7. Dotting the Little House
- Prior to putting a dot in the circles with a red pen, the reciter field of the Little House must be filled in. The recipient field should also be filled in, except in the case of Little Houses reserved for future use. If you fail to do so, the power from reciting sutras and mantras can be easily lost.
- Each time you finish reciting a sutra or mantra, use a red marker to fill the corresponding circle. Alternatively, you can put the dots after reciting a series or an entire section of sutras and mantras.
- Only red pens or markers of suitable thickness are to be used for the dots.
- The circles on the Little Houses must not be ticked, dots must not go outside the circle or fill the circle completely. You are only allowed to fill red dots. The red dots cannot be too small, otherwise the effectiveness of the Little Houses will be reduced. The red dots should take up 50%-80% of the space within each circle (refer to Figure 19).
- The sutras and mantras must be recited before the red dots are added; dots must not be added before the recitations are completed. If you accidentally dot a small number of circles for which you have not completed recitations, you should complete the corresponding number of recitations for these immediately.
- The number of sutras and mantras recited can exceed the number of circles on the Little Houses but must not fall short of the required number.
- When putting the red dots, it is best to start from the bottom, moving towards the top of the Little House. You can put dots for each individual section of sutras and mantras from the bottom to the top or you can put dots for all four sutras and mantras from the bottom to the top (refer to Figure 20).
- To prevent scriptures from being stolen by wandering spirits, it is strongly recommended to dot the Little House on a piece of red fabric (or red paper, or any other red material) no smaller than 60cm x 60cm (or 2ft x 2ft). The red fabric or paper must be in one piece, instead of being in loose pieces. You may use glue or red coloured thread to stitch small pieces of material together to form the required size of cloth or paper.If space is a constraint in laying the entire cloth flat for dotting the Little House, the cloth can be folded into a size no smaller than A4. If the texture of the material interferes with your writing or dotting, you may put a piece of red cardboard on it. Do not use glass on the red fabric as it will reduce its effectiveness.The paper used can be red on one or both sides.
- Instead of red fabric, you may use a brand new red table, no smaller than the specified dimensions.
- The cloth may have faint patterns without great contrasts in colour. It must be purely red in colour and should not contain images of animals or humans.Bright red or scarlet are the best shades of red for the cloth. Rose, orange or shades of red with a strong tinge of other colours are not suitable.
- The red fabric can be washed. (refer to Figure 20-1)
- Generally, red dots should be added before 10pm. Even if the energy field is relatively good, and you have a red mat underneath for protection, it is still best to avoid adding red dots after 12am. If you cannot manage to add the dots on the day that you recite, you can add them the following day. Little Houses should not be left undotted for too long, generally not longer than seven days.
- Red dots should not be added during thunderstorms.
Figure 19 How to Put a Dot in the Circles on the Little House
Figure 20 Dotting the Little House from the Bottom to the Top
Figure 20-1 A Piece of Red Fabric with Sides of 2ft to Place Underneath the Little House for Dotting
