The Flower Ornament Scripture

by Thomas Cleary

  Sudhana saw ten thousand ministers gathered around the king conducting the affairs of state. He also saw ten thousand torturers before the king, looking like the warders of hell, of violent, terrifying appearance, holding swords, axes, spears, clubs, and impaling stakes, involved in punishing those to be punished. He saw criminals—thieves, bandits, murderers, troublemakers, rapists, and so on—brought bound before King Anala and saw the king deal out appropriate punishments: by the king’s order, some had their hands and feet cut off, some had their ears and noses cut off, some had their eyes gouged out, some had their limbs or heads cut off, some had their whole bodies burnt by fire, some were being dismembered, crippled, burnt, sprinkled with acid. Sudhana watched them undergoing such harsh, injurious, and deadly punishments and saw a mountainous heap of rendered body parts on the execution ground and a tremendous torrent of blood. He also saw animals and birds eating the mutilated corpses there. He also saw some of the corpses hideously decomposing. He also heard the screams and cries of those being mutilated and killed, as terrifying as hell.

  Seeing that dreadful, horrifying butchery, Sudhana thought, “I have set out for supreme perfect enlightenment for the sake of the welfare and happiness of all beings and am devoted to pursuing the practice of enlightening beings; I ask spiritual benefactors what good an enlightening being should do and what evil one should avoid. This King Anala, though, is devoid of goodness, an evildoer, malicious, a killer and oppressor, without regard for others, doomed to a miserable fate: so how can I hear about the practice of enlightening beings from him?”

  As Sudhana was thinking this, concerned with saving all sentient beings, his mind full of compassion, celestial beings in the sky over his head called out, “Do you not remember the instructions of the seer Jayoshmayatana?”

  Sudhana looked up and said, “I do.”

  The celestials said, “Do not give rise to doubt about the instructions of spiritual benefactors; they guide you on the right way. Indeed, the practical knowledge of skill in means of enlightening beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to take care of all sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to benefit sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to restrain sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to further sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to care for sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to protect sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to purify sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to liberate sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to perfect sentient beings is inconceivable. The knowledge of how to guide sentient beings is inconceivable. Go ask the king about the practice of enlightening beings.”

  Hearing the words of the celestials, Sudhana went to King Anala, paid his respects, and said, “Noble one, I have set my mind on supreme perfect enlightenment, but I do not know how to learn and carry out the practice of enlightening beings. I hear that you give instruction to enlightening beings; pray tell me how to learn and apply the practice of enlightening beings.”

  King Anala, having finished his duties, got off the throne and took Sudhana into the palace. Entering his own residence, the king seated Sudhana on a seat of honor and said to him, “Look at the furnishings of my house.” Sudhana looked and saw that the house was large, with walls of seven precious substances, adorned with terraces of various jewels, embellished with hundreds of thousands of jewel towers, blazing with the radiance of inconceivable numbers of jewels, with pillars made of various jewels. In it were hundreds of thousands of variously adorned jewel lion chairs; jeweled regal banners flew overhead; it was covered with canopies of radiant jewels, draped with various webs of magical gems, decorated with countless ornaments of various jewels, complete with cool emerald lotus ponds, surrounded by rows of trees of all kinds of jewels. He also saw the king’s hundred million ladies, all extremely beautiful, versed in all the arts, diligent, kindhearted, and attentive.

  Then King Anala said to Sudhana, “What do you think—could such fruits of action come to a villain? Could a villain attain such a condition, with such a retinue, such riches, such power?”

  Sudhana said, “No indeed, noble one.”

  The king said, “I have attained enlightening beings’ magical liberation. The people in my realm are given to all sorts of evildoing—murder, theft, rape, falsehood, slander, vilification, divisive talk, covetousness, malice, false views, villainy, violence, cruelty. I am unable to turn them away from evildoing by any other means, so in order to subdue them, mature them, guide them, and secure their welfare, out of compassion I have illusory executioners kill and maim illusory criminals, making a display of intense suffering and pain; seeing this, the people in my realm become afraid to do evil. Seeing the people alarmed by this device, I have them give up evildoing and conduct themselves virtuously; then I establish them in ultimate security, the end of all suffering, the bliss of omniscience. I do not harm anyone by thought, word, or deed. I would sooner go to the deepest hell than so much as think of hurting even a dumb animal or an insect, much less a human being, who has potential for virtuous conduct. I do not do anything bad even in dreams, much less while awake.

  “I have attained this magical enlightening beings’ liberation. How can I know the practice or tell the virtues of the enlightening beings who have attained acceptance of the truth of nonorigination, who relate to all states of being as illusions, who understand that the practices of enlightening beings are like magical creations, who know that all worlds are like reflections, who comprehend that the nature of things is like a dream, who conform to the principle of the reality realm by nonattachment, who accomplish the network of interrelated practices, who are in the sphere of unimpeded knowledge, who know the way of universally comprehensive concentration, who are masters of endlessly progressing mental command, who are intent on the sphere of buddhahood?”

  “South of here is a city called Suprabha, where a king named Mahaprabha lives. Go ask him how to learn and carry out the practice of enlightening beings.”

  So then Sudhana paid his respects and left King Anala.

  Mahaprabha

  Remembering that magic of knowledge, meditating on that magical liberation of enlightening beings, contemplating that magical nature, realizing the equality of the illusoriness of all actions, reflecting on the equal illusoriness of phenomena, following the equality of didactic developmental magical creations, remembering the inconceivable light born of knowledge, undertaking the magical performance of endless vows, purifying the magical nature of unattached conduct, thinking about the magical character of past, present, and future, Sudhana made his way from country to country, looking everywhere, high and low, over even and rough terrain, wet and dry places, mountains and valleys, villages, cities, towns, provinces, and capitals, tireless in body and mind, searching everywhere till he came to the environs of the great city Suprabha. He asked where King Mahaprabha was, and people pointed out the great city Suprabha and told him the king lived there.

  So then Sudhana went to the city and was delighted upon seeing it. He thought, “Where does the spiritual benefactor live? I shall see the spiritual benefactor today and hear from him about the practice of enlightening beings, the way of emancipation of enlightening beings, the inconceivable nature of enlightening beings, the inconceivable range of virtues of enlightening beings, the inconceivable majesty of enlightening beings, the inconceivable concentration of enlightening beings, the inconceivable freedom of enlightening beings, and the inconceivable purity of accomplishment of great undertakings of enlightening beings.” With these thoughts in mind Sudhana went into the great city Suprabha.

  Once he was there, Sudhana looked around the city: it was beautiful, made of seven precious substances—gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, red pearl, emerald, and coral. It was surrounded by deep moats made of the seven precious substances, with gold sand on the bottom, their surfaces covered with heavenly lotuses, and particles of sandalwood suspended in the
water. The city was also surrounded by rows of palm trees made of the seven precious substances, and enclosed by walls made of seven kinds of diamonds—majestic, insuperable, indestructible, invincible, without obstacle, blazing with light, free from impurities. Each of the diamond walls was also inlaid with countless jewels, inset with gold posts and adorned with garlands of ivory and jewels. The gates of the city, at intervals of ten leagues on eight sides, were beautifully constructed of the seven precious substances. The city was large, a symmetrical octagon, set on a ground of blue lapis lazuli. There were ten million streets in the city, each one lined on both sides with hundreds of thousands of mansions made of various precious substances and adorned with arrays of many kinds of gems, flying jeweled banners and flags, fully furnished, with millions of people living in them. The city was also adorned with countless temples of gold and jewels, countless gold towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of lapis lazuli, countless silver towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of red pearls, countless lapis lazuli towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of varicolored jewels, countless crystal towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of diamonds, countless luminous jewel towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of sunny jewels, countless sapphire towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of radiant jewels, countless diamond towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of unsurpassed jewels, countless sandalwood towers arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of celestial flowers, countless towers of incomparable fragrances arrayed with innumerable jewels and covered with nets of heavenly flowers, all adorned with turrets of many jewels, encircled with balconies of seven precious substances, surrounded by rows of jewel trees. The turrets of the towers and the nets of jewels were also interconnected by jewel strings, and those strings were adorned with garlands of golden bells, to each of which were fastened strings of various jewels, from each of which hung circlets of small bells. Also the whole city was covered with countless nets of jewels, bells, celestial fragrances, heavenly flowers, and jewel figurines, with countless canopies of diamonds, various jewels, jeweled parasols, jewel pavilions, precious cloths, and jewel flower garlands, with variously jeweled banners and pennants flying overhead.

  The house of King Mahaprabha was built in the middle of the city. It was four leagues wide on each side. Made of the seven precious substances, it was surrounded by arbors made of these seven precious substances in various combinations, decorated with nets of precious bells making pleasant sweet sounds. It was surrounded by seven rows of palm trees made of the seven precious substances and adorned with a hundred thousand towers made of inconceivable numbers of various jewels. The house was embellished with lotus ponds, made of jewels, their surfaces covered with celestial flowers, their floors spread with gold sand, with steps made of jewel bricks arrayed on four sides, graced with trees with jewel flowers and fruits. Pleasant sounds of birds warbling filled the air. It was like the palace of a celestial king. In the middle stood a tower of world-illumining jewels, wonderful, beautiful, brilliant with its inconceivable arrays of countless jewels, built by the King Mahaprabha as a treasury of good law.

  Then Sudhana, not drawn by the jewel moats, not amazed by the jewel walls, not attracted by the jewel trees, not relishing the sound of the jewel bells, unattached to the sweet sounds of celestial songs, not paying any attention to the various precious furnishings of the apartments and towers, while in the midst of the joyful crowds of people enjoying the pleasure of the way of enlightenment, detached from pleasures of the senses, intent on contemplation of the truth, constantly asking everyone he met about spiritual benefactors, made his way to a crossroads in the city. Looking around at the crossroads, he saw King Mahaprabha there, not far from his venerable abode, seated on a magnificent throne. The throne had legs of blue lapis lazuli and was set on a lion made of white lapis lazuli. It was arrayed with nets of cowries on gold strings and varicolored precious cloths surpassing those of the gods, and ornamented with countless jewel figures. It was covered with a network of inconceivable numbers of jewels, and above was a beautiful gold silk canopy with multicolored decorations of celestial jewels. The throne of the great law was in the shape of the calyx of a lotus made of wish-fulfilling gems, and the king sat cross-legged thereon, graced with the thirty-two marks of a great person, adorned with the various embellishments of the virtuous. He was like a mountain of gold, brilliant as a mine of jewels, blazing with light like the orb of the sun, of placid appearance like the full moon, an oceanic accumulation of endless virtues of the profound Teaching, like a great cloud thundering the sound of inherent nature, like the sky studded with stars of maxims of the Teaching, like the polar mountain appearing to the minds of the ocean of sentient beings, like an island of jewels covered with various gems of knowledge. Sudhana also saw heaps of jewels, pearls, conch shells, camphor, coral, gold, and silver, heaps of celestial robes, heaps of celestial jewelry, heaps of food, and heaps of the finest delicacies arrayed before the king. He also saw millions of celestial chariots, celestial musical instruments, mounds of celestial incenses, many medicinal preparations, and many collections of all kinds of utensils, suitable and proper for people to enjoy as they wish. He also saw hundreds of thousands of milk cows with golden horns and hooves, provided to care for the poor. He also saw many millions of beautiful girls, adorned with all kinds of jewelry, dressed in heavenly clothes, limbs anointed with sandalwood perfume, versed in all the arts and skilled in all manners of love play. All the kinds of goods that were before the king were also set out in countless numbers on the street corners, in front of every house, along both sides of every street, to support the population, to make everyone happy, joyful, serene, and comfortable, to extinguish their afflictions, to introduce them to the meaning of the nature of all things, to get them all to have omniscience as their common aim, to rid them of malice toward others, to stop them from all evil action and talk, to extract the thorns of views, and to purify their course of action.

  At that point Sudhana went up to King Mahaprabha, paid his respects, and said, “Noble one, I have set my mind on supreme perfect enlightenment, but I do not know how to learn and carry out the practices of enlightening beings. I hear you give enlightening beings instruction, and ask you to tell me how to study and accomplish the practice of enlightening beings.”

  The king said, “I purify and fulfill the enlightening beings’ practice, which is characterized by great benevolence. This practice I have asked about, purified, ordered, observed, carried out, pursued, entered into, diversified, and expanded in the company of hundreds, thousands, millions—indeed, untold numbers—of buddhas. Based on this enlightening practice of great benevolence, I command kingship justly, I treat the world justly, I pass through the world justly, I lead the people justly, I bring justice to people and turn them to the sphere of right, I give them right guidance, I saturate them with justice, I direct them to attainment of what is right, I get them to contemplate the nature of things. I establish people in kindness, in the command of great kindness, in the power of kindness, in altruism, in goodwill, in sympathy, in friendliness, in hospitality, in determination to get rid of all suffering, in conduct conducive to ultimate happiness. I cool their minds and remove their mental tangles by producing the bliss of cessation. I divert their continuity of mind attached to delight in mundane routines and purify it in enjoyment of the pleasures of truth. I purify them of all unwholesome qualities and turn them away from what is not good. I turn back the flow of the mundane whirl. I destroy their ignorance in the ocean of principles of the reality realm, to cut off rebirth in all states of being. I inspire them to attain omniscience. I calm the ocean of their minds, to generate the indestructible power of faith. Thus do I govern righteously based on this enlightening practice of great benevolence.

  “Furthermore, no one goes away from me intimidated, threatened, or frightened. If any poor people lacking
in means of subsistence come to me seeking food or drink or clothing or any other need, I open the royal storehouse to them and allow them to take from there, or from the streets and crossroads of the city, whatever they need, things they would otherwise get involved in wrongdoing to get.

  “All the inhabitants of this city are enlightening beings established in the Great Vehicle. They see this city according to the purity of their minds. Some see it small, some large; some see a ground of earth, some see a ground spread with lapis lazuli; some see clay walls, some see it surrounded by walls covered with the finest cloth, banners, and jewels; some see it full of gravel and sand, uneven, with a lot of ravines; some see the ground spread with large jewels, decorated and flat as the palm of the hand; some see it beautifully arrayed with mansions and palaces, with round windows, nets, crescents, jewels, and various other adornments. Even among those who live outside the city, those whose minds are pure, who have made roots of goodness, who have attended many buddhas, who are aiming for omniscience, and who make omniscience their ultimate goal, see it as made of jewels. Those whom I took care of in the course of past enlightening practice by means of charity, kindness, assistance, and cooperation see it this way, while others see it as made of clay.

  “Whenever the inhabitants of my domain want to do anything wrong in the degenerate world, their natures disturbed by the times, in order to save them I go into an enlightening concentration guided by great benevolence called ‘adapting to the faculties of the world,’ whereupon their fears, misfortunes, animosities, quarrels, agitations, and hostilities cease. That happens as a matter of course by the achievement of the nature of the enlightening concentration adapting to the faculties of the world, which is guided by great benevolence. Come here and you shall see for yourself in a moment.”