Universal Worthy's Conduct

Chapter Thirty-Six

 

 

Sutra:

All the various Bodies in the world
Are all completely understood and known.
In that way, knowing Dharma of bodies,
They then obtain all Buddhas’ bodies.

They universally know all living beings,
All kalpas along with all kshetras.
In the ten directions without any limits,
There in nothing which does not enter their wisdom sea.

There is no limit to the bodies of living beings,
And they manifest bodies for each one.
The Buddha’s body which has no bounds,
The wise ones can all contemplate and see.

All that is known in one thought
Of Thus Come Ones’ appearances in worlds,
Passing though limitless kalpas
Could not be extolled to the end.

Commentary:  

All the various Bodies of living beings in the world, are all completely understood and known to the Bodhisattvas. Why do they want to know about the bodies of living beings? It’s because In that way, knowing Dharma of bodies, they can understand the operation of cause and effect in beings coming to have the kinds of bodies they have.

For example, why are cats cats and why are mice mice? Cats are cats because when they were people they just wanted to do what cats do, so they become cats; when dogs were people they just wanted to act like dogs, so they become dogs. This holds true for sheep, cattle, and pigs. When they were people, they didn’t do a good job of being human and acted like beasts instead, so they ended up becoming beasts. If we do a good job of being people and cultivate well, then we can become Buddhas. Since they understand the workings of cause and effect and repayment in kind, They then obtain all Buddhas’ bodies. Understanding the bodies of all living beings is itself understanding the Buddha’s body. And understanding the Buddha’s body means future attainment of Buddhahood.

They universally know all living beings with all the intricacies of their interwoven causes and retributions, All kalpas whether those kalpas are long, short, great or small, along with all kshetras, kshetra lands, In the ten directions without any limits. There’s no border or confining limit to the world-systems of the ten directions. There in nothing which does not enter their wisdom sea. Because they have great wisdom, they can enter the sea of wisdom.

There is no limit to the bodies of living beings, and in order to teach and transform living beings they, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, manifest bodies for the sake of each one of those beings. They employ the Four Dharma of Conversion:

The Four Dharmas of Conversion

• Giving
• Kind words
• Beneficial conduct
• Similarity in deeds

The Buddha’s body which has no bounds . There are states which only The wise ones, people with great wisdom, can all contemplate and see.

All that is known in one single instant of thought Of Thus Come Ones’ appearances in worlds if one were to continue speaking of them Passing though limitless kalpas, even in that long a time, they Could not be extolled to the end. One could never finish praising the Buddhas

--The Conduct of Distributing Sharira

Sutra:

The bodies which all Buddhas can manifest,
In every location achieve parinirvana.
In a single thought they are limitless,
And their shariras are each different.

In that way in the times of the future
There will be those who seek the Buddha fruition.
The ones of decisive wisdom can completely know
Those resolves for Bodhi which are limitless.

--The Conduct of Knowing the Greatness of the Buddha-Mind

In that way in the three periods of time,
All of the Thus Come Ones therein
Can each one be totally known.
That’s called dwelling in Universal Worthy’s conduct.

--The Conduct of Deeply Entering the Wheel of Dharma

In that way discriminately knowing
The limitless conducts and grounds,
They enter the location of wisdom,
And their wheel never retreats.

With subtle, wonderful vast and great wisdom,
They deeply enter the Thus Come One’s state.
And having entered they do not retreat.
That is called Universal Worthy’s wisdom.

All the most supremely Honored Ones
Universally enter the Thus Come One’s state,
Cultivate and do not retreat,
And achieve unsurpassed Bodhi.

--The Conduct of Knowing Faculties and Capacities

Minds without limit, without bounds,
Karma which for each is not the same,
All accumulate because of thought,
Which they levelly and completely know.

The defiled and the non-defiled,
Minds of study and minds beyond study,
All of the ineffably many minds
In thought after thought they completely know.

Bodhisattvas comprehend that those minds are neither one nor dual,
Not defiled and not pure as well,
That they also are not mixed up or confused,
And that all rises out of minds’ own thoughts.

In that way Bodhisattvas completely, clearly see
That from all the many living beings’
Minds and thoughts each not the same
There arise the many kinds of worlds.

Using such expedients as these,
And cultivating the most supreme conducts,
They are transformationally born from the Buddha’s Dharma.
And obtain the name Universal Worthy.

Commentary:  

The bodies which all Buddhas can manifest, in every location achieve parinirvana. That is, they make their bodies appear in every possible location, and in all those locations they enter Parinirvana. In a single thought they are limitless. In the space of one thought there is the limitless, and the limitless is within a single thought, And their shariras are each different. When the Buddhas achieve parinirvana and their bodily remains are burned, the shariras thus obtained are all different from each other.

In that way in the times of the future there will be those who seek the Buddha fruition. There will be living beings in the future, who, because they know there is a Buddha fruition which can be certified to, will diligently seek the Buddha fruit. The ones of decisive wisdom can completely know Those resolves for Bodhi which are limitless. The Bodhisattvas can know them all completely with the decisive wisdom which they have.

In that way in the three periods of time, all Thus Come Ones therein can each one be totally known . The Bodhisattvas are able to know all the Thus Come Ones. That’s called dwelling in Universal Worthy’s conduct, the great conduct practiced by Universal Worthy Bodhisattva.

In that way discriminately knowing , right within non-discrimination being able to know in discriminated detail, The limitless conducts and grounds, all the limitless doors of practice and the positions of the grounds which one obtains by cultivating them, They enter the location of wisdom, and their wheel never retreats. They constantly turn the irreversible Dharma Wheel.

With subtle, wonderful vast and great wisdom, they are able to deeply enter and obtain the Thus Come One’s state. And having entered into the Buddha’s state they do not retreat. They attain:

The Three Types of Non-Retreat

• Non-retreat in Thought
• Non-retreat in Position
• Non-retreat in Practice

That is called Universal Worthy’s wisdom , the wisdom obtained by Universal Worthy Bodhisattva. All the most supremely Honored Ones, all Buddhas, Universally enter the Thus Come One’s state, cultivate and do not retreat, and achieve unsurpassed Bodhi, Enlightenment.

Minds without limit, without bounds on the part of living beings as they give rise to delusion, create Karma which for each is not the same and undergo the corresponding retribution All accumulate because of thought. Why do living beings give rise to delusions, create karma, and undergo retribution? It all happens because of false thinking.

All the mountains, the great earth and everything to the ends of empty space and the Dharma Realm come into being due to false thoughts of living beings. This is what the Bodhisattvas levelly and completely know. The Bodhisattva can know all of those states very equally and impartially. The defiled minds of living beings are those of love and emotion, and the non-defiled minds are the Bodhi mind. The positions of Arhatship through the Third Fruit are collectively called Positions of Study or Minds of study for there is still learning. The Fourth Fruit of Arhatship is called the Position of No Study, and is also termed minds beyond study. All of the ineffably, ineffably, inconceivably many minds that living beings have In thought after thought they, the Bodhisattvas, all understand and completely know.

Bodhisattvas comprehend that those minds are neither one nor dual . The Bodhisattvas don’t just know this for one or two living beings, but for any living being whatsoever. In fact, they know there is neither unity nor duality with regard to them, and that the minds are Not defiled and not pure as well. They are neither defiled nor pure, neither deep nor shallow. The Bodhisattvas also know That they also are not mixed up or confused but all in very regular order, And that all arises from out of minds’ own thoughts. The Bodhisattvas know there is nothing which is not produced from thoughts of people’s minds.

In that way Bodhisattvas completely, clearly see that from all the many living beings’ minds and thoughts each not the same there arise the many kinds of worlds . The Bodhisattvas see this “thus,” realizing that:

Past thought cannot be go at.
Present thought cannot be go at.
Future thought cannot be go at.

Yet, even though they cannot be got at, they still very clearly know about all of those various kinds of thoughts and minds, which is to know all the states of living beings. And the reason that worlds are different is that the false thoughts in the minds of living beings are not the same. Using such expedients as these, and cultivating the most supreme conducts, the most victorious Dharma doors, They are transformationally born from the Buddha’s Dharma. That is:

They are born from the Buddha’s mouth,
Transformationally born from Dharma.

And obtain the name Universal Worthy . They come to have the name Universal Worthy Bodhisattva.

--The Conduct of Comprehending Worldly Karmic Delusion

Sutra:

Living beings all falsely arise.
The good and evil destinies all are from thought.
Because of it there may be rebirth in the heavens,
Or there may be falling to the hells.

The Bodhisattvas contemplate the worlds
As arising from false thinking and karma.
Because the false thinking has no bounds,
Worlds, too, are also limitless.

All of the many lands and countries
Appear from the network of thinking.
Through expedient means this network of illusion
Can be totally entered in a single thought.

--The Conduct of Penetrating the Sense Organs and Realms

Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body,
And mind faculties are also like that.
The worlds, different because thinking differs,
Can all through sameness be entered.

Each and every single state of vision
Can be entered by limitless eye-organs
With their various kinds of natures which are different,
Limitless and ineffably many.

Yet, what is seen does not have any difference,
And is furthermore not jumbled or confused.
In each, according to individual karma,
The corresponding retribution is undergone.

Universal Worthy, with limitless power,
Completely knows them all in detail.
And each and every single state of vision
Through great wisdom can totally be entered.

In that way, all in the various world-systems
Can totally be known in detail.
What is more, in cultivation of each and every conduct
There is also never any retreat.

--The Conduct of Knowing the Four Aspects of Speaking Dharma

Speakings of Buddhas and speakings of living beings,
As well as speakings of all countries,
And speakings that way in the three periods of time
In their differences can totally be known.

The future present in the past,
The present present in the future,
All three periods of time are reciprocally seen,
Yet every single one of them is clear.

In that way there are limitless kinds
To enlighten those in the world.
The skillful expedients of all wisdom
Have no boundaries which can be obtained.

Commentary:  

Living beings all falsely arise. They are produced from false thinking. One single thought of falseness creates the many different worlds, and The good and evil destinies all are from thought. Having a wholesome thought generates a wholesome reward, but having an evil thought leads to undergoing an evil retribution. All the destinies which beings flow and turn in are brought about because of false thinking. Because of it, false thinking, there may be one thought of good, which leads to rebirth in the heavens, Or there may be evil false thinking, which occasions the evil retributions of falling to the hells. The heavens and the hells are not prepared for you by other people. You create them yourself by habitual saturation of karma and the retribution it entails.

The Bodhisattvas contemplate the worlds and all worldly dharmas As arising from discriminating false thinking and creation of karma on the part of living beings. Because the false thinking has no bounds--take a look at your own false thoughts: is there any end to them? No. and, therefore, Worlds, too, are also limitless. World-systems are just as infinite as the false thoughts. All of the many lands and countries that exist all appear from the network of thinking. Through expedient means--the understanding that it is all false and empty--this network of illusion can be totally entered in one thought. With the kind of great wisdom that Universal Worthy Bodhisattva has, all of these principles can be understood in the space of just one thought.

Eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind faculties are also like that . All of them are produced from false thinking, too. Even whether one has an attractive or an ugly face is brought about from false thinking. You will undergo the corresponding retribution for whatever false thought you have. For that reason, everything is falsely produced and falsely destroyed. The worlds, different because thinking differs, can all through sameness be entered. With Universal Worthy Bodhisattva’s wisdom of sameness, there can be entry into the worlds, all of which are different because living beings’ thoughts are different.

Each and every single state of vision Can be entered by limitless eye-organs . Universal Worthy Bodhisattva also knows limitless states of vision, With their various kinds of natures which are different, limitless and ineffably many--more than words could describe. Yet, what is seen does not have any difference, and is furthermore not jumbled or confused. It’s all seen as the same, yet it’s not the same, nor is it jumbled or mixed up. In each, according to individual karma, the corresponding retribution is undergone.

Every kind of state is brought about from one’s own karma, and so people bring calamities down upon themselves or else create their own blessings as they give rise to delusions, create karma, and undergo retribution, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, with limitless power, completely knows them all in detail. And each and every single state of vision through great wisdom can totally be entered and known, along with all states of ear, nose, tongue, body and mind.

In that way, all in the various world-systems can totally be known in detail. What is more, in cultivation of each and every conduct of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, There is also never any retreat. There never will be any turning back from it. The states of Speakings of Buddhas and speakings of living beings, as well as speakings of all countries, and speakings that way in the three periods of time, in their differences can totally be known.

The future present in the past, the present present in the future…In the past, the future can appear; and in the future the past can appear. The past and future can both manifest the present, and the present and future can reveal the past. All three periods of time are reciprocally seen. They can change into each other, Yet every single one of them is clear. All of those individual states can be clearly understood using the wisdom of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva.

In that way there are limitless kinds. Why are there so many changes and transformations? It is To enlighten those in the world, to bring all living beings in all worlds to open enlightenment. However, there’s something unusual about living beings. They say, “So you want me to get enlightened? Well, I’m simply not going to get enlightened. You’re telling me to cultivate? Well. I’m not going to cultivate.” That’s why it is said:

There are paths to halls of heaven, but nobody walks them.
The hell have no door, but beings bore their way in.

that’s how pitiful living beings are. The skillful expedients of all-wisdom have no boundaries which can be obtained. You can search for some boundaries to the expedient methods of the wisdom of All-wisdom of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, but you won’t be able to find any such boundaries. Their boundaries ultimately cannot be obtained. They basically have no bounds, so where could you go to seek them? Ultimately they cannot be got at.

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