華嚴經傳記

9—SCRIPTURE COPYING (Those Who Copied the Avataṃsaka Sutra) ^[179]:

9.1—Prince Yanming of Anfeng and Prince Yuanxi of Zhongshan:

Yanming and Yuanxi both belonged to the imperial clan of the Wei dynasty ^[180]. They were well versed in ancient affairs and possessed learning and knowledge. Together they established a place of practice and took turns expounding the Dharma.

They also mixed ink with fragrant water and copied one hundred sets of the Avataṃsaka Sutra. In particular, they copied one set of the Avataṃsaka Sutra in characters of gold pigment upon white silk. All the scriptures were placed in chests adorned with four treasures ^[181] and cases made fragrant with five kinds of incense ^[182].

In the stillness of late night, the two purified body and mind, recited the sutra, and practiced the Way. At such times, rays of five-colored light ^[183] frequently streamed forth and brilliantly illuminated the entire building. Everyone saw them and developed even deeper faith in this sutra.

9.2—Śramaṇa De Yuan:

The Master was a native of Tianshui. He entered monastic life when young and constantly adopted the Avataṃsaka Sutra as his method of cultivation, making sutra recitation and meditation his regular practice. He studied at monasteries everywhere and awakened to the ultimate principle.

Moreover, reverently reflecting that the Avataṃsaka was a profound and abstruse sutra, and wishing to express his utmost sincerity toward it, the Master created a pure garden and planted paper-mulberry trees ^[184] and various fragrant flowers and herbs. From then onward, every day after bathing thoroughly, he entered the garden and watered the trees with fragrant water. Over the course of three years, the paper-mulberry trees grew and gave off a pervasive fragrance.

The Master then erected a separate pure chamber, coated its walls and floor with fragrant clay, and fully prepared incense, clean implements, bathing supplies, and new garments. The craftsmen he invited were also required to observe fasting and precepts. Whenever entering or leaving, they had to change clothes, rinse their mouths, wash their hands, and perfume themselves with incense.

Only then did they strip off the bark and soak it in agarwood-infused water to make paper. It took a full year to complete.

The Master then raised another platform on which to build a new room. All its pillars, beams, rafters, battens, and even roof tiles were washed with fragrant water. Every detail was pure and meticulously arranged.

Within this room, the Master provided a seat made of cypress wood inlaid with ivory. Incense and flowers were arranged around it, and above it hung a jeweled canopy and wind bells. The scripture desk was made of white sandalwood ^[185], with curtains interwoven with tassels ^[186] and purple agarwood ornaments ^[187].

Beside it stood a table fully supplied with brushes and inkstones. Each day, the scripture copyist had to observe the precepts in strict purity, bathe three times in fragrant water, put on new garments, and wear a floral crown ^[188], appearing like a celestial being. Only then could he enter the room to copy the sutra.

Along both sides of the path leading into the copying room, fragrant incense was burned and Brahmā chants were intoned. The Master also donned dignified robes, carried an incense burner, respectfully led the way, and scattered flowers as offerings before the copying began. He knelt with complete devotion, collected his mind, and attentively concentrated.

After only a few lines had been copied, every character emitted rays of light that illuminated the entire building and faded only after a long while. Everyone who witnessed this was deeply moved.

At times, the response even caused a divine being to manifest, holding a halberd and standing guard; only the Master and the scripture copyist could see him. On another occasion, a boy from the Brahmā heavens ^[189], dressed in blue and holding celestial flowers, suddenly arrived from an unknown place to make offerings. Such numinous responses occurred repeatedly. Two years passed before the copying was complete. The Master placed the sutra in a fragrant case, surrounded it with jeweled curtains, and enshrined it in the secluded chamber, where he regularly entered to bow in homage. One day, while the Master was reading and reciting, the case emitted an extraordinary light.

Such purity and reverence in preserving the scriptures, and such auspicious signs appearing in response, have rarely been known in any age.

To this day, the sutra has been successively transmitted through five generations, and later practitioners who enter the pure chamber to recite it still experience numinous responses. The scripture is presently preserved and venerated at the residence of Master Xianshou in the Western Taiyuan Monastery, also known as the Western Monastery of the State of Wei.

9.3—Śramaṇa Facheng:

The Master’s surname was Fen. He was a native of Wannian County in Yongzhou, China. He entered monastic life when young and made the recitation of the Avataṃsaka Sutra his vocation. He happened to meet Chan Master Huichao, a person of lofty virtue who lived in seclusion deep in the mountains. Knowing inwardly that he had an affinity with this master, he abandoned the noise and bustle of his former dwelling and sincerely went to request instruction.

Later, the Master established an Avataṃsaka Hall on the mountain summit south of the monastery. The tiles and walls of the building were made with earth mixed with fragrant water, which the Master personally kneaded and trod. After decorating the room, he carefully cleaned the painted images of the Seven Locations and Eight Assemblies. He then invited Zhang Jing, a scholar of the Hongwen Academy and a renowned calligrapher of the time. Only after everything had been purified did he reverently begin copying the scripture. The Master held an incense burner and single-mindedly made offerings. He focused his mind attentively upon every dot and every stroke. The fee he paid was extremely generous: five hundred coins for two pages.

This evoked a response from a rare bird of extraordinary form and color. Carrying a flowering branch in its beak, it flew into the room, slowly circled about, alighted upon the scripture desk, and then flew over to the incense burner. On subsequent days of copying, the bird returned. When the copying was complete, the Master placed the sutra in a fragrant case, surrounded it with jeweled curtains, and adorned it splendidly. Thereafter, many of those who concentrated upon reading and reciting it experienced responses.

9.4—Chan Master Xiude:

The Master was a native of Zhongshan in Dingzhou and lived during the Tang dynasty (618–907) in China. Austere by nature, he dwelt in seclusion among the mountains and forests. He devoted himself to cultivation according to the Avataṃsaka Sutra and the Treatise on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, while also gathering his thoughts and practicing meditation.

In the fourth year of Yonghui ⁽⁶⁵³⁾, out of reverent faith in the Mahāvaipulya Avataṃsaka Sutra, the Master aroused the great resolve and devoted himself to copying it. He therefore lived alone in a pure cloister, where he planted paper-mulberry trees and various medicinal herbs and watered them with fragrant water for three years. Afterward, he stripped off the bark and made it into paper.

He built another secluded chamber and invited Wang Gong, a fine calligrapher from Weizhou, to reside there. Every day Wang Gong observed fasting and precepts, bathed, changed his garments, burned incense, scattered flowers, hung a jeweled canopy, bowed before the sutra, and practiced repentance. Only then did he ascend the seat to copy the scripture.

Whenever he put brush to paper, he held incense in his mouth; only when he lifted the brush did he breathe out. He did this daily, working diligently without laziness. The Master personally entered the pure chamber, sincerely burned incense, and attentively followed every stroke of the brush until the copying was complete.

For each scroll, the Master paid him ten bolts of silk. By the completion of the entire set, this amounted to more than six hundred bolts, but Wang Gong dedicated all of it as an offering. The intense mental toil exhausted his strength, and immediately after he finished copying the sutra, he passed away.

The Master opened a vegetarian assembly of thanksgiving to mark the completion of the scripture copying, and everyone wished to bow before and behold the sutra. Before the assembly, the Master burned incense, scattered flowers, and made vast vows. As soon as the scripture case was opened, light streamed forth and spread for more than seventy li, reaching the city of Dingzhou. Men and women throughout the city saw it. When the assembly at Zhongshan witnessed this unprecedented event, they cast themselves to the ground and wept as they repented.

The Master also engraved one complete set each of the Nirvana Sutra and the Lotus Sutra upon stone. As soon as these two scriptures were placed and enshrined in their cases, they emitted light extending for more than ten li. All who saw it were profoundly awakened and moved.

9.5—Court Gentleman for Ceremonial Attendance Sun Simiao:

He was a native of Yong’an in Yongzhou and lived during the Tang dynasty (618–690). His bearing was lofty and pure, and his appearance imposing. He stood seven feet tall, with bright eyes and sparse eyebrows. He mastered both the Buddhist canon and non-Buddhist classics ^[190], excelled in medicine, and was well versed in yin and yang, numerological arts, astronomy, calendrical science, and divination. He was also skilled in nourishing the spirit and was fond of alchemical medicines ^[191]. Because he regularly took Liuzhou elixir and mica powder ^[192], his complexion remained rosy and his teeth and hair remained intact. Tradition says that although he was more than one hundred years old, he looked only seventy or eighty.

In the second year of Yining ^{(618) [193]}, when Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan (r. 618–626), raised his army at Bingzhou, Sun was also there. Knowing him to be a man of profound learning, Gaozu treated him with courtesy, appointed him Military Commander ^[194], and granted him fourth-rank status, but Sun firmly declined. Later, he traveled widely, benefiting the world as circumstances and occasions allowed, though he chiefly made medicine his vocation. Whenever anyone came to consult him about an illness, he provided treatment. In addition, he encouraged people to copy more than 750 sets of the Avataṃsaka Sutra.

During the period from the Shangyuan era (674–676) to the Yifeng era (676–679), he lived in the two counties of Chang’an and Wannian. There he often spoke about figures from the Qi and Wei dynasties or about the former capital Luoyang. Officials in the city and members of the Sangha from the monasteries all witnessed this, but whenever they questioned him, he refused to say anything further.

He composed a work concerning the wondrous arts of celebrated physicians, ancient and contemporary, entitled The Sun Family’s Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces. It comprised sixty scrolls and was used by people of his time. When he presented it to Gaozu, the emperor rewarded him with brocade and silk, but Sun resolutely refused them. The emperor then summoned him to the palace and treated him with exceptional favor for an entire month.

Once, Emperor Gaozong, Li Zhi (r. 649–683), casually asked him:

“What meritorious practice is best?”

Sun replied:

“Your Majesty, nothing surpasses reciting the Avataṃsaka Sutra.”

The emperor asked:

“Why?”

Sun answered:

“Your Majesty is a great person and should recite a great sutra. It is like a precious object, which is fittingly held only in a precious case.”

The emperor said:

“If we speak of great sutras, there is the recently translated six-hundred-scroll Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sutra ^[195], translated by Dharma Master Xuanzang. Is that not great?”

Sun said:

“The Emptiness School of prajnaparamita ^[196] is a branch derived from the Avataṃsaka Sutra.”

The emperor placed great faith in these words.

Sun died before the Yongchun era (682–683). His son was named Yuanyi and styled Xingzhen. He was upright by nature, profoundly learned, widely informed, possessed an excellent memory, deeply understood the essential Dharma, and likewise took refuge in the One Vehicle. Continuing his father’s vocation, Yuanyi also made the Avataṃsaka Sutra his life’s work. Renowned in his time, he was an outstanding lay devotee ^[197].

9.6—Layman Kang A Lushan:

The layman was a native of Wannian County in Yongzhou.

On the first day of the fifth month in the second year of Tiaolu ⁽⁶⁸⁰⁾, he fell ill and died. Only five days later did his family encoffin him and take him for burial. Before they could carry the coffin down from the cart, however, they heard a sound from within it. His relatives suspected that he had returned to life, so they opened it and found that this was indeed so. After they brought him home, he said that King Yama ^[198] had seized him by mistake.

Before King Yama, thirty-five people were lined up in a row. Of these, fifteen—including Guoyi of Xinfeng and Lushan—had observed the precepts while alive and stated their cases before the king, and were therefore released to return.

In addition, he saw the physician A Rong from the pharmacy in the Eastern Market. The physician had fallen ill and died in the first year of Tiaolu ⁽⁶⁷⁹⁾. Because he had boiled chickens while alive, he and seven hundred others had fallen into the Cauldron of Boiling Broth Hell ^[199]. Since the physician had previously known Lushan, he sent this message through him: “My fourth son, Xingzheng, has a compassionate heart. Please tell him on my behalf to copy one set of the Avataṃsaka Sutra. Copying other sutras would not be suitable. If this is done, all seven hundred of us will be liberated.”

After recovering, Lushan went to Xinfeng to find Guoyi. When the two met, they experienced mingled joy and sorrow, as though they had known each other for a long time. Their accounts of the former circumstances corresponded in every detail. Later, Lushan went to the pharmacy in the Eastern Market and conveyed Physician Rong’s message to Xingzheng. Upon hearing it, Xingzheng was deeply grieved. He went to Master Fazang at the Western Taiyuan Monastery, requested the Avataṃsaka Sutra, and engaged someone to copy it. From the time Physician Rong died, his family had never seen him in a dream. Yet as soon as the copying began, they all dreamed that night of their father returning in great happiness.

In the eighth month of the first year of Yonglong ⁽⁶⁸⁰⁾, the copying of the sutra was completed. Xingzheng held a vegetarian feast to make offerings and give thanks to the virtuous senior śramaṇas. That day, Lushan saw all seven hundred spirits, including Physician Rong, arrive at the feast. They reverently paid homage to the Three Jewels and knelt before the Sangha, requesting repentance and receiving the precepts. When this was finished, they departed.

Having witnessed all these events in the underworld, Lushan developed even deeper faith in karmic retribution. He abandoned worldly affairs and withdrew into the Zhongnan and Taibai Mountains, concealing his identity and leaving no trace. No one later knew where he died.

10—MISCELLANEOUS WORKS (Works Related to the Avataṃsaka Sutra):

] Names of Buddhas, two scrolls, and Names of Bodhisattvas, one scroll. Their compiler is unknown. They were extracted from the Avataṃsaka Sutra but were incomplete. The śramaṇa Xianshou has now recompiled them more completely and clearly.

] The Rite of Universal Homage in Fifteen Prostrations, composed by Chan Master Zhikai of Mount Tiantai. In the homage section, the first invocation is “Universal Homage,” and the final invocation is “Vairocana Buddha.” Between them are cited the names of the Seven Locations and Eight Assemblies, such as: “Universal homage to Vairocana Buddha at the bodhimaṇḍa of quiescent extinction,” and so forth. The Rite of Universal Homage is now widely practiced south of the Yangtze River. Great Master Zhikai classified and interpreted the Avataṃsaka Sutra as the perfect and complete Sudden Teaching.

] Record of the Avataṃsaka Vegetarian Feast, one scroll, composed by Prince Wenxuan of Jingling ^[200]. From the Qi and Liang dynasties onward, many Vaipulya vegetarian assemblies were established, and cultivation at all of them was based upon this work. Dharma Master Hong of Yizhou also adopted the Avataṃsaka Sutra as his aspiration.

He once encouraged fifty or sixty lay devotees and common people to establish a merit society. Each person recited one scroll of the Avataṃsaka Sutra. Every half-month, one household held a vegetarian feast, adorned the place of practice, and erected a high seat.

The donor ascended the seat while everyone else sat below and recited. Only after the recitation was finished did they disperse. This Dharma service also belongs to the category of vegetarian assemblies.

] Ritual of the Ten Approaches to Making Offerings, composed by the śramaṇa Zhiyan.

] Record of the Good and Wise Teachers of the Youth Sudhana, composed by the śramaṇa Yanzong.

] Guide to the Avataṃsaka, one scroll, composed by the śramaṇa Fazang. Its contents comprise ten approaches: 1. The places where the sutra was taught; 2. The times when the sutra was taught; 3. The Buddha who taught the sutra; 4. The assembly to whom the sutra was taught; 5. The ritual forms of teaching the sutra; 6. Discussion of the sutra’s verbal teaching; 7. Revealing the principles and meaning of the sutra; 8. Explaining the purport of the sutra; 9. Discerning the benefits of the sutra; 10. Presenting the perfect interfusion taught in the sutra.

Within these ten approaches, each is explained through ten principles, making one hundred approaches altogether. These reveal the purport of the sutra and clearly disclose its profound and vast meaning, as stated in the text itself.

] Contemplation of the Avataṃsaka Samādhi, one scroll, composed by Master Fazang. Its contents comprise ten approaches, each using ten principles to present the sutra’s essential purport. It is intended to help practitioners accomplish Samantabhadra’s practices and vows, plant the vajra seed, create the causes of bodhi, and in the future join the ocean-wide Avataṃsaka assembly. Great Master Tiantai’s Contemplation of the Lotus Samādhi is worthy of serving as a bright mirror illuminating practitioners’ minds.

] Outline of the Avataṃsaka, one scroll.

] Chapter on the Profound Meaning of the Avataṃsaka, one scroll.

] Record of the Classification of the Avataṃsaka Teaching, three scrolls.

These three works were all composed by the śramaṇa Fazang and are separate from his commentaries. Their contents consist of answers given according to the meaning of questions posed by various people, subsequently collected and copied into scrolls. All elucidate the meaning of the Avataṃsaka Sutra.

] Avataṃsaka Transcriptions of Sanskrit Terms, one scroll (old edition).

] Sanskrit Terms, Pronunciations, and Meanings in the Avataṃsaka, one scroll (new edition).

All the Sanskrit terms in the two editions and all the difficult characters in the new edition have been fully transcribed and explained. These two works are essential for readers of the sutra.

] Homage to the Three Jewels of the Avataṃsaka, comprising ten acts of homage:

The first homage is: “I take refuge in and pay homage to Vairocana Buddha and all Buddhas throughout the Dharma realm in the ten directions, seated upon lion thrones beneath the Bodhi tree, who have taught the profound Dharma ocean of the virtues of fruition; to the great bodhisattvas as numerous as motes of dust, including Samantabhadra; and to all the Three Jewels within the first assembly.”

For the following seven assemblies, the names of the location, the practice, and the bodhisattvas are given; the remainder is the same as above.

The ninth assembly pays homage to the Three Jewels within the middle-length version of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, which comprises 498,800 verses.

The tenth assembly pays homage to the Three Jewels within the extensive version of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, which comprises verses as numerous as the motes of dust in ten great trichiliocosms. Each merely names the Buddha, the Dharma, and the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, representing the Sangha, within this sutra.

] Hymns of Praise and Homage to the Avataṃsaka, ten scrolls, comprising ten hymns. Among them:

The first homage is:

With utmost sincerity, I take refuge and bow

To the first Avataṃsaka assembly.

Beneath the King of Trees ^[201], perfect awakening was attained;

Within the Lotus Realm ^[202], the True Sutra ^[203] was proclaimed.

From between the brows, the noble assembly streamed forth;

From the facial portal ^[204], wondrous light ^[205] shone.

Upon the throne, the ocean of wisdom poured forth;

From every pore appeared auspicious clouds.

A single mote of dust contains the Dharma realm;

A single thought embraces the nine ages.

May we, together with all sentient beings,

Roam the Flower Treasury realm as one.

The second assembly has this hymn of praise:

Above the dragon palace, clouds of tidings ^[206] gather;

From the ocean-seal, the wondrous Dharma pours.

Radiant light shines everywhere;

The Names and Truths ^[207] issue from the perfect voice ^[208].

Xianshou ^[209] encompasses the six stages ^[210];

The ten directions arrive as soon as the teaching is proclaimed.

Host and companions ^[211] perpetually illuminate one another;

The principle of Indra’s Net ^[212] is difficult to fathom.

The third assembly has this hymn of praise:

The sun shines upon the mountain peak;

Clouds spread throughout empty space.

Without departing from the Bodhi tree,

The honored countenance ^[213] appears in the heavens.

Notes:

^[179] In the Chinese edition, this is scroll five.

^[180] The Wei dynasty: the Northern Wei (386–534), also called the Later Wei or Yuan Wei during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, founded by Emperor Daowu, Tuoba Gui.

^[181] Four treasures: Four of the seven treasures. The seven treasures are seven precious substances valued in the world. Different sutras give different lists. According to the Amitābha Sutra and the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, they are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, crystal, mother-of-pearl, red pearls, and agate. According to fascicle four of the Lotus Sutra, they are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl, agate, pearls, and rose-colored gems. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5347.)

^[182] Five kinds of incense: Five precious incenses fully prepared by esoteric Buddhist practitioners to assist in successfully maintaining and reciting mantras. They are agarwood incense, white sandalwood incense, red sandalwood incense, sāla incense, and heavenly wood incense. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2972.)

^[183] Five colors: The five fundamental colors—blue, yellow, red, white, and black. The colors adorning the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, five-colored clouds, and the implements held by the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara all comprise these five colors. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2999.)

^[184] Paper-mulberry tree: Its bark is used to make paper.

^[185] White sandalwood: Also called white candana or the white sandalwood tree. It is a fragrant, white-trunked plant of the candana family found in tropical regions such as India. Sandalwood is used to make aromatic substances. Fragrance made from white sandalwood is regarded as the finest and is called white sandalwood incense or white candana incense. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 234.)

^[186] Tassels: Decorations shaped like rice ears and fashioned from colorful silk threads, feathers, or animal hair, commonly used to adorn carriages, curtains, and canopies.

^[187] Purple agarwood ornaments: A kind of dried agarwood used for decoration.

^[188] Floral crown: A garland worn as an ornament upon the head.

^[189] The Brahmā heavens: The heavens of the first dhyāna in the form realm, comprising three levels: the Brahmā Assembly, Brahmā Ministers, and Great Brahmā.

^[190] Buddhist and non-Buddhist classics: Buddhist scriptures and the works of the various classical schools of thought.

^[191] Alchemical medicines: Divine medicines and elixirs of immortality.

^[192] Liuzhou elixir and mica powder: Alchemical medicines refined by Daoist practitioners.

^[193] The original text gives “the first year of Yining” 義寧元年, namely the first year of Yining ⁽⁶¹⁷⁾ under the Sui dynasty. However, he lived during the Tang dynasty (618–690), and Emperor Gaozu of Tang, Li Yuan (r. 618–626), ascended the throne in 618. Thus, this may refer to the second year of Yining ⁽⁶¹⁸⁾ under the Sui dynasty. Upon ascending the throne, Emperor Gaozu of Tang adopted the reign title Wude (618–626).

^[194] Military Commander: An official position in the army.

^[195] The Prajnaparamita Sutra in six hundred scrolls: Master Xuanzang translated it from 660 to 663 and passed away in 664. By that time, both Gaozu and Taizong had died, and Gaozong was reigning.

^[196] Emptiness School: A school maintaining that all things are empty. The Emptiness School takes Mahayana prajnaparamita thought as its basis and principally employs contemplation of emptiness to proclaim the truth of the Middle Way. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2320.)

^[197] Lay devotee: A Buddhist layman.

^[198] King Yama: Also called Yama-rāja. He is king of the realm of ghosts, the administrator of the underworld, and the presiding deity of the hells. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 1076.)

^[199] Cauldron of Boiling Broth: One of the eighteen hells, where offenders are boiled.

^[200] Prince Wenxuan of Jingling: Xiao Ziliang, Minister of Education during the Southern Qi dynasty (479–502).

^[201] King of Trees: The greatest of trees, referring to the Bodhi tree. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5652.)

^[202] Lotus Realm: The Ocean of Worlds of the Lotus Treasury Adorned.

^[203] True Sutra: The Avataṃsaka Sutra.

^[204] Facial portal: This has three explanations: 1. The mouth; 2. The true countenance; 3. The area below the nose and above the mouth. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. II, p. 1092.)

^[205] Wondrous light: The Buddha’s numinous and inconceivable radiance. Light symbolizes wisdom. Buddha-wisdom transcends all falsely discriminated characteristics and is inconceivable. Therefore, the Buddha’s radiance likewise transcends forms and images and is called wondrous light. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. VI, p. 5164.)

^[206] Clouds of tidings: Clouds that herald news.

^[207] Names and Truths: “Names” refers to the chapter “The Names of the Tathagata,” while “Truths” refers to the chapter “The Four Noble Truths.”

^[208] Perfect voice: The perfectly wondrous voice, referring to the Buddha’s words.

^[209] Xianshou: The chapter “Bodhisattva Xianshou.”

^[210] Six stages: The six stages of a bodhisattva’s cultivation. According to the older translation of the Avataṃsaka Sutra, the six bodhisattva stages are the Ten Faiths, Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Dedications of Merit, Ten Grounds, and the Buddha Ground. The newer translation records seven stages, adding “Equal Awakening” after the Ten Grounds. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. III, p. 2583.)

^[211] Host and companions: Subject and object. When the Huayan school discusses the dependent arising of the Dharma realm, it maintains that if this is taken as host, that is companion; if that is taken as host, this is companion. Thus host and companions are complete and encompass inexhaustible virtues; this is called the completeness of host and companions. Moreover, among the myriad phenomena, each and every one is host and each and every one is companion. Their mutual containment and interpenetration continue endlessly, layer upon layer; this is called the inexhaustibility of host and companions. (According to the Huệ Quang Dictionary of Buddhism, vol. I, p. 959.)

^[212] The principle of Indra’s Net: Namely, the dependent arising of the Dharma realm or inexhaustible dependent arising; see the note “Inexhaustible Dependent Arising.”

^[213] Honored countenance: Refers to the Buddha.