Text of the Contemplation of Universal Sage
Through the power of the Great Vehicle, words of praise will resound in the air:
“Well done, you of good intent! Well done! You practice in accordance with the Great Vehicle! Your capacity to perceive buddhas is a beneficial effect of that cause! But even though you have now gained perception of buddhas, the World-honored Ones, you are not yet capable of perceiving Śākyamuni Buddha, the buddhas that emanate from him, or the stupa of the buddha Many-Treasures.”
After hearing the voice in the air, the practitioner will again devotedly internalize and master the Great Vehicle sutras. As a result of internalizing the comprehensive Great Vehicle sutras, the practitioner soon envisions Śākyamuni Buddha in great assemblies at Mount Vulture Peak teaching the Dharma Flower Sutra and discoursing on the meanings of the one reality. After being taught, the practitioner will do self-amendment; then, reverentially wishing to see him, the practitioner will face toward Mount Vulture Peak, formally kneel, place his or her palms together, and say:
“O Tathāgatha, Hero of the Universe, you are always present in the world: Out of compassion for me, reveal yourself to me for my sake!”
After saying these words, the practitioner will perceive Mount Vulture Peak composed of the seven precious metals and gems, monks and śrāvakas with countless others together in a great assembly, rows of jewel trees lining level jewel ground on which a magnificent jeweled lion seat has been arranged, and Śākyamuni Buddha, who emits from between his eyebrows a beam of light that passes through the innumerable worlds of the ten directions and illuminates worlds everywhere in the universe. From everywhere this light reaches in the ten directions, the buddhas that emanated from Śākyamuni gather together at one time into a great assembly, as is extensively expounded in the Dharma Flower Sutra. Each emanated buddha has a body that is purple-gold in color and boundless in size, each sits on a lion seat, and each has a retinue of countless thousands of millions of great bodhisattvas. Each bodhisattva follows the same practice as Universal Sage; it is like this as well in the bodhisattva retinues of all of the innumerable buddhas in the ten directions.