Kannon Sutra: Universal Gateway verses

World-Honored One, endowed with excellent form and virtue,

I now ask you again:

for what reason does this bodhisattva, child of the Buddha,

bear the name Kanzeon?

The Buddha, fully endowed with excellent form and virtue,

answered Mujini Bodhisattva’s question in verse:

Listen well to Kannon’s conduct.

Kannon responds appropriately to people everywhere.

The vast vow is deep as the ocean;

through inconceivably long ages,

serving countless billions of Buddhas,

Kannon has aroused a great and pure aspiration.

For your sake I will briefly describe that activity.

Hearing the name, encountering the form,

and holding Kannon in mind do not end in vain;

the many sufferings of existence can be extinguished.

Even if someone intends harm

and pushes you into a great fiery pit,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

the fiery pit turns into a pool.

Or if you drift upon the great sea,

in danger from dragons, fish, and demons,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

you will not be swallowed by the waves and sink.

Or if, standing on Mount Sumeru’s summit,

you are pushed off by someone,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

you remain in the sky like the sun.

Or if pursued by a malicious person

you fall from a mountain hard as vajra,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

not even a hair will be harmed.

Or if surrounded by hostile bandits,

each attacking with a blade in hand,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

they immediately arouse hearts of kindness.

Or if suffering punishment by a ruler,

about to end your life by execution,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

the blade immediately breaks into pieces.

Or if captured, bound with cangue and chains,

with hands and feet in fetters,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

they all release you and you become free.

If someone tries to harm your body

with curses and various poisons,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

the harm returns to its originator, the sutra teaches.

Or if you encounter fearsome rakshasas,

poisonous dragons, and various demons,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

none will then seek to harm you.

If surrounded by fearsome beasts,

their sharp fangs and claws approaching,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

the beasts run far away.

If poisonous snakes, vipers, and scorpions

flare with poisonous breath like smoke and fire,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

they turn away at the sound of recitation.

If clouds arise, thunder rolls, lightning flashes,

hail falls, and heavy rain pours,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

they disappear at that moment.

When beings meet difficulties,

pressed by countless sufferings,

Kannon’s excellent wisdom and power

can rescue them from the world’s suffering.

Endowed with wondrous, freely responsive activity,

Kannon widely cultivates wise means of guidance.

Throughout lands in every direction,

there is no world where Kannon does not manifest.

The various realms of suffering,

the realms of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals,

and the sufferings of birth, aging, illness, and death

are gradually extinguished completely.

The gaze seeing truth, the pure gaze,

the gaze of vast wisdom,

the gaze that removes suffering and the gaze that gives peace—

always aspire to them and look up to them.

The unstained, pure light,

as the sun of wisdom, breaks through many darknesses,

quells the winds and fires of calamity,

and illuminates the world everywhere.

The activity of precepts grounded in suffering-relieving compassion resounds like thunder.

The kindly heart spreads like a wondrous great cloud,

pouring a rain of teaching like nectar

and extinguishing the flames of affliction.

Even when facing judgment in a dispute,

or amid a fearsome battlefield,

if you hold Kannon’s power in mind,

all the many hostilities retreat and scatter.

Kanzeon of the wondrous voice,

whose pure voice reaches like the ocean tide,

surpasses the many voices of the world.

Therefore always hold Kannon in mind.

In every thought, do not arouse doubt.

Kanzeon, the pure sage,

in suffering and mortal danger,

becomes a dependable support.

Endowed with every virtue,

watching over beings with a compassionate gaze,

Kannon’s gathered blessings are boundless as the ocean.

Therefore bow your head reverently in worship.