(Narrated by Wu Che, the Emperor's Court Couneillor and Assistant)

The Usnisa Vijaya Dharani is the secret treasure of all the Tathagatas, a Dharani Dharma-door, which is also the wisdom seal of the Maha Vairocana Tathagata. Auspicious, excellent and pure, this powerful divine Mantra is able to eradicate sufferings of all evil paths.

During the Tang dynasty in the years of Yi Feng (676-678 AD), the edition of this Dharani translated by Buddhapala was circulated to all Buddhist monasteries in China. Cultivators who upheld It were numerous.

From a very young age, I had already been upholding and reciting It. In the first year of Yong Tai (765 AD), after the death of my wife, I became even more sincere and vigorous in my cultivation and practice, seeking the Way to transcend the world of Samsara. Then there was a palace official called Jiang Xing, who also constantly upheld and chanted this divine Mantra. One day, he came to visit me in my private quarters and told me very happily, "I have now found the ultimate Way (Supreme Way) which is extremely difficult to encounter!"

I sincerely and respectfully asked how this was so, and it turned out that he had obtained a complete version of the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani Mantra. There and then, I invited him to recite it once and found that the version of the Mantra he recited had more sentences and sounded rather different. Hence, I respectfully asked him the source of this Dharani. He also told me that one called Wang Kai Shi had taught him the Dharani. The Dharani was transmitted to Wang Kai Shi by the Tripitaka Dharma Master Vajrabodhi who had told Wang Kai Shi, "Even in India, it is very difficult to obtain such a complete copy of the Dharani. I have brought along an original Sanskrit copy, and hence can only transmit il secretly."

Jiang Xing stayed for a while but only talked about some strange efficacious incidences and then left. Unfortunately, I did not ask for a copy of the said Dharani. Soon after, he passed away. I always felt it was a great pity that I had not read the said Dharani. Hence, whenever I met any diligent and proficient cultivator, I would enquire about this complete edition of the Mantra, always holding on to the hope of finding it. Later, I met the monk Ji Gong who, to my surprise, had kept a complete copy of this Mantra.

In the years of Kai Yuan (713-741 AD), at the foot of Wu Tai Mountain, there lived an excellent cultivator - Upasaka Wang - who, because of some responsibility, had to visit places far away from his home. After he left, his father fell ill unexpectedly and passed away. When he returned home, being unable to see his father, he was filled with deep sorrow. Very sincerely he recited the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani, hoping to know where his late father was reborn and the state of his good or bad karmic retribution. However, even after reciting the Dharani for several hundred thousand times, he still did not encounter any response. Feeling very disappointed, he decided to stop his recitation and leave the mountain. On his way, he met an old man who said to him, "It cannot be denied that you have upheld and recited the divine Mantramost diligently. Unfortunately, many of the sentences of the Dharani you recited were missing and hence Its efficacy and merits were not notable. I shall now transmit the complete text to you."

Upasaka Wang was overjoyed. There and then he offered reverence to the old man and received the teaching. The old man further advised, "You should sincerely recite this Dharani one thousand times and there will certainly be efficacious results."

True enough, after upholding and reciting the Dharani for several days, one night he was suddenly awakened by the tinkling sound of jade ornaments and the sound of flutes coming from the courtyard. Upasaka Wang was so surprised that he came out to investigate. He saw tens of heavenly beings clustering around a heavenly immortal who walked up to Upasaka Wang and said, "Do you recognise me?"

Upasaka Wang answered, "I don't think so."

The heavenly being said, "I am your late father. Because of your years of upholding and reciting the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani, l have already received its merits, virtue and benefits, but in the last few days, the power of this virtuous blessings suddenly increased, double that which had accumulated over the last few years. I don't know which copy of the Dharani you have obtained. Owing to the power of the blessings and merits accumulated from your upholding the Mantra, I have been made the king of devas. I now know that the awesome power in upholding and reciting this divine Mantra is certainly boundless." Having said that, he rose into space and left, Upasaka Wang very happily knelt down to send him off. From then onwards, he doubled his efforts in his cultivation.

Later, Upasaka Wang came to the Dongdu (Luoyang) and learnt that there was a government official known as Wang Shao Fu who specifically cultiyatcd and recited Buddhapala's edition of the divine Mantra. After he had recited the Mantra several ten thousand times, suddenly, one night he dreamt of an Indian monk who told him, "You have recited the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani with absolute sincerity. Unfortunately, there were missing verses in the Mantra which caused Its merits to be limited."

Wang Shao Fu then bowed and very reverently begged to be told the complete text. The Indian monk then showed him the complete text and also personally transmitted it. He escorted the monk to the door of his house and saw that it was as bright as daylight around him. His young servant was still fast asleep in the room when he returned to his bed. He awoke from his dream, thinking that it was already daylight. So, he reprimanded his servant, "It's already daylight! Why are you still m bed?"

His servant replied, "It's only midnight."

Suddenly, the brightness disappeared and it was still in the night. Wang Shao Fu was very surprised with what he had seen; closing his eyes, he recited the Mantra transmitted to him by the Indian monk while the whole incident was still very vivid in his mind. From then onwards, he was even more sincere and diligent in his cultivation.

In the first year of Tien Bao (742 AD), Upasaka Wang of Wu Tai Mountain, Wang Kai Shi and Wang Shao Fu were staying in Dongdu but they did not know each other. One day, Wang Shao Fu suddenly died. However, after 7 days, his body became alive again. In the city, many busybodies were spreading the news and carne to find out the causes. Having heard the incident, Upasaka Wang and Wang Kai Shi also coincidentally came together to find out the unusual experience of his revival.

Wang Shao Fu narrated, "That night, soon after I went to bed, two guards suddenly appeared and captured me. I had no choice but to follow them. We walked for several tens of miles until we came to the foot of a big tree. The two guards stopped to rest, and I too rested on the ground. Then 1 remembered Usnisa Vijaya Dharani and immediately closed my eycs and sincereiy recited the Dharani 21 times. When I opened my eyes and looked around, there was no sign of the two guards and I did not know where they had gone. While I was wondering what had happened, four other persons hurried towards the tree and knelt in front of me saying, "Compassionate one, how do you cultivate to obtain such great merits and divine power? With your help, the two guards who came to arrest you have already been reborn together in the heaven."

Wang Shao Fu replied, "I only recited the divine Usnisa Vijaya Dharani"

The four of them begged hirn, "It must be the power of the Dharani! Please also recite this Dharani for us to save us from our sufferings and miseries"

Wang Shao Fu again closed his eyes to recite the Dharani 21 times and when he opened his eyes again, the four had also disappeared. A short moment later, he heard the sound of armour and weapons from the sky. A deity descended. He was wearing full armour covered with a purple robe and looked very dignified and stern, with many followers. He too, came forward and knelt in front of Wang Shao Fu, saying, "I am the Senior Official controlling beings in the five realms. Though my position can be considered as high, I am still confined to the god realm and hope to be reborn in heaven. Those six persons before me, owing to your divine power of merits and virtue, were all able to be reborn in the heaven. Now please come to my residence and recite the Dharani. We hope to receive Its great benefits and be reborn in heaven."

Hence, Wang Shao Fu followed him to a large residence, several tens of square miles in size. Within it were all offenders, shackled, chained and waiting to be sentenced; this actually was the place for interrogation and torture of the under world. The Senior Official invited Wang Shao Fu to occupy his high seat while he knelt at the foot of the seat to listen to the recilation of thc Dharani. Wang Shao Fu closed his eyes and very sincerely recited the divine Dharani 49 times, then opened his eyes and looked around; no one was in sight. Only broken locks, chains and damaged shackles were seen, and the place was in total disorder. Wang Shao Fu was very surprised. Suddenly another four or five people hurriedly came forward and said rudely, "The King ordered that you should leave at once! You have created confusion in our system, sealed off the punishment records and disrupted the order in the under world." As Wang Shao Fu was driven out into a valley, he came to and became alive again. This was truly the inconceivable power of the merit of the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani.

Since Upasaka Wang, Wang Kai Shi and Wang Shao Fu had all constantly upheld and recited the divine Usnisa Vijaya Dharani, they each took out their own treasured copy to cornpare the text. All the three texts were exactly the same as though they all originated from the same book. Excitedly, they congratulated each other for their own unusual affinity.

Upasaka Wang said, "My copy was given by an old sage from Wu Tai Mountain"

Wang Shao Fu said, "Mine was given by an Indian monk."

Wang Kai Shi told them, "I received mine from Tripitaka Dharma Master Vajrabodhi. The Sanskrit text was still kept."

The three were all astonished and quickly compared their translated copies with the Sanskrit text. They found them to be exactly the same.

Hence, for sentient beings to hear the Dharma, there must be an appropriate time and favourable circumstances; it is similar to the propagation of Dharma. To be able to hear this accurate Dharani in this world, it truly is a rare blessing and affinity.

This copy was translated from the Sanskrit edition of Vajrabodhi. When checked against the copy from Buddhapala, it was found that the two vcrsions were essentially similar. However, the former copy had nine extra sentences containing 69 more characters than the version given by Buddhapala.

In the 14th year of Yuan He (819 AD), Master Hui Lin, while revising the contents of the Tripitaka, included more than 600 volumes of Sutras which had been left out earlier. He also included a brief

world." As Wang Shao Fu was driven out into a valley, he came to and became alive again. This was truly the inconceivable power of the merit of the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani.

Since Upasaka Wang, Wang Kai Shi and Wang Shao Fu had all constantly upheld and recited the divine Usnisa Vijaya Dharani, they each took out their own treasured copy to cornpare the text. All the three texts were exactly the same as though they all originated from the same book. Excitedly, they congratulated each other for their own unusual affinity.

Upasaka Wang said, "My copy was given by an old sage from Wu Tai Mountain"

Wang Shao Fu said, "Mine was given by an Indian monk."

Wang Kai Shi told them, "I received mine from Tripitaka Dharma Master Vajrabodhi. The Sanskrit text was still kept."

The three were all astonished and quickly compared their translated copies with the Sanskrit text. They found them to be exactly the same.

Hence, for sentient beings to hear the Dharma, there must be an appropriate time and favourable circumstances; it is similar to the propagation of Dharma. To be able to hear this accurate Dharani in this world, it truly is a rare blessing and affinity.

This copy was translated from the Sanskrit edition of Vajrabodhi. When checked against the copy from Buddhapala, it was found that the two vcrsions were essentially similar. However, the former copy had nine extra sentences containing 69 more characters than the version given by Buddhapala.

In the 14th year of Yuan He (819 AD), Master Hui Lin, while revising the contents of the Tripitaka, included more than 600 volumes of Sutras which had been left out earlier. He also included a brief account of the efficacy of the Dharani, written by Wu Che who had personally checked it and written a postscript at the end of the Sutra.

In the previous dynasty, there were two court officials - Jiang Da Fu and Zhang Cheng Fu - and a monk named Bai Ji, who had all gained merits as they each had received and upheld the Usnisa Vijaya Dharani. They had been pursued by the guards of the under world, but because of the inconceivable power resulting from upholding the Dharani, they had not suffered any pain in the evil paths. At the same time, they had also saved and delivered suffering beings as recorded in their individual biographies. Master Hui Lin found this historical information recorded in the Tripitaka, which was kept in the government office of Chengdu. That incident took place on the 23rd day of the third lunar month, in the 2nd year of Ru Yi (693 AD).