Mantra

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"Om Shanti" redirects here. For the 2010 film, see Om Shanti (film). For other uses, see Mantra
(disambiguation).

The Om syllable is considered a mantra in its own right in the Vedanta school of Hinduism.

In Tibet, many Buddhists carve mantras into rocks as a form of meditation.

A Mantra Chant

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A mantra chant set to Indian classical music (6 minutes 19 seconds) [1]

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A "Mantra" (/mntr, mn-, mn-/ (Sanskrit: );[2]) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable,
word or phonemes, or group of words in Sanskrit believed by practitioners to have psychological and spiritual
powers.[3][4] A mantra may or may not have syntactic structure or literal meaning.[3][5]
The earliest mantras were composed in Vedic Sanskrit by Hindus in India, and are at least 3000 years old.[6]
Mantras now exist in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.[4][7] Similar hymns, chants,
compositions and concepts are found in Zoroastrianism,[8] Taoism, Christianity, and elsewhere.[3]
The use, structure, function, importance, and types of mantras vary according to the school and philosophy of
Hinduism and of Buddhism. Mantras serve a central role in tantra.[6][9] In this school, mantras are considered to
be a sacred formula and a deeply personal ritual, effective only after initiation. In other schools of Hinduism,
Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism, initiation is not a requirement.[8][10]
Mantras come in many forms, including c (verses from the Rigveda for example) and sman (musical chants
from the Smaveda for example).[3][6] They are typically melodic, mathematically structured meters, believed to
be resonant with numinous qualities. At its simplest, the word (Aum, Om) serves as a mantra. In more
sophisticated forms, mantras are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as a human longing for
truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge, and action.[3][10] Some mantras have no literal meaning,
yet are musically uplifting and spiritually meaningful.[6]