顯密圓通成佛心要集 2.6

2.6

二、能滅罪障遠離鬼神門者，謂《菩提場莊嚴陀羅尼經》、《最勝總持經》、《樓閣陀羅尼》等二十餘本經皆說：「若書寫陀羅尼，置佛像中、塔中、杵中，或書在幢上、堂殿上，或紙素竹帛上，或樺皮牆壁板木等上，有眾生得覩視者、或身手觸者、或影中過者、或真言字上塵飄在身者，又或書之戴在頂上者、身上者、衣中者，或書之旛上，若風吹旛動其旛，所指處眾生，或書鐘、鼓、鈴、鐸、螺、鈸等出聲物上，有聞聲者，此上來所說諸眾生等，縱有五無間之罪、諸佛不懺之業，悉皆滅盡，來世生諸佛國，何況親誦持者。」故昔人云：「五無間之極釁應念雲消，十惡業之巨愆纔聞霧散。」又隨求頌云：「縱犯波羅十惡罪，殺阿羅漢及尊親，五逆根本七無遮，應念隨聲並消滅，真言聖力功無量，故我稱讚不思議。」又末法中一字呪等諸陀羅尼經說：「持呪者於四方面五百驛內，諸惡星曜鬼神天魔等，盡皆馳散而去，有發善心守護者不去。若有固爾不去作障礙者，便令頭破百分身心粉碎，由是行者無諸魔障得至菩提。」問曰：「有人言：持呪者能惹魔障。今何却說能離魔障？」答曰：「此是閭巷之談，聖教無文。今密部諸經皆說陀羅尼能離魔障，且置勿論。如顯教《法華經》中，恐有講誦修習法華者，有魔障起故，說〈陀羅尼品〉令除惡魔。故彼經云：『若不順我呪，惱亂說法者，頭破作七分，如阿梨樹枝。』又釋摩訶衍論：『令坐禪人須得誦呪除魔。』又《止觀》云：『若諸魔障惱亂坐禪行者，當誦大乘方等教中諸治魔呪，若出禪時亦當誦呪。』又《金光明經》說：『十地菩薩尚以呪護持，何況凡夫？』故《首楞嚴經》云：『若不持呪而坐道場，令其身心遠諸魔事，無有是處。』又云：『末世眾生樂修三昧，恐同邪魔，應當勸令持我神呪。若未能誦，寫於禪堂或戴身上，一切諸魔所不能動。』如是等文藏教彌多。現見世人被鬼神惱害，持呪者尚能除得，況於自己敢惱害耶？」

Second, the gateway of extinguishing sinful obstacles and keeping ghosts and spirits far away: more than twenty sūtras, such as the Bodhimaṇḍavyūha Dhāraṇī Sūtra, the Paramasarvadhāraṇī Sūtra, and the Kūṭāgāra Dhāraṇī, all state: "If one writes out the dhāraṇī and places it inside a Buddha image, a stūpa, or a vajra pestle, or writes it on banners, in halls and palaces, or on paper, white silk, bamboo slips, silk fabrics, birch bark, walls, wooden boards, and the like, any sentient being who sees it, touches it with body or hand, passes through its shadow, or has the dust from the mantra letters blow onto their body; or if one writes it and wears it upon the crown of the head, on the body, or within one's clothing; or if one writes it on a banner, and the wind blows the banner so that it moves and points toward sentient beings; or if one writes it on sound-producing instruments like bells, drums, hand-bells, small bells, conches, and cymbals, and someone hears the sound—all these sentient beings described above, even if they have committed the crimes of the five uninterrupted [hells] and karma that even all Buddhas cannot repent for, will have them completely extinguished and in future lives be born in Buddha-lands, to say nothing of those who personally recite and uphold it." Therefore the ancients said: "The extreme faults of the five uninterrupted [crimes] vanish like clouds at a single thought; the immense offenses of the ten evil deeds scatter like mist upon the mere hearing." Again, the Mahāpratisarā Verses say: "Even if one commits the pārājikas and ten evil crimes, / Kills an arhat or one's revered parents, / Commits the five unpardonable acts or the seven without obstruction, / In an instant and with the sound, they are all extinguished; / The sacred power and merit of the mantra are boundless, / Therefore I praise its inconceivability." Moreover, various dhāraṇī sūtras such as the One-Syllable Mantra in the Final Age state: "Within five hundred yojanas in all four directions from one who upholds the mantra, all evil astrological stars, ghosts, spirits, and heavenly demons will entirely scatter and flee, while those who generate good intentions to protect will not leave. If any obstinately refuse to leave and cause hindrances, their heads will be split into a hundred pieces and their bodies and minds shattered into dust; thus the practitioner will be free from all demonic obstacles and reach bodhi." Question: "Some say that upholding mantras can provoke demonic obstacles. Why do you now say instead that it can keep demonic obstacles far away?" Answer: "This is mere street talk without basis in the sacred teachings. Now, the various sūtras of the esoteric division all state that dhāraṇīs can keep demonic obstacles far away—setting that aside for the moment, take for example the exoteric Lotus Sūtra: fearing that those who expound, recite, and cultivate the Lotus Sūtra might encounter demonic obstacles, it preached the 'Dhāraṇī Chapter' to eliminate evil demons. Thus that sūtra says: 'If anyone disobeys my mantra / And harasses the preacher of Dharma, / Their head will split into seven parts, / Like the branch of an arjaka tree.' Furthermore, the Treatise Explaining the Mahāyāna states: 'Those who sit in meditation must recite mantras to eliminate demons.' Also, the Mohe Zhiguan states: 'If demonic obstacles harass and disturb the practitioner sitting in meditation, one should recite the various demon-subduing mantras from the Mahāyāna Vaipulya teachings; upon emerging from meditation, one should also recite mantras.' In addition, the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra says: 'Bodhisattvas of the tenth ground are still protected by mantras, to say nothing of ordinary people.' Therefore the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'If one sits in the bodhimaṇḍa without upholding mantras, to keep one's body and mind far from demonic affairs is impossible.' It also says: 'Sentient beings of the final age take joy in cultivating samādhi; fearing they may become like demonic heretics, you should encourage them to uphold my dhāraṇī-mantra. If they cannot yet recite it, write it in the meditation hall or wear it on the body, and no demons will be able to move them.' Passages such as these are extremely numerous in the canonical teachings. We see with our own eyes in this world that when people are harmed by ghosts and spirits, mantra upholders can even dispel them; how then would they dare to harm the practitioner himself?"