菩薩本生鬘論

To transform beings everywhere, aspiring to attain reality. Taming the world, the perfection of the nature of giving. The cause of the sages is quiescent, bearing reality.

The ultimate fruit of awakening is cultivated earnestly forever. Wisdom aspires to reach all beings in all places. Far removed from the root of defilement, quiescent amid existence and nonexistence.

The four name-skandhas—feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—are difficult to apprehend in their nominal substance. The torrent of the world changes without cease. The intrinsic nature of ultimate meaning has a boundless source; it is attained by fundamental wisdom and cannot be seen by the eye.

Quiescent and unconditioned, it pervades every place. Accomplishment in due measure gives rise to equality. Knowledge and vision of intrinsic nature cause ultimate meaning to increase.

Practice and understanding are complete, and their power and function arise. Among worldly realms, the Form Realm is supreme. Only in the realm of the fourth dhyana are the three calamities entirely transcended.

The practices of the sages abide tranquilly in harmony. Earnestly cultivating wholesome conduct, they attain purity. The fruit is fulfilled through the excellent cause of merit.

The realm of training is action; the path of cultivation is virtuous conduct. Earnestly cultivating the sublime, it pervades the world. Through transformation, perfect wholesome benefit is attained.

The root undergoes transformation, and reality increases. Overcoming inversion, the practice of giving arises. Practice and understanding seek their goal, and fundamental karma is accomplished.

The torrent of mental dharmas has its root in deluded activity. Right view arises, and quiescence is perfected. Following the teachings, one cultivates purity.

The essential nature of body and mind consists of the five skandhas. Following the Ten Wholesome Actions, one cultivates the supreme. The causal characteristics accord with their proper parts and reveal the afflictions.

Defiled forms are the root of all evil karma. Through cultivation one attains liberation, the abode of quiescence. The twelve modes of birth are subsumed within a hundred kinds.

Like the shining sun, bright and lovely. Likewise, in that realm, there was a virtuous king. He taught impartially, and evil karma was wholly ended.

The karma created there became wholesome and pure, removed from evil karma; it was the realm of a righteous king, where perversity had ceased. Within and without he governed well; his sage wisdom was wondrous. His mind was free of deluded thought, and the nature of awakening increased.

His practice and understanding were extensive, and he gave supreme explanations in response to every worldly difficulty. The forms of the worldly realm are bound by inversion. Through sovereign power, causes are not displayed.

Abandoning the causes of fear, one aspires to the ultimate. Inversion and dull-wittedness become fields of cultivation. The kalpa calamity of wind is so violent that even the great trichiliocosm is destroyed.

This is the subtly wondrous and exalted realm of bodhisattvas. Wherever it is brought under control, quiescence is perfected. Every factor of wrong view is eradicated.

Words arise to expound the supreme principle. Such power and function are rooted in purity. The realm of mind is stirred, striving freely to manifest.

The forms of merit bring body and mind into harmony. The profound practice of giving advances toward the ultimate. By attaining the quiescent root, ultimate meaning is realized.

The stage of irreversible perfect awakening arises and becomes exalted. Superior cultivation eliminates illness. The torrent of evil defilement is rooted in conceptual proliferation.

Its power and function manifest and transform everywhere. Intrinsic nature is at ease, cultivating quiescent conduct. Profound non-self ends all conceptual proliferation.

The fundamental nature of fearlessness is unstained by sound or form. Seeking afflictions does not accord with the wholesome path. Defiled cognition at its root creates the causes of affliction.

Sovereign in form, one aspires to destroy inversion. The function of intrinsic karma first arises in the mind. From the roots of defiling obstructions arise a thousand kinds.

When conceptual proliferation manifests, it should be left behind and abandoned. When clouds cover the full moon, how can it shine? The source of sage wisdom is cleansed of defilement and remains constant.

Sovereignty severs bondage, and the discipline increases. As diligence increases, afflictions diminish. Irreversible ultimate meaning completely eradicates craving.

Sovereignty and harmony reach ultimate purity. Cultivating quiescent conduct, this cause is real. The Tathagata forever eradicates the afflictions of countless lives.

Views of self, attachment to extremes, craving, and pride arise in succession. Unifying body and mind, one exerts oneself in cultivation. Cultivating giving reduces the causes of the disease of greed.

The power of intrinsic nature turns the stream of evil karma. When conceptual proliferation increases, it becomes a field for earnest cultivation. The physical forms of sentient beings cannot be forsaken.

The pure Buddha-Dharma can remove obstructions and defilements. Like a fiercely blazing fire, its force is difficult to halt. Quiescence is the root of cultivation, unbound by fear.

Transforming beings to the utmost, one cultivates liberating conduct. Quiescent and remote, one ends every form. Complete in practice and understanding, one gives exemplary instruction.

Aspiring to end defilement and contention. With excellent power and function, one penetrates the practice of giving. One removes the root of pride.

All activities of intrinsic nature arise. One abandons affliction, sorrow, suffering, and fear.

What is the practice of giving earnestly cultivated everywhere?

Overcoming everything, reality reaches the ultimate. One aspires to attain unobstructed ultimate meaning, like empty space. Wisdom shines clearly, and its power and function are perfected. Creating the cause for ending afflictions, one attains ultimate purity. Name and form shine brilliantly like Kapila. Cultivating in this way, sovereignty is boundless. The harmony of the assembly of sages is the equality of ultimate meaning.

How are mental dharmas without material form?

Dharmas gather and arise without ever being eliminated. The causal mark of painful feeling is rooted in defilement. Bound by inversion, sorrow and suffering are boundless.

Transformation accords harmoniously, increasing the creation of wholesome karma. How does the torrent of obstructing defilements arise? Like a fiercely blazing flame whose strength is difficult to restrain.

Reality is boundless, and equality remains forever. Inner clarity manifests, and stable composure pervades everywhere. The root of conceptual proliferation is insubstantial in essence, yet its retribution is real.

Karma is created to the utmost, and its force is difficult to end. Dull-wittedness increases, replete with fear. Thus inversion arises to the utmost.

In tranquility and composure, inversion becomes utterly still. The worthy person cultivates further, and power and function shine forth. All defiled inversions are eradicated by the esoteric practice.

Intrinsic nature is excellent, advancing in cultivation throughout all realms. Through intrinsic taming, the sublime arises. Power and function become pure, and meritorious recompense is perfected.

How does one advance toward abandoning evil and cultivating good?

One vigorously arouses oneself to reach the ultimate end. All kinds of excellent practice consist in earnestly cultivating giving. From the root arises the intrinsic nature of ultimate meaning. Cultivating the practice of instruction, one becomes an exemplar for the world. Ending the activity of cyclic existence, one advances toward quiescence. Liberation ends bondage; it is not annihilation.

How is conceptual proliferation completely ended, causing the root of wisdom to become clearer? This is accomplished through the unified factors of sentient existence.

How are the forms of the mind, so difficult to apprehend, distinguished?

The four name-skandhas are name and have no material form. The perfection of patience is rooted in tranquil abiding. Inwardly clear and pure, fresh and wholesome, it is stainless.

The source of the intrinsic nature of ultimate meaning is unborn. Manifest from beginningless time, it is free of every bondage. Forms do not arise, and power and function accord with conditions.

Through diligent cultivation, that practice of suffering is eliminated. Far removed from destruction is the abode of quiescence. Its forms shine brilliantly, pervading all and becoming perfect.

When the cause of suffering is no more, tranquility remains firm. Power and function unfold, displaying rare forms. Excellent tranquility is stillness throughout all realms.

Joyfully inspired, one unifies the mind in earnest cultivation. Applying and developing it, one freely accords in harmony.

How does the quiescent root completely end every mark of arising and cessation?

How does one end defilement together with delusion concerning both principle and phenomena?

The fundamental wisdom of ultimate meaning can completely eradicate every inversion to the utmost.

What is the realm of intrinsic nature?

The five skandhas are full, and body and mind abundant. Fresh, wholesome, and complete, one exerts oneself in teaching and transformation. Tranquil and inwardly clear, renewed cultivation accords harmoniously.

Its pure subtlety is immeasurable, and it clarifies the meaning of the ten powers. Material forms are pure, inwardly clear, fresh, and wholesome. The substance of form is luminous and lustrous like jade.

Such a discipline brings the highest bliss. Attaining harmony, pure subtlety increases. The practice of giving is complete, abandoning neither inner nor outer things.

Inversion and sorrowful feeling are no longer displayed. That inverted mind is the root from which conceptual proliferation arises. Thus, the designation “birth by transformation” does not accord.

The devas revere profound wisdom. Excellent indeed is the merit that manifests radiantly; it is the sphere wherein one aspires to attain the power of tranquil abiding. Freely bearing all, one reaches perfect fulfillment.

Such knowledge and vision are attained through the causal cultivation of giving. The five kinds of abundance are form, sound, scent, taste, and so forth. Earth, water, fire, and wind are the objects of tangible contact.

The powerful force of bondage is craving, difficult to abandon. Failing to create the cause of giving is the bondage of self-conceit. Constantly guiding and subduing, purity arises.

This is called the attainment of pure giving. The fruit of suffering having ended, ultimate meaning is universally attained. In accordance with it, the ultimate Mahayana is attained.

Even the aspiration to attain the full span of life is fulfilled. Such excellent benefit is gained precisely through giving. The source of quiescence is the complete ending of self-conceit.

Transforming sentient beings, one understands the excellent meaning. Quiescence without any fixed abode is the root that ends all evil karma. In the pure and subtle realm of giving, the fruit of sagehood is realized.

Harm, among the secondary afflictions, is conjoined with self-conceit. A dull-witted man is overwhelmed by defiled pride. The power of intrinsic nature wholly destroys such forms of pride.

Inversion takes root in contention and affliction. The intrinsic nature of sentient beings is tranquilly subdued. Illness binds and destroys physical strength.

When the excellent cause arises, illness is subdued and abandoned. Cultivating quiescent conduct is the root of tranquil abiding. Pure giving abandons greed and delusion; it is the domain over which the royal sage wisdom presides.

Through good governance and universal aid, calamities do not arise. When reality is penetrated, perversity and deceit perish of themselves. One follows the teachings and commands without causing disruption.

The power of the sages tames the fears of the world. Its excellent fundamental power and function become manifest. Cultivation increases, and myriad beings are taught and transformed.

Aspiring to detachment, one ends all fear.

What is the foundation of complete practice and understanding?

Self-confidence increases, and meaning and benefit are both attained. The excellent cause is applied, and reality becomes manifest. Power and function increase, rooted in the Ten Wholesome Actions.

That giving is never lost—excellent indeed is what is attained! Throughout the lands, myriad beings are tranquil. Such sovereign power is conjoined with attachment to self.

Living beings resolutely advance in cultivating giving. Evil and defiled conceptual proliferation appears clearly and should be abandoned. Through the power of restraint, one cultivates the path of the sages.

The excellent cause of wisdom is formed over many kalpas. This is the realm wherein bodhisattvas cultivate universally. From beginningless and remote kalpas, they have known the Buddha-Dharma.

The enjoyment of ultimate meaning is the fundamental requisite. The intrinsic nature of dust motes is contained in fundamental consciousness. Training in this way, wholesome abiding manifests.

Cultivating quiescent conduct, images are transformed. One leaves behind every attachment to self and the conceptual proliferation of beginningless time. Practicing giving, one accords with purity.

Through repentance for the three karmas, wholesome purity and tranquility are attained. Abiding in stillness, one ends the dharmas of cyclic existence. Penetrating wisdom universally guides sentient beings.

Taming increases until quiescence is complete. Wholesome causes arise, and their power and function shine forth. One leaves far behind the root of inverted bondage.

In the genuine realm of mind, one performs the ten kinds of wholesome action. Cultivating the supreme practice, every sphere becomes lucid. Liberation in the true sense is rooted in purity.

One recognizes that afflictions have always been quiescent. Sentient beings practice the ten pure and subtle wholesome actions. All coverings and bonds become tranquil and inwardly clear.

The minds of the devas are fundamentally pure; their forms are beautiful, and they resolutely cultivate the path. Karmic obstructions are completely ended, and practice and understanding increase. The world is peaceful and happy, and the realm of intrinsic nature is not lost.

Forms and places are rooted in taming. Genuine power and function end the causes of inversion. Teaching the Ten Wholesome Actions is excellent purity.

Sovereign forms possess inexhaustible merit. Sentient beings cultivate further, their minds attaining wisdom. The excellent, pure, and subtle cause tames and brings meaningful benefit.

The sixth consciousness is the clearest and most tranquil. Intrinsic nature is genuine, and all kinds of pride cease. Advancing in cultivation in this way, virtue is foremost.

Unstained by violence, one ends every affliction. Advancing along the former path, meritorious karma becomes tranquil. The root of all teaching and transformation is the ending of thoughts of affliction.

Clear and pure, afflictions do not arise. One fully accomplishes the meaning and benefit of sentient beings. Creating causes of inversion, one is bound by evil defilements.

Free from dust, one gives pure instruction. Genuine wholesome intention remains manifest and is never lost. Cultivating tranquility, the ignorant gain understanding.

Speech and instructional practice accord and do not deteriorate. The fundamental true characteristic is pure and peaceful. The truth of ultimate meaning is the inward clarity to which one aspires.

How is wholesome and subtle teaching carried out?

Following purity, one cultivates the supreme practice. Taming for meaningful benefit, non-self is brought to perfection. The solemn discipline of kingship is displayed.

Attachment to self is thus vast and boundless. The failure to attain wisdom is fundamentally due to afflictions. When things accord with one’s wishes, greed arises; when they oppose one’s wishes, anger arises.

The twenty-six delusions are causes of attachment to self. When the roots are eradicated, branches and twigs perish with them; this is the sphere of provisional arising that benefits ultimate meaning. Implements and boundaries here and there are tranquil.

The ten kinds of karmic paths no longer bind or cover. Calamities are penetrated, and all confusion ends. The forms of that celestial realm are quiescent, and inverted views cease.

Practice and understanding follow accordingly, and tranquility manifests. Fundamental knowledge and vision clearly discern every bondage. Thus the model is perfected and harmonious.

When inversion arises, it is tamed and abandoned. Such is the penetration of the ultimate meaning of all dharmas. When practice and understanding are complete, equality arises.

As power and function emerge, fearlessness is attained. Pure, subtle, and serene, it manifests thus. Name is the basis of the four skandhas and the support of form.

Through sincere repentance, perfect purity is attained. The three vehicles transform beings, all arriving at the shore of awakening. With repentance for offenses complete, one cultivates while abiding tranquilly.

The blissful celestial realm and purity will certainly be attained. One’s aspiration accords with genuine purity.

The Twenty-Ninth Account: The Meaning of the Bodhisattva’s Practice of Giving in the Former Birth of Venerable Adornment, Protector of the Realm.

When the cause of giving is perfected, its recompense ends hunger and thirst. Forms become beautiful, and intrinsic

nature increases. This is to penetrate the bodhisattva practices in accordance with them. The power

accords with its factors. Nourishing physical form is the foundation of merit. The creation of karma

reaches its culmination. All is thus. Power and function increase. Advance and retreat are suitably

adapted, and reality is skillfully displayed. Nothing lies outside benefit and the three fundamental wholesome roots. The

support is supreme. Through the excellent cause of giving, the body is adorned with noble marks. The realm of mind

truly accords in harmony in this way. Practice and understanding are profound, pure, subtle, and fitting. Relying upon

the majestic bodily form that pervades everywhere, all pure, subtle, and beautiful places pale beside it. The four skandhas are abundant, and physical forms are luminous. Equal and fearless, one understands advance and retreat. The skandhas unite with the excellent cause; fundamental consciousness realizes itself; form, bodily appearance, and the body are all thus. Power and function increase and bear everything to the utmost; their root is the pure mind of giving. Great bodhisattvas delight in that place. Their power and function are lucid, penetrating the marks of sound. That truly pure mind can end craving. The excellent practice is supremely pure, and excellent power advances cultivation. In an unchanging sphere, transformation is unobstructed.

What is the tranquil taming of dhyana?

The wondrous functioning of the Buddha path is thus vast. Quiescence increases, and every

principle becomes clear. Perfected to the utmost, it is far removed from afflictions. Sentient beings in their entirety do not lie beyond the six destinies. Wisdom is accomplished through silence and quiescence. Wholesome causes transform and manifest in this way. Free from every defilement, liberation accords in harmony.

How do the marks of sound penetrate meaningful benefit?

The power of the sages is immeasurable, and wisdom investigates. Mahasattva means a great sentient being. Equal in practice and understanding, he compassionately guides and transforms.

Eradicating defiled dullness, he accords with quiescence. Through genuine instruction, delusion is quickly extinguished. Subduing the poison of suffering, he accords with ultimate meaning.

Wholesome and subtle marks of sound give rise to compassion. In the realm of mind, desire subsides; such is a great sentient being. He vows to bear everything to the utmost.

The profound source and excellent cause are never lost. Sentient beings are rooted in ignorance and inversion. Villages and places in distant lands are difficult to reach.

The seven assemblies of sentient beings must rely on the Ten Wholesome Actions. Understanding the arising and destruction of myriad beings, he penetrates the practice of giving perfectly and completely. Fully bearing the task, he understands its vast meaning.

Taming sentient beings brings excellent meaning and benefit. He carries it out beautifully, unstained by dust. The power of the excellent cause is unobstructed like empty space.

The causal practice has always been pure and liberated. Brahma conduct pervades everywhere, ending hunger and suffering. Cognition and restraint are rigorous and practical.

Practice and understanding possess full power, aspiring to pure giving. The genuine realm of mind remedies aggregates in accord. Creating causes universally, one penetrates perfect fulfillment.

Teaching sentient beings to abandon defiling obstructions, one expels poison and harm, perfecting ultimate meaning. Attaining quiescence, one abandons the causes of bondage. Pure teaching is profound, subtle, and unified.

This is the sphere wherein bodhisattvas manifest clearly and pure assemblies aspire to attain. Complete in practice and understanding, they freely end pride. Thus every pervasive bondage is ended.

Excellence increases, and the foundation advances toward attainment. Pure instruction eradicates conceptual proliferation. Cultivating compassionate guidance, one applies ultimate meaning.

How is it attained? How does one seek it?

Giving accords with conditions, and purity manifests. Quiescence is perfected; both self and dharmas cease. Sorrow, suffering, affliction, wholesomeness, and purity are all transcended.

How can a pure dharma increase or decrease without a cause?

This is the sphere of the true person, advancing toward reality. Following names and characteristics, he subdues conceptual proliferation. Practicing giving everywhere, he ends the causes of craving.

How is birth by transformation the most excellent transformation?

Beauty and pure subtlety are caused by giving and morality. Attainment increases, and self-confidence is boundless. The quiescence of ultimate meaning manifests as tranquility.

Every evil and harmful karma is ended. Intrinsic nature is originally pure and profound. The ultimate realm of training is quiescent and subdued.

The foundation of intrinsic nature is a clearly manifest wholesome cause. The power and function of truth consist in developing knowledge and vision. Conceptual proliferation and bondage to self are the forms of ordinary beings.

Inversion seeks the originally inherent nature. Bondage and attachment to self are causes of affliction and are the sphere wherein the speech of sentient beings arises. Why do myriad beings abandon this place?

Their kinds number in the thousands, and fear does not cease. Wisdom clearly reveals it, and purity arises. The causes of bondage and suffering are not lost.

Giving everywhere is equal to empty space. Advancing in cultivation in this way, one attains excellence. One ceaselessly subdues afflictions and conceptual proliferation.

From fundamental wisdom, the boundless arises. Myriad beings admire and rely upon it. The image that pervades everywhere is the great sentient being, who compassionately cherishes myriad beings whose grief and suffering are unending; impartially following them, he tames sentient beings.

Disturbance does not arise, and thus he instructs. Quiescent speech abandons delusion and pride. The discipline is clearly displayed, and its requisites are precious.

Excellent and fearless, he does not abandon sentient beings. Through excellent taming, his instruction and transformation accord. The torrent of defiled dharmas burns fiercely to the utmost.

Defiled causes destroy the power of tranquility. When self-conceit increases, ultimate meaning ceases. Cultivating harmonious conduct, one abides unobstructed.

Cultivation advances toward the sovereign excellent cause. The wholesome and subtle sphere should not be abandoned. Perfect giving ends the domain of conceptual proliferation; it is the sphere wherein genuine earnest cultivation accords harmoniously.

The marks of a great person compassionately guide myriad beings. Luminous and steadfast, he reflects, leads, and rescues those in dire difficulty. In such lands, calamities increase.

Yet growth becomes perfect, and power and function are unobstructed. Attachment and delight shift and change, unwilling to abide. When pure conduct is not cultivated, defilement occupies its place.

What are genuine illness and evil karma?

The power and function of quiescence profoundly eradicate them.

How do inversion and dull-wittedness produce dense causes?

Bondage adds further coils, and the coverings do not diminish. The root of afflictions does not arise from outward circumstances alone. Pride and delusion increase and are difficult to extinguish.

Such bonds are difficult to end and require the power of the sages. Defiled and binding forms ceaselessly obscure. One should strive to abide tranquilly, guide, instruct, and cultivate earnestly.

The power of evil actions is difficult to transform. With heavy obstructions and profound matters, repentance is truly difficult. Through such suffering, evil karma comes to completion.

Abiding in stillness and harmony, one cultivates and upholds the teaching. Eradicating hunger and suffering, ultimate meaning is perfected. Guiding and bearing myriad beings through many kalpas, such is the boundless wondrous functioning of the Buddha path.

Seeds and active manifestations of dharmas arise in their proper places. Seeking the pure teachings, one will certainly attain them. Ultimate meaning is perfected, and tranquil abiding is serene.

The power and function of quiescence are the foundation of taming. Being swept along by the torrent is truly cyclic wandering. Recognizing the factors of illness as unreal, one gives to sentient beings and attains tranquility.

The intention clearly comprehends the factors of the body. The sphere where inversion ends possesses precious meaning and benefit. Abide in wholesome dharmas.

Freely accord in harmony. Attachment to self grows deeper, and suffering accumulates. Creating pure karma can extinguish craving.

Penetrating in due measure, truth appears. Ending the causes of fear, one should strive in mindfulness. Possessing the strength to bear the task, one attains fundamental purity.

By cultivating what Dharma do sentient beings leave afflictions behind? The intrinsic cultivation of merit is exceedingly great. Such ultimate attainment is rooted in ultimate meaning.

Taking compassionate love for sentient beings as one’s model, ultimate meaning is never lost and becomes their refuge. The genuine realm of mind is the root of every form. Equality tames every place universally.

The devastated lands do not manifest equality. Where the dwelling is not peaceful, the mind becomes entangled. Samadhi and wisdom arise as the support of sovereignty.

Images change, while the Dharma-nature permanently abides. Ordinary beings and sages are equal, and the world relies upon this. Earnestly cultivating to the utmost, one attains “no dharma.” Merit is boundless, like the sands of the Ganges.

Indulging craving and desire, one cannot attain the wholesome path. Excellent indeed are the many kinds of places and forms. The cultivation of wholesome subtlety lies in non-thought.

Ever mindful of bearing the task, one ceaselessly rescues beings from suffering. Flexible and responsive, aspiring to attain this, one dwells where compassionate guidance arises universally. The genuinely inspired mind is sovereign and quiescent.

Brahma conduct unfolds and can end afflictions. The creation of karma to the utmost is rooted in the Kshatriyas. Cultivating earnestly in this way, power and function become irreversible.

The efficacy of the Ten Wholesome Actions is treasured by myriad beings. Furnishing and supplying all needs is subtle and difficult to attain. Every bond of defilement and conceptual proliferation is ended.

The foundation is the precious and genuine Dharma-nature. Like a lotus growing from mud, its flower is fresh, fragrant, subtle, and wondrous. Clear and still, it is untouched by even a speck of dust.

Through giving, one aspires to attain such beauty. One ends all binding dharmas of inversion and evil karma. Defiling obstructions and attachment to self exert effects difficult to restrain.

The excellent, wholesome, and pure cause is the genuine wondrous function. When body and mind are still, afflictions immediately cease. Deluded defilement and self-conceit only deepen confusion.

Defiled cognition pervades everywhere, binding reality. When defiled causes do not cease, inverted forms appear. Conceptual proliferation overflows, binding sovereignty.

Ultimate instruction consists in ending the creation of karma. Karma created near or far bears fruit in sequence. When the Buddha path flourishes, all evil karma ceases.

Practice and understanding become complete, and sentient beings are equal. Excellent purity pervades every place.

The foundation of the Buddha path is the elimination of defiling obstructions, the arising of pure causes, and genuine understanding. Advancing in cultivation, one destroys every affliction and conceptual proliferation. Liberated from defiling obstructions, self-confidence increases. When inversion increases, conceptual proliferation follows. The truth of ultimate meaning arises and is transmitted in teaching.

How does pure giving provide abundant requisites?

The foundation of ultimate meaning is joy and sovereignty. With pure Brahma conduct, self-conceit does not arise. One can leave defiling obstructions behind, cultivate, and attain liberation.

The meritorious recompense of sentient beings is rooted in pure giving. Through the excellent causes of the devas, one clearly comprehends pure subtlety. Genuine and profound, it is ever pure to the utmost.

All worldly dharmas arise and cease. Intrinsic nature is thus pure, inwardly clear, and still. Attachment to self is deep, and the objects grasped are boundless.

The fire of affliction, conceptual proliferation, and defiling obstructions is difficult to treat. The body undergoes suffering, while calculations never cease. Clinging firmly to mixed defilements, one knows no gratitude to the teacher.

Excellence arises in genuine accord. Like clouds covering everything, preventing burning torment from arising. Subduing and abandoning, one advances in cultivation in this way.

The genuine supreme vehicle casts away defiled delusion. Excellent power and function are factors of meaningful benefit. Eradicating defilement, one advances in the excellent practice.

Wholesome and subtle, free of desire, purity manifests. The realm of mind is subdued, and giving arises. Inversion is wholly extinguished, and harmony manifests.

Intrinsic nature accords and clearly comprehends ultimate meaning. The celestial realm temporarily ends every binding and covering defilement. The intrinsic nature of fearlessness is quiescent to the utmost.

Far removed from afflictions, one penetrates reality correctly. Power and function increase, and teaching and transformation accord with their proper parts. Over many lives, giving is layered with both defilement and purity.

When the practice is not refined, the fruits experienced are mixed. Cultivating and maintaining quiescence, one receives the recompense of wholesome realms. Sovereign power and function are genuinely perfected.

Cultivating goodness in harmony brings appropriate benefit. Impartial and still, Suchness does not deteriorate. Inverted seeking is the root of evil karma.

Frightening bonds and coverings cause beings to sink, making escape difficult. Miserliness and greed rage; attachment and aversion do not cease. The form of liberation is like a lotus shedding its petals....

Power and function increase, attaining excellent purity. The formations skandha develops, clarifying the meaning of transformation. The wholesome and subtle fragrance of morality is sweet and lovely.

The solemn beauty of the place of revered cultivation continually increases. Teaching cultivation, one aspires to attain purity. Practicing in terms of self and other, one is bound by inversion, while harmony, sovereignty, and quiescence are all lost.

Firmly cultivating a pure mind, food and clothing become abundant. The power of restraint manifests wholesome causes. Pure wholesome dharmas are the root of intrinsic nature.

Proper nourishment brings excellent meritorious recompense. Complete practice and understanding attain the fearlessness of ultimate meaning; the waterwheel becomes quiescent, and everything everywhere grows still. Through the intrinsic nature of giving, miserliness and greed are both abandoned.

Pure and subtle self-confidence is attained in this way. Among the ten wholesome practices, giving is the root. In succession they arise and together reach the shore of awakening; this is the realm where the true person aspires to end conceptual proliferation....

Fearing evil conduct, genuine resolve arises. Meanings accord in due measure and unite in a single thread. Acting in this way, one attains the forms of quiescence.

Pervasive attachment to self is rooted in afflictions. The body is impermanent; only intrinsic nature is ultimate. One attains the ultimate, unsurpassed fruit of awakening.

The still Dharma-nature transcends every search. One guides and bears myriad beings appropriately. Giving sublime instruction, genuine and excellent, one reaches the ultimate in that realm, pure and sovereign.

Forms are fresh and wholesome, and fearlessness is perfected. Sublime peace is far removed from the creation of karma. Power and function advance toward the Dharma-nature, like empty space.

Free from every fear, one follows the ten wholesome karmic paths.

What is the sphere of sovereign self-confidence?

It is the root of meritorious karma, genuine and harmonious. The Buddha’s words teach it extensively. In accordance with Dharma, one abides tranquilly.

One abandons afflicting complexities. Defiled conceptual proliferation is rooted in form. All dharmas are quiescent; the meaning is the ending of afflictions.

Instruction accords harmoniously, with wholesome purity as its cause. Refraining from evil conduct, one destroys defilement and inversion. Through pure giving, one rescues beings in this way.

Teaching impartially, unified and free from characteristics, one acts with the aspiration to reveal reality clearly. The discipline tames, and its power and function are sovereign. The lofty celestial realm accords with its factors in this way.

Its forms are pure and luminous like the moon. Abandoning inversion, one fulfills ultimate meaning. Manifesting and transforming like empty space, it does not deteriorate.

Thus defiled cognition is subdued to the utmost. The foundation of that celestial realm is pure, subtle, and all-pervasive. Wholesome purity is profound and subtle, ending all forms of pride.

Reality is not lost, and penetration increases. Constantly practicing giving, one accords to the utmost. Even poison and contentious impurities become pure.

Ultimate deluded defilement is a sphere of fear. It is like licking honey from a blade. Conceptual proliferation increases, and the root undergoes transformation.

Wondrous goodness eradicates it, and the realm abides peacefully. Complete in practice and understanding, forms become unified; material forms are still, and purity increases. Ultimate meaning accords harmoniously, abandoning things in due measure.

One clearly comprehends the forms of evil karma from many lives. Famine oppresses, and food and clothing are lacking. The pure and subtle wholesome causes of sentient beings increase.

Quiescence manifests, and actions are carried out silently. Wholesome and subtle power and function excellently pervade everywhere. Illness clearly manifests; once ended, it increases again.

Inversion and fear cause sorrow and suffering to accumulate. Calamities of every kind continually arise and cease. The torrent of afflictions arises, ceases, and arises again.

Through the power of giving, one earnestly relinquishes without regret.

What is the admonition that binds one to training?

The power to bear the task eradicates fear. The root of deluded defilement causes afflictions to increase again. Infatuated with physical forms, greed never ceases.

Earnestly cultivating virtue, the excellent cause is precious. Intrinsic nature is never lost and abandons the three poisons. Giving arises and reaches the shore of awakening.

Pure instruction—excellent indeed is its meaning and benefit. Bonds and coverings are like a current of water; all forms are empty. When attachment to self arises, it becomes the root of afflictions.

Cultivating wholesome and subtle giving ends the creation of such karma. Creating pure causes, power and function become abundant. Fundamental ultimate meaning gives rise to quiescence.

Genuine hunger and suffering arise from failing to cultivate giving. By maintaining morality more firmly, one becomes doubly noble. Practicing loving-kindness creates excellent meritorious recompense.

Sentient beings cultivate earnestly and make offerings in due measure. Advancing in the esoteric practice, their actions become genuine. This is the realm where pure and subtle power and function reach the ultimate.

Such a torrent is ended by following the path. One penetrates and completely destroys the bonds of conceptual proliferation. Self-conceit, contempt, arrogance, and heedlessness arise everywhere.

Conceptual proliferation and evil karma are subdued and abandoned. Quiescence arises, and the realm of mind becomes abundant. Through correction and practice, all characteristics disappear.

Genuine power and function eradicate afflictions. The body and mind of sentient beings receive their distinct meritorious recompense. In stillness, far removed from deluded defilement concerning self and dharmas, craving is extinguished, and defiled delusion vanishes with it.

Body and mind are pure, and power and function reach completion. Attachment to self, delusion, and pride are thereby eradicated. Following what is loved, one ultimately attains equality.

Villages become prosperous, pure, and excellent. Intrinsic nature increases, and beings everywhere are transformed. The cause of quiescence manifests, ending the characteristics of cyclic existence.

Unobstructed meaning and benefit are where excellent birth occurs. The bodily marks of craving should be corrected and abandoned. The torrent surges, its sweeping force pervading all.

One guides and teaches beings to repent of former offenses. Through such instruction, transformation is readily accomplished. In cultivating giving, one should earnestly make offerings.

Practice and understanding are complete regarding profound reality. Such a terrifying, turbulent torrent is the sphere wherein sentient beings aspire to reach the ultimate. Defilement, reality, and conceptual proliferation are everywhere.

Swiftly cultivating giving, one dispels fear. Cultivating reality, one follows with loving delight. Inversion, defilement, and fear all cease.

Sentient beings migrate nowhere beyond the six destinies. Bound and drifting, their forms manifest clearly. Cultivating the causes of the Ten Wholesome Actions, they receive the recompense of birth among devas and humans.

In that realm, transformation is manifested in due measure. The causal marks in that celestial realm do not lose ultimate meaning. From the intrinsic nature of afflictions, sorrow and suffering arise.

The root bondage of attachment to self piles fetters and coverings upon one another. Clearly comprehending this, one purely subdues it. The power and function of the Tathagata are perfected to the highest degree.

Cultivating goodness and virtue, one penetrates merit. Through perfect giving, ultimate meaning is perfected. Intrinsic nature is lucid and virtuous in this way.

The discipline that advances toward attainment is boundlessly excellent. Wholesome purity subdues inversion and fear. Cultivating giving with vigor, one becomes quiescent and abundant.

The Tathagata is the most profound and supreme meaning. Perfectly harmonious, he is free of every image. The torrent changes in accordance with the Buddha’s teaching. Distinguishing and recognizing, he transforms beings impartially. Advancing in cultivation, he creates fearless karma. Dullness and inversion are completely eradicated through earnest cultivation. In that pure sphere, one cultivates genuine conduct. Advancing in the Ten Wholesome Actions, meaning and benefit become sovereign. Such pure and subtle supernormal powers are abundant. The pure fragrance of wisdom is attained and ever present.