大智度論 阿毘跋致品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Avaivartika

Avaivartika: Why the Marks of Non-retrogression Must Be Asked About through the Three Matters of Conduct, Kind, and Appearance; Why Only Turning within Form and the Other Dharmas Is Called Not Turning; Why, There Being No Conduct, No Kind, and No Appearance, the Marks Are Nonetheless Listed Item by Item; Why a Body without Eighty Thousand Families of Worms and Clean Clothes Count as Proofs of Non-retrogression; Why Never Giving Rise to Stinginess, Greed, and the Other Evil Minds Does Not Contradict Not Yet Having Severed the Afflictions; Why Māra Conjures Up the Eight Great Hells and Falsely Claims the True Buddha-Dharma; Why the Dharma of the Semblance Path Turns Instead into the Bodhisattva's Great Benefit; Why the Two Similes of False Gold and of a Dog Wearing a Lion's Skin Can Tell the Real from the False; and Why the Acceptance of the Non-arising of Dharmas Is Glossed as Even the Subtlest Dharma Being Unfindable

What Is Being Asked

The preceding chapter spoke of the great suchness, spoke of the suchness of all dharmas and of the nature of dharmas and the limit of reality, and came to say that the bodhisattva enters suchness by suchness and does not discriminate; what this chapter goes on to ask is an utterly practical question: can such a person be seen from the outside? Subhūti's question uses three words—conduct, kind, and appearance: by what conduct, by what kind, by what appearance is it known that this is an avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva? Avaivartika the sūtra text itself glosses as the non-retrogressing of 「不退轉菩薩摩訶薩相」 tr. "the marks of the non-retrogressing bodhisattva-mahāsattva"; it is a decisive pass on the bodhisattva path: once past this pass, one will certainly become a Buddha and no longer retrogress and fall back to ordinary people or the two vehicles. The intent of asking about this matter is not hard to understand—however high the merits are spoken of, the practitioner must always know where he has walked to; and between teachers and friends, too, one must always know whether the person one draws near to is already at this station.

The Buddha's answer runs along two roads, and what matters most in reading this chapter is first to recognise these two roads clearly. The first road is a positive enumeration: he can know that the four grounds, in the mark of suchness, are without duality and without difference; he does not utter useless talk; he does not look at others' strengths and shortcomings; he does not look at the outside paths; he does not give rise to doubt; he does not cling to grasping at precepts; he is not born in a low and mean family; he does not receive a woman's body; he constantly practises the ten wholesome paths, and even in dreams does not practise the unwholesome; he practises the six perfections for the sake of beings; he gives the gift of Dharma and dedicates it; in the deep Dharma he does not doubt and does not regret; his deeds of body, speech, and mind are soft; he is accomplished in the three deeds by kindness; he is not together with the five hindrances; in every place he has nothing he loves and clings to; walking, standing, sitting, and lying he is ever mindful and single-minded and walks looking at the ground; his clothes and bedding are clean, and he is little troubled by illness; his body has no eighty thousand families of worms; his body and mind are pure and pass beyond the grounds of the two vehicles; he does not prize gain and offerings, nor does he prize the dhūta practices; he never gives rise to stinginess, greed, and the other evil minds; his mind abides unmoved, and all the dharmas he hears join with prajñā—item by item, each closes with the same sentence: by this conduct, kind, and appearance, know that this is called an avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva. The second road, however, pulls the firewood out from under the cauldron: the Buddha also says that all dharmas are without conduct, without kind, and without appearance; Subhūti at once seizes on this difficulty and presses: if all dharmas are without conduct, without kind, and without appearance, in what dharma, in the end, does the bodhisattva turn, so as to be called not turning? The Buddha answers with the utmost brevity: turning within form, turning within feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to turning within anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi—only this is called not turning. The whole doctrinal sinew and bone of this chapter lies in this one paradoxical sentence—what is called non-retrogression is not seizing a station called 「不退」 tr. "non-retrogression" and refusing to let go of it; it is turning away the clinging mind toward form and all dharmas; once the clinging mind is turned, within the Buddha path he naturally does not turn.

The latter half of the chapter changes scene: from the discernment of marks and appearance it turns to the testing by the deeds of Māra. Evil Māra strikes three times: he conjures up the eight great hells and, pointing at the bodhisattvas being burned and boiled inside, says ‘these are all avaivartikas who received the prediction; your receiving the prediction is receiving the prediction of hell’; he conjures himself into a bhikṣu's robes and comes to say that what you heard before is not the Buddha's Dharma, that what I say is the true Buddha-Dharma, and that you should give it up quickly; again he conjures himself into a bhikṣu and says that what you practise is the dharma of birth and death, teaches you to take the realisation of the end of suffering, expounds to you the dharma of the semblance path, and at the last conjures up countless arhat bhikṣus, saying that they, having long practised the Buddha path, still only became arhats—by what would you become a Buddha? Three trials: if the bodhisattva's mind is startled, doubts, and regrets, know that he has not received the prediction; if he is unmoved, unstartled, without doubt and without regret, and instead rejoices and says 「是比丘益我不少」 tr. "this bhikṣu benefits me not a little," only this is true non-retrogression. For this passage the treatise-author sets out two similes for judging real and false: false gold must be burned in fire, rubbed on stone, and beaten with a hammer before black, red, or white shows; a dog wears a lion's skin, and though the beasts fear it, the moment they hear its voice they know it is a dog. At the very end Subhūti asks once more 「於何法轉名為不轉」 tr. "in what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning," and the Buddha still answers 「於色相等法中轉還」 tr. "he turns back within the mark of form and the other such dharmas"; the treatise-author points out: above was the brief explanation, now is the extended explanation—the whole chapter, head and tail, is the one same sentence, and the marks item by item in between, together with the three deeds of Māra, are all the unfolding of this one sentence.

Passage by Passage

1. The question of conduct, kind, and appearance. Subhūti raises the question with three parallel expressions: what conduct, what kind, what appearance. First a question: since it is non-retrogression that is being asked about, would it not be enough to say directly ‘how is it known that this is an avaivartika?’—why divide it into three? Here, simply remember the form of the question; the treatise-author has two schools' explanations of the difference among the three matters further on; what is to be seen at this moment is the direction of the question—what is asked is not the substance and nature of non-retrogression but where non-retrogression can be tested. Because it can be tested, there is the checklist item by item below; if it could not be tested, non-retrogression would become only a name. A practitioner reading this question should know that he too is being asked: this stretch of my effort—what testable marks has it left in body, speech, and mind?

2. The first mark: knowing the four grounds to be not two in the mark of suchness, not uttering useless talk, not looking at others' strengths and shortcomings. The Buddha's first item answers beyond all expectation: the bodhisattva can know the ground of ordinary people, the śrāvaka ground, the pratyekabuddha ground, and the Buddha ground, that these four grounds, within the mark of suchness, are without duality and without difference, and neither recollects nor discriminates them; entering this suchness and hearing this matter, he passes straight through without doubt. Why is he without doubt? The Buddha himself gives the reason: 「是如中無一無二相故」 tr. "because within this suchness there is no mark of one and no mark of two." A further question: this is a matter of the ground of the mind; how can it count as 「相貌」 tr. "appearance"? The answer is in the second half of the sentence—precisely because the ground of the mind is equal, two visible marks appear in the deeds of speech: he does not utter useless talk but speaks only speech that accords with benefit; he does not look at others' strengths and shortcomings. First a misunderstanding must be cleared away: not looking at others' strengths and shortcomings is not indifference that does not care about people; it is not using one's eyes on others' shortcomings. If the mind still looks up to the Buddha ground and looks down on the ground of ordinary people, the mouth will certainly keep weighing and appraising people; once the four grounds' being not two in the mark of suchness enters the mind, the appraising mouth naturally comes to rest. Brought down into daily use, this item is the easiest to test: in the course of a day, how many of the words spoken are speech that accords with benefit, and how many are only talk of people's strengths and shortcomings.

3. The question asked again, and the answer that pulls the firewood out from under the cauldron. Subhūti asks once more 「復以何等行、類、相貌」 tr. "again, by what conduct, kind, and appearance," but the Buddha answers: if the bodhisattva-mahāsattva can contemplate all dharmas as without conduct, without kind, and without appearance, know that this is called an avaivartika. First a question: the marks and appearance were only just listed—why is it now said that there is no appearance? Is this not self-contradiction? Here there is no need to hurry to reconcile them—the treatise-author has a dedicated question and answer further on that resolves this, saying that at the time of the first question beings did not yet cling to the mark of the avaivartika, and that now, to break their clinging to marks, he says there are none. For the moment, first hold to one thing: this chapter's checklist is for people to examine themselves with, not for people to grasp; the moment it is grasped, the Buddha at once pulls it away.

4. In what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning. Subhūti, following the momentum, forces out the most important question of the whole chapter: if all dharmas are without conduct, without kind, and without appearance, in what dharma does the bodhisattva turn, so as to be called not turning? The Buddha answers: turning within form, turning within feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness—this is called the bodhisattva's not turning; and so on up to turning within the six perfections, turning within inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, turning within the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, turning within the grounds of the two vehicles and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi—know that this bodhisattva does not turn. The word 「轉」 tr. "turn" here must be read rightly: it is not turning away from the dharma of form to go and dwell somewhere else; it is turning away, sending back, the clinging to form and the other dharmas. How is this known? The Buddha himself states the reason: the nature of form is non-existent—where would this bodhisattva abide? and so on up to: the nature of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi is non-existent—where would this bodhisattva abide? Since even the self-nature of unsurpassed awakening is non-existent, there is not one place where the clinging mind can settle—this is precisely the true meaning of the word 「不退」 tr. "non-retrogression": having no place of abiding, there is nothing to retrogress from. The misunderstanding to clear away is this: non-retrogression does not equal holding fast to a station to the death; the mind that holds fast to a station is precisely still among those who retrogress and turn.

5. Not looking at the outside paths. The second kind of mark: he does not look at the features and words of the śramaṇas and brahmins of the outside paths, and does not have the thought 「是諸外道，若沙門、若婆羅門，實知實見」 tr. "these outside paths, whether śramaṇas or brahmins, really know and really see"; that they should be said to have right view—there is no such thing. First a question: is this not slighting others? The answer: what is spoken of here is not taking their deportment and manner of speech as proof of real knowing and real seeing. The bearing of the outside paths can be most impressive, and their words most pleasing to hear; what wins people's trust is often precisely features and words. The bodhisattva's not looking is not relying on these to give trust—and this does not contradict the preceding item, 「不視他人長短」 tr. "not looking at others' strengths and shortcomings": not looking at people's shortcomings, and also not judging from people's outward marks that they have real wisdom. Where it lands is in choosing teachers and dharmas: in the one relied upon, what must be looked at is whether what he says accords with the real mark of all dharmas, not his display.

6. Not giving rise to doubt, not clinging to grasping at precepts, not falling into wrong view, not seeking auspicious matters. Following on from the above: since he does not take the outside paths as really knowing and really seeing, he naturally does not give rise to doubt, does not cling to grasping at precepts, does not fall into wrong view, and also does not seek worldly auspicious matters and take them for purity, and does not with flowers and incense, necklaces, banners and canopies, and music pay homage and make offerings to other gods. First a question: what harm does seeking a little good fortune do to the path? The answer lies in the treatise's explanation: because he deeply believes in the retribution of the fruits of the causes and conditions of deeds, he does not seek auspicious matters. Once one believes in deeds and their fruits, one naturally knows that purity comes from causes and conditions, not from paying homage to other gods; put the other way round, whoever seeks purity in auspicious matters in fact does not believe in deeds and their fruits. This item can serve as a check in daily use: when something happens, does the first thought ask about causes and conditions and about deeds and conduct, or does it ask about good and ill fortune?

7. Not being born in a low and mean family, not receiving a woman's body. The Buddha says that the avaivartika is never born in a low and mean family, and so on up to not being born in the eight places of difficulty, and never receives a woman's body. For this item the treatise-author later gives three reasons—because in seeking the path he breaks the root of pride, he is not born in a low and mean family; because he does not obstruct others' merit and constantly encourages and assists, he is not born in the eight places of difficulty; because he breaks down and thins lust and keeps far from a flattering mind, he does not receive a woman's body. In reading this item one must see clearly: what the sūtra and treatise speak of is causal conduct; they speak of the places of retribution brought about by the three kinds of mental conduct—pride, obstructing others, and lust with flattery; the reason the difficult places are difficult lies precisely in its being difficult to hear the Dharma and difficult to cultivate the path. Where it lands is only in the cause: break pride, assist others' merit, break down and thin lust, and the retribution naturally does not fall into the difficult places.

8. Constantly practising the ten wholesome paths, complete in four ways. The Buddha says that he constantly practises the ten wholesome paths, and says it most finely: he himself does not kill, does not teach others to kill, praises the dharma of not killing, and rejoices in and praises those who do not kill; and so on up to the item of wrong view, the same. First a question: not killing is simply not killing—why divide it into four? The answer lies in the treatise's explanation: though other people practise the ten wholesome paths, some do one, some two, some three, and they cannot be complete in the four kinds; this bodhisattva, because of the mind of great compassion and because he deeply loves wholesome dharmas, practises all four kinds completely. Not doing it oneself is one part; not teaching others to do it is the second part; praising its dharma is the third part; seeing others practise it and rejoicing in and praising them is the fourth part—only when the four parts are all complete is it called constantly practising. In daily use one can examine oneself item by item: I do not do evil—but have I also never encouraged others to stop evil? When I see others do good, do I rejoice sincerely, or does my mind have other calculations?

9. Even in dreams not practising the ten unwholesome paths. This item is the acceptance test of the preceding one. The treatise-author breaks it open in one sentence: because he constantly cultivates and gathers the ten wholesome paths, even in dreams he does not practise the ten unwholesome paths. First a question: how can what happens in dreams be taken as a standard? The answer: precisely because in dreams one cannot be master, the habit of ordinary days can be tested there—what can be upheld when awake but cannot be held in dreams has not yet been cultivated into a habitual nature. This item should not be used to reproach others; it should only be used to illuminate oneself: what appears in dreams is often what was pressed down in the daytime and not dissolved.

10. Practising the six perfections for the sake of all beings. The Buddha says that the bodhisattva practises dānapāramitā for the benefit of all beings, and so on up to practising prajñāpāramitā for the benefit of all beings. What must be looked at are the two words ‘for whom’. The same act of giving, the same stretch of patience, the same sitting in meditation—for oneself or for beings, the conduct and marks are the same but the kind is different—this is precisely where the word 「類」 tr. "kind" among the three matters comes into use.

11. The gift of Dharma and dedication. The bodhisattva, toward all the dharmas there are, receives, reads, recites, expounds, and rightly recollects—namely the sūtra and so on up to the upadeśa; when giving the gift of Dharma he has this thought: 「是法施因緣故，滿一切眾生願。以是法施功德，與一切眾生共之，迴向阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "By the causes and conditions of this gift of Dharma, may the wishes of all beings be fulfilled. The merit of this gift of Dharma I share with all beings and dedicate to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." First a question: the gift of Dharma is already for others—why add dedication as well? The answer: if one gives the Dharma without sharing it and without dedicating it, the merit falls into one's own retribution; only by sharing it and dedicating it does it continue on into the unsurpassed path. The treatise-author later says it even more sharply: all the merit the avaivartika makes is for beings, not for his own person; if merit could be given to others, he would give it all to beings and cultivate it again for himself—only it cannot be given.

12. In the very deep Dharma not doubting and not regretting. The Buddha says that the bodhisattva does not doubt and does not regret within the very deep Dharma; Subhūti presses specifically on the causes and conditions of this, and the Buddha answers: this avaivartika bodhisattva does not see any dharma at all as a place where doubt can arise—whether form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, he does not see these dharmas as places where doubt or regret can arise. This answer must be read clearly: it is not that doubt has been pressed down; it is that not even a place for doubt is seen—doubt must have a dharma it doubts, and since the dharmas are unfindable, doubt has nothing to cling to. The misunderstanding to clear away is reading 「不疑」 tr. "not doubting" as not being allowed to ask questions; this chapter itself is question and answer throughout, and the treatise-author moreover sets up his own objections passage by passage. Not doubting is not giving rise to a mind of retrogression and regret toward the deep Dharma; it is not a prohibition on reflection and discernment.

13. The deeds of body, speech, and mind soft; accomplished in the three deeds by kindness. The two items are read together: the deeds of body, speech, and mind are soft; he is accomplished in deeds of body, speech, and mind of kindness. The treatise-author points out their order: because this bodhisattva constantly practises the mind of kindness and compassion, his deeds of mind are soft; because his deeds of mind are soft, the deeds of kindness of body and speech are accomplished. First a question: why not start from body and speech? The answer: body and speech are the branch; mind is the root; once the deeds of mind are soft, the deeds of kindness of body and speech naturally follow. Where it lands is a very concrete observation: the hardness or softness of one's own speech is often not a matter of wording; it is the hardness or softness of that one thought at the moment of speaking.

14. Not together with the five hindrances. The Buddha lists the names of the five hindrances: lust, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, doubt. The treatise-author explains why: this bodhisattva censures the five desires, removes the five hindrances, and enters the five-limbed first dhyāna, and therefore is not together with the five hindrances; he also says it is because the five hindrances cover the mind and can wear away wisdom, break the Buddha path, and open the road of Māra. The three Chinese characters rendered here as 「開魔路」 tr. "open the road of Māra" must be remembered—the latter half of this chapter speaks precisely of Māra, and Māra's point of entry lies first in the five hindrances.

15. In every place nothing he loves and clings to. The Buddha says that the bodhisattva in every place has nothing he loves and clings to. The treatise-author's explanation pushes this item to the extreme: among beings, he does not cling even to the Buddha; among dharmas, he does not cling even to nirvāṇa. First a question: not clinging to the Buddha, not clinging to nirvāṇa—would that not leave nothing to return to and tend toward? The answer: clinging is grasping at marks, and grasping at marks goes against the real mark of all dharmas; not clinging is not failing to revere, not failing to seek; it is not seeking with a mind that grasps at marks. The treatise-author has another distinction especially worth noting: hatred is a coarse sin, which the small bodhisattva has already severed, and so it is not spoken of; love is deep, subtle, and hard to sever, and so it is spoken of now—what this chapter speaks of here is love, not hatred, precisely because love is a later and finer pass.

16. Walking, standing, sitting, and lying ever mindful and single-minded, walking looking at the ground. The Buddha says that going out and coming in, going and coming, sitting, lying, walking, and standing, he is ever mindful and single-minded; lifting the foot and setting it down he is safe and composed, and walks looking at the ground. The treatise-author gives two reasons: to protect beings, and to avoid a distracted mind. First a misunderstanding must be cleared away: lowering the eyes to the ground is not cramped attention to small details, nor a performance of deportment; the treatise-author says clearly that one reason is protecting life—there are lives under one's feet, and by lowering one's head one is spared how much unintended killing; the other is gathering in the mind—once the eye-faculty scatters, the mind goes after it. Because he enters deeply into meditative concentration, he guards beings; because he guards beings, he is ever mindful single-mindedly and does not vex beings: here meditative concentration and the mind of kindness are bound into a single matter.

17. Clothes and bedding clean, little troubled by illness. The Buddha says that the clothes the bodhisattva wears and all his bedding are not found foul by people; he delights in cleanliness and is little troubled by illness. First a question: does this too count as a mark of non-retrogression? This item must be read together with the next—the treatise-author joins it with the body's having no eighty thousand families of worms and being little troubled by illness and pain into one matter: because he has long cultivated and gathered measureless, boundless wholesome dharmas, his body has no eighty thousand families of worms, and because he is also little troubled by illness and pain, his clothes, bedding, and the rest are always clean and unsoiled. From this it can be seen that what is spoken of here is not fastidiousness about clothes; it is that the purity of the bodily marks brought about by merit naturally extends to the things he uses.

18. The body without eighty thousand families of worms, body and mind pure, passing beyond the grounds of the two vehicles. The Buddha says that in the body of an ordinary person there are eighty thousand families of worms that eat away at his body, and that the body of the avaivartika has no such worms, and himself states the reason: this bodhisattva's merit passes beyond the world. Subhūti asks specifically how purity of body and purity of mind are obtained, and the Buddha answers: according to what he obtains, he increases his roots of goodness and removes crookedness of mind and deviousness of mind; because of this purity of body and mind, he can pass beyond the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds and enter the bodhisattva's position. The teaching order of this passage is most clear: the increase of merit is the cause, purity of body and mind is the fruit, and passing beyond the grounds of the two vehicles and entering the bodhisattva's position is the fruit of the fruit. The treatise-author adds one more layer: because the mind is pure, body, speech, and the rest are also pure; because he is apart from false and deceptive, devious and crooked, and other base afflictions, the mind is pure; because the two matters are pure, though he walks in the world, he is apart from all pressing pain and distress. The misunderstanding to clear away is reading the sentence ‘his body has no such worms’ as a strange tale and gliding lightly past it—what the sūtra and treatise say here is that once crookedness and deviousness of mind are removed, even what the body brings about is different, and so the body is taken as proof.

19. Not prizing gain and offerings, nor prizing the dhūta practices. The Buddha says that the bodhisattva does not prize gain and offerings; though he practises the twelve dhūta practices, he does not prize the practice of dwelling in the araṇya, and so on up to not prizing the practice of keeping only the three robes. The blade of this item is in its second half: not prizing gain and offerings is easy to understand; not prizing the dhūta practices is hard to understand. The treatise-author's explanation is: because this bodhisattva prizes the Buddha path he does not prize gain and offerings; though he practises the dhūta practices, he does not prize these practices, because these practices are a cause and condition of a small part of the ultimate path, not the ultimate path. First a question: then why practise the dhūta practices at all? The answer: practise them without prizing them—practised, they are causes and conditions that aid the path; prized, they become a new attainment. In daily use, whoever exalts himself by some method of practice is precisely what this item illuminates.

20. Never giving rise to stinginess, greed, and the other evil minds. The Buddha lists seven minds—stinginess and greed, breaking precepts, agitation by hatred, laziness, distraction, folly and delusion, jealousy—and says that the bodhisattva never gives rise to them. This item invites the most objection, and the treatise-author later explains it specifically by question and answer; here we first record its text and leave the difficulty for passage 48.

21. The mind abiding unmoved, all the dharmas he hears joining with prajñā. The closing item of Sūtra ①: the bodhisattva's mind abides unmoved, his wisdom enters deeply, single-mindedly he listens and receives, and whatever he hears of the Dharma and of worldly matters, all of it joins with prajñāpāramitā; he does not see any matter of livelihood that does not enter the nature of dharmas. First a question: how can worldly livelihood join with prajñā? The answer lies in the treatise-author's three similes further on and in his explanation of the nature of dharmas—what is to be seen here is the Buddha's intent in closing all the marks with this item: the preceding items were stated in terms of the body, or of speech, or of the mind; with this item even worldly matters are gathered in, and the marks of non-retrogression here become all-encompassing. The sūtra text concludes with 「是名阿鞞跋致菩薩阿鞞跋致相」 tr. "this is called the avaivartika marks of the avaivartika bodhisattva."

22. Why ask again what has already been said—the brief explanation and the extended explanation. At the very opening of Treatise ① the treatise-author sets up his own objection: everywhere above the marks of the avaivartika have been spoken of; why ask again now? The answer: though above they were spoken of briefly in place after place, now he wishes to speak of them at length; within this chapter there are many marks of the avaivartika, and therefore it is called "Marks of the Avaivartika." This question and answer is a pattern used habitually throughout the treatise: it does not avoid repetition but distinguishes the difference by brief and extended. Here the reader can obtain a rule for reading the treatise—whenever one feels ‘this was said before’, what should be asked is whether this place is brief or extended, and to what capacity it is addressed.

23. This chapter's place among the chapters before and after. The treatise-author gives a further explanation: above, the marks of prajñāpāramitā were explained; next, the causes and conditions by which Māra ruins the marks of prajñāpāramitā were spoken of; now it is said that the one who believes in and receives prajñāpāramitā is the avaivartika, and because he wishes to speak of his marks and appearance, Subhūti asks. Three sentences set this chapter securely in place between those before and after: first the marks of prajñā are made clear, next Māra who ruins prajñā is made clear, and now the marks of the one who receives and upholds prajñā and cannot be ruined are made clear—why the latter half of this chapter suddenly speaks at length of the deeds of Māra has its thread laid down here in advance.

24. Receiving the prediction is like receiving an office and obtaining its seal. The treatise-author's third explanation says directly why the avaivartika is to be prized: the causes and conditions the bodhisattva has practised since first arousing the mind, and the retribution he has obtained, are the avaivartika, and having received the prediction he will certainly become a Buddha. The treatise-author sets down two similes in succession: as a person who receives an office and has already obtained its seal has no further doubt in his mind; and again, as all the practices the śrāvaka practises are for the four fruits of the śramaṇa. First a question: what is to be seen in the simile of the seal? What is to be seen is that 「心無復疑」 tr. "no further doubt in the mind"—not the glory of the station, but the ending of doubt. The treatise-author next gives the real meaning of this station: the avaivartika is the ground of certainty and safety, passing beyond ordinary people and not entering the grounds of the two vehicles; though he has not yet completed the Buddha path, he can be a field of merit for the world. Because this matter is subtle, wondrous, and hard to obtain, Subhūti asks about his conduct and appearance—he asks so solemnly precisely because what is asked about is the ground of certainty and safety.

25. Why it is Subhūti who asks. The treatise-author adds a sentence: the Buddha originally commissioned Subhūti to expound prajñāpāramitā, and therefore Subhūti asks: 「世尊！阿鞞跋致有何行、類、相貌？」 tr. "World-Honored One! What conduct, kind, and appearance does the avaivartika have?" This is a discernment of who belongs to whom—the questioner in this chapter is not arranged at random; he is the one who expounds prajñā on the Buddha's commission. In reading the sūtras, paying attention to who asks and who answers often spares one a great many misunderstandings.

26. The difference among the three matters of conduct, kind, and appearance: the views of two schools. The treatise-author asks himself: what difference is there among these three matters? In the answer two views are set side by side. Someone says: these three matters are all of one meaning; by them it is known whether one is an avaivartika or not an avaivartika—three names with one meaning, only to say it fully. Again someone says: conduct is the avaivartika bodhisattva's deeds of body, speech, and mind being different from other people's, and by this conduct the very deep wisdom of the avaivartika is expressed; kind is knowing by discrimination whether bodhisattvas are avaivartika or not avaivartika; appearance is whatever, apart from conduct and kind, allows the mark of the avaivartika to be known through causes and conditions of various sorts. The two views stand together; the treatise-author does not judge between them, and neither need the reader force a judgement; what matters is to know that the second view gives a useful division: conduct is one's own deeds and conduct, kind is the discernment between one and another, and appearance is what can be verified from surrounding conditions.

27. The meaning and intent of the Buddha's teaching: entering suchness by suchness. The treatise-author summarises the Buddha's intent: if the bodhisattva can fulfil the five perfections and enter deeply into prajñāpāramitā, then by the power of skilful means he does not cling to prajñāpāramitā but only contemplates suchness, namely the real mark of all dharmas. Here there are three levels to be counted clearly: fulfilling the five perfections is the provisions, entering deeply into prajñā is the right contemplation, and not clinging to prajñā is what the power of skilful means brings to completion—the further on, the finer, until at the last even prajñā is not clung to. Therefore the bodhisattva does not take the grounds of ordinary people and the two vehicles as low and mean, nor take the Buddha ground as high and noble, because he enters the suchness of all dharmas; within the suchness of all dharmas there are no two dharmas to discriminate; he only enters suchness by suchness, with nothing further, and also does not discriminate and grasp at marks. Why? Because suchness is equal. One who can enter thus enters the Dharma treasury of the buddhas; his mind does not give rise to doubt and seek further a fixed mark of dharmas. Therefore the sūtra says: 「須菩提！凡夫地乃至佛地，如相中無二無別。」 tr. "Subhūti! The ground of ordinary people, and so on up to the Buddha ground, are without duality and without difference in the mark of suchness." That first mark in passage 2, which looked lofty and remote, here gains its origin: it is not an unwillingness to discriminate the four grounds; it is that after entering suchness there are from the root no two marks to discriminate.

28. The division into the proper substance and the fruit of the practice. The treatise-author further briefly states one meaning: because of the suchness of all dharmas, namely ultimate emptiness, the bodhisattva relinquishes all worldly matters, and also does not abide in ultimate emptiness. Why? Because he obtains the ultimately pure real mark of all dharmas. If the bodhisattva hears this dharma without support, his mind has no doubt or regret, and he does not think of a support. Next comes the most important sentence of sectional division: the matters above are the proper substance of the avaivartika; from here down, all is the fruit of the practice of ultimate emptiness. One sentence divides all the marks of the chapter into two sections—the former is the substance, the latter is the function. If one reads this chapter without knowing this division, one sees only a string of trivial items; knowing it, every item that follows becomes a fruit borne by ultimate emptiness.

29. Where beneficial speech comes from. The treatise-author begins explaining item by item following the text. First he explains 「不作無益語」 tr. "does not utter useless talk": because he has obtained ultimate emptiness, his mind is ripened and pure in the mark of quiescence, and he does not speak useless talk; what he speaks is always the Dharma, not what is not the Dharma; what he speaks is all real, not false speech; what he says is soft, not coarse and harsh; he speaks all with a mind of kindness and compassion, not with a mind of hatred; what he speaks suits the time, always finds the right occasion, observes people's minds, and follows their local customs. This is a most excellent checklist for the deeds of speech: Dharma or not Dharma, real or false, soft or coarse and harsh, kindness and compassion or hatred, timely or untimely. The treatise-author also briefly says what beneficial words are: whether teaching the Buddha path, or the two vehicles, or the path of humans and gods, or the blameless happiness obtained in this life—benefit need not always be the teaching of the highest vehicle; giving according to what each can bear is all called benefit. As for why he can be so, the treatise-author gives three reasons: because he always keeps far from the four evils of speech, because his mind of kindness and compassion toward beings is great, and because he can also himself crush and thin the afflictions.

30. The difficulty about not looking at others' strengths and shortcomings. The treatise-author poses a good objection: the śrāvaka goes straight to nirvāṇa and may refrain from looking at others; the bodhisattva regards beings as his children and always wishes to teach and transform them—how can he not look at their strengths and shortcomings? The answer has two layers. First, if beings cannot be subdued and cannot be transformed and brought across, such as these he should not look at; if he instructs them with a good mind, they will say he is jealous of them, and it is like a knife piercing their hearts—since there is no benefit, it only increases their sin. Second, the bodhisattva should have this thought: 「如諸佛一切智，煩惱習盡，尚不能盡度眾生；何況我未得菩薩神通、未得無礙智，云何能普觀眾生？」 tr. "Even the buddhas, omniscient, their afflictions and habitual residues exhausted, still cannot bring all beings across; how much less I, who have not yet obtained the bodhisattva's supernormal powers, have not yet obtained unobstructed knowledge—how could I look over all beings?" The treatise-author further makes a distinction concerning the supernormal powers: among avaivartikas some have obtained the supernormal powers and some have not; having obtained the avaivartika station, they obtain them only by cultivating the path of the supernormal powers separately; and if one has obtained the supernormal powers earlier, because they are not complete he cannot look over all. Where this passage lands is most intimate: when one exhorts someone and he does not accept it, it is often not that the Dharma is wrong but that the capacity has not arrived; knowing that he cannot be transformed and stopping for the time being is precisely kindness and compassion, not abandonment.

31. Why, at the first question, he did not at once answer that there is no conduct, no kind, and no appearance. The treatise-author sets up another question: when Subhūti first asked about conduct, mark, and kind, why did the Buddha not at once answer 「無行、相、類」 tr. "no conduct, mark, or kind," but says it only here? The answer: at the time of the first question, because beings did not yet cling to the mark of the avaivartika, the Buddha answered sometimes speaking of the mark of emptiness, sometimes speaking of marks that exist; now, because beings cling to the mark of the avaivartika and wish to enter the avaivartika ground from the ground of ordinary people, the Buddha therefore says 「一切無行、無類、無相貌」 tr. "all is without conduct, without kind, without appearance." The contradiction left over from passage 3 is here untied: speaking of existence and speaking of emptiness are both issued in response to capacity, not contradictions between earlier and later. This is also a general rule for reading all sūtras and treatises—where within one and the same sūtra existence is spoken of and emptiness is spoken of, first ask what sickness is being treated, and then ask whether they contradict each other.

32. The question and answer on turning and not turning. The treatise-author follows the text: Subhūti asks further: 「若諸法盡空者，何以言於何法轉名不轉法？」 tr. "If all dharmas are wholly empty, why is it said: in what dharma does he turn, so as to be called a dharma of not turning?" One ought to turn from the ground of ordinary people and not turn at the Buddha ground! The Buddha answers: 「若菩薩能觀色等諸法空無所有，轉諸著心，故於佛道中不轉。」 tr. "If the bodhisattva can contemplate form and the other dharmas as empty and without anything existent, he turns all clinging minds; therefore within the Buddha path he does not turn." The treatise-author further sets out its meaning: form and the other dharmas arise from the coming together of causes and conditions; the bodhisattva knows the faults and sins of the conditioned, and so ought not to abide within them; because dharmas are empty, he can turn the clinging mind; because he turns the clinging mind, he is called not turning. Subhūti's difficulty is precisely the difficulty of ordinary people reading this passage—by common sense, ‘leaving the ground of ordinary people’ is what should be called turning; the treatise-author points out the Buddha's intent: what is turned is the clinging mind, not the station. This one sentence can serve as the key to the whole chapter.

33. Because he has entered the right position he does not doubt about the outside paths. The treatise-author explains why 「不觀外道」 tr. "he does not look at the outside paths": because the avaivartika bodhisattva has entered the right position, his mind is certain and does not doubt: 「一切外道中有實智！若有實智，不名外道！」 tr. "How could there be real wisdom within all the outside paths! If they had real wisdom, they would not be called outside paths!" The force of this sentence must be seen accurately—it is not slighting the people of the outside paths; it judges by name and meaning: the reason the outside paths are called outside paths is precisely that what they see does not accord with the real mark; if what they saw were already real wisdom, they would no longer be called outside paths.

34. The difference between two kinds of not doubting; grasping at precepts and the other four views. The treatise-author poses a question: now it is said 「不生疑」 tr. "does not give rise to doubt," and later it is said 「深法不疑」 tr. "does not doubt the deep Dharma"—what difference is there between these two non-doubtings? The answer: the non-doubting now is what, within the four truths, the srota-āpanna severs; the non-doubting later is not doubting within the deep Dharma known by the Buddha. By the power of this bodhisattva's merit and wisdom, though he does not become a srota-āpanna and has not yet become a Buddha, he can be without these two doubts. This is a very fine distinction: the former is the doubt severed by the first fruit, the latter is the doubt about the deep Dharma of the Buddha's realm; the bodhisattva is without both, yet the reason he is so differs from the severance of the two vehicles. The treatise-author goes on to explain grasping at precepts: grasping at precepts means the precepts of the outside paths; practising these precepts of the outside paths, one does not obtain nirvāṇa; he also explains that the remaining four views are all called wrong view—grasping at precepts is set apart, and the remaining four are called wrong view collectively; this is the boundary of names and marks in this passage.

35. Why he does not seek auspicious matters. The treatise-author in one sentence: because he deeply believes in the retribution of the fruits of the causes and conditions of deeds, he does not seek auspicious matters and does not make offerings to gods with flowers, incense, and the rest. Passage 6 already borrowed this meaning; here its text properly appears. Believing in cause and effect and seeking good fortune are minds on two roads; this item gives the practitioner a very simple criterion.

36. The causes of the three matters of not being born in a low and mean family and the rest. The treatise-author gives three causes: because in seeking the path he breaks the root of pride, he is never born in a low and mean family; because he does not obstruct others' merit and constantly encourages and assists, he is not born in the eight places of difficulty; because he breaks down and thins lust and keeps far from a flattering mind, he does not receive a woman's body. Passage 7 already cited it; here it is made clear that these are the retributions of causal conduct. Whenever one reads a text on retribution, one should look back to its cause—when the sūtras and treatises speak of the fruit, their intent is to encourage the cause.

37. The discernment of the fourfold completeness of the ten wholesome paths. The treatise-author: though other people practise the ten wholesome paths, some do one, some two, some three, and they cannot be complete in the four kinds; this bodhisattva, because of the mind of great compassion and because he deeply loves wholesome dharmas, practises all four kinds completely. This is precisely what passage 8 relies on. The distinction of the four kinds comes from great compassion and love of the Dharma, not from diligent toil in keeping precepts—once the motive differs, the same wholesome act at once differs in depth.

38. Why he does not practise them even in dreams. The treatise-author: because he constantly cultivates and gathers the ten wholesome paths, even in dreams he does not practise the ten unwholesome paths. One sentence points out the cause and effect between 「常」 tr. "constantly" and 「乃至夢中」 tr. "even in dreams": it is not that there is a separate effort in dreams; it is what the constancy of ordinary days has accumulated.

39. All the merit he makes is for beings. The treatise-author distinguishes three grades of people: the merit other people cultivate is only for their own persons; the small bodhisattva, though he acts for beings, also acts for himself; all the merit the avaivartika makes is for beings, not for his own person. He also sets up a moving supposition: if merit could be given to others, he would give it all to beings and cultivate it again for himself; but it cannot be given. Therefore the bodhisattva teaches and transforms beings by the twelve divisions of the scriptures, likewise only for beings, not for himself. The sūtra text of passages 10 and 11 here obtains its heart and marrow: the reason the gift of Dharma must be dedicated is precisely that in his mind there is from the root no share he takes for himself.

40. Because the five faculties are sharp he can believe; the Buddha further speaks of the causes and conditions of emptiness. The treatise-author: because this bodhisattva's five faculties, faith and the rest, are sharp, though he has not yet become a Buddha, he can believe in all dharmas. Here the Buddha further speaks of the causes and conditions of emptiness: 「菩薩不見色等法故，無生疑處。」 tr. "Because the bodhisattva does not see form and the other dharmas, there is no place for doubt to arise." This explains passage 12. First a question: why are faith and emptiness spoken of together? The answer: shallow faith relies on people and on events; deep faith relies on seeing that dharmas have no place to be doubted—when the faculty of faith is sharp to the utmost, it meets with the wisdom of emptiness.

41. The softness of the deeds of mind as the root. The treatise-author: because this bodhisattva constantly practises the mind of kindness and compassion, his deeds of mind are soft; because his deeds of mind are soft, the deeds of kindness of body and speech are accomplished. This explains the two items of passage 13, and fixes their order: the mind of kindness and compassion is the root, softness of mind is the middle, the deeds of kindness of body and speech are the branch.

42. The kindness of the outside paths and the kindness of the bodhisattva. The treatise-author poses a question: the outside paths too have the mind of kindness and compassion—how can it be said to be a mark of the avaivartika? The answer: though the outside paths have it, it is not deep, it cannot think of all beings everywhere, and it is not constant, because it is not joined with the real mark of all dharmas; the bodhisattva is not so. Four boundaries must be remembered clearly: deep or not deep, everywhere or not everywhere, constant or not constant, joined with the real mark or not. Whoever credits himself with a good mind can check himself again by these four matters.

43. The five hindrances and the first dhyāna. The treatise-author: this bodhisattva censures the five desires, removes the five hindrances, and enters the five-limbed first dhyāna, and is not together with the five hindrances; because the five hindrances cover the mind and can wear away wisdom, break the Buddha path, and open the road of Māra. Passage 14 already raised 「開魔路」 tr. "open the road of Māra"; here its text properly appears—the deeds of Māra in the latter half of this chapter have their doorway in the five hindrances, consistent from beginning to end.

44. Why in every place he has nothing he loves and clings to. The treatise-author: this bodhisattva knows that all conditioned, made dharmas are false and unreal, like an illusion, like a dream, and that unconditioned dharmas are empty, without anything existent, of the mark of quiescence; therefore in every place he has nothing he loves and clings to. The conditioned is shown to be false by the similes of illusion and dream; the unconditioned is shown to be without anything existent by emptiness and quiescence—both roads are exhausted, and love and clinging have no place to arise. Among beings he does not cling even to the Buddha; among dharmas he does not cling even to nirvāṇa. He also gives the distinction between hatred and love: hatred is a coarse sin, which the small bodhisattva has already severed, and so it is not spoken of; love is deep, subtle, and hard to sever, and so it is spoken of now. This distinction should be remembered: the deeper the cultivation of the path, the finer what it treats.

45. Why he is ever single-minded, and the gloss on walking looking at the ground. The treatise-author: because this bodhisattva enters deeply into meditative concentration, he guards all beings; because he guards all beings, he is ever mindful single-mindedly and does not vex beings; because he does not break the precepts, going out and coming in, coming and going, and the rest, he is calm and single-minded. As for the sūtra text 「舉足下足，視地而行」 tr. "lifting the foot and setting it down, he walks looking at the ground," the treatise-author glosses its meaning clearly: to protect beings, and to avoid a distracted mind. Passage 16 already described its use; this is its proper gloss—for every word about deportment in the sūtra text, the treatise-author always brings out its meaning, so that the reader does not see only the bearing.

46. The worms, the two purities, and passing beyond the two vehicles. The treatise-author: this bodhisattva has long cultivated and gathered measureless, boundless wholesome dharmas; his body has no eighty thousand families of worms, and because he is also little troubled by illness and pain, his clothes, bedding, and the rest are always clean and unsoiled; because of the power of roots of goodness such as obtaining the real mark of all dharmas, his body has no eighty thousand families of worms. Because the mind is pure, body, speech, and the rest are also pure; because he is apart from false and deceptive, devious and crooked, and other base afflictions, the mind is pure. Because the two matters are pure, though he walks in the world, he is apart from all pressing pain and distress; because his mind neither wearies nor sinks, he passes out beyond the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds. The sūtra text of passages 17 and 18 here joins into one string of cause and effect: long cultivation of wholesome dharmas is the cause; the body without worms, little illness, and clean clothes and bedding are the marks; the mind neither wearying nor sinking and passing out beyond the two vehicles is where it returns.

47. The proper explanation of not prizing the dhūta practices. The treatise-author: because this bodhisattva prizes the Buddha path, he does not prize gain and offerings; though he practises the dhūta practices, he does not prize these practices, because these practices are a cause and condition of a small part of the ultimate path, not the ultimate path. This is called the conduct, kind, and appearance of the avaivartika bodhisattva. The two Chinese characters rendered here as 「少分」 tr. "a small part" are the key: it is not saying that the dhūta practices are useless; it is saying that they are only a small part of the causes and conditions of the ultimate path, and to exalt oneself on the basis of them becomes an obstruction.

48. Why, not having severed the afflictions, he never gives rise to evil minds. The treatise-author poses the sharpest question of this chapter: this bodhisattva has not yet obtained the Buddha path and has not severed all the afflictions—how does he never give rise to stinginess, greed, and the other evil minds? The answer: the avaivartika bodhisattva severs all the afflictions at the time he obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, but has not yet severed the habitual residues; if he had not severed the afflictions, how could he never give rise to stinginess, greed, and the other minds that obstruct the path? As a sūtra says: 「須陀洹乃至阿羅漢，即是菩薩無生法忍。」 tr. "The srota-āpanna and so on up to the arhat are precisely the bodhisattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas." This answer unties the difficulty of passage 20: what is called not yet severed is not yet having severed the habitual residues, not not yet having severed the afflictions. The treatise-author also gives a second view: furthermore, someone says: because the bodhisattva practises the six perfections and deeply cultivates and gathers all merits, the afflictions are broken down and thinned and do not arise in the mind, and this is called 「常不生」 tr. "never gives rise." The two views are set out together without judgement—one view is in terms of having severed the afflictions but not yet the habitual residues, the other in terms of breaking down and thinning so that they do not arise; the reader should know that the treatise-author leaves room here.

49. The mind abiding unmoved, and the three similes. The treatise-author explains the closing item of Sūtra ①: because this bodhisattva has practised dhyānapāramitā for measureless ages, his mind abides unmoved; because he has accumulated and trained in prajñā, he enters deeply into wisdom; because he knows the subtle and wondrous flavour of the Dharma, when he hears the Dharma from others he listens and receives single-mindedly; because his delight in the Dharma is deep, whatever he hears—whether the Dharma of the three vehicles or the dharmas of the outside paths and of the world—because his own mind is wondrous, all of it joins with prajñā and does not break the mark of the Dharma. Then three similes follow in succession, the finest part of this passage: as a strong man without illness digests whatever he eats; again, as the Buddha has obtained the mark of the supreme flavour, so that even bitter, pungent, unpleasant food is of the highest flavour in the Buddha's mouth; again, as when rock sugar being boiled is about to be done, all the various things inside it become rock sugar, because the power of its wondrous flavour is abundant. The three similes each have their own emphasis—the strong man shows that the power of digestion lies in oneself, not in the food; the Buddha's mouth shows that the power of transforming flavour lies in the faculty, not in the object; the rock sugar shows that the power of joining lies in the abundance of force, not in the fineness of the things. The bodhisattva is also so: because the power of prajñāpāramitā is abundant, he can make all the various dharmas join with prajñā into one flavour, without any faults or sins. The misunderstanding to clear away: this is not saying that any dharma whatever may be mixed in together; it is saying that the power of prajñā is enough to digest them—eating indiscriminately when the power is not abundant is precisely what the simile of the strong man sets apart.

50. Worldly matters entering the nature of dharmas. The treatise-author continues: worldly matters are the deeds of body and speech the bodhisattva initiates, all for the sake of pitying and bringing beings across; this mind of pity all enters the first gate of prajñāpāramitā. Again, the causes and conditions of all worldly matters, down to sitting, rising, walking, eating and drinking, and speaking, he is always mindful of making beings safe; these dharmas of coming and going and the rest all enter the nature of dharmas, as is said in 「破來去」 tr. "Refuting Coming and Going"; the matters of livelihood are likewise so. At the end one sentence closes Treatise ①: this is called the marks of the avaivartika. What is to be seen here are two lines of reasoning—one in terms of the mind: the mind of pity is the first gate of prajñā; the other in terms of dharmas: the dharmas of coming and going and the rest originally of themselves enter the nature of dharmas. The former anyone can practise; the latter is that the principle is originally so.

51. The first deed of Māra: conjuring up the eight great hells. Sūtra ② opens a new round. Evil Māra, before the avaivartika bodhisattva, conjures up the eight great hells, and in each hell there are thousands of myriads of koṭi of bodhisattvas all being burned and boiled, suffering every bitter, sour, painful poison, and he says to the bodhisattva: 「是諸菩薩皆是阿鞞跋致，佛所授記，墮大地獄中。汝若為佛授阿鞞跋致記者，當入是大地獄中；佛為授汝地獄記，汝不如還捨菩薩心，可得不墮地獄，得生天上。」 tr. "These bodhisattvas are all avaivartikas to whom the Buddha gave the prediction, and they have fallen into the great hells. If the Buddha has given you the prediction of avaivartika, you will enter these great hells; the Buddha has given you the prediction of hell. You had better give up the bodhisattva mind again; then you can avoid falling into hell and be born in the heavens." The poison of this speech of Māra lies in using marks of suffering seen with the eyes to shake the Dharma one believes in. The bodhisattva sees this thing and hears this thing, and his mind is unmoved, without doubt, unstartled, and he has this thought: 「阿鞞跋致菩薩若墮地獄、畜生、餓鬼中，終無是處！」 tr. "That an avaivartika bodhisattva should fall among the hells, the animals, or the hungry ghosts—there is in the end no such thing!" The criterion is not in what is seen but in the principle one believes—what the eye sees can be conjured; the principle cannot be conjured.

52. The second deed of Māra: falsely claiming the true Buddha-Dharma. Evil Māra conjures himself into a bhikṣu's robes and comes, teaching the bodhisattva to give up quickly the dharma of the six perfections he heard before, to let go quickly of the rejoicing and dedication of the roots of goodness he made before, saying that all you heard before is not the Buddha's Dharma, not the Buddha's teaching, but is all mere ornamented compilation, and that what I say is the true Buddha-Dharma. Here the sūtra text lays down a clear judgement: if the bodhisattva, hearing this said, is startled in mind, doubts, and regrets, know that this bodhisattva has not obtained the prediction of the buddhas and does not firmly abide in the nature of avaivartika; if his mind is unmoved, unstartled, without doubt, and without regret, according with and relying on the dharma without making and without arising, he does not believe others' words and does not follow others' practice, and even when practising the six perfections and so on up to practising anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi he likewise does not follow others' words. The Buddha at once gives a simile: just as the arhat whose outflows are exhausted does not believe others' words and does not follow others' practice, sees directly the real mark of all dharmas, and evil Māra cannot turn him. The sūtra text pushes it further to the extreme: this bodhisattva does not simply believe and take even the Buddha's words, how much less the words of those seeking the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, or of evil Māra, or of the brahmin ascetics of the outside paths! Why? Because this bodhisattva sees no dharma that can be followed in belief—namely form, or feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, or the suchness of form and so on up to the suchness of consciousness, and so on up to not seeing anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, how much less the suchness of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. This sentence is the easiest to misread and must be cleared with effort: 「乃至佛語不直信取」 tr. "even the Buddha's words he does not simply believe and take" is not slighting the Buddha's words, nor saying one may disbelieve the Buddha; it says that one does not take and cling directly by listening to what others transmit—what is believed is the mark of dharmas seen directly, not the words in another's mouth; precisely because he sees no dharma that can be followed in belief, there is nothing by which he can be turned.

53. The third deed of Māra: the dharma of the semblance path and the three rounds of luring back. Evil Māra takes the body of a bhikṣu and comes and says: 「汝所行者，是生死法，非薩婆若道，汝今身取苦盡證！」 tr. "What you practise is the dharma of birth and death, not the path of sarvajñā; in this very body take the realisation of the end of suffering!" Then for the bodhisattva he uses worldly practice to expound the dharma of the semblance path—this dharma of the semblance path is bound to the three realms, namely the mark of the skeleton, or the first dhyāna and so on up to neither perception nor non-perception—and promises the fruit of the srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of the arhat, urging him to end suffering in this life and not receive a future body. The bodhisattva's mind is unstartled, without doubt, without regret, and instead he has this thought: 「是比丘益我不少，為我說似道法。行是似道法，不得至須陀洹果證，不得至阿羅漢、辟支佛道證，何況得至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提！」 tr. "This bhikṣu benefits me not a little, expounding to me the dharma of the semblance path. Practising this dharma of the semblance path, one does not reach the realisation of the fruit of the srota-āpanna, does not reach the realisation of the arhat or of the pratyekabuddha path, how much less reach anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi!" Māra, seeing him rejoice, turns out a second round: he cites as examples bodhisattvas who made offerings to buddhas as many as the sands of the Ganges, practised the six perfections in the presence of buddhas as many as the sands of the Ganges, and drew near to them and consulted them on the bodhisattva path, and says that even they did not obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, how much less you. The bodhisattva's mind does not change and is not startled; he rejoices all the more, and still has the thought 「為我說障道法」 tr. "he expounds to me the dharmas that obstruct the path." Māra, knowing that his mind does not sink, then in that place conjures up many bhikṣus and says that these are all bodhisattvas who aroused the intent to seek the Buddha path and now all abide on the arhat ground; if even they could not obtain it, how can you obtain it? The bodhisattva at once has this thought: 「此是惡魔說相似道行，菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜，不應轉阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，亦不應墮聲聞、辟支佛道中。」 tr. "This is evil Māra expounding the practice of the semblance path; the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practising prajñāpāramitā ought not to turn from the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, nor ought he to fall into the path of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha." He further has this thought: to practise the six perfections and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds and not obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi—there is no such thing. The poison of the three rounds deepens layer by layer: first he moves him with talk of suffering, next he bends him with the example of great bodhisattvas, finally he presses him with the testimony of a crowd before his eyes—and the bodhisattva's way of answering is the same in every round: he recognises it as the semblance path, as obstructing the path, and does not contend with it.

54. Aware of the deeds of Māra, he does not lose awakening. The closing item of Sūtra ②: the bodhisattva has this thought: 「若菩薩能如佛所說，不遠離般若波羅蜜心乃至一切種智，是菩薩終不退阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若菩薩覺知魔事，亦不失阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "If a bodhisattva can, as the Buddha has said, not stray far from the mind of prajñāpāramitā and so on up to the omniscience of all kinds, this bodhisattva will in the end not retrogress from anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. If a bodhisattva is aware of the deeds of Māra, he likewise does not lose anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." The two sentences stand side by side: not straying far from prajñā is the proper upholding; being aware of the deeds of Māra is the supporting upholding. What matters lies in the two words 「覺知」 tr. "be aware of"—the deeds of Māra need not be wholly extinguished; being aware of them, one is not lost to them.

55. In what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning: the answer of Sūtra ② and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Subhūti asks again: in what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning? The Buddha answers: he turns within the mark of form, turns within the marks of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, within the mark of the twelve sense-fields, the mark of the eighteen elements, the marks of lust, hatred, and delusion, the mark of wrong view, the mark of the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the marks of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, and so on up to turning within the mark of the Buddha; for this reason it is called the mark of the non-retrogressing bodhisattva-mahāsattva. Why? Because this avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva enters the bodhisattva's position by this dharma of the emptiness of specific marks and obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, down to the least dharma being unfindable; because it is unfindable he does not make; because he does not make, there is no arising; this is called the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Here the Buddha lists the objects of 「轉」 tr. "turning" more exhaustively than in passage 4: not only the five aggregates such as form, but even the mark of the four foundations of mindfulness, the marks of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, and so on up to the mark of the Buddha are all among what is turned—whatever becomes a mark must be turned. And what enables the turning is the emptiness of specific marks; where the turning arrives is entering the bodhisattva's position and obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The gloss on the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is also established here: because it is unfindable he does not make; because he does not make, there is no arising.

56. The explanation: why Māra tests. At the very opening of Treatise ② the intent of Māra is explained: when Māra knows clearly that this bodhisattva is an avaivartika, he no longer obstructs and ruins him; if he does not yet know clearly, then by various causes and conditions he tests, breaks, and ruins. This sentence is most useful—Māra's testing arises from 「未了了知」 tr. "not yet knowing clearly"; put the other way round, being tested is precisely because one is still among those in doubt. The treatise-author then restates the first deed of Māra: sometimes he makes the eight great hells, conjures up countless bodhisattvas being burned and boiled within them, and says to the bodhisattva: 「此皆是阿鞞跋致，諸佛授記者；汝若受記，為受地獄記。」 tr. "These are all avaivartikas, those to whom the buddhas gave the prediction; if you have received the prediction, you have received the prediction of hell."

57. The question and answer on receiving the prediction of hell. The treatise-author poses a question: for what causes and conditions does evil Māra say 「行善者受地獄記」 tr. "those who practise good receive the prediction of hell"? The answer: evil Māra, because this bodhisattva wishes to take on suffering in place of all beings, says he receives the prediction of hell; if you practise merit and are born in the heavens, then it is for your own person, and has nothing to do with the affairs of beings. This answer takes apart the mechanism of Māra's speech: Māra sets his hand to the bodhisattva's vow to take on suffering in place of beings, secretly swaps ‘taking on suffering in place of beings’ for ‘receiving the prediction of hell’, and then lures him with settling himself by birth in the heavens—what he attacks is precisely the bodhisattva's weightiest vow. Whoever lures people into retrogression always sets his hand to what they hold weightiest; this is a general rule.

58. The judgement of moved and unmoved; the simile of water within fire. The treatise-author: if the bodhisattva hears this thing and his mind is moved, doubts, and regrets, or if he believes and receives Māra's words, know that he has not received the prediction of avaivartika. If the bodhisattva hears this thing and does not doubt, is not moved, is not startled, and has this thought: 「阿鞞跋致，得諸法實相故，不著一切法者，乃至不生小罪，何況三惡道罪！如火中有水、水中生火，無有是處！」 tr. "The avaivartika, because he has obtained the real mark of all dharmas and clings to no dharma, does not give rise even to a small sin, how much less the sins of the three evil destinies! As for there being water within fire, or fire arising within water—there is no such thing!" This simile takes its force from what is necessarily impossible—that one who clings to no dharma should fall into the three evil destinies is like water coming out of fire, impossible in principle. What the bodhisattva relies on is the necessity of the principle, not self-confidence in his own merit.

59. The restatement of the second deed of Māra, and the simile of false gold. The treatise-author restates: again Māra, in a bhikṣu's robes, comes and speaks to the bodhisattva, saying that the dharma of cultivating the six perfections you heard before from a lesser teacher is all false, and the merit of the mind of rejoicing you gathered is also false and deceptive, ornamented and not genuine, not spoken by the Buddha's mouth; what I now say to you is truly the Buddha's Dharma; give it up quickly. The verdict follows at once: if this bodhisattva, hearing this, is moved in mind, angered, and doubts, know that the buddhas have not given him the prediction; as with false gold: burned in fire, rubbed, and beaten, whether it turns black, or red, or white, one then knows it is not real. In the simile of false gold three matters must be seen: first, the test must be by burning in fire, rubbing, and beating, not by the eye's looking; second, what shows—black, red, white—is its own original colour appearing of itself, not something added from outside; third, Māra's disparagement is precisely that fire—being disparaged and being moved in mind, angered, and doubting is not that Māra's power is great; it is that the original colour is so.

60. Not angered and not doubting is the real; the simile of the arhat whose outflows are exhausted and the simile of the dog wearing a lion's skin. The treatise-author continues: if the bodhisattva hears this and is not angered and does not doubt, following the dharma without arising and without ceasing, without origination and without making; practising within the marks of the six perfections, he himself knows not to follow others' words—know that he is a true avaivartika. Just as the arhat, because his outflows are exhausted, cannot be broken by the deeds of Māra that come, the avaivartika bodhisattva is likewise so: there is none who can subdue him, because he himself knows directly the real mark of all dharmas. It is pushed one layer further: even if Māra comes taking the body of a Buddha, whatever he says that differs from the mark of the Dharma he likewise does not believe and receive. As when a dog wears a lion's skin: though the beasts fear it when they see it, when they hear its voice they know it is a dog—how much less when Māra transforms into other bodies! Seen together, the two similes complete the method of judging real and false: the simile of exhausted outflows shows that within there is no place to attack; the simile of the dog's skin shows that the outward mark can be feigned but the voice cannot be feigned—what is relied on is whether the Dharma spoken accords with the mark of the Dharma, not the bodily mark before one's eyes. This sentence illuminates passage 52's 「乃至佛語不直信取」 tr. "even the Buddha's words he does not simply believe and take": even the body of a Buddha is examined by the mark of the Dharma, how much more other bodies.

61. The Buddha himself states the causes and conditions. The treatise-author brings out the causes and conditions that the Buddha himself states in the sūtra: 「是菩薩見色等法空故，誰當隨他語？」 tr. "Because this bodhisattva sees form and the other dharmas as empty, who would follow others' words?" The root of not following others' words is not in a stiff backbone but in seeing that dharmas are empty—since dharmas are empty, there is not one sentence that can be set down as a place to follow.

62. Māra says the six perfections are all the path of birth and death. The treatise-author restates the first round of the third deed of Māra: evil Māra comes taking the body of a bhikṣu and says to the bodhisattva: these six perfections are all the path of birth and death—by the causes and conditions of the merit of giving and the rest, one receives the pleasure of merit in the desire realm; by the causes and conditions of dhyānapāramitā, one receives pleasure in the form realm; this prajñāpāramitā, because it has no fixed mark, is called a false and deceptive dharma, revolving within the five destinies, unable to get out by itself; it is the path of birth and death; people deceive you, saying 「是一切種智道」 tr. "this is the path of the omniscience of all kinds"; I now speak the truth: take nirvāṇa, and end suffering in this life. The cleverness of this speech of Māra lies in its first two sentences being almost true—giving and dhyāna do indeed bring about the pleasures of the desire realm and the form realm; the cleverness is in the final turn, which speaks of the fixed-marklessness of prajñā as falsehood and deception. Words that seem true are the hardest to recognise, precisely because they have true words mixed within them.

63. The headings of the dharma of the semblance path. The treatise-author: if this bodhisattva is silent, Māra then expounds for him the dharma of the semblance path—whether contemplating the thirty-six kinds of impurity, or contemplating the skeleton, or the breath going out and in; by this path one obtains the four dhyānas and the four formless absorptions; by this meditative concentration you can obtain the srota-āpanna and so on up to the arhat; this body of yours now is born of the causes and conditions of sin; the Buddha said he does not praise receiving a body again even for the space of a finger-snap, how much less dwelling long within birth and death. The dharmas listed are originally the Buddha's Dharma—the contemplation of impurity, the perception of the skeleton, counting the breath, the four dhyānas and the four formless absorptions: not one of them is a dharma of the outside paths. What most needs to be cleared away here: the semblance of the dharma of the semblance path lies not in the headings of the dharmas listed—the contemplation of impurity, counting the breath, and meditative concentration are originally the Buddha's Dharma—but in the fruit Māra promises and the direction he points to: Māra says ‘using this path, using this practice, you will obtain the fruit of the srota-āpanna and so on up to the arhat’, and the bodhisattva at once judges against it: 「行是似道法，不得至須陀洹果證，不得至阿羅漢、辟支佛道證，何況得至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "practising this dharma of the semblance path, one does not reach the realisation of the fruit of the srota-āpanna, does not reach the realisation of the arhat or of the pratyekabuddha path, how much less reach anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"; the realisation of the fruit promised is false, and the direction pointed to is not the bodhisattva path either, and therefore it is called the semblance path.

64. Knowing the wrong track, one knows the right road. The treatise-author: the avaivartika bodhisattva, hearing this thing, is glad in mind and has this thought: 「是比丘大益我，為我說似道法；我得是似道法，即知真道。」 tr. "This bhikṣu greatly benefits me, expounding to me the dharma of the semblance path; obtaining this dharma of the semblance path, I know at once the true path." The treatise-author gives a simile for it: as a traveller who knows the wrong track thereby knows the right road; obstructions to the path are likewise so. He adds a stroke of character: the avaivartika is a great person; being of weight, he does not wrangle with this bhikṣu. This passage is one of the most savourable places in the whole chapter: Māra comes to harm a person and instead becomes his benefit—not because Māra has changed his mind, but because the bodhisattva knows how to use it. Where it lands is in the doubts and difficulties of daily use—meeting a wrong teaching and being able to recognise its wrongness, the mark of the right path becomes clear through it; arguing with it, one falls into it instead.

65. Māra sees his silence and rejoices. The treatise-author: Māra sees the bodhisattva silent and says with joy: 「是人信受我語！」 tr. "This person believes and receives my words!" He says to the bodhisattva: 「善男子！有無量菩薩供養如恒河沙等諸佛，諮問、奉行六波羅蜜及菩薩道法，面受佛教，盡受行諸菩薩行，尚不得無上道，今皆作阿羅漢，汝欲見不？」 tr. "Good son! There are measureless bodhisattvas who made offerings to buddhas equal to the sands of the Ganges, consulted them about and carried out the six perfections and the dharmas of the bodhisattva path, received the Buddha's teaching face to face, and received and practised all the bodhisattva practices, and still did not obtain the unsurpassed path; now they have all become arhats. Do you wish to see them?" The bodhisattva, having heard this, is silent. The two instances of 「默然」 tr. "silent" differ: the bodhisattva's silence is not contending; Māra's taking it as belief and acceptance is his own cleverness. In reading this place one should know one thing—not contending is not necessarily agreeing; yet in Māra's eyes not contending is his plan succeeding, and so his luring advances further.

66. The conjuring up of countless arhats, and the bodhisattva's rejoicing. The treatise-author: Māra, in that place, at once conjures up countless arhat bhikṣus and says to the bodhisattva: 「是諸比丘皆久行無上道，今皆取阿羅漢，汝今云何獨欲作佛？」 tr. "These bhikṣus all long practised the unsurpassed path, and now they have all taken arhatship; how is it that you alone now wish to become a Buddha?" The avaivartika at once rejoices again, thinking that this bhikṣu expounds to him the semblance path and the dharmas that obstruct the path; this bodhisattva really practises the six perfections and all the merits, and will certainly not retrogress and fall into the two vehicles; as the Buddha has said, if the mind never leaves the six perfections and all the merits, that one should not obtain the unsurpassed path—there is no such thing. The treatise-author sets down a concluding sentence: if the bodhisattva knows this to be a deed of Māra, he gains great benefit and loses nothing; for this reason the bodhisattva's mind is not moved or turned, and this is called the mark of the avaivartika. Pressing a person with the testimony of a crowd is the heaviest blow—countless people before your eyes are all thus; how can you alone not be so? What breaks this blow is still that sentence 「無有是處」 tr. "there is no such thing": the principle of cause and effect does not change with the number of people.

67. The final question and answer: the brief explanation and the extended explanation. The treatise-author restates the question and answer of the sūtra text in narrative form: at that time Subhūti said to the Buddha: 「世尊！於何法轉名為不轉？」 tr. "World-Honored One! In what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning?" The Buddha said: 「於色相等法中轉還。」 tr. "He turns back within the mark of form and the other such dharmas." The treatise-author at once points out: above was the brief explanation; now is the extended explanation. Then he sets out its meaning: if the bodhisattva can turn within the marks of form and the rest, this is called practising the emptiness of nature of all dharmas, obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and entering the bodhisattva's position. The acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas: even the subtlest dharma is unfindable, how much less a great one! This is called non-arising. Having obtained this dharma of non-arising, not making and not initiating any deeds and conduct—this is called obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is called an avaivartika. Here the names and marks of the whole chapter are gathered into one line: turning the marks of form and the rest is practising the emptiness of the nature of dharmas; practising the emptiness of the nature of dharmas is obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is being called an avaivartika. The misunderstanding to clear away is reading the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas as some lofty, wondrous felt state; the treatise-author's gloss is utterly plain—even the subtlest dharma is unfindable; this is called non-arising.

68. The close of the whole chapter. The treatise-author's last sentence: conducts, kinds, and appearances such as these, without measure, are the marks of the avaivartika. The one word 「等」 tr. "such as these" and the one word 「無量」 tr. "without measure" answer exactly the last question the reader may raise: are the marks listed already exhaustive? The answer: they are not exhaustive, nor need they be—what is cited are testable examples; what is pointed to is that one person who has turned the clinging mind.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「不退」 tr. "non-retrogression" as a station that can be held onto. The whole chapter twice asks 「於何法轉名為不轉」 tr. "in what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning," and twice answers in terms of form and the other dharmas; the treatise-author says still more directly: because dharmas are empty, he can turn the clinging mind; because he turns the clinging mind, he is called not turning. To read it as holding onto some ground or keeping some state is precisely the clinging mind this chapter sets out to turn. The sūtra text lists even 「佛相」 tr. "the mark of the Buddha" among what is turned, and its meaning has been said to the full: whatever becomes a mark that can be held onto is not the place of non-retrogression.

Do not read these marks and appearances as a checklist for grading oneself and so give rise to a mind of higher and lower. Before listing the marks the Buddha first says that all dharmas are without conduct, without kind, and without appearance, and the treatise-author also says plainly: at the time of the first question beings did not yet cling to the mark of the avaivartika, so he spoke sometimes of the mark of emptiness and sometimes of marks that exist; now, because beings cling to marks, he says there is no conduct, no kind, and no appearance. The checklist is for people to illuminate themselves with, not for measuring others; the moment a mind of measuring others arises, the very first item, 「不視他人長短」 tr. "not looking at others' strengths and shortcomings," has already been broken.

Do not read items such as the body's having no eighty thousand families of worms, and the clothes and bedding being clean and little illness, as strange tales, nor, conversely, as arts of nourishing health. The treatise-author's explanation is bound to the mind all the way through: because he has long cultivated and gathered measureless, boundless wholesome dharmas, his body has no worms; because of the power of roots of goodness such as obtaining the real mark of all dharmas, his body has no worms; because the mind is pure, body and speech are also pure. What is spoken of is the bodily mark brought about by merit, not a method of cultivating the body; what the reader should look at is the order 「隨其功德，得身清淨、得心清淨」 tr. "according to his merit, he obtains purity of body and obtains purity of mind," not the bodily mark itself.

Do not read 「常不生慳貪等諸惡心」 tr. "never gives rise to stinginess, greed, and the other evil minds" as meaning that the bodhisattva has already become a Buddha. The treatise-author sets up this difficulty himself and answers it himself: at the time he obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas he severs all the afflictions but has not yet severed the habitual residues; and he gives a second view: because he practises the six perfections and deeply cultivates merit, the afflictions are broken down and thinned and do not arise in the mind. The boundary between severed and not severed lies in the word 「習」 tr. "habitual residue"—what this chapter speaks of is not giving rise to evil minds in their present activity, not that the habitual residues are already exhausted.

Do not read 「乃至佛語不直信取」 tr. "even the Buddha's words he does not simply believe and take" as meaning one may disbelieve the Buddha. The premise of this sentence the sūtra text itself states plainly: this bodhisattva sees no dharma that can be followed in belief. What is set apart is 「隨他語」 tr. "following others' words"—taking by another's mouth, not by the mark of dharmas seen directly. The treatise-author says it still more clearly with the simile of the dog wearing a lion's skin: even if Māra comes taking the body of a Buddha, whatever he says that differs from the mark of the Dharma is likewise not believed and received—what is relied on is always the mark of the Dharma, not the bodily mark or the name. To read it as slighting the Dharma and disdaining the Buddha runs exactly against this chapter's sentence 「隨順依止無作無生法」 tr. "according with and relying on the dharma without making and without arising."

Do not read the dharma of the semblance path as a counterfeit wrong dharma. What Māra expounds is the contemplation of impurity, the perception of the skeleton, the breath going out and in, the four dhyānas and the four formless absorptions—all of them the Buddha's Dharma. What makes it an obstruction to the path lies in the direction 「汝今身取苦盡證」 tr. "in this very body take the realisation of the end of suffering." What this chapter rebukes is the fruit Māra promises and the direction he points to, not the headings of the dharmas; the bodhisattva says plainly that by this semblance path not even the realisation of the first fruit, of the arhat, or of the pratyekabuddha path is obtained, how much less unsurpassed awakening—to read it as meaning that the Great Vehicle need not cultivate the contemplation of impurity, counting the breath, and meditative concentration is to read the sūtra text backwards. The reason the bodhisattva rejoices is precisely that knowing the wrong track, one knows the right road—only by recognising it as the semblance path can one make use of it.

Do not read the bodhisattva's silence as timidity or as agreement. The treatise-author points it out in two places: the avaivartika is a great person; being of weight, he does not wrangle with this bhikṣu; and Māra, seeing the silence, rejoices, taking it for belief and acceptance. Not contending and being persuaded are two different things. Here the practitioner can obtain a share of the method of keeping and guarding: there is no need to argue every kind of teaching to the end; it is enough to recognise in one's mind that it is the semblance path.

Bearing on Practice

The first use is a table of the marks of conduct that one can illuminate oneself against item by item. The marks of this chapter item by item—from not uttering useless talk and not looking at others' strengths and shortcomings in the deeds of speech, to not being together with the five hindrances and having nothing one loves and clings to in every place in the ground of the mind, to being ever mindful and single-minded and walking looking at the ground in deportment, to clean clothes and bedding and little illness in daily living, to practising the six perfections for the sake of all beings and always dedicating the gift of Dharma in motive—item after item are marks one can recognise in daily use. The way to use it is not in giving oneself a score but in illuminating oneself: in the course of today, which item has become present, and which item is still only a name. The knack the treatise-author gives is to look at the word 「常」 tr. "constantly"—constantly practising the ten wholesome paths, being ever mindful and single-minded, never giving rise to stinginess and greed; whether it can be called constant matters much more than whether one can do it once.

The second use is the key of 「轉著心」 tr. "turning the clinging mind." When one has practised for a long time, what arises most easily is clinging to the dharma one cultivates and to the state one has attained; this chapter's remedy is most clean-cut: turning within form and the other dharmas, and so on up to turning within the mark of the four foundations of mindfulness and within the mark of the Buddha. Whenever something is attained and the mind begins to hold onto it, one can ask directly: what I hold onto at this moment—is it the Dharma, or my mark of the Dharma? Holding onto a mark is among those who retrogress and turn; turning the mark is non-retrogression. This move is not asking one to abandon practice—the treatise-author says it clearly: what is turned is the clinging mind, not the gate of practice.

The third use is the power of digestion shown by the three similes. A strong man without illness digests whatever he eats; the Buddha's mouth, having obtained the mark of the supreme flavour, makes bitter and pungent food all of the highest flavour; rock sugar about to be done makes the various things inside it all become rock sugar. Practitioners listening to the Dharma and reading books often worry about mixture—the Dharma of the three vehicles, the teachings of the outside paths, the matters of the world: will they disturb right mindfulness? This chapter's way of answering is not prohibition but nourishing strength: because the power of prajñāpāramitā is abundant, all the various dharmas join with prajñā into one flavour. Put the other way round, dabbling indiscriminately when the strength is not yet abundant is precisely what the simile of the strong man sets apart; nourishing strength and choosing one's food do not contradict each other here.

The fourth use is the method of recognition given by Māra's three rounds of testing. The first round uses marks of suffering seen with the eyes to shake the principle one believes—the remedy is that the principle does not turn with the marks, as there being water within fire or fire arising within water: there is no such thing. The second round uses 「我所說是真佛法」 tr. "what I say is the true Buddha-Dharma" to rob him of what he has learned—the remedy is in the simile of false gold: being unmoved and not angered is the original colour of real gold. The third round uses the headings of the Buddha's Dharma to expound the semblance path and presses with the example of the crowd—the remedy is in recognising the falseness of the fruit promised and the wrongness of the direction: by this path not even the first fruit is obtained, still less is it the path of sarvajñā; the crowd is thus, but the principle is not thus: there is still no such thing. The remedies of the three rounds each differ, but they return to the same place: what is relied on is the mark of dharmas seen directly, not the marks of events seen with the eyes, not the mouths of others, not the number of people.

The fifth use is the comfort and the strictness of the sentence 「覺知魔事，亦不失阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "being aware of the deeds of Māra, he likewise does not lose anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." The comfort lies in this: when the deeds of Māra appear before one, it is not losing the path; being aware of them, one does not lose it. The strictness lies in this: what is prized is being aware, not having nothing happen—the deeds of Māra listed in this chapter mostly occur just when one's effort is taking hold; the more it takes hold, the more refined the forks in the road one meets, even to being promised deep meditative concentration and the fruit of the arhat. In daily use the practitioner can always hold to the treatise-author's verdict: when Māra knows clearly that one is an avaivartika he no longer obstructs and ruins him; when he does not yet know clearly, he tests in various ways—being tested is not a bad thing—the one who 「未了了知」 tr. "does not yet know clearly" is Māra: Māra has not yet made out whether this person is non-retrogressing, and so comes to test; being able to remain unmoved in the test shows precisely that one is non-retrogressing.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is two sūtra sections and two treatise sections. Sūtra ① begins from Subhūti's asking by the three matters of conduct, kind, and appearance; the Buddha enumerates item by item the marks of non-retrogression, circling three times in between by question and answer—one asking, since there is no conduct, no kind, and no appearance, in what dharma he turns so as to be called not turning; one asking by what causes and conditions he does not doubt and does not regret within the deep Dharma; one asking how purity of body and purity of mind are obtained—and concludes with the mind abiding unmoved and all that is heard, and worldly matters too, joining with prajñā. Treatise ① first distinguishes by the brief and extended explanations why the question is asked again, next attaches this chapter to the chapters before and after, gives the simile of receiving an office and its seal to make clear that the avaivartika is the ground of certainty and safety, discerns the difference among the three matters of conduct, kind, and appearance and keeps two views together, summarises the meaning and intent of the Buddha's teaching as entering suchness by suchness, sets up the sectional division ‘the matters above are the proper substance; from here down, all is the fruit of the practice of ultimate emptiness’, and then explains the marks of Sūtra ① item by item following the text, four times in between setting up its own question and answer—the difficulty about not looking at strengths and shortcomings, why the first question was not at once answered with no marks and appearance, the difference between two kinds of not doubting, and why, not having severed the afflictions, he never gives rise to evil minds—and closes with the three similes of the strong man, the Buddha's mouth, and rock sugar, and with worldly matters entering the nature of dharmas. Sūtra ② recounts evil Māra's three rounds of testing: conjuring up the eight great hells and speaking of receiving the prediction of hell, conjuring himself into a bhikṣu's robes and falsely claiming the true Buddha-Dharma, taking the body of a bhikṣu and expounding the dharma of the semblance path and even conjuring up countless arhat bhikṣus—each taking the bodhisattva's mind being unmoved, unstartled, without doubt, and without regret as the proof of non-retrogression, and at the end, by the question and answer 「於何法轉名為不轉」 tr. "in what dharma does he turn, so as to be called not turning," it makes clear entering the bodhisattva's position by the emptiness of specific marks and obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Treatise ② explains why Māra tests, sets up the question and answer on receiving the prediction of hell, gives the similes of water within fire, of false gold burned in fire, rubbed, and beaten, of the arhat whose outflows are exhausted, and of the dog wearing a lion's skin, sets out in detail the headings of the dharma of the semblance path and the three rounds of luring back, at the end restates the question and answer and sets out 「上略說，今廣說」 tr. "above was the brief explanation; now is the extended explanation," glosses the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas as even the subtlest dharma being unfindable, and closes with 「如是等無量行、類、相貌，是阿鞞跋致相」 tr. "conducts, kinds, and appearances such as these, without measure, are the marks of the avaivartika."

The title of this chapter runs on two tracks among the texts, transliteration and translation by meaning: the base text has the transliteration, while the catalogues of variant texts and variant translations and the commentaries of the ancient masters mostly use the translation by meaning, 「不退」 tr. "non-retrogression." Jizang in his commentary glosses the name of this chapter with 「此云不退」 tr. "here it is called non-retrogression," and divides retrogression into three kinds—of practice, of station, and of mindfulness—and also records the difference between the explanations of the two schools of the South and the North: the Northerners' view takes it as non-retrogression of station that one who, at the beginning of the lineage of cultivation, once arouses the mind of awakening will certainly become a Buddha and afterwards, meeting hardship and difficulty, cannot be moved or turned; and takes it as non-retrogression of practice that one can cultivate all practices, giving, keeping precepts, and the rest, and that the outside paths and the Māra of the heavens cannot obstruct and ruin them. Huiying, in his later commentary, refers back to this chapter and likewise calls it directly the "Non-retrogression" chapter. The judgement and explanation of the three non-retrogressions, the divergent views of the two schools, and the similarities and differences of the chapter titles on both sides have their ancient accounts, and are recorded here without judgement; the discrepancies in the characters of the chapter title among the texts, the division and joining of fascicles, and the study of later citations are detailed in the Apparatus.

The doctrinal veins between this chapter and the chapters before and after can be seen along three lines. First, the treatise-author himself marks its continuation: above, the marks of prajñāpāramitā were explained; next, the causes and conditions by which Māra ruins the marks of prajñāpāramitā were spoken of; now it is said that the one who believes in and receives prajñāpāramitā is the avaivartika—the preceding chapter spoke of suchness and of the nature of dharmas and the limit of reality, and this chapter takes ‘being able to know that the four grounds are not two in the mark of suchness’ as the first mark of non-retrogression, the doctrinal vein continuing unbroken. Second, the deeds of Māra in the latter half of this chapter and the earlier chapters on the deeds of Māra are outside and inside to each other: there, the marks of the deeds of Māra are spoken of; here, the marks of one who is not moved by Māra are spoken of; and the three Chinese characters rendered here as 「開魔路」 tr. "open the road of Māra," which the treatise-author sets down in explaining the item of the five hindrances, are precisely the hinge between the two places. Third, the meaning this chapter establishes, ‘turning within the marks of form and the rest is entering the bodhisattva's position and obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas’, runs through the meanings of turning and not turning, abiding and not abiding, that the chapters after it go on to speak of; the reader may view the chapters before and after together, to see the single continuity of the teaching of non-retrogression.