Seeing Maitreya's First Raising of the Mind of Bodhi
At that time, beholding the tower's own inconceivable, wondrous adornment, Sudhana's heart filled with great joy, leaping and bounding without measure; his mind became soft and pliant, free of every false thought, every darkening obstruction of ignorance entirely removed, his right mindfulness turned in contemplation, seeking only the wondrous path, and with a body unobstructed he made a reverent bow. Having bowed, through the awesome spiritual power of the bodhisattva Maitreya, he saw his own body reflected throughout every one of the towers, and beheld boundless deeds of sovereign spiritual power, inconceivable things. In one place, he saw Maitreya according to his own original lineage, his lifespan, and his companions, nurturing his roots of goodness across every kalpa and world, in the presence of every buddha together with his own retinue, and, because of his great vows, first raising the mind set on unsurpassed, perfect awakening; in another, he saw Maitreya first attaining the samādhi of loving-kindness, the very samādhi from which his own name derives.
In yet another place, he saw Maitreya carrying out the bodhisattva's own practice, fully perfecting every pāramitā, every forbearance, and every ground, purifying buddha-lands, beholding every tathāgata, hearing the Dharma and upholding it, guarding the true Dharma, becoming a great Dharma-master, attaining the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, and knowing in which direction, in the presence of which tathāgata, and after how many kalpas he would receive his own prediction of buddhahood.
The Samādhi of Loving-Kindness, the Source of Maitreya's Own Name
爾時，善財覩見樓觀不可思議眾妙莊嚴，心大歡喜，踊躍無量；其心柔軟，離諸妄想，除滅一切愚癡闇障，正念思惟，專求妙趣，以無礙身恭敬作禮。禮已，彌勒菩薩威神力故，諸樓觀中，自見其身，又見無量自在神力，不思議事。或見彌勒，隨本種姓，壽命知識，長養善根，諸劫世界，一切佛所，及諸眷屬，因諸大願，初發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心；或見初得慈心三昧，因以為名。
或見彌勒行菩薩行，滿足一切諸波羅蜜，諸忍、諸地，淨佛世界，見諸如來，聞法受持，守護正法，為大法師，得無生忍，知某方處，某如來所，劫數多少，而得受記。
At that time, beholding the tower's own inconceivable, wondrous adornment, Sudhana's heart filled with great joy, leaping and bounding without measure; his mind became soft and pliant, free of every false thought, every darkening obstruction of ignorance entirely removed, his right mindfulness turned in contemplation, seeking only the wondrous path, and with a body unobstructed he made a reverent bow. Having bowed, through the awesome spiritual power of the bodhisattva Maitreya, he saw his own body reflected throughout every one of the towers, and beheld boundless deeds of sovereign spiritual power, inconceivable things. In one place he saw Maitreya, according to his own original lineage, his lifespan, and his companions, nurturing his roots of goodness across every kalpa and world, in the presence of every buddha together with his own retinue, and, because of his great vows, first raising the mind set on unsurpassed, perfect awakening; in another place he saw him first attaining the samādhi of loving-kindness, the very samādhi from which his own name derives.
In yet another place, he saw Maitreya carrying out the bodhisattva's own practice, fully perfecting every pāramitā, every forbearance, and every ground, purifying buddha-lands, beholding every tathāgata, hearing the Dharma and upholding it, guarding the true Dharma, becoming a great Dharma-master, attaining the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, and knowing in which direction, in the presence of which tathāgata, and after how many kalpas he would receive his own prediction of buddhahood.
"The samādhi of loving-kindness, the very samādhi from which his own name derives" makes explicit, for the first time in this entire episode, the etymology behind "Maitreya" itself (慈氏, "kind one" or "one of loving-kindness," from maitrī, loving-kindness) — a name this narrative has used throughout without previously explaining its own origin. Fazang reads Sudhana's vision here as functioning less like ordinary narration and more like simultaneous multiplicity: "in one place... in another... in yet another" (或見...或見) does not describe a sequence Sudhana walks through, but distinct, co-present scenes visible at once throughout the tower's own countless reflecting surfaces — the entirety of Maitreya's biography, from first vow to final prediction, present all together rather than unfolding one stage at a time.
Part 387 Complete
The vision of Maitreya's own path has only just begun. Part 388 turns to Maitreya manifesting across every station of existence at once — as a wheel-turning king, as each of the four heavenly kings, as Śakra, and as the lord of every heaven in turn — each teaching precisely what that station's own audience needs to hear.
Continue to Part 388 →