|
Ten Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas from the ten directions arrive with their retinue of countless Bodhisattvas to draw near to the Buddha. Among them is Vajra Banner Bodhisattva.
The World Honored One emits light from his knees illumining the ten directions throughout the Dharma Realm. The Bodhisattvas avail themselves of the Buddhas’ spiritual power and utter verses enunciating the inconceivable states of the Thus Come Ones.
Bright Light Banner Bodhisattva says,
All Buddhas of the three periods of time
Have Dharma Bodies which are completely pure.
According to those who should be transformed
They can universally manifest wonderful form bodies.
Annotation
An extract from the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary to the verse by Bright Light Banner Bodhisattva says,
‘The minds of Buddhas are mutually sealed; and the bodies of Buddhas are of one identical substance. There aren’t any differences among them.
‘…The Buddha’s Dharma body, his response and retribution body, and his transformation bodies are all of the same substance… they’re all one body.’
In the Prologue, First Door, National Master Ch’ing Liang also said that the Buddha’s true and response bodies are the same. He says,
‘It is the Dharma Realm’s Inexhaustible clouds of Bodies, True and Response fusing with each other, One and Many not obstructing each other. That is because Vairochana is just Shakyamuni…
‘This Buddha’s body is both Principle and Specifics; is both One and Many; is both Dependent and Proper; is both Person and Dharma; is both This and That; is both Sentient and Insentient; is both Deep and Vast; is both Cause and Fruit; is both Three Bodies and Ten Bodies.’
The inconceivably profound principle of ‘One being the Many’ and the ‘Many being the One’ cannot be grasped through intellectual theorizing. The supreme unsurpassed Spiritual Realm of Buddhas cannot be penetrated through conceptual thinking. However, the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua has revealed a very refreshing and illuminating way of understanding the Buddha. He says,
The Buddha is just true principle,
and true principle is just the Buddha.
If you understand true principle,
you have a clear understanding
of the Buddha.
© 2000 Soo Hoong Liung. All Rights Reserved.
|