Helplessness

Having crossed through the enemy's hail of bullets,

Yet falling beneath the bouquets of one's comrades;

Adversity brings sorrow, but prosperity is more beguiling,

Only because of meager merit (alpa-puṇya) has one never experienced splendor.

Cultivation is like sailing a boat, merit is like the water that bears the vessel,

With shallow merit the boat cannot be borne, and the boat often runs aground;

Self-conceit towers like a mountain, the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is dense as a forest,

Everywhere filled with greed, hatred, delusion, and conceit — this is called the Saha world.

With loving-kindness like the Buddha and compassion like the Bodhisattvas, He yearns for sentient beings

To sever the marks of self and others, and eliminate the views of self and others;

Alas, sentient beings have meager merit, deep obstructions, and shallow wisdom,

Guanyin's empty boat drifts and floats, sighing as He returns to the land of bliss (sukhāvatī).