A Bodhisattva's Every Pore
Within each and every pore of a bodhisattva, within every single thought-moment, Gopā beholds boundless adorned worlds, buddhas attaining awakening and turning the Dharma-wheel, and the whole ocean of sentient beings, each in their own place and destiny — even bodhisattvas still manifesting within their own royal palaces, surrounded by attendant women.
Worlds, Buddhas, and Every Sentient Being, Within One Pore
「何以故？我於菩薩一一毛孔中，念念悉見無量無邊莊嚴世界，佛坐道場，成等正覺，於大眾中以微妙音轉正法輪，說種種修多羅，種種諸乘，種種清淨。復次，佛子！我於菩薩一一毛孔中，念念悉見諸眾生海各有所住及其境界、諸根不同；於三世中發菩提心，行菩薩行，具大願海，淨諸菩薩無量無邊波羅蜜海，及諸菩薩本生之海，無量無邊大慈悲海；攝取眾生悉令歡喜，乃至悉見一切菩薩現處中宮，采女圍遶。佛子！我於菩薩一一毛孔中，皆悉覩見如是等事。」
"Why is this so? Within each and every pore of a bodhisattva, within every single thought-moment, I behold in full boundless, measureless adorned worlds, buddhas seated at the bodhimaṇḍa, attaining the most correct awakening, and, within the great assembly, with a sublime, subtle voice, turning the wheel of the true Dharma, expounding every kind of sūtra, every kind of vehicle, and every kind of purity. Furthermore, Child of the Buddha, within each and every pore of a bodhisattva, within every single thought-moment, I behold in full the ocean of every sentient being, each dwelling in their own place, their own state, and their own differing faculties; raising the mind of awakening within the three times, practicing the bodhisattva's own practice, fully endowed with the ocean of the great vow, purifying the bodhisattva's own boundless, measureless ocean of pāramitās, and the ocean of every bodhisattva's own past lives, the boundless, measureless ocean of great compassion; gathering in sentient beings, causing them all to rejoice, and, further still, beholding every bodhisattva manifesting within the central palace, surrounded by attendant women. Child of the Buddha, within each and every pore of a bodhisattva, I behold in full every matter such as this."
The vision Gopā describes here divides into two registers, each occupying the same single pore: first, the cosmic scale — worlds, buddhas, and the turning of the Dharma-wheel; second, the intimate scale — sentient beings each in their own particular state, and, strikingly, bodhisattvas "still manifesting within the central palace, surrounded by attendant women." This last detail closes the circle on this teacher's own opening story: a bodhisattva's path does not require having already left the household life, since even the palace itself, with its own attendants, is included among what a bodhisattva's own pore can rightly contain.
Part 182 In Progress
What Gopā beholds within a bodhisattva's own pores is now fully told. Part 183 turns to her final self-limitation and the referral that closes her entire episode — sending Sudhana onward to Lady Māyā herself.
Continue to Part 183 →