The Story: Meditation Mantras in Wood

Welcome to Meditation Mantras in Wood. These meditation mantras were inspired by my teacher, Geshe Jinpa Sonam, spiritual director of the Indiana Buddhist Center. I once asked him to write a meditation mantra for me in Tibetan. This initiated a process that was astonishing to me in its care, patience, and love. Each step - from finding a sheet of paper - to carefully producing every symbol as perfectly as possible - went into this handwritten creation.

It was watching Geshe-la produce these written meditation mantras that impressed upon me how precious the mantras are, and I wanted to somehow demonstrate that preciousness for anyone who has been fortunate enough to hear the Tibetan mantras even once. Using a variety of designs...some actually traced from Geshe-la's writing...I handcrafted the Chenrezig meditation mantra in cherry.

Since that time, I've added several more meditation mantras to the collection and I'm working on even more. Geshe-la has encouraged me to make these meditation mantras available online. It is an honor to do so.

I try to support An Lac Temple, the Indiana Buddhist Center, and other Buddhist organizations like Buddhist Geeks, the Buddhist Geeks Podcast site, and other Buddhist groups that strive to share the dharma in mindful, non-sectarian ways as much as I can. Most of the profit from this site will go to one of the above organizations.

How the Meditation Mantras Are Made

All meditation mantras are available in Oak, Cherry, Walnut, and Poplar. There is an additional fee for more exotic woods such as cocoa bolla and paduk as explained on the order page. Wood thickness is 3/4" - 15/16"

Meditation Mantras are handcrafted one at the time, so each one is a unique, one-of-a-kind "statue of the written word." The wood is first planed and sanded to a satin finish. The pattern is applied and the mantra is cut on a scroll saw using the finest blade that will result in the cleanest cut for the particular thickness and hardness of the wood. Some of the meditation mantras have as many as 30 internal cuts. After cutting, each meditation mantra is hand-sanded and shaped starting with 100 grit sandpaper and ending with 12,000 grit. Special oil is then applied.

What Meditation Mantras Are Available?

Currently, there are five meditation mantras available (two of them are two different styles of the Chenrezig mantra). More information about the meditation mantras are available on the Meditation Mantra Order page.

• Stylized Chenrezig Meditation Mantra &mdash Om Mani Padme Hung
• Chenrezig Meditation Mantra — Om Mani Padme Hung: designed and inspired by Geshe Jinpa Sonam's Tibetan calligraphy.
• Tara Meditation Mantra — Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha: inspired by the goal of IBC to accumulate 1,000,000 Tara Mantras for the success of their new center in providing a safe home for Geshe-la and a haven of peace and compassion centrally located in Indianapolis.
• Shakyamuni Buddha Meditation Mantra - Om Muni Muni Maha Munaye Soha: The mantra of my personal yiddam
• Vajrasattva Meditation Mantra — Om Vajarasattva Hum: based on the calligraphy of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. He is leading the Prayer for Peace Initiative to accumulate one billion recitations of the Vajrasattva mantra, from practitioners all over the world.

I'm working on designs for the meditation mantras of Maitreya and Manjushri. I hope very soon to add meditation mantras for other faiths - Hindu, other Buddhist schools, Christianity, Muslim, Judaisim, Wicken, and any others that visitors may like to see. If you have a favorite mantra, let me know.