Without discriminatory thought therein.
They see all worlds
To be null, devoid of intrinsic nature,
Yet always cultivate practice intently
In order to benefit beings.
Not dwelling in the world,
Not leaving the world,
They do not rely on anything in the world—
Reliance cannot be found.
They know the nature of the world
And are not attached to that nature;
While they do not rely on beings,
They teach beings to transcend.
They know the inherent nature
Of everything in the world;
Understanding things are not dual,
They still have no attachment to nonduality.
Their minds are not apart from the world,
Nor do they dwell on the world;
It is not outside the world
That they cultivate all-knowledge.
Just as reflections in water
Are not inside or outside,
Enlightening beings seeking enlightenment
Know the world is not the world:
They do not dwell in or leave the world,
Because the world is inexplicable;
And they are not inside or outside,
Appearing in the world like reflections.
Entering this profound truth,
They are thoroughly purified;
Not giving up their original vow,
They are radiant lamps of wisdom.
Worlds without bound
Their knowledge enters, all equally;
Edifying beings everywhere,
They cause them to give up attachments.
Contemplating the most profound truth,
Aiding living beings,
Henceforth they enter into knowledge
And cultivate all its ways.
Enlightening beings examine all things,
Clearly realize all are like phantoms,
And carry out phantomlike practice,
Never giving it up.
Conforming to phantomlike nature,
They practice the way of enlightenment;
All things are like phantoms,
And so is enlightening beings’ practice.
All worldly realms
And infinite acts
Are equally phantomlike,
Ultimately resting in nullity.
The buddhas of all times
Are all like phantoms too;
Originally vowing to perform certain deeds,
They metamorphose into buddhas.
Buddhas liberate phantom beings
By great kindness and compassion;
The liberation is also phantomlike;
By phantom power they teach them.
Knowing the world is all phantomlike,
They do not discriminate worldly realms;
Phantom phenomena, various, different,
All come from differences of action.
Cultivating enlightening practices,
Adorning phantom treasuries,
With arrays of infinite goodness
They make the world according to deeds.
Phantomlike things are beyond conception,
And they do not conceptualize things;
Both things and concepts are null and void—
Such is enlightening beings’ practice.
The sea of phantoms understood by knowledge,
The phantom nature stamps the world;
Phantoms are not things born and perishing—
The same is true of knowledge.
The tenth acceptance clearly sees
Sentient beings and phenomena
Are null and void in essence,
Like space, with no location.
Attaining this spacelike knowledge,
One is forever free from grasping and clinging:
Like space, it has no variation
And is unobstructed in the world.
Achievement of acceptance of being like space
Is, like space, inexhaustible:
Objects are like space,
Yet one does not think of them as space.
Space has no intrinsic nature,
And yet it is not nothingness,
But has no variation—
The power of knowledge is also like this.
Space has no beginning,
No middle, and no end;
Its measure cannot be found—
Enlightening beings’ knowledge is also thus.
Thus observing the nature of things,
All like space,
With no origin or destruction,
Is the attainment of enlightening beings:
Themselves abiding in the principle of being spacelike,
They also explain it to others,
Conquering all demons—
This is the method of the acceptances.
The distinctions of features of the world
Are empty, without any marks;
Entering into signlessness,
All signs are equal.
By one single means
They enter all worlds:
That is knowing that all things in all times
Are in essence equal to space.
Knowledge and voice
And the enlightening beings’ body
Are in essence like space—
All are quiescent and void.
These ten acceptances
Are cultivated by offspring of buddhas;
Their minds rest at peace,
And they explain them to others.
Learning them well,
They develop great power;
The powers of truth and knowledge
Become means to enlightenment.
Arriving at these acceptances,
They achieve unobstructed knowledge
Transcending the masses
And turn the unexcelled wheel of the Teaching.
The great practices they carry out
Are beyond measure—
Only the ocean of knowledge of the Tamer
Can know them in detail.
Giving up their egos to cultivate practice,
They plunge into the profound nature of reality;
Their minds always dwelling on pure truths,
These they give to others.
The number of living beings
And atoms in lands may be known,
But no limit can be ascertained
To the virtues of enlightening beings.
Enlightening beings are able to accomplish
These ten acceptances;
Their wisdom and their conduct
No sentient beings can fathom.
BOOK THIRTY
The Incalculable
AT THAT TIME the enlightening being Mind King said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, the buddhas speak of incalculable, measureless, boundless, incomparable, innumerable, unaccountable, unthinkable, immeasurable, unspeakable, untold numbers—what are these?”
The Buddha said, “It is good that you ask the Buddha, the Truly Enlightened One, in order to have the beings of the world penetrate the meaning of the numbers known to the Buddha. Listen carefully and think well about this; I will explain for you.” Then the enlightening being Mind King willingly received the teaching. The Buddha said, “Ten to the tenth power times ten to the tenth power equals ten to the twentieth power; ten to the twentieth power times ten to the twentieth power equals ten to the fortieth power; ten to the fortieth power times ten to the fortieth power equals ten to the eightieth power; ten to the eightieth power times ten to the eightieth power equals ten to the power of 160; ten to the power of 160 squared equals ten to the power of 320; ten to the power of 320 squared equals ten to the power of 640; ten to the power of 640 squared equals ten to the power of 1,280; ten to the power of 1,280 squared equals ten to the power of 2,560; that squared equals ten to the power of 5,120; that squared eq
uals ten to the power of 10,240; that squared equals ten to the power of 20,480; that squared is ten to the power of 40,960; that squared is ten to the power of 81,920; that squared is ten to the power of 163,840; that squared is ten to the power of 327,680; that squared is ten to the power of 655,360; that squared is ten to the power of 1,311,720; that squared is ten to the power of 2,623,540; that squared is ten to the power of 5,247,080; that squared is ten to the power of 10,494,160; that squared is ten to the power of 20,988,320; that squared is ten to the power of 41,976,640; that squared is ten to the power of 83,953,280; that squared is ten to the power of 167,906,560; that squared is ten to the power of 335,813,120; that squared is ten to the power of 671,626,240; that squared is ten to the power of 1,343,252,480; that squared is ten to the power of 2,686,504,960; that squared is ten to the power of 5,373,009,920; that squared is ten to the power of 10,746,019,840; that squared is ten to the power of 21,492,039,680; that squared is ten to the power of 42,984,079,360; that squared is ten to the power of 85,968,158,720; that squared is ten to the power of 171,936,317,440; that squared is ten to the power of 343,872,634,880; that squared is ten to the power of 687,745,269,760; that squared is ten to the power of 1,375,490,539,520; that squared is ten to the power of 2,750,981,079,040; that squared is ten to the power of 5,501,962,158,080; that squared is ten to the power of 11,003,924,316,160; that squared is ten to the power of 22,007,848,632,320; that squared is ten to the power of 44,015,697,264,640; that squared is ten to the power of 88,031,394,529,280; that squared is ten to the power of 176,062,789,058,560; that squared is ten to the power of 352,125,578,117,120; that squared is ten to the power of 704,251,156,234,240; that squared is ten to the power of 1,408,502,302,468,480; that squared is ten to the power of 2,817,004,604,936,960; that squared is ten to the power of 5,634,009,209,893,920; that squared is ten to the power of 11,268,018,419,747,840; that squared is ten to the power of 22,536,036,839,495,680; that squared is ten to the power of 45,072,073,678,991,360; that squared is ten to the power of 90,144,147,357,982,720; that squared is ten to the power of 180,288,294,715,965,440; that squared is ten to the power of 360,576,589,431,930,880; that squared is ten to the power of 721,153,178,863,861,760; that squared is ten to the power of 1,442,306,357,727,723,520; that squared is ten to the power of 2,884,612,715,455,447,040; that squared is ten to the power of 5,769,225,430,910,894,080; that squared is ten to the power of 11,538,450,861,821,788,160; that squared is ten to the power of 23,076,901,773,643,576,320; that squared is ten to the power of 46,153,803,447,287,152,640; that squared is ten to the power of 92,307,606,894,574,305,280; that squared is ten to the power of 184,615,213,789,148,610,560; that squared is ten to the power of 369,230,427,578,297,221,120; that squared is ten to the power of 738,460,895,156,594,442,240; that squared is ten to the power of 1,476,921,790,313,188,884,480; that squared is ten to the power of 2,953,843,580,626,377,768,960; that squared is ten to the power of 5,907,687,161,252,755,537,920; that squared is ten to the power of 11,815,374,322,505,511,065,840; that squared is ten to the power of 23,630,748,645,011,022,131,680; that squared is ten to the power of 42,261,497,290,022,044,263,360; that squared is ten to the power of 94,522,994,580,044,088,526,720; that squared is ten to the power of 189,045,989,160,088,177,053,520; that squared is ten to the power of 378,091,978,320,176,354,107,040; that squared is ten to the power of 756,183,956,640,352,708,214,080; that squared is ten to the power of 1,512,367,913,280,705,416,428,160; that squared is ten to the power of 3,024,735,826,561,410,832,856,220; that squared is ten to the power of 6,049,71,653,122,821,665,712,640; that squared is ten to the power of 12,98,943,306,245,643,331,425,280; that squared is ten to the power of 24,197,886,612,491,286,462,850,560; that squared is ten to the power of 48,395,773,224,982,672,925,701,120; that squared is ten to the power of 96,791,546,449,965,145,831,402,340; that squared is ten to the power of 193,583,092,899,930,291,662,804,480; that squared is ten to the power of 387,166,185,799,860,583,325,608,960; that squared is ten to the power of 774,332,371,599,721,166,651,217,920; that squared is ten to the power of 1,548,664,743,199,442,333,302,635,840; that squared is ten to the power of 3,097,329,486,398,884,666,605,271,680; that squared is ten to the power of 6,194,658,972,797,769,333,210,543,360; that squared is ten to the power of 12,389,317,945,595,538,666,421,086,720; that squared is ten to the power of 24,778,635,891,191,077,332,842,173,440; that squared is ten to the power of 49,557,271,782,382,154,665,686,346,880; that squared is ten of the power of 99,114,543,564,764,309,331,372,693,760; that squared is ten to the power of 198,229,087,129,528,618,662,745,387,520; that squared is ten to the power of 396,458,174,259,057,237,325,490,775,040; that squared is ten to the power of 792,916,348,518,114,474,650,981,550,080; that squared is ten to the power of 1,585,832,697,036,228,949,301,963,100,160; that squared is ten to the power of 3,171,665,394,072,457,898,603,926,200,320; that squared is ten to the power of 6,343,330,788,144,915,797,207,852,400,640; that squared is ten to the power of 12,686,661,576,289,831,594,415,704,801,280; that squared is ten to the power of 25,373,323,152,579,663,188,831,409,602,560; that squared is ten to the power of 50,746,646,305,159,326,377,662,819,205,120; that squared is ten to the power of 101,493,292,610,318,652,755,325,638,410,240; that squared is an incalculable; an incalculable to the fourth power is a measureless; a measureless to the fourth power is a boundless; a boundless to the fourth power is an incomparable; an incomparable to the fourth power is an innumerable; an innumerable to the fourth power is an unaccountable; an unaccountable to the fourth power is an unthinkable; an unthinkable to the fourth power is an immeasurable; an immeasurable to the fourth power is an unspeakable; an unspeakable to the fourth power is an untold, which is unspeakably unspeakable; an untold multiplied by itself is a square untold.”
Then the Buddha spoke these verses to the enlightening being Mind King:
Untold unspeakables
Fill all unspeakables;
In unspeakable eons
Explanation of the unspeakable cannot be finished.
If untold buddha-lands are reduced to atoms,
In one atom are untold lands,
And as in one,
So in each.
The atoms to which these buddha-lands are reduced in an instant are unspeakable,
And so are the atoms of continuous reduction moment to moment
Going on for untold eons;
These atoms contain lands unspeakably many,
And the atoms in these lands are even harder to tell of
Counting this way for unspeakable eons,
Using unspeakable numbers,
Counting eons by these atoms,
One atom standing for ten myriad unspeakable numbers of eons,
If you praise a single Universally Good for that many eons,
It would still be impossible to exhaust the amount of virtue of Universal Good.
On a point the size of the tip of a single fine hair
Are unspeakably many Universally Goods;
The same is true of all points
All throughout the cosmos.
The lands on a point the size of a hairtip
Are measureless, unspeakable;
So are the lands on every single point
Throughout the whole of space.
The lands on those points
Have innumerable different kinds of abode;
There are untold lands of different kinds,
Untold lands of the same kind.
On untold points of hairtip size
Are untold pure lands,
Their various arrays unspeakable,
Their various wonders unspeakable:
On each point in them
Are recited untold buddha-names,
There being to each and every name
Untold numbers of buddhas.
On the body of each buddha
Appear unspeakably many pores;
In each of these pores
They manifest unspeakably many forms.
The unspeakably many pores
Each radiate unspeakab
ly many beams of light;
In each of those beams of light
Appear unspeakably many lotuses;
In each of those lotuses
Are unspeakably many petals;
In each of those petals
Appear unspeakably many forms;
In those untold forms
Also appear untold petals;
In the petals are untold light rays,
In the light rays untold forms;
In each of those untold forms
Appear untold lights;
In the lights appear untold moons,
And the moons also manifest untold moons;
In each of those untold moons
Appear untold beams of light;
In each of those light beams
Also appear untold suns;
In each of those untold suns
Are manifest untold forms;
And in each of those forms again
Are manifest untold rays of light;
In each of those rays of light
Appear untold lion thrones,
Each with untold ornaments,
Each with untold lights,
With untold beautiful forms in the lights,
With untold pure lights in the forms;
In each of those pure lights
Also appear various subtle lights;
These lights also radiate various lights,
Untold, unspeakably many.
In each of these various lights
Appear wondrous jewels like mountains;
The jewels appearing in each light
Are unspeakably many, untold.
One of those mountainlike jewels
Manifests untold lands;
All of the mountainlike jewels
Manifest lands like this.
Reducing one land to atoms,
The forms in each atom are untold;
All of the lands atomized, each atom’s forms
Are unspeakably many, untold.
These various forms in atoms
All produce untold lights;
In each light appear untold buddhas.
Untold are each buddha’s discourses,
In each discourse are untold sublime verses;
Untold are those who gain understanding on hearing them.
Untold understandings in each mental instant
Reveal unspeakably many truths.
They reveal all future buddhas,
Externally expounding their teachings,
Each buddha’s teachings unspeakably many,
With untold purities of all sorts.
Uttering unspeakably many subtle voices,
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 117