gate, gate gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha
(roughly: gone, gone gone, gone beyond, gone beyond beyond, hail the goer.)
I'd read an English translation of this in the beginning of The Years of Rice and Salt, a book given to me by Clare for Christmas. I only (finally) started the novel at the beginning of the month, and within a week, on the Food for Families delivery, the Buddhist on my route (with whom I've had several wonderful conversations) spontaneously taught the Sanskrit version to me. He didn't know I'd just encountered the mantra for the first time. "Isn't that a coincidence?" he asked me, when I told him. "Not really," said I.
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