B MANTRA

In the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, certain mantras or dharanis (long mantras) may invoke enlightened energies or call on the help of buddhas and bodhisattvas for protection. In Tibetan Buddhist schools, for example, mantras are central to the practice. “Om Mani Padme Hum” is one widely used mantra, which represents and invokes Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. By chanting the mantra, Tibetan Buddhists endeavor to become embodiments of compassion themselves. And many Zen Buddhist groups at the beginning or end of meditation chant the Heart Sutra, which ends with the mantra “Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha” (“Gone, gone, gone beyond, fully gone beyond, awake, so be it!”)