Chapter 7:
Praise of the Lotus
At this
time, the Tathagata speaks to the goddess of the great old Bodhi tree (thọ
thần của bồ đề đại thọ), heavenly
goddess, you should know the reason why the bodhisattva Gentle Garland dreams
of the Golden drum emitting great sounds, fulfilling the praise of the
Tathagata and the methods of repentance. The Tathagata will speak to you about
that cause. You should listen carefully, and remember correctly. In the past
there is a king called Lord of the Golden Dragon, who often use lotus as an
example to praise the Tathagatas. The Blessed One then speaks of this praise to
the whole assembly
The
Tathagatas in the past
In the
future and present
Among the
world in the 10 directions
To You I
now whole-heartedly bow down in homage
One-mindedly
praising the Supreme Ones
The great
Sakyamuni
The Unsurpassed
and pure.
The brightness
from His body
Shines with
the Golden color
Among all
sounds
The sound
of His voice is alone supreme
Just like
the voice of the great Brahma
Like
thunders resounding greatly
Buddha’s
hair color
Resembles
the blackness of the queen bee
With many
waves of curls
Gleaming with
the blue color
Buddha’s
teeth are uniform and closely fit
As white as
the snow and pearl
Very flat
and straight
And lightly
glisten
Buddha’s
eyes a bright and stainless
Excellently
beautiful and solemn
Buddha’s
eyes are as large
As the blue
lotus’s petal
Together with
the sign
Of the wide
and long tongue
Which is gentle
and yielding
Red as the
pink lotus
From the
water pond sprouting up
In the
middle of the eyebrows
There is bright
white hair
Which curls
clockwise
With the
color of crystal
Buddha’s
eyebrows are long and fine
As bright
as the new moon
Which
glistens brightly
Like the
body of the queen bee
Buddha’s
nose is high, long and straight
Just like
the golden tip
Clean and
bright
Not wanting
in beauty
All kinds
of perfumes
Abound in
this world
Buddha’s
nose can tell
Where they
are from
Just by
smelling
The Golden
body form
Supreme and
peerless
Each hair
tip is equally beautiful
Compared to
the rest (other hair)
Brightly
blue in color, soft and downy
Which curls
to the right
Exquisite
and shimmering
None can
compare
When that
Body is newly born in the world
It already
has light
Shining and
spreading everywhere
Of the
worlds in the 10 directions
Capable of
eliminating sufferings
Of the
sentient beings in the 3 realms
Making them
all rest in joy and comfort
Whether it
is in hell
Animal
kingdoms, pretas
Asura or
devas and mankind
The light
eliminates
All kinds
of suffering for them
Often
enjoying the natural bliss
The light
from that body
Often
shines to everywhere
Just like
pure gold
Which is most
exquisite
Buddha’s
eyes are clear
Just like
the full moon
Buddha’s
lips are scarlet
Like the
color of the tan ba fruit
Buddha’s
steps are solemn and powerful
Just like
the gait of the lion
The body of
Buddha is
Just like
the sun at dawn
The arms
are long
Passing the
knees
Often left
naturally dangling
As straight
as the sa la branch
The white circle
halo
Shining brightly
forth
Like
hundred thousands of suns
Spreading
to all Buddha’s field
Those who
have the cause (roots and habits in the past)
Will be
awakened
The pure
and transparent light
Illuminating
to hundred thousands of worlds
And
throughout the 10 directions unhindered
All
darkness will vanish
The
compassionate light of the Tathagata
Brings
about happiness and peace
The color
is of a shade of transparency
Just like a
mountain of pure gold
The light
spreading to everywhere
Hundreds of
thousand worlds
Those who
see this light
Will be
liberated
Countless
infinite merits
Accomplishing
(completing) the body of the Tathagata
All these
merits
Decorate
the Buddha’s body
Surpassing
the 3 realms
The
Tathagata is the King ruling all
Above all
worlds
Becoming
the Unsurpassed and peerless
The
Tathagatas in the past
As numerous
as the grains of dust
In the
whole great heavenly world
The
Tathagatas
In the
present and future
Also as
numerous
As the
grains of dust
Of the
whole great heavenly world
I now make
use of my body, speech and mind
To sincerely
and thoroughly bow down
To the
Tathagatas in the 3 times
Praising
the ocean of boundless merits
Making
offering using all kinds
Of
perfumes, incense and flowers
Suppose I
had a thousand tounges
Praising
the Tathagatas
In
countless eons
The merit
of Buddha
Is
inconceivable
Supreme and
very profound
Very hard
to describe
Suppose I
have hundreds of thousands of mouths
It is still
impossible to exhaustively
Praise even
one single part
Of one merit
and virtue of one Buddha
Accomplishing
a very small part
No need to
speak of countless
Merits of
the Tathagata
Suppose the
whole world
Including
the devas
Up to the Hữu đảnh
heaven
All become
sea water
Using the
measurement of
One droplet
of water collected on one hair tip
It is
possible to count and know all
Yet even
one virtue of Buddha
Can barely
be known and understood
I use my
body, speech and mind
To
sincerely bow down in homage
And praise
the boundless virtues and merits
Of the
Tathagatas
The great merits
and supremely joyful results
That comes
from such praising and honoring
I will
dedicate to all sentient beings
And wish
them to quickly attain Tathagatahood
The Lord of
Golden Dragon King
Having
praised the Buddha so,
His mind
becomes even more sincere
Deeply
moved, he made a great vow:
I vow that
in future times
In
countless of eons of birth in the future
May I often
dream
The great
Golden drum
Able to
listen to the methods of repentance
The merits
that come from praising the Buddha
Is like the
lotus flower
May I
attain Non-birth
And become
the great Enlightened One
Only
rarely, once in hundreds of thousands of eons
Does the
Tathagata appear in the world
It is very
rare to see and meet the Tathagata
So at
night, may I often dream
Of the
sound of the golden drum
And in the
day I will follow accordingly
The method
of repentance
May I
completely and fully cultivate
The 6
paramitas
To liberate
sentient beings
From the
ocean of birth-death
Only after
that do I become
The
Supreme, Unsurpassed Enlightened One
Having a
Buddha field
That is
inconceivable
May I offer
to the Tathagatas
The golden
drum
Praising
the Tathagata
The true
merits and virtues
May I see
the Tathagata
Through
doing this act
And the
Buddha will make a prediction
For me to
continue the lineage
Of the
Dharma King
Golden
Dragon, Golden Light
Are my two
sons
In the
past, they were my virtuous friends
May they
still be born in my family
In this
life, together with me,
May they
also receive the prediction
From the
Buddha
Towards the
sentient beings
Who are
helpless, often staying in samsara
And
receiving sorrow and suffering
In my
future lives, may I become
Their
refuge and support
Giving them
great joy and bliss
I vow to
eliminate
The
suffering in the 3 realms
Giving them
what they wish (according to their own will)
Often
living in serenity
I vow that
I will cultivate the Bodhi practice
In my
future lives
Just like
in the past, those
Beings who
have become Buddha
I pray for
the merits
Of the
repentance from the golden drum
Which dry
up the ocean of suffering
And
eliminate all obstacles
When the obstacles
of habits and ignorance (confusion)
Have been
eliminated
May I
receive the pure results
The ocean
of merits and wisdom
Which is
boundless, extremely pure and transparent
And very
profound
May I
accomplish that ocean of merits and wisdom
So that I
will quickly reach
The
unsurpassed Enlightenment
The power
of repentance
Which
issues forth from the golden drum
Will
complete (and demonstrate) that light of merits and virtues
Demonstrating
such miraculous light
And bring
the light of wisdom
To shine
forth everywhere
May my
body, light aura
Merits,
virtues and wisdom
Become just
like the Tathagata’s
In all
worlds, the Buddha is supreme
Having a
free, independent power
None can
compare
May I cross
the sea of outflows
Often
traversing
The sea of
nothingness (vô vi)
May my
ocean of merit
Not dry up
but always full
The ocean of
wisdom in the future
May It be
whole and complete
May my
world system
Surpass the
three realms
Having
Supreme qualities
All
infinite and countless
May all
those who are related to me
Be born in
that world
So that
they will quickly achieve
The pure
faculty of wisdom
Gentle
Garland you should know
The Golden
dragon king
Is you; you
have made just that vow
And your
two sons
Golden
dragon, Golden light
Today are
Echoing form, and Echoing light respectively
Today they
will receive
The
prediction from the Tathagata
When the
assembly has heard these words from the Tathagata, everyone generates the
thought of Unsurpassed Enlightenment, making vows to practice the said methods
of repentance in the present and future accordingly.
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