Aum/Om – ॐ – The well known four part syllable meaning birth “oh”, life “ooommm”, death “mmmm”, and liberation silence – Represents the Rulers of creation
Ma – म – First syllable for Jewel, symbolic for spiritual rewards – Represents the demigods
Ni – णि – Second syllable for Jewel – Represents us humans
Pad – प – First syllable for Lotus, symbolic for wisdom from muck – Represents animals in all their instinctual innocence
Me – द्मे – Second syllable for Lotus – Represents “hungry ghosts” which are beings where “food turns to ash in their mouths”
Hum/Hung – हूँ – Syllable meaning “am” – Represents the demons in damnation
“Universal Gem, Lotus of Enlightenment” “praise to the jewel in the lotus” “I in the Jewel Lotus” and other renditions have been given this mantra in English. For me the introduction came from the Lotus Born (aka Padmasambhava or Padmakara) with emphasis on the 6 syllables each representing a different state of existence as seen above, and wishing each to be born in a better place. The mantra is considered to come from Avalokiteśvara (known in China as Guanyin) the Bodhisattva of Compassion.
For me the time I said it that felt “correct,” as Padmakara would say, was when with each syllable I felt the boulder atop each state of being. Om, G-d’s ennui. Ma, the angels of uncertainty in the face of dynamic existence. Ni, humanities endless agitation and anxiety at the unknown. Pad, animal prey instincts. Me, endless disappointment despite constant effort. Hum, only a prison makes sense in a universe of unrelenting woes. When I meditated upon this sense of things it felt as if my heart was looking upon the sun! The upwelling of compassion I felt from The Good Lord to The Deceiver, and everyone in between, wishing each peace from the center of my being without flinching or loss of intention. When you feel that, that unstoppable wish for universal peace it changes you. You carry if for them. You become a sun to warm others, out of intention and happenstance. Because you’ve had enough of the cold.