The Origins of O Maipadme H

O Maipadme H, perhaps the most well-known of all Buddhist mantras, lies at the heart of the Tibetan system and is cherished by both layman and lama alike. This book documents the origins of the mantra, and presents a new interpretation of the meaning of O Maipadme H, and includes a detailed, annotated precis of the Kraavyha Stra, opening up this important Mahayana Buddhist work to a wider audience. The Kraavyha the earliest textual source for O Maipadme Hwhich describes both the compassionate activity of Avalokitevara, the bodhisattva whose power the mantra invokes, and the mythical tale of the search for and discovery of the mantra. Through a detailed analysis of this sutra, Studholme explores the historical and doctrinal forces behind the appearance of O Maipadme H in India at around the middle of the first millennium C.E. He argues that the Kraavyha has close affinities to non-Buddhist puranic literature, and that the conception of Avalokitevara and his six-syllable mantra is informed by the conception of the Hindu deity iva and his five-syllable mantra Nama ivya. The sutra reflects an historical situation in which the Buddhist monastic establishment was coming into contact with Buddhist tantric practitioners, themselves influenced by Saivite practitioners.