After ZAZEN (siting meditation) we do a ceromony where we chant the Heart Sutra – MAKA HANNYA HARAMITA SHIN GYO, one of the main Sutras of MAHAYANA Buddhism.
MAKAHANNYAHARAMITA HEART SUTRA
When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara
Was coursing in deep Hannya Haramita,
He percieved that all five skandhas are empty ,
Thereby transcending all sufferings.
Sariputra, form is not other than emptiness
And emptiness not other than form.
Form is precisely emptiness
And emptiness precisely form.
So also are sensation, perception, volition and consciousness.
Sariputra, this voidness of all dharmas
Is not born, not destroyed,
Not impure, not pure, does not increase or decrease.
In voidness there is no form,
And no sensation, perception, volition or consciousness ;
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body mind ;
No sight, sound, smell, taste, touch , thought .
There is no realm of the eye
All the way up to no realm of mental cognition.
There is no ignorance and there is no ending of ignorance
Through to no ending of aging and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
No cessation of suffering, and no path.
There is no wisdom or any attainment.
With nothing to attain,
Bodhisattvas relying on Hannya Haramita
Have no obstructions in their minds.
Having no obstructions, there is no fear
And departing far from confusion and imaginings,
They reach Ultimate Nirvana .
All past , present and future Buddhas,
Relying on Hannya Haramita, attain perfect enlightment.
Therfore, know that Hannya Haramita
Is the great mantra of power,
The great mantra of wisdom, the supreme mantra,
The unequalled mantra,
Which is able to remove all sufferings.
It is real and not false.
Therefore recite the mantra of Hannya Haramita :
Gyatei, Gyatei, Haragyatei, Harasogyatei Bodhisowaka .
THE FOUR GREAT VOWS
I vow to deliver innumerable sentient beings .
I vow to cut off endless vexations .
I vow to master limitless approaches to Dharma .
I vow to attain Supreme Buddhahood .
FUEKO – UNIVERSAL DEDICATON
May the merit of this sutra reach everywhere, so that we together with all sentient beeings are able to realize the Buddha Way .
All the Buddhas of the three worlds in the ten directions .
All the honored Bodhisattvas and Mahasattvas .
The great and perfect wisdom what goes beyond .