大寶積經

At that time, Bodhisattva Tranquil Intention again asked the Vajra-Warrior of Secret Traces: “How many mysteries does the Tathagata possess? None of the shravakas or pratyekabuddhas can equal the mysteries of the Tathagata, much less ordinary beings, who dwell in delusion and darkness.

Excellent, O Vajra-Warrior of Secret Traces! Please be pleased to proclaim the mysteries of the Tathagata. Everyone in this assembly wishes to hear them.”

The Vajra-Warrior of Secret Traces said: “Venerable Tranquil Intention, listen attentively, reflect well, and bear this in mind. I shall now explain the three mysteries of the Tathagata:

The first is the mystery of body, the second is the mystery of speech, and the third is the mystery of mind.

What is called the mystery of body?

In regard to his body, the Tathagata neither conceives nor recollects anything, yet he fully manifests every deportment and observance.

If there are devas or humans who delight in walking meditation, when they see the Tathagata walking, they think to themselves that the Tathagata, the World-Honored One, is supreme. Those humans and devas then behold the intimate body of the Tathagata. The Buddha’s mind never entertains thought or expectation, yet all beings behold the wondrously virtuous walking deportment of the true and perfect Tathagata.

If there are devas or humans who delight in sitting, they see the Tathagata sitting.

If there are devas or humans who delight in lying down, they see the Tathagata lying down.

If they delight in hearing the sutras, they see the Tathagata expounding the sutras.

If they delight in silence, they see the Tathagata remaining silent.

If they delight in meditation, they see the Tathagata entering samadhi.

If there are devas or humans who gaze without blinking, they may see that the Tathagata’s eyes never blink.

Among those whose minds are sovereign, if some delight in radiance, they see the Tathagata possessing unobstructed radiance.

If some delight in the color of purple gold, they see the color of purple-polished gold.

If there are devas or humans who delight in the colors of silver, crystal, lapis lazuli, agate, mother-of-pearl, gold, pearl; in white, red, yellow, pink, or purple; in the color of the bright moon, jewels, fire, or sunlight; in the colors of the Four Heavenly Kings, Shakra, Brahma, or the variegated hues of the asuras; in intermediate colors or the color of Mount Sumeru flowers; or if some conceive of subtle and wondrous colors, the color of medicinal forms, emerald, ashoka flowers, champaka flowers, sumana flowers, blue lotuses, yellow lotuses, red lotuses, or white lotuses; or if some clearly know the colors of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the bodily forms of the Four Heavenly Kings, and the treasury guardians—the Azure Emperor, Yellow Emperor, Red Emperor, and White Emperor—

Or if devas or humans have immeasurable aspirations and each favors a different class of color, they likewise see the Tathagata possessing all the colors, qualities, measures, and virtues corresponding to them.

Venerable Tranquil Intention, suppose that all the beings filling worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges—living creatures who cherish one another and engender one another—were entirely freed from evil and obtained human bodies born from thought. Suppose that a single person among them were born in the same way as all those other beings. The Tathagata would perceive all the classes of colors, deportments, observances, and boundless inclinations within their hearts. They would all wish to examine and know completely the beginnings and endings of their words and deeds; and in accordance with these causes and conditions, the true and perfect Tathagata would manifest separately before each of those beings the Buddha’s form, deportment, observances, words, and deeds.

It is as though one person whose mind has attained liberation, without sharing that attainment in common with a second person, wished to proclaim the ultimate truth of the mind’s liberation, extending even to the path.

Only the true and perfect Tathagata can gladden and delight the hearts of all beings.

To gladden and delight beings’ hearts, the Tathagata reveals physical forms, deportments, and observances; it is likewise so with his words and deeds.

Venerable Tranquil Intention, consider a bright mirror: whatever form or color is brought before it, it reflects that form or color without loss, error, or alteration. Although the bright mirror reflects forms, it entertains no conception or recollection.

In the same way, although the Tathagata rescues all beings through the true Dharma, he entertains no conception or recollection and has no thought of gain or sustenance, yet he can gladden and delight the hearts of beings. In accordance with whether the Dharma they require is shallow or profound, high or low, he instructs and liberates them from the delusions of the three realms.

This is the mystery of the Tathagata’s bodily activity.

The Vajra-Warrior of Secret Traces further said to Bodhisattva Tranquil Intention: “The mystery of the Tathagata is also not differentiated into the skandhas or ayatanas; it does not belong to transgression or merit, does not give rise to defilements, is not formed by a father and mother, has no womb and no bones or flesh. It is entirely without anything that can be possessed, does not belong to form, has neither exhalation nor inhalation, and its lifespan is utterly beyond cessation.

If one wishes to know the Buddha’s body, it is precisely the Dharma-body. This body has neither shape nor color and is free of all deluded conceptions.

The Buddha’s body of physical characteristics is manifested because beings delight in beauty and seek exalted rank; thus, he manifests that form for their eyes to behold. The characteristic of Dharma is originally quiescent and extinct. To cause all beings to revere wisdom and aspire toward the divine eye, the Buddha manifests these characteristics.

Venerable Tranquil Intention, when various beings gather together in a single Dharma assembly, each sees the Buddha’s body differently.

Some, due to the conditions of their minds, see the Buddha in the distance; when they look back at his former place, they do not see him there. They see the Buddha afar but do not see him in his former place because their minds are no longer conditioned toward that place.

Those who look while directing a distracted mind toward him do not see him.

If they use their own bodies to investigate this seeing, then, being occupied with seeing others, they do not see their own bodies.

A sleeping person sees objects in a dream, but after awakening sees them no more.

Objects seen in samadhi are no longer seen upon emerging from samadhi.

Objects seen in an ordinary state are no longer seen upon entering samadhi.

Objects seen amid empty tranquility are not seen when tranquility is absent.

Amid empty tranquility, there is nothing that is not seen.

Such seeing is unconditioned; apart from the unconditioned, there is nothing to be seen.

If there were something to be seen only after departing from the unconditioned, then nothing at all would truly be seen.

Venerable Tranquil Intention, the Buddha’s body manifests differently according to innumerable conditions.

The Buddha’s body has no boundary. It is also limitless and unobstructed, free of deluded conception, inconceivable, and immeasurable.

The Buddha’s body does not possess only a finite number of forms and images; there is nowhere it does not pervade.

Just as space is free of deluded conception,

So too, the Buddha’s body is forever free of thought.

Just as space enters and pervades all forms and colors,

So too, the Buddha’s body universally illuminates all beings.

Just as space pervades all forms and is present throughout them,

So too, the Buddha’s body universally illuminates beings, with nowhere it does not pervade.

Just as space nurtures all grasses, trees, and the hundred kinds of grain,

So too, the body of the true and perfect Buddha nurtures all roots of virtue.

Just as space cannot be reckoned as permanent or impermanent and has neither day nor night,

So too, the Buddha’s body is neither permanent nor impermanent, and no one can behold the crown of the Buddha’s head.

Venerable Tranquil Intention, the Buddha, the World-Honored One, manifests universally throughout the heavens and the human world.

Neither Mara, the King of Demons, nor Brahma dares to stand face-to-face with the Buddha and gaze upon the crown of his head.

Among devas, nagas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, nonhumans, and even shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas, none is capable of beholding the crown of the Buddha’s head.

How is this known?

After attaining the path, the Buddha went to the city of Varanasi and turned the Dharma wheel.”

At that time, far away in the eastern direction, there was a world named Hoài Điều, whose Buddha was called Tư Di Hoa. In that world of Hoài Điều there was a bodhisattva named Ưng Trì, who came to this Sahā world to reverently make offerings to the Buddha and ask questions. Bodhisattva Ưng Trì bowed at the Buddha’s feet and circumambulated him seven times, then stood before the Buddha.

At that time, Bodhisattva Ưng Trì thought, “I wish to measure and know the dimensions of the Tathagata’s body.”

Bodhisattva Ưng Trì then transformed his own body to a height of three million three hundred and sixty thousand leagues. Looking up at the Buddha’s body, he saw that it was five million four hundred and thirty thousand trillion cai, two hundred thousand koṭis of leagues tall. He thought to himself, “I have attained mastery of the supernormal powers; shall I once again measure how immense the Buddha’s body is?” Relying upon the Buddha’s majestic power, Bodhisattva Ưng Trì used his supernormal powers to fly upward, passing through lands as numerous as the sands of a hundred koṭis of Ganges Rivers, until he reached the world called Lotus Adornment. In that realm was a Buddha named Lotus Supreme, a Tathagata, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One, who was then teaching the Dharma.

Bodhisattva Ưng Trì remained there and gazed into the distance, yet still could not see the crown of Buddha Śākyamuni’s head, nor could he know how lofty, vast, or far-reaching the Buddha’s body was.

Bodhisattva Ưng Trì then approached Buddha Lotus Supreme, bowed at his feet, circumambulated him three times, and said before the Buddha, “World-Honored One! I have come here from the Sahā world, but I do not know how far away it is.”

Buddha Lotus Supreme said, “The Sahā world lies at a distance of worlds as numerous as the sands of a hundred koṭis of Ganges Rivers. You have come here from that realm.”

Bodhisattva Ưng Trì said, “World-Honored One! I flew upward through that many worlds, yet still could not see the crown of Buddha Śākyamuni’s head. I do not know how many hundreds of thousands of koṭis of worlds, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, comprise the height and vastness of that Buddha’s body.”

Buddha Lotus Supreme said, “Good man! Even if, through your supernormal powers, you were to fly upward from here for kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, you still would not see the crown of Buddha Śākyamuni’s head, nor would you know the limit of that Buddha’s body.

“Good man! You should know that the Buddha’s body is thus boundless and sublime, beyond all analogy.

“Because nothing can be compared with it, it is said to be beyond analogy.

“The Tathagata’s moral discipline is likewise beyond analogy.

“The Tathagata’s samādhi and right concentration, wisdom, liberation, knowledge and vision of liberation, the three activities of body, speech, and mind, and all his excellent marks are beyond analogy.

“Even if all sentient beings were to use every kind of analogy to praise the Tathagata’s moral discipline, right concentration, wisdom, liberation, knowledge and vision of liberation, body, speech, mind, and excellent marks, these would still be like empty space: their limits could never be reached.

“The Tathagata’s body is boundless and subtle to this extent.”

When Bodhisattva Ưng Trì heard the words spoken by Tathagata Lotus Supreme, he rejoiced exceedingly and experienced what he had never known before. He immediately bowed at the Buddha’s feet and circumambulated him seven times. Relying upon the Buddha’s majestic power and employing his own supernormal power, in the instant of forming a thought he disappeared from that land of Lotus Adornment and appeared in this Sahā world. He went before Buddha Śākyamuni, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, circumambulated him seven times, and then stood before the Buddha and spoke these verses of praise:

“To clearly know the Buddha’s body

And how far its limits extend,

I flew upward through the higher direction,

Across immeasurable Ganges-sand realms.

Wishing to see the crown of the Buddha’s head,

I continued flying ever upward

Until I reached the Lotus World,

Yet still I could not see the crown.

In that world there was a Buddha

Whose name was Lotus Supreme.

Knowing the desire within my mind,

He therefore explained to me:

If one employs various analogies

To discuss the Buddha, the World-Honored One,

One does not accord with the Buddha’s teaching

And thereby slanders the Tathagata.

If one wishes to know an analogy,

It is like boundless empty space.

The Dharma of all Buddhas is equal,

Truly without any limit.

The Buddha’s discipline, concentration, and wisdom,

Liberation, and wisdom of liberation;

The activities of his physical form are likewise

As boundless as empty space.

To seek the crown of the Buddha’s head

Is the same as seeking the bounds of empty space.

As empty space pervades everywhere,

So too does the Buddha’s body pervade all.

As empty space pervades everywhere,

The Buddha’s light shines everywhere.

Wherever the Buddha’s light shines,

His words likewise reach.

Wherever his words reach,

The Buddha’s mind likewise pervades.

As the Buddha’s mind reaches everywhere,

His loving-kindness is bestowed throughout all places.

As his loving-kindness is universally bestowed,

His wisdom likewise pervades everywhere.

As his wisdom illuminates everywhere,

So does the Buddha’s body pervade.

His merit is also thus;

His aspiration for the Way is no different.

As with his merit and aspiration for the Way,

Know that his physical form is likewise.

As all sentient beings

Receive their portions of merit,

When one person awakens the aspiration for the Way,

That person’s merit is equally vast.

As for the person who awakens that aspiration,

Whose merit and renown are great,

If anyone accepts the true Dharma,

Their merit surpasses that of one who merely awakens the aspiration.

Even if all the Buddhas

Were to expound it for a hundred koṭis of kalpas,

They could not exhaustively reach the limit

Of the merit of upholding the true Dharma.

If anyone awakens the aspiration for the Way

And protects and upholds the true Dharma,

One who delights in understanding emptiness and nonexistence

Has merit surpassing that person.

Because one delights in understanding emptiness and nonexistence,

One does not lose the aspiration for the Way.

Upholding the supremely honored Dharma,

Only then does this wisdom accord with it.

Having reached this principle of the Dharma,

The bodhisattva cultivates with heroic vigor,

Attains the Buddha’s merit,

And reverently practices the conduct of the Buddha’s Way.”

When Bodhisattva Ưng Trì spoke these verses, a hundred million worlds trembled, and hundreds of thousands of koṭis of devas played a thousand koṭis of musical instruments. Countless thousands of people awakened the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi.

Vajrapāṇi, the Guhyaka Vajra-Wielder, further said, “Venerable Tịch Ý! Concerning the secret essential nature of the Tathagata’s body: if sentient beings all assemble together in a single Dharma gathering, some may see the Tathagata’s body, while others may not see it.

“Those who see it rejoice as they behold the Tathagata’s body. Those who cannot see it remain silent and contemplate.

“The Tathagata does not eat, yet sentient beings all see the Tathagata eating and drinking.

“Venerable Tịch Ý! There was a devaputra named Tinh Lực who had only recently entered the path. That devaputra took a bowl containing the Tathagata’s rice and distributed it to those who were hungry and in need.

“Everyone came before the Tathagata to eat. They saw the Tathagata pick up the rice and bring it to his mouth, whereupon the rice naturally returned to the bowl.

“Long ago, the Tathagata planted roots of merit, and wherever he was born, he gave alms to those who were hungry and in need.

“When suffering, hungry people had nothing to eat, the Tathagata, moved by compassion, brought them food.

“After eating that food, their bodies all became strong and healthy; their afflictions were dispelled, their deluded thoughts entirely ceased, their minds became gentle and harmonious, and they awakened the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi.

“Therefore, one should know that the Tathagata does not eat. The perfectly true Tathagata takes the Dharma as his food.

“Why is this? Because the Tathagata’s body is a vajra body that cannot be destroyed.

“The Tathagata’s body has neither a stomach nor intestines; it produces no impure feces or urine, nor any defiled phlegm or saliva.

“The Tathagata’s body is the color of refined purple-gold; it is neither timid nor weak and knows no fear.

“Venerable Tịch Ý, contemplate the Tathagata’s incomparable body: wondrously beautiful and firm as vajra, yet soft and supple like the finest celestial garment.

“At times, the Tathagata’s body manifests unsurpassed subtle wonder. When celestial maidens bow at the Buddha’s feet and touch them, they experience an incomparable degree of softness. They all awaken the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi and leave behind the defilements of the dusts.

“Some who are lustful, some who are angry, some who are deluded, and some in whom these afflictions are present in equal measure behold the Tathagata’s body. As soon as their eyes see it, their afflictions of greed, anger, delusion, and equal measure are all extinguished, and no defilement remains.”

There may be persons who are greedy, violate the precepts, are wrathful, indolent, distracted, or deluded; when they behold the body of the Tathagata, they are caused to become persons who practice generosity, observe the precepts, cultivate patience, make vigorous effort, attain one-pointedness, and possess wisdom.

In brief, when those who have departed from wholesome dharmas behold the body of the Tathagata, they abandon unwholesome thoughts and cultivate merit.

Only by contemplating the Tathagata with a mind free from false conceptualization is it called the true path.

Venerable Tranquil Resolve! This is the essential mystery of the Tathagata’s body.

The Tathagata freely manifests transformations, employs the Dharma to instruct and transform beings, understands their thoughts and intentions, and teaches them the Dharma so that they may attain liberation.

With regard to those beings, the Tathagata originally neither acts nor performs anything. Never does the True and Perfect Tathagata think, “I shall manifest a bodily form.”

The beings who are transformed conceive in their own minds:

“The True and Perfect Tathagata is before us. From innumerable worlds, the Tathagata has come to this world. From the Tathagata’s body issue rays of light in immeasurable colors. That radiance illuminates lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Through that radiance, beings are instructed and transformed.”

Therefore, in the Tathagata there is neither karmic action nor deliberate activity.

Venerable Tranquil Resolve! The essential mystery of the Tathagata’s body—its countless mental responses, its countless proclamations and teachings, and the countless beings it brings to fulfillment by causing them to arouse the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi—cannot be reckoned.

When this essential mystery of the Tathagata’s bodily activity was taught, ten thousand people aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi, and eight thousand bodhisattvas attained patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas.

The devas, asuras, and people of the world praised Vajrapani the Guhyaka: “Excellent! Excellent!”

Heavenly music sounded without being played, and celestial flowers rained down from the sky.

The Blessed One placed his right hand upon the crown of Vajrapani the Guhyaka’s head and praised him, saying: “Excellent! Excellent! You have skillfully explained the essential mystery of the Tathagata’s body in this manner. What Vajrapani has proclaimed is no different from the Buddha’s teaching.”

Vajrapani the Guhyaka said to Bodhisattva Tranquil Resolve: “What is the essential mystery of the Tathagata’s speech?

Venerable Tranquil Resolve! From the night when the Tathagata attained supreme perfect enlightenment until the time when he enters nirvana without remainder, throughout that interval the Tathagata utters a single letter, yet thereby he is able to proclaim, expound, and distinguish all boundless meanings and principles, teaching all dharmas everywhere for innumerable hundreds of millions of years.

Why is this so?

The Tathagata constantly abides in samadhi.

The True and Perfect Tathagata neither exhales nor inhales, neither deliberates nor reflects, has nothing to do, and entertains no conception.

Although his mouth proclaims the teaching, the Tathagata remains without thought or activity.

The Tathagata’s activity is neither action nor non-action; it is without words or speech and does not conceive that there is any person.

All the transcendent samadhis and meditative attainments taught by the Blessed One are distinguished and expounded by means of words and letters.

All beings individually think: “The Tathagata is teaching the sutras and Dharma for my sake.”

The Tathagata utters a single sound that pervades all the thoughts and reflections of every being, and there is no one who is not delighted by it.

The Tathagata’s voice possesses sixty distinct qualities of sound: an auspicious sound, a gentle sound, a pleasing sound, a pure and delightful sound, a sound free from defilement, a clear and radiant sound, a subtle and wondrous sound, a distinctly audible sound, an undisturbed sound, an unclamorous sound, the sound of a teacher, a sound that is not harsh, a sound that is not coarse, a wholesome and agreeable sound, a serene and dignified sound, a harmonious and gracious sound, a sound that accords with the mind and the proper occasion, a joyful sound, a sound that inspires affection and peace, a sound free from affliction, an upright sound, a discerning sound, an intimate sound, a gratifying sound, a gladdening sound, a gentle and instructive sound, a lucid sound, a diligent sound,

a patient sound, a loud and clear sound, a resonant sound that dispels impurity, a sound like a lion’s roar, a sound like a dragon’s bellow, a sound like beneficent rain, a sound like rolling thunder, a sound like Chandala music, a sound like the cry of the luan bird, a sound like the call of an eagle, a sound like the cry of a crane, a sound like that of the kivika bird, a sound like the voice of a parrot, a sound like a thunderbolt, an unfailing sound, a sound free from violence, a sound that enters into every resonance, a sound never uttered at an improper time, an undiminished sound, an unafraid sound, a joyous sound, a fluent sound, a sound of moral discipline, a sweet sound, a progressive sound, an all-pervading sound, a complete sound, a sound whose faculties are unimpaired,

a sound that is neither frivolous nor hurried, a non-abiding sound, a sound that resonates throughout every assembly, and a sound that proclaims all virtues.

These are the sixty qualities of the Tathagata’s voice.

The Tathagata’s voice pervades the Buddha-worlds throughout the ten directions and delights the minds of all beings.

The Tathagata does not entertain the thought: “For the sake of beings, I shall orally proclaim the discourses in prose, discourses combining prose and verse, discourses in verse, accounts of former births, accounts of past events, spontaneous utterances, discourses on causes and conditions, extensive discourses, accounts of unprecedented events, parables, treatises, and predictions, disseminating them far and near so that beings may understand, and proclaiming the meaning of the Dharma to instruct and transform them.”

Furthermore, within the various assemblies, the True and Perfect Tathagata proclaims the meaning of the Dharma. Gathered near the Buddha are communities of bhiksus, bhiksunis, laymen of pure faith, laywomen of pure faith, devas, nagas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans. According to the capacities of those in the assembly, the vigor of their practice, and the dharmas they favor, he causes them to enter the path. Because they enter the path in accord with their capacities, when one seeks for the beings, one clearly knows that there is no person, yet he teaches and transforms them.

Those beings think to themselves that the sound issues from the Tathagata’s mouth.

The Tathagata does not separately teach the Dharma to each of them; rather, according to the differences in their minds and in language appropriate to each occasion, every one of them hears the Dharma and attains awakening. This is called the mystery of the Tathagata’s speech.

Venerable Tranquil Resolve! The mental activities of innumerable beings cannot be reckoned. Their languages number as many as eighty-four thousand. The Tathagata guides those inferior beings, darkened by ignorance, into his true Dharma so that they attain awakening.

Moreover, the mental activities of beings are immeasurable.

Whether beings are dominated by lust, anger, delusion, or an equal share of these, the Tathagata enters among them at the appropriate time to rescue them and enable them to attain non-abiding. Yet the Tathagata entertains no thought of entering among beings, distinguishing for them the karmic actions of transgression and merit, or employing skillful means to teach each of them a different Dharma.

Beings are boundless and cannot be counted or measured, and their activities are not alike. Through excellent skillful means, the Tathagata proclaims manifold categories of Dharma.

The Tathagata’s teachings enter and pervade their minds. In accordance with their original practices, he proclaims the work of the path so that they all gain understanding and enter the path. This is called the essential mystery of the Tathagata.

There may be bodhisattvas who enter into the essential mystery of the Tathagata, yet, not understanding it, they suppose that the True and Perfect Tathagata expounds the conditioned gateway. In truth, however, all the Tathagata’s Dharma is unconditioned.

Furthermore, the Tathagata proclaims a single sound.

When sentient beings conceive that speech truly exists, they merely recollect and delight in the sound of the Tathagata, while falsely imagining the place from which it is spoken.

One should not hold such a conception. Rather, one should know that the mouth of the Tathagata is forever without speech.

Why is this?

Some sentient beings hear the Tathagata’s voice issuing from the mark of the white curl between his eyebrows, yet others believe it comes from the crown of his head. Some perceive his hair, knowing it to be azure in color, standing out against the sky, and his eyes to be exceedingly radiant and beautiful.

No one is capable of gazing closely upon the Tathagata.

The reason these features are manifested for them to see is to eliminate their errors and cast off envious and harmful thoughts. If they see his neck, shoulders, or arms, their hidden afflictions are removed. If they see his fingers or flanks, or praise him from his back down to his feet, or see his abdomen, navel, hidden organ, knees, or calves, their anger comes to an end; through this, they may also acquire excellent marks surpassing those of the world.

Some contemplate the Tathagata, the Most True One, and hear the Tathagata’s voice. According to whether their faculties are dull or sharp, according to their inclinations, and according to how they ought to be liberated, he instructs and transforms them.

The Tathagata expounds his voice to teach sentient beings, causing them all to enter the path.

Even so, the Tathagata entertains no thought or conception.

O Tich Y! It is like a musical instrument whose tones have been tuned: when struck by the hand, it produces melodious, clear, and graceful music. Yet it is not the instrument itself that creates those sounds. Beautiful sounds arise entirely through the convergence of conditions.

So too, the words of the Tathagata awaken and transform the minds of sentient beings; it is on their account that the teaching is proclaimed.

When the Tathagata expounds the Dharma to those sentient beings, he has no partiality. Its extraordinary and wondrous results arise entirely from the practices established through past conditions.

The Tathagata’s lofty and peerless excellence among sentient beings derives from those extraordinary and wondrous causes established in the past.

O Tich Y! It is like a loud cry whose echo travels far. That echo abides neither within, nor without, nor in between.

So too, the Tathagata produces sounds that awaken and transform the minds of sentient beings. Those words and verbal teachings do not issue from the body, nor do they issue from the mind; they come neither from within, nor from without, nor from in between.

It is like a wish-fulfilling jewel in the great ocean whose radiance brings satisfaction to everyone. If that jewel is placed atop a banner and illuminates an entire city, it manifests precious objects and useful articles in accordance with whatever everyone seeks and desires. Yet that jewel entertains no thought or conception.

So too, the Tathagata, whose precious mind is pure and who holds aloft the banner of great compassion, responds everywhere according to the faculties of sentient beings, causing them all to awaken and understand. Although he manifests instruction and transformation in this way, he entertains no thought or conception.

This is the essential secret of the Tathagata’s proclamation of the teaching.”

The Secret-Trace Vajra-Wielder then said to Bodhisattva Tich Y, “As I contemplate all throughout the heavens and the world, I see that Mara kings, Brahmas, sramanas, brahmins, devas, and human beings are all unable to measure the sounds and words proclaimed by the Tathagata.

Why is this?

I myself recall that in the past, when the Blessed One Sakyamuni was dwelling on Vulture Peak, surrounded by a retinue of bodhisattvas, there was a Dharma assembly called the Banner of Pure Sound, established by Bodhisattva Maitreya. The Blessed One extensively bestowed the sound of Dharma upon the entire assembly.

At that time, Mahamaudgalyayana thought, ‘I wish to test how far the Tathagata’s voice carries.’

Thereupon, Mahamaudgalyayana suddenly vanished from his seat and appeared standing atop Mount Sumeru. Yet he still heard the Tathagata’s voice as though it were close before him. He then employed his spiritual powers and flew to the outermost boundary of the trichiliocosm. Standing atop the Great Iron Encircling Mountain at its farthest edge, he still heard the Tathagata’s voice just as before, without any difference; it still seemed close beside him and not far away.

The Tathagata then thought, ‘Mahamaudgalyayana wishes to test the Tathagata’s pure voice. I should aid him by manifesting spiritual power.’

Relying upon the Tathagata’s majestic spiritual power, Mahamaudgalyayana employed his own spiritual powers and flew westward, passing beyond worlds of Buddhas as numerous as the sands of ninety-nine Ganges Rivers.

There was a world there called Banner of Light, where a Buddha named Radiant King Tathagata, the Most True, the Perfectly and Completely Awakened One, was then expounding the Dharma.

Mahamaudgalyayana arrived in that world called Banner of Light, yet he still heard the voice of the Tathagata Sakyamuni as clearly as the speech of a person standing face-to-face with him.

The body of that Buddha Radiant King was forty miles tall. The bodies of the bodhisattvas were twenty miles tall.

The alms bowls of the bodhisattvas were one mile high.

At that time, Mahamaudgalyayana walked around the rim of one of the bowls.

The bodhisattvas addressed Buddha Radiant King:

‘Blessed One! From where has this insect come? It is wearing the robes of a sramana and walking upon the rim of the bowl.’

Radiant King Tathagata told those bodhisattvas:

‘Good men! Take care not to give rise to contempt for this worthy one. His name is Mahamaudgalyayana, and among the sravakas in the Dharma assembly of Buddha Sakyamuni in the Saha world, he is foremost in spiritual powers.’

Buddha Radiant King said to Mahamaudgalyayana:

‘The bodhisattvas and sravakas in my land see that your body is small and short, and so they have given rise to contempt. You should manifest your spiritual powers while relying upon the majestic virtue of Buddha Sakyamuni.’

Mahamaudgalyayana left the rim of the bowl, approached Buddha Radiant King, bowed his head at the Buddha’s feet, circumambulated him seven times, and then said:

‘Blessed One! May I now sit here cross-legged in this body?’

The Buddha said:

‘Do as you wish.’

Mahamaudgalyayana immediately soared into the sky to a height of ten billion zhang, manifested a precious couch, and seated himself cross-legged upon it.

From that precious couch hung hundreds of millions of thousands of millions of strands of jeweled necklaces. Every jewel upon every strand emitted a hundred thousand rays of light. Within every ray of light was a precious lotus. Upon every precious lotus appeared Buddha Sakyamuni, seated and proclaiming the Dharma in a pure voice identical to that of Buddha Sakyamuni himself.

After manifesting these spiritual powers, Mahamaudgalyayana returned before Buddha Radiant King.

The bodhisattvas there experienced something unprecedented and addressed the Buddha:

‘Blessed One! For what reason has Mahamaudgalyayana come to this world called Banner of Light?’

The Buddha told those bodhisattvas:

‘Because he wished to know how far the voice of Buddha Sakyamuni carries, he flew here.’

Buddha Radiant King said to Mahamaudgalyayana:

‘You should not attempt to test the voice of the Tathagata, the Most True One.

‘The Tathagata’s voice is limitless and knows neither distance nor proximity. In wishing to know its bounds, you have committed a grave error.

‘Even if you were to employ your spiritual powers and travel ceaselessly westward for more kalpas than the sands of the Ganges, you still could not know the limits of the Tathagata’s voice.

‘The voices of the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, extend immeasurably far; they are supremely transcendent, beyond measure, and incomparable.’

Mahamaudgalyayana prostrated himself and repented, saying:

‘Blessed One! It is indeed so. I truly lack wisdom. The Buddha’s voice is immeasurable, yet I was so obstinate as to give rise to the desire to determine the limits of its distance and proximity.’

Buddha Radiant Light King said to Mahamaudgalyayana:

“You have traveled exceedingly far, passing beyond ninety-nine Ganges-sands of worlds to arrive in this realm.”

Mahamaudgalyayana said:

“World-Honored One! It is very far indeed. My body is now utterly exhausted, and I am unable to return.”

The Buddha said:

“What do you think? Do you suppose that you reached this place through your own spiritual power?

“You should not entertain such a notion. You should know that it was through the majestic virtue of Shakyamuni Buddha that you were able to come here.

“You must bow from afar to Shakyamuni Buddha. That Buddha’s spiritual might will carry you back to your native land.

“If you were to rely upon your own spiritual power, even if you traveled for an entire kalpa, you would still be unable to return. By the time you arrived, you would no longer be able to witness Shakyamuni Buddha’s entry into nirvana.

“What do you think? Do you know in which direction you must travel to return? Do you know in which direction your native Saha world lies?”

Mahamaudgalyayana replied:

“World-Honored One! I have lost all sense of direction and truly do not know where my native land lies or in which direction it is.”

The Buddha taught:

“Shakyamuni Buddha is in the east.”

At that very moment, Mahamaudgalyayana faced east, bowed reverently from afar to Shakyamuni Buddha, then knelt with palms joined and spoke this verse:

Honored One of gods and humans,

Your majestic virtue is lofty and immense;

Gods and humans all revere you.

Please bestow your compassionate mercy upon me.

The Buddha’s voice resounds throughout the immeasurable;

The Buddha’s wisdom is without bounds.

Please reveal the Saha world,

For I wish to return to my native land.

At that time on Vulture Peak, Shariputra and the others heard Mahamaudgalyayana chanting this verse and were all greatly astonished.

Ananda stepped forward and addressed the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Who is chanting this verse of homage to the World-Honored One?”

The Buddha said:

“Ananda! It is Mahamaudgalyayana, who is now in the Radiant Banner World of Tathagata Radiant Light King, the Worthy and Perfectly Enlightened One, ninety-nine Ganges-sands of worlds west of this realm. He wishes to return here and is therefore chanting this verse of homage.”

Ananda again asked:

“World-Honored One! For what reason did Mahamaudgalyayana go to that Radiant Banner World?”

The Buddha said:

“Ananda! Wait until Mahamaudgalyayana returns, and then you may ask him about it.”

The entire assembly addressed the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! We wish to see the Radiant Banner World and Tathagata Radiant Light King, the Worthy and Perfectly Enlightened One. We also wish to see Mahamaudgalyayana traveling in that realm.”

Knowing the assembly’s earnest longing, the Buddha immediately emitted from the white urna between his brows a great ray of light called Ju Shou. It shone through ninety-nine Ganges-sands of worlds and reached the Radiant Banner World. The entire assembly saw the Radiant Banner World and Tathagata Radiant Light King, the Worthy One.

When Mahamaudgalyayana saw the Buddha’s ray of light, he immediately prostrated himself in reverence.

From afar, the World-Honored Shakyamuni instructed Mahamaudgalyayana to follow that ray of light back to his native land.

Following the Buddha’s ray of light, Mahamaudgalyayana returned to Vulture Peak in an instant. He bowed at the Buddha’s feet, circumambulated him seven times, then knelt with palms joined and, repentant and reproaching himself, said:

“World-Honored One! I was foolish and deluded. The Tathagata’s voice cannot be measured, yet I wished to test it. I traveled on and on, exceedingly far away, but wherever I went, I still heard the Tathagata’s voice exactly as though it were close beside me, without any difference.

“The Tathagata’s voice is truly lofty and boundless.”

The Buddha said:

“It is exactly as you say. There is nothing to which the vast reach of the Tathagata’s voice can be compared.

“To seek to know how near or far the Tathagata’s voice resounds is like trying to measure space in order to discover its boundary.

“Just as space pervades everywhere without limit, so too does the Tathagata’s voice resound everywhere without bounds.”

“O Tranquil Resolve! While this chapter concerning Mahamaudgalyayana’s departure and return was being taught, ten thousand people in that Dharma assembly generated the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi.

“This is the Tathagata’s secret speech.

“O Tranquil Resolve! What do you think? Can the thoughts of all sentient beings be known?”

Bodhisattva Tranquil Resolve said: “The thoughts and conceptions of even one person are difficult to delimit. Even if all sentient beings throughout the trichiliocosm were to spend an entire kalpa calculating their number, they still could not know it. How much less could they know the thoughts and conceptions of all sentient beings!

“O Tranquil Resolve! The thoughts of all sentient beings are limitless in this way; how much more so is the nature of sentient beings’ minds, which has no form and cannot be illustrated by analogy.”

At that time, Vajra-Wielder Secret Traces spoke this verse:

“All beings in the great trichiliocosm,

Even if all were caused to become pratyekabuddhas,

Could not know, throughout an entire kalpa,

The thoughts of a single person.

All thoughts and conceptions,

The Buddha clearly knows them all;

With a mind free from conception,

The Buddha knows every thought.

According to sentient beings’ thoughts,

The Buddha expounds the scriptures;

That voice arises within the mind

And proclaims the Dharma of the Way.

Just as all sentient beings

Conceive the various names and forms,

So does a single pore of the Buddha

Emit radiant light.

As numerous as the names, forms, and thoughts

Of all sentient beings,

The teachings voiced by the Buddha

Surpass the number of their conceptions.

The Buddha proclaims them all,

Using illustrations to explain their thoughts;

That voice never ceases,

And the Buddha’s words have no limit.

Who can delight in words

That speak of neither form nor speech?

Where there is no form, there is no speech;

Formless sensory objects are extinguished.

If sensory objects were without form,

None could ever be apprehended;

Because sensory objects have no form,

Ultimately they cannot be apprehended.

Though words are spoken, they are not real,

Being neither within nor without;

Defilements are the same as empty space,

And thus are called neither inward nor outward.

Words cannot be apprehended,

Yet the Buddha speaks throughout the ten directions;

Defilements too are limitless—

Herein is their establishment.

The superior, middling, and inferior speech

Of all sentient beings

Is without bodily, verbal, or mental karma,

Neither rejected nor grasped.

It is like the performance

Of the music of the gods:

Though without bodily or verbal action,

Its harmonious sounds pervade everywhere.

The minds of sentient beings are likewise,

Primordially pure in this way;

The Buddha bestows teachings upon them all,

Yet the Buddha’s mind entertains no conception.

Just as an echo follows a sound,

Being neither within nor without,

So too are the Buddha’s spoken words,

Neither within nor without.

Free from thought, like a wondrous jewel,

The Buddha’s words adorn sentient beings;

The Buddha’s words are free from delusion

And benefit all living beings.”

Vajra-Wielder Secret Traces said to Bodhisattva Tranquil Resolve: “This is the essential secret of the Tathagata’s speech.

“Furthermore, as an essential secret of the Tathagata’s speech, he teaches the Dharma and transforms sentient beings in accordance with their voices.

“Whatever kinds of beings there may be in this great trichiliocosm, the Tathagata, the Worthy One, proclaims teachings to them according to their modes of speech, using innumerable appellations to teach them sincerely. This is called suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. It is called the protection of the earth spirits.

“The Buddha’s mind is steadfast; herein lies his original intent.

“The mantra is:

A bi a ba mau le, gia ha ha na di, kha ca uu dau.

“This mantra protects and sustains all beings; therefore it is called suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

“In empty space, all the gods praised these words and together proclaimed this mantra:

Huot tri, a huot tri, a huot tra ca di, a hoa ni ne le.

“This mantra safeguards all beings; therefore it is called suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

“The gods of the Heaven of the Four Great Kings then proclaimed this mantra:

Y ne di ne, da be da da be, duy lo.

“This mantra saves all sentient beings; therefore it is called the Dharma of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.”

The devas of the Trayastrimsa Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Kỳ hồi chuyển, quán tập, chủ diệt tận, vi tận bất tương cử yếu.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Yama Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Thủ lê đạo la tư, hòa lê đạo la tê tuy tà, đạo tê tuy tà bị hòa ni.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Tusita Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Độc phạm diện xúc, hồi chuyển tích súc nghiệp.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Delight in Transformations pronounced this mantra:

Sở độ câu sở độ, hộ sở độ, chủ độ nữ.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Freely Enjoying the Transformations of Others pronounced this mantra:

A hô sự nghiệp hô, hòa nê di, a la ni hàm.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The Brahma devas pronounced this mantra:

Hữu sự nghiệp, sự nghiệp chủng, nhơn duyên thọ dĩ nhơn duyên độ.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Brahma Body Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Thanh minh, tạo thanh tịnh, thanh tịnh phong, động thanh tịnh.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Full Brahma Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Vô cực để, câu tương khứ, đạo ngự chủ, niệm kiên yếu.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Brahma Transcendence Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Hòa na hòa na tán đề, hòa na ha ha na, hòa na câu ma na.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Great Brahma Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Mộc mật, mộc mật tiên bỉ diệc tiên, ấn thị.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Radiant Dhyana Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Y hài hài, tương hài khứ thân cận.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Lesser Light pronounced this mantra:

Thị thủ khứ, bất tương khứ, bất sử khứ, vô sở chí.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Immeasurable Light pronounced this mantra:

Quán tập, câu cung tập tập diệt tận, tập vô lượng.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Light-Sound pronounced this mantra:

Dĩ đoạn chung, tự tại đoạn thuận tùng hòa, thường thanh tịnh.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Limited Purity pronounced this mantra:

Sở chí thu, sở khả quy, cận sở đáo, dĩ cận sở đáo.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Lesser Purity pronounced this mantra:

Thanh tịnh, thanh tịnh thị, tịnh phục tịnh, quy thanh tịnh.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Immeasurable Purity pronounced this mantra:

Vô ngã thị, vô ngô ngã thị, phi cống cao quy tự đại.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Pure and Incomparable Heaven pronounced this mantra:

Giải thoát dĩ độ, tích giải độ, bổn cận giải.

This mantra safeguards all beings.

The devas of the Heaven of Extensive Fruition and the devas of the Heaven of Compassionate Governance pronounced this mantra:

Dĩ vô tác, vô sở tác, trừ sở tác, sở tác cứu cánh.

This mantra safeguards all beings.”

Vajrapani, the Vajra-Wielding Powerful One of the Esoteric Treasury, said: “This is called suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. It should therefore be reverently practiced and used to guide and transform beings, so that, in accordance with the disciplinary teachings, the infinitely subtle and wondrous workings of karma may be revealed.

The devas Free from Compassion, the devas of Provisional Agency, the devas of Excellent Manifestation, and the devas of Ultimate Attainment—within the Pure Abodes there are four heavens: the devas who Practice Resolute Understanding in the One Ultimate Realm, the devas of True Ultimate Attainment, the devas Free from Anger, and the devas Free from Intimacy.

O Tranquil Intent! Those devas thus established sincere vows to benefit sentient beings.

The yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, and the flower-bearing spirits each have their own distinct expressions and teachings.

In this Jambudvipa there are one thousand great kingdoms, and each great kingdom has its own great army. The languages of all human beings and nonhuman beings differ; their sounds are not the same, and their words vary in lightness and gravity. Even among the aquatic creatures and water deities in the seas, their languages differ, their dispositions and conduct are not the same, and their voices also vary.

The Tathagata, the Supremely True One, enters among them in accordance with their languages and voices, then instructs and transforms them, establishing them in truth and righteousness.

O Tranquil Intent! In this great trichiliocosm there are eighty-four hundred-thousand kotis of kinds of sentient beings. Their languages all differ. Yet, when all are reckoned, they return to a single meaning: supreme and true wisdom, utter sincerity, and freedom from anger.

These are the Tathagata’s essential secret words.

O Tranquil Intent! The words of the Tathagata resolve the web of doubts of all sentient beings and free them from all fetters.

Throughout the ten directions, the kinds of sentient beings are more numerous than the particles of earth in the great earth, and they create diverse karma. The Tathagata enables them all to exhaust their offenses and attain human bodies. Through the human body, wisdom, eloquence, and courageous power arise from thought, as they did in the Venerable Sariputra.

The words of the Tathagata cannot be measured or limited, and nothing can serve as an analogy for them.”

When this essential secret teaching concerning the words of the Tathagata was proclaimed, twenty-two thousand sentient beings generated the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi.

The entire assembly experienced what they had never experienced before. All rejoiced, rose from their seats, bowed in homage, and faithfully accepted the teaching.