菩薩從兜術天降神母胎說廣普經

Chapter One:

The Heavenly Palace

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha was amid the twin sala trees north of the city of Kapilavastu, among the Sakya clan, and was about to relinquish his life and enter nirvana. At midnight on the eighth day of the second month, he personally folded his sanghati, uttarasanga, and antaravasaka into three layers, spread them inside the golden coffin, and lay upon them with one foot resting upon the other. He then entrusted his alms bowl and khakkhara staff to Ananda.

The eight kings of the great kingdoms each brought five hundred pieces of white cloth steeped in sandalwood fragrance and placed them all inside the golden coffin. They wrapped the golden coffin with five hundred pieces of cloth, then brought five hundred carts laden with fragrant ghee and poured it over the white cloth.

At that time, the Great Brahma Heavenly King led the multitudes of Brahmas and stood on the right; Sakra, Lord of the Devas, led the devas of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and stood on the left; and the great bodhisattva Maitreya, together with bodhisattvas possessing supernormal powers from the ten directions, stood before him.

As he was about to enter the Vajra Samadhi and reduce his bodily relics to fragments, the Blessed One thought: “Excellent indeed is this inconceivable Dharma! I have turned this true Dharma in the Saha world.”

After he had reflected in this way, worlds throughout the ten directions quaked in six ways. The Blessed One then extended his golden arm from within the golden coffin and asked Ananda:

“Has the bhiksu Kasyapa arrived yet?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, he has not.”

The Blessed One asked again:

“Has the bhiksu Gavampati arrived yet?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, he entered parinirvana in the heavenly realm; only his three robes and alms bowl have been brought here.”

The Buddha told the fourfold assembly:

“Now I shall pass forever into extinction.”

He then drew the cloth back over himself inside the golden coffin and remained silent without speaking. He did this three times. He then extended his hand and asked Ananda and the fourfold assembly—the bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas—together with the eight kings of the great kingdoms, devas, nagas, ghosts, spirits, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, gandharvas, humans, and nonhumans:

“What do you think, Ananda? From beginning to end, have you fully comprehended the Vaipulya scriptures of the Mahayana that I have expounded?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, I have understood them.”

The Buddha spoke thus three times and then asked Ananda:

“When I was in the palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three and taught the Dharma to my mother, Queen Maya, did you know of it?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, I did not know.”

The Buddha asked Ananda:

“What do you think, Ananda? When I was in the palace and taught the Dharma to the nagas, countless hundreds of millions of thousands of nagas all attained the Way, and a complete bodily relic one hundred and thirty zhang in height was left behind. Did you know of this?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, I did not know.”

The Buddha said:

“What do you think, Ananda? I remained in my mother’s womb for ten months. There I taught the bodhisattvas the rare Dharma of nonretrogression, the inconceivable practice. Did you know of this?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, I did not know.”

The Buddha told Ananda:

“Listen clearly and reflect upon this most carefully. I shall now distinguish and explain in detail the rare practices of bodhisattva-mahasattvas.”

Ananda addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One, I wish to hear it.”

The Buddha told Ananda:

“To the southeast of here, beyond worlds as numerous as the sands of one hundred million, ten thousand, one thousand, and sixty-two Ganges Rivers, there is a world named Delight in Reflection. Its Buddha is called Fragrant Flame Tathagata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly and Universally Awakened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One.

Having manifested parinirvana, he came to this palace of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Over the course of countless asamkhya kalpas, he became the Great Brahma Heavenly King thirty-six times, assumed the body of Sakra thirty-six times, and became a wheel-turning king thirty-six times. The beings he liberated did not fall into the Two Vehicles or the evil destinies.

Why was this? It was entirely brought about through the Buddha’s supernormal powers and wisdom.

“What do you think, Ananda? Does the Tathagata dwell within the womb, or does he not dwell within the womb?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, the Tathagata’s body does not dwell within the womb.”

The Buddha told Ananda:

“If the Tathagata does not dwell within the womb, why is it said that the Tathagata remained within the womb for ten months, teaching and expounding the Dharma?”

Ananda replied:

“Blessed One, dwelling within the womb is empty and quiescent, and not dwelling within the womb is likewise empty and quiescent.”

At that time, through his supernormal powers, the Blessed One manifested himself within the body of his mother, Maya, lying down, sitting, and walking in meditation. He spread out a great elevated seat eighty yojanas in length and breadth, with railings of gold and silver. Celestial silks and celestial canopies hung in empty space, and innumerable kinds of music were played. Through his supernormal powers, he further caused bodhisattva-mahasattvas from eighteen thousand worlds lying eastward of this Saha world to come and assemble.

It was likewise so in the south, west, and north, and in the four intermediate directions.

Below were six billion two hundred million worlds, and bodhisattvas from them came through their supernormal powers to attend the great assembly.

Above were seven billion two hundred million bodhisattvas from the realms of space, who also came and assembled within the womb.

At that time, the bodhisattva Manjusri rose and approached the Buddha, saying:

“Blessed One, these bodhisattva-mahasattvas have come and assembled here because they wish to hear you teach the inconceivable Dharma and the gates of samadhi: the Gate of the Samadhi of Emptiness, the Samadhi of the Nature of the Way, the Samadhi of True Reality, the Samadhi of the King of Empty Space, the Samadhi of the Collection of Syllables in Vows, the Samadhi of the Nature of Experience, the Samadhi of the Traces of Practice, the Samadhi of Subduing Mara, the Samadhi of Removing Defilement, and so forth. There are hundreds of millions of thousands of nayutas of samadhis such as these. With which samadhi has the Tathagata entered the womb today in order to teach the inconceivable Dharma to these mahasattvas?”

The Buddha told Manjusri:

“Observe the bodhisattvas at the First Abode, the Second Abode, and onward through the Tenth Abode, up to those who are one lifetime away from buddhahood. Each stands in accordance with his own stage, without any intermingling. Why is this? Because I am now about to teach the inconceivable Dharma to these mahasattvas. All within this great assembly are pure and undefiled; even those at the lowest stage are without impurity.”

At that time, the Blessed One spoke these verses in a pure voice:

“For countless kalpas past,

I have assumed countless bodies of Buddhas.

Now I enter the womb once more,

Wishing to liberate all beings.

Bodily conduct is pure, without evil;

Verbal conduct is free from falsehood;

Mental conduct is ever compassionate:

Such is the pure bodhisattva path.

Out of pity for sentient beings,

Who perpetually abide in the four great rivers,

Clinging to eternalism and annihilationism,

I dedicate all merit to the path of bodhi.

This body is exceedingly difficult to obtain;

Do not conceive impure thoughts.

Regard the body as a charnel mound,

A place where jackals lie in wait.

Fools cling to it excessively,

Immersed in craving and unwilling to relinquish it.

This body will never return;

Day and night, desire gnaws at it.

The nine sufferings are its crucial bonds,

Like a beautiful vase filled with excrement.

Tormented by the thirst of desire,

Why give rise to suffering and affliction?

Like the ocean receiving all rivers,

Fools take it to be real.

The body is not made of vajra;

Do not commit many evil deeds.

Once a body is received, it must die;

Why not swiftly practice the Way?

Even if people lived for a hundred million kalpas,

They would still have to relinquish desire;

How much more those who live not even a hundred years!

Why do they not know to stop?

Fools constantly praise themselves:

‘This body is due to former merit;

I ought to enjoy pleasure and delight.’

Yet before finding pleasure, they die.

This desire does not long endure;

The wise do not grasp it.

Those who wish to relinquish desire

Contemplate with wisdom the ten non-perceptions.

Desire is not a real dharma;

It arises and ceases like bubbles upon water.

It is something fashioned by illusion,

Transforming and displaying a multitude of forms.

Fools take these to be real,

But seek their reality and it cannot be found.

Its nature is emptiness and originally nonexistent;

From beginning to end, it neither arises nor ceases.

Discern the samadhi of non-perception

And sweep away the outflows of sentient beings.

Manjusri, you should know:

For the undefiled assembly of the ten directions,

I enter the Samadhi of Lapis Lazuli

And extensively expound the Vaipulya Dharma.

Buddhas of the ten directions, numerous as Ganges sands,

Speak no differently from me.

They pity the multitude of blind beings

Who dwell forever within the burning house,

Leaving one womb only to enter another,

Dying here and then being born there.

The bodhisattvas of the ten directions

Accumulate practices for kalpas numerous as Ganges sands;

Though they dwell in the Saha realm”

The suffering of the five turbidities

Is like that in My worlds of the ten directions.

Those regions are the same as this realm,

Turning endlessly through the five destinies,

Undergoing this painful suffering.

Liberation is without marks and indeterminate,

And has no original limit.

Its profound meaning is wholly of one mark;

Its nature is originally empty and quiescent.

Always contemplate neither arising nor cessation,

Whether nirvana with remainder or without remainder.

Long ago, I made a great vow

To take birth throughout the five destinies—

Among those born by transformation, moisture, egg, or womb—

And there also proclaim the rare Dharma.

Those who cling to the five skandhas

I teach that nothing whatsoever exists.

The twelve factors link one to another;

Ignorance and formations are the roots of birth and death.

Those who fall into the four inversions

I teach the four truths.

The truth of suffering has no fixed truth;

The truths of origination, cessation, and the path are likewise.

Desire, self, precepts, views, and grasping

Are likewise forms of the four cravings.

Discern the nature of ultimate truth:

Empty space, quiescent and still.

Though crossing to the far shore of birth and death,

One does not abide in nirvana.

Now, while dwelling in My mother's womb,

I proclaim the Dharma to liberate sentient beings.

Within the Sahā world

Are beings countless as the sands of the Ganges.

By teaching the Dharma within the womb,

I liberate incalculable multitudes.

Empty space has no boundaries;

The Buddha realms are likewise.

Sentient beings receive consciousness and spirit,

Yet their true natures differ.

I transform them with luminous wisdom,

Liberating each according to its kind.

For some, I manifest a body to liberate them;

Others hear My voice and attain liberation.

Some contemplate suffering,

Its origin, its cessation, and the foundation of the path.

They contemplate the four establishments of mindfulness,

The four right efforts, and the four bases of spiritual power,

The five faculties and the five powers;

They take the seven factors of awakening as flowers,

And the Noble Eightfold Path

To adorn their bodies.

They discern that the self is empty,

With wisdom free of perception, quiescent and serene.

Seeking nothing, they possess all,

And constantly abide in emptiness and wisdomlessness.

First entering concentration with applied and sustained thought,

They contemplate the thirty impurities.

Whether proceeding forward or in reverse, they remain fully aware,

And enter concentration beyond contemplation.

They successively enter the nine concentrations,

Discerning the absence of applied and sustained thought,

And delight further in the path of cessation.

The first concentration is complete with five factors.

When mental joy and bliss have ceased,

They securely enter the four factors.

The great beings endowed with wisdom

Do not practice according to this course,

For the māras of affliction

Should be confronted directly before sentient beings.

After cultivating meditative concentration for many kalpas,

Their bodies grow gaunt like withered trees,

Perfumed by the fragrance of the Third Dhyāna,

Its five factors never dispersing.

The Buddha's wisdom cannot be measured:

Is it existent, or is it nonexistent?

The One of unsurpassed perfect awakening

Neither arises nor dies.

From the time I attained Buddhahood until now,

I have journeyed in contemplation through the Third Dhyāna.

If I enter the Fourth Dhyāna,

Beings are liberated without words being spoken.

I contemplate the realm of empty space:

Sentient beings have nowhere to rely.

Only through the spiritual powers and wisdom of the Buddhas

Can its source be known completely.

Those trainees who are ending the outflows

Cannot yet discern it fully.

The factors of the path are exceedingly profound and subtle;

The Two Vehicles cannot know them.

I contemplate with the divine eye,

The wisdom eye, and the Buddha eye.

Forms are assumed through the four consciousnesses,

Yet if manifestations appear within them,

The forms of earth, water, and fire

Still cannot be perceived.

Only Buddhas possessing spiritual powers

Can reach the other shore.

The Buddha realms of the ten directions

Are incalculable as the sands of the Ganges.

Taking the wisdom of the path as their foundation,

The Buddhas roam throughout the realm of empty space.

If one were to use the physical eye

To contemplate the boundless realm of sentient beings,

With every breath exhaled and inhaled through the mouth,

Countless sentient beings would enter.

At that time, all those beings

Would attain the path of seeing.

Therefore, know that the Buddha's Dharma-body

Is truly inconceivable.

The Buddha, sovereign guide of the three realms,

Compassionately rescues all sentient beings

In the Desire, Form, and Formless Realms,

So that they may realize the wisdom of the path.

No lust or anger remains,

Nor any lineage born of delusion.

Upon seeing His form, beings immediately enter the path;

What need is there to speak of trainees and those beyond training?

Throughout immeasurable Buddha realms,

The means of attaining the path are all different.

Some attain it through perception;

Others attain it through non-perception.

They need cultivate no further,

For suchness is the Four Noble Truths.

Bodhisattvas contemplate in purity

And enter dhyāna without obstruction.

Arhats and pratyekabuddhas

Each enter concentration differently.

If birth no longer occurs in life after life,

How could there be any root of birth?

The foolish cling to it,

Taking birth to be a self.

We ourselves speak of “I,”

Yet perceive no possessions of a self.

Bodhisattvas practice the Fourth Dhyāna,

Which pratyekabuddhas cannot comprehend.

When bodhisattvas enter the First Dhyāna,

They possess thirty practices free from outflows

And one hundred and seven samādhi concentrations;

Their inhalations and exhalations are even.

The Second Dhyāna has seventy-two,

And they themselves contemplate the perception of non-self.

Though they pass through many kalpas of suffering,

They never abandon the practice of dhyāna.

Only when the four abodes have severed the outflows

Do they attain this Second Dhyāna.

Because of uncertainty at the sixth abode,

They enter concentration like waves upon water;

Their eighty-four thousand practices

Still remain uncontrolled.

Formerly, while at the sixth abode,

I regressed for twelve kalpas,

Constantly giving rise to thoughts of pleasure

And revolving through the abyss of birth and death.

Then Dīpaṃkara Buddha

Bestowed a prediction, making My resolve steadfast.

I established an aspiration never to retreat,

And only then attained the Third Dhyāna.

I severed seventy thousand defilements,

Utterly extinguishing all their roots.

With the fearless stride of a lion,

I proclaimed the great canon of Dharma.

I journeyed throughout all Buddha realms,

Bowing, serving, and paying reverence

To the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones,

Of incalculable kalpas past.

Each remained within His own realm,

Vowing to perform the work of a Buddha.

Though My mind did not retreat,

I constantly feared falling away.

Even hundreds of millions of thousands of sentient beings

Could not cause a single hair to stir.

My practice surpassed the eighth abode

And entered directly into the path of bodhi.

All pleasures to which one might cling

Were forever extinguished and no longer remembered.

Apart from teachers, patriarchs, mother, and father,

I retained attachment to none.

Only then did I perfect the practice of the First Dhyāna,

Called the pāramitā of giving.

None equaled My cultivation of contemplation.

At the ninth bhūmi, I penetrated original wisdom,

Yet did not enter the attainment of cessation.

I came to the seat where Buddhahood is attained

To establish conditions for sentient beings.

Proceeding beneath the bodhi tree,

I liberated incalculable multitudes.

They assembled at the bodhimaṇḍa,

While throughout immeasurable realms of the ten directions,

All Buddhas, the Blessed Ones,

Extended Their right hands and said:

“Excellent, Great Lion!

Possessor of the ten powers and fearlessness,

You have entered deeply into the Fourth Dhyāna.

Out of compassion for the blind multitudes,

Please quickly emerge from dhyāna

To liberate those not yet liberated

And free those not yet freed.

The four stations of consciousness are dark,

And beings thirst for the flavor of meditative joy.”

Not opposing the Buddhas' instruction,

I then praised Myself

And further reflected within Myself:

“Through what has been accomplished by this body,

I shall certainly enter nirvana

In order to liberate sentient beings.”

All the Buddhas then appeared and said:

“Excellent, Śākyamuni!

You have established a vast aspiration;

Do not give rise to a mind of retreat.

Turn the unsurpassed Dharma wheel

And beat the great Dharma drum.

Those who hear it will swiftly attain liberation;

Passing through countless kalpas will not be difficult.”

Wisdom of resolute discernment, wisdom without obstruction,

Wisdom of eloquence, wisdom of penetrating comprehension,

Wisdom of the path, wisdom of luminous insight,

Wisdom of severance, wisdom of non-arising,

Wisdom of the complete cessation of non-arising,

Wisdom of dissolution, wisdom of the nine stages,

Fearless lion wisdom,

Wisdom of resounding thunder and lightning,

Wisdom of sitting immovably after severance,

Unobstructed wisdom of great compassion,

Wisdom adorning the bodily marks,

Compassionate and protective wisdom that uproots suffering,

Wisdom that unties bonds and is itself unbound,

Wisdom that receives predictions and personally realizes attainment,

Wisdom that subdues Māra and breaks his armies,

Wisdom that accomplishes freedom from self-conceit,

Wisdom of courageous mental diligence,

Wisdom of giving without expecting reward,

Wisdom of practicing patience and enduring humiliation,

Vajra wisdom of the ten powers,

Wisdom that abides immovably throughout a kalpa,

Wisdom that assembles the community in harmony,

Wisdom of the supreme guiding teacher,

Wisdom robed in the Dharma of conscience and moral shame,

Wisdom of the bodhisattva's vows,

Wisdom of miraculous transformations through spiritual powers,

Wisdom of unobstructed spheres,

Wisdom that severs thought and extinguishes fetters,

Wisdom of pure, radiant illumination,

Wisdom that personally knows past lives,

Wisdom that profoundly perceives the minds of others,

True and pure wisdom concerning father and mother,

Wisdom that divides the body among realms for liberation,

Wisdom of dwelling in the womb without defilement,

Wisdom of concentrated consciousness free from confusion,

Wisdom of single-minded faithful acceptance,

Wisdom of entering concentration and contemplative examination,

Wisdom that discerns bodily characteristics,

Wisdom of the thirty impurities,

Wisdom that averts calamities and removes afflictions,

Wisdom of the bodhisattva's successive stages,

Wisdom of transcendent transformation and instruction,

Wisdom that extinguishes the twelve links of dependent origination,

Wisdom through which pratyekabuddhas awaken at the proper time,

Wisdom through which śrāvakas receive transformation,

Wisdom that transcends the twelve ayatanas,

Wisdom of unobstructed contemplation,

Wisdom that receives the path and profoundly perceives,

Wisdom that makes a single night into a kalpa,

Wisdom that makes a kalpa into a day,

Wisdom whereby recollecting a Buddha causes the Buddha to appear,

Wisdom that purifies realms of liberation,

Wisdom in which the Two Vehicles do not exist,

Wisdom that walks alone without fear,

Wisdom that delights and accords with the minds of the assembly,

Wisdom that has completed what was to be done,

Wisdom that creates neither before nor after,

Wisdom whose cessation of the past is inexhaustible,

Wisdom that enters concentration and eliminates perception,

Wisdom that contemplates the body within and without,

Wisdom received from the Tathagata,

And the silent wisdom of sages and noble ones.

When the Buddha spoke this verse, countless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of sentient beings all advanced into the Ground of Faith. Furthermore, twelve nayutas of bodhisattvas dwelling on the Ground of Contemplative Practice, without abiding in the Three Abidings, brought Buddha-lands to perfection.

On the right-hand side, seventy-seven thousand koṭis of sentient beings attained avaivartika wisdom, the wisdom of non-retrogression.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

– Now, in the midst of this great assembly, there is not a single person defiled or tainted by impurity, or subject to retrogression. Why is this? Because all are those of keen faculties, no longer subject to birth and death, no longer bound, unattached, neither ceasing nor arising, cultivating the pure path, attaining realization and accomplishment, and aspiring with delight to hear the inconceivable true Dharma of the Buddhas. They have vanquished the hosts of māras and cast off arrogance. Although outwardly they teach asaṃkhyeyas of sentient beings throughout the Buddha-lands, inwardly their minds freely disport in countless hundreds of thousands of samādhis. Those samādhis are:

– Samādhi of the Lion’s Exultation

– Samādhi of Transcending Practices and Ascending the Stages

– Samādhi of Broad Advancement and Transcendent Progress

– Samādhi of the Youthful One Delighting in the Dharma

– Samādhi of the Arising and Ceasing of the Four Paths

– Samādhi of Equanimous Practice Free from Conception

– Samādhi of Proceeding to the Bodhimaṇḍa of Non-retrogression

– Samādhi of Contemplating the Minds of Beings

– Samādhi of Mindfulness of the One-Birth Bodhisattva

– Samādhi Without Form or Image

– Samādhi of Emerging from Within the Earth

– Samādhi of Breaking Bonds and Waging Battle

– Samādhi of Receiving the Supreme at the Crown

– Samādhi of Beings Delighting to Behold

– Samādhi of Entering the Inconceivable

– Samādhi of the Inconceivability of the Buddha Realm

– Samādhi of the Inconceivable Purification of Defilements in the Dharma Realm

– Samādhi of the Inconceivability of the Assembly of Sages

– Samādhi of the Inconceivable Arising and Ceasing of Sentient Beings

– Samādhi of the Inconceivable Ascent and Descent through the Power of Dragons

– Samādhi of the Inconceivable King among the Highest in the Assembly

– Samādhi of Inconceivable Courage in Subduing Enemies

– Samādhi of Inconceivably Immeasurable Lifespan

– Samādhi of Inconceivably Enduring Suffering in the Five Destinies

– Samādhi of the Inconceivable Presence of the Buddhas

– Samādhi of the Inconceivable Offering of the Four Requisites....

They adorned themselves with one hundred million and one thousand samādhis such as these.

There was also the Samādhi of Inconceivable Swiftness. Within a single day, they renounced the household life and practiced the path, went beneath the tree and attained Buddhahood, taught sentient beings, and purified Buddha-lands.

There was also the Samādhi of Inconceivably Remaining to Await Conditions, through which they lived for immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas. Sentient beings possessing the appropriate conditions were delivered into the realm of nirvana without remainder; yet the Tathagata did not enter nirvana, but instead created causes and conditions for practicing the bodhisattva path.

There was also the Samādhi of Inconceivable True Power, meaning that, in the brief time it takes a person to snap their fingers, they traveled from one Buddha-land to another, bestowed predictions upon sentient beings as numerous as the sands of immeasurable Ganges Rivers, and also enabled them all to attain Buddhahood on that very day.

Such is the spiritual power of a bodhisattva dwelling within the womb.

Chapter Two: Journeying

At that time, Bodhisattva Maitreya immediately rose from his seat, adjusted his Dharma robe, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee touching the ground, and addressed the World-Honored One:

– Excellent! Excellent! The Tathagata has expounded the inconceivable Dharma. Now, within this assembly, some have seen the path and some have not seen the path; some abide on the Ground of Faith and some do not yet abide on the Ground of Faith. There are bodhisattvas from the Ābhāsvara Heaven, the Hạp Heaven, the Ba Lợi Đà Heaven, the A Ba Na Ma Heaven, the A Hội Đản Tu Heaven, the Đạo A Heaven, the Tu Càn Heaven, the Tu Phất Kỳ Hâu Heaven, the Kiết Ma Heaven, and even the Heaven of Ultimate Consummation, the Heaven of Delight in Transformation, and the Heaven of Freely Enjoying Others’ Transformations. There are also bodhisattvas in the Sphere of Infinite Space, the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, the Sphere of Nothingness, and even the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception. How do they enter the womb in order to teach and transform beings?

The World-Honored One said:

– You should not ask in this way. Why? Because the Tathagata has never taught such a meaning. I shall ask you, and you must answer me directly. What do you think, Maitreya? Does empty space possess material form, or does it not possess material form?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! It does not possess material form.

The World-Honored One asked:

– What do you think, Maitreya? If empty space does not possess material form, why are sentient beings subject to birth, aging, sickness, and death?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! From the standpoint of the ultimate truth, there is no birth, aging, sickness, or death. Therefore, empty space does not possess material form.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– If it does not possess material form, then among these sentient beings, who gives and who receives? Why does the bodhisattva, upon arriving beneath the tree, at times practice walking meditation and at times enter meditative concentration? How does the bodhisattva contemplate the characteristics of his own body and those of the bodies of others? How does the bodhisattva manifest taking seven steps and proclaim that he has attained Buddhahood and vanquished the armies of māra? And how does the bodhisattva prepare the bodhimaṇḍa in order to invite sentient beings throughout the ten directions?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! If this is so, and empty space has no material form, then is the bodily appearance of the Tathagata also merely a provisional designation, while even the meaning of ultimate consummation is empty and without anything that can be possessed?

The Buddha asked Maitreya:

– If a bodhisattva practices emptiness, how does he travel throughout the ten directions to teach and transform sentient beings?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! A bodhisattva practices emptiness because he sees no lands and also sees no Buddha. Since Buddha itself is not Buddha, how could there be the realms of earth, water, fire, wind, and consciousness? Self, person, and lifespan are all empty and quiescent. Therefore, there is no constituent of the womb.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– In the Heaven of the Thirty-three, you expounded the practice of emptiness to the celestial assembly. Among them, who saw the path, and who had not yet seen the path?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! Because those devas conceive of permanence, pleasure, purity, and attachment to a self as self, there is no seeing of the path, nor is there anyone who sees the path.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– Do those devas possess the form activity-skandha or the formless activity-skandha? Do they possess the skandha of karmic recompense or the skandha without karmic recompense? Do they possess the skandha that destroys existence or the skandha that does not destroy existence? Do they possess the skandha that receives entry or the skandha that does not receive entry? Do they possess the skandha of audible resonance or the skandha without audible resonance? Do they possess an intermediate skandha or no intermediate skandha? Do they possess the skandha of this and that or no skandha of this and that? Do they possess the ultimate skandha or no ultimate skandha? Do they possess the silent skandha or no silent skandha? What do you think, Maitreya? When you expounded the true Dharma to the celestial assembly in the heavens, did you speak the names of these skandhas or not?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! I did not.

The World-Honored One said:

– What do you think, Maitreya? The Buddhas of the ten directions have bestowed upon you the prediction that you will attain unsurpassed, true and perfect enlightenment. Thus, is there a true and perfect path, or is there no true and perfect path?

Maitreya replied:

– World-Honored One! There is no true and perfect path.

– If there were a true and perfect path, this too would be merely a provisional designation. The name Maitreya is likewise provisional. In the same way, the original limit of intrinsic nature is also merely a provisional designation. The Tathagata’s form body, that very body, is devoid of characteristics; its own characteristic is also empty. As for root and branch, root and branch are empty; as for this and that, this and that are also empty. How, then, can it be known with certainty that there is a distinct designation called Maitreya? When nature is spoken of, intrinsic nature is empty. When existence is spoken of, existence itself is empty. When nonexistence is spoken of, nonexistence itself is empty. Nonexistence originally abides perpetually; how could it be made not to abide? When abiding is spoken of, abiding itself is empty. When intrinsic characteristics are spoken of, intrinsic characteristics are empty. When skandhas are spoken of, the skandhas themselves are empty. When the womb is spoken of, that very womb is empty. Even when practice at the bodhimaṇḍa is spoken of, the activity-skandha is empty. World-Honored One! Therefore, there is no seeing of the path, nor anyone who has not yet seen the path.

The Buddha again said to Maitreya:

– Do seeing the Path and not seeing the Path entail a fruit of realization, or no fruit of realization? Are they conditioned in nature, or not conditioned in nature? Are they the unconditioned nature within the conditioned, or the unconditioned nature within the unconditioned? Are they the uncontaminated nature within the contaminated, or the uncontaminated nature within the uncontaminated? Are they of an exhaustible nature in the Desire Realm, or of an inexhaustible nature in the Desire Realm? Are they of an exhaustible nature in the Form and Formless Realms, or of an inexhaustible nature in the Form and Formless Realms? Is the realm of emptiness of the nature of the cessation of consciousness, or is the realm of emptiness not of the nature of the cessation of consciousness? This extends to the emptiness of the conditioned, the emptiness of the unconditioned, and the emptiness of intrinsic nature. Existence, with respect to existence, is empty; nonexistence, with respect to nonexistence, is empty; there are great emptiness, the emptiness of grasping, and the emptiness of the one characteristic—the characteristicless. Are nirvana with remainder and nirvana without remainder empty? Are they of the nature of realization, or not of the nature of realization?

Maitreya said:

– Blessed One! The Dharma of realization is not a dharma, and what is neither dharma nor non-dharma is not the Dharma of realization.

The Buddha said:

– What do you think, Maitreya? If conditioned dharmas are not unconditioned and unconditioned dharmas are not conditioned, why do you say that a dharma involving realization is without realization, and that a dharma without realization is also without realization?

Maitreya said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One! According to the ultimate truth, when seeking among dharmas with characteristics and without characteristics, should one seek the conditioned as not being the unconditioned, or seek the unconditioned as not being the conditioned?

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– I shall now ask you: A truly rooted discourse is not a rootless discourse. From where, then, do the conditioned and the unconditioned arise? If they exist, what are their names?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One! Empty space is quiescent cessation in nature. Written signs, meanings, and names are all unreal. This is a rootless discourse, not a rooted discourse.

The Buddha said to Maitreya:

– How, then, does a rootless discourse arise from the meaning of a root?

Maitreya replied:

– Blessed One! According to conventional meaning, the root is the Dharma-nature, while the rootless is the realization of purity. The unmoving is also not unmoving; it is the one characteristic, the characteristicless. This extends to conditioned and unconditioned dharmas, contaminated and uncontaminated dharmas, resistant and non-resistant dharmas, material and immaterial dharmas, visible and invisible dharmas. Non-abiding is also not non-abiding. This is the meaning of the rootless.

The Buddha said:

– Excellent! A bodhisattva who practices emptiness clearly understands the rootless: non-arising is not non-arising; the future has not yet arrived; the present does not abide; the past has ceased; there is neither attachment nor annihilation; there is no abiding, yet neither is there non-abiding.

At that time, in the great assembly, there was a bodhisattva named Discerning Contemplation of the Body, who said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One! I have heard the Tathagata expound the meaning of the rootless: speaking of bodily characteristics and speaking of the absence of bodily characteristics; speaking of the emptiness of intrinsic nature and speaking of the absence of the emptiness of intrinsic nature. Does the meaning of the rootless arise from within suchness, or does it not arise from within suchness? Does the meaning of the rootless involve arising and cessation, or does it involve neither arising nor cessation? Is it a resistant dharma, or is it not a non-resistant dharma? Is it a material dharma or an immaterial dharma? Is it a conditioned dharma or an unconditioned dharma? Is it a contaminated dharma or an uncontaminated dharma? Is it a dharma with characteristics or a characteristicless dharma? Is there contemplation of the body, or is there no contemplation of the body?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Discerning Contemplation of the Body:

– What is the body? What is contemplation? How does the body carry out this contemplation?

The Bodhisattva Discerning Contemplation of the Body replied:

– Blessed One! Earth, water, fire, and wind constitute the bodily skandha. Discriminating consciousness is contemplation.

The Buddha said:

– When speaking of earth, the intrinsic essence of earth is empty; when speaking of water, the intrinsic essence of water is empty; when speaking of fire, the intrinsic essence of fire is empty; when speaking of wind, the intrinsic essence of wind is empty; when speaking of consciousness, the intrinsic essence of consciousness is empty; and when speaking of emptiness, the intrinsic essence of emptiness is empty.... What, then, is the body, and what is contemplation?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body replied:

– Blessed One! It is so. As you have said: If the Dharma-realm and empty space are all empty and quiescent, if there is no Buddha yet one speaks of Buddha, no Dharma yet one speaks of Dharma, no Sangha yet one speaks of Sangha, no present life or future life, and neither wrongdoing nor merit, would this not differ from what the Great Teacher has taught?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Discerning Contemplation of the Body:

– When entering the concentration of complete cessation, do you see the eye contemplating forms, and so forth, up to the mind contemplating dharmas?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body replied:

– Blessed One! No. Why? Because within the concentration of complete cessation, there is neither arising nor cessation.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– So it is! So it is! It is exactly as you have said: The eye contemplates forms. Form is not the form of a self, nor is the self its form. Consciousness is not the consciousness of a self, nor is the self its consciousness... and so forth, up to contact.

Sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and dharmas are likewise. Because dharmas are not the dharmas of a self, and the self is also not a dharma of the self, there is neither increase nor decrease with respect to the meaning of the rootless.

If the faculties are pure, the Path is also pure.

If the characteristic of emptiness is pure, then all things up to ultimate emptiness are also pure.

If the one is pure, there is no duality.

If the five skandhas and formations are pure, the Path is also pure.

If resistant dharmas, non-resistant dharmas, and form are pure, the Path is also pure.

If the bodhisattva and the six sense objects are pure, the Path is also pure.

If the retinue and lineage are pure, the Path is also pure.

If the bhumi and abiding are pure, the Path is also pure.

This is the meaning of the rootless for a great bodhisattva.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– If suffering is pure, and neither-suffering-nor-pleasure is pure, the Path is also pure. If the gateway, seed, and birth are pure, the Path is also pure. This is the meaning of the rootless for a great bodhisattva.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– If the place of awakening, the land, and sentient beings are pure, the Path is also pure. This is the meaning of the rootless for a great bodhisattva.

If the faculties, powers, factors of awakening, and factors of the Path are pure, the Path is also pure.

What do you think, Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body? I shall now ask you, and you should answer Me: When the Tathagata prepared the place of awakening and sat beneath the king of trees, how did He distinguish the various kinds of sentient beings according to determinate or indeterminate dharmas? If determinate dharmas are the defilements of worldly afflictions, indeterminate dharmas are also the defilements of worldly afflictions. Should one, then, bestow a prediction upon sentient beings by means of the indeterminate?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body replied:

– Determinate dharmas are not the defilements of worldly afflictions, nor are indeterminate dharmas worldly afflictions. Why? Because the defilements of worldly afflictions are inferior dharmas, whereas determinate and indeterminate dharmas are exalted dharmas. Thus, one cannot use the indeterminate to counteract worldly afflictions. Why? Because the dharmas of worldly afflictions are the seeds of the Tathagata.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– Enough! Enough! Do not speak thus. You said that worldly afflictions are the dharmas of samsara; why do you now say that they are the seeds of the Tathagata?

The Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body replied:

– Blessed One! The Tathagata's body is a transformation, not a sentient being. If it is a transformation, then within worldly afflictions there is no realm of sentient beings. Supposing sentient beings possessed the body of the Tathagata, would not the defilements of worldly afflictions be the seeds of the Tathagata?

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– So it is! So it is! It is exactly as you have said. It is only through borrowed designations, names, and written signs that worldly afflictions exist; within the ultimate truth, there are no worldly afflictions.

The Buddha said to the Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body:

– The Tathagata, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Devas and Humans, the Buddha, the Blessed One, constantly uses the divine eye to observe the thoughts arising in the consciousness of an asamkhya of beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions: some have much desire, while others have little desire; some have much anger, while others have little anger; some have much delusion, while others have little delusion. Some have minds that are liberated, while others do not have liberated minds. Some possess overweening pride, while others do not. Some are easy to bring to the ultimate goal, while others are difficult to bring to the ultimate goal.... The bodhisattva knows all these kinds of people, observes them all completely, and then goes to deliver them.

How does the bodhisattva use the divine eye to discern those of little desire and those of much desire? Among such people, the bodhisattva manifests in the form of a lustful woman and speaks with them of sensual desire, causing them to experience pleasure that is difficult to forget, never tiring of looking upon her, and making their desire increase in delight. Afterward, the bodhisattva gradually tells them: “The body is impure, impermanent, without self, suffering, empty, and not truly a body; desire is a fiery pit that burns consciousness...” so that they become disenchanted and fearful and no longer harbor lust. While still in the womb, these beings immediately receive a prediction of the unsurpassed path.

O Bodhisattva Contemplation of the Body! You should know that if these beings are without anger and delusion and sever desire, they attain the path. Or a bodhisattva may befriend such people and speak to them of the karma of killing so as to give them pleasure that is difficult to forget: “Ah, what joy! Killing diminishes your lifespan, while increasing mine.” Afterward, the bodhisattva gradually tells them: “Killing incurs exceedingly grave offenses,” and explains the one hundred and eight grave offenses of killing, which bring immense suffering and pain. The bodhisattva then guides them into the path, until not the slightest desire or delusion remains. While still in the womb, these people immediately realize the unsurpassed path.

There are bodhisattvas who befriend groups of people who speak of the ten unwholesome paths and whose bodily, verbal, and mental teachings are all unwholesome. They regard the true as false, the impermanent as permanent, emptiness as real existence, the absence of a body as the existence of a body, suffering as happiness, and the absence of a world as the existence of a world. Afterward, the bodhisattvas gradually speak to them with immeasurable eloquence and profound, vast wisdom that thoroughly penetrates all dharmas.

They raise the banner of Dharma for them and gradually lead them into the forest of wisdom: “You should know that if anyone still entertains doubts about us, you should use the fire of wisdom to burn away that person’s doubting mind. If a donor holds wealth in hand and a recipient accepts it, yet understands clearly that these three things are empty and without anything that can be possessed, that person, while still in the womb, immediately realizes the unsurpassed path.”

Seeing a person who observes the precepts, has perfected the qualities of morality, does not transgress even in the slightest, and clearly understands that all things are empty, quiescent, tranquil, and without anything that can be possessed: while still in the womb, this person immediately realizes the unsurpassed path.

There are beings whose hearts are patient and forbearing and who harbor no anger. Even if someone comes to cut them apart and kill them, they do not give rise to the slightest angry thought; even their heads, eyes, marrow, and brains they do not begrudge in the least. While still in the womb, these people immediately realize the unsurpassed path.

There are beings whose minds are like vajra, which nothing can obstruct or destroy. Suppose someone were to entice them with gentle words: “The number of kalpas is beyond reckoning, and it is difficult to escape transmigration through birth and death. Why do you not deliver yourself, instead of bearing hardship and suffering in place of those beings?” Yet the bodhisattva’s mind continues to advance, never retreating or falling back into birth and death. While still in the womb, this person immediately realizes the unsurpassed path.

There are practitioners of meditation whose consciousness remains unmoved. Even if Mara Papiyan, from the sky above, produces violent thunder and lightning, the bodhisattva’s mind is not disturbed by so much as a hair’s breadth, much less caused to abandon the path of meditation. While still in the womb, this person immediately realizes the unsurpassed path.

If there are beings who discriminate among practices, saying that one can be practiced while another cannot, and if any of them cling to and cherish the body, the bodhisattva immediately teaches them the four foundations of mindfulness, clearly distinguishes the essential treasury of all dharmas, and proclaims and expounds immeasurable Dharma-realms. While still in the womb, this person immediately realizes the unsurpassed path.

There are bodhisattvas who enter the samadhi of loving-kindness and see all kinds of beings filling immeasurable, limitless asamkhyas of Ganges-sand worlds in the East. With loving-kindness and compassion, they take pity on them and wish for their liberation. It is as though they took individual grains of sand from the Ganges and, after passing through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges, dropped one grain.

In this manner, the sands of the Ganges would be exhausted, but their loving-kindness would never be exhausted. The bodhisattvas make firm vows that are difficult to shake. Suppose someone came and took a bodhisattva’s body, severed and sliced it into pieces, and filled the trichiliocosm with them; the bodhisattva would see the blood transform into milk, just as a mother loves her child.

This is the bodhisattva’s practice of the samadhi of loving-kindness. While still in the womb, this person immediately realizes the unsurpassed path.

There are bodhisattvas who enter the samadhi of compassion. With loving-kindness and compassion, they take pity on the various beings in immeasurable, limitless asamkhyas of Ganges-sand worlds in the South and wish for their liberation. Taking individual grains of sand from the Ganges, they pass through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges and drop one grain.

In this manner, the sands of the Ganges would be exhausted, but their compassion would never be exhausted. They are capable of bearing suffering in place of those afflicted beings. All this arises from the bodhisattvas’ firm vows.

Any beings who behold them with pure minds will distance themselves from all suffering and permanently sever deluded thoughts. While still in the womb, these bodhisattvas immediately realize the unsurpassed path.

There are bodhisattvas who enter the samadhi of sympathetic joy. Mindful of joy, they wish for the liberation of the various beings in immeasurable, limitless asamkhyas of Ganges-sand worlds in the West. Taking individual grains of sand from the Ganges, they pass through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges and drop one grain. In this manner, the sands of the Ganges would be exhausted, but their joy would never be exhausted. If those beings enter the mind of joy, they themselves experience delight. All this arises from the firm resolve of the bodhisattvas, who realize the unsurpassed path while still in the womb.

There are bodhisattvas who enter the samadhi of equanimity. Fearing that immeasurable, limitless asamkhyas of Ganges-sand beings in the North may have flawed and corrupted conduct, they nurture and protect them, preventing them from sinking into ruin. Taking individual grains of sand from the Ganges, they pass through as many worlds as there are sands in the Ganges and drop one grain. In this manner, the sands of the Ganges would be exhausted, but their equanimity would never be exhausted. All this arises from the firm vows of the bodhisattvas, who realize the unsurpassed path while still in the womb.

The bodhisattva’s cultivation of the true Dharma through great loving-kindness and great compassion is not the practice of arhats or pratyekabuddhas. Bodhisattvas wish that all beings throughout the four directions, upon hearing a sound, will immediately seek out its source and come. All this arises from the firm vows of the bodhisattvas, who, while still in the womb, immediately realize the unsurpassed path.

Chapter 3: The Noble Truths

The Buddha addressed the great bodhisattvas, bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, upasikas, devas, nagas, ghosts and spirits, asuras, garudas, kimnaras, mahoragas, pisacas, kumbhandas, putanas, maniushas, anius...:

– I shall now teach you the noble truths of the great bodhisattvas. Listen clearly and reflect upon them carefully. Why is this? Because throughout asamkhyas of kalpas, I cultivated the fruit of the path, dying here and being born there, transmigrating through the five destinies, yet never abandoning the bodhisattvas’ noble truths.

How does a bodhisattva cultivate the Noble Truths? A bodhisattva, from the moment of first arousing the aspiration until sitting at the seat of enlightenment, cultivates the Dharma of non-obstruction, without attachment to the attainment of meditative concentration, and completely extinguishes all unwholesome perceptions. Or a bodhisattva enters the stage of the First Dhyana, perceives the practice of purity, feels shame and thereby becomes disenchanted, relinquishes it in order to advance, and, being about to ascend to the sixth abiding, diligently and vigorously pursues the work of the path.

Entering the stage of the Second Dhyana, the mind suddenly awakens greatly, like the bright moon dispersing the clouds. Contemplating within one’s own body, the bodhisattva examines whether the vow aroused in the mind is firm or infirm. With one’s own mind, one contemplates the minds of sentient beings and fully knows who is easy to liberate and who is difficult to liberate.

At that time, the bodhisattva’s mind is filled with joy: “I shall certainly become a Buddha, without any doubt. My land shall be purified; I shall remove the defilements of sentient beings, vanquish the armies of Mara, and turn the unsurpassed Dharma wheel of the noble ones. Ah, what joy!

All the meritorious rewards and aspirations I have sought shall be fulfilled!”

At that time, the bodhisattva enters the Concentration of Non-Confusion, measures mind by mind and body by body, and thereby accomplishes the noble path and the bases of spiritual power. Traveling from one Buddha-land to another, the bodhisattva bows in reverence, attends upon, and makes offerings to all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones; hears and receives the profound Dharma without obstruction or fear; and then enters the Third Dhyana, contemplating that all forms and appearances are empty and without anything possessed.

While abiding in the Third Dhyana, the bodhisattva can clearly discern all classes of sentient beings: they die here and are born there, die there and are born here; the bodhisattva knows their former lives and also knows whence they came; whether they are of the kshatriya lineage or the brahmin lineage, householders or elders; whether they cultivate the path or do not cultivate it; whether they deserve to receive the fruit or do not deserve to receive the fruit; whether there is inhalation and exhalation or neither inhalation nor exhalation; whether these are the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the faculties and powers, the bases of spiritual power, the factors of awakening, the Noble Eightfold Path, and so forth.

This person will certainly become a Buddha in that land, at that place, among those sentient beings. The bodhisattva knows all such kinds of persons. This is called a bodhisattva attaining purity of mind at the stage of the Third Dhyana.

Furthermore, a great bodhisattva at the stage of the Third Dhyana aspires to the eighth abiding, yet, although aspiring to it, does not attain it. Diligently and vigorously seeking purity of mind day and night, the bodhisattva enters the Fourth Dhyana and directly beholds the Buddhas of the ten directions expounding the irreversible Dharma of the Fourth Dhyana, unobstructed liberation, and the practice of the four bases of spiritual power.

The bodhisattva can divide one body into innumerable bodies and unite innumerable bodies into one body; enter the Samadhi of Fiery Radiance and pervade the entire trichiliocosm; and cause those sentient beings, upon beholding the Samadhi of Fiery Radiance, to become so terrified that their hair stands on end and they come of their own accord to the bodhisattva for refuge. Through the power of samadhi, they attain liberation.

At that time, within the Fourth Dhyana, the bodhisattva discerns suchness and the Dharma-nature, and the mind turns back to cultivate the practices of the sixth abiding. The bodhisattva reflects: “If I have not yet attained the stage of irreversibility, how can I attain the eighth abiding?” Thereupon, within the Fourth Dhyana, the bodhisattva cultivates diligently, purifies the conduct of sentient beings, and undergoes suffering in their stead.

Although practicing the Dharma in this way, the bodhisattva does not praise oneself, eliminates the mind of arrogance, no longer clings to self, and cultivates the six recollections. Although practicing the path among sentient beings of the nine realms of existence, the mind remains undefiled and does not cling to samsara. The mind suddenly awakens greatly and attains irreversibility.

This is how a great bodhisattva attains purity of mind regarding the Noble Truths.

Thereupon, the bodhisattva enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Infinite Space and contemplates the consciousnesses of the sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm. Cultivating the Dharma of purity, the bodhisattva leaves all bonds far behind and cherishes nothing whatsoever, and can personally live for one kalpa, two kalpas, or even innumerable kalpas. During those kalpas, the bodhisattva teaches and transforms sentient beings, gradually guiding both the living and the dying toward attainment of the pure path. This bodhisattva, while in the womb, immediately accomplishes the unsurpassed path.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness and contemplates the realms to which all consciousnesses throughout this trichiliocosm proceed. Whether they follow the path of devas, the path of humans, the path of hungry ghosts, the path of animals, or the path of hell beings, and whether they are easy or difficult to liberate, this bodhisattva knows them all. This bodhisattva, while in the womb, immediately accomplishes the unsurpassed path.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Nothingness and contemplates all sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm—whether golden, blue, red, or white, and whether many or few—then becomes disenchanted and does not wish to remain long. This bodhisattva, while in the womb, immediately accomplishes the unsurpassed path.

There is a bodhisattva who enters the Samadhi of the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception and contemplates the realms to which all consciousnesses throughout this trichiliocosm proceed: the living and the dead, blue, yellow, red, and white, high and low, and so forth. The bodhisattva causes all those sentient beings to understand the ending of their lifespans. This bodhisattva, while in the womb, immediately accomplishes the unsurpassed path.

Thereupon, the bodhisattva enters the samadhi of great empty space and great quiescence, contemplating the destinations of all sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm, extending upward through boundless and endless realms, and discerning through contemplation that all dharmas are nonexistent. This is called a great bodhisattva accomplishing the unsurpassed path while in the womb.

The bodhisattva then enters the Samadhi of the Formless Realm and universally contemplates all sentient beings throughout this trichiliocosm. The bonds of the mind no longer bind them of themselves. Since consciousness has no form or appearance, the consciousness contemplated likewise has no form or appearance. Through this formless Dharma, the bodhisattva, while in the womb, immediately accomplishes the unsurpassed path.

THE BODHISATTVA DWELLING IN THE WOMB

End of Volume 1