Bodhisattva Jeweled Necklace Primordial Action Sutra (菩薩瓔珞本業經)

Chapter 7: The Great Assembly Receives the Teaching

Then the Bodhisattva Revered First bowed in reverence to all the Buddhas and, following the assembly’s guidance, briefly inquired into the essential teachings of the Seven Gatherings. Faithful to the Three Treasures, and seeking only to keep the Dharma alive—not for worldly gain or fame—he wished for the Dharma to endure for long.

He addressed the Buddha: “World-Honored One! You have already spoken of cause and effect, of both the worthy and the noble, and of the complete treasury of enlightened qualities. Now, in this great assembly, there are fourteen nayutas of people. Is there anyone here who, without leaving his seat, can receive this teaching, devote himself to study and practice, and from beginning to end fully cultivate every step, thereby entering in due order the stage of a Bodhisattva?”

Then the Bhagavān Śākyamuni Buddha emitted from the crown of his head the light of all buddhas and all bodhisattvas. It gathered buddhas and bodhisattvas from hundreds of billions of buddha-lands in all ten directions. Once they had all assembled, he addressed Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Bodhisattva Dharmamati, Bodhisattva Guṇākara, Bodhisattva Vajrakūṭa, Bodhisattva Vajragarbha, and Bodhisattva Sudhana in the midst of that assembly: "Do you see in this assembly the Bodhisattva Revered Leader, who is able to ask about the three contemplations of the Dharma-realm, the path of the self-nature’s purity inherent to all buddhas, and the illuminating contemplation practice cultivated by all bodhisattvas? You seven bodhisattvas, each leading a great multitude of millions, should receive, study, and cultivate such Dharma-gates. “Sons of the Buddha! I now further elaborate on this teaching of illuminating contemplation, namely, the sequential path of the six sense faculties. Listen carefully and think well. Cultivate all forms of wisdom. Enjoin the assembly to receive, apply, and master this practice. “Sons of the Buddha! For all beings first entering the ocean of the Three Jewels, faith is the foundation. When they dwell in the family of the Buddha, precepts are the foundation. “Sons of the Buddha! Beginning bodhisattvas—whether faithful men or faithful women—even those with incomplete faculties, eunuchs, those of licentious conduct male or female, servants, or those magically transformed, may receive the precepts, for they all have the intention to turn toward the Dharma. Those who first rouse the mind to go forth from home life, wishing to succeed to the bodhisattva stage, should first receive the precepts of the Right Dharma. ”These precepts are the foundation of all meritorious deeds and virtuous practices, the root of all actions directly leading to the fruition of Buddhahood. These precepts can eliminate all great evils—namely, the seven kinds of false views and the six kinds of attachment—and serve as the bright mirror of the Right Dharma. “Sons of the Buddha! I now prescribe for all bodhisattvas the very root of all precepts, namely the three gates of receiving: ”"The precept of accumulating good dharmas — this refers to the eighty-four thousand Dharma-gates. The precept of benefiting beings — this refers to loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, transforming and bringing all beings to peace and happiness. The precept of regulating conduct — this refers to the ten grave transgressions.

"Children of the Buddha! There are three ways to receive the precepts: First, when Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are present before you, you may receive the precepts, obtaining the true and supreme-grade precepts. Second, after the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have passed into nirvana, if there is a Bodhisattva who has already received the precepts within a thousand miles, you may request them to serve as your teacher and teach you the precepts. You should first bow at their feet and say: 'Great Honored One, I ask you to be my teacher and授予 me the precepts.' The disciple then receives the true Dharma precepts—these are middle-grade precepts. Third, when the Buddhas have passed into nirvana and there is no teacher within a thousand miles, you should kneel on one knee with palms together before images of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and vow to receive the precepts yourself. You should say: 'I, [your name], declare to the Buddhas of the ten directions and the great Bodhisattvas of the earth that I shall study all Bodhisattva precepts.' These are lower-grade precepts. This same formula is repeated for the second and third recitations. Children of the Buddha! These three methods of receiving the precepts have been taught by past Buddhas, will be taught by future Buddhas, and are being taught by present Buddhas. Past Bodhisattvas have studied them, future Bodhisattvas will study them, and present Bodhisattvas are studying them now. This is the true Dharma precept of all Buddhas. If any Buddha or Bodhisattva claims to attain the unsurpassed path and the state of empty and equal peace without entering through this gate of Dharma precepts, that is impossible."

The Buddha addressed all the Bodhisattvas, saying: "Now I will teach the true and proper precepts. When a good son or good daughter receives these precepts, they should first pay homage to all Buddhas of the past, extending throughout all past time. Then they should pay homage to all Buddhas of the future, extending throughout all future time. Then they should pay homage to all Buddhas of the present, extending throughout all present time. After performing these three prostrations, they should do the same for the Dharma and the Sangha.

Good disciples, next you should respectfully accept the Four Unshakable Convictions and rely on the Four Foundations of Dependence. Recite the following three times: 'From this moment forward, and for all future lives, I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma, I take refuge in the Worthy and Wise Sangha, and I receive the Dharma precepts.'

Good disciples, next you should teach people to repent the wrongdoings of the three times (past, present, and future). Say: 'May all the ten evil actions of body, speech, and mind that I might commit in the present life never arise, throughout all future time. May all the ten evil actions of body, speech, and mind that I might commit in the future never arise, throughout all future time. May all the ten evil actions of body, speech, and mind that I have committed in the past never arise again, throughout all future time.' After this repentance, your three types of actions (body, speech, and mind) will be purified, as clear and bright as pure crystal, transparent inside and out. At that point, you may receive the Ten Inexhaustible Precepts. Listen carefully."

The Buddha addressed the spiritual aspirants: "From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally kill. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally lie. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally engage in sexual misconduct. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally steal. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not sell alcohol. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally speak of the faults of lay or monastic Bodhisattvas. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally be stingy. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally be angry. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally praise yourself or disparage others. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

"Spiritual aspirants! From this moment until you attain Buddhahood, throughout all future time, you must not intentionally slander the Three Treasures. If you do, it is not the conduct of a Bodhisattva, and you will lose the forty-two sacred teachings. Do not violate this. Can you uphold this precept?" The recipient replied, "Yes."

Children of the Buddha! Once you have received the ten inexhaustible precepts, you will transcend the four demons and escape the suffering of the three realms. From life to life, you will not lose this precept, and it will always accompany you, even until you attain Buddhahood. Children of the Buddha! If any being in the past, present, or future does not receive this Bodhisattva precept, they cannot be called a sentient being; they are no different from animals, cannot be called human, and are forever separated from the ocean of the Three Jewels. They are neither Bodhisattvas, nor male, nor female, nor ghosts, nor humans—they are called animals, they are called those with wrong views, they are called outsiders, far from human feeling. Thus, know that the Bodhisattva precept has a method for receiving it but no method for abandoning it. Even if violated, it is not lost, and it lasts forever into the future. If someone wishes to receive it, the Bodhisattva teacher should first explain and recite it to them, causing their mind to open and understand, giving rise to joy and attachment, and only then should they be initiated.

Furthermore, if a teacher in any land can guide one person to leave home and receive the Bodhisattva precept, that teacher’s merit surpasses building eighty-four thousand pagodas. How much more so if they guide two, three, or even a hundred or a thousand—their merit and reward are incalculable. As for the teacher, spouses and six types of relatives can serve as each other’s teachers. Those who receive the precepts are counted among the Bodhisattvas in all Buddha-lands, surpassing the suffering of three eons of birth and death. Therefore, one should receive them.

Having received them but violating them is superior to not receiving them and never violating them. One who violates them is called a Bodhisattva; one who never receives them is called an outsider. For this reason, one who receives one part of the precepts is called a one-part Bodhisattva, and so on for two parts, three parts, or four parts. One who receives all ten parts is called a fully initiated Bodhisattva. Therefore, among the Bodhisattva’s ten severe precepts and eighty thousand rules of deportment, the ten severe precepts, if violated without regret, can be received again. All eighty thousand rules of deportment are considered minor; if violated, one may repent by confessing to another person, and the offense is eliminated.

All Bodhisattva precepts, whether for ordinary or noble beings, have the mind as their essence. Therefore, if the mind ends, the precepts end. But because the mind is endless, the precepts are also endless. Beings in the six realms can receive the precepts; as long as they understand language, they receive the precepts without loss. Children of the Buddha! Throughout the eons of the past, present, and future, all Buddhas have always said this. Today, here under this tree, I am teaching the precept-initiation method for the fourteen billion beings of the bodhisattva ground of faith. Children of the Buddha! These bodhisattvas of faith, after practicing the ten precepts for ten thousand eons, will enter the mind of ten dwellings.

Children of the Buddha! You should first bestow the Bodhisattva precept on the great assembly, and then teach them the *Garland Sutra*, so that they share the same vision and practice.

"Children of the Buddha! Dwelling in this state, one cultivates the Hundred Gates of Dharma Contemplation. These are: the Ten Faiths, the Ten Efforts, the Ten Aspirations, the Ten Vehicles, the Ten Vajras, the Ten Rejoicings, the Ten Precepts, the Ten Vows, the Ten Protections, and the Ten Dedications. Through these hundred contemplations, one sees that the Three Realms are empty—their names and forms are all empty. All phenomena have no self, no person, no experience, and no cause—nothing has any fixed nature. With this, one cuts off the Thirteen Bonds (the seven views and six attachments) and enters the first stage of practice, in accordance with ultimate reality.

Children of the Buddha! From this practice, one cultivates the Thousand Gates of Brilliant Dharma—again from the Ten Faiths through the Ten Dedications, entering deeper into the Dharma with each step. Phenomena have no self; phenomena arise, form, follow their path, and cease. No one experiences phenomena; they are like space, like illusions, like a mirage city, like a flame. All phenomena are without form. The hundreds and thousands of births and deaths are all ungraspable. One then enters the first stage of Dedication.

Children of the Buddha! From this dedication, brightness shines into illumination. The wisdom of this illumination trains in the contemplation of equality. Contemplation reveals nothing attained, and what seems attained is only illusory attainment. This is like an oil lamp with a wick: it is not the first flame that burns, for when the first flame exists, there is burning; but it is not apart from the first flame, for when the first flame is absent, there is no burning. The latter flame is the same. Borrowing the concept of changing conditioned phenomena, we call it "burning." Thus we know: the first flame is not the present flame, and the present ash is not the first. Since the present ash is not the first, it exists only now; since the first flame is not now, there is no burning in the present moment. No burning in the now—the present burning is only borrowed burning. The attainment of Equal Contemplation is likewise: it is not that the beginner's mind attains while having something; nor that the beginner's mind attains while having nothing—the same for the later mind. Therefore, the beginner's mind is not the present mind, and the present arising is not the first arising. Since the present arising is not the first, it exists only now; since the beginner's mind is not the present mind, there is no attainment in the now. No attainment in the now—the present attainment is only borrowed attainment. The mind of the ultimate truth of the Middle Way extinguishes thought after thought, entering the Ten Thousand Gates of Bright Dharma. From the Ten Faiths through the Ten Dedications, one naturally flows into the path of equality. Seeing the single mark of no-attainment with true contemplation, with one illumination, one enters the first stage of the Great Path."

Disciples of the Buddha! The immeasurable merits of the Bodhisattva’s Six Entrances Dharma Gate that I have explained—all Bodhisattvas without exception enter through this gate. Here in this assembly, fourteen billion beings, without leaving their seats, have entered this Six Entrances Dharma Gate.

Disciples of the Buddha! When I first attained enlightenment, seated beneath this tree, I taught the Dharma Gate of Ten World-Oceans, and ninety billion beings entered this luminous gate of the Six Entrances. Later, at the Hall of Brilliant Light, I taught the Ten Buddha-Lands, and millions of billions of beings entered this gate. At the Hall of Shakra, I taught the Ten Abodes, and five million beings entered this gate. At the Jeweled Hall of Flames, I taught the Ten Practices, and ten million beings entered this gate. At the Hall of Dharma Light in the Fourth Heaven, I taught the Ten Dedications, and as many beings as the sands of ten rivers entered this gate. At the Mani Hall in the Sixth Heaven, I taught the Ten Stages, and as many beings as the sands of a hundred million rivers entered this gate. At the Jeta Grove, I taught the chapter on Entering the Dharma Realm, and as many beings as the sands of twelve rivers entered this gate.

Now I have come to this Eighth Assembly to teach the luminous gate of the Six Entrances to the boundless assembly of beings from the ten directions, led by the Bodhisattva Revered Foremost. All beings of this great assembly receive and uphold this teaching as one, without duality or distinction.