She had no idea how much time had passed. The lake surface was a lush green. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on an enormous lotus blossom. When she sat up, she saw an ocean of lotuses. On a lotus not far away sat Duozhi, eyes closed, radiating a light that flickered bright and dim. From time to time, poison rose from his body like steam. Dabei was just puzzling over this when she realized that something about herself was not quite right. It turned out that her body had become a transparent, crystal-clear form, with shafts of light shimmering one after another inside it. She moved her arms and legs, and her body felt lighter, as though she could no longer feel its presence at all. Dabei was overjoyed, knowing that her poison had been removed. She thought to herself that this must surely be the place of the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes, and that Duozhi must have received the Divine Being’s help as well, which is why he now looked the way he did. The thought reminded her of her mission, and she stood up at once, looking around in every direction and out toward the sea.
“Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes, where are you?” In that instant, ten thousand beams of golden light came rushing from every direction toward a single spot, and where the golden light converged, an old woman with hair of pure white appeared. The old woman descended through the air, landed before Dabei, and said.
“Child, are you awake?”
“Mm… Ma’am, was it you who saved me? Are you the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes?” Dabei gazed at the kindly old woman before her and asked excitedly.
“Child, just now in the Realm of Light Illusions you were both frozen in place by the divine light, so I brought you here. I am not the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes; I am merely his maidservant. The Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes lives on the Island of Dependent Origination just ahead—look.” Following the direction of the old woman’s outstretched finger, Dabei saw, not far off, a solitary island wrapped in thick white mist, so deep and unfathomable that one could not tell whether it was water or light.
“Child, have you come from King Duobao Ruyi?” the old woman asked suddenly.
“How do you know that?” Dabei was taken aback.
The old woman chuckled warmly, and as she laughed, Dabei felt a warm current flow through her whole body.
“I have been to your planet. The Mani Jewel on your chest and the Heavenly Eye Mirror are both treasures of King Duobao Ruyi.”
As she spoke, the old woman kept looking at Dabei’s chest, and Dabei couldn’t help lowering her head to look too. Only then did she notice that, after she had turned into a crystal-clear body, the Mani Jewel and the Heavenly Eye Mirror had separated from her body—and because her body was transparent, they could be seen directly from the outside.
“Granny, have you met my father, the King?” Hearing that the old woman had been to her father’s planet, Dabei was overjoyed.
“You really are King Duobao Ruyi’s daughter. He is truly compassionate—he even sent his own daughter to a planet where the five poisons gather.”
The old woman had no time to answer Dabei’s question. She just kept exclaiming in admiration, “Child, oh child.”
“The Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes sent me here to wait for you, and it has been over two hundred years. I have finally waited until you came. He asked me to give this book to you.”
Speaking as she went, the old woman took a book out of the cloth pouch she carried with her. Dabei quickly took it with both hands and saw the large character yuan, meaning completion, on the cover of the book. Dabei stared at the character, wondering what it meant, when suddenly the character began to spin on the page. It emitted countless rays of golden light. This light briefly connected with the white light within Dabei’s body, and the golden light was drawn into Dabei’s body. The character on the cover then vanished. Dabei opened the book, and inside it was completely blank. She flipped rapidly through the entire book — not a single word. Seeing how bewildered Dabei looked, the old woman said, “Child, this is the Wordless Divine Book. If you have an affinity with it, it will reveal words or images to give you help and guidance.”
Dabei said, “Elder, could you take us to the Island of Dependent Origination? I want to see the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes as soon as possible.”
The old woman smiled mysteriously and said, “Child, on the Island of Dependent Origination, one cannot simply go there without the right affinity. You see, all around the island is a bottomless abyss, and beneath it are poisonous vapors and a poisonous sea. Nine evil dragons once dwelled in this abyss, but they were later subdued by the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes and became the island’s Dharma-protector deities. The illusions on the island are ever-changing and unfathomable. Two hundred years ago, I once set foot on the island. It was home to the Lion King, phoenixes, peacocks, and all manner of rare birds and exotic beasts. Standing on the Mountain of Self-Nature back then, I would often see the islet shrouded in auspicious clouds. From within the five-colored clouds would drift ethereal, melodious music, and golden phoenixes would fly out. But in these two hundred years, above the island I have seen nothing but a pall of gloom and mournful mist; as for what goes on within the island, I know nothing at all.”
“Does the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes still live there?” Dabei asked.
“The island is not large — you will know for yourself once you get there.” A meaningful smile appeared once again on the old woman’s face. She stood up and said, “Child, my task is complete. I must be going now. Take good care of yourself.” Before Dabei could say anything, the old woman suddenly transformed into ten thousand rays of golden light that scattered in all directions. Gathered, it takes form; dispersed, it becomes energy. Dabei stared blankly at the place where the old woman had vanished, marveling.
Star Path—6: Setting Foot on the Island of Dependent Origination (Part Two)
“Dabei!” Duozhi called as he woke and walked over from the lotus toward her. With the poison gone, Duozhi had become refined and ethereal, with the air of an immortal about him.
“Duozhi, just now we came out of the Realm of Light Illusions—your poison is gone now,” Dabei said to Duozhi excitedly.
Duozhi seemed not to hear. Instead, he stood before Dabei, staring intently at her, a look of utter astonishment on his face, unable to speak.
“Duozhi!” Dabei shouted at the top of her voice, and only then did Duozhi come back to his senses.
“Dabei, how did you become a crystal-clear body? This is simply unbelievable!”
“Why are you so excited? Have you forgotten that all of us on our planet are incarnations of light?”
“What’s so special about that? Oh, Dabei, I have truly never seen anyone change into such a form. When I lived in the Illusory Buddha Realm, I heard a cave master speak of it. Their old cave master had turned into exactly this. I didn’t believe what they said back then, but it turns out they really can all become like this.”
“Stop staring at me. We still have important things left to do, don’t we?”
Dabei briefly recounted to Duozhi what had just happened.
“Duozhi, we have to get to that island now, but how are we going to get there?” Duozhi could not think of a good way either. Just then, the Divine Book in Dabei’s hand began to emit golden light. Dabei opened it at once, and several large golden characters met her eyes: “The Nine Dragons Converge.” Dabei grew excited.
“Duozhi, the Divine Book has shown us how to get to the island.” Duozhi’s eyes lit up as well. How could the Nine Dragons be made to converge? They waited quietly for a while, and the Divine Book began to glow once more, and a line of words appeared: “Cast out the Mani Jewel.” Both Dabei and Duozhi were greatly taken aback.
“Duozhi, this book is truly miraculous — how did it know we have a Mani Jewel?” With that, Dabei closed her eyes at once and entered into visualization. She saw the Mani Jewel suddenly rush toward the crown of her head, and in an instant the crown of her head split open and a lotus flower appeared. The Mani Jewel was held aloft at the heart of the lotus, and Dabei lifted the jewel out of the lotus with both hands. The Mani Jewel itself gave off no light, yet it could reflect everything on this planet, its radiance soft and gentle. Seeing that Dabei really had taken the Mani Jewel out, Duozhi was a little hesitant.
“Dabei, this is a treasure of our planet. Can we take it upon ourselves to keep it here?”
“Duozhi, that doesn’t matter. When I get back, I’ll explain it to the King, my father. What matters is finding the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes.” Hearing this, Duozhi picked up the jewel and hurled it into the sky above the lone island. A dazzling beam of white light streaked across the sky above the island. In an instant, deafening peals of dragon roars — deep and drawn-out, like an echo resounding through a wind valley — rang through the Mountain of Self-Nature. Nine pillars of golden light rose from the deep valleys and lunged at the Mani Jewel all at once. “Ah, The Nine Dragons Converge!” Golden light blazed in the sky as several golden serpents twisted and danced, and the Mani Jewel turned into a white ring of light, flying amid the sea of gold. Duozhi and Dabei were stunned by the strange and magnificent sight, when suddenly a vast, dazzling flash of white light swept past, a thunderclap exploded in the sky, as if the mountains were splitting and the earth cracking open, accompanied by several dragon roars. Duozhi and Dabei were nearly knocked unconscious by that thunderous sound.
When they came to their senses, nothing remained above the small island. A rainbow-like arched bridge stretched from the small island all the way to their feet. As they stepped onto the bridge, it shimmered faintly, as if dragon scales were gleaming and glittering. Duozhi and Dabei crossed the bridge carefully; when they set foot on the island, the bridge slowly vanished in midair. Stepping onto the path, what met Dabei’s and Duozhi’s eyes was a scene of desolation. The island was overgrown with weeds, and the bones of animals lay scattered everywhere. From the muddy swamps and marshes rose wave after wave of foul, nauseating stench. Duozhi and Dabei had taken only a few steps when Duozhi shouted, “Dabei, quick, look!” Lying in the grass not far away was an enormous white-maned lion, staring at them with eyes like copper bells. Duozhi hastily stepped in front of Dabei, afraid the lion might suddenly pounce. Dabei gazed at the lion’s hollow, lifeless eyes and felt a strange sense of having seen it before. The lion walked toward them. Only then did the two of them notice that the lion was so thin it was nearly nothing but a skeleton; as it walked, its body swayed weakly. But at a glance it was still mighty and awe-inspiring, its kingly dominance undiminished.
“Is it the Lion King?” Dabei called out to the lion warmly. The lion seemed to understand Dabei’s question, and actually approached Dabei in a friendly manner, even sticking out its tongue to lick Dabei’s hand. Duozhi was a little excited and reached out to stroke the lion’s head; just as Dabei was about to stop him, they heard Duozhi cry out, “Ouch!” His hand had already been pierced with several holes by the Lion King’s bristling mane, which stuck out in every direction, and white blood flowed from Duozhi’s palm. A low growl rumbled in the Lion King’s throat, as if it were complaining that he had not been careful.
“Dabei, my blood has turned into white milk!” Duozhi stared at the blood on his hand and cried out in astonishment. A few drops of blood fell onto the Lion King’s head, and the tangled mane on the Lion King’s head instantly became smooth and glossy. Seeing this, Duozhi actually held his bleeding hand beneath the Lion King’s nose. The Lion King hesitated for a moment, then stuck out its tongue and licked Duozhi’s wound; Duozhi’s wound quickly healed. After licking Duozhi’s blood, the Lion King suddenly perked up, its eyes shooting out golden light and the muscles all over its body rapidly swelling.
Star Path—6: Setting Foot on the Island of Dependent Origination (Part Three)
The Lion King now seemed excited. It ran a few brisk circles around Dabei and Duozhi, then ran over to a protruding rock on the island. Raising its head to the sky, it burst out with a thunderous roar. Instantly the sky darkened and the earth dimmed, sand and stones flew through the air, and the entire small island began to shake. Bolt after bolt of lightning appeared above the island, striking down at the Lion King, and along with the lightning came howling wind and torrential rain. The Lion King was utterly fearless. It stood tall and majestic in the downpour, hurling one furious roar after another at the sky, as if savoring the joy the storm brought. At last, several bolts of lightning connected with the Lion King, and in an instant it turned into a huge luminous body. Moreover, this luminous body was gradually growing smaller.
“The Lion King” — Dabei and Duozhi were crouching among the scattered rocks, and they saw the Lion King struck by lightning. Dabei cried out in alarm and, heedless of everything, dashed toward the place where the Lion King was glowing. The Lion King was gone; where it had just been standing now stood a glass bottle shimmering with silver light. Dabei picked up the bottle. On its body were inscribed several characters: “Vessel of Merit.” Duozhi hurried over as well. By now the island had returned to calm. Washed by the storm just past, it had become much cleaner, and the air had turned fresh, though the sky had not yet cleared and remained gray and overcast.
“Dabei, this is the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes’ precious vessel for carrying the water of merit,” Duozhi said, holding the bottle up and studying it closely again and again. “But there’s no water inside, and the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes doesn’t seem to be on this island either,” Dabei said, somewhat worried.
“As soon as the water of merit fills the vessel, the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes will appear,” Duozhi said.
“Then how can the water of merit be made to fill it? The Vessel of Merit is completely empty. Could it really be that the people of this planet don’t so much as have a single kind thought or do a single good deed?” Dabei looked at Duozhi, heartbroken and disappointed.
“No, that can’t be it, Dabei. It’s just that people are poisoned far too deeply. Judging things with their poisoned six sense faculties, they are forever misperceiving, and many illusory realms arise. If one clings to those illusory realms, it is very hard to tell what is truly good and what is truly evil. I believe the water of merit should have been there in the first place. It’s just that people have one kind thought and do one good deed, and then commit a great many evil deeds. The harsh winds must have dried up even that little bit of water of merit,” Duozhi said humorously.
Dabei laughed too and said, “Think of the people wrapped in all kinds of poison, clinging to the agony of the poison erupting amid the illusory realms — they really are pitiable. We must find a way to rescue them as soon as possible.”
“The Wordless Divine Book!” Duozhi saw the Divine Book flashing again and hastily opened it. On one page was written: “Dabei sacrifices her body — the water of merit will be full.”
“What does ‘sacrificing one’s body’ mean?” Dabei asked. At once another line of writing appeared on the Divine Book: “Jump from the Body-Sacrifice Cliff.”
“Body-Sacrifice Cliff?” Dabei and Duozhi searched around the island. Before long, they found a huge rock standing on one side of it. Written on the rock were three large golden characters: Body-Sacrifice Cliff. Beside the characters was another line of small writing: “Beneath this cliff, all the illusory realms converge and gather poisonous vapors; the five grains rob the soul; the sea of suffering is boundless.” They looked down over the cliff. Swirling masses of black, green, and red air, like tornadoes, surged and tumbled in the sea of suffering. Standing at the cliff’s edge, both Dabei and Duozhi found it hard to breathe, and where the waves of air churned, faint images of various illusory realms appeared. Dabei and Duozhi looked at each other, at a loss.
“Duozhi, let me go down,” Dabei said.
“Dabei, this time the Divine Book must be playing a trick on us. It took us such great effort to get up here — why would we have to go back down? And besides, if we go down from here, can we ever return? Look at the Poison Valley, how it destroys the soul. If you go down now without the Mani Jewel to protect you, your spirit will scatter and you’ll be destroyed.” Duozhi said to Dabei urgently.
“Duozhi, I don’t have much time. I must get more people out of the illusory realm as soon as possible. The Divine Book wouldn’t deceive anyone. You should stay here and wait for the Divine Being with Ten Thousand Hands and Eyes.”
“Dabei, absolutely not. If someone must jump, then let me jump. The Divine Book didn’t say I’m not allowed to either.” Duozhi was extremely anxious.
“Duozhi, don’t argue. There is a reason the Divine Book told me to jump. Our missions are different, and our bodies and minds are different as well. The outcome of jumping will be different for each of us. Your body has just been detoxified and simply cannot withstand the poisonous water down there, whereas I have already transformed into a crystalline body. And with the Heavenly Eye Mirror and the Life Detector, even if I do go down, perhaps I can still make it back by luck. If my father, the King, knew, he would support my doing this too.” The moment she finished speaking, Dabei leaped down.
“Dabei!” Duozhi’s sorrowful call echoed through the valley.