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Translated into Chinese under Imperial Order by the Great Tripitaka Master Ming Chiao of Jalandhara during the Sung Dynasty.
Translated into English by Bhiksus Heng Ch’ien and Heng Pai of Gold Mountain Monastery.
The Thus Come One, The One Worthy of Offerings, The One of Right and Equal Enlightenment, The One Perfect in Clarity and Conduct, The Well Gone One, The Unsurpassed Lord Who Comprehends the World, The Valiant Tamer and Guide, The Master of Gods and Men, The Buddha, The World Honored One.
Ananda asked the Buddha, "Why are you known as The Thus Come One?"
The Buddha told the Bhiksus, "As a Bodhisattva on the causal ground I perfected many practices in quest of the utmost, right, and perfect enlightenment. Now, by means of the Eight-fold Holy Path and proper views, I have attained and testified to Bodhi, Nirvana, and the all-inclusive true reality. Therefore I am called Thus Come. As have all the Buddhas of the past, I have subdued my thoughts and attained Nirvana. Therefore I am called The Thus Come One.Ananda asked, "Why are you known as The One Worthy of Offerings?"
The Buddha said, "On the causal ground I nurtured and cultivated all good dharmas, the awesome manners, the divisions of the precepts, the Ten Wholesome Conducts, the Roots and their Powers, cultivated them to perfection, reached the ultimate stage, and, at the time of realizing Nirvana, I cut off and put to an end all detrimental afflictions, such as greed, hatred, and stupidity. Just as the Tala tree, when its tip has been cut off, I will never sprout again, so too, I will never again be subject to the bonds of existence in any of the destinies, nor to the bitter effects of the Four Difficulties of birth, old age, sickness, and death. I will never again be subject to delusion or suffering, therefore I am known as The One Worthy of Offerings.
"Consequently, clothing, necessities, food and drink, medicines, banners, jeweled canopies, incense, flowers and fruit, and all the splendid possessions of the gods are given as offerings to the Buddha. Those who make these offerings obtain the most rewarding, honorable, and auspicious of blessings. For these reasons I am said to be worthy of offerings."
"Why are you known as The One of Right and 'Equal Enlightenment?"
The Buddha said, "The Thus Come One is omniscient. There is nothing, which I do not know. With the Four Applications of Mindfulness, the Four Proper Severances, the Four Spiritual Fulfillments, the Five Roots, the Five Powers, the Seven Limbs of Enlightenment, the Eight-fold Holy Path, the Twelve-fold Chain of Conditioned Causation, the Four Truths, and other dharmas such as these, I equally enlighten all living beings, causing them to be wise, to cut off delusion and certify to the positions of first, second, third, and fourth stages of Arhatship so that they are complete with the Three Clarities and the Six Penetrations. Moreover, I cause them to seek and cultivate the grounds within the Great Vehicle, to end habitual bondage, and realize the unsurpassed enlightenment. Therefore I am known as The One of Right and Equal Enlightenment."
"Why are you known as The One Perfect in Clarity and Conduct?"
The Buddha said, "Perfect clarity refers to the clarity of the heavenly eye, the clarity of past lives, and the clarity of no outflows. Perfect conduct refers to wholesome cultivation and fulfillment of the true purity of The Thus Come One's physical, vocal, and mental actions. Thus, although I possess a great robe, bowl, and other objects, up to and including independence and contemplative illumination. I’m neither fond of nor attached to any of them. By the power of my vows I have completed the cultivation of all conducts and am therefore known as The One Perfect in Clarity and Conduct."
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Ming
Chiao ()
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