The Four Vows of the Bodhisattva

Sentient Beings are Numberless, I Vow to Free Them;

Delusions are Inexhaustible, I Vow to Transform Them;

Practice Paths are Boundless, I Vow to Study Them;

The Enlightened Way is Incomparable, I Vow to Embody It.  (3x)

Robe Verse

Vast is the Robe of Liberation;

A Formless Field of Benefaction;

I wear the Tathagata’s Teaching;

Saving All Sentient Beings. (3x)

Before Dharma Talk

The Dharma,

Incomparably Profound and Infinitely Subtle;

Is Rarely Encountered

Even in Millions of Ages.

Now We See It,

Hear It,

Receive and Maintain It;

May We Completely Realize Our True Awakened Nature. (1x)

Bell Verse

May living beings of the dharma realms,

stifled and mired in bitterness

in the three painful destinies and eight hardships,

hear the sound and awaken to the way.

Verse of Atonement

All negative karma, ever committed by me since of old,

On account of my beginningless greed, anger and ignorance;

Born of my actions, speech and thought;

Now I atone for it all.    (3x)

Realizing Unity

The mind of the great sage of India is intimately conveyed from West to East. Among human beings are wise ones and fools, but in the Way there is no northern or southern ancestor. 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 when 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. 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, 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.

Faith In Mind

The Great Way isn’t difficult for those who are unattached to their preferences. Let go of longing and aversion, and everything will be perfectly clear. When you cling to a hairsbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart. If you want to realize the truth, don’t be for or against. The struggle between good and evil is the primal disease of the mind. Not grasping the deeper meaning, you just trouble your mind's serenity. As vast as infinite space, it is perfect and lacks nothing. But because you select and reject, you can’t perceive its true nature. Don’t get entangled in the world; don’t lose yourself in emptiness. Be at peace in the oneness of things, and all errors will disappear by themselves. 

If you don’t live the Tao, you fall into assertion and denial. Asserting that the world is real, you are blind to its deeper reality; denying that the world is real, you are blind to the selflessness of all things. The more you think about these matters, the farther you are from the truth. Step aside from all thinking, and there is nowhere you can’t go. Returning to the root, you find the meaning; chasing appearances, you lose their source. 

At the moment of profound insight, you transcend both appearance and emptiness. Don’t keep searching for the truth, just let go of your opinions. For the mind in harmony with the Tao all selfishness disappears. With not even a trace of self-doubt, you can trust the universe completely. All at once you are free, with nothing left to hold on to. All is empty, brilliant, perfect in its own being. In the world of things as they are, there is no self, no non-self. If you want to describe its essence, the best you can say is “Not-two.” 

In this “Not-two” nothing is separate, and nothing in the world is excluded. The enlightened of all times and places have entered into this truth. In it there is no gain or loss; one instant is ten thousand years. There is no here, no there; infinity is right before your eyes. 

The tiny is as large as the vast when objective boundaries have vanished; the vast is as small as the tiny when you don’t have external limits. Being is an aspect of non-being; non-being is no different from being. Until you understand this truth, you won’t see anything clearly. One is all; all are one. When you realize this, what reason for holiness or wisdom? The mind of absolute trust is beyond all thought, all striving, is perfectly at peace, for in it there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow. 

The Heart of the Perfection of Great Wisdom Sutra 

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva doing deep prajña paramita clearly saw the emptiness of all the five conditions, and was freed of fear. O Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness; emptiness no other than form. Form is exactly emptiness; emptiness exactly form. Sensation, perception, discrimination, and consciousness are also like this. O Shariputra, all things are expressions of emptiness: not born, not destroyed; not stained, not pure; neither waxing nor waning. Thus, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, perception, reaction or consciousness. 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; no end to old age and death. No suffering; no cause or end to suffering. No path, no wisdom, and no gain. No gain: Thus, bodhisattvas live prajña 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 prajña paramita  and attain supreme perfect enlightenment. Therefore, know that prajña paramita is the perfect mantra, the luminous mantra, the supreme mantra, the incomparable mantra by which all suffering is cleared. This is no other than truth. Therefore, set forth the prajña paramita mantra, set forth this mantra and say: Gate, gate, paragate parasamgate, bodhi svaha! 

[Note: The five skandas or conditions are form, sensation, perception, volition and consciousness.]