Verses Extract From

The Amitabha Sutra

 

         

 

          The Heavenly Eye Penetrates without obstruction.

          The Flesh Eye sees obstacles but does not penetrate.

          The Dharma Eye only contemplates the mundane.

          The Wisdom Eye understands True Emptiness.

          The Buddha Eye shines like a thousand suns.

          Although the illuminations differ,

                   their substance is one.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 6)

 

          Causes and conditions have no nature;

          Their very substance is emptiness.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 8)

 

 

          “The roar of the lion is the fearless speaking;

            When the wild beasts hear it,

                    their heads split wide open.

           Elephants run wild and lose their decorum,

           But gods and dragons, in silence,

                    hear it with delight.”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 17)

 

          The King of All Dharmas is

                   the one word “Amitabha.”

          The five periods and the eight teachings

                   are all contained within it.

          One who singlemindedly remembers

                   and recites his name

          Will enter into the still, and bright,

                   and unmoving field.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 19) 

 

          All marks are the Real Mark:

 

          The Real Mark is unmarked

          With nothing unmarked.

          It is without marks and also without any non-marks.

          It is neither without marks nor is it marked by no marks.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 23)

 

          From causes made in lives gone by

                    comes your present life;

          Results you’ll get in lives to come

                   arise from this life’s deeds.

 

          Plant good causes, reap good results;

          Plant bad causes, reap bad results.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 30)

 

          Enduring suffering ends suffering;

          Enjoying blessings destroys blessings.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 30)

 

          Take living beings across, but be apart from marks.

          Leave marks, yet take beings across.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 31)

 

          Save, yet do not save;

          Do not save, yet save:

          This is true crossing over.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 31)

 

         

          The Buddhas spoke all dharmas

                   for the minds of men.

          If there were no minds,

                   what use would dharmas be?

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 36)

 

          When the water-clearing pearl

                   is tossed in muddy water,

          The muddy water becomes clear.

 

          When the Buddha’s name

                    enters a confused mind,

          The confused mind attains to the Buddha.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 39)

 

          Amitabha Buddha’s body is of golden hue,

          His fine marks radiant beyond compare.

          His white light is as high as five Mount Sumerus,

          His purple eyes as clear and vast as four great seas.

 

          Countless transformation Buddhas appear within the light,

          With transformation Bodhisattvas, also limitless.

          His forty-eight vows take living beings across;

          In nine grades of lotuses they ascend to the other shore.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 40)

 

          The pure heart is like the moon in the water;

          The mind in Samadhi is like the cloudless sky.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 41)

 

            The water flows,

          The wind blows,

          Proclaiming the Mahayana…

 

The Chinese poet Su T’ung P’o said,

 

          Of the colors of the mountain,

          None are not his vast, long tongue.

          Of the sounds of the streams,

          All are the clear, pure sound.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 41) 

 

          If you recite the Buddha’s name,

                   reciting without cease,

          The mount recites “Amita”

                   and makes things of a piece.

          Scattered thoughts do not arise,

                   samadhi you attain.

          For rebirth in the Pure Land,

                   your hope is not in vain.

 

          If all day you detest

                   the suffering Saha’s pain,

          Make rebirth in ultimate Bliss

                   your mind’s essential aim.

          Cut off the red dust

                   thoughts within your mind.

          Put down impure reflections,

                   and pure thoughts you will find.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 41)

 

          True emptiness is not apart from wonderful existence.

 

          Emptiness and existence are non-dual:

          Both empty and existing, neither empty nor existing.

 

          This Dharma can be believed.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 51)

 

          Our own self-nature is

                   bright and all-illumining;

          Our own self-nature is

                   perfect and unimpeded.

          It is nowhere and nowhere is it not;

                   to the end of empty space,

                   it exhausts the Dharma Realm.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 57)

         

          Enduring suffering puts an end to suffering;

          Enjoying blessings destroys blessings.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 59)

 

          What the eyes don’t see

                   won’t cause the mouth to water;

          What the ears don’t hear

                   won’t cause the mind to transgress.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 79)

 

          “Hey! Hey! How can you sleep,

           Like an oyster or a clam?

           Sleep, sleep for a thousand years,

           But you’ll never hear the Buddha’s name!”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 97)

 

          “If you see affairs and are awake,

           You can transcend the world.

           If you see affairs and are confused,

           You fall beneath the wheel.”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 99)

 

          “The highest goodness, like water, benefits all things and yet

                   does not contend.

           It goes to places men despise and so it is close to the Way.”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 100)

 

          “In the time of Emperor T’ang Yao

                   the unicorn and phoenix abounded.

           That time, however, is not the present,

                   So what have you come to seek?

           Unicorn! Unicorn!  How my heart grieves…”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 102)

 

          The Old Fool wrapped in ragged clothes,

          His belly filled with gruel,

          He mends old sacks to keep him warm

          And lives on chance, Old Fool.

 

          A scolding makes the Fool smile sweetly,

          While a beating makes him sleepy;

          Spit on his face, he lets it dry

          And saves his strength and energy.

          His calm, a peace past ridicule

          Gets him the jewel within the wonderful:

          Now that you’ve heard this song today

          Why worry about not perfecting the Way?

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 103)

 

          Something happens and he reflects it;

          When it passes, he is still.

 

          Everywhere according with conditions

                   as the years and months go by;

          Minding your own business

                   as the time passes.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 104)

 

          In movement, there is stillness,

          In stillness, movement;

          Both movement and stillness

          Are still and moving.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 104)

 

            “Unless I teach the Dharma to save living beings,

           I will have passed through my entire life in van.”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 108)

 

            All evil not done and

          All good conduct respectfully practiced.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 112)

 

          The eyes see forms outside,

                   but inside there is nothing;

          The ears hear external sounds,

                   but the mind does not know.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 112 & 113)

 

          “Amita, the Great Sage & Master,

           Serene, subtle, wonderful

                   beyond all others…

 

           Pools of seven gems,

           Flowers of four colors and

                   waves of solid gold.”

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 119)

 

          “If one wishes to understand completely

           The Buddhas of the three periods of time,

           He should contemplate the nature of the Dharma Realm:

           Everything is made from the mind alone.

 

(Extract from The Amitabha Sutra,

  By Tripitaka  Master Hsuan Hua; Page 122)