Chapter Twenty-Four · The Sutras We Chant · 日常短咒

The Everyday Chants 日常短咒 — ten small verses we say daily

Not every chant is a full sutra. Behind the 早课 and 晚课 — and in the quiet corners of SG/MY Buddhist daily life — there are short verses that appear again and again: at funerals, on prayer beads, on the MRT, by a hospital bed. Here are ten of the most common, with their words and their meanings.

1. 往生咒 — The Rebirth Mantra (拔一切业障根本得生净土陀罗尼)

Its full name means "the Dhāraṇī that pulls out the very root of all karmic hindrances and gains rebirth in the Pure Land." One of the 十小咒 (ten short mantras) of the daily service, just 59 characters, centred on Amitābha Buddha. Despite the word 往生, it is not only for funerals — it is a daily recitation that purifies karma for the living too.

南无阿弥多婆夜　哆他伽多夜　哆地夜他
阿弥利都婆毗　阿弥利哆　悉耽婆毗
阿弥唎哆　毗迦兰帝　阿弥唎哆　毗迦兰多
伽弥腻　伽伽那　枳多迦利　娑婆诃

"I take refuge in Amitābha Buddha; may his nectar of deathlessness uproot all my karmic hindrances and bring me to rebirth in the Pure Land." The repeated 阿弥利哆 (amṛita) is the Sanskrit word for nectar / deathlessness (甘露). Chanted at funerals, 作七, 中元节 as merit-transfer — and daily at home, often 7, 21, or 49 times.

— Alison's thoughts

The first time you hear 往生咒 at a wake, it sounds like a river of soft syllables. But the name says something gentle: it isn't only about death — it's about pulling out the roots of what burdens us. The 阿弥利哆, the "nectar" that keeps repeating, is the promise that even what feels heavy can dissolve. Sitting at a funeral in a heartland temple, aunties and uncles murmuring this together, you realise the mantra is really a cradle — for whoever just left, and quietly for everyone still holding on.

2. 六字大明咒 — The Six-Syllable Mantra (Om Maṇi Padme Hūṃ)

The most famous mantra in Buddhism — 六字真言, 观音心咒, Guanyin's innermost heart-mantra, "the essence of the essence" of the bodhisattva of compassion, from the Kāraṇḍavyūha Sūtra.

唵嘛呢叭咪吽

Om (sacred invocation) — Maṇi (jewel) — Padme (lotus) — Hūṃ (sacred closing), i.e. "Om, the jewel in the lotus, Hūṃ." A second reading takes it as a title of Avalokiteśvara — "the one who holds the jewel-lotus." A famous line-by-line reading maps each syllable to a realm of cyclic existence and the perfection that purifies it: 唵 purifies pride (gods) with giving; 嘛 purifies jealousy (asuras) with ethics; 呢 purifies craving (humans) with patience; 叭 purifies ignorance (animals) with effort; 咪 purifies greed (hungry ghosts) with meditation; 吽 purifies hatred (hell-beings) with wisdom. Chanted anytime, anywhere, with no taboos — "随时随地" comfort chant, especially popular in Malaysian practice.

— Alison's thoughts

Six syllables, and a whole map of the heart in them — each one aimed at a different way we get stuck: pride, jealousy, craving, ignorance, greed, anger. There's something tender about that. It isn't scolding you for having these; it's saying every part of you can be met with compassion. Walk through Chinatown or any kopitiam during the lunar month and you'll hear it murmured like a lullaby for a world that keeps forgetting how to be gentle.

3. 忏悔偈 — The Repentance Verse (往昔所造诸恶业)

The most widely chanted repentance verse in Chinese Buddhism, from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra's chapter of Samantabhadra's vows. Repentance here is not self-punishment but a three-part discipline: recognising a fault, making amends, resolving not to repeat it.

往昔所造诸恶业，皆由无始贪瞋痴，
从身语意之所生，一切我今皆忏悔。

All the evil deeds I have done in the past arose all from beginningless greed, hatred and delusion, produced through body, speech and mind — all of these I now repent of completely. The four lines answer: what to repent, why (the three poisons), how it arose (the three karmas), and the act (complete repentance). Chanted three times daily in 早晚课 and at 中元/清明 memorial rites.

— Alison's thoughts

We don't usually like admitting we were wrong — it feels like losing. But this verse reframes it: you don't confess to be crushed, you confess to be free. "一切我今皆忏悔" — not "I might have," but "I now, completely." Say it three times on a quiet morning and it's less about guilt and more about putting down a bag you've been carrying for years. Grandmothers know this; that's why they murmur it every day, not just when they've done something wrong.

4. 四弘誓愿 — The Four Great Vows

The foundational vows of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva path, chanted after repentance in 早课/晚课 across SG/MY.

众生无边誓愿度，烦恼无尽誓愿断，
法门无量誓愿学，佛道无上誓愿成。

Sentient beings are numberless — I vow to save them all. Afflictions are endless — I vow to cut them all off. Dharma-gates are measureless — I vow to learn them all. The Buddha-way is unsurpassed — I vow to perfect it. Plainly: to liberate all beings, to end our own afflictions, to master the countless teachings, and to realise the supreme enlightenment of a Buddha.

— Alison's thoughts

Four lines, and four huge promises nobody can keep in one lifetime — which is exactly the point. These vows aren't a to-do list; they're a direction, a compass pointing you outward instead of inward. At a crowded temple on 初一十五, hearing the whole hall chant "众生无边誓愿度," you feel smaller and larger at the same time: small because the task is endless, large because you've agreed to be part of it. That's the heart of the Mahayana — compassion is not a feeling, it's a vow.

5. 回向偈 — The Verse of Dedicating Merit (愿以此功德)

回向 (parināma) means to "turn toward" — gathering the merit of chanting and aiming it at a purpose. Every session of chanting is traditionally closed with a 回向偈.

愿以此功德，庄严佛净土，
上报四重恩，下济三途苦。
若有见闻者，悉发菩提心，
尽此一报身，同生极乐国。

May this merit adorn the Buddha's Pure Land, repaying the fourfold kindness above and relieving the suffering of the three lower realms below. May all who see or hear this rouse the bodhi-mind, and, completing this present life, be born together in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The four kinds of kindness 四重恩: parents, all sentient beings, the nation, and the Triple Gem. The three lower realms 三途: hell, hungry ghosts, animals. Used at the close of virtually every recitation, and after any good deed.

— Alison's thoughts

Everything on this page ends the same way: you don't keep the merit for yourself. That's the most radical idea in lay Buddhism — the more you give it away, the more you have. "上报四重恩" names it plainly: your parents, every being, the country that holds you, and the teachings that saved you. At the end of a 地藏经 session in a HDB void-deck hall, the whole room saying "同生极乐国" together, it's the sound of a community that has decided nobody walks this path alone.

6. 三皈依 — Taking Refuge in the Triple Gem

皈依 means to "turn toward and rely upon" the Three Refuges: Buddha (佛), Dharma (法), and Saṅgha (僧) — the Buddha as teacher, the Dharma as medicine, the Saṅgha as friends. The formal entry into Buddhism, chanted at the end of daily services.

自皈依佛，当愿众生，体解大道，发无上心。
自皈依法，当愿众生，深入经藏，智慧如海。
自皈依僧，当愿众生，统理大众，一切无碍。

I take refuge in the Buddha — may all beings understand the great path and rouse the unsurpassed mind. I take refuge in the Dharma — may all beings enter deeply into the scriptural treasury, with wisdom vast as the sea. I take refuge in the Saṅgha — may all beings lead and harmonise the community, without any hindrance. The deeper teaching: the external Triple Gem points us back to our own inherent self-nature. Chanted at the very end of most 早晚课, and at 皈依 and 五戒 ceremonies.

— Alison's thoughts

Of everything chanted, this is the one that names where you're standing: you're taking refuge — not in something far away, but in a way of being. The genius is the "当愿众生" — even your own refuge becomes a wish for everyone. When a whole temple says 自皈依僧, 统理大众, 一切无碍, you hear that belonging isn't about fitting in; it's about a community holding each other up so nobody walks the path alone.

7. 楞严咒心 — The Śūraṅgama Heart-Mantra (with its opening verse)

The full Śūraṅgama Mantra (2,620 characters) is the longest in Buddhism — the "king of mantras," first item of morning service in many monasteries. Its story: Ānanda was nearly led astray by an external spell; the Buddha emitted light and a Buddha within the light proclaimed this mantra, which Mañjuśrī used to rescue Ānanda. Its core power is protecting the practitioner's discipline and concentration. Lay people usually chant the short heart-mantra:

唵阿那隶毗舍提鞞啰跋阇啰陀唎槃陀槃陀你跋阇啰谤尼泮虎(合牛)都嚧瓮泮莎婆诃

This is a pure phonetic mantra — chanted for its sound, not translated. The famous opening gāthā before the full mantra includes the vow: "Wonderful, serene, all-embracing, immovable Venerable One… I humbly ask the World-Honoured One to witness: in this evil world of the five turbidities I vow to enter first. Until a single being attains Buddhahood, I will not take nirvāṇa here" — 如一众生未成佛，终不于此取泥洹.

— Alison's thoughts

There is a fierceness to 楞严咒 that surprises people who think Buddhism is only about being soft — it's the mantra of protection, born when Ānanda nearly lost his footing. Chanting it at dawn in a monastery, woodblock keeping time, feels less like asking for something and more like planting a shield around your own resolve. The closing vow, "until every being is saved, I won't rest," is the same compassion wearing armour.

8. 准提咒 — The Cundī Mantra

The mantra of Cundī Bodhisattva (准提菩萨), from the Cundī Dhāraṇī Sūtra attributed to the Tang master Śubhākarasiṃha. Famous because it may be practised by householders without strict taboos — no requirement to be vegetarian or ritually clean.

稽首皈依苏悉帝　头面顶礼七俱胝
我今称赞大准提　惟愿慈悲垂加护
南无飒多喃　三藐三菩陀　俱胝喃　怛侄他
唵　折隶　主隶　准提　娑婆诃

With head and face bowed low I take refuge in Sudeva, prostrating before the countless Buddhas. I now praise the great Cundī; may she, in her compassion, look down and protect us. Homage to the countless perfectly-enlightened Buddhas. Namely: Oṃ, moving, rising, the pure one — Cundī — svāhā. The word cundī itself means "pure." Chanted at the end of 早晚课 among the 十小咒, and as a wish-fulfilling practice for smooth progress in work or study.

— Alison's thoughts

What makes 准提咒 special in a lay world is that its own text says: no need to be perfect first. Householder, busy, not even fully vegetarian — start where you are. The name itself means "pure," which is a gentle irony: you don't chant it because you're already pure, you chant it to remember that purity is always within reach. At a busy 水陆法会 or a small home altar, it's the mantra people reach for when they need things to go well and want someone to lean on.

9. 药师灌顶真言 — The Medicine Buddha Mantra (药师咒)

The root mantra of Medicine Buddha (药师琉璃光如来, Bhaiṣajya-guru Vaiḍūrya-prabha), chanted for healing, the removal of illness and calamity, and long life — for one's own sickness, a sick loved one, or recovery.

喋雅他　嗡　贝堪则　贝堪则　玛哈贝堪则　喇杂　萨目嘎喋　娑哈

Or in the classical Han transliteration: 怛侄他　唵　鞞杀逝　鞞杀逝　鞞杀社　三没揭帝　娑婆诃.

Namely: Oṃ, medicine, medicine, medicine arising / fully effective — svāhā. The repeated 贝堪则 (bhaiṣajye) is the sound of "medicine" itself; 玛哈贝堪则 is "great medicine." Chanted at 药师法会, on Medicine Buddha's birthday, and as daily practice for health and longevity.

— Alison's thoughts

Here is a mantra you chant when someone you love is sick — and that makes it the most personal prayer on this page. The whole thing is just the sound of "medicine, medicine, medicine" said three times, like calling it into being. You don't need to understand a word to feel what's happening: a room full of people murmuring healing syllables over an unwell grandmother, the way we used to hum to a crying child. It reminds us that some of our deepest prayers are not arguments, just repeated syllables of hope.

10. 圣号 — The Holy Names: 南无观世音菩萨 & 南无阿弥陀佛

The practice of 称名 — calling the name as a whole practice in itself. 南无 (námó) is the Chinese transliteration of the Sanskrit namo, meaning "I take refuge in / homage to."

南无阿弥陀佛 — Námó Āmítuófó (the six-character holy name)
南无观世音菩萨 — Námó Guānshìyīn Púsà

南无阿弥陀佛: 阿弥陀 (Amitābha) means "Immeasurable Light, Immeasurable Life" (无量光、无量寿) — lord of the Western Pure Land, core practice of the Pure Land school, the name chanted on 念佛机, at 助念 deathbeds, funerals, 中元 and Vesak gatherings. 南无观世音菩萨: Guanyin — "one who perceives the world's sounds/cries" — the bodhisattva of compassion, renowned as 大慈大悲、救苦救难; per the Universal Gate chapter, those who call his name single-mindedly are delivered from the seven calamities and freed from the three poisons. Pronunciation note: 南无 is read námó, not nánwú, in this liturgical context; 阿 may be read ē or ā — follow your temple.

— Alison's thoughts

The simplest thing on this page might be the deepest: just a name. 南无 means giving yourself over — not weakly, but like a child finally letting someone strong carry them. And the name itself is a whole teaching: "Immeasurable Light and Life," or "the one who hears the world's cries." No grammar, no ritual, just saying a name until it becomes the rhythm of your breathing. On the MRT at 7am, an old man softly counting 阿弥陀佛 on his beads; in a hospital corridor, a mother whispering 观世音菩萨 before the scan. Sometimes the whole of practice is this: to know the name of mercy, and to be able to call it.

Ref: Chant texts cross-checked character-for-character against 2+ sources each — 往生咒 (Wikipedia, 佛经网, sutramoments); 六字大明咒 (sutramoments, Wikipedia 六字真言); 忏悔偈 (sutramoments 华严忏悔偈); 四弘誓愿 (经文网); 回向偈 (百度百科, 佛弟子文库); 三皈依 (中台世界, 法鼓山); 楞严咒心/妙湛总持偈 (佛教颂, sutramoments); 准提咒 (维基文库, 灵隐寺); 药师咒 (Wikipedia 药师灌顶真言); 圣号 (sutramoments Amitabha/Guanyin name pages).

— Chapter Twenty-Four · The Sutras We Chant · Metta 慈悲