Daily Zen Sutras
                                      
                         Last updated: 28 Mar 2000.
    This document is a part of the Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library
                and of the Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library
                                      
      The purpose of this document is to provide an on-line version of
          sutras used in the Diamond Sangha line of Zen Buddhism.
   
   
  PURIFICATION
  ============  

   All the evil karma, ever created by me since of old;
   on account of my beginningless greed, hatred and ignorance;
   born of my conduct, speech and thought;
   I now confess openly and fully.
   
   
  VANDANA
  =======  

   I venerate the Sacred One, the Great Sage, the Truly Enlightened One.
   
  TI-SARANA
  =========

   I take refuge in the Buddha
   I take refuge in the Dharma
   I take refuge in the Sangha.
   
  THE GREAT VOWS FOR ALL
  ======================

   The many beings are numberless, 
   I vow to save them;
   Greed, hatred, and ignorance rise endlessly, 
   I vow to abandon them;
   Dharma gates are countless, 
   I vow to wake to them;
   The Buddha's way is unsurpassed, 
   I vow to embody it fully.
   
  ON OPENING THE DHARMA
  =====================

   The Dharma, 
   incomparably profound and minutely subtle,
   is rarely encountered, 
   even in hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas;
   We now can see it, listen to it, accept and hold it;
   May we completely realize the Tathagata's true meaning.
   
  The Great Prajna-Paramita - Heart Sutra
  =======================================

   Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, 
   practicing deep Prajna Paramita,
   clearly saw that all five skandhas are empty, 
   transforming anguish and distress.
   Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, 
   emptiness no other than form;
   form is exactly emptiness, 
   emptiness exactly form;
   sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness 
   are also like this.
   Sha-riputra, all things are essentially empty-- 
   not born, not destroyed;
   not stained, not pure; 
   without loss, without gain.
   Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, 
   no sensation, perception, mental reaction, consciousness;
   no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind;
   no color, sound, smell, taste, touch, object of thought;
   no seeing and so on to no thinking;
   no ignorance and also no ending of ignorance,
   and so on to no old age and death,
   and also no ending of old age and death;
   no anguish, cause of anguish, cessation, path;
   no wisdom and no attainment. 
   Since there is nothing to attain,
   the Bodhisattva lives by Prajna Paramita,
   with no hindrance in the mind; 
   no hindrance and therefore no fear;
   far beyond delusive thinking, 
   right here is Nirvana.
   All Buddhas of past, present, and future 
   live by Great Wisdom
   attaining enlightenment.
   Therefore, know that Great Wisdom
   is the great sacred mantra, 
   the great vivid mantra,
   the unsurpassed mantra, 
   the supreme mantra,
   which completely removes all anguish.
   This is truth 
   not mere formality.
   Therefore, set forth the Great Wisdom mantra,
   set forth this mantra and proclaim:
   Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, Bodhi sva-ha-!
   
  EARLY MORNING SERVICE DEDICATION
  ================================

   Our words ring out through space beyond the stars;
   their virtue and compassion echo back from all the many beings;
   we recite the Heart Sutra for renewal of the Buddha-mind in 
   fields and forests, homes and streets,throughout the world, in 
   grateful thanks to all our many guides along the ancient way;
   All Buddhas throughout space and time;
   all Bodhisattvas, Mahasattvas;
   the great Prajna Paramita.
   
  TOREI ZENJI: BODHISATTVA'S VOW
  ==============================

   Leader:
   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.
   
  Ten Verse Kannon Sutra of Timeless Life
  =======================================
  (repeat 7 times)

   Kanzeon!
   I venerate the Buddha;
   with the Buddha I have my source,
   with the Buddha I have affinity--
   affinity with Buddha, Dharma, Sangha,
   constancy, ease, the self, and purity.
   Mornings my thought is Kanzeon,
   evenings my thought is Kanzeon,
   thought after thought arises in mind,
   thought after thought is not separate from mind.