Toh 2649A Ritual of the One Hundred Syllable Mantra

Explanation of the Scripture on the Ritual of the Hundred-Syllable Mantra

Background

The Scripture on the Ritual of the Hundred-Syllable Mantra (Śatākṣaravidhi), belonging to the Kangyur, the Tantra section in the Vajrayana tradition, is a work that gives guidance for practice on the basis of the Hundred-Syllable Mantra (Śatākṣaravidyā). In Tibetan Tantra, the Hundred-Syllable Mantra is a powerful mantra used chiefly to purify karmic obstacles and for confession, especially the confession of faults committed in the practice of secret Dharma.

This scripture is taught in the context of the method of the Four-Eyed King (Mahākāla or other tantric deities), but its essence lies in giving step-by-step guidance on how to practice this mantra ritual properly according to the Dharma. The scripture is part of a regulated system of practice arranged within the Kangyur, a Buddhist text redacted by the First Dalai Lama in the seventeenth century in order to preserve the whole of the tantric teachings.

Main Contents

The ritual of the Hundred-Syllable Mantra includes the following principal steps: first, the practitioner must establish a spiritual space through meditative visualization, usually the image of Buddha Dorje Sempa (Vajrasattva in Sanskrit), the deity who represents spiritual purity and confession.

The practitioner then repeats the Hundred-Syllable Mantra with complete concentration. This mantra, consisting of one hundred syllables, has a structure designed to convey the entire essence of the Buddha Dharma in the form of sound. Each syllable is not merely a pronunciation, but also a current of spiritual energy bearing the capacity to purify consciousness.

The scripture instructs that after each repetition of the mantra, the practitioner should imagine a brilliant white light streaming from the heart of Buddha Dorje Sempa into the practitioner’s body, washing away all sins, harmful habitual patterns, and spiritual obstacles.