buddhism as well as Tendai Buddhism.
Praise to the knowledge in the Lotus Sutra.
If you look it up, or ask a person in SGI you'll hear something else. "it's a magical phrase. It doesn't mean anything, but it brings gifts." Actually it does mean something very specific. Praise to Buddha's teaching about non attachment. It's pretty simple.
 |
| HHDL, his translator and Richard Davidson. |
If you look up Om Mani Padme Hum:
According to 14th Dalai Lama:
It is very good to recite the mantra "Om mani padme hum", but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast. The first,"Om" symbolizes the practitioner's impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
The path is indicated by the next four syllables. "Mani", meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: (the) altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.
The two syllables, "padme", meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable "hum", which indicates indivisibility.
That we attach meaning to things out of a desire to own them, be part of them, or because we're inured to wanting them, or we can't get away from the desire to have them. A bit like the Dopamine Squirt - which is what happens when your cell phone dings, buzzes or rings.
Your brain squirts some dopamine in response - it's the idea of gaining a reward, like Pavlov's dogs waiting for food. We are anticipating some kind of response, and as "60 Minutes" put it the other day, that's addictive behavior, and the tech companies are trying to get you addicted to your cellphone, or your device, or your computer, or your website, because... well, it means money. (Excellent segment - check the link above)
So don't get attached, okay? Learn to turn it off. Just as we learn to turn off our attachment to "things" or to "fame" or to "celebrity" or to "beauty" or to any of the other things we seem obsessed with. Turn it off dude. Just let go.
Back to the Home concept.
As some of you have heard, I've been talking about "home" lately. That's the place where we go between lives, the place where two thirds of our energy always resides - back home, up there in the ether, up there in heaven, back there offstage when we aren't here on stage.
Home.
As I talk about in this book talk: "Home on the Range."
But it occurred to me, that Om and Home are the same syllable.
So why not use one instead of the other?
Try it. Say "Home" like you would say "Om." They say that "Om" is the primal sound of the Universe, or "Aum." Okay, so let that be the case.
Just draw it out, let your body resonate, let your voice take hold of the word and then - here's the fun part - allow your mind and heart to open up to the concept of "home" whatever that means to you.
No one has the same idea of what home is. We all come from different backgrounds and feelings, even twins - so there are no two versions of home on the planet. That's a strong thing to say - because it shows that we aren't all the same, we aren't all alike, we aren't all one species - that we aren't programmed robots - otherwise when I say "think of home" you'd think of the same place as everyone else does.
BUT NO ONE DOES.
Everyone has a different feeling of what HOME is.
What better way to honor your home then to allow it to be part of your daily life and routine?
So TRY IT WITH ME.
Let it out. Sing it. Just use the word as one long syllable ... open your heart, your lungs and say it aloud. Say it so loud that you're afraid someone is going to ask what's wrong with you.
HOME.
HOOOOOOOOOME....
HOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMEEEE....
You get the idea.
 |
| If you were from Mars this would be "home." NASA |
And now - picture yourself in a space of comfort and peace and unconditional love. Because at its heart that's what home is. People say it all the time - "I feel it's a place of being relaxed, of being loved, of being in comfort." When I ask "what kind of love is it?" They almost always answer
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
HOME IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.
Say it loud, say it proud.
Home.
