Meaning of Six Syllables’
The Six Syllables are the name mantra of the Noble One: OM is a syllable summarising the timeless awareness of the five Buddha bodies, MANI means ‘jewel’, PADME stands for ‘with lotus’, ‘With Jewel and Lotus’ (MANI PADME) is a name of Avalokiteśvara. HŪNG represents the enlightened activity which protects from the suffering of the six classes of beings. So the meaning of the mantra is:
“Essence of the five bodies and five wisdoms, the one with jewel and lotus, please protect the six classes of beings from their suff ering!”
The actual benefits
The benefi ts of having done the meditation and recitation of the noble Avalokiteśvara in this way have no limit and thus only a few core points are mentioned. First, there are the benefi ts through meditating on the enlightened body and calling it to mind. The Padmajālamūlatantra says:
"Practising just one mandala of enlightened body, Includes all the Buddhas: The body of Avalokiteśvara, the Protector. To meditate thus and calling him to mind Purifi es the harmful acts with immediate consequence?
In the Karandavyūhasūtra it is taught:
“This is the perfect essence of Avalokiteśvara’s powers.” Those who constantly embrace and recite the Six Syllables, this great vidyamantra, will be endowed with immense merit: When reciting it, Buddhas, as many as the sand grains on the Ganga river’s bed multiplied by 99 will gather and Bodhisattvas in number equal to the number of atoms. It also contains the practice of the six pāramitās"
Through the power of a Tathāgata’s wisdom, one can count the number of all the atoms, the number of sand grains on the grounds of the oceans, all the water drops in the rivers of the four continents, the number of all types of grains, the number of all sentient beings’ hair combined, the number of leafs of all the trees there are, and even the number of rain drops which would fall on earth during twelve years of uninterrupted rain. However, one is not able to measure the mass of merit acquired by just a single repetition of the Six Syllables. The summarised meaning of the various sūtras and tantras that extensively praise the mantra is in turn clarifi ed in the Khachem (The Testament) of the Dharma King Songtsen Gampo. His advices of the Avalokiteśvara practice-cycles, too, are mainly and solely about the Six Syllables. In short, it is said that with regard to all the mantras one may repeat there is nothing comparable to the great benefi t of the Six Syllables, the supreme enlightened speech. It is thus appropriate to put constant eff ort in only this.
Detailed explanation of the six syllable mantra
OM MANI PEME HUNG
Tibetan
OM MANI PADME HUM
Sanskrit
Again, concerning the Six Syllable secret mantra: The union of the wisdom power of all Buddhas is Avalokiteśvara. That which summarises and extracts the power and capacity of all of noble Avalokiteśvara’s compassion and activity is the Six Syllable mantra itself.
The white OM is the syllable that unites enlightened qualities, arising from the natural expression of the Noble One’s five wisdoms. It is the nature of the pāramitā of meditative stability. It purifies the affliction of pride as cause and the general results it.creates. In particular, it purifies the suff ering of the transition and downfall of those reborn as gods. It is inseparable from the enlightened form and actions of the Sage of the Gods, Indra Kauśika, and the embodiment of the inherent radiance of the Wisdom of Equanimity. It leads the six classes of beings to the Glorious Realm in the south, Śrīmat, and lets them attain the form of Buddha Ratnasambhava.
