The Flower Ornament Scripture
Page 96
Having attained this excellent fifth stage,
They further cultivate the luster of the pure path:
With a pure intent, to attain buddhahood,
They think of compassion and kindness, without distress.
By gathering stores of virtue and higher knowledge,
By many means they observe the range of the stages.
Mindful of the power of the Buddha, imbued with intelligence and reason,
They contemplate the four truths completely.
They delve into the ultimate truth, the conventional truth,
The truth of characteristics, of distinctions, and structure,
The truth of substance, of the tainted and annihilation,
The truth of the Path, up to the truth of the unobstructed.
Yet though their subtle discernment seeks the truth
They do not attain highest unobstructed liberation;
Still, by great knowledge and application they surpass
All virtues of which worldlings are capable.
Thus having developed veritable discernment of truth,
They know the conditioned is unreal by nature and valueless.
They gain the light of compassion and kindness of buddhas yet more,
Seeking enlightened knowledge for the benefit of sentient beings.
They observe the past and future of the conditioned,
Those shrouded in the darkness of delusion, caught up in suffering,
And rescue worldlings bound to this mass of suffering,
Though they are without self or soul and equal to grass and trees.
“Because of two simultaneous afflictions are you reborn,
Past, present, and future; you find no end to suffering.”
They see these people are lost, not turning back
From the mundane whirl, though it has no being of its own.
Dwelling in the clusters, with the serpents of the senses,
Infested with errant views, hearts burning with fire, shrouded in darkness,
Sunk in a flood of craving through lack of insight,
Without the guidance of Buddha, they are stranded in the sea of suffering.
Knowing this, enlightening beings strive yet more diligently,
Undertaking the liberation of all sentient beings:
They become mindful, discerning, intent, steadfast;
They become conscientious, hence awake and full of wisdom.
They do not cease their accumulation of virtue and higher knowledge;
Without weariness or laxity seeking power,
They develop lands, features, and voices of buddhas
Unceasing, all their deeds being for the weal of the living.
In order to mature people, they establish arts and skills—
Writing, printing, mathematics, medical sciences,
Exorcism, antidotes, curing,
Establishing excellent education, compassionate, kind, intelligent.
Witty in the finest song and dance, they build delightful places—
Canals, parks with flowers and fruits, places to sit,
Doing many things for the pleasure of beings,
Even revealing many kinds of treasure troves.
Mastering observation of the movements of celestial bodies and earth
As well as physiognomy,
They accomplish formless meditations, mystic knowledges, and the immeasurables,
Desiring well-being and happiness for the world.
Arriving in the Difficult to Conquer stage, practitioners of higher wisdom
Serve billions of buddhas and hear their teaching:
Their goodness and heart become more radiant,
Like gold sprinkled with jewels.
As the jewel palaces of the constellations
Are not swept away by the wind, so are enlightening beings
Unaffected while working in the world for beings’ sake,
Like lotuses to which water does not cling.
In this stage, those experienced lords of contentment
Destroy the actions of false teachers, the abodes of manifold views.
All the good they do is in the cause of enlightened knowledge,
Wishing to become saviors of beings, rich in the ten powers.
Arousing superior energy, unflagging,
They serve a trillion buddhas;
Having attained concentration, they shake a trillion worlds,
Bearing the undertakings of the virtuous.
“Thus have enlightening beings, excellent guardians of the living, told of the fifth stage, called Difficult to Conquer, in myriad different ways.”
Having heard of the superior practice of this exalted stage of the wise the host of enlightening beings, delighted, showered flowers and sprinkled the Buddha with sublime jewels radiating pure light, uttering praise. A hundred thousand celestial beings in the sky, pleased, scattered exquisite varicolored celestial jewel dust on the Buddha, presenting incense, garlands, perfumes, parasols, decorative banners and pennants, and ornamental crescents. The commanding lord of the celestials, along with all heavenly hosts, hovering in the empyrean, well pleased and serene, showered clouds of jewels in offering to the Victor, urging the enlightening beings to speak. A thousand goddesses in the sky sang pleasantly and played music, singing as with one voice in praise of the Buddha, destroyer of the fire of afflictions:
Empty nature quiescent, all things are signless,
Equal to space, beyond discriminating thought, totally pure;
Beyond motion or stillness, beyond philosophy, all equal in suchness,
By their suchness, the essence of things is beyond thought.
Those who understand all things thus
Are unmoved by existence or nonexistence:
With compassion for the world, striving for liberation,
They are offspring of Buddha, born from the Teaching.
They practice generosity without concern for appearances,
With well-disciplined minds, fundamentally tranquil, extremely calm:
They tolerate what is made in the world, knowing the imperishable truth;
They are endowed with vigor and strength, detached from all things.
Having fully entered into meditation, exhausted afflictions, they are purified;
Knowing all things, they are centered in primordial emptiness.
Rich in knowledge and practical power, they are always devoted to the welfare of the world,
For they are great beings, offspring of Buddha, having extinguished all evil.
Having uttered a thousand such songs, those beautiful goddesses hovered in the sky silently gazing at the Buddha, serene, enraptured with admiration for the Teaching. Moon of Liberation said, continuing, to Diamond Matrix, “What are the characteristices of attainment of the next stage after this fifth one?”
The enlightening being Diamond Matrix said, “Those who have thoroughly fulfilled the path of the fifth stage of enlightening beings enter into the sixth stage. They enter by way of ten equalities of things: by the equality of signlessness of all things; by the equality of nonorigination of all things; by the equality of absence of characteristic marks of all things; by the equality of nonbirth of all things; by the equality of detachment of all things; by the equality of primordial purity of all things; by the equality of nonconceptuality of all things; by the equality of all things in neither coming nor going; by the equality of all things in being like illusions, dreams, reflections, echoes, the moon’s image in the water, or apparitions; and by the equality of nonduality of existence and nonexistence of all things. Thus observing all things in terms of their intrinsic nature and according with it without opposition, they attain the sixth stage of enlightening beings, the stage of Presence. But this is only by penetrating conformative tolerance; they have not yet attained the tolerance of the nonorigination of things.
“Thus understanding all things in their intrinsic nature, enlightening beings, all the more guided by compa
ssion, commanded by great compassion, in order to completely fulfill great compassion, observe the formation and disintegration of the world. While observing the formation and disintegration of the world, it occurs to them, ‘The origins of worldly ways are all due to attachment to self. In those who have no attachment to self the development of worldly ways does not take place.’
“It also occurs to them, ‘These beings, intellectually infantile, attached to their selves, covered by the blinders of nescience, seeking existence and nonexistence, thinking illogically, gone on a wrong path, acting perversely, accumulate conditioned states of good, bad, and immobility. The mental seed conceived and planted by those conditioned states, imbued with taint and grasping, leads to future birth, old age, and death, coming into being as a result of renewed existence. In the field of action, in the darkness of ignorance, with the moisture of craving and the flow of egotism, the net of views grown, the sprouts of name and form appear. Having appeared, they grow, and, name and form having developed, the five senses become operative. From the intercourse of the operative senses comes contact. From the intercourse of contacts comes sensation. After sensation there is desire; thence craving and grasping grow. Once grasping is developed, becoming comes into existence. Once becoming has come into existence, the five clusters emerge. The five clusters having emerged, they progressively deteriorate in the five courses of existence. Having deteriorated, they disintegrate. From deterioration and disintegration there is anguish. Caused by anguish, all troubles of sadness, lament, pain, and dejection arise together. And yet there is no one who collects these. Of their own nature, spontaneously they disintegrate; there is no one who disintegrates them.’
“In this way enlightening beings examine interdependent origination in order of progression. They think: ‘Not knowing the truth in the highest sense is called ignorance. The fruit of action fashioned by ignorance is conditioning. The initial mentation based on conditioning is consciousness. The four grasping clusters arising together with consciousness are name and form. The development of name and form is the six sense mediums. The conjunction of the sense faculties, objects, and consciousnesses is tainted contact. Born together with contact is sensation. Clinging to sensation is craving. Craving develops into grasping. Tainted action issuing from grasping is becoming. The outcome of action is birth, the emergence of the clusters. The development of the clusters is old age. The disintegration of the aged clusters is death. The mental anguish of the dying, the disintegrating, who are deluded and attached, is grief; crying out in grief is lament; in the five senses it is pain; in the vision of the mind it is dejection. The coming into being of much pain and dejection is torment. Thus this whole mass of suffering, this tree of suffering, grows, without any agent or knower.’
“They also think, ‘From attachment to an agent, actions are cognized—where there is no doer, doing cannot, in the ultimate sense, be found either.’ They also think, ‘All that is in the world is only mind. These twelve elements of becoming analyzed and explained by the Buddha are also all based on one mind. Why? Whenever the mind is aroused with desire for a thing, that is consciousness, and the “thing” is conditioning. The delusion of conditionings is ignorance. Name and form are born together with the ignorant mind. The development of name and form is the six sense mediums. Connected with the six mediums is contact. Born together with contact is sensation. Obsession with sensation is craving. The unrelenting seizing of what is picked up by craving is grasping. The conjunction of these elements of existence is becoming. The emergence of becoming is birth. The full development of birth is old age. The end of old age is death.’
“The ignorance there tends to produce two kinds of effects: as an object, it confuses beings, and it provides a cause for the development of conditioning. Conditionings also tend to produce two kinds of effects: they manifest future development and provide a cause for the emergence of consciousness. Consciousness also tends to produce two kinds of effects: it makes the continuity of existence and also provides cause for the development of name and form. Name and form also tend to produce two kinds of effects: they make mutual support and also provide cause for the development of the six sense mediums. The six sense mediums also tend to produce two kinds of effects: they show the differentiation of their own spheres and provide cause for the emergence of contact. Contact also tends to produce two kinds of effects: it contacts objects and provides cause for the emergence of sensation. Sensation also occasions two kinds of effects: it effects reception of the desired, of that which is not desired, and of that which is neither, and it also provides cause for the emergence of craving. Craving also occasions two kinds of effects: it creates intense desire for desirable things and provides cause for the emergence of grasping. Grasping also occasions two kinds of effects: it creates bondage by afflictions and provides cause for the emergence of becoming. Becoming also occasions two effects: it creates a tendency toward other courses of existence and provides cause for the emergence of birth. Birth also occasions two effects: it produces the emergence of the clusters and provides cause for old age. Old age also occasions two effects: it produces changes in the faculties and provides the cause for meeting in death. Death also occasions two effects: it destroys the compounded and causes continuation through lack of perfect knowledge.
“Therein, ‘conditionings grounded on ignorance’ means the continuation and support of conditionings by ignorance as a cooperating cause. ‘Consciousness grounded on conditionings’ means the continuation and support of consciousness by conditioning as a cooperating cause. ‘Name and form grounded on consciousness’ means the continuation and support of name and form by consciousness as a cooperating cause. ‘The six sense mediums grounded on name and form’ means the continuation and support of the six sense mediums by name and form as a cooperating cause. ‘Contact grounded on the six sense mediums’ means the continuation and support of contact by the six sense mediums as a cooperating cause. ‘Sensation grounded on contact’ means the continuation and support of sensation by contact as a cooperating cause. ‘Craving grounded on sensation’ means the continuation and support of craving by sensation as a cooperating cause. ‘Grasping grounded on craving’ means the continuation and support of grasping by craving as a cooperating cause. ‘Becoming grounded on grasping’ means the continuation and support of becoming by grasping as a cooperating cause. ‘Birth grounded on becoming’ means the continuation and support of birth by becoming as a cooperating cause. ‘Old age and death grounded on birth’ means the continuation and support of old age and death by birth as a cooperating cause.
“The extinction of conditionings due to the extinction of ignorance means the stilling and nonestablishment of conditionings due to the nonexistence of ignorance as a cooperating cause. The extinction of consciousness due to the extinction of conditionings means that without conditionings as a cooperating cause, consciousness is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of name and form due to the extinction of consciousness means that without consciousness as a cooperating cause, name and form are stilled, unsupported. The extinction of the six sense mediums due to the extinction of name and form means that without name and form as a cooperating cause, the six sense mediums are stilled, unsupported. The extinction of contact due to the extinction of the six sense mediums means that without the six sense mediums as a cooperating cause, contact is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of sensation due to the extinction of contact means that without contact as a cooperating cause, sensation is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of craving due to the extinction of sensation means that without sensation as a cooperating cause, craving is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of grasping due to the extinction of craving means that without craving as a cooperating cause, grasping is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of becoming due to the extinction of grasping means that without grasping as a cooperating cause, becoming is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of birth due to the extinction of becoming means that without the cooperating cause of becoming
, birth is stilled, unsupported. The extinction of old age and death due to the extinction of birth means that without the cooperating cause of birth, old age and death are stilled, unsupported.
“Ignorance, craving, and grasping are the continuation of the course of affliction. Conditioning and becoming are the continuation of the course of action. The rest are the continuation of the course of suffering. The preceding and the succeeding annihilated by analysis, these courses are cut off. Thus these three courses—affliction, action, and suffering—have no self and have nothing to do with anything pertaining to self; becoming and decaying, it is all in essence like a hollow reed.
“Also, what are called conditionings grounded on ignorance are connected to the past; consciousness up to sensation are connected to the present; craving up to becoming are connected to the future. Henceforth there is continuation of this. The extinction of conditionings due to the extinction of ignorance is the cutting off of their connection—the same is true of the rest.
“Furthermore, the state of triplex suffering is due to these twelve elements of becoming. Therein, ignorance, conditioning, up to the six sense mediums are the suffering that is due to conditionality; contact and sensation are the suffering that is due to pain; the rest of the elements of becoming are the suffering that is due to disintegration. The extinction of conditionings due to the extinction of ignorance is the cutting off of the triplex suffering. The same is so of the rest. ‘Conditionings grounded on ignorance’ means the nature of conditioning being produced by causal relations; the same is so of the rest. The extinction of conditioning due to the extinction of ignorance means the nonexistence of conditioning; this is so of the rest too. ‘Conditionings grounded on ignorance’ means attachment to origination; ‘the extinction of conditioning due to the extinction of ignorance’ means attachment to annihilation. This is so of the rest too. ‘Conditionings grounded on ignorance’ is viewing it according to existence, and this is so of the rest too. The ‘extinction of conditionings due to the extinction of ignorance’ is viewing it according to annihilation, and this is so of the rest too.