Ananda and the assembly having listened to the Lord Buddha’s instruction became thoroughly perfected in their intuitive intelligence and henceforth discarded all their suspicions and doubts. With one accord they bowed to the ground in humble obeisance and gratitude, saying:
Blessed Lord! This day both our bodies and minds have become transparently clear and we feel that we shall soon attain to a perfect state of freedom. Nevertheless, though we have realized your teaching, that as soon as the six sense-organs have been liberated from their attachments and contaminations, the remaining arbitrary conceptions of the discriminating mind will disappear also, and the mind will attain to a state of perfect clarity, but we do not feel that we have as yet attained to this state of perfectly unified awareness.
Oh Blessed Lord! We have been wandering about in the desolate wilderness of this world for many kalpas, recognizing no sign of our Lord’s parental love. We were as a nursing infant whose mother had left him for a time and who suddenly sees his loving mother returning to him. If we, by this extraordinary chance, should attain to Perfect Enlightenment and realize all of your profound teachings so that they become a natural part of our minds, our own innate self-realization, then we feel it would be the same state that our Lord attained under the Bo-tree, which our Lord has not yet described to us. Pray, oh Lord, have great love for us and show us the way to your secret and solemn Perfectness, so that we may receive it as our Lord’s crowning instruction. When they had made this entreaty, they waited humbly and patiently, their devout and concentrated minds in profound tranquillity, for the Lord’s final and most secret instruction.
Thereupon, the Blessed Lord revealed to the assembled highest Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and Great Arhats free from all intoxicants, this most sacred teaching. He said:
Honored Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and Great Arhats! You have now been under my instruction for a long time and have attained to perfect emancipation. As an introduction to what I am about to say, I want to enquire of each one of you as to how you attained Samadhi. When you began to realize, in the early stages of your devotion and practice, the falseness of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects by the sense organs, which one of the spheres first became thoroughly enlightened by means of which you attained to Samadhi?
The five Bhikshus, who were first converted, with Kaun-dinya at their head rose from their seats and bowed at the feet of the Lord Buddha and said: When I and my four companions were at Sarnath and Kikuta, and had evidence of our Lord’s enlightenment through our Lord’s first sermon, we all realized the Four Noble Truths. As to the means for my first attainment of samadhi, I recall that after you had approved my attainment of an advanced state of transcendental intelligence, my Lord Tathagata gave me the name of Aprajna (which means, ‘‘nothing is known”). It was while I was concentrating my mind in my practice of dhyana on the conception of the transcendental sound of the Dharma, that I attained my first experience of samadhi and became an Arhat.
This is my reply to my Lord’s enquiry as to which one of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense organs, it was, that we arrived at samadhi. In my case it was through the mysterious sound of the Dharma.
Then Upanishad rose from his seat, bowed at the feet of the Lord Buddha and said: Blessed Lord! I was also one of thy earliest disciples and a witness of my Lord’s Enlightenment. I was in the habit of practicing meditation upon the impurity of my physical body. I became greatly disgusted with it and disliked it exceedingly. Later I realized that it is the nature of all living bodies to be impure, and that after my death my own corpse and bones would decay and then return to dust and vanish in thin air. It was by means of this realization that I attained to enlightenment and perfect emancipation, and it was the reason my Lord, after he had recognized my attainment of transcendental intelligence gave me the name of Nishad. It was because the sight of objects within my mind had all been discarded and it was by means of the realization that all sights of objects were as empty as clear space, that I attained Arhatship. As to the means by which I first attained samadhi, it was by reason of this attainment of transcendental sight and concentrating my mind on it, that I arrived at a perfect harmonization of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense-objects through the sense organs.
Then the boy called by the name of Gandha-prabasa-alamkara, rose from his seat and bowed down to the Lord Buddha and said: My Blessed Lord! One day, after I had been listening thoughtfully to your teaching in regard to practising earnest insight into the true nature of all conditional things, I left your presence when it was almost dark. The dining hall was quite deserted and the brothers were lighting incense before the great Altar, in the distance. Suddenly I noticed the sweet fragrance of the incense, and the thought came to me that the fragrance was neither wood, nor air, nor smoke, nor flame; when it was present it came from nowhere and when it vanished, there was no fixed place for its abode. It was by means of the insight that came to me at that time that all my arbitrary thoughts about the nature of things were discarded and I became perfectly emancipated from all attachments and contaminations. It was because of this attainment that my Lord Tathagata confirmed my attainment and gave me my name. Since then all discriminations of smells from objects have ceased and a realization of the meaning of transcendental fragrance has taken their place and has become developed and unified and mysteriously intuitional. Thus I attained to Arhatship by means of this pure insight directed toward sweet scents. As my Lord has asked us which of the sense activities was the channel for our individual accommodation and unification of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense objects, I reply that in my case, it was the attainment of perfect insight coming through the sense of smell.
Then Baisajagara and Baisajattama, together with their five hundred Brahmayika followers, rose from their seats and bowed down to the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! For many generations, we two brothers have been in a line of skilful and beneficent physicians, and during that time have tasted a vast number of different drugs, herbs, woods, metals, etc. We have learned to discriminate their different tastes — sour, bitter, salt, fresh, sweet, peppery, etc. — their different qualities in conformity and in combinations, their permanence or variability, their effect in initiating coldness or inflammation, or their action, such as poisonous or healing. After we had become thy disciples, we understood the true nature of the different discriminations of taste — neither belonging to existence nor to non-existence, neither to body nor to mind, nor independent of both body and mind. As we were meditating on the originality of all these differences in tastes, we became enlightened.
Our Lord Buddha confirmed our attainment and gave us the rank of Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and we became princes of our Lord’s Dharma in this great company of followers. As our Lord has enquired about our individual experience of perfect unification of our eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, ours was through the sense of taste.
Then Bhadrapala, with his sixteen personal followers all enlightened Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, rose from their seats and bowed down to the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! I was first taught many aeons ago by Buddha Bhismagarjitasvararaga and was converted at that time. One day, which happened to be the bath holiday, I entered the bath and suddenly realized, through the sense of touch, the true originality of water: that it neither washed away dirtiness nor cleansed my physical body. With this insight I realized the true and essential nature of my heart and mind. With this realization, there seemed nothing abiding anywhere in existence but calmness and peacefulness. This experience remains in my consciousness even to this day. Since I have become a follower of my Lord and been reconverted by your teachings, that early experience has continued to help me in attaining perfect emancipation from all attachments and contaminations. Because of it, my Lord approved my attainment and gave me the name of Bhadrapala, which means: “transcendental sense of touch, brightly enlightened.” It was thus that I attained the permanent abidingness of a Dharma Prince. As my Lord has enquired of us as to our individual experience in first attaining perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense-objects through sense-organs, I would testify that my attainment was accomplished through insight into the true originality of the sense of touch.
Then Maha-Kasyapa with the Bhikshuni Suvarna and other nuns of his spiritual family, rose from their seats and bowed down to the Lord, Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! In previous kalpas when Buddha Kandrasuryapradipa was living I served him faithfully and listened to his teaching and practiced it faithfully. After he passed into Nirvana, I continued to make offerings to his sacred relics and kept his image freshly gilded, so that his teaching, like a lamp, continued to illumine my life by its brightness. By my faithful reverence for his relics and his image, my mind was illumined by a purple-golden brightness that reflected itself in all my following lives and became a permanent purple-golden brightness within my body. This Bhikshuni Suvarna and her sister nuns began their practice with me in those by-gone days and have continued to be in my spiritual family ever since.
In the course of my previous lives, I gradually gained insight into the destructibility of all the six objects of sense in the Samsara world and observed their emptiness and transitoriness. I continued to practice concentration by means of this principle of the inherent emptiness and tranquillity of the essence of all things until no thought remained within my mind to disturb it. Thus, both my body and mind became emancipated from the accumulated defilements of a thousand kalpas and they disappeared as suddenly as the rap on a door. Thus I attained to Arhatship by means of the thoughts that arose from meditation upon the Dharma of Emptiness, and my Lord confirmed my attainment of enlightenment in all transcendental Truth and freedom from all the intoxicants of life, and has honored me with highest rank among his followers. As my Lord has enquired of us which one of our eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through our sense-organs, it was, I would answer, it was through my meditation upon the originality of phenomena, that I first advanced toward enlightenment.
Then Anaruddha rose from his seat, bowed down to the Lord Buddha and said: Blessed Lord! When I first became a convert, I was inclined to sleepiness. My Lord rebuked me for the bad habit and warned me that if I continued it, I might become some kind of animal in my next birth. I took this rebuke to heart and for seven days kept my self from sleep entirely. From weeping and loss of sleep my eyes became over-wearied and I lost my sight. My Lord then taught me a better way for overcoming the bad habit and showed me how to recover my pleasant sight. From this experience I not only attained intuitive insight and enlightenment, but attained to the Surangama Samadhi, as well. Since then I have the transcendental power of seeing all the ten quarters of the universe, and I can see the spirit-essence of anything at any distance, as clearly as I see a fruit held in my hand. My Lord Tathagata recognized my attainment and confirmed my attainment of Arhatship. As my Lord has enquired of us about our personal experience in gaining perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, I would testify that my first thoroughly perfect accommodation came to me through the return of sight to my sick eyes.
Then Suddhipanthaka rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! Before I met you, I had never recited scriptures or put their teaching into practice because my memory was very poor. After I met my Lord Buddha, I listened to his teaching and became converted. I tried to remember the teaching, even a single verse of it, by repeating it over and over even for a hundred days but failed. If I succeeded in remembering the first part, I would forget the last part, and if I remembered the last part, I would forget the first part. My Lord Tathagata took pity upon my stupidity, and taught me to sit quietly with empty and tranquil mind simply trying to regulate my in and out breathing. Since then I have always concentrated my mind on my breathing which has gradually become more and more gentle and peaceful. At the same time the defilements of my mind caused by conceptions of re-birth, continuance, change and death, gradually disappeared and my mind became enlightened. In time I acquired entire freedom from all attachments and contaminations and my mind became enlightened, so that I attained the degree of Arhat. I have since then become permanently tranquil under the influence of my Lord Buddha. Later my Lord confirmed my attainment of perfect emancipation. In reply to my Lord’s enquiry, I witness that my approach to the unification of the eighteen spheres of mentation was by concentration of mind upon my in and out breathing, by reason of which I attained to perfect emptiness of thinking.
Then Gavampati rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! Long ago in past kalpas, I made fun of holy disciples and by so doing committed the sin of blasphemy and drew upon myself the karma of chewing my cud like a cow, for many recurring lives. My Lord Tathagata in great kindness showed me the door of Dharma that leads to purity and humbleness of heart, whereby I was able to annihilate all my contaminations and arbitrary conceptions and to attain absorption in samadhi. From my long experience I was led to concentrate upon the nature of the tastes of the tongue, that they were neither a kind of matter, nor a kind of essence, and suddenly by one transcendental clearing of mind, I attained to perfect freedom from all the mind’s attachments and contaminations, so that internally I was free from all arbitrary conceptions both of body and mind, and externally I was free from attachment to all worldly things, and lastly I was able to live remote from all the defilements of the triple world. I felt like a bird that had escaped from the confinement of its cage. The intuitive insight of my Dharma Eye had suddenly become purified and clear. This attainment of perfect emancipation was confirmed by my Lord Tathagata. In reply to his enquiry, I would answer, that my first thoroughly perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was by means of the return of my tasting faculty to its original intelligence.
Then Pilankapatha rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! When I first tried to follow my Lord in the practice for enlightenment, I often heard his teaching that among all the world’s attractions, there was nothing truly worthy of enjoyment because everything sooner or later led to suffering. One day when I was in the city begging food, with my mind fixed on the Dharma door, suddenly a poisonous point wounded my foot and my whole body throbbed with pain. This led me to remember that it was only because of sensations and perceptions that I felt pain. Although I felt the pain in my whole body, yet I was mindful that in my pure and Essential Mind there was no pain and no perception of feeling pain. I was mindful, also, that as there was only one body such as mine, how was it possible to have two different sets of feelings — pain in my foot because of the poison, and joy in my deeper mind because of my intuitive insight into the Dharma Door. Holding my mind in concentration on this question, suddenly my body and mind became empty of all arbitrary thoughts about things, and in three weeks, all attachments and contaminations vanished from my mind, and I attained the degree of Arhat, which was confirmed by my Lord when he noticed that I had advanced to perfect emancipation of mind. As my Lord has enquired of us as to our first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through our sense-organs, I would answer that in my case, it was by the perfect unconsciousness of my physical body and my return to its primal state of perfect intuition of its intrinsic Essence of Mind.
Then Subhuti rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! I attained to a pure state of mental freedom many kalpas ago and I recall that my re-births have been as many as the sands of the Ganges. In this life while still in my mother’s womb, I already realized the pure emptiness of Essential Mind and gradually, as I grew up, I progressively realized the pure emptiness of all the ten quarters of the universe, and there developed within my mind the wish that all sentient beings might also attain to the realization, each of his own Mind-essence. At last, through the inspiration of my Lord’s teaching concerning the principle of the perfect and true emptiness of the wonderful, mysterious Mind Essence and of its highest perfect Wisdom, instantly, thereafter, I became absorbed into my Lord’s gloriously radiant Ocean of Mind, so that my mind became like the mind of my Lord, sharing in a measure, his insight and his intelligence. Because of this attainment my Lord recognized my having attained to a perfect state of emancipation, that is, I had attained to the pure emptiness of Mind-Essence. In this attainment I am first among all this assembly. In reply to my Lord’s enquiry, I reply, that my first thoroughly perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was the realization by means of the recollecting and mindfulness faculty, of the non-existence of all phenomena, by the exclusion from my thinking of all arbitrary conceptions of phenomena.
Then Sariputra rose from his seat and bowing down before the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! Since many kalpas, as many as the sands of the Ganges, my mind has continued its purity and because of it, there have been many pure rebirths. As soon as my eyes perceived the differences in the ever-flowing process of changes both in this world and in the Way of Emancipation, my mind immediately understood them and, because of it, I acquired the attainment of perfect freedom. When I was on the road one day, I met the brothers Kasyapa who kindly explained the principle of the Lord’s teaching — that everything rose from causes and conditions and therefore was empty and transitory — and I realized the infinitude of Pure Mind Essence. From that time I followed my Lord and my perception of mental sight became transcendental and perfectly enlightened, so that I instantly acquired an attainment of great fearlessness and confidence. Because of it I attained to the degree of Arhat and became, in fact, the first Prince of my Lord Buddha, begotten by the Lord’s true words and nour- ished and transformed by his intrinsic Dharma. In reply to my Lord’s enquiry as to our first experience of attainment, I would answer that my first thorough accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, was by reason of the transcendent brightness within my own mind whose shining beams illuminated my intelligence and reached as far as my insight could penetrate.
Then Samantabhadra rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said: I became a Prince of my Lord’s Dharma many long kalpas ago, and all of the innumerable Tathagatas of the ten quarters of the universe, taught their disciples, who had the qualifications for becoming Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, to practice the devotion of Samantabhadra’s unceasing compassion for all sentient beings for his name’s sake. The transcendental and intrinsic hearing of my Essential Mind became very pure and transparent, so that I could use it to discriminate the understanding and ideas of all sentient beings. Should there be any sentient beings in whatever quarter of the universe — past, present or future — to develop the devotion of Samantabhadra’s unceasing compassion within his mind, I would become aware of its vibrations through the transcendental sensitiveness of my hearing and I would thereupon ride to them on the mysterious elephant of six tusks, in a hundred thousand different manifestations of my likeness, at the same time, to attend upon them each in his own place. Whatever might be his hindrances, however deep or serious, able to appreciate my presence or not, I would be near him to lay my hand upon his head, to give him encouragement and support, peacefulness and comfort, so that he might accomplish his supreme attainment. As my Lord has enquired of us as to our first attainment of accommodating our eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense-objects through our sense-organs, I would say that in my case it was through the intrinsic hearing of my Essential Mind and its spontaneous understanding and response.
Then Sandrananda rose from his seat and bowed down to the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! I became a convert under the instruction of my Lord Buddha. Since then, though I have kept all the precepts, my mind continues in a constant state of diffusion and I have not yet been able to attain samadhi. Consequently I have not yet acquired immunity from the intoxicants of this world. My Lord taught brother Kaustila and myself to concentrate attention on the tip of our nose, and as I did this, I began to notice, after three weeks, that my in and out breathing through the nose seemed to be like smoke coming out of a chimney. At the same time my body and mind became bright internally and I could see the whole world becoming clear and transparent like a crystal ball. Later on, the appearance of smoke coming from the nose gradually vanished and my breathing became luminous and shining. Then my mind became enlightened and I attained to a state of non-intoxication. My in and out breathing became brighter and seemed to pervade the whole universe. After that, I attained to the degree of Arhat and my Lord Buddha said that I will soon attain enlightenment. In reply to my Lord’s enquiry, I would say, that my first accommodation to the eighteen spheres of mentation was through observing my in and out breathing through the nose, by reason of which, after long practice, it became bright and shining which as it developed eradicated all the intoxicants of attachment and contaminations.
Then Puma Metaluniputra rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! For an infinity of kalpas I have had great freedom in preaching the Dharmas of emptiness and suffering and because of it have realized my own Essence of Mind. In the course of my preaching I have interpreted profoundly and wonderfully the many Dharma Doors, with great confidence and with no feeling of fear, everywhere and before great assemblies. Because of my eloquence, my Lord has encouraged me to make use of it in propagating the Dharma by means of the wheel of my voice. Since these ancient days, since the Lord has been among us, I have offered my services in turning the Dharma Wheel, and have lately attained to the degree of Arhat by means of the development of my hearing by reason of which I am conscious of the transcendental sound of the Dharma, reverberating like the roar of a lion. Consequently, my Lord has honored me by regarding me as the greatest preacher of his Mysterious Dharma.
As my Lord has enquired of us which was our earliest accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through sense organs, I would answer that my first thorough accommodation of mentation, was the subjugation of my internal attachments and enemies and the extermination of all intoxicants by means of the intrinsic sound of the Mysterious Dharma.
Then Uparli rose from his seat and bowed down to the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! I followed my Lord when he escaped from the palace and lived an ascetic life in the forest. For six years I watched him as he practiced asceticism and subjugated all Maras and heretics and exterminated all the intoxicants of worldly desires and cupidities. By the example of my Lord and by his instruction I became able to keep with purity all the Precepts, and the 3,000 rules of etiquette and the 80,000 refinements of the rules for the conduct of Buddhists, so that thereby both my body and mind became pure and tranquil, and I attained to Arhatship. I am regarded by all as the model of perfect behavior among all the Disciples.
As my Lord has enquired of us as to which was our most perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that my first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was the pure keeping of both my body and mind, so that my body acquired perfect health and my mind perfect intelligence.
Then the great Maudgalyayana rose from his seat and bowed down to the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! When I was begging on the road I met the three Kasyapa brothers who taught me the Lord Tathagata’s profound principle of causes and conditions. I was greatly influenced by the teaching, and very soon acquired and realized particularly clear intelligence. My Lord was so kind as to bestow on me the true robe for my true body, my beard and head were shaved and I became a follower of my Lord. Since then my transcendental powers have become wonderfully developed, I have made visits to all the ten quarters of the universe, without hindrance by space, passing instantly from one Buddha-land to another without being conscious of how it was done, I thus attained the degree of Arhat and was accounted by all and by my Lord Tathagata as being highest among the disciples in perfect enlightenment, great purity of mind, spontaneity and fearlessness in manifestation of transcendental powers.
As my Lord has enquired of us which was our most perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that my first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was my mind becoming abstracted in tranquil reflection that mysteriously developed its enlightening brightness, as if my mind that had been a muddy stream had suddenly become clear and transparent like a crystal ball.
Then Ushusma with his hands pressed together, bowed in his place, and addressed the Lord Buddha, said: Blessed Lord! I recall that in numerous past kalpas my heart was always full of lustful covetousness. At one time there was a Buddha called Akasaraga who taught that those who cherished lustful thoughts would be consumed in a burning flame. He taught me how to practice intuitive insight by reflecting upon parts of my body and skeleton and as to the susceptibility of my body to heat and cold. By this method my lustful thoughts were sublimated into burning torches of wisdom and intelligence. Since then I have been called, Ushusma, the blazing torch, and in due time I attained Arhatship owing to my samadhis radiating a blazing brightness. At that time I made a great vow that if any Bodhisattva-Mahasattva attained Buddhahood in my time, I would be his guardian knight, protecting him from all enemies and maras. As my Lord has enquired of us which was our most perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I answer that my first thoroughly perfect accommodation was my keen insight into the states of coldness and warmth of my body, and the darkness and brightness of my mind by which there developed within my spirit a blazing glory of wisdom that illumined my mind until I attained my supreme enlightenment.
Then Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Dharanindhara, rose in his place and bowed at the feet of the Lord Buddha and saying: Blessed Lord! I recollect that ages ago, when I was only a bhikshu, there appeared in the world the Tathagata Samantaprabhasa. He taught me to concentrate on the element of Earth, and I made the vow to always labor near the earth. Whenever I came to a place in the road that was too narrow or obstructed, or made impassable because of a gap, I made it my task, to widen it, clear it and to fill up the gaps, or remedy any other inconvenience that might be dangerous or cause trouble to travellers or passing carts. While I was busied with this laborious task, many Buddhas appeared and passed away. At other times, if I noticed any over-burdened, I would offer to help them carry their heavy loads, and when we reached our destination, I would lay the burden down carefully and go away without demanding any compensation. When the Buddha Vessabhu appeared there were frequent severe famines. At that time I often served as a carrier and no matter how far the distance, I never asked for more than one penny. Sometimes the cart and the ox would become mired in the muddy roads and I would use my transcendental strength to help drag the cart and thus relieve the poor ox. On one occasion the great King of the country prepared a vegetable feast in honor of Buddha Vessabhu, and I levelled the road over which he must pass in coming and waited upon him while he was there. The Buddha Vessabhu noticed me and instructed me, saying: “First level your own mind, then every part of the earth will become level.” Instantly I became enlightened and since then I have realized that the dust that made up the great earth and that made up my body were the same. I also realized that it was of the nature of dust particles not to be in contact with each other, and even when a sword cut through a body that it never came in contact with the particles of dust that made up the body. I also realized that it was an essential part of all phenomena that there was no re-birth, only an endless succession of non-rebirth. Thereby I attained Arhatship, and ever since there has been a constant advancement of attainment, until now I abide in the seat of a Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, and wherever in the ten quarters of the Universe a Buddha is to discourse on the wonderful lotus-like Dharma in his perfect insight and intelligence, I am the first to be present occupying a front seat and ready to corroborate his teaching. As my Lord has enquired of us what was our first thoroughly perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, that my first insight into the fact that there was no difference between the Earth Element of my body and the Earth Element of its sphere of mentation for they were both only fantastic manifestations from the Womb of Tathagata, and when my conception of their unreality was attained, my intelligence became perfectly clear and I realized supreme Enlightenment.
Then the lad Chandra-prabhasa, rose from his seat and bowed at the feet of the Lord Buddha and said: Blessed Lord! I remember that many kalpas ago there was a Buddha named Apoyika who appeared in this world teaching all Bodhisattvas to practice concentration upon the nature of the Element Water and thus to attain Samadhi by that means. Following his instruction I meditated upon the fluidities within my body, concentrating my mind on the snivel and spittal, on the blood, the semen, the mucus, the urine, the pus exuding from sores, and my mind was filled with loathing. One day it came to me that the liquidity of the fragrant oceans in which the Fairy Isles of the Blest were immersed, were of the same essential nature as the disgusting fluids within my body. But for a long time I could not get rid of the idea of the substantial nature of my body. One day as I sat meditating in my room, a disciple of mine peeked through a crack into the room where I was seated and to his amazement it appeared to be filled with clear water with nothing else in sight. As he was an ignorant and foolish boy, he threw a broken tile into the room and ran away. When I emerged from meditation and resumed my normal consciousness, my mind was filled with a strange foreboding and heartache. I mused to myself, “Why is it that I, who am released from all kinds of sickness and troublesome emotions, should suddenly be filled with foreboding and heartache? Can it be, that I am slipping backward and am losing the attainment that I had gained?” When the boy noticed my dejection he told me what he had seen and done. I bade him, that if ever again he peered into my room when I was absorbed in concentration of mind, and saw the same appearance of water, that he was to enter the room, pick up the broken tile, carry it out and throw it away. The boy being thus ordered, did as I said, and when I was in meditation returned and seeing the room filled with pure water, went into the room and seeing the broken tile, picked it up, went out quietly and threw it away. As I rose from my meditation and resumed my natural consciousness my mind was as calm and peaceful as ever.
But after that for a long time I never made any advancement in spiritual attainment. Aeons went by, Buddha after Buddha appearing and passing, still I continued to think of my body and never could put the idea of my selfness out of my consciousness. After a long, long time, there appeared a Tathagata named Raga who had the transcendental power of being able to pass through mountains and oceans and any obstacle with perfect ease and freedom. From him I realized more perfectly the essential nature of my body and mind, that it was essentially like the fluidity of the Oceans of Fragrance that surrounded the Isles of the Blest. I came to realize that I had been all along throwing the broken shards of my thoughts of personality into the pure limpidity of my essential nature. From this experience and attainment, I received from my Lord the name of the Boy-Virgin, the ever Youthful One, cherishing no attachments and therefore free from all evolving conceptions, who being ever young yet was able to participate in the councils of the elders.
As my Lord has enquired of us which was our first and most thorough accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that it was by means of my concentration on the nature of the Element Water by which I came to realize the pure fluidity of my essential nature, by reason of which I have acquired the transcendental power in my states of concentration of passing through all things, to all places, in all times, and thus acquired the perseverance of non-rebirth, and accomplished my Enlightenment.
Then the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Akshobhya rose from his seat and bowed to the feet of the Lord Buddha, saying: Blessed Lord! My Lord Tathagata and I had already acquired a transcendental body of infinitude at the time, long ago during the advent of the Buddha Camatha-prabhasa. At that time I had in possession four precious pearls having the transcendental penetrating power of the Element of Fire, by reason of which everything was luminously clear to my intuitive insight, even to the farthermost Buddhalands of the most remote Universe. In the light of these magic pearls everything became as empty and transparent as pure space. Moreover, within my mind, there manifested a great mirror that was marvelously self-illuminating that radiated ten kinds of wonderful, glorious, far-reaching brightness, that illumined the ten quarters of the universes as far reaching as the infinitude of all embracing space. In this marvelous mirror were reflected all the royal continents of the Blessed and like the mingling of different colored lights, merged with my body into the pure brightness and clarity of infinite space, there being no hindrance to their entrance or passing. By this magical power, I was able to enter into all the Buddhalands and engage in all their Buddha-services of adoration with great ease and perfect accommodation. This transcendental power was due to my deep intuitive insight into the source of the Four Great Elements, by reason of which I was able to see that they were nothing but the appearing and disappearing of false imaginations, which were intrinsically as empty as pure space and with no more differentiation than pure space. And I realized that all the innumerable Buddhalands within and without the mind were of the same inconceivable purity. From this intuitive insight I consequently acquired the samadhi of perseverance of non-rebirth.
As my Lord has enquired of us which was our most thorough accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that in my case it was through my perfect intuitive insight into the infinity of open space as illumined by the Element of Fire, and by that power I attained to the highest Samadhi and the Transcendental power of Samapatti.
Then the Prince of the Lord’s Dharma, Vejuria, arose from his seat and bowed down at the feet of the Lord Buddha and said: Blessed Lord! I recall that many, many kalpas ago there appeared in the world a Buddha called Amitayus, teaching all Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas the intuitive and essential nature of the wonderful Essence of Mind, and urging them to concentrate their minds on the essential sameness of this Samsara world and all sentient beings in it, that they were all alike manifestations of the Element of Wind (or Ether) and its rhythmic-vibrations revealing and manifesting all else. In my practice of Dhyana I concentrated on this and reflected on how the great world was upheld in space, on how the great world was kept in perpetual motion, on how my body was kept in motion, moving and standing, on the rhythmic vibration of its life established and maintained by breathing, upon the movement of the mind, thoughts rising and passing. I reflected upon these various things and marveled at their great sameness without any difference save in the rate of vibration. I realized that the nature of these vibrations had neither any source for their coming, nor destination for their going, and that all sentient beings as numerous as the infinitesimal particles of dust in the vast spaces, were each in his own way topsy-turvy balanced vibrations, and that each and every one was obsessed with the illusion that he was a unique creation. All sentient beings in all the three thousand Great Chillicosms, are obsessed with this hallucination. They are like innumerable mosquitos shut up in a vessel and buzzing about in wildest confusion. Sometimes they are roused to madness and pandemonium by the narrow limits of their confinement. After meeting my Lord Buddha, I attained to a state of intuitive realization and non-rebirth perseverance, whereupon my mind became Enlightened and I was able to view the Buddhaland of Immovability in the Eastern Heavens, which is the Pure Land of Buddha Amitayus. I was acknowledged as a Prince of the Lord’s Dharma and vowed to serve all Buddhas everywhere, and because of my Enlightenment and great vow, my body and mind became perfectly rhythmic and alive and sparkling, mingling with all other vibrations without hindrance to its perfect freedom.
As my Lord has enquired of us as to which was our first thoroughly perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, I will say that in my case it was through my intuitive insight into the nature of the Element of Ether, and how by its balanced and rhythmic vibrations everything was embraced in perfect purity in the Enlightening Mind, and how concentrating my mind upon it I attained Samadhi and in that Samadhi I realized the perfect oneness of all the Buddhas in the purity of the Wonderful Mind Essence, that is the Bliss-body of Buddhahood.
Then Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Maitreya rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha said: Blessed Lord! I recall that many, many kalpas ago there was a Buddha appeared in this world called Chandra-surya-pradipa-prabhasa whom I followed as his disciple. At that time I was inclined to the worldly life and liked to associate with the nobility. The Lord Buddha, noticing it, instructed me to practice meditation concentrating my mind on its consciousness. I followed his instruction and attained samadhi. Since then I have served numberless other Buddhas using this same method and by it have now discarded all desire for worldly pleasures. By the time Buddha Dipankara appeared in the world I had attained to the supreme, wonderful, perfect Samadhi of Transcendental Consciousness. By this highest Samadhi I was conscious of infinite space, and realized that all of the Tathagata-lands whether pure or impure, existent or non-existent were nothing but the manifestation of my own mind. My Lord! Because of my perfect realization that all such skillful devices of the Tathagatas were nothing but evolvements of my own mental consciousness, the essential nature of my consciousness flowed out in innumerable manifestations of Tathagatas, and I came to be selected as the next Coming Buddha, after my Lord Shakyamuni Buddha.
As my Lord has enquired of us as to 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 of the eighteen spheres of mentation was by my perfect realization that all the ten quarters of the universes were nothing but activities of my own consciousness. It was by that that my consciousness became perfectly enlightened and that the limits of my mind dissolved until it embraced all Reality. Forsaking all prejudices of conditional and unconditional assertions and denials, I acquired perfect non-birth perseverance.
Then Maha-sthama-prapta, Prince of the Lord’s Dharma, rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the Lord Buddha, together with the fifty-two members of his Brotherhood of Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, and said: Blessed Lord! I recall that in a past kalpa long ago, as many kalpas ago as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges, there appeared in this world a Buddha called, Amitabha-prabhasa Buddha, whose Buddha-land was in the Eastern Heavens. In that kalpa there were twelve Tathagatas followed each other in close succession, the last one being called Buddha Chandra-surya-gomin, who taught me to practice meditation upon the name of Amitabha, saying: Namo-Amitabha-Buddhaya. The value of this practice lay in this: So long as one person practices his own method and another practices a different method, they balance off each other and meeting it is just the same as not meeting. Whereas if two persons practice the same method their mindfulness would become deeper and deeper, and they would remember each other and develop affinities for each other life after life. It is the same with those who practice concentrating on the name of Amitabha — they develop within their minds Amitabha’s spirit of compassion toward all sentient life. Moreover, whoever recites the name of Amitabha Buddha, whether in the present time, or in future time, will surely see the Buddha Amitabha and never become separated from him. By reason of that association, just as one associating with a maker of perfumes becomes permeated with the same perfumes, so he will become perfumed by Amitabha’s compassion, and will become enlightened without any other expedient means.
Blessed Lord! My devotion to reciting the name of Amitabha had no other purpose than to return to my original nature of purity and by it I attained to the state of non-rebirth perseverance. Now in this life, I have vowed to teach my disciples to concentrate their minds by means of reciting the name of Amitabha (Namo-Amitahha-Buddhaya), and also I teach them to wish to be born in his Land of Purity and to make that their only Refuge.
As my Lord has asked us which is 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 of the eighteen spheres of mentation, was that I recognized no separation or differences among my six senses, but merge them into one transcendental sense from which arises the purity of Transcendental Wisdom, by reason of which I attained highest Samadhi and the graces of Samapatti.
