A Guide to Buddhist Mantras

Clicking on the link for each mantra below will take you to a page where you can read about that mantra, see the figure associated with the mantra (where applicable), and listen to an audio version of the mantra.

You can chant along to the mantra until you’re confident that you have it fully memorized. There are ten repetitions of each mantra (more or less) to help give you time to learn the mantra and chant along. You can replay the mantra until you think you’ve got it.

Please note that the mantras as written on this site lack some of the diacritic marks that allow for an accurate representation of the pronunciation.

(Diacritics, or accents, are little marks that indicate how a letter should be pronounced. Pali and Sanskrit have many more letters than the Roman alphabet, and these marks allow us to extend the number of characters available to us. Diacritics include the macron — a bar over a vowel that lengthens the vowel sound — overdots, underdots, and tildes. Unfortunately not all fonts possess those diacritic marks, and although some fonts do have the full range of accents not all computers have those fonts installed. There’s therefore no reliable way to represent diacritics on the web. You therefore may sometimes see strange characters or question marks in words.)

It’s best to listen to the audio files in order to get a better appreciation of how they are pronounced (taking into account the fact that I have a Scottish accent). In the heading of each page I’ve represented long vowels with a double vowel (eg. aa) or, where it’s possible to reproduce these in html, with a letter and diacritic mark (e.g. ?).

Note: Tibetans typically pronounce some Sanskrit sounds in a non-Indian way. For example they’ll tend to pronounce “padme” (pa-dmé) as peh-mé, and “svaha” as soha. Those who are familiar with the Tibetan pronunciation will therefore notice differences such as these.

Buddhist Mantras not associated with figures

Sabbe satta sukhi hontu
Om shanti shanti shanti
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha

Buddhist Mantras associated with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Avalokitesvara: Om Mani Padme Hum
Manjushri/Manjughosa: Om A Ra Pa Ca Na Dhih
Vajrapani: Om Vajrapani Hum
Green Tara: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha
Amitabha: Om Amideva Hrih
White Tara: Om Tare Tuttare Ture Mama Ayuh Punya Jnana Pushtim Kuru Svaha
Shakyamuni: Om Muni Muni Mahamuni Shakyamuni Svaha
Padmasambhava: Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum
Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha): Om Bhaishajye Bhaishajye Mahabhaishajye Bhaishajyaraje Samudgate Svaha
Vajrasattva: 100-Syllable Mantra.

By following the links you can find out the meanings, pronunciations, and benefits of the Buddhist mantras listed above.

  • Amitabha mantra
  • Avalokitesvara mantra
  • Bhaisajyaguru (Medicine Buddha) Mantra
  • Gate gate pāragate pārasaṃgate bodhi svāhā
  • Green Tara mantra: Oṃ Tāre Tuttāre Ture Svāhā
  • Manjushri mantra
  • Om shanti shanti shanti
  • Padmasambhava mantra
  • Sabbe satta sukhi hontu
  • Shakyamuni mantra
  • Vajrapani mantra
  • Vajrasattva mantra of 100 syllables
  • White Tara mantra
  • The three refuges and five precepts
  • Postcript: About Transcendental Meditation

    • View Comments

    • Thanks Jayarava. It was very comprehensive and I like what you said about getting as close to the original pronunciation (Sanskrit) as possible. Of course, this doesn't mean the Tibetan way of saying the mantra is bad or wrong. I guess it bears down to personal conviction, at the end of the day.

      I also heard the mp3 of the Vajrasattva Mantra you put up and am using it for my mantra chanting - personally, I would like to be as close to the original language as possible.

      Thanks again, Jayarava.

    • To quote from jayarava's excellent (but long) article:

      So do we need to pronounce mantras correctly? I think we should make an effort on aesthetic grounds, it is more beautiful; and also on the basis that we all like our names to be pronounced correctly. I find it is a useful mindfulness practice, and most people need to be more mindful! But outside of the tantric tradition it is not vital, and, sadly, even within that tradition it seems to be many centuries since there was any real effort to maintain Sanskrit pronunciation.

    • Hi,
      I love animals a lot, this includes the stray. Which mantra should i recite to bless all animals? Thank you.

    • Hi Celine

      I love animals too. I've got 5 dogs and 2 cats at home. =)

      My Rinpoche told me I could chant the Green Tara mantra for all animals. I also read from one of the websites that we could chant the Medicine Buddha mantra for animals and that any animals that hear the Medicine Buddha mantra will be reborn into a higher realm of beings in their next life.

      Hope this helps.

      Cheers
      Arthur

    • Dear All,

      I once read about reciting Medicine Buddha mantra for dead animals, and that can inculde
      reciting it for the meat of animals sold in shops, supermarkets etc etc..

      These poor animals had gone through 'killing' , reciting Medicine Buddha mantra helps to
      overcome suffering.

      Medicine Buddha mantra
      -----------------------------
      NA-MO BHA-GA-VA-TE
      BHAI-SAJ-YA GU-RU VAI-DUR-YA
      PRA-BHA RA-JA-YA

      TA-THA-GA-TA-YA AR-HAN-TE
      SAM-YAK SAM-BUD-DHA-YA
      TAD-YA-THA.....OM,,, BHAI-SA-JYE, BHAI-SA-JYE ,
      BHAI-SAJ-YA
      SA-MUD-GATE SVA-HA

      ----------------------------------------------

      A shorter version from Tibet ( Medicine Buddha mantra )

      Tayata
      Om Bekandze Bekandze
      Maha Bekandze
      Radza Samudgate Soha

      The mantra means:
      May the many sentient beings
      who are sick,
      quickly be freed from sickness.
      And may all the sicknesses of beings
      Never arise again.

      ===================================================

      A Story of Karmic Theory
      -----------------------------
      A glamorous fashion consultant was once diagnosed with cancer. This is how she attempted to alleviate her suffering:

      She sent a message through a friend of hers, a student at the Vajrapani institute in California, to ask for advice about healing practices. She was advised to buy animals that were in danger of being killed and to then free them in a safe place, thus enabling them to live longer.

      This charming woman saved many animals from places where they were going to be killed. She actually freed two or three thousand animals, mostly chickens, fish, and worms. She had the chickens taken care of on a farm, and she freed the fish in open water. She also bought two thousand worms because they were cheap and readily available, and released them in the garden outside her home.

      Liberating worms was believed to be a particularly good idea as they go straight under the ground when they are released. Since they have some protection there from predators, they have a chance to live longer.

      It was less certain that animals freed in forests, lakes, or the ocean would have lived longer because they have natural enemies in those places.

      It is said that when she returned to the hospital for a checkup after doing these practices, the doctors could not find any trace of the cancer.True or not, this story should not come as a surprise to those subscribing to the karmic theory.

      My true story
      ---------------

      My dear friend's mom met with an accident on November 7, 2008 ( in Shanghai )
      She was in coma with serious head injury and several doctors were attending to her.

      All I did was to recite Medicine Buddha mantra for her, and I liberated over 500 birds
      sparrows. From the market I bought small live fish ( fish for cooking soup )
      and I probably liberated over 200-300 fish in a pond. The cost one kilo fish is about
      USD 2.

      She came out of her coma in the 4th week, and got better through continuing medical treatment until she
      was discharged 8 months later. She is doing very well now, her memory is about 30%
      imparied, but she could walk again, eat by herself and handle simple conversation.
      She could remember me, an old friend.

      We thank Lord Medicine Buddha for helping when it was most crucial, it was a
      matter of life and death.

      With warm regards.

      Kelvin

    • I am new to the teachings of Buddha. I have recently acquired some new Tibetan Mala Meditation beads to move into the next step of my desire for inner peace and success in my life and career.
      What would be a good mantra for me to start with and how long should i use this Mantra(i.e weeks, months) Peace and wisdom to you.

      Regards,
      Travis

    • Hi Travis,

      My experience has been that mantras are a very personal thing. People experience a number of mantras and begin to learn about the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas (if any) that they represent. At some point something "clicks" and a fascination develops that's a bit like falling in love. And for years -- perhaps the rest of your life -- you find yourself turning to that mantra. For me, it was Padmasambhava. For you -- well, you'll have to find that out!

      All the best,
      Bodhipaksa

    • Hello, friends!
      It's been a long I'm looking for a sanskrit original dharaṇi, without any chance to find it out. It's name is The Marvelously Beneficial Disaster Preventing Dharaṇi, but this is the translation of the tittle in japanese. All translations of this powerful dharaṇi I could find are in korean, or chinese or japanese, but I cannot find out the original sanskrit dharaṇi. I only could find out in a text a couple of lines:
      Om! Khya khya khyahi khyahi, Hum hum!
      Jvala jvala prajvala prajvala!
      But I cannot find out the complete dharaṇi in sanskrit. Can someone help me? Thank you very much!

      • The short answer is I don't know where you would find this dharani in Sanskrit. It's always possible that the original has been lost, or even that there was no Sanskrit original.

    • I have already found it!!!!

      Namaḥ samanta buddhānāṃ
      Apratihata śāsanānāṃ
      Tadyathā Oṃ kha kha
      Khāhi khāhi h?ṃ h?ṃ
      Jvala jvala prajvala prajvala
      Tiśṭha tiśṭha śṭri śṭri
      Sphuṭ sphuṭ
      śāntika śrīye svāhā!

      Thank you, anyway!

    1 … 5 6 7 8 9 … 14
    Leave a Comment