The Vow for Buddha Lands

Explanation of the Vow for Buddha Lands in the First Chapter of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra, Part Thirteen, Fascicle Seven

After bodhisattvas see this, they make a vow for themselves, saying, "When I become a Buddha, may my world have no forms of suffering, not even the names of the three bad destinies. May it be like this."

There are Buddha worlds adorned with the seven treasures, where pure light is always present day and night and there is no sun or moon. Seeing this, bodhisattvas make a vow, saying, "When I become a Buddha, may my world always have majestic, pure light. May it be like this."

There are Buddha worlds where all beings practice the ten wholesome courses of action, possess great wisdom, and receive clothing, bedding, food, and drink as soon as they think of them. Seeing this, bodhisattvas make a vow, saying, "When I become a Buddha, may the beings in my world have clothing, bedding, food, and drink in this same way."

There are Buddha worlds made purely of bodhisattvas. Like the Buddha's form body, they have the thirty-two marks, and their light shines through everything. There are not even the names of śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas, and there are no women. All practice the deep and wondrous Buddha path, travel to the ten directions, and teach and transform all beings. Seeing this, bodhisattvas make a vow, saying, "When I become a Buddha, may the beings in my world also be like this."

In this way, among immeasurable Buddha worlds with many kinds of majestic purity, they vow to attain them all. For this reason, this is called the vow to receive immeasurable Buddha worlds.

Question: Since bodhisattvas' actions and karma are pure, they naturally receive pure recompense. Why must they first establish vows and only then obtain it? It is like a farming household obtaining grain. Does it still have to wait for a vow?

Answer: When one creates merit without vows, there is nothing clearly established. A vow serves as guide and driver, and so something can be accomplished. It is like smelted gold: it follows what the master craftsman makes, and the gold itself has no fixed form. As the Buddha said:

Some people cultivate a little merit from giving and a little merit from morality, but do not know the Dharma of meditation. Hearing that among human beings there are people who are wealthy and happy, their minds constantly think of this, they vow for that happiness and do not let it go. After their lives end, they are born among wealthy and happy people.

Again, some people cultivate a little merit from giving and a little merit from morality, but do not know the Dharma of meditation. Hearing of the realm of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Yāma Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Nirmāṇarati Heaven, and the Paranirmitavaśavartin Heaven, their minds constantly vow for and delight in them. After their lives end, each is born in one of those places. All of this is obtained through the power of vows.

Bodhisattvas are also like this. They cultivate the vow for a pure world, and only then do they attain it. For this reason, one should know that because of vows they receive a supreme result.

Furthermore, adorning a Buddha world is a great undertaking. It cannot be accomplished by practicing merit alone, and therefore the power of vows is necessary. For example, although the strength of an ox can pull a cart, there must be a driver for it to reach a destination. The vow for a pure world is also like this: merit is like the ox, and the vow is like the driver.

Question: If one does not make vows, does one not obtain merit?

Answer: One does obtain it, but it is not equal to having vows. Vows can assist merit. By constantly remembering what one practices, one's merit grows.

Question: If one obtains a result by making a vow, then when people commit the ten evils, since they do not vow for hell, they also should not receive the result of hell.

Answer: Offenses and merits do have fixed results. But those who make vows cultivate only a little merit, and because of the power of vows they obtain a great result. As was said earlier, among offenses there is painful retribution. All beings wish to obtain happiness; no one wishes for suffering. Therefore no one vows for hell. For this reason, merit has immeasurable results, while the result of offense is limited.

Some say: the greatest offense results in retribution in Avīci Hell for one kalpa, while the greatest merit results in retribution in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception for eighty thousand great kalpas. The bodhisattvas' vow for a pure world also lasts through immeasurable kalpas, until they enter the path and attain nirvāṇa. This is constant bliss.

Question: In the chapter on hells, it says that the offense of slandering the Prajñāpāramitā is such that when this kalpa here is exhausted, one again goes to another place's hell. Why then say that the greatest offense receives only one kalpa of retribution in hell?

Answer: For the sake of beings, the Buddha Dharma has two paths of teaching and transformation: first, the Buddha path; second, the śrāvaka path. Within the śrāvaka path, for a person who commits the five heinous offenses, the Buddha says that one receives one kalpa in hell. Within the bodhisattva path, for a person who destroys the Buddha Dharma, it is said that when this kalpa here is exhausted, one again goes elsewhere and receives immeasurable offenses.

In the śrāvaka teaching, the foremost merit is received for eighty thousand kalpas. In the bodhisattva path, great merit is received for immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas.

For this reason, merit must have vows. This is called the vow to receive immeasurable Buddha worlds.

The recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi means that one constantly sees, with the mind's eye, the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, as if they were present directly before one.

Question: What is the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi?

Answer: The recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi is of two kinds. First, in the śrāvaka teaching, with regard to the body of one Buddha, the mind's eye sees it filling the ten directions. Second, in the bodhisattva path, amid immeasurable Buddha lands, one recollects the Buddhas of the three times and the ten directions. For this reason, the text says that, while recollecting immeasurable Buddha lands, the samādhi of the Buddhas is constantly present before one.

Question: Since bodhisattvas' samādhis are of many kinds and immeasurable, why does the text praise only this bodhisattva's recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi as constantly present before one?

Answer: Because this bodhisattva recollects the Buddha, the bodhisattva is able to enter the Buddha path. For this reason, the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi is constantly present before one.

Furthermore, the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi can remove many kinds of afflictions and offenses from former lives. Of the other samādhis, some can remove lust but cannot remove anger; some can remove anger but cannot remove lust; some can remove delusion but cannot remove lust and anger; and some can remove the three poisons but cannot remove offenses from former lives. This recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi can remove many kinds of afflictions and many kinds of offenses.

Furthermore, the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi has great merit and can bring beings across. These bodhisattvas wish to bring beings across. Among all other samādhis, none has merit like this recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi, which can swiftly extinguish all offenses.

As it is said, in the past there were five hundred merchants who entered the ocean to gather jewels. They encountered the Makara Fish King opening its mouth; the seawater flowed into it, and their ship rushed along very swiftly. The shipmaster asked the person up in the lookout: "What do you see?" The person answered: "I see three suns rising, white mountains lined up, and water rushing along as if entering a great pit."

The shipmaster said: "This is the Makara Fish King opening its mouth. One is the real sun; the other two are the fish's eyes. The white mountains are the fish's teeth. The rushing water is entering its mouth. We are finished! Each of you should seek the heavenly deities you serve and save yourselves!"

At that time, each person sought the one he served, but none of it was of any benefit. Among them was an upāsaka who kept the five precepts. He said to the group: "We should all together recite Namo Buddha. The Buddha is unsurpassed and can save us from suffering and danger." With one mind and one voice, the people recited Namo Buddha.

In a former life, this fish had been a disciple of the Buddha who had broken the precepts. It had gained knowledge of former lives, and when it heard the sound of people reciting the Buddha's name, its mind repented and awakened by itself. It then closed its mouth, and the people on the ship escaped.

Because of recollecting the Buddha, one can remove grave offenses and rescue beings from suffering and danger. How much more is this true of the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi?

Furthermore, the Buddha is the Dharma king, and bodhisattvas are Dharma generals. The one they honor and revere is only the Buddha, the World-Honored One. Therefore they should constantly recollect the Buddha.

Furthermore, by constantly recollecting the Buddha, one obtains many kinds of meritorious benefits. For example, a great minister who receives special favor and kindness constantly remembers his lord. Bodhisattvas are also like this. Knowing that many kinds of merit and immeasurable wisdom all come from the Buddha, and knowing the Buddha's kindness to be weighty, they constantly recollect the Buddha.

You asked why they constantly recollect the Buddha and do not practice other samādhis. Now, when it says they "constantly recollect," this also does not mean that they do not practice other samādhis. Because they practice the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi extensively, it says that they constantly recollect.

Furthermore, although the samādhis of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness have already been explained, the recollection-of-the-Buddha samādhi has not yet been explained. Therefore it is explained here.

There are two kinds of requesting.

First, when Buddhas have just attained the path, bodhisattvas make reverent requests six times, three times at night and three times during the day. Baring the right shoulder and joining their palms, they say: "When immeasurable Buddhas in Buddha lands of the ten directions have just attained the path and have not yet turned the Dharma wheel, I, so-and-so, request all Buddhas, for the sake of beings, to turn the Dharma wheel and bring all beings across to liberation."

Second, when Buddhas are about to relinquish their immeasurable lifespans and enter nirvāṇa, bodhisattvas also, three times at night and three times during the day, bare the right shoulder, join their palms, and say: "Immeasurable Buddhas in Buddha lands of the ten directions, I, so-and-so, request that you remain long in the world for innumerable kalpas, bringing all beings across and benefiting them." This is called being able to request immeasurable Buddhas.

Question: According to the Dharma of all Buddhas, they necessarily should teach the Dharma and broadly liberate beings. Whether they are requested or not, the Dharma naturally should be so. Why is requesting necessary? If one requests Buddhas directly in front of oneself, that would be possible. But now the Buddhas in immeasurable Buddha lands of the ten directions are not personally seen. How can one request them?

Answer: Although all Buddhas necessarily should teach the Dharma and do not wait for people to request them, those who make the request should still gain merit. It is like a great king: although he has many fine foods, if someone invites him, that person is sure to gain his favor and blessing because the king takes note of that person's intention. It is also like loving-kindness: one thinks of beings and wishes them to gain happiness. Although beings may not actually receive anything from this, the one who thinks in this way gains great merit. Requesting the Buddha to teach the Dharma is also like this.

Furthermore, there are Buddhas who, if no one requests them, enter nirvāṇa without teaching the Dharma. For example, in the Lotus Sūtra, the World-Honored One Many Jewels entered nirvāṇa because no one requested him. Later, in order to bear witness to the teaching of the Lotus Sūtra, his transformation Buddha body and seven-jeweled stūpa appeared at one time. It is also like Buddha Suśānta: because his disciples' former practices had not yet matured, he relinquished his life and entered nirvāṇa, leaving behind a transformation Buddha for one kalpa to liberate beings.

Now, as for Śākyamuni Buddha, after attaining the path he remained silent and did not teach the Dharma for fifty-seven days. He said to himself: "My Dharma is very profound, difficult to understand and difficult to know. All beings are bound to and attached to worldly dharmas, and there is no one able to understand it. It would be better to remain silent and enter the bliss of nirvāṇa." At that time, the bodhisattvas, Śakra Devānām Indra, the Brahmā kings, and the devas joined their palms, paid reverence, and requested the Buddha to turn the Dharma wheel for the first time for the sake of beings. The Buddha then silently accepted the request, and afterward went to the Deer Park at Vārāṇasī and turned the Dharma wheel. Given this, how could one say that requesting has no benefit?

Furthermore, the Buddha Dharma looks equally upon beings, without noble or lowly, without light or heavy. If someone requests, then because of that request the Buddha teaches the Dharma. Although beings do not request the Buddha face to face, the Buddha constantly sees their minds and also hears their requests. Even supposing that the Buddhas did not hear or see, requesting the Buddha would still have merit. How much more, then, when the Buddhas hear and see everything, could it be without benefit?

Question: Since we now know that requesting the Buddha has benefit, why request specifically in these two matters?

Answer: Other matters need not be requested, but these two matters must certainly be requested. If the Buddha taught without being requested, non-Buddhist practitioners would say, "One who has embodied the path is always settled. Why is he attached to Dharma, speaking so much and making so much of things?" For this reason, he must be requested before he teaches. Or if someone said, "If he knows the mark of all dharmas, he should not cling to lifespan, remain long in the world, and fail to enter nirvāṇa early," for this reason, one must request him. If he taught without being requested, people would think that the Buddha loved and clung to Dharma and wished people to know him. For this reason, he must wait for someone to request him, and only then turn the Dharma wheel.

Non-Buddhist practitioners themselves are attached to their doctrines, and whether requested or not, they speak for people on their own. The Buddha is neither attached to nor fond of any dharma. Because he has compassion for beings, if someone requests the Buddha to teach, the Buddha then teaches. Buddhas do not first turn the Dharma wheel without a request. As a verse says:

What reality do the Buddhas teach?
What is called unreal?
Reality and unreality,
these two things cannot be found.
In this true mark of suchness,
they do not play with dharmas.
Because they have compassion for beings,
they skillfully turn the Dharma wheel.

Furthermore, if the Buddha taught the Dharma on his own without being requested, this would be self-display and self-attachment to Dharma, and he would necessarily have to answer the fourteen difficult questions. Now the devas request the Buddha to teach the Dharma only in order to cut off aging, sickness, and death and to reach the place free from conceptual proliferation. Therefore there is no fault in his not answering the fourteen difficult questions. For this reason, he must be requested before turning the Dharma wheel.

Furthermore, the Buddha was born among humans and uses the way of great persons. Therefore, although he has great compassion, he does not teach unless requested. If he taught without being requested, non-Buddhists would criticize him. For this reason, at the beginning he must be requested. Moreover, non-Buddhists honor and serve Brahmā. When Brahmā himself makes the request, the minds of the non-Buddhists are subdued.

Furthermore, according to the bodhisattva's Dharma, three times during the day and three times at night one constantly practices three things. First, early in the morning, baring the right shoulder, joining the palms, and bowing to the Buddhas of the ten directions, one says: "I, so-and-so, whether in this life or through immeasurable kalpas in past lives, have committed evil karmic offenses of body, speech, and mind. Before the Buddhas presently abiding in the ten directions, I repent and confess them. May they be extinguished and removed, and may I never commit them again." At midday, in the evening, and during the three periods of the night, one does the same.

Second, one recollects the merit practiced by the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, together with all the merit possessed by the assembly of their disciples, and one rejoices in and encourages it.

Third, one exhorts and requests the presently abiding Buddhas of the ten directions to first turn the Dharma wheel, and one requests the Buddhas to remain long in the world for immeasurable kalpas and bring all beings across to liberation.

When bodhisattvas practice these three things, their merit is immeasurable, and they turn ever closer to attaining Buddhahood. For this reason, they must make the request.

They are able to cut off many kinds of views, bonds, and afflictions.

Views are of two kinds: first, eternalism; second, annihilationism. In eternalist view, one sees the five aggregates as permanent, and the mind accepts and delights in this. In annihilationist view, one sees the five aggregates as ceasing, and the mind accepts and delights in this. Most beings fall into these two views. Bodhisattvas cut off these two for themselves and are also able to remove these two views from all beings, causing them to abide in the middle way.

Again, there are three kinds of views: accepting all dharmas, not accepting all dharmas, and both accepting and not accepting all dharmas.

There are also the views that the world is eternal, that the world is impermanent, that the world is both eternal and impermanent, and that the world is neither eternal nor impermanent.

There are the views that after death one exists as the Tathāgata does, that after death one does not exist as the Tathāgata does, that after death one both exists and does not exist as the Tathāgata does, and that after death one neither exists nor does not exist as the Tathāgata does.

Again, there are five kinds of views: the view of a self in the body, extreme views, wrong views, attachment to views, and attachment to rules and observances. In this way there are many kinds of views, extending to the sixty-two views, which must be cut off. Such views arise from many kinds of causes and conditions: they are contemplated through many kinds of gates of knowledge and heard from many kinds of teachers. With these many kinds of characteristics, they can serve as causes for many kinds of fetters and can give beings many kinds of suffering. This is what is called many kinds of views. The meaning of views will be explained broadly later.

As for bonds, there are ten bonds: the bond of anger, the bond of concealing offenses, the bond of drowsiness, the bond of sleep, the bond of playfulness, the bond of restlessness, the bond of shamelessness, the bond of lack of moral dread, the bond of stinginess, and the bond of jealousy.

Furthermore, because all afflictions and fetters bind and wind around the mind, they are all called bonds.

As for afflictions, because they can make the mind troubled and can create distress, they are called afflictions. Afflictions are of two kinds: inward attachment and outward attachment. Inward attachment means the five views, doubt, conceit, and so on. Outward attachment means lust, anger, and so on. Ignorance belongs to both inward and outward attachment.

Again, there are two kinds of fetters: first, those belonging to craving; second, those belonging to views. Again, there are three kinds: those belonging to lust, those belonging to anger, and those belonging to delusion. These are called afflictions.

Regarding bonds, some say there are ten bonds, while others say there are five hundred bonds. "Afflictions" refers to all fetters and underlying tendencies. Among fetters there are the nine fetters, and among underlying tendencies there are seven; together they make ninety-eight fetters.

In the meaning of the Kātyāyanīputra Abhidharma, the ten bonds and ninety-eight fetters are called the one hundred and eight afflictions.

In the Vātsīputrīya Abhidharma, the fetters and underlying tendencies are the same, but the bonds are said to number five hundred.

With regard to all these afflictions, bodhisattvas are able, through many kinds of skillful means, to cut them off in themselves, and they are also able, through skillful means, to cut off the afflictions of others.

For example, when the Buddha was in the world, there were three men, an eldest, a middle, and a youngest. They heard that in Vaiśālī there was a courtesan named Āmrapālī, that in Śrāvastī there was a courtesan named Sumanā, and that in Rājagṛha there was a courtesan named Utpalavarṇā. Each of the three men heard people praise the incomparable beauty of these three women. Day and night they focused their thoughts on them, their minds clinging and not letting go, and then in dreams they dreamed of being together with them.

After waking, they thought: "Those women did not come, and we did not go, yet the sexual act was accomplished." Because of this, they awakened to the thought: "Are all dharmas also like this?" They then went to Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla and asked him about this matter. Bhadrapāla answered, "All dharmas are truly so; they all arise from thought." In this and many other ways, he skillfully explained the emptiness of dharmas to these three men. At that time, the three men immediately attained non-retrogression.

These bodhisattvas are also like this. For the sake of beings, they skillfully teach the Dharma in many ways and cut off all views, bonds, and afflictions. This is called being able to cut off many kinds of views, bonds, and afflictions.

Because bodhisattvas' minds are trained in meditation, and because of the power of pure wisdom and skillful means, they are able to give rise to many kinds of samādhi. What is samādhi? When a wholesome mind abides in one place without moving, this is called samādhi.

Again, there are three kinds of samādhi: samādhi with initial application and sustained examination, samādhi without initial application but with sustained examination, and samādhi without initial application and without sustained examination.

Again, there are four kinds of samādhi: samādhi bound to the desire realm, samādhi bound to the form realm, samādhi bound to the formless realm, and unbound samādhi.

Among these, the bodhisattva samādhis used here are, as explained earlier, not yet complete in the Buddha's samādhi. Because bodhisattvas diligently practice and diligently cultivate them, the text says they are able to give rise to them.

Question: Why do bodhisattvas give rise to and freely play within these hundreds of thousands of samādhis?

Answer: Beings are immeasurable. Their mental activities differ: some are sharp and some are dull; with regard to the fetters and underlying tendencies, some are thick and some are thin. Therefore bodhisattvas practice hundreds of thousands of samādhis in order to cut off beings' defilements and weariness.

For example, if one wishes to make poor people greatly wealthy, one should prepare many kinds of wealth and have everything fully ready; only then can one aid the poor. Again, it is like a person who wishes to treat many kinds of illnesses: one should prepare many kinds of medicines, and only then can one cure them. Bodhisattvas are also like this. Because they wish to liberate beings broadly, they practice many kinds of hundreds of thousands of samādhis.

Question: They should simply give rise to these samādhis. Why does the text also say that they freely play within them?

Answer: When bodhisattvas' minds give rise to samādhis, they delight in freely entering and emerging from them. This is called play. It is not the play of fettered attachment. "Play" means freedom. For example, because a lion among deer is free and fearless, this is called play. These bodhisattvas have the power of freedom with regard to all samādhis: they are able to emerge and able to enter in just this way.

Other people, in samādhi, may freely abide and freely emerge, but they cannot freely enter. Because these bodhisattvas have these three kinds of freedom, the text says that they freely play as they give rise to hundreds of thousands of samādhis.

These bodhisattvas dwell together with the Buddha. If one wished to praise their merits, even through immeasurable hundreds of millions of kalpas one could not exhaust them. For this reason, the text says that they are accomplished in immeasurable merits.

Their names are: Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla, which means Well Guarded; Bodhisattva Ratnākara, which means Jewel Accumulation; Bodhisattva Guide; Bodhisattva Nārada; Bodhisattva Star Attainment; Bodhisattva Water Deva; Bodhisattva Lord Deva; Bodhisattva Great Intention; Bodhisattva Beneficial Intention; Bodhisattva Increasing Intention; Bodhisattva Unfailing Vision; Bodhisattva Good Progress; Bodhisattva Superior Power; Bodhisattva Constant Diligence; Bodhisattva Never Abandoning Diligence; Bodhisattva Sun Treasury; Bodhisattva Unimpaired Intention; Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara; Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, which means Wondrous Virtue; Bodhisattva Holding the Jewel Seal; Bodhisattva Constantly Raising His Hand; and Bodhisattva Maitreya. These and other immeasurable thousands, millions, billions, and nayutas of bodhisattva mahāsattvas are all those who are in the next position and will succeed to the honored rank.

Question: Since there are so many bodhisattvas, why are only the names of twenty-two bodhisattvas stated?

Answer: The bodhisattvas are immeasurable, in the thousands, millions, and billions, and cannot be fully spoken of. If they were all stated, written words could not contain them.

Furthermore, among them there are two kinds of bodhisattvas: householders and renunciants. The householder Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla was an old resident of Rājagṛha; Prince Bodhisattva Jewel Accumulation was from Vaiśālī; Bodhisattva Star Attainment, son of an elder, was from Campā; Householder Bodhisattva Guide was from Śrāvastī; Brahmin Bodhisattva Nārada was from Mithilā; and Bodhisattva Water Deva was an upāsaka. By mentioning householders, the text includes all householder bodhisattvas. The same is true for renunciants and bodhisattvas from other regions.

Question: What special excellence does Bodhisattva Well Guarded have that he is stated first? If the greatest were placed first, then Bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, and others should be stated. If the smallest were placed first, then bodhisattvas in physical bodies who have newly produced the resolve should be stated.

Answer: It is not because he is great, and it is not because he is small. It is because Bodhisattva Well Guarded was an old resident of Rājagṛha and the greatest among lay bodhisattvas. The Buddha was in Rājagṛha and was about to teach the Prajñāpāramitā. For this reason, he is stated first.

Furthermore, this Bodhisattva Well Guarded has immeasurable kinds of merit. As in the Pratyutpanna Samādhi, the Buddha personally appeared before him and praised his merit.

Question: If Bodhisattva Maitreya should be called the one in the next position, why are the other bodhisattvas also said to succeed to the honored rank?

Answer: These bodhisattvas, in Buddha lands throughout the ten directions, all occupy the next position to Buddhahood.

Sutra: At that time, the World-Honored One spread his own lion seat, sat in full lotus posture, straightened his body, established mindfulness before him, and entered the samādhi called King of Samādhis. All samādhis are included within it.

Question: The Buddha had attendants and many bodhisattvas. Why did he spread the lion seat himself?

Answer: This was something created by the Buddha's transformation power, intended to suit the great assembly. For this reason, Ānanda could not spread it.

Furthermore, it was created by the Buddha's mind, and therefore the text says that he spread it himself.

Question: Why is it called a lion seat? Did the Buddha create a lion by transformation? Did an actual lion come? Or was a lion made of gold, silver, wood, or stone? Moreover, since a lion is not a gentle animal, the Buddha would not need one, and there would be no reason for one to come.

Answer: "Lion" is a name and designation; it is not an actual lion. The Buddha is a lion among humans. Wherever the Buddha sits, whether on a couch or on the ground, is called a lion seat. For example, the place where a king sits today is also called a lion seat.

Furthermore, when a king calls a strong person, that person is also called a lion among humans; when people refer to a king, he too is called a lion among humans. Again, just as a lion walks alone among four-footed animals without fear and can subdue all, the Buddha is also like this. Among the ninety-six kinds of paths, he subdues all without fear. Therefore he is called a lion among humans.

Question: There are many ways of sitting. Why did the Buddha use only full lotus posture?

Answer: Among all sitting postures, full lotus posture is the most stable and does not lead to extreme fatigue. This is the sitting posture of people who practice meditation: it gathers in the hands and feet, and the mind also does not become scattered. Moreover, among the four bodily postures, it is the most stable.

This is the Dharma posture for sitting in meditation and attaining the path. When Māra sees it, his mind becomes anxious and afraid.

One who sits in this way is following the Dharma of renunciants. Sitting in full lotus posture beneath a forest tree, such a person makes everyone who sees him rejoice greatly, knowing that this practitioner will certainly attain the path.

As a verse says:
If one sits in full lotus posture,
the body is at ease and enters samādhi.
With awesome virtue, one is revered by people,
like the sun shining over the world.
Removing the covering of sleep and laziness,
the body is light and not weary.
Awakening is also light and easy;
one sits steadily like a coiled dragon.
When Māra sees even a painting of full lotus posture,
he becomes anxious and afraid.
How much more when a person entering the path
sits steadily and does not move.
For this reason, one sits in full lotus posture.

Furthermore, the Buddha teaches his disciples that they should sit in this way. There are non-Buddhist practitioners who seek the path by always standing with one foot raised, or by always standing, or by lifting up the foot. Such practices are unbalanced and extreme: the mind sinks into a mistaken sea, and the body is not at ease. For this reason, the Buddha teaches his disciples to sit in full lotus posture with the body upright.

Why should the body be upright? Because the mind is then easily made upright. When the body sits upright, the mind is not lazy. One straightens the mind and corrects the intention, establishing mindfulness before one. If the mind runs off and scatters, one gathers it and brings it back. Because one wishes to enter samādhi, one also gathers all kinds of wandering thoughts. With mindfulness established in this way, one enters the samādhi called King of Samādhis.

Why is it called the samādhi called King of Samādhis? Among all samādhis, this samādhi is foremost and most free; it can take immeasurable dharmas as its objects. Just as a king is foremost among people, a wheel-turning sage king is foremost among kings, and the Buddha is foremost among all beings in the heavens and under heaven, this samādhi is also like this: among all samādhis, it is foremost.

Question: If, because of the Buddha's power, all samādhis should be foremost, why is only the King of Samādhis called foremost?

Answer: It is true that because of the Buddha's spiritual power, all samādhis practiced by the Buddha should be foremost. Still, among dharmas there should be distinctions of higher and lower. For example, the many jewels of a wheel-turning sage king surpass the jewels of all other kings, yet among those jewels themselves there are distinctions: some are precious, some less so, and the difference between them is great.

What concentration includes this King of Samādhis, and what is its characteristic? Some say: the King of Samādhis has freedom as its characteristic; it is included among the wholesome five aggregates and is within the fourth dhyāna. Why? All Buddhas practice the path of seeing the truths in the fourth dhyāna, attain the state of non-returning, and at that very time, within eighteen moments of mind, attain the Buddha path. They relinquish their lifespan in the fourth dhyāna, arise from the fourth dhyāna, and enter nirvāṇa without remainder.

Within the fourth dhyāna there are the eight places of rebirth and abiding; the liberations, spheres of mastery, and totality bases are mostly in the fourth dhyāna. The fourth dhyāna is called unmoving, and no dharma obstructs its meditative concentration. In the desire realm, desires obstruct the mind of meditative concentration. In the first dhyāna, initial application and sustained examination stir the mind. In the second dhyāna, great joy stirs it. In the third dhyāna, great pleasure stirs it. In the fourth dhyāna, there is no movement.

Furthermore, the first dhyāna is burned by fire, the second dhyāna is reached by water, and the third dhyāna is reached by wind. The fourth dhyāna has none of these three calamities; there is no in-breath or out-breath, and equanimity and mindfulness are pure. For this reason, the King Samādhi should be within the fourth dhyāna, like a fine jewel placed in a fine treasury.

Others say: who can know the characteristic of the Buddha's samādhi? All dharmas of all Buddhas have one characteristic, which is no characteristic; they are immeasurable, countless, and inconceivable. Other samādhis are already immeasurable, countless, and inconceivable; how much more the King of Samādhis! A samādhi such as this can be known only by a Buddha. Even the Buddha's spiritual powers and morality cannot be known, so how much less the King of Samādhis!

Furthermore, because all samādhis enter into the King of Samādhis, it is called the King of Samādhis. It is like Jambudvīpa, where the many rivers and countless streams all enter the great ocean. It is also like all people belonging to the king.

Question: Since the Buddha's all-knowledge leaves nothing unknown, why does he enter this King of Samādhis and only afterward know?

Answer: He wishes to show that wisdom arises from causes and conditions, and to stop the followers of the six non-Buddhist teachers from saying, "Our wisdom always exists at all times and always knows." For this reason, it is said that because the Buddha enters the King Samādhi, he knows; if he does not enter it, he does not know.

Question: If this is so, the Buddha's power is diminished.

Answer: When he enters this King of Samādhis, he does not find it difficult; he obtains it as soon as he brings it to mind. It is not like śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, or lesser bodhisattvas, who must seek to enter it through skillful means.

Furthermore, when the Buddha enters this King of Samādhis, he causes the six superknowledges to penetrate the ten directions without limit or measure.

Furthermore, the Buddha enters the King of Samādhis and, through many kinds of transformations, manifests great spiritual power. If he manifested spiritual power without entering the King of Samādhis, some people would think: "The Buddha is using the power of illusion, the power of spells, the power of a mighty dragon spirit, or perhaps he is a deva and not a human being." Why? Because from one body he produces immeasurable bodies and displays many kinds of light and transformations, people would think he is not human. To cut off this doubt, the Buddha enters the King of Samādhis.

Furthermore, if the Buddha entered another samādhi, devas, śrāvakas, or pratyekabuddhas might be able to measure and know it. Even though they would say that the Buddha's spiritual power is great, it would still be knowable, and their reverence would not be deep. For this reason, when he enters the King of Samādhis, all noble beings, even bodhisattvas of the tenth abiding, cannot measure or know it. They do not know what the Buddha's mind rests on or what it takes as its object. For this reason, the Buddha enters the King of Samādhis.

Furthermore, there are times when the Buddha emits great light and manifests great spiritual power: at the time of his birth, at the time he attained the path, at the time he first turned the Dharma wheel, at the time when devas and noble beings gathered in a great assembly, and at the time when he defeated non-Buddhists. At all these times he emitted great light. Now, because he wishes to show something especially extraordinary, he emits great light so that all devas, humans, beings, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas throughout the ten directions can see and know it. For this reason, he enters the King of Samādhis.

Furthermore, the spiritual power of light has lower, middle, and higher forms. Spells and illusion arts can create light and transformations; this is lower. Devas, dragons, and spirits obtain the spiritual power of light as a result of karmic reward; this is middle. Entering samādhis and, through the power of present-life merit and mind, emitting great light and manifesting great spiritual power; this is higher. For this reason, the Buddha enters the King of Samādhis.

Question: Since the samādhis each have their own characteristics, how can all samādhis enter into it?

Answer: When one obtains this King of Samādhis, one obtains all samādhis. Therefore it is said that they all enter into it. Because of the power of this samādhi, all samādhis are obtained; they are immeasurable, countless, and inconceivable. For this reason, this is called entering.

Furthermore, when one enters this King of Samādhis, whatever samādhi one wishes to enter, one enters. Furthermore, by entering this King of Samādhis, one can observe the characteristics of all samādhis, like looking down from a mountain. Furthermore, when the Buddha enters this King of Samādhis, he can observe all worlds in the ten directions and can also observe all beings. For this reason, he enters the King of Samādhis.

Sutra: At that time, the World-Honored One rose calmly from samādhi, observed the world with the heavenly eye, and smiled with his whole body.

Question: How is it that the World-Honored One entered the King of Samādhis, did nothing, and yet rose from concentration and observed the world?

Answer: When the Buddha entered this King of Samādhis, the whole treasury of the Buddha Dharma was opened and seen. Having observed within the King of Samādhis, he thought to himself: "This treasury of Dharma of mine is immeasurable, countless, and inconceivable." Then he rose calmly from samādhi and observed beings with the heavenly eye, knowing that beings are poor and suffering. This treasury of Dharma is obtained from causes and conditions, and all beings can also obtain it; they are merely sitting in delusion and darkness, not seeking and not searching. For this reason, he smiled with his whole body.

Question: The Buddha has the Buddha eye, the wisdom eye, and the Dharma eye, which surpass the heavenly eye. Why does he use the heavenly eye to observe the world?

Answer: What the physical eye sees is not all-pervasive. The wisdom eye knows the true mark of dharmas. The Dharma eye sees by what skillful means and by practicing what Dharma a person will attain the path. The Buddha eye means clearly knowing all dharmas as present before one. Now, the heavenly eye takes the world and beings as its objects without obstruction or hindrance; the other eyes are not like this. Although the wisdom eye, Dharma eye, and Buddha eye are superior, they are not the dharmas for seeing beings. To see beings, only two eyes are used: the physical eye and the heavenly eye. Because the physical eye is not all-pervasive and has obstructions, the heavenly eye is used for observation.

Question: Since this eye is now in the Buddha, why is it called the heavenly eye?

Answer: This eye is most often found among devas. What the heavenly eye sees is not obstructed by mountains, walls, trees, or wood. If a human being obtains it through the power of diligence, morality, meditation, and practice, it is not something obtained by birth. For this reason, it is called the heavenly eye.

Furthermore, most people value devas and take devas as superior. The Buddha follows people's minds, and for this reason it is called the heavenly eye.

Furthermore, devas are of three kinds: devas by name, devas by birth, and pure devas. Devas by name are heavenly kings and divine princes. Devas by birth are Śakra, Brahmā, and the other devas. Pure devas are Buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, and arhats. The most honored among the pure devas is the Buddha. Therefore, there is also no fault in speaking here of the heavenly eye.

As for observing the world with the heavenly eye: the Buddha sees that beings in the world constantly seek peace and happiness but instead obtain suffering. Their minds cling to "I" and "mine," yet in this there is truly no "I" or "mine." Beings constantly fear suffering, yet constantly practice what leads to suffering, like blind people seeking a good road but instead falling into a deep pit. After observing many things such as these, he smiled with his whole body.

Question: A smile comes from the mouth, or sometimes the eyes smile. How, then, can it now say that the whole body smiles?

Answer: The Buddha, honored in the world and possessing freedom, can cause the whole body to be like the mouth and like the eyes. Therefore all of it can smile.

Furthermore, because all the pores open, this is called smiling. Because the mouth smiles with joy, all the pores open.

Question: The Buddha is supremely honored and weighty. Why does he smile?

Answer: Just as the great earth does not move without a reason or for a small cause, the Buddha is also like this. If there is no reason or only a small cause, he does not smile. Now, because there is a great cause, his whole body smiles. What is this greatness? The Buddha wishes to teach the Mahāprajñāpāramitā, and innumerable beings will continue the Buddha seed. This is the great cause.

Furthermore, the Buddha says: "In life after life I was once a small insect and an evil person. Gradually I gathered wholesome roots and gained great wisdom. Now I myself have arrived at Buddhahood, with immeasurable spiritual power, supreme and greatest. All beings can also attain this. Why should they receive hardship in vain and fall into lesser states?" For this reason he smiles.

Furthermore, there can be a small cause with a great result, a small condition with a great recompense. For example, in seeking the Buddha path, if one praises with a single verse, once recites Namo Buddha, or burns a pinch of incense, one will certainly become a Buddha. How much more so when one hears and knows the reality of dharmas: that they are neither arising nor ceasing, neither not-arising nor not-not-arising, while the karma of causes and conditions is also not lost. Because of this matter, he smiles.

Furthermore, the mark of Prajñāpāramitā is pure like empty space. It cannot be given and cannot be taken. With many kinds of skillful means, light, spiritual virtue, and power, the Buddha wishes to teach and transform all beings, causing their minds to become trained and pliant; only afterward can they believe in and receive Prajñāpāramitā. For this reason, because of the smile, he emits light.

Smiling has many causes and conditions. Some people smile out of joy; some smile out of anger; some smile while looking down on others; some smile upon seeing something unusual; some smile upon seeing something shameful; some smile upon seeing customs from a distant and different land; and some smile upon seeing something rare and difficult.

Now this is the foremost rare and difficult matter: the marks of dharmas do not arise and do not cease; true emptiness has no letters and no name, no words and no speech. Yet the Buddha wishes to make names and establish words, to explain it for beings and cause them to gain liberation. This is the foremost difficult matter. It is like a great mass of fire one hundred yojanas wide: if someone carried dry grass through the fire and not even one leaf burned, this would be extremely difficult. The Buddha is also like this. Carrying the grass of names and words of the eighty thousand collections of Dharma, he enters the true mark of dharmas, yet he is not burned by the fire of defiled attachment; he passes straight through without obstruction. This is extremely difficult. Because of this difficult matter, he smiles. Because of many rare and difficult matters such as these, he smiles with his whole body.

Question: Why does the Buddha first emit light from his body?

Answer: This has already been answered above in the explanation of why he smiles. Now we will explain further. When people see the Buddha's immeasurable body emitting great light, pure faith and reverence arise in their hearts, and they know that he is no ordinary person.

Furthermore, the Buddha wishes to reveal the wondrous sign of the light of wisdom, so he first emits light from his body. Beings understand that, now that the light of his body has appeared, the light of wisdom will also come forth.

Furthermore, all beings are constantly attached to sensual pleasures, and among the five objects of sensual desire, visible form comes first. When they see this wondrous light, their hearts are drawn to it, and they let go of what they previously enjoyed. In this way, he gradually leads their minds away from sensual desire, and then teaches them wisdom.

Question: Other heavenly beings can also emit light. How is the light emitted by the Buddha different?

Answer: Although heavenly beings can emit light, their light has limits and a measurable extent. The sun and moon illuminate only the four continents. The light emitted by the Buddha fills the great trichiliocosm, passes beyond it, and reaches throughout the regions below. The light of others can only make people happy. The Buddha's light enables all to hear the Dharma and attain liberation. This is the difference.

Question: Since the head is the highest part of the body, why does the Buddha first emit light from beneath his feet?

Answer: The body is able to stand because of the feet.

Furthermore, although the head is honored and the feet are regarded as lowly, the Buddha does not exalt his own radiance or seek offerings and material support. For this reason, he emits light from a lowly place.

Furthermore, dragons, great snakes, and spirits emit light from their mouths and harm whatever is before them with their poison. If the Buddha emitted light from his mouth, beings would be frightened: 'What is this great light?' They would also fear being harmed. For this reason, he emits light from beneath his feet.

Question: The six million koṭis of rays beneath his feet, and likewise those from each part up to the crown protuberance, can all be counted. They could not even fill the great trichiliocosm, much less the ten directions!

Answer: This bodily light is the source of all the other light. From this source, immeasurable and countless streams branch out. It is like the kālakula creature: its body is minute, but when it encounters wind, it grows larger and larger until it can swallow everything. The light is also like this: as it encounters beings who can be liberated, it increases without limit.

Sutra: His ten toes, both ankles, both shins, both knees, both thighs, waist, spine, abdomen, back, navel, heart, auspicious mark on the chest, shoulders, arms, ten fingers, neck, mouth, forty teeth, both nostrils, both eyes, both ears, the white tuft between his eyebrows, and the protuberance on his crown each emitted six million koṭis of rays of light.

Treatise: Question: If the light beneath his feet can illuminate the great trichiliocosm and the worlds in the ten directions, why must each part of his body emit six million koṭis of rays?

Answer: I said earlier that the light beneath his feet illuminates the regions below, leaving the other directions not yet filled. For this reason, he further emits light from the other parts of his body.

Some say: Among all the parts of the body, the feet are foremost because they provide the support on which one stands; the other parts do not do this. Therefore, the Buddha first emits six million koṭis of rays from beneath his feet to show beings. Likewise, the first of the thirty-two marks is that his feet stand firmly and evenly. Every part of his body possesses spiritual power.

Question: Relying on which samādhi, which supernormal power, and which meditative absorption does he emit this light?

Answer: He emits this light from the samādhi called King of Samādhis. Among the six supernormal powers, it is the power of miraculous transformation; among the four dhyānas, it is the fourth. Within the fourth dhyāna, he emits light through the mastery of fire as an object of meditation and the all-pervading contemplation of fire.

Furthermore, when the Buddha was born, when he first attained Buddhahood, and when he first turned the Dharma wheel, he emitted immeasurable light that filled the ten directions. How, then, could he fail to emit light when teaching the Mahāprajñāpāramitā? It is like the jewel of a wheel-turning king, which constantly shines upon the king's army for one yojana on every side. The Buddha is also like this. For the sake of beings, even when he does not enter samādhi, he constantly emits his abiding radiance. Why? Because he is formed of the many jewels of the Dharma.

Sutra: From these rays came a great radiance that illuminated the entire great trichiliocosm. From the great trichiliocosm, it shone throughout worlds in the east as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. It did the same in the south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below. Any beings who encountered this light would certainly attain unsurpassed complete awakening.

Treatise: Question: Fire characteristically flames upward, water moistens downward, and wind moves sideways. Since this light is the energy of fire, it should rise upward. How can it fill the great trichiliocosm and the worlds in all ten directions?

Answer: There are two kinds of light: one associated with fire and one associated with water. The sun jewel is associated with fire, and the moon jewel with water. Although fire characteristically flames upward, the fire within the human body reaches throughout it, above and below. The sun's fire is also like this; therefore, in summer, both the earth and water become hot. From this we know that fire does not always move upward.

Furthermore, through the Buddha's power, this light reaches throughout the ten directions. It is like an arrow released from a powerful bow, reaching wherever it is aimed.

Question: Why does he illuminate the east first, and the south, west, and north afterward?

Answer: Since the sun rises in the east, that direction is regarded as foremost. The Buddha follows beings' way of thinking and illuminates the east first.

Furthermore, the same objection would arise in every case. If he illuminated the south first, someone would ask, 'Why not illuminate the east, west, or north first?' The same would apply if he began with the west or north.

Question: When will the light cease?

Answer: When the Buddha uses his spiritual power and wishes it to remain, it remains. When he withdraws that power, it ceases. The Buddha's light is like a lamp, and his spiritual power is like its oil. If he does not withdraw his spiritual power, the light does not cease.

Sutra: The light passed beyond worlds in the east as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and it did the same in all ten directions.

Treatise: Question: What is a great trichiliocosm?

Answer: In the Saṃyukta Āgama, the Buddha explains it in detail: A thousand suns, a thousand moons, a thousand Jambudvīpas, a thousand Godānīyas, a thousand Uttarakurus, a thousand Pūrvavidehas, a thousand Mount Sumerus, a thousand abodes of the Four Heavenly Kings, a thousand heavens of the Thirty-three, a thousand Yāma heavens, a thousand Tuṣita heavens, a thousand heavens of Delight in Creation, a thousand heavens of Mastery over Others' Creations, a thousand Brahmā worlds, and a thousand Great Brahmā heavens together constitute a small thousandfold world system, called a cūḍika. Taking this thousandfold system as one unit and counting a thousand such units gives a medium, twice-thousandfold world system. Taking that medium world system as one unit and again counting a thousand gives a great trichiliocosm, a thrice-thousandfold world system. The first thousandfold grouping is small, the second is medium, and the third is called great. Because thousands are counted in successive groupings, it is called 'great thousandfold'; because the grouping by thousands is repeated twice more, it is called 'thrice-thousandfold.' This is a collective name. A billion suns and moons, and likewise up to a billion Great Brahmā heavens, constitute a great trichiliocosm. They arise together and perish together.

Some say that its period of persistence lasts one kalpa, its destruction one kalpa, and its re-formation one kalpa. A great trichiliocosm undergoes three kinds of destruction during great kalpas: by water, fire, and wind. During minor kalpas, there are also three kinds of devastation: warfare, disease, and famine.

This great trichiliocosm is situated in space. Water rests upon wind, earth upon water, and human beings upon the earth.

Mount Sumeru has two heavenly abodes: the abode of the Four Heavenly Kings and the heaven of the Thirty-three. The remaining heavens, beginning with Yāma, have grounds made of the seven precious substances through the conditions of merit; wind supports them in space. Up to the Great Brahmā heaven, all have grounds made of the seven precious substances, and all rest upon wind. The light illuminates this entire great trichiliocosm. Having illuminated it, the remaining light passes beyond and illuminates worlds in the east as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. It does the same in the south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below.

Question: This light shines so far. Why does it not die out?

Answer: The light has the Buddha's spiritual power as its source. Because its source remains, it does not cease. It is like a dragon's spring, whose water never runs dry because of the dragon's power. Through the power of the Buddha's mind, these rays illuminate all ten directions without dying out along the way.

Question: There are many great rivers in Jambudvīpa, including some greater than the Ganges. Why does the text always say 'as numerous as the sands of the Ganges'?

Answer: The Ganges has an abundance of sand unlike other rivers.

Furthermore, the Ganges is in the region where the Buddha was born and traveled. His disciples saw it with their own eyes, so it is used as a comparison.

Furthermore, the Buddha appeared in Jambudvīpa. Its four great rivers arise in the north and enter the great oceans in the four directions. In the snowy mountains to the north is Lake Anavatapta. In this lake are golden lotuses made of the seven precious substances, as large as carriage canopies. The dragon king Anavatapta is a great bodhisattva of the seventh stage. On the four sides of this lake are four outlets: an elephant's head in the east, a bull's head in the south, a horse's head in the west, and a lion's head in the north. From the elephant's head in the east flows the Ganges, with golden sand on its bed. From the bull's head in the south flows the Sindhu, also with golden sand on its bed. From the horse's head in the west flows the Vakṣu, also with golden sand on its bed. From the lion's head in the north flows the Sītā, also with golden sand on its bed. All four rivers emerge from the northern mountains: the Ganges flows into the eastern ocean, the Sindhu into the southern ocean, the Vakṣu into the western ocean, and the Sītā into the northern ocean. Of these four rivers, the Ganges is the greatest. The writings of people in distant lands in all four directions regard it as a river of merit and auspiciousness, holding that those who bathe in it have all their sinful stains and evils washed away. Because people revere this river and know it in common, its sands are used as a comparison.

Furthermore, the names of other rivers often change, while the name of the Ganges remains unchanged from age to age. For this reason, the sands of the Ganges are used as the comparison rather than those of another river.

Question: How many grains of sand are there in the Ganges?

Answer: No calculation can determine this. Only the Buddha and bodhisattvas who have attained the Dharma body can know their number. The Buddha and these bodhisattvas can count all the minute particles arising and ceasing throughout Jambudvīpa. How much more, then, can they count the sands of the Ganges? Once, when the Buddha was sitting beneath a tree in a grove outside Jetavana, a brahmin approached and asked, 'How many leaves are there in this grove?' The Buddha immediately gave the number. The brahmin doubted him, thinking, 'Who can verify this?' He went over to a tree, took a few leaves, and hid them. Returning, he asked the Buddha, 'Exactly how many leaves are there in this grove?' The Buddha immediately replied, 'There are now so many fewer leaves,' stating precisely how many he had taken. Realizing this, the brahmin developed deep reverence and faith. He asked the Buddha to let him go forth and later attained arhatship. From this we know that the Buddha can know the number of sands in the Ganges.

Question: How many people encounter the Buddha's light and are certain to attain unsurpassed complete awakening? If encountering the light is enough to attain the path, then since the Buddha has great loving-kindness, why does he not always emit light so that everyone attains the path? Why must people first cultivate morality, meditative concentration, and wisdom?

Answer: Beings attain liberation through different causes and conditions. Some are liberated through meditative concentration, some through keeping the precepts and teaching the Dharma, and some when light touches their bodies. It is like a city with many entrances: whichever entrance one uses, the destination is the same. Some people are liberated when light touches their bodies, while others are not liberated merely by seeing the light or having it touch them.

Sutra: At that time, all the pores throughout the World-Honored One's body also smiled and emitted light. It illuminated the entire great trichiliocosm and reached worlds in the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Any beings who encountered this light would certainly attain unsurpassed complete awakening.

Treatise: Question: His whole body has already smiled. Why do all his pores now smile as well?

Answer: The smile of the whole body is the coarse aspect; the smile of all the pores is the subtle aspect. Furthermore, when his whole body first smiled, the rays of light could be numbered. Now, when all his pores smile, the rays are beyond number. Furthermore, those not yet liberated by the earlier light from his body now encounter the light from his pores and are liberated. It is like shaking a tree to gather fruit: the ripe fruit falls first, while what is not yet ripe requires further shaking. Or it is like catching fish: those not caught in the first cast of the net are caught in a later cast. The reasons for smiling have been explained above.