最勝問菩薩十住除垢斷結經

Chapter 12: SUPERNATURAL POWERS

At that time, Bodhisattva Supreme Excellence addressed the Buddha:

“World-Honored One, why is it said that bodhisattvas may advance or regress with respect to generosity, morality, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom? Furthermore, are there bodhisattvas who, from the moment they first arouse the aspiration until they attain Buddhahood, never dwell in the wombs of their parents but are always born by transformation, using supernatural powers to journey to the Buddha-realms, while entertaining no conception of any realm? I respectfully beseech the World-Honored One to distinguish and explain this clearly, so that those who study the bodhisattva path in future ages may know the direction of their practice.”

The World-Honored One then said to Supreme Excellence:

“Listen! Listen! Focus your mind and reflect well! I shall distinguish and explain this clearly for you.”

Supreme Excellence said to the Buddha:

“I joyfully wish to hear it.”

The Buddha said to Supreme Excellence:

“If a bodhisattva cultivates generosity, morality, patience, diligence, and meditative concentration, yet thoughts involving conceptions remain in his mind, and he gives rise to attachment and conceptualization regarding all dharmas—conceiving that worlds exist or do not exist; conceiving that sentient beings are seen or that no sentient beings are seen; perceiving in his mind that the past and future exist or that the past and future do not exist; perceiving in his thoughts that the present exists or that the present does not exist; or perceiving in his mind that attachment to annihilation exists or that no attachment to annihilation exists—this constitutes the fulfillment of the powers of the faculties of one at the First Bhumi.

He must accord with ten dharmas. What are these ten dharmas? They are the inconceivable spiritual virtue of the Tathagata; the single characteristic of thusness, which is unobstructed; not perceiving any attachment to the designation ‘Perfectly Awakened One’; and not perceiving any transcendence of all dharmas.

In the direct contemplation of the Three Vehicles as equal, he does not perceive any course of cultivation. Without clinging to worlds, he clearly knows that names have no past, present, or future. This is called the characteristics of names; it is also called omniscience and is further named the Dharma-realm.

Because his mind sustains mindfulness directed toward the path, he guards his resolve and does not injure his own mind. Thus, Supreme Excellence, these dharmas likewise have no location. When they come, one does not know whence they come; when they depart, one does not know whence they cease.

“A bodhisattva’s cultivation of morality, patience, and diligence is also like this. Morality is likewise non-morality; patience is likewise non-patience; and, clearly understanding diligence, he does not perceive any diligence. One who upholds morality always guards and protects against his own shortcomings. Even if he sees someone violate morality, he does not give rise to resentment; and when he sees morality perfectly fulfilled, he does not give rise to self-satisfaction. This is a bodhisattva’s fulfillment of morality. A bodhisattva cultivates a patient mind that neither increases nor diminishes. If someone comes to ask for parts of the bodhisattva’s body, the bodhisattva maintains a steadfast and flawless mind.

“A bodhisattva is endowed with generosity, morality, patience, and diligence, skillfully contemplates wisdom, eliminates thoughts of attachment and conceptualization, and has a mind that neither discriminates, arises, nor ceases, even while countless thoughts arise. Toward offenses and merits, he remains equal and nondual. He must further contemplate the three gateways leading to the Brahma path: emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness.

He does not perceive emptiness as either conjoined or unconjoined with signs; nor does he perceive wishes as conjoined with signs or wishes as conjoined with emptiness. He does not perceive wishlessness as conjoined with emptiness and signs. He does not perceive emptiness and signs as conjoined with wishlessness, nor as not conjoined with it.

He does not perceive signlessness as conjoined with emptiness and wishlessness. He does not perceive emptiness and wishlessness as conjoined with signlessness, nor as not conjoined with it. The past, future, and present are likewise so.

“Furthermore, Supreme Excellence, a bodhisattva’s supernatural powers cannot be known through deliberation. The realm of the nagas is inconceivable; it neither abides in the world nor departs from the world, and in its cyclical coming and going it has no abiding place. The dharmas of wishes and signs are likewise so. In the past, the bodhisattva diligently cultivated the fruits of the path, and the noble path naturally appeared boundless. If someone comes seeking the resolution of doubts, within the Dharma of the Noble Ones this is precisely to injure oneself.

“Thus, Supreme Excellence, the morality, hearing of the Dharma, wisdom, generosity, and six kinds of pure dharmas of a bodhisattva penetrate profound principles and bring the holy life to fulfillment. If a bodhisattva cultivates and perfects roots of virtue, attains this profound, subtle, and essential Dharma, realizes cessation in nirvana without remainder, and teaches sentient beings the Dharma that has no boundary and neither past nor future, only then is it called the path.

“A bodhisattva manifests entry into the realm of sensual desire, observes beings’ faculties and dispositions, and then teaches them the Dharma. Or he enters the concentration of cessation, completely stopping his inhalation and exhalation, while his body and abdomen swell and discharge impure substances. Upon seeing this, sentient beings give rise to the perception of impermanence. The bodhisattva further observes whether the minds of sentient beings are concentrated or distracted and, as appropriate, manifests so that they may attain liberation. Or, through dignified conduct and the dharmas pertaining to the path, he instructs all sentient beings and removes their heavy burdens of sorrow.

“The five dharmas of spiritual knowledge are the work of a bodhisattva. The eighteen subtle dharmas are the work of a bodhisattva. The sixteen vajra dharmas are the work of a bodhisattva. The twenty-one moral precepts cultivated by the Noble Ones are the work of a bodhisattva. Contemplating the thirty-four dharmas beneath the king of trees is the work of a bodhisattva. Not perceiving a self or ego with regard to generosity, morality, and the other perfections is the work of a bodhisattva. Making distinctions without abiding in the past, present, or future is the work of a bodhisattva.

“Thus, Supreme Excellence, the realms cultivated by a bodhisattva are truly immeasurable. Only by clearly knowing karmic results can one be directed toward the path. When those conditions arrive, they combine according to causes and conditions. Sound comes through empty space and is heard and known by auditory consciousness. Verbal teachings and written texts are not ultimately real; when conditions combine, they exist, and as conditions disperse, they may disappear accordingly. When conditions combine, there is conjunction; when conditions disperse, there is dissolution. Dissolution does not itself know whence it dissolves, and aggregation does not itself know whence it gathers.”

At that time, Supreme Excellence addressed the Buddha:

“Excellent! Excellent! The World-Honored One has expounded this Dharma, distinguishing the origins of the various causes and conditions, so that bodhisattvas may don the armor of great merit, cause innumerable people to arouse the Mahayana aspiration, praise the resolve and deeds of bodhisattvas, and explain the meaning and principles of the ten dharmas designated as the virtues of the Tathagata. All those in the assembly have been able to hear and understand the unobstructed wisdom and activity of the Tathagata. If a bodhisattva hears this Dharma, the skandhas, hindrances, and weaknesses will forever be eliminated, and he will also enable all sentient beings to comprehend it.

“World-Honored One, from this day onward, we shall respectfully follow the Tathagata’s instructions directing us toward the path. We shall cultivate all practices until they mature, not daring to become heedless; discipline our minds and thoughts; practice generosity; and constantly distinguish all written words and fully comprehend the meanings and principles of phrases and passages as clearly as though seeing them before our eyes.

Our thoughts shall be impartial, like empty space that covers all. We shall act with loving-kindness and compassion for everyone, guiding and teaching sentient beings according to their faculties and dispositions. We shall always protect and sustain sentient beings with the four immeasurable minds, enabling them to partake of the ambrosia of Dharma; entirely eradicate all anger, fetters, and defilements; relinquish the ten dharmas; leave the three poisons far behind; and uproot the nine kinds of perceptions that disturb the mind.

We shall ensure that the Mara of death and the winds and dust of sensory objects that injure people’s minds forever cease to exist. We shall distinguish the root of the twelve links of dependent origination, from ignorance conditioning formations through birth, aging, and death.

“We must further contemplate the cessation of dependently arisen dharmas. With the cessation of ignorance, formations cease, and so forth through the cessation of aging, illness, and death. We shall observe the origins of beings according to their various kinds and only afterward administer the medicine. Maintaining a steadfast mind, we shall clearly observe people’s thoughts, reflections, and wholesome deeds, and then teach them the Dharma, not allowing their minds to run astray or their defiled perceptions to arise again.”

The World-Honored One then further instructed:

– Most Excellent One, therefore, bodhisattvas establish skillful means of instruction so that beings may gain abundant benefit and attain abundant accomplishment. They regard sentient beings as a mother cherishes her child, nurturing and teaching them according to the appropriate time, causing their minds to be free from increase and decrease, always to possess right view, and never to follow heterodox teachings. Amid the assembly, bodhisattvas are like lion kings, contemplating the four great elements within the body: earth, water, fire, and wind. When earth is disturbed, water is weakened; when water is disturbed, fire is weakened; when fire is disturbed, wind is weakened. When these four dharmas are disturbed, the faculties deteriorate and consciousness departs from this body. At that time, upon whom among one’s relatives can one rely? Only wholesome dharmas can serve as a refuge. Bodhisattvas must further deeply contemplate and examine the Dharma of samadhi and right concentration realized by the Buddhas. By following that fundamental Dharma, they never lose their dignified deportment; they discern practices that are with outflows and without outflows; they transcend the eight worldly conditions and do not allow their minds to be defiled by gain, loss, disgrace, or praise; and they contemplate and know that self, person, and lifespan have no abiding place. Most Excellent One, you should know that if sentient beings give rise to inverted thoughts and views and come to question the principles and practices of bodhisattvas, they would have to listen to a bodhisattva of the first abode explain them continuously from one kalpa to hundreds of thousands of kalpas. A bodhisattva’s words flow freely and cannot be obstructed. Therefore, you should know that no one can equal the practices of bodhisattvas, nor can any analogy adequately compare with them. All such dharmas are manifested through the bodhisattvas’ skillful transformations by means of spiritual powers. They travel throughout the ten directions to bow before, revere, and make offerings to the Buddhas, journeying from one Buddha-land to another. Wherever bodhisattvas go, they proclaim the Dharma of the Path for the sake of sentient beings, completely eliminating every calamity of past and present. When those harboring resentment encounter suffering and distress, these naturally disappear. Thus, the number of those who become their retinue is beyond reckoning. They attain this by relinquishing arrogance and self-conceit. At times, bodhisattvas expound the Dharma amid a great assembly, their voices flowing freely like the voice of Brahma, enabling the three assemblies to fulfill their aspirations and guiding them into the realm of complete liberation, where they attain cessation. It is like a great dragon that causes rain suddenly to fall throughout the trichiliocosm from a cloudless sky. Hundreds of kinds of trees and plants are moistened and nourished by it, growing and flourishing according to the seasons. Bodhisattva-mahasattvas are likewise: uttering a single sound, they spread and teach the Dharma of the Path with the Dharma-water of the flavor of liberation, enabling beings throughout the three-thousandfold world to attain deliverance. Those who attain liberation possess resolve like vajra and are pure within and without. Bodhisattvas further adorn themselves with precepts, Dharma regulations, and spiritual powers, as though wearing jeweled necklaces; their marks shine distinctly like a radiant golden mountain. Wherever bodhisattvas go, they enable the people there to fulfill their wishes. Those who hear the Dharma possess complete faith, free from doubt. Bodhisattvas further cause sentient beings to enter the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening, enabling all embodied creatures that crawl, fly, move, or stir throughout the trichiliocosm naturally to know their former lives. All sentient beings clearly awaken to the fundamental cause of origination and know the source of suffering. Consequently, they all give rise to the bodhisattva aspiration and faithfully cultivate the Tathagata’s right concentration.

At that time, the sentient beings who heard the Dharma, with diligent minds and relying upon the Buddha’s spiritual might, clearly understood their past conduct. According to how remote or recent their past conduct had been, they all reached the pure and sublime place of awakening. Those who had reached the place of awakening possessed steadfast resolve, their minds were fearless, they never again succumbed to fear, and their aspirations were directed toward complete liberation.

Sentient beings of keen faculties, after one day, two days, three days, or as many as seven days, relinquished their lifespans; when their lives ended, they were all reborn in the heavens. Those whose virtuous conduct was fully matured and undiminished were reborn in Buddha-lands throughout the ten directions. The beings reborn in the heavens naturally obtained innumerable kinds of celestial flowers, assorted incense, and other offerings.

They went and scattered them over the great assembly and those who had come to hear the Dharma as offerings. The flowers scattered from the sky did not fall to the ground but naturally transformed into jeweled terraces and jeweled crossroads. In loud voices they praised:

– We have gained excellent benefit and fortunate blessings, for we have been able to encounter the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening, which enables sentient beings throughout the trichiliocosm to fulfill their aspirations. Through the World-Honored One, we have swiftly gained such excellent benefit.

The devas further made separate offerings of incense and flowers to Bodhisattva Most Excellent and said:

– Only by relying upon the grace of the bodhisattva’s loving compassion have we been able to encounter this Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening, which has brought peace and joyful bliss to our entire bodies. If sentient beings hear the Dharma of the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening but do not possess complete faith in it, you should know that this is precisely because, in past lives, they were not fortunate enough to hear the Dharma of this samadhi.

The World-Honored One then addressed those who had come to hear the Dharma in the assembly:

– Long ago, innumerable asamkhyeya kalpas in the past, because I cultivated this samadhi, I have now attained the fruit of A-duy-tam Buddha. All the Buddhas of the past and future, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, must cultivate this Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening. The awe-inspiring virtue of this samadhi is inconceivable.

At that time, an incalculable number of those who heard the name of that samadhi gave rise to the Mahayana bodhisattva aspiration. The fourfold assembly all attained the Samadhi of Concentrated Mind. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of people who had come to hear the Dharma in the assembly gave rise, while still seated, to the aspiration for unsurpassed true and perfect enlightenment.

The World-Honored One then emitted light from the Samadhi of Concentrated Mind of the Flower of Awakening, illuminating the entire trichiliocosm. Beings in the hells and those among animals and hungry ghosts were freed from suffering and distress and were all reborn in the human realm, where they naturally knew their former lives. At that time, four hundred million beings seated in the assembly saw this auspicious sign.

Each became disenchanted with the calamities of existence and thought: “Once there is birth, there must be death; all arises through causes and conditions. After death, there is birth again, with grasping and bondage continuing without end. Sexual desire is the root, and it all arises from craving.

We vow to be reborn in the Land of Utmost Bliss, where there is no desire; only there shall we be able to cultivate the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening and that right attainment of concentrated mind.” Knowing their thoughts, the World-Honored One told them:

– Innumerable Buddha-lands west of here is a Buddha named Amitayus. That Buddha-land is pure and free from lust, anger, and delusion. All beings there are of one mind and are born from lotus flowers, not through the sexual union of father and mother. All those in that land are youthful boys; there are no women and no excretion of urine or feces. They take as their food the joy of Dharma and the bliss of meditation, without discriminating consciousness or conceptual thought. They revere one another, regarding each other as their parents. If you wish to be reborn there, you should make a solemn vow.

The four hundred million beings seated in the assembly then simultaneously formed the aspiration and vowed to be reborn in that land. At that time, from the Thus-Appearances right concentration, the World-Honored One emitted the light of the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening, which shone upon that Buddha-land so that those four hundred million beings could behold the Tathagata, the World-Honored One, and the bodhisattvas born there by transformation.

That land was vast and fashioned entirely from various treasures, including gold, silver, and vaidurya. It was free from the three evil destinies and the sufferings of the eight difficulties. After those four hundred million people had seen that Buddha-land, when their respective lifespans ended, they were all reborn together in that Buddha-land and cultivated the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening.

They attained this because of the vows they had previously made. Such were the merits produced by the awe-inspiring spiritual power and transformative influence of the Samadhi of the Factors of Awakening.

Chapter 13: REVERENCE

Bodhisattva Most Excellent then again addressed the Buddha:

– Why is it said that bodhisattvas always follow the Buddha to hear the Dharma, give rise to a reverent mind, and feel such delight that they cannot contain themselves?

The Blessed One taught:

– This essential Dharma is also like the medicine of the divine Na Đề. If anyone takes this divine medicine, their mind and spirit will naturally remain joyful and gentle; lust, anger, and delusion will be eliminated, and no illnesses will remain. One who hears the meaning and principle of even a single sentence of this Dharma will reach the Great Vehicle, escape deluded thoughts, and abandon the evil paths. Those who have not yet attained freedom in their aspiration will attain it; their faculties will be complete and never deficient. If anyone, with single-minded intent, diligently cultivates right conduct, entertains no other thoughts, and accords with this Dharma, all illnesses of defilement will naturally be eliminated. If a good man or good woman hears this Dharma, has faith in it, gives rise to reverence for the True Dharma, and sits beneath a tree with body upright and single-mindedly contemplates, then, should the mind become confused and disordered, that person must begin the practice anew. If the mind is not settled, one must discipline oneself and reproach oneself: “What is there that cannot be attained? Why can I not eliminate the evil mind? I must endure suffering through many kalpas without seeing the Way. On what day will my diligence finally bring accomplishment and the attainment of the unconditioned?” Through the Dharma of equality, they attain liberation. Thus, Tối Thắng, one who accords with this Dharma neither abides within the three realms nor departs from the three realms. That person further protects himself by means of the Three Jewels and the seven lucid, restraining Dharma gates of amrita, always repenting of past faults and committing no offenses in the future. He will attain the eighteen unique qualities of the Buddhas, the four kinds of fearlessness, the five faculties, the five powers, meditative concentration, and liberation. He expounds the impartial Dharma without dualistic opposition; his body is golden in hue, naturally adorned with the excellent marks, and possessed of every kind of merit like jeweled necklaces, while the sound of his exposition of the Dharma resounds throughout the ten directions. Tối Thắng, this means that a bodhisattva-mahasattva must attain ten meritorious qualities. What are these ten? Hearing the true teaching and focusing the mind in contemplation. Following a spiritual friend without giving rise to arrogance or defiance. Harboring neither self-importance nor self-abasement, but always maintaining the mind of the Middle Way. Practicing giving without ever being false or deceptive. In accordance with true principle, entering profound wisdom while the mind remains undistracted. Joyfully giving, with a delighted mind and no regret. In the presence of recipients, harboring no hesitation or discrimination. Penetrating the utmost limit of suffering and proclaiming the Dharma of non-self. Personally attaining supernormal powers without abandoning skillful means. These are the ten meritorious qualities.

At that time, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

Hearing the Dharma, the mind intent,

According with the Way, without notions or wishes,

Relying upon spiritual friends,

Giving without regret,

Cherishing others as oneself,

High and low according to their countenance,

Mindful, reverent, and single-minded—

One attains ten meritorious blessings.

Tối Thắng, you should know that when skillful means accords with the prajnaparamita, one attains the bodhisattva’s Vaipulya Dharma of the Great Vehicle. Out of compassion for people in the world, the Tathagata appears in the world and manifests many different methods of cultivation. He may manifest the Vehicles of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; he may conceal himself in deep caves or mountain ravines; or he may practice walking meditation, restraining his own seeking mind and observing that within the body there is nothing worthy of attachment.

Therefore, you should contemplate for yourselves that these are the Dharmas by which the Tathagata teaches and transforms beings. Those who believe what I say and keep it in mind will attain cessation in this very present Dharma. Although followers of other teachings do not reform themselves and adopt right conduct as you have, you should nevertheless sound the drum of Dharma for those followers of other teachings and expound the teaching.

That Dharma is without notions and without any thoughts, causing sentient beings to exhaust all outflows. Beings such as these cannot be counted; those who reverently long to hear the sutras are likewise of more than one kind. Those who abandon the true and follow the false are also countless; even those presently before one’s eyes are truly difficult to measure.

Some bodhisattvas concentrate on contemplating the Dharma gate of liberation; although their practice is complete, they delight in cessation. Why is this? Because they do not yet clearly understand the Dharma of skillful means and thus encounter difficulties and perils.

The Tathagata uses supernormal powers to guide them and enable them to understand clearly; yet they attain only personal awakening, which is not the bodhisattva conduct. They are then disturbed by Māra Pāpīyān and consequently regress, returning to the state of ordinary beings. Tối Thắng, you should know that day and night the Tathagata thoroughly observes the past, present, and future: who possesses dull faculties, regresses, and lacks diligence; and who formerly cultivated diligently until reaching the bodhisattva stage but then fell back.

Those who regress are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, while those who advance are as few as hairs. Their own minds also know this, but they lack supernormal powers. Ordinarily, when people first generate the aspiration, their resolve is very firm; but when they must accomplish the severance of the roots of sentient beings’ minds and cultivate the meditative Dharma of liberation that neither arises nor ceases, they become doubtful and consider it untrue.

The Tathagata must employ skillful means to expound true principle adroitly, causing them to delight in hearing the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and the essential Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination. They must first discern and awaken clearly to emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; understand clearly that all things are impermanent, not true, and devoid of existence; and know that self, person, and lifespan are empty and quiescent.

The Buddha again addressed Bodhisattva Tối Thắng and the assembly:

– I further recall that before I attained Buddhahood, the Tathagatas appeared and instructed me, and by their awesome spiritual power they also manifested to guide me. Because I remained mindful of my former practices and vows, I encountered the Tathagatas, attained a pure mind, and made my aspiration peaceful and secure. Now I have become the Tathagata, the Fully and Perfectly Enlightened One, complete in all practices and appearing in the world; this was achieved by guarding my mind and remaining irreversible. The assembly of bodhisattvas is likewise immeasurable, and the power of their transformations and supernormal abilities cannot be bounded. They subdue Māra, leaving his hosts no opportunity. If I go to cities, towns, commanderies, counties, villages, or hamlets, the sentient beings who see me immediately guard their minds and listen to the sutras without entertaining any other thought. They cause the Three Jewels to flourish and do not allow them to be interrupted. All who seek the Dharma have their wishes fulfilled and cultivate in peace and security.

The Buddha addressed Bodhisattva Tối Thắng:

– If there are sentient beings who have faith in the teachings of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, they should practice thirty-six things that keep the mind from anxiety and diminishment. What are the thirty-six things practiced by a bodhisattva that keep the mind from anxiety and diminishment? A bodhisattva discerns the three destinies without harboring resentment. Though dwelling amid sensual desire, the bodhisattva is not defiled by it; contemplates impermanence without forming a notion of contemplation; maintains pure mental conduct without losing the Dharma-nature; and seeks the Dharma of liberation realized by the worthy sages. Because beings possess minds directed toward the path, the bodhisattva delivers them. Having eliminated false views, the bodhisattva clearly knows that all things are impermanent and accords with the practice of the unattached Perfectly Awakened One; following conditions as they arise and cease, the bodhisattva casts off bonds; practices generosity not for personal benefit; awakens to the fact that the original root of a person has never arisen; knows that the span of life gradually passes away and can never remain forever, and that life changes like an illusion or magical transformation. The past has flowed away forever without leaving a trace; the future has no visible form, yet a presently existing body must again be assumed; and the present rushes onward without its destination being known. With luminous wisdom, the bodhisattva clearly understands karma, so consciousness does not abide and is bound neither to release nor restraint, but enters concentration in the domain of the wisdom of emptiness. Diligently cultivating the three things, the bodhisattva must also eliminate three things, without relying on the wisdom of emptiness to appropriate personal fruition and realization, but nurturing bodily life until reaching the place of awakening. Whether amid desire or free from desire, the bodhisattva does not depart from dispassion, and the right concentration of all Buddhas is always present. Though coursing back and forth through samsara, the bodhisattva does not give rise to the realm of non-perception, but constantly aspires to abide in wisdom and superknowledges; penetrates deeply into the treasury of the Dharma without seeing any penetration, and takes cessation and non-arising as the abiding place. Such is thusness: without shape or characteristic, originally without any boundary of existence; even a boundary is no boundary. Never forming a notion of permanence, the bodhisattva contemplates impermanence. Though appearing within birth and death, the bodhisattva sees no birth; entering the five destinies, awakens to the absence of any five destinies; and, though the afflictive defilements are bonds, has personally escaped them. The bodhisattva personally awakens to the unconditioned and has no craving or seeking. Seeing the deliverance of beings to be like empty space, the bodhisattva knows that, because of emptiness, there is no Dharma to be accomplished. Neither bodily deeds nor spoken words undergo diminishment. Most Excellent, these are the thirty-six supremely wondrous practices of a bodhisattva, which practitioners of the shravaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles cannot equal. A bodhisattva should carefully contemplate them and then teach them to others, without allowing sentient beings to develop contentious minds. This is because sentient beings capable of believing in this Dharma are exceedingly rare. Only one who can expound the Dharma of karmic conditions accords with the mind of non-arising. If the bodhisattva sees sentient beings whose minds and intentions are not steadfast, the bodhisattva should gradually instruct and guide them so that they clearly understand gain and loss. Though these matters are important, they should remain humble and never exalt themselves. Furthermore, if there is a deluded mind, one should employ the contemplation that original nonexistence is equal throughout the three times, without distinction; yet one sees neither equality nor inequality. Seeing is like not seeing, and yet there is also no seeing, although appearances seem to possess material characteristics. Form itself is formless; originally there is no form. If there were no consciousness to cognize form, how could consciousness exist? Because external sounds are apprehended, ear-consciousness arises upon hearing them. When the nose smells an odor, consciousness arises and itself recognizes whether it is fragrant or foul. When the tongue tastes flavors, consciousness arises and distinguishes the pleasant from the unpleasant. When the body makes contact, consciousness arises, and thus sensations of smoothness and roughness occur. When the mind takes dharmas as its objects, consciousness arises and clearly recognizes previous good and evil. Fully knowing and penetrating that all dharmas have no abiding, the bodhisattva does not abide and does not see any dharma that abides. Most Excellent, you should know that all dharmas possessed by the self and what pertains to the self are originally pure, yet purity itself is not seen. All dharmas of the self and what pertains to the self are originally unpossessed, and therefore no possession is seen. Nonexistence itself is also nonexistent, and no dharma of nonexistence is seen. A bodhisattva’s wisdom awakens to the fact that all things are unpossessed. Because the bodhisattva awakens through wisdom, the bodhisattva does not rely upon body or speech, neither exalts nor disparages the self, and from beginning to end fully knows and penetrates things naturally. When a bodhisattva awakens to the meaning of the wisdom of emptiness in this way, the bodhisattva attains unsurpassed, complete, perfect awakening and accomplishes innumerable dharmas that benefit the multitude.

At that time, those in the Dharma assembly—the fourfold assembly and the eight classes of spirits—sat upon their seats with hearts so immensely joyful that they could not contain themselves. Each gave rise to a reverent mind and scattered fragrant flowers, Mind Flowers, and Great Mind Flowers over the Buddha and the bodhisattvas, his great disciples. All the flowers arrayed themselves in rows and remained suspended in empty space, while spontaneous music resounded.

There were also devas standing on both sides in empty space, producing spontaneous sounds that reverberated all around. They all praised him, saying: “Today we have heard a Dharma such as we have never heard before. The World-Honored One has expounded for the bodhisattvas the essential Dharma of emptiness and nonexistence, making the conduct of body, speech, and mind steadfast.

Formerly, in the Deer Park, the World-Honored One turned the Dharma wheel for devas and humans, but did not fully explain everything. Now we hear the Tathagata expound the Dharma of emptiness and nonexistence, neither arising nor ceasing—the supreme ultimate meaning, foremost in the world and immeasurable. Since ancient times we have heard the Dharma, yet never have we heard a teaching such as this.

Excellent! The World-Honored One has ensured that our minds will never again hesitate. The nets of doubt have all been swept away, and no afflictions, resentment, or bonds remain.” The World-Honored One then addressed the assembly:

– A bodhisattva liberated through wisdom does not, for the sake of all sentient beings, abandon the fundamental dharmas; how much less would such a bodhisattva abandon the Dharma of emptiness and nonexistence? That cannot happen. A bodhisattva who studies and practices improperly gives rise to thoughts and notions of right and wrong. If there is no thought of attachment to any dharma, that Dharma is exceedingly profound and inconceivable. Practitioners of inferior wisdom fail to examine things with wisdom and consequently follow the four inversions, thereby giving rise to the hindrances of the skandhas. Because they cling to the hindrances of the skandhas and retain them in their minds, they again become bound by the twelve links of dependent origination. Once the twelve links have arisen, they also accept the sixty-two views. Because they accept the sixty-two views, they again unite with all the defilements and afflictive dust. Thus, a bodhisattva must constantly contemplate neither sharing the same locus nor departing from that locus. From ignorance through death, the minds and intentions of worldly people all give rise to confused and deluded thoughts. When they see a diligent person, their minds feel no admiration or respect. When they see a negligent person, they consider that person no different from one who is neither lazy nor arrogant. When someone observes the precepts, they consider that person no different from one who does not observe them. When they see someone violate the precepts, they declare that the intention is equal and nondual. They consider a mind that always practices patience to be anger leading to the evil destinies. They consider single-minded concentration without distraction to mean that no perceptions arise. With wisdom, a bodhisattva uproots suffering and ensures that it will never arise again. The bodhisattva must always distance the mind from all such notions and thoughts concerning worldly matters. What are these worldly matters? They are the five skandhas, the six sense objects, the four great elements, the four calamities, the eighteen foundational dhatus, and the twelve links of dependent origination. The mind is not brought into correspondence with these dharmas. This is called the conventional Dharma.

The Buddha said to Most Excellent:

– If bodhisattvas practicing generosity throughout the three times do not contemplate the recompense received in past lives; do not recollect the possessions they gave away in past lives; do not recollect the recipients of those gifts in past lives; do not recollect the places where they practiced generosity in past lives; do not recollect their lineage, houses, or dwellings; do not recollect that they were born into such-and-such a family or bore such-and-such a name; and do not think, “Because I practiced generosity at that time, I now receive this recompense; if I create merit now, my future recompense will be many times more excellent,” such bodhisattvas will not attain accomplishment. They will fall into an extreme, dwell within Mara’s realm, sever the lineage of the Buddhas, and utterly fail to reach the unsurpassed, right, and true path and attain Supreme Perfect Enlightenment. Why is this so? It is because they entertain conceptual attachment. Those who conceptually cling to generosity do not attain the true fruit. Furthermore, if bodhisattvas remain mindful of generosity in the present and future, they must constantly guard their minds and be free from all confused thoughts. At times, bodhisattvas may give clothing, food, beds and bedding, and medicines for curing illness to the poor and destitute, never denying whatever they need. Those who wish to attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment awaken to the emptiness of all dharmas and fully comprehend that they are one: dharmas are empty and without attributes; dharmas are empty and unborn, without fabrication and without any act of giving. They see neither a time that comes nor a time that goes. Through the emptiness of Dharma-nature, they clearly contemplate the aggregate of morality, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of concentration, the aggregate of liberation, the aggregate of the knowledge and vision of liberation, the thirty-two excellent marks, and the eighty beautiful characteristics, all of which are devoid of form and attributes. When seeing the dharmadhatu as it is contemplated in samadhi, they do not cling to the dharmadhatu. When seeing the Buddha as the Buddha is contemplated in samadhi, they contemplate the Buddha without clinging to the Buddha. The Buddha is without self and likewise without any place of arising. When the mind contemplates the path, the mind is luminous. When the mind contemplates the Dharma, the mind is luminous. When the mind contemplates sentient beings, the mind is luminous. With wisdom, they contemplate those thirteen undefiled practices, the thirteen dharmas of the future, past, and present. The Buddha has clearly seen the entirety of the dharmadhatu and discerned that its various realms neither come nor go. He sees no arising; dharmas inherently abide forever. He likewise sees no movement and no return. All sentient beings themselves give rise to consciousness and conceptualization; some, lacking faith, grasp at the transformations of the dharmadhatu. They purify the three spheres, cultivate the Tathagata’s seven, and cultivate innumerable dharmas that are not ultimate. Their expressions also differ, and therefore what they receive and accept is not the same. Bodhisattvas who wish to purify the three spheres and the five acceptances, and presently turn the Dharma wheel without obstructive conceptions, must first cultivate the thirteen undefiled contemplations. Most Excellent One, this is called the unobstructed wisdom and unobstructed faculty of wisdom of great bodhisattvas. For the sake of sentient beings, they manifest names and designations throughout immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable dharmadhatus. All these are manifestations of the peerless power of wisdom and skillful means.

At that time, Most Excellent One again addressed the Buddha:

– How do bodhisattvas enter meditative concentration and samadhi, cultivating, gathering, and sustaining wisdom and skillful means without becoming distracted?

The Buddha told Most Excellent One:

– When bodhisattvas enter the concentration of nonattachment, the teachings conveyed through their bodies, speech, and minds are unobstructed. They contemplate the Buddha lands as clearly as seeing a jewel in the palm of the hand. Even while teaching and transforming sentient beings, their minds remain unattached. They emit great light to guide all beings and turn the Dharma wheel with the unobstructed power of a Buddha. Bodhisattvas may take other bodhisattvas as their retinue, adorn their own bodies with the Buddha’s wisdom as though wearing jeweled necklaces, abide as the Buddha abides, journey to the various Buddha lands as the Buddha has journeyed, purify those lands, and employ the Buddha’s power of deliverance and transformation to liberate the sentient beings within them. Because they have made courageous vows to teach and transform sentient beings, they instruct others with the Buddha’s wisdom. Most Excellent One, this is the meditative samadhi into which all Buddhas have entered. The journeys, teachings, and transformations of bodhisattvas are inconceivable. They are fearless and encounter no peril or adversity. They never weary of hearing the Dharma; their minds neither regress nor become fatigued. They do not abandon the Dharma worthy of reverence and fall into some other teaching. Why is this? It is because such bodhisattvas possess vast and resolute intent among all dharmas. Their minds of great resolve cannot be destroyed. They arouse the aspiration to cultivate until they reach the very source of the Buddha’s true Dharma. They safeguard sentient beings and never abandon them, clearly understanding that sentient beings are empty and that all dharmas are likewise so. All dharmas are empty, and the nature of the path is also so. They skillfully observe the paths by which sentient beings advance, retreat, come, and go. With a mind of great loving-kindness pervading all, they never depart from the practices and principles of the Buddhas of the three times, and they fully accomplish the signless Dharma. Why is this so? It is just as when a man suspends a wish-fulfilling jewel in midair: none who behold it fail to delight in it, and its wondrous colors shine everywhere without obstruction. Yet it does not itself declare, “I possess light that shines everywhere.” Great bodhisattvas are likewise. With the precious jewel of the mind, their mouths utter words of wisdom, and the entire light of wisdom shines throughout the three-thousandfold great-thousand world. Yet bodhisattvas do not declare, “I now possess the light of wisdom that illuminates all.” Why? It is because bodhisattvas act for the sake of those sentient beings and not for themselves, wishing sentient beings to reach the gateway of liberation and conferring upon them the Buddha’s sacred seal of approval. Bodhisattvas purify the Buddha lands and safeguard all sentient beings, enabling them to relinquish every thought. The wisdom-eye of bodhisattvas fails to see nothing, however minute. They penetrate the origin of birth and death; the eight meritorious qualities of the past, future, and present; the exhaustion of the outflows; and complete cessation—matters that arhats and pratyekabuddhas cannot fully comprehend. Bodhisattvas awaken to the illusory nature of dharmas as perceived: like the shimmer of sunlight at midday, the trunk of a plantain tree, a mirage, an echo, an image in a mirror, the moon’s reflection in water, foam upon water, or scenes in a dream, all are unreal. This body of the five skandhas is suffering, empty, and not a self; it is formed through the combination of the four great elements. Bodhisattvas must further contemplate the six dhatus—earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness—within the three realms of Desire, Form, and Formlessness, all of which are realms of death; only nirvana and the Dharma-body constitute the Buddha realm. They awaken clearly that the realm of birth and death and the Dharma of nirvana are one, not two, nor are they many. The four great elements, the self, and what belongs to the self are likewise so. The self and what belongs to the self are empty, and all dharmas are also empty. All dharmas are empty, and the six dharmas contemplated in mindfulness are likewise so. They do not fall into inverted views or abide in birth and death. Nor do they recollect and grasp the Dharma of the Middle Way that they have realized. This is called the bodhisattva’s profound awakening to the essence of the Dharma: the Dharma of delivering others is not false, the Dharma of receiving nourishment is not false, and they abide securely upon the path without decline. There are also bodhisattvas who, through the four immeasurable minds, deeply contemplate birth and death as having neither an original source nor a final end. They aid sentient beings with material possessions and then encourage and guide them. Wherever great bodhisattvas of great compassion direct their gaze, everything becomes precious treasure. Mountains, rivers, rocks, cliffs, trees, grasses, shoots, and sprouts all become the seven treasures. At that time, bodhisattvas observe that some sentient beings cling to suffering, and therefore teach them that the five skandhas are suffering, are subject to aging, and are unreal. Through attachment to suffering, origination arises in dependence upon form; when origination is extinguished, the path is accomplished. The meanings of suffering are exceedingly numerous. Origination is their source. Only when these two dharmas are utterly extinguished is it called the path.

Chapter 14: COURAGEOUS VIGOR

At that time, a bodhisattva addressed the Buddha, saying:

– How should bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the aspiration cultivate so that it can never be severed? How can the consciousness of bodhisattvas remain secure and never abandon or depart from it?

The Blessed One then told Most Excellent One:

– The Dharma that a newly awakened bodhisattva must learn is not to become submerged in samsara and not to fear the self or ego. Although abiding in the past, future, or present, if one remains unafraid, one can courageously shatter wrong views. Upon merely hearing the savor of the Dharma, one immediately perfects the faculty of faith. One's mind is always directed toward the Dharma of cessation, one constantly abandons worldly karma, delights solely in the unsurpassed, right, and true Way, praises and studies the scriptures, and never wearies of hearing them. Whether encountering suffering or happiness, one does not regard it as wearisome. Why is this? Because a bodhisattva's mind is steadfast and cannot be shaken. After passing through one body, two bodies, or three bodies, at the proper time one attains the Tathagata's samadhi of meditative concentration and right absorption. One further attains the Samadhi of Unfailing Acceptance through Faith and the Samadhi of Retaining Perception and Receiving the Prediction, gradually reaching the Dharma patience of non-arising, which comes from nowhere and does not originate. Therefore, it is said that the inner practice of a newly awakened bodhisattva cannot be interrupted. A bodhisattva, with single-minded concentration, does not grasp the characteristics of form and does not conceive of permanence or impermanence, suffering or happiness, ugliness or beauty, distance or proximity. Nor does the bodhisattva recollect the dharmas of the past, present, or future; nor think, “I shall become a Buddha and rule over a three-thousand-great-thousand world-system”; nor conceive of the perception of existence, the perception of birth, prior perception, defiled perception, fettering perception, or mental perception. Upon receiving the sublime Dharma through immeasurable Dharma gates, the bodhisattva neither returns nor sees any return, neither becomes weary nor sees any weariness, neither becomes satisfied nor sees any satisfaction, neither abandons nor sees any abandonment, is neither different nor subject to change, and does not act spontaneously, yet is not without action. Therefore, it is said that spontaneity is the Dharma that encompasses and sustains the Dharma realm of empty space. A bodhisattva personally abides in a mind of boundless great vows such as these, without weariness, affliction, or retrogression, wholeheartedly aspiring to liberate all sentient beings. Because the bodhisattva wishes to deliver all sentient beings so that they may attain parinirvana, the bodhisattva abides for seventeen kalpas without forsaking this purpose, discerning the empty and quiescent dharmas of the three times, the emptiness of all dharmas, and the selflessness of all dharmas. Why is this? Wishing to bring sentient beings from this shore to the other shore, the bodhisattva-mahasattva reaches the realm of empty space and observes with the divine eye, seeing a great many sentient beings dependent upon the earth element, many sentient beings dwelling in the realm of empty space, and further seeing that the sentient beings in boundless empty space are so numerous that they cannot be counted. That bodhisattva possessing the divine eye then reflects: “What I have observed is truly profound, subtle, and wondrous. Observing from the four continents as far as Mount Sumeru, are there a great many formless sentient beings in the space above, or are there a great many sentient beings possessing form?”

The Buddha told Most Excellent:

– That bodhisattva possessing the divine eye was unable to know whether the formless sentient beings were many or few. Therefore, this was not within that bodhisattva's sphere of cognition. I shall now offer an analogy to explain this meaning further. One with clear eyes should thoroughly understand this analogy. Suppose that the empty space in the four cardinal and eight intermediate directions, as well as above and below, were entirely uniform, without any deficiency. The number of formless sentient beings therein would equal that of the sentient beings throughout the four continents. If one wished to know their number, one would count from one up to one hundred million and take one hundred million as a single unit. One would then count from one hundred million times one hundred million, again taking one hundred million as a single unit. One would count in this manner through seven iterations. If one wished to know the extent of the formless sentient beings in the space above, such would be their number.

The Buddha further told Most Excellent:

– When that bodhisattva possessing the divine eye observes the formless sentient beings in space, it is like a person casting an equal number of large stones in the four cardinal directions and above and below, with none missing whatsoever. Thus, their number cannot be known. From the initial stage of learning until attaining the stage of a bodhisattva, a newly awakened bodhisattva must deliver sentient beings with an unwavering mind and must know how not to be disturbed by Mara. Roaming throughout the three realms to seek instruction from virtuous spiritual friends, the bodhisattva no longer gives rise to fear or alarm. If bodhisattvas abide in this Dharma and sincerely accept it, it will not take them long. One should practice skillful means to encourage and assist them in awakening the aspiration, guide them toward nirvana, teach them the definitive Dharma of cessation and liberation, and further expound the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths confirmed by the Tathagata, clearly distinguishing and revealing the path. If sentient beings refuse to awaken, one should employ innumerable skillful means to guide them, clearly showing that the delusion and ignorance of origination lead to suffering; that craving and desire must be severed; and that, by accord with the Dharma of non-attachment, one can cross over to perfect awakening and attain the serene quiescence of the noble ones, which is liberation. What is called liberation is precisely liberation from birth, aging, illness, and death. Such a one does not die and is not put to death, neither escapes nor obtains escape—from what, then, is that one liberated? There is no binding, no fettering, no cessation, no arising, no accomplishment, no cultivation, and no attainment; only then does one accord with the right path. Deluded sentient beings do not know when liberation occurs. Out of compassion, the Tathagata appears in the world and serves as a Teacher of the Way wherever he travels. Sentient beings who hear the Dharma attain a mind of non-retrogression. If anyone joyfully accepts and upholds the True Dharma, that person attains the Dharma patience of non-arising, which neither originates nor comes into being. Newly awakened bodhisattvas constantly recollect and contemplate the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. They discern the six faculties, examining whence they arise and whither they cease. Dharmas themselves give rise to dharmas, and dharmas themselves bring dharmas to cessation. They see neither wrong nor right, engage in no fabrication, and see neither what belongs to a self nor what does not belong to a self. In contemplating whether reliance is upon an inner or an outer nature, they must discern each clearly. Bodhisattvas must further contemplate form, sensation (feeling), perception, formations, and consciousness. They do not see any past form. Past form cannot be obtained within, without, or in between. There is no past sensation (feeling), perception, formation, or consciousness. Past feeling, perception, formation, and consciousness cannot be obtained within, without, or between the two extremes. There is no abiding of past form and no non-abiding of past form; it is neither here nor there. There are no past eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind, or dharmas. Past eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind cannot be obtained within, without, or between the two extremes. There is no past cessation of mental perception and cognition; it cannot be obtained within, without, or between the two extremes. The same applies in the future and present to form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness; to the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind; and to the cessation of mental perception and cognition.

Furthermore, Most Excellent, suppose that a bodhisattva-mahasattva, through wisdom, supernormal powers, and the unobstructed Way, calculated all the merit, wisdom, and deeds of all Buddhas, and multiplied them tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold, or ten-thousandfold. Even this would not equal the merit of a newly awakened bodhisattva who establishes a single sentient being in awakening the aspiration for the unsurpassed Way, perfecting omniscience, and becoming fully endowed with the Dharma of all Buddhas.

Such a bodhisattva has severed deluded thoughts and no longer harbors doubts, and is honored and worshiped by devas and human beings alike. Having comprehended that all dharmas are illusory transformations and are not real, the bodhisattva practices every method involving conditioned and visible dharmas for attaining the Way, and thereby obtains the Tathagata's power of supernormal transformation.

At that time, the Buddha was seated upon the throne, and the assembly of one billion four hundred million beings all thirsted to behold the Tathagata’s spiritual powers, hoping to see the Tathagata display his majestic power and transformations. Knowing the thoughts of the assembly, the Buddha, from his lofty throne, emitted a great radiance. The pores of his body also emitted light.

From each pore streamed hundreds of thousands of millions of rays of light. Within each ray were hundreds of thousands of millions of luminous divine treasures, exquisitely carved and beautifully fashioned from various precious substances. Many kinds of flowers and assorted fragrances covered them.

From each of the four corners of every treasure hung four jeweled necklaces. Upon each treasure were hundreds of thousands of millions of banner branches. Each jeweled banner bore hundreds of thousands of millions of naturally manifested lion thrones made of lotus flowers.

Upon each throne were hundreds of thousands of millions of wondrous and extraordinary colors. Within each color were hundreds of thousands of millions of precious mani jewels resting upon lotus blossoms. Above each lotus blossom were, in turn, hundreds of thousands of millions of interwoven jeweled canopies.

Beneath each canopy were hundreds of thousands of millions of Tathagatas teaching the Dharma. Around each Tathagata were hundreds of thousands of millions of ducks, geese, and mandarin ducks naturally sporting in delight. At that time, the Tathagatas, the Unattached, the Perfectly and Fully Awakened Ones, upon those interwoven jeweled terraces, again emitted hundreds of thousands of millions of rays of light.

Within each ray of light there were transformation Buddhas. Each transformation Buddha spoke of the merit cultivated by newly resolved bodhisattvas and taught the Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination, impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, leading to the gateway of nirvana. From within each gateway there issued hundreds of thousands of millions of irreversible Dharma teachings—teachings never before expounded by anyone, but now proclaimed by the Tathagata for sentient beings.

They also manifested the Buddha’s bodily marks, majestic deportment, spiritual powers, and transformations, which sentient beings had never before seen or heard, which were inconceivable and inexpressible. At that time, those in the Dharma assembly rejoiced at what had never occurred before. Marveling at how wondrous and extraordinary it was, they said among themselves: “Because we now possess merit, we are able to behold these spiritual powers and transformations.”

The Buddha taught:

– This Dharma is mighty, transforming into inexhaustibly many Tathagatas. Like the Dharma of the tathagatagarbha, it abides in no abiding place, has neither form nor characteristics and no root; it attains what cannot be attained and reaches what cannot be reached. It is extremely profound, mysterious, subtle, and deep; it is real and not false. Its wisdom is vast and extensive; it eliminates delusion without destroying anything and brings the Dharma realm to fulfillment. The Dharma of all Buddhas of the future, past, and present becomes immediately manifest. It reveals the powers of the Tathagata, increasing the benefit of all Buddha lands. It is the Buddha’s mind-seal and gives rise to the bodhisattva path. Among all present teachings, this Dharma is the king of Dharmas: its Dharma-eye is pure, its wisdom-eye is purified, and its lineage has matured. The Buddha-eye is unobstructed. Through the wisdom-eye, one knows and distinguishes the meanings of words and thereby opens the Dharma gateways, enabling spiritual friends to perfect the mind of the path, without destroying the sphere of realization or corrupting the lineage. For the sake of all sentient beings, it shelters and protects them, giving them a place in which to abide; when among an assembly, they encounter no frightening calamity. Among skillful means, there is no Dharma it cannot transform. Its renown and merit are entirely pure, and there is no longer any desire to undergo birth in a womb. Its superior activity of wisdom disperses the clouds of the skandhas, hindrances, and afflictions. The blazing fire of wisdom burns away the accumulated mass of delusion and fetters, proclaims the true teaching, and revitalizes the place of awakening. Employing the four impartial states of mind—loving-kindness, compassion, and the others—the wisdom of dharani thoroughly examines the true principle. It contemplates the nine Dharmas and six activities with courageous power and without fear. It practices faith, mindfulness, wisdom, and concentration and provides inexhaustible instruction. Entering samadhi, it thereby contemplates the ten directions and bows to, reveres, and makes offerings to all Buddhas. Most Excellent One, this is called the indestructible mind of a bodhisattva mahasattva. It is also like the bodhisattva’s natural quality of emptiness: a wise person endowed with sight knows that it is empty, yet emptiness does not itself know or say, “I am emptiness.” The bodhisattva’s practice of the fundamental Dharma is likewise. The bodhisattva liberates as many people as there are grains of sand in the Ganges—even more than that number—and conveys them to the realms of the Buddhas, yet does not count how many sentient beings have been liberated. The bodhisattva does not think, “It is I who now liberate sentient beings in this way and lead them to the quiescent, unconditioned nirvana.” Nor does the bodhisattva say, “Through the karmic recompense arising from those causes and conditions, I shall attain the unsurpassed, true, and perfect path.” A newly resolved bodhisattva maintains a steadfast mind. From the initial generation of that resolve until arriving at the place of awakening, sitting beneath the king of trees, and subduing the hosts of Maras, all the meritorious deeds and wholesome karma cultivated throughout that interval are always for sentient beings and never for oneself. It is like empty space, which encompasses everything and excludes nothing, yet empty space does not itself know or say, “I am empty space.” The Tathagata’s spiritual virtue and radiance of wisdom pervade everywhere, receiving and liberating all sentient beings and enabling them to perfect the Dharma-eye. Neither separated nor bound, all Dharmas are indestructible. There is no person and no self; with penetrating wisdom as a sharp sword, one employs skillful and expedient means. The true teaching employed by all Buddhas possesses immeasurable merit and eliminates the net of delusion. All Dharmas cultivated by bodhisattva mahasattvas and all bodhisattva practices are directed toward attaining pure samadhi, in which there is neither emptiness nor non-emptiness. Emptiness itself neither arises nor is possessed. There is no person, no self, no being, and no life; neither arising nor cessation is perceived. Alone and without companion, it is inconceivable. It does not destroy the sphere of realization; even non-perception is absent. There is no arising, nor is arising perceived; emergence is not perceived either. There is no going, no coming, and no fabrication. Within the immeasurable Dharma realm, the karma of the place of awakening is perfected. The realm of emptiness is boundless and unfettered. For the sake of sentient beings, one establishes domains conceived as “mine” and “not mine,” giving rise to the conception of an ego-self. The bodhisattva guards the mind, relies upon roots of goodness and immeasurable wisdom to purify that path, and uses wisdom to eliminate the defilements of thought and intention.

Thus, Most Excellent One, when a bodhisattva enters the Samadhi of Pure Contemplation, the bodhisattva observes the sentient beings of the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, to discern who accords with the practice of Dharma, who accords with the practice of wisdom, and who accords with the practice of karma. If there are sentient beings fit to receive the Dharma, the bodhisattva should expound twenty-five Dharmas to them.

What are these twenty-five Dharmas? All Dharmas are without characteristics; all Dharmas are without form; all Dharmas are patience; all Dharmas are perceptions; all Dharmas are without roots; the spheres of all Dharmas are unobtainable; all Dharmas have nothing that can be grasped; all Dharmas are gateways of entry into non-duality; all Dharmas are without deliverance; all Dharmas cannot be severed; all Dharmas are profound and cannot be traced; all Dharmas are awakening and non-awakening; the powers of all Dharmas cannot be destroyed; all Dharmas are accomplished and unaccomplished; all Dharmas destroy without destroying; all Dharmas are impermanent and eliminate permanence; all Dharmas are undefiled; all Dharmas are pure conduct; all Dharmas are contemplation of their nature;

all Dharmas are uncontaminated; all Dharmas have eliminated the past; all Dharmas remove the net of delusion; all Dharmas are the prediction of wisdom that arises from nowhere; and all Dharmas are fundamentally nonexistent, without even the name “suffering.” This is called the cultivation of the twenty-five pure Dharmas.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva practices the three kinds of patience and wisdom: transcendent wisdom, unsurpassed wisdom, and wisdom that is neither transcendent nor non-transcendent. What is the bodhisattva’s practice of transcendent wisdom? It is the wisdom that does not impair the dharmadhatu and clearly knows that the body is originally nonexistent, and that the practices cultivated by the Tathagatas are not the wisdom cultivated by pratyekabuddhas and arhats.

One endowed with unsurpassed wisdom uses superior wisdom to comprehend that the practices of the noble pratyekabuddhas are not the practices of the Buddha or the arhats. Wisdom that is neither transcendent nor non-transcendent is the wisdom that clearly knows that the practices cultivated by arhats are not the practices of the Buddha or the pratyekabuddhas. What is transcendent wisdom?

It is the wisdom that clearly knows that the sphere of conduct of a Buddha is not the sphere of conduct of arhats or pratyekabuddhas. At that time, in the brief interval of a finger snap, the bodhisattva reflects with wisdom: “I must extensively deliver immeasurable sentient beings, cultivate boundless and limitless conditions, perceptions, wisdom, and karma, and attain samadhi as firm and irreversible as vajra.” The bodhisattva’s mind of great vows surpasses those of arhats and pratyekabuddhas.

This is called transcendent wisdom; it is not the sphere of practice of arhats or pratyekabuddhas. What is unsurpassed wisdom? It refers to the wisdom cultivated by noble pratyekabuddhas.

At that time, the bodhisattva gives rise to the aspiration to train, wishing to purify the dharmadhatu, guide sentient beings, proclaim the Buddhadharma, expound the wisdom of ambrosia, and seek to reach the bodhimanda for the sake of the unsurpassed path. If any sentient being comes directly to the bodhisattva, the bodhisattva gives that person his head, eyes, marrow, brain, cities, kingdom, wife, and children—whatever the person wishes to receive—with the sole exception of his father, mother, and teachers.

Giving in this way, he seeks no recompense. Thus, from one lifetime to a hundred lifetimes, and from one kalpa to a hundred kalpas, he does not perceive any possessions that have been given away. The bodhisattva reflects: “To whom did that object belong?

From where was it born? From where did it originally come? When it perishes, to where does it return?” Clearly understanding that things have no source or root, he perceives neither houses nor dwelling places.

At that time, the bodhisattva contemplates with the wisdom of emptiness and perceives neither a body, an object, a person, nor a place where giving occurs. Having long accumulated such supreme practices, the bodhisattva aspires in mind to swiftly attain the unsurpassed, right, and true path, deliver sentient beings, and purify the Buddha-land. Therefore, the bodhisattva’s mind delights in seclusion and serenity.

He constantly dwells among the mountains, his thoughts tranquil and right mindfulness always present, and inwardly reflects: “The merit I have accumulated since times past is now complete. I should attain the unsurpassed, right, and true path and become One of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment. The Buddha has now appeared in the world, his body adorned with the marks, extensively delivering sentient beings to the shore of liberation.

After the Great Sage enters final extinction in the realm of nirvana without remainder, I shall then diligently strive to accomplish the Buddha path.”

The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Most Victorious:

– The thoughts and vows of that bodhisattva do not contradict one another. After the Tathagata has remained in the world and taught all sentient beings, he will enter nirvana without remainder. When the true Dharma has completely disappeared, for one kalpa, two kalpas, and even a hundred kalpas, no Buddha will appear in the world. Dwelling among mountains and marshes, that bodhisattva will reproach himself: “Alas! I have truly squandered my efforts. The Buddha departed from the world long ago, the semblance Dharma has completely disappeared, and sentient beings no longer possess past affinities; therefore, their minds are constantly afflicted by defilements.” The bodhisattva goes to the foot of a tree and walks around it in meditation. Using his fingernail, he scratches the tree’s bark. With an upright mind abiding in the sphere of emptiness, he suddenly hears the sound of his nail scratching the bark, whereupon his mind immediately awakens and he attains the unsurpassed, right, and true path. Looking all around, he sees no one who would follow him in learning the path, so he conceals his physical form and does not turn the Dharma wheel. He is also like an ordinary person in the world, possessing the discriminating mind of a human being. This is called the cultivation of the unsurpassed wisdom of a noble pratyekabuddha; it is not that of a Buddha or an arhat. What is wisdom that is neither transcendent nor non-transcendent? It is the wisdom cultivated by arhats, not by the Buddha or pratyekabuddhas. At that time, the bodhisattva has accumulated practices since the distant past, diligently enduring hardship in the hope of attaining the unsurpassed, right, and true path and becoming One of Supreme Perfect Enlightenment. He practices generosity, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom; he may give away his head, eyes, wealth, kingdom, wife, children, and servants. Whenever anyone comes to ask, he gives to them without opposing their wishes. The bodhisattva cuts off his flesh, shedding blood as abundant as the waters of the four seas, and gives away enough bones to cover the four continents. Yet because he still does not realize the path, he gradually retreats and returns to the practices of an ordinary person. Weary of the calamities of birth and death, he no longer possesses a courageous and diligent mind. Recalling what he did in the past, remorse arises in his mind. Wishing to escape this body and abandon sentient beings, he seeks a teacher, studies, and long cultivates skillful means. Only after following the Dharma of the shravakas does he attain awakening. Recalling the merit he previously created, he entertains reproachful thoughts that the Dharma cannot bring about awakening. This is called the wisdom that is neither transcendent nor non-transcendent cultivated by arhats; it is not that of a Buddha or a pratyekabuddha.

How does a bodhisattva accord with pure conduct? It consists of the dharmas practiced by Buddhas, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas. Pure conduct is precisely the purity of the three banners, the purity of the three eyes, purity of morality, purity of concentration, purity of wisdom, purity of liberation, and purity of the knowledge and vision of liberation.

From the three wholesome dharmas to the eighteen uncontaminated dharmas, all wholesome dharmas, both supramundane and mundane, are pure. Buddhas, pratyekabuddhas, and arhats cultivate this pure conduct and thereby attain the path, never returning therein. They give rise to no perceptions and cannot be perceived.

There is neither arising nor cessation, nor is consciousness brought to a halt. Where there is a beginning and an end, there is an abiding place; but upon reaching that which has neither beginning nor end, how could there be any abiding place?

At that time, Bodhisattva Most Victorious said to the Buddha:

– World-Honored One, how does a bodhisattva become free from desire, with a mind that neither increases nor decreases; without conceiving of suffering or happiness, ugliness or beauty; without conceiving of the samadhis of meditative calm as having an initial, middle, or final stage in the past, present, or future; and without thinking of himself as abiding in desire or freedom from desire?

At that time, the World-Honored One said to Bodhisattva Most Victorious:

– The desireless bodhisattva roams throughout the Desire Realm, traveling back and forth within it to expound the Dharma and teach, yet his mind remains undefiled and unattached. The sentient beings there are as though scorched in a bottomless pit of fire. The bodhisattva has compassion for sentient beings bound within the four currents, who have not yet escaped and reached beyond the twelve seas. They seek a way out but do not know which path to follow. Inwardly, the bodhisattva patiently endures and is undaunted by hardship. He expounds and distinguishes the arising and decline of the five skandhas: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. He contemplates the arising and cessation of the four great elements as being like foam, a mirage, and the trunk of a plantain tree—false and unreal, possessing no solidity. Why is this? Because this Dharma is exceedingly profound and difficult to know completely. The dharma of form is exceedingly profound, and so too is the Path. The five skandhas are exceedingly profound, and so too are conventional dharmas. Conventional dharmas are exceedingly profound, and so too is the realm of emptiness. Skillfully contemplating the realm of space together with the Dharma realm, he sees that they contain no consciousness or conception of self, person, or lifespan, and contemplates them as illusory transformations. He contemplates the eight worldly conditions of no leisure, which are defiled and impure and obstruct sentient beings’ path of cultivation; through pure contemplation, he sees that they have no abiding place. Why is this so? Because a clear-sighted person can contemplate and penetrate the dharmas of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self. This is called a bodhisattva whose mind neither increases nor diminishes, who perceives neither suffering nor pleasure, good nor evil, ugliness nor beauty, and who is utterly unattached to the dependent arising of the three realms. The earth element naturally has hardness as its sphere. The nature of water is moisture; its natural character is softness. The nature of fire is blazing; its natural character is heat. The nature of wind is to drift and move without remaining still. The nature of dharmas is contemplative quiescence, devoid of the four great elements: “Whence do earth, water, wind, and fire arise, and through what do they cease?” When the bodhisattva distinguishes the Dharma realm, if the earth nature becomes predominant, the respective natures of water, fire, and wind differ from it; spiritual consciousness naturally weakens, and gradually the elements no longer accord with one another. As the earth nature becomes heavier, spiritual consciousness grows weaker, and the respective elements approach separation. If the water nature becomes predominant, earth, fire, and wind fluctuate and weaken, and spiritual consciousness immediately seeks to depart, no longer resting securely within the body. It is like a person in a quiet room who wishes to go outside to a village. First, he must place his right foot beyond the threshold; this is called the predominance of the earth nature. He then extends his right hand beyond the door; this is called the predominance of the water nature. He places his left foot beyond the threshold; this is called the predominance of the fire nature. He then extends his left hand beyond the door; this may be called the predominance of the wind nature. Walking along the road is called the separation of spiritual consciousness. Arriving at the village is entering the five destinies. Only one who knows this can fully understand that the Dharma realm is neither hard nor soft, neither hot nor light. Hardness is the place of abiding; softness is the place of arrival; heat is the place of departure; lightness is the place toward which one proceeds. In this way, the bodhisattva distinguishes the Dharma realm, fully contemplating each dharma as having no abiding place. He contemplates how the natural characteristics of the Dharma realm differ, nourishing the spirit and causing the body to grow. Each great element possesses its own distinct nature. Among the four great elements, fire is extremely harmful. The natures of the other three elements naturally correspond with one another. Therefore, the bodhisattva should contemplate the four great elements, both internal and external, in this same manner. The four great elements of sentient beings within the three realms are not alike; when one seeks their source, no location can be found. The bodhisattva should further contemplate the functioning of the six faculties. The eye is empty, and eye-consciousness is also empty. Awakening clearly to emptiness is itself the Dharma realm. The bodhisattva-mahasattva should further contemplate and clearly awaken to the six objects. Form seen by the eye does not exist. The form of an object appearing before the eyes also does not exist. The same is true of the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The bodhisattva should further train in the characteristic of truth and the characteristic of non-truth, the characteristic of the Path and the characteristic of what is not the Path, the characteristic of emptiness and the characteristic of non-emptiness. How does a bodhisattva train in the characteristic of truth and the characteristic of non-truth? At that time, the bodhisattva clearly awakens to Original Non-being. Original Non-being is one, not two. The bodhisattva also knows the realization of the Path, yet there is no realization; he sees neither the undergoing of realization nor the non-undergoing of realization, and he sees neither correspondence nor non-correspondence. Clearly understanding correspondence and non-correspondence is called the characteristic of truth. When the bodhisattva trains in the characteristic of truth, abiding the mind in emptiness is also true principle, and departing from emptiness is also true principle; he neither abides nor does not abide. This is called the vajra right concentration of the characteristic of truth. Relying upon the fundamental dharma of non-cultivation, and maintaining and guarding it, he attains Exhaustion. Awakening to these three matters is also the characteristic of truth. A bodhisattva training in the characteristic of truth clearly knows that the inner mind is unreal and, knowing external characteristics, does not enter into them. He sees neither delight nor the absence of delight; he sees neither what is right nor what is wrong. This too is called the characteristic of truth. Inwardly, he does not sever right view; outward characteristics are merely manifestations. If he dwells in a secluded place, his mind is always quiescent. If external conditions are chaotic, the bodhisattva clearly understands all sufferings, abides in what is appropriate, and keeps his mind constantly even. One who awakens to this characteristic of truth realizes the Path through contemplation and directly experiences that the five skandhas are empty; therefore, he does not abide. He sees no dharma in which to abide. His wisdom brings all perceptions to an end. His mind abides neither in delusion nor in the fetters, does not abide in the five matters, and never follows the world’s ten wholesome deeds or ten unwholesome deeds. This is called the characteristic of truth. A bodhisattva who practices the characteristic of truth in this way becomes irreversible. The characteristic of non-truth is the ultimate meaning of the realm of space. Clearly knowing these things to be quiescent, he releases them according to conditions and is not bound. This is called the bodhisattva’s characteristic of non-truth.

How does a bodhisattva train in the characteristic of the Path and the characteristic of what is not the Path? To be hesitant and bound within worldly delusion, and to become desirously attached to dharmas to which one should not be attached; to allow violence, disorder, and perversity to arise within one’s own mind and thereby fall into suffering—this is called the characteristic of the Path. To perform deeds with the present body and receive their karmic results in a later life, without relying upon a teacher or turning toward a spiritual friend, is also the characteristic of the Path.

What is the bodhisattva’s characteristic of what is not the Path? The characteristic of what is not the Path consists of the thirty-seven factors conducive to awakening. The conditioned and unconditioned dharmas cultivated and entered are not two, yet neither are they apart from two.

One neither follows conditions nor departs from conditions, neither abides in conditions nor accords with conditions; there is no deliverance, yet neither is there no deliverance; there is no fruit, yet neither is there no fruit. There are one, two, three, four, up to ten, yet neither is there an absence of ten. There is neither being born nor not being born; neither complete cessation nor the absence of complete cessation; neither arising and ceasing nor the absence of arising and ceasing; neither verbal teaching nor the absence of verbal teaching; neither understanding emptiness nor not understanding emptiness; neither contemplating the concentration of calming nor not contemplating the concentration of calming.

The bodhisattva contemplates these twenty-four matters, clearly examining them in detail from beginning to end. His discerning mind does not abide in samsara but relinquishes bondage. Without exalting or demeaning himself, he must then devote all his strength to cultivating the Du Tán Samadhi, the foremost among hundreds of millions of kinds of concentration.

That samadhi is a noble Dharma, unsurpassed by any other Dharma, and is not within the sphere of arhats or pratyekabuddhas.

At that time, while seated upon his throne, the Blessed One entered a right concentration called Single-Minded Fearlessness, causing every member of the fourfold assembly to be free from other thoughts and from distracted perceptions. The Blessed One then said to Tối Thắng:

– Listen attentively! Listen attentively! Carefully contemplate this Dharma. I shall now expound and distinguish this samadhi for you, so that those in the Dharma assembly may no longer harbor doubts.

Tối Thắng said:

– In accordance with the World-Honored One’s teaching, I rejoice and wish to hear. Because of this joy, my mind is at peace.

The Buddha said to Most Victorious:

– There is a samadhi called Dispelling All Fetters, which enables sentient beings possessing form throughout limitless realms to cast off suffering and be free of all afflictions. There is also a samadhi called Courageous Loving-Kindness and Illumination, which enables every sentient being to be free of thoughts of resentment. There is also a samadhi called Fullness of Renowned Virtue. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he causes sentient beings to be without thoughts of food and drink. There is also a samadhi called Purity. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to attain the purified Dharma eye. There is also a samadhi called Purity of the Faculty of Hearing. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to attain the divine ear. There is also the Samadhi of Mental Quiescence. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to abandon the false and worldly Dharma. There is also the Samadhi of Eliminating Evil. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to cultivate the practices and meritorious deeds of the ten wholesome actions. There is also a samadhi called Walking Alone. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to relinquish minds of wrong views and follow the right path. There is also the Samadhi of the Path of Progress. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to follow the path without delusion. There is also a samadhi called Accomplishment. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to abandon corrupt precepts and perfect pure morality. There is also a samadhi called Joy in Conscience and Moral Dread. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to uphold patience. There is also a samadhi called Advancement in Virtue. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he causes sentient beings whose minds are indolent and arrogant to arouse courageous resolve. There is also a samadhi called Solitary and Companionless. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings who delight in false teachings swiftly to enter meditative concentration. There is also a samadhi called Subjugation. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables ignorant and attached sentient beings to adorn themselves with wisdom. There is also a samadhi called Free of Outflows. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings who lack faith to establish the faculty of faith. There is also a samadhi called Virtue of Complete Retention. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings of little learning to become greatly learned. There is also a samadhi called the Standard of Dignified Conduct. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to rectify their deportment and never transgress propriety. There is also a samadhi called Bestowing Benevolence. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings attached to desire to be forever free of sensual craving. There is also a samadhi called Already Liberated. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables wrathful sentient beings to cast off anger and resentment. There is also a samadhi called Free of Delusion. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables ignorant sentient beings personally to cultivate the activity of wisdom. There is also a samadhi called Reaching Everywhere. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he enables sentient beings to be unattached to the three realms of existence. There is also a samadhi called All Bodily Forms and Appearances. When the Tathagata enters this samadhi, he causes all sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions to transform into hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of millions of forms and appearances, yet none of those sentient beings knows any of the others. Most Victorious, I have now spoken only briefly of the essential samadhi teachings. Even if, from one kalpa to another for as many as a hundred kalpas, the Tathagata were to expound the samadhis into which the Tathagata has entered, they could never be fully described. Only the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, can know them.

At that time, Most Victorious addressed the Buddha:

– How wondrous! The Tathagata has manifested inconceivable transformed bodily forms and adorned himself with immeasurable, invisible skillful means. The Tathagata has taught the samadhi teachings into which he has entered, such as I have never before seen or heard. If bodhisattvas hear the names of these samadhis and then resolve to receive, retain, and recite them, they will attain mastery wherever they go. Furthermore, if they encourage and assist sentient beings, causing them to rejoice, they thereby make an offering of Dharma to the Buddhas. This is not a realm that shravakas or pratyekabuddhas can reach. If anyone maligns these teachings of samadhi concentration, that person will always dwell in darkness and be unable to comprehend them. Moreover, that person will fall bodily into the Avici Hell, bearing offenses as numerous as the grains of sand that cover the earth, too many to describe fully. If anyone harbors jealousy toward the concentrated mind of samadhi, that person’s offense is immeasurable. For many kalpas, that person will be blind, stammering, mute, and deaf, unable to hear the Dharma. Although attaining human birth, that person will constantly undergo much suffering, speak falsely, engage in divisive speech, and be unable to speak properly. One must personally possess the bodhisattva’s vast and extensive learning, rather than rely upon others, to be able to believe in this right concentration of samadhi. If anyone encourages others to arouse the resolve to recite and cultivate this concentration, that person will, at the appropriate time, behold the Buddhas of the ten directions. Furthermore, only one who today hears the Buddha explain this concentrated mind and whose resolve remains unchanging accords with right concentration.

Then Most Victorious, relying upon the Buddha’s awe-inspiring spiritual power, addressed the Buddha:

– Today, all who have come to this assembly—the bodhisattvas, the fourfold assembly, devas, nagas, spirits, and ghosts—wish to see the Tathagata manifest the moving power of the concentrated mind. Through it, they may receive its beneficent influence, whether little or great, and attain many accomplishments. World-Honored One, out of compassion, please emit a great radiance that illuminates all Buddha realms throughout the ten directions. May the sentient beings of mature faculties in those realms rely upon this light, all receive instruction and transformation, and all attain liberation.

At that time, in accordance with Most Victorious’s request, the World-Honored One immediately entered the right concentration called the Samadhi of Being Like Its Image. That samadhi was named the Great Intention of the Wheel Mark upon the Feet, and he emitted a great radiance. After illuminating the entire Sahā World, that light also shone upon Buddha lands throughout the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

Hundreds, thousands, and hundreds of millions of bodhisattvas and sentient beings in the lands of the ten directions followed that light and came to the Sahā World. To the east, beyond Buddha realms numbering ninety-six times the sands of the Ganges from this realm—and even more numerous than that—there was a land called Ocean Treasure. Its Buddha was named Treasure Purity Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, the Well-Gone One, the Knower of the World, the Unsurpassed One, the Tamer of Beings, the Teacher of Devas and Humans, the Buddha, the World-Honored One, who was then teaching the Dharma.

That Buddha had a bodhisattva named Unhindered Eloquence, a non-retrogressing bodhisattva. Upon seeing the light, he immediately went before Treasure Purity Tathagata, bowed his head and face at the Buddha’s feet, and stood to one side. Treasure Purity Tathagata then said to Bodhisattva Unhindered Eloquence:

– When you go to that realm, you must guard your dignified conduct and not transgress its proper forms. This is because the dispositions of those in that realm are obstinate, and their deeds are fierce and violent. You should not regard either suffering or pleasure. The sentient beings of that realm are mostly arrogant at heart and do not accord with the Right Dharma. Should you encounter them, you must be cautious and harbor no fear. If you can do so, you should know that the proper time has come.

A great many bodhisattvas in that Buddha realm personally addressed the Buddha Treasure Purity:

– We are about to attain an excellent benefit. Owing to our past merit, we rejoice that we were not born in the Sahā World.

At that time, Bodhisattva Unhindered Eloquence, surrounded by ten thousand bodhisattvas, arrived in the Sahā World and came to the dwelling place of Buddha Shakyamuni in the time it takes a strong man to bend and extend his arm. The World-Honored One, knowing this, said to Most Victorious:

– Do you see Bodhisattva Unhindered Eloquence and those bodhisattvas?

Most Victorious replied:

– Yes, I see them.

The Buddha said to Most Victorious:

– That bodhisattva was foremost in expounding meaning; he possessed loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; his speech was harmonious, his aspiration and conduct lofty and far-reaching. He smiled before speaking, and his countenance was bright and joyful. When someone asked him a question, he answered concisely without repetition. He guided and delivered sentient beings as a Buddha guides and delivers them, and had attained non-retrogression on the bodhisattva path.

At that time, Bodhisattva Eloquent Penetration, together with ten thousand bodhisattvas, bowed at the feet of the Blessed One, circumambulated him three times to the right, joined their palms toward the Buddha, and spoke these verses of praise:

Your voice resounds throughout the ten directions,

Proclaiming the names of virtues;

It has reached our Buddha-land—

All this is through the Buddha's deliverance.

Our Buddha-land is pure;

There, even the names of the five destinies are unheard.

Yet we have left it and come here—

Your loving-kindness and compassion are beyond compare.

Now the Blessed One manifests

In the human realm—a truly rare event;

Your accumulated virtue towers like Mount Sumeru,

Yet you humble yourself and descend to this lowly place.

Even if one were to cultivate diligently

For one kalpa or a hundred kalpas,

It would not equal a single moment

Of cultivating loving concern for this realm.

When Buddhas appear in the world,

They first choose pure lands;

Only the Blessed One can patiently endure

Dwelling in this world of the five turbidities.

Excellent! Truly rare—

You rescue and protect, delivering all impartially;

You transmit and teach the Dharma of the Three Vehicles,

Causing body, speech, and mind to become pure.

Those who have attained the bodhisattva path

Also harbor no thought of turning back;

Their aspiration grows ever more diligent—

Therefore, I bow in homage.

Removing the bonds of delusion and doubt,

They swiftly cultivate the ten wholesome actions;

The Buddhas, complete in all Dharmas,

Expound wisdom vast and profound.

In our Buddha-land,

A Buddha may abide for ten billion kalpas,

Yet this does not equal abiding in this realm

For one kalpa to deliver a single person.

I have journeyed to immeasurable lands,

As countless as the sands of the Ganges,

Yet nowhere have I heard of such suffering

Or of the eight inopportune states.

The people of this realm are obstinate;

Their bodies are formed from defilements.

With the water of true suchness—the Four Noble Truths—

You bathe them clean within and without.

We have come here with faithful hearts,

Traveling from afar to take refuge;

We wish to hear the Dharma of meditative concentration—

May you expound it at the proper time.

After Bodhisattva Eloquent Penetration had finished praising the Buddha in verse, he addressed the Buddha:

– How does a bodhisattva possess firm aspiration, patiently accept and receive meditative concentration, and never become weary of hearing instructions or consider what he has heard sufficient? How does a bodhisattva make his words accord with his deeds and possess a gentle inner nature?

The Blessed One then said to Eloquent Penetration:

– Listen closely! Listen closely! Reflect well upon this Dharma. I shall distinguish and explain its meaning for you.

Eloquent Penetration replied:

– Yes, Blessed One.

The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Eloquent Penetration:

– By cultivating the concentrated mind and accomplishing four dharmas, a bodhisattva makes his aspiration firm, patiently accepts and receives meditative concentration, and never becomes weary of hearing instructions or considers them sufficient. What are these four dharmas? They are the four dharmas of impartiality: loving-kindness, compassion, and so forth, practiced without indolence. He sees those who are delivered as illusory transformations, yet also possesses the unequaled wisdom of the Buddhas. (This means that Bodhisattva Eloquent Penetration, by accomplishing these four dharmas, possessed firm aspiration and could patiently accept and receive meditative concentration.) How does a bodhisattva remain single-minded and resolute in aspiration, with speech free from error and confusion?

The Buddha said to Eloquent Penetration:

– At that time, the bodhisattva must further accomplish four dharmas. What are these four dharmas? The bodhisattva expounds only the Dharma of emptiness to sentient beings, teaching that all dharmas are empty and that one should cling neither to the sense faculties nor their objects. He joyfully praises the virtues cultivated by bodhisattvas. He distinguishes wholesome from unwholesome dharmas and conditioned from unconditioned dharmas, while recollecting and practicing skillful means. These are the four dharmas. How does a bodhisattva increase his roots of goodness so that they do not diminish under many circumstances?

The Buddha said to Eloquent Penetration:

– A bodhisattva must further contemplate four dharmas, with the mind single-pointed and undistracted. What are these four dharmas? They are: keeping the mind constantly concentrated in samadhi; strictly observing proper conduct and decorum; not vainly seeking offerings or material gain; and not seeking fame. These are the four dharmas that keep the mind undistracted. There are also four dharmas that increase wholesome roots. What are these four dharmas? They are these four: teaching others to arouse the mind of faith; after giving, not imagining any karmic reward; protecting and supporting Dharma teachers; and ensuring that the teachings delivered by a bodhisattva are not contrary to the Dharma. These are called the four dharmas that a bodhisattva must cultivate and practice. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate while passing from one stage to another, whether retreating or advancing. What are these four dharmas? Teaching sentient beings to cultivate wholesome roots; distancing oneself from all evils and not engaging in deluded deeds; not abandoning the great vows; and not allowing the mind to become timid or weak. These are the four dharmas that a bodhisattva must cultivate and practice. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must uphold. What are these four dharmas? They are: a bodhisattva’s employing skillful means to teach and transform sentient beings; establishing the minds of ordinary beings in faith; carrying out the work of liberation without falsity; and manifesting the majestic characteristics of a Buddha in order to guide and receive sentient beings. These are called the four dharmas that a bodhisattva must uphold. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these four dharmas? They are: walking and standing in accordance with proper conduct; not becoming attached to clothing; conforming to the conventions of that age; and always remaining patient, whether amid suffering or happiness. These are the four dharmas cultivated by a bodhisattva. There are also four dharmas. What are these four dharmas? They are: personally taming one’s disposition and mind; always arousing the mind directed toward the Way; never departing from skillful means; and concentrating the mind upon recollection of the Buddha. These are the four dharmas. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these four dharmas? They are: a bodhisattva’s recollecting the practice of dwelling in solitude; distancing oneself from the mind of a sravaka or pratyekabuddha; seeking the Dharma without weariness or contentment; and extensively expounding to others the true Dharma one has heard. These are called the four dharmas. There are also medicines for treating illnesses; seeking the meaning and principles without weariness; and patiently enduring all suffering. These are called the four dharmas. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these four dharmas? Practicing the patience of non-arising and transcending the patience of complete cessation; contemplating the fundamental twelve links of dependent origination; not becoming attached to the patience regarding dharmas; and personally relinquishing every kind of patience regarding dharmas. These are called the four dharmas. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these four dharmas? Contemplating unwholesome dharmas and meditating on impurity; counting the incoming and outgoing breaths; cultivating pure dharmas; and always remaining humble. These are called the four dharmas. There are also four dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these four dharmas? One must first discern which dharma accords with a sentient being and only then administer medicine; one must always remain mindful and respectful, never becoming arrogant; when among a great assembly, one must not become infatuated with offerings or material gain; and one must practice appropriate skillful means without obstruction. These are called the four dharmas. There are also five dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these five dharmas? Receiving the Dharma of equality without deficiency; regarding one’s own body as equal to the bodies of others, without difference; cultivating in reliance upon spiritual friends; and forever eliminating the fetters so that no remnant remains. These are called the five dharmas. There are also five dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these five dharmas? Examining oneself and recognizing one’s own faults without looking for the faults of others; when among unwholesome sects, causing their members to cultivate loving-kindness; clearly penetrating all dharmas and casting off binding conditions; making the mind directed toward the Way steadfast and never false; and liberating the sentient beings before one by enabling them to cultivate the aspiration for the Way. These are called the five dharmas. There are also five dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these five dharmas? Always practicing generosity; thereafter teaching others to practice loving and benevolent generosity; when arousing the mind of generosity, making no discriminations and not judging the rights and wrongs of sentient beings; attaining liberation with regard to all profound dharmas; and sincerely aspiring to become a Buddha and adorn the foundation of the Way. These are called the five dharmas. There are also five dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these five dharmas? Knowing the arising and cessation of formations; possessing the power of fearlessness; not abandoning sentient beings; discerning the various kinds of wisdom and also possessing superior wisdom; and harboring no antagonistic mind. These are called the five dharmas. There are also five dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these five dharmas? Transcending the five destinies and constantly cultivating the paramitas; entering the Samadhi of Loving-Kindness and thereby dwelling personally in peace and joy; bringing the immeasurable wisdom of the Buddhas directly before one; and harboring no mind that finds the immeasurable dharmas of samadhi difficult to understand or obscure. There are also five dharmas that a bodhisattva must remember and contemplate. What are these five dharmas? Arousing the mind of vast vows and never regretting it; making one’s words accord with one’s deeds and uttering no falsehood; relying upon meditative concentration without becoming attached to meditation; guarding one’s mindful awareness without attachment; and taking no delight in any place one reaches. These are the five dharmas. Bodhisattva Eloquent Penetration, when a great bodhisattva cultivates this fundamental practice of concentrated mind, that bodhisattva attains the Tathagata’s right concentration.

At that time, when the Blessed One expounded this Dharma, two hundred million devas and humans aroused the mind directed toward unsurpassed, right, and true enlightenment, and another five thousand devas attained the patience of non-arising. The bodhisattvas from the various Buddha-lands then each scattered fragrant flowers as offerings to the Buddha. The flowers rose as high as the knees.