Mantra or Meow-tra?

Head Nun had been teaching the nuns how to recite the Great Compassionate Mantra (also known as the Mantra of Avalokiteshvara) given to the world by the Goddess Kuan Yin. Of course it was all Greek to me but I liked the lyrics and I was also interested to learn it. I had heard of Kuan Yin from the nuns and of her great compassion for all sentient beings.


Head Nun explained that there were many benefits from reciting this mantra. To recite five times in one evening would wipe away one's heavy offences of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, tens of thousands of millions of eons of birth and death! The mantra could also prevent and cure all kinds of diseases, if recited with utmost sincerity. I felt I could not pass up this golden opportunity to learn such a priceless mantra.


However, learning the mantra and getting the right pronunciation proved very difficult, for me at least. When you've said "meow" all your life, trying to say something completely different, not to mention a complex foreign language such as Tibetan, was a gargantuan and near impossible task. But I persisted. I wanted to cross the Sea of Samsara and reach Nirvana as quickly as I could. There was really not much fun chasing after rats and lizards life after life.


After many weeks of rolling and twisting my tongue (and sometimes killing the language), I thought I had mastered it and felt ready to recite it in front of Head Nun to see what she thought. She was very surprised when I told her of my accomplishment and immediately sat down to listen. All this time I had never chanted it in front of anyone and I began to lose a little confidence and fumbled in the beginning. When I finished, Head Nun sat transfixed. Then she said with a serious face, "A very good attempt but you've got to get rid of the unwanted "meows" in between."


Drat it, I knew the "meows" would get in the way. At that afternoon's lesson, I wondered why Head Nun burst into peals of laughter now and then when reciting the mantra.


I'm not giving up just yet. For those interested to learn the mantra, listen to the video I found. Good luck!