This morning, I'm going to explain the Enmei Juku Kannon Gyo, which we chanted this morning. It's the last chant. every once in a while. I have to explain this sutra and let everybody catch up. This sutra is very short and is chanted for the welfare of all beings. We often chant this when we have a well-being ceremony or in connection with extending life.

[01:07]

Actually, the title Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo, Enmei means something like eternal, but I think the translators don't like to use So it's something like extending life or endless dimensions of this moment. And jikku, or jukku, either one, means 10 phrases or 10 lines. And kanon, of course, is aspect of Avalokiteśvara, kanan, guanyin, kanjizai in the Heart Sutra, and gyo is a sutra, so endless dimension

[02:19]

Kannon Sutra. So ten phrases or ten lines, it means it's looking at this from ten different aspects. Each line presents a different way of, a different view. which has ten facets. The title, Extending Life, or more like Continuous Life, which is the continuous life of this moment. We say this moment is both time is continuous, and yet for our convenience, we discriminate it and break it up into little segments called one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock,

[03:55]

then and now. This is a convenient way of ordering our life. So this is discontinuous time. Time is broken up into segments, but or continuous now moment. So both of these are necessary, continuous and discontinuous. Now, continuous time is Buddha. looks at that from various angles, so it's important to keep in mind.

[04:59]

And then the first line is kanzeon, which is a kind of exclamation. Kanzeon. Kan means to penetrate or to ze is the world and an is a sound. So the name of kanzean means to penetrate the sounds of the world or to hear them, hear actually the suffering sounds of the world. to be aware of the suffering sounds of the world and to penetrate the meaning of the sounds. And it also

[06:14]

implies the mind of vow to the mind, Kansayana mind or Kansayana vow is to hear or attend to the suffering cries of the world. So avalokitesvara, or kanzeyang, is the personification of compassion. Kanjizai is the one who totally penetrates the self. and realizes oneness with everything.

[07:20]

The mind of Kanzayon is one with the mind of Buddha. That's the mind of vow. So the next line is Namu Butsu. Namu means homage to, and Butsu is Buddha, homage to Buddha, but Namu or homage also means one with. The implication is to be one with, not be separate from, So, Buddha doesn't necessarily mean a historical Buddha, of course, it means one with Buddha nature or one with the three bodies of Buddha, Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya.

[08:37]

Dharmakaya is our fundamental nature, Sambhogakaya is our wisdom, and Nirmanakaya is our actions. Maizumi Roshi always used to say, intrinsically we are Buddha, but experientially we don't realize it. So there's the intrinsic and experiential. and practice is to experience what is intrinsic, or to wake up to our nature. There was a story that Suzuki Roshi told about Morita Zenji,

[09:42]

who was a Zen master, probably in the generation before Suzuki Roshi, and when he was a little boy his father took care of him, but apparently his mother wasn't around and the father had a hard time taking care of him, so he took him to the temple and turned him He was just a young kid, so when he came to the temple, one of the tasks was to learn to ring the bell, and so one day the Zen Master was talking with somebody, and Morita, as a boy, his job was to do the bell for something.

[10:52]

I don't know what, but he rang the bell, and the sound was so wonderful and pure that the teacher was quite amazed, and he had the boy come to him. where did you learn to ring the bell in this way? And the boy said, well before I came here my father told me that every time you ring the bell a Buddha is produced, you produce a Buddha. So he kept that in mind when he was So then the next line is yo-butsu-u-in. Kanze-yan namu-butsu yo-butsu-u-in. We usually say, think of it as namu-butsu-yo, but it's actually namu-butsu and then yo-butsu-in.

[11:57]

And yo-butsu is one, and who is is, as the president says, who is is, and in is direct cause, so with Buddha is direct cause. It's a little funny, literally, so you have to kind of play with the words a little bit. means Buddha is the direct cause of everything. There's a direct cause and then there are secondary causes, which comes next, but this line is Buddha is direct cause, with Buddha is direct cause or the origin.

[13:03]

Buddha is essential nature or original nature and intrinsically we are Buddha is the meaning. So Buddha here means Buddha nature. Buddha nature is the direct cause of everything as Dogen says in the everything has Buddha nature, and Dogen changed that around to say everything is Buddha nature. So, the next line, Yobutsu-en, cause.

[14:14]

In other words, indirect means contributing, there are contributing causes. So it's like a cause and its catalyst. You can plant the seed, but then there and all the contributing causes in order to make something happen. So the meaning here is Buddha is the direct cause, but Buddha nature is also all the indirect causes which together create phenomena. So Buddha nature is also the various supporting causes for our existence and for our actions.

[15:19]

So yobutsu-in and yobutsu-en. and in and in are the two last words in these two lines, and together they mean karma, the cause of karma, the absolute and the relative aspects of karma. And then the next line Po is Dharma and So is Sangha, and N means also, or contributing causes, and it's the same N as above. So Bu, Po, So, N, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha

[16:30]

for nirvana or to enlightenment. So the three treasures, right? Buddha is the oneness of everything, Dharma is the diversity of everything, and Sangha is the harmony. So each one of us is bu, po, so. You carry the three treasures as yourself. Buddha nature, the diversity of dharmas, and the harmony, which is your attitude and your actions, the next line is jo roku ga jo.

[17:37]

Jo is eternal or something like that, roku is joyful, ga is being or self, and jo is pure. So if you scramble the words in our own way of understanding it's like So it's simply a joyful, pure, eternal being, but it implies the non-duality of these four terms, eternal and impermanent, joyful suffering, it implies the oneness of these opposites. So purity itself means non-duality.

[18:50]

If it's only the purity of non-defilement So, eternal, joyful, pure. Joyful, pure, eternal being in its true sense of non-duality. As Suzuki Roshi used to say, small mind is an expression of big mind. You can't have it two ways. So then the next line is Cho Nen Khan Zayon.

[19:56]

Cho is morning and Nen means the mind of this moment, now mind. And Cho Nen Khan Zayon. Now mind one with kanzeon. In other words, in the morning, think of kanzeon. In the morning, let your mind, let your attention be on kanzeon. The next line is bo nen kanzean. Bo is evening. In the evening, let your mind dwell on kanzean. And the next line is, nen nen ju shin ki.

[21:02]

Nen, the mind of this moment, or now mind, follow mind arises. Literally, mind, follow, nin nin. Mind, follow mind, arises. Thought, in other words, thought after thought arises as the mind of Kanzeon. Let the thought, in other words, let thought after thought arise as the mind of Kanzeon. That's interpretation. Let the mind of Kanzeon arise moment after moment. In other words, let your mind, let yourself dwell in big mind moment after moment, from morning to night, from morning to evening.

[22:07]

nen, nen, fu, ri, shin. Nen, nen, this thought, this moment is not separate from big mind. So no separation between thought and action. Or actualize, realize our intrinsic Buddha mind, realize and actualize it. Don't let the thought of this moment be separate from big mind. That's my interpretation. I've seen various commentaries and translations and been over a long period of time trying to interpret it in a way that makes sense to us.

[23:43]

So sometime I would like to put it together so that we could chant it in American, in a way that would feel good, that would sound right, sound, I don't want to say logical, It sounds reasonable. Oh yeah, I understand what that means. Do you have any questions? I mean, I never really know what you're talking about.

[24:59]

I'm stressed out. I'm stressed out. But now I know. I mean, it's just incredible. And so I think this maybe I should just chant this to myself all day long or something. I just, I wonder what, what can be done along the way. Hakuin says if you chant this, you should chant this a thousand times a day. It will transform you. You might try that. Yes? Amy?

[26:01]

I can't hear you. I wonder if you could, given that you have it worked out as an American translation, if you could read through your notes from top to bottom through the sutra so we can hear it. Yeah. Well, kanzean, I just think, I don't think kanzean should be translated homage, to Buddha. Buddha is direct cause.

[27:02]

Buddha is indirect cause. Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, joyful, pure, eternal being, morning mind with Kansayana, or morning think of Kansayana, But think of it as a little week. Morning, abide with Kansayana. Evening, abide with Kansayana. Thought after thought. with Kanzeon, actualize, realize, oh no.

[28:14]

This moment is one with Kansayon, something like that. Then you can take a bit of... Yes? I really love this sutra a lot. Yeah, yes. yeah but um i what i love about it's devotional feeling Well, it's not devotional to something outside of ourself.

[30:05]

The kanzeon that's listening is the kanzeon in here, and as far as devotion goes, Zen is very devotional to but not devoted to something outside of ourself. So if you think of kanzeon as your own aspect of Buddha nature, then yes, you can appeal to kanzeon as that intrinsic aspect of Buddha nature that is your compassionate self, which will respond. definitely respond. So I think that it's a good mantra.

[31:23]

But you have to be sincere. Maybe you don't. Maybe it's just okay just to chant it. But chanting it will create the sincerity. And thank you to the Sangha for the ongoing well-being service that we have on Friday nights when we chant this. It has very special meaning for me because my son-in-law is. And when he was in great difficulty a year ago, we had a well-being service and chanted, and there was an immense sense of the energy of the Sangha.

[32:26]

And it's sober and relatively sane for the first time in many years. And I have such a sense every Friday afternoon when we chant that, that we're really calling on the universe to hold him and to hold all the young men who've had to struggle this way. And it's a great gift. It's a wonderful place to put my love and just give out a good sense of pride. Yeah, that's very nice.

[33:07]

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