DARANI
Copyright © 2003 James Deacon

Darani are often said to be half-way between shingon (mantras) and kyo (sutras).

That is, darani are longer than most shingon and somewhat shorter than the majority of kyo. (In fact darani often appear as parts of kyo which relate the circumstances under which the given darani was originally proclaimed.)

Beyond their deep spiritual and philosophical meaning, darani are understood to hold mystical or magical power; and the recitation of darani is believed to bring great spiritual merit, serving as a medium for furthering one's progress towards realisation of enlightenment.

Darani are often worn as amulets to avert various ills or evils, to ward off thieves, protect from fire, etc., and also to ensure long life.

It is said that the healing effects generated through recitation of darani can be quite dramatic.

Darani usually consist of invocations (to Butsu, Bosatsu and other deities) and exclamations (to frighten away evil spirits/ purify the emmediate vacinity).

When darani are intoned "... whatever evil spirits there are ready to interfere with the spiritual effect of a ritual, are kept away from it."

The darani on these pages are in Japanese (romanised form); some have english translation further down the page.

Just as much gets lost in translation of everday concepts - so, far more tends to get lost in the case of darani, shingon and kyo, etc.

However, it is important to remember that, the potency of darani is believed to reside in the sound of the words intoned rather than the common meaning of those words...