We often see the students of the Tantrayana school with “counters” in their hands, keeping track of the numbers of their mantra chanting as they do their Prayoga [“intensifed effort, earnest endeavour”] homework. Because the Tantrayana school has the “Siddhi [Accomplishment] of Dharani Illumination”:
Chanting the Guru Heart Mantra, one million times or more;
Chanting one’s Personal Deity mantra, one million times or more;
Chanting one’s Dharma Protector mantra, one million times or more.
In addition to these three root mantras, there are many Buddha’s and Bodhisattva’s mantras that a student may feel an affinity to chant. These also would be chanted one million times or more.
The counter is used for counting the number of times the mantra is chanted.
We also often see, in places where virutous books are made available, on the last page of the White-Robed Celestial [Guan Yin] Mantra, High King Sutra, Guan Yin Sutra, Celestial Rebirth Mantra, Vijaya Bhagawati Mantra, or the Nen-Yen Mantra, there is a blank sheet of paper with many small circles printed on it, one after another.
These circles are for counting, as well.
Normally, when a student is chanting a mantra or a sutra, as they reach a certain number, they will then use a red pen to place a red dot in the centre of one of the circles.
When all the circles have been dotted, the student will then:
Mail it to his or her master, showing that the assignment has been completed;
Burn it under the open sky, dedicating it to their vow for rebirth in the Pure Lands;
Scatter the ashes in front of his or her shrine, praying for his or her wishes to come true, and so on.
I had a disciple, Lotus Jie-Ru, who was regularly troubled by disturbing nightmares. In contemporary medical terms, his quality of sleep was not very good.
On top of that, he often woke up in the middle of the night from his nightmares, sweating and screaming. As a result, he was in a constant state of wakefulness, afraid to fall asleep because of the nightmares.
He had been bitten by a bed of snakes.
He had been chased by evil ghosts.
He had been killed; he had died.
He had had his arms and legs broken.
All of Lotus Jie-Ru’s dreams were nightmares—bad dreams, evil dreams, every kind of nightmare imaginable, all rolled together.
So he decided to chant the “High King Sutra” one thousand times.
For every ten times completed, he put a red dot in one of the circles on the tally sheet. In total, he dotted one hundred circles, representing one thousand times of chanting the High King Sutra.
He believed in what the High King Sutra described:
That it was able to remove the sufferings of life and death.
That it could eliminate every kind of poison.
That for every one thousand times chanted, any serious crime could be removed.
Lotus Jie-Ru chanted the High King Sutra a full one thousand times. On his tally sheet were a hundred circles with red dots in them. But he did not know what to do with the page of circles and dots. He didn’t even know how to make his dedication, how to ask for his wish.
That night, at this time of Lotus Jie-Ru’s uncertainty, Living Buddha Lian Sheng, Sheng-Yen Lu, entered his dreams.
Guru asked, “Any questions?”
“I’ve chanted the High King Sutra one thousand times, but I don’t know how to use the circle-and-dots tally sheet.”
“What is your wish?”
“That all my nightmares are gone; that all of my nighttime dreams are peaceful and sweet.”
In the dream, I instructed Lotus Jie-Ru:
“Fold the circle-and-dots tally sheet into an octagon shape, with a hole in the centre, folding from one end, corner over corner, in the shape of a circle, until there are eight sides and a space in the middle. If you don’t know how to do that, you can also simply fold the tally sheet into a square shape. Then place it in your pillow [case].”
“The pillow is very dirty.”
“You can buy a new pillow, or wash the one you have.”
When he awoke, Lotus Jie-Ru followed my instructions, buying a new pillow and placing the folded circle-and-dots tally sheet in the new pillow.
Since then, the nightmares never occurred again, and his nighttime dreams were peaceful and sweet. The quality of his sleep improved. He was never sleepless again.
If he had a dream, he dreamed of Guan Yin or he dreamed of Pure Lands. He dreamed of himself solemn and magnificent. He dreamed of himself flying, riding on clouds. He dreamed of himself living in pavilions of gold and silver. He dreamed of himself chanting the Buddha’s name and chanting mantras.
Before, when he slept, he felt very scared.
Now, he is very happy.
To chant the High King Sutra a thousand times really has great effect.
(From Book 181 “Point Towards A Sunny Path”)
(題材選自蓮生活佛第181冊著作「指引一條明路」文章「圈圈點點的秘密」)
