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"Mantra" (;〔("mantra" ). ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''.〕) means a sacred utterance, numinous sound, or a syllable, word, phonemes, or group of words believed by some to have psychological and spiritual power in Sanskrit.〔〔Feuerstein, G. (2003), ''The Deeper Dimension of Yoga''. Shambala Publications, Boston, MA〕 A mantra may or may not have syntactic structure or literal meaning; the spiritual value of a mantra comes when it is audible, visible, or present in thought.〔〔James Lochtefeld, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Volume 2, ISBN 0-8239-2287-1, pages 422-423〕 The earliest mantras were composed in Vedic times by Hindus in India, and those are at least 3000 years old.〔 Mantras are now found in various schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.〔〔Nesbitt, Eleanor M. (2005), Sikhism: a very short introduction, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-280601-7〕 Similar hymns, chants, compositions and concepts are found in Zoroastrianism,〔Boyce, M. (2001), Zoroastrians: their religious beliefs and practices, Psychology Press〕 Taoism, Christianity and elsewhere.〔 The use, structure, function, importance and types of mantras vary according to the school and philosophy of Hinduism and of Buddhism. Mantras serve a central role in the tantric school of Hinduism.〔〔Teun Goudriaan (1981), Hindu Tantric and Śākta Literature, in A History of Indian Literature, Vol. 2, ISBN 978-3447020916, Chapter VIII〕 In this school, mantras are considered equivalent to deities, a sacred formula and deeply personal ritual, and considered to be effective only after initiation. However, in other schools of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism or Sikhism, this is not so.〔〔Harvey Alper (1989), Understanding Mantras, ISBN 81-208-0746-4, State University of New York〕 Mantras come in many forms, including ''ṛc'' (verses from Rigveda for example) and ''sāman'' (musical chants from the Sāmaveda for example).〔〔 They are typically melodic, mathematically structured meters, thought to be resonant with numinous qualities. At its simplest, the word ॐ (Aum, Om) serves as a mantra. In more sophisticated forms, they are melodic phrases with spiritual interpretations such as human longing for truth, reality, light, immortality, peace, love, knowledge and action.〔〔 Yet other mantras are literally meaningless, yet musically uplifting and spiritually meaningful.〔 ==Etymology and origins== The Sanskrit word ' (m.; also n. ''mantram'') consists of the root ''man-'' "to think" (also in ''manas'' "mind") and the suffix ''-tra'', designating tools or instruments, hence a literal translation would be "instrument of thought".〔Macdonell, Arthur A., ''A Sanskrit Grammar for Students'' § 182.1.b, p. 162(Oxford University Press, 3rd edition, 1927).〕〔Whitney, W.D., ''Sanskrit Grammar'' § 1185.c, p. 449(New York, 2003, ISBN 0-486-43136-3).〕 Scholars〔Jan Gonda (1963), The Indian Mantra, Oriens, Vol. 16, pages 244-297〕〔Frits Staal (1996), Rituals and Mantras, Rules without meaning, ISBN 978-8120814127, Motilal Banarsidass〕 consider mantras to be older than 1000 BC. By the middle Vedic period - 1000 BC to 500 BC - claims Frits Staal, mantras in Hinduism had developed into a blend of art and science.〔 The Chinese translation is ''zhenyan'' 眞言, 真言, literally "true words", the Japanese on'yomi reading of the Chinese being ''shingon'' (which is also used as the proper name for the prominent esoteric Shingon sect). According to Schlerath, the concept of ''sātyas mantras'' is found in Indo-Iranian Yasna 31.6 and Rigveda, where it means more than 'true Word', it is considered formulated thought which is in conformity with the reality or poetic (religious) formula with inherent fulfillment.〔 p. 695.〕 Mantras are neither unique to Hinduism, nor to other Indian religions such as Buddhism; similar creative constructs developed in Asian and Western traditions as well.〔 Mantras, suggests Staal, may be older than language. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「mantra」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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