Edward Conze (trans.), Buddhist Texts Through the Ages (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, Ltd., 1954) via Mircea Eliade, "From Primitives to Zen"; CC Liu, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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("Shikshasamuccaya," 299-301 ["Avalokana Sutra"])
Verily, for countless aeons one is not reborn blind or lame if, after one has decided to win enlightenment, one venerates a stupa [reliquary, burial mound of an fully enlightened person] of the Teacher.
Firm in strength and vigor, a heroic person [spiritual warrior], firm in courage, speedily one wins fortune after one has circumambulated a stupa.
One who in this last age [kali yuga], this dreadful age, reveres a stupa, greater is the merit than if for hundreds of thousands of nayutas of kotis [see Large numbers of India] of aeons one has honored a similar number of buddhas. For the Buddha is pre-eminent, unequalled, most worthy of offerings, one who has traveled along the noblest pre-eminent way.
One who [pays homage] to this Chief of Humans has the best and unequalled reward. Passing from here, among humans, one goes to the heavenly World of the Thirty-Three, and there one obtains a brilliant palace [vehicle, platform, ship, vimana] made of jewels.
If one here [on earth] gives a pointed tower [to top a rest stop for wandering ascetics], one will there [in the sensual Heaven of the Thirty-Three] be waited upon by apsaras [nymphs].
If one places a garland on a stupa, one will be reborn among the Thirty-Three. And there one gets a celestial lotus-pond, full of excellent water, with a floor of golden sand, bestrewn with vaidurya and crystal.
And when one has enjoyed that celestial delight and completed that lifespan there, the wise person, passing from the deva-world, becomes a human of wealth.
In hundreds of thousands of nayutas of kotis of births one will everywhere be honored after one has placed a garland on a [Buddhist] shrine. When one has given but a strip of cloth to the Liberator of the world, to the Protector, all one's aims will prosper, both among devas and among humans.
One keeps out of the inferior and unlucky states of existence and is not reborn in them. When one has made a bower of garlands over the relics of the Liberator of the world, one becomes a powerful ruler with a loyal retinue.
One is dear and cherished, honored and praised by devas and nagas and the wise people in this world. Wherever that heroic person is reborn, glorious with merit's glory, there one's family is honored, country, and town.
Listen to me telling you of one's advantages if one takes a speck of incense finer than a mustard seed and burns it at the shrines of the Enlightened One:
Serene in heart one forsakes all obstructions and all taints; in whichever region one is, there one is full of merit, altogether full of health, firm in intelligence, and alert, one averts sorrow, and one goes one's way, dear and pleasant to many people.
If one should gain a kingdom, one honors the supreme Jina [arhat, spiritual hero], a wise universal monarch of great might, golden colored, adorned with marks [of merit], with body that emits a pleasant odor in all worlds. At birth already one receives the best of clothes, finest garments, heavenly, superb, well made.
One is blessed with a beautiful body when one has clothed the Liberator's shrines with robes. It is because one has honored with robes at the shrines of the unequalled Liberators that here in this world one's body becomes unequalled and armored with the 32 [major] marks. More
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| Devotees line up to place flowers on the altar before the Buddha, the Buddha's Birthday Vesak celebration, El Monte, Los Angeles, California (Gordon Milcham/flickr.com) |
("Shikshasamuccaya," 299-301 ["Avalokana Sutra"])
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| Post-blast vigil Hindu temple, Thailand (AP) |
Firm in strength and vigor, a heroic person [spiritual warrior], firm in courage, speedily one wins fortune after one has circumambulated a stupa.
One who in this last age [kali yuga], this dreadful age, reveres a stupa, greater is the merit than if for hundreds of thousands of nayutas of kotis [see Large numbers of India] of aeons one has honored a similar number of buddhas. For the Buddha is pre-eminent, unequalled, most worthy of offerings, one who has traveled along the noblest pre-eminent way.
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| Celestial deva, Thailand (Thadsak Ylngskul/flickr) |
If one here [on earth] gives a pointed tower [to top a rest stop for wandering ascetics], one will there [in the sensual Heaven of the Thirty-Three] be waited upon by apsaras [nymphs].
If one places a garland on a stupa, one will be reborn among the Thirty-Three. And there one gets a celestial lotus-pond, full of excellent water, with a floor of golden sand, bestrewn with vaidurya and crystal.
And when one has enjoyed that celestial delight and completed that lifespan there, the wise person, passing from the deva-world, becomes a human of wealth.
In hundreds of thousands of nayutas of kotis of births one will everywhere be honored after one has placed a garland on a [Buddhist] shrine. When one has given but a strip of cloth to the Liberator of the world, to the Protector, all one's aims will prosper, both among devas and among humans.
One keeps out of the inferior and unlucky states of existence and is not reborn in them. When one has made a bower of garlands over the relics of the Liberator of the world, one becomes a powerful ruler with a loyal retinue.
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| One of the Mahayana Buddhas, a god, glorious Amitabha of the western Pure Land, just like the historical Buddha Gautama said he wasn't (Mig_T_One/flickr.com) |
One is dear and cherished, honored and praised by devas and nagas and the wise people in this world. Wherever that heroic person is reborn, glorious with merit's glory, there one's family is honored, country, and town.
Listen to me telling you of one's advantages if one takes a speck of incense finer than a mustard seed and burns it at the shrines of the Enlightened One:
Serene in heart one forsakes all obstructions and all taints; in whichever region one is, there one is full of merit, altogether full of health, firm in intelligence, and alert, one averts sorrow, and one goes one's way, dear and pleasant to many people.
If one should gain a kingdom, one honors the supreme Jina [arhat, spiritual hero], a wise universal monarch of great might, golden colored, adorned with marks [of merit], with body that emits a pleasant odor in all worlds. At birth already one receives the best of clothes, finest garments, heavenly, superb, well made.
One is blessed with a beautiful body when one has clothed the Liberator's shrines with robes. It is because one has honored with robes at the shrines of the unequalled Liberators that here in this world one's body becomes unequalled and armored with the 32 [major] marks. More
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