mantra
To be clear, 'Mantra’ is not a term or concept in
EBT. But its adoption in later schools of Buddhism, and in modern common English usage, requires comment on how we use that term.
oxford and cambridge dictionary definition
In Oxford Living Dictionary mantra is defined as
1. a word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation.
Cambridge Dictionary provides two different definitions.
2. The first refers to Hinduism and Buddhism: a word or sound that is believed to have a special spiritual power.
3. The second definition is more general: a word or phrase that is often repeated and expresses a particularly strong belief. For instance, a football team can choose individual words as their own "mantra."
how ‘mantra’ is used on lucid24.org
Thai forest tradition uses ‘Buddho’ in the sense of definition (1), as a vocally or mentally recited word to aid in sati
7🐘 and samādhi
8🌄.
Loose usage of the term ‘mantra’ in the sense of (3), a slogan, phrase to be vocally or mentally recited as a way for sati (memory) to trigger reflection on the relevant Dharma recollections associated with that mantra.
For example:
This is an excellent
maraṇa-s-sati 💀 mantra: ‘appamatta viharissama...marana sati bhavessama’. Frequently recollected, it reminds us to prioritize and maximize the use of our limited life time, and also seamlessly connects to the sutta from which it originated,
AN 6.19.