Zen Chants and Sutras

CHANTS AND SUTRAS FOR SKY ABOVE ZEN

Gatha Of Atonement

All evil karma ever created by me of old
On account of my beginningless greed, hatred, and ignorance
Born of my conduct, speech and thought,
Now I atone for it all.

The Four Great Vows

Creations are numberless, I vow to be one with them
Delusions are inexhaustible, I vow to endure them
Dharmas are boundless, I vow to be teachable
The enlightened way is unsurpassable, I vow to embody it.

Shi Gu Sei Gan Mon (Japanese)

Shu Jo Muhen Sei Gan Do
Bon No Mujin Sei Gan Dan
Ho Mon Muryo, Sei Gan Gaku
Butsodo Mujo Sei Gan Jo.

Evening Gatha

Let me respectfully remind you
Life and death are of supreme importance
Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost
Each of us should strive to awaken, awaken
Take heed, this night your days are diminished by one
Do not squander your life.



Maha Prajna Paramita Heart (Hrdaya) Sutra

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva
(The Awakened One of Compassion)
Doing deep Prajna Paramita,
Clearly saw emptiness of all the five conditions,
Thus completely relieving misfortune and pain.
O Shariputra (a disciple), form is no other than emptiness,
Emptiness no other than form; Form is exactly emptiness,
Emptiness exactly form;
Sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness are likewise like this.
O Shariputra, all dharmas are forms of emptiness,
Not born, not destroyed;
Not stained, not pure,
Without loss, without gain:
So in emptiness there is no form,
No sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness;
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, phenomena;
No realm of sight,
No realm of consciousness;
No ignorance
And no end to ignorance …
No old age and death
And no end to old age and death;
No suffering, No cause of suffering,
No extinguishing,
No path; No wisdom and no gain.
No gain and thus the Bodhisattva lives Prajna Paramita
With no hindrance in the mind,
No hindrance, therefore no fear,
Far beyond deluded thoughts,
This is Nirvana.
All past, present and future Buddhas live Prajna Paramita,
And therefore attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (enlightenment)
Therefore know Prajna Paramita is the great mantra,
The vivid mantra,
The best mantra,
The unsurpassable mantra;
It completely clears all pain –
This is the truth, not a lie.
So set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,
Set forth this mantra and say:
Gate! Gate! (Gone Gone)
Paragate! (Gone beyond)
Parasamgate! (Fully beyond)
Bodhi Svaha! (Awake, Rejoice) Prajna Heart Sutra!

Sandokai: Identity of Relative and Absolute

The mind of the great sage of India
Was intimately conveyed from west and east
Among human beings are wise 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 the darkness
Within darkness there is light
But no 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 absolute
As a box and its lid
The absolute works together with the relative
Like two arrows meeting in mid-air
Reading words you should grasp the great reality
Do not judge by any standards
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.

                      Emmei Jukku Kannon Gyo  (Kanzeon Sutra of Compassion)

KAN ZE ON
NA MU BUTSU
YO BUTSU U IN
YO BUTSU U EN
BU PO SO EN
JO RAKU GA JO
CHO NEN KAN ZE ON
BO NEN KAN ZE ON
NEN NEN JU SHIN KI
NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

Kanzeon (Bodhisattva of Compassion)

At one with Buddha
Directly Buddha
Also indirectly Buddha
And indirectly Buddha
Dharma, Sangha Joyful
Pure Eternal Being
Morning Mind is Kanzeon (compassion)
Evening Mind is Kanzeon
This moment arises from Mind
The moment is not separate from Mind.

Hakuin’s Song of Zazen

Chant Leader: From the beginning all beings are Buddha …..
All: Like water and ice,
Without water no ice,
Chant Leader: Outside us no Buddhas
All: How near the truth,
Yet how fa-ar we seek
Being in water
Crying in thirst
Being the child//of a rich family
Wandering poor on this earth
Chant Leader: Endlessly circling the six worlds
All: The cause of our sorrow is ego delusion
From dark path to dark path
We’ve wandered in darkness
Chant Leader: How can we be freed from the wheel of samsara?
All: The gateway to freedom is zazen Samadhi
Beyond exaltation
Beyond all our praises
The pure Mahayana
Observing the Precepts, Repentance and Giving
The countless good deeds and the Way of Right Living
Chant Leader: All comes from Zazen
All: Thus one true Samadhi extinguishes evils.
It purifies karma, dissolving obstructions.
Then where are the dark paths to lead us astray?
The Pure Lotus Land// is not far away
Hearing this truth,// heart humble and grateful
To praise and embrace it
To practice its Wisdom
Brings unending blessings
Brings mountains of merit
And if we turn inward and prove our True Nature
That True Self is no-self,
Our own self is no-self
We go beyond ego
And past clever words
Then the gate to the oneness of cause-and-effect is thrown open
Not two and not three
Straight ahead runs the Way
Our form now being no-form
In going and coming
Chant Leader: We never leave home
All: Our thought now being no-thought
Our dancing and singing
Chant Leader: Are the Voice of the Dharma
All: How vast is the heaven of boundless Samadhi!
How bright and transparent the moonlight of wisdom!
What is there outside us?
What is there we lack?
Nirvana is openly shown to our eyes
Chant Leader: This earth where we stand is the pure lotus land!
And this very body, the body of Buddha.

The Gate of Sweet Nectar

Opening Verse:
Calling out to hungry hearts
Everywhere through endless time
You who wander, you who thirst
I offer you this bodhi mind.
Calling out to hungry spirits
Everywhere through endless time
Calling out to hungry hearts
All the lost and left behind.

Final Verse:
Gather round and share this meal
Your joy and your sorrow
I make mine.

Closing verse:
This is our life
The length of our days.
Day and night
We meditate upon it.

Practice of Gratitude

I offer my gratitude for the people, animals, plants, pebbles, insects, and creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, and for all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day
I offer my gratitude for the care and labor of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me
I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given
I offer my gratitude for the blessings of this earth I have been given
I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given
I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given
I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given
I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given
I offer my gratitude for the sangha and for all sentient and insentient beings.

     The Five Remembrances

      from the Upajjhatthana Sutra
    or “Subjects for Contemplation”

I am of the nature to grow old.
There is no way to escape growing old.

I am of the nature to have ill-health.
There is no way to escape having ill-health.

I am of the nature to die.
There is no way to escape death.

All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.

My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground on which I stand.

            —translated by Thich Nhat Hanh