Wake Up and Laugh!

Here’s this week’s talk on the Sutra of the Thousand Hands of Compassion. This week it features what I jokingly (sort of) call the “hell-set”, a series of verses about how the handle the hellish states of mind that arise. Take a listen and I hope you find it helpful.

with palms together,
Chong Go

 

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEuidbLSTnhazVoQUhISk1UU1k

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

Mind freely manifests and functions everywhere.
Let me discover that all enlightened
teachers are my one mind.

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

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

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

When my mind acts like a hungry ghost,
my one mind can embrace that consciousness.
Experiencing oneness,
it is truly fulfilled.

When I rely upon my one mind for everything,
should the mind of an evil spirit arise within me,
it will willingly surrender to my one mind.

Should the mind of an animal arise within me,
let me learn the truth of non-duality
through the deep wisdom of one mind.

Through one mind I take refuge in
Buddha, who watches over and takes care
of all material and nonmaterial realms.

Here’s this week’s Dharma talk about the Thousand Hands Sutra (okay, it’s sort of last week’s talk, just finished now, but hey, I was busy! 🙂 )

The link to the audio file is below, but give the written text some time, go ahead and slowly write it down, and the meaning will sink down within you, reverberating inside. Really!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEuidbLSTnhTkI5R21jQnN0QTg

 

Believing in my one mind
and following its profound truth,
I will become free from all attachments
and able to use
the infinite ability within me.

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

Believe and believe in this one mind,
give rise to firm intention,
and everything will be accomplished.

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

If I believe and believe,
and follow my one mind,
wisdom will burst forth
and the path to freedom will become clear.

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

If I believe and follow
only my one mind,
I can become one with continuously
arising unenlightened beings,
and in so doing, save them all.

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

If I entrust all of the vows I have made
to my one mind,
I will surely become a Buddha.

 

 

Hi everyone! Here’s the link and text to this week’s talk about the Thousand Hands Sutra.

( I’m working on putting together a system for better quality recordings, and I think I’m at the stage where I need to work on a sound booth of sorts. If anyone has any experience with this, suggestions are welcome! )

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEuidbLSTnhWXFsVmF0UGpkZVU

 

 

The foundation of the Earth
is our one mind,
The foundation of the sun
is our one mind,
How could there be something
not taken care of
by our one mind?

The source of the entire universe
is our one mind;
it guides every single thing
in this interconnected world.

All minds are one,
it manifests every moment
and shows me the path.

The foundation of the universe
is my one mind.
It manifests every instant
illuminating the path for all beings,
both those with life and without.

My one mind is the root of all things.
All things arise from it,
so all things I will completely entrust to it.
This letting go
fills my heart with light.

Inherently there is no path to find,
nor obstacles to overcome.
One mind is the foundation,
so just as it is,
it is truth
and fully present throughout my life.

Knowing that the wisdom
and enlightenment of all Buddhas
is my one mind,
I fully trust my one mind
and follow its compassionate guidance.

 

Here’s this week’s talk about the Thousand Hands Sutra. It goes back over the last three verses from last week, and after those I talk about the history of the Thousand Hands Sutra for a while. I was talking without notes, so if there’s some aspect you’d like to know about in more detail, go ahead and ask in the comments. Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEuidbLSTnhTndHeG9HaUhWWm8

 

 

Here is the audio recap of this week’s Dharma talk about the Thousand Hands Sutra. It’s such a nice guide to spiritual and personal growth, reinforcing that we are inherently complete, and endowed with a connection to everything we need to grow and develop. The audio file and text are below. Go ahead and take a listen, and if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments section.

with palms together,
Chong Go

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEuidbLSTnhNGNYMzdXWmF2OW8

The great saving power of all Buddhas
becomes the saving power of my one mind.
With it I can live every day free of entanglements.
So wonderful!

The compassionate hands of all Buddhas
are the hands of my one mind.
Their touch harmonizes all seen and unseen realms.
How can words express my gratitude?

The bright eyes of all Buddhas
are the eyes of my one mind.
Through their vision
see the entire universe as truly is,
and by clearly seeing the dead,
fully understand the living.

The deep sincerity of all Buddhas
is the sincerity of my one mind.
It always brightly leads me
using all manner of seen and unseen methods.

With infinite compassion
it reveals the precious truth
of how everything in the universe flows.

The mind of all Buddhas functions
together with my one mind.
Endowed with everything,
encompassing everything,
it is utterly complete.

My past, present, and future
consciousness all become one.
Completely let go of everything,
and even this “one” disappears.

 

 

We had the second Dharma talk about the 1000 Hands Sutra last night. Somehow, “Sutra” makes it sound hard to approach or difficult, but this text is very straight forward. It talks about spiritual growth in easy words and concepts (the effort may still be hard, but that’s up to you! 🙂 ) The main point again is that not only are we inherently complete, but that we also have access to all the resources we need. Here’s the text, as well as the audio file for this talk. (This is actually a re-recording, and I’m still figuring out this recording/editing thing, so please bear with me! It’s improving, I promise!)

 

(audio file)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwEuidbLSTnhSGJyN1JZeHFTeDg

(Text covered in today’s talk)

The minds of all Buddhas are
fully present
within my one mind.
Buddha’s mind is realized in an instant.
Not knowing this instant
causes an eternity of suffering.

o
The minds of all Buddhas are my mind.
Nothing I see, hear, or do
exists apart from
the truth they realized.

o
My one mind itself is the Buddha-dharma,
present throughout all aspects of my life.

o
If I truly awaken,
all directions burst open
and everything is utterly complete
just as it is.

o
All things that arise
all things that I do
I will entrust to my one mind
for it is doing everything.
(repeated three times)

o
The minds of all Buddhas are my one
mind, so I ask my one mind
to take care of everything in my life.

o
Avalokitesvara,
the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
who hears the cries of all the world,
resides within my one mind.
How can I express my gratitude?

I’ll be giving a series of (English) Dharma talks about Daehaeng Kun Sunim’s translation of the Thousand Hands Sutra here in Anyang, every Thursday, starting next week, so stop by if you’re in the Seoul area. They run 7:30pm- 8:30(ish), and if you don’t know how to get here, send me a message. The talks will run for 12 weeks, until the Buddha’s Birthday in May. I am going to try to post each week’s text here, as well as a link to the audio recording. (cross your fingers!)

— Every week I’ve been messaging people with a verse from the sutra. Here’s this weeks verse; try to recite it out loud a few times, as well as write it out. You will feel it deep within you! —

The minds of all Buddhas are my one mind, so I ask my one mind
to take care of everything in my life

Avalokitesvara,
the Bodhisattva of Compassion,
who hears the cries of all the world,
resides within my one mind.
How can I express my gratitude?
The great saving power of all Buddhas
becomes the saving power of my one mind.
With it I can live every day free of entanglements.
So wonderful!

The compassionate hands of all Buddhas
are the hands of my one mind.
Their touch harmonizes all seen and unseen realms.
How can words express my gratitude?

The bright eyes of all Buddhas
are the eyes of my one mind.
Through their vision
see the entire universe as truly is,
and by clearly seeing the dead,
fully understand the living.

The deep sincerity of all Buddhas
is the sincerity of my one mind.
It always brightly leads me
using all manner of seen and unseen methods.
With infinite compassion
it reveals the precious truth
of how everything in the universe flows.

Our center has the usual scattering of calligraphy pieces that you’d expect for a temple this size, but one of them recently caught my attention.

I see this one every day on my way out of the Dharma hall, but it finally dawned on me that each of these characters is another way of writing “Mu(無)”(literally “nothing” but in its historical context it’s mixed with an undercurrent of “stop doing that!”)

Four “Mu” likely means “Mu” in every direction, or in other words, everywhere you turn, let go of your fixed ideas about things. For in every direction you look, there is only flowing and changing. Nothing is fixed. Nothing remains the same.

 

Here’s a wonderful verse for Christmas!

There is a candle
that gives light to everything behind you and ahead of you.

When this candle is lit,
it shines light upon all your ancestors and descendants,
helping untie any knots that bind them.

This is the candle of mind, which is lit through mind.
Do not forget your true essence.
It is what has led you across endless lives.
It leads you even now,
and it leads you through the vast and unknown future as well.

-Daehaeng Kun Sunim