Liturgy

At Eon Zen, we do a short sequence of chants at the end of morning zazen, ending with a sequence of three full prostrations and then three standing bows.

During retreats, we chant the full Zen Service along with other short chants through the day.

Chanting is a mindfulness practice. It can be considered as vocal zazen. When chanting, give it your full attention. When chanting with complete concentration, the separation between subject and object, chanter and chant, disappear and you are fully alive in the moment. That is the heart of zazen.

There is no intention in chanting to sound “good” or “pleasing.” Simply chant from your belly and your heart, and try not to be louder or softer than everyone else. Chant with your ears. Put your whole self into it, even if you are practicing at home.

MON & FRI: Verse of the Kesa | Prayer for Peace | Four Bodhisattva Vows

TUESDAY: Verse of the Kesa | Prayer for Peace | Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo

WEDNESDAY: Verse of the Kesa | Prayer for Peace | Heart Sutra

THURSDAY: Verse of the Kesa | Prayer for Peace | Sho Sai Myo Kichijo Dharani

SAT & SUN: Prayer for Peace | Four Bodhisattva Vows

RETREATS: Full Service

  • The Dharma, incomparably profound and infinitely subtle,

    Is always encountered and rarely perceived, even in millions of ages.

    Now we see it, hear it, receive and maintain it.

    May we completely realize the Tathagata’s true meaning.

  • Let me respectfully remind you,

    Life and death are of supreme importance.

    Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost.

    Each of us should strive to awaken.

    Awaken! Take heed!

    Do not squander your lives….

  • All evil karma ever committed by me since of old,

    On account of my beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,

    Born of my body, mouth and thought,

    Now I atone for it all.

  • Earth, water, fire, air, and space combine to make this food.

    Numberless beings gave their lives and labors that we may eat.

    May we be nourished that we may nourish life.

  • First, seventy-two labors brought us this food; we should know how it comes to us.

    Second, as we receive this offering, we should consider whether our virtue and practice deserve it.

    Third, as we desire the natural order of mind to be free from clinging we must be free from greed.

    Fourth, to support our life we take this food. Fifth, to attain our way we take this food.

    First, this food is for the Three Treasures.

    Second, it is for our teachers, parents, nation, and all sentient beings.

    Third, it is for all beings in the six worlds.

    Thus, we eat this food with everyone.

    We eat to stop all suffering, to practice good, to save all sentient beings, and to accomplish our Buddha Way.

VERSE OF THE KESA

Vast is the robe of liberation
A formless field of benefaction
I wear the Tathagatha’s teaching
Saving all sentient beings.

THE FOUR BODHISATTVA VOWS

Numberless creations I vow to receive.
Inexhaustible delusions I vow to dissolve.
Omnipresent dharma gates I vow to experience.
Unsurpassable enlightened way I vow to manifest

Full Service

PRAYER FOR PEACE

All Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Protectors of the Dharma
And the Three Treasures,
With all sentient beings
We lift our hearts to transform
Ignorance, violence, and suffering.
May healing and peace prevail
Throughout the dharma worlds.
Maha Prajna Paramita.

EKO (after dedication at end of each chant)

All Buddhas throughout space and time,
All Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas
Maha Prajna Paramita

MAJA PRAJNA PARAMITA HEART SUTRA

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, doing deep Prajna Paramita
Clearly saw emptiness of all the five conditions,
Thus completely relieving misfortune and pain.
O Shariputra, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness no other than form.
Form is exactly emptiness, emptiness exactly form.
Sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness are likewise like this.
O Shariputra, all dharmas are forms of emptiness, not born, not destroyed,
Not stained, not pure; without loss, without gain.
So in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, conception, discrimination, awareness.
No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
No color, sound, smell, taste, touch, phenomena.
No realm of sight, no realm of consciousness,
No ignorance and no end to ignorance.
No old age and death and no end to old age and death.
No suffering, no cause of suffering. No extinguishing, no path,
No wisdom and no gain. No gain and thus
The Bodhisattva lives Prajna Paramita
With no hindrance in the mind, no hindrance, therefore no fear;
Far beyond deluded thoughts, this is Nirvana.
All past, present and future Buddhas live Prajna Paramita
And therefore attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.
Therefore know Prajna Paramita is the Great mantra, the vivid mantra,
The best mantra, the unsurpassable mantra,
It completely clears all pain; this is the truth, not a lie.
So set forth the Prajna Paramita mantra,
Set forth this mantra and say:
Gate! Gate! Paragate! Parasamgate! Bodhi Svaha! Prajna Heart Sutra!

IDENTITY OF RELATIVE & ABSOLUTE

The mind of the great sage of India is intimately
Conveyed from West to East.
Among human beings are wise ones and fools,
But in the Way there is no northern or southern school.
The subtle source is clear and bright.
The tributary streams flow through the darkness.
To be attached to things is illusion.
To encounter the absolute is not yet enlightenment.
Each and all, the subjective and objective spheres are related
And at the same time independent.
Related, yet working differently, though each keeps its own place.
Form makes the character and appearance different.
Sounds distinguish comfort and discomfort.
The dark makes all words one,
The brightness distinguishes good and bad phrases.
The four elements return to their nature as a child to its mother.
Fire is hot, wind moves, water is wet, earth hard.
Eyes see, ears hear, nose smells, tongue tastes the salt and sour.
Each is independent of the other.
Cause and effect must return to the great reality.
The words high and low are used relatively.
Within light there is darkness,
But do not try to understand that darkness.
Within darkness there is light,
But do not look for that light.
Light and darkness are a pair,
Like the foot before and the foot behind in walking.
Each thing has its own intrinsic value and is
Related to everything else in function and position.
Ordinary life fits the absolute as a box and its lid.
The absolute works together with the relative
Like two arrows meeting in midair.
Reading words you should grasp the great reality.
Do not judge by any standards.
If you do not see the Way, you do not see it even as you walk on it.
When you walk the Way, it is not near, it is not far.
If you are deluded, you are mountains and rivers away from it.
I respectfully say to those who wish to be enlightened:
Do not waste your time by night or day.

ENMEI JUKKU KANNON GYO

Kanzeon na mu butsu yo butsu u en
yo butsu u en bup po so en jo raku ga jo
cho nen kanzeon bo nen kanzeon
nen nen ju shin ki nen nen fu ri shin.

SHO SAI MYO KICHIJO DHARANI

No mo san man da moto nan oha ra chi koto sha sono nan to ji to en gya gya gya ki gya ki un nun shiu ra shiu ra hara shiu ra hara shiu ra chishu sa chishu sa chishu ri chishu ri sowa ja sowa ja sen chi gya shiri ei so mo ko.