“Incomparable the face of the Nyōrai,—surpassing all beauty in this world!”[51]
But to see the face of one Buddha is to see all:—
“The Dai-en-kyō-chi-kyō[52] says:—‘By entering deeply into the meditation Zenjō, one may see all the Buddhas of the Ten Directions of Space.’”
“The Golden Mouth has said:—‘He whose mind can discern the being of one Buddha, may easily behold three, four, five Buddhas,—nay, all the Buddhas of the Three Existences.’”[53]
Which mystery is thus explained:—
“The Myō-kwan-satsu-chi-kyō[54] has said:—‘The mind that detaches itself from all things becomes the very mind of Buddha.’”[55]
Visitors to the older Buddhist temples of Japan can scarcely fail to notice the remarkable character of the gilded aureoles attached to certain images. These aureoles, representing circles, disks, or ovals of glory, contain numbers of little niches shaped like archings or whirls of fire, each enshrining a Buddha or a Bodhisattva. A verse of the Amitâyur-Dhyâna Sûtra might have suggested this symbolism to the Japanese sculptors:—“In the halo of that Buddha there are Buddhas innumerable as the sands of the Ganga.”[56] Icon and verse alike express that doctrine of the One in Many suggested by the foregoing sotoba-texts; and the assurance that he who sees one Buddha can see all, may further be accepted as signifying that he who perceives one great truth fully, will be able to perceive countless truths.
But even to the spiritually blind the light must come at last. A host of cemetery texts proclaim the Infinite Love that watches all, and the certainty of ultimate and universal salvation:—
“Possessing all the Virtues and all the Powers, the Eyes of the Infinite Compassion behold all living creatures.”[57]