Overall Teaching

Sthāvarā witnesses all of the roots of goodness of all buddhas at the site of awakening. Her liberation allows her to observe all the mental activities and practices of bodhisattvas who become buddhas.

Summary

1. Sudhana went to Sthāvarā¹ at the site of awakening in Magadha.

2. There ten hundred thousand earth goddesses said that a great bodhisattva will come bearing the mighty vajra of knowledge to destroy the weapons of false teachers.

a. They caused the earth to tremble, ocean to roar, caused a great light, and emerging from the surface of the earth they caused all flowers and plants to bloom and rains to shower. Music played and wildlife roared, mountains crashed together, and treasuries surfaced.²

3. Sthāvarā greeted Sudhana and said that he has planted roots of goodness here, and asked whether he would like to see the results of those roots of goodness in one place.

a. Replying that he would, the goddess touched the earth with her foot and the earth caused billions of deposits of jewels to come forth and said that they have come forth as a result of his good works and that he may take of them and do what should be done with them.³

4. Sthāvarā explained that she attained the liberation ‘unassailable store of knowledge’ and since then she constantly stayed by the bodhisattva Vairocana since Dipaṅkāra Buddha’s time, and since then has observed his mental activities, practices, and powers, and through that she has comprehended all of his masteries and knowledge, his pervasion of all lands, and his prediction to awakening. Then, she witnesses his consequential awakening to full buddhahood, and his manifesting of the teachings and miracles that all buddhas perform.^4]

a. She claimed to have attained this liberation aeons ago under a past buddha. Going into this liberation and expanding and broadening it since then, she has seen as

many buddhas as atoms in all lands, saw their spiritual transformations when they came to the site of awakening, and been witness to all of their roots of goodness.^[5]

b. She claimed that she knows only this liberation, but cannot tell of the practices of bodhisattvas who attend all buddhas, remember all of their teachings, and who are physically indivisible from all buddhas. Thus Sudhana should go to Kapilavastu, where the night goddess Vāsantī lives, who can teach him.

5. Sudhana, paying his respects to her, left.

[1] She represents the tenth dedication: Infinite dedication equal to the cosmos.

“In this rank, the five realities of awakening, inner design, knowledge, kindness, and compassion are united into one and all fulfilled as the site of awakening.

“Because kindness and compassion underlie and produce the various teachings and methods, supporting and nurturing living beings, Sthāvarā is represented as an earth goddess.

“The sky god Mahādeva represented the subtle function of pure knowledge; this earth goddess represents the substance of great compassion. The substance is always functioning yet always tranquil, so the earth goddess is called Stable (Sthāvarā).

“Sky moves, earth is still; this symbolizes the protection and support of knowledge and compassion.” (1604)

[2] Sudhana saw Sthāvarā with a million earth goddesses, all radiating light and causing the earth to tremble; this illustrates how compassion and knowledge are completely fulfilled at this point, so habits that defile purity disappear.”

[3] “Sthāvarā touched the ground with her foot, whereupon countless deposits of jewels spontaneously gushed forth: this represents the way great compassion can clearly reveal the hidden resources of the mind-ground, having full use of the spirit without overt effort.”

[4] “Sthāvarā said she had attained liberation through an indestructible store of knowledge; since compassion arises from knowledge, nothing can destroy it, and since in action in the real universe no knowledge is not included and no compassion not fulfilled, it is called a store, or mine.”

[5] “The goddess also said she had attained this liberation aeons before in the service of buddhas; because great compassion is limitless, even awakening and nirvāṇa are all beginningless and endless household affairs.” (1605)