Om Mani Padme Hum

Oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ (Om Mani Padme Hum) (Sanskrit: ओं मणिपद्मे हूं, IPA: [õːː məɳipəd̪meː ɦũː]) is the six-syllabled Sanskrit mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara (Tibetan: སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་ Chenrezig, Chinese: 觀音 Guanyin, Japanese: 観音かんのん Kannon), the bodhisattva of compassion. The first word Om is a sacred syllable found in Indian religions. The word Mani means "jewel" or "bead", Padme meaning the "lotus flower", the Buddhist sacred flower, while Hum represents the spirit of enlightenment.

The first known description of the mantra appears in the Karandavyuha Sutra (Chinese: 佛說大乘莊嚴寶王經 (Taisho Tripitaka 1050); English: Buddha speaks Mahayana Sublime Treasure King Sutra), which is part of certain Mahayana canons such as the Tibetan. In this sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha states, "This is the most beneficial mantra. Even I made this aspiration to all the million Buddhas and subsequently received this teaching from Buddha Amitabha.

According to H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, on the meaning of: OM MANI PADME HUM, "The six syllables, om mani padme hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha".