This entails recollection of the Buddha’s auspicious signs and exemplary
features. Recall them as they are taught in the Praise by Example:
Your body, adorned with the signs,
Your eyes are beautiful elixirs,
Like a cloudless autumn sky
Decorated with clusters of stars.
o golden Sage,
Beautifully draped with religious robes
You are like a golden mountain peak
Wrapped in the clouds of sunrise or sunset.
o protector, even the full moon
Free of clouds cannot compare
With the radiant orb of your face
Free of the embellishment of jewelry.
Should a bee see
The lotus of your face
And a lotus opened by the sun,
It would wonder which was the real lotus.
Your white teeth beautify
Your golden face
Like pure moonbeams in autumn pouring through
The gaps between golden mountains.
o one so worthy of worship, your right hand,
Adorned with the sign of the wheel,
Makes the gesture of relief
To people terrified by cyclic existence.
o Sage, when you walk,
Your feet leave marks on this earth
Like splendid lotuses-
How can it be beautified by lotus gardens?
Reflect on the marvelous manner of the Buddha’s speech. Even if
every living being in the universe asks him a different question at
the same time, he comprehends them all with one instant of his
wisdom. Then he answers all the questions with a single word,
which all beings understand in their own languages.
Because you see the truth, your speech never misleads;
Since it is faultless, it is correct;
Since it is well-composed, it is easy to understand.
Your words are well-spoken.
At first your speech
Captivates the listeners’ minds;
Then if they give it thought,
It clears away attachment and delusion.
It relieves the destitute,
Protects the unruly,
And induces the reveler to renounce
Your speech accords with everyone’s needs.
It delights the learned,
Improves the minds of the middling,
And dispels the darkness of the lowly.
This speech is medicine for all living beings.