Glastonbury Chan Group

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The Three Refuges (in Pali)

Buddham saranam gachami

Dhammam: saranam gachami

Sangham saranam gachami

Dutiampi Buddham saranam gachami

Dutiampi Dhammam: saranam gachami

Dutiampi Sangham saranam gachami

Tatiyampi Buddham saranam gachami

Tatiyampi Dhammam: saranam gachami

Tatiyampi Sangham saranam gachami

When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara

was coursing in the deep Prajnaparamita,

he perceived 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 ageing and death and no ending of ageing 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 Prajnaparamita

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 Prajnaparamita, attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi.

Therefore, know that Prajnaparamita

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 Prajnaparamita:

Gate, Gate, Paragate, Parasamgate, Bodhi Svaha.

I take refuge in Buddha, and I wish all sentient beings

Will awaken to the Great Path, and make the Supreme Resolution

I take refuge in Dharma, and I wish all sentient beings,

Will penetrate the Sutras, their wisdom as deep as the ocean.

I take refuge in Sangha, and I wish all sentient beings

Will be brought together in Great Harmony without any obstructions at all.

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

]

We pray:

For the flourishing of Buddha Dharma.

For peace in the world.

For the joy and contentment of all people.

For the freedom and ease of body and mind.

May sentient beings depart from suffering.

May the vows of the donors be fulfilled.

Silently and serenely one forgets all words.
Clearly and vividly it appears before one.
When one realizes it, time is limitless.
When one experiences it, one's surroundings come to life.
Singularly illuminating is this bright awareness.
Full of wonder is this pure illumination.
The appearance of the moon, a river of stars,
Snow on pine trees, and clouds hovering on the mountain peaks.
In darkness they are glowing bright.
In obscurity they shine with resplendent light.
Like the feeling of a crane flying in empty space,
Like the still clear water of an autumn pool,
Limitless aeons dissolve into nothingness,
Undistinguishable from one another.
In this illumination all efforts are forgotten.
Where does this wonder exist?

From "Silent Illumination" by Master Hung-chih Cheng-chueh (1091-1157)