Mahāyāna — Northern Canon · Linh Sơn Vietnamese Mahāyāna Canon

菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經

Chinese title:菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經

📖7,142 words · ~29 min read

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Interpreted by Inti AI (English)

🪷 AI interpretation

Chapter 20: Ignorance

At that time, in the great assembly was a bodhisattva named Pure Wisdom, who clearly discerned emptiness; the absence of birth, aging, sickness, and death; those with much lust, anger, and delusion, and those with little lust, anger, and delusion. He clearly distinguished the three different classes of sentient beings and which grave illnesses afflicted each class. To be afflicted by such grave illness is to hold wrong views.

Bodhisattva Pure Wisdom rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha:

“Of all things, the Tathagata, the Unattached One, the Perfectly and Fully Enlightened One, knows everything and sees everything. Regarding the past, future, and present, from human beings down to insects, he knows what Dharma their minds contemplate, what words their mouths speak, what good and evil their bodies perform, the profundity of their precepts, their deportment and discipline, whether they know much or little, and whether their offenses are grave or light.

What I ask is neither empty nor not empty; neither existent nor nonexistent; neither existence-and-emptiness nor existence-and-existence. Among sentient beings belonging to the three groups, who is lightly burdened and who gravely burdened? Who receives retribution in the present life, who in the next birth, and who in a later life?

What is the cessation of perception and cognition? What is nirvana? What is remainderless nirvana?”

The Buddha told Bodhisattva Pure Wisdom:

“Excellent! Excellent! I rejoice greatly that you have asked about this meaning. Out of compassion for all beings and to bring them abundant benefit, you have questioned the Buddha concerning the Dharma of equality. Return now to your seat. I shall explain to you the meanings of the categories at the beginning, middle, and end. If the karma is black, one receives black retribution. If the karma is white, white karma brings white retribution. I shall distinguish these clearly so that you may understand.”

At that time, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

“As when a person plants a fruit tree,From bitter seed, the fruit is bitter;Through sin one incurs black retributionAnd suffers for innumerable kalpas.

From sweet seed, sweet fruit is gained,And one in turn receives sweet recompense;Its fragrance is exceedingly delightful,And one enjoys pure, stainless reward.

Like one dwelling beside a poolPure both within and without,With neither wind nor defiling dust,Fragrant, lovely, cool, and refreshing—

Whatever sentient beings behold itDelight in it and cannot depart.The pure conduct of the Buddha’s pathIs like grass amid other beans.

Sentient beings with black retributionFall into the three difficult evil paths;Following the current, rising and sinking,They drift through places of peril.

Then the anguish of affliction
They themselves endure; none can take their place.
Their bones are split through to marrow and brain,
And the burning cannot be measured.

Having reached the Hell of No Rescue,Their minds awaken and seek liberation;Yet, covered over by ignorance,They do not see the light of wisdom.

Like a person who has lost the road,Going south while thinking it north,All day long the mind does not awaken;Though hearing the truth, one does not believe.

Enduring the heavy anguish of punishment,Their pain increases ever more.Long afterward, though their offenses are exhausted,They are despised and hated by the world.

Their bodies stink and are ugly,Like swine lying in a pit of dung.In succession they enter boiling cauldrons,Dying and then returning to life.

Originally created through delusion,Retribution follows like a shadow.Good and evil each correspond,Classified according to sentient beings.

The path is impartial, without faction;Yet conduct has its higher and lower degrees.Keeping precepts, one is born in heaven;Without giving, one’s merit is very slight.

While eating, one fears being seen;Ashamed, one dares not show one’s face.Though heavenly maidens are present,Their music is not harmonious.

One constantly wanders in recreation,Fearing to meet beautiful heavenly beings.If precepts and giving are complete,Ambrosia, clothing, and food arrive.

Musicians surround one on every side,Like the bright moon amid the stars.One constantly wanders in recreation,With a retinue adorned by itself.

Celestial music sounds spontaneously;This comes from having, in the human realm,Fully observed the precepts and practiced giving—Meritorious reward follows like a shadow.

Though devas enjoy their blessings,They too encounter the calamity of kalpic limitation.When their death draws near,Only then do they know the Dharma is declining.

Thoughts of goodness become exceedingly few,And they must again assume a body,Revolving through the five pathsFor innumerable kalpas.

Good and evil both receive their fruits,Without distinction between rich and poor.Among them, the one who transcended allIs I, Shakyamuni.”

When the Buddha had spoken these verses, seventy-seven thousand kotis of nayutas of devas and humans in the great assembly all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, right, and true enlightenment.

At that time, the Blessed One told Bodhisattva Pure Wisdom:

“A great bodhisattva in the position of one more birth uses skillful means to be born into a lowly, impoverished household. Wishing to demonstrate the removal of the fetters of ignorance, he remains in the womb for ten months. At birth, he appears without hands or feet. Seeing this, his parents believe him to be a demon and cast him into the wilderness, not wishing anyone to see him. Why is this? Through expedient transformation, the bodhisattva wishes his foolish parents and relatives to behold the light of the path.

“Several months later, the mother again becomes pregnant. After ten full months, she gives birth to a handsome, dignified boy, rare in the world. Yet he is born in the morning and dies that evening. His parents wail, beat their breasts, look up to heaven, and cry:

“‘Spirits of the mountains and trees, why have you no pity for us? Before, we bore a child without hands or feet and had no choice but to cast him into the wilderness. Now we have borne a beautiful child whose appearance has no equal, like a heavenly being, yet he was born in the morning and died that evening. Our hearts and entrails are torn apart. What are we to do now?’

“After several months, the mother again becomes pregnant. At the completion of ten months, she gives birth to a boy with three heads, eight legs, four eyes, and eight arms. The hair of all who see him stands on end. His parents and relatives wish to abandon him and flee, but through his expedient manifestation the bodhisattva prevents them from leaving. His parents ask:

“‘Are you a deva, naga, spirit, asura, gandharva, garuda, kinnara, mahoraga, human, or nonhuman?’

“At that time, the boy addressed his parents in verse:

“‘I am neither deva, spirit, nor yaksha,Neither asura nor garuda.To dispel my parents’ delusion,I was expediently born into your home.

The child before, without hands or feet,Was likewise this very body of mine;The one born at dawn who died at duskWas the unsurpassed one of the eighth stage.

Now I have assumed a bodily formWith three heads, eight arms and legs.Why would you abandon me and go,Proceeding toward the gates of hell?

The sufferings of hell are complete:Eighteen cauldrons of boiling oil;And each such boiling cauldronHas sixteen smaller cauldrons.

One suffers for immeasurable kalpas,And escape is exceedingly difficult.My foolish father and motherDo not know the Dharma’s true nature.

With wrong views, you worship spirits,Thinking thereby to escape suffering.It is like a fiercely blazing fireTo which more wood and dry grass are added.

It burns away the roots of goodness;Then extinguishing it is no easy task.Now I shall transform my body againAnd display my former beautiful form.

Firm in the path, my mind resolute,I cultivate the three penetrating wisdoms.For asamkhyeya kalpas I have vowedTo liberate those not yet liberated.

Keeping the precepts, never forgetting my vow,I took birth in my parents’ home.The lives I relinquished, before and after,Were as numerous as motes of dust.

Through however many places I have passed,All were aided by merit.The many kinds of living beingsLeave footprints differing from one another.

I shall joyfully liberate them,And also liberate them through fear,According to sentient beings’ thoughts,So that their wishes may be fulfilled.

The illnesses of beings are not all the same;I give them the medicine of ambrosia,Lead them onto the right path,And do not let them enter a false path.

Devas enjoying meritorious bliss are joyful;Ambrosia removing illness is joyful;Not opposing the noble teaching is joyful;Liberation and nirvana are joyful.’”

When the bodhisattva spoke these verses, his parents, clan, and all those in the assembly aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed equality.

Chapter 21: Ascetic Practices

At that time, the assembled bodhisattvas, devas, nagas, spirits, asuras, gandharvas, garudas, mahoragas, kinnaras, humans, nonhumans, learners, those beyond learning, and the fourfold assembly of bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas were observed by the Tathagata. He knew that the thoughts of these beings were to request the Tathagata to explain the ultimate accomplishment of immeasurable ascetic practices and how one should arouse the aspiration to attain Buddhahood. Knowing their thoughts, the Buddha immediately told them of his former austere practices.

The Buddha told the bodhisattvas:

“Listen attentively to the true characteristics of the Dharma that I shall explain. The path is not attained through the worldly, nor is it attained apart from the worldly. It does not follow the true path, nor does it depart from the true path. Why? Because within blackness is the beauty of whiteness, and within the worldly is the beauty of the path. Suffering and happiness coexist.

“Why is this? Formerly, when I studied the path, my faith was utterly straightforward and free from doubt, and I became a sovereign of the sun and moon. The palace of the sun measured fifty-one yojanas across in every direction. The palace of the moon measured forty-nine yojanas across in every direction. The sun emitted one hundred million and one thousand rays of light. The moon emitted one hundred million rays. As a celestial prince of the sun and moon, I believed that I was permanent, neither empty nor subject to decay. I passed through hundreds of millions of lands, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, becoming a celestial prince of the sun and then of the moon. Only when my lifespan ended did I know that this was neither real nor true.

“Thereafter, as my lifespan gradually diminished, I became a great minister of the sun and moon named Ha-gia-la, whose palace measured twenty-five yojanas across in every direction. Next I became Ty-le-ha-ba-de, a naga, whose palace measured twenty yojanas across in every direction.

“Again I became Uong-gia-la, whose palace measured nineteen yojanas across in every direction.

“Again I became He-mo, whose palace measured nineteen yojanas.

“Again I became Ham-mi, whose palace measured fifteen yojanas.

“These five great ministers stood on either side of the sun and moon. After innumerable hundreds of thousands of kalpas as these five stars, those lives came to an end and I fell away. They too were not real, and their lifespans gradually diminished.

“I once became the star Mao, together with six companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Tat, with a company of five, spanning forty-five degrees.

“I once became the star Tuy, with a company of thirty, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Sam, alone, spanning fifteen degrees.

“I once became the star Tinh, with a company of twenty, spanning forty-five degrees.

“I once became the star Quy, with a company of thirty, spanning forty degrees.

“I once became the star Lieu, with a company of forty, spanning fifteen degrees.

“Bodhisattvas, you should know that these seven stars stand in the east.

“I once became the star Tinh, with a company of five, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Truong, with twenty companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Duc, with twenty companions, spanning thirty-five degrees.

“I once became the star Chan, with five companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Giac, alone, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Cang, likewise alone, spanning fifteen degrees.

“I once became the star De, with twenty companions, spanning thirty-five degrees.

“Bodhisattvas, you should know that these seven stars stand in the south.

“I once became the star Khong, with four companions, spanning thirty-five degrees.

“I once became the star Tam, with three companions, spanning fifteen degrees.

“I once became the star Vi, with three companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Ky, with four companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Dau, with four companions, spanning thirty-five degrees.

“I once became the star Nguu, with three companions, spanning sixteen degrees.

“I once became the star Nu, with three companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“Bodhisattvas, you should know that these seven stars stand in the west.

“I once became the star Hu, with four companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Ach, alone, spanning fifteen degrees.

“I once became the star That, with a company of two, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Bich, with two companions, spanning thirty-five degrees.

“I once became the star Khue, with two companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Lau, with two companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“I once became the star Vi, with three companions, spanning thirty degrees.

“Bodhisattvas, you should know that these seven stars stand in the north.

“For innumerable kalpas I was sovereign of the sun and moon, or served as an official and minister, revolving back and forth until my body withered and decayed; none of this was the true path. Thereafter, in the human realm, I became a wheel-turning sage king, a lesser king of every region, or an elder or householder seeking the pure path and believing it true. Yet all these deeds were empty and did not accord with the true path.

“Once in former times, I entered the mountains seeking the path and saw five kinds of practitioners of the immortals’ teachings assembled in one place:

“Some drew up one leg, joined their palms, and stood turning their bodies to face the sun.

“Some worshiped the moon, joining their palms and standing as they turned to face it.

“Some lay upon thorns, or upon sand and stones.

“Some observed precepts modeled upon chickens, cattle, horses, or deer.

“Some cast themselves from mountaintops into deep ravines.

“Some embraced stones and drowned themselves in deep rivers.

“Some burned their bodies with five kinds of fire, seeking rebirth in heaven.

“Some cut open each part of their bodies to seek the dwelling place of the spirit.

“Some opened the crowns of their heads, removed their brain marrow, burned it, and offered it to the devas.

“Some threw themselves into boiling oil or scalding water.

“Some, on the right bank of a river, killed immeasurable sentient beings.

“Some, on the left bank, burned incense so that those deceased beings might be born in heaven.

“Some thought, ‘I shall now first liberate my parents,’ and therefore cast their parents into fire, proclaiming that they would be born in the Brahma realm.

“Some ate cow dung, and some ate grass seeds.

“Some ate once every seven days or sometimes did not eat at all, until their bodies became withered and emaciated.

“Some wove leaves into clothing.

“Some joined bones together to make clothing.

“Some used skulls as vessels for food.

“Some lay upon thorns and sharp needles and then pierced their hearts to keep the mind abiding.

“Some gathered together and cut open one another’s bellies to wash their intestines and remove impurity, saying this would bring rebirth in the Brahma heaven.

“My former ascetic practices were beyond measure. For six years I studied the path beneath the king of trees, eating each day a single sesame seed and a single grain of rice. Birds nested and hatched their young atop my head. Snakes and pythons coiled around my body. Hunters hurled bricks and stones at me, sometimes hacking and mutilating my body, sometimes thrusting staves into my abdomen as far as the navel. I endured hundreds of thousands of myriads of such sufferings without regarding them as suffering. Why? Because at that time I believed this to be the true path, though in reality it was not the true path.

“From the sky above, a deva joined his palms and addressed the bodhisattva: ‘Your power of endurance is exceedingly great and can shatter all fetters. Please resolve to attain Buddhahood, and take care never to retreat!’

“The past Buddhas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, did not seek the path by fasting as the bodhisattva did. This moved the heavenly spirits, who then sent maidens to offer him a bowl of milk. After drinking it, his strength was restored. He contemplated for seven days and vanquished Mara’s armies. Brahma descended and entreated him: ‘Please attain Buddhahood and proclaim the great Dharma. Teach the true path; do not enter nirvana.’

“Nirvana is the absence of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Such were the ascetic practices I formerly cultivated.”

At that time, the assembly praised this as unprecedented, and all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, equal enlightenment.

Chapter 22: The Harmony of the Four Paths

At that time, in the assembly was a bodhisattva named Pervasive Light. His wisdom was penetrating, and he abided at the stage of non-retrogression. His vast vows were beyond measure. He had been praised by not merely one or two Buddhas, had accumulated immeasurable merit in the presence of Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, had amassed fearless conduct, and constantly traveled through immeasurable Buddha lands. He studied together with eight bodhisattvas:

1. Bodhisattva Free from Wrong Views

2. Bodhisattva Upright Intention

3. Bodhisattva Myriad Characteristics

4. Bodhisattva Bending the Body

5. Bodhisattva Liberation

6. Bodhisattva Release from Bonds

7. Bodhisattva Seal of Approval

8. Bodhisattva Vow.

For innumerable kalpas they had abided at the Stage of Exhaustion and attained non-retrogression.

At that time, Bodhisattva Pervasive Light addressed the Buddha:

“How does a great bodhisattva enter the four kinds of paths without earlier or later and attain unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment? Day and night the bodhisattva contemplates desire as fire, exhausting perceptions, cognitions, thoughts, and all inverted conditioned phenomena. Seeing the initial benefit of the Dharma, he attains the fruit of non-returning and, in that very heavenly palace, realizes the path and its illumination.

Before long, the bodhisattva may observe the desire realm from a higher stage as a heap of foam, sever the three fetters, and become far removed from the three evils concerning existence and nonexistence. Or a bodhisattva may attain the faculties and powers, establish an autonomous resolve, destroy existence and extinguish nonexistence, no longer retain the four impartial minds, and regard here and there as equal, without the perception of self—neither past, future, nor present, and without perfect enlightenment.

What difference is there between these sentient beings with respect to the unsurpassed path?”

The Buddha said:

“Excellent! I shall distinguish and fully clarify these questions for you.

“What is called the condition of a bodhisattva’s condition?

“What is called the condition of a condition? The contact between bracelets on the two wrists is called the condition of a condition.

“One who teaches us to receive instruction through the sounds of speech and doctrine is called a shravaka. One who has no teacher and no acquired wisdom and depends on neither this nor that is called a pratyekabuddha.

“Furthermore, concerning this path and that path, great bodhisattvas study together and resolve one another’s doubts. Whether attaining realization or not, they all drift through the five paths. This is called awakening, yet they see neither awakening nor non-awakening. It is neither one nor two; this is entry into nonduality.

“A great bodhisattva, through the cultivation of original conduct, clearly comprehends pratyekabuddhahood and permanently severs the fetters both with remainder and without remainder. This is entry into nonduality.

“All classes of sentient beings clearly understood are impermanent. The body is not mine; within and without, all is empty. This is entry into nonduality.

“The Buddha’s gracious virtue spreads boundlessly everywhere. Through suffering, its arising, and the path, one reaches the unconditioned. This is entry into nonduality.

“The four impartial minds and great compassion encompass all. Deluded sentient beings reach the true path. This is entry into nonduality.”

At that time, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

“Shravakas and pratyekabuddhasAre names provisionally established,Like a great warrior who wins in battle,For victory over the enemy is supreme.

None can compare with the Buddha,Who alone enters the three realms,Tames the mind, and conquers Mara;Through the power of patience, he reaches nirvana.

Revolving in the suffering of birth and death,Life is like a spark struck from stone;Passing through hundreds of thousands of kotis,One knows not when release will come.

The Buddha originally had no designation;It arose because people honored him.Arhat and pratyekabuddha—There is only one, not two.

As Buddha DipankaraPredicted my unsurpassed awakening:After ninety-one kalpas,Within this Auspicious Kalpa,

The fourth supremely victorious oneWould bear the name Shakyamuni.In the boiling-cauldron age of five turbidities,People are not filial to their parents,

They slay arhatsAnd do not obey the Buddha’s teaching.The places where I formerly dweltWere not merely one or two paths.

Amid the afflictions of the six paths,I passed through innumerable kalpas.At beginning, middle, and end I did not sleep,But practiced walking meditation and cultivated virtue.

With reverent mind I awakened myselfAnd abandoned attachment to the three modes of existence.The Buddha’s ancient practices and vowsNeither reject nor grasp cessation.

One body and one consciousness—The same self, without difference.Through kalpas of extreme hardship,My spirit became exhausted.

For their sake, not my own,I was therefore able to attain Buddhahood.I am the All-Knowing One,Teaching those not yet taught.

My penetrating wisdom is unattached;A single utterance ends all doubts.Stream-enterers throughout the three timesReach the unconditioned path.

How much more the foremost person,Who follows the Buddha without further doubt.My disciples,Both learners and those beyond learning,

With the four impartial minds rescue beings from suffering;
There is neither arising nor birth and cessation.
Originally, it arises from thought,
And again through thought it ceases.

The thought of non-self arises;The thought of non-self ceases.Formations originally arise through faculties,Drifting without a single course.

When faculties are severed, thought ends;
No fundamental thought remains.”

When the Blessed One finished speaking these verses, twelve nayutas of sentient beings all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, equal enlightenment.

Chapter 23: Mind

At that time, in the assembly was a bodhisattva named Lotus Faculty. His wisdom and generosity were unobstructed. He firmly practiced the four impartial minds and was difficult to shake.

Whether walking, standing, lying down, or sitting, he never lost proper deportment and decorum. For innumerable kalpas he had constantly cultivated pure conduct; his meditative concentration was undistracted. He clearly distinguished good and evil and observed whether sentient beings possessed or lacked lust, anger, and delusion.

Whether these were abundant or slight, he knew them all clearly. He traveled through Buddha lands, making offerings to and serving the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones. Skillful in means, he demonstrated impermanence, non-self, the absence of body, lifespan, and person.

When walking he knew he was walking; when standing he knew he was standing. His loving-kindness and compassion embraced all living beings.

Then Bodhisattva Lotus Faculty rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha:

“Excellent, Blessed One! Where does the mind of the four paths abide?

“Is mind conditioned or unconditioned?

“Is mind a fruit or not a fruit?

“Does mind have an object of opposition or none?

“Can mind be seen or can it not be seen?

“Is mind past, future, or present, or is it neither past, future, nor present?

“Is mind the Dharma of the immortals, or is it not the Dharma of the immortals?

“Is mind a conditioned dharma or an unconditioned dharma?

“Is mind a contaminated dharma or an uncontaminated dharma?

“Among the retributions of the three dharmas, where does mind abide?

“Is mind within blackness or within black retribution?

“Is mind within whiteness or within white retribution?

“Is mind within neither black nor white, or within retribution that is neither black nor white?

“Does mind abide in coarse conditioned phenomena or subtle conditioned phenomena?”

The Blessed One told Bodhisattva Lotus Faculty:

“Excellent! Excellent, Bodhisattva Lotus Faculty! You ask this meaning out of compassion for all, to teach sentient beings the dharmas of mind, mentation, and consciousness, and to reveal light to the blind and benighted. Listen clearly now and reflect most carefully.”

At that time, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

“Supremely victorious, none can compare;Pure and without defilement,His lovely face is like a lotus,Unstained by dust.

Living in the conditioned world,One suffers the hardships of the three realms.I am empty, and so are others;Mind is quiescent, without consciousness.

Like water held in a vessel,It conforms to the vessel’s shape.The past originally does not exist;In the present, good and evil are performed.

Future dharmas will decay;This mind is originally not such.The bodhisattva practices great compassionAnd manifests both opposition and non-opposition.

Washing away the illness of defilement,He reaches the secure, ultimate path.Those covered by the five hindrancesFind their minds obstructed,

Just as the sky illuminating the worldIs constantly covered by five things:Smoke, dust, and the asuras’ obscurationsBlock the gateways of the Dharma faculties.

Mind originally has neither good nor evil;It follows the actions performed.Quiescent, empty, without dharmas,Like a branch that breaks from too much fruit.

Consider the banana tree:
Peel it continually, and no core is found.
The human body consists of the four great elements;
Search for mind, and no mental faculty is found.

Mind is within the three times,Yet within the three times there is no mind.Distinguish consciousness, mind, and mental dharmas;Search for them, and no reality is found.

The dharma of mind has no form or mark;That mind cannot be described.The mind thinks of exceedingly many things,Arising and ceasing without interruption.

In the past it conceived good and evil;In the future it will receive retribution.When present action is complete,The mind’s creation belongs to no one else.

Within one thought are nine thousand million;Karma includes both good and evil.Produced by merely a single thought,It cannot be completely eradicated.

How much more through days, months, and kalpas,When good and evil karma have been made.The wise person will guard the body,Firmly and without wavering,

Like a convicted manCarrying a bowl filled to the brim with oil:Should a single drop be spilled,His punishment will become still greater.

Music sounds on both sides,Yet fearing death, he dares not look.The bodhisattva cultivating pure contemplationGuards the mind like vajra.

Amid slander, praise, and disturbance,His mind does not waver.He understands emptiness, pure from of old,Without here, there, or the interval.

The true Dharma, like the Four Truths,Leads toward the gateway of nirvana.The deeds I performed in the pastBound the roots and faculties of the body.

Even counting teachers and disciples,They could not be enumerated.For innumerable thousands of millions of kalpas,I repaid the debts of sin with my body.

In the bodies of elephants, horses, and livestock,I could not be born as a human.Even when obtaining a human body,I was deaf, blind, mute, or speech-impaired.

Though a Buddha appeared and illuminated the world,In a borderland I did not see the Buddha.I suffered in five cauldrons of boiling water;Wholly evil, I never heard of goodness.

Inverted, I followed false teachings,And within the true nature the path declined.For innumerable kalpasI guarded my conduct like that bowl of oil.

Cherishing the body and protecting myself,I brought it to the place of fearlessness.The ninety-six kinds of pathsAre like fireflies in the night.

The Buddha-sun illuminates the worldAnd dispels every darkness.With a Buddha, people of the world rejoice;With medicine, the sick rejoice.

With treasure, the poor rejoice;Attaining Buddhahood and nirvana is joy.Ascetic practice and patience are joy;Not clinging to form is my joy.

For the miserly, giving is joy;Keeping precepts without transgression is joy.Hearing the Buddha’s teaching is joy;Contemplation and meditative concentration are joy.

Equality of existence and nonexistence is joy;
Encountering what is difficult to encounter is joy.
The hells and eight difficulties are suffering;
The Hell of No Rescue is the foremost suffering.

A rotten seed is suffering;
Sowing seedlings that do not sprout is suffering.
Being born in heaven and then falling is suffering;
Right view turned upside down is suffering.

The nagas Nanda and Upananda suffer,Coiling around Mount Sumeru in pain.The conflagration of a kalpa is suffering;Seeking the Buddha amid restlessness and remorse is suffering.

One practice leads toward the one path;With one mind, never retreat.With one body cultivate the virtue of the path,And ultimately attain the one reality.

Cultivate the one without leaving the one;Dignified in the one, know the one.Maintain the one without leaving the one;Thus it is said: journey alone.”

When the Blessed One spoke these verses, sixteen nayutas of sentient beings attained the first trace of the path, cast off dust and defilement, attained the pure Dharma eye, and entered samadhi with the Unattached One.

Chapter 24: Concentration of Mind

At that time, in the assembly was a bodhisattva named Upholder of Emptiness. Fully endowed with excellent marks, he had entered the four Dharma gates and was foremost in eloquence. He cultivated and maintained Buddha lands, leaving a body in each Buddha land to teach and transform beings. He manifested birth and cessation according to the higher and lower capacities of people. His voice and speech were sometimes sweet and sometimes bitter, and he clearly explained the past, future, and present. When questioned face-to-face, a single answer from him contained ten thousand meanings, profound and difficult to fathom.

At that time, Bodhisattva Upholder of Emptiness rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, and addressed the Blessed One:

“How does a bodhisattva liberate suffering sentient beings?”

The Buddha told Bodhisattva Upholder of Emptiness:

“How does a bodhisattva cause sentient beings, on hearing of suffering and the practices concerning suffering, to sever and extinguish suffering, so that they no longer see its source? The path leading to suffering is born of affection and craving; the cords of affection and craving bind the human mind. Using the twenty practices as medicine, one no longer follows the root of suffering. Conditioned karma accumulated through many kalpas ceases and then arises again. Sentient beings with wrong views regard it as the true path, but are turned toward and enter the pure samadhi of concentration of mind.

“Purity is without defilement, neither here nor there. When mind and consciousness awaken, one gradually attains concentration of mind. Excellent is this benefit of mine; no peace and happiness can equal it. The bonds upon mind, mentation, and consciousness gradually open. That is called the true path; this other is not the true path. Why? Because false and deceptive dharmas were not the original practices of the Buddhas. What the Buddhas formerly practiced is true. Apart from me, there is no truer Dharma than the dharmas practiced by the Buddhas. These are the four inconceivable things. What are the four inconceivable things?

“A bodhisattva, by maintaining the mind, can cause the Buddha lands throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand world system to become entirely made of the seven treasures, and then restore them to their former state. This is the first inconceivable thing.

“As I now dwell in my mother’s womb, I guide immeasurable asamkhyeyas of sentient beings: those not yet liberated become liberated, those who have not yet arrived arrive, and those stained with impurity cast it off and attain stainlessness. This is the second inconceivable thing.

“Formerly, the essential purpose of my vow was to liberate those in pain and bring them where suffering is no more. So long as even one suffering person remains unliberated, I shall never enter nirvana. This is the third inconceivable thing.

“The Buddha’s body is immeasurable and can contain everything in the east, west, south, and north. Alone and without companions, he knows the self-nature of dharmas to be empty. He contemplates sentient beings and then contemplates his own nature: this is beautiful and that ugly; this pure and that impure; this is earth, water, fire, and wind; this is mine and that not mine; this is suffering and that not suffering; this is happiness and that not happiness; this permanent and that impermanent; this is the present life and that the next; one who performs merit gains merit, and one who commits sin undergoes punishment.”

Then the Blessed One spoke in verse:

“The body is like ashes, earth, and dung,Formed from the four great elements.Without the adornment of wind and water,Earth and water disperse.

When fire is extinguished in an instant,Consciousness has nowhere to abide.Many sins accumulate the root of suffering;This is created by consciousness.

Now I know the original consciousness:I cast you off, for you are unreal.A brilliant cloth of five colorsCorrupts the human mind.

Like a person breathing in and out,Conditioned dharmas do not long endure.Understand impermanence and suffering,Without here, there, or the interval.

One utterance responds to countless millions,Revealing the foremost teaching.The body is impermanent, suffering, and empty;Clearly understand the characteristics of all dharmas.

Return and abide in the six purities;Understand emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.The body is not mine,As the Buddha teaches sentient beings.

The body remains while mind-consciousness departs;
If the Buddha were not like this,
How could he divide his bodies to teach?
The recompense of sin and merit follows from before.

May all vows be fulfilled.What is received now is not received later;The present is likewise so.The sin of killing father or mother

May manifest or not manifest,Like the action of striking a ball.The spirit-consciousness is defiled,Whether rebellious or remorseful.

Single-mindedly turn toward nirvana,The unconditioned great teacher.Relinquish the body and cast off worldly bonds;Dharma is originally without causes and conditions.

Retribution follows like a shadow,As though existent, yet nonexistent.Wrong views declare themselves true,Entangled in the net of delusion.

From blackness one enters blackness again,Unable to distinguish the white Dharma.Precepts and patience have five practices:Neither fearing nor causing fear.

The power of concentration shakes the great-thousand world,Conquering Mara as one commands an army.Among those seeking the unsurpassed path,Some retreat and some advance.

Like rivers flowing toward the sea,Many arrive, but few attain.Encountering the condition of great compassion,Skillful means cross to the farther shore.

The Buddha is the All-Knowing One,Undefiled and unattached.I formerly practiced painful deeds,Abandoning kingdom, cities, wife, and children.

I forgot father, mother, teachers, and elders,And did not cherish my own life,Like a person in the wilderness,Tormented by thirst and needing water.

Encountering a river, stream, pool, or well,He drinks and is no longer thirsty.A person assumes a body of four great elements,With places of concentration and non-concentration.

How much more consciousness, neither good nor evil;
Yet consciousness receives retribution distinctly.
For keeping precepts, a house of seven treasures,
With a million heavenly maidens,

And music sounding for delight,Without sorrow or distress.The Buddha’s power of all-knowing wisdomMoistens and enriches everyone.

First attain the five superknowledges,Then bathe in the Dharma’s ambrosia.Proclaim and praise the meanings of four phrases,Without beginning, end, or middle.

This Dharma follows upon another Dharma,Penetrating the Dharma nature within and without.The deeds that I performedBound me with evil impulses.

Revolving throughout the five paths,I regarded them as my home.Heavenly states are like flashes of fire;When sought, no reality is found.

A blind turtle seeking a floating logMay sometimes still encounter it.Once I lose this life,For kotis of kalpas it is difficult to regain.

The vast sea, deep and profound,Measures three hundred and thirty-six.If a needle is cast into the sea,It may sometimes still be found.

Once I lose this body,Regaining it is more difficult still.Those who uphold the discipline and preceptsAre difficult to encounter in the world.

In hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas,A Buddha appears like an udumbara flower.Sentient beings possessing conditionsAre taught the path by the Buddha,

Sever all fetters,
And are forever free of entanglement.”

When the Buddha finished speaking these verses, twenty nayutas of sentient beings established the faculty of faith firmly, were free from further doubt, and all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, true enlightenment.

Chapter 25: Light and Shadow

At that time, while in the womb, the Blessed One extensively taught the inconceivable Mahayana. As he was about to manifest cessation, he displayed the virtue of light and shadow, causing all in the assembly to become of one color, no different from the pure golden color of the Buddha. Devas, nagas, spirits, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, nonhumans, and the fourfold assembly of bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas—whether approaching a fruit or having already attained it—all became of one color.

Everyone wished to hear the Tathagata explain light and shadow. Therefore, they concentrated their minds and established merit, attained unobstructed liberation and the four kinds of eloquence, responded with great swiftness, and extinguished perception and cognition entirely. They rescued and bore the burdens of everyone, and whether walking, standing, lying down, or sitting, never lost proper deportment.

In accordance with the Dharma constantly taught by the Buddhas, they expounded suffering, its arising, its cessation, and the path; guided sentient beings into the four foundations of mindfulness; and accomplished right exertion, factors of enlightenment, the lion’s fearlessness, the Noble Eightfold Path, emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

At that time, in the assembly was a bodhisattva named Worthy Light. He rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha:

“The Tathagata, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Persons, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One, emits this light that illuminates the entire three-thousand-great-thousand world system. Is this manifested light like a manifestation of the Buddha? The merits of the Buddha’s power are neither one nor two, and the reach of this light is inexhaustible. Is there any difference between these two virtues? May the Blessed One explain these doubts, so that those without faith may forever end their uncertainty.”

At that time, the Blessed One told Bodhisattva Worthy Light:

“All that you ask comes from the spiritual power of the Tathagata. Why? The Tathagata’s wondrous spiritual light exists to liberate sentient beings and is therefore unobstructed. From Jambudvipa up to the Heaven of True Fruition, its radiance shines afar and teaches the six transcendent perfections: giving, observance of precepts, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Just as the Buddha’s spiritual power liberates sentient beings, there is no longer there and no longer here. Immeasurable asamkhyeyas of sentient beings are liberated, all sheltered by the Buddha’s gentle, cooling light.”

Then the light naturally resounded, speaking these verses:

“Innumerable Buddhas of the pastAll emitted this light.Every sphere of radianceTaught the six transcendent perfections.

Precepts, patience, and gates of liberation,Delighting in the Dharma for one’s own joy;First they taught the three concentrations of emptiness,Then brought the path to fulfillment.

Those afflicted by the three poisonsNeither bind nor are bound.The forty-eight fetters—None rescues, and none is rescued.

Those who practice the path are not truly substantial;Wherever they have passed,They dwell happily in the three places;Their sacred footprints are most precious.

Their passage is supremely noble,Reaching the shore of the unconditioned.They establish conduct of non-retrogression,With fearless, awe-inspiring spiritual power.

Those received and liberated by spiritual lightExceed hundreds of thousands of millions.If each of those rays of lightWere divided into motes of dust,

And each mote were a multitude of lands,Their number would still be immeasurable.The Buddha’s power is inexhaustible,Neither existent nor nonexistent.

The light proclaims the DharmaAnd liberates asamkhyeyas.The Dharma body is naturally empty;Its conduct is pure within and without.

Amid eighty-four thousand afflictions,The concentrated mind is undistracted.Formerly, for ninety-twoImmeasurable kalpas,

I sat upright beneath a tree,Practicing the path without retreat.Devas, humans, asuras, and spiritsImplored me and questioned me on its meaning.

The light received and guided them further,Liberating innumerable multitudes.The past Buddha ShikhinEmitted light to teach later beings.

Whoever entered that lightDestroyed the suffering of the three poisons.Next came the Venerable Buddha Vipashyin,Whose spiritual virtue was beyond measure.

He likewise emitted lightTo rescue those tormented by suffering.Krakucchanda Muni,The One Transcending the Three Realms,

Appeared upon the Mountain of Immortals,His light ever blazing.Kanakamuni, the Deva among Devas,Was unattached and undefiled.

Quiescent, he entered nirvana,Then emitted light to teach later beings.The Venerable Kashyapa, Originally Nonexistent,Liberated beings beyond measure.

Through the virtue of light as well,He liberated those not yet liberated.I, Shakyamuni,Teach the Dharma while within the womb.

This body and that lightPervade all Buddha lands.Those of lesser understandingCould never measure them.

Only a Buddha can measure a Buddha;Their merits do not differ.All Buddhas of the futureWill likewise manifest and emit light.

It appears to liberate sentient beings:
First the light, and afterward the Dharma.”

When the Blessed One finished speaking these verses, seventy-seven thousand million sentient beings heard the Buddha teach the spiritual virtue of this radiance and, there in their seats, all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, equal enlightenment.

THE BODHISATTVA DWELLING IN THE WOMB

End of Volume 6

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Translation source: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng KinhLicense: Linh Sơn Pháp Bảo Đại Tạng Kinh (Việt dịch) · nguồn: rongmotamhon.net (Liên Phật Hội) · EN: AI translation by Codex from Vietnamese source, awaiting source English

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