Boundless Gates Opened by Sound Alone
Sudhana further heard the sound of how many kalpas a bodhisattva spent cultivating and practicing, and of his attaining correct awakening within a certain buddha-land; the sound of such a name and title, of such a long or short lifespan, of every great vow fulfilled, and of sentient beings taught and transformed; and, in the midst of the great assembly of bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas, the sound of manifesting parinirvāṇa while the true Dharma still abides in the world. He also heard that a certain bodhisattva, within a certain world, was fully able to carry out the pāramitā of giving at length, purely upholding the precepts, cultivating forbearance, exerting diligence, entering every meditative absorption, and cultivating wisdom in accordance with it; that for the sake of seeking the Dharma, he cast aside every treasure, his own kingdom and city, his wife and children, his very head, eyes, hands, and feet; that he guarded the true Dharma, becoming a great Dharma-master, bestowing the pure Dharma, establishing great Dharma-assemblies, raising the great banner of the Dharma, striking the Dharma-drum, blowing the Dharma-conch, raining the rain of the Dharma, and erecting stūpas and shrines, adorning them in every way, bringing peace and joy to sentient beings, and guarding the treasury of the buddha's own Dharma. He also heard that a certain buddha, within a certain world, during a certain kalpa, attained complete, perfect awakening, with such a number of retinue, such a long or short lifespan, fulfilling every great vow, and teaching and transforming sentient beings.
Hearing inconceivable, subtle, wondrous sounds such as these, his body and mind grew soft and pliant, and joy filled him without measure; he thereupon attained boundless gates of dhāraṇī, gates of eloquence, gates of forbearance, gates of diligence, gates of great vow, gates of penetrating light, gates of wisdom, gates of liberation, gates of the pāramitās, and gates of samādhi.
Casting Aside Kingdom, Kin, and Even His Own Limbs to Seek the Dharma
又聞菩薩修習諸行劫數多少，於某剎中，成正覺聲；如是名號，壽量長短，滿足大願，化眾生聲；於諸菩薩、聲聞、緣覺、大眾之中，現般涅槃法住世聲。又聞菩薩於某世界，悉能廣行檀波羅蜜，淨持禁戒，修習忍辱，發行精進，入諸禪定，習應智慧；為求法故，捨諸珍寶、國城、妻子、頭目、手足。守護正法，為大法師，施清淨法，設大法會，建大法幢，擊法鼓，吹法螺，雨法雨，興立塔廟；種種莊嚴，安樂眾生，護佛法藏。又聞某佛，在某世界，於某劫中，成等正覺，眷屬多少，壽命長短，滿足大願，教化眾生。
聞如是等不可思議微妙音聲，身心柔軟，歡喜無量；即得無量陀羅尼門、辯才門、忍門、精進門、大願門、通明門、智慧門、解脫門、波羅蜜門、三昧門。◎
He further heard the sound of how many kalpas a bodhisattva spent cultivating and practicing, and of his attaining correct awakening within a certain buddha-land; the sound of such a name and title, of such a long or short lifespan, of every great vow fulfilled, and of sentient beings taught and transformed; and, in the midst of the great assembly of bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas, the sound of manifesting parinirvāṇa while the true Dharma still abides in the world. He also heard that a certain bodhisattva, within a certain world, was fully able to carry out the pāramitā of giving at length, purely upholding the precepts, cultivating forbearance, exerting diligence, entering every meditative absorption, and cultivating wisdom in accordance with it; that for the sake of seeking the Dharma, he cast aside every treasure, his own kingdom and city, his wife and children, and his very head, eyes, hands, and feet; that he guarded the true Dharma, becoming a great Dharma-master, bestowing the pure Dharma, establishing great Dharma-assemblies, raising the great banner of the Dharma, striking the Dharma-drum, blowing the Dharma-conch, raining the rain of the Dharma, and erecting stūpas and shrines, adorning them in every way, bringing peace and joy to sentient beings, and guarding the treasury of the buddha's own Dharma. He also heard that a certain buddha, within a certain world, during a certain kalpa, attained complete, perfect awakening, with such a number of retinue, such a long or short lifespan, fulfilling every great vow, and teaching and transforming sentient beings.
Hearing inconceivable, subtle, wondrous sounds such as these, his body and mind grew soft and pliant, and joy filled him without measure; he thereupon attained boundless gates of dhāraṇī, gates of eloquence, gates of forbearance, gates of diligence, gates of great vow, gates of penetrating light, gates of wisdom, gates of liberation, gates of the pāramitās, and gates of samādhi.
The repeated phrase "a certain" (某, mou) — a certain bodhisattva, a certain world, a certain kalpa, a certain buddha — functions here as a deliberate grammatical marker of the specific-yet-unspecified: each biography Sudhana overhears is completely particular in its own details (as the earlier passage on "no two buddhas alike" already established) even though the text names none of them, since to do so would require naming an uncountable number. Fazang reads the concluding list of "boundless gates" that Sudhana attains from hearing alone — without any teacher directly instructing him — as this vision's clearest demonstration yet that the tower's own revelation operates by a different mechanism than ordinary Dharma transmission: understanding arises here from exposure and receptivity, softened by wonder, rather than from explicit verbal teaching.
Part 394 Complete
The sounds of the golden bells, and the boundless gates they open, are now given in full. Part 395 turns to an entirely new mode of vision: Sudhana beholding, within a single jeweled mirror, every kind of world at once — pure, impure, and mixed; with buddhas and without; even worlds as vast and mutually reflecting as Indra's own net.
Continue to Part 395 →