The Spiritual Mantra
VOLUME 6, Chapter 3
H2 On second request he speaks the spiritual mantra.
I1 The entire assembly asks again.
Sutra:
Ananda bowed at the Buddha's feet and said, "After I left the home-life, I relied on the Buddha's affectionate regard. Because I sought erudition, I still have not been certified to the unconditioned."
Commentary:
After Ananda heard this description by Shakyamuni Buddha, he bowed at the Buddha's feet and said, "After I left the homelife, I relied on the Buddha's affectionate regard. I counted on the Buddha's fondness for me, on his special affection. Because I sought erudition, I still have not been certified to the unconditioned. He was always concerned about being better than everyone else. "I wanted to surpass others," and so he had the idea, "You can't recite the sutra from memory, but I can. You can't even explain that sutra, and I remember every word of it." He was always competing to be number one. He decided to use erudition to obtain the first position. True enough, Ananda became foremost in learning, but he still did not certify to the unconditioned. He still had not reached to the fruition of sagehood that was unconditioned. He couldn't obtain the level beyond learning. This was of great harm to him.
Sutra:
When I encountered that Brahma Heaven mantra, I was captured by the deviant spell; though my mind was aware, I had no power to free myself. I had to rely on Manjushri Bodhisattva to liberate me. Although I was blessed by the Thus Come One's spiritual mantra of the Buddha's summit and imperceptibly received its strength, I still have not heard it myself.
Commentary:
"When I encountered that Brahma Heaven mantra, I was captured by the deviant spell; though my mind was aware, I had no power to free myself. I became confused by the deviant spell of the externalist way, by the deviant trick of a demonic dharma. I was physically captured by the spell; my body was confused by it, but my mind was still somewhat clear." His mind was not totally alert, but he wasn't totally muddled, either. He was in a daze, as if he were asleep, and yet he was awake. He was as if drunk, but he hadn't taken anything intoxicating. But the effect was much the same as with drink.
When you ask a person who's recovered from a drunken binge what he did while under the influence, he will remember some things and forget others. That's the state Ananda was in. Or he was like a person who is about to drift off to sleep; he isn't quite asleep, and yet he has a dream, or what seems to be a dream. He had no power to free himself. It's like encountering a demonic ghost while you are asleep at night, such as a kumbhanda ghost, which uses a demonic spell to paralyze you. When that happens, you may wake up and stare, but you cannot move. You are held by the demonic power of the ghost. That's what Ananda experienced. Although he was conscious, he was not in control of himself. He could not get free. "I had to rely on Manjushri Bodhisattva to liberate me. The Buddha commanded Manjushri Bodhisattva to come and save me. I depended on the Buddha to have Manjushri Bodhisattva rescue me. He freed me.
"Although I was blessed by the Thus Come One's spiritual mantra of the Buddha's summit and imperceptibly received its strength, I still have not heard it myself. The World Honored One, the Thus Come One, the Buddha, used the spiritual mantra spoken by the transformation Buddha atop the Buddha's summit. And when Manjushri Bodhisattva came to where I was and recited the mantra, I received the benefit invisibly." That means that when Manjushri Bodhisattva got there, he didn't chant the mantra in a loud voice; he merely had to recite it silently to free Ananda. It's all right to recite the mantra loudly when you are before the Buddhas in the temple, but when you are out at other places, you can recite it silently and it is just as effective. If you got out on the streets and start bellowing, "Na Mwo Sa Dan Two Su Chye Dwo Ye!" people are going to think you are crazy. You needn't be attached to some particular ritual and thereby cause people to slander the dharma, which is what they would be doing if they said you were crazy. When they commit slander, they commit offenses. You don't want to say, "If he commits offenses, that's his problem. I'll recite even louder and let him slander even more so that he commits even greater offenses, and he will surely fall into the hells." If you have that kind of attitude and intentionally cause people to commit offenses so that they fall into the hells, then you shouldn't even study the Buddhadharma.
People who study the Buddhadharma are sympathetic and compassionate toward others. Their attitude is to do nothing that would cause anyone else to fall into the hells, even to the point that they would rather go to the hells themselves than cause anyone else to go. That's the way you should be. You cannot think, "He slandered me, let him fall into the hells." Or, "If I have a run-in with someone, I will go after them and recite the Shurangama Mantra, and then when they slander me they will fall into the hells." If you have that kind of thought, then you'd better stop reciting the Shurangama Mantra right this minute and leave off your study of the Buddhadharma. That's because people who study the Buddhadharma must not hate people, must not be jealous of people, must not obstruct people, must not be selfish in these ways. One cannot have the attitude, "I'm fine, to heck with you." The Buddhadharma exists for the sake of rescuing all living beings. It is not designed to cause living beings to commit offenses. You must be clear about this point.
Ananda says, "I imperceptibly received its strength, but I still haven't actually heard it. I got the strength from it, but silently and invisibly. So I've never actually heard it. Although I received the benefit of it, I still don't even know how to recite it. I've never even heard it!"
Sutra:
I only hope that the greatly compassionate one will proclaim it again to kindly rescue all the cultivators in this assembly and those of the future who undergo the turning wheel, so that they may become liberated in body and mind by relying on the Buddha’s secret sounds.
Commentary:
I only hope that the World Honored One, the Greatly Compassionate One will proclaim it again. My one wish is that the Buddha would speak it again so that I can hear it and also to kindly rescue all the cultivators in this assembly. Please speak it also to rescue those of the future who undergo the turning wheel of the six paths, so that they may become liberated in body and mind by relying on the Buddha's secret sounds. Based on the Buddha's secret syllables, they will become free. They will not be upside down or confused.
We recite the Shurangama Mantra every day just to help people stop being upside down and confused and to help them stay away from doing things which they clearly know are wrong. For instance, one knows that taking opium is wrong, that it wastes time and dissipates one's energy, yet, one still insists on smoking it. Clearly knowing that the use of marijuana is a violation of the law, still one "must" try it out. Well aware that killing is not right, one still takes the lives of living beings. Knowing without a doubt that indulging in sexual misconduct is not right, one conducts oneself in this way nonetheless. Knowing full well that it is wrong to steal, one spends all day and night taking things from other people, if it's not a car, it's a tape-recorder or a radio. A thief knows full well he is breaking the law, and that if he is caught the police will take him to jail, but still he goes and does it. That's "doing things which they clearly know are wrong."
Sutra:
At that moment, everyone in the great assembly bowed as one and stood waiting to hear the Thus Come One's secret divisions and phrases.
Commentary:
At that moment, everyone in the great assembly, the huge multitude of beings in that gathering, bowed as one and stood waiting to hear the Thus Come One's secret divisions and phrases. They all bowed together to the Buddha and then stood on tiptoe waiting for the Buddha to speak the secret sections and divisions of the mantra. "Divisions" refers to the five major sections of the mantra. The "phrases" are smaller parts consisting of several lines each, such as "Na Mwo Sa Dan Two / Su Chye Dwo Ye / E La He Di / San Myau San Pu Two Sye." But these divisions and phrases are secret, that is, they are not easy for people to understand. They are "secret" in the sense that people do not share a common knowledge about them. When you recite them, you do not know what advantages you obtain. I do not know what advantages I obtain. Although benefit is obtained, there is no mutual awareness of it among those benefited, nor is there a common understanding of the mantra itself.
I2 The Thus Come One answers again.
J1 He speaks the spiritual mantra.
K1 An appearance of light.
Sutra:
At that time, a hundred brilliant rays sprang from the mound of the flesh on the crown of the World Honored One's head. A thousand-petalled precious lotus arose from amidst those rays. Upon the precious flower sat the Thus Come One's transformation.
Commentary:
At that time, a hundred brilliant rays sprang from the mound of the flesh on the crown of the World Honored One's, Shakyamuni Buddha's, head. A thousand-petalled precious lotus arose from amidst those rays. Upon the precious flower sat the Thus Come One's transformation. A transformation body of the Buddha sat upon the thousand-petalled precious lotus in the midst of the hundred rays of light.
Sutra:
From the crown of that Buddha’s head, in turn, ten beams of light shone forth, each composed of a hundred rays of precious light. Every one of those glowing rays shone on lands as many as the sands of ten Ganges Rivers, while throughout empty space there were Vajra Secret Traces spirits, each holding aloft a mountain and wielding a pestle.
Commentary:
From the crown of that Buddha’s head, in turn, ten beams of light shone forth, each composed of a hundred rays of precious light. "Crown" here refers to the crown of the head of the Thus Come One's transformation. Another ten beams of light issued forth out the top of the head of the transformation-body Buddha. Every one of those glowing rays shone on lands as many as the sands of ten Ganges Rivers.
These rays of light shone everywhere, on countless countries, while throughout empty space there were Vajra Secret Traces spirits, each holding aloft a mountain and wielding a pestle. At the same time that the light shone forth, the Vajra Secret Traces dharma protectors held mountains in their bare hands and brandished pestles, like the one Wei Tuo Bodhisattva wields. They were all over the place, filling up all of empty space.
K2 The great assembly respectfully listens.
Sutra:
The great assembly, gazing upward, felt fearful admiration and sought the Buddha's kind protection. Single-mindedly they listened as the Thus Come One in the light at the invisible appearance on the crown of the Buddha’s head proclaimed the spiritual mantra: