最勝問菩薩十住除垢斷結經

Chapter 22: EQUANIMOUS LOVING-KINDNESS

At that time, the bodhisattva Most Victorious addressed the Buddha, saying:

“How does a bodhisattva enter the Samadhi of Equanimous Loving-Kindness and universally contemplate the trichiliocosm, the aggregates constituting human bodies, the aggregates constituting divine bodies, and the realms of dragons and ghosts, from one body or two bodies up to hundreds of thousands of bodies? How does a bodhisattva, through the power of spiritual mastery, travel from one Buddha-land to another as freely and unobstructedly as a person taking a stroll?”

Thereupon, the Blessed One said to Most Victorious:

– Excellent! That question is truly wondrous. I shall now explain its meaning clearly for you. Listen carefully! Listen carefully! Reflect well upon it and bear it in mind. All dharmas are empty and quiescent, without any origin; even when contemplating the various kinds of wisdom through which the Way is attained, no trace can be found. A bodhisattva enters right meditative absorption and universally contemplates the embodied beings throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand world, observing that the body of the five skandhas arises and then ceases, arising in dependence upon the body and ceasing in dependence upon the body. The bodhisattva further enters the realm of emptiness and contemplates earth, water, fire, and wind, discerning each dharma and clearly understanding that they have no real existence: when a dharma arises, it arises; when a dharma ceases, it ceases.

Most Excellent, you should know that long ago, when I cultivated the bodhisattva path for a very long time, my mind was wholly concentrated in meditation. I guarded it from distraction, entered the Immovable Samadhi, and contemplated the immeasurable and innumerable beings dwelling in space, teaching and transforming them according to their forms and kinds. Among them were beings with lust, anger, and delusion, and beings without lust, anger, and delusion; beings with thoughts of sensual desire and beings without thoughts of sensual desire; beings with thoughts of wrath and beings without thoughts of wrath.

Through skillful wisdom, the bodhisattva accords with their kinds and manifests in forms and appearances resembling theirs. The bodhisattva’s mind remains in meditative absorption and is never distracted. In the time it takes to snap one’s fingers, the bodhisattva enters hundreds of thousands of Buddha realms, sometimes teaching and transforming beings through wisdom that contemplates the Dharma-nature, and sometimes guiding them toward the Right Dharma through the teachings of emptiness, suffering, selflessness, and impermanence.

The bodhisattva’s methods of teaching and transformation are likewise without limit, and the bodhisattva instructs them by means of ten practices of wholesome Dharma. What are these ten? First, the bodhisattva purifies the land without reckoning personal merit.

The bodhisattva reveals luminous wisdom and knows without obstruction. Seated beneath the tree of enlightenment, the bodhisattva’s mind is without fear or weakness. The bodhisattva subdues hostile maras and causes them clearly to recognize the deviant path.

The bodhisattva journeys through all realms and delivers immeasurable numbers of beings. The bodhisattva’s patient mind is as immovable as the earth. The bodhisattva distinguishes the faculties and their gateways, discerning signs of what is easy and what is difficult.

The bodhisattva’s practice is mature, without hesitation or uncertainty regarding any practice. The bodhisattva clearly distinguishes the processes by which the skandhas are sustained and entered, and the activities of form, sensation (feeling), perception, formations, and consciousness. The bodhisattva contemplates the six inner sense faculties and relinquishes the six outer sense objects.

If the eye sees form, visual consciousness does not arise. Regarding both outer form and inner consciousness, the bodhisattva clearly awakens to their false and unreal nature: “Through whose eye’s cognition does form exist?” If the ear hears a sound, auditory consciousness does not arise. Both the outer sound and inner consciousness are clearly awakened to as false and unreal: “Through whose nose’s perception does fragrance exist?” If the tongue tastes a flavor, gustatory consciousness does not arise.

Both the outer flavor and inner consciousness are clearly awakened to as false and unreal: “Through whose tongue’s tasting does flavor exist?” If the body perceives smoothness and softness, no consciousness or perception of touch arises. Both the outer contact and inner consciousness are clearly awakened to as false and unreal: “Through whose bodily perception does the sensation of smoothness and softness exist?”

Most Excellent, you should know that when a bodhisattva enters meditative absorption, the bodhisattva clearly distinguishes each dharma and teaches and transforms beings according to their kinds, sometimes instructing them through words, sometimes through spiritual powers, and sometimes through wisdom and skillful means, entering among each kind without obstruction.

At that time, the bodhisattva further employs ten dharmas to instruct and deliver sentient beings. What are these ten? First, the wisdom faculty is complete, and the concentrated mind is undistracted.

Second, the awakened mind is resolute, and wisdom is expounded without obstruction. Third, the factors of the Way are explained with their meanings and purport complete. Fourth, the excellent marks, profound and quiescent, are clearly understood without error.

Fifth, the Way and what is not the Way are clearly understood, and emptiness is fully known. Sixth, the mind reveres the Dharma-wheel and teaches tirelessly. Seventh, the bodhisattva path is practiced without perceiving a self-body.

Eighth, although sentient beings are delivered, no one who is delivered is perceived. Ninth, inner and outer emptiness are clearly understood to be one and not two. Tenth, the body is discerned without perceiving any transformation.

This is called a great bodhisattva who, endowed with the ten dharmas, can journey throughout all Buddha realms, passing from one Buddha realm to another, never departing from the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones. A bodhisattva should remember to cultivate the dharanis. What are these dharanis?

There is the Seal of All Dharmas Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, all deluded thoughts concerning every dharma are eliminated.

There is also the Universal Light Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva gains a mind of loving-kindness that is impartial toward all sentient beings and is free from inverted thought.

There is also the Luminous Wisdom Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva causes impure lands to become pure.

There is also the Radiant Illumination Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, even when the mind is disturbed, it remains entirely free of the dust of defilements.

There is also the Discernment of Meaning Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva cultivates contemplation of all practices and enters immovable meditative absorption.

There is also the Discernment of Dharma Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva distinguishes the meanings of phrases without losing their proper sequence.

There is also the Discernment of Fragrance Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva observes sounds and their resonances and delivers beings according to their kinds.

There is also the Responsive Discernment Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva fully accords with all practices.

There is also the Mental Foundation Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva observes all dharmas clearly and in detail, without hesitation.

There is also the Spiritual Powers Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva’s lifespan abides in the world for hundreds of thousands of kalpas.

There is also the Root Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva distinguishes the flourishing and decline of the faculties and their gateways without undergoing change.

There is also the Power of the World Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva cultivates a vajra body that cannot be destroyed.

There is also the Factors of Awakening Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva expounds all dharmas and awakens all sentient beings.

There is also the Factors of the Way Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva clearly contemplates the fundamental causes and conditions of the dharmas of the three times.

There is also the Concentrated Mind Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, distracted thoughts and deluded perceptions are caused to return to the Way as before.

There is also the Skillful Wisdom Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva possesses every skillful means that accords with nonexistence and also awakens to the Dharma of nonexistence.

There is also the Generosity Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva clearly awakens to the fact that the three aspects of giving are all without real existence.

There is also the Moral Discipline Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva perceives neither one who cultivates moral discipline nor one who violates it.

There is also the Patience Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva perceives neither patience, anger, nor a mind of distracted thought.

There is also the Diligence Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva perceives neither the karma of diligence nor indolence.

There is also the Right Meditative Absorption Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, even upon hearing ten thousand peals of thunder shake the world, the hairs on the bodhisattva’s body do not stand on end.

There is also the Wisdom of Emptiness Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva’s discerning wisdom comprehends the vast multitude of phenomena and expounds them without obstruction.

There is also the Unobstructed Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva’s wisdom penetrates all things without obstruction.

There is also the Vast and Far-Reaching Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, even hundreds of thousands of bodies can be united into one.

There is also the Instruction Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva instructs others with the Right Dharma, and the bodhisattva’s words cause no one affliction.

There is also the Inconceivable Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, arhats and pratyekabuddhas cannot equal the bodhisattva.

There is also the Tree of Enlightenment Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva adorns the land and never departs from the Buddhas.

There is also the Subjugation of Mara Dharani. When a bodhisattva attains this dharani, the bodhisattva guards the mind firmly, and the mind does not incline toward what is deviant.

There is also the Sign-Integrating Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani possesses hundreds of thousands of blessings and rewards in each and every characteristic. There is also the Adornment of Excellent Marks Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani does not perceive the excellent marks adorning the body. There is also the Light-Illuminating Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani beholds hundreds of thousands of rays of light transforming into immeasurable manifestations.

There is also the Dharani for Liberating Beings. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani, though liberating sentient beings, sees it as though no beings were liberated. There is also the Vast Wisdom Dharani.

The mind of a bodhisattva who attains this dharani is like empty space, neither narrow nor partial. There is also the Aspiration for the Way Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani neither conceives of nirvana nor clings to existence.

There is also the Nirvana Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani does not perceive any dharma that ceases or arises. There is also the Purity Dharani.

For a bodhisattva who attains this dharani, the defilements are entirely pure, inexhaustible and never exhausted. There is also the Freedom from Suffering Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly understands that suffering and non-suffering are designated the Truth of Suffering.

There is also the Arising and Accumulation Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly knows that the roots of affliction, conditioned by the mind, are all empty and insubstantial. There is also the Complete Cessation Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani extinguishes the accumulation of defilements and creates them no more. There is also the Noble Path Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani abides in the Dharma of liberation and in the eternal quiescence of nirvana.

There is also the Calm-Abiding and Insight Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly contemplates the signs of the flourishing and decline of the wondrous Dharma. There is also the Treasury of Emptiness Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly contemplates all dharmas and knows them to be without a master. There is also the Pure Voice Dharani. When a bodhisattva who attains this dharani speaks, the words are gentle and harmonious, like the voice of Brahma.

There is also the Commendation Dharani. For a bodhisattva who attains this dharani, whatever people say accords with the bodhisattva’s own intention. There is also the Equanimous Mind Dharani.

The speech of a bodhisattva who attains this dharani flows freely and eloquently, without obstruction. There is also the Place of Practice Dharani. Of those who hear the instructions of a bodhisattva who attains this dharani, none are harmed.

There is also the Majestic Illumination Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani is not timid in the midst of a great assembly. There is also the Vigorous Advance Dharani.

When a bodhisattva who attains this dharani utters the lion’s roar, birds fall and beasts flee. There is also the Precepts and Discipline Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani subdues all sentient beings who are difficult to awaken.

There is also the Path of Progression Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly realizes nirvana and entertains no conception of arising or cessation. There is also the Dharma-Nature Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani enables flatterers and deceivers to behold the true path. There is also the Pacification of Mind Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani does not give rise to arrogance or exalt himself above others.

There is also the Penetrating Comprehension Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani, having heard that noble wisdom, does not forget the teachings. There is also the Arousing Reverence Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani immediately casts off haughtiness and follows the deeds of all Buddhas. There is also the Realm of Emptiness Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani penetrates the rules and disciplines and clearly understands the source of all dharmas.

There is also the Immeasurable Dharani. The speech of a bodhisattva who attains this dharani has been inexhaustible from the beginning until now. There is also the Powerful Retention Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani distinguishes written words and the purport toward which the Dharma tends. There is also the Ultimate Meaning Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly realizes the original nature, and the dharma-dhatu is likewise pure.

There is also the Difficult-to-Extinguish Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly contemplates the purity of sentient beings, seeing both within and without as empty and quiescent. There is also the Boundless Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly realizes that dharmas are originally nonexistent and that even this original nonexistence of dharmas is itself nonexistent. There is also the Jeweled Garland Dharani. The sutras and teachings expounded by a bodhisattva who attains this dharani are unobstructed.

There is also the Wondrous Essence Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani possesses a Dharma that those of the Two Vehicles cannot fathom. There is also the Tathagata Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani awakens to the direction of sentient beings upon the path of quiescence. There is also the Ten Bhumi Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani constantly expounds non-abiding and does not perceive any dharma that abides.

There is also the Skandha-Seed Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani discerns the source of the body without giving rise to a mind of defiled attachment. There is also the Quiescence Dharani.

For a bodhisattva who attains this dharani, it is as though a single cry were uttered, yet not even an echo existed. There is also the Nature of Consciousness Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani can contemplate all things without clinging to written words.

There is also the Understanding of the Origin Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani neither expounds, speaks, nor instructs. There is also the Written Word Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani personally knows past lives and knows the courses of rebirth and the passages to and fro among them. There is also the Dharma-Wheel Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani has no intention, no conception, and no consciousness.

There is also the Amrita Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani expounds, recites, and teaches the Dharma without obstruction. There is also the Profound Concordance Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly distinguishes the combined meanings of the four propositions. There is also the Dharma-Banner Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly perceives meanings and principles and thoroughly understands the source of consciousness and dharmas.

There is also the Inexhaustible Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani expounds to the utmost the original limit without abandoning the dharmas of proximate conditions. There is also the Equal Awakening Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani constantly expounds immeasurable dharmas without clinging to the True Dharma. There is also the All Dharmas Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani thoroughly cultivates all dharmas without losing their sequence or coherence.

There is also the Great Vow Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly realizes wisdom, in which there is neither opposition nor conformity. There is also the Skillful Means Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani teaches and liberates sentient beings with Dharma suited to their various kinds, without any timidity. There is also the Wisdom of the Way Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani discerns the summit dharma and cultivates the paramitas.

There is also the Illusory Transformation Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani discerns that the dharma-dhatu has no nature either within or without. There is also the Intermediate Existence Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani clearly knows the dwelling places of all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones. There is also the Bodhimanda Dharani. For a bodhisattva who attains this dharani, the lands throughout the ten directions blaze with a golden hue.

There is also the Mara-Subduing Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani subdues all followers of non-Buddhist paths. There is also the Self-Guarding Dharani.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani guards body, speech, and mind without perceiving anything that is guarded. There is also the Dharma-Teaching Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani fully possesses the foundations of the Dharma, without deficiency or omission.

There is also the Application of Thought Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani observes the thoughts and intentions of immeasurable sentient beings. There is also the Earnest Diligence Dharani.

Through skillful means, a bodhisattva who attains this dharani expounds the teachings so that all sentient beings enter the path and discipline body and mind. There is also the Flowing Transformation Dharani. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani distinguishes all forms of wisdom without clinging to past or present.

There is also the dharani called Conforming Gentleness. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani receives the Dharma without weariness and is free from anger and delusion. There is also the dharani called Advancement in Virtue.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani sees that all dharmas are fundamentally without possession. There is also the dharani called Forms and Appearances. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani, upon seeing forms and appearances, never abandons them through error.

There is also the dharani called Voice of the Hearers. A bodhisattva who attains this dharani examines all dharmas without reckoning or attachment. There is also the dharani called Conforming to Suffering.

A bodhisattva who attains this dharani, upon hearing and investigating the flavor of the Dharma, knows it to be equal and nondual.

When the Blessed One taught this dharani Dharma-gate, twelve hundred million nayutas of people attained the complete faith and the patience in the non-arising of dharmas. Moreover, innumerable beings all aroused the resolve for the unsurpassed, right, and true path. The Blessed One then said to Tối Thắng:

– The deeds of bodhisattvas are inconceivable; they are not dharmas that arhats or pratyekabuddhas can comprehend. Only through the awe-inspiring spiritual power and responsive efficacy of rightly receiving the concentrated mind of the Samadhi of Equal Loving-kindness can this be attained. Therefore, it is said that the discipline of the Mahayana guides one upon the path and serves as a method of true instruction and transformation; one should take it as the Dharma robe.

At that time, Tối Thắng addressed the Buddha:

– Excellent! Excellent! How joyful is this teaching! All dharmas of cultivation have neither root nor branch. One awakens to and clearly comprehends the empty, quiescent nature of dharmas, discerning each dharma to be empty and quiescent. The Blessed One expounds the vast Mahayana Dharma universally to all. Bodhisattvas who hear and practice this Dharma will, when their lifespans have ended, all be reborn in the world called Vast Patience.

At that time, everyone in the assembly was filled with uncertainty and wished to behold that Buddha-land. Through his spiritual powers, the Tathagata contemplated and knew the thoughts of the beings. He then emitted light from the crown of his head, illuminating the entire three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system and reaching even that immeasurable realm of Vast Patience.

The Buddha in that realm was named Inexhaustible. He possessed the dharani called Conforming Adherence, through which he remembered and never forgot; extraordinary dharmas were always present before him. For kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, he had made offerings to the Buddhas and accumulated the Dharma of the path, and thus personally accomplished unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment.

The Buddha said to Tối Thắng:

– You should recollect and cultivate ten dharmas. What are these ten? First, discern the Dharma-realm and fully understand its empty nonexistence. Second, clearly know that the body is empty and quiescent, having no master either within or without. Third, awaken in mind to the four great elements and do not rely upon anything conditioned and residual. Fourth, with regard to all dharmas, perceive no extinction. Fifth, let the activities of body, speech, and mind not abide in quiescence. Sixth, uphold the precepts; even where there are no precepts, do not violate them. Seventh, cultivate heedfulness, taking restraint of the mind as the root. Eighth, vow to accomplish the Path and never forsake your original aspiration. Ninth, employ inconceivable dharmas to deliver those difficult to deliver. Tenth, when all practices are pure, one’s undertakings are not burdensome. These are called the ten fundamental dharmas cultivated by great bodhisattvas.

Furthermore, bodhisattvas should cultivate ten exemplary dharmas. What are these ten? First, fully possess pure morality and be free from heedless conduct.

Second, bestow the Dharma through wisdom upon those who listen, without impairing the Dharma-realm. Third, discern the skandhas and ayatanas, fully understanding their emptiness and quiescence. Fourth, know that the four great elements are impermanent and all return to cessation.

Fifth, clearly understand the eighteen difficulties and the maladies of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas. Sixth, fully possess vows and receive the support and praise of all Buddhas. Seventh, establish beings not yet established, delivering them so that they abide in liberation.

Eighth, when bodhisattvas enter samadhi, they cannot be disturbed. Ninth, universally contemplate all activities within and without. Tenth, personally contemplate the marks of arising and cessation that are the origin of the body.

These are called the ten fundamental dharmas that great bodhisattvas should recollect and cultivate, thereby personally accomplishing the wisdom of perfect awakening.

Furthermore, bodhisattvas should cultivate the samadhis of meditative concentration and right absorption in accordance with the Dharma. There is a samadhi called Samadhi of Equal Contemplation. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi accomplish contemplative wisdom and are not heedless.

There is also a samadhi called Gathering the Mind. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi can gather in the afflictions and prevent them from binding them. There is also a samadhi called Protecting the Precepts.

Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi have minds like empty space and do not give rise to dualistic perceptions. There is also a samadhi called Great Treasure. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi expound the Dharma of the seven factors of awakening, the inexhaustible treasure of Dharma.

There is also a samadhi called Tree of the Path. For bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi, the flowers of the Path burst beautifully into bloom, delighting all who see them. There is also a samadhi called Measure of the Ocean.

The Dharma of bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi cannot be fathomed by followers of the Two Vehicles. There is also a samadhi called Entering the Chamber. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi deeply enter the treasury of essential Dharma and know every dharma.

There is also a samadhi called Moonlight. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi travel freely throughout the Buddha-realms. There is also a samadhi called Luminous Moon.

Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi radiate light upon all, and none remain unilluminated. There is also a samadhi called Profound Mirror. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi clearly awaken to the fact that throughout the three times no dharma arises or ceases.

There is also a samadhi called Freedom from Love and Hatred. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi regard hated enemies impartially, seeing them as their own children. There is also a samadhi called Great Compassion.

Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi regard all sentient beings as their fathers and mothers. There is also a samadhi called Loving-kindness and Compassion. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi become for all sentient beings a rain that universally waters them.

There is also a samadhi called Profound Compassion. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi have no conception of a self, ego, person, or lifespan. There is also a samadhi called Non-perception.

Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi can turn the unsurpassed Dharma-wheel. There is also a samadhi called Practicing Suffering. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi do not diminish their own merit throughout asamkhya kalpas.

There is also a samadhi called Wisdom and Morality of the Power of Vision. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi perceive no self or ego, and their conduct is always pure. There is also a samadhi called Separation from the Body.

Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi escape the bonds of the entangling fetters and do not violate the precepts. There is also a samadhi called Self and Ego. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi have no mind of attachment to distinctions between this dharma and that dharma.

There is also a samadhi called Profound Penetration. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi awaken to the Dharma of patience and perceive neither quiescence nor non-quiescence. There is also a samadhi called Pure White.

Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi contemplate and discern pure conduct. There is also a samadhi called Correspondence. Bodhisattvas who attain this samadhi correspond with the Dharma, neither arising nor ceasing.

These are called the samadhis of right absorption of great bodhisattvas.

When bodhisattvas go to Buddha-realms in other directions to honor and make offerings to the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, they are without fear and encounter no terrifying calamities. Even if their bodies are declining, their lives are about to end, and their bodily parts are gradually dispersing, bodhisattvas contemplate this body as being like grass, trees, walls, and partitions. They do not give rise to a defiled, grasping mind but practice patience.

Hearing harsh words, they do not become distressed; although encountering things that please them, they do not rejoice on that account. When they seek the meaning of verbal teachings, they find no location for them; they clearly perceive that spoken words have neither root nor branch, and that the originally nonexistent mind is unreal in every thought. This is called the purity of meditative intention of great bodhisattvas.

Although the mind may at times become distracted, it is not bound; it grasps neither this side nor the other, and both internal and external dharmas are pure. Through contemplation in this manner, their minds abide in patience. This is called the purity of body, speech, and mind of great bodhisattvas, through which they accomplish the wisdom of patience.

Furthermore, Most Excellent, great bodhisattvas should cultivate the meditative intention of diligence, enlarging wholesome dharmas and allowing none to be lost, while contemplating the Dharma-realm as neither increasing nor decreasing. With uncontaminated wisdom, they contemplate the dharmas that govern and guide. They should also contemplate the dharmas upon which the world depends, perceiving no dharma as accomplished or unaccomplished, perceiving neither the right truth nor inversion, neither following nor relinquishing, and not abandoning the dharmas already accomplished. This is called the inexhaustible precious treasury accumulated by great bodhisattvas.

Bodhisattvas do not perceive where the dharmas of the past, present, and future come from or where they go. There is no place of arrival, and their going leaves no trace. The Noble Eightfold Path is foremost among all dharmas.

They clearly discern the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths, escape the activity of deluded and inverted perceptions, and teach the Dharma to others without obstruction. They clearly awaken to the fact that sentient beings are empty, false, and unreal; even when they seek all dharmas, none can be found. Therefore, dharma after dharma mutually arises, and dharma after dharma mutually ceases.

Persons do not depart from dharmas, and dharmas do not depart from persons. The intrinsic nature of persons is empty and quiescent, and dharmas are likewise empty and quiescent. Just as persons are naturally so, dharmas are also naturally so.

Only by clearly awakening to natural suchness does one correspond with the practice of unsurpassed, right, and true awakening and attain the inexhaustible practice of the Buddha-Dharma.

If one seeks the Dharma, then with regard to both the Dharma already sought and the Dharma presently being sought, one does not grasp the three times and remains undefiled. In the Dharma sought by bodhisattvas and the Dharma that bodhisattvas have obtained through seeking, there is neither any dharma to attain nor any dharma not to attain. Most Excellent, this is called the great bodhisattva’s accomplishment of the wondrous practice of wisdom and diligence.

Most Excellent, you should know that great bodhisattvas should further contemplate and cultivate meditative concentration, right absorption, and samadhi. They do not violate the Dharma of the precepts; their minds are impartial and nondual, and they perceive no duality. There is neither accomplishment nor non-accomplishment.

While in meditative concentration, bodhisattvas employ right concentration so that their minds do not give rise to distracted perceptions. With regard to all kinds of concentration, they do not relinquish the dharmas of non-perception, and they clearly awaken to the fact that both within and without there is no master. This is called the one-pointed right concentration of great bodhisattvas.

They do not impair meditative concentration, nor do they perceive any gathering together. They have no mind that escapes from or abandons sensory realms. Although cultivating, they do not cling to dhyana, and the stream of their thoughts and intentions encounters no obstructing difficulties.

This is called a great bodhisattva neither establishing dharmas nor departing from dharmas, but always single-mindedly contemplating the natural essence of all dharmas, clearly awakening to all dharmas, with no conception of arising or cessation in the mind. This Dharma is neither something seen nor something the mind can conceive or measure. With contemplation and meditative concentration equal and nondual, the bodhisattva directs the resolve toward a nature that is neither a corresponding dharma nor a non-corresponding dharma, and does not perceive any corresponding dharma.

The bodhisattva discerns the origin of the twelve links of dependent origination: conditioned by formations there is ignorance; conditioned by ignorance there is consciousness; conditioned by consciousness there are name and form; conditioned by name and form there are the six sense entrances; conditioned by the six sense entrances there is contact; conditioned by contact there is existence; conditioned by existence there is craving; conditioned by craving there is feeling; conditioned by feeling there is birth; conditioned by birth there is death, together with immeasurable sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress. In brief, the body composed of the flourishing five skandhas is a body beset by peril, frail and unable to endure for long.

At that time, the bodhisattva’s mind cultivates the equality of the Dharma of original nonexistence, discerning that form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are all empty and quiescent. The bodhisattva further employs right concentration toward the originally pure Dharma, without attachment or defilement, and without perceiving form; clearly awakening that form is formless, the bodhisattva transcends all inverted activities. This is called the single-minded dhyana concentration of a great bodhisattva, a Dharma beyond the reach of arhats and pratyekabuddhas.

Although adherents of non-Buddhist paths who possess the five superknowledges may enjoy immeasurable lifespans, because they lose their supernormal powers they cannot attain the ultimate. For one who cultivates dhyana concentration and the right absorption of samadhi, it is not difficult to sustain life for one kalpa or more than one kalpa. This is because that person has attained dhyana concentration, manifests wisdom, eliminates the defilements, and does not give rise to deluded views.

This is called the great bodhisattva’s resolve to use the path to guide and transform sentient beings, employing whatever Dharma accords with them and prescribing medicine according to their illnesses. The bodhisattva further uses Dharma-wisdom to contemplate the nature of emptiness, enters the Samadhi of Universal Loving-Kindness, and contemplates throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand world system, extending to Buddha lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

All sentient beings who should be delivered are caused to attain liberation. This is the Tathagata’s dhyana concentration and right absorption, whereby all sentient beings are brought to cessation and deliverance. This is called a great bodhisattva’s accomplishment of the concentrated mind of Universal Loving-Kindness; those delivered are immeasurable and beyond all calculation or limitation.

O Supreme Victor, such is the lofty and majestic spiritual virtue of the Tathagata. Whoever wishes to contemplate the Dharma must employ the wisdom-eye, not the physical eye or the heavenly eye; nor is this a Dharma that arhats or pratyekabuddhas can perceive. By contemplating all dharmas, the bodhisattva clearly awakens that all dharmas are empty and quiescent, that all dharmas are pure, that all dharmas are illusory, and that all dharmas are settled in concentration. This is called the boundless mind of the great bodhisattva’s vast vows.

There is no dharma that acts, no dharma that abides, and nothing that can be entered. All dharmas are originally quiescent. This is a Dharma cultivated by those whose minds are concentrated, not a Dharma cultivated by those of distracted thought. The bodhisattva universally contemplates all dharmas in this way. To contemplate in this manner is to contemplate the Dharma.

When contemplating the Dharma, the bodhisattva does not discriminate among classes of dharmas. If there are faults regarding the Dharma of liberation, one cannot attain the ultimate, nor can one accomplish the concentrated mind through the True Dharma. The bodhisattva should remain mindful and eliminate deluded views, seeking nothing and grasping nothing, and should entertain no contrary thought of seeking to receive great blessings, but discern that both internal and external dharmas are empty and quiescent. This is called a great bodhisattva entering the Samadhi of Universal Loving-Kindness and clearly contemplating that all dharmas have no existence whatsoever. It is precisely because they have no existence whatsoever that this is called seeing the Dharma.

One who sees the Dharma sees that there is no self, no person, no being who experiences, and no life. These dharmas are all provisional designations, not true dharmas. They are conditioned dharmas, not the realm of the unconditioned. Within the realm of the unconditioned there are no conditioned dharmas. The bodhisattva clearly awakens that conditioned and unconditioned, with outflows and without outflows, permanent dharmas and impermanent dharmas, self, person, one who experiences, and life—all have no existence whatsoever. This is called a great bodhisattva’s discernment of the concentrated Dharma that is free from arising and cessation.

If a bodhisattva contemplates the characteristics of all dharmas, clearly awakening that all characteristics are empty, quiescent, and nondual, without perceiving duality, and clearly awakening that relative dharmas are nondual, only then does the bodhisattva correspond with the concentrated mind. Regarding inverted dharmas, the bodhisattva clearly awakens that they have no existence whatsoever, perceiving neither a right path directed toward the Way nor a wrong path leading to the various views. With immeasurable wisdom and a mind of loving-kindness vast enough to embrace all sentient beings, the bodhisattva purifies the Buddha-realm and the Buddha land.

From one Buddha land to another, the bodhisattva goes to honor, attend upon, and make offerings to all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, and further employs radiant wisdom and supernormal powers to contemplate throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand world system. If sentient beings whose faculties have matured fail to encounter sages and noble ones and consequently fall into the three evil destinies, the bodhisattva must then abide there to rescue them and prevent them from falling into turmoil.

At times, because a bodhisattva-mahasattva seeks to deliver sentient beings, the bodhisattva accordingly creates favorable conditions, journeying back and forth without expending effort. Within the time of a finger snap, the bodhisattva personally enters hundreds of thousands of right absorptions and concentrated states, accomplishes contemplative wisdom, and cultivates all virtues.

When practicing generosity, the bodhisattva reflects upon the faculties and dispositions of devas and humans, yet does not perceive any giver, clearly awakening that the three aspects of giving all have no existence whatsoever. Only this is called a bodhisattva corresponding with the Dharma of generosity.

Furthermore, when a bodhisattva employs the precepts to instruct others, the bodhisattva clearly awakens that violating and observing the precepts are also dharmas having no existence whatsoever. Only when there is neither observance nor non-observance of the precepts does the bodhisattva correspond with morality.

Furthermore, at times a bodhisattva constantly practices patience and rejoices on behalf of others upon seeing them practice patience. If the bodhisattva encounters someone irascible and enraged, the mind does not become worried or sorrowful. Clearly seeing that indolence and patience both have no existence whatsoever, and are neither one, nor two, nor hundreds of thousands, the bodhisattva clearly awakens to patience and non-patience and only then corresponds with patience.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva constantly cultivates diligence and rejoices on behalf of those who are diligent. If the bodhisattva encounters an indolent person, no resentment or hatred arises on that account. The bodhisattva clearly awakens that indolence and diligence are one and not two, and does not perceive two mutually opposed dharmas; neither perceiving a dharma of diligence nor a dharma of indolence, the bodhisattva clearly awakens that diligence and indolence are both empty and quiescent and only then corresponds with diligence.

Furthermore, whether walking or sitting, the bodhisattva always remains single-minded in dhyana concentration and right absorption, never deficient in them. Though thunder peals in the heavens, the earth quakes, and tens of thousands of sounds arise together, the bodhisattva remains single-mindedly focused. Nothing can shake or displace the bodhisattva’s mind. Clearly awakening that concentration and distraction both have no existence whatsoever, and clearly awakening to concentration and non-concentration, the bodhisattva only then corresponds with the concentrated mind.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva’s wisdom universally permeates every class of sentient beings and discerns all their myriad faculties and dispositions. The bodhisattva expounds and explains to everyone the Dharma appropriate to them without distorting the meaning of the Buddha’s teaching. Contemplating with impartial wisdom, the bodhisattva perceives neither the wise and worthy nor the foolish and deluded. The bodhisattva clearly awakens that those possessing wisdom, those lacking wisdom, and the foolish and deluded all have no existence whatsoever. Perceiving neither existence nor nonexistence, the bodhisattva sees that existence and nonexistence are both quiescent like empty space and are nondual.

This is called a bodhisattva using wisdom to contemplate the characteristics of all dharmas as pure in this manner, perceiving neither characteristics nor the absence of characteristics. By clearly awakening to characteristics and non-characteristics, the bodhisattva accomplishes the excellent marks and delivers sentient beings to the shore of liberation.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva must enter the concentration of emptiness, journey through the realm of empty space, and clearly discern the sentient beings dwelling in the realm of emptiness. Whether through verbal teachings, supernormal powers, luminous signs, or ascetic practices, the bodhisattva teaches and transforms them, causing all sentient beings to enter the Way and discipline their bodies and minds.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva cultivates the Dharma of non-perception, eliminating modes of cultivation that cling to inverted perceptions.

The bodhisattva further journeys to the realms of Buddhas in other directions, always employing the signless and unchanging Dharma to teach and transform sentient beings, enabling them all to attain liberation. Furthermore, the bodhisattva cultivates wishlessness, seeking no reward within the three realms, relying on and clinging to no person, and remaining unattached to the auspicious marks. He discerns the arising and dissolution, within and without, of the five skandhas of the body: form, sensation (feeling), perception, formations, and consciousness.

However external sense-objects enter into the inner dharmas, the bodhisattva discerns and knows that each dharma is illusory, false, and unreal. Thus, Most Victorious One, the great bodhisattva brings forth the mind of vast vows to deliver the various kinds of sentient beings, yet perceives no beings who are delivered. In truth, there are no sentient beings, much less anyone who delivers them.

This is called the great bodhisattva's cultivation and accomplishment of the Samadhi of Impartial Loving-Kindness, whereby all sentient beings attain the root of wisdom.

When the World-Honored One taught this Chapter on Impartial Loving-Kindness, fourteen nayutas of people all brought forth the aspiration for the unsurpassed, right, and true path, while eight thousand bodhisattvas, reflecting there upon their seats, immediately attained the Samadhi of Impartial Loving-Kindness.

Chapter 23: THE DHARMA REALM

At that time, the World-Honored One emitted light from his tongue, illuminating the entire three-thousand-great-thousand world-system. It also shone upon the Buddha lands throughout the ten directions—the four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, above, and below—all of which were illuminated. That light further illuminated as many as eighty-four kotis of Ganges-sands of realms to the east. The Buddhas there constantly expounded the supreme practices of bodhisattvas; there were no teachings of the Two Vehicles. They distinguished the worlds, each world in its proper order. The Buddha had also come from that world to the Realm of Endurance, and therefore made the vow to seek the path without confusion or error.

The Buddha told Most Victorious One:

– I now recall that, when I was among the assemblies of those Buddhas, the Buddhas, with one mind and at the same time, entered cessation. I was foremost among the assembly in that world. At that time, Maitreya bore the name Lion of Bonds. His wisdom was courageous and keen, and the renown of his virtue spread afar, so that everyone heard of him. His countenance shone like gold, profound, still, precious, and heroic. His mind was always compassionate, and his vows were pure. Like the Buddha-Tathagatas, he single-mindedly entered cessation at the same time and, when the proper occasion arrived, came to the Realm of Endurance.

The Buddha told Most Victorious One and the assembly:

– The worlds of the Buddhas are inconceivable; through skillful means, they transform and alter their appearances without limit. Do you suppose that Bodhisattva Maitreya is presently cultivating the bodhisattva practices? Do not think so. Why? The meritorious practices accumulated by Maitreya extend over as many kalpas as there are sands in the Ganges, and long ago he vowed to attain Perfect, Right Enlightenment. Though we cultivated together, I came after him. He may manifest the practice of austerities, manifest a radiant appearance, or manifest the body of a child and become a bodhisattva's disciple; according to each person's fundamental practice, he teaches the Dharma for that person. Bodhisattva Maitreya is seated there above.

The Buddha told Maitreya:

– Manifest the radiant appearance of a Buddha and the full number of disciples who accompany you.

Thereupon Maitreya concealed his bodhisattva body and manifested once again the body of a Buddha and the realm of a Buddha land, together with an inconceivable number of bodhisattva disciples. Seeing this, those in the assembly rejoiced as never before. The formless Dharma is naturally so; forms and appearances are naturally so; all dharmas are naturally so; and all Buddhas are likewise naturally so.

The great assembly then further beheld, to the east, eighty-four kotis of Ganges-sands of quiescent worlds, where the Buddha World-Honored Ones were expounding and discussing the supreme bodhisattva practices, comprising one thousand eight hundred subtle and wondrous Dharma gates. What were those one thousand eight hundred subtle and wondrous Dharma gates? The bodhisattva cultivates the Dharma Gate of Primordial Purity.

One who attains this Dharma gate does not think that one has realized the Dharma of the primordial limit. There is also the Dharma Gate of Inexpressibility. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate journeys throughout the realm of empty space without anyone being able to know it.

There is also the Dharma Gate of Nothing Attained. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate delivers sentient beings yet perceives no beings as having been delivered. There is also the Dharma Gate of Nothing Sustained.

A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate clearly knows primordial purity and knows that within and without there is no sovereign master. There is also the Dharma Gate of Names. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate sees that all dharmas are illusory, false, and unreal.

There is also the Dharma Gate of Accomplishment. Although a bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate abides amid conditioned phenomena, he does not cling to notions of existence. There is also the Dharma Gate of Transforming Consciousness.

A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate enters the formless realm and teaches and transforms formless sentient beings. There is also the Dharma Gate of Manifesting Forms. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate manifests countless forms and appearances to teach and transform sentient beings.

There is also the Dharma Gate of Causes and Conditions. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate creates causes and conditions for sentient beings. There is also the Dharma Gate of the Sound of Dharma.

When a bodhisattva attains this Dharma gate, sentient beings hear only the sound and do not see the bodhisattva's body. There is also the Dharma Gate of Separation from Existence. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate does not perceive any dharma that clings to annihilation, arising, or cessation.

There is also the Dharma Gate of Liberation. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate does not perceive nirvana as tending toward quiescent cessation. There is also the Dharma Gate of Profound Mystery.

A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate discerns the secret and essential scriptures of the Tathagata. There is also the Dharma Gate of No Form or Image. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate enters formless concentration and teaches and transforms sentient beings.

There is also the Dharma Gate of No Contemplative Practice. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate enters formless concentration and teaches and transforms sentient beings. There is also the Dharma Gate of No Contemplative Practice.

A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate neither expounds the Buddha Dharma nor abides in any place. There is also the Dharma Gate of Counting the Breath. A bodhisattva who attains this Dharma gate does not enumerate the dharmas and clearly awakens to breath as non-breath.

Thus, Most Victorious One, the great bodhisattvas possess one thousand eight hundred such subtle and wondrous Dharma gates. When the assembly heard those Buddhas expound these subtle and wondrous Dharma gates, they all attained, there upon their seats, the Dharma patience of consummate faith, while countless sentient beings following the Lesser Vehicle all brought forth the aspiration for the unsurpassed path of equality.

At that time, the World-Honored One and Maitreya withdrew the radiant manifestations back into their countenances. So lofty was the Tathagata's compassionate concern: he instructed and transformed sentient beings beyond reckoning, delivering each one and enabling them to establish firm resolve according to their own aspiration. The assembly then again gave rise to this thought: “Good sirs, all of us together beheld those quiescent worlds, yet now they have suddenly vanished entirely. Were they not illusory transformations, like a mirage or a reflection upon water? Were they not dream scenes or images in a mirror, dim and unreal?” At that time, the World-Honored One knew the thoughts of the assembly and immediately addressed Shariputra:

– What do you think, Shariputra? Have you ever heard the Tathagata expound for you that the practices of the shravakas are conditioned dharmas and unconditioned dharmas; tainted dharmas and undefiled dharmas; true dharmas and untrue dharmas; presently manifest dharmas and dharmas that are not presently manifest; dharmas of defilement and dharmas free from defilement; countable dharmas and innumerable dharmas; dharmas involving attachment and dharmas free from attachment; dharmas involving accumulation and dharmas free from accumulation; dharmas involving anger and dharmas free from anger; dharmas to be relinquished and dharmas not to be relinquished; dharmas of ordinary beings and dharmas not of ordinary beings; dharmas of sages and noble ones and dharmas not of sages and noble ones; dharmas of the foundations of mindfulness and bases of spiritual power, and dharmas that are not the foundations of mindfulness or bases of spiritual power; dharmas of the faculties, powers, factors of enlightenment, and the path, and dharmas that are not the faculties, powers, factors of enlightenment, or the path; dharmas of those in training and dharmas of those beyond training; dharmas of shravakas and dharmas not of shravakas; dharmas of pratyekabuddhas and dharmas not of pratyekabuddhas; dharmas of bodhisattvas and dharmas not of bodhisattvas; dharmas of Buddhas and dharmas not of Buddhas? What do you think, Shariputra? Have you ever heard the Tathagata expound such teachings?

Shariputra replied:

“No, World-Honored One, there is not.”

The Buddha said to Venerable Shariputra:

“Since members of the shravaka assembly are still present here, I do not expound the Dharma of eliminating the outflows to those who entertain conditioned perceptions and attachments, much less would I disclose the Dharma of the secret treasury. Yet the matter is not as it appears. The exposition and discussion of the Dharma have no abiding place.

There is neither speaking nor teaching, nor even any conception of Dharma. Is the Dharma expressed through sound truly an existent dharma? Shariputra, I shall now give an analogy.

Through an analogy, the wise may understand for themselves. Suppose a brave man contemplates the realm of empty space and knows that it is entirely formless. Yet someone else conceives the intention of using various colors to paint upon empty space—perhaps painting images of devas, images of human beings, images of dragons, ghosts, and spirits, images of chandalas, or images of animals, insects, birds, and leaping creatures.

What do you think, Shariputra? Could that person accomplish what he intends?”

Venerable Shariputra replied:

“No, World-Honored One, he could not. Most difficult! Most difficult! Such a thing has never occurred.”

The Buddha said to Venerable Shariputra:

“The Tathagata’s skillful means of teaching and transforming beings are inconceivable. The provisional establishment of verbal teachings is even more difficult than that. Why is this so?

All conditioned formations, unconditioned dharmas, dharmas with outflows, dharmas without outflows, dharmas of the Path, worldly dharmas, the twelve links of dependent origination, the six classes of consciousness, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, and the seven factors of awakening—as well as all Buddhas of the past, future, and present—have no form or image and cannot be seen.

They are neither grasped nor relinquished, neither gathered nor dispersed. Since they cannot be apprehended, they cannot be attained. The realm of empty space is empty, quiescent, and nondual.

The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, journey to lands throughout the ten directions and expound verbal teachings for all sentient beings. In truth, there are no names, yet provisionally they are called names. In truth, there are no written characters, yet provisionally they are called written characters.

In truth, there is no Dharma-nature, yet provisionally it is spoken of as Dharma-nature.

“Furthermore, Shariputra, it is truly difficult for a great bodhisattva to employ skillful means suited to sentient beings in accordance with the faculties and dispositions they cultivated in former times. If bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, and upasikas wholeheartedly believe in this Dharma of emptiness, nonexistence, quiescence, and stillness, and perfect all its practices, they can accomplish the excellent marks of the Tathagata. Traveling from one Buddha-land to another, they attend upon and make offerings to the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones. In the presence of those Buddhas, they also attain the dharani of powerful retention and comprehend its profound and wondrous meaning. They then turn the Dharma wheel and expound the Dharma so that everyone who hears may understand it.

“A great bodhisattva must remain fully mindful of seven dharmas of nonattachment. What are these seven? He awakens to the fact that all that exists is in truth nonexistent; he neither clings to existence nor perceives anything as truly existing.

Even his own present bodily appearance has no form or characteristic. The Buddha’s nonexistent body is likewise so—how much less could it possess form or characteristics? All worlds have no beginning; how, then, could they have a root or foundation that might be sought?

The faculties and dispositions of sentient beings are boundless and inexhaustible; who could conceive the intention of measuring their practices? Dharmas naturally arise and dharmas naturally cease, yet he does not perceive any arising or cessation. All dharmas are like magical transformations; all dharmas are like illusions, yet he does not perceive even illusory dharmas, which are like a mirage.

All dharmas abide in their own nature; all dharmas are unborn, yet he does not perceive arising or cessation, anteriority or cessation.

“Shariputra, when a great bodhisattva accomplishes these seven dharmas of nonattachment, he can perfect all practices, gradually fulfill the bodhisattva stages, sit beneath the Bodhi tree, subdue the demonic adversaries, accumulate merit, and perfect the radiant marks. From the first abiding stage through the tenth abiding stage, the bodhisattva’s mind never retreats and is always protected by the manifested bodies of the Buddhas.

Devas, dragons, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, chandalas, and mahoragas make offerings of incense and flowers, perform instrumental music, and raise banners and canopies. They help increase the bodhisattva’s merit and, through their awe-inspiring spiritual power, aid and guide him so that he advances by his own efforts and attains the unsurpassed, utmost, true Path.”

The Buddha said to Venerable Shariputra:

“I recall that in the past, when cultivating the bodhisattva path, I sometimes assumed the body of a child and sometimes the body of Brahma. At times I left the household life and cultivated the disciplinary teachings of a shramana. I made offerings to Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges.

I offered my head and eyes, the wealth of my kingdom, my wife and children, or the four requisites, including medicines and other necessities. Yet I heard the Buddhas discuss only the meanings of suffering, emptiness, and non-self. At other times they taught the six paramitas and the Dharma of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; or they taught the Dharma of observing the precepts and cultivating the Path; or they instructed me in the Dharma of patience, gentleness, and harmony.

At times I concealed my body for an entire kalpa without appearing; at other times I entered meditative concentration and remained completely motionless. All this was because the inner Dharma had not yet been perfected.”

The Buddha said to Venerable Shariputra:

– In the past, in the tranquil and quiescent worlds of the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, I heard that profound and wondrous Dharma. The bodhisattvas who assembled at the proper time all attained the acquiescence in the Dharma of pliancy. At that time, twenty-four thousand beings seated in the Dharma assembly immediately attained the acquiescence in the non-arising of dharmas. The Buddhas of the past and future, together with the Buddhas of the present, all praise and expound this profound and wondrous Dharma, which abides nowhere and in which no self, person, or lifespan is perceived. Observing beings whose faculties and dispositions had matured, they taught beings who entertained perceptions by means of the Dharma of non-perception, and admonished beings who entertained thoughts by means of the Dharma of non-thought. If a good man or good woman recites and skillfully preserves this profound and sublime Dharma and also transmits it to others, that person's merit and virtue cannot be measured. If one who practices and studies the bodhisattva path, with a mind of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimous protection, has pity for all beings and wishes them to attain accomplishment and ascend to the stage of a bodhisattva, one must cultivate and uphold this profound and sublime Dharma treasury. Even if good men and good women filling the three-thousandfold world system were to undertake and uphold the five precepts, fully cultivate the ten wholesome practices, the four dhyanas, the four immeasurable states of mind, and the four teachings on emptiness, they would not equal one person who hears this profound and sublime Dharma. If that person cannot contemplate it for a long time, let it be for seven days; if not for seven days, then for six, five, four, three, or even one day. If not for one day, then merely within the time of a finger snap that person may attain the path. What do you think, Sariputra? Even if your sravakas filled the worlds of the ten directions and were provided throughout myriads upon myriads of kalpas—and for more than myriads upon myriads of kalpas beyond those—with the four requisites of robes, food and drink, bedding, and medicines for illness, this would still not equal one person who hears this profound and sublime Dharma. Why is this so? Because this Dharma gathers together all the precious Dharma treasuries of the bodhisattvas. If one expounds the meaning of even a single sentence—the meanings of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self; the three gates of liberation and the four teachings of illuminating wisdom; emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; the practice of quiescent emptiness; and the non-arising, non-origination, and non-cessation of all conditioned activities—such a great bodhisattva will attain peace and security and immeasurable virtuous conduct. That bodhisattva's merit cannot be bounded, nor can anything serve as an analogy or comparison for it. If a bodhisattva, with a body unhindered and unlimited, cultivates conditioned dharmas and teaches beings so that their wishes are fulfilled, yet those beings have never heard the unconditioned path and Dharma, it is impossible for them to attain the profound and sublime Dharma of the bodhisattvas. If a bodhisattva enters meditative absorption and right concentration and, drawing upon immeasurable teachings, proclaims and spreads the profound and sublime sutra Dharma so that beings may hear the unconditioned Dharma and understand that all dharmas are empty and have no existence whatsoever, only then is this truly the profound meaning, which no other Dharma can equal. Therefore, if bodhisattvas wish to fulfill the aspirations of beings, expound this meaning to others, proclaim the secret and essential Dharma of the Tathagatas and bodhisattvas, and enable beings to accomplish and realize the four fruits, they must constantly recollect, study, and practice this profound and essential Dharma.

The Buddha again told Sariputra:

– In the past, because I was practicing the bodhisattva path, I traveled everywhere in pursuit of learning, constantly cultivating the six paramitas and the four immeasurable states of mind. With great loving-kindness I cherished beings and expounded the Dharma's ambrosial meaning. At times I gave verbal teachings; at times I remained silent like the sages; at times I manifested spiritual powers; at times I employed skillful means and expedient methods; at times I used the five spiritual penetrations; and at times I traveled everywhere proclaiming the path of the One Vehicle. At times I manifested as a pratyekabuddha, carrying an alms bowl and flying through the sky; at times I manifested as a sravaka receiving verbal instruction; and at times I manifested as a child who appeared to know nothing. Sariputra, you should know that the expedient manifestations by which bodhisattvas teach and transform beings everywhere are inexhaustible. They conform to the customs of the world and enter in accordance with the dispositions and kinds of beings. They enter the nature of earth and also the nature of water; they enter the nature of fire and also the nature of wind. Bodhisattvas discern that none of the four great elements has a sovereign and discern that the internal and external earth dhatu is empty and quiescent. The water, fire, and wind dhatus are likewise. Bodhisattvas further observe whether beings possess or are free from lust, anger, and delusion; whether they possess or are free from craving and desire; whether they possess or are free from conceit; whether their minds are concentrated or unconcentrated; and whether their minds are distracted or undistracted. Bodhisattvas clearly discern them all. They may teach and transform them through mindfulness of breathing, through contemplation of the foul and impure, through the Dharma of nirvana and complete cessation, through conditioned or unconditioned dharmas, through dharmas with outflows or without outflows, through worldly teachings, through the Dharma of the path, or through the spiritual penetration of the exhaustion of outflows. I once went to and dwelt in the world called Penetrating Wisdom. For the sake of a single being, I entered dhyana concentration, with body and mind unmoving, heedless of suffering and hardship, and waited to teach and transform him. That being was none other than one known to you; do not think otherwise. If you wish to know who he was, he is now the bodhisattva Supreme Excellence. In the world of Penetrating Wisdom, the bodhisattva Supreme Excellence was born into a wealthy and noble family. Because of the merit he had accumulated in the past, he was not born into an impoverished or distressed household. For one lifetime, two lifetimes, and even a hundred thousand lifetimes, continuing through twelve intermediate kalpas, whenever he was born, he was always born into a wealthy and noble family and never into a lowly station. Not far from there, I entered concentration and contemplated my own mind and thoughts throughout a hundred thousand kalpas, yet I did not awaken to even a single sentence of the profound and sublime Dharma. Only afterward was I able to awaken by myself. My mind suddenly opened to enlightenment, and I returned to my own true being, aspiring to hear immeasurable, profound, and wondrous sutras and teachings. I then expounded for beings the inexhaustible treasury of secret and essential Dharma, called the Inexhaustible Dharma Treasury of the Discernment of Sounds. At times, with a single sound, I caused my voice to resound throughout the three-thousandfold great-thousand world system; at times, with a single sentence, I responded to the thoughts in the minds of all beings. The sounds that issued from my verbal teaching surpassed even the Brahma voice. There is also the Dharma of the inexhaustible treasury of the six spiritual penetrations, by which one goes to the Buddha lands of the ten directions, attends upon and makes offerings to the Tathagatas, the World-Honored Ones, receives the rare and profound Dharma, and cultivates every ascetic practice. Moreover, one diligently observes the precepts and practices patience; diligently cultivates single-minded dhyana concentration; and cultivates wisdom, skillful means, and expedient methods. There is also an inexhaustible Dharma treasury through which one skillfully attains the four foundations of mindfulness. The four foundations of mindfulness constitute practice free from outflows. The Dharma of the foundations of mindfulness is the direct path leading to nirvana. In addition, among the practices cultivated by ordinary beings are the four right efforts, the four bases of spiritual power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of awakening, and the Noble Eightfold Path; yet their fruits, realization, and karmic recompense are all nonexistent and cannot be perceived. This is called the inexhaustible Dharma treasury of the bodhisattvas. Is the Dharma of ultimate, universally equal illumination, which skillfully expounds the original nature, the ultimate Dharma? Is cultivation of the nature and characteristics of dharmas the ultimate Dharma? Is mental contemplation the ultimate Dharma? Is contemplation of the five skandhas the ultimate Dharma? Is clearly seeing the twelve links of dependent origination the ultimate Dharma? Is knowing the four great elements, internal and external, the ultimate Dharma?

Sariputra replied:

– No, World-Honored One. The dharmas that the Tathagata has just spoken of are not the ultimate Dharma.

The Buddha again told Sariputra:

– There are also four inexhaustible means of teaching and transforming, constituting the Dharma gate of eloquence. What are these four? First, inexhaustible discerning wisdom. Second, inexhaustible discerning luminous wisdom. Third, contemplating and clearly retaining the Dharma of dharani. Fourth, discerning eloquence that does not seek externally. Shariputra, these are called the four inexhaustible Dharma treasuries that bodhisattvas must cultivate. There are also four inexhaustible Dharma treasuries that cannot be retained. What are these four? First, the nature of the mind is difficult to guard, being heedless and unsettled. Second, the mind of the Path is difficult to preserve, for its original nature is exceedingly profound. Third, one enters the Primordial Limit of all dharmas, yet one’s cultivation is not consummate. Fourth, one enters the minds and thoughts of sentient beings and clearly knows the Dharma of nonexistence. These are called the inexhaustible treasuries of a great bodhisattva.

The Buddha again said to Shariputra:

– A bodhisattva also has four inexhaustible Dharma treasuries, constituting the Dharma gate of eloquence. What are these four? First, one’s resolve and aspiration are steadfast, and one does not become attached to or follow heterodox teachings. Second, one’s original practice is pure, and one does not give rise to defilements. Third, following the verbal teachings of the Buddhas of the past, one establishes a patient and harmless mind. Fourth, one undertakes practices according to conditions without forsaking one’s own vows. This is called the Dharma gate of eloquence, the inexhaustible Dharma treasury through which a great bodhisattva, beneath the bodhi tree, subdues the hostile maras without becoming fainthearted. There are also four inexhaustible Dharma treasuries constituting the Dharma gate of turning the wheel of the Right Dharma. What are these four? First, one’s words are utterly sincere, and one does not disparage others. Second, one fully awakens to the Dharma of dependent origination and clearly knows whence all dharmas arise. Third, one instructs sentient beings without ever becoming weary, indolent, or disheartened. Fourth, one’s discerning luminous wisdom advances to the stage of a bodhisattva. These are called the inexhaustible Dharma treasuries of a bodhisattva that do not impair the dharmadhatu; they are the dharmas that a great bodhisattva constantly cultivates and practices.

The Buddha again said to Shariputra:

– A great bodhisattva also has four inexhaustible Dharma treasuries that bring the dharmadhatu to fulfillment. What are these four? First, one awakens to the dharmadhatu and comprehends the paths of coming and going. Second, one awakens to the Dharma-nature and clearly knows it to be without anything whatsoever. Third, one discerns the physical eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, the Dharma eye, and the Buddha eye. What is the physical eye? It observes forms without giving rise to eye-consciousness. What is the divine eye? The divine eye beholds the forms of the devas without perceiving karmic retribution. The wisdom eye discerns without perceiving defilements. The pure Dharma eye fully possesses the six paramitas. The Buddha eye observes and clearly comprehends both characteristics and the absence of characteristics. Fourth, one awakens to karmic retribution without attachment to the three realms. These are called the inexhaustible Dharma treasuries of a great bodhisattva that bring the dharmadhatu to fulfillment.

The Buddha again said to Shariputra:

– A great bodhisattva also has four inexhaustible Dharma treasuries. What are these four? First, diligence while the mind and thoughts are not settled; second, having a mind that seeks wisdom or not having a mind that seeks wisdom; third, having finite thoughts or infinite thoughts; and fourth, having thoughts of attainment or thoughts of non-attainment. A bodhisattva discerns that both within and without there is nothing whatsoever. Therefore, Shariputra, when a bodhisattva practices skillful means, traveling everywhere to teach and transform, the practice of diligence must be foremost. In cultivating the precepts, the power of diligence must be the foundation. From the Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, one seeks to accumulate merit; on hearing the Dharma, one rejoices and gathers luminous wisdom. One propagates the teaching of the Path, yet does not perceive any verbal teaching, whether among the dharmas of the future, the past, or the present. Only steadfast contemplative wisdom constitutes true teaching and transformation. The Tathagata expounds the teaching without employing written words. When written words are pure, the teaching of the Dharma is also pure. This is the accumulation of merit and wisdom, the accomplishment of a steadfast mind of patience, and a settled mind that never regresses. Shariputra, this is called neither craving form nor relying upon form; it is not that form does not exist, but that one awakens to form as formless. Therefore, it is called the Dharma-nature. Even if sentient beings throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand world were to perfume the air with incense and bring banners, canopies, and fine, lustrous silk brocade as offerings, the bodhisattva would not thereby give rise to thoughts of joy and then depart, nor would the bodhisattva’s mind become indolent or fearful. Casting off thoughts of disordered craving and anger, the bodhisattva accomplishes the impartial mind of Right Awakening and expounds the secret essentials of the Dharma; only then will the fruit of Buddhahood be attained. The bodhisattva relinquishes body and life, establishes the mind of the great universal vow, and accepts the sufferings of sentient beings in their stead. Diligently delighting in the Dharma, the bodhisattva guides sentient beings into the house of the Right Dharma to cultivate the Path. The devas bear witness; devas, nagas, ghosts, spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, chandalas, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans all come to make offerings. Good men and good women assist and encourage the bodhisattva to attain Buddhahood, form profound and steadfast vows, accomplish wisdom that never regresses, and liberate those who, through causes and conditions, have fallen into the three evil destinies, who neither recognize nor discern, who are not awakened, and who have not attained the ultimate Dharma. Shariputra, this is called a great bodhisattva’s cultivation of the Dharma free from conceptual thought and the Dharma without verbal teaching, whereby the sacred teaching of the Tathagata is attained.

At that time, all those seated in the assembly, having heard this profound Dharma, generated the aspiration for the unsurpassed stage of non-retrogression. Shariputra then addressed the Buddha:

– Must those seated in this assembly who have heard the Dharma still wait a very long time before attaining Buddhahood?

The Buddha said to Shariputra:

– After another two hundred incalculable kalpas, those beings will attain Buddhahood, all bearing the same epithet: Tathagata Stainless Transcendent Virtue, the Most True, the Perfectly and Completely Awakened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, the Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer by the Dharma, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. Their world will be called Purity, and the kalpa will be called Difficult to Cross. The worlds of those Buddhas will have only the One Vehicle; even the names shravaka and pratyekabuddha will not exist there, and they will always expound the immeasurable virtuous practices of bodhisattvas. The land in those realms will be level, without mountains, rivers, hills, mounds, springs, ravines, caves, or waterways. It will display innumerable colors like celestial garments. It will not depend upon the light of the sun or moon, but will be self-illuminating through the radiance of the beings’ bodily marks, mutually reflected. The sentient beings there will possess vast merit and entertain innumerable thoughts and perceptions. Why will this be so? Because that Dharma realm will be free from differentiation and discord. The sentient beings in those Buddha lands will partake of naturally appearing ambrosia, wear kalpa garments, and dwell in bliss like the gods of the sixth heaven. The soil will be fertile, the five grains abundant, and the seven kinds of treasure—gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, agate, pearl, and amber—will be fully present. There will be a wheel-turning sage king named White Feather Flower, attended by seven treasures. These seven treasures will be as follows: First, the precious wheel. This precious wheel will measure fourteen cubits across in both directions and will be made entirely of the seven treasures. It will have a thousand spokes, each joined to the others. Whenever the king wishes to travel eastward, the wheel will immediately proceed before him. Second, the precious elephant. This precious elephant will be as white as snow and will have six tusks, each joined to the others. Whenever the king wishes to mount the elephant and tour a world, he will immediately reach that world within the snap of a finger, without difficulty. Third, the precious horse. This precious horse will have a deep blue body and red tail hair. It will gallop through the air without its hooves touching the ground. When it neighs once, the world will tremble and every kind of being will hear it. Whenever the king wishes to mount it and travel throughout the four directions—east, west, south, and north—he will traverse them all within the snap of a finger. Fourth, the precious maiden. This precious maiden’s body will emit the fragrance of utpala lotuses, while her mouth will emit the fragrance of ox-head sandalwood. Her body will consist entirely of flesh, without bones. Her physical form will be upright and beautiful: neither fat nor thin, neither tall nor short, neither fair nor dark. She will fully possess feminine grace and the sixty-four arts of transformation. Whenever the king wishes her to draw near, the precious maiden will immediately appear before him. Fifth, the precious jewel. This precious jewel will measure three fathoms across and seven fathoms in height. Wishing to test it, the king will summon the four divisions of his army on a dark night when no one is about and suspend the precious jewel atop a platform ten thousand fathoms high. The jewel’s radiance will illuminate the entire world, leaving no place unlit. The jewel will freely come and go in accordance with the king’s thoughts. Sixth, the precious minister who governs the treasury. At that time, the wheel-turning sage king will wish to tour the various regions of the world. On the way, he will cross a vast ocean, deep and bottomless. Wishing to test the precious minister who governs the treasury, the king will order a halt in the middle of the ocean, saying, “I wish to rest for a while.” He will then command the precious minister, “I now desire treasures of gold, silver, mother-of-pearl, agate, coral, amber, crystal, and vaidurya. Can you obtain them?” The precious minister who governs the treasury will immediately kneel upon the surface of the water and lower a hook beneath it; in accordance with his thought, the seven treasures will come forth of themselves. Seventh, the precious general who commands the army. As for the precious general who commands the army, whenever the king wishes to assemble the four divisions of troops, he will say to the precious general, “I wish to inspect the four divisions of troops.” At once, without moving from his place, the precious general will be able to accomplish this. The precious general will further address the king, saying, “I do not know how many troops the sage king desires.” The king will say, “Before and behind, to the right and left, I require ten thousand hu of troops on each side.” The precious general who commands the army will then obey the king’s command and, just as the king has said, order the four divisions of troops to assemble. The four divisions will be elephant troops, cavalry, chariot troops, and infantry. Each division will be arranged in ranks of ten. All four divisions will be arrayed in this manner.

At that time, the Buddha addressed Most Victorious and the assembly:

– The wheel-turning sage king of that time was none other than this present bodhisattva Most Victorious. Harbor no other thought! Why is this so? At that time, the wheel-turning sage king possessed the power of miraculous transformation and spoke in gentle words. All the people followed his Dharma voice, their minds tranquil and free from craving. The king expounded the Dharma of the paramitas, the Dharma of the four benefactions, the four kinds of impartial speech, the six weighty Dharmas, the Dharma of skillful means and provisional expedients for entering the attainment of cessation, the Dharma of freedom from desire and undefiled purity; the Dharma of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness; the Dharma of non-arising and non-cessation; and the Dharma of non-attachment. If any among the hosts of gods or people of the world in that realm remained deluded, the king would distinguish for them the noble wisdom, roots of the Path, and the unconditioned; or he would instruct them in the luminous Dharma through his voice; or teach them by means of the Dharma of the truth of suffering and lead them into the discipline of the Dharma; or instruct them through miraculous powers, transformations, and light, wishing gradually to lead sentient beings to ultimate realization.

The Buddha addressed Shariputra:

– All beings are without the marks of self and person. All dharmas are originally pure; all dharmas are without form or appearance. When one does not cling to the annihilation of dharmas, dharmas are not destroyed. One clearly contemplates that Buddha-realms possess nothing whatsoever. Furthermore, Shariputra, the twelve links of dependent origination, the five skandhas, and the six sense faculties are all without form or image. The eight kinds of voice of the Tathagata are neither a man’s voice nor a woman’s voice; neither a forceful, loud voice nor a soft, gentle voice; neither a clear, resonant voice nor a hoarse, turbid voice; neither a majestic voice nor a melodious voice. Because the Tathagata cultivated the perfection of giving, he realized the true fruit, awakened to purity, and illuminates the entire dharmadhatu. The Tathagata may use a single voice to resound throughout the trichiliocosm in the ten directions. I once went to dwell in the Wild Horse World, seventy-two kotis of Ganges-sands of Buddha-realms distant from here. There, that Tathagata emitted a great voice that resounded throughout the Buddha-realm. Upon hearing that voice, a hundred kotis of beings all established their minds in non-retrogression and aroused the aspiration for the unsurpassed, right, and true path. At that time, my disciple named Maudgalyayana, foremost in spiritual powers, ascended above one Mount Sumeru and then above another Mount Sumeru. In this manner, throughout many kalpas, his feet did not touch the ground. Maudgalyayana then emitted a great voice in the Wild Horse World that resounded throughout the trichiliocosm in the ten directions. Within that voice, he proclaimed: “The Tathagata teaches the unprecedented practice of Dharma, yet no practice is seen; nor is there an absence of practice. Awakening clearly to practice and non-practice is called purity. All dharmas are without form or image and are also without reverberation. The Tathagata further teaches the Dharma of the Four Truths and the suchness of the Dharma-nature. Clearly understanding suffering, non-suffering, and not abiding in suffering—wisdom that penetrates in this manner is called the wisdom of suffering. Because of the cause of origination, one clearly understands the source of origination and non-origination. Because one does not perceive any origination, this is called the wisdom of origination. One knows the locus of cessation: arising through cessation, ceasing through cessation, yet not perceiving cessation either. This is called the wisdom of cessation. The unconditioned path is the non-perception of any abiding place and is the Dharma praised by the Buddhas of the past, present, and future. The Dharma taught by the present Buddha declares that there is no path. The Dharma of the Buddhas of the past, present, and future is likewise. The path has no form or image and cannot be seen. Clearly awakening to the path and no-path is called the wisdom of the path. This is called the great bodhisattva’s discernment of the meaning of the path.” At that time, all kinds of beings in the Wild Horse World heard only the voice but saw no bodily form. The great assembly was astonished and thought to themselves: “Who is emitting this voice that shakes the world and also expounds such profound and abstruse meanings?” That Tathagata, knowing the thoughts of the beings, immediately told Maudgalyayana: “Relinquish your spiritual powers and reveal your bodily form before those beings.” Maudgalyayana immediately entered the Such-as-Its-Image Samadhi and suddenly reappeared bodily amid the great assembly. The bodhisattvas there were eighty-four thousand yojanas tall. The Buddha’s body was one hundred sixty-eight thousand yojanas tall. When the assembly saw Maudgalyayana wearing robes and carrying an alms bowl, with the appearance of a shramana, they were astonished and marveled at what they had never seen before, asking themselves: “What kind of bodily form is this? Is it an animal or a human being?” That Buddha, knowing the thoughts of the assembly, then said to them: “Do not give rise to such a thought! Why is this? Seventy-two kotis of Ganges-sands of Buddha-realms from here is a Buddha-realm named Endurance. In that realm is a Buddha named Shakyamuni Tathagata, the Most Worthy, the Perfectly Enlightened One, complete with the ten epithets. He appears in the world during the age of the five turbidities and constantly uses words and letters to instruct beings. Humans there live for one hundred years, and very few live beyond that. That Buddha distinguishes and explains meanings through the most true Dharma of the Four Truths, and thus teaches the Dharma-wisdom that abides nowhere and clings to nothing. The bhikshu Maudgalyayana is that Buddha’s foremost disciple in spiritual powers.” That Buddha further told Maudgalyayana: “Display your spiritual powers. The great assembly gathered here wishes to see them.” Maudgalyayana then obeyed the Buddha’s instruction, rose from his seat, bowed his head and face at the Buddha’s feet, and suddenly vanished. Entering the Unobstructed Samadhi, he lifted all the lands of the Buddhas throughout the ten directions and placed them upon his right palm, while with his left hand he took that Buddha-realm and suspended it in empty space. Everyone in the assembly saw Maudgalyayana’s spiritual powers and wished to see his bodily form, but they could not see it. The bodhisattvas then thought that they should personally take refuge in that Buddha, the World-Honored One, hoping that the Teacher of Gods would manifest and deliver them. The Buddha declared that where there is no suffering, there is utterly no diminution. That Buddha then told Maudgalyayana: “Maudgalyayana, stop! Relinquish those spiritual powers so that the coarse consciousness of these bodhisattvas may return to the traces of the path.” Maudgalyayana obeyed the Buddha’s instruction, immediately relinquished his spiritual powers, and returned to his seat as before. Before the Buddha, those bodhisattvas asked: “What teaching does the Buddha Shakyamuni in that Endurance Realm use to transform beings? How does he teach the Dharma? By what path does he instruct beings? What expedient wisdom does he employ in traveling freely to and fro?” The Buddha told the bodhisattvas: “The beings in that realm are obstinate by nature and difficult to transform. They constantly dispute right and wrong with one another, and each considers himself honorable. Therefore, the Tathagata uses the teaching of suffering to lead them through the gateway of the path. They are like dragon kings and vicious beasts that are unruly and untamed: they must be struck with a staff so that they experience pain, after which they become docile and allow an elephant to be ridden. The beings of that land are likewise. The Buddha uses innumerable forms of verbal instruction to liberate them, sometimes speaking of suffering with the sound of suffering. The same applies to origination, cessation, and the path.” The bodhisattvas then praised this as unprecedented: “Excellent! Excellent! World-Honored One, the arduous and difficult practice of diligence undertaken by that Buddha-Tathagata is truly arduous and difficult. Amid an age of burning affliction, like five cauldrons of boiling water, he is able to teach and transform beings and proclaim the great path—the Dharma of cessation, extinction, and quiescence—causing all beings to return to liberation.”