The Flower Ornament Scripture
A Translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra
Thomas Cleary
BOOK
THIRTEEN
13. Ascent to the Peak of Mount Sumeru
THEN, BY THE
SPIRITUAL POWER of the
Enlightened One, in the Jambudvipa continent of all worlds in the ten directions
there was seen the Enlightened One
sitting under a
tree, in each place with enlighten ing beings receiving the Buddha's
spiritual power and expounding the teaching, all thinking they were at all times
facing the Buddha
in person. At that time the Buddha, without leaving the foot of the
enlightenment tree, ascended Mount
Sumeru and headed for
the palace of Indra; then lndra,
king of gods, in front of the Hall of Surpassing Wonder, seeing Buddha coming
from afar, adorned this
palace by means of his
supernatural power. He put in it a lion throne of banks of radiant lights, all
made of exquisite jewels, with ten thousand levels of dazzling ornaments and ten thousand nets of gold covering it,
ten thousand kinds of curtains and ten thousand levels of canopies arrayed all
around, with ten thousand
embroidered silks as curtain
sashes, ten thousand strings of pearls joined together, and ten thousand robes spread on the throne.
Ten thousand godlings and ten thousand
Brahma kings surrounded it in front and
behind, while ten thousand light beams illumined it.
Then Indra,
having set up this throne for the Enlightened One, bowed and joined his palms, reverently
facing the Buddha, and said, "Welcome, World Honored One; welcome,
Blissful One; welcome, Realized One, Perfectly Enlightened One: please be so
compassionate as to sojourn in this palace. " Then the Buddha, accepting
his invitation, entered the Hall of Surpassing Wonder. This also took place in
the same way in all the worlds of the ten directions. Then, due to the Buddha's
spiritual power, all the music in the palaces spontaneously ceased, and Indra
recalled to himself how he had planted roots of goodness with Buddhas of the past; he spoke in verse,
saying,
Kashyapa Buddha had great compassion, Supreme among
the auspicious.
368
Ascent to the Peak of Mount Sumeru
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Kanakamuni' s vision was unobstructd, Supreme among
the auspicious .
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Krakucchanda was like a mountain of gold, Supreme
among the auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Vishvabhu Buddha was undefiled, Supreme among the
auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Shikhin Buddha was free from discrimination, Supreme
among the auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Vipashin Buddha was like a full moon, Supreme among
the auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Pushya clearly realized the ultimate truth, Supreme
among the auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Tishya Buddha's eloquence was unhindered, Supreme
among the auspicious .
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
Padma Buddha was utterly pure, Supreme among the auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious .
Dipankara Buddha was effulgent, Supreme among the
auspicious.
That Buddha has come into this palace, Hence this
place is most auspicious.
369
370 The Flower
Ornametzt Scripture
As in
this world the king of the
thirty-threefold heaven,
lndra, by the spiritual power of
the Buddha, extolled the virtues of ten
Buddhas, so did all the Indras in the worlds of the ten directions also praise
the Buddhas' virtues . Then the World Honored One entered the Hall of
Surpassing Wonder and sat crosslegged:
this hall suddenly became vastly
spacious , like the dwelling places of all the celestial hosts. The same thing
happened in all worlds in the ten directions .
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