Category: Sutras

Categories
Poetry Sutras

Shantideva’s Prayer

May all beings everywhere,
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind,
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my merits.
May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.
May the blind see forms
And the deaf hear sounds.
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored on finding repose.
May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food.
May the thirsty find water
And delicious drinks.
May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.
May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests.
May all medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit.
May all who are sick and ill
Quickly be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases there are in the world,
May they never occur again.
May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed.
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefiting each other.
For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then, may I too remain,
To dispel the misery of the world.

Categories
Sutras

Song of Zazen

By ~ Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768)

All beings by nature are 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 someone in the midst of water
crying out in thirst,
like a 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?

For this the zazen of the Mahayana deserves the highest praise: offerings, precepts, paramitas, nembutsu, atonement, practice –
the many other virtues –
all rise within zazen.

Those who try zazen even once
wipe away immeasurable crimes –
where are all the dark paths then?
The Pure Land itself is near.

Those who hear this truth even once
and listen with a grateful heart,
treasuring it, revering it,
gain blessings without end.

Much more, if you turn yourself about,
and confirm your own self-nature –
self-nature that is no nature –
you are far beyond mere argument.

The oneness of cause and effect is clear,
not two, not three, the path is straight;
with form that is no form,
going and coming – never astray,
with thought that is no thought
singing and dancing are the voice of the Law.

How boundless and free is the sky of Samadhi,
How bright the full moon of wisdom,
Truly is anything missing now?
Nirvana is right here, before our eyes,
this very place is the Lotus Land,
this very body the Buddha.

Categories
Dawn Dojo Koans Sutras Words

Genjokoan

by ~ Dogen Zenji (1233 A.D)
Click here to download this text as a PDF

1

As all things are buddha-dharma, there is delusion and realization, practice, and birth and death, and there are buddhas and sentient beings.

As the myriad things are without an abiding self, there is no delusion, no realization, no buddha, no sentient being, no birth and death.

The buddha way is, basically, leaping clear of the many and the one; thus there are birth and death, delusion and realization, sentient beings and Buddhas.

Yet in attachment blossoms fall, and in aversion weeds spread.

Continue reading “Genjokoan”
Categories
2020 Term 1 Images Miscellaneous Online Zen Group Sutras

Handwashing Lyrics

Categories
Online Zen Group Sutras

The Four Great Vows

These four vows guide our entire practice. We recite them together at the end of our formal gatherings

The many beings are numberless. I vow to save them;

Greed, hatred, and ignorance rise endlessly. I vow to abandon them;

Dharma gates are countless. I vow to walk through them; 

The awakening way is unsurpassed. I vow to embody it fully. 

Categories
Online Zen Group Sutras

Liberation within obstruction

This sutra is a recent addition to our Zen Open Circle Sutra Book.

In the presence of Sangha,
in the light of Dharma,
in oneness with Buddha –
may my path to realization
benefit all beings!

In this passing moment karma ripens
and all things come to be.
I vow to affirm what is:

If there’s cost, I choose to pay.
If there’s need, I choose to give.
If there’s pain, I choose to feel.
If there’s sorrow, I choose to grieve.
When burning, I choose heat.
When calm, I choose peace.
When starving, I choose hunger.
When happy, I choose joy.
Whom I encounter, I choose to meet.
What I shoulder, I choose to bear.
When it’s my birth, I choose to live.
When it’s my death, I choose to die.
Where this takes me, I choose to go.
Being with what is, I respond to what is.

This life is as real as a dream;
the one who knows it can not be found;
and truth is not a thing, therefore I vow
to choose this constant Dharma open gate!

May all Buddhas and all beings
help me live this vow.

Categories
Online Zen Group Sutras

Taking part in the gathering

The is the sutra from which our Online Zen Group (and this blog) takes its name. Originally composed by Shitou Xiqian and translated by Joan Sutherland & John Tarrant in 2001.

The mind of the great Indian Immortal
moves seamlessly between East and West.
It’s human nature to be quick or slow,
but in the Way there are no northern or southern ancestors.

The mysterious source of the bright is clear and unstained;
branches of light stream from that dark.
Trying to control things is only delusion,
but hanging onto the absolute isn’t enlightenment, either.
We and everything we perceive
are interwoven and not interwoven,
and this interweaving continues on and on,
while each thing stands in its own place.
In the world of form, we differentiate substances and images;
in the world of sound, we distinguish music from noise.
In the embrace of the dark, good words and bad words are the same, but in the bright we divide clear speech from confusion.

The four elements return to their natures
like a child to the mother.
Fire is hot, the winds blow,
water is wet, the earth solid.
The eye sees form, the ear hears voices,
the nose smells fragrance, the tongue tastes salt and sour.
Everything, depending on its root, spreads out its leaves.
Both roots and branches must return to their origin,
and so do respectful and insulting words.

The darkness is inside the bright,
but don’t look only with the eyes of the dark.
The brightness is inside the dark,
but don’t look only through the eyes of the bright.
Bright and dark are a pair,
like front foot and back foot walking.

Each thing by nature has worth,
but we notice it is shaped by its circumstances.
Things fit together like boxes and lids,
while the absolute is like arrows meeting in mid-air.
When you let these words in, you encounter the ancestors;
don’t limit yourself to your own small story.

If you don’t see the Way with your own eyes,
you won’t know the road even as you’re walking on it.
Walking the Way, we’re never near or far from it;
deluded, we are cut off from it by mountains and rivers.
You who seek the mystery,
in daylight or in the shadows of night, don’t throw away your time.

Artwork above: Cody Hooper ‘Interconnected Dreams’.