With One Mind Calling the Name, Instantly Hearing the Voice

Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.

Original text

佛告無盡意菩薩。善男子。若有無量百千萬億眾生。受諸苦惱。聞是觀世音菩薩。一心稱名。觀世音菩薩。即時觀其音聲。皆得解脫。《妙法蓮華經・觀世音菩薩普門品》 (Lotus Sutra, Universal Gate Chapter of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva, translated by Kumārajīva)

Plain-language explanation

This lesson reads only a short passage of the sutra, yet it is the starting point of the whole 〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter).

First, the scene. The Buddha tells Akshayamati Bodhisattva that there are countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of beings who are undergoing all kinds of suffering. The sutra says 「受諸苦惱」, and it does not distinguish which kind of suffering, nor who the beings are. Any being who is in suffering falls within the scope of this sentence.

Next come two actions. The first is on the side of the beings: 「聞是觀世音菩薩，一心稱名」. The key is “one mind” — not merely saying the name aloud, but settling the mind on this name. The second is on the side of the Bodhisattva: 「觀世音菩薩，即時觀其音聲」. “Observe” (觀) means to look and to perceive, and “voice” (音聲) is the sound that beings make. The name “Guanshiyin” comes from here. What Akshayamati Bodhisattva asked just before was 「以何因緣，名觀世音」, and this passage is the sutra’s first answer.

The last line is 「皆得解脫」. The word “all” (皆) here refers to the suffering beings mentioned above; no further condition is set. As for what liberation means and how it comes about, the sutra will unfold this through the later passages on the seven calamities, the three poisons, and so on. This lesson does not skip ahead to them.

Now the readings of past generations. Chengguan of the Huayan school held that in the 〈普門品〉, the emphasis of “Guanshiyin” falls on the voice that is observed; when the teaching of body, speech and mind is complete in all three, he is called “Guanzizai” (觀自在, “Observing Freely”). This is a traditional interpretation, not the wording of the sutra itself.

This site’s modern way of putting it: this passage can be read as a very simple picture — on one side, a person in suffering gives out a voice; on the other, an “observing” that is described as missing no voice at all. This is our modern reading, not the original meaning of the sutra, and it does not mean the sutra promises any particular result. A reader should first read these few lines of the original until they are familiar, and then read on.

Key terms

一心稱名

“Calling the name” (稱名) means reciting the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva; “one mind” (一心) means a mind that is not scattered and stays focused on this name. The sutra puts “one mind” before “calling the name,” which shows that the emphasis is on the mind.

即時觀其音聲

“Instantly” (即時) means at that very moment; “observe” (觀) means to look and to perceive; “voice” (音聲) is the sound that beings make. This line explains why the Bodhisattva’s name is “Guanshiyin” (觀世音, “Observing the Sounds of the World”).

受諸苦惱

This refers to the many kinds of suffering that beings undergo. The sutra does not limit it to one kind of suffering, so this passage speaks of suffering as a whole; the later text gives examples one by one.

解脫

This refers to being released from suffering. This passage says only “all attain liberation” (皆得解脫); how that liberation comes about must be seen in the later passages of the sutra.

One line to remember

一心稱名。觀世音菩薩。即時觀其音聲。

Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.