菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經

Chapter One:

The Heavenly Palace

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha was in the grove of twin sal trees north of the city of Kapilavastu, among the Sakya clan, and was about to relinquish his life and enter nirvana. At midnight on the eighth day of the second month, he personally folded his sanghati, uttarasanga, and antaravasaka into three layers, spread them inside the golden coffin, and lay down upon them with one foot resting upon the other; he then entrusted his bowl and staff to Ananda.

The eight kings of the great kingdoms each brought five hundred pieces of white cloth steeped in sandalwood fragrance and placed them all inside the golden coffin. They wrapped the golden coffin in five hundred pieces of cloth and then brought five hundred carts laden with fragrant ghee, which they poured over the white cloth.

At that time, the Great Brahma Heavenly King stood on the right with the multitudes of Brahmas; Sakra, Lord of the Devas, stood on the left with the devas of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three; and the great bodhisattva Maitreya and the bodhisattvas possessed of spiritual powers from throughout the ten directions stood before him.

As he was about to enter the Vajra Samadhi and reduce his bodily relics to fragments, the Blessed One thought: “Excellent indeed is this inconceivable Dharma! I have turned this true Dharma in the Saha world.”

After he had thought thus, the worlds throughout the ten directions shook in six ways. Then the Blessed One extended his golden arm from within the golden coffin and asked Ananda:

– Has the bhiksu Kasyapa arrived yet?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One, he has not.

The Blessed One asked again:

– Has the bhiksu Gavampati arrived yet?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! He has entered parinirvana in the heavenly realm; only his three robes and alms bowl have been brought here.

The Buddha told the fourfold assembly:

– I shall now pass forever into extinction.

He then drew the cloth back over himself inside the golden coffin and remained silent without speaking. He did this three times. Then he extended his hand and asked Ananda and the fourfold assembly of bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas, together with the eight kings of the great kingdoms, devas, nagas, ghosts and spirits, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, gandharvas, humans, and nonhumans:

– What do you say, Ananda? From beginning to end, have you fully comprehended the Vaipulya scriptures of the Mahayana that I expounded?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! I have understood them.

The Buddha spoke thus three times and then asked Ananda:

– When I was in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and taught the Dharma to my mother, Queen Maya, did you know of this?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! I did not know.

The Buddha asked Ananda:

– What do you say, Ananda? When I was in the palace teaching the Dharma to the nagas, innumerable hundreds of millions of thousands of nagas attained the Path, and a complete bodily relic measuring one hundred and thirty zhang was left behind. Did you know of this?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! I did not know.

The Buddha said:

– What do you say, Ananda? I remained in my mother’s womb for ten months. There I taught the bodhisattvas the rare Dharma of non-retrogression, the inconceivable practice. Did you know of this?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! I did not know.

The Buddha told Ananda:

– Listen closely and reflect upon this most carefully. I shall now clearly explain, detail by detail, the rare practices of bodhisattva mahasattvas.

Ananda addressed the Buddha:

– Blessed One! I wish to hear them.

The Buddha told Ananda:

– To the southeast of here, beyond one hundred million, ten thousand, one thousand and sixty-two Ganges-sands of worlds, there is a world called Delightful Reflection. Its Buddha is named Fragrant Flame Tathagata, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. Having manifested parinirvana, he came to this palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Over the course of innumerable asamkhya kalpas, he became the Great Brahma Heavenly King thirty-six times, assumed the body of Sakra thirty-six times, and became a wheel-turning king thirty-six times. The sentient beings he liberated did not fall into the Two Vehicles or the evil destinies. Why is this? It is because all of this was brought about through the Buddha’s spiritual powers and wisdom.

What do you say, Ananda? Does the Tathagata dwell within the womb, or does he not dwell within the womb?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! The Tathagata’s body does not dwell within the womb.

The Buddha told Ananda:

– If the Tathagata does not dwell within the womb, why is it said that the Tathagata remained in the womb for ten months, teaching and expounding the Dharma?

Ananda replied:

– Blessed One! Dwelling within the womb is empty and quiescent, and not dwelling within the womb is likewise empty and quiescent.

At that time, through his spiritual powers, the Blessed One manifested himself within the body of his mother, Maya, lying down, sitting, and walking in meditation. He spread out a great elevated seat eighty yojanas in length and breadth, with railings of gold and silver. Celestial silks and celestial canopies hung in empty space, and immeasurable varieties of music were played. Again employing his spiritual powers, he traversed from the east to this Saha world, throughout all eighteen thousand worlds, and the bodhisattva mahasattvas all came and assembled.

It was likewise so in the south, west, north, and the four intermediate directions.

In the direction below were six billion two hundred million worlds, and their bodhisattvas came through spiritual powers to attend the great assembly.

In the direction above were seven billion two hundred million bodhisattvas of the realms of space, who also came and assembled within the womb.

At that time, Bodhisattva Manjusri rose, approached the Buddha, and addressed him:

– Blessed One! These bodhisattva mahasattvas have come and assembled here because they wish to hear you teach the inconceivable Dharma and the gateways of samadhi: the Gateway of the Samadhi of Emptiness, the Samadhi of the Nature of the Path, the Samadhi of True Reality, the Samadhi of the King of Empty Space, the Samadhi of the Syllables of the Accumulation of Vows, the Samadhi of the Nature of Experience, the Samadhi of the Traces of Practice, the Samadhi of Subduing Mara, the Samadhi of Eliminating Defilement, and so forth. There are hundreds of millions of thousands of nayutas of samadhis such as these. Into which samadhi has the Tathagata now entered the womb in order to teach the inconceivable Dharma to these mahasattvas?

The Buddha told Manjusri:

– Observe the bodhisattvas in the First Abode, the Second Abode, and so forth, up to those in the Tenth Abode who are bound to attain Buddhahood in one more life. All stand according to their respective stages, without mingling or confusion. Why is this? It is because I am now about to teach the inconceivable Dharma to these mahasattvas. This great assembly is entirely pure and undefiled; even those of the lowest stage are free from impurity.

At that time, the Blessed One spoke these verses in a pure voice:

– Throughout innumerable kalpas past,

I manifested innumerable Buddha-bodies.

Now I enter the womb once more,
To liberate all sentient beings.

Bodily conduct is pure, without evil;

Verbal conduct is free from falsehood;

Mental conduct is ever compassionate:

Pure is the bodhisattva path.

Taking pity on sentient beings,

Who ever dwell amid the four great rivers,

Clinging to eternalism and annihilationism,

I dedicate all merit to the path of bodhi.

This body is exceedingly difficult to obtain;

Do not give rise to thoughts of impurity.

Contemplate the body as a charnel mound,

A place where jackals lurk.

Fools cling to it excessively,

Immersed in craving, they will not let go.

This body will never come again,

While desire gnaws at it day and night.

The nine sufferings are its crucial fetters,

Like a beautiful vase filled with excrement.

Tormented by the thirst of desire,

Why give rise to suffering and anguish?

Like the ocean receiving all rivers,

Fools take it to be real.

This body is not vajra;

Do not commit many evil deeds.

Having received a body, one must die;

Why not swiftly practice the Path?

Even if a person lived for a hundred million kalpas,

They would still have to relinquish desire;

How much more one who lives less than a hundred years!

Why do they not know when to stop?

Fools always praise themselves:

“This body is due to past merit;

I should therefore enjoy its pleasures.”

Yet before they find pleasure, they die.

This desire does not endure for long;
The wise do not grasp it.

Those who wish to abandon desire

Should contemplate with wisdom the ten non-perceptions.

Desire is an unreal dharma,

Arising and ceasing like bubbles upon water.

It is something fashioned by illusion,

Transforming and displaying a multitude of forms.

Fools take it to be real,

But when its reality is sought, it cannot be found.

Its nature is emptiness; originally it does not exist,

From beginning to end, it neither arises nor ceases.

Discern and enter the samadhi of non-perception,

Completely cleansing sentient beings of the outflows.

Manjusri! You should know

The undefiled assemblies of the ten directions.

I enter the lapis lazuli samadhi

And extensively expound the Vaipulya Dharma.

Buddhas of the ten directions, numerous as Ganges sands,

Teach exactly as I do, without difference.

They take pity on the blind multitudes,

Who dwell perpetually within the burning house.

Leaving one womb, they enter another;

Dying here, they are born again there.

The bodhisattvas of the ten directions

Have accumulated practices for Ganges-sands of kalpas.

Though dwelling in the Saha realm

The suffering and afflictions of the five turbidities

Are like those throughout the worlds of the ten directions.

Those realms are the same as this realm,

Revolving through the five paths,

Enduring this painful suffering.

Liberation is signless and indeterminate,

And has no original boundary.

Its profound meaning is wholly of one characteristic;

Its nature is originally empty and quiescent.

Always contemplate neither arising nor cessation,

Whether nirvana with remainder or without remainder.

Long ago I made a great vow

To take birth throughout the five paths,

Among beings born by transformation, moisture, egg, or womb,

And there also proclaim the rare Dharma.

Those attached to the five skandhas

I teach that nothing is possessed.

The twelve factors are linked together;

Ignorance and formations are the roots of birth and death.

Those who fall into the four inversions

I teach the four truths.

The truth of suffering has no fixed truth;

The truths of origin, cessation, and the path are likewise.

Desire, self, morality, views, and grasping

Are also like the four kinds of craving.

Discern the nature of ultimate truth:

Empty space, quiescent and tranquil.

Though crossing to the further shore of birth and death,

One does not abide in nirvana.

Now, within my mother's womb,

I proclaim the Dharma to deliver all beings.

Throughout the Saha world

Are beings countless as the sands of the Ganges.

By teaching the Dharma within the womb,

I liberate asamkhyeyas of them.

Empty space has no boundary;

The Buddha-realms are likewise.

Sentient beings receive consciousness and spirit,

Yet their true natures differ.

With the radiance of wisdom I teach and transform them,

Liberating each according to its kind.

For some, I manifest a body to deliver them;

Others attain liberation upon hearing my voice.

Some contemplate suffering,

Its origin, its cessation, and the root of the path.

They contemplate the four foundations of mindfulness,

The four right efforts, and the four bases of spiritual power;

The five faculties and the five powers,

Taking the seven factors of awakening as flowers,

And the Noble Eightfold Path

To adorn their bodies.

They discern that both self and other are empty,

With wisdom free of perception, quiescent and serene;

Seeking nothing, yet possessing all,

Ever abiding in emptiness and wisdom beyond discrimination.

First entering the concentration with applied and sustained thought,

They contemplate the thirty impurities.

Whether in forward or reverse order, they remain fully aware,

Entering concentration free from contemplation.

They enter the nine attainments in succession,

Discerning the absence of applied and sustained thought.

They further delight in the path of cessation.

The first concentration is complete with five factors;

When mental joy and bliss have ceased,

They peacefully enter the four qualities.

The great beings endowed with wisdom

Do not practice in this manner.

Because of the maras of affliction,

They should face sentient beings directly.

Passing many kalpas in meditative concentration,

Their bodies grow gaunt like withered trees.

Perfumed by the fragrance of the Third Dhyana,

Its five factors never disperse.

The Buddha's wisdom cannot be measured:

Is it existent, or is it nonexistent?

The Supremely and Perfectly Awakened One

Neither arises nor dies.

Since attaining Buddhahood until now,

I have journeyed in contemplation through the Third Dhyana.

If I enter the Fourth Dhyana,

Without speaking, beings are nevertheless delivered.

I contemplate the realm of empty space:

Sentient beings have nowhere to rely.

Only through the spiritual powers and wisdom of the Buddhas

Can its source be fully known.

Those trainees who are ending the outflows

Cannot yet discern it completely.

The factors of the path are exceedingly profound and wondrous;

The two vehicles cannot know them.

I contemplate with the heavenly eye,

The wisdom eye, and the Buddha-eye.

Forms are assumed through the four consciousnesses;

Even if manifestations appear among them,

The forms of earth, water, and fire

Still cannot be perceived.

Only Buddhas possessing spiritual powers

Can reach the further shore.

The Buddha-realms throughout the ten directions

Are as numerous as Ganges sands and asamkhyeyas.

Taking wisdom of the path as their foundation,

They roam throughout the realm of empty space.

If one were to use the physical eye

To contemplate the boundless realm of sentient beings,

With every breath entering and leaving the mouth,

Countless beings enter.

At that time, all these beings

Attain the path of seeing.

Therefore, know that the Buddha's Dharma-body

Is truly inconceivable.

The Buddha, sovereign lord of the three realms,

Compassionately rescues all sentient beings.

Those in the Desire, Form, and Formless Realms

Are enabled to realize wisdom of the path.

They no longer harbor lust or anger,

Nor belong to the lineage of delusion.

Upon seeing his form, they immediately enter the path;

What need is there to speak of trainees and those beyond training?

Throughout immeasurable Buddha-realms,

The means of attaining the path are all different.

Some proceed from perception;

Others proceed from non-perception.

They cultivate no further,

True suchness being the Four Noble Truths.

Bodhisattvas contemplate with purity

And enter dhyana without obstruction.

Arhats and pratyekabuddhas

Enter concentration in different ways.

If birth no longer occurs from life to life,

How could there be any root of birth?

Foolish people cling to it,

Taking birth to be a self.

We ourselves speak of a self,

Yet perceive no possession of the self.

When bodhisattvas practice the Fourth Dhyana,

Pratyekabuddhas cannot comprehend it.

When bodhisattvas enter the First Dhyana,

They possess thirty undefiled practices

And one hundred and seven samadhi concentrations,

While their breathing flows evenly in and out.

In the Second Dhyana are seventy-two;

They themselves contemplate the perception of non-self.

Though passing through many kalpas of suffering,

They never abandon the practice of dhyana.

Only after severing the outflows of the four abodes

Do they attain this Second Dhyana.

Because of hesitation at the sixth abode,

Their concentration moves like waves upon water.

The eighty-four thousand practices

Still remain unmastered.

Formerly, when I reached the sixth abode,

I regressed for twelve kalpas,

Continually giving rise to perceptions of pleasure

And revolving in the abyss of birth and death.

When the Buddha Dipamkara

Bestowed the prediction, my mind became steadfast.

I established an irreversible resolve,

And only then attained the Third Dhyana.

I severed seventy thousand defilements,

Extinguishing their roots completely.

With the fearless stride of a lion,

I proclaimed the great treasury of Dharma.

I journeyed throughout all Buddha-realms,

Bowing, serving, and paying reverence

To the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones,

Of past asamkhyeyas of kalpas.

Each within his own realm,

They vowed to perform the work of a Buddha.

Though their minds did not regress,

They remained ever wary of falling.

Even hundreds of millions of thousands of beings

Could not move a single hair upon them.

Their practice surpassed the eighth abode,

And they entered directly into the path of bodhi.

All pleasures to which they had been attached

Were forever extinguished and no longer recalled.

Apart from teachers, patriarchs, mothers, and fathers,

They retained no lingering attachment.

Only then did they perfect the practice of the First Dhyana,

Called the paramita of giving.

None equaled them in cultivated contemplation;

At the ninth bhumi they penetrated primordial wisdom.

They did not enter complete cessation

Until reaching the seat where Buddhahood is attained.

To create conditions for sentient beings,

They proceeded beneath the Bodhi tree

And delivered entire asamkhyeyas of beings.

As they assembled at the place of awakening,

Throughout immeasurable realms in the ten directions,

All the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones,

Extended their right hands and let them rest:

“Excellent, Great Lion!

Possessor of the ten powers and the fearlessnesses,

You have entered deeply into the Fourth Dhyana.

Out of compassion for the multitude of blind beings,

Please emerge swiftly from dhyana,

To deliver those not yet delivered

And free those not yet freed.

Those in the dark abodes of the four consciousnesses

Thirst for the flavor of meditative joy.”

Not disobeying the Buddhas' instruction,

He then praised himself

And further reflected within himself:

“What has been created through this body

Will surely enter nirvana

For the sake of delivering sentient beings.”

All the Buddhas then appeared:

“Excellent, Sakyamuni!

You have formed this great aspiration;

Do not give rise to a mind of retreat.

Turn the unsurpassed Dharma-wheel

And beat the great Dharma-drum;

Those who hear it will swiftly be liberated.

Passing through kalpas beyond reckoning will not be difficult.”

Wisdom of keen discernment, unobstructed wisdom,

Wisdom of eloquence, wisdom of complete penetration,

Wisdom of the path, wisdom of luminous insight,

Wisdom of severance, wisdom of non-arising,

Wisdom of non-activation and complete cessation,

Wisdom of dissolution, wisdom of the nine levels,

Fearless lion's wisdom,

Wisdom whose resonance is like thunder,

Wisdom seated immovably after severance,

Unobstructed wisdom of great compassion,

Wisdom adorned with bodily marks,

Wisdom that uproots suffering, compassionately protects,

Wisdom that unties bonds and is itself unbound,

Wisdom that receives predictions and personally realizes,

Wisdom that subdues mara and destroys his armies,

Wisdom that perfects freedom from self-conceit,

Wisdom of courageous resolve and diligence,

Wisdom of giving without seeking recompense,

Wisdom of practicing patience and enduring humiliation,

Vajra wisdom of the ten powers,

Wisdom that abides throughout kalpas without moving,

Wisdom that gathers the assembly in harmony,

Wisdom of the supreme guide,

Wisdom clothed in the Dharma of moral shame and dread of wrongdoing,

Wisdom of the bodhisattva's vows,

Wisdom of miraculous transformation through spiritual powers,

Wisdom whose sphere is unobstructed,

Wisdom that severs mental defilements and extinguishes bonds,

Wisdom of pure illumination,

Wisdom that personally knows former lives,

Wisdom that profoundly perceives the minds of others,

Wisdom of the true purity of father and mother,

Wisdom that divides the body throughout lands to deliver beings,

Wisdom of dwelling in the womb without defilement,

Wisdom of concentrated consciousness free from confusion,

Wisdom of single-minded faith and acceptance,

Wisdom of entering concentration and contemplative examination,

Wisdom that discerns the bodily marks,

Wisdom of the thirty impurities,

Wisdom that eliminates calamities and removes afflictions,

Wisdom of the bodhisattva stages in sequence,

Wisdom that transcends and teaches beings,

Wisdom that extinguishes the twelve links of dependent origination,

Wisdom by which pratyekabuddhas awaken at the proper time,

Wisdom by which sravakas receive instruction,

Wisdom that transcends the twelve ayatanas,

Unobstructed wisdom of contemplation,

Wisdom that receives the path and profoundly perceives,

Wisdom that makes one night into a kalpa,

Wisdom that makes a kalpa into a day,

Wisdom whereby, upon recollecting a Buddha, the Buddha appears,

Wisdom that purifies lands,

Wisdom in which the Two Vehicles do not exist,

Wisdom that walks alone without fear,

Wisdom that delights and accords with the minds of the assembly,

Wisdom whereby what must be done has been accomplished,

Wisdom that creates neither before nor after,

Wisdom whose cessation of the conditioned is inexhaustible,

Wisdom that enters concentration and removes perceptions,

Wisdom that contemplates the body internally and externally,

Wisdom received from the Tathagata,

And the silent wisdom of sages and noble ones.

When the Buddha spoke this verse, hundreds of thousands of millions of immeasurable sentient beings all advanced into the Ground of Faith. There were also twelve nayutas of bodhisattvas on the Ground of Contemplative Practice who, without abiding in the Three Abodes, brought Buddha-realms to perfection.

To the right were seventy-seven thousand kotis of sentient beings who attained avaivartika wisdom, from which there is no retrogression.

The Buddha said to Manjusri:

– In this great assembly, there is now not a single person defiled or mingled with impurity who will retrogress. Why is this? Because all are of keen faculties, free from birth and death, free from bondage, unattached, neither ceasing nor arising. They cultivate the pure path, attain realization and accomplishment, and aspire with delight to hear the inconceivable true Dharma of the Buddhas. They have vanquished the hosts of Mara and eradicated arrogance. Although outwardly they teach asamkhyas of sentient beings throughout the Buddha-realms, inwardly their minds freely disport in immeasurable hundreds of thousands of samadhis. Those samadhis are:

– The Lion's Exultation Samadhi

– The Samadhi of Transcending Practices and Ascending the Stages

– The Samadhi of Advancing Vastly with Transcendent Steps

– The Samadhi of the Youthful One Delighting in the Dharma

– The Samadhi of the Arising and Ceasing of the Four Paths

– The Samadhi of Equanimous Practice Free from Conception

– The Samadhi of Proceeding to the Bodhimanda of Non-Retrogression

– The Samadhi of Contemplating the Minds of Beings

– The Samadhi of Mindfulness of the One-Birth Bodhisattva

– The Formless Samadhi

– The Samadhi of Springing Forth from Within the Earth

– The Samadhi of Battle to Release Bonds

– The Samadhi of Receiving the Supreme at the Crown

– The Samadhi in Which Sentient Beings Rejoice at the Sight

– The Samadhi of Entering the Inconceivable

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of the Buddha-Realm

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of Purifying Defilements from the Dharma-Realm

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of the Noble Assembly

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of the Arising and Ceasing of Sentient Beings

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of the Dragon's Power to Raise and Send Down

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivable King Among Assemblies

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivable Courage that Subdues Adversaries

– The Samadhi of Inconceivably Immeasurable Lifespan

– The Samadhi of Inconceivably Enduring Suffering in the Five Destinies

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of the Buddhas Presently Abiding

– The Samadhi of the Inconceivability of Offerings of the Four Requisites....

They adorned themselves with one hundred million and one thousand samadhis such as these.

There was also the Samadhi of Inconceivable Swiftness. Within a single day, they left the household life and practiced the path, went beneath the tree and attained Buddhahood, taught sentient beings, and purified Buddha-realms.

There was also the Samadhi of Inconceivably Remaining to Await Conditions, through which they lived for immeasurable asamkhya kalpas. Sentient beings possessing the appropriate conditions were delivered into the realm of nirvana without remainder, yet the Tathagata did not enter nirvana, but instead created causes and conditions for practicing the bodhisattva path.

There was also the Samadhi of Inconceivable True Power, whereby, in the brief interval of a finger snap, they traveled from one Buddha-realm to another, bestowed predictions upon sentient beings as immeasurable as the sands of the Ganges, and also caused them all to attain Buddhahood on that very day.

Such is the spiritual power of a bodhisattva within the womb.

Chapter Two: Traveling Forth

At that time, Bodhisattva Maitreya rose from his seat, adjusted his Dharma robe, bared his right shoulder, placed his right knee upon the ground, and addressed the Blessed One:

– Excellent! Excellent! The Tathagata has expounded the inconceivable Dharma. Now, among this assembly, some have seen the path and some have not seen the path; some abide on the Ground of Faith and some do not abide on the Ground of Faith. There are bodhisattvas from the Abhasvara Heaven, the Heavens of Hapa, Parida, Apanama, Ahuidanxiu, Dao'a, Sugana, Sufuqihou, and Jima, extending to the Heaven of Ultimate Consummation, the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations, and the Heaven of Mastery over Others' Emanations. There may also be bodhisattvas in the Sphere of Infinite Space, the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, the Sphere of Nothingness, and even the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception. How do they enter the womb in order to teach and transform beings?

The Blessed One said:

– You should not ask such a question. Why? Because the Tathagata never expounds such a doctrine. I shall ask you, and you must answer me directly. What do you think, Maitreya? Does empty space possess material form, or does it not possess material form?

Maitreya answered:

– Blessed One, it does not possess material form.

The Blessed One asked:

– What do you think, Maitreya? If empty space does not possess material form, why do sentient beings undergo birth, aging, illness, and death?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One, according to the truth of ultimate meaning, there is no birth, aging, illness, or death. Therefore, empty space does not possess material form.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– If it does not possess material form, then among these sentient beings, who gives and who receives? Why does a bodhisattva, upon arriving beneath the tree, sometimes walk in meditation and sometimes enter meditative concentration? How does a bodhisattva contemplate the bodily characteristics of himself and those of others? How does a bodhisattva manifest taking seven steps and proclaim that he has attained Buddhahood and vanquished the armies of Mara? And how does a bodhisattva prepare the bodhimanda in order to invite sentient beings from the ten directions?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One, if empty space is thus without material form, then is the bodily form of the Tathagata also merely a provisional designation, and are even the meaning of ultimate consummation, all phenomena, and all possessions empty?

The Buddha asked Maitreya:

– If a bodhisattva practices emptiness, how does he travel throughout the ten directions to teach and transform sentient beings?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One, a bodhisattva practices emptiness because he perceives neither realms nor Buddhas. If the Buddha himself is not Buddha, how could there be the dhatus of earth, water, fire, wind, and consciousness? Because self, person, and lifespan are all empty and quiescent, there is therefore no constituent of a womb.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– In the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, you expound the practice of emptiness to the celestial assembly. Among them, who has seen the path, and who has not seen the path?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One, because those devas conceive of permanence, pleasure, purity, and a self to be a self, there is neither the seeing of the path nor anyone who sees the path.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– Do those devas have a skandha of conditioned activity with form or a skandha of conditioned activity without form? Do they have a skandha of karmic retribution or no skandha of karmic retribution? Do they have a skandha that destroys existence or a skandha that does not destroy existence? Do they have a skandha that receives entry or a skandha that does not receive entry? Do they have a skandha of sound and resonance or no skandha of sound and resonance? Do they have an intermediate skandha or no intermediate skandha? Do they have a skandha of this and that or no skandha of this and that? Do they have an ultimate skandha or no ultimate skandha? Do they have a silent skandha or no silent skandha? What do you think, Maitreya? When you expound the true Dharma to the celestial assembly in the heavens, do you speak the names of these skandhas or not?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One, I do not.

The Blessed One said:

– What do you think, Maitreya? The Buddhas of the ten directions have bestowed upon you the prediction that you will attain unsurpassed true and perfect enlightenment. Is there, then, a true and perfect path, or is there no true and perfect path?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One, there is no true and perfect path.

– If there were a true and perfect path, it too would be merely a provisional designation. The name Maitreya is likewise a provisional name. In the same way, the original limit of intrinsic nature is also a provisional designation. The Tathagata's form-body is itself characterized by emptiness; its own characteristics are also empty. As to root and branch, both root and branch are empty; as to this and that, both this and that are also empty. How, then, can you know with certainty that there is the distinct name Maitreya? When intrinsic nature is spoken of, intrinsic nature itself is empty. When existence is spoken of, existence itself is empty. When nonexistence is spoken of, nonexistence itself is empty. Nonexistence originally abides forever; how could one cause it not to abide? When abiding is spoken of, abiding itself is empty. When self-characteristics are spoken of, self-characteristics are empty. When skandhas are spoken of, the skandhas themselves are empty. When the womb is spoken of, the womb itself is empty. Even when practice at the bodhimanda is spoken of, the skandha of conditioned activity is empty. Blessed One, for this reason there is neither the seeing of the path nor anyone who has not yet seen the path.

The Buddha again said to Maitreya:

– Do seeing the path and not seeing the path entail a fruit of realization or no fruit of realization? Are they conditioned in nature or not conditioned in nature? Are they the unconditioned nature within the conditioned, or the unconditioned nature within the unconditioned? Are they the uncontaminated nature within the contaminated, or the uncontaminated nature within the uncontaminated? Are they of an exhaustible nature in the Desire Realm, or of an inexhaustible nature in the Desire Realm? Are they of an exhaustible nature in the Form Realm and the Formless Realm, or of an inexhaustible nature in the Form Realm and the Formless Realm? Is the realm of emptiness of the nature that extinguishes consciousness, or is the realm of emptiness not of the nature that extinguishes consciousness? This extends to the emptiness of the conditioned, the emptiness of the unconditioned, and the emptiness of intrinsic nature. Being, as being, is empty; nonbeing, as nonbeing, is empty; there are great emptiness, the emptiness of appropriation, and the emptiness of the single characteristic, which is no characteristic. Are the emptiness of nirvana with remainder and the emptiness of nirvana without remainder of the nature of attainment, or not of the nature of attainment?

Maitreya said:

– Blessed One! The Dharma that is attained is not Dharma, and what is neither Dharma nor non-Dharma is not an attained Dharma.

The Buddha said:

– What do you think, Maitreya? If conditioned dharmas are not unconditioned, and unconditioned dharmas are not conditioned, why then do you say that a dharma having attainment is without attainment, and that a dharma without attainment is also without attainment?

Maitreya said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One! According to the ultimate truth, when seeking within dharmas possessing characteristics and those without characteristics, does one seek the conditioned as not being the unconditioned, or seek the unconditioned as not being the conditioned?

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– I shall now ask you: The discourse on the true root is not the discourse on no root. From where, then, do the conditioned and the unconditioned arise? If they exist, what are their names?

Maitreya said:

– Blessed One! Empty space is quiescent and extinct in nature. Written expressions, meanings, and names are all not ultimately real. This is the discourse on no root, not the discourse on a root.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– How, then, does the meaning of the root give rise to the discourse on no root?

Maitreya said:

– Blessed One! According to conventional meaning, the root is the Dharma-nature, while no root is purified realization. The unmoving is also not unmoving; it is the single characteristic, no characteristic. This extends to conditioned and unconditioned dharmas, contaminated and uncontaminated dharmas, resistant and nonresistant dharmas, material and immaterial dharmas, visible and invisible dharmas. Nonabiding is also not nonabiding. This is the meaning of no root.

The Buddha said:

– Excellent! A bodhisattva practicing emptiness fully understands no root: the unborn is not the unborn; the future has not yet arrived; the present does not abide; the past has ceased; there is neither attachment nor annihilation; there is no abiding, yet neither is there nonabiding.

At that time, in the great assembly there was a bodhisattva named Discerning Contemplation of the Body, who said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One! I have heard the Tathagata explain the meaning of no root: speaking of the existence of bodily characteristics and speaking of the nonexistence of bodily characteristics; speaking of the existence of the emptiness of intrinsic nature and speaking of the nonexistence of the emptiness of intrinsic nature. Does the meaning of no root arise from within suchness, or does it not arise from within suchness? Does the meaning of no root undergo arising and cessation, or does it not undergo arising and cessation? Is it a resistant dharma or not a nonresistant dharma? Is it a material dharma or an immaterial dharma? A conditioned dharma or an unconditioned dharma? A contaminated dharma or an uncontaminated dharma? A dharma possessing characteristics or a dharma without characteristics? Is there contemplation of the body, or is there no contemplation of the body?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Discerning Contemplation of the Body:

– What is the body? What is contemplation? How does the body carry out this contemplation?

The Bodhisattva Discerning Contemplation of the Body said:

– Blessed One! Earth, water, fire, and wind constitute the bodily skandha. Discriminating consciousness is contemplation.

The Buddha said:

– When earth is spoken of, the intrinsic essence of earth is empty. When water is spoken of, the intrinsic essence of water is empty. When fire is spoken of, the intrinsic essence of fire is empty. When wind is spoken of, the intrinsic essence of wind is empty. When consciousness is spoken of, the intrinsic essence of consciousness is empty. When emptiness is spoken of, the intrinsic essence of emptiness is empty.... What, then, is the body, and what is contemplation?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body said:

– Blessed One! It is so. According to what you have said, if the Dharma-realm and empty space are both empty and quiescent; if, though there is no Buddha, one speaks of Buddha; though there is no Dharma, one speaks of Dharma; though there is no Sangha, one speaks of Sangha; and if there are no present life and future life, no transgression and no merit—would this differ from what the Great Teacher has taught?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Discerning Contemplation of the Body:

– When you enter the attainment of cessation, do you see the eye contemplating forms, and so forth, up to the mind contemplating dharmas?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body said:

– Blessed One! No. Why is this? Because within the attainment of cessation there is neither arising nor cessation.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– So it is! So it is! It is exactly as you have said: the eye contemplates forms. Form is not the form of the self, and the self is not its form. Consciousness is not the consciousness of the self, and the self is not its consciousness... and so forth, up to contact.

Sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and dharmas are all likewise. Because a dharma is not a dharma of the self, and the self is also not a dharma of the self, there is neither increase nor decrease with respect to the meaning of no root.

If the faculties are pure, the path is also pure.

If the emptiness of characteristics is pure, then even ultimate emptiness is wholly pure.

If oneness is pure, there is no duality.

If the five skandhas are pure and formations are pure, the path is also pure.

If the resistant is pure, the nonresistant is pure, and form is pure, the path is also pure.

If the bodhisattva is pure and the six sense objects are pure, the path is also pure.

If the retinue is pure and the lineage is pure, the path is also pure.

If the bhumi is pure and the abiding is pure, the path is also pure.

This is the great bodhisattva's meaning of no root.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– If suffering is pure and neither-suffering-nor-pleasure is pure, the path is also pure. If the gateway is pure, the seed is pure, and birth is pure, the path is also pure. This is the great bodhisattva's meaning of no root.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– If the bodhimanda is pure, the land is pure, and sentient beings are pure, the path is also pure. This is the great bodhisattva's meaning of no root.

If the faculties are pure, the powers are pure, the factors of awakening are pure, and the factors of the path are pure, the path is also pure.

What do you think, Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body? I shall now ask you, and you should answer me: When the Tathagata prepared the bodhimanda and sat beneath the king of trees, how did he distinguish the various kinds of sentient beings according to determinate dharmas or indeterminate dharmas? If determinate dharmas are the defilements of worldly afflictions, indeterminate dharmas are also the defilements of worldly afflictions. Should indeterminacy, then, be used to bestow predictions upon sentient beings?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body said:

– Determinate dharmas are not the defilements of worldly afflictions, nor are indeterminate dharmas worldly afflictions. Why is this? Because the defilements of worldly afflictions are inferior dharmas, whereas determinate and indeterminate dharmas are exalted dharmas. Thus indeterminacy cannot be used to counteract worldly afflictions. Why is this? Because the dharmas of worldly afflictions are the seeds of the Tathagata.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– Enough! Enough! Do not speak thus. You said that worldly afflictions are dharmas of samsara; why do you now say that they are the seeds of the Tathagata?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body said:

– Blessed One! The body of the Tathagata is a transformation, not a sentient being. If it is a transformation, then within worldly afflictions there is no realm of sentient beings. Supposing sentient beings possessed the body of the Tathagata, would not the defilements of worldly afflictions be the seeds of the Tathagata?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– So it is! So it is! It is exactly as you have said. Worldly afflictions exist through the provisional designation of names and words, but in the ultimate truth there are no worldly afflictions.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– The Tathagata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly Enlightened, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One, constantly uses the divine eye to observe the thoughts arising in the consciousness of an asamkhya of sentient beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions: Some have much desire, while others have little desire; some have much anger, while others have little anger; some have much delusion, while others have little delusion. Some have minds that are liberated, while others have minds that are not liberated. Some harbor overweening pride, while others do not. Some are easy to bring to the ultimate goal, while others are difficult to bring to it... The bodhisattva knows all these kinds of people, observes them all, and then goes to deliver them.

How does the bodhisattva use the divine eye to observe and know those with little desire and those with much desire? Among such people, the bodhisattva manifests in the form of a courtesan and speaks to them of sensual desire, causing them to experience unforgettable pleasure, never tiring of the sight, and making their desire grow ever more delighted. Afterward, the bodhisattva gradually tells them: “The body is impure, impermanent, without self, suffering, empty, and is not truly a body; desire is a fiery pit that burns consciousness...” Thus they become disenchanted and fearful, and no longer indulge in sensual desire. While still in the womb, these sentient beings immediately receive the prediction of unsurpassed enlightenment.

Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body, you should know this: if these sentient beings are free from anger and delusion and have severed desire, they attain the path. Or a bodhisattva may befriend such people and speak of the karma of killing in a way that gives them unforgettable pleasure: “Ah, what joy! By killing, you diminish your lifespan, while I increase mine.” Afterward, the bodhisattva gradually explains to them: “Killing incurs exceedingly grave offenses,” and tells them of the one hundred and eight grave offenses associated with killing, which bring immense anguish and pain. The bodhisattva then guides them onto the path, leaving not the slightest desire or delusion. While still in the womb, these people immediately attain unsurpassed enlightenment.

A bodhisattva may befriend a group whose members speak of the ten unwholesome paths; whose bodily, verbal, and mental teachings are all unwholesome; who regard what is true as false, what is impermanent as permanent, what is empty as truly existent, what is without a body as possessing a body, what is suffering as happiness, and what is without a world as possessing a world. Afterward, the bodhisattva gradually speaks to them with immeasurable eloquence and vast, profound wisdom, thoroughly penetrating all dharmas.

The bodhisattva raises the banner of Dharma for them and gradually guides them into the forest of wisdom: “You should know that if anyone still harbors doubts about me, one should use the fire of wisdom to burn away that person’s doubtful mind. When a giver holds wealth in hand and a recipient accepts it, if one clearly understands that these three things are empty and without anything possessed, then, while still in the womb, that person immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.”

Seeing a person who observes the precepts, has perfected the qualities of morality, and does not transgress in even the slightest degree, yet clearly understands that all is empty, quiescent, tranquil, and without anything possessed, that person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

There are sentient beings whose hearts are patient and free from anger. Even if someone comes to cut, dismember, or kill them, not the slightest thought of anger arises in their hearts; even their heads, eyes, marrow, and brains they relinquish without the slightest regret. Such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

There are sentient beings whose minds are like vajra, which nothing can obstruct or destroy. Even if someone tries to entice them with gentle words, saying, “The number of kalpas is immeasurable, and transmigration through birth and death is difficult to escape. Why do you not deliver yourself instead of bearing hardship on behalf of those sentient beings?” the bodhisattva’s mind still advances and never retreats so as to fall back into birth and death. Such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

There are those who practice meditation and whose consciousness remains unmoved. Though Mara Papiyan, from the sky above, causes violent thunder and lightning, the bodhisattva’s mind is not stirred by even a hair’s breadth, much less induced to abandon the path of meditation. Such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

If sentient beings discriminate among various practices, saying that one can be practiced while another cannot be practiced, and if anyone clings to and cherishes the body, the bodhisattva immediately teaches that person the four foundations of mindfulness, clearly distinguishes the essential treasury of all dharmas, and proclaims and expounds immeasurable Dharma realms. Such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the samadhi of loving-kindness and sees all kinds of sentient beings filling immeasurable and boundless asamkhyas of Ganges-sands worlds in the East. With loving-kindness and compassion, the bodhisattva takes pity on them and wishes them to attain liberation. It is like taking the grains of sand from the Ganges one by one, traveling through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges, and dropping one grain in each.

In this way, the sands of the Ganges may be exhausted, but the mind of loving-kindness is never exhausted. The bodhisattva makes a firm and immovable vow. Even if someone were to take the bodhisattva’s body, dismember it piece by piece, and use the pieces to fill the trichiliocosm, the bodhisattva would see the blood turn into milk, just as a mother loves her child.

This is the bodhisattva’s practice of the samadhi of loving-kindness. Such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the samadhi of compassion and, with loving-kindness and compassion, takes pity on all kinds of sentient beings in immeasurable and boundless asamkhyas of Ganges-sands worlds in the South, wishing them to attain liberation. Taking the grains of sand from the Ganges one by one, the bodhisattva travels through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges and drops one grain in each. In this way, the sands of the Ganges may be exhausted, but the mind of compassion is never exhausted.

The bodhisattva is able to bear suffering in place of those afflicted sentient beings. All this arises from the bodhisattva’s firm vows. Any sentient being who beholds this with a pure mind leaves all suffering far behind and forever severs false thoughts.

Such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the samadhi of sympathetic joy and, with a mind intent upon joy, wishes all kinds of sentient beings in immeasurable and boundless asamkhyas of Ganges-sands worlds in the West to attain liberation. Taking the grains of sand from the Ganges one by one, the bodhisattva travels through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges and drops one grain in each. In this way, the sands of the Ganges may be exhausted, but the mind of joy is never exhausted. If those sentient beings enter the mind of joy, they themselves become joyful. All this arises from the bodhisattva’s firm resolve, and such a person attains unsurpassed enlightenment while still in the womb.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the samadhi of equanimity. Fearing that immeasurable and boundless asamkhyas of Ganges-sands sentient beings in the North may have flawed and corrupted conduct, the bodhisattva nurtures and protects them, preventing them from sinking and drowning. Taking the grains of sand from the Ganges one by one, the bodhisattva travels through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges and drops one grain in each. In this way, the sands of the Ganges may be exhausted, but the mind of equanimity is never exhausted. All this arises from the bodhisattva’s firm vows, and such a person attains unsurpassed enlightenment while still in the womb.

The bodhisattva’s cultivation of the true Dharma through great loving-kindness and great compassion is not the practice of arhats or pratyekabuddhas. The bodhisattva wishes that all sentient beings throughout the four directions, upon hearing a sound, will immediately seek its source and come. All this arises from the bodhisattva’s firm vows, and such a person, while still in the womb, immediately attains unsurpassed enlightenment.

Chapter Three: The Noble Truths

The Buddha addressed the great bodhisattvas, bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas, gods, nagas, ghosts and spirits, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, pisacas, kumbhandas, putanas, manushyas, and amanushyas...:

– I shall now teach you the noble truths of the great bodhisattva. Listen clearly and reflect upon them carefully. Why? Because throughout asamkhyas of kalpas, I cultivated the fruit of the path, dying here and being born there, transmigrating through the five destinies, yet never abandoning the bodhisattva’s noble truths.

How does a bodhisattva cultivate the Noble Truths? A bodhisattva, from the moment of first giving rise to the aspiration until sitting at the place of enlightenment, cultivates the unobstructed Dharma, does not cling to the attainment of dhyana, and completely extinguishes all unwholesome perceptions. Or a bodhisattva enters the ground of the First Dhyana, sees the practice of purity, feels shame and consequently becomes disenchanted, relinquishes it in order to advance, and, being about to ascend to the sixth abiding, diligently and vigorously cultivates the work of the Path.

Entering the ground of the Second Dhyana, the mind suddenly awakens greatly, like the bright moon dispersing the clouds. Contemplating within one’s own body, one examines whether the vows arising in the mind are firm or infirm. Taking one’s own mind to contemplate the minds of sentient beings, one knows them all—who is easy to deliver and who is difficult to deliver.

At that time, the bodhisattva’s mind is filled with great joy: “I shall certainly attain Buddhahood, beyond all doubt. My land shall be purified; I shall remove the defilements of sentient beings, vanquish the armies of Mara, and turn the unsurpassed Dharma wheel of the noble ones. Ah, what joy!

All the meritorious rewards I have vowed to attain shall be fulfilled!”

At that time, the bodhisattva enters the Concentration of Non-Distraction, measures mind by mind and body by body, and thereby accomplishes the noble Path and the bases of spiritual power. Traveling from one Buddha realm to another, the bodhisattva bows in homage, attends upon, and makes offerings to all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, and hears and receives the profound Dharma without obstruction or fear. Then, entering the Third Dhyana, the bodhisattva contemplates all forms and characteristics as empty and devoid of anything possessed.

While abiding in the Third Dhyana, the bodhisattva can clearly discern all kinds of sentient beings: they die here and are born there, die there and are born here; the bodhisattva knows their former lives and also knows whence they have come; whether they are of the kshatriya lineage, the brahmin lineage, the householder lineage, or the lineage of elders; whether they practice or do not practice; whether they are worthy of receiving the fruit or unworthy of receiving the fruit; whether there is inhalation and exhalation or neither inhalation nor exhalation; whether they cultivate the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the faculties and powers, the bases of spiritual power, the factors of awakening, the Noble Eightfold Path, and so forth.

The bodhisattva knows with certainty that this person will attain Buddhahood in that land, at that place, among those sentient beings. The bodhisattva knows all such persons. This is called a bodhisattva attaining purity of mind on the ground of the Third Dhyana.

Furthermore, a great bodhisattva on the ground of the Third Dhyana aspires to the eighth abiding, yet although aspiring to it, does not attain it. Diligently and vigorously, day and night, the bodhisattva seeks to purify the mind and enters the Fourth Dhyana. Directly before the bodhisattva’s eyes, the Buddhas of the ten directions appear and expound the irreversible Dharma of the Fourth Dhyana, unobstructed liberation, and the practice of the four bases of spiritual power.

The bodhisattva can divide one body into innumerable bodies and unite innumerable bodies into one body. Entering the Samadhi of Fiery Radiance, the bodhisattva pervades the trichiliocosm, causing its sentient beings to behold the Samadhi of Fiery Radiance. Their hearts become so terrified that their hair stands on end, and they come of their own accord to take refuge in the bodhisattva.

Through the power of samadhi, they attain liberation.

At that time, within the Fourth Dhyana, the bodhisattva discerns suchness and the Dharma-nature, and the mind turns back to cultivate the practice of the sixth abiding. The bodhisattva thinks: “Since I have not yet attained the ground of irreversibility, how could I attain the eighth abiding?” Thereupon, within the Fourth Dhyana, the bodhisattva diligently cultivates, purifies the conduct of sentient beings, and bears suffering in their stead.

Although practicing the Dharma in this way, the bodhisattva does not praise oneself, casts off arrogance, no longer clings to a self, and cultivates the six kinds of mindfulness. Although practicing the Path throughout the nine destinies of sentient beings, the bodhisattva’s mind is neither defiled by attachment nor bound by fondness for samsara. The mind suddenly awakens greatly and attains irreversibility.

This is the great bodhisattva attaining purity of mind with respect to the Noble Truths.

The bodhisattva then enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Infinite Space and contemplates the minds and consciousnesses of the sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm. Cultivating the Dharma of purity and leaving all bonds far behind, without cherishing anything whatsoever, the bodhisattva can sustain one’s own life for one kalpa, two kalpas, and even innumerable kalpas. Throughout those kalpas, the bodhisattva teaches and transforms sentient beings, gradually guiding both the living and the dead to attain the pure Path. While in the womb, this bodhisattva immediately attains the unsurpassed Path.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness and contemplates the realms to which all consciousnesses throughout this trichiliocosm proceed. Whether they follow the destiny of devas, humans, hungry ghosts, animals, or hell beings, and whether they are easy or difficult to deliver, this bodhisattva knows them all. While in the womb, this bodhisattva immediately attains the unsurpassed Path.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Nothingness and contemplates all the sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm—whether golden, blue, red, or white, and whether many or few—then becomes disenchanted and does not wish to remain long. While in the womb, this bodhisattva immediately attains the unsurpassed Path.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception and contemplates the realms to which all consciousnesses throughout this trichiliocosm proceed: the living and the dead, blue, yellow, red, and white, high and low, and so forth. The bodhisattva causes all those sentient beings to understand the ending of their lifespans. While in the womb, this bodhisattva immediately attains the unsurpassed Path.

The bodhisattva then enters the samadhi of great empty space and great quiescence, contemplating the realms to which all kinds of sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm proceed, extending upward through boundless and endless realms, and reflects upon and discerns all dharmas as nonexistent. This is called a great bodhisattva attaining the unsurpassed Path while in the womb.

The bodhisattva then enters the Samadhi of the Formless Realm and universally contemplates all sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm and the bonds of their minds. The bodhisattva is no longer self-bound. Since consciousness has no form or characteristic, the consciousness contemplated likewise has no form or characteristic. Through the formless Dharma, the bodhisattva immediately attains the unsurpassed Path while in the womb.

THE BODHISATTVA DWELLING IN THE WOMB

End of Volume 1