“The Sutras are like the carpenter’s ink-line, clearly distinguishing what is erroneous from what is correct …. The ink-line itself is not a feat of craftsmanship, yet the skilled artisan must rely upon it.”
Unicorns, dragons, tortoise shells, and mirrors ……
禪苑麟龍。 祖門龜鏡。 示一教而風行電卷。
Unicorns and dragons gather to work their magic in the meditation groves of the Zen school. Wielding the tortoise shells and mirrors of the ancestral gateways, they conjur up the One Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha, and then send it forth for the sake of sentient beings — carried on the wind, and revealed in the thunder.
The Four Methods of Winning Over Beings (四攝法)
四攝法; four dharmas of attraction; catvāri saṃgraha-vastūni; sì shè fǎ
布施; giving; dāna; bù-shī
愛語; kind speech; priya-vādita; ài-yǔ
利行; beneficial action; arthakriyā; lì-xíng
同事; acting in unison; samānārthatā; tóng-shì
Jijang Bosal’s Mantra for Removing Fixed Karma in Chinese
Chanted in Chinese (probably Cantonese, but I honestly can’t tell for sure): Mandarin: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2248892958586908 地藏菩萨灭定业真言注音： 唵，钵啰末邻陀宁，娑婆诃。(simplified) 唵，缽囉末鄰陀寧，娑婆訶。(traditional) ōng，bō là mò lín tuó níng，suō pó hē。
The Repentance Mantra
om salba motcha modi sadaya sabaha In Sanskrit, this is probably: Om (duh) salba = sarva (सर्व) = “all” motcha = believe it or not this is probably “Buddhas” moji = “Bodhisattvas” sadaya = sadaya (सदय) = “compassionate, pitiful, merciful” sabaha 懺悔眞言 참회진언 唵、薩婆菩陀、菩提、薩陀耶、莎訶 [娑婆訶] 옴、살바못자、모지、사다야、사바하 The Hanja above is found in the Bulja Pillam […]
Incense Offering Mantra (獻香眞言) Part One
A number of questions can be asked about this mantra:
(1) Where does it come from?
(2) How is the mantra written in Hanja? (And does this matter – and if so, why?)
(3) How is it written in Siddham? (And does this matter – and if so, why?)
(4) Where can we hope to find the “original” Sanskrit form?
(5) What is the relationship between this mantra and the very similar mantra in Tibetan Buddhism: “Om Vajra Duphe Ah Hum”?
Learning Literary Chinese to Read Buddhist Texts (Rev. Jikai Dehn)
This is a great video by Rev. Jikai Dehn. I am posting this here to help make sure I can find it again. Over time I’ll use this post to create an annotated list of resources, many of which are mentioned in Jikai’s video.
The Four Immeasuable Minds in the Ksitigarbha Ten Wheels Sutra
There are at least 10 explicit references to the Four Immeasuable Minds in the Ksitigarbha 10 Wheels Sutra. This is from analysis of the Chinese version of Xuanzang (https://cbetaonline.dila.edu.tw/zh/T0411) Four Brahma Viharas (四梵住) 3 四種梵住 2 (This variation, with 種, is also found in the Large Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom) 梵住 1 慈悲喜捨 […]