A Journal of gilding gold on Lapis

Mani mantra on lapis-like background ⓒ Tashi Mannox 2013

Who doesn't like richness of gold on deep lapis blue colour? a combination made in heaven, historically used for the most divine of Christian icons, Pharaoh's precious ornamentations and sacred Mantras on lapis lazuli tablets. 

This is a short photographic story of the creation of the sacred Mani mantra oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ according to the proportionate construction of the Uchen script style. 

Available on-line as hand gilded limited edition giclée prints.

This art piece has also been put together with a song by Imee Ooi who sings the Mani mantra beautifully.

Creating the Mani mantra

The Mani mantra is featured in this five minute video, that demonstrates the calligraphic order in a brushed Uchen script, Tashi also gives a short explanation of the purifying nature of each of the six syllables:

oṃ ma ṇi pad me hūṃ 

Created on 5th December 2011
Chinese ink on block water-colour paper 46x61 cm.
© Tashi Mannox

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Many Mani Digital

The Mani mantra © Tashi Mannox 2000

Shortly after leaving the monastery at the dawn of the new millennium; Tashi put his brush to paper and created a calligraphy of the Mani mantra, oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ. an obvious topic choice for a calligraphy considering the meaningful depth of the Mani mantra and the blessing it so powerfully exudes, equally so, the form of the letters were a test of his abilities to create well with a brush, a challenge that engages Tashi until this day.

Entering the digital world with Tashi's first website in 2002, he published the above piece as part of his art collection, little did he know the extent to which this particular image has been copied and reproduced, published on multiple blogs and websites, often unknown by the authors who the original creator of the image is. It seems it has become a popular example of the Mani mantra, admired by many and quite righty so, as it is said that by merely seeing or hearing the Mantra creates an auspicious connection to what is ultimately pure. (see Pure Perception)

The Mani mantra © Tashi Mannox 2005

By 2005 Tashi had created other calligraphy pieces of the Mantra, one of which as a workshop demonstration and explanation of it's meaning during his 're-newal' exhibition in New York City 2002, this piece was sold while the ink was still wet on the paper.

While in South Italy in 2005, Tashi created the above calligraphy, which perhaps a little more orderly than his first attempt in 2000. This image was published on the well known 'Visible Mantra' website in 2007 and has since become top of the list when searching for images of the 'Mani mantra' in a web browser, this has also become a popular reproduced image.

The Mani mantra © Tashi Mannox 2010

More recently in 2010, Tashi created the above calligraphy of the Mani mantra with the addition of the seed syllable hri. 

For more written on the Mani mantra: please click here.

The Mani Mantra

The Mani mantra of Avalokiteśvara arranged on a lotus Mandala.
Each of the letters are placed on each petal starting at the bottom
(Easterly quarter) running clock-wise:
oṃ ma ṇi pad me hūṃ 
In the center of the mandala is the seed syllable hri
Copyright Tashi mannox 2018 

"Mani-wood" The famous Hollywood sign adapted by Tashi July 2009.

It is said that on seeing the form of the Mani mantra, to hear the sound of the Mani mantra: oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ is to purify and liberate from the un-enlightened state of ignorance.


The meaning of the Mantra by His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

"It is very good to recite the mantra oṃ ma ṇi pad me hūṃ but while you are doing it, you should be thinking of it's meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast. 
The first, oṃ is symbolic of the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. maṇi means jewel, symbolizes the factors of method-the altruistic intention to become enlightened, through compassion and love. padme meaning lotus, symbolizes wisdom. Just as a lotus grows from the mud, but is not sullied by the faults of mud, so wisdom is capable of putting you in a situation of non-contradiction whereas there would be contradiction if you did not have wisdom. ...Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by hūṃ which indicates indivisibility...
Thus together these syllables 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, mind into the pure exalted body, speech, mind of a Buddha."

The practice of the Mani mantra and how to integrate pure perception on a spiritual path is explained further here.

In Tibet, whole hillsides are seen as a great opportunity to plot out huge images of the sacred mantra, often with white stones. Such constructions are believed to emanate  blessing across the land, if not as a constant reminder of the mantras sacred and positive meaning.

A enormous Mani mantra in East Tibet.

The mantra was also commonly carved on flat stones and piled up in great heaps that sometimes stretch for a mile or more. As an act of respect, a person would always pass with the mantras on their right, circling clock-wise.

Other such devotional activities, such as hand spinning prayer wheels filled with mantras minutely printed on tight coils of paper, is considered that with a good intention and the act of turning the wheel, the power of the mantra is activated, similarly mantra printed prayer flags utter their prays caught on the wind.

In our modern times the sacred Mani mantra could not be more applicable in meaning and benefit. For the meaning of the Mani mantra is steeped in Loving-kindness and understanding, each of the six syllables purifying and converting negative emotions into wisdom, which is a fundamental basis to our confused state of being, that transformed; can only lead to a happy state of mind.

A modern electric powered prayer wheel,
made by the Father of Tashi: Peter Mannox
precious jewels decorate the rings of the drum
between which the Mani mantra is illuminated
in gold Lantsa Sanskrit lettering.

Our modern world also allows prayer wheels to be driven by electricity. The prayer wheel pictured above, housed at the Samye Ling Temple in Scotland, contains billions of Mantras on micro film. For every one rotation of the wheel; there are seven Mani mantras dedicated to each Human being on the planet, the praying wheel turns continually day and night.

The earliest written version of the Mani mantra is know in the Lantsha and Wartu Sanskrit forms, used by Buddhist monks in India and Tibet in the 11th century.

The mani mantra in the ancient Wartu or Vartu Sanskrit.

© Tashi Mannox 2022

Lantsha Sanskrit Mani mantra.

© Tashi Mannox 2022

The beginning of the Tibetan written language was developed to accommodate the  migration of the Buddhist teachings from India to Tibet. The original Indian manuscripts were scribed in both Lantsha and Wartu, these were fundamental to the Buddhist textual tradition and very much their visual identity. Indeed Lantsha and Wartu is still today considered a sacred and classical written language, which is often upheld; painted and gilded high up on Tibetan temple walls, beams and pillars.

The Mani mantra arranged as a monogram, a very

condensed and convoluted form of

Lantsha Sanskrit called Kutaksyar.

© Tashi Mannox 2022

As the written form of a mantra is considered divine, there was much care and respect when translating Sanskrit to Tibetan. Moreover, most mantras where translated phonetically into Tibetan, maintaing as near correct as possible to the original quality of sound, which is considered integral to the meditation practice they belong to.

The classical Uchen script style is perhaps the most common and recognizable of the Mani mantra in Tibetan, a script style very similar in appearance to Sanskrit to an untrained eye,  so it is somewhat understandable that the Uchen style is often miscalled 'Tibetan Sanskrit'.

The Mani mantra is an early form of Tibetan called High Uchen

© Tashi Mannox 2022

Below follows a list of the Mani mantra in the main Tibetan script styles, these are shown without the traditional 'heading character' the addition of a heading character dose not change the meaning of the mantra, for more explanation on the heading character.

A more standard version of the Mani mantra in the Uchen script.

© Tashi Mannox 2022 

The Mani mantra in a short form called Tsugtung

© Tashi Mannox 2022

A script style derived from East Tibet, Kham, called Petsug or Khamyig

© Tashi Mannox 2022

A more cursive script form called Dru-tsa

© Tashi Mannox 2022

A quick style of hand-writing called Khyug

© Tashi Mannox 2022

The Mani mantra in three scripts,

From left to right:

vertically stacked in Uchen

Horyig seal script

Phags-pa

© Tashi Mannox 2022

The Horyig and Phags-pa scripts are related to Mongolian and where developed for the use of seals across Mongolia Tibet and China. A more in-depth explanation on the Phags-pa script is shown here, and for the Horyig script please click here.

The Mani mantra has in recent times become popular as a tattoo design. Because the mantra is a sacred word, there are advised guidelines as where and where not to place the mantra, this is not only to safe-guard the mantras integrity but also to curb any negative karma to others and ones self in miss-placing the mantra, such as up-side-down or back-to-front.

Many of the above mantras and more are available as high resolution downloadable images from the Tashi Mannox on-line store.

Pure Perception

“Sacred Mantra” 73x56 cm Chinese ink and Japanese mineral paint on Heavy watercolour paper, created by © Tashi Mannox 2010 for the III International Exhibition of Calligraphy 2010

The description of the above calligraphy art piece features two main elements of sacred calligraphy:

1. The Mani mantra in the White vertical Phags-pa script:

The neo-Mongolian/Tibetan Phags-pa script was devised as a uniformed style by the Tibetan Lama ‘Blo-gros rGyal-mtshan’, during the regime of the Great Kublai Khan 1260-1294.

Phags-pa was also known as the new Mongolian script called Horyig in Tibetan. This was imperially imposed as a national script of the Mongol empire of the Yuan dynasty 1271-1368 encompassing all of China.

This particular Phags-pa script style used by Tashi to represent the famous Mani mantra of compassion, originates in 1348. This was discovered scribed on stone tablets at Juyonguan in China, located at the nearest section of the Great Wall to Beijing.

Only fragments of this beautiful form of Phags-pa style survives today, great effort and research were made to resurrect the Mani mantra to a correct representation in this rare script style, much due to the guidance of Andrew West, who is an expert in ancient scripts of the Far East.

The Phags-pa script bears some resemblance to Tibetan but differs distinctly in that it is written vertically downwards in columns running from left to right, much like Mongolian. Units are often formed of several characters that are separated by spaces.

From top to bottom the Phags-pa script reads om ma ni pad me hum.

2. The wishing prayer occupies horizontal lines of dark indigo ink in the Tibetan Dru-tsa script style:

Dru-tsa is one of the several U-med script styles, which is traditionally used for more ornamental calligraphy. The cursive form of the characters lends its self well to a more free style calligraphy that can be skilfully expressed in longer elegant tails and vowel signs.

In contrast to the architectural structure of the Phags-pa script, is a wishing prayer to engender a pure perception of our world being a divine heavenly realm, that all beings are the embodiment of loving kindness; the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and all sounds vibrate the sound of the six-syllable mantra. A full translation of this pure perception prayer is shown below:

Integrating everything into the spiritual path:

Each and every being in this universe is Avalokiteshvara, the embodiment of compassion,

Every sound heard hums the melody of the six sacred syllables,

This very place is truly the Pure Land of Great Bliss,

Devoid of any actual reality, like a magic show, like a dream.

It is as though we had already been reborn there.

As we cultivate “pure perception” with great joy, all veils are cleared.

One should practice “pure perception” in the way explained above.

Translation by Katia Holmes 2010

The blue ‘Utpala’ lotus represents transformation from relative to ultimate; on the open lotus is a white moon disc, which represents stainless purity. Emanating vertically from the seat of the lotus is the Mani mantra. The background of green to blue swirls suggest the water on the pond of Saṃsāra, the ocean of suffering for which compassion and understand is engendered.

oṃ maṇipadme hūṃ

The Mani mantra in 'high' Uchen script style, © Tashi Mannox 2010.

This year the Contemporary Calligraphy Museum hosts The III International Exhibition of Calligraphy 2010 in the historical Russian town of Velikly Novgorod. The main theme of the exhibition is 'Sacred Calligraphy', which the above piece called 'Sacred Mantra', was create by Tashi and donated to the Contemporary Calligraphy Museum especially for this particular calligraphy collection.

The exhibition extravaganza features art pieces of world class calligraphy artists from 43 countries, opens and runs September 10th -12th 2010.

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High Uchen script style on a base of Lapis-lazuli stone effect, this translates as

"(Spontaneously) Sacred Calligraphy". The most precious of Tibetan calligraphy is said to be embossed in gold on tablets of Lapis-lazuli stone, of which this art piece emulates. © Tashi Mannox 2010.

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