Practices and Vows of
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva

Chapter Forty, New Edition

 

 

SUTRA: 

After I’m reborn in that land,
I will then accomplish these great vows.
All of them will be completely perfected without remainder,
Bringing benefit and happiness to the realms of all beings. 

All in that Buddha’s assembly are pure.
At that time I will be born from a supreme lotus flower,
I’ll personally behold Measureless Light Tathagata,
Who will appear and bestow upon me a prediction of Bodhi. 

After receiving this prediction from the Tathagata,
With countless hundreds of kotis of transformation bodies,
My vast wisdom power that pervades the ten directions
Brings benefit everywhere to the realms of living beings. 

COMMENTARY: 

After I’m reborn in that land...If you can recite the name of Amitabha Buddha, by means of the power of his vows he will lead you to the Land of Ultimate Bliss. The one who cultivates the ten great king of vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva says, “After I’m reborn in that land.” “Reborn” here refers to being reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. I will then accomplish these great vows. When I’m reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, I will perfect the cultivation of the ten great king of vows. All of them will be completely perfected without remainder. I will completely cultivate and fully perfect all these Dharmas, all practices, and all vows without remainder.”

“Without remainder” means nothing is left out in the slightest bit, which means it is fully perfected. All of my practices and vows are complete and perfect. At that time, I will be bringing benefit and happiness to the realms of all beings. My ability in cultivation has reached perfection, and I’m completely capable of using all the wonderful functions of spiritual powers. I can also go to the worlds of the ten directions to bring happiness and benefit to all the realms of living beings. I want to rescue all living beings so that they can become Buddhas. Why? I have obtained peace and happiness, and so I want all living beings to obtain peace and happiness as well. Therefore, I will bring benefit and happiness to the realms of all living beings.

All in that Buddha’s assembly are pure. In the ocean-like Lotus Pool assembly in Amitabha Buddha’s Land of Ultimate Bliss the great Bodhisattvas and the entire ocean-like assembly of Bodhisattvas are all pure. At that time I will be born from a supreme lotus flower. At that time I will be born from a supremely wonderful lotus flower. I’ll see the Buddha in person. As soon as the lotus opens, I will see the Buddha in person. “ I’ll personally behold Measureless Light Tathagata. I’ll personally see the Buddha of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, that is Limitless Light Buddha, who is also known as Limitless Life Buddha. Who will appear and bestow upon me a prediction of Bodhi? When I see Amitabha Buddha in person, he will immediately bestow a prediction upon me. He will give me the specific name I will have when I realize Bodhi and tell me when I will become a Buddha.

After receiving this prediction from the Tathagata…After I have received the prediction that Amitabha Buddha has bestowed upon me, with countless hundreds of kotis of transformation bodies, I will then be able to create by transformation numberless division bodies, that is billions of transformation bodies. In fact the transformation bodies will number in the trillions. My vast wisdom power that pervades the ten directions…At that time my wisdom will also be vast and great. It will be the same as the Buddha’s wisdom. It will fill up all places throughout the ten directions and it brings benefit everywhere to the realms of living beings. What do I do with my great wisdom? What use is it? It is to rescue all living beings and cause them all to realize Buddhahood.

SUTRA: 

To the ends of space or world-systems,
To the ends of living beings, their karma, or their afflictions,
But all things such as these have no end,
So too my vows ultimately will never end. 

Suppose in all the boundless kshetra-lands of the ten directions,
One uses their multitude of jewels as adornments and offerings to the Tathagatas,
And gives the most supreme peace and happiness to gods and humans
Throughout kalpas as many as the smallest atomic particles in all kshetra-lands. 

Suppose another person hears this king of supreme vows,
And as they pass by his ear but a single time is able to give rise to faith,
And his mind thirstily seeks supreme Bodhi,
The merit and virtue he gains will surpass that of the first person. 

COMMENTARY: 

To the ends of space or world-systems. Space is basically endless, as are world systems, living beings, the karma of living beings, and the afflictions of living beings. They are all endless and inexhaustible. Let’s suppose that they could come to an end. Even if they did, the power of my vows will never end. In fact none of these can come to an end. Worlds have periods of creation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness. Although we say it has creation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness, yet it is not truly empty, nor does it come to an end. And its decay does not come to an end. Everything goes in a continuous cycle like this. This is the same as birth, dwelling, change, and extinction.

We people have a period of birth and growth for twenty years. Then we live for a period of twenty years where we are in a state of stasis at this time of our lives. After this period of about twenty years, we enter the period of change or decay where our body changes but still subtly in moment after moment without cease. After this period of change and transformation there comes extinction of our life, which does not last for just one day but takes place over a period of twenty years. These four periods total eighty years. Birth and growth, dwelling, change, and extinction are the same as creation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness.

When we talk about worlds, we say one period of increase and one period of decrease is called a kalpa. A period of “decrease” is when people’s average lifespans reach 84,000 years and then they begin to decrease by one inch in height and one year in their lifespan every one hundred years. In our case, this period of “decrease” continued like this until the time that Shakyamuni Buddha appeared in the world. At that time the average human lifespan was about eighty years. Because this period of “decrease” has continued, now the average lifespan is around sixty years worldwide.

Some people say that there are people who live for ninety or even one hundred years. That is correct, but some people die after being alive for about ten years or a little over twenty years. Sixty years refers to the average lifespan. Some people live a little longer, and some live for a little less time, but the worldwide average lifespan is around sixty years.

The average lifespan will continue to decrease until it reaches thirty years, at which time a plague will start to spread. This plague will be fatal for anyone who contracts it, because no medicine will be able to cure this disease. It will reach the point where eighty percent of the population of the entire world will die. The only people who will survive will be those living in the mountains, in the countryside, or in distant places where there are not many people where the toxic vapors of the disease cannot reach. When the average lifespan reaches about twenty-five or twenty-six years, the disaster of fire will erupt. Right now don’t we have a single sun? At that time seven suns will appear in the sky.

Why will seven suns be able to appear? They will appear as retribution brought about by the force of living beings’ karma. Now we are beginning to journey into outer space. This process of exploration is just an invasion of outer space. Without any reason, we humans do not stay in our own world. Rather we wish to forcibly take over and occupy the worlds of others. In the future this kind of invasion of outer space will decimate the moon, and then there will be more suns. Eventually seven suns will appear in the sky. At that time, the whole world will have volcanoes. All the rivers, lakes, and oceans will dry up, as this world is destroyed and burned dry. How far will this fire reach? It will reach up to the heavens of the First Dhyana. This disaster of fire will be the first disaster.

When the average lifespan is twenty years, the second disaster, the disaster of water, will strike. After the disaster of fire comes the disaster of water. When everything is burned, then there is no more water. In this world when something is totally destroyed, it can reappear again. One may ask, “But isn’t it the case that there was no water at all?” In the atmosphere water vapors will continue to circulate, and gradually water will take over. As a result of this, the world will change to become an entire world of water. First, it became a world of fire, and then it transformed to a world of water. The disaster of water will reach up to the heavens of the Second Dhyana. Even the gods in the heavens of the Second Dhyana will drown. At this time, very few human beings will survive.

After the water disaster, when the average lifespan is between fifteen and twenty years, there will be another disaster. What will that disaster be? It will be the disaster of wind. And this disaster will be even more severe. It will blow away everything up to the heavens of the Third Dhyana.

Therefore, it is said, “the Six Heavens of Sensual Desire have five marks of decay.” The Six Heavens of Sensual Desire are:

The Heaven of the Four Kings;
The Trayastrimsha Heaven;
The Suyama Heaven;
The Tushita Heaven;
The Bliss From Transformations Heaven;
The Mastery Over Others’ Transformations Heaven.

In each of these Six Heavens of Sensual Desire, when these five marks of decay appear, the gods there will die.

What are the five marks of decay?

• Gods wear a flower crown made from naturally grown flowers. When the five marks of decay appear, the flowers fall off and the crown wilts and falls apart. Then the flowers on the crown dry up.
  
• The clothing of the gods is extremely fine, delicate, and unsoiled. When the five marks of decay appear, the clothing of the gods gets soiled.
  
• Gods do not perspire, regardless of how hot it is. However one of the five marks of decay is that their armpits begin to perspire. The bodies of the gods always emit a pleasant fragrance. According to Buddhism, people who are skilled in cultivation emit a fragrance from their bodies. However, once Upasaka Vimalakirti reprimanded some cultivators whose bodies smelled fragrant. He said, “Don’t emit such a strong fragrance! When you have such a good fragrance, living beings will become attached to you as soon as they smell it. They will become greedy for your scent. So don’t emit such a fragrant aroma anymore!”
  
• The bodies of the gods are always fragrant. Not just one god is fragrant, but all the gods have bodies that emit a frafrant scent.

A sign of the five marks of decay is that they lose their fragrance. A foul odor enters their bodies and it gives off a stench. This is the fourth mark of decay.

• What is the fifth? They are no longer able to sit still in their seats. The gods always appear as if sitting in dhyana samadhi. They are not like humans who resemble monkeys who from morning until night run hither and tither doing this or that. On the contrary, gods always sit in meditation and appear as if they are in dhyana samadhi. Moreover, they do not talk very much, unlike humans who like to talk all day long. We never stop talking with each other. The gods don’t talk very much at all. However, when the five marks of decay appear, the gods cannot sit still anymore. Even when they try to meditate, they are always moving about in one way or another. They are unable to sit still. Once this occurs they become confused. When they get confused, they fall. Then they die.

When gods are about to die the five marks of decay appear. Thus there is the saying, “In the Six Heavens of Sensual Desire, there are five marks of decay.” “The heavens of the Third Dhyana have the disaster of wind.” Even if you have cultivated to the heavens of the Third Dhyana and are reborn there, when the disaster of wind comes, you’ll be blown into oblivion.

It is said, “If a person is able to cultivate to the state of Neither Cognition Nor Non-Cognition,” that is if you are able to cultivate to reach the Heaven of Neither Cognition Nor Non-Cognition, “That is not as good as going to the Western Land and then coming back.” That is not as good as going to the Land of Ultimate Bliss in the West. One is reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss and then afterwards if you wish, you can return to this world to teach and transform living beings. Therefore, it’s better to be reborn in the Western Land where you have more certainty and less risk.

There will be very few people left after the wind disaster. At that time the human population will increase very rapidly. When the average human lifespan is ten years, a severe plague will strike, and most people will die leaving few survivors. After this plague is over, the period of increase will begin. Every one hundred years, the average height will increase by one inch, and the average human lifespan will increase by one year. This rate of increase will continue until the average human lifespan reaches 84,000 years.

One such period of increase and period of decrease is called one kalpa. One thousand of these kalpas is called a small kalpa. Twenty small kalpas constitute one middle-sized kalpa, and four middle-sized kalpas equal one great kalpa (Maha-kalpa). After the time of emptiness, a world begins to be created again. How long does it take to go through the process of creation? Twenty small kalpas. One thousand kalpas make up one small kalpa, and twenty small kalpas make up a middle-sized kalpa. The period of creation lasts for twenty small kalpas, the period of dwelling lasts for twenty small kalpas, the period of decay lasts for twenty small kalpas, and the period of emptiness lasts for twenty small kalpas. Creation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness make up one cycle of a world system. After a world is in a state of emptiness, it will be created again, and after that it will be in a state of dwelling. Then it will decay and finally be in a state of emptiness.

Our world systems constantly goes through the cycle of creation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness without end, just as people are born and die, are born and die, are born and die again and again. Our world goes through the same process endlessly. Creation, dwelling, decay, and emptiness continues without end.

To the ends of living beings, their karma, or their afflictions. The number of living beings is also without end, and the power of living beings’ karma has no end. Further, the afflictions of living beings are also endless. Suppose all of these were to end, yet the power of these vows will never end. But all things such as these have no end. There will never be a time when any of them will come to an end. So too my vows ultimately will never end. The power of my vows will ultimately never end.

Suppose in all the boundless kshetra-lands of the ten directions, one uses their multitude of jewels as adornments and offerings to the Tathagatas. Throughout all the boundless Buddha lands of the worlds of the ten directions, with all the myriad jewels of the worlds of the ten directions, one adorns and makes offerings to all Tathagatas, thus generating the greatest amount of merit. And gives the most supreme peace and happiness to gods and humans. One gives the most superior and wondrous happiness to gods in the heavens and people in the world.

Throughout kalpas as many as the smallest atomic particles in all kshetra-lands. I make offerings for as many kalpas as there are minutest particles in all the kshetra-lands throughout the ten directions.

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