The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  “This Flower Bank Array ocean of worlds is supported by as many atmospheres as there are atoms in the polar mountain. The bottommost atmosphere is called Impartial Abode; it holds arrays of blazing flames of all jewels above it. The next atmosphere is called Producing Various Precious Adornments; it holds diamond banners radiant with pure light above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Precious Power; it holds chimes of all jewels above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Impartial Flavor; it holds diamond orbs of the appearance of sunlight above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Various Universal Adornments; it holds flowers of light discs above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Universal Purity; it holds flaming lion thrones of all flowers above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Sound Pervading the Ten Directions; it holds banners of all regal pearls above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Light of All Jewels; it holds all diamond tree flowers above it. The next higher atmosphere is called High Velocity Universal Support; it holds mountainous clouds of all fragrant gems above it. The next higher atmosphere is called Various Mansions in Motion; it holds clouds of pedestals of all precious colors and fragrances above it. The uppermost of those atmospheres as numerous as atoms in a mountain is called Repository of Supreme Light; it holds an ocean of fragrant water, adorned by radiant diamonds. In this ocean of fragrant water is an enormous lotus blossom, called Banner of Fragrance, with pistils of all kinds of lights; this Flower Bank Array ocean of worlds rests therein. This ocean of worlds is square and level, pure and stable, surrounded by diamond circular mountains. Its lands, seas, and trees each have distinct boundaries.”

  Then Universally Good, to recapitulate, looked over the ten directions with the power of the Buddha and said in verse,

  In the past the Buddha, in all states of being

  Cultivated pure deeds with Buddhas as many as atoms;

  Thus he attained the Flower Bank Array ocean of world

  With all kinds of jewel lights.

  His vast clouds of mercy cover all;

  He has given up his body innumerable times.

  Because of the power of his past eons of practice,

  This world now has no defilements.

  It emanates great light, which abides throughout space;

  Held by atmospheric power, it doesn’t tremble or quake.

  It is adorned everywhere by jewels of Buddha’s treasury;

  The power of Buddha’s vows has made it pure.

  Strewn about are flowers of beautiful mines of jewels,

  Resting in the sky through the power of ancient vows.

  Over an ocean of various adornments, stable and strong,

  Clouds of light spread, filling the ten directions.

  In all the jewels are clouds of enlightening beings

  Traveling to all quarters, blazing with light;

  Rimmed with glowing flames, beautiful flower ornaments

  Circulate throughout the universe, reaching everywhere.

  From all the jewels emanates pure light

  Which totally illumines the ocean of all beings;

  Pervading all lands in the ten directions,

  It frees them from pain and turns them to enlightenment.

  The Buddhas in the jewels are equal in number to all beings;

  From their hair pores they emanate phantom forms:

  Celestial beings, world rulers, and so on,

  Including forms of all beings as well as Buddhas.

  Their magical light beams are as many as all things;

  In the light they intone the names of all Buddhas.

  By various means they teach and civilize,

  Accommodating all the various minds everywhere.

  In each atom of the Flower Bank world

  Is seen the universe of the elemental cosmos;

  Jewel lights display Buddhas like masses of clouds:

  This is the Buddha’s freedom in his field.

  The vast cloud of his vows extends throughout the cosmos,

  Edifying all beings throughout all time.

  Having completed the practice of the state of knowledge of universal good,

  All the adornments there are emerge from here.

  Then Universally Good again addressed the great congregation: “Children of Buddha, the surrounding mountains of this Flower Bank Array ocean of worlds rest on lotus blossoms of sun-pearls. Their mass is made of sandalwood crystals, their peaks of majestic diamonds. Their curves are made of precious stones of exquisite fragrance. They are composed of fiery diamonds. Rivers of all perfumes flow between them. Their forests are made of all kinds of jewels. They are covered with beautiful flowers and fragrant herbs, and studded with bright pearls. Nets of precious stones are draped all around. There are as many such beautiful adornments as there are atoms in an ocean of worlds.”

  Then, to recapitulate, Universally Good, the enlightening being, receiving spiritual power from the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  The great ocean of worlds has no bounds;

  Its circumference of jewels is pure and multicolored.

  All the adornments it has are of rare beauty;

  This comes from the spiritual power of the Buddha.

  Rings of jewels, rings of exquisite incense,

  As well as rings of pearls and lamp flames—

  Various beautiful treasures adorn it,

  Whereon rest a pure ring of mountains.

  Their mines are of solid jewels,

  They’re decorated with rose gold,

  Their light blazes throughout the ten directions;

  Inside and out they shine, all pure and clear.

  Made of masses of diamonds,

  Also raining beautiful jewels,

  Their jewel atmospheres are unique and different,

  Radiating pure light beautifying everywhere.

  The fragrant rivers divide into streams of infinite hues,

  Scattering flower-jewels and sandalwood,

  With lotuses thickly blooming, like clothing spread,

  And rare plants abundantly growing, all of them aromatic.

  Countless jewel trees adorn everywhere,

  The colors of their blooming flowers radiantly bright;

  Various kinds of fine raiment are placed thereon,

  With clouds of light shining everywhere, all round and full.

  Countless, boundless great enlightening beings

  Holding canopies, burning incense, fill the universe,

  Each producing all wonderful voices

  Everywhere expounding the Buddhas’ true teaching.

  The trees of precious elements have branches of jewels,

  Each jewel branch emitting light;

  Vairocana’s pure body

  Enters therein, causing all to see.

  In all the adornments are manifest buddha-bodies

  Of boundless forms and countless numbers,

  All going to all quarters, reaching everywhere,

  The beings they teach also being limitless.

  All the adornments emit sublime sounds

  Expounding the circle of the Buddha’s original vows—

  Buddha’s independent power causes them to pervade

  All the pure oceans of lands there are.

  Then Universally Good also said, “The land within the surrounding mountains of this ocean of worlds is all made of diamond. Its stable, strong adornments cannot be broken. It is clean and level. It is fringed by precious stones and contains repositories of jewels. It is arrayed at intervals with all kinds of gems in the various forms of all sentient beings. It is strewn with jewel dust and spread with lotus blossoms, with jewels from fragrant mines placed among them. The various adornments fill everywhere, like clouds. It is decorated with all the embellishments of all the buddha-lands of past, present, and future. It is webbed with beautiful precious stones, which reflect the states of all the Buddhas like the net of Indra, emperor of the heavens, hanging there. The ground of this ocean of worlds has adornments s
uch as these, as many as atoms in an ocean of worlds.”

  Then, to recapitulate, Universally Good, receiving spiritual power from the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said,

  That ground is level and utterly pure,

  Firmly abiding, indestructible;

  It is adorned with jewels everywhere,

  With various gemstones interspersed.

  The diamond earth is most delightful,

  Embellished with jewel rings and nets,

  Spread with lotus blossoms in full bloom,

  With exquisite raiment covering all.

  Enlightening beings’ celestial crowns and jewel necklaces

  Are spread all over the ground as decorations;

  Sandalwood-scented jewels are strewn about,

  All radiating pure, exquisite light.

  Jewel flowers flame, producing subtle light;

  Flames of light, like clouds, illuminate all.

  These flowers, and myriad jewels,

  Are strewn over the ground for adornment.

  Dense clouds rise and fill the ten directions

  With tremendous rays of light that have no end,

  Reaching all lands in the ten directions

  Expounding the Buddha’s vivifying teaching.

  All the Buddha’s vows are in the jewels

  Revealing boundless, vast eons;

  What the Supreme Knower did in days gone by

  Is all seen within these jewels.

  Into all the jewels of this ground

  Come and enter all the Buddha-fields—

  And into each atom of those buddha-fields

  Also enter all lands.

  In the Flower Bank world, adorned with wondrous jewels

  Enlightening beings travel throughout the ten directions,

  Expounding the universal vows of the Great Hero:

  This is their power of freedom in enlightenment sites.

  The ground arrayed with beautiful precious stones

  Radiates pure light replete with all adornments

  Filling the cosmos, equal to space;

  Buddha’s power naturally manifests like this.

  Those who master the vows of universal good,

  Those of great knowledge who enter the Buddha’s realm,

  Can know, in this ocean of lands,

  All such mystic transformations as these.

  Then Universally Good also said to the assembly, “In the land masses of this ocean of worlds are seas of fragrant waters, as numerous as atoms in unspeakably many buddha-fields. All beautiful jewels adorn the floors of those seas; gems of exquisite fragrances adorn their shores. They are meshed with luminous diamonds. Their fragrant waters shine with the colors of all jewels. Flowers of all kinds of gems swirl on their surfaces. Sandalwood powder settles on the bottom of the seas. They emanate the sounds of Buddhas’ speech. They radiate jewellike light. Boundless enlightening beings, holding various canopies, manifest mystic powers causing the adornments of all worlds to appear therein. Stairways of ten kinds of precious substances are set out in rows, with balustrades of ten kinds of jewels surrounding them. White lotuses ornamented with jewels, as many as atoms in four continents, are spread over the waters, in full bloom. There are unspeakable hundreds of thousands of billions of trillions of banners of ten precious elements, banners of belled gauze of raiments of all jewels, as many as sand grains in the Ganges river, jewel flower palaces of boundless forms, as many as sand grains in the Ganges river, a hundred thousand billion trillion lotus castles of ten precious substances, forests of jewel trees as many as atoms in four continents, networks of flaming jewels, as many sandalwood perfumes as grains of sand in the Ganges, and jewels of blazing radiance emitting the sounds of Buddhas’ speech; unspeakable hundreds of thousands of billions of trillions of walls made of all jewels surround all of them, adorning everywhere.”

  Then, to reiterate, Universally Good, spiritually empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said,

  On the land masses of these worlds

  Are seas of fragrant water, adorned by jewels;

  Pure beautiful gems line the sea floors,

  Resting on diamond, indestructible.

  Heaps of jewels of fragrant mines form the shores,

  Orbs of sun-flame pearls are spread like clouds;

  Garlands of lotuses and exquisite jewels

  Adorn everywhere, pure, without taint.

  The fragrant waters are clear and contain all colors;

  Precious flowers swirl, radiating light.

  Sounds that cause all to quake are heard far and near,

  Expounding the subtle truth by the Buddha’s mystic powers.

  The arrays of stairways contain all jewels

  And are studded at intervals with pearls;

  The surrounding balustrades are all made of jewels

  With nets of lotuses and pearls draped like clouds.

  Gemstone trees stand in rows,

  Flower buds blossom, their luster bright;

  Various music is always playing:

  Buddha’s mystic power makes it so.

  White lotuses of various superb jewels

  Are spread in arrays on the fragrant water seas.

  Rays of fragrant flames never cease:

  Their vast auras fill everywhere.

  Banners of bright pearls, ever radiant,

  Drapes of fine clothing ornamenting,

  Nets of crystal bells intone the sound of truth,

  Causing hearers to head for buddha-knowledge.

  Lotuses of jewels form castles

  Adorned with multicolored gems,

  While clouds of pearls shade the four corners,

  Thus adorning the seas of fragrant waters.

  Walls surround everything

  With facing towers arrayed on them.

  Countless lights are always shining,

  Variously adorning the pure clear seas.

  Vairocana, in ancient times,

  Beautified and purified various oceans of lands

  Like this, vast, broad, without bounds:

  All is the Buddha’s sovereign power.

  Then Universally Good went on to say to the great congregation, “Each one of the fragrant seas has as many rivers of fragrant waters as there are atoms in four continents, circling them to the right. All of them have diamond banks adorned with crystals of pure light, always manifesting clouds of jewel color lights of the Buddhas, as well as the speech sounds of all sentient beings. The causal practices cultivated by the Buddhas, their various forms and characteristics, all emerge from the swirls in the rivers. There are networks of crystals and chimes of many jewels, wherein appear the adornments of all the oceans of worlds. Clouds of jewels cover them above: those clouds show all the phantom Buddhas emanated in the ten directions by Vairocana of the Flower Bank world, as well as the deeds of psychic power of all Buddhas; they also produce miraculous sounds extolling the names of the enlightened and enlightening beings of past, present, and future. From those fragrant waters constantly emerge clouds of light with the radiance of all jewels, continuing uninterrupted. If the full story be told, each river has as many adornments as atoms in an ocean of worlds.”

  Then, to reiterate, Universally Good, with the psychic power he received from the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said,

  Currents of pure fragrance fill the great rivers,

  Beautiful diamonds form their banks.

  Rings of jewel dust are spread on the ground;

  The various ornaments are all rare and fine.

  Jewel stairways arrayed in rows, beautifully adorned,

  Balustrades surrounding, all extremely fine,

  Flower decorations, with stores of pearls,

  And various garlands draped all around.

  The fragrant waters’ jewellike luster is pure,

  Always spewing crystals in rushing currents;

  The flowers undulate with the ripples,

  All producing music intoning
sublime truths.

  The mud is made of sandalwood powder,

  All splendid jewels swirl together;

  Aromas of stores of scent spread therein,

  Emitting flames circulating fragrance everywhere.

  In the rivers are produced wonderful jewels,

  All emitting lights of blazing color;

  The lights cast reflections forming terrace seats

  Complete with canopies and garlands of pearls.

  In the diamonds appear bodies of Buddhas,

  Their lights illumining the ten directions’ lands;

  Circles of them decorate the river beds,

  Always full of fragrant water, clear.

  Crystal nets, bells of gold,

  Cover the rivers, broadcasting Buddha’s voice,

  Preaching all ways to enlightenment

  And the sublime practice of universal good.

  The crystals of the jewel banks are extremely pure,

  And always produce the tones of the Buddhas’ original vows,

  Telling of and showing

  The past deeds of all Buddhas.

  From the whirls of those rivers enlightening beings

  Constantly emerge, like clouds,

  All traveling in the vast, extensive lands,

  Till all the universe is filled.

  Pure pearls are spread like clouds

  Covering all the fragrant rivers;

  Those pearls are as many as the appearances from Buddha’s brow,

  Clearly showing the images of all enlightened ones.

  Then Universally Good also said to the great assembly, “The land in between these rivers of fragrant waters is all variously adorned with beautiful jewels. Each land space has as many white lotuses decorated with jewels as there are atoms in four continents, surrounding and filling everywhere. Each has as many forests of jewel trees as atoms in four continents, standing in orderly rows, with each tree constantly producing clouds of all ornaments, diamonds shining within them. The fragrances of all kinds of flowers fill everywhere. Those trees also produce subtle sounds, speaking of the great vows practiced by all the Buddhas in all ages. They also scatter various kinds of diamonds all over the ground: diamonds with lotus auras, fragrant flame light cloud diamonds, variously embellished diamonds, diamonds reflecting the colors of inconceivably many adornments, diamonds like stores of raiment of sunlight, diamonds draping clouds of webs of light throughout the ten directions, diamonds reflecting the spiritual metamorphoses of all Buddhas, diamonds reflecting the ocean of consequences of actions of all sentient beings. There are as many of such as these as there are atoms in an ocean of worlds. The lands in between the fragrant rivers all have such adornments.”