法苑珠林 26.26

26.26

As the Pusa chutai jing states: At that time, Bodhisattva Miaosheng addressed the Buddha, saying, "World-Honoured One, through cultivating what dharmas do the bodhisattvas of five superknowledges attain the path of supernatural powers?" The Buddha told Miaosheng, "In this desire realm, there are good men and good women who, without needing the divine eye, are able from birth to see clearly throughout one Jambudvīpa the various kinds of sentient beings, whether coarse or fine, beautiful or ugly, as well as the city walls and groves of trees. Or there are some people whose eyes can view two, three, or four continents; without needing the divine eye, they can observe and see them from birth. Or there are some people who, without needing the divine eye or divine ear, hear clearly throughout one continent all sounds—men's voices, women's voices, and all other sounds—and can discern and know them immediately; without ever cultivating the divine ear, they understand each and every one clearly. Or there are some people who, without training or study, spontaneously know their past lives: 'I came from such-and-such a place to be born here,' and can fully discern and know their parents, clan, names, and surnames. Or there are some people who, without cultivating supernatural powers, know the mental conduct of other people, their good and bad destinations, and their places of rebirth, whether sentient beings with whom they have karmic affinity or those without karmic affinity—they know them all. Or there are some people whose bodies can fly, circle around, and come and go; without cultivating the supernatural power of the body, their bodies can fly without hindrance, walking on the empty sky as on the ground and walking on the ground as on the empty sky. The Buddha said: 'Good men and good women cultivate the noble power of the divine eye, eliminate form and cut off defilements, and through the doors of the three concentrations on emptiness they can then see one thousand continents, two thousand continents, or three thousand great thousand continents. Or some hear all the sounds in one thousand continents, two thousand continents, or three thousand great thousand continents, and can clearly understand the good and evil of the six destinies. Or some people eliminate the defilements of consciousness, being flawless inside and out; obtaining the noble power of mind, they spontaneously know past lives—one life, two lives, up to countless asaṃkhyeya kalpas—the places from which they came, their parents, relatives, and whether the lands were pure, knowing all of these. Or some people cultivate the ten supernatural powers, understand the nature of phenomena, and have strong memories without forgetting; they can then know the thoughts of others' minds, over one life, two lives, up to countless asaṃkhyeya kalpas, the places from which they came, their parents, relatives, the purity of the lands, names, surnames, and clans, knowing them all. Or some people contemplate the discernment of phenomena, maintaining the body with the mind and maintaining the mind with the body; whether sleeping or awake, their mental thoughts are like empty space, and they can then raise their entire body across one continent, two continents, up to a three-thousand-great-thousand world realm, entering the earth as if it were empty space, unobstructed by mountains, rivers, rocks, or walls. Or some people, when approaching the attainment of buddhahood, eliminate the defilements of sentient beings by the power of wisdom; sitting under the king of trees, they do not rise from their seat, and thus attain buddhahood with the six superknowledges clear and pure.' At that time, the World-Honoured One spoke a verse, saying: