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Life-Extending Ten-Line Kannon Sutra

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The Life-Extending Ten-Line Kannon Sutra (延命十句観音経, Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyō) is a short Mahayana Buddhist sutra,[1] comprised of only 42 Chinese characters. It is recorded in the Southern Song Dynasty Records of the Buddhas and Patriarchs and seems to appear as a short recitation text during Hakuin's lifetime (1686–1769).[2] The Zen master urges an unnamed donor to chant the sutra one thousand times a day to be restored "completely and joyously" to health. Hakuin notes that the sutra is not found among those preached by the historical Buddha, but was revealed directly by Kannon to a Chinese government official facing execution. Since the longer Kannon Sutra (Chapter 25 of the Lotus Sutra) was prohibitively lengthy, the prisoner was given the ten-line sutra instead, which caused the executioner's blades to break into three pieces miraculously.[3] Yamada Koun considered the sutra a kind of dharani, as recounted by Robert Baker Aitken.[4]

Text

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Sino-Japanese with furigana Transliteration Translation[a]
觀世音（かんぜおん） KAN ZE ON Avalokiteshvara
南無佛（なむぶつ） NA MU BUTSU Namu butsu[b]
與佛有因（よぶつういん） YO BUTSU U IN With Buddha as cause
與佛有緣（よぶつうえん） YO BUTSU U EN With Buddha as condition
佛法相緣（ぶっぽうそうえん） BUP PO SO EN Three Jewels as condition
常樂我淨（じょうらくがじょう） JO RAKU GA JO Permanent, joyous, self-existent, and pure
朝念觀世音（ちょうねんかんぜおん） CHO NEN KANZON Morning: remember (nen) Kanzeon
暮念觀世音（ぼねんかんぜおん） BO NEN KANZEON Evening: remember (nen) Kanzeon
念念從心起（ねんねんじゅうしんき） NEN NEN JU SHIN KI Each thought from the heart [heart-mind; 心 shin] arises
念念不離心（ねんねんふりしん） NEN NEN FU RI SHIN Each thought is not separate from the heart

See also

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Notes

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  1. ↑ Public domain translation[5]
  2. ↑ Transliterated in the original.

Works Cited

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  • Waddell, N. (2012). Beating the Cloth Drum: Letters of Zen Master Hakuin. Shambhala. ISBN 978-1-59030-948-3. Retrieved 2025-10-26.
  • Tanahashi, Kazuaki (2016-03-01). The Heart Sutra. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-1-61180-312-9.
  • Ekaku, Hakuin (2010-07-13). Wild Ivy. Translated by N. Waddell. Boston, Mass: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-1-59030-809-7.
  • Aitken, Robert (1997-06-01). Original Dwelling Place. Washington, D.C: Catapult. ISBN 978-1-887178-41-9.

References

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  1. ↑ Tanahashi 2016.
  2. ↑ Ekaku 2010: The Ten-Phrase Kannon Sutra (Jikku Kannon-gyō; Emmei Jikku Kannon-gyō), consisting of only forty-two Chinese characters in ten phrases, appears in Records of the Buddhas and Patriarchs (Fo-tsu tung-chi), a Chinese Buddhist work dating from the southern Sung dynasty. It seems to have first come into general use as a short recitation text in Japan during Hakuin’s lifetime."
  3. ↑ Waddell 2012, pp. 129–130.
  4. ↑ Aitken 1997.
  5. ↑ Fleeman Garcia, Trace (20 February 2025). "Yet Another Life Extending Ten-Line Kannon Sutra (延命十句観音経 Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyō) Translation". Retrieved 30 October 2025.
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