Overall Teaching

After undergoing the elaborate coronation with all-knowledge of all aspects, bodhisattvas enter the tenth stage. Their knowledge essentially extends over all buddha-activities and ways in which a buddha can teach, and they are continually taught clouds of teachings by the buddhas. They attain great liberations and illuminations, great recollection, and powers. Vajragarbha displays the power of a bodhisattva on this stage by making the assembly go within his body and observe a buddha and buddha-land with adornments. However, bodhisattvas on this stage, compared to full buddhas, are still only like pebbles in comparison to the whole earth. They have countless visions of buddhas, samādhis, powers, maturations of beings, etc., and are foremost in the Perfection of Knowledge.

Summary

1.     Request for the Tenth Stage [788ii–789i]

a.     When the goddesses became silent, Vimukticandra requested the teaching on the Tenth Stage.

2.     Reaching the Stage of Coronation with All-Knowledge of all Aspects[1][789i-792i]

a.     Vajragarbha explains that when bodhisattvas reflect on all possibilities of knowledge up to the ninth stage and have inexhaustible provisions and have entered the thicket of sentient beings in order to attain buddhahood and its qualities, they are at the stage of the coronation with all-knowledge of all aspects.

b.     Beginning with ten named samādhis, they realise countless more.

c.     Exiting from the samādhis, with skill in them, they experience their effects including realising a samādhi called “bearing coronation by the special property of all-knowledge” which is accompanied by the appearance of an immeasurable lotus which flows with light, is covered by jewels, and surrounded by countless other lotuses:

d.     The bodhisattva sits on this lotus. Countless other bodhisattvas sit on surrounding lotuses, and they all enter into samādhis while focusing on the central bodhisattva, upon which:

                                               i.     All worlds quake

                                             ii.     All ills cease

                                            iii.     All universes are pervaded with light

                                            iv.     All worlds are purified

                                             v.     The names of all buddha-lands are voiced

                                            vi.     All bodhisattvas of the same practice gather

                                          vii.     All celestial and human music and song sound forth

                                         viii.     All beings become blissful

                                            ix.     Honouring and attendance of the buddhas begins

                                             x.     Circles of all buddhas are made known

e.     Lights emerge from all the body parts of the bodhisattva, which successively illumine all the realms one by one, and calms all their suffering. From the tops of their heads, the lights illuminate buddhas’ congregations and circle the world to the right, stop in the sky in a great circular network of light, and make the offering called “blazing light” to the buddhas. This offering cannot be matched by any other bodhisattva on the other stages.

f.      From the light, all the auspicious goods rain down in all the worlds in the assemblies of all the buddhas, and whoever perceives them is assured of perfect awakening.

g.     The lights then circle the world and enter the soles of feet of those buddhas, at which point they know the time of coronation has been reached, upon which bodhisattvas from all worlds come and make offerings and enter samādhis before that bodhisattva.

h.     From all bodhisattvas at this stage, from a vajra symbol on their bodies, a light called demon-conqueror emerges, which has countless other lights, they illuminate the ten directions and show countless miracles, and then return and disappear into the vajra symbols. Thus, their power and strength increase.

i.      From the circle of hair between the eyebrows of the buddhas a light called “possessor of omniscient superknowledge” emerges with countless other lights. They illuminate the ten directions, circle the worlds to the right, inspire bodhisattvas, cause buddha-lands to quake, etc., and then circling to the right the bodhisattvas, they manifest an immense array and disappear into the tops of their heads. The other lights disappear into the heads of bodhisattvas who have already reached the tenth stage, and they attain a million new samādhis.

                                               i.     At that point, the bodhisattva is said to be coronated in the realm of buddhas who have the ten powers and they enter among their ranks.

                                             ii.     This is like a crown prince being coronated by the reigning king, sitting among the ranks of consecrated rulers, but only becomes a universal ruler turning the wheel of law when they fulfil the tenfold path of good action, likewise, the bodhisattva who is coronated is in the realm of the buddhas, but[2] only when they fulfil the ten powers after many hundreds of thousands of difficult practices, they become buddhas. Thus, they are on the stage of Cloud of Teaching.

3.     Knowledges of Bodhisattvas on this Stage [792ii–794i]

a.     On this stage bodhisattvas have accurate knowledge of the various realms, including Dharmadhātu and nirvāṇa realm, the extents of bodies and lands, knowledge of all aspects, and turning the wheel of dharma, as well as the projection of worlds and buddhas.

b.     The know the bases of the triple-gem and time, commitment, reverence, conduct, ages, and knowledge as they truly are.

c.     They know the subtleties of a buddha’s knowledge, such as how to manifest the stages of the life of a buddha.

d.     They know all the secrets of body, speech, and mind, the secret of giving predictions to buddhahood, the secret of knowing beings needs and how to teach them, etc.

e.     They know all the buddha’s knowledges regarding interpenetration of ages in the past, present, and future, long containing short, and so forth.

f.      They know the buddhas’ penetrating knowledges, such as down to the size of a hair tip, as well as penetrating the body and land of a buddha, demonstrating behaviour and acts that can be understood by bodhisattvas and buddhas and so forth. Their penetrating knowledge is thus infinite.

4.     Attainments of Bodhisattvas on this Stage [794ii–797i]

a.     Bodhisattvas who attain this stage attain liberations, illuminations, and the realm of totality; doors of liberation, samādhis, mental control, super-knowledge, and spiritual powers; lights of knowledge masteries of method and wisdom, floods of great compassion, and so forth.

b.     They have the infinite ability to recollect anything, and they take in and hold revelations from buddhas of all directions in one instant, just as no one place on earth can hold all the water from clouds, likewise, bodhisattvas on this stage hold innumerable teachings for benefiting beings and it is called Cloud of Teaching.

c.     Vimukticandra asked how many the buddhas are from whom they receive their clouds of teachings in a single instant:

                                               i.     Vajragarbha replies that it is not possible, but it is as if someone were able to retain whatever he heard, and if all the beings in all worlds were so endowed, the immeasurableness of all their learning ability is incomparable to that of bodhisattvas on the tenth stage.

d.     They also have great clouds of compassion and abilities for teaching beings, which shows great rains of goodness bearing elixir of immortality and settles and extinguishes all the dust and flames of afflictions beings produce by ignorance.

e.     They also manifest all the works of buddhas in countless worlds, show those worlds in magical transformations, and show buddha-lands in a hair-tip, and manifest as many bodies as atoms, in a variety of great transformations for teaching.

f.      In a thought, they go throughout the ten directions, manifesting infinitely in all times, making worlds appear and disappear in their own bodies, making all worlds a single body of water with a lotus thereon, whose light pervades endless worlds, showing the branches of the tree of awakening and aspects of omniscience.

g.     They manifest lights of various kinds, shake worlds with each breath, manifest destruction and appearance of physical adornments according to beings’ wishes, and the body of Buddha in their own body, and their own buddha-land.

5.     A Special Samādhi [797ii–798ii]

a.     Beings in the assembly ask if bodhisattvas have such powers, what are those of buddhas like? Prompted by which, Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to remove their doubt by showing something of the bodhisattvas’ miracles.

                                               i.     Vajragarbha entered a samādhi through which all the beings could see themselves as within Vajragarbha’s body, and saw the creation of a buddha-land with great qualities, and they saw a buddha and arrays of adornments. Which astonished the crowd.

b.     They ask Vajragarbha about this meditation:

                                               i.     He explains that it’s called revelation of the essence of the body of all buddha-lands and bodhisattvas, through it, can show in their own bodies as many buddha-lands as atoms in infinite worlds, etc. This is typical of many other samādhis of bodhisattvas on this stage. The bodily, mental, or spiritual action of which cannot even be known by bodhisattvas on the ninth level.

6.     Entry into Range of the Sphere of Buddhas [798ii–iv]

a.     Vimukticandra asks what entry into the range of the sphere of buddhas is like, if the power and practice of bodhisattvas is so infinite:

                                               i.     Vajragarbha says this is like asking what is bigger, pebbles or the earth. Even the tenth stage is incomparable to the infinitude of buddhahood.

                                             ii.     Supposing all ten directions were filled with bodhisattvas who reached the tenth stage—their accomplishments would not compare to the scope of one moment of knowledge of the Buddha. Due to their honour to the buddhas for endless aeons, they receive the illumination of empowerment from them.

7.     Further Qualities of Bodhisattvas on this Stage [798v–799iv]

a.     Their ornament of knowledge outshines all beings like the jewel worn by king of the gods of controlling power.

b.     They are told by buddhas of all time and space infinite revelations of omniscient knowledge.

c.     Of the perfections, the Perfection of Knowledge is paramount for them.

d.     Through their effort, they have countless samādhis, visions of buddha-lands, beings to mature, bodies, buddha-lands to go to, transformations, powers etc.

Nāgārjuna’s Comments from Ratnāvalī       

459. The tenth is the cloud of Doctrine

Because the rain of holy doctrine falls.

The Bodhisattva is bestowed empowerment

With light rays by the Buddhas

460. Through the maturation of these good qualities

They become master of the gods of Pure Abode. [awareness]

They are supreme great lords,

Master of the sphere of infinite wisdom.

461. Thus those ten grounds are renowned

As the ten Bodhisattva grounds.

[1] Sarvākārasarvajñajñāna, corresponds to the all-knowledge which knows the entirety of the bodhisattva path as exemplified by the first chapter of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra and its commentary, the Āloka.

This part of the chapter is rather detailed, so please forgive the longer than usual “summary.”

[2] The “but” (tu) appears to be missing in Cleary’s translation, and makes this section rather ambiguous in some ways. This is contrasting a before and after: before the ten powers, they are on the tenth stage, after, they are buddhas.