Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The sound from the Golden Drum

At this time, the Bodhisattva Gentle Garland, having heard His Dharma, rejoices and becomes jubilant, one-mindedly thinking about It and returns home. In that night, bodhisattva dreams of a huge golden drum, it glitters just like the sun.  In that light, bodhisattva sees the Tathagatas in the ten directions, all sitting on lapis altars under jaded trees, surrounded by the assemblies with numerous beings. Bodhisattva also sees a Brahmin use a stick to hit that golden drum, making great sound. This sound speaks of wondrous verses, of the methods of repentance. The Bodhisattva Gentle Garland keeps it in mind, recalling it just as if bodhisattva has just heard it. When the day comes bodhisattva together with hundreds of thousands of people bring alms and leave the Rajagriha city, arrive at the Vulture’s peak, to where the Tathagata is. Bodhisattva bows to Buddha’s feet, displays the flowers and incense, walks around the Tathagata 3 times, and sit to one side, respectfully holds the palms together, regarding the body form of the Tathagata and says, Blessed One, in the past night, I saw a Brahmin use a stick to hit a drum made of pure gold, very pleasing to the eyes, emitting great sound. The sound speaks of great verses, explaining the method of repentance. Having heard it, I keep it all in mind. Blessed One, please allow me to recount. Towards the Tathagata, bodhisattva Gentle Garland speaks of the following verse.

In the past night

I dreamed of a golden drum

Very great and beautiful

The whole body of the drum

Emits golden light rays

Just like the sun

Such light rays

Illuminate everywhere

Of the world in the 10 directions

Making all see the Tathagatas

Under the jaded trees

Buddha sit together

On lapis Altars

There are thousands of people

All very respectfully surrounding

The Tathagatas

One Brahmin holds a stick

To hit the golden drum

Emitting great sound

And the sound coming from the drum

Speaks of the following

Miraculous verses

Resounding everywhere

Throughout the great worlds

Eliminating very heavy sins

In the three evil realms

Together with many sufferings

Of mankind

The might of the sound

Coming from the golden drum

Eliminates all defilement and obstacles

Eliminates too fear

Making one rejoice

Just like the free Sakyamuni

Just in the place

Of birth and death

The Tathagata cultivate virtues

And become the all-knowing

Making sentient beings

Have wholesome bodies

And be liberated towards

The sea of merits

The drum emits great miraculous sounds

Anyone who hears it

Acquires the sound of the profound Brahma

And then attains

The great Unsurpassed Enlightenment

Often revolving the wheel of Dharma-

Pure and miraculous

Also acquires inconceivable longevity

Speaking the Dharma depending on circumstances

To benefit sentient beings,

Sever the river of numerous causes of suffering

All defilements are also eliminated

Those who are in very evil ways

The great conflagration

Covers the whole body

Having heard of the sound

From the golden drum

Will immediately be liberated from suffering

And take refuge in the Buddha

And then acquires

The vision of ones’ past lives

Able to recall the past

For hundreds of thousands of lives

Also remember the Great Muni

And the great Dharma of Buddha

Thanks to having heard

The sound from the golden drum

That person will stay near

The Tathagatas

Often abandoning all evil deeds

And cultivate the pure and virtuous methods

All sentient beings

Human and devas,

Who sincerely wish for anything

Having heard of the sound

Coming from the golden drum

Will be granted according to their wishes

Anyone who falls into

The Ceaseless hell,

Firing blazing and burning the whole body

And those who are helpless

Having heard the sound from the golden drum

 All suffering vanishes

Human and devas

Together with other kinds

Anyone who are suffering

From various torment

Having heard the sound from the golden drum,

They will be free from suffering

And be liberated

I pray that the Tathagatas

Currently residing in the world

In the ten directions

Please think of me

With Your mind of great compassion

Anyone who is without a refuge, shelter

And is helpless

I vow to become their great support

In the past I have done

Many evil deeds

Which include heavy sins

Today, towards the Tathagatas

I wholeheartedly repent all

I did not trust the Tathagatas

Also not respecting parents or elders

Not diligent in cultivating

Many roots of virtues

Thus I often created

Much evil fruit

I have prided myself

In being noble and wealthy

Social status and lineage

Materials and positions

In youth and strength

Squandering much money for luxury

As such I have created

Many evil karma

The mind often thinks of evil thoughts

The speech is also malevolent

Not seeing any fault

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

I have often done the kinds of work

Of the layperson

Ignorance and confusion

Following bad companions

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

Or when I indulged myself

Or when depressed and down

Lust, anger

All entangled inside me

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

Keep company with the bad

Tight-fisted, jealousy

Flatter and deceive

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

There were also times

When I did not delight in evils

But because of fear

And I was ordered about

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

Or because of enthusiasm

Or vengeful, thirst or hunger

All tormenting me

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

For food and clothing

And lust in women

Or the fire of defilement

Burning and scorching

As such I often committed

Many evil deeds

Towards Buddha Dharma and Sangha

I did not revere

As such I often committed

Such evil deeds as above

Today I wish to repent

Solitary Enlightened beings, bodhisattva

I did not respect

As such I often committed

Such evil deeds

Today I wish to repent

Deprecating the Buddha Dharma

Not filial to parents

Many evil deeds

Today I wish to repent all

Because of ignorance and conceit

Greed and anger

I often committed

Such evil deeds

Today I wish to repent everything

In all worlds

Making offering to countless Tathagatas

I vow to help all sentient beings

And liberate them from all sufferings

Praying that all sentient beings

Will stand on the 10 grounds

Accomplishing the great merit and wisdom

Having become the Tathagatas

To lead all ignorant sentient beings

I will do difficult practice

For sentient beings

Hundreds of thousands of lives

I will use the great power of wisdom

To help them cross over the sea of suffering

I will speak of the Golden Light sutra

For the benefits of the sentient beings

The supreme Sutra

Capable of eliminating all wickedness

Anyone who has committed heavy sins

For hundreds of thousands of lives

Yet if they repent

All wickedness will be purified

Following exactly as written in the Golden Light sutra

And repent

All wickedness will soon be eliminated

Wickedness that causes one to suffer

Hundreds of thousands of

Supreme meditation

Inconceivable, 5 roots, 5 powers

The 7 limbs of wisdom

8 limbs of the saint way

37 methods

I vow to regularly practice

Without fatigue

And I will arrive at

The 10 grounds of the bodhisattva

Where there is sufficiently

All precious things

Consummating all qualities of Tathagatahood

Salvaging sentient beings

Helping them cross the sea of birth-death

Towards the sea

The position of Buddha

And the cache of profound merits

Miraculous wisdom

Inconceivable

I vow to accomplish fully

I pray that the Tathagatas

In the 10 directions

Will support me

With the heart of great compassion

Accept and consider

My repentance

In countless eons

I have committed evil deeds

Because of that wickedness

Suffering arises

I pray that the Tathagatas will consider

And let me purify all such wickedness

Since I have committed evil deeds

Terror will be born

In all actions- walk, stand, sit or lie down

I have never had

A single moment of happiness

The compassionate Tathagatas

Who eliminate all fear for the sentient beings

Please accept and allow me to repent

So that I will be free from fear

I have sufficient all karma and obstacles

Together with the fruit that comes from it

I pray for the Tathagatas

To use the water of great compassion

And wash it cleanly

Great evil deeds I have done

In the past and present

I whole-heartedly wish to reveal and repent

Pray that they will be purified

And I will refrain from

 All future wickedness

 Not letting such thought arise

If I violate this vow

I will never dare to hide

The body has 3 habits

Speech has 4 habits

Thought has 3 habits

Tying sentient beings

Since countless ages up till now

Ceaseless

Through body, speech and thought

The ten non-virtuous acts are carried out

Such wickedness has many forms

Today I hope to repent all

The wickedness that I have done

In the future I will have to face

Unpleasant results (no repentance)

Today, in front of the Tathagatas

I whole-heartedly repent everything

The great Jambudvipa world

And all the worlds in it

I now rejoice with all of its virtuous deeds

Vowing to abandon the 10 non-virtuous deeds

And complete the 10 virtuous deeds

Abiding in the 10 grounds

Often seeing the Tathagatas

All merits and wisdom

That I have acquired

Through my body, speech and mind

I will utilize such roots of virtue

To quickly reach the Unsurpassed Enlightenment

Now I in front of the Tathagatas

I sincerely repent

Many types of obstacles:

The obstacle of ignorance

Loving the 3 realms

 The obstacle that causes heavy evil results

The obstacle of accumulating

Lust, wrong views

The obstacles of greed for love

Which often flow incessantly

The obstacle of love and attachment to the present world

The obstacle of the layperson defilements

The obstacle of thoughtlessness,

Rash acts and depravity

The obstacle of having bad companions

The obstacle of loving

The place of birth-death

The obstacle of anger and ignorance

Ignorance as the root

The obstacle of being born

In the 8 inconvenient places

The obstacle of not accumulating the roots of virtues

Now I towards the great Tathagatas

Repent countless such wickedness

Now I take refuge in the Tathagatas

I bow down to the ones

Whose sea of virtue is unsurpassed

You, like the great golden mountain

Shining to everywhere

Please have the compassion to aid me

The body of Buddha shines forth brightly

The color of golden light

The eyes of Buddha is like

The blue lapis

The Auspicious one

Who has special might and virtues

You take the sun of compassion

To ward off the darkness

For countless sentient beings

Buddha is like the sun

Shining everywhere

Clear, bright and not tarnished

Free from all dust and blemish

Buddha is like the moon

Shining forth cooling light

Shining away the heat

Of all defilement

32 good marks

Solemn body form

80 auxiliary signs

The whole body perfect

Great merits and virtues, inconceivable

Just like the sun

Shining the whole world

The radiance from the body

Is just like the transparent lapis

Also like the full moon

The body has a golden color

And nets of crystal

Which shines forth with many colors

In the waterfall of birth-death and suffering

Old age and sickness

Swirling the sentient beings around

Such a great sea can hardly be endured

The sun of a Tathagata

Shines and dries it all up

I bow to the One

Whose wisdom is complete

The rarest among the great worlds

One with golden color

Shining brightly

The one who is decorated

With many beauties

You are like the ocean

Vast, hard to know

You are like the earth

Hard to know the number of dust

You are like the great mountain

Hard to know the weight

You are like space

The boundary of which is hard to know

A Tathagata is as such

The sentient beings can hardly know

The more one thinks, the more one realizes

Even in countless ages

It is hard to know

The shore of a Tathagata’s virtues

Crushing the whole world

The mathematics of knowing the miniscule

The mathematics of knowing droplets

Of the whole ocean

The amount of virtues of a Tathagata

Is hard to know

All sentient beings

Together praise the renowned qualities

The pure and good body form

Miraculous solemnity of the Tathagata

Yet is impossible to know

The limit

Many kinds of roots of virtues

That I have sown

I vow to quickly become

The great, Unsurpassed

Speaking the Dharma in many forms

Benefit all sentient beings

Liberating them from suffering

Defeating the army of Mara

Having great power

Turning the wheel of the supreme Dharma

Abiding on earth for a very long time

I will use the dew of immortality

To invigorate the sentient beings

Just like in the past

The Supreme Ones

Have consummated all the 6 paramitas

Destroying lust, anger and ignorance

Eliminating defilement

And all suffering

I pray to have the knowledge of previous lives

Remembering the past

For hundreds of thousands of lives

Especially remembering

The great Muni

Able to listen to

His profound Dharma

Pray that I will use

Such roots of virtue

To serve countless Tathagatas

Abandoning all bad deeds

Often cultivating virtues

The true Dharma

Making all sentient

In all kinds of worlds

Forever liberated from suffering

And fulfill their happiness

All those who have imperfect senses

Will be made whole

Anyone who experience suffering

Because of illness

Having a weak and feeble body

Without a place of refuge

I will make them free from sickness

And have good health and body forms

Also sufficient with all

Anyone who transgress the law

About to be executed

Tortured by suffering

Tormented by fear

When they are in such a great state of fear

Having no one to rely on

I will help them

When they are beaten

Bound and chained

All kinds of instruments

Tormenting the body

In such countless fears

Occupying the mind

Without a moment of reprieve

I will help them

Liberate them from

All instruments that torment them

If they are about to be executed

I help them protect their lives

All other kinds of suffering

Will be exhausted permanently

Any sentient beings

Who are struck with hunger and thirst

I will help them experience

All kinds of enjoyable tastes

Let the blind be able to see

The deaf to hear

The lame to walk

The speech-defect to speak

Anyone who is poor

Acquire treasures

Not wanting in any aspects

I make them enjoy

The supreme joy

No one else will have to suffer

From pain and anguish

Everyone becomes pleasing to the eye

Honorable appearance and gait

Also solemn and orderly

Everyone enjoys happiness

Having a vivid lifestyle

Sufficient with all merits and virtues

Up to their wish

When they think of music

Magnificent music is played

When they think of water

Cool water appears in a lake

And in that lake

There appear golden lotus blossoms

Depending on the sentient beings

Whatever they think of

They will be satisfied in all

Food and furniture

With gold and jade

All kinds of lapis

And strings of pearls, jewel garlands

All sufficient

Also making sentient beings

Become free from hearing vicious voices

Also not seeing anything that is against one’s will

The appearance that they will all acquire

Will be all solemn

And towards one another

They think of compassion

Any instrument that is necessary for life

Appear upon thought

Gold and jade they have acquired

They share to all sentient beings

All that they need

Without the regret

All kinds of perfume and flowers

Fall down from trees

3 times a day

Which they will enjoy upon will

The heart full of joy

I vow for all sentient beings

To be able to make offering

To the great Tathagatas

In the worlds in the 10 directions

Making offering to the Miraculous Dharma

Accomplishing the 3 bright vehicles

Making offering to the Saintly beings

With all Bodhisattvas, Hearers and Solitary Enlightened ones

I pray that all sentient beings

Will not fall into mean and humble places

The eight inconvenient places

Often born as human

And able to cultivate

Often serving the Tathagatas

I pray that sentient beings

Will be born in rich households

Properties and treasures

All become sufficient and full

The body forms and reputation

Are among everyone peerless

The lifespan reaching countless ages

I pray that sentient beings

Females will be reborn as males

Intelligent and strong

Endowed with great wisdom and capabilities

And all will walk on the path

Of the Bodhisattva

Which is cultivating in the 6 paramitas

I pray that sentient beings

Will frequently see the Tathagatas

Residing in the Altars

Beneath the jaded trees

The Lion Altars

Made of lapis

Often listening to Buddha

Revolving the Wheel of Dharma

Past and present

If I am reborn in the 3 worlds

Creating non-virtuous deeds

Possibly reaping unpleasant results

I pray that they will all be purified

Without exception

In the sea, there are countless beings

Who are bounded by the net of birth and death

I pray that I will cut that net for them

Using the sword of wisdom

Making them quickly leave birth-death

And acquire the unsurpassed wisdom

The great Jambudvipa world

Or other worlds

The sentient beings in there

Those who create many good roots of virtues

I now vow to rejoice in all those roots

Pray, I will use such act of rejoicing

And many kinds of virtuous deeds

Of the body, speech and mind

To nurture such good roots

Often acquiring the great wisdom

All roots of virtues acquired from

Making offering and praising

The virtues of the Tathagatas

With the profound mind

Extremely pure, spotless

I will dedicate

And make a vow

Thanks to that, I will surpass the evil ways

For sixty eons

If there is any son or daughter of the lineage

Or other royalties

Such as Brahmin

Who whole-heartedly hold their palms together

And praise the Buddha

As such, wherever they are born

They can recall their previous lives

Having perfect senses

And complete body

All accomplishing the supreme merits

In the future, wherever they are born

Human and devas will often

Regard them with respect

That person has already cultivated roots of virtue

Not just in one Buddha, or ten Buddha

Thanks to which they can now listen

To this method of repentance

They must have cultivated roots of virtue

In hundreds of thousands of Buddha

As such, they now listen

To this miraculous method of repentance

At this time, the Tathagata having listened to these verses, applauded the Bodhisattva Gentle Garland, saying How benign, child of the lineage, the sound issuing from the golden drum that you dreamed of, has praised the qualities of the Tathagatas and the method of repentance. Whoever hears this sound creates much merit. This sound benefits greatly for the sentient beings, eliminating their obstacles. You should know that this supreme occasion arises from your habits of praising the Tathagatas and repenting, it is also thanks to the sustaining might of the Tathagatas. That cause, the Tathagata will now speak of

At this time, the entire assembly hears this, everyone rejoices and accept, and practice accordingly