Toh 47The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Teaching of the Mysteries and Secrets of the Realized Ones”

Summary

In this sūtra, the narrative largely revolves around the figures of
Vajrapāṇi, the yakṣa lord and constant companion of the Buddha, and the Buddha
himself. In the first half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi gives a series of teachings
on the mysteries or secrets of the body, speech, and mind of bodhisattvas and
the realized ones. In the second half of the sūtra, Vajrapāṇi describes several
events in the Buddha’s life: his practice of severe asceticism, his approach to
the seat of awakening, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his turning of the
wheel of Dharma. Following this, the Buddha gives a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s
future awakening as a buddha and travels to Vajrapāṇi’s abode for a meal.
Interspersed throughout the sūtra are sermons, dialogues, and marvelous tales
exploring a large number of topics and featuring an extensive cast of
characters, including several narratives about past lives of Vajrapāṇi, Brahmā
Sahāṃpati, and the Buddha himself. The sūtra concludes with the performance of
two long dhāraṇīs, one by Vajrapāṇi and one by the Buddha, for the protection
and preservation of the Dharma.

Acknowledgements

Translated by David Fiordalis and the Dharmachakra Translation Committee
under the supervision of Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. A first draft was made from the
Tibetan by Timothy Hinkle with the assistance of Tulku Tenzin Rigsang and
others. David Fiordalis thoroughly revised the translation with close reference
to the extant Sanskrit manuscript, as well as the Tibetan translation. Fiordalis
also wrote the summary, introduction, annotations, and most of the glossary
entries. Fiordalis would like to acknowledge Paul Harrison, who furnished him
with his own digital images of the Sanskrit manuscript, and Péter-Dániel Szántó,
who generously made his transcription of the manuscript available for
readers.

The translation was completed under the patronage and supervision of
84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha. Rory Lindsay and Nathaniel Rich
edited the translation and the introduction, and Ven. Konchog Norbu copyedited
the text. Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication process.

The translation of this text has been made possible through the
generous sponsorship of Jane and Leo Tong Chen, and their family.

Introduction

The Secrets of the Realized Ones
(Tathāgataguhya) can be called, without
exaggeration, a great work of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature. It deserves to
be considered a work of literature in the narrower sense of a form of verbal
expression of enduring artistic merit, a work of the creative imagination
that may elicit pleasure, wonder, and many other responses from an audience,
and not simply in the broader sense of literature as a body of written (or
oral) works in general. In that narrower sense, it is comparable to better
known works of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, such as The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa, Toh 176), the literary merits of which are
already well established, and The Play in Full
(Lalitavistara, Toh 95), which deserves
more recognition in this regard. Both
of these latter works would seem to bear a close relationship to The Secrets of the Realized Ones in other respects
as well, and it to them.

If The Teaching of Vimalakīrti is
already recognized as a great work of Mahāyāna Buddhist literature, what
should we make of the fact that in The Teaching of
Vimalakīrti itself, the goddess who lives in Vimalakīrti’s house
informs Śāriputra (and consequently the audience) that among the eight
“wonderful and marvelous things” (āścaryādbhutadharma) that occur
in Vimalakīrti’s house, the seventh is the fact that countless buddhas,
including Śākyamuni, come there whenever Vimalakīrti requests it and teach
“the point of entry into the Dharma (dharmamukhapraveśa) named The Secrets
of the Realized Ones (Tathāgataguhya)”? Also, earlier in The
Teaching of Vimalakīrti, when Mañjuśrī first responds to the
Buddha’s request that he visit the sick bodhisattva to inquire about his
health, Mañjuśrī describes Vimalakīrti as someone who has gained full access
to the secrets (guhya) of
all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. From a
text-historical point of view, at least, these passages are strong
indications that The Teaching of Vimalakīrti
knew The Secrets of the Realized Ones, and
regarded it highly. In the current context, the fact that it is mentioned by
another great work of Buddhist literature could be considered one piece of
evidence of its own literary merit and status.

The Secrets of the Realized Ones also
seems to have enjoyed a relatively high degree of popularity, for some time
at least, among an elite group of Buddhist scholar-monks in India and
abroad. It is quoted by Vasubandhu or whoever wrote The
Commentary on the Adornment to the Mahāyāna Sūtras (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya), by Candrakīrti
in The Clear Words
(Prasannapadā), by Kamalaśīla in the third
Stages of Meditative Cultivation (Bhāvanākrama), and by the author of the Bṛhaṭṭīkā or The Long
Explanation of the longer Perfection of Wisdom sūtras. Several excerpts
from it are also found in The Sūtra Anthology
(Sūtrasamuccaya), the ancient anthology
attributed to Nāgārjuna, and in Śāntideva’s compendium, The Training Anthology (Śikṣāsamuccaya). In addition to the references to it in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti, it also seems to be
referenced in The Descent into Laṅka (Laṅkāvatāra). Two longer
passages from it also seem to be reworked in The
Collected Teachings on the Bodhisattva (Bodhisattvapiṭaka, Toh 56). The sūtra is also quoted several
times by whoever was responsible for The Great Treatise
on the Perfection of Wisdom (Da zhidu
lun
大智度論, *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa), the commentary on The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand
Lines attributed to Nāgārjuna and translated into Chinese by
Kumārajīva at the beginning of the fifth century ce. While it was undoubtedly a common practice to
attribute texts to major figures of the tradition, it is nevertheless the
case that Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu, Śāntideva, Candrakīrti, Kamalaśīla, and
even Kumārajīva are regarded as major figures. The fact that they may all
have known and cited The Secrets of the Realized
Ones is another indication of its degree of influence.

Nonetheless, it may strike some readers as controversial or simply
wrong to call such works as these “literature” in the first place, perhaps
because of the common association of literature with fiction and religious
works with nonfiction. Yet, many of the same arguments that have been used
for decades to justify the claim that the Bible, whatever else it may be, is
a great work of literature would hold for these works of Buddhist
literature, too. Whether or not one believes that
religious works such as The Long Discourses of the
Buddha (Dīgha Nikāya) or The Secrets of the
Realized Ones portray actual historical events or individuals,
it is demonstrably the case that these works contain the characteristics of
sophisticated literature, such as the artful and carefully crafted use of
figurative language, thematic unity, and narrative tension. One could argue
further that the recognition and careful study of these literary
characteristics enable one to appreciate more deeply the historical,
doctrinal, and even practical significance of such literature.

While the literary dimensions of The Secrets of
the Realized Ones have been emphasized above, that is not at all
to suggest that the doctrinal elements are less worthy of serious and
careful consideration. Indeed, the sūtra and the characters in it make some
rather remarkable claims, and the doctrinal and literary dimensions are
deeply interwoven throughout. For example, among the most striking claims in
the sūtra is one made about the Buddha, a claim that is restated in The Descent into Laṅka and is quoted by
Candrakīrti and also by the author of the Long
Explanation (Bṛhaṭṭīkā) of the
longer Perfection of Wisdom sūtras. At one point, Vajrapāṇi says the
following:

“During the period of time, Śāntamati, from the night when the
Realized One awakens to unsurpassable and perfect awakening until the
night when, having relinquished his life force, the Realized One passes
into complete cessation, the Realized One has not articulated and will
not pronounce even a single syllable.”

If taken at face value, how can such an astonishing claim be true?
Vajrapāṇi will explain further that over the same period of time the Buddha
does not form any thought whatsoever but dwells in a constant state of
meditative absorption. Nevertheless, Vajrapāṇi
continues, various beings hear the Dharma and believe that the Buddha is
speaking to them in accordance with their own aspirations and motivations.
Here is an example of how the sūtra employs a literary device to explain
this complex idea with a concrete analogy:

“Śāntamati, this is analogous to a well-crafted musical
instrument, a wind bell, which makes a sweet sound without being touched
by a hand, but rather when it is moved by the wind. It does not make any
special effort to produce a sound, but still it makes a sweet sound
because of the special nature of its previous preparation. In the same
way, Śāntamati, a realized one’s speech comes out when it is moved by
knowledge of beings’ motivations, but a realized one does not make any
special effort in this regard to produce it. Rather, a realized one’s
speech conforms to the sense perceptions of all beings because of the
special nature of a realized one’s previous preparation.”

This is one of three analogies Vajrapāṇi uses to explain this idea,
all of which are quoted in Candrakīrti’s Clear
Words. It is just one example that serves to illustrate how the
sūtra addresses one of the major questions posed by the work: what is the
true nature of a buddha? In answering this
question, the whole work could be said to promote the idea that a buddha, by
the very nature of becoming awakened to the true
nature of reality, exists in a state of all-pervasive, unlimited,
and pure potentiality, a state that is identical to the true nature of reality itself. As a result, the Buddha
simultaneously actualizes an infinite number of different forms while
remaining constantly in that state of pure potentiality. The work explains
the mechanism behind this process to some extent, using analogies like the
one just quoted above, but at the same time it remains to a large degree
mysterious or incomprehensible: it is the secret and the mystery of a
realized one’s body, speech, and mind.

In this way, The Secrets of the Realized
Ones expresses an idea about the Buddha that has sometimes been
compared with docetism, which is the early Christian idea that the body of
Jesus Christ was not a body of flesh and blood, but a phantasm. On the face
of it, The Secrets of the Realized Ones would
seem to make a similar claim about the body of the Buddha. Yet, its
doctrinal and metaphysical framework is different enough from the one in
which docetism arose that one can at least debate the appropriateness of the
comparison. Nevertheless, it is a comparison that has been made and
continues to be made, and thus it is worth mentioning here.

The title of the sūtra suggests that it discloses the secrets and
mysteries of the Buddha, and from the point of view of its narrative, the
same could be said about the one who discloses those secrets, namely
Vajrapāṇi, the yakṣa who is called throughout the sūtra “the lord of the
guhyakas” (guhyakādhipati);
that is, the lord of “the hidden ones” or perhaps even the lord of “the
guardians of what is hidden.” Narratives tell of events, sequenced,
structured into a plot, and featuring characters who perform actions and
experience their effects. Since this narrative largely centers on Vajrapāṇi,
he could be considered its protagonist or the “hero” of the story. He is
called the Buddha’s constant companion, eyewitness to his many deeds, and
guardian of his secrets. The Buddha tells of Vajrapāṇi’s past lives,
explaining how he came to serve in that capacity and to possess such a
capability. In this respect, he is put on the same level with Brahmā
Sahāṃpati, who requests the Buddha to teach the Dharma. The Buddha also
gives a prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s future awakening as a buddha in his own
right, after which the Buddha accepts Vajrapāṇi’s invitation to come to his
home for a meal. The sūtra tells of the Buddha’s visit and of the teachings
the Buddha offers to the various nonhuman creatures who live in Vajrapāṇi’s
abode. In this way, the sūtra develops the character of Vajrapāṇi and
explains his close relationship with the Buddha.

Vajrapāṇi has been the subject of previous scholarly research, and
yet he remains a mysterious figure. It is noteworthy that he makes an appearance in two suttas
of the Pali canon, the Ambaṭṭha Sutta of
the Dīgha Nikāya and the Cūḷasaccaka Sutta
of the Majjhima Nikāya. Therein, he is
described hovering over the heads of Ambaṭṭha and Saccaka, respectively, who
are the Buddha’s interlocutors in those suttas, while brandishing his
flaming vajra and threatening to break their heads into seven pieces if the
proud young men do not answer the Buddha’s questions. Vajrapāṇi appears
somewhat more frequently throughout Buddhist narrative literature, such as
the avadānas and other story collections, as well as Mahāyāna Buddhist
literature. For instance, in The Play in Full,
there is a somewhat obscure passage that mentions Vajrapāṇi and “the lord of
the guhyakas” together:

“Then Śakra, Lord of the Gods; the Four Great Kings; the
twenty-eight great generals of the yakṣas; and the one named ‘Lord of
the Guhyakas’ (guhyakādhipati) from whose yakṣa family Vajrapāṇi is
arisen, having become aware of the fact that the Bodhisattva had entered
his mother’s womb, all became bound to him constantly and
perpetually.”

The grammar of this passage doesn’t make it entirely clear whether
Vajrapāṇi or the Lord of the Guhyakas is an individual or a class of beings,
or whether they are meant to be identified or not. The Indian epic
literature, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, also speak of beings called guhyakas and associate them with
Vaiśravaṇa or Kubera, the god of wealth. Vaiśravaṇa is himself sometimes
called Lord of the Guhyakas (guhyakādhipati) therein, and the guhyakas carry his
chariot. Vaiśravaṇa is also considered to be
one of the Four Great Kings in Buddhist literature, and these characters
feature in The Secrets of the Realized Ones as
well. Furthermore, Vaiśravaṇa’s place of residence is called Alakāvatī in
the Mahābhārata, while Vajrapāṇi’s place of
residence is called Aḍagavatī in The Secrets of the
Realized Ones, and there is even a point in this sūtra in which
they seem actually to be the same place. Yet, Vaiśravaṇa and Vajrapāṇi are distinct characters in
Buddhist literature. Throughout The Secrets of the
Realized Ones, Vajrapāṇi is the one who is called Lord of the
Guhyakas, and there seems to be a play on words in the work between guhya, “secret,” and guhyaka, maybe “keeper of what
is hidden.” In general, The Secrets of the Realized
Ones seems to establish some kind of close relationship between
the Buddha and Vajrapāṇi, with the latter being an important representative
of the heterogenous class of nonhuman beings that serve and support the
Buddha, including guhyakas, yakṣas, kinnaras, nāgas, gandharvas, and
asuras.

Before concluding this section, it is also worth making a few
further comments about the word tathāgata, translated throughout this work as “realized one”
or capitalized “the Realized One,” when it refers specifically to the Buddha
or another particular buddha. This term tathāgata has bedeviled translators for many
centuries, and many translators today opt to leave it untranslated. The
Tibetan translators chose to render it in a way that can be translated as
“the one gone thus” (de bzhin gshegs
pa), and “thus-gone one” has become a common translation into
English, as well. One sometimes also finds “thus-come one,” which the
grammar of the compound in Pali and Sanskrit can easily tolerate, and
indeed, there is something quite compelling about the specific narrative
context in which the Buddha, when he first approaches his five former
companions shortly after he has attained awakening, refers to himself in the
third person as “the one who has come thus” (tathāgata).

The term also comes to be used well outside this specific narrative
context as one of the most common epithets of the Buddha and for the
buddhas, generally speaking. In Pali literature, it is the most common way
that the Buddha refers to himself, and when he does so in this way he is
often also speaking by implication about the nature of a buddha in general.
Oftentimes in The Secrets of the Realized Ones,
however, as well as in many other contexts, it is not clear whether the
speaker, such as the Buddha or Vajrapāṇi in this sūtra, is speaking in
particular about the Realized One (the Buddha Śākyamuni himself), often on
the basis of something the speaker has himself witnessed, or if a broader
generalization is being made about the realized ones. So, when we have felt
that the speaker is making a more general claim, we have sometimes
translated the term tathāgata as “a realized one.” Even still, it is important
for the reader to bear in mind that what goes for the Realized One in
particular generally goes for all the realized ones, and vice versa.

Furthermore, the ancient Buddhist scholar-monks and commentators
recognized the term tathāgata to have several semantic levels. For instance, in
the Pali commentaries, the great scholar-monk Buddhaghosa offers eight
different explanations of the meaning of the term. Without going into such depth of
explanation here, one may note that the term suggests not only literal
movement, “going” (gamana)
and “coming” (āgamana), but
also a sense of having “understood” (gata) or “realized” something, of becoming it or making it
real. In this context, the adverb tathā, “thus” or “in that way,” is connected to tathatā, “the way things truly
are.” In this way one can understand the comment made in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti about the love of a
bodhisattva: “it is the love of a realized one (tathāgata), because it understands the way things
truly are (tathatānubodhanatayā).” The point to
be kept in mind is that whenever the term “realized one” is found in the
translation—and it is found over four hundred times in this sūtra—it refers
to the buddhas, to those who have come and gone in the way they do, and it
carries the sense that they have understood directly the way things are, and
even that this understanding has made them the way they are.

In summary, The Secrets of the Realized
Ones is a work filled with entertaining stories, beautiful
poetry, thought-provoking metaphors, surprising and sometimes even strange
analogies and images, clever plays on words, sophisticated dialogue and
argumentation, and profound insights into the nature of things and the human
condition from a Buddhist point of view. It bears the marks throughout of
creative imagination at work, an expert grasp of the categories and concepts
of Buddhist doctrine and of its narrative and scholastic heritage, and the
intent to put Buddhist concepts and concerns into a literary form.

Synopsis of the Sūtra

While the narrative generally flows rather well, maintaining a sense
of continuity and movement from beginning to end, The
Secrets of the Realized Ones is a fairly long work. It covers
just over two hundred pages in the Tibetan translation, which are divided
into twenty-five chapters. The same material is divided into eleven chapters
in the partially extant Sanskrit manuscript. Thus, it may be helpful for
readers to have a short synopsis of its contents here.

The sūtra opens at Vulture Peak with a list of the characters in
attendance and their various attributes. The Buddha Śākyamuni gives an
opening teaching on the supplies (saṃbhāra) the bodhisattva must accumulate for the purpose of
achieving awakening. Vajrapāṇi explains his understanding of what the Buddha
has just taught, and then a bodhisattva named Śāntamati asks Vajrapāṇi to
explain the secrets of the bodhisattvas and the realized ones. Vajrapāṇi
remains silent, but after the Buddha Śākyamuni intercedes on Śāntamati’s
behalf, Vajrapāṇi begins to give the teaching.

Vajrapāṇi’s teaching of these secrets of bodhisattvas and of
realized ones is structured in terms of their body, speech, and mind, and
their mysterious or inconceivable nature. Beginning with an explanation of
the secret of the bodhisattva’s body, Vajrapāṇi provides a number of
memorable images. He tells a story of the ancient past about the Buddha when
he was still a bodhisattva and had been born as Śakra, King of the Gods, a
close parallel telling of which is also found in the Collected Teachings on
the Bodhisattva. During a great pandemic,
Śakra manifests himself as a magical creature that heals everyone by
offering them its body to eat. Vajrapāṇi also gives an analogy that is
quoted in The Training Anthology in which he
compares the healing power of the bodhisattva’s body to the healing powers
of a girl made from medicinal herbs by the king of physicians. In his
teaching, Vajrapāṇi expounds upon the implications of the fact that
bodhisattvas and buddhas possess the Dharma body (dharmakāya) and thereby manifest all forms but are
bound by none. [Tibetan chapter 1 ends.]

Vajrapāṇi then goes into an explanation of the secret of the
bodhisattva’s speech. The import of the teaching here is that bodhisattvas
are capable of speaking and understanding all languages and teach by means
of any kind of sound or means of communication whatsoever. Their speech is
infused with their extraordinary knowledge and
power. In this regard, Vajrapāṇi tells another past life story about
Śāriputra when he was a renunciant with the incredible, superhuman knowledge to know how many leaves there are on a
huge banyan tree without even looking at it or counting the leaves. [Tibetan
chapter 2 ends.]

Vajrapāṇi concludes with an explanation of the secret of the
bodhisattva’s mind, focusing again on the superhuman nature of the
bodhisattva’s knowledge, and making the connection between the bodhisattva’s
extraordinary knowledge and other qualities and traits developed by the
bodhisattva over the course of the path. At the conclusion of this teaching,
there is an earthquake. [Tibetan chapter 3 ends.] Then, the voice of a
bodhisattva from another buddha domain is heard, and this bodhisattva
appears and pays homage to the Buddha and to Vajrapāṇi. [Tibetan chapter 4
ends; hypothetical end of Sanskrit chapter 1.]

At this point, an unnamed bodhisattva asks for background
information on Vajrapāṇi and how he came to serve as the Buddha’s constant
companion and to possess inspired eloquence. In his answer, the Buddha tells
a story of the past about a king named Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his thousand sons who
take vows to become the buddhas of this Fortunate Eon, different versions of
which are told in other sūtras, such as The Fortunate
Eon (Bhadrakalpika) and The Lotus of Compassion (Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka). In this version of the story, the Buddha
explains not only the original vow of Vajrapāṇi, which explains why
Vajrapāṇi is the Buddha’s constant companion, but also that of Brahmā
Sahāṃpati, who vows to request all the buddhas of this Fortunate Eon to
teach the Dharma. There is also a description of the bodhisattva vow of the
last of the other nine hundred and ninety-nine buddhas of this Fortunate
Eon. [Tibetan chapter 5 ends.] The Buddha then explains in brief the path to
awakening. [Tibetan chapter 6 ends; hypothetical end of Sanskrit chapter
2.]

Śāntamati then asks Vajrapāṇi to explain the secret of the realized
ones, and Vajrapāṇi begins by telling him that the secret of the realized
ones is threefold, as it pertains to the body, speech, and mind. Vajrapāṇi
begins with the body, which he explains can appear as virtually anything,
depending on the inclinations of the ones who are seeing it. Vajrapāṇi also
explains that the Buddha possesses the Dharma body and therefore does not
eat any food, even though the Buddha may appear to eat food. The body of a
realized one is vast as space. Vajrapāṇi’s explanation also features a
wonderful story about a bodhisattva named Vegadhārin who attempts to look
down upon the top of the Buddha’s head and finds himself unable to do so,
even after traveling upward through millions upon billions of worlds.
[Tibetan chapter 7 ends; Sanskrit chapter 3 ends.]

Vajrapāṇi then explains the secret of a realized one’s speech.
Perhaps the main idea of this chapter is that the Buddha never utters a
single syllable, while all beings still hear his words and understand his
message in their various languages and forms of communication as a result of
the operation of their own desires. This statement is quoted in The Descent into Laṅka, by Candrakīrti in his
Clear Words, and by the author of the
Long Explanation of the longer Perfection
of Wisdom sūtras. Vajrapāṇi uses three metaphors to illustrate this
idea, perhaps the most famous of which compares the Buddha’s speech to a
wind chime or wind bell that makes sound when the wind passes through it.
The wind here is analogous to the wishes of beings. The chapter also
contains a list of the sixty qualities of a realized one’s speech, which is
quoted and explained in the commentary on The Adornment
to the Mahāyāna Sūtras.

This chapter also features a rather humorous story about
Maudgalyāyana, cited in The Great Treatise on the
Perfection of Wisdom (Da zhidu
lun
大智度論). He uses his superhuman powers to travel
to a distant buddha domain in a futile attempt to measure the limit of the
Buddha’s voice. There is also an interesting and somewhat challenging
passage in which the names of the four truths of the noble ones are given in
all the languages of the different god realms in order to demonstrate the
way the Buddha’s message can vary while remaining the same. The chapter also
contains a long list of ethnic groups in the world of the reader or imagined audience in order to show the
many languages in which the Buddha’s message can be heard here in our world. The chapter concludes with a series of
wonders, including an earthquake, the appearance of a great light, and a jet
of water that shoots out of the ground and rises up into the heavens.
[Tibetan chapter 8 ends; Sanskrit chapter 4 ends.]

Vajrapāṇi then describes, in brief, the secret of a realized one’s
mind: it is a mind in which no conceptual thought is generated, and yet it
serves the Buddha to meet the demands of all beings. The point is made,
similar to the one about the Realized One’s speech, that from the night of
the Buddha’s awakening until his final nirvāṇa, the Buddha experiences no
modification of mind whatsoever. [Tibetan chapter 9 ends.] This concludes
Vajrapāṇi’s explanation of the secrets of the realized ones, after which
Śāriputra asks the Buddha whether it is true that Vajrapāṇi appears behind
each and every bodhisattva leading the holy life throughout the cosmos. The
Buddha enables Śāriputra to see Vajrapāṇi standing not only behind the
Buddha himself but also behind Maitreya, and then he explains that Vajrapāṇi
stands behind all the magically created forms of all the bodhisattvas of the
Fortunate Eon, due to the power of his vow and his superhuman powers.
[Tibetan chapter 10 ends; Sanskrit chapter 5 ends.]

The above comprises almost the first half of the sūtra. Next,
Śāntamati asks Vajrapāṇi to describe four events in the Buddha’s life: his
practice of severe asceticism, his defeat of Māra, his awakening, and his
turning of the wheel of Dharma. Vajrapāṇi does so, and describes in detail
various wonders and episodes related to these events. In the presentation of
these events, there are some close similarities with versions found in other
sūtras, particularly The Play in Full, but
Vajrapāṇi’s telling emphasizes the fact that different beings perceive these
events differently based on their own needs and suppositions. For instance,
when the Buddha delivers the first sermon, Vajrapāṇi notes that the
innumerable beings on hand to witness the event hear different teachings
about different topics, based on their own thoughts and motivations.
[Tibetan chapters 11 through 14 end.] After Vajrapāṇi completes his
description of these events, the Buddha affirms the accuracy of Vajrapāṇi’s
retelling. [Sanskrit chapter 6 ends.]

Then, after being prompted by Śāntamati, the Buddha offers some
teachings of his own on the nature of calming the mind or bringing it to
rest, as well as bringing one’s emotions and, indeed, all things to rest. It
is a highly sophisticated dialogue that takes one deeply into the philosophy
of emptiness and its connection to other elements of Buddhist doctrine,
including the explanation of the process of cognition whereby the mind
generates thoughts on the basis of specific objects or bases of cognition
(ālaṃbana). This
chapter is quoted at some length by Candrakīrti in The
Clear Words, a few lines are quoted by Śāntideva in The Training Anthology, and Kamalaśīla also quotes
from it in the third Stages of Meditative
Cultivation. [Tibetan chapter 15 ends.] After this teaching,
some bodhisattvas desire to know when Vajrapāṇi will become a buddha.
Knowing their thoughts in his mind, the Buddha then smiles and gives a
prediction of Vajrapāṇi’s future awakening. [Tibetan chapter 16 ends;
Sanskrit chapter 7 ends.]

This prediction then becomes the basis for a profound and rather
complex dialogue between Śāntamati and Vajrapāṇi, reminiscent of certain
dialogues in The Teaching of Vimalakīrti. In
this dialogue, Śāntamati makes assertions and poses questions largely from a
conventional point of view, beginning with the assertion that Vajrapāṇi has
just received a prediction of his future awakening. Vajrapāṇi, on the other
hand, responds to Śāntamati’s assertions and answers his questions from the
standpoint of emptiness. The logic of the exchange employs a number of puns
and plays on words, stretching the ordinary and technical meanings of terms
and relying on dual meanings to argue for the nondual and empty nature of
all phenomena. In some ways, the dialogue constitutes a further explanation
of the paradoxical claims made earlier that the Buddha does not speak a word
and yet the Dharma is expressed nonetheless. [Tibetan chapter 17 ends.]

Vajrapāṇi then invites the Buddha to his home for a meal. The Buddha
agrees, and Vajrapāṇi goes home to prepare for the Buddha’s visit. The whole
episode includes a rather ornate series of miraculous performances, a
marvelous display that again bears some similarities with wonders described
elsewhere in Buddhist literature. The Buddha arrives and has a meal.
[Tibetan chapter 18 ends.] Afterward, he gives a profound and difficult
teaching on the Dharma to the nonhuman and divine beings gathered there,
touching upon a variety of complex topics in the Buddhist philosophy of the
path, organized around a number of themes and concepts, including the nature
of faith or strong belief, how a person can know if a teacher is a true
companion in the good, the twelvefold chain of dependent arising and its
connection to emptiness, and the nature and benefit of being watchful and
attentive to one’s thoughts. Parts of this teaching are quoted in both
The Sūtra Anthology and The Training Anthology, and there is also a long
parallel with The Collected Teachings on the
Bodhisattva. Toward the end of the sermon, the four Lokapālas
ask for a teaching on how to protect the world, which the Buddha gives to
them in such a way that it forms a kind of synopsis of many key elements of
Buddhist doctrine. [Tibetan chapter 19 ends.] As the Buddha gets ready to
leave Vajrapāṇi’s abode, he asks Vajrapāṇi to recite a dhāraṇī for the
protection and preservation of the Dharma, which Vajrapāṇi does, and then
the Buddha returns to Vulture Peak. [Tibetan chapter 20 ends.]

Once the Buddha has returned to Vulture Peak, King Ajātaśatru comes
to visit him, and he asks him a series of questions about Vajrapāṇi and the
reasons why the Buddha visited his home. In response, the Buddha tells a
past life story about a bodhisattva named Śūrabala, which serves to explain
the reason for or source of Vajrapāṇi’s marvelous inspired eloquence. This
story contains some rather complex teachings in the dialogue narrated by the
Buddha between Śūrabala and a past buddha named Vaiśramaṇa about the nature
of the bodhisattva path and the paradoxical nature of the bodhisattva’s
field of action, a dialogue that concludes with a series of artful metaphors
by Śūrabala. [Tibetan chapter 21 ends; Sanskrit chapter 9 ends.]

The next chapter features an entertaining episode in which Vajrapāṇi
sets his vajra on the ground, and Ajātaśatru, Śakra, and Maudgalyāyana all
try to lift it. None of them is able to do so. The Buddha then directs
Vajrapāṇi to lift the vajra, which he does as a demonstration of his
extraordinary power. He then throws it into the air, and after it circles the cosmos several times, it returns
to him, like Thor’s hammer. The episode prompts a discussion of how it is
possible for a bodhisattva to attain such incredible power. This, again,
leads to another profound dialogue between the Buddha and Ajātaśatru on the
natural consequences of practicing the Buddhist path. [Tibetan chapter 22
ends; Sanskrit chapter 10 ends.]

After this dialogue between the Buddha and the king has concluded,
Śāntamati and Vajrapāṇi return to the foreground of the narrative. Śāntamati
asks Vajrapāṇi to request the Buddha to empower the teachings given in the
sūtra so that they will last for a long time. This request forms the basis
of a dialogue on the nature and means of remembering the Dharma, taking into
account the ultimate perspective that nothing is truly grasped or retained.
During the conversation, a god named Bhadrarāja stands up and offers some
perspectives on the nature of the inspired eloquence needed to teach the
Dharma. [Tibetan chapter 23 ends.]

Śāntamati asks the Buddha to explain how Bhadrarāja could possess
such inspired eloquence, and the Buddha responds by exploring the connection
between inspired eloquence and the development of a powerful memory and the
mnemonic formulas that support it (dhāraṇī). The Buddha explains that Bhadrarāja possesses a
powerful mnemonic formula that affords him the ability to teach the Dharma
with inspired eloquence. What follows is another dazzling display of word
play as the Buddha explains how this mnemonic formula provides access to the
nature of reality as well as the true teachings. Bhadrarāja underscores the
Buddha’s teaching with a series of beautiful analogies about the bodhisattva
who has acquired a powerful memory and the formulas that support it.
[Tibetan chapter 24 ends.]

The sūtra concludes with the performance of two long dhāraṇīs, one
by Vajrapāṇi and a second one by the Buddha. Both of them are spoken for the
purpose of preserving the Dharma and seemingly this sūtra in particular.
Afterward, the Buddha tells one more brief story from a past life of his
own, about the value of remembering the Dharma. He then asks the audience to
remember this sūtra. Various characters come forward and promise to do so,
and finally the Buddha entrusts the sūtra to Ānanda and directs him to teach
it to others. This draws the sūtra to a close. [Tibetan chapter 25 ends;
Sanskrit chapter 11 ends.]

The Title of the Sūtra

This sūtra seems to have been known by several different titles, and
this has led at times to confusion and the need to disambiguate it from
other works. The most stable title of the sūtra, the one most used across a
variety of sources, appears to be its shorter title, The Secret(s) of the Realized One(s) (Tathāgataguhya). For this reason, we have referred to the work
mostly by this shorter form of the title throughout this introduction and
translation.

The question of how to understand and translate its fuller title, as
it is given in the Tibetan translation and in a Sanskrit transliteration in
the Kangyur, is a somewhat complicated issue. The Tibetan translation gives
the title in Tibetan as ’phags pa de bzhin gshegs
pa’i gsang ba bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa, and it renders the
title in Sanskrit as Āryatathāgatācintyaguhyanirdeśa. These titles correspond
closely to one another, except for the fact that the order of the Sanskrit
words corresponding to gsang
ba and bsam gyis mi
khyab pa—that is, guhya and acintya, respectively—are reversed in the Sanskrit title.
There are various ways to account for the difference. The key issue is to
decide on an interpretation of the relationship between these words. Since
both terms can be used as a noun or adjective, it must be decided if one is
functioning as a noun and the other as an adjective, or if they should both
be understood as nouns.

To answer this basic grammatical question, it is useful to consider
the different titles the Buddha gives for this sūtra at the end of the sūtra
itself, other key passages found in the sūtra, and the way other Indian
Buddhist texts and authors refer to it. To take the last point first, The Commentary on the Adornment to the Mahāyāna
Sūtras refers to the sūtra by the title Guhyakādhipatinirdeśa, The Teaching of
the Lord of the Guhyakas. In The Clear
Words, Candrakīrti calls it Āryatathāgataguhyasūtra, The Noble
Sūtra of the Secret(s) of the Realized One(s). So does
Kamalaśīla. In Śāntideva’s Training Anthology,
too, it is called the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra.
And then beyond the Indian Buddhist texts extant in Sanskrit, The Sūtra Anthology (in Tibetan translation) and
The Great Treatise on the Perfection of
Wisdom (in Chinese) also seem to refer to it in the same way
Candrakīrti, Kamalaśīla, and Śāntideva do.

At the end of the sūtra itself, in a passage for which the Sanskrit
is not extant, Ānanda asks the Buddha by what title the sūtra should be
remembered, and the Buddha gives four different titles: (1) lag na rdo rje’i le’u (*Vajrapāṇiparivarta, The
Chapter of Vajrapāṇi); (2) de bzhin
gshegs pa’i gsang ba bstan pa’i le’u (*Tathāgataguhyanirdeśaparivarta, The
Chapter of the Teaching of the Secret(s) of the Realized
One(s)); (3) sangs rgyas kyi chos bsam gyis
mi khyab pa bstan pa (*Acintyabuddhadharmanirdeśa, The Teaching
of the Mysterious/Inconceivable Qualities of the Buddha(s)); and
(4) bsod nams tshad med pa ’byung ba
(*Apramāṇapuṇyodaya, The Arising of Immeasurable Merit). None of these
titles corresponds precisely to the full title of the sūtra as it is given
in Tibetan or Sanskrit by the canonical Tibetan translation, nor to the
shorter Sanskrit title by which the sūtra is often known.

However, there is another passage found earlier in the text in which the phrase tathāgatakāyaguhyācintyanirdeśa is extant in the Sanskrit
manuscript. While the corresponding Tibetan translation of this phrase,
de bzhin gshegs pa’i gsang ba
bsam gyis mi khyab pa bstan pa, lacks the word for kāya (“body”), it is otherwise
identical to it, and it is identical as well to the main part of the Tibetan
title given for the sūtra as a whole. Furthermore, in another passage near
the beginning of the sūtra, for which the Sanskrit is unfortunately lacking,
Vajrapāṇi speaks of four “inconceivables” or “mysteries” (bsam gyis mi khyab pa ’di bzhi),
one of which is “the mystery of the buddha(s)” (sangs rgyas bsam gyis mi khyab pa). Here, the term
translated as “mystery”—that is, something incomprehensible or
inconceivable—would seem to be used as a noun and as a shorter form of the
phrase “the mysterious qualities of the buddha(s)” (sangs rgyas kyi chos bsam gyis mi khyab
pa, *acintyabuddhadharma). It also appears to be used here
almost as a synonym for the word guhya—that is, something “hidden” or “concealed,” or a
“secret.”

Based on the evidence above, it looks as though the full title in
the Tibetan translation may be the result of a process of development based
on a combination of at least two of the ways the text refers to itself and
to its subject matter. The terms guhya (gsang
ba) and acintya (bsam gyis mi
khyab pa) can be used as nouns and as near synonyms or close
equivalents. That is to say, “the incomprehensible or mysterious qualities
of the buddhas” (acintyabuddhadharma) are basically equivalent to “the
secrets of the realized ones” (tathāgataguhya). At the same time, both terms can function as
adjectives of one another, and thus it is still possible to understand the
relevant phrases in the title as either “secret/hidden mysteries” or
“mysterious/incomprehensible (number of) secrets.” Given all these
possibilities, we have simply chosen to translate the phrase as if both
terms were used as nouns and as near synonyms, and thus we have translated
the long title as The Teaching of the Mysteries and
Secrets of the Realized Ones.

At the same time, we should remember that the sūtra has been called
The Teaching of the Lord of the Guhyakas
(Guhyakādhipatinirdeśa), and the
Buddha calls it The Chapter of Vajrapāṇi
(*Vajrapāṇiparivarta) in the sūtra
itself. Since Vajrapāṇi is called the Lord of the Guhyakas throughout the
sūtra and he is arguably its main protagonist, as well as being the speaker
of the majority of the teachings in the sūtra, it is easy to understand why
it has acquired these titles. However, they also highlight the need to
understand the relationship between the words guhya and guhyaka, as well as the relationship between the guhyakas and
Vajrapāṇi, which is not a straightforward matter, as we have seen above.

There is still one more wrinkle to mention regarding the titles of
the sūtra. At some point, it seems that the sūtra also came to be known by
the title Tathāgataguhyaka. This is the
title given to the manuscript G10765 by the archivists at the Asiatic
Society in Bengal, perhaps because this phrase is part of the description of
the work in the colophon to the final chapter, or perhaps it was because the
first page of the manuscript seems to be from the Guhyasamāja Tantra, which for some reason also seems to have
gone by the name Tathāgataguhyaka in
Nepal. This has given rise to some confusion,
such that Maurice Winternitz, who translated a couple of the passages from
The Secrets of the Realized Ones that are
quoted in The Training Anthology, felt it
necessary to disambiguate this work from the Guhyasamāja Tantra. Precisely why the Guhyasamāja
Tantra came to be known as the Tathāgataguhyaka in Nepal, apart from the fact that it also
discusses the secrets of the body, speech, and mind of the realized ones, as
well as the precise nature of the broader intertextual relationship between
the Tathāgataguhya Sūtra, translated here,
and the various Buddhist tantras, are topics that await further
investigation.

Later Reception History and Modern

Scholarship

One might still pose the question, if The
Secrets of the Realized Ones is such a great work of Buddhist
literature and had such an influence, why does it seem to have fallen into
obscurity at a later point in time, even as the transmission and study of
other Buddhist sūtras continued to flourish? It is true that a text called
the Tathāgataguhyaka came to be listed
among the nine dharmas or books (grantha) of Newari Buddhism in Nepal sometime in the early to
middle of the second millennium, which suggests it may have continued to
enjoy a high status there for some time. This conclusion, however, is
mitigated by the fact that it is not clear whether this title was initially
meant to refer to this sūtra or to the Guhyasamāja
Tantra, which also came to be known in Nepal as the Tathāgataguhyaka. So, the popularity of this sūtra in Nepal is not a given;
yet, neither can the possibility of its popularity there be entirely
discounted. If it was meant to be one of the nine dharmas at one time, then
perhaps the lack of availability of the sūtra as a complete manuscript
contributed to its replacement by the Guhyasamāja
Tantra in the list of nine dharmas at a later point, or perhaps
it was not meant to be one of the nine dharmas in the first place. These
historical questions require more research, as do the questions of its
reception and influence in the Buddhist traditions of Tibet and East
Asia.

If the lack of attention it has so far received from modern
scholarship is any indication, however, then evidently the sūtra fell into
relative obscurity at some point. If one were to indulge in further
speculation, perhaps the fact that The Teaching of
Vimalakīrti features a wealthy layman contributed to its
popularity in China, which in turn led to the greater attention it has
received to this point from modern scholars in Japan and the West. By
contrast, the main character of The Secrets of the
Realized Ones is a powerful, enigmatic, and somewhat threatening
nonhuman creature who brandishes a mighty weapon. While Vajrapāṇi may be a
crucial figure in the history of Buddhist literature for several reasons,
including his association with the preservation and promulgation of the
tantras, perhaps The Secrets of the Realized
Ones came to be superseded at some point by other works, or
perhaps Vajrapāṇi’s enigmatic status lessened its popularity over time. Then
again, maybe it is just an accidental occurrence over the long history of
Buddhism that The Secrets of the Realized Ones
has only recently begun to receive the renewed attention it deserves.

Whatever the case may be, apart from a few notable exceptions, it is
only since 2012 or so that the sūtra has begun to receive much more than a
cursory footnote or simple acknowledgement of its existence in published
scholarly research. The most sustained scholarly attention has come from
Japanese and Chinese scholars, particularly from the Japanese scholar Ikuma
Hiromitsu 伊久間洋光, who has published more
than fifteen articles on the sūtra since 2012, as well as completing a
doctoral dissertation on it in 2019. During this time, a handful of other
scholars in East Asia have also published short studies of it, while Hamano
Tetsunori 滨野哲敬 published a brief article on
it in 1987. Among scholars in Europe, the Belgian
scholar Étienne Lamotte devoted a short section to it in his longer article
on the history of Vajrapāṇi in India, which he published in 1966. Additionally, in
December 2021, a complete English translation of the eleventh-century
Chinese translation of the sūtra was self-published by Shaku Shingan and
made available online. About a month earlier, Péter-Dániel Szántó, then of
the Open Philology Project at Leiden University, made available online his
unpublished diplomatic edition of the partial Sanskrit manuscript of the
sūtra held by the Asiatic Society in Kolkata, on which see below.

Source Texts and Classical Translations

A single, incomplete Nepalese manuscript of the sūtra in the
original Sanskrit is held in the library of the Asiatic Society in Kolkata,
India. This paper manuscript has been dated to approximately the
seventeenth century, and it preserves about 47 percent of the whole sūtra,
according to Szántó’s estimation based on a comparison with the complete
Tibetan translation. The various citations of the sūtra in other texts for
which there is Sanskrit, including The Clear
Words, The Training Anthology,
The Collected Teachings on the Bodhisattva,
and the third Stages of Meditative Cultivation,
increase this percentage slightly, while the repetition of words and phrases
within the sūtra also increases the percentage of the text for which one can
be fairly confident about the underlying source text.

The colophon to the complete canonical Tibetan translation states
that the sūtra was translated by Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, along
with the translator-monk Yeshé Dé, all of whom flourished in the late eighth
and early ninth centuries ce. Its relatively
early date of translation into Tibetan is also supported by its inclusion in
the Denkarma (lhan kar ma) and
Phangthangma (’phang thang ma), the
catalogs of Tibetan translations compiled in the ninth century.
According to Lalou, there are also a few pages from an unidentified
commentary found at Dunhuang, Pelliot tibétain 2101, which contains some
quotations from this sūtra, as well as several other Mahāyāna sūtras.

The Secrets of the Realized Ones was
also translated into Chinese twice. The first translation (Taishō 310–3) is
said to have been completed in 280 ce, and is
among those attributed to the early translator Dharmarakṣa (竺法護). A second translation (Taishō 312) was done in the
eleventh century by another translator named Dharmarakṣa or Dharmapāla
(法護).

This English translation has been made on the basis of the preserved
Sanskrit manuscript, the quotations preserved in other texts for which there
is Sanskrit, and the complete Tibetan translation. For the Tibetan text, the
Degé edition was used as the basis, but variations attested in the
Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) were
also consulted, and for large portions of the text, the Stok Palace edition
was also read for comparison. The footnotes to the translation primarily
describe differences between these various witnesses to the text, while also
giving various notes on the translation of specific terms and phrases,
intertextual references to other primary sources, and references to
scholarly work. Unfortunately, the two Chinese translations were not taken
into account as part of the translation or editing process.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

The Teaching of the Mysteries and Secrets of the

Realized Ones

Chapter 1: On Saumya

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was staying at Vulture
Peak in Rājagṛha together with a great monastic assembly of forty-two
thousand monks, as well as eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas of great
courage, who were well known on account of their fame, a great many of whom
had come from other buddha domains. All of them had attained the state of
acceptance. They could not be turned back. They were
limited to only one more life. They had acquired a powerful memory and the
formulas that support it. They had acquired states of meditative
concentration. Their inspired eloquence was without impediment. They were
adept at traveling to limitless buddha domains throughout the ten
directions. They had made child’s play of the forms of knowledge including
the supernormal faculties. They were undefeated in
argument by any and all proponents of rival doctrines. They had vanquished
their adversaries and Māra in all his forms.

They knew the outcome of the conduct, motivations, and intentions of
all beings. They were skilled in knowing their faculties to be of a greater
or lesser caliber. They had gained access to the guiding principles of all
the perfections. They had reached perfection of the most perfect mastery of
skill in means. They were praised, lauded, and extolled by all the
buddhas. They had
come to the end of the endless path to awakening, which spans countless
trillions of eons. Their minds were like earth, water, wind, and fire.
They were
fully engaged in a practice of the meditation on love that was limitless
like space. They had risen above being disturbed, carried away, or
overwhelmed by any object of attachment. They had obtained the body of a
Nārāyaṇa. Their bodies were rock-solid and unbreakable as vajra.

They roared the great lion’s roar. They had mastered the
self-assurance needed to stand out in every assembly. They
outshone the sun and moon. They had
attained the understanding that in reality all things are the same across
the three times. They were adept
at giving instructions with knowledge of the profound exegesis of the
Dharma. By comprehending dependent arising they had abandoned
the two extremes—the views that things are eternal and that they come to a
complete end. They were adept at bringing about the emergence and
stabilization of the meditations, the liberations, the concentrations, and
the absorptions. Their voices resounded throughout the ten directions. They
were in full possession of the treasury of jewels of the true Dharma. They
made sure the lineage of the Three Jewels remained unbroken. They were
fully equipped with a truly endless supply of merit and knowledge.

Among those eighty-four thousand bodhisattvas were the bodhisattvas
named Candrottara, Candraketu, Śaśiketu, Prabhāketu, Prabhāśrī, Śrīkūṭa,
Śrīgupta, He Whose Power Is Great, Nāganandin, Nāgottara, Nāgadatta, He Who
Possesses a Beautiful Form, Marudeva, Guṇadīparāja, Dīpahasta,
Nityotpalakṛtahasta, Nityotkṣiptahasta, Ratnamudrāhasta, Ratnapāṇi, Total
Illumination, Nakṣatrarāja, Vajrapāṇi, Vajramati, He Whose Great
Intelligence Is Strong as a Vajra, Vajravikrāmin, Sthirapadavikrāmin,
Trailokyavikrāmin, Anantavikrāmin, Anantamati, Sāgaramati, Dṛḍhamati, He
Whose Intelligence Is His Treasure, Uttaramati, Viśeṣamati, Vardhamānamati,
Ever Faithful, Ever-Laughing and Joyful Lord, Apāyajaha,
Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, He Who Possesses a Refined and Immaculate Splendor,
Uttaptavīrya, Prajñākūṭa, Always Watching, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta,
Merukūṭa, Gaganagañja, Unwavering Gaze, Inexpressible One, Sublime Jewel,
Jewel Mind, He Who Has Thought Well, Suvicintitārtha, He Whose Intelligence
Rests on What Is Certain, Dharaṇīśvararāja, Dharaṇīdhara, Vyūharāja,
Kṣetrālaṃkṛta, Ratnākara, Guhyagupta, Indradeva, Varuṇa, Brahmajālin, the
bodhisattva Jālinīprabha, Devamukuṭa, Subāhu, Sunetra, Gandhahastin,
Gajagandhahastin, Siṃhaketu, Siddhārthamati, Sārathi, Śāntamati, Maitreya,
and Prince Mañjuśrī.

Also present in the assembly were Śakra, Brahmā, and the Lokapālas
of this cosmos of a billion worlds, as well as various other supreme
deities, nāga lords, yakṣa lords, gandharva lords, asura lords, garuḍa
lords, kinnara lords, and mahoraga lords, all of whom were renowned for
their sovereign authority. Among them, the nāga king Anavatapta, as well as
Sāgara, Varuṇa, Manasvin, Takṣaka, Hemavarṇa, Endless Colors, Susīma, and
many hundreds of thousands of other nāga kings with their retinues had
joined the assembly in order to see the Blessed One, to honor him, to
worship him, to serve him, and to hear the Dharma. The asura lords, such as
Rāhu, Vemacitra, Subāhu, Sāla, Tāla, Śambara, Prahlāda, and The Huge One, as
well as other yakṣas and asura lords and their retinues, had also joined the
assembly to see the Blessed One, to honor him, to worship him, to serve him,
and to hear the Dharma. King Ajātaśatru, the women from the king’s inner
chambers, and his relatives had also joined the assembly to see the Blessed
One, to honor him, to worship him, to serve him, and to hear the Dharma.
Moreover, the fourfold assembly of monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen had
also joined the assembly to see the Blessed One, to honor him, to worship
him, to serve him, and to hear the Dharma. The gods who live in the sky,
along with the gods from the realms of desire and form, as well as those
gods from the pure abodes had also joined the assembly to see the Blessed
One, to honor him, to worship him, to serve him, and to hear the Dharma.

On that occasion, surrounded by and at the head of an assembly of
countless hundreds of thousands, the Blessed One taught the Dharma on the
collection of gateways into the purity of the supplies of the bodhisattvas
of great courage so that they could completely fill their stores. This is
what he said:

“The bodhisattvas’ supply of generosity serves the purpose of
bringing beings to maturity. The bodhisattvas’ supply of moral conduct
serves the purpose of fulfilling their vows. The bodhisattvas’ supply of
patience serves the purpose of acquiring the major and minor marks of a
great person. The bodhisattvas’ supply of heroic effort serves the purpose
of acquiring all the qualities of a buddha. The bodhisattvas’ supply of
meditation serves the purpose of acquiring the mind of one who is well bred.
The bodhisattvas’ supply of wisdom serves the purpose of eliminating all the
afflictions.

“The bodhisattvas’ supply of teaching the Dharma serves the purpose
of removing impediments to their inspired eloquence. The bodhisattvas’
supply of merit serves the purpose of sustaining all beings. The
bodhisattvas’ supply of knowledge serves the purpose of removing impediments
to their knowledge. The bodhisattvas’ supply of calm abiding serves the
purpose of making the mind ready for any endeavor. The bodhisattvas’ supply
of deep insight serves the purpose of becoming free from doubt.

“The bodhisattvas’ supply of love serves the purpose of ridding the
mind of malice. The bodhisattvas’ supply of compassion serves the purpose of
ridding the mind of despondency. Their supply of joy serves the purpose of
finding happiness and satisfaction in the supreme joy of the Dharma. Their
supply of equanimity serves the purpose of ridding themselves of attachment
and aversion. The bodhisattvas’ supply of hearing the Dharma serves the
purpose of becoming free from hindrances. The bodhisattvas’ supply of
leaving home for the ascetic life serves the purpose of casting aside all
their belongings. The bodhisattvas’ supply of dwelling in the forest serves
the purpose of not squandering the work they have already done.

“Their supply of mindfulness serves the purpose of attaining a
powerful memory and the formulas that support it. Their supply of
intelligence serves the purpose of developing a discerning mind. Their
supply of comprehension serves the purpose of enabling them to conform with
their comprehension of the true meaning. Their supply of the applications of
mindfulness serves the purpose of carefully observing the body, feelings,
mind, and mental objects. Their supply of right effort serves the
purpose of ridding themselves of all vicious qualities and filling up their
reserves of all virtuous qualities.

“Their supply of the foundations for superhuman power serves the
purpose of making the body and mind agile. Their
supply of the five spiritual faculties serves the purpose of knowing beings’
faculties to be of a greater or lesser caliber. Their supply of the five
powers serves the purpose of not being crushed under the weight of all the
afflictions. Their supply of the constitutive factors of awakening serves
the purpose of becoming awake to the true nature of all things.

“Their supply of the path serves the purpose of going beyond all bad
paths. Their supply of the truths serves the purpose of acquiring an
unshakeable knowledge of the true nature of things. Their supply of the
special modes of knowledge serves the purpose of dispelling the doubts of
all beings. Their supply of reliance serves the purpose of acquiring a
knowledge that does not rely upon anyone else. Their supply of companions in
what is good serves the purpose of becoming a source for the development of
all good qualities.

“Their supply of motivation serves the purpose of keeping their word
to all people. Their supply of ambition serves the purpose of becoming a
superior being. Their supply of practice serves the purpose of bringing to
completion everything they have begun. Their supply of seclusion serves the
purpose of not wasting the teachings just as they have heard them. Their
supply of the means of drawing others to oneself serves the purpose of
bringing beings to maturity. Their supply of possession of the true Dharma
serves the purpose of making sure the lineage of the Three Jewels remains
unbroken. Their supply of mastery of the dedication of merit serves the
purpose of purifying a buddha domain. The supply of the bodhisattvas’
mastery of skill in means serves the purpose of perfecting the knowledge of
an omniscient one.”

Thus the Blessed One gave to the bodhisattvas of great courage a
detailed formulation of the Dharma known as the collection of
gateways into the purity of the supplies.

As the Blessed One was giving this teaching, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the
Guhyakas, was seated on his right-hand side while holding up his vajra. When the
Blessed One had finished, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, said to him, “It
is marvelous, Blessed One, how well the Realized One has expressed this
formulation of the Dharma on the collection of gateways into the purity of
the supplies of the bodhisattvas of great courage. If I were to state what I
understood to be the import of the Blessed One’s words, then, Blessed One, I
would say that all the supplies of the bodhisattvas of great courage are
subsumed within the supplies of merit and knowledge, and can be accessed in
this way.

“The reason for this, Blessed One, is that the supply of merit of
bodhisattvas of great courage provides a foundation for all their
accomplishments, and their supply of knowledge makes all beings satisfied
with what has been well said. Therefore, Blessed One, bodhisattvas of great
courage should make efforts to acquire the supplies of merit and
knowledge. The reason for this, Blessed One, is that the supply
of merit brings to completion the perfection that is the bodhisattvas’
mastery of skill in means. The supply of knowledge brings to completion
their perfection of wisdom. These two paths of the bodhisattvas’ conduct
serve the purpose of bringing together all paths.

“A bodhisattva who is on the path is difficult for the evil Māra to
defeat, and the bodhisattva who has stepped beyond the path of Māra cannot
be turned back from unsurpassable and perfect awakening. To such an
irreversible bodhisattva, the blessed buddhas teach the secrets of the
realized ones without concealing anything.”

Then the bodhisattva Śāntamati said to Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the
Guhyakas,
“Lord of the Guhyakas, you have been a close attendant and constant
companion of the Realized One. Lord of the Guhyakas, the
places containing the secrets of the realized ones are not within the
purview of the disciples or the solitary buddhas, so what need is there to
speak of their being within the purview of ordinary beings either. Would you
please use your inspired eloquence to shine light on them for us?”

When this was said, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, remained
silent. So the bodhisattva Śāntamati, understanding that Vajrapāṇi, Lord of
the Guhyakas, was going to remain silent, spoke to the Blessed One: “Blessed
One, would you please encourage Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, to give a
teaching here in the assembly about the secrets of the realized ones? If the
bodhisattvas of great courage could hear such a teaching, they would be
delighted and they would work to acquire the constitutive factors of
awakening and become diligent in the practice of perfecting the secrets of
the realized ones.”

The Blessed One then said to Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, “Lord
of the Guhyakas, the assembly wishes to hear about the secrets of the
bodhisattvas and the secrets of the realized ones. Therefore, I request you
to use your inspired eloquence to shine light on the secrets of the realized
ones for this assembly.”

Vajrapāṇi replied to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, I will give a
teaching about the secrets of the bodhisattvas and the secrets of the
realized ones to whatever small degree that I have understood them, and this
much through the majestic power and the empowering authority of the Buddha.
Indeed, Blessed One, just as the empowering authority of a lamp can make all
forms visible in the darkest depths of night, in that same way, Blessed
One, through the majestic power and empowering authority of the Buddha, I
will explain the secrets of the bodhisattvas and the secrets of the realized
ones according to the small degree that I have understood them.”

Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, then said to the bodhisattva of
great courage, Śāntamati, “Noble son, make sure that when you hear about the
secrets of the bodhisattvas and realized ones, you do not become frightened,
afraid, or terrified, and that you remain properly seated in the
assembly.”

Then the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati, said to the entire
assembly, “Friends, the Realized One has spoken of four mysteries. They are
the mystery of action, the mystery of speech, the mystery of concentration, and the mystery of a buddha.
Furthermore, friends, after having awakened to unsurpassable and perfect
awakening, the Buddha set forth these four mysteries. Among these four, he
has taught that the mystery of a realized one is the foremost. Friends, when
you hear of the mystery of a bodhisattva and the mystery of a realized one,
do not become frightened, afraid, or terrified. Instead, when you hear
of them, you should generate an abundance of pleasure, serene faith, and
great joy.”

This statement by the bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati, made
the entire assembly eager to hear about the secrets of the realized ones,
and in order to empower the assembly with empowering authority he then
scattered heavenly flowers among the retinue until they covered the ground
up to everyone’s knees.

Then Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the bodhisattva of great
courage, Śāntamati: “In that case, Śāntamati, listen well and pay close
attention. I will now explain the secret places of the bodhisattvas.
Śāntamati, I have served as the Realized One’s close attendant from the time
when he, as a bodhisattva, received the prediction of his future
unsurpassable and perfect awakening from the realized one, the blessed
Dīpaṃkara. Since that time, I never witnessed any alteration of the
bodhisattva’s body or any physical artifice whatsoever. I never
heard any alteration of the bodhisattva’s speech or any flattery either. I
never witnessed any alteration of the bodhisattva’s mind or any
dissimulation either. He brought beings to maturity with his body and the
demeanor of his body, and thus he did not speak at all. In order to bring
beings to maturity, his bodily demeanor manifested itself infinitely and
endlessly.

“Śāntamati, the bodhisattvas’ bodily demeanor conforms to the bodily
demeanor of all beings, spontaneously and effortlessly. For example, to
beings who need to be guided by concentration,
they show the conduct of concentration. To beings
who need to be guided through playing stringed instruments and singing
songs, they show the conduct of playing stringed instruments and singing
songs. To beings who need to be guided by boys, they show the conduct of
boys. To beings who need to be guided by girls, they show the conduct of
girls. To beings who need to be guided by women, they show the conduct of
women. To beings who need to be guided by men, they show the conduct of men.
To beings who need to be guided by those who are young, they show the
conduct of the young. To beings who need to be guided by those who are
middle-aged, they show the conduct of the middle-aged. To beings who need to
be guided by those who are elderly, they show the conduct of the elderly.

“To beings who need to be guided by those whose limbs are deformed
or missing, they show the conduct of those whose limbs are deformed or
missing. To
beings who need to be guided by untouchables whose hands or feet have been
cut off, they show the conduct of untouchables whose hands or feet have been
cut off. To beings who need to be guided by those who are mentally or
physical disabled, they show the conduct of the mentally and physically
disabled. To beings who need to be guided by the blind and deaf, they show
the conduct of the blind and deaf.

“To beings who need to be guided by the appearance of hell beings,
they show the conduct of hell beings. To beings who need to be guided by
beings in the animal realm, or those in the realm of Yama, or by human
beings, they show the conduct of beings in the animal realm, or those in the
realm of Yama, or human beings. To beings who need to be guided by gods,
they show the conduct of gods. To beings who need to be guided by nāgas,
yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, or mahoragas, they show the
conduct of nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, and
mahoragas. To beings who need to be guided by a śakra, they show the conduct
of a śakra. To beings who need to be guided by a brahmā, they show the
conduct of a brahmā. To beings who need to be guided by the lokapālas, they
show the conduct of the lokapālas. To beings who need to be guided by
cakravartins, they show the conduct of cakravartins. To beings who need to
be guided by monks, they show the conduct of monks. To beings who need to be
guided by nuns, they show the conduct of nuns. To beings who need to be
guided by laymen, they show the conduct of laymen. To beings who need to be
guided by laywomen, they show the conduct of laywomen. To beings who need to
be guided by disciples, they show the conduct of disciples. To beings who
need to be guided by solitary buddhas, they show the conduct of solitary
buddhas. To beings who need to be guided by bodhisattvas, they show the
conduct of bodhisattvas, and to beings who need to be guided by
realized ones, they show the conduct of realized ones. However, none of that
applies to beings in the formless realm.

“Śāntamati, in this manner the bodhisattvas’ physical appearance,
caste, and demeanor conform spontaneously and involuntarily to the physical
appearance, caste, and demeanor of all beings. In this respect, even though
bodhisattvas, who do not form concepts and are in a state of equanimity,
display their physical demeanors with their bodies, they do not deviate from
the true nature of the body. Although they perform physical actions with their
bodies, they do not lose sight of the separateness of the body. They bring
joy to all hell beings with the radiance of their bodies brought about by
the purification of their bodies. With no concern for their bodies, they
offer their own flesh to satisfy carnivorous beings who desire meat for
sustenance. They do so despite the fact that in giving their flesh to such
beings they give up their lives in the process. They give their blood to
those who drink blood, their bones to those who devour bones, and their
physical vitality to those who consume the body’s vitality.

“Śāntamati, they nourish all beings with whatever kind of bodily
nourishment they require, and do so from their own bodies, even at the cost
of their lives. The infinitude of their bodies is not exhausted because it
proceeds from the infinite nature of the realm of reality. Their realization
of inexhaustible bodies arises because they are well acquainted with the
realization of the inexhaustible nature of dependent origination. They bring
beings to maturity with their bodies.

“In front of beings who actively pursue sense pleasures, who are
attached to the signs and images of beauty, they appear as well-formed,
beautiful, and attractive female bodies. When these beings become inflamed
with passion, they caress them, massage them with oil, and sit on their
laps. Then, as they are sitting on these men’s laps, they wither and decay.
They become putrid and foul-smelling corpses so that those men become
disenchanted and push them aside, but then the teaching of the Dharma
issues from those corpses in such a way that those men become impossible to
turn back from unsurpassable and perfect awakening.

“Furthermore, Śāntamati, such bodhisattvas can pervade this cosmos
of a billion worlds with their body. They can cover it with a jeweled
parasol or even with their finger just like someone can cover a mustard seed
with a fingertip. Even if their finger were to
cover the fire that consumes the cosmos at the end of a cosmic age, their
body would not be harmed.

“With their bodies, they worship and serve the blessed buddhas. In
the act of worshiping the realized ones, they offer flowered parasols and
baskets of flowers as large as Mount Meru. In the act
of worshiping the realized ones, they light a lamp with this cosmos of a
billion worlds as the vessel filled with fragrant oil and a blazing wick the
size of Mount Meru. In the act of worshiping the realized ones, they light
as many lamps as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges. In the act of
worshiping the realized ones, they wrap their very own bodies in linen cloth
soaked with oil and clarified butter, and then they set it aflame, and when
they are blazing, the fire emits a great light that pervades as many buddha
realms as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges. Beings see it and
recognize it, and when they see the majesty of such bodhisattvas,
immeasurable, countless numbers of beings conceive the aspiration for
unsurpassable and perfect awakening.

“To beings made haughty by pride, conceit, and arrogance, these
bodhisattvas make themselves appear in the form of Vajrapāṇi, a Nārāyaṇa, or
a being with a great physique. These arrogant beings become terrified of
bodhisattvas who appear in this way, and they bow and prostrate themselves
before them. Then they wish to hear the Dharma from them.

“In the huge cremation grounds of great cities, where many
hundreds of thousands of animals roam, these bodhisattvas of great courage
display their own mighty bodies when they have died. The beings from the
animal realm staying there feast on their flesh as much as they please, and
then at the end of their lives, when their time comes to die, they are
reborn among the gods of the higher realms and good places of rebirth. These
bodhisattvas also become the cause of these beings’ eventual cessation,
because of the purification of the previous vows of these bodhisattvas. They
have long ago formed the vow that if, when they die, beings feast on their
dead bodies and this becomes the cause for them to be reborn in the higher
realms until they pass beyond anguish, then, for those who have maintained
moral conduct, they achieve their aspiration, they accomplish their desire,
they fulfill their vow.

“In precisely this manner, Śāntamati, you may understand the
immeasurable and infinite nature of the bodhisattva’s body.

“A long time ago, Śāntamati, under this very same sky here on
Jambudvīpa, there were once eighty-four thousand cities divided into four
parts. There were many
thousands of villages, hamlets, and market towns, as well as many hundreds
of thousands of millions and billions of beings. At that moment and time,
Śāntamati, there occurred a lengthy period of great pestilence. Most beings
there were afflicted as various diseases spread: diseases of the body’s air,
heat, and phlegm,
resulting in symptoms like pus-filled boils, lesions, scabs, rashes, and
blisters. Many thousands of doctors labored to relieve the symptoms of these
beings, but they were unable to cure them of the disease. As no cure could
be found for these beings, and they were without any protection or refuge,
they gave a great cry:

“ ‘Oh, we will give away all our wealth

To whoever can free us from this illness!

It doesn’t matter if he is a god,

Nāga, gandharva, yakṣa,

“ ‘Human, or nonhuman.

We will follow the instructions

Of whoever can free us from this suffering.

We will feel gratitude toward him!’

“At that time, Śāntamati, the blessed Śākyamuni was a śakra, a lord
of the gods, named Sunetra. With his pure divine eyesight
surpassing that of ordinary human beings, he could see that these beings
were afflicted with various diseases. With his pure divine hearing
surpassing that of ordinary human beings, he heard the sound of their great
cries. When he saw and heard them, he developed tremendous compassion. He
thought, ‘I must help these helpless beings. I must protect and support
these weak and defenseless beings.’ Right then and there in the center of
Jambudvīpa, not far from the great city of Kuru, he spontaneously appeared
as a creature by the name of Saumya, and the following verses offering
encouragement to all the people of Jambudvīpa came from the sky:

“ ‘Near to the city of Kuru

There is a creature named Saumya.

Whoever consumes its flesh

Will be freed from their disease.

“ ‘Take as much of its flesh as you wish

Without fear or fright.

It will have no anger, complaint, or malice.

This is medicine for Jambudvīpa.’

“Thereupon, Śāntamati, when all the sick people of the cities,
towns, villages, hamlets, and market towns heard this, they went to the
great city of Kuru to the place where they found the creature Saumya, and
even though they cut flesh from its body again and again, and carried it
away, still the flesh of its body did not become depleted. Saumya then spoke
this verse:

“ ‘If it is true that I will achieve awakening,

And my knowledge will be inexhaustible,

Then, by this truth, may the flesh of my body

Never be exhausted for all of you here!’

“Thus, Śāntamati, the sick people throughout the four directions
never witnessed the body of this creature, Saumya, become depleted or
exhausted, despite the fact that they cut flesh from its body again and
again, and carried it away. Whatever they cut away simply grew back, and,
Śāntamati, all persons who consumed the flesh from the creature Saumya found
their symptoms alleviated immediately upon doing so. They became well,
happy, and healthy. Finally, all the diseases of the people of Jambudvīpa
were eliminated.

“Śāntamati, the men, women, boys, and girls of Jambudvīpa then
thought, ‘Since this creature, Saumya, well and truly freed us from illness
and made us happy and healthy, we should worship it.’ They all gathered
together and went to the place where they found the creature Saumya. They
stretched out their arms, palms together in a gesture of salutation toward
the creature Saumya, and spoke the following verse:

“ ‘You are our refuge and protection.

You are our doctor and medicine.

We will worship you in whatever way we can.

Please give us your teachings.’

“At that moment the body of the creature disappeared and Śakra
appeared in his own body. He then spoke these verses to the assembled
people:

“ ‘I have no need for wealth, food and drink,

Gold, or grain.

Instead, all should come together harmoniously and

Maintain the path of the ten forms of good conduct.

“ ‘Be firm in your aspiration to awaken

For the benefit of all beings.

With a thought for what will be beneficial,

Develop love for one another.’

“When the beings heard this from Śakra,

They were delighted,

And they undertook the truly pure path

Of the ten forms of good conduct.

“From that point forward, Śāntamati, among all the men, women,
boys, and girls of Jambudvīpa, not even a single person was reborn in the
lower realms. Thenceforth, when the time came for them to die and be reborn,
each of them was reborn in the higher realms at the same level as the
gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. They were delighted by the
instruction in the Dharma given by Śakra, Lord of the Gods. They took it
completely to heart and felt truly encouraged by it. Some of them conceived
the aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening. Some of them
purified the spotless and immaculate Dharma eye in regard to things.
Śāntamati, this is the secret of the bodhisattvas’ body and the purity of
their physical activity. In this way, by giving up a single body, they bring
countless, limitless beings to maturity.”

Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, then spoke further to the
bodhisattva Śāntamati: “The body of a bodhisattva is unbreakable, Śāntamati;
it is rock-solid, strong, not subject to change, and it arises
spontaneously. This body disintegrates for the sake of guiding beings who
need to be guided by its disintegration. This body stays whole for the sake
of guiding beings who need to be guided by its wholeness. It cannot be
burned by fire or pierced by weapons. It is rock-solid and strong like true
vajra—it is unbreakable.

“Śāntamati, though bodhisattvas bring beings to maturity in this
way by means of the body, the bodhisattvas do not ponder or ruminate on
this, for they know well that the
body has the nature of being devoid of a defining characteristic. Owing
precisely to the body’s nature of being devoid of a defining characteristic,
they know that things have the nature of being devoid of a defining
characteristic. The body’s nature of being devoid of a defining
characteristic and the nature of all things as being devoid of a defining
characteristic cannot be separated into a duality. The fact that the
essential defining characteristic of the body is precisely its being devoid
of a defining characteristic is the essential defining characteristic of a
thing’s being devoid of a defining characteristic. Thus, the bodhisattvas
conform to the nature of things as being devoid of a defining
characteristic. They make their own body’s nature of being devoid of a
defining characteristic equal to the nature of all beings’ bodies as being
devoid of a defining characteristic. They know that their own body’s nature
of being devoid of a defining characteristic and the nature of all beings’
bodies as being devoid of a defining characteristic is the nature of the
realm of reality as being devoid of a defining characteristic. Because they
do not comprehend even the smallest particle of a thing, they consequently
attain the realization of the nature of the realm of reality as being devoid
of a defining characteristic and also the nature of all things as being
devoid of a defining characteristic.

“Owing to the way their own body is, they know the way the bodies
of all beings are. Owing to the way the bodies of all beings are, they know
the way their own body is. Owing to the way their own body is, they know the
way all things are. Owing to the way all things are, they know the way all
buddhas are. Owing to the way their own body is, they know the way the past,
present, and future are. The way the past is does not contradict the way the
future will be. The fact that the past, present, and future are the way they
are is the way the aggregates, sense spheres, and elements are. The fact that the
aggregates, sense spheres, and elements are the way they are is itself the way defiled and
purified things are. The fact that defiled and purified things are the way
they are is itself the way saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are. The fact that saṃsāra
and nirvāṇa are the way they are is the way unconditioned things are. The
fact that unconditioned things are the way they are is itself the way all
conditioned things are, and the fact that they are the way they are.

“Noble son, ‘the way things are’ is the nature of this; it is the
nature of that; it is the nature of not being different; it is the nature of
not changing; it is the nature of not arising; it is the nature of not being
in conflict; it is the nature of being without a form. The way things are
has no form at all, and what has no form is called the way things
are. Just as the way things are has no form, in the same way
all forms have no form. Although bodhisattvas display their forms to all
beings, they do not turn the way things are into a form. Even though they
are formless and beyond conflict and they display diverse bodies and
forms, still they do not disturb the way things are.

“With knowledge of the way things are, one reflects on the body of
a realized one. Owing to its equality with the body of a realized one, one
reflects on the equality of one’s own body. Owing to the fact that the body
is not born at all, one correctly perceives that nobody has a body. One
knows that all bodies are dependently arisen. Knowing this, one acquires the
Dharma body. By acquiring the Dharma body, one becomes this very Dharma
body. This is not the body of the aggregates, elements, and sense spheres. When one
manifests the Dharma body, then beings benefit just by seeing it. Beings benefit just
by hearing it or touching it.

“I will draw an analogy, Śāntamati. Consider how the healer, the
king of physicians, collects all types of medicinal substances, and with
these many medicinal substances he fashions the figure of a well-formed,
beautiful, and elegant girl. Having properly enlivened and properly prepared
this figure, the girl may come and go, stand, sit, and lie down, and yet she
does not form ideas and she does not form conceptions. Any sick monk, king, royal
minister, prince, merchant, householder, government official, or regional
ruler who comes and encounters this girl made from medicinal substances by
the healer, the king of physicians, will then find themselves immediately
cleansed of their maladies. They will be made well and truly happy and
healthy. Śāntamati, no other physician can do that. Such is the knowledge of
medicine possessed by the king of physicians with regard to the diseases of
the world. In the same way, Śāntamati, bodhisattvas manifest the Dharma body
so that whenever any beings who are afflicted by attachment, aversion, and
ignorance—whether woman, man, boy, or girl—make contact with the body of a
bodhisattva, all of their afflictions will cease immediately. They will
experience their bodies free from all misery. This is due to the complete
purification of that bodhisattva’s previous vows. Śāntamati, this cause of
manifesting the Dharma body is also a secret of the body of
bodhisattvas.

“Śāntamati, the bodies of those bodhisattvas who possess the Dharma
body do not grow by means of food and drink. Their bodies are not nourished
even by consuming food with their mouths. Because they possess an
understanding of all foods, they eat food out of compassion for beings.
Though they eat food, they do not swallow it, and it does not enter their
bodies. The power of the Dharma body ensures that their health does not
decline or diminish in any way.

“Śāntamati, though there is no birth, death, or rebirth for a
bodhisattva who has the Dharma body, they display birth, death, and rebirth
in order to bring beings to maturity. Though they die, they know that all
things are unconditioned and nothing dies. Though they are reborn, they know
that nothing is reborn. Though they are born, they know that nothing is
born. They possess the Dharma body, Dharma food, and Dharma power, and since
they rely on the Dharma, they know the body of the realized ones.

“Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is a body of space, a body
that is equal to that which has no equal, a body that is the most
distinguished in all the three worlds, a body in possession of the way all
beings are. It is incomparable. It is unique. It is pure. It is immaculate.
It is a body with no affliction. It is a naturally luminous body. It is
naturally a body that is not born. It is a body that is naturally not
arisen. It is a body that is not bound to thought, mind, or consciousness.
It is a body the essential nature of which is a magical illusion, mirage, or
reflection of the moon in water. It is a body of deep reflection on
emptiness, groundlessness, and desirelessness. It is a body that pervades
all space throughout the ten directions. It is a body that is equal to all
beings. It is an infinite, boundless body. It is a body without change or
conception.
It is an unwavering body, a body without conceit. It is a body that has
attained the states of remaining, not remaining, and not wavering. It is a
body that does not have the essential nature of form, nor does it have the
essential nature of feelings, conceptions, latent tendencies, or
consciousness. It cannot be broken down into its earth element, nor can it
be broken down into its water element, fire element, or air element. It does not arise and will never arise. It cannot
be reduced to any of the great elements. It is not arisen; it is not
something that can arise. It does not accord with anything in the world. It
does not appear to the eye. It does not sound in the ear. It is not detected
by the nose. It cannot be identified by the tongue. It does not possess a
body. It is not encountered by the mind. It does not involve thought. It
does not turn toward, turn away from, or follow after mental consciousness.
Śāntamati, such is the body of a realized one.

“When bodhisattvas achieve equality with the body of a realized
one, they undertake the pure conduct of the bodhisattva, and they make
themselves seen throughout the cosmos of a billion worlds, and on all four
continents, including Jambudvīpa, as well as in all of the many villages,
towns, market towns, countries, and capital cities. However, they are not
seen by any of the māras, nor do they become visible to them. They make
themselves seen, yet they do not appear to be seen. Though they are not
seen, they appear to be seen. They cannot be made apparent by sight,
hearing, realization, or cognition. They become manifest, because they bring
beings to maturity, but they do not abandon their faultless application of
mindfulness applied to the body. While they teach beings that the body is
impermanent, unsatisfactory, and without self, they know that the true
nature of the body is tranquil. They also teach beings the analysis of
the body, and although they see the causes and objective supports from which
the body is created, they correctly perceive that there is no creator of
these causes and objective supports. They know the body to be like a blade
of grass, a piece of wood, a plastered wall, a clod of earth, and a
reflection, and they
teach to beings the purification of actions of the body.

“Śāntamati, this is the secret of the Bodhisattva’s body and the
purity of the actions of his body since the time of the realized one
Dīpaṃkara. However, the teaching of the purity of the actions of the
bodhisattvas of great courage is far longer than that. It could go on for
thousands of eons or even longer. Śāntamati, if the Realized One were to
teach the secret of the bodhisattva’s body, eons as numerous as the grains
of sand in the Ganges River would not suffice. A teaching on the secret of
the bodhisattva’s body is as immeasurable and inconceivable as that.”

This was the first chapter, “On Saumya.”

Chapter 2: The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s

Speech

Once again, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the
Guhyakas, spoke to the bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Śāntamati, what is the secret
of the Bodhisattva’s speech and the purity of his verbal action? Śāntamati,
the succession of the bodhisattvas’ rebirths continues for precisely so long
as beings continue to be reborn, and for as long as they continue to be
reborn, these bodhisattvas make use of language. The knowledge and vision of
the bodhisattvas penetrates without impediment beings’ use of language in
all the ways they express linguistic utterances, verbal expressions,
explanations, conventions, speeches, descriptions of reality, signs,
actions, and happiness and suffering. Their knowledge and vision even
penetrate the languages used by worms, mosquitoes, flies, bees, and moths.
Since
their knowledge and expression of language enables them to relieve the
bodies and minds of beings, such verbal expressions emerge from the mouths
of those bodhisattvas who know and use language. This is in accordance with
the nature of things. In this respect, it should be said:

“Just as there is no end to beings,

The succession of rebirths is immeasurable.

Even if one were to speak of it for a hundred eons, there would be no
end.

One should thus say that these things are inconceivable.

“The Great One’s words are faultless,

His teachings truly vast as mind and thought.

Like space, they do not increase or decrease.

Yet, one should still speak in metaphors.

“Śāntamati, the speech of bodhisattvas is expressed in the brahmās’
voices, the śakras’ voices, and in the voices of the lokapālas. It is
expressed in the voices of the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras,
garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas. It is expressed in the voices of all
beings. It satisfies the wishes of all beings. About this, it should be
said:

“The irreproachable words of the great ones

Are without increase or decrease, like space.

Such teachings are vast as mind and thought.

Listen earnestly to those who speak them.

“Engaging in compassion, along with love,

Joy, and equanimity as well,

Will take one even beyond Brahmā, it is said.

With such well-spoken words, one satisfies Brahmā.

“Whatever pleasing music of Śakra there may be

Is surpassed by the splendor of such sayings.

Immeasurable divisions of phenomena arise

From the production of these musical melodies.

“This speech is supreme; more marvelous

Than the songs of the kinnaras,

It does not inflame sensual desire.

Such speech becomes whatever people enjoy.

“Many are the divine songs and instrumental music

Found pleasing in the realm of desire.

Yet, virtuous words that bestow the meaning of the Dharma—

Such words can satisfy completely.

“Upon hearing the words of the Guide of Men,

Sensual desire is quelled, and so, too, is hatred.

Ignorant deception and prideful arrogance are allayed.

One determines the meanings, and doubts vanish.

“By hearing the words of the Best of Men,

Gods in the realm of form, wherever they are,

Find their minds satisfied.

Saying, ‘A buddha has appeared in the world,’ they seek awakening.

“The sound of the music made by

Powerful nāgas, gandharvas, and mahoragas

Resounds with an ocean of virtuous qualities

And creates profound delight in all.

“Though there are infinite sounds and languages

In each of the different directions of this world,

It is by speaking in any of these languages

And by hearing them that people attain freedom.

“The gods upon the earth and equally the gods in the sky

Are enmeshed in sounds and languages.

Thus, bodhisattvas also employ these languages,

But their words convey the truth with certainty.

“The swan, crane, cuckoo,

Peacock, parrot, partridge,

Myna bird, and wild goose—

Bodhisattvas satisfy them in their respective tongues.

“The tiger, lion, bear, monkey,

Leopard, cat, deer, elephant, rhinoceros,

Horse, dog, pig, and owl—

Bodhisattvas satisfy them in their respective tongues.

“In order to inspire, restrain, and help

Any being with four legs, two legs,

Many legs, and likewise none at all,

They employ all their languages and calls.

“Their voices accord with the languages of everyone:

All beings in the three worlds,

Whether of the highest, middling, or lowest forms,

Including the realms of hell beings, Yama, animals, humans, and gods.

“Although they do whatever is needed,

They do not form thoughts, ideas, or concepts.

They are without attributes, attachments, and bonds.

Settled in meditative equipoise, their minds do not go astray.

“If they want, those with pure minds,

Without making any effort or grasping anything,

Can use their voice to bring understanding

To countless realms as numerous as grains of sand in the Ganges.

“When all the māras in the cosmos of a billion worlds

Hear the horrifying voices of the bodhisattvas,

They and their wives immediately become terrified,

Place their palms together out of respect, and bow.

“Any beings who wish to propound a rival doctrine,

And who are overwhelmed by pride and bow to no one,

Will place their palms together out of respect and bow

When they hear these brilliant words.

“When the deaf, dumb, mute,

And those who stammer and stutter

Hear this excellent speech,

They will express most attractive sounds.

“Those tormented and harassed by the afflictions,

Who are engulfed in a hundred regrets over past faults,

Will have their regrets allayed and be appeased

When they hear these virtuous words.

“When beings hear the words

They will begin cultivating generosity, learning, moral conduct,

Patience, heroic effort, meditation, and intelligence.

“One could not exhaustively describe the qualities

Of those who have attained the pristine speech of the buddhas,

Who possess infinite expressions and boundless knowledge,

Even if one spoke about them for many thousands of eons.

“Śāntamati, the speech of bodhisattvas does not contain any sense
of lust; aversion; delusion; affliction;
impediment; obstruction; vulgarity; foulness; callousness; abusiveness;
incompleteness; harshness; attachment; anger; carelessness; animosity;
contradictory words; words influenced by the various afflictions;
fickleness; flattery; arrogance; haughtiness; impatience; inappropriate
speech; desirous speech; words praising physical appearance; aggrandizement;
contrivance; overly relaxed speech; intent to shock; exhausting speech;
speech resulting from an impairment of their faculties, from diminished
vitality, or from a diminished mind; disingenuousness; deficiency; opacity;
coarseness; rejecting others; contradicting others; causing distress;
unproductiveness; scolding others; annoying others; causing oneself or
others pain; inappropriate use of words; inappropriate choice of words;
insincere words; irrational words; illogical words; vicious words;
inauthentic words; false speech; unjust words; quarrelsome speech; harmful
speech; inopportune speech; verbosity; bad grammar; hypocrisy;
obsequiousness; speech intended to gain profit; ineffective demonstration;
deceiving the eye; confusing the mind; expressing doubt; laconic expression;
words that cause trauma and disgust; words of scornful disregard; boastful
words about one’s own point of view; words that suppress the points of view
of others; words that demonstrate an obsession with self-praise; words that
demonstrate resistance to the praise of others; drunken speech; scornful
words; excessive boasting to others; words that do not say what is needed;
counterproductive words; leaking secrets; not guarding one’s words; using
words that are condemned by the wise; condemning the noble ones; attacking
another with abuse;
public displays of praise; describing the faults of others at inopportune
moments; twisting the knife; broadcasting the faults of others; words that
fail to keep one’s promises; speech
expounding upon the objects of one’s pride; speech that
contradicts the workings of karma; or speech in which one fails to avoid
using words that do not accord with reality.

“Śāntamati, the expression of the bodhisattvas’ speech is infused
with the knowledge of the supernormal faculties, and because it results from
the ripening of merit, it accords with the truth. Whatever they say is just
exactly so. Suppose a bodhisattva were to pass by or sit under a tree and
somebody were to ask, ‘Excuse me, sir, how many leaves does this tree have?’
Without looking at the tree and without counting the leaves, the bodhisattva
would then be able to say exactly how many leaves there were without
overestimating or underestimating the number.

“Also, if one were to ask, ‘How many hundreds, thousands, hundreds
of thousands, millions, billions, hundreds of billions, trillions,
quadrillions, quintillions, sextillions, septillions, octillions,
nonillions, decillions, undecillions, and duodecillions of grains of sand
are there in the Ganges?’ then, without looking or counting, the bodhisattva’s
speech could declare exactly how many grains of sand there are. He knows the
grains of sand to be this precise number by using the knowledge of the
realized ones. Śāntamati, only the realized ones can directly perceive this.
It is not directly perceptible to gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras,
marutas, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, disciples, or solitary buddhas.

“Śāntamati, you can understand this through the following teaching:
At one point in the past, Śāntamati, there was a sage named Light and a brahmin named Śyāmaka. At
that time, there was a tree called the Excellent King of Banyan Trees, which
was covered by many branches and leaves. The crown of the tree was several
miles in circumference and the sage, Light, dwelled beneath that tree. While he was dwelling there,
he used
the power of his supernormal faculties to count the leaves on the branches
of the Excellent King of Banyan Trees for twelve years and seven days until
he came to a realization of that knowledge. At a certain point the brahmin,
Śyāmaka, had been out seeking alms in the village, and because it was midday
he went beneath that banyan tree to take his meal. He came before the sage,
Light, and was truly delighted
to see him. Sitting together, they spoke of many topics about which they
were passionate. Then, the sage, Light, said to the brahmin Śyāmaka, ‘Excuse me, brahmin, but do
you think there are any humans in this world of beings who have the ability
to count, directly perceive, or know the number of leaves on this Excellent
King of Banyan Trees?’

“ ‘Yes, revered one, there is.’

“ ‘Brahmin, who would that be?’ asked the sage.

“The brahmin replied, ‘Revered one, I can count them.’

“ ‘Well, count them, then, brahmin!’ said the sage.

“Immediately, without having to look at the tree or count the
leaves, the brahmin knew how many leaves there were. He then spoke in verse,
saying:

“ ‘There are six hundred septillion,

Sixteen sextillion,

Thirteen quintillion,

Ninety-six quadrillion,

“ ‘Three hundred and ninety trillion,

Thirty billion,

Eight hundred

And ninety-two million.

“ ‘I, the true brahmin, know this.’

Hearing this, Light said to
Śyāmaka,

‘Best of brahmins, you have spoken truly.

Excellent, excellent. This is true.

“ ‘For twelve full years and seven days

Have I, through supernormal faculties, counted these leaves.

Lord, you have known them in an instant.

Without looking or counting,

“ ‘You realized instantaneously

How many leaves there are.

Has this knowledge been taught to you by a god?

Brahmin, please explain this to me.’

“ Śyāmaka replied, ‘Listen, revered one, this is not taught by
gods, but by men. I follow true words and live according to their meaning.
It is possible that the sky could exhaust itself and fall to pieces, but it
is impossible for me ever to speak falsely.’

“Then Vajrapāṇi said:

“Light was the great one,
Śāriputra,

And the brahmin, Śyāmaka, was Śākyasiṃha.

Such is the speech of those who possess an ocean of virtues.

It is endowed with the Dharma and its meaning, which rests on the
truth.

“Śāntamati, so far as the purity of the speech of the bodhisattvas
is concerned, this is the secret of the speech of the bodhisattvas. This is
merely a brief demonstration of the purity of their speech. If one were to
go further than that, an exhaustive explanation of the purity of the
bodhisattvas’ speech would have no limit or endpoint.”

This was the second chapter, “The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s
Speech.”

Chapter 3: The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s

Mind

Once again, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the
bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Now, Śāntamati, what is the secret of a
bodhisattva’s mind and the purity of his mental action?

“Śāntamati, bodhisattvas undertake their work by means of
knowledge, not by taking pride in it. Also, they undertake their work with
knowledge without weakening any of the supernormal faculties. They manifest
all sorts of actions while making child’s play of the supernormal faculties.
They have attained the great mastery that is the mastery of the supernormal
faculties. The supernormal faculties they possess are an aspect of knowledge
because they are connected with the supreme knowledge of all aspects. The
supernormal faculties they possess are an aspect of wisdom because they
provide a direct vision of all things. The supernormal faculties they
possess have the aspect of inexhaustibility because they conform with
everything. Because all forms do not have a form, the supernormal faculties
they possess can see all forms. Because the sounds of the past are the
same as the sounds of the future, the supernormal faculties they possess can
comprehend all sounds. The supernormal faculties they possess perceive the
thoughts of all beings, because they can perceive and thoroughly investigate
the true nature of mind. The supernormal faculties they possess can
recollect limitless eons, because they do not place any limits on the past
or the future. The supernormal faculties they possess can produce every kind
of wondrous transformation with their superhuman powers because they have
the defining characteristic of being unconditioned. The supernormal
faculties they possess conform to the cessation
of the defilements, because they perceive the moment and they never miss the
moment. The supernormal faculties they possess are conducive to the forms of
penetrating insight that are fixed upon what is transcendent and noble. The
supernormal faculties they possess are difficult for the disciples and
solitary buddhas to understand. The supernormal faculties they possess have
profound meaning and defeat their adversaries, Māra in all his forms. The
supernormal faculties they possess produce the essence of awakening and are
the most supreme form of awakening, which brings about a perfect realization
of all the qualities of a buddha. The supernormal faculties they possess are
consistent with the turning of the wheel of Dharma. The supernormal
faculties they possess can tame all beings. The supernormal faculties they
possess secure empowering authority because they have mastery over all
things.

“Śāntamati, this is the purity of the mental action of the
bodhisattvas. This pure mind is immaculate and without any affliction; it is
luminous, free from the derivative afflictions, and completely controlled.
By being well guarded, it rests in the states of meditation, liberation,
concentration, and absorption, but it does not sink into complete extinction
or a state of nonarising. Instead, it intentionally takes birth in the
desire realm and remains undisturbed by being here. It is not born in
bondage. It
does not die or transmigrate in bondage, and it is not reborn in bondage.
How is this so? It is free from forming concepts, which are not real. It is
free from the bonds of all the afflictions. It is free from dwelling on
distorted conceptions. As a result, it is born while being completely free,
it dies and transmigrates while being completely free, and it is reborn
while being completely free.

“Though it is born, it does not fall back from the Great Vehicle,
and it becomes completely endowed with all the qualities of a buddha. Though
one may seek for these qualities of a buddha throughout the ten directions,
they cannot be found or seen anywhere. Therefore, the qualities of a buddha
and of all things are realized as qualities of a buddha. In this manner, the
qualities of a buddha and of all things are not asserted to be things, nor
are they asserted not to be things.

“Why is this? Even though one might exhaustively seek for anything
and everything, one cannot find or see anything. If one seeks for things
just as they really are, one cannot find or see them. One cannot enumerate
them either. All things completely transcend enumeration. Whoever knows the
equality of all things is free from fixating on them as being either
something or nothing, and knows that being beyond such fixation is the
meaning of things. However, those who take pride in meaning can cause great
harm. Those who do not feel such pride do not defend the claim that things
have a meaning or that they do not have a meaning.

“The mind that does not see any meaning is not impeded in any
way—that is an unimpeded mind. An unimpeded mind is not attached. What is
unattached is not destroyed. What is not destroyed does not decline. What
does not decline does not come into being as something for which the search
has no meaning. Something for which the search has no meaning causes no
transgression. What causes no transgression is impersonal. Of what is
impersonal, there is no grasping. Over what is not grasped, there is no
conflict.
About what is not in conflict, there are no disputes. When there are no
disputes, there is no conflict, and this is called being endowed with the
qualities of an ascetic. What is endowed with the qualities of an ascetic is
the same as the sky and the palm of one’s hand. What is the same as the sky
and the palm of one’s hand does not belong to the desire realm. It does not
belong to the form realm, and it does not belong to the formless realm. What
belongs to nothing whatsoever has no color, sign, or shape. What has no
color, sign, or shape can be understood only by analogy. What can be
understood only by analogy is fully understood only by analogy. For what
reason do I speak of ‘understanding’ and ‘full understanding’? The reason is
that one cannot find anything that one could understand or fully understand,
not even the smallest particle, and therefore I speak of ‘understanding’ and
‘full understanding.’ Śāntamati, this is the secret of the bodhisattvas’
mind.

“Furthermore, Śāntamati, the secret of the bodhisattvas’ mind is
also that their mind is loving, even though there is no self. It is also a
mind of compassion, even though beings do not exist; it is also a mind of
joy, despite the nonexistence of a life force; it is also a mind of
equanimity, even though it is free of the defilements; it is also a mind of
generosity, even though the mind is well trained; it is also a mind of moral
conduct, even though the nature of mind is at ease; it is also a mind of
patience, even though the nature of mind is indestructible; it is also a
mind of heroic effort, even though the mind is always in a state of
solitude; it is also a mind of concentration, as
well as a mind engaged in profound contemplation; and it is also a mind of
wisdom, even though the nature of mind is unwavering.

“It is a mind that applies the applications of mindfulness even
though the nature of mind is that it makes no conscious effort to apply
mindfulness. It is a mind that makes the correct efforts even though the
nature of mind is properly always the same. It is a mind that has the
foundations for superhuman power even though the nature of mind is beyond
activity. It has serene faith, even though the nature of mind is without
attachment.
It is a mind of heroic effort, even though the nature of mind is effortless.
It is mindful, even though the mind has the nature of arising on its own.

“It is a mind of concentration, even though the nature of mind is
that it understands that everything is the same. It is a mind of the
spiritual faculty of wisdom, even though the nature of mind is that it has
no faculties. It is a mind of the sense faculties, even though the nature of
mind is that it does not have the faculty to sense all things. It is a mind
of the powers, even though the nature of mind is out of range. It is a mind
of the constitutive factors of awakening, even though the nature of mind is
that it is fully manifested through awareness. It is a mind of cultivating
the path, even though the nature of mind is without cultivation. It is a
mind of calm abiding, even though the nature of mind is utterly tranquil. It
is a mind of deep insight, even though the nature of mind is that it does
not perceive anything.

“It is a mind of cultivating the truths of the noble ones, even
though the nature of mind is that it is thoroughly and completely known. It
is a mind that focuses attention on the buddhas, even though the nature of
mind is without any focused attention. It is a mind that focuses attention
on the Dharma, even though the nature of mind is equal to the realm of
reality. It is a mind that focuses attention on the Saṅgha, even though the
nature of mind is without a fixed abode. It is a mind that brings beings to
maturity, even though the nature of mind is primordially pure. It is a mind
that embraces the true Dharma, even though the nature of mind cannot be
separated from the realm of reality. It is a mind of purifying a buddha
domain, even though mind has the nature of being equal to space. It is a
mind that accepts the fact that things do not arise, even though the nature
of mind cannot be conceived. It is a mind at the stage of irreversibility,
even though the nature of mind does not turn back or move forward. It is a
mind for attaining the marks of a great person, even though the nature of
mind is without marks. It is a mind that is adorned with the essence of
awakening, even though the nature of mind is the essence of the three
worlds. It is a mind for defeating Māra in all his forms, even though the
nature of mind is for benefitting all beings. It is a mind for awakening,
even though the nature of mind is that it realizes that all things are
insubstantial. It is a mind for turning the wheel of Dharma, even though the
nature of mind does not move forward or turn back. It is a mind that shows
the great passing away into nirvāṇa, even though the nature of mind is the
same as the essential nature of saṃsāra.

“Śāntamati, this is the secret of the mind of those bodhisattvas
who have attained acceptance of the fact that things do not arise; this is
the purity of their mental action. With that pure mind, one realizes the
minds of all beings to be pure, and one’s aspiration for awakening becomes
fully absorbed in the minds of all beings. The minds of all beings are
illuminated in the aspiration for awakening. Śāntamati, consider how space
goes everywhere and surrounds everything. In the same way, Śāntamati, the
bodhisattva’s mind goes everywhere and surrounds everything.”

When Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, gave this teaching on the
secrets of the body, speech, and mind of the bodhisattvas, seventy-two
thousand beings from the divine and human realms conceived the aspiration
for unsurpassable and perfect awakening. Thirty-two thousand bodhisattvas
attained acceptance of the fact that things do not arise. Eighty-four
thousand beings purified the stainless and immaculate Dharma eye with
respect to things. Eight thousand monks freed their minds from defilement
with no further clinging. The cosmos of a billion worlds trembled in six
ways and this universe was completely pervaded by a great light while
flowers fell from the sky and the sound was heard of about a thousand
cymbals and other musical instruments being played without anyone playing
them. Along with the sound of the cymbals and other musical instruments, a
voice was heard making statements like the following: “Those beings who have
heard this teaching by Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, will grasp it, trust
in it, hold on to it, recite it, study it, and teach it in full to others; those
beings will possess a clear motivation with respect to their aspiration for
awakening and they will not fail to grow even the smallest roots of virtue;
those beings will recognize that they have served many buddhas, grown the
roots of virtue, and are supported by supplies of merit; those beings will
benefit all beings; and those beings will reach the stage at which they will
receive predictions of their future awakening.”

This was the third chapter, “The Secret of the Bodhisattva’s
Mind.”

Chapter 4: The Coming of Resounding Musical

Sound

Then the Blessed One spoke to the bodhisattva of great courage,
Śāntamati, saying, “Do you hear the voice issuing from the sounds of the
cymbals and musical instruments?”

“Blessed One, I hear it! Whose power is causing the voice to issue
from them?”

“Śāntamati,” replied the Blessed One, “in the world called
Meghavatī resides the blessed realized one Melodious King of Clouds. In his
presence resides the bodhisattva of great courage Resounding Musical Sound,
who has now arrived here in this Sahā world to see me; to honor, worship,
and serve me; and to hear the Dharma. He has also come to hear the Dharma
that is being taught by Vajrapāṇi and to see the bodhisattvas of great
courage who have gathered here from throughout the ten directions. Although
his body is invisible, Śāntamati, the bodhisattva Resounding Musical Sound
is there in the space above us. In order to pay homage to me and this
teaching of the Dharma, he has rained these flowers down upon us. He is
playing the music of the cymbals and instruments and it is his voice that we
are hearing.”

After the Blessed One had spoken, the bodhisattva named Resounding
Musical Sound descended swiftly from the space above, bowed his head at the
Blessed One’s feet, and proceeded to walk around him one hundred thousand
times, keeping him on the right, before sitting down before the Blessed One.
He spoke thus to the Blessed One: “Blessed One, the realized one Melodious
King of Clouds asks about your illness. Are you not in too much pain? Are
you not in too much distress? Are you in good condition? Are you strong,
happy, and getting along comfortably? Also, that blessed one said that the
Lord of the Guhyakas is delivering this great teaching through the majestic
power of the Buddha. Blessed One, does one become capable of attaining the
immeasurable qualities of a buddha through activities of this kind?”

Then the Blessed One said to the bodhisattva Resounding Musical
Sound, “You are welcome, noble son. It is good that you have come here. You
shall hear the chapter on the mysteries and secrets of the realized ones
from the Lord of the Guhyakas.”

This was the fourth chapter, “The Coming of Resounding
Musical Sound.”

Chapter 5: The Past-Life Story of

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

At that point, a certain bodhisattva from the assembly wondered,
“How did the Lord of the Guhyakas grow these roots of virtue? How long has
he served the Blessed Buddha? What sort of vow did he make by means of which
he has come to possess such inspired eloquence?”

With his own mind, the Blessed One knew the thoughts in the mind of
that bodhisattva, and so he addressed the bodhisattva Śāntamati: “Once upon
a time, Śāntamati, in a past eon, going back an incalculable eon, going back
more than an incalculable eon, going back a limitless, inconceivable, and
measureless span of time, there was an eon called Lovely Illumination. At that time, in
a world called Full Array, there appeared a realized one, a worthy one, a perfectly
awakened one, one perfected in knowledge and conduct, a sublime one, a
knower of the world, an unsurpassable trainer of those ready to be trained,
a teacher of gods and humans, a blessed buddha, whose name was King
Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End.

“Śāntamati, Full Array was prosperous, well populated, and happy.
There were abundant harvests and the people there were joyful. It was full
of gods and humans, flat like the palm of one’s hand, and it did not have
any pebbles or stones. The grass there was soft and pleasing to the touch
like the finest silk, bluish green like a peacock’s neck, and it swirled to
the right like a symbol of auspiciousness. It
possessed a beautiful hue and a pleasing fragrance, and it was quite
appealing. With every step, it would sink down four finger-widths and then
spring back into place. There was a refreshing breeze in the air that was neither too hot nor too cold. It felt
exactly as one would like. The earth was adorned with lapis lazuli. The
beings who lived there were well behaved, learned, and had little
attachment, aversion, or ignorance. In fact, the afflictions there were all
minimal. Everyone had the capacity to understand the meaning of well-spoken
words. The community of monastic disciples of the Realized One, the blessed
King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, numbered one
hundred twenty billion and his community of bodhisattvas numbered three
hundred twenty million. His lifespan was three hundred sixty million years
long. In that realm no one died suddenly or at inopportune times.

“At that time, Śāntamati, in Full Array there was a medium-sized
world with four continents called Lovely Illumination. It was very
prosperous, well populated, and happy. It had the most abundant harvests,
and it was vast and spacious. Each of the four continents was eighty-four
thousand square leagues. There was a league between each of the great
cities, and
each was surrounded by thousands of villages, towns, and market towns.

“Śāntamati, in the center of that four-continent world, Lovely
Illumination, was the royal capital called Abode of Purity. Wide and
expansive, its northern and southern sides were each sixty-four leagues
long, and the eastern and western sides were each forty-two leagues long. It
was adorned with thousands of parks, and surrounded by thousands of
villages, towns, and market towns.

“Śāntamati, a wheel-turning king named Dhṛtarāṣṭra lived there in
the royal palace of Abode of Purity. He possessed the seven jewels, held
sway over the four continents, had performed deeds in service to previous
buddhas, had grown roots of virtue, possessed a radiance that shone with the
splendor of merit, and had become impossible to turn back from unsurpassable
and perfect awakening.

“Śāntamati, in the center of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s city was a vast and
extensive palace the perimeter of which was sixteen leagues. It was
surrounded by seven walls made of the seven precious substances, each with
an archway and covered by netting with small bells. Inside the walls were
four great parks. The first great park was called Diverse Flowers; the
second, Delightful Virtues; the third, Delightful Peacocks; and the fourth,
The Pleasure of Time. There were ponds a half-league in size with jeweled
perimeters and the steps leading down to them were made of golden sand from
the Jambu River. Golden sand was also spread out beneath the ponds, which
were filled with water that possessed the eight good qualities. They were
covered with jeweled lotuses, and the calls of swans, herons, ducks, and
geese could be heard there. The names given to these ponds were Joy, Utmost
Joy, Supreme Fragrance, and Descending Stream.

“Śāntamati, the women of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s inner chambers numbered
seven hundred thousand, all of whom had the marks of youthful femininity
like precious gems. Each and every one of them had become
firmly established on the path to unsurpassable and perfect awakening.
Present with them were their thousand sons, who were heroic, brave, had
perfectly well-formed bodies, could defeat all their rivals, were adorned
with twenty-eight of the marks of a great person, and had set their minds
with a pure motivation on achieving unsurpassable and perfect awakening.

“At that time, Śāntamati, the blessed realized one, King
Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, was dwelling near that
royal capital. The king, his chief ministers, and the brahmins,
householders, villagers, and farmers respected, revered, honored, and
worshiped him.

“Śāntamati, for ten million years King Dhṛtarāṣṭra served that
blessed realized one, King Arrangement of Manifold Precious Virtues Without
End, and his monastic assembly with good food, drink, clothing, monasteries,
and places for walking, and in order to provide support to each monk, each
of them was offered the three sets of robes.

“Śāntamati, the royal princes were also interested in honoring and
venerating the Blessed One and out of dedication to hearing his teachings,
they were conscientious and took no interest in sense pleasures. Because
they were conscientious, listened to the true Dharma, and cultivated
profound contemplation with their minds, in no time they acquired the five
supernormal faculties. As a result of acquiring them, they flew from park to
park, from town to town, and from market town to market town throughout the
entire four continents just like the king of swans soaring in the sky. They
spoke the following verses:

“ ‘The arising of a buddha is a rare occurrence.

This human life, too, is extremely hard to find.

Such companions who have faith and listen to the Dharma

Are rarely met in this way even in a hundred eons.

“ ‘The king and lord of men has now come,

Teaching a doctrine that leads to total peace.

Being in the presence of the Sublime One,

And hearing the Dharma, we go to the happy realms.

“By hearing the Dharma, one avoids the lower realms.

By hearing the Dharma, one goes to the favorable realms.

By hearing the Dharma, one also quells the afflictions,

And one obtains the supreme state of being cooled down.’

“Once they had spoken these verses,

The earth trembled in six ways;

The gods exclaimed ‘ah la la!’ a hundred times,

And they rained down showers of pleasing divine flowers.

“Those who felt inspired went to see the Teacher,

And bowed at the feet of the supreme one among bipeds.

They placed their palms together and sat down respectfully.

It was impossible to count how many people were there.

“The Victorious One knew each of their minds

And thus taught the Dharma appropriate to each of them.

Of those who heard the Dharma from the Sublime One,

Three hundred sixty million sought supreme awakening.

“No fewer than three billion of them

Purified the supreme Dharma eye,

Turned their minds away from saṃsāra,

And went forth in this dispensation right then and there.

“Trillions of other beings undertook trainings

And similarly took up vows.

They worshiped the Teacher, heard his teachings,

And then returned to their respective dwelling places.

“Śāntamati, in order to show their love for their father, King
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the royal princes built a vast and expansive pavilion made of
the divine sandalwood known as ‘serpent’s essence.’ It was well designed
with fine features, and complete with pinnacles, victory banners, and
arches. Its value was greater than that of all the remaining serpent’s
essence sandalwood in the world put together. This vast and expansive
pavilion made of sandalwood measured ten square leagues. It was
multicolored, beautiful to behold, supported by four columns, symmetrical,
and well proportioned.

“Then, at that time, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra wished to go see the Blessed
One, to honor him, to worship him, to serve him, and to hear the Dharma. So,
the king, the royal princes, the women from his household, his servants, and
the group of his relatives all entered the pavilion and took a seat on
lion’s seats arrayed with lotus flowers and honored, worshiped, and paid
great respect to the Blessed One with the most excellent offerings of
flowers, garlands, incense, scented oils, powders, clothes, parasols,
victory banners, silk hangings, flags of victory, and the melodious sounds
of cymbals, drums, and other instruments, and they covered the pavilion with
jeweled nets. When everything had been brought together, the pavilion looked
like a heap of jewels. It then immediately rose into the sky and flew like
the king of swans to where the realized one, the blessed King Arrangement of
Manifold Precious Virtues Without End, was dwelling, and it settled on the
ground there.

“The king and the princes bowed down at the feet of the Blessed
One, and then bowed down to the monastic assembly. They walked around them
seven times, keeping them on the right, and sat down to one side. Then the
retinue of King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s wives and his relatives likewise descended
from the pavilion and bowed down to the Blessed One and the monastic
assembly, and walked around them seven times, keeping them on the right. The
women and the relatives then sat to one side in the Blessed One’s presence
in order to hear the Dharma.

“The blessed realized one, King Arrangement of Manifold Precious
Virtues Without End, knew that King Dhṛtarāṣṭra had come to hear the Dharma
from him. So, he gave him a telling of the Dharma that captivated and
uplifted him, and brought him joy. This is the telling of the Dharma that the Blessed
One gave him:

“ ‘Great King, those who are firmly established in the Great
Vehicle achieve excellence in four qualities, and do not allow them to
perish. What are these four? Great King, they achieve excellence in faith,
and do not allow it to perish. What kind of faith is this? It is a faith
that brings them closer to the noble ones and restrains them from doing
deeds that should not be done. Great King, they achieve excellence in
devotion. With such devotion, they listen well to the well-spoken words of
noble ones and they listen attentively to the Dharma. Great King, they
achieve excellence in humility. With such humility they bow, bend, and kneel
to noble ones. Great King, they achieve excellence in heroic effort. With
such heroic effort they acquire agility of body and agility of mind and they
complete everything they have to do. Great King, those who are firmly
established in the Great Vehicle achieve excellence in these four qualities
and do not allow them to perish.

“ ‘Great King, those who are firmly established in the Great
Vehicle work with vigilance to perfect four qualities, and thus they have no
regrets. What are these four? They control the senses; they see the flaws in
sense pleasures; they understand that everything subject to clinging is
impermanent; and they make the special contemplation of the Dharma the
greatest motivating factor of their lives. Great King, those who are firmly
established in the Great Vehicle work with vigilance to perfect these four
qualities, and thus they have no regrets.

“ ‘Great King, when a king possesses four qualities, he is called a
king of the Dharma. What are these four? He never loses
sight of his aspiration for awakening; he inspires others to seek awakening;
he
dedicates all the roots of merit to awakening; and he has confidence in the
greatness of the buddhas upon seeing and hearing about the greatness of the
buddhas, while he does not feel anything special about the greatness of
gods, humans, disciples, or solitary buddhas. Great King, when a king
possesses these four qualities, he is called a king of the Dharma.

“ ‘Therefore, Great King, you should always be conscientious,
faithful, clear minded, and a seeker of the Dharma, and you should have a
firm conviction and find joy in the complete joy of the Dharma. You should
endeavor to seek out the Dharma, but you should not grow attached to the
Dharma as an object of desire. What is the reason? Great King, it is because
desires are insatiable. Yet, those who find satisfaction through the wisdom
of the noble ones are satisfied.

“ ‘Great King, the vital force of human beings is weak and the
human lifespan is short. Humans undergo a succession of lifetimes. For these
reasons, you should look with fear toward the world that comes after this
one. Great King, any roots of virtue that you grow by worshiping and serving
the realized ones should be dedicated according to four dedications. What
are these four? They are inexhaustible riches, the inexhaustible Dharma,
inexhaustible inspired eloquence, and inexhaustible knowledge.

“ ‘There are another four. What are these four? They are the purity
of the body that comes from the accumulation of moral conduct, the purity of
speech that comes from the accumulation of learning, the purity of the mind
that comes from the accumulation of wisdom, and the purity of wisdom that
comes from the accumulation of knowledge.

“ ‘There are another four. What are these four? They are the
perfection of skill in means that comes from bringing beings to maturity,
the perfection of wisdom that comes from defeating Māra in all his forms,
the perfection of the bodhisattva vow that comes from doing what one has
promised to do, and the perfection of all the qualities of the buddha that
comes from seeing and meeting the buddhas.’

“In this way, the Blessed One gave a thorough telling of the Dharma
to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, which thoroughly inspired him, uplifted
him, and made him happy. Thus the king was satisfied, overjoyed, pleased,
and glad, and he felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind. He worshiped
the Realized One by offering him a priceless pearl necklace. He offered his
entire kingdom to the Blessed One for his use, and he made the commitment to
observe the five precepts, including the basic trainings and chastity, for
as long as he lived.

“The women from the king’s inner chambers all conceived the
aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening. They pledged to observe
the five precepts, including the practice of celibacy and the other basic
trainings. When the women from the king’s inner chambers heard the Blessed
One’s telling of the Dharma, the women were satisfied, overjoyed, pleased,
and glad, and they felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind. They took all
their clothing and jewelry and put it on the body of the Blessed One. Having
offered all this, they also committed to observing the five precepts,
including the basic trainings and chastity, for as long as they lived.

“In this way, Śāntamati, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra become endowed with the
treasure of the Dharma and, having acquired this great treasure, he, his
wives, his relatives, and his entire retinue bowed their heads at the feet
of the Blessed One, bowed to the monastic assembly, and walked around them
three times, keeping them on the right. Then the whole pavilion rose into
the air and returned to the king’s palace, Abode
of Purity, and everyone went to their homes.

“Furthermore, Śāntamati, there was another occasion during a full
moon when King Dhṛtarāṣṭra decided to visit a pleasant spot in the park
called Diverse Flowers. While he was in that great garden, he had music
played with cymbals, drums, and other musical instruments, and he had a
feast and enjoyed himself. His perfect wives, who were named Aninditā and Anupamā,
bathed in the pond called Joy and
washed their clothes with the scented water. Then they sat down happily on
lion’s seats next to the pond covered with lotuses. As they sat there, two
baby boys miraculously arose on their laps. The beautiful, charming, lovely,
well-complexioned young boys sat there with their legs crossed. In that
instant, the gods in the sky above them cried out, ‘Oh, this boy is
Dharmacinti!’ and ‘Oh, this boy is Dharmamati!’ Thus, Śāntamati, the boys
became known as Dharmacinti and Dharmamati throughout the land. The boy
Dharmacinti arose on the lap of Queen Aninditā, and the boy Dharmamati on
the lap of Queen Anupamā. At the moment of their births, as they were
sitting there cross-legged the two boys spoke the following verses:

“ ‘Those who make the aspiration for awakening,

And with minds full of serene faith

Pay homage to the lokapālas,

Friends, they gain the greatest treasure.

“ ‘Those who do not forget the aspiration for awakening

Rise from the depths of the ocean of existence,

Their very minds turn away from the wheel of saṃsāra,

And they are held dear by vast numbers of beings.

“ ‘Above us is a perfect, peerless guide

Who is known as the king of sages.

And so, seeking the Dharma, we came

To see this refuge from destruction, this mine of virtues.’

“The two boys unfolded their legs,

Climbed down from their mothers’ laps,

And went to see King Dhṛtarāṣṭra.

They bowed at his feet, and sat there, palms together.

“ ‘Dear Papa, here we are. Please listen!

The Dharma is hard to find in millions of eons.

Having found it, the wise never let it go

Until they have achieved awakening.

“ ‘The appearance of a buddha is always so rare.

So, too, are parents involved in the Dharma,

Time to practice, and friends who love the Dharma.

Having faith in the teaching and living accordingly are so rare.

“ ‘Zeal, heroic courage, as well as care;

Taking monastic vows and being self-aware;

Truly being of benefit, flexibility, humility,

Shame and modesty, learning, good habits,

“ ‘Gentleness, compassion toward beings,

Acceptance of reality and of the profound Dharma,

Effort, strength, joy, and an optimistic attitude;

Bringing beings to maturity by drawing them to oneself;

“ ‘And with a suitable mind and a place of solitude,

And with little regard for life and limb,

Thinking of the Dharma as if one’s head and clothes were on fire—

They will attain the qualities of the buddhas like these ones.

“ ‘We have spoken of the supreme Dharma,

Dear Papa, a supreme Dharma that is hard to find,

Such that those like us, who come seeking this Dharma,

Are compelled to go into the presence of the victorious ones.

“ ‘When one comes into contact with virtuous qualities,

One attains the five supernormal faculties in an instant;

One develops mindfulness and one becomes full of knowledge.’

So said these two wise bodhisattvas who had arisen there.

“The king, his sons and daughters,

And the two skilled bodhisattvas who had obtained supernormal faculties

Flew through the sky and alighted

In the presence of the Teacher, the virtuous Supreme Victor.

“They bowed at the feet of the Realized One,

And gathered together there, sitting respectfully.

Prince Dharmamati then made a request:

‘We ask you to describe the path to awakening.’

“The Victorious One understood their intention,

And thus gave a telling of the profound Dharma:

‘Those things that arise in dependence on other things

Do not have a controller and they do not have a creator.

“ ‘They are eternally empty and have no external mover.

These things are hollow and worthless.

They are free from opinion and action and do not waver.

Like space, they can never be grasped.’

“When the Sublime One gave this brilliant telling

Of the Dharma in its many aspects,

Seven hundred sixty billion, thirty million beings

Attained acceptance of the fact that things do not arise.

“In this way, Śāntamati, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra and the women from the
king’s inner chambers and his relatives spent seven days venerating the
Blessed One, following which they all went home together at the same time.
Afterward, Śāntamati, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra went into solitude. He went to the
hugely arrayed pavilion where he sat upon the fine lion’s seat arrayed with
lotus flowers, and, establishing himself completely within himself, he
thought to himself, ‘All of my children have become set on attaining
unsurpassable and perfect awakening, so I should investigate which one of
them will be the first directly to realize unsurpassable and perfect
awakening in all its fullness.’

“Right away, King Dhṛtarāṣṭra took out a vase made of seven
precious substances. He cleaned the vase and took it in his hands, and after
he had written down the names of every one of his children, he put the names
in the vase. He then set the vase upon a ravishingly beautiful multicolored
lotus flower made of the seven precious substances, and for seven days, the
gods worshiped it with various types of flowers, incense, powders,
fragrances, scented oils, and music. During the worship of the names, ten
thousand gods engaged in their worship. After the seven days of worship, the
vase was placed upon a golden pedestal in front of the king, his queens,
their one thousand sons, and the two boys. The family members then began
removing names from the vase.

“Of all the princes, Śāntamati, the first name they drew was Prince
Viśuddhamati. As soon as the name was drawn, the great earth trembled in six
ways. Without being rung, the cymbals on the laps of the women in the
assembly resounded with many hundreds of tones.

“Śāntamati, what do you think? Śāntamati, you should not think that
Viśuddhamati, whose name was drawn first at that time, is someone unknown to
you. And why not? Because the prince known then as Viśuddhamati later became
the blessed one Krakucchanda. Following that, Prince Vijayasena’s name was
drawn. The prince known then as Vijayasena later became the blessed one
Kanakamuni. Following that, Prince Peaceful Lord’s name was drawn. This
prince then known as Peaceful Lord later became the blessed one Kāśyapa.
Following that, the prince Sarvārthasiddha’s name was drawn. I am the one
who at that point was the prince called Sarvārthasiddha.

“Following that, the prince Sash Wearer’s name was drawn. He will
become the realized one Maitreya. Following that, the prince Supreme
Intellect’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Siṃha. Following
that, the prince Vidyuddeva’s name was drawn. He will become the realized
one Ketu. Following that, the prince Excellent King’s name was drawn. He
will become the realized one Kusumottama. Following that, the prince
Prabhāketu’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Puṣpa. Following that,
the prince Vimalaprabhāsa’s name was
drawn. He will become the realized one Sunetra. Following that, the prince Vimalaprabhāsa’s name was
drawn. He will become the realized one Beautiful Eyes. Following that, the prince Pareṇareṇu’s name
was drawn. He will become the realized one Subāhu. Following that, the prince
Matirāja’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Jyotis. Following
that, the prince Śubhavyūha’s name was drawn. He will become the realized
one Jyotīrasa. Following that, the prince Samṛddhapakṣa’s name was drawn. He
will become the realized one Abhyupagatagāmin. Following that, the prince
Viśuddhavyūharāja’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one
Guṇāgradhārin. Following that, the prince Śrīgupta’s name was drawn. He will
become the realized one Dhanaśrī. Following that, the prince
Suvimuktagātra’s name was drawn. He will become the realized one Jñānākara.
Following that, the prince Ugra’s name was drawn. He will become the
realized one Ratnākara. Following that, the prince Ratnakīrti’s name was
drawn. He will become the realized one Samantāloka. This could be done at
length. For in this way, Śāntamati, one was selected for each of the
thousand princes, including the name of the penultimate prince Mukuṭālaṃkṛta
who will become the realized one Anantaguṇakīrti.

“Finally, Śāntamati, when Anantabuddhi’s name was drawn, all of his
kinsmen made fun of him, because he was at the least advanced stage of the
bodhisattva path. They said, ‘After all of us have performed all the deeds
of the buddhas and brought all beings to maturity, what will be left for you
to do?’

“Anantabuddhi replied:

“ ‘My understanding is that beings are inexhaustible,

Just as the qualities of the Victor, which are equal to the element of
space.

All of you here, listen to the nature of this vow of mine,

A vow that will be made pure through my moral conduct.

“ ‘If you were to combine the lifespans of all of you here,

And added up everyone present before the one called the King of
Assemblies,

Then my lifespan will be equal to all of yours combined,

And my monastic assembly will be equal to that honorable one’s.’

“After he had spoken the preceding verses,

The gods said ‘Excellent!’ and exclaimed,

‘Best of beings, may your vow be fulfilled!

May you work for the world’s benefit just as you have wished!’

“Therefore, Śāntamati, the least advanced of all the princes,
Anantabuddhi, will become the realized one Roca, who will be the final
realized one to appear in this Fortunate Eon. Śāntamati, the lifespan of the
realized one Roca will be equal to the aggregated lifespans of all the
realized ones of the Fortunate Eon, and his assembly of great disciples will
be equal to all of theirs. He said, ‘I long for this,’ and thus he will be
called Roca. Śāntamati, the realized
one Roca will perform all the deeds of a buddha to the same degree that the
other nine hundred ninety-nine buddhas will do. This is the particular
consequence of his mastery of skill in means and his perfection of moral
conduct and of the fulfillment of his vow.

“Then, Śāntamati, the one thousand princes all asked the young
bodhisattvas, Dharmacinti and Dharmamati, ‘Noble sons, what sorts of vows
have you made?’

“Dharmacinti responded, ‘Friends, I have vowed to become a
Vajrapāṇi for each of you, uninterruptedly and without exception, so that I
may reveal the secrets of the realized ones, and so that I may hear the
teachings of all the buddhas, adhere to them, and realize them.’

“Dharmamati responded, ‘Kinsmen, I have vowed that when each of
you achieves awakening, I will request you to the turn the wheel of Dharma,
and that as a result of my request, you will each turn the wheel of
Dharma.’

“Then, Śāntamati, the Blessed One made predictions for the two of
them that accorded with the vows they had made. Śāntamati, do not think that
he who was at that point the wheel-turning king Dhṛtarāṣṭra is somebody
unknown to you. Why? The Blessed One Dīpaṃkara was at that point the
wheel-turning king Dhṛtarāṣṭra. His thousand sons are all the realized ones
of the Fortunate Eon such that those princes are the realized ones from
Krakucchanda to Roca. Śāntamati, the boy Dharmacinti, who arose
spontaneously on the lap of Queen Aninditā, is now Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the
Guhyakas. At that point, he was known as Dharmacinti. Śāntamati, the boy
Dharmamati, who arose spontaneously on the lap of Queen Anupamā, is now
Brahmā Śikhin. At that point, he was known as Dharmamati.

“Śāntamati, all those beings who were women in King Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s
inner chambers are now bodhisattvas gathered here in this assembly. The
princes are all in the process of making beings ready for awakening so that
they may achieve unsurpassable and perfect awakening. All those who have
become firmly established within the Great Vehicle in this Fortunate Eon
will eventually receive predictions of their awakening. Śāntamati, since the
minds of these good beings are all perfected to such an extent, their
conception of the aspiration that arises as a result of the roots of virtue
will not go to waste, so long as they are not obstructed by the workings of
dependent arising.”

This was the fifth chapter, “The Past-Life Story of
Dhṛtarāṣṭra.”

Chapter 6: The Path of Awakening

“Śāntamati, bodhisattvas of great courage who also wish to awaken
to unsurpassable and perfect awakening should follow the example of these
great beings in this regard. They should undertake the core practices intent
upon the path to awakening and not place their focus on words. And what is
this path to awakening?

“It eliminates anger toward all beings by cultivating a mind that
is suffused with love. On it one strives to accomplish the perfections. One
develops the methods of drawing others to oneself. One achieves the four
dwellings of Brahmā. One strives to acquire the constitutive factors of
awakening. One acquires and refines the supernormal faculties. One becomes a
master of skill in means. One who accomplishes all these things gathers a
supply of all the virtuous qualities. This is called the path of
awakening.

“Moreover, Śāntamati, the path of awakening also involves the
purification of one’s faith, motivation, and ambition. It includes honesty,
consistency, integrity, transparency, even-mindedness, impartiality,
confidence, and faultless behavior.

“The path is attainable due to the perfection of generosity. The
path is easily traveled due to the perfection of discipline. The path has no
obstructions due to the perfection of patience. The path is unbroken due to
the perfection of heroic effort. The path has no disturbances due to the
perfection of concentration. The path is well
understood due to the perfection of wisdom. The path follows knowledge of
reality due to great love. The path does not reverse course due to great
compassion. The path is completely joyful due to great joy. The path follows
the core of things due to great equanimity.

“Because the path is free of the craving for sense pleasures, ill
will, or any concept of doing harm, it does not have any holes or thorns.
The path is easily traveled because one harbors no animosity in the mind.
The path is free of frauds because it is free from sight, sound, smell,
taste, and touch. The path is free of adversaries because the aggregates,
elements, and sense spheres are
well examined. The path defeats the adversaries, Māra in all his forms,
because it is free of all the afflictions. The path leads to loftiness of
mind because it is free of the actions in the minds of the disciples and
solitary buddhas. The path is the one traveled by all the realized ones, the
worthy ones, the perfect and fully awakened buddhas of the past. The path
brings the great jewel since it accords with the jewel of the omniscient
ones. The path is constantly illuminated by the light of the knowledge of
those who are dispassionate. The path teaches what is good because it is
well maintained by companions in what is good. The path does not have highs
and lows because it does not have attachment or aversion. The path is not
dusty because it is without anger, stubbornness, or malice. The path goes to
the good places of rebirth because it is free from all bad qualities. The
path leads to a place of comfort because its ending point is cessation.

“Śāntamati, the path of bodhisattvas is similar to what is not a
path or a destination for the disciples or solitary buddhas; when
bodhisattvas stay on this path, however, they awaken to unsurpassable and
perfect awakening.

This was the sixth chapter, “The Path of Awakening.”

Chapter 7: The Secret of the Realized One’s

Body

At that point, the bodhisattva Śāntamati asked Vajrapāṇi, Lord of
the Guhyakas, “Lord of the Guhyakas, what are the secrets of the realized
ones? Please use your inspired eloquence to describe, at least partially,
the secrets of the realized ones.”

Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, answered the bodhisattva
Śāntamati, “Listen, noble son, as I teach through the majestic power and
empowering authority of the Buddha. Śāntamati, the secrets of the realized
ones are threefold. What are these three? They are the secret of body, the
secret of speech, and the secret of mind.

“Śāntamati, what is the secret of the body of the realized ones?
Śāntamati, it is that the realized ones display their whole demeanor without
forming any idea or any concept about it. Noble son, gods and humans who
value sitting see the realized ones sitting. Gods and humans who value
walking see the realized ones walking. Gods and humans who value standing
see the realized ones standing. Gods and humans who value lying down see the
realized ones lying down. Gods and humans who value teaching the Dharma see
the realized ones teaching the Dharma. Gods and humans who value maintaining
silence see the realized ones maintaining silence. Gods and humans who value
concentration see the realized ones absorbed
in meditative concentration. Gods and humans who
value an open countenance see the realized ones having an open countenance.
Gods and humans who value an unblinking gaze see the realized ones gazing
with unblinking eyes. Gods and humans who value a smile see the realized
ones displaying a smile.

“Gods and humans who value a golden complexion see the realized ones as if
they had a golden complexion. Likewise, some see a silver
complexion, a crystalline complexion, a lapis lazuli complexion, an emerald
complexion, a coral complexion, a red pearl complexion, a white pearl
complexion¸ a dark complexion, a yellow complexion, a dark red complexion, a
white complexion, a bright red complexion, a complexion like the moon, a
complexion like the sun, a complexion like fire, a complexion like bright
light, the complexion of a śakra, the complexion of a brahmā, a complexion
like frost, a complexion of realgar, or a dark purple complexion.

“Some see the complexion of water, and some the complexion of the
flower of an aśoka tree, the complexion of the campaka flower, the
complexion of jasmine, the complexion of a vārṣika flower, the complexion of
a pink lotus, the complexion of a red lotus, the complexion of a white
lotus, a lustrous complexion, the complexion of Vaiśravaṇa, the complexion
of the king of swans seen by Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the complexion a new lotus flower, the complexion of a
śrīgarbha gem, the complexion of a coral-colored gem, the complexion of a
maṇiratna gem, the complexion of a sapphire, or the complexion of the
glorious light of a clear sky. Gods and humans who are inclined to the
limitless, praiseworthy colors of virtue see the body of the realized ones
as possessing the limitless, praiseworthy colors of virtue.

“Śāntamati, imagine if all the beings in all the worlds of this
cosmos of a billion worlds, and the beings in other universes as numerous as
the grains of sand in the Ganges, were to conceive the intention to acquire
a human body and then acquire it. Then, imagine that one being from among
those beings was inclined to conceive the intention to acquire the bodily
form, complexion, signs, resemblance, and demeanor of a realized one. Now,
if each and every one of those beings were to be thus inclined to conceive
the intention to acquire the bodily form, complexion, signs, resemblance, and
demeanor of a realized one, just as that one being did, then, since one
being’s inclination of mind would not be that of another being, Śāntamati, a
realized one could satisfy the inclinations of mind of all beings, since all
beings perceive the bodily form, complexion, signs, resemblance, and
demeanor of the realized ones according to their own inclinations of mind.
Moreover, there would be no production of the body or mind of a realized
one. Rather, the bodily forms,
complexions, signs, resemblances, and demeanors of a realized one, which
satisfy the thoughts and aspirations of all beings, appear as a result of
the particular quality of their preparation of previous deeds and, indeed,
without any effort whatsoever.

“For example, Śāntamati, suppose one were to place an object in
front of a fully cleaned mirror such that the image of this object would
appear to be the same as the object, neither more nor less, and yet the
mirror would not form any ideas or form any conceptions. In exactly the same
way, Śāntamati, the realized ones do not form any ideas or form any
conceptions, but without any effort they satisfy the ideas, aspirations, and
intentions of all beings. Śāntamati, this is the secret of the body of a
realized one.

“Furthermore, Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is not
something manifested by the aggregates, it is not manifested by the elements, and it is not manifested by
the sense spheres. It is not produced by karma. It does not arise from the
afflictions. It is not created by a mother and father. It does not form as
an embryo out of the great elements. It is not fashioned out of flesh and
blood. It is not bound together by bones and ligaments. It does not run on
inhalations and exhalations, nor is it powered by a life force.

“Moreover, Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is not a body. It
is the Dharma body. It is a body that has no form and no efficient cause. It
is a body with no mental proliferation and no physical activity. When it
appears as a body to beings who value things that possess forms and
characteristics, it produces an appearance to the eyes of those ready for
guidance. Yet, for beings who value the absence of form as the defining
characteristic of things, it does not produce any appearance whatsoever, not
even one that would be visible to the divine eye.

“Śāntamati, even among beings who are gathered together in a single
assembly, some see the body of the realized one and some do not see it. Some
sitting far away see it, and some sitting nearby do not see it. Some sitting
nearby see it, and some sitting far away do not see it. Some see it through
the mental state of mindfulness, and not through the mental state of
distraction. Some see it through the mental state of distraction, and not
through the mental state of mindfulness. Some see it through its being
exhibited by others, and not through its own display. Some see it through
its display of itself and not through its being exhibited by others. Some
see it while being inside a dream and not when they are completely awake.
Some see it while being completely awake and not while inside a dream. Some
see it while in a state of meditative concentration, and not while in a state of mental agitation.
Some see it while in a state of mental agitation, and not while in a state
of meditative concentration. Some see it through
its appearance to the mind as something delightful, and not through its
appearance to the mind as something repulsive. Some see it through its
appearance to the mind as something repulsive, and not through its
appearance to the mind as something delightful. Some see it with effort, and
not without effort. Some see it without effort, and not with effort. Some
see it with work, and not without work. Some see it without work, and not
with work.

“In this manner, Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is given an
appearance through these and immeasurable other ways of appearing to the
mind.

“Even for the gods in the form realm, whose bodily forms,
activities, and demeanors are quiescent, whose bodies are composed in
meditative equipoise, and whose bodies are tranquil and subdued, they will
experience blurred vision and they will be unable to grasp the measurements
or efficient cause of a realized one’s body. The body of a realized one,
Śāntamati, is immeasurable on account of its having limitless complexions,
and it is equal to the sky because it is a manifestation of the Dharma
body.

“Śāntamati, the body of a realized one extends as far as space
extends. Indeed, Śāntamati, just as space goes everywhere, in the same way,
Śāntamati, the body of a realized one goes everywhere. Indeed, Śāntamati,
just as space is without conceptual proliferation, in the same way,
Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is without conceptual proliferation.
Śāntamati, just as space supports life everywhere, in the same way,
Śāntamati, the body of a realized one supports life everywhere. Śāntamati,
just as space does not alter its form and does not form a concept, in the
same way, Śāntamati, the body of a realized one does not alter its form, nor
does it form a concept. Śāntamati, just as space permeates everything that
appears as a form, in the same way, Śāntamati, the body of a realized one
permeates everyone that appears as a being. Śāntamati, just as space
contains everything that appears as a form, in the same way, Śāntamati, the
body of a realized one contains everything that appears as a being.
Śāntamati, just as all grasses, thickets, herbs, and trees grow within
space, in the same way, Śāntamati, the roots of virtue of all beings grow
within the body of a realized one. Śāntamati, just as space is neither
permanent nor impermanent, and no one can describe it, in the same way,
Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is neither permanent
nor impermanent, and no one can describe it.

“Śāntamati, no one can look down at the top of the head of the
realized ones, the worthy ones, the perfect and complete buddhas. Śāntamati,
I have not seen anyone in this world with its gods, māras, Brahmās,
ascetics, and brahmins, or anyone born among the gods, humans, or asuras,
who has the capability to see the top of the head of a realized one. What is
the reason for this?

“Śāntamati, I know this: On one occasion not long after he had
acquired complete and perfect awakening, the Blessed One was dwelling at
Deer Park in Sage Landing in Vārāṇasī and turning the wheel of Dharma. At
that time, a bodhisattva named Vegadhārin came from a world called
Arindamāyā in the buddha domain of the realized one Campakavarṇa, in the
eastern direction. He came to this Sahā world in order to see, venerate, and
serve the Blessed One. He bowed his head at the feet of the Blessed One,
walked around him seven times, keeping him on the right, and sat down before
the Blessed One. Then, through the majestic power of the Buddha, the
following thought occurred to the bodhisattva Vegadhārin: ‘Even though it is
impossible to look down at the top of the head of blessed buddhas and their
bodies are immeasurable and limitless, I would like to try and determine the
limit and measure of the Realized One’s body.’

“The bodhisattva Vegadhārin then used his superhuman willpower so
that his own body became eighty-four thousand leagues tall and he looked at
the body of the Realized One and saw that it was six million eight hundred
thousand leagues tall. He had the thought, ‘I have acquired the supernormal
faculties and made child’s play of the foundations for superhuman power. I
would like to try and determine the measure of the Realized One’s body to an
even greater extent.’ So, drawing on the majestic power of the
Buddha and the power of his own superhuman abilities, he proceeded upward
past as many buddha domains as there are grains of sand in a billion Ganges
Rivers until he came to a world called Padmavatī where the realized one
Padmaśrīrājagarbha still resides and teaches the Dharma. Then, the
bodhisattva Vegadhārin took a rest there, but even from his position in that
world, he still could not look down at the top of the head of the Realized
One. Nor could he ascertain the limit or measure of the Blessed One’s
body.

“The bodhisattva Vegadhārin then approached the realized one
Padmaśrīrājagarbha, bowed his head at his feet, and walked around him seven
times, keeping him on the right. He then stood before the Blessed One, and
he asked the Blessed One, ‘Blessed One, how far have I come from?’

“ ‘Noble son,’ replied the Blessed One, ‘you have come to this
world after passing buddha domains as numerous as there are grains of sand
in a billion Ganges Rivers.’

“The bodhisattva Vegadhārin said, ‘Blessed One, even though I have
traveled so far, I am unable to look down at the top of the head of the
Blessed One, Śākyamuni, or comprehend the limit or measure of his body.’

“The Blessed One then told him, ‘Noble son, even if you used the
power of your superhuman abilities and traveled upward at your top speed for
as many eons as there are grains of sand in a billion Ganges Rivers, you
would still not be able to comprehend the limit of the body of the Blessed
One, Śākyamuni. Noble son, suppose you were to devise analogies to describe
the moral conduct of the Realized One; or analogies to describe his
concentration, wisdom, liberation, and liberated knowledge and
vision; or his body, speech, and mind; or his physical form and marks. Any
and all the analogies you could devise would only denigrate the Realized
One—that is, except for a single analogy: the analogy of space. The Realized
One’s moral conduct is vast as space. So, too, are his concentration,
wisdom, liberation, and liberated knowledge and vision; his body, speech,
and mind; and his physical form and marks. Furthermore, since space is
immeasurable, the body of the Realized One should also be understood as
immeasurable.’

“Śāntamati, the bodhisattva Vegadhārin was awestruck when he heard
this teaching from the Blessed One. Satisfied, overjoyed, pleased, and glad,
he felt both delight and cheerfulness of mind. He bowed his head at the feet
of the Blessed One, walked around him seven times, keeping him on the right,
and vanished from that buddha field. With the majestic power of the Buddha
and the power of his own superhuman abilities, he returned into the presence
of the Blessed One Śākyamuni here in this Sahā world in the amount of time
it takes to form a single thought. He bowed his head at the feet of the
Blessed One, walked around him three times, keeping him on the right,
and while standing before him with his palms placed together in salutation,
he spoke the following verses:

“ ‘The one who wishes to reach

The other shore of the Buddha’s qualities,

The nature of which is similar to space,

Will run into an obstacle.

“ ‘To see the limit of the Buddha’s body,

I have gone to as many domains

As there are grains of sand

In a billion Ganges Rivers.

“ ‘After passing through so many domains

I came to the world of Padmavatī.

Yet, I did not see the top of your head,

Nor have I taken the measure of your body.

“ ‘The guide of that domain,

Whose name is Śrīgarbha,

Knowing my aspiration,

Spoke these words:

“ ‘ “Whichever analogy one makes up

To describe a buddha’s qualities

Is unsuitable for the Buddha;

It conveys a falsehood about the Victor.

“ ‘ “There is one true analogy:

The element of space is taught to be

Equal to the qualities of a buddha,

Of which there is no measure anywhere.

“ ‘ “The extent of the Victor’s moral conduct,

As well as his concentration, liberation,

And his liberated knowledge and vision,

Is also equal to that of space.

“ ‘ “Space has the very same measure

As that of the Buddha’s form.

For even the top of the Lord of the World’s head

Is equal to the element of space.

“ ‘ “Indeed, as far as the sky extends,

That body extends that same distance.

Indeed, as far as that body extends,

Light extends that far, as well.

“ ‘ “Moreover, as far as light extends,

The Mighty One’s speech extends that far.

As far as his speech extends,

The Guru’s mind extends, too.

“ ‘ “As far as the mind extends,

Love also extends that far.

As far as love extends,

Knowledge also extends that far.

“ ‘ “As far as knowledge extends,

The body extends that far, too.

One who produces the intent to awaken

Extends that far with one’s merit.

“ ‘ “If the merit from the aspiration for awakening

Were to take on a form,

It would fill the element of space

And exceed even that.

“ ‘ “Indeed, whatever quantity of merit

Is possessed by all beings,

It has all come into being

From the bodhisattva’s aspiration for awakening.

“ ‘ “While, indeed, such a quantity

Of a bodhisattva’s merit is celebrated,

Grasping the true Dharma

Brings merit even greater than that.

“ ‘ “The merit from remembering the true Dharma

Could not be encapsulated to its full extent,

Even if all the buddhas were to try to do so

Over tens of millions of eons.

“ ‘ “Yet, the merit from the aspiration for awakening

And that from comprehending the true Dharma

Is not worth one sixteenth the value

Of becoming ardently devoted to emptiness.

“ ‘ “Here, one who becomes devoted to emptiness

Does not replace the aspiration for awakening,

But, verily, grasps on to the true Dharma,

And this is the collection of merit.

“ ‘ “Acquiring this perspective on the Dharma,

A bodhisattva achieves great renown,

Walks the path to awakening,

And attains the qualities of a buddha.” ’

“When these verses were spoken,

Millions of domains trembled,

And billions of gods played

Tens of millions of musical instruments.

“Billions of beings also conceived

The aspiration for awakening

When they heard Vegadhārin

Speak of the exalted state of the buddhas.

“Indeed, this is the inconceivable state,

The immeasurable, the unsurpassable,

The place of the secrets of the buddhas,

Who are all-seeing and self-arisen.

“Śāntamati, this is the secret of the body of a realized one. In this regard, Śāntamati, among the beings who
gather together in a single assembly, some see the body of a realized one
and some do not. Those who see him look upon him with delight. Those who do
not see him wait there saying nothing.

“Moreover, Śāntamati, a realized one does not eat food, but beings
see a realized one eating food. In this respect, Śāntamati, there are gods,
servants of awakening, who are called ‘those with the power of vitality,’
and they always follow along behind a realized one. They receive the food of
a realized one with an alms bowl. Beings see a realized one taking food, but
the food that has been placed in that very alms bowl for the consumption of
a realized one is taken by those gods so that they can distribute it as a
donation to those beings in need of a realized one’s guidance, who
previously established roots of virtue, but who now have been propelled
through the force of their actions and hindrances into rebirths in various
realms where they cannot obtain any food, drink, or other sustenance, and
are therefore starving and experiencing weakness. These beings consume the
food and, their hunger abated and thirst slaked, they become at ease and
their limbs feel good, and with ambition they conceive the aspiration for
unsurpassable and perfect awakening, even those pretas dwelling in the world
of Yama who have fallen into misfortune and are unable to conceive the
aspiration for awakening. This very offering of food becomes the cause for
them to do so until they reach complete cessation.

“In precisely this way, Śāntamati, you should understand that a
realized one does not eat food, but rather a realized one possesses the food
of the Dharma. Indeed, Śāntamati, the body of a realized one is like that of
a Nārāyaṇa. It is rock-solid, strong, unbreakable, and made of vajra.
Furthermore, Śāntamati, the body of the realized does not have a stomach or
intestines, nor does it contain pus, blood, phlegm, snot, foulness, or
excrement. Śāntamati, the body of a realized is like a lump of gold from the
Jambu River. It is not hollow; it has no openings or any imperfections.
Look, Śāntamati, at the greatness of the Realized One’s body! It is weighty
and hard like vajra, but it is soft and pleasant to touch like the down of
the kācalindika bird.

“Śāntamati, when those deities and apsarases who possess truly
great vitality pay homage at the feet of a realized one, then at that moment
and time they feel something they have never felt before, they conceive the
aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening, and they do not produce
any of the afflictions. Śāntamati, when beings engaged in lustful behavior
see the body of a realized one, then just by seeing the body of a realized
one they know themselves to be free from lust. When beings engaged in
hate-filled behavior see the body of a realized one, they attain love. When
beings engaged in ignorant behavior see it, they attain the light of
knowledge. When beings engaged in all three types of behavior to the same
degree see it, they know themselves to be free from the afflictions. When
beings who are miserly see it, they are inspired to give. When beings who
are morally undisciplined see it, they are inspired to become disciplined.
When beings who possess malicious thoughts see it, they attain patient
acceptance. When those who are lazy see it, they are inspired to put forth
heroic effort. When those who are distracted see it, they attain
concentration. When those with poor discernment see it, they are inspired to
attain wisdom. In short, noble son, when all those beings who are far from
possessing good qualities see the body of a realized one, then just by
seeing the body of a realized one they allay all thoughts rooted in vice and
become established in virtuous thoughts, and the realized one does not form
any concept in this respect and exists in a state of equanimity. This, too,
Śāntamati, is the secret of the body of a realized one.

“Śāntamati, the magically created forms of a realized one are
magically created by the realized one spontaneously, effortlessly, and
without a performance, and the realized one does not have the thought, ‘I
have magically created a form in the past,’ ’I am magically creating a form
now,’ or ’I will magically create a form in the future.’ Even still, for
those beings in this world and in incalculable hundreds of thousands of
other worlds who are ready to be tamed by magical created forms, the
magically created forms of a realized one go to all of them in order to
bring those beings to maturity. This, too, Śāntamati, is the secret of the
body of a realized one.

“Śāntamati, a realized one also releases from the body a
variegated, multicolored light of many hundreds of thousands of colors, a light that
illuminates buddha domains throughout the ten directions as numerous as the
grains of sand in the Ganges, in order to bring beings to maturity, and does
so spontaneously, effortlessly, and without a performance. This, too,
Śāntamati, is the secret of the body of a realized one, and the actions of
the body. This teaching has
been nothing more than an introduction to the purity of actions of the
body.
Even if I were to speak for an eon or longer than that, I would be unable to
give a complete description of the qualities of the purity of the actions of
the body of a realized one.”

When this teaching on the mystery and the secret of a realized
one’s body was being taught, ten thousand beings
conceived the aspiration for unsurpassable and perfect awakening, one
hundred thousand bodhisattvas gained acceptance of the fact that things do
not arise, and the entire assembly tossed flowers from the divine and human
realms all over the Realized One and Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas.

The Blessed One then extended his right hand, which was the color
of gold, placed it on the top of the head of Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the
Guhyakas, and gave his approval, saying, “Excellent! Excellent! Vajrapāṇi,
Lord of the Guhyakas, this teaching on the secret of a realized one’s body
has been well spoken by you. The Realized One is pleased and approves!”

This was the seventh chapter, “The Secret of the Realized
One’s Body.”

Chapter 8: The Teaching of the Mystery and Secret

of the Realized One’s Speech

Once again, Vajrapāṇi, Lord of the Guhyakas, spoke to the
bodhisattva of great courage, Śāntamati: “Śāntamati, what is the secret of
the speech and the purity of the verbal action of the Realized One? During
the period of time, Śāntamati, from the night when the Realized One awakens
to unsurpassable and perfect awakening until the night when, having
relinquished his life force, a realized one passes into complete cessation,
the Realized One has not articulated and will not pronounce even a single
syllable.
What is the
cause of this? It is because, Śāntamati, a realized one is in a continuous
state of meditative concentration. The realized
one does not breathe in or breathe out. He does not begin any thought
process or continue any thought process, and no speech emerges from what
does not begin or continue any thought process. So, a realized one does not
begin any thought process or continue any thought process or form any idea.
He does not form any concept. He does not speak anything, he does not
articulate anything, he does not pronounce anything; and yet, beings have
the thought, ‘The Realized One is speaking.’

“A realized one is in a state of uninterrupted absorption, and he does not communicate any information with
words at all. Yet, beings who place value on words have the thought, ‘The
Realized One is teaching us the Dharma, and we have understood the Dharma
that the Realized One has taught.’ Nevertheless, a realized one does not
form concepts and is in a state of equanimity. Furthermore, Śāntamati, even
though no sound issues from a realized one’s teeth, lips, palate, tongue, or
mouth, what is heard and what comes out—that is, what comes out of a
realized one in the form of words and sounds—issues from space, and yet
beings still have the thought, ‘This is coming out of the mouth of the
Realized One himself!’

“Śāntamati, the speech of a realized one comes out endowed with
sixty exceptional qualities. What are these sixty qualities? It comes out as
affectionate, tender, lovely, agreeable, pure, immaculate, illuminating,
sweet-sounding, worth hearing,
causing no offense, exciting interest, restrained, refined, smooth, well
disciplined, pleasing to the ear, comforting to the body, satisfying to the
mind,
gladdening to the heart, bringing joy and happiness, causing no anguish,
authoritative, insightful, clear, lovable, worthy of praise, informative,
instructive, reasonable, relevant, and free from the fault of redundancy. It
shocks like the roar of a lion. It echoes like the trumpet of a bull
elephant. It reverberates like a peal of thunder. It resounds like the sound
of the ocean. It sounds like a nāga lord, the music of gandharvas, the call
of a cuckoo, the melodious voice of Brahmā, and the song of pheasants. It
sounds as sweet as the voice of the king of the gods. It sounds like a drum.
It is modest, superior, and it permeates all languages. It is free from bad
language. It is not deficient. It is undaunted, irrepressible, joyful,
comprehensive, smooth, continuous, and playful. It completes all
sounds and satisfies all the senses. It is irreproachable, unchanging,
unwavering, and accessible to all assemblies. It quells desire, tames
hatred, conquers ignorance, devours Māra in all his forms, and is endowed
with the best of all qualities. Śāntamati, the speech of a realized one
comes out endowed with these sixty exceptional qualities.

“Moreover, Śāntamati, the speech of a realized one can spread
throughout all the worlds of the ten directions and satisfy the aspirations
of all beings. Indeed, Śāntamati, a realized one does not have the thought,
‘I am teaching, instructing, delivering, distributing, describing,
expounding, or clarifying any discourse, recitation, or prediction; or any
verse text, inspired utterance, frame story, “thus it was said” story,
jātaka tale, extended discourse, miracle story, or instructions; or any
exemplary story, past-life story, avadāna, or parable.’
Nevertheless, whatever assembly has gathered around the realized one,
regardless of whether it is an assembly of monks, or an assembly of nuns,
laymen, or laywomen, or an assembly of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas,
asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, or mahoragas, with their disparate faculties and
strength, by hearing the Dharma everyone is made to understand that the
Dharma comes out of the mouth of the realized one, and these teachings of
the Dharma overcome any differences in their respective means of expression
so that everyone understands the formulation of the Dharma as being
particularly for them. Śāntamati, this is the secret of the speech of a
realized one.

“Moreover, Śāntamati, the Realized One has spoken about the
immeasurable conduct of immeasurable beings, and while it has been said that
there are eighty-four thousand types of conduct of beings, this is taught by
the Realized One as an introductory teaching for beings whose spiritual
faculties are weak. In fact, Śāntamati, beings’ conduct is immeasurable, and
even an eon would not suffice to describe the conduct of those beings
engaged in lustful behavior. An eon would not suffice to describe the
conduct of those engaged in hate-filled behavior, those engaged in ignorant
behavior, or those engaged in all three types of behavior to the same
degree. Śāntamati, imagine if the Realized One were to teach only about the
conduct of beings for the entirety of his lifespan of one whole eon.
He would
reach the end of his life while still teaching about the conduct of beings,
and he still would not reach the end of the conduct of beings. Also, he
would not have any time for any other Dharma teachings. Thus, the Realized
One describes the immeasurable conduct of beings as though it could be
measured, because otherwise beings would fall into confusion. In this
respect, Śāntamati, the Realized One’s speech about the conduct of all
beings comes out in such a way that it gives them an understanding of their
conduct. This, too, Śāntamati, is the secret of the speech of a realized
one.

“Indeed, Śāntamati, those beings who have immersed themselves in
the knowledge of the secret of a realized one’s speech do not believe that
the Realized One’s speech comes out of his mouth. Instead, they know that it
issues from space. Śāntamati, even though it is the case that some beings
believe that the Realized One’s speech comes out of his mouth, this is not
something that ought to be apparent to you. Why not? Śāntamati, there are
some beings who believe that the speech of the Realized One issues from the
uṣṇīṣa. Some believe it issues from the top of the head or from the hair.
Some believe it issues from the shoulders, while some believe it issues from
the forehead, or from the eyebrows, or from the tuft of hair between the
eyebrows; or from the eyes, ears, nose, cheeks, mouth, or neck; or likewise
from the arms, hands, fingers, ribs, chest, back, navel, private parts,
thighs, knees, calves, ankles, or the soles of the feet; or from the primary
or the secondary marks of a great being; and some beings believe it issues
from each and every pore of the skin on his body. This, too, Śāntamati, is the
secret of the speech of a realized one.

“Also, Śāntamati, beings hold various beliefs about the emergence
of a realized one’s speech in accordance with their own aspirations and in
accordance with the maturation of their own motivations; nevertheless,
Śāntamati, a realized one does not form a concept in this respect and exists
in a state of equanimity. Śāntamati, this is analogous to a well-crafted
musical instrument, a wind bell, which makes a sweet sound without being
touched by a hand, but rather when it is moved by the wind. It does not make
any special effort to produce a sound, but still it makes a sweet sound
because of the special nature of its previous preparation. In the same way,
Śāntamati, a realized one’s speech comes out when it is moved by knowledge
of beings’ motivations, but a realized one does not make any special effort
in this regard to produce it. Rather, a realized one’s speech conforms to
the sense perceptions of all beings because of the special nature of a
realized one’s previous preparation.

“To draw another analogy, Śāntamati, the sound of an echo comes out
as a loud report, yet
the sound cannot be found inside, or outside, or both inside and outside, or
somewhere else. In the same way, Śāntamati, the speech of a realized one
comes out as a report of the motivations of all beings, yet it cannot be found inside, or outside,
or both inside and outside, or somewhere else.

“To draw another analogy, Śāntamati, in the great ocean there is a
wish-fulfilling gem called the gratification of all
wishes, which, when fastened to the top of a flagpole, emits
a sound in accordance with the wishes of any being, whatever they are. Yet,
the precious gem does not form concepts. In the same way, Śāntamati, the gem
of a realized one’s speech, which is pure in its ambition, is known to emit
a realized one’s speech in accordance with the wishes of any being, whatever
they are,
when it is fastened to the top of the flagpole of great compassion. Yet, in
this respect, a realized one does not form concepts and exists in a state of
equanimity. This, too, Śāntamati, is the secret of the speech of a realized
one.

“Śāntamati, the blessed buddhas have immeasurable voices. Indeed,
Śāntamati, I do not see anyone in this world with its gods, māras, and
brahmās, or among its beings, including its ascetics and brahmins, and its
gods, humans, and asuras, who has the power to grasp the measure and limit
of a realized one’s voice. Why do I say
this? Śāntamati, I remember one time when the Blessed One was residing right
here in Rājagṛha on the hill Vulture Peak, surrounded by a multitude of
bodhisattvas. He was revealing at length a teaching of the Dharma called
‘the purification of the sphere of sound,’ and after he had empowered the
bodhisattva of great courage, Maitreya, he was nearing the end of the
discourse. At that moment, Venerable Maudgalyāyana the Great thought to
himself, ‘How far does the Realized One’s sphere of sound go? I would like
to measure the Realized One’s sphere of sound.’ So, the elder, Maudgalyāyana
the Great, vanished from his seat and reappeared on the summit of Mount
Meru, but while he was standing there he still heard the speech of the
Realized One just as clearly as before. So, with the strength of his own
superhuman powers, he went to the west of this cosmos of a billion worlds,
beyond Mount Meru, beyond the four continents, beyond the mountain ranges
and great mountain ranges, until he stood on the peak of the mountain range
at the end of the world. However, even there he could hear the Blessed One’s
speech just as clearly as before. It was the same, nothing more or less.

“At this point, the Blessed One had the thought, ‘Oh! Maudgalyāyana
wishes to measure the sound of my voice. In that case, I should withdraw my
superhuman powers.’ Then, once the Blessed One had withdrawn his superhuman
powers, the
elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, through the majestic power of the Buddha and
the strength of his own superhuman powers, traveled farther westward from
this world, beyond buddha domains as numerous as the grains of sand in
ninety-nine Ganges Rivers, before finally arriving at a world called
Raśmidhvajā, where the realized one Raśmirāja stays, abides, and presently
lives teaching the Dharma.
Standing there even in that distant world, the elder, Maudgalyāyana the
Great, could still hear the speech of the Blessed One just as clearly as
before. Just as clearly as one can hear the voice of someone who is only a
meter away, that is how clearly the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, could
hear the speech of the Blessed One.

“Now, the body of the realized one, the blessed Raśmirāja, is a
league in height, and the bodies of the bodhisattvas in that realm are half
a league in height. So, there was the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great,
walking along the rims of the alms bowls of those bodhisattvas. The
bodhisattvas were quite pleased, and they asked the Blessed One, ‘Blessed
One, who is this tiny creature who seems to have the appearance of a monk
and is walking along the rims of our alms bowls? From where has he
come?’

“The Blessed One answered, ‘Noble sons, do not conceive any
thoughts that make fun of him. Why not? He is the elder, Maudgalyāyana the
Great. He is among the blessed Śākyamuni’s foremost disciples. Among his
great disciples, he is the foremost in the possession of superhuman powers.’
Then, the realized one, the blessed Raśmirāja said to the elder,
Maudgalyāyana the Great, ‘Maudgalyāyana, since these bodhisattvas have
looked down upon you, you should display miracles with your superhuman
powers, having been empowered by the empowering authority of the
blessed one, the realized one, the worthy one, the perfect Buddha
Śākyamuni.’

“At that point, the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, bowed at the
feet of that Blessed One, walked around him seven times, keeping him on the
right, and addressed him, saying, ‘Blessed One, I will pervade this whole
jeweled continent while seated in a cross-legged posture.’

“That Blessed One replied, ‘Maudgalyāyana, when you know the time
is right, go ahead!’

“Then, the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, rose into the air to the height of seven palm trees and pervaded
the entire jeweled continent while seated in a single cross-legged posture.
From his cross-legged posture hung hundreds of thousands of millions and
billions of strings of pearls. Each of the pearls emitted a hundred thousand
rays of light, and from the points of each of these rays of light, lotuses
arose, and within the center of each lotus appeared a seated figure that was
an exact likeness of the blessed one Śākyamuni. All of these figures of the
Realized One then spoke in praise of the teaching of the Dharma of the
blessed one Śākyamuni called ‘the purification of the sphere of sound.’

“The elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, then said to that Blessed One,
‘Blessed One, I have now pervaded this world of four continents with a
single seated posture. I will likewise pervade a galaxy of a thousand worlds
and a galaxy of a hundred thousand worlds. Blessed One, I will even pervade
this whole great cosmos of a billion worlds with a single seated
posture.’

“That Blessed One said, ‘Maudgalyāyana, when you know the time is
right, go ahead!’

“The elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, then withdrew his miraculous
demonstration and took a seat before the Blessed One. The bodhisattvas were
awestruck and asked that Blessed One, ‘Blessed One, for what
purpose has the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, come to this world?’

“The Blessed One answered, ‘Noble sons, he has come to this world
with the desire to know the measure of the blessed Śākyamuni’s sphere of
sound.’

“The Blessed One then spoke to the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great,
saying, ‘Maudgalyāyana, you have come to this world with the desire to know
the measure of the sphere of sound of the blessed Śākyamuni’s immeasurable
voice. However, you should not give this a second thought. Maudgalyāyana,
even if you were to use the strength of your own superhuman powers to travel
farther west for eons as numerous as there are grains of sand in the Ganges
River, you would not be able to reach the limit to the sphere of sound of
the blessed Śākyamuni. Blessed buddhas possess an immeasurable voice.’

“So, the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, bowed at the feet of that
Blessed One and admitted his mistake: ‘Blessed One, in trying to understand
the sphere of sound of the endless voice of the Realized One, I have made a
mistake, and I admit this mistake. Blessed One, how far have I come?’

“The Blessed One answered, ‘You have come to this world after
passing through worlds equal in number to the grains of sand in ninety-nine
Ganges Rivers.’

“Maudgalyāyana said, ‘Blessed One, I am exhausted after having
traveled so far. I am unable to return to the Sahā world.’

“ ‘Maudgalyāyana, what do you think?’ asked the Blessed One. ‘Do
you think that you have come to this world through the strength of your own
superhuman powers? You should not think so. Why not? You came to this world through
the majestic power and empowering authority of the blessed Śākyamuni. Pay
homage to that Blessed One, and he will bring you back home. Maudgalyāyana,
even if you were to go to that world on the strength of your own superhuman
powers, you would not be able to get there even within the span of an eon.
You would enter into complete cessation before you arrived there. What do
you think, Maudgalyāyana? From which direction have you traveled here:
north, south, east, or west?’

“ ‘Blessed One, I am disoriented,’ Maudgalyāyana answered. ‘I don’t
know the direction from which I came to here.’

“The Blessed One said, ‘Maudgalyāyana, the main point you should
understand is that if you were to go toward that world on the strength of
your own superhuman powers, you would not be able to get there even within
an eon.’

“Maudgalyāyana asked, ‘Blessed One, in which direction is the
blessed Śākyamuni dwelling?’

“ ‘Maudgalyāyana,’ answered the Blessed One, ‘the realized one, the
blessed Śākyamuni, is dwelling in the east.’

“So, at that moment the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, bowed down
to the east, placing his knees, elbows, palms and forehead on the ground,
and spoke in verse:

“ ‘You, of great superhuman power, worshiped by gods and men,

Of infinite wisdom, and possessing infinite speech,

O best of bipeds, please hear me:

May I return once again to that domain!’

“Śāntamati, through the majestic power of the Buddha the entire
assembly gathered on Vulture Peak was able to hear Maudgalyāyana’s entreaty.
Once they all heard it, Venerable Ānanda asked the Blessed One, ‘Blessed
One, who is making this entreaty?’

“The Blessed One answered, ‘Ānanda, it is Maudgalyāyana. He left this
buddha domain and traveled west, traveling through buddha domains as
numerous as there are grains of sand in ninety-nine Ganges Rivers. He is in
a world called Raśmidhvajā, in the buddha domain of the blessed one
Raśmirāja. Yet, now he wishes to return to this world, and so he is making
this entreaty.’

“Ānanda asked, ‘Blessed One, for what purpose did Maudgalyāyana the
Great go to that world?’

“The Blessed One answered, ‘Ānanda, Maudgalyāyana will come back
here, and then you will hear of it.’

“Then everyone in the entire assembly knelt down on one knee and
raised their arms, palms together in a gesture of salutation, and entreated
the Blessed One, saying, ‘Blessed One, we also wish to see the world
Raśmidhvajā, the realized one Raśmirāja, the bodhisattvas there, as well as
the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great!’

“Cognizant of the entreaty of his assembly, the Blessed One then
emitted a ray of light called the ray of light that goes
everywhere from the tuft of hair between his eyebrows. This
ray of light passed through buddha domains as numerous as there are grains
of sand in ninety-nine Ganges Rivers and bathed the world Raśmidhvajā in a
bright light. The entire retinue then beheld the Raśmidhvajā world, the
realized one Raśmirāja, the bodhisattvas there, and the elder, Maudgalyāyana
the Great, who was on the ground entreating the Blessed One.

“Then the Blessed One instructed Venerable Maudgalyāyana the Great,
‘Maudgalyāyana, follow this beam of light!’

“At that point, the elder, Maudgalyāyana the Great, relying on the
Blessed One’s beam of light, reappeared in the presence of the
blessed Śākyamuni in this Sahā world in as little time as it takes to think
a thought. He bowed his head at the feet of the Blessed One and walked
around him seven times, keeping him on the right. He then bowed down before
the Blessed One, placing his knees, elbows, palms and forehead on the
ground, and admitted his mistake, saying, ‘Blessed One, I went so far in the
hope of comprehending the sphere of sound of the immeasurable voice of the
Realized One. I have made an error, and I admit this mistake. Blessed One,
no matter how far I went, the Realized One’s speech sounded exactly the same
as it does here.’

“ ‘Maudgalyāyana the Great, it is exactly as you have said,’
replied the Blessed One. ‘The speech of the realized ones cannot be
measured. Maudgalyāyana, those who have the intention to examine thoroughly
the measure or limit of the speech of the Realized One must have the
intention to examine thoroughly the measure or limit of space. Why is this?
The speech of the Realized One pervades just as far as space pervades.’

“When they heard the explanation of the travels of the elder,
Maudgalyāyana the Great, ten thousand beings conceived the aspiration for
unsurpassable and perfect awakening. This, too, Śāntamati, is the secret of
the speech of a realized one.”

Vajrapāṇi then said, “Tell me, Śāntamati, would you describe the
thoughts of all beings and the actions that arise from those thoughts as
amounting to a large number?”

“Lord of the Guhyakas,” responded Śāntamati, “even if all beings in
this cosmos of a billion worlds were to become solitary buddhas, they would
still not be able to conceive, measure, count, or examine all the thoughts
of even a single being and the actions that arise from those thoughts, even
if they had an eon to do so. So, there is no need to talk of all
beings.”

“Śāntamati, this is what you should aspire to do!” said Vajrapāṇi.
“This is what you should strive to realize! However many are the thoughts of all
beings and the actions that arise from those thoughts, that is how many
types and divisions there are of the speech used by the realized one to
teach the Dharma in order to satisfy all beings. Yet, in this respect, the
realized one has no concept and is in a state of equanimity. It could be
expressed in this way:

“If all beings in the cosmos of a billion worlds

Were to become solitary buddhas and guides,

They could not comprehend the mental world

Of even a single being, even in an eon.

“Though a perfect buddha knows

The extent of a single being’s mind,

He will not form the thought,

‘I know this being’s mind.’

“When the Lord of the World teaches the Dharma,

The types of his speech are equal

To the number of thoughts

Of all beings of the three times.

“When the Master of Dharma speaks,

As many types of speech as he has,

The word dharma can express

Just as many teachings of the Dharma.