Westerners have asked me many times to explain how mantras work. This is a question that comes from the Western mind; it’s not asked in Asia, certainly not among the Tibetans, because they have faith. When there is water, what does water do? It makes things wet; that is its nature. Fire has its own nature; its nature is to burn. Everything has its own nature. Mantras too have their own nature; their nature is to transform the mind.

Any word we say affects another person’s mind, making them happy or sad or angry or whatever. The power of the mantra comes from the sound, and that sound has the power to transform the mind into one of virtue.

From The Power of Mantra: Vital Practices for Transformation by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, © 2022. Reprinted by permission of Wisdom Publications.

Thank you for subscribing to Tricycle! As a nonprofit, to keep Buddhist teachings and practices widely available.