The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  Seen by the innumerable Supreme Ones in the ten directions

  They dedicate all roots of goodness,

  Vowing to hasten their ultimate enlightenment.

  The conscious creatures in all worlds

  They embrace impartially, without exception;

  With the good works they do themselves

  They cause those beings to soon become Buddhas.

  The countless, boundless great vows

  Expounded by the unexcelled Guides

  Vow that all Buddha-children become pure

  And fulfill all their aspirations.

  Observing all worlds in the ten directions,

  Donating all their virtues to them,

  They vow to cause them all to be wonderfully adorned:

  Thus do enlightening beings practice dedication.

  Their minds do not weigh dualistic things;

  They only constantly realize the nonduality of things.

  In all things, whether dual or nondual,

  They ultimately have no attachments.

  All the worlds in the ten directions

  Are sentient beings’ conceptualizations;

  Not apprehending anything in conception or nonconception,

  Thus are conceptions understood.

  The enlightening beings’ bodies are purified,

  So their minds are pure, without blemish:

  Their speech being already pure and faultless,

  Know that their minds are pure, without attachment.

  Single-mindedly they think of the past Buddhas

  And also of the Guides of the future,

  As well as the Honored Ones of the present:

  They study the teachings they all expound.

  All enlightened ones of past, present, and future

  Have clear penetrating knowledge, their minds unobstructed;

  Because they want to help sentient beings

  They dedicate myriad works to enlightenment.

  Those of foremost wisdom, vast wisdom,

  Wisdom free from falsehood, without delusion,

  Impartial, true wisdom, pure wisdom,

  And supreme wisdom, explain this way.

  “What is the great enlightening beings’ dedication reaching all places? Here when the enlightening beings cultivate all roots of goodness, they think, ‘May the power of virtue of these roots of good reach all places, just as reality extends everywhere without exception, reaching all things, all worlds, all living beings, all lands, all phenomena, all space, all time, all that is compounded and uncompounded, all speech and sound; may these roots of goodness in the same way reach the abodes of all enlightened ones, and be as offerings to all those Buddhas, the past Buddhas whose vows are all fulfilled, the future Buddhas, fully adorned, and the present Buddhas, their lands, sites of enlightenment, and congregations, filling all realms throughout the entirety of space. I aspire, by virtue of the power of faith, by virtue of great knowledge without obstruction, by virtue of dedication of all roots of goodness, to present offerings like those of the celestials, filling infinite worlds.’

  “Great enlightening beings also form this thought: ‘The Buddhas pervade all realms in space, the worlds of all the unspeakably many world systems in the ten directions produced by various actions—unspeakably many buddha-lands, buddha-spheres, all kinds of worlds, infinite worlds, worlds without boundaries, rotating worlds, sideways worlds, worlds facing upward and downward—in all worlds, such as these, they manifest a span of life and display various spiritual powers and demonstrations. There are enlightening beings there who by the power of resolution appear as Buddhas in all worlds for the sake of sentient beings who can be taught; with the knowledge of where all paths lead, they reveal everywhere the boundless freedom and spiritual power of the enlightened, the body of reality extending everywhere without distinction, equally entering all realms of phenomena and principles, the body of inherent buddhahood neither born nor perishing, yet by skillful expedients appearing throughout the world, because of realizing the true nature of things, transcending all, because of attainment of nonregressing power, because of birth among the people of vast power of unobstructed vision of the enlightened.’

  “Great enlightening beings, by all the roots of goodness that they plant, vow to make offerings to all such Buddhas, with myriad beautiful flowers, myriad wonderful incenses, garlands, parasols, banners, pennants, clothing, lamps, and all other articles of adornment, and to do the same to effigies, tombs, and shrines of Buddhas. Their roots of goodness they dedicate in this way, with unconfused dedication, single-minded dedication, autonomous dedication, respectful dedication, unshakable dedication, nonobsessive dedication, independent dedication, dedication without the mentality of worldly people, dedication without haste or struggle, dedication with a tranquil mind.

  “They also think, ‘Throughout the space of the cosmos, in all ages, past, future, and present, the Buddhas, the World Honored Ones, attain omniscience and become enlightened; with innumerable different names, at various times, they manifest attainment of true awakening, all abiding for a span of life, throughout the future, each adorning themselves with the adornments of the realm of reality, their sites of enlightenment and congregations pervading the cosmos; in all lands they appear according to the time and perform the work of buddhahood. To all these Buddhas I dedicate roots of goodness; I vow to offer respectfully countless canopies of fragrance, banners of fragrance, pennants of fragrance, drapes of fragrance, nets of fragrance, statues of fragrance, lights of fragrance, flames of fragrance, clouds of fragrance, thrones of fragrance, parks of fragrance, shelters of fragrance, worlds of fragrance, mountains of fragrance, seas of fragrance, rivers of fragrance, trees of fragrance, robes of fragrance, lotus blossoms of fragrance, palaces of fragrance, flowers of fragrance; infinite canopies of flowers, and so on, up to infinite palaces of flowers; boundless canopies of garlands, and so on, up to boundless palaces of garlands; incomparably many canopies of powdered incense, and so on, up to incomparably many palaces of powdered incense; uncountable canopies of perfume, and so on, up to uncountable palaces of perfume; incalculable canopies of raiment, and so on, up to incalculable palaces of raiment; inconceivable numbers of canopies of jewels, and so on, up to inconceivable numbers of palaces of jewels; immeasurable numbers of canopies of lamps, and so on, up to immeasurable numbers of palaces of lamps; unspeakable numbers of canopies of ornaments, and so on, up to unspeakable numbers of palaces of ornaments; unspeakably unspeakable numbers of canopies, banners, pennants, drapes, nets, statues, lights, flames, clouds, seats, parks, shelters, lands, mountains, seas, rivers, trees, robes, lotus blossoms, and palaces, all made of jewel crystals, all unspeakably unspeakable in number: in each of these objects are countless balustrades, palaces, bowers, doors, crescents, defensive barriers, windows, pure jewels, and ornaments—all such offerings I present to those Buddhas, aspiring to cause all worlds to become purified and all sentient beings to attain emancipation, abide in the stage of the ten powers and attain unhindered understanding of truth; to cause all sentient beings to be fully endowed with bases of goodness, to gain complete self-mastery, to have minds as infinite as space, going to all fields without going anywhere, entering all lands, passing on good ways, always able to see Buddhas, planting roots of goodness, accomplishing the great vehicle, not clinging to anything, replete with virtue, establishing innumerable practices, entering into all the boundless realms of reality, developing the spiritual faculties of the Buddhas, and attaining the omniscient knowledge of the enlightened ones. Just as selflessness includes all things, so also may my roots of goodness include all the Buddhas by making offerings to them all; include all truths by understanding them without hindrance; include all enlightening beings by ultimately having the same roots of goodness; include all practices of enlightening beings by fulfillment through the power of my original vows; include all enlightening beings’ understandings of things by comprehending all things without obstruction; include all the great spirit
ual powers of the Buddhas by perfecting innumerable roots of goodness; include all the powers and fearlessnesses of the Buddhas by developing immeasurable will and fulfilling them all; include all the enlightening beings’ methods of meditation, powers of elucidation, and concentration formulae by being able to illumine and comprehend nonduality; include the Buddhas’ skill in means by manifesting the great spiritual powers of the enlightened; include all the past, present, and future Buddhas’ birth in the world, attainment of enlightenment, turning the wheel of true teaching, taming sentient beings, and entering final decease, by respectfully presenting offerings to all of them everywhere; include all worlds of the ten directions by adorning and purifying buddha-lands to the ultimate degree; include all ages by appearing therein and cultivating enlightening practice unceasingly; include all realms of being by appearing to be born therein; include all realms of sentient beings by fulfilling the practice of the Universally Good enlightening being; include all delusive habit energy by using appropriate means to clean it all away; include the innumerable differences in faculties of sentient beings by knowing them all; include the understandings and inclinations of all sentient beings by causing them to get rid of confusion and defilement and attain purity; include all activities that edify sentient beings by appearing in forms appropriate to their needs; include all ways of adaptively responding to sentient beings by entering into all realms of sentient beings; and include the essence of knowledge of all enlightened ones by preserving the teachings of the Buddhas.’

  “When great enlightening beings dedicate roots of goodness in this way, they use the absence of object of attainment as a means: they do not distinguish consequences in actions, they do not distinguish actions in consequences; though they have no discrimination, they enter all realms of phenomena and principles; though they have no striving, yet they always abide in roots of goodness; though they initiate nothing, yet they diligently practice excellent principles. They do not believe in things, yet can enter deeply into them; they do not consider things as existent, yet they know and see them all. Creation and noncreation are both ungraspable. They know that by nature all things are never independent. Though they see all things, yet they are not seeing anything; they know everything without knowing anything.

  “Thus do enlightening beings comprehend the objective world, knowing that all things are based on causes and conditions. They see the reality-body of all Buddhas and arrive at the untainted ultimate reality of all things. They understand all worlds are like magical apparitions. They clearly realize that sentient beings are only one phenomenon and do not have two natures. They do not give up the realm of action: with skill in expedient means they show the uncreated in the midst of the realm of compounded things, without destroying the characteristics of compounded things; they show compounded things in the midst of the realm of the uncompounded, without distinguishing marks of the uncompounded. Thus enlightening beings always observe all things as ultimately null and void. They develop all pure roots of goodness and arouse the will to save and protect sentient beings. Their knowledge clearly realizes the ocean of all truths. They always gladly cultivate practice to get rid of ignorance and folly. They have already fully accomplished transmundane virtues, and they no longer practice worldly ways. They have attained the pure eye of knowledge, stripped of the blinders of ignorance, and with skill in means they practice the path of dedication.

  “Great enlightening beings, dedicating roots of goodness in this way, accord with the will of all the Buddhas, beautify and purify all buddha-lands, teach, edify, and mature all sentient beings, fully accept and maintain all principles of the Buddhas, become supreme fields of blessings for all sentient beings, become wise guides for all caravans, become pure suns for all worlds. Each of their roots of goodness fills the cosmos, able to rescue and safeguard all sentient beings and cause them to be filled with pure virtuous qualities.

  “When the great enlightening beings practice dedication in this way, they are able to preserve the lineage of all Buddhas, to develop all sentient beings to maturity, to beautify and purify all lands, to avoid spoiling all works, to thoroughly understand all things, to impartially observe the nonduality of all things, to go to all lands in the ten directions, to comprehend the ultimate reality apart from desire, to achieve pure faith, and to have clear, sharp faculties.

  “This is great enlightening beings’ fourth dedication, dedication reaching all places. When great enlightening beings abide in this dedication, they achieve physical action reaching all places, being able to appear responsively in all worlds; they achieve verbal action reaching all places, expounding the truth in all places; they achieve mental action reaching all places, accepting and holding the truth explained by all Buddhas; they attain the power of psychic travel reaching everywhere, going in response to beings’ minds; they attain recollective and explanatory powers reaching all places, able to please beings according to their mentalities; they gain entry into the realm of reality reaching all places, able to enter all worlds in a single pore; they attain entry into bodies reaching all places, able to enter the bodies of all beings in the body of one being; they attain universal perception of the ages reaching all places, in each age always seeing all the Buddhas; they attain instantaneous universal perception reaching all places, moment to moment seeing all the Buddhas appear before them. When great enlightening beings attain dedication reaching all places, they are able to dedicate roots of goodness in this way.”

  Then the enlightening being Diamond Banner, empowered by the Buddhas, looked over the ten directions and said,

  To all internal and external worlds

  Enlightening beings have no attachments at all,

  Yet do not abandon works beneficial to sentient beings:

  The great ones cultivate this kind of knowledge.

  In all lands in the ten directions

  They do not depend or dwell on anything;

  They do not grasp things, such as livelihood,

  And do not arbitrarily create distinctions.

  They deal with all sentient beings

  In all worlds in the ten directions;

  Observing their essential nature has no existence,

  They practice dedication reaching everywhere.

  Dealing with all compounded and uncompounded things,

  They do not entertain errant thoughts about them,

  Or in regard to anything in the world:

  The Lamps that Illumine the World are aware in this way.

  The works carried out by enlightening beings

  Are different in superior, middling, and lower grades;

  In all of them they dedicate roots of goodness

  To all the Buddhas of the ten directions.

  Enlightening beings, by dedication, reach transcendence,

  Accomplishing what they learn from the Buddhas;

  They always think well based on subtle knowledge

  And embody the best of human qualities.

  Their pure roots of goodness they universally dedicate

  To help the deluded, never abandoning them:

  They enable all sentient beings to become

  Unexcelled lamps that illumine the world.

  They never conceptualize sentient beings

  Nor think of things with false imagination;

  Though in the world, they have no attachments,

  Yet also do not abandon conscious creatures.

  Enlightening beings always enjoy tranquil nullity

  By following which they attain the realm of nirvana;

  Yet they do not abandon the realm of sentient beings:

  They have attained such subtle knowledge.

  Enlightening beings do not conceptualize actions

  And do not grasp their results:

  All worlds are born from conditions—

  Things cannot be seen apart from causality.

  Deeply entering such realms,

  They do not create vain discriminations therein:

  The t
amers of all sentient beings

  Herein understand skilled dedication.

  “What is great enlightening beings’ dedication of inexhaustible treasuries of virtue? Here they dedicate the roots of goodness produced by repentance and removal of hindrances caused by past actions, the roots of goodness produced by paying respect to all Buddhas, the roots of goodness produced by requesting all Buddhas to teach, the roots of goodness produced by listening to Buddhas’ teaching, diligently practicing it, and realizing the vast realm of the inconceivable, the roots of goodness produced by rejoicing at the virtues of all Buddhas and all sentient beings of the past, future, and present, the roots of goodness of all Buddhas, the roots of goodness achieved by the dilligent practice of infinite enlightening beings, the roots of goodness produced by enlightening beings knowing of and rejoicing in the Buddhas of all times attaining true enlightenment, teaching the truth, and taming sentient beings, the roots of goodness in rejoicing at the Buddhas of all times cultivating enlightening practice from their first inspiration, attaining supreme true awakening, finally appearing to enter ultimate extinction, and, after their extinction, the true teaching remaining in the world until passing away; thus enlightening beings think of the inexplicable realm of the Buddhas as well as their own realm and the unhindered realm of enlightenment—such tremendous, innumerable different roots of goodness, all they accumulate, all they believe in, all they rejoice in, all they fulfill, all they accomplish, all they practice, all they attain, all they are aware of, all they embody, all they develop, they dedicate to adorn all the buddha-lands, like the realm of action of all the Buddhas in all worlds in boundless eons of the past—that is, incalculable, innumerable systems of buddha-worlds, known to the knowledge of Buddhas, perceived by enlightening beings, sensed by the great mind, issuing from and drawn forth by pure actions adorning buddha-fields, arising in response to sentient beings, created by the sublime practices of the enlightening being Universally Good, in which all the Buddhas become enlightened and manifest various autonomous spiritual powers—and like the purely adorned buddha-lands which will be attained upon enlightenment by the Buddhas throughout the future, pervading the cosmos, boundless, borderless, endless, infinite, all born of the knowledge of the Buddhas, adorned by innumerable beautiful treasures—ornaments of all fragrances, all flowers, all raiment, all treasuries of worthy qualities, all powers of Buddhas, and the embellishments of all buddha-lands; the capitals of the enlightened ones, inhabited by inconceivable pure communities of people with existing affinity through similar practices who will attain true enlightenment in the future, developed by all the Buddhas, imperceptible to the world, visible only to the pure eyes of enlightening beings. These enlightening beings have great powers and have planted roots of goodness in the past; knowing all things are like phantoms and illusions, they cultivate the pure deeds of enlightening beings, entering absorption in inconceivable freedom, and with skill in means can perform the work of Buddhas, emanate the light of Buddhas and illumine the world everywhere without limit. All the Buddhas of the present also adorn worlds in this way, with boundless forms, lights, and colors, all made by virtues: innumerable fragrances, innumerable jewels, innumerable trees, innumerable ornaments, innumerable palaces, innumerable sounds, associates in accord with affinities from the past, manifesting adornments of all worthy qualities, without end—adornments of all fragrances, garlands, powdered incenses, jewels, pennants, multicolored streamers of precious silk, balustrades of jewels, countless ornaments of gold nets, rivers, clouds and rain, and music, innumerable such embellishments adorning the buddha-lands in all worlds throughout space, created by various deeds, known to the Buddhas and told of by the Buddhas: that is, buddha-lands of adornments, buddha-lands of purity, buddha-lands of equanimity, buddha-lands of subtle refinements, buddha-lands of magnificent virtue, buddha-lands of immensity, buddha-lands of peace and bliss, buddha-lands of indestructibility, buddha-lands of inexhaustibility, buddha-lands of infinity, buddha-lands of imperturbability, buddha-lands of fearlessness, buddha-lands of light, buddha-lands free from opposition, buddha-lands of delight, buddha-lands of all-illumining brightness, buddha-lands of splendor, buddha-lands of refined beauty, buddha-lands of wonderful skill, preeminent, excellent, extraordinary, supreme, absolutely supreme, surpassing, unexcelled, peerless, incomparable, indescribable buddha-lands. To emulate these adornments of all the buddha-lands of past, future, and present, the great enlightening beings willingly dedicate their own roots of goodness to adorn a world in the same way, with the pure adornments of the lands of all Buddhas of past, future, and present, to produce, purify, gather, manifest, array, and maintain all adornments like those of the lands of all Buddhas, and to do the same for all worlds throughout the space of the cosmos, that they be replete with the various adornments of the lands of the Buddhas of all times.