Universal Worthy Bodhisattva
Praise on Universal Worthy Bodhisattva:
The Bodhisattva of Great Conduct is called Universal Worthy,
The sea of his vow power is multi-layered without bounds.
With dignity he reposes upon a six-tusked elephant;
By wisdom he is born, transformationally from a lotus of the seven gems.
In all samadhis he attains sovereignty,
His originally wonderful virtue is pervasive and perfected.
Praises of his jeweled awesomeness arrives to teach the Saha world;
His efficacious response and spiritual powers shake the great-thousand realm.
Homage to Universal Worthy Bodhisattva of Great Conduct, who dwells in the Silver World of E Mei Mountain
Samantabhadra (kun tu bzang po). The 'Ever-Excellent One.'
- The primordial Buddha dharmakaya buddha. The original Buddha who has never fallen into delusion. He is the Dharmakaya Buddha represented as a darkblue naked figure without ornaments in union with his consort Samantabhadri, symbolizing the unity of awareness and emptiness.
- The bodhisattva Samantabhadra used as the example for the perfection of increasing an offering infinitely.
In the primordial universal ground, there are neither sentient beings, nor buddhas; neither ignorance, nor enlightenment. It is a state of natural, unchanging perfection beyond conditions and concepts. When the first manifestation of phenomena arises from the primordial ground, to recognize that this arising is the display of one's own awareness leads instantaneously to the primordial buddhahood of Samantabhadra. Not recognizing this to be the case, and taking phenomena and beings to be real entities distinct from oneself, leads instantaneously to the ignorance of sentient beings. Matthieu Ricard
Samantabhadra (kun tu bzang po)
- The male buddha Samantabhadra is the foremost figure in the assembly of the forty-two peaceful deities, representing the buddha-body of actual reality. For an account of the identification of Samantabhadra with the buddha-body of reality, see bDud-'joms Rin-po-che, see NSTB, pp. 115-119, 447-8. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)
"Universal" means "his way pervades everywhere. "Worthy" means "his virtue is a sage's virtue." He is depicted as riding on a six-tusked white elephant. "Samantabhadra" Bodhisattva is his Sanskrit name.
The Venerable Master Hsuan Hua explains:
"In the Flower Adornment (Avatamsaka Sutra, Universal Worthy Bodhisattva is the Host who requests Dharma on behalf of all the beings who have appropriate potential. There is no way to know the state of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, and so he is Universal Worthy Bodhisattva of Great Conduct. Universal Worthy Bodhisattva is in the mind of each and every living being, and the bodies and minds of all living beings are also within the mind of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva."
A section in the Shurangama Sutra says:
"Universal Worthy Bodhisattva arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha, “I have been a Dharma Prince with as many Thus Come Ones as there are sands in the Ganges. The Thus Come Ones of the ten directions tell their disciples who have the roots of a Bodhisattva to cultivate the Universal Worthy conduct, which is named after me."
