A Brief Explanation of the Mahayana Tathagatagarbha Sutra
Chapter 3 The Buddha Manifests Miraculous Transformations
Original text: 尔时世尊于栴檀重阁。正坐三昧而现神变。有千叶莲华大如车轮。其数无量。色香具足而未开敷。一切花内皆有化佛。上升虚空弥覆世界犹如宝帐。一一莲花放无量光。一切莲花同时舒荣。佛神力故须臾之间皆悉萎变。其诸花内一切化佛结跏趺坐。各放无数百千光明。
Explanation: This passage describes the World-Honored One sitting upright in the lecture hall of the sandalwood multi-storied pavilion and, after manifesting entry into meditative concentration (samādhi), displaying great miraculous transformations. Through the power of these miraculous transformations was revealed the World-Honored One's power of samādhi and supernatural powers. So-called miraculous transformation refers to wondrous transformations from nothing into existence; such transformations are indeed miraculous. Originally there was nothing at all in empty space, yet by His supernatural power the World-Honored One could bring forth thousand-petaled lotus flowers—this is indeed a miraculous transformation, all brought about by the World-Honored One's power of samādhi. The thousand-petaled lotuses produced by miraculous transformation were as large as chariot wheels, immeasurable in number; though complete in color and fragrance, they had not yet opened. A lotus with one thousand lotus petals, as large as a chariot wheel—there were countless such thousand-petaled lotuses, not only varying in color but also bearing subtle fragrance; color and fragrance were perfectly complete, resplendent and pleasing.
Although there were thousand-petaled lotuses, the lotuses had not yet opened; they were in bud, awaiting blooming. Within each thousand-petaled lotus there was a transformation Buddha; the lotuses and the transformation Buddhas together rose up into empty space, like a jeweled canopy covering the empty space of the entire world. "All flowers contained transformation Buddhas; the lotuses rose into empty space and covered the world like a jeweled canopy"—this was the second miraculous transformation. At first there were lotuses in bud awaiting blooming; then transformation Buddhas appeared within the lotuses and rose into empty space together with the lotuses, pervading the entire world of empty space.
The third miraculous transformation: each and every lotus emitted immeasurable light, and all the lotuses simultaneously blossomed. After the lotuses surged up into empty space, they first emitted light; after emitting light, the lotuses opened and manifested. The Buddha then used supernatural power to make all the opened lotuses shrivel within an instant; these lotuses all withered and changed—this is called "withering transformation." At first they were in bud awaiting blooming; now they all shriveled up, altered and changed, no longer having those colors and fragrances. "Within all those flowers, all the transformation Buddhas sat in full lotus posture": although the flowers had withered and changed, the transformation Buddha of each lotus still sat in full lotus posture within the withered lotus, each emitting countless hundreds of thousands of lights. Although the lotuses withered, the light remained.
This passage has quite profound meaning. What is that meaning? The thousand-petaled lotuses at first were in bud awaiting blooming, not yet opened—this is a metaphor for sentient beings' five-aggregate forms still within the mother's womb, not yet born, just budding and awaiting birth. One thousand-petaled lotus is like one sentient being; these sentient beings are immeasurable and countless in number. Being complete in color and fragrance indicates that within the mother's womb the five aggregates were already complete, merely awaiting birth. "All lotuses contained transformation Buddhas" means that within each lotus sat one transformation Buddha, a metaphor that every sentient being of the five aggregates has a tathāgatagarbha. The transformation Buddha refers to the tathāgatagarbha—this is the secret meaning.
The lotuses covered the world: in the Buddha-lands of the ten directions' three thousand great thousand worlds, the whole world was filled with sentient beings, and these sentient beings were still within the mother's womb, not yet born. Then each lotus emitted immeasurable light; these lotuses first emitted light. What does emitting light mean? This was the transformation Buddhas emitting light, indicating that within the five-aggregate bodies abiding in the mother's womb there is the tathāgatagarbha. The tathāgatagarbha first emits light and exercises its functions; once it functions, sentient beings are born. The birth of sentient beings is metaphorized by the lotuses blossoming; the lotuses opening subtly implies sentient beings being born from the mother's womb—actually they are born from the tathāgatagarbha. After sentient beings are born, the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness exercise their functions, and the lotuses open.
Whose accomplishment is the opening of the lotuses? The lotuses emitted immeasurable light—that was the light emitted by the transformation Buddhas. The transformation Buddhas represent the tathāgatagarbha; each sentient being has one tathāgatagarbha. Only when the tathāgatagarbha emits light are sentient beings born; when sentient beings are born, the five aggregates exercise their functions. The opening of the lotuses shows that the tathāgatagarbha manifests the five-aggregate body, allowing the five aggregates to be born and to exercise their functions—thus the lotuses open. Then Shakyamuni Buddha used supernatural power to make these lotuses wither. What does the withering of the lotuses mean? Sentient beings enter the womb; after entering the womb they emerge from the womb; after emerging and exercising their functions, they gradually age and die. The withering of the lotuses represents sentient beings' aging and death. This shows that throughout sentient beings' arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing there is the Buddha's supernatural power—all is the work of the tathāgatagarbha's supernatural power.
Although sentient beings age and die, and these thousand-petaled lotuses wither, all the transformation Buddhas within those flowers sit in full lotus posture. This subtly points to the tathāgatagarbha within sentient beings' five aggregates: when the five-aggregate body perishes, it itself does not perish, and each emits countless hundreds of thousands of lights. That is to say, although sentient beings' five aggregates undergo arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing, sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha is unborn and undying, and constantly emits light. Constantly emitting light means the tathāgatagarbha constantly exercises its meritorious functions and has never perished. No matter how your sentient-being world arises, abides, changes, and ceases, the transformation Buddha—the tathāgatagarbha—forever constantly emits light, forever exercising its functions, never having perished for even a single kṣaṇa; His light forever illuminates the world. He constantly emits the light of self-nature, illuminating all dharmas. The light can represent the nature of the tathāgatagarbha and can also be called the buddha-nature. The buddha-nature constantly emits light, enabling sentient beings' five aggregates to exercise their functions, constantly arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing.
Countless transformation Buddhas each emit countless hundreds of thousands of lights; one lotus has one transformation Buddha, showing that countless sentient beings have countless tathāgatagarbhas. Each sentient being has one tathāgatagarbha that maintains the existence of the five-aggregate body; sentient beings do not share a single tathāgatagarbha. The withering of the lotuses has another meaning: it represents sentient beings' afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. Although sentient beings have the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, the tathāgatagarbha within sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies is forever pure, constantly emitting light, forever exercising His unique wondrous meritorious functions. The meaning of this short passage subtly speaks of the tathāgatagarbha's unborn and undying nature: constantly emitting light, constantly exercising functions, enabling sentient beings' five aggregates to arise, abide, change, and cease—dwelling in the womb, emerging from the womb, all the way to aging and death. Throughout this entire stage, sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha has never perished, constantly emitting light and illuminating all dharmas in the world.
Original text: 于时此刹。庄严殊特。一切大众。欢喜踊跃。怪未曾有。咸有疑念。今何因缘。无数妙花。忽然毁变。萎黑臭秽。甚可恶餍。尔时世尊。知诸菩萨。大众所疑。告金刚慧。善男子。于佛法中。诸有所疑。恣汝所问。
Explanation: After the Buddha finished manifesting the miraculous transformations—first manifesting thousand-petaled lotuses whose flowers had not yet opened, then the lotuses rising into empty space; after rising into empty space, the transformation Buddhas (the tathāgatagarbha) emitted light; after emitting light, the lotuses opened (sentient beings being born); after opening, they withered, and sentient beings' five aggregates aged, died, and passed away—but the tathāgatagarbha within the flowers still emitted immeasurable light. After the Buddha manifested these various miraculous transformations, at that time the Saha world was extremely adorned and extraordinary. Seeing these miraculous transformations, the assembly were all joyful and exultant, marveling that they had never before seen such miraculous transformations, such supernatural power. Now the Saha world had become so adorned and extraordinary—all transformed by Shakyamuni Buddha's supernatural power—causing sentient beings to feel joy in their hearts and give rise to faith in the Buddha-dharma.
At this time doubts arose in everyone's minds: so many thousand-petaled lotuses manifested by Shakyamuni Buddha, so extraordinarily beautiful and wonderful—why were they destroyed in an instant? "毁" (destruction) means perishing bit by bit; "变" (change) means alteration and transformation, becoming different from before—showing that sentient beings' five aggregates are constantly arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing, transforming moment by moment. All dharmas, once born, are subject to perishing—the World-Honored One was demonstrating this truth. Furthermore, He demonstrated what the cause behind arising and ceasing is and what the master behind it is; the World-Honored One manifested these two marks for sentient beings. One is the worldly mark: the worldly mark is the mark of sentient beings' five aggregates arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing. The other is the non-worldly mark: the mark of ultimate reality, the mark of permanently abiding without perishing—the mark of the tathāgatagarbha exercising its functions. This shows that no matter how worldly dharmas arise, abide, change, and cease, the tathāgatagarbha's essence is forever unborn and undying, permanently abiding in the world and constantly emitting light; it also shows that the tathāgatagarbha constantly exercises meritorious functions and never perishes.
Sentient beings gave rise to doubts—why manifest these phenomena? Below, the Buddha begins to explain. The thousand-petaled lotuses, originally resplendent in color, dazzling and fragrant, complete in color and fragrance, now had their colors turn black, and moreover became foul and withered. The lotus petals withered; their colors and scents all changed—this is called impermanence. Seeing the withered lotuses turned black, still emitting foul odors that disgusted people, the assembly were all perplexed: lotuses originally so extraordinarily beautiful had become like this—why exactly? The World-Honored One deliberately manifested this image in order to make the assembly give rise to doubt in their minds. After doubts arose, someone asked, and taking this opportunity the World-Honored One began to teach the great dharma of the tathāgatagarbha.
The World-Honored One knew that the bodhisattvas were about to give rise to doubt. In fact, these bodhisattvas were all bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi or above, some even bodhisattvas of equal enlightenment or wondrous enlightenment; they certainly would not give rise to doubt. This was a demonstration of doubting for the sake of sentient beings. To resolve this doubt, the Buddha expounded a Buddhist sūtra. Giving rise to doubt was the cause, raising the question was the condition, and teaching the dharma was the fruit; the result was the birth of the Mahāvaipulya Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra. In fact, these great bodhisattvas had long since lost this questioning doubt, many kalpas ago; they had already severed most of the ignorance and dust-and-sand afflictions. This was to draw out the conditions for the World-Honored One's teaching of the dharma; in order to coordinate with the World-Honored One's teaching, they requested the dharma on behalf of sentient beings. Therefore the World-Honored One told them that if they had doubts they could ask. Thus the World-Honored One and the great bodhisattvas together harmoniously expounded this Mahāvaipulya Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra, thereby delivering immeasurable sentient beings to give rise to faith in the Mahāyāna dharma and enter the Mahāyāna dharma to cultivate and study.
Original text: 时金刚慧菩萨。知诸大众。咸有疑念。而白佛言。世尊。以何因缘。无数莲花中。皆有化佛。上升虚空。弥覆世界。须臾之间。皆悉萎变。一切化佛。各放无数。百千光明。众会悉见。合掌恭敬。
Explanation: At this time, Bodhisattva Vajraprajñā knew that everyone in the assembly had doubts in their minds, so he came forward to inquire of the World-Honored One on behalf of the assembly: "World-Honored One, by what causes and conditions do so many lotuses all contain transformation Buddhas, and the lotuses rise into empty space covering the entire world? Why do the lotuses all wither and change within an instant? Why does the transformation Buddha within each flower still emit countless lights, beheld by the entire assembly, who join their palms in reverence toward the World-Honored One?"
The transformation Buddhas represent the tathāgatagarbha; the lotuses represent sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies. Of course, these lotuses could not rise into empty space by themselves; it was the supernatural power of the transformation Buddhas within the lotuses that made the lotuses rise into empty space. This shows that only when the tathāgatagarbha exercises its functions can the five-aggregate body function, and only then can there be the changes of the five aggregates. Within an instant, the lotuses withered, changed, shriveled, and disappeared—why so fast? This question explains that sentient beings' five-aggregate bodies vanish in a flash; sentient beings' lives, one lifetime after another, arise, abide, change, and cease extremely rapidly. Although each sentient being himself feels that a hundred and eighty years, several hundred years, or a thousand years is quite long, in the eyes of great bodhisattvas it is merely the arising and ceasing changes of a finger-snap. The five-aggregate body arises and perishes, perishes and arises—actually extremely fast, equivalent to only a few minutes or a few hours in the heavenly realms. By the same token, a whole lifetime of a sentient being in the animal realm appears to humans as merely a few hours or a few minutes. Born and perishing, perishing and born, within an instant—just this fast. Life is so impermanent, yet sentient beings remain unaware of it.
After these lotuses rose into empty space they withered, while the transformation Buddhas still shone with great light—this represents that the tathāgatagarbha never perishes, not arising and perishing along with the arising and perishing of the five aggregates. One sentient being's five aggregates have one tathāgatagarbha; one thousand-petaled lotus has one transformation Buddha. This is a metaphor showing that each sentient being has one tathāgatagarbha, each exercising its own functions. Although these functions are the same, each is only responsible for its own corresponding five-aggregate world; other five-aggregate worlds have their corresponding tathāgatagarbhas exercising meritorious functions. "All transformation Buddhas each emitted countless hundreds of thousands of lights"—the hundreds of thousands of lights show that the tathāgatagarbha possesses the luminosity of original enlightenment; He emits light and exercises functions, creating all the dharmas of the five-aggregate world, giving birth to all dharmas and upholding all dharmas. "The whole assembly beheld and joined their palms in reverence": the assembly at the dharma assembly joined their palms in reverence, admiring that the World-Honored One possessed such miraculous transformations. The manifested thousand-petaled lotuses were so extraordinarily beautiful, yet in a moment they withered and changed—what exactly does this extraordinary miraculous transformation mean? Bodhisattva Vajraprajñā raised the question on behalf of the assembly, and from this the Mahāvaipulya Tathāgatagarbha Sūtra came into being.
Original text: 尔时金刚慧菩萨。以偈颂曰。
我昔未曾睹。神变若今日。见佛百千亿。坐彼莲花藏。
各放无数光。弥覆一切刹。离垢诸导师。庄严诸世界。
莲花忽萎变。莫不生恶餍。今以何因缘。而现此神化。
我睹恒沙佛。及无量神变。未曾见如今。愿为分别说。
Explanation: Bodhisattva Vajraprajñā spoke in the form of verses:
我昔未曾睹。神变若今日。 I have never before seen a miraculous transformation like today's: in a short time, countless thousand-petaled lotuses budded and awaited blooming, then surged up into empty space; within each lotus sat a transformation Buddha; the transformation Buddhas emitted light, the lotuses opened, and immediately withered again, yet the transformation Buddhas still shone with great light. This shows that no matter how the five-aggregate world arises, abides, changes, and ceases, the tathāgatagarbha still constantly emits light, constantly exercises meritorious functions, unborn and undying.
见佛百千亿。坐彼莲花藏。 I saw hundreds of billions of Buddhas sitting within their respective lotus wombs. Why so many Buddhas? Because there are hundreds of billions of sentient beings, and each sentient being has one tathāgatagarbha. One lotus has one Buddha; with hundreds of billions of lotuses, there are hundreds of billions of Buddhas. In fact, it is more than hundreds of billions: sentient beings are immeasurable and boundless in number, so there are immeasurable and boundless tathāgatagarbhas, situated within their respective lotuses, exercising their due meritorious functions, emitting light and shaking the earth, illuminating all dharmas.
各放无数光。弥覆一切刹。离垢诸导师。庄严诸世界。 Each transformation Buddha within each lotus emitted countless lights, showing that the meritorious functions exercised by the transformation Buddhas are immeasurable and boundless, never having ceased. These lights covered all the Buddha-lands, showing that the tathāgatagarbha pervades all places, all times, all realms, and all dharmas, pervading all of one's own five-aggregate worlds. "The stain-free guides": Shakyamuni Buddha and all other Buddhas whose minds were already pure and undefiled used various buddha-dharmas and various supernatural wonders to teach and transform sentient beings, adorning the Buddha-lands.
莲花忽萎变。莫不生恶餍。 Shakyamuni Buddha used supernatural power to manifest hundreds of billions of lotuses, which then withered away, causing the assembly to give rise to disenchantment in their minds, not knowing for what reason such supernatural power was manifested. "Stain-free" means that the seven consciousnesses of the Buddhas have severed all ignorance and defilement, utterly pure, completely and thoroughly transforming the consciousnesses into wisdom; within the tathāgatagarbha there are no longer any karmic seeds of birth-and-death, no seeds of ignorance and karma, and therefore there is no further mutation—no defiled seeds, no seeds of the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion nor of habitual tendencies, no seeds of ignorance—becoming the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), thereby adorning the Buddha-land.
The sentient beings' tathāgatagarbha also, in His own unique way, adorns their own five-aggregate worlds, enabling the five-aggregate worlds to arise, abide, change, and cease, leading sentient beings' five aggregates to live in the world. Sentient beings' own five-aggregate worlds are adorned and embellished by the sentient beings themselves—actually they are adorned and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. Every sentence here has its referent and profound meaning. Suddenly this lotus withered and changed, becoming black and foul-smelling, repulsive to people; sentient beings all despised and rejected it, no longer liking it—showing that sentient beings all crave life and loathe death, liking fragrant splendor and dazzling beauty, disliking foulness and withering decay.
The lotuses first budded awaiting bloom, then the flowers opened, and afterwards withered, changed, and perished—this process represents the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of sentient beings' five aggregates, the entire process from dwelling in the womb and birth to shriveling and perishing. Sentient beings like the lotuses budding and opening, like the lotuses' extraordinary beauty, but do not like the lotuses withering. Every sentient being dislikes the disappearance and perishing of the five-aggregate world, dislikes change, yet the five-aggregate world is inevitably in constant change. Why? One reason is that it is driven by sentient beings' karmic power; another is that the five-aggregate world has no self-nature (svabhāva).
今以何因缘。而现此神化。 Bodhisattva Vajraprajñā asked the World-Honored One: with what causes and conditions have You manifested such a miraculously transformed world? Why do You have such supernatural power as to transform such miraculous phenomena?
我睹恒沙佛。及无量神变。未曾见如今。愿为分别说。 I have seen Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and have also seen the realms of immeasurable miraculous transformations manifested by the Buddhas, but I have never seen a miraculous transformation like today's. I hope the World-Honored One will expound for us in detail what the causes and conditions of this miraculous transformation are.
