Name this syllable...

A reader recently sent in this image:

I'm a reiki master and found that the origins of the reiki symbols come from sanskrit. I managed to discover the correspondent syllables from two symbols but can't find for one of them. Can I please ask your assistance for that, please? Could you give me the name and the letter for that symbol?

The syllable is vai written in Chinese brush style Siddhaṃ. In Reiki it apparently symbolises 'light'. This is presumably because it is related to the seed syllable of Vairocana - "the illuminator".

Spelling Manjusri, and Devanagari

Mafalda wrote in recently to ask about the spelling of the name Mañjuśrī and what it and the associated mantra look like in Devanāgarī. Here is my reply:

Manjusri the bodhisattva is spelt with a long final i (ie ī sometimes written ii) - mañjuśrī. Mañjuśrī in devanāgarī is मञ्जुश्री or मंजुश्री (i.e. maṃjuśrī - this is how you'd write it in Sanskrit, but it would still be pronounced the same because ṃ before j is assumed to be ñ).

The mantra (oṃ a ra pa ca na dhīḥ) is ओं अ र प च न धीः
Note this is oṃ not auṃ - generally speaking Buddhists use oṃ (short o sound) whereas Hindus use auṃ (long au). They sound similar, and nobody pronounces it as written anyway. Auṃ would be written either आं or ॐ

Do write to me if you have a question and I'll do my best to answer it.

Phonosemantics

I've added an essay which introduces the subject of phonosemantics - the study of the way vocal sounds are meaningful. To my mind this is a very exciting area of linguistics which may provide insights into how and why mantras affect us. I serendipitously found Margo Magnus's Magical Letter website many years ago and almost instantly became fascinated with her research and it's conclusions.

There are a small number of linguists prepared to take the subject seriously and they are making slow progress in describing the phenomenon - an essential first step in understanding it! It is a minority interest, and progress is slow, because the major paradigm in operation in linguistics denies the possibility that individual syllables can bear meaning. Because it is held to be impossible, very few people are prepared to even examine and comment on the data. Such is the way of scientific revolutions!

Onmyoji - manga translation

I've been working with Patrick Honnore on transliterating some Siddhaṃ mantras in a manga comic called Onmyoji. It is well known in Japan and has even featured in two feature films, but this will be the first translation into a European language (French). It's work in progress and quite fascinating as the mantras appear to be genuine mantras. However in some cases I've not been able to identify the mantra. I'll post them here and would like to hear from anyone who can identify them.

• oṃ pa dmo dbha vā ya svā hā
• oṃ śu ri ma ri ma ma ri ma ri śu śu ri svā hā
• oṃ a mṛ to dbha va hūṃ pha ṭ svā hā (I think this is a Hayagrīva mantra)

Ring any bells?

Reading

The new page of readings on mantra begins to fill the gap on the theory of mantra. I present material from the scholarly literature on mantra, making the abstruse more accessible (I hope). There are now two essays on the reading page:

• What is mantra? - an overview of Buddhist mantra which looks at mantra use in different contexts: Tantric ritual, Mahāyāna ritual, and informal.
• On the etymology of the word 'mantra' - this essay presents both historical and traditional etymologies of the word mantra, and incidentally adds to the definition of what mantras are.

Some additions are already planned. In particular I want to re-present my original Wikipedia article on Phonosemantics - the study of how sounds affect meaning - which fell foul of academic orthodoxy some time ago. This is an exciting area for anyone interested in understanding how and why mantras 'work'.

Facebook

If you are into Facebook then I've started a Visible Mantra page there. Don't know what use it is except to help promote the website. It does have a discussion board where we might exchange views. I meet precious few other calligraphers so I'm hoping that others will de-lurk and make contact.

Mañjuśrī and Arapacana

I've rejigged the info relating to Mañjuśrī and Arapacana. I wanted to add some Mañjuśrī mantras and this would have made his page a bit unwieldy. So I have split off the material that relates only to the Arapacana alphabet onto a new page. I've added the Vagiśvara mantra, and one that I discovered recently on Glenn Wallis's website which is also related to Mañjuśrī's role as Lord of Speech. So now there are three pages to consult:

• Mañjuśrī and Mañjughoṣa - material relating to the mantra of the Bodhisattva
• The Arapacana Alphabet and it's history
• Meditating on the Wisdom Alphabet with reference to the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra

Om Mani Padme Hung

Om Mani Padme Hung
Originally uploaded by kaito_do

Another outstanding find on Flickr! This is a three script version of oṃ manipadme hūṃ: dbucan, 'brutsha, dbumed (ie Uchen, Drutsa, and Ume). I've got to start making some seals!

Redecorating

I finally got bored with all the green on Visible Mantra and have opted for basic black in the new colour scheme, with red drop capitals. The latter are inspired by the red seals Nathaniel Archer uses in his calligraphy. I keep thinking I must have a go at making some...

I'm also slightly rejigging the menu (which is time consuming because I use stone age technology to create VM) and have renamed a couple of the pages to better reflect what they are about. There is a new section of reading material. I have been working on some background material for the site which I think will fill a gap for anyone who is interested in Buddhist mantra.

Names

I've now completed a project to add calligraphy of the names for all of the deity mantra pages, and other figures with Sanskrit names. At the same time I've updated a few of the less elegant mantras (my calligraphy has improved somewhat since I set this site up). Do take the time to revisit pages you may be familiar with to see what's new.

Acala Vidyārāja - Fudō Myōō (不動明王)

The latest addition to Visible Mantra is a page for Fudō. Fudō is a wrathful manifestation of Mahāvairocana who acts as a messenger and protector. He is one of a group of Vidyārājas. Vidyā is sometimes used as a synonym for "mantra" in Tantric Buddhism, though it's basic meaning is knowledge (the word is related to the Sanskrit Veda), and it is often used to connote magical or esoteric knowledge. A Vidyārāja then, is king of esoteric knowledge especially of mantra. Fudō is one of the thirteen principal deities of the modern Shingon School.

I have to admit I'm not very familiar with this character as he does not figure in the Western Buddhist Order to any great extent. I'm drawing entirely on Shingon sources for this mantra, but especially the Shingon "Handbook for Followers" by Abbot Yusei Arai.

My brush is "this" big!!!

Jisen, calligraphy retreat, Upaya Zen Center
Originally uploaded by Upaya

I absolutely love this! My calligraphy is usually small because I use pens up to 6mm wide. Calligraphy on this scale is a totally different aesthetic - you can step right inside this.

dhīḥ

dhih
Originally uploaded by jayarava

I've been uploading a few examples of my calligraphy to Flickr. This one is a dhīḥ the seed syllable of prefect wisdom - follow the link for more details. On Flickr I've created a group for Buddhist Calligraphy and invited a number of others to contribute - only 2 have responded but I'm hoping to attract more interest.

[국보 75호] 표충사청동함은향완

[국보 75호] 표충사청동함은향완
Originally uploaded by liscell

If you look carefully you can see a Siddhaṃ letter on the side of this goblet, and another jsut out of view on the left (but clearly with the nada-bindu anusvāra). Another example of Korean Siddhaṃ - which means that those people who say it only exists in Japan these days are looking increasingly wrong.

Bablefish.com translates the title as: "[ 75 national treasures ] ticket insect company bronze box direction wan". (It appears in Google many times so the origin is doubtful).