Part 2
Manjushri Bodhisattva expounds the Sutra of Universally Illumining the Dharma realm at the Banner Sala Grove with his retinue. Countless dragons, living beings, people of City of Blessings, Upasakas, Upasikas, youths, and maidens came. The Youth Good Wealth is among the great assembly. Manjushri Bodhisattva speaks Dharma according to Good Wealth’s potential, and leaves.
Good Wealth pursues to seek anuttarasamyaksambodhi. How does a Bodhisattva practice the Path? You must find a Good Knowing Advisor.

Manjushri Bodhisattva says,
‘Good man, in seeking for a Good Knowing Advisor, do not become weary or lax. And upon seeing a Good Knowing Advisor, do not become satiated. As to a Good Knowing Advisor and all his Teachings, you must follow and accord. As to expedient devices employed by a Good Knowing Advisor, do not find fault.’

Manjushri Bodhisattva instructed Good Wealth to travel South and seek Dharma from Cloud of Virtue Bhikshu. He attains the Dharma Door of Recollecting all the Buddhas’ states of Wisdom Light and Universal Vision at Wonderful Summit Mountain. Further south, Sea Cloud Bhikshu imparts the Dharma;  Good Wealth certifies to the Dwelling of the Ground of Regulation. Journeying south to the village seashore, requesting Dharma from Good Dwelling Bhikshu. Traveling south to the city of Comfort and Ease, obtaining the Dharma of a Bodhisattva’s wondrous Sound Dharani Light from Lord Megha.

During his Sojourn in the Grove of Dwelling, the Kingdom of Milaspharana, at the Garden Universal Adornment, the kingdom of Nalayur, the village of Ishana, and the City Lion’s Courageous Invigoration, he receives the wondrous Dharma. Recollecting and practicing each liberation, Good Wealth certifies to the Ten Dwellings.

Annotation
Entering the Dharma Realm chapter is about the Youth Good Wealth’s spiritual quest for ultimate enlightenment. He is also called Sudhana. On his spiritual journey, he drew near to and learned from many Good Teachers. As he proceeded on this sacred pilgrimage, he progressively certified to the Bodhisattva positions. It seemed very appropriate that his first Good Knowing Advisor was Manjushri Bodhisattva, the ancient Buddha who had been the Teacher of many Buddhas in the past. A verse in praise says,
Manjushri’s great wisdom,
Prajna’s blazing furnace,
Forged all the Buddhas
And the generations of Patriarchs.
Limitless Sages in the Sangha
All came from this place.
Pure, cooling, wonderful medicine
Cleanses away the confusion.

Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua explained, ‘When Manjushri Bodhisattva was born, ten auspicious signs manifested to indicate that his merit and virtue were complete and his wisdom foremost… They represent the Ten Paramitas: giving, morality, patience, vigor, concentration, wisdom, skill-in-means, vows, determination, and knowledge. They show that Manjushri is not like other Bodhisattvas.’

In the Vimalakirti Sutra, it says that one of the Bhikshus was speaking Dharma to a few monks and at that time, Vimalakirti said to him,
‘You should first enter into meditation and observe a person’s mind before expounding the Dharma to that person…’

Manjushri Bodhisattva had contemplated the causes and conditions of the Youth Good Wealth before  he spoke the Dharma for him so that what he said would match Good Wealth’s potential. When each Good Knowing Advisor spoke Dharma for Good Wealth and sent him off to the next Teacher, it was all done in accord with Good Wealth’s spiritual potential and level. When Manjushri Bodhisattva expounded the Dharma, Good Wealth certified to the position of the Ten Faiths.
In the ‘Worthy Leader,’ chapter twelve, it says,
‘Faith is the Source of the Way, and the mother of merit and virtue… With faith, one will certainly arrive at the ground of the Thus Come One…’
Manjushri Bodhisattva had inspired deep faith in Good Wealth, causing him to enter into the Bodhisattva Path which will lead him inevitably to Buddhahood. Therefore, it says that with faith, one can eventually become a Buddha. For that reason, one could say that Manjushri Bodhisattva is the Mother of all Buddhas since he could arouse such profound faith in the cultivator of the Way. Hence, the Avatamsaka Sutra is said to be the Mother of all Buddhas because whoever can practice the Teaching of the Avatamsaka Sutra will definitely become a Buddha.
If one wishes to cultivate the Way, one must find a Good and Wise Advisor, who can guide, instruct, admonish, and aid one along the Path. Without the precious guidance of a genuine Master, it is very easy to go down the wrong road. In an ‘Open Letter to Cultivators’ the Elder Master Yin Kuang wrote,
‘You should know that even the Dharma Body Bodhisattvas (that is, the higher level Bodhisattvas ) must rely on the power of the Buddhas…. Not to mention ordinary beings such as ourselves, who are full of karmic obstructions. Who are we to keep weighing the pros and cons of our own strength, while failing to seek the Buddha’s aid? Our words may be lofty, but upon reflection, the accompanying actions are low and wanting!
The difference between other-power and self-power is as great as the heavens and the abyss! I hope fellow-cultivators will carefully examine and forgive my straightforward words.’

After one finds a genuine Good and Wise Advisor, one must never turn one’s back on him. Although it is true that one cannot always rely on one’s Teacher, and that one must rely on oneself to cultivate to awaken one’s inherent wisdom. But, one must also NEVER renounce one’s Good and Wise Teacher because to do that would be very unfilial and most dangerous.The Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua said in his commentary to the Vajra Sutra,
“Disciples should respect their Master and should respect the Sutra. Respecting the Sutra is like respecting the Master. Respecting the Master is like respecting the Sutra. Don’t discriminate between the Sutra and the Master. Why? The Dharma which you understand has come from your Master.The Master’s Dharma comes from the Sutra. They are three and one, one and three. But do not make the mistake of saying,
‘This Sutra is my Master so I don’t need any other Master!’
“If you renounce your Master, then the Master which is the Sutra also disappears.”

If even the Great Bodhisattvas who are enlightened and have such awesome powers and supreme wisdom still draw near to all Buddhas and rely on the spiritual might of the Thus Come Ones to expound the wonderful Dharma, then, how can ordinary unenlightened people assume that they are wise and good enough to strike out on their own? Good Wealth is acting as a model for all  cultivators. He never says to any of his Teachers, ‘I think I’m good enough to be on my own, I’m leaving.’
Good Wealth is extremely respectful towards all his Good Knowing Advisors and he goes to the next Teacher only because he had been instructed by his former Teacher to do so. He never runs off to secretly study with other Teachers.

Who is a Good Knowing Advisor? How does one recognizes a Good Knowing Advisor? Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua says that a Good and wise Advisor must meet four requirements:

1. He has no greed for money.
2. He has no greed for sex.
3. He does not seek a name for himself.
4. He is not selfish.

Manjushri Bodhisattva says that one should not find fault with the expedients used by a Good Knowing Advisor. In section twenty-eight, we have looked at some of the reasons why we should refrain from judging living beings. If one cannot judge a living being, one is even less competent to judge a Sage. One cannot use one’s ordinary mind to fathom and judge a Sage. A sage speaks, acts, and conducts himself based on Wisdom and Great Compassion. His spiritual state is inconceivable. But, a living being conducts himself based on emotions, worldly intelligence, his own culture, and ignorance. His judgment is based on a limited, narrow, impure, incomplete, and blur vision. One cannot use what is limited to judge what is limitless.

In Good Wealth’s spiritual quest to know how a Bodhisattva cultivates in order to attain the ultimate wisdom of a Buddha, he meets up with Good Knowing Advisors who represent the different Sagely positions.

In the Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua’s commentary to the Shurangama Sutra, he says,
When the five skandhas have been broken through, he will attain the positions of the Ten Faiths, the Ten Dwellings, the Ten Practices, the Ten Transferences, and the Ten Grounds. Then he can rest assured that he will attain Buddhahood.

A thorough study of the Shurangama Sutra, especially the section on the Fifty Skandha-Demon States is very necessary in order to recognize and avoid all the pitfalls and remain on the main, bright, and proper Path of the Six Paramitas and the Ten Thousand Conducts.

The Tripitaka Master Hsuan Hua exhorted saying,
The Shurangama Sutra is the Buddha’s True Body,
 the Buddha’s Sharira, the Buddha’s actual stupa and shrine.
 The Shurangama Sutra is for bringing forth great wisdom.
If you want to have right knowledge and right views
 and open great wisdom, you should
certainly understand the Shurangama Sutra,
which breaks up the deviant and reveals the Proper.