華嚴經旨歸 1.45

1.45

First, the assembly of fruition virtues: this refers to all Buddhas exhausting the dharmadhātu who all appear within Rocana's ocean-seal, joining together in this assembly to preach the Avataṃsaka-sūtra together. However, there are two categories: 1. Those who confer empowerment: in the first assembly, all the Buddhas exhausting the ten directions all manifest their bodies and confer empowerment upon Samantabhadra, and the other assemblies should be understood accordingly; 2. The assembly confirming the Dharma: as at the end of the 'Arousal of the Mind Chapter', in each of the ten directions there are Buddhas as numerous as the subtle atoms of ten thousand Buddha-lands, all named Dharmamati, who manifest their bodies in praise and narration, and so it is in all the ten directions. In the 'Manifestation of Nature Chapter', in each of the ten directions there are Tathāgatas as numerous as the subtle atoms of eighty ineffable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of worlds, all named Samantabhadra, who manifest their bodies in praise and narration, and so it is in the ten directions, all saying: 'We Buddhas, for the sake of future bodhisattvas, protect and uphold this sūtra to make it abide long in the world.' At the end of the seventh assembly, all the Buddhas exhausting the ten directions likewise manifest their bodies, personally praising, confirming, and narrating, which is explained as before: one should know that this sūtra's present abiding in the world is entirely through the Buddha's power.