Drinking the Ocean of the Buddha-Dharma
Five more stanzas on the child of the Buddha abiding in this hall: knowing every land, every kalpa of the three times, and every sentient being's and buddha's own name; taking every kalpa as a single thought while according with sentient beings; and, seated cross-legged in one place, manifesting in every land while drinking entirely of the ocean of the Buddha-dharma.
Seated in One Place, Manifesting in Every Land
「佛子住此堂， 覺了一切剎，
三世一切劫， 眾生佛名號。
佛子住此堂， 諸劫為一念，
遠離妄想惑， 隨順於眾生。
佛子住此堂， 修習諸三昧，
一一心念中， 了達三世法。
佛子住此堂， 一處跏趺坐，
普現一切剎， 一切諸趣中。
佛子住此堂， 悉飲佛法海，
深入智慧海， 超度功德海。
"The child of the Buddha, abiding in this hall, awakens to and fully knows every land,
Every kalpa of the three times, and every sentient being's and buddha's own name.
The child of the Buddha, abiding in this hall, takes every kalpa as a single thought,
Far removed from false thought and delusion, according with sentient beings.
The child of the Buddha, abiding in this hall, cultivates every samādhi,
Within each and every mindful thought, fully penetrating the dharmas of the three times.
The child of the Buddha, abiding in this hall, seated cross-legged in a single place,
Universally manifests in every land, within every destiny.
The child of the Buddha, abiding in this hall, drinks entirely of the ocean of the Buddha-dharma,
Deeply entering the ocean of wisdom, and crossing over the ocean of merit."
"Every sentient being's and buddha's own name" is an unusually specific claim even within this hymn's own scale — not merely every land or every kalpa in the abstract, but the actual proper names attached to every being and every buddha across the three times. Fazang reads the cross-legged posture in the fourth stanza here as a deliberate contrast: the most ordinary meditative position a practitioner can take, held motionless in a single place, is precisely what makes possible the most extraordinary claim of the whole hymn — simultaneous manifestation in every land and every destiny at once.
Part 297 In Progress
Forty-five stanzas are now given. Part 298 continues with contemplating the boundless realms of the three times, and beholding every kalpa's own buddha-lands rising and falling within a single thought.
Continue to Part 298 →