1.1 Prayers before performing recitations
Guan Yin Bodhisattva can hear the cries of all sentient beings and rescue them from suffering. It is important that you say your prayers to the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva and sincerely pray for protection and blessings.
First, you should state your full name. Second, you need to state the issues that you would like Guan Yin Bodhisattva to help you to resolve. For example:
“May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name” , grant me good health, help me to eliminate disasters and extend my lifespan, etc.”
“May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health, and help me to cure , etc.”
“May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to resolve my negative karmic affinity with , and resolve our karmic conflicts.”
When you say your prayers to Guan Yin Bodhisattva, you must be sincere and grateful. Say your prayers wholeheartedly. Each time you say your prayers, please limit yourself to one or two wishes. If you have more than three wishes, the effectiveness will be reduced.
1.2 Introduction to reciting sutras and mantras
• Daily recitation is the set of sutras and mantras that one must perform a certain number of every day. For example, a practitioner may recite the Great Compassion Mantra 3 times, the Heart Sutra 3 times, the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance once, and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra 21 times.
• Performing daily recitation is just as important as our daily food intake, and it is similar to earning an income to cover our daily expenses. Recitation of Little Houses, on the other hand, is like paying off your mortgage or other loans. The recitation of sutras and mantras for your daily recitation cannot be counted towards your Little House recitation. You also need to make separate prayers for your daily recitation and Little Houses. Likewise, the number of recitations of sutras and mantras for your daily recitation should be counted separately from that of Little Houses.
• The full title of each sutra and mantra should be recited for each repetition, especially the Great Compassion Mantra and the Heart Sutra. For example, before reciting the Great Compassion Mantra, you should recite its full title, Qian Shou Qian Yan Wu Ai Da Bei Xin Tuo Luo Ni. For the Heart Sutra, you should recite its full title, Bo Ruo Bo Luo Mi Duo Xin Jing.
• It is best to say the corresponding prayers or wishes before 9, you begin your daily recitation. It is recommended that you make no more than three wishes, as making too many wishes would be an act of greed, thus affecting efficacy.
• The Heart Sutra and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra can be recited until 10pm under good weather conditions. If it is cloudy or rainy, you can recite them during the daytime. However, you should avoid reciting them under extreme weather conditions, such as dark gloomy days, heavy rains, thunderstorms, or lightning. In addition, if you feel weak or uncomfortable when reciting these sutras and mantras, you should recite them during the daytime on a sunny day. Generally speaking, avoid performing any recitations between 2am and 5am.
• If you are performing daily recitation on behalf of family members, friends or fellow Buddhist practitioners, their full names must be announced before you begin reciting in order for the recitation to be effective.
For your reference, brief descriptions of the benefits of some of the sutras and mantras are listed below, as well as the recommended corresponding prayers.
- The Great Compassion Mantra (Qian Shou Qian Yan Wu Ai Da Bei Xin Tuo Luo Ni, or Da Bei Zhou, Ta Pei Chou for short) is one of the fundamental mantras for every Buddhist practitioner and should be included in your daily recitation.
Some of its functions include fulfilling all the wishes of each sentient being, curing illnesses, and receiving protection and blessings from Dharma Protectors. By reciting this mantra several times a day, you will be able to choose to be reborn into any Buddha Land at the end of your life.
For daily recitation: Generally, 3 or 7 times per day across one’s whole life. It can be recited during the day or at night. During critical times such as before and after an operation or being diagnosed with severe illnesses, this mantra should be recited 21 or 49 times per day; the more the better.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health, and strengthen my spiritual power.” If you are suffering from an illness, you can also add the following, “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva cure my illness in and bless me with a speedy recovery.” - The Heart Sutra (Bo Ruo Bo Luo Mi Duo Xin Jing, or Xin Jing, Hsin Ching for short) is for establishing a connection with Guan Yin Bodhisattva and obtaining wisdom through the compassion of Guan Yin Bodhisattva.
This sutra takes the form of power in heaven, currency in the underworld, and wisdom in the human realm.
Some of its functions include disciplining misbehaving children, influencing adults to have a religious belief e.g. Buddhism, making elders less stubborn, calming unstable moods and emotions, granting wisdom, and alleviating depression. It can also be used to help spirits in the underworld ascend to a higher spiritual realm.
For daily recitation: Generally, at least 3 or 7 times per day throughout one’s whole life. The Heart Sutra can be recited until 10pm during good weather conditions. If it is cloudy or rainy, avoid reciting it after sunset. You should also avoid reciting the sutra during extreme weather conditions including heavy rains, thunderstorms, or lightning.
Prayer: Before reciting this sutra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me wisdom, calmness and a pure mind, and relieve me of afflictions (maintain focus while performing recitations).” - The Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance (Li Fo Da Chan Hui Wen) is an important scripture that allows us to repent before Buddhas. By reciting it, we sincerely ask Guan Yin Bodhisattva to help us repent and eliminate karmic obstacles accumulated from our past and present lives.
Some of its functions include repenting the karmic obstacles created in our past and present lives, seeking forgiveness from someone you have hurt in past relationships, resolving long-term karmic conflicts and karmic obstacles, and repenting inappropriate actions such as being disrespectful to Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, or damaging statues or images of Buddhas or Bodhisattvas, etc.
For daily recitation: Generally, 1 to 7 times per day throughout one’s whole life. You may recite this scripture both day and night. It is recommended to recite this scripture around 3 times per day. It is best for those who have serious illnesses or heavy karmic obstacles to recite 5 times per day, but no more than 7 times.
Prayer: Before reciting this text, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to repent and eliminate the karmic obstacles (in the body or a specific part of the body), “your full name”, grant me good health and wisdom.＂
Note: While reciting the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance, if you feel soreness or discomfort in any part of your body, it means that the karmic obstacles have been activated and transformed into spirits. This is a good sign, as you can deal with the consequences now rather than having serious illnesses later in life. Generally, you should recite 4 to 7 Little Houses or more until you feel better. Those suffering from severe pain or illness should recite additional Little Houses until recovery.
The above three sutras and mantras form the foundation of daily recitation. The following sutras and mantras can be recited, depending on your needs, to resolve specific issues.Generally, they should be recited 21, 27 or 49 times per day. - The Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra (Wang Sheng Jing Tu Shen Zhou, or Wang Sheng Zhou for short) is recited to pray to Guan Yin Bodhisattva to protect and bless us, grant us peace and joy in this life, and allow us to be reborn into the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in the future. It can also be recited to help the spirits of the animals that you may have killed in the past, including poultry, aquatic creatures, insects, etc. to ascend to a higher spiritual realm.
If you had eaten freshly killed creatures before becoming a Buddhist and starting reciting the Buddhist scriptures, or if you have inadvertently harmed animals, including killing or hurting animals in your dreams, you should recite this mantra.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day. The Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra can be recited until 10pm under good weather conditions. If it is cloudy or rainy, it is recommended that you recite it during the daytime. Avoid reciting the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra after 10pm, or under extreme weather conditions, including heavy rains, thunderstorms, and lightning.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help the spirits of the deceased (animals),whose death my actions caused, ascend to a higher spiritual realm, and help me to eliminate karmic obstacles.“ - The Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots (Jie Jie Zhou) is to sincerely ask assistance from Guan Yin Bodhisattva to help us resolve interpersonal karmic conflicts.
Some of its functions include: clearing up misunderstandings in a relationship between couples, fostering harmony in marriage and family, resolving interpersonal conflicts at work, and eliminating karmic obstacles from previous lives.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to resolve my negative karmic affinity with (can be your relative, friend, or colleague’s name).” - The Xiao Zai Ji Xiang Shen Zhou can be recited when encountering sudden or unexpected situations. It can also be used for resolving karmic conflicts from past lives. Some of its functions include resolving troubles such as lawsuits, financial losses, quarrels, fines and penalties, sudden illnesses, when you have foreseen impending disasters, or when you have nightmares. Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to eliminate disasters, and bring me safety and good fortune.” - The Cundi Dharani (Zhun Ti Shen Zhou) is used to sincerely ask assistance from Guan Yin Bodhisattva to help us fulfil wishes.
Some of its functions include praying for success in a career, harmony in marriage and relationships, and academic achievement. It is particularly helpful for young adults looking for a job, a partner in life or hoping to be successful academically. However, the wishes you make must be reasonable and appropriate.
For daily recitation: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me have my wishes fulfilled and grant me success in career (or any other reasonable wishes you may have).” - The Da Ji Xiang Tian Nü Zhou can help you to eliminate poverty and all types of misfortune, to obtain prosperity,happiness, and good fortune in the near future, and to fulfil wishes for your marriage or relationship.
Recitation of the Da Ji Xiang Tian Nü Zhou is mainly to pray for good fortune on a specific issue. However, the prerequisite is that you must have accumulated sufficient merits and virtues in order to obtain good or great fortune. If you do not have accumulated enough merits and virtues, then the recitation may not be as effective as expected.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good fortune and success in .”
This mantra can also be used for praying for a good relationship or marriage. In this case, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to find a good partner, and have a good relationship (or marriage).” - The Gong De Bao Shan Shen Zhou can help you accumulate positive karma, merits and virtues, and eliminate your acts of misconduct and negative karma. Recitation of this mantra can help you to transform your good deeds into merits and virtues. Merits and virtues can be used to eliminate karmic obstacles.
If you have performed many good deeds during a period of time, and you would like to pray for a specific issue, then you can recite the Gong De Bao Shan Shen Zhou. For this mantra to be effective, the prerequisite is that you have performed numerous good deeds to serve as a foundation.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to transform the good deeds I have done in the past into merits and virtues, grant me success in .”
In addition, you can recite this mantra for an unborn child or a child under 5 years old. Reciting the Gong De Bao Shan Shen Zhou helps to transform the child’s good deeds from previous lives into merits and virtues in the present life. They can be used to protect and bless the child, help them eliminate disasters, and ensure their safety.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra for your child, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless, “full name of your child”, help him/her transform his/her good deeds from the past into merits and virtues, grant the child safety and good health.”
For an unborn child, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate
Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless the child of , help him/her transform his/her good deeds from the past into merits and virtues, grant the child safety and good health.” - The Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan (or Chi Fo Mieh Tsui Chen Yan) can help you eliminate karmic obstacles, obtain safety and good fortune, achieve success in every aspect of your life, and benefit future generations.
Recitation of this mantra can help you eliminate relatively minor karmic obstacles that you have generated recently or during this life. For major karmic obstacles or serious ones generated in past lives, you still need to recite the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance. Therefore, the recitation of the Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan cannot completely replace the recitation of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance.
Recite as necessary: For relatively minor negative karma due to actions, speech or thoughts, you can recite this mantra 21, 27 or 49 times in one sitting.
Prayer: Before reciting the Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to eliminate karmic obstacles.”
In addition, after having performed your daily recitation for a time, you can also recite this mantra 3 times to make yourself purer and cleaner. The minor karmic obstacles
that you have generated recently, or on the day of recitation, can be eliminated at the same time. In this case, you do not need to say any prayers before reciting the Qi Fo Mie Zui Zhen Yan. - The Sheng Wu Liang Shou Jue Ding Guang Ming Wang Tuo Luo Ni can help you eliminate the possibility of having a short lifespan or experiencing sudden and unexpected death. It can also help to extend your lifespan, obtain good fortune and quickly realise Bodhi and attain Buddhahood.
This mantra can be used to extend one’s lifespan. It can be used to pray for extending lifespan for elderly people, for those who encounter major predestined calamities, and those who suffer from severe illnesses.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to eliminate disasters and extend my lifespan.” - The Ru Yi Bao Lun Wang Tuo Luo Ni can help you receive the blessing of Buddha’s light; obtain Buddha’s wisdom, extraordinary power and wondrous Dharma; and understand the teachings of Buddha. It can also help you transform your afflictions into Bodhi, be successful in every endeavour, and attain safety and happiness.
Recitation of this mantra is mainly performed to pray for success in a specific issue. For example, praying for success in your career.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me success in .” - The Guan Yin Ling Gan Zhen Yan can help you receive the blessing of Buddha’s light, be successful in every aspect of your life, and to obtain good fortune, safety and happiness.
Generally, it can be recited to pray to Guan Yin Bodhisattva to perform miracles and grant blessings so that your prayer request will be fulfilled quickly. If afflicted by a sudden or severe illness, you can also recite this mantra to ease the pain.
For this mantra to be effective, the prerequisite is that you must have a pure and clean mind without any distracting thoughts, and sufficient merits and virtues to serve as a foundation. Otherwise, the recitation of this mantra may lead to undesired results. Recitation of this mantra should commence after Master Lu has performed a Totem Reading for you.
Recite as necessary: Generally, 21, 27 or 49 times per day; can be recited during the day or at night.
Prayer: Before reciting this mantra, you should say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health, or grant me success in . May Guan Yin Bodhisattva perform miracles.”
1.3 Recommendations for daily recitation
1.3.1 Standard daily recitation for beginners
Prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health, safety and good fortune.”
Recite the Great Compassion Mantra 7 times, the Heart Sutra 7 times, the Eighty‐Eight Buddhas Great Repentance 1 to 3 times, and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra 21 or 49 times daily.
Prayers for specific situations
- Praying for success in career, business or interview:
Recite the Great Compassion Mantra 7 to 21 times, the Heart Sutra 7 to 21 times, the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance roughly 3 times, the Cundi Dharani 21, 49 or 108 times. - Praying for resolving karmic conflicts:
Prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, help me to resolve my negative karmic affinity with .”
Recite the Great Compassion Mantra 7 times, the Heart Sutra 7, 9, 11, 21, 27 or 49 times each for yourself and the other party, the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance 3 times,
and the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots 21, 27, 49 or 108 times. In addition, you should recite at least 3 Little Houses (addressed to your karmic creditor) per week, combined with making great vows and performing life liberations. The above will help to resolve the negative karmic affinity between the two parties as soon as possible.
If the negative karmic affinity between the two parties is very deep, you can resolve this karmic conflict by reciting Little Houses, addressing them to “ resolves karmic conflicts”. As you say your prayers, you may say both parties’ names. For example: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva help me, , to resolve my negative karmic affinity with my husband .” You may recite 7 Little Houses as the first batch, and then continue with 7 Little Houses for every subsequent batch.
While reciting Little Houses for resolving karmic conflicts, you should not stop reciting Little Houses for your karmic creditors, as one cannot replace the other. The Little Houses for resolving karmic conflict can help resolve negative karmic affinities in a powerful way, however, karmic creditors will not receive these Little Houses. Hence, you still need to recite Little Houses for your karmic creditors to repay the karmic debts accumulated from past lives.
1.3.2 Daily recitation for elders
Prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health, and help me eliminate disasters and extend my lifespan.”
Recite the Great Compassion Mantra 21 to 49 times, the Heart Sutra 7 to 21 times, the EightyEight Buddhas Great Repentance roughly 3 times, the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra 21 or 49 times, the Sheng Wu Liang Shou Jue Ding Guang Ming Wang Tuo Luo Ni 49 times, and the Amitabha Sutra 3 to 7 times. You may recite this scripture if you wish to ascend to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, it is best to recite this after the age of 60 or 70 years.
1.3.3 Daily recitation for people with severe illness
In general, if you have discovered that you have cancer, this means that your karmic obstacles have already broken out. At such times, it is best not to recite the Great Compassion Mantra too many times; you can recite it 21 times per day. You should do more recitations of the Heart Sutra, e.g. 49 times per day.
Once your condition becomes stable, you can increase your recitations of the Great Compassionate Mantra to 49 times per day. You should continue to recite the Heart Sutra 49 times daily.
During critical periods or before surgery, you should focus on reciting the Great Compassionate Mantra and say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health and cure my illness in soon.”
It is important for people with cancer to persist with the recitation of the Great Compassionate Mantra for the rest of their lives.
For people suffering from mental illness, avoid reciting the Great Compassionate Mantra too many times, restricting themselves to 21 times or fewer per day. However, they should do more recitations of the Heart Sutra, usually 21 or 49 times per day.
You should recite the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance 3 to 5 times per day to repent of your karmic obstacles. According to the message passed on to Master Lu by Guan Yin Bodhisattva, recitation of the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance is very effective for curing cancer and acute diseases. The Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance can both eliminate and activate karmic obstacles. Hence, to ensure good results it must be combined with the recitation of Little Houses. Generally, if you recite the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance 3 to 5 times per day, you will need to give at least 3 to 5 Little Houses per week to your karmic creditors. Provided they can maintain a certain number of Little Houses each week, those suffering serious illnesses can recite the Eighty-Eight Buddhas Great Repentance 5 times per day.
If you have committed karma of killing (of various animals) in this life, or your ancestors had karma of killing, you should recite the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra 27 or 49 times per day in order to help the spirits of the deceased, whose death your actions caused, ascend to a higher spiritual realm.
You need to recite and burn at least 3 Little Houses per week. However, it is better to recite as many as you can. It would be best to make a vow and state the number of Little Houses you will recite in a single batch. For example, you could vow to recite 21 or 49 Little Houses before a certain date. After finishing the batch, you can continue reciting Little Houses in similar batches until you have recovered. In addition, whenever you finish reciting 3 to 4 Little Houses, you should burn them as soon as you can. Do not wait until you have completed the full number of Little Houses pledged before burning them.
If you have dreams about deceased family members or have previously had an abortion or miscarriage, you should help the deceased and the aborted/miscarried child to ascend to a higher spiritual realm as soon as possible. Generally, you need to recite and burn at least 7 Little Houses for an aborted and miscarried child (Address them to “Child of ”) or a deceased family member (Address them to ). It would be best if they can recite more than 21 Little Houses.
Meanwhile, it is recommended that you make vows. The greater the vow, the greater the effectiveness, but you must keep your vow. For example: “If I recover, I will introduce Buddhism to people, helping them become spiritually awakened,” or “If I recover, I will share my experience with others to demonstrate the benefits of practising Buddhism.”
If you think your abilities are limited, you can make such vows as: “For the rest of my life, I will adopt a vegetarian diet on the 1st and 15th day of the lunar month,” “For the rest of my life, I will not eat freshly killed seafood or other creatures,” “For the rest of my life, I will not perform the act of killing,” etc.
At the same time, you should perform life liberations frequently, preferably in large quantities. For best results, you can perform life liberations on the 1st and 15th day of each lunar month. When you arrive at the site of life liberation, you can recite the Great Compassionate Mantra, the Heart Sutra and the Amitabha Pure Land Rebirth Mantra. There is no limit to the number of recitations that you can do, but the more the better. Before reciting those sutras and mantras, you should state your full name and say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, “your full name”, grant me good health and cure my illness in .”
If it is inconvenient for you to perform the life liberation yourself, you can ask your family members to do it on your behalf. For best results, the patient should use their own money for the life liberations.
Performing recitations, making vows, and performing life liberations are the Three Golden Buddhist Practices that the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva bestows upon us to cure illnesses. We must learn to use them wisely and skilfully.
