The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  “Great enlightening beings know the knowledge of buddhas is boundless and do not try to assess it in limited terms. Enlightening beings, having heard of the boundlessness of buddhas’ knowledge from innumerable buddhas, are able not to make limited assessments. Everything written or said in all worlds has limitations and cannot comprehend the knowledge of buddhas. This is the fifth definitive mark.

  “In regard to unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment, great enlightening beings have supreme desire, profound desire, vast desire, great desire, complex desire, insuperable desire, unsurpassed desire, steadfast desire, desire that cannot be destroyed by any demons or false teachers or their cohorts, unyielding desire to seek omniscience. Enlightening beings, dwelling in such desire, ultimately never turn back from supreme enlightenment. This is their sixth definitive mark.

  “Great enlightening beings carry out enlightening actions without concern for their own bodies or lives. No one can discourage or frustrate them, because they proceed with determination toward all-knowledge, because the essence of omniscience is always apparent to them, and because they have the light of knowledge of all buddhas. They never give up on the enlightenment of buddhas and never abandon the wise. This is their seventh definitive mark.

  “When great enlightening beings see good men and women aiming for the Great Vehicle of universal enlightenment, they foster the growth of their determination to seek buddhahood, cause them to stabilize all foundations of goodness, to internalize the determination for omniscience, and never to turn back from the quest for supreme enlightenment. This is their eighth definitive mark.

  “Great enlightening beings cause all sentient beings to achieve an impartial mind, and induce them to cultivate the path of universal knowledge. They explain the truth to sentient beings compassionately and cause them never to turn back on the Path of enlightenment. This is their ninth definitive mark.

  “Great enlightening beings have the same foundations of goodness as all buddhas; they perpetuate the seed of buddhahood and ultimately reach omniscient knowledge. This is their tenth definitive mark.

  “These are the ten definitive marks of enlightening beings; by these they can quickly achieve supreme perfect enlightenment and become endowed with the mark of buddhas’ unexcelled knowledge of all truths.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten illuminations of knowledge: the illumination of knowledge of certain attainment of supreme perfect enlightenment; the illumination of knowledge seeing all buddhas; the illumination of knowledge seeing all sentient beings dying in one place and being born in another; the illumination of knowledge understanding the doctrines of all scriptures; the illumination of knowledge developing the determination for enlightenment through association with the wise and accumulation of roots of goodness; the illumination of knowledge showing all buddhas; the illumination of knowledge teaching all sentient beings so they may abide in the state of enlightenment; the illumination of knowledge expounding inconceivable great means of access to truth; the illumination of knowledge skillfully comprehending the spiritual powers of all buddhas; the illumination of knowledge fulfilling all transcendent ways. Based on these, enlightening beings can attain the illumination of supreme knowledge of all buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten peerless states, which no listeners or individual illuminates can equal. Though great enlightening beings see absolute truth, they do not grasp it as their realization, because all their vows are not yet fulfilled; this is their first peerless state. Great enlightening beings plant all roots of goodness, equal to all realities, yet do not have the slightest attachment to them; this is their second peerless state. Great enlightening beings, cultivating the practices of enlightening beings, know they are like phantoms because all things are still and void, yet they have no doubt about the way of buddhahood; this is their third peerless state. Great enlightening beings, though free from the false ideas of the world, still are able to focus their attention and carry out the deeds of enlightening beings for innumerable eons, fulfill their great undertakings, and never give rise to a feeling of weariness therein; this is their fourth peerless state. Great enlightening beings do not grasp anything, because the essence of all things is void, yet they do not experience nirvana, because the path of omniscience is not yet fulfilled; this is their fifth peerless state. Great enlightening beings know that all periods of time are not really periods of time, yet they enumerate periods of time; this is their sixth peerless state. Great enlightening beings know nothing creates anything, yet they do not give up making the way in search of buddhahood; this is their seventh peerless state. Great enlightening beings know that the realms of desire, form, and formlessness are only mind and that past, present, and future are only mind, yet they know perfectly well that mind has no measure and no bounds; this is their eighth peerless state. Great enlightening beings carry out enlightening actions for untold eons for sentient beings one and all, wishing to settle them in the state of omniscience, and yet they never tire or get fed up; this is their ninth peerless state. Great enlightening beings, though their cultivation of practice is completely fulfilled, still do not realize enlightenment, because they reflect, ‘What I do is basically for sentient beings, so I should remain in birth-and-death and help them by expedient means, to settle them on the supreme path of enlightenment.’ This is their tenth peerless state. Based on these ten peerless states, enlightening beings can attain the peerless state of supremely great knowledge and all qualities of buddhahood.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of indomitable attitude. They think, ‘I should conquer all celestial demons and their cohorts.’ This is their first indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘I should destroy all false teachings.’ This is their second indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘I should open sentient beings’ minds and edify them with good words, making them all happy.’ This is their third indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘I should fulfill all transcendent practices throughout the cosmos.’ This is their fourth indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘I should amass all virtues.’ This is their fifth indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘Supreme enlightenment is vast and hard to accomplish; I should cultivate practice to bring it to complete consummation.’ This is their sixth indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘I should teach and tame sentient beings with the supreme teaching and the supreme training.’ This is their seventh indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘All worlds are variously different—I should attain enlightenment there in infinite bodies.’ This is their eighth indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘While I am cultivating the conduct of enlightening beings, if sentient beings should come and ask me for my hands, feet, ears, nose, blood, flesh, bones, marrow, spouse, children, elephant, horse, or royal status, I should be able to give them all up without a single thought of sorrow or regret, doing so only to benefit all sentient beings, not seeking resulting rewards, beginning with great compassion and ending with great kindness.’ This is their ninth indomitable attitude. They also think, ‘All in past, present, and future—all buddhas, all Buddha teachings, all sentient beings, all lands, all worlds, all times, all realms of space, all realms of phenomena, all realms of verbal usage, all realms of tranquil nirvana—all these various things I should, by means of instantaneous discernment, know, be aware of, see, realize, cultivate, and detach from, and have no conceptions of them, being detached from conceptions, not having various notions, having no attributes, no object. They are neither existent nor nonexistent, not one, not dual. I should know all duality by knowledge of nonduality, know all forms by formless knowledge, know all discriminations by nondiscriminatory knowledge, know all differences by knowledge of nondifference, know all distinctions by non-differentiating knowledge, know all worlds by nonworldly knowledge, know all times by timeless knowledge, know all sentient beings by knowledge of nonexistence of sentient beings, know all attachments by unattached knowledge, know all abodes by nonabiding knowledge, know all defilements by undefiled knowledge, know all
ends by endless knowledge, appear physically in all worlds by ultimate knowledge of the realm of reality, make untold statements by speechless knowledge, enter absence of intrinsic nature by knowledge of one intrinsic nature, manifest various realms by knowledge of one realm, know all things are inexplicable yet manifest free speech, realize the stage of omniscience, and manifest great spiritual powers and displays in all worlds in order to teach and tame all sentient beings.’ This is their tenth indomitable attitude. Based on these ten indomitable attitudes, enlightening beings can attain the supreme quality of indomitability of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of mind outstanding like a mountain. They attentively cultivate the means of omniscience; this is the first. They always observe that the fundamental nature of all things is empty and ungraspable; this is the second. They vow to carry out the acts of enlightening beings over measureless eons and cultivate all pure qualities, and by living according to all good and pure principles, see and know the boundless wisdom of the buddhas; this is the third. In quest of all aspects of buddhahood, they serve all wise teachers impartially, without seeking anything else, with no ambition to steal the Teaching; with nothing but respect, they are never willful; they are able to give up everything they have, this is the fourth. If anyone reviles and slanders them, beats or wounds them, or even kills them, they can accept it all and do not become disturbed or hostile, and do not give up their universal vow of great compassion—indeed, they continually make it grow even more because they are truly emancipated from all things, have perfected relinquishment, realize the truth of all buddhas, and have mastered forbearance and gentility; this is the fifth. Great enlightening beings develop overmastering great virtues—virtue overmastering celestials, virtue overmastering humans, virtue overmastering form, virtue overmastering power, virtue overmastering dependents, virtue overmastering desire, virtue overmastering kingship, virtue overmastering sovereignty, virtue overmastering felicity, virtue overmastering intelligence—yet though they perfect such virtues, they are never attached to them: that is, they do not cling to enjoyment, desire, wealth, or followers; they only profoundly delight in truth, go according to truth, live according to truth, start out according to truth, end up according to truth, take truth for their reliance, take truth for their salvation, take truth for their refuge, take truth for their home. They guard the truth, love the truth, seek the truth, and ponder the truth. While great enlightening beings experience all kinds of delights of truth, they always avoid all manias, because in the past they determined to enable all sentient beings to get rid of all manias forever and abide in the realm of buddhas. This is their sixth outstanding mind. Great enlightening beings have already practiced the way of enlightening beings diligently for immeasurable eons in quest of unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment, yet they still think of themselves as just having set their hearts on enlightenment and carry out the acts of enlightening beings, without fright or fear. Though they are able to attain unexcelled complete perfect enlightenment in an instant, yet for the sake of sentient beings they carry out enlightening practices ceaselessly for measureless eons. This is their seventh outstanding mind. Great enlightening beings know all sentient beings are by nature not harmonious or good and are difficult to harmonize, difficult to liberate, are heedless and ungrateful; therefore, enlightening beings make great vows for their sake, wishing to enable them to attain mental and intellectual freedom and autonomy, to be unhindered in their actions, to give up evil thoughts, and not to afflict others. This is their eighth outstanding mind. Great enlightening beings also think, ‘Nobody makes me aspire to enlightenment, and I do not wait for others to help me cultivate practice. I aspire to enlightenment of my own accord, accumulate the qualities of enlightenment, and am determined to work on my own, traveling the path of enlightening beings forever, and accomplish unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment. For this reason I now cultivate the practice of enlightening beings; I should purify my own mind and also purify others’ minds, I should know my own sphere and also know the spheres of others; I should be equal in perspective to the buddhas of all times.’ This is their ninth outstanding mind. Great enlightening beings perform this contemplation: ‘There is not a single thing that cultivates the practice of enlightening beings, not a single thing that fulfills the practice of enlightening beings, not a single thing that teaches and tames all sentient beings, not a single thing that honors all buddhas, not a single thing that has been or will be or is ever attained or explained in complete enlightenment.’ The teacher and the teaching are both ungraspable, yet they do not abandon unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment. Why? Because enlightening beings search out all things and find they cannot be grasped—this is how they develop supreme perfect enlightenment. Therefore, although they do not obtain anything, yet they diligently cultivate dominant good actions and pure curative measures, so that their knowledge and wisdom develop fully, growing moment by moment to total repletion. They are not frightened by emptiness and do not think, ‘If all things are null, what is the sense of seeking the Path of supreme enlightenment?’ This is their tenth outstanding mind. These are enlightening beings’ ten mountainlike outstanding minds directed toward unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment, based on which enlightening beings can attain the mountainlike outstanding mind of supremely great knowledge of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of oceanic knowledge entering into unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment. They penetrate all realms of sentient beings—this is their first oceanic knowledge. They penetrate all worlds without giving rise to arbitrary discriminations—this is their second oceanic knowledge. They know all realms of space are measureless and immaterial, and enter the network of all different worlds in the ten directions—this is their third oceanic knowledge. Great enlightening beings skillfully penetrate phenomena—they penetrate their fluidity, nonannihilation, noneternity, infinity, nonbirth, nondestruction, and totality, because they know them all—this is their fourth oceanic knowledge. Great enlightening beings know the roots of goodness accumulated by the buddhas, enlightening beings, listeners, individual illuminates, and all ordinary people, of the past, present, and future, the roots of goodness they have accumulated, do accumulate, and will accumulate, the roots of goodness already accomplished, now being accomplished, and to be accomplished by the buddhas of all times in perfect enlightenment, and the roots of goodness in the teaching and civilizing of all sentient beings by the buddhas of all times—knowing all these, they believe in them, approve of them, aspire to them, and cultivate them tirelessly; this is their fifth oceanic knowledge. Moment to moment great enlightening beings enter untold eons of the past and know how many buddhas appeared in each eon, no matter how unspeakably many they were, and know their congregations, their teaching and training methods, the life spans of all the sentient beings, and how long their doctrine lasted—all this they see clearly, in each and every eon. They also know if there were sentient beings who planted roots of goodness for enlightenment in ages when there were no buddhas. They also know if there are any sentient beings who will get to see buddhas in the future when their roots of goodness ripen. In this way they tirelessly examine untold eons of the past. This is their sixth oceanic knowledge. Great enlightening beings penetrate the ages of the future, examine and distinguish all ages, measureless, boundless, and know what ages will have buddhas and what ages will not, how many buddhas will appear in what ages, what the names of each buddha will be, what worlds they will live in, what the names of those worlds will be, how many sentient beings they will liberate, and how long they will live—they observe in this way throughout the future, knowing all endlessly, tirelessly; this is their seventh oceanic knowledge. Great enlightening beings enter the present, observe and reflect, and moment after moment see boundless kinds of worlds in the ten directions, each having buddhas who have attained, are attaining, and will attain supreme enlightenment, as they go to the site of enlightenment, sit under the tree of enl
ightenment, conquer the demons, attain unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment, get up and go into the city, ascend to the heavens, expound the subtle truth, turn the great wheel of teaching, manifest spiritual powers, tame sentient beings, and finally hand on the teaching of complete enlightenment, give up their lives, and enter final nirvana; after they have entered nirvana, their teachings are collected to preserve them in the world; the buddhas’ monuments are adorned and honored in various ways. The enlightening beings also see the sentient beings in those worlds encounter the buddhas’ teachings, accept and preserve and repeat them, remember and ponder them, and increase in wisdom and understanding. They extend such observations throughout the ten directions and have no misunderstandings about the buddhas’ teachings. Why? Because great enlightening beings know the buddhas are all like dreams, yet they go to all buddhas and honor them. At such times enlightening beings do not cling to their own bodies, they do not cling to the buddhas, they do not ding to the world, they do not cling to the congregation, they do not cling to the preaching, they do not cling to the age; yet they see the buddhas and hear the teachings, observe the world and enter into all ages tirelessly. This is their eighth oceanic knowledge. Great enlightening beings honor countless buddhas in each age, for untold eons, appearing to die in one place and be born in another; they honor the buddhas, as well as the enlightening beings and disciples in their congregations, with all kinds of transmundane offerings. After the buddhas pass away, they honor their relics with unsurpassed offerings and also extensively practice charity, satisfying sentient beings. With an inconceivable mind, a mind not seeking reward, with ultimate determination, determination to provide benefit, great enlightening beings, for the sake of supreme complete perfect enlightenment, honor the buddhas, benefit sentient beings, preserve the true teaching, and reveal and expound it, for untold eons. This is their ninth oceanic knowledge. Great enlightening beings wholeheartedly seek, from all buddhas, from all enlightening beings, from all teachers of truth, the principles expounded by enlightening beings, the principles studied by enlightening beings, the principles taught by enlightening beings, the principles practiced by enlightening beings, the methods of purification of enlightening beings, the methods of development of enlightening beings, the methods of training of enlightening beings, the methods of equanimity of enlightening beings, the method of emancipation of enlightening beings, and enlightening beings’ methods of total mental command. Having obtained these teaching, they absorb and retain them, read and repeat them, analyze and explain them, never tiring of this, causing countless sentient beings to develop an awareness of the Buddha teachings that corresponds to omniscience, to penetrate the characteristics of reality, and to attain nonregression in respect to unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment. Enlightening beings continue this way tirelessly for untold eons; this is their tenth oceanic knowledge. These are the ten oceanic knowledges by which great enlightening beings enter unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment; based on these, enlightening beings can attain the ocean of supreme knowledge of buddhas.