Our FBA Dharmabyte, today is a preview for this weekendand#8217;s full length FBA Podcast. In and#8220;and#8220;The Dharani: Spell of Protection,and#8221; Candradasa shares his thoughts on The Rite of Protection. From the talk: and#8220;Magic For the Modern Worldand#8221; from the and#8220;Religion Without Godand#8221; series given at the Portsmouth Buddhist Center, 2012.
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The Dharani: Spell of Protection
[music] Dharma Bites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for your life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. Thank you, and happy listening. [music] And the last rite that I want to look at in a bit of detail is the right of protection. Again, you could imagine in a mundane sense the right of protection. Protection from bullies. Protection from local feudal lords. Warlords. Opposing armies. That kind of stuff. When Sanger actually talks about the right of protection in the Tantric world and the Tantric cosmic realm, he evokes something called the Dharani. And you might recognise that word from the Putra that we do here sometimes. When we do the Pranya Paramita Mantra, it's evoked as being the radiant, peerless mantra, the great Dharani. And Dharani is kind of like a spell of protection. Usually a bit longer than a mantra, but sometimes it is a mantra. And it's a touch of magic that you weave around. It's the transcendental kind of conjured into the air, as it were. It's a transformative element in your experience that can see beyond words and thoughts and concepts. It can see beyond even the kind of way you experience things, even spiritual experience. It can see beyond that to something that's not centered on you. And that mantra that we chant in the Putra, it's gati, gati, paragati, parasangati, bodhiswaha. Now you can't really translate it, but if you were translating it, it would be something like, gone, gone, gone beyond, gone all together beyond all what an awakening. So in a way it's like a kind of evocation of reality and conceptual terms, but you chant it and you sing it. And the words don't quite mean that. And actually you chant it because it's the name and form and presence of a female Buddha figure called Pranya Paramita, who holds all wisdom in her hands. And in a way it's kind of bonkers, but it's designed to be a bit bonkers. It's designed to bypass your rational stuff altogether. It's not interested in what your intelligence can do with it. It wants your emotional intelligence to engage with it. So you chant it, gati, gati, paragati, parasangati, bodhiswaha. All what an awakening. And in that sense it's like a magic spell that's been woven around you. And it's a protection. It's a protection from seeing things foolishly and behaving foolishly. So that's the darini and that's the rights of pacification and destruction, fascination, prospering and protection. We hope you enjoyed today's Dharma Bite. Please help us keep this screen. Make a contribution at freebuddhistaudio.com/donate. And thank you. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]