Anran's Personal Experience of Reciting the Shurangama Mantra

Last night while reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra, I remembered that my master's teachings said it could be recited while tapping a wooden fish, so I tapped the table with a pen as I recited. At first everything was normal, but after a few minutes, I felt that my enunciation, rhythm, and pitch were completely different from usual, as if it were not me reciting. These changes were not controlled by my mind consciousness; they seemed to emerge automatically. At that time my mind consciousness felt very weak, my eyes could barely stay open, and I could only barely make out the words. But the recitation was smooth and fast, with a rhythm like chanting. After finishing, my mind consciousness was still very weak; I had to hold onto the table to lie down on the bed. Only after resting for quite a while did my mind consciousness return to normal.

Assessment: This is the blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas—unbelievable. Normally, recitation and voice are the doings of the mind consciousness, but at that time one's own mind consciousness was doing nothing and was powerless, so this recitation was not an act led by the mind consciousness. This recitation was, first, drawn out and blessed by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas or the Dharma-protecting deities, and second, regulated by one's own manas—it was a recitation led by the manas, that is, the manas's own recitation. The first is easy to understand; how should the second be understood? Why did the manas control the mind consciousness, even replacing its recitation? This involves the power of meditative concentration (samādhi); the blessing power certainly exists, but let us set that aside for now. Because the manas recognized the importance of the Śūraṅgama Mantra, it participated in the mind consciousness's recitation, and having become very familiar with it, it will recite autonomously, replacing the mind consciousness, leaving the mind consciousness powerless. This is a state of being in a mild samādhi of mantra recitation; deeper samādhi will subsequently appear, and subsequent practice will be fast and smooth. Because samādhi has appeared and the manas has personally taken the stage, memorizing the Śūraṅgama Mantra will become very easy—without the mind consciousness's recollection and remembering, only slight participation from the mind consciousness is needed.

If this were not shown by actual examples, most people would not believe it, and some would say: How could the manas recite and memorize? It is simply nonsense. So what exactly is the principle behind memorization and samādhi? Memorization and samādhi are the doing of the manas, led by the manas—there is no other reason, because the mind consciousness is clearly powerless, unable to control things, at a loss, and cannot even see the words clearly—how could it recite?

This state was exactly the same as when I was in my Śūraṅgama recitation period, reciting the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. At that time, because I recited extremely fast without deliberation, as I recited my eyes could no longer see the words in the book, yet my mouth recited extremely fast, so fast that others could not keep up—this should more accurately be called reciting from memory. At that time my mind was empty and tranquil, unmoving like water, as if in meditative absorption; I only wished that the wooden fish would not stop, that the sutra would not end, and that the recitation could continue forever without stopping. From then on I was able to recite the Śūraṅgama Sūtra from memory, without ever having to deliberately memorize it.

From this we can see how great the blessing power of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas is when receiving, upholding, and reciting the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the Śūraṅgama Mantra, and Mahāyāna sutras; how extraordinary the responsive resonance is, and how fast one's practice progresses. The merit of reciting and memorizing the Śūraṅgama Mantra is inconceivable; its merits and benefits are explained in detail in the seventh volume of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. I hope that those whose practice has not yet gotten on the right track will resolve to cultivate the Śūraṅgama Mantra, make good use of it, and advance their progress on the Path.