DESCRIPTION
The Sixth Assembly of the Buddhāvataṃsaka Sūtra consists of a single chapter, the ‘Ten Bhūmi Grounds’ (Daśabhūmika). Unlike the previous assemblies, there is no description of ascent to a higher realm, however it should be noted the Chapter Twenty-Six takes places in the Maṇi Jewel Treasury Palace of the Paranirmita-Vaśavartin Heaven King, which is the ‘highest’ heaven of the Realm of Desire above the realms of the previous assemblies.
The Buddha resides there with a large congregation of fully developed bodhisattvas led by Vajragarbha, who enters ‘the bodhisattva’s great wisdom light’ samādhi and buddhas as numerous as atoms arrive from the Ten Directions, all identically named “Vajragarbha” instructing Vajragarbha to teach the Ten Grounds to all the bodhisattvas.
At first, Vajragarbha gives only the names of the Ten Grounds, without any further explanation.
- Pramuditā / Extreme Joy
- Vimalā / Stainless
- Prabhākarī / Refulgent
- Arciṣmatī / Radiant Intellect
- Sudurjayā / Difficult to Conquer
- Abhimukhī / Direct Presence
- Dūraṁgamā / Gone Afar
- Acalā / Immovable
- Sādhumatī / Subtle Intellect
- Dharmamegha / Dharma Cloud
Vimuktichandra Bodhisattva (Liberation Moon), on behalf of the audience, asks Vajragarbha to elaborate. Vajragarbha is hesitant to reveal such profound Dharma.
“These constitute what the bodhisattvas practice from the very beginning and utilize in perfecting all dharmas of the buddhas. This is analogous to the circumstance involved in the writing of words wherein everything in the realm of counting and description relies upon the alphabet as its origin and also relies upon the alphabet in the end. There is not even the most minor increment of this that departs from the alphabet.”
The Buddha emits light from the white tuft of hair between his eyebrows, then all buddhas throughout the Ten Direction emit light illuminating the world and Vajragarbha. Then, from within the light, a voice encourages the teaching of the Ten Grounds.
See The Ten Grounds