Summary

s.1During an assembly in Śrāvastī, the Buddha requests the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī to give a teaching on the scope of a buddha, which refers to the perceptual range of the awakened state. Mañjuśrī obliges by stating that in the awakened state ordinary perception and cognition are transcended, so the scope of buddha is beyond conception. A discourse ensues in which the Buddha and Mañjuśrī converse about the “sameness of all phenomena,” and how the scope of a buddha, or the true nature of all phenomena, may be found in the afflictions themselves. The disciple Subhūti then engages Mañjuśrī on the subject of how a bodhisattva can both cultivate this awakening and still remain involved in the world. The god Śrībhadra then joins the discussion and invites Mañjuśrī to visit the Heaven of Joy. Instead of going, Mañjuśrī magically manifests the Heaven of Joy there and then. All are amazed and the Buddha praises his power to create miraculous manifestations.

s.2In the second half of the sūtra, Māra, who is present in that assembly in disguise, asks for further proof of Mañjuśrī’s powers to create manifestations. Overawed by Mañjuśrī’s further miraculous displays, Māra reveals a formula that offers protection from the disturbances caused by his kind. Mañjuśrī then agrees to go to the Heaven of Joy. There, he teaches the gods about the bodhisattva path, and gives a full account of all thirty-seven factors that lead to awakening. When Śrībhadra asks Mañjuśrī about a distant world called Light of All Good Qualities, Mañjuśrī miraculously illuminates this distant buddhafield and its buddha, Samantabhadra, to the great delight of all the bodhisattvas in both worlds.