Part 611 of the collection · Fascicle 48 of 80 · 如來十身相海品第三十四 · T279

The Crown's Thirty-Two Marks Complete

The final eight marks close out the crown of the tathāgata's head — one mark that causes whoever sees it to see nothing at all, and a last mark adorned with Indra's net, positioned at the very center and rising gradually higher than all the rest.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 611 — the last eight marks, and the crown complete Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

A Seeing That Sees Nothing

The thirtieth mark breaks the pattern in a single, striking way: rather than manifesting a vision for the viewer to behold, it causes whoever looks upon it to attain a seeing that is, itself, no seeing at all.

Chinese Source

次有大人相,名:出一切法界音聲雲,摩尼寶海、上妙栴檀以為莊嚴,舒大焰網充滿法界,其中普演微妙音聲,示諸眾生一切業海,是為二十五。次有大人相,名:普照諸佛變化輪雲,如來淨眼以為莊嚴,光照十方一切世界,於中普現去、來、今佛所有一切莊嚴之具,復出妙音演不思議廣大法海,是為二十六。次有大人相,名:光照佛海雲,其光普照一切世界,盡于法界無所障礙,悉有如來結跏趺坐,是為二十七。次有大人相,名:寶燈雲,放於如來廣大光明,普照十方一切法界,於中普現一切諸佛及諸菩薩不可思議諸眾生海,是為二十八。次有大人相,名:法界無差別雲,放於如來大智光明,普照十方諸佛國土、一切菩薩道場眾會無量法海,於中普現種種神通,復出妙音,隨諸眾生心之所樂演說普賢菩薩行願,令其迴向,是為二十九。次有大人相,名:安住一切世界海普照雲,放寶光明充滿一切虛空法界,於中普現淨妙道場及佛菩薩莊嚴身相,令其見者得無所見,是為三十。

Ru-Yi Translation

"Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud Emitting the Sound of the Entire Dharma-Realm, adorned with an ocean of maṇi jewels and the finest sandalwood, unfurling a great net of flame that fills the dharma-realm, universally expounding within it a subtle and wondrous sound, revealing to sentient beings the ocean of every karma. This is the twenty-fifth. Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud Universally Illuminating the Wheel of Every Buddha's Transformation, adorned with the tathāgata's pure eye, its light illuminating every world of the ten directions, universally manifesting within it every adornment possessed by the buddhas of the past, future, and present, and further emitting a wondrous sound expounding the inconceivable, vast ocean of dharma. This is the twenty-sixth. Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud of Light Illuminating the Ocean of Buddhas, its light universally illuminating every world, reaching throughout the entire dharma-realm without any obstruction, every place holding a tathāgata seated cross-legged. This is the twenty-seventh. Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud of the Jeweled Lamp, emitting the tathāgata's vast and great light, universally illuminating every dharma-realm of the ten directions, universally manifesting within it every buddha, every bodhisattva, and the inconceivable ocean of every sentient being. This is the twenty-eighth. Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud of the Undifferentiated Dharma-Realm, emitting the tathāgata's great light of wisdom, universally illuminating the buddha-lands of the ten directions and the measureless ocean of dharma at every bodhisattva's assembly at the seat of awakening, universally manifesting within it every manner of spiritual power, and further emitting a wondrous sound, expounding, according to the delight of every sentient being's mind, Samantabhadra's practices and vows, causing them to dedicate their merit toward it. This is the twenty-ninth. Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud of Universal Illumination Abiding Securely in Every Ocean of Worlds, emitting jeweled light that fills the whole of empty space and the dharma-realm, universally manifesting within it a pure and wondrous seat of awakening and the adorned bodily forms of buddhas and bodhisattvas, causing whoever sees it to attain the seeing of nothing at all. This is the thirtieth.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

令其見者得無所見 — causing whoever sees it to attain the seeing of nothing at all. Every other mark in this chapter fills the eye with something — buddhas, bodhisattvas, oceans of light. This one alone reverses the direction entirely: the vision it produces in the viewer is itself an absence of anything seen, a kind of seeing that arrives at no object.

Indra's Net, at the Very Center

The last two marks close the crown: an ocean of bodhisattvas endowed with the tathāgata's own spiritual power, and, positioned highest of all thirty-two, a mark adorned with Indra's net itself.

Chinese Source

次有大人相,名:一切寶清淨光焰雲,放於無量諸佛菩薩摩尼妙寶清淨光明,普照十方一切法界,於中普現諸菩薩海,莫不具足如來神力,常遊十方盡虛空界一切剎網,是為三十一。次有大人相,名:普照一切法界莊嚴雲,最處於中,漸次隆起,閻浮檀金、因陀羅網以為莊嚴,放淨光雲充滿法界,念念常現一切世界諸佛菩薩道場眾會,是為三十二。「佛子!如來頂上有如是三十二種大人相以為嚴好。

Ru-Yi Translation

Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud of the Pure Flame of Every Jewel, emitting the pure light of measureless buddhas' and bodhisattvas' wondrous maṇi jewels, universally illuminating every dharma-realm of the ten directions, universally manifesting within it an ocean of bodhisattvas, every one of them entirely endowed with the tathāgata's spiritual power, constantly journeying through the ten directions across the entire net of lands throughout the whole of empty space. This is the thirty-first. Next there is a mark of a great being named Cloud of Adornment Universally Illuminating the Entire Dharma-Realm, positioned at the very center, rising gradually higher, adorned with Jambu-river gold and Indra's net, emitting a cloud of pure light that fills the dharma-realm, in thought after thought constantly manifesting the assemblies of every buddha and bodhisattva at the seat of awakening throughout every world. This is the thirty-second. Sons of the Buddha! Upon the crown of the tathāgata's head there are these thirty-two kinds of marks of a great being, forming its excellent adornment.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

因陀羅網以為莊嚴 — adorned with Indra's net. Part 599 marked the first time this chapter's predecessor named Indra's net directly, after this translation had used the image as a description of the sūtra's own structure since its opening page. Here it reappears as the literal material adorning the single highest mark on the crown of the tathāgata's head — the image that describes how everything reflects everything else, placed at the very top of a body built entirely from such reflections.

Part 611 Complete

This continues chapter thirty-four, 如來十身相海品, in fascicle forty-eight. Part 612 moves down from the crown to the tathāgata's brow, eyes, and nose.