A monk visited a hermit, who lived alone on an island doing retreat. The hermit had given himself three years to complete chanting ten million of the powerful six-syllable mantra of the Compassionate Buddha. The hermit had been told that attaining this level of practice would awaken his yogic powers. The mantra was “OM MANI PADME HUM”.
The monk listened as the hermit did his mantra and, with the best intention in the world, leaned over to him and whispered:
“I think you have got the pronunciation wrong. This mantra should be chanted this way…” and he proceeded to demonstrate. The hermit listened attentively and then watched as the monk walked back to his boat to leave the island.
Ten minutes later when the boat was halfway across the river the monk heard his name being called, and looking around, he spied the hermit and heard him call:
“Listen to this, have I got it right now?” and the hermit proceeded to chant the same mantra but with the monk’s intonation. Astounded, the monk turned around and saw the hermit walking on the water next to his boat. In that instant he realised that the hermit’s faith and sincerity had given his mantra recitation far more power than he had realised.
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