Part 924 of the collection · Fascicle 63 of 80 · 入法界品第三十九之四 · T279

Buddha-Lands Within Liberation's Own Body

The moment Liberation enters his own samādhi, his body becomes a screen onto which buddha-lands beyond counting project themselves at once — every buddha's own life displayed in full, from descending out of Tuṣita to the raising of a stūpa over relics, all of it heard and seen by Good-Wealth without confusion.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 924 — buddha-lands within Liberation's own body Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

A Body That Holds Every Land at Once

Buddha-lands as numerous as motes of dust appear within Liberation's own body in every direction at once — not overlapping or confused, but each one abiding exactly as it originally was, distinct lands and distinct assemblies held simultaneously without any of them crowding out another.

Chinese Source

入此三昧已,得清淨身。於其身中,顯現十方各十佛剎微塵數佛,及佛國土、眾會、道場、種種光明、諸莊嚴事,亦現彼佛往昔所行神通變化、一切大願、助道之法、諸出離行、清淨莊嚴,亦見諸佛成等正覺、轉妙法輪、教化眾生。如是一切,於其身中悉皆顯現,無所障礙;種種形相、種種次第,如本而住,不相雜亂,所謂:種種國土、種種眾會、種種道場、種種嚴飾。

Ru-Yi Translation

Having entered this samādhi, he attained a pure body. Within his own body, there appeared, in each of the ten directions, buddhas as numerous as every mote of dust in ten buddha-lands, together with their own buddha-lands, assemblies, sites of awakening, every kind of light, and every adorning matter; there also appeared those buddhas' own spiritual powers and transformations practiced in ages past, every great vow, every dharma that aids the path, every practice of departure, and every pure adornment; and there also appeared every buddha accomplishing true enlightenment, turning the wondrous dharma-wheel, and teaching and transforming sentient beings. All of this appeared entirely within his own body, without any obstruction; every kind of form, every kind of sequence, abiding just as it originally was, without any confusion or mixing, namely: every kind of land, every kind of assembly, every kind of site of awakening, and every kind of adornment.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

如本而住,不相雜亂 — abiding just as it originally was, without any confusion or mixing. The text is careful to specify this: an unlimited number of lands appearing inside a single body does not blur them together. Each one keeps its own integrity, exactly as though it had never left its own place.

Every Stage of a Buddha's Life, in Every Setting

From descending out of the Tuṣita heaven to the raising of a stūpa over divided relics, every conventional stage of a buddha's own life plays out — and not identically everywhere, but suited to every kind of family, language, and disposition among the sentient beings receiving it.

Chinese Source

其中諸佛現種種神力、立種種乘道、示種種願門,或於一世界處兜率宮而作佛事,或於一世界沒兜率宮而作佛事;如是,或有住胎,或復誕生,或處宮中,或復出家,或詣道場,或破魔軍,或諸天、龍恭敬圍遶,或諸世主勸請說法,或轉法輪,或般涅槃,或分舍利,或起塔廟。彼諸如來於種種眾會、種種世間、種種趣生、種種家族、種種欲樂、種種業行、種種語言、種種根性、種種煩惱隨眠習氣諸眾生中,或處微細道場,或處廣大道場,或處一由旬量道場,或處十由旬量道場,或處不可說不可說佛剎微塵數由旬量道場,以種種神通、種種言辭、種種音聲、種種法門、種種總持門、種種辯才門,以種種聖諦海、種種無畏大師子吼,說諸眾生種種善根、種種憶念,授種種菩薩記,說種種諸佛法。彼諸如來所有言說,善財童子悉能聽受,亦見諸佛及諸菩薩不可思議三昧神變。

Ru-Yi Translation

Among them, the buddhas manifested every kind of spiritual power, established every kind of vehicle and path, and revealed every kind of gate of vow; in one world, some abided in the Tuṣita palace to carry out a buddha's own deeds; in another world, some passed away from the Tuṣita palace to carry out a buddha's own deeds; and thus, some dwelled in the womb, some were born, some remained within the palace, some went forth from household life, some proceeded to the site of awakening, some vanquished the armies of māra, some were surrounded with reverence by devas and nāgas, some were entreated by every lord of the world to speak the dharma, some turned the dharma-wheel, some entered parinirvāṇa, some had their relics divided, and some had stūpas raised. Those tathāgatas, amid sentient beings of every kind of assembly, every kind of world, every kind of destiny and birth, every kind of family, every kind of desire and delight, every kind of karmic deed, every kind of language, every kind of faculty, and every kind of afflictive latent tendency and habitual disposition, some abided in a minute site of awakening, some abided in a vast site of awakening, some abided in a site of awakening the size of a single yojana, some abided in a site of awakening the size of ten yojanas, and some abided in a site of awakening the size of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands' worth of motes of dust in yojanas, through every kind of spiritual power, every kind of speech, every kind of voice, every kind of dharma-gate, every kind of gate of total retention, and every kind of gate of eloquence, through every kind of ocean of noble truth, and every kind of fearless great lion's roar, spoke of every sentient being's own every kind of root of goodness, every kind of remembrance, bestowed every kind of prediction of bodhisattvahood, and spoke every kind of dharma of every buddha. Every word spoken by those tathāgatas, the boy Good-Wealth was able to hear and receive entirely, and he also saw the inconceivable samādhi-transformations of every buddha and every bodhisattva.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

彼諸如來所有言說,善財童子悉能聽受 — every word spoken by those tathāgatas, the boy Good-Wealth was able to hear and receive entirely. Amid a vision this vast — buddha-lands beyond counting, every stage of every buddha's own life playing out at once — the text pauses to name a single, specific fact: Good-Wealth himself could actually hear and take in every word of it.

Part 924 Complete

This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-three. Part 925 turns to Liberation's own emergence from this samādhi, and his account of what he calls the gate of unobstructed liberation, naming specific buddhas he sees in each of the ten directions.