“At that time, furthermore, in order to discipline the beings in the city who were intoxicated with enjoyment of forms and colors and who were contemptuous of each other, the enlightening being Universally Good magically assumed a body of superlative appearance and went to the city. His glorious light illumined the city so that the lights of the king and queen, the lights of the jewel trees and the precious stones, even the lights of the sun, moon, planets, and stars, and all the lights of the whole continent, could not be perceived. Just as when the sun rises the darkness disappears and the moon, planets, and stars cannot be seen, in the same way all the lights of the continent, overwhelmed by the light of Universal Good, could not be seen. Just as a mass of carbon black does not look beautiful or shine or seem bright or lustrous in the presence of pure gold, in the same way the bodies of those beings did not look beautiful or shine or seem bright or lustrous in the presence of the universally good enlightening being Samantabhadra. They thought, ‘Who might this be, a god, or Brahma, before whom we do not appear beautiful, do not shine, do not glow, have no radiance or luster? We cannot grasp his appearance.’
“Then Universally Good stood in the sky above the palace of the king in the middle of the city and said to the king, ‘Know, O king, that a buddha, a perfectly enlightened one, has arisen in the world. He is in this very realm of yours, at the enlightenment site Emblem of the Sound of Clouds of Teaching Revealing Universal Truth.’
“Now, the daughter of the king, seeing the form-body and the supernal manifestation of light of the enlightening being Universally Good, and hearing the sound of his ornaments, was enraptured and was inspired with this thought: ‘Whatever basic goodness I have accumulated, may I thereby attain such a body, such adornment, such features, such deportment, such mystic power. Just as he generates light in the dark night of sentient beings and announces the emergence of a buddha, in the same way may I also dispel the darkness of nescience in sentient beings and produce the light of great knowledge. Wherever I may be born, may I never be apart from this spiritual benefactor.’
“Then the king, along with his armies, his concubines, his sons, his ministers, and the inhabitants of the city, left the city and rose a league in the air by the magic power of the king, who filled the four continents with a great light, and who, in order to get all sentient beings to see the buddha, manifested his reflection in all the jewel mountains, stood before all the sentient beings in the four continents, and praised the sight of buddha in verse:
Buddha has appeared in the world,
Savior of all living beings;
All should get up and go
To see the guide of the world.
Buddhas appear once
In millions of eons
And teach the truth
For the benefit of all beings.
Seeing the world in error,
Shrouded by the darkness of nescience,
And oppressed by the pains of life and death,
Buddhas conceive great compassion.
For countless millions of eons
They have practiced enlightenment
To perfect sentient beings
And extinguish all suffering.
They have given up
Their hands and feet, ears, noses, and heads
For endless eons, to attain
The immortality of enlightenment.
It is hard to find a guide of the world,
Even in millions of eons;
To listen to them, meet them, and associate with them
Cannot but be fruitful.
This supreme teacher is to be seen
Sitting on the seat of enlightenment,
Having conquered the demon armies
And realized the highest awakening.
Behold the body of Buddha,
With an endless array of lights,
Emanating various glows
Which soothe the world.
Countless multitudes of light beams
Emanate from the Buddha’s pores;
Those on whom they shine
Feel incomparable joy.
Honor the guide of your own will—
Muster great energy and go to him.
“Then the king, having exhorted the inhabitants of his domain with these verses, showering the whole enlightenment site with offerings from ten thousand clouds of offerings developed from the roots of goodness of the ruler, went to the buddha, covering the sky with clouds of parasols of all jewels and canopies of clouds of all kinds of flowers, adorning the sky with cloud covers of all kinds of robes, clouds of nets of jewel bells, clouds of fragrant flames given off by an ocean of all kinds of scents, clouds of chairs made of all kinds of jewels, magically adorning the sky with clouds raining all kinds of presents. Having gone to the buddha and paid his respects, the king sat before the buddha in a throne of great jewels flashing light in all directions.
“At that point the daughter of the king took off all her jewelry and scattered it over the buddha; the jewelry formed a parasol over the buddha’s head and stayed there, covered all around with nets of various jewels, held by the chief water spirits, the whole body of jewelry forming a perfect circle surrounded by ten jewel parasols, all completely pure, in the shape of a tower, variously arrayed, covered by clouds of all kinds of jewel ornaments, covered by arrays of diamond trees, adorned with the finest pearls from all the fragrant seas. In the middle of that she saw a great enlightenment tree called ‘draped with foliage of all jewels produced by the cosmos of realities,’ with infinitely various adornments, displaying various auspicious supernal manifestations. There she saw a buddha named Vairocana surrounded by as many enlightening beings as atoms in untold buddha-lands, all of whom had undertaken the vows of practice of universally good enlightening beings and dwelt in the inconceivably various total unity of all enlightening beings. She also saw the leaders of all worlds in the presence of the buddha.
She saw the infinitely various projections of Vairocana Buddha and perceived the successive ages of his past enlightening practice. She also perceived that world’s ages of formation and disintegration, and the succession of past buddhas in that world. She also saw the universally good enlightening being Samantabhadra in that world, and saw him in the presence of all buddhas, honoring the buddhas and guiding all sentient beings to full development. She also saw all the enlightening beings reflected in the body of Universal Good, and saw herself there too in the presence of all the buddhas, in the presence of all the enlightening beings reflected in the body of Universal Good, in the abodes of all sentient beings. In each of those worlds she also saw as many worlds as atoms in a buddha-land, with their boundaries, bases, forms, masses, and various purities of adornment, covered by clouds of various supernal manifestations, with various names and numbers of ages, various lineages of buddhas appearing, various temporal locations, various spatial locations, belonging to various phenomenal realms within various planes of the cosmos, situated in various planes of space, with various arrays of enlightenment sites, various lights projected by buddhas, various buddhas’ lion thrones, various oceanic audiences of buddhas, various circulations of the audiences of buddhas, various clarifications by the skill in means of buddhas, various buddhas’ ways of turning the wheel of teaching, various sayings of buddhas, various indications of oceans of ways of expressing thought, and enunciations of multitudes of various scriptures.
“Seeing all these, she was all the more enraptured. The buddha expounded to her in her rapture a scripture called Voice of the Cycles of Teaching of All Buddhas, along with as many accompanying scriptures as atoms in ten buddha-lands. When she had heard these scriptures, ten hundred thousand kinds of concentration entered into her, subtle and pleasant, like the consciousness of an embryo on the first day in the mother’s womb, like the commencement of activity in beings, like the impulse of the sprout in the seed of a tree on the day it is planted—this is how subtle and full of potential those concentrations were. Ten hundred thousand concentrations descend
ed into her, beginning with such concentrations as one called ‘face-to-face communication with all buddhas,’ one called ‘illumination of all lands,’ one called ‘penetrating the principles of all pasts, presents, and futures,’ one called ‘voice of the teaching activity of all buddhas,’ one called ‘communicating the ocean of vows of all buddhas,’ one called ‘communicating the voice of all means of emancipation from all suffering and torture of the mundane whirl,’ one called ‘manifestation of the vow to dispel the darkness of all sentient beings,’ one called ‘determination to release all sentient beings from suffering’ one called ‘source of achievement of happiness for all sentient beings,’ one called ‘source of tireless developmental guidance for all sentient beings,’ one called ‘characterized by entry into the path of all enlightening beings,’ and one called ‘supernal manifestation produced by entry into the stages of all enlightening beings.’
“With her mind subtly concentrated, unwavering, joyful, refreshed, unpreoccupied, in harmony with the wise, focused on profound omniscience, swelling with oceanic love, free from all attachments, not dwelling on any worldly objects, entering the sphere of those who arrive at Thusness, aware of the appearances of all buddhas, unperturbed, unagitated, unobstructed, unfragmented, neither excited nor depressed, tireless, unretreating, undiscouraged, meditating on the inherent nature of all things, realizing the ocean of principles based on the inherent nature of all things, following the principles of investigation of all things, plunging into the ocean of all sentient beings, determined to save all worldlings, illumined by the vast ocean of buddhas, plunging into the ocean of vows of all buddhas, breaking through all obstructions to enlightenment, gathering great stores of virtue, on the verge of attainment of the ten powers of buddhas, aware of the realms of all enlightening beings, amassing the provisions of all enlightening beings for the path of enlightenment, her mind reaching everywhere to take up the great vow of universal good, by as many oceans of vows as atoms in ten buddha-lands she undertook the past vow of all buddhas for the purification of their own buddha-lands. That is, by guiding all sentient beings to perfection, to know all ways to the realm of reality, to enter the ocean of all ways to the realm of reality, to enter enlightening practice in all buddha-lands forever, to live in the sphere of the practices of all enlightening beings forever, to visit all buddhas, to associate with all spiritual benefactors, to fully honor and serve all buddhas, to continue with each moment of consciousness the practice of enlightening beings which increasingly becomes aware of omniscient knowledge. She undertook the vow of universally good enlightening practice by means of as many oceans of ways of undertaking vows as atoms in ten buddha-lands, beginning with such vows as these.
“Then the buddha Paragon of Virtue Radiant with the Light of Universal Knowledge made her aware of his past roots of goodness and inspired her to achieve them—he made them clear to her, revealed them, described them, analyzed them, and explained them; he strengthened them to endure without perishing, extended them to great range, and firmly established them so as to make them equal to the measure of omniscience, so she would apprehend, from the first determination for enlightenment, the incalculable past vows of the enlightened.
“Ten eons before that, in the world Light Shining from a Jewel Sun and Moon, in which the teaching of the buddha Moonlike Brilliance was preserved, that same woman, instructed by the enlightening being Universally Good, repaired a ruined image of the Buddha seated on a lotus, painted it, and adorned it, having gone to Universally Good with the aspiration for enlightenment. Because of that root of goodness, she never fell into misfortune and always was born in celestial or human families and was always beautiful. She always saw buddhas and associated with the enlightening being Universally Good, and in every life was developed, inspired, and caused to be mindful by that spiritual benefactor. At this time, furthermore, Universally Good was thoroughly pleased with her.
“Who do you think the king of that time was? It was none other than the enlightening being Manjushri, the Glorious One, who was the king. And do not suppose that it was anyone else but the night goddess Prashantarutasagaravati, who is seated here near me, who was the queen. And do not think it was anyone but I who was the daughter of the king and queen, who in the time of the teaching left by the buddha Moonlike Brilliance repaired a ruined image of the Buddha on a lotus. That became a determining factor for me all the way to supreme enlightenment. And when I was directed by the enlightening being Universally Good toward supreme perfect enlightenment, I first aroused the determination for enlightenment. Then, when I went to the buddha Paragon of Virtue Radiant with the Light of Universal Knowledge and cast my jewelry over him, saw the buddha’s miraculous power, and heard the Teaching from him, I attained this enlightening liberation showing guidance to all sentient beings. And I propitiated all those buddhas, numerous as atoms in the polar mountain, and honored them with all kinds of offerings. And I listened to all their teachings, and put their instructions into practice; and I gained such intense respect for those buddhas that in a single moment of thought I would see all those buddhas, their circles of enlightening beings, and their buddha-lands.
“When that world Radiant Brilliance had passed away and the age Sphere of Dispassion was over, there followed a world called Magnificent Array Brilliantly Adorned with Jewel Discs, and an age called Great Light; five hundred buddhas emerged therein, and I propitiated them all. The first buddha in that age was named Representative of Great Compassion; when he was leaving home, I, who had become a night goddess, made offerings to him. After him, a buddha named Adamantine Paragon of Man arose; I, at that time a ruler, made offerings to him, and he expounded to me a scripture called Source of All Buddhas, accompanied by as many scriptures as atoms in ten buddha-lands, which I listened to and took up. After that a buddha named Magnificent Array of Lights of a Mountain of Blazing Fire appeared; at that time the daughter of a grandee, I made offerings to him, and he expounded to me a scripture called Containing the Manifestations of Past, Present, and Future, accompanied by as many scriptures as atoms in the continent, which I listened to and took up. After that a buddha named King of Energy Risen Above the Ocean of All Phenomena appeared in the world; at that time a titan chieftain, I made offerings to him, and he expounded to me a scripture called Analysis of Knowledge of the Planes of All Reality Realms, accompanied by five hundred scriptures, which I listened to and took up. After that a buddha named Light of the Ocean of Splendor of the Profound Doctrine appeared; at that time the daughter of a chief water spirit, I honored him with a shower of wish-fulfilling jewels, and he expounded to me a scripture called Light of Reason in the Ocean of Reality Realms, accompanied by as many scriptures as atoms in ten buddha-lands, which I listened to, took up, and memorized. After that a buddha named Splendor of the Multitude of Manifestations of the Ocean of Virtue appeared; at that time a seer with five kinds of occult knowledge, I went to him by magical power with a company of six thousand seers and honored him with incense and flowers. He expounded to me a scripture called Lamp of Independence, accompanied by six thousand scriptures, which I listened to and took up. After that a buddha named Imbued with Sunny Radiance appeared. At that time I was an earth goddess named Source of Common Weal; accompanied by countless earth goddesses, I went to that buddha showering jewel flowers and garlands from trees of all jewels as tokens of honor. He expounded a scripture called Womb of Knowledge from Which All Buddhas Are Born, along with countless scriptures, which I listened to and remembered permanently.
“The last of those five hundred buddhas was named Lamp Radiant As a Mountain Peak of Jewels Filling the Space of the Cosmos. At that time I was a dancing girl named Radiantly Beautiful Face. When the buddha came into the city, I began to dance and by the power of the buddha rose into the air and went to the buddha, praising him with a thousand verses. He illumined my whole body with a light called Array of Cosmic Lightning, which emanated from the circle of hair between his brows; and as soon as that light touched me I attained
a liberation called ‘offspring of contemplation of the principles of the reality realm.’
“Thus I associated with and honored all the five hundred buddhas of that age in that world, and I remember everything they taught me, forgetting nothing, not even a line or letter. Also, as I went to each buddha, I benefited innumerable beings by describing the ways of buddhas. Also, from each buddha I obtained illumination by the lightning of omniscience, called ‘womb of knowledge of past, present, and future, extensive as the cosmos,’ which is the oceanic body of the reality realm, containing at once all the practices of universal good. Now I perceive infinite buddhas in each mental moment, and from seeing those buddhas, flashes of light of omniscience which I have not previously apprehended or seen enter into my mind, and I do not fall away from the practice of universally good enlightening beings. Why? Because apprehending these flashes of light of omniscience is endlessly and infinitely revealing and instructive.”
Then the night goddess Samantasattvatranojahshri spoke these verses to Sudhana, further elucidating the enlightening liberation showing guidance for beings in all worlds:
Listen, Sudhana, as I tell
Of what is deep, hard to see, hard to fathom:
Means of distinction of the planes of all times,
Total illumination of the appearances of things.
Listen to me explain how I first aspired to enlightenment
In quest of the qualities of buddhas,
And how I attained
This liberation of awareness.
More eons ago than atoms in a buddha-land,
There was a land called Radiant Brilliance, vast and pure,
Where there was an age called Sphere of Dispassion,
During which there was an unbroken succession of buddhas.
As many buddhas as atoms in the polar mountain, free from evil, appeared:
The first was Paragon of Virtue Radiant with the Light of Universal Knowledge;
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 181