All Beings Possess Buddha-Nature

Western Ox-Continent, at the foot of Spirit Mountain.

Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti stood shoulder to shoulder beneath the Bodhi Tree, gazing at the golden-haired youth sitting beneath it in silent, bitter cultivation.

Jin Huang—or rather, Sakyamuni.

He had sat in meditation beneath the tree for forty-nine days. His face was thin and gaunt, yet the light in his eyes had grown ever clearer and brighter.

"Senior Brother, the time has come," Daoist Zhunti said softly.

Daoist Jieyin gave a slight nod. His face remained sorrowful and bitter, yet a trace of relief flashed through his eyes.

"Jin Huang has passed through calamities and cultivated anew, shedding the bonds of the system. Only then did he attain this pure Buddha-heart. Today, he shall realize Bodhi."

The two raised their hands at the same time. From each fingertip, a speck of golden light flew out and sank into Sakyamuni's brow.

In an instant, the Bodhi Tree blazed with radiance. Heavenly flowers fell in wild profusion, and golden lotuses surged from the earth.

Sakyamuni slowly opened his eyes. Within them were reflected the birth and death, the ebb and flow, of three thousand worlds—without sorrow or joy, without defilement or purity.

"I see that all living beings suffer: birth, aging, sickness, and death; parting from what one loves; meeting what one hates; seeking and not obtaining; the raging blaze of the five aggregates..."

His voice was calm, yet it flowed across Spirit Mountain like a clear spring.

"Only today do I know whence suffering comes, and whither its cessation goes. All conditioned things are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; like dew, and also like lightning. Thus should one contemplate them."

As his words fell, auspicious clouds manifested above his head. The three flowers gathered at his crown, and the five energies