Shurangama Posting from E-sangha
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an outdated posting , but worth sharing as it is very good for the beginner
SHURANGAMA MANTRA
The Shurangama Mantra -- a short history
PRESENTED BY:
the Wanderling
The text of the sutra the Shurangama Mantra appears was once considered a national treasure of India. The Sutra was so valued and recognized that the rulers of India forbade the Shurangama Sutra to be circulated outside of the country. According to the tradition, transmission of the Shurangama Sutra outside of India first occurred in the early 700's when an unknown Indian bhiksu Po-la-mi-ti (or "Paramiti") secretly brought ten rolls of the Sutra to China. The Sutra was translated in 705 by Paramiti and others, and then polished and edited by Empress Wu Tzu-t'ien's banished minister Fang Yung. For over a thousand years since the early Sung dynasty in China, the Shurangama Sutra was studied by all the Chinese Buddhist schools and was held in great esteem. Widely recognized and studied in China, it ranked in popularity and importance with the Lotus, Avatamsaka, and Prajna Paramita Sutras; it was also accorded imperial favor.
The Sutra is connected with the Enlightenment of the Sung Master Ch'ang-shui Tzu-hsuan and the Ming Master Han-shan Te-ching, both of the Ch'an school. Ch'an masters recognize the Shurangama Sutra as the fundamental teaching of the Buddha.
The Mantra
NA MO SA DAN TUO
SU QIE DUO YE
E LA HE DI
SAN MIAO SAN PU TUO XIE
NA MO SA DAN TUO
FO TUO JU ZHI SHAI NI SHAN
NA MO SA PO
BO TUO BO DI
SA DUO PI BI
NA MO SA DUO NAN
SAN MIAO SAN PU TUO JU ZHI NAN
SUO SHE LA PO JIA
SENG QIE NAN
NA MO LU JI E LUO HAN DUO NAN
NA MO SU LU DUO BO NUO NAN
NA MO SUO JIE LI TUO QIE MI NAN
NA MO LU JI SAN MIAO QIE DUO NAN
SAN MIAO QIE BO LA
DI BO DUO NUO NAN
NA MO TI PO LI SHAI NAN
NA MO XI TUO YE
PI DI YE
TUO LA LI SHAI NAN
SHE PO NU
JIE LA HE
SUO HE SUO LA MO TUO NAN
NA MO BA LA HE MO NI
NA MO YIN TUO LA YE
The above twenty-eight lines tell us to take refuge in all the Buddhas, all the Bodhisattvas, all the Hearers, all Those Enlightened by Conditions, and all the gods throughout empty space and the Dharma Realm. The last line, "Na mo yin tuo la ye," refers to what Chinese people call the Jade Emperor. Those who do not understand the Buddhadharma say, "The Jade Emperor belongs to Taoism. We shouldnÂ’t bow to him." They donÂ’t realize that the Jade Emperor is just Lord Shakra. As Buddhist disciples, we should also respect him and gather him in. This first section of the Shurangama Mantra is the section for protecting and supporting the Triple Jewel. Therefore, when this section is recited, all the demons, goblins, ghosts, and other strange creatures flee far away. They retreat as far as they can go.
Therefore, in Buddhism it is said that if there is even one person in the world who can recite the Shurangama Mantra, then the demons, goblins, ghosts, and all the other weird creatures will not dare to openly show themselves in the world. If not even one person can recite the Shurangama Mantra from memory, then at that point all the demons, goblins, ghosts, and all the other weird creatures will appear in the world. They will wreak havoc, but no one will recognize them. Right now, since there are still people who can recite the Shurangama Mantra, the demons, goblins, ghosts, and all the other weird creatures donÂ’t dare to openly show themselves in the world. There is a verse that expresses the meaning of this section of the Mantra.
A thousand red lotuses protect oneÂ’s body.
As one sits astride a black unicorn.
Seeing this, the myriad demons go away to hide.
A thousand red lotuses protect oneÂ’s body. A thousand red lotuses come to protect your body. As one sits astride a black unicorn. When you recite the mantra, you are sitting astride a unicorn. Seeing this, the myriad demons go away to hide. They all flee, because they are afraid to face such awesome virtue.
http://www.lioncity.net/buddhism/index.php?showtopic=2557 -
"The Shurangama Sutra Is Definitely Authentic"
by the Venerable Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua
(A talk given on January 21, 197
Translated by the Buddhist Text Translation Society
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The Shurangama Sutra is an authentic, not a counterfeit, Sutra. If I am mistaken, then I vow to fall into the Hell of Pulling Tongues to undergo uninterrupted suffering.
Today (the seventeenth day of the eleventh lunar month) is Amitabha Buddha's birthday. I shall now make a vow regarding the Shurangama Sutra's authenticity before the Buddhas of the ten directions.
Recently, some Ph.D.'s and scholars have criticized the Shurangama Sutra. They claim it was invented by later generations and not spoken by Shakyamuni Buddha. They have spread this rumor and tried to destroy this Sutra, causing Buddhists who lack true understanding to doubt. These people, who stir up a fuss by repeating what others say, are truly pathetic.
Today, I will vouch for the authenticity of the Shurangama Sutra before the assembly. Not only the Shurangama Sutra, but also the Shurangama Mantra is authentic. The Shurangama Sutra is the Buddha's "true body" and the Buddha's sharira; no one can destroy it. If the Shurangama Sutra exists, then the Proper Dharma exists. If the Shurangama Sutra ceases to exist, then the Proper Dharma will also vanish. If the Shurangama Sutra is inauthentic, then I vow to fall into the Hell of Pulling Tongues to undergo uninterrupted suffering.
In the future, I hope that everyone will use their Dharma-selecting vision and not follow any careless Ph.D.'s or irresponsible scholars who do research on how the Shurangama Sutra is counterfeit. Don't let that rubbish influence you. Use your samadhi power to turn those states around. Why do some people claim that the Shurangama Sutra is false? Because their minds are not clear. They don't want the Proper Dharma to remain in the world. Instead of telling people to cultivate, they try to destroy the Dharma.
The Shurangama Sutra says, "If one doesn't cut off lust, one won't be able to leave the dust." This sentence alone is enough to prove that this Sutra is definitely and beyond a shadow of doubt the wonderful doctrine spoken by the Buddha. If one doesn't cast out thoughts of lust, one cannot transcend the Three Realms. If one doesn't cut off desire and love, it's impossible to attain the fruition of sagehood.
The Shurangama Sutra also says, "Trying to cultivate samadhi without cutting off lust is like cooking sand trying to obtain rice. It can't be done." If we contemplate the truth of this, we will know where the Treasury of the Proper Dharma Eye lies.
A genuine Buddhist will most assuredly support and protect the Shurangama Sutra and recite and uphold the Shurangama Mantra. From personal experience, I knowthat this Mantra's power is inconceivable.
I repeat my vow in order to emphasize that the Shurangama Sutra is an authentic, not a counterfeit, Sutra. If I am mistaken, then I vow to fall into the Hell of Pulling Tongues. I hope everyone is clear on this issue. Hold proper views and don't disappoint me! -
and
THE RYOGONKYO, OR SURANGAMA SUTRA[1]
There are in the Chinese Tripitaka two sutras bearing the title, "Surangama", but they are entirely different in contents. The first one was translated into Chinese by
[1. "Sutra of Heroic Deed".]
Kumarajiva between 402-412 and consists of two fascicles. The second one in ten fascicles was translated by Paramiti in 705, and this is the one used by the Zen and also by the Shingon. The reason why it is used by the Shingon is because it contains the description of a mandala and a mantram called "Sitatarapatala" (white umbrella), the recitation of which, while practising the Samadhi, is supposed to help the Yogin, as the Buddhas and gods will guard him from the intrusion of the evil spirits. But the general trend of thought as followed in this sutra is Zen rather than Shingon. It was quite natural that all the commentaries of it belong to the Zen school. The terms used here are somewhat unusual--especially those describing the Mind. The sutra is perhaps one of the later Mahayana works developed in India. It treats of highly abstruse subjects. Below is a synopsis of it.
1. The sutra opens with Ananda's adventure with an enchantress called Matanga who, by her magic charm, entices him to her abode. The Buddha, seeing this with his supernatural sight, sends Manjusri to save him and bring him back to the Buddha. Ananda is thoroughly penitent and wishes to be further instructed in the art of controlling the mind. The Buddha tells him that all spiritual discipline must grow out of a sincere heart and that much learning has no practical value in life, especially when one's religious experience is concerned. Ananda had enough learning, but no Samadhi to stand against the influence of a sorceress.
2. The reason why we go through the eternal cycle of birth and death and suffer ills incident to it is our ignorance as to the source of birth and death, that is, because Mind-essence is forgotten in the midst of causal nexus which governs this world of particular objects.
This Mind-essence is variously characterized as something original, mysterious, mysteriously bright, illumining, true, perfect, clear as a jewel, etc. It is not to be confused with our empirical mind, for it is not an object of intellectual discrimination.
Ananda is asked to locate this Mind-essence. But, as his mind moves along the line of our relative experience, he fails to give a satisfactory answer. He pursues objective events which are subject to birth and death; he never reflects within himself to try to find the Mind bright and illumining which makes all his experiences possible.
3. Even the Bodhisattva cannot pick up this mysteriously transparent Essence out of a world of individual things. He cannot demonstrate its reality by means of his discerning intelligence. It is not there. But that the Essence is there is evident from the fact that the eye sees, the ear hears, and the mind thinks. Only it is not discoverable as an individual object or idea, objective or subjective; for it has no existence in the way we talk of a tree or a sun, of a virtue or a thought. On he other hand, all these objects and thoughts are in
t" the Mind-essence, true and original and mysteriously bright. Our body and mind is possible only when thought of in connection with it.
4. Because since the beginningless past we are running after objects, not knowing where our Self is, we lose track of the Original Mind and are tormented all the time by the threatening objective world, regarding it as good or bad, true or false, agreeable or disagreeable. We are thus slaves of things and circumstances. The Buddha advises that our real position ought to be exactly the other way. Let things follow us and wait our commands. Let the true Self give directions in all our dealings with the world. Then we shall all be Tathagatas. Our body and mind will retain its original virtue bright and shining. While not moving away from this seat of enlightenment, we shall make all the worlds in the ten quarters reveal themselves even at the tip of a hair. -
[double post]
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I like the Shurangama Mantra
It has special meanings to me