Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum

This mantra is devoted to Padmasambhava, lovingly called Guru Rinpoche in Tibet: the master who carried Buddhism across the Himalayas in the eighth century. Its twelve syllables form a small journey. Om ah hum blesses body, speech and mind; vajra stands for the indestructible, padma for the lotus that blooms out of mud; siddhi hum asks for the strength to make it all real.

You do not need to be a Buddhist for it to mean something. Repeat the mantra softly in a quiet moment, for instance before starting something new. The cadence does the work: your breathing slows down and your attention returns to what is here now. Some people say it three times, others turn it into a short meditation.

In May, the month of blossom and of soft pink, it fits especially well. Everything that opens from a bud once began as an intention. A bracelet around your wrist can do what the mantra does: quietly remind you that a new beginning does not need a grand gesture.