Sāgaradhvaja, and the Body That Teaches from Every Limb

"...called Adorning the Peak of Jambudvīpa; there is a monk there whose name is Sāgaradhvaja. Go to him and ask how a bodhisattva turns toward the bodhisattva path, and cultivates the bodhisattva's own practice." At that time Sudhana the Boy bowed his head in reverence at the feet of the elder Vimukta, and, having circled him to the right, praised his merit, incalculable and beyond number; gazing up at him with longing, contemplating him, his mind never once wearied, he wept tears of sorrow. Single-mindedly holding the good spiritual friend in mind, according with the good spiritual friend, contemplating the good spiritual friend, attaining omniscience through the good spiritual friend; toward the good spiritual friend, forever removed from flattery and crookedness; toward the good spiritual friend, raising the mind of a kind mother, forever removed from every dharma of no benefit; toward the good spiritual friend, raising the mind of a kind father, able to give rise to every wholesome dharma — he took his leave and traveled south.

At that time Sudhana the Boy, rightly holding in mind and reflecting on the elder Vimukta's teaching, holding in mind the bodhisattva's own inconceivable Dharma-gate, reflecting on the bodhisattva's own inconceivable light of wisdom, according with and entering deeply into the inconceivable, profound Dharma-realm, gathering in the bodhisattva's own inconceivable, pure, sublime merit, manifesting the Tathāgata's own inconceivable, sovereign spiritual power, understanding the inconceivable, adorned buddha-lands, discerning and knowing the Buddha's own inconceivable, sustained, adorned, abiding domain, reflecting on the bodhisattva's own inconceivable domain of samādhi's own adornment, discerning the inconceivable worlds' own ultimate lack of obstruction, turning toward the bodhisattva's own inconceivable, firm, pure karma, with a profound mind upholding the inconceivable, pure karma of every vow — gradually he traveled onward, and arrived at the land Adorning the Peak of Jambudvīpa, seeking everywhere for the monk Sāgaradhvaja. He saw him in a still place, seated cross-legged, in true absorption of samādhi, his in-breath and out-breath extinguished, his body settled and unmoving, tranquil and without any perception at all.

From the soles of his feet came forth elders and brahmins beyond number, all of them crowned with heavenly crowns of every jewel, each one carrying marvelous jewels, the finest food and drink, every kind of jeweled robe, fragrant flowers, jeweled garlands, powdered incense, and anointing incense — every provision for life — gathering in the destitute and poor, comforting and embracing them, raining down every kind of treasure, causing every sentient being to rejoice greatly, filling the ten directions.

From his two knees came forth kṣatriyas and brahmins, all of them wise and intelligent; their shapes, colors, bearing, and adornment of dress all different from one another, teaching and guiding sentient beings with subtle and marvelous voices, causing them to leave evil and cultivate goodness, abiding in true meaning, expounding the four means of attraction, causing sentient beings to rejoice, filling the ten directions.

From both sides of his waist came forth sages of the five spiritual powers, equal in number to every sentient being; some wearing garments of grass, some of tree bark, all of them holding water-vessels and carrying three-forked staves, their bearing composed and orderly, never wavering; wandering through the open sky, praising the Three Jewels, expounding pure conduct for the sake of sentient beings, taming every faculty, expounding true meaning, gathering in the world, causing sentient beings to enter the ocean of wisdom; and further expounding every worldly treatise, causing them to abide, one after another, in every root of goodness, filling the ten directions.

From his two flanks came forth nāgas and nāga-maidens beyond conceiving, manifesting the inconceivable sovereign mastery of every nāga, gathering sentient beings in; raining down clouds of fragrant adornment, flower adornment, garland adornment, jeweled-canopy adornment, jeweled-banner adornment, every jeweled adornment, priceless maṇi-jewel adornment, jeweled-necklace adornment, jeweled-throne adornment, jeweled-palace adornment, jeweled-lotus adornment, jeweled-crown adornment, heavenly-image adornment, and heavenly-maiden adornment — clouds such as these, each beyond conceiving, universally illumining every world in the ten directions, making offering with them to every tathāgata, causing every sentient being to rejoice greatly, filling the Dharma-realm.

From the character of virtue upon his chest came forth asura kings beyond number and count, manifesting the asura kings' own inconceivable, sovereign spiritual power, shaking the waters of every great ocean, and a hundred thousand worlds; causing every mountain-king to collide with one another, shaking every heavenly palace, and eclipsing the light of every māra until it seemed like gathered ink; subduing the armies of every māra, extinguishing sentient beings' own laxity and pride; departing from a mind of anger and harm, extinguishing unwholesome dharmas, destroying the mountain of affliction, casting aside strife and contention; and further, through spiritual power, awakening sentient beings, causing them to grow weary of and turn away from every evil, forever cutting off birth and death, unattached to any destiny; universally causing sentient beings to constantly delight in tranquil extinction, abiding in the mind of awakening, purifying the bodhisattva's own practice, abiding in the pāramitās, reaching the very end of the bodhisattva ground, illumining every dharma, universally illumining every buddha's own skillful means, filling the Dharma-realm.

From his back came forth śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas beyond number, teaching and transforming sentient beings through the two vehicles as each required: for those attached to a view of self, teaching the contemplation of impurity; for those with much craving and desire, teaching the contemplation of loving-kindness; for those with much anger and hatred, teaching the contemplation of dependent origination; for those with much folly, teaching skillful wisdom, contemplating every dharma; for those of equal disposition, expounding the Dharma of non-attachment; for those attached to their own domain, expounding the domain of sublime vows; for those who delight in tranquil extinction, teaching entry into every destiny — bringing benefit to sentient beings, filling the Dharma-realm.

From his two shoulders came forth yakṣa kings and rākṣasa kings beyond number, their bodies of every evil kind, tall and short, every shape and color, riding every kind of vehicle, each surrounded by their own retinue; whatever sentient being was able to practice goodness, and every worthy and noble bodhisattva — whether turned toward the right path or having attained its fruit — all of these they guarded and protected entirely, some becoming vajra-wielding warriors, guarding every buddha and every place a buddha dwelt; whatever sentient being met with any terror, they likewise guarded and protected, causing them all to become fearless; whoever suffered illness, they caused to be cured; whoever was in peril, they caused to be entirely freed; extinguishing untimely death, freeing beings from every scorching affliction, teaching and transforming sentient beings, causing them to attain real benefit; destroying the wheel of birth and death, praising the Dharma-wheel, crushing the wheel of heterodox paths, filling the Dharma-realm.

From his belly came forth kiṃnara kings, in the hundreds of thousands and beyond number, each together with kiṃnara-maidens in the hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands beyond number, their retinues surrounding them; and gandharva kings, in the hundreds of thousands and beyond number, each together with gandharva-maidens in the hundreds of thousands upon hundreds of thousands beyond number, their retinues surrounding them; and heavenly music of entertainment, in the hundreds of thousands beyond number, expounding the Dharma of true reality, praising every buddha, extolling awakening and the bodhisattva's own practice, praising the gate of awakening, entering the gate of the Dharma-wheel, delighting in every gate of sovereign Dharma, expounding the gate of every final nirvāṇa, gathering in the gate of every buddha's own teaching, the gate of rejoicing for every sentient being, the gate of adorning and purifying every buddha-land, the gate of expounding every dharma-realm, the gate of extinguishing every hindrance, and the gate of proclaiming every root of goodness — filling the Dharma-realm.

From his mouth came forth wheel-turning sage-kings, in the hundreds of thousands and beyond number, fully endowed with the seven treasures, surrounded by four armies, releasing light free of any stinginess, raining down maṇi jewels, causing every destitute and suffering being to become wealthy and joyful; those without wealth to give were caused to be able to give generously; for every kind of being, praising the Dharma of departing from killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, cultivating a mind of loving-kindness, constantly speaking kind words, bringing benefit to sentient beings; extinguishing false speech, departing from harsh speech; gathering sentient beings in, departing from divisive speech; speaking words of harmony, departing from meaningless speech; expounding a profound Dharma, causing sentient beings to depart entirely from every fault of speech; praising great compassion, causing sentient beings to rejoice, departing from a mind of anger and hatred; discerning every true dharma of the world, contemplating causes and conditions, illumining the true truth; drawing out the poisoned thorn of every being's wrong view, extinguishing doubt, departing from every hindrance, illumining the true meaning of the Dharma, filling the Dharma-realm.

From his two eyes came forth suns, in the hundreds of thousands and beyond number, universally illumining the ten directions, extinguishing every darkness; causing every sentient being to extinguish the haze of their own stain, forever removed from the pain and poison of every evil path; causing the cold to attain warmth; in every stained and murky buddha-land, releasing bright, pure light, expounding broadly, even universally illumining every world of gold, silver, and lapis lazuli, and every kind of being; extinguishing the heavy darkness in sentient beings' own minds, causing them all to rejoice; able to accomplish every immeasurable undertaking for sentient beings, adorning every world's own sublime Dharma-domain, filling the Dharma-realm.

From between his brows came forth heavenly kings and Śakras, in the hundreds of thousands and beyond number, adorned with jewels beyond measure and every kind; upholding the Dharma of the king of the gods, universally illumining every heavenly palace, shaking every King Sumeru; causing every deva, within their own heavenly domain, to give rise to a mind of weariness and turning away, praising the power of merit, illumining the power of wisdom, raising the power of an upright mind, nurturing the power of a profound mind, adorning and purifying the power of mindfulness, making firm the mind of awakening, forever removed from desire and pleasure, praising the delight of beholding every buddha rather than praising the pleasure of worldly domains; praising the joy of hearing the Dharma, departing from worldly pleasure, the joy of wisdom in contemplating every dharma; departing from the terror of battling the asuras, extinguishing the army of affliction, forever removed from the fear of death, vowing to subdue every māra; raising up the mountain of the sublime Dharma, expounding vast, great Dharma-verses equal to Mount Sumeru itself, able to accomplish every immeasurable undertaking for sentient beings, filling the Dharma-realm.

From his forehead came forth Brahmā deities beyond number, their sublime forms dignified and upright, unequaled in any world; their bearing composed and orderly, sending forth sublime voices, praising every buddha, exhorting and requesting the teaching of the Dharma; causing sentient beings to rejoice, even able to accomplish every immeasurable undertaking for sentient beings, filling the Dharma-realm.

From his head came forth bodhisattvas beyond number, in every kind of shape and color, their bodies adorned with every excellent mark; releasing nets of light without measure, manifesting the giving-pāramitā, praising generosity, forever removed from stinginess, attached to nothing at all; adorning every world, extolling pure precepts, forever removed from broken precepts, establishing sentient beings in a bodhisattva's own discipline, praising the precepts of the Great Vehicle, giving rise to the treasury of merit of great compassion, expounding how every existent thing is entirely like a dream, expounding how the pleasure of the five desires has no flavor at all, establishing sentient beings in the Dharma that departs from affliction, extolling and praising the karma of a golden-colored body; praising a mind of loving-kindness, forever removed from killing and harming, extinguishing the destiny of animals; praising the power of vast learning, establishing sentient beings in the power of patience; praising universal, sovereign illumination, forever removed from laxity, establishing sentient beings in non-laxity; praising the meditation-pāramitā, the mind attaining sovereign mastery, drawing out the thorn of wrong view; praising right view and the wisdom-pāramitā, delighting in the sovereign mastery of wisdom; praising according with the world, forever removed from birth and death, yet taking birth in every destiny with sovereign mastery; praising the fulfillment of the power of vows, bringing forth every kind of spiritual brightness and sovereign lifespan; praising the power of every dhāraṇī, giving rise to the power of vows, the power of pure samādhi, manifesting sovereign birth; praising wisdom, universally illumining the faculties of every sentient being, discerning and expounding every mind and mental factor, illumining the wisdom of the ten powers; praising the sovereign mastery of omniscience, filling the Dharma-realm.

From the very crown of his head came forth buddhas, in the hundreds of thousands and beyond number, their bodily parts fully complete, adorned with every excellent mark, like a mountain of gold, universally illumining everything; sending forth sublime voices, filling the Dharma-realm.

Manifesting sovereign spiritual power boundless and without limit, universally raining down clouds of every ambrosial Dharma: for bodhisattvas seated at the bodhimaṇḍa, raining the cloud of the Dharma of equality; for bodhisattvas of the coronation stage, raining the cloud of the universal-gate Dharma; for bodhisattvas of profound patience, raining the cloud of the universally adorned Dharma; for bodhisattvas of true childhood, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the firm mountain; for bodhisattvas of non-retrogression, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the ocean-treasury; for bodhisattvas who have accomplished an upright mind, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the universal domain; for bodhisattvas of the skillful-means path, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the self-nature ground's own voice; for bodhisattvas of noble birth, raining the cloud of the Dharma of according with the world; for bodhisattvas of practice, raining the cloud of the Dharma of weariness and turning away; for bodhisattvas who purify the ground, raining the cloud of the Dharma of nurturing the treasury; for bodhisattvas who have first raised the mind, raining the cloud of the Dharma of diligence; for those of faith and practice, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the inexhaustible gate; for beings of the form realm, raining the cloud of the inexhaustible Dharma of equality; for Great Brahmā, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the universal treasury; for the Great Sovereign Heaven, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the power of birth; for the Heavenly King of Māra, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the mind-banner; for the Heaven of Transformed Delight, raining the cloud of the Dharma of pure mindfulness; for the Tuṣita Heaven, raining the cloud of the Dharma of pure intent; for the Yāma Heaven, raining the cloud of the Dharma of joy; for the Heaven of Śakra, raining the cloud of the Dharma adorning space; for yakṣa kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of joy; for gandharva kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of sovereign fulfillment; for asura kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the great domain; for garuḍa kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of boundless worlds; for kiṃnara kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of supreme wisdom benefiting sentient beings; for the kings of humankind, raining the cloud of the Dharma of what is not to be delighted in; for nāga kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of the banner of joy; for mahoraga kings, raining the cloud of the Dharma of tranquility; for beings of the hells, raining the cloud of the adorned Dharma of unconfused mindfulness; for every animal, raining the cloud of the Dharma of wisdom; for the domain of Yama, raining the cloud of the Dharma of fearlessness; for the domain of hungry ghosts, raining the cloud of the Dharma of right hope — causing every sentient being to turn toward the gate of the worthy and the noble, filling the Dharma-realm. From every single pore of these tathāgatas came forth a net of pure light beyond number, sublime forms beyond number, adornment beyond number, and domains beyond number, accomplishing undertakings beyond number, filling the ten directions.