大智度論 轉不轉品之下Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Turning and Not Turning, Part 2 of 2

Turning and Not Turning, Last Part: Not Speaking of Worldly Matters, Abiding in the Ground of Self-realisation and Never Doubting, Evil Māra's Three Trials in Conjured Form, Not Begrudging Body and Life for the Dharma, and the Dhāraṇī of Hearing and Retaining

What Is Being Asked

The First Part opened the chapter and first established the meaning of the name 「轉不轉」 tr. "turning and not turning": evil Māra comes with sarvajñā being equal to space and without the mark of anything existent, to ruin the bodhisattva's mind, saying that since within emptiness there is no one who obtains awakening and no one who does not obtain it, you toil and suffer for nothing; the bodhisattva does not follow these words, but on the contrary spurs himself on with 「諸法雖如虛空，無所有、自相空，而眾生不知、不見、不解」 tr. "though all dharmas are like space, without anything existent, empty of specific marks, yet beings do not know, do not see, do not understand", and still seeks the omniscience of all kinds, adorned with the great vow that is like space. Then Subhūti asks directly the most important question of all: is it 「不轉故名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "because of not turning that one is called avaivartika", or 「轉故亦名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "because of turning that one is also called avaivartika"? The Buddha answers yes to both sides—because he does not turn in the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds, he is called not turning; because he turns in the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha grounds, he is also called not turning. The one Chinese character 「轉」 tr. "turn" is used two ways: turning away from the two grounds is turning, not turning into the two grounds is not turning; the names are opposite, yet the matter is only one matter. Once this name is settled, the First Part lists the marks of the avaivartika item by item: when he wishes to enter the dhyānas he enters at once and yet does not receive their fruit; he constantly recollects awakening, and toward all meritorious dharmas he 「不貴」 tr. "does not prize"; in the four deportments his single mind is undistracted; living as a householder he receives the five desires and yet can fill Jambudvīpa with his giving; the vajra-holding spirit king constantly follows him; the vajra-holding spirits of the five clans constantly follow and guard him; he is always complete in the five faculties; he is a superior person, not an inferior person. The treatise-author explains the reason for each one by one, and distinguishes whether Māra's tests are real or false.

The Last Part carries on from this, pushing 「相貌」 tr. "appearance" one layer finer, and pushing it one layer more dangerous. The finer: the Buddha himself says 「今當更說阿鞞跋致菩薩摩訶薩行、類、相貌，一心諦聽」 tr. "now I shall further speak of the conduct, kind, and appearance of the avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva; listen single-mindedly and attentively"—this is a marker the Buddha adds in person: what is said below is not repetition; it is detailed explanation. So it is listed passage by passage, six in all: first, he does not speak of the various worldly matters but speaks only of prajñā; second, abiding in the emptinesses, in the four foundations of mindfulness, and in the three gates of liberation, he is clear about his own ground and does not doubt; third, when Māra takes the body of a Buddha to urge him to take arhatship and to give him the prediction of the two vehicles, he does not take in the deception; fourth, when Māra takes the body of a Buddha to slander the sūtras and books he has studied as not spoken by the Buddha, he knows that it is Māra; fifth, for the sake of protecting and upholding the Dharma of the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions, he does not begrudge body and life; sixth, hearing what the Buddha and those who are not the Buddha say, he neither forgets nor loses it, because he has obtained the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining. The more dangerous: in this unit Māra no longer makes hindrances from outside as circumstance, but puts on the image of a Buddha directly and speaks the words that most resemble the Dharma—urging you to take arhatship in this life, giving you the prediction of the two vehicles, telling you that the sūtras and books you have studied were all spoken by Māra.

So what the Last Part asks is three questions. The first: how does the bodhisattva himself know that he does not retrogress? The sūtra's answer is not ‘someone approves him’, but 「於自地中了了，不疑我是阿鞞跋致、非阿鞞跋致」 tr. "he is clear about his own ground, and does not doubt whether I am avaivartika or not avaivartika"—self-realisation. The second: since it is self-realisation, on what ground is it not self-deception? The treatise-author's answer lies in the one sentence 「疑，名取相有所得」 tr. "doubt means grasping at a mark with something attained": not doubting is not holding doubt down; it is that within the signless samādhi there is simply no place for doubt to arise. The third: since Māra can take the body of a Buddha, what is there to rely on? The treatise-author's answer lies in the five Chinese characters 「身是而言非」 tr. "the body is right but the words are wrong": one takes not the body one sees as the basis, only the Dharma that is spoken—as when one tests a gold coin: flick it, the sound comes out, and real and false are at once told apart. The three questions are one line, entirely a matter of moving 「不退」 tr. "not retrogressing" from a guarantee given by outer conditions back to the self-realisation of wisdom. At the end the treatise-author sets up one more section, asking directly 「得何事來名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "from obtaining what matter onward is one called avaivartika"; he sets three accounts side by side and returns them to obtaining the acceptance of non-arising and entering the bodhisattva's position, and fixes the station of those who read, recite, and accord with it but have not obtained meditative concentration—this is where the whole chapter is gathered in.

Passage by Passage

1. Now I shall further speak; listen single-mindedly and attentively. Carrying on from the teaching of the preceding section, the Buddha speaks further: 「復次，須菩提！今當更說阿鞞跋致菩薩摩訶薩行、類、相貌，一心諦聽！」 tr. "Furthermore, Subhūti! Now I shall further speak of the conduct, kind, and appearance of the avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva; listen single-mindedly and attentively!" The First Part has already listed the marks; why speak further here? The two Chinese characters 「更說」 tr. "further speak" are exactly the joint of the pattern: that the Buddha is willing to speak once more on the item of appearance shows that what was said before was not exhausted, and what is said after is finer. 「一心諦聽」 tr. "Listen single-mindedly and attentively" is the Buddha's reminder to the listener—the finer the mark, the more easily it slips by; it is not that one cannot understand it, but that one hears it too smoothly and does not keep hold of it. In reading this passage, first slow the mind down: every item below is a graduation one can take up and check against oneself, not background narration.

2. He does not speak of worldly matters, but speaks only of prajñā. The Buddha tells Subhūti: when the bodhisattva practises prajñā, because he never leaves the mind of awakening, 「不說五眾事，不說十二入事，不說十八界事」 tr. "he does not speak of matters of the five aggregates, does not speak of matters of the twelve sense-fields, does not speak of matters of the eighteen elements"; why? 「常念觀五眾空相、十二入、十八界空相故」 tr. "because he constantly recollects and contemplates the mark of emptiness of the five aggregates, and the mark of emptiness of the twelve sense-fields and the eighteen elements". The five aggregates are the gathering of body and mind in five classes; the twelve sense-fields are the places of entry where the inner ‘six sense-roots’ and the outer ‘six sense-objects’ face each other; the eighteen elements are the divisions formed where ‘root, object, and consciousness’ face one another—all of them are the Buddha's Dharma's own formats of analysis. That even the Buddha's Dharma's own formats are 「不說」 tr. "not spoken of" is not discarding them; it is not speaking of their 「決定相」 tr. "fixed marks". Then the worldly talk is listed item by item: he does not like to speak of matters of officials, because 「諸法空相中住，不見法若貴、若賤」 tr. "abiding within the mark of emptiness of all dharmas, he sees no dharma as either noble or base"; he does not like to speak of matters of thieves, because, dharmas being empty of specific marks, 「不見若得、若失」 tr. "he sees neither gain nor loss"; he does not like to speak of matters of armies, seeing neither many nor few; he does not like to speak of matters of fighting, abiding within the suchness of all dharmas and seeing neither hatred nor love; he does not like to speak of matters of women, abiding within the emptiness of all dharmas and seeing neither fair nor ugly; he does not like to speak of matters of villages, seeing neither joining nor scattering; he does not like to speak of matters of towns, abiding within the real mark and seeing neither victory nor defeat; he does not like to speak of matters of the country, abiding within the limit of reality and seeing neither what belongs nor what does not belong; he does not like to speak of matters of self, abiding within the nature of dharmas and seeing neither self nor non-self, and so on up to seeing neither knower nor seer. The pattern of this string is extremely even: beneath every item of worldly talk there is a pair of mutually dependent dharmas holding it up—noble and base, gain and loss, many and few, hatred and love, fair and ugly, joining and scattering, victory and defeat, belonging and not belonging, self and non-self. A topic can be talked about because that pair still stands; once one sees that it is empty of specific marks, the talk falls away of itself—it is not forcing oneself not to speak. So this passage must not be read as a precept-style ban on speech; it says that where wisdom arrives, the relish for talk exhausts itself. Next comes the pairing of the six perfections against the six faults: when he practises dāna he does not engage in matters of stinginess and greed; when he practises śīla he does not engage in matters of breaking precepts; when he practises kṣānti he does not engage in matters of hatred and quarrelling; when he practises vīrya he does not engage in matters of laziness; when he practises dhyāna he does not engage in matters of distraction; when he practises prajñā he does not engage in matters of folly and delusion—here the sūtra itself marks out the list of the six faults, which is exactly the side each of the six perfections counters. At the end come three turns: though he practises the emptiness of all dharmas, 「而樂法、愛法」 tr. "yet he delights in the Dharma and loves the Dharma"; though he practises the nature of dharmas, he constantly praises the dharma that is not destroyed, and loves and delights in good friends—namely the buddhas, and the bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas who can teach and transform and make people delight to abide in awakening; he constantly wishes to see buddhas, and on hearing where there is a buddha at present he is reborn there according to his wish, and day and night he constantly practises 「所謂念佛心」 tr. "what is called the mind of recollecting the Buddha". Last it says that he practises the first dhyāna and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, and yet 「以方便力故起欲界心」 tr. "by the power of skilful means he gives rise to a mind of the desire realm", and is born where beings can practise the ten wholesome paths and where there is a buddha at present. The ten wholesome paths are the ten paths of wholesome conduct of ‘the three deeds of body, speech, and mind’; here they serve only to select the place of birth, not to set up a separate gate of practice. Empty and yet delighting in the Dharma, free of desire and yet born back into the desire realm—these two sentences are what in this passage can least be skipped: emptiness is not coldness, and skilful means is not retrogression.

3. Abiding in the emptinesses, he is clear about his own ground—the simile of the srota-āpanna and the simile of the five heinous sins. The Buddha says that when the avaivartika practises prajñā, he abides in inner emptiness, outer emptiness, and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, abides in the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the gates of liberation of emptiness, the signless, and non-action, and 「於自地中了了，不疑我是阿鞞跋致、非阿鞞跋致」 tr. "he is clear about his own ground, and does not doubt whether I am avaivartika or not avaivartika". How can he not doubt? 「乃至不見少許法於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提中，若轉、若不轉。」 tr. "Even to the point that he does not see the least dharma within anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi that either turns or does not turn." First ask a question: how could a person possibly know that he himself does not retrogress? If he compares by merit, there is always a portion left uncompared; if he relies on others' approval, the one who approves must in turn be approved. The road the sūtra gives is completely different—not that he has found affirming evidence, but that even the pair of marks ‘turning, not turning’ has gone unseen, and doubt therefore has nothing to attach to. The Buddha then illuminates it with two similes: first, 「譬如人得須陀洹果，住須陀洹地中，自了知，終不疑不悔」 tr. "as when a person obtains the fruit of the srota-āpanna and abides in the ground of the srota-āpanna: he knows it clearly of himself, and never doubts or regrets"; second, 「譬如有人作五逆罪，五逆罪心乃至死時常逐不捨，雖有異心不能障隔」 tr. "as when a person commits the five heinous sins: the mind of the five heinous sins constantly follows him and does not let go, even up to the time of his death; though he has other minds, they cannot screen it off". The former simile takes the certainty of self-realisation, the latter takes the length of its accompanying—the five heinous sins are the gravest evil; here only the weight of that mind, which cannot be moved, is borrowed, not the deed itself. It goes on to say that abiding in this ground he will 「淨佛世界、成就眾生」 tr. "purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to accomplishment", and when deeds of Māra of every kind arise he is 「即時覺知」 tr. "at once aware of them and knows them" and does not follow them, but on the contrary breaks them; abiding in his own ground, his mind is ever unmoved, and no gods, humans, or asuras of any world can move or turn it. Why? Because, rising above these three, he has 「入正法位中，自證地中住」 tr. "entered the position of the right Dharma and abides in the ground of self-realisation". Below it makes clear his undertakings: he is complete in the supernormal powers of the bodhisattvas, can purify buddha-worlds and bring beings to accomplishment, goes from one buddha-realm to another buddha-realm, plants roots of goodness in the presence of the buddhas of the ten directions, and draws near to the buddhas and consults them. When deeds of Māra arise he is 「覺而不隨」 tr. "aware of them and does not follow them", and further 「以方便力處魔事著實際中」 tr. "by the power of skilful means places the deeds of Māra within the limit of reality"—not avoiding the deeds of Māra, but putting them back into the limit of reality, where the deeds of Māra have no separate substance. The last three sentences tighten layer by layer: within the limit of reality there is no mark of doubt, and 「知是實際非一非二」 tr. "he knows that this limit of reality is neither one nor two"; even when he turns his body he never heads toward the grounds of the two vehicles; within the emptiness of specific marks of all dharmas he sees neither arising nor ceasing, neither stain nor purity; even when he turns his body he does not doubt whether or not he will obtain awakening, because 「諸法自相空，即是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "the emptiness of specific marks of all dharmas is itself anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"; abiding in the ground of self-realisation, 「不隨他語，無能壞者」 tr. "he does not follow others' words, and there is no one who can ruin him", because 「成就不動智慧故」 tr. "he has accomplished immovable wisdom". The four Chinese characters 「不隨他語」 tr. "does not follow others' words" matter most: this is not obstinacy in one's own views; it is that what he has realised was not set up by others' words, and so is not ruined by others' words either.

4. Māra's first trial in the body of a Buddha—urging arhatship and giving the prediction of the two vehicles. The Buddha says: suppose evil Māra takes the body of a Buddha and comes, and says to the bodhisattva: take the path of the arhat here and now; you have no prediction of awakening, you have not obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, you have no conduct, kind, and appearance of this avaivartika, nor any of the marks by which one may receive the prediction. The poison of these words lies in the five Chinese characters rendered here as ‘cannot produce the evidence’: Māra does not slander the Dharma; he only presses you to hand over proof—and the marks of not retrogressing are by nature not things that can be pointed out and displayed; the moment one is pressed, they seem not to exist. The bodhisattva hears these words and 「心不異、不沒、不驚、不畏」 tr. "his mind does not change, does not sink, is not startled, is not afraid", and knows of himself 「我必從諸佛受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記」 tr. "I shall certainly receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi from the buddhas", and his reason is: 「諸菩薩以是法受記，我亦有是法得受記。」 tr. "The bodhisattvas receive the prediction by this dharma; I too have this dharma, and will receive the prediction." What he relies on is the Dharma—not feeling, and not resistance. Next, Māra, or one sent by Māra, takes the image of a Buddha and comes to give the bodhisattva the prediction of a śrāvaka or a pratyekabuddha; the bodhisattva at once thinks: the Buddha would not teach a bodhisattva to depart far from awakening and teach him to abide in the path of the two vehicles. Here the measuring-line for judging Māra has already changed—it looks not at the image but at whether the Dharma spoken accords with the Buddha's intent.

5. Māra's second trial in the body of a Buddha—slandering the sūtras and books he has studied. Evil Māra takes the body of a Buddha, comes to where the bodhisattva is, and says: 「汝所學經書非佛所說、亦非聲聞說，是魔所說。」 tr. "The sūtras and books you have studied were not spoken by the Buddha, nor spoken by śrāvakas; they were spoken by Māra." This trial is fiercer than the one before: the earlier trial takes away your position; this trial takes away the very root of your Dharma. The bodhisattva should know it thus: 「是惡魔、若魔所使，教我遠離阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "This is evil Māra, or one sent by Māra, teaching me to depart far from anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." The judging of the Dharma is still by the same rule—whatever makes me depart far from awakening, no matter whose mouth it borrows, is a deed of Māra. The Buddha then seals it: know that this bodhisattva 「已為過去佛所受記，住阿鞞跋致地」 tr. "has already received the prediction from the buddhas of the past, and abides in the avaivartika ground"; why? Whatever conduct, kind, and appearance the bodhisattvas have, this bodhisattva too has. Not retrogressing does not mean never meeting Māra; it means meeting Māra and recognising him.

6. For the sake of protecting and upholding the Dharma, he does not begrudge body and life. The Buddha says that when the avaivartika practises prajñā, for the sake of protecting and upholding the Dharma he 「不惜身命，何況餘物」 tr. "does not begrudge body and life, how much less other things". The measure of his mind is first made plain: 「我不為護持一佛法故，我為護持三世十方諸佛法故。」 tr. "It is not for the sake of protecting and upholding one Buddha's Dharma; it is for the sake of protecting and upholding the Dharma of the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions." The Buddha asks himself: what is called not begrudging body and life in protecting and upholding the Buddha's Dharma? The answer lies in one concrete scene—at the time 「如佛說：『一切諸法真空。』」 tr. "as the Buddha says: ‘All dharmas are truly empty’", there are foolish people who break it and do not receive it, saying 「是非法，非善，非世尊教」 tr. "this is not the Dharma, it is not good, it is not the World-Honored One's teaching"; for the sake of protecting and upholding such a Dharma, the bodhisattva does not begrudge body and life. So the Dharma protected is not the Buddha's teaching spoken of in general; it is precisely the one statement of ultimate emptiness, the Dharma most easily slandered as annihilation. The bodhisattva further thinks: 「未來世諸佛，我亦在是數中，在中受記，是法亦是我法……」 tr. "Among the buddhas of the future, I too am in this number, receiving the prediction among them; this Dharma is also my Dharma..." That protecting the Dharma can reach the point of not begrudging body and life is because that Dharma is no longer a thing outside himself. At the end it says that the bodhisattva protects and upholds this Dharma because he sees this benefit—the three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘sees the benefit’ guard against a misreading: this is not a flare of temper; it is having clearly seen the benefit in it.

7. Hearing the Dharma, he does not forget or lose it—because he has obtained dhāraṇī. The Buddha says that the avaivartika, 「聞佛說法，不疑、不悔，聞已受持，終不忘失」 tr. "hearing the Buddha expound the Dharma, does not doubt, does not regret; having heard it, he receives and upholds it and never forgets or loses it"; why? 「得陀羅尼故。」 tr. "Because he has obtained dhāraṇī." Dhāraṇī here is the general name for the power that carries receiving and upholding; the treatise-author below divides its kinds further. This passage first sets up the fruit and then asks the cause, precisely to draw out the question and answer that follow.

8. Subhūti asks: which dhāraṇī does he obtain? Subhūti says: 「世尊！得何等陀羅尼，聞佛所說諸經而不忘失？」 tr. "World-Honored One! Which dhāraṇī does he obtain, that on hearing the sūtras the Buddha expounds he does not forget or lose them?" This question is asked with great precision: it asks not whether there is one, but which kind. Not forgetting or losing is the result; one who can avoid forgetting and losing must have the name of a gate of the Dharma—only when one asks as far as the name can it come down to practice.

9. The Buddha answers: the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining and the rest. The Buddha tells Subhūti: 「菩薩得聞持等陀羅尼故，聞佛說諸經，不忘、不失，不疑、不悔。」 tr. "Because the bodhisattva has obtained the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining and the rest, on hearing the Buddha expound the sūtras he does not forget, does not lose, does not doubt, does not regret." The answer contains the Chinese character 「等」 tr. "and the rest", showing that there is not only one kind; hearing and retaining is only the first named—the treatise-author below supplies the gate of severing doubt. 「不忘、不失」 tr. "Does not forget, does not lose" belongs to retaining; 「不疑、不悔」 tr. "does not doubt, does not regret" belongs to faith and certainty; the four are always spoken together, which shows that receiving and upholding is not only being able to remember.

10. Subhūti asks again: is it so too with what others say? Subhūti says to the Buddha: is it only on hearing the Buddha expound the Dharma that he does not forget or lose, does not doubt or regret? Or when śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas speak, when gods, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, asuras, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas speak, is it likewise? This question pushes the scope out to every speaker other than the Buddha. It is a reasonable question: if it is so only toward the Buddha's words, that is reverence; if it is so toward all words, that is power.

11. The Buddha answers: all the many matters of speech, he forgets and loses none. The Buddha tells Subhūti: 「所有言說眾事，得陀羅尼菩薩皆不忘、不失，不疑、不悔。」 tr. "All the many matters of speech there are, the bodhisattva who has obtained dhāraṇī in every case does not forget, does not lose, does not doubt, does not regret." The Buddha takes the latter. This answer must be guarded against one misreading: not forgetting, not losing, not doubting, not regretting is not the same as believing and accepting everything alike—the treatise-author below has his own distinction; here only the universality of the power of retaining is made clear. At the end, 「如是行、類、相貌成就故，當知是阿鞞跋致菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "because such conduct, kind, and appearance are accomplished, know that this is an avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva" closes Sūtra ②.

12. The treatise-author begins his explanation—because the Buddha wished to speak in finer detail, he says ‘listen single-mindedly and attentively’. After the marker that opens the treatise section, the treatise-author at once explains the first sentence: 「佛更欲細說阿鞞跋致相故，告須菩提：『一心諦聽！』」 tr. "Because the Buddha wished to speak in further detail of the marks of the avaivartika, he told Subhūti: ‘Listen single-mindedly and attentively!’" One sentence points out why the sūtra starts up once more here—it is not setting up a new topic, but the same topic in finer detail. The method of reading the treatise can be seen here: the treatise-author first accounts for the sūtra's line of approach and then explains its meaning, so the reader need not guess which section a passage belongs to.

13. He does not like to speak of the fixed marks of the five aggregates and the rest. The treatise-author explains the reason for not speaking: 「是菩薩常不離阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，樂行畢竟空故，不喜說分別五眾、十二入、十八界決定相。」 tr. "This bodhisattva never leaves anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and because he delights in practising ultimate emptiness, he does not like to speak of the fixed marks that discriminate the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements." The key lies in the three Chinese characters 「決定相」 tr. "fixed marks". Where the sūtra says he does not speak of the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements, the treatise-author reads it not as discarding names and marks but as not talking of their fixed marks—names and marks can be used to carry people across, while fixed marks run counter to ultimate emptiness. And the two Chinese characters 「不喜」 tr. "does not like" weigh exactly right: it is not a prohibition; his interest is simply no longer there.

14. He does not like to speak of kings and such matters—set against the outside paths. The treatise-author uses the outside paths as a contrast: 「如餘外道，受他供養，無正道故，虛妄深著，心懈怠故，說諸國事，分別過去世諸王力勢等樂。」 tr. "Like the other outside paths: receiving others' offerings, because they have no right path they cling deeply to what is false, and because their minds are lazy they speak of matters of countries, and discriminate the power, might, pleasures, and the like of the kings of past ages." Three causes stand side by side: no right path, deep clinging, laziness. Receiving people's offerings and having no right path to speak of, the talk naturally tilts toward the world—this is the precept closest to the skin for one who expounds the Dharma. The avaivartika does not speak of these matters; his mind is: 「見一切世間常為無常火燒，眾生可愍，我未得佛道，我但應說度眾生法，不應說餘事。」 tr. "He sees that the whole world is constantly burned by the fire of impermanence, and that beings are to be pitied: I have not yet obtained the Buddha's path; I should speak only the Dharma that carries beings across, and should not speak of other matters." Below it returns to principle: 「一切法畢竟空故，大小相不可得」 tr. "because all dharmas are ultimately empty, the marks of great and small are unfindable", and matters of thieves and the rest are likewise; the last sentence gathers the root in further—「畢竟空即是如、法性、實際。」 tr. "Ultimate emptiness is itself suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality." Ultimate emptiness is not the name of some other realm; it and suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality are different names for one matter, and so the phrases in the sūtra of the preceding passage—「住諸法如中」 tr. "abiding within the suchness of all dharmas", 「住諸法實相中」 tr. "abiding within the real mark of all dharmas", 「住實際中」 tr. "abiding within the limit of reality", 「法性中住」 tr. "abiding within the nature of dharmas"—do not each abide in a separate place.

15. Practising the six perfections, he does not speak of the six faults. The treatise-author has only one sentence: 「行六波羅蜜，不說六弊。」 tr. "Practising the six perfections, he does not speak of the six faults." The six faults are the side that each of the six perfections listed in the sūtra counters—stinginess and greed, breaking precepts, hatred and quarrelling, laziness, distraction, folly and delusion. The treatise-author does not lay them out again one by one, since the sūtra has listed them itself; here he only points out that the overall structure of that string of ‘not engaging in such-and-such matters’ in the sūtra is the six perfections against the six faults. Only when sūtra and treatise are read together is this sentence not empty.

16. Though he abides in the emptiness of all dharmas, he delights in the Dharma and loves the Dharma. The treatise-author sets up a difficulty and resolves it himself: 「菩薩雖安住一切法空中，而樂法、愛法。何以故？是菩薩不著是一切法空故。」 tr. "Though the bodhisattva abides securely within the emptiness of all dharmas, yet he delights in the Dharma and loves the Dharma. Why? Because this bodhisattva does not cling to this emptiness of all dharmas." Is not delighting in and loving the Dharma a grasping and clinging? The answer lies in not clinging to emptiness. He adds one more layer on the order of practice: 「我行次第法，禪定、智慧等，然後得一切法空。此空不可但口說而心著，是故先行次第法。」 tr. "I practise the graded dharmas, meditative concentration, wisdom, and the rest, and afterwards obtain the emptiness of all dharmas. This emptiness cannot merely be spoken by the mouth while the mind clings; therefore one first practises the graded dharmas." This is the most practical sentence of the passage: emptiness can be spoken by the mouth while the mind still clings, so the order cannot be skipped. Whoever takes ‘all is empty’ as lip-talk while still acting from old habit—the treatise-author has already exposed it here in advance.

17. The nature of dharmas is not a mark of breaking and destroying—not clinging to the nature of dharmas, he discriminates for the sake of beings. The treatise-author says: 「法性中不分別諸法故，法性非破壞相。」 tr. "Because within the nature of dharmas one does not discriminate dharmas, the nature of dharmas is not a mark of breaking and destroying." Not discriminating means not giving rise to discrimination; it does not mean breaking dharmas down. Since the bodhisattva does not cling to the nature of dharmas, he can pity beings and 「為種種分別善、不善法等，令眾生得解」 tr. "for their sake discriminate in every way wholesome and unwholesome dharmas and the rest, so that beings may come to understand"; though he speaks thus, he also 「常讚歎不壞法，引導眾生令入法性中故」 tr. "constantly praises the dharma that is not destroyed, in order to guide beings and make them enter the nature of dharmas". Discriminating on one side and praising what is not destroyed on the other, the two do not hinder each other: discriminating is the use of receiving and leading, and what is not destroyed is the place of return. The sūtra's phrase 「雖行法性，常讚不壞法」 tr. "though he practises the nature of dharmas, he constantly praises the dharma that is not destroyed" becomes clear through this explanation.

18. He has no other intimates; he takes only the buddhas and the great bodhisattvas as intimates. The treatise-author explains loving and delighting in good friends: 「阿鞞跋致菩薩更無親善，但以諸佛及大菩薩、諸能讚歎實相法者為親善。」 tr. "The avaivartika bodhisattva has no other intimates; he takes as intimates only the buddhas and the great bodhisattvas, and all who can praise the Dharma of the real mark." The standard of selection lies not in status but in what is said—「能讚歎實相法者」 tr. "those who can praise the Dharma of the real mark" is it. This sentence answers to the earlier passage on not liking to speak of worldly matters: since what one talks of has become different, whom one is intimate with becomes different of itself.

19. Being reborn wherever he wishes, and the meaning of being born in the desire realm. The treatise-author explains wishing to see the buddhas and being reborn according to one's wish: 「是人功德、智慧大故，隨意所往……」 tr. "Because this person's merit and wisdom are great, he goes wherever he wishes..." Next he explains the difficulty of the sūtra's 「起欲界心」 tr. "gives rise to a mind of the desire realm": though the bodhisattva is free of desire and has obtained the absorptions of meditative concentration, by the power of skilful means he is born, for the sake of beings, in the desire realm where there is a buddha at present. How can one free of desire be born in the desire realm? The treatise-author answers with great fineness: 「『生欲界』者，故為眾生留愛、慢分，不以此禪定果報生色、無色界；但以禪定柔和其心，不受其報。」 tr. "‘Born in the desire realm’: for the sake of beings he deliberately keeps a portion of love and pride, and is not born in the form or formless realms as the retribution of this meditative concentration; he only uses meditative concentration to make his mind soft and pliant, and does not receive its retribution." The one Chinese character 「故」 tr. "deliberately" means an intentional keeping, not a failure yet to sever. What is kept is a portion of love and of pride, and its use lies only in taking birth; of meditative concentration he takes its use of softening, not its fruit of retribution. This passage can resolve a common kind of perplexity: since the great bodhisattva is already free of desire, why does he still appear in the desire realm?—the answer is skilful means, not retrogressive falling.

20. Abiding securely in the emptinesses, he gives rise to no doubt—doubt means grasping at a mark with something attained. The treatise-author explains the two Chinese characters 「安住」 tr. "abiding securely": 「安住者，深入通達。」 tr. "Abiding securely means entering deeply and penetrating thoroughly." Because his mind clings to nothing, he does not give rise to the doubt 「我是阿鞞跋致、非阿鞞跋致」 tr. "am I avaivartika or not avaivartika"; 「自心中深入智慧故，是名自地證」 tr. "because within his own mind he has entered deeply into wisdom, this is called the realisation of his own ground". Further, he does not see any dharma as either turning or not turning, and therefore gives rise to no doubt. Below he sets up a general judgement: 「疑，名取相有所得。」 tr. "Doubt means grasping at a mark with something attained." And he illustrates it with a simile: 「如人夜見樹杌，尋復生念，人形亦爾，便生疑心；若取此二相故名疑。」 tr. "As when a person at night sees a tree stump, and then a thought arises that a human form is like this too, and so a doubting mind arises; because one grasps these two marks, it is called doubt." Walking at night and seeing a tree stump, one doubts whether it is a person; doubt can arise because one has first grasped two marks, the tree and the person; once both marks are grasped, there is room in between for wavering. Because the bodhisattva practises the signless samādhi, he grasps no mark in any dharma, and so 「則無生疑處」 tr. "there is then no place for doubt to arise". This passage is the most important doctrinal landing-point of the whole unit: not doubting is not pressing doubt down; it is leaving doubt no room. Whoever presses doubt down by will presses down the mark of doubt, not the cause of doubt.

21. Explaining the simile of the srota-āpanna—doubt has no place to dwell, and so there is no doubt. The treatise-author explains the simile in the sūtra: 「如須陀洹從無始世來，未得是無漏智慧；三結斷故，即自知得無漏法，於四諦中定心不疑，若苦、若樂。」 tr. "As the srota-āpanna, from beginningless ages, had never obtained this wisdom without outflows; because the three fetters are severed, he knows at once of himself that he has obtained the dharma without outflows, and within the four truths his mind is settled and without doubt, whether in suffering or in happiness." The three fetters are the fetters the srota-āpanna severs; the treatise-author does not list their names here, taking only the meaning ‘because they are severed, he knows at once of himself’; the four truths are the four kinds of reality, ‘suffering, origination, cessation, and path’, and to have a settled mind without doubt within them is the self-realisation of the first fruit. 「阿鞞跋致亦如是，從無始世來，未得諸法實相，所謂阿鞞跋致地；得時，亦不生疑。」 tr. "The avaivartika is also like this: from beginningless ages he had never obtained the real mark of all dharmas, that is, the avaivartika ground; when he obtains it, he likewise gives rise to no doubt." He further explains where doubt arises from: 「諸生疑者，見違失事，不如本所聞故。」 tr. "Those who give rise to doubt do so because they see matters that go against it and fall short, not as they originally heard." Doubt arises from what one meets not fitting what one has heard. Because for the bodhisattva all dharmas are ultimately empty, 「不得是不如所聞法，疑無住處故無疑」 tr. "he does not find this dharma that is not as he heard; doubt has no place to dwell, and so there is no doubt"; he knows of himself: 「此是究竟道，不可論、不可破」 tr. "this is the ultimate path; it cannot be debated, it cannot be broken". At the end it says that, abiding in this ground, he teaches and transforms beings and purifies buddha-worlds, and by the power of skilful means can break every kind of deed of Māra.

22. The dharma of the avaivartika constantly follows the bodhisattva until he becomes a Buddha. The treatise-author gives one sentence as a general heading: 「是阿鞞跋致法常隨逐菩薩，乃至成佛。」 tr. "This dharma of the avaivartika constantly follows the bodhisattva, until he becomes a Buddha." This sentence is the groundwork for the two similes of the next passage—first it states the length, and then the two similes show why it lasts so long.

23. The meaning of the two similes—the mind of the srota-āpanna and the mind of the five heinous sins. The treatise-author says: 「此中佛說二譬喻：一者、須陀洹，二者、五逆。是二心厚重故不可却：須陀洹心，常不却；五逆心，罪畢乃除……」 tr. "Here the Buddha speaks two similes: first, the srota-āpanna; second, the five heinous sins. These two minds are heavy and thick, and so cannot be driven back: the mind of the srota-āpanna never shrinks back; the mind of the five heinous sins is removed only when the sin is exhausted..." And he adds a simile: 「如人著衰，鬼常隨逐。」 tr. "As when a person is beset by misfortune, a ghost follows him constantly." The last sentence is the most vital: 「阿鞞跋致心，復過於是。」 tr. "The mind of the avaivartika surpasses even this." One must guard against a misreading: taking the five heinous sins as a simile is not likening good to evil; it takes only the one meaning of a mind heavy, thick, and immovable; one good and one evil taken at the same point—this is precisely the method of simile.

24. The meaning of ‘nothing at all can move or turn it’. The treatise-author cites the sūtra and explains: 「『阿鞞跋致心，一切無能動轉』者，種種苦事逼迫不能動，種種供養利樂因緣不能令捨實相心及慈悲心。」 tr. "‘The mind of the avaivartika, nothing at all can move or turn it’: when every kind of painful matter presses on it, it cannot be moved; every kind of cause and condition of offerings, gain, and pleasure cannot make it abandon the mind of the real mark and the mind of kindness and compassion." Pressure and enticement are both raised. That it is not moved under pressure is easy to understand; that it does not abandon under enticement is hard to understand—offerings, gain, and pleasure are not evil matters, yet they are what most readily, without one's noticing, replace the direction of a person's mind. The treatise-author specially marks the two, 「實相心及慈悲心」 tr. "the mind of the real mark and the mind of kindness and compassion", as what is not abandoned, showing that what not retrogressing hangs on is not the presence or absence of outer matters.

25. The appearances have been told; now his undertakings are told. The treatise-author divides the sūtra into sections: 「上來種種說阿鞞跋致相貌；今說其行事……」 tr. "Above, the appearances of the avaivartika have been told in every way; now his undertakings are told..." The undertakings are: teaching and transforming beings, purifying buddha-worlds, newly planting roots of goodness in the presence of the buddhas, and going from one buddha to consult the buddhas on the deep essentials of the Dharma and on every kind of gate for carrying beings across. Appearances are traces that can be tested; undertakings are the work that is done; traces without work make the appearances hollow, and work without knowing its traces leaves the practitioner no way to examine himself—the sūtra sets the two side by side, and the treatise-author marks them with headings.

26. Contemplating the deeds of Māra as the Buddha's Dharma. The treatise-author explains placing the deeds of Māra within the limit of reality by the power of skilful means: 「十方種種魔事起而不隨逐，以方便力，觀是魔事如佛法，觀諸魔身如佛無異。所以者何？一切法及實際同一相，所謂無相故。」 tr. "Every kind of deed of Māra arises in the ten directions and he does not follow after it; by the power of skilful means he contemplates these deeds of Māra as the Buddha's Dharma, and contemplates the bodies of the Māras as no different from the Buddha. Why is this? Because all dharmas and the limit of reality are of one and the same mark, namely the signless." This passage is extremely easy to read askew. Contemplating Māra's body as the Buddha does not say that Māra is the Buddha and may be followed; above it is stated plainly, 「不隨逐」 tr. "he does not follow after it", and what is said here is that the marks contemplated are all signless, so that there is no body of Māra to be feared or clung to. The judging of the matter still follows the earlier method; the contemplating of the mark returns to the signless—the two go together without contradiction.

27. Turning his body, he does not head toward the two grounds. The treatise-author says: 「是人轉身，亦不向聲聞、辟支佛地。何以故？是菩薩初得阿鞞跋致地時，知一切法實相空；轉身，心亦不向二地。心不自疑若得無上道、若不得。」 tr. "When this person turns his body, he also does not head toward the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha ground. Why? When this bodhisattva first obtains the avaivartika ground, he knows that the real mark of all dharmas is empty; turning his body, his mind also does not head toward the two grounds. His mind does not doubt itself as to whether it will obtain the unsurpassed path or not." Turning his body means giving up this body and receiving a later body. The reason ordinary practitioners fear turning the body is the fear that across the gap between one set of aggregates and the next they will forget; the guarantee the treatise-author gives lies not in memory but in the Dharma known—once the emptiness of the real mark is known, the mind of the later body also does not head toward the two grounds.

28. From life to life no one can subdue or ruin him. The treatise-author has one sentence: 「是菩薩世世無人能降伏破壞者。」 tr. "From life to life there is no one who can subdue or ruin this bodhisattva." This sentence carries on from not following others' words and immovable wisdom above, and opens onto Māra's three rounds of testing below—having said that no one can ruin him, the text then brings Māra in to test him, just as the flow of the text requires.

29. Explaining Māra's first round of testing—his mind does not retreat or sink, and so he knows of himself that he will receive the prediction. The treatise-author says that 「佛為驗是菩薩故作譬喻」 tr. "the Buddha makes a simile in order to test this bodhisattva": Māra takes the body of a Buddha wishing to deceive and test him, and says: you may take arhatship in this life; you have no avaivartika mark by which you could attain the Buddha's path; 「無生忍法即是無一切法，是中云何可得忍？」 tr. "The dharma of the acceptance of non-arising is itself the non-existence of all dharmas; within this, how can any acceptance be obtained?" The cleverness of Māra's words lies in the second half: it uses the Buddha's Dharma's own words—since the acceptance of non-arising is the non-existence of all dharmas, there is no acceptance to be obtained, and what you call obtaining acceptance is self-deception. If the bodhisattva hears this and 「心不退沒」 tr. "his mind does not retreat or sink", he knows of himself that he will certainly receive the prediction from the buddhas; why? 「我有無生法忍，聞是魔事，心不怖畏故。」 tr. "Because I have the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas: hearing this deed of Māra, my mind is not terrified or afraid." The method of testing lies right here: not winning the argument against him, but hearing it and not being afraid. Fear or no fear is the present self-realisation of whether acceptance is there or not.

30. Explaining Māra's second round of testing—the body is right but the words are wrong, as when testing a gold coin. The treatise-author says: evil Māra, knowing that the bodhisattva is glad, then gives him the prediction of the path of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha—in this life you will obtain arhatship, in a later life you will obtain the path of the pratyekabuddha. If the bodhisattva does not follow the words of this conjured body of a Buddha, he is aware at once that this is Māra or one sent by Māra. Why? 「身是而言非。」 tr. "The body is right but the words are wrong." These five Chinese characters are the headrope of the whole passage: the bodily image is real, the words are not. It continues with a simile: 「如試金錢，彈之聲出，則知其真偽。」 tr. "As when one tests a gold coin: flick it, the sound comes out, and then one knows whether it is real or false." Real and false lie not in looking but in listening—the Dharma that is spoken is the flick that tests the gold. At the end he decides it by principle: 「若佛與菩薩受聲聞、辟支佛記，終無是處！」 tr. "That a Buddha should give a bodhisattva the prediction of a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha—there is no such case at all!" Why is there no such case? 「諸佛種種方便欲令一切人盡入佛道，云何引菩薩與聲聞記？」 tr. "The buddhas, with skilful means of every kind, wish to bring all people entirely into the path of the Buddha; how would they draw a bodhisattva aside and give him the prediction of a śrāvaka?" The Buddha's intent is directed toward bringing all people entirely into the path of the Buddha; whatever goes against this is surely not the Buddha's word.

31. Explaining Māra's third round of testing—slandering the sūtras and books is itself a deed of Māra. The treatise-author says: 「復次，魔作佛身，語菩薩言：『汝所行經書，盡是魔所說。』是菩薩覺知是魔事，當知是菩薩已得受記，安住阿鞞跋致中。」 tr. "Furthermore, Māra takes the body of a Buddha and says to the bodhisattva: ‘The sūtras and books you practise were all spoken by Māra.’ This bodhisattva is aware and knows that this is a deed of Māra; know that this bodhisattva has already received the prediction, and abides securely in the avaivartika." The two Chinese characters for ‘aware and knows’ are themselves the mark. Seen together, these three rounds show Māra's three places of attack: seizing his position, exchanging his fruit, destroying his root; and what the bodhisattva uses in all three rounds is only one method—testing by the Dharma that is spoken.

32. On hearing the Dharma the bodily marks appear of themselves—the simile of flogging the routed army. The treatise-author sets up a separate test: 「阿鞞跋致菩薩深愛樂法故，聞即心深，衣毛皆竪；念佛大悲，則歡喜悲泣；或於甚深法中生大歡喜……」 tr. "Because the avaivartika bodhisattva deeply loves and delights in the Dharma, as soon as he hears it his mind goes deep, and the hair on his skin stands on end; recollecting the Buddha's great compassion, he rejoices and weeps; or within the very deep Dharma he gives rise to great joy..." And he illustrates it with a simile: 「譬如大軍，退敗則怖懅迷悶，臥地似死；親族見之，欲知活不，以杖鞭之，若癮疹起者，則知必活。」 tr. "As with a great army: when it is routed, the men are terrified and dazed and lie on the ground as if dead; their kin, seeing them and wishing to know whether they live, flog them with a rod, and if a weal rises, they know they will surely live." What the simile takes is an extremely plain criterion: though a person has fainted and seems to have no sensation, if the skin can still respond to pain, one knows that life is there. The bodhisattva is likewise—「皆是肉身，何以故知必能成佛？若聞說佛法，身中相現——衣毛為竪，顏色相異；餘人聞不入心，則無異相，如死人無異。」 tr. "All are fleshly bodies; by what does one know that one will surely be able to become a Buddha? If on hearing the Buddha's Dharma expounded, marks appear in the body—the hair on the skin stands on end, the colour of the face changes; when other people hear it, it does not enter their minds, and there are no unusual marks, no different from a dead person." This passage can serve as side evidence for the passages before: the marks of not retrogressing are not all in lofty places; if on hearing the Dharma body and mind respond, that is the mark of life. Yet one must not turn it round and rely on bodily marks—the treatise-author below has a deeper test of his own.

33. Giving up one's life for the Dharma—a madman slanders ultimate emptiness, and the bodhisattva helps the Dharma. The treatise-author sets up a complete scene: the Buddha or a disciple of the Buddha, in a great assembly, expounds by every kind of cause and condition that all dharmas are ultimately empty; 「有一狂人，取音聲名字相，著是畢竟空，出其過罪」 tr. "there is a madman who grasps at the marks of sounds and names, clings to this ultimate emptiness, and brings out its faults", saying: if all dharmas are entirely ultimately empty, then there is no Buddha, no Dharma, no causes and conditions of deeds of sin and merit, and no retribution of practising with vigour and obtaining the fruit of the path. The sickness of this objection the treatise-author has already pointed out in advance—「取音聲名字相」 tr. "grasps at the marks of sounds and names": what he breaks is the three Chinese characters 「畢竟空」 tr. "ultimate emptiness", not the meaning of ultimate emptiness. The avaivartika observes and weighs, and knows that the one expounding the Dharma 「有無著心、隨佛語憐愍故說」 tr. "has a mind without clinging, and speaks following the Buddha's words, out of pity", and knows that the madman 「著語言取相，破是畢竟空」 tr. "clings to words and grasps at marks, breaking this ultimate emptiness". So he 「則沒命佐助」 tr. "then gives up his life to help", saying: these are a madman's words; this is a person of wrong view, who himself sinks in wrong view and also converts many people and makes them fall into wrong view, destroying the Buddha's Dharma. Because the madman harbours deep hatred, he 「或自殺，或使弟子殺」 tr. "either kills him himself, or has his disciples kill him". The last sentence is the landing-point of this passage: 「菩薩若死事至，為佐法故，不以怖畏而壞諸法性。」 tr. "If the matter of death arrives, for the sake of helping the Dharma the bodhisattva does not, out of terror, ruin the nature of dharmas." Not ruining the nature of dharmas means that even with death at hand he does not change his words to say that ultimate emptiness is not empty—what he protects is not his own standpoint but the real nature of the Dharma.

34. The causes and conditions spoken by the Buddha—I too am in this number. The treatise-author explains the causes and conditions spoken of in the sūtra: the bodhisattva thinks: 「未來世佛，我亦在是數中，是法亦是我法；是我法故，不惜身命而守護之。」 tr. "Among the buddhas of the future, I too am in this number; this Dharma is also my Dharma; because it is my Dharma, I do not begrudge body and life in guarding it." And he reflects: 「我無量世中，為煩惱邪見故喪身無數；今為十方三世諸佛法佐助發起，若有益而死，勝無益而生。」 tr. "In countless lives, because of afflictions and wrong views, I have lost my body countless times; now I help and bring forth the Dharma of the buddhas of the ten directions and the three times: to die with benefit is better than to live without benefit." The first thought establishes his share—the Dharma is not outside himself; the latter thought does the accounts—it is a death either way, and to die for the Dharma is a death with benefit. Only when these two thoughts are put together is the giving up of body and life not vehemence but clarity.

35. Receiving and upholding by three powers—the power of faith, hearing and retaining, and severing doubt. The treatise-author explains why he does not forget, lose, or doubt: 「是菩薩未成佛道，從佛聞甚深法，能盡受、不失。信力故能受，聞持陀羅尼力故不失，斷疑陀羅尼力故不疑。」 tr. "This bodhisattva, not yet having accomplished the Buddha's path, hears the very deep Dharma from the Buddha and can receive it entirely and not lose it. By the power of faith he can receive; by the power of the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining he does not lose; by the power of the dhāraṇī of severing doubt he does not doubt." The division of labour among the three is very clear: the power of faith is in charge of ‘getting it in’, hearing and retaining of ‘keeping hold of it’, severing doubt of ‘not wavering’. In the sūtra the Buddha's answer names only 「聞持等陀羅尼」 tr. "the dhāraṇī of hearing and retaining and the rest"; what the one Chinese character for ‘and the rest’ contains, the treatise-author here supplies as the gate of severing doubt. A learner checking himself can also go by this threefold division: if the Dharma does not enter the mind, that is a matter of the power of faith; if it is not remembered, that is a matter of hearing and retaining; if it is remembered and still doubted, that is a matter of severing doubt—three sicknesses and three medicines, not to be treated interchangeably.

36. Subhūti asks whether it is so too with other words. The treatise-author, in narrative form, re-tells the question in the sūtra: 「須菩提問：『但聞佛語能信持不疑，聞餘語亦爾？』」 tr. "Subhūti asks: ‘Is it only on hearing the Buddha's words that he can believe, uphold, and not doubt, or is it so too on hearing other words?’" This is the treatise-author re-telling the question and answer in the sūtra, not another person asking within the treatise. What the question points to is whether the power of dhāraṇī is effective only toward the Buddha's words, or toward all speech.

37. Explaining the Buddha's answer—what has reason in it he can believe; what has no reason in it he holds but does not believe. The treatise-author re-tells the Buddha's answer: 「佛言：『一切有所說者皆能持，若二乘、天、龍等。』」 tr. "The Buddha says: ‘Whatever anyone says, he can hold it all—whether of the two vehicles, or the gods, the nāgas, and the rest.’" He at once supplies a layer of distinction the sūtra does not state: 「所說有道理，能信、持、不疑；無道理者，持之無疑而不信。」 tr. "What is said with reason in it he can believe, hold, and not doubt; what has no reason in it he holds without doubt, yet does not believe." This sentence unties the place in the sūtra most easily misread—‘he forgets and loses none of it’ is the universality of the power of holding, not an indiscriminateness of believing and accepting. To hold and not believe is to hear clearly and remember plainly, yet not take it as right. Holding and believing here part ways—this is precisely the mark of wisdom.

38. The first ‘someone says’—faith is a wrong dharma; not doubting the unwholesome is wholesome. The treatise-author records a different account: 「復次，有人言：信是邪法，不疑不善、是善。」 tr. "Furthermore, someone says: faith is a wrong dharma; not doubting the unwholesome is wholesome." This is another school's explanation, which the treatise-author sets alongside without judging at once. Its meaning is: in the one matter of faith, if what is believed is a wrong dharma, then faith on the contrary becomes a fault; while in the one matter of not doubting, even if what it faces is unwholesome, not doubting in itself is still wholesome. The treatise-author's recording of this account shows that the preceding distinction between faith and holding already had differing explanations from of old.

39. The second ‘someone says’—what the gods, the nāgas, and the two vehicles say is all the Buddha's Dharma. Another different account: 「有人言：諸天、龍、二乘所說皆是佛法。」 tr. "Someone says: what the gods, the nāgas, and the two vehicles say is all the Buddha's Dharma." This account opens the scope very wide—whatever accords with the Dharma may be called the Buddha's Dharma, so there is no distinction of believing and not believing. The treatise-author likewise sets it side by side without judging. The reader need not hurry here to choose: the treatise-author records the two accounts after his own in order to show that this question had differing explanations of old, not in order to change his earlier judgement.

40. Hearing, he can hold; within the real mark there is no doubt at all. The treatise-author concludes: 「是阿鞞跋致相，聞則能持，無疑、無悔。是菩薩雖未作佛，於諸法實相中都無有疑。」 tr. "This is the mark of the avaivartika: hearing, he can hold, without doubt, without regret. Though this bodhisattva has not yet become a Buddha, within the real mark of all dharmas he has no doubt at all." The four Chinese characters 「雖未作佛」 tr. "though he has not yet become a Buddha" are an important measure: not retrogressing is not having already accomplished, but having no doubt within the real mark. The merit is not yet full, while what is seen is already settled—this is precisely the real meaning of the avaivartika position.

41. Such conduct, kind, and appearance are the avaivartika bodhisattva. The treatise-author closes the preceding passages in one sentence: 「如是等行、類、相貌，是阿鞞跋致菩薩。」 tr. "Such conduct, kind, and appearance as these are the avaivartika bodhisattva." Here the explanation of the six passages listed in the sūtra is complete; below, the treatise-author sets up a question of his own and starts a new section.

42. Question: from obtaining what matter onward is one called avaivartika? The treatise-author asks himself: 「得何事來名阿鞞跋致？」 tr. "From obtaining what matter onward is one called avaivartika?" All that was said before was appearances; this question asks about the time—from the accomplishment of which matter onward one counts as having entered this position. Appearances can test a person; the time fixes the station; what the two ask differs, so the treatise-author sets up a separate question and answer.

43. Answer, first—the account of the Abhidharma Vibhāṣā. In his answer the treatise-author first lists the accounts of other schools: 「《阿毘曇毘婆沙》中說：『過三阿僧祇劫後，種三十二相因緣。』從是以來名阿鞞跋致。」 tr. "In the Abhidharma Vibhāṣā it is said: ‘After passing three asaṃkhyeya kalpas, one plants the causes and conditions of the thirty-two marks.’ From then on one is called avaivartika." Three asaṃkhyeya kalpas are the long stretch of the bodhisattva's practice; the thirty-two marks are the marks and excellences of the Buddha's body; this account takes ‘beginning to plant the causes of the marks and excellences’ as the dividing line. The treatise-author cites it without refuting it, first laying out the accounts in full—a pattern common in this treatise.

44. Answer, second—the account of the Vinaya Avadāna. Another account: 「《毘泥阿波陀那》中說：『從見然燈佛，以五莖花散佛，以髮布地；佛為授阿鞞跋致記；騰身虛空，以偈讚佛。』從是已來，名阿鞞跋致。」 tr. "In the Vinaya Avadāna it is said: ‘From seeing Dīpaṃkara Buddha, scattering five stalks of flowers over the Buddha, and spreading his hair on the ground; the Buddha gave him the prediction of avaivartika; he rose bodily into the air and praised the Buddha in verse.’ From then on, one is called avaivartika." This account takes the one event of receiving the prediction as the dividing line; the event is concrete and the time is clear. The former account takes the length of practice and position; this account takes the event of the prediction; the two accounts are set side by side, and the text below then brings out the meaning of this sūtra.

45. Answer, third—within this prajñā, one is so named by obtaining the acceptance of non-arising and entering the bodhisattva's position. The treatise-author brings out the account of this sūtra: 「此般若波羅蜜中，若菩薩具足行六波羅蜜，得智慧方便力，不著是畢竟空波羅蜜」 tr. "within this prajñāpāramitā, if the bodhisattva fully practises the six perfections, obtains the power of wisdom and skilful means, and does not cling to this pāramitā of ultimate emptiness", he contemplates all dharmas as 「不生不滅、不增不減、不垢不淨、不來不去、不一不異、不常不斷、非有非無」 tr. "neither arising nor ceasing, neither increasing nor decreasing, neither stained nor pure, neither coming nor going, neither one nor different, neither permanent nor annihilated, neither existent nor non-existent"—this whole string is pairs of mutually dependent dharmas, and the treatise-author says so plainly, 「如是等無量相待二法」 tr. "countless pairs of mutually dependent dharmas such as these"; because it is the contemplation of wisdom, it 「破一切生滅等無常相」 tr. "breaks all the marks of impermanence, arising, ceasing, and the rest". Next comes the most finely layered letting-go in the whole treatise section: 「先因無常等故破常等倒」 tr. "first, by means of impermanence and the rest, he breaks the inversions of permanence and the rest"—this is the first layer, breaking permanence by impermanence; 「今亦捨無生無滅等、捨無常觀等」 tr. "now he also lets go of non-arising, non-ceasing, and the rest, and lets go of the contemplation of impermanence and the rest"—this is the second layer, letting go even of the contemplation that does the breaking; 「於不生不滅亦不著，亦不墮空無所有中」 tr. "to non-arising and non-ceasing he also does not cling, and he also does not fall into the emptiness of being without anything existent"—this is the third layer, letting go without landing in an annihilating emptiness; 「亦知是不生不滅相不得不著故，亦信用是不生不滅法」 tr. "he also knows that this mark of non-arising and non-ceasing is not obtained and not clung to, and so he also believes in and uses this dharma of non-arising and non-ceasing"—this is the fourth layer, not clinging and yet still believing in and using it. Breaking, letting go, not falling, believing and using—if any one of the four turns is missing, it goes lopsided: without not falling, letting go becomes annihilation; without believing and using, not clinging becomes not practising. At the end it returns to 「三世十方諸佛真智慧中，信力故通達無礙，是名菩薩得無生忍法，入菩薩位，名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "within the true wisdom of the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions, by the power of faith he penetrates without obstruction; this is called the bodhisattva obtaining the dharma of the acceptance of non-arising, entering the bodhisattva's position, and being called avaivartika". The three accounts stand side by side, and this is the meaning of this sūtra: the standard is not the number of kalpas, the standard is not a concrete event; the standard is the acceptance realised.

46. From the first arousing of the mind he is already called avaivartika, but because the marks are not yet complete he is not given the prediction. The treatise-author resolves a surface contradiction: 「是菩薩雖從初發心以來名阿鞞跋致；阿鞞跋致相未具足故，不與授記。」 tr. "Though this bodhisattva is called avaivartika from the first arousing of the mind onward, because the marks of the avaivartika are not yet complete, he is not given the prediction." The name can be obtained early; the prediction requires the marks to be complete. Why must the marks be complete? The reason the treatise-author gives lies not in the Buddha but in the onlookers: 「外道聖人、諸天、小菩薩等作此念：『佛見是人有何等事而與授記？是人於佛道因緣中未住，云何與授記？』是故佛未與授記。」 tr. "The sages of the outside paths, the gods, the small bodhisattvas, and others think: ‘What matter did the Buddha see in this person that he gave him the prediction? This person does not yet abide in the causes and conditions of the Buddha's path; how could he be given the prediction?’ Therefore the Buddha does not yet give him the prediction." The prediction is spoken not only to the person concerned but also to the great assembly; if the assembly sees that his marks are incomplete and hears that he has received the prediction, it becomes on the contrary a condition for doubt. The Buddha's not predicting is protecting the faith of beings, not begrudging him the position.

47. The two kinds of body, and the two kinds of avaivartika in a fleshly body. The treatise-author divides the stations: 「是菩薩有二種：一者、生死肉身，二者、法性生身。得無生忍法，斷諸煩惱；捨是身後，得法性生身。」 tr. "This bodhisattva is of two kinds: first, the fleshly body within birth and death; second, the body born of the Dharma-nature. Obtaining the dharma of the acceptance of non-arising, he severs all afflictions; after giving up this body, he obtains the body born of the Dharma-nature." The fleshly body within birth and death is the body brought about by the retribution of deeds; the body born of the Dharma-nature is the body received after realising the acceptance of non-arising and severing the afflictions. Further, within the station of the fleshly body there are two kinds: 「有於佛前得授記；有不於佛前授記——若佛不在世時，得無生法忍，是不於佛前授記。」 tr. "Some receive the prediction in the presence of a Buddha; some do not receive the prediction in the presence of a Buddha—if, when no Buddha is in the world, one obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, this is not receiving the prediction in the presence of a Buddha." This division is most considerate: one who obtains the acceptance of non-arising when no Buddha is in the world has not thereby lost his station; there is only no Buddha to predict it for him. If a reader has the thought ‘now there is no Buddha in the world, and practice too has nothing to rely on’, this sentence of the treatise-author is precisely the answer.

48. Question: those who read, recite, and accord with it but have not obtained meditative concentration—what kind of bodhisattva are they? The treatise-author again sets up a question: 「若爾者，有人讀、誦、說、正憶念，隨順無生法忍義，是人未得禪定，或生疑心、或為著心所牽，如是人比，是何等菩薩？為是阿鞞跋致不？」 tr. "If so, there is someone who reads, recites, expounds, and rightly recollects, and accords with the meaning of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; this person has not obtained meditative concentration, and may give rise to a doubting mind, or be dragged by a clinging mind—people of this sort, what kind of bodhisattva are they? Are they avaivartika or not?" This question is asked very close to the real situation: according with its meaning but not having obtained its concentration, the mind still gives rise to doubt and is still dragged away by the clinging mind—do such people count? Only when the question reaches this point is the standard of 「不疑」 tr. "not doubting" set up earlier truly put to use.

49. Answer: he is not called avaivartika. The treatise-author answers crisply: 「是人不名為阿鞞跋致。」 tr. "This person is not called avaivartika." His reason is an inference running back from deep to shallow: 「阿鞞跋致菩薩，於甚深佛法中尚無疑，何況無生忍初法門！」 tr. "The avaivartika bodhisattva has no doubt even within the very deep Dharma of the Buddha, how much less in the first gate of the Dharma, the acceptance of non-arising!" Since even at the deepest place he does not doubt, how much less at the gate of entry. Seen the other way round: if one still doubts at the gate of entry, the deep place needs no comment. This answer does not disparage those who read and recite; it keeps the reality of name and position—once name and position are loosened, the meaning of self-realisation set up earlier loses all its weight.

50. The two kinds of those who have not obtained it—compliant acceptance and love of dharmas. The treatise-author divides the stations of those who have not obtained it, and points out a way forward: 「是未得阿鞞跋致者，有二種：一者、信少疑多，二者、疑少信多。」 tr. "Those who have not yet obtained the avaivartika are of two kinds: first, little faith and much doubt; second, little doubt and much faith." Next he compares their merits: 「疑多信少者，於讀誦經人小勝」 tr. "those of much doubt and little faith are a little better than people who read and recite the sūtras"—a notch above people who only read and recite without reflecting; 「信多疑少者，若得禪定，即時得柔順忍」 tr. "those of much faith and little doubt, if they obtain meditative concentration, at once obtain compliant acceptance". Compliant acceptance is the share of the power of acceptance that accords with the real mark without the mind going against it, and its position is before the acceptance of non-arising. Those who obtain this acceptance still have their sickness: 「未斷法愛故，或生著心，或還退沒。」 tr. "Because they have not yet severed love of dharmas, they may give rise to a clinging mind, or turn back and sink." What is loved is the Dharma, yet it is still love—this is the sentence most worth remembering in this passage. At the end he shows the way: 「是人若常修習此柔順忍，柔順忍增長故，斷法愛，得無生忍，入菩薩位。」 tr. "If this person constantly cultivates this compliant acceptance, then because compliant acceptance grows, he severs love of dharmas, obtains the acceptance of non-arising, and enters the bodhisattva's position." Cultivating compliant acceptance to sever love of dharmas, severing love of dharmas to obtain the acceptance of non-arising—the road goes through; it only has to be walked.

51. The meaning of the marks of the avaivartika has been briefly explained. The treatise-author closes the whole chapter in one sentence: 「略說阿鞞跋致相義。」 tr. "The meaning of the marks of the avaivartika has been briefly explained." The one Chinese character 「略」 tr. "briefly" looks back over the whole text: the appearances listed before and after cannot be called few, and yet the treatise-author still calls his account brief. So the marks of not retrogressing cannot be exhausted in the telling; that the sūtra again and again closes with 「以是行、類、相貌，當知是名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "by this conduct, kind, and appearance, know that this is called avaivartika" is teaching people to seek it by kind, not asking them to count the items off in full.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「於自地中了了，不疑」 tr. "he is clear about his own ground, and does not doubt" as self-affirming confidence. The reason the sūtra gives is 「乃至不見少許法於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提中，若轉、若不轉」 tr. "even to the point that he does not see the least dharma within anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi that either turns or does not turn", and the treatise-author further judges 「疑，名取相有所得」 tr. "doubt means grasping at a mark with something attained"—he does not doubt because marks are unfindable and doubt has no place to dwell, not because his faith is strong enough. One who presses doubt down with confidence presses down the mark of doubt, not the cause of doubt; once he meets a matter that goes against it and falls short, what was pressed down will still turn up again.

Do not read 「觀是魔事如佛法，觀諸魔身如佛無異」 tr. "he contemplates these deeds of Māra as the Buddha's Dharma, and contemplates the bodies of the Māras as no different from the Buddha" as meaning that Māra and the Buddha are indistinguishable and that Māra may be followed. In the same passage the treatise-author first says 「不隨逐」 tr. "he does not follow after it", and afterwards says 「如佛無異」 tr. "no different from the Buddha"—not following after is the judgement in the gate of practice; no different from the Buddha is the illumination in the gate of contemplation; what they rest on is 「一切法及實際同一相，所謂無相故」 tr. "because all dharmas and the limit of reality are of one and the same mark, namely the signless". Because he illuminates its signlessness he does not fear it; because he judges it not the Dharma he does not follow it; the two go together, and if one is missing it goes lopsided.

Do not read the simile of the five heinous sins as taking evil for the Dharma. The treatise-author says plainly that the point taken by the simile is 「是二心厚重故不可却」 tr. "these two minds are heavy and thick, and so cannot be driven back", and he himself distinguishes their difference: 「須陀洹心，常不却；五逆心，罪畢乃除……」 tr. "the mind of the srota-āpanna never shrinks back; the mind of the five heinous sins is removed only when the sin is exhausted..." It takes the immovability of the mind, not the deed; one good and one evil raised together at the same point is precisely the method of simile, and one must not drag in its other meanings.

Do not read 「所有言說眾事，得陀羅尼菩薩皆不忘、不失，不疑、不悔」 tr. "all the many matters of speech there are, the bodhisattva who has obtained dhāraṇī in every case does not forget, does not lose, does not doubt, does not regret" as meaning that everything one hears should be believed and accepted. The treatise-author at once distinguishes: 「所說有道理，能信、持、不疑；無道理者，持之無疑而不信。」 tr. "What is said with reason in it he can believe, hold, and not doubt; what has no reason in it he holds without doubt, yet does not believe." Holding is a capacity; believing is a choice. If the two are mixed into one matter, it becomes credulity without discrimination, which on the contrary runs counter to the immovable wisdom this chapter sets up.

Do not read 「不說五眾事，不說十二入事，不說十八界事」 tr. "he does not speak of matters of the five aggregates, does not speak of matters of the twelve sense-fields, does not speak of matters of the eighteen elements" as discarding the forms of the teaching. The treatise-author explains it as 「不喜說分別五眾、十二入、十八界決定相」 tr. "he does not like to speak of the fixed marks that discriminate the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements"—what is blocked is the fixed mark, not names and marks themselves. Further on in the text the bodhisattva still, for the sake of beings, 「種種分別善、不善法等，令眾生得解」 tr. "discriminates in every way wholesome and unwholesome dharmas and the rest, so that beings may come to understand", which shows that the use of discrimination has not been abolished.

Do not read the section on 「魔作佛身」 tr. "Māra takes the body of a Buddha" as meaning that on seeing a Buddha one should give rise to doubt. The criterion set up in these three rounds is from start to finish only one—「身是而言非」 tr. "the body is right but the words are wrong", together with 「佛不應教菩薩遠離阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "the Buddha would not teach a bodhisattva to depart far from anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". Not looking at the image but listening to its Dharma is a method of discernment, not a method of suspicion and fear; to give rise to doubt across the board would run directly counter to the text 「心不異、不沒、不驚、不畏」 tr. "his mind does not change, does not sink, is not startled, is not afraid".

Do not read the bodhisattva's 「沒命佐助」 tr. "giving up his life to help" as contending to get the better of others. The treatise-author first relates that the bodhisattva 「觀察、籌量」 tr. "observes and weighs", and only then speaks; what he knows is that the one expounding the Dharma has 「無著心、隨佛語憐愍故說」 tr. "a mind without clinging, and speaks following the Buddha's words, out of pity", and that the madman 「著語言取相」 tr. "clings to words and grasps at marks"; what he protects is 「不以怖畏而壞諸法性」 tr. "not, out of terror, ruining the nature of dharmas". This is protecting the Dharma after clear discernment, not a contest of temper; and what is weighed at the end lies not in winning or losing but in 「若有益而死，勝無益而生」 tr. "to die with benefit is better than to live without benefit".

Do not read 「初發心以來名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "from the first arousing of the mind onward he is called avaivartika" and 「是人不名為阿鞞跋致」 tr. "this person is not called avaivartika" as contradicting each other. The former speaks of the name—on arousing the mind he obtains this name, but his marks are not yet complete, so the Buddha does not give him the prediction; the latter speaks of the position—one who reads, recites, and accords with it but has not obtained meditative concentration, and who still has doubt and clinging, does not actually occupy this position. Name and position being spoken of separately, the two places are of themselves without contradiction.

Bearing on Practice

Take 「疑，名取相有所得」 tr. "doubt means grasping at a mark with something attained" and examine your own doubt by it. When the mind is uneasy, do not first hurry to look for affirming evidence; first see which two marks you have grasped and are wavering between—as when at night one sees a tree stump and doubts whether it is a person. Once the marks loosen, doubt of itself has no place to dwell; if the marks do not loosen, however much evidence you find, you are only exchanging one place of wavering for another.

Take 「身是而言非」 tr. "the body is right but the words are wrong" as the touchstone for every state. Seeing the marks and excellences, receiving a response, meeting someone who with an authoritative voice tells you which road to take—in every case do not look at the body; listen only to the Dharma: do these words bring me nearer to awakening, or farther from it? As when one tests a gold coin: flick it, the sound comes out, and real and false are told apart of themselves.

Take the three powers and sort out your own sicknesses. If the Dharma does not go in when you hear it, that is a matter of the power of faith; if it goes in but does not stay, that is a matter of hearing and retaining; if it stays and the mind still wavers, that is a matter of severing doubt. Three sicknesses, three medicines—do not take the wrong medicine: blaming yourself for lacking faith when you cannot remember, or working only at memorising and reciting when faith will not arise, are both mistreatments.

Take 「持之無疑而不信」 tr. "holds without doubt, yet does not believe" and practise listening to people by it. Words that do not accord with reason can be heard clearly and remembered plainly, without needing to accept them and without needing to be stirred to anger. Once holding and believing are separated, the mind's measure is actually broader: one can make room for differing words precisely because one need not be dragged away by them.

Take 「此空不可但口說而心著，是故先行次第法」 tr. "this emptiness cannot merely be spoken by the mouth while the mind clings; therefore one first practises the graded dharmas" and check your lip-emptiness by it. Whoever likes to say that all is empty and yet still calculates when matters arise—the treatise-author's sentence has exposed it in advance. The graded dharmas—meditative concentration, wisdom, and the rest—are not an expedient for beginners; they are the real road to obtaining emptiness; the more practised the spoken emptiness, the more one must look back to see how many steps of the graded way have actually been walked.

Take 「種種供養利樂因緣不能令捨實相心及慈悲心」 tr. "every kind of cause and condition of offerings, gain, and pleasure cannot make it abandon the mind of the real mark and the mind of kindness and compassion" and guard against favourable circumstances by it. Most people are prepared against adversity seizing the mind; favourable circumstances seizing the mind often go unnoticed. At a time of receiving people's respect and offerings, add one question: are my mind of the real mark and my mind of kindness and compassion still in their original place at this moment?

Take 「未斷法愛故，或生著心，或還退沒」 tr. "because they have not yet severed love of dharmas, they may give rise to a clinging mind, or turn back and sink" and examine your own love of the Dharma by it. Loving the Dharma is a good thing; love of dharmas is a bondage—to be so pleased with a view, a gate of the Dharma, or a state that one cannot let it go is the sickness not yet severed within compliant acceptance. The road the treatise-author gives is not to stop loving, but 「常修習此柔順忍，柔順忍增長故，斷法愛」 tr. "constantly cultivating this compliant acceptance, and because compliant acceptance grows, severing love of dharmas".

Take 「我無量世中，為煩惱邪見故喪身無數」 tr. "in countless lives, because of afflictions and wrong views, I have lost my body countless times" as a method of reckoning. When for the Dharma you suffer loss, suffer suspicion and censure, or even suffer great calamity, go through the accounts this way: losses suffered without benefit have already been suffered countless times; this time it is with benefit. When the accounts are clear, courage need not be forced up.

Take the one sentence 「略說阿鞞跋致相義」 tr. "the meaning of the marks of the avaivartika has been briefly explained" and be spared by it the anxiety of checking yourself item by item. The treatise-author himself calls it brief, which shows that the appearances cannot be exhausted in the telling; that every passage of the sūtra says 「以是行、類、相貌，當知是名阿鞞跋致」 tr. "by this conduct, kind, and appearance, know that this is called avaivartika" is teaching people to seek it by kind. Checking oneself is for recognising the road, not for keeping score—item after item falling short while the direction does not change is precisely the not turning this chapter speaks of.

Further Resonances

The one line by which the Last Part carries on from the First Part is this: it pushes 「轉不轉」 tr. "turning and not turning" from the discrimination of name and meaning to the reality of self-realisation, and from the reality of self-realisation to the testing by Māra's trials. The First Part established the name: evil Māra came with the meaning of emptiness to ruin the mind, and the bodhisattva held himself firm with 「諸法雖如虛空，無所有、自相空，而眾生不知、不見、不解」 tr. "though all dharmas are like space, without anything existent, empty of specific marks, yet beings do not know, do not see, do not understand"; Subhūti asked which, turning or not turning, is called avaivartika, and the Buddha's two answers were both yes—because he does not turn in the two grounds he is called not turning, because he turns in the two grounds he is also called not turning; one character is used two ways, and the matter is only one matter. Then the marks were listed: entering the dhyānas without receiving their fruit, not prizing any meritorious dharma, a single undistracted mind in the four deportments, being a householder and yet able to fill Jambudvīpa with giving, the vajra-holding spirit king constantly following him, the vajra-holding spirits of the five clans constantly following and guarding him, always complete in the five faculties, being a superior person and not an inferior person. The Last Part makes the marks finer and the circumstances more dangerous: he does not speak of the various worldly matters but speaks only of prajñā; abiding in the emptinesses, he is clear about his own ground and does not doubt; Māra takes the body of a Buddha and comes three times to test him, and each time he is aware and knows it; for the sake of protecting and upholding the Dharma of the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions he does not begrudge body and life; hearing what the Buddha and those who are not the Buddha say, he neither forgets nor loses it. The treatise-author's explanation everywhere moves the basis from the outside to the inside: the reason he does not doubt lies in 「疑，名取相有所得」 tr. "doubt means grasping at a mark with something attained"; the reason he does not follow Māra lies in 「身是而言非」 tr. "the body is right but the words are wrong", as when one tests a gold coin: flick it and the sound comes out; the reason he does not fear death lies in 「是法亦是我法」 tr. "this Dharma is also my Dharma" and 「若有益而死，勝無益而生」 tr. "to die with benefit is better than to live without benefit"; the reason he holds without believing indiscriminately lies in 「所說有道理，能信、持、不疑；無道理者，持之無疑而不信」 tr. "what is said with reason in it he can believe, hold, and not doubt; what has no reason in it he holds without doubt, yet does not believe". At the end one question is set up—from obtaining what matter onward is one called avaivartika—and three accounts are set side by side and return to obtaining the acceptance of non-arising and entering the bodhisattva's position; further, the two kinds of body and the two kinds of fleshly body are divided, the station is fixed for those who read, recite, and accord with it but have not obtained meditative concentration, and the road of severing love of dharmas by compliant acceptance is brought out. From the head of the chapter to its end, the three Chinese characters 「轉不轉」 tr. "turning and not turning" here reach their full weight: the First Part makes clear the name, the Last Part makes clear the reality; the two uses of the name lie in turning away and not turning into, and the one thread of the reality lies in there being no doubt because there is no mark.

The title of this chapter is transmitted differently in the various witnesses; they are recorded together below without forcing a judgement. The base text titles it "Turning and Not Turning"; the variant-translation sūtra text of the Larger Sūtra has as its proper title "Firmness", while its interlinear note in the Khitan edition reads 「轉不轉品」 tr. "the chapter on Turning and Not Turning", agreeing with the title of the base text; the Palace edition again reads 「堅固品」 tr. "the chapter on Firmness". The two names take different things: 「轉不轉」 tr. "turning and not turning" is set up from his turning away from, and not turning into, the grounds of the two vehicles; 「堅固」 tr. "firmness" is set up from his mind being heavy and thick and unable to be moved or turned—which answers exactly to the sentence of this unit, 「種種苦事逼迫不能動，種種供養利樂因緣不能令捨實相心及慈悲心」 tr. "when every kind of painful matter presses on it, it cannot be moved; every kind of cause and condition of offerings, gain, and pleasure cannot make it abandon the mind of the real mark and the mind of kindness and compassion".

Jizang, explaining the name of this chapter in his Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, records two ancient accounts: 「有人言：不退與堅固，左右相成。所以不退者，由堅固也；所以堅固者，由不退也。又人解云：內煩惱不能壞為不退，外惡緣不能動為堅固也。」 tr. "Someone says: non-retrogression and firmness complete each other from left and right. The reason one does not retrogress is firmness; the reason one is firm is non-retrogression. Another person explains: that the inner afflictions cannot ruin it is non-retrogression; that outer evil conditions cannot move it is firmness." The former account takes the two names as cause and effect of each other; the latter divides them into inner and outer—the inner afflictions not ruining it belongs to non-retrogression, the outer evil conditions not moving it belongs to firmness. Reading this unit by it, abiding in the emptinesses and not giving rise to doubt falls on the inner side, and Māra taking the body of a Buddha and coming three times to test without being followed falls on the outer; Jizang also, at the end of the previous chapter, already marks the doctrinal heading of this chapter with 「轉不轉」 tr. "turning and not turning", which shows that though what he explains is titled 「堅固」 tr. "Firmness", the meaning it hangs on is still turning and not turning. Huiying's Commentary has no special section on this chapter, but in his commentary on the following chapter it twice points back to this chapter: once it says 「但據從上不退品已來皆說故」 tr. "only because it has all been spoken of from the Non-retrogression chapter above onward", and once, in the passage on the vajra-holding spirits, it says 「五種執金剛神已下，上不退品中言五性，今言五種」 tr. "from ‘the five kinds of vajra-holding spirits’ onward: in the Non-retrogression chapter above it says ‘five natures’; here it says ‘five kinds’"—both use 「上不退品」 tr. "the Non-retrogression chapter above" as a general name for the chapters before this, which shows that Huiying's division of the text treats this chapter as continuing the previous chapter in one thread. The two masters, seen together, both lean toward non-retrogression and firmness being two faces of one matter; the differences among the witnesses' titles are recorded as they are, and the choice between them belongs to the translator.