Bill!,
In the 25 years when I practiced with a Diamond Sangha affiliate sangha in
Tucson, we used the following Japanese text of the Great Vows, and the
following English translation.
The translation is probably due to the late Robert Aitken Roshi.
Note that he uses the words "Dharma gates", instead of "Dharmas". In other
words, we vow to master the many APPROACHES to dharma. Some of these may be
through Hearing (the sense which Avalokitesvara used, to become enlightened),
through Kindness, through Sight, through Chanting, Bowing, Meditation, Kinhin,
Oriyoki, Teisho, Dokusan, Samu, etc., etc., etc.!
See if the translation of the Japanese is correct, below, on the Third vow. In
any case, we can easily see that APPROACHES to dharma may be numberless: any
aspect of our lives and practice can be such an approach.
Shigu Siegan Mon
GREAT VOWS FOR ALL
--------------------------------
Shujo mu hen sei gan do
The many beings are numberless, I vow to save them;
Bonno mu jin sei gan dan
Greed, hatred, and ignorance rise endlessly, I vow to abandon them;
Ho mon mu ryo sei gan gaku
Dharma gates are countless, I vow to wake to them;
Butsu do mu jo sei gan jo
The Buddha's way is unsurpassed, I vow to embody it fully.
-----------------------------------------------------------
--Joe
> "Bill!" <BillSmart@...> wrote:
>
> This is the version I was taught. (I kind of cringed at the term 'dharmas'
> used in the plural also, but that's what I was taught.)
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