Author: Chong Go Sunim

The Mantra for Purifying Mind

I’ll be upright and sincere in my behavior.

정법계진언 淨法界眞言

진정 올바른 행을 하리다.

A little short, isn’t it?! If you want to purify your mind, raise this intention, and try to work at being upright and sincere in how you approach things. Easy, right? 🙂

This section of The Thousand Hands Sutra has a number of these small sections, with just one or two short pieces to them. The title will be in italics, with the mantra itself in regular bold text. The English translations of the titles are from the regular Korean ceremony book, and is Daehaeng Sunim’s explanation of the meaning of the title. We could have translated the original Chinese characters, but her explanations were more interesting, and probably more useful as well.

(Text is from Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s translation of “The Thousand Hands Sutra”)

(The Mantra of Repentance)

I take refuge in one mind,
the mother of heaven and earth,
the giver of life to all things.

천지의 만물 소생케 하는 도리천지 어머니이신 한마음에 귀의합니다.

(The Mantra of Repentance)

Whether a heavenly being or a human being,
anyone who meets this treasure,
this one mind,
obtains the supreme Dharma.

이 여의주 만난 이는 최상의 법 얻으리다.

(The Mantra of Repentance)

If I am always aware of and rely upon
the great virtue and merit of one mind,
no disasters of this world can touch me,
and I will receive the blessings of all Buddhas.

한마음의 크신 공덕 적정하게 항상 관하면
이 세상의 모든 재난 침범하지 못하리니,
천상이나 인간이나 부처님의 복덕 받아

The Mantra of Repentance
Let us awaken to how we should live.

참회진언 懺悔眞言
우리들의 삶의 길을 깨닫게 하여 주옵소서.

This is a the first line on this section, and is quite simple, but, it doesn’t take much sometimes.

(Repenting of the Ten Evil Actions- conclusion)

While letting go of all wrong behaviors and deluded thoughts
if my mind becomes completely empty,
this can be called true repentance.

죄와 망심 모두 놓아 마음 모두 공하여야,
이를 일러 이름하여 진실한 참회라 하네.

Repentance doesn’t erase what we did or its consequences, but in returning to our foundation, we start dissolving the chains of thoughts that led us to that action, and the chains of regrets and blame that cripple and distort us. And if, from this completely empty place, we raise an intention for the well-being and growth of those that were harmed, then perhaps, we can truly settle that debt.

There’s a new subtitled video by Daehaeng Kun Sunim on YouTube! It took a while, but there are some really nice points here! I hope you find something that helps you break through wherever you are.

with palms together,
Chong Go

Evil thoughts and actions do not just appear on their own.
They emerge according to the thoughts I give rise to.
Thus, when those thoughts disappear
bad karma also vanishes.

죄는 본래 자성 없고 마음 따라 일어나니, 마음 만일 없어지면 죄업 또한 스러지네.

Literally, the first line says “Evil thoughts and actions do not have self (true) nature.” Well, that’s a little vague in English! The nuance is that they are not separate, independent things just floating around out in the world. Also, perhaps most importantly, they are not permanent things. They don’t have some existence that lasts forever or that exists apart from us.

In a way, you might be able to read this as “They are empty.” This is a description you have to be very careful about, because people lacking wisdom have used it to justify all kinds of harmful actions. While evil actions may not have true, inherent nature, they sure can generate a lot of painful results! And trigger unimaginable chains of causes and effects, so know that your own shortcomings are not permanent, and will change when your thoughts change, but don’t disregard them. You’ll still experience the results of whatever mischief they get up to!

That aside, this is such a hopeful verse! Change the way you’re thinking, start entrusting what you’re feeling and worried about to your foundation, and things will begin to change. It probably won’t happen immediately, but it will change.

With one thought,
evil karma accumulated over endless eons disappears,
leaving nothing behind,
like dry grass in a fire.

백겁 천겁 쌓인 죄업 한생각에 사라지고, 마른풀이 불에 타듯 남김없이 소멸되네.

This is such an awesome verse! While when you start changing your thoughts, when you start entrusting things to your foundation and try to respond from that, you likely won’t see any instant changes. Most of the time, you’ll just realize later that things have changed, but you can’t quite pinpoint the moment that they did. You just know that now, things are different. But once in a while, it’s as if things reached critical mass, and all of a sudden, great burdens just start falling away. Old resentments or fears just collapse one after another, including things you didn’t even know you felt.

It really can feel like everything burned away and there’s nothing left. Though, in my experience, you should still be careful, because while it seems like so much stuff fell away, there’s often a tiny bit remaining. And if you aren’t careful in the kinds of thoughts you give rise to and dwell upon, that tiny bit will start to grow back. It will be like a seed crystal that your old garbage forms around and uses to grow back.

I now deeply repent of having been ignorant and deluded.

어리석은 큰 죄 오늘 참회합니다.

Interestingly, the Korean here leans towards “having been stupid, and done stupid things,” lol. Usually when we see “ignorance,” it means more not understanding the non-duality of all things. Ultimately, that amounts to the same thing, though. But, sometimes taking a narrower view and being as specific as possible helps us see what we were doing and not get get caught by it the next time it arises. So if there is something specific, some specific circumstances where you stumble, try to be as specific as possible as you can about repenting of it. And also be as harmonious as you can in viewing how you want to respond to it in the future. Hating ourselves doesn’t clear away a path for us.

If we clearly sense our connection to all beings, even the ones behaving badly, we couldn’t hurt or despise them. Sometimes, when we’re having a real problem dealing with someone, reminding ourselves that, “That’s what I used to look like when I didn’t know any better,” will really help our anger and resentment melt away. “Sigh, yeah.”