千手眼大悲心呪行法 1.3

1.3

First: Adorning the Bodhimaṇḍa. The sūtra states: "Dwelling in a pure chamber, hang banners and light lamps, using incense, flowers, food, and drink for pūjā." The *Bailu* (*Ritual for Invoking Avalokiteśvara*) states: "One should adorn the bodhimaṇḍa, smear the ground with fragrant paste, hang various banners and canopies, and install the Buddha image facing south, with the Avalokiteśvara image set separately facing east. At present, one should install an image of Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteśvara, or forty-armed; if there is no such image, it is acceptable merely to be before a six-armed or four-armed image, or even simply Avalokiteśvara's bodily likeness; it is also of no hindrance to install further images of Śākyamuni, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and so forth." There should be no more than ten practitioners, who should sit on the ground facing west; if the ground is low and damp, set low-legged platforms. One should do one's utmost to make offerings day after day; if that cannot be managed, on the first day there must not be an absence of giving. The *Fuxing* states: "Although the mind and mouth are refined and sincere, they must be aided by merit. Doing so day after day is all the more superior; if one fears one's strength will not suffice, it is permissible to do so from the first day onward. One must first measure one's own wealth and resources so as to exhaust them entirely [in offering]." The sūtra states: "If sentient beings seeking wishes in the present life cleanly maintain the pure precepts for twenty-one days and recite this dhāraṇī, their wishes will certainly be fulfilled." According to this, practitioners must take twenty-one days as one period; it absolutely must not be decreased. According to the *Lotus Samādhi*, prior to the main practice, one performs expedient methods for seven days, so that both phenomenal rituals and principle-contemplations are thoroughly mastered, and one furthermore seeks divine protection so that there may be no hindrances.