Read Huayan from Scratch

This is a guide to the Avatamsaka Sutra written in narrative style. The full name of the Huayan Sutra is the Huayan Sutra of Dafang Guangfo, the "King of Sutras" of Mahayana Buddhism. It has eighty volumes, thirty-nine chapters, seven sections and nine chapters, and about 800,000 words. The vast length and profound meanings have put countless readers away. This book does not provide commentary on chapters or sentences, nor does it do academic research. Instead, it uses plain language to lead readers through the seven places and nine sessions of the Buddha's sermons: from the realm of Buddhahood in the Bodhi Field, to the ten faiths in the Universal Light Hall, the ten abodes in the Trayasa Heaven, the ten walks in the Yamo Heaven, the ten directions in the Tusita Heaven, the ten places in the Self-Transformation Heaven, and then back to the Perfect Cause and Effect in the Universal Bright Hall, and finally ends up with fifty-three gardens and good wealth. Believe, understand and act in a clear order. The book also incorporates the core ideas of Huayan such as the origin of the Dharma Realm, the unimpededness of everything, the oneness that is everything, and the three indistinguishable thoughts of the Buddha and all sentient beings. Regardless of whether they believe in Buddhism or not, and whether they have a foundation in Buddhism or not, I hope that readers will have a clear grasp of the Avatamsaka Sutra after reading it, and will no longer be deterred by it, but will be willing to explore it. This novel and its characters are purely fictitious. Any similarity is purely coincidental and should not be imitated.