Dedicated to BOROBUDUR
THE GENESIS
GANDAVYUHA SUTRA
Nidanaparivarta
Once when the World-Honored One was dwelling in Prince Jeta’s Grove,
in the Park given by the benefactor of the orphaned and the childless,
five hundred Bodhisattvas, all of them great beings, gathered together with
the Buddha in the magnificent pagoda. Bodhisattva Samantabhadra and Bodhisattva Manjusri were their leaders. Others among them were …
… 5,000 Bodhisattvas, 500 Arhats-Sravakas and a large number of lords of the world (150 Bodhisattvas and 11 Sravakas are listed by name)…
They all thought:
Our only wish is that the World-Honored One will respond to each of us,
and to all other beings,
in accord with our various wishes;
in accord with our various levels of understanding;
in accord with our various levels of wisdom and in our various vernacular languages;
in accord with our various levels of self-mastery,
in accord with our various dwelling places;
in accord with our various levels of purification,
in accord with the depth of our roots in the Dharma,
in accord with our various degrees of skill in adjusting to circumstances;
in accord with our various states of mind;
in accord with our various levels of commitment to reliance on the
Thus-Come One’s virtue; and
in accord with the various degrees to which we have heard and
accepted the Dharma that has been spoken.
And in so doing we wish that the World-Honored One will describe for us:
how, in his previous lives, he sought wisdom;
how, in his previous lives, he made the great vows of the Bodhisattvas;
how, in his previous lives, he became pure in the paramitas;
how, in his previous lives, he entered upon the Bodhisattvas’ grounds;
how, in his previous lives, he became perfect in the practices of the Bodhisattvas;
how, in his previous lives, he became accomplished in skill-in-means;
how, in his previous lives, he practiced in accord with various paths;
how, in his previous lives, he made use of spiritual powers;
how, in his previous lives, he became adept in the methods of
transcendence; and
how, in his previous lives, he acted upon causes and conditions to attain
Equal Right Enlightenment,
to turn the Wheel of Dharma,
to add pure adornments to the lands of the Buddhas,
to tame beings,
to open the gate to the city of all-wisdom;
to appear in all the destinies of beings,
to enter their dwellings,
to accept what gifts beings make,
to speak to all beings about the merit of giving, and
to appear in the many forms that Buddhas can appear in.
WE HOPE THAT IN THIS WAY THE BUDDHA WILL NOW SPEAK TO US ABOUT MANY SUCH ASPECTS OF THE DHARMA …