[善财童子五十三参][English] 第十七回 拜法宝髻长者

Ratnachuda

Then, resorting to that water of goodness, watching that field of goodness, clearing off that mountain of goodness, plunging into that channel of goodness, opening that that mine of goodness, clarifying that sphere of goodness, gathering that mass of goodness, generating that power of goodness, increasing that stream of goodness, Sudhana made his way to Simhapota city. Looking all over for the religious eminent Ratnachuda, he saw him in the middle of the marketplace. Sudhana went up to him, paid his respects, and said, “Noble one, I have set my mind on supreme perfect enlightenment, but I do not know how to learn or carry out the practice of enlightening beings. Please teach me the path of enlightening beings, on which path I may set out for omniscience.”

　Ratnachuda took Sudhana to his house and showed it to him, saying, “Look at my house.” Looking it over, Sudhana saw that the house was radiant, made of gold, wide and high, surrounded by silver walls, adorned with crystal terraces, embellished with hundreds of thousands of lapis lazuli turrets, on coral pillars; there was a lion seat arrayed with red pearls, flying lion banners made of starry jewels, covered with a canopy of radiant jewels, draped with a net of wish-fulfilling jewels, arrayed with countless gemstones. There was a lotus by trees of all kinds of jewels, the house was large, ten stories high, with eight doors.

　Entering the house, Sudhana looked around. On the first floor he saw supplies of food and drink being given away. On the second floor he saw all kinds of clothing being given away. On the third floor he saw all kinds of jewelry being given away. On the fourth floor he saw royal concubines, the most talented women on earth, being given away. On the fifth floor he saw a gathering of enlightening beings of the fifth stage, celebrating the Teaching in song, thinking and acting for the welfare and happiness of the world, practicing all sciences, putting into effect the method of mystic spells, the ocean of concentration, emergence from concentration, contemplation in concentration, and the light of knowledge. On the sixth floor he saw a gathering of enlightening beings who had attained transcendent wisdom, who had profound wisdom, who had mystic knowledge of the quiescence of all phenomena, who were completely familiar with the comprehensive method containing the method of concentration spells of the stages, whose sphere of action was unimpeded, who practiced nondualism, who were making songs of the Teaching following the process of transcendence by wisdom, analyzing and opening it up—a door of transcendent wisdom called matrix of equality, a door of transcendent wisdom called orderly analysis of the knowledge of all sentient beings, a door of transcendent wisdom called unmoving, a door of transcendent wisdom called light of dispassion, a door of transcendent wisdom called invincible matrix, a door of transcendent wisdom called world-illumining sphere, a door of transcendent wisdom called sphere of ways to attainment, a door of transcendent wisdom called oceanic matrix, a door of transcendent wisdom called attainment of equanimity of the universal eye, a door of transcendent wisdom called arrival at the inexhaustible treasure, a door of transcendent wisdom called ocean of all ways to truth, a door of transcendent wisdom called entry into the ocean of all beings, a door of transcendent wisdom called unobstructed intelligence, a door of transcendent wisdom called site of gradual descent of the clouds of the Teaching—he saw enlightening beings in untold of transcendent wisdom. On the seventh floor he saw a gathering of enlightening beings who had attained acceptance of the fact that all sounds are like echoes, who were completely familiar with ascertainment of knowledge of means, and who took in the multitude of teachings of all buddhas. On the eighth floor he saw a gathering of enlightening beings who had attained undiminishing mystic knowledge, who observed all worlds, who were able to appear reflected in all communities, whose bodies were distributed evenly throughout all universes, who perceived the presence of all buddhas as a unified sphere, who were united with the body of all buddhas, who were chief interlocutors in the audiences of all buddhas. On the ninth floor he saw a gathering of enlightening beings who were to attain buddhahood in one lifetime. On the tenth floor he saw the oceans of first inspirations, practices, emancipations, and vows of all buddhas, mystic displays of all ways of enlightenment, the audiences of all buddhas, the sounds of the teachings of all buddhas, magical displays to edify all sentient beings.

　Having seen this, Sudhana said to Ratnachuda, “Noble one, how did you achieve this? Where did you plant roots of goodness resulting in such an attainment?”

　Ratnachuda said, “I remember that in the past, eons ago, more than as many eons ago as atoms in a buddha-land, in a world called Wheel of Many Colors, a buddha named King of Teaching Adorning the Cosmos with Infinite Rays of Light emerged in the world, tamer and leader of people, teacher of celestials and humans, accomplished in knowledge and action, blissful, supreme knower of the world, enlightened, blessed. Together with a billion disciples led by Radiance of Knowledge, and a trillion enlightening beings led by Energy of the Sun of Knowledge, he went to a royal park at the invitation of the king Master of the Law. I played music for that buddha in the middle of the marketplace of the city and burned one ball of incense as an offering to the buddha and the enlightening beings and disciples. By the burning of that one ball of incense, the whole continent was covered by infinitely various fragrant clouds in the forms of all sentient beings for seven days, and from these—‘Inconceivable is the Buddha, possessed of a body of knowledge extensive as past, present, and future, omniscient, free from all obstructions, rid of all afflictions and habit energies, raised by all enlightened ones, sincere, giver of the fruits of measureless omniscience, concentration of all knowledge.’ Such utterances came from the incense clouds by the power of Buddha to develop my roots of goodness to maturity and to rapidly generate roots of goodness in inconceivable numbers of beings. I dedicated the root of goodness in that miraculous vision of the Buddha’s power to three points: to forever ending all poverty, to always hearing truth, and to meeting all enlightened and enlightening spiritual benefactors.

　“I know this enlightening liberation of the supernal manifestation of the sphere of unobstructed vows. How can I know the practice or tell the virtues of enlightening beings who are mines of inconceivable, immeasureable virtues, who have entered the indivisible ocean of buddha-bodies, who take in the indivisible multitude of truths, who have attained an indivisible ocean of virtues, who have spread the net of the practice of universal good, who have entered the realm of indivisible absorption, whose roots of goodness are one with those of all enlightening beings, who abide in the pure nondiscrimination of buddhas, who have entered the indivisible equality of past, present, and future, who live continuously through all ages without tiring, who are in the stage of the sphere of the unfragmented universal eye? “

　South of here is a land called Vetramulaka. A perfumer named Samantanetra lives in a city there called Samantamukha. Go ask him how an enlightening being is to learn and carry out the practice of enlightening beings.”

　Then Sudhana paid his respects to Ratnachuda and left.