Part 1006 of the collection · Fascicle 65 of 80 · 入法界品第三十九之六 · T279

Bringing Forth Every Necessity at Will

Enlightened Wisdom names a liberation that fulfills anyone's own need — clothing, vehicles, food, medicine, servants — and then simply looks up at the sky, letting whatever each of the countless gathered beings requires descend on its own, before he teaches them further.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 1006 — bringing forth every necessity at will Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

Whatever Is Needed, Named in Full

Enlightened Wisdom's own list of provisions runs from ordinary clothing and food to servants and attendants, closing on something no earlier teacher's own vessel or gift ever included — the true and wondrous dharma itself, given alongside everything else.

Chinese Source

「善男子!我得隨意出生福德藏解脫門,凡有所須悉滿其願。所謂:衣服、瓔珞、象馬、車乘、華香、幢蓋、飲食、湯藥、房舍、屋宅、床座、燈炬、奴婢、牛羊及諸侍使,如是一切資生之物,諸有所須悉令充滿,乃至為說真實妙法。善男子!且待須臾,汝當自見。」說是語時,無量眾生從種種方所、種種世界、種種國土、種種城邑,形類各別,愛欲不同,皆以菩薩往昔願力,其數無邊俱來集會,各隨所欲而有求請。

Ru-Yi Translation

"Good son, I have attained the liberation-gate of bringing forth the Treasury of Merit at will, and whatever anyone needs, I am able to fulfill their every wish entirely. Namely: clothing, necklaces, elephants and horses, carriages and vehicles, flowers and incense, banners and canopies, food and drink, medicine, dwellings and houses, beds and seats, lamps and torches, servants and attendants, cattle and sheep, and every kind of attendant — every such necessity of life, whatever is needed, I cause it to be entirely fulfilled, even going so far as to teach the true and wondrous dharma. Good son, wait just a moment, and you shall see for yourself." Just as he spoke these words, measureless beings, from every kind of place, every kind of world, every kind of land, every kind of city, each of a different form and kind, each with different desires, all through the power of the bodhisattva's own ancient vow, gathered together in countless numbers, each one seeking and requesting according to their own desire.

Looking Up, and Letting It Fall

Where Endowed's own liberation worked through a single small vessel, Enlightened Wisdom's own demonstration needs nothing at all in his hands — only a moment of focused attention and a glance toward the open sky, and everything the gathered beings need simply descends.

Chinese Source

爾時,居士知眾普集,須臾繫念,仰視虛空;如其所須,悉從空下,一切眾會普皆滿足。然後復為說種種法。

Ru-Yi Translation

At that time, the householder, knowing the assembly had universally gathered, focused his mind for a moment, and looked up at empty space; and whatever each one needed, all of it descended entirely from the sky, and the entire assembly was universally satisfied. Afterward, he further taught them every kind of dharma.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

須臾繫念,仰視虛空 — he focused his mind for a moment, and looked up at empty space. Every other liberation demonstrated in this pilgrimage has needed some object — a hall of mirrors, a small vessel, a throne. Enlightened Wisdom's own liberation requires nothing but a glance upward, as though the sky itself were already holding everything anyone could ever need.

Part 1006 Complete

This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-five. Part 1007 turns to the specific teaching Enlightened Wisdom gives each kind of recipient — those satisfied with food, drink, flavor, and vehicles each receiving a different dharma matched exactly to what they came seeking.