The 10 Verse Kannon Sutra

This is the jukku kan on gy ( ), or the 10 Phrase Kannon Sutra, also called the 10 Verse Kannon Sutra. It is a popular, devotional chant in Japanese Buddhism toward Kannon Bodhisattva. The liturgy is used in many sects of Japanese Buddhism, but the specific one I am posting here comes from the Kannon Bodhisattva prayer book I purchased at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo, Japan, a Tendai Buddhist temple. The verses are broken out exactly as printed in the prayer book and Ive managed to print all the right kanji. The pronunciation of some characters varies just slightly from other online versions Ive seen, but dont despair. Many characters have multiple readings, so just use whichever version youre familiar with. Because this text is so short, people sometimes chant it more than once in a single session, but the number is up to you. Choose what suits you. Feel free to print this out and use it on your own time. Enjoy! Cant read the characters? If youre having trouble reading the Kanji characters, you might have one or two problems with your computer:

Your computer may not have Asian fonts installed. In Windows you have to enable UTF8 and East Asian fonts under the Control Panel. Modern Mac computers are fully compatible already. Your browser may be assuming the wrong character set. If you use a relatively modern browser and use UTF8 as character set, you should be able to read fine. IE, Firefox and Safari all read this fine as far as I can tell.

Even if not, then you can still use the romanized characters, and the (terrible) English translation. Dedication I dedicate this effort to all sentient beings everywhere. May all beings be well, and may they all attain perfect peace. Namu Kanzeon Bosatsu The 10 Verse Kannon Sutra na yo yo jo mu raku on butsu so ga in en en jo Kan ze

butsu u butsu u

bu ppo

cho bo nen nen

nen nen nen nen

Kan Kan ju fu

ze ze ri

on on Shin

shin ki

My Translation This translation of mine is far from perfect, but after consulting other translations as well as online Kanji dictionaries, I believe this is one way to read it in English. Other better translations certainly exist, so please do not take my efforts too seriously: Kanzeon [Bodhisattva]! Praise to the Buddha! I have origin with the Buddha. I co-exist together with the Buddha. Eternal and joyous self, pure [as if] tinkling of gems. I am bound to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. In the morning, I think of Kanzeon. In the evening, I think of Kanzeon. Thought after thought, I submit to the sincere, awakened mind. Thought after thought, I am not sepearate from this [awakened] mind.

P.S. The character turned out to be hard to translate. I couldnt find it on Japanese online dictionaries, but I consulted a few Chinese ones and came up with what (I hope) to be a decent translation. The Chinese dictionaries all said tinkling of gems or jangling of jade. On the other hand, the character appears in the Heart Sutra and all translations say pure, so I am inclined to believe thats the original reading, so I kind of compromised. P.P.S. The Buddha here I believe is the eternal Buddha, the Dharmakaya, not the historical one. Its basically a subtle allusion to Emptiness and interdepedency. Pretty clever for only 10 verses.