Realization · The Bodhi PathPart 5Paper 9 of 10

The Eighth Immovable Ground

BODHI-P09 · v1.0 · 2026-06

The Immovable Ground · the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas as the cognitive signature for entering the ground · casting off all practice-with-application to attain the spontaneous dharma-without-application · the ten masteries · mindfulness-non-regress, yet the causal stage not complete

中文主題：八地不動——無生法忍·無功用任運·十自在與念不退

I. The Question

The preceding paper carried the bodhisattva through the path-of-cultivation positions of the second to seventh grounds. The innate, subtle afflictions thinned across the grounds, the obstacles ran from coarse into subtle, the seventh Far-Reaching Ground "well cultivating the application of the markless practice, ultimately able to pass beyond the world-transcending path of the two vehicles of the world" (BODHI-P08). But note the words "application" in the name of the seventh Far-Reaching Ground — though the seventh ground can pass beyond the two vehicles, its practice is still a practice "with application": it must be cultivated by deliberate attention, by effort, by thought-moment after thought-moment of exertion at the markless. In other words, through the whole course up to the seventh ground — whether suppressing or severing afflictions, whether the first ground's path of seeing or the second-to-seventh grounds' path of cultivation — the bodhisattva is still "exerting force," still within "the practice with application."

So the eighth ground's turning-point question is pressed out: can the bodhisattva's practice ever, one day, turn from "exerting force" to "not exerting force"? Is there a ground where one practices without the aid of application, spontaneously, of itself? The answer is the eighth Immovable Ground. The texts give its pass three interlocking aspects. First, the "cognitive signature" for entering this ground is the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas" — the bodhisattva, leaving all discrimination of mind, thought, and consciousness, entering the void-like nature of all dharmas, forbearingly accepts that dharmas neither arise nor cease, indestructible and immovable in the wisdom of true reality; "accomplishing this forbearance, he at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground." Second, having entered this ground, he "casts off all practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application" — the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled, practicing without the aid of deliberate attention; Xuanzang's rendering plainly marks the words "spontaneously, of itself." This is precisely the answer to the turning-point question above: the eighth ground is the ground where "with application" turns to "without application." Third, this ground's non-regress is called "mindfulness-non-regress" (a term this axis carries forward, its boundary as a name detailed in Section V) — the forbearance of non-arising being the stage of avaivartika (non-regress), the fruit-recompense and spiritual powers never lost nor regressed life after life, the activity of mind, thought, and consciousness not manifesting.

Yet this paper must at the same time hold a boundary: though the eighth ground realizes the forbearance of non-arising, attains effortless spontaneity, and accomplishes the ten masteries and is mindfulness-non-regress, it is still the "causal stage" — not buddhahood. The text plainly records the buddhas exhorting the eighth-ground bodhisattva when he attains this forbearance: "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas that we possess, you have not yet attained." The eighth ground's ten masteries are the "bodhisattva's" ten masteries, not the "tathāgata's." So in unfolding the full aspect of the eighth ground, this paper must on the one hand tell the height of its "non-regress, spontaneity, mastery," and on the other hold the measure of its "causal stage not yet complete" — and this holding of the boundary is precisely what the axis's sense of the bodhisattva path as a course (not buddhahood at one bound) hinges on. Three aspects and one boundary: this is what the paper sets out to unfold.

II. The Canonical Basis

This section sets out four sets of textual evidence: the forbearance of non-arising (the cognitive signature for entering the ground); effortless spontaneity (the character of the eighth ground); the ten masteries (the stage-virtue); and mindfulness-non-regress with the binding to the causal stage. All citations are collated against the CBETA electronic canon, in four texts — the Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka (T0279), the Daśabhūmika-sūtra (T0287), Vasubandhu's Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna (T1522), and Nāgārjuna's Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa (T1509).

2.1 The forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas: the cognitive signature for entering the eighth ground

The Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka plainly judges that the accomplishment of the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas" is the entering of the eighth Immovable Ground, defining the content of this forbearance as "entering the void-like nature of all dharmas":

離一切心、意、識分別想，無所取著猶如虛空，入一切法如虛空性，是名：得無生法忍。佛子！菩薩成就此忍，即時得入第八不動地。

Leaving all discriminating notions of mind, thought, and consciousness, grasping at nothing, like the void, entering the void-like nature of all dharmas — this is called attaining the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. O child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva, accomplishing this forbearance, at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground. (Mahāvaipulya-buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, fasc. 38, "Chapter on the Ten Grounds, 26, part 5 · the Eighth Immovable Ground," T10n0279_p0199a09, trans. Śikṣānanda)

Nāgārjuna's Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa defines the content of the "forbearance of non-arising," marking it as "the first gate that aids the buddha-path":

滅諸戲論，言語道斷，深入佛法，心通無礙，不動不退，名無生忍，是助佛道初門。

Extinguishing all conceptual elaboration, the path of words cut off, deeply entering the buddha-dharma, the mind penetrating without hindrance, immovable and non-regressing — this is called the forbearance of non-arising, the first gate that aids the buddha-path. (Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 6, "Gloss on the Initial Chapter," T25n1509_p0097c03)

It further takes "contemplating all dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing" plus "in the wisdom of true reality, indestructible and immovable" as the defining formula of the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising:

若菩薩能觀一切法不生不滅、不不生不不滅、不共、非不共……一心信忍十方諸佛所用實相智慧，無能壞、無能動者，是名無生忍法。

If the bodhisattva can contemplate all dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing, neither not-arising nor not-ceasing, not shared, not unshared … single-mindedly trusting and forbearing the wisdom of true reality used by the buddhas of the ten directions, indestructible and immovable — this is called the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising. (Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 27, "Gloss on the Initial Chapter," T25n1509_p0263c02)

The three texts together: the content of the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas" is "leaving the discrimination of mind, thought, and consciousness, entering the void-like nature of all dharmas, contemplating dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing, indestructible and immovable in the wisdom of true reality"; its stage-efficacy is "accomplishing this forbearance, he at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground." So this paper takes the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas" as the "cognitive signature" for entering the eighth ground — not an emotion or a state, but the direct-perceptual forbearant acceptance of the true reality that "dharmas neither arise nor cease" (forbearance = acceptance, settled acceptance); this acceptance, once accomplished, crosses into the gate of the Immovable Ground.

2.2 Effortless spontaneity: casting off the practice-with-application, attaining the dharma-without-application

After entering the Immovable Ground, the bodhisattva's practice turns to "without application." The Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka marks this aspect with "casting off all practice-with-application, attaining the dharma-without-application, the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled, abiding in the practice of recompense":

此菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，住不動地，即捨一切功用行，得無功用法，身、口、意業念務皆息，住於報行。

This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, too, is thus: abiding in the Immovable Ground, he at once casts off all practice-with-application and attains the dharma-without-application, the busy striving of the acts of body, speech, and mind all stilled, abiding in the practice of recompense. (Mahāvaipulya-buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, fasc. 38, "Chapter on the Ten Grounds · the Eighth Immovable Ground," T10n0279_p0199a17)

The Daśabhūmika-sūtra (Xuanzang's translation) plainly gives the words "spontaneously, of itself," defining the Immovable Ground as "leaving all application, spontaneously reaching the attainment of the nature-without-application, abiding in the maturation (the practice of recompense)":

佛子！菩薩纔得不動地已亦復如是，離諸功用任運至得無功用性，遠離一切身、語、意務安住異熟。

O child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva, the moment he attains the Immovable Ground, is likewise: leaving all application, spontaneously reaching the attainment of the nature-without-application, leaving far behind all the striving of body, speech, and mind, abiding in the maturation. (Daśabhūmika-sūtra, fasc. 7, "The Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground, the Eighth," T10n0287_p0559b19, trans. Xuanzang)

Vasubandhu's Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna glosses the name of the Immovable Ground as "indestructible" and "the ground without application":

此菩薩智地名為不動地，不可壞故……名為無功用地，善起先道故。

This bodhisattva's ground of wisdom is named the Immovable Ground, because it is indestructible … named the ground-without-application, because it well rouses the prior path. (Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, "The Immovable Ground, the Eighth," T26n1522_p0184b22)

And it takes "the spontaneous without application" as the foremost excellence of the eighth ground relative to the lower grounds, the dharma-without-application counteracting the practice-with-application:

於下地中有三種勝事：一、無功用自然……住是第八菩薩不動地，即離一切有功用行及諸憶念，得無功用法，離身口意務住報行成。

Relative to the lower grounds there are three excellences: first, the spontaneous without application … abiding in this eighth bodhisattva Immovable Ground, he leaves all practice-with-application and all recollecting, attains the dharma-without-application, leaves the striving of body, speech, and mind, and the abiding in the practice of recompense is accomplished. (Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 9, "Opening of the Immovable Ground Chapter · the Three Excellences," T26n1522_p0179c06)

The four texts together: the character of the eighth ground lies in "without application" — casting off the practice-with-application (the practice of deliberate attention and effort), attaining the dharma-without-application (practicing spontaneously, without the aid of attention). Vasubandhu glosses its name as "indestructible" (unable to be marred, hence "immovable") and "the ground without application" (the path cultivated at the prior limit, from the seventh ground back, here arising spontaneously, hence "well rouses the prior path"); and judges "the spontaneous without application" the foremost excellence of the eighth ground over the lower. The sense of "immovable" is here double: it is both the unshakable non-regress of "unable to be moved, unable to be marred," and the spontaneity of "operating spontaneously without the aid of application."

2.3 The ten masteries: the stage-virtue of the eighth ground

The Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka lists the "ten masteries" the eighth-ground bodhisattva attains after accomplishing the body of wisdom:

佛子！菩薩成就如是身智已，得命自在、心自在、財自在、業自在、生自在、願自在、解自在、如意自在、智自在、法自在。得此十自在故，則為不思議智者、無量智者、廣大智者、無能壞智者。

O child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva, having accomplished such a body of wisdom, attains mastery over life, mastery over mind, mastery over wealth, mastery over action, mastery over birth, mastery over vow, mastery over understanding, mastery over will, mastery over wisdom, mastery over dharma. By attaining these ten masteries, he becomes one of inconceivable wisdom, immeasurable wisdom, vast wisdom, indestructible wisdom. (Mahāvaipulya-buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, fasc. 38, "Chapter on the Ten Grounds · the Eighth Immovable Ground," T10n0279_p0200b14)

Vasubandhu's Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, in its "treatise says," judges these ten masteries to be attained by the threefold mastery-practice of the receptacle world, the world of beings, and the world of right-awakened wisdom, each counteracting one of ten terrors:

得自在者……得十自在……此十自在，對治十種怖畏……一、死怖畏；二、煩惱垢怖畏；三、貧窮怖畏；四、惡業怖畏；五、惡道怖畏；六、求不得怖畏；七、謗法罪業怖畏；八、追求時縛不活怖畏；九、云何云何疑怖畏；十、大眾威德怖畏。

The one who attains mastery … attains the ten masteries … These ten masteries counteract ten terrors … first, the terror of death; second, the terror of the defilement of afflictions; third, the terror of poverty; fourth, the terror of evil action; fifth, the terror of evil destinies; sixth, the terror of not getting what is sought; seventh, the terror of the sin of slandering the dharma; eighth, the terror of the bondage and not-surviving in the time of seeking; ninth, the terror of the doubt "how, how?"; tenth, the terror of the majesty of the great assembly. (Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, "The Immovable Ground, the Eighth · Section on the Ten Masteries," T26n1522_p0183c11)

The Daśabhūmika-sūtra (Xuanzang's translation) lists the ten masteries as "lifespan · mind · livelihood · action · birth · resolve · vow · spiritual-power · dharma · wisdom," each a function of manifestation:

即此菩薩……得壽自在……得心自在已……得資生自在已……得業自在……得生自在……得勝解自在已……得願自在……得神通自在……得法自在已……得智自在，示現佛力、無畏、不共佛法、相、好、正等覺故。

This very bodhisattva … attains mastery over lifespan … mastery over mind … mastery over livelihood … mastery over action … mastery over birth … mastery over resolve … mastery over vow … mastery over spiritual power … mastery over dharma … mastery over wisdom, for the sake of manifesting the powers of the buddhas, the fearlessnesses, the distinctive buddha-dharmas, the marks, the excellences, and perfect awakening. (Daśabhūmika-sūtra, fasc. 7, "The Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground, the Eighth," T10n0287_p0561a18)

The three texts together: the stage-virtue of the eighth ground is the "ten masteries," which Vasubandhu judges to counteract the ten terrors of "death · the defilement of afflictions · poverty · evil action · evil destinies · not getting what is sought · slandering the dharma · not-surviving · doubt · the majesty of the great assembly." It must be noted: the names of the ten masteries are set side by side across the three texts — the Avataṃsaka tradition reads "life · mind · wealth · action · birth · vow · understanding · will · wisdom · dharma," Xuanzang's reads "lifespan · mind · livelihood · action · birth · resolve · vow · spiritual-power · dharma · wisdom," Vasubandhu's cited text reads "life · mind · goods · action · birth · vow · conviction · will · dharma · wisdom"; the differences (life/lifespan, wealth/livelihood/goods, understanding/resolve/conviction, will/spiritual-power) are of translation wording, not of meaning. This paper, in its prose, follows the Avataṃsaka tradition, the variant wordings set side by side, not deciding in the author's stead (see Section V).

2.4 Mindfulness-non-regress and the binding to the causal stage

The aspect of the eighth ground's non-regress this axis marks as "mindfulness-non-regress" (its boundary as a name detailed in Section V). The Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa plainly judges that "the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising is the stage of avaivartika (non-regress)," marking its aspect as "the fruit-recompense and spiritual powers attained life after life, never lost nor regressed":

一心信忍十方諸佛所用實相智慧，無能壞、無能動者，是名無生忍法。無生忍法，即是阿鞞跋致地。……住阿鞞跋致地，世世常得果報神通，不失不退。

Single-mindedly trusting and forbearing the wisdom of true reality used by the buddhas of the ten directions, indestructible and immovable — this is called the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising. The dharma of the forbearance of non-arising is the stage of avaivartika (non-regress). … Abiding in the stage of avaivartika, life after life he attains the fruit-recompense and spiritual powers, never lost nor regressed. (Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 27, "Gloss on the Initial Chapter," T25n1509_p0263c06, T25n1509_p0263c08)

The Daśabhūmika-sūtra marks the Immovable Ground's aspect of non-regressing abiding with "the activity of mind, thought, and consciousness not manifesting, the afflictions never manifesting in act":

一切心、意、識行皆不現行……（下地）煩惱終不現行。佛子！菩薩住此不動地時亦復如是。

All activity of mind, thought, and consciousness does not manifest … the afflictions [of the lower grounds] never manifest in act. O child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva abides in this Immovable Ground, it is likewise. (Daśabhūmika-sūtra, fasc. 7, "The Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground, the Eighth," T10n0287_p0559b27)

Yet these ten masteries, this non-regress, are alike bound to the "bodhisattva's" causal stage, not buddhahood. Vasubandhu's treatise plainly reads "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries":

是菩薩得是菩薩十自在已，即時名為不可思議智者、無量智者、廣智者、不可壞智者。

This bodhisattva, having attained this bodhisattva's ten masteries, is at once named one of inconceivable wisdom, immeasurable wisdom, vast wisdom, indestructible wisdom. (Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, "The Immovable Ground, the Eighth · Section of Great Excellence," T26n1522_p0183c21)

The Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka sets up separately a "ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones" (a name distinct from the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries):

佛子！諸佛世尊有十種自在法……而未曾用少方便力，是為諸佛第十自在法。

O child of the Buddha! The buddhas, the world-honored ones, have ten masterful dharmas … yet without ever using the least power of skillful means — this is the buddhas' tenth masterful dharma. (Mahāvaipulya-buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, fasc. 46, "Chapter on the Inconceivable Dharmas of the Buddhas, 33, part 1," T10n0279_p0245a06)

And the text records the buddhas exhorting the eighth-ground bodhisattva when he attains the forbearance, plainly declaring that the buddhas' ten powers, fearlessnesses, and distinctive dharmas are at this ground "not yet attained":

然善男子！我等所有十力、無畏、十八不共諸佛之法，汝今未得，汝應為欲成就此法勤加精進，勿復放捨於此忍門。

Yet, good man! The ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas that we possess, you have not yet attained; you should, for the sake of accomplishing these dharmas, diligently exert yourself, and not let go of this gate of forbearance. (Mahāvaipulya-buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra, fasc. 38, "Chapter on the Ten Grounds · the Eighth Immovable Ground," T10n0279_p0199b01)

Together: the eighth ground's mindfulness-non-regress (the forbearance of non-arising being avaivartika, never lost nor regressed, the activity of mind-thought-consciousness not manifesting) and its ten masteries are alike the virtue accomplished by the "bodhisattva" in the causal stage (the treatise reading "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries"); the Avataṃsaka has, besides, a "ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones," listed in the text as a name distinct from the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries; and the buddhas exhort the eighth-ground bodhisattva that "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas, you have not yet attained" — plainly declaring the eighth ground's ten masteries bound to the causal stage (path-bound), not the consummation of buddhahood. The height of the eighth ground's ten masteries relative to the tathāgata's ten masteries this paper marks only as their coexistence and the causal stage's incompleteness, taking no side (see Section V).

III. The Core Argument

This section unfolds in three layers the doctrine of the eighth Immovable Ground: the forbearance of non-arising as the cognitive signature for entering the ground (3.1); effortless spontaneity as the character of the eighth ground (3.2); the abiding of mindfulness-non-regress yet the causal stage's incompleteness (3.3).

3.1 The forbearance of non-arising: the "cognitive signature" for entering the eighth ground

The first difference of the eighth ground from all before it lies in the "cognitive signature for entering the ground." By "cognitive signature" this axis marks the cognitive accomplishment proper to each noble stage, by which that stage may be told. The eighth ground's cognitive signature is the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas." What is it? Joining the three texts: it is "leaving all discrimination of mind, thought, and consciousness, entering the void-like nature of all dharmas" (§2.1, Avataṃsaka), it is "extinguishing all conceptual elaboration, the mind penetrating without hindrance, immovable and non-regressing" (§2.1, the Upadeśa), it is "contemplating all dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing, indestructible and immovable in the wisdom of true reality" (§2.1, the Upadeśa). In a word, the forbearance of non-arising is the direct-perceptual "forbearant acceptance" of the true reality that "dharmas are originally neither arising nor ceasing" — "forbearance" not in the sense of enduring, but of accepting, settling into, allowing: the mind, toward the true reality that "dharmas neither arise nor cease," no longer wavers, no longer regresses, indestructible.

Why called "forbearance" and not "wisdom" or "realization"? Just because the crux of this stage is the "settled abiding, unmoving, in the true reality." Before the seventh ground, though the bodhisattva has directly contemplated suchness (the first ground's path of seeing) and gradually severed the innate afflictions on the path of cultivation (the second to seventh grounds), his abiding of mind in the true reality still required application to maintain; at the eighth ground, toward the true reality that "dharmas neither arise nor cease," the mind can already abide in forbearance, indestructible and immovable — and this cognitive accomplishment of "accepting in forbearance, unmoving" is just the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas." And the texts plainly judge this forbearance's stage-efficacy decisively: "accomplishing this forbearance, he at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground" (§2.1) — the forbearance accomplished, the ground entered; the forbearance of non-arising is the very cognitive key that opens the gate of the Immovable Ground.

A contrast: a gate of certification. Consider a kind of certification that must be passed in person and cannot be done by proxy — not how many books one has read or lectures heard (understanding), nor a thing once managed for a moment (a momentary attainment), but the demonstration, in some real setting, in person, stably, no longer wavering, of a true grasp of some real principle, before one "passes." Once truly passed, one crosses into that gate, a qualitative change of standing. The forbearance of non-arising as the cognitive signature for entering the eighth ground is just such a gate of certification — "accepting in person that dharmas neither arise nor cease, and in this forbearance indestructible and immovable": the forbearance unaccomplished, the gate unopened; the forbearance once accomplished, "he at once enters." The height of the eighth ground is first the height of this cognitive forbearance's accomplishment.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the forbearance of non-arising is the cognitive signature for entering the eighth ground. Its content is "leaving the discrimination of mind, thought, and consciousness, entering the void-like nature of all dharmas, contemplating dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing, indestructible and immovable in the wisdom of true reality" (§2.1, the four texts of Avataṃsaka + the Upadeśa); "forbearance" means accepting, settling — the mind, toward the true reality that dharmas neither arise nor cease, abiding indestructible and immovable. Its stage-efficacy is decisive: "accomplishing this forbearance, he at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground" (§2.1, Avataṃsaka). So the forbearance of non-arising is not an emotion or a momentary attainment, but the direct-perceptual forbearant acceptance of the true reality, the cognitive key that opens the Immovable Ground — the forbearance accomplished, the ground entered.

3.2 Effortless spontaneity: casting off the practice-with-application, attaining the dharma-without-application

The second aspect of the eighth ground is "without application" — and this is the very core of why the Immovable Ground (acalā) is "immovable." Before the seventh ground all is "the practice with application": it must be cultivated by deliberate attention, by effort, by thought-moment after thought-moment of exertion (the seventh Far-Reaching Ground's name "well cultivating the application of the markless practice" marks it still within application). At the eighth ground, the bodhisattva "casts off all practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application, the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled, abiding in the practice of recompense" (§2.2, Avataṃsaka) — Xuanzang's rendering plainly marks "leaving all application, spontaneously reaching the attainment of the nature-without-application" (§2.2), the single phrase "spontaneously, of itself" telling the whole turn of the eighth ground: practicing without the aid of attention, of itself, spontaneously. Vasubandhu judges this "spontaneous without application" the foremost excellence of the eighth ground over the lower grounds (§2.2), and glosses its name "the ground without application, because it well rouses the prior path" (§2.2) — the path cultivated at the prior limit (before the seventh ground), at the eighth ground arising spontaneously, no longer needing application to maintain, hence "well rouses the prior path."

The sense of "immovable" is here double, and must be seen together. The first is "unable to be moved, unable to be marred": Vasubandhu glosses the name "because it is indestructible" (§2.2) — this ground's realization is now unable to be marred, unable to be shaken, the unshakable security of non-regress. The second is "spontaneity without the aid of application": casting off the practice-with-application, attaining the dharma-without-application, practicing without exerting force, an operation of itself. The two senses complete each other: just because the forbearant acceptance of the true reality is already unable to be moved, unable to be marred (the first sense of "immovable"), there is no longer need of application to maintain it, and it can be spontaneous, of itself (the second sense). "Immovable" is not the stillness of a dead quiescence, but precisely the living security of "unable to be moved, and operating of itself without the aid of application."

A contrast: mastery. The beginner at driving, swimming, or playing an instrument is all "with application" — must attend step by step: how the hand, how the foot, guarding thought by thought, exerting force everywhere, and the least slackening throws it into disorder. Come to the height of mastery, and it is "without application" — no longer attending, the hands and feet move of themselves, the body simply knows what to do, "accomplished spontaneously, without the aid of thought." The eighth ground's "casting off the practice-with-application, attaining the dharma-without-application" is just this qualitative change from "the beginner's with-application" to "the master's without-application": the manifold exertion of the prior limit (before the seventh ground) like the beginner's step-by-step effort, at the eighth ground like the master's spontaneity, "the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled" yet the practice not ceasing. Yet a caution: the "without application" of mastery and the "not-yet-applied" of the beginner are worlds apart — the one is the not-needing of application at the height of cultivation, the other the slack powerlessness of never having cultivated; the eighth ground's without-application is the former, not the latter (see the caution of Section V).

✅ Doctrinally sound: effortless spontaneity is the character of the eighth ground. Before the seventh ground all is the practice-with-application (the exertion of attention and effort); at the eighth ground he "casts off all practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application, the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled, abiding in the practice of recompense" (§2.2, Avataṃsaka), Xuanzang marking "spontaneously" (§2.2), Vasubandhu judging "the spontaneous without application" the foremost excellence over the lower grounds and glossing the name "the ground without application · well rouses the prior path" (§2.2). "Immovable" is double: "unable to be moved, unable to be marred" (because indestructible, the security of non-regress) and "spontaneity without the aid of application" (an operation of itself), the two completing each other. Like the qualitative change from the beginner's with-application to the master's without-application, yet to be distinguished from the ordinary being's slack "not-yet-applied" (Section V).

3.3 The abiding of mindfulness-non-regress, yet the causal stage not complete: the eighth ground's ten masteries bound to the bodhisattva's causal stage

The third aspect of the eighth ground is the abiding of "mindfulness-non-regress"; and here this paper must at the same time hold the boundary of "the causal stage not complete." First, the abiding of mindfulness-non-regress. The eighth ground's non-regress this axis marks as "mindfulness-non-regress" (its boundary as a name in Section V). Its textual basis: the Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa plainly judges "the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising is the stage of avaivartika (non-regress)" (§2.4) — the forbearance of non-arising once accomplished is the stage of non-regress, "life after life attaining the fruit-recompense and spiritual powers, never lost nor regressed" (§2.4); and the Daśabhūmika-sūtra marks its aspect of non-regressing abiding with "the activity of mind, thought, and consciousness not manifesting, the afflictions never manifesting in act" (§2.4). Together: the eighth ground's non-regress is "indestructible and immovable" in the wisdom of true reality (coming from the forbearance of non-arising), so life after life never lost nor regressed, the afflictions no longer manifesting — an abiding now within the track of non-regress, which nothing can drive backward. Its stage-virtue is the "ten masteries" (over life, mind, wealth, action, birth, vow, understanding, will, wisdom, dharma), which Vasubandhu judges to counteract the ten terrors of death, the defilement of afflictions, poverty, and the rest (§2.3) — non-regressing and masterful, masterful and without terror.

Yet the boundary must be held: though the eighth ground is mindfulness-non-regress and attains the ten masteries, it is still the "causal stage," not buddhahood. This has three textual proofs. First, the treatise plainly reads "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries" (§2.4) — repeating "bodhisattva," marking these ten masteries as attained by the eighth-ground "bodhisattva" (the causal stage), bound to the Immovable Ground. Second, the Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka sets up separately a "ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones" (§2.4), listed in the text as a name distinct from the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries — there are two distinct names, "the bodhisattva's ten masteries" and "the buddhas' ten masteries," not one and the same thing. Third, and most decisive, the text records the buddhas exhorting the eighth-ground bodhisattva when he attains the forbearance: "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas that we possess, you have not yet attained" (§2.4) — the buddhas declaring with their own mouths: the buddhas' ten powers, fearlessnesses, and distinctive dharmas, the eighth-ground bodhisattva "has not yet attained." So the eighth ground's ten masteries are bound to the causal stage (path-bound): though non-regressing, though spontaneous, though masterful, the buddhas' ten powers, fearlessnesses, and distinctive dharmas are still "not yet attained," to be continued through the ninth and tenth grounds and up to buddhahood. This is precisely the fulfilment, at the eighth ground, of the axis's sense of the bodhisattva path (established in BODHI-P01, the path's climbing-on without stopping, not taking the mid-course for the ultimate): the eighth ground's non-regress is not "arrived," but "climbing on, no longer regressing." As for the height of the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries relative to the tathāgata's ten masteries, this paper marks only their coexistence and the causal stage's incompleteness from the text, taking no side (its adjudication belonging to the author, see Section V).

A contrast: the track of non-regress and the journey not yet done. Consider a train already running on a one-way track that "cannot reverse" — from here it no longer goes back (mindfulness-non-regress), a certain security; yet "no longer reversing" is not "arrived at the terminus," for ahead lie stations (the ninth and tenth grounds) and even the great terminus (buddhahood) not yet reached. The eighth-ground bodhisattva's mindfulness-non-regress and ten masteries are just this aspect of "already on the non-regress track, abiding and spontaneous"; and the buddhas' exhortation "you have not yet attained" is just the reminder that "the terminus ahead is not yet reached, exert yourself diligently." Non-regress (already on the track) and incompleteness (not yet at the station) coexist without contradiction — and this is the very reality of the causal-stage noble: high yet not at the peak, secure yet not finished.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the eighth ground's abiding of mindfulness-non-regress, yet the causal stage not complete. The basis of non-regress: the forbearance of non-arising is avaivartika, life after life never lost nor regressed (§2.4, the Upadeśa), the activity of mind-thought-consciousness not manifesting, afflictions not manifesting (§2.4, the Daśabhūmika-sūtra); the stage-virtue is the ten masteries, counteracting the ten terrors (§2.3). Yet three proofs hold the boundary: the treatise reads "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries" (§2.4, repeating bodhisattva, bound to the causal stage), the Avataṃsaka sets up separately a "ten masteries of the buddhas" as a distinct name (§2.4), the buddhas exhort "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas, you have not yet attained" (§2.4) — so the eighth ground's ten masteries are bound to the causal stage (path-bound), not the consummation of buddhahood, to be continued through the ninth and tenth grounds. This is the fulfilment, at the eighth ground, of BODHI-P01's sense of the bodhisattva path's climbing-on without stopping: non-regress is not "arrived" but "climbing on, no longer regressing." The height of the eighth ground's ten masteries relative to the tathāgata's this paper marks only as coexistence, taking no side (the author's adjudication).

Taken together, the three layers — the eighth ground takes the "forbearance of non-arising" as the cognitive signature for entering the ground (3.1); having entered, it "casts off the practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application," spontaneous of itself, the character of the immovable (3.2); its non-regress is mindfulness-non-regress, its stage-virtue the ten masteries, yet all bound to the "bodhisattva's" causal stage, the buddhas exhorting that "the buddhas' ten powers and fearlessnesses you have not yet attained," so non-regressing yet the causal stage not complete (3.3) — jointly establish the thesis: the eighth Immovable Ground is the ground where the bodhisattva realizes the forbearance of non-arising (the cognitive signature), casts off the practice-with-application and attains effortless spontaneity (the character of the immovable), and is mindfulness-non-regress, accomplishing the bodhisattva's ten masteries; yet its ten masteries are bound to the causal stage, the buddhas' ten powers and fearlessnesses still "not yet attained," so the eighth ground is the high stage of "climbing on, no longer regressing," not the consummation of buddhahood, opening the course of the ninth and tenth grounds.

IV. Interdisciplinary Convergence

(This paper deliberately omits the section of interdisciplinary convergence; the reason and the declaration of the omission are given in Section VI. In brief: the spine of this paper is the Mahāyāna noble-stage doctrine of "the forbearance of non-arising's acceptance that dharmas neither arise nor cease, effortless spontaneity, and mindfulness-non-regress yet the causal stage not complete." Contemporary models of "flow," of "automaticity / the expert's effortless performance," of "a stable, irreversible competence" may, on the surface, be likened to the eighth ground's effortless spontaneity in the one respect of "from deliberate with-application to effortless without-application," yet they cannot sustain a convergence free of forced analogy on the three meanings: that "the forbearance of non-arising is the direct-perceptual forbearant acceptance of the true reality that dharmas neither arise nor cease, not the proficiency of a skill"; that "mindfulness-non-regress is subsumed under the noble stage's indestructible, immovable wisdom of true reality, not the firmness of a psychological habit"; and that "the causal-stage ten masteries are bound to the bodhisattva stage, set off against the buddhas' ten powers and fearlessnesses, which are not yet attained." Above all, the meaning of "the forbearance of non-arising" — what it forbearingly accepts is the true reality that "dharmas neither arise nor cease" — has no counterpart in any model reducible to a cognitive-skill state; the without-application of "flow / automaticity" is the psychological aspect of skill-proficiency, alike in face but other in spirit than the eighth ground's noble-stage aspect of "spontaneity that is indestructible and immovable in the true reality." Hence, per the series' editorial convention, the section is cut, and so declared here.)

V. Middle-Way Corrections

This section clears away three misreadings: the first concerns the nature of "mindfulness-non-regress" as a name and the dispute over its stage, the second the side-by-side renderings of the ten masteries, the third the boundary between the eighth ground's ten masteries and the tathāgata's — all demanding special honesty.

⚠️ Correction 1: "Mindfulness-non-regress" as a name is the proper name of a later (Tiantai / Yogācāra) classification of the three non-regresses (of position, of practice, of mindfulness), not the express wording of this round's four sources; and its corresponding stage is disputed. This must be marked first. The express wording of this round's four sources — the Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka (T0279), the Daśabhūmika-sūtra (T0287), Vasubandhu's Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna (T1522), and Nāgārjuna's Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa (T1509) — reads "the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising is the stage of avaivartika (non-regress)," "life after life attaining the fruit-recompense and spiritual powers, never lost nor regressed" (§2.4, the Upadeśa), and "the activity of mind, thought, and consciousness not manifesting, the afflictions never manifesting in act" (§2.4, the Daśabhūmika-sūtra). What the four sources speak of is the layer "avaivartika (non-regress)," "never lost nor regressed"; they do not produce the paired proper terms of a threefold classification "non-regress of position / of practice / of mindfulness" — that "three non-regresses" naming is found mostly in the teaching-classifications of later Tiantai and Yogācāra masters. This paper uses the term "mindfulness-non-regress" to thread it with the axis's earlier papers (BODHI-P03 establishing the ten abidings as "non-regress of position," BODHI-P06 the ten dedications as "non-regress of practice"), because it does mark the reality of "the eighth ground's being indestructible and immovable in the true reality, never lost nor regressed, the activity of mind-thought-consciousness not manifesting"; but it must be marked: the four sources' express wording reaches only to "avaivartika / never lost nor regressed," and "mindfulness-non-regress" is a later teaching-classification, its final adjudication as a name for the author. Further: the stage to which "mindfulness-non-regress" corresponds is disputed — the Avataṃsaka and the Daśabhūmika-sūtra bind the forbearance of non-arising and non-regress to the eighth Immovable Ground (this paper's basis), while Yogācāra masters judge variously, binding it to the seventh or the eighth. This paper follows the Avataṃsaka / Daśabhūmika-sūtra in binding it to the eighth, and marks that the divergent views coexist, taking no side in the author's stead.

⚠️ Correction 2: The names of the ten masteries are set side by side across the three texts, with no side taken. The names of the eighth ground's ten masteries differ in wording and sequence across the three texts. The Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka (Śikṣānanda's translation) reads "mastery over life · mind · wealth · action · birth · vow · understanding · will · wisdom · dharma"; the Daśabhūmika-sūtra (Xuanzang's translation) reads "lifespan · mind · livelihood · action · birth · resolve · vow · spiritual-power · dharma · wisdom"; Vasubandhu's Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna's cited text reads "life · mind · goods · action · birth · vow · conviction · will · dharma · wisdom." The differences across the three (life/lifespan, wealth/livelihood/goods, understanding/resolve/conviction, will/spiritual-power, and the sequence of the last two, wisdom·dharma / dharma·wisdom) are of translation wording and sequence, not of meaning. This paper, in the formal listing of names and in its prose, follows the Avataṃsaka tradition with "life · mind · wealth · action · birth · vow · understanding · will · wisdom · dharma" (to keep consistent with the axis's earlier papers and the Avataṃsaka-series naming standard), and marks here the variant wordings of Xuanzang's and Vasubandhu's texts side by side, not deciding in the author's stead which set of renderings to adopt uniformly. Should the reader meet "mastery over lifespan," "over livelihood," "over resolve," "over spiritual power" elsewhere, let them be known as variant renderings of the same masteries.

❌ Misreading 3: The eighth ground's ten masteries are the tathāgata's ten masteries, and the eighth-ground bodhisattva is the same as buddhahood. This must be cleared and the boundary held. The eighth ground's ten masteries are attained by the "bodhisattva" in the causal stage — Vasubandhu's treatise plainly reads "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries" (§2.4), repeating "bodhisattva," bound to the Immovable Ground (the causal stage). The Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka sets up separately a "ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones" (§2.4), listed in the text as a name distinct from the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries — there are two distinct names, "the bodhisattva's ten masteries" and "the buddhas' ten masteries." Most decisive: the text records the buddhas exhorting the eighth-ground bodhisattva when he attains the forbearance, "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas that we possess, you have not yet attained" (§2.4) — the buddhas declaring with their own mouths that the buddhas' ten powers, fearlessnesses, and distinctive dharmas are at this ground "not yet attained." So the eighth ground's ten masteries are bound to the causal stage (path-bound), by no means the consummation of buddhahood; to misread the eighth ground's ten masteries as the tathāgata's, and the eighth-ground bodhisattva as the same as buddhahood, is to erase the whole course of the ninth and tenth grounds and up to buddhahood, and to violate the text's plain admonition "you have not yet attained." As for the height of the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries and the tathāgata's ten masteries, their convergence, their seam, this paper marks only their coexistence (two distinct names) and the causal stage's incompleteness (not yet attained) from the text, taking no side in their height — this belongs to the author's adjudication by school and teaching, and this paper does not speak in his stead.

VI. Conclusion

Essential restatement. The eighth Immovable Ground (acalā) is a great turning-point of the bodhisattva path from "with application" to "without application." Its cognitive signature for entering the ground is the "forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas" — leaving the discrimination of mind, thought, and consciousness, entering the void-like nature of all dharmas, contemplating dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing, indestructible and immovable in the wisdom of true reality, "accomplishing this forbearance, he at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground." Having entered, he "casts off all practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application, the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled, abiding in the practice of recompense" (Xuanzang's "spontaneously"); Vasubandhu glosses the name "indestructible" (the security of the immovable) and "the ground without application" (the spontaneity that well rouses the prior path). Its stage-virtue is the "ten masteries" (the renderings of the three texts set side by side), which Vasubandhu judges to counteract ten terrors; its aspect of non-regress is "mindfulness-non-regress" — the forbearance of non-arising being avaivartika, never lost nor regressed life after life, the activity of mind-thought-consciousness not manifesting. Yet the boundary must be held: the eighth ground's ten masteries are attained by the "bodhisattva" (the treatise reading "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries"), the Avataṃsaka setting up separately a "ten masteries of the buddhas," the buddhas exhorting that "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas, you have not yet attained" — so the eighth ground is non-regressing yet the causal stage not complete. On the doctrine, three layers bear it: the forbearance of non-arising as the cognitive signature for entering the ground (3.1); effortless spontaneity as the character of the eighth ground (3.2); the abiding of mindfulness-non-regress yet the causal stage not complete, the ten masteries bound to the bodhisattva's causal stage (3.3). It must be honestly marked: "mindfulness-non-regress" is the proper name of a later three-non-regress classification, its stage disputed; the ten masteries' names are set side by side across the three texts; the eighth ground's ten masteries are not the tathāgata's (Section V).

Guidance for practice. Though the eighth ground is a noble-stage state beyond the ordinary being's reach, its doctrine offers the practitioner two things. First, to take from "with application turning to without application" a direction of effort, and to guard against one misreading. The ultimate of effort is not "exerting ever more force forever," but, at the height of proficiency, "not needing application" — as a skill matured turns from step-by-step attention to spontaneity. This hints to the practitioner: effort does indeed require application (attention, exertion), but its tendency is "gradually to reduce the trace of application, to incline toward spontaneity," and one should not take "forever exerting force" for the ultimate. Yet one misreading must be strictly guarded: the eighth ground's "without application" is "the not-needing of application at the height of cultivation," worlds apart from the ordinary being's "slack negligence of the not-yet-applied"; one must by no means misread laziness, powerlessness, and unpracticed letting-go as "effortless spontaneity" and so deceive oneself — the one is the fruit of cultivation at its height, the other the failing of the uncultivated, alike in face but opposite in fact. Second, to take from "non-regress yet not complete" a measure of honest self-keeping. True non-regress is not "supposing oneself non-regressing," but the actual realizing of the indestructible and immovable in the wisdom of true reality; even the noble eighth-ground bodhisattva the buddhas still exhort that "the buddhas' ten powers and fearlessnesses you have not yet attained, exert yourself diligently" — how much more the practitioner? So one should amass the provision toward "never lost nor regressed" without self-deceiving as already realized, not taking a momentary accord for the ultimate — this is the honesty that accords with this ground's admonition.

Open questions. First, this paper deliberately cut the Section IV interdisciplinary convergence, for the reason given above. Second, "mindfulness-non-regress" as a name is the proper name of a later (Tiantai / Yogācāra) three-non-regress classification, not the express word of the four sources, and its corresponding stage is disputed (the Avataṃsaka / Daśabhūmika-sūtra binding it to the eighth, Yogācāra masters judging variously the seventh / eighth); the final adjudication of its name and stage is for the author to make by school and teaching. Third, the names of the eighth ground's ten masteries are set side by side across the three texts (life/lifespan, wealth/livelihood/goods, understanding/resolve/conviction, will/spiritual-power); their uniform adoption is for the author to adjudicate. Fourth, the height, convergence, and seam of the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries and the tathāgata's ten masteries this paper marks only as their coexistence and the causal stage's incompleteness from the text, taking no side, for the author to adjudicate. Fifth, after the eighth ground, the innate subtle afflictions and the cognitive obstacle are not yet severed to the end: the ninth (Good Wisdom) ground's perfection of power and the mastery of teaching by the four unobstructed discernments, the tenth (Dharma-Cloud) ground's perfection of wisdom and the consecration that confers office, falling within the number of the buddhas — these open BODHI-P10.

The dual-axis seam (SEAM). This paper meets the Attainment-axis attainment-signatures/bodhisattva at the two faces of the eighth ground: the Realization-axis (this paper) tells the "walking" of the eighth ground — how one realizes the forbearance of non-arising, casts off application and is spontaneous, is mindfulness-non-regress and accomplishes the bodhisattva's ten masteries; the Attainment-axis then reads the fruit-virtue this accomplishes — the portion of bodhisattva-mastery signed by the forbearance of non-arising and the ten masteries (the portion of suchness realized at the Immovable Ground, the mastery of effortless spontaneity, the virtue of the ten masteries counteracting the ten terrors). It must above all be sharply distinguished from the fruit-stage of the Attainment-axis's tathagata: the eighth ground's ten masteries are attained by the "bodhisattva" (the treatise reading "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries"), a name distinct from the "ten masteries of the buddhas, the world-honored ones," and the buddhas' ten powers, fearlessnesses, and distinctive dharmas are at this ground "you have not yet attained"; so the eighth ground's mastery and the tathāgata's mastery differ in their position on the path, and this paper marks only their coexistence, taking no side in their height. The doctrine of the seam (including the height and convergence of the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries and the tathāgata's ten masteries) is for the author to adjudicate; this paper does not speak in the Attainment-axis's stead.

Cross-Reference Index

BODHI-P01 "The Bodhisattva Path Does Not Continue from the Fruit of Arhatship," §3.2: This paper's "mindfulness-non-regress yet the causal stage not complete, the ten masteries bound to the bodhisattva's causal stage" (3.3) is precisely the fulfilment, at the eighth ground, of the path's "climbing-on without stopping, not taking the mid-course for the ultimate" established there — though the eighth ground is non-regressing, spontaneous, and masterful, the buddhas' ten powers and fearlessnesses are "you have not yet attained," so non-regress is not "arrived" but "climbing on, no longer regressing," continuing toward the ninth and tenth grounds and up to buddhahood.
BODHI-P03 "Entering and Abiding," §3.2: This paper's "mindfulness-non-regress" advances upon that paper's "non-regress of position" — it established the ten abidings as the start of "non-regress of position"; this paper establishes the eighth ground as the ground of "mindfulness-non-regress" (the forbearance of non-arising being avaivartika, never lost nor regressed). Yet the proper terms of the threefold "position / practice / mindfulness" non-regress are a later teaching-classification, used here to thread the axis, their boundary as names detailed in Section V.
BODHI-P06 "Dedication," §VI: This paper's "mindfulness-non-regress" also advances upon that paper's "non-regress of practice" — it established the ten dedications as "non-regress of practice"; the eighth ground's mindfulness-non-regress, indestructible and immovable in the true reality, is a non-regressing abiding one layer further than non-regress of practice.
BODHI-P08 "The Second to Seventh Grounds," §3.1, §VI: This paper directly inherits the preceding — it showed the second to seventh grounds all the path-of-cultivation gradual severance "with application," the seventh Far-Reaching Ground "well cultivating the application of the markless practice" still within application; this paper is the unfolding of "with application turning to without application": the eighth ground "casts off the practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application," spontaneous of itself, taking up just where the seventh ground's application ends.
BODHI-P10 "The Ninth and Tenth Grounds" (forthcoming): This paper's §VI foreshadows the next — the eighth ground is non-regressing yet the causal stage not complete, the buddhas' ten powers and fearlessnesses "you have not yet attained"; the ninth (Good Wisdom) ground's perfection of power and the four unobstructed discernments, the tenth (Dharma-Cloud) ground's perfection of wisdom and the consecration that confers office, continue the course of the eighth ground and above up to buddhahood.

Notes

References

I. Buddhist Primary Sources

Mahāvaipulya-buddhāvataṃsaka-sūtra (Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka). Trans. Śikṣānanda. T10, no. 0279. "Chapter on the Ten Grounds, 26 · the Eighth Immovable Ground" (the forbearance of non-arising as entering the eighth ground · casting off application and attaining the dharma-without-application · the ten masteries · the buddhas exhorting "the ten powers and fearlessnesses, you have not yet attained"); "Chapter on the Inconceivable Dharmas of the Buddhas, 33" (the ten masterful dharmas of the buddhas · a coexistent distinct name).
Daśabhūmika-sūtra. Trans. Xuanzang. T10, no. 0287. "The Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground, the Eighth" (leaving all application "spontaneously" reaching the nature-without-application · the ten masteries in Xuanzang's renderings · the activity of mind-thought-consciousness not manifesting).
Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna. Composed by Vasubandhu, trans. Bodhiruci et al. T26, no. 1522. "The Immovable Ground, the Eighth" (glossing the name "indestructible," "the ground without application" · "the spontaneous without application" among the three excellences · the ten masteries counteracting the ten terrors · "the bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries").
Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa. Composed by Nāgārjuna, trans. Kumārajīva. T25, no. 1509. "Gloss on the Initial Chapter" (the definition of the forbearance of non-arising, "the mind penetrating without hindrance, immovable and non-regressing," "contemplating dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing, indestructible and immovable in the true reality" · the dharma of the forbearance of non-arising is the stage of avaivartika · life after life never lost nor regressed).

II. Modern Scholarship

(This paper cites no modern scholarship; its argument rests wholly on the Buddhist primary sources, following the open-source spirit of "returning to the headwaters." The section of interdisciplinary convergence has been cut. The teaching-classification of the threefold "position / practice / mindfulness" non-regress (later Tiantai / Yogācāra) is marked by this paper as the proper name of a later classification, not adopted as the express wording of the four sources, nor is its classificatory text unfolded; pending a separate round of relevant treatise source-gathering or the author's adjudication, this paper does not pre-cite recent studies of the three-non-regress stages. The ten masteries' renderings are set side by side across the three texts, and the height and convergence of the eighth-ground bodhisattva's ten masteries and the tathāgata's are alike for the author to adjudicate by school and teaching; this paper does not pre-cite recent convergence accounts.)

III. Index of Canonical Citations

Gist of citation	Source	CBETA id
The forbearance of non-arising accomplished "at once enters the eighth Immovable Ground" · entering the void-like nature of all dharmas	Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, fasc. 38, the Eighth Immovable Ground	T10n0279_p0199a09
Definition of the forbearance of non-arising "the mind penetrating without hindrance, immovable and non-regressing · the first gate that aids the buddha-path"	Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 6, Gloss on the Initial Chapter	T25n1509_p0097c03
The dharma of the forbearance of non-arising "contemplating dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing · indestructible and immovable in the true reality"	Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 27, Gloss on the Initial Chapter	T25n1509_p0263c02
"Casts off all practice-with-application, attains the dharma-without-application, the busy striving of body, speech, and mind all stilled, abiding in the practice of recompense"	Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, fasc. 38, the Eighth Immovable Ground	T10n0279_p0199a17
"Leaving all application, spontaneously reaching the nature-without-application, abiding in the maturation" (Xuanzang's "spontaneously")	Daśabhūmika-sūtra, fasc. 7, the Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground	T10n0287_p0559b19
Gloss of the Immovable Ground's name "indestructible," "the ground without application · well rouses the prior path"	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, the Eighth Immovable Ground	T26n1522_p0184b22
"The spontaneous without application" the foremost excellence of the eighth ground over the lower · the three excellences	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 9, opening of the Immovable Ground chapter	T26n1522_p0179c06
The eighth ground's ten masteries (Avataṃsaka: life · mind · wealth · action · birth · vow · understanding · will · wisdom · dharma)	Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, fasc. 38, the Eighth Immovable Ground	T10n0279_p0200b14
The eighth ground's ten masteries (Xuanzang: lifespan · mind · livelihood · action · birth · resolve · vow · spiritual-power · dharma · wisdom · functions of manifestation)	Daśabhūmika-sūtra, fasc. 7, the Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground	T10n0287_p0561a18
The ten masteries counteracting the ten terrors (death · defilement of afflictions · poverty … the majesty of the great assembly)	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, the Eighth Immovable Ground · the Ten Masteries	T26n1522_p0183c11
The gloss of each mastery's function (life · mind · goods · action · birth · vow · conviction · will · dharma · wisdom)	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, the Eighth Immovable Ground	T26n1522_p0183b29
"The dharma of the forbearance of non-arising is the stage of avaivartika"	Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 27, Gloss on the Initial Chapter	T25n1509_p0263c06
"Abiding in the stage of avaivartika, life after life never lost nor regressed"	Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa, fasc. 27, Gloss on the Initial Chapter	T25n1509_p0263c08
The Immovable Ground "the activity of mind-thought-consciousness not manifesting · the afflictions never manifesting in act" (non-regressing abiding)	Daśabhūmika-sūtra, fasc. 7, the Bodhisattva's Immovable Ground	T10n0287_p0559b27
"The bodhisattva attains the bodhisattva's ten masteries" (bound to the causal stage · repeating bodhisattva)	Daśabhūmika-vyākhyāna, fasc. 10, the Eighth Immovable Ground · Great Excellence	T26n1522_p0183c21
"The buddhas, the world-honored ones, have ten masterful dharmas" (the buddhas' ten masteries · a coexistent distinct name)	Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, fasc. 46, Inconceivable Dharmas of the Buddhas	T10n0279_p0245a06
The buddhas exhort "the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive dharmas of the buddhas, you have not yet attained"	Eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka, fasc. 38, the Eighth Immovable Ground	T10n0279_p0199b01

Paper: BODHI-P09 · 八地不動 · The Bodhi Path · Part 5 · The Ten Grounds Author: 釋慧鏡 (Shi Huijing) · Project: 指月 / Pointing-at-the-Moon · Series: The Realization Paths（行階位歷程） License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 CBETA collation: 全文引用均依 CBETA 電子佛典核校（《大方廣佛華嚴經》T0279、《十地經》T0287、《十地經論》T1522、《大智度論》T1509）。八地十自在名相三本譯字並陳（命／壽、財／資生／物、解／勝解／信解、如意／神通），依華嚴系列名，異字並陳不選邊。「位／行／念」三不退係後世（天台／唯識）判教之專名，非本輪四源逐字明文（四源作「阿鞞跋致／不失不退」）；「念不退」對應階位有異說（華嚴／十地經繫八地、唯識家有七／八地異判），依華嚴／十地經繫八地，異說並存。八地十自在係「菩薩」因位所得（論作「是菩薩得是菩薩十自在」），與「諸佛世尊十種自在法」分屬不同名目，佛之十力無畏「汝今未得」，故屬因位 path-bound，與如來十自在之高下僅標並存、不裁。本篇為大乘分區，無巴利雙軌義務；引文均待 CBETA XML 實核。 Repository: https://github.com/pointing-at-the-moon/realization-paths