From Vimalakirti Sutra to Designing Sacred Landscapes
Since the Pure Landscape of the Buddha Field
is an expression of virtue;
And virtue
is an expression of the Buddha-seed;
And the essence of the Buddha-seed
is the Enlightened Mind ---
Therefore, the design of a Pure Landscape
is an expression of the Buddha-seed, its foundation ---
the Enlightened Mind…
As the story is told ---
Twenty-six hundred years ago in the city of Vaisali, Buddha Shakyamuni sat with a large assembly of followers in the gardens of Amrapali, where he took up residence during that particular rainy season. During a brief intermission in the teachings, chief of the Licchavi tribe Ratnakara approached the Buddha with 500 of his followers. Each offered the Buddha a gift of a parasol made of precious jewels, planting their gifts in the ground before him.
Without a moment's prologue, the Buddha miraculously transformed the expanse of parasols into a magnificent brilliant sky of precious jewels, the landscape within a pristine realm of a Pure Land, a Buddha's world undefiled by ignorance populated by great beings, their voices singing the excellent qualities of the teachings, expressions of unlimited compassion - the mind of the Buddha expressed as the lands, waters, skies … suns, moons, celestial bodies.
All present were astounded and dazzled by the profound majesty and beauty of this miraculous landscape. Following the Buddha's return of the surroundings to something more familiar, the 500 Licchavi students humbly asked him: “How did you do that? Is it possible for us to inhabit such a purified environment so produced by the Buddha? Might we have the ability to create such a beautiful landscape ourselves?”
The Buddha acknowledged the value of their questions, noting that in no way could their sincerity be considered frivolous, and replied: “The magnificent landscape you witnessed is none other than the expression of the Buddha's mind, composed of the transcendent qualities developed through pure action … pure compassion … pure wisdom. It is the physical manifestation of the Six Perfections of the Bodhisattva: giving … ethics … patience … effort … concentration … wisdom.”
Accordingly, the Buddha-field is a field of positive thought … a field of high resolve … of virtuous application … of generosity … tolerance … meditation … wisdom … of the skill teaching the methods to accomplish liberation … a field of the spirit of enlightenment. However, the Buddha-field is a field of positive thought to the extent that the bodhisattva causes, and living beings cultivate in themselves, the teachings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
When a Buddha assumes a form, it is none other than a physical embodiment of wisdom and compassion: the pure activity of the Buddha, the fully awakened mind. By cultivating a Buddha's mind, you cultivate a Buddha's body. As you cultivate such a pure body and mind, so will you produce such a landscape, which is [to repeat] none other than the appearance of the Buddha's mind. The place inhabited by the Buddha's body is the Buddha's landscape: there is no distinction between the pure Buddha's body and the pure Buddha's landscape … a world of perfection and beauty.
Could this teaching be any more clear?
Then, the Vimalakirti Sutra continues with tentative scrutiny as a thought by Sariputra, one of the Buddha's immediate disciples, whereby he questioned: “With due respect, if the Buddha presently has such a pure mind, and had such a pure mind during his Bodhisattva days (which supports the Mahayana contention that he was already enlightened before the historical events at Bodhgaya) how was it possible that those places in which he appeared were less than pure?”
The Buddha was able to read his thought, of course, and held his response until after the Brahman leader Sikhini filled the space with indignant jealous banter, intending to demonstrate the operation of self-righteousness.
The Buddha then answered: “Nothing impure about those landscapes. I made those gardens as expressions of my teachings, making them appear as they did to suit the occasion in order to help others best understand the teachings. Those landscapes were as pure as my teachings because they were the landscapes I saw necessary in which to teach them: expressions of the teachings in the language and vocabulary most clearly comprehensive to disciples of limited mind. That you, Sariputra, or anyone was unable to see them as pure was merely a reflection of your own limited mind. You took out exactly what you had to put into it.”
The purity of the Buddha-field reflects the purity of living beings ---
the purity of living beings reflects the purity of the Buddha's wisdom ---
the purity of the Buddha's wisdom reflects the purity of teachings ---
the purity of teachings reflect the purity of transcendent practice ---
the purity of transcendent practice reflects the purity of mind ---
[In this context, I take reflection to be the same as equivalent … equivalent to be the same as identical … identical to be the same as neither more nor less … neither more nor less
to be the same as all one … all one to be the same as all the same]
so that -
The purity of the Buddha-field is the same as the purity of mind.
* * *
Avatamsaka Sutra relates how Buddha Shakyamuni produced a landscape at the gardens of Jetavana as an emanation of the awakened mind. Entering the concentration called Coming Forth of the Lion, he caused the grounds to instantaneously appear as an indestructible diamond covered with flowers and illuminating jewels; groves filled with innumerable rivers of fragrant waters, garlands of jewelled trees and radiant flowers; skies of inconceivable cloud-palaces of music and songs, and flower ornaments pervaded all of space.
Even though disciples sat before the Buddha in the groves of Jetavana, too bad they did not see this miraculous event. They had not yet cultivated the positive virtues enabling them to neither see, hear nor realize the qualities and wonders of the landscape as Buddha Field. Not having omniscient knowledge, they were unaware of the miraculous manifestation of the Buddha's mind. The Buddha produced this appearance as incentive for his disciples to strengthen their practices on the spiritual path, enabling them to eventually have the ability to produce such a miraculous pure land themselves.
* * *
What in this maze of the role of Buddha-nature? The garden produced by the Buddha mind, expression of the Buddha's teaching, identical to the Six Perfections, operative mode of the Bodhisattva, identical to the spirit of enlightenment … is also identical to the beauty and perfection of the garden designed through the operation of the Buddha-nature.
The Uttaratantra of Maitreya says: “the essence of the Buddha, by its nature undefiled, arising through the operations of most subtle wisdom, perfection of pure thought, expression and action, to benefit others … is the same as Buddha-nature. There is no difference. Buddha-nature, also called the tathagatagarbha, is the foundation, or core, of each and every sentient being - every insect, animal and human.
As foundation, Buddha-nature is the source, within each and every sentient being, of the wisdom of a Buddha; the source of the operations of a Buddha; and the source of all virtuous activity … everything good, kind and compassionate. As foundation of the operations of the seed of enlightenment, Buddha-nature is the seed of the creativity of beauty of the purified environment of a Buddha.
In his Guide to the Middle Way, Indian Buddhist philosopher, Chandrakirti said: “an undisciplined state of mind gives rise to delusions, which project an individual into negative actions and produces the negative environment in which that person lives. Correspondingly, a disciplined and virtuous mind gives rise to insight, which projects one into positive actions and produces the positive, beautiful environment in which that person lives.”
A beautiful landscape is the result of causes produced through the collective virtuous karma of sentient beings, expressions of Buddha mind, expressions of, and no different from the beauty of the Buddha-field. Virtuous causes result in the landscape as some thing beautiful. A beautiful landscape is an expression of, and no different from, Buddha-nature. Likewise, the foundation for the design of a beautiful landscape is also Buddha-nature. Could there be another source other than Buddha-nature?
On this basis, the expression of Buddha-nature produces and is to be discovered in all surroundings as beautiful, wondrous, brilliant, magnificent, and sublime. Tapping into the energy of the Buddha-nature - put on stage front and centre, taking top billing, as lead performer, the basis for all action, conversation and thought - will express itself in the surrounding landscape. So the field of living beings engaged in the simple act, through the operations of Buddha-nature, of positive thought … high resolve … virtue … generosity … tolerance … wisdom - activities of the enlightened mind, is a field of the perfection and beauty of the Buddha's mind.
Following the teachings with diligence, care, and thoughtfulness; combined with a deep understanding of the nature of reality and the reality of nature - this will provide grounding to produce the landscape the Buddha produced, an emanation of the Buddha mind. Here lies the importance of Dharma practice as necessity for my designing gardens for meditation, and my design of gardens for meditation a requisite for cultivating positive tendencies in Dharma practice. That is why it is important to study, learn, meditate and act, speak and think accordingly. Through practice it is possible to produce gardens whose voices chant from a state of pure awareness, and can be cited as a Buddha's sacred landscape.
* * *
Just as Buddha-nature is the source of all virtuous qualities, and correspondingly, the source of beauty, it would be reasonable to attribute it as source of the qualities of the Sacred Landscape, and the basis for the Six Signs of a Sacred Landscape: of Favourable Context … it is Contained … it is Coherent … it is Composed … with Clarity … a Physical Expression of Contemplation.
These six are expressions of Buddha-nature because they are the conditions, qualities and signs of a landscape undistinguishable from the magnificence of the Buddha-field. They are nothing less: virtuous offerings of goodness and kindness, compassion and lovingkindness, clarity and insight, designed and produced as transactional grounds for meeting with teachings of the Buddha.
* * *
Returning to the question posed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama underlying the foundation for the design of Milarepa Center, I continue to return to the dishwashing flash. Verified in my mind by subsequent years of investigation; through repeated questioning and deliberation, and not having been contradicted by teachings and teachers, I am convinced: the foundation for the design of a spiritual centre, and any garden designed for spiritual practice, is the Buddha-nature, arising, through the play of emptiness, in dependence upon causes and conditions.
Certainly, these points afford opportunity for extensive elaboration. Owing to their arising from a Mahayana Buddhist perspective of my own devise, they are contentious and open to debate. While I have only personal interpretation of already translated scriptural references and personal experience acquired through external, internal and subtle journeys on which to fall, they continue to provide support.
2:2006