大智度論 發趣品發趣總論 · 卷四十九Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Setting Out, Part 1 of 6
發趣總論：從一地至一地與十地名義
如果一切法本來不來不去，菩薩怎能從一地走到一地？〈發趣品〉一開頭就把修行最難的矛盾放在面前：地不可得，卻仍須治地；沒有一個實在的我向上搬動，戒、忍、聞法、布施與度生卻一項也不能少。龍樹菩薩以馬、象、龍作譬：前一乘把人載到能力邊界，便換更大的承載；不是否定走過的路，而是不把已得當作終點。於是十地成為十次更深的放下與承擔。歡喜地使願心不向名利分流，離垢地讓它經得起恩怨，有光地把多聞轉成法施，增曜地在出離中不取出離相，難勝地守住親近、閒談、瞋慢等細微入口，現在地在求者真正出現時仍能施而不悔。到了深入地，先連我、眾生、界入乃至依佛法僧戒之見都不著，再使空、悲、忍、智、定、慧逐一具足；無生法忍不是說萬事皆無，而是對諸法不生不滅能信受、通達、無礙、不退。其後不動地能隨根機現身說法，善根地使願成為眾生可遇見的語言、家庭、眷屬與世界，法雲地才像大雲普雨，把地地所修轉成無礙佛事。讀此品，不必先替自己安上一個地位；只須在每一次取捨中，看所得是否變輕、承擔是否變深，並以當下的一念、一語、一行檢驗所願。真正的發趣因此不是追問自己站得多高，而是每向前一步，少一分可占有的所得，多一分不肯捨棄的眾生。無人移動而善法日深，無地可取而大悲日廣——這正是般若所開的十地之路。
If all dharmas from the first neither come nor go, how can a bodhisattva walk from one ground to another? The Chapter on Setting Out puts the hardest contradiction of practice before us at its very opening: the grounds cannot be found, yet the grounds must still be cultivated; there is no real self that moves upward, yet not one of morality, patience, hearing the Dharma, giving, and delivering beings can be left out. The Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna gives the simile of horse, elephant, and dragon: when the earlier mount has carried a person to the edge of its strength, one changes to a greater bearer; this is not to deny the road already travelled, but not to take what has already been gained as the end. So the ten grounds become ten deeper acts of letting go and taking up. The Ground of Joy keeps the vow-mind from draining away toward fame and gain; the Ground Free of Stain lets it withstand kindness and enmity; the Ground Possessing Light turns wide learning into the gift of Dharma; the Ground of Increasing Radiance grasps no mark of renunciation within renunciation; the Ground Hard to Conquer guards the subtle points of entry such as intimacy, idle talk, anger, and pride; the Ground of Manifest Presence is still able to give without regret when the one who asks truly appears. Coming to the Ground of Deep Entry, first one clings to no view even of self, beings, the elements and sense-fields, or of reliance on the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha, and the precepts, and then makes emptiness, compassion, patience, knowledge, concentration, and wisdom complete one by one; the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas does not say that all things are nothing, but that toward the non-arising and non-ceasing of dharmas one can believe and accept, penetrate, be unobstructed, and not turn back. Thereafter the Unmoving Ground can manifest a body and teach the Dharma according to capacity; the Ground of Roots of Goodness makes the vow into a language, a family, a retinue, and a world that beings can meet; and only the Ground of the Dharma Cloud, like a great cloud raining everywhere, turns what was cultivated ground by ground into unobstructed Buddha-work. In reading this chapter there is no need first to assign oneself a rank; one need only see, in every choice, whether what is gained grows lighter and what is taken up grows deeper, and test one's vow by the present thought, word, and deed. True setting out is therefore not asking how high one stands, but that with every step forward there is one part less of gain that can be possessed and one part more of beings one will not abandon. No one moves and yet wholesome dharmas deepen day by day; no ground can be grasped and yet great compassion widens day by day. This is the path of the ten grounds that prajñā opens.
卷49 〔T25 0409c19〕
大智度論釋發趣品第二十 龍樹菩薩造 後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯 【經】 佛告須菩提：「汝問：『云何菩薩摩訶薩大乘發趣？』若菩薩摩訶薩行六波羅蜜時，從一地至一地，是名菩薩摩訶薩大乘發趣。」 須菩提白佛言：「世尊！云何菩薩摩訶薩從一地至一地？」 佛言：「菩薩摩訶薩知一切法無來去相，亦無有法若來若去，若至若不至，諸法相不滅故。菩薩摩訶薩於諸地不念、不思惟而修〔T25 0410a〕治地業，亦不見地。何等菩薩摩訶薩治地業？菩薩摩訶薩住初地時，行十事：一者、深心堅固，是不可得故；二者、於一切眾生中等心，眾生不可得故；三者、布施，與人、受人不可得故；四者、親近善知識，亦不自高；五者、求法，一切法不可得故；六者、常出家，家不可得故；七者、愛樂佛身，相好不可得故；八者、演出法教，諸法分別不可得故；九者、破憍慢法，生慧不可得故；十者、實語，諸語不可得故。菩薩摩訶薩如是初地中住，修治十事治地業。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住二地中，常念八法。何等八？一者、戒清淨，二者、知恩報恩，三者、住忍辱，四者、受歡喜，五者、不捨一切眾生，六者、入大悲心，七者、信師恭敬諮受，八者、勤求諸波羅蜜。須菩提！是名菩薩摩訶薩住二地中，應滿足八法。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住三地中行五法。何等五？一者、多學問無厭足，二者、淨法施亦不自高，三者、莊嚴佛國土亦不自高，四者、受世間無量勤苦不以為厭，五者、住慚愧處。須菩提！是名菩薩摩訶薩住三地中應滿足五法。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住四地中應受行不捨十法。何等十？一者、不捨阿練若住處，二者、少欲，三者、知足，四者、不捨頭陀功德，五者、不捨戒，六者、穢惡諸欲，七者、厭世間心，八者、捨一切所有，九者、心不沒，十者、不惜一切物。須菩提！是名菩薩摩訶薩住第四地中不捨十法。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住五地中遠離十二法。何等十二？一者、遠離親白衣，二者、遠離比〔T25 0410b〕丘尼，三者、遠離慳惜他家，四者、遠離無益談處，五者、遠離瞋恚，六者、遠離自大，七者、遠離蔑人，八者、遠離十不善道，九者、遠離大慢，十者、遠離自用，十一者、遠離顛倒，十二者、遠離婬、怒、癡。須菩提！是為菩薩摩訶薩住五地中遠離十二事。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住六地中當具足六法。何等六？所謂六波羅蜜。復有六法所不應為。何等六？一者、不作聲聞、辟支佛意，二者、布施不應生憂心，三者、見有所索心不沒，四者、所有物布施，五者、布施之後心不悔，六者、不疑深法。須菩提！是名菩薩摩訶薩住六地中應滿具六法，遠離六法。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住七地中二十法所不應著。何等二十？一者、不著我，二者、不著眾生，三者、不著壽命，四者、不著眾數乃至知者見者，五者、不著斷見，六者、不著常見，七者、不應作相，八者、不應作因見，九者、不著名色，十者、不著五眾，十一者、不著十八界，十二者、不著十二入，十三者、不著三界，十四者、不作著處，十五者、不作所期處，十六者、不作依處，十七者、不著依佛見，十八者、不著依法見，十九者、不著依僧見，二十者、不著依戒見。是二十法所不應著。 「復有二十法應具足滿。何等二十？一者、具足空，二者、無相證，三者、知無作；四者、三分清淨；五者、一切眾生中具足慈悲智；六者、不念一切眾生；七者、一切法等觀，是中亦不著；八者、知諸法實相，是事亦不念；九者、無生法忍，十者、無生智；十一者、說諸法一相；十二者、破分別相；十三者、轉〔T25 0410c〕憶想；十四者、轉見；十五者、轉煩惱；十六者、等定慧地；十七者、調意；十八者、心寂滅；十九者、無礙智；二十者、不染愛。須菩提！是名菩薩摩訶薩住七地中應具足二十法。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住八地中應具足五法。何等五？順入眾生心；遊戲諸神通；觀諸佛國；如所見佛國，自莊嚴其國；如實觀佛身，自莊嚴佛身；是名五法具足滿。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住八地中復具足五法。何等五？知上下諸根，淨佛世界，入如幻三昧，常入三昧，隨眾生所應善根受身。須菩提！是為菩薩摩訶薩住八地中具足五法。 「復次，須菩提！菩薩摩訶薩住九地中應具足十二法。何等十二？受無邊世界所度之分，菩薩得如是願，知諸天、龍、夜叉、犍闥婆語而為說法，處胎成就，家成就，所生成就，姓成就，眷屬成就，出生成就，出家成就，莊嚴佛樹成就，一切諸善功德成滿具足。須菩提！是名菩薩摩訶薩住九地中應具足十二法。 「須菩提！十地菩薩當知如佛。」
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.
卷49 〔T25 0409c19〕
大智度論釋發趣品第二十
龍樹菩薩造
後秦龜茲國三藏鳩摩羅什譯
以下是經文。
佛告訴須菩提：『你問，菩薩摩訶薩怎樣向大乘發趣？菩薩摩訶薩修行六波羅蜜時，從一地進到一地，這就稱為向大乘發趣。』
須菩提對佛說：『世尊！菩薩摩訶薩怎樣從一地進到一地？』
佛說：『菩薩知道一切法都沒有來去之相，也沒有任何法真的來、去、到達或不到達，因為諸法之相不滅。菩薩對諸地不執念、不作實有思惟，卻仍修治地業，也不見有一個實在的地。初地有十種治地業：第一，深心堅固，並知深心不可得；第二，平等對待一切眾生，並知眾生不可得；第三，行布施，並知給與的人與接受的人不可得；第四，親近善知識而不自高；第五，求法而知一切法不可得；第六，常行出家而知家不可得；第七，愛樂佛身而知相好不可得；第八，演說法教而知諸法分別不可得；第九，破除憍慢而知所生智慧不可得；第十，說真實語而知諸語不可得。菩薩住初地，便以這十事修治其地。』
二地常念八法：戒行清淨；知恩報恩；安住忍辱；領受歡喜；不捨一切眾生；深入大悲；信敬老師而請問領受；勤求各種波羅蜜。菩薩住二地，應當使這八法圓滿。
三地行五法：多聞學習而不厭足；清淨施法又不自高；莊嚴佛國土又不自高；承受世間無量辛苦而不厭倦；安住慚愧之處。菩薩住三地，應當使這五法圓滿。
四地受持而不捨十法：不離阿練若住處；少欲；知足；不捨頭陀功德；不捨戒；厭惡諸欲；生厭離世間之心；捨棄一切所有；心不沉沒；不吝惜任何事物。菩薩住四地，應當不捨這十法。
五地遠離十二法：不親近在家人；不親近比丘尼；不嫉惜別人家中的供養；不處在無益談說中；遠離瞋恚；遠離自大；遠離輕蔑別人；遠離十不善道；遠離大慢；遠離固執己見；遠離顛倒；遠離婬欲、瞋怒與愚癡。菩薩住五地，應當遠離這十二件事。
六地應具足六法，也就是六波羅蜜；又有六法不應當作：不生聲聞、辟支佛之意；布施時不生憂心；見到有人求取時心不退沒；把所有物拿來布施；施後不後悔；不懷疑深法。這就是六地應具足的六法與應遠離的六法。
七地有二十法不應執著：我；眾生；壽命；眾數乃至知者見者；斷見；常見；相；因見；名色；五眾；十八界；十二入；三界；執著之處；所期求之處；依止之處；依佛所起的見；依法所起的見；依僧所起的見；依戒所起的見。
七地又應圓滿二十法：具足空；證無相；知無作；身口意三分清淨；在一切眾生中具足慈悲與智慧；不執念一切眾生；平等觀一切法而不著；知諸法實相而不念；無生法忍；無生智；說諸法一相；破分別相；轉變憶想；轉變諸見；轉變煩惱；定慧平等；調伏心意；內心寂滅；智慧無礙；不染愛著。
八地前一組應具足五法：隨順進入眾生心；自在遊戲各種神通；觀察諸佛國土；依所見佛國莊嚴自己的國土；如實觀佛身而莊嚴自己的佛身。
八地後一組又有五法：知道眾生根性高下；清淨佛世界；進入如幻三昧；常在三昧；隨眾生所應生起的善根而受身。
九地應具足十二法：承擔無邊世界中自己應度的分；所願成就；通曉天、龍、夜叉、犍闥婆等語言而為說法；處胎成就；家成就；出生門類成就；姓成就；眷屬成就；出生瑞相成就；出家成就；莊嚴菩提樹成就；一切善功德圓滿具足。
須菩提！十地菩薩應當被視為如佛。
Fascicle 49 〔T25 0409c19〕
Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa: Commentary on Chapter Twenty, Setting Out
Composed by the Bodhisattva Nāgārjuna
Translated by Kumārajīva, Tripiṭaka master of Kucha, under the Later Qin
What follows is the sūtra text.
The Buddha told Subhūti: ‘You ask how a bodhisattva-mahāsattva sets out toward the Great Vehicle. When a bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises the six perfections, he goes from one ground to the next ground; this is called setting out toward the Great Vehicle.’
Subhūti said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! How does a bodhisattva-mahāsattva go from one ground to the next ground?’
The Buddha said: ‘The bodhisattva knows that all dharmas have no mark of coming or going, and that there is no dharma at all that truly comes, goes, arrives, or does not arrive, because the mark of dharmas does not perish. The bodhisattva does not cling in thought to the grounds and does not think of them as really existent, yet he still carries out the work of preparing the ground, and he does not see any real ground either. The first ground has ten kinds of work for preparing the ground: first, the deep mind is firm, and he knows that the deep mind cannot be obtained; second, he treats all beings equally, and knows that beings cannot be obtained; third, he practises giving, and knows that the one who gives and the one who receives cannot be obtained; fourth, he draws near to the good friend without exalting himself; fifth, he seeks the Dharma, knowing that all dharmas cannot be obtained; sixth, he constantly practises going forth from home, knowing that a home cannot be obtained; seventh, he loves and delights in the Buddha's body, knowing that the marks and minor marks cannot be obtained; eighth, he expounds the teaching of the Dharma, knowing that the distinctions among dharmas cannot be obtained; ninth, he breaks down arrogance, knowing that the wisdom that arises cannot be obtained; tenth, he speaks true words, knowing that all words cannot be obtained. The bodhisattva abiding on the first ground prepares his ground with these ten things.’
On the second ground he constantly keeps eight dharmas in mind: purity in the practice of morality; knowing kindness and repaying kindness; abiding securely in patience; receiving joy; not abandoning any being; entering deeply into great compassion; trusting and revering his teachers, asking of them and receiving from them; diligently seeking all the perfections. The bodhisattva abiding on the second ground should bring these eight dharmas to fulfilment.
On the third ground he practises five dharmas: hearing much and learning without ever being sated; giving the Dharma purely without exalting himself; adorning buddha-lands without exalting himself; bearing the measureless hardships of the world without growing weary; abiding securely in the place of shame and conscience. The bodhisattva abiding on the third ground should bring these five dharmas to fulfilment.
On the fourth ground he receives and upholds ten dharmas and does not abandon them: not leaving a dwelling in the araṇya; having few desires; being content; not abandoning the merits of the dhūta practices; not abandoning morality; loathing the desires; giving rise to a mind of weariness with and departure from the world; relinquishing everything he possesses; the mind not sinking; not begrudging anything at all. The bodhisattva abiding on the fourth ground should not abandon these ten dharmas.
On the fifth ground he keeps far from twelve dharmas: he does not draw near to householders; he does not draw near to bhikṣuṇīs; he is not jealous or grudging over the offerings in other people's households; he does not remain in profitless talk; he keeps far from anger; he keeps far from self-importance; he keeps far from contempt for others; he keeps far from the ten unwholesome paths of action; he keeps far from great pride; he keeps far from obstinately holding his own views; he keeps far from the inversions; he keeps far from lust, anger, and delusion. The bodhisattva abiding on the fifth ground should keep far from these twelve things.
On the sixth ground he should fulfil six dharmas, namely the six perfections; and there are also six dharmas he should not do: he does not give rise to the intention of the śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas; when giving, he does not give rise to a sorrowful mind; when he sees someone come asking, his mind does not shrink back; he takes everything he has and gives it away; after giving he has no regret; he does not doubt the profound Dharma. These are the six dharmas the sixth ground should fulfil and the six dharmas it should keep far from.
On the seventh ground there are twenty dharmas to which he should not cling: a self; beings; a life; the one counted in the multitude, and so on up to the knower and the seer; the view of annihilation; the view of permanence; marks; the view of causes; name-and-form; the five aggregates; the eighteen elements; the twelve sense-fields; the three realms; a place of clinging; a place of expectation; a place of reliance; views arising in reliance on the Buddha; views arising in reliance on the Dharma; views arising in reliance on the Saṅgha; views arising in reliance on morality.
On the seventh ground he should also bring twenty dharmas to fulfilment: fulfilling emptiness; realising the signless; knowing non-action; purity in the three parts of body, speech, and mind; fulfilling kindness, compassion, and wisdom toward all beings; not clinging in thought to any being; seeing all dharmas equally without attaching to them; knowing the real mark of all dharmas without dwelling on it in thought; the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; the knowledge of non-arising; teaching that all dharmas are of one mark; breaking down the mark of discrimination; transforming recollection and imagining; transforming views; transforming the afflictions; concentration and wisdom in balance; taming the mind; the mind within still and extinguished; wisdom without obstruction; not being stained by craving and attachment.
On the eighth ground, a first set: he should fulfil five dharmas: entering into the minds of beings in accord with them; sporting freely in all kinds of spiritual powers; observing the buddha-lands of the Buddhas; adorning his own land according to the adornments of the buddha-lands he has seen; seeing the Buddha's body as it truly is and adorning his own buddha-body.
On the eighth ground, a second set: there are again five dharmas: knowing whether the faculties of beings are high or low; purifying the buddha-world; entering the illusion-like samādhi; being constantly in samādhi; taking on a body according to the roots of goodness that beings are ready to bring forth.
On the ninth ground he should fulfil twelve dharmas: taking on his own share of those to be carried across in boundless worlds; the accomplishment of what he has vowed; understanding the languages of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and others, and teaching the Dharma to them; the accomplishment of abiding in the womb; the accomplishment of family; the accomplishment of the class into which he is born; the accomplishment of clan; the accomplishment of retinue; the accomplishment of the auspicious signs at birth; the accomplishment of going forth from home; the accomplishment of adorning the tree of awakening; the complete fulfilment of all good merits.
Subhūti! A bodhisattva of the tenth ground should be regarded as like a Buddha.
第一弧 無來去，為何仍說從地至地
在問什麼
須菩提先問大乘發趣，佛答修六波羅蜜時從一地至一地。緊接著卻說諸法沒有來去，也沒有到或不到。難題由此成立：若沒有真實移動，『發趣』會不會只是一個空名？若真有位次推進，又會不會把地與行者都執成實體？論主先不急著列功德，而是把這個根本張力放在十地之前。
逐段解明
佛說菩薩不念地、不把地當作可思惟取得的東西，仍然修治地業。這句的重點在『而修』：無所得不取消修治，只取消對修治者、所修地與所得位的固著。論釋再補三個動力。大悲使菩薩不能以空為理由離開眾生；精進使他不在已得處停住；方便使他能在不取相時仍辨別什麼善法應修、什麼偏差應調。
問者追問，既問發趣大乘，為何答發趣地？論答大乘就是地，並以馬、象、龍作譬。先乘馬到象處，改乘象；再到龍處，改乘龍。譬喻不是說前一乘全無價值，而是說每一種承載都有其所能與所不能；到達新的能力邊界，便須轉入更大的承載。『捨』在這裡是超越限制，不是抹去已成的善根。
論又分共地與但菩薩地。共地從乾慧地說到佛地，讓人看見三乘在若干修行資糧上的相通；但菩薩地則標出以無上菩提與普度眾生為方向的特別進路。歡喜、離垢、有光、增曜、難勝、現在、深入、不動、善根、法雲，是本品列出的十名；後文真正展開的，則是各地應行、應離、應具足的法。名稱提供方向，治地業提供可走的路。
論中沿用的摩訶衍就是大乘，薩婆若就是一切智，阿耨多羅三藐三菩提就是無上正等菩提。這些譯音不是另立三個神祕對象：大乘是所發趣的承載，一切智是善根所向，無上正等菩提則是發心所求的佛果。先把三者的關係看清，後文所說向一切智、不退二乘心與不取菩提相，才不會被讀成方向互相衝突。
不要讀錯
不要把『無來去』讀成沒有修行差別。若一切位次都可省略，佛便無須列十地，也無須逐項問答。也不要把『從地至地』讀成有一個恆常自我累積身份；本品一開始就說眾生、地與法不可得。差別在因緣與能力上成立，不在自性上成立。
修行作用
這一弧先給整品一個檢核：每當覺得自己升高、超過別人，便要回看『不見地』；每當想用空義跳過尚未成熟的戒、忍、聞法或利生，又要回看『還修諸善法』。發趣就在這兩次回看之間前進。
First Arc: With No Coming or Going, Why Still Speak of Going from Ground to Ground
What Is Being Asked
Subhūti first asks about setting out toward the Great Vehicle, and the Buddha answers that when a bodhisattva cultivates the six perfections he goes from one ground to the next. Immediately afterwards, however, he says that dharmas have no coming or going, and neither arriving nor not arriving. From this the difficulty takes shape: if there is no real movement, will ‘setting out’ be nothing but an empty name? And if there really is an advance through stages, will one not then grasp both the grounds and the practitioner as real entities? The treatise-author does not hurry to list merits first; instead he sets this fundamental tension before the ten grounds.
Passage by Passage
The Buddha says that the bodhisattva does not think of the grounds and does not treat the grounds as something that can be thought about and attained, and yet he still cultivates and perfects the work of the grounds. The weight of this sentence lies in ‘and yet cultivates’: nothing to be attained does not cancel the cultivating and perfecting; it cancels only the fixation on the one who cultivates and perfects, on the ground cultivated, and on the stage attained. The treatise’s explanation then adds three driving forces. Great compassion makes it impossible for the bodhisattva to leave beings on the grounds of emptiness; vigour keeps him from stopping at what he has already attained; skilful means enables him, even while not grasping marks, still to discern which wholesome dharmas ought to be cultivated and which deviations ought to be adjusted.
The questioner presses further: since the question was about setting out toward the Great Vehicle, why does the answer speak of setting out on the grounds? The treatise answers that the Great Vehicle is the grounds, and illustrates this with the horse, the elephant, and the dragon. First one rides a horse to where the elephant is, and changes to riding the elephant; then one reaches where the dragon is, and changes to riding the dragon. The simile does not say that the earlier mount has no value at all; it says that each kind of conveyance has what it can do and what it cannot do, and that on reaching the edge of a new capacity one must turn to a greater conveyance. ‘Leaving behind’ here means going beyond a limit, not wiping out roots of goodness already formed.
The treatise further distinguishes the shared grounds from the grounds of bodhisattvas alone. The shared grounds are spoken of from the ground of dry wisdom up to the buddha ground, letting one see that the three vehicles are held in common in a number of the provisions of practice; the grounds of bodhisattvas alone mark out the particular path whose direction is unsurpassed awakening and the universal ferrying of beings across. Joy, Freedom from Stain, Possessing Light, Increasing Radiance, Hard to Conquer, Present, Deep Entry, Immovable, Roots of Goodness, Dharma Cloud—these are the ten names this chapter lists; what the later text actually unfolds are the dharmas that each ground ought to practise, ought to leave behind, and ought to bring to completion. The names supply the direction; the work of cultivating the grounds supplies a road that can be walked.
The Mahāyāna that the treatise uses throughout is the Great Vehicle; sarvajñā is omniscience; anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi is unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening. These transcriptions do not set up three separate mysterious objects: the Great Vehicle is the conveyance toward which one sets out, omniscience is where the roots of goodness are directed, and unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening is the buddha-fruit sought by the arousing of the mind. Only once the relation among the three is seen clearly will what the later text says—tending toward omniscience, not falling back into the mind of the two vehicles, and not grasping the mark of awakening—not be read as directions in conflict with one another.
Do Not Misread
Do not read ‘no coming or going’ as meaning there is no difference in practice. If every stage could be skipped, the Buddha would have had no need to list the ten grounds, nor to question and answer item by item. Nor read ‘from ground to ground’ as meaning there is a permanent self accumulating an identity; at its very outset this chapter says that beings, grounds, and dharmas cannot be attained. The differences are established in causes and conditions and in capacity, not in own-nature.
Bearing on Practice
This arc first gives the whole chapter a check: whenever one feels oneself rising higher and surpassing others, one must look back to ‘not seeing the grounds’; whenever one wants to use the meaning of emptiness to skip over the morality, patience, hearing of the Dharma, or benefiting of beings that have not yet ripened, one must look back again to ‘still cultivating all wholesome dharmas’. Setting out moves forward precisely between these two lookings-back.