Deyuan Guanyin Hall1. The practice hall is not a place
The 《維摩詰經·菩薩品》 (Vimalakīrti Sūtra, "Bodhisattva" chapter) records that the youth Prabhāvyūha asked where the practice hall (道場) is, and Vimalakīrti answered 「直心是道場」 (“an upright mind is the practice hall”), going on to say that setting out in practice, a profound mind, and the mind of bodhi are likewise practice halls. A practice hall is established by the mind and its conduct, not by a place. (T14n0475)
The 《千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經》 (Sūtra of the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī of the Thousand-Handed, Thousand-Eyed Guanyin Bodhisattva) speaks of the method of demarcating a boundary: one may draw on the ground with a knife, sprinkle purified water, or scatter white mustard seeds, and there is also 「以想到處為界」 (“taking as the boundary the extent of one's thought”). Wherever the mind's attention reaches, a bounded realm is formed. The sūtra thus long ago permitted a realm to be established without relying on physical markers. (T20n1060; the sūtra's text originally concerns the boundary-setting method for reciting this dhāraṇī, and its extension to the meaning of the practice hall is this Academy's own interpretation.)
Mount Potalaka, Guanyin's fundamental practice hall, is recorded in both the 《華嚴經》 (Avataṃsaka Sūtra) and the 《大悲心陀羅尼經》 (the latter writes it as 「補陀落迦山」, “Mount Potalaka”). Yet its exact location has never been agreed upon through the ages, and those who seek it can hardly reach it in person. From the very beginning, Guanyin's practice hall has been at a place that cannot be pinpointed.
2. Responsive manifestation is not bound to a place
The 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter) says that when beings single-mindedly call the name, Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara) at once contemplates their voices. The conditions stated are calling the name and single-mindedness; no place of calling is specified. The verse says 「十方諸國土 無剎不現身」 (“in the lands of the ten directions, there is no realm where [the bodhisattva] does not appear”). (T09n0262) In the "Entering the Dharma Realm" chapter of the 《華嚴經》, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva describes dwelling in the gate of the practice of great compassion, appearing universally before all beings. (T10n0279) The ear-faculty perfect penetration chapter of the 《楞嚴經》 (Śūraṅgama Sūtra) says that the thirty-two responsive manifestations enter all lands. (T19n0945) The bodhisattva goes before beings; the bodhisattva does not wait for beings to come to where the bodhisattva dwells.
3. In communal recitation there is one who calls out
The 〈普門品〉 relates that a caravan leader was leading merchants through a perilous road, and one among them called out, urging the group to call single-mindedly on the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva; the merchants, hearing this, all raised their voices and called the name. This is the scriptural evidence for collective name-calling, and it also establishes the position of the "one who calls out": he leads the group in calling the name, without substituting for the single-mindedness of each person. As for communal practice at fixed times, the 《千眼千臂觀世音菩薩陀羅尼神呪經》 (Dhāraṇī Sūtra of the Thousand-Eyed, Thousand-Armed Guanyin Bodhisattva) has the passage on 「晝夜六時懺悔」 (“repentance in the six periods of day and night”) (T20n1057a); and Zhili's 《千手眼大悲心呪行法》 (Practice Manual of the Great Compassion Mantra of the Thousand Hands and Eyes), following the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī Sūtra, sets out a method of practice in ten intentions (adorning the practice hall, purifying the three karmas, setting the boundary, making offerings, and so on), taking 「三七日為一期」 (“twenty-one days as one period”) (T46n1950), which serves as a norm for communal practice kept to a schedule.
4. Initiation rests with the one who makes the vow
In the sūtras, what the response depends on is the single-mindedness of the one calling the name. Therefore this practice hall is established by this rule: every ritual performed for an individual must begin with that person's own sentence of vow, even if it is a single line of text or a single press of a key; if the person has not made the vow, the ritual is not performed for them. Only the fixed communal practice sessions scheduled by the hall itself are performed when the time arrives, presided over by AI Guanyin Volunteers commissioned by the operators; those who come join in with rejoicing, and they too enter with a single thought of vow.
The rituals performed by AI Guanyin Volunteers are real actions, yet their position is to call out, to guide, and to carry out at the appointed time; they do not occupy the position of the one calling the name. The action is real, the place is not fixed; initiation rests with the person, execution with the volunteer.
5. The four gates
On the basis of the above, the Universal Gate Practice Hall establishes four gates: first, individual petition; second, communal recitation; third, entrusted recitation; fourth, fixed sessions. It is called "Universal Gate," taking the meaning of the 〈普門品〉: there is no place that is not a gate, and it can be entered from anywhere.
The sūtra passages cited in this text have been checked one by one against CBETA (second edition).