Buddhist Spells: a Mantra for Exorcism & Wisdom. The Heart Sutra

 

 

Maybe one of the most well known sacred texts of Buddhism is the one called The Heart Sutra. In this Sutra Buddha explains the nature and importance of the Perfect Wisdom and says that through the Perfection of Wisdom one can become enlightened like a Bodhisattva or a Buddha.

 

The Sutra opens with one mantra and closes with a second. The opening mantra is:

 

 

This mantra salutes the beauty and brilliance of the Perfection of Wisdom. The mantra can be translated as: “Om, blessed be the name of the beautiful and brilliant absolute Perfection of Wisdom”.

 

It is a very nice mantra, and it can be used by anyone that seeks true wisdom. It is though, the closing mantra the one that will concern us in this article.

 

 

Buddha says that this mantra Is the Perfection of Wisdom. He also says that there is no mantra as great as this, and that this mantra destroys all sufferings.

 

But what is the translation of this mantra? Well this is an interesting problem. The problem starts with the word “gate” which also appears in the compound words “para-gate” and “sam-gate”. The word should be “gata” which is a mutlimeaning word by itself. Why Buddha uses the form “gate” instead troubles many scholars, and according to the opinion of each, a slightly different meaning is given to the word, and of course to the mantra itself.

 

 

I am not going to analyse why Buddha used the term “gate”, and I will relay in his wisdom that the form is correct. I will only analyse the meanings of the word “gata”, in order to give some translations about the mantra.

 

Well the most usual way to translate the word in this mantra is “gone”, which is one of the true meanings of the word. So, the mantra says:

 

 

But the word “gata” may also be translated as “understood” or “to be understood”, and as “knowing”, meanings that, to me at least, are more suitable for the translation of the mantra. So, in this case the mantra can say:

 

 

Or

 

 

Now, which is the meaning that Buddha wanted to give? Maybe all of them together, maybe even more, for I don’t suppose that Buddha used this word by chance, but most probably by choice.

 

The Heart Sutra and this mantra have been used for many reasons and in many rituals. Obviously, one may use the mantra to achieve greater wisdom and to remove all sorrows as Buddha has promised. In fact, according to the Heart Sutra, the Perfection of Wisdom would surely remove all causes of sorrows and therefore all sorrows.

 

Another common use of the mantra, and the Sutra of course, is for exorcism. All evil comes from ignorance and therefore the Perfection of Wisdom will remove all evil. Then the mantra will help one to purify oneself, and to remove from oneself the influence of evil magic. But the power of the mantra does not stop there. The Heart Sutra and this mantra have been actually used to exorcise evil spirits from places and people as well.

 

If the reason you want to use the mantra is to remove evil magic or evil spirits, keep in mind that the mantra, although very powerful, is part of the rituals used for these purposes. So use it for minor situations and require the help of an expert if you cannot handle the case yourself.

 

This mantra does not refer to any God or Goddess. Maybe the use of “Bodhi” is to personify Perfect Knowledge or Perfect Wisdom, but it is not the name of a God but just the meaning of the word. Because of the fact that no God is summoned through the mantra, it is safe for everyone, of any religion, to use the mantra without any problem.

 

Depending of what you want to achieve through the mantra, recite the mantra 108 times each morning and each evening for as long as needed.

 

So why use this Manta? If you were searching for a Buddhist way on…

 

* How to achieve wisdom

* How to have success in ones studies

* How to remove sorrows

* How to remove illness

* How to achieve enlightenment

* How to remove evil influences from oneself

* How to remove evil influences from a place

* How to help ghosts to pass on

* How to banish evil spirits

…you can always try this simple and effective mantra from the Heart Sutra!

 

Buddha.

 

Discover, Play, Love!