Praise to Earth Store Bodhisattva:
Earth Store Bodhisattva wonderful beyond compare; Gold hue'd in his transformation body he appears. Wondrous Dharma sounds throughout the three paths and six realms. Four births and ten kinds of beings gain his kindly grace. His pearl shining brightly lights the way to heaven's halls; Six-ringed golden staff shakes open wide the gates of hell. Leads on those with causes garnered life and life again; To bow at the nine-flowered terrace of the Honored One. Namo Earth Store, Great vows and compassion, Bodhisattva of the dark and dismal worlds; on Nine Flower Mountain, most honored one, with ten wheels of power you rescue all the suffering ones.
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稽首本然净心地 无尽佛藏大慈尊 南方世界涌香云 香雨花云及花雨 宝雨宝云无数种 为祥为瑞遍庄严 天人问佛是何因 佛言地藏菩萨至 三世如来同赞叹 十方菩萨共皈依 我今宿植善因缘 称扬地藏真功德 慈因积善，誓救众生， 手中金锡，振开地狱之门。 掌上明珠，光摄大千世界。 智慧音里，吉祥云中， 为阎浮提苦众生，作大证明功德主。 大悲大愿，大圣大慈， 本尊地藏菩萨摩诃萨。 南无本师释迦牟尼佛（三称） Namo Shakyamuni Buddha !(three times) 南无大愿地藏王菩萨（三称） Namo Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva! (three times)
Who wrote the four-line verse? It was written by Wu Zetian(武则天), the Empress in Tang Dynasty. The Verse is so well-written, so wonderful, so sublime and so classic that it is used by all of us. We need to cherish the same sincerity as she did when reciting it, though. Don’t just recite it without using the mind, or as is described in the saying, “the little monk who simply mumbles the prayers without showing his sincerity.” We won’t evoke any response if without sincerity.
Chapter 1: Spiritual Penetrations in the Palace of the Trayastrimsha Heaven (忉利天宫神通品), English sound recording with captions, Bilingual Chinese-English version recording with opening and dedications. Online Chinese Earth Store Sutra text; English Earth Store Sutra text, A commentary by Master Hsuan Hua at City of Ten Thousand Buddhas;
In Buddhist cosmology, heaven is divided into twenty-eight levels. These twenty-eight heavens exist within three different realms: the desire realm, in which there exists six levels of heaven; the form realm, in which there exists eighteen levels of heaven; and the formless realm, in which there exists four levels of heaven.
The Buddhist cosmology is not a literal description of the shape of the universe; rather, it is the universe as seen through the divyacakṣus (Pāli: dibbacakkhu दिब्बचक्खु), the “divine eye” by which a Buddha or an arhat can perceive all beings arising (being born) and passing away (dying) within various worlds; and can tell from what state they have been reborn, and into which state they will be reborn. Beings can be reborn as devas (gods), humans, animals, asuras (titans), pretas (“hungry ghosts”), and as inhabitants of the hell realms.
The process by which sentient beings migrate from one state of existence to another is dependent on causes and conditions. The three causes are giving or charity, moral conduct, meditative development, and their opposites. Rebirth in the Kama-loka (desire realm) depends on a person’s moral conduct and practice of giving. Rebirth in the Rupa-loka (form realm) and Arupa-loka (formless realm) also requires meditation development. Liberation from all rebirth requires wisdom in addition to moral conduct and meditation.
“Trayastrimsha Heaven (Tavatimsa)” is Sanskrit for the Heaven of Thirty-Three. This is not the 33rd layer of heaven from the bottom up. It is in the middle with eight heavens in the east, eight heavens in the west, eight heavens in the south and eight heavens in the north. Four times eight makes 32. Thirty-two heavens surround the 33rd heaven in the center, making this heaven the Heaven of Thirty-Three. The deva living there has a lifespan of 1000 celestial years. Bear in mind one day and night in the Trayastrimasha Heaven equals one hundred years of Earth time.
According to the Aggañña Sutta (DN.27), humans originated at the beginning of the current kalpa as deva-like beings reborn from the Ābhāsvara deva-realm.
“Trayastrimsha(Tavatimsa) Heaven” is primarily the name of the second in the six heavens of the desire realm. It is just above Catumaharajika or the realm of the Four Heavenly Kings, and is the highest of the heavens that maintains a physical connection with the rest of the world. Trāyastriṃśa is located on the peak of Sumeru, the central mountain of the world, at a height of 80 yojanas ; the total area of the heaven is 80 yojanas square. This heaven is therefore comparable to the Greek Mount Olympus in some respects. Trāyastriṃśa is ruled by Śakra.
To be continued …….
Dedicating Merits: May the precious bodhicitta That has not yet arisen, arise and grow, And may that which has already arisen not diminish, But increase more and more. 回向偈： 愿以此功德，庄严佛净土。 上报四重恩，下济三涂苦。 若有见闻者，悉发菩提心。 尽此一报身，同生极乐国。