The Flower Ornament Scripture
Page 40
Manjushri said to Chief in Knowledge, “Excellent, O Child of Buddha! You have asked this out of a desire to benefit many, to bring peace to many, out of pity for the world, to profit and gladden celestial and human beings. Child of Buddha, if enlightening beings use their minds properly, they can attain all supreme qualities, can have a mind unhindered in regard to all enlightening teachings, can remain on the Path of the Buddhas of past, present, and future, never leaving it even while living in the midst of sentient beings, can comprehend the characteristics of all things, cut off all evil and fulfill all good. They will be physically most excellent, like Universally Good; all of their practical vows they will be able to fulfill, and will be free in all ways, and will be guides for all sentient beings. How can they use their minds so as to attain all supreme sublime qualities?
Enlightening beings at home
Should wish that all beings
Realize the nature of “home” is empty
And escape its pressures.
While serving their parents,
They should wish that all beings
Serve the Buddha,
Protecting and nourishing everyone.
While with their spouses and children,
They should wish that all beings
Be impartial toward everyone
And forever give up attachment.
When attaining desires,
They should wish that all beings
Pull out the arrow of lust
And realize ultimate peace.
On festive occasions
They should wish that all beings
Enjoy themselves with truth
And realize amusement’s not real.
If in palace rooms,
They should wish that all beings
Enter the sanctified state,
Forever rid of defiled craving.
When putting on adornments,
They should wish that all beings
Give up phony decoration
And reach the abode of truth.
When climbing up in balconies,
They should wish that all beings
Ascend the tower of truth
And see through everything.
When they give something,
They should wish that all beings
Be able to relinquish all
With hearts free of clinging.
When in gatherings or crowds,
They should wish that all beings
Let go of compounded things
And attain to total knowledge.
If in danger and difficulty,
They should wish that all beings
Be free,
Unhindered wherever they go.
When they give up home life,
They should wish that all beings
Have no hindrance in leaving home,
And that their minds be liberated.
Entering a monastery
They should wish that all beings
Expound various principles
Of noncontention.
Going to tutors and teachers,
They should wish that all beings
Skillfully serve their teachers
And practice virtuous ways.
Seeking initiation,
They should wish that all beings
Reach the nonregressing state,
Their minds without impediment
Shedding lay clothing,
They should wish that all beings
Cultivate roots of goodness
And abandon the yoke of transgressions.
When shaving off their hair,
They should wish that all beings
Forever divorce all afflictions
And pass on to ultimate tranquility.
Putting on religious garb,
They should wish that all beings
Be undefiled in mind
And fulfill the Way of the Great Sage.
When they formally leave home,
They should wish that all beings
Leave home with the Buddha
And rescue one and all.
Taking refuge in the Buddha,
They should wish that all beings
Continue the lineage of Buddhas,
Conceiving the unexcelled aspiration.
Taking refuge in the Teaching,
They should wish that all beings
Enter deeply into the scriptures
And their wisdom be deep as the sea.
Taking refuge in the Community,
They should wish that all beings
Order the masses,
All becoming free from obstruction.
When receiving the learners’ precepts,
They should wish that all beings
Learn self-control well
And not do any wrong.
Receiving a mentor’s instruction,
They should wish that all beings
Bear themselves with dignity
And that their actions be truthful.
Receiving a teacher’s guidance,
They should wish that all beings
Enter the knowledge of birthlessness
And reach the state of independence.
Receiving the full set of precepts,
They should wish that all beings
Fulfill all means of liberation
And master the supreme teaching.
When entering a hall,
They should wish that all beings
Ascend to the unexcelled sanctuary
And rest there secure, unshakable.
When setting out a seat,
They should wish that all beings
Cause good principles to bloom
And see their true character.
Sitting up straight,
They should wish that all beings
Sit on the seat of enlightenment,
Their minds without attachment.
Sitting cross-legged,
They should wish that all beings
Have firm and strong roots of goodness
And attain the state of immovability.
Cultivating concentration,
They should wish that all beings
Conquer their minds by concentration
Ultimately, with no remainder.
When practicing contemplation,
They should wish that all beings
See truth as it is
And be forever free of opposition and contention.
When uncrossing the legs,
They should wish that all beings
Observe that all acts and all things
Return to dispersal and extinction.
When lowering the feet and resting,
They should wish that all beings
Attain liberation of mind,
Resting at peace, unstirred.
When raising the legs,
They should wish that all beings
Leave the sea of birth and death
And fulfill all good qualities.
When putting on lower garments,
They should wish that all beings
Wear the foundations of goodness
And have a sense of shame and conscience.
When putting on a belt,
They should wish that all beings
Bundle roots of goodness
And not let them be lost.
When putting on an outer garment,
They should wish that all beings
Attain supreme bases of goodness
And reach the Other Shore of the teaching.
Putting on monastic robes,
They should wish that all beings
Enter the foremost rank
And attain imperturbability.
Taking a toothstick in hand,
They should wish that all beings
Attain the wonderful teaching
And be ultimately pure.
When chewing on the toothstick,
They should wish that all beings
Be harmo
nious and pure in mind,
Biting through all afflictions.
When going to the toilet,
They should wish that all beings
Reject greed, hatred, and folly,
And clean away sinful things.
When going to wash thereafter,
They should wish that all beings
Speedily go
To the transmundane.
When washing off the body’s filth,
They should wish that all beings
Be pure and harmonious
And ultimately without defilement.
When washing the hands with water,
They should wish that all beings
Have pure clean hands
To receive and hold Buddha’s teaching.
When washing the face with water,
They should wish that all beings
Attain the pure teaching
And be forever free from defilement.
Picking up a staff,
They should wish that all beings
Establish great works of charity
And point out the road of truth.
Taking up a bowl,
They should wish that all beings
Perfect the vessel of truth
And receive human and divine support.
Setting out on a road,
They should wish that all beings
Go where the Buddha goes,
Into the realm of nonreliance.
When on the road,
They should wish that all beings
Tread the pure realm of reality,
Their minds without obstruction.
Seeing a road uphill,
They should wish that all beings
Forever leave the world,
Their minds free from weakness.
Seeing a road downhill,
They should wish that all beings
Be humble in mind
And develop enlightened bases of virtue.
Seeing a winding road,
They should wish that all beings
Abandon false paths
And forever purge wrong views.
Seeing a straight road,
They should wish that all beings
Be straight and true in mind,
Without flattery or deceit.
Seeing a dusty road,
They should wish that all beings
Get rid of dust and dirt
And attain the state of purity.
Seeing a dust-free road,
They should wish that all beings
Always practice great compassion,
Their hearts refreshing and nourishing.
Seeing a dangerous road,
They should wish that all beings
Abide in the realm of truth
And avoid the troubles of wrongdoing.
Seeing a group of people,
They should wish that all beings
Expound the most profound teaching,
That all be harmoniously united.
If they see a big tree,
They should wish that all beings
Divorce egotistic contentiousness
And be free of anger and resentment.
If they see a grove,
The should wish that all beings
Be worthy of the respect
Of celestials and humans.
If they see high mountains,
They should wish that all beings’
Roots of goodness stand out,
Their peak beyond anyone’s reach.
If they see thorny trees,
They should wish that all beings
May quickly cut away
The thorns of the three poisons.
Seeing trees with luxuriant foliage,
They should wish that all beings
Make a canopy of light
With stability and liberation.
If they see flowers blooming,
They should wish that all beings’
Mystic spiritual powers
Be like blossoming flowers.
If they see blossoms on trees,
They should wish that all beings’
Features be like flowers,
With all marks of distinction.
If they see fruits,
They should wish that all beings
Attain the supreme teaching
And realize the way of enlightenment.
If they see a big river,
They should wish that all beings
Gain entry into the stream of truth
And enter the ocean of Buddha-knowledge.
If they see a reservoir,
They should wish that all beings
Quickly awaken to
The truth of the oneness of the Buddhas.
If they see a pond,
They should wish that all beings
Be fully accomplished in speech
And be skillful in preaching.
If they see a well,
They should wish that all beings
Have full powers of elucidation
To explain all things.
If they see a spring,
They should wish that all beings’
Skill in means increases
And their good roots be inexhaustible.
If they see a bridge,
They should wish that all beings
Carry all across to freedom
Like a bridge.
If they see flowing water,
They should wish that all beings
Develop wholesome will
And wash away the stains of delusion.
Seeing a garden cultivated
They should wish that all beings
In the garden of sense desires
Clear away the weeds of craving.
Seeing a forest of “sorrowless” trees
They should wish that all beings
Forever divorce greed and lust
And not produce anxiety and fear.
If they see a park,
They should wish that all beings
Diligently cultivate the practices
Leading to Buddhas’ enlightenment.
Seeing people wearing ornaments
They should wish that all beings
Be adorned with a Buddha’s
Thirty-two marks of distinction.
Seeing the unadorned
They should wish that all beings
Give up decorations
And practice austerity.
Seeing people attached to pleasure
They should wish that all beings
Delight themselves with truth,
Not abandoning love for it.
Seeing the unattached
They should wish that all beings
Have no care in their minds
For fabricated things.
Seeing happy people
They should wish that all beings
Always be peaceful and happy,
Gladly supporting the Buddhas.
Seeing people suffer
They should wish that all beings
Attain fundamental knowledge
And eliminate all misery.
Seeing people with no maladies
They should wish that all beings
Enter true wisdom
And never have sickness or afflictions.
Seeing people sick
They should wish that all beings
Know the body is empty and null
And divorce opposition and conflict.
Seeing handsome people
They should wish that all beings
Always have pure faith
In the enlightened and enlightening ones.
Seeing ugly people
They should wish that all beings
Not become attached
To anything not good.
Seeing grateful people
They should wish that all beings
Be able to know the blessings
Of the Buddhas and enl
ightening beings.
Seeing ungrateful people
They should wish that all beings
Not increase the punishment
Of those who are bad.
If they see mendicants,
They should wish that all beings
Be harmonious and tranquil,
Ultimately conquering themselves.
Seeing brahmins
They should wish that all beings
Always maintain pure conduct,
Getting rid of all evil.
Seeing ascetics
They should wish that all beings
By austere practices
Reach the ultimate state.
Seeing self-disciplined people
They should wish that all beings
Strongly maintain their will in practice
And not give up the Buddhas’ path.
Seeing people wearing armor
They should wish that all beings
Always wear the armor of virtue,
Heading for the teacherless state.
Seeing the unarmed
They should wish that all beings
Be forever rid of all
Doings that are not good.
Seeing people debate
They should wish that all beings
Be able to refute
All erroneous doctrines.
Seeing people of proper livelihood
They should wish that all beings
Succeed in pure livelihood
Without improper behavior.
If they see a king,
They should wish that all beings
Become kings of truth,
Always expounding the right teaching.
If they see a prince,
They should wish that all beings
Be reborn from the truth
And be children of Buddha.
If they see an elder,
They should wish that all beings
Be able to clearly cut off
And not practice evil ways.
If they see a great minister,
They should wish that all beings
Always maintain right mindfulness
And practice all virtues.
If they see a castle,
They should wish that all beings
Gain strong and firm bodies
And indefatigable minds.