法苑珠林 36.18

36.18

Also, the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna-sūtra states: If there are sentient beings who apply fragrant paste while observing the precepts to a Buddha stūpa, at the end of life they will be born in the Heaven of Fragrant Delight, always making merry with celestial maidens; after life in heaven ends, they will obtain a human body and be born into a family of great wealth. Also, the King Ajātaśatru Sūtra states: Incalculable kalpas in the past, there was a Buddha named Sarvātīta (All-Crossing), who went on alms rounds together with his retinue. There were three sons of elders, finely dressed, playing together. Seeing the towering radiance of the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, they pointed to one another and said, “We should jointly make an offering.” Two of the boys replied, “Since we have no incense or flowers, what shall we use?” One boy took off a white pearl from his head, held it in his hand, and said to the two boys, “We can use this to make an offering to the Buddha.” The two boys followed his example, untied the white pearls from their heads, and held them in their hands. They immediately went to the Buddha's place. The one boy then asked the two boys, “By means of this merit, what will you seek?” One boy said, “I wish to be like the bhikṣu on the Buddha's right.” One boy said, “I wish to be like the bhikṣu of supernatural powers on the Buddha's left.” The two boys jointly asked the one boy, who answered, “I wish to be like the Buddha.” Eight thousand sons of heaven all said, “Excellent! If it is as you say, all in heaven and under heaven will receive your grace.” These three young boys arrived before the Buddha and each scattered his white pearl over the Buddha. For the two boys who had aroused the intention of śrāvakas, the pearls rested on the Buddha's shoulders. For the one boy who had aroused the bodhicitta, the pearl rested on top of the Buddha's head and transformed into a pavilion draped with pearl flowers, inside of which was a Buddha. The Buddha told Śāriputra, “The boy in the middle was myself; the boy on the right was Śāriputra; the boy on the left was Maudgalyāyana. Śāriputra, because you feared saṃsāra in the past, you did not arouse the bodhicitta, wishing for quick nirvāṇa. Behold this one boy: because he aroused anuttarabodhi, he was able to become a Buddha.” Also, the Sūtra on Plucking Flowers and Receiving Prediction states: At that time, the king of the country of Rājagṛha dispatched more than ten men to regularly gather fine flowers to supply the royal household. One day, the ladies of the inner palace went out of the city to gather flowers, met the Buddha, aroused faith, and bowed their heads in homage. They thought to themselves, “We would rather give up our bodies and lives to offer flowers to the Buddha and scatter them over the noble assembly; even if we are killed, we will not fall into bitter suffering.” They then scattered the flowers over the Buddha and the noble assembly, then took refuge and made repeated prostrations with a focused mind. Knowing their thoughts, the Buddha had great compassion for them and expounded the Dharma in full. All the flower gatherers aroused the thought of the Way, and the Buddha immediately bestowed a prediction: “In the future you shall become a Buddha named Wonderful Flower (Suphulla).” When the flower gatherers returned home to bid farewell to their parents, they said, “Our lives are now at an end; we will be killed by the king.” The parents were astonished and asked what fault they had committed. They answered fully with the cause: “Without flowers to present to the king, we will certainly be put to death; thus we have come to bid farewell.” Hearing this, their parents grew even more sorrowful. Opening the baskets to look, they found them filled with fine flowers, their fragrance permeating all four directions. The parents said to them, “You can present these to the king.” At that time, the king was furious that they had not come on time; he had them tied with hands behind their backs, condemned to execution in the marketplace. Entering the palace to see the king, their facial complexions did not change. Surprised, the king asked them, “You have committed a transgression and your lives are doomed to execution. Why are you not afraid?” They said to the king, “Where there is human life there is death; where things are accomplished there is decay. Constantly doing what is unlawful, we never spared our lives. This morning when we went to gather flowers, we encountered the Buddha and offered them to him. Knowing that by violating your command our crime deserved death, we would rather die with virtue than survive without virtue. When we returned to look at the flower baskets, they were still filled as before. This is all the sheltering kindness and benevolence of the Tathāgata.” The king found this very strange and did not believe it was so; thus he went to the Buddha's place to ask the Buddha about this matter. The Buddha said, “It is indeed so. These people, with supreme devotion wishing to deliver [beings of] the ten directions, did not begrudge their bodies and lives; hence they took the flowers to scatter over the Buddha. With minds devoid of expectation of reward, they have received a prediction: in the future they will become Buddhas named Wonderful Flower.” The king was overjoyed; he untied their bonds, repented of his transgression, and reproached his own foolish mind for falling short of bodhisattvas, begging only to forgive their crime. The Buddha said, “Excellent! One who can reform himself is equal to one without fault.”