Chapter Eight: Painting the Image
At that time, the World-Honored One told the great assembly:”I shall now explain the method for painting images, which can bring about the accomplishment of all endeavors. One should select new, uncut white cotton cloth, one or two cubits in length, with all four sides squared properly. The painter must uphold the Eight Precepts. The pigments used for painting should be placed in new containers, and animal-hide glue must not be used.
“A pavilion adorned with the seven treasures should be drawn. Inside the pavilion, a Tathāgata is to be depicted in the teaching posture, seated upright on a lion throne. To the right of the Buddha image, draw Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva with twelve arms, in a yellow-white hue. This bodhisattva has four faces: the front face shows a joyful expression; the right face displays a wrathful look; the left face has an open mouth with upward-pointing canine teeth; the top face is furrowed-browed and glaring fiercely. He wears a jeweled crown and various necklaces, and sits in half-lotus posture upon a lotus.
“To the left, draw Maṇi Vajra Bodhisattva with four faces and sixteen arms. The front face is joyful; the right face is blue, appearing as Mahākāla; the left face is green, taking the appearance of a lion; the top face shows a wrinkled-brow, bared-teeth wrathful aspect in light green. The first right hand holds the cintāmaṇi jewel in an offering posture; the first left hand holds a lotus flower; the second right hand makes a gesture of reassurance; the second left hand holds a trident; the third right and left hands joined palms. The remaining hands each hold various implements: the fourth right hand holds a wheel, the fourth left hand a sword; the fifth right hand holds a vajra, the fifth left hand a flower basket; the sixth right hand a rosary, the sixth left hand a water vase; the seventh right hand a knife, the seventh left hand a scripture; the eighth right hand a precious stūpa, and the eighth left hand Mount Sumeru. He sits in half-lotus posture upon a lotus throne.
“Below the seat of Maṇi Vajra Bodhisattva, draw Śaṅkhinī Devī with eight arms, kneeled and joined palms, in the act of offering to the Buddha. Below Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva’s seat, draw Mahāśrī Devī kneeling while holding a vessel filled with various treasures as an offering to the Tathāgata. Behind Mahāśrī Devī, draw the Vajra Messenger Devī with a smiling face, four arms, adorned with various necklaces, holding various ritual implements. Behind Śaṅkhinī Devī, draw the Flower-Tooth Devī, dressed in plain clothes, holding fresh flowers, gazing up at the Tathāgata.”
“In front of the Tathāgata, draw a seven-jeweled lotus flower. This lotus has one hundred petals, its base made of gold and its stem of lapis-lazuli. On top of the lotus, draw a wheel with one hundred spokes, the hub and spokes fully complete. Around the outer edge of the wheel, paint radiating light. Beneath the lotus root, draw the Four Great Heavenly Kings, all wearing armor and helmets, adorned with ornaments, holding weapons. Below the lotus, paint a pool decorated with the seven treasures. Along the bank of the pool, draw a practitioner kneeling with a censer, flower branches, and a rosary, gazing up in devotion at the Tathāgata. In the sky above the jeweled pavilion, draw Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Maheśvara scattering flowers in offering. The image should be painted following these standards.
“The reciting practitioner should wear clean new clothes and eat the three kinds of white food. From the eighth day of the bright month, begin reciting in front of the image of the Tathāgata in accordance with the Dharma, completing one hundred thousand recitations by the fifteenth day. The Buddha image will shake, and the practitioner will see their body emitting blazing radiance, attain unobstructed vision, realize the pure maṇi activity samādhi, and become a Wheel-Turning King among all mantra-holding deities, personally beholding all Tathāgatas.
“By reciting even once, one can avoid all the hells and animal realms, eradicate afflictions such as greed, hatred, and delusion, eliminate stinginess and impurity, accomplish all merits, attain all happiness, and accumulate all wholesome roots. All Tathāgatas will bestow blessings, all bodhisattvas will bring comfort, all deities will offer protection, and all yakṣas, rākṣasas, plita, piśācas, asuras, gandharvas, garuḍas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, humans and non-humans alike will come to guard and support.
“In all royal palaces, one will receive offerings. All sentient beings in the world will submit and be subdued. All merits, pāramitās, will be brought to completion. Such supreme merits can all be attained. Even one who has only just begun reciting can receive these blessings—how much more so for one who recites extensively!
“If a practitioner recites, upholds, aligns with, offers, and seeks accomplishment in front of the Buddha image, and harmonizes with the mudrās and mantras, that person is equivalent to a Buddha. He should receive all offerings and veneration from devas and humans. Such a person is equal to the Buddhas and should be seen and known as one who has received a prophecy from the Tathāgata.
“Such a person will never regress from the path of unsurpassed bodhi. They will no longer be born from a womb. Wherever they are born, they will be lotus-born. They will always dwell near Buddhas and bodhisattvas, assembling with the Tathāgatas until seated at the bodhi seat.”
Chapter Nine: Homa
At that time, the Tathāgata once again proclaimed to the great assembly the method of homa:“First, one must purify body and mind—only then can the ritual be performed. Every dharma method can be swiftly accomplished through this, bringing vast and great benefits. One should arouse the mind for the benefit of all sentient beings and properly perform homa offerings in accordance with the Dharma.
“The Homa Mantra is:
oṃ svāhāpati bhūra bhuraḥ hūṃ hūṃ phaṭ svāhā
“Using this mantra, empower sesame seeds and white mustard seeds, mix them with ghee. For every recitation of the mantra, burn one pellet. Recite it one hundred and eight times: this causes all mantras and dharma methods to be swiftly accomplished, and dispels vināyakas, the obstacle-maker. All karmic offenses, all afflictions, all enemies and evil associates will be subdued and restrained, plunged into delusion. All nightmares, calamities, and inauspicious omens will naturally be dispelled.
“If one uses guggal and white mustard seeds mixed with ghee, offering one into the fire per mantra recitation, and completes one thousand and eight recitations, all demonic beings will have their heads burst open; all illnesses and fevers will swiftly heal; all spirit disturbances will depart. Using ghee mixed with white mustard seeds, offered per mantra recitation to complete one thousand and eight recitations, one will gain rulership over a city. Using white mustard seeds mixed with ghee, performing one thousand and eight homa offerings, all terrors from demonic beings, enemies, and opponents will be eliminated.
“Using cedar wood mixed with ghee, performing one thousand and eight homa offerings, one will gain the joy, affection, and reverence of kings and their entire royal courts, and all one’s desires will be fulfilled.
“Using benzoin resin mixed with ghee and white mustard seeds, performing homa at a mountaintop according to the prescribed number of recitations, all gates to palace caverns will spontaneously open, granting entry, and one becomes a king among the mantra-holding seers.
“Using resin mixed with mustard oil, performing homa one thousand and eight times by a dragon pool, all nāga kings will offer reverence and affection, and will carry out all commanded tasks. Rain will fall in proper season without harming the crops.
“Using food for homa, offering it one thousand and eight times to the Tathāgata, there will be abundance of grains and harvests.
“Using salt for homa, performed one thousand and eight times, all female yakṣas will come to bow at your feet and say, ‘Master! Please do not take my life.’ They can then be freely sent forth, and all tasks will be accomplished.
“Using ghee mixed with polished rice, performing homa one thousand and eight times, one will attain great auspiciousness.
“Facing the sun, using peppercorns for homa, reciting one thousand and eight times, one will always receive protection from the gods and attain great auspiciousness.
“In front of a statue of Mahāśrī Devī, using sesame mixed with white mustard seeds, performing homa will bring great wealth.
“Using arkha wood, performing homa one thousand and eight times, one will awaken all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and they will recognize that this person has departed from all karmic offenses. All worldly and supramundane mantra kings will manifest before them. All illnesses will be eradicated; one will triumph over all enemies and adversaries. The suffering of birth and death will not be able to oppress them. By the power of this mantra, all wholesome deeds will be easily accomplished. All nightmares and inauspicious events will be eliminated. All curses, bindings, and afflictions will be powerless to disturb them. In this way, performing the homa ritual can eliminate disasters, bring happiness, and generate wealth. If there are sentient beings who have fallen into wrong views, they can be brought to right view. “
At that time, the World-Honored One said to Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva: “This teaching possesses great majesty. It is the mind of all Tathāgatas; it is the mother of all Tathāgatas; it is the turning of the great Dharma wheel by all Tathāgatas; it is the journey of all Tathāgatas to the bodhimaṇḍa; it is the raising of the great Dharma banner by all Tathāgatas; it is the sounding of the great Dharma conch by all Tathāgatas; it is the seating on the vajra throne by all Tathāgatas; it is the subjugation of the demonic armies by all Tathāgatas; it is the supreme secret of all Tathāgatas; it is the most supreme of the great secrets of all Tathāgatas. Vajrapāṇi! This dhāraṇī can quell all afflictions of sentient beings in Jambudvīpa; it can eliminate all their karmic offenses; it can eradicate the retributions of hell, hungry ghosts, and animal realms among sentient beings in Jambudvīpa; it can dispel all suffering from birth, aging, illness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, and burning torment. “
Then the World-Honored One again said to Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva: “With the divine eye I observe: even the Tathāgatas cannot fully express the merit produced by this dhāraṇī. This dhāraṇī possesses the most supreme and marvelous merit, so vast and profound—most supreme among the supreme, greatest among the greatest, most wondrous supernatural power. Such a Dharma teaching—the Great Jewel-Extensive Pavilion—is one that those of little merit and shallow virtue certainly cannot even hear the name of, let alone see it, uphold it, or recite it. If anyone hears or sees the name of this dhāraṇī, that person has already served and been close to as many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as the sands of the Ganges River. Vajrapāṇi! This dhāraṇī is the heart of the Tathāgata. It is difficult to understand, difficult to enter.
“If there is a virtuous man or virtuous woman who, over hundreds of thousands of kalpas, makes offerings of food, clothing, dwellings, bedding, hundreds of medicinal decoctions, banners, canopies, incense, flowers, scented powder, and powdered incense to eighty koṭi nayuta hundreds of thousands of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges River, and fills the trichiliocosm with the seven treasures to make daily offerings to the Buddhas—Vajrapāṇi, do you think this person would gain great merit? “
Vajrapāṇi Bodhisattva replied to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! That person’s merit is boundless and immeasurable—it cannot be calculated. “
The Buddha said: “If someone recites this dhāraṇī even once, their merit surpasses all the aforementioned merits. Even all the Buddhas cannot fully describe it. If there is a virtuous man or virtuous woman who, for even a moment, single-mindedly contemplates this dhāraṇī, and compares it with the merit of offering all food, clothing, incense, flowers, and treasures to all Tathāgatas, the merit from reciting the dhāraṇī will double from it. It is equivalent to offering to all Tathāgatas.”
At that moment, upon hearing these words, the assembly of devas, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, humans and non-humans all leapt with joy. They raised their voices in praise, prostrated with four limbs and head on the ground, devoutly venerated, and with palms joined said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! This dhāraṇī is equivalent to the appearance of a Tathāgata in the world. Now that the World-Honored One is present in Jambudvīpa, you are skillfully establishing this secret heart of the dhāraṇī. “
At that time, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas gathered from the ten directions praised Śākyamuni Buddha, saying: “Excellent! Excellent! ” After expressing their praises, they each returned to their own lands. Then Śākyamuni, the World-Honored One, through the power of the Buddha’s majesty, returned to the Sahā world.
Dharma Torch 