Prayers for Tsunami and Earthquake in Japan

I have been away for official work duties and have been unable to blog. Moreover, my PC has been out-of-action for the last 2 weeks. Anyway, I am back and would like to express my horrow and sadness at the tragedy that strucked Japan on Friday afternoon. At that time I was still in KL. 

Kyabje Lama Zopa has issued an advice for people to recite the Ksitigarbha mantra, and which I think is a mantra from the Tibetan tradition. The mantra is not something which I can find in the usual Ksitigarbha Sutra, nor is the short version the same as the one that is common among Chinese Mahayana. So, I donot know what is the origin of this Tibetan version of the Ksitigarbha mantra. The latter is what I am familiar, i.e. Om Pra Mani Dhani Svaha. Anyway, the below is the long and short versions of the Ksitigarbha mantra in the Tibetan lineage. And it might saound weird to you but I really heard the long version as below the first time in a Sathya Sai Baba centre. Sai Baba do encourage people to practice mantras.

Kshitigarbha Long Mantra:

CHHIM BHO CHHIM BHO CHIM CHHIM BHO / AKASHA CHHIM BHO / VAKARA CHHIM BHO / AMAVARA CHHIM BHO / VARA CHHIM BHO / VACHIRA CHHIM BHO / AROGA CHHIM BHO / DHARMA CHHIM BHO / SATEVA CHHIM BHO / SATENI HALA CHHIM BHO / VIVA ROKA SHAVA CHHIM BHO / UVA SHAMA CHHIM BHO / NAYANA CHHIM BHO / PRAJÑA SAMA MONI RATNA CHHIM BHO / KSHANA CHHIM BHO / VISHEMA VARIYA CHHIM BHO / SHASI TALA MAVA CHHIM BHO / VI AH DRASO TAMA HELE / DAM VE YAM VE / CHAKRASE / CHAKRA VASILE / KSHILI PHILE KARAVA / VARA VARITE / HASERE PRARAVE / PARECHARA BHANDHANE / ARADANE / PHANARA / CHA CHI CHA CHA / HILE MILE AKHATA THAGEKHE / THAGAKHI LO / THHARE THHARE MILE MADHE / NANTE KULE MILE / ANG KU CHITABHE / ARAI GYIRE VARA GYIRE / KUTA SHAMAMALE /TONAGYE TONAGYE / TONAGULE / HURU HURU HURU / KULO STO MILE / MORITO / MIRITA / BHANDHATA / KARA KHAM REM / HURU HURU

Short Mantra: OM AH KSHITI GARBHA THALENG HUM

A picture of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva in the Tibetan lineage is as above. And Lama Zopa also adviced people to recite the Guru Sakyamuni Buddha prayer as follows:

 

La ma tön pa chom dän dä

De zhin sheg pa dra chom pa

Yang dag par dzog päi sang gyä

Päl gyäl wa shakya thub pa la

Chhag tshäl lo chhö do kyab su chhi wo

Jin gyi lab tu söl

To the guru, founder, bhagavan, tathagata, arhat, perfectly completed buddha, glorious conqueror Shakyamuni Buddha, I prostrate, make offerings, and go for refuge. Please grant me your blessings. Recite as much as you can (not just 3 times).

And I would add that the Tara mantra for Earthquake disasters and Water disasters should be recited also. I blog on that some time ago. Please go find it. Ever since I had that vision of Tara, I had re-discovered those mantras and since then many huge disasters have been happening in many countries across the world. I believe that the Tara mantra can help. That Tara vision did not appear for no reason.