Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani

In this talk, we take up the “Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani”. DT Suzuki famously said that, “Properly speaking, the dharani has no legitimate place in Zen.” So why do we chant it? What is a magic spell for “averting calamities” doing in our sutra book? And if nobody knows what the words actually mean – only approximate translations can be summoned from the sounds – then what is its value? Since the 5th Century in China, dharanis have been recognised for their profound “holding power” (dharani comes from the Sanskrit root *dhr*, which means “to hold or maintain”). So to chant the Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani, which we do three times after the Heart Sutra, aligns us with something prior to meaning and interpretation. Might a refamiliarization with what cannot be known or pinned down avert the greatest calamity of all, our propensity to have fixed ideas about the world and its bounty? Dharani