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F2. The assembly that arrived later after hearing the Buddha鈥檚 voice

Sutra:

The Immortal鈥檚 kalavinka-sound pervaded the ten directions and Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges gathered at the Bodhimanda with Manjushri as their leader.

Commentary:

Kalavinka is Sanskrit for 鈥渨onderful sound鈥�; it is the name of a bird whose cry can be heard at a great distance, even while it is still in the egg. Once the bird is hatched, its call can be heard even more clearly, and the sound is very pleasing to the ear. Here the reference is not to the bird鈥檚 call but to the sound of the Buddha鈥檚 voice, which is as pleasing, clear, and penetrating as the kalavinka鈥檚.

The Buddha is called the Immortal because in the past, Shakyamuni Buddha cultivated as a patient immortal and upon realizing enlightenment, he was known as the Great Enlightened Golden Immortal.

The Buddha鈥檚 voice pervaded the ten directions: it can be heard everywhere. For example, the Buddha spoke dharma in India and we in America can hear it. Under the right conditions, it can be heard more clearly than a radio, and it arrives faster than a telegraph message.

Once, the Buddha鈥檚 disciple Mahamaudgalyayana, who was foremost of the Buddha鈥檚 disciples in spiritual penetrations, became curious to know just how far the Buddha鈥檚 voice reached. So he used his spiritual penetrations to travel east through numberless unreckonable lands, through hundreds of thousands of millions of Buddhalands. But when he had reached a land an enormous distance away, he still could hear the Buddha speaking dharma as if it were spoken right into his ear. It was still perfectly clear.

The inhabitants of that far-off eastern land were huge. The shortest of them was thirty or forty feet tall. Maudgalyayana arrived at lunch time, and the bowls they were using were as large as our houses. The amount they ate far surpassed what we consume. Maudgalyayana perched on the edge of one of the bowls and stood watching the giants eat. Eventually one of them noticed him and exclaimed, 鈥淥h? Where did that human-headed bug come from?鈥� He was so tiny that they called him a human-headed bug.

But the Buddha of that far eastern land told them, 鈥淵ou must not speak like that. That is Maudgalyayana from the Saha world. He is foremost in spiritual penetrations among Shakyamuni Buddha鈥檚 disciples. Don鈥檛 ridicule him. He鈥檚 not a human-headed bug.鈥� The disciples of that land were surprised indeed to learn that Shakyamuni Buddha鈥檚 disciples were the size of insects.

Bodhisattvas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges gathered at the Bodhimanda. The Ganges River in India is about fifteen miles wide and its sands are as fine as flour. So they are used as an analogy for the unreckonable number of Bodhisattvas who came to the dharma assembly. The Bodhisattvas came to protect the place where Shakyamuni Buddha spoke the Shurangama Sutra. The Way-place referred to is also this present Way-place where the Shurangama Sutra is now being explained. The Bodhisattvas from the former assembly are also here. You should not look lightly on this place just because the room is small. There are also many great Bodhisattvas here listening to the sutras, protecting this Way-place, and enabling it to become more flourishing every day. Would you like to meet them? I will tell you that they have Manjushri as their leader. Manjushri is a Sanskrit name that means 鈥渨onderful virtue,鈥� referring to his subtle, wonderful, inconceivable virtuous practices. He is also called 鈥渨onderfully lucky,鈥� because every place he goes becomes auspicious. Every time he comes to a Way-place, the Way-place becomes very auspicious.

In China, the Bodhimanda of Manjushri is at Wu Tai mountain. He is referred to as the Greatly Wise Manjushri because he is foremost among the Bodhisattvas in wisdom. Among the arhats, Shariputra is foremost in wisdom, but his wisdom is small compared to that of the Bodhisattvas.