“This is the abode of those who dwell in the state that is void of signs yet do not enter the unchangeability of individual illuminates; those who dwell in the abode of nonorigination of all things and yet do not fall into the condition of nonorigination; those who dwell in contemplation of impurity yet do not make the condition of dispassion their final realization, nor do they live with elements of passion; those who dwell in the state of love, their minds not stained by hatred; those who dwell on interdependent origination, ultimately free from delusion in regard to all things; those who dwell in the four meditation states, yet do not come under the sway of meditation; those who dwell on the four immeasurables, yet do not go to the world of pure form, so that they may develop all sentient beings; those who dwell in the states of the four formless attainments, yet do not go to the formless world, because of universal compassion; those who dwell in the state of tranquillity and insight, yet do not realize knowledge and liberation for themselves alone, so that they may develop all sentient beings; those who dwell in the state of universal equanimity, yet do not abandon the realm of sentient beings; those who dwell in the state of emptiness yet do not stick to it as a view; those whose sphere is not in appearances yet who confront the guidance of beings who act on appearances; those who have no wishes at all, yet do not give up the vows of enlightening beings; those who can control all active afflictions, yet for the sake of developing sentient beings appear to act under the influence of afflictions; those who have ended death and birth by perfect knowledge, yet appear to be born and die; those who are detached from all conditions of existence, yet go into all conditions of existence by the power to guide all beings; those who dwell in love but have no emotional attachment; those who dwell in compassion but show no hesitation; those who dwell in joy but are always grieving because they watch all who are suffering; those who dwell in equanimity while working for others; those who dwell in the attainments of the nine successive stages of meditation, yet do not disdain the realm of desire; those who are independent of all becoming yet do not dwell in the experience of the absolute; those who dwell in the three liberations but do not dwell in the feeling of liberation of individual saints; those who observe the four holy truths but do not dwell in the experience of the result; those who dwell in profound contemplation of interdependent origination but do not dwell in attachment to the ultimate; those who practice the eightfold holy path but do not dwell in ultimate emancipation; those who transcend the states of sentient beings but do not dwell in attachment to individual liberation; those who have perfect knowledge of the five grasping clusters but do not dwell in ultimate extinction of the clusters; those who are beyond the four demons but do not dwell on the idea of demons; those who have transcended the senses yet do not remain ultimately inoperative; those who dwell in Thusness, but do not dwell in the absolute limit of reality; those who show all vehicles of emancipation but do not leave the Great Vehicle—this is the abode of those who abide in all virtues.”
Then Sudhana spoke these verses:
Here is the compassionate, pure-minded Maitreya,
Radiant with love, striving for the good of the world;
At the stage of coronation, heir of the buddhas,
He dwells in contemplation of the enlightened realm.
This is the realm of great knowledge
Of the illustrious offspring of buddhas, secure in liberation;
This is the abode of those unrivaled ones
Who travel the realm of reality without attachment.
This is the abode of those risen from the power of discipline, generosity, patience, and vigor,
Who have reached perfection of the power of mystic knowledge by meditations,
Who are firm in wisdom, technique, resolve, and power,
Who have reached the goal of the Great Vehicle.
This is the abode of those of unobstructed intellect and broad mind,
Enjoying the realm of space, free from dependence,
Penetrating all times, free from obstruction,
Clearly perceiving all being and becoming.
Those who understand the principle of nonorigination of all things
Realize the nature of things as of the essence of space;
They do not rest on anything, like a bird in the sky—
This is the abode of those who are perfect in knowledge.
Those who, knowing the nature of passion, hatred, and delusion
As unreal, evolving from thoughts,
Go to dispassion, free from conception—
This is their abode, who have realized peace and tranquillity.
Investigating the doors of liberation, the truths, their meanings,
The path, the clusters, the senses, beings, and relativity,
Those who do not become attached to quiescience,
Who have wisdom and skill in means—this is their abode.
This is the abode of those who have entered the realm of unobstructed knowledge,
In whom vain imaginings and false thoughts of lands and beings have ceased,
Who have abandoned the notion of self-existence of things,
Do not grasp things, and are filled with peace.
Those who traverse this cosmos unattached and unhindered
Roam free of existents, like the wind in the sky;
Free from all dependence, acting independently,
This is their abode, those of independent wisdom.
This is the abode of the compassionate ones
Who radiate love to extinguish all the ills
Of all beings in the miserable states of views
Suffering grievous pains.
In the confines of the mundane whirl, having lost the path of the wise,
Like a troop of people born blind without a guide;
Those who see the world like this and guide them to the path of liberation,
Like the leader of a caravan—this is their abode.
This is the abode of those invincible warriors
Who see the world in the snare of demons,
Mastered by birth, sorrow, old age, and death,
And lead the way to safety, peace, and emancipation.
Seeing this world afflicted, diseased,
They gather the medicines of immortal knowledge
And foster release, with great compassion;
This is the abode of those like master physicians.
This is the abode of those like mariners
Who make a ship of good ways
To save those fallen in the sea of death, a mass of sorrows,
Soothing troubled, helpless beings.
Those of pure minds devoted to omniscience
Who relieve beings in the sea of affliction,
Cross the ocean of existence and pull them out—
This is their abode, who are like fishers.
This is the abode of those like giant birds
Who watch the abodes of all beings
With love and compassion, based on great vows,
And pull beings out of the sea of existence.
This is the abode of those who course in the sky of reality,
As suns and moons illumining the abodes of beings,
With the orb of vows and rays of knowledge
Lighting up the world.
This is the abode of the steadfast
Who remain for eons to develop even one being,
And as for one do the same for all,
As refuges for the world.
This is the abode of those of adamant will
Who spend endless ages in a single land
Working tirelessly for the benefit of the world,
And as in one land, do the same everywhere in the ten directions.
This is the abode of those like oceans of intellect
Who imbibe the multitudes of teachings of buddhas
In the ten directions at a single sitting
And continue forever, alert and never complacent.
This is the abode of
those unobstructed in action
Who go forth to untold oceans of lands,
Enter the assemblies of the Guides,
And serve the buddhas in various ways.
This is the abode of the mines of all virtue
Who have entered the infinite ocean of practice,
Steadfast, plunging into the ocean of vows,
Acting for the weal of the world for myriad eons.
This is the abode of those with unobstructed eyes
Who perceive infinite lands, buddhas, beings,
And ages, in a single point, going in and out
Without encountering any boundaries.
This is the abode of those exalted in perfection of virtue
Who perceive myriad eons, lands, buddhas, and beings
In a single moment of awareness,
Based on unobstructed knowledge.
This is the abode of those unattached and unhindered in action
Who carry out as many vows
As atoms in all lands
And drops of water in the oceans.
They enter holy undertakings, mnemonic powers, concentrations,
Meditations, liberations, and vows,
Practicing these for endless eons;
The mindful offspring of Buddha are in here.
Here abide the offspring of Buddha, various, diverse;
They carry out many instructive talks,
And, considering arts and sciences beneficial to the world,
They dwell here, in the abode of the wise.
Here they dwell, in knowledge of means of supercognition,
Of all the different patterns of existence everywhere;
They see births and deaths everywhere,
While grounded in liberation within illusion, unhindered in action.
Abiding here, from their first determination,
They show spiritual practice based on the good;
Filling the cosmos with multitudes of emanations,
Thus they show hundreds of miracles.
Those who awaken to enlightenment in an instant of awareness
Enter an endless variety of acts of knowledge;
This is the abode of those who have reached what is hard to attain,
Such that the thought of it would drive the worldling mad.
This is the abode of those whose minds are unhindered,
Who course in the unobstructed reality realm,
Whose sphere is that of nongrasping,
Whose will and intellect are pure.
This is the abode of the peerless ones
Who live and act in all worlds
Without attachment, who abide
In knowledge of nonduality.
This is the abode of the dispassionate
Who realize phenomena are like space in essence,
Without any basis, quiescent,
And live among them as in space.
Here abide the merciful
Who see the world injured by pain and sorrow
And concentrate on the welfare of the world,
Filled with great compassion.
Here the infinitely liberated
Appear in the abodes of all beings
Like the sun and moon,
Free from the snare of the mundane whirl.
Here the offspring of Buddha stay,
Yet in the presence of all buddhas,
Appearing in all lands,
Throughout endless eons.
While here they pervade all directions
With multitudes of emanations,
As many as the bodies of all enlightening beings,
Equal to the universe.
The valiant ones are all in here
Examining the sphere of the enlightened;
They abide for countless eons
Yet never become surfeited.
Here, in each instant awakening
To untold millions of concentrations,
They reveal the realm of buddhahood
In accord with the concentration they enter.
Those of vast perception here
Instantly gain access to
Eons, lands, and buddha-names,
Throughout measureless eons.
Here they enter infinite eons
In a single thought,
Free of false ideas,
By control of thoughts of the world.
Here, in the abode of concentration,
They see past, present, and future,
Pinpointed on each instant,
As they roam in the palace of liberation.
While here in this abode,
Sitting cross-legged, without disappearing
They simultaneously appear
In all lands, everywhere.
Abiding here, these mighty ones
Drink of the ocean of buddhas’ teachings,
Having gone into the sea of knowledge
And reached the other shore of inexhaustible virtue.
Here, with unobstructed thought,
They think of the number of all buddhas,
The number of all lands and ages,
And the number of all phenomena as well.
Staying here, the offspring of buddhas
Instantly discern the formation and decay
Of all the lands there be
In past, present, and future.
Here, in the palace of enlightening beings,
They observe in all their difference
The action of the buddhas,
The aspirations and faculties of beings.
In a single atom they see
Congregations, lands, beings, and ages,
As numerous as all atoms,
All there without obstruction.
In the same way
They see in all atoms
Congregations, lands, beings, and ages,
All clearly defined.
Here they discern the essence of things,
Of all lands, ages, and buddhas,
As without inherent existence,
Through the principles of nonbecoming.
Here they observe the equality
Of beings, phenomena, and buddhas,
And discern the equality of lands and endeavors
Of past, present, and future.
The steadfast ones here in this best of abodes
Guide millions of other beings,
Glorify millions of buddhas,
And also contemplate phenomena.
In millions of eons I could not tell
The scope of the undertakings and knowledge
Of the wise, beyond thought,
So endlessly vast is it.
I bow in respect to the abode
Of the blameless ones in the realm of nonobstruction
And to the noble Maitreya, best of enlightening beings,
Unhindered in action, incomparably pure in mind, always aware.
Having praised and honored the enlightening beings dwelling in the great tower of the chamber of adornments of Vairocana in this way with innumerable eulogies of enlightening beings, Sudhana stood at the foot of the tower wishing to see the great enlightening being, desirous of meeting Maitreya. Then he saw Maitreya outside the tower, coming from somewhere else, followed by a great number of beings, respectfully flanked by the gods Indra, Brahma, and the world guardians, surrounded by many relatives and priests, coming toward the great tower of the chamber of the adornments of Vairocana. Seeing Maitreya, Sudhana was uplifted in mind, very happy and joyful, and prostrated himself before Maitreya from afar.
Now Maitreya, seeing Sudhana, pointed him out to the crowd with his right hand and spoke these verses eulogizing the virtuous qualities he had actualized:
Look at Sudhana, pure in mind, born of enduring riches;
Seeking the practice of supreme enlightenment, this wise one has come to me.
Welcome, son of compassion and love, universally kind;
Welcome, tranquil eyes; do not flag in practice.
; Welcome, pure of heart, tireless in mind;
Welcome, buoyant in sense; do not flag in practice.
Having set out to contemplate all truths, guide all beings,
And follow all spiritual benefactors,
You are welcome, with your unshakable, steadfast resolve.
You are welcome, having come by a good path, on the path of virtue;
You are welcome, having set forth on the path of the Victors;
May you succeed, never stopping.
Welcome, full of virtue, enriched by goodness;
Your scope of action is endless; it is rare to see such as you in the world.
You consider gain and not gaining equal, you are beyond censure,
Misery, and ill repute; like a lotus, unstained by worldly things,
You are undistracted in mind.
Your heart is pure, free of guile and deceit, a good receptacle,
Free from pride and conceit; free from anger, not arrogant,
You are a welcome sight.
Attentive to all fields of awareness, born of the treasures of every dimension,
Developing the treasuries of all buddhas; welcome, indefatigable one.
Aware of past, present, and future, absorbed in the reality realm,
Born of the womb of virtues of all buddhas; welcome, tireless hero.
Sprung from the ground of Manjushri’s knowledge, grown by the watering
Of Meghashri, having sought out all enlightening beings, come—
I will show you the unimpeded realm.
See this net of vows, pervading the cosmos, inconceivable;
Spreading it, drawing forth the path of enlightening practice, Sudhana has come.
Seeking the realm of the Victors, pursuing the practice of the undefiled,
Inquiring into the ocean of vows, this indefatigable one has arrived.
Asking where the past guides have studied, what the future ones will learn,
And what the present ones practice, he has come here.
He comes with the thought of spiritual teachers,
Guides to the realization of all truths,
Teachers of the path of enlightening practice—
Thus he has come here.
He comes with these thoughts: “Enlightening beings increase my wisdom
And grant me enlightenment, they are praised by the buddhas.
The Flower Ornament Scripture Page 201