Flower Adornment Sutra
Prologue by T’ang Dynasty
National Master Ch’ing Liang
With Commentary of
Tripitaka Master Hua
Translated into English by
Bhiksuni Heng Hsien
Reviewed by Bhiksunis Heng
Yin & Heng Tao
Edited by Bhiksuni Heng
Ch’ih
PROLOGUE:
TAKEN TOGETHER, THE ABOVE FIVE MEANINGS DO NOT GO BEYOND "STRINGING TOGETHER" AND "ATTRACTING."
COMMENTARY:
TAKEN TOGETHER means considered in general. Previously the discussion was divided up, but now THE ABOVE FIVE MEANINGS are being put together. They were:
1. Bubbling Spring
(yung
ch’uan 
)
2. Bringing Forth
{ch'u sheng 
)
3. Revealing (hsien
shih 
)
4. Inked Cord (sheng
mi 
)
5. Garland {chieh man 
)
Those five meanings DO NOT GO BEYOND two terms, which are used to sum them up: "STRINGING TOGETHER" ANY "ATTRACTING." "Stringing together" means,
Stringing together the meanings that are spoken.
"Attracting" means:
Attracting and holding those with potential to be taught.
Those two lines include all the meanings of "Sutra."
If one understands all of the various meanings discussed previously, one will understand why the Buddha spoke all the Sutras. The Buddha spoke them to cause all of us living beings:
To go back to the origin and return to the source.
To turn away from confusion and take refuge with enlightenment.
That is also:
To turn our backs on the mundane dust, and unite with enlightenment.
Otherwise, if no living beings listened to the Sutras the Buddha spoke, the Sutras would be useless. Therefore, if there were no living beings, there would be no Sutras; and without Sutras, there would be no way to teach living beings to become Buddhas.
We have listened to a great many Sutras, and we should put them into actual application. Don't let it be that the more you hear the more deeply confused you become, saying, "I've listened to the Sutras, and I don't believe them." Since you listen to the Sutras, you should believe in their principles. You should act upon however much you know of the principles in the Sutras—a little if little, and more if more. The important thing is to actually put them into practice. As it is said:
What is spoken is Dharma;
What is practiced is the Way.
You may speak wonderfully and well,
But if you do not truly practice,
Then there is no Way.
If you don't cultivate the Way, but say, "I can lecture Sutras," if all you can do is listen to Sutras but are unable to practice according to them, then it is useless. You have to be able to actually cultivate. What is meant by cultivating? It means getting rid of your faults.
For example, a few weeks ago we matched the line:
Toppling mountains to tilt in oceans, increasing the great earth.
Mountains represent arrogance, and the ocean stands for having an inferiority complex. If you have pride and arrogance, that's high mountains. If you have an inferiority complex, that's great seas. With an inferiority complex, you feel, "I'm not as good as other people. I'm a really useless person. I'd be better of dead. There's no meaning to my being in the world. I should die sooner and next life will be better." Who would have expected that, not having made a good job of this life, you turn out to have it even worse in your next life.
To die like that is called:
Deserting right before a battle.
In the world, there is still a place to run to. But, if while alive you want to die, once you retreat from that battle, there's no place else to run—except the hells. When you get there. King Yama says, "Oh? I sent you there and you've come back? Okay, go try out the Mountain of Knives and the Forest of Swords." You may think the world's a bitter place, but it's far more bitter there. From morning to night you'll cry like a baby, and no one will save you. But if you topple the mountains and fill in the seas—get rid of your pride and your feelings of inferiority so you don't look down on yourself—you increase the great earth. You make it level ground. That's the explanation according to cultivation of the Way.
Another line we had to match was:
Listening to Sutras and hearing Dharma, one should cultivate the Way.
If you listen to the Sutras and hear the Dharma, you should cultivate. Don't fail to cultivate. If you don't cultivate, what use is there in listening to Sutras? What use is there in hearing Dharma? So you have to cultivate. One person did a good job matching with:
To understand the mind and see the nature, one must investigate Dhyana.
Do you want to understand the mind and see the nature? Then you have to investigate Dhyana. If you don't investigate Dhyana, there's no way to understand the mind and see the nature. How do you investigate Dhyana? It's by sitting in meditation. Someone else matched the line with:
Investigating Dhyana, sitting in meditation, one ends birth and death.
PROLOGUE:
THEREFORE, THE BUDDHA GROUND SHASTRA, PART ONE, SAYS, "IT STRINGS TOGETHER AND ATTRACTS, AND SO IT IS CALLED 'SUTRA,' BECAUSE THE BUDDHA'S SAGELY TEACHING STRINGS TOGETHER, THREADS THROUGH, ATTRACTS, AND HOLDS THE MEANINGS THAT SHOULD BE SPOKEN AND THE BEINGS WHO ARE TAUGHT. THIS MAY BE THE STRINGING TOGETHER AND ATTRACTING OF BOTH WHAT IS SPOKEN AW THOSE TAUGHT; OR IT MAY BE STRINGING TOGETHER AND THREADING THROUGH THE DHARMA MARKS, AND ATTRACTING AW HOLDING THOSE TAUGHT."
COMMENTARY:
Previously it was talking about how the meanings did not go beyond the two terms "stringing together" and "attracting." The section now confirms the meaning of those two terms. THEREFORE, THE BUDDHA GROUND SHASTRA, PART ONE, SAYS...There is a treatise called the Buddha Ground Shastra, the first roll of which states, "IT STRINGS TOGETHER AND ATTRACTS." It strings together the meanings that are spoken, and attracts and holds those with potential to be taught, "AND SO IT IS CALLED 'SUTRA.'" That's why it was given that name, "BECAUSE THE BUDDHA'S SAGELY TEACHING STRINGS TOGETHER, THREADS THROUGH, ATTRACTS, AND HOLDS THE MEANINGS THAT SHOULD BE SPOKEN." It links together the principles that should be spoken, "AND attracts and holds THE BEINGS WHO ARE TAUGHT," the living beings who should be taught and transformed.
"THIS MAY BE THE STRINGING TOGETHER OF BOTH WHAT IS SPOKEN AND THOSE TAUGHT." The stringing together and attracting under discussion may be of both the Dharma that is spoken and those with potential who are taught. "OR perhaps IT MAY BE STRINGING TOGETHER AND THREADING THROUGH THE DHARMA MARKS," the characteristics of the Dharma that is spoken, "AND ATTRACTING AND HOLDING THOSE living beings who are TAUGHT."
PROLOGUE:
MOREOVER, THE SAMPARIGRAHA-SHASTRA BY HEAVENLY RELATIVE EXPLAINS "STRINGING AND THREADING BY SAYING, "THAT IS, BECAUSE IT STRINGS TOGETHER AND THREADS THROUGH THE RELIANCES, THE MARKS, THE DHARMAS, AND THE MEANINGS."
COMMENTARY:
MOREOVER, it now says, in THE Mahayana-SAMPARIGRAHA-SHASTRA, which was written BY HEAVENLY RELATIVE Bodhisattva, it EXPLAINS the two terms "STRINGING together" AND "THREADING through" by SAYING, "THAT IS, BECAUSE IT STRINGS TOGETHER AND THREADS THROUGH THE RELIANCES." "The reliances" mean that which is depended upon. It also strings together and threads through "THE MARKS, THE DHARMAS, AND THE MEANINGS," the principles.
PROLOGUE:
"'THE RELIANCES' MEANS THE PARTICULAR PLACES WHERE, THE PARTICULAR REASONS WHY, AND THE PARTICULAR BEINGS FOR WHOM IT WAS SPOKEN."
COMMENTARY;
What is meant by "reliances"? "'THE RELIANCES' MEANS THE PARTICULAR PLACES WHERE the Sutra was spoken. In this case, the Flower Adornment Sutra was spoken in the Country of Magadha. "THE PARTICULAR REASONS WHY" means the causes and conditions which resulted in the Sutra being spoken, "AND THE PARTICULAR BEINGS FOR WHOM IT WAS SPOKEN" means once the causes and conditions exist, then the Sutra is spoken for the sake of those with potential. They are the ones for whom it was spoken.
PROLOGUE:
"'THE MARKS' MEANS MARKS OF CONVENTIONAL TRUTH AND MARKS OF TRUTH IN THE SUPREME SENSE. 'THE DHARMAS' MEANS THE SKANDHAS, THE REALMS, THE PLACES, THE ARISALS FROM CONDITIONS, THE TRUTHS, THE KINDS OF EATING, THE STILL CONSIDERATIONS, THE LIMITLESS, THE FORMLESS, THE LIBERATIONS, THE VICTORIOUS PLACES, THE PERVASIVE PLACES, THE BODHI SHARES, THE UNOBSTRUCTED UNDERSTANDINGS, NON-STRIFE, AND SO FORTH. 'THE MEANINGS' ARE AS THE SECRET MEANING DESCRIBES, AND SO FORTH."
COMMENTARY;
Previously it talked about stringing together the reliances, and now it discusses stringing together the marks. What marks are those? '"THE MARKS' are of two kinds, which MEANS the first kind is MARKS OF CONVENTIONAL TRUTH, that is, worldly dharmas, AND the second kind is MARKS OF TRUTH IN THE SUPREME SENSE." There is also stringing together "'THE DHARMAS.'" There are a great many dharmas, but taken together that "MEANS" they do not go beyond the Dharmas of THE Five SKANDHAS, THE Eighteen Realms, and THE Twelve PLACES." If they are discussed in detail, they amount to 84,000 Dharma doors. Taken in general, "Dharmas" refers to:
The Five Skandhas
1. Form.
2. Feeling.
3. Thinking.
4. Activities.
5. Consciousness.
The Eighteen Realms
The Six Organs:
The Six Objects: The Six
Consciousnesses:
1. Eye. 1. Sights. 1. Eye Consciousness.
2. Ear. 2. Sounds. 2. Ear Consciousness.
3. Nose. 3. Smells. 3. Nose Consciousness.
4. Tongue. 4. Tastes. 4. Tongue Consciousness
5. Body. 5. Objects of Touch. 5. Body Consciousness.
6. Mind. 6. Dharmas. 6. Mind Consciousness.
The Twelve Places
The Six Organs: The Six Objects:
1. Eye 7. Sights.
2. Ear 8. Sounds.
3. Nose 9. Smells.
4. Tongue 10. Tastes.
5. Body 11. Objects of Touch.
6. Mind 12. Dharmas.
"THE ARISALS FROM CONDITIONS" means:
The Twelve Links of Conditioned Co-Production
1. Ignorance, which conditions...
2. Activity. Activity conditions...
3. Consciousness. Consciousness conditions...
4. Name and Form. Name and Form condition...
5. The Six Entrances. The Six entrances condition...
6. Contact. Contact conditions...
7. Feeling. Feeling conditions...
8. Love. Love conditions...
9. Grasping. Grasping conditions...
10. Becoming (Having). Becoming conditions...
11. Birth. Birth conditions...
12. Old Age and Death.