Prayer (After Shantideva)

 Prayer ( after Shantideva) 
 
May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind,
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
And may I assist and not hinder.

May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil or 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 down
Be restored on finding repose.

May the naked find clothing
The hungry find food
May the thirsty find water
Clean and abundant.

May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy;
May the hopeless find hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.

May there be timely rains
And bountiful harvests;
May medicines be effective
And wholesome prayers bear fruit.

May all who are sick and ill
Be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases 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 the people benefit one another.

For as long as space remains,
For as long as sentient beings remain,
Until then may I too remain
Dispelling the miseries of the world. 

Treeleaf Heart Sutra in English and Japanese

 The Heart of the Perfection of Great Wisdom Sutra* 

A/vo/lo/ki/tes/va/ra/ Bod/hi/satt/va/, A/wa/kened/ One/ of/ Com/pas/sion/,
In/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/, the/Deep/ Prac/tice/ of/ Per/fect/ Wis/dom/* 
Per/ceived/ the/ emp/ti/ness/ of /all /five /con/di/tions/,
And/ was/ free/ of/ suf/fer/ing/.
O/ Sha/ri/pu/tra/, form/ is/ no/ o/ther/ than/ emp/ti/ness/, 
Emp/ti/ness/ no/ o/ther/ than/ form/;
Form/ is/ pre/cise/ly/ emp/ti/ness/, emp/ti/ness/ pre/cise/ly/ form/.
Sen/sa/tions/, per/cep/tions/, for/ma/tions/ and/ con/scious/ness/ are/ al/so/ like/ this/. 
O/ Sha/ri/pu/tra/, all/ things/ are/ ex/pres/sions/ of/ emp/ti/ness/,
Not/ born/, not/ des/troyed/, not/ stained/, not/ pure/;
Nei/ther/ wax/ing/ nor/ wan/ing/.
Thus/ emp/ti/ness/ is/ not/ form/; not/ sen/sa/tion/ nor/ per/cep/tion/,
not/ for/ma/tion/ nor/ con/scious/ness/.
No/ eye/, ear/, nose/, tongue/, bo/dy/, mind/;
No/ sight/, sound/, smell/, taste/, touch/, nor/ ob/ject/ of/ mind/;
No/ realm/ of/ sight/, no/ realm/ of/ con/scious/ness/; No/ ig/no/rance/, no/ end/ to/ ig/no/rance/;
No/ old/ age/ and/ death/,
No/ ces/sa/tion/ of/ old/ age/ and/ death/;
No/ suf/fer/ing/, nor/ cause/ or/ end/ to/ suf/fer/ing/;
No/ path/, no/ wis/dom/ and/ no/ gain/.
No/ gain/ – thus/ Bod/dhi/satt/vas/ live/ this/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/* 
With/ no/ hin/drance/ of/ mind/ –
No/ hin/drance/ there/fore/ no/ fear/.
Far/ be/yond/ all/ de/lu/sion/, Nir/va/na/ is/ al/rea/dy/ here/.
All/ past/, pre/sent/ and/ fu/ture/ Budd/has/
Live/ this/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/*
And/ re/al/ize/ su/preme/ and/ com/plete/ en/light/en/ment/. There/fore/ know/ that/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/
Is/ the/ sac/red/ man/tra/, the/ lu/min/ous/ man/tra/,
the/ sup/reme/ man/tra/, the/ in/com/pa/ra/ble/ man/tra/
by/ which/ all/ suf/fe/ring/ is/ clear/.
This/ is/ no/ o/ther/ than/ Truth/.
There/fore/ set/ forth/ the/ Praj/na/ Pa/ra/mi/ta/ man/tra/.
Set/ forth/ this/ man/tra/ and/ pro/claim/:* 
(1x) Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate! * Bodhi! Svaha!

**********


Maka Hannya Haramita Shin Gyo*

Kan Ji Zai Bo Satsu Gyo Jin Han Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta Ji Sho Ken* Go On Kai Ku Do I Sai Ku Yaku Sha Ri Shi Shiki Fu I Ku Ku Fu I Shiki Shiki Soku Ze Ku Ku Soku Ze Shiki Ju So Gyo Shiki Yaku Bu Nyo Ze Sha Ri Shi Ze Sho Ho Ku So Fu Sho Fu Metsu Fu Ku Fu Jo Fu Zo Fu Gen Ze Ko Ku Chu Mu Shiki Mu Ju So Gyo Shiki Mu Gen Ni Bi Ze Shin Ni Mu Shiki Sho Ko Mi Soku Ho Mu Gen Kai Nai Shi Mu I Shiki Kai Mu Mu Myo Yaku Mu Mu Myo Jin Nai Shi Mu Ro Shi Yaku Mu Ro Shi Jin Mu Ku Shu Metsu Do Mu Chi Yaku Mu Toku I Mu Sho Tok ko Bo Dai Sat Ta E Han- Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta* Ko Shin Mu Kei Ge Mu Kei Ge Ko Mu U Ku Fu On Ri Is Sai Ten Do Mu So Ku Gyo Ne Han San Ze Sho Butsu E Han Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta* Ko Toku A Noku Ta Ra San Myaku San Bo Dai Ko Chi Han-Nya Ha Ra Mi Ta Ze Dai Jin Shu Ze Dai Myo Shu Ze Mu Jo Shu Ze Mu To To Shu No 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* So Gya Tei Bo Ji Sowa Ka Han Nya Shin Gyo

Metta Sutta

for chanting

  Metta Sutta (Commentary)

This is what should be accomplished by the one who is wise,
Who seeks the good and has obtained peace:

May I be strenuous, upright and sincere,
Without pride, easily contented and joyous.

May I not be submerged by the things of the world.
May I not take upon myself the burden of riches.

May my senses be controlled.
May I be wise but not puffed up,
And may I not desire great possessions, even for my family.

May I do nothing that is mean or that the wise would reprove.
May all beings be happy.
May they be joyous and live in safety.
All living beings, whether weak or strong,
In high or middle or low realms of existence,
Small or great, visible or invisible, near or far,
Born or to be born, may all beings be happy.

May I not deceive another, nor despise any being in any state;
May I not by anger or hatred wish harm to another.
Even as a mother at the risk of her life,
Watches over and protects her only child,
So with a boundless mind may I cherish all living things,
Suffusing love over the entire world –
Above, below, and all around, without limit;
So may I cultivate an infinite good will toward the whole world.

Standing or walking, sitting or lying down,
During all my waking hours,
May I practice the way with gratitude.

Not holding to fixed views,
Endowed with insight,
Freed from sense appetites,
One who achieves the way will be free
From the duality of birth and death. 

The Buddha's Five Remembrances

The Buddha's Five Remembrances

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 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 upon which I stand.


- Anguttara Nikaya 5.57 - Translation by Thich Nhat Hanh
The Five Remembrances are closely related to the Four Sights.

Hongzhi's Guidepost

Guidepost for Silent Illumination

Silent and serene, forgetting words,
bright clarity appears before you.
When you reflect it you become vast,
where you embody it you are spiritually uplifted.
Spiritually solitary and shining,
inner illumination restores wonder.
Dew in the moonlight, a river of stars,
snow-covered pines,
clouds enveloping the peak.
In darkness it is most bright,
while hidden all the more manifest.
The crane dreams in the wintery mists.
The autumn waters flow far in the distance.
Endless kalpas are totally empty,
all things completely the same.
When wonder exists in serenity,
all achievement is forgotten in illumination.
What is this wonder?
Alertly seeing through confusion
is the way of silent illumination
and the origin of subtle radiance.
Vision penetrating into subtle radiance
is weaving gold on a jade loom.
Upright and inclined yield to each other;
light and dark are interdependent.
Not depending on sense faculty and object,
at the right time they interact.
Drink the medicine of good views.
Beat the poisoned-smeared drum.
When they interact, killing and giving life are up to you.
Through the gate the self emerges and the branches bear fruit.
Only silence is the supreme speech,
only illumination the universal response. 
Responding without falling into achievement,
speaking without involving listeners,
the ten thousand forms majestically glisten
and expound the Dharma.
All objects certify it, every one in dialogue.
Dialoguing and certifying, they respond appropriately to each other;
but if illumination neglects serenity then aggressiveness appears.
Certifying and dialoguing, they respond to each other appropriately;
but if serenity neglects illumination, murkiness leads to wasted Dharma.
D When silent illumination is fulfilled,
the lotus blossoms, the dreamer awakens,
a hundred streams flow into the ocean,
a thousand ranges face the highest peak....


There's more but mostly about "isn't this great? So spread it everywhere." Bright Way Zen chants it this way and I thought we'd try the same.

Song of the Mind (Xin Ming) 

Niutou Farong tr. Sheng Yen (Commentary)

  The nature of the mind is non-arising,
What need is there of knowledge and views?
Originally there is not a single dharma;
Why discuss inspiration and training?

Coming and going without beginning;
Sought for, it is not seen.
No need to do anything;
It is bright, still, self-apparent.

The past is like empty space;
Know anything and the basic principle is lost.
Casting a clear light on the world,
Illuminating, yet obscured.

If one-mindedness is impeded,
All dharmas are misunderstood.
Coming and going thus,
Is there need for thorough investigation?

Arising without the mark of arising,
Arising and illumination are the same.
Desiring to purify the mind,
There is no mind for effort.

Throughout time and space nothing is illuminated;
This is most profound.
Knowing dharmas is non-knowing;
Non-knowing is knowing the essential.

Using the mind to maintain quietude,
You still fail to leave the sickness.
Birth and death forgotten—
This is original nature.

The highest principle cannot be explained;
It is neither free nor bound.
Lively and attuned to everything,
It is always right before you.

There is nothing in front of you;
Nothing, yet everything is as usual.
Do not belabor wisdom to examine it;
Substance itself is empty and obscure.

Thoughts arise and pass away,
The preceding no different from the succeeding.
If the succeeding thought does not arise,
The preceding thought cuts itself off.

In past, present and future, there is nothing;
No mind, no buddha.
Sentient beings are without mind;
Out of no-mind they manifest.

Distinguishing between profane and sacred,
Their vexations flourish.
Splitting hairs deviates from the eternal.
Seeking the real, you give up the true.

Discarding both is the cure,
Transparent, bright, pure.
No need for hard work or skill;
Keep to the actions of an infant.

Clearly knowing,
The net of views increases
Stillness without seeing,
Not moving in a dark room.

Wakeful without wandering,
The mind is tranquil yet bright.
All phenomena are real and eternal,
Profuse, yet of a single form.

Going, coming, sitting, standing,
Don’t attach to anything.
Affirming no direction,
Can there be leaving and entering?

There is neither unifying nor dispersing,
Neither slow nor quick.
Brightness and tranquillity are just as they are.
They cannot be explained in words.

Mind is without alienation;
No need to terminate lust.
Nature being empty, lust will depart by itself.
Allow the mind to float and sink.

Neither clear nor clouded,
Neither shallow nor deep.
Originally it was not ancient;
At present it is not modern.

Now it is non-abiding;
Now it is original mind.
Originally it did not exist;
“Origin” is the present moment.

Bodhi has always existed;
No need to preserve it.
Vexation has never existed;
No need to eliminate it.

Natural wisdom is self-illuminating;
All dharmas return to thusness.
There is no returning, no receiving;
Stop contemplating, forget keeping.

The four virtues are unborn;
The three bodies have always existed.
The six sense organs contact their realms;
Discrimination is not consciousness.

In one-mindedness there are no wandering
thoughts,
The myriad conditions harmonize.
Mind and nature are intrinsically equal;
Together, yet one does not necessarily lead to
the other.

Without arising, complying with phenomena,
Abiding, hidden everywhere.
Enlightenment arises from non-enlightenment.
Enlightenment is non-enlightenment.

As to gain and loss,
Why call either good or bad?
Everything that is active
Originally was not created.

Know that mind is not mind;
There is no sickness, no medicine.
When in confusion, you must discard affairs;
Enlightened, it makes no difference.

Originally there is nothing to obtain;
Now what use is there in discarding?
When someone claims to see demons,
We may talk of emptiness, yet the
phenomena are there.
Don’t destroy the emotions of people;
Only teach the cessation of thoughts.

When thoughts are gone, mind is abolished;
When mind is gone, action is terminated.
No need to confirm emptiness;
Naturally, there is clear comprehension.

Completely extinguishing birth and death,
The profound mind enters into principle.
Opening your eyes and seeing forms,
Mind arises in accord with the environment.

Within mind there is no environment;
Within the environment there is no mind.
Use mind to extinguish the environment
And both will be disturbed.

With mind still and environment thus,
Not discarding, not grasping,
Environment is extinguished together with mind.
Mind disappears together with environment.

When neither arises,
There is tranquillity and limitless brightness.
The reflection of bodhi appears
In the eternally clear water of mind.

The nature of merit is like a simpleton:
It does not establish closeness and distance.
Favor and disgrace do not change it;
It doesn’t choose its abode.

All connections suddenly cease;
Everything is forgotten.
Eternal day is like night,
Eternal night, like day.

Outwardly like a complete fool,
Inwardly mind is empty and real.
Those not moved by the environment
Are strong and great.

There are neither people nor seeing.
Without seeing there is constant appearance.
Completely penetrating everything,
It has always pervaded everywhere.

Thinking brings unclarity,
Sinking and confusing the spirit.
Use mind to stop activity
And it becomes even more erratic.

The ten thousand dharmas are everywhere,
Yet there is only one door.
Neither entering nor leaving,
Neither quiet nor noisy.

The wisdom of sravakas and pratyekabuddhas
Cannot explain it.
Actually there is not a single thing;
Only wonderful wisdom exists.

The original face is limitless;
It cannot be probed by mind.
True enlightenment is no enlightenment,
Real emptiness is not empty.

All buddhas of the past, present and future
All ride on this basic principle.
The tip of a hair of this basic principle
Contains worlds numerous as the Ganges sands.

Do not concern yourself with anything;
Fix the mind nowhere.
Fixing the mind nowhere,
Limitless brightness shows itself.

Tranquil and non-arising,
Set free in boundless time and space.
Whatever it does, there is no obstruction.
Going and staying are equal.

The sun of wisdom is tranquil,
The light of samadhi is bright.
Illuminating the garden of no forms,
Shining on the city of nirvana.

After all relationships are forgotten,
Spirit is understood and settled in substance.
Not rising from the dharma seat,
Sleeping peacefully in a vacant room.

Taking pleasure in Dao is calming,
Wandering free and easy in reality.
No action and nothing to attain,
Relying on nothing, manifesting naturally.

The four unlimited minds and the six paramitas
Are all on the path of one vehicle.
If mind is not born,
Dharmas will not differ from one another.

Knowing arising is non-arising,
Eternity appears now.
Only the wise understand,
No words can explain enlightenment.

Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage

 Song of the Grass-Roof Hermitage (Commentary here)

by Shitou Xiqian, tr. Leighton/Tanahashi

I've built a grass hut where there's nothing of value.
After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.
When the hut was completed, fresh weeds appeared.
Now it's been lived in, covered by weeds.
The person in the hut lives here calmly,
not stuck to inside, outside, or in between.
Places worldly people live, he doesn't live.
Realms worldly people love, she doesn't love.
Though the hut is small, it includes the entire world.
In ten feet square, an old man illumines forms and their nature.
A Mahayana bodhisattva trusts without doubt.
The middling or lowly can't help wondering;
Will this hut perish or not?
Perishable or not, the original master is present,
not dwelling south or north, east or west.
Firmly based on steadiness, it can't be surpassed.
A shining window below the green pines-
jade palaces or vermilion towers can't compare with it.
Just sitting with head covered all things are at rest.
Thus, this mountain monk doesn't understand at all.
Living here he no longer works to get free.
Who would proudly arrange seats, trying to entice guests?
Turn around the light to shine within, then just return.
The vast inconceivable source can't be faced or turned away from.
   Meet the ancestral teachers, 
   be familiar with their instruction,
bind grasses to build a hut and don't give up.
Let go of hundreds of years and relax completely.
Open your hands and walk, innocent.
   Thousands of words, 
   myriad interpretations
are only to free you from obstructions.
If you want to know the undying person in the hut,
(rit.) Don't separate from this skin bag here ... and ... now. 

Light and Dark are the same in Dharma

 

About the Sandokai

Chant Sandokai with Shonin -- video

Sandokai

The mind of the great sage of India

is intimately transmitted from west to east.

While human faculties are sharp or dull,

the way has no northern or southern ancestors.

The spiritual source shines clear in the light;

the branching streams flow on in the dark.

Grasping at things is surely delusion;

according with sameness is still not enlightenment.

All the objects of the senses

interact and yet do not.

Interacting brings involvement.

Otherwise, each keeps its place.

Sights vary in quality and form,

sounds differ as pleasing or harsh.

Refined and common speech come together in the dark,

clear and murky phrases are distinguished in the light.

The four elements return to their natures

just as a child turns to its mother;

Fire heats, wind moves,

water wets, earth is solid.

Eye and sights, ear and sounds,

nose and smells, tongue and tastes;

Thus with each and every thing,

depending on these roots, the leaves spread forth.

Trunk and branches share the essence;

revered and common, each has its speech.

In the light there is darkness,

but don’t take it as darkness;

In the dark there is light,

but don’t see it as light.

Light and dark oppose one another

like front and back foot in walking.

Each of the myriad things has its merit,

expressed according to function and place.

       Phenomena exist; box and lid fit.

       principle responds; arrow points meet.

Hearing the words, understand the meaning;

don’t set up standards of your own.

If you don’t understand the way right before you,

how will you know the path as you walk?

Progress is not a matter of far or near,

but if you are confused, mountains and rivers block your way.

I respectfully urge you who study the mystery,

do not pass your days and nights in vain. (This line slowly with dignity)

x (Bow)

Hsin Hsin Ming

Hsin Hsin Ming (Commentary here)

(suggested stresses in bold)
The great way is not 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 hairbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart. 
If you want to realize the truth, do not 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 minds serenity. 
As vast as infinite space, it is perfect and lacks nothing. 
But because you select and reject, you cannot perceive its true nature. 
Do not get entangled in the world; do not lose yourself in emptiness. 
Be at peace in the oneness of things, and all errors will disappear by themselves. 
If you do not live the Tao, you fall into assertion or 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 cannot 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. 
Do not 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 do not have external limits. 
Being is an aspect of non-being; non-being is no different from being. 
Until you understand this truth, you will not 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 
(rit.) no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow. 

 

Hsin Hsin Ming (Sengcan, tr. Clarke) 

The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.

If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike
is the disease of the mind.

When the deep meaning of things is not understood
the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.

The Way is perfect like vast space
where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.
Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject
that we do not see the true nature of things.
Live neither in the entanglements of outer things,
nor in inner feelings of emptiness.
Be serene in the oneness of things
and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.

When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity
your very effort fills you with activity.
As long as you remain in one extreme or the other,
you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the single Way
fail in both activity and passivity,
assertion and denial.
To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality;
to assert the emptiness of things
is to miss their reality.

The more you talk and think about it,
the further astray you wander from the truth.
Stop talking and thinking
and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

To return to the root is to find the meaning,
but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.
At the moment of inner enlightenment,
there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.
The changes that appear to occur in the empty world
we call real only because of our ignorance.
Do not search for the truth;
only cease to cherish opinions.

Do not remain in the dualistic state;
avoid such pursuits carefully.
If there is even a trace
of this and that, of right and wrong,
the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion.
Although all dualities come from the One,
do not be attached even to this One.

When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way,
nothing in the world can offend,
and when a thing can no longer offend,
it ceases to exist in the old way.

When no discriminating thoughts arise,
the old mind ceases to exist.
When thought objects vanish,
the thinking-subject vanishes,
and when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.

Things are objects because there is a subject or mind;
and the mind is a subject because there are objects.
Understand the relativity of these two
and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.
In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable
and each contains in itself the whole world.
If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine
you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.

To live in the Great Way
is neither easy nor difficult.
But those with limited views
are fearful and irresolute;
the faster they hurry, the slower they go.

Clinging cannot be limited;
even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment
is to go astray.
Just let things be in their own way
and there will be neither coming nor going.

Obey the nature of things
and you will walk freely and undisturbed.
When thought is in bondage the truth is hidden,
for everything is murky and unclear.
The burdensome practice of judging
brings annoyance and weariness.
What benefit can be derived
from distinctions and separations?

If you wish to move in the One Way
do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.
Indeed, to accept them fully
is identical with true Enlightenment.

The wise man strives to no goals
but the foolish man fetters himself.
There is one Dharma, not many;
distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.
To seek Mind with discriminating mind
is the greatest of all mistakes.

Rest and unrest derive from illusion;
with enlightenment there is no liking and disliking.
All dualities come from ignorant inference.
They are like dreams of flowers in air:
foolish to try to grasp them.
Gain and loss, right and wrong;
such thoughts must finally be abolished at once.

If the eye never sleeps,
all dreams will naturally cease.
If the mind makes no discriminations,
the ten thousand things
are as they are, of single essence.

To understand the mystery of this One-essence
is to be released from all entanglements.
When all things are seen equally
the timeless Self-essence is reached.
No comparisons or analogies are possible
in this causeless, relationless state.
Consider motion in stillness
and stillness in motion;
both movement and stillness disappear.
When such dualities cease to exist
Oneness itself cannot exist.
To this ultimate finality
no law or description applies.

For the unified mind in accord with the Way
all self-centered striving ceases.
Doubts and irresolutions vanish
and life in true faith is possible.

With a single stroke we are freed from bondage;
nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing.
All is empty, clear, self-illuminating,
with no exertion of the mind's power.
Here thought, feeling, knowledge, and imagination are of no value.
In this world of Suchness
there is neither self nor other-than-self.

To come directly into harmony with this reality
just simply say when doubt arises, "Not two."
In this "not two" nothing is separate,
nothing is excluded.
No matter when or where,
enlightenment means entering this truth.
And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time or space;
in it a single thought is ten thousand years.

Emptiness here, Emptiness there,
but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes.

Infinitely large and infinitely small;
no difference, for definitions have vanished
and no boundaries are seen.
So too with Being and non-Being.
Waste no time in doubts and arguments
that have nothing to do with this.

One thing, all things;
move among and intermingle,
without distinction.
To live in this realization
is to be without anxiety about nonperfection.
To live in this faith is the road to nonduality,
because the nondual is one with the trusting mind.

Words!
The Way is beyond language,
for in it there is

no yesterday

    no tomorrow

        no today.

Ten Verses of Unfathomable Depth

 TEN VERSES OF UNFATHOMABLE DEPTH (-- Tong'an Changcha. Sekkei Harada tr.)

1. The Mind Seal

I ask you, “What does the Mind Seal look like?”
And “What sort of person dares to transmit it?”
Throughout the ages, it has remained firm and unshaken.
As soon as you call something the Mind Seal, it is already meaningless.
You must know that in essence all things originate from infinite emptiness.
You can compare it to a lotus flower in a red-hot kiln.
Don’t say that a free and empty mind is the Way;
A free and empty mind is still separated from it by a great barrier.


2. The Mind of the Enlightened Ones

This mind is like emptiness, but it isn’t empty.
How could the unfathomable function ever degenerate to being the result of achievement?
The bodhisattvas at the three stages of wisdom have still not clarified this.
And how can the higher ranks of bodhisattvas ever reach it?
The golden carp that has passed through the net remains trapped in the water.
But the stone horse still on the way leaves its sand cage suddenly.
Why have the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West explained in every detail?
Don’t ask about the coming from the West, nor about the East.


3. The Unfathomable Function

You cannot rely on looking far ahead to the end of the universe.
And why would you tie yourself down to tainted worldliness?
Essentially, the miraculous body is not bound anywhere.
It is already throughout the whole body, so what other traces could there be?
A single efficacious word transcends the multitudes.
It is far beyond the Three Vehicles and does not require cultivation.
Shake off your hands and get away from the sages of all ages.
Then your path of return will resemble an ox in the midst of fire.


4. The Transcendent within Dust and Dirt

That which is impure is impure by itself; that which is pure is pure by itself.
Highest wisdom and delusion are likewise empty and even.
Who could say that nobody can appreciate Bianhe’s jade?
I say that the jewel of the black dragon shines everywhere.
Only when the myriad dharmas disappear does the whole thing appear.
The Three Vehicles split up and assumed only provisional names.
Truly outstanding people have determination that knows no bounds.
Do not try to go where the buddhas have already gone.


5. The Buddhist Teaching

The Three Vehicles spoke golden words one after another.
But the buddhas of the past, present, and future only declared the same thing.
In the beginning, when they expounded the reality of skandhas and
then complete emptiness, everyone grew attached to it.
Later, when they negated both reality and emptiness, everyone discarded it again.
The complete treasury of sutras in the Dragon Palace is meant to be prescriptions.
Even the Buddha’s last teaching does not reach the unfathomable.
If even one deluded thought arises in the world of true purity,
This already means spending eight thousand years in the world of human beings.


6. The Song of Returning Home

Don’t be distracted by the King of Emptiness when you are still on the Way.
You must drive your staff forward, moving on until you reach home.
If you travel for a long time like clouds and water, don’t get attached to it.
Even in the deep recesses of snowy mountains, don’t forget your mission.
Ah! I regretted that in past days my face was like jade.
And I lamented that at the time of my return my hair had turned white.
Returning to my old home with dangling arms, there was no one who recognized me.
Also, I had nothing to offer my parents.


7. The Song of Not Returning Home

Having the intention of going to the source, of returning to the origin, is already a mistake.
Essentially, there is nowhere to settle down, no place to call one’s home.
The ancient path through the pines is covered with deep snow.
The long range of mountain peaks is furthermore blocked by clouds.
When host and guest are tranquil and serene, everything is incongruous.
When lord and vassal are united, there is wrong in the midst of right.
How will you sing the song of returning home?
In bright moonlight, the dead tree is blooming in front of the hall.


8. The Revolving Function

It is still dangerous even inside the castle of nirvana.
Strangers come across each other without appointment.
People call someone who provisionally puts on a dirty robe “a buddha.”
But if someone wears precious clothes, what should you call him?
In the middle of the night, the wooden man puts on shoes and leaves.
At dawn, the stone woman puts on a hat and goes home.
An ancient emerald pool, the moon in the empty sky.
Screening and filtering over and over to catch the moon, for the first
time you will really know.


9. Changing Ranks

Growing hair and horns, you enter town,
Resembling a blue lotus flower blooming in the midst of fire.
All afflictions become like rain and dew in the vast sea.
All ignorance becomes like clouds and thunder on a mountain.
You completely blow out the furnace below the cauldron of hell,
Smashing to pieces a forest of swords and a mountain of daggers with a single shout.
Even golden chains cannot hold you back at the entrance.
Going into the realm of other beings, you transmigrate for a while.


10. Before the Rank of the Absolute

In front of many dead trees and steep boulders, there are many wrong tracks heading off course.
Those travelers who have reached this place all trip and stumble.
A crane stands in the snow but does not have the same color.
The bright moon and the flower of reeds do not really resemble each other.
“I’m finished, I’m finished, I’m finished!” When you think so, you cannot really be finished.
If you say, “This is it! This is the ultimate source!” you also need a good shout.
From the bottom of your heart, you play a melody on the harp with no strings.
How would it be possible to grasp the moonlight shining in the empty sky?

Fukanzazengi

Fukanzazengi (Waddell & Abe)

The way is originally perfect and all-pervading. How could it be contingent on practice and realization? The true vehicle is self-sufficient. What need is there for special effort? Indeed, the whole body is free from dust. Who could believe in a means to brush it clean? It is never apart from this very place; what is the use of traveling around to find it? And yet, if there is a hairsbreadth deviation, it is like the gap between heaven and earth. If the least like or dislike arises, the mind is lost in confusion.

Suppose you are confident in your understanding and rich in enlightenment, gaining the wisdom that knows at a glance, attaining the way and clarifying the mind, arousing an aspiration to reach for the heavens. You are playing in the entrance way, but you are still short of the vital path of emancipation.

Consider the Buddha: although he was wise at birth, the traces of his six years of upright sitting can yet be seen. As for Bodhidharma, although he had received the mind-seal, his nine years of facing a wall is celebrated still. If even the ancient sages were like this, how can we today dispense with wholehearted practice?

Therefore, put aside the intellectual habit of investigating words and chasing phrases, and learn to take the backward step that turns the light and shines it inward. Body and mind of themselves will drop away, and your original face will manifest. If you want such a thing, get to work on it immediately.

For practicing zen, a quiet room is suitable. Eat and drink moderately. Put aside all involvements and suspend all affairs. Do not think “good” or “bad.” Do not judge true or false. Give up the operations of mind, intellect, and consciousness; stop measuring with thoughts, ideas, and views. Have no designs on becoming a buddha. How could that be limited to sitting or lying down?

At your sitting place, spread out a thick square mat and a round cushion. Sit either in the full-lotus or half-lotus position. In the full-lotus position, place your right foot on your left thigh, then your left foot on your right thigh. In the half-lotus, simply place your left foot on your right thigh. Tie your robes loosely and arrange them neatly. Place your right hand on your left leg and your left hand on your right palm, thumb-tips touching lightly. Straighten your body and sit upright, leaning neither left nor right, neither forward nor backward. Align your ears with your shoulders and your nose with your navel. Rest the tip of the tongue against the front of the palate, with teeth and lips closed. Keep your eyes open, and breathe softly through your nose.

Once you have adjusted your posture, take a breath and exhale fully, rock your body right and left, and settle into steady, immovable sitting. Think of not thinking. Not thinking—what kind of thinking is that? Nonthinking. This is the essential art of zazen.

The zazen I speak of is not meditation practice. It is simply the dharma gate of joyful ease, the practice-realization of totally culminated enlightenment. It is the koan realized, traps and snares can never reach it. If you grasp the point, you are like a dragon gaining the water, like a tiger taking to the mountains. For you must know that the true dharma appears of itself, so that from the start dullness and distraction are struck aside.

When you arise from sitting, move slowly and quietly, calmly and deliberately. Do not rise suddenly or abruptly. In surveying the past, we find that transcending the mundane and the sacred, and dying while either sitting or standing, have depended entirely on the power of zazen.

In addition, triggering awakening with a finger, a banner, a needle, or a mallet, and effecting realization with a whisk, a fist, a staff, or a shout, these cannot be understood by discriminative thought, much less can they be known through supernatural power. They must represent conduct beyond seeing and hearing. Are they not a standard prior to knowledge and views?

This being so, intelligence or lack of it is not an issue; make no distinction between the dull and the sharp-witted. If you concentrate your effort single-mindedly, that in itself is wholeheartedly engaging the way. Practice-realization is naturally undefiled. Going forward is, after all, an everyday affair.

In our world and others, in both India and China, all equally hold the buddha-seal. While each lineage expresses its own style, they are all simply devoted to sitting, totally cast in resolute stability. Although there are ten thousand distinctions and a thousand variations, they just wholeheartedly engage the way in zazen. Why leave behind the seat in your own home to wander in vain through the dusty realms of other lands? If you make one misstep you stumble past what is directly in front of you.

You have gained the pivotal opportunity of human form. Do not pass your days and nights in vain. You are taking care of the essential activity of the buddha way. Who would take wasteful delight in the spark from a flint stone? Form and substance are like dew on the grass, the fortunes of life are like a dart of lightning—emptied in an instant, vanished in a flash.

Please, honored followers of zen, long accustomed to groping for the elephant, do not doubt the true dragon. Devote your energies to the way that points directly to the real thing. Revere the one who has gone beyond learning and is free from effort. Accord with the enlightenment of all the buddhas; succeed to the samadhi of all the ancestors. Continue to live in such a way, and you will be such a person. The treasure store will open of itself, and you may enjoy it freely.


See also Dōgen's manuals of Zen meditation

From the Bahiya Sutta

Buddha's Teaching to Bahiya (Commentary)

In the seen, there is only the seen.
in the heard, there is only the heard.
in the sensed, there is only the sensed.
in the thought, there is only the thought.
This is how you should train yourself.
Since there is for you
in the seen, only the seen,
in the heard, only the heard,
in the sensed, only the sensed,
in the thought, only the thought,
and you see that there is no thing here,
you will therefore see that
indeed there is no thing there.
As you see that there is no thing there,
you will see that
you are therefore located neither in this,
nor in that,
nor in any place
betwixt the two.
This alone is the end of suffering.” 

The Five Ranks

 The Five Ranks


I: The Relative within the Absolute

In the third watch,
beginning of the night,
before the moon is bright,
do not wonder
at meeting without recognition;
still held hidden in the heart
is the beauty of former days.

II: The Absolute within the Relative

A woman who's overslept
encounters an ancient mirror;
clearly she sees her face-
there is no other reality.
Nevertheless, she still mistakes
her reflection for her head.

III: Coming from within the Absolute

Within nothingness is a road
out of the dust;
just be able to avoid violating
the present taboo name
and you will surpass
the eloquence of yore
that silenced every tongue.

IV: Arrival at Mutual Integration

When two blades cross,
no need to flee;
an expert is like
a lotus in fire-
clearly there is a spirit
spontaneuosly soaring.

V: Unity Attained

If you are not trapped
in being or nonbeing,
who can dare to join you?
Everyone wants to leave
the ordinary current,
but in the final analysis
you come back
and sit in the ashes.


Translated by Thomas Cleary
Classics of Buddhism and Zen. The Collected Translations of Thomas Cleary,
Boston, MA: Shambhala, Volume Three. pp. 297-305.