“When these enlightening beings are in concentration, they may remain in concentration for an eon, a hundred eons, a thousand eons, a million eons, a billion eons, a trillion eons, or any number of eons, if they wish. When the enlightening beings enter this concentration on the extinction of all things, no matter how many eons they pass in this concentration, their bodies do not disintegrate, waste away, or change. They are neither visible nor invisible. They do not pass away, decay, or tire out—it is inexhaustible. Though they do nothing at all in respect to existence or nonexistence, yet they are able to accomplish the tasks of enlightening beings: that is to say, they never abandon sentient beings, teaching and harmonizing them according to proper timing, causing them to increase in all enlightened qualities; they attain fulfillment of all practices of enlightening beings, and for the sake of aiding and benefiting all sentient beings they ceaselessly work miracles. Like rays of light, they appear everywhere while remaining silent and unmoving in concentration.
“This is called great enlightening beings’ tenth superknowledge, of concentration on the extinction of all things.
“Great enlightening beings abiding in these ten kinds of superknowledge are inconceivable to any celestial or human beings, to any sentient beings, to any Buddhist disciples, individual illuminates, or even to other enlightening beings. The physical, verbal, and mental actions of these great enlightening beings are inconceivable; their freedom in concentration and the realms of their knowledge, too, are inconceivable. Only the buddhas and the enlightening beings who also have attained these superknowledges are able to tell of the virtues and sing the praises of these people.
“These are the ten superknowledges of great enlightening beings. If great enlightening beings abide in these superknowledges, they will completely attain superknowledge unhindered in all times.”
BOOK TWENTY-NINE
The Ten Acceptances
THEN THE GREAT ENLIGHTENING BEING Universally Good said to the enlightening beings, “Offspring of Buddha, great enlightening beings have ten kinds of acceptance. If you acquire these acceptances, you will manage to arrive at the stage of unhindered acceptance. What are the ten? They are acceptance of the voice of the Teaching; conformative acceptance; acceptance of the nonorigination of all things; acceptance of illusoriness; acceptance of being miragelike; acceptance of being dreamlike; acceptance of being echolike; acceptance of being like a reflection; acceptance of being phantomlike; acceptance of being spacelike. These ten acceptances have been expounded, are being expounded, and will be expounded by the buddhas of past, present, and future.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of the voice of the Teaching? It means when they hear the teachings expounded by the buddhas, they are not startled or frightened or overawed; they believe deeply, understand, appreciate, aim for, concentrate on, remember, practice, and abide by them. This is called great enlightening beings’ acceptance of the voice of the Teaching.
“What is great enlightening beings’ conformative acceptance? It means they contemplate the Teaching, investigate it, impartially conform to it without opposition, comprehend it, purify their minds, live correctly by the Teaching, apply it, enter into it, and fulfill it. This is called great enlightening beings’ second acceptance, that of conforming to the Teaching.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of the nonorigination of things? These great enlightening beings do not see that there is anything at all that originates and do not see that there is anything at all that perishes. Why? If there is no origination, there is no perishing; if there is no perishing, there is no extinction; if there is no extinction, they are free from defilements; if they are free from defilements, there is no differentiation; if there is no differentiation, there is no location; if there is no location, there is quiescence; if there is quiescence, there is detachment from desire; if there is detachment from desire, there is no doing; if there is no doing, there is no wish; if there is no wish, there is no dwelling; if there is no dwelling, there is no coming and no going. This is called great enlightening beings’ acceptance of the nonorigination of things.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of illusoriness? These great enlightening beings know all things are like illusions and arise from causes and conditions. In one thing they understand many things, and in many things they understand one thing. These enlightening beings, knowing the illusoriness of things, comprehend lands, comprehend sentient beings, comprehend the cosmos, comprehend the equality of worlds, comprehend the equality of appearances of buddhas, comprehend the equality of past, present, and future, and accomplish various spiritual powers and mystic transformations.
“Just as illusions are not elephants, not horses, not chariots, not walking, not men, not women, not boys, not girls, not trees, not leaves, not flowers, not fruits, not earth, not water, not fire, not wind, not day, not night, not a day, not a month, not a fortnight, not a year, not a hundred years, not an eon, not many eons, not stable, not confused, not pure, not alloyed, not one, not variegated, not broad, not narrow, not many, not few, not finite, not infinite, not gross, not subtle, not any things at all—variety is not illusion, illusion is not various, yet by illusion are manifested all kinds of different things—in the same way do great enlightening beings look upon all worlds as illusory; that is, the worlds of action, the worlds of affliction, the worlds of lands, the worlds of phenomena, the worlds of time, the worlds of dispositions, the worlds of becoming, the worlds of decay, the worlds of movement, the worlds of creativity. When great enlightening beings see all worlds as like illusions, they do not see beings born or dying, they do not see countries born or perishing, they do not see phenomena born or perishing, they do not see a past that can be differentiated, they do not see a future that has a beginning, they do not see a present that remains for even a moment; they do not examine enlightenment, do not discriminate enlightenment, do not see buddhas emerging, do not see buddhas passing away into nirvana, do not see abiding by great vows, do not see entry into the absolute, do not go out of the essence of equality.
“Though these enlightening beings develop buddha-lands, they know lands have no differentiation; though they develop sentient beings, they know sentient beings have no differentiation; though they examine the cosmos, yet they abide peacefully in the essence of reality, silent and unmoving; though they realize past, present, and future are equal, yet they do not oppose the distinction of past, present, and future phenomena; though they are fully complete in physical, mental, and sense elements, they do not rely on anything; though they liberate sentient beings, yet they know the cosmos is impartial and makes no distinctions, though they know all things are beyond words and cannot be verbally explained, yet they always explain things with inexhaustible powers of analysis, though they are not attached to the work of teaching beings, yet they do not give up great compassion, turning the wheel of Teaching to liberate all; though they reveal to them past causes and conditions, yet they know that conditionality has no movement. This is called great enlightening beings’ acceptance of illusoriness.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being miragelike? These great enlightening beings know that all worlds are like mirages. Just as mirages have no location, are not inside or outside, not existent or nonexistent, not finite or eternal, not uniform or multiform or formless, but just expressed in conventional terms, in the same way do enlightening beings truly see and know all things, actually realizing this of all things, attaining complete acceptance. This is called enlightening beings’ acceptance of being miragelike.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being dreamlike? Here great enlightening beings know all worlds are like dreams. Just as dreams are neither of the world nor apart from the world, not of the realm of desire, not of the realm of form, not of the formless realm, not arising, not disappearing, not defiled, not pure, and yet obviously manifest, in the same way do enlightening beings know all worlds to be like dreams, unchang
ing, because of being free like dreams, because of clinging like dreams, because of being inherently unconnected like dreams, because of being like the basic nature of dreams, because of being like visions in dreams, because of being undifferentiated like dreams, because of being like thoughts in dreams, because of being as when awakening from a dream. This is called great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being dreamlike.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being echolike? Here the great enlightening beings, hearing buddhas explain the truth, seeing into the nature of things, applying this practically, achieving realization and reaching the other shore, know that all sounds are the same as echoes, with no coming or going, appearing in this way. The great enlightening beings observe the voice of the buddhas as emerging without emerging from inside or outside or both. Though they understand that this voice does not emerge from inside, outside, or both, yet it is possible to produce skillful expressions to accomplish explanation. Like echoes in a valley, it is produced by conditions and is not at variance with the nature of things. It enables sentient beings each to understand according to kind and to be able to practice this learning.
“Just as the wife of the emperor of gods can produce a thousand tones in one sound without consciously trying to do so, so also do great enlightening beings enter the realm of nondiscrimination, develop a voice that skillfully adapts to different types, and forever turn the wheel of the Teaching in boundless worlds. These enlightening beings skillfully observe all beings and preach to them with a universal tongue, their voices pervading all lands in the ten directions unhindered, causing all to hear the Teaching differently according to their needs. Though they know sound has no origin, they manifest the sound of their voice everywhere; though they know there is nothing to say, they extensively explain all things. Their wondrous voice is impartial, all understand it according to species and type, while the enlightening beings comprehend this all by means of their knowledge. This is called great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being echolike.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being like a reflection? These great enlightening beings are not born in the world, do not die in the world; they are not in the world, not outside the world; they do not act in the world, yet are not inactive in the world; they are not the same as the world, yet are not different from the world; they do not go to the world, nor do they not go to it; they do not dwell in the world, nor do they not dwell in the world; they are not worldly or unworldly. They are not cultivating the practices of enlightening beings, yet they do not give up their great vow; they are neither real nor unreal. Though they always carry out all Buddha teachings, yet they are able to manage all mundane affairs; they do not follow the mundane stream, nor dwell in the religious stream.
“Just as the sun, moon, men, women, houses, mountains, rivers, springs, and so on, are reflected in anything clear—in oil, water, a jewel, a mirror, and so on—and the reflections are neither one with nor different from the oil, water, jewel, or mirror, are neither separated nor united, not flowing along in river currents, not sinking in lakes or wells, appearing therein without being affected, and people know that such and such a reflection is in such and such a place and not elsewhere, and, though things far and near cast their reflections, there is no corresponding distance of the images from one another, similarly great enlightening beings know their own bodies and others’ bodies are all spheres of cognition and do not understand them dualistically as self and others, and simultaneously appear in their own lands and other lands. Just as there are no roots, sprouts, stalks, nodes, branches, or leaves in a seed, yet it can produce these things, so also do great enlightening beings distinguish duality in that which is nondual, their skill in means completely fluid and all-encompassing, without blockage. This is called great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being like a reflection.
“When great enlightening beings achieve this acceptance, though they do not travel to the lands of the ten directions, yet they can appear in all buddha-lands, neither leaving here nor going there. They are like reflections appearing everywhere, unhindered wherever they go, causing sentient beings to see different bodies with the same appearance of solidity as the world. However, these differentiations are not differentiation—difference and nondifference do not obstruct one another. These great enlightening beings are born from the lineage of the buddhas—their bodies, speech, and minds are pure and unimpeded, so they are able to acquire pure bodies of boundless forms.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being phantomlike? These great enlightening beings know all worlds are like phantoms—that is, all sentient beings are phantoms of mentalization, being created by consciousness and thought; all worldly realms are phantoms of acts and conditioning, being created by discrimination; all pain and pleasure are phantoms of delusion, being produced by arbitrary clinging; all worlds are phantoms of unreal phenomena, being made apparent by verbalization; all afflictions are phantoms of discrimination, being created by thoughts. There is also the phantom of pure pacification, being manifested by nondiscrimination; the phantom of not changing through time, because of the equality of the uncreate; the phantom of enlightening beings’ willpower, because of their extensive practices; the phantom of buddhas’ great compassion, based on expedient demonstrations; the phantoms of means of teaching, being expounded by wisdom, expertise, and intellectual powers.
“Thus do enlightening beings know mundane and transmundane phantoms; they know them by direct experience, with extensive knowledge, boundless knowledge, factual knowledge, independent knowledge, true knowledge, incapable of being overturned by false views, going along with the events of the world without loss or corruption.
“Just as a phantom does not arise from the mind or from mental states, does not arise from action, does not experience consequences, is not born in the world, does not die in the world, cannot be pursued, cannot be grasped or touched, is not long-lasting, is not momentary, is not acting in the world, is not apart from the world, is not bound to one location, is not ubiquitous, is not finite, is not infinite, does not weary or rest, is not unwearying or unceasing, not ordinary, not holy, not defiled, not pure, not born, not dead, not wise, not foolish, not seen, not unseen, not based in the world, not entering the reality realm, not clever, not dull, not grasping, not nongrasping, not birth and death, not nirvana, not existent, not nonexistent, in the same way do enlightening beings course through the world by skill in means, cultivating the path of enlightening beings, knowing worldly phenomena, multiplying their bodies for phantomlike travel, not clinging to the world, not attached to their own bodies, not conceptualizing anything in the world or themselves, not dwelling in the world, not leaving the world, not dwelling on things, not aloof from things. Because of their fundamental vow they do not abandon a single sentient being, they do not guide only a few sentient beings, they do not discriminate things yet are not indiscriminate. They know the nature of things has no coming or going, and though they have no existence, they fulfill the Buddha teachings, knowing everything is like a phantom, neither existent nor nonexistent.
“When great enlightening beings thus abide in acceptance of being phantomlike, they are able to fulfill the path of enlightenment of all buddhas and benefit living beings. This is called enlightening beings’ acceptance of being phantomlike: when great enlightening beings achieve this acceptance, like magicians, everything they do is phantomlike. They do not dwell on anything in any buddha-land, do not cling to the world, tirelessly proceed toward enlightenment without producing false ideas about the Buddha teachings, cultivate the practices of enlightening beings, and get rid of delusion. Though they have no body, yet they manifest all bodies; though they have no abode, yet they abide in myriad buddha-lands; though they have no form, yet they manifest myriad forms; though they do not cling to ultimate truth, yet they clearly perceive the essential nature of things, impartially and completely.
“These great enlightening beings, not relying
on anything, are called liberated; having shed all errors, they are called disciplined; entering the congregations of all buddhas everywhere without moving, they are called masters of spiritual power; well versed in the truth of nonorigination, they are called unregressing; imbued with all powers, which even mountains cannot impede, they are called unobstructed.
“What is great enlightening beings’ acceptance of being spacelike? These great enlightening beings understand that all phenomena are like space because they are signless; all worlds are like space because they have no origin; all things are like space because they are nondual; all actions of sentient beings are like space because they have no course; all buddhas are like space because they have no discrimination; all buddhas’ powers are like space because they have no distinctions; all meditation concentrations are like space because of equality of past, present, and future; all the principles the buddhas teach are like space because they cannot be explained in words; all buddha-bodies are like space because they have no attachment and no obstruction. In this way enlightening beings, by means of the device of being spacelike, comprehend that all things have no existence.
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 115