Spiritual Experiences of Highest Bodhisattvas

Source: http://www.ruhanisatsangusa.org

Extracts taken from The Surangama Sutra - From "A Buddhist Bible" edited by Dwight Goddard (E. P. Dutton & Co.):

. . . Thereupon, the Blessed Lord revealed to the assembled highest Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and great Arhats free from all intoxicants, this most sacred teaching. He said:

Honored Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas and great Arhats! You have now been under my instruction for a long time and have attained to perfect emancipation. As an introduction to what I am about to say, I want to enquire of each of you as to how you attained Samadhi. When you began to realize in the early stages of your devotion and practice the falseness of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects by the sense organs,* which one of the spheres first became thoroughly enlightened, by means of which you attained to Samadhi?"

(*The eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects by the sense organs
are as follows, in the case of sight.
(a) Organ of sight.
(b) Object of sight.
(c) Consciousness of sight, which results from the contact of the
organ of sight with the object.
Hence a, b and c in regard to all the six senses (Cognition-Sight-Hearing-
Smell-Taste and Touch) add up to 18.)

. . . Then Maha-Kasyapa with the Bhikshuni Suvarna and other nuns of his spiritual family, rose from their seats and bowed down to the Lord Buddha saying:

Blessed Lord! In previous Kalpas when Buddha Kandrasuryapradipa was living, I served him faithfully and listened to his teaching and practiced it faithfully. After he passed into Nirvana, I continued to make offerings to his sacred relics and kept his image freshly gilded, so that his teaching, like a lamp, continued to illumine my life by its brightness. By my faithful reverence for his relics and his image, my mind was illumined by a purple-golden brightness that reflected itself in all my following lives and became a permanent purple-golden brightness with my body.


Then Sariputra rose from his seat and bowing down before the Lord Buddha, said:

Blessed Lord! Since many Kalpas, as many as the sands of the Ganges, my mind has continued its purity and because of it, there have been many pure rebirths. As soon as my eyes perceived the differences in the ever-flowing process of changes, both in the world and in the Way of Emancipation, my mind immediately understood them and, because of it, I acquired the attainment of perfect freedom. When I was on the road one day, I met the brother Kasyapa who kindly explained the principle of the Lord's teaching that everything rose from causes and conditions and, therefore, was empty and transitory, and I realized the infinitude of Pure Mind Essence. From that time, I followed my Lord and my perception of mental sight became transcendental and perfectly enlightened, so that I instantly acquired an attainment of great fearlessness and confidence. Because of it I attained to the degree of Arhat and became, in fact, the first Prince of my Lord Buddha, begotten by the Lord's true words and nourished and transformed by his intrinsic Dharma. In reply to my Lord's enquiry as to our first experience of attainment, I would answer that my first thorough accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, was by reason of the transcendent brightness within my own mind whose shining beams illuminated my intelligence and reached as far as my insight could penetrate. . . .

Then Samantabhadra rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord, said:

I became a Prince of my Lord's Dharma many long Kalpas ago, and all of the innumerable Tathagatas of the ten quarters of the Universe, taught their disciples, who had the qualifications for becoming Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, to practice the devotion of Samantabhadra's unceasing compassion for all sentient beings for his name's sake. The transcendental and intrinsic hearing of my Essential Mind became very pure and transparent, so that I could use it to discriminate the understanding and ideas of all sentient beings. Should there be any sentient beings in whatever quarter of the Universe - past, present or future - to develop the devotion of Samantabhadra unceasing compassion within his mind, I would become aware of its vibrations through the transcendental sensitiveness of my hearing and I would thereupon ride to them on the mysterious elephant of six tusks, in a hundred thousand different manifestations of my likeness, at the same time, to attend upon them each in his own place. Whatever might be his hindrances, however deep or serious, able to appreciate my presence or not, I would be near him to lay my hand upon his head, to give him encouragement and support, peacefulness and comfort, so that he might accomplish his supreme attainment. As my Lord has enquired of us as to our first attainment of accommodating our eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with sense-objects through our sense organs, I would say that in my case it was through the intrinsic hearing of my Essential Mind and its spontaneous understanding and response.

Then Purna Metaluniputra rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the Lord Buddha, saying:

Blessed Lord! For an infinity of Kalpas I have had great freedom in preaching the Dharmas of emptiness and suffering and because of it have realized my own Essence of Mind. In the course of my preaching, I have interpreted profoundly and wonderfully the many Dharma Doors, with great confidence and with no feeling of fear, everywhere, and before great assemblies. Because of my eloquence, my Lord has encouraged me to make use of it in propagating the Dharma by means of the wheel of my voice. Since these ancient days, since the Lord has been among us, I have offered my services in turning the Dharma wheel, and have lately attained to the degree of Arhat by means of the development of my hearing, by reason of which I am conscious of the Transcendental Sound of the Dharma reverberating like the roar of a lion. Consequently, my Lord has honored me by regarding me as the greatest preacher of his Mysterious Dharma.
As my Lord has enquired of us which was our earliest accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through sense organs, I would answer that my first thorough accommodation of mentation was the subjugation of my internal attachment and enemies and the extermination of all intoxicants by means of the Intrinsic Sound of the Mysterious Dharma.

To be continued.....

Then the great Maudgalyana rose fom his seat and bowed to the Lord Buddha, saying:

Blessed Lord! When I was begging on the road, I met the three Kasyapa brothers who taught me the Lord Tathagata's profound principle of causes and conditions. I was greatly influenced by the teaching and very soon acquired and realized particularly clear intelligence. My Lord was so kind as to bestow on me the true robe for my true body, my beard and head were shaved and I became a follower of my Lord. Since then my transcendental powers have become wonderfully developed, I have made visits to all the ten quarters of the Universe, without hindrance by space, passing instantly from one Buddha-land to another witbout being conscious of how it was done. I thus attained the degree of Arhat and was accounted by all and by my Lord Tathagata as being bighest among the disciples in perfect enligbtenment, great purity of mind, spontaneity and fearlessness in manifestation of transcendental powers.

As my Lord has inquired of us wbich was our most perfect accommodation of the eighteen spberes of mentation in contact with objects through tbe sense organs, I would answer that my first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was my mind becoming abstracted in tranquil reflection that mysteriously developed its enlightening brightness, as if my mind that had been a muddy stream had suddenly become clear and transparent like a crystal ball.

Then the Bodhisattva-Mabasattva Aksbobya rose from his seat and bowed to the feet of tbe Lord Buddha, saying:

Blessed Lord! My Lord Tathagata and I had already acquired a transcendental body of infinitude at the time, long ago during the advent of the Buddha Camatha-prabasha. At that time, I had in possession four precious pearls having the transcendental penetrating power of the Element of Fire, by reason of which everything was luminously clear to my intuitive insight, even to the farthermost Buddha-lands of the most remote Universe. In the light of these magic pearls everything became as empty and transparent as Pure Space. Moreover, within my mind, there manifested a great mirror that was marvelously self ilIumiinating that radiated ten kinds of wonderful, glorious, far-reaching rays as the infinitude of all-embracing space. In this marvelous mirror were refiected all the royal continents of the Blessed, and like the mingling of different-colored lights, merged with my body into pure brightness and clarity of infinite space, there being no hindrance to their entrance or passing. By this magical power, I was able to enter into all the Buddha-lands and engage in all their Buddha-services of adoration with great ease and perfect accommodation. This transcendental power was due to my deep intuitive insight into the source of the Four Great Elements, by reason of which I was able to see that they were nothing but the appearing and disappearing of false imaginations, which were intrinsically as 'empty as pure space and with no more differentiation as pure space. Aud I realized that all the innumerable Buddha-lands within and without the mind were of the same inconceivable purity. From this intuitive insight I consequently acquired the Samadhi of perseverance of non-rebirth.

As my Lord has enquired of us which was our most thorough accommodation of the' eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I would answer that in my case it was through my perfect intuitive insight into the infinity of open space as illumined by the Element of Fire, and by that power I attained to the highest Samadhi and the transcendental power of Samapatti.

Then the Prince of the Lord's Dharma, Vejuria, rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the Lord Buddha and said:

Blessed Lord! I recall that many, many Kalpas ago there appeared in the world a Buddha called Amitayus, teaching all Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas the intuitive and essential nature of the wonderful Essence of Mind, and urging them to concentrate their minds on the essential sameness of Samsara World, and all sentient beings in it, that they were all alike manifestations of the Element of Wind (or Ether) and its rhythmic-vibrations revealing and manifesting all else. In my practice of Dhyana, I concentrated on this and reflected on how the great world was upheld in space, on how the great world was kept in perpetual motion, on how my body was kept in motion, moving and standing, on the rhythmic vibration of its life established and maintained by breathing, upon the movement of the mind, thoughts rising and passing. I reflected upon these various things and marvelled at their great sameness without any difference save in the rate of vibration. I realized that the nature of these vibrations had neither any source for their coming nor destination for their going, and that all sentient beings, as numerous as the infinitesimal particles of dust in the vast spaces, were each in his own way topsy-turvy balanced vibrations, and that each and every one was obsessed with the illusion that he was a unique creation. All sentient beings, in all the three thousand Great Chillicosms are obsessed with this hallucination. They are like innumerable mosquitos shut up in a vessel and buzzing about in wildest confusion. Sometimes, they are roused to madness and pandemonium by the narrow limits of their confinement. After meeting my Lord Buddha, I attained to a state of intuitive realization and non-rebirth perseverance, whereupon my mind became enlightened and I was able to view the Buddha-land of Immovability in the Eastern Heavens, which is the Pure Land of Buddha Amitayus. I was acknowledged as a Prince of the Lord's Dharma and vowed to serve all Buddhas everywhere, and because of my enlightenment and great vow my body and mind became perfectly rhythmic and alive and sparkling, mingling with all other vibrations without hindrance to its perfect freedom.

As my Lord has enquired of us as to which was our first thoroughly perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, I will say that in my case it was through my intuitive insight into the nature of the Element of Ether, and how by its balanced and rhythmic vibrations everything was embraced in perfect purity in the Enlightening Mind, and how concentrating my mind upon it I attained Samadhi and in that Samadhi I realized the perfect oneness of all the Buddhas in the purity of the Wonderful Mind Essence, that is the Bliss-body of Buddahood ...

Then Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Maitreya rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha, said:

Blessed Lord! I recall that many, many Kalpas ago there was a Buddha appeared in this world called Chandra-suryapradipa-prabasha whom I followed as his disciple. At the time I was inclined to the worldly life and liked to associate with the nobility. The Lord Buddha, noticing it, instructed me to practice meditation, concentrating my mind on its consciousness. I followed his instructions and attained Samadhi. Since then I have served numberless other Buddhas using this same method, and by it have now discarded all desire for worldly pleasures. By the time Buddha Dipankara appeared in the world, gradually I had attained to the supreme, wonderful, perfect Samadhi or Transcendental Consciousness. By this highest Samadhi I was conscious of infinite space, and realized that all of the Tathagata-lands whether pure or impure, existent or non-existent were nothing but the manifestation of my own mind. My Lord! because of my perfect realization that all such skillful devices of the Tathagatas were nothing but evolvements of my own mental consciousness, the essential nature of my consciousness flowed out in innumerable manifestations of Tathagatas, and I came to be selected as the next Coming Buddha, after my Lord Shakyamuni Buddha .

As my Lord has enquired of us as to our first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense organs, I answer that my first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was by my perfect real,. ization that all the ten quarters of the Universes were nothing but activities of my own consciousness. It was by that that my consciousness became perfectly enlightened and that the limits of my mind dissolved until it embraced all Reality forsaking all prejudices of conditional and unconditional assertions and denials, I acquired perfect non-birth perseverance.

Then Maha-sthama-prapta, Prince of the Lord's Dharma, rose from his seat and bowed down to the feet of the Lord Buddha, together with the fifty-two members of his Brotherhood of Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas, and said:

Blessed Lord! I recall that in a past Kalpa long ago, as many Kalpas ago as there are grains of sand in the river Ganges, there appeared in this world a Buddha, called Amitabha-prabhasa Buddha, whose Buddha-land was in the Eastern Heavens. In that Kalpa there were twelve Tathagatas following each other in close succession, the last one being called Buddha-Chandra-surya-gomin, who taught me to practice meditation upon the name of Amitabha, saying: Namo Amitabha-Buddhaya. The value of this practice lay in this: so long as one practices his own method and other practices a different method, they balance of each other and meeting, it is just the same as not meeting. Whereas, if two persons practice the same method, their mindfulness would become deeper and deeper, and they would remember each other and develop affinities for each other life after life. It is the same with those who practice concentration on the name of Amitabha - they develop within their minds Amitabha's spirit of compassion toward all sentient life. Moreover, whoever recites the name of Amitabha Buddha, whether in the present time or in the future time, will surely see the Buddha Amitabha and never become separated from him. By reason of that association, just as one associating with a maker of perfumes became permeated with the same perfumes, so he will become perfumed by Amitabha's compassion, and will become enlightened without any other expedient means.

Blessed Lord! My devotion to reciting the name of Amitabha had no other purpose than to return to my original nature of purity and by it I attained to the state of non-rebirth perseverance. Now in this life, I have vowed to teach my disciples to concentrate their minds by means of reciting the name of Amitabha (Namo-Amitabha-Buddhaya) and also I teach them to wish to be born in his Land of Purity and to make that their only Refuge.

As my Lord has asked us which is our first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentati, in contact with objects throngh sense organs; answer that my first perfect accommodation of the eighteen spheres of mentation was that I recognize no separation or differences among my six senses, but merged them into one transcendental sense from which arises the purity of Transcendental Wisdom, by reason of which I attained highest Samadhi and the graces of Samapatti.

Then the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva Avalokiteshvara rose from his seat and bowing down to the Lord Buddha said:

Blessed Lord! I recall that ages ago, as numerous as the sands of the river Ganges, that there was present in the world a Buddha, called Avalokiteshvara, by whose instruction I was encouraged to begin seeking enlightenment. I was taught to begin practicing by concentrating my mind on the true nature of Transcendental Hearing, and by that practice I attained Samadhi. As soon as I had advanced to the stage of Entering the Stream, I determined to discard all thoughts discriminating as to where I was or had been. Later I discarded the conception of advancing altogether, and the thought of either activity or quietness in this connection did not again arise in my mind. Continuing my practice, I gradually advanced until all discrimination of the hearing nature of my self-hood and of the Intrinsic Transcendental Hearing was discarded. As there ceased to be any grasping in my mind for the attainment of Intrinsic Hearing, the conception of enlightenment and enlightened nature were all absent from my mind. When this state of perfect Emptiness of Mind was attained, all arbitrary conceptions of attaining to Emptiness of Mind and of enlightened nature, were discarded. As soon as all arbitrary conceptions of rising and disappearing of thoughts were completely discarded, the state of Nirvana was clearly realized. Then all of a sudden, my mind became transcendental to both celestial and terrestrial world, and there was nothing in all the ten quarters but empty space, and in that state I acquired two wonderful transcendencies. The first was a "Transcendental Consciousness" that my mind was in perfect conformity with the Essential, Mysterious Enlightening Mind, of all the Buddhas in all the ten quarters, and also it was in like perfect conformity with the Great Heart of Compassion of all the Buddhas. The second transcendency was that my mind was in perfect conformity with the minds of all sentient beings of the six Realms and felt with them the same earnestness and longing for deliverance.

Blessed Lord! because of my adoration for that Buddha, Avalokiteshvara, he taught me how to attain the Diamond Samadhi by the single method of concentrating my mind upon Transcendental Hearing.

And, moreover, he helped me to attain the same compassionate capacity that all the Tathagatas had, by reason of which I attained the thirty-two kinds of transformations that are instantaneously available in response to the prayer for deliverance from any part of the world at any time.

These transformations have all been attained and exercised with perfect freedom and spontaneity in the mysterious Diamond Samadhi which I attained by concentrating my mind in the practice of Dhyana on the nature of Transcendental Hearing.

Blessed Lord! I have also, because of the mysterious powers that accompany the Diamond Samadhi, and because of my being in perfect conformity and with the same earnestness and longing for deliverance with all sentient beings, in the Six Realms of all the ten quarters of all the universes, past, present and future, been able to bestow upon all sentient beings the same Fourteen kinds of Fearlessness, which animate my own mind ...

As my attainment to the original nature of perfect accommodations is wonderfully developed from the hearing organ to include all the sense-organs and discrimiuating mind, my body and mind profoundly and mysteriously embrace all the phenomenal world, so that if any disciple should recite my name, his blessing and merit would be like and equal to that of any Prince of the Lord's Dharma, whether he uses the same name or some other name. Blessed Lord! The reason why their merit is like and equal for one to recite my name, and for another to recite some other name, is because of my practice of Dhyana by which I acquired the True and Perfect accommodation.

Blessed Lord! this is what is meant by the Fourteen kinds of Fearlessness of Powers of Deliverance which bring blessing to all sentient beings. But in addition to the acquirement of perfect accommodation by means of my attainment of Supreme Enlightenment, I have also acquired another Four kinds of inconceivable, wonderful Transcendencies of Spontaneity.

The First is as it is, because when I first attained to my Transcendental Hearing, my mind became abstracted into its essential nature, and all the natural powers of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, touching and understanding attained to a state of pure, glorious, enlightenment of perfect mutuality and accommodation in one perfect unity of Awareness. Because of this, I have acquired this great Transcendental Freedom, so that when I give deliverance to sentient beings, I can transform myself into wonderful appearances ...

Sometimes I appear in a form of kindness, or in a form of justice, or in a state of concentration, or in a state of intelligence. But in all I do it for the sake of deliverance and protecting of sentient beings so that they might acquire a like Great Freedom.

The Second inconceivable, wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is because of my emancipation of hearing and thinking from the contaminations of the six sense-objects. It is as if sound were passing through walls without any hindrance. Thus I can skillfully transform into different kinds of appearances and recite different Dharanis, and can transform these appearances and recitation of Dharanis, to give the Transcendental Power of Fearlessness to sentient beings. Thus in all the countries of the ten quarters, I am known as the Giver of Transcendental Power of Fearlessness.

The Third inconceivable, wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is, because of my practice upon the pure, original Essence of perfect accommodation, so that wherever I go, I lead sentient beings to willingness to sacrifice their lives and valuable possessions in order to pray for my compassion and mercy.

The Fourth inconceivable, wonderful Transcendency of Spontaneity is as it is,because of my acquirement of the Buddha's Intrinsic Mind and because of my attainment of the supremacy so that I can give all different kinds of offerings to all of the Tathagatas of all the ten quarters of the universes.

As my Lord has enquired of us as to what was our first perfect accommodation, of the eighteen spheres of mentation in contact with objects through the sense-organs, I answer that my first perfect accommodation was, when I attained to the state of perfectly accommodating reflection of Samadhi by means of my Intrinsic Hearing and Transcendental Mental Freedom from objective contaminations, so that my mind became abstracted and absorbed into the Divine Stream, and thus acquired the Diamond Samadhi and attained Enlightenment.

Blessed Lord! in those far off days, my Lord, the Buddha Avalokiteshvara, praised me for my skillful acquirement of the all-accommodating Door of Dharma, and in one of his great Assemblies, he announced that I, too, should be called Avalokiteshvara, "The hearer and answerer of Prayer," the Bodhisattva of Tenderest Compassion. As such, my Transcendental Hearing reaches to the ten quarters of all the universes, and the name of Avalokiteshvara prevails over all the extremes of human suffering and danger.

Manjusri's Summation:

Thereupon, the blessed Lord, sitting upon his throne in the midst of the Tathagatas and highest Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas from all the Buddha-lands, manifested his Transcendent Glory surpassing them all. From his hands and feet and body radiated supernal beams of light that rested upon the crowns of each Tathagata, Bodhisattva-Mahasattva, and Prince of the Dharma; in all the ten quarters of the universes, went forth rays of glorious brightuess that converged upon the crown of the Lord Buddha and upon the crowns of all the Tathagatas, Bodhisattva Mahasattvas and Arhats present in the assembly. At the same time all the trees of the Jeta Park, and all the waves lapping on the shores of its lakes, were singing with the music of the Dharma, and all the intersecting rays of brightness were like a net of splendor set with jewels andover-reaching them all. Such a marvelous sight had never been imagined and held them all in silence and awe. Unwittingly, they passed into the blissful peace of the Diamond Samadhi and upon them all, there fell like a gentle rain, the soft petals of many different colored lotus blossoms - blue and crimson, yellow and white -all blending together and being reflected into the open space of heaven in all the tints of the spectrum. Moreover, all the differentiations of mountains and seas and rivers and forests of the Saha W orldblended into one another and faded away leaving only the flower-adorned unity of the Primal Cosmos, not dead and inert but alive with rhythmic life and light, vibrant with transcendental sound of songs and rhymes, melodiously rising and falling and merging and then fading away into silence.

Then the Lord Tathagata addressed Manjusri, Prince of the Dharma, saying:

Manjusri you have now heard that these Bodhisattva-Mahasattvas of greatest and highest attainments have testified regarding the expedient means that were involved, and the results seen in spiritual graces and powers of Samapatti, that followed in their devout lives and practices. Each one stated that the beginning was seen in the perfect accommodation of some one mental sphere in - contact with its sense object, and from that followed the perfect accommodation of all the spheres of mentation and the attainment of Samadhi; Samapatti and - the perfect awareness .of their Intuitive and Essential Mind. So we see that their devout practices, in spite of their variations, all eventuated in the same good result irrespective of their attainments and the times involved.

[Samana]

Hi astroboy,

Why are you copying and pasting all of this?... its very long. Isn't it better to just give a brief explanation and then a link to the source?

Kind regards,

Samana

Samana,
The background color in the original link is not soothing to the eyes. I find green background to be better for easy reading and the font size also matters.

[Samana]

But who is reading it ? Not me, because I don't believe Mahayana sutras were taught by the Buddha. Mahayana didn't start developing until about 500 years after his death.



.

What is the difference between zen buddhism and tibetan buddhism?

[Samana]

Hi Brian,

There are quite a lot of differences and some are cultural. Too many for me to try to explain with limited time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibetan_Buddhism


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen


kind regards

Samana

Too many words, too much scripture, too much conjecture here. Words mean nothing next to your own practice and your own realisations.