Entirely Samantabhadra's Own Conduct
Maitreya names, for the first time explicitly, what everything he has just taught actually is: Samantabhadra's own conduct — the very practice buddhas of the past single-mindedly sought, enduring boundless suffering across boundless kalpas, for without encountering buddhas of the past, they would never have been endowed with it. Sudhana, having now attained this in full, has gained what any sentient being who hears of it will likewise gain great benefit from.
What Buddhas of the Past Endured Boundless Suffering to Encounter
「……顯說，皆是普賢菩薩所行，應當了知，近善知識。過去諸佛，專求菩提，修習此行；於無量劫，諸有為中，受無量苦，猶不值遇過去諸佛，不具是行。善財！汝今皆得成就，聞諸佛法，行菩薩行；其有眾生，聞是行者，得大善利；成滿大願，親近諸佛，為佛真子，必成佛道；……」
"… have revealed to you is entirely Samantabhadra's own conduct; you should know this, and draw near to good friends. Buddhas of the past single-mindedly sought awakening and cultivated this very practice; across boundless kalpas, amid every conditioned thing, they endured boundless suffering, yet without encountering buddhas of the past, they would not have been endowed with this practice. Sudhana! You have now attained accomplishment in every respect, hearing every buddha's own Dharma and practicing the bodhisattva's own conduct; whatever sentient being hears of this practice gains great benefit; fulfilling every great vow, drawing near to every buddha, becoming a true child of the Buddha, they shall certainly attain the path of buddhahood … [the address continues]"
This is the moment this entire episode has been building toward since the children's own referral speech first named Samantabhadra's conduct as what Maitreya alone could reveal — Fazang reads the naming itself as the true content of Maitreya's own teaching, more significant than any single item in the catalogues that preceded it. That even past buddhas required actual encounter with prior buddhas to be "endowed with this practice" — it could not be reasoned out or discovered independently — retroactively explains why this entire pilgrimage has proceeded exclusively through personal meetings with living teachers, never through solitary contemplation alone.
Part 316 In Progress
This major revelation continues. Part 317 turns to its closing consequences — every sentient being who hears of this practice gains a pure Dharma-body, and consummates the far shore of every buddha's own merit.
Continue to Part 317 →