Chapter 2: The Bodhisattva Who Upholds Humankind and the Buddha of Sublime Wisdom and Supreme Sovereignty

The Buddha told Chiren: "In the distant past, countless eons beyond measure, an immeasurable time ago, there was a Buddha named Miaohui Chaowang Tathagata, the Perfectly Enlightened One, the One of Perfect Wisdom and Conduct, the Well-Gone One, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed One, the Tamer of Beings, the Teacher of Gods and Humans, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. During that Buddha's time, the assembly of disciples was beyond counting, and the gatherings of Bodhisattvas were without limit—all due to the great vows that Buddha made while cultivating the path. His Buddha-land was pure and majestic, without the three evil realms or the eight difficulties. Beings there dwelt in peace and happiness, free from greed and the five hindrances. There was no worldly strife; they delighted solely in the factors of enlightenment and practiced the four meditative absorptions with proper concentration."

The Buddha said, "Listen, all of you! The Tathagata named 'Supreme King of Sublime Wisdom' had a lifespan of eight billion trillion kalpas. In his land, the people lived for three billion trillion years. In that era, there were no worldly kings ruling over the people. Only the Tathagata Supreme King of Sublime Wisdom, the truly perfected one, was revered as the King of the Dharma. All beings honored him as the Unsurpassed King of the Path. The Tathagata Supreme King of Sublime Wisdom, the truly perfected one, and his assembly of bodhisattvas were able to resolve all doubts for everyone, bringing great joy as they widely proclaimed the inexhaustible treasury of the bodhisattva teachings."

At that time, the bodhisattvas, upon hearing the Buddha speak of such pure Dharma power, five hundred bodhisattvas focused their minds, diligently advancing day and night. They did not think of sitting in comfort, nor did they crave food. For their entire lives, they paid no mind to fine clothing, but only contemplated the supreme, ultimate King of the Way, reflecting on this pure Dharma power. Through the merit of this single-minded dedication, at the end of their lives, they were reborn in the east, eight hundred billion lands away from this Buddha realm. Shortly after their rebirth, they too attained this Dharma, their memory and insight remained intact, and they fully recalled their past lives. They were wise and intelligent, with faculties fully awakened, seeing all things clearly, exploring the ancient and knowing the present.

"In that Buddha Land, the Buddha is named Immeasurable Flower King, who teaches the sutras and Dharma. Those five hundred people, upon being born in that Buddha Land, immediately attain bodies like sixteen-year-olds. They then repay their parents, renounce household life, become monks, purify their practice of the holy life, and diligently cultivate under that Buddha for sixty billion years."

The Buddha said to Sustainer, "At that time, there were five hundred bodhisattvas like these. They encountered twenty billion Buddhas, diligently practicing day and night under them. The Tathagata, the Arhat, the Perfectly Enlightened One, named Sublime Wisdom Surpassing Kings, enabled these five hundred to meet twenty thousand Buddhas over ten thousand kalpas, receiving predictions that they would attain the supreme, perfect enlightenment. After making offerings and serving these twenty thousand Buddhas for a hundred million kalpas, all five hundred of them attained Buddhahood in the same kalpa, one after another."

Therefore, O Sustainer of Humanity! If a bodhisattva, a great being, wishes to swiftly attain the unsurpassed, perfect, and complete enlightenment, they should diligently study and practice the essential teachings of this Sutra of Pure Wisdom and Power, which is of such profound nature. They must cultivate it day and night with vigor, without slackening or indulging in negligence. Why is this? All Buddhas of the past attained their supreme enlightenment and perfected the path's qualities precisely through diligence and unwavering effort, with non-negligence as their foundation. The Buddha recollects his own past lives of such diligent practice, having seen the places where these twelve billion World-Honored Buddhas were born. By this means, one gains the power of understanding, comprehending the ancient and the present without obstruction, each recalling all past lives as if seeing what is near, not distant. All this is achieved through diligent study of this Dharma, through practice free from negligence, cultivated day and night without ever slackening.

At that time, the World-Honored One, with boundless compassion and profound sorrow, gazed upon the four directions. As if entering a state of deep meditation, he manifested countless Buddhas throughout the three-thousandfold world system. Each Buddha proclaimed the teachings, resolving all doubts for living beings. Hearing this, everyone understood and rejoiced. Then, he further expounded the path of the Bodhisattva.

At that moment, the World-Honored One manifested his spiritual power and revealed his majestic virtue, causing all the bodhisattvas gathered in the Bamboo Grove to see the Buddhas of the ten directions, each in their own world, expounding the Dharma.

Then, all the bodhisattvas rose from their seats, joined their palms in reverence, and bowed to the Buddha. Each exclaimed in praise: "How extraordinary! The majestic virtue and sacred wisdom of the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, are beyond thought. Their Dharma is supreme and immeasurably vast, like the boundless sky—unreachable and unfathomable."

At that moment, the Buddha then addressed the bodhisattvas, saying: "This is not difficult! The Tathāgata, the Perfectly Enlightened One, is beyond all measure and description. Why is this? Noble sons! He comprehends the Dharma Realm in its entirety, leaving nothing unpenetrated. The Dharma Realm that he comprehends—the Tathāgata, the Perfectly Enlightened One—can manifest through a single pore spiritual transformations and miraculous powers beyond all reckoning, illuminating with his radiance worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges in all ten directions. Within each beam of that light, voices proclaim and expound the sutras and teachings. The manifestation of hundreds of thousands of millions of spiritual transformations from a single pore is not a difficult feat. Why is this? The spiritual power and majestic deeds of the Tathāgata, the Perfectly Enlightened One, are immeasurable and boundless. Such is his supreme majesty."