Toh 647, Toh 1079 — The Bali Ritual to Relieve the Female Preta Flaming Mouth

F.132.bF.240.b Homage to the Three Jewels.

Once, the Blessed One was staying at Banyan Grove in Kapilavastu with a great congregation of monks, a great assembly of bodhisattvas, and a great assembly of other beings, teaching them the Dharma. In the meantime, Ānanda was in seclusion, meditating and realizing the Dharma through single-pointed contemplation.

During the last watch of the night, the female preta Flaming Mouth came before him and spoke, F.241.a “O Ānanda, you will die the day after tomorrow and be reborn in the realm of pretas.”

Ānanda asked, “What reliable method is there to avoid this?” ^[1]

The female preta replied, “Ānanda, if in the morning you offer food and drink in the amount of seven large Magadhan bushels to each and every preta as numerous as the billions of grains of sand of the river Ganges, and satisfy one hundred thousand brahmin ascetics, and make an offering in my name to the Three Jewels, then your life will be extended, and I will transmigrate from the realm of the pretas and be reborn in the upper realms.”

Then Ānanda saw that female preta Flaming Mouth. She was wasted and ugly, with an emaciated body, tongues of flame coming from her mouth, and her belly and mouth shriveled up. Her hair was matted and in disarray, and she had long nails and body hair. Hearing her jarring and unpleasant words, he was so afraid that the hairs all over his body stood on end. F.133.a He rose from his seat, and went hurriedly, very quickly, to where the Blessed One was.

On arriving, he prostrated to the Blessed One and, trembling, he begged, “Blessed One, please protect me! Well-Gone One, please protect me! I will be killed the day after tomorrow. Blessed One, I saw the female preta Flaming Mouth and she told me, ‘You will die the day after tomorrow.’ I asked her, ‘What method is there to avoid it?’ She replied, ‘If you satisfy pretas as numerous as the billions of grains of sand of the river Ganges, as well as one hundred thousand brahmin ascetics, then your life will be extended.’ Blessed One, please tell me how I can do this.”

Then F.241.b the Blessed One, the Thus-Gone One Śākyamuni, said to venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, do not be afraid! There is a method to satisfy the pretas and the brahmin ascetics. Ānanda, there is a dhāraṇī called the great powerful light that illumines everything.^[2] Just making an offering with this will satisfy pretas as numerous as the billions of grains of sand of the river Ganges, so that each and every preta and brahmin ascetic will be given seven Magadhan bushels of food and drink. Long ago, when I was a brahmin, I received this dhāraṇī from the bodhisattva mahāsattva Lokeśvara and the Thus-Gone One Lokeśvaraprabha.^[3] With this dhāraṇī I satisfied numerous, countless pretas and brahmin ascetics with food and drink, and all of them transmigrated from the realm of the pretas F.133.b and were reborn in the realm of the gods. Ānanda, remember and accept it:

namaḥ sarvatathāgata avalokite oṃ sambhara sambhara hūṃ^[4]

“Ānanda, recite this spell seven times over the bali for the preta. Then, extending your arm, offer it in front of the door, snap your fingers, and clap. ^[5] Immediately after you offer it in this way, all the pretas of the four directions, as numerous as the billions of grains of sand of the river Ganges, will be satisfied, and each preta will be given seven Magadhan bushels. Merely by consuming it, they will transmigrate from the realm of the pretas and be reborn among the gods.

“Ānanda, you should constantly and incessantly relate this to the monks and nuns and the male and female lay devotees around you. For those who act in this way, F.242.a a heap of merit will be accrued and their life will be long. They will obtain the combined heaps of merit of a trillion thus-gone ones, and will become invisible to those spirits that wander incessantly in nonhuman forms—bhūtas, piśācas, kumbhāṇḍas, ^[6] and others; yakṣas, rākṣasas, grahas, and pretas. They will become strong and diligent. They will obtain beauty, charisma, and mindfulness.

“To satisfy brahmin ascetics, fill a container with the clean water to be offered, recite the dhāraṇī seven times, and make the offering at any place where water is swiftly flowing. When this is done accordingly, brahmin ascetics as numerous as the billions of grains of sand of the river Ganges will be satisfied with divine food and drink. Those brahmin ascetics will be thoroughly sated, and they will cry, “ Oṃ! May all be well!” In this way, the intentions of those beings will be completely purified, F.134.a and they will have the charisma of brahmins. They will always live the religious life, they will obtain the roots of virtue of thus-gone ones as numerous as the billions of grains of sand of the river Ganges, and all their enemies will always be destroyed.^[7]

“Recite the dhāraṇī twenty-one times over flowers, incense, perfume, or food and drink, and then offer them to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha. If that is done accordingly, noble sons and noble daughters, monks and nuns, and male and female lay devotees will revere, honor, and worship the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha F.242.b of the buddhafields of all the thus-gone ones in the ten directions with divine offerings and the supreme offerings of the thus-gone ones. They will be in the intentions and prophecies of all the thus-gone ones, and will be protected by all the gods.

“Ānanda, go, and accept this! Teach it correctly, again and again, to all beings. Perform all the roots of virtue. Thus have I spoken.”