The Stem Array · Gaṇḍavyūha

Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, with inconceivable respect⁷⁵⁵ for kalyāṇamitras, with a pure, vast⁷⁵⁶ aspiration, intent on the Mahāyāna, aspiring to the wisdom of buddhahood, following the Buddhadharma, longing to follow the kalyāṇamitras, practicing veneration of the Dharma,⁷⁵⁷ intent on unimpeded wisdom, with conviction in the highest goal, being within the range of the apogee of wisdom, comprehending the three times in a fraction of an instant, intent on the nondual apogee of space, having attained certainty in the apogee of nonduality, dwelling in the nonconceptual apogee of the realm of the Dharma, having entered the comprehension of the way that is the apogee of being free of obscurations, dedicated to the harmony that is the apogee of action,⁷⁵⁸ realizing that the apogee of the tathāgatas is without an apogee, dwelling in the nonconceptuality that is the apogee of the buddhas,⁷⁵⁹ and dedicated to the wisdom that disperses the network of conceptualizations of all beings, had a mind free from all attachment to realms, free from attachment to all the circles of followers of the buddhas, and practiced, without dwelling in any location, the purification of all buddha realms; he had the recognition that there is no self and no beings within all beings, comprehended that all sounds are like echoes,⁷⁶⁰ and was dedicated to the realization that all forms are the same as reflections of forms.

Sudhana eventually arrived at the city of Siṃha­vijṛmbhita. He searched for and sought the maiden Maitrayaṇī and heard that Maitrayaṇī, the daughter of King Siṃhaketu, with her entourage of five hundred maidens, was in a palace called Vairocana­garbha. She was teaching the Dharma while seated on a throne that had uragasāra sandalwood legs, was draped in a network of threads of gold, and had a cushion made of divine material.

Sudhana entered the city of Siṃha­vijṛmbhita and went to the residence of King Siṃhaketu. He sat at the king’s outer gate hoping to see the maiden Maitrayaṇī.

Sudhana saw many hundreds of people, many thousands of people, many hundreds of thousands of people there.

He asked them, “Where have you come from? Where are you going?”

They replied, “We have come to hear the Dharma from the maiden Maitrayaṇī.”

Sudhana thought, “It seems as if everyone is allowed to go in,” and he went inside.

When he had gone inside and looked around, he saw that the Vairocana­garbha palace had the inconceivable display of a floor that was made of crystal, pillars made of beryl, and walls made of diamonds; it was adorned with hundreds of thousands of pinnacles made of solid gold, was furnished with round mirrors made of the essence of a thousand precious materials, and was adorned with countless precious jewels; it was arrayed with precious jewels that delighted beings and was strewn with countless nets of jewels;⁷⁶¹ and there was the melodious sound from hundreds of thousands of jingling golden bells.

He saw the maiden Maitrayaṇī, who had deep black eyes,⁷⁶² deep black hair, and golden skin.

Sudhana bowed his head to the feet of the maiden Maitrayaṇī, circumambulated her, keeping her to his right, many hundreds of thousands of times, and with his hands together in homage sat down before her.

Sudhana said, “Āryā, I have developed the aspiration for the highest, complete enlightenment, but I do not know how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and in what way they should practice it.

“Āryā, I have heard that you give instruction and teachings to bodhisattvas. I pray that you explain to me how bodhisattvas should train in bodhisattva conduct and how they should practice it!”

Maitrayaṇī said, “Noble one, look at the display of my residence!”

Sudhana looked all around and saw in each wall, each pillar, each round mirror, each form, each shape, each precious jewel, each golden bell, each precious tree, each pore, and each string of jewels the images of the tathāgatas in all the realm of phenomena first developing their aspiration for enlightenment, their conduct and the scope of their prayers, the display of their setting forth, their manifestation of the attainment of buddhahood, their turning the wheel of the Dharma, and their demonstration of passing into nirvāṇa. What he saw from one object of perception he saw from all the objects of perception. For example, there appeared in a lake filled with water that was unpolluted and clear the reflection of the sky, the sun, the moon, and the constellations of stars. In the same way, in every object of perception within the Vairocana­garbha palace appeared the reflections of all the tathāgatas present in the entire realm of phenomena as the result of the maiden Maitrayaṇī’s previous roots of merit.

When Sudhana had seen and remembered the features of this display of the vision of the buddhas, with his hands together in homage he looked at Maitrayaṇī’s face.

She said to him, “Noble one, I have attained the teaching⁷⁶³ of the gateway to the perfection of wisdom called the complete display. I sought this teaching of the gateway to the perfection of wisdom called the complete display from as many tathāgatas as there are grains of sand in three hundred and sixty million Ganges Rivers. Those tathāgatas, through making me enter various gateways, made me realize the teaching of the gateway to the perfection of wisdom called the complete display. What was taught by any one of them was not taught by another of them.”

Sudhana asked, “Āryā, what is the scope of this teaching of the gateway to the perfection of wisdom called the complete display?”

Maitrayaṇī answered, “Noble one, having been made to face, reflect on, follow, practice, contemplate, approach,⁷⁶⁴ grasp, display, attain, adorn, and analyze this teaching of the gateway to the perfection of wisdom called the complete display, there arose the power of retention called the complete gateways. Countless millions of Dharma gateways are present, are included, are manifest, are collected, and are arranged⁷⁶⁵ within the range of that power of retention.

“There is the gateway to the buddha realms, the gateway to the buddhas, the gateway to the Dharma, the gateway to beings, the gateway to the past, the gateway to the future, the gateway to the present, the gateway to the highest state, the gateway to merit, the gateway to the accumulation of merit, the gateway to wisdom, the gateway to the accumulation of wisdom, the gateway to the forms of prayer, the gateway to conduct, the gateway to pure conduct, the gateway to the creation of conduct, the gateway to the perfection of conduct, the gateway to karma, the gateway to the illumination⁷⁶⁶ of karma, the gateway to the continuum of karma, the gateway to the creation of karma, the gateway to the range of karma,⁷⁶⁷ the gateway to the avoidance of bad karma, the gateway to the practice of good karma, the gateway to power over karma, the gateway to good behavior, the gateway to the adoption of good behavior, the gateway to samādhi, the gateway to engagement in samādhi, the gateway to the procedure of samādhi, the gateway to the range of samādhi, the gateway to arising from samādhi, the gateway to clairvoyance, the gateway to the ocean of the mind, the gateway to the processes of the mind, the gateway to the purification of the continuum of the mind, the gateway to illuminating the darkness of the mind, the gateway to clarifying the lake of the mind, the gateway to the arising of the mind, the gateway to the activities of the mind, the gateway of the kleśas in beings, the gateway to the propensity for the kleśas, the gateway to the engagement of the kleśas, the gateway to aspiration,⁷⁶⁸ the gateway to the conduct of beings, the gateway to the different conducts of beings, the gateway to the creation of worlds, the gateway to the thoughts of beings, the gateway to the form of the conceptualizations of beings, the gateway to the directions, the gateway to the direction of the Dharma, the gateway to great compassion, the gateway to great love, the gateway to peace, the gateway to the path of speech, the gateway to ways, the gateway to following, the gateway to division, the gateway to unification, the gateway to the highest absence of impediments, the gateway to everything, the gateway to the Dharma of the buddhas, the gateway to the Dharma of the bodhisattvas, the gateway to the Dharma of the śrāvakas, the gateway to the Dharma of the pratyeka­buddhas, the gateway to the Dharma of worldly beings, the gateway to the Dharma of the creation of worlds, the gateway to the Dharma of the destruction of worlds, the gateway to the Dharma⁷⁶⁹ of the presence of worlds, the gateway to pure world realms, the gateway to afflicted world realms, the gateway to pure and afflicted world realms, the gateway to solely afflicted world realms, the gateway to solely pure world realms, the gateway to entering the level world realms, the gateway to the sideways world realms, the gateway to the world realms of upside-down beings, the gateway to entering illusory manifestations, the gateway to the continuum of world realms, the gateway to the conceptual identification of locations, the gateway to the minute being within the vast, the gateway to the vast being within the minute, the gateway to seeing the buddhas, the gateway to the different forms of the bodies of the buddhas, the gateway to the different nets of light rays of the buddhas, the gateway to the differentiation of the domains of speech of the buddhas, the gateway to the attainment of the wheels of Dharma of the buddhas, the gateway to the differentiation between the wheels of Dharma of the buddhas, the gateway to the meanings of the words in the wheels of Dharma of the buddhas, the gateway to the turning of the wheels of Dharma of the buddhas, the gateway to the actions of the buddhas,⁷⁷⁰ the gateway to the circles of followers of the buddhas, the gateway to the differentiation between the circles of followers of the buddhas, the gateway to entering the ocean of the circles of followers of the buddhas, the gateway to the radiance of the strengths of the buddhas, the gateway to the samādhis of the buddhas, the gateway to the miracles of the samādhis of the buddhas, the gateway to the conduct of the buddhas, the gateway to the blessings of the buddhas, the gateway to the emanations of the buddhas, the gateway to the minds of other beings being known by the buddhas, the gateway to the miraculous manifestations of the buddhas, the gateway to residing in Tuṣita, and so on, up to the gateway of demonstrating passing into nirvāṇa, the gateway to the accomplishment of limitless benefit for beings, the gateway to the profound way of the Dharma, the gateway to the various ways of the Dharma, the gateway to the forms of the Dharma of the aspiration to enlightenment, the gateway to the forms of the Dharma of the generation of the aspiration to enlightenment, the gateway to the forms of the Dharma of the accumulation of the aspiration to enlightenment, the gateway to the forms of prayer, the gateway to the forms of conduct, the gateway to the forms of clairvoyance, the gateway to the forms of setting forth, the gateway to the forms of pure retention, the gateway to the forms of the pure field of knowledge, the gateway to the forms of pure wisdom, the gateway to the forms of immeasurable enlightenment, and the gateway to the forms of pure remembrance.

“However, noble one, I know only this teaching of the gateway to the perfection of wisdom called the complete display of memory. How could I know or describe the qualities of the bodhisattvas whose minds are as vast as the realm of space, whose understanding is as vast as the realm of phenomena, whose continuum is supported by an accumulation of merit, who follow a path that transcends the world, who do not engage with worldly qualities, who have attained the undimmed radiance of wisdom, who have comprehended the entire realm of Dharma free of darkness, who have an understanding that is as limitless as space, who have the eyes that follow every object of perception, who possess the essence of unimpeded radiance, who are skilled in differentiating the words⁷⁷¹ and meaning of all the Dharma, who overpower⁷⁷² without being overpowered by the world, who have a conduct that accords with the ways of worldly conduct, who do not commit any transgression in any of the worldly ways, who are dedicated to the benefit of all⁷⁷³ worlds, who are a support for all beings, who are skilled in the speech and behavior of all beings, who have the intention to dwell with all beings, who appear in whatever way they are wished to be perceived, and who have power over all the wheels of time.

“Depart, noble one. In this southern region there is a land called Trinayana. There dwells a bhikṣu by the name of Sudarśana. Go to him and ask him, ‘How does a bodhisattva train in bodhisattva conduct? How does a bodhisattva practice it?’ ”

Then Sudhana, the head merchant’s son, bowed his head to the feet of the maiden Maitrayaṇī, circumambulated the maiden Maitrayaṇī, keeping her to his right, many hundreds of thousands of times, and, looking back again and again, departed from the presence of the maiden Maitrayaṇī.