The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  Making offerings to the Buddhas

  With never any weariness,

  One can enter the Buddha Way.

  Filled with endless virtues,

  Steadfast in the will for enlightenment,

  Thereby the net of doubt is removed

  And one gazes tirelessly on the Buddha.

  By comprehending all things

  Does one become a true child of Buddha:

  Such a person can know

  The Buddhas’ autonomous power.

  As explained by those of vast knowledge,

  Will is the root of the teachings;

  One must develop supreme aspiration,

  Determined to seek highest awakening.

  If any respect the Buddha

  And want to requite the Buddha’s grace,

  They will never leave

  The abode of all the Buddhas.

  How can intelligent people

  Who’ve seen and heard the Buddha

  Not carry out pure vows

  And tread the path the Buddha traversed?

  Then Banner of Bravery, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  Just as a clear eye

  Can see colors due to the sun,

  So too can a pure heart

  See the Enlightened by Buddha’s power.

  As by the power of effort

  One can plumb the depths of the sea,

  So too can the power of knowledge

  See innumerable Buddhas.

  As in a fertile, watered field

  Whatever’s planted will grow,

  So does the ground of a pure mind

  Produce enlightened qualities.

  As a man who’s found a jewel mine

  Is forever freed from poverty,

  An enlightening being finding the Buddha teaching

  Is free from defilement, pure in mind.

  Just as a true panacea

  Can eliminate all toxins,

  Buddha’s teaching too is like this:

  It annihilates all afflictions.

  Truly genuine teachers

  Are praised by the enlightened:

  Through their spiritual power

  We get to hear the Buddha teachings.

  Even if for countless cons

  One gave precious things to Buddha,

  If one doesn’t know the real nature of Buddha

  This is not called giving.

  Infinite physical characteristics

  Adorn the Buddha’s body;

  Yet it is not in physical form

  That the Buddha can be seen.

  The Enlightened One, Truly Awake,

  Is peaceful, never moving,

  Yet can manifest his body

  Throughout all worlds in the ten directions.

  Just as space itself

  Is unborn and unperishing,

  So is the truth of the Buddhas

  Ultimately birthless and deathless.

  Then Banner of Light, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  In the human and celestial realms

  In all the worlds there are

  They see everywhere the Enlightened One’s

  Body of pure wondrous form.

  Just as the power of one mind

  Can produce various minds,

  So can one buddha-body

  Manifest all Buddhas everywhere.

  Enlightenment is nondual

  And also has no marks:

  Yet in the realm of duality

  He manifests a glorified body.

  Comprehending the nature of things is empty,

  Their origination like apparitions,

  His realm of action’s inexhaustible:

  Thus does the Guide appear.

  Pure is the reality-body

  Of all Buddhas of all times;

  They manifest sublime physical forms

  Wherever and however people need to be taught.

  The enlightened do not think

  “I’ll produce such a body”:

  They manifest spontaneously

  Without discriminating.

  The realm of reality is undifferentiated

  And also has no basis:

  And yet in the world

  It manifests countless bodies.

  The Buddha’s bodies are not emanations

  And yet not other than emanations:

  In the reality where there are no emanations

  He appears to have emanated forms.

  True awareness cannot be measured,

  The reality-realm’s equal to space;

  Profound, vast, without bound or bottom,

  Utterly beyond the power of speech.

  The Enlightened One has mastered

  The road leading everywhere:

  Through the myriad lands of the cosmos

  He goes without obstruction.

  Then Banner of Knowledge, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  If one can believe and accept

  Omniscience without obstruction,

  And practice enlightening ways,

  One’s mind will be immeasurable.

  In all lands

  Buddha manifests countless bodies,

  Yet the bodies stay in no place,

  And he dwells not in the real.

  Each one of the Enlightened

  Manifest bodies by spiritual powers:

  Even in unthinkable eons

  They never could be fully counted.

  The number of all living beings

  Of all times may be known,

  But the number of Buddhas’ manifestations

  Cannot ever be found.

  Sometimes they show one or two,

  Up to countless bodies—

  Appearing everywhere, in all lands,

  Yet really with no duality.

  Just as the clear full moon

  Appears in all bodies of water

  And while the reflections are numberless

  The real moon is not two,

  So does the one of unimpeded knowledge

  With perfect true enlightenment

  Universally appear in all lands:

  Yet the Buddha-body is nondual.

  It is not one, and yet not two,

  And also not immeasurable:

  According to the needs of the taught

  Do countless bodies appear.

  The buddha-body is not past

  And also not future:

  In a single instant he appears to be born,

  To become enlightened, and pass away.

  As forms produced by magic

  Have no birth and no origination,

  So too is the buddha-body thus—

  Appearing without any birth.

  Then Jewel Banner, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  The buddha-body is infinite

  Yet can manifest finite bodies:

  According to what needs to be seen

  Does the Guide appropriately appear.

  The buddha-body has no location,

  Yet fills all places;

  Like space, it’s boundless:

  Such is its inconceivability.

  It is not in the province of mental function,

  And mind does not arise therein:

  In the realm of the Buddhas

  Ultimately there’s no birth or death.

  Like what is seen by clouded eyes

  Is neither internal nor external,

  So also, you should know,

  Is the worlds’ vision of the Buddhas.

  In order to benefit living beings

  Do the Enlightened Ones appear in the world:

  Sentient beings see them as coming forth,

  But in reality there is no such thing.

  A Buddha cannot be seen

  In terms of a land, or day or night,

  Nor indeed can one be seen

&nbs
p; In terms of years, months, or moments.

  Sentient beings say

  Buddha was enlightened on a certain day;

  But enlightenment in reality

  Is not bound to time.

  The Enlightened are beyond discrimination:

  Not of the world, they transcend all accounts—

  All Guides of past, present, and future

  Appear in this way.

  Just as the pure orb of the sun

  Doesn’t conjoin with the dark night,

  Yet we speak of such and such a day and night,

  So is the principle of the Buddhas;

  Though the ages of past, present, and future

  Do not conjoin with the Enlightened,

  Yet we speak of the Buddhas of past, present, and future:

  Such is the principle of the Guides.

  Then Banner of Energy, empowered by the Buddha, looked over ten directions and said in verse,

  All the Guides’

  Bodies are the same, as are their meanings;

  Throughout the lands of the ten directions

  They appear variously according to needs.

  Observe the Honored Sage:

  His activity is most unique;

  He fills the entire cosmos

  And everything that’s in it.

  The buddha-body is not within

  And also not outside:

  It manifests by spiritual power;

  Such is the teaching of the Guide.

  According to deeds accumulated in former times

  By the various species of living beings,

  Such various different bodies

  Appear, each one dissimilar.

  Thus the bodies of the Buddhas

  Are infinite, uncountable:

  Except for the great enlightened one

  No one can conceive of them.

  Just as the self, being inconceivable,

  Cannot be grasped by mentation,

  So too the inconceivability of Buddhas

  Is not manifested by mentation.

  Just as all things

  Originate due to multiple conditions,

  So also does seeing Buddha

  Necessarily depend on many good works.

  Just as the wish-fulfilling jewel

  Can satisfy beings’ hearts,

  So can the teachings of the Buddhas

  Completely fulfill all aspirations.

  In infinite lands

  The Guides appear in the world;

  In accord with the power of their vows

  They respond in every place.

  Then Banner of Purification, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  The light of great knowledge of the Enlightened

  Universally purifies all worlds;

  Once the worlds are purified,

  He reveals the enlightening teachings.

  Even if people want to see

  Buddhas as numerous as sentient beings,

  The Buddha responds to their wishes—

  Yet really comes from nowhere.

  With Buddha as the object,

  Concentrating continuously,

  One can see Buddhas

  As many as thoughts.

  Carrying out pure ways,

  Fulfilling virtues,

  One can concentrate unremittingly

  On omniscience.

  The Guides expound teachings

  To beings in accord with their needs;

  Wherever any can be taught

  He manifests the supreme incarnation.

  The bodies of Buddha and the worlds’ beings

  Are all without self:

  Realizing this, he attains true awakening

  And also explains it to others.

  All the Human Lions,

  With boundless powers of freedom,

  Manifest bodies equal to thoughts,

  Those bodies each being different.

  As are the bodies of the beings of the worlds,

  So too are the bodies of Buddhas:

  When one really knows their inherent nature,

  That is called Buddhahood.

  The Enlightened see and know all,

  Clearly comprehending all things:

  Buddhahood and enlightenment

  Are both ungraspable.

  The Guide has no coming or going

  And also no place of abode:

  Departing from all delusions

  Is called true perfect enlightenment.

  Then Constellation Banner, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  The Realizer of Thusness, without dwelling anywhere,

  Abides in all lands,

  Going to all lands,

  Seen in all places.

  Buddha manifests all bodies

  According to sentient beings’ minds,

  Attaining the Way, teaching the truth,

  And finally passing utterly away.

  The Buddhas are inconceivable:

  Who can conceive of the Buddhas?

  Who can see the Truly Awake?

  Who can manifest the Supreme?

  All things are thus,

  And so are the states of the Buddhas;

  There’s not a single thing in thusness

  That has birth or death.

  Sentient beings erroneously discriminate:

  “This is Buddha,” “this is the world.”

  For one realizing the true nature of things

  There’s no Buddha and no world.

  The Realizer of Thusness appears before all

  Causing sentient beings to believe and rejoice.

  But the essence of Buddha is ungraspable,

  And they are not seeing anything either.

  If one can, in the world,

  Depart from all attachments,

  With unimpeded mind, joyful,

  One will awaken to the truth.

  That manifested by spiritual power

  Is what is called Buddha:

  Though one search in all times, past, present, or future,

  It has no existence at all.

  If one can know in this way

  The mind and all things,

  One will know and see all

  And soon become enlightened.

  In words are expressed

  The powers of Buddhas;

  But true enlightenment transcends words,

  Though it be provisionally explained by words.

  Then Banner of Truth, empowered by the Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,

  It’s better to always experience

  All the pains of the world

  Than to be apart from the Buddha

  And not see Buddha’s mystic powers.

  If there are any sentient beings

  Who have not yet set their minds on enlightenment,

  If they once hear the name of Buddha

  They’ll surely attain enlightenment.

  People with knowledge and wisdom,

  Once they set their minds on enlightenment,

  Will surely become supreme Buddhas:

  Have no doubt of that.

  The mystic power of the enlightened

  Is rarely encountered even in countless ages;

  If you engender a single thought of faith

  You’ll soon ascend to the highest path.

  Even if in every instant

  You give offerings to countless Buddhas,

  If you don’t know the real truth

  This is not to be called offering.

  If you hear such a teaching,

  The Buddhas are born from this;

  Though you experience countless pains

  You’ll not quit enlightening practices.

  Once having heard of great knowledge,

  The state entered by the Buddhas,

  Everywhere in the universe

  You’ll become a guide of all times.

  Though one pass the whole fu
ture

  Traveling to all buddha-lands,

  If one doesn’t seek this wondrous truth

  One will never become enlightened.

  Sentient beings, from beginningless past,

  Have long revolved in birth and death;

  They do not know the real truth,

  So Buddhas come forth in the world.

  Truths cannot be destroyed,

  And no one can destroy them:

  The great light of mystic power

  Is revealed throughout the world.

  BOOK TWENTY-FIVE

  Ten Dedications

  THEN THE ENLIGHTENING BEING Diamond Banner, empowered by the Buddha, entered absorption in the light of knowledge of enlightening beings. When he had entered this absorption, there appeared before him as many Buddhas as atoms in a hundred thousand buddha-lands from beyond as many worlds as atoms in a hundred thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions. Those Buddhas, who were all alike named Diamond Banner, praised him, saying, “Good! Good man, it’s very good that you can enter this absorption in the light of knowledge of enlightening beings. Good man, this is the spiritual power of Buddhas as numerous as atoms in a hundred thousand buddha-lands in each of the ten directions bolstering you, and also the spiritual power of the force of Vairocana Buddha’s past vows, and it is also due to the purity of your knowledge and wisdom, and to the growing supremacy of the bases of goodness of enlightening beings, enabling you to enter this absorption and expound the teaching, in order to enable enlightening beings to attain pure fearlessness, to have unimpeded powers of elucidation, to enter the state of unobstructed knowledge, to abide in the great mind of omniscience, to perfect innumerable virtues, to fulfill unhindered pure ways, to enter into the all-sided realm of reality, to manifest the spiritual freedom of all Buddhas, to maintain previous awareness and knowledge, to gain all Buddhas’ protection of all faculties, to extensively expound myriad principles by means of countless approaches, to understand and keep in memory the teachings heard, to embrace all the foundations of goodness of enlightening beings, to accomplish the aids to the path transcending the world, to prevent omniscient knowledge from dying out, to develop great vows, to interpret true meanings, to know the realm of reality, to cause all enlightening beings to rejoice, to cultivate the equal roots of goodness of all Buddhas, to protect and maintain the lineage of all enlightened ones; that is, you expound the ten dedications of enlightening beings.

  “Child of Buddha, you should receive the spiritual power of the Buddha and expound this teaching, to gain the protection of the Buddhas, to dwell in the house of the Buddhas, to increase transcendental virtues, to attain the light of concentration, to enter the unobstructed state of the Buddha, to illumine the realm of reality with great light, to assemble faultless pure ways, to abide in the realm of great knowledge, to attain the unimpeded light of truth.”

  Then the Buddhas bestowed on Diamond Banner boundless knowledge and wisdom, unhalting, unimpeded eloquence, skill in distinguishing expressions and meanings, unhindered light of the teaching, the equal body of wisdom of the enlightened, a pure voice with infinite distinct tones, the inconceivable concentration of enlightening beings’ skillful observation, the knowledge of dedication of indestructible foundations of all goodness, consummate skill in analytic observation of all things, and uninterrupted power of elucidation to explain all things in all places. Why? Because of the power of the virtue of entry into this absorption.