About the Verse of Atonement (Sangemon)

[Jundo]

Our chant reads:

The VERSE OF ATONEMENT:

All harmful acts, words and thoughts, ever committed by me since of old,

On account of beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,

Born of my body, mouth and mind,

Now I atone for them all

Some places call it the "Repentence Verse" (Sangemon 懺悔文), and it is about being sorry, reflecting, wishing to make amends and to do better from here.

We recently had a discussion among the priests about where the mouth goes in relation to the body! (Oh, that sounds bad!

It all began when Shinshi noted:

In the Treeleaf chant book the VERSE OF ATONEMENT is given as:

All harmful words thoughts and acts
Ever committed by me since of Old
On account of beginning-less greed, anger and ignorance
Born of my body, mouth and mind
Now I atone for them all

During the Ordination ceremony (from the document) we said:

Jundo says: All harmful acts, words and thoughts, ever committed by me since of old,
(Ordainees repeat)
Jundo says: On account of beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,
(Ordainees repeat)
Jundo says: Born of my body, mouth and mind,
(Ordainees repeat)
Jundo says: Now I atone for them all
(Ordainees repeat)

To which I responded:

Oh my gosh! That means the whole ceremony was invalid, and we have to DO IT AGAIN!

Just kidding!

I am not sure what happened there, but I actually now try to say "acts, words and thoughts," which seems a more logical order of degrees of behavior (from hitting some guy, which is more serious than just saying angry words, which is more serious than just thinking an angry thought, and the root of the other two).

The Sino-Japanese actually speaks of just "Evil Karma" (akugō 惡業) born of "Body, speech, and mind" (shinkui 身口意) as the three modes of karma (sangō 三業). We used to say "evil Karma," but changed that to "harmful acts, words and thoughts," following the order "body, speech, mind," which is where I got that for the Ordination ceremony. So, our Verse of Atonement is actually a little out of order (I copied another Zen Sangha in making ours, and did not notice the problem). Really, the order does not really matter. However, should we change our Verse of Atonement this year?

Then there was some discussion on which sounds better, and to be honest, I forget exactly what we agreed or where we made the change. It is possible that you will find either version popping up here and there at Treeleaf sometimes. I atone for that as well. However, I believe that our standard is now "acts, words and thoughts."

It is also a common teaching in English, because of the happenstance that "atonement" can read "at-one-ment" that this is also a "Verse of At-One-Ment" ... tossing all into Emptiness. That is a little wordplay only available in English, not Japanese or Chinese.

A Zazenkai Talk refected on the Verse of Atonement (and Four Vows too) ... from about 01:50:00 here:

https://youtu.be/CbKQesAfIXY

Sorry for my long post too.

Gassho, Jundo

stlah

[AnGyo]

Seems like the intention is the important part, of course.
Despite the saying; "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

The version that was taught to me, as I've been using for 15 years has been:

All Evil Karma ever committed by me since of old,
On account of my beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,
Born of my body, mouth and consciousness,
Now I atone for it all.

I haven't been struck by lightning yet

In Gassho,
Cam AnGyo
SatToday

[Tokan]

Sorry for my long post too.

Gassho, Jundo

Hi Jundo, well seeing as you explained this so well, and avoided finding the in the detail, I don't think you need to atone for your long atonement post

Gassho, Tokan (satlah)

[Bion]

Seems like the intention is the important part, of course.
Despite the saying; "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

The version that was taught to me, as I've been using for 15 years has been:

All Evil Karma ever committed by me since of old,
On account of my beginningless greed, anger and ignorance,
Born of my body, mouth and consciousness,
Now I atone for it all.

I haven't been struck by lightning yet

In Gassho,
Cam AnGyo
SatToday

The one I have recited for years, and sometimes still do, during private practice, is:

“All my past and harmful karma
Born from beginningless greed, hate and delusion
Through body, speech and mind
I now fully avow”

Let me tell you, when I joined Treeleaf and started chanting the Treeleaf wording, for the longest time my brain struggled and mixed the two versions till the point where many times I’d have to stop and start over cause I just couldn’t continue [emoji23]

[emoji1374] Sat Today

[Meian]

[emoji120][emoji120][emoji120]

Gassho2
stlh

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[AnGyo]

The one I have recited for years, and sometimes still do, during private practice, is:

“All my past and harmful karma
Born from beginningless greed, hate and delusion
Through body, speech and mind
I now fully avow”

Let me tell you, when I joined Treeleaf and started chanting the Treeleaf wording, for the longest time my brain struggled and mixed the two versions till the point where many times I’d have to stop and start over cause I just couldn’t continue [emoji23]

[emoji1374] Sat Today

There seems to be an unending amount of versions, just as there are numberless beings we vow to liberate.
I enjoy the practice of learning the variations and seeing how other interpretations feel and sound. I tend to adjust my private practice as I come across versions that resonate more with my experience. For example, I had been chanting the 4 Great Vows the same way for about 15 years and then came across a very small change that Roshi Halifax had made. After reading her explanation on the change, I too made the change to my private practice. I also changed the way I do the English Heart Sutra after Thich Nhat Hanh offered his new translation.

Kaizen - Always learning,
In Gassho,
Cam AnGyo,
SAT

[Bion]

There seems to be an unending amount of versions, just as there are numberless beings we vow to liberate.
I enjoy the practice of learning the variations and seeing how other interpretations feel and sound. I tend to adjust my private practice as I come across versions that resonate more with my experience. For example, I had been chanting the 4 Great Vows the same way for about 15 years and then came across a very small change that Roshi Halifax had made. After reading her explanation on the change, I too made the change to my private practice. I also changed the way I do the English Heart Sutra after Thich Nhat Hanh offered his new translation.

Kaizen - Always learning,
In Gassho,
Cam AnGyo,
SAT

The version I first learned and have recited for years was the one from the Soto-shu Scriptures For Daily Practice, which is the one I wrote earlier. I now have both, the Treeleaf version being the most recent addition. [emoji3526]

[emoji1374] Sat Today

[Huichan]

I've been looking for a Chinese character version of this and can only find a very lengthy text (not sure if that was the original version?). Do you know where I could find it for this version in Chinese?


Ross
stlah

[Jundo]

I've been looking for a Chinese character version of this and can only find a very lengthy text (not sure if that was the original version?). Do you know where I could find it for this version in Chinese?


Ross
stlah

This should be basically the same Kanji ...

懺悔文
我昔所造諸悪業
皆由無始貪瞋痴
従身口意之所生
一切我今皆懺悔

In traditional Chinese characters, it should be as shown on this Vietnamese video, small variations from the Japanese ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw-kceMoO74

The source is said to be a few lines from the Flower Garland/Huayan/Avatamsaka Sutra in the Vows of Samantabhadra Chapter:

To Repent of Karmic Obstacles and Reform

“Moreover, Good Man, to repent of karmic obstacles and reform is explained like this: The Bodhisattva reflects, ‘From beginningless kalpas in the past, I have created all measureless and boundless evil karma with my body, mouth, and mind, because of greed, hatred, and stupidity. If this evil karma had a substance and form, all of empty space could not contain it. I now completely purify these three karmas, and before the assemblies of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, throughout the Dharma Realm in lands as many as fine motes of dust, I sincerely repent of and reform my offenses and vow never to create them again. I will always dwell in all merit and virtue of the pure precepts.’

http://www.cttbusa.org/avatamsaka/avatamsaka40new.html

Gassho, J

stlah

[Huichan]

Thanks. Just having a quick check, the Kanji seems exactly the same as traditional Chinese according to my dictionary.


Ross
stlah

[Jundo]

Thanks. Just having a quick check, the Kanji seems exactly the same as traditional Chinese according to my dictionary.


Ross
stlah

There are small differences. I think that the Chinese version has 從 and the Japanese is 従. The Japanese version above has mouth 口, while the version in the Vietnamese video has "speech" 語.

Gassho, J

stlah

[Huichan]

Ah, I get you now. Just found the simplified Chinese version, which makes it easier for me to read and can work out traditional from there.

我昔所造诸恶业，

皆由无始贪嗔痴。

从身语意之所生，

一切我今皆忏悔。


Ross
stlah