The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  “The enlightening beings also abandon taking what is not given. They are satisfied with what they have and do not desire others’ possessions. Thinking of things that belong to others as belonging to others, they do not give rise to any intention to steal and do not take even so much as a blade of grass or a leaf that is not given to them, much less take the necessities of life from others.

  “The enlightening beings also abandon sexual misconduct. They are satisfied with their own spouses and do not desire the spouses of others. They do not give rise to desire for others’ spouses, much less have sexual intercourse with them.

  “The enlightening beings also abandon false speech, speaking truthfully, according to what is so, in a manner appropriate to the time, and acting accordingly. Even in dreams they do not speak falsehood with the intention to deceive by concealing what they see, believe, wish, intend, or desire; they do not tell lies even in dreams, much less consciously.

  “The enlightening beings also abandon malicious talk and are not divisive or annoying to sentient beings. They do not gossip or tell tales here and there to cause division; they do not break up those who are together or increase the division of those already split. They do not enjoy disunion, do not delight in separation, and do not speak words that cause division, whether they are true or not.

  “The enlightening beings also abandon coarse speech and give up speech that is out of place, crude, dirty, harsh to others, openly or covertly annoying to others, vulgar, worldly or impure, unpleasant to hear, provocative, irritating, outrageous, displeasing, disagreeable, unpleasant, destructive to self or others. Having given up such speech, the enlightening beings speak words that are unabrasive and gentle, agreeable, sweet, causing pleasure, delightful, beneficial, pure, pleasant to the ears, congenial, likable, elegant and clear, understandable, worth hearing, not mixed up, desirable to many people, liked by many people, pleasing to many people, agreeable to many people, enlightening, beneficial and pleasurable to all beings, mentally uplifting, purifying self and others.

  “The enlightening beings also abandon useless speech; they speak prudently, in accord with time, truthfully, meaningfully, rightly, logically, instructively. They speak words with content, carefully considering and guarding their speech, in accord with the occasion, in well-regulated order, reflecting even before telling a joke, and never, of course, chattering at random.

  “The enlightening beings also become free from covetousness, not even conceiving any craving for others’ wealth, pleasures, enjoyments, goods, and possessions, much less desiring to possess what belongs to others; they do not seek or hope for or desire gain.

  “The enlightening beings also become free from malevolence and anger; they are kind to all beings, desirous of their welfare, sympathetic, solicitous, loving, protective of all, attentive to what is good for them. Giving up everything of the nature of the blemish of anger, resentment, and unfriendliness, opposition, and attack inflamed by ill will and hostility, the enlightening beings are to reflect on what is beneficial, considering what is called for by kindness for the welfare and happiness of all beings.

  “The enlightening beings also come to have right insight and follow the right Path. They give up divination and various misguided views, see rightly, do not practice deception, and set their minds on the Buddha, Teaching, and Community.

  “As the enlightening beings constantly preserve these ten virtuous ways, they evoke this intent: ‘Whatever ills, states of woe, and pitfalls beset sentient beings, all are caused by practicing nonvirtuous action, so I myself will abide in right action and also lead others to right action. Why? It is impossible to get others to abide in right action as long as one does not abide in right action oneself.’

  “They also think thus: the realms of hells, animality, and ghosthood are established by the practice of bad ways of action, and the states from humanity up to the highest realm of existence are established by the practice of good ways of action. The ten ways of good action on a higher level practiced by wisdom, due to narrowness, fear of the world, lack of great compassion, and following the speech of another, develop the vehicle of hearers. Purified on a yet higher level, because of not being led by another, because of self-realization without following anyone, because of self-enlightenment without seeking from another, because of lack of great compassion and skill in means, and because of profound understanding of conditionality, they develop the vehicle of individual illuminates. Purified on an even higher level, by immeasurable broadmindedness, sympathy and compassion, absorption of skill in means, undertaking of great vows, not abandoning sentient beings, and focus on the vast knowledge of buddhahood, they make for the breadth of practice to purify the stages of enlightening beings and the ways of transcendence. Purified on a yet higher level, they are conducive to the perfection of all characteristics of enlightenment, up to endowment with the ten powers and the full realization of all qualities of buddhahood. Therefore, by means of these ways of good action, having undertaken them all equally, effort should be made to accomplish the complete purification of all of their aspects.

  “They also realize this: bad actions at their worst, when developed and done a lot, are the cause of hell; at a middling degree, they are the cause of animality; at their least they are the cause of the underworld. Taking life leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human, it brings about two consequences: a short life and much sickness. Stealing leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human, it brings about two consequences: material poverty and common possession of property. Sexual misconduct leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human, it brings about two consequences: an unruly society and an unfaithful spouse. Lying leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human it brings on two consequences: much slander and unreliability. Divisive talk leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human it brings about two consequences: a broken home and a wretched family. Harsh talk leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human it brings about two consequences: hearing what is displeasing, and argumentativeness. Confused, senseless talk leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but if one is born human it brings about two consequences: one’s words will not be believed and one’s speech will be unclear. Covetousness leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but then if one is born human it brings about two consequences: dissatisfaction and ambitiousness. Anger leads to hell, to animality, to the underworld, but then if one is born human it brings on two consequences: falling into bad views and becoming tricky and deceitful. Thus these ten bad ways of action tend to the formation of an immeasurably great mass of misery—so let us leave behind these ten bad ways of action and enjoy the delights of the garden of righteousness.

  “Having abandoned these ten bad ways of action, they live by the ten good ways of action and also lead others to them. Even more do the enlightening beings arouse toward all sentient beings desire for their welfare and happiness, with kindness, sympathy, compassion, and desire to care for them and protect them, thinking of all beings as equal to themselves, thinking of them as examples and teachers.

  “This is what the enlightening beings think: ‘Alas, these beings have fallen into wrong views; their thinking and disposition of mind is wrong: traveling on erroneous paths, in the midst of entanglements, they should be set by us on the true way, the road of right insight, in accord with reality. Alas, these beings are at odds, argumentative, involved in disputes, always burning with anger and hatred—we should establish them in the exercise of unexcelled great kindness. Alas, these beings are insatiable, coveting others’ goods, following bad ways of making a living—we should establish them in pure deed, word, thought, and livelihood. Unfortunately, these beings follow the motivations of lust, hatred, and delusion, are burned by the flames of various afflictions, and do not seek a means of final escape from them—we should lead them to nirvana, where all afflictions cease and t
here are no ills. Regrettably, these beings are veiled by the darkness and obscurity of delusion and covered by the darkness of ignorance; they have entered a vast tangle of darkness, have become far estranged from the realm of wisdom and fallen into a great darkness, entered a wilderness of erroneous views—we should clarify their eye of unobstructed wisdom, so they will know all things as they really are without being directed by another. Alas, these beings are traveling in the desert of routine existence; they are in trouble, uneasy, fallen into a great pitfall, facing a fall into the realms of hells, animality, or the underworld; they are ensnared in the dangerous net of false views, entangled in delusion; they have gone off on the wrong road, are blind, lack a guide, and think what is not salvation is salvation; bound by the rope of demons, they are taken in by the thieving sense objects, are without a good guide, and have entered a thicket of demonic dispositions, becoming far estranged from the enlightened mentality: we should save them from such hardships of the wasteland of the mundane whirl and should settle them in the city of fearlessness, the city of all knowledge, where there is no affliction or pain. These beings, unfortunately, are sunk in the waves of great torrents, plunged into the flows of desire, existence, ignorance, and views, swept along by the current of the mundane whirl, fallen into the river of craving, into a great rapids, unable to see objectively, going along the creepers of thoughts of lust, malice, and viciousness, caught by the demon of the view of real existence of the body, plunged into the swirling abyss of desire, into the midst of passion for enjoyment, cast up on the land of self-conceit, rotten inside with misconduct and bad behavior, unable to escape the danger of the village of the six senses, without anyone to rescue them, without a savior or protector, without a refuge: we should bring forth great compassion, virtue, and power, and set them on the jewel island of omniscience, free from troubles, free from passion, peaceful, happy, free from danger, beyond all fears. These beings are unfortunately locked up in much suffering, sadness, and irritation, in bonds of love and hate, like and dislike, in sadness and grief, in the fetters of craving, in the tangles of illusion, deceit, and ignorance, in the prison of the triple world: we should lead them to nirvana, detached from the triple world, the city of fearlessness, where all suffering ceases, free from obstruction. Alas, these beings are attached to self and possessions, unable to get out of clinging to the elements of body and mind, acting according to delusions, dwelling in the desolate village of the senses, attacked by the vipers of physical constituents, besieged by the murderous bandits of the body-mind clusters, experiencing immeasurable pain: we should bring them to supreme bliss, free from all attachments—that is, to nirvana void of all obstructions. It is a pity that the aspirations of these beings are base and narrow and they lack the will for highest omniscience; even if they want to escape, they think of the vehicles of those aiming for individual enlightenment and liberation alone—we should set them in the unexcelled Great Vehicle of universal salvation in accord with focus on the great resolution for supreme buddhahood and the perspicacity of omniscience.’

  “Thus many buddhas come within the range of perception of the enlightening beings who are in accord with the sustaining power of morality, who have skillfully activated sympathy, compassion, and kindness, who are unsolicited good friends to all beings, who have not abandoned sentient beings, who skillfully accomplish what is to be done, who are stationed in the enlightening beings’ stage of purity, by the enlightening beings’ great vision and willpower: the enlightening beings perceive enormously many buddhas, many hundreds, thousands, millions, billions, trillions of buddhas, by their tremendous vision and the power of their vows. Having seen those buddhas, they honor and pay respect and homage to them with lofty intent, and provide them with the necessities—clothing, food and drink, bedding, and medicine; they also provide comforts for enlightening beings and pay respect to the religious community. They dedicate these roots of goodness to unexcelled perfect enlightenment. Also they attend those buddhas and respectfully learn from them the ten ways of virtuous action and never forget them as they have learned them; over countless eons rid of the defilements of envy and bad behavior, they therefore attain purity of generosity and morality.

  “Just as gold becomes more and more free from all impurities when put in vitriol, so do enlightening beings in this stage of Purity, by virtue of riddance of the impurities of envy and bad behavior, accomplish purity of generosity and morality. Among the four means of salvation, kind speech is paramount in them; among the ten transcendent ways, morality is paramount. This does not mean they do not practice the rest—they do so as best they can, as is appropriate.

  “This is a brief explanation of the second stage of enlightening beings, the stage of Purity. Many of the enlightening beings in this stage are sovereigns, lords of four continents and masters of the law, competent, powerful, able to rid beings of the impurities of bad behavior, to set them on the ten paths of virtuous conduct. Whatever acts the enlightening beings undertake, whether by way of giving, or kind speech, or beneficial action, or cooperation, all of it is done with no other thoughts in mind but thoughts of the Buddha, the Teaching, the Community, enlightening beings, the practices of enlightening beings, the ways of transcendence, the stages, the powers, the expertises, the unique qualities of buddhas, and all aspects of omniscience. Why? To become the best of beings, unexcelled leaders and guides, and ultimately omniscient refuges.

  “Those who seek to be thus undertake the appropriate effort, by which they give up all comforts and go forth into the teaching of Buddha. Having gone forth, in a single instant they suddenly attain a thousand concentrations, see a thousand buddhas and recognize their power, shake a thousand worlds, go to a thousand fields, illumine a thousand worlds, mature a thousand beings, live for a thousand eons, penetrate a thousand eons past and future, contemplate a thousand teachings, and manifest a thousand bodies, each body manifesting a company of a thousand enlightening beings. Then enlightening beings with superior power of commitment, by the quality of excellence of vows, transform their bodies, auras, mystic powers, vision, spheres of operation, voices, conduct, adornments, power, resolutions, and performances in countless ways.”

  Then Diamond Matrix spoke these verses explaining the meaning of this stage:

  They are gentle, honest, mild, capable,

  Of goodwill, docile, unalloyed, unattached, of lofty awareness;

  With breadth of mind they enter the second stage.

  Here, they are bearers of virtue, imbued with good.

  Avoiding the taking of life, their minds are free from viciousness.

  They do not take what is not given or take others’ spouses.

  They are truthful, do not slander, are not harsh in speech.

  They have no desire for others’ possessions, are kind-hearted,

  Follow the right Path, and have no deceitful mind.

  With phantom bodies, beautifully adorned,

  They honor the Teacher and are always diligent.

  The pains of hells and animal realms,

  Punishment in the underworld, eternal burning and hunger,

  All are produced by evil doings;

  Rejecting them, let us arrive at truth.

  From birth in the human realm as desired,

  Up to the peak of existence, free from strife, with the bliss of meditation,

  The vehicle of solitary illuminates, the vehicles of disciples and buddhas,

  All come to exist from the ten paths of virtue.

  Knowing this, enlightening beings are always diligent,

  Firmly abiding by ethics and also inducing others to do so.

  Furthermore, imbued with compassion,

  Knowing beings are suffering, they give rise to sympathy.

  “Fallen into wrong views are these ignorant ones,

  With minds quick to anger, hate, and argue,

  Always unsatisfied, seeking objects ever more—

  These beings motivated by desire, hatred, and delusion should be libe
rated.

  “They are covered by a great darkness, plunged into delusion,

  On a bad road in a wilderness, in a great net of views;

  In the cage of mundane life, enemies attack them—

  We should liberate those in the cage of the devil.

  “Taken by the waves of afflictions, sunk in the torrents,

  They are tormented by a hundred miseries in the triple world,

  Wrapped up in the clusters, thinking of them as self—

  For their sake we strive, to release them from pain.

  “Having given up this supreme vehicle of buddhahood,

  Though they aim for escape, their aspiration is low;

  We will establish them in the undefiled knowledge of the enlightened.”

  Thus enlightening beings arouse incomparable vigor in the cause of enlightenment.

  In this stage the great sages, having gathered hundreds of virtues,

  See many buddhas and honor them with offerings.

  Their virtue is burnished the more for countless eons,

  Like gold plunged into vitriol.

  Here enlightening beings become monarchs,

  Leading sentient beings by the ten virtues:

  By all the virtue they have amassed,

  They will to become saviors of the world, rich in the ten powers.

  Willfully giving up the pleasures of kingship,

  Gone forth into the supreme Teaching, steadfast,

  Full of vigor, they attain supreme concentration

  And instantly see a thousand buddhas.

  The enlightening beings in this stage also display

  Many spiritual powers, of such worthy intentions;

  Beyond this, imbued with the power of vows and knowledge,

  They guide beings with many kinds of miracles.

  “Thus has been explained the second stage, exalted, of enlightening beings, who work for the weal of all worlds.”

  Having thus heard of the supreme stages of practice in the sphere of enlightening beings, inconceivable, the enlightening beings in the audience, delighted, scattered multitudes of flowers from the sky, saying, “Excellent! Well have you explained, out of compassion for all beings, the body of conduct of the wise, the sphere of the second of the highest stages. Truthfully, without falsehood or change, have you explained the delightful practice of enlightening beings, with supreme clarity, for the welfare and happiness of all beings. Go on to speak of the third of the most excellent stages—let this superlative realm be told of as it is, linked with true knowledge and action. Tell of the path of the conduct of the Victorious, the practice of charity and morality of the sages, patience, energy, tranquillity, wisdom, skillfulness, supreme kindness, and compassion—tell all, omitting naught.”