mantra

A mantra is a sequence of spiritually-potent sounds or syllables used for meditation, prayer, or to accompany ritual enactments. Mantras are important in the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain traditions. The repeated oral or mental recitation of a mantra is said to concentrate the awareness of the practitioner, thereby disclosing the roots of consciousness or awakening the power of a divine reality. Mantras also play a central role in ritual and magical practices. In the Buddhist tradition, a mantra may contain within it the sacred power and cosmic energies of a Buddha or bodhisattva. The mantra literally “protects the mind” from negative mental states by invoking these divine energies within oneself.