Behind the depth of thought conveyed both in the recondite teachings and rich symbolism of the Avatamsaka, as well as in the teachings of the ancient masters who derived their abstruse theories from their immediate experience of the teaching of the sutra grounded on their deep contemplations, one of the primary purports of the sutra is to offer a fresh perspective on the possibilities open to humanity. And once those possibilities are acknowledged, the Avatamsaka offers an unexcelled guide to the actualization of their potential. The spiritual journey, described in the sutra in minute detail with great beauty, which culminates in the realization of the highest awareness accessible to humanity, starts in the simple act of awakening of faith. This faith comes from the Buddha-nature inherent in the human heart, and provides the light that leads one beyond the familiar realm of meaningless obsessions, illusions, and worldly sentiments to one’s true abode—the boundless dharmadhatu.
photo by Sasha Davas
It is its practical usefulness in providing inspiration and guidance to all those who have the maturity and wisdom to see beyond their self-imposed limitations and dedicate their lives to the highest good that makes the sutra truly meaningful. The Buddha of the Avatamsaka, glorious and inconceivable as he may appear to be, is truly very close to each of us. He is much closer than anything one can conceive of—pervading everything, there is no place that he does not reach. The realm of the Buddha is the very reality in which the drama of our existence takes place. That same reality manifests completely in the single thought of faith in the mind of each ordinary person. It is the fundamental reality from which unfolds the Bodhisattva Path, which is the cause for the accomplishment of the fruit of Buddhahood—fruit that has been there from the very beginning, imperceptible to those who lack the eye of faith.
The Body of the Tathagata
“Children of the Tathagata, how should Bodhisattva-mahasattvas perceive the body of the Tathagata, Arhat, Perfectly Enlightened One? Children of the Tathagata, all Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should perceive the body of the Tathagata in limitless places. Wherefore? All Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should not perceive the Tathagata in [just] one dharma, one phenomenon, one body, one land, one sentient being. They should perceive the Tathagata everywhere.
“Children of the Buddha, like space which is present everywhere, whether there are forms or not, without reaching or not reaching there. Wherefore? Because space is immaterial. Likewise, the body of the Tathagata is present everywhere, in all sentient beings, all dharmas, all lands, without reaching or not reaching there. Wherefore? Because the body of the Tathagata is immaterial—it is for the sake of sentient beings that he manifests a body. Children of the Buddha, this is the first characteristic of the body of the Tathagata. All Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should perceive it thus.
“Further, children of the Buddha, though space is vast and formless, it can manifest all forms; yet space does not discriminate, does not engage in conceptual proliferation (prapañca). Likewise, because the body of the Tathagata is completely illuminated by the light of wisdom, it causes all karma of the mundane and supramundane wholesome roots of all sentient beings to be consummated. And yet, the body of the Tathagata does not discriminate, does not engage in false differentiation. Wherefore? Because from the very beginning all attachments and false differentiations have been permanently obliterated. Children of the Buddha, this is the second characteristic of the body of the Tathagata. All Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should perceive it thus.
“Further, children of the Buddha, when the sun rises over Jambudvipa numberless sentient beings obtain benefits. That is to say, it dispels the darkness and brings light, it dries out the humidity, it enables the plants and the trees to grow, the grains to ripen, it makes it possible to see through space, enables the lotus flowers to bloom, the travelers to see the road, the inhabitants to conduct their activities. Wherefore? Because the sun disk emits boundless light everywhere. Children of the Buddha, likewise the sun of the wisdom of the Tathagata universally benefits sentient beings in limitless ways. That is to say, it obliterates evil and engenders virtue, destroys stupidity and brings wisdom, it rescues with great kindness, it liberates with great compassion, it promotes evolvement of the faculties, their powers, and the conditions leading to enlightenment (bodhipaksika-dharma), it causes the awakening of profound faith (shraddha) and abrogation of the impure mind, it enables one to see and hear [the truth] without effacing cause and effect, it enables one to obtain the heavenly eye and see the places of birth and death [of sentient beings], it makes the mind unobstructed without effacing the wholesome roots, it causes wisdom to cultivate clarity so that the flower of enlightenment will bloom, it causes the arising of the mind [set on enlightenment] and the accomplishment of the primigenial practices. Wherefore? Because the preternatural body of the Tathagata’s sun of wisdom emits boundless light, universally effulgent. Children of the Buddha, this is the third characteristic of the body of the Tathagata. All Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should perceive it thus.
photo by Tijmen van Dobbenburgh
“Further, children of the Buddha, when the sun rises at Jambudvipa it first shines on Sumeru and the other great mountains, then it shines on the dark mountains, then the high plains, and lastly it shines on the whole earth. [But] the sun does not think: ‘I will first shine on this, then on that.’ It is only because the mountains and the earth have different elevation that there is sequence in the irradiation. Likewise, the Tathagata, Arhat, Perfectly Enlightened One consummates the sphere of wisdom of the limitless dharmadhatu, perpetually emitting the light of unobstructed wisdom, which first shines on the Bodhisattva-mahasattvas, equal to the great mountains, then it shines on the pratyekabuddhas, then on the shravakas, then on sentient begins with decisive wholesome roots, revealing the great wisdom according to their mental capacities, and finally it universally shines on all sentient beings, including even those who are inveterate in fallacy, in order to create beneficial causes that in the future will enable them to reach maturity. But the light of the Tathagata’s sun of great wisdom does not think: ‘I should first shine on the Bodhisattvas [with their] superior practices, and in the very end I will shine on those sentient beings who are inveterate in fallacy.’ He simply emits the light, equally shining on everyone, without obstruction, without hindrance, without discrimination.
“Children of the Buddha, as the sun and the moon always appear and shine on [both] the high mountains and the deep valleys without any bias, likewise the Tathagata’s wisdom universally shines on all, without discrimination; in accord with the differences in the capacities and the predilections of all sentient beings, the light of wisdom displays various differentiations. Children of the Buddha, this is the fourth characteristic of the body of the Tathagata. All Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should perceive it thus.
“Further, children of the Buddha, when the sun rises, those beings that are born blind cannot see it due to their lack of sight. Although they have never seen the sun, nonetheless they obtain benefits from its light. Whence? Because of it they can know periods of the day and the night and can avail themselves of clothing and food, making their bodies feel at ease, free from adversity. It is the same with the sun of the Tathagata’s wisdom: those born blind, without faith and understanding, who break the precepts and hold erroneous views, who support themselves by improper livelihood, because they lack the eye of faith, they cannot see the sun disk of the wisdom of all the Buddhas, [yet] they are still benefited by it. Whence? Because the awesome power of the Buddha effects the effacement of their physical pain and their afflictions, which serve as causes for future suffering.
“Children of the Buddha, the Tathagata has a light called ‘accumulation of all merits’; has a light called ‘pure and free effulgence’; has a light called ‘emanating supremely sublime sounds’; has a light called ‘understanding all speeches and bringing joy to others’; has a light called ‘the realm of freedom which reveals the permanent obliteration of all doubts’; has a light called ‘free universal effulgence of non-abiding wisdom’; has a light called ‘free wisdom which universally obliterates all false differentiations’; has a light called ‘emanating sublime voices according to needs’; has a light called ‘emanating pure free voices, adorning the lands, and bringing sentient beings to maturity.’
“Children of the Buddha, each pore of the Tathagata emits thousands of lights like these. Five hundred of these lights universally illuminate all congregations of Bodhisattvas at their sites of the various Buddhas in the various lands of the upper regions, while the other five hundred universally illuminate those in the lower regions. When those Bodhisattvas perceive these lights, they for a time attain the realm of the Tathagata, with ten hands, ten feet, ten stages, and ten wisdoms, all of them pure. All stations and stages that have already been consummated by all those Bodhisattvas become purer upon perceiving these lights; all their wholesome roots are brought to maturity, and they advance toward all-encompassing wisdom. Those of the two vehicles have all their defilements obliterated. Those other beings who are born blind, their bodies already rapturous, their minds purified, pliant and composed, are thus capable of cultivating mindfulness and wisdom. Those beings who dwell in the hells and the realms of hungry ghosts and animals all obtain happiness. They are released from their suffering, after the ending of the present life to be reborn in the heavens among humans.
“Children of the Buddha, all those sentient beings have no awareness or understanding of the causes and preternatural influences by which they are reborn here. Those born blind think: ‘I am Brahma, I am manifestation of Brahma. At that time the Tathagata, abiding in the samadhi of universal freedom, emanates sixty kinds of sublime voices, telling them, ‘You are not Brahma, nor are you manifestations of Brahma, neither were you created by Sovereign Shakra or the guardians of the world (lokapalas). All this is due to the awesome preternatural power of the Tathagata.’
“When those sentient beings hear this, by the Buddha’s preternatural power, they all recollect their past lives and become enraptured. Because their hearts are enraptured, they spontaneously produce clouds of udumbara flowers, clouds of incense, clouds of music, clouds of robes, clouds of canopies, clouds of pennants, clouds of streamers, clouds of fragrant powders, clouds of jewels, clouds of lion pennants and crescent towers, clouds of songs and eulogies, clouds of various adornments, and reverentially offer them all to the Tathagata. Whence? Because all these sentient beings have obtained pure eyes. [Then] the Tathagata gives them prophecies about their attainment of anuttara-samyaksambodhi. Children of the Buddha, in this way the sun of the Tathagata’s wisdom benefits those sentient beings who are born blind, effectuating their wholesome roots to reach full maturity. Children of the Buddha, this is the fifth characteristic of the body of the Tathagata. All Bodhisattva-mahasattvas should perceive it thus.
Venerable Cheng Chien was born in Yugoslavia and became a monk in Sri Lanka in 1983. He is the author of Sun-Face Buddha: The Teachings of Ma-tsu and the Hung-chou School of Ch’an.
Excerpted from Manifestation of the Tathagata: Buddhahood According to the Avatamsaka Sutra by Cheng Chien Bhikshu, © 1993 by Mario Poceski. Reprinted with permission of Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02144. www.wisdompubs.org.