華嚴經 品二十六 十地品 · 第八地 不動地Avataṃsaka Sūtra · The Ten Grounds · The Eighth Ground, Immovable

From ‘Still Having to Exert Strength’ to ‘Not Having to Exert It’

Practice reaches a certain step at which a problem appears that few have ever thought to expect: it is not that one still cannot do it, but that one is still doing it. The bodhisattva of the seventh ground illumines both emptiness and existence, and the contemplation of the markless can already run on unbroken; but that running on has to lean upon applied practice — it must be raised up, must be brought to mind, must be kept going. What is to be crossed at the eighth ground is exactly this step: to set down the exerting of strength itself, and yet have the practice not break off.

And so the name of this ground is Immovable. It must be noticed that this does not mean ‘motionless and at a standstill’. Chengguan, in explaining the name of this ground, gathers citations from the treatises at large and reduces them to three senses: effort cannot move it, marks cannot move it, the afflictions cannot move it; and, relying upon the words of the Cheng weishi lun, he judges it as “undiscriminating wisdom running on of itself unbroken”, saying that because it moves of itself, effort cannot move it; because it runs on unbroken, marks cannot move it; and by these two, the afflictions cannot move it. The Yanyi chao, counting what Chengguan has cited, says that he gathers eight explanations in all, and that taking in as well the explanations of Asvabhāva and of Vasubandhu there are ten, and that the conclusion comes to no more than the three senses. Fazang’s Tanxuan ji opens three accounts — the first account takes only the immovability with respect to effort; the second takes in the afflictions as well; the third has it immovable alike by practice, by marks, and by the afflictions. The name is one, but what the ancient worthies take from it is more or less — and just here lies the doctrinal weight of this ground.

Li Tongxuan reads this name along another road: he says that the wisdom of a bodhisattva of this station within the world “needs no effort and no deliberation of thought, and does not think and does not act, and yet the wisdom accords with the ten thousand things and transforms them everywhere without any fixed direction”, and therefore it is named the Immovable Ground — immovable not meaning that it does not function, but that it functions without deliberation. The three houses are recorded here side by side, without adjudging one above another.

‘Vimukticandra’s question’ — this ground too opens with a request. After the assembly has become still, the bodhisattva Vimukticandra asks Vajragarbha to say “May you expound what is to be entered in due sequence, the aspects of practice within the eighth ground”. What is asked about is “what is to be entered in due sequence” — that which is to be entered according to the order of the stages. The ten grounds are not ten states set side by side; they are one road that has a sequence to it; and it is by asking about the sequence that one can bring out where the boundary lies between this ground and the one before it.

Why It Is Now: All That the Seven Grounds Gathered Becomes the Far Means of This Ground

‘The aspect of the fullness of the seventh ground’ — Vajragarbha, opening his answer, does not speak of the eighth ground but first enumerates the seventh. From “Upon the seventh ground he is good at cultivating the wisdom of skillful means” onward: good at purifying the paths, good at gathering the dharmas that aid the path, taken up by the strength of the great vows, sustained by the strength of the Tathāgata, upheld by the strength of his own goodness, constantly keeping in mind the Tathāgata’s powers, fearlessnesses, and dharmas not shared with others, good at purifying the thought and awareness of the profound mind, able to accomplish merit and wisdom, with great kindness and great compassion not forsaking sentient beings, entering the path of measureless wisdom — eleven clauses.

Why enumerate these first? It is easy to mistake them for a courteous look back. Chengguan judges this part to be “the part of the general clarification of the skillful means that gather and make the ground”, and says expressly that what is gathered is not the seventh ground alone but the whole of the seven grounds before: although the seventh ground too has these ten dharmas, it does not have them in due sequence; because it is the place where the practice requiring effort comes to its fullness and the practice requiring no effort is at hand, they must be gathered together in the aggregate. He divides these eleven clauses further into two halves: the first three clauses are the shared aspect, the practice that all the grounds have in common; the latter eight are the aspect proper to each, seven of them being what each single ground severally cultivates — the great vows of the first ground, the being sustained by the Buddha’s strength within discipline of the second, the upholding of itself by the concentration and penetrations of the third, the mindfulness that penetrates the dharmas of a buddha of the fourth, the profound and pure mind of the fifth, the great compassion of the sixth that observes dependent origination and accomplishes merit, and the wisdom of skillful means of the seventh together with its surpassing practice that does not forsake sentient beings; the last clause, ‘entering the path of measureless wisdom’, stands as an item of its own. Chengguan judges this gathering of the seven grounds to be “the far means”, saying that the whole of the seven grounds before is the means of this one.

This makes the place of the eighth ground clear: it is not a new hearth built from nothing, but the place where the practice requiring effort of the whole seven grounds comes to its ripening as fruit. And so Chengguan says that of the seven parts the first two are the means of approaching the ground, one far and one near — the far being the aggregate of the seven grounds before, the near being the light of the forbearance gained on the preceding ground, which is here cultivated to ripeness and made pure.

The Part of Gaining Pure Forbearance: Ten Clauses of Non-Arising, Four Kinds of Non-Arising

‘The ten clauses on the absence of intrinsic nature’ — the text of the sūtra next sets out a string of negations: “he enters into all dharmas, which from the beginning are without arising”, and thereafter without rising up, without mark, without formation, without breaking down, without exhaustion, without turning, and then turns the last clause about and says “having no intrinsic nature as their nature”; and to these are added: beginning, middle, and end alike equal; the place entered by the undiscriminating wisdom of suchness; apart from every discriminating notion of mind, mentation, and consciousness; without grasping, like empty space; entering into all dharmas as being of the very nature of empty space.

A string of the word “without” is what is most easily read as hollow. Vasubandhu’s explanation is not hollow: he gathers these clauses into four kinds of non-arising — non-arising of the event, non-arising of intrinsic nature, non-arising of the differences of number, and non-arising of the differences of the operation of deeds; and he says that the first seven clauses are the non-arising of the event, each of them countering one clinging to something “real”: reckoning intrinsic nature to be there from the first, reckoning a fresh arising again and again, reckoning marks, reckoning a later limit, reckoning a prior limit, reckoning exhaustion, reckoning defilement. That is to say: each “without” is not a loose generality but has something it breaks — and what it breaks is a way of looking at dharmas that fixes them dead. The eighth clause, “having no intrinsic nature as their nature”, is the non-arising of intrinsic nature: not that there was first something and now there is nothing, nor that there is no true substance at all, but that it takes the absence of an intrinsic nature as its own intrinsic nature. That beginning, middle, and end are alike equal is the non-arising of the differences of number: within the three times, the defiled and the pure neither increase nor lessen. That it is the place entered by the undiscriminating wisdom of suchness is the non-arising of the operation of deeds.

‘Gaining the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas’ — after these ten clauses the sūtra gives it a name: “this is called gaining the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas”. What is forbearance? Chengguan divides it into two layers: taken with respect to the dharma, all principles in which there is no rising and no doing are called non-arising, and because the mind of wisdom rests in them it is called forbearance; taken with respect to practice, only when the practice of the fruit is fully ripened, when wisdom is merged with the principle, and when mind and consciousness and false delusion are still and do not arise is it called non-arising — and this is what is meant by “pure forbearance”. He says expressly that the former layer runs through all the grounds, and that until one gains the latter it does not suffice to be called pure forbearance. This sentence is of great weight: the principle of non-arising is understood already on the grounds before; it is at this ground that the principle becomes one’s very constitution.

The Part of Gaining Surpassing Practice: Entering the Ground and Deep Practice

‘Accomplishing the forbearance is entering’ — “he at once gains entry to the eighth ground, the Immovable” — the same turn of phrase as the first ground’s ‘the very arousing of this mind at once passes beyond the ground of the ordinary being’: once the forbearance is accomplished the ground is entered on the instant, without waiting upon any separate cultivation.

‘The bodhisattva of deep practice’ — and once he has entered, what is he like? The sūtra says that he is “a bodhisattva of deep practice, hard to make out, without differentiation”, apart from every mark, every notion, and every clinging, measureless and boundless, beyond the reach of the two vehicles, far from all wrangling, with quiescence present before him. Vasubandhu, explaining “deep practice”, opens it into seven depths: the depth hard to enter, the depth of shared practice, the depth of the object, the depth of cultivation, the depth of non-retrogression, the depth of parting from obstruction, and the depth of the presence of the counteragent; and he attaches each to a clause of the sūtra — “hard to make out” is the depth hard to enter, “without differentiation” the depth of shared practice (that which the bodhisattvas of the pure grounds share), “apart from every mark, apart from every notion and every craving and clinging” the depth of the object (the grasped and the grasper are not present), “measureless and boundless” the depth of cultivation, “which no śrāvaka and no pratyekabuddha can break down” the depth of non-retrogression, quiescence the depth of parting from obstruction, and presence the depth of the presence of the counteragent. Word for word it has its attachment, and this passage therefore ceases to be a heaping up of adjectives.

Three Similes: Coming to Rest Is Not Vanishing

The sūtra next brings down three similes in a row, all of them saying one and the same thing — coming to rest.

‘The simile of the concentration of cessation’ — “it is as with a monk who is complete in the spiritual penetrations, who has gained mastery of mind, and who in due sequence enters at last into the concentration of cessation”, where every moving of the mind and every remembering thought and discrimination has wholly come to rest. So too the bodhisattva abiding on the Immovable Ground lets go of every practice requiring effort and gains the dharma requiring no effort; the deliberations and labors of the activity of body, speech, and mind come to rest, and he abides in the practice of the fruit. Vasubandhu judges the use of this simile to be “that it shows that practice to be quiescent”, and explains “he abides in the accomplishing of the practice of the fruit” as “because he abides well within the suchness that is the dharma of the ālaya consciousness” — the place of coming to rest is not annihilation; it is a resting within the dharma of suchness. Here is the essential point: requiring no effort is not doing nothing; it is that what is done is no longer driven by deliberation.

‘The simile of crossing a river in a dream’ — in a dream he sees his own body fallen into a great river, and in order to cross he gives rise to great valor and sets up great skillful means; and at the utmost reach of that valor — he wakes; and having woken, all that he was doing comes to rest. Where the simile is joined to its meaning it says that the bodhisattva sees sentient beings within the four torrents, and in order to deliver them gives rise to great valor and raises up great vigor, and by this arrives at the Immovable Ground; and having arrived, all his effort comes to rest. Vasubandhu judges this simile to be “that it shows that within this practice there is guarding against the notion of that fault, and there is the notion of right wisdom”. What is most worth turning over in this simile is this: it is not out of sloth that he stops — it is precisely because he exerted strength to the very end that he wakes; and having woken, the strength no longer needs to be exerted. All the effort of the seven grounds before was not spent in vain: it was that “giving rise to great valor”.

‘The simile of birth into the world of Brahmā’ — as for one born into the world of the Brahmā heavens the afflictions of the realm of desire naturally are not present, so too for one abiding on the Immovable Ground all the workings of mind, mentation, and consciousness are not present. This says how the coming to rest happens — it is not a suppression; the realm has been exchanged, and those things naturally do not arise.

‘The four minds not given rise to’ — the sūtra pushes this layer to a point that startles: “he does not even give rise to the mind of a bodhisattva, the mind of a buddha, the mind of awakening, or the mind of nirvāṇa”, how much less a worldly mind. Not even the mind of awakening and the mind of nirvāṇa arise? One must see clearly that what is said is “does not give rise to”, not that they are unwanted. The ten clauses of non-arising above have already said “apart from every discriminating notion of mind, mentation, and consciousness”; that at the level of thought the grasping is let go, and along with it even the best few thoughts, is precisely the real sense of requiring no effort. If one must still raise up a thought that ‘I am seeking awakening’, then effort has not truly come to rest.

The Seven Exhortations of the Buddhas: The Barrier of Not Entering Nirvāṇa

‘The buddhas appear before him’ — here the sūtra brings out the most dramatic passage of this ground. Because of the strength of his original vows, the buddhas, the world-honored ones, appear in person before the bodhisattva of this ground, give him the wisdom of a Tathāgata, and cause him to gain entry within the gate of the Dharma-stream. The speaker of this passage must be noticed: Vajragarbha here is relaying the words of the buddhas, not admonishing on his own account. The seven passages that follow, each opening with “Excellent, excellent”, are what the buddhas say to the bodhisattva of this ground.

‘The first exhortation’ — praise, and then exhortation — “This forbearance is the first of all, and it accords with the dharmas of the buddhas”; and yet the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, and the eighteen dharmas of a buddha not shared with others you have not yet gained, and you should add diligence and vigor, “and do not for this let go of the gate of this forbearance”. First the affirming, then the pointing out of what is not yet enough: he is neither permitted to fall back from this forbearance nor permitted to take this forbearance as the end.

‘The second exhortation’ — though you have gained the liberation that is quiescence, ordinary beings have not realized it; every sort of affliction is present before them and awareness and examination wound one another; you should have pity upon sentient beings such as these.

‘The third exhortation’ — “you should keep in mind the vows you originally made”, benefiting all sentient beings everywhere and vastly, causing them to enter the gate of inconceivable wisdom. This exhortation is the pivot of the whole passage — what calls the bodhisattva back out of quiescence is no force from outside; it is the vow he himself made at the beginning.

‘The fourth exhortation’ — “the dharma-nature of these dharmas, whether a buddha appears in the world or does not appear, abides constantly and does not alter”; the buddhas are not called Tathāgatas because they have gained this dharma, and those of the two vehicles can also gain this undiscriminated dharma. This sentence most needs to be made clear: the dharma-nature is held in common, and those of the two vehicles too can realize the undiscriminated dharma; so what makes a buddha a buddha does not lie in having gained this dharma, but elsewhere — in the measureless marks of body, measureless wisdom, measureless lands, measureless skillful means, measureless radiance, measureless sounds, that is, in what the fifth exhortation raises. To put it another way: if the bodhisattva of this ground halts at ‘I have realized the dharma-nature’, the place where he halts is one that those of the two vehicles can also reach, and that is not the end of the buddha-path.

‘The fifth exhortation’ — look upon us: the marks of our bodies are measureless, our wisdom measureless, our lands measureless, our skillful means measureless, our radiance measureless, our pure sounds without limit; you should now accomplish these things — it points out that what is lacking is the function, not the substance.

‘The sixth exhortation’ — “what you have just now gained is a single light of the Dharma”, namely that all dharmas are without arising and without discrimination; whereas the Tathāgata’s light of the Dharma has measureless enterings, measureless functionings, measureless turnings, unknowable even in hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, and you should cultivate the practice and accomplish this dharma. One light of the Dharma set against measureless lights of the Dharma — this is where the proportion lies.

‘The seventh exhortation’ — observe the measureless lands, measureless sentient beings, measureless dharmas of the ten directions and their many differences, and penetrate all those matters as they truly are.

Taken together, the seven exhortations are a turning about of direction: from ‘I am already quiescent’ toward ‘sentient beings are measureless, the dharmas of a buddha are measureless’. Li Tongxuan, reading the gate of practice of this ground, takes just this sense, saying that this ground has the perfection of vows as its principal, that the substance of wisdom is pure of itself and yet it is by the vow that practice is raised, and that “were one not to raise wisdom by the vow, one would fear to become the same as the two vehicles; the vow is used to guard against it, so as not to let one stagnate in purity” — the vow is the sluice-gate that keeps one from lingering in purity.

The Gate That Raises Wisdom: Were It Not Given, He Would Enter Nirvāṇa

‘Giving the gate that raises wisdom’ — the buddhas give this bodhisattva measureless gates that raise wisdom, causing him to raise up measureless, boundless works of differentiated wisdom.

‘Otherwise he enters nirvāṇa’ — and next comes the most startling sentence of the whole chapter — “at that time he would enter final nirvāṇa”, casting away every work of benefiting sentient beings. Were the buddhas not to give the gate that raises wisdom, this bodhisattva would enter final nirvāṇa. This must be read as it stands and may not be softened: the quiescence that requires no effort has in itself such a tendency, and that is precisely why the exhortation of the buddhas has to be. And just for that reason the third exhortation, ‘keep the original vow in mind’, is not a word of encouragement; it is the hook at the crucial place.

‘The comparison’ — after gaining the gate that raises wisdom, the work of wisdom brought forth in a single thought, set beside all the practices cultivated from the first arousing of the mind up to the seventh ground, is such that they do not come up to one part in a hundred, nor to a hundred-thousand-koṭis-of-nayutas part, nor to the asaṃkhyeya fraction, the kalā fraction, the fraction of calculation, the fraction of likeness, or the upaniṣad fraction. The sūtra uses a long string of numerical names to say one thing: practice requiring no effort and practice requiring effort are not of the same order of magnitude.

‘Why is this’ — the sūtra asks and answers itself — formerly he raised up his practice with a single body; now, abiding on this ground, he gains measureless bodies, measureless sounds, measureless wisdom, measureless births, measureless pure lands; he teaches measureless sentient beings, makes offerings to measureless buddhas, enters measureless gates of the Dharma, is complete in measureless spiritual penetrations, has the differences of measureless assemblies and sites of the Path, and abides in measureless activity of body, speech, and mind, gathering together the whole bodhisattva practice — “because he has gained the dharma of immovability”. The root of the difference is gathered into a single phrase: the dharma of immovability.

‘The simile of taking ship’ — it is as when one takes ship in order to enter the great ocean: before reaching the ocean much strength must be used; once the ocean is reached one goes only as the wind carries one, without borrowing human strength, and the distance travelled in a single day is such that a hundred years before the ocean was reached could not come up to it. This simile brings the principle of “not coming up to one part” down to an experience one can touch: it is not that the ship has exerted more strength; it is that the strength which drives it has been exchanged for another.

‘The wisdom requiring no effort’ — joining the simile to its meaning, it says that the bodhisattva gathers the vast provision of roots of goodness, takes ship in the Great Vehicle and arrives at the ocean of the bodhisattva practice, and “enters by the wisdom requiring no effort into the realm of the wisdom of omniscience”, while the practice that formerly required effort could not reach it in measureless kalpas. This sentence is the very bone of this ground — all the vast realms that follow arise out of this one wisdom.

The Part of Purifying the Buddha-Land: Seeing the World through to the Bottom

From here the text of the sūtra turns to what is observed. Chengguan judges this part to be “the part of purifying the buddha-land”, and it is the beginning of the practice of properly abiding on the ground.

‘Observing the forming and the breaking down’ — by the awareness requiring no effort he observes the realm traversed by the wisdom of omniscience — he observes the forming of worlds and observes the breaking down of worlds, “because deeds such as these are gathered together there is forming, and because deeds such as these are exhausted there is breaking down”; how long the forming, how long the breaking down, how long the abiding after forming, how long the abiding after breaking down, all known as it truly is. The essential point lies in the cause of the forming and the breaking down: the forming and breaking down of a world hang upon the gathering and the exhausting of deeds. It is not something that is there without a cause, nor something made by another’s power.

‘The aspects of the four great elements’ — he knows further the small aspect, the great aspect, the measureless aspect, and the differentiated aspect of the earth element, and so likewise of water, fire, and wind. Small, great, measureless, differentiated are four ways of looking at one and the same element — with respect to one portion of it, small; with respect to it as a whole, great; with respect to its being unexhaustible, measureless; with respect to its many kinds of unlikeness, differentiated.

‘The wisdom of dust-motes’ — he knows further the fine aspect, the differentiated aspect, and the measurelessly differentiated aspect of dust-motes; take any world you please, and the masses of its dust-motes and their differentiated aspects are known as they truly are, and on to how many dust-motes there are to each of earth, water, fire, and wind, how many to the precious things, how many to the bodies of sentient beings, how many to the body that is the land; he knows of how many dust-motes the great and small bodies of sentient beings are composed, knows of how many dust-motes the bodies of the hells, of animals, of hungry ghosts, of asuras, of gods, and of humans are composed. This is not the satisfying of curiosity — the sūtra itself names it “the wisdom of the differentiation of dust-motes”. To be able to know the finest particle of a world without confusion is the foundation of the wisdom of bodies and the wisdom of lands.

‘The wisdom of the differences of the three realms’ — he knows further the forming, the breaking down, and the small, great, measureless, and differentiated aspects of the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the formless realm, and gains the wisdom of observing the differences of the three realms. With this the observation of the receptacle world is complete. Chengguan judges the virtue of this ground to be mastery over the three world-realms, and the receptacle world is one of them.

Displaying a Body according to Kind: Immovable and Yet Appearing Everywhere

‘Raising the light of wisdom to teach and transform’ — the sūtra turns to the world of sentient beings — this bodhisattva raises up further the light of wisdom and teaches and transforms sentient beings: good at knowing the differences among the bodies of sentient beings, good at distinguishing them, good at observing the places into which they are born, and according to what is fitting displaying a body for them, teaching, transforming, and bringing them to ripeness.

‘Displaying birth everywhere’ — within a single three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system he displays birth everywhere by the light of wisdom, according to the differences of the bodies and of the faith and understanding of sentient beings; and so likewise within two, three, up to a hundred thousand, up to unspeakably many three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems.

‘The body does not move and yet appears everywhere’ — “upon a single buddha-field his body does not move”, and yet within the assemblies of unspeakably many buddha-fields he displays his body in every one. This sentence is the annotation on the spot for the name of the ground — immovability and appearing everywhere do not obstruct one another; it is exactly because there is no need to move and no need to bring anything to mind that he can appear in every place.

‘Displaying a body according to faith and understanding’ — following upon the many differences among the bodies and minds and the faith and understanding of sentient beings, he displays his body within the assemblies of those buddha-lands. The measure of the displaying of a body lies not in the bodhisattva’s own wish but in the faith and understanding of sentient beings.

‘Displaying a form according to kind’ — within a host of śramaṇas he displays the form of a śramaṇa, within a host of brahmins the form of a brahmin, within a host of kṣatriyas the form of a kṣatriya; vaiśyas, śūdras, householders, the Four Heavenly Kings, the Thirty-Three, the Yāma, the Tuṣita, the Heaven of Delight in Emanations, the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others’ Emanations, the host of Māra, the host of Brahmā, and on up to the host of the Akaniṣṭha Heaven — for each he displays a form according to its kind. From the four castes of the human world all the way up to the Heaven of the Ultimate of Form, and the host of Māra among them too — no place where transformation is called for is left out.

‘The four bodies of deliverance’ — for one to be delivered by the body of a śrāvaka he displays the form of a śrāvaka, and so likewise for the pratyekabuddha, the bodhisattva, and the Tathāgata. To display the form of a Tathāgata and yet not set oneself up as a Tathāgata is the most thoroughgoing point of the functioning that requires no effort.

The Part of Gaining Mastery: The Ten Bodies and the Ten Masteries

‘Abiding in equality’ — the sūtra first sets down a sentence as the ground for being able to display bodies thus — “this bodhisattva is far removed from every discriminating notion about bodies, and abides in equality”. Only when one is first apart from notions of the body can there be any talk of making bodies of every sort.

‘Knowing the ten bodies’ — this bodhisattva knows the body of sentient beings, the body that is the land, the body of the recompense of deeds, the body of the śrāvaka, the body of the pratyekabuddha, the body of the bodhisattva, the body of the Tathāgata, the body of wisdom, the dharma-body, and the body of empty space. The list of ten bodies is the passage of this ground richest in the air of the Huayan: from the coarsest, the body of sentient beings, to the most inconceivable, the body of empty space, all lie within what one wisdom knows.

‘Making bodies out of bodies’ — knowing what is delighted in within the minds of sentient beings, he is able to make the body of sentient beings his own body, and also the body that is the land, the body of the recompense of deeds, and on up to the body of empty space; so likewise making the body that is the land his own body; so likewise the body of the recompense of deeds; and making his own body the body of sentient beings, the body that is the land, and on up to the body of empty space. According to the differences of what sentient beings delight in, he displays upon this body such a form. This passage is the mutual making of the ten bodies out of one another — between body and body there is no partition; here is the aspect of Huayan interfusion spoken directly in the text of this ground.

‘The ten aspects of the body that is the land’ — he knows of the body that is the land the small aspect, the great aspect, the measureless aspect, the defiled aspect, the pure aspect, the broad aspect, the aspect of standing upside down, the aspect of standing upright, the aspect of universal entering, and the differentiated aspect of a net of the quarters. Standing upside down and standing upright, universal entering and the net of the quarters, say that the manner in which worlds stand is in each case unlike the rest and yet all of it lies within what is known.

‘The provisional names of the body of the recompense of deeds’ — he knows the differences of the provisional names of the body of the recompense of deeds, and knows the differences of the provisional names of the body of the śrāvaka, the body of the pratyekabuddha, and the body of the bodhisattva. The two words “provisional name” are the key — the name and mark of a body is set up by convention, and only by knowing it to be a provisional name is one not bound by the marks of bodies.

‘The ten bodies of the Tathāgata’ — he knows that the body of the Tathāgata has the body of awakening, the body of the vow, the emanation body, the body of sustaining power, the body adorned with the marks and signs, the body of majestic might, the mind-made body, the body of merit, the dharma-body, and the body of wisdom. The Tathāgata is one body, and yet ten bodies are opened out of it; this is the passage of scripture upon which later discussions of the buddha-body rest, and the object known by the bodhisattva of this ground lies just here.

‘The aspects of the body of wisdom’ — he knows of the body of wisdom the aspect of good deliberation, the aspect of settling upon things as they truly are, the aspect of being gathered in by the practices that are its fruit, the aspect of the difference between the worldly and the world-transcending, the aspect of the difference among the three vehicles, the shared aspect, the unshared aspect, the aspect of going forth, the aspect of not going forth, the aspect of the learner, and the aspect of the one beyond learning. The body of wisdom is not one undivided mass of light; it has aspects that can be distinguished.

‘The aspects of the dharma-body’ — he knows of the dharma-body the aspect of equality, the aspect of not being broken down, the aspect of the differences of provisional names according to the times and according to what is customary, the aspect of the difference between the dharmas of sentient beings and of what is not a sentient being, and the aspect of the difference between the dharmas of the Buddha and the dharmas of the noble Saṅgha. The dharma-body is equal and cannot be broken down, and yet it still has differences of provisional name according to the times and what is customary — equality and difference stand together here.

‘The aspects of the body of empty space’ — he knows of the body of empty space the measureless aspect, the all-pervading aspect, the formless aspect, the aspect without otherness, the boundless aspect, and the aspect of making a form-body appear. The last clause must on no account be passed over: the body of empty space actually has “the aspect of making a form-body appear” — the formless can make form appear, and this is the utmost of being immovable and yet appearing.

‘The ten masteries’ — having accomplished the wisdom of the bodies thus, he gains mastery over life-span, over mind, over goods, over deeds, over birth, over vows, over understanding, over what accords with his wish, over wisdom, and over the Dharma. The ten masteries are the fruit of the wisdom of the bodies; Chengguan records that the Jin translation has here “he is able to gain the ten kinds of wondrous and great wisdom of mastery”, and both texts are kept side by side.

‘The four kinds of wise one’ — because he has gained these ten masteries, he becomes one of inconceivable wisdom, one of measureless wisdom, one of vast wisdom, one whose wisdom none can break down. Chengguan explains these four by taking the first as the general one, saying that because he abides neither in the world nor in nirvāṇa and his quiescence and his functioning are hard to fathom he is named inconceivable, and opening three senses — inconceivable in that cultivation is carried through to the end, inconceivable in what is known, inconceivable in the removing of obstruction.

The Part of Great Ascendancy: Activity without Fault, Virtues That Have Their Abiding

‘The three kinds of activity without fault’ — when this bodhisattva has entered thus and accomplished thus, he gains activity of body finally without fault, activity of speech without fault, and activity of mind without fault; his activity of body, speech, and mind proceeds in accord with wisdom, the perfection of wisdom is preeminent, great compassion is his forerunner, he is skillful in means, well able to distinguish, good at raising great vows, guarded by the power of the buddhas, constantly and diligently cultivating the wisdom that benefits sentient beings, and abiding everywhere in worlds of boundless difference. Chengguan explains “proceeding in accord with wisdom” as meaning that body, speech, and mind are what is raised and wisdom is what raises them, and that the two must be simultaneous — the purity of activity is not a polishing of word and deed; it is that action arises out of wisdom.

‘To raise the essential point’ — a bodhisattva abiding on this Immovable Ground, in whatever his activity of body, speech, and mind does, is able to gather together every dharma of a buddha. One sentence gathers up what went before: whatever he does, he is gathering the dharmas of a buddha.

‘The ten strengths of abiding well’ — he gains the strength of abiding well in the profound mind (because the afflictions no longer operate), in the surpassing mind (because he does not part from the path), in great compassion (because he does not forsake the benefiting of sentient beings), in great kindness (because he rescues and guards all the world), in dhāraṇī (because he does not forget the Dharma), in eloquence (because he well observes and distinguishes all dharmas), in the spiritual penetrations (because he goes everywhere to boundless worlds), in the great vows (because he does not forsake anything a bodhisattva ought to do), in the perfections (because he accomplishes every dharma of a buddha), and the strength of the Tathāgata’s guarding and keeping in mind (because all modes and the wisdom of omniscience are present before him). Every one of the strengths has its “because” — no strength is set up idly. The sūtra concludes: having gained the strength of wisdom such as this, he is able to display every manner of thing to be done, and among all those things there is no fault.

The Part of the Explanation of the Name: Ten Names for One and the Same Ground

‘Ten explanations of the name of the ground’ — “the wisdom-ground of this bodhisattva is named the Immovable Ground, because there is nothing that can spoil or break it” — and thereafter the Ground That Does Not Turn Back (because wisdom does not retreat), the Ground Hard to Attain (because nothing in all the world can take its measure), the Ground of Youthful Truth (because it is apart from every fault), the Ground of Birth (because he is masterful according to what he delights in), the Ground of Completion (because there is nothing further to be done), the Ultimate Ground (because wisdom is settled), the Ground of Transformation (because things are accomplished according to his vow), the Ground of Sustaining Power (because others cannot move him), and the Ground of No Effort (because it was already accomplished beforehand).

The ten names are not a tautology; they are ten sides from which one and the same ground is seen. Chengguan has here two explanations standing together: first, following the treatise, he gathers the ten clauses into six — the first two are the countering of defilement, the next one the gaining of what is profound, the next two the purity of raising up practice, the next two the ascendancy of purity with doing in it, worldly and world-transcending, the next one the ascendancy of purity without doing in those two, and the last two the ascendancy of the bodhisattva-ground; afterwards he puts forward an explanation of his own, matching the several names to the several parts of the sūtra that went before — the first two take their names from the part of pure forbearance, the next two from the part of gaining surpassing practice, the next three from the part of the pure land, the next one from the part of mastery, the next one from the part of great ascendancy, and the last name, No Effort, runs through from beginning to end. Both explanations are recorded; and at the end he himself judges in a single sentence, “it looks as though the house of the treatise lacked any pointing to a clear authority” — taking the house of the treatise to be lacking a clear authority. Chengguan further records one variant: the eighth ground ought to answer to the eighth abode and share the name Youthful Truth, whereas the sūtra as cited in the treatise has “prince”, and he judges expressly, “it looks as though it did not accord with the text” — the variant is recorded, and the judgment is recorded too.

The Wise One and the Explanation of the Name: One-Directional Immovability and Immovability of One Substance

‘Entering the realm of the buddhas’ — the bodhisattva, having accomplished wisdom such as this, enters the realm of the buddhas, is illumined by the merit of the buddhas, accords with the deportment of the buddhas, has the realm of the buddhas present before him, and is constantly guarded and kept in mind by the Tathāgatas; Brahmā, Śakra, the Four Kings, and the vajra-strong men constantly attend and guard him; he never forsakes the great samādhis, is able to display the differences of measureless bodies, upon each single body has great might, and by the spiritual penetrations and mastery of samādhi gained by recompense displays the accomplishing of right awakening wherever there are sentient beings who can be transformed.

Vasubandhu, explaining this passage, judges it into two senses: one-directional immovability, and immovability of one substance. This section belongs to the former, and he sets it forth by five virtues — the virtue of offering (Brahmā, Śakra, and the Four Kings come to welcome him), the virtue of guarding (the vajra spirits keep watch), the virtue of resting upon (he does not forsake the samādhis), the virtue of the purity of the land (he is able to display the differences of bodies), and the virtue of teaching and transforming sentient beings. Chengguan carries this on and attaches it clause by clause to the sūtra, and records that the Jin translation has ten clauses while the present text lacks one, and that the clause “he is able to receive measureless predictions” is lacking in the present text as well — the expansion and compression of the two texts, recorded word for word.

‘Entering the assembly of the Great Vehicle’ — the bodhisattva thus enters the assembly of the Great Vehicle, obtains great spiritual penetrations, sends forth great radiance, enters the unobstructed Dharma realm, knows the differences of worlds, displays all the great merits, is masterful according to his wish, is well able to penetrate the prior limit and the later limit, subdues everywhere every path of Māra and of the wrong, enters deeply into the realm traversed by the Tathāgata, and cultivates the bodhisattva practice within measureless lands. Vasubandhu judges this to be immovability of one substance, explains “entering the number of the host of the Great Vehicle” as the sense of not being broken down, and opens nine kinds of not being broken down — wisdom not broken down, speech not broken down, liberation not broken down, the purity of the buddha-land not broken down, the entering of the Great Vehicle not broken down, the spiritual penetrations not broken down, the ability to explain the meaning not broken down, the sitting at the site of the Path not broken down, and right awakening not broken down — attaching them one by one to these ten clauses. What Fazang attaches in the commentary on the sixty-fascicle text, nine clauses, runs upon the same track.

‘Concluding the name’ — “because he is able to obtain the dharma of non-retrogression, he is therefore said to abide on the Immovable Ground.” — only here is the name of the ground concluded by the sūtra itself. The ten explanations before were the opening out; here is the gathering in: every sense of immovability comes home to non-retrogression.

The Fruit of the Ground: The Weight of the Roots of Goodness

‘Constantly seeing the buddhas’ — abiding on this Immovable Ground, by the strength of samādhi he constantly gains the seeing of measureless buddhas present before him and never forsakes attending upon them and making offerings; within each single kalpa and each single world he sees measureless hundreds of buddhas and on up to measureless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of buddhas, revering, honoring, attending upon and making offerings to them, and bestowing upon them all the goods that sustain life.

‘Receiving the lights of the Dharma’ — in the presence of the buddhas he gains the profound treasury of the Dharma of the Tathāgata and receives measureless lights of the Dharma such as the differences of worlds; and should there be hard questions upon such matters as the differences of worlds, there is none who can make him yield. Chengguan explains this as “because the Dharma he receives is the cause of his mastery” — the Dharma he receives is the cause of the mastery that comes later. Passing through long kalpas, all his roots of goodness turn ever more to increase in brightness and purity.

‘The simile of the crown of true gold’ — it is as when true gold is refined and made into a jeweled crown and set upon the head of the sage king who is lord of Jambudvīpa: none of the ornaments of his ministers and people is its equal; so too the roots of goodness of the bodhisattva of this ground, which none of the roots of goodness of the two vehicles nor even of a bodhisattva of the seventh ground can come up to — because the great light of wisdom of one abiding on this ground everywhere extinguishes the darkness of the afflictions of sentient beings and is well able to throw open the gate of wisdom. Several of the grounds before have used a gold simile too, but the gold of this ground has already been made into a royal crown and is already upon the king’s head: it is no longer in the refining; it is after the vessel is made. Chengguan explains this simile as figuring the gaining of a pure ground, the body and mind being surpassing, and says that on this ground the practice of the fruit is fully ripened and there is mastery over the three world-realms, and therefore the king is specially added.

‘The simile of the radiance of the Brahmā king’ — it is as with a great Brahmā heaven king who is lord of a thousand worlds and is able to raise a mind of kindness everywhere and send forth radiance everywhere filling a thousand worlds; so too the bodhisattva of this ground is able to send forth radiance illumining worlds as many as the dust-motes of a million buddha-fields, causing sentient beings to extinguish the fire of the afflictions and gain coolness. Chengguan compares this simile with the simile of sunlight on the preceding ground and says that the Brahmā king’s light surpasses the sunlight in three respects — first in being many, second in being pure, third in being broad. That the mind of kindness and the radiance are raised together says that this light is not merely an illumining; it extinguishes the heat of the afflictions and gives coolness.

‘The preeminence of the perfection of vows’ — among the ten perfections the perfection of vows is preeminent; the remaining perfections are not uncultivated, but only cultivated as strength and measure allow. That this ground takes the vow as preeminent is all of a piece with the ‘keeping the original vow in mind’ of the seven exhortations above and with Li Tongxuan’s “the vow is used to guard against it, so as not to let one stagnate in purity”: what the ground requiring no effort most needs is not more strength, but the vow.

‘The limit of the brief exposition’ — “this is called the brief exposition of the eighth ground of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, the Immovable”; were it expounded at length, measureless kalpas would not exhaust it.

The Fruit of Pliancy: He Becomes a Brahmā King and Yet Does Not Depart from Keeping the Buddha in Mind

‘He mostly becomes a great Brahmā heaven king’ — abiding on this ground he mostly becomes a great Brahmā heaven king, lord of a thousand worlds, most surpassing and masterful, good at expounding every meaning, able to give to śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas the path of the perfections; and should there be hard questions upon the differences of worlds, there is none who can make him fall back. On the first ground he becomes a king of Jambudvīpa; on this ground, the lord of a thousand worlds — the station rises with the ground, and yet what he does is still the giving of the Dharma.

‘The four means of gathering, without departing from keeping the Buddha in mind’ — giving, kind speech, beneficial conduct, working alongside — in all these works that he does he never departs from keeping the Buddha in mind, and on up to never departing from keeping in mind all modes and the wisdom of omniscience. However high the station and however broad the transforming function, that thread is still tied to the Buddha.

‘Foremost and most surpassing’ — he thinks further — “I should be, among all sentient beings, the foremost and the most surpassing, and on up to the one upon whom they rely for the wisdom of omniscience”. This thought is not a contending for the first place; it is a shouldering: to be that upon which sentient beings rely.

‘The measure of the samādhis’ — should he raise up the strength of great vigor, in a single thought he gains samādhis as many as the dust-motes of a million three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems, and on up to displaying bodhisattvas as his retinue as many as the dust-motes of a million three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems; and displaying them masterfully by the strength of a surpassing vow, he exceeds this number, so that in hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas one could not count and know them. The first ground has “a hundred”; this ground has “as many as the dust-motes of a million three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems” — the increase of the measure is exactly what shows the difference between requiring no effort and requiring effort.

The Verses in Repetition: Saying One Ground Over Again

What the verses repeat has already been taught in the prose, and so here they are only matched to their places and not taught over again.

The first verse and a half repeat the part of gathering and making the ground: “Upon the seventh ground he cultivates and refines the wisdom of skillful means, is good at gathering the dharmas that aid the path and the strength of the great vows”, and gains besides the sustaining of the Honored One among men, and, seeking the surpassing wisdom, ascends to the eighth station. Next they repeat the part of pure forbearance: knowing that dharmas are of the aspect of not arising and not rising up, without formation, without breaking down, without exhaustion, without turning; apart from being, equal, cut off from discrimination, passing beyond the workings of mind and abiding as empty space abides; accomplishing this forbearance he passes beyond frivolous talk, profound, immovable, and constantly quiescent.

They repeat the three similes: “Abiding on this ground he does not discriminate, as a monk who has entered the concentration of cessation; as one who crossed a river in a dream and, waking, finds it gone; as one born into the Brahmā heaven, cut off from the desires of the realm below” — three similes gathered up in a single verse. They repeat the exhortation of the buddhas: by the strength of his original vow he receives their urging; they praise his forbearance as surpassing and consecrate him; the words are that all the dharmas of a buddha that we have you have not yet obtained and you should add diligence and vigor; though you have extinguished the fire of the afflictions the flames of delusion in the world still blaze, and you should keep your original vow in mind and deliver sentient beings. They repeat the fourth exhortation: “The dharma-nature is truly constant and apart from thoughts of mind, and those of the two vehicles can gain it here as well; it is not because of gaining this that one becomes a world-honored one, but rather by that profound and unobstructed wisdom.” Chengguan points out expressly that this last line is not in the prose, and records that the Jin translation has here an entire verse — that there are verse lines going beyond the prose is recorded.

They repeat the gate that raises wisdom and the spiritual penetrations: one thus worthy of the offerings of gods and men gives him this wisdom and causes him to observe, boundless dharmas of a buddha are all accomplished, and in a single thought he passes beyond his former practices; the bodhisattva abiding on this subtle ground of wisdom thereupon obtains vast strength of spiritual penetration, and in a single thought his divided body fills the ten directions, “as a ship entering the ocean is carried across by the strength of the wind”. They repeat the observing of forming and breaking down: “His mind requires no effort and moves of itself along with the strength of wisdom; he knows entirely the forming, the breaking down, and the abiding of lands”, the many elements each unlike the other, the small, the great, and the measureless all made out; the four great elements of the three-thousandfold worlds, the bodies of the beings of the six destinies each apart, and the number of dust-motes in the many jewels — observing with wisdom, he leaves nothing over.

They repeat the displaying of a body: “The bodhisattva is able to know all bodies, and in order to teach and transform sentient beings he becomes the same as their forms”, the lands measureless and of every sort of difference, and for all of them he displays a form and there is nowhere he does not reach. Within the verses one simile comes out on its own: “It is as when the sun and moon abide in empty space and there appears a reflection in every water; abiding in the Dharma realm he does not move, and yet the reflections he displays according to the minds of beings are just so.” — this simile stands in the verses in the eighty-fascicle text, but in the sixty-fascicle text it stands in the prose passage on displaying a body; the two texts differ in its position, and both are recorded. The sun and the moon have never come down into the water, and yet not one reflection in the waters is left out: immovable and yet appearing everywhere — of this the simile is the plainest of all.

They repeat the ten bodies: the body of sentient beings, the body that is the land, the body of the recompense of deeds, the many kinds of body of wisdom and dharma-body of the noble ones, and the aspects of the body of empty space, all of them equal, and everywhere for the sake of sentient beings he displays their functioning; with the ten kinds of noble wisdom he observes everywhere, and further, according with kindness and compassion, does the many works that benefit beings, all the dharmas of a buddha are accomplished, and he upholds the precepts unmoved as Sumeru; “The ten powers are accomplished and he does not waver; the whole host of Māra is unable to turn him”, the buddhas guard and keep him in mind, the heaven kings pay him reverence, and the vajra-bearers of secret trace constantly attend upon him. They repeat the fruit of the ground and the fruit of pliancy: the merit of this ground is without bound, in thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas it could not be expounded to the end, and because he makes offerings to the buddhas his roots of goodness grow the brighter, like the ornaments upon a king’s head; “The bodhisattva abiding on this eighth ground mostly becomes a Brahmā king, lord of a thousand worlds”, expounding the three vehicles without exhausting it, the radiance of his compassion shining everywhere and removing the delusions of beings; the many samādhis obtained in a single thought are equal to the number of the dust-motes of a million worlds.

The last verse concludes the exposition: “The bodhisattva’s eighth ground, the Immovable — I have now expounded it to you in brief; but were one to distinguish it at length and in due sequence, one could not exhaust it in a koṭi of kalpas.” — answering to and gathering up the prose, “were it to be expounded at length, measureless kalpas would not exhaust it”.

Reading Alongside the Mirror of Consciousness-Only: The Immovable Ground Is the Path Requiring No Effort

This ground has an exceedingly precise placement within the consciousness-only line. The Cheng weishi lun, explaining the names of the ten grounds, has for the eighth “undiscriminating wisdom running on of itself unbroken, so that marks, functioning, and the afflictions cannot move it” — and since Chengguan and Fazang both cite these words first of all when explaining the name of this ground, one can see that at this ground the sense of the two axes is of itself in accord. The Yuqie shidi lun says “because in the markless he gains the requiring of no effort, and within the marks he is not moved by the afflictions that operate actively”, and therefore the eighth is named Immovable — the sense of the words is at one with the former.

More precise still is the obstruction that is cut off. Fazang cites the consciousness-only teaching: what is cut off on the eighth ground is “the obstruction of applied practice within the markless” — on the first five grounds the contemplation with marks is much and the markless little; on the sixth the contemplation with marks is little and the markless much; on the seventh the contemplation is purely markless and, though it runs on constantly, there is still applied practice; and it is exactly because there is still applied practice within the markless that he has not yet been able to make marks and lands appear of themselves. At the eighth ground, the path requiring no effort, this obstruction is cut off for good. Chengguan says it more briefly still: this ground cuts off two follies — the folly of making effort in the markless, and the folly with respect to mastery over marks.

As for what is realized after the obstruction is cut, Chengguan sets up the name “the suchness that is the support of mastery over marks and over lands”, saying that having realized this suchness one is masterful in making marks appear and making lands appear, and that the practice thus accomplished is precisely what is named the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. The She dacheng lun, among the ten aspects of the Dharma realm to be known, has for the eighth ground exactly “the sense of neither increasing nor lessening, the sense of being the support of mastery over marks, the sense of being the support of mastery over lands” — the terms answer to one another almost word for word.

This reading alongside joins the two faces of this ground: what the Huayan side speaks of is the mutual making of the ten bodies, the displaying of a form according to kind, the body that does not move upon a single buddha-field and yet appears everywhere in measureless fields; what the consciousness-only side speaks of is mastery over marks and the suchness that is the support of mastery over lands. The one describes the phenomena — how bodies and lands are masterful; the other points out the ground of it — what obstruction has been cut off, what suchness has been realized. And that Vasubandhu’s Shidi jing lun explains the abiding of the practice of the fruit as “abiding well within the suchness that is the dharma of the ālaya consciousness” is a case of the two axes using one and the same phrase. The weight of the eighth ground is seen in full only when both mirrors shine upon it.

Lineage

This ground is a great joint in the Huayan school’s judging of the teachings by lodged stations. Chengguan, in judging the reason for its coming, says expressly: the first three grounds are lodged as the same as the world, the next four are lodged in the dharmas of the three vehicles, and from the eighth onward the One Vehicle is lodged and set forth; and so from the earlier differentiation one enters the One Vehicle. Fazang’s Tanxuan ji opens three senses of the reason for its coming, of which the first is entirely the same as this, and adds two more — that on the earlier station, though the contemplation was purely markless, it had to wait upon applied practice, whereas at this station it is fully ripened and is present of itself without waiting upon applied practice; and that the earlier runs through apportioned birth-and-death while this one is transformational only. That the eighth ground is where the One Vehicle is lodged and set forth is the root in the sūtra and its commentaries of this judgment of the school of Xianshou.

Li Tongxuan carries it on along his own road of symbolic reading: this ground has the perfection of vows as its practice, the substance of wisdom being pure of itself while practice is raised by the vow; the first seven grounds have “practice and opening forth”, while this ground has “within practice and opening forth, no practice and no opening forth”, letting the function of wisdom go free and fulfilling great compassion. Reading the good friend whom Sudhana meets at this station, whose name is “Rescuing and Protecting All Sentient Beings by the Power of Great Vows and Vigor”, he says that only at this station can one answer to one’s original vow and deliver beings without limit — which tallies exactly with the sūtra’s seven exhortations to keep the original vow in mind and with the preeminence of the perfection of vows.

On the consciousness-only axis, the Cheng weishi lun’s explanation of the name of the eighth ground, the Yuqie shidi lun’s establishing of the name Immovable, and the She dacheng lun’s sense of being the support of mastery over marks and lands are all of one blood with the text of this ground and with Vasubandhu’s Shidi jing lun; and Vasubandhu’s explanation of the text word by word — the seven aspects of differentiation, the four kinds of non-arising, the seven kinds of deep practice, the two kinds of immovability and the nine kinds of not being broken down — is the skeleton of every later treatise-explanation of the eighth ground.

As for Zhiyan’s Souxuan ji upon this ground, this apparatus records nothing; this is recorded honestly as lacking, and no text from elsewhere is used to fill it out.