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Quotations from the Avatamsaka Sutra

   Never forget your original intention, and you will achieve your goal. It's easy to have an initial intention, but difficult to maintain it. 

  Never forget your initial intention, and you will achieve your goal; if you forget your initial intention, illusions will vanish and delusion will perish. 

  Never forget your initial intention, and you will achieve your goal; not rejecting your true nature is called freedom.

  All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtues of the Tathagata, but due to delusions and attachments, they cannot realize it.

  To become a great Buddha, one must first be a good sentient being.

  Just as a lotus does not cling to water, just as the sun and moon do not dwell in the sky.

  All the evil deeds I have committed in the past, all due to beginningless greed, anger, and ignorance, arising from body, speech, and mind, I now repent of them all.

  "In the Buddha-land, five-colored stems grow; one flower, one world; one leaf, one Tathagata."

  The Buddha said: One flower, one world; one tree, one fleeting life; one blade of grass, one paradise; one leaf, one Tathagata; one grain of sand, one Pure Land; one place, one Pure Land; one smile, one karmic connection; one thought, one moment of tranquility.

  Following the flow of birth and death, you enter the great river of love. When

  the river of love dries up, you will be liberated.

  You should know that all consciousness is like an illusion, you should know that all worldly actions are like a dream.

  Know that all consciousness is like an illusion, and all things in the world are like a dream.

  Not clinging to this shore, nor to the other shore, not dwelling in the middle of the stream, yet ferrying sentient beings across without rest.

  Seeing the path to higher ground, one should wish that all sentient beings may forever transcend the three realms, with a heart without fear or weakness.

  Like the earth, unshakable; like water, universally beneficial.

  Know that all dharmas are one's own mind, yet without attachment. Know that all dharmas are the very nature of mind, achieving the body of wisdom, not attained through others' enlightenment. Know that the three realms are only mind, the three times are only mind, and understand that this mind is immeasurable and boundless. Know that the mind and the Buddha are also like this, just as the Buddha and sentient beings are; one should know that the nature of the Buddha and the mind is inexhaustible.

  One should observe that all dharmas are like illusions, all Buddhas like shadows, the Bodhisattva's practice like a dream, the Buddha's teachings like an echo, all the worlds like transformations, held together by karmic retribution. Differentiated bodies are like illusions, arising from the power of action. All sentient beings are like the mind, defiled in various ways. All dharmas are like reality, unchanging.

  The thoughts of even the dust motes can be counted. The water in the ocean can be drunk dry. The void can be measured and the wind can be controlled. Yet, the merits of the Buddha cannot be fully described.

  The Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva: 1. To pay homage to all Buddhas; 2. To praise the Tathagata; 3. To make extensive offerings; 4. To repent of karmic obstacles; 5. To rejoice in merits; 6. To request the turning of the Dharma wheel; 7. To request the Buddha to remain in the world; 8. To constantly follow the Buddha's teachings; 9. To always be in harmony with sentient beings; 10. To universally dedicate

  all merits. All Buddhas of the ten directions and three times, all Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas, Mahaprajnaparamita. All beings in the four forms of birth and the nine realms of existence, together ascend the mysterious gate of the Avatamsaka Sutra; all beings in the eight difficulties and three evil paths, together enter the ocean of Vairocana's nature. Just as one sees various strange phenomena in a dream, so too is the world, no different from a dream.

  First, it is lured by desire, then led into the Buddha's wisdom.

  If one looks at a lion, there is only a lion, no gold; thus, the lion appears, and the gold is hidden. If one looks at gold, there is only gold, no lion; thus, the gold appears, and the lion is hidden. If one looks at both, both appear and disappear. Gold and lions, sometimes hidden, sometimes revealed, sometimes one, sometimes many, each without inherent nature, transformed by the mind.

  I would rather endure the torments of hell to hear the names of all Buddhas than accept immeasurable bliss without hearing the Buddha's name.

  Worldly pleasures are nothing but suffering. The realm of demons, coveted by fools, condemned by all Buddhas, gives rise to all suffering.

  I do not seek form, sound, smell, or taste, nor do I crave exquisite touches; but only seek supreme wisdom to liberate all sentient beings.

  I do not seek power, lineage, wealth, beauty, or throne; thus, I am unattached to all things, but uphold pure precepts, thinking: 'By upholding pure precepts, I will surely relinquish all entanglements, desires, afflictions, difficulties, oppression, slander, and defilement, and attain the equal and true Dharma praised by the Buddha.'

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