Clouds of Transformation-Bodies From Every Pore
In another place, Sudhana saw Maitreya, across a hundred thousand kalpas, walking in meditation and reciting scripture, copying out the sūtras, without any rest or slackening at all; in another, contemplating the Dharma-gates, reflecting on their true meaning; in another, entering every meditative absorption, the four immeasurable minds, the samādhis of liberation, and the totality-gates of every kind; in another, bringing forth the bodhisattva's own penetrating light; and in another, entering the samādhi of transformation itself — from every single pore of his body sending forth clouds of transformation-bodies: clouds of heavenly bodies, of nāgas, yakṣas, and even mahoragas; clouds of the bodies of the four heavenly kings, and even of Brahmā-heaven kings; clouds of the bodies of wheel-turning sage-kings, princes, great ministers, elders, and householders; and clouds of the bodies of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and tathāgatas. And from every one of those very same pores, he further saw clouds of transformation-bodies of every sentient being without exception pouring forth as well.
From him, too, poured forth the bodhisattva's own Dharma-gates — the gate that praises the merit of the mind of bodhi, the gate of the pāramitā of giving, and even the gate of the pāramitā of vowed aspiration; the four means of gathering beings, every meditative absorption, boundless samādhis, the totality of penetrating light and dhāraṇī, every truth and every eloquence, calm-abiding and insight and liberation, dependent origination and the foundations of mindfulness, right effort and the bases of supernormal power, the faculties, the powers, the factors of awakening and the path, the practice followed by the two vehicles of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, the bodhisattva's own Great Vehicle, every ground and every forbearance, and the bodhisattva's own vowed practice — manifesting every one of these Dharma-gates in just this way.
Every Dharma-Gate Manifesting at Once
或見彌勒於百千劫，經行誦念，書寫經卷，無有懈息；或觀法門，思惟實義；或入諸禪，四無量心，解脫三昧，一切入等；或見出生菩薩通明；或見正受變化三昧，一一毛孔出化身雲，所謂：天身雲，諸龍、夜叉，乃至摩睺羅伽身雲，四天王身雲，乃至梵王身雲，轉輪聖王、王子、大臣、長者、居士、聲聞、緣覺、如來身雲，復見一一毛孔中，出一切眾生等化身雲。
或出菩薩法門，所謂：讚歎菩提心功德門，檀波羅蜜門，乃至願波羅蜜門；四攝諸禪、無量三昧、通明總持、諸諦諸辯、止觀解脫、緣起念處、正勤神足、根力覺道、聲聞、緣覺二乘所行、菩薩大乘、諸地諸忍、菩薩願行，現如是等一切法門。
In another place he saw Maitreya, across a hundred thousand kalpas, walking in meditation and reciting scripture, copying out the sūtras, without any rest or slackening at all; in another, contemplating the Dharma-gates, reflecting on their true meaning; in another, entering every meditative absorption, the four immeasurable minds, the samādhis of liberation, and the totality-gates of every kind; in another, bringing forth the bodhisattva's own penetrating light; and in another, entering the samādhi of transformation itself — from every single pore of his body sending forth clouds of transformation-bodies: clouds of heavenly bodies, of nāgas, yakṣas, and even mahoragas; clouds of the bodies of the four heavenly kings, and even of Brahmā-heaven kings; clouds of the bodies of wheel-turning sage-kings, princes, great ministers, elders, and householders; and clouds of the bodies of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and tathāgatas. And from every one of those very same pores, he further saw clouds of transformation-bodies of every sentient being without exception pouring forth as well.
From him, too, poured forth the bodhisattva's own Dharma-gates — the gate that praises the merit of the mind of bodhi, the gate of the pāramitā of giving, and even the gate of the pāramitā of vowed aspiration; the four means of gathering beings, every meditative absorption, boundless samādhis, the totality of penetrating light and dhāraṇī, every truth and every eloquence, calm-abiding and insight and liberation, dependent origination and the foundations of mindfulness, right effort and the bases of supernormal power, the faculties, the powers, the factors of awakening and the path, the practice followed by the two vehicles of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, the bodhisattva's own Great Vehicle, every ground and every forbearance, and the bodhisattva's own vowed practice — manifesting every one of these Dharma-gates in just this way.
"Mahoraga" completes the standard list of the eight classes of non-human beings said to protect the Dharma (deva, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kiṃnara, and mahoraga — great serpent-spirits) whose bodies now pour forth from Maitreya's every pore alongside human and divine rulers and even buddhas themselves. Fazang reads this vision as the passage's most vivid image yet of the Huayan principle that a single phenomenon can contain the totality without contradiction — not merely reflecting other scenes as the earlier mirror-images did, but actively generating boundless, distinct bodies and teachings from every single pore simultaneously, a multiplication without division exactly paralleling how a single candle-flame lights countless others without itself diminishing, an image already used in this same episode's own catalogue of similes.
Part 390 Complete
The vision of Maitreya's boundless emanation is now given in full. Part 391 turns to Sudhana beholding, within the tower, every buddha together with their assemblies — each buddha's own lineage, lifespan, and land differing entirely from every other.
Continue to Part 391 →