Then Sudhana, having seen this inconceivable manifestation of the night goddess’s enlightening liberation showing guidance for beings in all worlds, prostrated himself before her, enraptured. At that point the night goddess stopped assuming the adornments of the forms of enlightening beings and continued to produce all the mystical manifestations by means of the form of a night goddess. Then Sudhana stood respectfully before her and spoke these verses to her:
I have seen your immense body,
Of excellent appearance, adorned with jewels,
Variously beautified by embellishments
As the sky is by the stars.
Your aura of light, the sublime radiance of your body,
Is equal to the atoms in endless lands;
Like various kinds of matchless colors,
It pervades everywhere endlessly.
From every pore you radiate nets of light,
As many as minds of beings;
On a beautiful lotus in each ray of light
Stands an emanation of you, extinguishing pain in the world.
You emit fragrant clouds of light
In the forms of all beings, all pure,
Showering flowers everywhere,
On all the buddhas in the cosmos.
Your multitude of lights, vast and pure,
Is like a mountain radiant with jewels;
With it you illumine all worlds
And remove the darkness of delusion.
Myriad pure suns emerge
From your mouth;
Your sunlight shines throughout
The vast realm of Vairocana.
Pure moon and star lights
Radiate from your eyes in great numbers
And pervade the ten directions,
Illumining the world and destroying darkness.
From your features come myriad emanations
In the forms of all beings;
They go throughout the cosmos
Developing the countless masses.
Your body appears before all beings
Everywhere, creating joy;
You put an end to measureless dangers—
From kings, brigands, fire, and floods—guiding beings.
As directed, I have come to you,
Observing your qualities;
A pure aura of light beams
Emanated from between your brows,
Illuminating all places,
Producing great light in the world;
Having shown many various wonders,
It descended into my body.
When the light descended on me,
I experienced a marvelous, supreme happiness;
I was imbued with mental command, a hundred concentrations,
And I saw the infinite buddhas everywhere.
I knew the number of atoms
In the ground where I walked,
And saw in each atom
As many lands as atoms in lands.
In an atom are hundreds
Of various mixed-up, defiled lands,
Where the beings suffer pains
And weep and wail.
There are also many lands with purity amid defilement,
Where the happiness is little and the suffering much,
Where the compassionate buddhas,
Their disciples, and the self-enlightened gather.
There are also lands with defilement amid purity,
Where many enlightening beings are assembled,
Beautiful lands graced with men and women,
Where the family of buddhas abides.
Oceans of lands, vast and pure,
Are in an atom, or an even plane,
Purified over long eons past
By the action of Vairocana.
In every land buddhas appear
At the enlightenment tree;
Having attained enlightenment,
They teach and guide the world.
I see you in the vast realm of Vairocana,
Honoring all the infinite buddhas.
Then Sudhana said to the night goddess, “It is wonderful how deep your enlightening liberation is. What is this liberation called? How long ago did you attain it? How does an enlightening being practice so as to purify this liberation?”
She replied, “This state is hard for celestials, Buddhist disciples, and individual illuminates to arrive at. Why? Because this is the realm of enlightening beings who follow the commitment to the practice of universally good enlightening beings; it is the sphere of enlightening beings imbued with great compassion who have undertaken the salvation of all sentient beings, who have undertaken the purgation of all unfavorable and unhappy states, who have undertaken the perpetuation of the lineage of buddhas in all buddha-lands, who have undertaken to preserve the teachings of all buddhas, who have plunged into the ocean of great vows to continue enlightening practice through all ages, who have undertaken to clarify the light of unobscured knowledge of the ocean of all phenomena, who have attained the state of the light of instantaneous knowledge of the ocean of wisdom of past, present, and future.
“Now, then, by the empowerment of Buddha I will tell you: in the past, as many eons ago as atoms in a buddha-land, there was an age called Sphere of Dispassion in a world called Sunny Brilliance; as many buddhas as atoms in the polar mountain arose in that age. That world, furthermore, was arrayed with multitudes of all kinds of jewels and adorned with palaces and mansions made of diamond. Now, that world rested on an ocean of all kinds of jewels of pure light and was itself made of all kinds of fragrant jewels. It was perfectly round and pure, with some defilement. It was covered with canopies of all kinds of ornaments, and surrounded by a thousand peripheral mountain ranges, circles of jewels in all arrays. It had millions of sets of four continents, some of which were inhabited by beings whose actions were defiled and beings whose actions were undefiled, some of which were inhabited by beings whose actions were a mixture of defilement and purity, some of which were inhabited by beings who were mostly pure with some defilement, beings of refined virtues, beings with little in them that is blameworthy; and some were inhabited by wholly pure enlightening beings.
“In the eastern part of that world, at the border of the peripheral mountains, was a set of four continents called Jewel Flower Lamp Banner. The land was pure, with some defilement. There was an abundance of food without plowing or sowing, and there were dwelling places resulting from the maturation of past deeds. There were wish-fulfilling trees everywhere, trees of various fragrances always emitting clouds of perfume, various garland trees constantly showering garlands, various flower trees raining multitudes of flowers of inconceivable colors and scents, trees of aromatic powders of various qualities continually giving forth a rain of powder of fragrant jewels, various jewel trees shining with light from their jewel buds, and trees of various celestial instruments that filled the air with beautiful sounds produced when stirred by the breeze. The sun and moon shined pleasantly day and night, and jewels shone everywhere.
“At that time there were millions of capital cities on those four continents, each of which was surrounded by a thousand rivers. Each of those rivers carried various celestial flowers and produced celestial music; the banks were lined with trees of various jewels, and those who traveled by boat on the rivers enjoyed various delights to their hearts’ content. Between the river were built millions of cities, each surrounded by millions of towns. In all the cities and towns were many heavenly parks, palaces, and mansions.
“In the middle of the southernmost of those four continents was a central capital city called Jewel Flower Lamp Banner, which was prosperous and peaceful, with a large population of virtuous people. The king in that city ruled the four continents; spontaneously born in the calyx of a lotus, he had the thirty-two marks of a great man and was a just ruler. He had a thousand sons, valiant, strong, destroyers of enemy armies. He also had millions of concubines who were products of the same virtues as was the king, carried out the same practices, a
nd were noble-minded. They were as beautiful as goddesses, with golden complexions, celestial fragrances and auras of pure light emanating from their bodies. He also had millions of ministers, superlative advisers.
“The king also had a beautiful wife, whose aura constantly suffused a thousand leagues all around her with multicolored light of celestial fragrance. That queen had a daughter by the king who was so beautiful that no one ever tired of looking at her. Just as no one was ever tired of the sight of the sovereign, in the same way no one was ever sated with the sight of the princess, except those sated with wisdom.
“At that time the life span of the beings in that world was measureless—there were none with fixed life spans and no untimely deaths. Also at that time the variety of forms of sentient beings was known, as was the variety of their colors, voices, names, families, life spans, physical sizes, abilities and strengths, agreeable and unpleasant affairs, and higher and lower inclinations. There, those with better appearances and more confidence, who were physically perfect and good-looking, proclaimed their superiority to others; and those with well-formed bodies looked down on all those with ill-formed bodies. Then, because of the evil of mutual contempt, they lost their span of life, physical appearance, strength, and happiness—all was lost.
“There was an enlightenment tree north of the city called Sound of Clouds of Teachings Illumining All. Its strong roots were made of indestructible diamonds that showed the arrays of the enlightenment sites of all buddhas in every moment; its trunk was a mass of all kinds of jewels, high and wide; its foliage, flowers, and fruits were made of all kinds of jewels. It was perfectly formed, well proportioned everywhere, its foliage equally distributed, with endless adornments throughout, flashing with all kinds of jewel lights radiating in all directions, producing sounds of magical displays of the spheres of all buddhas.
“In front of that enlightenment site there was a pond of fragrant water called Sound of Clouds Thundering Teachings with Jewel Flower Lightning, surrounded by millions of jewel trees. Each of those trees was formed like the enlightenment tree. The banks of the pond were made of well-distributed collections of all kinds of gems, hung with strings of all kinds of jewels, graced with arrays of mansions made of pure jewels, adorned with pure arrays of all kinds of ornaments. The whole enlightenment site was also surrounded by countless jewel towers in lotus calyxes with inconceivable adornments. In the middle of the pond appeared a great ruby lotus called Array of Clouds of Light Rays Flashing Lightning from Between the Leaves Illumining the Sphere of the Buddhas of Past, Present, and Future.
“In that lotus appeared a buddha named Paragon of Virtue Radiant with the Light of Universal Knowledge, who was the first of as many buddhas as atoms in the polar mountain to attain supreme perfect enlightenment in that eon. Having developed sentient beings for thousands of years by hearing the Teaching, he prepared them by manifestation of lights for ten thousand years for the appearance of the buddha in ten thousand years: there emanated from that great lotus a light called ‘spotless lamp of all beings,’ and the beings touched by that light became aware that the buddha would emerge in ten thousand years. They realized that the buddha would emerge in nine thousand years as a light called ‘full of undefiled radiance’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, and the beings touched by the light perceived all subtle forms. Realizing that the buddha would emerge in eight thousand years as a light called ‘voice of the results of the deeds of all beings’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light comprehended the oceans of their own doings and gained recollection and knowledge of their deeds. Realizing that the buddha would emerge in seven thousand years as a light called ‘voice produced by all roots of goodness’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light gained completeness of all their faculties. Realizing that the buddha would emerge in six thousand years as a light called ‘sound of revelation of the inconceivable sphere of buddhas’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light were transformed into higher states. Realizing that the buddha would emerge in five thousand years as a light called ‘conveying the dramatic mental impression of the purity of all buddha-lands’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light saw all aspects of the purity of buddha-lands. Realizing the buddha would emerge in four thousand years as a light called ‘lamp of the unity of the realm of buddhas’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light comprehended the omnipresent miracle of the buddha. Realizing the buddha would emerge in three thousand years as a light called ‘lamp in the presence of all beings’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light were engrossed in the sight of the buddha right before them. Realizing the buddha would emerge in two thousand years as a light called ‘lamp of lightning of knowledge of past, present, and future’ emanated from the tree of enlightenment along with the voice of the past efforts of the buddha, the beings touched by the light put faith in and entered into the oceans of past efforts of the buddha. Realizing the buddha would emerge in a thousand years as a light called ‘lamp of realization of suchness of unobscured knowledge’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light gained the power of the universal eye to see the miracles of all buddhas, the buddha-lands, and all sentient beings. Realizing the buddha would emerge in a hundred years as a light called ‘product of virtues of all beings resulting from seeing buddhas’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light got an impression of the emergence of Buddha. Realizing the buddha would appear in seven days as a light called ‘sound producing happiness and joy in all sentient beings’ emanated from the enlightenment tree, the beings touched by the light developed the energy of the great joy of seeing Buddha.
“Having thus developed beings for ten thousand years by means of such measureless lights, when the seven days were up he shook that whole world with infinite means of shaking it and made it completely pure, as the buddha-lands of all buddhas in the ten directions are pure—and in each moment of thought he showed the various inconceivable arrays of all those buddha-lands. And in those final seven days all the beings in that world who were ripe for the sight of Buddha stood facing the site of enlightenment.
“Then the supremacy of the realm of all buddhas was proclaimed from every single object in that world—from all the peripheral mountains, all the polar mountains, all the other mountains, all the rivers, all the seas, all the trees, all the land masses, all the cities, all the walls, all the buildings, all the clothing, ornaments, and paraphernalia, all the music and song, and all the created adornments—emanating clouds of all kinds of fragrant smoke, clouds of lusters of all jewels, clouds of all kinds of precious clothing and jewelry, clouds of mountains of all kinds of jewel flowers, clouds of all kinds of aromatic powders, clouds of light rays of all buddhas flashing, clouds of auras of all buddhas, clouds of oceans of sayings of all buddhas, clouds of glorious manifestations of the marks and embellishments of all buddhas, manifesting the signs that a buddha is about to appear in the world. Around the great ruby lotus Array of Clouds of Light Rays Flashing Lightning from Between the Leaves Illumining the Sphere of the Buddhas of Past, Present, and Future, there stood as many ruby lotuses as atoms in ten buddha-lands, on which appeared as many jewel lion seats, on which appeared as many enlightening beings sitting cross-legged.
“As soon as that buddha, Paragon of Virtue Radiant with the Light of Universal Knowledge, had realized supreme perfect enlightenment, the buddhas in all worlds in the ten directions attained supreme perfect enlightenment and set in motion the wheel of teaching for sentient beings in accordance with their mentalities: thereby innumerable sentient beings in that world were thenceforth freed from the calamities of all states of misery, innumerable sentient beings were led to heaven, innumerable beings were led to the stage of saints, innumerable beings were led to the stage of individual enlightenment, innumerable beings were developed to the point of enlightenment in which ema
ncipation is realized by way of intense illumination, innumerable sentient beings were developed to the point of enlightenment characterized by pure exertion, innumerable sentient beings were developed to the point of enlightenment in which emancipation is realized through the efficacy of purification of the senses, innumerable sentient beings were developed to the point of enlightenment in which emancipation is realized through pursuing conduct consonant with the powers of knowledge, innumerable sentient beings were led to enlightenment in which emancipation is made possible by conveyance to the precincts of the citadel of truth, innumerable sentient beings were led to enlightenment in which emancipation is realized by means of integration of efforts in practice, innumerable sentient beings were led to enlightenment in which emancipation is realized through methods of concentration, innumerable sentient beings were led to enlightenment in which emancipation is realized through means of purifying all objects, innumerable sentient beings were inspired to the enlightenment of enlightening beings, innumerable sentient beings were set in the path of enlightening beings, innumerable sentient beings were led to the purification of the path of transcendent ways, innumerable sentient beings were led to the first stage of enlightening beings; in the same way, as the buddha turned the wheel of teaching by his inconceivable spiritual power, in each moment of consciousness innumerable sentient beings were led to the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth stages; innumerable sentient beings were introduced to the practice of enlightening beings based on the most excellent vows; innumerable sentient beings were led to the purification of commitment to the conduct of universally good enlightening beings. Thus, as the buddha turned the wheel of teaching by his inconceivable spiritual power, he succeeded in guiding innumerable sentient beings in each moment of consciousness, and all the sentient beings in that world, according to their mentalities, perceived the Teaching through various bodies expediently projected by the buddha.
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 180