This Is The Sacred Sentence Repeated
Upon The Rosaries Of The Lamas, And In General Use In Tibet.
Of the
form of words to which ideas of peculiar sanctity are annexed by the
inhabitants, I could never obtain a satisfactory explanation.
It
is frequently engraven on the rocks in large and deep characters,
and sometimes I have seen it on the sides of hills; the letters,
which are formed by means of stones fixed in the earth, are of so
vast a magnitude as to be visible at a very considerable distance."
M. Hue's account of an explanation of the formula, which he received
from the highest authority at Lassa, is as follows: - "Living beings
are divided into six classes - angels, demons, men, quadrupeds,
birds, and reptiles. These six classes of beings correspond to the
syllables of the formula, 'Om mani padme houm.' Living beings by
continual transformations, and according to their merit or demerit,
pass about in these six classes until they have attained the apex
of perfection, when they are absorbed and lost in the grand essence
of Buddha. Living beings have, according to the class to which they
belong, particular means of sanctifying themselves, of rising to a
superior class, of obtaining perfection, and of arriving in process
of time at the period of their absorption. Men who repeat very
frequently and devotedly 'Om mani padme houm,' escape falling after
death into the six classes of animate creatures, corresponding to
the six syllables of the formula, and obtain the plenitude of being,
by their absorption into the eternal and universal soul of Buddha."
One traveller only I have been able to find who mentions the sentence
as I have done.
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