■Book 148─Power of Mantra
■Written by Master Sheng-yen Lu
■Chapter Two 2/3
(This chapter takes up where the last one left off.)
“Alright. Any age is a two-digit number. How about you just tell me the last digit of the age and not the first digit. Is that OK?”
I gave it some thought and felt that it was fair enough. The last digit would not give away the length of a person's life span, and was thus meaningless. However, I was unclear why Shen Ding requested to know the last digit of his age of death.
I consulted the divination and wrote down the number seven.
Shen Ding looked at the number and said, “Seven. That's precisely the number!”
Shen Ding then revealed he had consulted a fortune-teller in Hong Kong who had told him that he would live to the age of thirty-seven. He wanted to know how he could reverse this situation and if I could change his fate.
I told him, “I can give it a try.”
I went into deep meditation.
In my meditation, I saw a figure of Guanyin Bodhisattva dressed in a white robe, carrying a vial of elixir and a stalk of willow leaves in her hands. She appeared noble and at ease with herself. The Bodhisattva told me, “All you have to do is to tell Shen Ding to chant the mantra of the White Robed Guanyin Bodhisattva twenty times per day, and I will protect him. You don't have to teach him how to recite it because he already knows how.”
I came out of my meditation and said to Shen Ding, “You know how to chant a mantra.”
“Nonsense!” Shen Ding denied.
“But the Bodhisattva says you do.”
“The Bodhisattva must be joking! I have never chanted any mantra in my entire life.”
“The White Robed Guanyin told me that you know how to chant her mantra.”
“Ah!” Shen Ding was taken aback. He then related this story to me.
About ten years ago, Shen Ding's aunt passed away. Before she died, she gave him a painting of a portrait of the White Robed Guanyin. The mantra of this Bodhisattva was written alongside the painting. His aunt had meticulously taught Shen Ding every word of this mantra. He had indeed chanted this mantra, and his pronunciation of it was very accurate. His aunt told him that the painting with the mantra has been kept and worshipped over a long period of time. The mantra was to be recited over the course of one's lifetime, and could not be neglected. According to his aunt, the mantra was very powerful.
Shen Ding kept this painting properly and recited the mantra of the White Robed Guanyin for a short period. After his aunt passed away, he put the painting away and never brought it out. He had since stopped chanting the mantra.
I told Shen Ding, “Hang up the painting of the Bodhisattva immediately.”
“Yes,” Shen Ding answered.
“Recite this mantra of the White Robed Guanyin twenty times a day.”
“Yes.”
“Do you want me to teach you how to recite it?”
“There's no need. I still remember how to chant this mantra.”
Surprisingly, Shen Ding was able to write down this mantra:
The Mantra of the White Robed Guanyin
Namo the All Compassionate and All Merciful Guanyin Bodhisattva Mahasattva (three times).
Namo Buddha ye.
Namo Dharma ye.
Namo Sangha ye.
Namo Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Great Compassionate One.
[transliteration:] Da-die-duo, om, ga-luo-fa-duo, ga-luo-fa-duo, ga-he-fa-duo, luo-ga-fa-duo, luo-ga-fa-duo, so-ha
[Sanskrit: TADYATA OM GARAVATA GARAVATA GAHAVATA RAGAVATA RAGAVATA SVAHA].
Summon the gods in the heavens,
Summon the gods on earth,
Deliver us from all disasters.
Remove us from all evils.
Reduce all disasters to nothingness.
Namo Maha Prajna Paramita.
-To be continued-
