法苑珠林 16.24

16.24

Furthermore, the Sūtra of the Original Vows Inquired by Bodhisattva Maitreya states: The Buddha told Ānanda, “Not only does Maitreya praise me with verses. In the distant past, ten incalculable kalpas ago, there was a Buddha named King Who Resounds with Blazing Light Tathāgata. There was a brāhmaṇa elder named Bhadrakārin. In the presence of that Buddha, he had already attained the tolerance of the non-arising of phenomena. That brāhmaṇa Bhadrakārin of that time is the present Bodhisattva Maitreya.” Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Maitreya attained the tolerance of phenomena so long ago, why did he not quickly attain the unexcelled, true and proper path and realize supreme saṃbodhi?” The Buddha told Ānanda, “A bodhisattva does not realize saṃbodhi on account of four matters. What are the four? First, purifying the realm. Second, protecting the realm. Third, purifying all beings. Fourth, protecting all beings. These are the four matters. When Maitreya originally sought buddhahood, he did not realize buddhahood because of these four matters.” The Buddha told Ānanda, “When I originally sought buddhahood, I also had these four. However, Maitreya generated the aspiration forty-two kalpas before me. I generated the aspiration for the path only after him. In this Bhadrakalpa, through great diligence, I surpassed nine kalpas, attaining the unexcelled, true and proper path and achieving supreme saṃbodhi.” The Buddha told Ānanda, “I achieved supreme saṃbodhi through ten matters. What are the ten? First, begrudging nothing whatsoever that I possessed. Second, wives and concubines. Third, sons and daughters. Fourth, head and eyes. Fifth, hands and feet. Sixth, realms and lands. Seventh, precious treasures and wealth. Eighth, bone marrow and brain. Ninth, blood and flesh. Tenth, not begrudging bodily life. Through these ten matters, I quickly attained the Buddha Path.” Furthermore, the Mahākāruṇika-sūtra states: The Buddha told Ānanda, “Look when the Tathāgata walks upon a road: he causes the high places of the great earth to become low, and the low places to become high, so that all places high and low become level and even. After the Tathāgata passes, the earth returns to its previous state. All groves and trees bend toward the Buddha, and tree deities manifest their bodies, bowing their heads in worship. After the Tathāgata passes, the trees return to their previous state. All mounds, pits, cesspools, foul waste, thickets, rubble, and tiles are entirely swept away, becoming level, even, and pure. Fragrant scents drift intensely, and various flowers are scattered upon the ground; the Tathāgata steps upon them and passes by. If even insentient things incline and bend, how much more so sentient beings—how could they not increase their reverence? Why is this? When I originally practiced the bodhisattva conduct, there was no one toward whom I did not bow, humble myself, and show reverence. Having attained buddhahood by virtue of this wholesome karma, whenever the Tathāgata walks, both sentient and insentient beings without exception incline, bend, and bow their heads in worship. In the past, I once gave pure, subtle, and satisfying possessions to sentient beings with a sincere mind and my own hands. As the karmic retribution for this, when the Tathāgata walks, the great earth becomes level and even, swept and sprinkled clean, free of rubble and tiles. When I walked on roads where countless worthy ones and sages dwelt, I once swept and repaired roads and plastered dwellings. With an impartial mind free of high and low, I swept and repaired them to make them pure, at all times constantly seeking bodhi to benefit sentient beings. By virtue of these wholesome roots, wherever the Buddha Tathāgata walks along the roads, they are naturally pure, and the ground is as level as the palm of a hand. Even King Mount Sumeru, eighty-four thousand yojanas high and just as deep within the great ocean, and the Iron Ring Mountains, one hundred and sixty-eight thousand yojanas high and as solid as vajra, all incline and bow their heads in reverence when the Buddha enters nirvāṇa. If one wished to distance oneself and not incline, that too would be impossible.”