佛說佛名經

The Buddha’s body, adorned with excellent marks, shines magnificently like a mountain (1) of purple-gold; the ocean of Dharma is still and clear, bright and pure like the autumn moon. The holy and worthy bodhisattvas receive offerings in the human and heavenly realms. The pratyekabuddhas (2) and arhats expound the Dharma in this realm and other regions, serving as bright lamps for the three thousand realms and as sun and moon illuminating myriad darknesses.

Their merits and attainments are profound and difficult to fathom. They serve as golden exemplars for the three realms (3) and attend to the Buddha’s work throughout the three times (4). We, your disciples, sincerely repent and bow before the Buddhas of the ten thousand directions.

Before the Buddhas, the Venerable Dharma, and the noble Sangha throughout the ten directions, we pray for compassionate acceptance of our repentance:

Karma amassed through many lives fills the storehouse consciousness;
Habitual influence of craving and delusion does not diminish.
Following vows, we take birth in subsequent lives;
Seeds of karma sprout, and suffering is immediately endured.
Perhaps we are born in the unremitting hells,
Where suffering of body and mind is truly immeasurable;
Or perhaps among tormented hungry ghosts,
With empty bellies and parched throats for countless years;
Or among animals, repaying former debts,
Pierced and wounded by blades and clubs.
If, in our present darkness, we do not repent and remove these deeds,
The instant life ends, we shall become thus.
Or though leading karma causes birth as a human,
Particular karma brings many painful conditions:
Parted from loved ones, meeting enemies, and bound by sickness,
Together with disasters of flood, fire, and warfare.
I contemplate this life and body as a whirlwind;
Who can preserve them, and for how long?
Therefore, pressed by a fearful heart,
I turn to the Buddhas and implore compassionate deliverance.
May these deeds be immediately extinguished, so their fruits need not be endured;
Or, if this body must endure them, may the grave become light.
I humbly pray that all Buddhas bear witness to my heart
And free me from retribution in the painful destinies.

With utmost sincerity, we make this vow:

I vow to repent and remove suffering in lives to come,
And life after life to mature a mind of freedom.
According to conditions, may I teach beings in human and heavenly realms,
Never again fettered and driven by the power of karma.
May I diligently cultivate provisions of merit and wisdom,
Guiding sentient beings back to the original source.
Life after life, may I obtain a body born of blessed recompense,
And perfect the direct reward of unsurpassed enlightenment.

Having made these vows, we wholeheartedly bow in reverence…

We bow before the twelve divisions of the revered scriptures and the Dharma Wheel of the Great Canon, and pay homage to the great bodhisattvas of the ten directions. With reverence, we bow our heads before the immeasurable and boundless great bodhisattvas throughout the worlds of the ten directions, and before the shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and all holy and worthy beings of the three times…

Today, we, your disciples in this bodhimanda (5), clearly understand that the various kinds of sentient beings harbor enmity toward one another. How do we know this? If there were no enmity, there would be no evil destinies.

Yet the evil destinies do not cease, and the three painful destinies persist; thus we know that enmity never comes to an end. The Buddhist scriptures teach: “All sentient beings possess mind, and because they possess mind, they can all become Buddhas.” Yet sentient beings, with deluded and inverted minds, crave worldly affairs, know nothing of the path of liberation, continually create evil retribution, and nourish the tree of enmity.

They therefore undergo rebirth in the three realms, rising and falling through the six destinies, abandoning one body and taking another without ever ceasing. Why is this? From beginningless time until today, sentient beings have remained in delusion, obscured by ignorance and submerged in the waters of craving (6).

They continually give rise to the three poisonous roots and produce the four inversions (7). From the three poisons they form the ten afflictions; relying upon the view of a self, they form the five views. Depending on the five views, they give rise to the sixty-two views (8).

Through body, speech, and mind, they commit the ten evils: with the body, killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct; with speech, falsehood, frivolous speech, divisive speech, and harsh speech; and with the mind, greed, anger, and delusion.

They themselves commit the ten evils, tell others to commit the ten evils, and praise those who commit the ten evils. Thus, through deeds, words, and thoughts, they give rise to evil karma. Then, through the contact of the six faculties with the six sense objects, they further open the gates of evil, allowing the eighty-four thousand defilements (9) to enter. In each thought, they give rise to the sixty-two views, and before long fully commit forty evils. Within a single thought, they open the gates to eighty-four thousand defilements; how much more wrongdoing must arise throughout an entire day? As months accumulate into years and years into lifetimes, how many evil deeds must they create?

Thus their evils are immeasurable and boundless, while enmities follow one another without ever ceasing. Yet sentient beings are born together with delusion; darkness obscures wisdom, and afflictions conceal the mind’s nature, so sentient beings do not understand. Their minds are inverted: they do not believe the scriptures, follow the Buddha’s words, know how to resolve enmity, or walk the path of liberation.

Sentient beings cast themselves into evil destinies, just as mayflies hurl themselves into a bright lamp. Deluded through many kalpas, they undergo immeasurable suffering. Now we, your disciples, single-mindedly and earnestly bow our heads before the Buddhas of the ten directions.

On behalf of sentient beings of the four modes of birth and six destinies, and of enemies throughout the three times, and on behalf of our parents, teachers, and all relatives and kin, we bow before the Buddhas of the ten directions:

Homage to Buddha Merit Flower of the East
Homage to Buddha Venerable Light of the South
Homage to Buddha Boundless Life of the West
Homage to Buddha Victorious Merit of the North
Homage to Buddha Sumana of the Southeast
Homage to Buddha Unobstructed Benefit of the Southwest
Homage to Buddha Manifesting Excellent Wonders in the World of the Northwest
Homage to Buddha Lofty Fragrance Diffusing Above of the Northeast
Homage to Buddha Taming the Mind and Transcending All Flowers of the Nadir
Homage to Buddha Pure Wheel Banner of the Zenith

Having paid homage to the Buddhas of the ten directions, we pray that, among all enemies now dwelling within the six destinies, those who have already suffered the repayment of enmity may, through the power of the Buddha, the power of the Dharma, and the power of the holy and worthy ones, all attain liberation. As for sentient beings within the six destinies who are presently suffering repayment of enmity or have not yet suffered it, may the power of the Buddha, Dharma, and holy and worthy ones cause them never again to return to the evil destinies, never again to approach one another with malicious minds, and never again to poison, harm, or torment one another.

May all relinquish everything and no longer discriminate between enemy and kin. May all transgressions be extinguished and all enmities resolved. May all become united in mind and harmoniously mingle like water and milk.

May all rejoice as though abiding on the first bhumi (10), possess boundless lives, and forever enjoy ease in body and mind. May they be born at will in celestial palaces or Buddha lands, obtaining food when they think of food and clothing when they think of clothing, and never again hearing the sounds of enmity and strife. May their bodies no longer be invaded or tainted by decay and change.

May wholesome things gather together and evil things vie with one another to disappear. May they arouse the vast resolve, practice the bodhisattva path, perfect the four immeasurable minds and six liberating dharmas, cast aside the recompense of birth and death, ascend the bodhimanda together, and attain perfect enlightenment.

Today, we, your disciples in this bodhimanda, understand the source of painful enmity. Because the eyes crave forms, the ears delight in sounds, the nose smells fragrances, the tongue tastes flavors, and the body experiences contact, sentient beings are continually bound by the five external objects. For many kalpas they remain in the dark, long night, unable to awaken and attain liberation.

Furthermore, our six classes of relatives and all our kin are sources of enmity throughout the three times. All enmity is created by close relations. Without a body, how could enmity arise?

Thus, separation from the body is separation from enmity. Why? When people remain in separate places, distant from one another, they cannot give rise to resentment.

Resentment arises entirely through close association. Because of the three poisonous roots—greed, anger, and delusion—people distress one another; and because they distress one another, they often give rise to resentment. Thus relatives frequently blame one another.

Parents blame children and children blame parents; brothers and sisters blame and resent one another. The slightest displeasure immediately gives rise to anger. When one is rich and honored, relatives compete to approach and make requests; when one is poor and destitute, no one pays attention.

Moreover, the more they ask, the more they consider themselves deprived; the more they receive, the more they consider it insufficient. Even if they ask a hundred times and receive a hundred times, they feel no gratitude; if the slightest thing displeases them, they instead become angry. From this point, they begin to harbor evil thoughts, deliberately devising ways to form enmities and sow calamity, which remain difficult to end throughout successive lives.

Upon examining and understanding the matter, we see that our enemies throughout the three times are truly not strangers; they are all our relatives and kin. Knowing, therefore, that relatives may become adversaries, we, your disciples, wholeheartedly regret and repent. Single-mindedly, with heads bowed, we pay homage to all Buddhas, the Venerable Dharma, and the noble Sangha.

We pray that, from the time consciousness (11) first arose until today, all our parents through many lives and relatives through many kalpas who, within the six destinies and three realms, have formed enmities with one another—whether enemies or not enemies, whether their grievances are light or grave, whether they now dwell in the hells, the hungry-ghost destiny, the animal destiny, the asura destiny, the human realm, the heavenly realms, the realms of immortals, or among our own relatives and kin—together with all their enemies and relatives throughout the three times, may all be embraced today by us, your disciples, with a compassionate heart that makes no distinction between enemy and kin, a mind like the Buddha’s mind, and vows like the Buddha’s vows.

On behalf of all those sentient beings, we take refuge in the Compassionate Fathers and vow to attain the Buddha path together with all beings.

Notes:

1. Mountain of purple-gold: The marks of the Buddha’s body resemble the color of purple-gold—brilliant, radiant, and majestic like a golden mountain—and thus it is commonly called a mountain of purple-gold.

2. Pratyekabuddhas and arhats: These are the two vehicles in Buddhism: shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, two terms commonly used in Buddhism.

3. Three realms: Explained in the first fascicle, note 45, page 108 (Volume I).

4. Three times: The three periods—the time that has passed, the present time, and the time yet to come: past, present, and future.

5. Bodhimanda: Explained in the twelfth fascicle, note 12, page 134 (Volume II).

6. Waters of craving: This indicates worldly attachment and craving. Worldly beings are submerged by the waters of craving in the ocean of suffering, birth and death, and samsara.

7. Four inversions: Explained in the fifteenth fascicle, note 19, page 343 (Volume II).

8. Sixty-two kalpas: Explained in the first fascicle, note 83, page 118 (Volume I).

9. Eighty-four thousand defilements: The 84,000 kinds of illness; namely, the eighty-four thousand afflictions, the eighty-four thousand defilements, and the eighty-four thousand activities of mind. Human beings possess innumerable illnesses, errors, and delusions that arise from the mind every hour and every minute. To counteract these 84,000 illnesses, one should employ the Buddha’s 84,000 Dharma gates.

10. First bhumi: The first stage, the initial stage among the ten bhumis; namely, the first bhumi of a Mahayana bodhisattva. It is the Bhumi of Joy, whose complete name is the First Bhumi of Joy.

11. Consciousness: L’âme (French), the soul. A human being has two parts: body and soul. Because the soul is numinously active and wondrous, beyond the reach of exhaustive discussion and investigation, it is called consciousness. Practitioners of the Consciousness-Only school who cultivate the path can enter meditative concentration and send their consciousness to various realms. Consciousness is also called awareness, mind-consciousness, soul, spirit, spiritual soul, and so forth.