And have seen you, the perfect man;
My wish is fulfilled, and I am happy;
With you now I will honor that supreme sage.
“Then the prince, having heard the name of the buddha Supreme Sun and having thus gotten the opportunity to see the buddha, became very joyful; he showered the maid Splendor of Delight in Virtuous Conduct with five hundred jewels, gave her a shining crown of jewels, and covered her with a precious robe the color of fire blazing with jewels. And she, thus honored, neither rejoiced nor wept, nor did anything but gaze steadily at the prince with palms joined in respect.
“Then the prominent courtesan Beautiful spoke these verses to the prince:
For a long dark time I have wished
To give this girl to you;
Now this beautiful maiden
Of virtue and quality is yours.
There is no girl in the world
Equal to her, much less superior;
By virtue of her conduct, intellect, and other qualities,
She is the best of women in the world.
Born of a lotus, there is no question of her class;
She cannot be called impure.
Her mind is free from the taint of all faults;
She is capable of sharing your practice.
Her limbs are extremely soft,
Conveying the finest pleasures of touch;
The sick are instantly cured
By her touch.
The pure fragrance of her body
Excels all the finest perfumes;
All men who smell it
Become pure in conduct.
Her body shines like gold,
Undefiled like a lotus;
Angry and cruel people
Become kind when they have seen her.
She speaks kindly, sweetly, pleasantly,
A delight to people who hear;
When they have heard her, the darkness of evil disperses,
And none wants to do anything bad.
Her mind is pure, her heart untainted;
There is no guile at all in her.
What she says is just what she thinks,
And thus she makes people happy.
She does not fool anyone by deceit,
Nor does she lead people on for gain;
She is modest and discreet,
Always respectful to old and young.
She is not fascinated by class
Or looks or followers.
She has no conceit or arrogance;
She is always humble toward all.
“Then the prince and the maid, with her retinue of twenty thousand girls, left the park and went to the site of enlightenment where the buddha was, to see, pay respects to, make offerings to, and attend the buddha. Going by vehicle as far as the vehicle would go, the prince got off the vehicle and approached the buddha on foot; even at a distance he saw that the buddha was serene, a sight to behold, senses tranquil, mind quiet, senses under control, like a tame elephant, his heart like a clear, still pond. When he saw the buddha, the prince’s mind became settled, and with a clear mind he developed great joy, well-being, and energy that derives from seeing a buddha. With his mind full of great joy, energy, serenity, and rapture, he paid his respects to the buddha, and together with his whole company, including the young woman, covered the buddha with five hundred thousand great jewel lotuses, and made five hundred sanctuaries of jewels for the buddha and adorned each one with five hundred thousand diamonds.
“Then the buddha, knowing the prince’s strong determination, expounded a scripture called Lamp at the Door of the Universal Eye, upon hearing which the prince attained ten oceans of concentrations absorbed in all principles of the Teaching: he attained ways of concentration such as those called ‘light produced from the oceans of vows of all buddhas,’ ‘path of illumination of past, present, and future,’ ‘going forth into the circle of all buddhas,’ ‘entry into the highest range of awareness of all beings,’ ‘attainment of the scope of knowledge of the causes that produce all worlds,’ ‘lamp illumining the oceans of faculties of all beings,’ ‘cloud of knowledge to save all beings,’ ‘lamp leading to the development and emancipation of all beings,’ ‘communicating the cycles of teaching of all buddhas,’ and ‘multitude of undertakings to purify the practices of universal good.’ Beginning with these, the prince attained ten oceans of concentrations absorbed in all the principles of the Teaching. The young woman attained a meditation called ‘filled with an ocean of invincible knowledge’ and became irreversible in progress toward supreme perfect enlightenment.
“Then the prince, paying respects to the buddha, left the presence of the buddha with the young woman and the rest of the company and went to his father, the king, in the city. Greeting the king respectfully, he informed him that the buddha Supreme Sun had appeared in the world and was staying in the king’s realm, having recently attained enlightenment. The king then asked the prince who had told him so, and he replied that it had been the young woman Splendor of Delight in Virtuous Conduct.
“Then the king, hearing of the emergence of the buddha, felt that he had gained a great treasure, felt that he had found the rare jewel of Buddha; he considered the sight of a buddha to be the end of the danger of falling into evil ways; he felt he had found a great physician who could heal all afflictions. He thought of the buddha as a liberator from all the sufferings of the mundane whirl, as one who leads to ultimate peace and felicity, as one who reveals the unobscured light of knowledge. He thought of the buddha as the appearance of a great torch dispelling the darkness of ignorance, and felt that he had found a spiritual guide for a world with no guide, thinking of the buddha as a leader to omniscience for the leaderless.
“Hearing of the emergence of the buddha with great joy, the king Lord of Wealth gathered together all the warriors, priests, townspeople, ministers, family priests, princes, and governors, as well as the gatekeepers and courtiers, and abdicated the throne in favor of his son Lord of Glory, who had brought the joyous news of the appearance of the buddha. Then, having crowned the prince as king, he went together with ten thousand people to the buddha, paid his respects, and sat with his retinue before the buddha.
“Then the buddha, looking at the king and the whole assembly, emitted a light from the curl of hair between his brows, a light called ‘lamp of the minds of all beings,’ which illumined all worlds in the ten directions, then stopped in front of all the world leaders, displayed inconceivable buddha-projections, clarified the minds of those beings who could be taught by the buddha, and then, by the inconceivable mastery of Buddha, by means of embodiment of Buddha appearing in all worlds, speaking all languages in the voice of Buddha, expounded a medium of mental command called ‘unshaded lamp of meaning of all things,’ which was accompanied by as many media of mental command as atoms in a buddha-land. The king Lord of Wealth, hearing of this medium of mental command, gained an immense spiritual perspective on all things. As many enlightening beings there as atoms in the continent attained the mental command of the unshaded lamp of meaning of all things. Sixty million people, freed from contaminations, were mentally liberated. Ten thousand people became dispassionate and untainted, and their objective vision of things was clarified. An immense number aspired to supreme perfect enlightenment for the first time. Infinitely many beings in the ten directions, by seeing the inconceivable mystic displays projected by the buddha, reached liberation by way of the Three Vehicles.
“The king Lord of Wealth, having gained great illumination from the Teaching, thought, ‘I cannot apply myself assiduously to such a teaching or accomplish such knowledge while living at home; let me leave home to be with the buddha.’ Then he told the buddha he wanted to receive the precepts from the buddha and leave home to become a mendicant. The buddha assented to this.
“So then the king and ten thousand of his people left home to follow the buddha. Not long after leaving home, he accomplished the mental command of the unshaded lamp of meaning of all things,
along with its subsidiaries, and attained that many concentrations. He also attained ten mystic knowledges of enlightening beings and plunged into infinite oceans of analytic knowledge. He also attained a purity of body called ‘unhindered sphere of action’ in going to see the buddhas of the ten directions. He received the teaching of the buddha, preserved it, and preached it, having become a great spiritual preacher and a practitioner of the teaching. By the power of attainment of mystic knowledge, he pervaded the whole world, appearing to people according to their mentalities, telling them of the emergence of the buddha, illuminating the nature that produces all buddhas, explaining the accomplishment of the past practices of the buddha, praising the miraculous power of the buddha, supporting the buddha’s teaching.
“As for the new king, the son of Lord of Wealth, on that very day, the time of the full moon, he obtained the seven treasures of kingship. As he was sitting in the upper palace surrounded by a group of women, there appeared a great disc called ‘unobstructed momentum,’ adorned with a hundred thousand jewels, made of gold, shining all over, perfectly formed. There also appeared a great elephant named Diamond Mountain Blaze. There also appeared a horse named Swift As the Wind in the Mountains. There also appeared a great jewel called ‘supreme cluster of sunlight.’ There also appeared the young woman Splendor of Delight in Virtuous Conduct, to be his treasure of a wife. There also appeared a treasurer named Mass of Abundant Wealth. There also appeared a military leader, the seventh treasure, called Untainted Eye. Endowed with these seven treasures, he became king, sovereign, ruler of the four continents, just, commander of the law, victorious, with the power and vigor of the people. He also had a full thousand sons, strong and valiant, destroyers of enemy armies. Under his just rule the earth was free from war, free from evil, free from calamity, prosperous, peaceful, pleasant, and well populated.
“In each of the eighty-four thousand main cities on the continent, he had five hundred sanctuaries built, complete with all the finest features, equipped with all utensils, supplies, and facilities, adorned with gardens, buildings, promenades, and delightful groves. In each sanctuary he also had buddha-memorials built, high and wide, adorned with many arrays of jewels. And he invited the buddha Supreme Sun to all those cities, where he presented the buddha with inconceivable offerings of all kinds. The miracle of the entry of the buddha into the cities fostered virtue in innumerable people, and all those with disturbed minds attained tranquillity, while those with calm minds developed the intense joy of seeing the buddha; those who were full of joy attained purity of will for enlightenment, while those whose will for enlightenment was pure developed great compassion; those of goodwill became involved in the quest for all buddha-teachings, while those who knew the principles of the buddha-teaching set their minds to meditation on the intrinsic nature of all things; those who had realized the equality of things set their minds on realizing the equality of past, present, and future; those who had attained the scope of knowledge of past, present, and future entered into the light of knowledge of the succession of all buddhas, while those who had entered the knowledge of various manifestations of buddhas set their minds on the salvation of all sentient beings; those engaged in the salvation of all beings vowed to complete the path of enlightening beings, while those who had realized the equanimity of the path generated the light of knowledge to bring forth the cycles of teaching of all buddhas; those who were ready for the guidance of the ocean of teachings set their minds on pervading the network of all lands with their own bodies, while those who realized the equality of lands undertook to know the faculties of all sentient beings, and those engaged in consideration of the faculties of all sentient beings in accord with their inclinations purified the determination to reach omniscience. Entering into the fulfillment of such benefits for such people, the king Lord of Glory had the buddha Supreme Sun enter all the cities, to develop and guide those people by the inconceivable vision of the miracles of the Buddha.
“Now, who do you think that prince Lord of Glory was? You should see him as none other than this buddha Shakyamuni, who at that time was a prince named Lord of Glory, who attained kingship, and was on good terms with the buddha Supreme Sun. And who do you think the king Lord of Wealth, father of Lord of Glory, was? You should see him as none other than the buddha Jewel Flower Light, who at that time was a king named Lord of Wealth, who attained supreme perfect enlightenment at an enlightenment site symbolized by reflection of the moon and expounded the Teaching surrounded by as many enlightening beings as atoms in untold buddha-lands in a world called Shining Lamp of the Aura of Buddha in a world system called Family Born of a Diamond Reflecting Past, Present, and Future in the center of an ocean of worlds called Multitude of Reflections in the Space of the Cosmos of Realities, which was to the east past as many oceans of worlds as atoms in a world. Furthermore, that ocean of worlds, Multitude of Reflections in the Space of the Cosmos of Realities was purified by that buddha Jewel Flower Light in the course of his past practice as an enlightening being, and all the past, present, and future buddhas in that ocean of worlds were ripened for supreme perfect enlightenment by that buddha Jewel Flower Light as he carried out the practice of enlightening beings.
“Now then, who do you think was the queen Lotus Born in that time, mother of the prince Lord of Glory, foremost of the eighty-four thousand women? You should see her as none other than Lady Maya, mother of the Blessed Buddha, progenetrix of the enlightening being Vairocana, established in unobstructed liberation of universal light, direct witness to the appearance of the countless multitude of all buddhas, who knows the manner of manifestation of birth of all enlightening beings.
And who do you think was the great courtesan Beautiful? You should see her as Sunetra, wife of Dandapani of the Shakya clan, who is my mother. And who was her daughter, Splendor of Delight in Virtuous Conduct? You should see her as me.
“Who do you think were the retinue of the king Lord of Wealth? They were these enlightening beings seated here in this assembly, guided by the Buddha to the fulfillment of the vows of universally good action, with a body reflected in all worlds, mind unadulterated and unfragmented in all concentration states of enlightening beings, eyes seeing the being and countenance of all buddhas, ears hearing the utterances of all buddhas, breath in control of all spiritual stations, voice going to all buddha-lands, the body of an enlightening being ceaselessly going to the audiences of all buddhas, entering the network of all places by production of embodiments suitable to develop and guide according to the mentalities of those to whom the enlightening beings appear, arriving at fulfillment of the vows of practice of universal good unbroken throughout the ages.
“The king Lord of Glory and I, furthermore, attended the buddha Supreme Sun as long as he lived, providing him with the necessities of life. After that buddha passed away entirely, a buddha named Pure Body emerged, in that same world, and we honored and served him. After that we served, in succession, buddhas named Moon Reflecting Knowledge in All Limbs, King of Golden Light, Adorned with Marks of Greatness, Moon Blazing with a Web of Brilliant Light Beams, Paragon of Observant Knowledge, King Illumined with Great Knowledge, Adamantine Energy, Invincible Power of Knowledge, All-Observing Knowledge, Cloud of Pure Light, Crown Blazing with Lights of Knowledge, Banner of Lights of Virtue, Energy of the Sun of Knowledge, Limbs Like Blooming Jewel Lotuses, Lamp of Felicity, Radiance of Multitudes of Rays of Knowledge, Moon Shining Everywhere, Powerful Lion Illumined by Universal Knowledge, Moon of Cosmic Mind, Reflection in the Spacelike Mind of Beings, Tranquil and Well Balanced, Ubiquitous Sound of Silence, Cluster of Images in a Network of Light Rays of Stable Knowledge, Radiance of the Mountain of Immortality, Thunder of the Ocean of Truths, Crown of Light in the Sky of Buddhas, Moon of Light Beams, Face of Complete Knowledge, Luster of Flowers of Pure Knowledge, Glorious Light of a Mountain of Jewel Flowers, Light of Myriad Stars of Virtue, Knowledge Emerging from the Heights of Concentration, Jewel Moon, Circle of Flames, Sublime Jewel Radiance, Unhesitating in Pr
actice of Universal Knowledge, Blazing Lamp Topped with a Sea of Flames, King Proclaiming the Mansion of Truth, Famed for Peerless Virtue, Moon Reflecting Past Vows, Lamp of Meaning with Spacelike Knowledge, Lord of the Sky, Born of Truth, King Filled with Shining Light, Paragon of Spirituality, Chief in Knowledge, Lotus in the Ocean of Truth. Beginning with these, there were sixty decillion buddhas in that world whom we honored, served, and provided with food and clothing, medicine and furniture.
“The last of those sixty decillion buddhas was one named Energy Born of Great Zeal for Truth. When that buddha came to town, I, as wife of the king, together with my husband, made all kinds of offerings and then heard an exposition of the Teaching from the buddha called ‘lamp produced by the emergence of all those who arrive at Thusness,’ on hearing which I attained the eye of knowledge, and attained this enlightening liberation whose sphere is observation of the oceans of concentrations of all enlightening beings.
“Cultivating this liberation for as many eons as atoms in one hundred buddha-lands, carrying out enlightening practice with the enlightening being Vairocana, I associated with countless buddhas during those many eons. In an eon I might serve one buddha or two, up to an inexpressible number of buddhas; some eons I served as many buddhas as atoms in a buddha-land. Yet never did I know the size of the enlightening being’s body or what it looked like; nor did I know the enlightening being’s physical, verbal, or mental actions, nor his knowledge and vision, his range of knowledge, or his realm of concentration of knowledge. As for those who, seeing the enlightening being carrying out the practice of enlightening beings, developed pure faith through various associations, all of them were taken care of by the enlightening being by various worldly and transmundane means, and became associates of the enlightening being. Associating with the enlightening being as he carried on enlightening practice, they never regressed on the way to supreme perfect enlightenment.
“Having attained the enlightening liberation whose sphere is observation of the oceans of concentrations of all enlightening beings when I saw the buddha Energy Born of Zeal for Truth, as I cultivated this liberation along with the enlightening being for as many eons as atoms in a hundred buddha-lands, I propitiated, served, and attended all the buddhas who emerged in those ages and heard, took up, and remembered their teachings; and I attained this liberation from all those buddhas, by various methods, by various enunciations of principles and systems of scriptures, by various bodies of liberation, by various doors of liberation, by various liberative meditations and procedures, by various ways of access, by entry into various oceans of buddha-lands, by various visions of oceans of buddhas, by entry into various buddhas’ assemblies, by various paths following the oceans of vows of enlightening beings, by carrying out various paths following the oceans of vows of enlightening beings, by carrying out various practices of enlightening beings, by accomplishing various practices of enlightening beings, by various manifestations of the scope of the endeavor of enlightening beings: yet I still did not enter the enlightening being’s universally good liberation. Why? Because the ways of liberation of the universally good enlightening beings are infinite as space, infinite as the thoughts of all sentient beings, infinite as the ocean of time periods of past, present, and future, infinite as the ocean of places, infinite as the ocean of structures of the cosmos; indeed, the ways of liberation of the universally good enlightening beings are equal to the sphere of buddhahood.
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 195