One of the longest mantras recited in the Chinese Buddhist tradition, chanted daily by monastics and lay practitioners alike.
Two versions of the romanised text are available: Pinyin and Recitation. Pinyin follows standard Mandarin romanisation, though several characters in the Mantra carry traditional recitation readings that differ from everyday pronunciation. Recitation offers a more approachable option for readers unfamiliar with pinyin. Both can be selected from settings.
The Romanised texts and audio recordings are courtesy of the Buddhist Text Translation Society.
Master Hua described the Shurangama Mantra as the king of mantras — the longest in the Buddhist canon, and, in his words, "the most important." It has 554 lines, divided into five sections.
The Mantra appears in the Shurangama Sutra, where it is described as the means by which all Buddhas of the ten directions attained awakening. The Buddha Shakyamuni first proclaimed it to protect his disciple Ananda, who had fallen into difficulty on his almsround.
The foundation of the practice is purity of conduct. Master Hua was direct about this: precepts and virtuous conduct come first, because scattered thoughts and impure motivations get in the way. The minimum standard he asked of practitioners was to hold the five precepts and practise the ten good deeds. "The purity of your mind," he said, "is what really dispels calamities."
The mantra is traditionally recited daily, without interruption, and without concern for whether or not anything seems to be "happening." Master Hua discouraged chasing after responses: "Don't pay any attention to whether there are responses or not, just keep reciting." The state this points toward is one where the mantra and the mind are no longer separate — "the mantra is the mind and the mind is the mantra" — reached by turning the hearing inward to listen to one's own nature, which connects the practice to the Sutra's broader teaching on the ear faculty.
The Sutra singles out reciting the Mantra from memory as significant in itself, sufficient to draw the Bodhisattvas' protection even without samadhi:
This mantra is always attended, day and night, by Bodhisattvas in the lineage of the Bodhisattva-King Vajra-Treasury. These Bodhisattvas will always be present to protect beings who recite this mantra and who are resolved to become enlightened. Indeed they will even protect beings whose minds are scattered and disorderly and lack samadhi, but who can nevertheless recite the mantra from memory.
The Sutra also teaches that reciting the Mantra with genuine devotion can restore broken precepts to purity, and enable those who have not yet received precepts to receive them.
The Shurangama Mantra is recited at the monastery every Saturday afternoon, and everyone is welcome to join. An annual retreat is also held each year, open to all.
Those wanting to learn the Mantra will find both romanisation versions above. A copy of the Shurangama Sutra, which contains the full Mantra text with Master Hua's commentary, is available in the monastery library and through the links on our Resources page.
Alan Nicholson, a longtime disciple of Master Hua, recalls travelling with him through Malaysia in the late 1970s, and an eye-opening experience that convinced him of the Mantra's protective power.