The Kannon Sutra

With palms together,

Good Morning Everyone,



The Kannon Sutra:



"Kanzeon,

Praise to Buddha,

All are one with Buddha,

All awake to Buddha,

Buddha, Dharma, Sangha,

Eternal joyous selfless pure,

Through the day

Kanzeon,

Through the night

Kanzeon,

This moment arises from Mind,

This moment itself is Mind."

This little piece is powerful. Kanzeon or Kannon is the Bodhisattva of Compassion. A Bodhisattva is an "awakened being" (or one devoted to, and on the path to, awakening). Kannon hears the cries of the world. She/he responds with myriad hands. We should not think of Kannon as a God-being. Kannon is us, each one of us. Kannon is our own compassion.



When we chant this sutra, we are inviting our own compassion to emerge. We are acknowledging the beauty of being awake, the complete unity of the universe, and expressing a base fact: nothing is not as it should be. Everything is because everything is, all deeply connected through both time and space.



So, we open ourselves and create a willingness to hear the suffering of beings, of ourselves, as we go through the various proceses of living and dying. Night and day, and we place our attention on a compassionate reply.



Eternity is nothing. It is a concept. This moment arises from a concept of Mind. What is, is Mind, yet, even this, when named, dies.



Here is the thing. Forget about it. This sutra, delightfully simple and straight forward, shows us how. Its all about placing our attention on what is most important, our love for everything.



Be well.