最勝問菩薩十住除垢斷結經

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha was dwelling in the Nai Clan’s Grove in the city of Vaisali, together with eighty-four thousand great bhiksus and one hundred and four thousand bodhisattvas. All of them had penetrated the profound and hidden treasury of the Dharma, attained dharani, possessed unobstructed eloquence, constantly abided in right samadhi, and had fearless wisdom. They had completely liberated themselves from the fundamental bonds of the twelve activities, attained the profound patience of the non-arising of dharmas, and journeyed through the five destinies, contemplating, instructing, and guiding beings.

With the Buddha’s vast wisdom, they universally embraced sentient beings, bringing deliverance to each according to their faculties and dispositions. They maintained dignified conduct and never departed from proper decorum. Their names were Bodhisattva Ever-Pure, Bodhisattva Jewel Accumulation, Bodhisattva Jewel Knight, Bodhisattva Jewel-Seal Hand, Bodhisattva Jewel Treasury, Bodhisattva Mindful Resolve, Bodhisattva Turner of the Dharma Wheel, Bodhisattva Dispeller of the Skandha-Coverings, Bodhisattva Practitioner of Lotus Giving, Bodhisattva Lion, Bodhisattva Sunlight, Bodhisattva Revealer of the Right and Reverser of the Wrong, Bodhisattva Not Placing Wisdom Afar, Bodhisattva Unimpaired Resolve, Bodhisattva Earth Holder, Bodhisattva Mara Holder, Bodhisattva Transformer,

Bodhisattva Water-Light, Bodhisattva Bestower of Marks, Bodhisattva Responsive Voice, Bodhisattva Golden Blossom, Bodhisattva Maitreya, Bodhisattva Gentle Hand, and others, numbering one hundred and four thousand in all.

At that time, the Four Great Heavenly Kings, rulers of the terrestrial realm, Sakra Devendra, together with the devas of the heavens of the Thirty-Three, Yama, Tusita, Delight in Transformations, and Mastery over Others’ Transformations, as well as the foremost Brahma King and the devas of the Brahma heavens, all came together to where the Buddha was dwelling. Devas, nagas, yakshas, spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans all came to the place of awakening.

The Tathagata then taught the Dharma to countless, innumerable hundreds of millions of thousands of disciples assembled around him. The wicked Mara Papiyan, sitting uneasily upon his throne, ordered his retinue to surround him before and behind and went to where the Buddha was dwelling. He bowed his head to the ground in homage and then stood to one side. All the great sages and bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa also gathered there.

At that time, the Tathagata manifested the sign of his tongue, and its light universally illuminated the lands throughout the great trichiliocosm. Those who saw that light said to one another, “Today, in the Realm of Endurance, Buddha Sakyamuni emits a great light that illuminates the ten directions.” Within that light, bodhisattvas of exalted practice proclaimed these words: “In the land of Saha, the Tathagata Nengren, the Most True, Fully and Perfectly Enlightened One, emits a wondrous light and expounds to the great assembly ten thousand kinds of right samadhi. These are not practices cultivated by sravakas or pratyekabuddhas. Let us prepare offerings together, go to that Realm of Endurance, pay reverence, receive the teachings, and put them into practice.”

At that time, ninety-two thousand Buddha lands to the east was a land called Flourishing Wonder, where a Buddha named Tathagata Most Excellent dwelt. Attending closely upon that Buddha was a bodhisattva named Firm Resolve, a wise and discerning mahasattva who had attained the stage of non-retrogression. When the light shone upon his body and exhorted him, he immediately went to where the Tathagata, the Most True, Fully and Perfectly Enlightened One, was dwelling in the land of Flourishing Wonder. Bowing his head, he knelt upright and addressed the Buddha:

“Revered Great Sage, I wish to go to the Realm of Endurance to behold and pay homage to Buddha Sakyamuni, the Most True, Fully and Perfectly Enlightened One, to bow before him, inquire of him, and learn what I do not yet know.”

The Buddha said:

“You should know when the time is right to go; harbor no doubt.”

The Buddha further instructed Bodhisattva Firm Resolve:

“When you reach the Realm of Endurance, you must faithfully uphold and practice fifty-five dharmas, constantly bearing them in mind and allowing none to be neglected. What are these fifty-five dharmas? You must know that giving and not giving are equal; observing the precepts and violating the precepts are equal; patience and impatience are equal; diligence and indolence are equal; a distracted mind and meditative concentration are equal; penetrating wisdom and deluded ignorance are equal; enemies and loved ones are equal.

When reviled and abused, your mind must remain impartial like empty space. Regarding the Three Vehicles, make no distinctions of higher and lower, nor entertain innumerable conceptions. See neither good nor evil; see neither pure Buddha lands nor impure Buddha lands.

If you see sentient beings born into evil destinies, do not give rise to fear. When seeing exalted beings, contemplate them as though seeing the Blessed One, without a discriminating mind, always maintaining single-mindedness. If you witness killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, frivolous speech, or drinking intoxicants; mental confusion, envy, jealousy, anger, fighting, or litigation; or encounter those whose minds cling to wrong views, such as regarding the impermanent as permanent, and so forth, you must in every case give rise to a mind of equality, neither increasing nor diminishing.

Do not suppose that fully observing the precepts brings great merit or that giving brings great merit. Nor should you think, ‘Because I now observe the precept against killing, I shall receive the karmic result of immeasurable longevity.’ Neither praise yourself nor disparage others, saying, ‘I now teach these excellent and sublime precepts to lowly and contemptible ordinary beings.’ Eliminate entirely the seven kinds of conceit and the twelve kinds of indeterminate mind.

These are the fifty-five dharmas that you must remember and cultivate.”

The Buddha said to Firm Resolve:

“If a good man or good woman has an upright and sincere mind and abides in right samadhi, that person may go to that realm. Suppose someone cultivated the pure life in my realm for hundreds of thousands of kalpas. That person would not equal one who, in the Realm of Endurance, maintains a mind free from discrimination between high and low for the brief instant of a finger snap. The latter surpasses the former by thousands upon tens of thousands of times.”

At that time, fifty thousand bodhisattvas in that Buddha land each made this vow: “With utterly pure minds, we shall attend and protect Bodhisattva Firm Resolve on his journey to where the Tathagata Nengren, the Most True, Fully and Perfectly Enlightened One, dwells.” Then Bodhisattva Firm Resolve, together with the fifty thousand bodhisattvas, in an instant as brief as the time it takes a strong man to bend and extend his arm, disappeared from that Buddha’s world and arrived in the Realm of Endurance. They beheld Tathagata Nengren, bowed their heads in homage, and then withdrew to stand to one side.

When the World-Honored One saw that the assembly had taken their seats, he said to the fourfold assembly:

“Do you see that Bodhisattva Firm Resolve?”

The fourfold assembly replied:

“Yes, we see him.”

The Buddha said:

“Sons and daughters of noble family, that mahasattva has transcended the three realms of existence. He can discern profound and hidden meanings and principles, possesses penetrating eloquence, and bears a mind of loving-kindness and compassion for all beings. Through the transformations of his supernormal powers, he guides and exhorts sentient beings. Wherever he dwells, that place gains abundant benefit.”

At that time, a bodhisattva in the assembly named Most Excellent, relying upon the Buddha’s awe-inspiring spiritual power, rose from his seat, bowed his head and face at the Buddha’s feet, and said:

“World-Honored One, my wisdom is dull and unclear, but I now have a matter that I wish to ask. Only if the World-Honored One permits me will I dare present my question.”

The Buddha said to Most Excellent:

“You have permission to ask. The Tathagata will explain it for you.”

When Bodhisattva Most Excellent heard the Buddha say this, he addressed him:

“World-Honored One, in what samadhi did the Tathagata, the Most True One, enter that he emitted a great light more brilliant than the sun and moon? If sentient beings behold the Tathagata’s light, they will assuredly attain what they seek and will not lose the faculties of human birth. What transformative Dharma possesses such wondrous spiritual power?”

The Buddha said to Most Excellent:

– Excellent! The question you ask seeks to entreat the Tathagata to speak about the majestic power of the Buddha’s radiant light, so that many sentient beings may be guided to liberation and, upon hearing it, be awakened and transformed. As circumstances require, the Tathagata enters hundreds of millions, hundreds, and thousands of samadhis of right concentration, reaching immeasurable Buddha lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and discerning the dispositions and practices of incalculable multitudes of sentient beings. Those whose dispositions are marked by lust, anger, delusion, obstinacy, arrogance, conceit, and heedlessness—the Tathagata observes and clearly distinguishes them all.

At that time, Most Victorious again addressed the Buddha:

– How does a bodhisattva proceed from the initial arising of the aspiration until the attainment of Buddhahood, from the first bhumi and the second bhumi through the tenth bhumi? How many fetters are severed, and how many defilements are eliminated? How does a bodhisattva awaken to the fact that the internal and external dharmas of his own person are all unborn? How does a bodhisattva declare that he practices extensive generosity without ever ceasing? How does a bodhisattva cultivate the precepts to perfection, never transgressing or breaking them throughout his life, nor falling back from the bodhisattva stage? How does a bodhisattva practice patience without giving rise to a regressing mind that abandons patience and returns to the conduct of an ordinary person? How can a bodhisattva be diligent and never indolent, yet still harbor arrogance and laziness accumulated through karma from former lives? How can a bodhisattva enter the Dharma’s meditative concentration such that, even when thunder resounds and the heavens tremble, his mind remains undistracted? Why is a bodhisattva who has newly aroused the aspiration and begun cultivation still unable to sever the distracted mind? Why is a bodhisattva whose consciousness has become settled and secure still unable to relinquish the distracted mind? Why is that mind of the bodhisattva said to be uniquely supreme and utterly different from all other minds? Why does a bodhisattva who has cultivated the dharmas of mind still not understand mind and thought?

At that time, the Blessed One said to Most Victorious:

– Excellent! Excellent! You alone are able to ask about this meaning, bringing great benefit and accomplishment to sentient beings. I shall now expound its meaning for you. These are the inconceivable practices of bodhisattvas, which cannot be measured or fathomed even by boundless and immeasurable wisdom. You alone are able to arouse such a mind before the Tathagata and utter the lion’s roar. Listen! Listen! Reflect well upon and remember this Dharma.

Most Victorious said:

– I shall listen attentively.

The Buddha taught:

– A bodhisattva who arouses the aspiration to seek the unsurpassed Way first eliminates the false view of a self in the body, adherence to wrong precepts, stealing, and discriminative knowledge of suffering. He resolves to observe all the prohibitory precepts fully, reflects each day upon his own conduct, and delights in seeking to leave mundane dharmas far behind. Since the nature of the five skandhas cannot be apprehended, the Way likewise cannot be apprehended. How much less can one rely upon form, sensation, perception, formations, and consciousness within the teachings of non-Buddhist paths and hope thereby to liberate sentient beings?

The Buddha further said to Most Victorious:

– A bodhisattva neither contemplates the activities of the five skandhas nor the activities of sentient beings, nor does he perceive anyone who can be liberated. The wordless teaching is not a Dharma that arhats or pratyekabuddhas can comprehend.

At that time, Bodhisattva Most Victorious addressed the Buddha:

– Blessed One, if the Way is not attained through the non-contemplation of the activities of the five skandhas, nor through the non-contemplation of the activities of sentient beings, can the Way then be attained through the four prohibitory dharmas?

The Buddha taught:

– It cannot.

Bodhisattva Most Victorious again addressed the Buddha:

– If the Way cannot be attained through those four dharmas, can it be attained through emptiness?

The Buddha replied:

– It cannot.

At that time, Bodhisattva Most Victorious again addressed the Buddha:

– If the Way is attained neither through emptiness nor through the four dharmas, does this mean that today the Tathagata and the assembled congregation have not accomplished the unsurpassed Way and have obtained no fruition?

The Buddha taught:

– I have accomplished the unsurpassed Way, but I attained perfect, complete enlightenment by abiding neither in the nature of existence nor in the nature of nonexistence.

Most Victorious addressed the Buddha:

– What are form, sensation, perception, formations, and consciousness; internal and external dharmas; wholesome and unwholesome dharmas; contaminated and uncontaminated dharmas; conditioned and unconditioned dharmas—the designated dharmas that the Tathagata has taught? How are the intrinsic natures of names, concepts, and written words used to transmit the teaching to all sentient beings?

The Buddha taught:

– Activity itself has no name and is also devoid of conceptual thought. Because no coming or going, no movement in either direction, and no cyclical passage can be seen, it is designated omniscience. A bodhisattva should always use ten dharmas to comprehend fully the matters of the Ten Bhumis. What are the dharmas for fully comprehending the matters of the Ten Bhumis? They are: employing the meaning of suffering and origination, the meaning of origination and the Way, and the universally pervasive meaning of complete cessation and non-arising; personally understanding the meaning of one’s own body and the bodies of others; and knowing that the six roots of erroneous views and the sixty-two views are all empty and devoid of meaning. In practice, a bodhisattva must relinquish both that which leaves traces and that which leaves no traces. What does it mean to relinquish that which leaves traces and that which leaves no traces? The Way leaves traces; what is not the Way leaves no traces. Coming and going leave traces; neither coming nor going leaves no traces. A bodhisattva must remain mindful of and cultivate the dharmas of the abiding bhumis. He must cultivate the meaning of suffering; extinguish the fire of lust, the poison of anger, and the thorns of delusion; and extend loving-kindness and compassion throughout the four directions. Although his intention is compassionate, he entertains no perception that he has bestowed kindness through giving. He gives to all sentient beings entirely without concern for himself and without any regret. In giving, he does not perceive giving, a recipient, or a gift. A bodhisattva always gives rise to wholesome thoughts and guides all sentient beings to liberation. He must constantly maintain a humble mind and never give rise to conceit. When teaching the Dharma, a bodhisattva does not perceive any Dharma that arises or abides, and entertains no conceptual thought of Dharma. On the day he leaves the household life and renounces sensual desire, a bodhisattva uses the Dharma of empty nonexistence to sever the mind of attachment. He aspires to accomplish the Buddha Way without clinging to the excellent marks, nor does he think, ‘I shall attain the Way first, and that person will come after me.’ If he wishes to expound the teaching, he never distorts or destroys it. He diligently advances toward realization, is not swept away by the objects of sensual desire, and remains constantly mindful of eliminating conceit. A bodhisattva does not seek for himself the rewards of Dharma or precious material possessions. He transmits and expounds the Dharma without thinking that there is any verbal teaching. He contemplates the body as empty, like empty space, and entertains no conceptual thought. Thus does a bodhisattva employ the wisdom of suffering to accomplish the pure first bhumi that leaves traces.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva, following the meaning of suffering and the meaning of its origination, cultivates hundreds of thousands of kinds of concentration. If one wishes to attain the samadhi of the Buddha-mind’s concentrated intent, one does not employ perceptions of form, nor does one employ the excellent marks; neither does one rely upon one’s past practices to attain the first abiding ground. One does not seek to do this in order to attain that, and neither abiding nor attainment is regarded as permanent abiding.

Such wisdom does not recollect the past, does not cling to the future, and does not conceive of the present worldly course of birth and death. One does not subdue those dharmas by means of the five skandhas and six sense faculties, nor does one depart from the five skandhas and six sense faculties; rather, one must contemplate the six fundamental dharmas of emptiness. The six fundamental dharmas of emptiness are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

From these, arising occurs; from these, cessation occurs. One must also discern the arising of the six sense faculties and contemplate and fully comprehend the dharmas of form, sound, fragrance, taste, and smooth or tactile objects. Nor does one rely on seeing and hearing to contemplate and know the dharmas of mind, mentation, and consciousness; one thereby attains the purity of the first abiding ground.

When one does not follow false dharmas of arising and cessation and conceive them as permanently existent, the first ground is pure. Neither right nor wrong, without fabrication, with mind and intent equal and free from seeking—neither affirming what is right nor denying what is wrong—one purifies the abiding ground. One does not follow one, two, three, four, or even hundreds of thousands of kinds of concentration, nor does one depart from hundreds of thousands of concentrated states of mind, and thus the abiding ground is pure.

One does not, through mind and intent, perceive clearly internal and external thoughts or entertain deluded conceptions concerning right and wrong; nor does one rely upon form, sensation, perception, formations, or consciousness, and thus the abiding ground is pure. Nor does one employ morality, learning, concentrated intent, wisdom, liberation, knowledge and vision of liberation, the dharmas of the Tathagatas of the ten directions requiring no protection, their fearlessness arising from loving-kindness, or the eighteen precious fundamental dharmas of the Buddhas.

These cannot be approached through conceptual thought, the knowledge and vision of a self, or the conception of no-self; nor does one employ the dharmas of the five skandhas, the six sense faculties, or the loci of arising and cessation. There is nowhere to abide, yet neither is there non-abiding. This is called the bodhisattva’s pure abiding on the first ground.

The bodhisattva does not abide within the dwelling of form, sensation, perception, formations, and consciousness; nor does the bodhisattva abide in dharmas produced when the eye sees forms, the ear hears sounds, the nose smells fragrances, the tongue tastes flavors, or the body contacts smooth and tactile objects. Why is this? Because the eye’s seeing cannot be used to perceive the characteristics; one awakens to and clearly understands that dharmas neither arise nor cease, having neither beginning nor end.

This is called the bodhisattva’s own pure abiding on the first ground. Bodhisattvas have fully perfected the wisdom of the path and completed, without distinction, all the dharmas proclaimed by the Tathagata. Whatever dharmas they retain in memory, they can explain, transmit, and recite to others; they can encompass all the profound Dharma treasuries of the Buddhas.

The Buddha again told Supreme Victory:

– The bodhisattva must also fulfill the six paramitas. When the mind relinquishes physical form, seeks nothing, and gives rise to no thought of attachment or defilement concerning the three dharmas, this is called the paramita of giving. If one wishes to know why one does not contemplate the Buddha’s body yet reaches Original Nonbeing, one must know how to cultivate the paramita of morality. One does not think, “I have perfected the thirty-two marks,” nor compare the provisional designations, words, and phrases of dharmas. Their characteristics are inexhaustible; by abiding in the dharma of non-arising, this is called the paramita of patience. One contemplates no practice whatsoever among all dharmas, nor does one see, hear, or practice the dharmas of an ascetic. Seeing good, one does not rejoice; encountering evil, one does not grieve. When the mind is bound by nothing whatsoever, this is called the paramita of vigor. The mind gives rise to no thought, for when thoughts arise, deluded conceptions cause disturbance. Guarding one’s consciousness in tranquility and abiding forever in concentration is called the paramita of meditation. One clearly understands that the characteristics of form are originally empty; one is neither arrogant, self-abasing, nor conceited. One comprehends that the characteristics of all dharmas are originally one, yet there is not even one; this is called the paramita of wisdom. The bodhisattva further employs skillful means suited to sentient beings and, in accordance with conditions, dispels the fetters and afflictions. Therefore, Supreme Victory, when a bodhisattva arouses the aspiration and abides in the practice of the first ground through the noble wisdom of suffering, the bodhisattva can fulfill all gateways of samadhi, all gateways of dharani, and mastery of wisdom.

Furthermore, the bodhisattva attains ten thousand samadhis while abiding in the Desire Realm and must use the fruition of the wisdom of suffering and impartial wisdom to distinguish ten dharmas: desire, harmfulness, pride, delusion, doubt, the view of a self, wrong views, views concerning the internal, views concerning moral precepts, and views concerning lust. Having clearly understood them, the bodhisattva neither removes nor exhausts them, yet does not permit them to arise. The bodhisattva further employs the wisdom of suffering and impartial wisdom within the realms of form and formlessness to contemplate clearly the eighteen kinds of roots of the fetters. Although discerning the fetters, the bodhisattva does not completely eradicate them.

Supreme Victory, you should know that a beginning bodhisattva who has aroused the aspiration further employs the meaning of origination and the meaning of impartiality while abiding in right concentration within the Desire Realm, the realm of form, or the realm of formlessness. The bodhisattva contemplates the calamities, illnesses, and sufferings caused by nineteen antagonistic dharmas, together with the meanings of the afflictions and outflows that must be severed.

The bodhisattva further observes throughout the three realms nineteen dharmas of delusion and error, as well as twenty-two dharmas by which beings fall into the three destinations, and must also contemplate thirty-four uncontaminated dharmas. The Buddha-mind and all virtues are thereby perfected. The bodhisattva clearly understands that contemplation of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self is nondual.

This is precisely the bodhisattva’s own pure practice while abiding on the first ground.

Chapter 2: FLOWING TRANSFORMATIONS

At that time, the bodhisattva Supreme Victory, in the presence of the Buddha, said:

– How must a bodhisattva on the second ground fulfill the practices so that the fruits attained accord precisely with the bodhisattva’s vows, without error?

The Buddha told Supreme Victory:

– A bodhisattva on the second bhumi must always contemplate and remember to preserve the purity of his precepts, reflect upon that profound obligation, diligently cultivate patience, be humble toward those beneath him, always maintain a joyful mind, smile before speaking, practice the mind of great loving-kindness and compassion, be filial and obedient toward his masters and elders, place wholehearted faith in the Three Jewels, honor and cultivate wondrous wisdom, and not give rise to defiled attachment to the notion of permanent existence. Those who cling to permanence hold that the karma of birth and death is inherently the constant principle of the Path. Yet an ordinary, constant path is not exalted. If it were exalted, it would have to manifest extraordinary deeds; only then could it be called exalted. If what is exalted is itself not exalted, how could it be called the exalted Path? Therefore, Most Excellent, when a bodhisattva clearly understands the Path, he sees neither exaltation nor lowliness, nor does he perceive any form or appearance. Because space abides constantly, it is said to possess form and substance. Yet the designation of the true Path cannot be seen. His mind is serene and bound by nothing; the meritorious karma he has cultivated never separates him from the Buddhas, and he is never cut off while abiding in the Path. All evils are completely eliminated. The bodhisattva’s mind always abides in right concentration and never wavers; his resolve is like vajra and has no companion. The bodhisattva knows the root of all dharmas, has removed every defilement, extinguished the obscurations of darkness, and thoroughly comprehends every Dharma of liberation. His mind and intentions are always straightforward, never flattering or deceitful; his nature and conduct are impartial, without any thought of contending over superiority or inferiority. Once he has aroused the aspiration, he remains ever mindful of it. Because he is originally pure, he is able to leave all impurities far behind, bathing in the cool waters of the deep pool and washing away every stain and turbidity. His faith is steadfast and cannot be shaken by anything. His mind of giving is vast and immeasurable; his mind is like space, without limit or end. He receives even the lowly, nurtures them, and brings them across to liberation. Therefore, one possessing such a mind has mature wisdom that nothing can obstruct. There is nowhere toward which his mind turns that he does not clearly understand. His boundless great compassion is an inexhaustible treasury. The bodhisattva possesses discerning eloquence, yet always retains a sense of shame; he perseveres in cultivation, and his mind does not waver. He has the power to awaken to the Dharma of the Path, and there is no Dharma he cannot penetrate deeply. His eloquence surpasses that of the assembly, and all revere him; he attains the dharanis of all dharmas and never forgets them. At first he does not hasten to teach the Dharma, but establishes his mind in hundreds and thousands of kinds of concentration. When he emerges from concentration, no doubts remain. On hearing of wholesome or unwholesome dharmas, he entertains no thoughts of sorrow or joy. He is neither arrogant and conceited nor self-abasing. Whether walking or standing, he remains dignified and never loses proper deportment. He clearly understands the twelve activities and how the five skandhas are affected by the six deteriorations. Through Suffering, Origin, Cessation, and the Path, he discerns the twelve links of dependent origination and clearly knows that ignorance, formations, and so forth are all unreal. He contemplates the five faculties, investigates them, and comprehends them thoroughly, no longer coming and going through the defiled realm of birth and death. Thus, with the eighty fundamental gateways of wisdom, the bodhisattva extinguishes the outflows and vows to retain a transformation body for one kalpa in order to teach and transform beings. Just as My present body is about to enter nirvana without remainder, yet will not pass into extinction forever, but will leave behind a transformation body surrounded by countless worthy and wise beings who gather to hear the wondrous Dharma.

Most Excellent, you should know that during the Worthy Kalpa, thirteen hundred million Buddha lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to the north of here, there is a world called Unmoving Revolution. A Buddha named Illuminating Mind Tathagata, Worthy, Perfectly and Fully Awakened One, is presently teaching the Dharma of the Realm of Unmoving Revolution. In that world, the names shravaka and pratyekabuddha do not exist.

It consists solely of those who have ascended to the stage of Mahayana practitioners, practicing giving, morality, patience, diligence, meditation, and delighting themselves through wisdom and supernormal powers. Their boundless wisdom penetrates their entire bodies, and at the appropriate time they discern the chapters and phrases of the wondrous Dharma. Their loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are impartial like space.

Contemplating sentient beings, they know their dispositions and aspirations in advance, and they pour down a rain of ambrosia possessing immeasurable flavors of Dharma; whoever drinks it is no longer angry or resentful. They practice the three gateways of samadhi—emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness—stand upon the shore of liberation, vanquish birth and death, and sweep away the dust of Mara and the poisonous enmity within the mind.

That Buddha’s supernormal power responds to beings and manifests throughout immeasurable Buddha lands. Those who hear his teachings do not know that he is a transformation body of the Buddha, but all regard him as the Buddha’s true body.

In the past, Buddhas, Blessed Ones as numerous as the sands of the Ganges all left behind transformation bodies to receive and guide sentient beings so that they might attain liberation. Therefore, the Tathagata’s transformational forms, appearing and disappearing, are inconceivable. Future Buddhas, such as Maitreya, will each likewise have transformation bodies of the Buddha to open the Path for sentient beings.

Although I pass into nirvana, My transformation bodies of the Buddha never pass into nirvana. Therefore, Most Excellent, transformation is also non-transformation, and Buddha is also non-Buddha. To understand this clearly is to awaken to empty quiescence.

Furthermore, there are neither two or three nor innumerable characteristics. Bodhisattvas on the second bhumi must always cultivate the Dharma of illusion, contemplate with complete clarity the stages of wisdom and the stages of faith, and, upon seeing a stage, immediately eliminate the stage; they will then accomplish the ultimate stage. Although the stages of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas can cure the illness, bodhisattvas do not grasp at those stages.

Most Excellent, suppose bodhisattvas of the second abode wished to attain the fruits realized by shravakas or pratyekabuddhas: it would truly not be difficult. It is like a person holding a flower garland and a bright-moon jewel and tossing them into the sky. Before they fall to the ground, within that brief interval, the bodhisattva can sever the fetters, remove the defilements, completely extinguish the outflows, and be free of the suffering of birth, aging, death, sorrow, and anxiety.

Although the bodhisattva knows that he has severed every bond, he still does not grasp at the fruit of realization. Therefore, before such beings have contemplated the superior, middling, and inferior minds of sentient beings, they keep their minds steadfast and always abide in the ultimate, while raising clouds of liberation and teaching wisdom; they cause thunder and lightning to resound, pour down the rain of ambrosial medicine, and proclaim the Dharma treasure of true reality.

They do not interrupt the three karmas, while their thoughts remain tranquil like pure water. They always adorn themselves with the prohibitive precepts and further ornament themselves with every virtue, honoring the wondrous Path of awakening of the Worthies and Sages until they reach the final body of a once-born bodhisattva who will succeed to Buddhahood. The bodhisattva clearly understands the fundamental karma created by the Buddhas of the present and clearly understands that all dharanis of the Dharma have no basis upon which to rely.

He first gives rise to the intention to purify and adorn the bodhimanda, and whether walking, standing, lying down, or sitting, he remains mindful of anapana. Amid assemblies difficult to tame, he tames them without fear. Because his mind is courageous, he attains mastery and arouses a sincere and earnest aspiration worthy of reverence.

For the sake of sentient beings, he teaches the Dharma of joy and bliss. His mind is worthy of veneration and transcends every class of being. If one can clearly awaken to the characteristic of empty nonexistence, what techniques of non-Buddhist paths could surpass it?

This is what shravakas and pratyekabuddhas always revere.

At that time, the Blessed One said to Most Excellent:

– Bodhisattvas of the second bhumi, knowing fundamental nonexistence, distance themselves from bodily actions, relinquish faults of speech, eliminate the mind’s distracted thoughts, extinguish the three defilements, ward off the three calamities, and cover over the chilling five skandhas. They seek out the root of deluded activity in the twelve links of dependent origination and in the five higher and five lower fetters distributed throughout the three realms. By gradually eliminating them, they prevent them from increasing further. They contemplate the eleven kinds of afflictive illness, remove the grave illnesses of attachment to the four great elements, discern material form to be an unwholesome dharma, avoid household occupations, abandon worldly habits, and eradicate sensual desire, anger, greed, and defilement. The faculties of bodhisattvas are pure and are not drawn along by the fetters. They constantly recollect and contemplate the perception of non-self, firmly maintain the four kinds of faith, abide in the four foundations of mindfulness, accomplish the four right efforts, proclaim the five faculties, clearly reveal the five powers, and never allow their resolve to diminish. They thoroughly understand the seven factors of awakening, the treasury of all jewels; cultivate the Noble Ones’ Eightfold Right Path; and never abandon the eight qualities of a great person. Thus, Most Victorious, bodhisattvas of the second bhumi guard the mind and discipline thought. However many thoughts arise, they awaken to them all as emptiness and not truly real, until they attain the higher bhumi and receive the prediction of bodhisattvahood. They continue to cultivate diligently and unwaveringly and never forsake their practice. Having trained until they attain supreme wisdom, though honored, they never give rise to arrogance. They contemplate and clearly know all dharmas; upon seeing one dharma, they do not conceive of two or three dharmas. Nor do they give rise to futile perceptions, the perception of finitude, the perception of infinity, or the perception of both finitude and infinity. They clearly understand the perception of infinity yet do not abide in nonexistence. When they contemplate pure, right awakening, the Buddhas likewise are pure. They skillfully discipline the mind, abiding rightly and not erroneously. They remain impartial toward good and evil, clearly knowing both to be empty. Regarding that emptiness, they have neither doubt nor obstruction; nor do they perceive contention or non-contention, contemplation or non-contemplation. Fundamental nonexistence is one, yet they do not perceive even one; they know the one, remove the one, do not abide in the one, and do not follow the one to give rise to various perceptions. They are impartial toward arising and non-arising; their minds transcend limitation, yet they do not perceive a finite dharma, anything that transcends, or anything upon which to rely. They do not perceive a distracted mind passing beyond internal and external dharmas. They skillfully guard consciousness, remaining unmoved in samadhi. Although dwelling within the three modes of existence, they are not attached to them. They carefully contemplate all natures and clearly understand that they have no source. Because bodhisattvas know rootlessness, they are called bodhisattvas who abide in the purity of the second bhumi. Bodhisattvas examine their own minds and contemplate the source of all dharmas, seeing that all are impermanent. When impermanence arrives, they perceive no arising, neither wholesome nor unwholesome, and none of the favorable or unfavorable designations such as gain and loss, disgrace and honor, praise and blame, suffering and pleasure. They discipline their minds until no sorrow or distress remains. Within that very mind they open the great treasury of Dharma, enter the great ocean of Dharma, aspire to true wisdom, melt away the three cravings, skillfully subdue the four currents, cultivate the six weighty dharmas, and accomplish the fruit of realization.

Most Victorious, once bodhisattva-mahasattvas have fully possessed such dharmas, they know that what has neither shape nor appearance cannot be seen. This is called the pure training of those on the second bhumi.

Chapter 3: CONTEMPLATING EMPTINESS

At that time, Bodhisattva Most Victorious again addressed the Buddha:

– How should bodhisattvas on the third bhumi purify their conduct?

The Blessed One taught:

– Bodhisattvas diligently train without thoughts of entering or emerging. Although they have learned much, they never consider their inquiries sufficient. They do not delight in studying literary forms, sentence structures, or ornate language. They propagate the teachings while always remaining humble toward everyone. They administer and attend to affairs of state without being bound by thoughts of state affairs. They perform wholesome deeds without arrogance. They safeguard the thought of their initial aspiration and do not allow it to be severed or lost. They fulfill virtuous vows; their resolve is like Mount Anming. They contemplate sentient beings and teach the Dharma with joy. From the moment bodhisattvas first arouse the aspiration, they do so for the foundation of the Path; therefore, they attain the fruit of the Path, forever quiescent. Their thoughts of extensive generosity pervade everywhere. They make vows and establish their resolve to observe the precepts perfectly. They arouse the mind of diligent cultivation without indolence, taking nothing as their delight and regarding only the Path as the task they must cultivate. For those who have nowhere to rely, they show the way. By discerning the Dharma of great wisdom, from the moment they first arouse the aspiration they forever abide nowhere. Because they employ the mind of great compassion, it cannot be seen. Aspiring to uproot afflictions completely and establishing their resolve in the practice of the Mahayana, they give rise to compassion for those not yet delivered. When they see those who have been delivered, they should rejoice, maintaining an impartial mind toward sentient beings. Whether encountering suffering or happiness, they remain unmoved, assisting everyone and leading them through the gate of the Path. They are supported by the manifested bodies of the Tathagatas and recollect and follow the teachings of the Buddhas of the ten directions. They must deliver beings from every hardship of the five destinies, cause the Path to flourish, neither harm the Three Jewels nor act contrary to them, and thereby accomplish the fruit of the Path. Following the prohibitory precepts, they become exemplars for sentient beings and proclaim the inexhaustible wisdom of the Dharma Jewel. Just as space has no end, that omniscience likewise has no end. The consciousness of the Tathagata is also thus: it has neither arising nor cessation, and the bonds of arising and cessation have all been eradicated. With the concentrated mind of samadhi, wisdom, and liberation, they transcend the view and knowledge of the nonexistence of the body; neither near nor far can be seen.

Most Victorious, you should know that all the extremely profound essential teachings of the Buddhas are likewise inexhaustible and without any point of origin. In the three times—past, present, and future—nothing can be seen to gather or disperse, to assemble, be formed, and then disperse and perish, or to change into something altogether different. None of these are produced by the four great elements.

Earth, water, wind, and fire likewise have no objects and cannot be seen. With wisdom, they clearly discern the mental activities of sentient beings and never abandon the four inconceivable vows. All have no place of arising, yet neither are they vague or unclear.

None of all the dharmas investigated can be known. Therefore, it is said that they have no place of arising; nor is there any dharma that can arise. Since arising is non-arising, what dharma can be called arising?

Therefore, Most Victorious, the aspiration for bodhi has no end. They do not give rise to thoughts that conceive the forms and characteristics of dharmas, nor do they falsely fabricate dharmas through deluded thought. The mind of a bodhisattva is upright and is exceptional among all minds.

The Dharma of cultivating the contemplation of mind is precisely the Dharma of personally contemplating one’s own body and contemplating the bodies of others as all empty and quiescent, without giving rise to conceptual thoughts. Contemplating the body as undefiled, they find it unobtainable; there is also neither giving nor receiving, and they discern all as one. Whether walking or standing, they continually contemplate the various forms assumed within the three realms, all of which are received through delusion, thereby bringing about suffering and distress.

Thoroughly knowing the nondual Dharma, they find it unobtainable. Mindful of suffering and distress, they practice the Dharma of seeing that both within and without are empty and quiescent, without arising or cessation.

Furthermore, O Most Victorious, a bodhisattva who diligently trains in the path contemplates whether the incoming and outgoing breaths are long or short, rapid or slow. Yet one does not clearly understand what occurs when the breath passes through the pores of the body. When the outgoing breath is warm and the incoming breath is cool, one knows that such quiescence is entirely unreal.

The bodhisattva contemplates the body and discerns that consciousness likewise has no abiding place, for the mind is pure, rightly concentrated, and free from wrong mindfulness. That mind is gentle and pliant, unstirred by thoughts of sensory objects, and remains completely faithful to the essential Dharma of liberation, never changing. When one’s resolve is always steadfast and immovable, one cannot give rise to a harmful or disturbing mind through love or hatred.

Why is this? In accordance with that practice, no mind of attainment can exist. If there were attainment, one would not revile it; on what basis, then, could it be said to be without origin or fault?

When the mind’s defilements have been exhausted, one vows that the Dharma wheel will always turn in the world, enabling everyone to attain wondrous wisdom that illuminates dark places, like the sun appearing when the clouds disperse. To establish the path, one must first personally contemplate selflessness and the absence of any place of arising. All internal and external dharmas are likewise so.

One also neither sees nor hears of the arising and cessation of dharmas within the various destinies of birth and death, even up to the stages of arhat, pratyekabuddha, and Buddha. To possess perceptions and views of existence is false seeing. When there is no object seen, all seeing is pure.

If the mind does not abide in thoughts of purity, that itself is non-perception. This is non-seeing; it is having nothing whatsoever to see.

Furthermore, O Most Victorious, the mind is neither within nor without. It is neither within the Dharma of the path nor abiding in the world. It abides neither in existence nor in nonexistence and sees no place where arising and cessation move.

The mind has no walls or boundaries; it is vast and bottomless, without even the slightest sound or echo. Thus, O Most Victorious, one must contemplate the contemplation of dharmas while having no object contemplated. One must see seeing while having no object of sight.

Practicing the bodhisattva conduct in this way is emptiness, cessation, and non-possession. A bodhisattva abiding in the third stage employs the dharmas of concentration to make the mind diligent and focused, controlling thoughts until they become pure. Training in mastery of the mind in this way accords with nirvana and corresponds to non-arising.

That Dharma is neither a dharma of nonexistence nor a dharma that is not nonexistence. It is provisionally called Dharma-nature on account of names and designations. Upon awakening to Dharma-nature, one no longer follows past causes and conditions; the mind becomes lucid and thoroughly comprehending, and through cultivation one eliminates the sorrowful dharmas of the world.

Evil dharmas that have not yet arisen are diligently subdued and restrained so that they do not arise. Evil dharmas that have already arisen are subdued by directing the mind so that they cease. Wholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen are diligently caused to arise.

Wholesome dharmas that have already arisen are caused to increase and are not allowed to be lost.

A bodhisattva abiding in the third stage cultivates the basis of spiritual power founded on concentration and attains joy and bliss through the cultivation of calm abiding. That spiritual power constantly guards the body and mind. Through concentration founded on diligence, the bodhisattva eliminates the evil deeds already committed.

This spiritual power also constantly guards the body and mind. Through concentration of mind, the bodhisattva extinguishes the karma already created, gathering in the bases of spiritual power to guard the body and mind. Through wisdom, the bodhisattva eliminates the karma already created, likewise gathering in those bases of spiritual power to guard the body and mind.

The bodhisattva gradually cultivates the faculty of faith, the faculty of diligence, the faculty of mind, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, and the faculty of wisdom, and thereby enters the essential Dharma. The Buddha-Dharma is inexhaustible, without person or self, without causes and conditions, and without bonds. Those who delight in existence habitually cling to the belief that the suffering of birth and death must be eliminated.

Although all things are without any trace, many people nevertheless rely upon them and establish names throughout countless lifetimes. Formations accumulate again, and sorrow and affliction arise accordingly, following like a shadow follows a form, never ceasing. Like a wheel’s track that follows the wheel, one knows not when it is curved or when it is straight.

The cultivation of concentration also relies upon nothing and rightly contemplates the Dharma of non-attachment. When greed is exhausted, perceptions have ceased, and bonds have been released, purity is attained. With formations no longer producing sensation and the mind free from sorrow and disturbance, aging and illness are eliminated, and one no longer comes and goes.

The luminous wisdom-eye shines throughout the human world, breaks through the twelve links of dependent origination, and leaves no point at which wisdom remains obscured.

Furthermore, O Most Victorious, the bodhisattva must also cultivate the meritorious powers. One who possesses these powers cannot be ruined or harmed by the awesome might of heavenly maras or followers of other paths. The power of faith, power of diligence, power of mind, power of concentration, and power of wisdom are the mother of those who cultivate the bodhisattva conduct.

Thereafter, one must gradually apply diligent effort and cultivate the flowers of the Seven Factors of Enlightenment. By means of these flowers, one cultivates the fifteen minds, eliminates stinginess and miserliness that obscure the traces of the bodhisattva path, and perfects profound and wondrous wisdom from which there is no retrogression. The unconditioned and non-active Dharma of the flowers of the Factors of Enlightenment eliminates evil and unwholesome conduct.

Together with the flower of the enlightenment factor of diligence, it forms the precepts that prevent indolence; when heedlessness occurs, it restrains it so that it does not arise. The flower of the enlightenment factor of joy corresponds to the third dhyana, gathers in all distracted thoughts, and is quiescent and unconditioned. Through the flower of the enlightenment factor of faith, one is free from greedy attachment and clearly contemplates that all dharmas have nothing accumulated.

Through the flower of the enlightenment factor of faith, one’s mind and resolve become steadfast, one’s speech gentle, clear, and thoroughly comprehensible, without regret or apprehension. The bodhisattva must also contemplate the flower of the enlightenment factor of non-attachment, eliminating the one hundred and eight defiled, attached, and erroneous states of mind. The bodhisattva must further cultivate the Eightfold Path of the Noble Sages: right mindfulness, right concentration, right speech, right conduct, right cultivation of karma, right intention, and right concentration; thereby transcending the eight difficulties and six states of decline.

The bodhisattva also discerns the Dharma of the three samadhis. One who fully cultivates all these practices is said to have attained pure samadhi.

Thus, O Most Victorious, a great bodhisattva cultivates the gateway of wisdom and contemplates emptiness. There is nothing that cannot be seen. When there is no perception of physical form, form is the same as formlessness.

When expounding the Dharma to others, the bodhisattva always uses words that are right, truthful, and utterly sincere, never speaking erroneous words that cause others to develop doubt or disappointment. Because the bodhisattva does not seek fame or reputation, everyone praises the bodhisattva and comes together to honor and make offerings. Whatever a bodhisattva does is never done for personal benefit.

First, the bodhisattva seeks the peace and well-being of others and only afterward attends to the self. For this reason, the bodhisattva personally reaches a place of peace and security. The bodhisattva never wearies of the merit accumulated through giving.

When giving to those in distress, the bodhisattva never considers it sufficient, for the purpose is to transform and guide all sentient beings. With a mind of great loving-kindness, the bodhisattva completely eliminates aging and death and causes the indolent to arouse diligent effort. Wishing to nurture all kinds of sentient beings, the bodhisattva must always reflect: “It is through sentient beings that I attain the fruit of the path and that all meritorious karma is brought to fulfillment.

I must devote all my strength to sentient beings without seeking any reward.” Because the pure minds of such beings have been permeated by the rain of Dharma, they seek nothing from people in the world. Even if they seek something, it is not for gain or support. Through this power of wisdom, the bodhisattva attains all dharmas and vows that sentient beings, each in their own dwelling place, will attain peace and security, and that the upper, middle, and lower realms of the three realms will be entirely free from resentment.

Everything such beings do is intended to bring peace and security to sentient beings and enable them to penetrate the truth. Therefore, a bodhisattva is one whom no one can subdue and whose work no one can halt or sever.

Thus, O Tối Thắng, the vast vows made by bodhisattvas in former times are truly difficult to fathom. Their boundless wisdom is inexhaustible. Just as heavenly gold is free from impurities, so too the conduct of bodhisattvas is undefiled.

They sever the afflictions and defilements of worldly toil, remain forever free from desire, and never allow an evil thought to arise and cause disturbance. Furthermore, the minds of bodhisattvas are courageous and vigorous; they are not shrouded by evil thoughts or caused to harbor wrong thoughts, nor do they give rise to anger, harmful intent, delusion, or possessive attachment. They transcend the five desires, arrogance, and self-conceit, and have utterly eliminated everything that ought not to be done.

Bodhisattvas dwelling in the third stage always attain such a mind. They contemplate inner dharmas, yet see no object that can be seen and no form or characteristic. If there were characteristics, that would constitute the destruction of the Dharma-nature.

Having laid down the heavy burden of all impurities and defilements, bodhisattvas must steadfastly maintain this mind without indolence. When they investigate this mind, everything is found to abide in nothing whatsoever, and they perceive no multitude of conceptual thoughts. They cause those whose minds are confused to become composed.

They nurture wisdom in those who lack it. In brief, whether sentient beings who have assumed this body possess merit or lack merit, bodhisattvas wish to liberate them all and bring them to the path of the Great Vehicle. They contemplate in accordance with the Great Vehicle without becoming attached even to that contemplation.

Bodhisattvas instruct sentient beings to practice this Dharma, causing them all to establish firm resolve, then to abide in the purified third bhumi and accomplish the fruit of the path. In every perilous circumstance, bodhisattvas perfect the limitless virtues, the paramitas. Although they attain the wisdom that knows karmic recompense to be without inherent existence, the bodhisattva mind remains thus and can never be perceived.

Therefore, those noble ones can use wisdom to contemplate and know that there is no past, future, or present.

Thus, O Tối Thắng, bodhisattvas constantly cultivate the mind of great loving-kindness. Whenever there is suffering or calamity, they personally bear it in the hope of bringing deliverance and preserving the lives of sentient beings. They would rather sacrifice their bodies and lose their lives, willingly accepting suffering and affliction, than fail urgently to deliver others or forget their solemn vows.

In this way, bodhisattvas practice loving-kindness with impartiality. When they receive benefit, they do not rejoice on that account; when insulted and reviled, they harbor no sorrow. This is precisely how bodhisattvas practice loving-kindness according to circumstances.

Those who cultivate loving-kindness always purify the three karmas of body, speech, and mind. Throughout their lives, they neither spread evil nor entertain false and improper thoughts. Even when alone amid the foolishness of the defiled world, they are neither afraid nor conceited, and they never forsake the Dharma they have learned.

Through subtle and wondrous wisdom, they penetrate all the dharmas of the Buddhas. In accordance with what others seek, they do not oppose their minds.

At that time, the Blessed One again addressed Tối Thắng:

“In former times, I traveled to many places in pursuit of learning, abiding in the third bhumi, purifying all defilements, and perfecting merit. Those who followed Me in study were beyond counting. Among them, those who followed behind Me but subsequently regressed in mind were too numerous to recount.

From the first abiding stage to the third abiding stage, I aroused a vast solemn vow that never changed. The merit I created within that Dharma was likewise immeasurable. I relinquished all rare and precious jewels, kingdoms, wealth, wives, and children beyond reckoning, solely because I vowed to give them to those in need.

Thus I gave away nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine heads. Finally, I encountered an emaciated and sick tigress whose strength was exhausted. In the extremity of hunger and thirst, she wished to seize another animal for food but was unable to do so; therefore, she intended to eat her own cub to preserve her life.

Mustering her strength, she extended her claws and prepared to pounce upon her cub. At that time, Maitreya, Nhu Thuận, and I were companions. I looked at the two of them and said, ‘Now is precisely the time.

Who possesses a firm and courageous mind and will offer his own body as food for this tigress?’ Each of them turned and looked at the other. Though they said nothing, their minds had already regressed. Observing and knowing that their minds had retreated, I cast Myself from the mountaintop into the deep ravine.

A deva of the Śuddhāvāsa Heaven manifested, descended, and supported Me, transforming into an ambrosial couch upon which My body came to rest. The hungry tigress was also satiated, and both mother and cub remained safe. I too suffered no injury.

Counting that body, the total came to exactly ten thousand heads. Therefore, O Tối Thắng, bodhisattvas who diligently train and accomplish samadhi must not harbor a wavering or irresolute mind. Even had My body fallen into the tigress’s mouth, she would neither have eaten it nor approached it.

Why? Because I had established profound and abundant merit and thereby attained sovereign spiritual power over all dharmas. In cultivating repentance, I had never harbored a concealing mind, and through immeasurable acts of giving, I had dedicated and augmented merit.

Bodhisattvas train and study, expound the meaning of the path, practice in accordance with the Dharma, and encourage sentient beings to learn the path according to the Dharma of the Great Being. The minds of bodhisattvas are steadfast and never depart from their vast vows. Their merit reaches the limitless, and with it they adorn themselves.”

The Buddha addressed Tối Thắng:

“Bodhisattvas advancing in training who cultivate the third bhumi must always be single-minded and never allow themselves to change. They must not use their own views to unsettle the minds of sentient beings. They always know to remain far removed from the afflictions and defilements of worldly toil.

For themselves, they know contentment and do not seek offerings or gain, nor allow their minds to become entangled in attachment. They do not seek lofty rank, nobility, authority, or wealth. They cause all people to cultivate the true Dharma and reveal supreme wisdom, enabling every sentient being to attain the fundamental view that self and other are not one, yet are originally not different.

According to causes and conditions, bodhisattvas reveal this meaning. They do not purify their own bhumi by means of the dharma of arising, the dharma that is not without arising, the dharma of non-arising, or the dharma of not arising; therefore, there is no delusion, ultimately no delusion. Delusion gives rise to the defilements of worldly toil and is therefore called delusion.

With regard to delusion, they see no delusion: there is no delusion, nor is there any delusion. To know clearly and profoundly, down to the subtlest delusion, is precisely to accord with true emptiness.

“Thus, O Tối Thắng, the bodhisattva’s path of cultivation is to discern the principle of emptiness and nonexistence, thereby entering the Dharma and delivering all sentient beings from every kind of suffering to peace and happiness. O Tối Thắng, this is called a bodhisattva advancing in training who abides in the third bhumi and purifies his own conduct.”

Chapter Four: THE ENTRANCE OF FORM

At that time, Bodhisattva Tối Thắng, in the presence of the Buddha, asked:

“What is meant by a Nobly Born bodhisattva who abides in the fourth bhumi and purifies his own conduct?”

The Buddha addressed Tối Thắng:

– A bodhisattva of noble birth dwelling in the fourth bhumi must never abandon receiving and upholding the Dharma of true persons; must maintain a mind of contentment, neither craving nor clinging; must not abandon the twelve essential practices of ascetic discipline; must guard the precepts as though warding against a venomous snake; must regard defiled sensual desire as though scorched by fire; and must cast off the mind of craving without allowing it to arise again. When instructing the assembly, the bodhisattva must give rise to contemplation as of nirvana, explaining whatever has been fully understood without begrudging body or life. The bodhisattva must not give rise to contempt, arrogance, or self-importance toward the assembly; must neither delight in possessions nor have the three obstructions; and must cultivate the mental Dharma of a great being. Amid the great assembly, the bodhisattva reflects upon and practices the gift of Dharma, instructing sentient beings in accordance with the bodhisattva’s own vows. The bodhisattva accumulates merit and nurtures virtue for the unsurpassed path, practices alone in the tranquil seclusion of a deep forest, possesses nothing, and seeks only contentment. The bodhisattva performs meritorious deeds without ever being satisfied, studies widely and understands much without ever growing weary, and expounds through wisdom without considering it burdensome. Contemplating within the body and reflecting upon root and branch, the bodhisattva’s discerning wisdom thoroughly comprehends every thought, remains far removed from all evils, and cultivates the gateways of liberation; these gateways of liberation are taught to bodhisattvas. The bodhisattva penetrates the fundamental teachings, reflects upon the wondrous Dharma, discerns the characteristics of arising and dissolution in the five skandhas, and fully comprehends the four great elements: earth, water, fire, and wind. The bodhisattva understands the fundamental dharmas that give rise to the six deteriorations. The twelve links of dependent origination are vast and boundless, while the transformations of birth and death are inexhaustible. The bodhisattva teaches suffering to admonish sentient beings, exhorts them to remember and never forget, does not calculate whether one’s own lifespan or another’s is long or short, silently and without contrivance cultivates extraordinary karma, and realizes that everything is false and unreal.

Furthermore, Most Excellent One, a bodhisattva dwelling in the fourth stage must protect followers of the Buddha and must not entertain discriminations between those on the path and those in secular life. The wisdom and practices of a bodhisattva are inexhaustible. The bodhisattva performs every meritorious deed, guides and instructs the people of the land, and enables each to attain accomplishment according to the proper sequence.

The ocean of wisdom is boundless; tirelessly applying all that is experienced, the bodhisattva delivers all sentient beings. The merits of a bodhisattva’s practice always stand foremost, supreme and unsurpassed, beyond anyone’s ability to equal. The bodhisattva recollects the Dharma of dharani and never forgets it, enabling every sentient being to attain roots of goodness without deficiency or decline.

Why is this so? Because the bodhisattva employs the honored Dharma, the bodhisattva is able to transcend binding conditions. By receiving this Dharma, the bodhisattva assuredly enters the station of a true being.

Because the bodhisattva’s mind is diligent and irreversible, the bodhisattva personally fulfills the unsurpassed sacred undertaking and accomplishes the vow, yet does not perceive any accomplishment. If one perceives an accomplishment, then it is not accomplishment. A bodhisattva’s practice can never be perceived.

By cultivating that concentrated mind, the bodhisattva gathers in and thoroughly comprehends all dharmas and does not allow the practices already undertaken to regress. Subduing the mind is the bodhisattva’s undertaking of the path; through cultivation, the bodhisattva guards against innumerable perceptions. Why is this so?

It is precisely to abandon all evils and not follow them, and diligently to practice giving, that field of merit and happiness. Toward all sentient beings, the bodhisattva gives rise to a mind free from bodily or mental craving, employing only a single, pure, loving mind that is exalted and infinitely wondrous. The bodhisattva concentrates and diligently observes the Dharma of the precepts as though guarding both eyes, and instructs those who violate the precepts so that they cease doing evil.

The bodhisattva must also diligently cultivate patience, for the practice of patience is ordinarily very difficult. Although dwelling in a station of honor, wealth, and happiness, the bodhisattva does not despise the poor or hungry.

Thus, Most Excellent One, patience is difficult. The cultivation of diligence is also difficult to accomplish. Sitting beneath the Bodhi tree, with body upright and mind correct, one sits cross-legged without moving. If someone approaches and says, “Leave my place. I wish to sit here,” one must remain steadfast and not allow oneself to be overcome by that person. First one preserves the Buddha path, contemplates all the excellent marks, and subdues demons and spirits; only then does one relinquish that place of contemplation. This is called the difficulty of attaining diligence.

Single-minded concentration is likewise difficult to attain. When a bodhisattva of noble birth cultivates the concentrated mind, even if the heavens pour down torrents of snow and ten thousand sounds resound together, shaking everything and seeking to disturb the bodhisattva’s mind, that mind must not waver in the slightest. Most Excellent One, this is called a bodhisattva’s concentrated mind; therefore, it is said to be difficult.

With wisdom, the bodhisattva cultivates all merits and never considers hardships endured for sentient beings. Whether walking, standing, coming, or going, the bodhisattva is gentle and dignified, complete in deportment, and properly attired in Dharma robes. This is called a bodhisattva’s cultivation of steadfast merit and wisdom, which no one can harm.

The bodhisattva’s understanding is unobstructed and reaches the profound; the bodhisattva penetrates deeply and clearly into every minute detail, with none left unknown. The bodhisattva always maintains a single-minded and heedful mind, continually remembers not to cling to any object, yet relies upon them as skillful means require. The bodhisattva delivers the blind and enables them to see the light.

Those who are not suited to take refuge are not permitted to take refuge. The bodhisattva befriends those among the lowliest servants. Those who are deceitful and treacherous are taught to cultivate truthfulness and honesty.

Upon encountering violent bandits, the bodhisattva manifests patience. Amid beautiful surroundings, the bodhisattva is not bound by them. Those who betray kindness and forget gratitude are instructed so that they learn to repay kindness.

While dwelling in heavenly palaces, the bodhisattva instructs the devas to cultivate goodness. When drawing near to those whose minds are indolent, the bodhisattva diligently cultivates virtuous deeds. When encountering the arrogant, the bodhisattva is without self-importance.

Whatever is sought must not be interrupted. The bodhisattva neither thinks of evil nor utters defective words. If people somewhere engage in deviant and wrongful acts, the bodhisattva helps them reach a place of peace and security.

When many kinds of sentient beings come, the bodhisattva welcomes them joyfully, without giving rise to anger or displeasure, and uses exhortative words to teach the Dharma of advancement and retreat: “This matter should be done in this way! That matter should not be done in that way!” The mind remains settled and equanimous, neither increasing nor decreasing, with complete faith in wrongdoing and merit and knowledge that karmic retribution exists.

If a bodhisattva dwells in a city among the people, the bodhisattva contemplates it as no different from an open and empty place deep in the mountains, does not covet gain or offerings, does not begrudge body or life, and maintains pure thoughts free from judgments of right and wrong. The bodhisattva always guards against faults of speech, speaking without distinctions between this person and that; neither seeks offerings from others nor hopes for their reverence; and knows contentment, requiring only what is sufficient.

The bodhisattva’s mind is always gentle and harmonious, is not governed by unwholesome thoughts, transcends birth and death, and brings peace and security amid suffering and calamity. Therefore, the bodhisattva always attains accomplishment on the path of Mahayana cultivation. The bodhisattva’s mind and wisdom likewise cannot be perceived, and the bodhisattva possesses nothing within the cycle of birth and death.

Through skillful means, the bodhisattva teaches distinctly and clearly, always instructing beings as circumstances require to eradicate afflictions. From beginning to end, the bodhisattva neither comes nor goes; fully comprehending the Dharma of emptiness, the bodhisattva abides nowhere. If a bodhisattva conceives of existence, the bodhisattva becomes attached to existence.

While practicing giving, the bodhisattva also contemplates nonexistence and likewise contemplates that non-possession cannot be perceived. Why is this so? The six transcendent perfections (paramitas) cannot be perceived and are without possession.

Thus, Most Excellent One, a bodhisattva’s giving is free from deliberation and calculation. If there is deliberation and calculation, it is not true giving. If, while giving, one harbors a mind of comparison and selection, one should not give.

If there is an intention to distinguish high from low, disputes over right and wrong arise; if one does not give equally to all kinds of beings, one should not give. Only when one can give with wisdom, without producing a mind of attachment or defilement and without any kind of discriminating thought, can it be called giving. When recipients of giving are able to preserve their whole lives and bodies, they can sit at ease, recite sutras, and cultivate; their bodies become settled and their strength vigorous.

As bodhisattvas journey through samsara, they are never tormented by craving; at the very place of birth, they use spiritual powers to fly away. Wherever they arrive, they are honored by everyone. With the divine eye, they see the ten directions; with the divine ear, they hear faraway and innumerable sounds.

They also possess various subtle fragrances: the fragrance of morality, the fragrance of samadhi, the fragrance of wisdom, the fragrance of liberation, and the fragrance of the knowledge and vision of liberation. Because bodhisattvas are permeated by these fragrances, the scent of their bodies is always pure, and none fail to delight in it. Bodhisattvas always partake of delicious and sweet flavors.

Through the merit and virtue created in former times, bodhisattvas attain extraordinary marks, pure and stainless; they receive everyone’s support and are provided with offerings according to whatever they lack. A bodhisattva’s body is always free from illness, birth, aging, and every calamity; it is always peaceful, secure, and endowed with everything. Bodhisattvas will certainly perfect the thirty-two marks of a Great Person and the eighty secondary characteristics adorning the body.

Bodhisattvas expound the treasury of the Dharma without giving rise to desire and propagate the wisdom of the path without deficiency. When people come seeking instruction, they are not stingy with the Dharma but teach wholeheartedly so that those people may attain omniscience. Bodhisattvas possess vast and inexhaustible noble wisdom, understand the scriptures profoundly, and enjoy the bliss of the Dharma.

Sitting beneath the bodhi tree, bodhisattvas subdue the armies of Mara and their retinues. Because bodhisattvas are not attached to form, whenever they encounter form, they know that form is emptiness. The intrinsic nature of form is itself empty; because form cannot know itself as form, they thereby know that form itself is emptiness.

Thus, Most Excellent One, bodhisattvas awaken to the empty nature of form. Because this is the foremost Dharma among all dharmas, they perfect the Dharma-eye. They are honored by those of all paths throughout the three times and journey alone without companions, for they are fully endowed with every kind of penetrating wisdom.

The Buddha told Most Excellent One:

– Bodhisattvas at the Stage of Noble Birth do not believe in inverted, erroneous teachings. Even if sentient beings each revere and worship them while seeking merit, the minds of bodhisattvas remain unmoved. When they see those who direct themselves toward sustenance obtained by mouth, bodhisattvas remain steadfast in cultivating according to the unsurpassed and supremely honored Dharma. They never waver, abandoning the unsurpassed path to follow a lesser path. They clearly know that the Buddha’s Dharma is profound and incomparable, and their diligent minds never give rise to other notions. Although bodhisattvas carefully investigate and seek understanding, they never turn toward another path. At times when a Buddha has appeared in the world and then entered parinirvana, when the teachings left behind have also disappeared, and when the noble assembly traveling to teach has become confused and scattered, even though the Three Jewels are absent, bodhisattvas’ minds do not follow erroneous thoughts. They constantly recite, study, and thoroughly cultivate immeasurable scriptural passages. Through the twelve divisions of scripture, they penetrate everything. They skillfully employ expedient means, and there is no Dharma they cannot enter. Bodhisattvas do not covet fame or gain. Though they manifest transformation bodies, they do not proclaim their own names. Thus, Most Excellent One, bodhisattvas at the Stage of Noble Birth follow right view. They know that emptiness is not an ultimately real entity; that nothing can be called right or not right is precisely true nonexistence. Clearly understanding this is called the right path.

Furthermore, Most Excellent One, bodhisattva-mahasattvas cultivate wisdom, distinguish existence from nonexistence, and awaken to the principle of true emptiness without becoming attached even to it. Bodhisattvas must also cultivate the wisdom of the meanings expressed in phrases, yet without becoming attached to them. Bodhisattvas directly realize the Truth of Suffering, have severed and utterly extinguished the causes that accumulate suffering, and have cultivated the path that exhausts craving.

With conventional knowledge, they contemplate and pacify lust, anger, and delusion. With Dharma-knowledge, they remove defilements throughout the upper, middle, and lower grades of the three realms. With knowledge born of patience (knowledge of far-reaching contemplation), they contemplate the two higher realms.

With knowledge of others’ minds, they universally see what sentient beings are thinking within their minds. Those possessing knowledge of the unborn are not defiled by the womb when undergoing birth and death. Because bodhisattvas cultivate the knowledge of complete cessation, they contemplate the severance of the five skandhas and the confinement imposed by arising and cessation.

They reflect upon the fundamental dharmas to be cultivated concerning the three faculties, from the Faculty of One Who Does Not Yet Know, the Faculty of One Who Knows, and the Faculty of One Beyond Knowing, until they finally attain the path. Bodhisattvas must study these fundamental dharmas. From the three classes of white-robed practitioners through stream-entry, they must cultivate the Faculty of One Who Does Not Yet Know.

From once-returning through non-returning, they study the Faculty of One Who Knows. From arhatship until attaining Buddhahood, they must study the Faculty of One Beyond Knowing. They must also cultivate meditative concentration.

Using wisdom to contemplate and know, at the first dhyana they gather the mind with initial application and sustained application. At the next level of dhyana, inwardly there is no initial application, only sustained application. From the second dhyana through the Concentration of Non-Perception, there is neither initial nor sustained application; inwardly, the mind is quiescent and unmoving, always perfecting faith and entering right samadhi.

Thus, Most Excellent One, by day and by night bodhisattvas never give rise to the thought: “I know that true persons uphold the precepts, and I also know that evil people possess no moral conduct.” Bodhisattvas have no divergent mind that discriminates; they know that both are illusory and quiescent. They have no agitated, discriminating thought that regards them as one or two, before or after, or in between. With diligent effort, thought after thought, bodhisattvas never depart from the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Noble Sangha.

They recollect morality, giving, devas, mindfulness of breathing, the body, suffering, and death, and know that this body is fundamentally without any abiding place. They contemplate the removal of the five fetters, respectfully observe the six weighty dharmas, and practice the four bases of spiritual power to instruct and nurture the great assembly. They maintain right mindfulness, are ardent, and have no fear.

If non-Buddhist ascetics, Brahma, Mara, or other assemblies come, none of them can confound bodhisattvas with difficult questions. Bodhisattvas also do not give rise to the conception of a self. Because they cultivate in this way, they are always peaceful and secure, never intimidated or afraid, and attain the foremost standing in the power of diligence.

Amid the great assembly, bodhisattvas utter the lion’s roar and turn the great Dharma-wheel, which no non-Buddhist ascetic, brahmin, Brahma King, Shakra, or host of maras is able to turn; only a Buddha can turn it. The Tathagata’s body is a body formed of vajra. All outflows have been utterly extinguished, and no dust or defilement remains.

Even if billions of sentient beings, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, dared not believe this and maintained that the Buddha’s outflows had not yet been exhausted, one should know that the Tathagata’s words are true and never otherwise, and that the recompense of good and evil never deviates from the original vow. All other beings—those estranged from the inner Dharma—dare not oppose the Buddha’s teaching. To summarize the teachings of the sages and noble ones: whoever practices them attains the path, while whoever commits evil must undergo its consequences.

No one can oppose the Tathagata’s teaching. Yet bodhisattvas also see no one whom they could teach. Not teaching, and there being nothing taught, is the teaching of nonexistence.

To understand this deeply and clearly is precisely the true path.

Thus, Most Excellent One, a bodhisattva of Noble Birth who seeks to attain the Buddha path should cultivate without omission. When someone wishes to hear the Dharma, the bodhisattva sets aside teachings of lesser importance and expounds only the subtle and wondrous teachings, causing each person to fully arouse resolute aspiration. When teaching generosity, the bodhisattva is neither apprehensive nor afraid; the mind is never disturbed, and no one who hears the Dharma gives rise to doubt.

The bodhisattva does not give rise to the dualistic view that discriminates between beautiful and ugly, does not conceive distinctions between good and evil, and does not seek the Dharma-nature while cultivating. The bodhisattva does not think of personally receiving merit, but dedicates it extensively to all sentient beings. The bodhisattva does not cultivate the mind of a sravaka or pratyekabuddha, nor does the bodhisattva entertain the notion that there is some attainment, thereby enabling them all never to depart from the Buddha-Dharma.

The bodhisattva knows that all things are empty; therefore, the Buddha-Dharma is also empty. Through contemplating causes and conditions, arising occurs. Yet when contemplated in this way, it cannot be seen and has no form; to speak of it as having form is to destroy the characteristics of dharmas.

Characteristics themselves are without characteristics, and characteristics do not arise by themselves. Since arising has neither root nor sprout, whence could characteristics exist? All characteristics are formless and therefore cannot be seen.

This is called the unsurpassed, right, and true path.

Thus, Most Excellent One, a bodhisattva of Noble Birth abiding in the fourth bhumi purifies and cultivates that bodhisattva's own practice without departing from the wisdom and supernormal powers of the Buddhas. Whenever the bodhisattva gives, it accords with preceding causes; whatever the bodhisattva says is immediately accomplished, and nothing is inappropriate. Teaching and transforming through the Buddha-Dharma, the bodhisattva does not forsake former vows; inwardly, the bodhisattva is steadfast and utterly composed.

Whatever has been given reaches the mind free from aspiration, while wholesome causes and conditions are created for the sake of all vows. Within the three realms, no one can equal the bodhisattva. The bodhisattva wishes this virtue to pervade all the deeds of every bodhisattva, causing their resolve always to remain in samadhi, with nothing able to prevent them from entering the mind of omniscience.

For this reason, it is called empty quiescence. The bodhisattva never gives rise to thoughts of attachment concerning the practices of generosity already performed, and subdues the maras so that they cannot act at will.

Thus, Most Excellent One, a bodhisattva of Noble Birth constantly recollects and cultivates the four unobstructed wisdoms. These are: unobstructed wisdom regarding the Dharma of ultimate truth; unobstructed wisdom regarding the essential meanings of the true Dharma; unobstructed wisdom of eloquence; and unobstructed wisdom that expresses every word clearly and reasonably. This is called the bodhisattva's cultivation of the perfection of unobstructed wisdom to deliver sentient beings, decisively severing the deluded mind and reaching the unconditioned.

The bodhisattva delivers innumerable and incalculable kinds of sentient beings, enabling them all to reach a state of everlasting peace and security. Casting aside the notion of permanence and contemplating impermanence, the bodhisattva immediately severs craving for sensual desire, craving for form, and craving for the formless; ignorance and conceit are eliminated and never arise again. First, the bodhisattva eliminates attachment to the body, allowing no thought of craving or attachment to arise.

This body of the five skandhas is an accumulation of impurities and afflictions. The eyes are like bubbles upon water—unstable, illusory, and unreal—yet foolish people of the world cling to them insatiably. The dharmas of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are likewise all impermanent, yet worldly people cannot perceive this.

They are formless, without a master, and forever without any designation. One should concentrate on contemplating form and see that form neither possesses a self nor is created by a self; it is precisely from nonexistence that existence arises. Because there is material form, there is consciousness; because there is consciousness, the five skandhas arise; because the five skandhas arise, the six sense faculties become defiled; because the six sense faculties become defiled, delusion then arises, and so forth, until there arise the myriad sufferings of aging, illness, death, and sorrow.

Beings revolve repeatedly through the three realms and wander through the five destinies without ever ceasing. All the foregoing dharmas come into being through the convergence of causes and conditions. Because one sees that they exist, they are called existent; because one sees that they do not exist, they are called nonexistent.

Seeing them arise is called birth, and seeing them disappear is called cessation. The dharmas of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are likewise false and without material substance. Those who are wise thoroughly comprehend that their roots, branches, beginnings, and ends are all empty; why, then, should they exert their minds in recollecting and thinking about them, only to incur toil and hardship?

Thus, Most Excellent One, a bodhisattva of Noble Birth is free from conceptual thoughts of form, with an undefiled mind. Clearly awakening to the fundamental nature of form, the bodhisattva therefore does not count anything as possessing form, nor sees any arising or decay. The nature of all dharmas is quiescent, empty, and nonexistent; nothing can disturb it.

It is supreme, and nothing can surpass it. A bodhisattva studying the perfection of omniscience comprehends its profound and vast meaning in complete detail, fully realizing that all dharmas are originally empty and unreal. Therefore, Most Excellent One, one must diligently study, studying what one has not yet studied; one must practice, practicing what one has not yet practiced.

This is called a bodhisattva of Noble Birth abiding in the purified ground of the fourth bhumi.