佛說觀佛三昧海經 9.18

9.18

The great assembly gathered at that time saw the Buddhas of the ten directions, the bodhisattvas, and the sizes of their lands, just like seeing all kinds of forms and images in a clear mirror. The flowers scattered by the Bodhisattva Dhanada right above Mañjuśrī then transformed into a four-pillared jeweled platform, and within that platform were four Bhagavats, emitting bodily light and sitting majestically: Akṣobhya in the east, Ratnaketu in the south, Amitāyus in the west, and Divyadundubhimeghanirghoṣa in the north. At that time, the four Bhagavats scattered golden lotus flowers over Śākyamuni Buddha. Before reaching the Buddha, they transformed into a canopy of flowers with millions of petals. Between each petal were hundreds of thousands of transformation Buddhas, and the transformation Buddhas emitted light. Within the light there were again countless transformation Buddhas. When the jeweled canopy was completed, the four Buddha Bhagavats descended from the sky, sat upon Śākyamuni Buddha's seat, and praised him, saying: "Excellent, excellent, Śākyamuni! You are truly able to expound the white ūrṇā mark and light of the Buddhas of the three periods of time for the defiled and evil sentient beings of future ages, causing all sentient beings to extinguish their sins and offenses. Why is this? We recall that in the past we went forth to study the Way under the Buddha Śūnyarāja. At that time, four monks were fellow students together, practicing and studying the true Dharma of the Buddhas of the three periods of time. Our minds were covered by afflictions, so that we could not uphold the jewel treasury of the Buddha's Dharma, and due to many unwholesome karmas, we were destined to fall into the evil destinies. A voice in the sky said: 'You four monks! Although Śūnyarāja Tathāgata has entered nirvāṇa, though you consider what you have violated to be beyond redemption, you should now enter the stūpa and contemplate the Buddha; it is equal to and no different from when the Buddha was in the world.' Following the voice in the sky, we entered the stūpa and contemplated the ūrṇā mark between the eyebrows of the image, and then gave rise to this thought: 'When the Tathāgata was in the world, how was his luminous form-body any different from this? May the Buddha's marks of a great being eradicate our sins!' Having spoken these words, we threw our five limbs to the ground like a great mountain collapsing, repenting all our sins and contemplating the space between the Buddha's eyebrows. By virtue of the causes and conditions of repentance, from then on, for eighty billion asaṃkhyeya kalpas, we did not fall into the evil destinies, and life after life we constantly saw the Buddhas of the ten directions. Under those Buddhas, we received and upheld the profound mindfulness-of-the-Buddha samādhi. Having attained the samādhi, the Buddhas manifested before us and bestowed our prophesies. In the east there is a land named Abhirati, and the Buddha of that land is named Akṣobhya—he was the first monk! In the south there is a land named Ānanda, and the Buddha's name is Ratnaketu—he was the second monk! In the west there is a land named Sukhāvatī, and the Buddha's name is Amitāyus—he was the third monk! In the north there is a land named Padmālaṃkāra, and the Buddha's name is Divyadundubhimeghanirghoṣa—he was the fourth monk!"