As rulers and leaders they are followed by all;
They crush the armies of demons and annihilate them.
They hold fast to pure morality, without transgression;
With firm determination they forbear, unshakably.
They vow to forever clear away anger from the mind
And always gladly practice the teachings of Buddha.
Food and drink, perfumes and garlands, as well as clothes,
Vehicles, chairs, cushions, and lamps—
Enlightening beings give these to people to help them,
And give innumerable other kinds of things as well.
They practice giving to be of aid,
Causing them to open their hearts.
In regard to the Supreme as well as others
Their minds are pure and full of joy.
Enlightening beings provide for all,
Able to give up everything they have, internal and external,
Unfailingly causing their minds to be forever pure
And never to be narrow or mean.
They may give their heads or eyes
Or give their hands or feet,
Skin, flesh, bones, marrow, and so on—
All they give up unbegrudgingly.
Enlightening beings, on the throne of royalty,
Of the most noble of tribes,
Open their mouths and put forth their tongues to give living beings,
Their hearts joyful, without sorrow or attachment.
The virtues of giving their tongues
They dedicate to all sentient beings,
Praying that based on this excellent cause
All may attain the universal tongue of the enlightened.
They may give their spouses and children, or their royal rank,
Or give themselves to be servants;
Their minds are pure and always joyful,
Thus they have no remorse or regret.
They give whatever is required,
Aiding according to the time, unwearied;
All they have they can disburse
So that all seekers be satisfied.
They give their bodies to hear the teaching
And practice austerities seeking enlightenment;
And for the sake of the living they give up all,
Seeking unexcelled knowledge without turning back.
By the true teaching heard from the Buddhas
They give up their bodies to be servants,
Because they want to save all living beings;
They develop a mind of infinite joy.
They see the World-Honored Guide
Can bring widespread weal with kindness;
Then they dance with joy
And absorb the savor of the profound teaching of enlightenment.
Whatever roots of goodness enlightening beings have
They dedicate all to sentient beings;
They rescue all without exception,
Forever liberating them, so they’re eternally at peace.
Enlightening beings’ retinues
Are attractive, talented, eloquent and intelligent,
Adorned with all manner of embellishments—
Flower garlands, clothes, and perfumes:
These retinues, rare as they are,
Enlightening beings are able to give away,
Wholeheartedly seeking true enlightenment to liberate beings,
Never for a moment giving up this determination.
Enlightening beings thus think clearly
And fully carry out various great works,
Dedicating all to conscious beings
Without developing a grasping mind.
Enlightening beings give up their royal ranks
As well as their land and cities,
Palaces, bowers, gardens, and groves,
Servants and attendants, all ungrudgingly.
Over countless millions of eons
They travel everywhere giving,
Whereby they teach and lead living beings,
Causing them to ascend to the unexcelled shore.
Countless species, each different,
Come and gather from all worlds;
Seeing them, enlightening beings are joyful
And satisfy them according to need.
Like the dedication of the Buddhas of all times
Enlightening beings perform similar works;
The course of the Human Taming Lords
They emulate to reach the other shore.
Enlightening beings examine all things:
Who can comprehend these things?
What is comprehension, what is comprehended?
Thus their giving dwells nowhere.
The adaptive knowledge of enlightening beings’ dedication,
The expedient methods of enlightening beings’ dedication,
The true meaning of enlightening beings’ dedication:
They have no attachment to those things.
Their minds do not conceptualize actions arbitrarily,
And they are not obsessed with results of action;
They know the nature of enlightenment comes from conditions,
And enter the profound realm of reality, without opposition.
They do not have action in their bodies,
Nor does it dwell in the mind.
By wisdom they realize there’s no essence to action,
Yet due to causality action’s not lost.
Their minds do not wrongly grasp things of the past,
Nor crave for things of the future,
Nor dwell on aught in the present:
They know the three times are all void.
Enlightening beings have already reached the other shore of form
And of sensation, perception, patternings, and consciousness;
They go beyond the flow of birth and death in the world,
Their minds humble and always pure.
They clearly analyze the five clusters, eighteen elements,
Twelve sense media, and their own bodies,
Looking for enlightenment in each:
Their essential nature cannot be grasped.
They do not cling to appearances of permanence in things,
Nor cling to the appearance of annihilation:
The nature of things is neither existent nor nonexistent,
While the process of the principle of action ultimately never ends.
They do not dwell on anything at all,
Do not see “sentient beings” or “enlightenment”:
Throughout all lands in all times
They ultimately find they cannot be found.
If one can see things in this way,
One will accord with the understanding of the Buddhas;
Though one seek their essence, it cannot be found,
Yet enlightening beings’ practices are not in vain.
Enlightening beings understand things exist due to conditions,
And they do not deviate from the paths they should travel.
They clarify and explain the marks of all actions,
Wanting to purify all sentient beings.
This is the path traversed by the wise,
Taught by all the enlightened ones;
Following it reflectively, entering the true meaning,
One will naturally awaken and become enlightened.
Phenomena have no birth or extinction,
And they have no coming or going;
Not dying here and reborn there—
Such people understand the Buddha teachings.
Comprehending the true nature of things,
Yet not conceptualizing the nature of things,
Knowing things have no essence and no discrimination—
Such people can enter the Buddha’s knowledge.
The nature of things is in all places,
All sentient beings and all lands,
In all times, past, present, and future,
Yet has no appr
ehensible form.
That which the Buddhas all realize
Is all-inclusive, omitting naught.
Though they explain all things in all times,
All these things are not existent.
As the nature of things pervades everywhere,
So does the dedication of enlightening beings:
Thus dedicated to sentient beings,
They never retreat from the world.
“What is great enlightening beings’ dedication equally adapting and according to all sentient beings? The enlightening beings accord with whatever roots of goodness they have accumulated—small roots of goodness, great roots of goodness, extensive roots of goodness, manifold roots of goodness, measureless roots of goodness, various roots of goodness, roots of goodness as numerous as atoms, incalculable roots of goodness, boundless roots of goodness, inconceivable roots of goodness, immeasurable roots of goodness, roots of goodness of the sphere of buddhahood, roots of goodness of the sphere of the teaching, roots of goodness of the sphere of the religious community, roots of goodness of the sphere of teachers, roots of goodness of the spheres of all sentient beings, roots of goodness of the sphere of skill in means, roots of goodness of the sphere of cultivation of good states of mind, internal roots of goodness, external roots of goodness, roots of goodness of the sphere of boundless aids to the fostering of enlightenment, roots of goodness of diligently cultivating universal relinquishment, roots of goodness of establishing supreme determination and ultimately keeping pure precepts, roots of goodness of equanimously enduring all, roots of goodness of constant, unregressing perseverence, roots of goodness of entering innumerable concentrations by great skill in means, roots of goodness of skillful analysis by knowledge and wisdom, roots of goodness of knowing the differences in mental patterns of all sentient beings, roots of goodness of universally protecting and nurturing all worlds.
“Great enlightening beings cultivate and live by these roots of goodness, entering into them, absorbing them, accumulating them, fully developing them; their awareness and understanding clear, they demonstrate and put them into action. Then they attain forbearance, close the doors of the courses of misery, skillfully embody roots of goodness, bear themselves with complete dignity, get rid of delusion, and fulfill correct action. They are capable of being vessels of the Buddha teaching, and can be fertile fields of blessings and virtue for sentient beings. In the care of the Buddhas, they develop the roots of goodness of buddhahood, live by the vows of Buddhas, and carry out the works of the Buddhas. Their minds attain freedom equal to the Buddhas of past, present, and future; they proceed to the site of Buddhas’ enlightenment, plunge into the power of the Enlightened, and are endowed with the marks of Buddhas. Transcending all worlds, they do not desire birth in a heaven, do not covet wealth and pleasure, and do not cling to activities. Dedicating all roots of goodness, they are mines of virtue for sentient beings. Abiding in the ultimate path, they envelop all. They remove sentient beings from the paths of delusion and cause them to live by all good principles. They reach all realms, uninterrupted and inexhaustible, opening the gates of omniscient enlightenment, setting up the banner of knowledge, clarifying the Great Path, able to show it to all worldlings, causing them to get rid of impurity. Their minds well trained, they are born in the house of the enlightened and purify their buddha-nature. Replete with virtuous qualities, they are great fields of blessings; a refuge for the world, they firmly stabilize sentient beings, purifying them all, diligently cultivating all roots of goodness.
“When great enlightening beings cultivate roots of goodness by the power of pure determination for enlightenment, they think in these terms: ‘These roots of goodness are accumulated by the aspiration for enlightenment, thought of by the aspiration for enlightenment, initiated by the aspiration for enlightenment, willed by the aspiration for enlightenment, caused to grow by the aspiration for enlightenment: they are all due to pity for all sentient beings; they are for the quest for knowledge of all ways of liberation; they are all for the sake of accomplishing the ten powers of the enlightened.’ While they thus reflect, their roots of goodness develop further, never regressing.
“Great enlightening beings also form this thought: ‘May I practice the deeds of enlightening beings forever by these roots of goodness, giving them all to sentient beings, dedicating them all to all sentient beings, including all, excepting none. May they cause countless worlds to be filled with treasures, countless worlds to be filled with raiment, countless worlds to be filled with fine fragrances, countless worlds to be filled with adornments, countless worlds to be filled with infinite jewels, countless worlds to be filled with exquisite flowers, countless worlds to be filled with fine flavorings, countless worlds to be filled with goods, countless worlds to be filled with chairs covered with jeweled screens and spread with fine fabrics, countless worlds to be filled with jeweled crowns variously adorned—even if one person should be forever coming seeking, I would give these things unceasingly; and as for one, so would I do for all sentient beings.’
“When great enlightening beings give in this way, they have no mind of falsehood or artifice, no mind of seeking or expectation, no desire for name and fame, no regret, no irritating afflictions in their minds; they only develop a mind solely intent on the path of universal knowledge, a mind to give away everything, a mind of pity for sentient beings, a mind to teach and perfect, a mind to cause all to abide in the mind of omniscient knowledge. Great enlightening beings dedicate the roots of goodness in this way, forever carrying out generous giving.
“Great enlightening beings also form this thought: ‘For the sake of even one sentient being I would like to cause countless worlds to be filled with prize tame elephants, with gold banners, covered with gold mesh, adorned with all kinds of jewels, to use as gifts; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with prize horses, adorned with all kinds of precious ornaments, to use as gifts; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with female musicians capable of playing all sorts of beautiful music, to use for giving; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with my own body, arousing the will for enlightenment, to use for giving; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with my own head, developing a nonindulgent mind, to use for giving; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with my own eyes to use for giving; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with my body’s blood, flesh, bones and marrow, without feeling any attachment, to use for giving; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with the rank of sovereign to use for giving; I would cause countless worlds to be filled with servants, to use for giving.’ Great enlightening beings give various such things to one sentient being, abiding in a magnanimous, totally generous state of mind; and as to one, so do they give to all sentient beings in the whole realm of sentient beings.
“Great enlightening beings perform the acts of enlightening beings throughout the future in one world, giving such things to one and all, satisfying everyone; and as they do in one world, so also do they do in all worlds in space throughout the cosmos. They cover all with great compassion, unremittingly, extending sympathy and mercy to all, providing them with what they need. They do not let conditions stop their practice of giving, and never grow weary of it, even for a moment.
“When great enlightening beings give in this way, they give rise to these frames of mind: an unattached mind, an unfettered mind, a liberated mind, a mind of great strength, an extremely profound mind, a well-concentrated mind, a nonclinging mind, a nonsubjective mind, a well-controlled mind, an undistracted mind, a mind without arbitrary conceptions, a mind endowed with all kinds of precious essences, a mind not seeking reward, a mind comprehending all things, a mind abiding in great dedication, a mind skillfully determining meanings, a mind to cause all sentient beings to abide in unexcelled knowledge, a mind producing the great light of truth, a mind entering omniscient knowledge.
“In every moment of thought great enlightening beings dedicate the roots of goodness they have gathered in this
way: ‘May all sentient beings have abundant wealth and lack nothing; may all sentient beings develop inexhaustible stores of great virtues; may all sentient beings fully experience all peace and happiness; may all sentient beings develop and extend the work of great enlightening beings; may all sentient beings fulfill infinite supreme qualities; may all sentient beings gain the vehicle of universal knowledge, which never rolls back; may all sentient beings see all the Buddhas of the ten directions; may all sentient beings be forever rid of the dust and dirt of confusions and delusions of the world; may all sentient beings attain pure, impartial minds; may all sentient beings be free from difficulties and attain omniscience.’
“When great enlightening beings practice dedication in this way, they are inspired with joy: it is to cause all sentient beings to gain well-being and peace; to cause all sentient beings to attain impartial minds; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind capable of relinquishment; to cause all sentient beings to live with an all-giving mind; to cause all sentient beings to live with a joyfully giving mind; to cause all beings to live with a mind to give to bring eternal freedom from destitution; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind to give all goods and treasures; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind of universal giving, immeasurable giving, total giving; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind to unending giving; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind giving away all without regret or affliction; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind to give away all things to support life; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind to appropriate giving; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind to inclusive giving; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind of extensive, great giving; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind to give away unlimited adornments as offerings; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind of giving without attachment; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind of equanimous, impartial giving; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind of giving with extremely great adamantine strength; to cause all sentient beings to live with a mind giving like the light of the sun; to cause all sentient beings to live with a giving mind embracing the wisdom of the enlightened; to cause all sentient beings to be fully accompanied by roots of goodness; to cause all sentient beings to always be in the presence of roots of goodness, knowledge, and wisdom; to cause all sentient beings to attain the fullness of incorruptible pure minds; to cause all sentient beings to develop the most pure roots of goodness; to cause all sentient beings to wake up from the stupefaction of afflictions; to cause all sentient beings to annihilate all doubt and confusion; to cause all sentient beings to attain the pure virtues of equanimous knowledge; to cause all sentient beings’ virtuous qualities to be fully developed and immune to deterioration or corruption; to cause all sentient beings to have pure, imperturbable concentration; to cause all sentient beings to abide in indestructible omniscience; to cause all sentient beings to fully accomplish the functions of innumerable enlightening beings’ pure spiritual powers; to cause all sentient beings to accumulate roots of goodness free from attachment; to cause all sentient beings to think of all Buddhas of past, present, and future with pure minds; to cause all sentient beings to produce superlative pure roots of goodness; to cause all sentient beings to eliminate all hindrances to enlightenment produced by the action of demons; to cause all sentient beings to be fully endowed with unobstructed, pure, equal virtuous qualities; to cause all sentient beings to open wide the doors of all roots of goodness and be able to fully develop pure virtues; to cause all sentient beings to always recollect the Buddhas with a broad mind, never slacking or giving up; to cause all sentient beings to always approach the Buddhas and diligently attend them; to cause all sentient beings to have immeasurable minds, broad and great minds, most excellent minds, thoroughly pure; to cause all sentient beings to develop minds of pure impartial generosity; to cause all sentient beings to keep the Buddhas’ precepts equally and purely; to cause all sentient beings to attain great transcendent forbearance; to cause all sentient beings to have transcendent energy, never becoming lazy; to cause all sentient beings to abide in immeasurable concentration and be able to awaken all kinds of spiritual knowledge; to cause all sentient beings to attain transcendent wisdom knowing all phenomena have no inherent nature; to cause all sentient beings to fulfill the infinite pure realm of truth; to cause all sentient beings to fully develop the pure roots of goodness of all mystic powers; to cause all sentient beings to abide in the practice of impartiality, build up good qualities, and perfect them all; to cause all sentient beings to be able to comprehensively enter the spheres of all Buddhas; to cause all sentient beings to be universally pure in thought, word, and deed; to cause the results of all sentient beings’ good works to be universally pure; to cause all sentient beings’ understanding of all things to be universally pure; to cause all sentient beings’ realization of true meaning to be universally pure; to cause all sentient beings’ cultivation of excellent practices to be universally pure; to cause all sentient beings to fulfill the great vows of all enlightening beings with universal purity; to cause all sentient beings to fulfill all roots of goodness based on unity of being and to dedicate them to the production of the vehicle of universal knowledge, perfecting them in every way; to cause all sentient beings to realize all virtues and knowledge with universal purity; to cause all sentient beings to fully develop vision of all Buddhas without attachment; to cause all sentient beings to be endowed with Buddhas’ marks and embellishments, their adornments of virtue fully complete; to cause all sentient beings to fully develop clear speech, thoroughly trustworthy, adorned with a hundred thousand qualities, replete with the unhindered subtle voice of the Buddhas; to cause all sentient beings to attain unobstructed, equanimous minds adorned by the ten powers; to cause all sentient beings to attain the inexhaustible light of truth of all Buddhas, with all powers of elucidation fully developed; to cause all sentient beings to manage the Lion’s Roar of the unexcelled fearless hero among humans; to cause all sentient beings to attain universal knowledge and turn the wheel of teaching which never rolls back; to cause all sentient beings to have full comprehension of all the teachings and to reveal and expound them; to cause all sentient beings to cultivate pure ways appropriate to the times, fully developing them; to cause all sentient beings to equally and purely perfect the unexcelled treasures of teachings of the Guide; to cause all sentient beings to fully perfect individual adornments, innumerable adornments, great adornments, the adornments of all Buddhas; to cause all sentient beings to equally penetrate all objects in all times, reaching them all; to cause all sentient beings to be able to go to all buddha-fields, listen to and absorb the true teachings; to cause all sentient beings’ wisdom and altruism to be honored by the world, equal to the Buddhas’; to cause all sentient beings to know all things comprehensively by means of universal knowledge; to cause all sentient beings to carry out the practice of unshakability and realize the fruit of nonobstruction, consummating these in every way; to cause all sentient beings’ roots of goodness to evolve into spiritual powers, able to know the faculties of all living beings; to cause all sentient beings to attain nondiscriminatory, impartial knowledge, universally pure in regard to unity; to cause all sentient beings not to deviate from truth and to be endowed with all roots of goodness; to cause all sentient beings to clearly comprehend all the autonomous spiritual powers of enlightening beings; to cause all sentient beings to attain the inexhaustible virtues of all Buddhas, completely equal whether in terms of virtue or knowledge; to cause all sentient beings to arouse the determination for enlightenment and to understand perfectly the equality and unity of all things; to cause all sentient beings to comprehend the truth and become the highest fields of blessings for the world; to cause all sentient beings to develop impartial pure compassion and be fields of great power for all donors; to cause all sentient beings to be foremost in steadfastness, so that nothing can break them down; to cause all sentient beings to be ben
eficial to all who see them, and to be invincible; to cause all sentient beings to be well able to comprehend all true principles and attain fearlessness; to cause all sentient beings to radiate a single light which illumines all worlds in the ten directions; to cause all sentient beings to cultivate all the enlightening beings’ vigorous practices without shrinking back; to cause all sentient beings to fulfill all practical vows by means of one practical vow; to cause all sentient beings to make all hearers attain understanding by means of one sublime voice; to cause all sentient beings to be able to fully develop the pure mind of all enlightening beings; to cause all sentient beings to get the opportunity to meet good teachers and serve them all; to cause all sentient beings to unremittingly cultivate the practices of enlightening beings and harmonize and pacify living beings; to cause all sentient beings to teach according to potential, with inexhaustible powers of elucidation; to cause all sentient beings to be able to know all minds with one mind, and to impartially dedicate all roots of goodness; to cause all sentient beings to always gladly accumulate all sorts of goodness and establish sentient beings in pure knowledge; to cause all sentient beings to attain the pure body of virtue and knowledge of omniscience; to cause all sentient beings to know the roots of goodness of all living beings, to practice dedication perceptively and perfect them all; to cause all sentient beings to attain universal knowledge and realize true enlightenment, complete in every way; to cause all sentient beings to attain full knowledge of spiritual powers, appearing in all places when appearing in one place; to cause all sentient beings to attain knowledge of universal adornment, all communities being adorned and purified when they adorn and purify one community; to cause all sentient beings to see all buddha-lands in one buddha-land; to cause all sentient beings to adorn all buddha-lands throughout with all adornments—unspeakably many adornments, innumerable adornments, infinite adornments; to cause all sentient beings to be able to understand with certainty the most profound meaning of all things; to cause all sentient beings to attain the foremost autonomous spiritual powers of the enlightened ones; to cause all sentient beings to attain autonomous spiritual powers which are not one, not different, and replete with all virtuous qualities; to cause all sentient beings to fulfill all equal roots of goodness and be crowned by the Buddhas; to cause all sentient beings to fully realize the body of pure knowledge, supreme in all realms of existence.
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 80