The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  “Enlightening beings, abiding in such sovereign virtues, have a great retinue; they cannot be undermined, they are rid of all faults. No one ever tires of seeing them; adorned with felicitous virtues, their marks of greatness and embellishments are fully developed. Their bodies and limbs are well proportioned, and they have robust, healthy, ideal human bodies. Their great strength is consummate and they cannot be constrained or overcome by anyone. They attain pure action and are free from all barriers caused by actions.

  “They fully practice all giving; sometimes they give food and drink, sometimes they give delicacies, sometimes they give conveyances, or clothing, or flower garlands, or incenses and perfumes, beds, seats, houses, lamps, medicines, precious vessels, jeweled carriages, trained elephants and horses, all magnificently adorned—they give all these gladly. If any come and ask for their throne, or canopies or parasols, banners, pennants, treasures, or other adornments, or the jeweled crowns on their heads, or the radiant jewels in their topknots, or even the rank of ruler itself, they begrudge nothing. If they see sentient beings in prison, they give up their treasures, their spouses, children, retinue, and even their own bodies, to rescue them and free them. If they see prisoners about to be executed, they give up their bodies in exchange for those prisoners’ lives. Then again, if they see anyone come begging from them, begging for even their flesh or hair, they gladly give them ungrudgingly; their eyes, ears, noses, tongues, teeth, heads, hands, feet, blood, flesh, bones, marrow, internal organs, skin, fingers, toes, and nails, all they give with a joyful heart.

  “In their quest for teachings they have never heard they would hurl themselves into pits of fire. In order to preserve the true teaching of the Buddhas they would endure all kinds of pain. In seeking the teaching, for even one word of it they can give up everything within the four seas. They continually civilize and guide sentient beings by means of right teaching, causing them to cultivate good practices and abandon evil. If they see sentient beings physically harming others, they kindly rescue them and cause them to give up wrongdoing.

  “If they see Buddhas attain supreme enlightenment, they praise them, causing everyone to hear and know of them. They may donate land and provide for and attend to them. They may give their own bodies to those who ask, or they may give them to the Buddhas. Because of their quest for the truth they are extremely joyful; they provide service and support for sentient beings. They might give up their kingship, their cities, towns, villages, palaces, gardens and groves, spouses, children, and retinues, fulfilling all requests. Sometimes they give away all necessities of life to establish great assemblies of giving, from which none are prohibited, and provide for the needs of all the sentient beings who come—all kinds of fields of blessings—whether they come from afar or nearby, whether they are intelligent or stupid, no matter what they look like, whether they are male or female, whether human or nonhuman, their mental patterns different, their requirements each different; the enlightening give to all to satisfy everyone.

  “When enlightening beings give in this way, they develop a mind of good control, with which they practice dedication: controlling the body well, controlling sensation, conception, action, and consciousness well, controlling sovereignty well, controlling followers well, controlling means of subsistence well, controlling generous giving well, they accordingly cause all roots of goodness to be firm and enduring.

  “Whatever great enlightening beings give, their charity being boundless, they dedicate those roots of goodness in this way: when they give fine food to sentient beings, their minds are pure and have no covetousness or attachment to what they give, nor do they begrudge anything; they practice giving fully, praying that all sentient beings gain the food of knowledge and wisdom, their minds unobstructed, comprehending the nature of food and having no greed or attachment, only enjoying the food of truth and the food of emancipation, filled with knowledge and wisdom, firmly abiding by the truth, embodying roots of goodness, with the body of reality and the body of knowledge traveling in purity; taking pity on sentient beings, to be fields of blessing they appear to take solid food. This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of good roots when they give food.

  “When great enlightening beings give something to drink, they dedicate these roots of goodness in this way: they pray that all sentient beings drink of the water of the flavor of truth, diligently cultivate the whole way of enlightening beings, cut off thirst for the world, always seek enlightened knowledge, leave the realm of desire, attain the joy and bliss of truth, produce their bodies from the pure teaching, always tune and control their minds by means of concentration, enter the ocean of knowledge, produce great clouds of teaching, shower great rain of teaching. This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when they give things to drink.

  “Great enlightening beings give various flavors—pungent, sour, salty, bland, as well as sweet, various flavors, rich, able to cause the body’s elements to be settled and harmonious, the skin and body well developed, the energy strong, the heart clear and pure and always joyful; not causing vomiting when eaten, making the senses clear and sharp, the internal organs fully developed and impervious to poison and disease, without distress, forever attaining comfort. These roots of goodness they dedicate in this way: ‘May all sentient beings gain the supreme flavor of ambrosia; may all sentient beings obtain the flavor of the knowledge of truth, and comprehend the function of all flavors; may all sentient beings obtain the flavor of infinite truths, know the realm of reality, and abide at peace in the great citadel of truth in ultimate reality; may all sentient beings produce great clouds of teachings throughout the cosmos, shower the rain of truth everywhere, teach, edify, and civilize all sentient beings; may all sentient beings gain the flavor of supreme knowledge, that the unexcelled joy of truth fill their minds and bodies; may all sentient beings obtain all the excellent flavors of nonattachment, and not be addicted to mundane tastes, but always diligently cultivate and practice all aspects of buddhahood; may all sentient beings gain the flavor of one truth and realize that all Buddha teachings are without difference; may all sentient beings gain the flavor of supreme victory and ride on omniscience, never turning back; may all sentient beings gain the flavor of entry into the truth of the nondifference of all Buddhas, and be able to distinguish all faculties; may all sentient beings attain increase of the savor of the teaching and always be able to fulfill the Buddhas’ teaching of nonobstruction.’ This is the great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving flavorings, to cause all sentient beings to cultivate virtue and all be fully endowed with the body of unobstructed knowledge.

  “When great enlightening beings give conveyances, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings gain the vehicle of complete omniscience, and ride in the Great Vehicle, the indestructible vehicle, the supreme vehicle, the highest vehicle, the swift vehicle, the vehicle of great power, the vehicle replete with virtue, the vehicle leaving mundanity, the vehicle that produces the innumerable enlightening beings.’ This is the great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving conveyances.

  “When great enlightening beings give clothing, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings gain the raiment of shame and conscience wherewith to cover their bodies; may they give up the erroneous practice of heretics who expose their bodies; may their color be lustrous and their skin fine and soft; may they attain the foremost bliss of the Buddhas, and attain the most pure comprehensive knowledge of ways of liberation.’ This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving clothing.

  “Great enlightening beings are constantly giving out various fine flowers—flowers of subtle fragrance, flowers of various colors, innumerable extraordinary flowers, beautiful flowers, delightful flowers, flowers of all seasons, celestial flowers, flowers of the human world, highly prized flowers, extremely fragrant and delightful flowers—innumerable such fine flowers the
y offer to living Buddhas and to the shrines of extinct Buddhas, to those who expound the teaching, to mendicants, to all enlightening beings, to good teachers, to Buddhist disciples, to self-enlightened ones, to parents, relatives, even themselves, as well as to all the poor and destitute. When they give, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings attain the flowers of concentration of the Buddhas, able to cause all the teachings to bloom; may all sentient beings become as pleasing and endlessly delightful to all they meet, as the Buddhas are; may all sentient beings be satisfied by what they see, and be free from disturbance and agitation; may all sentient beings fully carry out far-reaching pure works; may all sentient beings always remember good associates, their minds unchanging; may all sentient beings be like all-curing medicine, able to remove the toxins of all afflictions; may all sentient beings fulfill great vows and all get to be rulers of unexcelled knowledge; may all sentient beings, with the light of the sun of knowledge and wisdom, destroy the darkness of ignorance and folly; may all sentient beings’ pure moon of enlightenment wax full; may all sentient beings enter the land of great treasures, meet true knowers, and fully develop all roots of goodness.’ This is the great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving flowers, to cause sentient beings to all attain pure, unobstructed knowledge.

  “When great enlightening beings give garlands, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings be a pleasure for all people to behold, so that all who see them admire them, all who see them feel friendly toward them, all who see them like them, all who see them look up to them, all who see them are relieved of anxiety, all who see them become joyful, all who see them give up evil, all who see them may always approach the Buddhas, and all who see them are purified and attain omniscience.’ This is the great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving garlands.

  “When great enlightening beings give incense, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings be filled with the fragrance of morality, and attain to the standards of not being heedless, not being impure, not being defiled, having nothing to regret, becoming free from bondage, being unfrenzied, nontransgression, nonextremism, emancipation from the world, and the transcendent ways of enlightening beings. May all sentient beings, by these precepts, all accomplish the body of morality of all Buddhas.’ This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving incense, in order to cause sentient beings all to be able to complete the body of unobstructed morality.

  “When great enlightening beings give perfumes, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of generosity, able to give whatever they have. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of morality, attaining the ultimately pure morality of the enlightened. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of tolerance, giving up all harmful intentions. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of energy, always wearing the armor of heroic effort of the great vehicle. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of concentration, abiding peacefully in the concentration in which the Buddhas appear to them. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of wisdom, in a single moment becoming sovereigns of unexcelled knowledge. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of truth, attaining fearlessness in the highest teaching. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of virtue, developing all knowledge of great merit and virtue. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the fragrance of enlightenment, attain the ten powers of buddhahood, and reach the other shore. May all sentient beings be perfumed with the sublime fragrance of pure ways and forever annihilate all bad qualities.’ This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving perfumes.

  “When great enlightening beings give couches, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings obtain celestial couches and realize great knowledge and wisdom; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of sages, give up the mentality of ordinary men and abide in the aspiration for enlightenment; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of peace and happiness, forever parting from all the pains and afflictions of birth and death; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of the ultimate and get to see the autonomous spiritual powers of the Buddhas; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of equanimity, and always cultivate all good ways; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of supremacy and fulfill pure action which has no peer in the world; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of tranquility, realize the truth and reach ultimate reality; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of purity, and cultivate the Buddha’s sphere of pure knowledge; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of security and have the constant protection of good teachers; may all sentient beings obtain the couch of lions and lie on their right sides the way Buddhas do.’ This is the great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving couches.

  “When great enlightening beings give rooms and shelters, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings gain peaceful residence in pure buddha-lands and diligently cultivate all virtues, abide peacefully in the realm of profound concentration and give up all attachment to dwelling places, realize all dwelling places have no existence, detach from all worlds, abide in omniscience, take in the abodes of all Buddhas, live in the abode of peace and comfort of the ultimate path, always rest on supremely pure roots of goodness, and never leave the unexcelled abode of the Buddhas.’ This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving shelters, because they wish to benefit all sentient beings and think of how to help them out according to their needs.

  “When great enlightening beings give places to live, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings obtain what is really good for them, that their minds be happy and at peace; may all sentient beings live according to the Buddha, according to great knowledge, according to good teachers, according to what is most worthy of respect, according to good actions, according to great kindness, according to great compassion, according to the six ways of transcendence, according to the great determination for enlightenment, and according to the path of all enlightening beings.’ This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving places to live, because they want to cause everyone’s virtue, ultimate state, knowledge, path, principles, morality, aspirations, faith, vows, and all qualities of spiritual faculties, to be pure.

  “When great enlightening beings give lamps—butter lamps, oil lamps, jewel lamps, crystal lamps, lacquer lamps, fire lamps, aloe lamps, sandalwood lamps, lamps of all fragrances, lamps with lights of infinite colors—when they give innumerable such lamps, in order to benefit all sentient beings, to include all sentient beings, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings attain infinite light and illumine the true teachings of all Buddhas; may all sentient beings attain pure light, and clearly perceive the most subtle and minute forms in the world; may all sentient beings attain unclouded light, and realize that the realms of sentient beings are empty, without existence; may all sentient beings attain boundless light, so their bodies emit subtle radiance illumining everything; may all sentient beings attain all-illuminating light, and their minds never retreat from the teachings of the Buddhas; may all sentient beings attain the pure light of Buddhas, appearing in all lands; may all sentient beings attain unobstructed light, one light illumining everything in the cosmos; may all sentient beings attain uninterrupted light, illuminating the buddha-lands, the light unbroken; may all sentient beings attain the light of the banner of knowledge, illumining the world; may all sentient beings attain light of infinite colors, shining on all fields and manifesting spiritual powers.’ Thus enlightening beings, when they give lamps, wishing to benefit all sentient beings, to give peace and happiness to all sentient beings, follow all sentient beings by these root
s of goodness, embrace all sentient beings by these roots of goodness, distribute to all sentient beings these roots of goodness, treat all sentient beings kindly by these roots of goodness, satisfy all sentient beings by these roots of goodness, take care of all sentient beings by these roots of goodness, rescue all sentient beings by these roots of goodness, focus their minds on sentient beings by these roots of goodness, equally benefit all sentient beings by these roots of goodness, and observe all sentient beings by these roots of goodness. This is great enlightening beings’ dedication of roots of goodness when giving lamps. They dedicate thus without hindrance, causing sentient beings to dwell on roots of goodness.

  “When enlightening beings give medicines, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way: ‘May all sentient beings attain ultimate emancipation from all shrouds and bonds; may all sentient beings forever be rid of the body of sickness and attain the body of the enlightened; may all sentient beings become great medicines themselves, annihilating the sickness of all that is not good; may all sentient beings perfect the medicine that relieves all illness and abide securely in the enlightening beings’ stage of nonregression; may all sentient beings develop the medicines of enlightenment and be able to extract the poison arrows of all afflictions; may all sentient beings draw near to worthies and sages, annihilate afflictions, and cultivate pure practices; may all sentient beings become great physicians, forever eliminating all illnesses and not letting them recur; may all sentient beings be indestructible trees of medicine, able to cure all sentient beings; may all sentient beings attain the light of omniscience and remove the myriad arrows of sickness; may all sentient beings know how to formulate worldly medicines, to cure the illnesses there.’ When great enlightening beings give medicines, they dedicate the roots of goodness in this way to cause all sentient beings to be forever free from sicknesses, to be ultimately at ease, to be ultimately pure, to be free from illusion like the Buddha, to remove the arrows of all sicknesses, to attain an inexhaustible, healthy body, to attain an indestructible body, to attain a strong body, to attain the complete comfort of Buddhahood, which cannot be taken away, and to attain the independent, strong body of all Buddhas.