Q: Dear Master Lu, can the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots be used to resolve my karmic conflicts with several people at the same time? For example, before we recite the mantra, are we allowed to say, “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva help me, <your full name>, to resolve the karmic conflicts between my father <full name>, my mother <full name> and me?”
A:
Everyone has their own karmic conflicts and obstacles with other people. For example, parents have their own karmic conflicts and obstacles with each other, you and your mother or father also have respective karmic conflicts and obstacles. They are all different. Therefore, when you recite the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots, you must say the prayers separately to resolve your karmic conflicts for each relationship. Reciting the mantra and praying to resolve several karmic conflicts at the same time will not be effective.
Reciting the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots is an act of sincerely asking the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva to help us resolve our karmic conflicts with other people. Some of its functions include: clearing up misunderstandings in a relationship between couples, fostering harmony in marriage and family, resolving interpersonal conflicts at work, and eliminating karmic obstacles accumulated from previous lives.
In general, the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots can be recited 21, 27, 49, or 108 times per day. It can be recited during the day or at night. Before reciting the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots, you can say the following prayer: “May the Greatly Merciful and Greatly Compassionate Guan Yin Bodhisattva protect and bless me, <your full name>, help me to resolve my negative karmic affinity with <the other party’s full name> (it can be your relative, friend, or colleague’s name).”
The Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots can also be used to untie the karmic knots between <someone’s full name> and imprisonment, between <someone’s full name> and fishing, between <someone’s full name> and drugs, or between <someone’s full name> and gambling. It can be used to resolve the karmic conflicts of <someone’s full name> within a relationship as well. However, you cannot simply recite the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots on its own without reciting other sutras or mantras. This mantra can only be used as a supplement, just like one of the many necessary ingredients in a medicine.
The Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots requires the Heart Sutra as a foundation to be more effective. In general, if you recite the Heart Sutra 7 times per day as part of your daily recitation, then you can recite the Mantra to Untie Karmic Knots for up to 49 times per day. If you need to recite this mantra more than 49 times per day, then you should increase your recitation of the Heart Sutra to at least 13 times per day.