Buddhist Verses & Silent Readings For Reflection (静思语） - Part 6

[waterbright]

Thag 3:5 Mātaṅgaputta — Whoever regards cold and heat as no more than grass won’t fall away.

It’s too cold,

too hot,

too late in the evening—

people who say this,

shirking their work:

The moment passes them by.

Whoever regards cold & heat

as no more than grass,

doing his manly duties,

won’t fall away

from ease.

With my chest

I push through wild grasses—

spear-grass,

ribbon-grass,

rushes—

cultivating a heart

bent on seclusion.

See also: AN 8:95

-------------------------

Thag 3:8 Yasoja — The man of undaunted heart.

His limbs knotted

like a kālā plant,

his body lean

& lined with veins,

knowing moderation

in food & drink:

the man of undaunted heart.

Touched by gnats

& horseflies

in the wilds,

the great wood,

like an elephant

at the head of a battle:

He, mindful,

should stay there,

endure.

One alone is like Brahmā,

two, like devas,

three, like a village,

more than that:

a hullabaloo.

See also: Ud 3:3; Sn 4:16

-------------------------

Thag 3:13 Abhibhūta — A message to kinsmen.

Listen, kinsmen, all of you,

as many as are assembled here.

I will teach you the Dhamma:

Painful is birth,

again & again.

Rouse yourselves.

Go forth.

Apply yourselves

to the Awakened One’s bidding.

Scatter the army of Death

as an elephant would

a shed made of reeds.

He who,

in this Dhamma & Vinaya,

stays heedful,

abandoning birth,

the wandering-on,

will put an end

to suffering & stress.

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

NAMO AMITUOFO 南无阿弥陀佛

Buddhism* and* Gratitude*

Buddhism is based on many various principles, teachings, and philosophies. If you are new to Buddhism and want to implement some of its teachings you can start off slow. One golden rule that you can implement in everyday life is gratitude.

Buddha also said that gratitude simply means thanking each and every living as well as the non-living things in your life.

*THE FEWER NEGATIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS YOU HAVE, THE BETTER YOUR DESTINY WILL BE*

The fewer negative personality traits a person has, the better his destiny will be. The more negative personality traits a person has, the worse his destiny will be. Those who wish to change their destiny must first rectify their personality traits as those are the roots of all sufferings.

Were there a mountain all made of gold,* doubled that would not be enough* to satisfy a single person:
know this and live accordingly.

Saṃyutta Nikāya

 

[vofzxy]

very exciting 5 pages, cannot keep up

anyway virmalakirti sutra or shurangama ( i think) also mentioned that, same buddha, same teaching, but everyone will receive it differently due to individual karma

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

to get the benefits of the mantra (the bad dreams to signify elimination of bad karma), chant 心咒 only is enough??

cause to be honest the (first version) long version damn hard to hit 700,000 times.

if just 心咒 maybe can hit

i gave up on cundi cause I thought die die have to be long version

Following is the right procedure of reciting Zhun Ti Zhou. Must recite 稽首皈依。。。once before starting to recite the mantra.

 

[Renzokukenz]

Following is the right procedure of reciting Zhun Ti Zhou. Must recite 稽首皈依。。。once before starting to recite the mantra.

and the plot thickens LOL

but ok at least from the video i can hear that they recite the "long" version with the "Namah Satanam SamyakSamBuddha Kotinam Tadyata"

 

[heymee]

 

[viethai]

There are a few translations of the sutra. Based on the sutra, this is one of the rare "“无问自说” sutra. That means nobody asks Buddha about it. According to the sutra, Buddha teaches ****i Mantra for the sake of human beings in the future.

Sharing the beginning part of 七俱胝佛母所说准提陀罗尼经:
"如是我闻：一时，薄伽梵在名称大城逝多林给孤独园，与大苾刍众并诸菩萨，及诸天龙八部前后围绕，愍念未来薄福恶业众生，即入准提三摩地，说过去七俱胝佛所说陀罗尼曰：

　　“曩莫飒多(引)南(引)三藐三没驮(引)俱(引)胝南(引)怛你也(二合)佗(引)唵者礼主礼准泥娑嚩(引二合)贺(引)

“若有修真言之行出家、在家菩萨，诵持此陀罗尼满九十万遍，无量劫造十恶、四重、五无间罪悉皆消灭，所生之处常遇诸佛菩萨，丰饶财宝，常得出家。若是在家菩萨，修持戒行坚固不退，诵此陀罗尼常生天趣，或于人间常作国王，不堕恶趣亲近贤圣，诸天爱敬拥护加持，若营世务无诸灾横，仪容端正，言音威肃，心无忧恼。若出家菩萨具诸禁戒，三时念诵依教修行，现生所求出世间悉地定慧现前，证地波罗蜜，圆满疾证无上正等菩提。
　　
“若诵满一万遍，即于梦中见佛菩萨，即吐黑物。其人若罪尤重，诵二万遍，即梦见诸天室寺舍，或登高山，或见上树，或于大池中澡浴，或见腾空，或见与诸天女娱乐，或见说法，或见拔发剃发，或食酪饭饮白甘露，或渡大海江河，或升师子座，或见菩提树，或乘船，或见沙门，或见居士以白衣、黄衣覆头，或见日月，或见童男、童女，或上有乳果树，或见黑丈夫口中吐火焰，共彼斗得胜，或见恶马、水牛欲来抵触，持诵者或打或叱怖走而去，或食乳粥酪饭，或见苏摩那华，或见国王。若不见如是境界者，当知此人前世造五无间罪，应更诵满七十万遍，即见如上境界，应知罪灭。即成先行，然后依法画本像，或三时、或四时、或六时，依法供养求世间、出世间悉地，乃至无上菩提皆悉获得。

****i Mantra helps to eliminate karmic obstacles. Those who reach a critical mass in the recitations will have nightmares (eg 吐黑物) before having wonderful dreams.

The dreams are an indication of the level of achievements.

A simple explanation of the 准提 mantra:
南无 - take refuge 归命
飒哆喃 - seven 7
三藐三菩驮 - Buddha, Enlightened One 佛、‘无上觉者
俱胝南 - 千万
怛侄他 - The start of the mantra 即说咒曰
折隶(cale)、主隶(cale)、准提(cunde) - 觉动，起升，清净
娑婆诃 - 吉祥、圆满

shi xiong, I have the habit of chanting only

折隶(cale)、主隶(cale)、准提(cunde) 娑婆诃
wonder is it appropriate ?

 

[sugaricing83]

Recently i started playing cundi mantra in the office, super soft and only i can hear.

I also play it on very low volume when i am outside. Let spirits hear.

Based on the sutra, quantity matters.

However, to be really effective, you have to reach a state whereby consciously or unconsciously you are reciting the mantra. It's not a matter of reciting long or short version.

Just a suggestion. Keep playing the mantra over and over, until a time when you switch it off, you still hear the mantra. Try to recite silently in your heart when you are doing something else, eg jogging/running, taking shower, having lunch, waiting for lift, taking public transport etc.

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

shi xiong, I have the habit of chanting only

折隶(cale)、主隶(cale)、准提(cunde) 娑婆诃
wonder is it appropriate ?

Preferably to recite the whole mantra. Every verse has its own effect. Zhun Ti mantra is short compare to Da Bei Zhou and Leng Yan Zhou.

 

[Konnichiwa]

Preferably to recite the whole mantra. Every verse has its own effect. Zhun Ti mantra is short compare to Da Bei Zhou and Leng Yan Zhou.

What is Leng Yan Zhou for?

 

[scheng1]

shi xiong, I have the habit of chanting only

折隶(cale)、主隶(cale)、准提(cunde) 娑婆诃
wonder is it appropriate ?

Based on the sutra, if you get one or more of the dreams, then it's appropriate.

七俱胝佛母所说准提陀罗尼经
“若诵满一万遍，即于梦中见佛菩萨，即吐黑物。其人若罪尤重，诵二万遍，即梦见诸天室寺舍，或登高山，或见上树，或于大池中澡浴，或见腾空，或见与诸天女娱乐，或见说法，或见拔发剃发，或食酪饭饮白甘露，或渡大海江河，或升师子座，或见菩提树，或乘船，或见沙门，或见居士以白衣、黄衣覆头，或见日月，或见童男、童女，或上有乳果树，或见黑丈夫口中吐火焰，共彼斗得胜，或见恶马、水牛欲来抵触，持诵者或打或叱怖走而去，或食乳粥酪饭，或见苏摩那华，或见国王。若不见如是境界者，当知此人前世造五无间罪，应更诵满七十万遍，即见如上境界，应知罪灭。即成先行，然后依法画本像，或三时、或四时、或六时，依法供养求世间、出世间悉地，乃至无上菩提皆悉获得"

A few forums dedicated to Zhunti Mantra and 施食:
http://zhunti.shixiu.net/forum.php
http://www.shengmiao.cn/bbs/forum.php

Sharing a forum post:
弟子 於今已完成一百萬準提心咒念誦，今普做回向
http://www.shengmiao.cn/bbs/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=51078&extra=&page=2

前言:弟子 在去年11月多 懵懵懂懂情況下，參加了大准提共修。發願唸誦完100萬遍的准提心咒。不過那時候我想說 一天念108遍，
也要念個兩三年才唸得完。不過 心想 這輩子 也沒做甚麼大努力 就拼一下 ，而且一路上跌跌撞撞下，幸虧南無七俱胝佛母大聖准提王菩薩 及護法聖眾慈悲
終於在10個月內 唸誦完百萬准提心咒的大關，今後會更加努力
現回向:

我今持誦大准提，即發菩提廣大願，
願我定慧速圓明，願我功德皆成就，
願我勝福遍莊嚴，願共眾生成佛道。
我昔所造諸惡業，皆由無始貪嗔痴，
從身語意之所生，一切我今皆懺悔。
文殊師利勇猛智，普賢慧行亦復然，
我今回向諸善根，隨彼一切常修學。
三世諸佛所稱嘆，如是最勝諸大願，
我今回向諸善根，為得普賢殊勝行。
願我臨欲命終時，盡除一切諸障礙，
面見彼佛阿彌陀，即得往生安樂剎。
禮懺功德殊勝行，無邊勝福皆回向，
普願沉溺諸眾生，速往無量光佛剎。
願以此功德回向，觀世音勝妙羅網內【大准提共修專版】

This Shixiong completed the recitation of the core mantra 心咒 a million times in 10 months

 

[scheng1]

What is Leng Yan Zhou for?

楞严咒 Shurangama Mantra comes from 楞严经》全称《大佛顶如来密因修证了义诸菩萨万行首楞严经》Shurangama Sutra

The benefits of the mantra is explained in the sutra, please refer to page 299 onwards.

http://www.buddhisttexts.org/uploads/6/3/3/1/6331706/surangama_new_translation.pdf

Sharing selected verses of the sutra:
"Wielding this mantra of the mind, the Thus-Come Ones of the ten directions subdue all demons and show the right way to all who are on a wrong path. "

"This mantra may also be called ‘The Mantra that is Spoken from above the Crown of the Thus-Come One’s Head.’
“All of you who still need instruction and have not yet escaped from the cycle of death and rebirth, but have vowed with great sincerity to become Arhats, must be certain to practice this mantra if you wish to remain free of demonic influences while you are seated in your place of awakening.
“Ānanda, the people of any country in any world can write out this the powers of the mantra mantra on birch-bark, palm-leaves,23 papyrus,24 or white cotton cloth — whatever material is native to their region — and each of them can keep the written mantra in a fragrant pouch. You should know that even if these people are dull-witted and cannot recite or memorize the mantra, they can still wear the pouch or keep it in their dwellings. If they do this, then throughout their lives, no poison will ever be able to harm them."

"“You should know that, after my nirvana, in the time of the Dharma’s ending, people who can recite this mantra or teach others to recite it will be in no danger of being burned, or of being drowned, or of being harmed by mild or strong poisons. Further, when they are absorbed in samādhi, no evil spell will have the power to ensnare them, whether the spell be cast by gods, dragons, ghosts, or spirits, including terrestrial or celestial spirits, demonic ghosts, and nightmare ghosts. Any substance made venomous by spell, curse, or sorcerer’s hex, any poisonous herb, any potion made toxic by the admixture of metals such as gold or silver, any noxious vapor derived from plants, trees, insects, or snakes, indeed any of the countless kinds of poisonous substances — all these will turn into ambrosia upon entering the mouths of people who recite this mantra. No evil spirit dwelling in a celestial body, nor any other ghost or spirit that harbors malice toward people, will have the power to work its evil on them. They will always be guarded and protected by Vināyaka and by other once-hostile ghost-kings who have been tamed by deep kindness."

Venerable Master Hsuan Hua had given a lecture on:
Shurangama Mantra
The Efficacious Language of Heaven and Earth
http://www.cttbusa.org/dharmatalks/shurangamamantra.asp

 

[scheng1]

anyway virmalakirti sutra or shurangama ( i think) also mentioned that, same buddha, same teaching, but everyone will receive it differently due to individual karma

Your memory is superb. It's from Vimalakirti Sutra. I remember the part about Buddha teaches in one language, and the attendants will hear the teachings in their native languages. This explains why animals, ghosts, heaven beings, Asuras and humans can gather together and listen to Buddha's teachings.

VIMALAKIRTI NIRDESA SUTRA
Purification of the Buddha-Field

"佛以一音演说法，众生随类各得解"

"Although the Lord speaks with but one voice,
Those present perceive that same voice differently,
And each understands in his own language according to his own needs.
This is a special quality of the Buddha.

From the Leader's act of speaking in a single voice,
Some merely develop an instinct for the teaching, some gain realization,
Some find pacification of all their doubts.
This is a special quality of the Buddha."

 

[waterbright]

Thag 3:14 Gotama — Ways of taking birth are born from my self.

While wandering on

I went to hell;

went again & again

to the world of the hungry ghosts;

stayed countless times, long,

in the pain of the animal womb;

enjoyed

the human state;

went to heaven

from time to time;

settled in the elements of form,

the elements of formlessness,

neither-perception, perception-less.

Ways of taking birth

are now known:

devoid of essence,

unstable,

conditioned,

always blown along.

Knowing them

as born from my self,

mindful

I went right to peace.

----------------------------------

Thag 3:15 Hārita — Speak as you would act.

Whoever wants to do later

what he should have done first,

falls away from the easeful state

& later repents.

One should speak

as one would act,

& not

as one wouldn’t.

When one speaks without acting,

the wise, they can tell.

How very easeful:

unbinding,

as taught by the Rightly

Self-awakened One—

sorrowless,

dustless,

secure,

where stress

& suffering

cease.

----------------------------------

Thag 4:8 Rāhula — The son of the Buddha, unbound.

In both ways

consummate, (1)

I’m known as Rāhula

the Fortunate:

because I’m the son of the Buddha,

because I’ve the eye that sees Dhammas,

because my effluents are ended,

because I’ve no further becoming.

I’m deserving of offerings,

a worthy one

a three-knowledge man, (2)

one with sight

of the deathless.

Those

blinded by sensuality

covered by the net,

veiledby the veil of craving,

boundby the Kinsman of the heedless, (3)

are like fish in the mouth of a trap.

Throwing that sensuality aside,

cutting through Māra’s bond,

pulling out craving, root & all,

cooled am I.

Unbound.

Notes

1. This phrase can be taken in two ways: (a) consummate in that he has a pure lineage on both his mother’s and his father’s side; and (b) consummate in that he belongs both to a well-born lineage in the worldly sense and, by means of his meditative attainments, to the lineage of the noble ones. See AN 4:28.

2. One with knowledge of past lives, knowledge of the passing away and rearising of living beings, and knowledge of the ending of mental effluents. See MN 4. This list is the Buddhist response to the brahmanical claim that a person should be a master of three knowledges. In the brahmanical case, a three-knowledge man knew the three Vedas. The Buddhists claimed that their three knowledges were superior in that they were not mere hearsay, they could be known by men and women of all castes (see Thig 13:5), and they could put an end to suffering.

3. Māra.

 

[Mr. Wood]

The Buddha. HD (English Subtitle)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWvI2WZJjwE

stories are not an end but a means to an end.

 

[magnus]

Ordered few packs from taobao to try.

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

What is Leng Yan Zhou for?

During pandemic period, only Leng Yan Zhou and Dai Bei Zhou can save us. This is the advice from Master Ven. Hsuan Hua. Coincidentally, These are the 2 mantras I am reciting. These 2 mantras are also for wish fulfilling. It seems that most of the Buddhist mantras are also for wish fulfilling.

 

[blasterlord2]

During pandemic period, only Leng Yan Zhou and Dai Bei Zhou can save us. This is the advice from Master Ven. Hsuan Hua. Coincidentally, These are the 2 mantras I am reciting. These 2 mantras are also for wish fulfilling. It seems that most of the Buddhist mantras are also for wish fulfilling.

Not good to recite mantra to seek wish fulfilment. These days I feel the weakening of my body and nothing seems so important except the wish to go pureland.

 

[AUTUMN&WINTER]

NAMO AMITUOFO 南无阿弥陀佛

Hardship

Hardship does not merely mean suffering; instead,
It is the "yuan," the predestined condition that leads us to the Dharma.
Without any hardship, no one would seek the way of liberation,
Because of hardships, we do; therefore,
We should be grateful to the yinyuan of hardship.
From now on, whenever we encounter adverse situations,
Let’s look at them from a different angle, and remind ourselves to
Abhor the suffering Saha world and desire the Land of Bliss.
Reinforce our faith in Amitabha Buddha, and
Be thankful for the hardship. By Master Huijing

(Translated by the Pure Land School Translation Team; edited by Kevin Orro (Fozhu))

King Milinda; Do monks cling their bodies..?

Enlightened Nagasena thero ; No king, they don’t..

King Milinda; So why they protect and clean it, why they take it as ‘me’..?

Enlightened Nagasena thero ; Suppose in a war you get hit by an arrow and wounded, don’t you clean it and apply medicine..?

King Milinda; Yes, I certainly do that..

Enlightened Nagasena thero ;Why you do so..? do you like the wound king..?

King Milinda; No I don’t like the wound at all, but I do it for cure the wound..

Enlightened Nagasena thero ;Same way monks never cling their body, but they protect it till face the Nibbana, as having a healthy body is must to practice this Dharma.Lord Buddha exemplified this body to a wound, and monks should use it with no clinging.

Birth is painful, old age is painful, sickness is painful, association with unloved objects is painful, separation from loved objects is painful, the desire which one does not obtain, is painful too.

Buddha

 

[scheng1]

Not good to recite mantra to seek wish fulfilment. These days I feel the weakening of my body and nothing seems so important except the wish to go pureland.

The sutra specifically mentions we can recite mantra to fulfill our wishes, be it for personal benefits (eg seeking of wealth, solving marital problems) or the benefits of other sentient beings.

千手千眼观世音菩萨广大圆满无碍大悲心陀罗尼经

http://www.drbachinese.org/online_reading_simplified/sutra_explanation/Dharani/DharaniSutra.htm

"若诸众生现世求愿者。于三七日。净持斋戒。诵此陀罗尼。必果所愿。从生死际。至生死际。一切恶业。并皆灭尽。三千大千世界内。一切诸佛菩萨。梵释四天王。神仙龙王。悉皆证知。"

......

"如是可求之法。有其千条。今粗略说少耳。"