''Shiken haramitsu daikoumyo'' is a nine-syllable

Japanese Buddhist Buddhism was first established in Japan in the 6th century CE. Most of the Japanese Buddhists belong to new schools of Buddhism which were established in the Kamakura period (1185－1333). During the Edo period (1603–1868), Buddhism was cont ...

mantra A mantra ( ; Pali: ''mantra'') or mantram (Devanagari: मन्त्रम्) is a sacred utterance, a numinous sound, a syllable, word or phonemes, or group of words (most often in an Indo-Iranian language like Sanskrit or Avestan) belie ...

. Its

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

is 四拳波羅蜜大光明: * ''shi-kin'' 詞韻: (''shi'' "words")-(''kin'' "tone") * ''ha-ra-mitsu'' 波羅蜜: (''ha-ra-mitsu" from Sanskrit "pāramitā" or "perfect'') * ''dai-kou-myo'' 大光明: (''dai'' "great")-(''kou'' "light")-(''myo'' "bright") ''Shikin'' is best thought of as a tone or reverberation that is in harmony with nature, and thus all things. It is similar, though perhaps not exactly the same as "Om (Aum)" that is uttered in some meditative practices. Hatsumi-sensei once explained that when thinking of this portion, we must remember that mankind is a part of nature and problems occur when we try to live outside of nature or put ourselves above it. In other words, when we go against the natural flow and rhythm of things, calamity strikes. Therefore, "shikin" can be thought of as being in harmony with nature and the universe. ''Haramitsu'' means ''

pāramitā ''Pāramitā'' (Sanskrit, Pali: पारमिता) or ''pāramī'' (Pāli: पारमी) is a Buddhist term often translated as "perfection". It is described in Buddhist commentaries as a noble character quality generally associated with ...

'', or the Buddha's ''

satori ''Satori'' () is a Japanese Buddhist term for " awakening", "comprehension; understanding". The word derives from the Japanese verb '' satoru''. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of '' kenshō'', "seeing ...

'': reaching

Buddhahood In Buddhism, Buddha (, which in classic Indo-Aryan languages, Indic languages means "awakened one") is a title for those who are Enlightenment in Buddhism, spiritually awake or enlightened, and have thus attained the Buddhist paths to liberat ...

despite worldly distractions. 波 are waves; ''kanojyo wa nami ga aru'' ("she has waves in her mind") implies that a person is unstable from worry and confusion. 羅 is gauze, which metaphorically clouds the mind. 蜜 is the nectar of enlightenment. 大光明 (''daikoumyo'') is a great, bright light; 光明 literally means "a bright future" (hope). According to ''

ninjutsu , and are terms for the techniques and skills used by spies and scouts in pre-modern Japan known as ninja. Some of these techniques are recorded in ninja scrolls, some which have been published and translated. The study of these scrolls have c ...

'' as taught by

Masaaki Hatsumi , formerly Yoshiaki Hatsumi, is the founder of the Bujinkan Organization and is the former Togakure-ryū soke ( grandmaster). He no longer teaches, but currently resides in Noda, Chiba, Japan. Early life Masaaki Hatsumi was born in Noda, Ch ...

, there are lessons to be learned from everything—good or bad.

References

External links

Dai Ko Myo Revealed

Discussion of meaning

{{webarchive , url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226062526/http://starbuck.virtualave.net/main/ninpo/bow_in.htm Buddhist mantras