Splendour of Flower Adornment Sutra

• bohiruci

  29 Jun 10, 06:25

   

   

  Homage to the
  Avatamsaka Assembly of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as Vast as the sea,

   

  Homage to the Avatamsaka Sutra

  The greatest event in history is the enlightenment of Shakyamuni Buddha because at that time, the World Honored One spoke the Great Means Expansive Buddha Flower Adornment Sutra. In Sanskrit, it is known as the Maha-Vaipulya-Buddha-Avatamsaka-Sutra. In Chinese, it is called the Ta Fang Kuang Fo Hua Yen Ching.

  National Master Ch’ing Liang says,
  Without Rising from Beneath the King of Trees,
  He Extends to Seven Places in the Dharma Realm.
  Preface

  The Buddha used the Sea-Seal Samadhi to speak this Sutra with his Dharma Body in seven places and nine assemblies, in the human realm and in the heavens.

   

• bohiruci

  29 Jun 10, 23:36

  1 The Wondrous Adornments of the World Ruler

  The World Honored One, seated on his Throne, had realized utmost proper enlightenment. The Bodhi Wayplace is exquisitely adorned. Banners with wondrous sounds emitted light. Fragrant flowers and endless raining of treasures. Inconceivable manifestations within the bright light around the Bodhi tree. Countless Bodhisattvas with their retinues arrived. All Buddhas of the ten directions made kings of pearls transformationally appear. The Tathagata emitted awesome, magnificent light, like the sun illumining the world. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, countless Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, innumerable kinds of Spirits and Heavenly Beings draw near to the Buddha. The celestial kings, gods, beings of the Eightfold Division, and various spirits, receive the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might and speak verses lauding the Thus Come One and describing their liberation doors. The worlds shook in six ways. The same manifestation occurred in other worlds. Annotation The World Honored One is surrounded by countless Great Bodhisattvas. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva is among them. There are also an incalculable number of Vajra-Wielding Spirits, Multi-Bodied Spirits, Spirits of Foot Travel, Wayplace Spirits, City-Ruling Spirits, Earth-Ruling Spirits, River-Ruling Spirits, Ocean-Ruling Spirits, Water-Ruling Spirits, Fire-Ruling Spirits, Wind-Ruling Spirits, Emptiness-Ruling Spirits, Direction-Ruling Spirits, Night-Ruling Spirits, Day-Ruling Spirits, Asura Kings, Garuda Kings, Kinnara Kings, Mahoraga Kings, Yaksha Kings, Dragon Kings, Kumbhanda Kings, Gandharva Kings, Moon Heavenly Princes, Sun Heavenly Princes, Kings from the Heaven of Thirty-three, Kings from the Suyama heaven, Kings from the Tushita Heaven, Kings from the Transformation of Bliss Heaven, Kings from the Great Brahma Heaven, Kings from the Light-Sound Heaven, Kings from the Heaven of Pervasive Purity, Kings from the Heaven of Vast Fruition, and Kings from the Heaven of Great Sovereignty. To behold such an awe-inspiring and inconceivable scene can cause one to bring forth the resolve for Bodhi. The countless Bodhisattvas, Heavenly Kings, gods, and spirits who came attested to the Buddha’s inconceivably supreme success as a Great Teacher. Bhikshu Bodhi says, ‘Just as the sun is valued not only for its own intrinsic radiance but also for its ability to illuminate the world, so the brilliance of the Buddha as a spiritual Master is determined not only by the clarity of his Teaching but by his ability to illuminate those who came to him for refuge and to make them luminaries in their own right.’ When the World Honored One sat beneath the King of trees, at the moment he accomplished utmost enlightenment, his wisdom became boundless, his Dharma Body pervaded the entire Dharma Realm and his mind entered the three periods of time. Countless eons of bitter cultivation and stern asceticism, and a sea of infinite vows and practices were all perfected in a single thought! According to the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua,there are ten kinds of assemblies present when the Buddha speaks Dharma. They are,   The Influential assembly   The Constantly Following assembly   The Dharma-protecting assembly   The Adorning assembly   The assembly that Makes offerings   The assembly that Brings Forth the arising of Dharma   The assembly of Current Potentials   The assembly that Represents the Dharma   The Assembly that is Certified to the Dharma  The assembly that Reveals the Dharma It is mentioned many times in the Sutra that the world shakes in six ways. That kind of shaking is different from natural disasters, violent sudden faulting of rocks or the destructive movement of the earth’s surface during an earthquake. The Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explains the meaning of the six kinds of earthquakes which occur during the Dharma assembly. In brief, they are, Referring to movement Shaking Rising Surging Referring to sound Banging Roaring  Crackling

• bohiruci

  30 Jun 10, 05:14

  

   

  The quaking represents,

  1. The six organs - eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
  2. The four levels - The Ten Dwellings, The Ten Practices, The Ten Transferences, The Ten Grounds with, Equal Enlightenment and Wonderful Enlightenment.
  3. The breaking up of your ignorance, because you pass through six levels.