འཕགས་པ་ཕྱགས་བཅའ་མན་པ་རྣམ་པར་སལ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.2

intro.2

In Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions, the Śākya youth Shining Countenance, setting out from the city of Kapilavastu in his chariot, encounters the Buddha, who is approaching the city. When Shining Countenance requests the Buddha to teach him a rite of protection from harm, the Buddha proceeds to describe ten buddhas, each dwelling in a distant world system in one of the ten directions, explaining to the youth that if he keeps in mind whichever of those thus-gone ones is appropriate when departing from the city in their respective direction, he will be free from fear and harm when traveling and accomplish his purpose. After the Buddha gives this teaching, Shining Countenance and the others in the assembly are able to see those ten buddhas and their realms directly before their eyes, and at the prompting of Śāriputra, the Buddha prophesies their eventual awakening. The Buddha further explains that someone who merely reads, teaches, or writes down and keeps this teaching with them will similarly be free from fear and harm and will pass away peacefully at the end of their life. The god Śakra further pledges to protect those who uphold this teaching, and the Buddha states that doing so constitutes truly honoring, venerating, and making offerings to the Thus-Gone One.