Toh 199The Noble Sūtra “The Bodhisattva Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy”

Summary

This discourse takes place during the early evening in Śrāvastī and features the
Buddha and his retinue. Among them are Maitreya (then known as Ajita) and Upāli, who asks
about Ajita’s future awakening as Maitreya. The Buddha answers that he will be reborn in
the Heaven of Joy. He proceeds to describe its wondrous qualities and the causes of being
reborn there. At the conclusion of the discourse, all those present in the retinue rejoice
and make aspirations to be reborn in the Heaven of Joy.

Acknowledgements

Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the guidance of Chokyi
Nyima Rinpoche. The translation was produced by Lowell Cook. Andreas Doctor checked the
translation against the Tibetan, wrote the introduction, and edited the text. Felin Chung
provided assistance by checking the translation against the Chinese and compiling the
Chinese glossary. Further revisions based on the Chinese were made by Ian MacCormack,
James Gentry, and Xiaolong Diao.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of 84000:
Translating the Words of the Buddha.

Introduction

According to tradition, Maitreya is a bodhisattva said to be currently abiding
in the Heaven of Joy (Skt. Tuṣita), whence he is prophesied to return to our continent
of Jambudvīpa as the next buddha of this Fortunate Eon (Skt. bhadrakalpa). Maitreya was the first bodhisattva to inspire a
devoted following in India, anticipating the later development of other bodhisattva
cults, such as those of the bodhisattvas Avalokiteśvara and Mañjuśrī. The cult of
Maitreya flourished in India as early as the first centuries of the Common Era, but the
figure of Maitreya became especially popular in Central and East Asia, starting in the
fourth century ce. Moreover, in his role as the future
buddha, Maitreya has continued to play an important role in practically all forms of
Mahāyāna Buddhism up to the present.

The sūtra translated here, Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven
of Joy, is part of this larger tradition. It is one of the many sūtras in the
Kangyur to have been translated into Tibetan from Chinese. This is immediately clear from the
original title of the text, which is transcribed from Chinese rather than Sanskrit, and
from the colophon, which indicates that the translation was produced based on a Chinese
manuscript. The Tibetan translation corresponds to
a sūtra in the Chinese canon titled (Fo shuo guan mile pusa
shang sheng doushuaitian jing
佛說觀彌勒菩薩上生兜率天經, Taishō 452). Of the six sūtras in the
Chinese canon that center on Maitreya (Taishō 452–57), this is the only one to focus on
his “ascendant” rebirth in the Heaven of Joy, whereas the others are primarily concerned
with his future descent to be reborn in Jambudvīpa.

Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy is also
sometimes classified as one of six so-called visualization sūtras
in the Chinese canon, all of which are thought to have been compiled around the first
half of the fifth century ce (Yamabe 1999, 40–46; Quinter
2013). These six sūtras receive that label from the term “visualization” (觀, guan, sometimes also translated as “contemplation” or “meditation”), which
appears at the beginning of each of their titles. This raises the question of just what
visualization means in this context and how it functions
specifically within each of these six texts. Several of these sūtras, including Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy, lack detailed
visualization instructions, leading some scholars to question whether they were in fact
ever intended for visualization practices, or simply emerged within a general milieu of
Maitreya worship and contemplation.

As for the origins of these six visualization sūtras, although traditionally
understood as translations of Sanskrit texts, there are today no extant Sanskrit
sources, and there is also no mention of them in Indian literature in general or in the
travelogues of the Chinese monks Faxian (337–ca. 422 ce) and
Xuanzang (ca. 602–64 ce) documenting their visits to India.
Moreover, the terminology used in these six sūtras is similar to that of indigenous
Chinese meditation manuals composed around the same time. Such things suggest that these
texts might not have been composed in India. Instead, there appears to be a growing
consensus that they were first compiled in Central Asia, specifically in the Turfan
region, around the first half of the fifth century ce
(Quinter 2013).
According to the colophon of the Chinese translation, this sūtra was translated in 455
ce by the Chinese translator Juqu Jingsheng (d. ca. 464),
an exiled prince of Anyang who traveled to Khotan to study Buddhism and is said to have
brought this sūtra back to China sometime after the Northern Wei invasion of the
Northern Liang in 439. A Chinese commentary on the sūtra, of possible Tang provenance,
was uncovered at Dunhuang.

The Tibetan colophon does not provide much detail beyond the fact that it was
translated from a Chinese manuscript by the editor-translator Venerable Pabtong and
Venerable Sherab Sengé. These two translators are not widely mentioned in other works
cataloging the Tibetan translations. The sūtra is also absent from the ninth-century
Denkarma catalog (Tib. dkar chag ldan dkar
ma), which lists the Tibetan translations that had been produced up to that
point—an absence that indicates a later date of translation. In producing this
translation, we took as our basis the Tibetan Degé xylograph version and compared it to
the variant readings recorded in the Comparative Edition (Tib. dpe bsdur ma). Furthermore, we compared the
Tibetan with the Chinese of Taishō 452. In terms of Western languages, the sūtra has recently been translated
into German from Chinese by Heyryun Koh (2008). This publication also proved helpful for
our work on several occasions.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy

Homage to all
buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying in Śrāvastī, in Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park, along with a great congregation of monks and
many bodhisattva great beings. Then, during the first watch of the night, golden light
rays emerged from the Blessed One’s body and circled Jeta’s Grove seven times. The light made contact
with the householder Sudatta and others; then a golden light
filled the sky like clouds, raining down golden flowers all over Śrāvastī. Amidst this
golden light appeared an immeasurable number of hundreds of thousands of emanated
thus-gone ones. They spoke in unison about the one thousand bodhisattvas to awaken in
this eon, from the awakening firstly of Krakucchanda until the awakening finally of
Roca.

After they had spoken, the light of the thus-gone ones roused an entire
retinue, which gathered around them like cloud banks. The retinue consisted of Venerable
Ājñātakauṇḍinya, who arose from absorption, with a retinue of two hundred fifty monks;
Venerable Mahākāśyapa, with a retinue of two hundred fifty monks; Venerable
Maudgalyāyana, with a retinue of two hundred fifty monks; Venerable Śāriputra, with a
retinue of two hundred fifty monks; one thousand fully ordained nuns including
Mahāprajāpatī; three thousand laymen
including the householder Sudatta; two thousand laywomen
including Viśākhā; the sixteen bodhisattvas of the Fortunate Eon including
Samantabhadra; and five hundred bodhisattvas including the Dharma prince
Mañjuśrī; as well as gods, nāgas, yakṣas, and asuras.

The Blessed One then produced a thousand light rays from his tongue. Each ray
of light had a thousand colors, and within each color appeared an immeasurable number of
emanated thus-gone ones. All these thus-gone ones then taught in unison the profound
dhāraṇīs that show the purity of all
phenomena, which all great bodhisattvas possess. They included the dhāraṇī called limitless
gateway, the dhāraṇī called wisdom of emptiness, the
dhāraṇī called unobscured nature, and the dhāraṇī called
great liberation without marks. With a single voice, they spoke
billions of such dhāraṇī gateways. When
they had spoken those dhāraṇī gateways, Maitreya, who was present in the retinue,
attained ten trillion dhāraṇī gateways at the very instant that he heard what the
Blessed One taught. He rose from his seat, adjusted his robes, joined his palms
together, and then settled himself before the Blessed One.

Next, Venerable Upāli rose from his seat, bowed his head, and addressed the
Blessed One, “Blessed One, long ago, in one of your treasured teachings the Blessed One spoke of Ajita’s future awakening. Ajita is not yet free from the body of an ordinary
person, and his defilements have not yet been exhausted. He has gone forth in this life but has
neither cultivated absorption nor abandoned the afflictions. Yet, the Blessed One has
said that he is certain to become awakened. Therefore, when Ajita’s life is over, in
which realm will he be reborn?”

The Blessed One responded to Upāli, “Upāli, take heed and listen. Since the Thus-Gone One is
omniscient, I have prophesied that within this retinue, the
bodhisattva great being Maitreya will fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect
buddhahood. Twelve years from now, he will pass away and undoubtedly take birth in the
Heaven of Joy.

“In the Heaven of Joy, there are five hundred quintillion gods, each of whom
practices the profound perfection of generosity. Thus, the gods have used the power of
their divine merit to construct celestial palaces to worship this bodhisattva who has
only one birth remaining. To do so, they first removed their robes, sandalwood jewelry,
and precious crowns. They knelt, joined their palms together, and prayed: ‘With our
priceless jewels and divine crowns, we wish to worship the great bodhisattva. We have
heard the prophecy that Ajita will awaken to
unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood not long in the future, so may our
precious crowns transform into substances for the worship of his fully adorned
buddha-realm!’ Each god knelt and made this prayer.

“As soon as all the gods had made this prayer, all their jeweled crowns
transformed into five hundred quintillion palaces. Each precious palace contained seven
parks, each of which was
made of seven precious substances. Each precious substance emitted five billion rays of
light, from each of which came five billion lotuses. From each lotus emerged five
billion rows of trees made of the seven precious substances. The leaves of each tree
held five billion light rays in dazzling colors, and each of these dazzling colors
emitted a further five billion light rays the color of Jambū river gold. From each of these
Jambū-gold light rays emerged five billion precious goddesses. Each goddess sat beneath
the trees, holding in her hands five billion garlands with countless gems, and singing
the loveliest songs about the Dharma wheel of the nonregressing level.

“Fruit grew in the trees, with a color like beryl, and all these colors were
reflected in the beryl. As all the light rays swirled clockwise, many pleasant voices
could be heard teaching the Dharma of great love and great compassion. Each palace was sixty-two leagues in height and
fourteen leagues in width. Five billion nāga kings encircled each palace, beautifying
it from above by causing rain to fall over the five billion trees made of the seven precious substances.
Natural breezes caused the trees to sway to and fro, so that they resounded with the
words of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, selflessness, and all the perfections.

“At that time, inside his palace, the great king Laodubati rose from
his seat, prostrated to all the thus-gone ones in the ten directions, and made the
following prayer: ‘If I possess the merit to construct a Dharma palace for the
bodhisattva Maitreya, may precious gems spontaneously appear from between my eyebrows!’

“As soon as he made this prayer, one billion jewels appeared. They had formed
in all different colors, like beryl and other gems, and were transparent like
crystal. The jewels first circled the empty
sky and then transformed into an amazing jeweled palace with forty-nine stories.

“Each railing of each story was adorned by one trillion jeweled lotuses. Ninety
million gods and five billion goddesses, born miraculously, stood among these railings.
In the hands of each god were immeasurably many hundreds of millions of lotuses, each
made of the seven precious substances. Above each lotus shone immeasurably many millions
of lights. Inside these lights were divine musical instruments that spontaneously
resounded without being played. As the music played, the goddesses rose, took hold of
the musical instruments, danced, and sang lovely songs about the ten virtues, the four
aspirations, and so on. All the gods who heard this generated the mind set upon
unsurpassed awakening.

“Inside each park were reservoirs of beryl in eight hues. The interior of each
reservoir was made of five billion jewels and filled with water possessing the eight
qualities
that spouted up from below. Outside
the four entrances were four miraculously arisen lotuses. The water that emerged around
these lotuses flowed with the color of the precious blossoms. Atop each lotus were
twenty-four goddesses of wondrous beauty, adorned and bearing physical marks like
bodhisattvas. Five billion jeweled vessels appeared in their hands. Each vessel was
filled to the brim with divine ambrosia. Draped over their left shoulders were countless
garlands, and balanced against their right shoulders were countless musical instruments.
Like clouds, they hovered in the sky and came forth from the water. The goddesses
extolled the six perfections of the bodhisattvas. Any god born in the Heaven of Joy was
naturally served by these goddesses.

“In the palace stood a lion throne made of the seven precious substances. It
was four leagues in height and adorned with gold from the Jambū river and countless
jewels. At the four
corners of the throne were four lotuses, each made of a hundred precious jewels, each of
which emitted a billion rays of light. The light produced the most beautiful flowers,
which were made of a variety of gems, which in turn adorned the precious draperies.

“Ten billion Brahmā kings each brought their own beautiful chimes from the
Brahmā heavens and hung them over the draperies. Lesser Brahmā kings likewise draped
nets of various jewels over the draperies. A retinue of countless hundreds of thousands
of gods and goddesses brought forth a great variety of jeweled lotus flowers and
scattered them over the throne. These lotuses in turn produced five billion goddesses,
made of gems, who stood among the draperies with white tail whisks in their hands.

“At the four corners of the palace were four jeweled pillars. Each jeweled
pillar consisted of a hundred thousand mansions, and the gems of these goddesses were
draped between them. On the railings of the palace stood a
hundred thousand goddesses of amazing beauty, holding countless musical instruments in
their hands. Their music resounded with the words of suffering, emptiness, impermanence,
selflessness, and all the perfections. The divine palace
was filled with immeasurably many billions of beautiful gems, and all the goddesses
manifested in colors that matched those gems. Thereupon, all the countless gods
throughout the ten directions made prayers for rebirth in this divine palace in the
Heaven of Joy.

“Now, in that palace in the Heaven of Joy there are five great kings. The
first great king is known as Ratnadhvaja. A rain of the seven precious substances is
released from his body and scatters inside the palace. Each precious substance then
transforms into countless musical instruments that hang in midair. Without being played, they spontaneously
emit limitless beautiful music that pleases the minds of beings. The second king is
known as Flower Scatterer. A rain of manifold flowers is released from his body, forming
parasols of flowers that cover the entire palace. Each parasol has hundreds of thousands
of flags and streamers that guide one along the way. The third king is known as Incense
Voice. From the pores of his body, he rains down a wondrous incense of the sandalwood
found at the ocean shore. The incense forms a cloud with hundreds of colors, which
circles the palace seven times. The fourth great king is known as Joyous Bliss. A rain
of wish-fulfilling jewels is released from his body. Each jewel naturally finds its
place atop the flags and streamers, where it resounds with teachings on seeking refuge
in the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, as well as the five branches of discipline, countless
virtuous qualities, all the perfections, and the aids to Maitreya’s awakening. The fifth great king is known as Fierce Voice. He rains down water from all the
pores of his body. Five billion lotus flowers float on each water drop, and each lotus
supports twenty-five crystal goddesses. Ringing out from every pore on the body of each
crystal goddess is the lovely sound of victory over the divine māra.”

The Blessed One continued addressing Upāli, “In the Heaven of Joy, beings
practice the ten virtues, return the kindness of the victorious ones, and have the merit
to produce great wonders. Even if I were to spend an entire lesser eon explaining the fruits
of how a bodhisattva bound by one life will return kindness and practice the ten
virtues, it would not be exhaustive. Nevertheless, I will now briefly teach you and the others about this.

“Upāli, whether it is a
single monk or the entire retinue, anyone who has not yet grown weary of birth and
death, and wishes to be reborn in a divine realm, must generate the mind set upon
unsurpassed awakening. The observances for those who wish to serve Maitreya are as
follows: perfect the observance of the eight precepts including the five
requisites; be ceaseless in physical and mental diligence; practice the ten
virtues; desire abundant happiness; and maintain a one-pointed desire to be reborn in
the Heaven of Joy. This is known as the right observance, while any other observance is
known as a wrong observance.”

Then Upāli rose from his seat, adjusted his robes, bowed his head, and asked
the Blessed One, “Blessed One, as there is such sublime happiness in the Heaven of Joy,
when will this great being be reborn from Jambudvīpa into that divine realm?”

The Blessed One replied, “Twelve years from now, on the fifteenth day of the
second month of spring, Maitreya will return to the place where he took birth: the
household of the great Brahmin Bāvarī, in the village of Kapāli, in the region of Vārāṇasī. There he
will sit in the lotus posture, as if he were resting in utter absorption. His body’s
golden luster and the red rays of light it emits will be brighter than a hundred
thousand suns, reaching up to the Heaven of Joy above. His physical remains will stay
still and unmoving, like a golden statue. From the sphere of light that surrounds his
body, the syllables of the threefold liberation and the perfection of insight
will distinctly emerge.

“Gods and humans will all be drawn there to worship the precious stūpa with
his physical remains. Maitreya will then be miraculously reborn in the Heaven of Joy, in
that palace made of the seven precious substances. As he sits cross-legged on a lotus
flower atop the lion throne within the palace, his body will shine like gold from the Jambū river. His
body will be sixteen leagues tall and fully adorned with the thirty-two major marks and
the eighty excellent minor marks. There will be a topknot on his head, and his hair will
resemble the color of beryl. His divine crown will be adorned with jewels such as
śakrābhilagna and kiṃśuka. The gems in his divine crown will
shine with the colors of a billion jewels. In each of the colors there will be
immeasurably many billions of emanated thus-gone ones, along with a multitude of
emanated bodhisattvas who act as their servants. All the bodhisattvas from other pure
lands will display the eighteen miracles and take up residence inside the divine crown
as they wish.

“White rays of light will then emerge from between Maitreya’s eyebrows. The
light will cause the thirty-two major marks to manifest in the colors of hundreds of
jewels. Within each major mark will be the minor marks, which in turn will manifest in
the colors of five billion jewels. Also, within each minor mark, gods will manifest
whose major and minor marks blaze in the colors of five billion gems. Each god will sit
on a lotus within an orb of eighty-four thousand light rays. Maitreya will continuously turn the Dharma
wheel of the nonregressing level, day and night. He will set these five billion gods
toward a single destination, accomplish their aims, and make them nonregressing from unsurpassed and complete
awakening. Day and night within the Heaven of Joy, he will continuously establish all
gods in the Dharma wheel of the nonregressing level. Then,
after fifty-six trillion Jambudvīpa years, the discourse called Maitreya’s Birth from the Heaven of Joy into Jambudvīpa will be taught.

“Upāli, the qualities
associated with the bodhisattva Maitreya passing away from this world and being reborn
in the Heaven of Joy are as follows. After the Thus-Gone One passes into nirvāṇa, some among my attendant
retinue will diligently accumulate merit, maintain their vows, sweep stūpas, construct
maṇḍalas, burn fragrant incense, offer flowers, practice the threefold liberation, practice the profound and true Dharma, recite the sūtras and
continuously keep them single-pointedly in mind, acquire the six superknowledges, make statues of the thus-gone ones, recite the
name of Maitreya, and other such things. When it comes time for them to pass away—after
they have received the eight vows, purified all misdeeds,
and made prayers—they will instantly be born in the Heaven of Joy, just as quickly as a
strong man can stretch out his arm.

“Then they will sit cross-legged atop lotus flowers, as hundreds of thousands
of gods play divine music, scatter mandārava and great mandārava flowers, and praise them, saying ‘Excellent! Excellent! Noble
sons, you have accumulated vast merit in Jambudvīpa; and now, upon dying, you have
arrived here in the Heaven of Joy. You should request refuge from the divine king
Maitreya and prostrate to him. When you prostrate to him, white
light will emerge from the ūrṇā hair
between his eyebrows and touch you, liberating you from ninety eons of birth and death
and purifying your misdeeds.’

“Now that I have explained the marvelous Dharma of the benefits of affiliating
oneself with this bodhisattva, sentient beings should not abandon their diligence, but
should bring to mind the nonregressing Dharma wheel and the unsurpassed path. As they
purify their misdeeds and engage in the six practices, they will undoubtedly be born
in the Heaven of Joy and come face-to-face with the noble Maitreya. Having entered into
Maitreya’s service, they will then first hear his Dharma in Jambudvīpa. They will come face-to-face
with all the future buddhas of this present eon, as well as all the buddhas in as many
other eons as there are stars in the sky. In the presence of all those buddhas, they
will receive prophecies of their own awakening.

“Upāli, after the
Thus-Gone One has passed into nirvāṇa, within all my retinues of monks, nuns, gods,
nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, anyone who hears
the name of the bodhisattva great being Maitreya and venerates him with joy and respect
shall attain all that was just mentioned in the mere snap of a finger, once they pass
away. Upon hearing Maitreya’s name, they will no longer fall into the realms of darkness
upon death, nor will they be reborn in any outlying regions, nor among people with wrong
views or nonvirtuous behaviors. Such people will be reborn in every lifetime where the
view is proper, the retinue is abundant, and the Three Jewels are never disgraced.

“Upāli, if those noble sons or daughters who have broken their vows or
committed unwholesome misdeeds hear the name of the bodhisattva of great compassion,
call out his name, place their full body on the ground, and confess with an
undistracted mind, the entirety of their misdeeds will swiftly be purified. If anyone in
the future speaks the name of the
bodhisattva of great compassion, paints his image, offers him incense, flowers, fabrics, parasols,
banners, or flags, venerates him, or recalls his name, then upon passing away, the
bodhisattva Maitreya will radiate light from the ūrṇā hair between his eyebrows—one of the marks of a great being—and all
the gods will send down a rain of mandārava flowers to welcome them as they are instantly reborn in the
divine realm. They will meet face-to-face with the noble Maitreya and bow their heads to
him. At that very moment, they will hear the Dharma, attain the path of unsurpassed
awakening, and obtain the nonregressing wheel of Dharma. In future lives, they will
behold as many thus-gone ones as there are grains of sand in the Ganges river.

“Upāli, listen
attentively and pay heed. When sentient beings in the future take refuge in the
bodhisattva Maitreya, those who do so will attain the unsurpassed path and the
nonregressing wheel of Dharma. Then, once the bodhisattva Maitreya attains the state of
a thus-gone one, a worthy one, a perfect buddha, those people will see the light of that
thus-gone one and receive a prophecy.

“Upāli, after the
Thus-Gone One’s nirvāṇa, when the time comes for anyone—whether they are in the four
retinues or a god, nāga, or yakṣa—to be reborn in the Heaven of Joy, then they must
engage in the following contemplations: Thinking of the Heaven of Joy, they should take
up the vows of the Thus-Gone One. Then, whether for a single day or for up to seven
days, they should contemplate the ten virtues and practice the path of the ten virtues.
Then the merit from this practice should be dedicated, and the aspiration made to be in
the presence of Maitreya. Those who carry out these contemplations will behold a god and
a lotus. Those who recite the name of Maitreya even once will be freed from twelve
hundred eons of birth and death and will have their misdeeds purified. Those who hear
the name of Maitreya and join their palms together will be freed from fifty eons of birth and death. Those who
respectfully prostrate to Maitreya will be liberated from one billion eons of birth and
death and will have their misdeeds purified. They will not be attached to the heavenly
realms, but will
generate the mind set upon unsurpassed awakening in the future, under the bodhi tree,
the tree of the nāgas.”

Then the immeasurably great retinue rose from their seats. They bowed their
heads at the feet of the Blessed One, and then bowed at the feet of Maitreya. They
circled the Blessed One and Maitreya a hundred thousand times. Those who had not yet
attained the path each made the following aspiration: “By fervently making aspirations
here in the presence of the Blessed One, may all of us—gods, humans, the eight classes
of nonhuman beings, and so forth—in the future, having abandoned our bodies, behold
noble Maitreya, and be reborn in the Heaven of Joy.”

Then the Blessed One said, “In the future, all of you will create merit, guard
your discipline, and take birth in the presence of the bodhisattva Maitreya. The
bodhisattva Maitreya will then bless all of you.”

The Blessed One then spoke to Upāli, “Upāli, if you have such a view, it is
said to be right view. Any other view would be a wrong view.”

The venerable Ānanda then rose from his seat, knelt down, joined his palms,
and addressed the Blessed One, “Excellent! The Blessed One has wonderfully explained
Maitreya’s qualities. In the future, we shall strive to become such beings who attain
the results of creating such merit. Therefore, Blessed One, what is the name of this
Dharma discourse? How should we retain it?”

The Blessed One replied, “Ānanda, you should retain what the Thus-Gone One has
taught without forgetting anything. For the sake of future times, you shall reveal the path
that leads to rebirth in the divine realms, disclose the marks of awakening, and prevent
the lineage of the thus-gone ones from being interrupted. This discourse shall be known
as The Nirvāṇa of the Bodhisattva Maitreya. It shall also
be known as The Bodhisattva Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy
and Encouragement for the Seat of Awakening
. You must retain
it!”

When the Blessed One said this, a million bodhisattvas who had arrived from
other pure lands attained the śūraṃgama absorption. Eight hundred thousand gods generated the mind
set upon unsurpassed awakening. They all made the aspiration to follow Maitreya and be
reborn in Jambudvīpa.

After the Blessed One had spoken, the four retinues, as well as the eight
classes of nonhuman beings—gods, nāgas, and so forth—rejoiced in what the Blessed One
had said. They bowed to the Blessed One and then departed.

This completes “The Noble Sūtra: The Bodhisattva
Maitreya’s Birth in the Heaven of Joy.”

Colophon

This was translated from a Chinese manuscript by the editor-translator
Venerable Pabtong and Venerable Sherab Sengé.

Notes

Bibliography

four aspirations

five great kings

eight precepts including the five requisites

topknot

Jambudvīpa years

eight classes of nonhuman beings

wisdom of emptiness

stong pa nyid kyi ye shes
སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱི་ཡེ་ཤེས།

unobscured nature

great liberation without marks

mtshan ma med par rnam par grol ba chen po
མཚན་མ་མེད་པར་རྣམ་པར་གྲོལ་བ་ཆེན་པོ།

Fierce Voice

Flower Scatterer

Incense Voice

Joyous Bliss

Laodubati

Pabtong

pab tong
པབ་ཏོང་།

Sherab Sengé

shes rab seng ge
ཤེས་རབ་སེང་གེ

Prince Jeta’s Grove, Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park
jetavanam anāthapiṇḍadasyārāmaḥ
rgyal bu rgyal byed kyi tshal mgon med zas sbyin gyi kun dga’ ra ba
རྒྱལ་བུ་རྒྱལ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ཚལ་མགོན་མེད་ཟས་སྦྱིན་གྱི་ཀུན་དགའ་ར་བ།