Om shanti shanti shanti
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Peace in Buddhist practice
In Buddhist practice śānti, or peace, means inner rather than outer peace. Through practice it’s possible to cultivate a still mind even in surroundings that are anything but tranquil.
It’s definitely helpful to have peaceful surroundings for the development of meditative states of mind, but if one cultivates a mind that is completely nonreactive then it’s possible to peacefully accept the presence of noise and bustle around us.
In the long-term, however, some external quiet is well-nigh indispensable for the arising of deep mental tranquility, and so meditators frequently seek out quiet places for their practice.
Śānti, or inner peace, arises when the mind has let go of both grasping and aversion. For this reason the Buddhist path of practice is known in Pali as "santimagga" (Sanskrit: śāntimarga) or The Path of Peace, as expressed in the famous Dhammapada verse, "Santimaggam eva brūhaya" — Cultivate this very Path of Peace.
Peace as the goal of practice
"Santi" is commonly used in the Pali texts as a synonym for Nirvana, the goal of Buddhist practice. Meditation and other Buddhist practices can therefore be thought of as the "Path to Peace." Nirvana is the ultimate in inner peace, and literally means the complete extinction of inner turmoil.
Comments
Comment from T. S. Tawanda
Time: May 19, 2007, 4:04 pm
I was interested in “Shanti” because I just saw the movie “music and lyrics” on dvd. And one of the main characters would say “shanti, shanti” (the singer in the movie).
I heard them make a reference to the Buddha (cause that’s the singer’s thing in the movie). I caught myself saying “Shanti, Shanti” a few times, quoting the girl in the movie, so I thought that I Google search the word to understand what it mean and came across wildmind.org …and now I understand!
Thanks for giving me the knowledge!
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: May 19, 2007, 10:59 pm
Interestingly, a blogger who linked to Wildmind just wrote the following about the movie, “Children of Men.”
There were a few nods toward Buddhism in the movie. One of the things that Kee and her female protector (I don’t recall her name) kept chanting in the car was Om Mani Padme Hung, probably the most well-known Tibetan Buddhist mantra. Jasper, the old male friend of Theo, said “Shanti, shanti, shanti” a few times, which is also a Buddhist mantra. I couldn’t quite understand what Kee’s female friend was saying on the bus, when the guard was harassing her, but it sounded more like a Christian prayer than a Buddhist mantra. Whatever the religion was supposed to be, I liked the nods to Buddhism. (From System 13)
I must check these movies out.
Comment from Hannah
Time: May 25, 2007, 3:52 pm
Christianity is the true RELIGION!!!!!!
Comment from Paul Beetge
Time: May 30, 2007, 2:39 pm
Buddha bless you my child
Comment from Charlene
Time: June 26, 2007, 12:14 pm
Thanks for the very informative article. Like T. S. Tawanda, I watched “Music and Lyrics” and wanted to know what the phrase “shanti shanti” meant. Thanks!
Comment from BK Akshaya
Time: June 30, 2007, 12:45 am
In Om shanti, ‘Om’ means myself i.e. in Sanskrit ‘Aham’ and ‘Shanti’ refere to Peace. Om shanti said i am a peaceful soul. All the soul are peaceful,loveful, pure, energitic,blissful.
Comment from RedRox
Time: June 30, 2007, 1:52 pm
We occasionally end some of our yoga classes with this short chant for peace. I did not know of the interpretation of the Threefold Peace of body, speech and mind as the rationale for chanting shanti 3 times, so I thank you for that newfound knowledge. Namaste.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: July 1, 2007, 5:12 pm
Hello BK Akshaya,
That’s an interesting theory, that Om means Aham (myself) but I have to say I’ve never seen anything that would support that notion. Do you have any sources you could quote that could back up that theory?
Comment from Petro
Time: July 11, 2007, 9:17 pm
hi, hi, hi! Beautiful site.
Comment from robay
Time: July 20, 2007, 1:06 pm
Om… yes. I have found that there is more than meaning to the word: there is a direct function of the sound. When OM is sung with the ending as “ng”, with tongue touching the palate, there is vibration in the palate up into the head and pineal gland. When sung this way with the yearning of connection with the Divine, and then Beyond yearning, the singing and vibration instills and then one embodies That.
Comment from Miriam A.
Time: August 6, 2007, 6:42 am
Lately I’m into a lot of Reggae, and Shpongle and hippie dressing.
Then I watched the movie “Music and Lyrics” and the singer in the movie was Buddhist. I was inspired and decided to google buddhism, learn buddhist hymns, words and their way of living.
Shanti, world.
Comment from Vicki
Time: August 9, 2007, 12:44 pm
Only page 1 of this article will print.
Comment from kenz (punjabi)
Time: September 22, 2007, 11:47 pm
OM SHANTI. The word itself is so peacefull. Meditaion through these two words brings a lot of change in life. One thing i must admit. All great things, words. history comes from the Great Lands of India.
OM SHANTI OM.
Comment from Story
Time: October 13, 2007, 10:07 pm
I too watched children of men. Throughout the movie Shanti was spoken…. quite a gruesome flick but It was a good one… a lot of very good points to be proven.
Meditation for life, shanti
Comment from mariedirien
Time: October 16, 2007, 11:23 am
I just saw Children of Men as well. Loved Jasper, want his house, interesting discussion they had about truth. Anyone have any comments on Timothy Leary?
Comment from ismedina
Time: November 5, 2007, 12:29 pm
How can I play the mantras? I downlod the real player applicaton and stii does not work… please help
Shanti
Is
Comment from Watapana Pannaratana
Time: November 12, 2007, 3:42 pm
Shanti is a message of wisdom as it appear in 73 knowledges in Buddhas teachings. We call it Kanti Gnana which is equalent to Shanti in Sanskrit. The agitated mind get calm when we remind the words `take it easy. It is the same base to reming shanti the message of peace. Peace in words, deeds and thoughts which leads to peace and happiness.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: November 19, 2007, 8:03 am
Hi Is,
I’m afraid we can’t offer much in the way ot technical support. With RealPlayer it should just be a case of clicking on the link. If that’s not working I don’t know what the problem could be.
We do plan to convert the files to MP3, which would make them more universally accessible. It’s just a question of finding the time to do this. Unfortunately there’s always more to be done than there is the time to do it in.
All the best,
Bodhipaksa
Comment from Dawn
Time: December 13, 2007, 5:11 am
Om shanti shanti shanti
May the world be blessed with peace
Comment from Smita
Time: January 16, 2008, 12:25 am
Hi, The word ’shanti’ may be originally from Pali, but it is not associated only with buddism. In fact the chant ‘om shanti om’ is a part of every Hindu’s life. From North to South, ‘Shanti’ (considered feminine) is a very common name for a woman in India.
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: January 20, 2008, 8:18 am
Hi Smita,
“Shanti” would originally be from Vedic Sanskrit, which is the language that Pali evolved from. Thanks for pointing out the importance of “shanti” in the lives of Hindus. Many terms (Shanti, Karma, Moksha, etc) are widely used across Indian traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, as well as in many traditions that have now vanished. Of course each tradition interprets the terms in different ways, which is largely why they’re different traditions.
Comment from Sam
Time: February 3, 2008, 5:11 pm
Be it Buddhism, be it Hinduism, Shanti is a very common expression.
Om is sometimes sung “aom” as aom includes all the sounds originating from a human body without moving your tongue. You can also feel each of them in different parts of the body, beginning from the naval area and ending up to the point of your nose.
All this you can also feel in your hands and in your arms. I’m just learning it and feels so good. I’m waiting for much more to come. Shanti!
Comment from Bodhipaksa
Time: February 4, 2008, 8:39 am
Hi Sam,
The sensation of om/aum resonating through the body is particularly intense if you do overtone chanting, which may be what you’re doing. A former girlfriend of mine who was a professional singer taught me how to do this in a very rudimentary way by channeling the flow of air up into the nasopharynx. True experts can produce overtones that resemble a separate instrument!
Comment from Benson H
Time: February 13, 2008, 7:07 pm
Thank you very much for the lovely article. I believe that Santimagga is definitely a right path to pursue..
Om Shanti..
Comment from Nikayah
Time: March 22, 2008, 3:03 pm
Hello, nice site.
I just saw that movie myself, music and lyrics, and I am seeing the world waking up more and more, as I have been doing the last time..hehe, Its acctually funny, cause i remember thinking it when i saw the buddha in the movie “Yess, Its small, but enough to awaken some curious hearts threw this movie” so i was sure that the cool singer would inspire some. I did not know about shanti either, but it felth like good energy, so its funny that I come across this movie in here, makes me happy.
Om Shanti shanti shanti - Namaste
And Amen to that.
Comment from nomad…
Time: April 13, 2008, 10:55 pm
Om shanti om…. ;)
…. the alpha and the omega…
….no end….
…. the Rainbow Serpent Journey… :)
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