Then the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Avalokitasvara rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha said:
Blessed Lord! I recall that ages ago, as numerous as the sands of the river Ganges, that there was present in the world a Buddha called Avalokitasvara by whose instruction I was encouraged to begin seeking Enlightenment. I was taught to begin practicing by concentrating my mind on the true nature of Transcendental hearing, and by that practice I attained samadhi. As soon as I had advanced to the stage of Entering the Stream, I determined to discard all thoughts discriminating as to where I was or had been. Later I discarded the conception of advancing altogether, and the thought of either activity or quietness in this connection did not again arise in my mind. Continuing my practice, I gradually advanced until all discrimination of the hearing nature of my self-hood and of the intrinsic Transcendental Hearing was discarded. As there ceased to be any grasping in my mind for the attainment of intrinsic hearing, the conception of Enlightenment and enlightened nature were all absent from my mind. When this state of perfect Emptiness of Mind was attained, all arbitrary conceptions of attaining to Emptiness of Mind and of enlightened nature, were discarded. As soon as all arbitrary conceptions of rising and disappearing of thoughts were completely discarded, the state of Nirvana was clearly realized. Then, all of a sudden, my mind became transcendental to both celestial and terrestrial worlds and there was nothing in all the ten quarters but empty space, and in that state I acquired two wonderful Transcendencies. The first was a Transcendental Consciousness that my mind was in perfect conformity with the Essential, Mysterious Enlightening Mind of all the Buddhas in all the ten quarters, and also it was in like perfect conformity with the Great Heart of Compassion of all the Buddhas. The second transcendency was that my mind was in perfect conformity with the minds of all sentient beings of the Six Realms and felt with them the same earnestness and longing for deliverance.
Blessed Lord! Because of my adoration for that Buddha Avalokitasvara, he taught me how to attain the Surangama Samadhi by the single method of concentrating my mind upon Transcendental Hearing. And moreover, he helped me to attain the same compassionate capacity that all the Tathagatas had, by reason of which I attained the thirty-two kinds of transformations that are instantaneously available in response to the prayers for deliverance from any part of the world at any time.
These transformations have all been attained and exercised with perfect freedom and spontaneity in the mysterious Surangama Samadhi which I had attained by concentrating my mind in the practice of Dhyana on the nature of Transcendental Hearing.
Blessed Lord! I have also, because of the mysterious powers that accompany the Surangama Samadhi and because of my being in perfect conformity and with the same earnestness and longing for deliverance with all sentient beings, in the Six Realms of all the ten quarters of all the universes, past, present and future, been able to bestow upon all sentient beings the same Fourteen kinds of Fearlessness, which animate my own mind.
As my attainment to the original nature of perfect accommodation is wonderfully developed from the hearing organ to include all the sense organs and discriminating mind, my body and mind profoundly and mysteriously embrace all the phenomenal world, so that if any disciple should recite my name, his blessing and merit would be like and equal to that of any Prince of the Lord’s Dharma, whether he uses the same name or some other name. Blessed Lord! The reason why their merit is like and equal for one to recite my name, and for another to recite some other name, is because of my practice of Dhyana by which I acquired the True and Perfect Accommodation.
Blessed Lord! This is what is meant by the Fourteen kinds of Fearlessness of Powers of Deliverance which bring blessing to all sentient beings. But in addition to the acquirement of perfect accommodation by means of my attainment of Supreme Enlightenment, I have also acquired another Four Kinds of Inconceivable, Wonderful Transcendencies of Spontaneity.
The First is as it is because when I first attained to my Transcendental Hearing my mind became abstracted into its essential nature, and all the natural powers of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching and understanding attained to a state of pure, glorious, Enlightenment of perfect, mutuality and accommodation in one perfect unity of Awareness. Because of this, I have acquired this great Transcendental Freedom, so that when I give deliverance to sentient beings, I can transform myself into wonderful appearances, and besides I can utter innumerable, mysterious, Dharanis.
Sometimes I appear in a form of kindness, or in a form of justice, or in a state of concentration, or in a state of intelligence. But in all, I do it for the sake of deliverance and protection of sentient beings so that they might acquire a like Great Freedom.
The Second inconceivable, wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is because of my emancipation of hearing and thinking from the contaminations of the six sense-objects. It is as if sound were passing through walls without any hindrance. Thus I can skillfully transform into different kinds of appearances and recite different Dharanis, and can transform these appearances and recitation of Dharanis to give the Transcendental Power of Fearlessness to sentient beings. Thus in all the countries of the ten quarters I am known as the Giver of Transcendental Power of Fearlessness.
The Third inconceivable, wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is because of my practice upon the pure, original Essence of perfect Accommodation, so that wherever I go, I lead sentient beings to willingness to sacrifice their lives and valuable possessions in order to pray for my compassion and mercy.
The Fourth inconceivable, wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is because of my acquirement of the Buddha’s Intrinsic Mind and because of my attainment of the supremacy so that I can give all different kinds of offerings to all of the Tathagatas of all the ten quarters of the universes.
As my Lord has enquired of us as to what was our first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I answer that my first perfect accommodation was when I attained to the state of perfectly accommodating reflection of Samadhi by means of my Intrinsic Hearing and Transcendental Mental Freedom from objective contaminations, so that my mind became abstracted and absorbed into the Divine Stream and thus acquired the Surangama Samadhi and attained Enlightenment.
Blessed Lord! In those far off days, my Lord the Buddha Avalokitasvara, praised me for my skillful acquirement of the all-accommodating Door of Dharma, and in one of his great Assemblies, he announced that I, too, should be called Avalokitasvara, The Hearer and Answerer of Prayer, the Bodhisattva of Tenderest Compassion. As such my transcendental Hearing reaches to the ten quarters of all the universes, and the name of Avalokitasvara prevails over all extremes of human suffering and danger.
