This is where the next chapter comes from Reading the Heart Sutra Hiromi Ito, originally published in Japanese in 2010 and first translated into English by Jeffrey Angles below. Renowned poet Ito first became nationally known in Japan in the 1980s for her groundbreaking writings on pregnancy, childbirth and female sexuality. Tendon Reading the Heart Sutrashe examines several Buddhist texts and reflects on them in the context of her own life as she navigates motherhood, loss, and caring for her aging parents. During the next year Tricycle publishes the English translation of the book serially, with one chapter per month. Read the first part here.
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Good heavens.
I just went and did it.
I’m not an expert on sutras, but I took on this project simply because I couldn’t suppress my curiosity.
I never went to church regularly and almost never heard the sutras read aloud. But now I’m here, looking at things alone, reading books and searching the net. I’ve found that every little thing that meets my hands, eyes, and ears leads to all kinds of fascinating passages, and through them I discover what it means to be human.
I recently found some incredibly beautiful ones. Here they are.
fragrantgatha
willingIbodynetasfragrantfurnace
willingIHeartaswisdomWisdomFire
readreadburnburnexitsFor surefragrant
for himhold ittendirectionthreeworldBuddha
An incense poem
May my body be pure as incense
Let my heart burn like the fire of wisdom
With every thought I burn the incense of discipline and meditation
And I offer myself to the Buddhas of the ten directions
and three worlds, past, present and future
FourservesPlease
scatteredgreathappyscatteredgreathappy
servesPleasetendirectionasHe’s comingenterbeatfieldscatteredgreathappy
servesPleaseinterpretationJiaasHe’s comingenterbeatfieldscatteredgreathappy
servesPleaseWhatTuoasHe’s comingenterbeatfieldscatteredgreathappy
servesPleaseviewvoicepotentialthatvariouslargeBodhisattvasabeatfieldscatteredgreathappy
The four invocations
The music of the scattering of flowers – the music of the scattering of flowers
We humbly invite the Tathāgatas of the ten directions
Entering this practical place – the music of the scattering of flowers
We humbly invite the Tathāgata Śākyamuni
Entering this practical place – the music of the scattering of flowers
We humbly invite Śākyamuni Amitābha
Entering this practical place – the music of the scattering of flowers
We humbly invite Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta and other great bodhisattvas
Entering this practical place – the music of the scattering of flowers
At the beginning of the service, both the incense verse and the four exhortations are recited. Perhaps these are not so much sutra excerpts as short poems. The text differs slightly from sect to sect. There are parts that are read by some sects and some that are not. I found the text of the Füstölővers in a book about it Pure Land Buddhismand I found the Four Invocations in a book about it Tendai Buddhism. I understand that there is an alternate version of the Four Invocations that contains only three.
The pronunciation of the words 散華樂, meaning “the music of the scattering of flowers”, as sankaraku At first it seemed very strange, but I understand that it comes from the Han pronunciation, which came to Japan during the Tang Dynasty. I understand that many sutras use the pronunciation Wu – the earliest readings that came to Japan from the area near present-day Nanjing during the Northern and Southern Dynasties – but I understand that the older pronunciation is sometimes found in the sutras.
I understand. I understand. Almost everything I just wrote is prefaced I understand. You’d think I was the mayor of “I-Understand-Land” or something. Sorry. I’m just sharing what I’ve learned.
My family had a funeral for my grandparents, but I don’t really remember them. I don’t remember all the services. When I got married, we didn’t go to church. As a result, all my memories of reciting the sutras out loud became blurred: he mumbles then rumble-murmur-murmur then brrrrr-bell ringing.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard those two verses live. I just came across them in a book and their beauty took my breath away. I felt so compelled to put them into my own words that before I knew it I was working on it. I think this is my calling as a poet.
The poem of incense
My body is so clean
As incense
With such a bright heart
Like the flame of enlightened wisdom
I open my heart
I hold back the body
As I light this incense
I’ll light it for you
Of all the enlightened ones
Those who appear before us
The four invocations
I offer flower sprinkling, I offer a musical performance
I offer flower sprinkling, I offer a musical performance
Please come in, oh you who have come from all directions
Walking the path of truth, I offer flowers
Please come in, O Lord Śākyamuni, who has come
Walking the path of truth, I offer flowers
Please come in, O Lord Amitābha, who has come
Walking the path of truth, I offer flowers
Please come in, O lords Avalokiteśvara and Mahāsthāmaprāpta
Seek the path of truth to rule humanity
Please come in, O all bodhisattvas
Seeking all possible avenues of truth to rule mankind,
Please come in, I’ll offer you a flower sprinkler.
When I first read these poems on the site, I imagined the writer of the Incense Poem as a strong-willed woman.
In my imagination, he wears an almost transparent white robe. He sits alone in a gloomy church hall and lights an incense stick. Her mouth is pursed and serious, and she reflects with an intense gaze on her own body and mind as they clear. . . How beautiful.
I imagine the authors of the Four Invocations as three or four young girls who are always smiling.
I imagine they are in a field full of flowers. They collect gifts for the Buddha, but they are so filled with the joy of life that they can barely contain themselves. . . How beautiful.
When I finished the translations, I tried listening to the lyrics on a bunch of different CDs. What I heard shocked me.
The priests performing the readings were all men. Maybe “reading” isn’t the right word. What they did was more like spells or song. Or maybe even a grunt or a moan. If I was used to hearing this style of reading, I might have just nodded in satisfaction and acceptance, but to be honest, I’m not used to hearing this kind of thing.
Their voices were thick and deep, as if they had closed their noses. There was something so unexpectedly masculine in their voices that I quickly got bored of them.
That got me thinking.
About a lot of things.
About my past. About our past. About the society we live in.
About my various relationships with men. About the people I left behind, the people I took with me on my adventures. About my female life. About love and hate. About disappointment.
Sometimes I’m tired of listening to men’s voices, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love them. If anything, I love them. A lot. There is a recording I heard of it Heart Sutra it was performed by some priests of the Chisani sect in Shingon. Several men chanted as one man’s flat, low voice broke in, stretching and contracting as he twisted and turned around the others. It’s very beautiful. I also really enjoyed some of the deep chords I heard in it shōmyō recitations reminiscent of the rumbling of the earth. Beautiful.
A Tisztaföld monk I spoke with said that he was taught to read the sutras like “the pure breath of wind gliding over the watery surface of newly fallen morning dewdrops.” One Shingon monk said that he was taught to read the sutras like “rain falling on the eaves of a roof.” It seems that when men train their voices, they sometimes become deep and thick sounding, transforming into wind and water drops, resulting in the readings just described.
However, given my druthers, I think I’d rather hear the Smoking poem from a woman. I want to hear the women say the Four Magics and the Heart Sutra too.
Just imagine a bunch of clear, soft female voices going on and on. I’m not necessarily talking about what you hear in Japan when people recite sutras in the traditional way. Instead, imagine a bunch of women reciting these ancient Buddhist verses, using ancient sounds inherited from all the oral traditions in every corner of the world. Just think how nice it would be!
