Items related to Entry Into the Realm of Reality : The Text
Synopsis
"Entering the realm of reality, " the final book of The Flower Ornament Scripture, is perhaps the grandest drama of the Buddhist canon. Known in Sanskrit as an individual scripture called Gandavyuha, this book describes the development of enlightenment through tales of a pilgrim age. The central character, a seeker of truth named Sudhana, is sent on a journey by Manjushri, the personification of wisdom. Initially directed by Manjushri, Sudhana calls on a number of spiritual guides, each of whom sends him on to another for further enlightenment. Eventually Sudhana comes to the abode of Maitrcya, the imminent Buddha, and finally integrates with the total being of Samantabhadra, the representation of Universal Good, the activity of enlightenment.
The guides Sudhana encounters, referred to as spiritual benefactors or friends, are young and old, female and male, Buddhist and nonBuddhist, renunciates and householders, members of various classes, and experts in various professions, arts, and sciences . They are not organized in a perceptible formal hierarchy or institution and are not always known to the public for what they arc. The spiritual friends are known to each other according to their own attainments, and it is through the successive direction of the guides themselves that Sudhana finds out who and where they arc. None of them claims to hold the whole truth, and none tries to bind Sudhana to a given system of dogma or keep him as a follower. Many of them teach in surroundings and formats that are not overtly associated with what is conventionally thought of as religion.
A commentary on this text by the eighth-century Li Tongxuan is available in a companion translation as Entry Into the Realm of Reality: The Guide.
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Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
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