Obeisance to Manjushri

Obeisance to Manjushri

Obeisance to my Guru and Protector Manjushri,
Who holds to his heart a scriptural text,
symbolic of his seeing all things as they are;
Whose intelligence shines forth as the sun,
unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance;
Who teaches in sixty ways with the loving compassion
of a father for his only son
all creatures caught in the prison of samsara,
confused in the darkness of their ignorance,
overwhelmed by their suffering.
You, whose dragon-thunder-like proclamation of Dharma
arouses us from the stupor of our delusions
and frees us from the iron chains of our karma;
Who wields the sword of wisdom, hewing down suffering
wherever its sprouts appear,
clearing away the darkness of our ignorance.
You, whose princely body is adorned with the one hundred
and twelve marks of a Buddha;
Who has completed the stages achieving
the highest perfection of a Bodhisattva;
Who has been pure from the beginning.
I bow down to you, O Manjushri,
With the brilliance of your wisdom, O compassionate one,
Illuminate the darkness enclosing my mind,
Enlighten my intelligence and wisdom
so that I may gain insight
Into Buddha’s words and the texts that explain them.