ENTER THE SUTRA

Dharma is very profound and sacred

How can it be easy to see and learn
Now I can see to chant and apply
So I try my best to understand it.
Namo Sakiya Muni Buddha. (3 times)

THE SUTRA OF
THE EIGHTFOLD PATH
***
Deep bow to Buddha
In fact we heard that
After enlightened
Buddha came a way
To the Deer Forest.

Taught the Kondannas

All became Arhats
Buddha gave advice
About middle way
Not hard not easy.

Then Buddha began

To preach a sermon
The most important
For His disciples
The Four Noble Truths
Cover all the truths
In the universe
All Buddhas would preach.
 Why life is all grief
Because all beings
Must struggle unstopped
To keep them alive,

Why life is all grief

Because Nirvana
Must be out of grief
Out of birth and death.

Where the grief came from

Ignorance and self
What Nirvana is
All bright and peaceful.

Which path leads into

The absolute peace
Out of all the grief
We call Nirvana?

Kowtow to Buddha
We pay homage to
Supreme Eightfold Path
Leads to the bright mind.

RIGHT VIEW is the first

Is to understand
About the Karma
Cover life to life.

Once karma we made

Would have its results
 No matter how long
But never get lost.

Why we’re rich or poor

We’re happy or sad
All from past karma
We did to beings.

Completely bright mind

Means complete No-Self
Means complete wisdom
Complete compassion.

All Buddha’s children

Must apply themselves
To No-Self purpose
In every second.

All of principles
Of morals and truths
In the universe
Must be realized.

Clearer and clearer

When we get more time
Going on the path
As Buddha has taught.

RIGHT THOUGHT is second

Is to make our mind
To become better
By every good thought.
If wrong thought comes out
Must be ended fast
Regretful feeling
And aware later.

When things come about

We must keep good thoughts
There’s truly No-Self
For anger and greed.

We remind ourselves
To live for people
Harmonious mood
With a modest style.

Often pay homage

To Buddha, Dharma
Sangha forever
Like dust to mountain.

Often spread our love

To vast universe
Heaven or dark hell
Leaves and trees and grass.

Keep far away from

Dirty evil thoughts
Keep always within
Saintly good conducts.

Smarter and smarter

 To control our mind
Discover wrong thoughts
Which are so subtle.

RIGHT WORD is the third

Master every word
To fill people’s heart
With only good things.

Not much for the cost

Not much for labor
But too much karma
Whatever we speak.

Easy disparage
May fall in the sage
Bad karma begins
Animal life starts.

Try to praise the good

So others can hear
Then they can follow
What the good has done.

Praising Buddhism
To take man by man
Come back to the truth
So they’ll be happy.

Talk about karma

Reincarnation
Enlighten people
 Out of the evil.

Never say bad words

Never praise oneself
Never say quarrel
Never say a fraud.

Many things to say

To make good karma
So please be careful
When starting a word.

RIGHT DEED is the fourth

Is to do right things
Very specific
Help people with love.

Not do cruelty
Not harm all beings
Just do charity
To serve all people.

Or we step backward
Give the good some ways
Or we step forward
To receive hard work.

Or we must be strict
To stop all the bad
Or we give a hand
To support the good.
 Even in hard times
We always try to
Little by little
Doing good karma.

Kowtow to Buddha
Remorse all past sins
To avoid bad deeds
To increase good deeds.

The Boddhisattva
Often help people
In secret silence
To save most blessing.

Abundant blessing
The Boddhisattva
Can help more people
All around the world.

The worlds are endless

So are good chances
For us to make out
Endless superb bliss.

RIGHT LIVING the fifth

Is the profession
To support oneself
Through this tired life.

Right deeds made blessing

Made many options
 For good profession
Create more blessing.

Good profession is
Including two things
When working daily
Also creating
Much new good karma
And have more spare time
To apply oneself
To Buddha’s teachings.

But for Buddhist monks

Has his own living
By receiving food
While walking on street.

Not any business

Not entreat favor
Just be dignified
In a tranquil soul.

Using a pure life

To teach all beings
In return for food
Sauntering away.

RIGHT DILIGENCE sixth

Try to meditate
On spiritual way
With endless hardship.
At first, mind’s not calm
Thoughts are in chaos
Body’s very sore
But never give up.

Sometimes our family

Try to make hindrance
Or disease persists
Or sudden problems.

No matter what comes

We always stay firm
Such as rock mountain
Among thunder storm.

Determine ourselves
Over countless lives
With strong diligence
Head to No-Self goal.

Sit in lotus shape

Focus all body
Aware all body
Keep the whole body
To be lose and firm
Eyes open, look down
Two hands together
Two feet together.

Realize the fact

Body goes shortly
Getting old and sick
 Ending at the death.

Then body’s decayed

Even the hard bones
Become soil and dust
At last nothing’s left.

Knowing whole body

Watch your breath clearly
Body’s inhaling
Body’s exhaling.

In the normal life

To keep aware of
Knowing whole body
Is impermanent.

RIGHT MINDFULNESS next

The mind is conscious
The spirit’s lucid
But thoughts keep coming.

From this lucid mind

We can control thoughts
Thoughts no more lead us
Wandering outside.

We can make good thoughts

About compassion
About No-Self goal
To improve morals.
We can make good thoughts
To erase our greed
To erase anger
Mind gets more morals.

It begins serene
But only begins
Not very deep state
Of meditation.

Such as walking on
Thin ice of a lake
This stage need being
Extremely careful.

If we make wrong thoughts

Latent arrogance
Even no one knows
But one day we will
Get mental illness
Cause the lucid mind
Often makes us think
We are in high rank.

We must make more thoughts

That we’re just small dust
We love all beings
We pay to Buddha
Absolute homage
We offer ourselves
To supreme Buddha
Ever and ever.
We have to spend through
Near thirty next lives
Between Earth-Heaven
To finish the stage.

Finish this level

We eliminate
Five dark obstacles
Inside the spirit.

Those are greed, anger

Budging, sleepiness
And hesitation
Which hinder the mind.

Far from Buddha’s time

One gets this level
Often thinks himself
Become saintly man.

Sometimes illusions
Make many strange things
Cause more arrogance
Push him to failure.

Or mystic wisdom
Can make one foretell
He thinks he’s sublime
Fall into devils.

So we try our best

 Kowtow to Buddha
Think we are nothing
Pass our own abyss.

RIGHT ECSTASY eighth

Includes four levels
At the first level
Body is fulfilled
With soft happiness
Lust instinct ended.

But tiny ideas

Of philosophy
Still run in the deep
So it’s imperfect.

Second level mind

Is entirely clean
Any tiny thoughts
Be extremely calm.

And the whole body

Fulfilled happiness
Fulfilled awakened
Like water fills stream.

Third meditation
Mind covers all space
Matter is spirit
Everywhere’s happy.

Fourth meditation
 Absolutely calm
All the universe
Appears in essence.

If the practicer
Focus on past lives
He can remember
Endless number lives
Called Past Brilliance.

If the practicer
Focus on beings
He can know karma
Lead beings reborn
Called View Brilliance.

If the practicer
Focus on the Truths
He can realize
The Four Noble Truths
Wisdom Brilliance.

Oh my great Buddha
Supreme Eightfold Path
Is above our mind
But we follow then.

How many people

Sink in wrong bad ways
Drown in suffering
Can not end rebirths.
 Buddha gave savings
Let this great doctrine
Cover everywhere
For human beings.

We vow to be brave
Talk to all mankind
About Eightfold Path
As best offering.

Namo Sakiya Muni Buddha. (3 times)

THE FOUR GREAT VOWS

Beings are numberless but I vow to save them all
The ill-natured are countless but I vow to rid them all
The doctrine is endless but I vow to learn them all
The Buddhahood is supreme but I vow to achieve it all.

THE THREE REFUGE TAKINGS

All of my adoration, I take refuge in Buddha. (1 kowtow)
All of my adoration, I take refuge in Dharma. (1 kowtow)
All of my adoration, I take refuge in Sangha. (1 kowtow)