Tạng English · BDK English Tripiṭaka (dịch từ Hán tạng) · BDK English Tripiṭaka

T848 The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

Thông tin: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka

THE VAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHI SUTRA

Front Matters

BDK English Tripiṭaka Series THE VAIROCANĀBHISAṂBODHI SUTRA

Translated from the Chinese (Taishō Volume 18, Number 848) by

Rolf W. Giebel BDK America, Inc. 2005

Copyright

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. First Printing, 2005

ISBN: 978-1-886439-32-0

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2005934739 Published by

BDK America, Inc.

1675 School Street

Moraga, California 94556 Printed in the United States of America

A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripiṭaka

The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand different teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a different treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a different medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suffering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the suffering to which it was addressed.

Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eightyfour thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirtynine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project. It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future.

It is most gratifying that, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten off the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the Compassionate One reach each and every person in the world.

NUMATAYehan

Founder of the English

August 7, 1991 Tripiṭaka Project

Editorial Foreword

In January 1982, Dr. NUMATAYehan, the founder of the Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taishō edition of the Chinese Tripiṭaka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation Committee of the English Tripiṭaka was officially convened. The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late) HANAYAMA Shōyū (Chairperson), (late) BANDŌ Shōjun, ISHIGAMI Zennō, (late) KAMATA Shigeo, KANAOKA Shūyū, MAYEDA Sengaku, NARA Yasuaki, (late) SAYEKI Shinkō, (late) SHIOIRIRyōtatsu, TAMARUNoriyoshi, (late) TAMURAKwansei, URYŪZU Ryūshin, and YUYAMAAkira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: KANAZAWAAtsushi, WATA NABE Shōgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium.

After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written in India but also include works written or composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published.

Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless, as Dr. NUMATA wished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present members have passed away.

It must be mentioned here that the final object of this project is not academic fulfillment but the transmission of the teaching of the Buddha to the whole world in order to create harmony and peace among humankind. To that end, the translators have been asked to minimize the use of vii

Publisher’s Foreword

Editorial Foreword

explanatory notes of the kind that are indispensable in academic texts, so that the attention of general readers will not be unduly distracted from the primary text. Also, a glossary of selected terms is appended to aid in understanding the text. To my great regret, however, Dr. NUMATApassed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. NUMATAToshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project. The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, Professor HANAYAMA Shōyū, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. After these severe blows, the Committee elected me, then Vice President of Musashino Women's College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention of Dr. NUMATA, under the leadership of Mr. NUMATAToshihide. The present members of the Committee are MAYEDASengaku (Chairperson), ISHIGAMIZennō, ICHISHIMAShōshin, KANAOKAShūyū, NARAYasuaki, TAMARU Noriyoshi, URYŪZU Ryūshin, YUYAMAAkira, Kenneth K. Tanaka, WATANABE Shōgo, and assistant member YONEZAWAYoshiyasu.

The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripiṭaka First Series. In December 1991, the Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center, with Professor Philip Yampolsky as the Chairperson. To our sorrow, Professor Yampolsky passed away in July 1996. In February 1997, Dr. Kenneth K. Inada became Chair and served in that capacity until August 1999. The current Chair, Dr. Francis H. Cook, has been continuing the work since October 1999. All of the remaining texts will be published under the supervision of this Committee, in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo.

MAYEDA Sengaku

Chairperson

Editorial Committee of

the BDK English Tripiṭaka

viii

Publisher's Foreword

The Publication Committee shares with the Editorial Committee the responsibility of realizing the vision of Dr. Yehan Numata, founder of Bukkyō Dendō Kyōkai, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism. This vision is no less than to make the Buddha's teaching better known throughout the world, through the translation and publication in English of the entire collection of Buddhist texts compiled in the Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō,published in Tokyo in the early part of the twentieth century. This huge task is expected to be carried out by several generations of translators and may take as long as a hundred years to complete. Ultimately, the entire canon will be available to anyone who can read English and who wishes to learn more about the teaching of the Buddha.

The present generation of staff members of the Publication Committee includes Marianne Dresser; Reverend Brian Nagata, president of the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, California; Eisho Nasu; and Reverend Kiyoshi Yamashita. The Publication Committee is headquartered at the Numata Center and, working in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee, is responsible for the usual tasks associated with preparing translations for publication.

In October 1999, I became the third chairperson of the Publication Committee, on the retirement of its very capable former chair, Dr. Kenneth K. Inada. The Committee is devoted to the advancement of the Buddha's teaching through the publication of excellent translations of the thousands of texts that make up the Buddhist canon.

Francis H. Cook

Chairperson

Publication Committee

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripiṭaka NUMATA Yehan v Editorial Foreword MAYEDA Sengaku vii Publisher's Foreword Francis H. Cook ix Translator's Introduction Rolf W. Giebel xiii The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra Fascicle One Chapter I. The Stations of the Mind When Entering the Mantra Gateway 3 Chapter II. Full Accoutrements and Mantras for Entering the Maṇḍala 17 Fascicle Two Chapter II (continued). Full Accoutrements and Mantras for Entering the Maṇḍala 39 Chapter III. The Quelling of Obstacles Chapter IV. A Treasury of Mantras in Common Use 55 59

Fascicle Three Chapter V. Mundane Accomplishment 69 Chapter VI. The Manifestation of Siddhi Chapter VII. The Accomplishing of Siddhi Chapter VIII. MaṇḍalaPractices for the Revolving Wheel of Letters 71 89

Fascicle Four Chapter IX. Mystic Seals 101 Fascicle Five Chapter X. The Wheel of Letters Chapter XI. The Secret Maṇḍala Chapter XII. The Ritual for Entering the Secret Maṇḍala Chapter XIII. Entry to the Station of the Secret Maṇḍala Chapter XIV. The Eight Secret Seals 119 123

145

147

151

Translator’s Introduction

Contents

Chapter XV. The Prohibitory Precepts for Reciting Vidyās Chapter XVI. The True Knowledge of the Ācārya Chapter XVII. The Allocation of the Letters 155 159

163

Fascicle Six Chapter XVIII. Receiving the Code of Training with Expedient Means Chapter XIX. The Exposition of the Arising of the Hundred Letters 165 171

Chapter XX. Intercorrespondence with the Fruit of the Hundred Letters 173 Chapter XXI. The Accomplishment of the Station of the Hundred Letters 175 Chapter XXII. Recitation for the Accomplishment of the Hundred Letters 179 Chapter XXIII. The Mantra Method for the Hundred Letters Chapter XXIV. The Exposition of the Nature of Bodhi Chapter XXV. The Three Samayas Chapter XXVI. The Exposition of "Tathāgata" Chapter XXVII. The Mundane and Supramundane HomaRituals Chapter XXVIII. The Exposition of Deity Samādhi Chapter XXIX. The Exposition of Samādhiwithout Characteristics Chapter XXX. Mundane and Supramundane Recitation 183 185

187

189

191

197

199

201

Chapter XXXI. The Entrustment 203 Fascicle Seven Chapter I. The Code of Training for Mantra Practice among the Procedural Rules for Worship 205 Chapter II. The Increasing and Guarding of Pure Conduct Chapter III. The Worship Ritual Chapter IV. The Rules for Recitation 211 219

233

Chapter V. Mantra Deeds 243 Notes 251 Bibliography 263 Glossary 265 Index 273 A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripiṭaka (First Series) 293 xii

Translator's Introduction

The Text

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtrawas a seminal work in the history of Tantric Buddhism, offering one of the first fully developed expositions of this form of Buddhism. In India and Tibet it came to be classified as a Caryā Tantra, or "Practice Tantra, " corresponding to the second category of what was to become in Tibet the standard fourfold classification of Buddhist tantras, only to be eventually superseded to a large degree by the Sarvatathāgatatattvasaṃgrahaand the large body of literature spawned by this latter text (corresponding to the Yoga and Anuttarayoga Tantras). In East Asia, on the other hand, the Vairocanā bhisaṃbodhi-sūtrahas remained together with the Sarvatathāgata tattva saṃgraha one of the two basic texts of Esoteric Buddhism and could indeed be said to have been the more influential of the two. (A translation of the Sarvatathāgata tattva saṃgraha,under the title Adamantine Pinnacle Sutra,appears in the volume Two Esoteric Sutras,Numata Center, 2001.)

To date no manuscript of the original Sanskrit text of the Vairo canā bhi saṃbodhi-sūtrahas been discovered (although a number of passages are either quoted in other Sanskrit works or preserved in Chinese transcription), but it was translated into Chinese (Taishō no. 848) and Tibetan (Peking no. 126). The Sanskrit title preserved in the Tibetan translation is Mahāvairocanā bhisaṃbodhi vikurvitā dhi ṣṭhāna-vaipulya sūtrendrarāja-nāma-dharmaparyāya(Dharma Discourse Called "Mahāvairocana's Enlightenment, Miracles, and Empowerment, "

King of the Best of the Extensive Scriptures). The title of the Chinese version, on the other hand, may be translated as "Scripture of the Enlightenment, Supernatural Transformations, and Empowerment of Mahāvairocana, " but the Chinese

commentary informs us that the full title included the words Mahāvaipulya sūtrendra rāja, which tallies closely with the title preserved in the Tibetan translation. (The term vaipulya-sūtra,or "extensive scripture, " is a common designation

xiii

Translator's Introduction

of Mahayana sutras.) Buddhaguhya, its chief commentator in India, meanwhile, refers to it as a tantra, and Sanskrit texts generally cite it simply as Vairo canābhisaṃbodhior Vairocanā bhisaṃbodhi-tantra.Since the Chinese translator Śubhā kara siṃha does not use the word tantra(and although it is widely known as the Mahāvairocana-sūtra), it will hereafter be referred to as the Vairo canā bhisaṃbodhi-sūtra. The Chinese translation was produced in seven fascicles by Śubhā kara siṃha (637-735) and his Chinese disciple Yixing (683-727) in 724-5, apparently on the basis of a manuscript sent to China some decades earlier by the Chinese monk Wuxing, who died in India in 674. Strictly speaking, it is only the first six fascicles in thirty-one chapters that correspond to the Vairocanābhi saṃbodhisūtraproper, with Fascicle Seven (in five chapters) constituting a ritual manual that is preserved as a separate work in the Tibetan canon (Peking no. 3488). The Tibetan translation, on the other hand, was produced almost a century later in the early ninth century by Śīlendrabodhi and dPal-brtsegs, and in addition to the base text in twenty-nine chapters it includes a "Continuation Tantra" (Uttaratantra) in seven chapters not found in the Chinese version. It is evident that during the intervening period the text had undergone some reorganization, for Chapters XXVIII-XXX of the Chinese translation have become Chapters VII-IX in the Tibetan translation and Chapters VI-VII and Chapters XXVII and XXXI in the Chinese translation have been combined into single chapters in the Tibetan translation (becoming Chapters VI and XXIX respectively), while the order of Chapters XIII and XIV has been reversed (becoming Chapters XVI and XV in the Tibetan translation). But apart from these formal differences, the Chinese and Tibetan versions of the base text tally fairly closely with one another. As well as translating the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra,Śubhā karasiṃha and Yixing also produced a twenty-fascicle commentary (Taishō no. 1796) on the first six fascicles of their translation. (In the notes added to the English translation, this text is referred to as the "Chinese commentary. ") After Yixing's death

in 727, this was revised by some of his colleagues and redivided into fourteen fascicles. In addition, the Korean monk Bukesiyi, another of Śubhā karasiṃha's disciples, composed a two-fascicle commentary on the final seventh fascicle of the Chinese version of the Vairocanā bhisaṃbodhi-sūtra(Taishō no. 1797). The Chinese canon also preserves a separate, somewhat abridged version of the ritual manual constituting Fascicle Seven (Taishō no. 849), the translation of which xiv

Translator's Introduction

is attributed to Bodhi vajra (i.e., Vajrabodhi [671-741]), although this attribution is questionable. It is interesting to note that just as there exist two versions of Śubhākarasiṃha's and Yixing's commentary, so too are there an unrevised version and revised version of the Tibetan translation of Buddha guhya'scommentary (Peking nos. 3487 and 3490), which is thought to have been originally composed sometime around 760. Buddha guhya also wrote a condensed commentary on the Vairocanā bhisaṃbodhi-sūtra(Peking no. 3486).

The Chinese canon further contains four lengthy ritual manuals associated with the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtra(Taishō nos. 850-3), as well as several shorter ones, and there subsequently developed in Japan a vast corpus of commentarial literature (not to mention a subcommentary by eleventh-century Jueyuan of the Liao dynasty). This exegetical activity has continued down to the present day, and there now exists a large body of scholarly research on the Vairo canā bhisaṃbodhi-sūtra,albeit largely in Japanese. The chief publications in Western languages are listed in the Bibliography (p. 291). Contents

For the most part, the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtratakes the form of a dialogue between Vajrapāṇi and the Buddha Vairocana. Vajra pāṇi begins in Chapter I by asking the Buddha how he obtained "the knowledge of an omniscient one" (sar vajña jñāna), or perfect enlightenment, and what its cause (hetu), root (mūla), and culmination or final outcome (paryavasāna) are, to which the Buddha replies,

"The bodhi-mind (bodhicitta) is its cause, compassion (karuṇā) is its root, and expedient means (upāya) is its culmination.

" These three propositions

are considered to encapsulate the essence of the entire sutra, and the rest of the Vairo canābhisaṃbodhi-sūtracould be regarded as an elaboration of their various ramifications.

The remainder of Chapter I deals in particular with the bodhi-mind in its twin aspects of the aspiration for enlightenment and the mind whose intrinsic nature is enlightenment. This is the most theoretical portion of the sutra, differing little from a standard Mahayana sutra, and it also describes some traditional Mahayana methods for observing the nature of the mind. The remaining chapters of the sutra proper then go on to deal in detail with various practices that are more specifically "Tantric" in character, and these include the construction of a xv

Translator's Introduction

maṇḍala,initiation rites, mantra recitation, ritual hand gestures or "seals" (mudrās), and visualization techniques. There is also a chapter on the ten precepts, common to most forms of Buddhism.

As regards the maṇḍala,it might be noted that the Vairocanā bhisaṃbodhisūtradescribes three forms of the main maṇḍala,the full name of which is "MaṇḍalaBorn of the Matrix of Great Compassion" (*Mahākaruṇā garbhod bhava-maṇḍala): in the maṇḍala described in Chapter II the deities are represented by their physical forms, in Chapter VIII by their seed-syllables, and in Chapter XI by their symbolic objects, and there are also some differences in the layout of the maṇḍalaas well. Originally the maṇḍalawould have generally been laid out on the ground in a specially prepared site for the purposes of initiation, rather than being drawn on cloth or paper, as later became the norm in East Asia, but pictorial representations preserved in Tibet, with one hundred and twenty-two deities, follow the description given in Chapter II fairly closely. In China, on the other hand, several versions developed, starting with that described in the Chinese commentary, an enormous maṇḍalaof four hundred and eighty-four deities (or more than seven hundred if one includes the attendant deities). The form most prevalent in Japan today, with more than four hundred deities, is thought to have originated in China in the late eighth century and was first introduced to Japan by Kūkai (774-835) in 806.

The author(s) of the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi-sūtraclearly drew on a number of earlier works, and it is perhaps partly for this reason that there is some duplication in the content of some of the chapters. It is therefore fortunate that a ritual manual has been appended to the Chinese translation of the sutra proper, for this shows how the various practices described in the Vairocanābhisaṃbodhisūtrawere integrated both into a coherent whole and into the daily life of the practitioner. Taken as a whole, the Chinese translation of the Vairo canā bhisaṃbodhi-sūtrathus provides an excellent overall picture of the theory and practice of Indian Tantric Buddhism in the mid- to late seventh century. A Note on the Translation

In the English translation presented here, the aim has been to be as faithful as possible to the Chinese translation as preserved in the Taishō edition (vol. 18, no. 848), which means that when Śubhā kara siṃha and Yixing translate, I generally xvi

Translator's Introduction

also translate, and when they transliterate, I generally also transliterate. There are several exceptions to this, one being the treatment of proper nouns, for which, on account of their large number, only the Sanskrit form is given, even though they are usually translated into Chinese in the original.

In accordance with the editorial policy of this translation series, the notes have in the main been confined to points having a direct bearing on the interpretation of the text, and no attempt has been made to point out differences between the Chinese and Tibetan translations or differences of interpretation between the Chinese and Indo-Tibetan commentaries. The mantras have been assigned serial numbers (given in brackets) to facilitate cross-referencing and are provisionally translated on first appearance. Parentheses and brackets enclose additions by the translator, while passages in italics inside angle brackets (< >) represent explanatory interpolations in the original (where they appear as halfsized, two-column text). xvii

THE SCRIPTURE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT, SUPERNATURAL TRANSFORMATIONS, AND EMPOWERMENT OF MAHĀVAIROCANA Translated by

Śubhākarasiṃha, the Tripiṭaka Master from India, together with the Śramaṇa Yixing during the Greater Tang

Fascicle I

Fascicle One

Chapter I

The Stations of the Mind When

Entering the Mantra Gateway

Thus have I heard. At one time the Bhagavān (Lord) was residing in the vast adamantine palace of the Dharma realm empowered by Tathāgatas, in which all the vajradharas had all assembled; the great pavilion [comparable to] the king of jewels, born of the Tathāgata's faith-and-understanding, play, and supernatural transformations, was lofty, without a center or perimeter, and variously adorned with great and wondrous jewel-kings, and the body of a bodhisattva formed a lion throne.

Those vajra[dhara]s were called the vajradharaGaganāmala, the vajradharaGaganavikrama, the vajradharaGaganasaṃbhava, the vajradhara Vicitrāmbaradhara, the vajradharaVicitracārin, the vajradharaSarvadharma samatāvihārin, the vajradharaAnanta sattvadhātuparitrāṇa, the vajradhara Nārāyaṇabalin, the vajradharaMahānārāyaṇabalin, Suvajradhara, the vajradharaPara ma vega, the vajradharaVimala[vajra], the vajradharaVajrāgra, the vajradharaTathāgatavarman, the vajradharaTathā gata padodbhava, the vajradharaAprapañcavihārin, the vajradharaTathāgatadaśabalasaṃbhava, the vajradharaVimala netra, and Vajrapāṇi, Lord of Mysteries. 2

Accompanied by a multitude of vajradharas equal in number to the dust motes of ten buddha fields with these at their head, and surrounded in front and behind by great bodhisattvas such as the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, the bodhisattva Maitreya, the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and the bodhisattva Sar va nī varaṇa viṣkambhin, [the Bhagavān] expounded the Dharma, namely, the Dharma gateway of the state of the equality of body, speech, and mind, 3

1a7

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

through the empowerment of the Tathāgata's sun which transcends the three periods [of past, present, and future].

Then, with the bodhisattvas headed by Samantabhadra and the vajra dharas headed by the Lord of Mysteries, through the empowerment of the Tathāgata Vairocana there was swiftly made manifest the inexhaustible treasury of adornments [of the equality] of the body; likewise, there were swiftly made manifest the inexhaustible treasuries of adornments of the equality of speech and mind. These were not produced by the body or speech or mind of the Buddha Vairocana, and the limits of their arising and disappearing in all places cannot be apprehended. Yet all the actions of Vairocana's body, all the actions of his speech, and all the actions of his mind proclaim everywhere and always in the realms of sentient beings the Dharma of the words of the mantra path. Moreover, he assumed the appearance of vajradharas and the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, Padmapāṇi, and so on, and proclaimed everywhere in the ten directions the Dharma of the pure words of the mantra path so that [all the steps from] the initial generation of the [bodhi-]mind up to the ten stages may be progressively satisfied in this lifetime, the seeds of the karmic[ally determined] lives of the varieties of sentient beings who have been born and nurtured by karma may be eradicated, and there may also occur the sprouting of [wholesome] seeds.

Then the vajradharaLord of Mysteries, who was seated in this assembly, said to the Buddha,

"World-honored One, how did the Tathāgata, worthy of

worship (arhat) and perfectly all-knowing (samyaksaṃbuddha), obtain the knowledge of an omniscient one (sarvajñajñāna)? Having obtained the knowledge of an omniscient one, he expounds it extensively and disseminates it for the sake of immeasurable beings, proclaiming the knowledge of an omniscient one in accordance with various destinies, various inclinations, and various means and ways, [teaching] either the path of the śrāvakavehicle, or the path of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, or the path of the Great Vehicle (Mahayana), or the path of knowledge of the five [supernatural] faculties, or [the method for] aspiring to birth among gods (devas), or [the methods for] birth among humans or as a nāga,yakṣa,or gandharvathrough to teaching the method for birth as a mahoraga.Should there be any being who ought to be delivered by a buddha, then [the Tathāgata] assumes the form of a buddha; alternatively, he may assume the form of a śrāvaka,or he may assume 4

Fascicle One

the form of a pratyekabuddhaor the form of a bodhisattva or the form of the god Brahmā or the form of Nārāyaṇa or Vaiśravaṇa, through to the form of a mahoraga,a human, a non-human, and so on, conforming with the speech of each and abiding in various modes of conduct. And yet this path of the knowledge of an omniscient one is of one taste, namely, the taste of the Tathāgata's liberation. "World-honored One, just as, for example, the element of empty space is free from all differentiation, without differentiation and without nondifferentiation, so too is the knowledge of an omniscient one free from all differentiation, without differentiation and without nondifferentiation. Worldhonored One, just as, for example, the great earth is the support of all beings, so too is the knowledge of an omniscient one the support of gods, humans, and asuras. World-honored One, just as, for example, the element of fire insatiably burns all fuel, so too does the knowledge of an omniscient one insatiably burn all the fuel of ignorance. World-honored One, just as, for example, the element of wind removes all dust, so too does the knowledge of an omniscient one clear away all the dust of mental afflictions. Worldhonored One, just as, for example, the element of water is a delight for the support (i.e., bodies) of all beings, so too is the knowledge of an omniscient one a benefit and joy for gods and worldlings. World-honored One, what is the cause, what is the root, and what is the culmination of this knowledge?" When the vajradharaLord of Mysteries had finished speaking thus, the Buddha Vairocana addressed him, saying,

"Excellent, excellent, vajradhara!

It is excellent, Vajrapāṇi, that you have asked me about this matter. You should listen attentively and pay very careful attention as I now explain it. "

Vajrapāṇi said,

"So be it, World-honored One. I am eager to listen.

The Buddha said,

"The bodhi-mind is its cause, compassion is its root,

and expedient means is its culmination. Lord of Mysteries, what is bodhi? It means to know one's mind as it really is. Lord of Mysteries, this is anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi(unsurpassed, perfect, and full awakening), and there is not the slightest part of it that can be apprehended. Why? [Because] bodhi has the characteristic of empty space, and there is no one to comprehend it, nor is there any understanding of it. Why? Because bodhihas no [differentiating] characteristics. Lord of Mysteries, all dharmas are without characteristics. That is to say, they have the characteristic of empty space. "

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

Then Vajrapāṇi again said to the Buddha,

"World-honored One, who is

it that seeks omniscience? Who is it that accomplishes perfect awakening on account of bodhi? Who is it that generates the knowledge of an omniscient one?"

The Buddha said,

"Lord of Mysteries, it is in one's own mind that one

seeks bodhiand omniscience. Why? Because its original nature is pure. The mind is neither within nor without, nor can the mind be apprehended between the two. Lord of Mysteries, the Tathāgata, worthy [of worship] and perfectly and fully awakened, is neither blue nor yellow nor red nor white nor crimson nor the color of crystal, neither long nor short nor round nor square, neither bright nor dark, and neither male nor female nor neuter. Lord of Mysteries, the mind is not of the same nature as the realm of desire, nor is it of the same nature as the realm of form, nor is it of the same nature as the realm of nonform, nor is it of the same nature as the destinies of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, humans, or non-humans. Lord of Mysteries, the mind does not reside in the realm of the eyes, nor does it reside in the realms of the ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind, and neither is it visible, nor does it manifest itself.

"Why? [Because] the mind, which has the characteristic of empty space, is free from all differentiation and nondifferentiation. Why is that? That whose nature is the same as empty space is identical to the mind, and that whose nature is the same as the mind is identical to bodhi.In this manner, Lord of Mysteries, the three entities of mind, the realm of empty space, and bodhiare without duality. They have compassion as their root and are fulfilled by the pāramitāof expedient means. For this reason, Lord of Mysteries, I teach the dharmas in this manner so as to make the multitudes of bodhisattvas purify the bodhi-mind and know their mind.

"Lord of Mysteries, if a man of [good] family or a woman of [good] family wishes to know bodhi,they should know their own mind in this manner. Lord of Mysteries, how is one to know one's own mind? It cannot, namely, be apprehended by seeking it in distinctions, or colors, or shapes, or external objects; or in form or sensation, ideation, volition, or consciousness; or in 'I' or 'mine'; or in the grasper (i.e., subject) or the grasped (i.e., object); or in the pure; or in the [eighteen] elements [of existence] or [the twelve] sense fields; or in any other distinctions.

Fascicle One

"Lord of Mysteries, this gateway to the bodhisattva's pure bodhi-mind is called the path whereby the Dharma becomes clear for the first time. If a bodhisattva trains while dwelling therein, he will then without prolonged hardship attain the samādhithat removes all obscurations. If he attains this [samādhi], then he will dwell on a par with buddhas and bodhisattvas: he will generate the five supernatural faculties; obtain the dhāraṇī(retention) of immeasurable languages, words, and sounds; know the workings of the minds of beings; be protected by buddhas; remain undefiled even in birthand-death (samsara); not shirk fatigue for the sake of beings throughout the Dharma realm; succeed in abiding in the unconditioned precepts; be free from wrong views; and thoroughly understand right views. Furthermore, Lord of Mysteries, a bodhisattva dwelling in this [samādhi] that removes all obscurations will, through the power of his faith-and-understanding and without prolonged exertion, satisfy all the dharmas (attributes) of a buddha. Lord of Mysteries, in short, this man of good [family] or woman of good [family] will fully achieve the accomplishment of immeasurable merits. "

Then the vajradharaLord of Mysteries again questioned the Buddha in verse:

How, World-honored One, do you explain the arising of bodhiin this mind?

And by what signs does one know that one has generated the bodhi-mind?

I beg you to explain the arising of the knowing mind, the mind, and excellent spontaneous knowledge.

Great Striving Hero (mahāvīra), through how many stages does the mind successively arise?

I beg you, O Buddha, to explain in full the characteristics of the mind and the time [necessary to attain bodhi],

As well as the mass of merits and the practice of cultivated practices, The mind and the distinctions possessed by the mind—please, O Great Muni, explain them!

When Vajrapāṇi had finished speaking thus, the World-honored One Mahā vairocana addressed him, saying:

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

Excellent, true son of the Buddha! With your magnanimousness you benefit [sentient beings].

The characteristics of the successive arising of the mind, the supreme state of the Great Vehicle,

Are the great secret of the buddhas, unknowable by non-Buddhists. I shall now reveal it all: with singlemindedness you should listen attentively.

By transcending the one hundred and sixty [impure states of the] mind, vast merits are produced,

And their nature forever firm, one knows that bodhihas arisen. It is immeasurable like empty space, unblemished, and everlasting; Dharmas cannot move it, and it is originally quiescent and has no [differentiating] characteristics.

Immeasurable knowledge is accomplished, and perfect and full awakening manifests;

Cultivating the practices of worship, one thereby generates the [bodhi-]mind for the first time.

"Lord of Mysteries, ordinary people, foolish and childlike, [who have been dwelling in] beginningless birth-and-death, cling to the notion of 'self' and to the possessions of the self, and differentiate among immeasurable distinctions of the self. Lord of Mysteries, if they do not discern the own-nature of the self, then [notions of] 'I' and 'mine' are born. Others again imagine that there exists [as the prime cause] time, the transformation of earth and other [elements], the self of yoga,established purity, unestablished nonpurity, or the god Īśvara, or emanation, or time, or the revered, or the spontaneous, or the inner self, or [self in] the measure of man, or the completely adorned, or life-force, or pudgala(person), or consciousness, or ālaya(store [-consciousness]), the knower, the seer, the grasper, the grasped, what knows internally, what knows externally, jñatvam(intelligence), mind-born, youngster, what is eternally and determinately born, sound, and non-sound. 3 Lord

of Mysteries, such distinctions of the self have since times of yore been associated with [false] differentiation, and [the adherents of these views] hope for liberation in accordance with reason.

"Lord of Mysteries, ordinary people and their ilk, foolish and childlike, are just like rams. At times a dharmic thought may arise, namely, [the thought 8

Fascicle One

of] observing abstinence. Reflecting on this small thing, they engender joy and practice it from time to time. Lord of Mysteries, this represents the initial [stage of the] seed from which wholesome actions arise. Then, with this as the cause, on the six days of abstinence4 they make gifts to their parents, male and female [children], and kinsmen: this represents the second [stage of] sprouting. Then they present these gifts to those who are not kinsmen or acquaintances: this represents the third [stage of] budding. Then they present these gifts to those of competence and eminent virtue: this represents the fourth [stage of] leafing. Then they joyfully present these gifts to musicians and so on and proffer them to venerable elders: this represents the fifth [stage of] flowering. Then with these gifts they engender thoughts of affection and make offerings of them: this represents the sixth [stage of] bearing fruit. Next, Lord of Mysteries, they observe the precepts so as to be born in heaven: this represents the seventh [stage of] taking in seeds.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, as they transmigrate through birth-and-death with this mind [of the seventh stage], they hear the following words from a good friend: 'This is a god, a great god, who bestows all happiness. If you worship him with devotion, all your wishes will be fulfilled. [These gods are,] namely,

5 Īśvara, Brahmā, Nārāyaṇa, Śaṃkara, the Black God (= Rudra), the son of Īśvara (= Skanda), Āditya (Sun), Candra (Moon), the honored nāgas, as well as Kubera, Vaiśravaṇa, Śākya, Virūpākṣa, Viśvakarmā, Yama, Yama's queen consort (Yamī), Brahmā's queen consort (Brahmāṇī), Lokanātha, Agni, the son of Garuḍa, Īśvara's queen consort, [the nāga] Padma, the nāgaTakṣaka, the nāgas Vāsuki, Śaṅkha, Karkoṭaka, Mahāpadma, Kulika, Mahāphaṇi, Ādideva, and Sadānanta, or celestial seers, and great masters of the Vedas. Each of these should be duly worshiped.

' Upon hearing this, their hearts are

filled with blessed joy, and respectfully revering them, they practice accordingly. Lord of Mysteries, this is called the eighth [stage of the] mind of the young child,

6 the basis of fearlessness for common people, foolish and childlike, as they transmigrate through birth-and-death.

"Lord of Mysteries, next there is a special practice. Following their [friend's] instructions, they dwell in a special state, whereupon there arises the wisdom that seeks liberation. This is, namely, [the teachings of] permanence, impermanence, and emptiness, and they follow these teachings. Lord of Mysteries, it is not that they understand emptiness and non-emptiness, permanence and 9

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

annihilation. With regard to both nonexistence and non-nothingness, they consider what they differentiate to be without differentiation. How is one to differentiate emptiness? They do not know the varieties of emptiness, and [so] they will never be able to know nirvana. Therefore, one should realize that emptiness is dissociated from annihilation and permanence. "

Then Vajrapāṇi made another request of the Buddha, saying, "Worldhonored One, please explain those [various states of] mind. "

When Vajrapāṇi, Lord of Mysteries, had finished speaking thus, the Buddha addressed him, saying,

"Lord of Mysteries, listen attentively to the

characteristics of the mind. They are, namely, the mind of covetousness, the mind without covetousness, the mind of anger, the mind of kindness, the mind of stupidity, the mind of wisdom, the mind of decisiveness, the mind of doubt, the mind of darkness, the mind of clarity, the mind of accumulation, the mind of strife, the mind of disputation, the mind without disputation, the mind of a god, the mind of an asura,the mind of a nāga,the mind of a man, the mind of a woman, the mind of Īśvara, the mind of a merchant, the mind of a farmer, the mind of a river, the mind of a pond, the mind of a well, the mind of protectiveness, the mind of parsimony, the mind of a dog, the mind of a cat, the mind of a garuḍa,the mind of a rat, the mind of singing, the mind of dance, the mind of drum-beating, the mind of a house, the mind of a lion, the mind of an owl, the mind of a crow, the mind of a rākṣasa,the mind of a thorn, the mind of a cave, the mind of wind, the mind of water, the mind of fire, the mind of mud, the mind of dye, the mind of a plank, the mind of confusion, the mind of poison, the mind of a noose, the mind of fetters, the mind of a cloud, the mind of a field, the mind of salt, the mind of a razor, the mind like [Mount] Sume[ru], the mind like the ocean, the mind like a hole, and the mind of [re]birth.

"Lord of Mysteries, what is the mind of covetousness? It means to conform to defiled dharmas. What is the mind without covetousness? It means to conform to undefiled dharmas. What is the mind of anger? It means to conform to the dharmaof wrath. What is the mind of kindness? It means to conform to and cultivate the dharmaof kindness. What is the mind of stupidity? It means to conform to and cultivate the dharmaof nonexamination. What is the mind of wisdom? It means to conformingly cultivate dharmas that are special and increase [one's understanding]. What is the mind of decisiveness? 10

Fascicle One

It means to carry out as told the instructions of the venerable. What is the mind of doubt? It means to always keep things undecided and so on. What is the mind of darkness? It means to produce an understanding based on misgivings with regard to dharmas about which there should be no misgivings. What is the mind of clarity? It means to practice without misgivings with regard to dharmas about which there can be no misgivings. What is the mind of accumulation? It means to be naturally disposed to make what is immeasurable one. What is the mind of strife? It means to be naturally disposed to argue with others about pros and cons. What is the mind of disputation? It means to produce pros and cons within oneself. What is the mind without disputation? It means to discard both pros and cons. What is the mind of a god? It means that the mind's thoughts are accomplished as one conceives of them. What is the mind of anasura? It means to enjoy staying in [the cycle of] birthand-death. What is the mind of a nāga? It means to think about enormous wealth. What is the mind of a man? It means to think about benefiting others. What is the mind of a woman? It means to conform to the dharmaof desire. What is the mind of Īśvara? It means to think that one should be able to do everything as one wishes. What is the mind of a merchant? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharmaof first gathering [goods cheaply] and later dividing [and selling them at a profit]. What is the mind of a farmer? It means to conform to the dharmaof first listening extensively and later seeking. What is the mind of a river? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharmaof relying on two extremes. What is the mind of a pond? It means to conform to the dharmaof thirsting insatiably. What is the mind of a well? It means to think thus, that what is profound is exceedingly profound. What is the mind of protectiveness? It means [to consider] that only this mind is real and other minds are not real. What is the mind of parsimony? It means to conform to the dharmaof acting for oneself and not giving to others. What is the mind of a cat? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharmaof proceeding slowly. What is the mind of a dog? It means to obtain a little and be happily content with it. What is the mind of a garuḍa? It means to conform to the dharmaof [relying on] associates and assistants. What is the mind of a rat? It means to think about severing all bonds. [What is the mind of singing? It means to think that sentient beings are to be captivated with songs of various melodies.]7 What is the mind of dance? It means [to think] that by cultivating such a 11

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

dharma,one will rise up [in the air and perform] various supernatural transformations. What is the mind of drum- beating? It means [to think] that by cultivating this dharmaconformingly, one will beat the drum of the Dharma. What is the mind of a house? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of protecting one's own person. What is the mind of a lion? It means to cultivate the dharmaof non-timidity in all things. What is the mind of an owl? It means to think always in the dark of the night. What is the mind of a crow? It means to think with fear in all circumstances. What is the mind of a rākṣasa? It means to bring about what is unwholesome in what is wholesome. What is the mind of a thorn? It means to be naturally disposed to give rise to regret in all circumstances. What is the mind of a cave? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharmaof entering caves [to fulfill one's desires]. What is the mind of wind? It means to be naturally disposed to arise everywhere. What is the mind of water? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharmaof washing away everything that is unwholesome. What is the mind of fire? It means to be naturally disposed to flare up with intense heat. [What is the mind of mud? It means to soil others with one's own faults.]8 What is the mind of dye? It means to be naturally disposed to resemble another. What is the mind of a plank? It means to conformingly cultivate dharmas that accord with one's own measure by rejecting other wholesome [dharmas]. What is the mind of confusion? It means that what is [mentally] grasped differs from what it is thought to be. What is the mind of poison? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharmaof lifelessness. What is the mind of a noose? It means to be naturally disposed to dwell everywhere in the bonds of the self. What is the mind of fetters? It means to be naturally disposed to stand still with both feet. What is the mind of a cloud? It means to be always thinking about falling rain. What is the mind of a field? It means to always attend in this manner to one's own person. What is the mind of salt? It means to add yet more thought to what has been thought through. What is the mind of a razor? It means to only rely in this manner on the dharmaof the tonsure. What is the mind like [Mount Su]meru? It means that the cogitating mind is always naturally disposed to elevating itself. What is the mind like the ocean? It means to always accept oneself in this manner and abide [thus]. What is the mind like a hole? It means to be naturally disposed to first decide something and later amend it. What is the mind of [re]birth? It means to habituallyperform 12

Fascicle One

all manner of actions and be [re]born [in accordance with one's previous actions], and the mind is of this same nature.

"Lord of Mysteries, multiplying by two once, twice, three times, four times and five times, there are altogether one hundred and sixty minds. 10

When one transcends the mundane three false attachments, 11 the supramundane mind is born. That is to say, having thus understood that there are only the [five] aggregates and no-self, one lingers on in cultivation [associated with] the [six] sense organs, [six] sense objects, and [six] elements (i.e., six consciousnesses), pulls out the stumps of karma and mental afflictions and the seeds of ignorance whence are born the twelve causes and conditions [of dependent arising], and dissociates oneself from the schools of established [purity] and so on. Such deep serenity cannot be known by any non-Buddhists, and previous buddhas have proclaimed it to be free from all faults. "Lord of Mysteries, with this supramundane mind dwelling in the [five] aggregates, such wisdom may arise correspondingly. If one is to give rise to freedom from attachment to the aggregates, one should observe foam, bubbles, a plantain tree, a mirage, and an illusion, thereby attaining liberation. That is to say, the [five] aggregates, [twelve] sense fields, [eighteen] elements, and the grasper and the grasped are all removed from Dharma-nature, and when one realizes the realm of quiescence in this manner, it is called the supramundane mind. Lord of Mysteries, when one has left behind the sequence of eight minds incompatible and compatible [with the world]12 and the web of karma and mental afflictions, this represents the yogin's practice for transcending one eon. "Next, Lord of Mysteries, there is the practice of the Great Vehicle, whereby one generates the mind of the vehicle without any object [of cognition] and [understands] that dharmas have no self-nature. How? Just like those who practiced thus in former times, one observes the ālaya(substratum) of the aggregates and realizes that its own-nature is like an illusion, a mirage, a reflection, an echo, a whirling wheel of fire, and an [imaginary] gandharvacity. Lord of Mysteries, if one thus abandons no-self [in dharmas], the mind-lord being absolutely free, one awakens to the fact that one's own mind is originally unborn. Why? Because, Lord of Mysteries, the anterior and posterior limits of the mind cannot be apprehended. When one thus knows the nature of one's own mind, this represents the yogin's practice for transcending a second eon. 13

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, bodhisattvas cultivating bodhisattva practices via the gateway of mantras accomplish all the immeasurable merit and knowledge accumulated during immeasurable and incalculable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of eons and all the immeasurable wisdom and expedient means for fully cultivating all practices; they become a refuge for the worlds of gods and humans, they transcend the stages of all śrāvakas and pratyeka buddhas, and they are attended and revered by Śakra Deven dra (King of Gods) and so on. So-called emptiness is dissociated from the sense organs and sense objects, has no [differentiating] characteristics and no [cognitive] objectivity, transcends all frivolous arguments (prapañca), and is boundless like empty space; all the dharmas (attributes) of a buddha are successively born in dependence on it, and it is dissociated from the conditioned and unconditioned realms, dissociated from all activities, and dissociated from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. [Then] is born the mind utterly without own-nature. Lord of Mysteries, such an initial mind the Buddha has declared to be the cause for becoming a buddha; although liberated from karma and mental afflictions, it still has karma and mental afflictions at its base. The world will venerate [such a person] and should always make offerings to him.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, in the stage of practice with faith-and-understanding one observes the three minds, 13 the vision of wisdom [based on]

immeasurable pāramitās, and the four means of conversion. The stage of faith-and-understanding is unparalleled, immeasurable, and inconceivable, and [in it] one establishes the ten minds14 and boundless knowledge is born. Everything whatsoever that I have taught is all obtained on the basis of this [stage]. Therefore, the wise person should reflect on this stage of faith-andunderstanding in omniscience, and transcending one more eon he should ascend to dwell in this stage. One quarter of this will take one beyond [the stage of] faith-and-understanding.

"15

Then the vajradharaLord of Mysteries said to the Buddha, "Worldhonored One, I beg you, O savior of the world, to explain the characteristics of the mind. How many stations of fearlessness are there to be obtained by a bodhisattva?"

When Vajrapāṇi had finished speaking thus, the World-honored One Mahāvairocana addressed him, saying,

"Listen attentively and consider most

Fascicle One

carefully [what I say]. Lord of Mysteries, when those ordinary people, foolish and childlike, cultivate wholesome actions and renounce unwholesome actions, they will obtain 'fearlessness of the wholesome. ' If they know the

self as it really is, they will obtain 'fearlessness of the body. ' If they observe

their own body composed of the aggregates of attachment, abandoning any material image of themselves, they will obtain 'fearlessness of no-self. ' If

they renounce the aggregates and dwell in the cognition of dharmas, they will obtain 'fearlessness of dharmas.

' If they renounce dharmas and dwell

without any object [of cognition], they will obtain 'fearlessness of the noself of dharmas. ' Again, all [five] aggregates, [eighteen] elements, and [twelve] sense fields, the grasper and the grasped, self, life, and so on, as well as dharmas and objectlessness, are empty and their own-nature is without any [essential] nature—when this knowledge of emptiness is born, they will obtain 'fearlessness of the equality of the own-nature of all dharmas. '

"Lord of Mysteries, if bodhisattvas cultivating bodhisattva practices via the gateway of mantras examine in deep cultivation the ten propositions about dependent arising, they will master mantra practices and achieve realization therein. What are the ten [propositions about dependent arising]? They are, namely, that [dependent arising] is like an illusion, a mirage, a dream, a reflection, a gan dharvacity, an echo, the moon [reflected] in water, bubbles, a flower in empty space, and a whirling wheel of fire. Lord of Mysteries, those bodhisattvas cultivating bodhisattva practices via the gateway of mantras should observe in the following manner.

"What is an illusion? It is just as when, through the art of magic and the power of drugs, various visible images, both those creating [other illusions] and those created, deceive one's eyes so that one sees remarkable things that produce one another in succession, coming and going in the ten directions, and yet they neither go nor do they not go. Why? Because their original nature is pure. In the same way illusions [produced by] mantras are able to produce anything through success in recitation.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, a mirage is by nature empty; it is in dependence on the false notions of worldlings that it is established and may be spoken about. In the same way the notion of mantras is merely a provisional designation. 15

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, just as things seen in a dream last for a day, a muhūrta(forty-eight minutes), a kṣaṇa(instant), a year, or some other [period of time], are of various strange kinds, and cause experiences of all manner of suffering and happiness, yet upon awakening there is nothing whatsoever to be seen, so too should the dreamlike mantra practices be known to be thus.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, with the analogy of a reflection one comprehends how mantras are able to produce siddhi.Just as a face in dependence on a mirror manifests an image of the face, so too should one understand siddhi[produced by] mantras.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, with the analogy of an [imaginary] gandharva city one comprehends the accomplishment of a palace [produced as] siddhi. "Next, Lord of Mysteries, with the analogy of an echo one comprehends the sound of mantras. Just as an echo exists in dependence on sound, so too should the mantrinunderstand [mantras].

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, just as the moon rises with the result that it shines upon clear water and manifests a reflected image of the moon, so too should the vidyādharathus explain the likening of mantras to the moon in the water.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, just as the heavens cause rain to fall, producing bubbles, so too should the various transformations of siddhi[produced by] mantras be known to be thus.

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, it is just as in space there are neither beings nor life and no creator can be apprehended, and yet because the mind is deluded and confused, it produces these various false visions [of nonexistent flowers and so on in empty space].

"Next, Lord of Mysteries, it is like a firebrand: if someone holding it in his hand then whirls it around in the air, there will appear the image of a wheel. "Lord of Mysteries, in this manner one should understand this state of the Great Vehicle, this state of the mind, this state of what is equal to the unequaled, this state of certainty, this state of perfect and full awakening, and this state of gradual birth in the Great Vehicle. One will [then] be able to completely possess the riches of the Dharma, bring forth great knowledge with various skills, and fully know all notions about the mind as it really is. "

Chapter 2: Full Accoutrements and Mantras for Entering the Maṇḍala

Chapter II

Full Accoutrements and Mantras

for Entering the Maṇḍala

Thereupon the vajradharaLord of Mysteries said to the Buddha, "It is remarkable, World-honored One, that you should explain this saṃbodhiself-realized by the buddhas, the inconceivable Dharma realm which transcends the mindground, and that by various means and ways you expound the Dharma for the varieties of beings in accordance with their own nature and faith-andunderstanding. I beg you, World-honored One, next to explain the cultivation of mantra practices and the great king of maṇḍalas 'Born of the Matrix of Great Compassion' for the fulfillment of immeasurable beings in future ages and for their salvation and happiness.

Then the Bhagavān Vairocana, having completely surveyed the great assembly, addressed the vajradharaLord of Mysteries, saying, "Listen attentively,

Vajrapāṇi! I shall now explain the Dharma gateway for cultivating maṇḍala practices and bringing to fulfill ment the knowledge of an omniscient one. "

Then, because the World-honored One Vairocana had formerly vowed to accomplish the inexhaustible Dharma realm and liberate realms of beings without exception, all the Tathāgatas gathered together and he gradually entered the samādhi"Generation of the Matrix of Great Compassion. " From every

part [of the body] of the World-honored One there appeared figures of Tathāgatas that, for the sake of beings ranging from those who had generated the [bodhi-]mind for the first time to those of the tenth stage, pervaded the ten directions and then returned to their own positions in the Buddha's body, where, abiding in their own positions, they reentered [the Buddha's body]. Then the Bhagavān again addressed the vajradharaLord of Mysteries, saying,

"Listen attentively, Vajrapāṇi, to the layout of the maṇḍala! First, the ācāryashould have generated the bodhi-mind; he should have wondrous 17

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

wisdom and compassion, combine various arts, be well skilled in the cultivation of prajñāpāramitā, have mastered the three vehicles, fully comprehend the true meaning of mantras, know the minds of beings, have faith in the buddhas and bodhisattvas, have received the consecrations for transmitting the teachings and so on, and be well versed in the drawing of a maṇḍala;by nature he should be adaptable and free from self-attachment, and he should have duly gained decisiveness in the practice of mantras, have thoroughly practiced yoga,and dwell in the intrepid bodhi-mind. Lord of Mysteries, such an exemplary ācāryais extolled by the buddhas and bodhisattvas. "Next, Lord of Mysteries, should that ācāryasee a being who is suitable as a receptacle for the Dharma, is free from sullies, has great faith-and-understanding, assiduity, and profound faith, and is always thinking of benefiting others—should the disciple possess such characteristics, the ācāryashould of his own accord go and exhort him, addressing him as follows: 'Son of the Buddha, these methods of the path of mantra practice in the Great Vehicle

I shall now explain for [you,] a receptacle for the Great Vehicle. The Fully and Perfectly Awakened Ones of the past and the World-honored Ones

Of future ages and of the present abide in bringing benefit to beings. These worthy ones understand the wondrous method of mantras; Striving Heroes, they have obtained [all-]faceted knowledge while seated in characteristicless bodhi.

The power of mantras is without compare, and [with it] the Lion of the Śākyas, savior of the world,

Was able to destroy the very strong and extremely wrathful army of Māra.

Therefore you, O Son of the Buddha, should with such wisdom And expedient means perform [rites of] accomplishment so that you obtain sarvajña[jñāna] (knowledge of an omniscient one). '

The practitioner (i.e., ācārya), having with a compassionate mind inspired [the disciple], should further encourage him, And when [the disciple] is firmly established and has received the teachings, he should select a flat site.

Fascicle One

Mountain groves with plentiful flowers and fruits and with agreeable pure springs—

These are extolled by the buddhas, and [there] he should perform the deeds of the circular altar (i.e., maṇḍala). Or in a place by a flowing river graced with geese and cranes, There, with wise understanding, he should construct the maṇḍala 'Born of Compassion.

Localities formerly frequented by Perfectly Awakened Ones, masters of dependent [arising] (i.e., pratyekabuddhas), And multitudes of śrāvakas of the Sage are always praised by the Buddha.

Furthermore, in other places such as monasteries, araṇyas (hermitages),

Flower[-decked] houses, high towers, exquisite ponds and parks, Caityas, shrines for the Fire God (Agni), cow pens, river sandbars, 16

Temples of gods, empty rooms, and places where seers have attained the path—

In places such as these described above or [others] pleasing to the mind

He should draw a maṇḍalain order to bring benefit to the disciple. "Lord of Mysteries, having selected a site, he clears away pebbles, broken earthenware, potsherds, skulls, hair, chaff, ashes, cinders, thorns, bones, rotten wood, and so on, as well as insects, ants, dung beetles, and poisonous or stinging kinds [of creatures].

"Once such flaws have been removed, on the morning of a propitious day, having determined a day on which the time, lunar mansion, and planets are all in harmony, and at a time before the [morning] meal with an auspicious sign, he should first make obeisance to all the Tathāgatas and arouse the Earth God[dess] (Pṛthivī) with these verses:

You, O Goddess, are witness to how the buddhas, guiding teachers, Performed special practices and purified the [ten] stages and pāramitās.

Just like the Lion of the Śākyas, savior of the world, who defeated the hosts of Māra's army,

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

I too will vanquish Māra, and [then] I shall draw a maṇḍala. "He should kneel down with his [right] hand stretched out upon the ground and chant this verse repeatedly. He should [also] make offerings of unguent, flowers, and so on, and after having made offerings, the mantrin should again take refuge in all the Tathāgatas. Then he prepares the site in accordance with [ritual] procedures so that it possesses many virtues. "

Then the vajradharaLord of Mysteries bowed down at the feet of the World-honored One and spoke these verses:

"The Buddha's Dharma is free from all characteristics, and the Dharma abides in the station of the Dharma;

What you have explained is incomparable, without characteristics, and unconditioned.

Yet why, O Great Energetic One, do you teach this which has characteristics,

As well as mantra practices? This does not conform with the way of Dharma-thusness!"

Then the Bhagavān, the Buddha Vairocana,

Addressed Vajrapāṇi: "Listen carefully to the characteristics of the Dharma!

The Dharma is free from differentiation and all false conceptions. If one eliminates false conceptions and the workings of the mind and thought,

The supreme and perfect awakening that I attained is ultimately like empty space,

But unknown to ordinary foolish beings, who are wrongly attached to the objective realm.

That they hanker after [auspicious] times, directions, signs, and so on is because they are enveloped by ignorance,

And it is in order to liberate them that these are taught in conformity with them as an expedient.

But in reality there is no time or direction, nothing done, and no doer; All dharmas simply abide in the real character [of things]. Furthermore, Lord of Mysteries, in future ages Beings of inferior intelligence, shrouded in stupidity and passion, 20

Fascicle One

Will simply on the basis of their attachment to existence forever delight in the impermanent and the permanent

And in good and bad signs in times, directions, and the actions that they perform.

Ignorant of this path, they will blindly seek results, And it is in order to deliver them that I teach this method in conformity with them.

"Lord of Mysteries, one prepares a site from among the places such as were described [above] and makes it hard. Taking gomayī (cow dung) and gomūtra(cow's urine) that have not fallen to the ground, one mixes them together and smears them [over the site]. Then, with the mantra for perfumed water, one purifies [the site] by sprinkling [it with perfumed water]. The mantra is: Namaḥ samantabuddhānāṃ, apratisame gaganasame samatā nugate prakṛtiviśuddhe dharmadhātuviśodhani svāhā. (Homage to all Buddhas! O you who are without equal! you who are equal to the sky! you who have attained equality! you who are pure by nature! you who purify the Dharma realm! svāhā!)17 [1]

Next, the practitioner, in the middle [of the site] with his mind concentrated, visualizes Vairocana,

Who is on a seat of a white lotus flower, his hair done in a topknot to form a crown,

And emits light rays of various colors that completely surround his entire body.

Next—this too should be done in a state of meditation—he visualizes the buddhas of the four quarters.

The [buddha of the] eastern quarter is called Ratnaketu, and the color of his body is like the radiance of the sun [at sunrise]. The great striving hero (mahāvīra) in the southern quarter is the fully awakened Saṃkusumita[rājendra]:

He is golden in color and emits rays of light, and his samādhiis free from all sullies.

The Buddha Akṣobhya in the northern quarter is in meditation, free from affliction and composed.

The benevolent and victorious one (jina) in the western quarter— he is called Amitāyus.

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

The reciter, contemplating [thus], then dwells in the buddha chamber,

Where he should take possession of the site with [the mantra of] Acala of great renown

Or by using [the mantra of] Trailokyavijaya, by which all objectives are accomplished.

White sandalwood is used to paint the fine round maṇḍalas (i.e., circles)—

The first in the center is for myself (i.e., Vairocana), the second is for the world-saviors,

And the third, like theirs, is for the Buddha-Mother Gaganalocanā; The fourth is for Padmapāṇi, the fifth is for the vajradhara (i.e., Vajrapāṇi),

And the sixth, for Acalanātha, is mindfully placed below that [for Vajrapāṇi].

He offers unguent, flowers, and so on, thinking of the Tathāgatas, And with utmost sincerity and showing respect, he utters the following verse:

'Because the buddhas, compassionate ones, pay heed to us, May they take possession of the site tomorrow, and may the Buddha's sons descend as well!'

"Having said this, he should then recite this mantra: Namaḥ samanta buddhānāṃ, sarvatathāgatādhiṣṭhānādhiṣṭhite acale vimale smaraṇe prakṛtipariśuddhe svāhā.(Homage to all Buddhas! O you who have been empowered by the empowerment of all the Tathāgatas! unmoving one! unsullied one! you who remember! you who are completely pure by nature! svāhā!) [2] The mantra-reciting practitioner next engenders thoughts of compassion,

And repairing to the western quarter, with focused thoughts he goes to sleep,

Thinking of no-self in the purity of the bodhi-mind. In his dreams he may see bodhisattvas of great renown And buddhas without measure appear and perform various deeds, Or, with thoughts of comfort, they may encourage the practitioner, [saying,]

Fascicle One

'Because you are mindful of beings, you construct a maṇḍala. Excellent, Mahāsattva! What you draw is quite sublime!' Then, on another (i.e., the next) day, he receives the initiands. If the disciples have faith, have been born into a pure lineage, Revere the Three Jewels, adorn themselves with profound wisdom, Have perseverance, are not lethargic, are pure and faultless in their śīla(moral conduct),

Have patience, are not miserly, and are intrepid and firm in their vows of practice—

Such people should be accepted, regardless of any other [shortcomings]. For either ten or eight, seven or five, two, one or four [people] Should the initiation be performed, or even if the number exceeds this.

Then Vajrapāṇi, Lord of Mysteries, again said to the Buddha, "Worldhonored One, what should this maṇḍalabe called? And what is the meaning of 'maṇḍala'?"

The Buddha said,

"This is called the

'MaṇḍalaWhich Generates the

Buddhas.

' It is of a taste (maṇḍa:"essence") that is utterly without compare and of a taste that is unsurpassed, and therefore it is referred to as 'maṇḍala. '

Furthermore, Lord of Mysteries, because of pity for boundless realms of beings this is in a broad sense the maṇḍala'Born of the Matrix of Great Compassion.

"Lord of Mysteries, [the maṇḍala] is empowered by the anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhiaccumulated by the Tathāgata during immeasurable eons, and therefore it is endowed with immeasurable virtues. You should understand as follows, Lord of Mysteries: it was not for the sake of one being that the Tathāgata attained perfect and full awakening, nor was it for two nor for many [beings]; it was out of pity for the realms of beings with complete predictions and incomplete predictions [of their future awakening] that the Tathāgata attained perfect and full awakening, and by the power of his vow of great compassion he expounds the Dharma in immeasurable realms of beings in accordance with their own nature.

"Lord of Mysteries, those who have not practiced the Great Vehicle in the past and have never thought about the practices of the Mantra Vehicle 23

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

are unable in the slightest degree to see or hear them, rejoice in them, and accept them on faith. But, Vajrasattva, if those sentient beings have in the past advanced through the immeasurable gateways of the path of the Mantra Vehicle of the Great Vehicle and have already been practicing it, it is for them that terms and numbers have been established within these [abovementioned] limits. "The ācārya,too, should with thoughts of great compassion make the following vow: to receive immeasurable beings and create the causes and conditions for the seeds of bodhiso as to deliver [all] realms of beings without exception.

The mantra-reciting practitioner, having received [the disciples] in this manner,

Commands them to take the Three Refuges, makes them confess their previous sins,

Gives them unguent, flowers, and so on to offer to the holy deities, And should confer upon them the precept of knowledge unobstructed throughout the three ages.

Next, he should give them tooth sticks, of either uḍumbara Or aśvatthaand so on, protected [with a mantra], purified, Adorned with perfume and flowers, straight, and conforming with [distinctions between] top and bottom.

[The disciples] face either east or north, and having chewed [the sticks], they cast them down—

[Thereby the ācārya] will know the signs of whether these beings are suitable as receptacles or not.

A sūtra(cord) with three knots is then tied to their left arms. In order that the disciples thus accepted may be freed from defilements And increase their faith, [the ācārya] should expound the Dharma accordingly

And encourage them, making their resolution firm, by proclaiming these verses:

'You will obtain an unequaled boon, your position identical to that of the Great Selves.

All the Tathāgatas and the multitudes of bodhisattvas in this teaching 24

Fascicle One

Have all received you, and you will accomplish the great deed (i.e., enlightenment).

Tomorrow you will gain birth in the Great Vehicle. '

[The ācārya] having instructed them in this manner, they may in dreams while asleep

See monks' dwellings, groves all imposingly lovely, Halls of outstanding appearance, bright and spacious [multistory] houses,

Banners, parasols, maṇi-gems, jeweled swords, flowers pleasing to the mind,

Women in fresh white garments, upright and of beautiful complexion, Close relatives or good friends, men of divine physique, Herds of cows with abundant milk, sutra scrolls clean and unsoiled, Omniscient ones (i.e., buddhas), pratyekabuddhas, and multitudes of the Buddha's śrāvakas,

High-minded bodhisattvas, the actual bestowal of results, The crossing of oceans, rivers or lakes, as well as the hearing of pleasant voices

In midair saying,

'How auspicious!' or 'You will be given the fruit of your mind's desire!'

Favorable signs such as these should be carefully differentiated, And those that differ from these should be known not to be good dreams.

Those [disciples] well-established in the precepts arise on the morrow, and after they have told the teacher [the content of their dreams], The teacher expounds the Dharma with these phrases so as to exhort the practitioners:

'This path of the most excellent vow, 20 the Mahayana of the great

mind—

You now seek after it and will attain [the state of] Tathāgatas, Great dragons of spontaneous knowledge revered by the world like stupas;

It completely transcends existence and nonexistence and is unsullied, like empty space.

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

The profundity of the dharmas is difficult to comprehend, not contained by anything,

And removed from all false conceptions, for frivolous arguments are originally nonexistent.

Its activities wondrous, without compare, and always based on the two truths,

This vehicle is most excellent, and [henceforth] you will dwell in this path.

Then the vajradharaAprapañcavihārin said to the Buddha, "World-honored One, I beg you to explain the precept of knowledge unobstructed throughout the three ages, for if a bodhisattva abides in it, it causes buddhas and bodhisattvas all to rejoice.

When he had finished speaking thus, the Buddha addressed the vajradharaAprapañcavihārin and the others, saying, "Son of the Buddha, listen

attentively! When a person of [good] family abides in this precept, he unites his body, speech, and mind, making them one, and does not create any dharmas. What is [this] precept? It means to observingly renounce one's own person and offer it up to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Why? If one renounces one's own person, then one renounces three things. What are [these] three? They are the body, speech, and mind. Therefore a person of [good] family, by receiving the precept of body, speech, and mind, gains the designation 'bodhisattva.

' Why is that? Because he is dissociated from his body, speech, and mind. The bodhisattva and mahāsattvashould train in this manner. "Next, on the following day, having empowered himself as Vajra sattva and made obeisance to the World-honored One Vairocana, [the ācārya] should take a clean flask and fill it with perfumed water; reciting the mantra of Trailokyavijaya, he empowers it, places it outside the first entrance, and uses it to sprinkle [water] over people [as they enter the maṇḍala]. The ācārya [also] offers them purified perfumed water, which he makes them drink so that their minds may be purified.

Then the vajradharaLord of Mysteries questioned the Buddha in verse: "I beg you, who have [all-]faceted knowledge and are [most] honored among preachers, to explain the divisions of time: At what time will the great host [of maṇḍaladeities] all assemble and cause numinous signs to appear

Fascicle One

As the maṇḍala-[ā]cāryaearnestly recites mantras?" Then the Bhagavān addressed the Holder of Adamantine Wisdom: "The maṇḍalashould be constructed always on this [seventh] night. The Dharma-transmitting ācāryashould thus then take A five-colored sūtra(cord), and bowing down to all the buddhas, He empowers himself as Great Vairocana.

Starting from the eastern quarter, [the ācārya,] facing [his assistant], holds the sūtra

In the air level with his navel and moves gradually around to the right (i.e., clockwise)

And so to the south and west, finishing in the northern quarter. The second [cord] is for establishing the boundary, and he again begins from the initial (i.e., eastern) quarter, Calling to mind the Tathāgatas, and his actions are as described above: To the right (i.e., southern) quarter, the rear (i.e., western) quarter, and going around again to the superior (i.e., northern) quarter. 21

Next, the ācāryagoes around and positions himself in nairṛtī (i.e., southwest),

While the trainee, who faces him holding [the cord], gradually proceeds to the south;

From here he moves around to the right, repositioning himself in the direction of Vāyu (i.e., northwest), While the teacher shifts his own position and dwells in the direction of Agni (i.e., southeast)—

The mantra-reciting practitioner too practices such rites. With the disciple in the southwest, the teacher dwells in aiśānī (i.e., northeast);

The trainee again moves around, repositioning himself in the direction of Agni,

While the teacher shifts his own position and dwells in the direction of Vāyu.

Thus does the mantrinmake [the maṇḍala] completely square. He [then] slowly goes inside [the marked-out area] and divides it into three [concentric] sections,

And having marked the three sections on the ground right around, 27

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

He again divides each of the sections into three: Among these [three concentric subsections] the first section is the path where [ritual] deeds are performed, 22

And the remaining middle and rear sections are the abodes of the holy divinities.

In the [four] quarters there are four entrances, of which he should know the measurements,

And with a sincere mind and respect he arrays the holy deities. He thus fashions the many features [of the maṇḍala], evenly arranged and carefully differentiated. In the inner center there is a fine white lotus, a matrix of uniform proportions.

From within this matrix the entire maṇḍala'Born of Compassion' is created,

And in size it is sixteen aṅguli23 or more. Its eight petals are quite perfect, the stamens are all imposingly lovely,

And wisdom-seals [in the shape] of vajras are visible between all the petals.

From the center of this flowery pedestal Vairocana, the victorious honored one, appears,

Golden in color, resplendent, and bearing on his head a crown of hair done in a topknot;

The world-savior is completely encircled with light and, free from torment, dwells in samādhi.

To his east [the ācārya] should draw the seal of all-omniscience:24 Triangular and on a lotus, it is completely white in color And entirely surrounded by blazing light, pure white and all-pervading.

Next, in the northern interstice (i.e., northeast) the teacher [should draw Gaganalocanā,] the mother of the buddhas: Shining brightly the color of genuine gold and dressed in plain white robes,

She is all-illuminating like sunlight and dwells in samādhi, meditating. Again, to the south [of the seal of all-omniscience] there is the seal of the world-saving buddhas and bodhisattvas, 28

Fascicle One

A holy deity of great virtue, called Sarvāśāparipūraka (He Who Fulfills All Wishes),

A cintāmaṇi(wish-fufilling) gem resting upon a white lotus. In the northern quarter Avalokiteśvara of great energy, His lucent color like a bright moon, a śaṅkha(conch shell), or a kunda(jasmine) flower,

Sits smiling on a white lotus, with Amitāyus visible in his topknot. To his right is the holy one, the honored one Tārā, of great renown: With the colors blue and white intermixed, she has the appearance of a mature woman,

Clasps her palms together and holds a blue lotus, is encircled with light all-pervading,

Glows just like pure gold, smiles, and has fresh white robes. To the left [of Avalokiteśvara] is Bhṛkuṭī, a rosary of counting beads (mālā) hanging from her hand:

With three eyes and wearing her hair in a topknot, her honored figure is as if white,

And the light that encircles her has no dominant color, with yellow, red, and white intermingling.

Next, near Bhṛkuṭī, draw the honored one Mahāsthāmaprāpta: His garments are the color of a śaṅkha,he has great compassion, holds a lotus flower in his hand

Which is luxuriant but not yet open, and is surrounded by a circle of light.

The vidyārājñīcalled Yaśodharā dwells beside him: All manner of fine strings of jewels adorn her golden-colored body, And she holds an exquisite twig of flowers [in her right hand] and in the left holds a priyaṅgu[flower].

Near the holy one Tārā [the ācārya] positions the honored one Pāṇḍaravāsinī:

She has a crown of hair [tied in a topknot], wears [robes of] pure [white] silk, and has a padma(lotus) flower in her hand. In front of the holy one (i.e., Avalokiteśvara)26 [the ācārya] fashions the very powerful vidyārāja:27

He is the color of early-morning sunlight, and his body is adorned with white lotuses;

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

Resplendent with a wreath of flames, he roars angrily with his fangs bared,

He has sharp nails, his hair is like that of the king of beasts, and he is [called] Hayagrīva.

These samādhis are those of Avalokiteśvara's attendants. Next, in front of the flowery pedestal and to the right of Vairocana There is the Holder of Adamantine Wisdom (i.e., Vajrapāṇi), able to fulfill all wishes:

He is the color of a priyaṅguflower or again like an emerald; On his head he wears a many-jeweled diadem, and strings of jewels adorn his person,

Bestudding and embellishing it, vast and immeasurable in number; In his left [hand] he holds a vajra,and he gives out blazing light all around.

To the right of Vajragarbha (i.e., Vajrapāṇi) is she who is called Māmakī,

Who again holds a pestle (i.e., vajra) of firm wisdom and adorns her person with strings of jewels.

To her right [the ācārya] should next place the very powerful Vajrasūcī,

Surrounded by a host of messengers who smile and together look up reverently at her.

To the left of the holy one (i.e., Vajrapāṇi) is Vajraśṛṅkhalā: She holds a chain of vajras and is accompanied by messengers of her own,

Her body is pale yellow in color, and she has a wisdom pestle (vajra) as her insignia.

Below Vajradhara (i.e., Vajrapāṇi) is the wrathful vanquisher of the three worlds,

Who overcomes great obstructors and is called the honored one Candratilaka:

He has three eyes, four fangs are visible, he is the color of rainclouds in summer,

Has an aṭṭa(loud) laughing voice, and [is adorned with] strings of vajras and jewels;

Fascicle One

In order to safeguard beings he is surrounded by immeasurable hosts, And his hundred thousand hands brandish various weapons— These wrathful ones all dwell in lotus flowers. Next, going to the western quarter, [the ācārya] draws immeasurable vajradharas

With various vajraseals, their form and color each different, And everywhere radiating light that encircles them completely for the sake of beings.

Below the mantra-lord (i.e., Vairocana), in the direction of Nairṛti (i.e., southwest),

Is Acala, the Tathāgata's servant: he holds a wisdom sword and a noose,

The hair from the top of his head hangs down on his left shoulder, and with one eye he looks fixedly;

Awesomely wrathful, his body [is enveloped in] fierce flames, and he rests on a rock;

His face is marked with [a frown like] waves on water, and he has the figure of a stout young boy.

In this manner he who possesses wisdom should next go in the direction of Vāyu (i.e, northwest),

Where he again draws a wrathful deity, called Trailokyavijaya: He is surrounded by fearsome flames, has a jeweled diadem, and holds a vajra;

With no regard for his own life, he devotes himself to requesting and receiving instructions.

The positions and so on of the deities of the first sector have [now] been explained,

And the mantra-reciting practitioner next goes to the second enclosure.

Inside the first entrance in the eastern quarter he draws Śākyamuni: He is circumfused with a purplish golden color and endowed with the thirty-two attributes [of a buddha],

Wears a kāṣā[ya] robe, is seated on a white lotus-flower pedestal, And in order to make the teachings circulate, he dwells there, expounding the Dharma.

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

Next, to the right of the World-honored One [the mantrin] displays Buddhalocanā:

She is of joyful aspect and smiling, there is a circle of pure light right around her person,

Her body is a pleasure to see and without compare, and she is called 'Mother of Śākyamuni.

Then, to the right of this deity he depicts the vidyā[rājñī] Ūrṇā: She resides on a padmaflower, shines all around with the color of a śaṅkha,

And holds a wish-fulfilling jewel, fulfilling all wishes. To the left of the holy deity Śākyasiṃha (Lion of the Śākyas; i.e., Śākyamuni), the world-savior

With bright light and great energy, there are the Five Crowns (uṣṇīṣa) of the Tathāgata:

The first is called Sitātapatra, and [the others are] Jayoṣṇīṣa, Vijayoṣṇīṣa,

Many-virtued Tejorāśi, and Vikiraṇoṣṇīṣa. These are called the 'Five Great Crowns' and [belong to] Śākya[muni]'s lineage of the Great Self, And in this spot [the mantrin] should with heart and soul fashion their many features.

Next, to his (i.e., Śākyamuni's) north he arranges the hosts of Pure Abode (Śuddhāvāsa):

Īśvara, Samantakusuma, Raśmimālin, Manojava, And Svaraviśruti, each in their proper order. To the right of Ūrṇā he then draws the Three Buddha-Crowns: The first is called Mahodgatoṣṇīṣa, the next is called Abhyudgatoṣṇīṣa, And there is also Anantasvaraghoṣa—all should be properly installed.

The five kinds of Tathāgata-Crowns are white, yellow, and the color of genuine gold,

And next the Three Buddha-Crowns have white, yellow, and red. Their radiance is universally penetrating and extensive, they are adorned with many strings of jewels, And with the power of the extensive vows that they have made all wishes are fulfilled.

Fascicle One

In the eastern corner the practitioner makes an image of the seer Agni: He dwells in the midst of fiery flames and is marked with three spots of ash,

The color of his body is all dark red, a triangular seal is placed on his heart,

And he is in a circle of flames, holding beads and a water-pot. To the right (i.e., south) there is the king Yama, holding a daṇḍa (staff) seal in his hand;

He has a water buffalo for a seat, is the color of dark clouds from which lightning strikes,

And is surrounded by the Seven Mothers, Kālarātri, his consort, and so on.

The king of demons (Nairṛti) in nairṛtī(i.e., southwest) holds a sword and has a frightening appearance.

Varuṇa, king of nāgas, has a noose for his seal. In the initial quarter29 Śakra, King of Gods, resides on Mount Sumeru, With a jeweled diadem, wearing strings of jewels, and holding a vajraseal;

The wise person also properly arrays his other attendants. To the left he places Āditya and his host: he is in a carriage, And his consorts Jayā and Vijayā guard him, following on both sides. Great Brahmā is to his right: four-faced, he has a crown of hair [done in a topknot],

Has the mark of the letter Oṃas his seal, holds a lotus, and is [seated] on geese.

In the western quarter are Pṛthivī, Sarasvatī, and Viṣṇu, Skanda, Vāyu, Śaṃkara, and Candra:

These are in the direction of nāgas (i.e., west)—draw them without making any mistakes.

The mantra-reciting practitioner, with an unconfused mind, He, the Buddha's son, should next fashion the vidyādharas of great wrath:

The one to the right [of Śākyamuni] is called Aparājita, and the one to the left is Aparājita's consort (Aparājitā). The Earth-bearing God (Dharaṇiṃdharā?), holding up a flask, kneels reverently.

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra 8b

In addition, the two great nāgakings, Nanda and Upananda, Face each inside the sentry posts, the mighty guardians of the service entrance [on the west side]. The mantras, seals, and altars of the remaining deities of Śākya[muni]'s lineage—

Everything that has been explained the teacher should reveal in detail.

The mantra-reciting practitioner next proceeds to the third enclosure, Where he first draws Mañjuśrī: his body is the color of saffron, He has a crown of five topknots on his head and is like a young boy in appearance;

In his left [hand] he holds a blue lotus flower on top of which is displayed a vajraseal;

His compassionate face has a broad smile, he is seated on a white lotus pedestal,

And he is surrounded by a circle of all-pervading light of wondrous aspect that is iridescent.

On his right side [the mantrin] should next draw Jālinīprabha with the body of a young boy:

He holds a many-jeweled net, has various fine strings of jewels, And dwells on a jeweled lotus-flower seat, gazing at the Buddha's eldest son (i.e., Mañjuśrī).

On [Mañjuśrī's] left side [the mantrin] draws the five messengers of Varadavajra (Mañjuśrī):

Namely, Keśinī, Upakeśinī,

And Citrā, Vasumatī, and Ākarṣaṇī. These five messengers have five servants, And these two groups both surround and guard Invincible Wisdom (i.e., Mañjuśrī).

To the right (i.e., south) the practitioner next fashions the greatly renowned

Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin, who holds a wish-fulfilling jewel. Ignoring [the division into] two subsections, he should draw eight bodhisattvas:

Namely, Kautūhala, Sarvasattvābhayaṃdada, 34

Fascicle One

Sarvāpāyaṃjaha, the bodhisattva Paritrāṇāśayamati, Karuṇāmṛḍita, Mahāmaitryabhyudgata,

Sarvadāhapraśāmin, and Acintyamati.

Then, leaving that section, he proceeds to the north, the superior quarter,

Where the practitioner with singlemindedness keeps in mind and arranges the many colors,

Fashioning the mahāsattvaKṣitigarbha, endowed with excellent forbearance:

His seat is most skillfully wrought, his body in a matrix of flames; On ground adorned with sundry jewels finely interlaid A lotus flower made with four precious things is the resting place of the holy one.

In addition, there are immeasurable bodhisattvas of great renown: Namely, Ratnākara,

30 Ratnapāṇi, Dharaṇiṃdhara,

Ratnamudrāhasta and Dṛḍhādhyāśaya, and these leading holy deities Are each together with innumerable multitudes, surrounding them both in front and behind.

Next, in the direction of nāgas (i.e., west) he should draw Ākāśagarbha,

The striving hero, who wears white robes and holds a sword that produces a fiery light.

In addition, his attendants, sons born of the Perfectly Awakened One, Are each seated in their proper order in a row on standard lotuses. I shall now explain these attendants, the bodhisattva hosts of the Great Self (i.e., Ākāśagarbha),

Whose fine figures should be well drawn, conscientiously and without neglecting anything:

Namely, Gaganāmala; the next is called Gaganamati, As well as Viśuddhamati, Cāritramati, and Sthiramati. These bodhisattvas, always striving and energetic, Are each drawn in their proper order with their figures adorned. I have [now] finished explaining in brief the layout of the maṇḍala 'Matrix of Great Compassion.

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra

Thereupon, in that entire assembly, the vajradharaLord of Mysteries gazed steadily at the World-honored One Vairocana without blinking for even a moment and spoke these verses: The appearance of an omniscient one in the world Is like an uḍumbaraflower, which appears only once every now and then;

The path whereby mantras are practiced is far more difficult again to encounter.

All sinful actions performed during immeasurable koṭis of eons Will, when one sees this maṇḍala,be extinguished without any residue whatsoever,

And how much more so if someone of immeasurable renown abides in the methods of mantra practice,

Practicing mantras of this unsurpassed state, saviors of the world. He will bring evil destinies to an end, and no suffering will arise, And if he cultivates such practices, his subtle wisdom will be profound and unwavering.

Then all the great multitudes that had gathered together, as well as the vajradharas, extolled Vajrapāṇi with one voice, saying: Excellent, excellent, Great Striving Hero! You who have already cultivated mantra practices Do well to ask about all matters regarding mantras; We too all have [similar] thoughts on our minds. We shall all indeed bear witness for your sake, For we abide in the power of mantra practice, And other multitudes with the great mind of bodhi Will attain mastery of the mantra method. Then the vajradharaLord of Mysteries again spoke to the World-honored One, uttering these verses:

"What is the meaning of 'color'? And what colors are to be used? How are they to be arranged? Which of these colors comes first? The size of the archways (toraṇa) with their pennants and likewise the sentry posts (niryūha),

Fascicle One

And how to construct the entrances—I beg you, O Honored One, to explain their measurements.

[Explain too] the offering of food, flowers, incense, and so on, as well as the many-jeweled flasks.

How does one induct disciples? How does one consecrate them? How does one make offerings to one's teacher? I beg you to explain the homasite.

What are the characteristics of mantras? And how does one abide in samādhi?"

When the Holder of Adamantine Wisdom had finished posing these questions,

The Muni, the king of dharmas, addressed him, saying, "With

single mindedness you should listen attentively! The supreme mantra path produces the fruit of the Great Vehicle, And what you have just asked me I shall explain for the sake of [you,] Great Sentient Being!

To dye the realm of beings with the taste of the Dharma realm Is the teaching of buddhas of yore, and this is known as the meaning of 'color.

First lay out the colors inside [the maṇḍala]; it is not the colors outside [the maṇḍala] that are to be laid out [first]. Immaculate white is the very first, and the color red is second; Likewise yellow and green are applied in succession, And the whole interior is deep black—this is called the sequence of colors.

When constructing the archways with their pennants, their size is the same as that of the central matrix (i.e., lotus), As are also the sentry posts, and the [central] flowery pedestal is sixteen phalanges [in diameter].

You should know that the entrances to the first [enclosure] are equal [in width] to the inner altar,

And the wise person gradually increases [their width] in the outer enclosures.

Inside the sentry posts he should erect mighty guardians. To explain samādhiin brief, it is to dwell singlemindedly upon an object.

The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra In its broader meaning there are again distinctions—Great Being, listen attentively!

The Buddha has taught that all is empty and that this is the mental equipoise of Perfectly Awakened Ones. Samādhiis knowing the mind by direct witness, and it is not obtained from anything else. Such a state is the concentration of all Tathāgatas. Therefore, it is explained as great emptiness and consummates sarvajña[jñāna].

[End of]Fascicle One of the Scripture of the Enlightenment, Supernatural Transformations, and Empowerment of Mahāvairocana 38

Nguồn: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka (bdkamerica.org).