Verses praising the Buddha

The radiance of your face rises nobly; your wondrous power is without limit.

Nothing can equal such shining light.

Even the brilliance of the sun, moon, and wish-fulfilling jewel

is completely outshone and seems like a mass of ink.

The Tathagata’s face surpasses the world and has no equal.

The awakened one’s great voice resounds in every direction.

In keeping precepts, hearing the teaching, diligence, samadhi, and wisdom,

your virtues are peerless, outstanding, and rare in the world.

You deeply discern and faithfully retain the ocean of the Buddhas’ teachings,

plumbing its depths and exploring its innermost reaches to the very bottom.

Ignorance, greed, and anger are forever absent from the World-Honored One.

This lion among people possesses immeasurable virtues.

Your accomplishments are vast; your wisdom deep and excellent.

Your light and majestic form stir the immense universe.

May I too become a Buddha equal to this holy king of the Dharma.

May I carry beings across birth and death, leaving none unfreed.

In giving, regulating the heart, precepts, patience, and diligence,

and in samadhi and wisdom, may I become supreme.

I vow to become a Buddha and practice this aspiration universally,

becoming a great refuge of peace for all who tremble in fear.

Even if there were hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhas,

and immeasurable sages as numerous as the Ganges sands,

making offerings to all those Buddhas

would not equal seeking the way, firm and upright, without retreat.

Even if Buddha worlds numbered as many as the Ganges sands,

with yet more countless, innumerable lands,

may my light illuminate them all, reaching everywhere,

and may such diligence make its wondrous power immeasurable.

When I become a Buddha, may my land be foremost,

its inhabitants incomparably excellent and its place of awakening unsurpassed.

May that land be like nirvana, without equal.

With compassion, I will save and free all beings.

May those born there from every direction have hearts joyful and pure;

arriving in my land, may they dwell comfortably and peacefully.

Buddha, with your all-seeing power, please bear witness that this is my sincerity.

Aspiring to that land, I exert myself diligently toward what I seek.

The World-Honored Ones in every direction possess unobstructed wisdom.

May these honored ones always know my heart and conduct.

Even if this body must remain amid sufferings and harm,

I will persevere diligently and patiently, never regretting it.