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Ten Thousand Sutras (after Hakuin)

Sam Hamill

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The body is the body of the Buddha.

Like ice and water, the one is always in the other.

In the middle of the lake

we long for a drink of water.

Adrift in Samsara

we dream of blissful Nirvana.

This body is the body of the Buddha,

this moment an eternity.

Saying“I love you,”the deed is done -

the name and the deed are one.

With you and without you

the line runs straight -

your body is the body of the Buddha,

there is light beyond the gate.

This love I give to you

is the love that comes from Kannon.

Every breath a sutra.

Going or returning, it’s the same.

Our bodies are the body of the Buddha,

our names are Kannon’s name.

No word can adequately say it,

yet every word must praise it -

in silent meditation

destroying evil karma,

in silent meditation

inhabiting the Dharma -

this body is the body of the Buddha,

your body is the body of the Buddha.

Open arms and eyes to Samsara!

Embraced by the thousand arms of Kannon!

In the perfect mind of“vivikta-dharma,”

the truth of solitude,

our body is a temple,

not a refuge.

Praise our body

even in Samsara,

our bodies are the body of the Buddha,

our bodies are the body of the Buddha.

- Sam Hamill

 

 

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