The diamond god's protection to all who cultivate the way
From Great Precious Immensely Large Palace Sutra, Great Compassion Sutra, Crystal Spear Dharani Sutra.... and more than 15 volumes of Sutras say: “If a person sees the Dharani practitioner or hears his voice, or crosses his shadow, that person's ten serious offenses and the five grave sins will be eliminated. He will be reborn in the Buddha's Pure Land. Everything that comes in contact with the practitioner and falls onto others will have the effect of erasing their sins and allowing rebirth in the Buddhas' land or from the lotus flower”. When the Dharani practitioner walks on the road and the wind touches him, then goes on to touch any other beings, their negative karma gets purified and it causes them to have a rebirth in the Pure Lands of the Buddha.
The Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha in the West
When such a person goes into the water to take a bath and recites the Dharani, the water that touches the person's body gets blessed, and then this blessed water purifies all sentient beings that come in contact with it. When such a person is on top of a mountain and recites the Dharani, whatever meets his eyes will become purified. If he looks up and recites the Dharani, the raindrop that falls on his face and then touches any other beings, will liberate them. The analogy can be seen with the wind carrying germs and spread deadly diseases when it comes in contact with human beings. Those are only worldly germs, let alone the indisputable power of the Dharani.
The Book of Dharani Sutra says, “Even when a person blasphemed the Dharani after hearing it, he still benefits. For example, a person may chop down and break, stamp on and sabotage the Aquilaria (Camphor) trees in the forest as much as he could, the nice fragrance of those trees still stay on him”. Therefore the Buddha's Crown Sutra says: “The Magical Transformation Powers of the Dharani gate is truly the highest.” From Immaculate Peaceful Light, Amogha-pasa Bodhisattva, The Buddha's Crown, Wish-Fulfilling Sutras: “When a person with bad karma dies, he will fall into the three jails of hell. If the Dharani practitioner calls the first and last name and the age of the dying person and devotedly recites the Dharani, that person’s soul will depart from the realm of wild beasts to be reborn in the superior heaven.
If the practitioner recites the Dharani to the soil surrounding the grave, or to the lotus flower on the grave or on the dead body, the latter will be instantly reborn in the Pure Land of the Buddhas. In addition, if the shadow of the practitioner is cast upon the clothing or anything pertaining to the dead, or the corpse itself, the latter will be born in the Pure Lands of Buddhas. If the Dharani is copied then put on the skeleton, his soul will be reborn in the heaven’s palace”. Therefore, the sage of the past said: “Dust falling down from the practitioner and his shadow allows one to stroll the heaven's palace.
His scattering and sprinkling of holy water help the soul out of wild beasts' realms”. *Question: If a dead person had bad karma that led him to the three jails in hell, why would the saying of his name or reciting Dharani to the soil, the grave or to his remains help him avoid sufferings and enjoy Buddha's land? This is hard to believe for the laymen as well as the monks. *Answer: People can prohibit the voodoos, stop the fire from burning, stop the knife from causing injuries, and stop the snake from biting. One can also neutralize most poisons. Since the Dharani of the Buddha can do all of the above and much more, of course the Dharani could easily change miseries into happiness. Zhuang Tzu said: “the sage considers, but does not argue anything beyond the six elements (Heaven, Earth, East, West, South, and North).
The Avatamsaka (Kegon Kya, Hoa-Yen King) Sutra said: “Even the 9th stage Bodhisattva does not know about the intelligence and the merits of the 10th stage Bodhisattva, how could anything be known about the Tathagata, who is the King of all saints, the One who holds the Secret Mind Seal? A common person cannot use his ambitious mind to compare and to argue. Look at the fish in the bottom of the well, how can it know the width and depth of the East Ocean? It just has to believe firmly”. From Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Secret Store Dharani Sutra: “The Dharani practitioner will be successful in everything if he has absolute faith.” “The Dharani practitioner also has the power to benefit sentient beings and save sinful souls.” Thousand Ears and Eyes Great Compassion Dharani Sutra:” The Dharani practitioner does not suffer these 15 bad deaths:
1. One does not die from miseries of hunger and thirst.
2. One does not die from being bound and beaten.
3. One does not die from his enemies' plots.
4. One does not die from fights at the battlefield.
5. One does not get hurt by tigers or panthers.
6. One does not get hurt by centipedes.
7. One does not die from being drowned or burned.
8. One does not die from accidental poison ingestion
9. One does not die from being poisoned.
10. One does not die in an insane state.
11. One does not die from being crushed by mountains or fallen trees.
12. One does not die from magic spells.
13. One does not get hurt by wicked Demons.
14. One does not die from chronic severe illnesses.
15. One does not die from his own bad karma.
From Amogha-pasa Dharanis Sutra: “The Dharani practitioner has these 8 advantages at the time of death:
1. Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva appears in the form of a monk and comforts the person.
2. The death is peaceful and not filled with agony.
3. At the time of death, the eyes will not roll up, the mouth will not be deformed, the hands will be loose, the legs will stretch out in a relaxed manner; there will be no excrement. The person will not fall off the bed.
4. The mind will remain peaceful, the thoughts in order thanks to right thinking (Samyak-Snoti).
5. The face will not be turned downward.
6. At the time of death, the talent for communication remains endless.
7. After the death, according to one's aspiration, there will be rebirth in the Pure Lands of Buddhas.
8. The person will frequently be with good friends. From Kwan Yin's Eleven Faces Sutra: The Dharani practitioner has 4 good deeds:
1. Buddhas will appear at the time of death.
2. Following death, the soul will not fall into the wild beast realm.
3. Death is not brought by accident or disasters.
4. The person gets reborn in paradise.
Thousand Arms, Thousand Eyes - Kwan Yin
All Buddhas were born from Dharani. From Immensely Large Palace Sutra: “Dharani is the mother of Buddhas; it is the seed-syllable of the Buddhas. Without Dharani, there will be no enlightenment. The three stores of Sutras originate from Dharani”. The Supreme Mahayana Precious King Sutra talks about 4 kinds of vehicles:
1. The vehicle of the Intellectuals (Sravaka-Yana)
2. The vehicle of Prateyka- Buddhas (Prateyka-Buddha-Yana)
3. The Broad and Great Vehicle (Maha-Yana)
4. The vehicle of the Supreme Diamond. This is the Store of Dharanis.
From Magical Transformation Petition, “Thousands of lineages, and thousands of sects come from Mt. Ji' Shi', in Gu`n Lu'n; 12 chapters of Sutras comes from the store of secret Dharani Sutra, thousands of virtues also come from Dharani.
This means that every word of Dharani is the formlessness doctrine where all virtues originate”. -Store of Rituals for Dharani Recitation Sutra: “OM comes from the formlessness doctrine”. Magical Transformation Petition: “The realm of the formlessness doctrine is composed of Dharani. Dharani is also called the three stores. It contains all the virtues. Dharani has everything: Precepts, Stillness, and Wisdom. Thousand of virtues are contained in the six paramitas (perfections), and in the three studies (Doctrine, Discipline, and Metaphysics).
The Dharani is the summary of all virtues. Any other doctrines are its tributaries.” *Question: The above Sutras say that Dharani is the meditation store, bringing about hundreds of thousands of Samadhi. It also says that Dharani contains the three stores, which includes all the schools of meditations. Why are today's practitioners not allowed to recite Dharani? *Answer: There were stories from India and China about virtuous Zen masters who always performed good deeds. Would they not recite the Dharanis, which are the formless subject for meditation, the heart seal of Buddha? Sitatapatra Dharani has this versified text:
“The opening of the formless school of meditation brings about gradual observation and revelations on the Diamond Samadhi.” or “The excellent instruction of yoga transmits the seal of the heart. The Great Vehicle parades the gate of all inclusive Dharani.” Nagarjuna Bodhisattva, the 14th founder of the Hindu Meditation Sect, copied and summarized the Sutra of Dharani to teach the world the “Cundi Dharani” (a Buddha's name).
Zen Master Ichigyo, a saint in China praised the powers of Dharani.
Zhi` Zhe, an enlightened Zen master taught the rules and ritual of Dharani practice. When anyone asked the Zen Master Qi` Fu' about the supreme vehicle, he taught him to recite Dharani. So it is not true that past masters forbid the recitation of Dharani. In addition, the Sect of Meditation (Zen-Shu, Ch’an- Tsoung) says: All doctrines are the nature of Buddha. Is it not? There are meditation masters or preachers who are jealous and afraid of losing their advantages when they see the broad transmission of Dharani. Therefore they said things against it. All who did that either in the past or present had to be cautious about the retribution of karma.
Although it has been said that despite ill speaking of Dharani, it still brings benefit, but this benefit is delicate, and that blaspheming is usually punished because Dharani is the Buddha’s Mind Seal. It is protected by numerous kings, Deities, and Dragon Gods. A wise person should be careful about this.
People from the four corners of the world only need to understand language. They can recite the Dharani in a respectful manner when they walk, stand, sit or lie down. Reciting Dharani eliminates worries, gives safety and peace to the
person without him having to understand the doctrine such as the case of the sick person taking the medicine to cure the sickness without thorough understanding of medical texts.
