White Whisk Hand: Brushing Aside the Obstacles on the Body

Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.

Original text

若為除身上惡障難者。 當於白拂手。《千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經》 (Great Compassion Dharani Sutra of the Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin Bodhisattva, translated by Bhagavaddharma of the Tang, T1060)

Plain-language explanation

On the White Whisk Hand, the Great Compassion Dharani Sutra has only one line: 「若為除身上惡障難者。 當於白拂手。」 It means that if one wishes to remove the evil obstacles and calamities on the body, one corresponds to the White Whisk Hand.

First, look at the structure of the line. The sutra first names the matter to be solved, then names the hand that corresponds to it. Most of the Forty Hands follow this pattern. In this lesson the matter is 「除身上惡障難」, removing the evil obstacles and calamities on the body; the corresponding hand is the hand holding a white whisk.

Next, see what another sutra adds. When the Qianguangyan Guanzizai Pusa Mimi Fa Jing speaks of the same hand, it writes 「若欲解脫一切障難者，當修白拂法」. This sutra calls this honored one 「拂難觀自在」. The literal meaning of the name is to whisk away difficulty. This hand belongs to the Buddha family and to the practice of pacifying calamities (息災法), meaning its nature leans toward removing calamity. These classifications are material compiled from the sutras and this site's archive; they are not today's commentary.

This sutra also records how this hand is drawn: the right arm is bent with the palm turned outward, and the left hand holds the white whisk. This lesson does not cover the details of practice; here we speak only of meaning.

A white whisk is a dust whisk, used to brush dust away. A small outward object stands for brushing aside and clearing away. In this line the sutra does not explain why the white whisk symbolizes the removal of obstacles, so this layer of meaning comes from the reader taking the words at face value; it is not stated by the sutra.

Next is this site's modern way of putting it. This site's compilation matches the White Whisk Hand to “helping to clear away difficulties and get free of them”. This is a correspondence made by this site to bring the ancient sutra closer to life today; it is not the original meaning of the sutra. It means that when someone is stuck in a difficulty, what can be done in that moment is to help clear it away and help them get free.

One reminder: the sutra speaks of obstacles and calamities on the 「身上」 (body), gives no guarantee of results, and does not say that anything will surely be removed. In reading this line, the point is to see clearly what it says: there are obstacles and calamities, there is a corresponding hand, and the image is one of whisking away. The sutra says no more than that.

Key terms

惡障難

The sutra uses this phrase to sum up the obstacles and calamities one meets on the body. This line does not list them one by one, so do not add specific items of your own when reading.

白拂手

One of the Forty Hands, holding a white whisk (a dust whisk). The Qianguangyan Guanzizai Pusa Mimi Fa Jing (《千光眼觀自在菩薩祕密法經》) calls the honored one of this hand Fuhui Guanzizai (拂難觀自在), 'Guanzizai who whisks away difficulty'.

障難

When the Qianguangyan Guanzizai Pusa Mimi Fa Jing speaks of the same hand, it writes 「一切障難」. Literally this means obstacles and calamities; it does not divide them any further.

One line to remember

若為除身上惡障難者

Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.