Post by Neo on Oct 15, 2020 10:27:45 GMT -5
All mantras are the names of god-kings and ghost-kings, like the pisaca and kumbhanda. You recite the names of god-kings and ghost-kings, and the small gods and ghosts all act reliably. Why? They wonder, "How do you know our ghost-king? How do you know our god-king?" When you recite the mantra, the little gods and ghosts don't dare break the rules.
A mantra is like a soldier's password. In the army, there is a different password every day, and only your own people know it. Others don't know it. For example, today it might be "victory". If, for instance, you meet a soldier whom you don't know, you ask him what the password is, he says, "Victory," and you say, "Right." Everyone then knows that he is one of us. If you ask him the password and he says, "Lucky," that's not it, and you know that you will have to start fighting. Why? Because he isn't one of us. Mantras are just like passwords. As soon as the gods and ghosts hear you recite the mantra, they say, "Oh, that's our password," so they all can be depended upon to follow the rules. Otherwise, they would all want to fight.
A mantra is a sort of secret language which others don't know.
Although we people don't understand, ghosts understand, gods understand, and animals and asuras all understand it. Therefore, when you recite the mantra, they are all dependable.
As soon as you recite the mantra, the gods and ghosts will assume that you understand their origins and that you know what they are all about, and so they don't dare to break the rules where you are concerned.
in short, therefore, when you recite it and people with wisdom and gods and ghosts hear it, they understand it and act accordingly. ~ Commentary by Venerable Master Hsuan Hua
Source:
www.cttbusa.org/heartsutra/hs25.htm