The tradition & historical record
2 min read · 1 sourceA mantra ( MAN-trə, MUN-; Pali: mantra) or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language such as Sanskrit or Avestan) that practitioners believe to have religious, magical or spiritual powers. Some mantras have a syntactic structure and literal meaning, while others do not. ꣽ, ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as a mantra in various Indian religions. It is an example of a seed syllable mantra (bijamantra). According to Hinduism Om is believed to be the first sound and the sonic essence of the absolute divine reality. Longer mantras are phrases with several syllables, names and words. These phrases may have spiritual interpretations such as a name of a deity, a longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action. Examples of longer mantras include the Gayatri Mantra, the Hare Krishna mantra, Om Namah Shivaya, the Mani mantra, the Mantra of Light, the Namokar Mantra, and the Mūl Mantar. Mantras without any actual linguistic meaning are still considered to be musically uplifting and spiritually meaningful. The use, structure, function, importance, and types of mantras vary according to the school and philosophy of Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and Sikhism. A common practice is japa, the meditative repetition of a mantra, usually with the aid of a mala (prayer beads).
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mantra is Sacred utterance or sound used in meditation, often repeated, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. 1
The source record links this tradition to 38 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. 1