Universal Worthy's Conduct

Chapter Thirty-Six-------------

At that time, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva Mahasattva again addressed the great multitude of all the Bodhisattvas saying: “Disciples of the Buddha, the way this has been proclaimed is just a general discussion of a small portion of the Thus Come One’s state that fits the capacity and disposition of living beings. Why is that? All Buddhas, World Honored Ones, appear in the world for the sake of all living beings who lack wisdom and do evil; who calculate a self and what belongs to a self; who are attached to the body; who are upside down and doubt; who hold deviant views and make discriminations; who are constantly interactive with all bonds and fetters; who flow along with birth and death and leave the path of the Thus Come One far behind.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, I have not seen any such Dharma as the great offense and mistake of Bodhisattvas giving rise to thoughts of anger towards other Bodhisattvas. Why is that? Disciples of the Buddha, if Bodhisattvas were to give rise to thoughts of anger and hatred towards other Bodhisattvas, that would open doors to millions of obstructions.”

“What are the million obstructions? They are: The obstruction of not seeing Bodhi; The obstruction of not hearing proper Dharma; The obstruction of being born in a world that is not pure; The obstruction of being born in the evil destinies; The obstruction of being born in locations of difficulties; The obstruction of having many illnesses; The obstruction of being the object of much slander; The obstruction of being born in destinies where one is obtuse and dull; The obstruction of destroying and losing proper mindfulness; The obstruction of being deficient in wisdom; Obstruction of the eyes; obstruction of the ears; obstruction of the nose; Obstruction of the tongue; Obstruction of the body; Obstruction of the mind; The obstruction of evil advisors; The obstruction of evil companions and parties; The obstruction of liking to cultivate the small vehicle; The obstruction of liking to associate with the coarse and vulgar; The obstacle of not believing in or liking people of great awesome virtue; The obstruction of liking to dwell together with people whose views are far from proper; The obstruction of being born in an outside-way household; The obstruction of dwelling in demonic states; The obstruction of being distant from the Buddha’s proper teaching; The obstruction of not seeing good companions; The obstruction of finding it hard to plant good roots; The obstruction of increasing in unwholesome Dharmas; The obstruction of being in low and vile situations; The obstruction of being born in a border region; The obstruction of being born in a household of evil people; The obstruction of being born among evil spirits; evil dragons, evil yakshas, evil gandharvas, evil asuras, evil garudas, evil kinnaras, evil mahoragas or evil rakshasas; The obstruction of not liking the Buddhadharma; The obstruction of practicing Dharmas of foolish youths; The obstruction of having fond attachment to the small vehicle; The obstruction of not liking the great vehicle; The obstruction of one’s nature being often startled and alarmed; The obstruction of one’s mind being constantly worried and troubled; The obstruction of fondly clinging to birth and death; The obstruction of not concentrating on the Buddhadharma; The obstruction of not liking to see or hear of the spiritual penetrations of self-mastery of a Buddha; The obstruction of not obtaining the faculties of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of not cultivating the pure conduct of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of shrinking back from the deep minds of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of not making the great vows of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of not making the resolve for all-wisdom; The obstruction of being lax and neglecting the conduct of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of not being able to purify and regulate all karmas; The obstruction of not being able to attract and hold great blessings; The obstruction of not being able to have keen power of wisdom; The obstruction of being severed from vast, great wisdom; The obstruction of not protecting and upholding all the practices of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of liking to slander the words of those of all-wisdom; The obstruction of leaving the Bodhi of all Buddhas far behind; The obstruction of liking to dwell in the states of all the hordes of demons; The obstruction of not single-mindedly cultivating the states of a Buddha; The obstruction of not decisively making the vast vows of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of not liking to dwell together with Bodhisattvas; The obstruction of not seeking the good roots of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of one’s nature harboring many views and doubts; The obstruction of one’s nature constantly being stupid and dark; Because of not being able to practice a Bodhisattva’s fair and impartial giving, having the obstruction of not renouncing arise; Because of not being able to hold the Thus Come One’s precepts, having the obstacle of breaking precepts arise; Because of not being able to enter the door of patience, having the obstruction of stupid, harmful hatred and anger arise; Because of not being able to practice the great vigor of a Bodhisattva, having the obstruction of the filth of laziness arise; Because of not being able to obtain all samadhis, having the obstruction of being scattered arise; Because of not cultivating Prajna Paramita, having the obstruction of evil wisdom arise; The obstruction of lacking skill with regard to what is and is not the case; The obstruction of lacking expedient methods for crossing over living beings; The obstruction of not being able to contemplate with a Bodhisattva’s wisdom; The obstruction of not being able to understand and know a Bodhisattva’s Dharmas of escape; Because of not accomplishing the ten kinds of vast, great eyes of a Bodhisattva, having the obstruction of one’s eyes being as if blind from birth; Because of not hearing unobstructed Dharma, having one’s mouth be as if dumb and mute; Because of not being endowed with the marks and characteristics, having one’s nose faculty be broken; Because of not being able to discern and understand the languages of living beings, developing an obstruction in the tongue faculty; Because of looking down on living beings, developing an obstruction in the body faculty; Because of one’s mind being very crazy and scattered, developing an obstruction in the mind faculty; Because of not maintaining the three categories of vinaya comportment, developing in obstruction to body karma; Because of constantly giving rise to the four kinds of errors, developing an obstruction to speech karma; Because of often producing greed, anger, and deviant views, developing an obstruction to mind karma; The obstruction of seeking the Dharma with a thieving mind; The obstruction of severing the states of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of one’s mind shrinking back from a Bodhisattva’s Dharmas of courage; The obstruction of one’s mind becoming lazy on the path of escape of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of one’s mind wishing to stop and rest from the doors of light of wisdom of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of one’s mind weakening in the power of mindfulness of a Bodhisattva; The obstruction of not being able to make dwell and maintain the Thus Come One’s teaching Dharmas; The obstruction of not being able to draw near to the Bodhisattva’s path of freedom from production; The obstruction of not being able to practice the Bodhisattva paths of non-loss and non-destruction; The obstruction of following the position proper to the two vehicle; And the obstruction of becoming far distant from the seed nature of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the three periods of time.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, if Bodhisattvas were to give rise to a single thought of anger towards other Bodhisattvas, that would bring about doors of a million obstructions such as these. Why is that? Disciples of the Buddha, I have not seen any such Dharma as the great offense and mistake of Bodhisattvas giving rise to thoughts of anger towards other Bodhisattvas. Therefore, Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas who wish to quickly perfect all Bodhisattva conducts should diligently cultivate ten kinds of Dharmas. What are the ten? They are: One’s mind not abandoning any living beings; Thinking of all Bodhisattvas as being Thus Come Ones; Never slandering any Buddhadharmas; Knowing that countries have no exhaustion or end; Bringing forth deep faith and delight in all Bodhisattva practices; Not renouncing the resolve for Bodhi which is equal to empty space and the Dharma realm; Contemplating Bodhi and entering the Thus Come One’s powers; Diligently cultivating unobstructed eloquence; Teaching and transforming living beings without becoming tired; And dwelling in all world-systems without attachment in one’s mind. Those are the ten.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, once the Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells secured in these ten Dharmas, then he can perfect ten kinds of purities. What are the ten? They are: The purity of penetrating profound Dharmas; The purity of drawing near to good knowing advisors; The purity of protecting and upholding all Buddhas’ Dharmas; The purity of comprehending the realm of empty space; The purity of deeply entering the Dharma realm; The purity of contemplating boundless minds; The purity of having identical good roots with all Bodhisattvas; The purity of not attaching to kalpas; The purity of contemplating the three periods of time; And the purity of cultivating all Buddhas’ Dharmas. Those are the ten.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, once the Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells in these ten Dharmas, then he can perfect ten kinds of vast, great wisdom. What are the ten? They are: The wisdom to know the workings of all living beings’ minds; the wisdom to know all living beings’ karmic retributions; The wisdom to know all Buddhas’ Dharmas; The wisdom to know the purport of all profound principles of all Buddhadharmas; The wisdom to know all doors of Dharani; The wisdom to know all eloquence of phrasing; The wisdom of skill-in-means with language to know the sounds and modes of speech of all living beings; The wisdom to make his body appear universally within all worlds; The wisdom to universally appear reflected in all assemblies; And the wisdom to be endowed with all wisdom in every location of undergoing birth. Those are the ten.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, once the Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells in these ten wisdoms, he then can gain entry to ten kinds of universal entrances. What are the ten? They are: All worlds entering into the path of a single hair; The path of a single hair entering into all worlds; The bodies of all living beings entering into a single body; A single body entering the bodies of all living beings; Ineffably many kalpas entering a single thought; A single thought entering ineffably many kalpas; All Buddhadharmas entering a single Dharma; A single Dharma entering all Buddhadharmas; Ineffably many locations entering a single location; A single location entering ineffably many locations; Ineffably many faculties entering a single faculty; A single faculty entering ineffably many faculties; All faculties entering non-faculties; Non-faculties entering all faculties; All thoughts entering a single thought; A single thought entering all thoughts; All spoken sounds entering a single spoken sounds; A single sound entering all spoken sounds; All three periods of time entering a single time; A single time entering all three periods of time. Those are the ten.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, once the Bodhisattva Mahasattva has made such contemplations, he then dwells in ten kinds of supremely wondrous minds. What are the ten? They are: Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of all worldly language as non-language; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of all thoughts of living beings having no place of reliance; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of the ultimate realm of empty space; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of the boundless Dharma realm; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of all profoundly secret Buddhadharmas; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of all deep and undiscriminating Dharmas; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of casting out all doubts and delusions; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of all worlds being level and equal without distinctions; Dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of the sameness of all Buddhas of the three periods of time; And dwelling in the supremely wondrous mind of the limitlessness of all Buddhas’ powers. Those are the ten.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, once the Bodhisattva Mahasattva dwells in those ten kinds of supremely wondrous minds, he then obtains ten kinds of wisdoms of skill-in-means in Buddhadharmas. What are the ten? They are: The wisdom of skill-in-means to comprehend profound Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to bring forth vast and great Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to proclaim various kinds of Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to enter the equality of Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to clearly understand discriminated Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to awaken to understanding of undiscriminated Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to deeply enter adorning Buddhadharmas; The wisdom of skill-in-means to enter Buddhadharmas through a single expedient; The wisdom of skill-in-means to enter Buddhadharmas through limitless expedients; The wisdom of skill-in-means to know the non-differentiation of boundless Buddhadharmas; And the wisdom of skill-in-means to not retreat in one’s own mind and strength from all Buddhadharmas. Those are the ten.”

“Disciples of the Buddha, once the Bodhisattva Mahasattva has heard these Dharmas, he should bring forth the mind to revere, accept, and maintain them all. Why is that? The Bodhisattva Mahasattva who maintains these Dharmas, with slight expenditure of effort quickly attains Anuttarasamyaksambodhi. He becomes endowed with all Buddhadharmas in all respects the same as the Dharmas of all Buddhas of the three periods of time.”

At that time, through the Buddha’s spiritual might, and because the Dharma is that way, throughout the ten directions there were world-systems many as fine motes of dust in ten ineffably many hundred thousand ten million nayutas of Buddha kshetras that experienced the six kinds of quakes. There rained down all sorts of heaven-surpassing clouds of flowers, clouds of incense, clouds of ointments, raiment, canopies, banners, streamers, mani jewels and so forth, including clouds of every kind of adornment. There rained down clouds of groups of musical instruments. There rained down clouds of all Bodhisattvas. There rained down clouds of ineffably many form marks of Thus Come Ones. There rained down clouds of ineffably many exclamations of praises of all Thus Come Ones. There rained down clouds of sounds spoken by Thus Come Ones that filled all Dharma realms. There rained down clouds of ineffably many adornments of world-realms. There rained down clouds of ineffably many increasing of Bodhi. There rained down clouds of ineffably many radiating lights. And there rained down clouds of ineffably many spiritual powers to speak Dharma. Just as in this world-system with its set of four continents the Thus Come One was seen in the Bodhisattvas’ palace under the Bodhi tree in the Bodhi Way place accomplishing Equal and Proper Enlightenment and proclaiming this Dharma, so, too, in all world-systems throughout the ten directions it was also the same way.

At that time, through the Buddha’s spiritual might, and because the Dharma is that way, in each of the ten directions, from further than world-systems many as the fine motes of dust in ten ineffably many Buddha kshetras away, there were Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas many as the fine motes of dust in ten Buddha kshetras who came to that land. They filled the ten directions and said these words: “Good indeed, good indeed, disciple of the Buddha, that you are able to speak this profound Dharma of all Buddhas’, Thus Come Ones’, most great vows and bestowals of predictions. Disciple of the Buddha, all of us have the same name, Universal Worthy, and each of us has come from a universally supreme world-system where a Universal Banner Self-Mastery Thus Come One is, to arrive at this land. All of us through the Buddha’s spiritual might, in every single location, proclaim this Dharma. All that is spoken is just the same as here in this assembly with its multitudes. It is all the same, with no elaboration or omission. We have all received the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power to come to this Way place and give you certification. And just as all we Bodhisattvas many as the fine motes of dust in ten Buddha kshetras have come to this Way place to give certification, in all of the world-systems throughout the ten directions it is also exactly the same way.”

At that time Universal Worthy Bodhisattva Mahasattva, through the Buddha’s spiritual might, and through the power of his own good roots, contemplated in the ten directions throughout the Dharma realm, and from a wish to disclose the Bodhisattva conduct, from a wish to proclaim the Thus Come One’s realm of Bodhi, from a wish to speak of the realm of great vows, from a wish to tell the number of kalpas of all world-systems, from a wish to explain all Buddhas’ appearing in accord with time, from a wish to describe all Thus Come Ones’ appearing in accord with living beings whose roots have matured, to inspire them to make offerings; From a wish to make clear how when Thus Come Ones appear in the world their work is not in vain; From a wish to make clear that from good roots which are planted, rewards are certainly obtained; And from a wish to show how Bodhisattvas of great awesome virtue make their shapes appear before all living beings and speak the Dharma for them so they become enlightened, spoke verses saying:

I. The Universality of Conduct

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