Note f145 — THE MEDITATION HALL, AND THE IDEALS OF THE MONKISH DISCIPLINE

Dharaṇī is a Sanskrit term which comes from the root dhṛi, meaning “to hold.” In Buddhist phraseology, it is a collection, sometimes short, sometimes long, of exclamatory sentences which are not translated into other languages. It is not therefore at all intelligible when it is read by the monks as it is done in the Chinese and Japanese monasteries. But it is supposed to “hold” in it in some mysterious way something that is most meritorious and has the power to keep evil ones away. Later, dharanis and mantrams have grown confused with one another.