To begin the year, we will reflect on a text that may be a bit unexpected in some folks' image of Zen Buddhism, yet a Sutra section that has been chanted each day in both Soto and Rinzai Zen monasteries in Japan. It is the Verse at the end of the 25th Chapter of the Lotus Sutra known as "The Universal Gateway of the Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds [Avalokiteshvara/Kannon Bodhisattva]" or "Kannongyo" (妙法蓮華経観世音菩薩普門品偈).
The first sections of that Chapter contain many wondrous claims for calling on the name and power of Kannon Bodhisattva. Here is a sample:
Quote:
If someone, holding fast to the name of Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, should enter a great fire, the fire could not burn him. This would come about because of this bodhisattva’s authority and supernatural power. If one were washed away by a great flood and called upon his name, one would immediately find oneself in a shallow place. ... If a person who faces imminent threat of attack should call the name of Bodhisattva Perceiver of the World’s Sounds, then the swords and staves wielded by his attackers would instantly shatter into so many pieces and he would be delivered. ...
The poetic verse in the latter part of the Chapter continues such theme, and we will reflect on this today. Is it something just to take on faith? Should it be cast aside as so much superstition? Or is there some Truth and Wisdom beyond what meets the eye?
Fellow wonky folks who would like to read a bit more about the importance and use of this Chant in Soto Zen ritual can read pages 178 to 181 here, by Soto Zen Priest and Historian Taigen Dan Leighton:
https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=...hapter&f=false
and
https://books.google.co.jp/books?red...hapter&f=false
The following is from the official "Soto School Scriptures For Daily Services And Practice":
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Bodhisattva Akshayamati asked a question in verse：
“Oh World-honored One,of wondrous form,
I inquire again of that buddha-child:
what are the causes of his name,
‘Regarding the Cries of the World’?”
The Honored One, of wondrous form, replied in verse to Akshayamati：
“Listen to the deeds of Avalokiteshvara,
who aptly responds in every quarter.
With vast pledge as deep as oceans,
throughout kalpas beyond reckoning,
he served many thousands of millions of buddhas,
bringing forth this great pure vow.
For you I explain it briefly:
hearing the name or seeing the form of
Avalokiteshvara with mindful remembrance is not in vain,
for the woes of existence can thus be relieved.
Even if someone with harmful intent
should push you into a fieiy pit,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
the pit of fire will tum into a pool.
If floating on a vast sea,
menaced by dragons, fish, or demons,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
the billowing waves cannot drown you.
If from Mount Sumeru's lofty peak,
someone were to throw you down,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
like the sun you would stand firm in the sky.
If pursued by wicked men,
down from Diamond Mountain,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara,s power
they could not harm a single hair.
If surrounded by vicious bandits,
each with a sword drawn to strike,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
at once their hearts will tum to compassion.
If, persecuted by rulers,
you face torture and execution,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
their weapons will thereby shatter to pieces.
If imprisoned in shackles and chains,
hands and feet bound in restraints,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
suddenly you shall be released.
If by curses or poisonous herbs
someone wishes to hurt your body,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
the harmful intent will return to its source.
If you meet evil creatures,
poison dragons, or various demons,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
none will dare to harm you.
If surrounded by raging beasts
with sharp fangs and dreadful claws,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
they will quickly scatter in all directions.
If venomous snakes or scorpions
threaten with deadly breath of fire,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
at the sound of your voice they will turn and depart.
If clouds thunder and lightning strikes,
hailstones fall, and it rains in torrents,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
instantly they will dissipate.
When living beings suffer hardships,
burdened by immeasurable woes,
the power of Avalokiteshvara's wondrous wisdom
can relieve the suffering of the world.
Fully endowed with miraculous powers,
widely practicing wisdom and skillful means,
in every land in all directions,
in no realm does Avalokiteshvara not appear.
In all the various evil destinies
of hell beings, hungry ghosts, and animals,
the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death
are gradually relieved by Avalokiteshvara.
Oh you of the true gaze, of the pure gaze,
of the gaze of broad and great wisdom,
of the compassionate gaze and the gaze of good will,
ever longed for,ever revered.
Unblemished, serene radiance,
benevolent sun, dispelling all gloom,
Avalokiteshvara can subdue the wind and fire of woes,
clearly illuminating all the world.
The precepts of compassion roar like thunder,
the kind heart is wondrous as great clouds,
pouring dharma rain of sweet dew,
quenching all flames of troubling passion.
In disputes before judges,
or fearful in the midst of battle,
by mindfully invoking Avalokiteshvara's power
all hostilities will be dispersed.
The wondrous voice of Avalokiteshvara,
Brahma-voice, voice of the rolling tides,
surpasses all sounds within the world;
therefore ever keep it in mind.
In each thought, with never a doubt,
Avalokiteshvara, the pure sage,
in pain, agony, or death's distress,
can provide a sure support.
Fully endowed with all virtues,
his eyes of compassion behold all beings,
assembling a boundless ocean of happiness；
thus, with reverence, you should make prostrations."
Then Bodhisattva Dharanimdharo arose from his seat,
went before the Buddha and said:
"Oh World-honored One, if there are living beings who
hear this chapter of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the
benefits will not be slight for those people who come to
know his deeds, his manifestation of a universal gateway,
and his supernatural powers."
When the Buddha had preached this "Universal
Gateway" chapter, the eighty-four thousand beings in
the assembly all aroused the thought of unsurpassed,
complete, perfect enlightenment.
