Mamo Chants

Losar

The first day of the Tibetan new year is known as “Losar.” As the old year draws to a close, according to tradition, the accumulated negative karma from that year ripens and begins to surface. This means people are more likely to lose their focus and mindfulness, leading to an increase in accidents, misunderstandings, and problems in many areas of life, from personal relationships to global events.

Dön Season

To help counter these negative energies that can come up at the end of the year, we have 10 special days called the "Dön Season" which directly precedes Losar. During this time there are extra protector chants in the evening, including multiple recitations of Pacifying the Turmoil of the Mamos or the "Mamo Chants". These chants help pacify the personal, social, and environmental karmic causes of chaos and discord that has accumulated throughout the year due to unmindful acts.

The Mamos

What are the Mamos? They are described as furious, ugly beings. They can act as protectors and reminders of awareness when we are open to their message, or as chaos if we don't pay attention. But they "...are nothing else than projections of the richness of our own minds. By supplicating them, we are in fact rousing confidence in our own buddha nature." (From the Shambhala Office of Practice and Education)

Pacifying the Turmoil of the Mamos is an elaborate offering. We pacify the mamos so they will not cause chaos but instead help us wake up. By reciting the chant, we connect to the protector principle of awareness and reconnect with sacred outlook. It is not the mamos that cause us to “eat bad cheap food or wear clothes of rags,” as the chant says. It is our own confusion at work that causes us to lose mindfulness. The mamos can protect against this confusion.

By cultivating awareness of our minds, our thinking and our emotions, when a negative emotion arises we don’t automatically react to it. Instead there is a little gap between the impulse and acting it out. That gap allows us to respond more consciously, remembering our own fundamental goodness and recognizing the goodness in others as well.