Torei Zenji's Bodhisattva vow

[Guest guest]

>

I am only a simple disciple, but I offer these respectful words:

Assembly:

 

When I regard the true nature of the many dharmas,

I find them all to be sacred forms of the Tathagata's never-failing essence.

 

Each particle of matter, each moment,

is no other than the Tathagata's inexpressible radiance.

 

With this realization, our virtuous ancestors gave tender care

to beasts and birds with compassionate minds and hearts.

Among us, in our own daily lives, who is not reverently grateful for the

protections of life:

food, drink, and clothing! Though they are inanimate things,

they are nonetheless the warm flesh and blood, the merciful incarnations of

Buddha.

 

All the more, we can be especially sympathetic and affectionate with foolish

people,

particularly with someone who becomes a sworn enemy and persecutes us with

abusive language.

That very abuse conveys the Buddha's boundless loving-kindness.

It is a compassionate device to liberate us entirely from the mean-spirited

delusions

we have built up with our wrongful conduct from the beginningless past.

 

With our open response to such abuse we completely relinquish ourselves,

and the most profound and pure faith arises.

 

At the peak of each thought a lotus flower opens, and on each flower there is

revealed a Buddha.

Everywhere is the Pure Land in its beauty.

 

We see fully the Tathagata's radiant light right where we are.

May we retain this mind and extend it throughout the world

so that we and all beings become mature in Buddha's wisdom

 

Era

 

..