At that time, due to the Buddha’s spiritual power, in each of the ten directions a great Bodhisattva, accompanied by Bodhisattvas as numerous as the dust motes in a Buddhaland, traveling from worlds beyond countries as numerous as the dust motes in a hundred Buddhalands, came and joined the assembly.
Their names were Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva, All Wisdom Bodhisattva, Superior Wisdom Bodhisattva, Meritorious Wisdom Bodhisattva, Vigorous Wisdom Bodhisattva, Wholesome Wisdom Bodhisattva, Knowledgeable Wisdom Bodhisattva, True Wisdom Bodhisattva, Unsurpassed Wisdom Bodhisattva, and Solid Wisdom Bodhisattva.
They came from the Indra Flower World, the Padma Flower World, the Jeweled Flower World, the Utpala Flower World, the Vajra Flower World, the Wondrous Fragrance Flower World, the Delightful Flower World, the Arunakamala Flower World, the Naradhara Flower World, and the Empty Space Flower World.
Each of them had purely cultivated the brahma conduct in the presence of a Buddha. The names of the Buddhas were Extraordinary Moon Buddha, Inexhaustible Moon Buddha, Unmoving Moon Buddha, Wind Moon Buddha, Water Moon Buddha, Liberation Moon Buddha, Unsurpassed Moon Buddha, Constellation Moon Buddha, Pure Moon Buddha, and Bright Understanding Moon Buddha. Arriving at the Buddha’s place, these Bodhisattvas bowed at the Buddha’s feet. Each one, in the direction from which he came, created a Vairocana Treasury Lion Throne and sat upon it in full lotus.
Just as the Bodhisattvas assembled on the summit of Mount Sumeru in this world, it was the same way in all worlds. The names of the Bodhisattvas, their worlds, and the Buddhas were all the same.
At that time, the World Honored One emitted a trillion splendidly colored lights from his toes, illumining all the worlds in the ten directions, so that the Buddhas and assemblies in the palaces of Lord Sakra on the Mount Sumerus could all be seen.
Then Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva, relying on the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, universally contemplated the ten directions and spoke in verse.
As the Buddha radiates pure, clear light,
The Teacher of the World is seen by all,
Dwelling in Wondrous Splendid Palace
On the peak of Sumeru, the King of Mountains.
All the Celestial Lord Sakras
Invite the Buddha into their palace.
They all use ten wonderful verses
To praise the Thus Come Ones.
In those great assemblies,
All the multitudes of Bodhisattvas
Arriving from the ten directions
Created thrones and sat upon them.
All the Bodhisattvas in those assemblies
Have the same name as I.
The worlds from which they come
Are also of the same name.
The World Honored Ones of their lands
Have the same name as well.
In the presence of their Buddhas,
They cultivated unsurpassed pure conduct.
Disciples of the Buddhas, you should contemplate
The sovereign power of the Thus Come Ones.
Those in every Jambudvipa
Say that the Buddha is among them.
All of us now see the Buddha
Dwelling on the summit of Sumeru.
Throughout the ten directions it is also thus
Due to the sovereign power of the Thus Come Ones.
In each and every world,
They resolved to seek the Buddha Path.
Relying upon vows such as these
They cultivate the conduct of bodhi.
The Buddha takes on various bodies
And travels pervasively to all worlds.
Nothing in the Dharma Realm could hinder him;
He cannot be fathomed by anyone.
His wisdom light constantly shines everywhere.
It dispels darkness in all worlds.
Unequalled is he, without peer.
How could anyone know him?
Then All Wisdom Bodhisattva, relying on the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, universally contemplated the ten directions and spoke in verse.
Suppose for hundreds of thousands of eons,
One always sees the Thus Come One,
But does not rely upon the genuine truth
In contemplating the World Savior.
Such a person grasps at appearances
And expands the net of ignorance and delusion.
Trapped and bound in the jail of birth and death,
Blind and unclear, he cannot see the Buddha.
Contemplate all dharmas
As being devoid of an inherent nature.
The same is true of their arising and cessation.
False names are merely used to describe them.
All dharmas do not come into being;
All dharmas do not cease to exist.
If one can understand in this way,
Then the Buddhas always appear before one.
Dharmas are basically empty and still in nature;
They cannot be grasped or seen.
The emptiness of the nature is just the Buddha:
It cannot be thought about or considered.
If one knows that all dharmas
Are like this in their nature,
Such a person will not be
Defiled by afflictions.
When ordinary people see all dharmas,
They are merely turned by appearances.
Never fathoming that dharmas are devoid of appearances,
They do not see the Buddha.
Muni has transcended the three periods of time.
With the hallmarks fully perfected,
He dwells in non-dwelling
And pervades all places without moving.
I have contemplated all dharmas
And am clear about them all.
As I now behold the Thus Come One,
I have absolutely no doubts.
Dharma Wisdom has already spoken
Of the Thus Come One’s true nature.
From him I have understood
How inconceivable bodhi is!
Then Superior Wisdom Bodhisattva, relying on the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, universally contemplated the ten directions and spoke in verse.
The Thus Come One’s great wisdom
Is rare and peerless.
All the beings in the world
May reflect on it, yet fail to reach it.
Ordinary beings perceive things through false thoughts,
Grasp at marks, and fail to accord with principle.
The Buddha renounces every mark,
Yet ordinary beings fail to understand this.
Confused, deluded fools
Grasp in vain at the five skandhas.
They fail to understand the true nature.
Such people do not see the Buddha.
One should know all dharmas lack
Any intrinsic nature whatsoever.
One who understands the nature of dharmas thus
Shall immediately behold Nishyanda.
By virtue of five skandhas come before,
Successive skandhas follow and arise.
One who understands their nature sees
The Buddhas’ inconceivability.
Just as a jewel in the dark
Cannot be seen without a lamp,
If no one speaks the Buddhadharma,
None perceives the wisdom that exists.
Or as a film that blinds the eyes
Keeps unseen the pure, wondrous form,
So, too, a mind that is unclear
Cannot discern the Dharma of all Buddhas.
Just as those who are blind
Cannot see the bright pure sun,
So, too, the ones bereft of wisdom in their minds
Will never see the Buddhas.
If one dispels the film upon the eyes
And casts off form and thinking,
And sees no dharma whatsoever,
Then one may see the Thus Come One.
All Wisdom was first to speak about
All Buddhas’ Dharma of enlightenment.
From him I heard the teaching
And gained the chance to see Nishyanda.
Then Meritorious Wisdom Bodhisattva, relying on the Buddha’s awesome spiritual power, universally contemplated the ten directions and spoke in verse.
Dharmas have no true reality,
But we mistakenly attach to marks as real.
And thus all ordinary people
Spin about within the jail of birth and death.
Those of petty wisdom differentiate in vain
The Dharma that’s expressed in words.
They thus become obstructed
And do not understand their minds.
They fail to understand their minds.
How can they know the proper Path?
It’s from such muddled wisdom
That unwholesome views proliferate.
Since they fail to see the emptiness of dharmas,
They always feel the pain of birth and death.
Such people are not yet able to use
The pure and clear Dharma Eye.
In ages past I suffered much woe,
Because I didn’t see the Buddha.
So I must purify the Dharma Eye
To view what I should view.
If a person sees the Buddha
With a mind that does not grasp,
This person then can see
The Dharma that the Buddha knows.
One who sees the Buddhas’ actual Dharma,
Is named One of Great Wisdom.
Such a person has pure eyes
And is able to observe the world.
Not seeing anything, is just to see—
To be able to discern all dharmas.
Yet if one sees any dharma,
Then that is not true seeing.
The underlying nature of all dharmas
Neither comes to be nor ceases to exist.
Amazing is the lofty guiding teacher,
Who enlightens both himself and others.
Superior Wisdom has already spoken of
The Dharma awakened to by the Thus Come One.
Now that we have heard from him,
We understand the Buddhas’ true nature.
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