大智度論 往生品之下Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Rebirth, Part 3 of 3
往生品之下：法眼、佛眼、神通波羅蜜、六度畢竟空、眾生等心與三百比丘授記（經＋論）
如果眾生畢竟不可得，連菩薩之名也只是假名而無實法，那麼「從哪裡命終、來生此間，又將往生何處」豈不是多餘一問？〈往生品〉一開頭就把這道難題端出來，並立刻給出全品的樞紐——佛法有二諦：為世諦故說有眾生，為第一義諦故說眾生無所有。問往生，其實就是問菩薩的行處；而菩薩的行處，正落在無我無來去、卻不捨眾生往生的這一不二之地。於是佛先以三處答其來——或從他方佛國、或從兜率天上、或從人道中；再就其去廣分別，鋪陳種種往生之相。他方來者利根，人中來者根鈍，其別只在能否常值諸佛、能否以念佛三昧與般若疾疾相應。其後所列，無一不是同一件事的深化：有得法性生身的菩薩，變化身遍入三界而不受業繫；有以方便力入禪而不隨禪生、還來欲界大姓度眾生的菩薩；有梵天勸請轉法輪、兜率補處一生成佛、六神通遊戲十方讚歎三寶的菩薩。到了中卷，方便與定慧再往深處收：菩薩能入超越定而不落小乘定法之限，能不取四果卻以八聖道令眾生得果，甚至一切阿羅漢、辟支佛的果與智，在菩薩份上只是無生法忍的一角；淨業與麁業的分判，也從外相轉入「取法相即是罪、法不可得乃名淨佛道」的內裡。下卷則以五眼次第收束——肉眼、天眼求見，慧眼破虛誑而見實相，法眼分別眾生根器與位次，佛眼入金剛三昧盡照無餘；般若能生五眼，學五眼者得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。神通亦然：六神通一一自性空、自性離，除為薩婆若心而修；六度則各住畢竟空，如金剛山四面來風而心無動轉。最後歸於一切眾生中生等心、得一切諸法等，現世為十方諸佛所念，並以三百比丘捨衣發心、佛微笑授記六十一劫後成佛、十千人願生淨土號莊嚴王的公案作結——業因緣果報相續，不可思議。讀此品，不必先替往生安上一個實在的去處或來處；只須在每一種往生相裡看同一件事：所往是否仍向一切智與一切眾生，能度所度是否已在畢竟空中放輕。無眾生可得而遍生度眾，無來去可執而常值諸佛——這正是般若二諦所開的往生之路。
If beings are ultimately unfindable, and even the name ‘bodhisattva’ is only a provisional name with no real dharma behind it, then is it not a superfluous question to ask from where one’s life ended, whence one came to be born here, and where one will be reborn next? The Chapter on Rebirth sets this hard question on the table at its very opening, and at once gives the pivot of the whole chapter: in the Buddha’s Dharma there are two truths; for the sake of the worldly truth it is said that there are beings, and for the sake of the truth of the highest meaning it is said that beings have no existence. To ask about rebirth is in fact to ask about the bodhisattva’s place of practice, and the bodhisattva’s place of practice falls exactly on this non-dual ground, where there is no self and no coming or going, and yet beings and rebirth are not abandoned. So the Buddha first answers where the bodhisattva comes from with three places: from another Buddha-land, from the Tuṣita heaven, or from among humans; then he distinguishes at length where the bodhisattva goes, laying out the many marks of rebirth. Those who come from elsewhere are of keen faculties and those who come from among humans of dull faculties, and the difference lies only in whether they constantly meet the Buddhas and whether, by the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha, they come swiftly into accord with prajñā. Everything listed thereafter deepens this one matter: there are bodhisattvas who have obtained the body born of dharma-nature, whose transformation bodies enter the three realms everywhere without being bound by karma; there are bodhisattvas who by the power of skilful means enter the meditations yet are not born according to the meditations, but return to a great clan of the desire realm to deliver beings; there are bodhisattvas whom the Brahmā king entreats to turn the wheel of Dharma, bodhisattvas in Tuṣita who are one birth from buddhahood, and bodhisattvas who with the six supernormal powers roam at play through the ten directions praising the Three Jewels. By the middle fascicle, skilful means and concentration and wisdom are gathered deeper still: the bodhisattva can enter the leaping absorption without falling under the limits of the small vehicle’s laws of absorption, can decline the four fruits and yet, by the eightfold noble path, bring beings to attain the fruits, and indeed the fruits and knowledge of all arhats and pratyekabuddha are, on the bodhisattva’s side, but one corner of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; and the division of pure from coarse karma turns from outward marks to the inside, where to grasp the mark of a dharma is itself offence, and the unfindability of dharmas is what is called purifying the Buddha path. The last fascicle closes with the sequence of the five eyes: the fleshly eye and the heavenly eye seek to see; the wisdom eye breaks through falsehood and sees the real mark; the Dharma eye distinguishes beings’ capacities and stages; the Buddha eye enters the vajra samādhi and illumines all without remainder. Prajñā can give birth to the five eyes, and one who trains in the five eyes attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. So too the supernormal powers: each of the six is empty of own-nature and apart from own-nature, cultivated for nothing but the mind set on sarvajñā; and the six perfections each dwell in ultimate emptiness, like a vajra mountain with winds coming from four sides while the mind does not stir. At the end it returns to giving rise to an equal mind toward all beings and attaining the equality of all dharmas, being held in mind in this very life by the Buddhas of the ten directions, and closes with the case of three hundred bhikṣu who offered their robes and aroused the mind, the Buddha smiling and predicting their buddhahood sixty-one kalpas hence, and ten thousand people vowing to be born in a pure land under the name King of Adornment: the continuity of karma, cause, condition, and fruit is inconceivable. In reading this chapter there is no need first to fit rebirth with a real place gone to or come from; one need only see the same one thing in every mark of rebirth: whether where one goes still faces omniscience and all beings, and whether deliverer and delivered have already been made light in ultimate emptiness. With no being to be found, one is born everywhere to deliver beings; with no coming or going to grasp, one constantly meets the Buddhas. This is the very path of rebirth that prajñā’s two truths open.
卷40 〔T25 0348c07〕
大智度論釋往生品第四之下 聖者龍樹造 後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯 【經】 舍利弗白言：「世尊！云何菩薩摩訶薩法眼淨？」 佛告舍利弗：「菩薩摩訶薩以法眼知是人隨信行、是人隨法行、是人無相行，是人行空解脫門、是人行無相解脫門、是人行無作解脫門，得五根，得五根故得無間三昧，得無間三昧故得解脫智，得解脫智故斷三結：有眾見、疑、齋戒取，是人名為須陀洹；是人得思惟道，薄婬、恚、癡，當得斯陀含；增進思惟道，斷婬、恚，得阿那含；增進思惟道，斷色染、無色染、無明、慢、掉，得阿羅漢。是人行空、無相、無作解脫門，得五根，得五根故得無間三昧，得無間三昧故得解脫智，得解脫智故知所有集法皆是滅法，作辟支佛。是為菩薩法眼淨。 「復次，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩知是菩薩初發意行檀波羅蜜乃至行般若波羅蜜，成就信根、精進根，善根純厚；用方便力故，為眾生受身；若〔T25 0349a〕生剎利大姓，若生婆羅門大姓，若生居士大家；若生四天王天處乃至他化自在天處；是菩薩於其中住，成就眾生，隨其所樂，皆給施之；亦淨佛世界，值遇諸佛，供養、恭敬、尊重、讚歎，乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦不墮聲聞、辟支佛地；是為菩薩摩訶薩法眼淨。 「復次，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩如是知是菩薩於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提退、知是菩薩於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提不退，知是菩薩受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記、知是菩薩未受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記，知是菩薩到阿鞞跋致地、知是菩薩未到阿鞞跋致地，知是菩薩具足神通、知是菩薩未具足神通；知是菩薩已具足神通，飛到十方如恒河沙等世界，見諸佛供養恭敬，尊重讚歎；知是菩薩未得神通、當得神通；知是菩薩當淨佛世界、未淨佛世界，是菩薩成就眾生、未成就眾生，是菩薩為諸佛所稱譽、所不稱譽，是菩薩親近諸佛、不親近佛，是菩薩壽命有量、壽命無量，是菩薩得佛時，比丘眾有量、比丘眾無量；是菩薩得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提時，以菩薩為僧、不以菩薩為僧；是菩薩當修苦行難行、不修苦行難行，是菩薩一生補處、未一生補處，是菩薩受最後身、未受最後身，是菩薩能坐道場、不能坐道場，是菩薩有魔、無魔。如是，舍利弗！是為菩薩摩訶薩法眼淨。」 【論】 釋曰： 菩薩摩訶薩初發心時，以肉眼見世界眾生，受諸苦患，心生慈愍；學諸禪定，修得五通，以天眼遍見六道中眾生受種種身心苦，益加憐〔T25 0349b〕愍故，求慧眼以救濟之。得是慧眼已，見眾生心相種種不同，云何令眾生得是實法，故求法眼，引導眾生令入法中，故名法眼。 所謂「是人隨信行，是人隨法行」，初入無漏道——鈍根者名隨信行，是人初依信力故得道，名為隨信行；利根者名隨法行，是人分別諸法故得道，是名隨法行。是二人，十五心中亦名為無相行。過是已往，或名須陀洹，或名斯陀含，或名阿那含。十五心中疾速，無人能取其相者，故名無相。 有人無始世界來，性常質直，好樂實事者；有人好行捨離者；有人世世常好善寂者。好實者，用空解脫門得道，以諸實中空為第一故；好行捨者，行無作解脫門得道；好善寂者，行無相解脫門得道。 問曰： 何以說「得五根」？ 答曰： 有人言：一切聖道名為五根，五根成立故。八根雖皆是善，而三無漏根無有別異，以是故但說五根。 取果時相應三昧，名「無間三昧」；得是三昧已，得解脫智，以是解脫智斷三結，得果證。 「有眾見」者，於五受眾中，生我若我所。 「疑」者，於三寶、四諦中不信。 「齋戒取」者，九十六種外道法中，取是法，望得苦解脫。 問曰： 見諦所斷十結，得須陀洹果，何以故但說三、不說七？ 答曰： 若說有眾見，已說一切見結，如經說「有眾見為六十二見根本」故。 若人著我，復思惟：我為是常？為是無常？若謂無常，墮斷滅中而生邪見，無有罪福。若謂為常，墮常見中而生齋戒取；〔T25 0349c〕計望得道，或修後世福德樂；欲得此二事故取戒。求苦樂因緣故，謂天所作，便生見取。若說有眾見，則攝是二見：邊見、邪見。若說齋戒取，已說見取。餘四結未拔根本，故不說。 是十結於三界四諦所斷，分別有八十八。 須陀洹乃至辟支佛，分別聲聞、辟支佛道，如先說。 菩薩法眼有二種：一者、分別知聲聞、辟支佛方便得道門，二者、知菩薩方便行道門。聲聞、辟支佛事先已處處說，今當分別菩薩法。 若菩薩知是菩薩深行六波羅蜜，薄諸煩惱故，用信根、精進根及方便，為度眾生故受身。是菩薩生死肉身，未得法性神通法身，以是故不說三根，未離欲故。今世行布施功德，信根、精進根，後世生剎利大姓乃至他化自在天。先知因，後知果。 復次，「是菩薩不退」者，如先說「不退轉相」，亦如後〈阿鞞跋致品〉中說；與此相違，名為退。 不退菩薩有二種：一者、受記，二者、未受記。如《首楞嚴三昧》四種受記中說。 「具足神通」者，於十方恒河沙世界中，一時能變化無量身，供養諸佛、聽法，說法度眾生。如是等，除佛無能及者，是為末後身菩薩；與此相違者，名不具足。 復次，各各自地中無所少，名為具足；各各地中未成就，是不具足。 「得神通」有二種：有用者，有不用者。 「未得神通」者，有菩薩新發意故，未得神通；或未離欲故、懈怠心故、行餘法故，是為未得；與上相違，是為「得」。 「淨佛世界、未淨世界」，如先說。 「成就眾生」者有二種：有先自成〔T25 0350a〕功德，然後度眾生者；有先成就眾生，後自成功德者。如寶華佛欲涅槃時，觀二菩薩心，所謂彌勒、釋迦文菩薩。彌勒菩薩自功德成就，弟子未成就；釋迦文菩薩弟子成就，自身未成就。成就多人難，自成則易。作是念已，入雪山谷寶窟中，身放光明。是時釋迦文菩薩見佛，其心清淨，一足立，七日七夜，以一偈讚佛；以是因緣故，超越九劫。如是等，知成就眾生、不成就眾生者。 「諸佛稱譽」，如先說；與此相違，名為「不稱譽」。 「親近諸佛」、「無量壽命」、「無量比丘僧」、「純菩薩為僧」、「不修苦行」，如〈初品〉末說。 「一生補處」者，或以相知者，如阿私陀仙人觀其身相，知今世成佛。珊若婆羅門見乳糜，知今日成佛者應食。如遍吉菩薩、觀世音菩薩、文殊師利菩薩等，見是菩薩如諸佛相，知當成佛，如是等。 「坐道場」者，有菩薩見菩薩行處，地下有金剛地持是菩薩；又見天龍鬼神持種種供養具，送至道場，如是等，知坐道場。 「有魔」者，宿世遮他行道及種種求佛道因緣，不喜行慈，好行空等餘法，如是等因緣，以宿世破他行道，故有魔破壞。 問曰： 云何末後身菩薩受惡業報、為魔來壞？ 答曰： 菩薩以種種門入佛道，或從悲門，或從精進、智慧門入佛道。 是菩薩行精進、智慧門，不行悲心，好行精進、智慧故。譬如貴人，雖有種種好衣，或時著一，餘者不著；菩薩亦如是，修種種行以求佛道，或行精進、智慧道，息慈悲心。 破行道者，增上慢故。諸長壽天、龍、鬼神不〔T25 0350b〕識方便者，見作惡行因緣，若不受報，生斷滅見，是故佛現受報。是故雖無罪因緣實魔來，以方便力故現有魔。 如是等一切聲聞、辟支佛、諸菩薩種種方便門，令眾生入道，是名「法眼淨」。 【經】 舍利弗白佛言：「世尊！云何菩薩摩訶薩佛眼淨？」 佛告舍利弗：「有菩薩摩訶薩求佛道心，次第入如金剛三昧，得一切種智。爾時，成就十力、四無所畏、四無礙智、十八不共法、大慈大悲。是菩薩摩訶薩用一切種，一切法中，無法不見，無法不聞，無法不知，無法不識。舍利弗！是為菩薩摩訶薩得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提時佛眼淨。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩欲得五眼，當學六波羅蜜。何以故？舍利弗！是六波羅蜜中，攝一切善法，若聲聞法、辟支佛法、菩薩法、佛法。舍利弗！若有實語，能攝一切善法者，般若波羅蜜是。舍利弗！般若波羅蜜能生五眼，菩薩學五眼者，得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 【論】 釋曰： 菩薩住十地中，具足六波羅蜜乃至一切種智。菩薩入如金剛三昧，破諸煩惱習，即時得諸佛無礙解脫，即生佛眼，所謂一切種智、十力、四無所畏、四無礙智乃至大慈大悲等諸功德，是名「佛眼」。 問曰： 智慧、見物是眼相，云何大慈悲等名為「眼」？ 答曰： 諸功德皆與慧眼相應故，通名為眼。 復次，慈悲心有三種：眾生緣、法緣、無緣。 凡夫人，眾生緣；聲聞、辟支佛及菩薩，初眾生緣，後法緣；諸佛善修行畢竟空，故名為無緣，是故慈悲亦名佛眼。 已說佛眼，今說佛眼所用：是眼無〔T25 0350c〕法不見、不聞、不知、不識。 復次，有人謂：「十住菩薩與佛無有差別，如遍吉、文殊師利、觀世音等，具足佛十力功德等而不作佛，為廣度眾生故。」是故生疑。以是故說佛眼相——十方眾生及諸法中，無不見、無不聞。是諸菩薩，於餘菩薩為大，比於佛不能遍知；如月光明雖大，於日則不現。 問曰： 眼為見相，云何說「聞」？ 答曰： 眾生智慧，從六情生，知六塵。人謂佛有所不聞，如外經書中言或有所不聞；是故佛智慧無所不聞。又耳識因緣生智慧，智慧所知，言「無法不聞」。 問曰： 何以故三識所知合為一，三識所知別為三——眼名為見，耳名為聞，意知名為識，鼻、舌、身識名為覺？ 答曰： 是三識助道法多，是故別說；餘三識不爾，是故合說。 是三識但知世間事，是故合為一；餘三亦知世間，亦知出世間，是故別說。 復次，是三識但緣無記法；餘三識或緣善，或緣不善，或緣無記。 復次，是三識能生三乘因緣，如眼見佛及佛弟子，耳聞法，心籌量、正憶念。如是等種種差別，以是故，六識所知事分為四分。 一切種智者，如人眼見近不見遠，見內不見外，見麁不見細，見東不見西，見此不見彼，見和合不見散，見生時不見滅。 肉眼見，天眼不見：眼根成就，未離欲凡夫人故無天眼。 天眼見，慧眼不見：凡夫人得天眼神通故無慧眼。 慧眼見，法眼不見：未離欲聲聞聖人，不知種種度眾生道故無法眼。 法眼見，佛眼不見：菩薩得道種〔T25 0351a〕智，知種種度眾生道，未成佛故無佛眼。 復次，肉眼、天眼見，慧眼、法眼、佛眼不見：凡夫人眼根成就，得天眼神通故，無慧眼、法眼、佛眼。 肉眼、慧眼見，法眼、佛眼不見：眼根成就聲聞聖人；不知種種度眾生道故無法眼，聲聞人故無佛眼。 肉眼、法眼見，佛眼不見：初得無生忍、未受法性生身菩薩，得道種智；未成佛故無佛眼。 天眼、慧眼見，法眼、佛眼不見：離欲聲聞聖人得天眼神通；非菩薩故無道種智，無道種智故無法眼，聲聞人故無佛眼。 天眼、法眼見，佛眼不見：得菩薩神通，知種種度眾生道；未成佛故無佛眼。 慧眼、法眼見，佛眼不見：菩薩得無生法忍，得無生法忍已，能觀一切眾生得道因緣，以種種道而度脫之；未成佛故無佛眼。 復次，肉眼、天眼、慧眼見，法眼、佛眼不見：眼根成就聲聞聖人得天眼神通；無道種智故無法眼，聲聞人故無佛眼。 天眼、慧眼、法眼見，佛眼不見：法性生身菩薩，具六神通，以種種道度眾生；未成佛故無佛眼。 復次，肉眼、天眼、慧眼、法眼見，佛眼不見：初得無生法忍菩薩，未捨肉身，得菩薩神通，無生法忍、道種智具足；未成佛故無佛眼。 如是等，不名「無法不見聞覺識」。若以佛眼觀諸法，是名「無所不見，無所不聞，無所不覺，無所不識」。 五塵隨義分別，亦如是。 三乘等諸善法，是五眼因緣。諸善法皆六波羅蜜攝；是六波羅蜜，般若波羅蜜為本。以是故說「般若波羅蜜能生五眼；菩薩漸漸學是五眼，不久〔T25 0351b〕當作佛」。 【經】 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，修神通波羅蜜。以是神通波羅蜜，受種種如意事：能動大地；變一身為無數身，無數身還為一身；隱顯自在；山壁樹木，皆過無礙，如行空中；履水如地；凌虛如鳥；出沒地中，如出入水；身出烟炎，如大火聚；身中出水，如雪山水流；日月大德，威力難當，而能摩捫；乃至梵天，身得自在。亦不著是如意神通，神通事及己身皆不可得；自性空故、自性離故、自性無生故。不作是念：『我得如意神通。』除為薩婆若心。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，得如意神通智證。 「是菩薩以天耳淨，過於人耳，聞二種聲：天聲、人聲。亦不著是天耳神通，天耳與聲及己身皆不可得，自性空故、自性離故、自性無生故。不作是念：『我有是天耳。』除為薩婆若心。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，得天耳神通智證。 「是菩薩如實知他眾生心：若欲心，如實知欲心；離欲心，如實知離欲心；瞋心，如實知瞋心；離瞋心，如實知離瞋心；癡心，如實知癡心；離癡心，如實知離癡心；渴愛心，如實知渴愛心；無渴愛心，如實知無渴愛心；有受心，如實知有受心；無受心，如實知無受心；攝心，如實知攝心；散心，如實知散心；小心，如實知小心；大心，如實知大心；定心，如實知定心；亂心，如實知亂心；解脫心，如實知解脫心；不解脫心，如實知不解脫心；有上心，如實知有上心；無上心，如實知無上心。亦不著是心！何以故？是〔T25 0351c〕心非心相不可思議故，自性空故、自性離故、自性無生故。不作是念：『我得他心智證。』除為薩婆若心。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，得他心神通智證。 「是菩薩以宿命智證通，念一心乃至百心，念一日乃至百日，念一月乃至百月，念一歲乃至百歲，念一劫乃至百劫、無數百劫、無數千劫、無數百千劫，乃至無數百千萬億劫世；我是處如是姓、如是名、如是生、如是食、如是久住、如是壽限、如是長壽、如是受苦樂；我是中死、生彼處，彼處死、生是處，有相有因緣。亦不著是宿命神通，宿命神通事及己身皆不可得，自性空故、自性離故、自性無生故。不作是念：『我有是宿命神通。』除為薩婆若心。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，得宿命神通智證。 「是菩薩以天眼見眾生死時、生時，端政、醜陋，惡處、好處，若大、若小；知眾生隨業因緣：是諸眾生身惡業成就、口惡業成就、意惡業成就故，謗毀聖人、受邪見因緣故，身壞命終墮惡道，生地獄中；是諸眾生身善業成就、口善業成就、意善業成就，不謗毀聖人、受正見因緣故，命終入善道，生天上。亦不著是天眼神通，天眼神通事及己身皆不可得，自性空故、自性離故、自性無生故。不作是念：『我有是天眼神通。』除為薩婆若心。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，得天眼神通智證。亦見十方如恒河沙等世界中眾生生死，乃至生天上。四神通亦如是。 「是菩薩摩訶薩漏盡神通，雖得漏盡神通，不墮〔T25 0352a〕聲聞、辟支佛地；乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦不依異法。亦不著是漏盡神通，漏盡神通事及己身皆不可得，自性空故、自性離故、自性無生故。不作是念：『我得漏盡神通。』除為薩婆若心。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，得漏盡神通智證。 「如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，具足神通波羅蜜；具足神通波羅蜜已，增益阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 【論】 釋曰： 如大海中有種種寶珠：有能殺毒，有能遮鬼，有能破病，有能除寒熱、飢渴，有能隨人所願皆能與者；如是等無量無數寶珠。 大乘海中亦如是，有種種菩薩寶：有菩薩能破三惡道，有能開三善門，有能生五眼，有能修行神通波羅蜜。是故諸菩薩能為奇特希有之事，所謂取空相多、地相少，則能隨意動地。一身能多，多身能一；虛空中常有微塵滿中；是人離欲、福德因緣故，集諸微塵以為諸身，令皆相似。 有人言：諸非人恭敬是離欲菩薩，入其身中，隨其意所欲變化則皆能化。轉輪聖王未離欲，少有福德因緣故，諸鬼神尚為其使，何況離欲行無量心人！ 復次，是心相無有住處，若內、若外，若大、若小，以禪定力故，其心調柔，疾遍諸身，還復亦速。譬如千頭龍，眼、耳各有二千，及有千口，心一時用；龍是麁身尚爾，何況菩薩！ 有人言：坐禪人事，所有力勢，不可思議；故一身為無量身，無量身為一身。 石壁無礙者，取石壁虛空相，微塵開闢，如撅入土。 履水者，取地相多故，履水如地；〔T25 0352b〕取水相多故，入地如水；取火相多故，身出烟火。 捫摸日月者，神通不可思議力故，令手及日月，入火定故，月不能令冷；入水定故，日不能令熱。 問曰： 是神通力乃至四禪中，此何以言「但至梵世，身得自在」？ 答曰： 此先已說，梵是初門故，言「梵世」則攝一切色界。又世人皆貴梵王，以為世界主故。又是菩薩不欲於欲界散亂心現其自在，是故乃至離欲人中能有所作。 如是神通相無量無數，為易解故，少說譬喻。 諸外道於此神通有二事錯：一者、起吾我心，我能起此事而生憍慢；二者、著是神通，譬如貪人著寶。以是故外道神通，不及聖人神通。 菩薩於是神通力知一切法自性不生，故不著；但念一切種智，為度眾生故。 餘五神通亦如是，如其法分別，先說其相，後皆說空。 六神通餘義，如〈讚菩薩品〉中五神通義說。 以是六神通廣利益眾生，故說：「具足得如是神通，增益阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 【經】 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住檀波羅蜜，淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，不生慳心故。 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住尸羅波羅蜜，淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，罪不罪不著故。 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住羼提波羅蜜，淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，不瞋故。 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住毘梨耶波羅蜜，淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，身心精進不懈息故。 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住禪波羅蜜，淨薩婆〔T25 0352c〕若道，畢竟空，不亂不味故。 「舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住般若波羅蜜，淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，不生癡心故。 「如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，住六波羅蜜，淨薩婆若道，畢竟空故，不來不去故，不施不受故，非戒非犯故，非忍非瞋故，不進不怠故，不定不亂故，不智不愚故。 「爾時，菩薩摩訶薩不分別布施不布施、持戒犯戒、忍辱瞋恚、精進懈怠、定心亂心、智慧愚癡，不分別毀害、輕慢、恭敬。何以故？舍利弗！無生法中，無有受毀者、無有受害者、無有受輕慢恭敬者。 「舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜，得如是諸功德，聲聞、辟支佛所無有。得是功德具足，成就眾生，淨佛世界，得一切種智！」 【論】 釋曰： 是菩薩初發意，行般若波羅蜜，漸行餘功德，所謂檀波羅蜜等。菩薩住檀波羅蜜，修治薩婆若道，觀一切法畢竟空、不生慳貪心，以是二事故，開薩婆若道。所以者何？畢竟空中，無有慳貪；慳貪根本斷故，具足檀波羅蜜；具足檀波羅蜜故，莊嚴般若波羅蜜；乃至般若波羅蜜畢竟空故，常不生癡心。所以者何？此中佛自說：「一切法不來不去，無施無受故，乃至不智不愚故。」 問曰： 若能如是觀，行六波羅蜜，得何等利益？ 答曰： 此中佛自說：此菩薩不念有所施與、無所施與。若念有施，入虛妄法中，又著布施，心生憍慢。若念無所施，即墮邪見中。是布施論議，是佛法中初門，云何言無？乃至不念有癡、有慧。 是人如金剛山，四面風起，不能令動。是〔T25 0353a〕菩薩爾時若有罵詈、讚歎，心無有異。何以故？此中佛自說：「無生法中無有罵者、無有害者、無恭敬者。」聲聞、辟支佛，有加害者，不能深有慈悲心，若默然、若遠離。菩薩則不然，能深加慈心，愛之如子，方便度之，是故勝一切聲聞、辟支佛，而能教化一切眾生，忍辱、慈悲、方便深故，隨願清淨業因緣故，能淨佛世界。是法具足故，不久當得一切種智。 【經】 「復次，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，一切眾生中生等心；一切眾生中生等心已，得一切諸法等；得一切諸法等已，立一切眾生於諸法等中。是菩薩摩訶薩，現世為十方諸佛所念，亦為一切菩薩、一切聲聞、辟支佛所念。是菩薩在所生處，眼終不見不愛色，乃至意不覺不愛法。如是，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜，不減於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 【論】 釋曰： 佛若廣說諸菩薩相，則窮劫不盡，今佛此品末略說其相。是相足為諸菩薩所通行，所謂大慈悲故，初發度一切眾生心故，學諸佛等心觀眾生故，一切法自性空故——如是等因緣故，於一切眾生中生等心；得是等心已，得一切諸法等。 「一切法等」者，如先說眾生等、法等義，今當更說。慈愍四生眾生，一心欲利益，名眾生等。觀四念處亦不見身名為法等，四正懃等諸四法亦如是。 復次，念五道中眾生皆沒無常老、病、死，是名眾生等。行是信等五根、若五神通，一心欲度是眾生，是名法等。 〔T25 0353b〕 復次，眾生中行忍辱、慈悲等福，功德無量；功德無量故心柔軟，心柔軟故疾得禪定，修禪定故心如意調柔，心如意調柔故破世間長短、男女、白黑等，入一相法，所謂無相。得是法等已，令一切眾生得是法等。 是菩薩得是二等，成就無量福德智慧故，得現世果報，為諸佛所念、餘人所念。 愛著生念者，皆是虛妄；唯諸佛念，是為實念，不愛著故。是人諸佛尚念，何況聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩！聲聞、辟支佛斷結者猶尚愛念，何況凡夫未離欲者！ 以菩薩福德因緣生故，得如是等無量今世果報。 後世所生處，眼終不見惡色。惡色者，所謂能生苦受；聲、香、味、觸、法，乃至能生憂心者。如六欲天，六情所對淨妙五欲，隨意歡喜。眾生種少福德，生天上如是，何況菩薩福德、實智慧無量無邊，為十方諸佛、諸餘賢聖所念！ 【經】 說是〈般若波羅蜜品〉時，三百比丘從坐起，以所著衣上佛，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。佛爾時微笑，種種色光從口中出。 爾時，慧命阿難從坐起，整衣服，合掌，右膝著地，白佛言：「佛何因緣微笑？」 佛告阿難：「是三百比丘從是已後六十一劫當得作佛，皆號名大相。是三百比丘捨此身已，當生阿閦佛國；及六萬欲天子皆發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，於彌勒佛法中出家行佛道。」 是時，佛之威神故，此間四部眾見十方面各千佛；是十方世界嚴淨，此娑婆世界所不能及。 爾時，十千人作願言：「我等修淨願行，以淨願行故，當生彼佛〔T25 0353c〕世界。」 爾時，佛知是善男子深心，而復微笑，種種色光從口中出。 阿難整衣服，合掌白佛：「佛何因緣微笑？」 佛告阿難：「汝見是十千人不？」阿難言：「見！」 佛言：「是十千人於此壽終，當生彼世界，終不離諸佛；後當作佛，皆號莊嚴王。」 【論】 問曰： 如佛結戒，比丘三衣不應少，是諸比丘何以故破尸羅波羅蜜，作檀波羅蜜？ 答曰： 有人言：「佛過十二歲然後結戒，是比丘施衣時未結戒。」 有人言：「是比丘有淨施衣，心生當受，以是故施。」 有人言：「是諸比丘多知多識，即能更得，事不經宿。」 復次，有人言：「是諸比丘聞佛說『諸菩薩行檀波羅蜜，諸功德力勢無量故，得與般若波羅蜜相應』，心大踊躍，即以衣施，無復他念，不故破戒。」 復次，諸比丘知佛法畢竟空，無所著，斷法愛；為世諦故結戒，非第一義。是比丘從佛聞第一義及布施等六波羅蜜；聞諸菩薩種種大威力，愍念眾生為諸煩惱所覆，不能得是菩薩功德；是故生大悲心，為眾生故發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提意；以是故，以衣布施。 若人以貪欲、瞋恚、怖畏、邪見、不恭敬心、輕佛語而不持戒，是名為破戒；是諸比丘都無此心，是故無破戒罪。 問曰： 佛何以故微笑？ 答曰： 笑有種種：有人見妓樂事而笑，有人內懷瞋恚而笑，有人憍慢故笑，有人輕物故笑，有人事辦歡喜故笑，有人見不應作而作故笑，有人懷詐揚善故笑，有人見希有事故笑。 佛今見比丘以一袈裟施故，未來世中成〔T25 0354a〕辦佛事，是為希有，以是故笑。 問曰： 阿難何以常問佛笑，而餘比丘不問？ 答曰： 是諸比丘不親近佛、又敬難心多故，不敢自問。阿難善知人相，知諸比丘意；又見佛笑，疑故，作是念：「佛無眾生相、無有法相，知三界如夢、如幻，今有何事能令佛笑？佛如須彌山王、大地、大海，不以小因緣故動。」以是故問笑因緣。 佛告阿難：「業因緣果報相續，不可思議！是三百比丘却後六十一劫當得作佛，號名大相；六十一劫中，是人利根，值佛說法，與般若波羅蜜相應故，是諸人疾得作佛。」是諸比丘未得天眼故，自疑不知生何處，恐不能得集諸功德，不得至道；是故佛言：「捨是身，當生阿閦佛世界。」 六萬欲天子，必是宿世共福德因緣故，與三百比丘俱發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心；是彌勒所應度，是故佛說：「彌勒時當出家。」 今佛記諸比丘生阿閦佛世界，故諸人咸欲見諸佛清淨世界；是故佛令大眾見十方面各千佛。是四眾見是清淨莊嚴佛世界，見諸佛身大於須彌山者，一生補處菩薩大眾圍繞，以梵音聲徹無量無邊世界；各自鄙薄其身，憐愍眾生故，為求無量佛法，作願生彼佛世界，如清淨世界行願中說。 笑因緣，如先說。 是十千人於此壽終，當生彼國。隨生彼國行業因緣具足故，此間集深厚無量福德故，終不離諸佛。見諸莊嚴佛世界發心故，皆號莊嚴王佛。
《大智度論》卷38–40 · T25n1509 0336b02–0354a29
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
法眼淨：從斷三結到菩薩十九種分別知
舍利弗對佛說：『世尊！菩薩摩訶薩怎樣才算法眼清淨？』
佛告訴舍利弗：『菩薩摩訶薩用法眼了知：這人是隨信行、這人是隨法行、這人是無相行；這人修行空解脫門、這人修行無相解脫門、這人修行無作解脫門。他得到五根，因得五根之故得無間三昧，因得無間三昧之故得解脫智，因得解脫智之故斷除三種結使——身見（有眾見）、疑惑、戒禁取（齋戒取）——這人便名為須陀洹。這人再得思惟道，貪欲、瞋恚、愚癡漸漸淡薄，將得斯陀含；增進思惟道，斷除貪欲、瞋恚，得阿那含；再增進思惟道，斷除色染、無色染、無明、慢、掉舉，得阿羅漢。又這人修行空、無相、無作三解脫門，得五根，因五根得無間三昧，因無間三昧得解脫智，因解脫智之故了知一切有集起之法都是可滅之法，於是成就辟支佛。這就是菩薩的法眼清淨。
『再者，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩了知：某菩薩初發意時修行布施波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜，成就信根、精進根，善根純厚；由於方便力之故為度眾生而受身——或生於剎利大姓，或生於婆羅門大姓，或生於居士大家；或生四天王天處乃至他化自在天處；這菩薩住在其中成就眾生，隨眾生所喜樂的都布施給他，也清淨佛世界，值遇諸佛，供養、恭敬、尊重、讚歎，一直到成就無上正等菩提，也始終不墮入聲聞、辟支佛地——這就是菩薩摩訶薩的法眼清淨。
『再者，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩這樣了知：了知這菩薩對無上正等菩提是退轉的、了知那菩薩對無上正等菩提是不退轉的，了知這菩薩已受無上正等菩提的授記、了知那菩薩尚未受無上正等菩提的授記，了知這菩薩已到阿鞞跋致地、了知那菩薩尚未到阿鞞跋致地，了知這菩薩已具足神通、了知那菩薩尚未具足神通；了知這菩薩已具足神通，能飛到十方如恆河沙數的世界，見諸佛而供養恭敬、尊重讚歎；了知這菩薩尚未得神通、將要得神通；了知這菩薩將要淨佛世界、尚未淨佛世界，這菩薩已成就眾生、尚未成就眾生，這菩薩被諸佛所稱譽、被諸佛所不稱譽，這菩薩親近諸佛、不親近佛，這菩薩壽命有限量、壽命無限量，這菩薩成佛時比丘眾有限量、比丘眾無限量；這菩薩得無上正等菩提時，以菩薩為僧、不以菩薩為僧；這菩薩將要修苦行難行、不修苦行難行，這菩薩是一生補處、尚非一生補處，這菩薩已受最後身、尚未受最後身，這菩薩能坐道場、不能坐道場，這菩薩有魔、無魔。像這樣，舍利弗！這就是菩薩摩訶薩的法眼清淨。』
論釋法眼：五眼何以次第相生，法眼何以獨主引導眾生入法
以下是論主的解釋。
論主解釋說：菩薩摩訶薩初發心時，用肉眼見到世間眾生承受種種苦患，心中生起慈憫；於是學習諸禪定，修得五種神通，用天眼普遍見到六道中的眾生承受種種身苦心苦，更加憐憫的緣故，便求慧眼來救濟他們。得到慧眼以後，見到眾生的心相種種不同，便思量怎樣使眾生得到這真實之法，因而求法眼，用來引導眾生令他們進入法中，所以名為法眼。
所謂『這人隨信行、這人隨法行』，是說初入無漏道時——鈍根的人名為隨信行，這人起初依信力之故而得道，所以名為隨信行；利根的人名為隨法行，這人能分別諸法之故而得道，所以名為隨法行。這兩種人，在見道十五心中也都名為無相行。過此以往，或名須陀洹，或名斯陀含，或名阿那含。在十五心中極為疾速，沒有人能取得他的相狀，所以名為無相。
有的人從無始世界以來，性情向來質直，喜好樂於真實之事；有的人喜好修行捨離；有的人世世常喜好善寂。喜好真實的人，用空解脫門得道，因為在諸真實中以空為第一；喜好捨的人，修行無作解脫門得道；喜好善寂的人，修行無相解脫門得道。
有人問：為什麼說『得五根』？
回答說：有人說，一切聖道都名為五根，因為五根能成立聖道之故。八根雖然都是善，但其中三種無漏根並沒有別異，因此只說五根。
在取果時相應的三昧，名為『無間三昧』；得了這三昧以後便得解脫智，用這解脫智斷除三結，得到果證。
所謂『有眾見』，是在五受眾（五取蘊）中生起『我』或『我所』的執見。
所謂『疑』，是對三寶、四諦不能生信。
所謂『齋戒取』，是在九十六種外道之法中，取著那種法，妄想藉此得到苦的解脫。
有人問：見諦所斷的有十種結，得須陀洹果，為什麼只說斷三結、不說斷七結？
回答說：如果說了『有眾見』，就已經說盡了一切見結，正如經中所說『有眾見是六十二見的根本』。倘若有人執著於我，又這樣思惟：我是常的呢？還是無常的呢？如果認為無常，便墮入斷滅之中而生起邪見，說沒有罪福。如果認為是常，便墮入常見之中而生起齋戒取；妄計盼望得道，或者修來世的福德之樂；為了得到這兩件事而取著於戒。又為求苦樂的因緣，說是天所造作，便生起見取。所以如果說了『有眾見』，就攝盡了邊見、邪見這兩種見；如果說了『齋戒取』，就已經說盡了見取。其餘四結尚未拔除根本，所以不說。這十結在三界四諦所斷之中，分別開來有八十八使。
須陀洹乃至辟支佛，分別聲聞、辟支佛道的內容，如同先前所說。
菩薩的法眼有兩種：一是分別了知聲聞、辟支佛方便得道的門徑，二是了知菩薩方便行道的門徑。聲聞、辟支佛的事先前已在各處說過，如今應當分別菩薩之法。
如果菩薩了知某菩薩深行六波羅蜜，因煩惱淡薄之故，用信根、精進根以及方便，為度眾生而受身。這菩薩是生死肉身，尚未得到法性神通的法身，因此不說三無漏根，因為他尚未離欲。他今世修布施功德，成就信根、精進根，後世便生於剎利大姓乃至他化自在天。這是先了知其因，後了知其果。
再者，所謂『這菩薩不退』，正如先前所說的『不退轉相』，也如後面〈阿鞞跋致品〉中所說；與此相反的，便名為退。不退的菩薩有兩種：一是已受記的，二是未受記的，正如《首楞嚴三昧經》四種受記中所說。
所謂『具足神通』，是在十方恆河沙世界中，能同時變化無量身，供養諸佛、聽聞法、演說法而度眾生。像這樣，除佛以外沒有能及得上的，這便是最後身菩薩；與此相反的，名為不具足。再者，各各自地之中沒有欠缺，名為具足；各各地中尚未成就，便是不具足。
所謂『得神通』有兩種：有用它的，有不用它的。所謂『未得神通』，是有的菩薩因新發意之故，尚未得神通；或因尚未離欲、或因懈怠心、或因修行其他法門，這都算未得；與上面相反的，便是『得』。
所謂『淨佛世界、未淨世界』，如同先前所說。
所謂『成就眾生』有兩種：有先自己成就功德、然後度眾生的；有先成就眾生、後自己成就功德的。就如寶華佛將要涅槃時，觀察兩位菩薩的心，也就是彌勒菩薩與釋迦文菩薩。彌勒菩薩是自己的功德已成就而弟子尚未成就；釋迦文菩薩是弟子已成就而自身尚未成就。成就眾多人是難的，自己成就則容易。作了這樣的思量以後，寶華佛便進入雪山谷的寶窟中，身放光明。這時釋迦文菩薩見到佛，心中清淨，一足獨立，七日七夜用一首偈讚佛；由於這因緣之故，超越了九劫。像這樣，便是了知已成就眾生、未成就眾生的菩薩。
所謂『諸佛稱譽』，如同先前所說；與此相反的，名為『不稱譽』。
所謂『親近諸佛』、『無量壽命』、『無量比丘僧』、『純以菩薩為僧』、『不修苦行』，如同〈初品〉末所說。
所謂『一生補處』，有的是憑相貌而知的，就如阿私陀仙人觀察其身相，便知他今世成佛。珊若婆羅門見到乳糜，便知今日將成佛的人應當食用它。又如遍吉菩薩、觀世音菩薩、文殊師利菩薩等，見這菩薩有如諸佛的相，便知他當成佛，像這樣等等。
所謂『坐道場』，是有菩薩見到某菩薩的行處，地下有金剛地承持著這菩薩；又見天龍鬼神持種種供養具，送到道場，像這樣等等，便知他將坐道場。
所謂『有魔』，是宿世曾遮障他人行道以及種種求佛道的因緣時，不喜歡修行慈心，偏好修行空等其他法門，像這樣等等因緣，因宿世破壞他人行道之故，所以有魔來破壞。
有人問：怎麼最後身菩薩還要承受惡業之報、被魔來破壞？
回答說：菩薩從種種門進入佛道，或從悲門，或從精進、智慧門進入佛道。這菩薩是修行精進、智慧門的，不修行悲心，因為偏好修行精進、智慧之故。譬如貴人雖有種種好衣，有時只穿一件，其餘的不穿；菩薩也是這樣，修種種行來求佛道，有時只行精進、智慧道，止息了慈悲心。破壞他人行道，是由於增上慢之故。諸長壽天、龍、鬼神不認識方便的緣故，見到菩薩作惡行的因緣時，倘若他不受報，便會生起斷滅見，所以佛示現受報。因此雖然沒有真正的罪因緣而實有魔，卻是以方便力之故示現有魔。
像這樣一切聲聞、辟支佛、諸菩薩的種種方便門，能令眾生入道，這就名為『法眼淨』。
佛眼淨：入金剛三昧得一切種智，般若能生五眼
舍利弗對佛說：『世尊！菩薩摩訶薩怎樣才算佛眼清淨？』
佛告訴舍利弗：『有菩薩摩訶薩求佛道的心，次第進入如金剛三昧，得到一切種智。這時，成就十力、四無所畏、四無礙智、十八不共法、大慈大悲。這菩薩摩訶薩用一切種智，在一切法之中沒有一法不見、沒有一法不聞、沒有一法不知、沒有一法不識。舍利弗！這就是菩薩摩訶薩得無上正等菩提時的佛眼清淨。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩想得五眼，就當學六波羅蜜。為什麼呢？舍利弗！這六波羅蜜中攝盡一切善法——不論聲聞法、辟支佛法、菩薩法、佛法。舍利弗！倘若有真實之語能攝盡一切善法的，那就是般若波羅蜜。舍利弗！般若波羅蜜能生五眼，菩薩學這五眼的，便得無上正等菩提。』
論釋佛眼：三種慈悲，與五眼互見的九重層次
論主解釋說：菩薩住在十地之中，具足六波羅蜜乃至一切種智。菩薩進入如金剛三昧，破除諸煩惱習氣，當下便得諸佛的無礙解脫，隨即生起佛眼，也就是一切種智、十力、四無所畏、四無礙智乃至大慈大悲等諸功德，這就名為『佛眼』。
有人問：智慧、見物才是眼的相狀，怎麼大慈悲等也名為『眼』？
回答說：諸功德都與慧眼相應之故，所以通稱為眼。再者，慈悲心有三種：緣眾生的、緣法的、無所緣的。凡夫人是緣眾生；聲聞、辟支佛以及菩薩，起初是緣眾生，後來是緣法；諸佛善於修行畢竟空，所以名為無緣，因此慈悲也名為佛眼。
已說了佛眼，如今說佛眼的所用：這眼沒有一法不見、不聞、不知、不識。再者，有人說：『十住菩薩與佛沒有差別，就如遍吉、文殊師利、觀世音等，具足佛的十力功德等而不作佛，是為了廣度眾生之故。』因此便生疑。所以說佛眼的相狀——在十方眾生以及諸法之中，沒有不見的、沒有不聞的。這些菩薩對其餘菩薩而言算大的，比起佛卻不能遍知；就如月光雖大，在日光之下便不顯現。
有人問：眼是見的相狀，怎麼說『聞』？
回答說：眾生的智慧從六情而生，能知六塵。有人說佛有所不聞，就如外道經書中所言或有所不聞；所以說佛的智慧無所不聞。又，耳識因緣所生的智慧，這智慧所知的，便說『無法不聞』。
有人問：為什麼三識所知合為一，三識所知別為三——眼名為見，耳名為聞，意知名為識，鼻、舌、身識名為覺？
回答說：那三識（眼、耳、意）助道之法多，所以個別而說；其餘三識不是這樣，所以合起來說。這三識（鼻、舌、身）只知世間事，所以合為一；其餘三識既知世間，也知出世間，所以個別而說。再者，這三識只緣無記法；其餘三識或緣善，或緣不善，或緣無記。再者，這三識能生三乘的因緣，就如眼見佛以及佛弟子，耳聞法，心籌量、正憶念。像這樣等種種差別，因此六識所知之事便分為四分。
所謂一切種智，就如人眼見近的不見遠的，見內的不見外的，見粗的不見細的，見東的不見西的，見這邊的不見那邊的，見和合的不見離散的，見生時的不見滅時的。
肉眼所見，天眼不見：因眼根成就，卻是未離欲的凡夫人所以沒有天眼。
天眼所見，慧眼不見：凡夫人得天眼神通之故，所以沒有慧眼。
慧眼所見，法眼不見：尚未離欲的聲聞聖人，不知種種度眾生之道所以沒有法眼。
法眼所見，佛眼不見：菩薩得道種智，知種種度眾生之道，尚未成佛所以沒有佛眼。
再者，肉眼、天眼所見，慧眼、法眼、佛眼不見：凡夫人眼根成就，得天眼神通之故，所以沒有慧眼、法眼、佛眼。
肉眼、慧眼所見，法眼、佛眼不見：眼根成就的聲聞聖人；不知種種度眾生之道所以沒有法眼，因是聲聞人所以沒有佛眼。
肉眼、法眼所見，佛眼不見：初得無生忍、尚未受法性生身的菩薩，得道種智；尚未成佛所以沒有佛眼。
天眼、慧眼所見，法眼、佛眼不見：離欲的聲聞聖人得天眼神通；因非菩薩所以沒有道種智，沒有道種智所以沒有法眼，因是聲聞人所以沒有佛眼。
天眼、法眼所見，佛眼不見：得菩薩神通，知種種度眾生之道；尚未成佛所以沒有佛眼。
慧眼、法眼所見，佛眼不見：菩薩得無生法忍，得無生法忍以後，能觀察一切眾生得道的因緣，用種種道而度脫他們；尚未成佛所以沒有佛眼。
再者，肉眼、天眼、慧眼所見，法眼、佛眼不見：眼根成就的聲聞聖人得天眼神通；因無道種智所以沒有法眼，因是聲聞人所以沒有佛眼。
天眼、慧眼、法眼所見，佛眼不見：法性生身的菩薩，具足六神通，以種種道度眾生；尚未成佛所以沒有佛眼。
再者，肉眼、天眼、慧眼、法眼所見，佛眼不見：初得無生法忍的菩薩，尚未捨肉身，得菩薩神通，無生法忍、道種智都已具足；尚未成佛所以沒有佛眼。
像這樣等等，便不能名為『無法不見、不聞、不覺、不識』。若用佛眼觀諸法，這才名為『無所不見、無所不聞、無所不覺、無所不識』。五塵隨義分別，也是這樣。
三乘等諸善法，是五眼的因緣。諸善法都被六波羅蜜所攝；這六波羅蜜，以般若波羅蜜為根本。所以說『般若波羅蜜能生五眼；菩薩漸漸學這五眼，不久便當成佛』。
神通波羅蜜：六神通事事如意，皆自性空、除為薩婆若心
佛說：『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，修神通波羅蜜。用這神通波羅蜜承受種種如意之事：能震動大地；把一身變為無數身，又把無數身還為一身；隱與顯都自在；山壁樹木都能穿過而無障礙，如同行於空中；踏在水上如同踏在地上；凌空如同飛鳥；在地中出沒，如同在水中出入；身出煙炎，如同大火聚；身中出水，如同雪山的水流；日月有大威德、威力難當，卻能加以摩捫；乃至到梵天，身都得自在。也不執著這如意神通，神通之事以及自身都不可得；因為自性空、自性離、自性無生之故。他不作這樣的念頭：「我得了如意神通。」除非是為薩婆若心。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，得如意神通的智證。
『這菩薩用清淨的天耳，超過人的耳，聽聞兩種聲：天聲、人聲。也不執著這天耳神通，天耳與聲以及自身都不可得，因為自性空、自性離、自性無生之故。他不作這樣的念頭：「我有這天耳。」除非是為薩婆若心。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，得天耳神通的智證。
『這菩薩如實了知其他眾生的心：若是有欲之心，便如實知它是有欲心；離欲之心，便如實知它是離欲心；瞋心，如實知瞋心；離瞋心，如實知離瞋心；癡心，如實知癡心；離癡心，如實知離癡心；渴愛心，如實知渴愛心；無渴愛心，如實知無渴愛心；有受心，如實知有受心；無受心，如實知無受心；攝心，如實知攝心；散心，如實知散心；小心，如實知小心；大心，如實知大心；定心，如實知定心；亂心，如實知亂心；解脫心，如實知解脫心；不解脫心，如實知不解脫心；有上心，如實知有上心；無上心，如實知無上心。他也不執著這心！為什麼呢？因為這心並非心相、不可思議之故，自性空、自性離、自性無生之故。他不作這樣的念頭：「我得了他心智證。」除非是為薩婆若心。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，得他心神通的智證。
『這菩薩用宿命智證通，憶念一心乃至百心，憶念一日乃至百日，憶念一月乃至百月，憶念一歲乃至百歲，憶念一劫乃至百劫、無數百劫、無數千劫、無數百千劫，乃至無數百千萬億劫世；憶念我在某處是這樣的姓、這樣的名、這樣的生、這樣的食、這樣久住、這樣的壽限、這樣的長壽、這樣受苦樂；我在這中間死去、生到那處，在那處死去、生到這處，都有相有因緣。他也不執著這宿命神通，宿命神通之事以及自身都不可得，因為自性空、自性離、自性無生之故。他不作這樣的念頭：「我有這宿命神通。」除非是為薩婆若心。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，得宿命神通的智證。
『這菩薩用天眼見眾生死時、生時，端正的、醜陋的，惡處的、好處的，或大、或小；了知眾生隨業因緣：這些眾生因身惡業成就、口惡業成就、意惡業成就之故，又因謗毀聖人、受持邪見的因緣之故，身壞命終墮入惡道，生在地獄中；這些眾生因身善業成就、口善業成就、意善業成就，不謗毀聖人、受持正見的因緣之故，命終進入善道，生在天上。他也不執著這天眼神通，天眼神通之事以及自身都不可得，因為自性空、自性離、自性無生之故。他不作這樣的念頭：「我有這天眼神通。」除非是為薩婆若心。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，得天眼神通的智證。也見到十方如恆河沙數世界中眾生的生死，乃至生於天上。其餘四種神通也是這樣。
『這菩薩摩訶薩的漏盡神通，雖得漏盡神通，卻不墮入聲聞、辟支佛地；乃至無上正等菩提，也不依靠別的法。他也不執著這漏盡神通，漏盡神通之事以及自身都不可得，因為自性空、自性離、自性無生之故。他不作這樣的念頭：「我得了漏盡神通。」除非是為薩婆若心。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，得漏盡神通的智證。
『像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，具足神通波羅蜜；具足神通波羅蜜以後，便增益無上正等菩提。』
論釋神通：寶珠喻，與外道、聖人神通之別
論主解釋說：就如大海中有種種寶珠：有能殺毒的，有能遮鬼的，有能破病的，有能除寒熱、飢渴的，有能隨人所願都給予的；像這樣等等無量無數的寶珠。大乘之海中也是這樣，有種種菩薩之寶：有菩薩能破三惡道，有能開三善門，有能生五眼，有能修行神通波羅蜜。因此諸菩薩能做出奇特希有之事，也就是取空相多、地相少，便能隨意震動大地。一身能變多身，多身能合一身；虛空中常有微塵充滿其中；這人因離欲、福德的因緣，聚集諸微塵作為諸身，令它們都相似。
有人說：諸非人恭敬這離欲的菩薩，進入他的身中，隨他心意所想變化便都能變化。轉輪聖王尚未離欲，只有少許福德因緣之故，諸鬼神尚且被他役使，何況離欲又行無量心的人！
再者，這心相沒有固定的住處，不論在內、在外，或大、或小，因禪定力之故，其心調柔，疾速遍及諸身，回復也快。譬如千頭之龍，眼、耳各有兩千，又有一千個口，心能同時運用；龍是粗身尚且如此，何況菩薩！
有人說：坐禪人的事，所有的力勢不可思議；所以一身能變無量身，無量身能合一身。
所謂石壁無礙，是取石壁的虛空相，微塵開闢，如同橛子插入土中。
所謂履水，是取地相多之故，履水如同履地；取水相多之故，入地如同入水；取火相多之故，身出煙火。
所謂摩捫日月，是因神通不可思議之力，令手能及日月，因入火定之故，月不能令他冷；因入水定之故，日不能令他熱。
有人問：這神通力乃至能到四禪之中，這裡為什麼說『只到梵世，身得自在』？
回答說：這先前已說過，梵天是初門之故，說『梵世』便攝盡一切色界。又，世人都推崇梵王，以為是世界之主之故。又，這菩薩不想在欲界的散亂心中示現自在，所以只在離欲的人中能有所作為。
像這樣神通之相無量無數，為了容易理解之故，略說了幾個譬喻。
諸外道對這神通有兩件錯處：一是生起吾我之心，以為我能起這事而生憍慢；二是執著這神通，譬如貪心的人執著寶物。因此外道的神通比不上聖人的神通。菩薩對這神通力，了知一切法自性不生，所以不執著；只念一切種智，是為度眾生之故。
其餘五種神通也是這樣，隨它的法分別，先說它的相狀，後來都說到空。六神通其餘的義，如同〈讚菩薩品〉中五神通義所說。
因這六神通廣為利益眾生之故，所以說：『具足得像這樣的神通，便增益無上正等菩提。』
住六波羅蜜淨薩婆若道：一一皆畢竟空、不分別施受
佛說：『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住布施波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，因為不生慳吝之心。
『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住持戒波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，因為對有罪無罪都不執著。
『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住忍辱波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，因為不瞋。
『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住精進波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，因為身心精進而不懈息。
『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住禪定波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，因為不散亂、不貪味。
『舍利弗！有菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住般若波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，畢竟空，因為不生愚癡之心。
『像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，安住六波羅蜜，清淨薩婆若道，因畢竟空之故，不來不去，不施不受，非戒非犯，非忍非瞋，不進不怠，不定不亂，不智不愚。
『這時，菩薩摩訶薩不分別布施與不布施、持戒與犯戒、忍辱與瞋恚、精進與懈怠、定心與亂心、智慧與愚癡，也不分別毀害、輕慢、恭敬。為什麼呢？舍利弗！在無生法中，沒有受毀的人、沒有受害的人、沒有受輕慢恭敬的人。
『舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜，得到像這樣的諸功德，是聲聞、辟支佛所沒有的。得這功德具足，便成就眾生，清淨佛世界，得一切種智！』
論釋六度畢竟空：金剛山四面風，罵讚無異心
論主解釋說：這菩薩初發意，修行般若波羅蜜，漸漸修行其餘功德，也就是布施波羅蜜等。菩薩安住布施波羅蜜，修治薩婆若道，觀一切法畢竟空、不生慳貪之心，因這兩件事之故，開通薩婆若道。為什麼呢？在畢竟空中沒有慳貪；因慳貪的根本已斷之故，具足布施波羅蜜；因具足布施波羅蜜之故，莊嚴般若波羅蜜；乃至般若波羅蜜因畢竟空之故，常不生愚癡之心。為什麼呢？這裡佛自己說：『一切法不來不去，無施無受，乃至不智不愚。』
有人問：如果能這樣觀，修行六波羅蜜，得到什麼利益？
回答說：這裡佛自己說：這菩薩不念有所施與、無所施與。若念有所施，便落入虛妄之法中，又執著布施，心生憍慢。若念無所施，便墮入邪見之中。這布施的論議，是佛法中的初門，怎能說無呢？乃至不念有癡、有慧。
這人如同金剛之山，四面起風，也不能令它動搖。這菩薩這時倘若有人罵詈、有人讚歎，心中都無有異。為什麼呢？這裡佛自己說：『在無生法中，沒有罵人的、沒有害人的、沒有恭敬的。』聲聞、辟支佛，遇有加害的人，不能深有慈悲之心，只是或者默然、或者遠離。菩薩則不這樣，能深加慈心，愛他如子，方便度脫他，因此勝過一切聲聞、辟支佛，而能教化一切眾生，因為忍辱、慈悲、方便深厚之故，又隨願清淨業的因緣之故，能清淨佛世界。因這法已具足之故，不久便當得一切種智。
一切眾生中生等心：得諸法等，現世為十方諸佛所念
佛說：『再者，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜時，在一切眾生中生起平等心；在一切眾生中生起平等心以後，得一切諸法平等；得一切諸法平等以後，安立一切眾生於諸法平等之中。這菩薩摩訶薩，現世被十方諸佛所護念，也被一切菩薩、一切聲聞、辟支佛所護念。這菩薩在所生之處，眼始終不見不愛的色，乃至意始終不覺不愛的法。像這樣，舍利弗！菩薩摩訶薩修行般若波羅蜜，不減於無上正等菩提。』
論釋眾生等、法等：二等成就的今世與後世果報
論主解釋說：佛若廣說諸菩薩的相，便窮盡劫數也說不盡，如今佛在這品末略說其相。這相足以是諸菩薩所共通修行的，也就是因大慈悲之故，因初發度一切眾生的心之故，因學諸佛平等之心觀眾生之故，因一切法自性空之故——像這樣等因緣之故，在一切眾生中生起平等心；得這平等心以後，得一切諸法平等。
所謂『一切法等』，如同先前所說眾生等、法等之義，如今應當再說。慈憫四生眾生，一心想利益他們，名為眾生等。觀四念處也不見有身，名為法等，四正勤等諸四法也是這樣。
再者，念五道中眾生都沉沒於無常的老、病、死，這名為眾生等。修行這信等五根、以及五神通，一心想度這些眾生，這名為法等。
再者，在眾生中修行忍辱、慈悲等福，功德無量；因功德無量之故心便柔軟，因心柔軟之故疾速得禪定，因修禪定之故心如意調柔，因心如意調柔之故破除世間的長短、男女、白黑等，進入一相之法，也就是無相。得這法等以後，令一切眾生得這法等。
這菩薩得這兩種平等，因成就無量福德智慧之故，得現世的果報，被諸佛所念、被其餘人所念。愛著而生的念，都是虛妄；只有諸佛的念，才是真實之念，因為不愛著之故。這人諸佛尚且護念，何況聲聞、辟支佛、菩薩！聲聞、辟支佛已斷結的尚且愛念他，何況凡夫尚未離欲的呢！因菩薩由福德因緣而生之故，得像這樣等無量的今世果報。
至於後世所生之處，眼始終不見惡色。所謂惡色，也就是能生苦受的；聲、香、味、觸、法，乃至能生憂心的都是。就如六欲天，六情所對的都是清淨美妙的五欲，隨意而歡喜。眾生只種了少許福德，尚且生天上如此，何況菩薩的福德、真實智慧無量無邊，被十方諸佛、諸餘賢聖所護念呢！
三百比丘捨衣發心，佛微笑授記；十千人願生淨土
那時說這〈般若波羅蜜品〉時，三百比丘從座位起身，把身上所穿的衣獻上給佛，發起無上正等菩提之心。佛這時微笑，種種色光從口中放出。
這時，慧命阿難從座位起身，整理衣服，合掌，右膝著地，對佛說：『佛因什麼因緣而微笑？』
佛告訴阿難：『這三百比丘從此以後經六十一劫將當得成佛，都名號為大相。這三百比丘捨此身以後，將生到阿閦佛國；以及六萬欲界天子都發起無上正等菩提之心，在彌勒佛法中出家而行佛道。』
這時，因佛的威神之故，此間四部大眾見到十方每一方各有一千佛；這十方世界莊嚴清淨，是這娑婆世界所不能及的。
這時，有十千人發願說：『我們修清淨的願行，因清淨願行之故，將當生到那佛世界。』
這時，佛了知這些善男子的深心，便又微笑，種種色光從口中放出。
阿難整理衣服，合掌對佛說：『佛因什麼因緣而微笑？』
佛告訴阿難：『你見到這十千人嗎？』阿難說：『見到了！』
佛說：『這十千人在此壽終以後，將當生到那世界，始終不離諸佛；後來當得成佛，都名號為莊嚴王。』
論釋捨衣非破戒、佛微笑八因緣、業報不可思議
有人問：正如佛結戒，比丘的三衣不應缺少，這些比丘為什麼破了持戒波羅蜜，去作布施波羅蜜？
回答說：有人說：『佛過了十二年然後才結戒，這些比丘施衣時尚未結戒。』有人說：『這些比丘另有淨施的衣，心中生念當受，因此而施。』有人說：『這些比丘多知多識，隨即便能再得，事情不需隔夜。』再者，有人說：『這些比丘聽佛說「諸菩薩修行布施波羅蜜，諸功德的力勢無量之故，能與般若波羅蜜相應」，心大踴躍，隨即把衣布施，再無別念，不是故意破戒。』再者，諸比丘了知佛法畢竟空、無所執著，斷除了法愛；佛是為世諦之故而結戒，並非為第一義。這些比丘從佛聽聞第一義以及布施等六波羅蜜；聽聞諸菩薩種種大威力，憐憫眾生被諸煩惱所覆蓋，不能得這菩薩的功德；因此生起大悲心，為眾生之故發起無上正等菩提之意；因此把衣布施。倘若有人以貪欲、瞋恚、怖畏、邪見、不恭敬之心、輕慢佛語而不持戒，這才名為破戒；這些比丘都沒有這樣的心，所以沒有破戒之罪。
有人問：佛為什麼微笑？
回答說：笑有種種：有人見到妓樂之事而笑，有人內懷瞋恚而笑，有人因憍慢而笑，有人因輕視他物而笑，有人因事成辦歡喜而笑，有人見到不應作而作故笑，有人心懷詐偽而假意揚善故笑，有人見到希有之事故笑。佛如今見到比丘用一件袈裟布施之故，未來世中成辦佛事，這是希有的，因此而笑。
有人問：阿難為什麼常問佛笑，而其餘比丘不問？
回答說：這些比丘不親近佛、又因敬畏之心多之故，不敢自己問。阿難善知人相，了知諸比丘的心意；又見佛笑，因疑之故，作這樣的念頭：『佛沒有眾生相、沒有法相，了知三界如夢、如幻，如今有什麼事能令佛笑？佛如同須彌山王、大地、大海，不因小因緣之故而動。』因此而問笑的因緣。
佛告訴阿難：『業因緣的果報相續，不可思議！這三百比丘此後經六十一劫將當得成佛，名號為大相；在六十一劫中，這些人是利根，值遇佛說法，與般若波羅蜜相應之故，所以這些人疾速得成佛。』這些比丘因尚未得天眼之故，自己疑惑不知生到何處，恐怕不能得以積集諸功德，不能到達佛道；因此佛說：『捨這身以後，當生到阿閦佛世界。』
六萬欲界天子，必定是宿世共同福德的因緣之故，與三百比丘一同發起無上正等菩提之心；這是彌勒所應度化的，因此佛說：『到彌勒時當出家。』如今佛授記諸比丘生到阿閦佛世界，所以這些人都想見諸佛清淨的世界；因此佛令大眾見到十方每方各有一千佛。這四眾見這清淨莊嚴的佛世界，見諸佛之身大於須彌山，有一生補處菩薩的大眾圍繞，用梵音之聲徹達無量無邊世界；各自鄙薄己身，因憐憫眾生之故，為求無量佛法，發願生到那佛世界，如同〈清淨世界行願〉中所說。笑的因緣，如同先前所說。這十千人在此壽終以後，當生到那國。因隨其生到那國的行業因緣具足之故，又因在此間積集深厚無量的福德之故，始終不離諸佛。因見諸莊嚴佛世界而發心之故，都名號為莊嚴王佛。
The Purity of the Dharma Eye: From Cutting Off the Three Fetters to the Bodhisattva's Nineteen Kinds of Discerning Knowledge
Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! How is it that a bodhisattva-mahāsattva's Dharma eye is pure?’
The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘With the Dharma eye the bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows: this person is a follower-by-faith, this person is a follower-by-Dharma, this person is a signless practitioner; this person practises the emptiness gate of liberation, this person practises the signless gate of liberation, this person practises the non-action gate of liberation. He obtains the five faculties; because he obtains the five faculties he obtains the uninterrupted samādhi; because he obtains the uninterrupted samādhi he obtains the knowledge of liberation; because he obtains the knowledge of liberation he cuts off the three fetters—the view of self (the view of the existence of the aggregates), doubt, and clinging to precepts and observances (clinging to fasts and precepts)—and this person is then named a srota-āpanna. This person further obtains the path of contemplation, and greed, anger, and delusion gradually thin out, and he will obtain the state of sakṛdāgāmin; advancing further on the path of contemplation, he cuts off greed and anger and obtains the state of anāgāmin; advancing still further on the path of contemplation, he cuts off attachment to form, attachment to the formless, ignorance, conceit, and restlessness, and obtains the state of arhat. Again, this person practises the three gates of liberation—emptiness, the signless, and non-action—obtains the five faculties; through the five faculties he obtains the uninterrupted samādhi; through the uninterrupted samādhi he obtains the knowledge of liberation; because of the knowledge of liberation he knows that all dharmas that have a gathering-into-arising are dharmas that can cease, and thereupon he accomplishes pratyekabuddhahood. This is the bodhisattva's purity of the Dharma eye.
‘Furthermore, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows: a certain bodhisattva, at the time of the first arousing of intent, practises the perfection of giving up to the perfection of prajñā, accomplishes the faculty of faith and the faculty of vigour, and his roots of goodness are pure and deep; because of the power of skilful means he takes on a body in order to ferry beings across—born either into a great kṣatriya clan, or into a great brahmin clan, or into a great householder family; or born in the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings up to the Heaven Sovereign over Others' Transformations; this bodhisattva, dwelling there, brings beings to maturity, gives beings whatever they delight in, also purifies Buddha-worlds, meets the Buddhas, and makes offerings to them, reveres them, honours them, and praises them, all the way until he accomplishes unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, and never at any point falls to the ground of the śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas—this is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's purity of the Dharma eye.
‘Furthermore, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows in this way: he knows that this bodhisattva is retrogressing with regard to unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, and knows that that bodhisattva is non-retrogressing with regard to unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening; he knows that this bodhisattva has already received the prediction of unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, and knows that that bodhisattva has not yet received the prediction of unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening; he knows that this bodhisattva has already reached the avaivartika ground, and knows that that bodhisattva has not yet reached the avaivartika ground; he knows that this bodhisattva is already complete in supernormal powers, and knows that that bodhisattva is not yet complete in supernormal powers; he knows that this bodhisattva, being already complete in supernormal powers, is able to fly to worlds in the ten directions as many as the sands of the Ganges, see the Buddhas, and make offerings to them, revere them, honour them, and praise them; he knows that this bodhisattva has not yet obtained supernormal powers and is about to obtain them; he knows that this bodhisattva is about to purify a Buddha-world, or has not yet purified a Buddha-world; that this bodhisattva has already brought beings to maturity, or has not yet brought beings to maturity; that this bodhisattva is extolled by the Buddhas, or is not extolled by the Buddhas; that this bodhisattva draws near to the Buddhas, or does not draw near to the Buddhas; that this bodhisattva's lifespan is limited, or his lifespan is limitless; that when this bodhisattva becomes a Buddha his assembly of bhikṣus is limited, or his assembly of bhikṣus is limitless; that when this bodhisattva attains unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, he takes bodhisattvas as his saṅgha, or does not take bodhisattvas as his saṅgha; that this bodhisattva is about to undergo ascetic practice and difficult practice, or does not undergo ascetic practice and difficult practice; that this bodhisattva is one bound to a single further birth, or is not yet one bound to a single further birth; that this bodhisattva has already received his final body, or has not yet received his final body; that this bodhisattva is able to sit at the seat of awakening, or is not able to sit at the seat of awakening; that this bodhisattva has Māra, or has no Māra. In this way, Śāriputra! This is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's purity of the Dharma eye.’
The Treatise Explains the Dharma Eye: Why the Five Eyes Arise One from Another in Sequence, and Why the Dharma Eye Alone Leads Beings into the Dharma
What follows is the treatise-author's explanation.
The treatise-author explains: When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva first arouses the mind, he sees with the fleshly eye the beings of the world undergoing all kinds of suffering and affliction, and kindness and pity arise in his mind; so he trains in the meditations and cultivates and obtains the five supernormal powers, and with the divine eye he sees everywhere the beings of the six paths undergoing all kinds of bodily suffering and mental suffering; because his pity grows greater, he seeks the wisdom eye in order to rescue them. Having obtained the wisdom eye, he sees that the marks of beings' minds are of all different kinds, and he considers how to enable beings to obtain this true Dharma; therefore he seeks the Dharma eye, in order to lead beings and cause them to enter the Dharma; that is why it is named the Dharma eye.
As for ‘this person is a follower-by-faith, this person is a follower-by-Dharma’: this refers to the time of first entering the path without outflows—a person of dull faculties is named a follower-by-faith, because this person at first attains the path by relying on the power of faith, and so is named a follower-by-faith; a person of sharp faculties is named a follower-by-Dharma, because this person attains the path by being able to discriminate dharmas, and so is named a follower-by-Dharma. These two kinds of people, within the fifteen mind-moments of the path of seeing, are also both named signless practitioners. Past this point, one is named either srota-āpanna, or sakṛdāgāmin, or anāgāmin. Within the fifteen mind-moments one is extremely swift, and no one can grasp his marks; that is why it is named signless.
Some people, from the beginningless world onward, have always been straightforward by nature and have loved and delighted in what is true; some people love to practise relinquishment; some people in life after life have always loved wholesome stillness. Those who love what is true attain the path by the emptiness gate of liberation, because among all things true, emptiness is foremost; those who love relinquishment attain the path by practising the non-action gate of liberation; those who love wholesome stillness attain the path by practising the signless gate of liberation.
Question: Why is it said ‘obtains the five faculties’?
Answer: Some say that all noble paths are named the five faculties, because the five faculties are able to establish the noble path. Although the eight faculties are all wholesome, the three faculties without outflows among them have no distinction of their own, so only the five faculties are spoken of.
The samādhi that is associated with the moment of taking the fruit is named ‘the uninterrupted samādhi’; having obtained this samādhi, one then obtains the knowledge of liberation, and with this knowledge of liberation one cuts off the three fetters and attains the realisation of the fruit.
As for ‘the view of the existence of the aggregates’: it is the view that grasps at ‘I’ or ‘mine’ arising within the five aggregates of clinging.
As for ‘doubt’: it is being unable to give rise to faith in the Three Jewels and the four truths.
As for ‘clinging to fasts and precepts’: it is grasping at the teachings of the ninety-six kinds of outside paths, clinging to such a teaching and falsely imagining that by means of it one will obtain liberation from suffering.
Question: The fetters cut off by seeing the truths are ten; when one obtains the fruit of srota-āpanna, why is it said that only three fetters are cut off, and not said that seven fetters are cut off?
Answer: If ‘the view of the existence of the aggregates’ is spoken of, all the fetters of views have already been spoken of completely, just as it is said in the sūtra: ‘The view of the existence of the aggregates is the root of the sixty-two views.’ If a person clings to a self, he further reflects in this way: Is the self permanent? Or impermanent? If he holds it to be impermanent, he falls into annihilation and gives rise to wrong view, saying there is no wrongdoing and no merit. If he holds it to be permanent, he falls into the view of permanence and gives rise to clinging to fasts and precepts; falsely reckoning, he hopes to attain the path, or he cultivates the bliss of merit in future lives; to obtain these two things he clings to precepts. Again, in seeking the causes and conditions of suffering and pleasure, he says they are made by a god, and thus gives rise to clinging to views. Therefore, if ‘the view of the existence of the aggregates’ is spoken of, the two views, the extreme view and wrong view, are wholly included; if ‘clinging to fasts and precepts’ is spoken of, clinging to views has already been spoken of completely. The remaining four fetters have not yet had their roots pulled out, so they are not spoken of. These ten fetters, among what is cut off in the three realms with respect to the four truths, when divided out, make eighty-eight proclivities.
The srota-āpanna up to the pratyekabuddha, and the discrimination of the content of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha paths, are as was said earlier.
The bodhisattva's Dharma eye is of two kinds: the first discriminates and knows the gateways by which śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas attain the path through skilful means; the second knows the gateways by which bodhisattvas practise the path through skilful means. The matters of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have already been spoken of earlier in various places; now the bodhisattva's Dharma should be discriminated.
Suppose the bodhisattva knows that a certain bodhisattva deeply practises the six perfections, and because his afflictions have thinned, with the faculty of faith, the faculty of vigour, and skilful means, he takes on a body in order to ferry beings across. This bodhisattva is a fleshly body of birth and death; he has not yet obtained the Dharma-body of the Dharma-nature with its supernormal powers; therefore the three faculties without outflows are not spoken of, because he has not yet become free of desire. In this life he cultivates the merit of giving and accomplishes the faculty of faith and the faculty of vigour, and in a later life he is born into a great kṣatriya clan, up to the Heaven Sovereign over Others' Transformations. This is knowing the cause first and knowing the fruit afterwards.
Furthermore, as for ‘this bodhisattva does not retrogress’: it is just as ‘the marks of non-retrogression’ spoken of earlier, and also as spoken of later in the chapter ‘Avaivartika’; the opposite of this is named retrogressing. Non-retrogressing bodhisattvas are of two kinds: first, those who have already received the prediction; second, those who have not yet received the prediction—just as is said among the four kinds of prediction in the Śūraṃgamasamādhi Sūtra.
As for ‘complete in supernormal powers’: it is being able, in worlds of the ten directions as many as the sands of the Ganges, to transform simultaneously into immeasurable bodies, making offerings to the Buddhas, hearing the Dharma, expounding the Dharma, and ferrying beings across. One such as this, whom none apart from the Buddha can equal, is the bodhisattva of the final body; the opposite of this is named not complete. Furthermore, having nothing lacking within one's own ground is named complete; not yet being accomplished within each ground is not complete.
As for ‘obtaining supernormal powers’, there are two kinds: some use them and some do not use them. As for ‘not yet having obtained supernormal powers’: some bodhisattvas, because they have newly aroused the intent, have not yet obtained supernormal powers; or because they have not yet become free of desire, or because of a lazy mind, or because they practise other Dharma-gates—all these count as not yet having obtained them; the opposite of the above is ‘obtaining’.
As for ‘purifying a Buddha-world, not yet having purified a world’: it is as was said earlier.
As for ‘bringing beings to maturity’, there are two kinds: some first accomplish merit themselves and then ferry beings across; some first bring beings to maturity and afterwards accomplish merit themselves. It is like when the Buddha Jewel Flower was about to enter nirvāṇa: he observed the minds of two bodhisattvas, namely the Bodhisattva Maitreya and the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni. In the Bodhisattva Maitreya, his own merit was accomplished but his disciples were not yet matured; in the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni, his disciples were matured but he himself was not yet accomplished. Bringing a great multitude of people to maturity is difficult; accomplishing oneself is easy. Having considered in this way, the Buddha Jewel Flower entered a jewelled cave in a valley of the Snow Mountains, and his body emitted light. At that time the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni saw the Buddha, his mind became pure, and standing on one foot for seven days and seven nights he praised the Buddha with a single verse; by virtue of this cause and condition he leapt over nine kalpas. Knowing in this way is knowing the bodhisattva who has already brought beings to maturity and the bodhisattva who has not yet brought beings to maturity.
As for ‘extolled by the Buddhas’: it is as was said earlier; the opposite of this is named ‘not extolled’.
As for ‘draws near to the Buddhas’, ‘limitless lifespan’, ‘a limitless saṅgha of bhikṣus’, ‘taking bodhisattvas alone as the saṅgha’, and ‘not undergoing ascetic practice’: these are as was said at the end of the First Chapter.
As for ‘one bound to a single further birth’: some are known by their features, just as the seer Asita observed his bodily marks and knew he would become a Buddha in this life. The brahmin Shanruo, seeing the milk-rice gruel, knew that the one who would become a Buddha that day ought to eat it. Again, it is like the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, and others, who, seeing that this bodhisattva has marks like those of the Buddhas, know that he will become a Buddha—and so on in this way.
As for ‘sitting at the seat of awakening’: some bodhisattva sees the place where a certain bodhisattva walks, and beneath the earth there is a vajra ground holding this bodhisattva up; he also sees gods, nāgas, ghosts, and spirits holding all kinds of offerings and bringing them to the seat of awakening—and so on in this way—and then knows that he will sit at the seat of awakening.
As for ‘having Māra’: in former lives, when he obstructed others in practising the path and in the various causes and conditions of seeking the Buddha path, he did not like to cultivate the mind of kindness, and preferred to cultivate emptiness and other Dharma-gates—through causes and conditions such as these, because in former lives he ruined others' practice of the path, Māra therefore comes to ruin his.
Question: How is it that a bodhisattva of the final body still has to undergo the recompense of evil deeds and be ruined by Māra?
Answer: Bodhisattvas enter the Buddha path through all kinds of gates: some enter the Buddha path through the gate of compassion, some through the gate of vigour and wisdom. This bodhisattva practises the gate of vigour and wisdom and does not cultivate the mind of compassion, because he prefers to cultivate vigour and wisdom. It is like a noble person who, although he has all kinds of fine clothes, sometimes wears only one and does not wear the rest; the bodhisattva is also like this: he cultivates all kinds of practices to seek the Buddha path, and sometimes practises only the path of vigour and wisdom and lets the mind of kindness and compassion rest. Ruining others' practice of the path comes about because of overweening pride. The long-lived gods, the nāgas, and the ghosts and spirits do not recognise skilful means; when they see the causes and conditions of the bodhisattva's evil conduct, if he were not to receive the recompense they would give rise to the view of annihilation, and therefore the Buddha manifests receiving the recompense. Therefore, although there are no real causes and conditions of wrongdoing and yet there really is Māra, it is by the power of skilful means that having Māra is manifested.
In this way, all the various gates of skilful means of the śrāvakas, the pratyekabuddhas, and the bodhisattvas are able to cause beings to enter the path; this is named ‘the purity of the Dharma eye’.
The Purity of the Buddha Eye: Entering the Vajra-like Samādhi and Attaining Omniscience of All Kinds; Prajñā Can Give Rise to the Five Eyes
Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! How is it that a bodhisattva-mahāsattva's Buddha eye is pure?’
The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with the mind that seeks the Buddha path, enters in sequence the vajra-like samādhi and attains omniscience of all kinds. At that time he accomplishes the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas, and great kindness and great compassion. This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with omniscience of all kinds, among all dharmas has no dharma he does not see, no dharma he does not hear, no dharma he does not know, no dharma he does not cognise. Śāriputra! This is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's purity of the Buddha eye at the time he attains unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening. In this way, Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who wishes to obtain the five eyes should train in the six perfections. Why? Śāriputra! These six perfections gather in all wholesome dharmas completely—whether the dharmas of the śrāvakas, the dharmas of the pratyekabuddhas, the dharmas of the bodhisattvas, or the dharmas of the Buddhas. Śāriputra! If there is a true word that is able to gather in all wholesome dharmas completely, it is prajñāpāramitā. Śāriputra! Prajñāpāramitā is able to give rise to the five eyes; a bodhisattva who trains in these five eyes attains unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening.’
The Treatise Explains the Buddha Eye: Three Kinds of Kindness and Compassion, and the Nine Tiers of What the Five Eyes See in Common
The treatise-author explains: The bodhisattva, dwelling in the ten grounds, is complete in the six perfections up to omniscience of all kinds. The bodhisattva enters the vajra-like samādhi and breaks through the residual habits of all the afflictions; at that very moment he attains the unobstructed liberation of the Buddhas, and immediately the Buddha eye arises—that is, omniscience of all kinds, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, up to great kindness and great compassion and the other merits; this is named ‘the Buddha eye’.
Question: Wisdom and the seeing of things are the marks of an eye; how can great kindness and compassion and the rest also be named ‘eye’?
Answer: Because all the merits are associated with the wisdom eye, they are all together called eye. Furthermore, the mind of kindness and compassion is of three kinds: that which takes beings as its object, that which takes dharmas as its object, and that which has no object. Ordinary people take beings as the object; śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas at first take beings as the object, and later take dharmas as the object; the Buddhas are skilled in cultivating ultimate emptiness, and so it is named objectless; therefore kindness and compassion are also named the Buddha eye.
The Buddha eye has been spoken of; now the use of the Buddha eye is spoken of: this eye has no dharma it does not see, does not hear, does not know, does not cognise. Furthermore, some say: ‘Bodhisattvas of the tenth abode are no different from the Buddha—like Samantabhadra, Mañjuśrī, the One Who Observes the Sounds of the World, and others, who are complete in the Buddha's merits such as the ten powers and yet do not become Buddhas; this is for the sake of ferrying beings across on a vast scale.’ Doubt arises because of this. Therefore the marks of the Buddha eye are spoken of—among the beings and all the dharmas of the ten directions, there is nothing it does not see, nothing it does not hear. These bodhisattvas are great in comparison with other bodhisattvas, but compared with the Buddha they cannot know everything; just as moonlight, though great, does not show under sunlight.
Question: The eye has the mark of seeing; how can ‘hearing’ be spoken of?
Answer: The wisdom of beings arises from the six sense faculties and is able to know the six sense objects. Some say that the Buddha has things he does not hear, just as it is said in the scriptures of the outside paths that there may be things he does not hear; therefore it is said that the Buddha's wisdom has nothing it does not hear. Again, of the wisdom produced by the causes and conditions of ear-consciousness—of what this wisdom knows it is said ‘there is no dharma it does not hear’.
Question: Why are what three consciousnesses know combined into one, while what three consciousnesses know is separated into three—the eye being named seeing, the ear being named hearing, the knowing of the mind being named cognising, and the consciousnesses of nose, tongue, and body being named sensing?
Answer: Those three consciousnesses (eye, ear, and mind) have many dharmas that aid the path, so they are spoken of separately; the other three consciousnesses are not so, so they are spoken of together. These three consciousnesses (nose, tongue, and body) know only worldly matters, so they are combined into one; the other three consciousnesses know both the worldly and the world-transcending, so they are spoken of separately. Furthermore, these three consciousnesses take only indeterminate dharmas as their object; the other three consciousnesses take as object sometimes the wholesome, sometimes the unwholesome, sometimes the indeterminate. Furthermore, these three consciousnesses are able to give rise to the causes and conditions of the three vehicles—as the eye sees the Buddha and the Buddha's disciples, the ear hears the Dharma, and the mind weighs and rightly recollects. Because of all kinds of differences such as these, the matters known by the six consciousnesses are divided into four divisions.
As for omniscience of all kinds: it is like a person's eye, which sees the near and does not see the far, sees the inner and does not see the outer, sees the coarse and does not see the subtle, sees the east and does not see the west, sees this side and does not see that side, sees what is joined together and does not see what is scattered apart, sees the time of arising and does not see the time of ceasing.
Seen by the fleshly eye, not seen by the divine eye: because the eye faculty is accomplished, yet he is an ordinary person not yet free of desire, he therefore has no divine eye.
Seen by the divine eye, not seen by the wisdom eye: because an ordinary person obtains the supernormal power of the divine eye, he therefore has no wisdom eye.
Seen by the wisdom eye, not seen by the Dharma eye: a śrāvaka sage not yet free of desire, who does not know the various paths for ferrying beings across, therefore has no Dharma eye.
Seen by the Dharma eye, not seen by the Buddha eye: a bodhisattva who has obtained the knowledge of the kinds of paths and knows the various paths for ferrying beings across, not yet having become a Buddha, therefore has no Buddha eye.
Furthermore, seen by the fleshly eye and the divine eye, not seen by the wisdom eye, the Dharma eye, or the Buddha eye: because an ordinary person's eye faculty is accomplished and he obtains the supernormal power of the divine eye, he therefore has no wisdom eye, Dharma eye, or Buddha eye.
Seen by the fleshly eye and the wisdom eye, not seen by the Dharma eye or the Buddha eye: a śrāvaka sage whose eye faculty is accomplished; not knowing the various paths for ferrying beings across, he therefore has no Dharma eye, and because he is a śrāvaka he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Seen by the fleshly eye and the Dharma eye, not seen by the Buddha eye: a bodhisattva who has first obtained the acceptance of non-arising and has not yet received the body born of the Dharma-nature obtains the knowledge of the kinds of paths; not yet having become a Buddha, he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Seen by the divine eye and the wisdom eye, not seen by the Dharma eye or the Buddha eye: a śrāvaka sage free of desire obtains the supernormal power of the divine eye; because he is not a bodhisattva he has no knowledge of the kinds of paths, having no knowledge of the kinds of paths he therefore has no Dharma eye, and because he is a śrāvaka he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Seen by the divine eye and the Dharma eye, not seen by the Buddha eye: one who obtains the bodhisattva's supernormal powers and knows the various paths for ferrying beings across; not yet having become a Buddha, he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Seen by the wisdom eye and the Dharma eye, not seen by the Buddha eye: a bodhisattva obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; having obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, he is able to observe the causes and conditions by which all beings attain the path, and ferries them across to liberation by all kinds of paths; not yet having become a Buddha, he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Furthermore, seen by the fleshly eye, the divine eye, and the wisdom eye, not seen by the Dharma eye or the Buddha eye: a śrāvaka sage whose eye faculty is accomplished obtains the supernormal power of the divine eye; because he has no knowledge of the kinds of paths he therefore has no Dharma eye, and because he is a śrāvaka he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Seen by the divine eye, the wisdom eye, and the Dharma eye, not seen by the Buddha eye: a bodhisattva with a body born of the Dharma-nature, complete in the six supernormal powers, ferrying beings across by all kinds of paths; not yet having become a Buddha, he therefore has no Buddha eye.
Furthermore, seen by the fleshly eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, and the Dharma eye, not seen by the Buddha eye: a bodhisattva who has first obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and has not yet given up the fleshly body obtains the bodhisattva's supernormal powers, and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and the knowledge of the kinds of paths are both already complete; not yet having become a Buddha, he therefore has no Buddha eye.
With such cases as these, one cannot be named ‘there is no dharma not seen, not heard, not sensed, not cognised’. Only when one contemplates dharmas with the Buddha eye is it named ‘there is nothing not seen, nothing not heard, nothing not sensed, nothing not cognised’. The five sense objects, discriminated according to their meaning, are also like this.
The three vehicles and the other wholesome dharmas are the causes and conditions of the five eyes. All wholesome dharmas are gathered in by the six perfections; these six perfections take prajñāpāramitā as their root. Therefore it is said: ‘Prajñāpāramitā is able to give rise to the five eyes; a bodhisattva who gradually trains in these five eyes will before long become a Buddha.’
The Perfection of Supernormal Powers: With the Six Supernormal Powers Every Matter Goes as One Wishes, All Empty by Own-Nature, Except as Done for the Mind of Sarvajñā
The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, cultivates the perfection of supernormal powers. With this perfection of supernormal powers he undergoes all kinds of matters that go as he wishes: he is able to shake the great earth; he transforms one body into countless bodies, and returns countless bodies again into one body; he is sovereign in both vanishing and appearing; he passes through mountains, walls, and trees without obstruction, as if moving through empty space; he treads on water as if treading on earth; he rides the air like a flying bird; he emerges from and sinks into the earth as if coming out of and going into water; his body emits smoke and flame like a great mass of fire; water comes forth from his body like the streams of the Snow Mountains; the sun and moon have great majestic virtue and a power hard to withstand, yet he is able to stroke them with his hand; up to reaching the Brahmā heaven, he is sovereign in his body. Nor does he cling to this supernormal power of doing as he wishes; the matters of the supernormal power and his own self are both unfindable, because they are empty by own-nature, separated by own-nature, and non-arising by own-nature. He does not have this thought: “I have obtained the supernormal power of doing as I wish”—except as done for the mind of sarvajñā, omniscience. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, obtains the realisation-by-knowledge of the supernormal power of doing as one wishes.
‘This bodhisattva, with the pure divine ear that surpasses the human ear, hears two kinds of sound: divine sounds and human sounds. Nor does he cling to this supernormal power of the divine ear; the divine ear, the sounds, and his own self are all unfindable, because they are empty by own-nature, separated by own-nature, and non-arising by own-nature. He does not have this thought: “I have this divine ear”—except as done for the mind of sarvajñā. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, obtains the realisation-by-knowledge of the supernormal power of the divine ear.
‘This bodhisattva knows as it really is the minds of other beings: if it is a mind with desire, he knows as it really is that it is a mind with desire; a mind free of desire, he knows as it really is that it is a mind free of desire; an angry mind, he knows as it really is as an angry mind; a mind free of anger, he knows as it really is as a mind free of anger; a deluded mind, he knows as it really is as a deluded mind; a mind free of delusion, he knows as it really is as a mind free of delusion; a mind of craving, he knows as it really is as a mind of craving; a mind without craving, he knows as it really is as a mind without craving; a mind with grasping, he knows as it really is as a mind with grasping; a mind without grasping, he knows as it really is as a mind without grasping; a collected mind, he knows as it really is as a collected mind; a scattered mind, he knows as it really is as a scattered mind; a small mind, he knows as it really is as a small mind; a great mind, he knows as it really is as a great mind; a concentrated mind, he knows as it really is as a concentrated mind; a disordered mind, he knows as it really is as a disordered mind; a liberated mind, he knows as it really is as a liberated mind; an unliberated mind, he knows as it really is as an unliberated mind; a surpassable mind, he knows as it really is as a surpassable mind; an unsurpassable mind, he knows as it really is as an unsurpassable mind. Nor does he cling to this mind! Why? Because this mind is not the mark of mind and is inconceivable, and because it is empty by own-nature, separated by own-nature, and non-arising by own-nature. He does not have this thought: “I have obtained the realisation-by-knowledge of others' minds”—except as done for the mind of sarvajñā. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, obtains the realisation-by-knowledge of the supernormal power of knowing others' minds.
‘This bodhisattva, with the supernormal power of the realisation-by-knowledge of former lives, recollects one mind-moment up to a hundred mind-moments, recollects one day up to a hundred days, recollects one month up to a hundred months, recollects one year up to a hundred years, recollects one kalpa up to a hundred kalpas, countless hundreds of kalpas, countless thousands of kalpas, countless hundreds of thousands of kalpas, up to countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of kalpas of lives; he recollects: in such a place I had such a clan, such a name, such a birth, such food, abode so long, had such a limit of life, such a length of life, underwent suffering and pleasure thus; I died in this interval and was born in that place, died in that place and was born in this place—all with its marks and its causes and conditions. Nor does he cling to this supernormal power of former lives; the matters of the supernormal power of former lives and his own self are both unfindable, because they are empty by own-nature, separated by own-nature, and non-arising by own-nature. He does not have this thought: “I have this supernormal power of former lives”—except as done for the mind of sarvajñā. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, obtains the realisation-by-knowledge of the supernormal power of former lives.
‘This bodhisattva, with the divine eye, sees beings at the time of death and the time of birth, the handsome and the ugly, those in evil places and those in good places, whether great or small; he knows that beings follow the causes and conditions of their deeds: these beings, because they have accomplished evil deeds of body, accomplished evil deeds of speech, and accomplished evil deeds of mind, and further because of the causes and conditions of slandering the noble ones and holding wrong views, at the breaking up of the body and the end of life fall into the evil paths and are born in hell; these beings, because of the causes and conditions of having accomplished wholesome deeds of body, accomplished wholesome deeds of speech, and accomplished wholesome deeds of mind, not slandering the noble ones, and holding right view, at the end of life enter the good paths and are born in the heavens. Nor does he cling to this supernormal power of the divine eye; the matters of the supernormal power of the divine eye and his own self are both unfindable, because they are empty by own-nature, separated by own-nature, and non-arising by own-nature. He does not have this thought: “I have this supernormal power of the divine eye”—except as done for the mind of sarvajñā. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, obtains the realisation-by-knowledge of the supernormal power of the divine eye. He also sees the deaths and births of beings in worlds of the ten directions as many as the sands of the Ganges, up to their being born in the heavens. The other four supernormal powers are also like this.
‘As for this bodhisattva-mahāsattva's supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows: although he obtains the supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows, he does not fall to the ground of the śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas; even up to unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, he does not rely on any other dharma. Nor does he cling to this supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows; the matters of the supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows and his own self are both unfindable, because they are empty by own-nature, separated by own-nature, and non-arising by own-nature. He does not have this thought: “I have obtained the supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows”—except as done for the mind of sarvajñā. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, obtains the realisation-by-knowledge of the supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows.
‘In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, is complete in the perfection of supernormal powers; having become complete in the perfection of supernormal powers, he then increases unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening.’
The Treatise Explains the Supernormal Powers: The Simile of the Jewels, and How the Supernormal Powers of the Outside Paths Differ from Those of the Sages
The treatise-author explains: It is like the great ocean, in which there are all kinds of jewels: some can kill poison, some can ward off ghosts, some can break sickness, some can remove cold and heat, hunger and thirst, and some can give people whatever they wish; jewels such as these are immeasurable and countless. The ocean of the Great Vehicle is also like this: it has all kinds of bodhisattva-jewels—some bodhisattvas can break the three evil paths, some can open the three good gates, some can give rise to the five eyes, some can practise the perfection of supernormal powers. For this reason bodhisattvas are able to do extraordinary and rare things; that is, by taking much of the mark of space and little of the mark of earth, they can shake the great earth at will. One body can transform into many bodies, and many bodies can merge into one body; empty space is always filled with fine dust; this person, through the causes and conditions of freedom from desire and of merit, gathers the particles of dust to make the bodies and makes them all alike.
Some say: The non-humans revere this bodhisattva who is free of desire, enter into his body, and whatever transformation his mind intends, they are all able to transform. A wheel-turning sage king has not yet become free of desire, and because he has only a little in the way of causes and conditions of merit, the ghosts and spirits are still made to serve him—how much more the one who is free of desire and practises the immeasurable minds!
Furthermore, this mind has no fixed place of dwelling, whether within or without, whether great or small; because of the power of meditative concentration his mind is pliant and supple, swiftly pervades the bodies, and returns quickly too. It is like a thousand-headed nāga, which has two thousand eyes and two thousand ears, and a thousand mouths besides, and its mind can use them all at once; if a nāga with its coarse body is still like this, how much more a bodhisattva!
Some say: The affairs of the person who sits in meditation—all the power and force he has—are inconceivable; therefore one body can transform into immeasurable bodies, and immeasurable bodies can merge into one body.
As for being unobstructed by stone walls: it is taking the mark of empty space in the stone wall, so that the particles of dust open apart, like a stake driven into the earth.
As for treading on water: because he takes much of the mark of earth, he treads on water as if treading on earth; because he takes much of the mark of water, he enters the earth as if entering water; because he takes much of the mark of fire, his body emits smoke and fire.
As for stroking the sun and moon: it is by the inconceivable power of the supernormal powers that his hand is made to reach the sun and moon; because he enters the fire concentration, the moon cannot make him cold; because he enters the water concentration, the sun cannot make him hot.
Question: The power of these supernormal powers can reach even into the fourth meditation; why is it said here ‘only up to the Brahmā world is he sovereign in his body’?
Answer: This has already been said earlier: because Brahmā's heaven is the first gate, saying ‘the Brahmā world’ wholly includes the entire form realm. Again, worldly people all esteem the Brahmā king, regarding him as the lord of the world. Again, this bodhisattva does not wish to display his sovereignty within the scattered mind of the desire realm, so it is only among those free of desire that he is able to act.
In this way the marks of the supernormal powers are immeasurable and countless; in order to make them easy to understand, a few similes have been given briefly.
The outside paths have two faults with regard to these supernormal powers: first, they give rise to the mind of I and mine, thinking ‘I am able to bring this about’, and become arrogant; second, they cling to these supernormal powers, just as a greedy person clings to treasure. Therefore the supernormal powers of the outside paths are not equal to the supernormal powers of the sages. The bodhisattva, with regard to this power of supernormal powers, knows that all dharmas are by own-nature unarisen, and therefore does not cling; he keeps in mind only omniscience of all kinds, for the sake of ferrying beings across.
The other five supernormal powers are also like this: each is discriminated according to its dharma, its marks are spoken of first, and afterwards it is always brought to emptiness. The remaining meaning of the six supernormal powers is as spoken of for the meaning of the five supernormal powers in the chapter ‘Praising the Bodhisattvas’.
Because these six supernormal powers benefit beings broadly, it is said: ‘Being complete in obtaining supernormal powers such as these, one increases unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening.’
Abiding in the Six Perfections and Purifying the Path of Sarvajñā: Each One Is Ultimately Empty, Making No Discrimination between Giving and Receiving
The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the perfection of giving and purifies the path of sarvajñā, ultimately empty, because he does not give rise to a stingy mind.
‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the perfection of morality and purifies the path of sarvajñā, ultimately empty, because he clings to neither offence nor non-offence.
‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the perfection of patience and purifies the path of sarvajñā, ultimately empty, because he is not angry.
‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the perfection of vigour and purifies the path of sarvajñā, ultimately empty, because his body and mind are vigorous and do not slacken or rest.
‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the perfection of meditation and purifies the path of sarvajñā, ultimately empty, because he is not scattered and does not relish its taste.
‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the perfection of prajñā and purifies the path of sarvajñā, ultimately empty, because he does not give rise to a deluded mind.
‘In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, abides in the six perfections and purifies the path of sarvajñā; because of ultimate emptiness, there is no coming and no going, no giving and no receiving, neither morality nor transgression, neither patience nor anger, neither advancing nor slackening, neither concentration nor disorder, neither wisdom nor folly.
‘At this time the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not discriminate between giving and not giving, keeping the precepts and breaking the precepts, patience and anger, vigour and laziness, a concentrated mind and a disordered mind, wisdom and folly; nor does he discriminate harm, contempt, or reverence. Why? Śāriputra! In the dharma of non-arising, there is no one who receives harm, no one who receives injury, no one who receives contempt or reverence.
‘Śāriputra! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who practises prajñāpāramitā obtains merits such as these, which the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do not have. Having obtained these merits completely, he brings beings to maturity, purifies Buddha-worlds, and attains omniscience of all kinds!’
The Treatise Explains the Ultimate Emptiness of the Six Perfections: The Vajra Mountain in Winds from Four Sides, a Mind Unchanged by Abuse or Praise
The treatise-author explains: This bodhisattva, first arousing the intent, practises prajñāpāramitā, and gradually cultivates the other merits, namely the perfection of giving and the rest. The bodhisattva abides in the perfection of giving and cultivates the path of sarvajñā, contemplating all dharmas as ultimately empty and not giving rise to a mind of stinginess and greed; because of these two things, he opens up the path of sarvajñā. Why? In ultimate emptiness there is no stinginess or greed; because the root of stinginess and greed has been cut off, he is complete in the perfection of giving; because he is complete in the perfection of giving, he adorns prajñāpāramitā; and so on up to prajñāpāramitā, which, because of ultimate emptiness, never gives rise to a deluded mind. Why? Here the Buddha himself says: ‘All dharmas neither come nor go, there is no giving and no receiving, up to neither wisdom nor folly.’
Question: If one is able to contemplate in this way and practise the six perfections, what benefit is obtained?
Answer: Here the Buddha himself says: this bodhisattva does not think that there is something given, nor that there is nothing given. If he thinks there is something given, he falls into false dharmas, and further clings to giving and his mind becomes arrogant. If he thinks there is nothing given, he falls into wrong view. This discourse on giving is the first gate in the Buddha-Dharma—how could it be said not to exist? And so on up to not thinking that there is folly or that there is wisdom.
This person is like a vajra mountain: wind rises on its four sides, yet cannot make it waver. At this time, whether someone abuses this bodhisattva or someone praises him, his mind is no different in either case. Why? Here the Buddha himself says: ‘In the dharma of non-arising, there is no one who abuses, no one who harms, no one who reveres.’ Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, when they meet someone who does them harm, are unable to have a deep mind of kindness and compassion, and only either remain silent or go far away. The bodhisattva is not like this: he is able to deepen his mind of kindness, love that person like a child, and ferry him across to liberation by skilful means; for this reason he surpasses all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and is able to teach and transform all beings; because his patience, kindness and compassion, and skilful means are deep and thick, and further because of the causes and conditions of pure deeds that follow his vows, he is able to purify a Buddha-world. Because this Dharma is already complete, before long he will attain omniscience of all kinds.
Giving Rise to an Equal Mind toward All Beings: Attaining the Equality of Dharmas, and Being Kept in Mind in This Present Life by the Buddhas of the Ten Directions
The Buddha said: ‘Furthermore, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, gives rise to an equal mind toward all beings; having given rise to an equal mind toward all beings, he attains the equality of all dharmas; having attained the equality of all dharmas, he establishes all beings within the equality of dharmas. This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in this present life, is protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas of the ten directions, and is also protected and kept in mind by all bodhisattvas and all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Wherever this bodhisattva is born, his eye never sees unlovely forms, up to his mind never sensing unlovely dharmas. In this way, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who practises prajñāpāramitā does not fall short of unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening.’
The Treatise Explains the Equality of Beings and the Equality of Dharmas: The Recompense in This Life and in Later Lives from Accomplishing the Two Equalities
The treatise-author explains: If the Buddha were to speak broadly of the marks of the bodhisattvas, he could not finish speaking of them even if he exhausted kalpas; now, at the end of this chapter, the Buddha speaks briefly of their marks. These marks are sufficient to be what all bodhisattvas practise in common; that is, because of great kindness and great compassion, because of first arousing the mind to ferry all beings across, because of training in the equal mind of the Buddhas in contemplating beings, because all dharmas are empty by own-nature—because of causes and conditions such as these, he gives rise to an equal mind toward all beings; having obtained this equal mind, he attains the equality of all dharmas.
As for ‘the equality of all dharmas’: the meaning of the equality of beings and the equality of dharmas spoken of earlier should now be spoken of again. Having kindness and pity for beings of the four modes of birth and single-mindedly wishing to benefit them is named the equality of beings. Contemplating the four foundations of mindfulness and not seeing that there is a body is named the equality of dharmas; the four right efforts and the other sets of four dharmas are also like this.
Furthermore, keeping in mind that the beings of the five paths are all sunk in impermanent old age, sickness, and death—this is named the equality of beings. Cultivating the five faculties of faith and the rest, as well as the five supernormal powers, and single-mindedly wishing to ferry these beings across—this is named the equality of dharmas.
Furthermore, cultivating among beings the merits of patience, kindness and compassion, and the like, the merit is immeasurable; because the merit is immeasurable, the mind becomes supple; because the mind is supple, one swiftly obtains meditative concentration; because one cultivates meditative concentration, the mind becomes pliant as one wishes; because the mind is pliant as one wishes, one breaks through the worldly long and short, male and female, white and black, and so on, and enters the dharma of the single mark, that is, the signless. Having obtained this equality of dharmas, one causes all beings to obtain this equality of dharmas.
This bodhisattva obtains these two kinds of equality; because he accomplishes immeasurable merit and wisdom, he obtains the recompense in this present life of being kept in mind by the Buddhas and kept in mind by others. Keeping in mind that arises from affectionate attachment is all false; only the keeping in mind of the Buddhas is true keeping in mind, because it is without affectionate attachment. If even the Buddhas protect and keep this person in mind, how much more the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas! If even the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas who have cut off the fetters lovingly keep him in mind, how much more ordinary people not yet free of desire! Because the bodhisattva is born from the causes and conditions of merit, he obtains immeasurable present-life recompense such as this.
As for the places where he is born in later lives, his eye never sees evil forms. What are called evil forms are those able to give rise to painful feeling; sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas are likewise, up to whatever is able to give rise to a sorrowful mind. It is like the six heavens of the desire realm, where what the six sense faculties encounter are all pure and wondrous five desires, delighting at will. If beings who have planted only a little merit are still born in the heavens like this, how much more the bodhisattva, whose merit and true wisdom are immeasurable and boundless, and who is protected and kept in mind by the Buddhas of the ten directions and all the other worthies and sages!
Three Hundred Bhikṣus Give Up Their Robes and Arouse the Mind, and the Buddha Smiles and Gives the Prediction; Ten Thousand People Vow to Be Born in Pure Lands
At that time, when this chapter on prajñāpāramitā was being spoken, three hundred bhikṣus rose from their seats, offered to the Buddha the robes they were wearing on their bodies, and aroused the mind of unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening. The Buddha at that moment smiled, and light of all kinds of colours issued from his mouth.
At this time the venerable Ānanda rose from his seat, arranged his robe, joined his palms, placed his right knee on the ground, and said to the Buddha: ‘Through what cause and condition does the Buddha smile?’
The Buddha told Ānanda: ‘These three hundred bhikṣus, from now on, after passing through sixty-one kalpas, will become Buddhas, all bearing the name Great Mark. These three hundred bhikṣus, after giving up this body, will be born in the land of Akṣobhya Buddha; and sixty thousand the gods of the desire realm have all aroused the mind of unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening, and in the Dharma of Maitreya Buddha they will leave home and practise the Buddha path.’
At this time, by the Buddha's majestic spiritual power, the fourfold great assembly here saw a thousand Buddhas in each of the ten directions; these worlds of the ten directions were adorned and pure, such as this Sahā world could not equal.
At this time ten thousand people made a vow, saying: ‘We shall cultivate pure vows and practices, and because of our pure vows and practices we shall be born in those Buddha-worlds.’
At this time the Buddha, knowing the deep minds of these good men, smiled again, and light of all kinds of colours issued from his mouth.
Ānanda arranged his robe, joined his palms, and said to the Buddha: ‘Through what cause and condition does the Buddha smile?’
The Buddha told Ānanda: ‘Do you see these ten thousand people?’ Ānanda said: ‘I see them!’
The Buddha said: ‘When these ten thousand people end their lives here, they will be born in those worlds, and will never be apart from the Buddhas; later they will become Buddhas, all bearing the name Adornment King.’
The Treatise Explains That Giving Up the Robes Is Not Breaking the Precepts, the Eight Causes and Conditions of the Buddha's Smile, and the Inconceivability of the Recompense of Deeds
Question: Just as the Buddha laid down the precepts, a bhikṣu's three robes should not be lacking; why did these bhikṣus break the perfection of morality in order to practise the perfection of giving?
Answer: Some say: ‘The Buddha laid down the precepts only after twelve years had passed; when these bhikṣus gave their robes, the precepts had not yet been laid down.’ Some say: ‘These bhikṣus had other robes of pure giving, and the thought arose in their minds that they would receive them, and therefore they gave.’ Some say: ‘These bhikṣus had many acquaintances and many who knew them, and could immediately obtain robes again; the matter did not need to pass the night.’ Furthermore, some say: ‘These bhikṣus heard the Buddha say, “Bodhisattvas who practise the perfection of giving, because the power and force of their merits are immeasurable, are able to be associated with prajñāpāramitā”; their minds leapt up greatly, and they immediately gave their robes, with no other thought—they did not deliberately break the precepts.’ Furthermore, these bhikṣus knew that the Buddha-Dharma is ultimately empty and without anything to cling to, and had cut off love for the Dharma; the Buddha laid down the precepts for the sake of worldly truth, not for the highest meaning. These bhikṣus heard from the Buddha the highest meaning as well as the six perfections of giving and the rest; they heard of the various great powers of the bodhisattvas, and pitied beings who, covered by the afflictions, cannot obtain these bodhisattva merits; therefore they gave rise to the mind of great compassion, and for the sake of beings aroused the intent toward unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening; therefore they gave their robes. If someone fails to keep the precepts out of greed, anger, fear, wrong view, an irreverent mind, or contempt for the Buddha's words, only then is it named breaking the precepts; these bhikṣus had none of these minds, and so they have no offence of breaking the precepts.
Question: Why did the Buddha smile?
Answer: Laughter is of various kinds: some people laugh on seeing entertainments of music and dancing girls; some people laugh while harbouring anger within; some people laugh out of arrogance; some people laugh because they look down on other things; some people laugh from joy when a matter is accomplished; some people laugh on seeing what should not be done being done; some people, harbouring deceit in their minds, laugh as a pretence of praising the good; some people laugh on seeing something rare. The Buddha now saw that because the bhikṣus gave a single kāṣāya robe, in a future age they would accomplish the work of a Buddha; this is rare, and therefore he smiled.
Question: Why is it always Ānanda who asks about the Buddha's smile, while the other bhikṣus do not ask?
Answer: These bhikṣus are not close to the Buddha, and because their minds are much filled with reverent awe, they do not dare to ask themselves. Ānanda is skilled at knowing people's features and knows the intentions of the bhikṣus; moreover, seeing the Buddha smile, because of doubt he has this thought: ‘The Buddha has no mark of beings and no mark of dharmas, and knows the three realms to be like a dream, like an illusion; what matter could now make the Buddha smile? The Buddha is like Sumeru, king of mountains, like the great earth, like the great ocean; he is not moved by small causes and conditions.’ Therefore he asks about the cause and condition of the smile.
The Buddha told Ānanda: ‘The continuity of the recompense of the causes and conditions of deeds is inconceivable! These three hundred bhikṣus, after passing through sixty-one kalpas from now, will become Buddhas, bearing the name Great Mark; during the sixty-one kalpas these people are of sharp faculties, meet Buddhas expounding the Dharma, and are associated with prajñāpāramitā, and therefore these people swiftly become Buddhas.’ Because these bhikṣus had not yet obtained the divine eye, they were themselves in doubt, not knowing where they would be born, fearing that they would be unable to accumulate the merits and unable to reach the Buddha path; therefore the Buddha said: ‘After giving up this body, they will be born in the world of Akṣobhya Buddha.’
The sixty thousand the gods of the desire realm, certainly because of the causes and conditions of merit shared in former lives, aroused the mind of unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening together with the three hundred bhikṣus; these are to be ferried across by Maitreya, and therefore the Buddha said: ‘In Maitreya's time they will leave home.’ Now the Buddha predicted that the bhikṣus would be born in the world of Akṣobhya Buddha, so these people all wished to see the pure worlds of the Buddhas; therefore the Buddha caused the great assembly to see a thousand Buddhas in each of the ten directions. This fourfold assembly saw these pure and adorned Buddha-worlds, saw that the bodies of the Buddhas were larger than Mount Sumeru, surrounded by great assemblies of bodhisattvas bound to a single further birth, their Brahmā voices reaching through immeasurable and boundless worlds; each looked down upon his own body, and because of pity for beings, in order to seek the immeasurable Buddha-Dharma, vowed to be born in those Buddha-worlds, as is said in ‘The Practices and Vows of the Pure World’. The causes and conditions of the smile are as was said earlier. When these ten thousand people end their lives here, they will be born in those lands. Because the causes and conditions of the deeds that lead them to be born in those lands are complete, and further because they have accumulated deep, thick, immeasurable merit here, they will never be apart from the Buddhas. Because they aroused the mind on seeing the adorned Buddha-worlds, they are all named the Buddha Adornment King.
往生品之下：五眼登頂於佛眼，神通與六度同歸畢竟空，等心終成授記
在問什麼
往生品到這裡，經文接連問了三個「云何淨」：法眼怎樣淨、佛眼怎樣淨、神通波羅蜜怎樣修，接著又問六波羅蜜怎樣住畢竟空、菩薩怎樣於一切眾生中生等心，最後以三百比丘捨衣得記作結。表面是把五眼補足、把神通鋪陳、把六度重列，像在收攏名相；但這一分真正要回答的是一個更根本的問題：菩薩既有能力見一切、變一切、施一切，這些能力憑什麼不變成新的我慢與繫縛？答案在每一段末反覆出現的同一句話裡——不著、不作是念、除為薩婆若心、畢竟空。往生品從卷首問「從何處生」，到這裡已轉成問「帶著這樣的見與能，如何仍是空、仍向一切智」。
底下還壓著幾個容易滑過去的細問，須一一交代：法眼既已斷三結成須陀洹，何以偏偏只說「得五根」？經文那一長串「知是菩薩退、知是菩薩不退」究竟排了多少對、每一對各指什麼？既是末後身的大菩薩，何以還要受惡業之報、被魔來壞？眼明明是「見」的器官，佛眼何以又說「聞」？六識同是識，何以眼名見、耳名聞、意名識，而鼻舌身三識卻合名為「覺」？神通力既能上通四禪，經何以只說「但至梵世」？末了，佛兩度微笑，何以每次都是阿難發問、其餘比丘不問？這些看似枝節，卻正是這一分把「見與能」講到滴水不漏的地方。
逐段解明
一、五眼何以次第相生——法眼之所以名法眼。 論釋法眼，不先解字，先追它從何而來。菩薩初發心時，以肉眼見世間眾生受諸苦患而起慈愍；為救濟故學諸禪定、修得五通，以天眼遍見六道受種種身心苦，憐愍更深，故求慧眼以救濟之；得慧眼已，見眾生心相種種不同，思量如何令眾生得此實法，故更求法眼，引導眾生令入法中——法眼之名，正落在「引導入法」四字上。這一段是全分的眼目：五眼不是五件並列的本領，而是一重悲心逼出一重眼、層層相生的。肉眼見苦、天眼見遍、慧眼見空，到法眼便要在空中重新看見眾生種種不同的道路與位次，好把人一一引入。慧眼見空是一味的，法眼卻要在一味的空裡分別出千差萬別的度生之門——這正是慧眼與法眼的分水。
二、法眼第一用：分別二乘得道之門。 經先以聲聞道立說：有隨信行、隨法行、無相行三種根性。鈍根依信力得道名隨信行，利根分別諸法得道名隨法行，二人於見道十五心中疾速無人能取其相，故又名無相行。又隨眾生宿習之性而各有入處：性好真實者用空解脫門，好行捨離者用無作解脫門，好樂善寂者用無相解脫門。由此得五根、得無間三昧、得解脫智，斷身見（有眾見）、疑、戒禁取（齋戒取）三結而成須陀洹，順次薄三毒而向斯陀含、斷婬恚而得阿那含、斷色無色染乃至慢掉而至阿羅漢，別有觀「集法皆滅法」而成辟支佛者。這一整段看似在講二乘果位，其實是在界定菩薩法眼的第一種用——分別了知二乘方便得道之門。
三、法眼何以只說「得五根」——三無漏根無別異。 這裡有一個細問須答清：果位進程明明涉及種種善根，經何以偏偏拈出「得五根」為樞紐？論答：一切聖道都可總名為五根（信、進、念、定、慧），因為聖道全靠這五根成立。有人問，二十二根裡明有未知當知、已知、具知這三無漏根，何不一併說？論答：這三無漏根只是同一無漏慧在見道、修道、無學道三位上的異名，其體無有別異，故不必別立，攝入五根中的慧根即盡——所以只說五根，不是漏了三無漏根，而是三無漏根本不外於五根。懂了這一層，「得五根」一句便不再是隨手一提的名相，而是把全副聖道收攝在五根上的簡練說法。
四、斷三結何以不說七結。 見道所斷本有十結，得須陀洹果，經何以只說斷三、不說斷七？論答得極有分寸：說了「有眾見」，就已說盡一切見結之根本，如經言「有眾見為六十二見根本」——人一著我，便思量我為常為無常，計無常則墮斷滅邊見而生邪見，計常則墮常見而生戒禁取、見取；故一「有眾見」即攝盡邊見、邪見二見，一「戒禁取」即攝盡見取。其餘四結未拔根本，故不別說。這是經文用語的分寸，不是漏說；而這十結於三界四諦所斷分別開來，實有八十八使。
五、法眼第二用：知菩薩方便行道——先知因、後知果。 經隨即翻到法眼的第二種用：了知某菩薩自初發意深行六度、煩惱漸薄，用信根、精進根及方便力為度眾生而受身，或生剎利、婆羅門、居士大家，或生四天王天乃至他化自在天，於中成就眾生、淨佛世界、值遇諸佛而終不墮二乘地。這裡有一個易被滑過的分判：這菩薩是「生死肉身」，尚未得法性神通法身，未離欲故，所以經此處只說信根、精進根二根而不說三無漏根——與第三段「三無漏根無別異」正相呼應：有則說五根全，此處肉身未離欲則連無漏根都未起。而法眼於此是「先知其因（今世行布施、成信進二根），後知其果（後世生大姓乃至天處）」——因果兩頭俱在法眼照中。
六、十九對分別知——法眼在空中重見萬別的實義。 經文最後排出一長串「知是菩薩退、知是菩薩不退」，這不是煩瑣的清單，正是法眼所以為法眼的實義所在，須逐對點過。一、退／不退：如〈阿鞞跋致品〉所說不退轉相，與之相違即名退。二、受記／未受記：不退菩薩又分已受記、未受記二種，如《首楞嚴三昧》所說四種受記。三、到阿鞞跋致地／未到。四、具足神通／未具足：能於十方恆沙世界一時變無量身、供佛聽法說法度生，除佛無能及者，是末後身菩薩之「具足」；於各各自地無所欠名具足，未成就名不具足。五、已得神通／未得神通：得又分用與不用，未得則因新發意、未離欲、懈怠、或行餘法。六、當淨佛世界／未淨。七、成就眾生／未成就：此對最堪細味，成就有二種——有先自成功德後度眾生者，有先成就眾生後自成功德者；如寶華佛欲涅槃時觀彌勒、釋迦文二菩薩之心，彌勒自功德成而弟子未成，釋迦文弟子成而自身未成，因成就多人難、自成則易，釋迦文見佛一足而立、七日七夜以一偈讚佛，遂超越九劫——先人後己者其行更難更速。八、為諸佛稱譽／不稱譽。九、親近諸佛／不親近。十、壽命有量／無量。十一、比丘眾有量／無量。十二、以菩薩為僧／不以菩薩為僧。十三、當修苦行／不修苦行。十四、一生補處／未一生補處：一生補處或以相而知，如阿私陀仙人觀身相知悉達多今世成佛，珊若婆羅門見乳糜知今日成佛者應食，如遍吉、觀世音、文殊師利等見此菩薩具諸佛相而知當成佛。十五、受最後身／未受最後身。十六、能坐道場／不能坐道場：坐道場者，有見其行處地下有金剛地承持、天龍鬼神持供養具送至道場而知者。十七、有魔／無魔：有魔者，宿世曾遮他行道、又好行空等而不喜行慈，以宿世破他行道之因，故今有魔來破壞。這一串窮舉，句句是法眼在一味空中重新照見的位次、因緣與差別——慧眼到此便止，法眼卻要在這裡分毫不爽地看見每一菩薩的來歷與去處，才好因材引導入法。
七、末後身菩薩何以受惡業報、為魔所壞。 這是一個最易起疑的難處：既是垂成佛的末後身大菩薩，何以還受惡業之報、被魔來壞？論答分兩層。先答其「行精進智慧門而息慈悲」：菩薩入佛道之門不一，或從悲門，或從精進、智慧門；此類菩薩偏行精進、智慧而暫息慈悲心，譬如貴人雖有種種好衣，有時只著一件、餘者不著——修種種行者有時只行精進智慧一路，慈悲暫斂，遂於因地留下受魔之緣。再答其「佛故現受報」：那些不識方便的長壽天、龍、鬼神，見菩薩有惡行因緣而竟不受報，便會生起「作惡無報」的斷滅見；為破此斷滅見故，佛雖實無罪因緣招魔，仍以方便力示現有魔、示現受報。所以末後身受報為魔壞，不是菩薩真有未了之惡業在追討，而是一重應機的示現——一破偏行者息慈之隙，一破天龍鬼神撥無因果之疑。
八、佛眼——如金剛三昧、一切種智，慈悲何以亦名眼。 經把佛眼安在如金剛三昧、一切種智之上：菩薩住十地具足六度，入如金剛三昧破諸煩惱習，即得諸佛無礙解脫而生佛眼，於一切法無不見、無不聞、無不知、無不識。這裡有一個容易起的疑：既然智慧見物才叫眼，大慈大悲怎麼也算佛眼？論答：諸功德都與慧眼相應，故通名為眼；而慈悲又分三重——凡夫緣眾生，聲聞辟支佛及菩薩初緣眾生後緣法，唯諸佛善修畢竟空而住無緣大慈，故慈悲亦即佛眼。三種慈悲一層深一層，到無緣大慈已與畢竟空一味，慈即是智、悲即是眼，故大慈大悲列在佛眼之中並非勉強比配。
九、眼是見相，佛眼何以說「聞」。 經說佛眼「無法不聞」，隨即有疑：眼是見的相狀，怎麼說聞？論答得樸實而透闢。其一，眾生的智慧本從六情（六根）而生、遍知六塵，見固是知、聞亦是知，此「眼」是就遍知一切而立名，非局於眼根之見。其二，世人或謂佛有所不聞——如外道經書中或有佛所未聞者；為遮此謂，故特說佛智無所不聞。其三，耳識因緣也能生智慧，此智慧之所知，即以「無法不聞」表之。可見佛眼之「聞」不是眼去聽聲，而是佛的一切種智於聲塵一分亦無不照——說「聞」正為補足「無所不知」裡屬於聲的那一分，免人以為佛眼只見色而遺了聲。
十、六識何以眼名見、耳名聞、意名識，而鼻舌身合名覺。 承上更有一問：同是六識所知，何以析為四名——眼識名見、耳識名聞、意識所知名識，而鼻、舌、身三識卻合起來名為「覺」？論以三重理由答之。其一，眼、耳、意三識助道之法多（眼見佛、耳聞法、意籌量正憶念，皆是入道之階），故各別立名；鼻、舌、身三識於助道用少，故合而為一。其二，鼻舌身三識但知世間事，故合為一；眼耳意三識既知世間亦知出世間，故別說。其三，鼻舌身三識但緣無記法，眼耳意三識則或緣善、或緣不善、或緣無記。三理合觀，六識所知之事遂分為見、聞、識、覺四分——這不是隨意的名相分配，而是依「助道多少、知世間出世間、所緣善惡無記」三層差別而定的。這一段與上段「佛眼何以說聞」正相承接：先明佛眼於六塵無不照，再明六識分名之所以然，讀者才不致把「見、聞、覺、識」錯看成同一件事的重複用字。
十一、十住菩薩比佛猶小——月光雖大於日不現之喻。 佛眼所用，經先總說「無法不見、不聞、不知、不識」。這裡論插入一重辨疑：有人謂十住大菩薩如遍吉、文殊、觀世音等，已具足佛之十力功德而不作佛，只為廣度眾生故留惑不證，如此則十住菩薩與佛豈非無別？為破此疑，故特說佛眼之相——於十方眾生及諸法中無不見、無不聞。這些菩薩，比於其餘菩薩固然為大，然比於佛則「不能遍知」；譬如月光雖比眾星乃至比夜為大，一到白日則隱而不現。這一喻要人記住：十住之於佛，正如月光之於日光，非是全無光明，而是大光現前則小光不彰——五眼層層排列的「見與不見」，到這裡才逼出佛眼獨尊的分際。
十二、五眼互見的九重層次——凡有「見」對「不見」皆未圓。 這一分最見工夫的，是把肉、天、慧、法、佛五眼兩兩、三三乃至四四地排出「見與不見」的層層組合：肉眼見而天眼不見（未離欲凡夫），天眼見而慧眼不見（凡夫得天眼神通），慧眼見而法眼不見（未離欲聲聞不知度生道），法眼見而佛眼不見（菩薩得道種智而未成佛），直到肉天慧法四眼齊見而佛眼獨不見（初得無生忍未捨肉身之菩薩）。這一長串窮舉不是炫巧，而是要逼出一個結論——凡有一分「見」對著一分「不見」，就都還不是圓滿；唯佛眼觀法，才真正無所不見、無所不聞、無所不覺、無所不識。經末所以說般若能生五眼：五眼皆攝於善法，善法皆攝於六度，六度又以般若為本，故學五眼即是學般若，不久當作佛。
十三、神通波羅蜜——六通逐一，皆自性空、除為薩婆若心。 經把六神通逐一鋪開，須知其各有所照，非籠統一說。如意神通：能動大地、一身變無數身還為一身、隱顯自在、穿山壁樹木如行空中、履水如地、凌虛如鳥、出沒地中如出入水、身出煙炎如大火聚、身中出水如雪山水流，乃至摩捫日月、上通梵天而身得自在。天耳神通：以清淨天耳過於人耳，聞天聲、人聲二種。他心神通：如實知他眾生心——有欲知有欲、離欲知離欲，瞋與離瞋、癡與離癡、渴愛與無渴愛、有受與無受、攝與散、小與大、定與亂、解脫與不解脫、有上與無上，凡二十種心一一如實而知。宿命神通：念一心乃至百心、一日乃至百歲、一劫乃至無數百千萬億劫世，於某處是何姓何名、如是生食壽限苦樂、是中死彼處生，有相有因緣。天眼神通：見眾生死時生時、端正醜陋、惡處好處、若大若小，知其隨業因緣——三業惡、謗聖受邪見者墮惡道生地獄，三業善、不謗聖受正見者入善道生天上，兼見十方恆沙世界眾生生死。漏盡神通：雖得漏盡而不墮二乘地、乃至菩提不依異法。可是每一種神通說完，都緊接同一句收束：不著此神通，神通事及己身皆不可得，自性空、自性離、自性無生，不作「我得神通」之念，除為薩婆若心。這重複不是修辭，而是這一分的樞紐——六通各異而一句同歸，正顯神通之為度生之具、非自我之憑。論用大海寶珠作譬：海中種種寶珠各有所能，大乘海中種種菩薩寶亦各有所能，能破惡道、能開善門、能生五眼、能修神通；神通之奇特，在取相多少之間——取空相多則能動地，取地相多則履水如地，取水相多則入地如水，取火相多則身出煙火；至於捫摸日月，則是神通不可思議力令手能及，入火定故月不能令冷、入水定故日不能令熱。同一神通之相無量無數，論但為易解而略說數喻而已。
十四、神通力何以「但至梵世，身得自在」。 這裡有一問須答：神通力明明上通四禪，四禪盡在色界之頂，經何以只說「但至梵世，身得自在」？論答三事。其一，梵天是色界初門，舉初門之「梵世」即已攝盡一切色界，非謂止於梵天而不及上三禪。其二，世人皆以梵王為世界之主而尊貴之，舉其所貴以言自在，最易令人領會。其三，這菩薩不欲在欲界的散亂心中示現自在，故其示現乃至於離欲之人中方能有所作為。三事合看，「但至梵世」不是神通的界限，而是舉初門攝色界、就世所貴而言、且不於散亂處妄現——是說法的分寸，不是能力的封頂。
十五、外道神通與聖人神通之別。 論更點出外道與聖人神通的分野正在著與不著：外道兩錯，一是起吾我心而生憍慢，二是著神通如貪人著寶；菩薩則知一切法自性不生故不著，但念一切種智為度眾生。同是動地分身，著則成縛，不著則成度生之具——這正回到每段末「除為薩婆若心」那一句上。
十六、六度住畢竟空——金剛山四面風不動。 經把六波羅蜜逐一系於「淨薩婆若道、畢竟空」，每一度所以住空各有其由，須逐一點過：住檀波羅蜜而畢竟空者，以不生慳心故——畢竟空中無有慳貪，慳根既斷則檀行純；住尸羅波羅蜜而畢竟空者，以罪不罪不著故——不取有罪無罪之相，戒乃離兩邊；住羼提波羅蜜而畢竟空者，以不瞋故；住毘梨耶波羅蜜而畢竟空者，以身心精進不懈息故；住禪波羅蜜而畢竟空者，以不亂不味故——既不散亂、亦不貪著禪味；住般若波羅蜜而畢竟空者，以不生癡心故。六度各以其對治之空而住薩婆若道，總收則不來不去、不施不受、非戒非犯、非忍非瞋、不進不怠、不定不亂、不智不愚。這不是取消六度，而是論所說的兩事並行：一面觀一切法畢竟空，一面不生慳貪等心，以此二事開薩婆若道。若只念有施則入虛妄而生慢，若只念無施則墮邪見；布施論議本是佛法初門，豈可言無。論以金剛山四面風起而不動作結：菩薩於罵詈讚歎心無有異，正因無生法中無罵者、無害者、無恭敬者。而這「不動」不是聲聞式的默然遠離，菩薩反能深加慈心、愛之如子、方便度之，故勝於二乘。
十七、等心——由眾生等到法等。 經說一句極短卻極重的話：於一切眾生中生等心，由等心得一切法等，再以法等安立一切眾生。論說佛廣說菩薩相則窮劫不盡，故品末只略舉此相為諸菩薩所通行。眾生等，是慈憫四生、一心欲利益而不揀親疏；法等，是觀四念處而不見有身、乃至入一相無相。得此二等，現世即為十方諸佛及一切賢聖所念——愛著之念皆虛妄，唯佛不愛著故其念為實；後世所生眼不見惡色，如生六欲天而五欲隨意。經以「不減於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」收束，正見等心不是修行的裝飾，而是逼近菩提的正因。
十八、三百比丘捨衣、佛微笑，及捨衣非破戒之判。 經以一樁事收全品：三百比丘聞般若品而脫衣上佛、發菩提心，佛微笑放光，授記六十一劫後皆號大相、生阿閦佛國；十千人願生淨土，亦得記號莊嚴王佛。有人疑脫衣是否破戒，論列數解而歸於一個判準：或謂佛過十二歲方結戒、此時未結，或謂別有淨施衣、或謂多知多識能更得不經宿，然究竟一判在於——破戒在於貪瞋怖畏邪見輕佛之心，諸比丘無此心，又知佛法畢竟空、為世諦故結戒而非第一義，故施衣非破。佛之微笑亦非無故，論列八種笑（見妓樂、內懷瞋、憍慢、輕物、事辦歡喜、見不應作而作、懷詐揚善、見希有事）而定此笑為「見希有事」——見一袈裟之施而成未來佛事。這一段把前面五眼、神通、六度、等心的抽象義，落到一件當眾發生的授記之事上：畢竟空不礙業因緣果報相續，不可思議正在於此。
十九、阿難何以常問佛笑、餘比丘不問。 末了一個細問，卻最見這一段的用意：佛兩度微笑，何以每次都是阿難發問，其餘比丘不問？論答二事。其一，那些比丘不親近佛、又敬畏之心多，不敢自問——親近不足則不敢近前，敬難心重則怯於發言。其二，阿難善知人相，能知諸比丘心意，又見佛笑而起疑，作是念：「佛無眾生相、無有法相，知三界如夢如幻，今有何事能令佛笑？佛如須彌山王、大地、大海，不以小因緣故動。」——正因深知佛不以小事而笑，才會為這一笑追問因緣。而佛答阿難的那一句「業因緣果報相續，不可思議」，恰是把全品的樞紐再點一遍：三百比丘六十一劫後成佛、六萬天子彌勒時出家、十千人生莊嚴王佛土，一一皆是業果相續不可思議之事；問笑的因緣，答的卻是畢竟空與業果不相礙這一大義。
不要讀錯
不要把這一分讀成「神通與果位的名相彙編」。五眼的層層窮舉、六神通的逐一鋪陳、六度的重列，若抽掉每段末「不著、畢竟空、除為薩婆若心」那一句，就全盤讀反了——那一句才是這一分的骨。也不要把「畢竟空」誤解為取消神通與六度：經明明是住六度、修神通而後言空，空是不著其相，不是廢其事。更不要把「不動如金剛山」誤認作冷漠遠離；經論特意分判，菩薩的不動裡有比二乘更深的慈悲。
不要把十九對分別知讀成一堆同義的排比。退／不退、受記／未受記、一生補處／未一生補處……每一對都是法眼在一味空中照出的一重真實位次，缺一即漏了一分眾生的來歷；尤其「成就眾生」一對裡先人後己、先己後人之別，「有魔」一對裡宿世遮他行道之因，都是實打實的差別，不可囫圇讀過。
不要把佛眼的「聞」與六識的「見聞覺識」混作一團。佛眼說「聞」，是就一切種智於聲塵無不照而立，不是眼去聽聲；六識分見、聞、識、覺四名，是依助道多少、知世間出世間、所緣善惡無記三層差別而定——兩處各有分際，不是同一套字的重複。
不要把「末後身受魔」讀成菩薩真有未了之惡業。那是佛為破偏行者息慈之隙、破天龍鬼神撥無因果之疑而作的示現，「雖無罪因緣實魔來，以方便力故現有魔」——是應機的現，不是業債的討。
最後，三百比丘授記與阿難問笑不是與前文無關的故事尾巴。捨衣得記，是畢竟空與業果不相礙的當場印證；阿難獨問而佛答以「業因緣果報相續不可思議」，正是把全品的樞紐再點一遍。
修行作用
這一分可作一面驗心之鏡。凡自覺於見解、能力、布施、忍辱上有所長進時，便以經末那一句自問：我是否在「得」上起了「我得」之念？這見、這能、這施，是攀成新的自我，還是仍歸於畢竟空、仍除為薩婆若心？若一起「我能見、我能施、我能忍」之念，便如外道著神通、如慳者惜一錢；若能於動地分身之際仍知自性不生，於罵讚交至之際仍如金剛山不動，便是把五眼與六度真正修在了空上。
五眼互見那九重層次，也堪日用自照：自己此刻所見所行，是停在哪一重「見」上、又對著哪一重「不見」？記住凡有一分見對一分不見便未圓滿，就不會把一得之見當作究竟。十九對分別知則提醒：看人不可一概而論，退與不退、先人後己與先己後人、有魔與無魔，各有因緣位次——待己待人，都當如法眼那樣於一味中見其萬別，才不致以己度人、以一律齊。
等心一段尤可日用：對親對怨、對可愛色與不可愛色，能否生一味平等？能答好這一問，便已走在「不減於菩提」的路上。而阿難問笑、佛答「業因緣果報相續不可思議」，最堪常記——凡於因果起斷滅疑、或於小善輕忽不為者，只須想這一笑之下便是六十一劫後的成佛：畢竟空從不礙業果相續，一袈裟之施亦可成未來佛事。
承衍
後來讀往生品之下者，各就己所重取一段。有從法眼段拈出「若證四諦即成辟支佛」以明二乘與菩薩留惑度生之別的，有引「從一佛國至一佛國」以證常值諸佛之行的，有專取慧眼「見真境名慧眼」以釋五眼次第的，也有獨標卷末三百比丘脫衣上佛、佛舉手微笑一節以顯發心得記之速的。這些取用各有偏重，並錄而不判高下；把它們帶回本分，最堪守的仍是經文自身反覆叮嚀的那一句——見一切而不著所見，能一切而不著所能，施忍定慧俱行而俱歸畢竟空，則五眼登於佛眼、神通與六度同一味、等心終成授記，皆不出「除為薩婆若心」六字之外。
Rebirth, Last Part: The Five Eyes Culminate in the Buddha-Eye, Supernormal Powers and the Six Perfections Return Alike to Ultimate Emptiness, and the Even Mind at Last Becomes a Prediction
What Is Being Asked
By this point in the Chapter on Rebirth the sūtra has asked three questions of “how is it purified?” one after another: how the Dharma-eye is purified, how the buddha-eye is purified, how the perfection of supernormal powers is cultivated; it then asks how the six perfections abide in ultimate emptiness and how a bodhisattva gives rise to an even mind toward all beings, and it closes with three hundred bhikṣus who give up their robes and receive a prediction. On the surface this completes the five eyes, lays out the supernormal powers, and lists the six perfections once more, as though gathering up names and marks; but what this part really sets out to answer is a more fundamental question: since the bodhisattva has the capacity to see everything, transform everything, and give everything, by what right do these capacities not turn into a new conceit of self and a new bondage? The answer lies in the same words that recur again and again at the end of every passage—not attaching, not forming the thought, except for the mind of sarvajñā, ultimate emptiness. The Chapter on Rebirth began at the head of the fascicle by asking “from where is one born?”; by now it has turned into asking “carrying such seeing and such capacity, how is one still empty, still turned toward omniscience?”
Beneath this lie several fine questions that slip by easily and must each be accounted for. Since the Dharma-eye has already cut off the three fetters and become a srota-āpanna, why does the sūtra single out only “obtaining the five faculties”? That long string in the sūtra, “knowing this bodhisattva to regress, knowing this bodhisattva not to regress”—how many pairs does it actually set out, and what does each pair point to? Since this is a great bodhisattva in his final body, why must he still receive the retribution of evil karma, and be assailed by Māra? The eye is plainly the organ of “seeing”; why then is the buddha-eye also said to “hear”? The six consciousnesses are alike consciousness; why is that of the eye called seeing, that of the ear hearing, that of mind cognising, while the three consciousnesses of nose, tongue and body are named together as “sensing”? Since supernormal power reaches up to the fourth dhyāna, why does the sūtra say only “as far as the Brahmā world”? Finally, the Buddha smiles twice—why is it Ānanda who asks each time, and the other bhikṣus do not ask? These look like side issues, yet they are precisely where this part makes its account of “seeing and capacity” watertight.
Passage by Passage
1. Why the five eyes arise one from another in sequence—why the Dharma-eye is called the Dharma-eye. In explaining the Dharma-eye, the treatise does not first gloss the word; it first traces where it comes from. When the bodhisattva first arouses the mind, he sees with the fleshly eye the beings of the world undergoing all kinds of suffering and affliction, and gives rise to kindness and pity; in order to rescue them he trains in the meditations and cultivates and obtains the five supernormal powers; with the divine eye he sees everywhere the beings of the six destinies receiving all kinds of suffering of body and mind, his pity deepens, and so he seeks the wisdom-eye in order to rescue them; having obtained the wisdom-eye, he sees that the marks of beings’ minds differ in all kinds of ways, and ponders how to let beings obtain this real Dharma, and so he further seeks the Dharma-eye, to guide beings and lead them into the Dharma—the name “Dharma-eye” falls precisely on the words ‘guiding them into the Dharma.’ This passage is the eye of the whole part: the five eyes are not five skills set side by side, but arise layer upon layer, each layer of compassionate mind pressing forth one more eye. The fleshly eye sees suffering, the divine eye sees everywhere, the wisdom-eye sees emptiness; and at the Dharma-eye one must see anew, within emptiness, the various roads and stages of beings, so as to lead people in one by one. What the wisdom-eye sees in emptiness is of a single flavour; the Dharma-eye, however, must distinguish, within that single-flavoured emptiness, a thousand differing gates for liberating beings—this is exactly the watershed between the wisdom-eye and the Dharma-eye.
2. The first use of the Dharma-eye: distinguishing the gates by which the two vehicles attain the path. The sūtra first sets out its account in terms of the śrāvaka path: there are three kinds of disposition—the follower by faith, the follower by Dharma, and the signless practitioner. One of dull faculties who attains the path by the power of faith is called a follower by faith; one of sharp faculties who attains the path by discriminating dharmas is called a follower by Dharma; since in the fifteen mind-moments of the path of seeing these two are so swift that no one can grasp their mark, they are also called signless practitioners. Further, according to the nature of beings’ past habituation each has his own point of entry: one whose nature loves the real uses the emptiness gate of liberation; one who likes to practise relinquishment uses the non-action gate of liberation; one who delights in wholesome stillness uses the signless gate of liberation. By this one obtains the five faculties, obtains the uninterrupted samādhi, obtains the knowledge of liberation, cuts off the three fetters of the view of self (the view of existing aggregates), doubt, and attachment to rules and observances (attachment to fasts and precepts), and becomes a srota-āpanna; in due order thinning the three poisons one heads for sakṛdāgāmin, cutting off lust and hatred one attains anāgāmin, cutting off attachment to form and the formless and on to conceit and restlessness one reaches arhatship; and separately there are those who contemplate 「集法皆滅法」 tr. "whatever is of the nature to arise is all of the nature to cease" and become pratyekabuddhas. This whole passage seems to be speaking of the fruits and stages of the two vehicles, but in fact it defines the first kind of use of the bodhisattva’s Dharma-eye—discriminating and knowing the gates of skilful means by which the two vehicles attain the path.
3. Why the Dharma-eye speaks only of “obtaining the five faculties”—the three faculties free of outflows are no different. Here a fine question must be answered clearly: the progression of fruits and stages plainly involves all kinds of wholesome roots, so why does the sūtra single out “obtaining the five faculties” as the pivot? The treatise answers: all of the noble path may be named in sum the five faculties (faith, vigour, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom), because the noble path depends entirely on these five faculties for its establishment. Question: among the twenty-two faculties there are plainly the three faculties free of outflows—the faculty of coming to know the not-yet-known, the faculty of knowing, and the faculty of complete knowing—so why not state them as well? The treatise answers: these three faculties free of outflows are only different names for one and the same wisdom free of outflows at the three stages of the path of seeing, the path of cultivation, and the path of no-more-training; their substance is not different, so they need not be set up separately, and they are wholly included in the faculty of wisdom among the five faculties—so to speak only of five faculties is not to leave out the three faculties free of outflows; rather, the three faculties free of outflows are from the outset not outside the five faculties. Once this layer is understood, the phrase “obtaining the five faculties” is no longer a name and mark mentioned in passing, but a concise statement that gathers the whole of the noble path into the five faculties.
4. Why cutting off three fetters, and not seven. What is cut off on the path of seeing is originally ten fetters; on attaining the fruit of srota-āpanna, why does the sūtra speak only of cutting off three and not of cutting off seven? The treatise answers with great measure: once “the view of existing aggregates” has been stated, the root of all the fetters of view has already been fully stated, as the sūtra says, 「有眾見為六十二見根本」 tr. "the view of existing aggregates is the root of the sixty-two views"—once a person clings to a self, he ponders whether the self is permanent or impermanent; reckoning it impermanent, he falls into the extreme view of annihilation and gives rise to wrong view; reckoning it permanent, he falls into the view of permanence and gives rise to attachment to rules and observances and attachment to views; so the single “view of existing aggregates” fully includes the two views of extreme view and wrong view, and the single “attachment to rules and observances” fully includes attachment to views. The remaining four fetters have not had their roots pulled out, so they are not spoken of separately. This is a matter of measure in the sūtra’s wording, not an omission; and these ten fetters, divided out according to what is cut off with respect to the four truths in the three realms, in fact amount to eighty-eight latent tendencies.
5. The second use of the Dharma-eye: knowing the bodhisattva’s path of practice by skilful means—first knowing the cause, then knowing the fruit. The sūtra then turns at once to the second kind of use of the Dharma-eye: it knows that a certain bodhisattva, from first arousing the thought, has deeply practised the six perfections and his afflictions have gradually thinned, and that using the faculty of faith, the faculty of vigour and the power of skilful means he takes on bodies in order to liberate beings—born now among the great families of kṣatriyas, brahmins or householders, now in the Heaven of the Four Kings and on up to the Heaven Sovereign over Others’ Transformations—and that there he brings beings to maturity, purifies buddha-worlds, meets buddhas, and never falls to the ground of the two vehicles. Here there is a distinction easily slid over: this bodhisattva is a ‘fleshly body of birth and death,’ has not yet obtained the dharma-nature body of supernormal powers, and is not yet free of desire; therefore at this point the sūtra speaks only of the two faculties of faith and vigour and not of the three faculties free of outflows—which corresponds exactly with the third passage, ‘the three faculties free of outflows are no different’: where they are present, all five faculties are spoken of; here, in a fleshly body not yet free of desire, not even the faculties free of outflows have arisen. And the Dharma-eye here ‘first knows the cause (in this life practising giving and perfecting the two faculties of faith and vigour), then knows the fruit (in a later life being born into a great clan, and even into heavenly realms)’—both ends, cause and fruit, lie within the illumination of the Dharma-eye.
6. Knowing by distinction in nineteen pairs—the real meaning of the Dharma-eye seeing anew, within emptiness, ten thousand differences. At the last the sūtra sets out a long string of “knowing this bodhisattva to regress, knowing this bodhisattva not to regress.” This is not a tiresome checklist; it is exactly where the real meaning lies by which the Dharma-eye is the Dharma-eye, and each pair must be pointed out in turn. One, regressing / not regressing: as the marks of non-retrogression are described in the Chapter on the Avaivartika, what runs contrary to them is called regressing. Two, having received a prediction / not having received a prediction: non-regressing bodhisattvas are further of two kinds, those who have received a prediction and those who have not, as the Śūraṃgama Samādhi describes four kinds of receiving a prediction. Three, having reached the ground of avaivartika / not having reached it. Four, complete in supernormal powers / not complete: to be able, in worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges in the ten directions, at one time to transform immeasurable bodies, make offerings to buddhas, hear the Dharma, teach the Dharma and liberate beings, such that none but a buddha can equal him—this is the “completeness” of a bodhisattva in his final body; to lack nothing on each one’s own ground is called complete, and not to have accomplished it is called not complete. Five, having obtained supernormal powers / not having obtained supernormal powers: obtaining is further divided into using and not using; not obtaining is due to being newly resolved, not yet free of desire, being slack, or practising other dharmas. Six, about to purify a buddha-world / not purifying. Seven, bringing beings to maturity / not bringing them to maturity: this pair is the one most worth savouring closely; bringing to maturity is of two kinds—there are those who first perfect their own merit and afterwards liberate beings, and there are those who first bring beings to maturity and afterwards perfect their own merit; as when the Buddha Jewel Flower, about to enter nirvāṇa, observed the minds of two bodhisattvas, Maitreya and Śākyamuni: Maitreya’s own merit was perfected but his disciples were not yet matured, Śākyamuni’s disciples were matured but he himself was not yet perfected; because bringing many people to maturity is hard and perfecting oneself is easy, Śākyamuni, seeing the Buddha, stood on one foot and for seven days and seven nights praised the Buddha with a single verse, and thereupon leapt over nine kalpas—one who puts others first and himself after practises what is harder and swifter. Eight, praised by the buddhas / not praised. Nine, drawing near to the buddhas / not drawing near. Ten, lifespan limited / unlimited. Eleven, assembly of bhikṣus limited / unlimited. Twelve, having bodhisattvas as his saṅgha / not having bodhisattvas as his saṅgha. Thirteen, about to practise austerities / not practising austerities. Fourteen, bound to one more birth / not bound to one more birth: one bound to one more birth may be known by his marks, as the seer Asita observed the marks of Siddhārtha’s body and knew he would become a buddha in this very life, and the brahmin Shanruo, seeing the milk-gruel, knew that one who would become a buddha that very day should eat it; and as the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra, Avalokiteśvara, Mañjuśrī and others, seeing this bodhisattva complete with the marks of the buddhas, know that he will become a buddha. Fifteen, having taken the final body / not having taken the final body. Sixteen, able to sit at the seat of awakening / unable to sit at the seat of awakening: as to sitting at the seat of awakening, some know it by seeing a vajra ground beneath the earth where he walks bearing him up, and gods, dragons, ghosts and spirits bringing the implements of offering to the seat of awakening. Seventeen, having Māra / having no Māra: one who has Māra, in a former life obstructed others in practising the path, and also liked to practise emptiness and the like but did not delight in practising kindness; because of the cause of having in a former life broken others’ practice of the path, Māra now comes to break and ruin him. In this exhaustive enumeration, every phrase is a stage, a set of causes and conditions, a difference that the Dharma-eye illuminates anew within the single flavour of emptiness—the wisdom-eye stops here, but the Dharma-eye must see here, without a hair’s error, each bodhisattva’s whence and whither, so as to guide him into the Dharma according to his material.
7. Why the bodhisattva in his final body receives the retribution of evil karma and is ruined by Māra. This is the difficulty most apt to raise doubt: since he is a great bodhisattva in his final body on the verge of buddhahood, why does he still receive the retribution of evil karma and have Māra come to ruin him? The treatise answers in two layers. First it answers with ‘practising the gate of vigour and wisdom while setting kindness and compassion to rest’: the gates by which bodhisattvas enter the Buddha-path are not one—some enter by the gate of compassion, some by the gates of vigour and wisdom; bodhisattvas of this kind practise vigour and wisdom one-sidedly and for a time set to rest the mind of kindness and compassion, just as a noble person, though he has all kinds of fine clothes, at times wears only one and does not wear the rest—one who cultivates all kinds of practice at times practises only the single road of vigour and wisdom, with kindness and compassion drawn in for a while, and so in the causal ground leaves behind a condition for meeting Māra. Next it answers with ‘the Buddha deliberately displays the receiving of retribution’: those long-lived gods, dragons, ghosts and spirits who do not understand skilful means, seeing that a bodhisattva has causes and conditions of evil action and yet receives no retribution, would give rise to the annihilationist view that ‘evil deeds have no retribution’; in order to break this annihilationist view, the Buddha, though in truth he has no causes and conditions of wrongdoing that would summon Māra, still by the power of skilful means displays the presence of Māra and displays the receiving of retribution. Therefore the final-body bodhisattva’s receiving retribution and being ruined by Māra is not an unfinished evil karma of the bodhisattva truly coming to collect its debt, but a display in response to the occasion—on the one hand breaking the gap left by one-sided practitioners who set kindness to rest, on the other breaking the doubt of gods, dragons, ghosts and spirits who deny cause and effect.
8. The buddha-eye—the vajra-like samādhi, omniscience of all kinds; why kindness and compassion are also called an eye. The sūtra places the buddha-eye upon the vajra-like samādhi and omniscience of all kinds: the bodhisattva abides in the tenth ground complete in the six perfections, enters the vajra-like samādhi and breaks the residual habits of the afflictions, and at once obtains the unobstructed liberation of the buddhas and gives rise to the buddha-eye; of all dharmas there is nothing he does not see, nothing he does not hear, nothing he does not know, nothing he does not cognise. Here a doubt readily arises: since only wisdom seeing things is called an eye, how can great kindness and great compassion also count as the buddha-eye? The treatise answers: all merits are associated with the wisdom-eye, and so are all named eyes; and kindness and compassion are further of three grades—ordinary beings take beings as their object; śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas and bodhisattvas first take beings as their object and afterwards dharmas; only the buddhas, having thoroughly cultivated ultimate emptiness, abide in great kindness without object; therefore kindness and compassion are themselves the buddha-eye. The three kinds of kindness and compassion go one layer deeper than the last, and at great kindness without object they are already of one flavour with ultimate emptiness—kindness is wisdom, compassion is the eye; so to list great kindness and great compassion within the buddha-eye is no forced matching.
9. The eye has the mark of seeing; why is the buddha-eye said to “hear”? The sūtra says the buddha-eye has 「無法不聞」 tr. "no dharma it does not hear," and a doubt follows at once: the eye has the mark of seeing, so how can it be said to hear? The treatise’s answer is plain and penetrating. First, beings’ wisdom arises from the six faculties and knows the six sense-objects throughout; seeing is certainly knowing, and hearing too is knowing; this “eye” is named with respect to knowing everything throughout, and is not confined to the seeing of the eye-faculty. Second, some in the world say there is something the Buddha has not heard—for instance, that in the scriptures of the outside paths there may be things the Buddha has not heard; to block this claim, it is specially said that the Buddha’s wisdom has nothing it does not hear. Third, the causes and conditions of ear-consciousness can also give rise to wisdom, and what this wisdom knows is expressed as “no dharma it does not hear.” It is plain, then, that the “hearing” of the buddha-eye is not the eye going off to listen to sounds, but the Buddha’s omniscience of all kinds leaving not one part of the sense-object of sound unilluminated—saying “hear” serves exactly to supply that portion belonging to sound within “nothing he does not know,” lest people think the buddha-eye sees only form and leaves sound out.
10. Why among the six consciousnesses that of the eye is called seeing, that of the ear hearing, that of mind cognising, while those of nose, tongue and body are named together as sensing. Following on from the above there is a further question: what the six consciousnesses know is alike, so why is it analysed into four names—eye-consciousness called seeing, ear-consciousness called hearing, what mind-consciousness knows called cognising, while the three consciousnesses of nose, tongue and body are combined and named “sensing”? The treatise answers with three reasons. First, the three consciousnesses of eye, ear and mind have many dharmas that aid the path (the eye sees the Buddha, the ear hears the Dharma, the mind deliberates and rightly recollects—all are steps into the path), so each is given its own name; the three consciousnesses of nose, tongue and body are of little use in aiding the path, so they are combined into one. Second, the three consciousnesses of nose, tongue and body know only worldly matters, so they are combined into one; the three consciousnesses of eye, ear and mind know both the worldly and the world-transcending, so they are spoken of separately. Third, the three consciousnesses of nose, tongue and body take only indeterminate dharmas as object, while the three consciousnesses of eye, ear and mind take now the wholesome, now the unwholesome, now the indeterminate as object. Seen together, the three reasons divide the matters known by the six consciousnesses into four portions—seeing, hearing, cognising, sensing—and this is not an arbitrary allocation of names and marks but is fixed according to three layers of difference: ‘how much they aid the path, whether they know the worldly and the world-transcending, and whether their objects are wholesome, unwholesome or indeterminate.’ This passage follows exactly upon the preceding one, ‘why the buddha-eye is said to hear’: first it is made clear that the buddha-eye leaves none of the six sense-objects unilluminated, and then why the six consciousnesses are given separate names, so that the reader will not mistake “seeing, hearing, sensing, cognising” for repeated words for one and the same thing.
11. The bodhisattva of the ten abidings is still small beside the Buddha—the simile of moonlight, though greater, not showing in the sun. Of the use of the buddha-eye, the sūtra first says in general, “there is no dharma it does not see, not hear, not know, not cognise.” Here the treatise inserts a layer of resolving doubt: some say that the great bodhisattvas of the ten abidings, such as Samantabhadra, Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara and others, are already complete in the Buddha’s merits of the ten powers and yet do not become buddhas, keeping their afflictions and not realising only for the sake of liberating beings widely—if so, would the bodhisattvas of the ten abidings not be no different from the Buddha? To break this doubt, the marks of the buddha-eye are specially stated—among the beings and dharmas of the ten directions there is nothing it does not see, nothing it does not hear. These bodhisattvas, compared with other bodhisattvas, are certainly great, yet compared with the Buddha they “cannot know throughout”; just as moonlight, though greater than all the stars and even than the night, hides and does not show once the full day comes. This simile asks us to remember: the ten abidings stand to the Buddha as moonlight to sunlight—not that there is no light at all, but that when the great light is present the small light is not manifest—the “seeing and not seeing” arranged layer upon layer through the five eyes only here presses forth the boundary of the buddha-eye’s sole supremacy.
12. The nine layers of the five eyes seeing one another—wherever a “seeing” stands against a “not seeing,” none is yet complete. Where this part shows its greatest workmanship is in setting out the fleshly, divine, wisdom, Dharma and buddha eyes, two by two, three by three and even four by four, in layer upon layer of combinations of “seeing and not seeing”: what the fleshly eye sees and the divine eye does not see (an ordinary person not yet free of desire); what the divine eye sees and the wisdom-eye does not see (an ordinary person who has obtained the supernormal power of the divine eye); what the wisdom-eye sees and the Dharma-eye does not see (a śrāvaka not yet free of desire, who does not know the path of liberating beings); what the Dharma-eye sees and the buddha-eye does not see (a bodhisattva who has obtained the knowledge of the kinds of paths but has not yet become a buddha); on to what the four eyes—fleshly, divine, wisdom, Dharma—all see together and the buddha-eye alone does not see (a bodhisattva who has first obtained the acceptance of non-arising and has not yet given up the fleshly body). This long exhaustive enumeration is not a display of cleverness; it aims to press forth one conclusion—wherever one portion of “seeing” stands against one portion of “not seeing,” it is still not complete; only the buddha-eye, contemplating dharmas, truly has nothing it does not see, nothing it does not hear, nothing it does not sense, nothing it does not cognise. This is why at the end the sūtra says prajñā can give rise to the five eyes: the five eyes are all included in wholesome dharmas, wholesome dharmas are all included in the six perfections, and the six perfections in turn have prajñā as their root; so to train in the five eyes is to train in prajñā, and before long one will become a buddha.
13. The perfection of supernormal powers—the six powers one by one, all empty of own-nature, except for the mind of sarvajñā. The sūtra lays out the six supernormal powers one by one, and it must be understood that each has what it illuminates, not to be spoken of all in a lump. The supernormal power of magical feats: able to shake the great earth; to transform one body into countless bodies and turn them back into one; to be hidden or manifest at will; to pass through mountains, walls and trees as though moving through empty space; to walk on water as on earth; to ride the void like a bird; to sink into and emerge from the earth as though entering and leaving water; for the body to emit smoke and flame like a great mass of fire; for water to come forth from the body like the streams of the Snowy Mountains; even to stroke the sun and moon, and to reach up to the Brahmā heavens with the body at ease. The supernormal power of the divine ear: with the pure divine ear surpassing the human ear, hearing two kinds of sound, the sounds of gods and the sounds of humans. The supernormal power of knowing others’ minds: knowing as they truly are the minds of other beings—a mind with desire known as with desire, a mind free of desire known as free of desire; with hatred and free of hatred, with delusion and free of delusion, with craving and without craving, with grasping and without grasping, collected and scattered, small and great, concentrated and distracted, liberated and not liberated, surpassable and unsurpassable—twenty kinds of mind in all, each known as it truly is. The supernormal power of recollecting past lives: recollecting one mind-moment up to a hundred mind-moments, one day up to a hundred years, one kalpa up to countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of kalpas and ages—in such a place of such a clan and such a name, being born, eating, the span of life, suffering and pleasure thus, dying here and being born there, with marks and with causes and conditions. The supernormal power of the divine eye: seeing beings at the time of death and the time of birth, handsome and ugly, in evil places and good places, great or small, knowing that they go according to the causes and conditions of their karma—those whose three kinds of action are evil, who slander the noble ones and hold wrong views, fall into the evil destinies and are born in the hells; those whose three kinds of action are good, who do not slander the noble ones and hold right view, enter the good destinies and are born in the heavens; and also seeing the births and deaths of beings in worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges in the ten directions. The supernormal power of the exhaustion of the outflows: though having attained the exhaustion of the outflows, not falling to the ground of the two vehicles, and on up to awakening not relying on any other dharma. Yet as each supernormal power is finished, it is followed at once by the same closing sentence: not attaching to this supernormal power; the matter of the supernormal power and one’s own body are both unfindable, empty of own-nature, apart from own-nature, of own-nature unarising; not forming the thought ‘I have obtained supernormal powers,’ except for the mind of sarvajñā. This repetition is not rhetoric but the pivot of this part—the six powers differ, yet a single sentence returns them all alike to one place, which shows that supernormal powers are an instrument for liberating beings, not something the self relies on. The treatise uses the jewels of the great ocean as a simile: the various jewels in the ocean each have their own abilities, and the various bodhisattva-jewels in the ocean of the Mahāyāna likewise each have their own abilities—able to destroy the evil destinies, able to open the gates of good, able to give rise to the five eyes, able to cultivate supernormal powers; the wonder of supernormal power lies in how much of a mark is grasped—grasping much of the mark of emptiness, one can shake the earth; grasping much of the mark of earth, one walks on water as on earth; grasping much of the mark of water, one enters the earth as though it were water; grasping much of the mark of fire, the body emits smoke and fire; as for stroking the sun and moon, it is the inconceivable power of supernormal power that lets the hand reach them, and because one has entered the fire-concentration the moon cannot make one cold, and because one has entered the water-concentration the sun cannot make one hot. The marks of one and the same supernormal power are immeasurable and countless; the treatise merely states a few similes in brief for ease of understanding.
14. Why supernormal power goes “only as far as the Brahmā world, with the body at ease.” Here a question must be answered: supernormal power plainly reaches up to the fourth dhyāna, and the fourth dhyāna lies wholly at the summit of the form realm; why does the sūtra say only 「但至梵世，身得自在」 tr. "only as far as the Brahmā world, with the body at ease"? The treatise answers with three points. First, the Brahmā heaven is the first gate of the form realm; to name the “Brahmā world” of the first gate is already to include the entire form realm, not to say that it stops at the Brahmā heaven and does not reach the upper three dhyānas. Second, people in the world all take the Brahmā king as the lord of the world and honour him; to speak of being at ease by naming what they honour is what lets people grasp it most easily. Third, this bodhisattva does not wish to display his ease within the scattered mind of the desire realm, so his display reaches to where, among those free of desire, something can be done. Seen together, the three points show that “only as far as the Brahmā world” is not the limit of supernormal power, but names the first gate to include the form realm, speaks in terms of what the world honours, and does not make a false display in a scattered place—it is a matter of measure in the teaching, not a ceiling on capacity.
15. The difference between the supernormal powers of the outside paths and those of the noble ones. The treatise further points out that the division between the supernormal powers of the outside paths and those of the noble ones lies precisely in attaching or not attaching: the outside paths err in two ways—one, they give rise to a mind of I and mine and produce arrogance; two, they attach to supernormal powers as a greedy man attaches to treasure; the bodhisattva, knowing that all dharmas are of own-nature unarising, does not attach, but is mindful only of omniscience of all kinds for the sake of liberating beings. Shaking the earth and dividing the body alike—with attachment it becomes bondage, without attachment it becomes an instrument for liberating beings—this comes right back to that sentence at the end of every passage, “except for the mind of sarvajñā.”
16. The six perfections abiding in ultimate emptiness—the vajra mountain unmoved by wind from four sides. The sūtra ties the six perfections one by one to ‘purifying the path of sarvajñā, ultimate emptiness,’ and each perfection has its own ground for abiding in emptiness, which must be pointed out one by one. Abiding in the perfection of dāna and in ultimate emptiness is by not giving rise to a stingy mind—in ultimate emptiness there is no stinginess and greed, and once the root of stinginess is cut the practice of giving is pure. Abiding in the perfection of śīla and in ultimate emptiness is by not attaching to offence or non-offence—not grasping the marks of offence and non-offence, morality departs from the two extremes. Abiding in the perfection of kṣānti and in ultimate emptiness is by not being angry. Abiding in the perfection of vīrya and in ultimate emptiness is by the vigour of body and mind never slackening or resting. Abiding in the perfection of dhyāna and in ultimate emptiness is by not being distracted and not relishing—neither scattered nor greedily attached to the flavour of meditation. Abiding in the perfection of prajñā and in ultimate emptiness is by not giving rise to a deluded mind. Each of the six perfections abides on the path of sarvajñā by the emptiness that counters its opposite; gathered together, it is neither coming nor going, neither giving nor receiving, neither morality nor transgression, neither patience nor anger, neither advancing nor slackening, neither concentrated nor distracted, neither wise nor foolish. This is not an abolishing of the six perfections, but the two things running together of which the treatise speaks: on the one hand contemplating all dharmas as ultimately empty, on the other not giving rise to stinginess, greed and the other minds; with these two things one opens the path of sarvajñā. If one thinks only that there is giving, one enters the false and gives rise to conceit; if one thinks only that there is no giving, one falls into wrong view; discourse on giving is from the first the opening gate of the Buddha-Dharma—how could one say there is none? The treatise concludes with the vajra mountain, which does not move when wind rises from its four sides: the bodhisattva’s mind makes no difference between abuse and praise, precisely because in the dharma of non-arising there is no abuser, no harmer, no one who reveres. And this “not moving” is not a śrāvaka-style silent withdrawal; the bodhisattva, on the contrary, is able to deepen his kind mind, love them like children, and liberate them by skilful means, and so he surpasses the two vehicles.
17. The even mind—from the evenness of beings to the evenness of dharmas. The sūtra speaks a sentence extremely short yet extremely weighty: to give rise to an even mind toward all beings, through the even mind to obtain the evenness of all dharmas, and then with the evenness of dharmas to establish all beings. The treatise says that were the Buddha to expound the marks of the bodhisattva at length it would not be exhausted in a kalpa, so at the end of the chapter he briefly cites only these marks, which all bodhisattvas practise in common. The evenness of beings is to pity the four modes of birth with kindness, wishing single-mindedly to benefit them without picking out near and far; the evenness of dharmas is to contemplate the four foundations of mindfulness without seeing that there is a body, on up to entering the one mark, the signless. Obtaining these two evennesses, in this life one is kept in mind by the buddhas of the ten directions and all the worthies and noble ones—thoughts of loving attachment are all false; only the Buddha, having no loving attachment, has a thought that is real; in later lives, where one is born the eye sees no evil forms, as when born in the six desire heavens the five desires come as one wishes. The sūtra closes with 「不減於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "not falling short of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi," which shows that the even mind is not an ornament of practice but the direct cause for drawing near to awakening.
18. The three hundred bhikṣus give up their robes and the Buddha smiles; and the ruling that giving up the robe is not breaking the precepts. The sūtra gathers up the whole chapter with one event: three hundred bhikṣus, hearing the chapter on prajñā, took off their robes and offered them up to the Buddha and aroused the mind of awakening; the Buddha smiled and emitted light, and predicted that after sixty-one kalpas they would all be named Great Mark and would be born in the land of Akṣobhya Buddha; ten thousand people vowed to be born in the pure land, and they too received the prediction of being named the Buddha Adornment King. Someone doubts whether taking off the robe breaks the precepts; the treatise lists several explanations and returns to a single criterion: some say the Buddha laid down the precepts only after twelve years, and they were not yet laid down at this time; some say there were separate robes of pure giving; some say that, knowing many people and having many acquaintances, they could obtain others again without passing the night; but the final ruling lies in this—breaking the precepts lies in a mind of greed, hatred, fear, wrong view or making light of the Buddha; these bhikṣus had no such mind, and moreover knew that the Buddha-Dharma is ultimately empty and that the precepts are laid down for the sake of worldly truth and not of the highest meaning; therefore giving the robes is not a breach. Nor is the Buddha’s smile without reason: the treatise lists eight kinds of smiling (on seeing entertainers and music, harbouring anger within, arrogance, slighting others, joy that a matter is accomplished, seeing what ought not to be done being done, harbouring deceit while displaying goodness, and seeing a rare matter) and fixes this smile as “seeing a rare matter”—seeing that from the gift of a kāṣāya robe the work of a future buddha is accomplished. This passage brings down the abstract meanings of the five eyes, supernormal powers, the six perfections and the even mind that went before onto an event of prediction happening before the assembly: ultimate emptiness does not obstruct the continuity of karma, causes and conditions, fruits and retribution, and the inconceivable lies precisely here.
19. Why Ānanda always asks about the Buddha’s smile, and the other bhikṣus do not ask. At the last comes a fine question, yet it shows most clearly the intent of this passage: the Buddha smiles twice—why is it Ānanda who asks each time, and the other bhikṣus do not ask? The treatise answers with two points. First, those bhikṣus did not draw near the Buddha and had much reverent awe of him, and did not dare ask for themselves—not drawing near enough, they did not dare come forward; with a heavy mind of reverence and constraint, they were timid about speaking. Second, Ānanda knows people’s marks well and could know the intentions of the bhikṣus; moreover, seeing the Buddha smile, he gave rise to doubt, and formed this thought: 「佛無眾生相、無有法相，知三界如夢如幻，今有何事能令佛笑？佛如須彌山王、大地、大海，不以小因緣故動。」 tr. "The Buddha has no mark of beings and no mark of dharmas; he knows the three realms to be like a dream, like an illusion—what matter now could make the Buddha smile? The Buddha is like Sumeru, king of mountains, like the great earth, like the great ocean; he is not moved by small causes and conditions."—precisely because he knew deeply that the Buddha does not smile at small matters, he pressed to ask the causes and conditions of this smile. And the Buddha’s reply to Ānanda, 「業因緣果報相續，不可思議」 tr. "the continuity of karma, causes and conditions, fruits and retribution is inconceivable," points out the pivot of the whole chapter once more: the three hundred bhikṣus becoming buddhas after sixty-one kalpas, the sixty thousand young gods going forth in the time of Maitreya, the ten thousand people being born in the land of the Buddha Adornment King—each and every one is a matter of the inconceivable continuity of karma and its fruits; what was asked was the cause of the smile, yet what was answered is the great meaning that ultimate emptiness and karmic fruit do not obstruct each other.
Do Not Misread
Do not read this part as “a compilation of names and marks about supernormal powers and fruits and stages.” The layer-upon-layer enumeration of the five eyes, the one-by-one laying out of the six supernormal powers, the relisting of the six perfections—if that sentence at the end of each passage, “not attaching, ultimate emptiness, except for the mind of sarvajñā,” is taken away, the whole is read backwards—that sentence is the backbone of this part. Nor misunderstand “ultimate emptiness” as abolishing supernormal powers and the six perfections: the sūtra plainly abides in the six perfections and cultivates supernormal powers, and only then speaks of emptiness; emptiness is not attaching to their marks, not doing away with their activity. Still less take “unmoving like the vajra mountain” for cold withdrawal; sūtra and treatise deliberately distinguish it: within the bodhisattva’s unmoving there is a compassion deeper than that of the two vehicles.
Do not read the knowing by distinction in nineteen pairs as a pile of synonymous parallel phrases. Regressing / not regressing, having received a prediction / not having received a prediction, bound to one more birth / not bound to one more birth… each pair is one real stage that the Dharma-eye illuminates within the single flavour of emptiness, and to lack one is to leave out one portion of beings’ whence; in particular, within the pair “bringing beings to maturity,” the difference between putting others first and oneself after, and oneself first and others after, and within the pair “having Māra,” the cause of having obstructed others’ practice of the path in a former life, are solid, real differences and must not be swallowed whole.
Do not muddle together the buddha-eye’s “hearing” and the six consciousnesses’ “seeing, hearing, sensing, cognising.” The buddha-eye is said to “hear” on the ground that omniscience of all kinds leaves nothing of the sense-object of sound unilluminated, not that the eye goes off to listen to sounds; the six consciousnesses are divided into the four names of seeing, hearing, cognising and sensing according to three layers of difference—how much they aid the path, whether they know the worldly and the world-transcending, and whether their objects are wholesome, unwholesome or indeterminate—each of the two places has its own boundary, and they are not a repetition of the same set of words.
Do not read “the final body meeting Māra” as the bodhisattva truly having unfinished evil karma. It is a display the Buddha makes to break the gap left by one-sided practitioners who set kindness to rest, and to break the doubt of gods, dragons, ghosts and spirits who deny cause and effect—「雖無罪因緣實魔來，以方便力故現有魔」 tr. "though there are no causes and conditions of wrongdoing by which Māra would really come, by the power of skilful means he displays the presence of Māra"—it is a manifestation in response to the occasion, not the collecting of a karmic debt.
Finally, the prediction of the three hundred bhikṣus and Ānanda’s question about the smile are not a story-tail unrelated to what went before. Giving up the robes and obtaining a prediction is an on-the-spot confirmation that ultimate emptiness and karmic fruit do not obstruct each other; Ānanda alone asking, and the Buddha answering with “the continuity of karma, causes and conditions, fruits and retribution is inconceivable,” is exactly pointing out the pivot of the whole chapter once more.
Bearing on Practice
This part can serve as a mirror for testing the mind. Whenever one feels one has made some progress in understanding, capacity, giving or patience, ask oneself with that sentence at the end of the sūtra: have I, on “obtaining,” given rise to the thought “I have obtained”? This seeing, this capacity, this giving—is it clambering up into a new self, or does it still return to ultimate emptiness, still except for the mind of sarvajñā? The moment the thought “I can see, I can give, I can endure” arises, one is like the outside paths attaching to supernormal powers, like the miser begrudging a single coin; if, at the very moment of shaking the earth and dividing the body, one can still know that own-nature is unarising, and when abuse and praise come together one can still be unmoving like the vajra mountain, then one has truly cultivated the five eyes and the six perfections upon emptiness.
Those nine layers of the five eyes seeing one another can also serve for daily self-illumination: on which layer of “seeing” does what I now see and do rest, and against which layer of “not seeing” does it stand? Remember that wherever a portion of seeing stands against a portion of not seeing it is not yet complete, and one will not take a single gain in insight for the ultimate. The knowing by distinction in nineteen pairs reminds us that people must not be judged all alike: regressing and not regressing, others first and oneself after or oneself first and others after, having Māra and having no Māra—each has its own causes, conditions and stage; in dealing with oneself and with others, one should, like the Dharma-eye, see within the single flavour its ten thousand differences, so as not to measure others by oneself or level everyone by one rule.
The passage on the even mind is especially fit for daily use: toward kin and toward enemies, toward lovely forms and unlovely forms, can one give rise to a single-flavoured evenness? To answer this question well is already to be walking on the road of “not falling short of awakening.” And Ānanda’s question about the smile, and the Buddha’s answer, “the continuity of karma, causes and conditions, fruits and retribution is inconceivable,” are most worth constantly remembering—whoever raises annihilationist doubts about cause and effect, or makes light of small goods and does not do them, need only think that beneath this one smile lies becoming a buddha after sixty-one kalpas: ultimate emptiness has never obstructed the continuity of karmic fruit, and the gift of a single kāṣāya robe can accomplish the work of a future buddha.
Further Resonances
Later readers of the last part of the Chapter on Rebirth have each taken up a passage according to what they themselves weighed most. Some have picked out from the passage on the Dharma-eye “if one realises the four truths one becomes a pratyekabuddha,” to make clear the difference between the two vehicles and the bodhisattva who keeps his afflictions to liberate beings; some have cited “from one buddha-land to another buddha-land” to attest the practice of always meeting the buddhas; some have taken solely the wisdom-eye’s “seeing the true object is called the wisdom-eye” to explain the sequence of the five eyes; and some have singled out the section at the end of the fascicle in which three hundred bhikṣus took off their robes and offered them up to the Buddha, and the Buddha raised his hand and smiled, to show the swiftness of arousing the mind and obtaining a prediction. These uses each have their own emphasis; they are recorded side by side without judging which is higher. Brought back to this part, what is most worth keeping is still that sentence the sūtra itself repeatedly enjoins—to see everything without attaching to what is seen, to be capable of everything without attaching to what one is capable of, to practise giving, patience, concentration and wisdom together and have them all return together to ultimate emptiness: then the five eyes ascending to the buddha-eye, supernormal powers and the six perfections being of one flavour, and the even mind at last becoming a prediction—none of these goes outside the six characters 「除為薩婆若心」 tr. "except for the mind of sarvajñā."