Teaching Every Retinue, Praising Every Ground
In another place, Sudhana saw Maitreya giving food and drink to hungry ghosts; in another, taking on the various bodies of animals themselves in order to teach them the Dharma, removing their delusion and darkness; in another, teaching the Dharma to the retinue of the four heavenly kings, and even to the retinue of every Brahmā-heaven king; in another, teaching the Dharma to the retinue of every nāga, and even to the retinue of humans and non-humans; in another, teaching the Dharma to the great assembly of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas; and in another, teaching the Dharma to bodhisattvas from the very first raising of the mind all the way through the tenth ground.
In another, Sudhana saw Maitreya praising the merit of bodhisattvas from the first raising of the mind all the way through the tenth ground; in another, fully perfecting every pāramitā, entering the gate of forbearance toward every equal dharma, the gate of vast samādhi, and the gate of delight in the profound Dharma, cultivating the samādhi of meditative absorption, bringing forth the penetrating light of supernatural knowledge, filling everything completely, carrying out the bodhisattva's own practice, according with the world, and accomplishing every great vow; in another, together with fellow bodhisattvas of shared practice, benefiting sentient beings; and in another, together with bodhisattvas bound to a single more birth, in the very presence of the buddhas, receiving their own prediction.
Feeding the Hungry Ghosts, Teaching the Beasts, Praising Every Ground
或以肴膳飲食，施諸餓鬼；或為畜生受種種身，而為說法，除其癡闇；或為四天王眷屬說法，乃至為諸梵天王眷屬說法；或為諸龍眷屬說法，乃至為人、非人等眷屬說法；或為聲聞、緣覺，及諸菩薩大眾說法；或為發心菩薩，乃至十地菩薩說法。
或見讚歎初發心菩薩，乃至十地菩薩功德；或見滿足一切波羅蜜，入於平等諸法忍門、廣三昧門、樂深法門，修禪三昧，出生通明，充滿一切，行菩薩行，隨順世間，成就大願；或見與同行菩薩俱，饒益眾生；或見與一生菩薩，諸佛現前，授記者俱。
In another place he saw Maitreya giving food and drink to hungry ghosts; in another, taking on the various bodies of animals themselves in order to teach them the Dharma, removing their delusion and darkness; in another, teaching the Dharma to the retinue of the four heavenly kings, and even to the retinue of every Brahmā-heaven king; in another, teaching the Dharma to the retinue of every nāga, and even to the retinue of humans and non-humans; in another, teaching the Dharma to the great assembly of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas; and in another, teaching the Dharma to bodhisattvas from the very first raising of the mind all the way through the tenth ground.
In another, he saw Maitreya praising the merit of bodhisattvas from the first raising of the mind all the way through the tenth ground; in another, fully perfecting every pāramitā, entering the gate of forbearance toward every equal dharma, the gate of vast samādhi, and the gate of delight in the profound Dharma, cultivating the samādhi of meditative absorption, bringing forth the penetrating light of supernatural knowledge, filling everything completely, carrying out the bodhisattva's own practice, according with the world, and accomplishing every great vow; in another, together with fellow bodhisattvas of shared practice, benefiting sentient beings; and in another, together with bodhisattvas bound to a single more birth, in the very presence of the buddhas, receiving their own prediction.
The survey of audiences here completes what the preceding part began with the thrones of the three realms — where that passage covered every ruling station, this one covers every class of being taught, descending from hungry ghosts and animals up through the full ten grounds of the bodhisattva path. Fazang reads "taking on the various bodies of animals themselves" as a particularly striking instance of a principle already established in Maitreya's own hymn of praise for Sudhana much earlier — a teacher who becomes whatever form is necessary to reach a given audience, here extended to its furthest limit: Maitreya becomes literally an animal in order to teach animals, rather than addressing them from a human or divine form they could not understand.
Part 389 Complete
Maitreya's teaching to every audience is now given in full. Part 390 turns to Maitreya spending a hundred thousand kalpas in ceaseless recitation and copying of scripture, and to the transformation-bodies pouring forth from every single pore of his own body.
Continue to Part 390 →