南無觀世音菩薩
Ná Mó Guān Shì Yīn Pú Sà
This is perhaps the most widely used mantra of Guan Yin in China, at par with Guan Yin’s root mantra, Om Mani Padme Hum. “Na Mo” is a salutation, borrowed from Sanskrit (compare “Namaste”), roughly translated as “Blessing”. Guan Shi Yin is the longer version of the name Guan Yin, it literally means “Listener to the World’s Sounds/Cries”. “Pu Sa” means Bodhisattva – a class of beings in the Buddhist culture, with a similar meaning as a “saint” in Christianity. Although a Bodhisattva is generally a divine being, a god or a goddess, strictly speaking, anybody can become one, who is willing to transform their lives for the benefit of all beings. It’s literal meaning is “Wise Being”. So reading its parts together, Na Mo Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa means “Blessings, O Guan Shi Yin (Listener of the World’s Cries), Wise Being!”. Thus, the mantra can be used as a salutation to the Goddess. For example I use it frequently to pay homage to Her, reciting it seven times, as I offer up incense at Her altar.
In the Chinese tradition, this mantra is said to have wonderful properties, able to save people from danger, if chanted with an open heart. Most likely the belief comes from the Lotus Sutra, which says:
“…Good Man, if all the countless hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings tormented by misery and pain hear of Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva, and with all their hearts invoke the name, Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva will immediately respond to their prayers and set them free.
If those who recite the name of Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva should fall into a great fire, the fire will not burn them, because of Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva’s awesome spiritual power. If they are being tossed about in deep and treacherous waters and call his name, they will quickly reach the shallows…”
I have personally felt the effects of the mantra, and Guan Yin’s help. On numerous occasions I have emerged unharmed from possibly very dangerous situations. At one time, for example, I have lost all my money in a public restaurant – literally all of it, including all my IDs, passport, credit cards, etc. As I stayed in a hostel, I kept everything on my person. Had I really lost it, I wouldn’t have been able to eat, I have no idea how I would have got on from that point. Even the bank wouldn’t have given me my money without an ID. It was also a bad neighborhood – when about an hour later I realized my wallet is gone, I almost knew I had no chance of recovering it. Yet, I chanted Na Mo Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa with an open heart. And as a miracle, my wallet was returned to me by another foreigner, all of it, without a penny missing. The power of the Goddess is truly wonderful.
(Those who learn Chinese, may notice that “Na Mo” is written with the characters “Nan Wu”. This is no mistake. When chanted together, Nan Wu sounds like “Na Nwo”… “N” and “W” together sounds like an “M”. Although there are “Na” and “Mo” characters in Chinese, this is the traditional way of transliteration, and today, when used in this context, Nan and Wu are rendered Na and Mo.)
Lotus Path 