華嚴經 白話全本 · 冊14Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Complete Vernacular · Vol. 14

Calling to Mind the Teaching of the Friend Before: Not One Phrase Forgotten

At that time, Sudhana the youth, according with the teaching that the night goddess Ocean of Tranquil Sound had given him, pondered and contemplated the Dharma gate she had expounded, and of its phrases, one by one, not one was forgotten; upon the measureless deep minds, the measureless natures of dharmas, and all the skillful means, spiritual powers, and wisdom, he called them to mind and pondered and chose among them, one following upon another and never breaking off; his mind grew vast, and he realized it and abode within it.

Seeking and the Seeing of the Ten Bodies (Chengguan’s Outline): Ten Bodies, Rising from Sentient Beings and Reaching Their Utmost in the Tathāgata

He went on to where the night goddess Guardian of All Cities was, and saw that night goddess seated upon a lion seat of maṇi kings of the light of all jewels, with numberless night goddesses encircling her together. That night goddess manifested a body of the form and appearance of all sentient beings, manifested a body facing all sentient beings everywhere, manifested a body undefiled by any world, manifested a body equal in number to all sentient beings, manifested a body surpassing all worlds, manifested a body ripening all sentient beings, manifested a body swiftly going to all the ten directions, manifested a body gathering in everywhere all the ten directions, manifested a body of the ultimate substance and nature of the Tathāgata, manifested a body ultimately subduing sentient beings.

Seeing, Paying Respect, and Inquiring (Chengguan’s Outline): He Asked Four Clauses

Having seen her, Sudhana rejoiced and leapt for joy, bowed to her feet, circled her measureless times, joined his palms before her, and spoke thus: “Holy one! I have already raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi (the mind that seeks unsurpassed, right, and universal awakening), and yet I do not know how a bodhisattva, when cultivating the bodhisattva practice, is to benefit sentient beings; how he is to gather sentient beings in with the unsurpassed gathering-in; how he is to accord with the teaching of the buddhas; how he is to draw near to the station of the Dharma king. Would that of your kindness and pity you would tell it out for me!”

The Night Goddess First Praises Sudhana: You Ask for the Sake of Ten Things

At that time, that night goddess said to Sudhana:

“Son of good family! It is because you would rescue and guard all sentient beings; it is because you would adorn and purify all buddha-lands; it is because you would make offerings to all the Tathāgatas; it is because you wish to abide in all kalpas and rescue sentient beings; it is because you wish to guard the lineage of all buddhas; it is because you wish to enter everywhere into the ten directions and cultivate the practices; it is because you wish to enter everywhere into the sea of all Dharma gates; it is because you wish with a mind of equality to pervade all things; it is because you wish to receive everywhere all the Dharma wheels of the buddhas; it is because you wish everywhere, according to what the minds of all sentient beings delight in, to rain down the rain of Dharma — for these things you ask after the gate of practice that the bodhisattvas cultivate.

Setting Forth the Name and Substance, and the Ten Virtues of the Giving of Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline): What the Dharma Gate I Have Gained Is Called

“Son of good family! I have gained the bodhisattva liberation of Profound and Sovereign Wondrous Sound. I am a great master of Dharma with nothing to obstruct me, because I am well able to reveal the Dharma treasuries of the buddhas; I am furnished with great vows and with the power of great kindness and compassion, because I would have all sentient beings abide in the mind of awakening; I am able to do all that benefits sentient beings, because I gather roots of good together without ever resting; I am the tamer and guide of all sentient beings, because I would have all sentient beings abide in the way of Sarvajñā (all-knowledge); I am the pure sun of Dharma for all the worlds, shining everywhere upon the world, because I would have them bring forth roots of good; toward all the worlds my mind is equal, because I would everywhere make sentient beings increase and grow in good dharmas; toward the several objects my mind is pure, because I would wipe out all unwholesome deeds; I vow to benefit all sentient beings, because my body appears everywhere in all lands without ceasing; I display the causes and conditions of all former deeds, because I would have sentient beings abide in good practice; I ever serve all good friends, because I would have sentient beings abide in the teaching of the Buddha.

The Intent of the Giving of Dharma: To Give Dharma Thus Is to Make the Mind Firm as Vajra

“Son of the Buddha! With these dharmas I give Dharma to sentient beings, causing them to bring forth white dharmas and to seek all-knowledge, their minds firm as the vajra treasury of Nārāyaṇa (Nārāyaṇa is the name of a mighty man, and what is taken here is his firmness and indestructibility), well able to contemplate the power of the Buddha and the power of Māra, ever able to draw near to the good friends, breaking down the mountain of obstruction that is deeds and afflictions, gathering together the dharmas that aid the way of all-knowledge, their minds never for a moment forsaking the ground of all-knowledge.

Displaying the Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), the Gloss upon “Profound”: Ten Contemplations of the Dharma Realm

“Son of good family! With such light of pure Dharma as this I benefit all sentient beings, and when I gather roots of good and prepare the dharmas that aid the way, I make ten contemplations of the Dharma realm. What are the ten? They are these: I know that the Dharma realm is measureless, because I have obtained the vast light of knowledge; I know that the Dharma realm is boundless, because I have seen all that the buddhas know and see; I know that the Dharma realm is without limit, because I enter everywhere into all the lands of the buddhas and reverently make offerings to the Tathāgatas; I know that the Dharma realm is without shore, because everywhere within all the seas of the Dharma realm I display the cultivation of the bodhisattva practice; I know that the Dharma realm is unbroken, because I have entered the unbroken knowledge of the Tathāgata; I know that the Dharma realm is of one nature, because at the one voice of the Tathāgata there is no sentient being that does not understand; I know that the nature of the Dharma realm is pure, because I understand that the vow of the Tathāgata is to deliver all sentient beings everywhere; I know that the Dharma realm pervades sentient beings, because the wondrous practice of Samantabhadra is everywhere pervading; I know that the Dharma realm is one adornment, because the wondrous practice of Samantabhadra adorns it well; I know that the Dharma realm cannot be destroyed, because the roots of good of all-knowledge fill the Dharma realm and cannot be destroyed. Son of good family! I have made these ten contemplations of the Dharma realm, gathering the roots of good and preparing the dharmas that aid the way, understanding the vast majestic virtue of the buddhas and entering deeply into the realm of the Tathāgata that is hard to conceive.

Displaying the Working (Two), the Gloss upon “Sovereign”: Ten Dhāraṇī Wheels of Great Majestic Virtue

“Again, son of good family! Pondering with right mindfulness in this way, I gained the ten dhāraṇī wheels of the great majestic virtue of the Tathāgata (a dhāraṇī is a holding-together, and a wheel carries the sense of what can turn). What are the ten? They are these: the dhāraṇī wheel of entering everywhere into all dharmas, the dhāraṇī wheel of holding everywhere all dharmas, the dhāraṇī wheel of expounding everywhere all dharmas, the dhāraṇī wheel of calling to mind everywhere all the buddhas of the ten directions, the dhāraṇī wheel of expounding everywhere the names of all buddhas, the dhāraṇī wheel of entering everywhere into the sea of the vows of the buddhas of the three times, the dhāraṇī wheel of entering everywhere into the sea of all the vehicles, the dhāraṇī wheel of entering everywhere into the sea of the deeds of all sentient beings, the dhāraṇī wheel of swiftly turning all deeds, the dhāraṇī wheel of swiftly bringing forth all-knowledge. Son of good family! These ten dhāraṇī wheels have besides ten thousand dhāraṇī wheels for their retinue, ever expounding the wondrous Dharma for sentient beings.

Displaying the Working (Three), the Gloss upon “Wondrous Sound”: Twenty-Three Clauses of Expounding the Dharma

“Son of good family! At times I expound for sentient beings the Dharma of the wisdom that comes of hearing, at times I expound for sentient beings the Dharma of the wisdom that comes of thinking, at times I expound for sentient beings the Dharma of the wisdom that comes of cultivating, at times I expound for sentient beings the Dharma of one existence, at times I expound for sentient beings the Dharma of all existences, at times I expound for them the Dharma of the sea of the name of one Tathāgata, at times the Dharma of the sea of the names of all Tathāgatas, at times the Dharma of one sea of worlds, at times the Dharma of the seas of all worlds, at times the Dharma of one sea of the prophecies of a buddha, at times the Dharma of the seas of the prophecies of all buddhas, at times the Dharma of one sea of the assembly and the place of the Way of a Tathāgata, at times the Dharma of the seas of the assemblies and the places of the Way of all Tathāgatas, at times the Dharma of one sea of the Dharma wheel of a Tathāgata, at times the Dharma of the seas of the Dharma wheels of all Tathāgatas, at times the Dharma of one sūtra of a Tathāgata (a sūtra is a scripture), at times the Dharma of the sūtras of all Tathāgatas, at times the Dharma of one gathering of a Tathāgata, at times the Dharma of the gatherings of all Tathāgatas, at times the Dharma of one sea of the mind of Sarvajñā, at times the Dharma of the seas of the mind of all Sarvajñā, at times the Dharma of the going forth of one vehicle, at times the Dharma of the going forth of all vehicles. Son of good family! With such unspeakable Dharma gates as these do I expound for sentient beings.

Concluding the Benefit (Chengguan’s Outline): Abiding within the Practice of Samantabhadra

“Son of good family! I enter the sea of the gates of the undifferentiated Dharma realm of the Tathāgata, expound the unsurpassed Dharma, gather in sentient beings everywhere, and to the end of the kalpas to come abide in the practice of Samantabhadra. Son of good family! I have accomplished this liberation of Profound and Sovereign Wondrous Sound, and in thought after thought I increase all the gates of liberation, and thought after thought fills all the Dharma realm.”

Distinguishing How Deep the Root of the Dharma Is (Chengguan’s Outline): Sudhana Asks How Long Since She Gained This Dharma Gate

At that time, Sudhana the youth said to the night goddess: “How marvelous, deva-spirit! This gate of liberation is rare indeed! How long is it since the holy one realized it?”

The night goddess said:

The Former Life (One): At That Time There Was a Kalpa, and There Was a World

“Son of good family! In an ancient age gone by, past kalpas as many as the dust motes of the turnings of worlds, there was a kalpa named Undefiled Light, and there was a world named Cloud of the Merit and Virtue of the Dharma Realm. That world had for its substance a sea of maṇi kings that manifested the deeds of all sentient beings; its shape was like a lotus flower; it abode within a net of fragrant maṇi Sumeru mountains as many as the dust motes of a set of four continents; it was adorned with lotus flowers that gave forth the sound of the original vows of all the Tathāgatas, with lotus flowers as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru for their retinue, and with fragrant maṇi jewels as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru set in among them; and there were sets of four continents as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, and every set of four continents had within it hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of unspeakably unspeakable cities.

The Former Life (Two): The First Buddha of All, and That Wheel-Turning King

“Son of good family! Within that world there was a set of four continents named Wondrous Banner; within it there was a royal city named Light of the Universal Jewel Flower; not far from there was a site of awakening named Palace of the Dharma King Universally Made Manifest. Tathāgatas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru appeared there, and the first buddha of all was named King of the Light of the Thunder-Sound of the Sea of Dharma. When that buddha appeared in the world there was a wheel-turning king named Pure Countenance of Sunlight, who in the presence of that buddha received and upheld the sūtra of the Whirling of the Sea of All Dharmas. After the Buddha’s nirvāṇa, that king went forth from the household life and guarded the true Dharma.

The Former Life (Three): When the Dharma Was about to Perish, the King Who Was a Monk Rose into the Sky

“When the Dharma was about to perish, there were a thousand divisions of differing assemblies and a thousand kinds of expounding. Near to the final kalpa, the obstruction of deeds and afflictions was deep and heavy; the many evil monks were often quarrelling, delighting in clinging to objects, not seeking merit and virtue, delighting to talk the talk of kings, the talk of thieves, the talk of women, the talk of the state, the talk of the great sea, and all the talk of the world.

“At that time, that king who had gone forth and become a monk said to them: ‘How strange! How bitter! Through measureless great seas of kalpas the Buddha gathered together this torch of Dharma; how is it that you would destroy it together?’ Having spoken thus, he rose into the sky to the height of seven tāla trees, and from his body there came forth clouds of flames of measureless colors, and he sent out nets of great light of every color, causing measureless sentient beings to be rid of the fever of the afflictions and causing measureless sentient beings to raise the mind of awakening. Through these causes and conditions, the teaching of that Tathāgata flourished again for sixty-five thousand years.

The Former Life (Four): The King’s Daughter Went Forth as a Nun, and So Gained the Dharma

“At that time there was a nun named Light of the Transformations of the Dharma Wheel, who was this king’s daughter, with a hundred thousand nuns for her retinue. Hearing her father the king’s words and seeing such spiritual power, she raised the mind of awakening never to turn back from it, and gained a samādhi named Lamp of the Teaching of All Buddhas, and gained besides this liberation of Profound and Sovereign Wondrous Sound; and having gained it, her body and mind became soft and pliant, and straightway she was able to see before her all the spiritual powers of the Tathāgata King of the Light of the Thunder-Sound of the Sea of Dharma.

Bringing Together Past and Present (Chengguan’s Outline): Who the People of That Time Are Now

“Son of good family! What do you think? That wheel-turning sage king who accorded with the Tathāgata in turning the wheel of the true Dharma and who, after the Buddha’s nirvāṇa, made the last age of the Dharma flourish — could he be another? He is the bodhisattva Samantabhadra of today. And that nun Light of the Transformations of the Dharma Wheel is this very body of mine. At that time I guarded the Buddha-Dharma, and caused a hundred thousand nuns to reach the point of no turning back from anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and caused them further to gain the samādhi of seeing all buddhas before them, and caused them further to gain the dhāraṇī of the vajra light of the Dharma wheel of all buddhas, and caused them further to gain the prajñā-pāramitā of entering everywhere into the sea of all Dharma gates.

The Former Life (Five): The Buddhas Who Appeared Next within That Kalpa

“Next a buddha arose, named Undefiled Light of the Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Topknot of the Light of the Dharma Wheel; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Merit of the Sun of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named King of the Wondrous Sound of the Sea of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Lamp of Wisdom of the Sun of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Banner of the Dharma Flower; next a buddha arose, named King of the Banner of the Mountain of Dharma Flames; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Merit of the Profound Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Treasury of the Universal Light of the Knowledge of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Treasury of Universal Knowledge Revealed; next a buddha arose, named King of the Mountain of the Treasury of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Worthy Sumeru of the Universal Gate; next a buddha arose, named Banner of Vigor in All Dharmas; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Merit of the Jewel Flower of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Topknot of Tranquil Light; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Kindness and Compassion of the Light of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Sea of the Flames of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Universal Light of the Sun of Knowledge; next a buddha arose, named Perfect Knowledge of Samantabhadra; next a buddha arose, named King of the Light of the Knowledge of Spiritual Powers; next a buddha arose, named Lamp of the Flower-Light of Merit; next a buddha arose, named King of the Banner of the Lion of Knowledge; next a buddha arose, named King of the Universal Shining of Sunlight; next a buddha arose, named Mark of the Jeweled Adornment of Sumeru; next a buddha arose, named Universal Shining of Sunlight; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Merit of the Dharma King; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Wondrous Sound of the Opening Lotus; next a buddha arose, named Mark of the Light of the Sun; next a buddha arose, named Sound of the Wondrous Dharma of Universal Light; next a buddha arose, named Fearlessness of the Lion, the Vajra, the Nārāyaṇa; next a buddha arose, named Banner of the Valor of Universal Knowledge; next a buddha arose, named Body That Opens Everywhere the Lotus of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Sea of the Wondrous Flowers of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Merit of the Place of the Way; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Blazing Torch of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Topknot of Universal Light; next a buddha arose, named Lamp of the Banner of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Banner of the Vajra Sea; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Merit of the Mountain of Renown; next a buddha arose, named Wondrous Moon of Sandalwood; next a buddha arose, named Flower of Universal Wondrous Light; next a buddha arose, named King of the Light That Shines upon All Sentient Beings; next a buddha arose, named Treasury of the Lotus of Merit; next a buddha arose, named King of the Light of Fragrant Flames; next a buddha arose, named Cause of the Padma Flower; next a buddha arose, named Universal Light of the Mountain of the Many Marks; next a buddha arose, named Banner of Universal Renown; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Universal Gate of Sumeru; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Dharma City of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Mountain of the Great Tree; next a buddha arose, named Banner of the Light of Universal Virtue; next a buddha arose, named Auspicious Mark of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Banner of the Valiant Power of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Sound of the Light of the Dharma Wheel; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Wisdom of the Mountain of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Unsurpassed Wondrous Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Banner of the Pure Light of the Dharma Lotus; next a buddha arose, named Treasury of the Light of the Jeweled Lotus; next a buddha arose, named Lamp of the Mountain of Clouds of Light-Flames; next a buddha arose, named Flower of Universal Awakening; next a buddha arose, named Treasury of Sumeru of the Flames of Every Kind of Merit; next a buddha arose, named King of the Mountain of Perfect Light; next a buddha arose, named Adornment of the Cloud of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Banner of the Clouds of the Mountain of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Mountain of Merit; next a buddha arose, named King of the Lamp of the Clouds of the Sun of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named King of the Renown of the Dharma Cloud; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Dharma Wheel; next a buddha arose, named Banner of the Light of the Knowledge of Awakening That Enlightens; next a buddha arose, named Moon of the Dharma Wheel Shining Everywhere; next a buddha arose, named Worthy of the Majestic Virtue of the Jewel Mountain; next a buddha arose, named Vast Light of Worthy Virtue; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of Universal Knowledge; next a buddha arose, named Mountain of the Merit of the Power of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named King of the Fragrant Flames of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Wondrous Sound of the Golden Maṇi Mountain; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Light of All Dharmas Issuing from the Crown-Topknot; next a buddha arose, named Blazing Light of the Dharma Wheel; next a buddha arose, named Unsurpassed Mountain of Merit; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Light of the Torch of Vigor; next a buddha arose, named Crown of the Vast Light of the Seal of Samādhi; next a buddha arose, named King of the Merit of the Jewel Light; next a buddha arose, named Sound of the Jeweled Canopy of the Torch of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Fearless Dharma Shining Everywhere upon the Realm of Empty Space; next a buddha arose, named Banner Adorned with the Mark of the Moon; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Mountain of Flames of Light; next a buddha arose, named Shining upon the Unobstructed Dharma Space; next a buddha arose, named Body of the Light of Knowledge Opened and Revealed; next a buddha arose, named Sound of the Light of the Virtue of the Ruler of the World; next a buddha arose, named Sound of the Light of the Samādhi of All Dharmas; next a buddha arose, named Treasury of the Merit of the Sound of Dharma; next a buddha arose, named Cloud of the Sea of Dharma of Blazing Flames; next a buddha arose, named Great Light Shining Everywhere upon the Marks of the Three Times; next a buddha arose, named Mountain of the Dharma Wheel Shining Everywhere; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Lion of the Dharma Realm; next a buddha arose, named Light of the Flowers of Sumeru; next a buddha arose, named Lion-Flame of the Sea of All Samādhis; next a buddha arose, named Lamp of the Light of Universal Knowledge.

The Former Life (Six): The Last Buddha of All, and What I Did among Them

“Son of good family! Of such Tathāgatas as these, as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, the last buddha of all was named Lamp of the Wisdom of the City of the Dharma Realm, and they all arose in the world within the kalpa Undefiled Light. Toward them all I was reverent, drew near to them, made offerings to them, and heard and received and upheld the wondrous Dharma they expounded; and in the presence of all those Tathāgatas I too went forth from the household life and studied the way, guarded the teaching of the Dharma, entered this bodhisattva liberation of Profound and Sovereign Wondrous Sound, and with every kind of skillful means taught and ripened measureless sentient beings. From that time onward, through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, all the buddhas who have arisen in the world I have made offerings to, and I have cultivated their Dharma.

Displaying the Like through Many Kalpas (Chengguan’s Outline): Alone Awake in the Long Night of Birth and Death

“Son of good family! From that time onward, amid the sentient beings who lie in the night of birth and death and in the slumber of ignorance, I alone am awake; and I cause sentient beings to guard the city of their own mind, to forsake the city of the three realms, and to abide in the unsurpassed Dharma city of all-knowledge.

Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline): I Know Only This One

“Son of good family! I know only this liberation of Profound and Sovereign Wondrous Sound, which can cause the worlds to leave off frivolous talk, not to make talk that is split in two, the latter half at odds with the former, ever to speak true talk, and always to speak pure talk. But as for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, they are able to know the own-nature of all speech, and in thought after thought sovereignly to awaken all sentient beings, and to enter the sea of the sounds and speech of all sentient beings, and to distinguish and understand all forms of speech, and clearly to see the sea of all the Dharma gates, and to have gained sovereignty in the dhāraṇī that gathers in all dharmas everywhere, and to expound the Dharma for sentient beings according to what their minds doubt, and ultimately to subdue all sentient beings, and to gather in and receive all sentient beings everywhere, and skillfully to cultivate all the unsurpassed deeds of a bodhisattva, and to enter deeply into all the subtle knowledge of a bodhisattva, and well to contemplate the treasuries of the bodhisattvas, and sovereignly to expound the dharmas of the bodhisattvas. Why is this so? Because they have already accomplished the dhāraṇī of the wheel of all dharmas. And how then could I know or tell of their practices of merit and virtue?

Pointing Out the Next Friend (Chengguan’s Outline): Go and Ask Who Opens the Blossoms of All Trees

“Son of good family! Within this assembly of the Buddha there is a night goddess named Who Opens the Blossoms of All Trees. Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study all-knowledge? How is he to establish all sentient beings in abiding in all-knowledge?”

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (One): Praising the Profundity of This Liberation

At that time, the night goddess Guardian of All Cities, wishing to state again the sense of this liberation, spoke verses for Sudhana the youth, saying:

“The bodhisattva’s liberation is deep and hard to see, a mark equal like empty space and like suchness, seeing everywhere within the boundless Dharma realm all the Tathāgatas of the three times.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Two): Restating the Substance and the Working Above

“It brings forth measureless surpassing merit and virtue, and realizes the true nature of dharmas that is hard to conceive; it increases all sovereign knowledge and opens through the way of liberation of the three times.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Three): Rehearsing the Kalpa and the World of the Former Life

“Past kalpas as many as the dust motes of the turnings of lands, at that time there was a kalpa named Pure Light, and the world was named Cloud of Dharma Flames, and that city was called Light of the Jewel Flower.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Four): The Buddhas Who Appeared First within That Kalpa

“Buddhas arose in the world therein, in number equal to the dust motes of Sumeru; and there was a buddha named Sound of the Sea of Dharma, who appeared first within this kalpa;

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Five): The Last Buddha of All

“and so on to the last buddha therein, named King of the Lamp of the Flames of the Dharma Realm; and to all such Tathāgatas as these I made offerings and heard and received their Dharma.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Six): Seeing the First Buddha and Raising the Mind

“I saw the Buddha Thunder-Sound of the Sea of Dharma, his body everywhere of the color of true gold, the many marks adorning him like a mountain of jewels, and I raised the mind and vowed to become a Tathāgata.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Seven): One Glimpse, and the Vast Mind Was Raised

“For but a moment I saw that Tathāgata’s body, and straightway raised the vast mind of awakening, vowing to seek all-knowledge with diligence, its nature equal to the Dharma realm and to empty space.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Eight): Thereby Seeing Everywhere the Buddhas of the Three Times

“By this I saw everywhere the buddhas of the three times, and all the assemblies of bodhisattvas; I saw too the seas of lands and the seas of sentient beings, and so laid hold of them everywhere and raised great compassion.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Nine): Manifesting Bodies According to What Beings Delight In

“According to what the minds of sentient beings delight in, I display bodies of every kind and measureless, pervading everywhere the lands of the ten directions, shaking the earth and spreading light, awakening the beings that bear consciousness.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Ten): From the Second Buddha Down to the Last

“I saw the second buddha and drew near to him, and saw too the buddhas of the seas of lands of the ten directions, and so on to the arising of the last buddha, such being their number as the dust motes of Sumeru.

The Night Goddess’s Verses Restating (Eleven): Displaying the Like through Many Kalpas, and This Liberation Made Pure

“Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of the turnings of lands, all the Tathāgatas are lamps that shine upon the world; toward them all I drew near and gazed up and served, causing this liberation to be made pure.”

Sudhana Gains the Benefit: He Entered This Liberation

At that time, because Sudhana the youth had entered this bodhisattva liberation of Profound and Sovereign Wondrous Sound, he entered the boundless sea of samādhis, entered the vast sea of holding-together, gained the great spiritual powers of a bodhisattva, and obtained the great eloquence of a bodhisattva; his mind greatly rejoiced, and contemplating the night goddess Guardian of All Cities, he praised her in verses, saying:

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (One): Praising Her Merit and Knowledge as Beyond All

“You have walked the vast sea of wondrous wisdom, and have crossed the boundless sea of the several existences, long-lived and without ill, a body that is the treasury of knowledge, with light of majestic virtue abiding in this assembly.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Two): She Understands the Nature of Dharmas and Has Cut Off Discrimination Forever

“You understand the nature of dharmas as like empty space, and enter everywhere into the three times without obstruction; thought after thought you lay hold of every object, and mind after mind you cut off forever the discriminations.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Three): Knowing That Beings Are without Nature, She Raises Great Compassion

“You understand that sentient beings have no nature, and yet toward sentient beings you raise great compassion; you enter deeply the Tathāgata’s gate of liberation, and widely deliver the measureless multitudes who are lost.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Four): Contemplating All Dharmas and Converting Beings Everywhere

“You contemplate and ponder all dharmas, and understand and realize and enter the nature of the dharmas; cultivating in this way the wisdom of a buddha, you convert sentient beings everywhere and set them free.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Five): Praising Her as the Tamer and Guide

“Deva-spirit, you are the tamer and guide of sentient beings, revealing the way of the wisdom of the Tathāgata, and everywhere for the beings that bear consciousness in the Dharma realm you expound the practice that leaves behind the many fears of the world.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Six): Praising Her as Abiding in the Way of the Vows

“You already abide in all the ways of the vows of the Tathāgata, you have already received the vast teaching of awakening, you have already cultivated the power of all the practices that pervade, you have already seen the sovereignty of the buddhas of the ten directions.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Seven): Praising Her Mind as Pure as Space

“Deva-spirit, your mind is pure as empty space, everywhere apart from all the afflictions, understanding the measureless lands of the three times, the buddhas and bodhisattvas and the sentient beings.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Eight): Praising How in One Thought She Knows It All

“Deva-spirit, in one thought you understand it all — day and night, the sun and moon, the years, the sea of kalpas; and you know too all the kinds of sentient beings, their names and marks of every kind, each one different from the rest.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Nine): Praising How She Leads Beings into the Road of Awakening

“Where sentient beings of the ten directions are born and die, those with form and those without, those with perception and those without, according with the worldly you understand them all, and lead them so that they enter the road of awakening.

Sudhana’s Verses of Praise (Ten): Praising Her as Born into the Family of the Tathāgata

“You are already born into the family of the vows of the Tathāgata, you have already entered the sea of the merit and virtue of the buddhas; your Dharma body is pure and your mind unobstructed, and according to what sentient beings delight in you manifest bodies of every color.”

Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time, Sudhana the youth, having spoken these verses, bowed to the night goddess’s feet, circled her measureless times, gazed up at her earnestly, took his leave, and departed.

Seeking in Accord with the Teaching (Chengguan’s Outline): He Sets Out Carrying the Liberation Gate of the One Before

At that time, Sudhana the youth entered the bodhisattva liberation gate of the profound and unhindered wondrous sound (the Dharma gate conferred by the good friend before this one), and in his practice he advanced one step further.

He went on to where the night goddess Who Opens the Blossoms of All Trees dwelt, and saw the goddess’s body within a storeyed pavilion made of many jewelled fragrant trees, upon a lion seat made of wondrous jewels, with a million night goddesses circling her together.

Seeing, Paying Respect, and Inquiring (Chengguan’s Outline): The Old Question, Asked for the Thirty-Seventh Time

At that time, Sudhana the youth bowed to the night goddess’s feet, joined his palms before her, and spoke in this way:

“Holy one! I have already raised, before this, the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi (the mind of unsurpassed, right, and universal awakening); yet I do not yet know how a bodhisattva is to learn the bodhisattva practices, or how he is to gain all-knowledge. I only pray that you will let down your kindly heart and expound it for me!”

Displaying the Practice of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), the Practice of Bringing Beings to Ease: When the Sunlight Is Gone, Who Is Still on the Road

The night goddess said:

“Son of good family! Within this Sahā world of ours, when the sunlight has already sunk away, when the lotus blossoms have folded their petals, when people have left off their roaming and looking — I see, in every place, whether upon a mountain or beside a water, whether in a city or in the open wilds, in all such places all such beings stirring the thought of wanting to return to the place where they dwell; and all of them I secretly protect, causing them to walk upon the right road, to reach the place they are going, and to be at ease through the night.

Displaying the Practice of the Dharma (Two), the Practice of Benefiting Beings: First the Showing of Impermanence, Then the Ten Perfections Curing the Ten Veiling Obstructions

“Son of good family! If there are beings in the flush of their years and fair of face, who because of this are arrogant and heedless and give themselves over to the five desires at will, then I display for them the marks of old age, of sickness, and of death, causing fear to arise in their minds so that they forsake the many evils. Then I further praise for them the many kinds of roots of good, so that they cultivate them:

“To the stingy I praise giving; to the breakers of the precepts I extol pure discipline; those who have anger I teach to abide in great kindness; those who harbor a mind of vexing and harming I cause to practice patience; if they are indolent, I cause them to raise up vigor; if they are scattered, I cause them to cultivate meditative concentration; those who abide in evil discernment I cause to study wisdom; those who delight in the Lesser Vehicle I cause to abide in the Great Vehicle; those who delight in and cling within the destinies of the three realms I cause to abide in the bodhisattva’s perfection of vows (the perfection that holds the practice fast by great vows); if there are beings whose merit and whose wisdom are both weak and lowly, who are pressed by the many bonds of karma and have many hindrances and obstacles, I cause them to abide in the bodhisattva’s perfection of power (the perfection whose strength is not carried off by hindrance); if there are beings whose minds are dim and unclear and who are without wisdom, I cause them to abide in the bodhisattva’s perfection of knowledge (the perfection whose discernment decides and illumines the dharmas).

Setting Up the Name of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline): Giving Birth to the Light of Vast Joy

“Son of good family! I have already accomplished the bodhisattva liberation gate of giving birth to the light of vast joy.”

Making Clear the Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), Sudhana Asks Again: What Is the Realm of This Liberation Gate

Sudhana said: “Great sage! What is the realm of this liberation gate like?”

Making Clear the Working (Two), the General Setting Forth and the Brief Displaying: All the Ease That Beings Receive Comes from the Tathāgata

The night goddess said:

“Son of good family! Entering this liberation, one is able to know the Tathāgata’s knowledge of skillful means by which he universally gathers in beings.

“What is meant by ‘universally gathering in’? Son of good family! All the many kinds of ease that all beings receive are so because of the power of the Tathāgata’s majestic virtue, because of according with the Tathāgata’s teaching, because of practicing the Tathāgata’s words, because of studying the Tathāgata’s practice, because of gaining the power the Tathāgata guards them with, because of cultivating the way the Tathāgata has sealed, because of planting the good the Tathāgata has practiced, because of relying upon the Dharma the Tathāgata has spoken, because of being illumined by the sunlight of the Tathāgata’s wisdom, because of being gathered in by the power of the Tathāgata’s nature-pure karma.

“How is it known to be so? Son of good family! I enter this liberation of giving birth to the light of vast joy, and I call to mind the sea of bodhisattva practices that Vairocana Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly and Rightly Awakened, cultivated in ages past, and I see it all clearly and distinctly.

Making Clear the Working (Three), the Broad Displaying of the Knowledge of Skillful Means · Seeing Suffering: What the World-Honored One Saw in Ages Past

“Son of good family! When the World-Honored One in ages past was a bodhisattva, he saw all beings clinging to a self and to what belongs to a self, dwelling within the dark chamber of ignorance, entering the dense thickets of the many views, bound by craving, ruined by wrath, disturbed by delusion, entangled by stinginess and envy, revolving in birth and death, poor and in distress, unable to meet with the buddhas and the bodhisattvas.

Making Clear the Working (Four), Raising the Mind of Skillful Universal Gathering: Twenty-One Clauses of ‘Mind’

“Having seen a state of things such as this, he gave rise to the mind of great compassion in order to benefit beings. That is to say:

“He raised the mind of wishing to gain all wondrous jewelled goods with which to gather in beings; the mind of wishing that all beings might be furnished with the things that nourish life and be without lack; the mind that is apart from clinging in all matters; the mind that is without craving and staining in all objective realms; the mind that is without stinginess toward all that is possessed; the mind that is without hope or expectation as to all fruits of karma; the mind that is without envy as to all glory and beauty; the mind that is without confusion as to all causes and conditions; he raised the mind that contemplates the true nature of dharmas; he raised the mind that rescues and guards all beings; he raised the mind that enters deeply into all the whirlpools and back-currents of the dharmas; he raised the mind that abides in equal great kindness toward all beings; he raised the mind that carries out great compassion by skillful means toward all beings; he raised the mind that makes itself a great canopy of Dharma universally sheltering beings; he raised the mind that with the vajra-club of great wisdom breaks the mountain of the afflictive obstructions of all beings; he raised the mind that causes all beings to increase in joy and ease; he raised the mind that wishes all beings ultimate ease; he raised the mind that, according to what beings desire, rains down all wealth and jewels; he raised the mind that with equal skillful means ripens all beings; he raised the mind that causes all beings to be satisfied with the wealth of the noble ones; he raised the mind that wishes all beings ultimately to gain, every one of them, the fruit of the knowledge of the ten powers (the fruit accomplished by a buddha’s ten powers of knowledge).

Making Clear the Working (Five), Setting In Motion the Practice of Skillful Universal Gathering: Displaying Great Spiritual Transformations, Universally Raining Down the Things That Nourish Life

“Having raised such minds as these, he gained the power of a bodhisattva and displayed great spiritual transformations; filling the Dharma realm and filling the realm of empty space, before all beings he universally rained down all the things that nourish life, satisfying their intent in accord with all they wished for and causing them all to rejoice, himself without regret and without grudging, without gap and without break.

“By such skillful means as these he universally gathered in beings, converting them and ripening them, causing them all to gain release from the hardships of birth and death, and not seeking their repayment; he washed and put in order the mind-jewel of all beings, causing them to raise up the very same roots of good as all the buddhas, and increasing the great sea of the merit of all-knowledge.

Making Clear the Working (Six), the Gathering In of Beings Being All-Pervading: Ten Clauses of ‘In Thought After Thought’

“In this way the bodhisattva in thought after thought ripens all beings, in thought after thought purifies and adorns all buddha-lands, in thought after thought universally enters all the Dharma realm, in thought after thought fills the whole realm of empty space, in thought after thought universally enters all the three times, in thought after thought accomplishes the knowledge that subdues all beings, in thought after thought constantly turns all wheels of Dharma, in thought after thought constantly benefits beings with the way of all-knowledge, in thought after thought universally displays, before the beings of all the manifold distinctions in all worlds, all the buddhas accomplishing perfect awakening throughout the kalpas of the future, in thought after thought universally cultivates the bodhisattva practices in all worlds and in all kalpas without giving rise to a second thought.

“That is to say: he universally enters all the vast seas of worlds and all the world-seeds within them — the worlds of manifold differing bounds, the worlds of manifold differing adornments, the worlds of manifold differing natures, the worlds of manifold differing shapes, the worlds of manifold differing distributions; worlds that are defiled and yet carry the pure with them, worlds that are pure and yet carry the defiled with them, worlds wholly mixed and defiled, worlds wholly pure, whether small or great, whether coarse or fine, whether upright or aslant, whether overturned or upturned; and within all such worlds as these he cultivates in thought after thought the bodhisattva practices, enters the bodhisattva stations, displays the bodhisattva powers, and also displays the bodies of all the buddhas of the three times, causing beings universally to know and see in accord with their minds.

Making Clear the Working (Seven), the Mixed Making Clear of the Manifold Practices: Discerning Capacities and Benefiting by Conversion

“Son of good family! When Vairocana Tathāgata in ages past cultivated the bodhisattva practices in this way, he saw the many beings — not cultivating merit and virtue, without wisdom, clinging to a self and to what belongs to a self, screened over by ignorance, not carrying out right thought, entering the manifold wrong views, not recognizing cause and effect, according with the karma of the afflictions, fallen into the steep pit of the hardships of birth and death, and furnished with the receiving of every kind of measureless suffering.

“— And thereupon he gave rise to the mind of great compassion, cultivated in full the practice of all the perfections, extolled and praised for the many beings the firm roots of good, and caused them to abide in departing from the suffering of birth and death and of poverty and in diligently cultivating the dharmas that aid the way, which are merit and wisdom; he expounded for them the manifold gates of causes and effects, expounded for them that karma and its recompense are not at odds with each other, expounded for them the place of entering and realizing within the Dharma, expounded for them the desires and delights and the settled understanding of all beings, and further expounded all the lands of their receiving of birth; he caused them not to cut off the seed of all the buddhas, caused them to guard all the teaching of the buddhas, caused them to forsake all the evils; and further he praised for them the dharmas that aid the way and go toward all-knowledge, caused joy to arise in the minds of the many beings, caused them to carry out the giving of Dharma and universally gather in all, caused them to raise up the practice of all-knowledge, caused them to study and cultivate the way of the perfections of the great bodhisattvas, caused them to increase the sea of the many roots of good that accomplish all-knowledge, caused them to be satisfied with all the wealth of the noble ones, caused them to gain entry into the gate of the Buddha’s ease, caused them to take up measureless skillful means, caused them to behold the majestic virtue of the Tathāgata, and caused them to abide in the knowledge of the bodhisattvas.”

Discriminating the Depth of the Root of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), Sudhana’s Second Question: How Long Ago Did You Raise the Mind

Sudhana the youth said: “Holy one, how long has it been now since you raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi?”

Discriminating the Depth of the Root of the Dharma (Two), Praising Its Depth as Hard to Know: Who Could Ever Know Such a Thing

The night goddess said:

“Son of good family! This matter is hard to believe, hard to know, hard to understand, hard to enter, and hard to speak; all the world, and the two vehicles as well, are unable to know it.

“Only these are excepted: those who are guarded by the spiritual power of the buddhas, who are gathered in by good friends, who amass surpassing merit and virtue, whose desires and delights are pure, who have no lowly mind, no mind of defilement, no fawning and crooked mind, who gain the mind of the light of knowledge that universally illumines, who raise the mind of universally enriching the many beings, whose mind all the afflictions and all the māras cannot destroy, who give rise to the mind that will surely accomplish all-knowledge, whose mind does not delight in any of the pleasures of birth and death; who are able to seek the wondrous pleasure of all the buddhas, able to extinguish the suffering and vexation of all beings, able to cultivate the sea of the merit and virtue of all buddhas, able to contemplate the real nature of all dharmas, able to be furnished with all pure faith and understanding, able to pass beyond all the torrents of birth and death, able to enter the sea of knowledge of all tathāgatas, able with certainty to arrive at the unsurpassed citadel of Dharma, able valiantly to enter the realm of the Tathāgata, able swiftly to go toward the station of all the buddhas, able at once to accomplish the power of all-knowledge, able to have reached the ultimate in the ten powers — persons such as these are able, as to this matter, to hold it, to enter it, and to comprehend it.

“Why is this so? This is the realm of the Tathāgata’s wisdom; all the bodhisattvas are still unable to know it, how much less the remaining beings!

“Yet I today, by the majestic power of the Buddha, wishing to cause the beings that may be tamed and converted swiftly to purify their intent, and wishing to cause the beings that cultivate the roots of good to gain ease of mind, will expound it for you in accord with what you have asked.”

Discriminating the Depth of the Root of the Dharma (Three), the Night Goddess’s First Set of Verses (Twenty-One Verses) (a) Setting Forth Its Depth as Hard to Speak · Those Who Do Not Know

At that time the night goddess Who Opens the Blossoms of All Trees, wishing to set forth this meaning once again, contemplated the realm of the tathāgatas of the three times and spoke in verse, saying:

“What you have asked, son of the Buddha, is the profound realm of the buddhas; though one should pass through kalpas as many as the dust motes of lands beyond reckoning, one could not exhaust the telling of it.

“It is not those who are covered over by craving, by anger, by delusion, by arrogance, and by confusion — beings such as these — who can know the wondrous Dharma of the buddhas.

“It is not those who dwell in stinginess and envy, in fawning and deceit, in the manifold turbid intents, and who are covered over by the karma of the afflictions, who can know the realm of the buddhas.

“It is not those who cling to the aggregates, the elements, and the sense fields (the five aggregates are the five classes of body and mind, form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; the eighteen elements are the six faculties, the six objects, and the six consciousnesses; the twelve sense fields are the six faculties and the six objects), and who reckon upon a view of the body (the view that takes the five aggregates to be a self), whose views are inverted and whose thoughts are inverted, who can know what the Buddha has awakened to.

Discriminating the Depth of the Root of the Dharma (Four), the First Set of Verses (b) The Leaping Verse: The Realm of the Buddhas Is of Itself Tranquil

“The realm of the buddhas is tranquil, its nature pure and apart from discrimination; it is not those who cling to the many existences who can know this nature of dharmas.

Discriminating the Depth of the Root of the Dharma (Five), the First Set of Verses (c) Setting Apart Those Who Are Able to Know (Fourteen Verses)

“Born within the house of the buddhas, guarded by the buddhas, holding fast to the Dharma treasury of the buddhas — this is the realm of the eye of knowledge.

“Drawing near to good friends, delighting in the clean and pure Dharma, diligently seeking the powers of the buddhas, hearing this Dharma and rejoicing.

“The mind pure and without discrimination, like the vast empty space, the lamp of wisdom breaking the manifold darknesses — this is the realm of such a one.

“With an intent of great kindness and compassion universally sheltering the worlds, all of it equal — this is the realm of such a one.

“A joyous mind without clinging, able to give all away, giving equally to beings — this is the realm of such a one.

“The mind pure and apart from the many evils, ultimately without anything to regret, according with and carrying out the teaching of the buddhas — this is the realm of such a one.

“Comprehending the self-nature of dharmas and the seeds of the manifold karmas, his mind without stirring or disturbance — this is the realm of such a one.

“Valiantly and diligently applying vigor, abiding with a mind that does not turn back, diligently cultivating all-knowledge — this is the realm of such a one.

“His mind tranquil, abiding within samādhi, ultimately cool and without fever, having cultivated the causes of the sea of all-knowledge — this is the liberation of one who has realized awakening.

“Well comprehending all the marks of the real, entering deeply the boundless gates of the Dharma realm, universally delivering the multitudes without remainder — this is the liberation of one who is a lamp of wisdom.

“Comprehending the real nature of beings, not clinging to all the seas of existence, appearing universally like a reflected image within the water of the mind — this is the liberation of one who is upon the right way.

“Born from the seed of the skillful means and the vows of all the buddhas of the three times, exhausting the kalpas and the lands in diligent practice — this is the liberation of one who is Samantabhadra.

“Universally entering all the gates of the Dharma realm, seeing entirely the seas of lands in the ten directions, and seeing too the forming and the wearing away of the kalpas within them, while the mind is in the end without discrimination.

“Within every dust mote of the Dharma realm, seeing entirely the Tathāgata seated beneath the tree of the Way, accomplishing awakening and converting the multitudes of beings — this is the liberation of one whose eye is unobstructed.

Discriminating the Depth of the Root of the Dharma (Six), the First Set of Verses (d) Speaking by Sustaining Power (Two Verses)

“Through measureless great seas of kalpas you have drawn near to and made offerings to good friends, and for the benefit of the multitudes have sought the right Dharma, and having heard it have kept it in mind and not forgotten it.

“Vairocana’s vast realm is measureless, boundless, and beyond conceiving; sustained by the Buddha’s power I expound it for you, that your deep mind may turn ever purer.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), the Former Life Begins: The World-Sea and the Buddha of That Time

“Son of good family! In an ancient age long past, beyond kalpas as many as the dust motes of a sea of worlds, there was a sea of worlds named Genuine Gold Maṇi Mountain of Universal Light; and within that sea of worlds a buddha appeared in the world, named King of Tranquil Majestic Virtue Who Is a Mountain of Knowledge Universally Illumining the Dharma Realm.

“Son of good family! When that buddha in ages past cultivated the bodhisattva practices, he purified and put in order that sea of worlds. Within that sea of worlds there were world-seeds as many as the dust motes of a world; within each single world-seed there were worlds as many as the dust motes of a world; within each single world a tathāgata came forth into the world; each single tathāgata expounded sūtras as many as the dust motes of a sea of worlds; each single sūtra conferred predictions upon bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, displayed the manifold spiritual powers, expounded the manifold Dharma gates, and delivered measureless beings.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Two), Setting Out Separately the Time and Place of the Former Life: The Four Continents Banner of All Jewelled Mountains, and That One King

“Son of good family! Within that sea of worlds Genuine Gold Maṇi Mountain of Universal Light there was a world-seed named Banner of Universal Adornment. Within this world-seed there was a world named Universal Light of the Colors of All Jewels, whose substance was the maṇi-king that displays the reflected images of all the transformation buddhas, whose shape was like a city of the heavens; it had for its lower bound the maṇi-king that displays the reflected images of the places of the Way of all tathāgatas, and it abode upon a sea of all jewelled blossoms, the pure and the defiled being mixed together.

“Within this world there were four-continent worlds as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, and among them one set of four continents lay at the very center, named Banner of All Jewelled Mountains. Of those four continents, each was a hundred thousand yojanas across and around, and each had ten thousand great cities. Within its Jambudvīpa there was a royal capital named Cloud-Lamp Adorned with Firm and Wondrous Jewels, encircled all about by ten thousand great cities.

“When the people of Jambudvīpa had a lifespan of ten thousand years, there was among them a king named Canopy of the Fullness of the Sound of All Dharmas, who had five hundred great ministers, sixty thousand palace women, and seven hundred princes; and those princes were all upright and valiant and of great majestic strength. At that time the majestic virtue of that king reached universally throughout Jambudvīpa, and he had no enemies.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Three), the Surpassing Condition for Raising the Mind · The Five Turbidities Arise: The People Come to the Royal City and Cry Aloud

“At that time, when the kalpa of that world was about to be exhausted, the five turbidities arose. All the multitudes of people had short lifespans, lacked goods and wealth, were mean and coarse in form and color, had much suffering and little ease, did not cultivate the ten good deeds, made a business of committing evil deeds, were wrathful and contentious with one another, slandered and insulted one another, estranged the retinues of others, envied the glory and beauty of others, and following their own dispositions raised up the manifold views and craved and sought in ways that were not the Dharma.

“Because of causes and conditions such as these, the wind and the rain came out of season, the sprouts and the crops did not ripen, the gardens and the groves and the grasses and the trees all withered away, the people were destitute, and there were many kinds of pestilence; they ran off to the four quarters and had no place to rely upon, and they all came together to encircle the great city of the royal capital, measureless and boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of people, and on all four sides they cried out with a loud voice; some raised their hands, some joined their palms, some knocked their heads upon the ground, some beat their breasts with their hands, some bent their knees and wailed at length, some leapt up and shouted aloud; their hair was disheveled, their clothing was torn, their skin was cracked, their faces had no luster, and they said to the king:

“‘Great king! Great king! We today are poor and orphaned and exposed, hungry and thirsty and cold and frozen, sick and enfeebled, pressed by the many sufferings, and our lives will not last long; we are without reliance and without rescue, and we have no place where we may lay our plaint. We today come to take refuge with the great king, for we see that the great king is kindly and has wisdom, and in the great king we raise the thought of gaining ease, the thought of gaining what we love, the thought of gaining our livelihood, the thought of being gathered in, the thought of gaining a jewel treasury, the thought of meeting a ford and a bridge, the thought of coming upon a road, the thought of meeting a boat and a raft, the thought of seeing an island of jewels, the thought of obtaining wealth and gain, and the thought of ascending to the palaces of the heavens.’

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Four), the Great King’s Ten Clauses of ‘Alas for Beings’

“At that time, when the great king had heard these words, he gained a million asaṃkhyeyas of gates of great compassion, and with a single mind he pondered, and he uttered ten kinds of words of great compassion. What are these ten? They are:

“‘Alas for beings! They have fallen into the great pit of birth and death that has no bottom; how am I swiftly to exert myself and rescue them, causing them to abide in the ground of all-knowledge?

“‘Alas for beings! They are pressed by the manifold afflictions; how am I to make myself their rescue and guard, causing them to abide in all good karma?

“‘Alas for beings! They are terrified by birth, old age, sickness, and death; how am I to make myself their refuge, causing them to gain forever the peace of body and mind?

“‘Alas for beings! They are ever pressed by the manifold dreads of the world; how am I to make myself their aid, causing them to abide in the way of all-knowledge?

“‘Alas for beings! They have no eye of wisdom and are ever covered over by the view of the body and by doubt; how am I to make myself their skillful means, causing them to cut away the film of doubt and view?

“‘Alas for beings! They are ever deluded by the darkness of folly; how am I to make myself a bright torch for them, causing them to see by its light the citadel of all-knowledge?

“‘Alas for beings! They are ever made turbid by stinginess, envy, fawning, and deceit; how am I to open and make plain for them, causing them to realize the pure dharma-body?

“‘Alas for beings! For a long time they have drifted and sunk within the great sea of birth and death; how am I universally to carry them across and deliver them, causing them to gain the further shore of awakening?

“‘Alas for beings! Their faculties are stubborn and hard to subdue; how am I to make myself their tamer, causing them to be furnished with the spiritual powers of all the buddhas?

“‘Alas for beings! They are like men whose eyes are blind and who cannot see the road; how am I to make myself their guide, causing them to gain entry into the gate of all-knowledge?’

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Five), the Command of Giving Spread Abroad (Chengguan’s Outline): He Opens the Storehouses, and On to the Giving of Body and Life

“Having spoken these words, he beat the drum and proclaimed his command: ‘I today give universally to all beings; whatever they have need of, let them all be made sufficient.’

“At once the command went down throughout Jambudvīpa to the great and small cities and to the villages, and all the storehouses were opened and the manifold goods were taken out and set upon the roads that run to all quarters. That is to say: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, maṇi, and such jewels; clothing, food and drink, blossoms and incense, necklaces, palaces, dwellings, couches, and bedding; and there was set up a great luminous maṇi-jewel banner whose light, touching the body, caused all to be at peace; and there were also given all the medicinal broths needed for treating sickness; and manifold jewelled vessels held the many mixed jewels, and vajra vessels held the manifold incenses, and jewelled incense vessels held the manifold garments; and there were palanquins, carriages, banners and streamers, and silken canopies. All such things that nourish life as these were brought forth from the opened storehouses and given away.

“He also gave away all the hamlets, the walled towns, the mountains and marshes, the woods and thickets, his wives and children and his retinue, and his royal position too; and his head, his eyes, his ears, his nose, his lips, his tongue, his teeth, his hands, his feet, his skin, his flesh, his heart, his kidneys, his liver, and his lungs — all that he had within and without, all of it he was able to give away.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Six), the Great Spreading of the Assembly of Giving (Chengguan’s Outline): That Ground of the Assembly of Giving Outside the Eastern Gate

“That city Cloud-Lamp Adorned with Firm and Wondrous Jewels had upon its eastern side a gate named Light of the Maṇi Mountain. Outside that gate there was a place for the assembly of giving. That ground was vast and broad and thick, pure and level, without the manifold pits and hollows and brambles and gravel, made wholly of wondrous jewels, strewn with the blossoms of many jewels, perfumed with the manifold wondrous incenses, alight with the manifold jewelled lamps, and all its clouds of incense filled the empty space; measureless jewelled trees were ranged in rows in their order, and measureless nets of blossoms and measureless nets of incense spread over above it, and the measureless manifold instruments of music of hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas constantly gave forth wondrous sounds. All such things as these were made adornments with wondrous jewels, and all of them were the recompense of the bodhisattva’s pure karma.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Seven), the Giver Surpassing His Peers (Chengguan’s Outline): The One upon the Lion Seat

“Within that assembly of giving a lion seat was set up, with ten kinds of jewels for the ground of the seat, ten kinds of jewels for its railings, ten kinds of jewelled trees encircling it all about, and a vajra-jewel wheel bearing it up beneath; images of dragon spirits made of all jewels held it up together, and the manifold jewelled things were made its stern adornments, banners and streamers set out alternately, the many nets spread over it above, measureless jewelled incenses ever giving birth to clouds of incense, the manifold jewelled garments distributed everywhere, and a hundred thousand kinds of music constantly playing beautiful notes. And above it, moreover, a jewelled canopy was spread, ever sending forth measureless jewelled flame-light, blazing and pure like the gold of the Jambū River; a jewelled net covered it, and the manifold necklaces hung down, and belts of maṇi jewels were set out alternately all around, and the manifold jewelled bells constantly gave forth wondrous sounds, exhorting the many beings to cultivate good karma.

“At that time that great king was seated at ease upon the lion seat, his form upright, furnished with the marks of a man, with a wondrous jewel of light for his crown, a Nārāyaṇa-like body (Nārāyaṇa being the name of a mighty strong man) that could not be broken, every one of his limbs and parts entirely full, his disposition universally good and worthy, born within the royal caste, at ease both in wealth and in Dharma, unobstructed in eloquence, bright and penetrating in wisdom, governing the land by his commands, with none who went against his order.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Eight), the Field of Giving Gathering Like Clouds (Chengguan’s Outline) · The Mind of Giving Being Earnest and Weighty: Those Who Came, and the King’s Ten Minds

“At that time, measureless and numberless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of beings of Jambudvīpa — of manifold lands, of manifold clans, of manifold forms and features, of manifold garments, of manifold tongues, of manifold desires and delights — came together to this assembly, and beholding that king they all said: ‘This king is a man of great knowledge, he is a Sumeru of merit, he is a bright moon of merit and virtue; he abides in the bodhisattva’s vow and carries out vast giving.’

“At that time the king, seeing those who had come to beg, raised a mind of pity, raised a mind of joy, raised a mind of honoring, raised a mind of good friendship, raised a vast mind, raised a mind of continuity, raised a mind of vigor, raised a mind of not turning back, raised a mind of relinquishing and giving, and raised an all-pervading mind.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Nine), Surpassing the Pleasures of the Gods: The Joy of That One Instant

“Son of good family! At that time, when that king saw the many beggars, his mind greatly rejoiced, and it lasted but a single instant; yet the pleasure received by the king of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, the king of the Yāma heaven, and the king of the Tuṣita heaven throughout a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas could not match it. The pleasure received by the king of the Nirmāṇarati heaven throughout numberless kalpas, the pleasure received by the king of the Paranirmitavaśavartin heaven throughout measureless kalpas, the pleasure of Brahmā received by the king of the great Brahmā heaven throughout boundless kalpas, the heavenly pleasure received by the king of the Ābhāsvara heaven throughout kalpas beyond thinking, the heavenly pleasure received by the king of the Śubhakṛtsna heaven throughout unending kalpas, and the tranquil pleasure dwelt in by the king of the Śuddhāvāsa heaven throughout kalpas beyond speaking — none of them could match it.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Ten), the Simile of the Kindly and Filial Man: That One Glance in a Time of Chaos When He Knows His Own Again

“Son of good family! It is as when there is a man who is kindly and filial, and he meets with the troubles of the world, and his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and his sisters are all scattered and lost together, and then suddenly upon a road in the open wilds they meet one another, and they look upon one another and hold to one another and comfort one another face to face, and their feelings have no time of being sated. At that time, when that great king saw those who came seeking, joy arose in his mind, and it was just like this.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Eleven), the Vow of Giving Being Vast and Deep · The Wisdom of Giving Being Subtle and Profound (Chengguan’s Outline): Where His Joy Came From

“Son of good family! That king at that time, because of a good friend, grew in his settled understanding of and delight in the Buddha’s awakening, accomplished his faculties, purified his mind of faith, and made his joy complete.

“Why is this so? This bodhisattva diligently cultivated the manifold practices and sought all-knowledge; he wished to gain what would benefit all beings; he wished to obtain the measureless wondrous pleasure of awakening; he forsook all minds that were not good; he ever delighted to amass all roots of good; he ever wished to rescue and guard all beings; he ever delighted to contemplate the way of sarvajña (all-knowledge); he ever delighted to cultivate the dharmas of all-knowledge; he satisfied what all beings vowed; he entered the great sea of the merit and virtue of all buddhas; he broke the mountain of all the karma of the māras and the obstructions of confusion; he practiced according with the teaching of all tathāgatas; he walked the unobstructed way of all-knowledge; he was already able to enter deeply the current of all-knowledge, and the current of all dharmas was ever present before him; his great vows were unending; he acted as a great man and abode in the dharmas of a great person; he amassed all the treasuries of good of the universal gate; he departed from all clinging; he was not stained by the objective realms of any world; and he knew that the nature of dharmas is like empty space.

Justly Requiting by Sustaining Power (Twelve), the Giving Being Even and Universal in Its Times (Chengguan’s Outline): Eight Thoughts, and No Sorting of Those Who Came

“Toward those who came to beg he raised the thought of them as an only child, raised the thought of them as father and mother, raised the thought of them as a field of merit, raised the thought of them as hard to come by, raised the thought of them as having done him kindness and benefit, and raised the thought of them as firm, the thought of them as teachers, and the thought of them as buddhas.

“He did not sort out their quarter or place, did not choose among their clans, did not select by their form and features; but as any came, in accord with what they desired, with a mind of great kindness, equally and without obstruction, he gave universally to all and caused them all to be satisfied: those who sought food and drink he gave food and drink; those who sought clothing he gave clothing; those who sought incense and blossoms he gave incense and blossoms; those who sought garlands and canopies he gave garlands and canopies; and banners and streamers, necklaces, palaces, gardens and parks, elephants and horses, carriages, couches and seats, coverlets and mattresses, gold, silver, maṇi, the manifold precious jewels, and all his storehouses, together with his retinue, his walled towns, and his villages — all these in this way he gave universally to beings.

Justly Setting Out the Former Matter of Raising the Mind (One), the Bodily Virtue of the One Who Raised the Mind (Chengguan’s Outline): That Daughter of an Elder

“At that time within this assembly there was the daughter of an elder, named Jewel Light, together with sixty maidens; and she was upright and lovely, one whom all delighted to look upon, her skin the color of gold, her eyes and her hair a deep blue, and her body gave forth a wondrous fragrance; from her mouth she uttered the sound of Brahmā, and she had the finest jewelled garments for her adornment; she ever harbored shame and conscience, her right mindfulness was undisturbed, she was furnished with dignified deportment, she was reverent toward her teachers and elders; she ever kept in mind the practice of according and the profound and wondrous practices; the Dharma she had heard she bore in mind and did not forget; the roots of good of her former lives flowed and moistened her mind, which was pure and vast like empty space; she comforted beings equally, ever saw the buddhas, and sought all-knowledge.

Justly Setting Out the Former Matter of Raising the Mind (Two), Justly Raising the Great Mind (Chengguan’s Outline): She Takes Off Her Necklace and Makes That Vow

“At that time Jewel Light the maiden, being not far from the king, joined her palms and bowed her head, and made this thought: ‘I have obtained good gain! I have obtained good gain! I today have been able to see a great good friend.’

“Toward that king she raised the thought of him as a great teacher, the thought of him as a good friend, the thought of him as furnished with kindness and compassion, and the thought of him as able to gather in. Her mind was upright, and great joy arose in her, and she took off the necklace from her body and held it up and offered it to that king, and made this vow, saying:

“‘Today this great king makes himself the place of reliance for measureless and boundless beings of ignorance; may I in the future be just like this. As with the Dharma that great king knows, the vehicle he rides, the way he cultivates, the marks of form he is furnished with, the wealth and property he has, and the assemblies he gathers in, which are boundless and unending, hard to overcome and hard to destroy — may I in the future obtain all of it just so. Wherever he is born, there may I be born along with him.’

Justly Setting Out the Former Matter of Raising the Mind (Three), the King Utters the Words of Gathering In (Chengguan’s Outline): Whatever You Want, I Will Give It to You

“At that time the great king, knowing that this maiden had raised such a mind, said to her: ‘Maiden! Whatever you desire, I will give it all to you. All that I have today I give away entirely, so that all beings may universally be satisfied.’

The Maiden Praises the King’s Virtue (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), the Loss While the King Had Not Yet Come Forth into the World (Six Verses)

“At that time Jewel Light the maiden, her mind of faith being pure and great joy arising in her, praised the king in verse, saying:

“‘In ages past this walled city, when the great king had not yet come forth into the world, was in no way to be delighted in, like the dwelling place of the hungry ghosts.

“‘Beings killed and harmed one another, stole and robbed, gave themselves to lewdness, spoke with a double tongue and told no truth, and uttered coarse and evil words without meaning,

“‘Craved the goods of others, were wrathful and harbored a poisonous mind, held wrong views and carried out unwholesome deeds, and at the end of life fell into the evil destinies.

“‘Because beings such as these were covered over by folly and dwelt within inverted views, the heavens were dry and let down no moisture.

“‘Because there was no seasonable rain, the hundred grains did not grow at all, the grasses and the trees withered away, and the springs and streams ran dry.

“‘While the great king had not yet risen in the world, the fords and the ponds were all dried up, and the gardens and parks were full of bones, so that they looked like the open wilds.

The Maiden Praises the King’s Virtue (Two), the Benefit of the King’s Rising in the World (Two Verses)

“‘The great king ascended the jewelled throne and vastly rescued the many multitudes, and oily clouds covered the eight quarters and rained universally, and all were soaked and refreshed.

“‘The great king came to govern the myriad people and universally cut off the manifold cruelties, punishments and prisons were all set aside, and the orphaned and solitary were all at peace.

The Maiden Praises the King’s Virtue (Three), Turning Loss into Virtue · Turning the Ten Evils (Ten Verses)

“‘In ages past the many beings each maimed and slew one another, drinking blood and eating flesh; now they all raise a mind of kindness.

“‘In ages past the many beings were poor and had little clothing, and used grass to cover themselves, and were hungry and worn like hungry ghosts.

“‘Now that the great king has risen in the world, the fine rice grows of itself, and wondrous garments grow within the trees, and men and women alike are adorned.

“‘In days past they contended for petty gain and in ways not the Dharma encroached upon one another and seized from one another; now they are alike in abundance, as though roaming in the garden of Śakra.

“‘In times past people committed evil deeds and craved and were stained where they had no right, and toward the wives of others and toward maidens they encroached and pressed in manifold ways.

“‘Now they see the women of others, upright and finely adorned, and their minds have no stain of clinging, like the gods of the Heaven of Contentment.

“‘In days past the many beings spoke false words and not the truth, contrary to the Dharma and without benefit, and with fawning and crooked speech they pleased the intents of others.

“‘The multitudes of today have all departed from the manifold evil words; their minds having become soft and gentle, the words they utter too are tamed and harmonious.

“‘In days past the many beings carried out wrong dharmas in manifold ways, joining their palms in reverence and bowing to cattle, sheep, dogs, and swine.

“‘Now they have heard the king’s right Dharma, have awakened in understanding and removed their wrong views, and comprehend that the recompense of suffering and of ease all arises from causes and conditions.

The Maiden Praises the King’s Virtue (Four), the Dependent and the Proper Being beyond Thinking (Seven Verses)

“‘The great king utters a wondrous sound, and those who hear it are all glad and delight in it; the sounds of Brahmā and of Śakra and the rest, none of them can match it.

“‘The great king’s canopy of many jewels stands far off within the empty space, held up by a shaft of lapis lazuli and covered over by a net of maṇi.

“‘Its golden bells give forth of themselves the harmonious and elegant sound of the Tathāgata, proclaiming the subtle and wondrous Dharma and extinguishing the doubts of beings.

“‘Next it also expounds at length the lands of the buddhas of the ten directions, and the tathāgatas and their retinues within all the manifold kalpas.

“‘And in their order it expounds the lands of the ten directions in the past, and all the many tathāgatas within those lands.

“‘And it gives forth a subtle and wondrous sound that reaches universally throughout the realm of Jambū, expounding at length the manifold distinctions of the karma of men and gods and the rest.

“‘When beings have heard it, they know for themselves the treasuries of the manifold karmas, and they depart from evil and diligently cultivate and dedicate and direct it to the Buddha’s awakening.

Setting Out the King’s Former Life (Chengguan’s Outline) (One), the End of the Age of the Former King (Four Verses)

“‘The king’s father was named Pure Light, the king’s mother was named Lotus Blossom Light, and at the time when the five turbidities appeared they were set in the royal position and governed all under heaven.

“‘At that time there was a vast garden, and within the garden were five hundred ponds, and each single pond had a thousand trees encircling it, and the blossoms of each spread over above it.

“‘Upon the banks of those ponds a hall of a thousand pillars was set up, and its railings and the rest of its adornments were in no way incomplete.

“‘At the end of the age evil dharmas arose, and for years on end no rain came down, and the ponds and streams all dried up, and the grasses and trees withered away.

Setting Out the King’s Former Life (Two), the Signs Preceding the King’s Rising (Eight Verses)

“‘Seven days before the king was born, marvelous and auspicious signs appeared beforehand; and those who saw them all made this thought in their minds: the one who saves the world is now about to come forth.

“‘At that time, in the middle of the night, the great earth quaked in six ways; and there was a pond of jewelled blossoms whose light appeared like the orb of the sun.

“‘Within the five hundred ponds the water of merit and virtue was full, and the withered trees all put forth branches, and blossoms and leaves flourished and grew thick.

“‘The waters of the ponds being full, they flowed abroad and spread everywhere, reaching universally throughout the land of Jambū, and there was nowhere not soaked and refreshed.

“‘The healing herbs and the manifold trees, the hundred grains and the sprouts and crops and the rest, their branches, leaves, blossoms, and fruits, all of them flourished.

“‘The ditches and pits and the mounds and hillocks, the manifold high and low places, all such ground as this — there was none of it not level.

“‘The brambles and the gravel and the rest, all the manifold defilements, all in a single thought turned into the jade of the many jewels.

“‘When beings saw these things they rejoiced and praised, and all said that they had obtained good gain, like a thirsty man drinking fine water.

Setting Out the King’s Former Life (Three), Justly Setting Out the Birth (Seven Verses)

“‘At that time that king Light, with a measureless multitude for his retinue, together made ready the Dharma carriage and roamed and looked upon the manifold gardens and parks.

“‘Within the five hundred ponds there was a pond named Gladness, and above the pond there was a Dharma hall, and the father-king dwelt here.

“‘The former king said to his lady: I remember that seven nights ago, in the middle of the night the great earth quaked, and within this place a light appeared.

“‘At that time within that pond of blossoms a thousand-petalled lotus blossom was born, its light shining like a thousand orbs of the sun, and above it reached straight to the summit of Sumeru.

“‘Vajra was its stalk, and the gold of the Jambū River was its dais, and the many jewels were its blossom-petals, and wondrous fragrance made its filaments and stamens.

“‘The king was born upon that blossom, his body upright and seated cross-legged, adorned with the marks and signs, and revered by the deva-spirits.

“‘The former king greatly rejoiced, and entered the pond and himself took him up in his hands, and holding him up handed him to his lady: your son is to be rejoiced over.

Setting Out the King’s Former Life (Four), the Benefit after His Birth (Eight Verses)

“‘The jewel treasuries all welled up, and the jewelled trees brought forth wondrous garments, and heavenly music played beautiful notes and filled the empty space.

“‘All the many beings raised great joy, and joining their palms declared it a rare thing: excellent, O rescuer and guardian of the world!

“‘The king at that time sent forth the light of his body and illumined all universally, and was able to cause the darkness of the four continents to be wholly gone and their sicknesses to be extinguished.

“‘The yakṣas and the piśācas, the poisonous vermin and the manifold evil beasts, all that wished to harm men, all hid themselves away.

“‘Evil repute, the loss of good gain, unlooked-for calamity, and being held by sickness — the manifold sufferings such as these were extinguished, and all rejoiced.

“‘All that were of the kinds of beings looked upon one another as father and mother, departed from evil and raised a mind of kindness, and single-mindedly sought all-knowledge.

“‘He shut fast the manifold evil destinies and opened and showed the road of men and gods, proclaimed sarvajña (all-knowledge), and delivered the many multitudes.

“‘We, having seen the great king, have universally obtained good gain; and those without refuge and without a guide, all of them have gained ease.’

The Great King Sets Forth His Praise · The Practice of Giving Gathers and Sustains (Chengguan’s Outline): To Be Able to Believe and Know the Merit and Virtue of Another Is a Rare Thing

“At that time, when Jewel Light the maiden had finished praising in verse King Canopy of the Fullness of the Sound of All Dharmas, she circled him measureless times, joined her palms and bowed her head, bent her body in reverence, and withdrew to stand at one side.

“At that time that great king said to the maiden: ‘Excellent, maiden! That you are able to believe and know the merit and virtue of another is a rare thing. Maiden! All beings are unable to believe and know the merit and virtue of another. Maiden! All beings do not know how to repay kindness, are without wisdom, their minds turbid and scattered, their natures not clear and bright, having from the first no strength of resolve and falling back besides from the practice they had cultivated; persons such as these neither believe nor know the merit and virtue, the spiritual powers, and the wisdom that the bodhisattvas and the tathāgatas possess. Maiden! You today with certainty seek and go toward awakening, and are able to know such merit and virtue of a bodhisattva. You today have been born within this Jambudvīpa and have raised up a valiant mind and universally gather in beings; your effort will not be spent in vain, and you too shall accomplish merit and virtue such as this.’

“When the king had praised the maiden, with his own hand he conferred priceless jewelled garments upon Jewel Light the maiden and her retinue, and to each one he said: ‘Put on this garment.’ At that time the maidens set both knees upon the ground and received them up with both hands and placed them upon their heads, and only then put them on; and having put on the garments, they circled the king to the right, and from within the jewelled garments there came forth universally the light of all the constellations. When the multitude saw this, they all spoke in this way: ‘These daughters are all upright, like the pure devas of the night adorned with the constellations.’

Joining Ancient and Present (Chengguan’s Outline): Who That King Was, and Who That Maiden Was

“Son of good family! That King Canopy of the Fullness of the Sound of All Dharmas of that time — was he some other person? He is the present Vairocana Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly and Rightly Awakened. King Light is King Śuddhodana. The lady Lotus Blossom Light is Lady Māyā. Jewel Light the maiden is my own self.

“The beings that that king at that time gathered in by the four means of gathering are all the bodhisattvas within this assembly, all of whom have gained non-retrogression in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, or dwell in the first ground and on to the tenth ground, furnished with the manifold great vows, amassing the manifold dharmas that aid the way, cultivating the manifold wondrous practices, provided with the manifold adornments, gaining the manifold spiritual powers, dwelling in the manifold liberations, and within this assembly seated within the manifold palaces of the wondrous Dharma.”

The Night Goddess’s Second Set of Verses (One), Making Clear What She Is Able to Know (Nine Verses)

At that time the night goddess Who Opens the Blossoms of All Trees, for the sake of Sudhana the youth and wishing to set forth once again this meaning of the liberation, spoke in verse, saying:

“I have a vast eye, and see universally within all the seas of lands in the ten directions the beings that revolve in the five destinies.

“And I see too those buddhas seated beneath the tree of awakening, their spiritual powers filling the ten directions, expounding the Dharma and delivering beings.

“I have a pure ear, and hear universally all sounds, and hear too the Buddha expounding the Dharma, and rejoice and receive it in faith.

“I have the knowledge of others’ minds, without a second and without obstruction, and am able in a single thought to comprehend entirely the seas of the minds.

“I have gained the knowledge of former lives, and am able to know within all kalpas my own self and others, and to distinguish them all clearly.

“In a single thought I know the kalpas as many as the dust motes of the seas of lands, and the buddhas and the bodhisattvas within them, and the kinds of beings of the five paths.

“I call to mind and know how those buddhas first raised the vow of awakening, and on to their cultivating the manifold practices, each and every one of them complete.

“And I know how those buddhas accomplished the way of awakening, and with manifold skillful means turned the wheel of Dharma for the great assemblies.

“And I know all the seas of vehicles that those buddhas have, and whether the right Dharma abode in the world for long or briefly, and whether the beings delivered were many or few.

The Night Goddess’s Second Set of Verses (Two), the Concluding Exhortation (One Verse)

“Through measureless kalpas I have studied and cultivated this Dharma gate; I today expound it for you, and you, son of the Buddha, should study it.

Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline): I Know Only This One

“Son of good family! I know only this bodhisattva liberation gate of giving birth to the light of vast joy.

“As for the many bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, they draw near to and make offerings to all the buddhas, enter the great sea of the vows of all-knowledge, and satisfy the seas of all the vows of all the buddhas; they gain valiant knowledge, and within one bodhisattva ground universally enter the sea of all bodhisattva grounds; they gain pure vows, and within one bodhisattva practice universally enter the sea of all bodhisattva practices; they gain the power of ease, and within one bodhisattva liberation gate universally enter the sea of all bodhisattva liberation gates. How then could I know or expound their practices of merit and virtue?

Pointing Out the Friend Who Comes Next (Chengguan’s Outline): Within This Place of the Way There Is Yet Another Night Goddess

“Son of good family! Within this place of the Way there is a night goddess named Great Vow, Vigor, and Power Who Rescues All Beings. Go there and ask her: how is a bodhisattva to convert beings and cause them to go toward anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? How is he to purify and adorn all buddha-lands? How is he to serve all tathāgatas? How is he to cultivate all the dharmas of the Buddha?”

Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time Sudhana the youth bowed to the night goddess’s feet, circled her numberless times, gazed up at her earnestly, and took his leave and departed.

Seeing the Night Goddess: Twenty-Four Kinds of Body

At that time, Sudhana the youth went on to where the night goddess Great Vow, Vigor, and Power Who Rescues All Beings was, and saw that night goddess within a great assembly, seated upon a lion seat of the treasury of maṇi-kings that universally manifests all palaces, with a net of maṇi jewels that universally manifests the lands of the Dharma realm spread out and covering the seat above.

She manifested a body of the reflected images of sun, moon, and constellations; a body that follows the minds of beings and universally causes them to see; a body equal to the forms of all beings; a body of boundless and vast forms like a sea; a body that universally manifests every comportment; a body that shows itself universally in the ten directions; a body that universally subdues all beings; a body of spiritual power, vast in its coursing and swift; a body that benefits beings without ever a break; a body that ever roams in empty space to make benefit; a body that bows at the place of every buddha; a body that cultivates all good roots; a body that receives and upholds the Buddha’s Dharma and does not forget it; a body that brings to fullness the bodhisattva’s great vows; a body whose light fills the ten directions; a body that takes the Dharma for a lamp and universally extinguishes the darkness of the world; a body of pure knowledge that penetrates all dharmas as illusory; a body of dharma-nature far removed from dust, stain, and darkness; a body that illumines dharmas with universal knowledge and is clear in its understanding; a body ultimately without affliction and without burning distress; a body firm and not to be crushed; a body without abiding, wholly the Buddha’s power; a body without discrimination, apart from defilement; a body of dharma-nature pure from the origin.

Paying Respect: Raising Ten Kinds of Mind toward the Good Friend (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time, Sudhana the youth, seeing bodies of difference such as these, as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, bowed with a single mind, cast his whole body down upon the ground, and only after a long while rose; he joined his palms and gazed up, and raised ten kinds of mind toward the good friend. What are the ten? They are these:

“Toward the good friend he raised the mind that regards her as himself, because this can cause me diligently to accomplish the dharmas that aid the path to all-knowledge; toward the good friend he raised the mind of the pure fruit of his own deeds, because to draw near to her and make offerings can give birth to good roots; toward the good friend he raised the mind that adorns the bodhisattva practices, because this can cause me swiftly to adorn all bodhisattva practices; toward the good friend he raised the mind that perfects all buddha-dharmas, because she leads and instructs me and causes me to cultivate the path; toward the good friend he raised the mind that is able to give birth, because she is able to give birth to the unsurpassed Dharma in me; toward the good friend he raised the mind of going forth, because she causes me to cultivate all the practices and vows of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and so to go forth; toward the good friend he raised the mind that is complete in the sea of all merit and knowledge, because this can cause me to gather many pure and white dharmas; toward the good friend he raised the mind of increase, because this can cause me to increase all-knowledge; toward the good friend he raised the mind that is complete in all good roots, because this can cause my aspiration to be fulfilled; toward the good friend he raised the mind that can accomplish great benefit, because this can cause me to dwell at ease within all the dharmas of the bodhisattva, to perfect the path of all-knowledge, and to gain all buddha-dharmas.” These are the ten.

Gaining the Same Practice: Eighty-Four Kinds of Sameness (Chengguan’s Outline)

Having raised such a mind as this, Sudhana then gained the same practice, as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, that this night goddess holds in common with all the bodhisattvas. They are these:

The same mindfulness, because the mind ever calls to mind all the buddhas of the ten directions and the three times; the same wisdom, because he can discriminate and decide and know the gates of difference within the sea of all dharmas; the same orientation, because he can turn the wondrous Dharma wheel of all the buddha-tathāgatas; the same awakening, because with knowledge equal to empty space he universally enters all three kinds of world; the same faculty, because he has perfected the bodhisattva’s faculty of pure and luminous wisdom; the same mind, because he is well able to cultivate unhindered merit and virtue and to adorn every path of the bodhisattva; the same objective realm, because he universally beholds the realm in which the buddhas walk; the same realization, because he has gained the pure light of all-knowledge that beholds the sea of true marks; the same meaning, because with wisdom he can penetrate the true nature of all dharmas; the same valor, because he can crush the mountains of every obstruction; the same form-body, because he can show bodily forms in accord with the minds of beings; the same power, because he seeks all-knowledge and does not turn back; the same fearlessness, because his mind is pure as empty space; the same vigor, because through measureless kalpas he cultivates the bodhisattva practices without sloth or weariness; the same eloquence, because he has gained the light of wisdom unhindered in the Dharma; the same peerlessness, because his bodily form is pure and surpasses the world; the same kindly speech, because he can cause all beings to rejoice; the same wondrous voice, because he universally expounds the sea of all Dharma gates; the same perfect voice, because all beings understand it each according to his own kind; the same pure virtue, because he cultivates the pure merit and virtue of the Tathāgata; the same ground of knowledge, because at the place of every buddha he receives the Dharma wheel; the same pure conduct, because he dwells within the realm of all buddhas; the same great kindness, because in thought after thought he universally covers the sea of beings in all lands; the same great compassion, because he universally rains down the Dharma rain and moistens all beings; the same bodily deed, because with the practice of skillful means he teaches and converts all beings; the same verbal deed, because with a voice that accords with each kind he expounds all Dharma gates; the same mental deed, because he universally gathers in beings and sets them within the realm of all-knowledge; the same adornment, because he adorns and purifies all the buddha-lands; the same drawing near, because wherever a buddha arises in the world he goes to draw near; the same entreaty, because he entreats all buddhas to turn the Dharma wheel; the same offering, because he ever delights in making offerings to all buddhas; the same teaching and converting, because he subdues all beings; the same light, because it illumines all Dharma gates; the same samādhi, because he universally knows the minds of all beings; the same filling and pervading, because with the power of mastery he fills the sea of all buddha-lands and there cultivates the practices; the same dwelling place, because he dwells within the great spiritual powers of the bodhisattvas; the same retinue, because he abides together with all bodhisattvas; the same place of entry, because he universally enters the subtle places of the worlds; the same thinking of the mind, because he universally knows all the buddha-lands; the same going to, because he universally enters the sea of all buddha-lands; the same skillful means, because he can manifest all the buddha-lands; the same surpassing, because among the buddha-lands there is nothing to compare with him; the same non-retrogression, because he universally enters the ten directions and is without obstruction; the same breaking of darkness, because he has gained the great light of the knowledge by which all buddhas perfect awakening; the same forbearance of non-arising, because he enters the sea of the assemblies of all buddhas; the same pervading of the net of all buddha-lands, because he reverently makes offerings to the tathāgatas of lands beyond telling; the same realization by knowledge, because he knows the sea of each and every Dharma gate; the same cultivation, because he cultivates all Dharma gates in accord with them; the same seeking, because he deeply delights in and desires the pure Dharma; the same purity, because he gathers the merit and virtue of the buddhas to adorn body, speech, and mind; the same wondrous intent, because his wisdom is clear regarding all dharmas; the same vigor, because he universally gathers all good roots; the same pure practice, because he brings to fullness all the bodhisattva practices; the same unhinderedness, because he penetrates that all dharmas are without marks; the same skillfulness, because among all dharmas his wisdom is at ease; the same according with delight, because he shows realms in accord with the minds of beings; the same skillful means, because he is skilled in cultivating all that ought to be cultivated; the same protective mindfulness, because he has gained the protective mindfulness of all buddhas; the same entering of the grounds, because he gains entry into all the grounds of the bodhisattva; the same abiding, because he abides in every station of the bodhisattva; the same prediction, because all buddhas confer a prediction upon him; the same samādhi, because in a single kṣaṇa he universally enters all the gates of samādhi; the same establishing, because he shows forth the manifold matters of the buddhas; the same right mindfulness, because he is rightly mindful of all the gates of the realms; the same cultivation, because to the end of the kalpas of the future he cultivates all the bodhisattva practices; the same pure faith, because he greatly delights in the measureless wisdom of the tathāgatas; the same relinquishing, because he extinguishes every obstruction; the same non-retrogressive knowledge, because it is equal to the wisdom of the tathāgatas; the same taking of birth, because he shows himself as the occasion requires and ripens beings; the same abiding, because he abides within the gate of skillful means of all-knowledge; the same realm, because upon the objects of the Dharma realm he gains mastery; the same non-dependence, because he forever cuts off every mind that leans upon something; the same expounding of the Dharma, because he has already entered the knowledge of the sameness of all dharmas; the same diligent cultivation, because he ever receives the protective mindfulness of the buddhas; the same spiritual power, because he awakens beings and causes them to cultivate all the bodhisattva practices; the same spiritual might, because he can enter the sea of worlds in the ten directions; the same dhāraṇī, because he universally beholds the sea of all retention; the same secret Dharma, because he knows the wondrous Dharma gates within all scriptures; the same profound Dharma, because he understands all dharmas to be like empty space; the same light, because it universally shines upon all the worlds; the same gladness, because in accord with the minds of beings he reveals to them and causes them to rejoice; the same quaking, because for beings he shows the power of spiritual power and universally quakes all the lands of the ten directions; the same non-vanity, because whoever sees him, hears him, or calls him to mind has his mind subdued; the same going forth, because he fulfills the sea of all the great vows and perfects the knowledge of the ten powers of the Tathāgata.

Rejoicing and Praising: Sudhana Speaks Ten Verses (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time, Sudhana the youth contemplated the night goddess Great Vow, Vigor, and Power Who Rescues All Beings, raised ten kinds of pure mind, and gained the same practice as the bodhisattvas, as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, such as these; and having gained them, his mind was purer still, and so he bared his right shoulder, bowed to the night goddess’s feet, joined his palms with a single mind, and praised her in verse, saying:

“I have raised a firm resolve, and set my will upon seeking the unsurpassed awakening; and now, here with this good friend, I raise the mind that regards her as myself.

Because I have seen the good friend, I have gathered pure and white dharmas without end, extinguished the many stains of offense, and perfected the fruit of awakening.

Seeing the good friend, I adorn my own mind with merit and virtue, and to the end of the land-kalpas of the future diligently cultivate the path I walk.

I call the good friend to mind: she gathers me in and enriches me, and shows me in full the right teaching and the true Dharma.

She has shut the evil destinies and shown the road of men and devas, and has revealed as well the path by which the tathāgatas perfect all-knowledge.

I call the good friend to mind: she is the treasury of the merit and virtue of the buddhas, and in thought after thought is able to give birth to a great sea of merit and virtue like empty space.

She gives me the perfections, adds to me merit beyond reckoning, nurtures my pure merit and virtue, and causes me to wear the headcloth of a buddha.

I call the good friend to mind: she is able to fulfill the path of buddha-knowledge; I vow to rely upon her always and to fulfill the pure and spotless Dharma.

Because I have all these, my merit and virtue is complete in every part, and universally, for the sake of beings, I proclaim the path of all-knowledge.

The holy one is my teacher, who has given me the unsurpassed Dharma; though measureless and numberless kalpas should pass, I could not repay her kindness.”

Inquiring after the Essentials of the Dharma: Three Questions (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time, when Sudhana had finished speaking these verses, he said: “Great holy one! I pray you will tell me: what is this liberation gate called? How long has it been since you raised the mind? And how much longer before you will gain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi?”

Setting Up the Name of the Dharma Gate (Chengguan’s Outline)

The night goddess told him, saying:

“Son of good family! This liberation gate is named ‘teaching and converting beings so as to cause good roots to be born.’

Inwardly Answering to Principle and to Phenomena: Dharma-Nature Is the Same, and Yet Form-Bodies Appear (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Because I have perfected this liberation, I have awakened to the sameness of the own-nature of all dharmas, entered into the true nature of all dharmas, realized the Dharma that leans upon nothing, and cast off the world; I know in full the differences among the forms of all dharmas, and I can also penetrate that blue, yellow, red, and white — these colors — are in their nature not real and are without difference, while yet I ever show measureless form-bodies.

The Working without Bound: Ninety-Seven Clauses of Form-Bodies (Chengguan’s Outline)

“They are these: manifold form-bodies, form-bodies not of one kind, boundless form-bodies, pure form-bodies, form-bodies of every adornment, form-bodies universally to be seen, form-bodies equal to all beings, form-bodies universally present before all beings, form-bodies whose light universally shines, form-bodies of which one never wearies at the sight, form-bodies pure in the marks and signs, form-bodies that leave all evils behind and send forth light, form-bodies that show great valor, form-bodies exceedingly hard to obtain, form-bodies that no world can veil, form-bodies that all worlds together can never finish praising, form-bodies ever contemplating in thought after thought, form-bodies that show manifold clouds, form-bodies of manifold shapes and manifest colors, form-bodies that show measureless power of mastery, form-bodies of subtle and wondrous light, form-bodies of every pure, subtle, and wondrous adornment, form-bodies that accord with and ripen all beings, form-bodies that appear before beings according to what their minds delight in and subdue them, form-bodies unobstructed that universally send forth light, form-bodies pure and without turbid filth, form-bodies complete in adornment and not to be broken, form-bodies that send forth light by the skillful means of inconceivable dharmas, form-bodies that none can outshine and that outshine all, form-bodies without any darkness that can break every darkness, form-bodies that gather all pure and white dharmas, form-bodies of great might whose merit and virtue is like a sea, form-bodies born from the cause of reverence in the past, form-bodies born of a mind pure as empty space, form-bodies most excellent and vast, form-bodies without break and without end, form-bodies whose light is like a sea, form-bodies that in all worlds lean upon nothing and are the same toward all, form-bodies pervading the ten directions without obstruction, form-bodies that in thought after thought show a sea of manifold forms, form-bodies that increase the joyful mind of all beings, form-bodies that gather in a sea of all beings, form-bodies that in each and every pore proclaim the sea of the merit and virtue of all buddhas, form-bodies that purify the sea of the desires, delights, and understandings of all beings, form-bodies that decide and know the meaning of all dharmas, form-bodies unobstructed that universally shine, form-bodies of pure light equal to empty space, form-bodies that send forth vast and pure light, form-bodies that illumine and show forth the stainless Dharma, form-bodies beyond compare, form-bodies of manifold and various adornment, form-bodies that universally shine upon the ten directions, form-bodies that show themselves in due season and answer to beings, form-bodies of stillness, form-bodies that extinguish every affliction, form-bodies that are a field of merit for all beings, form-bodies that no being sees in vain, form-bodies of the valorous power of great wisdom, form-bodies unobstructed and universally pervading, form-bodies whose wondrous body like a cloud universally appears in the world and causes beings all to receive benefit, form-bodies complete in a sea of great kindness, form-bodies of great merit like the king of jewel mountains, form-bodies that send forth light and universally shine upon every destiny of the world, form-bodies of pure great wisdom, form-bodies that give rise in beings to the mind of right mindfulness, form-bodies of the light of all jewels, form-bodies that hold within them universal light, form-bodies that show the manifold pure marks of the world, form-bodies that seek the place of all-knowledge, form-bodies that show a smile and cause beings to raise pure faith, form-bodies of the light of every jewelled adornment, form-bodies that toward all beings neither grasp nor cast away, form-bodies without fixity and without finality, form-bodies that show the power of sustaining mastery, form-bodies that show all spiritual powers and transformations, form-bodies born within the house of the Tathāgata, form-bodies far removed from all evils and filling the sea of the Dharma realm, form-bodies universally present within the assemblies at the place of the Way of every tathāgata, form-bodies possessing a sea of manifold colors, form-bodies flowing forth from good practice, form-bodies that show themselves according to whom is to be converted, form-bodies of which no world wearies at the sight, form-bodies of manifold pure light, form-bodies that show a sea of all the three times, form-bodies that send forth a sea of all lights, form-bodies that show a sea of measureless and various light, form-bodies of the light of all fragrances surpassing the worlds, form-bodies that show clouds of sun-wheels beyond telling, form-bodies that show clouds of vast moon-wheels, form-bodies that send forth clouds of measureless wondrous flowers of Mount Sumeru, form-bodies that give birth to clouds of manifold flower garlands, form-bodies that show clouds of all jewelled lotus flowers, form-bodies that raise clouds of all burning incense filling the Dharma realm, form-bodies that scatter clouds of the jewel treasury of all powdered incense, form-bodies that show the body of the great vows of all tathāgatas, form-bodies that show all words and voices expounding the sea of the Dharma, form-bodies that show the image of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

Summing Up What Is Done: Accomplished by Five Kinds of Power

“In thought after thought I show form-bodies such as these filling the ten directions, and I cause beings — whether they see, or call to mind, or hear the Dharma spoken, or by drawing near, or by gaining awakening, or by seeing spiritual power, or by beholding a transformation — all in accord with what their minds delight in, to be subdued in due season, to cast off unwholesome deeds and to abide in good practice. Son of good family! You should know that it is by the power of the great vow, by the power of all-knowledge, by the power of the bodhisattva’s liberation, by the power of great compassion, and by the power of great kindness, that such matters as these are brought about.

Concluding Both Stillness and Working: One Body Shows Measureless Buddha-Lands (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! I have entered this liberation and know that dharma-nature is without difference, and yet I can show measureless form-bodies; each single body shows a measureless sea of forms; each single form sends forth measureless clouds of light; each single light shows measureless buddha-lands; each single land shows measureless buddhas arising in the world; each single buddha shows measureless power of spiritual power, opening up the good roots of beings from former lives: those not yet planted he causes to be planted, those already planted he causes to increase, those already increased he causes to ripen; and in thought after thought he causes measureless beings to become non-retrogressive in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Taking Up the Question and Granting the Telling (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! As to what you have asked — ‘From what time onward did you raise the mind of awakening and cultivate the bodhisattva practices?’ — a meaning such as this I shall proclaim for you, sustained by the Buddha’s spiritual power.

The Wheel of Knowledge Is Apart from Discrimination (the General Setting Forth)

“Son of good family! The bodhisattva’s wheel of knowledge is far removed from every realm of discrimination, and it cannot be displayed by such kalpa-discriminations as long and short, defiled and pure, broad and narrow, many and few, within birth and death. Why is this? Because the bodhisattva’s wheel of knowledge is pure in its own nature, apart from every net of discrimination, beyond every mountain of obstruction, and shines universally according to whom is to be converted.

The First Simile: The Sun-Wheel of Itself Has Neither Day nor Night

“Son of good family! It is as when a sun-wheel of itself has neither day nor night; only when it comes forth is it called day, and when it goes down is it called night. So too is the bodhisattva’s wheel of knowledge: it has no discrimination and no three times; only in accord with the minds of beings does it appear, and, teaching and converting beings, it is said to abide in a former kalpa or a latter kalpa.

The Second Simile: The Sun Abides in the Sky While Its Reflection Appears in All Waters

“Son of good family! It is as when a sun-wheel abides in the sky above Jambudvīpa, and its reflection appears in full within all jewels and within the pure waters of rivers and seas, and there is not a being who does not see it with his own eyes, and yet that pure sun has not come here. So too is the bodhisattva’s wheel of knowledge: it goes forth from the sea of the modes of existence and abides upon the Buddha’s true Dharma, leaning upon nothing in the sky of stillness; and for the sake of converting beings it takes birth in the destinies according to their kinds, while in truth there is no birth and death, no defiling attachment, and no discrimination by the thought of a long kalpa or a short kalpa. Why is this? Because the bodhisattva has ultimately left behind the thoughts of the mind and sees every inversion; he gains the true seeing and sees the true nature of all dharmas; he knows that all the worlds are like a dream and like an illusion and that there are no beings, and only by the power of great compassion and the great vow does he appear before beings to teach, convert, and subdue them.

The Third Simile: The Ferryman Does Not Depend upon Either Shore

“Son of the Buddha! It is as when a ferryman ever uses a great ship, and within the flow of the river depends not upon this shore, cleaves not to the far shore, and abides not in mid-current, and so ferries beings across without rest. So too is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with the ship of the perfections, within the flow of birth and death he depends not upon this shore, cleaves not to the far shore, and abides not in mid-current, and so ferries beings across without rest; and though through measureless kalpas he cultivates the bodhisattva practices, he has never discriminated the length or shortness of the kalpas.

The Fourth Simile: Great Empty Space Does Not Hinder Forming or Decaying

“Son of the Buddha! It is like great empty space: all the worlds form within it and decay within it, while it has no discrimination, is pure in its own nature, has no defilement and no disorder, no hindrance and no weariness, is neither long nor short, and to the end of the kalpas of the future upholds all the lands. So too is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with a vast and deep mind equal to the realm of empty space he sets in motion the wind-wheel of the great vow, gathers in beings, causes them to leave the evil destinies and to be born in the good destinies, causes them all to abide in the station of all-knowledge, and extinguishes the afflictions and the bonds of suffering of birth and death, while in himself he has no mind of sorrow or joy, of fatigue or weariness.

The Fifth Simile: The Conjured Man Has Limbs Complete and Yet Not the Ten Matters

“Son of good family! It is like a man conjured up by illusion: though his limbs and members are complete, he has not the ten matters of the in-breath and the out-breath, cold, heat, hunger, thirst, sorrow, joy, birth, and death. So too is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with illusion-like knowledge and the dharma-body of sameness he shows forth many forms, and within the destinies of existence abides for measureless kalpas teaching and converting beings, while upon every realm within birth and death he has nothing he is glad of and nothing he wearies of, nothing he loves and nothing he hates, no suffering and no pleasure, nothing he grasps and nothing he casts away, nothing that eases him and nothing that frightens him.

Concluding with the Sustaining Power and Granting the Telling (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of the Buddha! Though the bodhisattva’s wisdom is profound and hard to fathom such as this, I shall yet, sustained by the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, expound it for you, so as to cause the bodhisattvas of ages to come to fulfill the great vow and to perfect the powers.

The Former Life: An Ancient Buddha Arises

“Son of the Buddha! In an age long past, kalpas as many as the dust motes of a sea of worlds ago, there was a kalpa named Good Light, and there was a world named Jewel Light. Within that kalpa ten thousand buddhas arose in the world. The first of them was styled the Tathāgata King of the Lamp of Empty Space and the Sound of the Dharma Wheel, Worthy of Offerings, Rightly and Universally Awakened, complete in the ten titles. Within that Jambudvīpa there was a royal city named Jewel Adornment; not far to its east there was a great forest named Wondrous Light; within the forest there was a place of the Way named Jewel Flower. Within that place of the Way there was a lion seat of the universally luminous maṇi lotus treasury. At that time, that tathāgata, upon this very seat, perfected anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and sat in the place of the Way for a full hundred years, expounding the right Dharma for the bodhisattvas, the devas, and the men of the world, and for those within Jambudvīpa whose good roots planted in former lives had already ripened.

An Evil Age and the Building of a Prison

“At that time the king was named Victorious Light. The lifespan of the men of that age was ten thousand years, and among them many took life, stole, were lewd, spoke falsely, spoke ornately, spoke with a double tongue, spoke harshly, were covetous, were angry, held wrong views, were unfilial to father and mother, and were disrespectful toward śramaṇas and brahmins. At that time, the king, wishing to subdue them, built a prison, shut them in with cangue and chain, and measureless beings suffered within it.

The Prince Good Subduing

“The king had a prince named Good Subduing, upright and excellent in his features, whom men delighted to see, complete in the twenty-eight marks of a great man.

The Prince Sees Their Suffering and Asks the King for Clemency

“Within the palace he heard from afar the voices of the prisoners in their bitter pain, and his heart was moved to pity. He came out from the palace and entered into the prison, and saw those offenders bound to one another in succession by manacle, fetter, cangue, and chain, set in a dark place, some roasted with fire, some smoked with smoke, some flogged, some suffering the cutting of the knee; naked in body and disordered in hair, hungry and thirsty and gaunt, their sinews severed and their bones laid bare, crying aloud, their pain violent. When the prince had seen them, compassion arose in his heart, and with a voice of fearlessness he consoled them, saying: ‘Do not be distressed! Do not be anxious and afraid! I shall surely cause you all to gain release.’ Then he went to where the king was and said to the king: ‘The offenders in the prison suffer a bitter poison hard to dwell in; I pray you will grant them clemency and bestow fearlessness upon them.’

The King Asks His Ministers, and the Ministers Answer

“At that time the king thereupon called together five hundred great ministers and asked them, saying: ‘How stands this matter?’ The ministers answered, saying: ‘Those offenders stole the goods of the state in secret, plotted to seize the royal throne, and entered by theft into the women’s quarters; their offense is worthy of death. And if there be any who plead for their rescue, his offense too should reach to death.’

The Prince Asks to Take Their Place with His Own Body

“At that time the prince’s compassionate mind grew keener still, and he said to the great ministers: ‘According to what you say, only release these men; and as you deem fitting, it may be visited upon me. For their sake I can bear every bitter thing; though my body be ground to powder and my life be lost, I shall not begrudge it, if only the offenders may all be spared their pain. Why is this? If I do not rescue these beings, how shall I be able to rescue all the suffering beings in the prison of the three realms? All beings within the three realms are bound by craving, veiled by delusion, poor and without merit and virtue, fallen into the evil destinies, mean in their bodily shape, unrestrained in their faculties; their minds are confused, they do not seek the path of going forth, they have lost the light of wisdom, they delight in and cleave to the three modes of existence, they cut off all merit, they extinguish all wisdom; manifold afflictions disturb and muddy their minds; they dwell in the prison of suffering and have fallen into the net of Māra; and the sufferings of birth, old age, sickness, and death, of sorrow, grief, and harm ever press upon them. How shall I cause them to be released? I should cast away body and life and draw them out!’

The Ministers Remonstrate with the King

“At that time the ministers went together to where the king was, and all raised up their hands and cried aloud, saying: ‘Let the great king know: according to the prince’s intent, the law of the king is ruined, and the calamity will reach ten thousand men. If the great king, out of love for him, does not reprove and punish him, the jewelled throne of the great king too will not long stand.’ When the king had heard these words, he flushed with great anger and gave order that the prince and those offenders be put to death.

The Queen Begs a Pardon, and the King in Anger Presses His Son

“When the queen heard of it, she grieved and wept aloud, marred her features and put on plain garments, and hastened with a thousand court women to where the king was; casting her whole body upon the ground she bowed to the king’s feet, and together they said: ‘We pray only that the great king will pardon the prince’s life!’ The king thereupon turned his head and said to the prince: ‘Do not rescue the offenders; if you rescue the offenders, I shall surely kill you!’ At that time the prince, because he sought all-knowledge alone, because he would benefit beings, and because with great compassion he would universally rescue and gather them in, was firm in mind and without any shrinking back, and said again to the king: ‘I pray you will forgive their offense; let my body receive the execution!’ The king said: ‘As you will!’

The Queen Asks for a Half-Month of Giving, and a Great Assembly of Giving Is Set Up

“At that time the queen said: ‘Great king! I pray you will let the prince give for half a month and cultivate merit as he pleases, and only then punish him.’ The king thereupon consented.

“At that time, to the north of the capital there was a great park named Sunlight, which was the place of giving of former days. The prince went there and set up a great assembly of giving; food and drink, garments, flower garlands, necklaces, unguent incense, powdered incense, banners and pennants, jewelled canopies, and adornments of every kind — whatever any man sought, there was nothing not given to him in full. When half a month had passed, upon the last day, the king, the great ministers, the elders, the householders, the people of the town, and the followers of the other paths all came and gathered.

The Buddha Comes to the Assembly with a Great Company

“At that time the Tathāgata King of the Lamp of Empty Space and the Sound of the Dharma Wheel, knowing that the season for the subduing of beings had come, came together with a great company: with the deva kings encircling him, the dragon kings making offerings, the yakṣa kings guarding him, the gandharva kings praising him, the asura kings bending their bodies and bowing, the garuḍa kings with pure minds scattering jewelled flowers, the kiṃnara kings joyfully entreating him, and the mahoraga kings gazing up with a single mind, and entered that assembly of the Dharma.

Seeing the Buddha Come from Afar

“At that time the prince and the whole company saw from afar the Buddha coming, upright and excellent, his faculties still and settled like a well-trained elephant, his mind without stain or turbidity like a pure pool, showing great spiritual power, displaying great mastery, manifesting great awesome virtue, adorning his body with the marks and signs of every kind, sending forth a great light that universally shone upon the worlds, from every pore giving birth to clouds of fragrant flame, quaking measureless buddha-lands in the ten directions and, wherever he came, universally raining down every kind of adornment; and by the Buddha’s comportment and by the Buddha’s merit and virtue, those beings who saw him were pure and joyful in mind, and their afflictions were all extinguished.

Bowing to the Buddha and Asking Him to Be Seated

“At that time the prince and the whole company cast their five limbs upon the ground, bowed to the Buddha’s feet, set out a seat, joined their palms, and said: ‘Welcome, World-Honored One! Welcome, Well-Gone One! We pray only that you will have pity upon us and gather us in, and be seated upon this seat!’ By the Buddha’s spiritual power, the devas of the Pure Abodes then transformed this seat into a seat of fragrant maṇi lotus flowers. The Buddha sat upon it, and the assembly of bodhisattvas also took their seats, encircling him on every side. At that time all the beings within that assembly of the Dharma, because they had seen the Tathāgata, had their suffering extinguished and their obstructions removed, and were fit to receive the holy Dharma.

The Buddha Expounds the Dharma, and the Prince Gains the Liberation Gate

“At that time the Tathāgata, knowing that they might be converted, with a perfect voice proclaimed a sūtra named Universally Illuminating Wheel of Causes, causing all beings to understand it each according to his own kind. At that time, within that assembly of the Dharma, eighty nayutas of beings left dust and stain behind and gained the purity of the Dharma eye; measureless nayutas of beings gained the ground of no further learning; ten thousand beings abided in the path of the Great Vehicle, entered the practice of Samantabhadra, and brought their great vows to fullness. At that very time, in each of the ten directions beings as many as the dust motes of a hundred buddha-lands were subdued in mind within the Great Vehicle; and all the beings of measureless worlds were spared the evil destinies and born among the devas. The prince Good Subduing, at this very time, gained the bodhisattva liberation gate of teaching and converting beings so as to cause good roots to be born.

Joining the Ancient and the Present (1): The Prince Was Myself (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! Was that prince of that time then another? He was my own self. Because in the past I raised a mind of great compassion and cast away body, life, and goods to rescue suffering beings, and opened the gates and gave greatly and made offerings to the Buddha, I gained this liberation. Let the son of the Buddha know that I at that time was only benefiting all beings; I did not cleave to the three realms, did not seek recompense, did not covet renown, did not wish to praise myself and belittle others; upon every realm I had nothing I coveted and clung to and nothing I feared; I only adorned the essential path of going forth in the Great Vehicle, ever delighted to contemplate the gate of all-knowledge, and cultivated ascetic practice — and so gained this liberation.

Joining the Ancient and the Present (2): The Five Hundred Great Ministers (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of the Buddha! How does it seem to you: were those five hundred great ministers of that time, who would have harmed me, then others? They are today’s Devadatta and the rest, five hundred in all. These men, having received the Buddha’s teaching and conversion, will all gain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi; in an age to come, after kalpas as many as the dust motes of Mount Sumeru, there will then be a kalpa named Good Light and a world named Jewel Light, and within it they will become buddhas. Those five hundred buddhas will arise in the world in order: the first tathāgata will be named Great Compassion; the second, Enriching the World; the third, Lion of Great Compassion; the fourth, Rescuing Beings; and so on down to the last, named King of Physicians. Though the great compassion of those buddhas is the same, yet their lands, their clans, their fathers and mothers, their taking of birth, their being born, their going forth from the household, their study of the path, their coming to the place of the Way, their turning of the right Dharma wheel, their proclaiming of the scriptures, their words, their voices, their light, their assemblies, their lifespans, the abiding of their Dharma, and their titles are each and all different.

Joining the Ancient and the Present (3): The Offenders and King Victorious Light (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of the Buddha! Those offenders, whom I rescued, are Krakucchanda and the rest, the thousand buddhas of the Worthy Kalpa, together with a million asaṃkhyeyas of great bodhisattvas — they, at the place of the Tathāgata Measureless Vigor and Power, Renown, Merit, and Wisdom, raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and now in the lands of the ten directions walk the bodhisattva path, and it is they who cultivate and increase this bodhisattva liberation of teaching and converting beings so as to cause good roots to be born. King Victorious Light of that time is today’s great treatise-master Satya Nirgrantha-putra. The men of the palace of that time and their kin are that Nirgrantha’s sixty thousand disciples — they who came together with their teacher, set up the banner of the great treatise, disputed with the Buddha, were all subdued, and received the prediction of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi: it is they. These men will all become buddhas, and the adornments of their lands, the kalpas, and the titles will each be different.

Going Forth and Studying the Path, Perfecting a Million Dharma Gates

“Son of the Buddha! When at that time I had rescued the offenders, my father and mother let me cast off land, wife and child, and treasure, and go forth and study the path at the place of the Buddha King of the Lamp of Empty Space and the Sound of the Dharma Wheel. In the course of five hundred years I purely cultivated pure conduct, and thereupon perfected a million dhāraṇīs, a million spiritual powers, a million treasuries of the Dharma, a million valorous vigors that seek all-knowledge; I purified a million gates of forbearance, increased a million minds of pondering, perfected a million powers of the bodhisattva, entered a million gates of bodhisattva knowledge, gained a million gates of prajñā-pāramitā, saw a million buddhas in the ten directions, and raised a million great vows of the bodhisattva; in thought after thought I shone in each of the ten directions upon a million buddha-lands; in thought after thought I called to mind a million buddhas within the kalpas of the former and latter bounds of the worlds of the ten directions; in thought after thought I knew the sea of the transformations of a million buddhas of the worlds of the ten directions; in thought after thought I saw the manifold destinies of all the beings within a million worlds of the ten directions, their time of birth and time of death, their good destinies and evil destinies, their fair form and foul form, as they receive them according to their deeds, and the manifold mental practices, manifold desires and delights, manifold faculties, manifold habits of deed, and manifold attainments of those beings — all of it clear and plain to me.

Taking Birth Again and Serving the Buddhas

“Son of the Buddha! When at that time my life came to its end, I was born again into that royal house and became a wheel-turning king; and after that Tathāgata King of the Lamp of Empty Space and the Sound of the Dharma Wheel had passed into extinction, next in this very place I met the Tathāgata King of the Emptiness of Dharmas and served and made offerings to him; next I became Śakra, and in this very place of the Way I met the Tathāgata Treasury of the Deva Kings and drew near and made offerings to him; next I became the Yāma deva king, and in this very world met the Tathāgata Mountain of the Awesome Might of the Great Earth and drew near and made offerings to him; next I became the Tuṣita deva king, and in this very world met the Tathāgata King of the Sound and Light of the Dharma Wheel and drew near and made offerings to him; next I became the Nirmāṇarati deva king, and in this very world met the Tathāgata King of the Knowledge of Empty Space and drew near and made offerings to him; next I became the Paranirmitavaśavartin deva king, and in this very world met the Tathāgata Banner That None Can Break and drew near and made offerings to him; next I became an asura king, and in this very world met the Tathāgata King of the Thunder-Voice of All Dharmas and drew near and made offerings to him; next I became a Brahmā king, and in this very world met the Tathāgata Universally Manifesting and Expounding the Sound of the Dharma of Transformation and drew near and made offerings to him.

Serving Ten Buddhas within the Kalpa of Sunlight

“Son of the Buddha! Within the kalpa Good Light of this world Jewel Light, ten thousand buddhas arose in the world, and I drew near to, served, and made offerings to them all. Next there was again a kalpa named Sunlight, in which sixty koṭis of buddhas arose in the world. The first tathāgata was named Mountain of Wondrous Marks; I was then a king named Great Wisdom, and at the place of that buddha I served and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Perfect Shoulders; I was a householder and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Stainless Youth; I was a great minister and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Valorous Upholding; I was an asura king and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Marks of Sumeru; I was a tree spirit and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Stainless Arm; I was a caravan leader and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Lion’s Roaming Step; I was a city spirit and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Jewelled Topknot; I was the deva king Vaiśravaṇa and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Supreme Renown of the Dharma; I was a gandharva king and drew near and made offerings to him. Next a buddha appeared in the world named Crown of Light; I was a kumbhāṇḍa king and drew near and made offerings to him.

Concluding with the Cultivation through Kalpas as Many as Dust Motes

“Within that kalpa, in this way and in order, sixty koṭis of tathāgatas arose in the world. I ever received manifold bodies here, and at the place of each buddha drew near and made offerings, teaching, converting, and perfecting measureless beings; at the place of each buddha I gained manifold gates of samādhi, manifold gates of dhāraṇī, manifold gates of spiritual power, manifold gates of eloquence, manifold gates of all-knowledge, manifold gates of the illumination of the Dharma, and manifold gates of wisdom, shone upon manifold seas of the ten directions, entered manifold seas of buddha-lands, saw manifold seas of buddhas, and purely perfected and increased and made vast. And just as within this kalpa I drew near to and made offerings to buddhas so many, so too, in every place and in kalpas as many as the dust motes of a sea of worlds, to all the buddhas who arose in the world I drew near and made offerings, heard the Dharma expounded, and received it in faith and guarded it — this too was just so. In this way, at the place of every tathāgata, I cultivated this liberation gate, and gained measureless further skillful means of liberation.”

The Repeated Verses: Thirty-Four Verses

At that time the night goddess Who Rescues All Beings, wishing to proclaim once more the meaning of this liberation, spoke verses for Sudhana, saying:

“With a mind of joy and faith and delight you ask of this Dharma of liberation, hard to conceive; sustained by the Tathāgata’s power of protective mindfulness, I proclaim it for you, and you should hear and receive it.

In vast and boundless kalpas of the past, more in number than the dust motes of a sea of lands, there was then a world named Jewel Light, and within it a kalpa styled Good Light.

Within this great kalpa of Good Light ten thousand tathāgatas arose in the world; to them all I drew near and made offerings, and from them I studied out this liberation.

There was then a royal city named Joyful Adornment, broad and level in length and breadth, exceedingly fair; beings of mingled good and evil deeds dwelt within it, some of them pure in mind, some of them doing evil.

There was then a king named Victorious Light, who ever governed the multitude with the right Dharma; his prince was named Good Subduing, upright in body and complete in every mark.

There were then measureless offenders, their bodies bound within the prison, about to be put to death; the prince, seeing them, raised compassion, and made his plea above to the king, asking clemency.

At that time the ministers said together to the king: ‘This prince now endangers the kingdom; offenders such as these should be put to death — how can they all be rescued and let go?’

At that time King Victorious Light said to the prince: ‘If you rescue those offenders, take it upon yourself!’ The prince’s pitying thought grew deeper still, and he vowed to rescue beings without shrinking back.

At that time the king’s consort and the court women came together to where the king was and said to the king: ‘We pray you will release the prince for half a month, to give to beings and to make merit.’

At that time the king, hearing this, then consented; a great assembly of giving was set up to relieve the poor; there was not a being who did not come, and whatever any sought was given to him.

When in this way the days of the half month were full, and the time of the prince’s execution drew near, the great multitude, hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of men, at one time gazed up and wept aloud together.

That buddha, knowing that the faculties of the multitude were about to ripen, came then to this assembly of the Dharma to convert the multitude, and showed forth transformations and a great adornment; there was none who did not draw near and pay reverence.

The Buddha with a single voice expounded by skillful means that sūtra of the Universal Shining of the Lamp of the Dharma; measureless beings were made supple in their intent, and all received the conferring of the prediction of awakening.

The prince Good Subduing raised joy, and raised the mind of unsurpassed awakening, and vowed to serve the Tathāgata and universally to be a place of refuge for beings.

Thereupon he went forth and abided in reliance upon the Buddha, cultivating the path of the knowledge of all modes; at that time he then gained this liberation, and with great compassion widely relieved the multitude.

Abiding therein through seas of kalpas, he closely contemplated the true nature of all dharmas, ever rescuing beings within the sea of suffering, and in this way cultivated the path of awakening.

All the buddhas who appeared within that kalpa he served without any left over; and with a mind of pure faith and understanding he heard, received, upheld, and guarded the Dharma they spoke.

Next, within seas of kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, measureless and boundless, to all the buddhas who appeared in the world I made offerings one by one, just so.

I call to mind that in the past, when I was a prince, I saw beings within the prison, and vowed to cast away my body and to rescue and guard them, and thereby realized this liberation gate.

Through vast seas of kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land I ever cultivated it, and in thought after thought caused it to increase, and gained besides boundless skillful means.

All the tathāgatas therein I gained the sight of, and by them was awakened, and they caused this liberation, and the manifold powers of skillful means, to grow clearer still in me.

Within measureless thousand koṭis of kalpas I studied this liberation gate, hard to conceive; the sea of the Dharma of the buddhas is without bound, and I am able at one time to drink it all universally.

Into all the lands of the ten directions my body universally enters without obstruction; the names of the manifold lands of the three times I know in thought after thought, all of them to the end.

All the seas of buddhas of the three times I see clearly one by one, without any left over; and I can also show forth my own bodily form and universally go to the places of those tathāgatas.

And again, in all the lands of the ten directions, before all the buddhas, the guiding teachers, I universally rain down clouds of every adornment as an offering to all the unsurpassed awakened ones.

And with a boundless sea of great questions I make entreaty to all the World-Honored Ones; and the clouds of wondrous Dharma that those buddhas rain down I receive and uphold in full, without forgetting.

And again, in measureless lands of the ten directions, before the assemblies of every tathāgata, I sit upon a seat of manifold wondrous adornment and show forth the manifold powers of spiritual power.

And again, in measureless lands of the ten directions, I show forth manifold transformations of every kind: one body shows measureless bodies, and within measureless bodies one body appears.

And again, within each and every pore, I send forth numberless great lights, and with manifold skillful means of every kind extinguish the fires of affliction in beings.

And again, within each and every pore, clouds of measureless transformed bodies appear, filling the worlds of the ten directions and universally raining down the Dharma rain to relieve beings.

All the sons of the Buddha in the ten directions who enter this liberation gate, hard to conceive, to the end of measureless kalpas of the future abide and cultivate the bodhisattva practices.

In accord with what their minds delight in they expound the Dharma for them, causing them all to be rid of the net of wrong views, revealing the road that leads to the devas and the two vehicles, and on up to the all-knowledge of the Tathāgata.

In the places where all beings take birth they show boundless bodies of every kind, appearing in many images together with their kinds, and universally, in answer to their minds, expound the Dharma for them.

If there be one who gains this liberation gate, he abides then within a boundless sea of merit and virtue, like the dust motes of a sea of lands in number, inconceivable and without measure.”

Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! I know only this liberation gate of teaching and converting beings so as to cause good roots to be born. But as for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, they surpass all the worlds, show forth bodies within the destinies, do not abide upon what is clung to, and are without obstruction; they penetrate the own-nature of all dharmas, are well able to contemplate all dharmas, gain the knowledge of no-self, realize the Dharma of no-self, and teach, convert, and subdue all beings ever without rest; their minds ever abide in the Dharma gate of non-duality, and they universally enter the sea of all words and speech — how could I now be able to know or to tell of their sea of merit and virtue, their valorous knowledge, the place where their minds walk, the realm of their samādhi, or the power of their liberation?

Pointing Out the Next Friend: The Park of Lumbinī · Perfect in Wondrous Virtue (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! In this Jambudvīpa there is a park named Lumbinī; within that park there is a spirit named Perfect in Wondrous Virtue. Go there and ask her: how is a bodhisattva to cultivate the bodhisattva practices, to be born within the house of the Tathāgata, to be a light for the world, and to be without weariness to the end of the kalpas of the future?”

Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time Sudhana the youth bowed to the night goddess’s feet, circled her measureless times, joined his palms and gazed up, and took his leave and departed.

Seeking in Accord with the Teaching (Chengguan’s Outline): From the Night Goddess Before, He Walks On to the Lumbinī Grove

At that time, Sudhana the youth, having gained the bodhisattva liberation at the place of the night goddess Great Vow, Vigor, and Power Who Rescues All Beings, called it to mind all along his way and cultivated it all along his way, and he penetrated it and made it grow.

Then step by step he journeyed on until he came to the Lumbinī Grove, and searched all through it for that goddess Wondrous Virtue. Only then did he see her within a storeyed pavilion adorned with every kind of jewelled tree, seated upon a lion seat of jewelled lotus blossoms, with twenty koṭis of nayutas (a number exceedingly great) of devas reverently circling her, and she was expounding for them the Scripture of the Sea of the Bodhisattva’s Taking of Birth, so that they might all be born into the house of the Tathāgata and make the great sea of the bodhisattva’s merit and virtue grow.

Seeing, Paying Respect, and Inquiring (Chengguan’s Outline): Three Things He Does Not Yet Know

When Sudhana had seen her, he bowed to her feet, joined his palms and stood before her, and said: “Great Holy One! I have already raised, before this, the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi (the mind of unsurpassed, right, and universal awakening); yet I am still unable to know how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the bodhisattva practices, how he is to be born into the house of the Tathāgata, and how he is to be a great light for the world.”

That goddess answered, saying:

Setting Forth the Number and Praising Its Excellence (Chengguan’s Outline): Ten Treasuries of Taking Birth — Accomplish This Dharma and One Is Born into the House of the Tathāgata

“Son of good family! A bodhisattva has ten treasuries of taking birth. If a bodhisattva accomplishes this Dharma, then he is born into the house of the Tathāgata; in thought after thought he makes the bodhisattva’s roots of good grow; he is not wearied and not slack, not disgusted and not turned back; he is without break and without loss; he leaves behind the many delusions; there arises in him no mind that is timid and weak, or vexed and regretful; he tends toward all-knowledge; he enters the gate of the Dharma realm; he raises up a vast mind; he makes the perfections grow; he accomplishes the unsurpassed awakening of the buddhas; he casts off the many destinies of the world; he enters the ground of the Tathāgata; he obtains surpassing spiritual power; the dharmas of the buddhas are ever present before his eyes; and he accords with the objective realm of the real meaning of all-knowledge.

Calling for the Number and Listing the Names (Chengguan’s Outline): The Ten Names

“Which ten? First, the treasury of taking birth of vowing ever to make offerings to all the buddhas; second, the treasury of taking birth of raising the mind of awakening; third, the treasury of taking birth of contemplating the gates of the Dharma and cultivating them with diligence; fourth, the treasury of taking birth of illumining the three times universally with a deep and pure mind; fifth, the treasury of taking birth of even light; sixth, the treasury of taking birth of being born into the house of the Tathāgata; seventh, the treasury of taking birth of the light of the buddhas’ power; eighth, the treasury of taking birth of contemplating the gate of universal knowledge; ninth, the treasury of taking birth of universally displaying adornment; tenth, the treasury of taking birth of entering the ground of the Tathāgata.

The First Treasury of Taking Birth: Vowing Ever to Make Offerings to All the Buddhas

“Son of good family! What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of vowing ever to make offerings to all the buddhas’? Son of good family! When a bodhisattva first raises the mind, he makes a vow such as this: ‘I shall honor, revere, and make offerings to all the buddhas; I shall see the buddhas and never have my fill; in the presence of the buddhas I shall ever give rise to love and delight, ever raise up deep faith, cultivate every kind of merit and virtue, and never rest.’ This is the bodhisattva’s treasury of taking birth of the first gathering of the roots of good for the sake of all-knowledge.

The Second Treasury of Taking Birth: Raising the Mind of Awakening

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of raising the mind of awakening’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva raises the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. That is to say: he raises the mind of great compassion, because he would rescue and protect all beings; he raises the mind of making offerings to the buddhas, because he would serve them to the very end; he raises the mind of seeking the right Dharma everywhere, because he grudges nothing at all; he raises the mind of vast tending-toward, because he seeks all-knowledge; he raises the mind of measureless kindness, because he would gather in beings universally; he raises the mind of not forsaking any being, because he has put on the armor of the firm vow that seeks all-knowledge; he raises the mind that is without flattery or deceit, because he would gain the knowledge that is in accord with the real; he raises the mind that acts as he has said, because he would cultivate the bodhisattva path; he raises the mind that does not deceive the buddhas, because he would guard the great vows of all the buddhas; he raises the mind of the vow of all-knowledge, because he would teach and convert beings to the very end of the future and never rest. It is because of the merit and virtue of a mind of awakening such as this, as many as the dust motes of buddha-lands, that the bodhisattva comes to be born into the house of the Tathāgata. This is the bodhisattva’s second treasury of taking birth.

The Third Treasury of Taking Birth: Contemplating the Gates of the Dharma and Cultivating Them with Diligence

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of contemplating the gates of the Dharma and cultivating them with diligence’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva (great bodhisattva) raises the mind that contemplates the sea of all the gates of the Dharma; raises the mind that dedicates and directs toward the fully rounded path of all-knowledge; raises the mind of right mindfulness that is without faulty deeds; raises the mind of the purity of the sea of all the bodhisattva samādhis; raises the mind that cultivates to completion all the merit and virtue of a bodhisattva; raises the mind that adorns all the bodhisattva paths; raises the mind of the great and vigorous practice that seeks all-knowledge, cultivating every kind of merit and virtue as a kalpa-fire blazes and never resting; raises the mind that cultivates the practice of Samantabhadra and teaches and converts all beings; raises the mind that is well trained in every deportment, that cultivates the merit and virtue of a bodhisattva, that casts off all that it possesses, and that abides in the real mind of having nothing at all. This is the bodhisattva’s third treasury of taking birth.

The Fourth Treasury of Taking Birth: Illumining the Three Times Universally with a Deep and Pure Mind

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of illumining the three times universally with a deep and pure mind’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva is furnished with a pure and superior mind; he gains the light of the Tathāgata’s awakening; he enters the sea of the bodhisattva’s skillful means; his mind is firm as a diamond; he turns his back upon and casts off the taking of birth in all the destinies of existence; he accomplishes the sovereign power of all the buddhas; he cultivates surpassing practice; he is furnished with the bodhisattva’s faculties; his mind is bright, pure, and white; the power of his vows does not waver; he is ever kept in mind and guarded by the buddhas; he shatters all the mountains of hindrance and obstruction; and he becomes universally a place of reliance for beings. This is the bodhisattva’s fourth treasury of taking birth.

The Fifth Treasury of Taking Birth: Even Light

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of even light’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva is complete in the many practices and teaches and converts beings universally; all that he possesses he is able to give away entirely; he abides in the objective realm of the buddhas’ ultimate pure discipline; he is complete in the dharma of patience and accomplishes the light of the buddhas’ patience with the dharmas; with great vigor he tends toward all-knowledge and reaches the further shore; he cultivates the meditative concentrations and gains the concentration of the universal gate; his pure knowledge is fully rounded, and with the sun of wisdom he clearly and distinctly illumines all dharmas; he gains the unobstructed eye, sees the sea of the buddhas, and awakens into the real nature of all dharmas; in all the worlds, those who see him rejoice, and he is well able to cultivate the gate of the Dharma that is in accord with the real. This is the bodhisattva’s fifth treasury of taking birth.

The Sixth Treasury of Taking Birth: Being Born into the House of the Tathāgata

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of being born into the house of the Tathāgata’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva is born into the house of the Tathāgata and abides in the company of the buddhas; he accomplishes all the profound gates of the Dharma; he is furnished with the pure great vows of the buddhas of the three times; he gains the one same root of good of all the buddhas; he shares one substance and nature with the Tathāgatas; he is furnished with world-transcending practice and with white and pure good dharmas; he abides in the vast gate of the Dharma of merit and virtue; he enters the samādhis and sees the spiritual power of the buddhas; according to what should be taught and converted, he purifies beings; he answers according to what is asked, and his eloquence has no end. This is the bodhisattva’s sixth treasury of taking birth.

The Seventh Treasury of Taking Birth: The Light of the Buddhas’ Power

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of the light of the buddhas’ power’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva enters deeply into the power of the buddhas; he journeys through the buddha-lands and his mind does not turn back; he makes offerings to and serves the assemblies of bodhisattvas without weariness; he understands that all dharmas arise as a conjuring does; he knows that the worlds are as things seen in a dream; that all forms and marks are like light and shadow; that what spiritual power does is like a transformation; that all takings of birth are like reflections; that the buddhas’ expounding of the Dharma is like the echo in a valley; and he reveals the Dharma realm and brings all of it to its end. This is the bodhisattva’s seventh treasury of taking birth.

The Eighth Treasury of Taking Birth: Contemplating the Gate of Universal Knowledge

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of contemplating the gate of universal knowledge’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva abides in the station of youthful purity; he contemplates each single gate of knowledge of all-knowledge; through measureless kalpas he sets forth all that bodhisattvas practice; with regard to the profound samādhis of the bodhisattvas his mind gains mastery; in thought after thought he is born in the presence of the Tathāgatas of the worlds of the ten directions; within objective realms that have distinctions he enters the concentration that is without distinction; within dharmas that are without distinction he displays the knowledge that has distinctions; within measureless objective realms he knows that there is no objective realm; within the very least of objective realms he enters measureless objective realms; he penetrates the nature of dharmas as vast and boundless; he knows that the worlds are all set up as mere designations, and that all of them are what the discerning mind raises up. This is the bodhisattva’s eighth treasury of taking birth.

The Ninth Treasury of Taking Birth: Universally Displaying Adornment

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of universally displaying adornment’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva is able to adorn measureless buddha-lands in every kind of way; he is able universally to conjure forth all beings and the bodies of the buddhas; he gains fearlessness and expounds the pure Dharma; he flows throughout the Dharma realm without obstruction; according to what the minds of beings delight in, he causes them all to know and to see; he displays every kind of practice that accomplishes awakening, and causes them to raise up the unobstructed path of all-knowledge; and what he does in this way never misses its time, while he is ever within the samādhi that is the treasury of Vairocana’s wisdom. This is the bodhisattva’s ninth treasury of taking birth.

The Tenth Treasury of Taking Birth: Entering the Ground of the Tathāgata

“What is called ‘the treasury of taking birth of entering the ground of the Tathāgata’? Son of good family! This bodhisattva receives the Dharma of consecration in the presence of all the Tathāgatas of the three times, and knows universally the sequence of all objective realms. That is to say: he knows the sequence of the dying away and the taking of birth of all beings in their earlier and later limits; the sequence of the practice of all bodhisattvas; the sequence of the thoughts in the minds of all beings; the sequence of the becoming buddhas of the Tathāgatas of the three times; the sequence of expounding the Dharma by skillful means; and he knows too the sequence of the names of all the kalpas of the first, the middle, and the last limits, whether they are forming or falling apart. According to what beings ought to be taught and delivered, he displays for them the merit and virtue and the adornment of accomplishing the path; with spiritual power he expounds the Dharma, and with skillful means he tames them. This is the bodhisattva’s tenth treasury of taking birth.

Concluding Praise of the Excellent Benefit (Chengguan’s Outline): What Follows When the Ten Dharmas Are Complete

“Son of the Buddha! If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva cultivates these ten dharmas, makes them grow, brings them to fullness, and accomplishes them, then within one adornment he can display every kind of adornment; and adorning all lands in this way, he opens the way for and awakens all beings, to the end of the kalpas of the future without rest; he expounds every kind of objective realm and every kind of ripening within the sea of the Dharma of all the buddhas, and hands on in turn measureless dharmas; he displays the inconceivable sovereign power of a buddha, filling the whole of empty space and the Dharma realm; within the sea of the mind-and-conduct of beings he turns the wheel of the Dharma; in all worlds he displays the accomplishing of buddhahood, constantly and without break; with pure speech and sound beyond telling he expounds all dharmas, dwelling in measureless places and penetrating them without obstruction; with all dharmas he adorns the place of the Way, and according to the differences in what beings desire, delight in, and understand, he displays the accomplishing of buddhahood; he reveals measureless and profound treasuries of the Dharma, and teaches and brings to accomplishment all the worlds.”

The Opening Clause of the Verses in Repetition, and the First through the Third Verses

At that time, the goddess of the Lumbinī Grove, wishing to make this meaning plain once more, by the spiritual power of the Buddha contemplated the ten directions universally and spoke in verse, saying:

“The highest and stainless pure mind, seeing all buddhas and never having its fill, vowing to make offerings ever to the end of the future — this is the treasury of taking birth of the one of bright wisdom.

Within the lands of all the three times, all the beings and all the buddhas — vowing to deliver them, ever gazing upon and serving them — this is the treasury of taking birth of the one hard to conceive.

Hearing the Dharma and never having one’s fill, delighting to contemplate, throughout the three times without obstruction, body and mind pure as empty space — this is the treasury of taking birth of the one of renown.

The Fourth through the Seventh Verses

His mind ever abides in the sea of great compassion, firm as a diamond and as a mountain of jewels, penetrating the gate of the knowledge of all modes — this is the treasury of taking birth of the most surpassing one.

Great kindness covers all things universally, wondrous practice ever makes the sea of the perfections grow, and with the light of the Dharma he shines upon the multitudes — this is the treasury of taking birth of the heroic and mighty one.

Penetrating the nature of dharmas, his mind without obstruction, born into the house of the buddhas of the three times, entering universally the sea of the Dharma realm of the ten directions — this is the treasury of taking birth of the one of bright knowledge.

The dharma-body pure, the mind without obstruction, going universally to the lands of the ten directions, with none of the powers of the buddhas unaccomplished — this is the inconceivable treasury of taking birth.

The Eighth through the Tenth Verses

Entering deep wisdom and already at ease, brought to the end in the samādhis as well, contemplating the gate of all-knowledge that is in accord with the real — this is the treasury of taking birth of the one of the true body.

Cleansing and ordering all the lands of the buddhas, diligently cultivating the dharma that teaches and converts beings universally, displaying the sovereign power of the Tathāgata — this is the treasury of taking birth of the one of great name.

Long since he has cultivated sarvajña (all-knowledge), swiftly he can tend toward and enter the station of the Tathāgata, knowing that the Dharma realm is wholly without obstruction — this is the treasury of taking birth of the sons of the buddhas.

Setting Up the Name of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline): What This Dharma Gate Is Called

“Son of good family! A bodhisattva furnished with these ten dharmas is born into the house of the Tathāgata and becomes a pure light for all the worlds. Son of good family! I, from measureless kalpas onward, have gained this liberation gate of taking birth at ease.”

Sudhana’s Second Question: What Is the Objective Realm of This Liberation Gate

Sudhana said: “Holy one! What is the objective realm of this liberation gate?”

She answered, saying:

Taking Birth in Accord with a Vow (Chengguan’s Outline): It Was Because of a Vow of Old That I Was Born in This Garden

“Son of good family! I made a vow before this: ‘May I be able to draw near whenever all bodhisattvas display the taking of birth; may I enter the measureless sea of the taking of birth of the Tathāgata Vairocana.’ By the power of that vow of old, I was born in the Lumbinī Park within Jambudvīpa of this world, and single-mindedly I kept in mind when the bodhisattva would come down and be born; and when a hundred years had passed, the World-Honored One did indeed come from the Tuṣita heaven and take birth here.

The Ten Auspicious Signs in the Grove (One through Three): The Ground Levelled · Diamond for Ground · The Tāla Trees

“At that time, within this grove there appeared ten signs. Which ten? First, the ground within this park of itself became level all at once, and the pits and the mounds all vanished away.

“Second, diamond was made the ground, and it was adorned with the many jewels, and there were no shards or tiles, no thorns or brambles, no stumps or stubs.

“Third, jewelled tāla trees stood ranged in rows all around, and their roots were planted deep, down to the water’s verge.

The Ten Auspicious Signs in the Grove (Four through Seven): Fragrant Shoots · Blossom Garlands · The Trees Opening Jewelled Blossoms · Blossoms Born in the Pools

“Fourth, there grew forth every kind of fragrant shoot, and there appeared every kind of treasury of fragrance; jewelled fragrance was made into trees, whose boughs spread out and gave their shade, and the fragrance of them all surpassed the fragrances of the heavens.

“Fifth, every kind of wondrous garland of blossoms and jewelled implement of adornment stood ranged in rows and spread abroad, filling every place.

“Sixth, all the trees within the park of themselves opened blossoms of maṇi jewels.

“Seventh, within all the ponds and pools blossoms were born of themselves, welling up out of the ground and spread all around upon the face of the water.

The Ten Auspicious Signs in the Grove (Eight through Ten): The Eight Classes Gather · The Goddesses Bear Up Offerings · The Buddhas Send Forth Light

“Eighth, at that time within this grove, of the devas who dwell in the desire realm and the form realm of the Sahā world, and of the dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas, all the kings — there was not one who did not come and gather, and all of them stood with palms joined.

“Ninth, all the goddesses within this world, down to the mahoraga women, gave rise to gladness, and each of them bore up every kind of implement of offering, and stood in reverence before the Biluocha tree.

“Tenth, from within all the buddhas 『𪗇』 of the ten directions there was sent forth a light named ‘the Lamp of the Bodhisattva’s Taking of Birth at Ease,’ which shone universally upon this grove; and within each single light there appeared, in full, all the spiritual transformations at the buddhas’ taking of birth and at their being born, and the merit and virtue of the taking of birth of all bodhisattvas, and there came forth from it every kind of speech and sound of the buddhas.

The Conclusion of the Ten Signs: Having Seen These Signs, My Gladness Was Measureless

“These are the ten auspicious signs within the grove. When these signs appeared, the deva kings and the rest knew that a bodhisattva was about to come down and be born; and when I saw these auspicious signs, my gladness was without measure.

The Ten Auspicious Signs of Light (Chengguan’s Outline: Seeing the Light Displayed as She Came Forth from the City)

“Son of good family! When Lady Māyā came forth from the city of Jiapiluo and entered this grove, there appeared again ten auspicious signs of light, causing beings to gain the light of the Dharma. Which ten? That is to say: the light of the treasury of all jewelled blossoms; the light of the treasury of jewelled fragrance; the light of the jewelled lotus opening and setting forth real and wondrous sound; the light of the first raising of the mind by the bodhisattvas of the ten directions; the light of the spiritual transformations displayed by all bodhisattvas who have gained entry into the grounds; the light of the knowledge of all bodhisattvas who have cultivated the perfections to fullness; the light of the knowledge of the great vows of all bodhisattvas; the light of the knowledge of the skillful means by which all bodhisattvas teach and convert beings; the light of the real knowledge by which all bodhisattvas realize the Dharma realm; the light of all bodhisattvas gaining the sovereign taking of birth, the going forth from the household, and the accomplishing of right awakening of a buddha.

“These ten lights shone universally upon the minds of measureless beings.

The Ten Spiritual Transformations about to Precede the Birth (Chengguan’s Outline): The General Calling

“Son of good family! When Lady Māyā was seated beneath the Biluocha tree, there appeared again the ten spiritual transformations that precede a bodhisattva’s being born. Which ten?

The First Transformation: The Eight Classes Gather like Clouds, and the Pores Send Forth Light That Stills Suffering

“Son of good family! When the bodhisattva was about to be born, the deva sons and the goddesses of the desire realm, and all the devas of the form realm, and the dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas together with their retinues, gathered like clouds, one and all, for the sake of making offerings. The majesty and virtue of Lady Māyā were surpassing, and from all the pores of her body there was sent forth a light that shone universally upon the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system without obstruction, so that every other light was hidden away and did not appear; and it put an end to the afflictions of all beings and to the sufferings of the evil destinies. This is the first spiritual transformation preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Second Transformation: Within Her Womb There Appear All the Forms of the Three-Thousandfold World

“Again, son of good family! At just that time, within the womb of Lady Māyā there appeared in full all the forms and images of the three-thousandfold world; and within those hundred koṭis of Jambudvīpas, each had its cities and each had its parks and groves, their names differing one from another, and in each there was a Lady Māyā dwelling within it with the host of devas circling her, and for each of them there was displayed the inconceivable marks of the spiritual transformations that precede the bodhisattva’s coming to birth. This is the second spiritual transformation preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Third Transformation: Her Pores Display the Tathāgata’s Offerings to the Buddhas and Hearing of the Dharma in Ages Past

“Again, son of good family! All the pores of Lady Māyā displayed how the Tathāgata, when in ages past he cultivated the bodhisattva path, reverently made offerings to all the buddhas and heard the sound of the buddhas expounding the Dharma. It is just as a bright mirror, or as water, can display the forms of the sun and moon, the stars and constellations, the clouds and thunder that are in empty space; the pores of Lady Māyā’s body were just so, able to display the causes and conditions of the Tathāgata in ages past. This is the third spiritual transformation preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Fourth Transformation: Her Pores Display What Was Relied Upon in Cultivation in Ages Past

“Again, son of good family! The pores of Lady Māyā’s body, each single one of them, displayed how the Tathāgata, when in ages past he cultivated the bodhisattva practices, dwelt in such worlds, such cities and hamlets, such mountains, groves, rivers, and seas, such kalpa-numbers of beings; how he met with the arising of a buddha in the world, and entered pure lands; how, according to the birth he received, his life-span was long or short; how he relied upon good friends and cultivated good dharmas; and how, in every place of his birth in every land, Lady Māyā was ever his mother. All of these things there was not one that was not displayed in full within her pores. This is the fourth spiritual transformation preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Fifth Transformation: Her Pores Display the Form, Clothing, Food, Suffering, and Ease of Ages Past

“Again, son of good family! Each single pore of Lady Māyā displayed how the Tathāgata, when in ages past he cultivated the bodhisattva practices, according to the place where he was born, had such form and marks and figure, such clothing and food and drink, such suffering and ease — each of them displayed universally, plain and distinct. This is the fifth spiritual transformation preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Sixth Transformation: Her Pores Display Universally the Giving in Ages Past of What Is Hard to Give

“Again, son of good family! The pores of Lady Māyā’s body, each single one of them, displayed how the World-Honored One, when in ages past he cultivated the practice of giving, gave away what is hard to give — his head, his eyes, his ears, and his nose; his lips, his tongue, and his teeth; his body, his hands, and his feet; his blood, his flesh, his sinews, and his bones; his sons, his daughters, his wife and his consorts; his cities and his palaces; his clothing and his necklaces; his gold, his silver, and his jewelled goods. — All such inward and outward things as these, and one also saw the figures of those who received them, their voices, and the places where they were. This is the sixth spiritual transformation preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Seventh Transformation: The Grove Displays the Entering of the Womb by the Buddhas of Old

“Again, son of good family! When Lady Māyā entered this park, this grove universally displayed the lands, the parks and groves, the clothing, the blossom garlands, the paste-incense and powdered incense, the banners and silks, the pennons and canopies — all the things adorned with the many jewels — that were there when all the buddhas of the past entered their mothers’ wombs, and the finest and most wondrous sounds of music and of chanting, causing beings universally to see them and to hear them. This is the seventh spiritual transformation at the time preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Eighth Transformation: From Her Body Come Forth Palaces and Pavilions of the Maṇi Jewel King

“Again, son of good family! When Lady Māyā entered this park, there came forth from her body the palaces and storeyed pavilions of the maṇi jewel king in which bodhisattvas dwell, surpassing what is dwelt in by all devas, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas and by the human kings; jewelled nets covered them above, wondrous fragrance perfumed them universally, the many jewels adorned them, within and without they were pure, each of them had its distinctions and they were not confused with one another, and they filled the whole of the Lumbinī Park all around. This is the eighth spiritual transformation at the time preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Ninth Transformation: From Her Body Comes Forth a Host of Bodhisattvas Equal to Vairocana

“Again, son of good family! When Lady Māyā entered this park, there came forth from her body bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of ten unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands, and the bodily figures and features of those bodhisattvas, their marks and signs and their light, their bearing in going and in staying, their spiritual power and their retinues, were all equal to those of the bodhisattva Vairocana and without difference from them, and all of them at one and the same time praised the Tathāgata. This is the ninth spiritual transformation at the time preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

The Tenth Transformation: From the Diamond Verge Comes Forth the Great Lotus, the Treasury Adorned with All Jewels

“Again, son of good family! When Lady Māyā was about to give birth to the bodhisattva, all at once, before her, there came forth from the diamond verge a great lotus blossom named ‘the Treasury Adorned with All Jewels.’ Diamond was made its stalk, the many jewels its filaments, and the wish-fulfilling jewel king its calyx; it had leaves as many as the dust motes of ten buddha-lands, all of them made of maṇi jewels, with jewelled nets and jewelled canopies covering it above. All the deva kings together held it up; all the dragon kings sent down a rain of fragrance; all the yakṣa kings reverently circled it and scattered the blossoms of the heavens; all the gandharva kings sent forth subtle and wondrous sounds, chanting in praise of the merit and virtue of the bodhisattva’s offerings to the buddhas in ages past; all the asura kings cast off the mind of arrogance and bowed their heads in reverence; all the garuḍa kings let down jewelled silks and jewelled pennons that filled the whole of empty space; all the kiṃnara kings gazed up in gladness and chanted in praise of the merit and virtue of the bodhisattva; all the mahoraga kings gave rise to gladness, chanted in praise, and rained down universally clouds of every kind of jewelled adornment. This is the tenth spiritual transformation at the time preceding the bodhisattva’s being born.

Rightly Beholding the Birth (Chengguan’s Outline): Four Similes

“Son of good family! When the Lumbinī Park had displayed ten signs such as these, only then was the body of the bodhisattva born. It was as when a pure sun-disc appears in empty space; as when an auspicious cloud comes forth on the crest of a high mountain; as when lightning flashes out from within thick cloud; as when a great torch is kindled within the dark of night. At that time the bodhisattva was born from his mother’s side, and the light of his bodily marks was just so.

Inward Virtue (Chengguan’s Outline): Though He Displayed a First Birth, He Had Long Since Penetrated All Dharmas

“Son of good family! The bodhisattva at that time, though he displayed a first coming to birth, had long since penetrated all dharmas as like a dream and like a conjuring, like a shadow and like an image, without coming and without going, unarisen and unceasing.

Concluding Its All-Pervadingness (Chengguan’s Outline): What Is Seen in One Place Is What Is Seen in All Places

“Son of good family! When I saw the Buddha display his first coming to birth with every kind of spiritual transformation in the Lumbinī Park within Jambudvīpa of this set of four continents, I saw also the Tathāgata displaying his first coming to birth with every kind of spiritual transformation in the Lumbinī Park within the Jambudvīpas of the hundred koṭis of sets of four continents of the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and I saw also the measureless buddha-lands within each single dust mote of the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and I saw also the measureless buddha-lands within each single dust mote of a hundred buddha-worlds, of a thousand buddha-worlds, and on to all the worlds of the ten directions; and within all such buddha-lands as these there was in every one a Tathāgata displaying the taking of birth with every kind of spiritual transformation. Thus in thought after thought, ever without a break.”

Sudhana’s Third Question: How Long Has It Been Since You Gained This Liberation

At that time Sudhana the youth said to that goddess: “Great deva, how long has it been now since you gained this liberation?”

She answered, saying:

The Former Life (One): The Arising of a Buddha in an Ancient Age, and the Parents of Old (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! In an age long past, beyond kalpas as many as the dust motes of a koṭi of buddha-lands, and beyond that number again — at that time there was a world named ‘Universal Jewel,’ and the kalpa was named ‘Joyful Delight,’ and eighty nayutas of buddhas appeared within it; and the first of them among the buddhas was named ‘Banner of Sovereign Merit and Virtue,’ complete in all ten titles. Within that world there was a set of four continents named ‘Adorned with Wondrous Light’; and within the Jambudvīpa of those four continents there was a royal capital named ‘Banner Adorned with Sumeru’; and there was a king within it named ‘Jewel-Flame Eyes’; and the consort of that king was named ‘Joyful Light.’ Son of good family! Just as in this world Lady Māyā is the mother of the Tathāgata Vairocana, so too, within that world, was the consort Joyful Light the mother of the first of those buddhas.

The Former Life (Two): Grasping the Tree and Giving Birth, and the Wet-Nurse Gaining the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! When that consort Joyful Light was about to give birth to the bodhisattva, she went together with twenty koṭis of nayutas of attendant women to the Golden Blossom Park; and within the park there was a tower named ‘Wondrous Jewel Peak,’ and beside it there was a tree named ‘All-Giving.’ The consort Joyful Light grasped a branch of that tree and gave birth to the bodhisattva, and the hosts of deva kings each bore up scented water and together bathed him. At that time there was a wet-nurse named ‘Pure Light’ who stood in attendance at her side. When the bathing was finished, the hosts of deva kings handed the bodhisattva to the wet-nurse. The wet-nurse received him with reverence, and great gladness arose in her, and at once she gained the bodhisattva samādhi of the universal eye; and having gained this samādhi, she saw universally the measureless buddhas of the ten directions, and she gained further the bodhisattva liberation at ease of displaying the taking of birth in all places. It is just as the consciousness that first receives conception is swift and unobstructed; because she had gained this liberation, so too was her seeing that all buddhas, riding upon the power of their original vows, take birth at ease.

The Former Life (Three): Joining the Ancient and the Present, and Displaying the All-Pervadingness of the Working (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! What do you think? That wet-nurse — was she some other person? It is this very body of mine. From that time onward, in thought after thought I have ever seen the Buddha Vairocana displaying the sovereign spiritual power of the sea of the bodhisattva’s taking of birth and taming beings. Just as I see the Buddha Vairocana, riding upon the power of his original vows, displaying in thought after thought the spiritual transformations of the bodhisattva’s taking of birth within the dust motes of this three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system and on to all the worlds of the ten directions, so I see all the buddhas doing wholly the same; and I revere, serve, and make offerings to them all, and hear the Dharma they expound, and cultivate according to what they expound.”

The Opening Clause of the Verses in Repetition, and the First through the Third Verses (Chengguan’s Outline: Enjoining Attention and Granting the Telling · The Arising of a Buddha in an Ancient Age)

At that time the goddess of the Lumbinī Grove, wishing to set forth once more the meaning of this liberation, sustained by the spiritual power of the Buddha, contemplated the ten directions universally and spoke in verse, saying:

“What you have asked, son of the Buddha, is the profound objective realm of the buddhas; now you should listen and receive it, and I shall tell its causes and conditions.

Beyond kalpas as many as the dust motes of a koṭi of lands there was a kalpa named Joyful Delight; eighty nayutas of Tathāgatas arose in the world at that time.

The title of the first Tathāgata was Banner of Sovereign Merit and Virtue; in the Golden Blossom Park I saw the day when he was first born.

The Fourth through the Seventh Verses (At That Time I Was the Wet-Nurse · Bearing Him Up and Beholding Him Closely)

At that time I was the wet-nurse, and my wisdom was exceedingly keen and sharp; the gods handed the bodhisattva to me, and that was the golden-hued body of the bodhisattva.

At that time I swiftly bore him up, and beheld him closely, yet could not see the crown of his head; his bodily marks were all fully rounded, each single one of them without bound.

The stainless and pure body, adorned with the marks and signs — it was as with a wondrous jewelled image, and having seen it, of myself I was glad.

Pondering upon his merit and virtue, swiftly I made the many seas of merit grow; and seeing this matter of spiritual power, I raised up the great mind of awakening.

The Eighth through the Eleventh Verses (Making Vows and Cultivating · Hearing the Dharma and Gaining Liberation)

Single-mindedly seeking the merit and virtue of a buddha, I broadened the great vows, adorning and purifying all lands, putting an end to the three evil destinies.

Universally, within the lands of the ten directions, I made offerings to numberless buddhas, cultivating my original vows, rescuing and freeing beings from suffering.

In the presence of that buddha I heard the Dharma and gained liberation, and for kalpas measureless, as many as the dust motes of a koṭi of lands, I cultivated.

All the buddhas within that kalpa I had once made offerings to, every one; I guarded and upheld their right Dharma, and cleansed and ordered this sea of liberation.

The Twelfth through the Fifteenth Verses (Chengguan’s Outline: Passing through Matters and Increasing Cultivation · Seeing All in One Thought)

The honored ones of the ten powers of the past, as many as the dust motes of a koṭi of lands, their Dharma wheels I upheld, every one, and made this liberation the brighter.

In the space of a single thought I saw, within the dust motes of these lands, that within each single one there was a Tathāgata and the seas of lands that he had purified.

Within the lands there were buddhas one and all, displaying their being born within a park, each of them displaying inconceivable and vast powers of spiritual might.

At times I saw inconceivably many bodhisattvas within koṭis of lands, dwelling above in heavenly palaces, about to realize the awakening of a buddha.

The Sixteenth through the Nineteenth Verses (Taking Birth · Going Forth · Accomplishing the Path · Turning the Dharma Wheel)

Within measureless seas of lands the buddhas display their taking of birth, expounding the Dharma with the great assembly circling them — all of this I have seen.

In a single thought I see, within koṭis of lands, bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes, going forth from the household and tending toward the place of the Way, displaying the objective realm of a buddha.

I see within the dust motes of the lands measureless buddhas accomplishing the path, each of them displaying every kind of skillful means, delivering the beings who suffer.

Within each single dust mote the buddhas turn the wheel of the Dharma, all of them with inexhaustible sound raining down universally the Dharma of sweet dew.

The Twentieth through the Twenty-Third Verses (Displaying Nirvāṇa · Dividing the Body and Making Offerings · Concluding Praise That It Cannot Be Exhausted)

Within each single dust mote of the lands, as many as the dust motes of a koṭi of lands, I see the Tathāgata one and all displaying his entering of parinirvāṇa.

Within measureless lands such as these the Tathāgata displays his being born; and I, dividing my body among them all, raise up offerings before them.

Inconceivable seas of lands, the measureless differences of the destinies — before them all I display myself and rain down the great rain of the Dharma.

Son of the Buddha, I know this liberation gate hard to conceive; through measureless koṭis of kalpas to extol it could not be exhausted.

Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline): I Know Only This One

“Son of good family! I know only this ‘bodhisattva liberation at ease of displaying the taking of birth in all places through measureless kalpas.’ As for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, they can make a single thought the treasury of all the kalpas, contemplate all dharmas, and display the taking of birth by skillful means; they make offerings universally to all the buddhas and penetrate all the dharmas of the buddhas to the very end; within all the destinies they display the taking of birth, and before all the buddhas they sit upon lotus seats; they know the time when beings ought to be delivered, and display for them the taking of birth and tame them by skillful means; within all lands they display spiritual transformations, and like reflected images they appear in full before them. How am I able to know or to tell of their merit and virtue and their practice?

Pointing Out the Friend Who Comes Next (Chengguan’s Outline): Gopā, the Woman of the Śākya Clan in the City of Jiapiluo

“Son of good family! In this city of Jiapiluo there is a woman of the Śākya clan named ‘Gopā.’ Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to teach and convert beings within birth and death?”

Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time Sudhana the youth bowed to her feet, circled her numberless times, gazed up at her with earnest care, took his leave, and departed.

Seeking (Chengguan's Outline): He Goes Toward the City of Jiapiluo

At that time, Sudhana the youth walked toward the city of Jiapiluo, and all along the way he pondered and cultivated the liberation of taking birth that the good friend before him had displayed (the Dharma gate of taking birth at ease within birth and death), making it grow and become vast, calling it to mind and refusing to let it go.

The Companion Friend Welcomes and Praises Him (Chengguan's Outline) (1) Praising That His Practice Is Already Ultimate

Step by step he journeyed on until he came to the lecture hall of the light that displays the Dharma realm everywhere, where the bodhisattvas gather. In that hall there was a spirit whose name was Sorrowless Virtue, and together with ten thousand spirits who preside over palaces he came forth to welcome Sudhana, speaking thus:

“Welcome, great man! You have great wisdom, you have great valor, you can cultivate the bodhisattva's inconceivable liberation of ease, in your mind you never forsake the vast vow, you are well able to contemplate the objective realm of all dharmas; you abide within the citadel of the Dharma, you have entered measureless gates of skillful means of every kind, you have accomplished the great sea of the merit and virtue of the Tathāgatas; you have gained subtle and wondrous eloquence, you are skilled in taming beings, you have obtained the body of holy knowledge, you constantly practice in accord, you know the differences among the many mental activities of beings, and you make them glad and turn them toward the Buddha's way.

The Companion Friend Welcomes and Praises Him (2) Praising His Vigor and the Fruit He Is to Gain

“I see that you, kind sir, cultivate wondrous practices of every kind, and that in your mind there has never been a moment's sloth, and that your bearing and your conduct are wholly pure. Before long you will gain the unsurpassed three karmas of the Tathāgatas, pure and adorned (of body, of speech, and of mind); with the marks and signs of every kind you will adorn your body, with the knowledge of the ten powers you will burnish your mind, and you will journey through the worlds.

The Companion Friend Welcomes and Praises Him (3) Praising His Vigor and the Dharma He Is to Gain

“I see that you, kind sir, are valorous and vigorous beyond compare. Before long you will gain the seeing everywhere of all the buddhas of the three times and the hearing of their preaching of the Dharma; before long you will gain the many samādhi joys of the meditative concentrations and liberations of all the bodhisattvas; before long you will enter the profound liberation of all the buddhas, the Tathāgatas.

The Companion Friend Welcomes and Praises Him (4) Establishing It by Reasoning

“Why is this? Because he who sees a good friend draws near and makes offerings, hears and receives his instruction, calls it to mind and practices it, without sloth and without turning back, without sorrow and without regret, without hindrance, so that neither Māra nor Māra's folk can trouble him — and therefore before long he must accomplish the unsurpassed fruit.”

Sudhana Receives What Has Been Said (Chengguan's Outline)

Sudhana the youth said:

“Holy one! May I gain everything just as you have now said.

Sudhana Sets Forth What He Himself Does (1) The Four Equalities That Gather In Beings (Chengguan's Outline)

“Holy one! I vow that all beings may quiet the many burning torments, may leave behind the many evil deeds, may give rise to the many kinds of ease and joy, and may cultivate the many kinds of pure practice.

“Holy one! All beings raise up the many afflictions, do the many evil deeds, and fall into the many evil destinies, where in body or in mind they constantly undergo bitter and poisonous suffering; and when the bodhisattva sees this, sorrow arises in his mind.

“Holy one! It is as when there is a man who has an only son, whose love for him reaches to the utmost, and who suddenly sees that child's limbs cut off by another, and whose mind is so pierced with pain that he cannot compose himself. So it is also with the bodhisattva mahāsattva — when he sees beings fall, through afflictions and evil deeds, into the three evil destinies and undergo suffering of every kind, sorrow arises greatly in his mind.

“And if he sees beings raise up the three kinds of good karma of body, speech, and mind, and be born among gods and men and there receive the joy of body and mind, then in that hour great gladness arises in the bodhisattva.

“Why is this? The bodhisattva does not seek all-knowledge for his own sake, he does not covet the many desires and pleasures of birth and death, he does not follow the inversion of perception, the inversion of view, or the inversion of mind, he is not turned about by the force of the fetters, the latent tendencies, or craving and views, he does not raise up the many notions of pleasure regarding beings, nor does he cling with relish to the joy of meditative concentration, and he does not dwell within birth and death because of hindrance, weariness, or turning back.

“He only sees that beings, within the many kinds of existence (birth and death in the three realms), undergo in full measure measureless sufferings of every kind, and therefore he raises up the mind of great compassion and by the force of the great vow gathers them in everywhere. Because of the force of compassion and vow he then cultivates the bodhisattva practices — in order to cut off the afflictions of all beings, in order to seek the knowledge of all-knowledge of the Tathāgatas, in order to make offerings to all the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, in order to adorn and purify all the vast lands, in order to purify and order the desires and delights of all beings together with all the activities of their bodies and minds — and within birth and death he has no weariness.

Sudhana Sets Forth What He Himself Does (2) The Sixteen Clauses of the Myriad Virtues That Benefit Beings (Chengguan's Outline)

“Holy one! The bodhisattva mahāsattva, for beings: is an adornment, in order to make them born amid the joy of wealth and honor among gods and men; is father and mother, in order to establish them in the mind of awakening; is a nurse, in order to make them accomplish the bodhisattva's way; is a guard, in order to make them leave far behind the three evil paths; is a ferryman, in order to make them cross over the sea of birth and death; is a refuge, in order to make them cast off the terrors of the Māras and the afflictions; is an ultimate, in order to make them forever gain the joy of coolness; is a ford, in order to make them enter the sea of all the buddhas; is a guide, in order to make them arrive at the island of all the Dharma jewels; is a wondrous blossom, in order to open out the mind of the merit and virtue of the buddhas; is an ornament, in order constantly to send forth the light of merit and wisdom; is a delight, in order that whatever is done may be wholly upright and fine; is a thing revered, in order to leave far behind all evil deeds; is Samantabhadra, in order to be furnished with a body upright and fine in every way; is a great brightness, in order constantly to send forth the pure light of wisdom; is a great cloud, in order constantly to rain down all the ambrosial Dharma.

“Holy one! When the bodhisattva cultivates the many practices in this way, he makes all beings give rise to love and delight and be furnished with the joy of the Dharma.”

The Spirit's Reverence Grows Deeper (Chengguan's Outline): Scattering Blossoms and Setting Forth Offerings

At that time, when Sudhana the youth was about to ascend into the Dharma hall, that spirit Sorrowless Virtue together with the host of spirits took flower garlands, unguents, and powdered incense surpassing those of the devas, together with jeweled ornaments of every kind, and scattered them upon Sudhana, and spoke verses, saying:

The Verses of the Spirit Sorrowless Virtue (1) Praising His Practice of Benefiting Beings Below (Chengguan's Outline · the first three verses)

“You now appear within the world, and are the great lamp of the world; everywhere, for the sake of beings, you diligently seek the unsurpassed right awakening.

“Within measureless koṭis and thousands of kalpas it is hard to gain a sight of you; the sun of merit and virtue this day appears, extinguishing the manifold darkness of the world.

“You see that beings are covered over by inversion and delusion, and therefore you raise up the intent of great compassion and seek to realize the way awakened to without a teacher.

The Verses of the Spirit Sorrowless Virtue (2) Praising His Practice of Seeking the Way Above Without Hindrance (Chengguan's Outline · the last seven verses)

“With a pure mind you seek the awakening of the buddhas, you serve good friends, and you do not begrudge your own body and life.

“Within the many worlds you have nothing you depend on and nothing you cling to; his mind is everywhere unhindered, pure as empty space.

“You cultivate the practice of awakening, and the merit and virtue is wholly complete; you send forth the great light of wisdom, illumining everywhere all the worlds.

“You do not leave the world, nor do you cling to the world; you move within the world without hindrance, as the wind journeys through empty space.

“It is as when a conflagration arises and nothing at all can put it out; you cultivate the practice of awakening, and the fire of your vigor is such as this.

“Valorous great vigor, firm and not to be shaken, like the lion of adamantine wisdom, journeying without fear.

“Within all the Dharma realms, in all the many seas of lands, you are able to go, and to draw near to good friends.”

He Follows Along with His Body (Chengguan's Outline)

At that time, when the spirit Sorrowless Virtue had finished these verses, because he loved and delighted in the true Dharma he followed along after Sudhana and constantly would not forsake him.

Entering the Hall and Searching (Chengguan's Outline): He Sees the Host of the Direct Recompense

At that time, Sudhana the youth entered the lecture hall of the light that displays the Dharma realm everywhere, and searched all through it for that daughter of the Śākyas, and saw her within the hall, seated upon a lion throne of jeweled lotus blossoms.

Seeing the Companions (Chengguan's Outline): The Surpassing Virtues of the Eighty-Four Thousand Maidens

Eighty-four thousand maidens surrounded her together. Of these maidens there was not one who was not born from a royal clan; all of them had in the past cultivated the bodhisattva practices and had planted the same roots of goodness, and with giving and with kindly speech they gathered in beings everywhere; they were already able to see clearly the objective realm of all-knowledge, and had cultivated and gathered together the practice of the buddhas' awakening; they constantly abided in right concentration and constantly roamed in great compassion, gathering in beings everywhere as though regarding an only child; their minds of kindness were complete and their retinues were pure; they had already in the past accomplished the bodhisattva's inconceivable skillful means, and all of them had gained irreversibility in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and were furnished with the bodhisattva's perfections; they had left far behind the many graspings and attachments and did not delight in birth and death; and though they moved within the many kinds of existence, their minds were constantly pure, and they were constantly diligent in contemplating the way of all-knowledge; they had left the net of hindrances and coverings and had gone beyond the many places of clinging, and from the Dharma body they displayed transformed forms; they had brought forth the practice of Samantabhadra and had made the bodhisattva's powers grow, and the sun of their knowledge and the lamp of their wisdom were both already complete.

Paying Respect and the Eleven Clauses of the Question (Chengguan's Outline)

At that time, Sudhana the youth came to the place of that daughter of the Śākyas, Gopā, bowed to her feet, joined his palms and stood, and spoke thus:

“Holy one! I have already first raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, yet I do not know: how is a bodhisattva, while within birth and death, not defiled by the faults of birth and death? How does he penetrate the own-nature of the Dharma, yet not abide in the stage of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas? How is he furnished with the Buddha's Dharma, yet still cultivate the bodhisattva practices? How does he abide in the bodhisattva grounds, yet be able to enter the objective realm of the buddhas? How does he go beyond the world, yet still take birth within the world? How does he accomplish the Dharma body, yet display boundless bodily forms of every kind? How does he realize the markless Dharma, yet display for beings marks of every kind? How does he know that the Dharma is in itself beyond speaking, yet expound the dharmas widely for beings? How does he know that beings are in themselves empty, yet constantly not forsake the work of teaching and converting beings? How, though he knows that the buddhas neither arise nor perish, does he still make offerings diligently without turning back? How, though he knows that the dharmas have no karma and no recompense, does he still cultivate the many good practices constantly without ceasing?”

Praising, Enjoining, and Granting the Telling (Chengguan's Outline)

At that time, the woman Gopā told Sudhana:

“Good, good! Son of good family! You are now able to ask about such practices of the bodhisattva mahāsattva — only one who cultivates the practices and vows of Samantabhadra can ask in this way.

“Listen well, listen well, and ponder and hold it well! I shall, bearing the Buddha's spiritual power, expound it for you.

The Ten Dharmas of Indra's Net: Completing the Practice of the Light of Universal Knowledge That Is Indra's Net

“Son of good family! If bodhisattvas accomplish ten dharmas, then they can complete the bodhisattva practice of the light of universal knowledge that is Indra's net. What are the ten? Namely: because of relying on good friends; because of gaining vast and superior resolve; because of gaining pure desire and delight; because of gathering together all merit and knowledge; because of hearing the true Dharma in the presence of the buddhas; because in mind they constantly do not forsake the buddhas of the three times; because they practice together with all bodhisattvas; because they are guarded and borne in mind by all the Tathāgatas; because their great compassion and wondrous vows are wholly pure; because they are able, by the power of knowledge, to cut off everywhere all birth and death. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas accomplish these dharmas, then they can complete the bodhisattva practice of the light of universal knowledge that is Indra's net.

The Ten Dharmas of Serving Good Friends

“Son of the Buddha! If a bodhisattva draws near to good friends, then he can be vigorous and not turn back, and can cultivate and bring forth the inexhaustible Dharma of the buddhas.

“Son of the Buddha! The bodhisattva serves good friends with ten dharmas. What are the ten? Namely: he has no regard for his own body and life; toward the pleasurable things of the world his mind does not covet; he knows that the natures of all dharmas are equal; he never turns back from or forsakes the vow of all-knowledge; he contemplates the true mark of all the Dharma realms; in mind he constantly forsakes all the seas of existence; he knows that the Dharma is like empty space and his mind has nothing it depends on; he accomplishes the great vows of all bodhisattvas; he is constantly able to display all the seas of lands; he purely cultivates the bodhisattva's unhindered wheel of knowledge.

“Son of the Buddha! One should serve all good friends with these dharmas, and never go against them.”

Making This Meaning Clear Again (Chengguan's Outline): Gopā's First Set of Verses (1) Putting into Verse the First Six of the Ten Practices of Indra's Net

At that time, the Śākya woman Gopā, wishing to make this meaning clear again, bore the Buddha's spiritual power, contemplated the ten directions, and spoke verses, saying:

“The bodhisattva, in order to benefit beings, with right mindfulness personally serves good friends, and reveres them as he reveres the buddhas, with a mind that is never slothful — this practice is called in the world the practice of Indra's net.

“His superior resolve is vast as empty space, and all the three times are contained within it, and lands, beings, and buddhas are so as well — this is the practice of the light of universal knowledge.

“His aspiration and delight are, like empty space, without bound; he forever cuts off the afflictions and leaves far behind the many defilements, and in the presence of all buddhas he cultivates merit and virtue — this practice is called in the world the practice of the cloud of the body.

“The bodhisattva cultivates all-knowledge, that inconceivable great sea of merit and virtue, and purifies and orders the body of merit and knowledge — this practice is called in the world the practice of no defilement.

“In the presence of all the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, he hears and receives their Dharma without ever being sated, and he is able to give rise to the lamp of the wisdom of the true mark — this practice is called in the world the practice of illumining everywhere.

“The buddhas of the ten directions are without limit, and in a single thought he can enter them all, and in mind he constantly does not forsake the Tathāgatas — this is the practice of the great vow that turns toward awakening.

Gopā's First Set of Verses (2) Putting into Verse the Last Four of the Ten Practices of Indra's Net

“He is able to enter the great assemblies of the buddhas, the seas of the samādhis of all bodhisattvas, the seas of vows and the seas of skillful means — this practice is called in the world the practice of Indra's net.

“He is sustained by all the buddhas, and to the end of the future through boundless kalpas he everywhere cultivates the way of Samantabhadra — this is the bodhisattva's practice of dividing his body.

“He sees that beings undergo great suffering, and raising up great kindness and compassion he displays himself within the world, expounding the light of the Dharma and dispelling the gloom — this is the bodhisattva's practice of the sun of knowledge.

“He sees beings within the many destinies, and gathers together for them the boundless wondrous wheel of the Dharma, making them forever cut off the stream of birth and death — this is cultivating the practice of Samantabhadra.

Gopā's First Set of Verses (3) The Last Two Verses Put into Verse the Last Two of the Ten Dharmas of Serving Good Friends (Chengguan's Outline)

“The bodhisattva cultivates skillful means such as these, and in accord with the minds of beings displays his body, everywhere within all the destinies converting and delivering measureless conscious beings.

“By the force of great kindness, compassion, and skillful means he displays his body everywhere within the world, and in accord with their understanding and their desires he preaches the Dharma for them, causing them all to turn toward the way of awakening.”

Setting Up the Name of the Dharma (Chengguan's Outline)

At that time, when the Śākya woman Gopā had finished these verses, she told Sudhana the youth:

“Son of good family! I have already accomplished the liberation gate of contemplating the sea of the samādhis of all bodhisattvas.”

Asking About Its Working (Chengguan's Outline)

Sudhana said:

“Great holy one! What then is the objective realm of this liberation gate?”

She answered, saying:

The Answer Displays the Breadth of Her Knowing (Chengguan's Outline) (1) Knowing the Causes and Fruits, Good and Evil, of the Sahā World

“Son of good family! When I enter this liberation, then I know, within the kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land of this Sahā world, all the beings within the many destinies who die here and are born there, who do good and do evil and undergo recompenses of every kind, some seeking release and some not seeking release, those rightly fixed, those wrongly fixed, and those not fixed, roots of goodness with afflictions and roots of goodness without afflictions, roots of goodness complete and roots of goodness not complete, roots of goodness gathered in by roots of non-goodness and roots of non-goodness gathered in by roots of goodness; the good dharmas and non-good dharmas gathered together in such ways I wholly know and wholly see.

The Answer Displays the Breadth of Her Knowing (Chengguan's Outline) (2) Knowing the Causes and Fruits of the Buddhas and Their Assemblies

“Further, the names and the order of all the buddhas within those kalpas I wholly know. Those buddhas, the world-honored ones, from their first raising of the mind, and their seeking of all-knowledge by skillful means, and their bringing forth of all the great seas of vows, and their making of offerings to the buddhas, and their cultivating of the bodhisattva practices, and their accomplishing of right and perfect awakening, and their turning of the wondrous wheel of the Dharma, and their displaying of the great spiritual powers, and their converting and delivering of beings — all this I wholly know.

“I also know the differences among the assemblies of those buddhas. Within those assemblies there are beings who gain release by relying upon the vehicle of the śrāvakas, and all the roots of goodness that those śrāvaka hosts cultivated in the past, together with the kinds of knowledge that they gained, I wholly know. There are beings who gain release by relying upon the vehicle of the pratyekabuddhas, and all the roots of goodness of those pratyekabuddhas, the awakening they gained, their quiescent liberation, their spiritual powers and transformations, their ripening of beings, and their entering of nirvāṇa, I wholly know.

“I also know the bodhisattva hosts of those buddhas — how those bodhisattvas from their first raising of the mind cultivated roots of goodness, brought forth measureless great vows and practices, and accomplished and fulfilled the perfections and the bodhisattva way adorned in every way; how by the power of ease they entered the bodhisattva grounds, abided in the bodhisattva grounds, contemplated the bodhisattva grounds, and purified the bodhisattva grounds, together with the marks of the bodhisattva grounds, the knowledge of the bodhisattva grounds, the gathering knowledge of the bodhisattva, the knowledge by which the bodhisattva teaches and converts beings, the knowledge by which the bodhisattva establishes, the objective realm of the bodhisattva's vast practice, the bodhisattva's practice of spiritual power, the bodhisattva's sea of samādhis, and the bodhisattva's skillful means; and the seas of samādhis that the bodhisattva enters in thought after thought, the light of all-knowledge that he gains, the lightning-cloud of all-knowledge that he obtains, the forbearance of the true mark that he gains, the all-knowledge that he penetrates, the seas of lands in which he abides, the seas of the Dharma into which he enters, the seas of beings that he knows, the skillful means in which he abides, the vows that he makes, and the spiritual powers that he displays — all this I wholly know.

Knowing the Seas of Lands by Kinds (Chengguan's Outline): The Sixfold Knowing by Kinds

“Son of good family! This Sahā world, and all the seas of kalpas to the end of the future, unfolding without a break, I wholly know.

“As I know the Sahā world, so I also know the worlds as many as the dust motes within the Sahā world, and I also know all the worlds within the Sahā world, and I also know all the worlds within a dust mote of the Sahā world, and I also know the worlds that abide without interval in the ten directions outside the Sahā world, and I also know the worlds gathered in by the world-seed to which the Sahā world belongs, and I also know the worlds gathered in by the measureless world-seeds of the ten directions within this Flower-Treasury sea of worlds of the World-Honored One Vairocana — namely: the vastness of the worlds, the establishment of the worlds, the wheels of the worlds, the sites of the worlds, the differences of the worlds, the turnings of the worlds, the lotus blossoms of the worlds, the Sumerus of the worlds, and the names of the worlds.

“All the worlds to the end of this sea of worlds, because of the power of the original vow of the World-Honored One Vairocana, I am able to know and am able to call to mind.

Displaying Separately the Causes and Fruits of Vairocana (Chengguan's Outline)

“I also call to mind all the seas of causes and conditions of the Tathāgata in the past. Namely: his gathering together of the skillful means of all the vehicles, his abiding for measureless kalpas in the bodhisattva practices, his purifying of buddha-lands, his teaching and converting of beings, his serving of the buddhas, his raising up of dwelling places, his hearing and receiving of the preaching of the Dharma, his obtaining of the many samādhis, his gaining of the many kinds of ease; his cultivating of the perfection of giving and thereby entering the great sea of the merit and virtue of the buddhas, his upholding of the precepts and his ascetic practice, his fullness of the many kinds of forbearance, his valorous vigor, his accomplishing of the many meditative concentrations, his completing of pure wisdom; his displaying of the taking of birth in all places, the wholly pure practices and vows of Samantabhadra, his entering everywhere into all lands, his purifying everywhere of buddha-lands, his entering everywhere into the sea of the knowledge of all the Tathāgatas, his gathering in everywhere of the awakening of all the buddhas, his gaining of the great light of the knowledge of the Tathāgatas, his realizing of the nature of all-knowledge of all the buddhas, his accomplishing of right and perfect awakening, and his turning of the wondrous wheel of the Dharma; together with all the assemblies at his place of the Way, and the roots of goodness planted in past ages by all the beings within those assemblies, from their first raising of the mind, their ripening of beings, their cultivation of skillful means, their growth in thought after thought, and their obtaining of the many samādhis, spiritual powers, and liberations. All of this I wholly know.

Explaining the Reason for This Knowing (Chengguan's Outline)

“Why is this? Because this liberation of mine is able to know the mental activities of all beings, the roots of goodness that all beings cultivate, the defilement and purity of all beings, the many differences among all beings, the many gates of samādhi of all śrāvakas, the quiescent samādhis, spiritual powers, and liberations of all pratyekabuddhas, and the light of the liberation of all bodhisattvas and of all Tathāgatas — because it wholly knows them all.”

Asking How Long Ago (Chengguan's Outline)

At that time, Sudhana the youth said to Gopā:

“How long ago did the holy one gain this liberation?”

She answered, saying:

The Former Life (1) The Time and Place of the Royal City, and the Marks of the Prince 〔Gopā speaking〕

“Son of good family! In a past age, past kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, there was a kalpa named Surpassing Practice, and there was a world named Fearless. Within that world there were four continents named Peace and Ease. In the Jambudvīpa of those four continents there was a royal city named Lofty and Surpassing Tree, foremost among eighty royal cities.

“At that time there was a king named Lord of Wealth, and that king had sixty thousand maidens, five hundred great ministers, and five hundred princes; and his princes were all valorous and strong, able to subdue enemies.

“His crown prince was named Lord of Majestic Virtue, upright and extraordinary, whom all delighted to look upon: the soles of his feet were level and full, the wheel marks were complete, the insteps of his feet were arched, his fingers and toes were webbed, his heels were even and straight, his hands and feet were soft, his calves were like those of the aiṇeya deer king, seven places on him were rounded and full, his male organ was hidden within a sheath, the upper part of his body was like a lion king, his shoulders were level and full, his arms were long, his bodily form was upright and straight, his neck had three lines, his cheeks were like a lion's, he was furnished with forty teeth, all of them even and close, his four canine teeth were bright and white, his tongue was broad and long and sent forth a Brahmā voice, his eyes were dark blue, his eyelashes were like a bull king's, between his brows was the hair mark, upon his crown was the fleshy topknot, his skin was fine and soft and of the color of true gold, the hairs of his body curled upward, his hair was of the color of Indra's sapphire, and his body was full and ample like a nyagrodha tree.

The Former Life (2) The Prince Goes Out to Roam and Look 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince, having received the command of his royal father, went with ten thousand maidens to the Fragrant Sprout Park, to roam and look and to sport.

“The prince at that time rode a wondrous jeweled chariot, that chariot being furnished with adornments of every kind, and there was set within it a great maṇi lion throne, and he sat upon it; five hundred maidens each took up jeweled cords and drew and drove it along, and their advancing and withdrawing had its measure, neither slow nor swift; hundreds of thousands of myriads of men held jeweled canopies of every kind, hundreds of thousands of myriads of men held jeweled banners of every kind, hundreds of thousands of myriads of men held jeweled pennants of every kind, hundreds of thousands of myriads of men made music of every kind, hundreds of thousands of myriads of men burned famous incense of every kind, and hundreds of thousands of myriads of men scattered wondrous blossoms of every kind, surrounding him before and behind as his attendants.

“The road was level and even, without high or low, and the many jewels and the mingled blossoms were spread upon it; jeweled trees stood in rows, jeweled nets were spread as a covering, and towers of every kind stretched out among them. Within those towers, in some were heaped up jewels of every kind, in some were set out adornments of every kind, in some were laid out food and drink of every kind, in some were hung garments of every kind, in some were provided the goods of livelihood of every kind, and in some there were also set upright and fine women together with measureless servants and attendants; and whatever anyone had need of was wholly given to him.

The Former Life (3) The Jeweled Maiden and Her Virtues 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time there was a matron named Excellent Manifestation, who brought with her a young girl named Complete in Wondrous Virtue — her face was upright and fine, her form and features were dignified and clean, her stoutness and slenderness were as they should be, her tallness and shortness were fitly measured, her eyes and hair were dark blue, her voice was like a Brahmā voice, she was skilled and penetrating in the crafts, she was thoroughly versed in disputation, she was respectful and diligent and never slothful, she was kind and did no harm, she was furnished with shame and conscience, she was gentle and upright, she had left behind delusion and had little desire, and she had none of the many kinds of flattery and deceit — and riding a wondrous jeweled chariot, surrounded by maidens, she came out from the royal city together with her mother and went before the prince.

The Former Life (4) She Tells Her Mother and Asks to Serve Him 〔Gopā speaking〕

“Seeing that prince and the recitation of his words, love and attachment arose in her mind, and she said to her mother:

“‘In my mind I wish that I might come to serve this man with reverence, and if my wish is not fulfilled, then I shall put an end to myself.’

“The mother told her daughter:

“‘Do not give rise to this thought. Why is that? This is very hard to obtain. This man is furnished with the many marks of a wheel-turning king, and hereafter he is to succeed to the throne and become a wheel-turning king, and a jeweled woman will appear who will soar through the air at ease. We are lowly, and are no match for him. This thing is hard to obtain — do not give rise to this thought.’

The Former Life (5) She Dreams of the Buddha's Arising 〔Gopā speaking〕

“Beside that Fragrant Sprout Park there was a place of the Way named Dharma Cloud Light. At that time there was a Tathāgata named Body of the Surpassing Sun, furnished with the ten titles, who had appeared there seven days before.

“At that time that young girl slept for a while, and in her dream she saw that buddha; and awakening from the dream, in the air a god told her:

“‘The Tathāgata Body of the Surpassing Sun accomplished right and perfect awakening at the place of the Way called Dharma Cloud Light seven days ago, and the bodhisattva hosts surround him before and behind. Devas, dragons, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, the Brahmā heaven and on up to the Highest Form Heaven, together with the spirits of the earth, the spirits of the wind, the spirits of the fire, the spirits of the water, the spirits of the rivers, the spirits of the sea, the spirits of the mountains, the spirits of the trees, the spirits of the parks, the spirits of the herbs, the spirits who preside over cities, and the rest, have all come and gathered for the sake of seeing the Buddha.’

The Former Life (6) She Sets Forth Her Own Mind (the Verses Begin) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time, because the girl Wondrous Virtue had dreamed of the Tathāgata and because she had heard of the merit and virtue of the Buddha, her mind was at ease and without fear, and before the prince she spoke verses, saying:

The First Verses of the Girl Wondrous Virtue (1) Setting Forth Her Own Virtue as Fit to Be His Companion (Chengguan's Outline · the first three verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘This body of mine is most upright and fine, my name is heard throughout the ten directions, my wisdom is beyond compare, and I am skilled and penetrating in the many crafts.

“‘Measureless hundreds of thousands of folk, seeing me, give rise to covetous attachment; but my mind toward them does not give rise to the least desire.

“‘There is no anger and there is no hatred, there is no aversion and there is no delight; I only raise up the vast mind, to benefit beings.

The First Verses of the Girl Wondrous Virtue (2) Praising the Prince and Asking to Be Received (Chengguan's Outline · the last seven verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘This day I see the prince, furnished with the marks of merit and virtue of every kind, and my mind is greatly delighted and all my faculties are glad.

“‘Your color is like a jewel of light, your hair is fine and curls to the right, your forehead is broad and your brows are slender and arched — in my mind I wish to serve you.

“‘I look upon the prince's body: it is like an image of true gold, and it is also like a mountain of great jewels, and the marks and signs are all of them radiant.

“‘Your eyes are broad and of a dark blue color, your face is like the full moon and your cheeks like a lion's, with a glad countenance and a wondrous voice — may you have pity and receive me!

“‘The mark of your tongue is broad and long and subtle, like the color of red copper; your Brahmā voice is like the voice of a kiṃnara, and those who hear it are all glad.

“‘Your mouth is square and does not draw in, your teeth are clean and white and all of them even and close, and when you speak and a smile appears, those who see it are glad in mind.

“‘Your pure body free of defilement is furnished with the thirty-two marks; you must surely, within this world, take the seat of a wheel-turning king.’

The Former Life (7) The Prince Examines Her 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince told that woman:

“‘Whose daughter are you? By whom are you guarded? If you already belong to another, then I ought not to raise up a mind of love and attachment.’

“At that time the prince asked in verse, saying:

The Prince Asks in Verse (1) Asking About the Condition of Whom She Belongs To (Chengguan's Outline · the first two verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Your body is utterly pure, and the marks of merit and virtue are complete; I now ask you: in whose place do you dwell?

“‘Who are your father and mother? To whom do you now belong? If you already belong to another, then that man has already received you.

The Prince Asks in Verse (2) Examining Her Inward Faults (Chengguan's Outline · the next three verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Do you not steal the goods of others? Have you no mind to harm others? Do you not commit unchastity? Upon what sort of speech do you abide?

“‘Do not speak of the evil of others, do not break apart the kin of others, do not encroach upon the boundaries of others, and do not be angry at others.

“‘Do not give rise to wrong and perilous views, do not do deeds that contradict one another, and do not use the power of flattery and crookedness to deceive the world by skillful means.

The Prince Asks in Verse (3) Inviting Her Onward into the Good (Chengguan's Outline · the last seven verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Do you honor father and mother? Do you revere good friends? When you see the poor and needy, can you give rise to a mind that gathers them in?

“‘If there is a good friend who instructs you and reveals the Dharma to you, can you give rise to a firm mind and honor him to the very end?

“‘Do you love and delight in the buddhas? Do you understand the bodhisattvas? Can you be reverent toward the great sea of merit and virtue of the host of monks?

“‘Can you know the Dharma? Can you purify beings? Do you abide within the Dharma, or do you abide within what is not the Dharma?

“‘When you see one who is orphaned and alone, can you raise up a mind of kindness? When you see beings of the evil destinies, can you give rise to great compassion?

“‘When you see others gain glory and joy, can you give rise to gladness? When others come and press upon you, are you without anger and vexation?

“‘Do you raise up the intent of awakening and enlighten beings? In practice through boundless kalpas, can you be without weariness?’

The Former Life (8) The Girl's Mother Answers for Her (the Verses Begin) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the girl's mother spoke verses for that prince, saying:

The Verses of the Girl's Mother in Answer (1) Displaying in General the Excellence of Her Recompense (Chengguan's Outline · the first eleven verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Prince, you should listen: I now tell of this girl, from her first birth to her growing up, and of all the many causes and conditions.

“‘Prince, upon the day when you were born, this girl too was born from within a lotus blossom, and her eyes were pure and long and broad, and her limbs and joints were wholly complete.

“‘Once, in the spring months, I roamed and looked in the Sāla Park, and saw everywhere the many herbs, all of them luxuriant.

“‘Extraordinary trees put forth wondrous blossoms, which to the sight were like auspicious clouds; fine birds called to one another in harmony, and among the groves they rejoiced together.

“‘Roaming with me were eight hundred women, upright and fine enough to steal the heart, and the garments they wore were all dignified and lovely, and their singing too was extraordinarily fine.

“‘In that park there was a bathing pool named Lotus Banner; and I sat upon the bank of the pool, surrounded by a host of maidens.

“‘Within that lotus pool there suddenly grew a thousand-petaled blossom, with jeweled petals and a stalk of lapis lazuli, and jāmbūnada gold for its dais.

“‘At that time the watches of night were about to end, and the light of the sun first appeared, and that lotus blossom just then opened out and sent forth a great pure light.

“‘That light was exceedingly blazing, like the sun when it first comes forth, illumining everywhere Jambudvīpa, and the multitude all sighed that they had never seen the like.

“‘At that time I saw this jade-like girl born from within that lotus blossom, and her body was utterly pure and her limbs and parts were rounded and full.

“‘This is a jewel among men, born from pure karma; the causes of past ages were not lost or spoiled, and this day she receives this recompense.

The Verses of the Girl's Mother in Answer (2) Praising Separately Her Upright Fineness (Chengguan's Outline · the next three verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Dark blue hair and eyes like blue lotuses, a Brahmā voice and a golden radiance, a flower garland and a topknot of many jewels, pure and without the many defilements.

“‘Her limbs and joints are wholly complete, and her body has nothing lacking or diminished, like an image of true gold set at ease amid jeweled blossoms.

“‘From her pores comes the fragrance of sandalwood, perfuming all things everywhere; from her mouth comes the fragrance of the blue lotus, and she constantly sends forth a Brahmā voice.

The Verses of the Girl's Mother in Answer (3) Making Clear That She Is Without Peer (Chengguan's Outline · three verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Where this girl dwells there is constantly the music of the gods; one of low degree should not be matched with her in this way.

“‘In the world there is no man fit to be her husband, none but you, whose body the marks adorn — may you look with favor and receive her!

“‘Neither long nor short, neither coarse nor fine, upright and fine in every way — may you look with favor and receive her!

The Verses of the Girl's Mother in Answer (4) Her Skills Are Full Within (Chengguan's Outline · five verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘The methods of graphs and of reckoning, the crafts and the many arts, she penetrates them all — may you look with favor and receive her!

“‘She is skilled in penetrating the many arts of war, deft at settling the many disputes, and able to tame those hard to tame — may you look with favor and receive her!

“‘Her body is utterly pure, and those who see it are never sated; her merit and virtue adorn her of themselves — you should look with favor and receive her!

“‘Of all the ailments that beings have, she is skilled at penetrating their arising through conditions, and gives medicine according to the ailment, so that all of them are quenched.

“‘The methods of speech in Jambudvīpa differ in measureless kinds, and on down to the sounds of music, there is none she does not penetrate.

The Verses of the Girl's Mother in Answer (5) Free of Faults and Furnished with Virtue (Chengguan's Outline · eight verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Whatever a woman can do, this girl knows it all, and she has none of the faults of women — may you look with favor and swiftly receive her!

“‘She is not jealous and not stingy, without greed and without ill will, upright and soft in her nature, far from the many coarse and harsh evils.

“‘She is reverent toward those to be honored, and serves them without opposing them, and delights in cultivating the many good practices — such a one can be in accord with you.

“‘If she sees those aged, sick, or poor and in the midst of hardship, without rescue and without refuge, she constantly gives rise to great kindness and pity.

“‘She constantly contemplates the highest meaning, and does not seek benefit and joy for herself, but only vows to benefit beings, and with this she adorns her mind.

“‘Walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, in all of it she is without heedlessness; in her speaking and in her silence alike, those who see it are glad.

“‘Though she is in all places, she has no mind of defiled attachment; and when she sees one who has merit and virtue, she delights to look and is never sated.

“‘She honors good friends, and delights to see those who have left evil behind; her mind is not restless, and she thinks first and does the deed after.

The Verses of the Girl's Mother in Answer (6) Concluding Praise of What Befits Her (Chengguan's Outline · the last one verse) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Adorned with merit and knowledge, without any hatred at all, she is the highest among women — she ought to serve the prince.’

The Former Life (9) The Prince Invites Her Again: Setting Forth the Depth of His Practice and Fearing That She Might Hinder It 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince, after he had entered the Fragrant Sprout Park, told his Wondrous Virtue and Excellent Manifestation:

“‘Good woman! I seek anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and through measureless kalpas to the end of the future I shall gather together all the dharmas that aid the way to all-knowledge, cultivate boundless bodhisattva practices, purify all the perfections, make offerings to all the Tathāgatas, uphold and guard the teachings of all the buddhas, and adorn and purify all buddha-lands; I shall cause the lineage of all the Tathāgatas not to be cut off, I shall in accord with the lineage of all beings ripen them everywhere, I shall extinguish the suffering of birth and death of all beings and set them in the place of ultimate ease and joy, I shall purify and order the eye of wisdom of all beings, I shall cultivate all the practices that bodhisattvas cultivate, I shall abide in the mind of equality of all bodhisattvas, I shall accomplish the grounds that all bodhisattvas walk, and I shall make all beings glad everywhere; I shall give up all things and to the end of the future practice the perfection of giving, causing all beings everywhere to be fully satisfied with garments and food and drink, wives and consorts and sons and daughters, head and eyes and hands and feet — everything within and without such as this I shall wholly renounce and give, without begrudging.

“‘When that time comes, you may perhaps make hindrance and trouble for me: when I give away goods and wealth, your mind will begrudge them; when I give away sons and daughters, your mind will be pained; when I cut off my limbs, your mind will be distressed; when I forsake you and leave the household life, your mind will be filled with regret.’

The Prince's Verses of Inviting Her Again (1) Putting into Verse the Depth of His Practice (Chengguan's Outline · the first six verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince then spoke verses for Wondrous Virtue, saying:

“‘Because I have pity for beings, I have raised up the mind of awakening, and through measureless kalpas I shall practice all-knowledge.

“‘Within measureless great kalpas I shall purely cultivate the seas of vows, and the entering of the grounds and the countering of the hindrances will each pass through measureless kalpas.

“‘In the presence of the buddhas of the three times I shall study the six perfections, be furnished with the practice of skillful means, and accomplish the way of awakening.

“‘The defiled lands of the ten directions I shall wholly adorn and purify; from the hardships of all the evil destinies I shall cause them forever to come forth.

“‘I shall, by skillful means, widely deliver beings, causing them to extinguish the darkness of delusion and to abide within the Buddha's way of knowledge.

“‘I shall make offerings to all buddhas, I shall purify all the grounds, and raising up the mind of great kindness and compassion I shall wholly give away things within and without.

The Prince's Verses of Inviting Her Again (2) Inviting Her Not to Make Hindrance (Chengguan's Outline · the next two and a half verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘When you see those who come to beg, you may perhaps give rise to a stingy mind; my mind constantly delights in giving, so do not go against me.

“‘If you see me give away my head, by no means give rise to sorrow; I now tell you beforehand, so as to make your mind firm.

“‘And even when I cut off hand and foot, do not hold the beggar in aversion;

The Prince's Verses of Inviting Her Again (3) Concluding by Bidding Her Consider Carefully (Chengguan's Outline · the last one and a half verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Now that you have heard my words, you should ponder them truly.

“‘Sons and daughters and the things I love, all of them I shall give away; if you can be in accord with my mind, then I shall fulfill your intent.’

The Former Life (10) The Girl Reverently Complies (the Verses Begin) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the young girl said to the prince:

“‘I reverently receive what you have taught.’

“And then she spoke verses, saying:

The Girl's Verses of Reverent Compliance (1) Forgetting the Suffering and Cleaving to His Virtue (Chengguan's Outline · the first three verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Within measureless seas of kalpas, may the fires of hell burn this body; if you can look with favor and receive me, I gladly accept such suffering.

“‘In measureless places of taking birth, may this body be crushed to dust motes; if you can look with favor and receive me, I gladly accept such suffering.

“‘Through measureless kalpas may I bear upon my head a vast adamantine mountain; if you can look with favor and receive me, I gladly accept such suffering.

The Girl's Verses of Reverent Compliance (2) Hoping to Cultivate the Surpassing Practice Together · Which Is Just the Raising of the Mind of Awakening (Chengguan's Outline · the next six verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Within the measureless great sea of birth and death, may the flesh of my body be given away; when you gain the station of a Dharma king, may it be granted me to be so as well!

“‘If you can look with favor and receive me and be lord to me, then in life after life, wherever you practice giving, may I always be the thing given away!

“‘Out of pity for the suffering of beings you raise the mind of awakening; and since you have already gathered in beings, you should gather me in as well.

“‘I do not seek wealth and rank, I do not covet the joys of the five desires, but only for the sake of practicing the Dharma together I vow to take you, kind sir, as my lord!

“‘Dark blue eyes, long and broad, look with pity upon the world, and raise up no mind of defiled attachment — you must surely accomplish the bodhisattva way.

“‘Wherever the prince walks, from the ground there spring up blossoms of the many jewels; you must surely become a wheel-turning king — may you be able to look with favor and receive me!

The Girl's Verses of Reverent Compliance (3) Urging Him to Go to the Tathāgata (Chengguan's Outline · the last five verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘I once dreamed of this wondrous Dharma's site of awakening, with the Tathāgata seated beneath the tree, surrounded by a measureless host.

“‘I dreamed that that Tathāgata, his body like a mountain of true gold, with his hand stroked the crown of my head, and when I woke my mind was glad.

“‘There was a god of my retinue in the past, named Light of Gladness; that god told me: at the place of the Way a buddha has arisen in the world.

“‘I once gave rise to this thought: may I see the body of the prince. That god replied to me: this very day you shall see him.

“‘The aspirations I made in the past are now all of them fulfilled; I only pray that we go together and make offerings to that Tathāgata!’

The Former Life (11) The Prince Receives Her 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince, hearing the name of the Tathāgata Body of the Surpassing Sun, gave rise to great gladness and wished to see that buddha, and then he took five hundred maṇi jewels and scattered them upon that woman, and set upon her a jeweled crown of the light of the wondrous treasury, and clothed her in a jeweled robe of flaming maṇi.

“That woman at that time was unmoved in mind and had no mark of gladness either; she only joined her palms in reverence and gazed up at the prince, her eyes not turning away for a moment.

The Former Life (12) The Mother Sets Forth Her Joy That It Has Been Fulfilled (the Verses Begin) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“Her mother Excellent Manifestation, before the prince, spoke verses, saying:

The Verses of the Mother Excellent Manifestation (1) Setting Forth That Her Aspiration Has Been Fulfilled (Chengguan's Outline · the first one verse) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘This girl is utterly upright and fine, and merit and virtue adorn her body; in the past she vowed to serve the prince, and this day her intent is satisfied.

The Verses of the Mother Excellent Manifestation (2) Her Virtuous Conduct Is Wholly the Same as the Prince's (Chengguan's Outline · the next two verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘She upholds the precepts and has wisdom, and is furnished with merit and virtue of every kind; everywhere within all the worlds she is the most excellent and without peer.

“‘This girl was born from a lotus blossom, and in her clan there is nothing to reproach or shame; she is of one and the same practice with the prince, and has left far behind all faults.

The Verses of the Mother Excellent Manifestation (3) Her Bodily and Verbal Karma Surpass All Others (Chengguan's Outline · the next four verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘This girl's body is soft, like the silk floss of the heavens; and wherever her hand touches and strokes, the many afflictions are wholly quenched.

“‘From her pores come wondrous fragrances, fragrant beyond all compare; and if beings smell them, they all abide in pure precepts.

“‘The color of her body is like true gold, and she sits upright upon a dais of blossoms; and if beings see her, they leave harm behind and are furnished with a mind of kindness.

“‘Her speech and voice are utterly soft, and there is none who hears it and is not glad; and if beings gain the hearing of it, they all leave behind the many evil deeds.

The Verses of the Mother Excellent Manifestation (4) The Virtue Stored Within Her Mind (Chengguan's Outline · the last three verses) 〔Gopā speaking〕

“‘Her mind is pure and without flaw or stain, far from the many crooked flatteries, and she speaks in accord with her own mind, so that those who hear are glad.

“‘She is tamed and gentle and furnished with shame and conscience, reverent toward her elders, without greed and without deceit, and pitying toward beings.

“‘This girl's mind does not rely upon her form and features nor upon her retinue; only with a pure mind is she reverent toward all buddhas.’

The Former Life (13) Going to the Buddha and Making Offerings, and Hearing the Sūtra and Gaining the Dharma 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince, together with the girl Wondrous Virtue and ten thousand maidens and their retinues, came out from the Fragrant Sprout Park and went to the place of the Way called Dharma Cloud Light.

“Having arrived, they got down from their chariots and went forward on foot into the presence of the Tathāgata. Seeing that the Buddha's bodily form was dignified and quiescent, that his faculties were tamed and compliant, and that within and without he was pure, like a great dragon pool without defilement or turbidity, they all gave rise to pure faith and leapt for gladness, bowed to the Buddha's feet, and circled him numberless times.

“At this time the prince and the girl Wondrous Virtue each took five hundred wondrous jeweled lotus blossoms and scattered them as offerings upon that buddha. The prince built for the Buddha five hundred vihāras, each of them made of fragrant wood, adorned with the many jewels, with five hundred maṇi jewels set among them.

“At that time the Buddha expounded for them the sūtra of the gate of the universal-eye lamp; and having heard this sūtra, he gained within all dharmas the seas of samādhi, namely: he gained the samādhi of illumining everywhere the sea of the vows of all buddhas, the samādhi of illumining everywhere the treasury of the three times, the samādhi of seeing directly the sites of the Way of all buddhas, the samādhi of illumining everywhere all beings, the samādhi of the lamp of knowledge illumining everywhere all the worlds, the samādhi of the lamp of the knowledge of the faculties of all beings illumining everywhere, the samādhi of the cloud of light that rescues and guards all beings, the samādhi of the great lamp illumining everywhere all beings, the samādhi of expounding the wheel of the Dharma of all buddhas, and the samādhi of being furnished with the pure practice of Samantabhadra.

“At that time the girl Wondrous Virtue gained one samādhi, named Treasury of the Sea Hard to Surpass, and became forever irreversible in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

The Former Life (14) Taking Leave and Returning to Tell His Father, and the King Examines and Rejoices at What He Hears 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time that prince, together with the girl Wondrous Virtue and their retinues, bowed to the Buddha's feet, circled him numberless times, took leave, and returned to the palace; and coming to the place of his royal father, when they had made their obeisance they told the king:

“‘Great king, you should know that the Tathāgata Body of the Surpassing Sun has arisen in the world, and within this land, at the site of awakening called Dharma Cloud Light, has accomplished right and perfect awakening, and it is not long till this day.’

“At that time the great king said to the prince:

“‘Who told you such a thing? Was it a god? Was it a man?’

“The prince told him:

“‘It was this girl Complete in Wondrous Virtue who told it.’

The Former Life (15) He Yields the Throne and Goes to Look 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time, when the king had heard this, he was gladdened beyond measure, as when a poor man gains a great hidden treasure, and he made this thought:

“‘This unsurpassed jewel, the Buddha, is hard to meet with; if one can see the Buddha, then forever the terrors of all the evil destinies are cut off. The Buddha is like a king of physicians, able to cure all the illnesses of the afflictions, able to rescue from all the great suffering of birth and death; the Buddha is like a guide, able to bring beings to arrive at the ultimate dwelling place of ease.’

“Having made this thought, he then gathered the lesser kings, the ministers, and the retinues, together with the kṣatriyas, the brāhmaṇas, and all the rest of the great multitude, and then gave up the throne and conferred it upon the prince; and when the anointing of the crown was done, he went with ten thousand men together to the Buddha's place; and having arrived, he bowed to his feet, circled him numberless times, and together with their retinues they all withdrew and sat to one side.

The Former Life (16) The Tathāgata Displays His Spiritual Power and Benefits the Assembly of That Time as Well 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the Tathāgata, contemplating that king and the great multitude, sent forth from the mark of the white hair a great light named Lamp of the Mind of All the Worlds, illumining everywhere measureless worlds of the ten directions, abiding before all the lords of the worlds, and displaying the Tathāgata's inconceivable power of great spiritual power, causing everywhere all who were fit to be taught and converted to gain purity of mind.

“At that time the Tathāgata, with inconceivable spiritual power of ease, displayed a body that went beyond all the worlds, and with a perfect voice expounded everywhere for the great multitude a dhāraṇī named Lamp That Leaves Behind the Gloom of the Meaning of All Dharmas, having dhāraṇīs as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land for its retinue.

“When that king had heard this, he at once obtained the great light of knowledge; and within his assembly, bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of Jambudvīpa at the same time realized this dhāraṇī; six hundred thousand nayutas of men exhausted the many outflows, and their minds gained liberation; ten thousand beings left the dust and parted from defilement and gained the pure Dharma eye; and measureless beings raised up the mind of awakening.

“At that time the Buddha again, with inconceivable power, widely displayed spiritual transformations, and everywhere within measureless worlds of the ten directions expounded the Dharma of the three vehicles and converted and delivered beings.

The Former Life (17) The Royal Father Leaves the Household Life and Cultivates and Realizes the Dharma Gate 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time that royal father made this thought:

“‘If I remain in the household, I cannot realize such a wondrous Dharma; if in the Buddha's presence I leave the household life and study the way, then I shall accomplish it.’

“Having made this thought, he went forward and told the Buddha:

“‘May I be able to follow the Buddha, leave the household life, and study!’

“The Buddha said:

“‘As you wish; know for yourself when the time is fitting.’

“At that time the king Lord of Wealth, together with ten thousand men, all at the same time left the household life in the Buddha's presence. Before long, they all accomplished the dhāraṇī Lamp That Leaves Behind the Gloom of the Meaning of All Dharmas, and also gained the many gates of samādhi as above, and also gained the bodhisattva's ten gates of spiritual power, and also gained the bodhisattva's boundless eloquence, and also gained the bodhisattva's unhindered pure body, and went to the presence of the Tathāgatas of the ten directions to hear and receive their Dharma, and as great Dharma masters expounded the wondrous Dharma; and again by spiritual power they went throughout the lands of the ten directions, and in accord with the minds of beings displayed their bodies for them, praising the appearing of the buddhas, expounding the original practice of the buddhas, revealing the original conditions of the buddhas, extolling the Tathāgatas' spiritual power of ease, and upholding and guarding the teachings that the buddhas preach.

The Former Life (18) The Prince Succeeds to the Throne and Spreads the Great Converting Work 〔Gopā speaking〕

“At that time the prince, on the fifteenth day, upon the main hall, surrounded by maidens, had the seven jewels come to him of themselves — the first was the wheel jewel, named Unhindered Course; the second was the elephant jewel, named Adamantine Body; the third was the horse jewel, named Swift Wind; the fourth was the pearl jewel, named Treasury of Sunlight; the fifth was the woman jewel, named Furnished with Wondrous Virtue; the sixth was the treasurer jewel, named Great Wealth; the seventh was the general jewel, named Eye Free of Defilement.

“The seven jewels being complete, he became a wheel-turning king, ruling as king over Jambudvīpa, governing the world with the true Dharma, and the people were happy. The king had a thousand sons, upright and fine and valorous and strong, able to subdue enemies.

“Within his Jambudvīpa there were eighty royal cities, and within each city there were five hundred monastic dwellings, and in each monastic dwelling was raised a caitya of the Buddha, all of them high and broad and ornamented with the many wondrous jewels; and each royal city invited the Tathāgata and made offerings with inconceivable wondrous articles of offering.

“When the Buddha entered a city, he displayed great spiritual power, causing measureless beings to plant the many roots of goodness, and measureless beings to gain purity of mind, to be glad at seeing the Buddha, to raise up the intent of awakening, to raise up the mind of great compassion, to benefit beings, to cultivate diligently the Buddha's Dharma, to enter the true meaning, to abide in the Dharma nature, to penetrate the equality of dharmas, to obtain the knowledge of the three times, to contemplate the three times equally, to know the order in which all buddhas arise, to preach the many dharmas and gather in beings, to raise the bodhisattva's vow, to enter the bodhisattva's way, to know the Tathāgata's Dharma, to accomplish the sea of the Dharma, to be able to display their bodies everywhere throughout all lands, to know the faculties of beings and their natures and desires, and to make them raise up the vow of all-knowledge.

Joining the Ancient and the Present (Chengguan's Outline) (1) The Prince Is Śākyamuni · The King Lord of Wealth Is the Buddha Jeweled Blossom 〔Gopā speaking〕

“Son of the Buddha! What do you think — that prince who at that time gained the station of a wheel-turning king and made offerings to the Buddha, could he be another? He is today's Buddha Śākyamuni.

“And the king Lord of Wealth is the Buddha Jeweled Blossom. That Buddha Jeweled Blossom is now in the east, past buddha-lands as many as the dust motes of a sea of worlds, where there is a sea of worlds named Cloud of Reflected Images of the Dharma Realm and Empty Space, within which there is a world-seed named Maṇi King of the Reflected Images That Display the Three Times, and within that world-seed there is a world named Perfect Light, within which there is a place of the Way named Displaying the Bodies of All the Lords of the Worlds; and there the Tathāgata Jeweled Blossom accomplished anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and bodhisattva hosts as many as the dust motes of unspeakably many buddha-lands surround him before and behind, and he preaches the Dharma for them.

“When the Tathāgata Jeweled Blossom in the past cultivated the bodhisattva way, he purified and ordered this sea of worlds; and the buddhas of the past, the future, and the present who arise in the world within that sea of worlds were all of them taught and converted by the Tathāgata Jeweled Blossom when he was a bodhisattva, so that they raised the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

“And the mother of that girl at that time, Excellent Manifestation, is today my mother, Excellent Eye. And the retinue of that king is today's assembly in the presence of the Tathāgata, and they are all furnished with the cultivation of the practices of Samantabhadra and have fulfilled the great vow; and though they are constantly in this assembly at the place of the Way, they are able to display themselves everywhere throughout all the worlds, and they abide in the equal samādhi of all bodhisattvas, and are constantly able to see directly all the buddhas, and all that the Tathāgatas expound with clouds of wondrous voices equal to empty space, the wheel of the true Dharma, they are able to hear and receive, and in all dharmas they gain ease, and their names are heard everywhere throughout the buddha-lands, and they go everywhere to all the sites of the Way, and display themselves everywhere before all beings, and teach and tame them according to what befits them, and to the end of the kalpas of the future cultivate the bodhisattva way constantly without interruption, and fulfill the vast vows of Samantabhadra.

Joining the Ancient and the Present (Chengguan's Outline) (2) The Girl Wondrous Virtue Is Gopā · She Served Sixty Koṭis of Buddhas in Turn

“Son of the Buddha! Among the girl Wondrous Virtue and the wheel-turning holy king Lord of Majestic Virtue who made offerings of the four requisites to the Tathāgata Body of the Surpassing Sun, the girl Wondrous Virtue is my own self.

“After that buddha passed into extinction, within that world sixty koṭis of hundreds of thousands of nayutas of buddhas arose in the world, and I together with the king served and made offerings to all of them.

“The first of them was a buddha named Pure Body; the next was named Body of the Light of the Moon of All-Knowledge; the next was named King of the Light of Jāmbūnada Gold; the next was named Body Adorned with the Many Marks; the next was named Light of the Wondrous Moon; the next was named Banner of the Contemplation of Knowledge; the next was named Great Light of Knowledge; the next was named Adamantine Nārāyaṇa Vigor; the next was named Unconquerable in the Power of Knowledge; the next was named Universally Serene Knowledge; the next was named Cloud of Surpassing Knowledge Free of Defilement; the next was named Light of Lion Knowledge; the next was named Topknot of Light; the next was named Banner of the Light of Merit and Virtue; the next was named Banner of the Sun of Knowledge; the next was named Body of the Opened Jeweled Lotus Blossom; the next was named Pure Light of the Adornment of Merit; the next was named Cloud of the Flame of Knowledge; the next was named Moon Illumining Everywhere; the next was named Wondrous Voice of the Adorning Canopy; the next was named Light of the Valorous Knowledge of the Lion; the next was named Moon of the Dharma Realm; the next was named Displaying the Reflected Images of Empty Space and Awakening the Minds of Beings; the next was named Constantly Smelling the Fragrance of Quiescence; the next was named Quiescent Sound That Shakes Everywhere; the next was named Mountain of Ambrosia; the next was named Voice of the Sea of the Dharma; the next was named Firm Net; the next was named Topknot of the Buddha's Reflected Image; the next was named Hair of Moonlight; the next was named Mouth of Eloquence; the next was named Knowledge of the Blossom of Awakening; the next was named Mountain of the Jeweled Flame; the next was named Star of Merit and Virtue; the next was named Banner of the Jeweled Moon; the next was named Body of Samādhi; the next was named King of Jeweled Light; the next was named Practice of Universal Knowledge; the next was named Lamp of the Sea of Flames; the next was named King of the Sound of the Dharma Free of Defilement; the next was named Banner of the Name of Incomparable Virtue; the next was named Long Arms; the next was named Pure Moon of the Original Vow; the next was named Lamp That Illumines the Meaning; the next was named Deep and Far-Reaching Voice; the next was named Vairocana Surpassing Treasury King; the next was named Banner of the Many Vehicles; the next was named Wondrous Lotus Blossom of the Sea of the Dharma.

“Son of the Buddha! Within that one kalpa, buddhas such as these, sixty koṭis of hundreds of thousands of nayutas of them, arose in the world, and I drew near to all of them and served and made offerings to them.

The Last Buddha, Vast Understanding, and the Gaining of This Liberation (Chengguan's Outline)

“The last of them was a buddha named Vast Understanding, and in the presence of that buddha I gained the pure eye of knowledge.

“At that time that buddha entered the city and taught and converted. I was the king's consort, and together with the king I paid respects and looked upon him, and made offerings with the many wondrous things, and in the presence of that buddha I heard the expounding of the Dharma gate of bringing forth the lamp of all Tathāgatas, and at once obtained the liberation of the objective realm of the contemplation of the sea of the samādhis of all bodhisattvas.

Burnishing Through Many Kalpas (Chengguan's Outline) (1) Practicing for Kalpas as Many as the Dust Motes of One Land, Yet Not Exhausting the Objective Realm of the Bodhisattva

“Son of the Buddha! After I gained this liberation, together with bodhisattvas I cultivated diligently through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, and through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land I served and made offerings to measureless buddhas; sometimes in one kalpa I served one buddha, sometimes two buddhas, sometimes three, sometimes unspeakably many, sometimes I met with buddhas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, and I drew near to all of them and served and made offerings to them — and yet I still could not know the shape, the measure, the form, and the appearance of the body of the bodhisattva, nor the karma of his body, the activity of his mind, his wisdom, or the objective realm of his samādhis.

The Bodhisattva Is Hard to Meet · He Who Sees Him Does Not See in Vain (Chengguan's Outline)

“Son of the Buddha! If there are beings who gain a sight of the bodhisattva cultivating the practice of awakening, whether they doubt or whether they believe, the bodhisattva gathers them all in with skillful means of every kind, both worldly and world-transcending, making them his retinue and causing them to gain irreversibility in anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Burnishing Through Many Kalpas (Chengguan's Outline) (2) Cultivating for Kalpas as Many as the Dust Motes of a Hundred Lands, Yet Not Knowing the Liberation of Samantabhadra

“Son of the Buddha! After I saw that buddha and gained this liberation, together with bodhisattvas I cultivated in common through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a hundred buddha-lands; and within those kalpas, all the buddhas who arose in the world I drew near to, served, and made offerings to, and heard them preach the Dharma, and read, recited, and upheld it.

“In the presence of all those Tathāgatas I gained the many Dharma gates of this liberation, and knew the many three times, entered the many seas of lands, saw the many accomplishings of right awakening, entered the many assemblies of buddhas, made the many great vows of the bodhisattva, cultivated the many wondrous practices of the bodhisattva, and gained the many liberations of the bodhisattva — and yet I still could not know the liberation gate of Samantabhadra that the bodhisattva gains.

“Why is this? The bodhisattva's liberation gate of Samantabhadra is like great empty space, like the names of beings, like the sea of the three times, like the sea of the ten directions, like the sea of the Dharma realm, measureless and boundless. Son of the Buddha! The bodhisattva's liberation gate of Samantabhadra is equal to the objective realm of the Tathāgatas.

What Is Seen Within the Pores (1) The World of Vessels

“Son of the Buddha! Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land I have contemplated the body of the bodhisattva and never been sated. Just as when men of much desire, men and women, come together and grow attached to one another and give rise to measureless deluded thoughts and imaginings; so it is with me — contemplating each single pore of the body of the bodhisattva, in thought after thought I see measureless and boundless vast worlds of every kind of abiding, every kind of adornment, and every kind of shape, with mountains of every kind, grounds of every kind, clouds of every kind, names of every kind, arisings of buddhas of every kind, sites of the Way of every kind, and assemblies of every kind, expounding sūtras of every kind and preaching consecrations of every kind, vehicles of every kind, skillful means of every kind, and purities of every kind.

What Is Seen Within the Pores (2) The World of the Knowledge of Right Awakening, and the World of Beings

“Further, within each single pore of the bodhisattva, in thought after thought I constantly see boundless seas of buddhas, sitting at sites of the Way of every kind, displaying spiritual transformations of every kind, turning wheels of the Dharma of every kind, and preaching sūtras of every kind, constantly without break.

“Further, within each single pore of the bodhisattva I see boundless seas of beings, with dwelling places of every kind, shapes and appearances of every kind, deeds of every kind, and faculties of every kind.

What Is Seen Within the Pores (3) The Boundless Gates of Practice of the Bodhisattvas of the Three Times

“Further, within each single pore of the bodhisattva I see the boundless gates of practice of the bodhisattvas of the three times, namely: boundless vast vows, boundless differentiated grounds, boundless perfections, boundless matters of past ages, boundless gates of great kindness, boundless clouds of great compassion, boundless minds of great joy, and boundless skillful means for gathering in beings.

Concluding That Its Depth and Breadth Cannot Be Exhausted (Chengguan's Outline)

“Son of the Buddha! Through kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land, in thought after thought I have thus contemplated each single pore of the bodhisattva — the places I have already come to I do not come to again, and the places I have already seen I do not see again, and seeking its outer bound I could not in the end obtain it, and on down to seeing that prince Siddhārtha abiding within the palace, surrounded by maidens. By the power of this liberation, contemplating each single pore of the bodhisattva, I see in each of them the matters within the Dharma realm of the three times.

Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan's Outline)

“Son of the Buddha! I have gained only this liberation of contemplating the sea of the samādhis of the bodhisattvas. But as for the bodhisattva mahāsattvas, they have brought to the end the measureless seas of skillful means of every kind; for all beings they display bodies according to their kinds, for all beings they expound the practices according to what those beings delight in, and within each single pore they display boundless seas of forms and marks; they know that the nature of the dharmas has no-nature for its nature, they know that the nature of beings is the same as the mark of empty space and is without discrimination, they know that the Buddha's spiritual power is the same as suchness, and everywhere in all places they display boundless objective realms of liberation; and within a single thought they can at ease enter the vast Dharma realm and sport within the Dharma gates of all the grounds — how then could I know or expound their practice of merit and virtue?

Pointing Out the Next Friend (Chengguan's Outline): Māyā, Mother of the Buddha

“Son of good family! Within this world there is Māyā, the mother of the Buddha. Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to cultivate the bodhisattva practices, to be without defiled attachment within the many worlds, to make offerings to the buddhas constantly without rest, to do the bodhisattva's work never turning back, to leave all hindrances and to enter the bodhisattva's liberation not by way of another, to abide in the ways of all bodhisattvas, to go to the presence of all Tathāgatas, to gather in all the realms of beings, and to the end of the kalpas of the future to cultivate the bodhisattva practices and raise the vow of the Great Vehicle, making the roots of goodness of all beings grow constantly without rest?”

Verses Again at His Departure (Chengguan's Outline): The Verses in Answer About the Former Life (1) Displaying in General That the Bodhisattva Benefits Beings

At that time the Śākya woman Gopā, wishing to make clear again the meaning of this liberation, bore the Buddha's spiritual power and spoke verses, saying:

“If any see the bodhisattva cultivating practices of every kind, and give rise to a good mind or a mind that is not good, the bodhisattva gathers them all in alike.

The Verses in Answer About the Former Life (2) Matters of a Far-Distant Kalpa · What the Prose Does Not Have (Chengguan's Outline · the next fifteen verses)

“In an age long past and far away, past kalpas as many as the dust motes of a hundred lands, there was a kalpa named Pure, and there was a world named Light.

“The buddhas who arose in the world within this kalpa were sixty thousand myriad koṭis; and the last lord of gods and men was titled Lamp of the Dharma Banner.

“After that buddha's nirvāṇa there was a king named Mountain of Knowledge, who ruled over Jambudvīpa, and everywhere there was no enemy at all.

“The king had five hundred sons, upright and fine and able to be valorous, and their bodies were all pure, and those who saw them were glad.

“That king and his princes with minds of faith made offerings to the Buddha, upheld and guarded his treasury of the Dharma, and delighted also to cultivate his Dharma diligently.

“The crown prince was named Excellent Light, free of defilement and of many skillful means, and the marks of every kind were rounded and full, and those who saw him were never sated.

“Five hundred koṭis of men together left the household life and practiced and studied the way, valorous and firm in their vigor, upholding and guarding his Buddha's Dharma.

“The royal capital was named Tree of Knowledge, and a thousand koṭis of cities surrounded it; and there was a grove named Quiescent Virtue, adorned with the many jewels.

“Excellent Light dwelt within that grove and widely expounded the Buddha's true Dharma, and by the power of eloquence and wisdom he made the multitude wholly pure.

“Once, because of begging for food, he entered that capital city, and his walking and his stopping were utterly serene, with right knowing and a mind undistracted.

“Within the city there was a householder titled Excellent Renown; and I at that time was his daughter, named Light of the Pure Sun.

“At that time I was within the city, and I met Excellent Light, and the marks of every kind upon him were utterly dignified and fine, and in my mind defiled attachment arose.

“He begged for food in order and came before my door, and in my mind love and attachment grew, and I then loosed the necklace from my body and together with its pearls put it into his bowl.

“Though it was with a mind of love and attachment that I made offering to that son of the Buddha; for two hundred and fifty kalpas I did not fall into the three evil destinies.

“Sometimes I was born in the house of a heavenly king, sometimes I was the daughter of a human king, and I constantly saw that body of Excellent Light adorned with wondrous marks.

The Verses in Answer About the Former Life (3) Rightly Putting into Verse the Causes and Conditions of the Virtuous Woman in the Prose (Chengguan's Outline · the last fifteen verses)

“The kalpas that passed after this were again two hundred and fifty, and I was born in the house of Excellent Manifestation and named Furnished with Wondrous Virtue.

“At that time I saw the prince, and a mind of honoring arose in me, and I vowed that I might be ranked among those who attend him, and I was favored with his pity and reception.

“I at that time together with the prince looked upon the Buddha Body of the Surpassing Sun, and when our reverent offerings were done we then raised up the intent of awakening.

“Within that one kalpa there were sixty koṭis of Tathāgatas, and the last buddha, the World-Honored One, was named Vast Understanding.

“In his presence I gained the pure eye, penetrated the marks of the dharmas, saw everywhere the places of taking birth, and forever removed the inverted mind.

“I gained the liberation of contemplating the objective realm of the samādhis of the bodhisattva, and in a single thought entered the inconceivable seas of lands of the ten directions.

“I saw the many worlds, pure and defiled in every kind of difference, and toward the pure I did not covet and delight, and toward the defiled I did not hate.

“I saw everywhere the Tathāgatas of the many worlds seated at the sites of the Way, all of them within a single thought sending forth measureless light.

“Within a single thought I can enter everywhere into unspeakably many assemblies; and I also know all the gates of samādhi that they have gained.

“Within a single thought I can wholly know their vast practices of every kind, the skillful means of the measureless grounds, and the seas of vows of every kind.

“I contemplate the bodhisattva's body, and the practice of boundless kalpas, and the measure of each single pore, and seek it and cannot obtain it.

“The lands within each single pore are numberless and unspeakably many, and the wheels of earth, water, fire, and wind, there is not one of them not within.

“Establishings of every kind, shapes of every kind, substances and names of every kind, and boundless sorts of adornment.

“I see the many seas of lands and unspeakably many worlds, and I see also the buddhas within them, preaching the Dharma and converting and delivering beings.

“Yet I cannot penetrate the bodhisattva's body and the many karmas of that body; nor do I know his mind and knowledge and the way he has walked through the many kalpas.”

Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan's Outline)

At that time Sudhana the youth bowed to her feet, circled her numberless times, took leave, and departed.

Contemplation Perfected as He Is About to Go (Chengguan’s Outline): Before He Has Seen Her, Eighteen Layers of Contemplation Arise

At that time Sudhana the youth, wishing with one mind to go on to the place of Lady Māyā, at that very moment gained the knowledge of contemplating the objective realm of the buddhas, and he made this thought:

“This good friend has left the world far behind and abides in what has no dwelling place; she has passed beyond the six sense-fields (the six entrances of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), has left every attachment, and knows the way that has no obstruction; she is complete in the pure dharma-body, and by deeds that are as an illusion she brings forth an emanated body, by knowledge that is as an illusion she contemplates the world, by a vow that is as an illusion she upholds the buddha-body — a body born according to her wish, a body without arising or ceasing, a body without coming or going, a body neither empty nor real, a body that does not decay, a body without rising and without exhaustion, a body in which all the many marks are but one mark, a body that has left the two extremes, a body without anywhere to rest, a body without exhaustion, a body that has left every discrimination and appears as a shadow appears, a body known to be as a dream is, a body penetrated to be as a mirrored image is, a body like a pure disc of the sun, a body that emanates universally throughout the ten directions, a body that abides in the three times without alteration, a body that is neither body nor mind — like open space, its going is without obstruction, and it passes beyond what the eyes of every world can see: only Samantabhadra’s pure eye beholds it. Such a one as this — how am I now to be able to draw near to her, to serve her, to make offerings to her, to dwell together with her, to look upon her form, to hear her voice, to ponder her words, and to receive her instruction?”

Guidance by Surpassing Conditions (Chengguan’s Outline) (1) The Presiding Spirit of the City Jewel Eye Displays His Body

When he had thought in this way, there was a presiding spirit of the city named Jewel Eye, with his retinue circling him, who displayed his body within open space, adorned with every kind of wondrous thing, and who took in his hand measureless jewelled blossoms of many colors and scattered them upon Sudhana, and spoke these words:

The Thirty Gates of the City of the Mind (1) The First Twelve Gates

“Son of good family! You should guard the city of the mind, which is to say: do not covet any objective realm of birth and death; you should adorn the city of the mind, which is to say: with a mind single and undivided go toward and seek the ten powers of the Tathāgata; you should cleanse the city of the mind, which is to say: cut off utterly stinginess, jealousy, flattery, and deceit; you should cool the city of the mind, which is to say: ponder the true nature of all dharmas; you should make the city of the mind grow, which is to say: accomplish all the dharmas that aid the path; you should ornament the city of the mind, which is to say: raise up palaces of the meditative concentrations and the liberations; you should make the city of the mind shine, which is to say: enter universally into the place of the Way of all the buddhas and hear and receive the Dharma of prajñā-pāramitā (the perfection of wisdom); you should increase the city of the mind, which is to say: take in universally the way of skillful means of all buddhas; you should make the city of the mind firm, which is to say: ever and diligently cultivate Samantabhadra’s practices and vows; you should defend the city of the mind, which is to say: constantly and single-mindedly ward off evil friends and the armies of Māra; you should open the city of the mind wide, which is to say: draw forth the light of the knowledge of all buddhas; you should mend the city of the mind well, which is to say: hear and receive the Dharma spoken by all buddhas.

The Thirty Gates of the City of the Mind (2) The Middle Eleven Gates

“You should support the city of the mind, which is to say: believe deeply in the sea of the merit and virtue of all buddhas; you should make the city of the mind vast, which is to say: with great kindness reach universally to all the world; you should cover the city of the mind well, which is to say: gather many good dharmas and lay them over it; you should make the city of the mind broad, which is to say: with great compassion pity all beings; you should open the gates of the city of the mind, which is to say: give away utterly all that you have, bestowing according to what is fitting; you should guard the city of the mind closely, which is to say: ward off the many evil desires and do not let them enter; you should make the city of the mind severe, which is to say: drive out the many evil dharmas and do not let them settle; you should make the city of the mind resolved, which is to say: gather all the dharmas that aid the path of all-knowledge, and never turn back; you should establish the city of the mind, which is to say: hold in right mindfulness every objective realm of all the Tathāgatas of the three times; you should make the city of the mind clear through, which is to say: understand and penetrate the many arisings of conditions of all the gates of the Dharma within the teachings of the wheel of the true Dharma of all buddhas; you should apportion the city of the mind, which is to say: make it plain universally to all beings, causing them all to see the way of all-knowledge.

The Thirty Gates of the City of the Mind (3) The Last Seven Gates

“You should sustain the city of the mind, which is to say: raise up all the seas of the great vows of the Tathāgatas of the three times; you should enrich the city of the mind, which is to say: gather every mass of great merit that is spread through the whole Dharma realm; you should make the city of the mind understand clearly, which is to say: know universally the faculties of beings, what they desire and delight in, and dharmas of that sort; you should make the city of the mind sovereign, which is to say: take in universally the whole Dharma realm of the ten directions; you should make the city of the mind pure, which is to say: hold in right mindfulness all the buddhas, the Tathāgatas; you should know the own-nature of the city of the mind, which is to say: know that all dharmas are without own-nature; you should know that the city of the mind is as an illusion, which is to say: with all-knowledge penetrate the nature of dharmas.

The Benefit of Purely Cultivating the City of the Mind: Five Kinds of Hindrance Are Cleared Away

“Son of the Buddha! If a bodhisattva, a mahāsattva, is able to cleanse and cultivate the city of the mind in this way, then he is able to gather all good dharmas. Why is this? Because he has cleared away every kind of hindrance, which is to say: the hindrance to seeing the buddhas, the hindrance to hearing the Dharma, the hindrance to making offerings to the Tathāgata, the hindrance to gathering in beings, the hindrance to purifying buddha-lands. Son of good family! Because a bodhisattva, a mahāsattva, has left behind hindrances such as these, therefore if he raises up a mind that seeks and longs for good friends, then without expending effort he straightway comes to see them, and on to the very end he shall surely become a buddha.”

Guidance by Surpassing Conditions (Chengguan’s Outline) (2) The Spirits of the Bodily Host Lotus Blossom Dharma Virtue and the Rest Send Forth Light

At that time there were spirits of the bodily host named Lotus Blossom Dharma Virtue and Wondrous Blossom Light, with measureless spirits circling them before and behind, who came forth from the place of the Way and stood within open space, and before Sudhana, with lovely voices, praised Lady Māyā in every manner, and from their ear-pendants sent forth nets of light of measureless colors and marks, which shone universally upon boundless buddha-worlds and made Sudhana see all the buddhas of the lands of the ten directions. Those nets of light circled the world to the right, and when they had passed round it once, then they came back again and entered the crown of Sudhana’s head, and on into all the pores of his body.

The Ten Kinds of Eye Sudhana Gains

Sudhana at that moment gained the eye of pure light, because he had left forever all the darkness of delusion; he gained the eye free of film, because he was able to know the nature of all beings; he gained the eye free of stain, because he was able to contemplate the gates of the nature of all dharmas; he gained the eye of pure wisdom, because he was able to contemplate the nature of all buddha-lands; he gained the eye of Vairocana, because he saw the dharma-body of the buddhas; he gained the eye of universal light, because he saw the even and inconceivable body of the buddhas; he gained the eye of unobstructed light, because he observed the forming and the breaking up of all the seas of lands; he gained the eye of universal shining, because he saw the buddhas of the ten directions raising up great skillful means and turning the wheel of the true Dharma; he gained the eye of the universal objective realm, because he saw measureless buddhas taming beings by the power of sovereignty; he gained the eye of universal seeing, because he beheld the arising of the buddhas within all lands.

Guidance by Surpassing Conditions (Chengguan’s Outline) (3) The Rākṣasa Ghost King Good Eye Displays His Body

At that time there was a rākṣasa ghost king who guards the bodhisattva Dharma hall, named Good Eye, together with his retinue of ten thousand rākṣasas, who within open space scattered many wondrous blossoms upon Sudhana, and spoke these words:

The Ten Dharmas for Drawing Near to Good Friends

“Son of good family! A bodhisattva who accomplishes ten dharmas is able to draw near to the good friends. Which ten? They are: his mind is pure and has left the many flatteries and deceits; his great compassion is even, and he takes in beings universally, knowing that beings have no reality; he goes toward all-knowledge, and his mind does not turn back; by the power of faith and understanding he enters universally into the place of the Way of all buddhas; he gains the eye of pure wisdom and penetrates the nature of dharmas; his great kindness is even, and he covers and guards beings universally; with the light of wisdom he clears away the many false objective realms; with a rain of nectar he washes away the fever and vexation of birth and death; with a vast eye he mirrors dharmas to the bottom; his mind ever accords with the good friends. These are the ten.

The Ten Gates of Samādhi for Ever Seeing Good Friends

“Furthermore, Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva who accomplishes ten gates of samādhi is able ever to see the good friends present before him. Which ten? They are: the samādhi of the pure wheel of the emptiness of dharmas; the samādhi of observing the seas of the ten directions; the samādhi of neither casting away nor lessening any objective realm; the samādhi of universally seeing the arising of all buddhas; the samādhi of gathering the treasury of all merit and virtue; the samādhi of the mind never casting away the good friends; the samādhi of ever seeing all good friends give rise to the merit and virtue of the buddhas; the samādhi of never being apart from any good friend; the samādhi of ever making offerings to all good friends; the samādhi of being ever without fault in the presence of any good friend. Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva who accomplishes these ten gates of samādhi is ever able to draw near to the good friends, and he further gains the samādhi in which the good friends turn the wheel of the Dharma of all buddhas; and having gained this samādhi, he knows utterly that the natures of the buddhas are even, and everywhere he meets with the good friends.”

Sudhana Looks Up into the Sky and Asks

While these words were being spoken, Sudhana the youth raised his head, looked up into the sky, and answered him, saying:

“It is good, it is good! Because you take pity on me and gather me in, you have by skillful means taught me to see good friends. I pray you speak for me: how am I to go on to the place of a good friend? In what quarter, in what city or town, am I to seek good friends?”

The Four Ways of Seeking That the Rākṣasa Answers

The rākṣasa answered, saying:

“Son of good family! You should pay reverence universally to the ten directions, and seek good friends; hold in right mindfulness and ponder every objective realm, and seek good friends; with courage and at ease roam through the ten directions, and seek good friends; contemplate the body and contemplate the mind as being like a dream and like a shadow, and seek good friends.”

Beholding the Dependent Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (1) A Great Jewelled Lotus Blossom Wells Up from the Ground

At that time Sudhana received and carried out his instruction, and at that moment he saw a great jewelled lotus blossom well up from the ground, with vajra for its stalk, with wondrous jewels for its treasury, with maṇi for its leaves, with the king of light-jewels for its terrace, with the colors and the fragrances of the many jewels for its filaments, and numberless nets of jewels spread over it.

Beholding the Dependent Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (2) The Storeyed Pavilion Named Treasury That Universally Takes In the Dharma Realm of the Ten Directions

Upon that blossom-terrace was a storeyed pavilion named Treasury That Universally Takes In the Dharma Realm of the Ten Directions, adorned with a rare and wondrous beauty, with vajra for its ground, a thousand pillars ranged in rows, all of them made of maṇi jewels, with Jambūnada gold for its walls, with jeweled strings of pearls hanging down on the four sides, and stairways and railings adorning it all around.

Beholding the Dependent Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (3) The Seat of Wish-Fulfilling Jewelled Lotus Blossoms

Within that storeyed pavilion was a seat of wish-fulfilling jewelled lotus blossoms, adorned with every kind of jewel, with railings of wondrous jewels, jewelled garments set out one among another, jewelled canopies and jewelled nets covering it, jewelled silken banners hanging down all around, a faint breeze stirring gently, the light coursing and the sounds sending forth; from the jewelled blossom-banners there rained down many wondrous blossoms, from the jewelled bells and clappers there came forth lovely sounds, among the jewelled doors and windows there hung the many strings of pearls, from within maṇi-bodies there flowed fragrant water, from the mouths of jewelled elephants there came forth nets of lotus blossoms, from the mouths of jewelled lions there were spat clouds of wondrous fragrance, the jewelled wheels of Brahmā-form sent forth sounds according to what each one delighted in, the vajra jewelled bells sent forth the sounds of the great vows of the bodhisattvas, within the jewelled moon-banners there appeared the emanated forms of buddhas, the king of pure-treasury jewels displayed the order in which the buddhas of the three times took birth, the sun-treasury maṇi sent forth a great light shining universally upon all the buddha-lands of the ten directions, the maṇi jewel-king sent forth the perfect light of all buddhas, the Vairocana maṇi jewel-king raised up clouds of offerings and made offerings to all the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, the wish-fulfilling pearl-king in thought after thought displayed the spiritual transformations of Samantabhadra filling the Dharma realm, the Sumeru jewel-king brought forth the palaces of the heavens, and the goddesses of the heavens with every kind of wondrous sound sang in praise of the inconceivable and subtle merit and virtue of the Tathāgata.

Seeing the Direct Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (1) The First Twenty of the Forty Bodies

At that time Sudhana saw a seat such as this, with measureless seats besides circling it, and Lady Māyā was upon that seat, displaying before all beings a pure form-body. Which is to say: a form-body that passes beyond the three realms, because she has already gone out from all the destinies of existence; a form-body following upon what the mind delights in, because she has no attachment anywhere in the world; a form-body universally spread everywhere, because it is equal to the number of all beings; a form-body without any to match it, because it makes all beings do away with inverted views; a form-body of measureless kinds, because it appears in every manner according to the minds of beings; a form-body of boundless marks, because it displays universally the many forms and marks of every kind; a form-body that faces and appears universally, because it is displayed with great sovereignty; a form-body that emanates for all, because it appears before each according to what befits him; a form-body ever displayed, because though the realm of beings be exhausted it is not exhausted; a form-body without going, because within all the destinies there is nothing that ceases; a form-body without coming, because within all the worlds there is nothing that comes forth; a form-body that does not arise, because there is no arising; a form-body that does not cease, because it has left words behind; a form-body that is not real, because she has gained what is as it really is; a form-body that is not empty, because it appears in accord with the world; a form-body without movement, because arising and ceasing have been left behind forever; a form-body that does not decay, because the nature of dharmas does not decay; a form-body without marks, because the way of words is cut off; a form-body of one mark, because it takes marklessness for its mark; a form-body like an image, because it appears in answer to the mind.

Seeing the Direct Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (2) The Latter Twenty of the Forty Bodies

A form-body as an illusion, because it is born of illusion-knowledge; a form-body as a shimmering flame, because it is upheld by thought alone; a form-body as a shadow, because it appears and is born according to a vow; a form-body as a dream, because it appears according to the mind; a form-body of the Dharma realm, because its nature is pure as open space; a form-body of great compassion, because it ever guards and remembers beings; a form-body unobstructed, because in thought after thought it spreads through the Dharma realm; a form-body boundless, because it purifies all beings universally; a form-body measureless, because it goes beyond all words; a form-body without dwelling, because she vows to ferry over all the world; a form-body without place, because she ever teaches and converts beings without a break; a form-body without birth, because it is made by an illusion-vow; a form-body that none surpasses, because it passes beyond the many worlds; a form-body as it really is, because it appears from a mind in concentration; a form-body that is not born, because it appears according to the deeds of beings; a form-body of the wish-fulfilling pearl, because it satisfies universally the wishes of all beings; a form-body without discrimination, because it arises only according to the discriminations of beings; a form-body that has left discrimination, because no being is able to know it; a form-body without exhaustion, because it goes to the very bound of the birth and death of all beings; a form-body pure, because it is the same as the Tathāgata’s freedom from discrimination.

Seeing the Direct Recompense (3) The Body Throughout (Chengguan’s Outline): The Denial of the Five Aggregates

A body such as this is not form, because all form-marks are as reflected images; it is not feeling, because the painful feelings of the world are utterly stilled; it is not perception, because it appears only according to the perceptions of beings; it is not formation, because it is accomplished in reliance upon deeds that are as an illusion; it has left consciousness, because the vow-knowledge of a bodhisattva is empty and without own-nature, because the words of all beings are cut off, because she has already gained the accomplishment of a body of stillness and cessation.

Seeing the Direct Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (4) Displaying a Surpassing Body According to What the Minds of Beings Delight In

At that time Sudhana the youth saw further that Lady Māyā, according to what the minds of the many beings loved and delighted in, displayed form-bodies passing beyond all the world. Which is to say: she displayed a body passing beyond that of a goddess of the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others’ Emanations, and on to a body passing beyond that of a goddess of the heavens of the four great god-kings; or she displayed a body passing beyond that of a dragon woman, and on to a body passing beyond that of a human woman; and she displayed measureless form-bodies such as these, benefiting beings.

Seeing the Direct Recompense (Chengguan’s Outline) (5) The Many Virtues Māyā Has Practiced

She gathers all the dharmas that aid the path of all-knowledge, and practices the even perfection of giving (giving, gone to the other shore), and with great compassion covers and guards all the world universally. She brings forth the measureless merit and virtue of the Tathāgata, cultivates and makes grow the mind of all-knowledge, and contemplates and ponders the true nature of dharmas; she gains a sea of deep forbearance, is complete in the many gates of concentration, abides within the even objective realm of samādhi, gains the perfect light of the Tathāgata’s meditative concentration, and dries up the vast sea of the afflictions of beings; her mind is ever within right concentration and has never been stirred or confused, and she ever turns the pure and non-retrogressive wheel of the Dharma, is well able to know all the dharmas of the buddhas, and ever contemplates the real mark of the Dharma with wisdom; in seeing the Tathāgatas her mind knows no satiety, she knows the order in which the buddhas of the three times arise, the samādhi of seeing the buddhas is ever present before her, she penetrates the measureless and numberless pure ways of the Tathāgatas’ appearing in the world, and she practices within the space-like objective realm of the buddhas; she takes in beings universally, and each according to his own mind she teaches and brings to accomplishment; she enters the measureless pure dharma-body of the buddhas, accomplishes the great vows, purifies the buddha-lands, tames all beings to the very end, and her mind ever enters throughout the objective realms of the buddhas; she brings forth the sovereign spiritual power of a bodhisattva, has already gained a dharma-body pure and unstained, and yet ever displays measureless form-bodies; she crushes the power of every Māra, accomplishes the power of great roots of good, brings forth the power of the true Dharma, is complete in the powers of the buddhas, gains the sovereign powers of the bodhisattvas, and swiftly makes grow the power of all-knowledge; she gains the light of the buddhas’ knowledge, shining universally upon all, and knows utterly the seas of the minds, the faculties, and the desires and understandings of measureless beings, with their every kind of difference; her body spreads universally through the seas of lands of the ten directions, and she knows utterly the marks of the forming and the breaking up of all lands, seeing the seas of the ten directions with a vast eye, knowing the seas of the three times with an all-pervading knowledge, her body universally serving all the seas of buddhas, her mind ever receiving all the seas of dharmas; she cultivates the merit and virtue of all the Tathāgatas, brings forth the wisdom of all the bodhisattvas, ever delights in contemplating the way practiced by all the bodhisattvas from the first raising of the mind on to its accomplishment, ever diligently guards all beings, ever delights in setting forth in praise the merit and virtue of the buddhas, and wishes to be the mother of all bodhisattvas.

Paying Respect (Chengguan’s Outline): Sudhana Displays That Many Bodies and Bows

At that time Sudhana the youth saw Lady Māyā display gates of skillful means such as these, as many as the dust motes of Jambudvīpa. Having seen them, then according to the number of bodies that Lady Māyā displayed, Sudhana likewise displayed just that many bodies, and in every place, before Māyā, he bowed in reverence, and at that moment he realized measureless and numberless gates of samādhi, discriminating and contemplating them, and cultivating and entering them. When he had risen from samādhi, he circled Māyā and her retinue to the right, joined his palms and stood, and said:

Inquiring (Chengguan’s Outline): How Is a Bodhisattva to Learn the Bodhisattva Practices and Attain Accomplishment

“Great Holy One! The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī taught me to raise the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi (the mind of unsurpassed, right, and universal awakening), to seek good friends, and to draw near to them and make offerings to them. In the place of each and every good friend I have gone and served, and none has been passed by in vain; and step by step I have come here. I pray you speak for me: how is a bodhisattva to learn the bodhisattva practices and be able to bring them to accomplishment?”

Displaying Her Own Dharma Realm (Chengguan’s Outline) (1) Setting Forth the Name and the Essence: The Bodhisattva Liberation Gate of the Illusion of Great Vow and Knowledge

She answered, saying:

“Son of the Buddha! I have already accomplished the bodhisattva liberation gate of the illusion of great vow and knowledge, and therefore I am ever the mother of the bodhisattvas. Son of the Buddha! Just as here in Jambudvīpa, in the house of King Śuddhodana in the city of Kapila, I gave birth to the prince Siddhārtha from my right side and displayed inconceivable and sovereign spiritual transformations — in just this way, on to the very bound of this sea of worlds, all the Tathāgatas Vairocana enter into my body and display the sovereign spiritual transformations of their taking birth.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (1) Light Sent Forth from the Pores as the Preceding Sign

“Furthermore, Son of good family! When I was in the palace of King Śuddhodana and the bodhisattva was about to come down to be born, I saw that from each and every pore of the bodhisattva’s body there was sent forth a light named the Wheel of the Merit and Virtue of the Taking of Birth of All Tathāgatas, and that within each and every pore there appeared the adornments of the taking of birth of bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of unspeakable, unspeakable buddha-lands. Those lights all shone universally upon all worlds; and when they had shone upon the worlds, they came back and entered the crown of my head, and on into all my pores. Furthermore, within those lights there appeared universally the names of all bodhisattvas, the spiritual transformations of their taking birth, their palaces and retinues, and their taking their pleasure in the five desires; and there was seen also their going forth from the household, their going on to the place of the Way, their accomplishing perfect and full awakening, their sitting upon the lion seat, the bodhisattvas circling them, the kings making offerings to them, and their turning the wheel of the true Dharma for the great multitudes; and there was seen also how the Tathāgatas, when in ages past they were cultivating the bodhisattva way, made reverent offerings in the presence of the buddhas, raised the mind of awakening, purified buddha-lands, and in thought after thought displayed measureless emanated bodies that filled all the worlds of the ten directions, and on to their entering parinirvāṇa at the last. Of matters such as these there was not one that was not seen.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (2) The Measure of Her Body Equal to Space, While Its Form and Measure Do Not Exceed the Original

“Furthermore, Son of good family! When that wondrous light entered my body, the form and measure of my body, though they did not exceed what they originally were, yet in truth had already passed beyond the many worlds. Why is this? Because at that time the measure of my body was equal to open space, since it was able utterly to take in and hold the many palaces of the adornments of the taking of birth of the bodhisattvas of the ten directions.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (3) Directly Making Clear the Entering of the Womb at Ease

“At that time, when the bodhisattva was about to descend in spirit from the Tuṣita heaven, there were bodhisattvas as many as the dust motes of ten buddha-lands, all of them one with the bodhisattva in vow, one in practice, one in roots of good, one in adornment, one in liberation, one in wisdom, and in the grounds, the powers, the dharma-body, and the form-body, and on to Samantabhadra’s spiritual powers and practices and vows, all were the same; and bodhisattvas such as these circled him before and behind. There were also eighty thousand dragon kings and the rest, all the lords of the world, who rode upon their palaces and came together to make offerings. At that time the bodhisattva, by the power of spiritual power, together with the bodhisattvas displayed universally all the palaces of the Tuṣita heaven; and within each and every palace there appeared the reflected images of the taking of birth within Jambudvīpa in all the worlds of the ten directions, and by skillful means he taught and converted measureless beings, and caused the bodhisattvas to leave the many kinds of indolence behind and to have no attachment anywhere. Furthermore, by his spiritual power he sent forth a great light that shone universally upon the world, breaking up the many kinds of darkness and doing away with the many kinds of suffering and vexation; and he caused all beings to recognize the deeds they had done in their former lives, and to go forth forever from the evil destinies. Furthermore, in order to rescue and guard all beings, he appeared universally before them and made the many kinds of spiritual transformation. Having displayed rare and marvelous matters such as these, together with his retinue he came and entered into my body.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (4) They Roam Within Her Belly, and Her Body Is Neither Made Vast Nor Pressed Narrow

“Those bodhisattvas within my belly roamed at ease, taking now a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system for a single step, now worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakable, unspeakable buddha-lands for a single step. Furthermore, in thought after thought, from the places of all the Tathāgatas and the assemblies of the bodhisattvas in all the unspeakable, unspeakable worlds of the ten directions, and from the heaven of the four god-kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, and on to the Brahmā kings of the form realm, those who wished to see the spiritual transformations of the bodhisattva dwelling in the womb, to make reverent offerings, and to hear and receive the true Dharma, all entered into my body. Although within my belly I was able utterly to take in and hold assemblies such as these, yet my body was neither made vast nor pressed narrow; and those bodhisattvas each saw the assembly and the place of the Way in which he himself stood, pure and adorned.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (5) Being the Mother of the Present Vairocana: Originally Not Two, Dwelling Neither in One Place nor in Many Places

“Son of good family! As here within Jambudvīpa in these four continents, when the bodhisattva takes birth I am his mother, so likewise is it within Jambudvīpa in the hundred koṭis of sets of four continents of the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system, in every one of them. Yet this body of mine is originally not two: it does not dwell in one place, nor does it dwell in many places. Why is this? Because I have cultivated the liberation gate of the adornment of the illusion of great vow and knowledge of the bodhisattvas. Son of good family! As with the present World-Honored One, whose mother I am, so also with all the measureless buddhas of ages past: of them all likewise I was the mother.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (6) The Former Deeds: The Spirit of the Lotus Pool and the Spirit of the Site of Awakening

“Son of good family! In an age past I was once the spirit of a lotus pool, and at that time there was a bodhisattva who came suddenly to birth by transformation within the treasury of a lotus blossom, and I took him up in my hands and looked after him and served him and reared him, and all the world alike called me the mother of the bodhisattva. Furthermore, in an age past I was the spirit of a site of awakening, and at that time there was a bodhisattva who came suddenly to birth by transformation within my bosom, and the world also called me the mother of the bodhisattva. Son of good family! There are measureless bodhisattvas of the final body who by every kind of skillful means display the taking of birth within this world, and of them all I am the mother.

The Working (Chengguan’s Outline) (7) Mother of the Buddhas of the Worthy Kalpa: Counted Name by Name

“Son of good family! As here in this world within the Worthy Kalpa, when in ages past the buddha Krakucchanda, the buddha Kanakamuni, the buddha Kāśyapa, and the present World-Honored One Śākyamuni displayed the taking of birth, I was their mother. In an age to come, when the bodhisattva Maitreya is about to descend in spirit from the Tuṣita heaven, he will send forth a great light shining universally upon the Dharma realm, will display the spiritual transformations of the taking of birth of all the multitudes of bodhisattvas, and among men will be born into a house of great clan and will tame beings; and I at that time shall likewise be his mother. And so in order thereafter come the buddha Lion, the buddha Dharma Banner, the buddha Good Eye, the buddha Pure Blossom, the buddha Blossom Virtue, the buddha Tishe, the buddha Fusha, the buddha Good Intent, the buddha Vajra, the buddha Free of Stain, the buddha Moonlight, the buddha Bearer of the Torch, the buddha Renown, the buddha Vajra Shield, the buddha Pure Meaning, the buddha Deep Blue Body, the buddha Gone to the Other Shore, the buddha Mountain of Jewel Flame, the buddha Bearer of the Torch, the buddha Lotus Blossom Virtue, the buddha Renown, the buddha Measureless Merit, the buddha Most Excellent Lamp, the buddha Adorned Body, the buddha Good Deportment, the buddha Kindness Virtue, the buddha Without Dwelling, the buddha Great Awesome Light, the buddha Boundless Voice, the buddha Conqueror of Foes, the buddha Free of Doubt and Delusion, the buddha Pure, the buddha Great Light, the buddha Pure Mind, the buddha Cloud Virtue, the buddha Adorned Crown-Topknot, the buddha King of Trees, the buddha Jewel Pendant, the buddha Sea of Insight, the buddha Wondrous Jewel, the buddha Blossom Crown, the buddha Fulfiller of Vows, the buddha Great Sovereignty, the buddha King of Wondrous Virtue, the buddha Most Honored and Excellent, the buddha Sandalwood Cloud, the buddha Deep Blue Eye, the buddha Excellent Insight, the buddha Contemplating Insight, the buddha Blazing King, the buddha Firm Insight, the buddha Sovereign Renown, the buddha Lion King, the buddha Sovereign, the buddha Most Excellent Crown, the buddha Vajra Mountain of Knowledge, the buddha Treasury of Wondrous Virtue, the buddha Jewel-Net Adorned Body, the buddha Good Insight, the buddha Sovereign Deva, the buddha Great God-King, the buddha Virtue Without Support, the buddha Good Giving, the buddha Flaming Insight, the buddha Water Deva, the buddha Gainer of the Highest Savor, the buddha Bringing Forth Unsurpassed Merit, the buddha Attended by Seers, the buddha Following the Speech of the World, the buddha Banner of Sovereign Merit, the buddha Light Banner, the buddha Contemplating the Body, the buddha Wondrous Body, the buddha Fragrant Flame, the buddha Vajra Jewel Adornment, the buddha Joyful Eye, the buddha Free of Desire, the buddha High and Great Body, the buddha Wealth Deva, the buddha Unsurpassed Deva, the buddha According with Stillness and Cessation, the buddha Awakened in Knowledge, the buddha Ender of Greed, the buddha Great Flaming King, the buddha Stilling the Many Existences, the buddha Pishequ Deva, the buddha Vajra Mountain, the buddha Flaming Virtue of Knowledge, the buddha At Peace and Secure, the buddha Lion Appearing, the buddha Perfectly Pure, the buddha Pure and Worthy, the buddha Highest Meaning, the buddha Hundredfold Light, the buddha Most Surpassing, the buddha Deep Sovereignty, the buddha King of the Great Earth, the buddha Adorned King, the buddha Liberation, the buddha Wondrous Sound, the buddha Surpassing and Excellent, the buddha Sovereign, the buddha Unsurpassed King of Healers, the buddha Merit Moon, the buddha Unobstructed Light, the buddha Mass of Merit, the buddha Moon Appearing, the buddha Sun Deva, the buddha Gone Forth from the Many Existences, the buddha Renown of Courage, the buddha Gate of Light, the buddha Sāla King, the buddha Most Excellent, the buddha King of Healing, the buddha Jewel Excellence, the buddha Vajra Insight, the buddha None Can Overcome, the buddha None Can Outshine, the buddha King of the Assembly, the buddha Great Renown, the buddha Keen in Upholding, the buddha Measureless Light, the buddha Light of the Great Vow, the buddha Sovereign in the Dharma and Not Vain, the buddha Ground of Non-Retrogression, the buddha Pure Deva, the buddha Good Deva, the buddha Firm in Austerities, the buddha Friend to All, the buddha Sound of Liberation, the buddha King at Play, the buddha Ender of the Crooked and Perverse, the buddha Zhanbo Pure Light, the buddha Complete in Many Virtues, the buddha Most Excellent Moon, the buddha Bearing a Bright Torch, the buddha Rare and Wondrous Body, the buddha Unspeakable, the buddha Utterly Pure, the buddha Friend Who Sets Beings at Peace, the buddha Measureless Light, the buddha Voice of Fearlessness, the buddha Virtue of the Water Deva, the buddha Light of Unmoving Insight, the buddha Blossom Excellence, the buddha Moon Flame, the buddha Non-Retrogressive Insight, the buddha Free of Craving, the buddha Insight Without Attachment, the buddha Gathering the Aggregate of Merit, the buddha Ender of the Evil Destinies, the buddha Scattering Blossoms Universally, the buddha Lion’s Roar, the buddha Highest Meaning, the buddha Unobstructed Seeing, the buddha Breaker of Others’ Armies, the buddha Unattached to Marks, the buddha Sea Free of Discrimination, the buddha Sea of Uprightness and Dignity, the buddha Mount Sumeru, the buddha Knowledge Without Attachment, the buddha Boundless Seat, the buddha Pure Dwelling, the buddha Following the Practice of the Master, the buddha Highest Giving, the buddha Constant Moon, the buddha King Who Benefits, the buddha Unmoving Mass, the buddha Universal Gathering-In, the buddha Insight That Benefits, the buddha Upholder of Life, the buddha Without Cessation, the buddha Complete in Renown, the buddha Great Awesome Power, the buddha Form-Marks of Every Kind, the buddha Markless Insight, the buddha Unmoving Deva, the buddha Wondrous Virtue Hard to Conceive, the buddha Full Moon, the buddha Moon of Liberation, the buddha Unsurpassed King, the buddha Rare Body, the buddha Offering to Brahmā, the buddha Unblinking, the buddha Following the Ancients of Old, the buddha Highest Deeds, the buddha Following the Knowledge of the Dharma, the buddha Deva Whom None Surpasses, the buddha Light of Inconceivable Merit, the buddha Following the Practice of the Dharma, the buddha Measureless Worthy, the buddha Universally Following and Sovereign, the buddha Most Honored Deva — and so on to the Tathāgata Luzhi: within the Worthy Kalpa, here in this three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system, of all who are to become buddhas I am the mother. And as it is in this three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system, so likewise in this sea of worlds, within all the kalpas of the measureless worlds of the ten directions, of all who cultivate Samantabhadra’s practices and vows for the sake of teaching and converting all beings, I see that I myself am the mother of them all.”

Discriminating the Source and Root of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline) (1) Sudhana Asks: How Long Has It Been Since You Gained This Liberation

At that time Sudhana the youth said to Lady Māyā:

“How long has it now been since the Great Holy One gained this liberation?”

Discriminating the Source and Root of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline) (2) The Former Life: The Kalpa Pure Light · The World Sumeru Virtue · The Wheel-Turning King Great Awesome Virtue

She answered, saying:

“Son of good family! In an age long past, beyond a number of kalpas inconceivable and not to be known even by the eye of the supernormal path of a bodhisattva in the final body, at that time there was a kalpa named Pure Light, and there was a world named Sumeru Virtue; and although it had many mountains and the five destinies dwelt there mingled together, yet its land was made of many jewels, pure and adorned, and without the many foulnesses and evils. There were a thousand koṭis of sets of four continents, and among them there was one set of four continents named Lion Banner, and within it were eighty koṭis of royal cities. There was one royal city named Banner of Sovereignty; and there was a wheel-turning king named Great Awesome Virtue. To the north of that royal city there was a place of the Way named Full Moon Light; and the spirit of that place of the Way was named Kindness Virtue. At that time there was a bodhisattva named Stainless Banner, seated within the place of the Way and about to accomplish perfect awakening. There was an evil Māra named Golden Light, who together with his retinue of measureless multitudes came to the place of the bodhisattva. That great wheel-turning sage-king Great Awesome Virtue had already gained the sovereign spiritual power of a bodhisattva, and he conjured up armies of soldiers manifold in number and circled the place of the Way; and the Māras were alarmed and terrified and all of them fled and scattered of themselves; and so that bodhisattva was able to accomplish anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. At that time, when the spirit of the place of the Way had seen this, she was gladdened beyond measure, and toward that king she gave rise to the thought of a son, and she bowed to the Buddha’s feet and made this vow: ‘Wherever this wheel-turning king may be born, and on to his becoming a buddha, may I ever be able to be his mother.’ Having made this vow, within this place of the Way she made offerings besides to ten nayutas of buddhas.

Discriminating the Source and Root of the Dharma (Chengguan’s Outline) (3) Joining the Ancient and the Present: The Spirit of the Place of the Way Is I Myself

“Son of good family! What is your thought upon this? Was that spirit of the place of the Way some other person? It is this body of mine. That wheel-turning king is the present World-Honored One Vairocana. From the time when I made that vow, this Buddha, the World-Honored One, throughout the lands of the ten directions and within all the destinies, has taken birth in place after place, planted the many roots of good, cultivated the bodhisattva practices, and taught and brought to accomplishment all beings, and on to his displaying his abiding in the final body; and in thought after thought, universally within all worlds, he displays the spiritual transformations of a bodhisattva’s taking birth, and is ever my son, and I am ever his mother. Son of good family! The measureless buddhas of the ten directions in the past and in the present, when they are about to become buddhas, all send forth from their 『𪗇』 (the navel) a great light that comes and shines upon my body and upon the palaces and dwellings where I abide; and of that final birth of theirs I am in every case the mother.

Humbling Herself and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline)

“Son of good family! I know only this bodhisattva liberation gate of the illusion of great vow and knowledge. As for the bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who are complete in the treasury of great compassion, who teach and convert beings ever without satiety, and who by the power of sovereignty display within each and every pore the spiritual transformations of measureless buddhas — how am I now able to know or able to tell of their practice of merit and virtue?

Pointing Out the Next Friend (Chengguan’s Outline): Light of the Lord of Gods, Daughter of King Right Mindfulness of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three

“Son of good family! In the Heaven of the Thirty-Three of this world there is a king named Right Mindfulness, and that king has a daughter named Light of the Lord of Gods. Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to learn the bodhisattva practices and to cultivate the bodhisattva way?”

Cherishing Her Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time Sudhana the youth reverently received her instruction, bowed his head and face to the ground in respect, circled her numberless times, gazed up at her with longing, and withdrew, walking backward as he went.

The First Gathering, Light of the Lord of Gods: A Goddess Who Holds in Mind, and Never Forgets, Every Single Thing the Buddhas of Ten Kalpas Did

Sudhana then went on to the palace of the gods, saw that goddess, bowed to her feet and circled her, joined his palms and stood before her, and said to her: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

The goddess answered him and said:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: the pure adornment of unobstructed mindfulness. Son of good family! By the power of this liberation I call to mind the past, and there was a most excellent kalpa named: Blue Lotus Blossom. In that kalpa I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as the sands of the Gaṅgā. Those tathāgatas, from the time they first left home onward — I myself looked up to them and served them, guarded and made offerings to them, built saṃghārāmas for them (the parks and groves in which the assembly of monks dwells), and provided them with all manner of implements and goods. And further, from the time when those buddhas were still bodhisattvas dwelling in the mother’s womb, and when they were born, and when they walked seven steps, and when they made the great lion’s roar, and when they dwelt in the station of a boy and were still within the royal palace, and when they went toward the tree of awakening and achieved right awakening, and when they turned the wheel of the right Dharma, displayed the divine transformations of a buddha, and taught and tamed beings — all such things as these that they did, from the first bringing forth of the mind all the way to the exhaustion of the Dharma, I hold clearly and distinctly in mind, with nothing whatever left out, ever present before me, held fast and never forgotten.

“And again, I call to mind a kalpa of the past named: Good Ground, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as ten Gaṅgā’s sands; and again there was a past kalpa named: Wondrous Virtue, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as the dust-motes of one buddha-world; and again there was a kalpa named: Nothing Gained, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas to the number of eighty-four koṭis of hundreds of thousands of nayutas (a very great number); and again there was a kalpa named: Good Light, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as the dust-motes of Jambudvīpa; and again there was a kalpa named: Measureless Light, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as twenty Gaṅgā’s sands; and again there was a kalpa named: Most Excellent Virtue, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as one Gaṅgā’s sands; and again there was a kalpa named: Good Compassion, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as eighty Gaṅgā’s sands; and again there was a kalpa named: Excellent Roaming, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as sixty Gaṅgā’s sands; and again there was a kalpa named: Wondrous Moon, and there I made offerings to buddhas, tathāgatas as many as seventy Gaṅgā’s sands.

“Son of good family! Calling to mind in this way kalpas as many as the sands of the Gaṅgā, I have never once forsaken the buddhas, the tathāgatas, the worthy of offerings, the perfectly awakened; and from the presence of every one of those tathāgatas I heard this bodhisattva liberation of the pure adornment of unobstructed mindfulness, received it and held it, cultivated it and practiced it, and never forgot or lost it. And so, of all the tathāgatas in those former kalpas, from the time they were still bodhisattvas all the way to the exhaustion of the Dharma, all the things that they did, by the power of this liberation of pure adornment I call every one of them to mind accordingly, clear and distinct before me, holding them and practicing in accord with them, without ever having been idle or letting them lapse.

“Son of good family! I know only this one liberation of pure unobstructed mindfulness. But as for those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas — who come out of the long night of birth and death into brightness and clarity, who are forever free of the darkness of delusion and have never been drowsy or lost in sleep, whose minds are without the various coverings and whose bodily conduct is light and at ease, who awaken purely to the nature of all dharmas and accomplish the ten powers and open the awakening of beings — how could I know, or be able to tell of, their merit and their practice?

“Son of good family! In the city Kapila there is a teacher of young boys, named: Universal Friend. Go to him and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time the youth Sudhana, because he had heard the Dharma, was glad and leapt for joy, and inconceivable roots of good of themselves grew and spread wide in him; he bowed his head to the goddess’s feet, circled her numberless times, took his leave, and departed.

The Second Gathering, Universal Friend: The Only Teacher Who Gives No Dharma Gate of His Own

He came down from the palace of the gods and went on step by step toward that city. Reaching the place of Universal Friend, he bowed to his feet and circled him, joined his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said to him: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

Universal Friend answered him and said: “Son of good family! Here there is a boy named: Well Knowing the Many Arts, who studies the bodhisattva’s knowledge of graphs (the knowledge that enters the Dharma by way of letters). You may ask him, and he will expound it for you.”

The Third Gathering, Well Knowing the Many Arts: Chant One Graph, and You Enter One Gate of Wisdom

At that time Sudhana went on to his place, bowed his head and face to his feet in reverence, stood to one side, and said to him: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

At that time the boy said to Sudhana:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: well knowing the many arts. I constantly chant and hold these graph-mothers (the root of all graphs):

“When I chant the graph a, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: entering the realm of no differences by the bodhisattva’s awesome power; when I chant the graph duo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the gate of boundless differences; when I chant the graph bo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: universally illumining the Dharma realm; when I chant the graph zhe, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the universal wheel that cuts off differences; when I chant the graph na, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: gaining the unsupported and the unsurpassed; when I chant the graph luo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: leaving what is depended upon, without stain; when I chant the graph tuo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the skillful means of non-retrogression.

“When I chant the graph po, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the diamond ground; when I chant the graph tu, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the universal wheel; when I chant the graph sha, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the treasury of the ocean; when I chant the graph fu, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: universally bringing forth and abiding at peace; when I chant the graph duo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the light of fullness; when I chant the graph ye, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the heaping up of differences; when I chant the graph sezha, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the universal light that stills the afflictions.

“When I chant the graph jia, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the cloud without differences; when I chant the graph suo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: sending down the great rain; when I chant the graph mo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the great flood surging and the many peaks standing ranged together; when I chant the graph qie, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: universally setting up; when I chant the graph ta, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the treasury of the evenness of suchness; when I chant the graph she, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: entering the ocean of the world and being pure; when I chant the graph suo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: calling to mind the adornment of all buddhas.

“When I chant the graph tuo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: observing and sifting out all the gatherings of dharmas; when I chant the graph she, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the light of the wheel of the teaching of all buddhas, followed in accord; when I chant the graph qu, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the treasury of wisdom cultivated upon the ground of the cause; when I chant the graph cha, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the treasury that stills the ocean of all deeds; when I chant the graph suoduo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: sweeping away the hindrances of delusion and opening the pure light; when I chant the graph rang, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the gate of the wisdom that makes the world; when I chant the graph heluoduo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the wheel of wisdom within the realm of birth and death.

“When I chant the graph po, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the full adornment of the palace of omniscience; when I chant the graph che, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the treasury of the skillful means of practice, each one of them full; when I chant the graph suomo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: seeing the buddhas appear in accord with the ten directions; when I chant the graph hepo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: observing all beings who have no bond of affinity, taking them in by skillful means, and causing the power of unobstructedness to arise; when I chant the graph cuo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: cultivating and going on to enter the ocean of all merit and virtue; when I chant the graph qie, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the firm treasury of the ocean that holds the cloud of all dharmas; when I chant the graph zha, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: universally seeing the buddhas of the ten directions in accord with one’s vow.

“When I chant the graph na, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: observing that the wheel of graphs has inexhaustible koṭis of graphs; when I chant the graph suopo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the place where the teaching of beings comes to its end; when I chant the graph suojia, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the vast treasury, the wheel of the light of unobstructed eloquence, illumining everywhere; when I chant the graph yesuo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: proclaiming the realm of all buddha-dharmas; when I chant the graph shizhe, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the Dharma-thunder roaring everywhere throughout the realm of all beings; when I chant the graph cha, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: awakening beings by the dharma of no-self; when I chant the graph tuo, I enter one gate of prajñā-pāramitā, named: the treasury of the differences of the wheels of all dharmas.

“Son of good family! When I chant these graph-mothers, I take these forty-two gates of prajñā-pāramitā as the foremost, and enter measureless, numberless gates of prajñā-pāramitā.

“Son of good family! I know only this one bodhisattva liberation of well knowing the many arts. But as for those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas — who are able, with regard to all the skillful dharmas of the world and beyond the world, to penetrate them with wisdom and reach the far shore; who take in without remainder the various arts of every different quarter; who hold within a deep understanding of letters and of numbering; who are skilled in medicine and in spells, and heal well the many sicknesses; and if there are beings held fast by ghosts and goblins, cursed by those who hate them, met by the strange calamities of an evil star, chased by a corpse, afflicted with epilepsy, or wasted and thin, and all the many other sicknesses — they can help them all, and make them well again; who further know well how to tell apart gold and jade, pearl and shell, coral, beryl, maṇi, tridacna, jisaluo, and all the other hoards of treasure, the places where they are produced, the differences of their kinds, and how much they are worth; who, as to hamlets and villages and towns, cities great and small, palaces and gardens, cliffs and springs, marshes and fens — wherever there is a place where a multitude of people dwells, are able to take it in and protect it according to that place; who further observe well the patterns of the heavens and the earth, the signs of good and ill fortune in a person’s features, the sounds of birds and beasts, the airs of cloud and haze, the fatness or leanness of the year’s harvest, the safety or peril of a land — and of all such arts as the world has, there is not one they are not practiced in, for they have exhausted their very root and source; who are further able to distinguish the dharmas that go beyond the world, to set names and marks straight and make meanings plain, to observe the essence and the mark of a thing, to cultivate in accord with it, so that wisdom enters into it, with no doubt, no obstruction, no darkness of delusion, no dullness, no anxiety, no sinking down, and nothing that is not directly realized before them — how could I know, or be able to tell of, their merit and their practice?

“Son of good family! In this country of Magadha there is a settlement, and within it there is a city named: Podana; and there is a laywoman (a woman of the household life) whose name is: Worthy and Excellent. Go to her and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time the youth Sudhana bowed his head and face in reverence to the feet of this knower of the arts, circled him numberless times, and departed gazing back upon him with longing.

The Fourth Gathering, Worthy and Excellent: To Have Nothing to Depend On Is Itself the Place of the Way

He went on to the city of that settlement, and reaching the place of Worthy and Excellent, bowed to her feet and circled her, joined his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said to her: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

Worthy and Excellent answered him and said:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: the place of the Way that has nothing to depend upon; and having myself come to understand it, I also expound it for others. And I have gained a samādhi of inexhaustibility — not that the dharma of that samādhi itself has exhaustion or inexhaustibility, but because it is able to bring forth the eye of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the ear of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the nose of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the tongue of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the body of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the mind of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the billows of merit and virtue of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the light of wisdom of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly, and again is able to bring forth the swift spiritual powers of the nature of omniscience inexhaustibly.

“Son of good family! I know only this one liberation of the place of the Way that has nothing to depend upon. But as for the merit and the practice of those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who cling to nothing at all — how could I fully know it, or tell of it?

“Son of good family! To the south there is a city named: Fertile Fields; and there is an elder there named: Firm Liberation. You may go and ask him: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time Sudhana made obeisance to the feet of Worthy and Excellent, circled her numberless times, gazed up at her with longing, took his leave, and went south.

The Fifth Gathering, Firm Liberation: Having Gained the Dharma, He Seeks the Dharma All the More, Without Rest

He came to that city, went on to the place of the elder, bowed to his feet and circled him, joined his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said to him: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

The elder answered him and said:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: the pure adornment of mindfulness that clings to nothing. Ever since I gained this liberation, I have sought the right Dharma diligently in the presence of the buddhas of the ten directions, and have never rested.

“Son of good family! I know only this one liberation of the pure adornment of unclinging mindfulness. But as for those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who have gained the great lion’s roar that has nothing to fear, and who abide in the vast heap of merit and knowledge — how could I know, or be able to tell of, their merit and their practice?

“Son of good family! In this very city there is an elder named: Wondrous Moon; and the dwelling of that elder always has light in it. Go to him and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time the youth Sudhana made obeisance to the feet of Firm, circled him numberless times, took his leave, and went on.

The Sixth Gathering, Wondrous Moon: A Dharma Gate Told in a Single Sentence

He went on to the place of Wondrous Moon, bowed to his feet and circled him, joined his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said to him: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

Wondrous Moon answered him and said:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: pure knowledge, light.

“Son of good family! I know only this one liberation of the light of knowledge. But as for those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who realize measureless gates of liberation — how could I know, or be able to tell of, their merit and their practice?

“Son of good family! To the south of this place there is a city named: Birth-Giving; and there is an elder there named: Unconquerable Army. Go to him and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time Sudhana made obeisance to the feet of Wondrous Moon, circled him numberless times, and departed gazing back upon him with longing.

The Seventh Gathering, Unconquerable Army: Seeing Measureless Buddhas, Gaining the Inexhaustible Treasury

He went on step by step toward that city, came to the place of the elder, bowed to his feet and circled him, joined his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said to him: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

The elder answered him and said:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: the mark of inexhaustibility. Because I have realized this bodhisattva liberation, I see measureless buddhas and gain an inexhaustible treasury.

“Son of good family! I know only this one liberation of the mark of inexhaustibility. But as for those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who have gained knowledge without limit and eloquence without obstruction — how could I know, or be able to tell of, their merit and their practice?

“Son of good family! To the south of this city there is a settlement, and its name is simply: Dharma; and within that settlement there is a brahmin named: Most Tranquil. Go to him and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time the youth Sudhana made obeisance to the feet of Unconquerable Army, circled him numberless times, and departed gazing back upon him with longing.

The Eighth Gathering, Most Tranquil: A Vow That Is Spoken Aloud Is Certain to Be Fulfilled

He went on southward step by step, came to that settlement, saw Most Tranquil, bowed to his feet and circled him, joined his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said to him: “Holy one! I have already brought forth beforehand the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, but I still do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the practice of a bodhisattva, how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva. I have heard that the holy one is well able to draw others on and to instruct them; I pray that you will expound it for me!”

The brahmin answered him and said:

“Son of good family! I have gained one bodhisattva liberation, named: the speech of true vow (that the vow one brings forth and the words one utters truly answer to one another); and the bodhisattvas of the past, the present, and the future, because they have such speech, up to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, have never fallen back — none has fallen back already, none falls back now, and none will fall back hereafter.

“Son of good family! Because I abide in the speech of true vow, whatever I set my mind to do is fulfilled and accomplished, every one. Son of good family! I know only this one liberation of true speech. But as for those bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who accord with the speech of true vow, whose going and staying never go against it, whose words are always made with truth and have never been false, and out of whom measureless merit and virtue is brought forth thereby — how could I know it, or be able to tell of it?

“Son of good family! To the south of this place there is a city named: Gate of the Wondrous-Intent Blossom; and there is a boy there named: Virtue-Born, and also a maiden named: Endowed with Virtue. Go to them and ask: how is a bodhisattva to study the practice of a bodhisattva, and to cultivate the path of a bodhisattva?”

At that time the youth Sudhana, out of reverence for the Dharma, made obeisance to the feet of the brahmin, circled him numberless times, and went away gazing back upon him with longing.

Seeking in Accord with the Teaching · Seeing, Paying Respect, and Inquiring (Chengguan’s Outline): He Comes to the City Gate of Wondrous Intent Blossoms and Sees a Boy and a Maiden

At that time Sudhana the youth journeyed gradually southward and came to the city Gate of Wondrous Intent Blossoms, where he saw the boy Virtue-Born and the maiden Endowed with Virtue. He bowed to their feet, and when he had circled them to the right, he joined his palms before them and spoke in this way:

“Holy ones! I have already brought forth the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and yet I do not know how a bodhisattva is to study the bodhisattva practice, nor how a bodhisattva is to cultivate the bodhisattva path. I only pray that you, out of kindness and pity, will expound it for me!”

Displaying Their Own Dharma Gate · Setting Forth the Name (Chengguan’s Outline): The Liberation We Have Realized Is Named the Abiding in Illusion

At that time the boy and the maiden said to Sudhana:

“Son of good family! The bodhisattva liberation that the two of us have realized is named ‘the abiding in illusion.’

Setting Forth the Ten Illusions Separately (Chengguan’s Outline): Ten Places Are All the Abiding in Illusion, and Each Has Its Own Conditions

“Because we have gained this liberation, we see that all worlds are the abiding in illusion, since they are born of causes and conditions; that all sentient beings are the abiding in illusion, since they are raised up by deeds and by afflictions; that all worldly realms are the abiding in illusion, since ignorance, craving for existence, and the rest are born of conditions turning one upon another; that all dharmas are the abiding in illusion, since they are born of the view of a self and every other sort of illusory condition; that all three times are the abiding in illusion, since they are born of the inverted knowledge that takes the view of a self and the rest; that the arising and ceasing of all sentient beings, their birth, aging, sickness, and death, their grief, sorrow, suffering, and distress, are the abiding in illusion, since they are born of false discrimination; that all lands are the abiding in illusion, since they appear through the inversion of perception, the inversion of mind, the inversion of view, and ignorance; that all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are the abiding in illusion, since they are accomplished by the discrimination of knowledge and cutting off; that all bodhisattvas are the abiding in illusion, since they are accomplished by the dharmas of the many practices and vows by which one is able to tame oneself and to teach and transform sentient beings; that all the assemblies of bodhisattvas, their transformations, their taming, and every arrangement they set in motion are the abiding in illusion, since they are accomplished by the illusion of vow and knowledge.

The Concluding Praise (Chengguan’s Outline): The Own-Nature of the Realm of Illusion Is Beyond Conceiving

“Son of good family! The own-nature of the realm of illusion is beyond conceiving.

Humbling Themselves and Pointing to the Superior (Chengguan’s Outline): We Two Know Only This One

“Son of good family! We two persons are able to know only this one liberation of the abiding in illusion. But as for the bodhisattvas, the mahāsattvas, who enter well into the boundless net of illusion of all affairs — their practice of merit and virtue, how could we know it, and how could we expound it?”

Adding Their Power in the Unseen (Chengguan’s Outline): They Do Not Speak First, but First Make His Body Supple

At that time, when the boy and the maiden had finished setting forth their own liberation, they used the power of the many roots of good that are beyond conceiving to make Sudhana’s body supple and lustrous, and then said to him:

Pointing Out the Place (Chengguan’s Outline): The Land Sea Shore · The Park Great Adornment · The Storeyed Pavilion Vairocana Adornment Treasury

“Son of good family! South of here there is a land named ‘Sea Shore’; there is a park named ‘Great Adornment’; and within it there is a vast storeyed pavilion named ‘Vairocana Adornment Treasury’ — born of the fruit and recompense of the bodhisattva’s roots of good, born of the bodhisattva’s power of mindfulness, power of vow, power of mastery, and spiritual power, born of the bodhisattva’s skillful means, born of the bodhisattva’s merit and wisdom.

Pointing Out the Person · Displaying the Reasons for His Abiding There (Following Chengguan’s Outline · Set Forth in Present-Day Words): Maitreya Is Within It, and It Is for These Things

“Son of good family! A bodhisattva who abides in the liberation that is beyond conceiving, with a mind of great compassion and for the sake of all sentient beings, manifests a realm such as this and gathers together an adornment such as this. Maitreya, the bodhisattva, the mahāsattva, is settled within it — in order to take in the parents, the kinsfolk, and the people of the place where he was originally born, and to bring them to ripening; and further, in order to make those sentient beings who took birth together with him and cultivate together with him become firm within the Great Vehicle; and further, in order to make all those sentient beings accomplish everything according to the ground they abide in and according to their roots of good; and further, in order to display for you the bodhisattva’s gate of liberation, to display the bodhisattva’s mastery in taking birth everywhere, to display how the bodhisattva by every sort of body appears universally before all sentient beings and constantly teaches and transforms them, to display how the bodhisattva by the power of great compassion universally takes in all the goods and wealth of the world without wearying, to display how the bodhisattva is complete in cultivating the many practices and knows all practices and yet is apart from all marks, to display how the bodhisattva takes birth place after place and yet penetrates that all births are without marks.

The Teaching of the Question (Chengguan’s Outline): Go There, and Ask in This Way

“Go to him and ask: How is a bodhisattva to carry out the bodhisattva practice? How is a bodhisattva to cultivate the bodhisattva path? How is a bodhisattva to study the bodhisattva precepts? How is a bodhisattva to purify the bodhisattva mind? How is a bodhisattva to bring forth the bodhisattva vow? How is a bodhisattva to gather the bodhisattva’s equipment for aiding the path? How is a bodhisattva to enter the ground in which bodhisattvas abide? How is a bodhisattva to fulfill the bodhisattva perfections? How is a bodhisattva to obtain the bodhisattva forbearance of birthlessness? How is a bodhisattva to be complete in the bodhisattva dharmas of merit and virtue? How is a bodhisattva to serve the bodhisattva’s good friends?

Setting Forth Generally That Maitreya’s Virtue Is Round and His Station Full (Chengguan’s Outline): Why the Asking Must Be This Broad

“Why is it so? Son of good family! That bodhisattva, that mahāsattva, has penetrated all bodhisattva practices, and knows the minds of all sentient beings, and constantly appears before them to teach, transform, and tame them. That bodhisattva has already fulfilled all the perfections, has already abided in all the bodhisattva grounds, has already realized all the bodhisattva forbearances, has already entered all the bodhisattva stations, has already received the conferring of the full prediction, has already ranged through all the bodhisattva realms, has already gained the spiritual power of all buddhas, and has already received from all Tathāgatas the anointing of his crown with the ambrosial dharma-water of all-knowledge.

Setting Forth Separately What a True Good Friend Is (Chengguan’s Outline): The Ten Things He Can Do Upon You

“Son of good family! That good friend is able to moisten your many roots of good, able to increase your mind of awakening, able to make firm your resolve, able to add to your good, able to nourish your bodhisattva root, able to reveal to you the dharma without obstruction, able to make you enter the ground of Samantabhadra, able to expound for you the bodhisattva vow, able to expound for you the practice of Samantabhadra, able to expound for you the merit and virtue accomplished by the practices and vows of all bodhisattvas.

Warning Him Away from the Inferior · Setting Forth What He Should Not Do (Chengguan’s Outline): Do Not Cultivate One Thing and Suppose You Have Reached the Summit

“Son of good family! You should not cultivate one good, illumine one dharma, carry out one practice, bring forth one vow, gain one prediction, or abide in one forbearance, and then give rise to the thought that this is the ultimate; you should not, with a mind that has a limit and a measure, carry out the six perfections, abide in the ten grounds, purify the buddha-lands, or serve good friends.

The Gates One Should Cultivate (Following Chengguan’s Outline · Set Forth in Present-Day Words): One Should Cultivate Broadly in This Way — Seeking Awakening Above · Rescuing Sentient Beings Below

“Why is it so? Son of good family! A bodhisattva, a mahāsattva, should plant measureless roots of good, should gather measureless equipment for awakening, should cultivate measureless causes of awakening, should study measureless skillful dedications, should transform and deliver measureless realms of sentient beings, should know the minds of measureless sentient beings, should know the roots of measureless sentient beings, should discern the understanding of measureless sentient beings, should contemplate the practices of measureless sentient beings, should tame measureless sentient beings,

The Gates One Should Cultivate (Two · Chengguan’s Outline): Cutting Off One’s Own Hindrance of Delusion · Urging Beings Toward Deliverance

“should cut off measureless afflictions, should purify measureless habits of deeds, should extinguish measureless wrong views, should remove measureless minds of defilement, should bring forth measureless minds of purity, should draw out measureless arrows of the poison of suffering, should dry up measureless seas of craving and desire, should break measureless darkness of ignorance, should smash measureless mountains of self-conceit, should sever measureless bonds of birth and death, should cross measureless floods of the many kinds of existence, should exhaust measureless seas of taking birth, should make measureless sentient beings come forth from the mire of the five desires, should make measureless sentient beings leave the prison of the three realms, should set measureless sentient beings within the holy path,

The Gates One Should Cultivate (Three · Chengguan’s Outline): Purifying One’s Own Roots and Desires · Mastery in the Working of Power

“should extinguish measureless practices of greed and desire, should purify and cure measureless practices of anger and hatred, should smash and break measureless practices of delusion, should pass beyond measureless nets of the demons, should leave far behind measureless deeds of the demons, should purify and cure the bodhisattva’s measureless delights, should increase the bodhisattva’s measureless skillful means, should bring forth the bodhisattva’s measureless surpassing roots, should make bright and clean the bodhisattva’s measureless settled understanding, should proceed and enter into the bodhisattva’s measureless equality, should make pure the bodhisattva’s measureless merit and virtue, should cultivate and cure the bodhisattva’s measureless practices, should display the bodhisattva’s measureless practices that accord with the world, should give rise to measureless power of pure faith, should abide in measureless power of vigor, should purify measureless power of right mindfulness, should fulfill measureless power of samādhi, should raise up measureless power of pure wisdom, should make firm measureless power of surpassing understanding, should gather measureless power of merit, should nourish measureless power of wisdom, should set in motion measureless power of a bodhisattva, should make round and full measureless power of a Tathāgata,

The Gates One Should Cultivate (Four · Chengguan’s Outline): Gathering the Dharma and Curing Delusion · Making Offerings to Buddhas and Gathering Beings

“should discriminate measureless dharma-gates, should know measureless dharma-gates, should make pure measureless dharma-gates, should give rise to measureless light of the Dharma, should make measureless shining of the Dharma, should illumine the roots of measureless kinds and classes, should know measureless sicknesses of affliction, should gather measureless medicines of the wondrous Dharma, should heal the ailments of measureless sentient beings, should prepare with dignity measureless offerings of ambrosia, should go on to measureless buddha-lands, should make offerings to measureless Tathāgatas, should enter measureless assemblies of bodhisattvas, should receive the teachings of measureless buddhas, should bear with the offenses of measureless sentient beings, should extinguish measureless difficulties of the evil destinies, should cause measureless sentient beings to be born in the good destinies, should take in measureless sentient beings by the four means of gathering,

The Gates One Should Cultivate (Five · Chengguan’s Outline): Compassion and Vow Deep and Broad · Realization and Entry Round and Full

“should cultivate measureless gates of dhāraṇī, should give rise to measureless gates of the great vow, should cultivate measureless power of great kindness and great vow, should diligently seek measureless dharmas with never any resting, should raise up measureless power of pondering, should raise up measureless affairs of spiritual power, should purify measureless light of knowledge, should go to measureless destinies of sentient beings, should receive measureless births in the many kinds of existence, should manifest measureless differentiated bodies, should know measureless dharmas of speech, should enter measureless differentiated minds, should know the bodhisattva’s great realm, should abide in the bodhisattva’s great palace, should contemplate the bodhisattva’s deep and wondrous Dharma, should know the bodhisattva’s realm that is hard to know, should carry out the bodhisattva’s practices that are hard to carry out, should be complete in the bodhisattva’s weighty dignity and power, should tread the bodhisattva’s right station that is hard to enter, should know the bodhisattva’s every sort of practice, should manifest the bodhisattva’s universal spiritual power, should receive the bodhisattva’s equal cloud of Dharma, should make broad the bodhisattva’s boundless net of practice, should make round and full the bodhisattva’s boundless perfections, should receive the bodhisattva’s measureless predictions, should enter the bodhisattva’s measureless gates of forbearance, should cultivate and cure the bodhisattva’s measureless grounds, should make pure the bodhisattva’s measureless dharma-gates, and should, together with all bodhisattvas, abide in boundless kalpas, make offerings to measureless buddhas, adorn and purify buddha-lands beyond speaking, and bring forth bodhisattva vows beyond speaking.

Concluding Briefly and Displaying Broadly (Chengguan’s Outline): Taking Up the Essential, Eleven Clauses of ‘Universally’

“Son of good family! To take up the essential point and speak of it: you should universally cultivate all bodhisattva practices, should universally transform and deliver all realms of sentient beings, should universally enter all kalpas, should universally take birth in all places, should universally know all ages, should universally carry out all dharmas, should universally purify all lands, should universally fulfill all vows, should universally make offerings to all buddhas, should universally be the same as the vows of all bodhisattvas, should universally serve all good friends.

Warning Him Away from Fault (Chengguan’s Outline): The Ten Things One Should Not Do in Seeking Good Friends

“Son of good family! In seeking good friends you should not weary; in seeing good friends do not give rise to a sense of having had enough; in inquiring of good friends do not shrink from toil and hardship; in drawing near to good friends do not harbor a mind that turns back; in making offerings to good friends you should not rest; in receiving the teaching of good friends you should not turn it upside down or throw it into disorder; in studying the practice of good friends you should not doubt; in hearing good friends expound the gate of deliverance you should not waver; in seeing good friends act in accord with the afflictions do not give rise to a mind of dislike and blame; and the mind of deep faith and reverence you bring forth toward good friends you should not alter.

Taking Up the Benefit to Establish the Explanation (Chengguan’s Outline): The Thirty-Five Things a Bodhisattva Gains Through Good Friends

“Why is it so? Son of good family! It is because of good friends that a bodhisattva hears the many practices of all bodhisattvas, accomplishes the merit and virtue of all bodhisattvas, brings forth the great vows of all bodhisattvas, draws out the roots of good of all bodhisattvas, gathers together the aids to the path of all bodhisattvas, opens up the light of the Dharma of all bodhisattvas, displays the gate of deliverance of all bodhisattvas, studies the pure precepts of all bodhisattvas, abides in the dharmas of merit and virtue of all bodhisattvas, purifies the vast resolve of all bodhisattvas, increases the firm mind of all bodhisattvas, is complete in the gate of the eloquence of dhāraṇī of all bodhisattvas, gains the pure treasury of all bodhisattvas, gives rise to the light of concentration of all bodhisattvas, gains the surpassing vows of all bodhisattvas, is of one vow with all bodhisattvas, hears the surpassing dharmas of all bodhisattvas, gains the secret place of all bodhisattvas, arrives at the jewel-isle of the Dharma of all bodhisattvas, increases the sprout of the roots of good of all bodhisattvas, nourishes the body of wisdom of all bodhisattvas, guards the deep and hidden treasury of all bodhisattvas, upholds the mass of merit of all bodhisattvas, purifies the road of taking birth of all bodhisattvas, receives the cloud of the right Dharma of all bodhisattvas, enters the road of the great vow of all bodhisattvas, proceeds toward the fruit of awakening of all Tathāgatas, takes in the wondrous practices of all bodhisattvas, reveals the merit and virtue of all bodhisattvas, goes in every direction to hear and receive the wondrous Dharma, praises the vast dignity and power of all bodhisattvas, gives rise to the power of great kindness and compassion of all bodhisattvas, gathers the surpassing power of mastery of all bodhisattvas, gives rise to the limbs of awakening of all bodhisattvas, and does the deeds of benefit of all bodhisattvas.

Setting Forth Directly the Guarding from Without (Chengguan’s Outline): It Is Through Good Friends That He Does Not Fall Into Those Places

“Son of good family! Because a bodhisattva is upheld by good friends, he does not fall into the evil destinies; because he is taken in by good friends, he does not turn back from the Great Vehicle; because he is borne in mind by good friends, he does not break the bodhisattva precepts; because he is guarded by good friends, he does not follow after bad friends; because he is reared by good friends, he does not fall short in the bodhisattva dharmas; because he is gathered up by good friends, he passes beyond the ground of the ordinary person; because he is instructed by good friends, he passes beyond the ground of the two vehicles; because he is shown the way by good friends, he gains deliverance from the world; because he is nourished by good friends, he is able not to be stained by worldly dharmas; because he serves good friends, he cultivates all bodhisattva practices; because he makes offerings to good friends, he is complete in all the dharmas that aid the path; because he draws near to good friends, he is not crushed by deeds and delusions; because he leans upon and relies upon good friends, his strength is firm and he does not fear the demons; because he takes his stand upon good friends, he increases all the dharmas that are limbs of awakening.

Taking Up the Causes of the Guarding from Without (Chengguan’s Outline): Good Friends Are Able To — Forty-One Clauses

“Why is it so? Son of good family! As for good friends: they are able to purify the many hindrances, able to extinguish the many offenses, able to remove the many difficulties, able to stop the many evils, able to break the darkness of the long night of ignorance, able to shatter the firm prison of the many views, able to bring one out of the city of birth and death, able to make one cast off the household of the world, able to cut through the nets of the demons, able to draw out the arrows of the many sufferings, able to make one leave the perilous place of no knowledge, able to bring one out of the great wilderness of wrong views, able to make one cross the flood of the many kinds of existence, able to make one leave the many wrong paths, able to show the road of awakening, able to teach the bodhisattva dharmas, able to make one abide in the bodhisattva practice, able to make one proceed toward all-knowledge, able to purify the eye of wisdom, able to make the mind of awakening grow, able to give rise to great compassion, able to set forth the wondrous practices, able to expound the perfections, able to make one cast out bad friends, able to make one abide in the many grounds, able to make one obtain the many forbearances, able to make one cultivate all roots of good, able to make one bring to completion all the equipment of the path, able to bestow all great merit and virtue, able to make one arrive at the station of the knowledge of all modes, able to make one gather merit and virtue with gladness, able to make one leap up and cultivate the many practices, able to make one proceed and enter into the deep meaning, able to make one reveal the gate of deliverance, able to make one cut off the many evil destinies, able to make one be illumined by the light of the Dharma, able to make one be moistened by the rain of the Dharma, able to make one extinguish every delusion, able to make one cast away every view, able to make one increase the wisdom of all buddhas, able to make one abide in the dharma-gates of all buddhas.

Teaching Him to Call to Mind the Surpassing Virtue of Friends (Chengguan’s Outline): Ten Similes

“Son of good family! As for good friends — they are like a kind mother, since they give birth to the buddha-seed; like a kind father, since the benefit is vast; like a wet-nurse, since they guard one and do not let one do evil; like a teacher, since they reveal what bodhisattvas are to study; like one who guides well, since they are able to reveal the road of the perfections; like a good physician, since they are able to cure the many sicknesses of affliction; like the Snow Mountains, since they make the medicine of all-knowledge grow; like a brave general, since they wipe out every fear; like one who ferries travelers across, since they make one come forth from the violent flood of birth and death; like a boatman, since they make one arrive at the jewel-isle of wisdom. Son of good family! You should constantly ponder the good friends with right mindfulness in this way.

Teaching Him the Mind and Conduct with Which to Serve Friends (Chengguan’s Outline): Twenty-One Minds One Should Bring Forth

“Again, son of good family! In serving all good friends you should bring forth a mind like the great earth, since it bears up heavy burdens and does not weary; you should bring forth a mind like a diamond, since its aspiration is firm and cannot be broken; you should bring forth a mind like the Iron-Ring Mountains, since none of the many sufferings can move it; you should bring forth a mind like an attendant, since it accords with every command; you should bring forth a mind like a disciple, since it does not go against any instruction; you should bring forth a mind like a servant boy, since it does not weary of any task; you should bring forth a mind like a nursing mother, since it undergoes every toil without complaining of weariness; you should bring forth a mind like a hired laborer, since it does not go against whatever teaching it receives; you should bring forth a mind like a remover of dung, since it leaves arrogance behind; you should bring forth a mind like a ripened ear of grain, since it is able to bend low; you should bring forth a mind like a fine horse, since it leaves behind a bad nature; you should bring forth a mind like a great cart, since it is able to carry weight; you should bring forth a mind like a tamed and obedient elephant, since it is constantly submissive; you should bring forth a mind like Mount Sumeru, since it does not tilt or move; you should bring forth a mind like a good dog, since it does not harm its master; you should bring forth a mind like a Zhantuluo (one of the despised clans), since it leaves arrogance behind; you should bring forth a mind like a gelded ox, since it has no wrathful might; you should bring forth a mind like a boat, since it goes back and forth without wearying; you should bring forth a mind like a bridge, since it ferries others across and forgets its own toil; you should bring forth a mind like a filial son, since it complies with the countenance; you should bring forth a mind like a prince, since it carries out the royal command.

Setting Self and Friend Face to Face (Chengguan’s Outline): Ten Pairs, and Four Things in Each Pair

“Again, son of good family! You should give rise to the thought of yourself as sick and suffering, of the good friend as a king of physicians, of the Dharma spoken as fine medicine, of the practice cultivated as the removing of illness; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as one going far, of the good friend as a guide, of the Dharma spoken as the right road, of the practice cultivated as arriving far away; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as one seeking to be ferried across, of the good friend as a boatman, of the Dharma spoken as the boat and oars, of the practice cultivated as reaching the shore; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as sprouting grain, of the good friend as a dragon king, of the Dharma spoken as timely rain, of the practice cultivated as ripening; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as poor, of the good friend as King Vaiśravaṇa (the god-king of much wealth), of the Dharma spoken as goods and jewels, of the practice cultivated as wealth and abundance; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as an apprentice, of the good friend as a fine craftsman, of the Dharma spoken as the craft, of the practice cultivated as knowing it thoroughly; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as afraid, of the good friend as one brave and strong, of the Dharma spoken as weapons, of the practice cultivated as breaking the foe; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as a merchant, of the good friend as a caravan leader, of the Dharma spoken as precious jewels, of the practice cultivated as gathering them up (picking them up and taking them); and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as a son, of the good friend as father and mother, of the Dharma spoken as the family estate, of the practice cultivated as carrying on the succession; and again you should give rise to the thought of yourself as a prince, of the good friend as a great minister, of the Dharma spoken as the royal decree, of the practice cultivated as the thought of wearing the royal crown, the thought of wearing the royal robes, the thought of fastening on the royal sash, and the thought of sitting in the royal hall.

Concluding Exhortation and the Benefit It Establishes (Chengguan’s Outline): Draw Near with a Mind Such as This

“Son of good family! You should bring forth a mind such as this and form an intention such as this in drawing near to good friends. Why is it so? Drawing near to good friends with a mind such as this is able to make his aspiration attain purity forever.

Praising the Ten Similes Again (Following Chengguan’s Outline · Set Forth in Present-Day Words): As for Good Friends, They Are as It Were …

“Again, son of good family! Good friends are able to nourish the many roots of good, as it were the Snow Mountains nourishing the many medicinal herbs; good friends are a vessel of the Buddha-Dharma, as it were the great sea swallowing in the many streams; good friends are a place of merit and virtue, as it were the great sea bringing forth the many jewels; good friends are able to purify the mind of awakening, as it were a fierce fire able to refine true gold; good friends pass beyond the dharmas of the world, as Mount Sumeru rises out above the great sea; good friends are not stained by the dharmas of the world, as it were the lotus blossom not clinging to the water; good friends do not receive the many evils, as it were the great sea not lodging a corpse overnight; good friends are able to increase the white dharmas (the dharmas that are pure), as it were the white moon round and full in light and color; good friends illumine the Dharma realm, as it were the blazing sun shining upon the four continents; good friends nourish the bodhisattva body, as it were father and mother rearing a son.

Lodging the Numbers to Conclude Their Multitude (Chengguan’s Outline): The Ten Clauses Gained by Following the Teaching of Good Friends

“Son of good family! To say it in essence: if a bodhisattva, a mahāsattva, is able to follow the teaching of good friends, he gains merit and virtue to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas (a name for a great number), purifies deep minds to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas, nourishes bodhisattva roots to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas, purifies bodhisattva powers to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas, cuts off hindrances to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas (a name for the numberless), passes beyond the realms of the demons to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas, enters dharma-gates to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas, fulfills the aids to the path to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas, cultivates wondrous practices to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas, and brings forth great vows to the number of ten beyond-speaking hundreds of thousands of koṭis of asaṃkhyeyas.

Gathering All Together to Conclude Their Multitude (Chengguan’s Outline): Everything Takes Good Friends as Its Root

“Son of good family! Let me say it again in brief: all bodhisattva practices, all bodhisattva perfections, all bodhisattva grounds, all bodhisattva forbearances, all bodhisattva gates of dhāraṇī, all bodhisattva gates of samādhi, all bodhisattva knowledge of spiritual power, all bodhisattva dedications, all bodhisattva vows — all the accomplishing of the Buddha-Dharma by bodhisattvas is by the power of good friends, takes good friends as its root, is born depending on good friends, comes forth depending on good friends, grows depending on good friends, abides depending on good friends; good friends are its cause and condition, and good friends are what set it in motion.”

Cherishing Their Virtue and Taking Leave (Chengguan’s Outline): What He Heard Was Merit and Virtue, and What He Carried Away Was the Same

At that time Sudhana the youth, having heard of merit and virtue such as this belonging to good friends — able to reveal measureless wondrous practices of bodhisattvas, able to accomplish measureless vast Buddha-Dharma — leapt up in gladness, bowed to the feet of Virtue-Born and Endowed with Virtue, circled them measureless times, gazed up at them with earnest devotion, and only then took his leave and departed.

Calling to Mind the Teaching of the Friend Before, and Going On Toward the Land Sea Shore (Chengguan’s Outline)

At that time Sudhana the youth, having heard the teaching of his good friends, and that teaching having moistened his mind, was rightly calling to mind and pondering the practices practiced by bodhisattvas, and he went on his way toward the land Sea Shore.

The Nine Clauses of Calling His Own Former Lives to Mind (Chengguan’s Outline): Recalling a Fault of Long Ago, and Bringing Forth the Antidote to It on the Spot

He called to mind that in a former life he had not cultivated the paying of respect, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to work at it with diligent strength; and he called to mind that in a former life his body and mind had not been pure, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to set himself in order and make himself clean, single-mindedly; and he called to mind that in a former life he had done evil deeds of every kind, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to guard himself and cut them off, single-mindedly; and he called to mind that in a former life he had given rise to false imaginings of every kind, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to ponder constantly and rightly; and he called to mind that in a former life the practices he cultivated had been only for his own body, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to make his mind vast and to reach everywhere to all sentient beings who have consciousness; and he called to mind that in a former life he had chased after and sought the realms of desire, and had constantly worn himself away for nothing and without a taste of savor, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to practice the Buddha-Dharma and to nourish and grow the faculties, so as to make himself at rest and at ease; and he called to mind that in a former life he had given rise to crooked thoughts, in accord with inversion, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to give birth to a mind of right view and to bring forth the vows of a bodhisattva; and he called to mind that in a former life he had toiled by day and by night without rest, and yet what he did was evil deeds of every kind, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to bring forth great vigor and to accomplish the Buddha-Dharma; and he called to mind that in a former life he had taken birth among the five destinies, with no benefit to his own body or to the bodies of others, and on the spot he brought forth the intent to vow to use this body to benefit sentient beings, to accomplish the Buddha-Dharma, and to serve all good friends.

Contemplating This Body Again (Chengguan’s Outline): This Body Is the House in Which Four Kinds of Suffering Dwell

Having pondered in this way, he gave rise to great joy. And he contemplated this body again, that it is the house in which the many sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death dwell; and thereupon he vowed: may I, to the end of all the kalpas to come, cultivate the bodhisattva path and teach and transform sentient beings, see the Tathāgatas and accomplish the Buddha-Dharma, journey through all the buddha-lands, serve all the masters who expound the Dharma, uphold all the teachings of the Buddha, seek out all companions who practice the same Dharma, see all good friends, gather all the dharmas of the buddhas, and make a cause and a condition with the vow-and-knowledge body of all bodhisattvas.

At the Time He Made This Thought (Chengguan’s Outline): The Benefit That Grew Out of This One Thought

At the time he made a thought such as this, he grew roots of good measureless and beyond conceiving, and thereupon toward all bodhisattvas he gave rise to deep faith and reverence, gave rise to the thought that they are rare and hard to meet with, gave rise to the thought of them as great masters; his faculties were purified and the dharmas of good increased in him, and he gave rise to the reverent offerings of all bodhisattvas, made the bending of the body and the joining of the palms of all bodhisattvas, gave rise to the eye of all bodhisattvas that sees the worldly realm everywhere, gave rise to the thought of all bodhisattvas that calls sentient beings to mind everywhere; he manifested the bodies of transformation of the measureless vows of all bodhisattvas, and sent forth the thought of the sound of the pure praising and expounding of all bodhisattvas; he saw all the buddhas of the past and of the present, together with the bodhisattvas, in every place displaying the accomplishing of the path and displaying spiritual power and transformation, so that there was not so much as a place the size of a hair-tip that they did not pervade; and he further gained the eye of the light of pure knowledge, and saw the realms in which all bodhisattvas practice; his mind entered everywhere the net of lands in the ten directions, and his vow reached everywhere throughout space and the Dharma realm, equal in the three times, with no time of rest.

All of This (Chengguan’s Outline): Where All of This Came From

All of this was brought about only by his having believed and accepted the teaching of good friends.

Casting the Five Parts of His Body to the Ground Before the Great Storeyed Pavilion

Sudhana the youth, with reverence such as this, offerings such as this, praise such as this, contemplation such as this, power of vow such as this, calling to mind such as this, and measureless realms of wisdom such as this, cast the five parts of his body to the ground before the great storeyed pavilion Vairocana Adornment Treasury, gathered in his thoughts for a while, and pondered and contemplated.

Entering the Gate of the Sameness of the Wisdom-Body, and Manifesting His Body Everywhere Before All

Because of his deep faith and understanding and the power of his great vow, he entered the gate of the sameness of the wisdom-body that pervades every place, and manifested his own body everywhere before all Tathāgatas, before all bodhisattvas, before all good friends, before all stūpas and shrines of the Tathāgatas, before all images of the Tathāgatas, before all the dwelling places of the buddhas and the bodhisattvas, before all the jewels of the Dharma, before all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and their stūpas and shrines, before all the fields of merit that are the holy assemblies, before all his parents and elders, and before all sentient beings in the ten directions — everywhere as has been said above, revering, paying respect, and praising, to the very end of the future without rest.

The Ten Clauses from “Equal to Space, Since It Is Without Bound or Measure” Onward: What the Measure of This Paying of Respect and Praise Is Equal To

This paying of respect and praise is equal to space, since it is without bound or measure; equal to the Dharma realm, since it is without obstruction; equal to the real limit, since it pervades everything; equal to the Tathāgatas, since it is without discrimination. It is like a shadow, since it appears in accord with knowledge; like a dream, since it arises out of thought; like an image in a mirror, since it displays everything; like an echo, since it is sent forth by conditions. It has no arising, since one thing rises and another passes away in turn; it has no own-nature, since it turns in accord with conditions.

The Eleven Clauses of ‘Arising From …’: Where the Fruit Arises From

And he knew with certainty: that all recompense arises from deeds; that all fruits arise from causes; that all deeds arise from habit; that the arising of all buddhas arises from faith; that all the matters of offering that are manifested by transformation arise from settled understanding; that all buddhas of transformation arise from a mind of reverence; that all dharmas of the buddhas arise from roots of good; that all bodies of transformation arise from skillful means; that all the works of a buddha arise from great vows; that all the practices cultivated by bodhisattvas arise from dedicating and directing; that the vast adornment of the whole Dharma realm arises from the realm of all-knowledge.

The Ten Clauses of ‘Leaving a Certain View, Since He Knows a Certain Thing’: Ten Views, Each Left Behind by Knowing; the Last Has Three Knowings

He left behind the view of annihilation, since he knew that there is dedicating and directing; left behind the view of permanence, since he knew that there is no arising; left behind the view that there is no cause, since he knew that there is a right cause; left behind the view of inversion, since he knew the principle as it really is; left behind the view that the great god of mastery is able to give birth to things, since he knew that they are not born from another; left behind the view of birth from self and birth from another, since he knew that they arise from conditions; left behind the view that grasps at a limit, since he knew that the Dharma realm has no limit; left behind the view that there is coming and going, since he knew that they are like a shadow-image; left behind the view of existence and non-existence, since he knew that there is neither arising nor ceasing; left behind the view that grasps at all dharmas, since he knew that they are empty and without arising, since he knew that they are not their own masters, and since he knew that they are born of the power of vows; and he left behind all marks, since he saw the entering of the limit of no-mark.

The Clauses of ‘Since They Are Like Such and Such’ and ‘Since He Penetrates Such and Such’: Cause and Fruit Are Not Lost, and Yet All That Appears Is Empty

He knew that all dharmas are as a seed gives birth to a sprout, and as a seal gives birth to a graph. He knew that substance is like an image in a mirror, that sound is like an echo, that objective realms are like a dream, that deeds are like an illusion. He penetrated that the worldly realm is what the mind manifests, that fruits arise from causes, that recompense is gathered by deeds, and that all the dharmas of merit and virtue of every kind flow forth from the skillful means of bodhisattvas.

Entering a Knowledge Such as This, He Set His Mind Straight and Made His Thought Clean, and Paid Respect with His Head

Sudhana the youth entered a knowledge such as this, set his mind straight and made his thought clean; and before the tower he threw his whole body upon the ground and paid respect with his head, earnestly; and roots of good beyond conceiving flowed into his body and mind, and made him cool and glad. He rose from the ground and gazed up single-mindedly, not taking his eyes away for a moment; and he joined his palms and circled about, passing measureless rounds, and made a thought such as this, saying:

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (1): This Is the Dwelling Place of One Who Understands Emptiness, No-Mark, and No-Wish

“This great storeyed pavilion is the dwelling place of one who understands emptiness, no-mark, and no-wish; the dwelling place of one who makes no discrimination toward any dharma; the dwelling place of one who penetrates that the Dharma realm is without differences; the dwelling place of one who knows that no sentient being can be got at; the dwelling place of one who knows that no dharma arises; the dwelling place of one who does not cling to any worldly realm; the dwelling place of one who does not cling to any lair or dwelling; the dwelling place of one who does not delight in any village; the dwelling place of one who does not depend upon any objective realm; the dwelling place of one who has left every notion behind; the dwelling place of one who knows that no dharma has an own-nature; the dwelling place of one who has cut off every deed of discrimination; the dwelling place of one who has left behind every notion and mind, mentation, and consciousness; the dwelling place of one who neither enters nor comes out of any path; the dwelling place of one who enters every deep prajñā-pāramitā; the dwelling place of one who is able by skillful means to abide in the Dharma realm of the universal gate; the dwelling place of one who has quenched every fire of affliction; the dwelling place of one who by higher wisdom cuts off every view, every craving, and every conceit; the dwelling place of one who brings forth all the meditations, liberations, samādhis, spiritual powers, and clarities, and disports himself within them; the dwelling place of one who contemplates the realms of the samādhis of all bodhisattvas; the dwelling place of one who abides in the place of all the Tathāgatas.

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (2): The One and the All Enter Each Other Without Destroying Their Marks

“It is the dwelling place of one who by one kalpa enters all kalpas, and by all kalpas enters one kalpa, without destroying their marks; the dwelling place of one who by one land enters all lands, and by all lands enters one land, without destroying their marks; the dwelling place of one who by one dharma enters all dharmas, and by all dharmas enters one dharma, without destroying their marks; the dwelling place of one who by one sentient being enters all sentient beings, and by all sentient beings enters one sentient being, without destroying their marks; the dwelling place of one who by one buddha enters all buddhas, and by all buddhas enters one buddha, without destroying their marks; the dwelling place of one who within a single thought knows all of the three times; the dwelling place of one who within a single thought goes on to all lands; the dwelling place of one who manifests his own body before all sentient beings; the dwelling place of one whose mind constantly benefits every worldly realm; the dwelling place of one who is able to reach everywhere to every place.

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (3): Coming Forth Without Departing, Drawing Near Without Clinging

“It is the dwelling place of one who, though he has already come forth from every worldly realm, yet for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings constantly manifests his body within it; the dwelling place of one who does not cling to any land, and yet for the sake of making offerings to the buddhas journeys through all lands; the dwelling place of one who does not move from his original place, and yet is able to go everywhere to all buddha-lands and adorn them; the dwelling place of one who draws near to all buddhas and yet does not give rise to the notion of a buddha; the dwelling place of one who depends upon all good friends and yet does not give rise to the notion of a good friend; the dwelling place of one who dwells in all the palaces of Māra and yet is not attached to the realms of desire; the dwelling place of one who has forever left behind every notion of the mind; the dwelling place of one who, though he manifests his body among all sentient beings, yet gives rise to no thought of two toward himself and others; the dwelling place of one who is able to enter everywhere into all worlds and yet has no notion of difference toward the Dharma realm; the dwelling place of one who vows to dwell through all the kalpas to come and yet has no notion of long or short toward those kalpas; the dwelling place of one who does not leave a single place the size of a hair-tip and yet manifests his body everywhere in all worlds.

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (4): Abiding in the Dharma Hard to Know, Abiding in Great Kindness and Great Compassion

“It is the dwelling place of one who is able to expound the Dharma that is hard to meet with; the dwelling place of one who is able to abide in the Dharma hard to know, the deep Dharma, the Dharma without two, the Dharma without mark, the Dharma without antidote, the Dharma without anything got at, the Dharma without idle talk; the dwelling place of one who abides in great kindness and great compassion; the dwelling place of one who has already crossed beyond all knowledge of the two vehicles, has already gone beyond every realm of Māra, is already unstained by the dharmas of the world, has already arrived at the shore to which bodhisattvas are to arrive, and already dwells where the Tathāgatas dwell.

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (5): Though It Is Thus, He Is Not That — Cultivating Without Realizing

“It is the dwelling place of one who, though he has left behind every mark, yet does not enter the right position of the śrāvakas, and who, though he penetrates that no dharma arises, yet does not abide in the nature of the dharma of no-arising; the dwelling place of one who, though he contemplates the impure, does not realize and take up the dharma of leaving greed behind, nor keeps company with desirous greed; who, though he cultivates kindness, does not realize and take up the dharma of leaving anger behind, nor keeps company with the stain of anger; who, though he contemplates dependent origination, does not realize and take up the dharma of leaving delusion behind, nor keeps company with the confusion of delusion; the dwelling place of one who, though he abides in the four meditations, does not take birth in the heavens of meditation in accord with those meditations; who, though he practices the four measureless minds, yet for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings does not take birth in the realm of form; who, though he cultivates the four formless concentrations, yet because of great compassion does not abide in the formless realm; the dwelling place of one who, though he diligently cultivates calming and contemplation, yet for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings does not realize and take up clarity and release; who, though he practices equanimity, does not cast aside the work of teaching and transforming sentient beings; the dwelling place of one who, though he contemplates emptiness, does not give rise to a view of emptiness; who, though he practices no-mark, constantly teaches and transforms sentient beings who cling to marks; who, though he practices no-wish, does not cast aside the practices and vows of awakening.

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (6): Gaining Mastery Within Affliction and Birth-and-Death

“It is the dwelling place of one who, though he has already gained mastery within all deeds and afflictions, yet for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings displays a going along with deeds and afflictions of every kind; who, though he has no birth-and-death, yet for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings displays the taking of birth and the undergoing of death; who, though he has already left behind every destiny, yet for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings displays an entering into the destinies; the dwelling place of one who, though he practices kindness, has no fond attachment toward sentient beings; who, though he practices compassion, has no grasping toward sentient beings; who, though he practices joy, is constantly pitying in mind when he sees sentient beings who suffer; who, though he practices equanimity, does not abandon or cast aside the work of benefiting others.

The Long Prose Praise of the Storeyed Pavilion (7): Twelve Clauses of ‘Though … Yet …,’ Closed by One Clause That Gathers Them All

“It is the dwelling place of one who, though he practices the nine successive concentrations, is not weary of taking birth in the realm of desire; who, though he knows that no dharma arises or ceases, does not make his realization within the real limit; who, though he enters the three gates of liberation, does not take up the liberation of the śrāvakas; who, though he contemplates the four noble truths, does not abide in the holy fruit of the lesser vehicle; who, though he contemplates the deep dependent origination, does not abide in ultimate quiescence; who, though he cultivates the eightfold holy path, does not seek to come forth from the world forever; who, though he goes beyond the ground of the ordinary man, does not fall into the ground of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; who, though he contemplates the five aggregates of grasping, does not extinguish the aggregates forever; who, though he goes beyond the four Māras, does not discriminate the Māras; who, though he does not cling to the six sense-fields, does not extinguish the six sense-fields forever; who, though he abides in suchness, does not fall into the real limit; who, though he expounds all vehicles, does not cast aside the Great Vehicle. This great storeyed pavilion is the dwelling place of one who abides in all such merit and virtue as this.”

The Verses Spoken (Seven Graphs to the Line, 1): The Dwelling Place of the Honored Kind One

At that time Sudhana the youth spoke verses, saying:

“This is the honored Kind One, of great compassion and pure knowledge, who benefits the worldly realm, the eldest son of the buddhas within the ground of consecration — this is the dwelling place of one who has entered the realm of the Tathāgatas.

“All the sons of the buddhas who are renowned have already entered the gate of liberation of the Great Vehicle, and journey through the Dharma realm with a mind that clings to nothing — this is the dwelling place of one who has no equal.

“Giving, discipline, patience, vigor, meditation, wisdom, skillful means, vows, powers, and spiritual power — such are the dharmas of the perfections of the Great Vehicle, and this is the dwelling place of one who is complete in them all.

“His wisdom is vast as space, and knows everywhere all the dharmas of the three times; unobstructed, without support, grasping at nothing — this is the dwelling place of one who has penetrated the several kinds of existence.

“Skillfully he is able to understand all dharmas as without own-nature, without arising, and without support, as a bird flies in the air and gains mastery — this is the dwelling place of one of great knowledge.

The Verses Spoken (Seven Graphs to the Line, 2): Penetrating the Three Poisons and Yet Not Going Toward Quiescence

“He penetrates the true nature of the three poisons, and discriminates that they arise falsely out of causes and conditions, and yet he is not weary of them and does not seek to come forth from them — this is the dwelling place of one who is at peace.

“The three gates of liberation and the eightfold holy path, the aggregates, the sense-fields, the elements, and dependent origination — he is able to contemplate them all and yet does not go toward quiescence — this is the dwelling place of one who is skillful.

“The lands of the ten directions and the sentient beings within them he contemplates all with unobstructed knowledge, and he penetrates that their nature is all empty and makes no discrimination — this is the dwelling place of one who is quiescent.

“He practices everywhere throughout the Dharma realm without any obstruction, and yet when he seeks the nature of that practicing it cannot be got at, as the wind moves through the air with no place moved through — this is the dwelling place of one without support.

The Verses Spoken (Seven Graphs to the Line, 3): Seeing the Suffering of Sentient Beings and Bringing Forth Seven Kinds of Rescue

“He sees everywhere the flocks of beings within the evil destinies, undergoing bitter torments with nowhere to turn, and sends forth the light of great kindness and wipes it all away — this is the dwelling place of one who pities them.

“He sees sentient beings who have lost the right road, as one blind from birth treading upon a fearful path, and leads them and makes them enter the city of liberation — this is the dwelling place of the great guide.

“He sees sentient beings fallen into the net of Māra, constantly pressed upon by birth, aging, sickness, and death, and makes them free and gives them comfort — this is the dwelling place of one who is brave and strong.

“He sees sentient beings stricken with the sickness of delusion, and raises up a vast and pitying mind of compassion, and with the medicine of wisdom wipes it all away — this is the dwelling place of the great king of physicians.

“He sees the flocks of beings sunk in the sea of existence, drowning and pressed by care and undergoing every suffering, and rescues them all with the ship of the Dharma — this is the dwelling place of one who ferries them well.

“He sees sentient beings within the sea of delusion, and that they are able to bring forth the wondrous jewel that is the mind of awakening, and he enters into it and draws them out and saves them — this is the dwelling place of one who fishes well.

“Constantly with the eye of great vow and of kindness and compassion he contemplates everywhere all sentient beings, and draws them up out of the sea of the several kinds of existence — this is the dwelling place of the king of golden-winged birds.

The Verses Spoken (Seven Graphs to the Line, 4): The One and the All, the Thought and the Kalpa

“As the sun and the moon within space leave no worldly realm unlit, so likewise is the light of his wisdom — this is the dwelling place of one who lights up the world.

“A bodhisattva, for the sake of teaching and transforming one sentient being, exhausts everywhere the measureless kalpas to come; and as he does for one person, so he does for all — this is the dwelling place of one who rescues the world.

“Within a single land he teaches and transforms sentient beings, to the end of the kalpas to come without rest, and within every single land it is so — this is the dwelling place of one whose intent is firm.

“The Dharma expounded by the buddhas of the ten directions he receives everywhere within a single sitting and exhausts it all, and to the end of the kalpas to come it is constantly so — this is the dwelling place of one who is a sea of knowledge.

“He journeys everywhere through the sea of all worlds, enters everywhere the sea of all places of the Way, and makes offerings to the sea of all Tathāgatas — this is the dwelling place of one who practices.

“He practices the sea of all wondrous practices, brings forth the sea of boundless great vows, and in this way passes through a multitude of seas of kalpas — this is the dwelling place of one who has merit and virtue.

“Within a place the size of a hair-tip are measureless lands, with buddhas, sentient beings, and kalpas beyond speaking; he sees them all clearly in this way and pervades them all — this is the dwelling place of the unobstructed eye.

“Within a single thought he gathers in everywhere the boundless kalpas, together with the lands, the buddhas, and the sentient beings, and his wisdom is unobstructed and knows them all rightly — this is the dwelling place of one who is complete in merit and virtue.

The Verses Spoken (Seven Graphs to the Line, 5): The Number of the Vows and the Marks of the Practice

“Were the lands of the ten directions ground into dust-motes, and all the great seas drawn out drop by drop with a hair, the number of the vows a bodhisattva brings forth is such as that — this is the dwelling place of one unobstructed.

“He accomplishes the gates of dhāraṇī and the gates of samādhi, the great vows, the meditations, and the liberations, and in every one of them abides for boundless kalpas — this is the dwelling place of a true son of the buddhas.

“Measureless and boundless sons of the buddhas, by expounding the Dharma in every sort of way, deliver sentient beings, and also expound the many arts and crafts of the world — this is the dwelling place of one who practices.

“He accomplishes spiritual power and the knowledge of skillful means, practices the wondrous Dharma gate that is like an illusion, and displays the taking of birth in the five destinies of the ten directions — this is the dwelling place of one unobstructed.

“A bodhisattva, from the first arousing of the mind onward, cultivates every practice in full, and his bodies of transformation are measureless and pervade the Dharma realm — this is the dwelling place of one who has spiritual strength.

“Within a single thought he accomplishes the path of awakening, and does everywhere the boundless works of wisdom, while the feeling and pondering of the world go mad at it — this is the dwelling place of one who is hard to measure.

“He accomplishes spiritual power without any obstruction, and journeys through the Dharma realm and pervades it all, and yet his mind has never had anything got at — this is the dwelling place of one whose wisdom is pure.

“A bodhisattva cultivates unobstructed wisdom, enters the several lands and clings to nothing, and with the knowledge that is without two shines upon them everywhere — this is the dwelling place of one who is without a self.

“He penetrates that dharmas have no support, and that their original nature is quiescent, the same as space, and he constantly walks within a realm such as this — this is the dwelling place of one who has left stain behind.

“He sees everywhere the flocks of beings undergoing every suffering, and brings forth a mind of great benevolence, kindness, and wisdom, and vows constantly to benefit the several worldly realms — this is the dwelling place of one who pities them.

The Verses Spoken (Five Graphs to the Line, 1): A Son of the Buddhas Dwells Here

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and manifests himself everywhere before sentient beings, as the orb of the sun and the orb of the moon, wiping away everywhere the darkness of birth-and-death.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and goes along everywhere with the minds of sentient beings, transforming and manifesting measureless bodies that fill the lands of the ten directions.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and journeys everywhere through the several worlds, to the place of every Tathāgata, through measureless and numberless kalpas.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and ponders the dharmas of the buddhas through measureless and numberless kalpas, and his mind is never wearied.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and thought after thought enters samādhi, and every single gate of samādhi makes clear the realms of the buddhas.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and knows all lands entirely, through measureless and numberless kalpas, and knows the names of sentient beings and of buddhas.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and within a single thought gathers in the kalpas, only going along with the minds of sentient beings, and with no notion of discrimination.

The Verses Spoken (Five Graphs to the Line, 2): Penetrating the Three Times Within a Single Thought

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and cultivates the several samādhis, and within every single thought of the mind penetrates the dharmas of the three times.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and sits with legs crossed, his body unmoving, and yet manifests himself everywhere in all lands and within all the destinies.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and drinks the sea of the dharmas of the buddhas, enters deep into the sea of wisdom, and is complete in the sea of merit and virtue.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and knows entirely the number of the lands, the number of the worlds, the number of sentient beings, and the number of the names of the buddhas as well.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and within a single thought is able to penetrate entirely the forming and the falling apart of the lands within all of the three times.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and knows everywhere the practices and vows of the buddhas, the practices cultivated by bodhisattvas, and the faculties and desires of sentient beings.

The Verses Spoken (Five Graphs to the Line, 3): Within a Single Dust-Mote He Sees Measureless Lands, and at the End He Turns to Paying Respect

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and sees within a single dust-mote measureless lands and places of the Way, sentient beings and the several kalpas.

“As it is within a single dust-mote, so it is within every dust-mote: every sort of thing is complete there, and everywhere there is no obstruction.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and contemplates everywhere all dharmas — sentient beings, lands, and worlds, without arising and without anything there.

“He contemplates that sentient beings are equal, that dharmas are equal and Tathāgatas are equal, that lands are equal and vows are equal, and that the three times are all equal.

“A son of the buddhas dwells here, and teaches and transforms the flocks of beings, makes offerings to the Tathāgatas, and ponders the nature of dharmas.

“The practices of vow and knowledge cultivated through measureless thousands and myriads of kalpas are vast beyond measuring, and no praising of them can exhaust them.

“Those greatly courageous ones, whose practice is without obstruction, dwell within this place — and I join my palms and pay respect.

“Eldest son of the buddhas, honored Kind One of holy virtue! I now reverently pay respect: may you look upon me and call me to mind!”