---
title: "准提焚修悉地懺悔玄文 · No. 1482-B 佛母准提焚修悉地儀文寶懺序"
description: "准提焚修悉地懺悔玄文由清代夏道人集录，是一部重要的佛教忏法经典。该书以准提菩萨为核心，融合密教修持与汉传佛教忏仪传统，系统阐述准提法的修持仪轨、忏悔法门及悉地成就要诀。内容包含持咒、观想、礼拜、供养等完整修法体系，特别强调忏悔业障对修行成就的关键作用。作为准提法门的重要文献，该典籍在明清佛教中影响深远，至今仍被汉传佛教徒奉为修持准提法的重要依据，体现了显密圆融的修行特色。"
url: "https://rushiwowen.co/en/r/cm9wmcxnd0wx5js0vfxe4gctl"
---

### No. 1482-B佛母准提焚修悉地儀文寶懺序

> Praise of the Complete Ritual and Repentance Liturgy of the Buddha-Mother Cundi

埽道人默甞閱大藏中。准提經有三譯。一名佛說七俱胝佛母心大准提陀羅尼經。唐武周沙門地婆訶羅譯。約一千六百餘字。一名佛說七俱胝佛母准提妙明陀羅尼經。并念誦觀行等法。唐天竺三藏金剛智譯。視地婆訶羅所譯。其字。約多六倍。一名七俱胝佛母所說准提陀羅尼經。唐特進試鴻臚卿大興善寺三藏沙門大廣智不空奉詔譯。視金剛智所譯。字約相等。其經文。呪語。篇章長短。既大懸絕。句字差別。復難會通。藏本。又有七俱胝佛母心大准提呪。與三譯所載。音字俱異。又世本。有番准提呪。字句更異。並可莊嚴轉閱。存而不論者也。至於布像。結契。梵書筆畫。三譯及世本。無一印合。約略現相執持。以不空譯為正。若根本身契。以地婆金剛二譯為正。而梵字梵音。傳譌舛錯。諸本授梓流傳。異同不可究詰。其最先入藏頒行者。無如宋道󴊡法師。顯密圓通。成佛心要集。上下二卷。先言顯脩。後言密脩。謂顯脩者。參禪。以至見性成佛。密脩者。但能致心專誦陀羅尼真言。依秘密之法。加持身心。便得速成佛道。所求皆遂。又說七持。三密。法甚詳。三密者。身密結印。口密誦呪。意密作觀也。又謂准提。為大總持呪法。獨部別行。能含攝佛部諸呪。蓮華部諸菩薩呪。金剛部諸神呪。寶部諸天呪。羯磨部諸鬼神呪。五部中。部各為五。二十五部。一切諸呪。無不攝者。諸呪。不攝准提。如大海能攝百川。百川不攝大海。即其中。六字妙明真言。是觀世音微妙本心。與准提。次第相須。有七十七俱胝佛。一時現前。同聲宣說。依經梵本。有十萬偈。龍樹菩薩。勘成持明儀軌。為震旦所宗。自餘諸呪。先須持戒。方得誦習。此呪。不論染淨。惟當專持。俾中下根器。易於獲益是名呪王。誠不思議導迷方便也。明萬曆間。有淨居潔大師。輯顯密要言。一卷。天啟間。古虔青蓮居士謝于教。編輯准提淨業。三卷。序謂所編。即顯密圓通之旨。而首及布字法。先持誦。而後觀行。又以多字難觀。且以一字攝之。一字者。梵書淨法界真言㘕字。曲為初幾。一多無礙。此編之功在准提者不小也。准提刻本行世者。不可勝記。士大夫受持徵驗者。亦不可勝記。如淨業所載給諫賀少龍久持此呪。一夕夢童子送九華衣。遂得生天。部郎袁了凡先生黃。艱於科第。自記云。先求鄉舉。立願滿三千善。次求進賢。立願滿一萬善。究竟取效准提。以見靈驗。則知非立志行善。省身改過。習行方便之人。不得謂佛菩薩有虗語也。即如吾里中。項氏一門。從准提持明得力。自襄毅公忠始。公當土木北狩。出百死。而成大勳。平宼亂。而膺世蔭。以至大金吾蘭齋公俊卿。凌風波。而飭鑾衛。捍邊彊。而登極品。喆嗣牧公謙。值滄桑陵谷之變遷。攖闖賊巷戰之險難。既渡湖颶。而職屯戎。因去金吾。而晉別駕。輯寧撫循。全活無算。瓜期解綬。危城不嬰。良以忠孝世篤。文行性成。故自襄毅。金吾。以至閩漳別駕。代能受持准提。󲳡穀自天。澹災集福。此明效大驗。在目前無疑義者。蘭齋公。畢生虔持。梓有准提儀軌。鑄施准提寶鏡。而牧公。克世其業。會有天授。從入閩時。得此准提焚修悉地寶懺儀文。及諸法像神圖。於廣濟寺隱空和尚。隱公。傳自明初夏道人。感老僧授懺文。天神授鏡像。後真人坐脫。肉身供養福州。此尤不思議大因緣。而牧公為之虔摹繡梓。偕入藏冊流通。具見濟世利生。箕裘世讚之大願力矣。而埽道人之得瞻禮敘讚此刻。自信於准提。曾非小小因緣。自庚戌年二十一歲。為雪嶠禪師。結千指庵。於經山。遇貝林法師。在殿後山菴中。能以竹筆。匾樣如篦刷者。慣作梵書。因乞書准提呪。覿面縱橫成字。傳本特真。并授二合彈舌梵音。時從雲捿大師。授記散持。已閱三載。始解二合彈舌之義。歸而勒梵書於石。存三塔大乘堂中。受持六載。歲至丙辰六月。遂有梁生之奇驗。時居北門菩薩橋椿樹頭。大樓中。暑臥簟上。忽樓三間齊圮。巨梁。巨棟。巨磚。巨瓦。堆垛傾頺。反藉三大梁。架立遮護。其梁皆去身不寸。瓦礫著身。輕如紙樸。余時惟高聲持呪。久之得出。如夢中事。無纖毫剝膚之災。則余二十七歲時事也。適是冬憨山國師。東遊至徑山。茶毗紫柏尊者。入塔於寂照菴後。余亟走皈依。得示梁生偈語。因更字焉。聞子將。嚴印持。顏生生。諸道友。聞余持明得力。萬死一生。偕設大供。於武林淨慈宗鏡堂。延請憨師。說受持准提法。憨師上堂。痛切授記。復入室。示以根本身契。與刻傳手印。堅固逈別。更示以九聖梵字觀門。令攝入㘕之一字。又示以唵字梵音。作吼聲。如饑虎吞物。動搖山嶽。氣盡乃已。㘕之一字。閉口彈舌。作鼻音。如壯士怒咄。葢去聲。非平聲也。又云但辦一片肯切心。不淨處。即得淨。不得間斷一日。即千日難補。十齋日。即准提齋日。亦不得間斷一日。非千日可補。在家居士。五欲濃厚。惟此一門。最易得力。此憨師親口授記。今肉身。現在曹溪。進香者。咸稱七祖也。當日受持士庶。合四十餘人。到底歷今四十餘年。不間一日。如法受持者。獨埽道人一人。曾於里中宣公橋。俗名油罈最深者。昏夜宴歸。船傍墮水。許久。濡衣而出。於大江燕子磯。俗名野雞頭最險者。失風觸石。船破幾沉。竟得沮袽而免。又於德州北御河駛流中。盜擁入舟。拔刀相向。連退數武。復擁出舟。推墮河心。忽到彼岸。水僅濡足。盜去還舟。急湍百尺。有童永雋。汩沒無影。爾時惟知持呪。不知其他。陷險如夷。不遑殫述。即如乙酉兵燹。東塔西。有藥山園。奉供准提栴檀像。於龍樹檀。一時山房。焚劫靡遺。獨像之一出一還。若有神焉司之。今尚供研山知津閣也。又如丁元公淨伊禪師。為居士時。曾為余依不空譯。寫准提像於藥山園中。開光之日。忽有骨董家。以准提真言梵書舊紅牙軸。梵書古甆罏。銅香盒。來助裝潢供養者。並感召中不思議事。是日中秋。雪嶠大師。開堂東塔。過觀。歎云。好一片梵呪法界。遂成二律。和者累百。元公。精禪理。兼工圖篆。工楷法。因久寓此園。為余備集准提法門。種種顛末。手書成帙。積且寸許。題云。正入不思議法門品。又䟦云。若能證此秘密法門時。便於日用一切境界中。悉以不思議應。不戒自戒。不施自施。如是乃至不智慧自智慧。不萬行自萬行。不三心自三心。故為成就不思議法門。不歷劫位。現身成佛也。淨伊禪師述義如此。余且什襲藏之。而余疇昔所序刻准提。亦既數數矣。一為吳門聖恩寺沙門弘壁。作准提懺願儀梵本䟦。一為同藉瑞安林太史任先增志。作准提集說序。一為蜀綿劉信淨宇烈。准提緣。亦名淨因集。苕上閔學憲弘復度。所梓序。一為同藉會稽張太史受菴星。所分輯准提掌果。宣城梅中翰生生士生。所梓序。一為素華旭大師。作准提持法序。一為四明周󳬛臺。所輯簡易持誦法。箬菴問禪師所定。馮總鎮子淵源淮。所梓序。一為中原周中丞元亮亮工。弟亮節。作准提經三譯兼行序。大抵諸刻。皆原本於顯密圓通。而加意損益之。其謂以淨而靈。以信而入。佛法皆然。不獨准提。若夫令人橫出三界。疾趨菩提。自利利他。確有赫驗。則無如准提者。真所謂異方便也。或以持准提者。曲遂希望之心為嫌。則念佛希望往生。參禪希望悟道。圓宗密教。機用皆同。觀音鈔云。雖念念求。而無能求所求之相。則如觀法。布輪月於一心。安明珠於眾體。即是吾夫子。洗心退藏於密。齋戒以神明其德之義。又非可以諸別呪成就相。同論也。埽道人於戊辰歲。受職都門。蘭齋項翁。往還綦密。相與揚確所梓准提儀軌。茲復得與嗣君牧公。矜式玄文。實出希有。更涓茲仲春六日。就項氏本支薙染。為同塵開士者。啟建懺壇於賢谿之太平菴。更為創舉殊勝道場。一時多緇白詞家。各作准提三目十八臂頌。如是准提妙果。一經一緯。一始一終。而五大部陀羅尼之總持斯在。襄毅公之堂構式靈。貽謀燕翼者斯在。埽道人特為吐露生平夙因勝事。以表准提神通。勸請觀誦。聊當受持諸同志。一部法門鼓吹云爾。

> I, the Sweeping Monk, once browsed through the Great Canon and found three translations of the Cundi Sutra. The first is called the \*Buddha's Teaching of the Great Cundi Dharani Sutra of the Mother of Seventy-Seven Kotis of Buddhas\*, translated by the Tang dynasty monk Divākara from India, comprising around 1,600 characters. The second is called the \*Buddha's Teaching of the Wonderful Luminous Dharani Sutra of the Mother of Seventy-Seven Kotis of Buddhas\*, along with practices of recitation and visualization, translated by the Tang dynasty Tripitaka master Vajrabodhi from India; it is roughly six times longer than Divākara's version. The third is called the \*Cundi Dharani Sutra as Spoken by the Mother of Seventy-Seven Kotis of Buddhas\*, translated by the great erudite monk Amoghavajra of the Daxingshan Temple, who held the title of Grand Master of the Palace Seal and was superintendent of the Bureau of Diplomatic Reception, by imperial decree under the Tang dynasty. Its length is roughly equal to Vajrabodhi's translation. The sutra texts, mantras, and chapter structures differ vastly, and the differences in wording and phrasing make it difficult to reconcile them. The Canon also contains a "Great Cundi Mantra of the Mother of Seventy-Seven Kotis of Buddhas" whose sounds and characters differ from all three translations. In addition, popular editions contain a "Tibetan Cundi Mantra" with even more divergent wording. These may all serve as adornments for contemplation and recitation, but I will set them aside without further discussion. As for the arrangement of images, the forming of mudras, and the strokes of Sanskrit letters, not a single detail coincides among the three translations or the popular editions. In terms of visualization and mental focus, I take Amoghavajra's translation as the standard. For the fundamental body mudras, I take the translations of Divākara and Vajrabodhi as the standard. As for Sanskrit letters and pronunciations, errors have been introduced through transmission, and the various editions printed and circulated differ in ways too numerous to trace. The earliest text to enter the Canon and be widely circulated is none other than the Song dynasty master Dào? (possibly a variant of "Daoshen"?), whose work \*The Perfect Fusion of Exoteric and Esoteric Practice: Essential Collection for Achieving Buddhahood\* in two fascicles first discusses exoteric cultivation and then esoteric practice. It states that esoteric cultivation involves Chan meditation, leading to seeing one's nature and attaining Buddhahood. Esoteric practice means that one need only sincerely and single-mindedly recite the dharani mantra and, according to the secret methods, empower body and mind — this enables swift attainment of Buddhahood, and all one's wishes are fulfilled. The text also explains in detail the "seven types of recitation" and the "three mysteries." The three mysteries are: the body mystery of forming mudras, the speech mystery of reciting mantras, and the mind mystery of visualization. It further states that Cundi is a great, all-embracing mantra method, practiced separately and independently, capable of containing the mantras of the Buddha section, the bodhisattva mantras of the Lotus section, the deity mantras of the Vajra section, the heavenly mantras of the Jewel section, and the ghost-and-spirit mantras of the Karma section. Each of the five sections contains five divisions, making twenty-five divisions in total — and all mantras are included within Cundi. Other mantras do not encompass Cundi, just as the great sea can receive a hundred rivers, but the hundred rivers cannot receive the sea. Within this method, the six-syllable Wonderful Luminous Mantra is the subtle fundamental mind of Guanyin, and it complements Cundi in sequence, with seventy-seven kotis of Buddhas appearing simultaneously, proclaiming in unison. According to the Sanskrit original, there are one hundred thousand verses. The bodhisattva Nagarjuna condensed them into the ritual manual of the vidyadhara tradition, which is revered in China. As for other mantras, one must first uphold precepts before recitation. But this mantra may be recited regardless of purity or impurity — one simply needs to uphold it single-mindedly. This allows those of medium and lower faculties to easily attain benefit, and for this reason it is called the "King of Mantras." Truly it is an inconceivable means for guiding those who are lost. During the Wanli era of the Ming dynasty, Master Jie of Jingju Temple compiled \*Essential Words of Exoteric and Esoteric Practice\* in one fascicle. During the Tianqi era, the lay devotee Xie Yujiao of Guqian, known as the Lover of Green Lotus, edited and compiled \*Cundi Pure Karma\* in three fascicles. In the preface he states that his compilation follows the principles of the \*Perfect Fusion of Exoteric and Esoteric Practice\*, but begins with the method of arranging letters, and advocates recitation first followed by visualization. Since the many letters are difficult to visualize, he teaches focusing on a single letter — the Sanskrit syllable \*ram\*, the true word of the pure Dharma realm — as an expedient for beginners, showing that one and many are non-obstructing. This compilation's contribution to Cundi practice is not small. Printed editions of the Cundi ritual circulating in the world are too numerous to count, as are the testimonials of scholar-officials who practiced it. For example, the \*Pure Karma\* records that the remonstrance official He Shaolong, having long upheld this mantra, dreamed one night of a youth presenting him with a nine-flower robe, after which he was reborn in the heavens. Minister Yuan Liaofan, whose personal name was Huang, struggled in the civil examinations. He recorded himself: "First I sought to pass the provincial exam, vowing to complete three thousand good deeds. Then I sought to pass the metropolitan exam, vowing to complete ten thousand good deeds." In the end, he turned to Cundi for efficacy, and thus saw its spiritual power. From this we know that one who does not resolve to do good, examine oneself, correct faults, and practice skillful means cannot accuse the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of speaking falsely. Take, for example, the Xiang family in my own community. Their power from upholding Cundi began with the Duke Xiangyi, named Zhong. When the Tumu Incident occurred during his official service, he passed through a hundred deaths and yet achieved great merit — pacifying rebellions and earning hereditary nobility. Then came the Grand Commandant of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Duke Lanzhai, named Junqing, who weathered storms of political danger, disciplined the imperial guard, defended the frontiers, and rose to the highest ranks. His worthy son, Mu Gong, named Qian, faced the upheavals of dynastic change, encountered the dangers of street fighting against bandit forces, and survived a lake crossing in a typhoon. He took up military command, and after leaving the position of commander, was promoted to the post of assistant magistrate. He maintained order, comforted the people, and saved countless lives. When his term ended, he was able to leave the dangerous city unharmed. This is truly because their family upheld loyalty and filial piety for generations, and their cultivated character was innate. Thus from Duke Xiangyi, through Duke Lanzhai, down to the assistant magistrate of Minzhang in Fujian, each generation was able to uphold Cundi. Heavenly blessings descended upon them, disasters were averted, and fortune accumulated — these are evident, verifiable results, manifest before our eyes without question. Duke Lanzhai upheld the practice devoutly all his life. He printed the Cundi ritual manual and cast statues and mirrors of Cundi for distribution. Duke Mugong, continuing his father's work, received a heavenly gift: while traveling to Fujian, he obtained this ritual text of the \*Cundi Repentance and Cultivation Complete Treasure\* together with various sacred images and diagrams from the monk Yinkong of Guangji Temple. Master Yinkong had received it from a monk called Master Xiachu of the early Ming dynasty, who in turn had been given the repentance text by an old monk, and the mirror image by a celestial being. Afterward, the master passed away in meditation, and his bodily relics are still enshrined in Fuzhou. This is a truly inconceivable karmic connection, and Duke Mugong reverently reproduced it, had it carved on woodblocks, and included it in the Canon for wide circulation. This clearly demonstrates his great vow to benefit the world and carry on the family tradition of virtuous deeds. As for my own opportunity to venerate, behold, and write a preface for this edition — I am confident that my connection with Cundi is no small karmic matter. In the year Gengxu, when I was twenty-one years old, while helping the Chan master Xueqiao establish the Thousand-Finger Nunnery at Jingshan, I met Dharma Master Beilin in a hermitage behind the main hall. He was skilled at writing Sanskrit calligraphy with a bamboo brush shaped like a wide-toothed comb. I asked him to write the Cundi mantra, and he produced the characters before my eyes in perfect form — a true transmission. He also taught me the proper Sanskrit pronunciation with conjunct consonants and rolled tongue. At that time, I had already received instruction from Great Master Yunqi in the scattered recitation method, and three years passed before I understood the meaning of the conjunct consonants and rolled tongue. When I returned, I had the Sanskrit letters carved in stone and placed in the Great Vehicle Hall of Santa Pagoda. After six years of practice, in the sixth month of the year Bingchen, the remarkable beam incident occurred. I was living in a large building at the head of the Bodhisattva Bridge in the North Gate area, at a place called Camphor Tree Head. One summer day, I was lying on a bamboo mat when suddenly all three rooms of the building collapsed at once. Huge beams, massive rafters, giant bricks, and heavy roof tiles crashed down in a heap — yet miraculously, three great beams formed a protective frame over me, all of them less than an inch from my body. The debris that touched me was as light as paper or cotton. Throughout, I simply recited the mantra aloud. After a long while, I crawled out, as if waking from a dream, without the slightest scratch on my skin. I was twenty-seven at the time. That same winter, National Master Hanshan traveled east to Jingshan to perform the cremation rites for the Venerable Zibo, whose relics were interred behind the Jizhao Nunnery. I hurried to take refuge with him, and he gave me a verse about the beam incident, after which I took a new name. When my friends Wen Zijiang, Yan Yinzhi, and Yan Shensheng heard that my mantra practice had saved me from certain death, they jointly arranged a grand offering at the Zongjing Hall of the Jingci Temple in Wulin, and invited Master Hanshan to give a discourse on the Cundi practice. Master Hanshan ascended the hall and gave me a solemn and earnest transmission. Then, in private audience, he showed me the fundamental body mudra, which was completely different from the printed hand seals in circulation. He also taught me the visualization method of the nine sacred Sanskrit syllables, guiding me to gather them all into the single syllable \*ram\*. He further taught me that the Sanskrit syllable \*om\* should be pronounced as a deep roar, like a starving tiger swallowing its prey, shaking mountains and rivers, until the breath is exhausted. The syllable \*ram\* is pronounced with closed mouth and snapped tongue, with a nasal tone, like a forceful shout of anger — it is a falling tone, not a level tone. He also said: "Simply bring a sincere and earnest mind. Even in impure places, purity is attained. Do not allow a single day to be missed, for one day lost cannot be made up in a thousand days. The ten fasting days are Cundi fasting days, and likewise one must not miss a single day — it cannot be compensated with a thousand days. For lay practitioners with heavy attachments to the five desires, this practice is the easiest way to achieve results." This was the direct instruction of Master Hanshan, whose bodily relics now reside at Caoxi, where pilgrims venerate him as the Seventh Patriarch. At that time, more than forty people, lay and monastic alike, received the practice. Yet in the forty-plus years since, the only one who has maintained the practice without missing a single day, precisely according to the method, is this old Sweeping Monk. Once, returning from a banquet at night near Xuangong Bridge (commonly known as the deepest oil vat in town), I fell from the boat into the water, and after a long time emerged with my clothes soaked. Another time, at the Yanzi Cliff on the Yangtze River (commonly called the most dangerous Wild Chicken Point), the boat lost its wind, struck rocks, and nearly sank — yet I was spared as the hull held. On the imperial canal north of Dezhou, in the swift current, bandits boarded our boat, drew their blades, and threatened me. As I backed away several steps, they pushed me overboard into the river's center. Suddenly I found myself at the shore, with water only wetting my feet. When the bandits departed and I returned to the boat, I saw a young man named Tong Yongjun drowning in the fierce current, with no trace. At that moment I knew only the mantra, nothing else. Danger became like level ground. I could recount countless such incidents. During the wars of the Yiyou year, to the west of the East Pagoda there was a garden called Medicine Mountain Garden, where a sandalwood image of Cundi was enshrined before a sandalwood dragon tree. All the buildings in the area were burned and looted, yet the image — in its going out and coming back — seemed to be guided by unseen hands. It is still enshrined today in the Knowledge Ferry Pavilion at Yanshan. Also, when the lay practitioner Ding Yuangong (who later became the Chan master Jingyi) was still a layman, he painted an image of Cundi for me in the Medicine Mountain Garden based on Amoghavajra's translation. On the day of its consecration, an antique dealer suddenly arrived bearing a Sanskrit Cundi mantra on an old red ivory scroll, an ancient Sanskrit-inscribed porcelain censer, and a copper incense box, all offered for the mounting and altar. Such are the inconceivable events in this practice. That day was Mid-Autumn Festival, and Great Master Xueqiao, who was giving a dharma talk at the East Pagoda, came to view it and exclaimed: "What a magnificent realm of Sanskrit mantras!" He then composed two poems, with over a hundred responses. Master Yuan Gong, refined in Chan philosophy and skilled in calligraphy and seal engraving, having long resided in this garden, compiled for me a complete collection of Cundi practices and their origins, written out by hand until the manuscript was nearly an inch thick. He titled it \*Chapter on Entering the Inconceivable Dharma Gate\*. In his colophon he wrote: "If one can realize this secret dharma gate, then in all daily situations one will respond with the inconceivable. Without precepts, one is naturally precept-observing; without giving, one naturally gives; likewise, without wisdom, one is naturally wise; without myriad practices, one naturally fulfills them; without the three minds, one naturally possesses them. Therefore this is called perfecting the inconceivable dharma gate — without passing through eons of stages, one attains Buddhahood in this very body." Such was the exposition of Chan Master Jingyi, and I treasure his words as a precious heirloom. As for the Cundi texts I have previously edited and printed, they are many. I have written a colophon for the Sanskrit edition of the \*Cundi Repentance and Vow Ritual\* by the monk Hongbi of Shengen Temple in Wumen. I wrote a preface for the \*Collected Explanations of Cundi\* by Imperial Historian Lin Renzian of Rui'an, whose given name was Zengzhi. I wrote a preface for the \*Cundi Connection\* (also called the \*Collection of Pure Causes\*) by Liu Xinding of Mianzhou in Sichuan, printed with a preface by the education commissioner Min Hongfu of Tiaoshang. I wrote a preface for the \*Cundi Palm Fruit\*, compiled by Imperial Historian Zhang Shou'an (personal name Xing) of Guiji, and printed by the court gentleman Mei Zhongsheng (personal name Shisheng) of Xuancheng. I wrote a preface for the \*Cundi Practice Method\* by Great Master Suhua Xu. I wrote a preface for the \*Simplified Recitation Method\*, compiled by Zhou Kentai of Siming, edited by Chan Master Ruo'an, and printed by Commander Feng Ziyuan (personal name Huai). And I wrote a preface for the \*Simultaneous Publication of the Three Translations of the Cundi Sutra\* by Zhou Yuanliang (personal name Lianggong) of Zhongyuan and his brother Liangjie. Most of these printings are based on the \*Perfect Fusion of Exoteric and Esoteric Practice\*, with embellishments and adjustments. The principle that one becomes spiritually effective through purity and enters through faith applies to all Buddhist practices, not only Cundi. But when it comes to enabling people to leap beyond the three realms, hasten toward enlightenment, and benefit both self and others with clear and certain efficacy — nothing surpasses Cundi. It is truly what is called an extraordinary expedient. Some may object that those who uphold Cundi are indulging in wishful thinking. But those who recite the Buddha's name hope for rebirth in the Pure Land, and those who practice Chan hope for awakening — all traditions and esoteric teachings are alike in this. As the \*Guanyin Commentary\* says: "Though one seeks from moment to moment, there is no sense of a seeker or a sought" — this is just as the contemplation teaches: placing the moon of the mandala wheel in one's mind, fixing the bright pearl in the body. This is the same as Confucius's teaching of purifying the mind and retreating into the hidden, observing abstinence and making one's virtue radiant with spirit. Neither can this be compared to the achievement-results of ordinary mantras. In the year Wuchen, I took up a post in the capital. Elder Xiang Lanzhai was a close associate, and we worked closely together on the Cundi ritual manual he was printing. Now I have been fortunate to study the profound text with his worthy successor, Duke Mugong — a truly rare opportunity. On the sixth day of the second month of this spring, at the Taiping Nunnery in Xianxi, I initiated a repentance altar with members of the Xiang family who had taken monastic vows as fellow practitioners — an unprecedented and extraordinary assembly. At that time, many monastics and lay poets composed verses in praise of Cundi's three eyes and eighteen arms. Such is the wonderful fruit of Cundi: warp and weft, beginning and end — here rests the total command of the dharani of the five great divisions. Here rests the spiritual power of Duke Xiangyi's legacy, and the virtuous plans handed down to posterity. I have revealed my lifetime of past karmic connections and extraordinary events to manifest Cundi's spiritual power, urging all to contemplate and recite — a small offering of dharma music to encourage fellow practitioners.

順治丁酉仲春朔日國子司業前戊辰二甲進士紫霄飛仙裔孫曹溪憨祖受持弟子福徵道一居士埽菴譚貞默槃談撰。時年六十八歲。

> On the first day of the second month of spring in the year of Dingyou (1657), during the Shunzhi reign, Tan Zhenmo, also known as Daoyi Jushi, a disciple of the revered Master Hanzu of Caoxi, and a descendant of the Purple Cloud Flying Immortal, who once served as the Director of the Imperial Academy and earned the title of Jinshi in the second rank during the Wuchen year, wrote this at the age of sixty-eight, at his retreat, the Sweeping Hermitage.