大方廣佛華嚴經

The Buddha’s children, having heard of the vast practices,

The profound, wondrous, supreme, and delightful Dharma,

Were all exultant and filled with great joy,

And scattered fragrant flowers everywhere as offerings to the Buddha.

When the bodhisattva expounded this wondrous Dharma,

The great earth and the oceans all trembled.

All the celestial maidens rejoiced,

And together raised wondrous voices in praise.

The Lord of the Self-Mastery Heaven was greatly delighted.

He scattered mani jewels as offerings to the Buddha

And praised him, saying: “The Buddha has appeared in the world for our sake,

Proclaiming the foremost Dharma of meritorious practices.

The meanings of the Grounds as they have been explained

Are exceedingly difficult to encounter in hundreds of thousands of kalpas.

Now, unexpectedly, I have been able to hear

The wondrous Dharma of the bodhisattvas’ supreme practices.

May you further expound the stage of penetrating wisdom,

The firmly established practices of the next Ground,

For the benefit of all practitioners among gods and humans;

Everyone in this assembly longs to hear it.”

The courageous and great-minded Liberation Moon

Requested the great bodhisattva Vajragarbha:

“When one advances from the Third to the Fourth Ground,

What are the characteristics of the practices? Please proclaim them.”

Bodhisattva Vajragarbha said to Bodhisattva Liberation Moon: “O Buddha’s child! When a great bodhisattva has thoroughly purified the Third Ground, the Ground of Radiance, and wishes to enter the Fourth Ground, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom, he must cultivate ten gateways to the light of Dharma.

“These are the ten:

“Contemplating the realm of sentient beings; contemplating the Dharma-realm; contemplating the realm of worlds; contemplating the realm of space; contemplating the realm of consciousness; contemplating the desire realm; contemplating the form realm; contemplating the formless realm; contemplating the realm of vast-minded faith and understanding; and contemplating the realm of great-minded faith and understanding. Through these ten gateways to the light of Dharma, the bodhisattva is able to enter the Fourth Ground, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom.

“O Buddha’s children! When a bodhisattva abides on this Ground of Blazing Wisdom, through ten dharmas matured by wisdom, he attains the inner Dharma of the Fourth Ground and is born into the family of the Tathagata.

“These are the ten dharmas matured by wisdom:

“Because his profound resolve never retreats; because he gives rise within the Three Jewels to ultimate, pure faith that can never be destroyed; because he contemplates the arising and cessation of conditioned dharmas; because he contemplates the intrinsic nature of all dharmas as unborn; because he contemplates the formation and destruction of worlds; because he contemplates how birth occurs through karma; because he contemplates samsara and nirvana; because he contemplates the karma of sentient beings and their lands; because he contemplates the limits of past and future time; and because he contemplates the exhaustion of all that has no existence.

“O Buddha’s children! A bodhisattva abiding on this Fourth Ground contemplates the body internally, remaining mindful in contemplation of the body, diligent and courageous, eliminating worldly covetousness and sorrow. He contemplates the body externally, remaining mindful in contemplation of the body, diligent and courageous, eliminating worldly covetousness and sorrow. He contemplates the body both internally and externally, remaining mindful in contemplation of the body, diligent and courageous, eliminating worldly covetousness and sorrow.

“In the same way, he contemplates feelings internally, externally, and both internally and externally, remaining mindful in contemplation of feelings. He contemplates mind internally, externally, and both internally and externally, remaining mindful in contemplation of mind. He contemplates dharmas internally, externally, and both internally and externally, remaining mindful in contemplation of dharmas, diligent and courageous, eliminating worldly covetousness and sorrow.

“With regard to unwholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen, this bodhisattva arouses aspiration, applies diligence, and generates right effort so that they will not arise. With regard to unwholesome dharmas that have already arisen, he arouses aspiration, applies diligence, and generates right effort to eliminate them. With regard to wholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen, he arouses aspiration, applies diligence, and generates right practice so that they will arise. With regard to wholesome dharmas that have already arisen, he arouses aspiration, applies diligence, and generates right practice so that they will endure without being lost and will become ever more extensive.

“This bodhisattva cultivates the concentration of aspiration; through the practice of abandonment, he perfects the bases of spiritual power, relying upon disenchantment, relying upon dispassion, relying upon cessation, and directing them toward relinquishment. He cultivates the concentrations of vigor, mind, and contemplation; through the practice of abandonment, he perfects the bases of spiritual power, relying upon disenchantment, relying upon dispassion, relying upon cessation, and directing them toward relinquishment.

“This bodhisattva cultivates the faculties of faith, vigor, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom, relying upon disenchantment, relying upon dispassion, relying upon cessation, and directing them toward relinquishment.

“This bodhisattva cultivates the powers of faith, vigor, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom, relying upon disenchantment, relying upon dispassion, relying upon cessation, and directing them toward relinquishment.

“This bodhisattva cultivates the enlightenment factors of mindfulness, discernment of dharmas, vigor, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity, relying upon disenchantment, relying upon dispassion, relying upon cessation, and directing them toward relinquishment.

“This bodhisattva cultivates right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration, relying upon disenchantment, relying upon dispassion, relying upon cessation, and directing them toward relinquishment.

“The bodhisattva cultivates such virtues because he does not abandon sentient beings; because he is sustained by his original vows; because great compassion comes first; because great loving-kindness is perfected; because he remains mindful of omniscience; because he brings the adornment of Buddha-lands to perfection; because he fully perfects the Tathagata’s powers, fearlessnesses, immovability, marks and characteristics, and voice; because he seeks the supremely excellent and unsurpassed path; because he accords with the profound Dharma of the Buddha’s liberation that he has heard; and because he reflects upon great wisdom and skillful means.

“O Buddha’s children! A bodhisattva abiding on this Ground of Blazing Wisdom contemplates and applies antidotes to every attachment associated with the view of a self: attachment to self, person, sentient being, living being, the skandhas, the ayatanas, and the dhatus. He thereby leaves all such attachments far behind.

“If this bodhisattva sees any action censured by the Tathagata or defiled by afflictions, he abandons it completely. If he sees any action praised by the Tathagata and conforming to the bodhisattva path, he cultivates it completely.

“O Buddha’s children! According to the wisdom and skillful means he develops, this bodhisattva cultivates both the path and the aids to the path. Consequently, his mind becomes enriched, gentle, well-regulated, beneficial and peaceful, unmixed, intent upon seeking the supreme and ever more exalted Dharma, intent upon seeking supreme wisdom, intent upon rescuing all worlds, reverent toward venerable ones and never disobedient to their instructions, and skilled in cultivating the Dharma he has heard.

“This bodhisattva knows gratitude and repays kindness. He is gentle and amiable, dwells happily with others, is honest and mild, remains free from confusion and arrogance, and receives instructions well, thereby pleasing those who teach him.

“Having perfected patience in this way, discipline in this way, serenity in this way, and patient, disciplined gentleness and serenity in this way, when this bodhisattva directs his attention toward cultivating the practices of the next Ground, he immediately attains vigor that never rests, vigor free from defilement, vigor that never retreats, vast vigor, boundless vigor, blazing vigor, incomparable vigor, indestructible vigor, vigor that brings all sentient beings to maturity, and vigor skilled in distinguishing the path from what is not the path.

“This bodhisattva’s mind of moral discipline is pure, and his profound resolve is never lost. His realization and understanding are luminous and keen; his roots of goodness increase; he leaves worldly corruption behind; his doubts and delusions are ended; his discernment is complete; and his joy and happiness are complete. Because the Buddhas themselves protect and keep him in mind, his immeasurable aspirations are all fulfilled.

“O Buddha’s children! Through the power of his vows, a bodhisattva on this Fourth Ground, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom, sees many Buddhas, even hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of Buddhas. He reveres, serves, and makes offerings to them all, and also makes offerings to the entire Sangha. He dedicates all these roots of goodness to unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. In the presence of the Buddhas, he reverently listens to the Dharma; having heard it, he retains it and practices it perfectly. He then leaves the household life and cultivates the path within the Dharma of those Buddhas. He further cultivates profound faith and understanding, and throughout immeasurable hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of kalpas, his roots of goodness become ever more luminous and pure.

“O Buddha’s children! This is like a goldsmith who refines pure gold and fashions it into an ornament that no other golden object can equal.

“In the same way, whatever roots of goodness a great bodhisattva abiding on the Fourth Ground possesses cannot be equaled by the roots of goodness of those on the lower Grounds.

“It is like a pure mani jewel that can emit light: no other jewel can equal it, and neither wind nor rain can damage it.

“In the same way, whatever roots of goodness a great bodhisattva abiding on the Fourth Ground possesses cannot be equaled by the roots of goodness of those on the lower Grounds.

“It is like a pure mani jewel that can emit light: no other jewel can equal it, and neither wind nor rain can damage it.

“In the same way, a great bodhisattva abiding on this Fourth Ground cannot be equaled by bodhisattvas on lower Grounds, and none of the demons or afflictions can destroy his Dharma.

“Among the four means of attraction, this bodhisattva emphasizes cooperation in beneficial activity. Among the ten paramitas, he emphasizes the paramita of vigor. He cultivates the other gateways to Dharma according to his capacity and strength.

“O Buddha’s children! This is a concise explanation of the bodhisattva’s Fourth Ground, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom.

“A bodhisattva abiding on this Ground most often becomes a king of the Yama Heaven. Through skillful means, he is able to eliminate sentient beings’ view of a self and their various afflictions, causing them to abide in right view.

“All his practices of giving, kind speech, beneficial conduct, and cooperation never depart from mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, and mindfulness of the Sangha, and ultimately never depart from mindfulness of omniscience.

“This bodhisattva further thinks: ‘Among all sentient beings, I shall be the leader, the victor, the most victorious, the excellent, the wondrous, the supreme, the unsurpassed, and ultimately the one upon whom omniscience depends.’

“If this bodhisattva diligently applies vigor, then in a single thought he enters a hundred million samadhis, sees a hundred million Buddhas, knows the spiritual powers of a hundred million Buddhas, can cause a hundred million worlds to tremble, and ultimately can manifest a hundred million Buddha-bodies, each body displaying a hundred million bodhisattvas as its retinue. Through the superior power of his vows, he can freely manifest even more than these numbers, beyond calculation throughout hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of kalpas.”

Bodhisattva Vajragarbha, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke these verses:

The bodhisattva, having purified the Third Ground,

Next contemplates sentient beings, worlds, and the Dharma-realm,

The realm of space, the realm of consciousness, and the three realms;

With clear comprehension of mind, he can enter directly.

Newly ascending the Blazing Wisdom Ground, his power increases;

Born into the Tathagata’s family, he never retreats.

In Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha his faith is profound and firm;

He contemplates dharmas as unsurpassed and unborn.

He contemplates the formation and destruction of worlds, and birth through karma;

Karma, samsara, nirvana, and realms;

He contemplates the limits of past and future, and also exhaustion.

Practicing in this way, he is born into the Buddha’s family.

Having attained this Dharma, he gives rise to loving-kindness

And cultivates the four foundations of mindfulness with ever greater diligence,

Contemplating body, feelings, mind, and dharmas, internally and externally;

All worldly craving is completely eliminated.

The bodhisattva diligently cultivates the four right efforts,

Eliminating evil dharmas and increasing wholesome dharmas.

He skillfully cultivates the bases of spiritual power, the faculties, and the powers,

And is also vigorous in the enlightenment factors and the right path.

To liberate beings, he cultivates the aids to the path;

Loving-kindness and compassion come first, and his original vows sustain him.

He seeks omniscience and Buddha-lands,

And also remembers the Tathagata’s ten powers,

The four fearlessnesses, the eighteen unique qualities,

The marks and characteristics, adornments, and profound, beautiful voice.

He also seeks the wondrous path and the abode of liberation,

And cultivates practices of great skillful means.

The view of a self comes first among the sixty-two views;

There are measureless forms of attachment to self and possessions.

Attachments to skandhas, ayatanas, dhatus, and all such things

Are entirely abandoned on the Fourth Ground.

Actions and afflictions censured by the Tathagata,

Being causes of suffering and calamity, are all eliminated.

The wise cultivate pure actions;

To liberate sentient beings, they cultivate them all.

The bodhisattva practices diligently without indolence

And immediately perfects all ten states of mind.

He single-mindedly seeks the Buddha-path without weariness,

Aspiring to receive consecration and liberate all kinds of beings.

He reveres the venerable and follows their instructions,

Is grateful and compliant, without anger or resentment.

Abandoning arrogance and flattery, his mind is gentle;

He applies still greater diligence and never retreats.

The bodhisattva abiding on this Ground of Blazing Wisdom

Maintains a pure mind that is never lost.

His realization and understanding are decisive, and his roots of goodness increase;

The nets of doubt and defilement are completely destroyed.

The Fourth Ground is supreme among humans;

He makes offerings to immeasurable nayutas of Buddhas.

He hears the true Dharma and also leaves the household life;

Like genuine gold, he cannot be damaged.

The bodhisattva of the Fourth Ground possesses complete virtue;

With wisdom and skillful means, he cultivates the path.

No demon can cause his mind to retreat;

He is like an indestructible mani jewel.

On the Fourth Ground he often becomes a king of the Yama Heaven,

Masterful in the Dharma and revered by the assembly.

He liberates beings everywhere and removes wrong views,

Single-mindedly seeking Buddha-wisdom and cultivating wholesome deeds.

The bodhisattva continually increases the power of his vigor

And realizes samadhis numbering in the hundreds of millions.

If he employs the sovereign power of his vows,

He exceeds those hundreds of millions beyond all calculation.

Such is the bodhisattva’s Ground of Blazing Wisdom;

He has truly practiced its pure and wondrous conduct.

Its virtues, meanings, and wisdom correspond with one another;

For the Buddha’s children, I have now explained it.

The great assembly, hearing the practice of Blazing Wisdom,

Awakened to the wondrous Dharma and rejoiced.

They scattered flowers through space and praised him, saying:

“Excellent, Great Being Vajragarbha!”

The Lord of the Self-Mastery Heaven and the celestial host,

Hearing the Dharma, rejoiced as they remained in space.

They sent forth everywhere wondrous clouds of light

And joyfully made offerings to the Tathagata.

The celestial maidens harmoniously played heavenly music

And also praised the Buddha in song.

Through the bodhisattva’s awesome spiritual power,

These words arose amid the music and songs:

The Buddha’s ancient vows have now at last been fulfilled;

The distant Buddha-path has now at last been attained.

Shakyamuni has come to the celestial palace;

The Teacher of Gods and Humans is now at last beheld.

The great ocean, after so long, has now at last stirred;

The Buddha’s light, after so long, has now at last shone forth.

Sentient beings, after so long, have now at last found peace and joy;

The voice of great loving-kindness and compassion is at last heard.

All the paramita practices have reached fulfillment;

The darkness of arrogance has been entirely dispelled.

His ultimate purity is like empty space,

Like a lotus flower unstained by worldly dharmas.

The Great Muni has appeared in the world,

Like Mount Sumeru rising above the ocean.

Making offerings to the Buddha can end all suffering;

Those who make offerings will surely attain the Tathagata’s wisdom.

This field of offerings is unequaled;

Therefore, we joyfully make offerings to the Buddha.

All those immeasurable celestial maidens

Raised wondrous voices and sang the Buddha’s praises.

All were reverent and filled with great joy;

They gazed upon the Tathagata and then stood silently.

At that time Bodhisattva Liberation Moon

Again requested the Great Being Vajragarbha:

“The characteristics of the practices of the Fifth Ground—

May the great bodhisattva proclaim them for us.”

Bodhisattva Vajragarbha said to Bodhisattva Liberation Moon: “O Buddha’s child! When a great bodhisattva has thoroughly perfected the practices of the Fourth Ground, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom, and wishes to enter the Fifth Ground, the Ground Difficult to Conquer, he must employ ten kinds of pure, impartial mind.

“These are the ten states of mind:

“A pure, impartial mind toward the Buddha-Dharma of the past; a pure, impartial mind toward the Buddha-Dharma of the future; a pure, impartial mind toward the Buddha-Dharma of the present; a pure, impartial mind toward moral discipline; a pure, impartial mind toward mind itself; a pure, impartial mind that eliminates views, doubt, and regret; a pure, impartial mind regarding knowledge of the path and what is not the path; a pure, impartial mind in cultivating knowledge and vision; a pure, impartial mind in the highest contemplation of all dharmas belonging to enlightenment; and a pure, impartial mind in teaching and transforming all sentient beings.

“Through these ten pure, impartial states of mind, the great bodhisattva is able to enter the Fifth Ground, the Ground Difficult to Conquer.

“O Buddha’s children! Once a great bodhisattva has settled upon the Fifth Ground, through skillfully cultivating the dharmas belonging to enlightenment, skillfully purifying his profound resolve, seeking an ever more exalted and supreme path, according with suchness, being sustained by the power of his vows, compassionately never abandoning any sentient being, accumulating merit and wisdom as aids to the path, cultivating with unremitting vigor, generating skillful means, clearly contemplating the higher Grounds, receiving the Tathagata’s protective mindfulness, and being sustained by the powers of mindfulness and wisdom, he attains a mind that never retreats.

“O Buddha’s children! This great bodhisattva knows in accordance with reality: this is the noble truth of suffering; this truly is the noble truth of the accumulation of suffering; this is the noble truth of the cessation of suffering; and this is the noble truth of the path leading to cessation.

“This bodhisattva skillfully knows conventional truth; skillfully knows the truth of characteristics; skillfully knows the truth of distinctions; skillfully knows the truth of establishment; skillfully knows the truth of phenomena; skillfully knows the truth of birth; skillfully knows the truth of exhaustion and non-arising; skillfully knows the truth of knowledge that enters the path; skillfully knows the truth of the successive accomplishment of all the bodhisattva Grounds; and ultimately skillfully knows the truth of the accomplishment of the Tathagata’s wisdom.

“To gladden sentient beings according to their inclinations, this bodhisattva knows conventional truth. Because he penetrates all characteristics, he knows ultimate truth. Because he understands the individual and common characteristics of all dharmas, he knows the truth of characteristics.

Because he understands the distinctions among the stages of all dharmas, he knows the truth of distinctions. Because he skillfully distinguishes the skandhas, ayatanas, and dhatus, he knows the truth of establishment. Because he realizes the continuity of the various kinds of birth, he knows the truth of birth.

Because all afflictive heat is ultimately extinguished, he knows the truth of the knowledge of exhaustion and non-arising. Because he produces nonduality, he knows the truth of knowledge that enters the path. Because he correctly awakens to all modes of practice, he knows the truth of the successive accomplishment of all the bodhisattva Grounds and ultimately knows the truth of the accomplishment of the Tathagata’s wisdom.

“He knows these through the power of the wisdom of faith and understanding, not through the power of ultimate wisdom.

“O Buddha’s children! When this great bodhisattva attains wisdom concerning the truths, he knows in accordance with reality that all conditioned dharmas are false, deceptive, and delude fools. Therefore, toward all sentient beings, he causes the light of great compassion and great loving-kindness to grow ever brighter.

“O Buddha’s children! Having attained such powers of wisdom, this great bodhisattva does not abandon a single sentient being. He constantly seeks Buddha-wisdom and contemplates in accordance with reality the past and future limits of all conditioned activities. He clearly knows that from the past limit, ignorance, craving, and becoming give rise to birth, and through these there is continual transmigration through samsara. Beings cannot escape from the houses of the five skandhas, and their suffering increases. Yet there is no self, no living being, no nurturer, and nothing that continually assumes a body in a later existence; all is apart from self and possessions.

“As with the past limit, so it is with the future limit. All is without inherent existence and consists of false, craving attachment; when that attachment is ended, liberation is attained. Whether things exist or do not exist, he knows them all in accordance with reality.

“O Buddha’s children! This great bodhisattva further thinks: ‘These ordinary beings are ignorant and devoid of wisdom; they are truly pitiable. Countless bodies of theirs have perished, are perishing now, and will perish in the future.

Although they perish in this way, they cannot give rise to disenchantment toward the body. Instead, they further increase the mechanisms of suffering, following the stream of samsara and being unable to return. In the houses of the five skandhas they do not seek escape.

They do not know to fear the four great poisonous snakes. They cannot pull out the arrows of arrogance and attachment to views. They cannot extinguish the blazing fires of greed, anger, and delusion.

They cannot break through the veil of ignorance or dry up the great ocean of craving. They do not know to seek the great, noble guiding teacher who possesses the ten powers of wisdom, but enter instead the dense forest of demonic thoughts. In the ocean of samsara, they are swept away and submerged by the waves of discursive thought.’

“O Buddha’s children! This great bodhisattva further thinks: ‘These sentient beings undergo such suffering. They are impoverished and distressed, without refuge, without anyone to rescue them, without land, without a home, without eyes, and without a guide. They are blinded by ignorance and enveloped in a curtain of darkness.

“‘For their sake, I shall now cultivate the dharmas of merit and wisdom that aid the path. Alone, I shall arouse resolve without seeking companions. Through this merit, I shall enable sentient beings to attain ultimate purity and eventually realize the Tathagata’s ten unobstructed powers of wisdom.’

“O Buddha’s children! With wisdom, this great bodhisattva contemplates the roots of goodness he has cultivated in this way. They are all for rescuing and protecting all sentient beings, benefiting all sentient beings, showing compassion to all sentient beings, bringing all sentient beings to maturity, showing compassion to all sentient beings, bringing all sentient beings to maturity, liberating all sentient beings, embracing all sentient beings, causing all sentient beings to leave suffering and affliction behind, causing all sentient beings to attain purity, causing all sentient beings to become disciplined, and causing all sentient beings to realize and enter nirvana.

“O Buddha’s children! A great bodhisattva abiding on the Fifth Ground, the Ground Difficult to Conquer, is called ‘mindful’ because he does not forget the true Dharma. He is called ‘wise’ because he can explain and discern clearly and skillfully.

He is called ‘possessed of knowledge’ because he understands the purport and sequential coherence of the sutras. He is called ‘possessed of shame and moral dread’ because he protects himself and others. He is called ‘steadfast’ because he does not abandon moral conduct.

He is called ‘awakened’ because he can contemplate what is possible and what is impossible. He is called ‘guided by knowledge’ because he does not depend upon others. He is called ‘guided by wisdom’ because he skillfully understands distinctions among expressions and whether their meanings are correct or incorrect.

He is called ‘possessed of spiritual powers’ because he skillfully cultivates meditative concentration. He is called ‘skillful in means’ because he can conduct himself in accordance with the world. He is called ‘insatiable’ because he skillfully accumulates merit.

He is called ‘never resting’ because he constantly seeks wisdom. He is called ‘never weary’ because he accumulates great loving-kindness and compassion. He is called ‘diligently cultivating for others’ because he wishes all sentient beings to realize and enter nirvana.

He is called ‘diligently seeking without indolence’ because he seeks the Tathagata’s powers of wisdom, fearlessnesses, and unique qualities. He is called ‘able to accomplish what he resolves’ because he perfects the adornment of Buddha-lands. He is called ‘diligently cultivating wholesome practices’ because he can perfect the marks and characteristics.

He is called ‘constantly and diligently cultivating’ because he seeks the adornment of the Tathagata’s body, speech, and mind. He is called ‘greatly reverent and respectful of the Dharma’ because he practices according to the instructions of all great bodhisattvas. He is called ‘possessed of an unobstructed mind’ because, through great skillful means, he constantly travels throughout the world.

He is called ‘day and night free from all other thoughts’ because he delights in teaching and transforming sentient beings.

“O Buddha’s children! As this great bodhisattva practices diligently in this way, he teaches and transforms sentient beings through giving, kind speech, beneficial conduct, and cooperation. He manifests physical forms to teach and transform sentient beings.

He expounds all dharmas to teach and transform sentient beings. He reveals the bodhisattva practices to teach and transform sentient beings. He discloses the faults and sufferings of samsara to teach and transform sentient beings.

He praises the benefits of the Tathagata’s wisdom to teach and transform sentient beings. He manifests great spiritual powers to teach and transform sentient beings. He manifests great spiritual powers to teach and transform sentient beings.

He employs various gateways of skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings. He employs various gateways of skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings.

“O Buddha’s children! This great bodhisattva can diligently employ such skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings. His mind proceeds continuously and directly toward Buddha-wisdom. The roots of goodness he has cultivated never retreat. He constantly and diligently studies the dharmas of supreme practice.

“O Buddha’s children! To benefit sentient beings, this great bodhisattva also studies all worldly arts and crafts. He masters writing, mathematics, diagrams, printing, and treatises concerning earth, water, fire, and wind.

He is also skilled in medicines that cure diseases such as insanity, emaciation, possession by ghosts, and poisoning by sorcery. He is further skilled in literature, poetry, song, dance, music, comedy, and discourse. He thoroughly understands methods for constructing cities, villages, houses, gardens, springs, ponds, plants, flowers, fruits, and medicinal herbs.

He knows where deposits of gold, silver, pearls, and jewels are found. He skillfully observes and thoroughly understands the sun, moon, stars, birdsong, earthquakes, auspicious and inauspicious dreams, and bodily marks indicating noble or humble status. He understands moral discipline, entry into meditative concentration, immeasurable spiritual powers, the four formless attainments, and all other worldly matters.

If anything does not harm sentient beings but brings them benefit, he reveals it to them and gradually leads them into the unsurpassed Buddha-Dharma.

“O Buddha’s children! Through the power of his vows, a great bodhisattva abiding on this Ground Difficult to Conquer sees many Buddhas, even hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of Buddhas, even hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of Buddhas. He reveres and makes offerings to them all, and also makes offerings to the entire Sangha.

He dedicates these roots of goodness to unsurpassed bodhi. In the presence of the Buddhas, he reverently listens to the Dharma; having heard it, he retains it and practices according to his ability. Afterward he leaves the household life, hears the Buddha-Dharma again, and attains dharanis.

Throughout a hundred kalpas and even immeasurable hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of kalpas, the roots of goodness he possesses become ever more luminous and pure.

“O Buddha’s children! This is like pure gold polished with a mother-of-pearl jewel, thereby becoming ever more luminous and pure.

“In the same way, through contemplative wisdom and skillful means, the roots of goodness possessed by this bodhisattva become ever more luminous and pure.

“O Buddha’s children! A bodhisattva abiding on the Ground Difficult to Conquer employs skillful wisdom to perfect virtues that cannot be equaled by the roots of goodness of those on lower Grounds.

“O Buddha’s children! The luminous palaces of the sun and moon, upheld by the power of the wind, cannot be obstructed or destroyed, nor can any other wind cause them to waver.

“In the same way, because the roots of goodness of a bodhisattva on this Ground are continuously contemplated by skillful wisdom, they cannot be obstructed or destroyed. Nor can the roots of goodness of any pratyekabuddha, shravaka, or worldly being cause them to waver.

“Among the ten paramitas, this bodhisattva emphasizes the paramita of meditation. He cultivates the other paramitas according to his capacity and strength.

“O Buddha’s children! This is a concise explanation of the bodhisattva’s Fifth Ground, the Ground Difficult to Conquer.

“A bodhisattva on this Ground often becomes a king of the Tushita Heaven. He attains mastery in relation to sentient beings, overcomes all the wrong views of non-Buddhist paths, and can cause sentient beings to abide in true reality.

“All his practices of giving, kind speech, beneficial conduct, and cooperation never depart from mindfulness of the Buddha, mindfulness of the Dharma, and mindfulness of the Sangha, and ultimately never depart from mindfulness of the complete attainment of omniscience.

“This bodhisattva further thinks: ‘Among sentient beings, I shall be the leader, the victor, the most victorious, the excellent, the wondrous, the unsurpassed, and ultimately the one upon whom omniscience depends.’

“If this bodhisattva arouses diligent vigor, then in a single thought he attains a hundred billion samadhis, sees a hundred billion Buddhas, knows the spiritual powers of a hundred billion Buddhas, can cause a hundred billion worlds to tremble, and ultimately manifests a hundred billion Buddha-bodies, each body displaying a hundred billion bodhisattvas as its retinue.

“If he employs the sovereign power of his supreme vows to manifest freely, he exceeds these numbers, and even throughout hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of kalpas they could not be counted.”

Bodhisattva Vajragarbha, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke these verses:

The bodhisattva, having purified the Fourth Ground,

Contemplates the equality of the Buddhas of the three times;

Discipline, mind, removal of doubt, the path and what is not the path—

Contemplating in this way, he enters the Fifth Ground.

The foundations of mindfulness are his bow, the faculties his arrows;

The right efforts are his horses, the spiritual powers his chariot.

Armored in the five powers, he destroys hostile foes;

Courageous and never retreating, he enters the Fifth Ground.

Shame and moral dread are his garments, the enlightenment factors his flowers;

Pure discipline is his garment, the enlightenment factors his flowers;

Pure discipline is his incense, meditation his fragrant ointment;

Wisdom and skillful means are his wondrous adornments.

He enters the forest of total retention and the garden of samadhi.

Spiritual mastery forms his feet, right mindfulness his neck;

Loving-kindness and compassion are his eyes, wisdom his teeth;

The selfless lion lets forth a resounding roar.

Destroying the bandits of affliction, he enters the Fifth Ground.

The bodhisattva abiding on this Fifth Ground

Continues cultivating the supreme and pure path.

Resolutely seeking the Buddha-Dharma, he never retreats;

Mindful of loving-kindness and compassion, he never grows weary.

He accumulates the supreme virtues of merit and wisdom,

Vigorously contemplating higher Grounds with skillful means.

Sustained by the Buddha’s power, complete in mindfulness and wisdom,

He understands the Four Truths in accordance with reality.

He skillfully knows conventional truth and ultimate truth,

The truth of characteristics, distinctions, and establishment,

The truths of phenomena, birth, exhaustion, and the path,

And ultimately the unobstructed truth of the Tathagata.

Contemplating the truths in this way is wondrous and subtle,

Though he has not yet attained supreme, unobstructed liberation.

Through this, he can generate supreme virtues;

Therefore, he surpasses worldly wisdom.

Having contemplated the truths, he knows conditioned things

To be false in nature, deceptive and unstable.

He attains a portion of the Buddhas’ light of loving-kindness

And seeks Buddha-wisdom for the benefit of sentient beings.

He contemplates conditioned dharmas in the past and future:

The darkness of ignorance and the bonds of craving

Turn and flow within the fruits of suffering;

There is no self, no person, and no living being.

Craving and grasping are the causes of later suffering;

Seeking their limits, none can be found.

Deluded beings sink and drift, never finding their way home;

They are pitiable, and I must liberate them.

The skandhas are houses, the realms are snakes, attachments are arrows;

The fires of mind blaze fiercely, and delusion’s darkness is heavy.

Swept away by the river of craving, they have no leisure to look;

They drift upon the sea of suffering with no one to guide them.

Knowing this clearly, he practices with diligent vigor;

Everything he does is for the liberation of sentient beings.

He is called one possessed of mindfulness and wisdom,

And ultimately one possessed of awakening, understanding, and skillful means.

He cultivates merit and wisdom without ever being satisfied;

He reveres extensive learning and never grows weary.

He adorns lands and perfects the marks and characteristics;

All these are entirely for sentient beings.

Wishing to teach and transform all worlds,

He skillfully understands writing, mathematics, and methods of printing,

And also thoroughly knows all medicines,

Curing illnesses so that all become well.

He excels in literature, song, and dance;

He makes houses, gardens, and ponds secure.

He can reveal deposits of gold, silver, and jewels,

Bringing benefit to immeasurable sentient beings.

The sun, moon, stars, and earthquakes,

And even bodily marks, he can contemplate.

The four dhyanas, the formless attainments, and spiritual powers—

For the benefit of the world, he reveals them all.

The wise one abiding on this Ground Difficult to Conquer

Makes offerings to immeasurable Buddhas and hears the Dharma.

Like pure gold polished with a wondrous jewel,

The roots of goodness he possesses become ever more luminous and pure.

Like stars abiding in empty space,

Upheld by the wind’s power and never shaken,

And like a lotus flower unstained by water,

So is the bodhisattva who liberates the world.

On this Ground he often becomes a king of the Tushita Heaven,

Able to overcome non-Buddhist paths and all wrong views.

He vows to attain the ten powers and liberate all sentient beings;

He cultivates with great vigor.

He can immediately make offerings to a hundred billion Buddhas;

His samadhis and the worlds he moves also number a hundred billion.

If he employs the power of his vows, he surpasses even these.

The bodhisattva’s Fifth Ground, Difficult to Conquer,

Is the highest true path among humans.

Through all gateways and the power of skillful means,

I have proclaimed it for the Buddha’s children.