Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance, and Every Illness Healed
Sudhana takes leave of Dharma-Jewel Crest and journeys to the city Universal Gate, where the elder Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance heals every illness of every being throughout the ten directions before turning to teach each one the Dharma fitted to their own affliction. He also teaches the art of blending incense, a single burning pellet of which adorns the whole Dharma-realm — sixth teacher of the Ten Practices.
Farewell to Dharma-Jewel Crest, and Every Illness Healed
時，善財童子頭面敬禮法寶周羅足已，辭退南行。
爾時，善財童子思惟諸佛無量法門，逮得菩薩無量諸行，菩薩無量妙方便道，普照身心；樂求無量方便法門，成就菩薩清淨解脫，菩薩無量清淨諸根，菩薩無量諸清淨力；心隨菩薩無量諸行，出生菩薩無量大願力，逮得菩薩不可沮壞妙智慧幢，普照一切。漸漸遊行，至於彼國，求普門城，心無休息，精進不退。念善知識，讚善知識，隨順善知識，諸根專向普門法門，遠離一切諸放逸行，開淨慧眼，度生死海。見普門城，百千小城周匝圍遶，高峻堅固，妙巧無比，種種莊嚴；見普眼妙香長者於此城中，坐眾香座。往詣其所，頭面禮足，恭敬合掌，於一面住，白言：「大聖！我已先發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，而未知菩薩云何學菩薩行、修菩薩道？」
答言：「善哉！善哉！善男子！乃能發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。善男子！我知一切眾生病：風寒熱病及諸雜病、狂橫病、鬼著病、毒病、諸呪術病，如是等類一切諸病，我悉了知；隨其所應，皆能療治。善男子！十方眾生諸有病者，來詣我所，我悉能治。除其患已，沐浴香湯，香華瓔珞，名衣上服而莊嚴之，肴膳飲食而供養之，無量珍寶而惠施之，然後為說種種法門：貪欲多者，教不淨觀；瞋恚多者，教慈心觀；愚癡多者，教法相觀；等分行者，教勝法門；稱揚讚歎諸佛功德，發菩提心故，說長養大悲，於無量生死苦，心不厭故；分別廣說諸波羅蜜，長養無量淨智慧故；說諸大願，教化成熟一切眾生故；說普賢菩薩行，顯現清淨尸波羅蜜故；說不可思議如來功德，顯現羼提波羅蜜故；說如來無壞清淨法身，顯現毘梨耶波羅蜜故；說如來無與等者，顯現如來禪波羅蜜故；說清淨法身，顯現般若波羅蜜故，說一切淨法身，令一切眾生皆悉覩見，顯現方便波羅蜜故；說於生死中，住一切劫，顯現願波羅蜜故；說嚴淨一切佛剎，顯現諸力波羅蜜故；說淨法身，隨其所應，悉令歡喜，顯現智波羅蜜故；說常樂見清淨法身，遠離一切不善法故。善男子！我以如是等種種法施，悉令滿足，歡喜而還。
At that time Sudhana the Boy, having bowed his head in reverence at Dharma-Jewel Crest's feet, took his leave and journeyed on to the south.
At that time Sudhana the Boy contemplated every buddha's own boundless Dharma-gate, attained the bodhisattva's own boundless practice, the bodhisattva's own boundless, sublime path of skillful means, universally illumining body and mind; delighting in seeking the boundless Dharma-gate of skillful means, he accomplished the bodhisattva's own pure liberation, the bodhisattva's own boundless pure faculties, and the bodhisattva's own boundless pure powers; his mind followed the bodhisattva's own boundless practice, giving rise to the bodhisattva's own boundless power of great vow, and he attained the bodhisattva's own indestructible banner of sublime wisdom, universally illumining everything. Gradually journeying on, he arrived at that land, seeking the city Universal Gate, his mind never resting, his diligence never retreating. Holding the good spiritual friend in mind, praising the good spiritual friend, according with the good spiritual friend, every faculty turned single-mindedly toward the Dharma-gate of Universal Gate, he departed far from every kind of heedless conduct, opened the pure eye of wisdom, and crossed the ocean of birth and death. He beheld the city Universal Gate, a hundred thousand lesser cities surrounding it on every side, towering and firm, marvelously skillful beyond compare, adorned in every kind of way; he beheld the elder Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance, within this city, seated upon a throne of every kind of fragrance. He went before him, bowed his head at his feet, and, joining his palms in reverence, stood to one side, and said: "Great sage! I have already raised the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, and I do not yet know how a bodhisattva learns the bodhisattva's own practice, cultivates the bodhisattva path?"
He answered: "Excellent, excellent, good son! You have indeed been able to raise the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. Good son, I know every sentient being's own illness: illness from wind, cold, or heat, and every other kind of mixed illness, illness of madness and derangement, illness of possession by ghosts, illness of poisoning, illness caused by every kind of spell — every illness such as these I understand completely, and, according to what each requires, I am able to heal and treat every one. Good son, whoever throughout the ten directions falls ill comes before me, and I am able to heal them all. Once I have removed their affliction, I bathe them in fragrant water, adorn them with fragrant flowers and necklaces, fine robes and superior garments, make offering to them with delicacies and food and drink, and bestow upon them countless rare treasures; and only then do I expound for them every kind of Dharma-gate: for those with much greed and desire, I teach the contemplation of impurity; for those with much hatred and anger, I teach the contemplation of loving-kindness; for those with much folly and delusion, I teach the contemplation of the marks of dharmas; for those of evenly-mixed conduct, I teach the supreme Dharma-gate. I extol and praise every buddha's own merit, so as to give rise to the mind of awakening; I speak of nurturing great compassion, so that the mind never tires amid the boundless suffering of birth and death; I discern and expound at length every perfection, so as to nurture boundless, pure wisdom; I speak of every great vow, so as to teach, transform, and mature every sentient being; I speak of Samantabhadra's own bodhisattva practice, to manifest the pure perfection of moral discipline; I speak of the Tathāgata's own merit beyond conceiving, to manifest the perfection of patience; I speak of the Tathāgata's own indestructible, pure Dharma-body, to manifest the perfection of diligence; I speak of the Tathāgata having no equal at all, to manifest the Tathāgata's own perfection of meditative absorption; I speak of the pure Dharma-body, to manifest the perfection of wisdom; I speak of every pure Dharma-body, causing every sentient being to behold it entirely, to manifest the perfection of skillful means; I speak of abiding through every eon amid birth and death, to manifest the perfection of vow; I speak of purifying and adorning every buddha-land, to manifest the perfection of powers; I speak of the pure Dharma-body, causing everyone, according to what is fitting, to rejoice entirely, to manifest the perfection of knowledge; and I speak of the constant delight in beholding the pure Dharma-body, so as to depart far from every unwholesome dharma. Good son, through every kind of giving of the Dharma such as this, I cause them all to be satisfied completely, and they return rejoicing.
Fazang marks this as the sixth of the Ten Practices, "the Practice of Excellent Manifestation" (善現行) — the very same name, in Chinese, as the first teacher of this whole stage, the monk met back at Rescue and Deliverance; here it names not a person but the practice itself. He glosses the land's own name, 般若離倒稱理名實，明照生後故名利根 — "prajñā, free from every inversion and matching principle exactly, is called 'True'; its bright illumination giving rise to what follows is called 'Sharp Faculties.'" On the city, he gives two readings at once: 簡狹取廣故云普，通入遊涉故復稱門...又釋：城攝眷屬，為多所趣，故名普門 — "selecting against the narrow and taking up the vast is why it is called 'Universal'; freely admitting entry and passage is why it is further called 'Gate'" — a reading in terms of principle, where "Universal" and "Gate" are simply two names for the same single thing; "or again: the city gathers in its own retinue, being that toward which many beings make their way — hence 'Universal Gate'" — a plainer reading in terms of the literal setting. The elder's own name he glosses in a single stroke: 智照根藥普熏眾生，故以為名 — "his wisdom illumines the roots and remedies of every ailment, universally scenting sentient beings — hence he bears this name."
The Incense-Seller's Fragrant Offering
善男子！我又善知和眾香法，所謂：不可稱王香、新頭香、勝香、覺香、明相香、沈水香、堅固香、栴檀香、雲香、不動諸根香，知如是等一切諸香。燒此香時，一心向佛，發大誓心，滿一切願，所謂：救護一切眾生，嚴淨一切佛剎，恭敬供養一切諸佛；乃至燒一丸香時，充滿十方一切法界，一切如來及其眷屬；香帳莊嚴一切法界，香宮殿、香垣牆、香樓閣、香欄楯、香却敵、香窓牖、香半月、香蓋、香幢、香幡、香網、香形像、香光明、香莊嚴具、香雲雨，莊嚴十方一切法界，一切諸佛及其眷屬。善男子！我唯知此令一切眾生歡喜普門法門，見一切佛身諸大藥王菩薩；若有聞見、親近、憶念、執持名號，皆悉不虛；其有見者，煩惱悉滅，得諸如來法之原底，滅除苦陰，永離一切生死恐怖，得無所畏，具一切智，破壞無量生死高山，安住正法。我當云何能知、能說彼功德行？善男子！於此南方，有城名曰滿幢，王名滿足，汝詣彼問云何菩薩學菩薩行、修菩薩道。」
"Good son, I also understand well the art of blending every kind of incense — namely: the incense called Beyond Naming, King; New Head incense; Supreme incense; Awakening incense; Bright Mark incense; Aloeswood incense; Firm incense; Sandalwood incense; Cloud incense; and the incense that Stills Every Faculty — I know every kind of incense such as these. When I burn this incense, single-mindedly turned toward the buddhas, I give rise to the mind of a great vow, fulfilling every wish — namely, rescuing and protecting every sentient being, purifying and adorning every buddha-land, and reverently making offering to every buddha; and when I burn even a single pellet of incense, it fills the whole Dharma-realm throughout the ten directions, reaching every tathāgata and their own retinue; a canopy of incense adorns the whole Dharma-realm — an incense palace, an incense wall, an incense pavilion, an incense balustrade, an incense parapet, an incense window, an incense half-moon, an incense canopy, an incense banner, an incense pennant, an incense net, an incense image, an incense light, an incense ornament, a rain of incense-clouds — adorning the whole Dharma-realm throughout the ten directions, every buddha, and their own retinue. Good son, I know only this Dharma-gate of Universal Gate that Delights Every Sentient Being: those who behold every buddha's own body are all great bodhisattva-kings of medicine; whoever hears of them, sees them, draws near to them, holds them in mind, or takes hold of their name, it is never in vain for them; whoever beholds them has every affliction extinguished entirely, attains the very source and root of every tathāgata's own Dharma, extinguishes the aggregate of suffering, forever departs from every fear of birth and death, attains fearlessness, is endowed with omniscience, breaks apart the towering mountain of boundless birth and death, and abides securely in the true Dharma. How could I possibly know, how could I possibly speak of, such merit and practice as this? Good son, to the south of here there is a city, named Full Banner; its king is named Fulfillment. Go to him and ask how a bodhisattva learns the bodhisattva's own practice, cultivates the bodhisattva path."
Fazang splits this teacher's whole function into two halves, "healing illness and universally transforming beings" below and "arising practice through incense, making offering to buddhas above." Within the healing half, he counts four movements: removing the body's own suffering, giving the body its own ease, healing the mind's own illness through the four contemplations matched to greed, hatred, folly, and evenly-mixed disposition, and only then properly imparting the great practice through fourteen phrases — the first three giving rise to the awakening mind itself, and the eleven that follow, opened by "I speak of every great vow," mapped one by one onto the ten perfections, ending on the perfection of wisdom. On the incense half, he adds a detail that reframes the entire teaching: 以梵本中是賣香人故 — "because, in the Sanskrit original, this elder is by trade an incense-seller" — the whole Dharma-gate, on this reading, grows directly out of an ordinary merchant's own vocation rather than being a symbol chosen from outside it. He records the Indian original of the Dharma-gate's own name as "attaining the Dharma-gate of the fragrant body that causes every sentient being to be joyfully satisfied, through the Universal Gate of beholding buddhas and making offering."
Part 36 Complete
This closes Part 36: Sudhana's arrival at Universal Gate, and the elder Universal Eye, Sublime Fragrance, sixth teacher of the Ten Practices, an incense-seller by trade whose healing of every illness and whose art of blended fragrance both adorn the whole Dharma-realm at once. Sudhana is sent onward, to the city Full Banner, and the king named Fulfillment.
Continue to Part 37 — King Fulfillment, and Punishments That Are Not What They Seem →