大寶積經

The Tathagata has exhausted the bounds of birth,

His great compassion shelters all the worlds.

Dharma King, Most Excellent, Honored among Humans,

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

Measureless and boundless great bodhisattvas,

And other celestial hosts of majestic virtue,

All hold splendid parasols in the sky,

While this entire great earth trembles.

Who in the past, before the Tathagata,

Ever cultivated all wholesome dharmas,

With an impartial mind, O Great Compassionate One?

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

Who in the past made offerings to the Buddhas,

And rejoiced upon hearing this Dharma?

Supreme Guide, Honored among Humans,

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

The Buddha’s voice delights the assembly,

Wondrous as the call of the king of geese;

Naturally producing measureless harmonious tones—

We long to know why you emit this radiance.

Measureless kotis of verses of praise

Exhort, extol, and joyfully accord with your words;

Like the melodious call of the kalavinka bird—

We long to know why you emit this radiance.

The voice proclaiming Dharma resounds like thunderous drums,

Heard throughout boundless thousands of kotis of realms;

Whether stern in compassion or gentle in speech,

Why do you emit this golden radiance?

You clearly know arising and non-arising, ending and the unending;

You know the nature of the eye is detached, neither coming nor going.

The Dharma’s ambrosia illuminates the world—

Why do you emit this golden radiance?

You know the eye’s arising and activity are ever empty and quiescent,

Neither going nor coming, abiding nowhere,

Like a mirage, a reflection in water, or a bubble—

For what cause do you reveal a smile?

The faculties of ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, odors, tastes, objects of touch, and dharmas;

Even sounds, names, and all such things—

Know that all of them are likewise.

The Buddha’s vajra body is ever indestructible,

Replete with hundreds of thousands of excellent marks;

Though without any mechanism, the body moves—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

The thighs are full and rounded, the heels elongated;

The abdomen is unobtrusive, like a lion’s;

The navel is deep and beautiful, the waist full and rounded—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

The golden body is pure and free from defilement;

Each hair is deep blue,

Curling to the right and upward, its tip exquisitely fragrant—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

The beautiful, perfectly proportioned body ever abides,

Like the king of nyagrodha trees;

Adorned with every merit and virtue,

Its voice brings joy and delight to the assembly.

The arms are long and rounded, the shoulders beautiful;

The neck is slender and full, its lines clearly visible.

You travel throughout boundless hundreds of thousands of realms,

Showing beings the paths of right and wrong.

The teeth are pure white, translucent as snowy jewels;

The broad, long tongue covers the entire face;

The cheeks are leonine, the nose straight and long—

All born of pure compassion and skillful means.

The fragrance of blue lotuses issues from the Buddha’s mouth,

And the scent of sandalwood pervades the Buddha’s body;

In the past, you extensively cultivated loving-kindness,

And pure intentions continued without interruption.

The soles of the Buddha’s feet are level, full, and beautiful;

When they tread upon the earth, it neither bends nor sinks.

Like the gait of a royal elephant or a lion,

You transcend all the worlds.

The marks of the thousand-spoked wheels are beautiful and majestic,

Their excellent radiant lines ever clearly manifest.

All your deeds benefit living beings;

Whoever sees them gives rise to faithful reverence.

From each finger stream a thousand rays of light,

Illuminating boundless Buddha lands everywhere.

Because in the past you diligently cultivated wholesome practices,

You obtained these magnificent marks.

You have perfected a physical body without equal,

And a countenance of surpassing majesty;

Your miraculous transformations benefit all the worlds—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

The calves are rounded and straight like those of the king of deer;

The body does not stoop, but stands like a lion.

You appear as a radiant lamp for the world—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

The concealed male organ is like that of a royal stallion, undefiled by dust;

The palms are full and level, and the hands reach below the knees.

Rare and Most Excellent Teacher of Devas and Humans,

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

From the Buddha’s body streams boundless radiance,

Beautiful and quiescent, yet ever shining.

The Buddha’s mind is always pure,

Expounding boundless discourses.

Those who cling to annihilationism or eternalism

Cannot purely cultivate such a Dharma.

Those able to abandon all extreme views

Will swiftly perfect the Buddha’s pure body.

The drums of heaven and thunderclouds resound afar;

The calls of geese and kalavinka birds ring clear;

Celestial music sounds in thousands of myriad forms—

We long to know why you emit this radiance.

With a single voice, the Guide proclaims the Dharma,

Causing those who have broken the precepts to end their faults.

The Tathagata teaches the Dharma in a melodious voice;

All his teachings are exceedingly profound and rare.

The kingly white urna between the brows

Illuminates hundreds of thousands of Buddha lands.

The beautiful blue eyes resemble azure waters;

The crown of the head rises beyond all sight.

The forty teeth are white, close-set, and even,

Like precious, translucent crystal.

All were born of measureless pure karma—

We long to know why you now reveal a smile.

The Tathagata’s body is perfected in merit and virtue,

Endowed with boundless subtle and wondrous forms.

You manifest rare and beautiful radiance—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

Most Excellent One of Great Compassion, Honored among Two-Footed Beings,

You clearly understand the aspirations of living beings

And have attained great, unobstructed eloquence—

We long to know why you now reveal a smile.

The Tathagata has reached the other shore,

Fully endowed with the three knowledges and six superknowledges.

You manifest boundless pure radiance—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

Throughout measureless kalpas in the past,

The Buddha abided in subtle and wondrous samadhis,

Knowing the bounds of the eye’s arising and its cessation—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

Concerning the past, future, and present,

Your pure wisdom is unobstructed and inconceivable—

Pray tell us why you now reveal a smile.

At that time, in the midst of the great assembly, the Blessed One stroked the head of the youth Moonlight with his golden hand and spoke these verses:

Youth, listen attentively;

I now entrust to you

This Dharma of bodhi,

The Sutra of the Appearance of Light.

In the later evil age,

When the Dharma is about to perish,

You must, for the sake of living beings,

Reveal and expound it.

With the Buddha-eye,

I behold the future.

Regarding this exceedingly profound sutra,

This subtle and wondrous Dharma,

Whether beings delight in it or not,

I clearly know them all.

If there are living beings

Whose aspiration is to seek the Buddha Way

And who constantly recollect the Buddhas,

You should transmit this sutra to them.

If they harbor reverence

Yet delight in bustle and commotion,

Remain engrossed in sleep,

And do not delight in this sutra,

Though they may have renounced the household life

Within the Buddha’s Dharma,

They nevertheless take no delight

In the Dharma of nirvana.

Such foolish people

Consume offerings in vain.

Though they hear that conditioned dharmas

Contain many faults,

They still cling to the world

And never become afraid.

Such foolish people

Are reproached by the wise.

Though they wear Dharma robes,

They possess no wisdom.

The Buddha has taught

Words of truth;

But those without wisdom, upon hearing them,

Cannot faithfully accept them.

Do not dwell together

With such foolish people.

If people, upon hearing

This excellent Dharma,

Give rise to no joy

And feel no delight,

Such people

Are reproached by me.

Though they have obtained human bodies,

Their lives still pass in vain.

If people, upon hearing

This exceedingly profound Dharma,

Give rise to joyful hearts

And delight in it greatly,

They have formerly

Encountered the Buddhas

And will certainly attain

Unsurpassed bodhi.

If foolish people

Are harmed by evil views,

Their wisdom-life is severed,

And they become remote from bodhi.

Therefore, one must

Abandon evil teachers and companions,

And draw near to and honor

People of luminous wisdom.

Throughout all the world

There is much evil and wrongdoing;

Living beings continually fall

Into the three evil destinies.

All this arises

From delusion born of ignorance.

Following delusion, they revolve in samsara

And attain no freedom.

They cast aside the true Dharma

And commit unlawful deeds.

Therefore, one must distance oneself

From foolish and petty people.

They are like a person driving a cart

Who breaks its axle himself.

Having created evil karma,

They are born in hell.

Their mouths utter evil words,

Constantly harming themselves,

Like one holding a sharp axe

And hewing one’s own body.

They do not understand that dharmas

Are produced through causes and conditions;

They undergo retribution according to their karma,

And no one can save them.

Though they draw near to an enlightened teacher

To make that teacher a spiritual friend,

They instead proclaim of themselves:

‘By cultivating emptiness and nonexistence,

I have realized the unconditioned,’

And thereby give rise to the view of annihilation.

They suppose that when the bodily vessel breaks,

The mind also perishes with it.

They delight in speaking words

Polished and ornate,

And become attached to them,

Yet in the end derive no benefit.

Better to be bitten

By a venomous snake and die

Than deliberately become

One who falls into the evil destinies.

A foolish person expounds the Dharma

Destroying their roots of goodness,

Causing countless beings

To fall into the hells.

All of you in this great assembly

Should carefully contemplate

The youth Candraprabha,

Who now stands before the Buddha.

In former times he made

Offerings to countless

Buddhas, Blessed Ones,

Numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

Steadfastly cultivating the practice,

He sought unsurpassed wisdom.

His mind is not attached

To any of the realms.

He knows the arising and limits of the eye,

And is ultimately purified,

Free from all conceptual proliferation,

And utterly without attachment.

Wishing to benefit

Countless sentient beings,

He expounds the scriptures

And manifests immeasurable light.

Foolish people cannot

Cultivate and study this Dharma;

They scrutinize practitioners,

Seeking out their faults.

Therefore, one should abandon

Such foolish people,

And should not associate with them

While cultivating and studying this Dharma.

Foolish people

Delight in disputes

And cannot diligently cultivate

The practice free from contention.

People such as these

Have no harmonious intent;

Therefore, one should not

Revere or praise them.

Foolish people

Are indolent and negligent;

Through bodily, verbal, and mental karma,

They constantly commit evil deeds.

They possess neither pure precepts,

Wisdom, nor extensive learning;

They constantly dwell upon objects of desire

And delight in bustling places.

You should observe

Such foolish people:

Their lineage and their persons

Are all base and evil.

Wrathful, vindictive, and violent,

They are ugly in appearance.

Although born as human beings,

Their condition is always lowly.

Clinging to the notion of self,

They are deluded about the truth.

They lack the wisdom

To distinguish wholesome words.

When they hear that the nature of phenomena is empty,

They neither delight in nor accept it.

The Tathagata, the Blessed One,

Long ago became free from

All the verbal conventions

And conceptual proliferations of the world.

Yet ordinary beings here

Are deeply attached to them,

And throughout their entire lives

They never comprehend this.

Though they praise observance of the precepts,

They do not practice the holy life.

Their mouths speak in accord with the Dharma,

But their bodies act contrary to the Dharma.

They claim to uphold the Vinaya,

Yet continually act against the Vinaya.

The Buddha instructed his disciples

To wear robes of subdued colors,

But those who break the precepts

While wearing these robes

Only increase their arrogance

And heedlessness.

They consume offerings

As though swallowing red-hot flames.

Having left their households,

They no longer enjoy the five sensual pleasures;

Yet within the Buddha-Dharma,

They also find no sublime joy.

They delight in miscellaneous practices

And do not leave the two extremes.

Whatever they desire

Is wholly impure.

Such foolish people

Amid the great assembly

Are no different from jackals and foxes

Entering a pride of lions.

Though they speak of teachings

So tranquil as these,

They still do not clearly understand

The true meaning of emptiness.

When praised by others,

Their hearts become arrogant.

They do not remember the Great Teacher

With shame, humility, and modesty.

Receiving impure gifts,

They regard them as precious jewels;

Joyfully they seize and retain them,

Their minds never relinquishing them even briefly.

These lowly people,

Though they have gone forth,

Maintain deportment,

And carry robes and bowls,

Possess only the outward appearance,

Without genuine wisdom.

Though they have shaved their heads,

They have not abandoned evil thoughts.

Falling into inverted views,

They oppose the Dharma of the ascetic.

They lose the path to nirvana,

Which is quiescent and unconditioned,

And also fail to attain

The fruits realized by ascetics.

Their ignorance and afflictions

Do not diminish in the slightest.

They wander through villages,

Proclaiming themselves tranquil.

Foolish and without wisdom,

They do not know the right path.

Whatever their hearts desire

Is nothing but unwholesome.

Seeking gain and support,

They dwell in monasteries,

But refuse to cultivate

The true causes of nirvana.

Torpid and fond of sleep,

They wish only to keep the body comfortable,

And always delight in practicing

Such things as these.

Though dwelling in temples and hermitages

For many years,

Because of their inverted views

They lose the path to nirvana

And can never attain

The fruits of the ascetic path.

They destroy right view

And violate the prohibitive precepts.

They delight in fine clothing

To adorn their bodies,

And toward sensual pleasures

They constantly give rise to craving and defilement.

When entering towns and settlements,

They display an arrogant demeanor,

Indulge their bodily actions,

And do not maintain proper deportment.

Or, entering towns and settlements,

They walk about announcing:

“In that monastery,

Within that mountain cave,

Everyone should know

That this is where I dwell.”

Walking slowly with downcast eyes,

They move and stand with serene composure,

Uttering strange falsehoods

And displaying the appearance of arhats,

Causing the white-robed laity

To tell one another:

“That forest-dwelling bhiksu

Is truly a holy being.”

Or, while staying in a monastery

Or forest retreat,

When they see someone approach,

They immediately point out:

“Here is where I dwell,

Practicing walking meditation day and night.”

Or they spread soft grass

To make a place for tranquil sitting.

Or they enter a settlement

And visit the homes of the white-robed laity,

Falsely displaying solicitous concern

And asking after their well-being.

They discuss kings and bandits

And other worldly affairs.

Or, driven by a defiled mind,

In the presence of women

They employ many expedient means

To praise their own virtues:

“I am a field of merit

For the people of the world.

I relinquished a royal throne

To go forth and cultivate the path;

The palace attendants and maidens

Were all reborn in heavenly realms.”

Upon hearing such words,

People become still more reverent

And make offerings of every kind—

Clothing, food, and drink:

“Please have compassion upon us

And visit our home often.”

Greedily craving delicious flavors,

They do not recognize their transgressions.

Harmed by Mara,

They are like turtles caught in a net.

Toward the forest-dwelling community,

They arrogantly contend for gain;

They slight and disparage

Diligent bhiksus.

Their minds, deluded by fame and gain,

Grow ever more attached.

For the sake of sustaining their lives,

They constantly practice deception,

Increasing evil karma

Through body, speech, and mind.

If donors

Make offerings with pure minds,

Because of their negligence,

They diminish those donors’ merit.

Such foolish people

Constantly give rise to evil desires;

Their minds will not accept

That the nature of phenomena is empty.

If, within the Buddha-Dharma,

One can free oneself from such faults,

Diligently cultivating without heedlessness,

Attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

Whether faced with gain or loss,

Praise or blame, suffering or happiness,

If worldly conditions cannot move one,

Attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

Contemplate the body as impure,

Regard the five skandhas as poisonous and harmful,

And regard food and drink as medicine for illness;

Attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

Though wearing fine clothing,

Do not give rise to arrogance,

But use it only to cover one’s shame;

Attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

Do not rely proudly on beauty or strength,

And have no greedy attachment to food;

Sustain life only for cultivation,

And attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

Clearly know that all states of existence are empty;

Neither grasp nor reject sensual desire.

Constantly cultivate the practice of empty quiescence,

And attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

A yojana away, beyond the mountains,

Sit alone and cultivate meditation.

Contemplate conditioned phenomena as without self,

And attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

Contemplate the exhaustion and arising limits of the eye,

As well as the characteristics of the eye’s continuous flow.

Diligently cultivate the path of the purified eye,

And attaining this Dharma is not difficult.

The ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and tangibles;

Even sounds and names—

All are likewise.

Among countless bhiksus,

Some are diligent and some are indolent;

All these things must be known.

Those who encounter good or evil companions,

Those who cultivate or do not cultivate,

Those who give rise to faith or disbelief—

All these things must be known.

Those who encounter wholesome or unwholesome friends,

Whether or not they cultivate

The exhaustion of the faculties upon the path—

All these things must be known.

Those who delight in bodhi

For one, two, or three months,

But afterward regress and lose it—

All these things must be known.

If people hear this Dharma

And give rise to delight in it,

Though they may sometimes regress,

They will later regain faith.

If people hear this Dharma

But cannot abandon heedlessness,

They will form the thought:

“This sutra was not spoken by the Buddha.”

If people hear this Dharma

But are seized and controlled by Mara,

Though at first they give rise to faith,

They will later cast it aside.

They do not delight in the true Dharma,

But practice deceit in pursuit of fame and gain.

Traveling among settlements,

They praise and proclaim dharanis,

Samadhis, illuminating retention,

Yet in truth they understand none of them.

Bound by the five sensual pleasures,

They greedily pursue worldly occupations.

Using discriminating words,

They disparage those who cultivate the Dharma of emptiness.

They possess neither mindfulness nor wisdom,

And their entire lives pass in vain.

Foolish people who abandon the Dharma of emptiness

Are thereby breakers of the precepts.

They will fall into the Avici Hell

And will never be reborn in the heavens.

If, within a single instant,

One were to erect a thousand stupas,

It would not equal hearing this sutra

And upholding a verse of four lines.

Offering hundreds of thousands of flower garlands

To the Buddha-Dharma

Would not equal hearing this sutra

And contemplating a verse of four lines.

If someone built jeweled stupas

As numerous as the sands of the Ganges,

It would not equal contemplating

This scripture for a single instant.

Scattering flowers as offerings

Throughout ten billion Buddha-realms

Would not equal contemplating

This scripture for a single instant.

Offering hundreds of billions of kasaya robes

To all the Buddhas

Would not equal contemplating

This scripture for a single instant.

The supreme and purified Buddha-eye

Sees and knows all things.

Those who delight in hearing this sutra

Shall attain the eye of the Buddha.

In the past, countless kalpas ago,

There was a Buddha named Dipankara.

I was then the ascetic Manava,

And brought flowers as an offering.

The Buddha prophesied that I would attain Buddhahood,

Bearing the name Shakyamuni.

I would sit at the place of enlightenment

And expound this scripture.

You were then a young man;

Hearing me receive the prophecy,

You rejoiced and gave rise to faith,

Joined your palms, and made this vow:

“If Manava attains Buddhahood,

I shall assist him in teaching and transforming beings.

When he enters nirvana,

I shall preserve and uphold the treasury of Dharma.”

Just as that Buddha Dipankara

Preached the Sutra of the Manifestation of Light,

Manava and the young man

Both heard and received it at that time.

Long ago, I once

Offered beautiful, fragrant lotus flowers

To Buddha Dipankara.

At that Dharma assembly,

You made such a vow.

During the final age of my Dharma,

You would receive and uphold this scripture.

One whose mind does not become resentful,

But can receive, uphold, read, and recite it,

Is called a great person.

In a future age, you must

Uphold this Dharma that is difficult to hear,

And extensively explain its meaning and purport

For all sentient beings.

In the past, I too,

When the true Dharma was about to perish,

Upheld this Sutra of Manifested Light

And expounded it widely for sentient beings.

Foolish people, failing to cultivate diligently,

Slandered this scriptural Dharma.

Although I heard their disparagement,

I never became troubled or angry.

I constantly cultivated patience,

Bringing benefit to the world.

Through the power of patience, I accomplished

A body adorned with excellent marks.

Young man! You should behold

The wondrous perfection of the Buddha’s body,

Its golden hue utterly pure—

All arose from the power of patience.

When my toe presses upon the earth,

Boundless realms tremble,

Yet sentient beings do not fall—

All this is due to the power of patience.

From a single pore of my body

I emit hundreds of thousands of rays of light,

Purely illuminating all things—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

The fearsome rakshasas

Who drain the vital essence of human beings

Always cherish and revere me—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Those in my retinue

Have skillfully disciplined their minds

And honor the Tathagata—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Hundreds of thousands of kinds of music

Resound throughout the great assembly,

Praising the Buddha’s virtues—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Hundreds of thousands of Dragon Kings,

Terrifying in their wrath and venom,

Rejoice as soon as they behold the Buddha—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Hosts of yakshas and rakshasas,

Bearing hundreds of thousands of flower garlands,

Come together to make offerings to the Buddha—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Throughout immeasurable hundreds of thousands of realms,

The Tathagatas of the present

Praise my virtues—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Eight thousand kumbhandas,

Together with Atavakas,

Scatter flowers as offerings to me—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Six billion kotis

Of yaksha kings and others

Come together to make offerings to me—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

There are also a thousand Dragon Kings,

Manavaka and others,

Who present me with red pearls—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Hundreds of thousands of kumbhandas,

Vairochaka and others,

Offer me incense and flowers—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

The Dragon King who sustains the great earth

Manifests half of his dragon body

And joins his palms in reverence before me—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Hundreds of thousands of kotis

Of Rahu asuras

Make offerings to me with purified minds—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Moonlight, you should behold:

Wherever the Buddha’s light shines,

Suffering ceases and happiness is attained—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Hundreds of thousands of hosts of devas

Scatter celestial flowers as offerings.

They forsake the pleasures of the five desires

And come to dwell near the Tathagata.

Behold the Buddha’s spiritual powers:

His voice expounding generosity and morality

Is heard everywhere—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

His voice expounding the skandhas and dhatus,

And his voice teaching the Four Noble Truths,

Are heard everywhere—

All this is due to the supreme power of patience.

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The ultimate limit of the eye is quiescent;

The limit of arising is also quiescent.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The eye arises through causes and conditions;

It neither comes nor goes.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“Contemplate the quiescence of the eye;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The ultimate limit of the eye is quiescent;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The furthest boundary of the eye is quiescent;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The limit of the eye’s arising is quiescent;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The eye’s flowing through samsara is quiescent;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The eye is unborn and quiescent;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

Through my spiritual powers,

The Dharma is heard being proclaimed from empty space:

“The eye’s cessation is quiescent;

From this, all Buddhas arise.”

The ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, scents, tastes, and tangible objects;

Even sounds and names—

All are likewise.

Greed, anger, delusion, rage, and concealment;

Jealousy, flattery, and deceit;

Haughtiness and arrogance—

When explained extensively, these too are likewise.”

Having heard the Buddha teach this supreme Dharma, the young man Moonlight rejoiced, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha: “Blessed One! Tomorrow I wish to invite the Tathagata and the great assembly to my home to partake of the midday meal. May the Tathagata compassionately accept my invitation.”

The Buddha knew that the young man’s aspiration was pure. The Buddha also knew that this would benefit immeasurable sentient beings. Therefore, out of compassion, the Buddha remained silent, thereby accepting the young man’s invitation.

The young man Moonlight immediately bowed at the Buddha’s feet, circumambulated him three times to the right, and joyfully returned home. Together with his retinue and the devas, dragons, and eight classes of beings, he adorned the city of Rajagriha. At every crossroads, canopies of colored silk were spread out.

These canopies were lofty and broad, covering every place; golden cords were interwoven across them, strands of jewels hung down, and hundreds of thousands of lion-shaped banners and circlets of golden flowers adorned them. There were also extraordinarily rare jeweled flowers intermingled to form garlands: champaka flowers, mucilinda garlands, and immeasurable, innumerable kinds of garlands such as these hung all around within the jeweled canopies.

Every place was magnificently adorned. Seats were arranged within, and precious incense was burned: talishaka incense, tumaga incense, sandalwood incense, and fragrant turmeric incense that delighted the heart. Many kinds of such wondrous fragrances were blended together for use as offerings.

Fragrant water was also sprinkled over all the roads. Beautiful flowers blanketed the ground and filled every place.

Immeasurable multitudes of celestial maidens, asura maidens, and mahoraga maidens, their hearts joyful and wishing to perfect the cause of bodhi, all came together to adorn the great city.

When the adornment of every place in the city was complete and the hour of the midday meal arrived, the young man Moonlight went before the Buddha and said: “May the Blessed One enter the great city for the benefit of sentient beings.”

The Buddha and the great assembly then entered through the city gate.

At the very moment the Buddha set down his foot, the entire ground throughout the city trembled. Hundreds of thousands of millions of worlds throughout the ten directions also trembled. At that time, the blind gained sight, the deaf gained hearing, those who suffered attained happiness, the ugly became beautiful, the poor obtained abundance, those without children gained children, those without clothing gained clothing, those without gold, silver, pearls, and jewels obtained gold, silver, pearls, and jewels, those without relatives gained relatives, and those lacking ornaments obtained ornaments.

There were also many kinds of birds: kujila birds, parrots, peacocks, sharika birds, and kalavinka birds. When these birds beheld the Buddha, they rejoiced and sang forth wondrous sounds. All who heard their songs were delighted.

Through his spiritual power, the Buddha also manifested immeasurable champaka flowering trees. Hundreds of thousands of sentient beings took those pure flowers and various other kinds of incense and scattered them as offerings to the Buddha.

The asura maidens and Maheshvara, holding red pearls and sandalwood powder, joyfully and reverently scattered them over the Buddha.

The asuras and devas held precious parasols of gold and silver and stood in empty space, shading the Tathagata.

The Buddha again employed his spiritual power to manifest immeasurable sandalwood trees, hundreds of thousands of vajra trees, precious vessels, and garments. Trees such as these, immeasurable and boundless, were adorned with precious treasures, their flowers and leaves luxuriant and dense. They were formed from the combined karmic rewards of merit and virtue of all sentient beings. As gentle breezes stirred them, their supremely subtle and wondrous fragrance pervaded immeasurable Buddha lands. Hundreds of thousands of beings scattered offerings before the Buddha.

Immeasurable beings such as these, sentient and insentient alike, were all manifested through the Buddha’s spiritual power.

If anyone had a wish, through that spiritual power everything was fulfilled according to what they desired.

When the Buddha entered the city, the entire assembly heard wondrous and extraordinary voices in the sky. Those voices proclaimed inconceivable things, though no one knew whence they came, and uttered hundreds of thousands of verses to expound the wondrous Dharma.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the utmost limit of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the arising limit of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the boundary of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the quiescence of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the cyclic flow of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the nonexistence of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the non-arising of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

Know that the cessation of greed is ever empty and quiescent;

Realizing that true nature, one attains bodhi.

Anger, delusion, wrath, concealment, envy, and deceit;

Flattery, crookedness, arrogance, pride, and sorrow;

Suffering, its origin, its cessation, the path, and sentient beings;

Boys, girls, and women;

Men, nurture, and the six faculties;

The six sense objects, the four great elements, natures, and phenomena;

The world, the skandha of suffering, the dhatus, and worldly birth;

Sounds, names, and so forth were likewise proclaimed.

The Dharma King expounded these wondrous voices,

And all sentient beings rejoiced.

Having heard them, devas and people of the world

Delighted in abiding in the Tathagata Vehicle.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

The Buddha greatly delights in the power of generosity;

Through the power of generosity, bodhi is attained.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

The Buddha greatly delights in pure morality;

Through the power of pure morality, bodhi is attained.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

The Buddha greatly delights in the practice of patience;

Through the power of patience, bodhi is attained.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

The Buddha greatly delights in the practice of diligence;

Through the power of diligence, bodhi is attained.

When the Blessed One first entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

The Buddha greatly delights in the practice of meditative concentration;

Through the power of meditative concentration, bodhi is attained.

The power of spiritual abilities, merit, virtue, and wisdom;

The power of skillful means, form, and renown;

The power of karma, causes and conditions, faith, and learning;

The power of generosity and the power of quiescence;

The power of discipline, ultimate reality, truth, and goodness;

The power of fearlessness, joy, benefit, and happiness;

Loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity, patience, and freedom from affliction;

Emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness likewise.

The One Possessing the Ten Powers, the Lord of Sages, honored by devas,

Whose virtues and renown are unequaled and immeasurable,

As he first set foot within the city,

Had already benefited many sentient beings.

In the past, throughout the three realms, he cultivated pure karma

And increased the wholesome practices of the devas.

All the worlds revered him;

Hearing the Buddha’s words, all rejoiced.

As the Buddha first set foot within the city,

The city and the great earth all trembled.

All beheld the Buddha’s pure radiance

And, filled with yearning and reverence, rejoiced.

The Blessed One’s entry into the city brought great benefit;

The vast assembly of humans and devas rejoiced.

Throughout the three realms, from the earth to the sky,

All praised the Tathagata for skillfully bringing peace and happiness.

As the wheel-marked sole of the Buddha touched the earth,

Unprecedented pure light shone everywhere.

Throughout the city of Good Horse, wondrous sounds resounded;

The birds in the sky also rejoiced.

There were also assemblies of pure women,

Whose hands and feet bore bracelets, anklets, and jeweled necklaces.

Their many precious ornaments of every kind,

Though not struck, sounded wondrously of themselves.

The women came together and joyfully congratulated one another,

With one voice praising the Supremely Auspicious One.

The blind, the deaf, and the disabled were made whole;

All this was the Buddha’s supreme fruition.

As the Blessed One entered the city, everyone rejoiced;

Devas and humans scattered flowers in offering to the Buddha.

Throughout the sky, wondrous sounds resounded,

And immeasurable devas rejoiced exceedingly.

There were also beings who had lost their reason;

Their madness entirely ceased, and their hearts rejoiced.

Pregnant women whose hearts were fearful

Found peace and joy through the Buddha’s radiance.

There were men and women burdened by shame;

For them he taught the Dharma that frees one from defilements.

All gave rise to pure and joyful hearts

And bowed their heads at the feet of the Muni.

Some sought the Tathagata’s unsurpassed path;

Some sought the Bodhisattva or Sravaka Vehicle.

As though entering a city of the finest sandalwood,

They gazed upon the Honored One’s countenance and rejoiced within themselves.

The Buddha’s wisdom thoroughly knew the practices of every person;

In accord with the world, he brought benefit.

He bestowed the profound wealth of Dharma upon bodhisattvas

And gave supremely wondrous treasures to sentient beings.

When the Blessed One entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One should honor the Buddha.

When the Blessed One entered the city,

A voice in the sky spoke thus:

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One should possess firm faith in the Buddha.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One gains unshakable faith in the Buddha;

Pure faith then continues unbroken

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One gains unshakable faith in the Dharma;

Pure faith then continues unbroken

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One gains unshakable faith in the Sangha;

Pure faith then continues unbroken

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One gains morality free from attachment;

Pure morality then continues unbroken

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One departs from the evil destinies of greed and desire;

One abandons the continuity of greed

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One departs from the evil destinies of anger;

One abandons the continuity of anger

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One departs from the evil destinies of delusion;

One abandons the continuity of delusion

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one contemplates the ultimate limit of the eye,

One attains the wisdom of bodhi;

The wisdom of bodhi continues unbroken

Through contemplating the ultimate limit of the eye.

And so on through the arising limit of the eye,

Its boundary and cyclic flow,

Its quiescence and nonexistence,

Its non-arising and cessation.

Dharma gateways such as these

Are explained in the same way as the ultimate limit of the eye.

If one delights in the ultimate limit of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the arising limit of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the boundary of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the cyclic flow of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the quiescence of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the non-arising of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the nonexistence of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt,

One immediately attains the Buddha’s spiritual powers.

If one delights in the cessation of the eye,

One will forever be free from doubt;

Because one is free from doubt

Because they harbor no doubt,

They immediately attain the Buddha’s supernormal powers.

Ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, fragrances, flavors, and tangibles;

Even sounds and names—

All are likewise.

Knowing that the arising of the eye is boundless,

They bring forth boundless wisdom.

Because their wisdom is boundless,

Their exposition of this Dharma is likewise.

Knowing that the cessation of the eye is boundless,

They encounter no obstruction regarding the eye.

Because they are unobstructed,

They attain the Buddha’s unobstructed wisdom.

Ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, fragrances, flavors, and tangibles;

Even sounds and names—

All are likewise.

When the Blessed One entered the city,

Hundreds of thousands of sentient beings

Heard the Dharma proclaimed from empty space

And had no doubts about the Buddha’s qualities.

Although they might give rise to sensual desire,

They did not impair the Buddha’s wisdom.

Some might give rise to sensual desire

And fall away from the Buddha’s qualities.

Others, though giving rise to sensual desire,

Still sought unsurpassed wisdom,

Diligently cultivated the unique qualities,

And took no delight in the Śrāvaka Vehicle.

Foolish people cultivate meditation,

Delighting in the bliss of meditative concentration;

They then give rise to overweening pride,

Claiming to have attained the fruits of the ascetic life.

Foolish people cultivate meditation

Without wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye;

Though they pass through hundreds of thousands of kalpas,

They still will not attain liberation.

Toward all that arises from craving,

They remain deeply attached.

If one knows that the nature of arising is empty,

One’s vision will always remain pure.

If one cultivates the four dhyānas

Without wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

Though one passes through hundreds of thousands of kalpas,

One’s meditation will not be pure.

If one attains meditative equipoise

But lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of attainment,

Because one does not know the cessation of attainment,

One constantly abides in the outflow of attainment.

If one clings to perception

But lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of perception,

Because one does not know the cessation of perception,

One constantly abides in the outflow of perception.

If one is attached to the world

But lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the world,

Because one does not know the cessation of the world,

One constantly abides in the outflow of the world.

If one abides in an outflow-tainted mind

But lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of mind,

Because one does not know the cessation of mind,

One constantly abides in the outflow of mind.

If one abides in outflow-tainted dharmas

But lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of dharmas,

Because one does not know the cessation of dharmas,

One constantly abides in the outflow of dharmas.

Even if one fully observes the dhūta practices,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

Because one does not know the cessation of the eye,

One is not truly practicing dhūta.

Even if one wears discolored robes,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

Because one does not know the cessation of the eye,

They are not robes in accordance with the Dharma.

Even if one is born into a noble family,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

Because one does not know the cessation of the eye,

It is not a pure family.

Even if one has a large retinue,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

One will swiftly fall into the lower realms,

And one’s retinue will be unable to save one.

Even if one is skilled in the science of language,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

Because one does not know the cessation of the eye,

One has not mastered the science of language.

Even if one is skilled in many crafts,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

Because one does not know the cessation of the eye,

One is not truly skilled in crafts.

Even if, in response to many inquiries,

One extensively explains a single word,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

One has not correctly explained its meaning.

Even if one studies with the wise,

If one does not know what is esoteric and what is not,

And lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

One gains nothing from the Dharma.

Even if one comprehends various doctrines,

Worldly treatises, and the various dharmas,

If one lacks wisdom concerning the ultimate limit of the eye,

One is like someone falling into an abyss while clutching a rope.

Even if one is skilled in the science of language,

Can infer auspicious and inauspicious signs in detail,

Understands letters, sounds, and rhymes,

And is thoroughly versed in reading and recitation,

If one does not know the ultimate limit of the eye,

That person still lacks wisdom.

Even if one knows the marks of women,

Deceptive words that lead others astray,

Methods of massage that dispel fatigue,

And secret arts of illusion,

If one does not know the ultimate limit of the eye,

That person still lacks wisdom.

Even if one expounds a hundred schools of doctrine

Without omitting a single word,

If one does not know the ultimate limit of the eye,

One’s words remain meaningless.

The limit of arising and the ultimate limit,

Cyclic existence and quiescence,

Non-arising and nonexistence,

And cessation as the ultimate limit—

Ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, fragrances, flavors, and tangibles;

Even sounds and names—

All are likewise.

Even if one recites treatises on language

And understands all their meanings,

If one does not know the ultimate limit of the eye,

One still remains inferior.

Even if one recites the four Vedas

And has mastered all their mantras,

If one does not know the ultimate limit of the eye,

One still remains inferior.

Thus, the limit of the eye’s arising,

Its ultimate limit and cyclic existence,

And even the cessation of the eye—

These should all be understood likewise.

Ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind;

Forms, sounds, fragrances, flavors, and tangibles;

Even sounds and names—

All are likewise.