Overall Teaching

Gopā (i.e. Yaśodharā) the Śākyan tells Sudhana about ten ways of bodhisattva practice, about her liberation of observing oceans of samādhis of bodhisattvas, and about how she attained her liberation as the daughter of a courtesan in a past life with a prince, and hence followed him as bodhisattvas from life to life for aeons until the present.

Summary

1.     Sudhana went to Kapilavastu[1] while cultivating the liberation of vision of miracles of the births of bodhisattvas over countless ages. There, the goddess Sorrowless, from a bodhisattva meeting hall, with ten thousand house goddesses,[2] greeted him, explaining how he is welcome and praising how he is cultivating bodhisattva practice.3

2.     Sudhana expressed that he would find extreme joy in extinguishing beings’ sufferings, just as a doting parent is unhappy to see his children injured, thus are bodhisattvas joyful when beings’ sufferings are overcome. He expressed how bodhisattvas do not seek omniscience for their own sake and do let themselves be taken in by the joys of meditation and are not blocked by mental barriers. Thus, bodhisattvas, he expresses, vow to overcome the sufferings of beings and to serve buddhas and purify buddha lands. In this way, bodhisattvas are like nurses, mariners ferrying beings across, and as resorts for beings and thus become a joy for beings.

3.     Sorrowless, with the house goddesses, showered Sudhana with flowers and adornments and praised him in verse, expressing how he is tireless in boldly attempting to attain awakening to serve buddhas and beings.

4.     Sorrowless then went with Sudhana into the bodhisattva’s meeting hall, and they saw the Śākyan girl Gopā,4 surrounded by eighty-four thousand maidens.[3] All of them were bodhisattvas thoroughly absorbed by bodhisattva practice and exerting great effort.[4] Going up to her, Sudhana asked her to explain to him how to engage in higher bodhisattva practice, which not only transcends all worldly states and manifests to beings, but also comprehends the inexpressible, non-dual, and does not abandon good deeds ever.

5.     In reply Gopā explained that there are ten things by which bodhisattvas fulfil bodhisattva practice:

i.         Association with superior spiritual friends; 

ii.        attainment of enormous devotion; 

iii.      purity of lofty good will; 

iv.       a state of mind founded on oceanic virtue and knowledge; 

v.        listening to the great teaching of buddhas; 

vi.       associating with thought devoted to the buddhas of past, present, and future; 

vii.     equally following the practices of all bodhisattvas; 

viii.    gaining the empowerment of all buddhas;  ix. purity of intent, greatly compassionate in nature; 

x. attainment of the basic power of mind to stop all vicious circles.

6.     By achieving these ten, they do not turn back, gradually observe all principles of the cosmos, enter all lands, and purify all bodhisattva knowledge. After this, Gopā summarized what she had taught in verse form.

7.     Gopā then explained that she had attained the liberation whose sphere is observation of the ocean of samādhis of all bodhisattvas. In explaining its scope, she said:

a)    She can penetrate ages in all buddha lands, knowing their births, deaths, conditions, good, and evil.

b)    She knows the names of buddhas in each age, how they attained what they did, what their vows were, their skilful means, and what their ultimate nirvāṇa means.

c)     Similarly, she knows the bodhisattvas surrounding those buddhas, their stages, their cultivations, and their gradual attainments of knowledge and powers.

d)    She knows all worlds in this world, and this world through all worlds—in an interpenetrating manner, she knows all worlds through all worlds in the entire flower-treasury universe in its structures and features.

e)    In just the same way, she knows the oceans of past vows of Vairocana, his past efforts, attainments, knowledge, virtues, and thereby all the qualities of all buddhas and their attainments and lands.

f)     She thus knows the indivisible oceans of awakening practice of all bodhisattvas throughout space, and thus the ways of liberation of all buddhas.

8.     Sudhana asked how long ago she attained this liberation. In reply, she explained:

a)    In a past age, as with the other night goddesses, there was a magnificent city called Magnificent Trees in a land called Producing Fearlessness with countless buddhas where all beings were happy and enjoyed themselves. The king then was Lord of Wealth, his queen was Lotus Born, and their son was Lord of Glory, who had the thirty-two marks of a great man.

b)    Once, Lord of Glory went to see the parks in the city on a mountain. With his attendants they went in a golden vehicle with four diamond wheels. They travelled on a level jeweled road all the way there, which was flanked by jeweled buildings on each side, in each of which were countless celestial jewels, foods, and utensils.

c)     The courtesan, named Beautiful, had a daughter called Splendour of Delight in Virtuous Conduct who was kind, modest, and had only good conduct. She went ahead of the prince in a chariot and told her mother that she will die if she is not given to the prince. Her mother said that courtesans do not marry but are devoted to many people all their lives as a rule, and as he is a prince, he is unattainable for her.

d)    Then the Buddha Supreme Sun appeared in the world, having just attained awakening seven days prior. The girl saw the buddha in a dream. When she awoke, a goddess told her that this buddha was in a certain park surrounded by deities who had gathered to see him. Emboldened by this, she went before the prince and in verse: 

i.       Although she is known for beauty and gives rise to lust in men, she has no desire or ill-will towards beings in this world.

ii.     She wishes to devote herself to the prince, as he has the thirty-two marks and he delights people.

e)    The prince asked whose daughter she was, as he cannot marry another’s ward, but in verse he expressed that he hoped she was virtuous and hoped she would not weary of the bodhisattva path.

f)     Then the girl’s mother, the courtesan, told the prince that the girl was spontaneously born from within a lotus on the same day as he was born, in pond in a sal grove, and had never left the house. She expressed that she illumines all directions and gives forth scents of sandalwood and lotuses. No one in the world of men is suited to be her husband, as she has mastered all crafts, languages, knows illnesses and their causes, has no envy, is diligent, compassionate, careful, and respects spiritual friends. Thus, she is fit to be the prince’s bride, and she requested that the prince accept her.

g)    In reply, the prince explained to the girl in her mother’s presence that he has set out on the bodhisattva path to attain buddhahood for the benefit of many, which will take many aeons. He will engage in total relinquishment and even give up his family. Thus, to marry her would be to hinder his progress. Moreover, if he must give up his limbs or life to save beings, she would give rise to mental anguish. He reiterated this in verse, but expressed that if she will accept this, then he may be hers as she wishes.

h)    The girl agreed to do as he wishes and to always act in harmony with him. She also expressed that even if she must burn in hell for myriad lifetimes, she would like to be his companion in bodhisattva practice. Similarly, if her body were destroyed or crushed she would still be devoted to him over many lifetimes. She explained her dream of the Buddha Supreme Sun, and how she had been inspired by that, and wishes to go to see him with the prince.

i)      The prince, having heard of the Buddha Supreme Sun became joyful. He gave the girl a robe of jewels, and she honoured him with palms joined. The courtesan then expressed how happy she was that the girl was given to him, and that it was in fact her secret wish. She explained how the girl is capable of being his match and how she is virtuous.

j)      The girl and the prince thus went by the chariot to the Buddha. They paid respects to the Buddha, who then taught the Sūtra called Lamp at the Door of the Universal Eye, after which many in the assembly attained various ways of samādhi. The prince and the girl became irreversible towards buddhahood.[5]

k)     Having left the Buddha, the girl and the prince returned to their city and told the king what had happened. The king was also delighted that a Buddha had appeared in the world. He decided to abdicate early in order to practice under that Buddha. He thus crowned the prince as king, and with a retinue of ten thousand went to that Buddha.

l)      That Buddha then emitted a light from between his brows which illuminated the ten directions, and by his power he expounded a medium of mental command which taught all meanings to the retired king and the assembly. Thereupon the retired king and the assembly became dispassionate and aspired to buddhahood for the first time. Infinitely many beings were liberated by way of the Three Vehicles.

m)  The retired king then asked the Buddha for permission to receive the precepts and ordain. The Buddha agreed and ordained the retired king and his ten thousand attendants. Soon the retired king and his assembly attained the ten mystic knowledges and attained purity of body, whereby they were able to traverse the ten directions and learn from buddhas in different worlds and manifest throughout the world to tell others of buddhas and their virtues.

n)    The new king, Lord of Wealth, attained the seven treasures of a Cakravartin on the day of enthronement: the Dharma wheel treasure, the elephant treasure, the horse treasure, the jewel treasure, the wife treasure, the treasurer treasure, the general treasure. He managed to rule the whole world which prospered under his just rule.

o)    In each city he had sanctuaries built and invited the Buddha to each city where he and his saṅgha were offered countless offerings. In each city, moreover, countless beings attained great tranquility and aspirations, setting their minds of meditation on the nature of all things.

9.     In conclusion, Gopā explained that prince Lord of Glory was Śākyamuni/Vairocana Buddha. The king Lord of Wealth eventually became the Buddha Ratnakusumaprabha.

The queen Lotus Born was Lady Māyā. The courtesan Beautiful was Gopā’s mother Sunetrā, the wife of the Śākyan Daṇḍapāṇi, her father. Gopā was none other than the girl, who was the daughter of the courtesan. The retinue of the king Lord of Wealth are the bodhisattvas now seated in this assembly, guided by Vairocana Buddha, now engaging in bodhisattva behaviour by manifesting for beings’ benefit in the ten directions.

10.  The last of sixty decillion buddhas in that world was called Energy Born of Great Zeal for Truth. At that time, she with her husband, made offerings to him, after which he gave a sūtra upon the hearing of which she attained this liberation “observation of the oceans of samādhis of all bodhisattvas.” She cultivated this liberation for as many aeons as atoms in a hundred buddha-lands with Vairocana Bodhisattva. In doing this, they served buddhas as many as atoms in lands, but never knew their physical, mental, or verbal actions with discriminative thought. All those who practiced with them in this way never regressed towards buddhahood.

a)    Having done this, she entered countless samādhis, and served countless buddhas in the ten directions, and followed oceans of vows of bodhisattvas, but still did not enter the liberation of Samantabhadra, because they are as infinite as space and the thoughts of all bodhisattvas throughout the three times—these are all, indeed, equal to buddhahood.

b)    Thus, she served Vairocana Bodhisattva for aeons, watching his actions as a lover does illogically—except in this case it was not out of passion, but out of devotion to bodhisattva activity, based upon universal compassion and accomplishment of infinite oceans of effort to attain buddhahood. The teachings emerging from his pore in every moment were infinite and she never penetrated them all.[6]

11.  She said she knows only this liberation, but she cannot tell of the practice or qualities or oceans of virtue of bodhisattvas who have gone to the infinitely various oceans of liberative means. Thus, Sudhana should go to Lady Māyā who is sitting on a jewel lotus near Blessed Vairocana and ask her about bodhisattva practice. She implored him not to regress from the undertaking of the Mahāyāna for universal awakening and not to become discouraged. She again reiterated the entire story in verse.

12.  Paying his respects, Sudhana left Gopā.[7]

[1] “The setting symbolizes the essence and function of knowledge and compassion reaching everywhere, immaterial yet nurturing and supporting all beings. The setting is the same as that of the first stage (represented by the night goddess Vāsantī, the thirty-first benefactor) because knowledge and compassion are simultaneous. 

[2] “Ten thousand symbolizes myriad practices, the house goddesses represent the shelter of kindness and compassion.” 3 “Welcoming represents knowledge and kindness meeting.” 4 She represents the tenth stage: Clouds of Teaching.

“Gopā’s name has the sense of watching over, or protecting, representing the preservation of the ground of great compassion.

[3] “Representing the eighty-four thousand afflictions.”

[4] “All of them were engaged in the same practice, through kindness and compassion; and compassion is born of knowledge.”

[5] The prince and the girl going to see the Buddha “symbolises the inseparable union of knowledge and compassion in this stage.”

[6] “According to the story, Gopā was the wife of Buddha in a past life, representing kindness, compassion, and delight in truth. She also is said to have been wife to Buddha for aeons, symbolizing the inseparability of knowledge and compassion.

 “Knowledge attuned to reality is omnipresent; it cannot be discussed in terms of matter, cannot be understood in terms of form of appearance. It manifests similarly to humans and demonstrates humanlike laws, it manifests similarly to celestials and demonstrates celestial ways; it is variegated according to the species to which it appears; it cannot be known by one practice, cannot be understood by one body. This is because that is the nature of the body of practices of Samantabhadra.

 “The qualities of knowledge are briefly described in ten ways. [As far as I could tell, these are not in the text but are Li’s interpretation] First, the body of knowledge rests on nothing, manifesting characteristics according to the subject. Second, appearances of knowledge are like reflections in essence, without any material conventionality. Third, reflections of knowledge originally do not exist; the subject appears according to the mind. Fourth, knowledge has no ‘here’ or ‘there’—it responds to objects like an echo. Fifth, sentient beings see it falsely, but that is not the doing of knowledge itself. Sixth, knowledge makes nothing but arises according to illusions. Seventh, magical birth does not involve thoughts of desire. Eighth, the spacelike power of intention appears responsively throughout the ten directions. Ninth, uncontrived, great compassion pervades the ordinary world to benefit beings. Tenth, knowledge is common to all conscious beings, so observation of the ordinary is always real. These ten aspects of teaching are Gopā’s practice.

[7] “The ten teachers who follow Gopā represent the practice of Samantabhadra in the eleventh stage.”