AH YANG RAM MANG KHAM DRUM DU
-> listen to the mantra on YouTube.
lead vocals: Kharnatsang
lead vocal recordings: Christiane Strothmann, at Menri Monastery, April 2024.
backing vocals, production, sound design, harmonization, arrangement: Christiane Strothmann
credits:
Backing vocals, instruments, and electronics recorded/produced at Strothmann studios, Witten, Germany, by: Ch. Strothmann, 2024/25
Final mix at ICEM studio 4, by: Ch. Strothmann, 2025
Artwork by Kharnatsang/Strothmann (idea) & Rebecca Ter Braak (design)
The Mantra of the Five Elements
ཨ་ཡཾ་རཾ་མཾ་ཁཾ་བྲུཾ་འདུ།
The mantra is based on the elements of space, air (wind), fire, water, and earth. The element of earth is further divided into its inner aspect (crystals and minerals) and its external manifestation as mountains.
In Yungdrung Bön, the assignment of colors to the elements varies depending on the teaching cycle being referenced. Our arrangement follows this correspondence of syllables, elements, and colors:
- Ah – ཨ། – Space – blue
- Yang – ཡཾ། – Air (Wind) – white
- Ram – རཾ། – Fire – red
- Mang – མཾ། – Water – green/turquoise
- Kham – ཁཾ། – Earth as a reservoir of minerals – dark yellow/brownish yellow
- Drum – བྲུཾ། – Earth as mountains – light yellow
The syllable Du – འདུ། is an emphasizing syllable that connects the mantra’s syllables to the human realm and the physical world. It conveys the idea that the elements are always interconnected, forming countless variations of outer and inner phenomena and manifesting in different ways. In their individual outer form they appear as the natural elements such as space, wind, fire, water, and earth. In their individual outer form, they appear as the natural elements such as space, wind, fire, water, and earth. However, they also manifest in other areas, such as in the human body. Here, the lungs and the breathing process are considered manifestations of the wind element, the blood and other fluids are associated with the water element, the warmth of the body represents the fire element, the bones correspond to the earth element, and consciousness is regarded as an expression of the element of space.