Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum is the quintessential Buddhist mantra. Some monks spend their entire lives chanting it. In essence it is a simple homage to the miraculous beauty of the lotus flower that can be loosely translated as Praise to the Jewel in Heart of the Lotus.

Considered as the nectar of all the spiritual teachings of the Buddha, chanting or singing this mantra is seen as a way of entering fully into the compassionate space of the heart.

“The melody arrived at an unexpected moment. At that time, in 2008, I had never sung a Buddhist mantra in a sound healing ceremony before. I remember that I turned to a friend sitting by the altar table with me during a silent moment and I whispered to her:
“Maybe we should sing a mantra – do you know any?”
She whispered back to me “Om Mani Padme Hum”.
I asked her if she knew a melody for the mantra and she shook her head.
So I closed my eyes, and sat there for a few moments until this melody naturally arose and I found myself singing it. After a few repetitions the whole group were joining in, and then I reached for my guitar and very naturally the chord sequence to accompany the melody emerged. 
Many years later the music has evolved to this multi-layered arrangement with  many beautiful musicians singing and playing on the track. I’m watching the whole process slowly unfold like a lotus flower itself.”
Adrian

This track features Chandra Lacombe, a pioneering Brazilian musician who has been a great inspiration to me for many years. I met him in Brazil in 2020 at his ashram in the mountains outside Sao Paulo, where we recorded his vocal parts for the track. It’s a great honour to collaborate with Chandra, and to weave his voice and his kalimba playing together with the other musicians on the track – Carlos Gomes, Antonio Arvind and Txai Fernando from Brazil, Sanju Sahai from India, Lua Maria, Charlotte Mabon, Misha Mullov-Abbado, and others.”

Om Mani Padme Hum is the most popular Buddhist mantra. It is a tribute to the lotus flower’s beauty, and can be translated as “Praise to the Jewel in Heart of the Lotus”.

Some monks chant Om Mani Padme Hum for their entire lives. It is also commonly carved into rocks, painted on hillsides, or written on prayer flags and prayer wheels.

Om is a special sound and symbol relating to ultimate reality.
Mani means Jewel

Padme means Lotus
Hum is another special sound, for enlightenment and higher consciousness.

The lotus flower begins its journey as a seed in the cold mud at the dark bottom of the pond, and sends out shoots that rise through the water towards the surface, slowly emerging towards the light, opening out of the water in unblemished perfection. As such it is a symbol for our own journey from darkness to light

Om Mani Padme Hum is easy to say yet powerful, as it contains the essence of the Buddha’s teaching. Recitation of the mantra helps achieve perfection in the six practices of compassion, patience, courage, concentration, ethics and wisdom.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

Compassion and understanding are born from suffering. Without mud you cannot have a lotus flower. The lotus is a poignant reminder that we can flourish in spite of, or maybe even because of, darkness and struggle. Just like the lotus, we too have the ability to rise from the mud, to bloom out of the darkness and radiate into the world.”

Thich Nhat Hanh – Vietnamese monk and Nobel Peace laureate