Avalokiteshvaraya, the Bodhisattva of great compassion, is the most well-known of all the Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist tradition. In Plum Village, her name is invoked as a prayer, continuously repeated for twenty minutes, in order to awaken the energy of compassion in us all and transmit it to all living beings.

When the monastics chant the name Avalokiteshvaraya, for the first time, they go back to themselves to touch the suffering inside of them. And when they chant the name for the second time they become aware of the suffering of the people around them. And when they chant it for the third time, they get in touch with the suffering of the whole world, embracing it tenderly with the energy of compassion.

Contemplations before chanting
The Sangha is invited to come back to our breathing, so that our collective energy of mindfulness will bring us together as an organism, going as a river, with no more separation.
Let the whole Sangha breathe as one body, chant as one body, listen as one body and transcend the boundaries of a delusive self, liberating from the superiority complex, the inferiority complex, and the equality complex.

Contemplations avant le chant
La Sangha est invitée à retourner à sa respiration; ainsi notre énergie collective de pleine conscience nous rassemblera en un organisme, coulant comme une rivière sans plus aucune séparation.
Laissons la Sangha toute entière respirer comme un seul corps; chanter comme un seul corps; écouter comme un seul corps, et transcender les frontières d'un soi illusoire et nous libérant ainsi du complexe de supériorité, d'infériorité et d'égalité.

(Plum village - European Institute of applied Buddhism (EIAB) - Retreat 12/08/2014)