Armidale Community Buddhist Centre

...mantra of the perfection of wisdom:

DAYATA (OM) GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SWAHA.

A mantra is that which protects the mind. Through this mantra, which is the perfection of wisdom itself, we can overcome the demon of ignorance that possesses us and find unsurpassable happiness. It protects the minds of those who practice it from all fears and describes how to make the transition from worldly existence to the supreme state beyond sorrow. It is a mantra of great knowledge because it saves us from the poison of ignorance and its imprints. It is an unsurpassable mantra because it frees us from suffering and its causes as no other path of insight can. The incomparable is the state beyond suffering. Since it helps us to attain that state, it is comparable to the incomparable. It totally pacifies suffering because it rids us of all the troubles of the world and their causes. The world here refers to ordinary beings like us. Our troubles are many but foremost are birth, aging, sickness, and death. This mantra does not deceive us and it is true because wisdom sees things as they actually are without any error or deception. It is therefore transcendent.