Day 30 covers all of Chapter 26, Dhāraṇīs

Having last month considered the Dhāraṇīs offered by World-Holding Heavenly-King, we meet the 10 rākṣasas daughters and the Mother-Of-Devils and her children.

There are rākṣasas called 1. Lambā, 2. Vilambā, 3. Crooked-Teeth, 4. Flower-Teeth, 5. Black-Teeth, 6. Many-Hairs, 7. Insatiable, 8. Necklace-Holding, 9. Kuntī, and 10. Plunderer-Of-Energy-Of-All-Beings. These ten rākṣasas [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously:

“World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”

Then they uttered spells before the Buddha:

“Ideibi (1), ideibin (2), ideibi (3), adeibi ( 4), ideibi (5), deibi (6), deibi (7), deibi (8), deibi (9), deibi (10), rokei (11), rokei (12), rokei (13), rokei (14), takei (15), takei (16), takei (17), tokei (18), tokei (19).”

The Daily Dharma from March 20, 2023, offers this:

These ten rākṣasīs [and their attendants] came to the Buddha, together with Mother-Of-Devils and her children and attendants. They said to the Buddha simultaneously: “World-Honored One! We also will protect the person who reads, recites and keeps the Sūtra of the Lotus Flower of the Wonderful Dharma so that he may have no trouble. No one shall take advantage of the weak points of this teacher of the Dharma.”

These fierce demons make this promise to the Buddha in Chapter Twenty-Six of the Lotus Sūtra. Mother-of-Devils, also known as Kishimojin, was once a demon who stole and ate human children, until the Buddha reminded her that humans loved their children in the same way she loved her own. The Buddha does not judge or condemn any being. Instead he uses his insight to transform our understanding to see the harm we create in the world through satisfying our selfish desires. When we work for the benefit of all beings, we find all beings working for our benefit also.

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