法苑珠林 85.12

85.12

Furthermore, the Avataṃsaka-sūtra states: When a bodhisattva employs such expedient means to seek the Dharma, of all his precious treasures there are none he values or begrudges, conceiving no thought of difficulty regarding these things. If he obtains a single phrase of the Dharma not heard before, it surpasses obtaining a three-thousand-great-thousandfold world full of precious gems. To get to hear a single verse surpasses attaining the station of a wheel-turning sage king, of Śakra Devānām Indra, or of a Brahmā king. The bodhisattva reflects: 'To receive a single phrase of the Dharma, even if the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world were filled with great fires, I would throw myself down into it from the Brahmā heaven, how much more so for a small fire? I should still seek the Dharma even if I had to undergo all the sufferings of all the hells, how much more so for the minor distresses among humans!' For the sake of seeking the Dharma, he arouses such a resolve. In accord with the Dharma he has heard, his mind always rejoices and he is fully able to contemplate it correctly. The Adbhutadharma-sūtra states: Formerly, at Mount Xituo in the state of Bima, there was a jackal that was pursued by a lion and fell into a deserted well. After three days had passed, his heart cleared and he resigned himself to death, speaking these verses of his own accord: