In secular studies,[123] the Master was especially competent in sanoe,[124] and he composed a song in eleven stanzas on the model of the Ten Sovereign Vows of Samantabhadra.[125] His preface to it reads as follows:
“Sanoe is a means of worldly amusement, while the Sovereign Vows are the very pivot of spiritual practice. Therefore, by means of it, one may cross the shallows to regain the depths, may follow the near-at-hand to reach the far-away.
For if one does not make use of secular ways, one cannot attract those of inferior capacity; and if one does not employ vernacular speech, one cannot reveal the path of the All-encompassing Cause.[126] Here, I rely on familiar things that people may easily understand in order to make known unfamiliar doctrines that are difficult to grasp.[127]
As for the phrasing of these eleven crude songs on the teachings of the Ten Great Vows, I am ashamed that they may prove taxing to the eyes of most people, but I hope that they will accord with the mind of the buddhas. Although meaning may have been lost and the wording be obscure, and although I may have failed to achieve harmony with the sublime thoughts of the saints and sages, I still transmit my writings and compose my verses with the intention of producing roots of goodness among the worldly.
I hope that those who recite them light-heartedly may lay the groundwork (for salvation) by (nonetheless) reciting the Vows. I hope that those who repeat them disparagingly will gain the benefit of having repeated (the actual) Vows.
Gentlemen of future generations may praise or excoriate the songs as they please: in either case I am content.”
1. Venerating the Buddhas
May this body which bows
Before the buddhas, whom I draw
With the mind as my brush[128]
Go forth and pervade the Dharmarealm,[129]
And so may the buddhas who fill the Dharmarealm
In which I meet them
In all the buddharealms[130] within every dustmote[131]
Be venerated throughout the Nine Periods of time.[132]
Ah, this I earnestly strive to achieve,
Untiring in deeds of body, speech and thought.
2. Praising the Tathāgatas[133]
May oceans of boundless eloquence
Pour forth today in a single instant[134]
From a myriad tongues that cry
“Hail to the Buddha!”[135]
And so I come before the buddhas
Whom I meet in every dustmote
And praise the boundless ocean of virtues
Of the Kings of Transcendent Freedom.
Ah, and yet they are still unable to fully tell
Of even the minutest part of his virtues.
3. Making Extensive Offerings
When I take up the fire tongs
And trim lamps before the Buddha,
The wick becomes a Mount Sumeru[136]
And its oil the vast surrounding ocean.[137]
My hands perform such deeds throughout the Dharmarealm,[138]
And with each hand, as a Dharma offering,[139]
I make offerings to each and every one of the buddhas
That fill the Dharmarealm.
Ah, though there are many offerings to the Dharma
This offering surpasses them all.
4. Confession of Karmic Obstacles
The evil I have created
By giving rise to erroneous beliefs[140]
And straying from the path to Bodhi[141]
Transcends the bounds of the Dharmarealm.
I accept responsibility for the three evil practices I have fallen into[142]
And undertake to be guided by the master of the pure precepts.[143]
I beg that my full and immediate confession
Be acknowledged this very day by the buddhas of the ten directions.[144]
Ah, may the force of my confession endure as long as this realm of
sentient beings endures,
And may I renounce conditioned things[145] for all time to come.
5. Rejoicing in the Merit of Others
When one examines the truth of Origination[146]
Whereby illusion and reality are one and the same,[147]
The Buddha is seen to pervade all beings,
So how can there be “others” who are other than myself?[148]
It is “I” who practise the Sudden Way of the sages,[149]
But if there be no “others” among those who attain (the Goal)
Should I not rejoice at the good deeds
Performed by any and every person?[150]
Ah, when I think and act like this,
How can an envious heart arise in me?
6. Requesting the Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma[151]
May I forthwith enter
The vast assembly of buddhas
Contained within the Dharmarealm
And beg for the rain of Dharma.[152]
May it soak the field of beings
Whose sprouts of virtue cannot grow
When they are sunk deep in the mud of ignorance
And scorched with the fever of the passions.[153]
Ah, the moon of Enlightenment that Bodhi has brought to the full[154]
And the shining fields of autumn grain!
7. Asking the Buddhas to Remain in the World
Although all buddhas
Are bound to exhaust the causes of their manifestation,[155]
I join my hands in supplication
And beg them to remain in the world.
We truly know them as our friends[156]
To whom we turn from dawn through morning to evening.
Knowing this, they will surely have compassion
For all those who have strayed from the Path.[157]
Ah, when we purify our hearts
Will we not see the Buddha’s image there?[158]
8. Forever Following in the Buddha’s Footsteps
I shall forthwith follow
The difficult and painful vows[159]
That the buddhas undertook to follow
In all past ages.
Though my body crumble and turn to dust,
And even when offering up my very life,
I will uphold these vows.
Indeed, have not all the buddhas done so?
Ah, the mind which has turned to the Path of the Buddhas
Will never be diverted to other paths.
9. Constantly According with Sentient Beings[160]
The Majestic Tree of Enlightenment[161]
Has the deluded as its roots.
Nourished by the water of Great Compassion,[162]
Indeed they will never wither away.
In every single thought unceasingly,
I shall revere as buddhas
The beings that teem throughout the Dharmarealm
And live and die as we all do.
Ah, when all beings are at peace
The buddhas too will rejoice.
10. Transferring All Merit[163]
I forthwith make over
All the merit I have accomplished
That all the deluded throngs
In the ocean of beings be enlightened.
It is the sun[164] which embodies the ocean of Buddhahood,[165]
That purifies evil deeds that have been repented of,
And makes as before the jewels
That adorn the Abode of Reality.[166]
Ah, the buddhas whom I revere
Are to be found in my own self and in others.
11. Making Inexhaustible Vows
Only when the realm of living beings is spent
Will the force of my vows be spent,
For the Enlightenment of beings
Is (coextensive with) the boundless ocean of (the bodhisattvas’) vows.[167]
It is indeed the path of virtue
To set oneself on such a course,
For to practise the vows of Samantabhadra
Is to carry out the activities of Buddhahood.[168]
Ah, knowing the mind of Samantabhadra,
I shall cast aside all other activities.
The above songs spread among the populace and were often written up on people’s walls [Note: In the (original) account, the songs were not included; they have been entered into this document, however].[169]
One [person named] Nap’il[170] of the rank Kŭpkan[171] [Note: a Silla Office][172] of Sap’yŏng Prefecture[173] had been chronically ill for three years and was unable to find a cure. The Master went to see him and was moved to compassion by his suffering. He taught the official these songs of the Sovereign Vows and told him to recite them continuously. Then there came a day when a voice from the heavens called out to the man and said: “Since you have placed your trust in the songs of the Great Saint, your affliction will surely be cured.” Thereupon the cure took effect immediately.