Shurangama Mantra
Encyclopedia
The Shurangama Mantra is a dharani
Dharani
A ' is a type of ritual speech similar to a mantra. The terms dharani and satheesh may be seen as synonyms, although they are normally used in distinct contexts....

 or long mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...

 of East Asian Mahayana
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...

 and Tibetan Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 Buddhist origin that is popular in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

, although relatively unknown in modern Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...

, even though there are several Shurangama Mantra texts Sadhana
Sadhana
Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...

, Shastra
Shastra
' is a Sanskrit term used to denote rules in a general sense. The word is generally used as a suffix in the context of technical or specialized knowledge in a defined area of practice; e.g., Bhautika Shastra , Rasayana Shastra , Jeeva Shastra , Vastu Shastra , Shilpa Shastra , Artha Shastra ' is a...

 in the Tibetan Buddhist canon
Tibetan Buddhist canon
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a loosely defined list of sacred texts recognized by various sects of Tibetan Buddhism. In addition to sutrayana texts from Early Buddhist and Mahayana sources, the Tibetan canon includes tantric texts...

.

The Mantra was, according to the opening chapter of the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

, historically transmitted by the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

 Shakyamuni to Manjushri Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

 to protect Bhikshu Ananda
Ananda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council...

 before he had become an Arhat. It was again spoken in the Shurangama Sutra,
Volume 6) by Shakyamuni before an assembly of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, devas
Deva (Buddhism)
A deva in Buddhism is one of many different types of non-human beings who share the characteristics of being more powerful, longer-lived, and, in general, living more contentedly than the average human being....

 and others of the Eightfold Division of Dharmapalas.

Like the popular six-syllable mantra Om mani padme hum
Om mani padme hum
is the six syllabled mantra particularly associated with the four-armed Shadakshari form of Avalokiteshvara , the bodhisattva of compassion...

, and the Great Compassion Mantra
Great Compassion Mantra
The ' also known as ' , popularly known as the Great Compassion Mantra in English, and known as the Dàbēi Zhòu in Mandarin Chinese, is a dharani of Mahayana Buddhist origin. It was spoken by the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara before an assembly of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, devas and kings, according to...

 (Nīlakantha dhāranī) it is a popular mantra synonymous the practice of the Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

 Avalokiteshvara. The Shurangama Mantra also extensively references Buddhist deities (ishtadevata) such as Bodhisattvas Manjushri, Mahakala
Mahakala
Mahākāla is a Dharmapala in Vajrayana Buddhism, and a deity in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, particularly in the Vajrayana school. He is known as Daheitian in Chinese and Daikokuten in Japanese...

, Sitatapatra
Sitatapatra
Sitātapatrā is the 'Goddess of the White Parasol' - protector against supernatural danger. She manifests as the wrathful form of Avalokiteshvara-Names:...

 Vajrapani
Vajrapani
' is one of the earliest bodhisattvas of Mahayana Buddhism. He is the protector and guide of the Buddha, and rose to symbolize the Buddha's power. Vajrapani was used extensively in Buddhist iconography as one of the three protective deities surrounding the Buddha...

 and the Five Dhyana Buddhas especially Medicine Buddha (Akshobhya
Akshobhya
In Vajrayana Buddhism, Akṣobhya is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, a product of the Adibuddha, who represents consciousness as an aspect of reality...

 or Vajradhara
Vajradhara
Vajradhara is the ultimate primordial Buddha, or Adi Buddha, according to the Gelug and Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism.In the evolution of Indian Buddhism, Vajradhara gradually displaced Samantabhadra, who remains the...

) in East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

. It is often used for protection or purification for meditators and is considered to be part of Tantric Buddhism or Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 or Shingon Buddhism in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

.

Names

Possible spellings and their romanization
Romanization
In linguistics, romanization or latinization is the representation of a written word or spoken speech with the Roman script, or a system for doing so, where the original word or language uses a different writing system . Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written...

s include:

Also called the:

Sitâtapatra-mahā-pratyaṅgirā dhāranī 佛頂大白傘蓋陀羅尼經

Mandarin Chinese: leng yan jou or佛頂大白傘蓋陀羅尼經, 2) Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

: Surangama Mantra or Sitâtapatra-mahā-pratyaṅgirā dhāranī

The title is variously rendered in English as Great White Canopy Mantra, Great White Umbrella Mantra, or Mantra of Achala.

[Pronunciations]
Mandarin Chinese Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...

 Fódǐng dà báisǎngài tuóluóní jīng

Mandarin Chinese Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles
Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...

 Fo-ting ta pai-san-kai t'o-lo-ni-ching

Korean Hangul
Hangul
Hangul,Pronounced or ; Korean: 한글 Hangeul/Han'gŭl or 조선글 Chosŏn'gŭl/Joseongeul the Korean alphabet, is the native alphabet of the Korean language. It is a separate script from Hanja, the logographic Chinese characters which are also sometimes used to write Korean...

 [hg] 불정대백산개다라니경

[mc] Buljeong daebaeksangae darani gyeong

[mr] Pulchŏng tae paeksangae tarani kyŏng

Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 katakana
Katakana
is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji, and in some cases the Latin alphabet . The word katakana means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana scripts are derived from components of more complex kanji. Each kana represents one mora...

 ブツチョウダイビャクサンカイタラニキョウ

[hb] Butchō dai byakusankai darani kyō

Vietnamese
Vietnamese language
Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is the mother tongue of 86% of Vietnam's population, and of about three million overseas Vietnamese. It is also spoken as a second language by many ethnic minorities of Vietnam...

 [qn] Phật đỉnh đại bạch tản cái đà la ni kinh

大佛頂如來放光悉怛多鉢怛陀羅尼

Mandarin Chinese [py] Dà fódǐng rúlái fàngguāng xīdáduōbōdá tuóluóní

[wg] Ta fo-ting ju-lai fang-kuang hsi-ta-tuo-po-ta t'o-lo-ni
Mandarin Chinese

[hg] 대불정여래방광실달다발달다라니

[mc] Dae buljeong yeorae banggwang sildaldabaldal darani

[mr] Taepulchŏng yŏrae panggwang sildaldabaltal tarani

[kk] ダイブッチョウニョライホウコウシツタンタハツタンダラニ

[hb] Dai butchō nyorai hōkō shittatahattara darani

[qn] Đại phật đỉnh như lai phóng quang tất đát đa bát đát đà la ni

[Basic Meaning:] Dhāraṇī of Śitātapatra, Great Corona of All Tathāgatas, Radiating Light [The Great Queen of Vidyā called Aparājitā]

Sources: Ron Epstein, Buddhism A to Z, Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2003: pp. 191 – 192; Buddhist Chinese-Sanskrit Dictionary (Hirakawa), p. 0118, Fo Guang Dictionary, p. 2724.

Original Canonical Sources of the Shurangama Mantra

According to the Buddhist Tripitaka of Chinese and Tibetan versions, we find the Shurangama Mantra and its Sutra found as:
The Da foding rulai fangguang Xidaduobodaluo tuoluoni; Skt. Sarvatathāgataoṣṇīṣaśitātapatrā-nāmāparājitā-mahāpratyangirā-mahāvidyārājñī-nāma-dhāraṇī; Tibetan
Standard Tibetan
Standard Tibetan is the most widely used spoken form of the Tibetan languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect belonging to the Central Tibetan languages. For this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Central Tibetan...

 ('phags pa) De bshin gshegs pa'i gtsug tor nas byung ba'i gdugs dkar po can gshan gyi mi thub pa phir bzlog pa chen mo mchog tu grub pa shes bya ba'i gzungs; A dhāraṇī for avoiding disasters, evil spirits, etc.

There are five Chinese translations:

1 fasc. Taisho
Taisho
Taisho may refer to:* Taishō period , a period in the history of Japan* Emperor Taishō of Japan , reigned 1912–1926. His given name was Yoshihito.* Taishō-ku, Osaka, a ward in the city of Osaka, Japan...

  T 944b.19.102-105) Great Dhāraṇi of the Great Buddha-Corona 大佛頂大陀羅尼, tr. unknown.

In the esoteric Sūrangama Sūtra 大佛頂如來密因修證了義諸菩薩萬行首楞嚴經 (T 945), tr. Paramiti 般刺蜜帝.

1 fasc. (T 944a.19.100-102) Dhāraṇī of the Light-Emitting Śitātapatra, Great Corona (Ushnisha
Ushnisha
The ushnisha is a three dimensional oval at the top of the head of the Buddha. It symbolizes his attainment of reliance in the spiritual guide....

) of All Tathāgatas 大佛頂如來放光悉怛多鉢怛陀羅尼, tr. Amoghavajra
Amoghavajra
Amoghavajra was a prolific translator who became one of the most politically powerful Buddhist monks in Chinese history, acknowledged as one of the eight patriarchs of the doctrine in Shingon lineages.-Life:Born in Samarkand of an Indian father and Sogdian mother, he went...

 不空.

1 fasc. (T 976.19.401-404) Dhāraṇī of the Great White Parasol Buddha-Corona 佛頂大白傘蓋陀羅尼經, translated from a separate Tibetan
Standard Tibetan
Standard Tibetan is the most widely used spoken form of the Tibetan languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect belonging to the Central Tibetan languages. For this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Central Tibetan...

 version [To.590/985, P.202/610] ['phags pa] De bshin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gtsug tor nas byung ba gdugs dkar po can shes bya ba gshan gyis mi thub ma phyir zlog pa'i rig sngags kyi rgyal mo chen mo) by Zhwa lu pa 沙羅巴.

1 fasc. (T 977.19.404-407) Dhāraṇī of the Great White Parasol 大白傘蓋總持陀羅尼經, tr. Zhenzhi 眞智.

For an English translation from Khotanese, see Hoernle (1911). [To.591, P.203; To.592/986, P.204/611; To.593, P.205] BGBT4/96-100. [cmuller - Charles Muller
Charles Muller
A. Charles Muller is an academic specializing in Korean Buddhism and East Asian Yogacara, having published numerous books and articles on these topics. He is a resident of Japan, currently teaching at the University of Tokyo...

; source(s): YBh-Ind]

Within the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

's contents, the Siddham Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 incantation (variously referred to as dharani
Dharani
A ' is a type of ritual speech similar to a mantra. The terms dharani and satheesh may be seen as synonyms, although they are normally used in distinct contexts....

 or mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...

) contained therein, known in Chinese as the "Lengyan Zhou" (楞嚴咒, "Shurangama Mantra"), is well-known and popularly chanted in East Asian Buddhism.

In Sanskrit, the dharani is known as the "Sitātapatroṣṇīṣa-dhāraṇī" (Chinese: 大白傘蓋陀羅尼; see nos. 944a/b, 976 and 977 in the Taisho Tripitaka). This is sometimes simplified in English to "White Canopy" "White Parasol" Dharani or more commonly in the Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 tradition the Tibetan
Standard Tibetan
Standard Tibetan is the most widely used spoken form of the Tibetan languages. It is based on the speech of Lhasa, an Ü-Tsang dialect belonging to the Central Tibetan languages. For this reason, Standard Tibetan is often called Central Tibetan...

 "Dug kar" is rendered into English as White Umbrella Deity Mantra. The dharani is not only extant in the Chinese text, but also in Sanskrit and Tibetan versions as well.

Introduction to the Shurangama Mantra

The Shurangama Mantra spoken by the Buddha
Buddha
In Buddhism, buddhahood is the state of perfect enlightenment attained by a buddha .In Buddhism, the term buddha usually refers to one who has become enlightened...

 Shakyamuni in the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

.

In the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

, regarding the Great White Canopy Sheetatapatra line of the Shurangama Mantra, Shakyamuni Buddha states:
Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

, Volume 6, 2002: p. 67 http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=165.

The Shurangama Mantra, the longest in the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka
Tripiṭaka
' is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. As the name suggests, a traditionally contains three "baskets" of teachings: a , a and an .-The three categories:Tripitaka is the three main categories of texts that make up the...

), contains 5 major Section and 554 lines of Siddham Sanskrit of somewhat disparate topics, though with some overarching themes:
  • The devotional Bhakti section.
  • The Manjushri section (section 5) containing a large section on Ayurvedic Medicine Sanskrit
    Sanskrit
    Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

     medical terms for diseases and the seed syllable bija
    Bija
    In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term बीज bīja , literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu....

     mantra secret words to prevent or diminish the effects of these ailments.


Source: http://www.uwest.edu/sanskritcanon/dp/index.php?q=node/108

The History of the Shurangama Mantra Transmission and Translations

In 168-179 A.D. Buddhist Monk
Monk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 Bhikshu Shramana
Shramana
A shramana is a wandering monk in certain ascetic traditions of ancient India including Jainism, Buddhism, and Ājīvikism. Famous śramaṇas include Mahavira and Gautama Buddha....

 Lokasema arrives in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and translates into Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 the Surangama Sutra.

Source: Dukes, Terence, "The Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

 warriors: the origin, inner philosophy, history and symbolism of the Buddhist martial art within India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

" / by Shifu Nagaboshi Tomio (Terence Dukes), York Beach, ME, Samuel Weiser, 1994, p. 366. ISBN 0-87728-785-6.

The currently popular version of the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

 and Mantra were translated and transliterated from Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 to Chinese Hanzi during the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

 by Bhikshiu Paramiti from Central India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and reviewed by Shramana Meghashikara from Udyana, after Empress Wu Tsai Tian retired, in the first year of the Shen Lung Dynasty
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...

 Reign period.

Shurangama Sutra, Volume I, Ukiah
Ukiah
Ukiah can refer to:*Ukiah, California, a city in the U.S. state of California*Ukiah, Oregon, a city in the U.S. state of Oregon*Ukiah Oregon, a fictional character in a series of science fiction books by Wen Spencer...

, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

: Buddhist Text Translation Society and Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association is an international, non-profit Buddhist organization founded by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in 1959 to bring the orthodox teachings of the Buddha to the entire world...

, 2009: p. 70

The Actual Siddham Words Shurangama Mantra

The Shurangama Mantra is available in two versions, Siddham Romanized Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 and Devanagari
Devanagari
Devanagari |deva]]" and "nāgarī" ), also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal...

 Romanized Sanskrit. The classical outline for the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

 was compiled by Dharma Master Yuan Ying (Shurangama Sutra, Volume I, page xii) and categorizes the various parts of the Sutra text consisting of over 2,700 paragraphs to 1,676 entries.

Shakyamuni Buddha explains the key points of the Mantra in the Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

:

Ananda
Ananda
Ānanda was one of the principal disciples and a devout attendant of the Buddha. Amongst the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda had the most retentive memory and most of the suttas in the Sutta Pitaka are attributed to his recollection of the Buddha's teachings during the First Buddhist Council...

, this cluster of light atop the crown of the
Buddha’s head, the secret gatha
Gatha
Gatha is a type of metered and often rhythmic poetic verse or a phrase in the ancient Indian languages of Prakrit and Sanskrit. The word is originally derived from the Sanskrit/Prakrit root gai , which means, to speak, sing, recite or extol. Hence gatha can mean either speech, verse or a song...

, Syi Dan Dwo Bwo Da La, with
its subtle, wonderful divisions and phrases, gives birth to all the
Buddhas of the ten directions. Because the Thus Come Ones of
the ten directions use this mantra-heart, they realize
unsurpassed, proper, and all-pervading knowledge and enlightenment.

Venerable Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua of the City of 10000 Buddhas says in his Volume 6, 2002, pp. 115–116 of his Shurangama Sutra Commentary first lectured in 1968:

“Ananda, this cluster of light atop the crown of the
Buddha’s head, the Secret Gatha, Syi Dan Dwo Bwo Da La, is
again, the Great White Canopy, which can cover over the entire
system of three thousand great thousand worlds to protect all the
living beings in it. “Gatha” is a Sanskrit term which means
“repetitive verses.” The Mantra is secret, and since some of its lines
are repeated, it is referred to as the “secret gatha.” These “divisions
and phrases” which comprise the Mantra are extremely rare and
miraculous.

In the Shurangama Sutra the Buddha says of the Shurangama Mantra:

"Ananda, let any living being of any country in the world copy out this mantra in writing on materials native to his region, such as birch bark, pattra, plain paper, or white cotton cloth, and store it in a pouch containing incense. If that person wears the pouch on his body, or if he keeps a copy in his home, then you should know that even if he understands so little that he cannot recite it from memory, he will not be harmed by any poison during his entire life."

Sources: Buddhist Text Translation Society (http://www.BTTSonline.org)

Shurangama Sutra
Shurangama Sutra
The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

, Volume 6, Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2002: p. 113

Shurangama Sutra, Volume 6, 2002, pp. 89–91; pp. 91–103 (text); 113; TT 124-126; Shurangama Mantra Commentary, Volume I (intro), San Francisco, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

: Dharma Realm Buddhist University, 1981, pp. 32–33, pp. 97–101, (ISBN 0-917512-69-3); Shurangama Mantra Commentary, Volume III: p. 34;

Story of transmission

According to Master Hsuan Hua, Arya Nalanda Monastery Abbot
Abbot
The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...

 Bhikshu Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...

 Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...

 brings it in his Samadhi
Samadhi
Samadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....

 from the Nāga
Naga
Naga or NAGA may refer to:* Nāga, a group of serpent deities in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.-People:* Nayan / Nayar/Nair people of Kerala Society* Naga people, a diverse ethnic identity in Northeast India...

 Dragon Realm. Then the Indian translator Bhikshiu Paramiti from India secretly brings the Sutra to China.

Structure and comparison with other works

Based on Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 comparative research by Nalanda Tradition (source: http://www.Shurangama.com) Shramanera Losang Jinpa from the Alex Wayman
Alex Wayman
Alex Wayman was a Tibetologist, and Indologist, and worked as a professor of Sanskrit at Columbia University....

 1977 Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

 Motilal Banarsidass Publishers book "Yoga of the Guhyasamaja Tantra - The Arcane Lore of Forty Verses" (ISBN 81-208-0872-X), the Shurangama Mantra contains all of the major 32 Tantric deities of the Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...

 introduced practice of the Guhyasamaja Highest Yoga Tantra
Highest Yoga Tantra
Anuttarayoga Tantra , often translated as Unexcelled Yoga Tantra or Highest Yoga Tantra, is a term used in Tibetan Buddhism in the categorization of esoteric tantric Indian Buddhist texts that constitute part of the Kangyur, or the 'translated words of the Buddha' in the Tibetan Buddhist canon...

 Sadhana
Sadhana
Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...

 contained in the Geluk tradition of Tibetan
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...

 Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 Tantric Buddhism Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. Thus, in many ways one could say the Shurangama Mantra is Highest Yoga Tantra
Highest Yoga Tantra
Anuttarayoga Tantra , often translated as Unexcelled Yoga Tantra or Highest Yoga Tantra, is a term used in Tibetan Buddhism in the categorization of esoteric tantric Indian Buddhist texts that constitute part of the Kangyur, or the 'translated words of the Buddha' in the Tibetan Buddhist canon...

 Vajrayana
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...

 Buddhism buried within the Chinese Chan
Chan
-People:* Chan Marshall, American musician better known as Cat Power* Chan , Chinese surname; Mandarin transcription of the same name is Chen ** Agnes Chan , Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan...

 and Pure Land
Pure land
A pure land, in Mahayana Buddhism, is the celestial realm or pure abode of a Buddha or Bodhisattva. The various traditions that focus on Pure Lands have been given the nomenclature Pure Land Buddhism. Pure lands are also evident in the literature and traditions of Taoism and Bön.The notion of 'pure...

 traditions including references to many Iṣṭha-devatās Avalokiteshvara as Mahakala
Mahakala
Mahākāla is a Dharmapala in Vajrayana Buddhism, and a deity in Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, particularly in the Vajrayana school. He is known as Daheitian in Chinese and Daikokuten in Japanese...

, Ganapati, Vajrayogini and Heruka
Heruka
Heruka is also a name for the Tantric deity Chakrasamvara, for which see.Heruka , is the name of a category of wrathful deities, enlightened beings in Vajrayana Buddhism that adopt a fierce countenance to benefit sentient beings. In China and Japan, it was named as Wisdom King. Herukas represent...

 Chakrasamvara in the form of Umapati and Rudra
Rudra
' is a Rigvedic God, associated with wind or storm, and the hunt. The name has been translated as "The Roarer", or "The Howler"....

. Because of its vastness of deities including Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...

, Indra
Indra
' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

, Rudraya and his consort Uma
Parvati
Parvati is a Hindu goddess. Parvati is Shakti, the wife of Shiva and the gentle aspect of Mahadevi, the Great Goddess...

, Narayana
Narayana
Narayana or Narayan or Naraina is an important Sanskrit name for Vishnu, and in many contemporary vernaculars a common Indian name. Narayana is also identified as the original man, Purusha. The Puranas present divergent views on Narayana...

, Varuna
Varuna
In Vedic religion, Varuna is a god of the sky, of water and of the celestial ocean, as well as a god of law and of the underworld...

, and Ganesh as Ganapati the Shurangama Mantra acts as a Buddhist bridge to devotional Hinduism
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

.

See also

  • Buddhist texts
    Buddhist texts
    Buddhist texts can be categorized in a number of ways. The Western terms "scripture" and "canonical" are applied to Buddhism in inconsistent ways by Western scholars: for example, one authority refers to "scriptures and other canonical texts", while another says that scriptures can be categorized...

  • Great Compassion Mantra
    Great Compassion Mantra
    The ' also known as ' , popularly known as the Great Compassion Mantra in English, and known as the Dàbēi Zhòu in Mandarin Chinese, is a dharani of Mahayana Buddhist origin. It was spoken by the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara before an assembly of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, devas and kings, according to...

     (Nīlakantha dhāranī)
  • Guhyasamāja tantra
    Guhyasamāja tantra
    The Guhyasamāja Tantra is one of the most important scriptures of esoteric Buddhism. In its fullest form, it consists of seventeen chapters, though a separate "explanatory tantra" known as the Later Tantra is sometimes considered to be its eighteenth chapter...

  • Mahayana sutras
    Mahayana sutras
    Mahāyāna sutras are a broad genre of Buddhist scriptures that are accepted as canonical by the various traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism. These are largely preserved in the Chinese Buddhist canon, the Tibetan Buddhist canon, and in extant Sanskrit manuscripts...

  • Tantras
    Tantras
    Tantras refers to numerous and varied scriptures pertaining to any of several esoteric traditions rooted in Hindu and Buddhist philosophy. Although Buddhist and Hindu Tantra have many similarities from the outside, they do have some clear distinctions. The rest of this article deals with Hindu...

  • Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Sutra
  • Vajrayana
    Vajrayana
    Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...


Shurangama in romanized Sanskrit

Shurangama Mantra in romanized Sanskrit script with Opening Verse in Chinese.
Some English readers may find this particularly useful for devotional purposes.
This is because it may seem easier to read directly form romanized Sanskrit script
than from an English re-tanslation of the Chinese pinyin or other language translated versions of the Mantra.
Note that this version of Mantra has been revised and corrected by :

A) adding alledgedly missing content from studying a number of related scriptures, Mantras and Dharanis.

B) improving alledged grammar and spelling mistakes with the help of Buddhist Sanskrit dictionaries.

http://www.siddham-sanskrit.com/s-sanskrit2/ChuaBTuan/Sitatapatrosnisa.htm

(Please bear in mind the difference in pronounciation of romanized Sanskrit syllables and that of English,
eg. th,gh in Sanskrit is not the same as th,gh in English)
Information available from the following:

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sk-pron/skpro_01.pdf

http://www.tilakpyle.com/sanskrit_alphabet.htm

It may require the downloading of Sanskrit-Pali reading font which is available at

http://www.siddham-sanskrit.com/s-sanskrit2/sanspali.ttf

Siddham Sanskrit Mantra Sources


Sanskrit Source Documents


Sanskrit Dictionaries used to verify Sanskrit Mantra Word Wikipedia Links

(fourth revised & enlarged edition).

Further reading

Ven. Hsuan Hua, Cosmic Syllables Save the World (Tian Di Ling Wen Jiu Shi Jie), Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2006, 249 pages.
  • http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=250 Cosmic Magic Syllables Save the World 天地靈文救世界 (English/Chinese 中英雙語) ISBN 0881399646


Master Hsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua
Hsuan Hua , also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Chan Buddhist monk and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century....

|Hua explains,

http://www.bttsonline.org/default.aspx?menu_id=22

External links

  • http://online.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/Shurangama/Shurangama%20Mantra.html The Shurangama Mantra—The Efficacious Language of Heaven and Earth, Lectures by the Venerable
    Venerable
    The Venerable is used as a style or epithet in several Christian churches. It is also the common English-language translation of a number of Buddhist titles.-Roman Catholic:...

     Tripitaka
    Tripiṭaka
    ' is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. As the name suggests, a traditionally contains three "baskets" of teachings: a , a and an .-The three categories:Tripitaka is the three main categories of texts that make up the...

     Master Bhikshu Hsuan Hua
    Hsuan Hua
    Hsuan Hua , also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Chan Buddhist monk and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century....

    , Burlingame
    Burlingame
    Burlingame may refer to:People*Anson Burlingame, 19th century American diplomat; a US-China treaty was named after him, along with towns in California and Kansas...

    , California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

    : Buddhist Text Translation Society, Dharma Realm Buddhist University, Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
    Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
    The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association is an international, non-profit Buddhist organization founded by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua in 1959 to bring the orthodox teachings of the Buddha to the entire world...

    , 1996.
  • http://surangama.drba.org and http://www.bttsonline.org/product.aspx?pid=393 The Śūraṅgama (Shurangama Sutra: A New Translation with Excerpts from the Commentary by the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua
    Hsuan Hua
    Hsuan Hua , also known as An Tzu and Tu Lun, was a Chan Buddhist monk and a contributing figure in bringing Chinese Buddhism to the United States in the 20th century....

     (Talmage
    Talmage
    -People:*Algernon Talmage, British artist*Charles George Talmage, FRAS , British astronomer*David Talmage, American immunologist*James E...

    , California
    California
    California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

    : Buddhist Text Translation Society, 2009. ISBN 978-0-88139-962-2
  • Common Bonding Practices for the Five Dhyana Buddha-Families
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK