Category: Hymns in Japanese

Part Three: Hymns 51-75

51 The record bearing the Prince’s handprint statesThat in the first year of the reign of Emperor Sushun,Relics of Sakyamuni BuddhaWere presented by Paekche. 52-53 The Prince’s words are recorded:“After my death,I will be born as the king and queen of this land,And I will urge the various provinces and districts To construct a number…
Part Two: Hymns 26-50

26 In the pillar in the center of the pagodaHe placed six grains of the Buddha’s relics;In this form he manifested the benefitingOf the sentient beings of the six courses. 27-28 Enshrined in Kyoden-in templeIs a gilt bronze statue of Avalokitesvara, the world savior.King Seong Myong of the land of Paekche,After the Prince’s death [in…
Part One: Hymns 1-25

Composed by Gutoku Shinran 1 Take refuge in Prince Shotoku of the country of Japan!Our indebtedness to his propagation of the Buddhist teaching is profound.His compassionate activity to save sentient beings is far-reaching;Do not be lax in reverent praise of him! 2 In order to construct the four subtemplesOf a temple of the four deva-kings…
On Jinen Honi

A writing by Shinran at age eighty-eight [Concerning “realize” (gyaku-toku):] Gyaku means to realize in the causal stage, and toku means to realize on reaching the resultant stage. [Concerning “Name” (myogo):] Myo indicates the Name in the causal stage, and go indicates the Name in the resultant stage. Concerning jinen [in the phrase jinen honi]: Ji means “of itself”…
Concluding Hymns

115 While persons ignorant of even the characters for “good” and “evil”All possess a sincere mind,I make a display of knowing the words “good” and “evil”;This is an expression of complete falsity. 116 I am such that I do not know right and wrongAnd cannot distinguish false and true;I lack even small love and small…
Additional Hymns of Lament on the Term Hotoke

110-111 The Tathagata of Zenko-ji temple,Taking pity on us,Came to Naniwa Bay [in the form of a statue].At that time Moriya, not knowing the word “Buddha,” Applied the expression, “sick with fever” – hotoorike,Insinuating that the TathagataWas causing an epidemic; Moriya’s followersAll used the term hotoorike. 112 To bring people to use this expression, “sick…
Gutoku’s Hymns of Lament and Reflection

94 Although I take refuge in the true Pure Land way,It is hard to have a true and sincere mind.This self is false and insincere;I completely lack a pure mind. 95 Each of us, in outward bearing,Makes a show of being wise, good, and dedicated;But so great are our greed, anger, perversity, and deceit,That we…
Hymns in Praise of Prince Shotoku

Gutoku Zenshin 83 Coming to entrust ourselves to the Vow of inconceivable Buddha-wisdomThrough the kindness of Prince Shotoku,We have entered the stage of the truly settledAnd are like Maitreya, the future Buddha. 84 Great Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the world-savior,Who appeared as Prince Shotoku,Is like a father, never leaving us,And like a mother, always watching over us.…
Hymns on the Offense of Doubting the Primal Vow

60 As a mark of not apprehending Buddha-wisdom,People doubt the Tathagata’s various kinds of wisdom,Believe in the recompense of good and evil, rely on their practiceOf the root of good, and hence remain in the borderland. 61 Doubting the inconceivable Buddha-wisdom,People devote themselves to saying the nembutsu in self-power;Hence they remain in the borderland or…
Pure Land Hymns on the Right, Semblance, and Last Dharma-Ages

By Gutoku Zenshin 2 It is now more than two thousand yearsSince the passing of Sakyamuni Tathagata.The right and semblance ages have already closed;So lament, disciples of later times! 3 Now, amid the five defilements in the last dharma-age,Sentient beings are incapable of practice and realization;Hence the teachings that Sakyamuni left behindHave all passed into…
Prefatory Hymn

Reverently I say to fellow practicers who aspire for birth:You should all deeply repent! Sakyamuni Tathagata istruly our compassionate father and mother.With a variety of compassionate meanshe leads us to awaken the supreme shinjin. Hymns on the Samadhi of All Buddhas’ Presence In 1257, on the night of the ninth day of the second month,during…
Concluding Hymns

118 When sentient beings of the evil world of the five defilementsEntrust themselves to the selected Primal Vow,Virtues beyond description, explanation, and conceptual understandingFill those practicers India Bodhisattva NagarjunaBodhisattva Vasubandhu China Master T’an-luanMaster Tao-ch’oMaster Shan-tao Japan Master GenshinMaster Genku Listed above are Seven Masters Prince ShotokuBorn on the 1st day of the first monthIn the…
Master Genku (Honen)

Twenty Hymns based on his writings and biography 98 As our teacher Genku appeared in the worldAnd spread the One Vehicle of the universal Vow,Throughout the entire country of JapanFavorable conditions for the Pure Land teaching emerged. 99 Our teacher Genku appearedThrough the power of the Light of Wisdom,And revealing the true Pure Land way,He…
Master Genshin

Ten Hymns based on his Writings 88 Master Genshin stated:“Originally a Buddha, I appeared in this world;The conditions for teaching others having already run their course,I am returning to my primal land.” 89 Our teacher Genshin earnestly set forth,From among all the teachings of the Buddha’s lifetime,The single gateway of the nembutsu,And spread it among…
Master Shan-tao

Twenty-six Hymns based on his Writings 62 Manifested from the oceanlike great mindWas Master Shan-tao;For the sake of beings of this defiled world in the latter age,He called on the Buddhas of the ten quarters to bear witness to his teaching. His teaching: his Commentary on the Contemplation Sutra. 63 Shan-tao appeared in the world…
Master Tao-ch’o

Seven Hymns based on his Writings 55 Setting aside the myriad practices of the Path of Sages,Our teacher, Master Tao-ch’o,Proclaims the single gate of the Pure Land wayAs the only path that affords passage. Tao-ch’o abandoned his study in the Nirvana school and wholly took refuge in the Pure Land path. 56 Setting aside his…
Master T’an-luan

Thirty-four Hymns based on his Writings 21 Our teacher, Master T’an-luan,Through the guidance of Bodhiruci,Burned his scriptures on immortality, discarding them forever,And deeply took refuge in the Pure Land. 22 Putting aside his lectures on the four treatises,He taught Other Power, the working of the Primal Vow;Guiding foolish beings bound by their blind passions,He led…
Bodhisattva Vasubandhu

Ten Hymns based on his Writings 11 Sakyamuni’s teachings are numerous,But Bodhisattva Vasubandhu compassionately urges us,Who are possessed of blind passions,To take refuge in Amida’s universal Vow. 12 The adornments of the Pure Land of peaceAre perceived only through the wisdom shared by Buddhas.That land is infinite, like space,Vast and without bounds. 13 Of those…
Bodhisattva Nagarjuna

Ten Hymns based on his Writings[Composed by] Gutoku Shinran 1 Our teacher, Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, abundantly praises the Pure Land in the westIn such works as his commentaries on the Mahaprajnaparamita SutraAnd the Ten Bodhisattva Stages,And urges us to practice the nembutsu. Nagarjuna (Ryuju, literally “naga [dragon]-tree”): Nagarjuna was born beneath a tree and taken and…
Hymns on Mahasthamaprapta

Based on the Sutra ofthe Samadhi of Heroic AdvanceEight Hymns 111 Having realized the perfect, all-pervasive truth of the nembutsu,Mahasthamaprapta, together with fifty-two bodhisattvas,Rose from his seat and prostrated himselfAt the feet of Sakyamuni Buddha. 112 He addressed the World-honored one, the master of the teaching,“Ages ago, kalpas countless as the Ganges’ sands in the…
Hymns on Benefits in the Present

Fifteen Hymns 96 Amida Tathagata came forth and guided beings,Teaching the “Chapter on Life-span”In the Sutra of Golden SplendorIn order to end calamities and ensure long life. Note: taught by Bhaisajyaguru in the eastern quarter, Samkusumitaraja in the southern quarter, Amitayus Buddha in the western quarter, and Sakyamuni in the northern quarter.Came forth: come and…
Hymns to Amida Based on Various Sutras

Nine Hymns 87 Amida, full of compassion for those lost in the great night of ignorance –The wheel of light of dharma-body being boundless –Took the form of the Buddha of Unhindered LightAnd appeared in the land of peace. Ignorance: the king of blind passions.Dharma-body: dharma-body is wholly beyond thought and words. It fills all…
Hymns on the Amida Sutra

Five Hymns 82 Seeing the sentient beings of the nembutsuThroughout the worlds, countless as particles, in the ten quarters,The Buddha grasps and never abandons them,And therefore is named “Amida.” Grasps (sesshu): Once grasped, one is never abandoned. Setsu means to pursue and grasp the one who seeks to run away. Setsu means to take in;…
Hymns on the Contemplation Sutra

Nine Hymns 73 Sakyamuni Buddha, out of vast benevolence,Instructed Queen Vaidehi, leading her to select,From among all the lands manifested in the pedestal of light,Amida’s world of happiness. 74 King Bimbisara put the ascetic to deathWithout waiting for the time of his rebirth as determined by past conditions,And in recompense for this act of murder,Was…
Hymns on the Larger Sutra

Amida TathagataAvalokitesvara BodhisattvaMahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva Sakyamuni BuddhaVenerable PurnaMahamaudgalyayanaVenerable Ananda King BimbisaraQueen VaidehiJivaka, A CouncilorCandraprabha, A Councilor Venerable DevadattaKing AjatasatruVarsakara, A CouncilorGuard On the Larger Sutra Twenty-two Hymns 51 Venerable Ananda, rising from his seat,Beheld the majestic radiance of the World-honored one;Amazed, with a rare feeling of wonder emerging in him,He realized he had never witnessed such…
Hymns Based on Gathas in Praise of Amida Buddha

[Composed by] Gutoku Shinran Namu-amida-butsu 3 Amida has passed through ten kalpas nowSince realizing Buddhahood;Dharma-body’s wheel of light is without bound,Shining on the blind and ignorant of the world. 4 The light of wisdom exceeds all measure,And every finite living beingReceives this illumination that is like the dawn,So take refuge in Amida, the true and…
Prefatory Hymns 1-2

Let Amida’s virtues be praisedfor a hundred thousand kotis of nayutas of kalpas,by tongues a hundred thousand countless kotis of nayutas in number,each tongue producing countless voices,and still those virtues could not be exhausted. The Sutra of Praise of the Pure LandTranslated by Tripitaka Master Hsüan-tsang Hymns of the Pure Land 1 Those who truly…