Sutra on the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma
"The Universal Door Of The Bodhisattva Who Listens To The Sounds Of All The World"
(Translated from the Sanskrit into Chinese by Tripitaka Dharma Master Kumarajiva of the Yao Chin Dynasty. Translated from Chinese into English by the Buddhist Text Translation Society, Dharma Realm Buddhist University.)
Namo Fundamental Teacher Shakyamuni Buddha (3x).
Verse for Opening a Sutra
"The unsurpassed, deep, profound, subtle, wonderful Dharma,
In a hundred thousand million eons, is difficult to encounter;
Now that I've come to receive and hold it, within my sight and hearing,
I vow to fathom the Thus Come One's true and actual meaning. "
At that time, Bodhisattva Infinite Resolve rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, joined his palms, and facing the Buddha, said, "O World Honored One, how did Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva get the name Gwan Shr Yin?"
The Buddha answered Bodhisattva Infinite Resolve, "Good Man, if all the countless hundreds of thousands of millions of living beings tormented by misery and pain hear of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, and with all their hearts invoke his name, Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva will immediately respond to their prayers and set them free.
If those who hold the name of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva should fall into a great fire, the fire will not burn them, because of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva's awesome spiritual power. If they are being tossed about in deep and treacherous waters and call his name, they will quickly reach the shallows.
Hundreds of thousand of myriads of millions of men in search of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, moonstones, and carnelian, coral, amber, pearls, and other precious treasures, may run afoul of violent squalls that blow their ships to the lands of Rakshashas.
But if one man among them calls the name of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, then the entire group will all be saved from the throes of the Rakshashas. For this reason he is called "The Enlightened One Who Listens to the Sounds of All the World."
If someone facing deadly harm recites Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva's name, the weapons of the assailants will break apart and he will get away.
Even if the entire three-fold, great, thousand-world system were teeming with Yakshas and Rakshashas bent on vexing men, when the evil demons hear the name of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva called out by these men, they will not be able to see them with their wicked eyes, much less do them in!
If there is a person, whether innocent or guilty, who is locked in stocks or shackled by ropes and chains, his fetters will snap and fall away, letting him go free as soon as he invokes Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva's name.
Suppose vicious thieves in legions that could fill a three-fold, great, thousand-world system infest a perilous road along which a merchant chief guides a traders' caravan laden with precious jewels.If one man among them proclaims: "Good Men, do not be afraid! With all your hearts invoke the name of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, the Enlightened One Who Gives Courage to All Beings! If we beseech this Bodhisattva, we will surely escape these thieves".
Upon hearing this exhortation, if all the traders in unison cry out, 'Namo Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva!' By virtue of calling out Gwan Shr Yin's name, they will immediately go free.
Infinite Resolve! How imposing is the awesome spiritual power of the Great Bodhisattva Who Listens to the Sounds of All the World!
If any living being with weighty desires can constantly revere and keep in mind Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, his passions will subside. If someone with much anger can constantly revere and keep in mind Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, then his anger will subside. If someone dull and foolish can constantly revere and keep in mind Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, he will leave stupidity behind.
Infinite Resolve! The Bodhisattva Who Listens to the Sounds of All the World, with his magnificent spiritual power, confers such abundant benefits as these. And so, living beings should always keep him in their hearts and hold his name in mind.
If women seeking sons bow to and make offerings to the Bodhisattva Gwan Shr Yin, they will give birth to sons happy, virtuous, and wise. If instead, they wish for daughters, they will bear gifted daughters with deep-rooted, wholesome characters, beloved and respected by all.
Infinite Resolve! Such is the power of the Bodhisattva Who Listens to the Sounds of All the World. Any living being who worships and makes offerings to Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva will never take a loss.
Therefore, every single living being should hold Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva's name in mind. Infinite Resolve! Suppose someone held the names of Bodhisattvas to the number of grains of sand in sixty-two million Ganges Rivers, and for this person's entire life, made offerings to them all of food and drink, clothes, bedding, and medicine. What is your opinion? Would the merit and virtue accrued by that good man or woman be abundant?"
Infinite Resolve replied, "Extremely abundant, World Honored One, very great indeed!"
The Buddha said, "Yet if someone else held the name of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, bowed and made an offering but one time, the blessings of these two people would be identical, the same in every way, and would endure for quadrillions of aeons.
Infinite Resolve! Holding the name of Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva brings blessings and benefits as limitless and boundless as these."
Again, the Bodhisattva Infinite Resolve asked the Buddha, "World Honored One, how does Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva wander in this Saha World? How does he speak Dharma for living beings, and what manner of resourcefulness does he command?"
The Buddha answered Bodhisattva Infinite Resolve, "If there is a living being in some country who can be liberated by a Buddha, Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva appears as a Buddha and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a Pratyeka Buddha, he appears as a Pratyeka Buddha and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a Sound-hearer, he appears as a Sound-hearer and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a Brahma-heaven King, he appears as a Brahma-heaven King and teaches him the Dharma.
If someone can be liberated by Shakra, he appears as Shakra and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by the God of Comfort, he appears as the God of Comfort and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by the God of Great Comfort, he appears as the God of Great Comfort and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a mighty General of the Gods, he appears as a mighty General of the Gods and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by the God Vaisravana, he appears as Vaisravana and teaches him the Dharma.
If someone can be liberated by a minor king, he appears as a minor king and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by an elder, he appears as an elder and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a lay-person, he appears as a lay-person and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a minister of state, he appears as a minister of state and teaches him the Dharma.
If someone can be liberated by a Brahman, he appears as a Brahman and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a monk or nun, a layman or a laywoman, he appears as a monk or nun, a layman or laywoman and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by the wife of an elder, layman, minister of state, or Brahman, he appears as a wife and teaches him the Dharma.
If someone can be liberated by a lad or maiden, he appears as a lad or maiden and teaches him the Dharma. If someone can be liberated by a god, dragon, yaksha, or gandharva, an asura, garuda, kinnara, or mahoraga, a human, nonhuman, and so forth, he appears accordingly and teaches him the Dharma. And if someone can be liberated by a Vajra-wielding Spirit, he appears as a Vajra-wielding Spirit and teaches him the Dharma.
Infinite Resolve! Such are the meritorious deeds done by Gwan Shr Yin, the Bodhisattva who roams throughout the world and appears in various forms to rescue living beings. Therefore you should all wholeheartedly make offerings to the Bodhisattva Who Listens to the Sounds of All the World.
In times of terror, crisis, and trouble, the Great Bodhisattva Gwan Shr Yin can bestow courage and dispel all fears. Therefore, all throughout the Saha world we call him Giver of Courage.
The Bodhisattva Infinite Resolve said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, I will now make an offering to the Bodhisattva Gwan Shr Yin."
And so saying, he removed his rosary of pearls, worth hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and presented it to the Bodhisattva with these words: " O Humane One, please accept my offering of Dharma, this rosary of precious pearls."
But Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva would not accept the pearls. Infinite Resolve once more entreated Gwan Shr Yin, "O Humane One, out of pity for us, please receive the rosary." Then the Buddha said to Gwan Shr Yin, "Out of compassion for Infinite Resolve and the Four Assemblies, for the gods, dragons, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhuman beings, and the rest, accept this rosary."
Then Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva, out of pity for the Four Assemblies, for the gods, dragons, humans, non humans, and the rest, accepted the rosary and divided it into two parts. One strand he offered to Shakyamuni Buddha, the other to the stupa of the Buddha Many Jewels.
Infinite Resolve! With such sovereign spiritual powers does the Bodhisattva Gwan Shr Yin traverse the Saha World.Then the Bodhisattva Infinite Resolve put his questions into verses and asked them once again:
"World Honored One,
Complete with Wondrous Hallmarks,
Several questions I would ask again.
How did this disciple of the Buddha,
Earn the name Gwan Shr Yin?
Then the World Honored One,his every feature full, answered in melodious verse to Infinite Resolve:
Come listen and I'll tell you Gwan Yin's story
How deftly he responds to every side;
Spanning ages past the ken of numbers,
With oceanic vows both deep and wide.
Serving ancient Buddhas, several billions,
His pure and lofty vows in brief I'll tell.
Whoever sees his face or learns about him,
Who can hold this Bodhisattva's name,
Will leave behind the sorrows of existence,
And so this cultivation's not in vain!
Should you be pushed into a raging fire,
By enemies so harmful, mean, and cruel,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva
The blaze will turn into a limpid pool.
If cast adrift upon the mighty ocean,
Where dragons, ghosts, and sharks in turn surround,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
You'll float atop the waves and will not drown.
Suppose an evil person pushed you headlong,
From atop the peak called Wondrous Tall,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
And like the sun in space you will not fall.
Perhaps you tumble down from Vajra Mountain,
Fleeing wicked ruffians who pursue,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
And not the slightest harm will come to you.
Surrounded by a mob of heartless bandits,
Their weapons drawn, with murder on their minds,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
Their evil hearts will soften and turn kind.
If you are on the verge of execution,
Sentenced by the State,condemned to die,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
The sword will break to pieces just in time.
If bound and chained, restrained by ropes and shackles,
With hands and feet confined in stocks and gyves,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
The fetters by themselves will fall aside.
Hexes, poison, magic spells, and voodoo,
Cast by those who plot to do you in,
Return to curse the sorcerer who sent them,
When you invoke the power of Gwan Shr Yin.
If you meet with evil Rakshashas,
Lethal dragons, ghosts, and vicious beasts,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
None will dare to harm you in the least.
Circled round and trapped by savage creatures,
With razor fangs and claws that terrify,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
And they will quickly flee to every side.
Facing vipers, scorpions, and pythons,
Belching poisons, fumes, and scorching flames,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
They'll shrink and turn away before his name.
When thunder-clouds explode and lightning crackles,
Dumping sleet, and hail, and heavy rains,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
The skies will clear, the storms will drift away.
Living beings harassed and vexed, and troubled,
By countless sorrows, burdened without cease,
This Bodhisattva's wondrous wisdom-power.
Can help the suffering world obtain relief.
Perfect and complete in psychic power,
Widely versed in wisdom's subtle skills,
In lands throughout the ten directions,
The Bodhisattva manifests at will.
The agony amid the Evil Pathways,
The torments of the ghosts, the beasts, the hells,
The pains of birth, the aged, sick, and dying,
The Bodhisattva gradually dispels.
O Thou of true regard, of pure regard,
Regard far-reaching, wise, and truly great,
Thy loving-kindness, sympathy, and deep regard,
I vow to ever laud and venerate.
Your wisdom-sun can break apart the darkness,
Immaculate, your virgin light unfurls,
To quell disasters, winds, and storms, and fires,
A universal light for all the world.
Wellspring of compassion, precepts' thunder,
Your wondrous cloud of kindness covers all.
Extinguishing the fires of life's afflictions,
As the rain of sweet-dew Dharma falls.
In trials, suits, and civil confrontations,
When fear runs high, when warring armies near,
Evoke the strength of Gwan Yin Bodhisattva,
Vengeance and bad feelings disappear.
Fine and wondrous sound: Gwan Shr Yin!
Brahma-sound, steady as the tides.
A name transcending every worldly sound,
Gwan Yin! Stay forever in my mind.
Let not a single doubt arise to haunt us,
For Gwan Yin Bodhisattva, Holy Sage,
Amid life's troubles, and the pains of dying,
Will ever be our refuge, and our aid.
O Holy One! Replete with every virtue,
Your kindly gaze beholds all living beings.
A boundless sea you are, of every blessing.
And let us bow to offer our esteem!"
Then Bodhisattva, Guardian of the Earth arose from his seat, went before the Buddha and proclaimed, "O! World Honored One, living beings must have abundant merit and virtue to hear this chapter on Gwan Shr Yin Bodhisattva's sovereign deeds, and how he universally responds with his spiritual power."
And while the Buddha spoke this Universal Door Chapter, eighty-four thousand living beings from among the assembly set their minds on achieving Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi!
(Recite the Great Compassion Mantra) (3x or 7x)
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