Yet Another Life Extending Ten-Line Kannon Sutra (延命十句観音経 Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyō) Translation

The Enmei Jukku Kannon Gyō is a relatively enigmatic, and incredibly short, sutra mainly practiced in Japan, but probably originating in China.

Comparison of translations

There are a lot of translations floating around on the internet — luckily the sutra itself is so short that they can all be compared, line-by-line, in a single table.

Transliteration	Treeleaf Zendo	sotozen.com and Dharma Rain	Wild Fox Zen	nembutsu.cc	Philip B. Yampolsky	Griffith Foulk	Robert Aitken
KAN ZE ON	Kanzeon	Kanzeon	[Kanzeon]	Kanzeon [Bodhisattva]	Kanzeon	Avalokitêśvara	Avalokiteshvara!
NA MU BUTSU	At one with Buddha	paying homage to Buddha	Namo Buddha	Praise to the Buddha	Salutation and devotion to Buddha	paying homage to Buddha	Homage to Buddha!
YO BUTSU U IN	Directly Buddha	forged a causal connection with Buddha	One with Buddha cause	With the Buddha as cause	We are one with Buddha	forged a causal connection with Buddha	With Buddha there are causes,
YO BUTSU U EN	Also indirectly Buddha	a karmic affinity with Buddha	One with Buddha affinity	With the Buddha as condition	In cause and effect related to all Buddhas	a karmic affinity with Buddha	With Buddha there are conditions.
BU PO SO EN	And indirectly Buddha, Dharma, Sangha	a karmic affinity with Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha	Buddha, Dharma, Sangha affinity	Through the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha	and to Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha	a karmic affinity with Buddha, Dharma, and Saṃgha	Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha – conditions.
JO RAKU GA JO	Joyful, pure eternal being	thus attaining permanence, ease, selfhood, and purity	Constancy, joy, self, purity	I attain eternal, blissful, self, purified of all defilements [nirvana]	Our True Nature is Eternal, Joyous, Selfless and Pure	thus attaining permanence, ease, selfhood, and purity	Eternal, bliss, Self, purity! (qualities of nirvana)
CHO NEN KAN ZE ON	Morning mind is Kanzeon	In the morning think of Kanzeon	Mornings nen Kanzeon	In the morning, I recite “Kanzeon”	So let us chant every morning Kanzeon, with Nen [attention]	In the morning think of Avalokitêśvara	Morning thinking of Avalokiteshvara,
BO NEN KAN ZE ON	Evening mind is Kanzeon	in the evening think of Kanzeon	Evenings nen Kanzeon	In the evening, I recite “Kanzeon”	Every evening Kanzeon, with Nen	in the evening think of Avalokitêśvara	Evening thinking of Avalokiteshvara.
NEN NEN JU SHIN KI	Nen, nen arises from mind	Thought after thought arises from mind	Nen nen through arising mind	Reciting and reciting arises from the awakened mind	Nen, Nen arises from Mind	Thought after thought arises from mind	Thought after thought arise from mind,
NEN NEN FU RI SHIN	Nen, nen is not separate from mind.	thought after thought is not separate from mind	Nen nen not apart from this mind	Reciting and reciting is not separate from [awakened] mind	Nen, Nen is no separate from Mind	thought after thought is not separate from mind	Thought after thought not separate from mind

Gloss

觀世音
Kanzeon
南無	佛
Namu	Buddha
與	佛	有	因
CON	Buddha	POSS	cause
與	佛	有	縁
CON	Buddha	POSS	condition
佛法僧		縁
Three Jewels	condition
常		樂	我	淨
constant	joy	1st	pure
朝	念		觀世音
morning	remember	Kanzeon
暮	念		觀世音
night	remember	Kanzeon
念念		從	心	起
each thought	from	heart	rise
念念		不	離		心
each thought	NEG	separate	heart

Free Translation

Kanzeon!

Namubutsu.¹

With Buddha as cause,

With Buddha as condition,

Three Jewels as condition,

Permanent, joyous, self-existent,² and pure.

Morning: remember Kanzeon.

Evening: remember Kanzeon.

Each thought³ from the heart arises.

Each thought is not separate from the heart.

1. I see no reason to translate this as it is a Japanese reading of a Chinese translation of a Sanskrit term.
   ↩︎
2. Literally “I, me” ↩︎
3. For reasons that are opaque, practically every other English translation of this sutra has opted to leave this untranslated (as “nen nen”) or consider it as two separate elements (“thought after thought”, “reciting after reciting”.) The 念念 construction however is usually used in Buddhist writings to mean “every thought-moment.” ↩︎