Attainment · Bodhisattva’s MasteryPart 2Paper 4 of 10

The Four Added Perfections and the Grounds

BODHI-P04 · v1.0 · 2026-06

Skill, Vow, Power, Knowledge as Auxiliaries to the Six · All Embraced by Post-Realization Non-Discriminating Wisdom · The Ten Following the Grounds, One Perfection Foremost per Ground

中文主題：後四度與地對應——方便願力智為無分別後智，地地一度增上

I. The Live Question

The previous paper established the six pāramitās as the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery. But open the treatises and the bodhisattva's "perfections" are often not six but ten — after giving, morality, patience, vigour, meditation, and prajñā, four more are added: skill, vow, power, and knowledge, making ten pāramitās. Two questions follow at once. First, these four added — what are they? Are they four new practices set up apart from the six (in which case the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery has become a longer checklist, "six plus four = ten practices"), or do they have some other standing than the six? Second, why open the six into ten? The six already embrace merit and wisdom in full (the prior paper, 3.1) — what need to add four more?

This paper's answer turns on two pivots. The first answers "what are the four": the four added perfections are not four new practices apart from the six, but are embraced by "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom" (the post-attainment wisdom arising after the non-discriminating wisdom won on entering the grounds) and serve as auxiliaries to the six — they add no new practice-content, but by the functions of dedicating, drawing in vows, subduing, and establishing knowledge, they sustain the six and keep them continuous, complete, and unbroken. The second answers "why open into ten": because the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery is not six items laid out flat all at once, but discloses itself following the sequence of the ten grounds, one perfection foremost at each ground — the six to the first six grounds, the four to the latter four, each ground foregrounding one. So "opening into ten" is not "the practices growing more numerous," but what the "ground-by-ground disclosure of the shape of mastery" requires: by the latter four grounds (the seventh onward), the six must have skill, vow, power, and knowledge above them to sustain them, that the six may continue to the path's end.

The thesis: the four added perfections (skill, vow, power, knowledge) are post-realization wisdom embracing the six and auxiliary to them; the ten follow the sequence of the ten grounds, one perfection foremost per ground. So the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery unfolds into ten and discloses ground by ground. Yet one boundary must be kept: the four added perfections and the grounds' masteries are all bound to the "causal stage" (path-bound) — the eighth ground's vow-perfection, its ten masteries, however high, are still virtues of the bodhisattva's causal stage, strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries (the fruit-stage); their detail belongs to this axis's P08 and the Realization axis's ten-grounds papers, this paper assigning but not adjudicating the fruit-stage.

The argument: §II presents the canon (the four defined; the four as post-realization wisdom and auxiliaries to the six; the ten's correspondence to the grounds; and the causal-stage boundary); §III argues in three layers (the four item by item, 3.1; the four as auxiliaries of post-realization wisdom, not new practices, 3.2; one perfection foremost per ground and its causal-stage boundary, 3.3); §IV is cut; §V corrects misreadings and marks the textual scope of the ground-perfection mapping and the causal-stage boundary; §VI concludes, takes up P03, and opens the later parts and P08.

II. Canonical Basis

This section presents three clusters plus a boundary: the four defined item by item (2.1); the four as post-realization wisdom and auxiliaries to the six (2.2); the ten's correspondence to the grounds (2.3); and the causal-stage boundary of the grounds' masteries (2.4). The sources are the Yogācārabhūmi (T1579), the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha (T1593), the Avataṃsaka Ten Grounds (T0279), and the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna (T1522), all CBETA-verified.

2.1 The Four Item by Item: Skill, Vow, Power, Knowledge

The full list of the ten and the item-by-item definition of the four, the Yogācārabhūmi gives:

The six pāramitās stated before, and the skill-in-means-pāramitā, the vow-pāramitā, the power-pāramitā, the knowledge-pāramitā — these ten pāramitās are together named the pāramitā-practice … skill-in-means (the skill-in-means of the twelve aspects, as stated before) … vow (the five great vows, as stated before) … power (the purity of the application of the ten powers) … knowledge (the pure wondrous knowledge that establishes all things as they really are — know this is named the knowledge-pāramitā).¹

After the six are added skill, vow, power, knowledge, making ten; and each of the four has its definition: skill = the skill-in-means of the twelve aspects; vow = the five great vows; power = the purity of the application of the ten powers; knowledge = the pure wondrous knowledge that establishes things as they really are. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha further lists the four by Sanskrit name, each with its mark:

At the latter four grounds are four pāramitās: first, the upāya-kauśalya-pāramitā — the merit of the roots of good grown by the six pāramitās, given to all beings equally, dedicated for all beings toward unsurpassed awakening. Second, the praṇidhāna-pāramitā — this perfection can draw in all manner of vows, that in future ages it may bring about the conditions for the birth of the six. Third, the bala-pāramitā — by the power of discerning cultivation it subdues what counters the pāramitās, and so can make the six continue in birth without gap or break. Fourth, the jñāna-pāramitā — this perfection is what establishes the wisdom of the prior six … the latter four pāramitās are to be known as post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās.²

Upāya-kauśalya (skill) = dedicating the roots of good of the six to beings, dedicating them toward unsurpassed awakening; praṇidhāna (vow) = drawing in all manner of vows, bringing about the future conditions for the birth of the six; bala (power) = subduing what counters the pāramitās, making the six continue without break; jñāna (knowledge) = establishing the wisdom of the prior six. The mark of each of the four is set "toward the six" (dedicating their roots of good, drawing in their future conditions, subduing what counters them, establishing their wisdom), not setting up a new practice — a sense the next section (3.2) unfolds.

2.2 The Four as Post-Realization Wisdom, Auxiliaries to the Six

The standing of the four, the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha settles in a phrase: "the latter four pāramitās are to be known as post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās" (the closing line of 2.1). "Post-realization non-discriminating wisdom" is the post-attainment wisdom of the non-discriminating wisdom — the bodhisattva on entering the grounds realizes the non-discriminating wisdom (the root wisdom, the direct insight of suchness), and the wisdom that then arises, able in the post-attainment state to distinguish, establish, and act for beings' benefit, is the post-attainment wisdom. The four are all embraced by this post-attainment wisdom. And that the four are "auxiliaries" to the six, the Yogācārabhūmi (citing the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra) shows:

Therefore I say the skill-in-means-pāramitā is an auxiliary to the first three. … When the afflictions are slight and the mind gives rise to right vows, this is named the vow-pāramitā. … The vow-pāramitā is an auxiliary to the vigour-pāramitā.³

Skill-in-means "is an auxiliary to the first three (giving, morality, patience)," vow "is an auxiliary to vigour" — the four are expressly marked as "auxiliaries" to the six (means of sustaining them), not a separate track alongside the six. The two witnesses together: the four are the post-attainment wisdom arising from the root wisdom won on entering the grounds, sustaining the six by the functions of dedicating (skill), drawing in vows (vow), subduing-to-continue (power), and establishing knowledge (knowledge), keeping the six continuous and unbroken. So the four "embrace all pāramitās" — not four perfections added outside the six, but the six themselves embraced and sustained by post-attainment wisdom, brought to continuous completion.

2.3 The Ten and the Grounds: One Perfection Foremost per Ground

The ten are not laid out flat side by side, but disclose following the sequence of the ten grounds, one perfection foremost at each. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha gives the overall assignment of the six to the first six grounds and the four to the latter four:

The ten pāramitās are accomplished in sequence: at the first six grounds are the six pāramitās, as stated in sequence; at the latter four grounds are the four pāramitās … the latter four are to be known as post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās, not cultivated at the same time at every ground.⁴

The six to the first six grounds, the four to the latter four — the treatises' standard configuration of the ten against the ten grounds. And the formula "one perfection foremost per ground," the Avataṃsaka Ten Grounds sets at its starting point, the first ground of Joy:

This bodhisattva, among the ten pāramitās, has the giving-pāramitā foremost; the rest of the pāramitās are not unpractised, but according to one's power and portion.⁵

"Such-and-such pāramitā foremost; the rest not unpractised, but according to one's power and portion" — this formula is the canonical starting point for the foregrounding of one perfection at each ground. The latter part of the Ten Grounds assigns the four by the same formula (skill predominant at the seventh, Far-Reaching ground; vow foremost at the eighth, Immovable; knowledge most foremost at the tenth, Cloud of Dharma).⁶ The Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna's cited scripture marks the foremost perfection ground by ground, the line-numbers ready; this paper lists those the texts expressly mark "foremost":⁷

Ground	Name	Foremost perfection	Express marking
1	Joy	giving	✅ expressly "foremost"
2	Stainless	(morality · common reading)	⚠️ emphasizes "pure morality" · no "foremost" formula
3	Radiant	patience	✅ expressly "foremost"
4	Blazing	(vigour · common reading)	⚠️ no "foremost" text found in this paper's three texts
5	Hard-to-Conquer	meditation	✅ expressly "foremost"
6	Face-to-Face	prajñā	✅ expressly "foremost"
7	Far-Reaching	skill	✅ expressly "foremost" (the four begin)
8	Immovable	vow	✅ expressly "foremost"
9	Good Wisdom	power	✅ expressly "foremost"
10	Cloud of Dharma	knowledge	✅ expressly "foremost" (the mapping completes)

The grounds the texts expressly mark "foremost" are eight: giving (1), patience (3), meditation (5), prajñā (6), skill (7), vow (8), power (9), knowledge (10). The second ground (Stainless) is emphasized as "relying on pure morality" without the "foremost" formula; the fourth ground (Blazing)'s "vigour-pāramitā foremost" is not found expressly in this paper's three texts. "2nd = morality, 4th = vigour" is the standard common reading, marked here as lacking the express text and not supplied (its scope detailed in §V).

2.4 The Four and the Grounds' Masteries Are All Bound to the Causal Stage

A boundary's canonical ground must be appended: the masteries accomplished by the four (especially the eighth ground's vow-perfection, the ten masteries of its station) are all bound to the "bodhisattva's" causal stage, not the tathāgata's fruit-stage. The Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna at the eighth ground reads plainly "this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries" (the word "bodhisattva" doubled, binding them to the causal stage of the Immovable ground); the Avataṃsaka sets up separately a distinct gate of "the ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones"; and scripture records the buddhas personally exhorting the eighth-ground bodhisattva: "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas that we possess — these you have not yet attained."⁸ So in assigning the masteries of the ten perfections and the ten grounds, this paper both assigns the foremost perfection and keeps the boundary of "the causal stage not yet complete" — the eighth ground's vow-perfection and ten masteries, however high, are still virtues of the causal stage, strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries (their detail belonging to this axis's P08 and the Realization axis's BODHI-P09; this paper keeps the boundary without unfolding it).

III. Core Argument

§II has shown the canon's express words: the four defined, the four as post-realization wisdom and auxiliaries to the six, one perfection foremost per ground. This section argues in three layers: the sense of the four item by item (3.1); why the four are auxiliaries of post-realization wisdom, not new practices (3.2); the ground-by-ground disclosure of one perfection foremost, and its causal-stage boundary (3.3).

3.1 The Four Item by Item: The Sense of Skill, Vow, Power, Knowledge

First, to fix the sense of the four positively (combining the Yogācārabhūmi and the Saṃgraha of 2.1). Skill (upāya-kauśalya) = skill-in-means: dedicating the roots of good grown by the six to all beings, dedicating them toward unsurpassed awakening (Saṃgraha), the "skill-in-means of the twelve aspects" (Yogācārabhūmi) — its function is "dedication," turning the good of self-benefit into a good both benefiting others and tending toward awakening. Vow (praṇidhāna) = drawing in all manner of vows, bringing about the conditions for the future birth of the six (Saṃgraha), the "five great vows" (Yogācārabhūmi) — its function is "drawing in the future," by vow-power drawing forward the conditions for continuing the six in future lives. Power (bala) = by the power of discerning cultivation subduing what counters the pāramitās, making the six continue in birth without gap or break (Saṃgraha), the "purity of the application of the ten powers" (Yogācārabhūmi) — its function is "subduing to continue," removing what obstructs the six, keeping them unbroken. Knowledge (jñāna) = establishing the wisdom of the prior six (Saṃgraha), the "pure wondrous knowledge that establishes things as they really are" (Yogācārabhūmi) — its function is "establishing knowledge," establishing and setting up the prior six by post-attainment wondrous knowledge.

The senses of the four have one common direction: each is set "toward the six." Skill dedicates the roots of good of the six, vow draws in the future conditions of the six, power subdues what counters the six, knowledge establishes the wisdom of the six — not one is a "new practice starting its own hearth," not one is other than "sustaining the six." This common direction is just what the next layer (3.2) establishes: the four are not new practices but auxiliaries to the six.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the four are each defined (Yogācārabhūmi: skill = the twelve aspects; vow = the five great vows; power = the purity of the ten powers' application; knowledge = the pure wondrous knowledge that establishes things as they are. Saṃgraha: upāya-kauśalya dedicating; praṇidhāna drawing in vows; bala subduing-to-continue; jñāna establishing knowledge). The mark of each of the four is set "toward the six" (dedicating their roots of good, drawing in their future conditions, subduing what counters them, establishing their wisdom), with the common direction of "sustaining the six," not a new practice started apart.

3.2 The Four as Auxiliaries of Post-Realization Wisdom: Adding No New Practice, but the Deployment of Mastery

Following from this, this layer establishes the standing of the four: the four are embraced by "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom" and serve as auxiliaries to the six; they add no new practice-content but are the deployment (the putting-to-use, the unfolding) of the mastery realized on entering the grounds (the non-discriminating wisdom). The ground is the Saṃgraha's "the latter four are post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās" (2.2) and the Yogācārabhūmi's "auxiliaries" to the six (2.2).

What is "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom"? The bodhisattva on the first ground (the path of seeing) realizes the non-discriminating wisdom (the root wisdom) — the root non-discriminating wisdom that directly beholds suchness, in which the grasped and the grasper alike dissolve (this is the height of the prajñā-perfection, and what the forbearance of non-arising bears on too, detailed in this axis's P06). But the root wisdom only realizes suchness and raises no discrimination; it cannot yet act amid differentiated phenomena for beings' benefit. So after the root wisdom arises the "post-attainment wisdom" (post-realization non-discriminating wisdom) — able in the post-attainment state to raise differentiated distinctions again, to set up names and marks, and to raise skill, vow, and power to benefit beings. The four added perfections are just the unfolding of this post-attainment wisdom: skill (dedicating to benefit beings), vow (drawing in conditions for future birth), power (subduing-to-continue), knowledge (establishing the six) — all the post-attainment functioning of "having realized suchness, returning into the differentiated world to sustain the six and benefit beings."

So the four, in relation to the six, are not "four items added beside six items" (an increase in the number of practices) but "the deployment of the mastery already realized, returning into the world" (the freedom already won, turned to use to sustain the six). This takes up the thread of the bodhisattva's mastery: the bodhisattva's mastery is signed by "not-taking" (P01) — not taking that realization of "abiding only in the root wisdom, dissolved into suchness," but with post-attainment wisdom returning into the differentiated, delivering beings without cease; the four added perfections (the unfolding of post-attainment wisdom) are just this "not-taking, returning to deliver beings" freedom deployed in practice. There is no doctrine of these four for the arhat (whose mastery stops at severance, taking the realization, entering the remainderless), precisely because he does not take the road of "returning into the differentiated to benefit beings"; the bodhisattva has the four added perfections precisely because his mastery is from the first a freedom of "realizing yet not abiding, returning to deliver beings." The presence or absence of the four marks, once more, the difference of the two masteries.

A comparison: the "mentoring" and "clinical practice" that come after training. A physician's root learning, won through years of study (like the root non-discriminating wisdom), if kept only in the breast and never returned to the clinic and to teaching, can benefit no one. After completing the training, he deploys what he learned as clinical skill (the means of treating each illness aptly), as the long vow (the resolve to relieve ever more patients), as sustained power (removing the obstacles to practice, keeping the healing unbroken), and as matured judgment-knowledge (drawing the prior learning together to resolve doubt) — these "four uses after the training is complete" are not four new disciplines learned apart from his learning, but the very unfolding of that same learning "returned to the world to be used." So the four, in relation to the six (and to the root wisdom won on entering the grounds): not four new disciplines, but the mastery already accomplished, deployed back into the differentiated world to sustain the six and deliver beings without cease.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the four are embraced by "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom" and are auxiliaries to the six (Saṃgraha, Yogācārabhūmi, 2.2). Post-attainment wisdom is the wisdom that, after the bodhisattva realizes the root non-discriminating wisdom on entering the grounds, returns into the differentiated world to act for beings' benefit; the four (dedicating, drawing in vows, subduing, establishing knowledge) are its deployment, sustaining the six and keeping them unbroken, not a new practice started apart. This takes up P01's "not-taking, returning to deliver beings" thread: the four are that "realizing-yet-not-abiding, returning to deliver beings" freedom unfolded in practice; that the arhat has no doctrine of the four marks, again, the difference of the two masteries.

3.3 One Perfection Foremost per Ground: Mastery Discloses Ground by Ground, Yet All Bound to the Causal Stage

The last layer establishes the correspondence of the ten with the ten grounds, and its causal-stage boundary. The ten are not laid out flat all at once, but disclose following the sequence of the ten grounds, one perfection foremost at each (2.3). The grounds the texts expressly mark "foremost": giving (1), patience (3), meditation (5), prajñā (6), skill (7), vow (8), power (9), knowledge (10) (the table of 2.3). Its sense is twofold.

First, "foremost" is not "cultivating one perfection only." The formula reads "such-and-such pāramitā foremost; the rest not unpractised, but according to one's power and portion" (2.3) — a ground takes one perfection as "foremost" (predominant, the main cultivation), while the rest are still "not unpractised" (cultivated according to power and portion). So "one perfection foremost per ground" is not "the first ground cultivates only giving, the third only patience," but "the first ground takes giving as foremost while the rest are cultivated by portion, the third takes patience as foremost while the rest are cultivated by portion." The shape of the bodhisattva's mastery (the ten) is wholly present at every ground; only the foregrounded one differs ground by ground — like an ensemble of ten instruments, each movement led by one instrument, the rest never falling silent.

Second, mastery discloses following the sequence of the grounds. The first six grounds foreground the six in sequence (giving → morality → patience → vigour → meditation → prajñā), until at the sixth, Face-to-Face ground, prajñā is foremost and the root wisdom comes face-to-face (the cognitive height of entering the grounds); from the seventh, Far-Reaching ground onward, skill, vow, power, knowledge — the four added perfections — are foremost in sequence. This takes up 3.2: from the seventh ground on (the root wisdom already manifest), the disclosure of mastery turns to the deployment of post-attainment wisdom (skill, vow, power, knowledge), so the four are assigned to the latter four grounds. Thus the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery is not a static ten but a dynamic course "disclosing ground by ground": the first six grounds disclose the six (the merit-and-wisdom of self-and-other benefit), the latter four disclose the four added perfections (the returning-and-using of post-attainment wisdom).

Yet the causal-stage boundary must be kept (2.4). The mastery foremost ground by ground, even to the eighth ground's vow-perfection and the ten masteries of its station, is all bound to the "bodhisattva's" causal stage — the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna reads plainly "this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries," and the buddhas personally exhort the eighth-ground bodhisattva, "the buddhas' powers and fearlessnesses you have not yet attained." So the disclosure of the ten perfections mapped to the ten grounds is "the sequential disclosure of causal-stage mastery," not "the consummation of the fruit-stage"; its strict distinction from the tathāgata's ten masteries (the fruit-stage) belongs to this axis's P08 (the eighth ground's ten masteries) and the Realization axis's BODHI-P09 — this paper assigns and keeps the boundary, without adjudicating the height of the fruit-stage.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the ten follow the grounds, one perfection foremost per ground (Saṃgraha: six to the first six grounds, four to the latter four; Avataṃsaka and Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna: the per-ground formula "such-and-such foremost, the rest by power and portion," 2.3). "Foremost" is not cultivating one only, but one foregrounded while the rest are cultivated by portion; mastery discloses ground by ground (the first six grounds' six, the latter four grounds' deployment of post-attainment wisdom, taking up 3.2). Yet all is bound to the causal stage (Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna's "this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries"; the buddhas' "you have not yet attained," 2.4), strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries (→ P08). The grounds expressly marked "foremost" are giving (1), patience (3), meditation (5), prajñā (6), skill (7), vow (8), power (9), knowledge (10); the 2nd ground's morality and the 4th's vigour have no express "foremost" text (§V).

Three layers together: the four item by item are each set "toward the six" (3.1); the four are auxiliaries of post-realization wisdom to the six (the deployment of realized mastery returning to deliver beings, 3.2); the ten foremost one per ground, mastery disclosing ground by ground, yet all bound to the causal stage (3.3). Together they establish the thesis: the four added perfections (skill, vow, power, knowledge) are post-realization wisdom embracing the six and auxiliary to them; the ten follow the sequence of the ten grounds, one perfection foremost per ground — the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery unfolds into ten and discloses ground by ground, the masteries of its ten grounds all bound to the causal stage (strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries).

IV. Interdisciplinary Convergence

(This paper deliberately omits the interdisciplinary section; the reason is given in §VI. Its axis is the Mahāyāna ground-doctrine of "the four as auxiliaries of post-realization wisdom · one perfection foremost per ground." Modern models — "the stage-development of expert skill," "transfer of learning after acquisition" — superficially resemble the deployment of post-attainment wisdom and the ground-by-ground disclosure in "returning a root capacity to application after acquisition" and "the staged disclosure of capacity," but cannot sustain a three-layer convergence without lapsing into analogy on three points: "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom as the post-attainment of the root non-discriminating wisdom (the direct insight of suchness)," "the four bound to the causal stage, set against the fruit-stage's not-yet-attained," and "the 'rest cultivated according to power and portion' wholeness of the ground-by-ground foregrounding." On the first especially, what the post-attainment wisdom is "post" to is "the root non-discriminating wisdom that directly beholds suchness," with no counterpart in any model reducible to worldly skill-acquisition; the "transfer" of expert skill is still the transfer of a conditioned mental capacity, only superficially resembling the "post-attainment functioning that, having realized suchness, returns into the differentiated." Hence omitted per the series' editorial convention, with this note.)

V. Madhyamaka Corrections

This section clears three misreadings adjacent to the thesis, the latter two bearing directly on textual scope and the keeping of a boundary, and requiring special honesty.

❌ Misreading one: "the four added perfections are four new practices distinct from the six (a checklist of ten side-by-side practices, six plus four)." This the paper breaks in full. The four "are to be known as post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās" (Saṃgraha, 2.2), and are expressly marked as "auxiliaries" to the six (Yogācārabhūmi: skill aiding the first three, vow aiding vigour, 2.2). The mark of each is set "toward the six" (dedicating the six's roots of good, drawing in the six's future conditions, subduing the six's counter-tendencies, establishing the six's wisdom, 3.1). So the four are not four new practices alongside the six, but the post-attainment wisdom that returns into use, sustaining the six — "the ten" is not "ten side-by-side practices" but "the six + the four post-attainment uses that sustain the six to continuous completion." To read the four as "four practices tacked on" loses their standing as "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās, auxiliaries to the six," sinking them into an increase in the number of practices.

⚠️ Correction two: in the ground-perfection mapping, the second ground (morality) and the fourth ground (vigour) have no express "foremost" text in this paper's three texts; "2nd = morality, 4th = vigour" is the common reading, marked here as such and not supplied. To be marked honestly: in the ground-perfection table of 2.3, the grounds the texts expressly mark with the "foremost" formula are eight — giving (1), patience (3), meditation (5), prajñā (6), skill (7), vow (8), power (9), knowledge (10). The second ground (Stainless) the texts emphasize as "relying on pure morality" (as the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna's "relying on pure morality, the second bodhisattva ground, Stainless, is taught"), without the "such-and-such pāramitā foremost" formula; the fourth ground (Blazing)'s "vigour (vīrya)-pāramitā foremost," searched across this paper's three texts (the Avataṃsaka Ten Grounds, the Daśabhūmika-sūtra, the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna) for "vigour-pāramitā foremost," returns no hit; no express text is found. The standard mapping "2nd = morality, 4th = vigour" is the common reading of the ten grounds against the ten perfections (following the sequence of the ten); but this paper's three texts show no "foremost" express text for it. This paper marks these two grounds in the table as "common reading · no foremost formula / no foremost text found," not passing the common reading off as express scripture, and fabricating no line-numbers. To ground these two assignments in scripture, one would further consult the Huayan Exploration of the Mystery (T1733) or the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā (T1521). This scope is marked per the recorded source-gap.

⚠️ Correction three: the four and the grounds' masteries are all bound to the causal stage; do not conflate them with the tathāgata's fruit-stage ten masteries. A boundary must be kept: the masteries of the ten perfections and the ten grounds this paper assigns (especially the eighth ground's vow-perfection, the ten masteries of its station) are all bound to the "bodhisattva's" causal stage (path-bound) — the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna reads plainly "this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries" (the word doubled), the Avataṃsaka sets up separately a distinct gate of "the ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones," and the buddhas personally exhort the eighth-ground bodhisattva, "the powers, fearlessnesses, and eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas you have not yet attained" (2.4). So this paper's assignment of the mastery foremost ground by ground is "the sequential disclosure of causal-stage mastery," by no means "the consummation of the fruit-stage"; to misread the eighth ground's vow-perfection or its ten masteries as the tathāgata's ten masteries, to misread the bodhisattva's mastery foremost ground by ground as the buddha-fruit's mastery, erases the course of the ninth, tenth, and buddha-fruit, and violates the scripture's plain warning "you have not yet attained." The dedicated treatment of the eighth ground's ten masteries and their strict distinction from the tathāgata's ten masteries belongs to this axis's P08; this paper assigns and keeps the boundary, without adjudicating the height of the fruit-stage (which adjudication is the author's).

VI. Conclusion

Restatement. The four added perfections (skill, vow, power, knowledge) are post-realization wisdom embracing the six and auxiliary to them; the ten follow the sequence of the ten grounds, one perfection foremost per ground. In the canon, the Yogācārabhūmi glosses the four (skill = the twelve aspects; vow = the five great vows; power = the purity of the ten powers' application; knowledge = the pure wondrous knowledge that establishes things as they are) and shows the four as auxiliaries to the six; the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha lists the four by Sanskrit name (upāya-kauśalya, praṇidhāna, bala, jñāna), judges "the latter four are post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās," and assigns the six to the first six grounds and the four to the latter four; the Avataṃsaka Ten Grounds and the Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna assign the foremost perfection ground by ground with the formula "such-and-such foremost, the rest by power and portion" (those expressly marked: giving 1, patience 3, meditation 5, prajñā 6, skill 7, vow 8, power 9, knowledge 10). Doctrinally, three layers: the four item by item are set "toward the six" (3.1); the four are auxiliaries of post-attainment wisdom (the deployment of realized mastery returning to deliver beings, 3.2); the ten foremost one per ground, mastery disclosing ground by ground, all bound to the causal stage (3.3). To be marked honestly: the 2nd ground's morality and the 4th's vigour have no express "foremost" text (the common reading, §V); the four and the grounds' masteries are all bound to the causal stage, strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries (→ P08).

Practice guidance. Here the practitioner should clear two confusions. First, do not suppose "the ten perfections" is a longer homework-list than "the six," requiring four new practices to be cultivated apart — the four added perfections are not new practices but the sustaining of the six: that you cultivate the six and can dedicate to beings (skill), can vow to draw on continuity (vow), can clear obstacles to keep them unbroken (power), can establish them with knowledge (knowledge) — these four uses of "sustaining the six to continuous completion" are the four added perfections. So the heart of cultivating the ten is not to seek four things apart from the six, but to make one's cultivation of the six have dedication, vow, sustaining power, and establishing knowledge. Second, do not let "one perfection foremost per ground" lead to neglect — "foremost" is one perfection foregrounded while "the rest are not unpractised, cultivated according to power and portion" (2.3), not cultivating one only. At any station the ten are wholly present, only foregrounded each by portion; to cultivate one and abandon the rest is not the sense of "foremost." And keep a measure of honesty: the masteries of the grounds (even the eighth ground's ten masteries) are all virtues of the causal stage — even the eighth-ground bodhisattva the buddhas still exhort, "the buddhas' powers and fearlessnesses you have not yet attained"; how much more the practitioner? So not to take one perfection's predominance, or one ground's correspondence, for the ultimate, is to accord with the sense of this causal-stage disclosure.

Taking up the prior, opening the next. This paper takes up the prior paper P03: P03 established the six as the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery, this paper extends the six into ten (the four added perfections as the post-attainment auxiliaries to the six) and assigns them to the ten grounds (one perfection foremost per ground); with this the "shape of mastery" opens from the plane of six into the ground-by-ground sequence of ten. With this Part (Part 2 · The Perfections) closes: ground (P01), measure (P02), shape (P03), the unfolding of the shape and its correspondence to the grounds (P04) — the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery is now complete in outline. Along the division's thread, the later parts continue: P05 (the four embraces) unfolds the six's self-and-other-benefit shape in focus (purely as the embracing of beings); P06 (the forbearance of non-arising) unfolds the cognitive signature of entering the grounds (the root non-discriminating wisdom this paper's 3.2 bears on); P08 (the eighth ground's ten masteries) unfolds the eighth ground's ten masteries this paper keeps the boundary on (strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries). As for the Realization axis: this paper's ten perfections, ground-perfection mapping, and the three-asaṃkhyeya assignment to the grounds correlate closely with the bodhi-path division's ten-grounds papers (BODHI-P07 through P10) and P05 (The Practice Position) — the Realization axis walks the course of the ten grounds (including the ground-by-ground perfection-conduct, the eighth ground's immovability and ten masteries), the Attainment axis (this paper) reads the shape of mastery that course discloses (the ten perfections foremost ground by ground); the seam's doctrine is the author's, and this paper does not speak for the Realization axis.

Open questions. First, the paper cuts §IV (the four and ground-by-ground disclosure are only superficially like the stage-development of expert skill), as above. Second, the second ground (morality) and the fourth (vigour) have no express "foremost" text in this paper's three texts; "2nd = morality, 4th = vigour" is the common reading — to ground these assignments in scripture, consult the Exploration of the Mystery (T1733) and the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā (T1521); this paper does not supply them. Third, the four and the grounds' masteries are all bound to the causal stage; their strict distinction from and reconciliation with the tathāgata's ten masteries (the fruit-stage) this paper only keeps the boundary on, the full treatment belonging to this axis's P08 and the Realization axis's BODHI-P09. Fourth, that "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom" is the "post-attainment of the root non-discriminating wisdom," and its relation to the forbearance of non-arising (the cognitive signature of entering the grounds), this paper only touches (3.2), the full treatment belonging to this axis's P06.

Notes

References

Primary Buddhist Sources

Yogācārabhūmi (瑜伽師地論). By Maitreya, trans. Xuanzang. T30, no. 1579. Fasc. 49 (Bodhisattva-ground · the ten pāramitās listed, the four defined item by item); fasc. 78 (Section of Ascertaining · the four as auxiliaries to the six).
Mahāyāna-saṃgraha (攝大乘論). By Asaṅga, trans. Paramārtha. T31, no. 1593. Lower fasc. (Chapter on Entering the Differentiated Cultivation of Cause and Fruit · the four named, the four as post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, the ten mapped to the ten grounds).
Avataṃsaka-sūtra (大方廣佛華嚴經, 80-fasc.). Trans. Śikṣānanda. T10, no. 0279. Ten Grounds chapter (the per-ground "one perfection foremost" formula; giving at the first to knowledge at the tenth; the distinct gate of the buddhas' ten masteries; the buddhas' "you have not yet attained").
Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna (十地經論). By Vasubandhu, trans. Bodhiruci et al. T26, no. 1522. Cited scripture marking the foremost perfection ground by ground (giving 1, patience 3, meditation 5, prajñā 6, skill 7, vow 8, power 9, knowledge 10); the eighth ground's "this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries."

Modern Scholarship

(This paper cites no modern scholarship; its argument rests entirely on the Buddhist canon, in the open-source spirit of "returning to the source." The interdisciplinary section having been cut, there is no associated modern literature. The 2nd ground's morality and the 4th's vigour "foremost" assignments are the common reading, marked here per the three treatises as lacking express text and not supplied; to ground them one would consult the Exploration of the Mystery (T1733) and the Daśabhūmika-vibhāṣā (T1521), which this paper does not pre-cite.)

Sūtra & Śāstra Index

Citation	Source	CBETA id
The ten pāramitās listed · the four defined (skill twelve aspects · vow five great vows · power ten powers' application · knowledge establishing things as they are)	Yogācārabhūmi, fasc. 49, Bodhisattva-ground	T30n1579_p0565c19
The four named (upāya-kauśalya · praṇidhāna · bala · jñāna) · the four are post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās	Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, lower, Cause-and-Fruit	T31n1593_p0126b19
The four as auxiliaries to the six (skill aiding the first three · vow aiding vigour)	Yogācārabhūmi, fasc. 78, Ascertaining	T30n1579_p0731a10
The ten mapped to the ten grounds (six to the first six · four to the latter four · not cultivated at once)	Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, lower, Cause-and-Fruit	T31n1593_p0126b18
Giving foremost at the first ground · the rest by power and portion (the per-ground formula's start)	Avataṃsaka, fasc. 34, Ten Grounds, Joy	T10n0279_p0183a20
The four assigned to the latter four grounds (skill predominant at 7th · vow at 8th · knowledge most foremost at 10th)	Avataṃsaka, fasc. 37–39, Ten Grounds	T10n0279_p0197c29
Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna per-ground foremost: giving (143b23) · patience (158c16) · meditation (167b08) · prajñā (173b03) · skill (178b19) · vow (185c13) · power (193a24) · knowledge (200a23)	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 4–12	T26n1522_p0143b23
Eighth ground's ten masteries causal-stage ("this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries") · the buddhas' distinct gate · "you have not yet attained"	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna fasc. 10 / Avataṃsaka fasc. 46, 38	T26n1522_p0183c21

Series Cross-Reference Index

BODHI-P03, "The Six Perfections as the Shape of Freedom" §3.1, §VI: this paper takes it up — P03 established the six as the shape of the bodhisattva's mastery (the shape of the two provisions, prajñā as guide), this paper extends the six into ten (the four as the post-attainment auxiliaries to the six) and assigns them to the ten grounds (one perfection foremost per ground). The plane of six opens into the ground-by-ground sequence of ten.
BODHI-P01, "The Bodhisattva's Mastery Does Not Succeed the Arhat-Fruit" §3.2: this paper's 3.2 establishes the four as the deployment, in practice, of the "realizing-yet-not-abiding, returning to deliver beings" freedom — taking up P01's "not-taking, returning to deliver beings" thread; that the arhat has no doctrine of the four marks, again, the difference of the two masteries.
BODHI-P06, "The Forbearance of Non-Arising" (forthcoming): this paper's 3.2 "post-realization non-discriminating wisdom" is the post-attainment of the "root non-discriminating wisdom"; the root non-discriminating wisdom (entering the grounds · the path of seeing · the direct insight of suchness) is what the forbearance of non-arising bears on, treated in P06.
BODHI-P08, "The Eighth Ground's Ten Masteries" (forthcoming): this paper's 2.4, 3.3, §V keep the boundary — the eighth ground's vow-perfection and ten masteries are all causal-stage (path-bound), strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries; P08 treats the eighth ground's ten masteries and their distinction from the tathāgata's in full.
★ Realization-axis BODHI-P07–P10 (the ten-grounds papers) · BODHI-P05 (The Practice Position) (parallel · thematically related): the Realization axis walks the course of the ten grounds (the ground-by-ground perfection-conduct, the eighth ground's immovability and ten masteries), the Attainment axis (this paper) reads the shape of mastery that course discloses (the ten perfections foremost ground by ground); on the same ten-grounds, ten-perfections canon, read severally as conduct (walked) and as mastery (shape).

Paper: BODHI-P04 · 後四度與地對應 · The Bodhisattva's Mastery · Part 2 · The Perfections Author: 釋慧鏡 (Shi Huijing) · Project: 指月 / Pointing-at-the-Moon · Series: The Attainment Signatures（證自在簽名） License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 CBETA collation: 全文引用均依 CBETA 電子佛典核校（《瑜伽師地論》T1579、《攝大乘論》T1593、《大方廣佛華嚴經》T0279、《十地經論》T1522）。本篇為大乘分區，無巴利雙軌義務；引文均待 CBETA XML 實核。In the ground-perfection mapping, the grounds expressly marked "foremost" are giving (1), patience (3), meditation (5), prajñā (6), skill (7), vow (8), power (9), knowledge (10); the 2nd ground (Stainless) is emphasized as "pure morality" without the "foremost" formula, and the 4th ground (Blazing)'s vigour "foremost" is not found expressly in this paper's three texts ("2nd = morality, 4th = vigour" being the common reading, marked but not supplied per the recorded source-gap, see §V). The four and the grounds' masteries are all causal-stage (path-bound), strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries (→ P08). Repository: https://github.com/pointing-at-the-moon/attainment-signatures

Footnotes

《瑜伽師地論》卷第四十九（菩薩地·四行差別之波羅蜜多行），T30n1579_p0565c19。彌勒說，玄奘譯。十波羅蜜多總列＋後四逐項定義（方便善巧＝十二行相·願＝五種大願·力＝十力加行清淨·智＝如實安立清淨妙智）。CBETA-verified. ↩
《攝大乘論》卷下（入因果修差別勝相品第五），T31n1593_p0126b19。無著造，真諦譯。Latter four by Sanskrit name (upāya-kauśalya / praṇidhāna / bala / jñāna), each with its mark (dedicating to beings / drawing in vows / subduing-to-continue / establishing the six's wisdom), and the judgment "the latter four are to be known as post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās." ↩
《瑜伽師地論》卷第七十八（攝決擇分·解深密經本地分相應），T30n1579_p0731a10。Citing the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra: skill-in-means is an auxiliary to the first three; the vow-pāramitā is an auxiliary to vigour. The four expressly marked as auxiliaries to the six. ↩
《攝大乘論》卷下（入因果修差別勝相品第五），T31n1593_p0126b18。"The ten pāramitās are accomplished in sequence: at the first six grounds the six, at the latter four grounds the four … the latter four are post-realization non-discriminating wisdom, embracing all pāramitās, not cultivated at the same time at every ground." The treatises' standard configuration of the ten against the ten grounds. ↩
《大方廣佛華嚴經》（八十華嚴）卷第三十四（十地品·初歡喜地），T10n0279_p0183a20。實叉難陀譯。"This bodhisattva, among the ten pāramitās, has the giving-pāramitā foremost; the rest not unpractised, but according to power and portion." The starting point of the per-ground "one perfection foremost" formula (giving foremost at the first ground). ↩
《大方廣佛華嚴經》（八十華嚴）卷第三十七～三十九（第七遠行地·第八不動地·第十法雲地），T10n0279_p0197c29 (skill predominant at the seventh, Far-Reaching ground), etc. The same formula assigns the four: skill predominant at the seventh (0197c29), vow foremost at the eighth, Immovable (0201a12), knowledge most foremost at the tenth, Cloud of Dharma (0208b24). Three passages in the same chapter consecutive; the cbeta_id takes the first (skill predominant at the seventh). ↩
《十地經論》引經文逐地標增上者（世親造，菩提流支等譯，T26n1522）：giving (fasc. 4, T26n1522_p0143b23), patience at the 3rd Radiant (fasc. 6, T26n1522_p0158c16), meditation at the 5th Hard-to-Conquer (fasc. 7, T26n1522_p0167b08), prajñā at the 6th Face-to-Face (fasc. 8, T26n1522_p0173b03), skill at the 7th Far-Reaching (fasc. 9, T26n1522_p0178b19), vow at the 8th Immovable (fasc. 10, T26n1522_p0185c13), power at the 9th Good Wisdom (fasc. 11, T26n1522_p0193a24), knowledge at the 10th Cloud of Dharma (fasc. 12, T26n1522_p0200a23). The grounds expressly marked "foremost" are these eight. The 2nd ground (Stainless) is emphasized as "relying on pure morality" (no "foremost" formula); the 4th ground (Blazing)'s "vigour-pāramitā foremost" is not found expressly in this paper's three texts (see §V). ↩
Canonical ground for the causal-stage (path-bound) status of the eighth ground's ten masteries (see also this axis's P08): 《十地經論》卷第十〈不動地·大勝分〉, T26n1522_p0183c21 ("this bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries," the word doubled, binding them to the causal stage of the Immovable ground); 《八十華嚴》卷第四十六〈佛不思議法品〉, T10n0279_p0245a06 (the separate gate of "the ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones"); 《八十華嚴》卷第三十八〈十地品·第八不動地〉, T10n0279_p0199b01 (the buddhas' personal exhortation, "the powers, fearlessnesses, and eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas you have not yet attained"). The eighth ground's vow-perfection and ten masteries are causal-stage, strictly distinct from the tathāgata's ten masteries (this paper keeps the boundary, the full treatment belonging to P08). ↩