Chapter One - The Practice of Virtue:

The Sutra on Limitless Meanings
Chapter One - The Practice of Virtue

Ananda opens up the Sutra with the same expression of faith that opens virtually all the sutras: 'Like this I have heard'.

He describes the setting. The Buddha is at Vulture's Peak (Mt. Gridhakuta) in Rajagriha ('The Royal Residence', the capitol of Magadha) with a great assembly of Bodhisattvas, disciples and believers. The assembly is presented, the names and the virtues of the Bodhisattvas and those of the Two Vehicles are described in some detail, and they all offer worship to the Buddha.

Speaking for the whole assembly, the Bodhisattva Great Adornment describes, praises and worships the Buddha, including:

1. His Spiritual Body or Spiritual Life (S. Dharmakaya), which is beyond all aspects and descriptions. This Spiritual Body is described in a series of negations:

"His body is neither exists nor is without existence,
It is neither a cause nor a condition, neither a self nor an other,
It is either linear nor round, neither long nor short,
Neither appearing nor disappearing, neither born nor extinguished,
Neither inherent nor created, neither natural nor artificial,
Neither seated nor lying, neither walking nor standing,
Neither stirring nor revolving, neither calm nor still,
Neither advancing nor retreating, neither safe or in peril,
Neither right nor wrong, neither attained nor lost,
Neither here nor there, neither coming nor going,
Neither blue nor yellow, neither red nor white,
Not crimson, not purple, nor any other color..."

2. His Body of Reward or Manifold Virtues and Wisdom (S. Sambhogakaya)

"It is born of morality, mental concentration, spiritual insight, liberated understanding, as well as knowledge & vision,
It is inspired from Samadhi, the six penetrations & the facets of spiritual awakening,
It arises from kindness & compassion, the ten spiritual powers & the four fourfold fearlessness, and
It appears because of the good karmic deeds of living beings..."

3. His Body that Appears Before Us (S. Nirmanakaya) in its ideal human form with its 32 signs and 80 excellences, teaching the Dharma to all living beings .

"Revealing himself to be over ten feet tall, clad in sparkling gold and purple,
He is well proportioned, and he radiates a brilliant aura.
With hair curled like cresent moons, and a nape like sunlight,
His curling hair is a deep indigo blue, with a fleshy protuberance on the crown.
With eyes, pure like a clear mirror, blink straight up and down,
His brow trails in deep indigo, and his mouth and cheeks are well formed.
With lips and tongue pleasingly red like a scarlett blossom,
His forty teeth are white like snowy agate.
With a broad forehead and a high-bridged nose, his countenance is majestic.
His chest is like that of a lion, with the sign of the swastika.
His hands and feet are pliant, with the sign of the thousand spoked wheel.
His armpits and palms are well rounded and have fine lines.
His arms are long and graceful, and the fingers are straight and slender.
His skin is smooth and delicate, and his hair curls to the right.
His ankles and knees are well articulated, and his male organ is retracted like a stallion.
His sinews, his collarbone and his thighs are all slim like a deer.
His chest and back are radiant and without a blemish.
He is unsullied by mud and untainted by dust.
Like this, there are the thirty-two signs
And the eighty kinds of excellence that are all plain to see..."

This is the threefold body or life of enlightenment.

The first chapter concludes with the Bodhisattva Great Adorment speaking for the entire audience in paying homage and worshipping this Buddha of the Three Great Virtues.

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