Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The blessed, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly awakened Buddha Amitāyus was staying in the excellent secret palace, Dharma Proclamation, in Sukhāvatī. He said to the bodhisattva, the great being, Noble Avalokiteśvara, “Child of noble family, there are beings who suffer, are afflicted with diseases, and have short lifespans. To help them, one should uphold and recite this dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas and teach it extensively to others for the sake of long life.”

Then the bodhisattva, the great being, Avalokiteśvara arose from his seat, joined his palms, and said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, please teach! Well-Gone One, please teach the dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas.”

Then the Blessed One looked upon the circle of his perfect retinue, entered the samādhi called the splendor beheld everywhere, and pronounced this dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas:

“oṁ namo bhagavate sarvatrailokyaprativiśiṣṭāya buddhāya te namaḥ | tadyathā | oṁ bhrūṁ bhrūṁ bhrūṁ | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | asamasamantāvabhāsaspharaṇagatigaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe | uṣṇīṣavijayapariśuddhe | abhiṣiñcantu māṃ sarvatathāgatāḥ sugatavaravacanāmṛtābhiṣekair mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ | āhara āhara mama āyuḥsandhāraṇi | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | gaganasvabhāvaviśuddhe | uṣṇīṣavijāyapariśuddhe | sahasraraśmisañcodite | sarvatathāgatāvalokini | ṣaṭpāramitāparipūraṇi | sarvatathāgatamāte | daśabhūmipratiṣṭḥite | sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭḥite | mudre mudre mahāmudre | vajrakāyasaṃhatanapariśuddhe | sarvakarmāvaraṇaviśuddhe | pratinivartaya mamāyurviśuddhe | sarvatathāgatasamayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | oṁ muni muni mahāmuni | vimuni vimuni mahāvimuni | mati mati mahāmati | mamati | sumati | tathatābhūtakoṭipariśuddhe | visphuṭabuddhiśuddhe | he he | jaya jaya | vijaya vijaya | smara smara | sphara sphara | sphāraya sphāraya | sarvabuddhādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | śuddhe śuddhe | buddhe buddhe | vajre vajre mahāvajre | suvajre | vajragarbhe | jayagarbhe | vijayagarbhe | vajrajvālagarbhe | vajrodbhave | vajrasambhave | vajre | vajrini | vajram bhavatu mama śarīraṃ sarvasatvānāñ ca kāyapariśuddhir bhavatu | me sadā sarvagatipariśuddhiś ca | sarvatathāgatāś ca māṃ samāśvāsayantu | budhya budhya | siddhya siddhya | bodhaya bodhaya | vibodhaya vibodhaya | mocaya mocaya | vimocaya vimocaya | śodhaya śodhaya | viśodhaya viśodhaya | samantamocaya mocaya | samantaraśmipariśuddhe | sarvatathāgatahṛdayādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite | mudre mudre mahāmudre | mahāmudrāmantrapadaiḥ svāhā.

“Child of noble family, this dhāraṇī of the crown victory of all tathāgatas is the destroyer of the great cudgel of the Lord of Death, the purifier, the destroyer of evil deeds. If one writes this dhāraṇī on birch bark or some other surface, places it in the center of a caitya, worships it extensively by offering whatever one has, and then circumambulates it one hundred thousand times, one will be granted an excellent lifespan and a sharp intellect. When this is done, a lifespan of seven days will become seven years, and a lifespan of seven years will become seventy years. Thus, one will obtain an excellent lifespan, a good memory, freedom from illness, and the ability to remember previous lives.

“If someone installs this dhāraṇī in a caitya and binds a cloth on which the dhāraṇī is written around its summit they will be freed from grave illness.

“Write the dhāraṇī together with one’s own name on a piece of cloth or bark using yellow pigment derived from cow bile and install it in a sandalwood caitya. Then place it at home and worship it with thousands of vast offerings. If one performs this offering rite each month while reciting the dhāraṇī eight hundred times, one will be free from illness and live for one hundred years. If a sandalwood caitya is not available, follow the same procedure with a clay caitya.

“One can also draw on a clean piece of cloth a caitya that is resting on a crossed vajra and ornamented with an encircling vajra garland. Write one’s own name and the words of the dhāraṇī in the center of it with yellow pigment derived from cow bile. When this is installed inside an enclosed vessel made of two clay cups, placed in the home, and worshiped with extensive offerings, one will always be protected.

“An additional rite is as follows: make a square maṇḍala with cow dung that has not fallen on the ground and scatter it with white flowers. Place four butter lamps at the four corners. Burn incense made of aloeswood and frankincense. Fill a vessel with perfumed water and adorn it with white flowers. Place in the center a caitya or statue with the dhāraṇī in its inner chamber. Touch it with the left hand while holding a mālā in the right hand, and recite the dhāraṇī twenty-one times at the three times of the day. One who drinks three handfuls of that water will be free of illness and have a long life. Their enemies will fall away, and they will gain a sharp intellect and noble speech. They will remember their previous births from one lifetime to the next. If that water is sprinkled around a house, a cattle barn or horse stable, or a royal residence, there will be no fear of thieves, snakes, yakṣas, or rākṣasas, and no one will suffer from illness. If the water is sprinkled over someone’s head, they will be freed from illness.

“There is also the extremely beneficial dhāraṇī of limitless life, which brings great pacification wherever it is applied. If it is recited in full twenty-one times over a toothbrush, one will not have any pain when chewing, and one will have a sharp intellect and a long life. If it is recited over three handfuls of water twenty-one times at the three times of the day, whoever drinks that water will be completely freed from all illness and will live for a long time.”

Then the bodhisattva great being Noble Avalokiteśvara circumambulated the Blessed One Amitāyus and said, “Blessed One, how should a son or daughter of noble family perform the caitya ritual? How should they accomplish such tasks as making the statue and so forth, and how should they perform the fire offering?”

The Blessed One replied:

“You have asked a good question. Great hero, how excellent! For the love and sake of all beings, Listen with one-pointed attention!”

Then the Blessed One entered into the samādhi called glorious limitless light rays in all directions and spoke this dhāraṇī called the limitless life of all tathāgatas:

“oṁ amṛte amṛtodbhave amṛtavikrānte amṛtagate amṛtagāmini amṛtāyurdatte gaganakīrtikare sarvakleśakṣayaṃ kariye svāhā

“Recite this dhāraṇī as many times as possible while excavating the clay for building a caitya, while applying that clay, and all the way up until the canopy is raised.”

Then he taught the rite:

“Now I will properly explain The supreme caitya rite.

“It should be twelve finger-widths in size, adorned with many ornaments made of gold, lapis, silver, and rubies, and placed upon a lotus. Draw the Four World-Protectors holding banners in the four directions, the gods of the pure abodes holding flowers, incense, and perfumes, Śakra, Lord of the Gods, holding the parasol, and Avalokiteśvara and Vajradhara holding white tail whisks on the right and the left sides. Following proper procedure, draw these on the petals of the lotus, proceeding clockwise around the caitya. Write down the dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas and install it in the caitya’s interior relic chamber. Then, sprinkle the caitya with scented water and worship it with delightfully scented flowers. Perform a thousandfold offering. Fast on the eighth day of the waxing moon, and, with your mind set on the benefit of all beings, make offerings for the bestowal of long life and intelligence and recite the dhāraṇī one thousand times. If this is done every month for six months, one will obtain a lifespan of a thousand years. If it is done regularly for a year, one will obtain a lifespan of a hundred thousand years. If it is performed in perpetuity, one will obtain an inexhaustible lifespan, become powerful, be undefeatable by anyone, and obtain a supreme celestial uṣṇīṣa that is unequaled by even the gods and asuras.

“Here is another rite. Take some earth from a very holy place, mix it with delightful perfumes, and make a caitya. Start with one thousand, and make up to five thousand caityas. Every day install the crown victory dhāraṇī in all the caityas. Perform the extensive offering as instructed and read the dhāraṇī aloud starting with one thousand times and for as many as seven thousand recitations. Perform this every day for the dhāraṇī that bestows long life and intelligence, and dedicate one’s own roots of virtue to the shared benefit of all beings. Give up such things as restraining and beating beings. In each subsequent month make twice as many offerings and recite the dhāraṇī eight hundred times. This should be performed by oneself or by someone else in one’s stead.

“This ritual will allow one to avoid the eight types of untimely death. One will have a sharp intellect, be free from illness, live for one hundred years, be delightful to all beings, and recollect past lives. When the time comes to die, one will leave one’s body behind just like a snake shedding its skin and be reborn into a beautiful body in the world of Sukhāvatī. One will never be reborn into lower rebirths as a hell being, in the animal realm, or in the Realm of the Lord of Death. One will not even hear the word hell, so how could one experience the ripening of such a karmic result? One will not go to those places.”

Then the Blessed One Amitāyus taught the following sādhana:

“A skillful person who wishes beings to have limitless lifespans and to bring about their freedom from the pitiful state of saṃsāra should make a beautiful canvas that is the proper size out of threads that have been spun by a young maiden. Then, using a variety of colors of pigment, one should write the crown victory dhāraṇī inside a caitya that has been emanated from the letters of the dhāraṇī.

“Draw Amitāyus garlanded by thousands of light rays and seated upon a lotus and moon seat. He is luminous like the autumn moon and adorned with every ornament. He has three faces, each with three eyes, and he has eight arms. His right face is peaceful and radiant with golden light. His left face is fierce, with fangs biting down on his lower lip, and radiant with light the color of a blue utpala. His central face is charming and white. His right hands hold a crossed vajra at his heart, Amitābha seated on a lotus, an arrow, and the gesture of supreme generosity. His left hands hold a lasso with the threatening gesture, a bow, the gesture granting freedom from fear, and a vase. On his head is the syllable oṁ in a caitya, at his throat is the syllable āḥ, and at his heart the syllable huṁ. At his forehead is hraṁ, at his navel hrīḥ, and at his two feet aṁ aḥ. Arrange these syllables on his body and include the phrase rakṣa svāhā with one’s own name inside it.

“On either side of him are Padmapāṇi and Vajradhara holding white tail whisks. Above, like a flow of nectar raining down, are a pair of gods from the pure abodes. In the four directions are wrathful Acala, Kāmarāja, Nīladaṇḍa, and Mahābala. They hold a sword, a hook, a club, and a vajra, respectively, and their left hands brandish the threatening gesture to frighten malevolent beings.

“When one has completed it with careful attention to those details, one should fast near a caitya that has relics and worship it with a thousandfold great offering while reciting the dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times. Recite the dhāraṇī one thousand times each day from the first to the fifteenth day of the waxing moon. Then, in the early morning at dawn you will see the face of the Bhagavatī, and she will give you whatever accomplishments you desire.

“One can also install the painting in a location that has been anointed with delightfully scented water, perform extensive worship, and recite the dhāraṇī eight hundred times each day. Or, one can make a thousandfold offering and recite the dhāraṇī a thousand times. If one does this, one’s lifespan will be limitless and one will be able to suppress others with limitless power, be able to fly, and be free from great illness. This will make anyone able to memorize and perfectly recite one thousand verses each day.

“Or if someone is unable to do that, they should install it in their home in a place that has been anointed with scented water and make whatever offerings they have. In all the coming months they should recite the dhāraṇī eight hundred times on the eighth day of the month, and every day they should recite it twenty-one times at the three times of the day. If they do this, they will have a sharp intellect and a long life. They will be full of insight, free from illness, and happy. They will live for one hundred years and remember their past lives.

“Or if one is unable to do this oneself and someone does it in one’s stead, then one will have a long life and a sharp intellect.

“Now I will explain the fire offering rite for the benefit of all beings. Build a round hearth one cubit in size and adorned with a garland of vajras. Smear it with white sandalwood or white earth and scatter white flowers on it. Place a butter lamp on each of its four sides, and worship it properly with incense and other offerings. In each of the four directions place a well-decorated and beautiful vase covered with white cloth with its openings adorned with boughs from a tree. Start a fire with wood from a date palm, and summon Agni by asking him to approach as you give three full ladles in the fire and sprinkle it with cleansing water. Visualize Amitāyus clearly in the center of the hearth, recite the crown victory dhāraṇī, and offer three full ladles. One can also perform the fire offering while reciting the dhāraṇī together with the life-extending and intelligence-sharpening dhāraṇī oṁ amṛtāyurdatte svāhā eight hundred times at the three times of the day.

“If one recites the crown victory dhāraṇī seven times one will have a long life, a sharp intellect, and happiness and be free from illness.

“Someone who wishes to live for a thousand years can also make an extensive offering on the eighth day of the waxing moon and perform the homa at the three times of the day, and supreme long life and a sharp intellect will be bestowed upon them.

“One should not disparage beings. With this rite, one’s body will not be afflicted by illness. One will live for five thousand years, be victorious over enemies, and have a sharp intellect and a sweet voice.

“If one is unable to perform this oneself but someone performs it in one’s stead, one will obtain great peace.

“If one seeks some other accomplishment, one can recite the great crown victory dhāraṇī together with the life-extending and intelligence-sharpening dhāraṇī while performing the fire offering one hundred thousand times. If one performs the thousandfold worship and recites the dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times at the beginning and end, one will live for a hundred thousand years. If one does this ten million times, one will live for ten million years. Following the practice of this rite will enable one to live for countless years, to fly, to be heroic, and to be victorious over all enemies.

“If one seeks glory and performs a fire offering of one hundred thousand wood apples, one will obtain great glory. If one seeks to be king and performs a fire offering of one hundred thousand lotuses, one will become a great king. If one performs that ten million times, one will become a universal monarch.

“Or, if one wishes to obtain the sword siddhi and so forth, one should display the painting in front of a caitya that contains relics, perform the great thousandfold offering, and recite the dhāraṇī one hundred thousand times. If one recites it one hundred thousand times over a sword made of the five metals and then holds the sword in one’s right hand, one will be able to travel to whatever place one thinks of, take whatever form one desires, be extremely powerful, and subdue others. One will be the singular guide of all beings and then become the great, supreme physician with a limitless lifespan. One can also perform the same sādhana over a vajra, cakra, trident, and the like.

“This great dhāraṇī with limitless benefits that is the heart of all the tathāgatas and supremely difficult to encounter will bring about the accomplishment of any ritual action to which it is applied. Whoever recites this dhāraṇī called the crown victory of all tathāgatas twenty-one times at the three times of the day every day, makes a great caitya and hangs the dhāraṇī from it, and explains the dhāraṇī to others at length will be happy, powerful, and free from illness, live for a hundred years, have a sharp intellect, and remember their previous lives. When they die, they will leave their body behind just like a snake shedding its skin and be born into the world of Sukhāvatī. The word hell will never reach their ears, so how could they experience the ripening of such a karmic result? They will always remember their previous lives from one lifetime to the next.”

When the Blessed One spoke these words, his entire retinue and the world and its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the Blessed One had said.