Chapter Seven: The Parable of the Phantom City Page 1|2|3|4 The Buddha made this announcement to the monks: Once in the distant past, an immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable asamkhya number of kalpas ago, there was at that time a Buddha named Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One, worthy of offerings, of right and universal knowledge, perfect clarity and conduct, well gone, understanding the world, unexcelled worthy, trainer of people, teacher of heavenly and human beings, Buddha, World-Honored One. His land was named Well Constituted and his kalpa was named Great Form. "Now monks, since that Buddha passed into extinction, a very great, a very long time had passed. Suppose, for example, that someone took all the earth particles in the thousand-million-fold world and ground the up to make ink powder, and as he passed through the thousand lands of the east, he dropped one grain of the ink powder no bigger in size than a speck of dust. Again., when he passed through another thousand lands, he dropped another grain of ink. Suppose he went on in this way until he had finished dropping all the grains of the ink made from the earth particles. Now what is your opinion? Do you think that, with regard to those lands, the masters of calculation or the disciples of calculation would be able to determine the number of lands that had been visited in the process, or would they not?" "That would be impossible, World-Honored One." "Now monks suppose that one should take the earth of all the lands this man had passed through, whether he dropped a grain of ink there or not, and should pound it into dust. And suppose that one particle of dust should represent one kalpa. The kalpas that had elapsed since that Buddha entered extinction would still exceed the number of dust particles by immeasurable, boundless, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands millions of asamkhya kalpas. But because I employ the Thus Come One's power to know and see, when I look at that far-off time it seems like today." At that time the World-Honored One, wishing to state his meaning once more, spoke in verse form, saying: When I think of it, in the past, immeasurable, boundless kalpas ago, there was a Buddha, most honored of two-legged beings, named Great Universal Wisdom Excellence. If a person should use his strength to smash the ground of the thousand-million-fold world, should completely crush its earth particles and reduce them all to powdered ink, and if when he passed through a thousand lands he should drop one speck of ink, and if he continued in this manner until he had exhausted all the specks of ink, and if one then took the soil of the lands he had passed through, both those he dropped a speck in and those he did not, and once more ground their earth into dust, and then took one grain of dust to represent one kalpa- the number of tiny grains of dust would be less than the number of kalpas in the past when that Buddha lived. Since that Buddha passed into extinction, an immeasurable number of kalpas such as this have passed. The Thus Come One, through his unhindered wisdom, knows the time when that Buddha passed into extinction and his voice-hearers and bodhisattvas as though he were witnessing that extinction right now. You monks should understand that the Buddha wisdom is pure, subtle, wonderful, without outflows, without hindrance, reaching to and penetrating immeasurable kalpas. The Buddha announced to the monks: "The Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellent had a life span of five hundred and forty ten thousand million nayutas of kalpas. This Buddha at first sat in the place of practice and, having smashed the armies of the devil, was on the point of attaining anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, but the doctrines of the Buddhas did not appear before him. This state continued for one small kalpa, and so on for ten small kalpas, the Buddha sitting with legs crossed, body and mind unmoving, but the doctrines of the Buddhas still did not appear before him. "At that time the heavenly beings of the Trayastrimsha heaven had earlier spread a lion seat measuring one yojana in height underneath a bodhi tree for the Buddha, intending that the Buddha should sit on this when he attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. As soon as the Buddha took his seat there, the Brahma kings caused a multitude of heavenly flowers to rain down, covering the ground for a hundred yojanas around. From time to time a fragrant wind would come up and blow the withered flowers away, whereupon new ones would rain down. This continued without interruption for the space of ten small kalpas as an offering to the Buddha. Up until the time he entered extinction, such flowers constantly rained down. The four Heavenly Kings as their offering to the Buddha constantly beat on heavenly drums, while the other heavenly beings played heavenly musical instruments, all for ten small kalpas. Until the Buddha entered extinction, such was the state of affairs. "Now, monks, the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence passed ten small kalpas before him and he was able to attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. Before the Buddha left the householder's life, he had sixteen sons, the first of whom was named Wisdom Accumulated. These sons, each had various kinds of rare objects and toys of one kind or another, but when they heard that their father had attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, they all threw aside their rare objects and went to where the Buddha was. Their mothers, weeping, followed after them. "Their grandfather, who was a wheel-turning sage king, along with a hundred chief ministers, as well as hundred, thousand, ten thousand, million of his subjects, all together surrounded the sons and followed to the place of practice, all wishing to draw close to the Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One, to offer alms, pay honor, venerate and praise him. When they arrived. They touched their heads to the ground and bowed before his feet. When they had finished circling the Buddha, they pressed their palms together with a single mind, gazed up in reverence at the World-Honored One, and recited these verses of praise, saying: The World-Honored One, of great authority and virtue, in order to save living beings spent immeasurable millions of years and at last succeeded in becoming a Buddha, all your vows have now been fulfilled- it is well--no fortune could be greater! The World-Honored One is vary rarely met with; having taken his seat, ten small kalpas pass, his body and his hands and feet rest in stillness, never moving, his mind constantly calm and placid, never in turmoil or disorder. In the end he attains eternal tranquility and extinction, resting in the Law of no outflows. Now as we observe the World-Honored One in tranquility, having completed the Buddha way, we gain excellent benefits and praise and congratulate him with great joy. Living beings undergo constant suffering and anguish, benighted, without teacher or guide, not realizing there is a way to end suffering, not knowing how to seek emancipation. Through the long night increasingly they follow evil paths, reducing the multitude of heavenly beings; from darkness they enter into darkness, to the end never hearing the Buddha's name. But now the Buddha has attained the unexcelled, the tranquility of the Law of no outflows. We and the heavenly and human beings hereby obtain the greatest benefit. For this reason all of us bow our heads, dedicate our lives to the one of unexcelled honor. At that time the sixteen princes, having praised the Buddha in these verses, urged the World-Honored One to turn the wheel of the Law, speaking all together in these words: "World-Honored One, expound the law. By doing so, you will bring tranquility to and will comfort and benefit heavenly and human beings in large measure." They repeated this request in verse form, saying: World hero without peer, you who adorn yourself with a hundred blessings, you have attained unsurpassed wisdom-- we beg you to preach for the sake of the world. Save and free us and other kinds of living beings. Draw distinctions, enlighten us and allow us to attain wisdom. If we can gain Buddhahood, then all living beings can do likewise. World-Honored One, you know the thoughts that living beings hold deep in their minds. You know the paths they tread and you know the strength of their wisdom, their pleasures, the blessings they have cultivated, the actions they have carried out in past existences, World-Honored One, all this you know already- now you must turn the unsurpassed wheel! The Buddha announced to the monks: "When the Buddha Great Universal Wisdom Excellence attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, five hundred ten thousand million Buddha worlds in each of the ten directions trembled and shook in six different ways. The dark and secluded places within those lands, where the light of the sun and moon is never able to penetrate, were able to see one another, and they all exclaimed, saying, 'How is it that living beings have suddenly come into existence in this place?' "Also the palaces of the various heavenly beings in those lands and the Brahma palaces trembled and shook in six different ways and a great light shone everywhere, completely filling the worlds and surpassing the light of the heavens. At that time in five hundred ten thousand million lands in the eastern direction the Brahma palaces shone with the brilliant light that was twice its ordinary brightness, and the Brahma kings each thought to himself. Now the brilliance of the palace is greater than ever in the past. What can be the cause of this phenomenon? "At that time the Brahma kings visited one another to discuss this matter. Among them was a great Brahma king named Save All who, on behalf of the multitude of Brahma kings, spoke these verses, saying: Our palaces have a brilliance never known in the past. What is the cause of this? Each of us seeks an answer. Is it because of the birth of some heavenly being of great virtue, or because the Buddha has appeared in this world that this great light shines everywhere in the ten directions? "At that time the Brahma kings of five hundred ten thousand million lands, accompanied by their palaces, each king taking his outer robe and filling it with heavenly flowers, journeyed together to the western region to observe the signs there. They saw the Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One in the place of practice, seated on a lion seat underneath a bodhi tree, with heavenly beings, dragon kings, gandharvas, kimnaras, mahoragas, human, and nonhuman beings surrounding him and paying reverence. And they saw the sixteen princes entreating the Buddha to turn the wheel of the Law. "At once the Brahma kings touched their heads to the ground and bowed before the Buddha, circled around him a hundred thousand times, and took the heavenly flowers and scattered them over the Buddha. The flowers they scattered piled up like Mount Sumeru. They also offered them as alms to the Buddha's bodhi tree. This bodhi tree was ten yojanas in height. When they had finished offering the flowers, each one took his place and presented it to the Buddha, speaking these words: 'We hope you will bestow comfort and benefit on us. We beg you to accept and occupy these palaces that we present.' "At that time the Brahma kings, in the presence of the Buddha, with a single mind and joined voices recited these verses of praise: World-Honored One, vary rarely met with, one whom it is difficult to encounter, endowed with immeasurable blessings, capable of saving everyone, great teacher of heavenly and human beings, you bestow pity and comfort on the world. Living beings in the ten directions all receive benefit everywhere. In the five hundred ten thousand million lands from which we come, we have put aside the joy of deep meditation in order to offer alms to the Buddha, Because of our good fortune in previous existences our palaces are very richly adorned. Now we present them to the World-Honored One, begging that he be kind enough to accept them. "At that time, when the Brahma kings had finished praising the Buddha in verse, they each spoke these words: 'We beg the World-Honored One to turn the wheel of the Law, save living beings, and open up the way to nirvana!' "Then the Brahma kings with a single mind and joined voices spoke in verse form, saying: World hero, most honored of two-legged beings, we beg you to expound the Law, Through the power of your great mercy and compassion, save living beings in their suffering and anguish! "At that time the Great Universal Wisdom Excellence Thus Come One silently agreed to do so. Now, monks, in five hundred ten thousand million lands in the southeast, the Brahma kings each observed that his palace was shining with a brilliant light such as had never been known in the past. Dancing for joy, entering a frame of mind seldom experienced, they went about visiting one another and discussing these things together. "At that time there was among the assembly a great Brahma king named Great Compassion who on behalf of the multitude of Brahma kings, spoke in verse form, saying: What cause is in operation that such a sign should be manifest? Our palaces display a brilliance never known before. Is it because of the birth of some heavenly being of great virtue, or because the Buddha has appeared in the world? We have never seen such a sign and with a single mind we seek the reason. Though we must travel a thousand, ten thousand a million lands, together we will search out the cause of this light. Likely it is because a Buddha has appeared in the world to save living beings in their suffering. Continue... Page 1|2|3|4