འཕགས་པ་འཇམ་དཔལ་གྱ་རྩ་བའ་རྒྱད 262

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the tathāgatas; it is said to be the uṣṇīṣa king of all the tathāgatas; it is said to be the cakravartin; and it is said to be the great king of cakravartins. It is also said to be the heart essence of Mañjuśrī, the divine youth. It is called One Syllable. In short, its power is inconceivable because the Buddha’s blessing is inconceivable, and so are his miracles.

“One may not have fully mastered the One Syllable or performed the preparatory rites. One may have to do all the house chores, may eat everything [including] wine and meat, or indulge in sex. If, however, one has no faith and has not developed bodhicitta, the accomplishment will not be won. Similarly, those that offend against or harm the followers of the Three Jewels will not accomplish even a minor rite, let alone obtain a middling or supreme accomplishment.

Those who predominantly pursue sexual and culinary pleasures can fulfill them by engaging in minor activities with over one thousand and eight rites.¹⁶⁴⁹ What are these rites?

“At the beginning, one will effect self-protection with a single recitation. A double recitation will protect others. With three recitations, one will effect ‘great protection,’ whereby not even a great bodhisattva established on the tenth level would be able to disturb one, not to mention other beings.

“If one ties around one’s hips a five-colored thread incanted four times, one will arrest the semen, so that no emission will occur during one’s sleep unless one wants it to. If one is content being alone, whether by day or by night, one should do [the arresting] every day. If not, one can instead incant ashes seven times and sprinkle one’s abdomen—the semen will be arrested for