Chapter 1 of the Compassionate Flower Sutra

Translated by Dharmarakṣa of the Northern Liang Dynasty

Thus I have heard:

Once, the Buddha was staying on Mount Vulture Peak in Rajagriha, together with sixty-two thousand great bhikshus. All were arhats, whose defilements had ended, who had no further afflictions, and were completely free. Their minds and wisdom were liberated, like a well-trained great elephant. They had completed what needed to be done, had set down their heavy burdens, had attained their own benefit, had put an end to all bonds of existence, and with true wisdom had attained liberation. Their minds were free, and in every aspect of mind, they had crossed to the other shore—with the sole exception of Ananda.

There were also four hundred forty thousand bodhisattva mahasattvas, with Maitreya Bodhisattva at their head. All had mastered the dharanis, patience, and meditative absorption, and deeply understood that all dharmas are empty and without fixed appearances. Such great beings were all irreversible in their realization.

At that time, there also arrived the Great Brahma Heavenly King, together with countless hundreds of thousands of Brahma gods; the King of the Heaven of Comfort from Others' Emanations, with his retinue of four million; the King of the Heaven of Blissful Emanations, with his retinue of three million five hundred thousand; the King of the Tushita Heaven, with his retinue of three million; the King of the Yama Heaven, with his retinue of three million five hundred thousand; Shakra, the King of the Trayastrimsa Heaven, with his retinue of four million; Vaishravana, the Heavenly King of the North, with his retinue of a hundred thousand spirits and ghosts; Virudhaka, the Heavenly King of the South, with his retinue of a thousand Kumbhanda spirits; Virupaksha, the Heavenly King of the West, with his retinue of a thousand nagas; and Dhritarashtra, the Heavenly King of the East, with his retinue of a thousand gandharvas. Additionally, the Naga King Nanda and the Naga King Upananda each came with a thousand attendants.

All of these beings had already awakened their resolve to follow the Great Vehicle and had practiced the six perfections.