“Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of activities in the heaven of satisfaction. First, they tell the celestials in the heavens of desire the principle of detachment, saying, ‘All dominion is impermanent, all pleasures must fade and vanish,’ and they urge the celestials to aspire to enlightenment. Second, to the celestials of the heavens in the realm of form they explain how to enter and emerge from the meditative and liberative concentrations, and if there are any who become attached to them and therefore regenerate views of the body, erroneous views, nescience, and so on, the enlightening beings explain true wisdom to them; if any conceive a deluded idea of purity of material or immaterial things, they explain that they are not pure and are all impermanent, and thus urge them to aspire to enlightenment. Third, in the heaven of satisfaction, great enlightening beings enter a concentration called magnificent array of light, and their bodies radiate light illumining the entire universe; according to the mentalities of sentient beings, they preach to them in various voices, so that the sentient beings, having heard, have pure faith and are reborn in the heaven of satisfaction after death, where the enlightening beings urge them to aspire to enlightenment. Fourth, the great enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction, with their unobstructed eyes, see all the enlightening beings in all the heavens of satisfaction in the ten directions, so that all the enlightening beings see each other; having seen each other, they discuss the marvelous Teaching—that is, descending spiritually into the mother’s womb, being born, leaving home, going to the site of enlightenment, being imbued with magnificent adornments, and also showing the deeds they have been carrying out since ancient times, by which they attained this great knowledge and its virtues, being able to manifest these things without leaving their original places. Fifth, when a great enlightening being is in the heaven of satisfaction, the enlightening beings in the palaces of all the heavens of satisfaction in the ten directions come and gather around respectfully, and then the great enlightening being, wishing to enable those enlightening beings to fulfill their vows, and to gladden them, expounds teachings according to the states those enlightening beings should abide in, according to what they are to do and what they are to stop, what they are to practice and what they are to realize; having heard this, the enlightening beings are very happy and freshly inspired, and return to the places where they live in their own lands. Sixth, when great enlightening beings are in the heaven of satisfaction, the celestial devil, lord of the realm of desire, in order to spoil and disrupt the work of the enlightening beings, comes to the enlightening beings with a retinue of demons; then the enlightening beings, in order to crush the army of demons, abide in the gate of knowledge of skill in means of transcendent wisdom which is included in the adamantine path, and expound the truth to them in both gentle and harsh words, causing the demons to be unable to get the upper hand; and when the demons see the sovereign power of the enlightening beings, they all become inspired to seek supreme enlightenment. Seventh, great enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction know that the celestials in the realm of desire do not like to hear the truth; then the enlightening beings announce in a loud voice, ‘Today an enlightening being is going to manifest wonders—those who wish to see should come at once.’ Then the celestials, having heard this, gather in droves. The enlightening beings, seeing that the celestials have gathered, show them wonders in the palace that the celestials have never seen or heard of; having seen these, the celestials are totally enraptured. Then the enlightening beings also produce voices in music saying, ‘Benevolent ones, all conditioned states are impermanent and painful, all things are void of identity; nirvana is tranquil extinction.’ They also say, ‘You all should cultivate the practices of enlightening beings and should fulfill omniscience.’ When the celestials hear this voice of teaching, they grieve and lament and give rise to revulsion and are all inspired to seek enlightenment. Eighth, great enlightening beings living in the palace of the heaven of satisfaction are able, without leaving their original place, to go to the abodes of all the innumerable buddhas in the ten directions, see the buddhas, approach them and pay respects to them, and reverently listen to their teaching. At that time the buddhas, in order to enable enlightening beings to attain the supreme state of coronation, explain to them a stage of enlightening beings called ‘all spiritual capacities,’ in which all supreme virtues are attained by instantaneous realizational wisdom, and they enter the stage of all knowledge. Ninth, great enlightening beings living in the palace of the heaven of satisfaction, wishing to honor the buddhas, use great spiritual powers to produce various offerings called ‘extraordinarily pleasing,’ filling all worlds throughout the space of the cosmos, and present them to the buddhas—when the sentient beings of those worlds see those offerings, all are inspired to seek supreme enlightenment. Tenth, great enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction set forth infinite teachings like illusions, like reflections, pervading all worlds in the ten directions, manifesting various forms, various characteristics, various bodies, various modes of conduct, various activities, various methods, various metaphors, various explanations, gladdening all sentient beings according to their mentalities. These are the ten kinds of activities of enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction: if they accomplish these things, they can subsequently be born in the human world.
“When great enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction are about to descend to be born in the human world, they manifest ten things. First, they radiate a tremendous light from their feet, called adornment of peace and happiness, which illumines all the miserable states in the universe; all sentient beings who come in contact with this light attain peace and happiness free from suffering, and, having realized peace and happiness, they realize that an extraordinarily great person is going to come forth into the world. Second, they emit a tremendous light, called awakening, from the curl of white hair between their brows, illumining the whole universe, shining on all the enlightening beings they worked with in the past; those enlightening beings, bathed in this light, know that an enlightening being is about to be born down on earth, and each produce innumerable offerings and bring them to present to the enlightening being. Third, they emanate from their right palms a great light, called realm of purity, which can purify all universes: if there are any individual illuminates therein who have attained noncontamination and become aware of this light, they give up their lives; if they do not become aware of this light, they are moved to other worlds by the power of the light; all demons, false teachers, and sentient beings with opinions are also removed to other worlds, except sentient beings who are sustained by the spiritual power of buddhas and are fit to be taught. Fourth, they emit great lights from their knees, called pure adornments, which illumine all the palaces of all the heavens; all the celestial beings in those heavens realize that enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction are about to descend to be born in the human world, and they feel bereaved and saddened, and each brings various flower garlands, clothing, perfumes, aromatic powders, banners, canopies, and music to the enlightening beings and respectfully present them, and then follow the enlightening beings in their descent to birth and on till their extinction. Fifth, from their gammadion thunderbolt-adorned heart enlightening beings radiate tremendous light, called symbol of invincibility, which shines on the thunderbolt-bearers of power in all worlds; thereupon a hundred billion thunderbolt-bearers all gather and follow and guard the enlightening beings from their birth till their extinction. Sixth, from each pore of their bodies they radiate great lights, called distinguishing sentient beings, which illumine all universes and touch the bodies of all enlightening beings and also touch the bodies of all celestials and humans; the enlightening beings and others all think they should stay there and honor the buddhas and edify sentient beings. Seventh, from the great jewel palaces they radiate immense light, called continuous observation, which illumines the places where these enlightening beings are going to be born; thereafter other enlightening beings follow them
down to earth and take on birth in the same houses, the same villages, or the same cities, in order to teach sentient beings. Eighth, from the celestial palace halls and from the ornaments of the magnificent balconies, they radiate a great light, called pure adornments of all palaces, which shines on the abdomens of the mothers by whom they will be born and causes the mothers to be calm and comfortable and replete with all virtues; in the bellies of the mothers there are naturally immense mansions adorned with great treasures in which to rest the bodies of the enlightening beings. Ninth, they emanate from their feet vast light, called skillfully abiding; celestials about to die who are bathed in this light all have their lives prolonged and provide for the enlightening beings from their birth till their extinction. Tenth, from their minor embellishments they radiate great light, called array of eyes which shows the enlightening beings’ various deeds; at that time humans and celestials may see the enlightening beings in the heaven of satisfaction, or in the womb, or newborn, or leaving home, or attaining enlightenment, or conquering demons, or teaching, or entering extinction. Great enlightening beings emanate countless such lights from their bodies, their thrones, their palaces, their towers, all showing various works of enlightening beings; and, having shown these works, because they are replete with all virtues, they descend from the heaven of satisfaction to be born in the human world.
“There are ten phenomena involved in the great enlightening beings’ manifestation of being in the womb. First, great enlightening beings want to develop sentient beings who are small-minded and low in understanding, and not let them get the idea that the enlightening beings are spontaneously born by transformation and that their knowledge and virtues do not derive from cultivation—for this reason enlightening beings appear in the womb. Second, because they want to ripen the roots of goodness of their parents, families, and those who did the same practices as they did in the past, they appear in the womb because the roots of goodness of those people will be developed by seeing the enlightening beings in the womb. Third, when the enlightening beings enter the womb, they are in a state of right mindfulness and right knowledge, without any confusion; and once they are in the womb they remain correctly mindful, without distraction. Fourth, while great enlightening beings are in the womb, they always expound the truth; the enlightening beings and major deities of all worlds gather around them and all are caused to attain boundless spiritual capacities and knowledge—the enlightening beings in the womb have developed such higher faculties of intellectual powers. Fifth, while the great enlightening beings are in the womb, they gather great congregations, and by the power of their past vows edify all the hosts of enlightening beings. Sixth, great enlightening beings achieve buddhahood among humans, so they should receive the best of births, as humans; therefore they appear in the mother’s womb. Seventh, when the great enlightening beings are in the mother’s womb, all the sentient beings in the universe see them, as if seeing their own faces in a mirror. At that time the great-hearted among the various beings all come to the enlightening beings and respectfully present offerings to them. Eighth, when great enlightening beings are in the mother’s womb, all the enlightening beings from other worlds who are in their final lives come and assemble and recite a great collection of teachings called vast treasury of knowledge. Ninth, when great enlightening beings are in the mother’s womb, they enter the concentration that is the treasury of purification and by the power of concentration manifest within the mother’s womb all kinds of adornments of a great palace, all wonderfully fine, to which even the palace of the heaven of satisfaction cannot compare, and cause the mother’s body to be comfortable and free from pain. Tenth, when great enlightening beings are in the mother’s womb, by their enormous spiritual power they produce offerings called opening the pure treasury of virtue and offer them to all buddhas in all worlds; the buddhas all explain to them the infinite matrix of enlightening beings’ abode in the cosmos of reality. These are the ten phenomena involved in great enlightening beings’ appearance in the womb; if they master these, they can reveal extremely subtle processes.
“Great enlightening beings have ten extremely subtle processes: while in the mother’s womb, showing the first inspiration for enlightenment up to the stage of coronation; while in the mother’s womb, showing life in the palace of the heaven of satisfaction; while in the mother’s womb, showing birth; while in the mother’s womb, showing childhood; while in the mother’s womb, showing life in a royal palace; while in the mother’s womb, showing departure from householding life; while in the mother’s womb, showing the practice of austerities, going to the site of enlightenment, and attaining true awakening; while in the mother’s womb, showing the turning of the wheel of teaching; while in the mother’s womb, showing ultimate extinction; while in the mother’s womb, showing a great subtlety called infinite different aspects of the practices of all enlightening beings and the autonomous spiritual powers of all buddhas. Based on these, enlightening beings can attain buddhas’ supreme subtle process of great knowledge.
“Great enlightening beings have ten kinds of birth: birth with right awareness and right knowledge, free from folly and delusion; birth radiating great networks of light beams illuminating the whole universe; birth in the final existence, never to be reincarnated; unborn, unoriginated birth; birth knowing the triple world to be like an illusion; birth appearing corporeally everywhere in all worlds in the ten directions; birth in a body realizing omniscience; birth in a body emanating the lights of all buddhas and awakening all sentient beings; birth in a body entering contemplative concentration with great knowledge. When great enlightening beings are born, they shake all buddha-lands, liberate all sentient beings, annihilate all states of misery, and eclipse all demons; innumerable enlightening beings come and gather around them. These are the ten kinds of birth of enlightening beings, which they manifest in order to pacify sentient beings.
“There are ten reasons why great enlightening beings smile and make a promise in their hearts. They think, ‘All worldlings are sunk in the mire of craving, and no one but I can rescue them.’ They also think, ‘All worldlings are blinded by passions and afflictions, and only I now have wisdom.’ They also think, ‘Based on this so-called body I will attain the supreme reality-body of buddhas, which fills all times.’ Then the enlightening beings, with unobstructed eyes, look over all the Brahma heavens and all the controlling heavens, and think, ‘These sentient beings all think they have the power of great knowledge.’ Then the enlightening beings observe sentient beings who have long planted roots of goodness and who now are regressing and sinking. The enlightening beings observe that though the seeds sown in the world be few, the fruits reaped are many. The enlightening beings see that all sentient beings who receive the teaching of Buddha will surely gain benefit. The enlightening beings see that enlightening beings who were their colleagues in past ages have become obsessed with other things and cannot attain the great virtues of the Buddha teaching. The enlightening beings see that the celestials and humans who were in the same communities with them in the past still are in mundane states, unable to detach from them, and not tiring of them either. Then enlightening beings are bathed in the lights of all buddhas and are even more joyful. These are the ten reasons great enlightening being smile and make a promise in their hearts; great enlightening beings appear in this way to pacify sentient beings.
“There are ten reasons great enlightening beings show the act of walking seven steps; to manifest the power of enlightening beings; to manifest the giving of the seven kinds of wealth; to satisfy the wishes of the spirits of the earth; to manifest the appearance of transcending the three worlds; to manifest the supreme walk of the enlightening being, beyond the walk of the elephant, the bull, or the lion; to manifest the characteristics of adamantine ground; to manifest the desire to give sentient beings courageous strength; to manifest the practice of the seven jewels of awakening; to show that the truth they have realized does not come from the instruction of another; to manifest supr
eme peerlessness in the world. These are the ten reasons they show the act of walking seven steps after birth; they manifest this to pacify sentient beings.
“Great enlightening beings appear as children for ten reasons: to manifest the learning of all worldly arts and sciences; to manifest the learning of riding and military art and various worldly occupations; to manifest the learning of all kinds of worldly things such as literature, conversation, games, and amusements; to manifest the shedding of errors and faults of word, thought, and deed; to manifest entering concentration, staying in the door of nirvana, and pervading infinite worlds in the ten directions; to show that their power goes beyond all creatures, celestial, human, and nonhuman; to show that the appearance and majesty of enlightening beings goes beyond all deities; to cause sentient beings addicted to sensual pleasures to joyfully take pleasure in truth; to show the reception of empowerment of buddhas and being bathed in the light of truth.
“Having appeared as children, great enlightening beings appear to live in a royal palace for ten reasons: to cause the roots of goodness of their colleagues of the past to develop to maturity; to show the power of roots of goodness of enlightening beings; to show the comforts of great spiritual power of enlightening beings to humans and celestials who are obsessed with comforts; to adapt to the minds of sentient beings in the polluted world; to manifest the spiritual power of enlightening beings, able to enter concentration in the heart of the palace; to enable those who had the same aspirations in the past to fulfill their aims; to enable their parents, family, and relatives to fulfill their wishes; to use music to produce the sounds of the sublime teaching to offer to all buddhas; to dwell in subtle concentration while in the palace and show everything from the attainment of buddhahood to final extinction; and to accord with and preserve the teachings of the buddhas.
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 148