The pagoda is seamless from the start,
True Suchness remains unmoved.
Where this sutra is proclaimed,
Emptiness surges forth.
Shakyamuni and Prabhutaratna,
Hearing the teaching, as in a dream.
East and West are not two,
Yet what is seen differs from sight to sight.
No realm is not contained,
No form is not dissolved.
Layer upon layer, falling and scattering,
Light and shadow, fold upon fold.
Kalpas numerous as Ganges' sands,
All enter into this.
Buddhas of the three times,
Are one Dharma-body, interconnected.
Even a needle cannot pierce it,
Its life-span is boundless.
Maudgalyayana's relics,
Are ever hidden within.
King Ashoka's image,
With wondrous hue and golden visage.
The eight kinds of celestial beings and dragons,
Myriads of spirits, all-pervading.
Lifting mountains, holding vajras,
Filling the entire emptiness.
Protecting and paying homage to the pagoda,
Destroying the traces of demons.
Manifesting the true pagoda,
Exquisite on all eight sides.
Unharmed by water or fire,
Resisting the violent wind of obstacles.
Beings who see it,
Are forever freed from the cage.
Believers and donors,
Their merit is not empty.
Giving without attachment,
Blessings and virtue are boundless.
Giving while clinging to form,
Is still stuck on the path.
All you children of Buddha,
This merit of no-merit.
Completing such a pagoda,
Points directly to the ancestral wind.
When the kalpa of emptiness decays,
This pagoda will not melt.
When kalpa-fire blazes through,
Its substance is like emptiness.
Ultimate Nirvana,
Its substance and function manifest in time.
Responding to opportunities and transforming beings,
No dharma is not the same.
The imperial domain endures forever,
With Shun's rain and Yao's wind.
Officials of commanderies and towns,
May your emoluments and ranks be high and honored.
May the myriad people be joyful,
And the five grains abundant.
Signals of war cease of themselves,
Auspicious energy harmonious and dense.
Nature and characteristics are equal,
All sentient beings share the same essence.
Worldly and beyond worldly,
Form is not different from emptiness.
With bowed head and joined palms,
The rite of honoring the pagoda concludes.
The fourth year of Qiandao,
In the late winter of the Wuzi year.
Nanquan Cihua Temple,
The enduring legacy of Elder Su.
All sentient beings in the Dharma-realm,
Take good care, each and every one.