The Power of Mantra

Mantras in Chinese Buddhism form an important part of daily Buddhist practice. The sutras contain a host of mantras uttered by Shakyamuni Buddha with clear instructions on the use and the benefits of such mantras. Each tradition or “school” of Buddhism will have its primary mantras used at its main daily ceremonies as we do at our monastery of Guang Jue Temple in China. Esoteric Buddhism places more emphasis on the chanting of mantras than other traditions. Nonetheless mantras play a dynamic role in our daily practice.

The “lore” of mantras in Chinese Buddhism is very little known in the West. The reasons for this may be varied. Firstly there is the inaccessibility of mantras. There has been only a small amount of work done in the Romanization of texts written in Chinese, that is, written in pinyin. What is available is often difficult to find as published and scholarly books on the subject are hard to come by. Secondly the Chinese mantras are on the whole transliterations from the ancient Sanskrit as it is considered that the sacred mantras uttered by the Buddha should not be translated but remain in their original version. This is because the sounds of the words play a significant part in the efficacy of the mantra. This makes the mantras unintelligible and rather strange sounding to the Western ear. Thirdly there is a lack of clear teaching about mantras and their use that can cross the cultural divide of Eastern and Western thought. Many still feel that mantras are the domain of superstition and are unnecessary to the daily practice of Buddhism.

I was first exposed to mantras as a young child in Southern China when father had left me in the care of an “Ai Yi” during his frequent business trips. The “Ai yi” would often take me to a local Buddhist temple where I heard monks reciting mantras and the Ai yi would recite them during her devotions at home. The sounds intrigued me as a child. At the same time they seemed to instill in me something which I felt was part of me as if the sounds resonated on another plane of my being. It was not until much later in life when I committed myself to Pure Land Buddhism that these ancient mantras began to make sense to me.

The words of the ancient Chinese mantras from the sutras of the Buddha have no clear meaning. Of course, one can translate the original Sanskrit – to a point. Even in the original Sanskrit there are words and whole sentences that are untranslatable. This is because the words of the mantra go beyond human meaning. They are the essential oils of the Dharma, the concentrated syrup of the sutras in which they were uttered. As they have no cognitive meaning they go beyond the “thinking’’ mind to our higher mind. It is here that their seed is planted and begin to take effect.

In Pure Land Buddhism it is part of our practice to chant the name of Amitabha Buddha; “Namo Amituofo” These two words are a mantra themselves resonating within our soul the name of the Amitabha Buddha, the Buddha of infinite Light and Life and dispelling the loads of impure karma.

Perhaps the most well-known of mantras in Chinese Buddhism is the Great Compassion Dharini. I recall one morning during an extended chanting of the mantra in the great temple hall at Guang Jue Monastery. Plumes of incense enveloped monks and lay people as the chant increased in tempo. I could discern the harmonic tones of the monks as my mind seemed to whirl and sway in the chant. The face of the Kuan Yin Bodhisattva peering through the incense clouds seemed to smile. I felt myself entering a warm trance and this warmth seemed to embrace my whole body. Later I tried to make meaning out of this experience. It was beyond meaning.

Traditionally different mantras are known for their specific actions. For example, the Medicine Buddha mantra is traditionally used for healing. The Cunti Spirit Mantra has been well known in Chinese folk lore for the granting of wishes. Do they have power? Can they heal? Many have attested to their power and help. I, too, have had personal experience of many mantras and their remarkable assistance to my own life and to those of others. It would be too lengthy to write these experiences in this document. I have, however, included here the personal experiences of a Chinese practitioner and his own recording of other people’s experiences. It makes interesting reading and may invoke the reader’s own interest to pursue mantras a little more closely. Indeed at Guang Jue Temple in China many come on Temple Stay or retreat and are able to study mantras more closely.

Do you have to believe in them for them to work? This is a question many ask me. Faith, is indeed important. However, the Buddha never insisted on blind faith but one that is reasoned and tested. I invite you to make your own tests and come to your own conclusions.

Hello dear friends, after some practices, I feel that different Buddha / Bodhisattva names, sutras, mantras or Dharanis have different flavor(effect)s. Many friends also have some experience about chanting holy-names/sutras/mantras/Dharanis. I would now like to share them with all you friends.

The meanings of the marks:

(1) - In normal state;

(2) – In a deeply meditative state;

(3) - The experiences told by other practitioners;

(?) - Unsure.

In general, all the holy names/sutras/mantras/Dharanis can eliminate bad karmic obstructions and debts for others or self, the followings are specific characteristics of each of them:

Amitabha / Namo Amitabha:

(1) Refreshing cool; brilliant light (can protect the practitioner); joy (can eliminate your bad mood); heart open; gentle; supplies life-energy; makes your body agile; improves your relationship with others.

(2) A very strong joy filled up the upper part of my body, that joy is far greater than the normal joy. (Buddha Name Samadhi?)

(3) Brilliant light; joy; warm flow; fragrance; wishes come true; often can know the future events; cure illness; pull upward (The chanter would feel that his soul is being pulled upward by a strength, this upward strength may counteract the downward strength of his own karma, so that he can fly up freely); saw the light from the tuft of white hair between the Buddha's eyebrows.

Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum (Six-Words-Great-Enlightening-Dharani):

(1) Refreshing cool at the center of the heart; sometimes at the throat, mouth, and head also feel the Refreshing cool; eliminates the three poisons (greed, anger and ignorance); improve your wisdom.

(3) Refreshing cool; eliminates the three poisons; improve wisdom.

Shurangama Mantra (Heart):

(1) A large area of the chest feels the Refreshingly cool sensation; reduce leak; reduce lustful desire; overcomes the desire of meat eating; improves your wisdom; makes you clear-headed and energetic; makes you look more handsome; reduces desires to make keeping precepts easier; seldom dream or not having any dream at all; dispels evil spirits.

(2) made a secure protective boundary; vibration

(3) Reduces lustful desire; clear-headed and energetic; precepts keeping become easier

Medicine Master Buddha Dharani:

(1) Refreshing cool; cure illness; seldom dream/not having dream. The flavor of this Dharani is a bit similar to Shurangama Mantra.

(3) cures illness, helps release lower beings from their woeful state to a higher level when reciting in meditation

Great compassion Dharani:

(1) Refreshing cool; nourishes the body; removes the dreggy things in the body; cures illness; reduces leaking; reduces lustful desire; makes you look younger and more beautiful.

(2) The Refreshing cool energy filled up the whole body, illness and pains suddenly disappeared.

(3)Refreshing cool; feel peaceful; heart open, brilliant light, cure illness for one self or for other people; reduce lustful desire; overcome the greed for meat eating; skin become better; fragrance; wishes become true; body become lithesome; prevent aging; saw the Dharma-guarding gods.

Namo Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (or Kuan Shr Yin/Kun Sye Yum)

(1) Refreshing cool; joy;

(3) makes one become happier; cures illness; reduces lustful desire; brings peace around you and for all the warring / angry beings; gives you protection from dangers; gives you a deep feeling of friendship and compassion to beings; help you cultivate these virtues

Ksitigarbha(Earth Repository) Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Sutra:

(1) Warm; comforting; eliminates fears; reduces the greed for meat eating; makes you arouse Bodhi-Heart; makes you look more righteous; makes your mind concentrate

(3) Fragrance; reduces the greed for meat eating; wishes come true; often see companion in dreams; gets future premonition. allows you to make connection with the other world dimensions to help the sentient beings in suffering with transference of merits like at the Ksitigarbha ceremonies at the 7th month; protects you when you feel being in fear of any evil beings or in situations that is uncomfortably evil; gives you a deep feeling of compassion for the suffering beings, when you feel them suffering and so pitiful you forgive their evil sins.

Cundi Dharani (heart):

(1) Refreshing cool; brilliant light; heart open; reduces leak; reduces lustful desire.

(2) Very wonderful Dharma-flavor, difficult to describe.

(3) Reduces lustful desire; wishes come true.

Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sutra (Lotus Sutra):

(1) Help you to arouse Bodhi-Heart

(2) A very strong brilliant light emitted forth from the heart, even the people outside several meters can feel it; The Refreshing cool, cozy, joyful, and energetic feeling filled up the whole body for more than one day.

(3) Dharma-joy; cure illness; saw Samantabhadra Bodhisattva; Reduce lustful desire

Namo Myue Fard Lin Wah Ging("Namo Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sutra" in Cantonese):

(1) Very wonderful Dharma-flavor, difficult to describe, consists of the effects of heart open, brilliant light, Dharma-joy, Refreshing cool, life energy, etc., very delicious.

All Buddhs' heart secret whole-body Sharira precious-box mark Dharani:

(1) makes one's heart open; supplies life energy; makes you look more handsome; sometimes feel the Dharma-joy

(3) Saw that every thing around is circumambulating

Om Vajra Sattva Hum (Vajra-sattva's heart Dharani):

(1) Refreshing cool;

(3) cures illness; chanting the full 100 words mantra can make all the sentient beings around be attentive and want to listen to it and all very orderly

According to our experience, how big the effect of mantra-chanting could be, is dependent on the following aspects:

* How great your faith is; how much you believe in it

* How wide your heart open. The greatest heart-open state is Samadhi, chanting mantra in this state can get the greatest effect. To open your heart, you have to arouse Bodhi-Heart, that is, the resolve to save all living beings, the deep compassion to all living beings.

* How sincere you are;

* How well do you keep precepts;

* How diligent you are

I feel that the energy gained by holy-names/sutras/mantras chanting are spiritual foods. Wonderful Dharma Lotus Sutra says:

The living beings in that land will always take two kinds of food: The first, the food of Dharma-joy and the second, the food of Dhyana-happiness

Mantra Meditation in Chinese Buddhism

 The chanting of Mantras and sutras are integral parts of the practice of most forms of Chinese Buddhism. During our meditation retreat at Guang Jue Monastery many people ask me about the use of mantras and mantra meditation and whether they have “magical” qualities.

It depends much upon the particular school of Buddhism as to what mantras are used in particular ceremonies. However the most commonly used mantras in Chinese Buddhism are The Great Compassion Mantra, The Shurangama mantra, the Heart Sutra and the Ten Small Mantras. Most often these mantras are chanted as part of the morning ceremony.

Mantras can be a single sound, word or group of words which are able to affect transformation of our consciousness. Almost all Chinese mantras have come from Pali or Sanskrit texts. Early Chinese monks made transliterations of the original mantras into Chinese sounds and words. Chinese culture had a huge impact on early Buddhism in China and it was considered that the Chinese language contained a certain linguistic purity. Certainly the original Chinese characters could contain whole meaning within one character and this was considered sacred and important. Gradually over time the mantras became woven into the fabric of not only Chinese liturgical Buddhism but also within the lay culture itself as devotees memorized and used the mantras in order to bring about favourable circumstances as well as healing.

The Sanskrit word “mantra” has the meaning of “holding in thought”. Thus the mantra is used to purify the mind and create higher vibrations of sound to diminish or to remove Karmic obstacles. The mantra becomes like a seed which is implanted in the mind that begins to displace the negative Karmic influences; it is a bit like large plants pushing aside weeds in the garden.

Mantras can be recited silently or chanted aloud during meditation. They are best chanted aloud as this involves all the senses of the body allowing the tones of the words to become absorbed into the subtle consciousness of the mind. It is not unusual after continual chanting of a mantra to not only feel oneself drifting into a semi-trance like state but also to be aware of the mantra “playing” continually in one’s sleep.

Are mantras magical cures? While Mantras in Buddhism do have a very powerful effect we must be careful not to relegate the mantras to a mere talisman. The Mantra is but one expedient to the path of enlightenment along with the reading and reciting of sutras and the cultivation of wisdom and compassion. They are to be approached with sincerity of heart and devotion to the Buddha Way.

Mantras are the essential oils of the Sutras. They contain within a few short words and sounds the pure essence of the Buddha’s teaching. Sutras are often long and not easy to commit to memory while mantras can be easily remembered and recited. In that sense they become part of us and we can take them wherever we go.

One such mantra in Pure Land Buddhism is the chant to Amitabha Buddha “Namo Amitofuo”. Chanted to the traditional music this mantra soothes the mind becoming absorbed deep into the consciousness and displacing lifetimes of negative Karma while at the same time planting seeds of good causes and conditions.

So how does this mantra work? A Mantra basically works on the law of displacement in a similar way of displacing a glass of muddy water with pure water. By continually placing drops of pure water into a glass of muddy water the dirty water gradually overflows and is displaced leaving crystal clear water. In the same way the mantra displaces the negative Karma planting the seed of Bodhi Mind.

How to use a Mantra. In our meditation retreats at Guang Jue Temple China and at the T’ai Shen Centre in Sydney I usually introduce the most simple and effective of Mantras, chanting the Buddha Name “Namo Amitofuo”. The chanting of mantras is best done in the morning and evening. The morning chanting prepares and focuses the mind for the coming day and the evening chanting soothes the mind at the end of the day planting seed that nurtures during the sleeping hours. Find a quiet place. Light incense and candle if available. Take a few moments to still the mind and body by concentrating on the breathing. Focus on the words Namo Amitofuo then begin to gently chant the words over and over maintaining concentration on the words. As you chant listen to the words as they are intoned and allow the sound to become absorbed into your whole body. If you have pain or an illness allow the sound and focus to be directed to that part of the body releasing negative Karma. Do remember, however, that Karma is the effect of both good and bad causes and conditions. Sometimes we must live out those effects. However reciting and meditating with a mantra can enable us to live a joyful life in spite of the struggle knowing that we are planting new causes and conditions.

May the merits created by your chanting mantras bring you peace and supreme happiness.