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2. Vasubandhu Bodhisattva – Verses 11-20
Koso Wasan 11
Śākyamuni’s teachings are numerous,
But Bodhisattva Vasubandhu compassionately urges us,
Who are possessed of blind passions,
To take refuge in Amida’s universal Vow.
Koso Wasan 12
The adornments of the Pure Land of peace
Are perceived only by the wisdom shared by the Buddhas.
That land is infinite, like space,
Vast and without bound.
Koso Wasan 13
Of those who encounter the power of the Primal Vow
Not one passes by in vain;
They are filled with the treasure ocean of virtues,
The defiled waters of their blind passions are not separated from it.
Koso Wasan 14
The sages of the Tathagata’s pure lotus
Are born transformed from the flower of perfect enlightenment;
Thus, the aspirations of sentient beings
Are swiftly and completely fulfilled there.
Koso Wasan 15
The immovable sages, who were formally humans and devas,
Are born from the ocean of wisdom, the universal Vow;
The virtues of their mental activity are pure
And free of discrimination, like empty space.
Koso Wasan 16
Vasubandhu, author of the Treatise, took refuge
In the unhindered light with the mind that is single;
He teaches that by entrusting ourselves to the Vow’s power,
We will reach the fulfilled land.
Koso Wasan 17
To take refuge, with the mind that is single,
In the Buddha of unhindered light filling the ten quarters
Is, in the words of Vasubandhu, author of the Treatise,
The mind that aspires to attain Buddhahood.
Koso Wasan 18
The mind that aspires to attain Buddhahood
Is the mind to save all sentient beings;
The mind to save all sentient beings
Is true and real shinjin, which is Amida’s Benefiting of others.
Koso Wasan 19
Shinjin is the mind that is single;
The mind that is single is the diamond-like mind.
The diamond-like mind is the mind aspiring for enlightenment;
This mind is itself the Other Power.
Koso Wasan 20
On reaching the land of the Vow,
We immediately realise supreme nirvana,
And thereupon we awaken great compassion.
All this is called Amida’s ‘directing of virtue.’
Next –> Part 3. Master T’an-luan – Verses 21-54
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Gassho.
Namo Amida Butsu!