Author: Chong Go Sunim

All of the hell realms within my mind vanish
as the thoughts that gave rise to them
are extinguished.

내 마음의 지옥도 한 생각이 스스로 꺼지어 저절로 무너지네.

I can’t lay claim to understanding all the implications of this verse, but it certainly sounds logical: When the conditions that give rise to something disappear, everything they’ve been causing also disappears.

A single thought causes my mind to fall into the hell of boiling water,
but when that thought is dissolved,
this hell also collapses.

내 마음에 화탕지옥 일으킬 때 한 생각이 스스로 꺼지어 저절로 무너지네.

This section of The Thousand Hands Sutra is a part I call the Hell Realms, because aside from sounding a bit gruesome, on the surface, it’s telling us how to escape from hellish states of existence.

Should the hell of knives arise within my mind,
let the all embracing energy of one mind
cause this hell to collapse.

내 마음에 칼산지옥도 한마음 능력 두루 하여 스스로 무너지게 하소서.

Today is Thanksgiving in the US, the day when people give thanks to all those who’ve blessed us, helped us, and guided us. May you all find your way along the bright path.

Mind freely manifests and functions everywhere,
unhindered and omnipresent,
let me discover that all enlightened teachers are my one mind.

마음은 고정됨이 하나 없이 평등하니 일체의 법성신이
내 한마음인 줄 알게 하소서.

There is a place where all Buddhas have practiced, and it’s not in some higher realm. It’s the same place they’ve all attained enlightenment.

Let me know that all Buddhas exist
within my one mind,
the place where enlightenment is attained.

원하건대 일체제불이 도량의 집 내 한마음에 계시옴을 알게 하소서.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,

One mind,
the Way that isn’t a fixed path,
its inherent brightness is never troubled by birth and death.
I vow to realize one mind without delay.

본래 밝아 생과 사에 걸림 없는 길 없는 길 한마음이
하루속히 이루어지이다.

This part repeats a couple more times, and it may seem like the meaning is straightforward and doesn’t need repeating, but it’s repeated a number of times in the text. I think it’s because we truly need to grasp this deep down. When we’re stressed, when we’re hurting or overwhelmed, where is our first stop? Where do we look to first? What’s our first, instant thought about how to take care of something? It needs to be our one mind. It’s connected to everything inside and outside, and so can provide energy and/or guidance.

My one mind is the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,

Virtue, precepts, and actions in harmony with the Dharma
are all done through mind.
I vow to attain these without delay.

마음의 공덕 계율 법행을 하루속히 이루오리다.

My one mind hears and responds to all the cries of the world,
so I return to my one mind and rely upon it.

내 한마음 그대로 관세음이신 고로 내 한마음에 귀의하오니,