Day 11 continues Chapter 7, The Parable of the Magic City

Today is all about the light that suddenly illumines the universe after Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttarra-samyak-sambodhi:

When Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Buddha attained Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, five hundred billion Buddha-worlds in each of the ten quarters quaked in the six ways, and all those worlds, including those intercepted from the brilliant rays of light of the sun and the moon by the neighboring worlds, were illumined [by great rays of light], and the living beings of those worlds were able to see each other for the first time. They said to each other, ‘How did you appear so suddenly?’ The palaces of the gods of those worlds, including the palace of Brahmans, also quaked in the six ways. The great rays of light which illumined all those worlds were brighter than the rays of light emitted by those gods.

In yesterday’s post, the 16 princes introduce the idea that without the light of a Buddha fewer people go to heaven and more go to evil regions. This is idea is underscored by the Brahman-heavenly-kings of each of the 10 directions. As example, the great Brahman-­heavenly-king called Great-Compassion of the worlds to the southeast traveled to the world of Great-Universal-Wisdom-Excellence Tathagata and said to him:

Great Saint, turn the wheel of the Dharma
And reveal the reality of all things!
Save the suffering beings
And cause them to have great joy!

If they hear the Dharma, some will attain enlightenment;
Others will be reborn in heaven.
The living beings in the evil regions will decrease;
And those who do good patiently will increase.