Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom

Translation of འཕགས་པ་ཚ་དང་ཡ་ཤས་དཔག་ཏ་མད་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད (འཕགས་པ་ཚེ་དང་ཡེ་ཤེས་དཔག་ཏུ་མེད་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ)

Language
English
Date
2007 CE
Translator
the-indian-pandita-punyasambhava-and-the-lotsawa-patsab-nyim
Extent
120 passages, 1,607 words
Text
complete digital text
Source
lotsawahouse · the Indian paṇḍita Puṇyasambhava and the lotsāwa Patsab Nyima Drak (tr.), Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom,… · CC BY-NC 4.0 (Lotsawa House); shown with attribution on a non-commercial site

Contents

Text

p1

Homage to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas!

p2

Thus have I heard.

p3

Once the Blessed One was dwelling in Śrāvastī, in Anāthapiṇḍada’s garden in the Jetavana grove,

p4

Together with a great gathering of twelve hundred and fifty monks,

p5

And a great gathering of many bodhisattva mahāsattvas.

p6

At that time, the Blessed One said to youthful Mañjuśrī:

p7

“O Mañjuśrī, above us lies a world called Boundless Qualities,

p8

In which there dwells the tathāgata, the arhat, the completely and perfectly enlightened one called Boundless Life and Wisdom, the Utterly Discerning King of Splendour.

p9

He protects life and extends longevity, and

p10

He teaches the Dharma to sentient beings.

p11

“Listen, O youthful Mañjuśrī!

p12

The human beings of Jambudvīpa have short lives; they are only able to live for a hundred years and

p13

The majority meet untimely deaths.

p14

O Mañjuśrī, if people write out this section of Dharma praising the qualities of the Buddha Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p15

Encourage others to write it out, or

p16

Merely hear its name, or

p17

Read it aloud and copy it into a book which they keep in their home, or

p18

Venerate it with offerings of flowers, incense, garlands, perfumed ointments and powders,

p19

their lifespan will not be exhausted and they will be able to live a hundred years.

p20

“O Mañjuśrī, if people hear the one hundred and eight names of the Buddha called Boundless Life and Wisdom, the Utterly Discerning King of Splendour,

p21

Their span of life will be extended.

p22

“Even those who are on the point of the total exhaustion of their lives,

p23

If they keep these names in mind, will have their span of life extended.

p24

“O Mañjuśrī, these will be the qualities and the benefits that come to any son or daughter of noble family who wishes to extend their life and who listens to these one hundred and eight names of the Buddha called Boundless Life and Wisdom, the Utterly Discerning King of Splendour, or who writes them, encourages others to write them, or reads them aloud.

p25

“O Mañjuśrī, whoever writes these one hundred and eight names of the Buddha called Boundless Life and Wisdom, the Utterly Discerning King of Splendour, or

p26

Encourages others to write them, or

p27

Writes them in a book and keeps it in the home, or

p28

Reads them aloud, will live for one hundred years without their span of life being exhausted.

p29

And when they die, they will be reborn in a pure land such as the universe of Boundless Qualities, the buddha field of the Buddha of Boundless Life.”

p30

Then, at that time, 990 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p31

Then, at that time, 840 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p32

Then, at that time, 770 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p33

Then, at that time, 650 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p34

Then, at that time, 550 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p35

Then, at that time, 450 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p36

Then, at that time, 360 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p37

Then, at that time, 250 million buddhas, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p38

Then, at that time, as many millions of buddhas as there are grains of sand in ten Ganges rivers, all with like minds and speech in unison, recited this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom.

p39

“Whoever writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p40

encourages others to write it,

p41

Will live for one hundred years without their span of life being exhausted.

p42

Their span of life will also increase.

p43

“Whoever writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p44

encourages others to write it,

p45

Will never again be born in the hells or among the animals, or in the realm of Yama.

p46

Never again will they be born in a state that lacks freedom,

p47

And they will remember all the details of their past lives.

p48

“For anyone to write this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p49

encourage others to write it

p50

Is just like commissioning the writing of the 84,000 sections of the Dharma.

p51

“For anyone to write this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p52

encourage others to write it

p53

Is just like commissioning the reproduction of the 84,000 sections of the Dharma and

p54

Having them all consecrated.

p55

“If anyone writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p56

encourages others to write it,

p57

Even if they have committed the five acts with immediate retribution, their misdeeds will be completely purified.

p58

“If anyone writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom,

p59

Or encourages others to write it,

p60

Even if they have committed a mass of harmful deeds as vast as Mount Meru, their misdeeds will all be completely purified.

p61

“If anyone writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p62

encourages others to write it,

p63

Even though the māras or the gods of the realm of māra, or

p64

yakṣas or rākṣasas might seek to bring harm upon them, they will remain unharmed.

p65

“Whoever writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p66

encourages others to write it,

p67

Will receive prophecies directly from 990 million buddhas at the time of their death.

p68

A thousand buddhas will extend their hands towards them and

p69

They will go from one buddha realm to another.

p70

Have no doubts, misgivings or hesitations about this.

p71

“Whoever writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p72

encourages others to write it

p73

Will be attended and protected by the four great kings, who will guard over them and keep them hidden from danger.

p74

“Whoever writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

p75

encourages others to write it

p76

Will be reborn in the realm of Sukhāvatī, the buddha field of Buddha Amitābha.

p77

“Any place in which this rare and supreme Sūtra is written down will become a site worthy of veneration.

p78

Any bird or other creature born into the animal realm who hears this Sūtra will achieve full awakening in the unsurpassable state of complete and perfect enlightenment.

p79

“Whoever writes this Sūtra of Boundless Life and Wisdom, or

First 79 of 120 passages. Read on