Download - The 10 Hearts of Kuan Yin
The Imitation of Kuan Yin --Finding Oneness with the Bodhisattva of Mercy
THE TEN HEARTS OF KUAN YIN
by Dale Goodyear
(Revised Edition 2011)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Guide to Pronunciation
Introduction
Background
The Hearts of Kuan Yin
Making the Mantra Work for You
The Vow
Uniting Our Life with Kuan Yin's Hearts
The Ten Hearts and Five Buddhas
Conclusion
Chinese Characters for Mantras
GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION
The pronunciation of Chinese words is indicated as they appear in the text. However, please note
the following points: ao is pronounced as the vowel in "bough." o is pronounced as a vowel
between "hot" and "boat," an open o sound. u is often pronounced like French u or German ü, a
sound between "oo" and "ee" with rounded lips. I have used "ew" in the pronunciation key, and
"ew" as in "few" is close enough if the exact sound is difficult for you. The Chinese found it
necessary to pronounce Sanskrit in their own way when Buddhism was introduced to China. We,
also, may be allowed some liberties when necessary. e, when pronounced "uh" sounds like
French e in "de," or English u in "cut" is also close enough. Finally, I have used the Pinyin system
of romanization, since it has become the accepted standard at this point. The one exception is my
use of the form "Kuan Yin" in the body of my text.
INTRODUCTION
The Buddha Yeshua, known to Christians as Jesus Christ, told us to love the Lord our God with
all our hearts. How do we do that? There are, of course, many paths. This book is one. It is
inspired by the Buddhist tradition, but does not belong to Buddhism exclusively. It includes much
that is from my own meditation and prayer to God, and it is for all who feel called to work with
all or any part of it. I offer it not as a replacement for your present spiritual or religious path, but
as an addition that can enhance what you already do. If it attracts you, it needs very little extra
time or effort, yet the blessings will be tangible.
My book is a book of devotion. It does not concern itself with arguments of doctrine or with dividing
lines between religions. I use the word "God," but let's, each one, define God for ourselves by our own
experience. Nor have I sought to write a book of scholarship, for there are people far more capable. In
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this book we will learn a way to let God into our heart, in order to fulfill the mandate of Jesus, an
essential one to all religions and spiritual paths. That way is through the great Mother of the East, the
merciful Kuan Yin.
BACKGROUND
In the Buddhist scripture called the Sutra of the Great Compassion Heart Mantra, the bodhisattva
or savioress Kuan Yin names ten hearts, or aspects of heart, which are the expression of her
universal, supreme Compassion and Love. It is these ten qualities of Heart which we will now
anchor in our hearts. The significance of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin, the "Hearer of Sounds," is
that there is a Principle and a Person, both beyond and in ourselves, that meditates on the
vibration and tone which every part of life gives off, the music of every living thing. Where the
melody, harmony, and rhythm of the music is wrong, out of tune with the Cosmos or God, this
Principle and Person gives of Herself in supreme caring and compassion for the pain of God,
sends forth a clear, pure Tone to realign, as a magnet does iron filings, this noise in life (for there
is no noise in God, only music).
This Tone is mercy, forgiveness, grace; transformation, transmutation, transcendence; alchemy, healing,
and freedom -- the graciousness and love of the Whole for those parts which have strayed and lost
touch with the pulse of God, with the symphony of God's Purpose. For those who would further that
work of Kuan Yin, who would fully anchor that mercy and healing in themselves and in the world, I
offer this book of meditation and mantra, an imitation of Kuan Yin to go with the imitation of Christ.
THE HEARTS OF KUAN YIN
. . . with all your heart
The heart is the true center of our being. A conscious living flame of Love burns in the spiritual
depths of the heart, and courses to all parts of one's self, even as the physical organ pumps vital
red blood to every cell of our body. Our spiritual hearts are still becoming whole. Let's quicken
the process, perhaps by millions of years, by inviting Kuan Yin's Heart into our heart. The living
flame of Love in Kuan Yin's Heart is so profound that just one quality cannot describe or contain
it. Therefore, Kuan Yin speaks of ten Hearts. All things begin with the heart. The heart is the key
to transformation of soul and mind and flesh.
Therefore let's look, one by one, at these Hearts. For each we will learn a mantra. Mantra is the key to
inviting Kuan Yin's Hearts into our heart.
Mantra is sacred sound. Remember that Kuan Yin's focus is on sound. In the Buddhist scriptures
it even states that She won her supreme enlightenment through the sense of hearing. So Kuan Yin
will listen and respond when we give the mantra with reverence and concentration. Let's sound
the mantra aloud whenever possible, even if sometimes only in a fervent whisper. That will have
the greatest effect on matter, and on our outer life and world. Then when need be we will sound it
silently. And we will learn to practice prayer without ceasing.
THE FIRST HEART
The ten Hearts of Kuan Yin come in two sets of five. Each Heart focuses one of the five rays of
Buddhahood. The first five reflect the + polarity of these rays, the second five the - polarity, to
use terms from electromagnetism. First is a Heart that is greatly merciful and compassionate. It
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melts all hardheartedness, all jagged edges of anger, meanness, unforgivingness in our natures. It
teaches us to forgive, forbear, be kind, compassionate and tolerant toward others and ourselves.
For we must be loving toward ourselves in order to be genuinely loving toward others. We cannot
give what we do not have.
This Heart will infuse us with kindness and love, and with their active expression which is mercy. By
the compassion of this Heart we register upon our heart the suffering of others, but without becoming
entangled in it. Therefore we can genuinely help; we have not lost our vision or perspective of the
situation. Whenever we lose that vision, we tumble into sympathy, which means we are entangled in
the emotional and mental turmoil of the one we seek to help. This Heart will dissolve the human
sympathy which threatens to make a second victim of the would-be rescuer. If we have a habit of losing
our own center in the face of others' needs, even of giving ourselves away to others, this is the Heart to
cultivate.
So whether we have a heart of cutting flint or a heart of dripping syrup, we need to replace it with a
heart of true enlightened mercy and compassion, which is the first and absolutely fundamental Heart of
Kuan Yin. For as Paul, the disciple of Jesus, said, without charity all else is as sounding brass or
tinkling cymbal.
Visualize a shining royal-purple Lotus Flower in the chest cavity. This royal-purple is the essence of
Kuan Yin's mercy and liberation--the power (blue) of her love (red) which combined make purple--and
the color-rays of her Hearts will always shine from within it. The ancient 21st saving power of Kuan
Yin is indeed a "Purple Lotus Flower" for liberation from karma and samsara. Resting upon or within
the Flower, see a brilliant Heart of ruby (as in a rainbow or a sunset) sending out rays of light into the
world, touching hearts who are suffering, in pain or need. Wherever these rays touch they replicate
Kuan Yin's Heart of ruby in the purple Flower, planting her mercy and compassion deep within the
heart to begin a holy alchemy of change.
Mercy's drops, compassion's nectar,
fill the chalice of our heart,
overflowing, healing, blessing,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
(By saying "I am one with Kuan Yin's Heart", we affirm our oneness with the one Spirit and one Flame
of Buddhahood in Kuan Yin and in ourselves. Kuan Yin can save us because we are one.)
How do we bring this quality of Kuan Yin's Heart into our own heart? Again, by using sound,
Sacred Sound or Mantra, to make our heart vibrate as Kuan Yin's Heart. Whenever and wherever
we pronounce the name Kuan Yin, her Tone sounds within us and She meshes her being with our
own to make us more and more like her.
The primary mantra we will use is Kuan Yin's fundamental Om Mani Padme Hum. Her renowned
mantra can be used with any of her blessings and saving powers, including her 10 Hearts. This makes
for a simple path of mantra to Kuan Yin, as long as we are also willing to exercise our mind, heart, and
spirit to focus on the particular blessing we need.
Kuan Yin wants us to become co-bodhisattvas with her! She uses a full array of tools to help beings,
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and She wants us to learn from her how to use the same tools.
The key to Om Mani Padme Hum with Kuan Yin's saving powers and blessings is to realize that the
Mani ("jewel", "any precious thing") of the mantra is the saving power or blessing, each of her 10
Hearts. It is the Skillful Means to help sentient beings. Padme ("Lotus", "Lotus Being") is Kuan Yin;
it's one of her ancient names. In this case, Padme also refers to her Purple Lotus Flower, because each
of her Hearts rests like a jewel within that Lotus Flower of liberation.
Om essentially means "As Above", and Hum means "So Below".
The Om Mani Padme Hum is a versatile mantra, and can be used with other meditations and
visualizations. But in this booklet we will see the Mani as Kuan Yin's Heart being focused by the
Padme who is Kuan Yin.
In addition to the Om Mani Padme Hum, I will offer two more ways of sounding that Tone of Kuan
Yin.
One will be to use the Chinese words from the original Buddhist scripture. The Chinese language has a
music and an effect that many of you will respond to. For those who do not, I shall give English
affirmations that will be also effective, for Kuan Yin is master of all sounds and all tongues. The words
"greatly merciful and compassionate" in Chinese are Da Ci Bei. The word for "heart" is Xin. Chinese
mantras begin with the syllables Na Mo, a word which means "Homage to" or "I trust in." Since
NAMO also mystically contains the word "AM," with this word you are identifying with, claiming
your oneness with whatever follows, in this case Kuan Yin and her greatly merciful and compassionate
Heart.
The mantra for her 1st Heart, then, is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Da Ci Bei Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo dah tsuh bay sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Greatly Merciful and Compassionate Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE SECOND HEART
Second is an equality Heart. This means that we are impartial; we no longer put others in false
categories. We no longer express prejudice and bias. This heart melts intolerance of all kinds. It
breaks all exclusivity, all clannishness, cliquishness and snobbishness. It is the remedy for gangs.
"All men are created equal"--equal because we all have the capacity for Buddhahood, whatever
our surface differences.
This Heart brings recognition of the inner equality and oneness we share. It is the solution for all
divide-and-conquer tendencies, in our society and in ourselves. "A house divided against itself shall not
stand." (Abraham Lincoln) This Heart brings everything into balance, into harmony, in our worlds and
in ourselves. It is a Heart of equanimity, which is one of the most-prized virtues of Buddhahood. It
means keeping our poise under all circumstances.
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When our passions, thoughts, actions are in poise, we are most powerful and effective, and we are
poised--in position--for the leap into Enlightenment.
Visualize the royal-purple Lotus Flower in the chest, and in it a brilliant yellow-golden Heart. The
Heart radiates out in all directions, touching hearts everywhere with its equanimity and balance,
replicating itself over and over again. These rays touch the hearts of the youth, soothing their passions,
dissolving their need of cliques and gangs, extending out to undermine and dissolve the gangs
themselves.
Rays of golden balance light,
reconciling hearts estranged,
all are equal in their Essence,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
This is the mantra:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Ping Deng Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo ping dung sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Equality Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE THIRD HEART
Third is an unconditioned Heart. To be unconditioned means to be free from the grids that have
been placed over our inner nature. Most of us are limited by mental, emotional and physical
habits. We can mistake these habits for ourselves, for they have often been woven into us at a
very early age. Yet behind all these habits, we are.
This Heart of Kuan Yin sets free who we really are. This Heart is the remedy for addictions, obsessions
and compulsions. It is the cure for all conditioning and brainwashing we have experienced. It will
unravel all human conditioning and replace it with the matrix of Reality, which is Buddhahood. It will
fill in the ruts of stagnation and death and create broad avenues of flow and life. The Heart-blood of
Kuan Yin will move through our veins, and we will experience vital freedom and wholeness on all
levels.
Visualize the royal-purple Lotus Flower in the chest. In it is a Heart of brilliant white light. As the
light-rays extend to all who are suffering and in need, including youth addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex,
violence, etc., replicas of Kuan Yin's Heart are kindled in their hearts to begin the process of salvation.
Free from all constriction now,
unconditioned, flowing upwards,
spinning skeins of Buddha action,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
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Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Wu Wei Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo woo way sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Unconditioned Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE FOURTH HEART
Fourth is a Heart that is unpolluted and unattached. It frees us from wrong thought and desire.
This includes healing us from irresponsible or outright wrong use of our life energy and sex
energy, all that can smudge the pure pattern of our souls and get us hooked into destructive
actions or relationships with others. All seduction--mental, emotional, physical, sexual --is
cancelled by the light of this Heart. And if we feel enslaved by desires and drives, of any kind,
this Heart will deliver us.
Visualize the Purple Lotus within the chest, and in it a radiant emerald Heart, sending out rays to bless
all life, replicating itself in all hearts who yearn to be pure and free, even if only dimly or
unconsciously. Let this Heart commence to set them free.
Unhooked, washed clean and pure,
no more a slave to appetite,
emerald light infusing sense and thought,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Wu Ran Jao Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo woo rahn jao sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Unpolluted-Unattached Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE FIFTH HEART
Fifth is a Heart that contemplates Emptiness. Emptiness, shunyata, is a Buddhist term for
Ultimate Reality, the Womb which seems empty but is full of creative force and potential. So this
Heart leads us to look at Reality. At the same time we learn to look at the emptiness of unreality,
the false life of maya and samsara, which seems real but is illusory and temporary, lasting only so
long as we buy into it and give it our attention and power. Looking at Emptiness and emptiness,
and discerning the difference, we come to see things in true perspective.
Cultivate this Heart to be free from illusion and deluded views that lead only to heartache and failure.
Visualize the Purple Lotus within the chest, and in it a radiant Heart of deep blue. Shafts of light pour
forth from it to bless all suffering beings, as Kuan Yin's Heart replicates itself within each one.
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Emptiness that is not empty,
Look upon the Womb of Space,
True and false no more confused,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Kong Guan Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo kohng gwahn sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Contemplating Emptiness Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE SIXTH HEART
Sixth is a respectful Heart. It begins another round of five Hearts, and so it is in polarity with the
first Heart of mercy. Respect is acknowledging the true potential and worth of ourselves and
others. We have to have self-respect to begin with; then we can truly have respect for others.
There is one light of Buddhahood in us all, so we cannot revere that light in one person and not in
another. Without this self-respect, self-regard, self-esteem, self-worth, our souls wilt and die. This
may well be the biggest and most crippling psychological problem of our times, for youth and
adults both.
Respect is also giving credit where credit is due. If someone has accomplished something of worth, we
acknowledge this honestly and generously, because what one has attained, all can attain. God gives all
of us assignments, parts of the whole Work that needs to be done. We honor that division of labor, and
we respect each one with his or her particular task. We do not envy, we do not covet, we do not
sabotage others, even as we would not have others do so to us. We trust God and our own part to play
in the Tao, the Way or Flow of God. Such is the gift of this Heart of Kuan Yin.
Visualize the Purple Flower in the chest. In, or upon, it is a radiant ruby Heart. It rays out millions of
beams, planting respect and self-respect within the hearts of all. All who revere the Light bow down in
gratitude for the sense of self-worth restored, as Kuan Yin replicates her Heart in them.
Worthy now, for all are Buddha,
crushed by shame and fear no more,
esteeming self and other selves,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Gong Jing Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo gohng jing sheen gwahn een)
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In English, you can say:
In the Respectful Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE SEVENTH HEART
Seventh is a humble Heart. It is in polarity with the second Heart of equality. Humility is
knowing our true place on the ladder of spiritual evolution, with neither a superiority nor
inferiority complex. It is also realizing that we are vessels needing God's Spirit to fill us, and
without that Spirit we are powerless. So to be puffed up with pride in our ego, our intellect, our
wealth and possessions, our influence with men, etc., is folly. Such arrogance clutters the vessel,
taking up space. We are lastingly effective only so far as we are empty, so that God can come in,
filling us and overflowing to bless others. Therefore the greatest of men is always the most
humble. Cultivate this Heart of Kuan Yin to be free of arrogance and full of humility.
Visualize the the royal-purple Flower within the chest and in it a Heart of brilliant golden-yellow
light. As the rays enter every heart, they caress and comfort, soothing all panic of arrogance and
ego. False pride, foolish pride, angry pride, overconfidence, rashness, and recklessness are
dissolved. Kuan Yin plants the replica of her Humble Heart in all who yearn to be little and
therefore great.
Decrease, decrease, as Tao grows great,
until so empty we are full,
jagged peaks of ego planed,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Bei Xia Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo bay shyah sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Humble Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE EIGHTH HEART
Eighth is a Heart without confusion. It is in polarity with the third, unconditioned Heart. Our lives
are too often filled with confusion. We do not know which way to go, what to do or how to do it.
We end up paralyzed, or we flail out blindly in one direction or another, sometimes disastrously.
We look around us and see more and more complexity in the world, like a tangled net in which as
fish we flop and gasp. Perhaps we cannot solve all the tangled problems of the world, yet; but
Kuan Yin can enter in and bring light and clarity to our thinking and feeling and therefore to our
decisions and actions. As we become a drop of clarity in a confused world, we can spread that
clarity until someday all confusion is vanquished.
Remember that Light and Virtue are contagious, as much as any foul disease. Therefore those who
cultivate these Hearts will ultimately save not only themselves but many, many others, as these "catch"
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the ease (not dis-ease) of Kuan Yin's Hearts. So cultivate this Heart to banish confusion.
Visualize the Purple Lotus Flower in the chest and in or upon it a Heart of blazing white light. Rays
shoot forth to all who are confused and in agony of heart and mind, bringing clarity and purpose.
Wherever the rays contact a heart, Kuan Yin plants the replica of her Heart to work its work.
Pure, unclouded, shining bright,
easy to perceive the goal,
easy to perceive the means,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Wu Za Luan Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo woo dzah lwahn sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Unconfused Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE NINTH HEART
Ninth is a Heart without seeing and grasping. It is in polarity with the fourth Heart that is
unpolluted and unattached. Psychologically we are made in such a way that we see, then want,
then act. Picture the little child in the toy store. But also picture the teenager or even adult,
looking at advertisements on television or in magazines and then desiring the cars or clothes or
what not and collectively spending billions of dollars to buy them. Often the result is harmful, for
we did not have a real need, but allowed our desires to be enflamed by what we saw. So we are
very dependent upon our sense of sight, what we see physically and mentally. Most of our
thinking starts with pictures before it becomes words. And our views, our opinions, are how we
"look at" things combined with how we then feel.
There are those who consciously manipulate others by using images to hook and lead them into impure
desires and actions. Look around you and become aware of how it is done and who is doing it.
Recognize the power of what we look at and watch to influence our behavior, through television,
movies, magazines, billboards, and so on.
Then to cultivate an enlightened heart that will rise above such manipulation, use this Heart of
Kuan Yin. Emotions of envy and jealousy also have to do with seeing and grasping, and this ninth
Heart is the remedy for such destructive feelings.
See a Heart of brilliant emerald light in or upon the Purple Flower. Light shoots forth, touching all
hearts and kindling a replica of Kuan Yin's Heart in each.
Perfect seeing, perfect being,
no more slave to others' wills,
hand held open, flow with Tao,
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one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Wu Jian Qu Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo woo jyen chew sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the No-seeing and No-grasping Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
THE TENTH HEART
Tenth is a Heart of supreme enlightenment or Bodhi. It is in polarity with the fifth Heart that
contemplates Emptiness. This tenth Heart reflects and expresses the opening of the thousandpetalled
lotus of the crown chakra and the descent of Light from higher and vaster dimensions. It
is the perfect Wisdom which goes hand in hand with the perfect Compassion of the first Heart.
These two qualities in integration, pure mind and pure heart undivided, are the essence of
Buddhahood. This is the Heart to cultivate for gaining wisdom and ultimately the supreme
wisdom of Enlightenment in thought, feeling, action, and being.
In the royal-purple Lotus Flower, visualize a blazing deep-blue Heart of Kuan Yin. With the fifth Heart,
it contains the blueprint of our life, our purpose in life. Millions of rays touch the hearts of all Kuan
Yin's children, replicating that Heart and kindling her Wisdom in all.
Wisdom, perfect Gnosis light,
shining fount, Enlightenment,
unsurpassed, supreme forever,
one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.
The mantra is:
Om Mani Padme Hum
Na Mo Wu Shang Pu Ti Xin Guan Yin
(nah mo woo shahng poo tee sheen gwahn een)
In English, you can say:
In the Supremely Enlightened Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!
EXTENDING THE HEART QUALITIES OF KUAN YIN
Whatever we ask or gain from Kuan Yin for ourselves, we can ask her to multiply it for others,
whether friends, family, the youth, the homeless, even those who persecute and despise us. We
can consecrate our mantras for other people or situations (such as disasters, wars, crises of all
kinds) as well as for ourselves. Kuan Yin's mercy is infinite, and she can help a million as easily
as she can help one individual, and at the same time. Allow her to extend herself. She will return
blessings multiplied to us, and we will take steps on the path of selfless Bodhisattvahood.
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You can say:
Kuan Yin, multiply my prayers, I consecrate them to your Hearts! (4x)
Make them manifest for (name persons or conditions), Om Mani Padme Hum!
MAKING THE MANTRA WORK FOR YOU
We will have times when we doubt that the mantra is doing us any good. We may go for long
periods without outer signs of progress. Let's remember that the mantra is like a current of
electricity. Electricity is always there, it always works; but for it to work specifically for us, we
have to work with it. We have to provide the wire and we have to turn the switch. Providing the
wire means practicing the mantra day by day until we create a momentum and a channel for the
momentum to flow through. Flipping the switch means generating belief and faith when we
sound the mantra. The sutra says that without belief in the mantra we will get no benefit. That is
because we block the mantra, disconnect the current by our disbelief. That is foolish. Do we
disbelieve in electricity if we neglect to flip the switch?
We are partners, co-creators with God. Jesus said that God works then we work. We have to do our
part. Practice the mantra and believe in the mantra, and know that underground you are laying the
conduit and constructing the switching mechanism. Just so a plant starts its life underground, putting
forth roots and nourishing itself before it breaks through to the surface. Be assured that if you are there
for the mantra, day by day, year by year, the mantra will be there for you. Kuan Yin will be there for
you, because these mantras are sounding her name, calling her name, and She always answers by her
very Nature. Give this affirmation to combat doubt of Kuan Yin and her mantra: I believe, I trust,
I am! We believe in Kuan Yin's compassion. We trust it and we trust her. And so we are
becoming one with her compassion and with her.
THE VOW
Let's talk about the vow. A vow is a commitment. We can sound Kuan Yin's name and that is
good. It is very pleasing to her, and She will enter our lives more and more. Like a child, we call
for our mother, and She comes and takes care of us. It is good. Perhaps eventually we want to do
even more. We want not only to ask help from our Mother but to pledge help to her. We not only
wish to receive but we also want to give. This is the first perfection of the Buddha and the
beginning of the Bodhisattva path, the path of being a Savior.
We do this by making a vow. We commit ourselves. We make a vast vow, beyond our human ability to
keep. That way we have to depend on Kuan Yin to help us keep it. Look at the first letter of the word
vow. The V is a container for Kuan Yin to fill. She delights in that V of the vow, for She fills it and
fulfills it in us.
And then the V of "vow" becomes the V of "victory." The bigger the vow we make, the bigger
the V or chalice and the bigger the victory when the vow is kept. So Bodhisattva vows are
immense vows. One set of immense vows we can make to Kuan Yin are vows to her Hearts. We
want our hearts to become that V which Kuan Yin will fill with her Hearts. And step by step our
hearts will become as vast as hers. Here are ten vows to Kuan Yin's Ten Hearts. When you feel
ready, make one or more of them, or all of them. And then strive day by day to keep them, and let
Kuan Yin descend into the V and keep them with you and for you.
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These are the vows:
Yuan Wo Su Tong Da Ci Bei Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng dah tsuh bay sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Ping Deng Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng ping dung sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Wei Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng woo way sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Ran Jao Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng woo rahn jao sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Kong Guan Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng kohng gwahn sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Gong Jing Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng gohng jing sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Bei Xia Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng bay shyah sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Za Luan Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng woo dzah lwahn sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Jian Qu Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng woo jyen chew sheen)
Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Shang Pu Ti Xin!
(yewen wo soo tohng woo shahng poo tee sheen)
I vow to quickly unite with the greatly merciful and compassionate Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the equality Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the unconditioned Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the unpolluted and unattached Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the contemplating Emptiness Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the respectful Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the humble Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the unconfused Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the no-seeing and no-grasping Heart!
I vow to quickly unite with the supremely enlightened Heart!
UNITING OUR LIFE WITH KUAN YIN'S HEARTS
I have just spoken of making vows to unite with Kuan Yin's Hearts. Once we have done so, it is
important to realize that every time we repeat our vows we bind ourselves more closely to her
Hearts. As we renew our vows to her, Kuan Yin renews us, blesses us again and more deeply
each time. Therefore, let's give our vows every day. Let us start our day with them, end our day
with them, and perhaps give them at times in between, as our heart moves us.
There is yet more we can do. We can deliberately offer not just "ourselves" generally, but our specific
thoughts, feelings, and actions; our frustrations, setbacks, sufferings, and burdens; our very failings,
faults, frailties, and outright sins. Kuan Yin wants us as we are, and takes us as we are. Then She
transforms us and fills us, day by day, step by step, as we allow her.
Are you sad? Say, "Kuan Yin, I unite my sadness to the joy of your Hearts." Are you angry? Say, "I
unite my anger to the peace of your Hearts." Do you have a bad habit, even a compulsion? Unite it to
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her Hearts. Again and again. Let her in! She will transform your bad habits, your depressions, your
unkindness, whatever, if you unite them to her Hearts.
Kuan Yin is not concerned with human frailty; She is not put off by it. It is simply fuel for her furnace
of Mercy, and She will consume our frailty, as long as we are sincere with her, and replace it with her
Love and Compassion. As we learn not to hide little pockets of ourselves from Kuan Yin's Hearts, as
we unite all of our life to her, we become empty of our false sense of self, and Kuan Yin fills us with
True Self, her Self, our Self, one Self.
Finally, as we work with Kuan Yin to uplift others, we can unite others' frailties, their grief, anger,
hopelessness, their actions, etc., to Kuan Yin's Hearts. She will take it all and work with it respectfully
and appropriately, to alleviate suffering and save sentient beings. This path of uniting is incomparably
powerful, and it has many aspects. As you meditate on it and apply it,
Kuan Yin will teach you.
I offer one final union prayer to Kuan Yin, based on her great Love for her own Teacher, the
Amitabha Buddha: "Kuan Yin, I unite myself (my heart, mind, etc.) to your own Oneness with the
Amitabha Buddha."
THE TEN HEARTS AND FIVE BUDDHAS
Kuan Yin is master of all the five rays of Buddhahood, and her Ten Hearts cycle through those
rays twice, like a sine wave:
Amitabha
Ratnasambhava Vairochana Amoghasiddhi
Akshobhya
The Hearts start with Amitabha Buddha, Kuan Yin's fundamental Guru or Teacher, then move
through the other four Buddhas and their rays, in the order Ratnasambhava, Vairochana,
Amoghasiddhi, and Akshobhya. The Hearts cycle once through for Spirit or the Masculine (+)
polarity, then again through for Matter or the Feminine (-) polarity: as above, so below. (Trace
the S-curve or sine wave for yourself.)
Therefore the whole series of Kuan Yin's hearts is a flow of Energy, a dynamic movement involving all
aspects of Buddhahood. And there is more to each Heart, then, than any human name for it or words
about it can convey. Kuan Yin's Hearts are an open door into Cosmic Consciousness and its utterly
practical application to the needs of humanity and all life. They will provide a lifetime of opportunity
for meditation and application!
CONCLUSION
Thank you for allowing me to share my path with you. Take what you find helpful and leave the
rest. If from all the Hearts you need only one, that is well. Also, if you learn the whole system, it
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will grant many blessings. Do not limit yourself by practicing only when you can recite the
mantras I have presented. Use the visualizations whenever they can add to what you are doing,
such as saying other mantras and prayers, singing, dancing, playing, working.
Again, any of these visualizations can most simply be used with Kuan Yin's fundamental mantra Om
Mani Padme Hum. Often translated "Om the Jewel in the Lotus Hum," know that this mantra first and
foremost invokes Kuan Yin's Hearts. Each Heart is, in fact, the Jewel (Mani) which rests in the Purple
Lotus Flower (Padme) of Kuan Yin's liberating power-of-love. Though you can focus the Hearts in
your life by visualization alone when need be, do not neglect the sound of her name in the mantra when
it is possible to give it, preferably aloud (for the greatest anchoring in the physical world) but also
silently. And always, feel her tender Love for you.
Note: Throughout the book, I have referred to Kuan Yin as "She." In the Orient, Kuan Yin is also often
perceived as masculine. This is certainly true of the Indian/Tibetan traditions where Kuan Yin is called
Avalokiteshvara, Lokeshvara, or Chenresig ("Lord of Compassion"), and where there is a feminine
counterpart called Tara. In Chinese, the name Kuan Yin can be either masculine or feminine.
So if your need is for a Masculine embodiment of Compassion, just visualize accordingly, because the
Bodhisattva of Compassion has innumerable Forms. And because Kuan Yin transcends human gender,
as you say "Namo Kuan Yin" and become one with Kuan Yin, He/She will say "Namo Kuan Yin"
back to you! And in the end, you and Kuan Yin will be indistinguishable.
Finally, although I have presented a certain matrix of colors for meditating on the Hearts, based on the
mandala of the Dhyani Buddhas, Kuan Yin's Hearts contain many rainbow hues, both manifest and
secret, and so feel free to let your meditation guide you.
Namo Buddha!
Namo Dharma!
Namo Sangha!
In the 10 Hearts of Kuan Yin, I trust!
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
Om Mani Padme Hum
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