華嚴經 白話全本 · 冊8Avataṃsaka Sūtra · Complete Vernacular · Vol. 8

The Prologue (1): Time and Place — the World-Honored One Enters the Samādhi of All Buddhas at the Limit of the Kṣaṇa

At that time the World-Honored One was in the land of Magadha, at the place of awakening of the araṇya Dharma (araṇya means a still and secluded dwelling), having just then accomplished perfect awakening; and in the palace of Universal Light he entered the samādhi of all buddhas at the limit of the kṣaṇa (a kṣaṇa is the very shortest reach of time; to press it to its limit is to find that it has no limit) — manifesting the body of a Tathāgata by the spiritual power that is the mastery of omniscience: pure and unobstructed, with no place it depends upon, with nothing it takes as its object, abiding in the utmost quiescence of śamatha (that is, stillness), possessed of great awesome virtue and yet without the least defiling attachment, able to cause all who saw him to gain awakening, arising in the world according to what was fitting and never missing the season for it, ever abiding in a single mark — the mark, that is, of no mark.

The Prologue (2): The Virtues of the Bodhisattvas of the Assembly

Together with him there were bodhisattva-mahāsattvas as many as the dust motes of ten buddha-lands. There was not one among these bodhisattvas who had not entered the station of consecration; all of them were complete in the practice of a bodhisattva, and their measure was equal to the Dharma realm, measureless and boundless. They had obtained the samādhi of universal seeing of the bodhisattvas; with great compassion they set all sentient beings at rest; their spiritual penetrations had mastery, the same as those of a Tathāgata; their wisdom entered deeply, and they could expound the true meaning; they were complete in omniscience and subdued all the armies of Māra. Though they had entered the world, their minds were ever quiescent, and they abided in the bodhisattvas’ liberation of non-abiding.

The Prologue (3): The Roll of the Names of the Bodhisattva Assembly — One Hundred Bodhisattvas, with Universal Eye Among Them

Their names were: the bodhisattva Vajra Wisdom, the bodhisattva Peerless Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom of Meaningful Speech, the bodhisattva Most Victorious Wisdom, the bodhisattva Ever-Relinquishing Wisdom, the bodhisattva Nāga Wisdom (nāga means dragon, and carries the sense of great strength), the bodhisattva Accomplished Wisdom, the bodhisattva Tamed and Compliant Wisdom, the bodhisattva Great Strength Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom Hard to Conceive, the bodhisattva Unobstructed Wisdom, the bodhisattva Ascendant Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom of Universal Offering, the bodhisattva Wisdom According with Principle, the bodhisattva Skillful Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom of Mastery in Dharma, the bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom, the bodhisattva Quiescent Wisdom, the bodhisattva Empty-Space Wisdom, the bodhisattva One-Mark Wisdom, the bodhisattva Excellent Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom Like an Illusion, the bodhisattva Vast Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom of Force and Power, the bodhisattva Worldly Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom of the Buddha-Ground, the bodhisattva True Wisdom, the bodhisattva Honored and Victorious Wisdom, the bodhisattva Wisdom of the Light of Knowledge, the bodhisattva Boundless Wisdom — the above thirty, whose names all carry the one word ‘wisdom’;

and next: the bodhisattva Mindfulness Adornment, the bodhisattva Reaching the Limit of Emptiness, the bodhisattva Nature Adornment, the bodhisattva Very Deep Object, the bodhisattva Well Understanding the Possible and the Impossible, the bodhisattva Great Light, the bodhisattva Constant Light, the bodhisattva Understanding the Buddha-Seed, the bodhisattva King of Mind, the bodhisattva One Practice, the bodhisattva Ever Manifesting Spiritual Penetrations, the bodhisattva Sprout of Wisdom, the bodhisattva Place of Merit, the bodhisattva Dharma Lamp, the bodhisattva Illuminating the World, the bodhisattva Upholding the World, the bodhisattva Most Secure, the bodhisattva Highest, the bodhisattva Unsurpassed, the bodhisattva Incomparable, the bodhisattva Surpassing All Peers, the bodhisattva Unobstructed Practice, the bodhisattva Flame of Light, the bodhisattva Moonlight, the bodhisattva One Dust-Mote, the bodhisattva Firm Practice, the bodhisattva Pouring Down the Rain of Dharma (to pour down is to send down in streams), the bodhisattva Most Victorious Banner, the bodhisattva Universal Adornment, the bodhisattva Eye of Knowledge, the bodhisattva Dharma Eye, the bodhisattva Cloud of Wisdom, the bodhisattva King of the All-Holding, the bodhisattva Vow of Non-Abiding, the bodhisattva Treasury of Knowledge, the bodhisattva King of Mind, the bodhisattva Inwardly Awakened Wisdom, the bodhisattva Abiding in the Knowledge of a Buddha, the bodhisattva Power of Valor in Dhāraṇī (dhāraṇī means the all-holding), the bodhisattva Power of Upholding the Earth, the bodhisattva Wondrous Moon, the bodhisattva Summit of Sumeru, the bodhisattva Jewel Summit, the bodhisattva Universal Shining Light, the bodhisattva King of Awesome Virtue, the bodhisattva Wheel of Wisdom, the bodhisattva Great Awesome Virtue, the bodhisattva Mark of the Great Dragon, the bodhisattva Upright Practice, the bodhisattva Non-Retrogression, the bodhisattva Upholding the Dharma Banner, the bodhisattva Without Forgetting, the bodhisattva Gathering In All Destinies, the bodhisattva Inconceivable Decisive Wisdom, the bodhisattva Sporting in Boundless Knowledge, the bodhisattva Inexhaustible Treasury of Wondrous Dharma, the bodhisattva Sun of Knowledge, the bodhisattva Sun of Dharma, the bodhisattva Treasury of Knowledge, the bodhisattva Moisture of Knowledge, the bodhisattva Universal Seeing, the bodhisattva Seeing Not in Vain, the bodhisattva Vajra Penetration, the bodhisattva Vajra Knowledge, the bodhisattva Vajra Flame, the bodhisattva Vajra Wisdom, the bodhisattva Universal Eye, the bodhisattva Sun of the Buddha, the bodhisattva Upholding the Secret Meaning of the Buddha’s Vajra, the bodhisattva Adornment of the Knowledge of the Object of the Universal Eye ….

Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas such as these were as many as the dust motes of ten buddha-lands; and in ages past they had all together with the Tathāgata Vairocana cultivated the practices of the manifold wholesome roots of a bodhisattva.

The Request (1): Universal Eye Makes His Request — He Wishes to Ask Something

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Universal Eye, receiving the spiritual power of the Buddha, rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, set his right knee upon the ground, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha, saying:

“World-Honored One! Of the Tathāgata, the Worthy of Offerings, the Perfectly Awakened One, I wish to ask something. May you take pity and permit it.”

The Request (2): The Tathāgata Permits the Question · Universal Eye Raises the Dharma and Asks Directly

The Buddha said: “Universal Eye! Ask what you will. I shall expound it for you and cause your mind to be glad.”

The bodhisattva Universal Eye said: “World-Honored One! The bodhisattva Samantabhadra, and the hosts of bodhisattvas who abide in all the practices and vows of Samantabhadra — how many samādhis and liberations have they accomplished, such that among the great samādhis of a bodhisattva they enter, or come forth, or at times abide therein? It is because he is able skillfully to enter and skillfully to come forth from the inconceivable and vast samādhis of a bodhisattva that he can, within all samādhis, transform himself with mastery and spiritual penetration without any rest.”

The Request (3): The Tathāgata Praises the Benefit of the Question · He Shows the Expounder and Bids Them Ask Samantabhadra

The Buddha said: “It is good, Universal Eye! It is for the benefit of the hosts of bodhisattvas past, future, and present that you ask after this meaning.

“Universal Eye! The bodhisattva Samantabhadra is here now. He has already been able to accomplish inconceivable spiritual penetrations of mastery, surpassing all bodhisattvas, and he is hard to meet with. He is born from measureless bodhisattva practice; the great vows of a bodhisattva are in him wholly purified; the practices he has cultivated are wholly beyond retrogression; the measureless gates of the perfections, the unobstructed gates of dhāraṇī, the inexhaustible gates of eloquence — all of these he has already obtained. He is pure and unobstructed; with great compassion he benefits all sentient beings; and by the power of his original vow he does not weary to the very end of time to come. You should ask him, and he will expound for you his own samādhi and mastery and liberation.”

Showing the Expounder (1): The Benefit Gained from Hearing the Name

At that time the hosts of bodhisattvas in the assembly, upon hearing the name of Samantabhadra, straightway obtained inconceivable and measureless samādhis: their minds were unobstructed, still and unmoving; their wisdom was vast and hard to fathom; their object was very deep, and none could equal it. There and then they saw countless buddhas, obtained the powers of a Tathāgata, became one with the nature of a Tathāgata, and shone with clear light upon past, future, and present without exception; all their merit was beyond exhausting, and every spiritual penetration was already complete in them.

Showing the Expounder (2): The First Seeking, and Not Seeing

These bodhisattvas gave rise in their minds to reverence for the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, and thirsted to see him; so they observed everywhere throughout the whole assembly, and in the end did not behold him — nor did they see even the seat upon which he sat. This was because it was sustained by the awesome power of the Tathāgata, and it was also the mastery of the spiritual penetration of Samantabhadra that made it so.

Showing the Expounder (3): Asking Again · Seeking Again and Not Seeing · The Tathāgata Explains the Reason

At that time the bodhisattva Universal Eye addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! Where is the bodhisattva Samantabhadra now?”

The Buddha said: “Universal Eye! The bodhisattva Samantabhadra is now here in this assembly at the place of awakening, dwelling close beside me, and he has never stirred or moved.”

Then Universal Eye and the bodhisattvas observed the assembly at the place of awakening once again, seeking everywhere, and then addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! We still are not now able to see the body of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, nor his seat.”

The Buddha said: “It is so, good sons! Why is it that you do not see? Good sons! It is because the dwelling place of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra is very deep and beyond speaking. The bodhisattva Samantabhadra has obtained the boundless gates of wisdom, has entered the samādhi of the lion’s stretching, has obtained the unsurpassed functioning of mastery, has entered the limit of purity and non-obstruction; he brings forth the ten powers of a Tathāgata, takes the treasury of the Dharma realm as his body, is guarded in mind by all Tathāgatas alike, and can in a single thought wholly enter and realize the undifferentiated knowledge of the buddhas of the three times — and therefore you are not able to see him.”

Showing the Expounder (4): Seeking by the Power of Samādhi and Still Not Seeing · The Simile of the Conjured Form Within the Conjuring

At that time the bodhisattva Universal Eye, having heard the Tathāgata expound the pure merit of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, straightway obtained ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas of samādhis; and by the power of those samādhis he observed everywhere once more, thirsting to see the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, and still was not able to see him. The rest of all the hosts of bodhisattvas likewise did not see him.

Then the bodhisattva Universal Eye rose from his samādhi and addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! I have entered ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas of samādhis and sought to see Samantabhadra, and in the end have not gained it; his body and the deeds of his body, his speech and the deeds of his speech, his mind and the deeds of his mind, his seat and his dwelling place — none of these can be seen at all.”

The Buddha said: “So it is, so it is! Good sons! You should know that all of this is by the power of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s abiding in inconceivable liberation.

“Universal Eye! What do you think? Is there anyone who can say where the manifold conjured forms within a conjuring of letters dwell?”

Universal Eye answered, saying: “There is not.”

The Buddha said: “Universal Eye! If the conjured form within a conjuring cannot be spoken of, how much less the secret object of the body, the secret object of the speech, and the secret object of the mind of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra — how could one enter therein and see therein!

“Why is this so? The object of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra is very deep, inconceivable, without measure, and already past measure. To raise the essential of it: the bodhisattva Samantabhadra enters the Dharma realm universally by a vajra wisdom; within all worlds he does not travel and does not dwell; he knows that the bodies of all sentient beings are, just as they are, not bodies; there is neither going nor coming for him; he has obtained the spiritual penetration of mastery that has no cutting off and no differentiation; he has nothing he depends upon and nothing he contrives; there is no stirring or turning in him, and he reaches to the ultimate bound of the Dharma realm.

“Good sons! Suppose a person is able to see the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, or gains to serve him, or gains to hear his name, or has any thought of him, or has any recollection of him, or gives rise to faith and understanding, or diligently observes him, or has only begun to turn toward him, or is at this moment seeking for him, or raises up a vow — so long as it is unbroken and continuous, all of them will gain benefit, and there is not one that passes in vain.”

Showing the Expounder (5): Teaching How Seeing Arises — the Tathāgata Teaches Three Minds

At that time Universal Eye and all the hosts of bodhisattvas gave rise in their minds to a thirst for the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, wishing that they might look upon him and meet him, and thus they spoke: “Homage to all the buddhas! Homage to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra!” Thus they called out three times, and bowed their heads to the ground in reverence.

At that time the Buddha told the bodhisattva Universal Eye and the whole assembly, saying: “Sons of the Buddha! You should pay reverence to Samantabhadra once again and make your request with earnestness; and again you should with single-minded sincerity observe the ten directions, and contemplate the body of Samantabhadra as appearing before you. Think in this way, throughout the whole Dharma realm; with a deep mind have faith and understanding; turn away from all things in weariness; vow to be of one and the same practice and vow with Samantabhadra: to enter the true Dharma that is not two, to have your body appear universally within all worlds, to know entirely the differences among the faculties of sentient beings, and to gather together the path of Samantabhadra in every place. If you are able to raise up such great vows as these, then you shall gain the sight of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.”

Then Universal Eye, having heard these words of the Buddha, together with the bodhisattvas bowed his head to the ground and made request that they might gain the sight of the great being Samantabhadra.

Showing the Expounder (6): Samantabhadra Manifests His Body

At that time the bodhisattva Samantabhadra straightway, by the spiritual power of liberation, manifested a form-body for them according to what each was fit to see, causing all those hosts of bodhisattvas to see Samantabhadra drawing near to the Tathāgata and sitting upon a lotus seat within this whole host of bodhisattvas; and they saw him too in all the other worlds, at the place of every buddha, coming from thence one after another in succession; and they saw him too at the place of all those buddhas expounding all the practices of the bodhisattvas, opening up and showing the path of the knowledge of omniscience, setting forth clearly all the spiritual penetrations of the bodhisattvas, distinguishing all the awesome virtue of the bodhisattvas, and manifesting all the buddhas of the three times.

Then the bodhisattva Universal Eye and all the hosts of bodhisattvas, seeing this transformation, leapt up in their minds and gave rise to great gladness, and there was not one of them who did not bow his head to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, giving rise in his mind to reverence, just as though he were seeing all the buddhas of the ten directions.

Showing the Expounder (7): The Auspicious Signs Appear and the Benefit Is Accomplished

Then, by the great awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, and by the power of the faith and understanding of the bodhisattvas and the power of the original vow of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, there rained down of itself ten thousand kinds of cloud. Namely: manifold flower clouds, manifold garland clouds, manifold incense clouds, manifold powdered-incense clouds (powdered incense is incense ground into powder), manifold canopy clouds, manifold robe clouds, manifold clouds of adorning gear, manifold clouds of rare jewels, manifold clouds of burning incense, and manifold clouds of silks.

Worlds beyond speaking quaked in six ways; the music of the heavens sounded, and its sound was heard afar into worlds beyond speaking; a great light was sent forth, and its radiance shone universally upon worlds beyond speaking, causing the suffering of the three evil destinies to be wholly removed, purifying and adorning worlds beyond speaking, causing bodhisattvas beyond speaking to enter the practice of Samantabhadra, causing bodhisattvas beyond speaking to accomplish the practice of Samantabhadra, causing bodhisattvas beyond speaking to bring the practices and vows of Samantabhadra to complete fullness and to accomplish unsurpassed perfect awakening.

Showing the Expounder (8): Universal Eye Praises His Virtue · The Tathāgata Confirms and Restates It

At that time the bodhisattva Universal Eye addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! The bodhisattva Samantabhadra is one who abides in great awesome virtue, one who abides in the peerless, one who abides in that beyond which none passes, one who abides in non-retrogression, one who abides in evenness, one who abides in the indestructible, one who abides in all differentiated dharmas, one who abides in all undifferentiated dharmas, one who abides in the dwelling place of the skillful minds of all sentient beings, one who abides in the samādhi of mastery and liberation in all dharmas.”

The Buddha said: “So it is, so it is! Universal Eye! It is just as you have said. The bodhisattva Samantabhadra has asaṃkhyeyas of pure merit, namely: the merit of peerless adornment, the merit of measureless jewels, the merit of the inconceivable sea, the merit of measureless marks, the merit of boundless clouds, the merit that is boundless and beyond all praising, the merit of the inexhaustible Dharma, the merit beyond speaking, the merit of all buddhas, and the merit that extolling and praising cannot exhaust.”

The Main Portion (1): The Tathāgata Entrusts Samantabhadra · Raising the Benefit and Bidding Him Expound

At that time the Tathāgata told the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, saying:

“Samantabhadra! You should, for Universal Eye and for the hosts of bodhisattvas in this assembly, expound the ten samādhis, causing them to gain skillful entry and to fulfill all the practices and vows of Samantabhadra. For it is because the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas proclaim these ten great samādhis that bodhisattvas of the past have already gained deliverance, that bodhisattvas of the present now gain deliverance, and that bodhisattvas of the future shall gain deliverance.

The Main Portion (2): The Listing of the Names of the Ten Great Samādhis

“Which ten? The first is the great samādhi of universal light; the second is the great samādhi of wondrous light; the third is the great samādhi of going in succession to the buddha-lands everywhere; the fourth is the great samādhi of the practice of the pure and deep mind; the fifth is the great samādhi of the treasury of the adornments of the past that are known; the sixth is the great samādhi of the treasury of the light of knowledge; the seventh is the great samādhi of knowing the buddha-adornments of all worlds; the eighth is the great samādhi of the differentiated bodies of sentient beings; the ninth is the great samādhi of mastery in the Dharma realm; the tenth is the great samādhi of the unobstructed wheel.

The Main Portion (3): Praising the Surpassing Virtue of These Concentrations — with Respect to the Person · to the Cultivation · to the Dharma

“These ten great samādhis are such that only the great bodhisattvas are able to enter them skillfully; and all the buddhas of past, future, and present have expounded them, shall expound them, and are expounding them.

“If bodhisattvas love and revere them and cultivate them without slackening, then they will be able to accomplish them. Such a person as this is then named a buddha, is named a Tathāgata, and is also named one who has obtained the ten powers, is also named a guide, is also named a great guide, is also named omniscience, is also named all-seeing, is also named one who abides unobstructed, is also named one who has reached through to every object, is also named one who has mastery in all dharmas.

“This bodhisattva enters universally into all worlds, and yet is attached to no world; he enters universally into all realms of sentient beings, and yet grasps at no sentient being; he enters universally into all bodies, and yet is hindered by no body; he enters universally into the whole Dharma realm, and yet knows that the Dharma realm has no bound. He draws near to all the buddhas of the three times, sees clearly the dharmas of all the buddhas, expounds skillfully all letters, reaches through to all provisional names, accomplishes the pure path of all bodhisattvas, and abides in the differentiated practice of all bodhisattvas. Within a single thought he universally obtains the knowledge of all three times, universally knows the dharmas of all three times, universally proclaims the teachings of all the buddhas, and universally turns all the wheels of non-retrogression; and in each and every one of the past, future, and present he universally realizes all the paths of awakening; and within each and every one of these awakenings he universally knows all that the buddhas have expounded.

“This is the gate of the marks of the dharmas of the bodhisattvas; it is the gate of the awakened knowing of the bodhisattvas; it is the gate of the unvanquished banner of the knowledge of all modes; it is the gate of all the practices and vows of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra; it is the gate of the fierce and swift spiritual penetrations and vows; it is the gate of all the all-holding and eloquence; it is the gate of the differences among all the dharmas of the three times; it is the gate of the manifesting of all the buddhas; it is the gate that establishes all sentient beings by Sarvajñā (that is, omniscience); it is the gate that purifies and adorns all worlds by the spiritual power of a buddha.

The Main Portion (4): Praising with Respect to Realization · Concluding Exhortation to Expound

“If a bodhisattva enters this samādhi, he obtains the power of the Dharma realm, and it has no exhausting; he obtains the course of empty space, and it has no obstruction; he obtains the station of a Dharma king with measureless mastery, just as in the world one is consecrated and invested with office. He obtains boundless knowledge and reaches through to all things; he obtains vast power, complete in ten ways; he accomplishes the mind without contention and enters the limit of quiescence; he is greatly compassionate and without fear, like a lion; he becomes a hero of wisdom and kindles the bright lamp of the true Dharma; the praising of all his merit cannot be exhausted, and the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are not able to conceive of it.

“He obtains the knowledge of the Dharma realm and abides in the limit that does not move, and yet he can expound in manifold ways in accord with the customs of the world; he abides in the markless, and yet skillfully enters the marks of dharmas; he obtains the treasury of the purity of self-nature and is born within the pure house of a Tathāgata; he opens up skillfully the manifold differentiated gates of Dharma, and yet by wisdom knows that there is nothing there at all; he knows the season well, and constantly gives the gift of Dharma to awaken all beings, and is named a knowing one; he gathers in sentient beings universally and causes them all to become pure; by the knowledge of skillful means he manifests the accomplishing of the path of a buddha, and yet ever cultivates the practice of a bodhisattva without cutting it off; he enters the object of the skillful means of omniscience and manifests manifold vast spiritual penetrations.

“Therefore, Samantabhadra! You should now distinguish and expound at length the ten great samādhis of all bodhisattvas, for the assembly of this gathering all wish to hear them.”

The Portion of the Exposition (Beginning): Samantabhadra Receives the Charge

At that time the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, receiving the intent of the Tathāgata, observed Universal Eye and the hosts of bodhisattvas, and told them, saying —

From beginning to end this passage is spoken by Samantabhadra Bodhisattva alone, addressing Universal Eye and the whole assembly of bodhisattvas; “Sons of the Buddha” is a form of address, not a change of speaker.

The Opening Question: What Is a Bodhisattva's Samādhi of Universal Light

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the samādhi of universal light of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva (a great bodhisattva who has given rise to the great aspiration)?

The Inexhaustibility of Wisdom: The Ten Kinds of Inexhaustible Dharmas

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of inexhaustible dharmas (the objects that are known have no end, and therefore the wisdom that knows them has no end either). What are the ten? They are these: the wisdom that knows how the buddhas appear in the world is inexhaustible; the wisdom that knows the manifold transformations of sentient beings is inexhaustible; the wisdom that knows the worlds to be like reflected images is inexhaustible; the wisdom that enters deeply into the Dharma realm (the whole body of all dharmas) is inexhaustible; the wisdom that is skilled in gathering in bodhisattvas is inexhaustible; the wisdom that keeps bodhisattvas from turning back is inexhaustible; the wisdom that is skilled in observing the meaning of all dharmas is inexhaustible; the wisdom that is skilled in holding the strength of the mind is inexhaustible; the wisdom that abides in the vast mind of awakening is inexhaustible; the wisdom that abides in all the dharmas of the buddhas and in the power of the vow of omniscience is inexhaustible. Sons of the Buddha! These are what are called the ten kinds of inexhaustible dharmas of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva.

The Boundlessness of Mind: The Ten Kinds of Boundless Mind

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives rise to ten kinds of boundless mind (the objects he faces are boundless, and so the mind he gives rise to is boundless as well). What are the ten? They are these: he gives rise to the boundless mind that would liberate all sentient beings; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would serve all the buddhas; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would make offerings to all the buddhas; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would see all the buddhas everywhere; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would receive and hold all the dharmas of the buddhas without forgetting them; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would display the measureless spiritual transformations of all the buddhas; he gives rise to the boundless mind that, for the sake of gaining the power of a buddha, would not abandon any of the practices of awakening; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would enter everywhere into the subtle objects of omniscience and expound all the dharmas of the buddhas; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would enter everywhere into the inconceivable and vast objects of a buddha; he gives rise to the boundless mind that takes deep delight in the eloquence of a buddha and receives the dharmas of the buddhas; he gives rise to the boundless mind that would display bodies of every kind of mastery and enter into the assemblies at the seats of awakening of all the tathāgatas. These are the ten.

Mastery in Concentration: The Ten Kinds of Wisdom of Differentiation in Entering Samādhi

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of wisdom of differentiation in entering samādhi (it is one and the same concentration, and yet the place of entering and the place of rising may differ, and so it is called differentiation). What are the ten? They are these: he enters concentration in the east and rises from it in the west; he enters concentration in the west and rises from it in the east; he enters concentration in the south and rises from it in the north; he enters concentration in the north and rises from it in the south; he enters concentration in the northeast and rises from it in the southwest; he enters concentration in the southwest and rises from it in the northeast; he enters concentration in the northwest and rises from it in the southeast; he enters concentration in the southeast and rises from it in the northwest; he enters concentration in the lower quarter and rises from it in the upper; he enters concentration in the upper quarter and rises from it in the lower. These are the ten.

The Skillful Manifesting by Wisdom (1): The Exposition in Terms of Dharma — Body upon Body upon the Lotus Flower

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of skillful wisdom in entering the great samādhi. What are the ten? Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva takes a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system (one great world converted by one buddha) for a single lotus flower, and manifests a body that fills this lotus flower, sitting there cross-legged; and within that body he manifests again a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system, and in it there are a hundred koṭis of sets of four continents (the four great continents of one small world), and within each set of four continents he manifests again a hundred koṭis of bodies, and each one of those bodies enters a hundred koṭis of a hundred koṭis of three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems, and within each set of four continents of those worlds he manifests a hundred koṭis of a hundred koṭis of bodhisattvas in their practice, and the practice of each one of those bodhisattvas gives birth to a hundred koṭis of a hundred koṭis of decisive understandings, and each one of those decisive understandings makes a hundred koṭis of a hundred koṭis of capacities of faculties come to fullness, and each one of those capacities of faculties accomplishes a hundred koṭis of a hundred koṭis of deeds of a bodhisattva that do not turn back. And yet the bodies so manifested are neither one nor many, and in entering concentration and in rising from it there is not the least confusion.

The Skillful Manifesting by Wisdom (2): The Exposition by Simile — The Asura King Transforms His Body and His Own Body Is Not Spoiled

“Sons of the Buddha! It is like Rāhu, king of the asuras: his own body is seven hundred yojanas long (a measure of distance), and yet the form he conjures is a hundred and sixty-eight thousand yojanas long; in the midst of the great sea he shows half of that body, and it is exactly as high as Mount Sumeru. Sons of the Buddha! Although that asura king transforms his body until it is a hundred and sixty-eight thousand yojanas long, still he has never spoiled the characteristics of his own body: the aggregates, the elements, and the sense-bases are all just as they were, his mind is not confused, he does not give rise toward the conjured body to the thought ‘this is someone else,’ nor does he give rise toward his own body to the thought ‘this is not me’; the body he was originally born into constantly receives every kind of pleasure, while the conjured body constantly displays every kind of masterful spiritual power and might.

The Skillful Manifesting by Wisdom (3): Setting the Ascendant off against the Inferior — If Even an Asura Can Do It, How Much More a Bodhisattva

“Sons of the Buddha! The asura king still has greed, anger, and delusion, and he is furnished with arrogance in every form, and yet he can transform and manifest his body in this way; how much more the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is able to understand deeply that the dharmas of mind are like a conjuring trick, that all the worlds are altogether like a dream, that the arising of all the buddhas in the world is like a reflected image, that all the worlds are like something conjured up, that all words and sounds are altogether like an echo; who can see the dharma as it truly is, and takes the dharma as it truly is for his body, and knows that all dharmas are pure in their original nature, and understands that neither body nor mind has any substantial reality; whose body abides everywhere in measureless objects, and who with the vast light of a buddha's wisdom purely cultivates all the practices of awakening!

The Transcendence of Contemplation (1): Abiding in This Samādhi, He Passes beyond the World

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in this samādhi passes beyond the world and departs from the world; there is nothing that can confuse him, nothing that can screen him off and rob him of his light.

The Transcendence of Contemplation (2): The Exposition by Simile — The Monk's Contemplation of Impurity

“Sons of the Buddha! It is like a monk who contemplates his own body within, abiding in the contemplation of impurity (the gate of contemplating the manifold impurity of the body), and who by close examination sees that his body is wholly impure.

The Transcendence of Contemplation (3): The Joining — He Contemplates the Dharma-Body, Sees Clearly, and Is Attached to Nothing

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is also like this: abiding in this samādhi he contemplates the dharma-body, and sees all the worlds entering everywhere into his body, and therein sees plainly and clearly all the worlds and the dharmas of the world, while toward all the worlds and the dharmas of the world he has not the least attachment.

The Concluding Name: The Skillful Wisdom of the First, the Great Samādhi of Universal Light

“Sons of the Buddha! This is what is called the skillful wisdom of the first, the great samādhi of universal light of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva.”

The Opening Question: What Is Called the Samādhi of Wondrous Light

“Sons of the Buddha! What is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s samādhi of wondrous light?

Dharma One: The Unfolding Entry of the Cloud of Bodies — One Body Sends Out Light That Shines Everywhere, Layer upon Layer

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva is able to enter three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems as many as the dust-motes of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and within each one of those worlds he displays bodies as many as the dust-motes of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and each one of those bodies sends out rays of light as many as the dust-motes of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and each one of those rays of light displays colors as many as the dust-motes of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and each one of those colors illumines worlds as many as the dust-motes of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; and within each one of those worlds he tames sentient beings as many as the dust-motes of a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system.

Dharma Two: Body and Knowing Enter Together — The Seven Gates of the Worlds, and the Bodhisattva Knows and Enters Them All

“These many worlds are of many kinds and are not the same, and the bodhisattva knows them all — that is to say: the defilement of a world, the purity of a world, that upon which a world depends as its cause, the setting up of a world, the dwelling together within a world, the light and color of a world, the coming and the going of a world — all such things as these the bodhisattva knows in full, and into them all the bodhisattva likewise enters.

Dharma Three: The Furling Entry — The Worlds Come and Enter into His Body and Are Not Thrown into Confusion

“These many worlds likewise all come and enter into the bodhisattva’s body, and yet these many worlds are not thrown into confusion, nor are the many kinds of dharmas ruined.

Simile One: The Light-Shadows upon the Jeweled Mountains — The Shadows of the Sun Display One Another, Neither Existent nor Nonexistent

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the sun rises and circles Mount Sumeru and shines upon the seven jeweled mountains: upon those seven jeweled mountains and between the jeweled mountains alike there are light-shadows displayed with full distinctness; and of all the shadows of the sun that are upon those seven jeweled mountains there is not one that is not displayed within the shadows between the mountains; and all the shadows of the sun that are between those seven mountains are likewise displayed within the shadows upon the mountains — thus, turn upon turn, they shine upon one another, and each displays the shadow of the other.

“And so it may be said that the shadow of the sun issues out from the seven jeweled mountains, or that the shadow of the sun issues out from between the seven mountains, or that the shadow of the sun enters the seven jeweled mountains, or that the shadow of the sun enters between the seven mountains; and yet it is only that these shadows of the sun shine upon and display one another, and no limit to them is to be found. Their substance-nature is not existent, and neither is it nonexistent; they do not abide upon the mountains, nor do they depart from the mountains; they do not abide within the water, nor do they depart from the water.

The Joining to the Dharma: Neither Ruining nor Abiding, and Therefore Able to Enter One Another

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is just so: abiding within this vast samādhi of wondrous light, he does not ruin the marks by which the world is set up, nor does he annihilate the own-nature of the dharmas of the world; he does not abide within the worlds, nor does he abide outside the worlds; as regards all the worlds he makes no discrimination, and yet he does not ruin the marks of the worlds; he contemplates all dharmas as one mark and as markless, and yet he does not ruin the own-nature of the dharmas; he abides in the nature of suchness and never consents to forsake it.

Simile Two (the General Simile): The Illusionist’s Skill — Years Displayed within a Single Instant

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a man of illusion, well versed in the art of illusion, stands at the crossing where four roads meet and performs the many illusions: within a single day, in the space of a single brief instant, he may display one daytime, or display one night, or again display seven days and seven nights, half a month, a month, a year, a hundred years; and according to whatever he wishes he is able to display cities and villages, springs and streams and rivers and seas, sun and moon and clouds and rain, palaces and dwelling houses — of all such things as these there is not one that is not complete.

“He does not, because what he displays has passed through years, thereby ruin the root single day and single hour; nor does he, because the root time is exceedingly brief, thereby ruin the days and months and years that he displays — the marks of the illusion are displayed with full distinctness, and yet that root day is not annihilated.

The Joining to the Dharma: Displaying Numberless Worlds Entering into One World

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is just so: entering this vast samādhi of wondrous light, he displays asaṃkhyeya (that is, numberless) worlds entering into one world.

“Each one of those asaṃkhyeya worlds has earth, water, fire, and wind; has great seas, the many mountains, cities, villages, groves and gardens, and dwelling houses; has the palaces of the gods, the palaces of the dragons, the palaces of the yakṣas, the palaces of the gandharvas, the palaces of the asuras, the palaces of the garuḍas, the palaces of the kiṃnaras, and the palaces of the mahoragas — with adornments of every kind complete. There is the realm of desire, the realm of form, and the formless realm; there are small-thousand world-systems and great-thousand world-systems; there is the fruit and recompense of the deeds performed; there is the flowing on of dying here and being born there.

“All the divisions of time that the worlds have — a brief instant, day and night, half a month, a month, a year, a hundred years, and the kalpa of formation and the kalpa of destruction; there are lands defiled, lands pure, lands vast, and lands narrow. Within them the buddhas arise in the world, their buddha-fields pure, the great assemblies of bodhisattvas gathered and encircling them round about, their spiritual penetrations at their ease, teaching and transforming sentient beings.

“The quarters and places where those lands lie are filled entirely with measureless multitudes of people; sentient beings of many kinds, differing in shape and differing in destiny, measureless and boundless and beyond conceiving; and measureless surpassing and wondrous jewels born of the power of the pure deeds of the past, the future, and the present — all such things as these he displays entirely, entering into one world.

Knowing That Does Not Grow Dim: The Many Do Not Ruin the One, the One Does Not Ruin the Many

“The bodhisattva sees all of this everywhere with full distinctness, enters it everywhere and contemplates it everywhere, thinks upon it everywhere and penetrates it everywhere, and with knowing that has no exhausting he fully knows it all as it truly is; he does not, because the worlds there are many, thereby ruin this one world; nor does he, because the world here is but one, thereby ruin those many worlds.

The Nine Clauses of “This Is Called”: Why the Mutual Entering Is Without Confusion

“Why is it that he is able to be thus? Because the bodhisattva knows that all dharmas are without self, this is called: entering the dharma of there being no living being and the dharma of there being no doer; because the bodhisattva diligently cultivates in all the worlds the dharma of no contention, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of there being no self; because the bodhisattva sees as it truly is that all bodies arise from the many conditions, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of there being no sentient being; because the bodhisattva knows that all dharmas of arising and ceasing are born from causes, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of there being no pudgala (no self that takes up the destinies); because the bodhisattva knows that the root nature of the dharmas is equal, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of there being no mind-born one and no māṇava (no divine self such as the outer paths posit); because the bodhisattva knows that the root nature of all dharmas is still, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of stillness; because the bodhisattva knows that all dharmas are one mark, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of no discrimination; because the bodhisattva knows that the Dharma realm has no dharmas of many kinds and differences, this is called: one who abides in the inconceivable dharma; because the bodhisattva diligently cultivates all skillful means and is good at taming sentient beings, this is called: one who abides in the dharma of great compassion.

Here and There Are Not Different: Not Forsaking This Place, He Sees Himself There

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva, being thus able to take asaṃkhyeya worlds into one world, knows the many kinds and differences of numberless sentient beings, sees numberless bodhisattvas each giving rise to the mind and setting out, and beholds numberless buddhas arising in place after place; and the Dharma expounded by those Tathāgatas those bodhisattvas are all able to receive, and he sees also his own body cultivating the practice among them.

“And yet he does not forsake this place and see himself there, nor does he forsake that place and see himself here — the body there and the body here are not different. Because he has entered into the Dharma realm, he contemplates diligently and without rest, because he does not forsake knowing and does not fall back.

The Particular Simile: The Conjured Ground Does Not Ruin the Root Ground

“It is just as when there is a man of illusion who, at whatever place he may be, performs the many arts of illusion: he does not, because of the conjured ground, ruin the root ground, nor, because of the conjured sun, ruin the root sun. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is just so: where there is no land he displays that there is a land, and where there is a land he displays that there is none; where there are sentient beings he displays that there are none, and where there are no sentient beings he displays that there are; where there is no form he displays form, and where there is form he displays that there is no form — the first does not throw the latter into confusion, and the latter likewise does not throw the first into confusion.

Illusion Turning upon Illusion: Because He Knows Dharmas Are Illusory, He Knows Knowing Is Illusory

“The bodhisattva knows that the dharmas of all the worlds are likewise all of them thus, the same as illusion. Because he knows that dharmas are illusory, he knows that knowing is illusory; because he knows that knowing is illusory, he knows that deeds are illusory; and having known that knowing is illusory and that deeds are illusory, he gives rise to the knowing of illusion and contemplates all deeds therewith.

Space and the World Are No Different

“It is as with a man of illusion in the world, who does not conjure his illusion outside the place where he stands, nor has any place apart, outside the illusion. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is just so: he does not enter the world from outside space, nor does he enter space from outside the world. Why is this? Because space and the world are no different; and therefore to abide in the world is likewise to abide in space.

In a Single Thought He Sees Formation and Destruction; In a Single Thought He Displays Numberless Kalpas

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, within space, is able to see and able to cultivate the deeds of every kind of differing and beautiful adornment of all the worlds; in a single thought he is able to know in full the forming and the destroying of numberless worlds, and to know also the order, before and after, in which the kalpas follow one upon another; and he is able within a single thought to display numberless kalpas, and yet he does not let that single thought grow vast.

Abiding at the Bourn of Illusion: No Different from Illusion, the Mind Without Limit

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva gains the inconceivable knowing of illusion that is liberation, and arrives at the further shore; he abides at the bourn of illusion and enters into the illusory number of the world, thinking upon all dharmas as being wholly like illusion; he does not go against the illusory world, he exhausts the knowing of illusion, and he fully knows that the three times — past, present, and future — are no different from illusion; with settled resolve he penetrates it, and his mind is without limit.

The Concluding Naming: The Illusionist Is Not Deluded, and His Mind Does Not Reckon a Self

“It is just as the Tathāgatas abide in the knowing that is like illusion, their minds equal and one; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is just so, knowing that the worlds are wholly like illusion, and in all places without attachment and without the thought of anything as his own.

“It is as with that man of illusion who performs the many illusions: although he does not dwell together with those illusions, yet as regards those illusions he is not deluded; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is just so, knowing all dharmas and arriving at the further shore, in his mind not reckoning that it is ‘I’ who am able to enter into the dharmas, nor falling into error as regards the dharmas.

“This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s knowing of skillful means in the second, the great samādhi of wondrous light.”

The Question Raised: What Is Called the Samādhi of the Spiritual Penetration That Travels in Due Order to All Buddha-Lands

“Sons of the Buddha! What is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s (the great bodhisattva’s) ‘samādhi of the spiritual penetration that travels in due order to all buddha-lands’?

Dharma One: Entering Samādhi Throughout the Lands — He Passes Beyond Numberless Worlds and in All Those Worlds Enters This Samādhi

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva passes beyond numberless worlds to the east, and then passes beyond as many worlds again as the dust motes of those worlds, and in all those worlds he enters this samādhi (this concentration).

Dharma Two: The Sequence of the Times of Entering — From a Kṣaṇa on to Unspeakably Unspeakable Kalpas

“Or he enters in a kṣaṇa (the briefest span of a single thought), or he enters in an instant (a passing moment), or he enters continuously without a break; or he enters in the first part of a day (the morning), or he enters in the middle part of a day (midday), or he enters in the latter part of a day (the afternoon); or he enters in the first part of a night (the first watch), or he enters in the middle part of a night (the middle watch), or he enters in the latter part of a night (the last watch); or he enters for one day, or he enters for five days, or he enters for half a month, or he enters for a month, or he enters for a year, or he enters for a hundred years, or he enters for a thousand years, or he enters for a hundred thousand years, or he enters for a koṭi of years, or he enters for a hundred thousand koṭis of years, or he enters for a hundred thousand nayutas of koṭis of years (a nayuta being the name of an exceedingly great number); or he enters for a kalpa (a kalpa being an exceedingly long measure of time), or he enters for a hundred kalpas, or he enters for a hundred thousand kalpas, or he enters for a hundred thousand nayutas of koṭis of kalpas, or he enters for numberless kalpas, or he enters for measureless kalpas, or he enters for boundless kalpas, or he enters for unequalled kalpas, or he enters for uncountable kalpas, or he enters for unnameable kalpas, or he enters for unthinkable kalpas, or he enters for immeasurable kalpas, or he enters for unspeakable kalpas, or he enters for unspeakably unspeakable kalpas.

Dharma Three: The General Summing Up of the Many Gates — Whether Long or Short, Whether by Dharma or by Time, They Differ in Every Kind of Way

“Whether long or short, whether spoken of by dharma or spoken of by time, in every kind of way they differ.

Dharma Four: The Mind Accords with the Substance of the Samādhi — He Gives Rise to No Discrimination, His Mind Is Without Defiling Attachment, He Makes Neither Two nor Not-Two

“And toward all of this the bodhisattva gives rise to no discrimination, and in his mind there is no defiling attachment; he does not make them into ‘two,’ nor does he make them into ‘not-two’; he does not make them into ‘the universal’ (all taken as one), nor does he make them into ‘the particular’ (each taken as separate).

Dharma Five: Not Abandoning the Rising of the Penetration — Having Left Discrimination Behind, He Yet Rises from the Samādhi by Skillful Means of Spiritual Penetration

“Though he has left discrimination such as this behind, he still rises out of the samādhi by skillful means of spiritual penetration, and toward all dharmas he neither forgets nor loses, on to the very last.

The Simile: The Sun God-Son Travels His Round and Shines, Day Does Not Arise and Night Does Not Cease

“It is as when the sun god-son (the god of the orb of the sun) travels his round everywhere and shines upon all below, and neither day nor night stands still; when the sun has come out it is called day, and when the sun has gone down it is called night — and yet day has never arisen, and night has never ceased.

The Joining: Entering the Samādhi He Sees Clearly Numberless Worlds, So It Is Here Too

“When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters this samādhi of spiritual penetration in numberless worlds, and having entered the samādhi sees plainly and clearly that many numberless worlds — so it is here too.

The Concluding Name: The Skillful Wisdom of the Third Great Samādhi of the Spiritual Penetration That Travels in Due Order to All Buddha-Lands

“Sons of the Buddha! This is what is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s skillful wisdom of the third ‘great samādhi of the spiritual penetration that travels in due order to all buddha-lands.’”

The Question Raised: What Is Called the Samādhi of the Practice of the Pure Deep Mind

“Sons of the Buddha! What is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s (the great bodhisattva’s) ‘samādhi of the practice of the pure deep mind’?

Raising What Is Inward: He Knows the Bodies of the Buddhas to Be Equal in Number to Sentient Beings, and the Buddhas He Sees Exceed the Dust Motes of Asaṃkhyeya Worlds

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows the bodies of the buddhas, and their number is equal to the number of all sentient beings; and the measureless buddhas he sees exceed in number the dust motes into which asaṃkhyeya (a name for an exceedingly great number) worlds have been ground.

Offering by Outward Things: At the Place of Each and Every Tathāgata He Makes Offering with All Manner of Supremely Wondrous Things

“At the place of each and every one of those tathāgatas he makes offering with all manner of wondrous incense, he makes offering with all manner of wondrous flowers, he makes offering with jeweled canopies of all kinds as vast as asaṃkhyeya buddha-lands (the lands of the buddhas), he makes offering with all the supremely wondrous articles of adornment that surpass all worlds, he makes offering by scattering all manner of precious jewels, he makes offering by adorning with all manner of articles of adornment the places where the buddhas walk, he makes offering with all the numberless and supremely wondrous maṇi treasuries (maṇi is the name of a precious jewel), he makes offering with food and drink of surpassing savor that flows forth from the spiritual power of the buddhas and exceeds that of the gods; and as for all the manner of supremely wondrous articles of offering in all the buddha-lands, he is able by his spiritual power to gather them all in everywhere and make offering of them.

Offering by the Three Actions: He Is Reverent and Pays Homage, Asks After the Buddha-Dharma, and Praises the Evenness of the Buddhas

“At the place of each and every one of those tathāgatas he is reverent and pays honor, bows his head in homage, casts his whole body upon the ground, asks after the Buddha-dharma, praises the evenness of the buddhas, extols the vast merit of the buddhas, enters into the great compassion into which the buddhas enter, and gains that even and unobstructed power of a buddha.

The Deep Mind: In a Single Thought He Diligently Seeks the Wondrous Dharma, and Yet of the Marks of Appearing and of Nirvāṇa Nothing Whatever Is Obtained

“In the space of a single thought, at the place of every buddha he diligently seeks the wondrous Dharma; and yet as to marks such as these — the buddhas appearing in the world and entering parinirvāṇa (the passing away of a buddha) — there is nothing whatever that he obtains.

The First Simile: As with a Scattered and Stirring Mind, the Mind Arises and Ceases and It Does Not Know Its Object

“It is as with a scattered and stirring mind that discerns the object it takes as its support: when the mind arises it does not know upon what object it has arisen, and when the mind ceases it does not know upon what object it has ceased — so it is with this bodhisattva-mahāsattva also: he never discriminates the marks of the Tathāgata’s appearing in the world and of his nirvāṇa.

The Second Simile: As with the Heat-Haze in the Midday Sun, Seen from Afar It Looks Like Water, and Drawn Near It Is Not There

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the heat-haze in the midday sun (the vapors of the ground stirring under the sunlight, which from a distance look like water): it is not born of the clouds, it is not born of a pool, it does not rest upon the land, it does not abide in water; it is not existent, it is not nonexistent; it is not good, it is not evil; it is not clear, it is not turbid; it will not serve to be drunk or to rinse the mouth with, nor can it be sullied by any filth; it does not have substance, it does not lack substance; it does not have taste, it does not lack taste — only because of the manifold causes and conditions does it display the mark of water and become discerned by consciousness; seen from far off it looks like water and the conception of water arises, and drawn near it is not there, and the conception of water goes out of itself.

The Joining of the Simile: The Marks of the Tathāgata’s Appearing and of His Nirvāṇa Are Not Obtained; Having Marks and Being Without Marks Are Alike Discriminations of the Mind That Forms Conceptions

“So it is with this bodhisattva-mahāsattva also: he does not obtain the marks of the Tathāgata’s appearing in the world and of his nirvāṇa. The buddhas’ having marks and likewise their being without marks are alike what is discriminated by the mind that raises conceptions.

The Naming: This Samādhi Is Named the Practice of the Pure Deep Mind; Having Entered It He Rises from It, and Having Risen from It He Does Not Lose It

“Sons of the Buddha! This samādhi (this concentration) is named just this: ‘the practice of the pure deep mind.’ As for this samādhi, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, having entered it, is able to rise from it, and having risen from it, what he has gained is not lost.

The Third Simile: It Is as When a Person Awakens Out of Sleep and Recalls the Things He Dreamed Without Losing Them

“It is as when a person awakens out of sleep and recalls the things of his dream: though at waking the realms within the dream are no longer there, he is still able to call them to mind, and in his mind they have never been forgotten and lost.

The Joining of the Simile: Entering the Samādhi He Sees the Buddhas and Hears the Dharma, and Rising from the Concentration He Holds It in Memory Without Forgetting

“So it is with the bodhisattva-mahāsattva also: he enters the samādhi, sees the buddhas and hears the Dharma, and rising from the concentration, of what he holds in memory not one thing is forgotten.

Benefiting Others: With This Dharma He Opens Up and Makes Clear to the Assemblies, Adorns the Buddha-Lands, and Reaches Clear Comprehension of the Sense and Bent

“And further, with this Dharma he opens up and makes clear to the great assemblies gathered in every place of awakening, he adorns the lands of all the buddhas, he comes to comprehend clearly the measureless senses and bents of the Dharma, and all the Dharma-gates likewise become pure.

The Concluding Benefit: He Kindles the Torch of Great Wisdom, Makes the Seed of the Buddhas Grow, and His Eloquence Is Unexhausted

“He kindles the torch of great wisdom, makes the lineage-seed of the buddhas grow, is complete in being without fear, is unexhausted in eloquence, and reveals and expounds the profound treasury of the Dharma.

The Concluding Name: The Skillful Wisdom of the Fourth Great Samādhi of the Practice of the Pure Deep Mind

“This is what is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s skillful wisdom of the fourth ‘great samādhi of the practice of the pure deep mind.’”

The Question Raised: What Is Called the Samādhi of the Treasury of Knowing the Adornments of the Past

“Sons of the Buddha! What is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s (the great bodhisattva’s) ‘samādhi of the treasury of knowing the adornments of the past’?

Discerning Wisdom in Facing the Object: He Can Know the Sequence upon Sequence of the Appearing of the Buddhas of the Past

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva is able to know the appearing of the buddhas of the past — that is to say: within the sequence of kalpa upon kalpa (a kalpa being an exceedingly long measure of time) he knows the sequence of buddha-land upon buddha-land (a buddha-land being a world); within the sequence of buddha-land upon buddha-land he knows the sequence of kalpa upon kalpa; within the sequence of the kalpas he knows the sequence of the appearing of the buddhas; within the sequence of the appearing of the buddhas he knows the sequence of their preaching of the Dharma; within the sequence of the preaching of the Dharma he knows the sequence of all that the minds of sentient beings delight in; within the sequence of what the mind delights in he knows the sequence of the faculties of sentient beings (their faculties being keen or dull by nature); within the sequence of the faculties he knows the sequence of the taming (the teaching and transforming that brings them to ripeness); within the sequence of the taming he knows the sequence of the life-spans of the buddhas; within the sequence of the life-spans he knows the sequence of the number and measure of those koṭis of nayutas of years (a nayuta being the name of an exceedingly great number).

Directly Showing Forth What the Wisdom Knows: Gaining the Boundless Wisdom of Sequence, He Knows the Eleven Things of the Past

“Sons of the Buddha! Because this bodhisattva-mahāsattva has gained a wisdom of sequence thus boundless, he knows all the buddhas of the past, he knows all the buddha-lands of the past, he knows all the Dharma-gates of the past, he knows all the kalpas of the past, he knows all the dharmas of the past, he knows all the minds of the past, he knows all the understandings of the past (the many kinds of understanding), he knows all the sentient beings of the past, he knows all the afflictions of the past, he knows all the observances of the past (their rules and dignified bearing), he knows all the purity of the past.

The Naming of the Samādhi and the Time-Span That Is Known: It Is Named the Pure Treasury of the Past, and in One Thought-Moment It Can Enter Fourteen Layers of Kalpas

“Sons of the Buddha! This samādhi (this concentration) is named ‘the Pure Treasury of the Past’ — within a single thought-moment it can enter a hundred kalpas, it can enter a thousand kalpas, it can enter a hundred thousand kalpas, it can enter a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, it can enter numberless kalpas, it can enter measureless kalpas, it can enter boundless kalpas, it can enter unequalled kalpas, it can enter uncountable kalpas, it can enter unnameable kalpas, it can enter unthinkable kalpas, it can enter immeasurable kalpas, it can enter unspeakable kalpas, it can enter unspeakably unspeakable kalpas.

Showing Forth the Character of This Knowing: He Does Not Extinguish the Present, He Does Not Take the Past as Object

“Sons of the Buddha! When that bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters this samādhi, he does not extinguish the present, and neither does he take the past as the object he reaches after.

The Benefit Gained on Rising from Samādhi: In the Presence of the Tathāgata He Receives Ten Inconceivable Dharmas of Consecration

“Sons of the Buddha! When that bodhisattva-mahāsattva rises from this samādhi, in the presence of the Tathāgata he receives ten kinds of inconceivable dharmas of consecration (dharmas that succeed to a buddha’s station, as an heir succeeds by receiving consecration) — and he gains them, and he makes them pure, and he brings them to accomplishment, and he enters them, and he realizes them, and he fulfills them, and he holds them fast without losing them, and with even-mindedness he fully knows the purity of the three wheels.

Calling Forth and Listing Their Names: The Ten Dharmas of Consecration

“Which are the ten? First, his discourse does not go against the meaning; second, his preaching of the Dharma has no exhausting; third, his words of instruction are without fault; fourth, he delights in preaching without break; fifth, in his mind there is neither dread nor fear; sixth, his speech is unfailingly truthful; seventh, he is that upon which sentient beings rely; eighth, he rescues sentient beings and sets them free from the three realms (the realm of desire · the realm of form · the formless realm); ninth, his roots of goodness are the most surpassing; tenth, he tames and guides sentient beings with the wondrous Dharma.

Concluding with the Swiftness of the Gaining: Dharma · Simile · Joining

“Sons of the Buddha! These are the ten dharmas of consecration. If a bodhisattva enters this samādhi and then rises from the samādhi, he gains them with no interval between. It is just as when the kalala (at the first receiving of conception, the embryonic stage that is like thin curd) enters the womb: in a single thought-moment consciousness takes up its birth there. So it is with the bodhisattva-mahāsattva too: rising from this concentration, in the presence of the Tathāgata, in a single thought-moment he gains these ten dharmas.

The Concluding Name: The Skillful Wisdom of the Fifth Great Samādhi of the Treasury of Knowing the Adornments of the Past

“Sons of the Buddha! This is what is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s skillful wisdom of the fifth great samādhi of the treasury of knowing the adornments of the past.”

From beginning to end this passage is spoken by Samantabhadra Bodhisattva alone to the assembly of bodhisattvas seated there; “Sons of the Buddha” is a form of address, not a change of speaker.

The Question Raised: What Is the Bodhisattva’s Samādhi of the Treasury of the Light of Wisdom

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the samādhi of the treasury of the light of wisdom of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva (a great bodhisattva who has given rise to the great mind)?

Knowing All the Buddhas Together · Knowing Their Many Names: Of the Buddhas Within All the Kalpas of the Future, He Knows Every One

“Sons of the Buddha! That bodhisattva-mahāsattva, dwelling within this samādhi, is able to know all the buddhas there are within all the worlds and all the kalpas of the future; whether they have already spoken the Dharma or have not yet spoken it, whether they have already been given a prediction (a buddha declaring beforehand that someone is to become a buddha in a time to come) or have not yet been given one, their manifold names are each unlike the others — that is to say, there are numberless names, measureless names, boundless names, unequalled names, uncountable names, unnameable names, unthinkable names, immeasurable names, unspeakable names;

Knowing What They Are to Do: The Twelve Things These Buddhas Are to Do

“They are to appear in the world, they are to benefit sentient beings, they are to be kings among the dharmas, they are to raise up what a buddha is to do, they are to proclaim the benefit of cultivating merit, they are to praise the meaning of good dharmas, they are to proclaim the meaning of the bright portion (bright is pure; it points to the portion that is pure and good), they are to cleanse away and drive out the manifold evil dharmas, they are to dwell in merit and virtue, they are to reveal the truth of the supreme meaning (the principle that is ultimately real), they are to enter the station of consecration (the utmost of the bodhisattva stations, as a prince has water poured upon his crown and thereby succeeds to the kingship), they are to accomplish omniscience.

Knowing the Fullness of Their Cause and the Completeness of Their Fruit: The Ten Perfect Things

“What those Tathāgatas cultivate is perfect practice, what they give rise to is perfect vows, what they enter is perfect wisdom, what they have is a perfect assembly, they are furnished with perfect adornment, they gather perfect merit, what they awaken to is perfect Dharma, what they obtain is perfect fruit, they are fully possessed of perfect marks, they accomplish perfect awakening.

Knowing What They Now Do: From Name, Surname, and Clan to the Entering of Nirvāṇa

“The names, the surnames, and the clans of those Tathāgatas, their skillfulness in means, their spiritual penetrations and transformations, how they bring sentient beings to maturity, on to their entering parinirvāṇa (the passing away of a buddha) — all things such as these he knows, every one of them, plainly and distinctly.

Making Clear the Knowing of the Bounds: Within a Single Thought-Moment He Enters Measureless Kalpas

“This bodhisattva, within a single thought-moment, is able to enter one kalpa, a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, a hundred thousand kalpas, a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas (a nayuta being the name of an exceedingly great number); to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes into which Jambudvīpa (the southern continent of Jambu, where we ourselves are) is ground; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of the four continents (the four great continents of one small world); to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of a small-thousand world-system; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of a middling-thousand world-system; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of a great-thousand world-system; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of a buddha-land (the land that one buddha converts); to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of numberless buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of measureless buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of boundless buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of unequalled buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of uncountable buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of unnameable buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of unthinkable buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of immeasurable buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of unspeakable buddha-lands; to enter kalpas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands. Thus all the numbers of kalpas there are in all the worlds of the future he is able, by wisdom, to know clearly, every one of them.

The Benefit of Entering the Holdings: Because He Knows, His Mind Enters Further into Ten Gates of Holding

“Because he knows in this way, plainly, his mind enters further into ten gates of holding (to hold is to keep hold of and not lose; it is out of the knowing that went before that the holding here comes about). What are the ten? They are these: because he enters the holding of the Buddha, he gains the mindful protection of buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakable buddha-lands; because he enters the holding of the Dharma, he gains the light of ten kinds of dhāraṇī (total holding, which can gather up and keep in mind without loss) and inexhaustible eloquence; because he enters the holding of practice, there come forth great vows of every kind, perfect and surpassing; because he enters the holding of power, there is nothing that can screen him and nothing that can crush him down; because he enters the holding of wisdom, the buddha-dharma that he practices is without obstruction; because he enters the holding of great compassion, he turns the pure wheel of the Dharma that does not turn back; because he enters the holding of the clauses of skillfulness in differences, he turns the wheel of all letters and purifies the ground of every dharma-gate; because he enters the holding of the dharma of the lion’s taking of birth, he opens the bolt and key of the Dharma and comes out of the mire of greed and desire; because he enters the holding of the power of wisdom, he cultivates the bodhisattva practice constantly and never rests from it; because he enters the holding of the power of the good friend, he causes boundless sentient beings everywhere to gain purity; because he enters the holding of the power of non-abiding, he is able to enter unspeakably unspeakable vast kalpas; because he enters the holding of the power of the Dharma, he knows by an unobstructed wisdom of means that all dharmas are in their own nature pure.

The Benefit of Gaining Skillfulness (1): The Dharma-Portion — Eleven Kinds of Skillfulness

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in this samādhi, he can skillfully dwell for unspeakably unspeakable kalpas, he can skillfully dwell in unspeakably unspeakable lands (buddha-lands), he can skillfully know unspeakably unspeakable kinds of sentient beings, he can skillfully know the manifold differing appearances of unspeakably unspeakable sentient beings, he can skillfully know the same and the different recompenses of deeds of unspeakably unspeakable beings, he can skillfully know the unspeakably unspeakable diligence, the habit-energies of the faculties, and the manifold practices that follow one another in succession and differ each from each, he can skillfully know the unspeakably unspeakable measureless defiled and pure kinds of thinking, he can skillfully know the unspeakably unspeakable manifold meanings of the Dharma, its measureless letters, and the words in which it is expounded, he can skillfully know the unspeakably unspeakable manifold appearings of buddhas, their clans, their seasons, the marks they show, the Dharma they speak, the buddha-work they carry out, on to their entering parinirvāṇa, he can skillfully know the unspeakably unspeakable boundless gates of wisdom, he can skillfully know the unspeakably unspeakable measureless manifestations of all the spiritual penetrations.

The Benefit of Gaining Skillfulness (2): The Simile — The Sun Rises Once and the Ten Thousand Things Appear Together

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the sun rises: all that there is in the world — villages and encampments, cities and towns, palaces and halls, houses and dwellings, mountains and forests, streams and marshes, flying birds and running beasts, trees and groves, flowers and fruits, all things of every kind such as these — a man who has eyes can see them all plainly and distinctly.

The Benefit of Gaining Skillfulness (3): The Joining — The Substance-Nature Is Even, and Yet It Can Know Differentiated Appearances

“Sons of the Buddha! The light of the sun is even, without discrimination, and yet it can cause the eye to see appearances of every different kind; this great samādhi is likewise: its substance-nature is even, without discrimination, and yet it can cause the bodhisattva to know unspeakably unspeakable hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of differentiated appearances.

The Benefit of Gaining What Is Not in Vain: The Ten Things Not in Vain

“Sons of the Buddha! When this bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows plainly in this way, he can cause sentient beings to gain ten kinds of what is not in vain (not in vain means not set up for nothing and not falling away to nothing; each one bears a real benefit). What are the ten? The first is that seeing is not in vain, because it can cause sentient beings to give rise to roots of goodness; the second is that hearing is not in vain, because it can cause sentient beings to reach maturity; the third is that dwelling together is not in vain, because it can cause the minds of sentient beings to be tamed; the fourth is that rousing is not in vain, because it can cause sentient beings to act according to what is spoken and to penetrate the meaning of all dharmas; the fifth is that practice is not in vain, because it can cause boundless worlds all to gain purity; the sixth is that drawing near is not in vain, because in the presence of the Tathāgatas of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands it can cut off the doubts of unspeakably unspeakable sentient beings; the seventh is that vowing is not in vain, because, following upon the sentient beings he calls to mind, it causes them to make surpassing offerings and to accomplish great vows of every kind; the eighth is that the dharma of skillfulness is not in vain, because it can cause them all to dwell in the pure wisdom of unobstructed liberation; the ninth is that raining down the rain of Dharma is not in vain, because among unspeakably unspeakable sentient beings of differing faculties it reveals by means the practice of omniscience and causes them to dwell in the way of the buddhas; the tenth is that appearing is not in vain, because it shows forth boundless appearances and causes all sentient beings to receive its shining.

The Benefit of the Reverence and Service of the Ten Kings: The Hosts of the Kings All Come and Serve Him

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in this samādhi and gains the ten kinds of what is not in vain, the hosts of the kings of the gods all come and bow their heads to him, the hosts of the dragon kings raise up great clouds of fragrance, the yakṣa kings bow their heads to his feet, the asura kings reverently make offerings, the garuḍa kings surround him before and behind, the Brahmā kings all come and exhort him to speak the Dharma, the kiṃnara kings and the mahoraga kings join together in praising him, the gandharva kings constantly come and draw near to him, and the hosts of the kings of men serve him and make offerings.

The Concluding Name: The Skillful Wisdom of the Sixth Great Samādhi, the Treasury of the Light of Wisdom

“Sons of the Buddha! This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s skillful wisdom of the sixth great samādhi, the treasury of the light of wisdom.

The Question Raised and the Repeated Questioning: What Is the Samādhi of Fully Knowing the Buddha-Adornments of All Worlds

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s (the great bodhisattva’s) samādhi of fully knowing the buddha-adornments of all worlds? Sons of the Buddha! Why is this samādhi called fully knowing the buddha-adornments of all worlds?

Entering the Worlds of the Ten Directions in Due Order

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells within this samādhi is able to enter in due order the worlds of the east, and is able to enter in due order the worlds of the south; and with the west, the north, the four intermediate points (the four corner-directions of southeast, southwest, northeast, and northwest), the zenith and the nadir, all the worlds are likewise, and he is able to enter them all in due order.

The Ten Matters of Seeing the Buddhas

“He sees all the buddhas arising in the world, and he also sees all the spiritual powers of those buddhas, and he also sees all the disporting of the buddhas (their sovereign and unobstructed functioning), and he also sees the vast awesome virtue of the buddhas, and he also sees the most surpassing sovereignty of the buddhas, and he also sees the great lion’s roar of the buddhas (their preaching of the Dharma without any fear), and he also sees all the practices that the buddhas cultivate, and he also sees the adornments of every kind of the buddhas, and he also sees the transformations wrought by the buddhas’ bases of supernormal power.

The Ten Marks of the Assemblies

“He also sees the assemblies of the buddhas gathered like clouds, the assemblies pure, the assemblies vast, the assemblies of one mark, the assemblies of many marks, the place of the assemblies, the dwelling of the assemblies, the ripening of the assemblies, the taming of the assemblies, the awesome virtue of the assemblies — all of these he sees clearly.

The Measure of the Assemblies

“He also sees assemblies whose measure, great or small, equals one Jambudvīpa (the great southern continent), and he also sees assemblies equal to the four continents (the four great continents lit by one sun and moon), and he also sees assemblies equal to a small-thousand world-system, and he also sees assemblies equal to a middling-thousand world-system, and he also sees assemblies whose measure equals a three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system. He also sees assemblies filling a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas (a number exceedingly great) of buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling asaṃkhyeya (numberless) buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of a hundred buddha-lands ground to dust, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of a thousand buddha-lands ground to dust, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of buddha-lands ground to dust, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of numberless buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of measureless buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of boundless buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of unequalled buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of uncountable buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of unnameable buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of unthinkable buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of immeasurable buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of unspeakable buddha-lands, and he also sees assemblies filling as many buddha-lands as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands.

The Manifestations of the Buddhas Within the Places of Awakening of Those Assemblies

“He also sees the buddhas, within the places of awakening of those assemblies, manifesting marks of every kind, times of every kind, lands of every kind, transformations of every kind, spiritual penetrations of every kind, adornments of every kind, sovereignties of every kind, shapes and measures of every kind, and undertakings of every kind.

The Nineteen Clauses of Seeing One’s Own Body

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva also sees his own body going to those assemblies, and he also sees his own body preaching the Dharma there, and he also sees his own body receiving and upholding the words of the Buddha, and he also sees his own body well knowing dependent origination, and he also sees his own body dwelling in space, and he also sees his own body dwelling in the dharma-body, and he also sees his own body giving rise to no defiling attachment, and he also sees his own body not abiding in discrimination, and he also sees his own body without weariness, and he also sees his own body entering universally into all kinds of wisdom, and he also sees his own body knowing universally all kinds of meaning, and he also sees his own body entering universally into all the grounds, and he also sees his own body entering universally into all the destinies (the several places where sentient beings receive birth), and he also sees his own body knowing universally all kinds of skillful means, and he also sees his own body dwelling universally before the buddhas, and he also sees his own body entering universally into all the powers, and he also sees his own body entering universally into suchness, and he also sees his own body entering universally into non-contention, and he also sees his own body entering universally into all dharmas.

In the Seeing, Neither Discriminating nor Being Attached

“When he sees in this way, he does not discriminate lands, he does not discriminate sentient beings, he does not discriminate buddhas, he does not discriminate dharmas; he is not attached to the body, he is not attached to the deeds of the body, he is not attached to mind, he is not attached to mentation. It is just as with all dharmas: they do not discriminate their own nature, nor do they discriminate sound, and yet their own nature has never been abandoned and their names have never perished; and the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he does not abandon the practice he cultivates, he does what accords with the world, and yet toward these two he has no attachment at all.

The Setting Out of the Chapter-Headings: The Four Kinds of Adornment in Seeing the Buddha

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva sees the Buddha’s measureless light and color and measureless shape and marks, perfectly accomplished, equal and pure — each and every one present before him, clearly and distinctly witnessed and known.

The Measureless Light and Color of the Buddha’s Body

“Or he sees the Buddha’s body as having radiance of every kind, or he sees the halo of the Buddha’s body as only one fathom (the length of the two arms outstretched), or he sees the Buddha’s body as having the color of the sun at its height, or he sees the Buddha’s body as making a subtle and wondrous light and color, or he sees the Buddha’s body as making a pure color, or he sees the Buddha’s body as making the color of yellow gold, or he sees the Buddha’s body as making the color of adamant, or he sees the Buddha’s body as making a deep blue color (a deep blue that holds red within it), or he sees the Buddha’s body as making a boundless color, or he sees the Buddha’s body as making the color of a great blue maṇi jewel (the wish-granting jewel).

The Measureless Shape and Measure of the Buddha’s Body

“Or he sees the measure of the Buddha’s body as seven cubits, or he sees the measure of the Buddha’s body as eight cubits, or he sees the measure of the Buddha’s body as nine cubits, or he sees the measure of the Buddha’s body as ten cubits, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of twenty cubits, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of thirty cubits — and so on to the measure of a hundred cubits and the measure of a thousand cubits. Or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of one krośa (a name for a measure of road-distance), or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of half a yojana (a great measure of journeying distance), or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of one yojana, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of ten yojanas, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a hundred yojanas, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a thousand yojanas, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a hundred thousand yojanas, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a Jambudvīpa, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of the four continents, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a small-thousand world-system, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a middling-thousand world-system, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a great-thousand world-system, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a hundred great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a thousand great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a hundred thousand great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of numberless great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of measureless great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of boundless great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of unequalled great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of uncountable great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of unnameable great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of unthinkable great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of immeasurable great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of unspeakable great-thousand world-systems, or he sees the Buddha’s body as the measure of unspeakably unspeakable great-thousand world-systems.

Perfect Accomplishment and Equal Purity

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva sees in this way the measureless forms and marks of the Tathāgatas, their measureless shapes, their measureless manifestations, their measureless radiance, their measureless nets of radiance — the measure of that light equals the Dharma realm, and within the Dharma realm there is nothing it does not illumine, and it causes sentient beings everywhere to give rise to unsurpassed wisdom; and he further sees the Buddha’s body to be without defiling attachment, without obstruction, supremely wondrous and pure.

Simile One: Space Neither Increases nor Decreases

“Sons of the Buddha! Though the bodhisattva sees the Buddha’s body in this way, the Tathāgata’s body neither increases nor decreases. It is as with space: within the hole of a mustard seed eaten by a worm it does not become the less, and within numberless worlds it does not become the broader; and the bodies of the buddhas are likewise so: when they are seen as great there is nothing added, and when they are seen as small there is nothing taken away.

Simile Two: The Orb of the Moon Neither Increases nor Decreases

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the orb of the moon: the people of Jambudvīpa see its shape as small, and yet it does not decrease; those who dwell within the moon see its shape as great, and yet it does not increase; and the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: dwelling in this samādhi, according to what his own mind delights in, he sees the transformed marks of every kind of the bodies of the buddhas and the Dharma set forth in words, and he receives and upholds it without forgetting, and yet the Tathāgata’s body neither increases nor decreases.

Simile Three: The Realm Manifested According to Mind

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with sentient beings after their life has ended, when they are about to receive birth: what is seen is not apart from their own mind, and what is seen is pure; and the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he is not apart from this very deep samādhi, and what is seen is pure.

The Ten Kinds of Swift Dharma

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi accomplishes ten kinds of swift dharma. What are the ten? They are these: swiftly increasing all the practices and bringing the great vows to fullness; swiftly illumining the world with the light of the Dharma; swiftly turning the wheel of the Dharma by skillful means and delivering sentient beings; swiftly manifesting the pure lands of the buddhas in accord with the deeds of sentient beings; swiftly entering into the ten powers by the wisdom of equality; swiftly dwelling together with all the Tathāgatas; swiftly crushing the armies of Māra by the power of great loving-kindness; swiftly cutting off the doubts of sentient beings and causing gladness to arise in them; swiftly manifesting spiritual transformations in accord with the superior understanding of sentient beings; swiftly purifying all the worlds with the words of wondrous dharmas of every kind.

The Ten Kinds of Seal of the Dharma

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva further obtains ten kinds of seal of the dharma, wherewith he seals all dharmas. What are the ten? The first is the same equal roots of goodness as all the buddhas past, future, and present; the second is the same dharma-body of wisdom without any farthest bound that the Tathāgatas have obtained; the third is the same dwelling in the dharma of non-duality as the Tathāgatas; the fourth is the same contemplation as the Tathāgatas of the measureless realms of the three times as all equal; the fifth is the same attainment as the Tathāgatas of the realm of unobstructed penetration of the Dharma realm; the sixth is the same accomplishment as the Tathāgatas of the ten powers whose exercise is unobstructed; the seventh is the same forever cutting off of the two practices and dwelling in the dharma of non-contention as the Tathāgatas; the eighth is the same teaching and transforming of sentient beings without ever ceasing as the Tathāgatas; the ninth is the same power of contemplating well within skillfulness in wisdom and skillfulness in meaning as the Tathāgatas; the tenth is the same equality without duality with all buddhas as the Tathāgatas.

The Ten Praises: The Ten Names of One Who Accomplishes This Gate

“Sons of the Buddha! If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes this gate of the skillful means of the great samādhi of fully knowing the buddha-adornments of all worlds — he is one without a teacher, because he enters of himself into all the dharmas of the buddhas without being taught by another; he is a man of stature, because he can awaken all sentient beings; he is one who is pure, because he knows that the nature of mind is fundamentally pure; he is one who is foremost, because he can deliver all the worlds; he is one who comforts, because he can open the understanding of all sentient beings; he is one who dwells firmly, because he causes those who do not yet dwell in the lineage of a buddha to come to dwell there; he is one who knows what is real, because he enters the gate of omniscience; he is one without any differing thought, because what he says has no duality in it; he is one who dwells in the treasury of the Dharma, because he vows to know fully all the dharmas of the buddhas; he is one who can rain down the rain of Dharma, because he satisfies all in accord with what their minds delight in.

Simile Four: The Maṇi Jewel in Śakra’s Topknot

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with Śakra: he sets a maṇi jewel within his topknot, and by the power of the jewel his awesome light grows the more blazing. When that god-king Śakra first obtains this jewel, he then obtains ten dharmas that go beyond all the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. What are the ten? The first is form and marks, the second is bodily shape, the third is manifestation, the fourth is retinue, the fifth is the goods that sustain life, the sixth is voice, the seventh is spiritual penetration, the eighth is sovereignty, the ninth is understanding by insight, the tenth is the functioning of wisdom. These ten kinds all go beyond all the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

The Ten Kinds of Vast Treasury of Wisdom

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: at the very first moment of obtaining this samādhi, he then obtains ten kinds of vast treasury of wisdom. What are the ten? The first is the wisdom that illumines all buddha-lands; the second is the wisdom that knows the receiving of birth by all sentient beings; the third is the wisdom that universally works transformations throughout the three times; the fourth is the wisdom that universally enters the bodies of all buddhas; the fifth is the wisdom that penetrates all the dharmas of the buddhas; the sixth is the wisdom that universally gathers in all pure dharmas; the seventh is the wisdom that universally causes all sentient beings to enter the dharma-body; the eighth is the wisdom that sees all dharmas present before it with the universal eye made pure; the ninth is the wisdom of complete sovereignty that has reached the far shore; the tenth is the wisdom that dwells in all vast dharmas and exhausts them universally with nothing left over.

The Ten Kinds of Body of Utmost Pure Awesome Virtue

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi further obtains ten kinds of body of utmost pure awesome virtue. What are the ten? The first: in order to illumine unspeakably unspeakable worlds, he sends forth unspeakably unspeakable wheels of light; the second: in order that the worlds may all be made pure, he sends forth unspeakably unspeakable wheels of light of measureless forms and marks; the third: in order to tame sentient beings, he sends forth unspeakably unspeakable wheels of light; the fourth: in order to draw near to all the buddhas, he conjures unspeakably unspeakable bodies; the fifth: in order to serve and make offerings to all the buddhas, he rains down unspeakably unspeakable clouds of surpassingly wondrous incense and flowers of every kind; the sixth: in order to serve and make offerings to all the buddhas and to tame all sentient beings, within each and every pore he conjures unspeakably unspeakable music of every kind; the seventh: in order to ripen sentient beings, he manifests unspeakably unspeakable measureless sovereign spiritual transformations of every kind; the eighth: in order to ask about the Dharma in the presence of all the buddhas of every kind of name in the ten directions, in a single step he passes beyond unspeakably unspeakable worlds; the ninth: in order that all sentient beings who see him or hear him may not do so in vain, he manifests unspeakably unspeakable bodies of measureless pure forms and marks of every kind, and none can see the crown of his head; the tenth: in order to disclose to sentient beings the measureless secret dharmas, he sends forth unspeakably unspeakable sounds and words.

The Ten Kinds of Fullness

“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva has obtained these ten kinds of body of utmost pure awesome virtue, he can cause sentient beings to obtain ten kinds of fullness. What are the ten? The first is that he can cause sentient beings to get to see the Buddha; the second is that he can cause sentient beings to believe deeply in the Buddha; the third is that he can cause sentient beings to hear the Dharma; the fourth is that he can cause sentient beings to know that there are buddha-worlds; the fifth is that he can cause sentient beings to see the spiritual transformations of the Buddha; the sixth is that he can cause sentient beings to call to mind the deeds they themselves have amassed; the seventh is that he can cause sentient beings to have the mind of concentration made full; the eighth is that he can cause sentient beings to enter the purity of the Buddha; the ninth is that he can cause sentient beings to give rise to the mind of awakening; the tenth is that he can cause sentient beings to bring the wisdom of a buddha to fullness.

The Ten Kinds of Buddha-Work

“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva has caused sentient beings to obtain the ten kinds of fullness, he further does ten kinds of Buddha-work for sentient beings. What are the ten? They are these: doing the Buddha’s work by voice, for the ripening of sentient beings; doing the Buddha’s work by form and shape, for the taming of sentient beings; doing the Buddha’s work by calling to mind, for the purifying of sentient beings; doing the Buddha’s work by shaking the worlds, so that sentient beings may leave the evil destinies behind; doing the Buddha’s work by awakening them through skillful means, so that sentient beings may not lose right mindfulness; doing the Buddha’s work by manifesting marks within a dream, so that sentient beings may be constantly right-minded; doing the Buddha’s work by sending forth great radiance, for the universal gathering in of all sentient beings; doing the Buddha’s work by cultivating the practice of a bodhisattva, so that sentient beings may dwell in surpassing vows; doing the Buddha’s work by accomplishing perfect awakening, so that sentient beings may know that dharmas are like an illusion; doing the Buddha’s work by turning the wondrous wheel of the Dharma, so as to preach the Dharma for the great assembly without missing the season for it; doing the Buddha’s work by displaying a life-span spent dwelling in the world, for the taming of all sentient beings; doing the Buddha’s work by displaying parinirvāṇa, because he knows that sentient beings will give rise to weariness.

The Concluding Name

“Sons of the Buddha! This is what is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s skillful wisdom of the seventh great samādhi of fully knowing the buddha-adornments of all worlds.”

The Question Raised: What Is the Samādhi of the Differentiated Bodies of All Sentient Beings

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s (the great bodhisattva’s) samādhi of the differentiated bodies of all sentient beings?

The Ten Kinds of Non-Attachment: The First Mark of Dwelling in This Samādhi

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells within this samādhi obtains ten kinds of having nothing to which he is attached. What are the ten? They are these: toward all lands he has nothing to which he clings, toward all quarters he has nothing to which he clings, toward all kalpas he has nothing to which he clings, toward all multitudes he has nothing to which he clings, toward all dharmas he has nothing to which he clings, toward all bodhisattvas he has nothing to which he clings, toward all the vows of bodhisattvas he has nothing to which he clings, toward all samādhis he has nothing to which he clings, toward all buddhas he has nothing to which he clings, toward all grounds he has nothing to which he clings. These are the ten.

Entering and Rising: The Interlacing of Thirty-Nine Pairs

“Sons of the Buddha! How does a bodhisattva-mahāsattva enter this samādhi, and how does he rise from it? Sons of the Buddha! As to a bodhisattva-mahāsattva and this samādhi — he enters the samādhi by his own inner body and rises from it by the outer body; he enters by the outer body and rises by the inner body; he enters by a body that is the same and rises by a body that is different; he enters by a body that is different and rises by a body that is the same; he enters by a human body and rises by the body of a yakṣa; he enters by the body of a yakṣa and rises by the body of a dragon; he enters by the body of a dragon and rises by the body of an asura; he enters by the body of an asura and rises by the body of a god; he enters by the body of a god and rises by the body of a Brahmā king; he enters by the body of a Brahmā king and rises by a body of the desire realm; he enters among the gods and rises in the hells; he enters in the hells and rises among human beings; he enters among human beings and rises in the remaining destinies; he enters by a thousand bodies and rises by a single body; he enters by a single body and rises by a thousand bodies; he enters by a nayuta of bodies and rises by a single body; he enters by a single body and rises by a nayuta of bodies; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of Jambudvīpa and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of Godānīya; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of Godānīya and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of Uttarakuru; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of Uttarakuru and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of Pūrvavideha; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of Pūrvavideha and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of the three continents; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of the three continents and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of the four continents; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of the four continents and rises among the differentiated multitudes of sentient beings of all the seas; he enters among the differentiated multitudes of sentient beings within all the seas and rises among all the sea-gods; he enters among all the sea-gods and rises within the water element of all the seas; he enters within the water element of all the seas and rises within the earth element of all the seas; he enters within the earth element of all the seas and rises within the fire element of all the seas; he enters within the fire element of all the seas and rises within the wind element of all the seas; he enters within the wind element of all the seas and rises within all the four great elements; he enters within all the four great elements and rises within the dharma of non-arising; he enters within the dharma of non-arising and rises within the Wondrously High Mountain; he enters within the Wondrously High Mountain and rises within the seven jeweled mountains; he enters within the seven jeweled mountains and rises within all the crops and groves and black mountains of every kind upon the whole earth; he enters within all the crops and groves and black mountains of every kind upon the whole earth and rises within all the adornments of wondrous fragrance and flower and jewel; he enters within all the adornments of wondrous fragrance and flower and jewel and rises within all the places, below and above the four continents, where all sentient beings take birth; he enters within all the places, below and above the four continents, where all sentient beings take birth and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of a small-thousand world-system; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of a small-thousand world-system and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of a middling-thousand world-system; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of a middling-thousand world-system and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of a great-thousand world-system; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of a great-thousand world-system and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of three-thousandfold great-thousand world-systems and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of numberless worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of numberless worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of measureless worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of measureless worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of boundless buddha-lands; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of boundless buddha-lands and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of unequalled buddha-lands; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of unequalled buddha-lands and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of uncountable worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of uncountable worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of unnameable worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of unnameable worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of unthinkable worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of unthinkable worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of immeasurable worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of immeasurable worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of unspeakable worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of unspeakable worlds and rises among the multitudes of sentient beings of unspeakably unspeakable worlds; he enters among the multitudes of sentient beings of unspeakably unspeakable worlds and rises among the defiled multitudes of sentient beings; he enters among the defiled multitudes of sentient beings and rises among the pure multitudes of sentient beings; he enters among the pure multitudes of sentient beings and rises among the defiled multitudes of sentient beings; he enters by the sense-field of the eye and rises by the sense-field of the ear; he enters by the sense-field of the ear and rises by the sense-field of the eye; he enters by the sense-field of the nose and rises by the sense-field of the tongue; he enters by the sense-field of the tongue and rises by the sense-field of the nose; he enters by the sense-field of the body and rises by the sense-field of the mind; he enters by the sense-field of the mind and rises by the sense-field of the body; he enters by his own sense-field and rises by another’s sense-field; he enters by another’s sense-field and rises by his own sense-field; he enters within a single dust mote and rises within the dust motes of numberless worlds; he enters within the dust motes of numberless worlds and rises within a single dust mote; he enters by a śrāvaka and rises by a pratyekabuddha; he enters by a pratyekabuddha and rises by a śrāvaka; he enters by his own body and rises by the body of a buddha; he enters by the body of a buddha and rises by his own body; he enters within a single thought-moment and rises within koṭis of kalpas; he enters within koṭis of kalpas and rises within a single thought-moment; he enters within one and the same thought-moment and rises within a time that is other; he enters within a time that is other and rises within one and the same thought-moment; he enters by the prior limit and rises by the later limit; he enters by the later limit and rises by the prior limit; he enters by the prior limit and rises by the middle limit; he enters by the middle limit and rises by the prior limit; he enters by the three times and rises by a kṣaṇa; he enters by a kṣaṇa and rises by the three times; he enters by suchness and rises by speech; he enters by speech and rises by suchness.

The First and Second Similes: The Ghost Holding a Person’s Body · The Spell Raising the Dead Corpse

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a person is held by a ghost: his body trembles and moves and cannot be at rest of itself — the ghost does not manifest a body of its own, and yet it makes that person’s body do so. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he enters the samādhi by his own body and rises by another’s body, he enters by another’s body and rises by his own. Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a corpse, by the power of a spell, is able to rise and walk, and whatever it is set to do is accomplished — the corpse and the spell, though each is different from the other, are able to come together and accomplish that business. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he enters the samādhi in the same object-realm and rises in a different one, he enters in a different object-realm and rises in the same.

The Third and Fourth Similes: The Monk’s Bodily Penetration · The One Taste of the Great Earth

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a monk obtains mastery of mind: he either makes many bodies out of one body, or makes one body out of many bodies — it is not that the one body is gone and then the many are born, nor that the many bodies are gone and then the one is born. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he enters the samādhi by one body and rises by many bodies, he enters by many bodies and rises by one body. Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the great earth, whose taste is of one kind only, while the shoots and crops it grows differ in taste of every kind — though the earth is without differentiation, yet the tastes are distinct. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he himself has nothing that he discriminates, and yet there is entering the samādhi in one kind and rising in many kinds, entering in many kinds and rising in one kind.

The Ten Dharmas of Praise: The Ten Names Obtained by One Who Dwells in This Samādhi

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi obtains the praise of ten dharmas of praise. What are the ten? They are these: because he enters suchness, he is named the Tathāgata; because he is awake to all dharmas, he is named the Buddha; because he is praised by all the worlds, he is named the master of the Dharma; because he knows all dharmas, he is named omniscience; because he is the refuge of all the worlds, he is named the place of reliance; because he penetrates the skillful means of all dharmas, he is named the guide; because he leads all sentient beings into the path of omniscience, he is named the great guide; because he is a lamp for all the worlds, he is named light; because his heart and purpose are perfect, the profit of the meaning is accomplished, all that is to be done is done, he dwells in unobstructed wisdom, and he discriminates and fully knows all dharmas, he is named the mastery of the ten powers; because he penetrates all the wheels of the Dharma, he is named the seer of all. These are the ten.

The Ten Kinds of Shining Light

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi further obtains ten kinds of shining light. What are the ten? They are these: he obtains the light of all the buddhas, because he is equal with the buddhas; he obtains the light of all the worlds, because he is able to adorn and purify them everywhere; he obtains the light of all sentient beings, because he is able to go to them all and tame them; he obtains the light of measureless fearlessness, because he takes the Dharma realm for his place of awakening and there expounds; he obtains the light of non-differentiation, because he knows that all dharmas have no natures of this kind and that; he obtains the light of skillful means, because he realizes and enters at the very verge where all dharmas are free of desire; he obtains the light of the real, because at the very verge where all dharmas are free of desire his mind attains equality; he obtains the light of the spiritual transformations that pervade all the worlds, because he is upheld by the Buddha and is unceasing; he obtains the light of good pondering, because he reaches the shore of the mastery of all the buddhas; he obtains the light of the suchness of all dharmas, because within a single pore he is able to expound all things. These are the ten.

The Ten Kinds of Doing Nothing

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi further obtains ten kinds of doing nothing. What are the ten? They are these: in the deeds of the body there is nothing done, in the deeds of speech there is nothing done, in the deeds of the mind there is nothing done, in the spiritual penetrations there is nothing done, in fully knowing that dharmas have no nature of their own there is nothing done, in knowing that deeds are not destroyed there is nothing done, in the wisdom of non-differentiation there is nothing done, in the wisdom of non-arising there is nothing done, in knowing that dharmas do not perish there is nothing done, in following the letter without destroying the meaning there is nothing done. These are the ten.

The Measureless Realm: The Mastery of Eight Interlaced Pairs

“Sons of the Buddha! For a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi there is a measureless realm, differentiated in every kind. They are these: he enters within one and rises within many, he enters within many and rises within one; he enters within the same and rises within the different, he enters within the different and rises within the same; he enters within the fine and rises within the coarse, he enters within the coarse and rises within the fine; he enters within the great and rises within the small, he enters within the small and rises within the great; he enters within the compliant and rises within the contrary, he enters within the contrary and rises within the compliant; he enters within having no body and rises within having a body, he enters within having a body and rises within having no body; he enters within the markless and rises within the marked, he enters within the marked and rises within the markless; within his rising he enters, and within his entering he rises. All such things as these are the realm of the mastery of this samādhi.

The Fifth Simile: The Conjuror Conjuring by a Spell

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with a conjuror who holds a spell and brings it to accomplishment, and is able to manifest shapes and marks differentiated in every kind — the spell and what is conjured are two separate things, and yet he can make the conjured appearance; the spell is nothing but sound, and yet it can conjure up the several forms known by eye-consciousness, the several sounds known by ear-consciousness, the several scents known by nose-consciousness, the several tastes known by tongue-consciousness, the several touches known by body-consciousness, and the several object-realms known by mind-consciousness. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he enters the samādhi within the same and rises within the different, he enters within the different and rises within the same.

The Sixth Simile: The Asuras Entering the Hole of a Lotus Fibre

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the Heaven of the Thirty-Three does battle with the asuras: the gods win the victory and the asuras fall back defeated; the asura king’s body is long and great, seven hundred yojanas, and the fourfold army that surrounds him is numberless thousands of myriads, and by the power of conjuring art he takes his whole host of soldiers and all at once they run into the hole of a single lotus fibre. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: he has already well accomplished the grounds of illusory wisdom of every kind — the illusory wisdom is itself the bodhisattva, and the bodhisattva is itself the illusory wisdom — and therefore he is able to enter the samādhi within the dharma that is without differentiation and rise within the dharma that is differentiated, to enter within the dharma that is differentiated and rise within the dharma that is without differentiation.

The Seventh Simile: The Farmer Sowing Seed

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a farmer sows seed in a field: the seed is below, and yet the fruit grows above. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he enters the samādhi within the one and rises within the many, he enters within the many and rises within the one.

The Eighth Simile: The Kalala Taking Birth

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the red and the white of man and woman come together and some sentient being takes birth therein: at that time it is named the station of the kalala (the mark of the embryo at the first taking of birth); from this, dwelling in the mother’s womb in due order, it fulfills ten months; by the power of good deeds all the limbs and parts are accomplished, the faculties are not lacking, and the mind is clear — that kalala and the six faculties that come after differ from one another in substance and shape, and yet by the power of deeds it is brought about that they are accomplished in due order and receive the several fruits of recompense, of the same kind and of other kinds. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: from the station of the kalala of omniscience, the power of his faith, understanding, and vow grows by degrees, his mind is vast, and he moves freely without contrivance — he enters the samādhi within the absent and rises within the present, he enters within the present and rises within the absent.

The Ninth Simile: The Dragon’s Palace Raising Clouds

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the dragon’s palace is established upon the earth and not upon space, and the dragon dwells in the palace and is likewise not in the sky — and yet it can raise clouds that fill the whole sky. As for the palaces that a person sees when he looks up, know that they are all the city of the gandharvas (the semblance of a city manifested in the sky) and not the dragon’s palace. Sons of the Buddha! Though the dragon abides below, the clouds are spread above. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this samādhi is likewise: he enters within the markless and rises within the marked, he enters within the marked and rises within the markless.

The Tenth Simile: The Brahmā Palace of Wondrous Light Manifesting All Things as a Mirror

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the palace wherein the great Brahmā king of Wondrous Light dwells, named the Most Excellent Pure Treasury of All the Worlds. Within this great palace one sees everywhere the palaces of the gods, the palaces of the dragons, the palaces of the yakṣas, the palaces of the gandharvas, the palaces of the asuras, the palaces of the garuḍas, the palaces of the kiṃnaras, and the palaces of the mahoragas of all the four continents of the three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system; the dwelling places of human beings, together with the three evil destinies, Mount Sumeru and the several mountains of every kind, the great seas, the rivers, the marshes, the springs, the cities, the settlements, the groves, and the many jewels — all such adornments of every kind as these, to the very edge of all that the great encircling mountains hold, down to the fine drifting motes in the sky, there is nothing that is not displayed within the Brahmā palace, just as one sees the image of one’s own face within a bright mirror. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who dwells in this great samādhi of the differentiated bodies of all sentient beings is likewise: he knows buddha-lands of every kind, sees buddhas of every kind, delivers sentient beings of every kind, realizes dharmas of every kind, accomplishes practices of every kind, fulfills understandings of every kind, enters samādhis of every kind, raises spiritual penetrations of every kind, obtains wisdoms of every kind, and dwells in the very edge of kṣaṇas of every kind.

Reaching the Ten Far Shores of the Spiritual Penetrations

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva reaches the far shore of ten spiritual penetrations. What are the ten? They are these: he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration of the buddhas that exhausts space and pervades the Dharma realm; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration of the bodhisattva’s ultimate mastery without differentiation; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can raise up the vast practices and vows of a bodhisattva, enter the gate of the Tathāgata, and do the Buddha’s work; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can shake all worlds and cause all realms to be pure; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can freely know that the inconceivable fruits of the deeds of all sentient beings are all as conjurings; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can freely know the marks of the differentiated entering and rising, coarse and fine, of the several samādhis; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can valiantly enter the realm of the Tathāgata and there give rise to great vows; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can make a conjured buddha, turn a conjured wheel of the Dharma, tame sentient beings, cause the seed of buddhahood to be born in them, and cause them to enter the Buddha-vehicle and swiftly reach accomplishment; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that can fully know all the unspeakable secret letters and phrases and thereby turn the wheel of the Dharma, causing a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of unspeakably unspeakable gates of the Dharma all to become pure; he reaches the far shore of the spiritual penetration that, without borrowing day or night or year or month or the number of kalpas, can display the three times entire within a single thought-moment. These are the ten.

The Concluding Name

“Sons of the Buddha! This is named the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s eighth great samādhi of the differentiated bodies of all sentient beings, the wisdom of skillfulness.”

The Substance of the Samādhi: He Enters It at the Six Places, He Enters It in the Pores

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the samādhi of mastery in the Dharma realm of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva (a great bodhisattva who has given rise to the great mind)? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters a samādhi at his own eye-place and so on to his own mind-place — at those six places, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — and the name of that samādhi is: mastery in the Dharma realm. The bodhisattva enters this samādhi within each single pore of his own body, and of itself he comes to know the manifold worlds, to know the dharmas of the manifold worlds, to know the manifold world-systems, to know world-systems as many as koṭis of nayutas (numbers exceedingly great), to know world-systems as many as asaṃkhyeyas (numbers past counting), to know world-systems as many as the dust motes of unspeakable buddha-lands; and he sees that within all world-systems there are buddhas appearing in the world, with the assemblies of bodhisattvas filling them entirely, their light pure, wholly good dharmas without any admixture of defilement, vast in their adornment, decked out with manifold jewels.

“Within those world-systems the bodhisattva, whether for a kalpa, a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, a koṭi of kalpas, a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, or for numberless kalpas, measureless kalpas, boundless kalpas, unequalled kalpas, uncountable kalpas, unnameable kalpas, unthinkable kalpas, immeasurable kalpas, unspeakable kalpas, unspeakably unspeakable kalpas, on to kalpas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, cultivates the bodhisattva practice and never once takes rest; and through such measureless kalpas he abides in this samādhi, and he enters it and he comes out of it, and he brings world-systems to completion, and he tames sentient beings, and he reaches everywhere through the Dharma realm, and he knows the three times in full, and he expounds the dharmas, and he displays great spiritual powers, using every kind of skillful means with nothing grasped and nothing obstructed. Because he has gained mastery over the Dharma realm, he is well able to tell apart the eye, well able to tell apart the ear, well able to tell apart the nose, well able to tell apart the tongue, well able to tell apart the body, well able to tell apart the mind — such manifold differences, each unlike the others, he is well able to tell apart, exhausting their farthest bound.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (1): Every One of Them Ten Thousand Koṭis

“When the bodhisattva knows and sees well in this way, he is able to give rise to ten thousand koṭis of lights of the dharma of dhāraṇī (total holding), to accomplish ten thousand koṭis of pure practices, to obtain ten thousand koṭis of faculties, to fulfill ten thousand koṭis of spiritual powers, to enter ten thousand koṭis of samādhis, to accomplish ten thousand koṭis of spiritual strengths, to nourish ten thousand koṭis of powers, to fulfill ten thousand koṭis of profound intentions, to set in motion ten thousand koṭis of holdings of power, to display ten thousand koṭis of spiritual transformations, to be furnished with ten thousand koṭis of bodhisattva unobstructednesses, to fulfill ten thousand koṭis of dharmas that aid the bodhisattva path, to gather up ten thousand koṭis of bodhisattva treasuries, to illumine ten thousand koṭis of bodhisattva skillful means, to expound ten thousand koṭis of meanings, to accomplish ten thousand koṭis of vows, to bring forth ten thousand koṭis of dedications, to purify ten thousand koṭis of the bodhisattva’s right station, to understand clearly ten thousand koṭis of dharma-gates, to reveal ten thousand koṭis of expositions, to make ready ten thousand koṭis of bodhisattva purity.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (2): Inexhaustible Virtue, and Every One of It Made Ready

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has besides numberless merits, measureless merits, boundless merits, unequalled merits, uncountable merits, unnameable merits, unthinkable merits, immeasurable merits, unspeakable merits, inexhaustible merits. Sons of the Buddha! With merits such as these, this bodhisattva has made them all ready, has gathered them all in, has adorned them all, has purified them all, has burnished them all clear, has taken them all up, is able to bring them all forth, may be praised for them all, has made them all firm, has accomplished them all.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (3): The Buddhas of the Ten Directions Take Him In and Appear Before Him to Speak

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva abiding in this samādhi is taken in by the buddhas of the east, whose names are as many as ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas of dust motes of buddha-lands; and under each single name there are again buddhas as many as ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas of dust motes of buddha-lands, each one unlike the rest. As it is with the east, so it is with the south, the west, and the north, with the four intermediate quarters (the four corners), with the zenith, and with the nadir. All those buddhas appear before him: for him they display the pure buddha-lands of the buddhas, for him they speak the measureless bodies of the buddhas, for him they speak the eyes of the buddhas, past thought, for him they speak the measureless ears of the buddhas, for him they speak the pure nose of the buddhas, for him they speak the pure tongue of the buddhas, for him they speak the non-abiding mind of the buddhas, for him they speak the unsurpassed spiritual powers of the Tathāgata; they cause him to cultivate the unsurpassed awakening of the Tathāgata, they cause him to gain the pure voice of the Tathāgata, for him they reveal the irreversible Dharma-wheel of the Tathāgata, for him they show forth the boundless assemblies of the Tathāgata, they cause him to enter the boundless secret of the Tathāgata, they praise all the roots of goodness of the Tathāgata, they cause him to enter the equal dharma of the Tathāgata, for him they speak the lineage of the Tathāgata through the three times, for him they display the measureless forms and marks of the Tathāgata, for him they set forth the dharma the Tathāgata guards and keeps in mind, for him they let flow the subtle Dharma-sound of the Tathāgata, for him they make plain all the world-systems of the buddhas, for him they proclaim all the samādhis of the buddhas, for him they display the due order of the assemblies of the buddhas, for him they uphold the dharmas of the buddhas that are past conceiving, for him they speak of all dharmas as being like an illusion, for him they make clear that the nature of the dharmas has no shifting or turning, for him they open up all the unsurpassed Dharma-wheels, for him they extol the measureless merits of the Tathāgata, they cause him to enter all the clouds of samādhi, they cause him to know that his own mind is like an illusion, like a conjuring, boundless and without end.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (4): The Buddhas of the Ten Directions Guard and Keep Him in Mind in Ten Things at Once

“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in this samādhi of mastery in the Dharma realm, then in each of the ten directions there are Tathāgatas whose names are as many as ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas of dust motes of buddha-lands, and within each single name there are again buddhas as many as ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas of dust motes of buddha-lands, and they guard him and keep him in mind all at once: they cause this bodhisattva to gain a boundless body; they cause this bodhisattva to gain an unobstructed mind; they cause this bodhisattva to gain, toward all dharmas, mindfulness that does not forget; they cause this bodhisattva to gain, toward all dharmas, wisdom that is decided; they cause this bodhisattva to grow ever more quick of understanding, so that toward all dharmas he is able to receive them; they cause this bodhisattva to understand clearly all dharmas, every one; they cause this bodhisattva’s faculties to be keen, so that in the dharma of spiritual powers he is skilled in every part; they cause this bodhisattva’s field of experience to be unobstructed, so that he moves everywhere through the Dharma realm and never once takes rest; they cause this bodhisattva to gain unobstructed wisdom, pure to the very last; they cause this bodhisattva, by the strength of spiritual power, to display the becoming of a buddha within all world-systems.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (5): He Gains Ten Kinds of Ocean

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva abiding in this samādhi gains ten kinds of ocean. Which ten? They are these: he gains the ocean of the buddhas, for he beholds them all; he gains the ocean of sentient beings, for he tames them all; he gains the ocean of the dharmas, for by wisdom he knows them all; he gains the ocean of the lands, for by spiritual power without nature and without contrivance he goes to them all; he gains the ocean of merit, for all his practice is fulfilled; he gains the ocean of spiritual powers, for he can display them widely and bring beings to awakening; he gains the ocean of the faculties, for their manifold differences he knows every one; he gains the ocean of minds, for he knows the manifold and differing measureless minds of all sentient beings; he gains the ocean of practices, for by the strength of vows he fulfills them all; he gains the ocean of vows, for he brings them all to accomplishment and makes them pure forever.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (6): He Gains Ten Kinds of Preeminence

“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva has gained these ten kinds of ocean, he gains besides ten kinds of preeminence. Which ten are they? First, among all sentient beings he is foremost; second, among all the gods he is most excellent; third, among all the Brahmā-kings he is master in the highest degree; fourth, toward the worlds he is nowhere stained or attached; fifth, nothing in any world is able to overshadow him; sixth, no demons are able to bewilder him; seventh, he enters everywhere into the destinies of beings without hindrance; eighth, wherever he takes birth he knows that it is not firm; ninth, in all the dharmas of a buddha he gains mastery; tenth, all spiritual powers he is able to display.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (7): He Gains Ten Kinds of Power and Practises Within the Realm of Sentient Beings

“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva has gained these ten kinds of preeminence, he gains besides ten kinds of power, and within the realm of sentient beings he cultivates the practices. Which ten are they? The first is called the power of valor, for he is to tame the world; the second is called the power of vigor, for he never turns back; the third is called the power of non-attachment, for he is far from every stain; the fourth is called the power of stillness, for toward all dharmas he has no dispute; the fifth is called the power of the adverse and the favorable, for toward all dharmas his mind has gained mastery; the sixth is called the power of the nature of dharmas, for among the meanings he has gained mastery; the seventh is called the power of the unobstructed, for his wisdom is vast; the eighth is called the power of fearlessness, for he is able to speak the dharmas; the ninth is called the power of eloquence, for he is able to hold the dharmas; the tenth is called the power of revealing, for his wisdom is boundless.

“Sons of the Buddha! These ten powers are also the vast power, the most excellent power, the power that none can crush, the measureless power, the power well gathered, the unmoving power, the firm power, the power of wisdom, the power of accomplishment, the power of the excellent samādhi, the pure power, the utterly pure power, the power of the dharma-body, the power of the light of the Dharma, the power of the lamp of the Dharma, the power of the Dharma-gate, the power that none can break, the power of utmost valor, the power of a great man, the power of a good man’s cultivation, the power of the accomplishing of right awakening, the power of roots of goodness gathered in the past, the power of abiding in measureless roots of goodness, the power that abides in the powers of the Tathāgata, the power of the mind’s pondering, the power that increases the bodhisattva’s gladness, the power that brings forth the bodhisattva’s pure faith, the power that increases the bodhisattva’s valor, the power born of the mind of awakening, the power of the bodhisattva’s pure profound intention, the power of the bodhisattva’s preeminent profound intention, the power of the perfuming of the bodhisattva’s roots of goodness, the power of carrying the dharmas through to the last, the power of a body without obstruction, the power of the dharma-gate of entering skillful means, the power of the pure and wondrous Dharma, the power of abiding in great might, which nothing in any world can shake, the power that no sentient being can overshadow.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (8–9): He Can Give Rise to Them and Accomplish Them; They Cannot Be Told to the End

“Sons of the Buddha! Toward measureless dharmas of merit such as these, this bodhisattva-mahāsattva can give rise to them, can accomplish them, can fulfill them, can illumine them, can be furnished with them, can be furnished with them throughout, can make them vast, can make them firm, can increase them, can purify them, can purify them throughout. The farthest bound of this bodhisattva’s merit, the farthest bound of his wisdom, of his practice, of his dharma-gates, of his mastery, of his austerity, of his accomplishment, of his purity, of his going forth, of his mastery in the Dharma — none is able to tell them to the end. What this bodhisattva has obtained, what he has accomplished, what he has entered upon, what he has brought before him, all his fields of experience, all his contemplation, all his entering and realizing, all his purity, all his knowing, all the dharma-gates he has established — though a man were to spend unspeakable kalpas, he could not tell them to the end.

The Benefits of the Samādhi Accomplished (10): Of All Samādhis There Is None He Does Not Clearly See

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva abiding in this samādhi is able to know all samādhis, numberless, measureless, boundless, unequalled, uncountable, unnameable, unthinkable, immeasurable, unspeakable, unspeakably unspeakable. Of each single one of those samādhis, all its fields of experience are measureless and vast; and within those fields, whether he enters, or rises from it, or abides in it, all its aspects, all its displays, all its courses, all its outflows (what follows on and is born of its own kind), all its own nature, all its ceasing, all its going forth — of all this there is nothing he does not see clearly.

The Simile (1): From the Four Mouths of the Lake of No Heat Four Rivers Issue

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when out of the palace of the great dragon king Free of Heat and Vexation four great rivers flow forth, with nothing turbid in them, nothing mixed in them, nothing foul in them, their light and color pure as space itself. On the four sides of that lake there is one mouth apiece, and from each single mouth one river flows out: from the elephant’s mouth flows the river Gaṅgā, from the lion’s mouth flows the river Sītā, from the ox’s mouth flows the river Sindhu, from the horse’s mouth flows the river Vakṣu. When these four great rivers flow forth, the mouth of the Gaṅgā sends out sand of silver, the mouth of the Sītā sands of adamant, the mouth of the Sindhu sand of gold, the mouth of the Vakṣu sand of beryl; the mouth of the Gaṅgā shows the color of white silver, the mouth of the Sītā the color of adamant, the mouth of the Sindhu the color of yellow gold, the mouth of the Vakṣu the color of beryl; and each single river-mouth is one yojana broad.

“When these four great rivers have flowed forth, each alike circles the great lake seven times round, and then, following its own quarter, divides and flows toward the four directions, the water surging and rushing until it enters the great ocean. In the places the river-waters wind about, between each way and the next there are utpala flowers (blue lotuses), padma flowers (red lotuses), kumuda flowers (small white flowers), and puṇḍarīka flowers (hundred-petalled lotuses), all made of heavenly jewels, their rare fragrance sending itself forth, their wondrous colors pure; and the manifold petals and the manifold pedestals and stamens are all made of the manifold jewels, of themselves reflecting through and through, all of them giving out light and showing one another forth.

“That Lake of No Heat is fifty yojanas broad all round, with wondrous sand of the manifold jewels spread across its bed, adorned with manifold maṇi jewels, its two banks adorned with measureless wondrous jewels, and the fine fragrance of candana (sandalwood) scattered everywhere through it; utpala flowers, padma flowers, kumuda flowers, puṇḍarīka flowers, and every other jeweled flower fill it entirely, and when a light wind stirs them their fragrance carries far, while groves of flowers and trees of jewels encircle it about. When the light of the sun comes forth, it lights up everywhere all the manifold things within and without the lake and the rivers, image joining to image and radiance joining to radiance, until they become a net of light. Of those manifold things — far or near, high or low, broad or narrow, coarse or fine, and so on down to the very smallest grain of sand and mote of dust — all are wondrous jewels whose light shines clear through, and there is not one thing in which the image of the sun-orb does not appear, and they in turn show one another’s images without end; and such manifold images neither increase nor decrease, are neither joined nor scattered, and every one of them is clearly seen just as its own substance is.

The Joining of the Simile (1): The Four Kinds of Eloquence Send Forth Practices, and All Come Home to the Ocean of Wisdom

“Sons of the Buddha! As the great Lake of No Heat sends four rivers out of four mouths and they enter the great ocean, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: out of four kinds of eloquence he sends forth the practices, and to the very last they enter the ocean of omniscience.

“As the great river Gaṅgā sends out sand of silver from the silver-colored elephant’s mouth, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: by the eloquence of meaning he speaks all the gates of meaning that all the Tathāgatas have spoken, brings forth all pure and bright dharmas, and to the very last enters the ocean of unobstructed wisdom. As the great river Sītā sends out sands of adamant from the adamant-colored lion’s mouth, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: by the eloquence of dharma he speaks for all sentient beings the adamantine sayings of the buddhas, draws forth adamantine wisdom, and to the very last enters the ocean of unobstructed wisdom. As the great river Sindhu sends out sand of gold from the gold-colored ox’s mouth, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: by the eloquence of instructing speech (the eloquence of words skillfully chosen) he speaks the skillful means of dependent arising in accord with the world, brings sentient beings to awakening and makes them all glad, tames and ripens them, and to the very last enters the ocean of the skillful means of dependent arising. As the great river Vakṣu sends out sand of beryl at the beryl-colored horse’s mouth, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: by inexhaustible eloquence he rains down a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable rains of Dharma, so that those who hear are all made moist, and to the very last he enters the ocean of the dharmas of the buddhas.

The Joining of the Simile (2): The Three Kinds of Action Circle the Lake in Accord, and from the Four Quarters Enter the Ocean

“As the four great rivers, having circled the Lake of No Heat in accord with it, enter the ocean from the four quarters, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he accomplishes bodily action in accord, speech-action in accord, and mind-action in accord, and accomplishes bodily action with wisdom going before it, speech-action with wisdom going before it, and mind-action with wisdom going before it, and flowing out to the four quarters he enters, to the very last, the ocean of omniscience.

“Sons of the Buddha! What are called the bodhisattva’s four quarters? Sons of the Buddha, they are these: to see all the buddhas and thereby be awakened; to hear all the dharmas and hold them without forgetting; to fulfill the practice of all the perfections; and to speak the Dharma with great compassion and thereby satisfy sentient beings.

The Joining of the Simile (3–7): The Flowers, the Trees, the Body of the Lake, the Fragrant Banks, the Sand of Its Bed

“As the four great rivers circle the great lake, and in the space between them the utpala flowers, the padma flowers, the kumuda flowers, and the puṇḍarīka flowers fill it entirely, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: in the space within the mind of awakening he does not abandon sentient beings, but speaks the Dharma and tames them, and causes them all to fulfill measureless samādhis and to see the adornment and purity of the buddha-lands.

“As the great Lake of No Heat has trees of jewels encircling it, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he displays the adornment of the buddha-lands encircling him, and causes sentient beings to turn toward awakening.

“As the great Lake of No Heat is fifty yojanas across, pure and unturbid, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: the mind of awakening is boundless in its measure, filled full with roots of goodness, pure and unturbid.

“As the great Lake of No Heat has its two banks adorned with measureless jewels, and the fragrance of candana scattered everywhere through it, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with a hundred thousand koṭis of the ten kinds of jewel of wisdom he adorns the bank that is the great vow of the mind of awakening, and scatters everywhere the wondrous fragrance of every good.

“As the great Lake of No Heat has sand of gold spread across its bed, adorned with manifold maṇi jewels set among it, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with subtle wisdom he contemplates everywhere throughout, and with the bodhisattva liberations past conceiving and the manifold jewels of the Dharma set among one another as his adornment he gains the unobstructed light of all dharmas, abides where all the buddhas abide, and enters into all the deep skillful means.

The Joining of the Simile (8–12): Free of Heat and Vexation · Moistening · Inexhaustible · Unobstructed · Without Weariness

“As the dragon king Anavatapta is forever apart from all the heat and vexation there is among the dragons, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he is forever apart from all the sorrow and vexation of the world, and though he displays a taking of birth he is not stained by it.

“As the four great rivers moisten the whole of the land of Jambudvīpa and, having moistened it, enter the great ocean, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with four rivers of wisdom he moistens gods, humans, śramaṇas, and brahmins, causing them to enter everywhere the great ocean of the wisdom of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi (unsurpassed, right and universal awakening), with the ten kinds of power for his adornment. And which four are they? The first is the river of the wisdom of vows, which rescues and tames all sentient beings and never takes rest; the second is the river of the wisdom of the perfections, which cultivates the practice of awakening for the benefit of sentient beings, continuing without end through the three times of past, future, and present, and to the very last enters the ocean of the wisdom of the buddhas; the third is the river of the wisdom of the bodhisattva samādhis, which with numberless samādhis for its adornment sees all the buddhas and enters the ocean of the buddhas; the fourth is the river of the wisdom of great compassion, which with great kindness and mastery rescues sentient beings everywhere, gathers them in by skillful means without taking rest, cultivates the gate of secret merit, and to the very last enters the great ocean of the ten powers.

“As the four great rivers, having flowed forth from the Lake of No Heat, are to the very last inexhaustible and enter the great ocean, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: by the strength of great vows he cultivates the bodhisattva practice, and his mastery of knowing and seeing is without exhaustion, and to the very last he enters the ocean of omniscience.

“As the four great rivers enter the great ocean, and there is nothing able to make an obstruction and keep them from entering, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he ever cultivates diligently the practices and vows of Samantabhadra, accomplishes the light of all wisdom, abides in the dharma of the awakening of all the buddhas, and enters the wisdom of the Tathāgata without obstruction.

“As the four great rivers rush and flow into the ocean, and through kalpa upon kalpa are never weary of it, so it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with the practices and vows of Samantabhadra he cultivates the bodhisattva practice to the exhaustion of the kalpas to come, and enters the ocean of the Tathāgata without giving rise to weariness.

The Joining of the Simile (13): The Sun’s Images Appear in One Another; In a Pore He Sees the Buddhas

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the light of the sun comes forth: in the sand of gold, the sand of silver, the sands of adamant, and the sand of beryl within the Lake of No Heat, and in every other kind of jeweled thing, the image of the sun appears within them all; and those things — the sand of gold and the rest, all the jeweled things — also show one after another the images of one another, shining clear through one another without hindrance. So it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: abiding in this samādhi, within each single pore of his own body he sees them all, buddhas and Tathāgatas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and sees too the lands, the sites of awakening, and the assemblies of those buddhas; and in the presence of each single buddha he hears the Dharma, holds it, believes and understands it, and makes offerings, each time through unspeakably unspeakable koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, and yet he never once thinks of the length or shortness of the season, nor are those assemblies crowded and pressed for room.

“Why is this so? Because with a subtle mind he enters the boundless Dharma realm; because he enters the unequalled and differing fruits of action; because he enters the field of samādhi that is past conceiving; because he enters the field of pondering that is past conceiving; because he enters the field of the mastery of all the buddhas; because he gains what all the buddhas guard and keep in mind; because he gains the great spiritual transformations of all the buddhas; because he gains the ten powers of all the Tathāgatas that are hard to gain and hard to know; because he enters the field of the fulfilled practice of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra; because he gains the spiritual power of all the buddhas that never tires.

The General Conclusion, the Twin Practice (the Dharma): Though … Yet …

“Sons of the Buddha! Though a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is able within the samādhi to enter and come out within a single thought-moment, yet he does not lay aside the long abiding in samādhi, and he grasps at nothing in it; though toward the fields of experience he takes no lodging, yet he does not abandon any object of his attention; though he is well able to enter the very instant, yet for the benefit of all sentient beings he displays the spiritual powers of a buddha with no satiety; though he enters the Dharma realm equally, yet he does not gain a farthest bound of the Dharma realm; though he has nowhere to abide and no place of his own, yet he ever turns toward the path of omniscience, and by the strength of transformation he enters everywhere among measureless sentient beings and adorns all world-systems fully; though he is far from the upside-down discriminations of the world and has passed beyond every ground of discrimination, yet he does not abandon the manifold aspects of things; though he is able to be furnished with skillful means, yet he is pure to the very last; though he makes no discrimination among the bodhisattva grounds, yet the grounds are all of them well entered.

The General Conclusion, the Twin Practice (Simile and Joining): It Receives as Space Does, Yet Is Apart from Being and Non-Being

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with space: though it is able to receive all things, yet it is apart from being and non-being. So it is with a bodhisattva-mahāsattva: though he enters everywhere into all the worlds, yet he is apart from the notion of world; though he diligently delivers all sentient beings, yet he is apart from the notion of a sentient being; though he knows all dharmas deeply, yet he is apart from the notion of dharmas; though he delights to see all the buddhas, yet he is apart from the notion of buddhas; though he enters well the manifold samādhis, yet he knows that the own-nature of all dharmas is just as it is, and he is nowhere stained by them; though with boundless eloquence he expounds inexhaustible sayings of the Dharma, yet his mind ever abides in the dharma that is apart from letters; though he delights to contemplate the dharma that is without speech, yet he ever displays a pure voice; though he abides in the border of all dharmas where words are left behind, yet he ever displays the manifold forms and marks; though he teaches and transforms sentient beings, yet he knows that all dharmas are in their very nature empty; though he diligently cultivates great compassion to deliver sentient beings, yet he knows that the realm of sentient beings is inexhaustible and does not scatter; though he understands through and through that the Dharma realm abides constantly without change, yet with the three wheels of body, speech, and mind he tames sentient beings and never once takes rest; though he ever abides where the Tathāgata abides, yet his wisdom is pure, his mind without fear, and he tells apart and expounds the manifold dharmas and turns the Dharma-wheel without ever taking rest.

The Concluding Sentence

“Sons of the Buddha! This is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s skillful wisdom of the ninth great samādhi, mastery in the Dharma realm.”

The Question Raised and the Means of Entering the Samādhi: Twenty-Two Clauses Displaying ‘Unobstructed’ and ‘Wheel’

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s (the great bodhisattva’s) samādhi of the unobstructed wheel? Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters this samādhi, he dwells in deeds of body that are without obstruction, in deeds of speech that are without obstruction, in deeds of mind that are without obstruction; he dwells in buddha-lands that are without obstruction; he obtains the wisdom that perfects sentient beings without obstruction; he gains the wisdom that tames sentient beings without obstruction; he sends forth light that is without obstruction; he manifests a net of light that is without obstruction; he displays vast transformations that are without obstruction; he turns a pure wheel of the Dharma that is without obstruction; he obtains a bodhisattva’s sovereignty that is without obstruction. He enters universally the powers of the buddhas; he dwells universally in the wisdom of the buddhas; he does what the buddhas do; he purifies what the buddhas purify; he manifests the spiritual penetrations of a buddha; he causes the buddhas to rejoice; he practices what the Tathāgatas practice; he dwells in the path of the Tathāgatas; he is constantly able to draw near to measureless buddhas; he does the work of the buddhas; he continues the lineage of the buddhas.

After Dwelling in the Samādhi: Nine Clauses of Contemplating Omniscience · Ten Vastnesses of Samantabhadra · Six Pairs of Not Retrogressing

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva has dwelt in this samādhi, he contemplates omniscience, contemplates omniscience as a whole, contemplates omniscience in its parts, follows in accord with omniscience, makes omniscience manifest, takes omniscience for his object, sees omniscience, sees omniscience as a whole, sees omniscience in its parts; and toward the bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s vast vow, vast mind, vast practice, vast destination, vast entering, vast light, vast appearing, vast guarding and keeping in mind, vast transformation, and vast path, he neither breaks off nor retrogresses, neither rests nor exchanges, neither tires nor abandons, neither scatters nor falls into disorder, but constantly advances and continues on without end.

“Why is it so? This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, within all dharmas, has accomplished the great vow, has set out upon and practices the Great Vehicle, and has entered the great ocean of skillful means of the Buddha-Dharma; by the power of a surpassing vow, toward the gates of practice that the bodhisattvas practice his wisdom shines and in all of them he is skilled; he is furnished with a bodhisattva’s spiritual penetrations and transformations, and is well able to guard and keep in mind all sentient beings; just as all the buddhas past, future, and present guard and keep them in mind, so does he constantly give rise to great compassion toward all sentient beings, and accomplishes the Tathāgatas’ dharma that does not alter.

The Simile of the Maṇi Jewel Set in a Colored Garment: The Wisdom Is the Same as a Buddha’s and Yet the Practice Is Not Abandoned

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when a man sets a maṇi jewel within a garment that has color: that maṇi jewel, though it is mirrored as of one color with the garment, has never abandoned its own nature. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he accomplishes wisdom and makes of it the jewel within his mind, and contemplating omniscience he makes it all clearly manifest, and yet he does not abandon the several practices of a bodhisattva.

“Why is it so? The bodhisattva-mahāsattva sets up a great oath and vow — to benefit all sentient beings, to deliver all sentient beings, to serve all the buddhas, to adorn and purify all worlds, to comfort sentient beings, to enter deeply the ocean of the Dharma; and in order to purify the realm of sentient beings he manifests great sovereignty, gives to sentient beings, illumines the world universally, and enters boundless gates of the Dharma of illusory transformation, without retrogressing and without altering, without flagging and without weariness.

Three Similes Making Clear the Unweariedness in Benefiting Beings: Space · Nirvāṇa · Sarvajñā

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with space, which upholds the many worlds: whether those worlds are being formed or are abiding, space is without weariness and without fatigue, neither weakened nor decayed, neither scattered nor destroyed, neither altering nor differing, without any distinction, and it does not abandon its own nature either. Why is it so? Because such is the own-nature of space; the dharma is thus of itself. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he sets up measureless great vows to deliver all sentient beings, and in his mind there is no weariness.

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with nirvāṇa, wherein measureless sentient beings past, future, and present pass into extinction, and nirvāṇa is from first to last unwearied. Why is it so? Because all dharmas are in their original nature pure, and this is what is called nirvāṇa — this being so, where within it would there be any weariness? The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: in order to deliver all sentient beings and cause them all to come forth, he therefore manifests himself in the world; how should he give rise to a mind of fatigue and weariness?

“Sons of the Buddha! It is again as with Sarvajñā (omniscience), which can cause all bodhisattvas past, future, and present to be born in the house of the buddhas — already born, or now being born, or to be born — and even causes them to accomplish unsurpassed awakening, and is from first to last neither tired nor wearied. Why is it so? Because omniscience and the Dharma realm are in no way two, and toward all dharmas there is no grasping at all. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: his mind dwells equally in omniscience; how should he have a mind of fatigue and weariness?

The Surpassingness of the Dependent Fruit: One Great Lotus Reaching to the Limit of the Ten Directions

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has a lotus flower, and that flower is so vast that it reaches to the very limit of the ten directions, adorned with unspeakably many petals, unspeakably many precious things, and unspeakably many wondrous fragrances; and those unspeakable many jewels each and every one manifest jewels of every kind, pure and lovely, and most excellently settled. That flower constantly sends forth light of the several colors, illumining universally all the worlds of the ten directions without any obstruction; a net of true gold spreads over the flower above; and jeweled bells swing slowly and give forth a subtle sound, and that sound sets forth at length the dharma of omniscience.

“This great lotus flower is furnished with the pure adornment of the Tathāgatas; it is what all roots of goodness give rise to; it takes auspiciousness for its mark; it is manifested by spiritual power; it has the pure merits of ten thousand asaṃkhyeyas; it is what the wondrous path of a bodhisattva accomplishes; it is what flows forth from the mind of omniscience; the reflected images of the buddhas of the ten directions appear within it, and the world looks up to it as it looks up to a stūpa of the Buddha, and of the sentient beings who see it there are none who do not pay reverence; it is born from the right Dharma that can penetrate the illusory, and in all the worlds there is nothing to which it may be likened.

The Sovereignty of the Proper Recompense: Sitting Cross-Legged upon the Flower · The Buddhas Sustain Him and the Light Goes Forth in Twenty Layers

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva sits cross-legged upon this flower, and the size of his body answers to the flower. All the buddhas sustain him with their spiritual power, so that from every single pore of the bodhisattva’s body there go forth lights as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; and every single light manifests maṇi jewels as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands, and those jewels are all named the treasury of universal light, adorned with colors and marks of every kind, accomplished by measureless merit, and over them again a net made of the many jewels and of flowers spreads above, scattering a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of surpassing wondrous fragrances, adorned in every kind of way with measureless colors and marks, and manifesting again inconceivable jeweled adornments that canopy them above.

“Every single maṇi jewel manifests storied pavilions as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single storied pavilion manifests lotus-treasury lion thrones as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single lion throne manifests lights as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single light manifests colors and marks as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single color and mark manifests wheels of light as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single wheel of light manifests Vairocana maṇi jeweled flowers as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single flower manifests flower-daises as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single flower-dais manifests buddhas as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single buddha manifests spiritual transformations as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single spiritual transformation purifies great assemblies of sentient beings as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; within every single great assembly of sentient beings there are manifested sovereignties of the buddhas as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single sovereignty sends down buddha-dharmas as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single buddha-dharma has sūtras (the scriptures) as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single sūtra expounds gates of the Dharma as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single gate of the Dharma has wheels of the Dharma entered by adamantine wisdom as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands, expounded severally in words that differ; every single wheel of the Dharma ripens realms of sentient beings as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands; every single realm of sentient beings has sentient beings as many as the dust motes of a million koṭis of nayutas of unspeakable buddha-lands, who within the Buddha-Dharma are tamed.

Penetrating the Markless Dharma: Dwelling in Unspeakable Dharmas, Not Awakened by Another

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, dwelling in this samādhi, manifests such realms of spiritual penetration and measureless transformations, and yet knows them wholly to be as illusions and is not stained by them, and dwells in boundless unspeakable dharmas. These dharmas are pure in their own nature, are the true mark of the Dharma realm, are the lineage-nature of the Tathāgata; within the limit that is without obstruction there is no going and no coming, nothing before and nothing after, and they are so deep as to have no bottom; they are obtained by direct perception, entered by one’s own wisdom, and one is not awakened to them by another. His mind is not confounded, nor does it discriminate; he is praised by all the buddhas past, future, and present; he flows forth from the power of the buddhas, and enters the realm of all the buddhas.

The Gathering In of the Buddha’s Merits: The Twenty-One Kinds of Surpassing Merit (Part One)

“His substance and nature are as they truly are; with a pure eye he witnesses and knows what is before him; with the eye of insight he sees universally; he accomplishes the buddha-eye and becomes a bright lamp for the world; he moves in the realm known by the eye of wisdom, and is widely able to reveal wondrous gates of the Dharma. He accomplishes the mind of awakening; he goes toward the surpassing ground of a great man; toward the several realms he has no obstruction; he enters the lineage-nature of wisdom and puts forth wisdoms of every kind; he departs from the birth-dharmas of the world and yet manifests the receiving of birth, and with spiritual penetrations and transformations, with skillfulness in means, he tames sentient beings. All of this is nothing but skillfulness; his merit and his aspiration are wholly pure, utterly subtle and completely full; his wisdom is vast like space; he is well able to observe the realms of the many sages; his faith, his understanding, and the power of his vow are firm and unmoved; his merits are inexhaustible and are praised by the world.

“Within the treasury that all the buddhas behold, the place of great awakening, the ocean of omniscience, he gathers together many wondrous jewels and becomes one of great wisdom; like a lotus flower his own nature is pure, and the sentient beings who see him all give rise to joy and all obtain benefit. The light of his wisdom illumines universally; he sees measureless buddhas; he purifies all dharmas; what he practices is still; and toward the dharmas of the buddhas he is ultimately without obstruction. Constantly by skillful means he dwells within the practice of the merits of a buddha’s awakening and thereby comes forth; he is furnished with a bodhisattva’s wisdom, is foremost among bodhisattvas, and is guarded and kept in mind by all the buddhas together.

“He obtains the awesome spirit of the buddhas; he accomplishes the dharma-body of a buddha; the power of his recollection is hard to conceive; toward objects he takes only one as his object and yet in truth has no object at all; his practice is vast, markless and unobstructed, equal to the Dharma realm, measureless and boundless. The awakening he witnesses is like space, without any limit, with nothing bound and nothing grasped; toward the several worlds he universally works their weal; he flows forth from the roots of goodness of the ocean of omniscience, and can penetrate measureless realms entire. He has already well accomplished the pure dharma of giving; he dwells in the mind of a bodhisattva; he purifies the seed of a bodhisattva; he can, following in accord, put forth the awakening of the buddhas; toward the dharmas of the buddhas he is in all things skilled; he is furnished with wondrous practice, and accomplishes firm power.

The Gathering In of the Buddha’s Merits: The Twenty-One Kinds of Surpassing Merit (Part Two)

“The sovereign awesome spirit of all the buddhas is hard for sentient beings to hear of, and yet this bodhisattva knows it all; he enters the gate of non-duality and dwells in the markless dharma; though he has already forever cast off all marks, yet he can expound at length the dharmas of every kind, and following what sentient beings delight in and understand in their minds, he causes them all to be tamed and causes them all to rejoice. He takes the Dharma realm for his body and yet has no discrimination; the realm of his wisdom cannot be exhausted; his resolve is constantly courageous, and his mind is constantly equal. He sees the limit of the merits of all the buddhas, and knows the order and the differences of all the kalpas; he reveals all dharmas, dwells in all lands, adorns and purifies all buddha-lands, makes manifest the light of all right Dharma, expounds the buddha-dharmas of the past, the future, and the present, and points out the dwelling places of the bodhisattvas.

“He acts as a bright lamp for the world, and puts forth the several roots of goodness; he forever departs from the world, and is constantly born in the presence of the buddhas; he obtains the wisdom of a buddha and understands it as the first among all. All the buddhas together take him in; he has already entered the number of the buddhas of the future; from the good friends he is brought forth; and of whatever he sets his resolve upon, there is nothing that does not bear fruit. He is furnished with great awesome virtue and dwells in a higher aspiration; whatever he hears he can well expound, and he also reveals to others the roots of goodness whence the hearing of the Dharma is born. He dwells in the wheel of the true limit, and toward all dharmas his mind is without obstruction; he does not cast away the several practices, he departs far from every kind of discrimination, and toward all dharmas his mind does not stir into thought.

“He obtains the light of wisdom and extinguishes the darkness of every folly, and can clearly illumine all the dharmas of the buddhas; he does not destroy the several existences and yet is born within them, and knows the realms of all the several existences. From the very beginning there has been no doing; his deeds of body, of speech, and of mind are all without limit; though following in accord with the conventional he expounds measureless letters of every kind, yet he constantly does not destroy the dharma that is apart from letters. He enters deeply the great ocean of the buddhas, knows that all dharmas are but borrowed names, and toward the several realms is nothing bound and nothing grasped; he penetrates that all dharmas are empty and without anything at all; the several practices he cultivates are born from the Dharma realm, and are like space, markless and shapeless. He enters deeply the Dharma realm and expounds it following in accord; within a single gate of objects he puts forth omniscience; he contemplates the ground of the ten powers and with wisdom studies it, and with wisdom for a bridge he reaches Sarvajñā (omniscience); with the eye of wisdom he sees the Dharma without obstruction, well enters the several grounds and knows the several meanings, and every single gate of the Dharma he understands clearly — of all his great vows there is none that is not accomplished.

Displaying the Surpassing Capacity of the Virtue: Revealing the Undifferentiated Nature of All Tathāgatas

“Sons of the Buddha! By this the bodhisattva-mahāsattva reveals the undifferentiated nature of all the Tathāgatas. This is the gate of skillful means that is without obstruction; this can put forth the assemblies of bodhisattvas; this dharma is the realm of samādhi alone; this can with courageous vigor enter Sarvajñā (omniscience); this can open up the gates of the several samādhis; this can without obstruction enter universally into all lands; this can tame all sentient beings; this can dwell in the limit where there are no sentient beings; this can reveal all the dharmas of the buddhas; this, in the several realms, obtains nothing at all.

Forty-Odd Clauses of ‘Though He Knows, Yet He Expounds’: The Mark of the Mutual Identity of Being and Non-Being

“Though at all times he expounds and reveals, yet he constantly departs from deluded thought and discrimination; though he knows that all dharmas are without any doing, yet he can manifest every kind of deed; though he knows that the buddhas have no two marks, yet he can display all the buddhas; though he knows there is no form, yet he expounds the several forms; though he knows there is no feeling, yet he expounds the several feelings; though he knows there is no perception, yet he expounds the several perceptions; though he knows there are no formations, yet he expounds the several formations; though he knows there is no consciousness, yet he expounds the several consciousnesses, and constantly with the wheel of the Dharma reveals all things; though he knows that dharmas have no arising, yet he constantly turns the wheel of the Dharma; though he knows that dharmas have no differences, yet he proclaims the several gates of difference; though he knows that dharmas have neither arising nor ceasing, yet he proclaims all the marks of arising and ceasing; though he knows that dharmas are neither coarse nor fine, yet he proclaims the coarse and fine marks of dharmas; though he knows that dharmas have no above, no middle, and no below, yet he can proclaim the uttermost dharma; though he knows that dharmas cannot be spoken of, yet he can expound pure words.

“Though he knows that dharmas have no inside and no outside, yet he proclaims all dharmas inner and outer; though he knows that dharmas cannot be known, yet he proclaims the observations of wisdom of every kind; though he knows that dharmas have nothing real, yet he proclaims the real path of coming forth; though he knows that dharmas are ultimately inexhaustible, yet he can expound the exhausting of the several outflows; though he knows that dharmas have no opposing and no contending, yet neither is there any lack of difference between self and other; though he knows that dharmas have ultimately no teacher, yet he constantly reveres all teachers and elders; though he knows that dharmas are not awakened to by another, yet he constantly reveres the good friends; though he knows that dharmas have no turning, yet he still turns the wheel of the Dharma; though he knows that dharmas have no arising, yet he reveals the several causes and conditions; though he knows that dharmas have no prior limit, yet he expounds at length the past; though he knows that dharmas have no latter limit, yet he expounds at length the future; though he knows that dharmas have no middle limit, yet he expounds at length the present.

“Though he knows that dharmas have no doer, yet he proclaims deeds of every kind; though he knows that dharmas have no causes and conditions, yet he proclaims the several causes whence they are gathered and arise; though he knows that dharmas have no equal to be compared with, yet he proclaims the path of the equal and the unequal; though he knows that dharmas have no speech, yet he proclaims decisively the dharmas of the three times; though he knows that dharmas have nothing they depend upon, yet he says that by depending upon good dharmas one comes forth; though he knows that the Dharma has no body, yet he expounds at length the dharma-body; though he knows that the buddhas of the three times are boundless, yet he can expound that there is but one buddha; though he knows that the Dharma has no form, yet he manifests forms of every kind; though he knows that the Dharma has no seeing, yet he expounds at length the several seeings; though he knows that the Dharma has no mark, yet he proclaims the several marks; though he knows that dharmas have no realm, yet he proclaims at length the realm of wisdom; though he knows that dharmas have no difference, yet he proclaims the several differences of practice and of fruit; though he knows that dharmas have no coming forth, yet he proclaims the several pure practices of coming forth; though he knows that dharmas are from the origin constantly abiding, yet he proclaims all dharmas that flow and turn; though he knows that dharmas have no shining, yet he constantly expounds at length the dharma of shining.

Witnessing and Entering All Dharmas: The Wheel of Samādhi-Wisdom of Great Awesome Virtue · Apart from Any Mark of Witnessing

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters such a wheel of samādhi-wisdom of great awesome virtue, he is then able to witness all the dharmas of the buddhas, is then able to go toward all the dharmas of the buddhas, is then able to accomplish, is then able to make full, is then able to gather together, is then able to purify, is then able to dwell, is then able to penetrate, and answers to the own-nature of all dharmas. And yet this bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not give rise to any such thought as this: ‘There are so many bodhisattvas, so many dharmas of a bodhisattva, so many ultimates of a bodhisattva, so many ultimates of illusion, so many ultimates of transformation, so many accomplishings of spiritual penetration, so many accomplishings of wisdom, so many ponderings, so many witnessings and enterings, so many goings toward, so many realms.’

“Why is it so? Because such is the substance and nature of a bodhisattva’s samādhi, such is its boundlessness, such is its surpassingness.

Twenty-Eight Enterings: The Realms, the Awesome Powers, and the Deep Enterings of the Samādhi

“This samādhi has realms of every kind, awesome powers of every kind, deep enterings of every kind, namely: entering the unspeakable gates of wisdom, entering the several adornments apart from discrimination, entering the boundless surpassing perfections, entering the numberless meditations, entering the vast wisdom of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of unspeakables, entering the excellent and wondrous treasury of seeing boundless buddhas, entering the realms without resting, entering the dharmas that aid the path with pure faith and understanding, entering the great spiritual penetrations with faculties sharp and keen, entering the realms with a mind without obstruction, entering the equal eye that sees all the buddhas, entering the gathering together of the surpassing resolve and practice of Samantabhadra, entering the dwelling in the body of the wondrous wisdom of Nārāyaṇa, entering the expounding of the great ocean of the Tathāgatas’ wisdom, entering the giving rise to measureless kinds of sovereign spiritual transformation, entering the gate that puts forth the inexhaustible wisdom of all the buddhas, entering the dwelling in the realm wherein all the buddhas are present, entering the purifying of the sovereign wisdom of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, entering the revealing of the universal-gate wisdom to which nothing may be likened, entering the universal knowing of all the subtle realms of the Dharma realm, entering the universal manifesting of all the subtle realms of the Dharma realm, entering all the surpassing lights of wisdom, entering the limit of all sovereignty, entering the limit of the gates of the Dharma of all eloquence, entering the body of wisdom that pervades the Dharma realm, entering the path of universal practice that accomplishes all places, entering the samādhi that well dwells in all differences, entering the knowing of the minds of all the buddhas.

The Universal Virtue Inexhaustible: Thought after Thought He Enters a Hundred Koṭis of Samādhis and Yet Sees No Prior Limit

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in the practice of Samantabhadra, and thought after thought he enters a hundred koṭis of unspeakable samādhis, and yet he does not see the prior limit of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s samādhis or of the adornment of the realm of the buddhas.

“Why is it so? Because he knows that all dharmas are ultimately inexhaustible; because he knows that all buddha-lands are boundless; because he knows that all realms of sentient beings are inconceivable; because he knows that the prior limit has no beginning; because he knows that the future has no end; because he knows that the present exhausts space and pervades the Dharma realm and is boundless; because he knows that the realms of all the buddhas are inconceivable; because he knows that the practices of all the bodhisattvas are numberless; because he knows that the realms spoken of by the eloquence of all the buddhas are unspeakable and boundless; because he knows that the dharmas taken as objects by all illusion-like minds are measureless.

Three Similes Making Clear the Inexhaustibility: The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel · Ordinary Persons Giving Rise to Mind · The Dragon Kings Sending Down Rain

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the wish-fulfilling jewel: whatever a man seeks he obtains, and those who seek are without end, and their wishes are all satisfied, and yet the power of the jewel is from first to last never wanting nor stayed. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: entering this samādhi, he knows that mind is like an illusory transformation, and puts forth the realms of all dharmas, pervading them without end, neither wanting nor ceasing. Why is it so? Because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva has accomplished the practice-wisdom of Samantabhadra that is without obstruction, and observes measureless and vast illusion-like realms that are like reflected images, without increase and without decrease.

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with ordinary persons, who severally and each apart give rise to thoughts of mind — those already arisen, those now arising, and those yet to arise — without any limit, neither cut off nor exhausted; and their minds flow and turn, following on unbroken, past conceiving. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he enters this samādhi of the gate of universal illusion, without any limit, past all measuring. Why is it so? Because he penetrates the measureless dharmas of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s gate of universal illusion.

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as when the dragon kings Nanda, Upananda, and Manasvin and the other great dragons send down rain: the drops are as coarse as cart-axles, and are without any limit; and though they rain in this way, the clouds are from first to last never exhausted — this is the realm of the dragons wherein there is no doing. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: dwelling in this samādhi, he enters the bodhisattva Samantabhadra’s gates of the several samādhis, gate of wisdom, gate of the Dharma, gate of seeing the buddhas, gate of going to the several quarters, gate of the mind’s sovereignty, gate of sustaining, gate of spiritual transformation, gate of spiritual penetration, gate of illusory transformation, gate of all dharmas being like illusions, gate of unspeakably unspeakable bodhisattvas filling all things; he draws near to the gate of the Tathāgatas, the perfectly awakened, as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands; he enters the gate of the vast net of illusion that is unspeakably unspeakable; he knows the gate of the differentiated vast buddha-lands that are unspeakably unspeakable; he knows the gate of the worlds that are unspeakably unspeakable, having substantial nature and having no substantial nature; he knows the gate of the perceptions of sentient beings that are unspeakably unspeakable; he knows the gate of the differences of time that are unspeakably unspeakable; he knows the gate of the forming and destruction of worlds that are unspeakably unspeakable; he knows the gate of the buddha-lands that are unspeakably unspeakable, those set facing downward and those set facing upward — and within a single thought he knows them all as they truly are.

Entering and Yet Without End: Neither Tired nor Wearied, Neither Broken Off nor Ceasing

“Entering in this way, there is no limit, no end, no tiring and no weariness, no breaking off and no ceasing, no retrogressing and no losing; within the several dharmas he does not dwell in what is not their place, but constantly ponders rightly, neither sinking down nor lifting himself up; seeking omniscience he is constantly without retrogressing or abandoning; for all buddha-lands he acts as a bright lamp that illumines the world, and turns wheels of the Dharma that are unspeakably unspeakable; with subtle eloquence he inquires of the Tathāgatas and there is no time when it is exhausted; he manifests the path of becoming a buddha without any limit; he tames sentient beings and constantly neither leaves off nor abandons; he is constantly diligent in cultivating the practices and vows of Samantabhadra and has never rested; he manifests measureless and unspeakably unspeakable bodies of colors and marks without any break.

“Why is it so? It is as with a kindled fire: according to however many the conditions are, for just so long a time does the fire arise and not cease. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he observes the realm of sentient beings, the Dharma realm, and the world as being like space without any limit, and even, within the space of a single thought, goes to the presence of buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands. In the presence of every single buddha he enters the differentiated dharmas of every kind of omniscience that are unspeakably unspeakable; he causes realms of sentient beings that are unspeakably unspeakable to leave the household life for the path, to cultivate roots of goodness diligently, and to be ultimately pure; he causes bodhisattvas that are unspeakably unspeakable, all those not yet settled in the practices and vows of Samantabhadra, to become settled, and to dwell in the gate of the wisdom of Samantabhadra; with measureless skillful means he enters the vast and differentiated kalpas of the forming, abiding, and destruction of the three times that are unspeakably unspeakable, and within the differentiated realms of the world in its forming, abiding, and destruction that are unspeakably unspeakable, he gives rise to just so many great compassions and great vows, and tames measureless sentient beings, all of them without any left remaining.

“Why is it so? Because this bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in order to deliver all sentient beings, cultivates the practice of Samantabhadra, gives birth to the wisdom of Samantabhadra, and fulfills all the practices and vows of Samantabhadra.

The Concluding Display That Urges Cultivation: Bodhisattvas Should Diligently Cultivate Such a Samādhi

“Therefore, bodhisattvas ought, within a samādhi of such a kind, of such a realm, of such awesome virtue, of such vastness, of such measurelessness, of such inconceivability, of such universal shining, wherein all the buddhas are present and abide, which all the Tathāgatas guard and keep in mind, which accomplishes roots of goodness of former times, and wherein the mind is unobstructed and unmoved — within such a samādhi they ought diligently to cultivate, to depart far from every kind of burning affliction, to be without fatigue and weariness, to be unretrogressing in mind, to set up a deep and earnest resolve, to be courageous and without timidity, to follow in accord with the realm of samādhi, and to enter the ground of wisdom that is hard to conceive.

“Not relying upon letters, not clinging to the world, not grasping at dharmas, not giving rise to discrimination, not being stained by worldly affairs, not discriminating realms; toward the wisdom of the several dharmas one should only dwell, and should not take its measure. This is: to draw near to omniscience, to awaken to and understand the awakening of a buddha, to accomplish the light of the Dharma, and to bestow roots of goodness upon all sentient beings. To pull sentient beings out of the realms of Māra and cause them to enter the realm of the Buddha-Dharma; to cause them not to abandon the great vow; to be diligent in observing the path of coming forth; to broaden and purify the realms; to accomplish the several perfections; and toward all the buddhas to give rise to deep faith and understanding.

“One should constantly observe the nature of all dharmas, without for a moment letting it go; one should know that one’s own body and the nature of all dharmas are universally equal; one should understand clearly the affairs done in the world, and display to them the skillful means of a wisdom that accords with the Dharma; one should be constantly vigorous, without rest; one should observe that one’s own roots of goodness are still few; one should diligently increase the several roots of goodness of others; one should oneself cultivate the path of omniscience; one should diligently increase the realms of a bodhisattva; one should delight in drawing near to the good friends; one should dwell together with those who practice alike; one should not discriminate the buddhas; one should not cast away right mindfulness; one should constantly dwell in the equal Dharma realm; one should know that all mind and consciousness are like illusions; one should know that the several practices of the world are like a dream; one should know that the appearing of the power of the buddhas’ vows is like a reflected image; one should know that all vast deeds are like transformations; one should know that speech is in every case like an echo; one should observe that all dharmas are like illusions; one should know that all dharmas of arising and ceasing are like sounds; one should know that all the buddha-lands to which one goes are without substantial nature; one should not give rise to weariness in inquiring of the Tathāgatas about the Buddha-Dharma; one should, in order to awaken all the world, diligently instruct it and not abandon it; one should, in order to tame all sentient beings, know the time and expound the Dharma without resting.

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva in this way cultivates the practice of Samantabhadra, in this way fulfills the realms of a bodhisattva, in this way penetrates the path of coming forth, in this way holds and upholds the buddha-dharmas of the three times, in this way observes the gates of omniscience, in this way ponders the dharma that does not alter, in this way makes bright and clean his higher aspiration, in this way believes in and understands all the Tathāgatas, in this way knows the vast power of the buddhas, in this way settles a mind that has no obstruction, in this way takes in all sentient beings.

The Samādhi Full and the Benefit Accomplished: The Buddhas of the Ten Directions and the Ten Kinds of Dharma

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters such a samādhi of great wisdom as the bodhisattva Samantabhadra dwells in, then in each of the ten directions there are unspeakably unspeakable lands, and in every single land there are names of Tathāgatas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and under every single name there are buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands present before him: they give him the power of the Tathāgatas’ recollection, causing him not to forget the realm of the Tathāgatas; they give him the ultimate insight into all dharmas, causing him to enter omniscience; they give him the decisive insight that knows the several meanings of all dharmas, causing him to hold and uphold all the buddha-dharmas and go toward them without obstruction; they give him the unsurpassed awakening of a buddha, causing him to enter omniscience and awaken to the Dharma realm; they give him a bodhisattva’s ultimate insight, causing him to obtain the light of all dharmas without any kind of darkness; they give him a bodhisattva’s unretrogressing wisdom, causing him to know what is the time and what is not the time and with skillful means to tame sentient beings; they give him a bodhisattva’s eloquence that is without obstruction, causing him to awaken to and understand boundless dharmas and expound them without end; they give him the power of spiritual penetrations and transformations, causing him to manifest bodies of difference that are unspeakably unspeakable, boundless colors and marks of every kind unlike one another, and thereby to awaken sentient beings; they give him a full and perfect voice, causing him to manifest sounds of difference that are unspeakably unspeakable, words of every kind, and thereby to awaken sentient beings; they give him the power that is not spent in vain, causing all sentient beings, whether they see his form or hear him expound the Dharma, to be brought to accomplishment, with none of it passing away empty.

“Sons of the Buddha! Because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva in this way fulfills the practice of Samantabhadra, he obtains the power of the Tathāgatas, purifies the path of coming forth, and fulfills omniscience; with unobstructed eloquence and with spiritual penetrations and transformations he ultimately tames all sentient beings; he is furnished with the awesome virtue of a buddha, purifies the practice of Samantabhadra, dwells in the path of Samantabhadra, and to the very end of the future, in order to tame all sentient beings, turns the subtle wheel of the Dharma of all the buddhas.

“Why is it so? Sons of the Buddha! Because this bodhisattva-mahāsattva has accomplished such a surpassing great vow and the practices of the bodhisattvas, he becomes a teacher of the Dharma for all the world, becomes a sun of the Dharma for all the world, becomes a moon of wisdom for all the world; he becomes the king of the mountain Sumeru for all the world, towering high and firm and unmoved; he becomes for all the world an ocean of wisdom that has no shore; he becomes for all the world a bright lamp of the right Dharma, illumining the boundless universally, unbroken and unceasing; for all sentient beings he reveals boundless pure merit, and causes them all to dwell in the roots of goodness of merit; following in accord with omniscience, his great vows are equal, he cultivates the vast practice of Samantabhadra, is constantly able to exhort and rouse measureless sentient beings, dwells in the samādhi of vast practice that is unspeakably unspeakable, and manifests great sovereignty.

The Ten Great Treasuries of the Dharma: Where This Mind Dwells Constantly

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, having obtained such wisdom, having witnessed such a dharma, dwells attentively upon such a dharma and clearly sees it; he obtains such spiritual power, dwells in such a realm, manifests such spiritual transformations, and gives rise to such spiritual penetrations; he constantly dwells in great compassion, constantly benefits sentient beings, reveals to sentient beings the right path of peace and rest, and sets up a great banner of light of merit and wisdom; he witnesses the inconceivable liberation, dwells in the liberation of omniscience, reaches the further shore of the liberation of the buddhas, studies the gate of skillful means of the inconceivable liberation and has already accomplished it, enters the gate of the differences of the Dharma realm without falling into disorder, disports himself with sovereign freedom in the unspeakably unspeakable samādhis of Samantabhadra, and dwells in the wisdom of the lion’s swift onrush with mind unobstructed.

“His mind dwells constantly in ten great treasuries of the Dharma. What are the ten? They are: dwelling in the calling to mind of all the buddhas; dwelling in the calling to mind of all the buddha-dharmas; dwelling in the great compassion that tames all sentient beings; dwelling in the wisdom that manifests inconceivable pure lands; dwelling in the decisive understanding that enters deeply the realms of the buddhas; dwelling in the awakening that is the equal mark of all the buddhas past, future, and present; dwelling in the limit that is unobstructed and unattached; dwelling in the markless nature of all dharmas; dwelling in the equal roots of goodness of all the buddhas past, future, and present; dwelling in the wisdom that goes before the deeds of body, of speech, and of mind wherein all the Tathāgatas past, future, and present are undifferentiated in the Dharma realm; dwelling in the observing of the receiving of birth, the leaving of the household life, the going to the place of awakening, the accomplishing of perfect awakening, the turning of the wheel of the Dharma, and the entering of parinirvāṇa of all the buddhas of the three times, all of them entering into the limit of a single kṣaṇa.

“Sons of the Buddha! These ten great treasuries of the Dharma are vast and measureless, uncountable, unnameable, unthinkable, unspeakable, without any end, and hard to bear; the wisdom of all the world can in no way tell them out.

Reaching the Further Shore and Yet Not Departing from the Conventional: What Is Obtained by This Samādhi

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has already reached the further shore of all the practices of Samantabhadra, has witnessed the pure dharma, is vast in the power of his resolve, reveals to sentient beings measureless roots of goodness, increases all the powers of a bodhisattva, thought after thought fulfills all the merits of a bodhisattva, accomplishes all the several practices of a bodhisattva, obtains the dhāraṇī-dharma of all the buddhas, and holds and upholds what all the buddhas expound; though he constantly dwells in suchness and the true limit, yet he follows in accord with all conventional speech, and manifesting himself he tames all sentient beings. Why is it so? Because when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in this samādhi, the dharma is thus of itself.

“Sons of the Buddha! By this samādhi the bodhisattva-mahāsattva obtains the vast wisdom of all the buddhas; obtains the sovereign eloquence that skillfully expounds all vast dharmas; obtains the pure and fearless dharma that is the most surpassing in all the world; obtains the wisdom that enters all samādhis; obtains all the skillful means of the bodhisattvas; obtains the gate of light of all dharmas; reaches the further shore of the dharma that comforts all the world; knows what is the time and what is not the time for all sentient beings; sees and illumines every place in the worlds of the ten directions; causes all sentient beings to obtain surpassing wisdom; acts as an unsurpassed teacher for all the world; dwells in all the several merits; reveals to all sentient beings the pure samādhi; and causes them to enter the uttermost wisdom.

“Why is it so? When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva cultivates in this way, he then benefits sentient beings, then increases great compassion, then draws near to the good friends, then sees all the buddhas, then penetrates all dharmas, then goes to all lands, then enters all quarters, then enters all ages, then awakens to the equal nature of all dharmas, then knows the equal nature of all the buddhas, then dwells in the equal nature of omniscience. Within this dharma he does such work and does no other work; he dwells in a mind that is not yet satisfied, dwells in a mind that is not scattered, dwells in a mind that is single, dwells in a mind that cultivates diligently, dwells in a mind that is decided, dwells in a mind that does not alter; in this way he ponders, in this way he does his work, in this way he reaches the end.

No Speaking at Variance and No Doing at Variance: Ten Similes Making Clear the Practice, the First Seven upon ‘Named from the Practice, at No Time Apart from the Practice’

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva has no speaking at variance and no doing at variance, but rather a speaking that is as it is and a doing that is as it is. Why is it so? It is as with adamant, which because it cannot be broken obtains its name, and at no time is it ever apart from unbreakableness; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: by the dharmas of the several practices he obtains his name, and at no time is he ever apart from the dharmas of the several practices. It is as with true gold, which because it has an excellent color obtains its name, and at no time is it ever apart from its excellent color; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: by the several good deeds he obtains his name, and at no time is he ever apart from the several good deeds.

“It is as with the sun god-son, who because he has a wheel of light obtains his name, and at no time is he ever apart from the wheel of light; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: by the light of wisdom he obtains his name, and at no time is he ever apart from the light of wisdom. It is as with the king of the mountain Sumeru, which with its four jeweled peaks stands within the great ocean and towers high and thereby obtains its name, and at no time does it ever cast off its four peaks; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: with the several roots of goodness he stands within the world and towers high and thereby obtains his name, and at no time does he ever cast off the roots of goodness.

“It is as with the great earth, which because it upholds all things obtains its name, and at no time does it ever cast off its power to uphold; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: by delivering all beings he obtains his name, and at no time does he ever cast off great compassion. It is as with the great sea, which because it holds the many waters obtains its name, and at no time does it ever cast off its waters; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: by the several great vows he obtains his name, and never for a moment does he cast off the vow to deliver sentient beings.

“It is as with the general of an army, who because he is practiced in the dharma of battle obtains his name, and at no time does he ever cast off that skill; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: by being practiced in such a samādhi he obtains his name, and even until he accomplishes the wisdom of omniscience, at no time does he ever cast off this practice. It is again as with a wheel-turning king, who rules the four continents and is constantly diligent in guarding all sentient beings, causing them to be without untimely death and constantly to receive pleasure; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: entering such great samādhis of every kind, he is constantly diligent in transforming and delivering all sentient beings, and even causes them to be ultimately pure.

“It is as with a seed, planted within the ground, which even causes stalk and leaf to increase; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: cultivating the practice of Samantabhadra, he even causes the good dharmas of all sentient beings to increase. It is as with a great cloud, which in the hot months of summer sends down a great rain and even increases all seeds; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: entering such great samādhis of every kind, cultivating the practice of a bodhisattva, he sends down a great rain of Dharma, and even is able to cause all sentient beings to be ultimately pure, ultimately in nirvāṇa, ultimately at peace and rest, ultimately upon the further shore, ultimately joyful, ultimately cut off from doubt; he acts for sentient beings as an ultimate field of merit, causes their deeds of giving all to become pure, causes them all to dwell in the unretrogressing path, causes them all alike to obtain the wisdom of omniscience, causes them all to come forth from the three realms, causes them all to obtain ultimate wisdom, causes them all to obtain the ultimate dharma of the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, and sets all sentient beings within the place of omniscience.

The Eight Matters He Can Purify · The Ten Powers Whence the Pure Merit Comes

“Why is it so? Because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes this dharma, his wisdom is clear, he enters the gate of the Dharma realm, and he can purify the inconceivable and measureless practices of a bodhisattva. Namely: he can purify wisdom of every kind, because he seeks omniscience; he can purify sentient beings, because he causes them to be tamed; he can purify lands, because he constantly dedicates and directs; he can purify all dharmas, because he knows them universally; he can purify fearlessness, because he has no timidity; he can purify unobstructed eloquence, because he expounds with skill; he can purify dhāraṇī, because toward all dharmas he obtains sovereignty; he can purify the practice of drawing near, because he constantly sees all the buddhas arise in the world.

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in this samādhi, he obtains such pure merits as are a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of unspeakably unspeakable — because he obtains sovereignty within the realm of such a samādhi; because all the buddhas sustain him; because it flows forth from the power of his own roots of goodness; because he enters the great awesome power of the ground of wisdom; because of the power of the good friends’ leading him; because of the power that crushes all the several Māras; because of the power of roots of goodness of the same share being pure and unmixed; because of the power of vast oath and vow and aspiration; because of the power of the roots of goodness he has planted being accomplished; because of the power of inexhaustible merit surpassing the several worlds and having nothing to be set against it.

The Ten Kinds of Dharma the Same as the Buddhas’

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in this samādhi, he obtains ten kinds of dharma that are the same as all the buddhas past, future, and present. What are the ten? They are: he obtains the marks and signs, adorned in every kind of way, the same as the buddhas; he can send forth a pure great net of light, the same as the buddhas; his spiritual penetrations and transformations tame sentient beings, the same as the buddhas; his boundless body of form and pure and perfect voice are the same as the buddhas; he manifests pure buddha-lands according to the deeds of sentient beings, the same as the buddhas; he can take in and uphold all the speech that all sentient beings have, forgetting none and losing none, the same as the buddhas; with inexhaustible eloquence he turns the wheel of the Dharma according to the minds of sentient beings and causes wisdom to arise in them, the same as the buddhas; he makes the great lion’s roar without any timidity, and with measureless dharmas awakens the multitudes, the same as the buddhas; within the space of a single thought, with great spiritual penetration he enters universally into the three times, the same as the buddhas; he is universally able to display to all sentient beings the adornment of the buddhas, the awesome power of the buddhas, and the realm of the buddhas, the same as the buddhas.”

The Question of Universal Eye: Being Already the Same as the Buddhas, Why Is He Not Named a Buddha

At that time the bodhisattva Universal Eye said to the bodhisattva Samantabhadra: “Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has obtained such dharmas, the same as the Tathāgatas — why is he not named a buddha? Why is he not named the Ten Powers? Why is he not named omniscience? Why is he not named one who has obtained awakening within all dharmas? Why does he not obtain the name of Universal Eye? Why is he not named one who sees without obstruction within all realms? Why is he not named one who has awakened to all dharmas? Why is he not named one who dwells without duality with the buddhas of the three times? Why is he not named one who dwells in the true limit? Why does he still not rest from cultivating the practices and vows of Samantabhadra? Why can he not reach the Dharma realm to its end and cast off the path of the bodhisattva?”

The Answer of Samantabhadra: One Person and Two Names, the Sense Having Two Gates

At that time the bodhisattva Samantabhadra told the bodhisattva Universal Eye, saying:

“It is good, Sons of the Buddha! It is as you have said: if this bodhisattva-mahāsattva is the same as all the buddhas, then for the sake of what meaning is he not named a buddha, and even cannot cast off the path of the bodhisattva? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has already been able to cultivate the practices and vows of every kind of all the bodhisattvas past, future, and present, and has entered the realm of wisdom, and he is therefore named a buddha; and yet, since in the Tathāgata’s presence the bodhisattva practice he cultivates has no rest, he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva. The powers of every kind of the Tathāgatas he has all already entered, and he is therefore named the Ten Powers; and yet, though he has accomplished the ten powers, he practices the practice of Samantabhadra without rest, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva.

“He knows all dharmas and is able to expound them, and is named omniscience; and yet, though he is able to expound all dharmas, toward every single dharma he ponders with skill and has never left off, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva. He knows that all dharmas have no two marks, and this is what is meant by being named one who has awakened to all dharmas; and yet toward the path of the differences of all dharmas, dual and non-dual, he observes with skill, going forward from strength to strength without rest, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva. He has already been able to see clearly the realm of the Universal Eye, and is said to be named Universal Eye; and yet, though he is able to witness the realm of the Universal Eye, thought after thought he increases and has never rested, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva.

“Toward all dharmas he is able to shine clearly and departs from the several dark obstructions, and is named one who sees without obstruction; and yet he is constantly diligent in calling to mind one who sees without obstruction, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva. He has already obtained the eye of the wisdom of the buddhas, and this is what is meant by being named one who has awakened to all dharmas; and yet he observes the eye of the wisdom of the perfect awakening of the Tathāgatas and is not heedless, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva. He dwells where the buddhas dwell and is without duality with the buddhas, and is said to be named one who dwells without duality with the buddhas; and yet he is taken in by the buddhas and cultivates wisdom of every kind, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva.

“He constantly observes the true limit of all the world, and this is what is meant by being named one who dwells in the true limit; and yet, though he constantly observes the true limit of all dharmas, he neither witnesses and enters it nor abandons it, and he is therefore said to be named a bodhisattva. Neither coming nor going, without sameness and without difference, all these discriminations having forever ceased — this is what is meant by being named one who has rested from his vow; and yet he cultivates vastly, fulfilling and not retrogressing, and he is then named one who has not rested from the vow of Samantabhadra. He fully knows that the Dharma realm has no limit, and that all dharmas are of one mark and markless — this is what is meant by being named one who has reached the Dharma realm to its end and cast off the path of the bodhisattva; and yet, though he knows that the Dharma realm has no limit, he knows all the marks of difference of every kind, gives rise to a mind of great compassion and delivers sentient beings, and to the very end of the future is without fatigue and weariness — this is what is meant by being named the bodhisattva Samantabhadra.

The Simile of the Elephant-King Airāvaṇa (One): His Own Shape and His Spiritual Transformation

“Sons of the Buddha! It is as with the elephant-king Airāvaṇa, who dwells within the cave of seven jewels on the Golden-Flank Mountain: that cave is fenced about on every side with railings all made of the seven jewels, jeweled tāla trees stand in ranks in order, and a net of true gold spreads over it above; the elephant’s body is white and clean like polished snow, upon it stands a golden banner, gold is its necklace, a jeweled net covers its trunk, jeweled bells hang down, its seven limbs are accomplished and its six tusks complete, upright and fully formed, and those who see it are all glad and delight in it, and it is well trained and gentle, with a mind that goes contrary to nothing.

“If the god-lord Śakra is about to go abroad, then at that time the elephant-king knows his intent, and within the jeweled cave he hides his shape and comes before Śakra, the lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, and by the power of spiritual penetration transforms himself in every kind of way, causing his own body to have thirty-three heads, upon every single head conjuring seven tusks, upon every single tusk conjuring seven pools, within every single pool there being seven lotus flowers, within every single flower there being seven maidens, and all at once they strike up a hundred thousand heavenly musics. At this time Śakra mounts this jeweled elephant and goes from the Hall Hard to Conquer to the flower garden, wherein puṇḍarīka flowers fill it everywhere. At this time, when Śakra has reached the flower garden, he comes down from the elephant’s back and enters the hall adorned with all jewels, with measureless maidens as his attendants, singing and making music, and receives pleasures of every kind.

“At that time the elephant-king again by spiritual penetration hides the elephant’s shape and manifests a god’s body, and with the Thirty-Three gods and the several maidens takes his joy and sports within the puṇḍarīka flower garden; and the bodily marks he manifests, the light and the garments, the going and coming and the standing still, the speech and the laughter and the looking about, are all the same as those gods, equal and without difference, and none is able to tell apart — this is the elephant, this is the god; the elephant and the god are like one another turn and turn about.

“Sons of the Buddha! That elephant-king Airāvaṇa, within the cave of seven jewels on the Golden-Flank Mountain, has undergone no transformation at all, and yet, having reached the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, wishing to make offerings to Śakra Devānām Indra, he conjures up delightful things of every kind, receives the pleasures of the heavens, and is without difference from the gods.

The Simile of the Elephant-King Airāvaṇa (Two): The Joining to the Dharma — Not Abandoning the Path of Samantabhadra and Yet Manifesting Perfect Awakening

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he cultivates the practices and vows of the bodhisattva Samantabhadra and the several samādhis, and makes of them his many-jeweled adornments; he takes the seven factors of awakening for the body of a bodhisattva; he makes of the light he sends forth a net; he sets up the great banner of the Dharma; he sounds the great bell of the Dharma; he takes great compassion for his cave; he takes firm great vows for his tusks; his wisdom and fearlessness are like a lion’s; with silk of the Dharma he binds his head; he reveals the secret; and he reaches the further shore of the practices and vows of all the bodhisattvas.

“In order to be seated upon the seat of awakening, to accomplish omniscience, and to obtain the most perfect awakening, he increases the vast practices and vows of Samantabhadra, unretrogressing and unresting, unbroken and unabandoned, with great compassion and vigor, and to the very end of the future delivers all sentient beings who suffer affliction. Not abandoning the path of Samantabhadra, he manifests the accomplishing of the most perfect awakening, manifests unspeakably unspeakable gates of accomplishing perfect awakening, manifests unspeakably unspeakable gates of turning the wheel of the Dharma, manifests unspeakably unspeakable gates of dwelling in the deep mind; within unspeakably unspeakable vast lands he manifests the gate of the transformation of nirvāṇa; within unspeakably unspeakable worlds of difference he manifests the receiving of birth and cultivates the practice of Samantabhadra, and manifests unspeakably unspeakable Tathāgatas; within unspeakably unspeakable vast lands, beneath the tree of awakening, he accomplishes the most perfect awakening, with unspeakably unspeakable hosts of bodhisattvas drawing near and surrounding him.

“Whether within the space of a single thought he cultivates the practice of Samantabhadra and accomplishes perfect awakening; or within the space of a moment, or within a single time, or within a single day, or within half a month, or within a month, or within a year, or within numberless years, or within a kalpa, and so on even to unspeakably unspeakable kalpas, he cultivates the practice of Samantabhadra and accomplishes perfect awakening. And again, within all the buddha-lands he is foremost, drawing near to the buddhas, bowing his head and making offerings, inquiring and observing the illusion-like realms, and purifying and cultivating a bodhisattva’s measureless practices, measureless wisdoms, spiritual transformations of every kind, awesome virtues of every kind, wisdoms of every kind, realms of every kind, spiritual penetrations of every kind, sovereignties of every kind, liberations of every kind, brightnesses of the Dharma of every kind, and dharmas of teaching and taming of every kind.

His Own Body Not Extinguished: The Cause Is Not Destroyed and the Fruit Is Manifested

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s own body is not extinguished, and by the power of his practices and vows he transforms and manifests in every place after this manner. Why is it so? Because he would with the sovereign spiritual power of Samantabhadra tame all sentient beings; because he would cause sentient beings that are unspeakably unspeakable to be pure; because he would cause them forever to cut off the wheel of birth and death; because he would adorn and purify vast worlds; because he would constantly see all the Tathāgatas; because he would enter deeply the stream of all the buddha-dharmas; because he would call to mind the lineage of the buddhas of the three times; because he would call to mind all the buddha-dharmas and the dharma-body of the ten directions; because he would universally cultivate all the several practices of a bodhisattva and make them full; because he would enter the stream of Samantabhadra and with sovereignty be able to witness omniscience.

The Simile of the Elephant-King Raised Again, and the Concluding of the Name

“Sons of the Buddha! You ought to observe this bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he does not abandon the practice of Samantabhadra, he does not break off the path of the bodhisattva, he sees all the buddhas, he witnesses omniscience, and with sovereignty he receives and uses the dharmas of omniscience. It is just as the elephant-king Airāvaṇa does not abandon his elephant body and yet goes to the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, is ridden by the gods, receives the pleasures of the heavens, makes the sports of the heavens, serves the lord of the gods, and takes his joy together with the maidens of the heavens, being the same as the gods and without difference.

“Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise so: he does not abandon the several practices of the Great Vehicle of Samantabhadra, he does not retrogress from the several vows, he obtains the sovereignty of a buddha, he is furnished with omniscience, he witnesses the liberation of a buddha, without hindrance and without obstruction, and accomplishes purity; toward the several lands he is stained by nothing, and toward the Buddha-Dharma he discriminates nothing; though he knows that all dharmas are universally equal and have no two marks, yet he constantly sees clearly all buddha-lands; though he is already equal to all the buddhas of the three times, yet he cultivates the practice of a bodhisattva in unbroken succession.

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in such a vast dharma of the practices and vows of Samantabhadra, you should know that this person’s mind has obtained purity. Sons of the Buddha! This is the surpassing mind and the vast wisdom of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s tenth great samādhi of the unobstructed wheel.

The Concluding Praise at the Close of the Chapter: The Gathering Up of the Wheel of the Ten Great Samādhis

“Sons of the Buddha! This is the wheel of the ten great samādhis of the practice of Samantabhadra wherein the bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells.”

Raising the Number and Declaring It: The Bodhisattva Has Ten Penetrations

At that time Samantabhadra Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva said to all the bodhisattvas seated there:

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva (a great bodhisattva) has ten kinds of penetration. Which are the ten?

The First, the Penetration of the Knowledge of Others’ Minds: Knowing in One Thought All the Differences of Sentient Beings’ Minds

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge of others’ minds (the spiritual penetration of the wisdom that can know the thoughts in another’s mind), fully knows the manifold differences among the minds of the sentient beings within one three-thousandfold great-thousand world-system, that is to say: good minds, minds not good, vast minds, narrow minds, great minds, small minds, minds that go along with birth-and-death, minds that turn away from birth-and-death, śrāvaka minds, pratyekabuddha minds, bodhisattva minds, minds of śrāvaka conduct, minds of pratyekabuddha conduct, minds of bodhisattva conduct, the minds of gods, the minds of dragons, the minds of yakṣas, the minds of gandharvas (the gods of fragrance), the minds of asuras, the minds of garuḍas (the golden-winged birds), the minds of kiṃnaras (the gods of song), the minds of mahoragas (the great serpent gods), the minds of humans, the minds of nonhumans, the minds of the sentient beings of the hells, the minds of animals, the minds of the sentient beings in the place of King Yama, the minds of hungry ghosts, the minds of the sentient beings born in the many difficult conditions; the minds of sentient beings measureless in their differences and manifold in their kinds, such as these, he is able to know one by one, discriminating them all. And as he knows the sentient beings of one world, so likewise the minds of all the sentient beings in a hundred worlds, in a thousand worlds, in a hundred thousand worlds, in a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of worlds, and on to as many worlds as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, he is likewise able to know one by one, discriminating them all. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s first spiritual penetration of the wisdom that well knows the minds of others.

The Second, the Penetration of the Knowledge of the Unobstructed and Pure Divine Eye: Seeing Them Die Here and Be Born There Without Any Error

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge of the unobstructed and pure divine eye, sees the sentient beings within measureless worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, dying here and taking birth there, going to good destinies or going to evil destinies, showing marks of merit or showing marks of offense, comely or ugly, defiled or pure. Sentient beings of kinds measureless such as these, that is to say: the multitude of gods, the multitude of dragons, the multitude of yakṣas, the multitude of gandharvas, the multitude of asuras, the multitude of garuḍas, the multitude of kiṃnaras, the multitude of mahoragas, the multitude of humans, the multitude of nonhumans, the multitude of sentient beings whose bodily form is minutely fine, the multitude of sentient beings whose bodily form is vast, the small multitudes, the great multitudes — among sentient beings of every such kind, he sees each one of them, plainly and clearly, with the unobstructed divine eye. According to the deeds they have gathered up, according to the pleasure and pain they undergo, according to their minds, according to their discriminations, according to their views, according to their speech, according to their causes, according to their deeds, according to the objects they take, according to all that arises in them — all of it he sees clearly, without the least error. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s second spiritual penetration of the knowledge of the unobstructed divine eye.

The Third, the Penetration of the Knowledge of the Recollection of Former Abodes: Recollecting and Knowing the Common Affairs of the Past and the Affairs of the Buddhas

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge of the recollection of former abodes (the spiritual penetration of the wisdom that remembers the affairs of past dwelling in the world), is able to know fully his own body, and also all the sentient beings in worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and the affairs of their abodes in former lives throughout past kalpas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands. That is to say: born in such a place, called by such a name, of such a clan, of such a race, eating such food and drink, undergoing such pleasure and pain. From the beginningless past, within the three existences, by causes and by conditions, turning about and growing on, one following another in unbroken succession, they have revolved without a break; the manifold kinds, the manifold lands, the manifold destinies of birth, the manifold shapes and marks, the manifold deeds and practices, the manifold fetters (the afflictions), the manifold thoughts, the manifold causes and conditions, and the differences of the births they take — affairs such as these he is able to know entirely.

“He further recollects that throughout past kalpas as many as the dust motes of so many buddha-lands, and in worlds as many as the dust motes of so many buddha-lands, there were buddhas as many as the dust motes of so many buddha-lands: each buddha’s name was thus, his arising in the world was thus, his assembly was thus, his father and mother were thus, his attendant was thus, his śrāvaka disciples were thus, his two most surpassing great disciples were thus; in such a city he left the household life in such a way, and beneath such a tree of awakening he accomplished the highest perfect awakening; in such a place he sat upon such a seat and expounded such and so many scriptures, and so benefited so many sentient beings; he abode in the world with a lifespan of such a length, and did such and so many deeds of a buddha; he entered parinirvāṇa by the realm of parinirvāṇa in which no basis remains, and after his parinirvāṇa the true Dharma abode in the world for a longer or a shorter time — all of this he is able to recollect.

“He further recollects the names of buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and beneath each single name buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and how from the first arising of the mind they raised up great vows and cultivated the several practices, made offerings to the buddhas, tamed sentient beings, preached the Dharma within their assemblies, the length or shortness of their lifespans, their spiritual penetrations and transformations, and on to their entering nirvāṇa without remainder, and how after their parinirvāṇa the true Dharma abode in the world for a longer or a shorter time, and how stūpas and shrines were raised up with adornments of every kind, causing sentient beings to plant roots of goodness — all of this he is able to know. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s third spiritual penetration of the wisdom of the abodes of former lives that knows the kalpas to the limit of the past.

The Fourth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of All the Kalpas to the Limit of the Future: Knowing Beforehand the Sentient Beings and the Buddhas of Time to Come

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge of all the kalpas to the limit of the future, fully knows all the kalpas within worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, and all the sentient beings within each single kalpa, how after the ending of their lives they take birth, how the several existences follow one on another unbroken, and their deeds and their fruits of retribution: whether good, or not good; whether issuing forth from the world, or not issuing forth; whether fixed, or not fixed; whether of the heap that is wrongly fixed, or of the heap that is rightly fixed; whether their roots of goodness are together with the afflictive latencies, or their roots of goodness are not together with the afflictive latencies; whether their roots of goodness are complete, or their roots of goodness are not complete; whether they gather in roots of goodness, or do not gather in roots of goodness; whether they heap up roots of goodness, or do not heap up roots of goodness; whether they heap up dharmas of offense, or do not heap up dharmas of offense — all such things as these he is able to know.

“He further knows that in worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, to the very limit of the future, there are kalpas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands; and that within each single kalpa there are names of buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands; and that beneath each single name there are buddha-tathāgatas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands; and how each single tathāgata, from the first arising of the mind, raises up great vows and sets up the several practices, makes offerings to the buddhas, teaches and transforms sentient beings, preaches the Dharma within his assembly, the length or shortness of his lifespan, his spiritual penetrations and transformations, and on to his entering nirvāṇa without remainder, and how after his parinirvāṇa the true Dharma abides in the world for a longer or a shorter time, and how stūpas and shrines are raised up with adornments of every kind, causing sentient beings to plant roots of goodness — affairs such as these he is able to know. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s fourth spiritual penetration of the wisdom that knows all the kalpas to the limit of the future.

The Fifth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of the Unobstructed and Pure Divine Ear: To Hear or Not to Hear, Sovereign at Will

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes the unobstructed and pure divine ear, full and vast, keen and penetrating and apart from every hindrance, comprehending and unobstructed, complete and accomplished; and toward all sounds whatsoever, he hears when he wishes to hear and does not hear when he does not wish to hear, sovereign according to his own mind.

“Sons of the Buddha! In the east there are buddhas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands; and what those buddhas speak, what they set forth, what they open up, what they expound at length, what they establish, what they teach, what they tame, what they recollect, what they discriminate — those pure dharmas that are profound and vast, of manifold differences, of measureless skillful means, of measureless skillfulness — all of these he is able to receive and hold fast. And within them, whether it be the meaning or the letter, whether it be spoken to one person or spoken to a multitude, as is their sound and diction, as is their wisdom, as is what they comprehend, as is what they display, as is what they tame, as is their realm, as is what they rely upon, as is their way of issuing forth from the world — toward all of these he is able to remember and hold fast, not forgetting and not losing, not breaking off and not falling back, not confused and not perplexed; and he expounds them for others, causing them to gain understanding, and from first to last never lets fall a single letter or a single phrase. And as it is in the east, so likewise in the south, the west, the north, the four intermediate points, the zenith and the nadir. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s fifth spiritual penetration of the knowledge of the unobstructed and pure divine ear.

The Sixth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of Dwelling in No Substance-Nature: Reaching All the Buddha-Lands Without Moving from His Own Place

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in the spiritual penetration of no substance-nature, the spiritual penetration of no doing, the spiritual penetration of sameness, the spiritual penetration of vastness, the spiritual penetration of measurelessness, the spiritual penetration of no reliance, the spiritual penetration that follows upon thought, the spiritual penetration of arising, the spiritual penetration of not arising, the spiritual penetration of not falling back, the spiritual penetration of not breaking off, the spiritual penetration of not being ruined, the spiritual penetration of increase and growth, and the spiritual penetration of going wherever he will.

“This bodhisattva hears the names of the buddhas in all the worlds however far away, that is to say: the names of the buddhas in numberless worlds, in measureless worlds, and on to worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands; and as soon as he hears a name, he straightway sees his own body already in the presence of that buddha. Those worlds face upward or face downward, each having its own shape, each having its own quarter, each having its own difference, boundless and unobstructed; lands of every kind, kalpas of every kind, each severally adorned with measureless merit. Those tathāgatas appear within them, display transformations, and their names are extolled, measureless and numberless, each and every one unlike the rest. As soon as this bodhisattva hears the names of those tathāgatas, without his body departing from his own place he sees his own body already in the presence of that buddha, doing homage and paying reverence, serving and making offerings, asking after the dharmas of a bodhisattva, entering deeply into the wisdom of a buddha, and comprehending in every case the lands of the buddhas, their seats of awakening, their assemblies, and the Dharma they speak, all the way to the utmost, and without any grasping.

“In this way, through kalpas as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands, he reaches everywhere throughout the ten directions and yet there is truly no going anywhere; and yet the going to the buddha-lands, the beholding of the buddhas, the hearing of the Dharma, and the asking after the way are never broken off, never set aside, never rested from, never wearied of; he cultivates the bodhisattva practice, accomplishes the great vows, causes them all to be complete, and has never fallen back — and this is for the sake of not letting the vast lineage of the tathāgatas be broken off. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s sixth spiritual penetration of the wisdom of dwelling in no substance-nature and without motion going to all the buddha-lands.

The Seventh, the Penetration of the Knowledge That Well Discriminates All Speech: Like the Light of the Sun Shining Everywhere on All Colors

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge that well discriminates the speech and sounds of all sentient beings, fully knows the manifold speech of the sentient beings within worlds as many as the dust motes of unspeakably unspeakable buddha-lands. That is to say: the speech of the noble ones, the speech of those who are not noble, the speech of gods, the speech of dragons, the speech of yakṣas, and that of gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras, mahoragas, humans and nonhumans, and on to all the speech that unspeakably unspeakable sentient beings possess, each severally signifying something other, manifold in their differences — all such things as these he is able to know.

“This bodhisattva, according to the world he enters, is able to know the natures and desires of all the sentient beings within it; and according to their natures and desires he puts forth speech, causing them all to understand and be without doubt. Just as when the light of the sun appears it shines everywhere upon all colors, so that all who have eyes see clearly, so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: with the wisdom that well discriminates all speech he enters deeply into the cloud of all speech, and all speech is such that he can cause the wise in the world to understand it. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s seventh spiritual penetration of the wisdom that well discriminates all speech.

The Eighth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of Numberless Form-Bodies (i): Knowing That All Dharmas Are Far Removed from the Marks of Form

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge that brings forth the adornment of measureless asaṃkhyeya form-bodies, fully knows that all dharmas are far removed from the marks of form, without any mark of difference, without any mark of manifoldness, without any mark of measurelessness, without any mark of discrimination, without any mark of blue, yellow, red, or white.

The Eighth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of Numberless Form-Bodies (ii): Entering the Dharma Realm, He Can Display Manifold Forms

“When the bodhisattva has entered the Dharma realm in this way, he is able to raise up his body and make of it forms of every kind.

The Eighth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of Numberless Form-Bodies (iii): Displaying Form So As to Deliver Those He Transforms

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has entered deeply into the Dharma realm that is thus without form is able to raise up these manifold form-bodies: causing those he transforms to see, causing those he transforms to recollect, turning the wheel of the Dharma for those he transforms; according to the season of those he transforms, according to the shape and marks of those he transforms, causing those he transforms to draw near, causing those he transforms to awaken, raising up spiritual penetrations of every kind for those he transforms, displaying sovereign powers of every kind for those he transforms, and performing capable deeds of every kind for those he transforms. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s eighth spiritual penetration of the knowledge of numberless form-bodies, diligently cultivated and accomplished for the sake of delivering all sentient beings.

The Ninth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of All Dharmas (i): Knowing That All Dharmas Are Apart from Words and Cut Off from Correlatives

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge of all dharmas, fully knows that all dharmas have no name, have no lineage of nature, do not come and do not go; are not other, nor are they not other; are not manifold, nor are they not manifold; are not two, nor are they not two; have no self and have nothing to be compared with; are not born and do not cease; do not move and are not ruined; are not real and are not unreal; are one mark and are also without mark; are not nonexistent and are not existent; are not dharmas and are not non-dharmas; do not follow along with the worldly, nor do they not follow along with the worldly; are not deeds and are not non-deeds; are not retribution and are not non-retribution; are not conditioned and are not unconditioned; are not the highest meaning and are not other than the highest meaning; are not the way and are not other than the way; are not issuing forth and are not other than issuing forth; are not of a measure and are not measureless; are not of the world and are not beyond the world; are not born from causes and are not not born from causes; are not fixed and are not unfixed; are not accomplished and are not unaccomplished; are not gone forth and are not other than gone forth; are not discriminated and are not undiscriminated; are not according with principle and are not other than according with principle.

The Ninth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of All Dharmas (ii): Not Grasping the Two Truths, and Yet Expounding the Dharma Inexhaustibly

“This bodhisattva does not grasp the conventional truth, nor does he dwell in the highest truth; he does not discriminate dharmas and does not set up letters, but goes along with the nature of quiescent cessation and yet does not cast away all his great vows. He sees the meaning and knows the dharmas, spreads out the cloud of the Dharma and pours down the rain of Dharma. Though he knows that the real mark cannot be spoken, yet with skillful means and inexhaustible eloquence he opens it up in due order, following the dharma and following the meaning; and because he has gained skillfulness in speech and disputation concerning all dharmas, and because his great kindness and great compassion are now entirely pure, he is able to bring forth letters within all the dharmas that are apart from letters, going along with dharma and with meaning and not running counter to them, and to expound for others how all dharmas arise from conditions, and though he has words yet he grasps at nothing. He expounds all dharmas and his eloquence is inexhaustible; discriminating and setting them up, opening them out and showing the way, he causes the nature of the dharmas to be complete and manifest, and cuts through the net of the people’s doubts so that they gain complete purity. Though he gathers in sentient beings, yet he does not cast away the real; within the dharma that is not two he does not fall back; he is ever able to expound the unobstructed gate of the Dharma, and with manifold and subtle sounds, according to the minds of sentient beings, he sends down the rain of Dharma everywhere without losing the season. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s ninth spiritual penetration of the knowledge of all dharmas.

The Tenth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of the Samādhi of the Extinction of All Dharmas (i): Entering Concentration and Yet Not Abandoning the Practices

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the penetration of the knowledge of the samādhi of the extinction of all dharmas, in thought after thought enters the samādhi of the extinction of all dharmas, and yet does not fall back from the bodhisattva way, does not cast away the affairs of a bodhisattva, does not cast away the mind of great kindness and great compassion; he cultivates the perfections without resting, contemplates all the buddha-lands without wearying, does not cast away the great vow to deliver sentient beings, does not break off the affair of turning the wheel of the Dharma, does not neglect the work of teaching and transforming sentient beings, does not cast away the practice of making offerings to the buddhas, does not cast away the gate of sovereignty in all dharmas, does not cast away the constant seeing of all buddhas, does not cast away the constant hearing of all dharmas; he fully knows that all dharmas are equal and unobstructed, sovereignly accomplishes all the dharmas of a buddha, brings all his surpassing great vows to fullness, fully knows the differences of all the lands, and enters the lineage of the buddhas and reaches the further shore; he is able within worlds of every kind to study all dharmas, comprehending that dharmas are from the first without mark and knowing that all dharmas arise from conditions and have no substance-nature, and yet still going along with the worldly he expounds them by skillful means; and though toward dharmas his mind dwells nowhere, yet still going along with the faculties and desires of sentient beings he expounds for them by skillful means dharmas of every kind.

The Tenth, the Penetration of the Knowledge of the Samādhi of the Extinction of All Dharmas (ii): Sovereign over the Measure of Time in Which He Dwells, Like a Light-Shadow Displayed Everywhere

“This bodhisattva, at the time of his dwelling in samādhi, according to what his mind delights in, dwells for one kalpa, or dwells for a hundred kalpas, or dwells for a thousand kalpas, or dwells for a koṭi of kalpas, or dwells for a hundred koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for a thousand koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for a hundred thousand koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for a nayuta of koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for a hundred nayutas of koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for a thousand nayutas of koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for a hundred thousand nayutas of koṭis of kalpas, or dwells for numberless kalpas, or dwells for measureless kalpas, and on to dwelling for unspeakably unspeakable kalpas.

“When the bodhisattva enters this samādhi of the extinction of all dharmas, though he has passed through so many kalpas dwelling therein, yet his body does not fall apart, does not waste away, does not alter; it is not seen, nor is it not seen; it does not cease and is not ruined, it does not weary and does not slacken, and it cannot be used up. And though toward existence and toward nonexistence alike he does nothing, yet he is able to bring about the affairs of the bodhisattvas. That is to say: he constantly does not forsake all sentient beings, and in teaching and taming them he never lets the season slip; he causes them to increase in all the dharmas of a buddha and to bring the bodhisattva practice to fullness; and for the sake of benefiting all sentient beings, his spiritual penetrations and transformations never rest — just as a light-shadow is displayed everywhere in every place, while within the samādhi he is quiescent and unmoving. This is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s spiritual penetration of the knowledge of entering the samādhi of the extinction of all dharmas.

The General Praise of Their Surpassing Power: The Three Deeds and Their Sovereignty Are All Inconceivable

“Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in ten spiritual penetrations such as these, all gods and humans cannot conceive of it, all sentient beings cannot conceive of it; all śrāvakas, all pratyekabuddhas, and all the remaining hosts of bodhisattvas as well are alike unable to conceive of it. This bodhisattva’s deeds of body are inconceivable, his deeds of speech are inconceivable, his deeds of mind are inconceivable, his sovereignty in samādhi is inconceivable, the realm of his wisdom is inconceivable; save only the buddhas, and those bodhisattvas who have gained this spiritual penetration, there is no one else who can declare this man’s merit or extol and praise him.

Concluding the Number and Setting Forth the Fruit: Dwelling in These Penetrations He Gains the Unobstructed Wisdom of the Three Times

“Sons of the Buddha! These are the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s ten spiritual penetrations. If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwells in these spiritual penetrations, he is able to gain entirely the spiritual penetration of all unobstructed wisdom of the three times.”

The General Marking: Ten Kinds of Forbearance, and by Gaining Them One Reaches the Ground of Unobstructed Forbearance

At that time Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said to all the bodhisattvas seated there:

“Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of forbearance (forbearance = being able, toward dharmas, to bear with them, to accept them and rest in them, the mind not shaking), and if he gains these ten kinds of forbearance he is able to reach the ground of unobstructed forbearance of all bodhisattvas (the ground of forbearance = the standing-place where one rests securely in forbearance), where toward all the Buddha’s teachings there is no obstruction and no exhausting. Which are the ten? They are: the forbearance of sound, the forbearance of conformity, the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, the forbearance of what is like an illusion, the forbearance of what is like a heat-haze, the forbearance of what is like a dream, the forbearance of what is like an echo, the forbearance of what is like a reflection, the forbearance of what is like a transformation, and the forbearance of what is like space. These ten kinds of forbearance all the buddhas of the three times — past, present and future — have already declared, are now declaring, and will declare.

The First, the Forbearance of Sound: Hearing the Profound Dharma Without Fright or Terror

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of sound? It is this: hearing the Dharma declared by the buddhas, he is not startled, not terrified, not afraid; he believes it deeply and comprehends it through and through, he loves it and delights in it and turns toward it, he holds it in memory with a single-pointed mind and keeps it tied to his thought, and thus he cultivates it and rests in it without falling back. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s first — the forbearance of sound.

The Second, the Forbearance of Conformity: Pondering and Examining Dharmas, Level Toward Them and Going Against None

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of conformity? It is this: toward dharmas he is able to ponder and able to examine, he regards them as level and does not go against them, he conforms with the Dharma and understands it clearly, he causes his own mind to become pure, he rests in it rightly and cultivates it, and he enters into it and comes to accomplishment. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s second — the forbearance of conformity.

The Third, the Forbearance of the Non-arising of Dharmas: He Sees No Least Dharma Arise, He Sees No Least Dharma Cease

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva sees not the least particle of a dharma arising, nor does he see the least particle of a dharma perishing. Why is this? Because: if there is no arising, then there is no ceasing; if there is no ceasing, then there is no exhausting; if there is no exhausting, then there is separation from defilement; if there is separation from defilement, then there is no difference; if there is no difference, then there is no place to be pointed to; if there is no place, then there is quiescence; if there is quiescence, then there is separation from craving; if there is separation from craving, then there is no doing; if there is no doing, then there is no wish that seeks; if there is no wish, then there is no dwelling; if there is no dwelling, then there is no going and no coming. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s third — the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas.

The Fourth, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Illusion (1): Knowing Dharmas to Be Like an Illusion, One and Many Understood Through Each Other

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like an illusion? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all dharmas are altogether like what an illusion displays, all of them arising from causes and conditions; and therefore he is able, within one dharma, to understand many dharmas, and, within many dharmas, to understand one dharma. This bodhisattva, having known that dharmas are like an illusion, then penetrates the lands, penetrates the sentient beings, penetrates the Dharma realm, penetrates the levelness of the world, penetrates the levelness of the buddhas’ appearing in the world, penetrates the levelness of the three times, and accomplishes every kind of spiritual penetration and transformation.

The Fourth, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Illusion (2): The Simile of Illusion — the Many Kinds Are Not the Illusion, the Illusion Is Not the Many Kinds

“It is just as with what an illusion displays: it is not an elephant, not a horse; not a chariot, not a man on foot; not a man, not a woman; not a boy, not a girl; not a tree, not a leaf, not a flower, not a fruit; not earth, not water, not fire, not wind; not daytime, not night; not the sun, not the moon; not a half month, not a whole month; not a year, not a hundred years; not one kalpa, not many kalpas; not concentration, not distraction; not purely one, not mixed and many; not the same, not other; not vast, not narrow; not many, not few; not measurable, not immeasurable; not coarse, not fine; not any of all the manifold things whatsoever. The manifold things are not themselves the illusion, nor is the illusion itself those manifold things — and yet it is precisely because there is the illusion that the manifold differentiated affairs are displayed.

The Fourth, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Illusion (3): Contemplating Ten Kinds of World as Illusion

“So likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he contemplates all worlds as an illusory transformation, namely: the world made by deeds, the world made by afflictions, the world of lands, the world of dharmas, the world of times, the world of destinies (the places to which sentient beings go), the world of forming (the coming-to-be of worlds), the world of decaying (the breaking up and scattering of worlds), the world of motion, and the world of contriving.

The Fourth, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Illusion (4): When He Contemplates Them as Illusion, Sixteen Things He Does Not See

“When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva contemplates all worlds as an illusion: he does not see sentient beings arising, he does not see sentient beings ceasing; he does not see lands arising, he does not see lands ceasing; he does not see dharmas arising, he does not see dharmas ceasing; he does not see the past as something that can be discriminated, he does not see the future as having anything set going, he does not see the present as having a single thought that stays; he does not go about contemplating awakening, he does not go about discriminating awakening; he does not see buddhas appearing in the world, he does not see buddhas entering nirvāṇa; he does not see such a thing as resting in the great vow, he does not see such a thing as entering the right dwelling, nor does he go forth out of the nature of levelness.

The Fourth, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Illusion (5): Nine Rounds of Accomplishing and Yet Clinging to Nothing

“This bodhisattva, though he accomplishes buddha-lands, knows that the lands have no differences; though he accomplishes the realm of sentient beings, knows that sentient beings have no differences; though he contemplates the Dharma realm everywhere, rests in the nature of dharmas, quiescent and unmoving; though he penetrates the levelness of the three times, does not go against the dharma of discriminating the three times; though he accomplishes the aggregates and the sense-fields, has forever cut off any leaning upon them; though he delivers sentient beings, understands clearly that the Dharma realm is level and has no manifold differences; though he knows that all dharmas are apart from letters and cannot be spoken, constantly declares the Dharma with an eloquence that is never exhausted; though he does not grasp at the transforming of sentient beings, does not forsake great compassion but turns the wheel of the Dharma in order to deliver them all; though for sentient beings he reveals the causes and conditions of the past, knows that the nature of causes and conditions has no shifting. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s fourth — the forbearance of what is like an illusion.

The Fifth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Heat-Haze: The World Is the Same as a Heat-Haze

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like a heat-haze? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all worlds are the same as a heat-haze (a heat-haze = the shimmering of light in the open wilds in the hot season, which floats like water, so that seen from afar it seems to be water, but coming near there is none). It is just as with a heat-haze: it has no fixed quarter or place; it is not within, not without; not existent, not nonexistent; not cut off, not lasting; not a single color, not manifold colors, nor yet without color — it is only displayed in accordance with the speech of the world. Thus does the bodhisattva contemplate in accordance with reality, understanding dharmas clearly, realizing all things on the spot, and causing all to be brought to fullness. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s fifth — the forbearance of what is like a heat-haze.

The Sixth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Dream: Nine Ways of Being Like a Dream

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like a dream? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all worlds are like a dream. It is just as with a dream: it is not the world, nor is it apart from the world; not the realm of desire, not the realm of form, not the formless realm; not birth, not dying away; not defiled, not pure — and yet there is every kind of display. So likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he knows that all worlds are altogether the same as a dream: because there is no alteration in them, because their own-nature is dreamlike, because the clinging to them is dreamlike, because their being of themselves apart is dreamlike, because their root nature is dreamlike, because what they display is dreamlike, because their having no differences is dreamlike, because their being discriminated by conceiving is dreamlike, because the time of waking is dreamlike. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s sixth — the forbearance of what is like a dream.

The Seventh, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Echo (1): Sound Is the Same as an Echo

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like an echo? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva hears the Buddha declare the Dharma, contemplates the nature of dharmas, learns and comes to accomplishment, and reaches the other shore; he knows that all sounds are altogether the same as an echo, having no place they come from and no place they go to — it is just thus that they are displayed.

The Seventh, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Echo (2): Contemplating the Tathāgata’s Voice, Neither Within Nor Without

“Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva contemplates the Tathāgata’s voice: it does not issue from within, it does not issue from without, nor does it issue from the two together, within and without; and though he understands clearly that this voice is not within, not without, and does not come forth from within and without, yet he is able to display skillful names and phrases and to accomplish every kind of exposition. It is just as with the echo in a valley, which arises from causes and conditions and yet does not go against the nature of dharmas, and which can cause sentient beings, each according to his kind, to understand it in his own way and thereby to learn and cultivate.

The Seventh, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Echo (3): The Simile of Śacī, Who Sends Forth a Thousand Sounds Within One Sound

“It is as with the consort of Śakra, lord of the gods, the daughter of the asuras, named Śacī, who is able within a single sound to bring forth a thousand kinds of sound, and yet has never given rise to a thought in her mind that it should come forth so. So likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he enters the realm where there is no discriminating, accomplishes the skillful voice that goes forth according to the kinds of sentient beings, and within boundless worlds constantly turns the wheel of the Dharma.

The Seventh, the Forbearance of What Is Like an Echo (4): The Mark of the Broad and Long Tongue, and Each Kind Understanding in Its Own Way

“This bodhisattva is well able to contemplate all sentient beings and, with the mark of the broad and long tongue, to expound for them; that voice is without the least obstruction and fills the lands of the ten directions, causing sentient beings, each as befits him, to hear a Dharma that is not the same for each; and though he knows that sound has no arising, yet he displays sound everywhere; and though he knows that in truth there is nothing that can be said, yet he declares dharmas at large; that subtle and wondrous voice is level and one, and sentient beings, each according to his kind, understand it in his own way, and the bodhisattva by his wisdom understands and penetrates them all. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s seventh — the forbearance of what is like an echo.

The Eighth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Reflection (1): Nine Rounds of Neither Worldly Nor World-Transcending

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like a reflection? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva: is not born in the world, does not die away in the world; is not situated within the world, is not situated outside the world; does not travel in the world, nor yet does he not travel in the world; is not the same as the world, is not other than the world; does not go to the world, does not fail to go to the world; does not rest in the world, does not fail to rest in the world; is not a worldly dharma, nor is he a world-transcending dharma; does not practice the bodhisattva practice, nor does he forsake the great vow; is not real, nor is he unreal. Though he constantly upholds all the Buddha’s teachings, he is able to bring to completion all the affairs of the world; he is not carried along in the current of the world, nor does he come to a stop within the current of the Dharma.

The Eighth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Reflection (2): The Simile of Reflection — Neither One Nor Other, Displayed and Yet Undefiled

“It is just as with the sun and the moon, men, women, houses, mountains and forests, rivers and springs and such things, which display their reflections within oil, within water, upon a body, upon a jewel, within a bright mirror and other such pure things. The reflection and the oil and the rest of those pure things are not one, not other, not apart, not joined; a reflection fallen within a running stream is not washed away, and fallen within a pool or a well it does not sink, and though it is displayed therein it is nowhere defiled. Yet sentient beings know that here there is such a reflection displayed, and know also that there there is no such reflection; and though things far off and things near at hand can all display reflections, the reflection does not become far or near according as the thing is far or near.

The Eighth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Reflection (3): Self and Other Displayed Everywhere at One Time · the Simile of the Seed

“So likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: he is able to know that his own body and the bodies of others are all of them the realm of wisdom, and he does not make two understandings of it, saying that this is self and that is other; and within his own land and within the lands of others, each differing from each, at one and the same time they are all displayed everywhere. It is as within a seed, where there is no root, sprout, stem, joint, branch or leaf, and yet such things as these can arise from it. So likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva: within a dharma that has no two marks he discriminates two marks, and by skillful means he penetrates without obstruction. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s eighth — the forbearance of what is like a reflection.

The Eighth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Reflection (4): The Virtue of Accomplishing This Forbearance — Difference Is Itself Not Difference

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has accomplished this forbearance, though he has never gone to the lands of the ten directions, is able to display himself everywhere within all buddha-fields; he neither leaves this place nor arrives at that place, but like a reflection is displayed everywhere, and wherever he travels there is no obstruction; he is able to cause sentient beings to see bodies of every kind of difference, the same as the solid and real marks of the world, and yet that difference is right there not difference, and being other and not being other do not obstruct one another. This bodhisattva is born from the lineage of the Tathāgata, and his body, his speech and his mind are pure and unobstructed, and therefore he is able to gain a body of boundless form-marks and purity.

The Ninth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Transformation (1): Ten Kinds of Transformation

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like a transformation? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all worlds are altogether like what a transformation brings about. That is to say: the mental deeds of all sentient beings are a transformation, because they arise from conceiving and thinking; the manifold practices of all worlds are a transformation, because they arise from discriminating; all inverted views of pleasure and pain are a transformation, because they arise from false grasping; all unreal dharmas of the world are a transformation, because they are displayed by speech; all afflictions and discriminations are a transformation, because they arise from thought and conception; and further, purification and taming are a transformation, because they are displayed by non-discrimination; not being carried along in the three times is a transformation, because there is no arising and there is levelness; the power of the bodhisattva’s vows is a transformation, because it is brought about by vast cultivation; the great compassion of the Tathāgata is a transformation, because it is displayed by skillful means; the skillful means of turning the wheel of the Dharma is a transformation, because it is declared by wisdom, fearlessness and eloquence.

The Ninth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Transformation (2): Seven Ways of Knowing Transformation

“The bodhisattva thus understands the transformation that is worldly and the transformation that is world-transcending: it is a knowing that realizes it before him, it is a knowing that is vast, it is a knowing that is boundless, it is a knowing that is according to the thing itself, it is a knowing that is sovereign, it is a knowing that is truly real, it is not something that the views of falsity can shake; and he acts in conformity with the world, and yet does not lose or ruin this knowing.

The Ninth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Transformation (3): The Simile of Transformation — Blocking Every Pair

“It is just as with a thing brought about by transformation: it does not arise from mind, nor arise from the dharmas belonging to mind; it does not arise from deeds, nor does it undergo their fruit; it is not born in the world, it does not perish in the world; it cannot be pursued after, it cannot be laid hold of; it does not dwell long, nor does it dwell only for a moment; it does not travel in the world, nor is it apart from the world; it is not attached to some one quarter in particular, nor does it belong everywhere to all quarters; it is not measurable, it is not immeasurable; it neither wearies of nor comes to rest, nor is it that it neither wearies nor rests; it is not ordinary, it is not holy; it is not defiled, it is not pure; it is not born, it does not die; it is not wise, it is not foolish; it is not what is seen, it is not what cannot be seen; it does not depend upon the world, it does not enter the Dharma realm; it is not clever, it is not dull; it is not grasping, it is not non-grasping; it is not birth-and-death, it is not nirvāṇa; it is not existent, it is not nonexistent.

The Ninth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Transformation (4): Travelling in the World and Yet Not Clinging

“Thus does the bodhisattva, with skillful means, travel in the world and cultivate the bodhisattva way, understanding clearly the dharmas of the world, dividing his body by transformation and going forth; he does not cling to the world, he does not grasp at his own body, and toward the world and toward his own body he makes no discrimination; he does not rest in the world, nor does he leave the world; he does not stop within the Dharma, nor does he depart from the Dharma; because of his original vow he does not cast away any single realm of sentient beings, nor does he tame only some small portion of the realm of sentient beings. He does not go about discriminating dharmas, and yet neither is it that he does not discriminate; he knows that the nature of dharmas has no coming and no going, and though there is nothing whatever there he is able to bring the Buddha’s teachings to fullness, understanding that dharmas are like a transformation, neither existent nor nonexistent. Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva thus rests in the forbearance of what is like a transformation, he is able in every case to bring to fullness the way of the awakening of all the buddhas, and to benefit sentient beings. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s ninth — the forbearance of what is like a transformation.

The Ninth, the Forbearance of What Is Like a Transformation (5): The Virtue of Accomplishing This Forbearance — the Simile of the Man of Transformation and the Five Names

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has accomplished this forbearance — whatever he does is in every case the same as a transformation. It is as with a man brought about by transformation, who within all buddha-fields rests upon nothing, who within all worlds grasps at nothing, who raises no discrimination toward any of the Buddha’s teachings, and who yet turns toward the awakening of the Buddha without slackening or weariness, and cultivates the bodhisattva practice apart from every inversion; though he has no body, he displays all bodies; though he rests nowhere, he dwells within many lands; though he has no form, he displays everywhere many forms; though he does not cling to the real limit, he illumines clearly that the nature of dharmas is level and full. Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva: toward all dharmas he depends upon nothing, and he is named one who is liberated; every fault is wholly cast away, and he is named one who is tamed; unmoving and unshifting, he enters everywhere into the assemblies of all the tathāgatas, and he is named one of spiritual penetration; toward the dharma of non-arising he has already gained skill, and he is named one who does not fall back; possessed of all powers, so that neither Mount Sumeru nor the encircling iron mountains can become an obstruction to him, he is named one who is unobstructed.

The Tenth, the Forbearance of What Is Like Space (1): Nine Clauses of Being Like Space

“Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s forbearance of what is like space? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva understands clearly: that the whole Dharma realm is like space, because it is markless; that all world-systems are like space, because there is no rising; that all dharmas are like space, because there is no duality; that the practice of all sentient beings is like space, because there is nothing practiced; that all buddhas are like space, because there is no discriminating; that all the powers of the buddhas are like space, because there is no difference; that all concentrations are like space, because the three limits — past, present and future — are level; that all the dharmas that are declared are like space, because they cannot be spoken; that the bodies of all buddhas are like space, because there is no attachment and no obstruction. Thus does the bodhisattva, by a skillful means that is like space, understand clearly that all dharmas are wholly without anything whatever.

The Tenth, the Forbearance of What Is Like Space (2): Gaining the Three Kinds of Action That Are Like Space

“Sons of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by the forbearing wisdom that is like space, understands clearly all dharmas, he then gains a body like space and an action of body like space, gains speech like space and an action of speech like space, gains a mind like space and an action of mind like space.

The Tenth, the Forbearance of What Is Like Space (3): Eleven Rounds of Contemplating in Pairs, ‘It Is Just as with Space’

“It is just as with space, upon which all dharmas depend and yet which neither arises nor dies away; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whose dharma-body of all dharmas neither arises nor dies away. It is just as with space, which cannot be destroyed; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whose wisdom and whose powers cannot be destroyed. It is just as with space, which is what all worlds depend upon while itself depending upon nothing; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is what all dharmas depend upon while himself depending upon nothing. It is just as with space, which has no arising and no ceasing and yet is able to sustain the arising and the ceasing of all worlds; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who has no turning toward and no gaining and yet is able to reveal turning toward and gaining, causing the world everywhere to cultivate and become pure. It is just as with space, which has no quarter and no corner and yet is able to display boundless quarters and corners; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who has no deeds and no fruits of deeds and yet is able to reveal every kind of deed and fruit of deeds. It is just as with space, which is neither travelling nor resting and yet is able to display every kind of deportment; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is neither travelling nor resting and yet is able to discriminate all practices. It is just as with space, which is neither form nor yet non-form and yet is able to display every kind of form; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is neither worldly form nor world-transcending form and yet is able to display all forms. It is just as with space, which is neither far off nor near at hand and yet is able to abide long and to display all things; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is neither far off nor near at hand and yet is able to abide long and to reveal every kind of practice that bodhisattvas practice. It is just as with space, which is neither pure nor foul and yet is not apart from purity and foulness; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who is neither obstructed nor unobstructed and yet is not apart from obstruction and non-obstruction. It is just as with space, before which all worlds appear while it does not appear before all worlds; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, before whom all dharmas appear while he does not appear before all dharmas. It is just as with space, which enters everywhere into all things and has no boundary; so likewise is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, who enters everywhere into all dharmas, and the bodhisattva’s mind has no boundary.

The Tenth, the Forbearance of What Is Like Space (4): Why Is This — Because What He Does Is Like Space

“Why is this? Because what the bodhisattva does is like space. That is to say: all his cultivating, all his adorning and purifying, all his accomplishing are wholly level, of one substance, of one savor, of one kind, of a measure like space, pure and pervading everywhere. Thus does he realize and know all dharmas, making no discrimination toward any dharma; he adorns and purifies all the buddha-lands, brings to fullness every body that depends upon nothing, understands clearly all quarters without confusion, is possessed of all powers that cannot be broken down, brings to fullness all boundless merit, has already reached the place of all the profoundest dharmas, penetrates the way of all the perfections, sits everywhere upon all the adamantine seats, sends forth everywhere all voices that go according to kind, and turns the wheel of the Dharma for all worlds without ever missing its time. This is called: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s tenth — the forbearance of what is like space.

The Tenth, the Forbearance of What Is Like Space (5): The Virtue of Accomplishing This Forbearance — Twenty Kinds of Body

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has accomplished this forbearance gains a body without coming, because there is no going; gains a body without arising, because there is no ceasing; gains a body without motion, because there is no breaking down; gains a body that is not real, because it is apart from what is false; gains a body of one mark, because it is markless; gains a measureless body, because the powers of the buddhas are measureless; gains a level body, because it is the same as the mark of suchness; gains a body without difference, because he contemplates the three times as level; gains a body that reaches everywhere, because his pure eye beholds all things levelly and without obstruction; gains a body at the limit of separation from craving, because he knows that all dharmas have no joining and no scattering; gains a body boundless as space, because his store of merit is inexhaustible like space; gains a body of eloquence unbroken and unexhausted and level with the nature of dharmas, because he knows that the marks of all dharmas are but one mark, having no nature for their nature, like space; gains a body of measureless and unobstructed voice, because there is nothing that obstructs it, like space; gains a body possessed of every skillful and pure bodhisattva practice, because in every place it is unobstructed, like space; gains a body wherein the ocean of all the Buddha’s teachings follows on in due order, because it cannot be cut off, like space; gains a body that within all buddha-fields displays measureless buddha-fields, because it is apart from all craving and clinging, like the boundlessness of space; gains a body that displays all sovereign dharmas without ever resting, because it is like the boundlessness of space and of the great ocean; gains a body of all indestructible and firm strength, because it is like space sustaining all worlds; gains a body whose faculties are bright and keen, firm and indestructible as adamant, because it is like space, which the fires of all the kalpas cannot burn away; gains a body that sustains the strength of all worlds, because the strength of his wisdom is like space.

The Conclusion: These Are Called the Ten Kinds of Forbearance

“Sons of the Buddha! These are called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s ten kinds of forbearance.”

The Verses in Repetition

At that time Samantabhadra Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, wishing to declare this sense over again, spoke these verses:

“It is as when a man in the world hears that in a certain place there is a treasure store, and because that treasure may be got, there arises in his mind a great gladness. Just so does the bodhisattva of great wisdom, a true son of the Buddha, hear the teachings of the buddhas — that profound and quiescent mark. When he hears this profound Dharma, his mind gains ease and quiet, he is not startled and not terrified, nor does dread arise in him. The great being, seeking awakening, hears this vast sound, and his mind-ground is pure and able to bear it, and toward it he has no doubt. (The forbearance of sound · the simile of the treasure store)

“He thinks to himself: because I have heard this profound and subtle Dharma, I shall accomplish omniscience and become the great guide of gods and men. When the bodhisattva hears this sound, there is great gladness in his mind, and he raises a firm resolve and vows to seek the teachings of the buddhas. Because he loves and delights in awakening, his mind is little by little tamed, so that his faith grows day by day and toward the Dharma there is no going against and no reviling. Therefore, hearing this sound, his mind becomes able to bear it, and he rests unshaken and cultivates the bodhisattva practice. For the sake of seeking awakening he goes single-mindedly along that road, vigorous and not falling back, not casting off the yoke of the manifold goods (a yoke = the gear for drawing a cart, a figure for shouldering the good Dharma). Because he seeks awakening his mind has no dread; hearing the Dharma he grows the more valiant, and he makes offerings to the buddhas and causes the buddhas to rejoice. (The forbearance of sound · the virtue of hearing the Dharma)

“It is as with a man of great merit who obtains a store of true gold and, according to what befits his station, makes of it every kind of adornment; so likewise is the bodhisattva: hearing this profound sense, he ponders it and the ocean of his wisdom grows, and thereby he cultivates the dharma of conformity. Where dharmas are, he knows in conformity; where dharmas are not, he knows in conformity; whatever those dharmas may be, just so does he know dharmas. He accomplishes a pure mind, clear through and greatly glad, knowing that dharmas arise from causes and conditions, and valiantly he cultivates with diligence. He contemplates dharmas levelly and understands clearly their own-nature; he does not go against the store of the Buddha’s teachings, and he awakens everywhere to all dharmas. His resolve and delight are constant and firm, and he adorns and purifies the awakening of the Buddha; unshaken as Mount Sumeru, single-mindedly he takes hold of right awakening. (The forbearance of conformity · the simile of the store of true gold)

“Because he raises up a mind of vigor and further cultivates the way of samādhi, through measureless kalpas he cultivates with diligence and has never fallen back at all. The dharma that the bodhisattva enters is just where the buddhas travel, and toward it he is able to understand, and his mind knows no weariness. As the Peerless One has declared it, he contemplates dharmas levelly — not that forbearance which is not level, but that forbearance which is able to accomplish the level wisdom. In conformity with what the Buddha declares he accomplishes this gate of forbearance, and understands dharmas as they are, and yet does not go about discriminating dharmas. (The forbearance of conformity · the contemplation of levelness)

“Within the Heaven of the Thirty-Three all the gods’ sons eat from one and the same vessel, and yet what each eats is not the same. The manifold foods they eat do not come from the ten directions; rather, according to the deeds they have cultivated, of themselves they are all there within the vessel. So likewise is the bodhisattva: he contemplates all dharmas as arising wholly from causes and conditions — because there is no arising there is no ceasing, because there is no ceasing there is no exhausting, because there is no exhausting there is no defilement. Toward the dharmas of the world that alter and change, he understands that in truth there is no altering; where there is no altering there is no place, and where there is no place there is quiescence. His mind is undefiled, and he vows to deliver the multitudes of beings. (The forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas · the simile of the common vessel and the differing food)

“Single-mindedly he holds the Buddha’s teachings in memory and has never let them be scattered, and with a mind of compassion and vows he travels in the world by skillful means. He seeks with diligence the ten powers of the Buddha, and dwells within the world without clinging to it; he has no going and no coming, and by skillfulness in means he declares the Dharma. This forbearance is the most unsurpassed; he penetrates that dharmas have no exhausting, and enters the true and real Dharma realm — and in truth there is no entering either. The bodhisattva who dwells within this forbearance sees everywhere all the tathāgatas, and the buddhas at one and the same time give him their prediction, and this is called receiving the Buddha’s office. He penetrates that the dharmas of the three times are of a quiescent and pure mark, and yet is able to transform sentient beings and set them within the good ways. (The forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas · receiving the Buddha’s office)

“The manifold dharmas of the world are altogether like an illusion; if one is able to know this, his mind is not shaken at all. Deeds arise from mind, and therefore it is said that mind is like an illusion; if one is able to leave off this discriminating, he is able to extinguish everywhere the destinies of the several kinds of existence. It is as with a skillful master of illusion who displays everywhere every kind of form and image, causing the multitude in vain to crave and delight, while in the end there is nothing gained at all. So likewise is the world: it is altogether like an illusion, without own-nature and without arising, and yet it displays every kind of thing. He delivers sentient beings and causes them to know that dharmas are like an illusion; sentient beings are not other than the illusion, and when the illusion is penetrated there are no sentient beings to be found. Sentient beings and the lands, and the dharmas of the three times — thus are they all of them without remainder, and all of them are like an illusion. (The forbearance of what is like an illusion · the simile of the master of illusion)

“The art of illusion makes the shapes of men and women, and elephants, horses, oxen and sheep, houses, ponds and springs and the like, gardens and groves, flowers and fruits and the rest. What illusion brings about has no awareness, nor has it any dwelling place; in the end it is of a quiescent mark, and is displayed only according to discriminating. The bodhisattva is able to be thus, and everywhere he sees the several worlds: all the dharmas of being and non-being he penetrates as being altogether like an illusion. Sentient beings and the lands are brought about by the manifold deeds, and entering into the limit of what is like an illusion he depends upon them in nothing. Thus he gains skillfulness, quiescent and without frivolous talk, and dwelling in the ground of non-obstruction he displays everywhere his great awesome power. (The forbearance of what is like an illusion · entering the limit of what is like an illusion)

“You valiant sons of the Buddha, conforming, enter the wondrous Dharma, and well contemplate all false conceiving — that net which binds the world fast. The false conceiving of sentient beings is like a heat-haze, and causes sentient beings to understand invertedly; the bodhisattva knows false conceiving well, and casts away every inversion. Sentient beings, each differing from each, are of shapes and kinds not one alone; he penetrates that they are wholly conceiving and that not one of them is real. All the sentient beings of the ten directions are covered over by false conceiving; if one is able to cast away the inverted view, he is able to extinguish the conceiving of the world. The world is like a heat-haze, and by conceiving there are differences; knowing that the world dwells within conceiving, one departs far from the three inversions. (The forbearance of what is like a heat-haze · the net of conceiving)

“It is just as with the heat-haze in the hot season, which men of the world see and take to be water, while the water in truth is nothing at all, and the wise man ought not to go seeking it. So likewise are sentient beings: the several destinies of the world are wholly nothing at all, and like a heat-haze they dwell within conceiving — and this is the realm of the unobstructed mind. If one is able to leave the several conceivings, then he leaves the several frivolous talk as well; and those foolish ones who cling to conceiving, them too he causes wholly to gain liberation. Departing far from the mind of conceit, extinguishing the conceiving of the world, dwelling in the place of exhaustion and of non-exhaustion — this is the bodhisattva’s skillful means. (The forbearance of what is like a heat-haze · the simile of the heat-haze in the hot season)

“The bodhisattva penetrates the dharmas of the world as being altogether like a dream: not a place of being, not a place of non-being, their substance-nature constantly quiescent. Dharmas have no discriminating, as a dream is not other than the mind; and the worlds of the three times are all of them just so. The substance of a dream has no arising and no ceasing, nor has it any quarter or place; the three realms are all of them just so, and he who sees this gains liberation of mind. A dream is not within the world, nor is it within what is not the world; toward these two he raises no discrimination, and thus he gains entry to the ground of forbearance. (The forbearance of what is like a dream · the substance of a dream has no arising or ceasing)

“It is as with the marks of every kind of difference seen within a dream; so likewise is the world, and from a dream it is not different at all. He who dwells in the samādhi of the dream penetrates that the world is altogether like a dream: it is not the same, nor yet is it other; it is not one, nor yet is it manifold. Sentient beings, the several fields, the several deeds, both defiled and pure — thus does he penetrate them all, wholly level with a dream. The practices that the bodhisattva practices, and the several great vows, he understands to be altogether like a dream, and from the world they are not different either. He penetrates that the world is altogether empty and quiescent, and yet does not ruin the dharmas of the world; it is as with the long and short and the other such forms seen within a dream. This is called the forbearance of what is like a dream, and thereby he penetrates the dharmas of the world, swiftly accomplishes unobstructed wisdom, and delivers at large the multitudes of beings. (The forbearance of what is like a dream · not ruining the dharmas of the world)

“Cultivating such practice as this, he brings forth a vast understanding, and skillfully knows the nature of dharmas, and toward dharmas his mind has no clinging. All the several worlds, and the several sounds within them, are not within, nor yet without: he understands that they are altogether like an echo. As when one hears the several echoes and the mind raises no discriminating, so likewise is the bodhisattva’s mind when he hears sounds. He gazes up at the tathāgatas and hears the voice that declares the Dharma, expounding sūtras measureless and numberless; and though he hears them he clings to nothing at all. As an echo has no place it comes from, so likewise are the sounds that are heard; and yet he is able to discriminate dharmas, and toward the Dharma there is no going athwart and no error. (The forbearance of what is like an echo · hearing sounds without clinging)

“Well penetrating the several sounds, toward sound he raises no discriminating, and knowing that sounds are altogether empty and quiescent, he sends forth everywhere a pure voice. Understanding that the Dharma is not within words, he well enters the limit where there are no words, and yet is able to display speech, like an echo pervading the world. Understanding the way of words, and possessed of the parts of voice, knowing that the nature of sound is empty and quiescent, he yet speaks with the words and sounds of the world. As with all the sounds there are within the world, he displays a dharma the same as their discriminating; and that voice pervades and reaches everywhere, and awakens the multitudes of beings. The bodhisattva, having gained this forbearance, with a pure voice transforms the world, skillfully declaring the three times, and toward the world clinging to nothing. (The forbearance of what is like an echo · transforming the world with a pure voice)

“For the benefit of the world he single-mindedly takes hold of awakening, and constantly enters the nature of dharmas, and toward it makes no discrimination. He contemplates everywhere the several worlds, quiescent and without substance-nature, and yet constantly does what benefits them, and the resolve with which he cultivates is unshaken. He does not dwell in the world, nor is he apart from the world; upon the world he depends in nothing, because a place of dependence cannot be found. He understands the nature of the world, and toward that nature he is undefiled; and though he does not depend upon the world, yet he transforms the world and causes it to cross over. All the dharmas there are in the world, he knows their own-nature in every case, and penetrates that dharmas have no duality; and having no duality, there is nothing clung to at all. His mind is not apart from the world, nor does it dwell in the world; it is not outside the world that he cultivates omniscience. (The forbearance of what is like a reflection · neither within nor without)

“It is just as with a reflection in water, which is neither within nor without; the bodhisattva, taking hold of awakening, penetrates that the world is not a world at all. He neither dwells in the world nor goes forth from it, because the world cannot be spoken; nor is he within or without, but like a reflection is displayed within the world. Entering into this profound sense, apart from defilement and wholly clear through, he does not cast away the mind of his original vow, and everywhere he shines the lamp of wisdom. The world has no boundary, and his wisdom enters and is wholly level with it; everywhere he transforms the multitudes of beings and causes them to cast off their manifold clingings. He contemplates the profoundest dharma and benefits the multitudes of beings, and from thence he enters into wisdom and cultivates all the ways. (The forbearance of what is like a reflection · the simile of the reflection in water)

“The bodhisattva contemplates dharmas and knows with discernment that they are altogether like a transformation, and he practices a practice that is like a transformation, and in the end never forsakes it. In conformity with the own-nature of transformation, he cultivates the way of awakening; all dharmas are like a transformation, and so likewise is the bodhisattva’s practice. All the several worlds, and the measureless several deeds, are level and are altogether like a transformation, and in the end they dwell in quiescence. All the buddhas of the three times are likewise, all of them, like a transformation; upon their original vow they cultivate the several practices, and by transformation they become tathāgatas. The Buddha, with great loving-kindness and compassion, delivers sentient beings who are like a transformation; and the delivering too is like a transformation, and by the strength of transformation he declares the Dharma for them. (The forbearance of what is like a transformation · practicing the practice that is like a transformation)

“Knowing that the world is altogether like a transformation, he does not discriminate the world; the affairs of transformation are of every kind and differ from each other, and all of them are owing to the differences of deeds. Cultivating the practice of awakening, he adorns the store of transformation, and with measureless goodness he well adorns it, as deeds make the world. The dharma of transformation is apart from discriminating, nor does it go about discriminating dharmas; these two are both of them quiescent — and just so is the bodhisattva’s practice. The ocean of transformation he penetrates by wisdom, and by the nature of transformation he seals the world; transformation is not a dharma of arising and ceasing, and so likewise is wisdom. (The forbearance of what is like a transformation · the nature of transformation sealing the world)

“The tenth forbearance illumines clearly: sentient beings and the several dharmas, their substance-nature is wholly quiescent, and like space they have no place at all. Gaining this wisdom that is like space, he departs forever from every grasping and clinging; like space, which has no several kinds, toward the world he is nowhere hindered. Accomplishing the strength of the forbearance of emptiness, like space he has no exhausting; his realm is like space, and yet he makes no discrimination of ‘emptiness.’ Space has no substance-nature, nor yet is it cut off and extinguished, nor has it manifold differences — and so likewise is the strength of his wisdom. Space has no first limit, nor has it a middle or a last limit, and its measure cannot be found — and so likewise is the bodhisattva’s wisdom. (The forbearance of what is like space · emptiness without discriminating)

“Thus does he contemplate the nature of dharmas, all of them like space, with no arising and no ceasing — and this is what the bodhisattva gains. He rests himself within the dharma that is like space, and declares it also for sentient beings, and subdues all the armies of Māra — all of this by the skillful means of this forbearance. The differences among the marks of the world are wholly empty and without real marks; entering into the place where there are no marks, all the marks are altogether level. By this one skillful means alone he enters everywhere into the many worlds; that is, he knows that the dharmas of the three times are all of them the same as the nature of space. Wisdom and voice, and the bodhisattva’s body — their nature is like space, and all of them are wholly quiescent. (The forbearance of what is like space · all marks level)

“Such are the ten forbearances, the practice that the sons of the Buddha cultivate; their minds are well able to rest in them, and at large they declare them for sentient beings. Cultivating them well and with study, they accomplish a vast strength, and the strength of the Dharma and the strength of wisdom become the skillful means of awakening. Penetrating this gate of forbearance, they accomplish unobstructed wisdom, surpass all the multitudes, and turn the unsurpassed wheel of the Dharma. The vast practice they cultivate — its measure cannot be known; only the ocean of wisdom of the Tamer of Men is able to discriminate and know it. Casting away the grasping at self, he cultivates, and enters into the profound nature of dharmas; his mind constantly dwells in the pure Dharma, and with it he bestows upon the multitudes of beings. Sentient beings and the dust motes of the fields — the number of these may yet be known; but the manifold merits of the bodhisattva — there is no one who can fathom their limit. That the bodhisattva is able to accomplish these ten kinds of forbearance — his wisdom and the practice he practices, sentient beings have no power to fathom.” (The concluding verses)

Mind-King Asks: What Exactly Are the Asaṃkhyeya and On to the Unspeakably Unspeakable

At that time Mind-King Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! There are the asaṃkhyeya (numberless), the measureless, the boundless, the unequalled, the uncountable, the unnameable, the unthinkable, the immeasurable, the unspeakable, and the unspeakably unspeakable, which all the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, expound. World-Honored One! What is called an asaṃkhyeya, and on to what is called an unspeakably unspeakable?”

The Buddha Assents to Speak: So That the World May Enter the Sense of Quantity Known to a Buddha

The Buddha told Mind-King Bodhisattva, saying: “Good, good! Good man! You now, wishing to let all the worlds enter the sense of quantity known to a buddha, come and ask this of the Tathāgata, the Worthy One (the one worthy to receive offerings), the Fully and Rightly Awakened One. Good man! Listen closely, listen closely! Think well upon it! I shall expound it for you.”

At that time Mind-King Bodhisattva answered with a “Yes,” and reverently received the instruction.

The List of Number-Names: Beginning from a Hundred Lakṣas, Each Multiplied by Itself Through a Hundred and Twenty-Three Rungs

The Buddha said: “Good man! A hundred Lakṣas make one Koṭi; Koṭi Koṭis make one Ayuduo; Ayuduo Ayuduos make one Nayuta; Nayuta Nayutas make one Pinpoluo; Pinpoluo Pinpoluos make one Jinjieluo; Jinjieluo Jinjieluos make one Agaluo; Agaluo Agaluos make one Most Excellent; Most Excellent Most Excellents make one Mopoluo; Mopoluo Mopoluos make one Apoluo; Apoluo Apoluos make one Duopoluo; Duopoluo Duopoluos make one Realm-Division; Realm-Division Realm-Divisions make one Pumo; Pumo Pumos make one Mimo; Mimo Mimos make one Apoqian; Apoqian Apoqians make one Migapo; Migapo Migapos make one Piluoga; Piluoga Piluogas make one Pigapo; Pigapo Pigapos make one Sengjieluomo; Sengjieluomo Sengjieluomos make one Pisaluo; Pisaluo Pisaluos make one Pishanpo; Pishanpo Pishanpos make one Pishengga; Pishengga Pishenggas make one Pisutuo; Pisutuo Pisutuos make one Pipohe; Pipohe Pipohes make one Pibaodi; Pibaodi Pibaodis make one Piqudan; Piqudan Piqudans make one Weighing; Weighing Weighings make one One Holding; One Holding One Holdings make one Divergent Path; Divergent Path Divergent Paths make one Inversion; Inversion Inversions make one Sanmoye; Sanmoye Sanmoyes make one Piduluo; Piduluo Piduluos make one Xipoluo; Xipoluo Xipoluos make one Scrutiny; Scrutiny times Scrutiny make one Encompassing Breadth; Encompassing Breadth Encompassing Breadths make one High Emergence; High Emergence High Emergences make one Most Wondrous; Most Wondrous times Most Wondrous make one Niluopo; Niluopo Niluopos make one Helipo; Helipo Helipos make one One Movement; One Movement One Movements make one Helipu; Helipu Helipus make one Helisan; Helisan Helisans make one Xiluga; Xiluga Xilugas make one Daluobutuo; Daluobutuo Daluobutuos make one Heluna; Heluna Helunas make one Molutuo; Molutuo Molutuos make one Chanmutuo; Chanmutuo Chanmutuos make one Yiluotuo; Yiluotuo Yiluotuos make one Molumo; Molumo Molumos make one Taming; Taming Tamings make one Free of Pride; Free of Pride Free of Prides make one Unmoving; Unmoving Unmovings make one Utmost Measure; Utmost Measure Utmost Measures make one Amedaluo; Amedaluo Amedaluos make one Bomedaluo; Bomedaluo Bomedaluos make one Gamedaluo; Gamedaluo Gamedaluos make one Namedaluo; Namedaluo Namedaluos make one Ximedaluo; Ximedaluo Ximedaluos make one Bingmedaluo; Bingmedaluo Bingmedaluos make one Boluomedaluo; Boluomedaluo Boluomedaluos make one Shipomedaluo; Shipomedaluo Shipomedaluos make one Yiluo; Yiluo Yiluos make one Biluo; Biluo Biluos make one Diluo; Diluo Diluos make one Jiluo; Jiluo Jiluos make one Subuluo; Subuluo Subuluos make one Niluo; Niluo Niluos make one Jiluo; Jiluo Jiluos make one Xiluo; Xiluo Xiluos make one Piluo; Piluo Piluos make one Miluo; Miluo Miluos make one Suoluotu; Suoluotu Suoluotus make one Milutuo; Milutuo Milutuos make one Qilutuo; Qilutuo Qilutuos make one Moduluo; Moduluo Moduluos make one Suomuluo; Suomuluo Suomuluos make one Ayesuo; Ayesuo Ayesuos make one Jiameluo; Jiameluo Jiameluos make one Mogapo; Mogapo Mogapos make one Adaluo; Adaluo Adaluos make one Xiluye; Xiluye Xiluyes make one Bilupo; Bilupo Bilupos make one Jieluobo; Jieluobo Jieluobos make one Hepopo; Hepopo Hepopos make one Pipoluo; Pipoluo Pipoluos make one Napoluo; Napoluo Napoluos make one Moluoluo; Moluoluo Moluoluos make one Suopoluo; Suopoluo Suopoluos make one Miluopu; Miluopu Miluopus make one Zhemeluo; Zhemeluo Zhemeluos make one Tuomeluo; Tuomeluo Tuomeluos make one Boluometuo; Boluometuo Boluometuos make one Pigamo; Pigamo Pigamos make one Wubobaduo; Wubobaduo Wubobaduos make one Expounding; Expounding Expoundings make one Inexhaustible; Inexhaustible Inexhaustibles make one Bringing Forth; Bringing Forth Bringing Forths make one No-Self; No-Self No-Selfs make one Apanduo; Apanduo Apanduos make one Blue Lotus; Blue Lotus times Blue Lotus make one Padma; Padma Padmas make one Sengqi; Sengqi Sengqis make one Going; Going Goings make one Arrival; Arrival Arrivals make one Asaṃkhyeya; Asaṃkhyeya Asaṃkhyeyas make one Asaṃkhyeya-turned; Asaṃkhyeya-turned Asaṃkhyeya-turneds make one Measureless; Measureless times Measureless make one Measureless-turned; Measureless-turned Measureless-turneds make one Boundless; Boundless times Boundless make one Boundless-turned; Boundless-turned Boundless-turneds make one Unequalled; Unequalled Unequalleds make one Unequalled-turned; Unequalled-turned Unequalled-turneds make one Uncountable; Uncountable Uncountables make one Uncountable-turned; Uncountable-turned Uncountable-turneds make one Unnameable; Unnameable Unnameables make one Unnameable-turned; Unnameable-turned Unnameable-turneds make one Unthinkable; Unthinkable Unthinkables make one Unthinkable-turned; Unthinkable-turned Unthinkable-turneds make one Immeasurable; Immeasurable Immeasurables make one Immeasurable-turned; Immeasurable-turned Immeasurable-turneds make one Unspeakable; Unspeakable Unspeakables make one Unspeakable-turned; Unspeakable-turned Unspeakable-turneds make one Unspeakably Unspeakable; and this unspeakably unspeakable number of Unspeakably Unspeakables makes one Unspeakably Unspeakable-turned.”

‘The hundred and twenty-three rungs of number-names above, some of them preserving a transcription of the Sanskrit sound and some using words of the Chinese language, are all of them no more than names of numbers — from the koṭi downward, every rung takes the previous name and multiplies it once by itself to obtain the next name (the first rung, “a hundred lakṣas make one koṭi,” being a hundredfold); and so it is multiplied all the way up, to the point where the very name of the last is called “an unspeakably unspeakable-turned.”’

The Manner of Speaking the Verses

At that time the World-Honored One, for the sake of Mind-King Bodhisattva, spoke in verses, saying:

Verse (1): Piling Up “the Unspeakable” Once More

“The ‘unspeakable’ that cannot be spoken fills full every ‘unspeakable’ that cannot be spoken; and through kalpas so many as cannot be spoken, the speaking of this ‘unspeakable’ cannot be finished either.

Verse (2): Lands Ground to Dust, and Within One Dust Mote There Are Lands Again

“Buddha-lands unspeakably many are every one of them ground into dust motes; the lands contained within a single dust mote are unspeakably many as well; and as it is with this one mote, so it is with all dust motes.

Verse (3): Within a Single Thought, and Thought after Thought Ground Away Entirely

“These buddha-lands unspeakably many — the dust motes into which they are ground within a single thought are unspeakable in number; the motes ground out thought after thought in succession are likewise all thus, and through kalpas unspeakably many to their very end it is constantly so.

Verse (4): Within the Dust There Are Lands, and the Lands Are Ground to Dust Again

“The lands contained within this one dust mote are unspeakably many; to grind these lands into dust motes again is harder still to tell of; and with methods of reckoning unspeakably many, through kalpas unspeakably many, the counting goes on in this way without stopping.

Verse (5): Even Praising One Samantabhadra Through Such Kalpas Cannot Be Finished

“Taking the number of these dust motes and reckoning it as kalpas, a single dust mote opens out into a hundred thousand kalpas unspeakably many; and using kalpas of such length to laud and praise one Samantabhadra, none is able to speak to the end the measure of his merit.

Verse (6): At the Place of One Hair-Tip There Are Unspeakably Many Samantabhadras

“At the place of one exceedingly fine hair-tip there are Samantabhadras unspeakably many; at all the places of hair-tips it is likewise so, and thus it is carried on until the whole Dharma realm is pervaded.

Verse (7): The Lands at the Hair-Tip, and So Throughout the Whole of Space

“All the lands at the place of one hair-tip are measureless in number, unspeakably many; and of all the hair-tips throughout the whole measure of space, the lands at each single place are likewise all thus.

Verse (8): Lands Not of a Kind and Lands of a Kind

“The manifold lands at those places of hair-tips abide in measureless differences of kind; there are lands not of a kind unspeakably many, and there are lands of a kind unspeakably many.

Verse (9): At Every Hair-Tip There Are Pure Lands and Adornments

“At places of hair-tips unspeakably many there are pure lands, all of them unspeakably many; the manifold adornments are unspeakably many, and the manifold rarities and marvels are unspeakably many too.

Verse (10): At the Hair-Tips Unspeakably Many Buddha-Names Are Expounded

“At each single place of a hair-tip there are expounded the names of buddhas unspeakably many; under each single name there are Tathāgatas, all of them unspeakable, unspeakably many.

Verse (11): Upon the Buddha-Body Appear Unspeakably Many Pores

“Each single buddha, upon his own body, manifests pores unspeakably many; and within each single pore the manifold colors and forms manifested are unspeakably many.

Verse (12): The Pores Send Forth Light, and Within the Light Lotus Flowers Appear

“Pores unspeakably many all send forth light, unspeakably many; and within each single light there appear lotus flowers, all of them unspeakably many.

Verse (13): Within the Lotus Flowers Are Petals, and Within the Petals Colors and Forms Appear

“Within each single lotus flower there are a multitude of petals, all of them unspeakably many; and within petals unspeakably many, each and every one manifests colors and forms, unspeakably many.

Verse (14): Within the Colors Petals Appear Again, Light Within the Petals, Colors Within the Light

“Within those colors and forms unspeakably many there appear again a multitude of petals, unspeakably many; the light within the petals is unspeakably many, and the colors and forms within the light are unspeakably many too.

Verse (15): Within the Colors Light Appears, Within the Light the Moon, and Within the Moon the Moon Again

“Within these colors and forms unspeakably many, each and every one manifests light, unspeakably many; within the light there appears the moon, unspeakably many; and within the moon there appears the moon again, unspeakably many.

Verse (16): Within the Moon Light Appears, and Within the Light the Sun

“Within moons unspeakably many, each and every one manifests light, unspeakably many; and within each single light there appears again the sun, unspeakably many.

Verse (17): Within the Sun Colors Appear, and Within the Colors Light Comes Forth Again

“Within suns unspeakably many, each and every one manifests colors and forms, unspeakably many; and within each single one of those manifold colors and forms there appears again light, unspeakably many.

Verse (18): Within the Light Lion Thrones Appear

“Within each single light there appear lion thrones unspeakably many; the ornaments upon each single throne are unspeakably many, and the light upon each single throne is unspeakably many too.

Verse (19): Light and Color Come Forth from Each Other, and Pure Light Manifests Wondrous Light Again

“The wondrous colors within the light are unspeakably many, and the pure light within the colors is unspeakably many; and within each single pure light there appear again the manifold subtle and wondrous lights.

Verse (20): Within the Light Wondrous Jewels Great as Sumeru Appear

“This light manifests again the manifold lights, unspeakable and unspeakably many; and within manifold lights such as these, each and every one manifests a subtle and wondrous jewel, great as Mount Sumeru.

Verse (21): One Jewel Manifests a Multitude of Lands

“The jewels manifested within each single light are unspeakable, unspeakably many; and that one wondrous jewel, like unto Mount Sumeru, manifests a multitude of lands, unspeakably many.

Verse (22): The Sumeru-Jewels Exhausted, the Lands Ground into Dust

“Exhausting those jewels like unto Sumeru, with not one left over, the lands they manifest are all of them thus; and grinding one land into dust motes, the colors and forms of a single dust mote are unspeakably many.

Verse (23): The Many Lands Become Dust, and the Dust-Marks Send Forth Light

“A multitude of lands is ground into dust motes, and the dust motes have each their own marks, unspeakable and unspeakably many; and manifold dust-marks such as these all of them give birth to light, unspeakably many.

Verse (24): Within the Light Buddhas Appear, the Buddhas Speak the Dharma, and Within the Dharma There Are Verses

“Within the light buddhas appear, unspeakably many; the dharmas those buddhas speak are unspeakably many; the wondrous verses within the dharmas are unspeakably many; and those who, hearing the wondrous verses, gain understanding are unspeakably many too.

Verse (25): Thought after Thought the True Truth Is Made Manifest, and All the Buddhas of the Future Are Shown Forth

“Within those understandings unspeakably many, thought after thought in succession, the true truths made manifest are unspeakably many; and all the buddhas of the future are shown forth, constantly expounding the true Dharma without ever coming to an end.

Verse (26): Every Single Buddha-Dharma Sends Forth Wondrous Sounds and Turns the Wheel of Dharma

“The buddha-dharmas one by one are unspeakably many, the manifold purities are unspeakably many; the subtle and wondrous sounds brought forth are unspeakably many, and the turning of the wheel of the true Dharma is unspeakably many too.

Verse (27): Within the Wheel of Dharma Sūtras Are Expounded, Opening Out Layer upon Layer

“Within each single wheel of Dharma there are expounded sūtras (the scriptures), unspeakably many; within each single sūtra the dharma-gates distinguished are unspeakably many; within each single dharma-gate there are spoken again dharmas, unspeakably many; and within each single dharma the sentient beings tamed are unspeakably many.

Verse (28): At the Place of One Hair-Tip, Constantly Abiding for Unspeakably Many Kalpas

“Or again, at the place of one hair-tip, he constantly abides through kalpas unspeakably many; and as with this one hair-tip, so is it with all the rest of the hair-tips, and the number of kalpas abided is likewise all thus.

Verse (29): The Mind Without Obstruction, and Emanated Buddhas Emanating Again

“His mind is without obstruction, unspeakably many; the buddhas he emanates are unspeakably many; and each single emanated Tathāgata manifests emanations again, unspeakably many.

Verse (30): Dharma-Body and Divided Bodies; Going, Coursing, Observing, Purifying, and Taming Sentient Beings

“The dharma-bodies of those buddhas are unspeakably many, the divided bodies of those buddhas are unspeakably many; the measurelessness of their adornments is unspeakably many, and the going to the ten directions is unspeakably many; the coursing everywhere through the lands is unspeakably many, and the observing of sentient beings is unspeakably many; the making of sentient beings pure is unspeakably many, and the taming of sentient beings is unspeakably many.

Verse (31): Adornments · Spiritual Powers · Masteries · Spiritual Transformations

“Those adornments are unspeakably many, those spiritual powers are unspeakably many; those masteries are unspeakably many, those spiritual transformations are unspeakably many.

Verse (32): Penetrations · Realms · Sustaining Power · Abiding in the World

“All the spiritual penetrations are unspeakably many, all the realms are unspeakably many; all the sustaining power is unspeakably many, and the worlds abided in are unspeakably many.

Verse (33): Pure Real Marks; Sūtras Spoken and Gates Opened; Layer upon Layer, Beings Tamed

“The pure real marks are unspeakably many, the sūtras proclaimed are unspeakably many; within each single sūtra the dharma-gates expounded are unspeakably many; within each single dharma-gate there are spoken again dharmas, unspeakably many; within each single dharma all that is settled is unspeakably many; and within each single settled thing the sentient beings tamed are unspeakably many.

Verse (34): Dharmas, Minds, Faculties, and Speech, of a Kind and Not of a Kind

“Dharmas of a kind unspeakably many, minds of a kind unspeakably many; dharmas not of a kind unspeakably many, minds not of a kind unspeakably many; faculties not of a kind unspeakably many, speech not of a kind unspeakably many; and thought after thought, in the manifold places of practice, the sentient beings tamed are unspeakably many.

Verse (35): The Bodhisattva Can Set Them Out Distinctly, and the Clever Reckoner Cannot Make Them Out

“All the spiritual transformations are unspeakably many, all the manifestations are unspeakably many; the seasons and kalpas therein are unspeakably many, and the manifold differences therein are unspeakably many — and the bodhisattva is able to set out every one of them distinctly, while of the men skilled at reckoning not one is able to make them out.

Verse (36): At One Hair-Tip, Lands Great and Small, Defiled and Pure, Coarse and Fine, All Clearly Made Out

“At the place of one hair-tip there are great lands and small lands, defiled lands and pure lands, coarse lands and fine lands; all such things as these are unspeakably many, and yet he is able to make out and distinguish every one of them clearly.

Verse (37): One Land Ground to Dust, and Lands as Many as Those Motes Gathered on One Hair-Tip

“Grinding one land into dust motes, those dust motes are measureless and boundless, unspeakably many; and boundless lands as many as those dust motes come together and gather upon a single hair-tip.

Verse (38): Gathered on the Hair-Tip Without Being Pressed for Room, and the Hair-Tip Grows No Larger

“These many lands are unspeakably many, and gathering together upon the hair-tip they are not pressed and crowded; it does not make that hair-tip grow any larger, and yet those lands do truly come and gather there.

Verse (39): Shapes and Marks as They Were, Without Confusion Among Them

“All the manifold lands therein have their shapes and marks as they originally were, without confusion; just as one land does not disorder the rest of the lands, so it is with all the lands.

Verse (40): Space Without Bound, and the Bodhisattva Can Speak the Hair-Tip Lands in One Thought

“The realm of space is without bound; spread hair-tips throughout it all and make it full; and of the manifold lands upon hair-tips such as these, the bodhisattva in a single thought is able to speak them all.

Verse (41): The Pore Can Receive the Lands, and the Lands Cannot Fill the Pore

“Within one exceedingly fine pore, lands unspeakably many enter in due order; the pore is able to receive those lands, and yet those lands are not able to fill this pore.

Verse (42): The Kalpas of Entering and of Receiving, and the Time of Abiding, Cannot Be Spoken

“The kalpas at the time of entering are unspeakably many, the kalpas at the time of receiving are unspeakably many; and at the time when they stand ranged and abide in this way, of all the kalpas there is none who can speak them.

Verse (43): Forty Matters, from the Taking In and Abiding to the Knowing of Sentient Beings

“Having taken them in and abided in this way, all his realms are unspeakably many; the skillful means at the time of entering are unspeakably many, and the things done after entering are unspeakably many; the clarity of the faculty of mind is unspeakably many, and the ranging through the quarters is unspeakably many; valorous vigor is unspeakably many, and mastery in spiritual transformation is unspeakably many; all his thinking is unspeakably many, and all his great vows are unspeakably many; all his realms are unspeakably many, and his penetration of everything is unspeakably many; the purity of the karma of body is unspeakably many, and the purity of the karma of speech is unspeakably many; the purity of the karma of mind is unspeakably many, and the purity of faith and understanding is unspeakably many; the purity of wondrous knowledge is unspeakably many, and the purity of wondrous wisdom is unspeakably many; the fathoming of the real marks of dharmas is unspeakably many, and the cutting off of the manifold doubts is unspeakably many; the leaving behind of birth-and-death is unspeakably many, and the ascending to the position of a noble one (entering the rank of the noble ones) is unspeakably many; the profound samādhis are unspeakably many, and the fathoming of everything is unspeakably many; all sentient beings are unspeakably many, and all buddha-lands are unspeakably many; the knowing of the bodies of sentient beings is unspeakably many, and the knowing of what their minds delight in is unspeakably many; the knowing of their karmic fruits is unspeakably many, and the knowing of their understandings is unspeakably many; the knowing of their classes is unspeakably many, and the knowing of their lineages is unspeakably many; the knowing of the bodies they receive is unspeakably many, and the knowing of their places of birth is unspeakably many; the knowing of their being now born is unspeakably many, and the knowing of their having been born is unspeakably many; the knowing of their comprehension is unspeakably many, and the knowing of their courses is unspeakably many; the knowing of their speech is unspeakably many, and the knowing of the karma they do is unspeakably many.

Verse (44): The Bodhisattva’s Great Compassion, from Manifesting His Body Everywhere to Taking Pity on the World

“The bodhisattva, with great kindness and great compassion such as this, benefits all the worlds: manifesting his body everywhere is unspeakably many, entering the buddha-lands is unspeakably many; seeing the bodhisattvas is unspeakably many, giving rise to wisdom is unspeakably many; asking after the true Dharma is unspeakably many, setting forth and spreading abroad the Buddha’s teaching is unspeakably many; manifesting the manifold bodies is unspeakably many, going to the manifold lands is unspeakably many; showing forth spiritual penetrations is unspeakably many, pervading the ten directions is unspeakably many; dividing his body in place after place is unspeakably many, drawing near to the buddhas is unspeakably many; making the manifold implements of offering is unspeakably many, the manifold measureless things are unspeakably many; the pure multitude of jewels is unspeakably many, the finest and most wondrous lotus flowers are unspeakably many; the most excellent garlands of fragrance are unspeakably many, making offerings to the Tathāgatas is unspeakably many; the pure mind of faith is unspeakably many, the most excellent understanding is unspeakably many; surpassing aspiration and delight is unspeakably many, reverence toward the buddhas is unspeakably many; the practice of giving is unspeakably many, and his mind having gone beyond what it was before is unspeakably many; giving to all who ask of him is unspeakably many, giving everything away entirely is unspeakably many; purity in keeping the precepts is unspeakably many, purity of thought is unspeakably many; praising the buddhas is unspeakably many, loving and delighting in the true Dharma is unspeakably many; the accomplishing of the manifold forbearances is unspeakably many, the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas is unspeakably many; being complete in stillness is unspeakably many, abiding in the ground of stillness is unspeakably many; rousing great vigor is unspeakably many, and his mind having gone beyond what it was before is unspeakably many; the non-retrogressive mind is unspeakably many, the unshakable mind is unspeakably many; all the treasuries of concentration are unspeakably many, the observing of dharmas is unspeakably many; being still within concentration is unspeakably many, the fathoming of the meditations is unspeakably many; penetration in wisdom is unspeakably many, mastery in samādhi is unspeakably many; the fathoming of dharmas is unspeakably many, the clear seeing of the buddhas is unspeakably many; cultivating measureless practices is unspeakably many, sending forth vast great vows is unspeakably many; the profound realms are unspeakably many, the pure dharma-gates are unspeakably many; the bodhisattva’s power of dharma is unspeakably many, the bodhisattva’s abiding in dharma is unspeakably many; those right recollections are unspeakably many, those Dharma realms are unspeakably many; cultivating the wisdom of skillful means is unspeakably many, learning the profound wisdom is unspeakably many; measureless wisdom is unspeakably many, ultimate wisdom is unspeakably many; those dharma-wisdoms are unspeakably many, those pure wheels of Dharma are unspeakably many; that great cloud of Dharma is unspeakably many, that great rain of Dharma is unspeakably many; those spiritual powers are unspeakably many, those skillful means are unspeakably many; entering the wisdom of empty stillness is unspeakably many, thought after thought in succession is unspeakably many; the measureless gates of practice are unspeakably many, abiding constantly thought after thought is unspeakably many; the oceans of lands of the buddhas are unspeakably many, being able to go to them all is unspeakably many; the differences among the lands are unspeakably many, the manifold purities are unspeakably many; the differing adornments are unspeakably many, the boundless colors and forms are unspeakably many; the manifold interlacings and minglings are unspeakably many, the manifold subtleties and beauties are unspeakably many; the pure buddha-lands are unspeakably many, the defiled worlds are unspeakably many; the knowing of sentient beings is unspeakably many, the knowing of their lineages is unspeakably many; the knowing of their karmic recompense is unspeakably many, the knowing of the conduct of their minds is unspeakably many; the knowing of their faculties is unspeakably many, the knowing of their understandings and desires is unspeakably many; the defiled and the pure are unspeakably many, observing and taming is unspeakably many; mastery in transformation is unspeakably many, manifesting the manifold bodies is unspeakably many; cultivating vigor is unspeakably many, delivering sentient beings is unspeakably many; showing forth spiritual transformations is unspeakably many, sending forth great light is unspeakably many; the manifold colors and forms are unspeakably many, making sentient beings pure is unspeakably many; each single pore is unspeakably many, sending forth nets of light is unspeakably many; the nets of light manifesting colors and forms is unspeakably many, illumining the buddha-lands everywhere is unspeakably many; valor and fearlessness are unspeakably many, skillfulness in means is unspeakably many; taming sentient beings is unspeakably many, causing them to leave birth-and-death is unspeakably many; the pure karma of body is unspeakably many, the pure karma of speech is unspeakably many; the boundless karma of mind is unspeakably many, the excellent and wondrous practices are unspeakably many; accomplishing the jewel of wisdom is unspeakably many, entering deeply into the Dharma realm is unspeakably many; the bodhisattva’s power to hold all is unspeakably many, being well able to cultivate and learn is unspeakably many; the sounds of the wise are unspeakably many, the purity of the sounds is unspeakably many; right recollection that is true and real is unspeakably many, awakening sentient beings is unspeakably many; being complete in deportment is unspeakably many, pure cultivation is unspeakably many; accomplishing fearlessness is unspeakably many, taming the world is unspeakably many; the assemblies of the sons of the Buddha are unspeakably many, the pure and excellent practices are unspeakably many; lauding and praising the buddhas is unspeakably many, the praise that has no end is unspeakably many; the guides of the world are unspeakably many, expounding and praising is unspeakably many; those bodhisattvas are unspeakably many, the pure merits are unspeakably many; those farthest bounds are unspeakably many, being able to abide within them is unspeakably many; the wisdom of abiding within them is unspeakably many, and of abiding to the exhausting of all the kalpas there is none who can speak it; taking joy in seeking the buddhas is unspeakably many, the evenness of wisdom is unspeakably many; entering well into dharmas is unspeakably many, being without obstruction toward dharmas is unspeakably many; the three times being like space is unspeakably many, the wisdom of the three times is unspeakably many; the fathoming of the three times is unspeakably many, abiding in wisdom is unspeakably many; the excellent and wondrous practices are unspeakably many, the measureless great vows are unspeakably many; the pure great vows are unspeakably many, the accomplishing of awakening is unspeakably many; the awakening of the buddhas is unspeakably many, giving rise to wisdom is unspeakably many; distinguishing the meanings is unspeakably many, knowing all dharmas is unspeakably many; adorning and purifying the buddha-lands is unspeakably many, cultivating the powers is unspeakably many; cultivating through long ages is unspeakably many, understanding within a single thought is unspeakably many; the mastery of the buddhas is unspeakably many, expounding widely the true Dharma is unspeakably many; the manifold spiritual powers are unspeakably many, manifesting in the world is unspeakably many; the pure wheels of Dharma are unspeakably many, being valorously able to turn them is unspeakably many; the manifold openings forth and expoundings are unspeakably many, taking pity on the world is unspeakably many.

Verse (45): Kalpas May Be Exhausted, Virtue Cannot

“Through all the kalpas unspeakably many, praising the manifold merits unspeakably many; kalpas unspeakably many may still be exhausted, and virtue unspeakably many cannot be exhausted.

Verse (46): Unspeakably Many Tathāgatas, Unspeakably Many Tongues

“Tathāgatas unspeakably many, the manifold tongues unspeakably many; praising the Buddha’s virtues unspeakably many, through kalpas unspeakably many there is none who can speak them to the end.

Verse (47): Sentient Beings Accomplish Right Awakening at the Same Time, and One Buddha Manifests All Bodies Everywhere

“All the sentient beings of the ten directions all accomplish right awakening at one and the same time; and among them one buddha is able to manifest everywhere all bodies unspeakably many.

Verse (48): One Body Manifests Heads, One Head Tongues, One Tongue Voices, One Voice Abides Through Kalpas

“Of these unspeakably many, one body manifests heads, unspeakably many; of these unspeakably many, one head manifests tongues, unspeakably many; of these unspeakably many, one tongue manifests voices, unspeakably many; and of these unspeakably many, one voice passes through kalpas and abides, unspeakably many.

Verse (49): As with One So with All; the Kalpas May Be Exhausted and the Praising of the Buddha Cannot

“As with one buddha so it is, so with all buddhas too; as with one body so it is, so with all bodies too; as with one head so it is, so with all heads too; as with one tongue so it is, so with all tongues too; as with one voice so it is, so with all voices too — praising the Buddha constantly through kalpas unspeakably many, kalpas unspeakably many may still be exhausted, and of the praising of the Buddha’s merit there is none who can speak it to the end.

Verse (50): Within One Dust Mote Are Lotus Worlds, and Within the Worlds the Tathāgata Chief in Goodness

“Within a single dust mote there can be contained entirely lotus worlds unspeakably many; and within each single lotus world the Tathāgatas Chief in Goodness are unspeakably many.

Verse (51): Reaching Everywhere Through the Dharma Realm; Within the Dust Motes Worlds Form, Abide, and Decay

“And on to the pervading of the whole Dharma realm, among all the manifold dust motes therein the worlds are forming or abiding or decaying, measureless in number, unspeakably many.

Verse (52): The Place of One Dust Mote Is Without Bound, and the Ocean of Lands Is Spread Out

“The place of a single dust mote is without any farthest bound, and measureless lands all come and enter therein; the differences of the ten directions are unspeakably many, and the spreading out of the ocean of lands is unspeakably many.

Verse (53): Within Every Single Land There Is a Tathāgata, from Life-Span to the Gaining of the Deep Treasury of Wisdom

“Within every single land there is a Tathāgata, and the kalpas of his life-span are unspeakably many; the practices of the buddhas are unspeakably many, the profound and wondrous dharmas are unspeakably many; the great strength of spiritual penetration is unspeakably many, the wisdom without obstruction is unspeakably many; entering into the pores is unspeakably many, the causes and conditions of the pores are unspeakably many; accomplishing the ten powers is unspeakably many, awakening to awakening is unspeakably many; entering the pure Dharma realm is unspeakably many, gaining the profound treasury of wisdom is unspeakably many.

Verse (54): The Manifold Quantities and Measures of Shape, All of Them Penetrated

“The manifold quantities are unspeakably many, and of all of these he has full knowledge; the manifold measures of shape are unspeakably many, and of all of these there is none he does not penetrate.

Verse (55): Abiding in Samādhi Through Kalpas, His Practice Pure

“The manifold samādhis are unspeakably many, and he is able to abide within them through the long kalpas; and in the presence of buddhas unspeakably many, the purity of his practice is unspeakably many.

Verse (56): Gaining the Unobstructed Mind, Going to the Ten Directions, Fathoming the Buddhas

“He gains minds without obstruction unspeakably many, and his going to the ten directions is unspeakably many; his showing forth by spiritual power is unspeakably many, and his practice without any farthest bound is unspeakably many; his going to the manifold lands is unspeakably many, and his fathoming of the buddhas is unspeakably many; his vigor and valor are unspeakably many, and his penetration in wisdom is unspeakably many.

Verse (57): With Regard to Dharmas Neither Practising nor Not Practising, Constantly Ranging the Ten Directions

“With regard to dharmas he is neither one who practises nor one who does not practise, and the manifold realms he enters are unspeakably many; through the manifold great kalpas that cannot be told by speaking, he constantly ranges the ten directions, unspeakably many.

Verse (58): The Three Wisdoms of Skillful Means, of the Real, and of Spiritual Penetration; Manifesting Thought after Thought

“The wisdom of skillful means is unspeakably many, the wisdom of the real is unspeakably many; the wisdom of spiritual penetration is unspeakably many, and manifesting thought after thought is unspeakably many.

Verse (59): Knowing Each Single Buddha-Dharma; Realizing at One Time or Entering at Manifold Times

“Of the dharmas of the buddhas unspeakably many he has knowledge of every single one, unspeakably many; and he is able at one and the same time to realize awakening, and able also at manifold different times to enter into realization.

Verse (60): Buddha-Lands of the Hair-Tip and Buddha-Lands Within the Dust, to All of Which He Can Go

“The buddha-lands upon the hair-tip are unspeakably many, the buddha-lands within the dust motes are unspeakably many; to buddha-lands such as these he goes to them all, and the Tathāgatas he sees are unspeakably many.

Verse (61): Penetrating the One Real, Well Entering the Buddha-Lineage

“His penetrating of the one real is unspeakably many, his entering well into the lineage of the buddhas is unspeakably many; the lands of the buddhas are unspeakably many, and to all of them he is able to go and accomplish awakening.

Verse (62): The Differences of Substance Cannot Be Spoken, and the Bodhisattva Sees Them All with Clarity

“Lands, sentient beings, and all the buddhas — the differences of their very substance are unspeakably many; the three times such as these are without any bound, and the bodhisattva sees every one of them clearly.”

Mind-King Bodhisattva Addresses the Assembly: The Comparison of the Ten Layers of Kalpa-Measure

At that time Mind-King Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, in the midst of the great assembled multitude, said to the bodhisattvas seated there:

“Sons of the Buddha! One kalpa (a kalpa is a unit of time of the utmost length) in the land of Śākyamuni Buddha in this Sahā world (the world we dwell in, the world able to bear the many sufferings) is, in the land of Amitābha Buddha in the world Ultimate Bliss, only a single day and a single night;

The Second Layer through the Fifth: Ultimate Bliss · Kāṣāya Banner · Wheel of the Non-Retrogressive Sound · Stainless

“one kalpa of the world Ultimate Bliss is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Vajra-Firm in the world Kāṣāya Banner (the kāṣāya is the monastic robe, and the world is named from a robe raised as a banner); one kalpa of the world Kāṣāya Banner is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Excellent and Supreme Light, Lotus Blossoming Open, in the world Wheel of the Non-Retrogressive Sound; one kalpa of the world Wheel of the Non-Retrogressive Sound is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Dharma Banner in the world Stainless; one kalpa of the world Stainless is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Lion in the world Good Lamp;

The Sixth Layer through the Ninth: Good Lamp · Wondrous Light · Hard to Surpass · Adorned Wisdom

“one kalpa of the world Good Lamp is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Treasury of Light in the world Wondrous Light; one kalpa of the world Wondrous Light is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Light of the Dharma, Lotus Blossoming Open, in the world Hard to Surpass; one kalpa of the world Hard to Surpass is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Light of All Spiritual Penetrations in the world Adorned Wisdom; one kalpa of the world Adorned Wisdom is a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Moon Wisdom in the world Mirror Light.

Raising the Brief to Display the Vast, Raising the Profound Ultimate: The Last World and the Filling by Samantabhadra

“Sons of the Buddha! Advancing in this order one after another, on and on past worlds as many as a million asaṃkhyeyas (asaṃkhyeya means a number beyond reckoning), one kalpa of that very last world is likewise only a single day and a single night in the land of the Buddha Worthy and Supreme in the world Supreme Lotus — and Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, together with all the great bodhisattvas who cultivate and practise along with him, fill that land throughout.”

Opening Declaration: The Bodhisattva Mind King, Within the Great Assembly, Tells the Bodhisattvas

At that time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Mind King (mahāsattva means a great bodhisattva), within the gathering of the great assembly, told the bodhisattvas seated there, saying —

The East: Mount of the Seers · the Bodhisattva Vajra Excellence

“Sons of the Buddha! In the east there is a place, and it is named Mount of the Seers. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Vajra Excellence, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas three hundred in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The South: Mount Excellent Peak · the Bodhisattva Dharma Wisdom

“In the south there is a place, and it is named Mount Excellent Peak (the ‘peak’ is the summit of a mountain). From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Dharma Wisdom, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas five hundred in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The West: Mount Vajra Flame · the Bodhisattva Fearless Practice of Vigor

“In the west there is a place, and it is named Mount Vajra Flame. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Fearless Practice of Vigor, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas three hundred in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The North: Mount Heaped Fragrance · the Bodhisattva Fragrant Elephant

“In the north there is a place, and it is named Mount Heaped Fragrance (the mountain where fragrance is heaped and gathered). From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Fragrant Elephant, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas three thousand in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The Northeast: Mount Clear and Cool · the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī

“In the northeast there is a place, and it is named Mount Clear and Cool. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Mañjuśrī, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas ten thousand in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

In the Sea: Mount Vajra · the Bodhisattva Dharma Arising

“In the sea there is a place, and it is named Mount Vajra. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Dharma Arising, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas one thousand two hundred in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The Southeast: Mount Zhiti · the Bodhisattva Heavenly Crown

“In the southeast there is a place, and it is named Mount Zhiti. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Heavenly Crown, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas one thousand in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The Southwest: Mount Light · the Bodhisattva Worthy Excellence

“In the southwest there is a place, and it is named Mount Light. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Worthy Excellence, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas three thousand in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

The Northwest: Mount Fragrant Wind · the Bodhisattva Fragrant Light

“In the northwest there is a place, and it is named Mount Fragrant Wind. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there; and now too there is a bodhisattva, named Fragrant Light, who together with his retinue — a host of bodhisattvas five thousand in number — is ever within that mountain expounding the Buddha’s Dharma.

Within the Great Sea: the Cave of Adornment

“Within the great sea there is yet another dwelling place, and it is named the Cave of Adornment (a cave is a grotto in a mountain, a chamber of stone). From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there.

The Places in Cities and Towns (One to Six): Well-Dwelling Root · the Cave of Fulfillment · the Dharma Seat · the Cave of Muzhenlinta · Established by the Unobstructed Dragon King · Producing Loving-Kindness

“South of the city of Pishali there is a dwelling place, and it is named Well-Dwelling Root. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the city of Modulo there is a dwelling place, and it is named the Cave of Fulfillment. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the city of Juzhenna there is a dwelling place, and it is named the Dharma Seat. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the city of the Pure Far Shore there is a dwelling place, and it is named the Cave of Muzhenlinta. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the land of Molanta there is a dwelling place, and it is named Established by the Unobstructed Dragon King. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the land of Ganputuo there is a dwelling place, and it is named Producing Loving-Kindness. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there.

The Places in Cities and Towns (Seven to Twelve): the Cave of Nārāyaṇa · Mount Ox-Head · In Due Order · the Cave of the Venerable One · Seeing the Light of the Treasury of Koṭis · the Cave of Shanpoluo

“In the land of Cīnasthāna there is a dwelling place, and it is named the Cave of Nārāyaṇa. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the land of Shule there is a dwelling place, and it is named Mount Ox-Head. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the land of Jiashemiluo there is a dwelling place, and it is named In Due Order. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the city of Increasing Joy there is a dwelling place, and it is named the Cave of the Venerable One. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the land of Anfulimo there is a dwelling place, and it is named Seeing the Light of the Treasury of Koṭis. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there. In the land of Qiantuoluo there is a dwelling place, and it is named the Cave of Shanpoluo. From of old there have ever been hosts of bodhisattvas dwelling there.”