OM MANI PADME HUM

Here is a teaching given by the Dalai Lama in a Buddhist centre in New Jersey, USA:
" It is very beneficial to recite the Om mani padme hum mantra. While you are doing this however, you should reflect upon its essence, since the significance of the six syllables is great and inexhaustible. The first, Om, is made up of three letters, namely A, U, and M. They symbolise the impure body, the impure speech and the impure consciousness of the person doing the exercise. At the same time however they also symbolise the pure body, the pure speech and the pure consciousness of a Buddha. Can impure body, speech and consciousness be transformed into pure body, speech and consciousness, or are both completely separate from one another?

All Buddha´s are examples of living beings who attained enlightenment through the Buddhist path. Buddhism does not claim that anyone exists who is perfect and without fault from the very beginning, and who possesses all virtuous attributes. The development of a pure body, pure speech and pure consciousness comes about when the impure conditions are overcome step by step and are transformed into those which are pure. How is this to be achieved? The path towards enlightenment is implied in the following four syllables. Mani -means jewel - and symbolises the aspects of the method: the unselfish intention to strive for enlightenment, healing devotion and love.