Prologue:

It is the one identical unobstructed Dharma Realm’s clouds of bodies. Using those clouds of bodies, there is pervasion of the previous times and places, and constant speaking of the Flower Adornment.

Therefore, you should know that it may speak of the Reward Body being located in ultimate form, speaking in terms inclusive of the Reward.
           
Or, it may speak of the Reward Body being located in other Pure Lands, speaking in terms of supportive inclusion.

Commentary:

It is, that is, Vairochana Buddha and Shakyamuni Buddha both use, the one identical unobstructed Dharma Realm’s clouds of bodies.
The Four Dharma Realms

• The Dharma Realm of Specifics.
• The Dharma Realm of Principle.
• The Dharma Realm of Non-obstructive of Specifics and Principle.
• The Dharma Realm of Non-obstructive of Specifics and Specifics.

They use the clouds of bodies of those unimpeded Dharma Realms to proclaim this wonderful Dharma.

Using those clouds of bodies, there is pervasion of the previous times and places, and constant speaking of the Flower Adornment. Using those clouds of unobstructed bodies, they are always speaking the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra in all the times and places discussed before.

Therefore, you would know that it may speak of the Reward Body being located in ultimate form. For that reason, you should be aware that some Sutras and some Shastras talk in terms of the Buddha’s Reward Body being located in the station of Ultimate Form, having certified to all wisdom, speaking in terms inclusive of the reward. That kind of discussion is based upon comprehension of the Reward Body. The Shastra on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana talks like that. It says:

Furthermore, the merit and virtue of this Bodhisattva is accomplished and perfected, and in the station of Ultimate Form he makes appear the tallest, largest body in all worlds. That is, with a single thought of interactive wisdom, his ignorance suddenly comes to an end, which is called the wisdom of all modes. He then spontaneously has inconceivable actions, and can manifest in the ten directions, benefiting all living beings.

It says when Shakyamuni Buddha was cultivating the Bodhisattva Way and brought his merit and virtue to perfect accomplishment, in the place of Ultimate Form, which is simply formlessness, he made appear the body of Nishyanda Buddha, the tallest and largest body in all worlds. The body of Vairochana Buddha is also a great body, and so is the perfect, full Reward Body, Nishyanda Buddha.

Using a single thought of interactive wisdom, his ignorance suddenly was gone. How? Because that single thought interactive with wisdom brought ignorance to an end. How does one get that one thought of interactive wisdom? In our cultivation of the Way, when we sit in meditation and investigate Ch’an, we are seeking that one thought interactive with wisdom, with which ignorance will suddenly come to an end. When ignorance ends, one obtains the wisdom of all modes, and then in a very natural way one has inconceivable powers. That’s when talking in terms of the Buddha’s Reward Body.

Or, it may speak of the Reward Body being located in other Pure Lands, speaking in terms of supportive inclusion. Some places may talk about how the Buddha’s Reward Body is in other Pure Lands, turning the great Dharma wheel to teach and transform living beings. That is to speak in terms of supportive inclusion. “Supportive” means it authenticates the all-inclusiveness of the Buddha’s Reward Body, how it is present not just in this one Land, but is also present speaking Dharma in other Pure Lands. Such discussions are designed to prove and support that fact.

There’s something I’ve wanted to talk about for a long time, but I keep forgetting. When I lecture the Sutra, I forget about it, and when I think about it, I forget about the Sutra -- because I haven’t reached the state where principle is specifics and specifics are principle. In the kind of state we have now, where one is one and many are many, principle is principle, and specifics are specifics, we haven’t yet reached the state of unimpeded interpenetration and perfect fusion. Think it over and see if you can figure out what I have wanted to tell you for so long, something that really pains me at heart.

One person is having the false thought, “I know what it is. It’s because we don’t follow the rules.” Someone else is thinking, “It’s because of all the wrong things I do, because I don’t do what I’m told.” Another person is thinking, “Oh, it’s because I steal things to eat.” There are as many false thoughts as there are people about this; but none of your false thoughts is correct. Today, whether or not I have the penetration of others’ thoughts, I know what you’re thinking is not right. Why not? The matter that really pains me at heart is that people bring me things to drink, and they miss the ceremonies while going to prepare them for me alone. I feel the offense karma involved in this is mine.

The cause and conditions for doing morning and evening recitation are very hard to obtain, so you should strive to be ahead and fear falling behind. Don’t miss the ceremonies because of me, one person. For I feel very ashamed for anyone to have to miss doing the ceremonies he or she is supposed to do just to fix me something to drink. This is because I don’t have any Way virtue, so I am very sorry if I deprive anyone of the opportunity to cultivate. If it could be done in advance so no one would have to miss the ceremonies, that would be all right. But it really pains me if someone has to go against the rules for my sake alone.

Prologue:

Or it may speak of Nishyanada seated upon a thousand-petalled flower, speaking inclusive of the Second Ground.

Commentary:

Or it may speak of Nishyanda, the perfect, full Reward Body, Nishyanda Buddha. Nishyanda Buddha is the Dharma-speaking Host in the Brahma Net Sutra. In that Sutra it says,

Now, I, the Buddha Nishyanda,
Am seated on the Lotus Flower Dais,
All around upon a thousand petals
A thousand Shakya Lords also appear.
Each petal host a hundred, million countries,
And every country has a Shakya Lord.
Each sits beneath the Bodhi Tree,
And all at once accomplish Buddhahood.

This is the first part of the verse with which the Brahma Net Sutra begins. It says, “I, Nishyanda Buddha, am right now seated on the Lotus Flower Platform, on a thousand-petalled precious lotus flower. On this platform consisting of a thousand and petals, each of the petals makes appear a hundred, million counties. There is a Shakyamuni Buddha in each one of those countries, speaking the Dharma and teaching and transforming living beings.” This is a description based upon the Second Ground.

On the First Ground, one sits upon a hundred-petalled lotus, while one’s lotus on the Second Ground has a thousand petals. One’s lotus on the Third Ground has ten thousand petals, while on the Fourth Ground it has a million, and a billion on the Firth Ground. On the Sixth Ground one sits on a lotus flower which has a trillion petals. The lotus on the Seventh Ground has a quadrillion nayutas of petals. On the Eighth Ground there as many as fine motes of dust in a quadrillion Great Trichiliocosms.

What one sits on in the Ninth Ground is even bigger: the lotus petals are as many as the particles of dust in a quadrillion asakhyeyas of lands. On the Tenth Ground one sits upon lotus petals many as the fine particles of dust in ten ineffable trillions of nayutas of Buddha-lands. So when Nishyanda Buddha is seated upon a thousand-petalled lotus flower, that is speaking which is inclusive of the description of the second ground given in this Sutra.

Prologue:

Or perhaps it speaks of the Advanced Grounds being able to see, speaking in terms of superior potentials.

Or perhaps it is divided into three different parts, being described according to substance, mark, and function.

Commentary:

Or perhaps it speaks of the advanced Grounds being able to see. The “Advanced Grounds” means Bodhisattvas of the Eighth Ground up to the Tenth Ground. When some Sutras are spoken, Bodhisattvas from the Eighth to the Tenth Grounds are said to be able to hear and see them spoken, speaking in terms of superior potentials. That’s a description based upon living beings whose dispositions are most supreme, that is, Bodhisattvas of the Eighth Ground and above who are just about to become Buddhas, and so are said to be on the “advanced” Grounds.

Or perhaps it is divided into three different parts, three different manners of speaking may be used, it being described according to substance, mark, and function, in speaking the Sutra. The Buddha’s Dharma Body is called the Substance, and his Reward Body is the Mark. Function is the Buddha’s response bodies. In the section on setting up meanings in the Shastra of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, it says:

As to what is meant by meanings, there are three kinds. The first is that the Substance is Great, inasmuch as all dharmas are identical with true thusness, and neither increase nor decrease. The second is that the Mark is great, inasmuch as the Treasury of the Thus Come One is endowed with the limitless meritorious virtues of the (Buddha) nature. The third is the Function is great, inasmuch as it can produce all good worldly and world-transcending causes and effects.

That is how the Shastra of the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana explains the Three Greatnesses.

Prologue:

None of those is the true and actual meaning of this Sutra.

Commentary:

None of those, the previous alternatives of its perhaps being the response bodies, or the Reward Body, or the Dharma Body, or else being the Substance, Mark, and Functions, or the way it’s talked about in the Second Ground, or that the Sutra is spoken for the advanced Grounds, is the true and actual meaning of this Sutra. The genuine meaning of the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra is none of those.

Prologue:

Should there be division into three and ten which are not the same, and description that contrasts provisional and actual, if there is no interpenetration with the previous meanings, the purport of this Sutra is also lost.

Commentary:

Should there be division into three and ten which are not the same. If you make a division into three bodies and ten bodies and say they are not the same thing, but that the three bodies are the three bodies and the ten bodies are the ten bodies, not having them interpenetrate, and establish a description that contrasts provisional and actual, saying that the three bodies are provisional while the ten bodies are actual, discussing the two sets of bodies in contrast to each other; if there is no interpenetration with the previous meanings, if you don’t understand the principle that was talked about before, how the three bodies are the ten bodies and vice versa, then the purport of this Sutra is also lost. You have missed the whole point of the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra. Why is that? It’s because the entire message of interpenetration has escaped you.

Prologue:

The fourth, depending on the samadhi. Whenever there is movement and stillness, it is only for creatures. How could it be true of a Sage? He sets out a track for those after to follow, making clear that when one is about to speak, there must be still examination and prior contemplation. In receiving the aid of all Buddhas, it is upon arising from samadhi that one starts to speak. One’s words are then certain to be suitable and true. Since one’s words are suitable and true, the minds of those who receive them naturally hold to them.

Commentary:

 The fourth, depending on the samadhi. The fourth is relying upon samadhi-concentration to speak the Dharma. The Dharma is not spoken using the mind that is produced and destroyed, but using the mind in samadhi. Lack of samadhi is production and extinction, but with samadhi, it is the mind which is not produced and not destroyed which is no thought. The Dharma is spoken in samadhi, and so is said to depend upon it.

Whenever there is movement and stillness, it is only for creatures. When one says there is movement and stillness, that is to speak from point of view of creatures, living beings. How could it be true of a Sage? From the point of view of the Buddha, there is no movement and no stillness. Movement does not obstruct stillness or stillness cancel out movement. Movement and stillness are a single suchness. For him, movement is stillness, and stillness is movement. It’s just that living beings for their part have those kinds of distinctions but how could that be true of a Sage? The state of a Buddha is not like that.

It has no movement or stillness:
The Naga is always in samadhi,
and is never not in samadhi.

He sets out a track for those after to follow. He points out a path and rule for the many disciples of the future, making clear that when one is about to speak, a standard procedure should be observed. He himself acts as the model and example for all living beings of what to do when about to speak, of how there must be still examination and prior contemplation. One has to become still, enter samadhi, and look into the dispositions of the various living beings who are to be taught, those “with potential.”

So when you are going to lecture Sutras and speak the Dharma, the best thing to do is sit in meditation beforehand. Before I lecture Sutra, I, too, like to have a period of time to meditate, so you shouldn’t come ask me about things in the hour or two preceding the Sutra lecture. I sit in meditation and see who’s having what false thoughts, as well as who will believe what they need to hear and who won’t believe what they are told. For those who won’t believe, I speak what they will believe. I have this strange way of lecturing Sutras. Sometimes I like to tell people what they won’t believe, for there’s some meaning to it if they don’t believe, while it’s meaningless if they do. Before you lecture you should sit in meditation, too, and take a look at the circumstances to see if there’s something special about them. If there are special circumstances, speak something special, and if there aren’t any, then say ordinary things.

In receiving the aid of all Buddhas...You contemplate the dispositions of living beings and request all the Buddhas of the ten directions to come to your aid and support, and then it is upon arising from samadhi that one starts to speak. After you come out of samadhi, you talk. Don’t come out of samadhi and forget everything, saying, “Oh, just now I saw what the potentials were. If I just think for a minute, it will come to me.” Then it’s useless. If you know when you’re in samadhi but forget when you come out, it’s no use. You need to remember the states you contemplated in samadhi, and they must be true ones, for there are false states, too. Demons can deliberately transform and send you rotten states to trick you. Don’t be fooled by the demons. You have to watch out for that.

One’s words are then certain to be suitable and true. If you come out of samadhi without forgetting, what you say will be both accurate and appropriate. You’ll say just what you should. Since one’s words are suitable and true, because the Dharma you speak is so exactly what the occasion requires, so true, actual, and not false, therefore, the minds of those who receive them will naturally hold to them. The minds of your listeners will be very solid and unshatterable concerning what you have said. They are sure to believe you. Even if someone says to them, “Hey, you know, everything said in the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra is false, and you shouldn’t believe it,” they will reply, “Well, I like false things!”

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