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The Imitation of Kuan Yin -- Finding Oneness with the Bodhisattva of Mercy THE TEN HEARTS OF KUAN YIN by Dale Goodyear (Revised Edition 2011) TABLE OF CONTENTS Guide to Pronunciation Introduction Background The Hearts of Kuan Yin Making the Mantra Work for You The Vow Uniting Our Life with Kuan Yin's Hearts The Ten Hearts and Five Buddhas Conclusion Chinese Characters for Mantras GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION The pronunciation of Chinese words is indicated as they appear in the text. However, please note the following points: ao is pronounced as the vowel in "bough." o is pronounced as a vowel between "hot" and "boat," an open o sound. u is often pronounced like French u or German ü, a sound between "oo" and "ee" with rounded lips. I have used "ew" in the pronunciation key, and "ew" as in "few" is close enough if the exact sound is difficult for you. The Chinese found it necessary to pronounce Sanskrit in their own way when Buddhism was introduced to China. We, also, may be allowed some liberties when necessary. e, when pronounced "uh" sounds like French e in "de," or English u in "cut" is also close enough. Finally, I have used the Pinyin system of romanization, since it has become the accepted standard at this point. The one exception is my use of the form "Kuan Yin" in the body of my text. INTRODUCTION The Buddha Yeshua, known to Christians as Jesus Christ, told us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts. How do we do that? There are, of course, many paths. This book is one. It is inspired by the Buddhist tradition, but does not belong to Buddhism exclusively. It includes much that is from my own meditation and prayer to God, and it is for all who feel called to work with all or any part of it. I offer it not as a replacement for your present spiritual or religious path, but as an addition that can enhance what you already do. If it attracts you, it needs very little extra time or effort, yet the blessings will be tangible. My book is a book of devotion. It does not concern itself with arguments of doctrine or with dividing lines between religions. I use the word "God," but let's, each one, define God for ourselves by our own experience. Nor have I sought to write a book of scholarship, for there are people far more capable. In 1

The 10 Hearts of Kuan Yin

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From the ancient mystical traditon of the Bodhisattva of compassion, the 10 Hearts offer a path of spiritual transformation and bonding with Kuan Yin's wisdom and love!

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Page 1: The 10 Hearts of Kuan Yin

The Imitation of Kuan Yin --Finding Oneness with the Bodhisattva of Mercy

THE TEN HEARTS OF KUAN YIN

by Dale Goodyear

(Revised Edition 2011)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Guide to Pronunciation

Introduction

Background

The Hearts of Kuan Yin

Making the Mantra Work for You

The Vow

Uniting Our Life with Kuan Yin's Hearts

The Ten Hearts and Five Buddhas

Conclusion

Chinese Characters for Mantras

GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION

The pronunciation of Chinese words is indicated as they appear in the text. However, please note

the following points: ao is pronounced as the vowel in "bough." o is pronounced as a vowel

between "hot" and "boat," an open o sound. u is often pronounced like French u or German ü, a

sound between "oo" and "ee" with rounded lips. I have used "ew" in the pronunciation key, and

"ew" as in "few" is close enough if the exact sound is difficult for you. The Chinese found it

necessary to pronounce Sanskrit in their own way when Buddhism was introduced to China. We,

also, may be allowed some liberties when necessary. e, when pronounced "uh" sounds like

French e in "de," or English u in "cut" is also close enough. Finally, I have used the Pinyin system

of romanization, since it has become the accepted standard at this point. The one exception is my

use of the form "Kuan Yin" in the body of my text.

INTRODUCTION

The Buddha Yeshua, known to Christians as Jesus Christ, told us to love the Lord our God with

all our hearts. How do we do that? There are, of course, many paths. This book is one. It is

inspired by the Buddhist tradition, but does not belong to Buddhism exclusively. It includes much

that is from my own meditation and prayer to God, and it is for all who feel called to work with

all or any part of it. I offer it not as a replacement for your present spiritual or religious path, but

as an addition that can enhance what you already do. If it attracts you, it needs very little extra

time or effort, yet the blessings will be tangible.

My book is a book of devotion. It does not concern itself with arguments of doctrine or with dividing

lines between religions. I use the word "God," but let's, each one, define God for ourselves by our own

experience. Nor have I sought to write a book of scholarship, for there are people far more capable. In

1

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this book we will learn a way to let God into our heart, in order to fulfill the mandate of Jesus, an

essential one to all religions and spiritual paths. That way is through the great Mother of the East, the

merciful Kuan Yin.

BACKGROUND

In the Buddhist scripture called the Sutra of the Great Compassion Heart Mantra, the bodhisattva

or savioress Kuan Yin names ten hearts, or aspects of heart, which are the expression of her

universal, supreme Compassion and Love. It is these ten qualities of Heart which we will now

anchor in our hearts. The significance of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin, the "Hearer of Sounds," is

that there is a Principle and a Person, both beyond and in ourselves, that meditates on the

vibration and tone which every part of life gives off, the music of every living thing. Where the

melody, harmony, and rhythm of the music is wrong, out of tune with the Cosmos or God, this

Principle and Person gives of Herself in supreme caring and compassion for the pain of God,

sends forth a clear, pure Tone to realign, as a magnet does iron filings, this noise in life (for there

is no noise in God, only music).

This Tone is mercy, forgiveness, grace; transformation, transmutation, transcendence; alchemy, healing,

and freedom -- the graciousness and love of the Whole for those parts which have strayed and lost

touch with the pulse of God, with the symphony of God's Purpose. For those who would further that

work of Kuan Yin, who would fully anchor that mercy and healing in themselves and in the world, I

offer this book of meditation and mantra, an imitation of Kuan Yin to go with the imitation of Christ.

THE HEARTS OF KUAN YIN

. . . with all your heart

The heart is the true center of our being. A conscious living flame of Love burns in the spiritual

depths of the heart, and courses to all parts of one's self, even as the physical organ pumps vital

red blood to every cell of our body. Our spiritual hearts are still becoming whole. Let's quicken

the process, perhaps by millions of years, by inviting Kuan Yin's Heart into our heart. The living

flame of Love in Kuan Yin's Heart is so profound that just one quality cannot describe or contain

it. Therefore, Kuan Yin speaks of ten Hearts. All things begin with the heart. The heart is the key

to transformation of soul and mind and flesh.

Therefore let's look, one by one, at these Hearts. For each we will learn a mantra. Mantra is the key to

inviting Kuan Yin's Hearts into our heart.

Mantra is sacred sound. Remember that Kuan Yin's focus is on sound. In the Buddhist scriptures

it even states that She won her supreme enlightenment through the sense of hearing. So Kuan Yin

will listen and respond when we give the mantra with reverence and concentration. Let's sound

the mantra aloud whenever possible, even if sometimes only in a fervent whisper. That will have

the greatest effect on matter, and on our outer life and world. Then when need be we will sound it

silently. And we will learn to practice prayer without ceasing.

THE FIRST HEART

The ten Hearts of Kuan Yin come in two sets of five. Each Heart focuses one of the five rays of

Buddhahood. The first five reflect the + polarity of these rays, the second five the - polarity, to

use terms from electromagnetism. First is a Heart that is greatly merciful and compassionate. It

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melts all hardheartedness, all jagged edges of anger, meanness, unforgivingness in our natures. It

teaches us to forgive, forbear, be kind, compassionate and tolerant toward others and ourselves.

For we must be loving toward ourselves in order to be genuinely loving toward others. We cannot

give what we do not have.

This Heart will infuse us with kindness and love, and with their active expression which is mercy. By

the compassion of this Heart we register upon our heart the suffering of others, but without becoming

entangled in it. Therefore we can genuinely help; we have not lost our vision or perspective of the

situation. Whenever we lose that vision, we tumble into sympathy, which means we are entangled in

the emotional and mental turmoil of the one we seek to help. This Heart will dissolve the human

sympathy which threatens to make a second victim of the would-be rescuer. If we have a habit of losing

our own center in the face of others' needs, even of giving ourselves away to others, this is the Heart to

cultivate.

So whether we have a heart of cutting flint or a heart of dripping syrup, we need to replace it with a

heart of true enlightened mercy and compassion, which is the first and absolutely fundamental Heart of

Kuan Yin. For as Paul, the disciple of Jesus, said, without charity all else is as sounding brass or

tinkling cymbal.

Visualize a shining royal-purple Lotus Flower in the chest cavity. This royal-purple is the essence of

Kuan Yin's mercy and liberation--the power (blue) of her love (red) which combined make purple--and

the color-rays of her Hearts will always shine from within it. The ancient 21st saving power of Kuan

Yin is indeed a "Purple Lotus Flower" for liberation from karma and samsara. Resting upon or within

the Flower, see a brilliant Heart of ruby (as in a rainbow or a sunset) sending out rays of light into the

world, touching hearts who are suffering, in pain or need. Wherever these rays touch they replicate

Kuan Yin's Heart of ruby in the purple Flower, planting her mercy and compassion deep within the

heart to begin a holy alchemy of change.

Mercy's drops, compassion's nectar,

fill the chalice of our heart,

overflowing, healing, blessing,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

(By saying "I am one with Kuan Yin's Heart", we affirm our oneness with the one Spirit and one Flame

of Buddhahood in Kuan Yin and in ourselves. Kuan Yin can save us because we are one.)

How do we bring this quality of Kuan Yin's Heart into our own heart? Again, by using sound,

Sacred Sound or Mantra, to make our heart vibrate as Kuan Yin's Heart. Whenever and wherever

we pronounce the name Kuan Yin, her Tone sounds within us and She meshes her being with our

own to make us more and more like her.

The primary mantra we will use is Kuan Yin's fundamental Om Mani Padme Hum. Her renowned

mantra can be used with any of her blessings and saving powers, including her 10 Hearts. This makes

for a simple path of mantra to Kuan Yin, as long as we are also willing to exercise our mind, heart, and

spirit to focus on the particular blessing we need.

Kuan Yin wants us to become co-bodhisattvas with her! She uses a full array of tools to help beings,

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and She wants us to learn from her how to use the same tools.

The key to Om Mani Padme Hum with Kuan Yin's saving powers and blessings is to realize that the

Mani ("jewel", "any precious thing") of the mantra is the saving power or blessing, each of her 10

Hearts. It is the Skillful Means to help sentient beings. Padme ("Lotus", "Lotus Being") is Kuan Yin;

it's one of her ancient names. In this case, Padme also refers to her Purple Lotus Flower, because each

of her Hearts rests like a jewel within that Lotus Flower of liberation.

Om essentially means "As Above", and Hum means "So Below".

The Om Mani Padme Hum is a versatile mantra, and can be used with other meditations and

visualizations. But in this booklet we will see the Mani as Kuan Yin's Heart being focused by the

Padme who is Kuan Yin.

In addition to the Om Mani Padme Hum, I will offer two more ways of sounding that Tone of Kuan

Yin.

One will be to use the Chinese words from the original Buddhist scripture. The Chinese language has a

music and an effect that many of you will respond to. For those who do not, I shall give English

affirmations that will be also effective, for Kuan Yin is master of all sounds and all tongues. The words

"greatly merciful and compassionate" in Chinese are Da Ci Bei. The word for "heart" is Xin. Chinese

mantras begin with the syllables Na Mo, a word which means "Homage to" or "I trust in." Since

NAMO also mystically contains the word "AM," with this word you are identifying with, claiming

your oneness with whatever follows, in this case Kuan Yin and her greatly merciful and compassionate

Heart.

The mantra for her 1st Heart, then, is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Da Ci Bei Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo dah tsuh bay sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Greatly Merciful and Compassionate Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE SECOND HEART

Second is an equality Heart. This means that we are impartial; we no longer put others in false

categories. We no longer express prejudice and bias. This heart melts intolerance of all kinds. It

breaks all exclusivity, all clannishness, cliquishness and snobbishness. It is the remedy for gangs.

"All men are created equal"--equal because we all have the capacity for Buddhahood, whatever

our surface differences.

This Heart brings recognition of the inner equality and oneness we share. It is the solution for all

divide-and-conquer tendencies, in our society and in ourselves. "A house divided against itself shall not

stand." (Abraham Lincoln) This Heart brings everything into balance, into harmony, in our worlds and

in ourselves. It is a Heart of equanimity, which is one of the most-prized virtues of Buddhahood. It

means keeping our poise under all circumstances.

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When our passions, thoughts, actions are in poise, we are most powerful and effective, and we are

poised--in position--for the leap into Enlightenment.

Visualize the royal-purple Lotus Flower in the chest, and in it a brilliant yellow-golden Heart. The

Heart radiates out in all directions, touching hearts everywhere with its equanimity and balance,

replicating itself over and over again. These rays touch the hearts of the youth, soothing their passions,

dissolving their need of cliques and gangs, extending out to undermine and dissolve the gangs

themselves.

Rays of golden balance light,

reconciling hearts estranged,

all are equal in their Essence,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

This is the mantra:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Ping Deng Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo ping dung sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Equality Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE THIRD HEART

Third is an unconditioned Heart. To be unconditioned means to be free from the grids that have

been placed over our inner nature. Most of us are limited by mental, emotional and physical

habits. We can mistake these habits for ourselves, for they have often been woven into us at a

very early age. Yet behind all these habits, we are.

This Heart of Kuan Yin sets free who we really are. This Heart is the remedy for addictions, obsessions

and compulsions. It is the cure for all conditioning and brainwashing we have experienced. It will

unravel all human conditioning and replace it with the matrix of Reality, which is Buddhahood. It will

fill in the ruts of stagnation and death and create broad avenues of flow and life. The Heart-blood of

Kuan Yin will move through our veins, and we will experience vital freedom and wholeness on all

levels.

Visualize the royal-purple Lotus Flower in the chest. In it is a Heart of brilliant white light. As the

light-rays extend to all who are suffering and in need, including youth addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex,

violence, etc., replicas of Kuan Yin's Heart are kindled in their hearts to begin the process of salvation.

Free from all constriction now,

unconditioned, flowing upwards,

spinning skeins of Buddha action,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

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Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Wu Wei Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo woo way sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Unconditioned Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE FOURTH HEART

Fourth is a Heart that is unpolluted and unattached. It frees us from wrong thought and desire.

This includes healing us from irresponsible or outright wrong use of our life energy and sex

energy, all that can smudge the pure pattern of our souls and get us hooked into destructive

actions or relationships with others. All seduction--mental, emotional, physical, sexual --is

cancelled by the light of this Heart. And if we feel enslaved by desires and drives, of any kind,

this Heart will deliver us.

Visualize the Purple Lotus within the chest, and in it a radiant emerald Heart, sending out rays to bless

all life, replicating itself in all hearts who yearn to be pure and free, even if only dimly or

unconsciously. Let this Heart commence to set them free.

Unhooked, washed clean and pure,

no more a slave to appetite,

emerald light infusing sense and thought,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Wu Ran Jao Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo woo rahn jao sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Unpolluted-Unattached Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE FIFTH HEART

Fifth is a Heart that contemplates Emptiness. Emptiness, shunyata, is a Buddhist term for

Ultimate Reality, the Womb which seems empty but is full of creative force and potential. So this

Heart leads us to look at Reality. At the same time we learn to look at the emptiness of unreality,

the false life of maya and samsara, which seems real but is illusory and temporary, lasting only so

long as we buy into it and give it our attention and power. Looking at Emptiness and emptiness,

and discerning the difference, we come to see things in true perspective.

Cultivate this Heart to be free from illusion and deluded views that lead only to heartache and failure.

Visualize the Purple Lotus within the chest, and in it a radiant Heart of deep blue. Shafts of light pour

forth from it to bless all suffering beings, as Kuan Yin's Heart replicates itself within each one.

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Emptiness that is not empty,

Look upon the Womb of Space,

True and false no more confused,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Kong Guan Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo kohng gwahn sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Contemplating Emptiness Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE SIXTH HEART

Sixth is a respectful Heart. It begins another round of five Hearts, and so it is in polarity with the

first Heart of mercy. Respect is acknowledging the true potential and worth of ourselves and

others. We have to have self-respect to begin with; then we can truly have respect for others.

There is one light of Buddhahood in us all, so we cannot revere that light in one person and not in

another. Without this self-respect, self-regard, self-esteem, self-worth, our souls wilt and die. This

may well be the biggest and most crippling psychological problem of our times, for youth and

adults both.

Respect is also giving credit where credit is due. If someone has accomplished something of worth, we

acknowledge this honestly and generously, because what one has attained, all can attain. God gives all

of us assignments, parts of the whole Work that needs to be done. We honor that division of labor, and

we respect each one with his or her particular task. We do not envy, we do not covet, we do not

sabotage others, even as we would not have others do so to us. We trust God and our own part to play

in the Tao, the Way or Flow of God. Such is the gift of this Heart of Kuan Yin.

Visualize the Purple Flower in the chest. In, or upon, it is a radiant ruby Heart. It rays out millions of

beams, planting respect and self-respect within the hearts of all. All who revere the Light bow down in

gratitude for the sense of self-worth restored, as Kuan Yin replicates her Heart in them.

Worthy now, for all are Buddha,

crushed by shame and fear no more,

esteeming self and other selves,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Gong Jing Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo gohng jing sheen gwahn een)

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In English, you can say:

In the Respectful Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE SEVENTH HEART

Seventh is a humble Heart. It is in polarity with the second Heart of equality. Humility is

knowing our true place on the ladder of spiritual evolution, with neither a superiority nor

inferiority complex. It is also realizing that we are vessels needing God's Spirit to fill us, and

without that Spirit we are powerless. So to be puffed up with pride in our ego, our intellect, our

wealth and possessions, our influence with men, etc., is folly. Such arrogance clutters the vessel,

taking up space. We are lastingly effective only so far as we are empty, so that God can come in,

filling us and overflowing to bless others. Therefore the greatest of men is always the most

humble. Cultivate this Heart of Kuan Yin to be free of arrogance and full of humility.

Visualize the the royal-purple Flower within the chest and in it a Heart of brilliant golden-yellow

light. As the rays enter every heart, they caress and comfort, soothing all panic of arrogance and

ego. False pride, foolish pride, angry pride, overconfidence, rashness, and recklessness are

dissolved. Kuan Yin plants the replica of her Humble Heart in all who yearn to be little and

therefore great.

Decrease, decrease, as Tao grows great,

until so empty we are full,

jagged peaks of ego planed,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Bei Xia Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo bay shyah sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Humble Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE EIGHTH HEART

Eighth is a Heart without confusion. It is in polarity with the third, unconditioned Heart. Our lives

are too often filled with confusion. We do not know which way to go, what to do or how to do it.

We end up paralyzed, or we flail out blindly in one direction or another, sometimes disastrously.

We look around us and see more and more complexity in the world, like a tangled net in which as

fish we flop and gasp. Perhaps we cannot solve all the tangled problems of the world, yet; but

Kuan Yin can enter in and bring light and clarity to our thinking and feeling and therefore to our

decisions and actions. As we become a drop of clarity in a confused world, we can spread that

clarity until someday all confusion is vanquished.

Remember that Light and Virtue are contagious, as much as any foul disease. Therefore those who

cultivate these Hearts will ultimately save not only themselves but many, many others, as these "catch"

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the ease (not dis-ease) of Kuan Yin's Hearts. So cultivate this Heart to banish confusion.

Visualize the Purple Lotus Flower in the chest and in or upon it a Heart of blazing white light. Rays

shoot forth to all who are confused and in agony of heart and mind, bringing clarity and purpose.

Wherever the rays contact a heart, Kuan Yin plants the replica of her Heart to work its work.

Pure, unclouded, shining bright,

easy to perceive the goal,

easy to perceive the means,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Wu Za Luan Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo woo dzah lwahn sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Unconfused Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE NINTH HEART

Ninth is a Heart without seeing and grasping. It is in polarity with the fourth Heart that is

unpolluted and unattached. Psychologically we are made in such a way that we see, then want,

then act. Picture the little child in the toy store. But also picture the teenager or even adult,

looking at advertisements on television or in magazines and then desiring the cars or clothes or

what not and collectively spending billions of dollars to buy them. Often the result is harmful, for

we did not have a real need, but allowed our desires to be enflamed by what we saw. So we are

very dependent upon our sense of sight, what we see physically and mentally. Most of our

thinking starts with pictures before it becomes words. And our views, our opinions, are how we

"look at" things combined with how we then feel.

There are those who consciously manipulate others by using images to hook and lead them into impure

desires and actions. Look around you and become aware of how it is done and who is doing it.

Recognize the power of what we look at and watch to influence our behavior, through television,

movies, magazines, billboards, and so on.

Then to cultivate an enlightened heart that will rise above such manipulation, use this Heart of

Kuan Yin. Emotions of envy and jealousy also have to do with seeing and grasping, and this ninth

Heart is the remedy for such destructive feelings.

See a Heart of brilliant emerald light in or upon the Purple Flower. Light shoots forth, touching all

hearts and kindling a replica of Kuan Yin's Heart in each.

Perfect seeing, perfect being,

no more slave to others' wills,

hand held open, flow with Tao,

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one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Wu Jian Qu Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo woo jyen chew sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the No-seeing and No-grasping Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

THE TENTH HEART

Tenth is a Heart of supreme enlightenment or Bodhi. It is in polarity with the fifth Heart that

contemplates Emptiness. This tenth Heart reflects and expresses the opening of the thousandpetalled

lotus of the crown chakra and the descent of Light from higher and vaster dimensions. It

is the perfect Wisdom which goes hand in hand with the perfect Compassion of the first Heart.

These two qualities in integration, pure mind and pure heart undivided, are the essence of

Buddhahood. This is the Heart to cultivate for gaining wisdom and ultimately the supreme

wisdom of Enlightenment in thought, feeling, action, and being.

In the royal-purple Lotus Flower, visualize a blazing deep-blue Heart of Kuan Yin. With the fifth Heart,

it contains the blueprint of our life, our purpose in life. Millions of rays touch the hearts of all Kuan

Yin's children, replicating that Heart and kindling her Wisdom in all.

Wisdom, perfect Gnosis light,

shining fount, Enlightenment,

unsurpassed, supreme forever,

one with Kuan Yin's Heart I am.

The mantra is:

Om Mani Padme Hum

Na Mo Wu Shang Pu Ti Xin Guan Yin

(nah mo woo shahng poo tee sheen gwahn een)

In English, you can say:

In the Supremely Enlightened Heart of Kuan Yin, I trust!

EXTENDING THE HEART QUALITIES OF KUAN YIN

Whatever we ask or gain from Kuan Yin for ourselves, we can ask her to multiply it for others,

whether friends, family, the youth, the homeless, even those who persecute and despise us. We

can consecrate our mantras for other people or situations (such as disasters, wars, crises of all

kinds) as well as for ourselves. Kuan Yin's mercy is infinite, and she can help a million as easily

as she can help one individual, and at the same time. Allow her to extend herself. She will return

blessings multiplied to us, and we will take steps on the path of selfless Bodhisattvahood.

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You can say:

Kuan Yin, multiply my prayers, I consecrate them to your Hearts! (4x)

Make them manifest for (name persons or conditions), Om Mani Padme Hum!

MAKING THE MANTRA WORK FOR YOU

We will have times when we doubt that the mantra is doing us any good. We may go for long

periods without outer signs of progress. Let's remember that the mantra is like a current of

electricity. Electricity is always there, it always works; but for it to work specifically for us, we

have to work with it. We have to provide the wire and we have to turn the switch. Providing the

wire means practicing the mantra day by day until we create a momentum and a channel for the

momentum to flow through. Flipping the switch means generating belief and faith when we

sound the mantra. The sutra says that without belief in the mantra we will get no benefit. That is

because we block the mantra, disconnect the current by our disbelief. That is foolish. Do we

disbelieve in electricity if we neglect to flip the switch?

We are partners, co-creators with God. Jesus said that God works then we work. We have to do our

part. Practice the mantra and believe in the mantra, and know that underground you are laying the

conduit and constructing the switching mechanism. Just so a plant starts its life underground, putting

forth roots and nourishing itself before it breaks through to the surface. Be assured that if you are there

for the mantra, day by day, year by year, the mantra will be there for you. Kuan Yin will be there for

you, because these mantras are sounding her name, calling her name, and She always answers by her

very Nature. Give this affirmation to combat doubt of Kuan Yin and her mantra: I believe, I trust,

I am! We believe in Kuan Yin's compassion. We trust it and we trust her. And so we are

becoming one with her compassion and with her.

THE VOW

Let's talk about the vow. A vow is a commitment. We can sound Kuan Yin's name and that is

good. It is very pleasing to her, and She will enter our lives more and more. Like a child, we call

for our mother, and She comes and takes care of us. It is good. Perhaps eventually we want to do

even more. We want not only to ask help from our Mother but to pledge help to her. We not only

wish to receive but we also want to give. This is the first perfection of the Buddha and the

beginning of the Bodhisattva path, the path of being a Savior.

We do this by making a vow. We commit ourselves. We make a vast vow, beyond our human ability to

keep. That way we have to depend on Kuan Yin to help us keep it. Look at the first letter of the word

vow. The V is a container for Kuan Yin to fill. She delights in that V of the vow, for She fills it and

fulfills it in us.

And then the V of "vow" becomes the V of "victory." The bigger the vow we make, the bigger

the V or chalice and the bigger the victory when the vow is kept. So Bodhisattva vows are

immense vows. One set of immense vows we can make to Kuan Yin are vows to her Hearts. We

want our hearts to become that V which Kuan Yin will fill with her Hearts. And step by step our

hearts will become as vast as hers. Here are ten vows to Kuan Yin's Ten Hearts. When you feel

ready, make one or more of them, or all of them. And then strive day by day to keep them, and let

Kuan Yin descend into the V and keep them with you and for you.

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These are the vows:

Yuan Wo Su Tong Da Ci Bei Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng dah tsuh bay sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Ping Deng Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng ping dung sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Wei Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng woo way sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Ran Jao Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng woo rahn jao sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Kong Guan Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng kohng gwahn sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Gong Jing Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng gohng jing sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Bei Xia Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng bay shyah sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Za Luan Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng woo dzah lwahn sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Jian Qu Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng woo jyen chew sheen)

Yuan Wo Su Tong Wu Shang Pu Ti Xin!

(yewen wo soo tohng woo shahng poo tee sheen)

I vow to quickly unite with the greatly merciful and compassionate Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the equality Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the unconditioned Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the unpolluted and unattached Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the contemplating Emptiness Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the respectful Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the humble Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the unconfused Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the no-seeing and no-grasping Heart!

I vow to quickly unite with the supremely enlightened Heart!

UNITING OUR LIFE WITH KUAN YIN'S HEARTS

I have just spoken of making vows to unite with Kuan Yin's Hearts. Once we have done so, it is

important to realize that every time we repeat our vows we bind ourselves more closely to her

Hearts. As we renew our vows to her, Kuan Yin renews us, blesses us again and more deeply

each time. Therefore, let's give our vows every day. Let us start our day with them, end our day

with them, and perhaps give them at times in between, as our heart moves us.

There is yet more we can do. We can deliberately offer not just "ourselves" generally, but our specific

thoughts, feelings, and actions; our frustrations, setbacks, sufferings, and burdens; our very failings,

faults, frailties, and outright sins. Kuan Yin wants us as we are, and takes us as we are. Then She

transforms us and fills us, day by day, step by step, as we allow her.

Are you sad? Say, "Kuan Yin, I unite my sadness to the joy of your Hearts." Are you angry? Say, "I

unite my anger to the peace of your Hearts." Do you have a bad habit, even a compulsion? Unite it to

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her Hearts. Again and again. Let her in! She will transform your bad habits, your depressions, your

unkindness, whatever, if you unite them to her Hearts.

Kuan Yin is not concerned with human frailty; She is not put off by it. It is simply fuel for her furnace

of Mercy, and She will consume our frailty, as long as we are sincere with her, and replace it with her

Love and Compassion. As we learn not to hide little pockets of ourselves from Kuan Yin's Hearts, as

we unite all of our life to her, we become empty of our false sense of self, and Kuan Yin fills us with

True Self, her Self, our Self, one Self.

Finally, as we work with Kuan Yin to uplift others, we can unite others' frailties, their grief, anger,

hopelessness, their actions, etc., to Kuan Yin's Hearts. She will take it all and work with it respectfully

and appropriately, to alleviate suffering and save sentient beings. This path of uniting is incomparably

powerful, and it has many aspects. As you meditate on it and apply it,

Kuan Yin will teach you.

I offer one final union prayer to Kuan Yin, based on her great Love for her own Teacher, the

Amitabha Buddha: "Kuan Yin, I unite myself (my heart, mind, etc.) to your own Oneness with the

Amitabha Buddha."

THE TEN HEARTS AND FIVE BUDDHAS

Kuan Yin is master of all the five rays of Buddhahood, and her Ten Hearts cycle through those

rays twice, like a sine wave:

Amitabha

Ratnasambhava Vairochana Amoghasiddhi

Akshobhya

The Hearts start with Amitabha Buddha, Kuan Yin's fundamental Guru or Teacher, then move

through the other four Buddhas and their rays, in the order Ratnasambhava, Vairochana,

Amoghasiddhi, and Akshobhya. The Hearts cycle once through for Spirit or the Masculine (+)

polarity, then again through for Matter or the Feminine (-) polarity: as above, so below. (Trace

the S-curve or sine wave for yourself.)

Therefore the whole series of Kuan Yin's hearts is a flow of Energy, a dynamic movement involving all

aspects of Buddhahood. And there is more to each Heart, then, than any human name for it or words

about it can convey. Kuan Yin's Hearts are an open door into Cosmic Consciousness and its utterly

practical application to the needs of humanity and all life. They will provide a lifetime of opportunity

for meditation and application!

CONCLUSION

Thank you for allowing me to share my path with you. Take what you find helpful and leave the

rest. If from all the Hearts you need only one, that is well. Also, if you learn the whole system, it

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will grant many blessings. Do not limit yourself by practicing only when you can recite the

mantras I have presented. Use the visualizations whenever they can add to what you are doing,

such as saying other mantras and prayers, singing, dancing, playing, working.

Again, any of these visualizations can most simply be used with Kuan Yin's fundamental mantra Om

Mani Padme Hum. Often translated "Om the Jewel in the Lotus Hum," know that this mantra first and

foremost invokes Kuan Yin's Hearts. Each Heart is, in fact, the Jewel (Mani) which rests in the Purple

Lotus Flower (Padme) of Kuan Yin's liberating power-of-love. Though you can focus the Hearts in

your life by visualization alone when need be, do not neglect the sound of her name in the mantra when

it is possible to give it, preferably aloud (for the greatest anchoring in the physical world) but also

silently. And always, feel her tender Love for you.

Note: Throughout the book, I have referred to Kuan Yin as "She." In the Orient, Kuan Yin is also often

perceived as masculine. This is certainly true of the Indian/Tibetan traditions where Kuan Yin is called

Avalokiteshvara, Lokeshvara, or Chenresig ("Lord of Compassion"), and where there is a feminine

counterpart called Tara. In Chinese, the name Kuan Yin can be either masculine or feminine.

So if your need is for a Masculine embodiment of Compassion, just visualize accordingly, because the

Bodhisattva of Compassion has innumerable Forms. And because Kuan Yin transcends human gender,

as you say "Namo Kuan Yin" and become one with Kuan Yin, He/She will say "Namo Kuan Yin"

back to you! And in the end, you and Kuan Yin will be indistinguishable.

Finally, although I have presented a certain matrix of colors for meditating on the Hearts, based on the

mandala of the Dhyani Buddhas, Kuan Yin's Hearts contain many rainbow hues, both manifest and

secret, and so feel free to let your meditation guide you.

Namo Buddha!

Namo Dharma!

Namo Sangha!

In the 10 Hearts of Kuan Yin, I trust!

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

Om Mani Padme Hum

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