My Daily Practice

The following is my normal daily practice. Taken from the book Chanting from the Heart: Buddhist Ceremonies and Daily Practices by Thich Nhat Hanh. I TRY to do it daily, but obviously life stuff gets in the way, so if I don’t have time for the whole session, I’ll only do a short meditation followed by reciting The Heart of Perfect Understanding Sutra (the Heart Sutra) (Prajnaparamita) and either reading one of the discourses provided in the book or reciting the Great Compassion Mantra.

First I burn and offer some incense and bow. I then begin with the main chanting (below) followed by reciting the Om Mani Padme Hum mantra for one Mala round (depending on which Mala (prayer beads) I use, I chant it anywhere from 50 to 120 times). Then I go into meditation for about 20-30 minutes, sometimes longer, and then end my session with three bows.

[RING BELL THREE TIMES AND PROSTRATE (bow) THREE TIMES] (I  recite the OPENING VERSE (Namo Shakyamuni Buddha x3) after ringing the bell and before prostrating).

EDIT/UPDATE: I now include reciting the Awakening Mind mantra three times before I begin the chanting and a repentance prayer.

1. Morning Chant
The Dharma body is bringing morning light.
In concentration, our hearts are at peace, a half-smile is born upon our lips.
This is a new day. We vow to go through it in mindfulness.
The sun of wisdom has now risen, shining in every direction.
Noble Sangha, diligently bring your mind into meditation.

Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya
Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya
Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya

OR 1. Evening Chant
Stably seated under the Bodhi tree.
Body, speech, and mind are one in stillness, free from views of right and wrong.
When we are focused in perfect mindfulness, the path is illuminated.
The shore of confusion is left behind.
Noble Sangha, diligently bring your mind into meditation.

Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya
Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya
Namo Shakyamunaye Buddhaya

[BELL, BELL, BELL]

2. Incense Offering
In gratitude, we offer this incense
throughout space and time
to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
May it be fragrant as Earth herself,
reflecting careful efforts,
wholehearted awareness,
and the fruit of understanding,
slowly ripening.
May we and all beings
be companions of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
May we awaken from forgetfulness
and realize our true home.

[BELL]

3. Touching the Earth
Opening Gatha 

The one who bows and the one who is bowed to
are both, by nature, empty.
Therefore the communication between them
is inexpressibly perfect.
Our practice center is the Net of Indra
reflecting all Buddhas everywhere.
And with my person in front of each Buddha,
I go with my whole life for refuge.
[BELL]

Prostrations (full or half bows)
[TOUCH THE EARTH AT THE SOUND OF EACH BELL]

Offering light in the Ten Directions,
the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Teaching and living the way of awareness
in the very midst of suffering and confusion,
Shakyamuni Buddha, the Fully Enlightened One,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Cutting through ignorance, awakening our hearts and our minds,
Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of Great Understanding,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Working mindfully, working joyfully for the sake of all beings,
Samantabhadra, the Bodhisattva of Great Action,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Listening deeply, serving beings in countless ways,
Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Fearless and persevering through realms of suffering and darkness,
Kshitigarbha, the Bodhisattva of Great Aspiration,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Seed of awakening and loving kindness
in children and all beings,
Maitreya, the Buddha to-be-born,
to whom we bow in gratitude.
[BELL]

Showing the way fearlessly and compassionately,
the stream of all our Ancestral Teachers,
to whom we bow in gratitude.

[BELL, BELL, BELL]

4. The Heart of Perfect Understanding

The Bodhisattva Avalokita,
while moving in the deep course of Perfect Understanding,
shed light on the Five Skandhas and found them equally empty.
After this penetration, he overcame ill-being.

[BELL]

Listen, Shariputra,
form is emptiness, and emptiness is form.
Form is not other than emptiness, emptiness is not other than form.
The same is true with feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness.

[BELL]

Listen, Shariputra,
all dharmas are marked with emptiness.
They are neither produced nor destroyed,
neither defiled nor immaculate,
neither increasing nor decreasing.
Therefore in emptiness there is neither form, nor feelings, nor perceptions,
nor mental formations, nor consciousness.
No eye, or ear, or nose, or tongue, or body, or mind.
No form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no object of mind.
No realms of elements,
no interdependent origins and no extinction of them.
No ill-being, no cause of ill-being, no end of ill-being, and no path.
No understanding and no attainment.

[BELL]

Because there is no attainment,
the Bodhisattvas, grounded in Perfect Understanding,
find no obstacles for their minds.
Having no obstacles, they overcome fear,
liberating themselves forever from illusion, realizing perfect nirvana.
All Buddhas in the past, present, and future,
thanks to this Perfect Understanding,
arrive at full, right, and universal enlightenment.

[BELL]

Therefore one should know
that Perfect Understanding is the highest mantra, the unequaled mantra,
the destroyer of ill-being, the incorruptible truth.
A mantra of Prajñaparamita should therefore be proclaimed:

Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha
Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha.

[BELL, BELL, BELL]

5. Sutra Recitation
Here, I recite a chapter of the Lotus Sutra (just the verses), followed by the Compassion Mantra.

[BELL, BELL, BELL]

6. The Three Refuges