. picture of Master Hua  Master Hsuan Hua
lectured the Avatamsaka Sutra in the U.S. over a nine year period.

 
 
Introduction
Table of Contents
Title
1 World Rulers
2 Thus Come One
3 Universal Worthy
4 Coming into Being
5 Flower Store
6 Vairochana
7 Names
8 Four Holy Truths
9 Enlightenment
10 Clarification
11 Pure Conduct
12 Worthy Leader
13 Mount Sumeru
14 Praises
15 Ten Dwellings
16 Brahma Conduct
17 Bringing Forth
18 Understanding
19 Suyama
20 Praises in Suyama
21 Ten Conducts
22 Ten Treasuries
23 Tushita Heaven
24 Praises in Tushita
25 Ten Transferences
26 Ten Grounds
27 Ten Samadhis
28 Ten Penetrations
29 Ten Patiences
30 Asamkhyeas
31 Life Spans
32 Dwelling Places
33 Dharmas
34 Ten Bodies
35 Characteristics
36 Conduct
37 Appearance
38 Leaving the World
39 Dharma Realm
Conclusion
Acknowledgement
Bibliography
Glossary
Transference
 
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The World Honored One, seated on his Throne, had realized utmost proper enlightenment. The Bodhi Wayplace is exquisitely adorned. Banners with wondrous sounds emitted light. Fragrant flowers and endless raining of treasures. Inconceivable manifestations within the bright light around the Bodhi tree.

Countless Bodhisattvas with their retinues arrived. All Buddhas of the ten directions made kings of pearls transformationally appear. The Tathagata emitted awesome, magnificent light, like the sun illumining the world. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, countless Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, innumerable kinds of Spirits and Heavenly Beings draw near to the Buddha. The celestial kings, gods, beings of the Eightfold Division, and various spirits, receive the Buddha’s awesome spiritual might and speak verses lauding the Thus Come One and describing their liberation doors. The worlds shook in six ways. The same manifestation occurred in other worlds.

Annotation
The World Honored One is surrounded by countless Great Bodhisattvas. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva is among them. There are also an incalculable number of Vajra-Wielding Spirits, Multi-Bodied Spirits, Spirits of Foot Travel, Wayplace Spirits, City-Ruling Spirits, Earth-Ruling Spirits, River-Ruling Spirits, Ocean-Ruling Spirits, Water-Ruling Spirits, Fire-Ruling Spirits, Wind-Ruling Spirits, Emptiness-Ruling Spirits, Direction-Ruling Spirits, Night-Ruling Spirits, Day-Ruling Spirits, Asura Kings, Garuda Kings, Kinnara Kings, Mahoraga Kings, Yaksha Kings, Dragon Kings, Kumbhanda Kings, Gandharva Kings, Moon Heavenly Princes, Sun Heavenly Princes, Kings from the Heaven of Thirty-three, Kings from the Suyama heaven, Kings from the Tushita Heaven, Kings from the Transformation of Bliss Heaven, Kings from the Great Brahma Heaven, Kings from the Light-Sound Heaven, Kings from the Heaven of Pervasive Purity, Kings from the Heaven of Vast Fruition, and Kings from the Heaven of Great Sovereignty.
To behold such an awe-inspiring and inconceivable scene can cause one to bring forth the resolve for Bodhi. The countless Bodhisattvas, Heavenly Kings, gods, and spirits who came attested to the Buddha’s inconceivably supreme success as a Great Teacher.
Bhikshu Bodhi says,
‘Just as the sun is valued not only for its own intrinsic radiance but also for its ability to illuminate the world, so the brilliance of the Buddha as a spiritual Master is determined not only by the clarity of his Teaching but by his ability to illuminate those who came to him for refuge and to make them luminaries in their own right.’
When the World Honored One sat beneath the King of trees, at the moment he accomplished utmost enlightenment, his wisdom became boundless, his Dharma Body pervaded the entire Dharma Realm and his mind entered the three periods of time. Countless eons of bitter cultivation and stern asceticism, and a sea of infinite vows and practices were all perfected in a single thought!
According to the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua,there are ten kinds of assemblies present when the Buddha speaks Dharma. They are,

  1.   The Influential assembly
  2.   The Constantly Following assembly
  3.   The Dharma-protecting assembly
  4.   The Adorning assembly
  5.   The assembly that Makes offerings
  6.   The assembly that Brings Forth the arising of Dharma
  7.   The assembly of Current Potentials
  8.   The assembly that Represents the Dharma
  9.   The Assembly that is Certified to the Dharma
  10.  The assembly that Reveals the Dharma

It is mentioned many times in the Sutra that the world shakes in six ways. That kind of shaking is different from natural disasters, violent sudden faulting of rocks or the destructive movement of the earth’s surface during an earthquake.
The Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explains the meaning of the six kinds of earthquakes which occur during the Dharma assembly. In brief, they are,
Referring to movement

  1. Shaking
  2. Rising
  3. Surging

Referring to sound

  1. Banging
  2. Roaring 
  3. Crackling

The quaking represents,

  1. The six organs - eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind.
  2. The four levels - The Ten Dwellings, The Ten Practices, The Ten Transferences, The Ten Grounds with, Equal Enlightenment and Wonderful Enlightenment.
  3. The breaking up of your ignorance, because you pass through six levels.
© 2000 Soo Hoong Liung. All Rights Reserved.