Part 1  

The World Honored One is in the Jeta Grove with Great Bodhisattvas and Sound Hearers. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva and Manjushri Bodhisattva are leaders of the assembly. They reflected upon the Thus Come One’s state. How did the Buddha seek the mind of all wisdom? The Buddha knows their thoughts and he enters the Lion’s Sprint Samadhi. Inconceivable transformation of the world occurs. Countless Bodhisattvas with their retinues from the ten directions arrive.

The Sound Hearers cannot see the magical manifestations. The Bodhisattvas receive the Buddhas aid and speak verses. Dharmarealm’s Various Spiritual Penetrations King Bodhisattva says,

The Tathagata in innumerable kalpas
Diligently toils for living beings.
How can those in the world
Repay our Great Teacher’s kindness?

The Buddha emits a Great Light from between his brows. An inconceivable state manifests throughout the Dharma Realm. Manjushri Bodhisattva receives the Buddha’s aid and expounds upon the transformations in the Jeta Grove. With innumerable Bodhisattvas and a multitude of beings, he makes obeisance to the Buddha and leaves. The Buddha enabled Shariputra to see that. With the Buddha’s consent, Shariputra and six thousand Bhikshus follow Manjushri Bodhisattva.

Listening to the wondrous Dharma and receiving benefits. They obtain the Unobstructed Eye Samadhi. Manjushri Bodhisattva heads towards the world of humans.

Annotation
The Buddha was in the Jeta Grove with Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, Sound Hearers, and countless world rulers. The World Honored One entered the Lion Sprint Samadhi. An inconceivable transformation of the world and other magical manifestation occurred. Countless Bodhisattvas with their retinues  from the ten directions came to where the Buddha was. These wonderful states could not be seen by the Sound Hearer disciples because they failed to plant the good roots of Bodhisattvas.

The final chapter on ‘Entering the Dharma Realm’ is the longest chapter in the Avatamsaka Sutra. Tripitaka Master Hua explains,
“How can one enter or exit from the Dharma Realm? Basically there is no where that is not the Dharma Realm, and there is no entering or leaving. Then why does one say here ‘Entering the Dharma Realm?’ This just means speaking the chapter of the Dharma Realm. It causes living beings to become one with the Dharma Realm, dual and yet non-dual…”
The Tripitaka Master explains the Lion’s Sprint Samadhi as,
“ ‘Sovereign and fearless’ also refers to the substance of this samadhi, which is still and ultimate. The Buddha within this samadhi commands total relaxation and self-mastery. He can stretch and flex at will the function and substance of the Dharma Realm.”
Dharmarealm’s Various Spiritual Penetration King Bodhisattva asks,
‘How can those in the world repay our Great Teacher’s Kindness?’

The World Honored One has for an immeasurable period of time, undergone bitterness for the sake of living beings. How can living beings possibly repay the Thus Come One’s Supreme Kindness? Let us take a look at how the Buddha’s most loyal and filial disciple and personal attendant intends to repay his Teacher’s Great Kindness.

In the Shurangama Sutra, the Venerable Ananda faced the Buddha and said,
‘The wonderfully deep dharani,
The Unmoving Honored One,
            The Foremost Shurangama King
Is seldom found in the world.
            It melts away my upside-down thoughts
Gathered in a million kalpas.
            So I needn’t endure asamkhyeya aeons
To obtain the Dharma body.
            I wish now to achieve the result
And become an Honored King,
            Who then returns to save as many beings
As there are sand-grains in the Ganges.
            I offer this deep thought to those who are
As countless as the motes of dust of the Buddhalands,
            To repay the Kindness shown me by the Buddha.
In obeisance I ask the World Honored One to
            Certify my vow to first enter the five turbid evil realms.
If there is even one being who hasn’t become a Buddha,
            At death I will not reach for Nirvana….’

The Venerable Ananda was profoundly grateful for the Teaching he had received. Thereupon he praised the wonderful Dharma, vows to become a Buddha, to save countless living beings, and respectfully beseeched the Buddha to certify his vow and resolve for Bodhi.

Tripitaka Master Hua explained,
‘The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas sacrifice their very blood and breath for us, yet living beings feel no sense of gratitude in their hearts…
‘We should study the Sutra of the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva and feel deep gratitude toward Earth Store Bodhisattva and to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for their compassionate regard and mindful protection for us. From beginningless time, they have been giving us their very bodies and lives in order to protect, teach, and guide us. And so, we absolutely must bring forth the resolve for Bodhi in order to repay their kindness, as well as the kindness of our parents and that of heaven and earth. We should vow to cross over and liberate all living beings in the realms above and below us. We should compassionately represent the Buddhas in proclaiming the Dharma, and serve society and the country with a sense of righteousness. We should make a vow to save all living beings and to always be the Buddhas’ attendants. And why should we make such vows? Because we have to repay the kindness of the Buddhas, of heaven and earth, of our teachers and elders, our parents, and the kings, presidents, and ministers of the country we live in...’

Before one can honestly and courageously firmly resolve one’s mind on unsurpassed Bodhi, one has to feel a sense of deep shame and profound gratitude towards the Buddha. That is expressed very well and clearly in the very moving essay by the Great Master Sying An. He says,
‘I am a disciple of the Buddha, yet I am unable to return the kindnesses that have been done to me. I do not benefit myself; I cannot benefit others. While alive, I am of no benefit to my time. After death, I will be of no benefit to posterity. Although the heavens are high, they cannot cover me. Although the earth is thick, it cannot bear me. If my own offenses are not extremely grave, then whose are? My pain is therefore unbearable. I have no recourse but to immediately forget my baseness and quickly make the great resolve…’

The Sutra says that when Manjushri Bodhisattva headed towards South, the Buddha enabled the Venerable Shariputra to see it. That means, the Buddha wanted Shariputra to know so that Shariputra and the Bhikshus would go to where Manjushri Bodhisattva was in order to hear the Dharma and thereby receive great benefits. The World Honored One knew that the time was right and their good roots were ripe; and they had deep affinities with Manjushri Bodhisattva as well. Shariputra and the six thousand Bhikshus did not sneak off to study with Manjushri Bodhisattva. They had obtained the Buddha’s aid, and permission to go.

In the book on, ‘Great Disciples of the Buddha,’ it says that the Buddha’s chief disciples (Arhats) were the Venerable Shariputra and the Venerable Mahamoggallana. The book describes Shariputra in this way; that on certain occasions, he acted as a,
‘Skilled preceptor and exemplar, as kind and considerate friend, as guardian of the welfare of the Bhikkhus under his charge, as faithful repository of his Master’s doctrine…
‘It is said that whenever Shariputra gave advice, he showed infinite patience; he would admonish and instruct up to a hundred or a thousand times, until his pupil was established in the fruition of stream-entry…
‘It was the Venerable Shariputra too who first appealed to the Buddha to lay down the code of monastic rules.
‘When people abuse him and strike him, he feels no trace of anger…Shariputra’s humility was as great as his patience. He was willing to receive correction from anyone, not only with submission but with gratitude… Shariputra had shown gratitude and remembered any good deed done to him…’

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explained,
‘Shariputra was a Dharma Nature Elder. At the age of eight he studied and mastered all the Buddhadharma in only seven days, and could out-debate all the Indian philosophers…’
The Venerable Shariputra is foremost in wisdom among the Sound Hearers, and Manjushri Bodhisattva is foremost in wisdom among the Great Bodhisattvas. The Great Wisdom of Manjushri Bodhisattva is inconceivable and ineffable.
We are in the final, Ninth Assembly of the Sutra. Apart from the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas who have been the main Dharma Exponents are Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, Manjushri Bodhisattva, Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva, Forest of Merit and Virtue Bodhisattva, Vajra Banner Bodhisattva, Vajra Treasury Bodhisattva, and in the final chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra, many other Bodhisattvas will appear to expound the wondrous Dharma.