1.
THE GREAT PRAJÑÂ PÂRAMITÂ HEART SUTRA
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, practicing deep prajña paramita,
Clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty,
Transforming all suffering and distress.
Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness,
Emptiness no other than form;
Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form.
Sensation, perception, mental reaction and consciousness
Are also like this.
Shariputra, all things are essentially empty—
Not created, not destroyed; not stained, not pure;
Without loss, without gain.
Therefore in emptiness there is no form, sensation,
Perception, mental reaction, consciousness;
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind,
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;
No seeing and so on to no thinking;
No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,
And so on to no old age and death,
And also no ending of old age and death;
No suffering, cause of suffering, cessation, path;
No wisdom and no attainment.
Since there is nothing to attain, The Bodhisattva lives by prajña paramita
With no hindrance in the mind;
No hindrance and therefore no fear;
Far beyond delusive thinking, right here is Nirvana.
All Buddhas of past, present, and future live by prajña paramita,
Attaining the highest, most perfect enlightenment.
Therefore know that prajña paramita is the great mantra,
The clear mantra, the unsurpassed mantra, the supreme mantra,
Which completely removes all suffering.
This is the truth and not a lie.
Therefore set forth this mantra and proclaim:
Gate, gate, paragate,
Parasamgate, bodhi swaha!
The Heart of Transcendent Wisdom Sutra!
2.
GREAT ANCESTOR EIHEI DOGEN’S WORDS FOR AROUSING THE VOW (EIHEI KOSO HOTSUGAN MON)
We vow together with all beings, from this life on throughout numerous lifetimes, not to fail to hear the true Dharma. Hearing this we will not be skeptical and will not be without faith. Directly upon encountering the true Dharma, we will abandon the law of the world and uphold and maintain the Buddha Dharma. In time, together with the great earth and all animate beings, we will accomplish the Way.
Although our previous evil karma has greatly accumulated, producing causes and conditions that obstruct the Way, may the buddhas and ancestors who have attained the Buddha Way be compassionate to us and liberate us from our karmic entanglements, allowing us to practice the Way without hindrance. May they share with us their compassion, which fills the boundless universe with the virtue of their enlightenment and teachings.
Buddhas and ancestors of old were as we; we shall come to be buddhas and ancestors. Venerating buddhas and ancestors, we are one with buddhas and ancestors; contemplating awakening mind, we are one with awakened mind. Because their compassion reaches everywhere, we will attain buddhahood and let go of the attainment.
Accordingly, Longya said:
What in past lives was not yet complete, must now be complete. In this life save the body coming from the accumulated lives. Before enlightenment ancient buddhas were the same as we. After enlightenment we will be exactly as those ancient ones.
Quietly explore the depths of this karmic connection, as these are the exact words of a verified buddha. If we repent in this way, we cannot fail to receive the inconceivable help of buddhas and ancestors. Confessing to Buddha with mindful heart and dignified body, the power of this confession will eradicate the roots of wrongdoing. This is the one color of true practice, of the true mind of faith, of the true body of faith.
3.
Hakuin Zenji’s Song of Zazen
All beings are by nature Buddha,
As ice by nature is water.
Apart from water, there is no ice,
Apart from beings, no Buddha.
How sad that people ignore the near
And search for truth afar,
Like one in the midst of water
Crying out in thirst,
Like the child of a wealthy home
Wandering among the poor.
Lost on dark paths of ignorance,
We wander through the six worlds;
From dark path to dark path we wander;
When shall we be freed from birth and death?
Oh the Zenjô of the Mahayana!
To this the highest praise!
Nembutsu, confession, and the many virtues
All rise within Zenjô.
Those who practise zazen but once
Sweep all their ancient vice away.
Where are all the dark paths then?
The Pure Land is not far away.
Those who hear this truth but once,
And listen with a grateful heart,
Exalting it, revering it,
Gain blessings without end.
Still more, those who turn within
And testify to their Self-Nature,
Self-Nature that is no nature,
Go far beyond mere doctrine.
The gate of the oneness of cause and effect opens.
Straight runs the way; not two, not three.
As form that is no form,
Going and coming, never astray.
As thought that is no thought,
Your singing and dancing are the voice of the Dharma.
Boundless and free is the sky of Samadhi!
Bright the moon of the four-fold wisdom!
And what more indeed can we seek?
Nirvana is right here before us.
This very place is the Lotus Land;
This very body, the Buddha.
4.
GATHA ON OPENING THE DHARMA
The Dharma, incomparably profound and infinitely subtle,
Is rarely encountered, even in hundreds of thousands of millions of ages.
Now we can see it, hear it, receive and maintain it;
May we completely realize the true meaning of the Tathagata.
3 times
5.
REPENTANCE
All the evil karma ever created by me since of old,
On account of my beginningless greed, hatred, and folly,
Born of my body, mouth, and thought,
I now confess, and repent.
3 times
6.
PRAYER BEFORE MEALS
I am thankful for this food,
The work of many hands and the sharing of other forms of life.
May I eat it without greed for the liberation of all beings
And the attainment of the Way.
May we live in this world of emptiness,
Like the lotus in muddy water.
The boundless mind is unsurpassable;
We bow to it in gratitude.
7.
THE FOUR GREAT VOWS
Sentient beings are numberless;
I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible;
I vow to end them.
The Dharma gates are boundless;
I vow to enter them.
The Buddha Way is unsurpassable.
I vow to embody it fully.
– 3 times –
May the merits of this recitation be extended to all beings, and may each one of us advance in our practice with firm and faithful mind, so that we, together with all living beings, may fulfill the Way of the Buddha.
All Buddhas throughout space and time
All Honored Ones, Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas,
Wisdom beyond Wisdom.
Maha Prajña Paramita.
8.
THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES
May all sentient beings have happiness and the root of happiness;
May they be free from suffering and from the root of suffering;
May they not be separated from the happiness that is free from suffering;
May they rest in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.
9.
TO STUDY THE WAY
To study the Way is to study oneself.
To study oneself is to forget oneself.
To forget oneself is to perceive all things as oneself.
To realize this is to cast off the body and mind of self and others.
When you have reached this stage you will be detached even from enlightenment but will practice it continually without thinking about it.
Dogen Zenji
10.
IDENTITY OF RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE (SANDÔKAI)
The mind of the great sage of India was intimately conveyed from West to East.
Among human beings are wise men and fools, but in the Way there is no northern or southern patriarch.
The subtle source is clear and bright. The tributary streams flow through the darkness.
To be attached to things is illusion. To encounter the absolute is not yet enlightenment.
Each and all, the subjective and objective spheres are related, and at the same time independent;
Related, yet working differently, though each keeps its own place.
Form makes the character and appearance different, sounds distinguish comfort and discomfort.
The dark makes all words one. The brightness distinguishes good and bad phrases.
The four elements return to their nature as a child to its mother.
Fire is hot, wind moves, water is wet, earth hard, eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongue tastes the salt and sour.
Each is independent of the other; cause and effect must return to the great reality.
The words high and low are used relatively.
Within light there is darkness, but do not try to understand that darkness;
within darkness there is light, but do not look for that light.
Light and darkness are a pair, like the foot before and the foot behind in walking.
Each thing has its own intrinsic value and is related to everything else in function and position.
Ordinary life fits the absolute as a box and its lid.
The absolute works together with the relative like two arrows meeting in mid-air.
Hearing the words you should understand the source; don’t set up standards on your own.
If you do not see the Way, you do not see it even as you walk on it.
When you walk the Way it is not near, it is not far.
If you are deluded, you are mountains and rivers away from it.
I respectfully say to those who wish to be enlightened:
do not waste your time by night or day.
11.
THE SUTRA OF LOVING KINDNESS (METTA SUTRA)
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease. Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or tall,
The seen and the unseen, those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings:
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
Spreading upwards to the skies, and downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded, freed from hatred and ill-will.
Standing or walking, seated or lying down,
Free from drowsiness, one should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, with clarity of vision,
And freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.
12
ON ZEN
There is a reality even prior to heaven and earth;
Indeed, it has no form, much less a name;
Eyes fail to see it; it has no voice for ears to hear.
To call it Mind or Buddha violates its nature,
For it then becomes like a visionary flower in the air.
It is not Mind, nor Buddha;
Absolutely quiet, and yet mysteriously illuminating,
It allows itself to be perceived only by the clear-eyed.
It is Dharma, truly beyond form and sound;
It is Tao, having nothing to do with words.
Wishing to entice the blind,
The Buddha has playfully let words escape his golden mouth;
Heaven and earth are ever since filled with entangling briars.
O my good, worthy friends gathered here,
If you desire to listen to the thunderous voice of the Dharma,
Exhaust your words, empty your thoughts,
For then you may come to recognize this one essence.
Daio Kokushi
13.
ENMEI JIKKU KANNON GYÔ
TEN VERSE KANNON SUTRA FOR PROLONGING LIFE
Kanzeon Namu butsu Praise to Buddha!
Yo butsu u in With Buddha have direct cause,
Yo butsu u en With Buddha have contributing cause;
Bup-pô so en Buddha, Dharma, Sangha:
Jô raku ga jô Freedom, Joy, Self, Purity.
Chô nen kan ze on Mornings evoke Kanzeon,
Bo nen kan ze on Evenings evoke Kanzeon
Nen nen jû shin ki Thought after thought arises From Buddha Mind
Nen nen fu ri shin Thought after thought is one with Buddha Mind.
-3 times –
14.
TI-SARANA, THREEFOLD RETURN
Buddham saranam gacchāmi I return to the Buddha
Dhammam saranam gacchāmi I return to the Dharma
Sangham saranam gacchāmi I return to the Sangha –
3 times
15.
SHOAIMYO KICHIJO DHARANI DHARANI FOR REMOVING DISASTERS
Nô mô sam man dâ, moto nan, The incomparable Buddha-power
Oha râ chî koto shâ, sono nan, That banishes suffering – Om!
Tô jî tô en gyâ gyâ gyâ kî gyâ kî, un nun, The Buddha of reality, wisdom, Nirvana!
Shifu râ shifu râ, hara shifu râ hara shifu râ Light! Light! Great light! Great light!
Chishu sâ chishu sâ, chishu rî chishu rî, With no categories, this mysterious power
Sowa jâ sowa jâ Saves all beings;
Senchî gyâ, shiri ei sô mô kô Suffering goes, happiness comes,
3 times
16.
SHIGU SEI GAN MON
(The Four Great Vows)
SHUJÔ MUHEN; SEI GAN DO.
BON NÔ MUJIN; SEI GAN DAN.
HO MON MURYÔ; SEI GAN GAKU.
BUTSUDÔ MUJÔ; SEI GAN JÔ.
17.
MAKA HANNYA HARAMITA SHINGYO
(THE GREAT PRAJNA PARAMITA HEART SUTRA)
KAN-JI ZAI BO SATSU.GYO JIN HAN-NYA HA RA MI TA JI.
SHÔ KEN GO ON KAI KU. DO IS-SAI KU YAKU.
SHA-RI-SHI. SHIKI FU I KU. KU FU I SHIKI.
SHIKI SOKU ZE KU. KU SOKU ZE SHIKI.
JU SÔ GYÔ SHIKI. YAKU BU ZE.
SHA-RI-SHI ZE SHO HÔ KÛ SÔ. FU-SHÔ FU-METSU.
FU-KU FU-JÔ. FU-ZÔ FU-GEN.
ZE-KO KÛ CHÛ. MU-SHIKI MU JU SÔ GYÔ SHIKI
MU-GEN NI BI ZES-SHIN NI.
MU-SHIKI SHÔ KÔ MI SOKU HÔ.
MU-GEN KAI NAI-SHI MU-I-SHIKI-KAI.
MU MU-MYÔ YAKU MU MU-MYÔ JIN.
NAI-SHI MU-RÔ-SHI. YAKU MU-RÔ-SHI JIN.
MU-KU SHÛ METSU DÔ.
MU-CHI YAKU MU-TOKU. I MU-SHO-TOKU-KO.
BO-DAI SAT-TA. E HAN-NYA HA-RA-MI-TA KO.
SHIN MU KEI-GE. MU-KEI-GE KO. MU U KÛ-FU.
ON-RI IS-SAI TEN-DÔ MU-SÔ. KU-GYÔ NE-HAN.
SAN-ZE-SHO-BUTSU. E HAN-NYA HA-RA-MI-TA KO.
TOKU A-NOKU TA-RA SAM-MYAKU SAN-BO-DAI.
KO CHI HAN-NYA HA-RA-MI-TA.
ZE DAI-JIN-SHU. ZE DAI-MYÔ-SHU.
ZE MU JÔ-SHU. ZE MU TÔ-DÔ-SHU.
NÔ-JO IS-SAI-KU. SHIN-JITSU FU-KO.
KO SETSU HAN-NYA HA-RA-MI-TA SHU.
SOKU SETSU SHU WATSU.
GYA-TEI, GYA-TEI, HA-RA GYA-TEI. HARA SÔ GYA-TEI.
BÔ-JI SOWA-KA. HAN-NYA SHIN-GYÔ.
