A Dharani for Disasters

A dharani is a chant that is something like a mantra, only longer, and something like a sutra, only shorter. Some dharanis can be translated, but some are, I am told, just syllables that are chanted because they make an auspicious sound. The syllables may have esoteric meaning.

The Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani is a standard part of Zen liturgy. It is called "Marvelously Beneficial Disaster Preventing Dharani." It is often chanted on behalf of people in danger. I thought of it this evening, as a terrible hurricane approaches the coast of Texas.

I could not find an audio file of someone chanting the dharani, but this is reasonably phonetic:

No mo san man da moto nan
Oha ra chi koto sha sono nan
To ji to en gya gya gya ki gya ki un nun
Shifu ra shifu ra hara shifu ra hara shifu ra
Chishu sa chishu sa chishu ri chishu ri
Sowa ja sowa ja
Sen chi gya shiri ei somo ko

Chant at least six times at a brisk pace.

Update: I recorded it myself. There's a little audio player you can click on after the "read more" link.

[Update: If you chant the dharani several times, let your voice trail off at the end of the last repetition, as I did in the recording.]

I have seen the following translation of the dharani in several places on the Web, but I am skeptical about its accuracy. I've been told by Zen monks that the syllables don't have a literal meaning. Here it is, anyway:

The incomparable Buddha-power that banishes suffering. Om! The Buddha of reality, wisdom, Nirvana! Light! Light! Great light! Great light! With no categories, this mysterious power Saves all beings; suffering goes, happiness comes, Swaha!

May those in danger find sanctuary.