The Flower Ornament Scripture
Page 64
Then the Enlightened One, his great compassion covering all, showed the adornments of omniscience, wanting to cause the sentient beings in innumerable worlds who had no faith to have faith, to cause those with faith to develop, to cause the developed to become pure, to cause the pure to become mature, to cause the mature to conquer their minds and contemplate the profound truth, be filled with the boundless light of knowledge and wisdom, develop an immeasurably broad mind, an omniscient mind, never regressing, not going against the essential nature of things, not fearing ultimate reality, to realize genuine truth, fulfill all transcendent practices, purify all transmundane virtues, like Universally Good, attain the freedom of buddhahood, leave the realm of demons and enter the realm of Buddhas, comprehend the profound teaching and attain inconceivable knowledge, never regressing from the vows of universal salvation, to always see the Buddhas, never abandoning them, to perfect experiential knowledge, realize infinite truths, be filled with the boundless power of the treasury of virtue, develop a joyous mind, enter the realm where there is no doubt, divorce evil and be pure, see things unperturbed due to omniscience, gain entry to the congregations of all enlightening beings, and always be born in the family of the enlightened ones of past, present, and future.
These adornments manifested by the Buddha were all made by roots of goodness accumulated in the past, for the purpose of harmonizing and civilizing all sentient beings, to reveal the great powerful virtue of the enlightened, to light up the treasury of unobstructed knowledge and wisdom, to show the extreme radiance of the boundless supreme virtues of the enlightened, to show the inconceivable great spiritual displays of the enlightened, to manifest the buddha-body in all realms of being by means of spiritual powers, to show the boundlessness of the mystic powers and magical transfigurations of the enlightened, to fulfill all his original aspirations, to show that the dauntless knowledge and wisdom of the enlightened can go everywhere, to become the king of truth free in all ways, to produce all avenues of knowledge, to manifest the purity of the body of the enlightened, and also to reveal the supreme splendor of his body, to manifest the realization of the equal state of the Buddhas of all times, to reveal the pure treasury of roots of goodness, to manifest the most sublime form, to which nothing in the world may be likened, to show the characteristics of full command of the ten powers, to cause beholders never to tire, to be the sun of the world, illumining past, present, and future. All the virtuous qualities of the sovereign king of truth were manifested by roots of goodness of the past; even if all enlightening beings were to eulogize and tell of them throughout all time, they never would be exhaustively told.
Then the king of the Tushita heaven, having prepared all the offerings for the Buddha, together with countless deities of the Tushita heaven, joined his palms in a gesture of respect toward the Buddha and said, “Welcome, World Honored One; welcome, Felicitous One; welcome, Enlightened One, Worthy, Truly Awakened One! Please look upon us with compassion and sojourn in this place.”
Then the World Honored One, adorning himself with the adornments of Buddhahood, replete with magnificent virtues, in order to gladden all beings, in order that all enlightening beings develop profound understanding, so that all the celestial beings of the Tushita heaven increase in determination, so that the king of the Tushita heaven never tires of generosity and service, so that countless beings focus their attention on the Buddha and become inspired to seek enlightenment, so that countless types of beings see the endlessness of the Buddha’s roots of goodness, blessings, and virtues, so that they always be able to arouse pure faith, so that, seeing a Buddha, they serve without seeking anything, so that all of their aspirations be pure, so that they diligently amass roots of goodness without flagging, and so that they would vow to seek omniscience, the Buddha accepted the invitation of the celestial king and entered the palace adorned by all jewels. Just as in this world, the same thing transpired in all worlds in the ten directions.
At that point the hall adorned by all jewels naturally had wonderfully fine decorations, surpassing all the heavens, and atop the decorations were nets of all jewels covering all over, showering clouds of all the finest gems all over, showering clouds of all kinds of ornaments, clouds of all kinds of precious raiment, clouds of all kinds of sandalwood incenses, clouds of all kinds of solid fragrances, clouds of canopies adorned by all jewels, and clouds of bunches of inconceivably many flowers, producing everywhere inconceivable music praising the Enlightened One’s knowledge of all means of liberation, all in accord with the sublime truth. All these offerings were beyond those of the celestial beings.
Then in the Tushita palace rich music and singing continued ceaselessly. By the spiritual power of the Buddha, the mind of the king of Tushita was made imperturbable; his past roots of goodness all reached complete fulfillment, his good qualities became more firm and stable, he increased in pure faith, he aroused great vigor, conceived great joy, purified profound aspiration, made the determination for enlightenment, and placed his unwavering attention on the teaching, keeping it firmly in mind. Then the king of the Tushita heaven, empowered by the Buddha, recalled the roots of goodness he had planted with past Buddhas and said in verse,
There once was a Buddha, Unobstructed Moon,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this hall of adornment,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Broad Knowledge,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this golden hall,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Universal Eye,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this hall of adornment,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Coral,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this jewel mine hall,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha, Lion of Philosophy,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this mountain king hall,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Sunlight,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this hall of flowers.
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Boundless Light,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this tree-adorned hall,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Banner of Truth,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this jewel palace hall,
Therefore this place is most auspcious.
There once was a Buddha called Lamp of Knowledge,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this fragrant mountain hall,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
There once was a Buddha called Light of Virtue,
Most auspicious among the auspicious;
He once entered this crystal hall,
Therefore this place is most auspicious.
As in this world the king of the Tushita heaven, by the power of the Buddha, eulogized Buddhas of the past, so also did the kings of the Tushita heavens in all worlds praise the virtues of Buddhas.
Then the World Honored One sat crosslegged on the jewel treasury lion throne in the hall adorned by all jewels. His body of reality was pure, his inconceivable action was free. He was in the same realm as all Buddhas of all times, abiding in omniscience, entering into the same one essence with all the Buddhas. His enlightened eye was perfectly clear, and he saw all things without hindrance. He had great mystic powers, coursing everywhere throughout the cosmos unceasingly. He had great occult powers, able to go anywhere there m
ight be beings who could be taught. His body was adorned with the unobstructed embellishments of all Buddhas. He was well aware of appropriate timing in expounding teachings to people.
Unspeakably many enlightening beings came from various lands in other regions and assembled; the congregation was pure, their reality-body nondual; they rested on nothing, and were freely able to perform the actions of Buddhas.
When the Buddha had sat on this throne, in the hall there spontaneously appeared countless adornments surpassing all the offerings of the celestials. That is, flower garlands, robes, perfumes, incense, jeweled parasols, banners, pennants, music, and singing. Each of these was uncountable. With great reverence and respect these were offered to the Buddha. The same thing took place in all the Tushita heavens in the ten directions.
BOOK TWENTY-FOUR
Eulogies in the Tushita Palace
THEN, DUE TO THE SPIRITUAL FORCE of the Buddha, a great enlightening being from each of the ten directions, each accompanied by as many enlightening beings as atoms in ten thousand buddha-lands, came to where the Buddha was, from worlds beyond lands as numerous as atoms in ten thousand buddha-lands. Their names were Diamond Banner, Banner of Steadfastness, Banner of Bravery, Banner of Light, Banner of Knowledge, Jewel Banner, Banner of Energy, Banner of Purification, Constellation Banner, and Banner of Truth. The worlds they came from were called Fine Jewel World, Fine Music World, Fine Silver World, Fine Gold World, Fine Crystal World, Fine Diamond World, Fine Lotus World, Fine Blue Lotus World, Fine Sandalwood World, and Fine Fragrance World. They each purified and cultivated religious practice with Buddhas, the names of which Buddhas were Banner of Inexhaustibility, Wind Banner, Banner of Liberation, Banner of Dignity, Banner of Understanding of Characteristics, Banner of Eternity, Banner of Supreme Excellence, Banner of Freedom, Banner of Purity, and Banner of Observation.
When those enlightening beings arrived at the Buddha’s spot, they prostrated themselves before the Buddha; then, by the Buddha’s mystic power he magically produced lion seats of masses of beautiful jewels covered with nets of jewels all around, and the hosts of enlightening beings, according to the direction from which they had come, sat on those seats, Their bodies all emanated countless beams of pure light. This boundless light all came from the enlightening beings’ pure mind-jewels, their great vows which were free from all evils. They revealed the pure phenomena of the powers of all Buddhas. By the power of the impartial vision of all enlightening beings they were able to universally save all sentient beings. They were a gladdening sight in all worlds; those who saw them did not do so in vain—all attained harmony and tranquility.
Those enlightening beings had all already perfected innumerable virtues: for example, they traveled to all buddha-lands without hindrance; they saw the pure body of reality which rests on nothing; with the body of knowledge they manifested countless bodies going everywhere in the ten directions to serve the Buddhas; they entered into the Buddhas’ innumerable, boundless, inconceivable powers; they dwelt in the medium of omniscience; by the light of knowledge they comprehended all things; they had attained fearlessness in all respects; they taught wherever they were, their powers of elucidation forever inexhaustible; with great knowledge and wisdom they opened the gate of concentration spells; with the eye of wisdom they entered the profound realm of truth; the realm of their knowledge was boundless and ultimately pure, like space itself.
As in the palace of the Tushita heaven in this world the hosts of enlightening beings gathered like this, the same thing transpired in all the Tushita heavens in the ten directions; the names of the enlightening beings who gathered, the names of their countries, and the Buddhas there were all the same.
Then the World Honored One emanated countless beams of light from the wheel marks on his knees, illuminating the entire space of the cosmos in the ten directions. The enlightening beings in all worlds all saw this miraculous display of the Buddha, and the enlightening beings here saw the miraculous displays of all the Buddhas in other worlds. These enlightening beings had all similarly planted roots of goodness in the distant past along with Vairocana Buddha, cultivating enlightening practice; they all had awakened to and entered the free, extremely profound liberation of the Buddhas, and had attained the undifferentiated cosmic body, entering all lands without dwelling anywhere. They saw countless Buddhas and went to serve them all. In a single mental instant they traversed the cosmos, freely and without hindrance. Their minds and intellects were pure, like priceless jewels. Innumerable Buddhas always guarded them mindfully, sharing their power with them. They reached the ultimate, supreme other shore; by pure mindfulness they continually dwelt in highest awareness; in every moment of thought they continually entered into the realm of omniscience; they put the small in the large and the large in the small, free in all ways, with no obstruction whatsoever. They had already attained the buddha-body and dwelt in the same abode as the Buddhas; they had attained omniscience and produced their bodies from omniscience. They were able to enter the spheres of action of all enlightened ones. They opened up innumerable gates of knowledge and wisdom. They reached the other shore of indestructible great knowledge, attained adamantine concentration, and cut off all doubts and confusion. They had attained the autonomous spiritual powers of Buddhas, teaching and taming countless numbers of sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions. Though they had no attachments to any categories or phenomena, they were were able to learn and develop ultimate skill in use of doctrines and to establish all teachings conducive to enlightenment.
Hosts of enlightening beings with such infinite treasuries of all inexhaustible pure virtues of past, present, and future all came and assembled at the Buddha’s place; the same thing occurred at the places of all the Buddhas revealed by the light.
Then the enlightening being Diamond Banner, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,
The Buddha does not appear in the world
And has no extinction either:
By the power of his great original vow
He demonstrates his freedom.
This truth is inconceivable—
It is not in the sphere of mind:
When knowledge reaches the other shore
One then sees the realm of the Buddhas.
The physical body is not the Buddha,
Neither is the audible voice:
Yet not apart from form and sound
Can Buddha’s mystic power be perceived.
Those of little knowledge cannot know
The true realm of the Buddhas;
After long cultivation of purifying action
Will one be able to comprehend.
The Truly Awake comes from nowhere
And also goes nowhere:
The pure, refined physical body
Appears through spiritual power.
Manifesting the body of an enlightened one
In innumerable worlds,
Widely expounding the subtle teachings,
His mind has no attachments.
His knowledge, being boundless,
Comprehends all things;
Entering everywhere in the universe,
He manifests autonomous powers.
Sentient beings and all phenomena
He comprehends unhindered;
Everywhere manifesting physical forms,
He is omnipresent in all lands.
If you want to see omniscience
And soon attain highest awareness,
You should, with pure clear mind,
Cultivate enlightening practice.
If any see such mystic powers
Of the Enlightened One,
They should serve the Supreme Honored One
And not give rise to doubt.
Then the enlightening being Banner of Steadfastness, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,
The Enlightened One is incomparable,
Most profound, inexplicable,
Beyond all manner of speech,
Pure as space itself.
Behold the Human Lion’s
Autonomous mystic power,
Beyond discrimination,
Yet causing distinct perceptions.
In order to expound
The profound and subtle teaching
The Guide, for this reason,
Manifests this peerless body.
This is great knowledge,
The realm of all the Buddhas;
If any want to know,
Let them approach the Enlightened.
With mental action always pure,