Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

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zengen
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Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

I recently heard about the Cundi mantra and how effective it is for purifying negative karma. I normally recite Amitabha Buddha's name, but have recently added the Cundi mantra to my everyday practice. I like to recite this mantra before I sleep. This mantra is fairly short to recite, so I can recite it while doing day to day tasks as well. What really attracted me to this mantra is because I read that if a person recites this mantra enough times, then the person will not be born in the lower realms in the future. I want to recite this mantra at least 1 million times. It's written in the Cundi Dharani Sutra:
If there are bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, or upāsikās who memorize and recite this dhāraṇī 800,000 times, their deadly karma in every place, created over innumerable eons, will be completely annihilated. In every place where they are born or reside, they will always meet buddhas and bodhisattvas. They will always have adequate resources and abilities to do as they wish. In any birth, they will always be able to leave the home life, and will have the ability to maintain the pure precepts of a bodhisattva. They will be born in human or heavenly realms, they will not fall into evil destinies, and they will always be protected by all the heavenly guardians.
Link to the sutra: http://www.sutrasmantras.info/sutra02.html

The mantra goes:
NAMO SAPTANAM SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA KOTINAM. TADYATHA: OM! CALE, CULE, CUNDI SVAHA!
There is also a Chinese version of the mantra and it can be found here:
http://www.meditationexpert.com/meditat ... hnique.htm
There is no meaning to cyclic existence.
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

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Icy
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Icy »

Can somebody explain to me how negative karma can be destroyed? I thought once karma is created, you have to go through the retribution.
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Fortyeightvows »

Look into the four opponent powers.
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Fortyeightvows »

The mantra satisfies the third of these.
zengen
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

Four Opponent Powers

Practice of Purifying Negative Actions

To purify our negative karma we must practice the four opponent powers: the power of regret, the power of reliance, the power of remedy, and the power of resolve. Within these four, one begins by reflecting on regret; the awareness that actions we have committed bring suffering to ourselves and others. We further identify the reliance (or refuge) of one such as the Buddha, who inspires us with his example; with the power of remedy we commit ourselves to a practice which alleviates the results of the actions we have done. We complete with the power of resolve resolving not to repeat those actions which bring suffering to ourselves and others.

https://archive.org/details/Tse_Chen_Li ... s_20040711
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Boomerang
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Boomerang »

I did some Googling for this dharani and it seems to be excellent for the age of dharma decline. It works well for people who regularly eat meat, drink alcohol, smoke, et cetera, and you can accumulate it absolutely anywhere at anytime, even on the toilet. The auspicious signs you're expected to experience through using it—dreams of vomiting white paste, for example—are very straightforward. I think that's good for people who tend to have uncertainties about whether their practice is truly getting them somewhere. There are also some esoteric sadhanas with mudras and stuff if you're into that sort of thing.

Its first appearance is in the Karandavyuha Sutra, so it seems to be connected Avalokiteshvara and the mani mantra. Somewhere near the end of the sutra a bodhisattva goes into samadhi and hears seventy million Buddhas utter the dharani. The Maha Cundi Sutra says that you will never fall onto the evil paths and always meet Buddhas wherever you go, which is more or less another way of saying you attain the state of non-retrogression.

After timing myself chanting it, I predict it would take a person 2,000 hours to reach one million recitations.

Apparently it's a lot more popular in East Asia than the Western world, particularly for its ability to grant wishes and improve luck. Too bad I can't read Chinese.
zengen
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

Boomerang wrote:I did some Googling for this dharani and it seems to be excellent for the age of dharma decline. It works well for people who regularly eat meat, drink alcohol, smoke, et cetera, and you can accumulate it absolutely anywhere at anytime, even on the toilet.
Yeah, some mantras require you to be vegetarian, hold five precepts etc, so I think the Cundi mantra is very suitable for this age. Another good thing about the Cundi mantra is that you need no transmission from a Buddhist master, so anyone can chant this mantra.
Boomerang wrote:There are also some esoteric sadhanas with mudras and stuff if you're into that sort of thing.
The Cundi mantra is especially useful in opening the heart chakra. While chanting this mantra, you can visualize in your chest area the image of Cundi, or the 8 petals of the heart chakra, or the 8 Buddhas as done in Shingon. You can also hold Cundi's mudra near your chest region while reciting the mantra. For more details on this technique, see this site: http://www.meditationexpert.com/meditat ... enment.htm

This technique also does not require transmission from a Buddhist master, so anyone can practice it.
Boomerang wrote:Apparently it's a lot more popular in East Asia than the Western world, particularly for its ability to grant wishes and improve luck. Too bad I can't read Chinese.
There is the Sanskrit version of the mantra if you perfer it. You can search for it on Youtube.
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Boomerang
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Boomerang »

I meant it's too bad that I can't read all the success stories of the Chinese Buddhists who praise the dharani.
zengen
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

Boomerang wrote:I meant it's too bad that I can't read all the success stories of the Chinese Buddhists who praise the dharani.
I have not read any success stories of the Chinese Buddhists either, where can you find these stories? Are there any in English?
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Boomerang
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Boomerang »

http://cundimantra.weebly.com

This blog briefly mentions that there are an abundance of resources for the Cundi dharani on the Chinese Internet. As for the English language, there are a few brief stories in these threads:

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... 25&start=0
http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... 57&start=0

I remember reading two other brief testimonials that praised the dharani's worldly benefits, but I don't think they're worth searching for again.
Last edited by Boomerang on Sat May 09, 2015 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
zengen
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

Boomerang wrote:http://cundimantra.weebly.com

This blog briefly mentions that there are an abundance of resources for the Cundi dharani on the Chinese Internet. As for the English language, there are a few brief stories in these threads:

http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... 25&start=0
http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.ph ... 57&start=0
These are great resources. Thanks!
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Boomerang
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Boomerang »

No, thank you for reminding me of this wonderful dharma door. My prayers have been answered.
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Fortyeightvows »

The mantras and the practice of visualizing the deitys in front of ones self is from sutra as so is very good for everyone to practice.
But there were some instructions given above (about petals and all that) which I believe are much better to receive from ones own teacher. Just saying.

Anyways...
There is also a long mantra of cundi which is very often recited at temples in taiwan, usually in the morning ceremony. I looked online for a pinyin version of it and found one, I'm a bit iffy on the website I found it on but I do know that the mantra is correct and is identical to that which is recited at guang qin's temples so here you go:
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Boomerang
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Boomerang »

William Bodri has some good articles on that website, but at the same time he seems to be a bit unhinged. It's dangerous to try to stimulate your kundalini without personal guidance from a teacher, which he encourages, and he seems to lack respect for the secret mantra traditions. It's probably safer not to visualize anything inside of your body. People have reported chest pains and other energetic occurrences while practicing this dharani. Maintaining bodhicitta motivation is always good.

http://thedaobums.com/topic/25763-chundi-mantra/
http://wwwcine-man.blogspot.co.uk/2011/ ... 4fc4b.&m=1
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Boomerang
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Boomerang »

This website has a different (more Chinese?) version of the sutra and some extra information about mudras and ritual actions:

http://www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.co ... is_Buddhas
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Fortyeightvows »

Surfing the web for spells isn't for me.
Some things are best when received from ones own teachers.
zengen
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

Boomerang wrote:William Bodri has some good articles on that website, but at the same time he seems to be a bit unhinged. It's dangerous to try to stimulate your kundalini without personal guidance from a teacher, which he encourages, and he seems to lack respect for the secret mantra traditions. It's probably safer not to visualize anything inside of your body. People have reported chest pains and other energetic occurrences while practicing this dharani. Maintaining bodhicitta motivation is always good.
Yes, any attempts to stimulate the kundalini without personal guidance from a teacher is a bad idea. William Bodri mentions in his website that the safest method is emptiness meditation, which is just Chan meditation. When practicing Chan meditation, the kundalini can be activated naturally without using any forceful methods. Having proper motivation is essential (eg. not searching for and attaching to spiritual experiences).
There is no meaning to cyclic existence.
zengen
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by zengen »

Fortyeightvows wrote:Surfing the web for spells isn't for me.
Some things are best when received from ones own teachers.
The primary practice is to just recite the Cundi mantra single-mindedly, which can be done by anyone without transmission from a teacher. The visualization and mudras practices are not required; they are only there to help one concentrate. And yes, I would recommend just chanting the mantra and not do the visualization and mudra practices.
There is no meaning to cyclic existence.
Fortyeightvows
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Re: Cundi Mantra for Destruction of Negative Karma

Post by Fortyeightvows »

then we are on the same page friend.
by the way do you recognize the photo I had posted?
It's the statue in the main shrine at cttb.
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