If many hundreds of thousands of billions of living beings hear [the name of] World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva and call his name with all their hearts when they are under various sufferings, World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva will immediately perceive their voices, and cause them to emancipate themselves [from the sufferings].

Those who, “suffering pain and torment, hear of the name of this bodhisattva He Who Observes the Sounds of the World (Avalokiteśvara) shall all gain deliverance.” [One may argue in the following way.] The Sage pushes [beings] in the beginning [of the process]. The underlying li is that he cannot lift up those without faculty; [in other words], if there is no religious mechanism (tao-chi) within [a man], the Sage will not respond. How [then] can one merely by invoking a name immediately gain deliverance (chieh-t’o/mokṣa)? Yet here [the Buddha] says so. Why? [I would answer in this way.] “Avalokiteśvara,” in speaking of its li, is the one who is capable of propagating [the sūtra or its doctrine] to all; and, in speaking of its implicit [meaning], is the one who [sets out] to save all. Beings, possessing the subtle triggering-mechanism (chi) of enlightenment, actively stimulate the Sage. The Sage is equipped with the Tao of all-embracing propagation. Now that the Tao of all-embracing propagation has been expounded, how can deliverance (mokṣa) be an empty [word]? Isn’t exhorting beings by glorifying a name also magnanimous?

The Universal Gate of World-Voice-Perceiver Bodhisattva

The Sage hangs the candle [of the Dharma], expediently leading [beings] in ever varying ways, sometimes through supernatural wonders, sometimes by resort to the method of [invoking] a name. Because the subtle triggering-mechanism is uneven [from one individual to another], the way they take and refuse [what is given to them by the Buddha] is not identical. The name of Avalokiteśvara is singled out and glorified to cause living beings to find refuge in, rely on, and feel for one [person], driving their feeling of respect to great intensities. If a man is capable of holding one [person] in high esteem, there is no one single [person] for whom he cannot do the same. [The Buddha’s] exhorting beings to [do] this should not be interpreted as his favoring one over another.

[The Buddha began] saving [beings] by resort to varied means, without leaving any out: it is referred to as everywhere (“universal”). Following enlightenment he has penetrated the supernatural: it is referred to as a gateway.

Thereupon Wonderful-Voice Bodhisattva entered into a samadhi. He did not rise from his seat or make any other movement. By the power of this samadhi, he caused eighty-four thousand lotus flowers of treasures to appear in a place not far from the seat of the Dharma situated on Mt. Gṛdhrakūṭa.

[The bodhisattva Fine Sound] wishes to come soon [to the Sahā world-sphere]. Hence, he first displays the wondrous omen of numerous flowers, so that living beings in this realm may begin to be fascinated and will long for it.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha said to Mañjuśrī, “This Many-Treasures Tathāgata, who passed away a long time ago, will cause him to appear before you all.”

The purpose of making Many Jewels now [appear and] display marks is twofold: first, to show that Many Jewels will come for the sake of the Dharma Blossom; second, to show that the paths of various Buddhas are identical.

Thereupon Śākyamuni Buddha [faced the east and] emitted rays of light from the fleshy tuft on his head, that is, from one of the marks of a great man, and also from the white curls between his eyebrows.

When the multitude heard of the former affairs of [the bodhisattva] Medicine King, they again praised the meritorious virtues of the Dharma Blossom with all the more faith and respect, all wanting to protect and keep [the sūtra]. The methods of propagating it must have a cause. [Of the possible] practices connected with this cause, in general there is nothing more penetrating than “the samādhi [of the manifestation] of the body of all forms.” What is “the samādhi [of the manifestation] of the body of [all] forms?” It is none other than the wisdom of the Dharma Blossom. When men glorify and spread the Dharma Blossom they manifest this samādhi, easily changing appearances and preaching it in boundlessly varied ways. The [bodhisattva-mahāsattva] Fine Sound (Gadgadasvara) is himself the one [who has attained samādhi]. By resort to traces he goes back and forth [from one realm to another] in order to propagate this sutra. The benefit he gives is very great. [The Buddha] emits a ray of light [from] between his brows to illuminate that realm because he wishes to let [the bodhisattva] Fine Sound come there.

In his next life, he appeared again in the world of Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha.

This man had the cause planted not in vain; consequently the effect likewise is not empty. Those [antinomians] who diligently seek [just] to cleanse themselves may not be practicing acts deeply virtuous enough to induce the wondrous ultimate. This example is cited, therefore, for the purpose of illustrating and proving [the need for practicing virtuous acts].

Then he applied perfumed oil to his skin, put on a heavenly garment of treasures in the presence of Sun-Moon-Pure-Bright-Virtue Buddha, sprinkled various kinds of perfumed oil on the garment, and set fire to his body, making a vow by his supernatural powers.

Now, as it appears here, the burning of (his own) body in the past is referred to as the former affair. What does burning [one’s own] body signify? When it comes to what a man treasures and values, nothing exceeds bodily life, and when one burns it oneself, it is because there is something treasured as much as the body. If one is capable of grasping such meaning, even though one exists with the physical form, one is burning, as it were, all the time. [If] li is perverted in the attempt to understand it, even though one burns oneself all day long, [in reality] one is never burning. [The Buddha] hopes that they attain li free of its traces, and so be not stagnated in worldly facts (shih). The reason why the Sage thought of demanding is articulated here.

In the preceding it has been explicated that the li of cause and that of effect are one, that there is no difference in purport. As the ultimate within became manifest, their understanding and discernment came to have [a distinct] presence. [The theme of] the section following this chapter, concerning the men of three [vehicles] becoming the men of One [Vehicle], clarified that the children of two vehicles cannot help but become identical with those of the Greater [Vehicle]. Having finished preaching the sūtra, [the Buddha] now takes examples of those who propagated the sūtra. Earlier there were some examples of those who testimonially practiced [the teaching of] the sūtra. In the present chapter he marks out several people, showing the traces of their conduct in order to help verify [the effect of] the Dharma Blossom. These people were then in other realms, propagating this canon. Now again in this realm, they transmit and keep this sūtra, enabling the teaching of the Path (Tao) to benefit [beings] in the present time, and the fragrance of its virtues (te) to spread and be known for a thousand years to come, so that those who advance to the destination proper, when they are in compliance with it, may reach it.

Earlier when [the Buddha] preached about the cause, the entrustment [of the sūtra] was made as well. Because the theme has not yet been wound up, there has been no separate chapter [for entrustment]. Here [the Buddha] now enunciates that both cause (Chapters 1-13) and effect (Chapters 14-21) have come to an end and that the preaching of li has been completed. As such, the great wisdom of the Thus Come One. Here he entrusts them to keep this sūtra, while striking [incalculable bodhisattva-mahāsattvas] on the crown of the head, to show that li is so deep and the worldly facts (shih) [involved as descriptive tools] are so sublime. This chapter is established for this purpose.

Then they strewed various flowers, various kinds of incense, various necklaces, streamers, canopies, personal ornaments, treasures, and other wonderful things to the Sahā-World from afar.

Although these living beings are ignorant of the One yet they, thanks to favorable conditions, can have a glimpse of it “from afar.” That they made offerings from afar with various kinds of treasures stands for giving the ultimate. The purpose of showing this unreal appearance is to convey that the path [of the One] is not separate from [the path of the three].

At that time the worlds of the ten quarters became passable through each other without hindrance as if they had been a single Buddha-world.

As their feelings become congealed within and reach, their epitome, their sensing [of the endowment for enlightenment] appears without.

The strewn things came from the worlds of the ten quarters like gathering clouds and changed into a jeweled awning over the Sahā-World. The awning extended over the Buddhas staying in this world.

What this and the subsequent segment stating that [the world spheres] in all ten quarters become one [Buddha-land] indicates is this; unless they have not sincerely exerted themselves and sensed the ultimate no one can do it. What this implicitly signifies is that even though the causes are diverse in a myriad of ways, they finally return to the effect of the One.

Then they pulled back their tongues, coughed at the same time, and snapped their fingers. These two sounds [of coughing and snapping] reverberated over the Buddha-worlds of the ten quarters, and the ground of those worlds quaked in the six ways.

Earlier it is shown that their tongues emitted rays of light, with the implication that their speeches were not false; wisdom illuminates [all] without leaving anything [in the dark]. [The Buddha’s] Path (Tao) being such, it is clear therefrom that li spread down to the golden mean. That li spread down to the golden mean finds expression in cough. Yet the voice reaching down to the golden mean must have a reason when it is mentioned, again finding expression in snapping fingers. li has been propagated all over under the heaven; hence, the statement, “These two sounds reached throughout [the world-spheres of the Buddhas] in all ten quarters.” Living beings in ten quarters began to sense their [innate] endowment o! enlightenment: thus “[the earth] trembles in six different ways.”