At that time the World-Honored One looked vigorous and joyful; His appearance pure, radiant, and majestic. The venerable Ananda, at the Buddha’s unspoken holy command, rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and fell on both knees. With palms joined, he said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, You look vigorous and joyful today, Your appearance pure, radiant, and majestic, like a clear mirror that reflects images inside and is shiny outside. Your sublime visage is resplendent, unparalleled, and indescribable. Never have I beheld such wondrous splendor as You now display. Indeed, Great Holiness, my mind has these thoughts: ‘Today the World-Honored One abides in the extraordinary Dharma. Today the Hero of the World abides in the truth in which all Buddhas abide. Today the Eye of the World carries on as the guiding teacher. Today the Victor of the World abides in the supreme bodhi. Today the Heaven-Honored One demonstrates the Tathagata virtues. As Buddhas of the past, present, and future think of one another, does the present Buddha not think of other Buddhas? Why is His awesome presence so radiant?'”
The World-Honored One asked Ananda, “Why Ananda? Did the gods tell you to ask the Buddha? Do you ask about my sublime visage based on your own perception?” Ananda replied to the Buddha, “No god told me to. I ask about this meaning based on my own perception.” The Buddha said, “Very good! Ananda, your question is opportune. You have developed profound wisdom and truly wonderful eloquence and, out of compassion for sentient beings, you wisely ask about this meaning.
“The Tathagata, out of inexhaustible great compassion for sentient beings in the Three Realms of Existence, has appeared in the world to expound the teachings for attaining bodhi, to rescue sentient beings, and to give them true benefits. Like an udumbara flower, the auspicious, wonderful flower that appears only once in a long while, He is hard to encounter in innumerable kotis of kalpas. What you ask now will greatly benefit and transform all gods and humans.
“Ananda, know that immeasurable is the Tathagata-Sambuddha’s wisdom, which leads and guides. His knowledge and views are hindrance free and indestructible. With the power of one meal, He can make his life last 100,000 koti kalpas or even innumerable, countless kalpas, His faculties undiminished in vigor and His appearance unchanged in radiance. What is the reason? Because the Tathagata, with His boundless and endless samadhi and wisdom, has command of all dharmas. Hearken, Ananda, I now will explain to you.” “Indeed, I would be glad to hear,” responded Ananda.
We will first translate this part of the Sutra into vernacular Chinese.
At that time the World-Honored One looked vigorous and joyful more than usual; His appearance and gesture were pure, radiant, and majestic, emitting a lofty light of merits and virtues. The venerable Ananda, activated by the Buddha’s holy power, rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and fell on both knees. With palms joined, he said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, You look vigorous and joyful today, Your appearance pure, radiant, and majestic, resplendent with the light of merits and virtues, like a clear mirror that reflects images inside and is shiny outside. Your sublime visage is pure and lofty, unparalleled, and indescribable. Never have I beheld such wondrous splendor as You now display. Indeed, Great Holiness, my mind has these thoughts: ‘Today the World-Honored One abides in the extraordinary Dharma. Today the Hero of the World abides in the truth in which all Buddhas abide. Today the Eye of the World carries on as the guiding teacher. Today the Victor of the World abides in the supreme bodhi. Today the Heaven-Honored One demonstrates the Tathagata virtues. As Buddhas of the past, present, and future think of one another, does the present Buddha not think of other Buddhas? Why is His awesome presence so radiant?'”
The World-Honored One asked Ananda, “Why Ananda? Did the gods tell you to ask the Buddha? Do you ask about my sublime visage based on your own perception?” Ananda replied to the Buddha, “No god told me to. I ask about this meaning based on my own perception.” The Buddha said, “Very good! Ananda, your question is opportune. You have developed profound wisdom and wonderful eloquence inherent within the True and Genuine Suchness and, out of compassion for sentient beings, you wisely ask about this meaning.
“The Tathagata, out of inexhaustible great compassion for sentient beings in the Three Realms of Existence, has appeared in the world to expound the teachings for attaining bodhi, to rescue sentient beings, and to give them true benefits. Like an udumbara flower, the auspicious, wonderful flower that appears only once in thousands of years, He and His Teachings are truly hard to encounter in innumerable kotis of kalpas.
“Ananda, do you know that what you ask now will greatly benefit and transform all gods and humans? Ananda, know that immeasurable is the Tathagata-Sambuddha’s wisdom, which leads and guides. His knowledge and views are hindrance free and limitless, extending all over innumerable beings, time and space. With the power of one meal, He can make his life last 100,000 koti kalpas or even more innumerable, countless kalpas, His faculties undiminished in vigor and joy, completely indestructible, and His appearance unchanged in radiance and he does not age. What is the reason? Because the Tathagata, with His boundless, indescribable and supreme samadhi and wisdom, has command of all dharmas and maintains freedom. Hearken, Ananda, I now will explain to you.” “Indeed, I would be glad to hear,” responded Ananda.
The above passage focuses on the causation of Buddha’s preaching the Sutra. The causation is that one day Ananda sees that His body and appearance of Shakyamuni Buddha are more than usual. In the Sutra, descriptive words and phrases about the appearance of Buddha such as “six faculties in vigor and joy”, “His appearance pure, radiant and majestic”, “like a clear mirror that reflects images inside and is shiny outside” are being used. Ananda is inspired to ponder upon what Buddha is thinking about and what extraordinary Realm He abides in. “The World-Honored One”, “The Hero of the World”, “The Eye of the World”, “The Victor of the World” and “The Heaven-Honored One” are all honorific titles for Shakyamuni Buddha.
In the Mahayana scriptures, it is often seen that before Buddha delivers sutras, generally there will be disciples rising up from their seats proposing questions, or Buddha emitting auspicious rays before preaching. For example, we have all studied “The Lotus Sutra” and “The Diamond Sutra”. In “The Lotus Sutra”, before the Buddha delivers Dharma, in addition to auspicious blessings from Heavens, the Buddha in Samadhi emits between his brows white light that prompts His disciples to ask what is the reason for these portents. In “The Diamond Sutra”, it is Subhuti who arises from his seat in the assembly to ask, “If a good man, or good woman, resolves his heart on Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, how should he dwell, how should he subdue his heart?” And today, what the Buddha shows is the vigor and joy of His six faculties, the transparency of His body as glazed glass, both clear inside and outside, and His merits and virtues shining with majestic splendor. This is a remark that shows Buddha is going to proclaim the inner realm attained by all Buddhas, as well as the benefits that Buddhas will give to sentient beings after their merits are completed, which is subtle and fathomless. Therefore, upon the blessings of Buddha’s divine power, Ananda saluted to propose a question, which agrees with Buddha’s will.
On hearing Ananda’s question, Shakyamuni Buddha answers with a question, “Did the gods tell you to ask the Buddha, or do you ask based on your own perception?” Ananda replied to the Buddha, “No god told me to. I ask about this meaning based on my own perception.” The Sutra the Buddha is going to deliver today will bring sentient beings of the world of Saha truly practical benefits directly provided by Buddhas. Ananda’s question is no other than a blessing descended due to his intuitive connection with the Buddha and a sign of the maturation of good Karma of all. The Buddha praised highly, “Very good! Ananda, your question is opportune. You have developed profound wisdom… out of compassion for sentient beings, you wisely ask about this meaning.” In many other classic scriptures, Ananda has raised many questions on his own or on behalf of others. Never has he been so highly praised by the Buddha. Accordingly, one can realize the significance of the Sutra in the heart of Shakyamuni Buddha.
Besides, as we study through the Sutra, the fact is made clear that the target audience of the Dharma teaching is gods. Hence, Buddha asks Ananda if he is prompted by gods to ask the question. Gods enjoy blessings of their past good karma, opinionatedly content with their lives, just like human beings who are satisfied with being well off. Other worlds’ peace and happiness have no appeal to them. However, Buddha would like them to hearken to the wishes and merits of the great bodhisattvas and the freedom and ultimate joy inherent in the great nirvana realm and the realm of the identity of the absolute void with the ultimate reality all Buddhas possess, as well as the sharing and giving of their merits. Moreover, gods have not terminated reincarnation, and if good karma is exhausted, one will still fall into the six paths of reincarnation. Therefore, in this scripture, the Buddha hopes that gods will not blindly get lost in the fleeting joy due to the maturity of good karma; instead, they can initiate the wish to achieve Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, and cherish the aspiration of going to the West Pure Land to avoid falling into reincarnation, or even falling into the three evil paths when good karma ends. After all, as far as getting reborn in the West Pure Land is concerned, we human beings and the three evil paths suffered from afflictions and sufferings have a more acute aspiration for going there than gods indulgent in pleasures.
The Buddha’s rhetorical question towards Ananda not only reminds all heavenly beings to pay attention to everything that the Buddha is about to announce, but also hopes that all heavenly beings, like other beings, will cherish this scripture and practice as taught. Thus Ananda proposes the question. It is also emphasized in the sutra that the Dharma to be delivered by Buddha today will bring great benefits to all beings and transform all gods and humans.