Calamities of Fire and Water: Reciting the Name with One Mind

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

Original text

若有持是觀世音菩薩名者。設入大火。火不能燒。由是菩薩威神力故。若為大水所漂。稱其名號。即得淺處。《妙法蓮華經・觀世音菩薩普門品》 (translated by Kumārajīva)

Plain-language explanation

This lesson covers only two lines of the sutra, on the first two of the seven calamities: the calamity of fire and the calamity of water.

First, the line before them. The sutra says that if someone holds the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara), 「設入大火，火不能燒」; and if someone is swept away by a great flood, reciting the name, 「即得淺處」. Before these two lines comes a more fundamental statement: beings in suffering 「一心稱名，觀世音菩薩即時觀其音聲，皆得解脫」. The point is that when a person calls out with one mind in distress, Guanyin hears.

Through the ages these two lines have been read in different ways. Some read them as rescue in the outer world, others as liberation of the mind. In the 《觀音義疏》, Tiantai master Zhiyi divides the calamity of water into three layers: being caught in the water is suffering, reciting the name is the good, and reaching shallows is the response. He also points out that 「得淺處」 does not necessarily mean reaching shore all at once, but first arriving at a place where one can stand. This is Zhiyi's commentary, not the sutra text itself.

The sutra itself also draws the word calamity inward to the mind. Later in the same chapter it says that those with much greed, much anger and much delusion who constantly recite and revere Guanyin Bodhisattva will be freed from greed, anger and delusion. So the fire and water here can be taken as outer disasters only, or read together with the fire and water within the mind. The 《楞嚴經》 describes deliverance from calamity as the Bodhisattva's practice of turning the hearing back to the self-nature, emphasizing the level of the mind's nature.

This site's modern way of putting it: reciting the name lets a person settle down first in the midst of fear, remembering that there is compassion listening. That steadiness is itself a strength. But the sutra is an expression of faith, and this site does not promise any outcome on the Bodhisattva's behalf. In a real fire, flood or danger, please first call 119 / 110 for help and look after yourself, and then entrust your mind to Guanyin.

Key terms

一心稱名

The sutra says that beings in suffering who single-mindedly recite the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteśvara) are heard at once by Guanyin, who observes their voices. The point is single-mindedness, not the number of recitations.

大火

Literally, a fire disaster. Later the sutra also counts greed, anger and delusion as calamities, so through the ages some have read fire as the fire of anger in the mind.

淺處

The response to the calamity of water. Zhiyi says it does not necessarily mean reaching the shore at once, but first finding a place where one can stand.

威神力

The sutra says the fire cannot burn, 「由是菩薩威神力故」. It attributes the power to Guanyin, not to the skill of the one reciting the name.

One line to remember

設入大火。火不能燒。

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.