Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Healing in Zen - ENMEI JUKKU KANNON GYO

I was asked, "are there healing practices in Zen?"

There is much to say about this; one place to begin a discussion of what I hope will be a number of blogs and other comments which is easily accessible for all is citing Zen Master Hakuin's comments on the Ten Clause Kannon Sutra (Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo) and what he calls healing practices in the midst of cause and effect.

Below is the Ten Clause Sutra in Sino-Japanese:


ENMEI JUKKU KANNON GYO
KAN ZE ON
NA MU BUTSU
YO BUTSU U IN
YO BUTSU U EN
BUP PO SO EN
JO RAKU GA JO
CHO NEN KAN ZE ON
BO NEN KAN ZE ON
NEN NEN JU SHIN KI
NEN NEN FU RI SHIN

Hakuin has a whole book devoted to this verse, though the book is only available in Japanese (Enmei Jukku Kannon-gyo Reigen-ki).

However, Hakuin also speaks at length in many places in his writings about healing that can occur with the chanting of this verse. There are excellent translations in English by Norman Waddell of selections from Hakuin on this subject. On the web, the following Waddell translation about the Enmei Jukku (which I reprint below) is a good start:

http://www.tricycle.com/special-section/the-kannon-sutra


"Toward the end of his life, Zen master Hakuin [1689 -1769] took an interest in aspects of life outside the monastery walls, including social and governmental concerns. In the passage that follows, excerpted from a letter addressed in 1754 to Lord Nabeshima on the subject of the virtuous leader, he discusses the merit of reciting Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo [The Ten-Phrase Life-Prolonging Kannon Sutra].
When we met the other day I had meant to encourage you to take up the Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo [Ten Phrase Life Prolonging Kannon Sutra], but our meeting was so brief that I did not have the opportunity. I therefore send it for your inspection along with this letter.
This work has been associated with wondrous miracles that have taken place in both China and Japan. Because it is so brief, I sincerely hope that you, not to speak of your close retainers and the common people as well, will recite it two or three hundred times each day. The reason lies in the testing. Give this work to those who are seriously ill or who have met with some unexpected disaster, and have them examine it for their consolation. If it is recited with sincerity, awe-inspiring miracles will without fail be accomplished. Its first advantage is that the person who recites it will be completely free from disease and will attain to long life. This applies to anyone at all. . . ."
For more details on Enmei Jukku,  see Waddell's translations  Beating the Cloth Drum (Shambhala), Wild Ivy (Shambhala) and Hakuin's Precious Mirror Cave (Counterpoint) and elsewhere.

Some may say that these writings by Hakuin are superstitious myths, that the stories are made-up or that there is no scientific basis for this. Or you may say that this practice is another form of mindfulness meditation and concentration, and the benefits are explained by recent research in those areas and more easily (and more skillfully?) attained by modern mindfulness training. It may be so. Even if I cite cases (or Hakuin cites cases) of the efficacy, it is just that, anecdotal cases. So I will not pursue this line of discussion further now.
Here is a Dharma talk that I gave on the Enmei Jukku which includes a word by word translation; in this talk I discuss the Enmei Jukku primarily in terms of Zen practice, and do not focus on healing:
This practice of Enmei Jukku chanting continues to the present.
Below is a calligraphy by my teacher Soen Nakagawa Roshi which reads,
 "10,000 Times A Day (All Day) Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyo"




Hakuin's emphasis on Enmei Jukku draws on much older Buddhist traditions. The Buddha is known as the Medicine King; there are many and varied iconic images of the Buddha Medicine King.

Chapter 25 (24 in some translations) of the Lotus Sutra is devoted to the healing and saving power of Kanzeon Bodhisattva in many forms for those who call on the Bodhisattva in their time of need. Enmei Jukku is thus a short-hand version of larger Kannon sutra. In fact, the name Kanzeon (and variations thereof) means the one who regards/hears/sees and responds to the cries of suffering. Below are links to three online versions of this chapter of the Lotus Sutra:


Hakuin also praises a special meditation practices he calls naikan meditation for its healing properties. Though there is material available on naikan on the web and in the above cited books, and in other works by Hakuin, and one can begin the practice through the use of this written material, I highly recommend that if at all possible one consult experienced guides when undertaking this naikan practice since there are some potentially dangerous side effects and hazards in naikan practice. 

 I will write further about these matters in future blogs.

(c) 2012 Elihu Genmyo Smith

Posted by at