Preliminary chants?

[明安 Myoan]

Are there specific texts or vows you recite at the beginning of a meditation session? And after?

Thank you

[Meido]

May be helpful for this topic:

http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/pra ... ptures.pdf

~ Meido

[明安 Myoan]

Thank you, Meido.

For anyone else trying to make a sort of liturgy for their home practice, here's what I came up with for my full morning practice, based on Zen sites, chant books, and the services done at one of my local Zen temples.

I'm still trying to refine the "invitation" section, which I encountered ages ago at a Karma Kagyu center and really liked the idea behind it. Apologies for any typos!

Confession
All the evil karma created by me since of old,
on account of my beginningless greed, hatred, and delusion,
born of my body, speech, and mind,
I now confess openly and fully.

Incense offering

Invitation to beings
I invite all beings,
Buddhas, bodhisattvas, gods, asuras, humans, animals, hungry ghosts, and demons,
to enter this space and join in practice.
May we all benefit together.

Homage
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambudhassa. 3x

Triple Refuge
Buddham saranam gacchami.
Dhammam saranam gacchami.
Sangham saranam gacchami.
Dutiyampi buddham saranam gacchami.
Dutiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami.
Dutiyampi sangham saranam gacchami.
Tatiyampi buddham saranam gacchami.
Tatiyampi dhammam saranam gacchami.
Tatiyampi sangham saranam gacchami.

Heart Sutra
Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence --
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness --
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.

All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases.

So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.

There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.

The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now.

All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.

The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.

This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:

Gaté,
gaté,
paragaté,
parasamgaté.
Bodhi!
Svaha!

10-line Kanzeon Sutra 3x
Kanzeon Namu Butsu
Yo Butsu U In
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

Om mani padme hum. 108+x

Zazen, kinhin, zazen

Metta sutta
This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech,
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied,
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm and wise and skillful,
Not proud or demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.
Wishing: In gladness and in safety,
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born —
May all beings be at ease!

Let none deceive another,
Or despise any being in any state.
Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world:
Spreading upwards to the skies,
And downwards to the depths;
Outwards and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking, seated or lying down
Free from drowsiness,
One should sustain this recollection.
This is said to be the sublime abiding.
By not holding to fixed views,
The pure-hearted one, having clarity of vision,
Being freed from all sense desires,
Is not born again into this world.

Metta meditation

Three Pure Precepts
Do not create Evil. I vow to refrain from all action that creates attachment.
Practice Good. I vow to live in enlightenment.
Actualize Good For Others. I vow to live to benefit all beings.

Ten Grave Precepts
(based on those given by Dogen)
I vow to respect life. I will not kill.
I vow to be giving. I will not steal.
I vow to honor the body. I will not misuse sexuality.
I vow to manifest truth. I will not lie.
I vow to proceed clearly. I will not cloud the mind.
I vow to see the perfection. I will not speak of others' errors and faults.
I vow to realize self and other as one. I will not elevate myself and blame others.
I vow to give generously. I will not be withholding.
I vow to actualize harmony. I will not be angry.
I vow to experience the intimacy of things. I will not defile the Three Treasures.

Four Vows of a Boddhisattva
Beings are numberless; I vow to free them.
Delusions are inexhaustible; I vow to end them.
Dharma gates are boundless; I vow to enter them.
The Buddha's way is unsurpassable; I vow to embody it.

Four Immeasurables
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.
May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May all beings never be separated from the happiness that knows no suffering.
May all beings live in equanimity, free from attachment and aversion.

In total, it adds about 15 minutes to my practice. I sometimes skip some parts in the evening, or shift them around.

What do others do as far as chants before/during/after their meditation sessions at home?

[Meido]

Hi MT,

Nice job.

The one thing that seems missing to me which you might want to add is a dedication of merit (eko).

The short daily practice we use here (i.e. not in a temple/monastery, but for home use) goes like this:

Jyu Butsu Myo: Invocation of the 10 Buddhas
Sangemon: Confession verse (x3)
Sanki Kai: Taking refuge in the Three Jewels (x3)
Hannya Shingyo: Heart Sutra
Shosaishu: Crisis-Averting Dharani (x3)
Eko: Dedication of merit
Shikuseiganmon: Four Vows (x3)
Enmei Jukkyu Kannon Gyo: 10-phrase life-prolonging chant invoking Avalokitesvara. (x3)

So the eko here serves to dedicate the merit of the preceding two chants (Hannya Shingyo and Shosaishu).

If you want to add the "Crisis-averting Dharani" (Shosaishu), usually chanted 3 times in a row, here it is:

Na mu sa man da mo to nan o ha ra shi ko to sha so no nan to ji to en gya gya gya ki gya ki un um shi fu ra shi fu ra ha ra shi fu ra ha ra shi fu ra chi shu sa chi shu sa shu shi ri shu shi ri so ha ja so ha ja se chi gya shi ri ei so mo ko.

The eko:

NYAN-NI SAMPO ANSU SHINSHI. JO-RAI FUN-ZU “HO-JYA SHIN-KIN” (1) “SHO-SAI-MYO KI-JYO JIN-SHU” (2) SUSHI-KUNTEI UI-KYO “HON-SU SHI-KYA JI-RAI” (3). SHIN-JI JI-SHI SO-NEN BU-JYO BUKO BU-JI JYO HOSU-IN ASU SAN NYU HAKAI GINSAN ZUN-NEN SHU-SHI. JI-HO SAN-SHI I-SHI-SHIBU-SHI-SON BUSA MOKO-SA MOKO HO-JYA HORO-MI.

(1) “HO-JYA SHIN-KIN” = Heart Sutra
(2) “SHO-SAI-MYO KI-JYO JIN-SHU” = Shosaishu/Crisis-averting Dharani
(3) “HON-SU SHI-KYA JI-RAI” = Sakyamuni (if that is the main image on the altar...if Manjusri as is often the case in a zendo, this would read "Daishin Bunji Suri Busa")

Admittedly we're a Rinzai line here, but nothing in the above would raise any Soto eyebrows I think (and depending on the specific lineage, of course you could run into lots of other things folks use for this kind of daily practice e.g. offerings during meals, mantra for specific purposes, etc.)

Would be happy to send you the full text of our daily practice, just PM if you'd like that.

All the best,

~ Meido

[明安 Myoan]

Thank you very much

Could you please share an English translation of the dedication as well? I'll add it to my next sit

[Meido]

Actually, if you look on pg. 67 of the Soto reference linked to earlier, the eko there (honzon jogu) is basically similar, and also mentions Dogen and Keizan which you might appreciate.

~ Meido