The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  Then Muktaka, mindful, perfectly cognizant, arose from that concentration and said to Sudhana, “I go in and out of a liberation of buddhas which is called ‘unobstructed manifestation.’ As I go in and out of the ‘unobstructed mainfestation’ liberation of buddhas, to the east I see in the world Golden Light a buddha named Supreme Savior, along with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by the enlightening being Child of Radiance. To the south I see in the world Possessed of All Powers a buddha named Universal Spread of Fragrance, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by King of Thought. To the west I see in the World Possessed of All Fragrances and Beauties a buddha named Supreme Lamp, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Unobstructed Mind. To the north I see in the world Vestment Banner a buddha named Diamond Crusher, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Boldly Advancing on Indestructible Feet. To the northeast I see in the world Beauty of All Jewels a buddha named Radiance of the Independent Eye, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Independent Emanation. To the southeast I see in the world Glow of Fragrant Flames a buddha named Fragrant Lamp, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Supreme Intellect Differentiating the Planes of All Realms of Reality. To the southwest I see in a world Sunny Golden Shining a buddha named Illuminating Voice of Universal Knowledge, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Hanging Crest of Radiant Flowery Flames. To the northwest I see in the land Brilliant Shining Treasury with Fragrant Adornments a buddha named Light of a Measureless Ocean of Virtue, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Mind Blazing with Light in a Body Free from Attachments. In the nadir I see in the world Blaze of Lights from Jewel Lions a buddha named Beam of Light Illumining the Cosmos, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Mind Born of the Light of the Cosmos. In the zenith I see in the world Radiant with Splendor of Appearance a buddha named Light of Liberation of Indestructible Virtue and Glory, with the whole group of enlightening beings there, led by Mind of Energy of Unobstructed Power. Beginning with these, I see as many buddhas in the ten directions as atoms in ten buddha-lands: and yet those buddhas do not come here and I do not go there. Also, whenever I want to see the buddha Infinite Light in the world Blissful, I see the buddha Diamond Light in the world Like Sandalwood, I see the buddha Jewel Light in the world Fragrant, I see the buddha Jewel Lotus Light in the world Lotuslike, I see the buddha Silent Light in the world Golden, I see the buddha Imperturbable in the world Joy, I see the buddha Lion in the world Standing Well, I see the buddha Moonlike Awareness in the world Mirror Globe Light, I see the buddha Luminous in the world Pure Clarity of Jewellike Splendor. In this way I see whatever buddha I wish in whatever world in whichever direction. I see whatever buddha I wish to see in whatever time in whatever abode involved in whatever past practice, whatever buddha I wish to see in whatever miraculous performances, in whatever teaching activity: and yet the buddhas do not come here, nor do I go there. Without discerning any coming from anywhere on the part of the buddhas, without discerning any going on the part of my own body, knowing the buddhas as like a dream, knowing my own mind as dreamlike thought, knowing the buddhas as like a reflection, knowing my own mind as like a vessel of clear water, knowing the buddhas as like magically produced forms, knowing my mind as like magic, knowing the nature of voices of the buddhas as the reverberation of the sound of echoes in the mountains, knowing my own mind as like an echo, I realize, I am mindful, that all enlightenment principles of enlightening beings are based on one’s own mind, that all their purification of buddha-lands, all enlightening practices, all development and guidance of sentient beings, all undertaking of the vows of enlightening beings, all attainment to the ocean of omniscience, roaming in the inconceivable liberation of enlightening beings, attainment of the enlightenment of buddhas, spiritual communion with the cosmos, and knowledge of subtle communion with all ages, all are based on one’s own mind.

  “In this connection, I think that one’s own mind should be supported by roots of goodness, moistened by the clouds of the Teaching, purified by principles that should be focused on, made firm by vigor, made calm by forbearance, guided by following knowledge, clarified by wisdom, developed in spiritual powers, expanded to equality with the buddhas, illumined by the ten powers of the enlightened.

  “I know this buddha-liberation of unobstructed manifestation, and go in and out of it; how can I know the practice or tell of the virtues of enlightening beings whose minds are unobstructed, whose sphere is a state free from obstruction, who have attained concentration focused on the teachings of all buddhas of the present, who have attained concentration leading into enlightenment that does not become ultimately extinct, who have realized the equality of past, present, and future, who know the science of the sphere of concentration on the continuity of all planes, who distribute their bodies throughout all buddha-lands, who abide in the unfragmented state of buddhas, whose perspective faces in all directions, who observe the sphere of all-inclusive knowledge, who know the becoming and disintegration of all worlds in their own bodies, without any dualistic notions regarding their bodies or the worlds.

  “Go south, to Milaspharana, on the tip of the continent. A monk named Saradhvaja lives there. Go to him and ask how an enlightening being is to learn and undertake the practice of enlightening beings.”

  Then Sudhana, paying his respects to Muktaka, eulogizing, contemplating, desiring, and dwelling on Muktaka’s countless virtues, with love for spiritual benefactors, taking refuge in spiritual benefactors, seeking to please spiritual benefactors, not contesting the knowledge of spiritual benefactors, seeing omniscience as realized by following spiritual benefactors, obedient to spiritual benefactors, to be spiritually healed by the techniques of spiritual benefactors, his thoughts following the direction of spiritual benefactors, thinking of spiritual benefactors as a mother because they get rid of all that is not beneficial, thinking of spiritual benefactors as a father because they produce all good qualities, Sudhana left Muktaka.

  Saradhvaja

  Then Sudhana, reflecting on the instruction of the eminent Muktaka, following Muktaka’s direction, remembering the inconceivable liberation of enlightening beings, remembering the inconceivable light of knowledge of enlightening beings, following the inconceivable entrance into the realm of reality, entering into the inconceivable principle of the communion of enlightening beings, observing the inconceivable transformation of those who realize Thusness, intent on the inconceivable communion of buddha-fields, clarifying the inconceivable manifestation of the magical power of buddhas, contemplating the magnificence of the inconceivable order of the concentrations and liberations of enlightening beings, following the steadfast determination to perform the inconceivable work of enlightening beings, conforming to the stream of undertaking of the inconceivable deeds of enlightening beings, gradually proceeded to Milaspharana on the tip of the continent, where he looked all over for the monk Saradhvaja.

  He saw Saradhvaja by the side of a place for walking at a retreat, sitting in concentration, following his breath, not stirring, not thinking, his body straight, his mindfulness on the immediate present, by the inconceivable power of concentration producing to the left, right, and above an inconceivable infinite body in each successive mental moment manifesting an infinite variety of bodies. Sudhana saw an inconceivable miraculous display of the liberation of enlightening beings coming forth from every pore of the ecstatic body of Saradhvaja, who had attained such profound tranquility, silence, and objectlessness. With this miraculous display of the medium of liberation, Saradhvaja filled the cosmos moment to moment with endless varieties of mystic projections, to perfect all beings, to honor all buddhas, to purify all buddha-fields, to do away with the mass of suffering of all sentient beings, to cut off the courses of all bad conditions, to open the door to good conditions for all beings, to extinguish the burning of afflictions of all beings, to dissolve all beings’ obstructions to
knowledge, and to introduce all beings into omniscience.

  Sudhana saw emanating from the soles of Saradhvaja’s feet masses of grandees as numerous as atoms in countless buddha-lands, their forms like those of the grandees in all worldly realms, wearing gorgeous clothing, variously adorned, wearing variously crested jewel crowns, surrounded by images of sons. He also saw priests and householders going throughout the ten directions caring for the poor with all kinds of food and drink, services, supplies, clothing, flowers, garlands, fragrances, ointments, acts of love, jewels, dwellings, vessels, and implements, restoring life to the miserable world, satisfying sentient beings, purifying sentient beings’ minds, developing sentient beings for enlightenment.

  Sudhana saw forms of warrior sages, priestly sages, worldly sages, scholars versed in various crafts, humanistic scholars, scholars expert in knowledge of the sciences of mundane and transmundane activities, sages considered teachers of the world, emanate from the circles on Saradhvaja’s knees and go throughout the ten directions in many forms and guises, speaking pleasant words, cheering up dejected sentient beings, taking care of spiritually and materially poor beings, comforting beings in distress, uplifting the fallen, reviving the shipwrecked, rescuing the imperiled, causing the voice of goodness to be heard, preaching rejection of evil, exhorting beings to virtuous practices, directing beings to beneficial actions, producing joy, uttering kind words, and showing the world the nature of cooperation.

  Sudhana saw various forms of wizards, as many as there are living beings, emanating from Saradhvaja’s navel and going throughout the ten directions, wearing leather, rags, and bark, carrying staffs and pitchers, their deportment extremely calm, up on the sky extolling the qualities of buddhas, causing the voice of the Teaching to be heard, speaking the voice of Buddhas, showing the community of enlightening beings, praising religious conduct, directing sentient beings to guard their senses, describing the meaning of the voidness of intrinsic essence, introducing sentient beings into the meaning of knowledge, teaching worldly science, showing the science of the Path to omniscience and emancipation, guiding beings in gradual practice.

  Sudhana saw as many water spirit girls as all worldly events, in inconceivably many forms, emerging from Saradhvaja’s sides, pervading all universes moment to moment, showing the miracle of water spirits, adorning the sky with inconceivable fragrant clouds, adorning the whole sky with inconceivable clouds of flowers, arraying the whole realm of space with inconceivable adornments of clouds of garlands, covering all universes with inconceivable adornment of bejeweled parasols, adorning the sky with inconceivable clouds of jeweled banners, inconceivable clouds of jeweled pennants, rain from inconceivable endless clouds of great jewels, rain from inconceivable clouds of jewel necklaces and various flowers, inconceivable clouds of jewel seats with enlightening beings sitting on them teaching the ways of enlightenment, inconceivable clouds of troves of celestial jewels, rain of clouds of sounds of goddesses singing praises of the Teaching, inconceivable raining clouds of jewel lotuses adorned with nets of pearls crowned with diamonds, inconceivable clouds of jewel crowns and rain of clouds of endless lights adorned by all jewels, inconceivable clouds of celestial beings graced with flowers, garlands, parasols, and banners, inconceivable clouds of goddesses, adornments of rain produced by clouds of songs of praise of buddhas’ qualities sung by the goddesses on high standing with joined palms or scattering golden flowers, also covering all buddhas’ assemblies with clouds of heaps of fragrances the colors of all jewels and clouds of smoke of the finest incense, adorning all worlds, delighting all beings, honoring all buddhas.

  Sudhana saw as many titan kings as atoms in countless buddha-fields emerging from the auspicious mark on Saradhvaja’s chest and pervading the cosmos moment to moment, displaying the inconceivable magic transformations of titans, agitating the oceans, causing hundreds of thousands of worlds to quake, causing all the highest mountains to crash together, shaking up all celestial abodes, eclipsing all hordes of demons, crushing all armies of demons, causing all people to destroy intoxication, conceit, and arrogance, restraining and purifying corrupt minds, restraining malicious minds, extinguishing being’s bad qualities, shattering the mountains of afflictions, quieting grasping for pleasure, frightening sentient beings by exercises of titanic magical powers and scaring them away from evil, making them wary of the mundane whirl, getting them to leave all states of conditioned existence and enter into nondwelling, leading sentient beings to the thought of enlightenment, getting them to purify the conduct of enlightening beings, establishing enlightening beings in the transcendent way, causing them to enter the stages of enlightening beings, causing them to produce enlightening beings’ light of the way to buddhahood, defining various principles and methods.

  Sudhana saw as many bodies of Buddhist disciples and individual illuminates as atoms in countless buddha-fields emerge from Saradhvaja’s spine and pervade the cosmos, telling sentient beings attached to self and suited to guidance by disciples or individual illuminates about selflessness and the voidness of the being, clarifying the impermanence of all conditioned states to those attached to eternity, telling the lustful about the contemplation of impurity, telling the hostile about love, telling the deluded about causality and interdependent origination, illumining principles connected with the sphere of knowledge to those who are equally lustful, hostile, and deluded, telling those attached to objects about nondwelling, causing those inclined to stick to tranquillity to like the superiority of undertaking vows, showing actions beneficial to beings, in all places, in the beginning of all turnings of the ocean of ways to truth.

  Sudhana saw as many demigods and supernatural beings as atoms in countless buddha-fields emerging from Saradhvaja’s shoulders and pervading the cosmos, with various physical forms, colors, and sizes, in various attitudes, riding various vehicles, surrounded by various retinues, striving to protect sentient beings, showing various powers, uttering various sounds, going everywhere employing various different means to guard the good actions of all sentient beings, to guard all circles of sages, to assist all enlightening beings, to protect those who are rightly oriented, to attend and honor all buddhas with the work of thunderbolt bearers, to remove all fallen sentient beings from evil ways, striving to annihilate all worldly calamities and perils such as disease, anxious to preserve the light of actions beneficial to beings, filling the stores of knowledge and virtue, causing the wheel of the teaching to roll along, restraining controversy.

  Sudhana saw as many centaur chiefs as atoms in countless buddha-fields surrounded by countless hundreds of thousands of centaur princesses, and as many celestial musician kings as atoms in countless buddha-fields surrounded by countless hundreds of thousands of celestial musician princesses emerge from Saradhvaja’s abdomen and pervade the cosmos, performing music and songs in praise of Buddha dealing with the essence of things, illumining the thought of enlightenment, describing the conduct of enlightening beings, eulogizing all ways to attainment of enlightenment, fostering understanding of all ways of presenting the Teaching, causing attraction to all ways of spiritual transformation, illumining all ways into ultimate release, publicizing all buddhas’ teachings, gladdening all beings, purifying all buddha-fields, illuminating all ways to truth, removing all obstructions, begetting all roots of goodness.

  Sudhana saw as many emperors as atoms in countless buddha-fields, each surrounded by seven treasures and four armies, emerge from Saradhvaja’s face, pervading the cosmos, radiating arrays of light beams of great relinquishment, spewing forth masses of all kinds of jewels, distributing multitudes of all kinds of jewels, enriching the poor, causing people to desist from killing, fostering kindness in sentient beings, causing them to give up stealing, giving them countless beautifully adorned maidens, causing them to give up sexual misconduct, establishing them in chastity, causing them to desist from lying, enjoining on them supreme honesty, causing them to desist from slander, causing them to speak words of ultimate kindness and consid
eration, causing them to desist from harsh words and speak pleasantly, causing people to desist from all meaningless statements, statements connected with what is not beneficial and what is not right, urging them to certainty of distinction of statements of profound meaning, causing people to desist from all evils of speech and speak compassionately, removing mental defilements from people, enjoining the excellent state of having few desires and being content, causing people to desist from malice and urging them to be peaceful in their relations with others, extracting people from the web of all views, causing them to break up all kinds of uncertainties, throwing off all masses of doubts, taking away the darkness of all confusion and hesitation, definitively analyzing the truth for people, telling them about causality and interdependent origination, directing them to the principle of the truth about inherent existence, dispelling all obstacles, leading into the way of nonobstruction, illuminating the meaning of enlightenment.

  Sudhana saw as many hundreds of thousands of suns as atoms in countless buddha-fields emanate from Saradhvaja’s eyes, lighting up all the great hells, dispersing the great darkness in the world, removing the darkness of sentient beings’ delusions, relieving the beings in the frigid hells from the pains of cold, shining clear light in lands made of lotus fibers, shining lapis-lazuli-colored light in gold lands, shining golden light in lands of lapis lazuli, shining golden light in silver worlds, shining crystal light in gold lands, shining golden light in crystal lands, shining coral light in gold lands, shining golden light in coral lands, shining golden light in ruby lands, shining ruby light in gold lands, shining golden light in emerald lands, shining emerald light in gold lands, shining light the color of sun-filled jewels in sapphire lands, shining sapphire light in lands made of sun-filled jewels, shining light the color of jewels containing networks of moonbeams in red pearl lands, shining light the color of red pearls in lands made of jewels containing networks of moonbeams, shining light the colors of various jewels in lands made of one jewel, shining light the color of one jewel in lands made of various jewels, thus involved in the infinite tasks of sentient beings, in the assemblies of all enlightening beings, pervading the universes of all beings.