The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of eye: the flesh eye, seeing all forms; the celestial eye, seeing the minds of all sentient beings; the wisdom-eye, seeing the ranges of the faculties of all sentient beings; the reality-eye, seeing the true character of all things; the buddha-eye, seeing the ten powers of the enlightened; the eye of knowledge, knowing and seeing all things; the eye of light, seeing the light of Buddha; the eye of leaving birth and death, seeing nirvana; the unobstructed eye, its vision without hindrance; the eye of omniscience, seeing the realm of reality in its universal aspect. Based on these ten, enlightening beings attain the eye of supreme knowledge of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of ear: hearing the voice of praise, they eliminate craving; hearing the voice of criticism, they eliminate anger; hearing explanation of the two lesser vehicles of individual salvation, they do not cling to or seek them; hearing of the Path of enlightening beings, they rejoice greatly; hearing of places of pain and trouble, such as the hells, they arouse great compassion and make vows of universal salvation; hearing tell of the wonderful things of the human and celestial worlds, they know they are impermanent phenomena; hearing praise of the virtues of buddhas, they work diligently to quickly fulfill them; hearing tell of such practices as the six ways of transcendence and four means of integration, they determine to practice them and reach their ultimate end; hearing all sounds of the world, they know they are all like echoes, and penetrate untold profound meanings; great enlightening beings, from their first determination until they reach the site of enlightenment, always hear the true Teaching yet do not give up the work of transforming sentient beings. These are the ten; if enlightening beings accomplish these things, they will attain the supreme ear of great wisdom of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of nose: when they smell foul things, they do not consider them foul; when they smell fragrances, they do not consider them fragrant; when they smell both fragrance and foulness, their minds are equanimous, abiding in relinquishment; if they smell the fragrance and foulness of people’s clothes, bedding, or bodies, they can discern their conditions of greed, anger, and delusion; if they smell the scents of hidden repositories, plants and trees and so on, they can discern them as if they were right before their eyes; if they smell scents from the hells below to the heavens above, they know the past deeds of the beings there; if they smell the fragrance of generosity, morality, learning, and wisdom of buddhas’ disciples, they remain steady in the will for omniscience and do not let it be distracted; if they smell the fragrances of all enlightening practices, they enter the state of budda-hood by impartial wisdom; if they smell the fragrance of the sphere of knowledge of all buddhas, they still do not give up the practices of enlightening beings. If enlightening beings accomplish these things, they will acquire the infinite, boundless nose of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of tongue: a tongue that reveals and explains the acts of infinite sentient beings; a tongue that reveals and explains infinite doors to truth; a tongue that sings the praises of the infinite virtues of buddhas; a tongue of infinite eloquence; a tongue that expounds aids to the Path of the Great Vehicle; a tongue that covers all space; a tongue that illumines all buddha-fields; a tongue that awakens the understanding of all sentient beings; a tongue that causes all to praise the buddhas; a tongue that defeats all demons and false teachers, destroys all afflictions of birth and death, and fosters arrival at nirvana. If enlightening beings accomplish these things, they will acquire the supreme tongue of buddhas, which covers all buddhalands.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of bodies: human bodies to teach humans; nonhuman bodies to teach denizens of hells, animals, and hungry ghosts; celestial bodies to teach the beings of the realms of desire, form, and formlessness; learners’ bodies to demonstrate the stage of learning; nonlearners’ bodies to demonstrate the stage of sainthood; individual illuminates’ bodies to teach the way to enter the stage of individual enlightenment; enlightening beings’ bodies to foster the accomplishment of the Great Vehicle; buddhas’ bodies, anointed by the water of knowledge; mentally produced bodies, generated by adaptive skills; the uncontaminated reality-body, effortlessly manifesting the bodies of all sentient beings. If they accomplish these, they attain the supreme body of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of mind: a mind of leadership, generating all roots of goodness; a stable mind, with profound faith steadfast and unwavering; a mind of profound penetration, understanding in accord with the teachings of buddhas; a mind of insight, knowing the mentalities of all sentient beings; an undisturbed mind, not adulterated with any afflictions; a clear, clean mind, which externals cannot stain or adhere to; a mind observing sentient beings well, not missing proper timing in dealing with them; a mind choosing well what to do, never making a mistake anywhere; a mind closely guarding the senses, taming them and not letting them run wild; a mind skilled in entering concentration, entering deeply into the concentrations of buddhas, without egoism or selfishness. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can attain the supreme mind of all buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of action: hearing the Teaching, out of fondness for truth; expounding the Teaching, to benefit sentient beings; getting rid of covetousness, anger, delusion, and fear, by taming their own minds; action in the realm of desire, to teach beings in that realm; concentrations in the realms of form and formlessness, to foster quick return to noncontamination; aiming for the meaning of the Teaching, to quickly attain wisdom; action in all realms of life, to freely edify sentient beings; action in all buddha-lands, honoring all buddhas; nirvanic action, not cutting off the continuity of birth and death; fulfilling all qualities of buddhahood, without giving up application of the principles of enlightening beings. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can achieve the action of buddhas that has no coming or going.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of abiding: abiding in the will for enlightenment, never forgetting it; abiding in the transcendent ways, not tiring of fostering enlightenment; abiding in the teaching of truth, increasing wisdom; abiding in dispassion, realizing great meditational concentration; abiding in conformity to universal knowledge, austerity, contentment, moderation in food, clothing, and dwelling, and getting rid of evil, because few desires means few concerns; abiding in deep faith, bearing the true Teaching; abiding in the company of the enlightened, to learn the conduct of buddhas; abiding in generation of spiritual powers, to fulfill great knowledge; abiding in attainment of acceptance, fulfilling the forecast of enlightenment; abiding in the site of enlightenment, fulfilling power, fearlessness, and all aspects of buddhahood. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can reach the buddhas’ supreme abiding in omniscience.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of sitting: the sitting of universal monarchs, promoting all virtuous behavior; the sitting of guardian deities, independently establishing the Buddha teaching in all worlds; the sitting of Indra, king of gods, being superior lords of all sentient beings; the sitting of Brahma, being in control of their own and others’ minds; the sitting of lions, being able to expound the truth; the sitting of right teaching, holding forth by means of mental command and intellectual powers; steadfast sitting, vowing to reach the ultimate end; the sitting of great benevolence, bringing happiness to all evil sentient beings; the sitting of great compassion, tirelessly enduring all pains; adamantine sitting, conquering demons and false teachers. Based on these, enlightening beings can attain the buddhas’ supreme sitting of true awareness.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of reclining: the reclining of silent tranquillity, because of practicing in accord with principle; the reclining of concentration, because of body and mind being supple; the reclining of Brahma, because of not disturbing self or others; the reclining of good works, because of having no regrets afterward; the reclining of true faith, because of being unshakable; the reclining of the right Path, becau
se of awakening by good companions; the reclining of sublime aspirations, because of skillful dedication; the reclining of completion of all tasks, because of having accomplished all that is to be done; the reclining of relinquishment of all effort, because of thorough training. Based on these enlightening beings can attain the supreme reclining of the great teaching of buddhas and be able to awaken all sentient beings.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of abode: the abode of great goodwill, being impartial toward all sentient beings; the abode of great compassion, not slighting the uncultivated; the abode of great joy, aloof from all vexations; the abode of great equanimity, regarding the created and uncreated equally; the abode of all transcendent ways, being led by the aspiration for enlightenment; the abode of universal emptiness, by virtue of skillful analysis; the abode of signlessness, not leaving the absolute state; the abode of wishlessness, examining the experience of taking on life; the abode of recollection and awareness, by virtue of full development of recognition of truth; the abode of equality of all things, by virtue of having gained the prediction of buddhahood. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can reach the supreme abode of buddhas where there is no obstruction.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of sphere of action: they take right mindfulness as their sphere of action, as they fulfill the points of mindfulness; they take all realms of being as their sphere of action, as they become truly aware of the implications of the Teaching; they take wisdom as their sphere of action, gaining the joy of buddhas; they take the transcendent ways as their sphere of action, as they fulfill omniscience; they take the four integrative practices as their sphere of action, as they educate sentient beings; they take birth and death as their sphere of action, as they accumulate roots of goodness; they take bantering with all sentient beings as their sphere of action, as they teach them according to their needs and cause them to become free; they take spiritual powers as their sphere of action, as they know the realms of the senses of all sentient beings; they take skill in means as their sphere of action, uniting them with transcendent wisdom; they take the site of enlightenment as their sphere of action, as they attain universal knowledge, without stopping the practices of enlightening beings. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can reach the supreme sphere of action of great wisdom of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of observation: observation knowing all acts, seeing all details; observation knowing various tendencies, not grasping sentient beings; observation knowing faculties, comprehending the nonexistence of faculties; observation knowing phenomena, not violating the realm of reality; observation seeing the verities of buddhahood, cultivating the enlightened eye; observation attaining wisdom, explaining things as they really are; observation accepting the nonorigination of things, definitely comprehending the teaching of Buddha; observation in the state of nonregression, destroying all afflictions and transcending the three worlds and the stages of the lesser vehicles; observation in the stage of coronation, by virtue of unshakable mastery of all Buddha teachings; observation in concentration with hyperconscious knowledge, practicing charity everywhere as Buddhist service. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can attain the supremely great observational knowledge of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of universal observation: they observe all who come seeking of them, satisfying them without aversion; they observe all immoral sentient beings and establish them in the pure precepts of buddhas; they observe all malicious sentient beings and settle them in the power of enlightened tolerance; they observe all lazy sentient beings and urge them to be diligent and not give up bearing the burden of the Great Vehicle; they observe all confused sentient beings and get them to abide in the state of universal knowledge of buddhas, where there is no distraction; they observe all deluded sentient beings and clear away their doubts and break down reification; they observe all impartial good friends and follow their instructions to live by the Buddha teachings; they observe all principles they hear and quickly attain realizational insight into the supreme meaning; they observe the infinite sentient beings, never abandoning the power of great compassion; they observe the teachings of all buddhas and quickly manage to accomplish universal knowledge. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can attain the universal observation of supreme wisdom of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of springing; the springing of a majestic bull, overshadowing all dragons, yakshas, kinnaras, gand-harvas, and other creatures; the springing of a majestic elephant, their minds well tamed and gentle, carrying all sentient beings; the springing of a great water spirit, producing dense clouds of the great Teaching, flashing the lightning of liberation, reverberating with the thunder of truth, and showering the sweet rain of the spiritual faculties and powers, the elements of enlightenment, meditations, liberations, and concentrations; the springing of the great golden-winged bird, evaporating the water of covetousness, breaking the shell of delusion, catching the evil poisonous dragons of affliction, and lifting beings out of the ocean of suffering of birth and death; the springing of a great majestic lion, resting secure in fearless, impartial great knowledge and, using that as a weapon, crushing demons and false teachers; the springing of courage and strength, able to destroy the enemy, afflictions, on the great battlefront of birth and death; the springing of great knowledge, knowing the elements of body, mind, and sense experience, as well as all other interdependent productions, and freely explaining all things; the springing of mental command, retaining teachings by the power of recollection and awareness, and expounding them according to the faculties of sentient beings; the springing of intellectual powers, uninhibited and swift, analyzing everything and causing everyone to receive benefit and be happy; the springing of realization of Thusness, fulfilling all aids to the way to omniscience, and with instantaneous wisdom attaining all that can be attained, understanding all that can be understood, sitting on a lion throne, conquering hostile demons, and realizing unexcelled, complete perfect enlightenment. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can achieve the supreme springing of buddhas in the midst of all things.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of lion’s roar. They declare, ‘I will surely attain true enlightenment’—this is the great lion’s roar of the determination for enlightenment. ‘I will enable those who have not yet transcended the world to transcend, liberate those who are not yet liberated, pacify those who are not yet at peace, and enable those who have not attained nirvana to attain it’—this is the great lion’s roar of great compassion. ‘I will perpetuate the seeds of the Buddha, the Teaching, and the harmonious Community’—this is the great lion’s roar of requiting the benevolence of the Buddha. ‘I will purify all buddha-lands’—this is the great lion’s roar of ultimately firm commitment. ‘I will get rid of all evil ways and difficult situations’—this is the lion’s roar of personally maintaining pure conduct. ‘I will fully attain the adorning features of body, speech, and mind of all buddhas’—this is the great lion’s roar of tirelessly seeking virtue. ‘I will fully accomplish the knowledge of all buddhas’—this is the great lion’s roar of tirelessly seeking knowledge. ‘I will annihilate all demons and all the works of demons’—this is the great lion’s roar of cultivating right practice to stop afflictions. ‘I will realize that all things are selfless, without being, without life, without personality, empty, signless, wishless, and pure as space’—this is the great lion’s roar of the acceptance of the nonorigination of all things. Enlightening beings in their last life shake all buddha-lands and make them all pure: thereupon all the Indras, Brahmas, and guardian deities come and praise them and entreat them, ‘Please, enlightening being, with the truth of birthlessness, appear to be born.’ The enlightening beings then observe all sentient beings in the world by the unobstructed eye of wisdom and see that there are none who compare to themselves—so they appear to be born in royal palaces, walk seven steps by themselves, and declare in a great lion’s roar, ‘I
am supreme in the world—I will forever end the realm of birth and death.’ This is the great lion’s roar of doing what one says. Based on these ten, enlightening beings can attain the supremely great lion’s roar of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of pure giving: impartial giving, not discriminating among sentient beings; giving according to wishes, satisfying others; unconfused giving, causing benefit to be gained; giving appropriately, knowing superior, mediocre, and inferior; giving without dwelling, not seeking reward; open giving, without clinging attachment; total giving, being ultimately pure; giving dedicated to enlightenment, transcending the created and the uncreated; giving to teach sentient beings, never abandoning them, even to the site of enlightenment; giving with its three spheres pure, observing the giver, receiver, and gift with right awareness, as being like space. Based on these ten principles, enlightening beings can accomplish the supreme, pure, magnanimous giving of buddhas.

  “Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of pure discipline: pure discipline of body, guarding themselves from evil deeds; pure discipline of speech, getting rid of faults of speech; pure discipline of mind, forever getting rid of greed, hatred, and false views; the pure discipline of not destroying any subjects of study, being honorable leaders among people; the pure discipline of preserving the aspiration for enlightenment, not liking the lesser vehicles of individual salvation; the pure discipline of preserving the regulations of the Buddha, greatly fearing even minor offenses; the pure discipline of secret protection, skillfully drawing out undisciplined sentient beings; the pure discipline of not doing any evil, vowing to practice all virtuous principles; the pure discipline of detachment from all views of existence, having no attachment to precepts; the pure discipline of protecting all sentient beings, activating great compassion. Based on these ten principles, enlightening beings can attain the supreme flawless pure discipline of buddhas.