I know the Avatamsaka Sutra teaches about a multiverse flower garland, which represents all of reality, is made up of infinite universes which all reflect one another. Is this the only scripture that talks about multiverses?

Thomas Cleary uses the term "enlightening being" extensively in his translation of the Avatamsaka Sutra . This term isn't defined in the glossary of that book, or in my copy of The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism . Is there a canonical definition of "enlightening being"? Edit: Thanks useful comments by @ChrisW and @KayCee, I see in Appendix 1 "bodhisattva or enlightening being". I'm finding it helpful to read this Appendix before returning to the Introduction.

I came across this rather gender progressive comment from Nichiren > If we examine the Flower Garland Sutra, the first sutra to be preached > after the Buddha attained enlightenment, we find that it is a Mahayana > work preached by the Buddha in his aspect as the Thus Come One of the > reward body. Thus, to the voice-hearers, cause-awakened ones, and > others, it was like daytime to an owl or nighttime to a hawk; though > they listened to it, it was as though they did so with deaf ears or > blind eyes. **This being the case, though people hoped that the sutra > would enable them to pay back the four debts of gratitude, because it > speaks disparagingly of women,3 it was hardly possible for them to > repay the debt of gratitude owed to their mothers with the sutra.** which is footnoted with > 3) For example, the Daishonin cites the passage “Women are messengers of > hell who can destroy the seeds of Buddhahood. They may look like > bodhisattvas, but at heart they are like yaksha demons” with regard to > the Flower Garland Sutra. This passage is cited in A Collection of > Treasures as a quotation from the Flower Garland Sutra. http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-2/Content/264 I can't for the life of me find this or anything like it in my Cleary edition of the Avatamsaka. (I believe it is there, I've read all sorts of misogynistic passages in sutras, I just can't find it)

I'm referring to the chapter in the Avatamsaka. Here is one summary : 1. The Great Samadhi of Universal Light 1. The Great Samadhi of Wondrous Light 1. The Great Samadhi of Sequentially Going throughout all Buddhalands 1. The Great Samadhi of Purifying the Activities in the Depths of the Mind. 1. The Great Samadhi of the Magnificent Treasury of Knowing the Past. 1. The Great Samadhi of a Treasury of Wisdom Light 1. The Great Samadhi of Fathoming the Adornments of Buddhas in all Worlds. 1. The Great Samadhi of Distinguishing the Bodies of Living Beings. 1. The Great Samadhi of Ease and Comfort in the Dharma Realm. 1. The Great Samadhi of the Unhindered Wheel. Here is outline of the whole thing that mentions the 10 Samadis . 3 is clear enough, there is a chapter in the Avatamsaka that does this, (chapter 4 I think). 5, 7, and 8 are results of meditation rather than steps leading to it. Were these Samadhi's something that a lay or monastic bodhisattva would be expected to practice, or are these Samadhis that an already enlightened or nearly englightened Bodhisattva would engage in? (Sorry I don't have a link to the full text, I only know of the Cleary translation which is available on Amazon .)

I was reading through the sutra (well, using global search in my kindle) to find references to the word mathematics. In at least two places the author suggests Bodhisattvas should study all manners of topics to be of benefit to others, including mathematics. And in at least two places, the text goes on and on naming extremely large numbers and describing how to calculate them using powers of ten. These chapters seem to have been written by the same guy-- an interest in large numbers and their application to Buddhism can't be that common. The last chapter, the Gaṇḍavyūha, even wikipedia says it used to be a suttra separate from the rest of the book.