The Nirvana Scripture addresses those of the temperaments of the three vehicles; because their characters and behavior are inferior, the Buddha has then harmonized by practices, to overcome their gross ills—only then can they enter the Way. But then they conceive of the practices they are taught as absolute truths, and this screens the uncreated essence and they miss out on the truth. For this reason Buddha explains that all practices are impermanent, and the realizer and the realized are also phenomena that are born and perish. This is not the same as Sudhana’s instant awakening in which there is no subject or object, intuitively becoming aware that one’s own mind is fundamentally Buddha. Not attaining buddhahood, not experiencing enlightenment, the body and mind, essence and form, having no realization or cultivation, not becoming or decaying, are originally thus, active or still according to conditions, without destroying existence or nonexistence—the practices carried out are only products of knowledge. Therefore it doesn’t say that all practices are impermanent in The Flower Ornament Scripture.
As for the similarity between the Nirvana Scripture and The Flower Ornament Scripture, an example of this is what is illustrated by the simile of the special herb in the snowy mountains; also the Nirvana Scripture says that all sentient beings have buddha-nature, and that the Buddhas have no final entry into extinction. The Flower Ornament says, “The Buddhas do not come forth into the world, and they have no extinction.” Also, the Nirvana Scripture criticizes those of the two lesser vehicles for the discriminating view of Buddha as descending from heaven into the womb, living as a prince, leaving home, becoming enlightened, and passing away: this is like the notion of The Flower Ornament that knowledge enters past, present, and future without coming or going, and all Buddhas attain great enlightenment by the timeless essence. Instantly seeing the Way, views of past and present end, “new” and “old” do not exist at all—one attains the same enlightenment as countless Buddhas of the past, and also becomes Buddha at the same time as the Buddhas of countless ages of the future, by personally witnessing the timelessness of past, present, and future. Because there is no time, there is no coming or going.
Even if people don’t see or know themselves that their own body and mind are fundamentally truly enlightened, the complete qualities of the true enlightenment of one’s own body and mind fundamentally have no annihilation. And if they do themselves see and know the fundamental true enlightenment of their own body and mind, their own true enlightenment has no birth, because it is originally thus; and basically there is no one who awakens and nothing awakened to. If any awake, they after all awaken to this nonexistence of an awakening subject or an object of awakening. Thus the realm of the Buddha of fundamental awareness has no ordinary person, no sage, no concentration, no distraction; it is not cultivated, not proved, not knowledge, not ignorance, not born, not destroyed.
This outline of the perspective of The Flower Ornament Scripture in comparison with other important Buddhist scriptures generally follows the work of the earlier specialists in Flower Ornament doctrine. Li Tongxuan’s work, with its emphasis on totality and immediate realization of the essential unity of being, was highly appreciated especially by students of the Chan school of Buddhism. The emphasis on the one vehicle and its totalistic perspective presented in Li’s introduction to The Flower Ornament Scripture is particularly useful in view of the great variety and complexity of the contents of the scripture, which make it easy to get lost in detail and miss the overall meaning. While in a sense the specific principles and practices presented in the scripture are all contained in the one vehicle, they are also at once introductions into the one vehicle as well as outgrowths of the one vehicle. Once the fundamental premises and basic vocabulary of The Flower Ornament Scripture have been established, no further generalization is adequate to convey its contents.
A Thematic Summary of Each Book
The first book of the scripture, entitled The Wonderful Adornments of the Leaders of the Worlds, describes a symbolic assembly of various groups of beings at the site of Buddha’s enlightenment. The title of this book refers to the representatives of various realms of being who appear on the scene, but it can also be read Wonderful Adornments of the Leader of the Worlds, referring specifically to the Buddha, the various states of being seen as adornments of the Buddha, their realizations representing aspects of Buddha’s total enlightenment. Buddhabhadra’s translation entitles this book Pure Eyes of the World, which likewise may also be read Pure Eye of the Worlds, representing the total universal awareness of the Buddha.
In this opening book a general picture of the nature of buddhahood and the general principles and scope of the teaching is built up through the various beings’ eulogies and descriptions of the liberations they have realized. What is stressed is the universality and comprehensiveness of buddhahood, which is described as both physically and metaphysically coextensive with the cosmos itself. It emphasizes that Buddha expounds the truth by various means and teaches innumerable practices for the benefit of all beings: here “Buddha” refers to reality itself, and to people who are awake to reality. The various kinds of beings that appear in this book do not in this case represent their mundane aspects as such, but rather depict various facets of the Buddha’s enlightenment, while also representing the potential for enlightenment inherent in all conscious beings, a fundamental theme of universalist Buddhism.
The second book, entitled Appearance of the Buddha, tells about characteristics of buddhahood, stressing the infinity and eternity of Buddha in the cosmic sense of being reality itself. The epithet of Buddha used in the title is Tathagata, which is understood in Chinese Buddhism to mean “one who comes from thusness,” the term “thusness” referring to being-as-it-is, unpredicated reality. The human Buddha is considered in one sense as someone who is aware of fundamental continuity and identity with reality. In this scripture the term “Buddha” is commonly used for thusness or reality itself; in this book it is pointed out that Buddha, as reality, appears everywhere to all beings, but it is seen in accord with their perceptive capacities. It conveys the parallel messages that all experience reality according to their faculties and predilections, and that correlative to this, enlightened guides present various teachings to people in accord with their needs, potentials, and conditions. This accounts for the wide variety of doctrines in Buddhism, some of which may on the surface seem so different as to be even mutually opposed; underlying this variety is the fact that diverse aspects of a situation or levels of truth may be discussed separately, and that different ways of seeing, thinking, and acting may be recommended to different people, depending on the time and circumstances. This principle of adaptation and specific prescription is known as “skill in means” and is so basic and pervasive that it is impossible to understand Buddhism without a thorough appreciation of its premises, its purpose and implications.
The third book, called The Meditation of the Enlightening Being Universally Good, exposes the metaphysic of the bodhisattva or “enlightening being,” the worker for universal enlightenment. The practical aspect of the enlightening being is here and throughout the scripture typified by a symbolic being called Universally Good, or Universal Good (Samantabhadra). The interrelatedness of all beings and the awareness of that interrelatedness on the part of enlightening beings is graphically represented in this book. By being in direct contact without “thusness” or “suchness” without the distorting influence of preconceptions and partiality, enlightening beings are, according to this book, aware of each other through being equally focused on reality. The unity of their purpose—universal liberation and enlightenment—which underlies diversity of method is emphasized strongly here. Again, it is made clear that enlightening beings may appear in virtually any form and employ a wide variety of means, according to what is useful for the liberation of people in given conditions. Universally Good, representing the enlightening work as a whole, extending throughout all places and times, therefore symbolizes a central concept of this scripture.
The fourth book, The Formation of the Worlds, presents visionary descriptions of worlds as representing the consequences of aspirations and actions. Emphasized here is the relativity of world and mind, how the features of the world depend on the states of mind and corresponding deeds of the inhabitants. A considerable portion of the contents of this and the following book consists of a series of litanies of concentration formulae, intended to convey certain impressions to the mind and to encapsulate certain aspects of the teaching to focus attention on them. It is through transformation of the vision of the world as well as the attitudes and actions connected with that vision that the world itself is transformed. This point also is an important part of the message of the scripture.
The fifth book is entitled The Flower Bank World. The so-called Flower Bank World is also referred to as the Flower Bank Array ocean of worlds, and may be translated as the world adorned by treasuries of flowers. This “world” is in the scripture represented as an “ocean of worlds,” and is said to be our universe. In this scripture “flowers” generally represent practices or deeds, which produce fruits and seeds of consequent states. This book presents a visionary cosmology describing this world system or universe as purified by the vows and deeds of Vairocana Buddha, the glorified or cosmic aspect of the historical Buddha. It represents the world system as resting on an ocean of fragrant water, which symbolizes what is called the “repository consciousness,” which is the mental repository or “storehouse” in which all experiential impressions are stored. It is from these impressions that images of the world develop. These images of the world are represented in the scripture as features of the world system. The land masses in the world system also contain seas of fragrant water, which symbolize virtuous qualities or wholesome factors in the mind. Many varieties of adornment are described, symbolizing not only virtues but also purely aesthetic views of the world without the contamination of emotional judgements. As a further dimension, the description of unthinkably many worlds over immensely vast reaches is calculated to foster a perspective in which any world is, as it were, reduced in size, like a pebble taken from the eye and returned to a mountain, no longer commanding the obsessive sense of unique significance that a narrow focus of attention invests in it. These elaborate descriptions allude also to the complexity of any realm, and try thereby to draw the consciousness into a broader awareness and detach it from restrictive preoccupations.
Book six, Vairocana, recounts illustrative tales of the development of the Buddha Vairocana in remote antiquity. The name “Vairocana” is interpreted in two senses, universal illuminator and specific illuminator, embodying both holistic and differentiating awareness. As noted, Vairocana is understood as another name for Shakyamuni in the cosmic, metaphysical sense, and also in the sense of the qualities or verities of buddhahood that are common to all Buddhas. This book describes a variety of realizations and attainments of Vairocana in the causal state, using mnemonic meditation formulae representing basic principles and praxes of Buddhist teachings. These are suggested in terms of various spells, trances, psychic powers, knowledges, lights, activities, perspectives, and so on.
The seventh book, called Names of the Buddha, again emphasizes that Buddhas, enlightened people, develop profound insight into mentalities and potentials, and teach people in accord with their capacities and needs. Thus it is that all see Buddhas differently, according to their faculties and to the teachings which have been adapted to their situations. This book recites names and epithets of Buddhas to represent different perceptions or different facets of the qualities of enlightenment. Sometimes these are given from the point of view of cause, sometimes from the point of view of effect; sometimes they are explicit, sometimes they are veiled in metaphor.
The eighth book, The Four Holy Truths, is based on the same principle as the foregoing book, presenting Buddhist teaching in myriad different ways to accommodate various mentalities and understandings. Following the lead of the seventh book, The Four Holy Truths gives various names and capsule descriptions of four points that are believed to have been one of the original teaching frames of the historical Buddha. Basically, these four truths refer to the fact of suffering, the origin of suffering, the extinction of suffering, and ways to the extinction of suffering. Here again the representations of these points may be put in terms of cause or of effect. Sometimes the mundane truths—suffering and its origin—are put in terms not of conventional reality but of ultimate reality—inherent emptiness—to show a path of transition to the world-transcending truths within the mundane itself.
Book nine, entitled Awakening by Light, is an expanding vision unfolding within light issuing from Buddha’s feet: the light progressively illumines greater and greater numbers of worlds as it travels further and further into space, radiating in all directions, revealing similar structures and parallel events in each world. In every world are immense numbers of Buddhas who each attract ten great enlightening beings, one from each of the ten directions, who in turn are each accompanied by countless enlightening beings. When the assemblies have all been arrayed, one of each group of ten great enlightening beings chants descriptive eulogies of the Buddha, alluding to the acts and realities of buddhahood. Here again is emphasized the identity of Buddha with truth and ultimate reality, the transcendental nature of the essence of Buddha.
The tenth book, called An Enlightening Being Asks for Clarification, follows up on the ninth, with the same interlocutors. This book goes explicitly into metaphysics, explaining the principle of the naturelessness or essenceless of all phenomena. This means that things have no individual nature, no inherent identity or essence of their own, because they are interdependent and only exist due to causes and conditions. For this reason it is repeatedly stated that the nature of things is natureless, that they have no being of their own. It points out that the seeming existence of things as discrete independent entities is in fact conceptual, a description projected by the mind on the flux of sense data; the real nature of things, it maintains, is insubstantial, and they die out instant to instant. In this book it is restated that realms or conditions of being are consequences of action, but it goes on to say that action is fundamentally baseless, or lacking in ultimate reality—it is the mind’s attachment to its own constructs that provides the sense of continuity.
Also stressed in this book is the point that the teachings of Buddhas may be manifold and different according to specific circumstances, but the essential truth is one and the various teachings and practices are all part of a total effort. To clarify this point further, the different mental conditions for which particular aspects of the teaching are recommended are noted, to give some idea of the purposes of the diverse doctrines and approaches of Buddhism. This book also emphasizes the critical importance of actual application of the teachings, without which the mere description of techniques is useless. A number of classic metaphors used in Chan Buddhism to stress the need for application are taken from this particular book of The Flower Ornament Scripture.
Book eleven, called Purifying Practice, was translated several times, as early as the third century. It is a litany of prayers concentrating on the development of outlook and mentality of the enlightening being. It particularly focuses on the interconnectedness of all beings and the training of this awareness. It details an elaborate scheme of thought-cultivation in which consciousness of daily activities is directed to specific wishes for universal well-being and liberation. In terms of format, much of it is based on entry into monastic life, and some of the specific actions and events on which the contemplations are based are of monastic life, but many others make no necessary distinction between lay and monastic life.
The twelfth book is called Chief in Goodness, being named after the enlightening being who expounds it. This book eulogizes the aspiration or will for enlightenment, the monumental spiritual conversion by which an ordinary person becomes an enlightening being whose life and action is based on and guided by the determination for the enlig
htenment and liberation of all beings. The inspiration of the genuine will for enlightenment is in a sense itself transcendence of the world, as universal enlightenment becomes the reason for being, and life itself is transformed into a vehicle of enlightenment. Following this, faith is praised for its instrumental value as a means of directing the mind and focusing endeavor. Then the book goes on to describe practices and their results, in terms of both self-cultivation and assistance to others. Again versatility is emphasized, and enlightening beings are symbolically described as presenting all sorts of displays and teachings to exert edifying and liberating influences on people.
Book thirteen is entitled Ascent to the Peak of Mount Sumeru. Mount Sumeru, the polar mountain of a world, is pictured as the abode of Indra (or Shakra), the mythical king of the gods of the thirty-threefold heaven, pictured as thirty-three celestial mansions on the peaks surrounding the summit of Sumeru. This book is a brief visionary welcome of the Buddha into the palace of Indra.
Book fourteen, Eulogies on Mount Sumeru, emphasizes the metaphysical aspect of Buddha, as being absolute truth. The thrust of this approach is to counter preoccupation with forms. Buddha is said to be the very absence of inherent existence or intrinsic nature of all conditioned things. Conventional reality is called a description consisting of habitual conceptions and views. Defining the world through verbal and conceptual representations is by its very nature limiting, restricting awareness, so this chapter stresses the need to see through, see beyond conventional reality in order to become enlightened. When the nature of perceptual and conceptual organization of experience as a mere tool is forgotten or unknown, and a particular organization hardens into an exclusive view, the mind has lost its freedom. The dependence of views on social, cultural, and psychological factors attests to their nonabsoluteness; the concern of Buddhist philosophy and meditation is to see through such conditioning and restore the mind to openness and flexibility. This book states that the basis of delusion and falsehood is reality, meaning that delusion and falsehood, being themselves conditioned, do not have any inherent reality or inevitability—this very emptiness of inherent reality is what is called absolute reality or truth. What is intended by this insight is not nihilistic extinction, but seeing delusion for what it is: the term “extinction” used in this connection essentially means the extinction of conditioned views. Here the scripture says that having no views is true seeing, which sees everything because it is seeing without the restriction of predispositions of ingrained mental habits. This philosophy of the relativity of mind and world is provided as a rational basis for dissolving clinging to views and freeing the mind from the enclosure of inflexible, set ways of seeing and thinking about things.
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