Mystical systems
Om Mani Padme Hum
Direct answer
Om Mani Padme Hum: Om mani padme hum is the six-syllable Sanskrit mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the most widely recited prayer of Tibetan Buddhism.
$0 today, then $19/month after 7 days. Cancel anytime.
At a glance
- Also called
- mani mantra, six syllable mantra, om mani peme hung, chenrezig mantra
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Mantra, Japa, Om Symbol, Bija mantra
Om mani padme hum is the six-syllable Sanskrit mantra of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and the most widely recited prayer of Tibetan Buddhism.
A lineage map for books and systems; it avoids presenting symbolic traditions as literal fact.
Understand the chapter you are in.
Your life’s turning points, measured from your birth.
Walk through Alex’s whole example first
Prefer to explore first?
The Road of AgesThe turning points of your whole life, from your own chart
Walk my road
What does om mani padme hum mean?
Om mani padme hum is said, sung, carved and spun across the Tibetan world. It belongs to Avalokiteshvara, called Chenrezig in Tibetan, the embodiment of compassion, and reciting it is understood as calling on that compassion and growing it in oneself. Tibetans pronounce it roughly om mani peme hung. It is printed on prayer flags, rolled by the thousand inside prayer wheels and cut into stones piled along paths.
Mani means jewel and padma means lotus. The popular translation, the jewel in the lotus, dates from nineteenth century Europe. Scholars who have studied the grammar think manipadme is more likely a form of address to the bodhisattva under the name Jewel-Lotus. Tibetan teachers seldom rest on a literal meaning. They explain the six syllables one by one, matching them to the six realms of rebirth, the six perfections, or the purification of body, speech and mind.
On the tree of the hidden arts: Sound and mantra.
What sets Om Mani Padme Hum apart
No other mantra is so much a thing as well as a sound. It is read off rocks, flags and wheels turned by hand, wind, water and now electric motors, and a wall of carved mani stones may run for hundreds of paces. Each of its six syllables has a colour and a realm of beings it is said to free, so the whole of Buddhist cosmology can be taught from it. The sutra that introduces it calls it the six-syllable great formula and tells of a long search to obtain it.
- Belongs to: Avalokiteshvara; in Tibetan, Chenrezig
- First source: Karandavyuha Sutra, about the late fourth or fifth century
- Key words: mani, jewel; padma, lotus
- Tibetan pronunciation: om mani peme hung
- Six syllables match: the six realms: gods, demigods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, hells
- Carried by: prayer wheels, prayer flags and carved mani stones
Often mistaken for something else: Om by itself is a single sacred syllable shared by Hindu, Buddhist and Jain practice; om mani padme hum is a specific Buddhist mantra that begins with it and belongs to one bodhisattva.
The story behind Om Mani Padme Hum
The mantra first appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra, a Sanskrit text composed about the late fourth or fifth century, which praises it as the heart of Avalokiteshvara. It spread with his cult to Tibet, where later histories credit its promotion to the first Buddhist kings, and it was in general use there by the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The Dalai Lamas are regarded as emanations of Chenrezig, which binds the mantra to Tibetan identity.
Why Om Mani Padme Hum matters
Om Mani Padme Hum is the sound most associated with Tibetan Buddhism, and it shows how a mantra can be practised by writing and turning as well as by voice.
How to read Om Mani Padme Hum
Tibetans recite it on beads while walking or working; it is also engraved, printed and spun, each turn of a wheel counted as a recitation.
Om Mani Padme Hum in practice: an example
An old woman walking round a shrine in Lhasa turns a hand wheel and moves her lips, adding to a count kept over a lifetime.
Where readings of Om Mani Padme Hum go wrong
The jewel in the lotus is a Western gloss, and the erotic readings sometimes built on it have no basis in the tradition.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- om mani padme hum meaning, mani mantra, six syllable mantra, om mani peme hung, chenrezig mantra
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
See Om Mani Padme Hum in your personal almanac
A definition tells you what it is; your own birth chart tells you what it means for you. The Oracle casts your real chart and answers for your love, your work, and your year ahead, in conversation. It opens with the 7-day Oracle trial.
Speak with the OracleRelated terms
More in Mystical Systems
- Rumi
- Tantalus
- Upanishads
- Angelic Hierarchy
- Camino de Santiago
- Essential Oil
- Hildegard of Bingen
- Lyonesse
From the reference page to your own chart
Every word here
is in your own chart.
- Your life’s turning points, measured from your birth
- A practical next step to consider
- It opens with 7 days free: the AI Oracle on thirty hidden arts, and your daily horoscope
$0 today, then $19/month after 7 days. Cancel anytime.
Common questions
What does om mani padme hum mean?
Word for word, om and hum are sacred syllables, mani is jewel and padme is a form of lotus. It is best understood as an invocation of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion, and not as a sentence.
How do you pronounce om mani padme hum?
In Sanskrit it is om ma-ni pad-may hoom. Tibetans usually say om mani peme hung, and that is the form heard in most monasteries and recordings.
Why is the mantra put in prayer wheels?
Tibetan tradition holds that setting the written mantra in motion has the same merit as saying it. A wheel packed with thousands of printed copies multiplies the recitation with every turn.
