Ananda straightened his robes and then, in the midst of the assembly, placed his palms together and bowed. His mind was perfectly clear, and he felt a mixture of joy and sorrow. His intent was to benefit beings of the future as he made obeisance and said to the Budha, "Greatly Compassionate World Honored One. I have already awakened and attained this Dharma-door for becoming a Budha, and I can cultivate it without the slightest doubt. I have often heard the Tathagata say, ‘Save others first; then save yourself. That is the aspiration of a Bodhisattva. Once your own enlightenment is perfected, then you can enlighten others. That is the way the Tathagatas respond to the world.’ Although I am not yet saved, I vow to save all beings of the Dharma-ending Age.

"World Honored One, those beings are from the Budha’s time, and there will be as many deviant teachers propounding their teachings as there are sand grains in the Ganges. I want to enable those beings to collect their thoughts and enter samadhi. How can I cause them to reside peacefully in a Way-place, far away from exploits of demons, and be irreversible in their resolve for Bodhi?"

At that time, the World Honored One praised Ananda in front of the whole assembly, saying, "Good indeed! How good it is that you have asked how to establish a Way-place and to rescue and protect beings who are sunk in the morass of the final age. Listen well, now, and I will tell you."

Ananda and the great assembly agreed to uphold the teaching.

The Budha told Ananda, "You constantly hear me explain in the Vinaya that there are three decisive aspects to cultivation. That is, collecting one’s thoughts constitutes the precepts; from the precepts comes samadhi; and out of samadhi arises wisdom. These are called the Three Non-Outflow Studies.

"Ananda, why do I call collecting one’s thoughts the precepts? If beings in the six paths of any mundane world had no thought of lust, they would not have to undergo a continual succession of births and deaths. Your basic purpose in cultivating samadhi is to transcend the wearisome defilements. But if you do not renounce lustful thoughts, you will not be able to get out of the dust. Even though people may have some wisdom and the manifestation of chan samadhi, if they do not cut off lust, they are certain to enter demonic paths. At best, they will become demon kings; on the average, they will become members of the retinue of demons; at the lowest level, they will become female demons. These demons all have their groups of disciples. Each claims that he has accomplished the Unsurpassed Way. After my tranquility, in the Dharma-ending Age, these hordes of demons will abound, spreading like wildfire as they openly practice greed and lust, while claiming to be Good Knowing Advisors. They will cause beings to fall into the pit of love and views and lose the way to Bodhi.

"When you teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi, they must first of all sever the mind of lust. This is the first clear and decisive instruction on purity given by the Tathagatas, the Budhas of the past, World Honored Ones. Therefore, Ananda, if cultivators of chan samadhi do not cut off lust, they are like someóne who cooks sand hoping to get rice. After hundreds of thousands of eóns, it will still just be hot sand. Why? It wasn’t rice to begin with; it was only sand. If you seek the Budha’s wonderful fruition and still have physical lust, then even if you attain a wonderful awakening, it will be based on lust. With lust at the source, you will revolve in the three paths and not be able to get out. Which road will you take to cultivate and be certified to the Tathagata’s Nirvana? You must cut off the lust which is intrinsic to both body and mind. Then get rid of even the aspect of cutting it off. At that point you have some hope of attaining the Budha’s Bodhi. What I have said here is the Budhas’ teaching. Any explanation counter to it is the teaching of Papiyan.

"Further, Ananda, if beings in the six paths of any mundane world had no thoughts of killing, they would not have to a undergo a continual succession of births and deaths. Your basic purpose in cultivating samadhi is to transcend the wearisome defilements. But if you do not renounce your thoughts of killing, you will not be able to get out of the dust. Even though people may have some wisdom and the manifestation of chan samadhi, they are certain to enter the path of spirits if they do not cease killing. At best, they will become ghosts of great strength; on the average, they will become flying yakshas, ghost leaders, or the like; at the lowest level, they will become earth-bound rakshasas. These ghosts and spirits all have their followers. Each claims that he has accomplished the Unsurpassed Way. After my tranquility, in the Dharma-ending Age, these hordes of ghosts and spirits will abound, spreading like wildfire as they argue that eating meat will bring one to the Bodhi Way. Ananda, I permit the Bhikshus to eat five kinds of pure meat. This meat is actually a transformation brought into being by my spiritual powers. It basically has no life-force. You Brahmans live in a climate so hot and humid, and on such sandy and rocky land, that vegetables will not grow; therefore, I have had to assist you with spiritual powers and compassion. Because of this magnanimous kindness and compassion, this so-called meat suits your taste. After my extinction, how can those who eat the flesh of beings be called the disciples of Shakya? You should know that these people who eat meat may gain some awareness and may seem to be in samadhi, but they are all great rakshasas. When their retribution ends, they are bound to sink into the bitter sea of birth and death. They are not disciples of the Budha. Such people as these kill and eat one another in a never-ending cycle. How can such people transcend the Triple Realm?

"When you teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi, they must also cut off killing. This is the second clear and decisive instruction on purity given by the Tathagatas, the Budhas of the Past, World Honored Ones. Therefore, Ananda, if cultivators of chan samadhi do not cut off killing, they are like one who stops up his ears and calls out in a loud voice, thinking that no one hears him.. He tries to cover up the sound, but only makes it greater. Pure Bhikshus and Bodhisattvas who practice purity will not even step on grass in the pathway; even less would they pull it up with their hands. How could anyone with great compassion consume the flesh and blood of beings? Bhikshus who do not wear silk, leather boots, furs, or down, whether imported or found locally, and who do not consume milk, cream, or butter, can truly transcend this world. When they have paid back their past debts, they will not have to re-enter the Triple Realm. Why not? When someóne wears anything taken from a living creature, he creates conditions with the creature, just as when people ate the hundred grains, their feet could not leave the earth. Both physically and mentally one must avoid the bodies and the by-products of beings, by neither wearing them nor eating them. I say that such people have true liberation. What I have said here is the Budhas’ teaching. Any explanation counter to it is the teaching of Papiyan.

"Further, Ananda, if beings in the six paths of any mundane world had no thoughts of stealing, they would not have to undergo a continuous succession of births and deaths. Your basic purpose in cultivating samadhi is to transcend the wearisome defilements. But if you do not renounce your thoughts of stealing, you will not be able to get out of the dust. Even though people may have some wisdom and the manifestation of chan samadhi, they are certain to enter a deviant path if they do not cease stealing. At best, they will become clever apparitions; on the average, they will become vampire ghosts; at the lowest level, they will become deviant people who are possessed by river sprites. These deviant hordes all have their followers. Each claims that he has accomplished the Unsurpassed Way. After my tranquility, in the Dharma-ending Age, these vampires and deviant entities will abound, spreading like wildfire as they surreptitiously cheat others. Calling themselves good knowing advisors, they will each claim that they have attained the Unsurpassed Dharma. Enticing and deceiving the ignorant, or frightening them out of their wits, they disrupt and lay waste to households wherever they go.

"I teach the Bhikshus to beg for their food according to where they are, in order to help them renounce greed and accomplish the Bodhi Way. The Bhikshus do not prepare their own food, so that, at the end of this life of transitory existence in the Triple Realm, they can show themselves to be Once-returners who go and do not return. How could thieves put on my robes and sell the Tathagata, saying that all manner of karma one creates is just the Budhadharma? They slander Bhikshus who have left the home life and taken the complete precepts, saying that they belong to the path of the Small Vehicle. In this way, they confuse limitless beings, causing them to go astray, until they fall into the Unintermittent Hell.

"After my tranquility, I affirm that Bhikshus who have a decisive resolve to cultivate samadhi, and who before the images of Tathagatas can light an oil lamp in their bodies or burn off a finger, or burn even one incense stick on their bodies, will, in that moment repay their debts from beginningless time past. They can depart from the world and be forever free of outflows. Though they may not have instantly understood the Unsurpassed Enlightenment, they will already have firmly set their minds on the Dharma. If one does not practice any of these token renunciations of the body on the causal level, then even if one realizes the unconditioned, one will still have to come back as a person to repay one’s past debts, exactly as I had to undergo the retribution of having to eat the grain meant for horses.

"When you teach people of the world to cultivate samadhi, they must also cease stealing. This is the third clear and decisive instruction on purity given by the Tathagatas, the Budhas of the past, World Honored Ones. Therefore, Ananda, if cultivators of chan samadhi do not cease stealing, they are like someóne who pours water into a leaking cup hoping to fill it. He may continue for as many eóns as there are fine motes of dust, but, in the end, the cup still will not be full. If Bhikshus do not store away anything else than their robes and bowls; if they give what is left over from their food-offerings to hungry beings; if they put their palms together and make obeisance to the entire great assembly; if when people scold them they can treat it as praise; if they can sacrifice their very bodies and minds, giving their flesh, bones, and blood to living creatures; and if they do not repeat the non-ultimate teachings of the Tathagata as though they were their own explanations, misleading those who have just begun to study; then the Budha gives them his seal as having attained true samadhi. What I have said here is the Budhas’ teaching. Any explanation counter to it is the teaching of Papiyan.

"Ananda, although beings in the six paths of any mundane world may not kill, steal, or lust either physically or mentally, these three aspects of their conduct thus being perfect, if they tell various major lies, then the samadhi they attain will not be pure. They will become demons of love and views and will lose the seed of the Tathagata. They claim that they have attained what they have not attained, and that they have been certified when they have not been certified. Perhaps they seek to be foremost in the world, most venerated and superior people. They announce to their audiences that they have attained the fruition of a Shrotaapanna, of a Sakridagamin, of an Anagamin, of Arhatship, of the PratyekaBudha Vehicle, or the various levels of Bodhisattvahood up to and including the Ten Grounds, in order to cause others to revere and repent in front of them and because they are greedy for offerings. These icchantikas destroy the seeds of Budhahood just as surely as a tala tree is destroyed if it is chopped down. The Budha predicts that such people sever their good roots forever and lose their knowledge and vision. Immersed in the sea of the Three Sufferings, they cannot attain samadhi.

"I command that after my tranquility, Bodhisattvas and Arhats appear in response-bodies in the Dharma-ending Age, and take various forms in order to rescue those in the cycle of rebirth. They should either become Shramanas, white-robed laypeople, kings, ministers or officials, virgin youths or maidens, and so forth, even prostitutes, widows, profligates, thieves, butchers, or dealers in contraband, doing the same things as these kinds of people while they praise the Budha Vehicle and cause them to enter samadhi in body and mind. But they should never say of themselves, ‘I am truly a Bodhisattva’; or ‘I am truly an Arhat,’ or let the Budhas’ secret cause leak out by speaking casually to those who have not yet studied, other than at the end of their lives and then only to those who inherit the teaching. Otherwise, aren’t such people deluding and confusing beings and indulging in gross false claims?

"When you teach people in the world to cultivate samadhi, they must also cease all lying. This is the fourth clear and decisive instruction on purity given by the Tathagatas and the Budhas of the past, World Honored Ones. Therefore, Ananda, one who does not cut off lying is like a person who carves a piece of human excrement to look like chandana, hoping to make it fragrant. He is attempting the impossible. I teach the Bhikshus that the straight mind is the Way-place and that in all aspects of their practice of the Four Awesome Deportments they should avoid falseness. How could they claim to have themselves attained the Dharmas of a superior person? That would be like a poor person falsely caalling himself an emperor andthereby bringing about his own execution. Much less should one attempt to usurp the title of the Dharma King. When the cause-ground is not true, the effects will be distorted. One who seeks the Budha’s Bodhi in that way is like a person who tries to bite his own navel. Who could possibly succeed in that?

"If the Bhikshus’ minds are as straight as bow-strings, and they are true and real in everything they do, then they can enter samadhi and never be involved in the deeds of demons. I certify that such people will accomplish the Bodhisattvas’ Unsurpassed Knowledge and Enlightenment. What I have said here is the Budhas’ teaching. Any explanation counter to it is the teaching of Papiyan.

"Ananda, you asked about collecting one’s thoughts; I have now begun to explain the wonderful method of cultivation for entrance into samadhi in order to seek the Bodhisattva Way. First one must be as pure as glistening frost in keeping these four rules of deportment. One must refrain from all superfluous behavior and then the three evils of the mind and the four of the mouth will have no cause to come forth. Ananda, if one does not neglect these four matters, and, further, does not pursue forms, fragrances, tastes, objects of touch, and the like, then how can any demonic deeds arise?

"If people cannot put an end to their habits from the past, you should teach them to singlemindedly recite my Light Atop the Budha’s Crown Unsurpassed Spiritual Mantra: Mwo He Sa Dan Dwo Bwo Da La. It is the invisible appearance atop the crown of the Tathagatas’ heads. It is the mantra-heart proclaimed by the Budhas of the Unconditioned Mind who come forth from the crowns in a blaze of light and sit upon jeweled lotus flowers.

"What is more, your past lives with Matangi’s daughter have created accumulated eóns of causes and conditions. Your habits of fondness and emotional love go back not just one life, nor even just one eón. Yet, as soon as I proclaimed it, she was freed forever from the love in her heart and accomplished Arhatship. Even that prostitute, who had no intention of cultivating, was imperceptibly aided by that spiritual power and was swiftly certified to the position beyond study; then what about you Hearers in the assembly, who seek the most supreme Vehicle and are resolved to realize Budhahood? For you it should be as easy as tossing dust into a favorable wind. What, then, is the problem?

"Those in the final age who wish to sit in a Way-place must first hold the pure precepts of a Bhikshu. To do so, they must find as their teacher a foremost Shramana who is pure in the precepts. If they do not encounter a member of the Sangha who is truly pure, then it is absolutely certain that their deportment in precepts and rules cannot be accomplished. Having kept the precepts well, they should put on fresh, clean clothes, light incense in a place where they are alone, and recite the spiritual mantra spoken by the Budhas of the Mind one hundred and eight times. After that, they should secure the boundaries and establish the Way-place.

"Then they should beseech the unsurpassed Tathagatas abiding in their lands throughout the ten directions to emit a light of great compassion that anoints the crowns of the cultivators’ heads.

"Ananda, when any such pure Bhikshus, Bhikshunis, or white-robed donors in the Dharma ending Age who can get rid of greed and lust even at the mental level, hold the Budhas’ pure precepts, and in a Way-place make the vows of a Bodhisattva and can bathe upon entering and exiting each time, continuing that practice of the Way day and night for three weeks without sleep, I will appear before these people in a physical form and rub the crowns of their heads to comfort them and enable them to become enlightened."

Ananda said to the Budha, "World Honored One, enveloped in the Tathagata’s unsurpassed, compassionate instruction, my mind has already gained an awakening, and I know how to cultivate and be certified to the Way beyond study. But how do those who cultivate in the final age and want to establish a Way-place, secure the boundaries in accord with the rules of purity of the Budhas, World Honored Ones?"

The Budha said to Ananda, "If there are people in the Dharma-ending age who wish to establish a Way-place, they should first find a powerful white cow in the snowy mountains, one which eats the lush and fertile sweet-smelling grasses of the mountains. Since such a cow also drinks only the pure water of the snowy mountains, its dung will be very fine. They can take that cow dung, mix it with chandana, and plaster the ground with it. If not from the snowy mountains, the cow dung will smell bad and cannot be used to smear on the ground. In that case, select a level place, dig down five feet or so, and use that yellow earth. Mix it with chandana incense, ‘sinking-in-water’ incense, jasmine incense, continuously permeating incense, tulip incense, white paste incense, green wood incense, fragrant mound incense, sweet pine incense, and ‘chicken-tongue’ incense. Grind these ten ingredients to a fine powder, make a paste, and smear it on the ground of the platform. The area should be sixteen feet wide and octagonal in shape.

"In the center of the platform, place a lotus flower made of gold, silver, copper, or wood. In the middle of the flower set a bowl filled with dew collected in the eighth lunar month. Float an abundance of flower petals on the water. Arrange eight circular mirrors at measured intervals around the flower and the bowl. Outside the mirrors place sixteeen lotus flowers and sixteencensers, so that the incense-burners are adorned and arranged between the flowers. Burn only sinking-in-water incense, lighting it with an ember, not an open flame.

"Place the milk of a white cow in sixteen vessels, along with cakes made with the same kind of milk, granulated sugar, oil cakes, milk porridge, turushka, honeyed ginger, clarified butter, and filtered honey. These sixteen are set around the outside of the sixteen flowers as an offering to the Budhas and great Bodhisattvas.

"At every mealtime and at midnight, prepare a half-pint of honey and three tenths of a pint of clarified butter. Set up a small incense burner in front of the platform. Decoct the fragrant liquid from the turushka incense and use it to cleanse the coals. Light them so that blaze bursts forth, and toss the clarified butter and honey into the flaming censer. Let it burn until the smoke disappears, and present it to the Budhas and Bodhisattvas.

"Drape flags and flower garlands on the four outer walls, and within the room where the platform is located, arrange images of the Tathagatas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions on the four walls.

"In the most prominent place, display images of Vairocana Budha, Shakyamuni Budha, Maitreya Bodhisattva, Akshobhya Budha, Amitabha Budha, and all the magnificent transformations of Guanyin (Contemplator of the World’s Sounds) Bodhisattva. To the left and right, place the Vajra-Treasury Bodhisattvas. Beside them display the Lords Shakra and Brahma, Ucchushma, and the Blue Dirgha, as well as Kundalin and Bhrukuti and all four Heavenly Kings, with Vinayaka to the left and right of the door.

"Then suspend eight mirrors in the space around the platform so that they are exactly opposite the mirrors on the platform. This will allow the reflections in them to interpenetrate infinitely.

"During the first seven days, bow sincerely to the names of the Tathagatas of the ten directions, the great Bodhisattvas, and the names of the Arhats. Throughout the six periods of the day and night, continually recite the mantra while circumambulating the platform. Practice the Way with a sincere mind, reciting the mantra one hundred and eight times in each session.

"During the second week, make the vows of a Bodhisattva with unwavering ceaseless intent. In my Vinaya, I have already taught about vows.

"During the third week, hold the Budha’s mantra: Bwo Da La for twelve hours at a time with a single intent; and on the seventh day, the Tathagatas of the ten directions will appear simultaneously. Their light will inter-reflect in the mirrors, illumining the entire area; and they will rub the crowns of the practitioners’ heads.

"Cultivating samadhi like this in a Way-place, even in the Dharma-ending age one can study and practice until one’s body and mind are as pure and clear as Vaidurya. Ananda, if any one of the Bhikshu’s precept-transmitting masters or any one of ten Bhikshus in the same assembly is not pure, the Way-place as described will not be successful.

"After three weeks, sit upright and still for a hundred days. Those with sharp roots will not arise from their seats and will become Shrotaapannas. Although their bodies and minds have not yet attained the ultimate fruition of sagehood, they know for certain, beyond question, that they will eventually realize Budhahood. You have asked how the Way-place is established. That is the way it is done."

Ananda bowed at the Budha’s feet and said, "After I left the home life, I relied on the Budha’s affectionate regard. Because I sought erudition, I still have not been certified to the unconditioned. When I encountered that Brahma Heaven Mantra, I was captured by the deviant spell; though my mind was aware, I had no strength to free myself. I had to rely on Manjushri Bodhisattva to liberate me. Although I was blessed by the Tathagata’s spiritual mantra of the Budha’s crown and imperceptibly received its strength, I still have not heard it myself. I only hope that the Greatly Compassionate One will proclaim it again to kindly rescue all the cultivators in this assembly and those of the future in the paths of rebirth, so that they may become liberated in body and mind by relying on the Budha’s secret sounds."

At that moment, everyone in the great assembly bowed as one and stood waiting to hear the Tathagata’s secret compilation of phrases. At that time, hundreds of brilliant rays of light welled forth from the flesh mound at the crown of the World Honored One’s head. A thousand-petaled precious lotus then welled forth from amidst those rays. Upon the precious flowers sat a transformation Tathagata. From the crown of his head ten beams of light radiated forth, each composed of hundreds of rays of subtle light. Every one of those glowing rays shone on lands as many as the sand grains of ten Ganges rivers, while throughout empty space Vajra Secret-Trace Spirits appeared each holding aloft a mountain and wielding a pestle.

Subir