“This marvel will I wed and she shall be my Empress were she lower than
the Eta, and whether her face be lovely or homely. For she is certainly
a flower dropped from the hand of the Divine.”
So when the sun was high His Majesty, again followed by the Dainagon,
went through the forest swiftly, and like a man that sees his goal,
and when they reached the place where the maiden went by, His Majesty
straitly commanded the Dainagon that he should draw apart, and leave him
to speak with the maiden; yet that he should watch what befell.
So the Dainagon watched, and again he saw her come, very poorly clad,
and with bare feet that shrank from the snow in her grass sandals, bowed
beneath a heavy load of wood upon her shoulders, and her face flat and
homely like a girl of the people, and her eyes blind and shut.
And as she came she sang this.
“The Eternal way lies before him,
The way that is made manifest in the Wise.
The Heart that loves reveals itself to man.
For now he draws nigh to the Source.
The night advances fast,
And lo! the moon shines bright.”
And to the Dainagon it seemed a harsh crying nor could he distinguish
any words at all.
But what His Majesty beheld was this. The evening had come on and the
moon was rising. The snow had gone. It was the full glory of spring, and
the flowers sprang thick as stars upon the grass, and among them lotos
flowers, great as the wheel of a chariot, white and shining with
the luminance of the pearl, and upon each one of these was seated an
incarnate Holiness, looking upward with joined hands. In the trees were
the voices of the mystic Birds that are the utterance of the Blessed
One, proclaiming in harmony the Five Virtues, The Five Powers, the Seven
Steps ascending to perfect Illumination, the Noble Eightfold Path, and
all the Law. And, bearing, in the heart of the Son of Heaven awoke the
Three Remembrances--the Remembrance of Him who is Blessed, Remembrance
of the Law, and Remembrance of the Communion of the Assembly.
So, looking upward to the heavens, he beheld the Infinite Buddha,
high and lifted up in a great raying glory. About Him were the exalted
Bodhisattwas, the mighty Disciples, great Arhats all, and all the
countless Angelhood. And these rose high into the infinite until they
could be seen but as a point of fire against the moon. With this golden
multitude beyond all numbering was He.
Then, as His Majesty had seen in the dream of the night, the
wood-cutter’s daughter, moving through the flowers like one blind that
gropes his way, advanced before the Blessed Feet, and uplifting her
hands, did adoration, and her face he could not see, but his heart
went with her, adoring also the infinite Buddha seated in the calms of
boundless Light.
Then enlightenment entered at his eyes, as a man that wakes from sleep,
and suddenly he beheld the Maiden crowned and robed and terrible in
beauty, and her feet were stayed upon an open lotos, and his soul knew
the Senju Kwannon Herself, myriad-armed for the helping of mankind.
And turning, she smiled as in the vision, but his eyes being now clear
her blinded eyes were opened, and that glory who shall tell as those
living founts of Wisdom rayed upon him their ineffable light? In that
ocean was his being drowned, and so, bowed before the Infinite Buddha,
he received the Greater Illumination.
How great is the Glory of Kwannon!
When the radiance and the vision were withdrawn and only the moon looked
over the trees, His Majesty rose upon his feet, and standing on the
snow, surrounded with calm, he called to the Dainagon, and asked this;
“What have you seen?”
“Augustness, nothing but the country wench and moon and snow.”
“And heard?”
“Augustness, nothing but the harsh voice of the wood-cutter’s daughter.”
“And felt?”
“Augustness, nothing but the bone-piercing cold.” So His Majesty adored
that which cannot be uttered, saying;
“So Wisdom, so Glory encompass us about, and we see them not for we
are blinded with illusion. Yet every stone is a jewel and every clod
is spirit and to the hems of the Infinite Buddha all cling. Through the
compassion of the Supernal Mercy that walks the earth as the Bodhisattwa
Kwannon, am I admitted to wisdom and given sight and hearing. And what
is all the world to that happy one who has beheld Her eyes!”
And His Majesty returned through the forest.
When, the next day, he sent for the venerable Semimaru that holy recluse
had departed and none knew where. But still when the moon is full a
strange music moves in the tree tops of Shiobara.
Then His sacred Majesty returned to City-Royal, having determined
to retire into the quiet life, and there, abandoning the throne to a
kinsman wise in greatness, he became a dweller in the deserted hut of
Semimaru.
His life, like a descending moon approaching the hill that should hide
it, was passed in meditation on that Incarnate Love and Compassion whose
glory had augustly been made known to him, and having cast aside all
save the image of the Divine from his soul, His Majesty became even as
that man who desired enlightenment of the Blessed One.
For he, desiring instruction, gathered precious flowers, and journeyed
to present them as an offering to the Guatama Buddha. Standing before
Him, he stretched forth both his hands holding the flowers.
Then said the Holy One, looking upon his petitioner’s right hand;
“Loose your hold of these.”
And the man dropped the flowers from his right hand. And the Holy One
looking upon his left hand, said;
“Loose your hold of these.”
And, sorrowing, he dropped the flowers from his left hand. And again the
Master said;
“Loose your hold of that which is neither in the right nor in the left.”
And the disciple said very pitifully;
“Lord, of what should I loose my hold for I have nothing left?”
And He looked upon him steadfastly.
Therefore at last understanding he emptied his soul of all desire, and
of fear that is the shadow of desire, and being enlightened relinquished
all burdens.
So was it also with His Majesty. In peace he dwelt, and becoming a great
Arhat, in peace he departed to that Uttermost Joy where is the Blessed
One made manifest in Pure Light.
As for the parents of the maiden, they entered after sore troubles into
peace, having been remembered by the Infinite. For it is certain that
the enemies also of the Supreme Buddha go to salvation by thinking on
Him, even though it be against Him.
And he who tells this truth makes this prayer to the Lady of Pity;
“Grant me, I pray,
One dewdrop from Thy willow spray,
And in the double Lotos keep
My hidden heart asleep.”
How great is the Glory of Kwannon!