The Flower Ornament Scripture
Page 67
“When enlightening beings practice dedication in this way, liberating sentient beings ceaselessly, they do not dwell on appearances; but though they know that in all things there is no action and no consequence, yet they can skillfully produce all deeds and consequences, without opposition or contention. In this way they expediently practice dedication. When enlightening beings practice dedication in this way, they are free from all faults and are praised by all Buddhas. This is called the great enlightening beings’ first dedication, saving all sentient beings without any image or concept of sentient beings.”
Then the enlightening being Diamond Banner looked over all the assemblies in the ten directions, throughout the cosmos; entering into the meanings and expressions of the profundities, cultivating supreme action with a boundless mind, covering all beings with great compassion, maintaining the lineage of the enlightened ones of past, present, and future, entering the treasury of virtuous qualities of all Buddhas, producing the verity body of all Buddhas, able to discern the mentalities of all sentient beings, knowing the roots of goodness he had planted were ripe, while abiding in the reality body he manifested pure physical embodiment for them and, empowered by the Buddha, said in verse,
Cultivating the Way over inconceivable eons,
Vigor firm, mind unobstructed,
Always seeking the virtuous qualities of Buddhas
To benefit living beings,
The peerless tamers of the world
Thoroughly purify their minds;
Determining to save all conscious creatures,
They can enter well into the treasury of dedication.
Their courageous power of energy complete,
Their knowledge clear, their minds pure,
They rescue all beings everywhere,
Their minds enduring, unperturbed.
Their hearts can rest peacefully, without compare;
Their minds are ever pure and full of joy.
Earnestly striving thus for the sake of the living,
They are like earth, accepting all.
They do not seek pleasure for themselves:
They only want to rescue sentient beings;
Thus developing a heart of great compassion,
They quickly gain entry to the unhindered state.
They are able to accept all beings
In all worlds in the ten directions;
They stabilize their minds to save those beings,
This way cultivating the dedications.
They practice generosity most gladly
And preserve pure conduct, without transgression;
Their intrepid, vigorous mind unstirred,
They dedicate this to enlightened omniscience.
Their mind is boundlessly broad,
Their forbearance is stable, unshakable;
Their meditation is most profound, always illumining,
Their wisdom’s inconceivably subtle.
In all worlds in the ten directions
They fully cultivate pure practices:
All these virtues they dedicate
To the peace and happiness of all conscious beings.
The great heroes diligently practice good works,
Measureless, boundless, uncountable:
All these they use to benefit sentient beings
And cause them to abide in inconceivable supreme knowledge.
To act for the benefit of all sentient beings
They spend inconceivably many eons in hells;
This they do without wearying or shrinking back,
Always practicing dedication with courage and decision.
They do not seek form, sound, smell or taste,
And they do not seek nice feelings:
It is just to liberate all living beings
That they always seek supreme knowledge.
Their knowledge and wisdom are pure as space,
They pratice boundless enlightening acts;
The practical methods the Buddhas carry out
Those people always practice and learn.
The great heroes, traveling through all worlds,
Are able to give peace and safety to all beings,
Causing all to rejoice,
Tirelessly cultivating enlightening practice.
Destroying all mental poisons,
Contemplating and cultivating highest knowledge,
They do not seek comfort for themselves:
They only wish that sentient beings be freed from pain.
These people’s dedication is ultimate—
Their hearts are always pure and free from poison:
Entrusted by the Buddhas of all times,
They dwell in the citadel of the loftiest teaching.
They’re never attached to forms
Or to sensations, perceptions, habits, or consciousness;
Their minds have forever transcended existence,
While all their virtues they dedicate to others.
All the sentient beings seen by the Buddhas
They take into their care, without exception,
Vowing to enable them all to be liberated;
For them do they strive, with great joy.
Their minds are constantly stable,
Their knowledge and wisdom’s incomparably vast.
Truly mindful, free from ignorance, they’re always calm,
And all their deeds are totally pure.
Those enlightening beings, while in the world,
Are not attached to any internal or external phenomena;
Like the wind traveling unhindered through the sky
Is the function of the great beings’ mind.
Their physical actions are all pure,
All their speech is without error;
Their minds always take refuge in the Buddha,
And they can please all the Buddhas.
In the infinite worlds of the ten directions,
Wherever there are Buddhas, they go;
There, seeing the lords of great compassion,
They all gaze with reverent respect.
Their minds are always pure and faultless,
Entering all worlds without fear;
Already in the Enlightened Ones’ unexcelled Path,
They act as great reservoirs of truth for all beings.
Diligently observing and examining all phenomena,
They contemplate existence and nonexistence accordingly:
Thus they pursue the truth
And gain entry to the most profound realm of noncontention.
With this they cultivate the steadfast Way
Which no sentient beings can break down;
Well able to comprehend the nature of all things,
They have no attachments in any world.
Thus they are dedicated to reaching the other shore,
Enabling all beings to be free from defilements;
Forever rid of all dependency,
They enter the realm of ultimate independence.
In the languages of all sentient beings
In accord with the differences in their types,
Enlightening beings can distinctly explain
While their minds are unattached and unhindered.
Thus do enlightening beings practice dedication:
Unspeakably many are their virtues and their methods;
They earn the praise of all the Buddhas
In all worlds of the ten directions.
“What is the indestructible dedication of great enlightening beings? These great enlightening beings attain indestructible faith in the Enlightened Ones of past, future, and present, because they serve all Buddhas. They attain indestructible faith in enlightening beings, even those who have just resolved on the search for omniscience for the first time, because they vow to tirelessly cultivate all foundations of goodness of enlightening beings. They attain indestructible faith in all the Buddha qualities, because they conceive profound aspiration. They attain indestructible faith in all Buddha te
achings, because they abide by them and maintain them. They attain indestructible faith in all sentient beings, because they look upon them impartially with the eye of compassion and dedicate roots of goodness to their universal benefit. They attain indestructible faith in all pure ways, because everywhere they amass boundless roots of goodness. They attain indestructible faith in the path of dedication of enlightening beings, because they fulfill their noble aspirations. They attain indestructible faith in all teachers of the ways of enlightening beings, because they think of the enlightening beings as Buddhas. They attain indestructible faith in the spiritual powers of all Buddhas, because they deeply believe in the inconceivability of the Buddhas. They attain indestructible faith in the practice of skill in expedient means exercised by all enlightening beings, because they include countless various realms of activity.
“When great enlightening beings abide in indestructible faith, they plant roots of goodness, innumerable and boundless, in various realms, such as those of Buddhas, enlightening beings, disciples of Buddhas, individual illuminates, of Buddhist doctrines, and of sentient beings, causing the determination for enlightenment to grow more and more. Their kindness and compassion broad and great, they observe impartially. They accord with and practice the deeds of the Buddhas, embracing all pure foundations of goodness. Entering the truth, they assemble virtuous practices, carry out great works of charity, and cultivate meritorious qualities, looking upon the past, present, and future as equal.
“Great enlightening beings dedicate such virtues to omniscience, aspiring to always see the Buddhas. They associate with good companions and live among enlightening beings. Constantly keeping their minds on omniscience, they accept and hold the Buddhist teachings, conscientiously protecting them, and educate and develop all sentient beings, their minds always dedicated to the path of emancipation from the world. They provide for and serve all teachers of truth. Understanding the principles of the teachings, they retain them in memory; they cultivate and practice great vows, causing them all to be fulfilled.
“Thus do enlightening beings amass roots of goodness, accomplish roots of goodness, develop roots of goodness, contemplate roots of goodness, concentrate on roots of goodness, analyze roots of goodness, delight in roots of goodness, cultivate roots of goodness, and abide in roots of goodness.
“Once enlightening beings have amassed various roots of goodness in this way, they cultivate the practices of enlightening beings by means of the results of these roots of goodness. In every successive moment they see innumerable Buddhas, and serve and provide for them in accordance with their needs. They provide innumerable jewels, flowers, garlands, garments, parasols, banners, pennants, adornments, servants, beautified places, perfumes, powdered incenses, mixed scents, burning incenses, profound faith, aspiration, pure minds, respect, praise, honor, jeweled seats, flower seats, incense seats, seats of garlands, sandalwood seats, cloth seats, diamond seats, crystal seats, precious streamer seats, jewel-colored seats, bejeweled parks, flowered parks, perfumed parks, parks hung with garlands, parks spread with robes, jewel-studded parks, parks decorated with streamers of all jewels, parks with trees of all precious substances, parks with balustrades of all precious substances, parks covered with nets of chimes of all jewels, palaces with all precious substances, palaces with all kinds of flowers, palaces with all kinds of incenses, palaces with all kinds of garlands, palaces of all kinds of sandalwood, palaces with stores of all kinds of aromatic resins, palaces of all kinds of diamonds, palaces of all kinds of crystals, all extraordinarily fine, surpassing those of the heavens; innumerable trees of mixed jewels, trees of various fragrances, trees of precious raiment, trees of music, trees of fascinating jewels, trees of gem-studded streamers, trees of precious rings, trees adorned with banners, pennants, and canopies with the fragrances of all flowers—such trees, with luxuriant foliage interreflecting, adorn the palaces; the palaces also are adorned with countless lattices, windows, doors, balconies, crescents, and drapes, countless nets of gold covering them, countless perfumes wafting throughout them scenting everything, and countless robes spread on the ground.
“Enlightening beings reverently present these offerings with pure-minded respect to all Buddhas for countless, incalculable eons, never retreating, never ceasing; and after each Buddha dies they also respectfully make similar offerings to all their relics, in order to induce all sentient beings to develop pure faith, to embody all foundations of goodness, to be freed from all suffering, to have broad understanding, to be arrayed with great adornments, to be arrayed with infinite adornments, to consummate all their undertakings, to know how rare it is to meet a Buddha in the world, to fulfill the immeasurable power of the enlightened, to adorn and make offerings to the tombs and shrines of Buddhas, and to maintain the teachings of all Buddhas.
“Their offerings to living Buddhas and to their relics after death could never be fully told of even in an incalculable period of time. Such cultivation and accumulation of immeasurable virtue is all to develop and mature sentient beings, without retreating, without ceasing, without wearying, without clinging, free from all mental images, without stopping anywhere, forever beyond all dependence, detached from self and anything pertaining to a self. They seal all aspects of their activities with the stamp of truth, realize the birthlessness of things, abide in the abode of buddhahood, and observe the nature of birthlessness definitively marking all objects. In the care of the Buddhas, they set their minds on dedication—dedication in accord with the essential nature of things, dedication entering into the uncreated truth yet perfecting created expedient methods, dedication of techniques discarding attachments to concepts of phenomena, dedication abiding in countless enlightening skills, dedication forever departing from all realms of existence, dedication of expedient application of practices without sticking to forms, dedication embracing all foundations of goodness, great dedication purifying the acts of all enlightening beings, dedication rousing the will for enlightenment, dedication living with all bases of goodness, dedication fulfilling supreme faith.
“When enlightening beings dedicate such roots of goodness, though they go along with birth and death they are not changed: they seek omniscience without ever retreating; while being in the various realms of existence, their minds are undisturbed; they are able to liberate all sentient beings; they are not stained by compounded things; they do not lose unimpeded knowledge; their fulfillment of causes and conditions of enlightening beings’ practices and stages is inexhaustible; worldly things cannot change or move them; they fulfill the pure ways of transcendence; they are able to accomplish all knowledge and power. Thus do enlightening beings get rid of the darkness of ignorance and folly, develop the will for enlightenment and reveal its light, increase pure ways, dedicated to the supreme Way, fulfilling all its practices.
“With clear, pure intellect they are able to skillfully analyze and comprehend all things as appearing according to the mind; they know deeds are like illusions, results of deeds are like paintings, all activities are like magic tricks, things born of causes and conditions are all like echoes, and the practices of enlightening beings are all like reflections. They produce the clear, pure eye of reality, seeing the vast realm of the uncreated; realizing their null essence, they understand the nonduality of things and discover the true aspect of things. They fulfill the practices of enlightening beings without attachment to any forms. They are able to carry out all commonplace acts without ever abandoning pure principles and practices. Free from all attachments, they remain unattached in action.
“Thus do enlightening beings think flexibly, without confusion or delusion, without contradicting facts, without destroying active causes, dedicating as is appropriate, with clear perception of real truth. They know the inherent nature of things, yet by the power of skill in means they accomplish results of action and reach the other shore. With knowledge and wisdom they examine all things and attain knowledge of spiritual faculties. The virtues of their deeds are carried out without str
iving, in accordance with their free will.
“Enlightening beings dedicate roots of goodness in this way because they want to liberate all sentient beings, keep the lineage of Buddhas unbroken, be forever rid of demonic activity, and see omniscience. Their boundless aspiration is never discarded; they detach from mundane objects and cut off all mixup and defilement. They also wish for sentient beings to attain pure knowledge, enter deeply into the techniques of liberation, depart from the state of birth and death, attain the bases of virtues of buddhahood, forever end all delusive activities, stamp all actions with the seal of equanimity, determine to enter knowledge of all ways of liberation, and accomplish all transmundane qualities. This, O Child of Buddha, is called enlightening beings’ second dedication, indestructible dedication.
“When enlightening beings abide in this dedication, they get to see all the countless Buddhas and master innumerable pure, sublime teachings. They attain impartiality toward all sentient beings, and have no doubt about anything. Strengthened by the spiritual power of all Buddhas, they overcome all demons and forever get rid of their influence. They achieve noble birth and fulfill the will for enlightenment. Attaining unhindered knowledge, they can expound the meanings of all doctrines without relying on another for understanding. They are able, following the power of imagination, to enter all lands; illumining sentient beings everywhere, they cause them all to become purified. Great enlightening beings, by the power of this indestructible dedication, embody all foundations of goodness and dedicate them in this way.”
Then Diamond Banner, spiritually empowered by Buddha, looked over the ten directions and said in verse,
Enlightening beings, having attained indestructible will,
Carry out all good works;
Therefore they’re able to make the Buddhas rejoice:
Those who are wise dedicate this.
Making offerings to infinite Buddhas,
Giving charity, with self-control, they subdue their senses,
Out of desire to benefit all sentient beings,
To cause them all to be purified.
All sorts of beautiful, fragrant flowers,
Innumerable different splendid robes,