Samantabhadra Enters the Ocean of Samādhi
Fascicle seven opens the sūtra's third chapter, "Samantabhadra's Samādhi" (普賢三昧品). Seated before the Buddha upon the lion-throne of the Lotus-Treasury, Samantabhadra enters the very samādhi that is Vairocana's own matrix-body — a samādhi entered, in that same instant, by a Samantabhadra before every buddha in every land within every mote of dust of every world-ocean. Every buddha of the ten directions praises him, bestows ten wisdoms upon him, and touches the crown of his head; he rises, shaking every world to its depths and raining ten kinds of maṇi-jewel cloud; and the whole assembly, in hymn after hymn, sings of a single bodhisattva whose form is like empty space itself, present at once in every land without ever leaving this one seat.
Samantabhadra Enters Samādhi
爾時，普賢菩薩摩訶薩於如來前，坐蓮華藏師子之座，承佛神力，入于三昧。此三昧名：一切諸佛毘盧遮那如來藏身，普入一切佛平等性，能於法界示眾影像；廣大無礙，同於虛空；法界海漩，靡不隨入；出生一切諸三昧法，普能包納十方法界；三世諸佛智光明海皆從此生，十方所有諸安立海悉能示現；含藏一切佛力解脫諸菩薩智，能令一切國土微塵普能容受無邊法界；成就一切佛功德海，顯示如來諸大願海；一切諸佛所有法輪，流通護持，使無斷絕。如此世界中，普賢菩薩於世尊前，入此三昧；如是，盡法界、虛空界，十方三世，微細無礙，廣大光明，佛眼所見、佛力能到、佛身所現一切國土，及此國土所有微塵，一一塵中有世界海微塵數佛剎，一一剎中有世界海微塵數諸佛，一一佛前有世界海微塵數普賢菩薩，皆亦入此一切諸佛毘盧遮那如來藏身三昧。
At that time, the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Samantabhadra, seated before the Tathāgata upon the lion-throne of the Lotus-Treasury, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, entered into samādhi. This samādhi was named: the Matrix-Body of Vairocana Tathāgata of Every Buddha, universally entering the equal nature of every buddha, able to reveal every image within the Dharma-realm; vast and unobstructed, the same as empty space; the whirl of the Dharma-realm's ocean, with nothing failing to be entered along with it; giving rise to the dharma of every samādhi, universally able to embrace the Dharma-realm of the ten directions entirely; the ocean of wisdom-light of every buddha of the three periods of time born entirely from it, and every ocean of established realms of the ten directions able to be revealed entirely through it; containing within it the wisdom of every bodhisattva liberated by the power of every buddha, enabling every mote of dust in every land to universally receive the boundless Dharma-realm; accomplishing the ocean of merit of every buddha, revealing the ocean of every great vow of the Tathāgata; and causing the Dharma-wheel possessed by every buddha to circulate and be upheld, without ever being severed. Within this world, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, before the World-Honored One, entered this samādhi; and thus, throughout the whole Dharma-realm and realm of empty space, in the ten directions and three periods of time, subtle and unobstructed, vast in light — every land seen by the Buddha's eye, reached by the Buddha's power, and manifest through the Buddha's body, together with every mote of dust within these lands — within each and every mote of dust there are buddha-lands as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean, within each and every land there are buddhas as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean, and before each and every buddha there are Samantabhadras as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean — all of them likewise entering this very samādhi of the Matrix-Body of Vairocana Tathāgata of Every Buddha.
Fascicle six closed with the question this samādhi answers: how can the Buddha's single body pervade the whole Dharma-realm without ever leaving his own seat? The sūtra's answer is not a further description but an event — Samantabhadra's own entry into a samādhi that is itself named after Vairocana's "matrix-body" (藏身), and that is entered, in the very same instant, by countless Samantabhadras before countless buddhas within every mote of dust of every world-ocean. The multiplication is not decorative: it is the mechanism by which "one body, everywhere" is shown to be coherent rather than paradoxical — every instance is the thing itself, not a copy of it.
Praised and Empowered by Every Buddha
爾時，一一普賢菩薩，皆有十方一切諸佛而現其前。彼諸如來同聲讚言：「善哉！善哉！善男子！汝能入此一切諸佛毘盧遮那如來藏身菩薩三昧。佛子！此是十方一切諸佛共加於汝，以毘盧遮那如來本願力故，亦以汝修一切諸佛行願力故。所謂：能轉一切佛法輪故；開顯一切如來智慧海故；普照十方諸安立海，悉無餘故；令一切眾生淨治雜染，得清淨故；普攝一切諸大國土，無所著故；深入一切諸佛境界，無障礙故；普示一切佛功德故；能入一切諸法實相，增智慧故；觀察一切諸法門故；了知一切眾生根故；能持一切諸佛如來教文海故。」
At that time, before each and every Samantabhadra, every buddha of the ten directions appeared entirely. Those Tathāgatas, with one voice, praised him, saying: "Excellent, excellent, good son! You have been able to enter this bodhisattva samādhi of the Matrix-Body of Vairocana Tathāgata of Every Buddha. Buddha's child! This is because every buddha of the ten directions together empowers you — through the power of Vairocana Tathāgata's own root vow, and also through the power of your own cultivated vow and conduct of every buddha. That is to say: because you are able to turn the Dharma-wheel of every buddha; because you open and reveal the ocean of wisdom of every Tathāgata; because you universally illumine every ocean of established realms of the ten directions, entirely without remainder; because you cause every living being to purify and remove their defilement, and attain purity; because you universally gather in every great land, without any attachment; because you enter deeply into the domain of every buddha, without any obstruction; because you universally reveal the merit of every buddha; because you enter the true mark of every dharma, thereby increasing wisdom; because you contemplate every dharma-gateway; because you thoroughly understand the faculties of every living being; and because you are able to uphold the ocean of teaching-texts of every buddha Tathāgata."
爾時，十方一切諸佛，即與普賢菩薩摩訶薩能入一切智性力智，與入法界無邊量智，與成就一切佛境界智，與知一切世界海成壞智，與知一切眾生界廣大智，與住諸佛甚深解脫無差別諸三昧智，與入一切菩薩諸根海智，與知一切眾生語言海轉法輪辭辯智，與普入法界一切世界海身智，與得一切佛音聲智。如此世界中，如來前，普賢菩薩蒙諸佛與如是智；如是，一切世界海，及彼世界海一一塵中，所有普賢，悉亦如是。何以故？證彼三昧法如是故。是時，十方諸佛，各舒右手，摩普賢菩薩頂。其手皆以相好莊嚴，妙網光舒，香流焰發。復出諸佛種種妙音，及以自在神通之事；過、現、未來一切菩薩普賢願海，一切如來清淨法輪，及三世佛所有影像，皆於中現。如此世界中，普賢菩薩為十方佛所共摩頂；如是，一切世界海，及彼世界海一一塵中，所有普賢，悉亦如是，為十方佛之所摩頂。
At that time, every buddha of the ten directions then bestowed upon the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva Samantabhadra: the wisdom able to enter the power and nature of omniscience; the wisdom to enter the boundless measure of the Dharma-realm; the wisdom to accomplish the domain of every buddha; the wisdom to know the formation and dissolution of every world-ocean; the vast wisdom to know the realm of every living being; the wisdom to abide in every samādhi of every buddha's profound, undifferentiated liberation; the wisdom to enter the ocean of every bodhisattva's faculties; the wisdom of eloquence to know the ocean of every living being's language and thereby turn the Dharma-wheel; the wisdom of a body universally entering the Dharma-realm and every world-ocean; and the wisdom to attain the voice of every buddha. Within this world, before the Tathāgata, Samantabhadra received such wisdom from every buddha; and thus, throughout every world-ocean, and within each and every mote of dust of those world-oceans, every Samantabhadra likewise received it in just this way. Why is this so? Because the very dharma of that samādhi they realized is like this. At that time, every buddha of the ten directions, each extending their right hand, touched the crown of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's head. Their hands were each adorned with excellent marks, a wondrous net of light unfurling from them, fragrance flowing and flames arising. Further, every buddha sent forth every kind of wondrous voice, together with the deeds of their own sovereign spiritual transmutation; the ocean of Samantabhadra's own vow held by every bodhisattva of the past, present, and future, the pure Dharma-wheel of every Tathāgata, and every image possessed by the buddhas of the three periods of time, all appeared within it. Within this world, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva was touched upon the crown of his head together by every buddha of the ten directions; and thus, throughout every world-ocean, and within each and every mote of dust of those world-oceans, every Samantabhadra likewise received it in just this way, touched upon the crown of the head by every buddha of the ten directions.
Samantabhadra Rises from Samādhi
爾時，普賢菩薩即從是三昧而起。從此三昧起時，即從一切世界海微塵數三昧海門起。所謂：從知三世念念無差別善巧智三昧門起，從知三世一切法界所有微塵三昧門起，從現三世一切佛剎三昧門起，從現一切眾生舍宅三昧門起，從知一切眾生心海三昧門起，從知一切眾生各別名字三昧門起，從知十方法界處所各差別三昧門起，從知一切微塵中各有無邊廣大佛身雲三昧門起，從演說一切法理趣海三昧門起。普賢菩薩從如是等三昧門起時，其諸菩薩一一各得世界海微塵數三昧海雲、世界海微塵數陀羅尼海雲、世界海微塵數諸法方便海雲、世界海微塵數辯才門海雲、世界海微塵數修行海雲、世界海微塵數普照法界一切如來功德藏智光明海雲、世界海微塵數一切如來諸力智慧無差別方便海雲、世界海微塵數一切如來一一毛孔中各現眾剎海雲、世界海微塵數一一菩薩示現從兜率天宮沒下生成佛轉正法輪般涅槃等海雲。如此世界中，普賢菩薩從三昧起，諸菩薩眾獲如是益；如是，一切世界海，及彼世界海所有微塵，一一塵中，悉亦如是。
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva then rose from this samādhi. When he rose from this samādhi, he rose from samādhi-ocean gateways as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean. That is to say: he rose from the samādhi-gateway of the skillful wisdom that knows every thought, throughout the three periods of time, to be without distinction; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that knows every mote of dust in the whole Dharma-realm across the three periods of time; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that manifests every buddha-land of the three periods of time; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that manifests the dwelling of every living being; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that knows the ocean of every living being's own mind; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that knows the individually distinct name of every living being; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that knows the individual distinctions of place throughout the Dharma-realm of the ten directions; he rose from the samādhi-gateway that knows the boundless, vast cloud of the buddha's body dwelling within each and every mote of dust; and he rose from the samādhi-gateway that expounds the ocean of the principle and direction of every dharma. When Samantabhadra Bodhisattva rose from such samādhi-gateways as these, the bodhisattvas, each and every one, each attained: a cloud of the ocean of samādhi as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of dhāraṇī as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of skillful means in every dharma as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of the gateway of eloquence as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of practice as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of wisdom-light of the treasury of merit of every Tathāgata, universally illumining the Dharma-realm, as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of undifferentiated skillful means of the power and wisdom of every Tathāgata, as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; a cloud of the ocean of assemblies of lands manifest within each and every pore of every Tathāgata, as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean; and a cloud of the ocean of, for each and every bodhisattva, revealing their own descent from the Tuṣita heaven's palace, their birth, their accomplishment of buddhahood, their turning of the true Dharma-wheel, and their entry into final nirvāṇa, as numerous as the fine motes of dust in a world-ocean. Within this world, when Samantabhadra Bodhisattva rose from samādhi, the assembly of bodhisattvas gained benefit in just this way; and thus, throughout every world-ocean, and within every mote of dust of those world-oceans, each and every one, it is entirely the same.
Nine samādhi-gateways are named as the ones Samantabhadra rises "from" — each an angle on the same totality (thought, dust, land, dwelling, mind, name, place, body, teaching), suggesting that entering and rising are not opposite movements but the same samādhi viewed from within and from without. Huayan exegesis such as Fazang's reads this rising as the necessary complement to the entering of the previous section: a samādhi that only absorbed distinctions without ever returning them to view would leave nothing for the assembly to witness. The nine gates of exit are what make the vision transmissible.
Ten Clouds of Maṇi Jewels, and a Hymn of Light
爾時，十方一切世界海以諸佛威神力，及普賢菩薩三昧力故，悉皆微動。一一世界眾寶莊嚴，及出妙音演說諸法。復於一切如來眾會道場海中，普雨十種大摩尼王雲。何等為十？所謂：妙金星幢摩尼王雲、光明照耀摩尼王雲、寶輪垂下摩尼王雲、眾寶藏現菩薩像摩尼王雲、稱揚佛名摩尼王雲、光明熾盛普照一切佛剎道場摩尼王雲、光照十方種種變化摩尼王雲、稱讚一切菩薩功德摩尼王雲、如日光熾盛摩尼王雲、悅意樂音周聞十方摩尼王雲。普雨如是十種大摩尼王雲已，一切如來諸毛孔中咸放光明，於光明中而說頌言：
「普賢遍住於諸剎，坐寶蓮華眾所觀，
一切神通靡不現，無量三昧皆能入。
普賢恒以種種身，法界周流悉充滿，
三昧神通方便力，圓音廣說皆無礙。
一切剎中諸佛所，種種三昧現神通，
一一神通悉周遍，十方國土無遺者。
如一切剎如來所，彼剎塵中悉亦然，
所現三昧神通事，毘盧遮那之願力。
普賢身相如虛空，依真而住非國土，
隨諸眾生心所欲，示現普身等一切。
普賢安住諸大願，獲此無量神通力，
一切佛身所有剎，悉現其形而詣彼。
一切眾海無有邊，分身住彼亦無量，
所現國土皆嚴淨，一剎那中見多劫。
普賢安住一切剎，所現神通勝無比，
震動十方靡不周，令其觀者悉得見。
一切佛智功德力，種種大法皆成滿，
以諸三昧方便門，示己往昔菩提行。
如是自在不思議，十方國土皆示現，
為顯普入諸三昧，佛光雲中讚功德。」
At that time, through the majestic, spiritual power of every buddha and the power of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva's own samādhi, every world-ocean of the ten directions shook gently, entirely. Each and every world was adorned with every jewel, and sent forth a wondrous voice expounding every dharma. Further, throughout the ocean of awakening-sites of the assembly of every Tathāgata, ten kinds of great sovereign maṇi-jewel clouds rained down universally. What were these ten? They were: the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud of the wondrous golden star banner; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud of shining, radiant light; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud of the jeweled wheel hanging down; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud manifesting bodhisattva images within every treasury of jewels; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud extolling the name of the Buddha; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud of blazing light universally illumining the awakening-site of every buddha-land; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud whose light illumined every kind of transformation throughout the ten directions; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud praising the merit of every bodhisattva; the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud blazing like the light of the sun; and the sovereign maṇi-jewel cloud of delightful, joyful sound heard throughout the ten directions. Having universally rained down these ten kinds of great sovereign maṇi-jewel clouds, every Tathāgata, from every pore, emitted light entirely, and within that light spoke a verse, saying:
"Samantabhadra dwells throughout every land, seated upon a jeweled lotus for the multitude to behold,
every spiritual transmutation manifest without exception, every immeasurable samādhi able to be entered.
Samantabhadra, forever through every kind of body, circulates throughout the Dharma-realm, filling it entirely,
his power of samādhi, spiritual transmutation, and skillful means proclaimed in a perfect, vast voice, everywhere unobstructed.
At the place of every buddha within every land, every kind of samādhi manifests spiritual transmutation,
each and every spiritual transmutation pervading everywhere, leaving nothing out in any land of the ten directions.
As at the place of the Tathāgata in every land, so too within every mote of dust of that land,
the very samādhi and spiritual transmutation there manifest are the power of Vairocana's own vow.
Samantabhadra's bodily form is like empty space, abiding by way of suchness, not any land,
and, according to the mind and desire of every living being, reveals a body universal, equal to all.
Samantabhadra abides securely in every great vow, and has thereby gained this immeasurable power of spiritual transmutation,
manifesting his own form in every land possessed by every buddha's body, and going there in person.
The ocean of every multitude is without any bound, and his divided bodies dwelling there are likewise immeasurable,
and the lands he manifests are each adorned and pure, beholding many kalpas within a single instant.
Samantabhadra abides securely in every land, and the spiritual transmutation he manifests is supreme, beyond compare,
shaking the ten directions everywhere without exception, causing every beholder to see it entirely.
The power of every buddha's wisdom and merit, every great dharma entirely accomplished and fulfilled,
through every gateway of samādhi and skillful means, reveals his own conduct toward bodhi in ages past.
Such sovereign inconceivability is manifest throughout every land of the ten directions,
and, to reveal his universal entry into every samādhi, within a cloud of buddha-light, his merit is praised."
The Bodhisattvas' Hymn to Samantabhadra
爾時，一切菩薩眾皆向普賢合掌瞻仰，承佛神力，同聲讚言：
「從諸佛法而出生，亦因如來願力起，
真如平等虛空藏，汝已嚴淨此法身。
一切佛剎眾會中，普賢遍住於其所，
功德智海光明者，等照十方無不見。
普賢廣大功德海，遍往十方親近佛，
一切塵中所有剎，悉能詣彼而明現。
佛子我曹常見汝，諸如來所悉親近，
住於三昧實境中，一切國土微塵劫。
佛子能以普遍身，悉詣十方諸國土，
眾生大海咸濟度，法界微塵無不入。
入於法界一切塵，其身無盡無差別，
譬如虛空悉周遍，演說如來廣大法。
一切功德光明者，如雲廣大力殊勝，
眾生海中皆往詣，說佛所行無等法。
為度眾生於劫海，普賢勝行皆修習，
演一切法如大雲，其音廣大靡不聞。
國土云何得成立？諸佛云何而出現？
及以一切眾生海？願隨其義如實說。
此中無量大眾海，悉在尊前恭敬住，
為轉清淨妙法輪，一切諸佛皆隨喜。」
At that time, the whole assembly of bodhisattvas, facing toward Samantabhadra with palms joined, gazing up at him in reverence, sustained by the Buddha's spiritual power, praised him with one voice, saying:
"Born forth from the Dharma of every buddha, and likewise arisen through the power of the Tathāgata's own vow,
the treasury of empty space, equal in suchness — you have already adorned and purified this very Dharma-body.
Within the assembly of every buddha-land, Samantabhadra dwells throughout every one of them,
his light the ocean of merit and wisdom, illumining the ten directions equally, seen by all without exception.
Samantabhadra's vast ocean of merit goes everywhere throughout the ten directions, drawing near to every buddha,
and within every mote of dust, whatever lands there are, he is able to go there and manifest clearly.
Buddha's children, we constantly behold you, drawing near to the place of every Tathāgata,
abiding within the very real domain of samādhi, throughout every land, across kalpas as numerous as motes of dust.
Buddha's child, able with a body universal and pervading to go to every land of the ten directions entirely,
the great ocean of living beings is entirely ferried across, and there is no mote of dust of the Dharma-realm he fails to enter.
Entering into every mote of dust of the Dharma-realm, his body is inexhaustible and without any distinction,
just like empty space, pervading everywhere entirely, proclaiming the vast Dharma of the Tathāgata.
The one of every merit and light, like a cloud, vast, of surpassing power,
goes everywhere within the ocean of living beings, teaching the Dharma without equal that the Buddha practices.
For the sake of ferrying living beings across an ocean of kalpas, Samantabhadra's supreme conduct is entirely cultivated,
proclaiming every dharma like a great cloud, its voice vast, heard by all without exception.
How do lands come to be established? How do buddhas come to appear?
And the ocean of every living being as well? We pray that, according to their meaning, you speak of them truly.
Here, the immeasurable ocean of the great assembly entirely abides before the Honored One in reverence,
that the pure and wondrous Dharma-wheel might be turned, and every buddha rejoice together."
The chapter closes on a question, not an answer: how do lands come to be established, how do buddhas come to appear, and what of the ocean of every living being? Samantabhadra has just been shown, in three successive scenes, entering, being empowered within, and rising from a samādhi that makes him identical in nature to Vairocana's own body pervading all things — and the assembly's response is to ask him to now explain, "as it truly is," how a world comes to exist at all. This is deliberate sequencing: the sūtra establishes the vision before it accounts for it. Part 15 opens the next chapter, "The World's Formation" (世界成就品第四), in which Samantabhadra answers at length.
Part 14 Complete
This closes Part 14 and the sūtra's third chapter, "Samantabhadra's Samādhi" (普賢三昧品第三): Samantabhadra's entry into the samādhi of Vairocana's own matrix-body, replicated before every buddha in every mote of dust of every world-ocean; his praise and empowerment by the ten directions' buddhas, hand upon his head; his rising through nine samādhi-gateways, with every world shaking and ten kinds of maṇi-jewel cloud raining down; a hymn sung by light itself from every buddha's pores; and a closing hymn from the whole bodhisattva assembly, ending on a question about how worlds, buddhas, and living beings come to be at all. Fascicle seven continues directly into the sūtra's fourth chapter, where Samantabhadra begins to answer.