འཕགས་པ་གསར་གྱ་བྱ་མ་ལྟ་བ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 3

3

thus-gone, worthy, perfectly complete buddhas are limitless. Yes, Ānanda, thus-gone, worthy, perfectly complete buddhas possess limitless good qualities.

“Ānanda, do you wish to hear of the limitlessness of thus-gone ones, to know about the range of thus-gone ones,⁵ and to know of the good qualities of thus-gone ones?”

“Yes, Blessed One, please teach the monks,” Venerable Ānanda replied. “Please teach us, Well-Gone One. If the monks hear it from you directly, they will retain it well.”

The Blessed One then asked Venerable Ānanda, “Ānanda, do you know the miraculous powers with which Mahāmaudgalyāyana can travel in the cardinal and intermediate directions?”

Ānanda replied, “Please tell us, Blessed One. With what miraculous powers does Mahāmaudgalyāyana travel in the cardinal and intermediate directions? Well-Gone One, please teach us.”

“Ānanda, I will illustrate it for you by means of an analogy,” said the Blessed One. “Why? Because, Ānanda, learned people reach understanding through analogies. Ānanda, take the analogy of a pool measuring eight thousand leagues. It is so filled with water that a crow can drink from it, it is of equal depth on all sides, and it is covered with lotus leaves. Over this pool someone then rides an iron chariot pulled by fine horses that are stronger than the wind. They race with such power, force, and speed that the wooden rims of the wheels do not even touch the water, nor do the horses’ hooves touch the water, and the lotus leaves are not crushed by the horses’ hooves, not even slightly.