The Esoteric Significance of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra
Chapter 5: Volume Five — The Dharma Gates of Perfect Penetration Realized by the Twenty-Five Sages (2)
Thirteen, Original text:普贤菩萨。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我已曾与。恒沙如来。为法王子。十方如来。教其弟子。菩萨根者。修普贤行。从我立名。世尊。我用心闻。分别众生。所有知见。若于他方。恒沙界外。有一众生。心中发明。普贤行者。我于尔时。乘六牙象。分身百千。皆至其处。纵彼障深。未合见我。我与其人。暗中摩顶。拥护安慰。令其成就。佛问圆通。我说本因。心闻发明。分别自在。斯为第一。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Samantabhadra rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I have already served as a Dharma Prince to Tathāgatas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The Tathāgatas of the ten directions teach their disciples who possess the bodhisattva indriya to cultivate Universal Worthy's practice, and this Universal Worthy's practice is named after me. World-Honored One, I am able to use mind-hearing to discern all the views that sentient beings hold. If, beyond lands as distant as Ganges sands in other Buddha lands, there is a sentient being in whose mind the aspiration to cultivate Universal Worthy's practice arises, at that moment I ride a six-tusked elephant and manifest hundreds of thousands of transformation bodies, all arriving at that person's place.
Even if that person's karmic obstructions are heavy and he cannot see me no matter what, I will still secretly rub the crown of his head to comfort and protect him, enabling his cultivation of Universal Worthy's practice to reach accomplishment. Now the Buddha asks me what the dharma gate of perfect penetration through which I cultivated is; I will speak of the fundamental cause by which I attained perfect penetration: using the mind to hear, clearly knowing the thoughts and wishes within sentient beings' minds, able to discern sentient beings' mental states with ease — this is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
Fourteen, Original text:孙陀罗难陀。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我初出家。从佛入道。虽具戒律。于三摩提。心常散动。未获无漏。世尊教我。及俱絺罗。观鼻端白。我初谛观。经三七日。见鼻中气。出入如烟。身心内明。圆洞世界。遍成虚净。犹如琉璃。烟相渐销。鼻息成白。心开漏尽。诸出入息。化为光明。照十方界。得阿罗汉。世尊记我。当得菩提。佛问圆通。我以销息。息久发明。明圆灭漏。斯为第一。
Explanation: Sundarananda rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and answered the Buddha: When I first left home and entered the Way following the Buddha, although I kept the precepts well, my meditative concentration was not sufficient; my mind was often scattered, so I had not cut off afflictions and had not reached the untainted state. The World-Honored One taught me and Kauṣṭhila to contemplate the white vapor emitted by the breath at the nose tip. At first I contemplated carefully within meditation; after twenty-one days I saw the breath entering and leaving my nostrils like smoke. My body and mind were inwardly luminous, perfectly penetrating the world, seeing everywhere as empty and pure, like crystal, clear and transparent.
Then the breath between the nostrils turned white, my mind opened, wisdom surged forth, and afflictions were exhausted. All outgoing and incoming breath transformed into light, illuminating the worlds of the ten directions. In this way I attained the fruit of an arhat, and the World-Honored One predicted that I would in the future attain buddhahood. The Buddha asked me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: I contemplated the breath, and when the observation became deep and subtle, I extinguished the breath; after the breath had long ceased, inner wisdom arose, clearly recognizing that the breath at the nose tip and the five aggregates and eighteen realms are all empty and illusory. When wisdom was complete, afflictions were exhausted. This method is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
When Sundarananda first contemplated the breath, he had already attained the first or second fruit, but his meditative concentration was not very good and his mind was scattered; without first-dhyāna concentration, one cannot attain the third fruit. After contemplating the breath at the nose tip, his concentration deepened more and more, meditative power appeared, and his observation became deep and subtle, so he observed that the breath at the nose tip was like smoke. Without sufficient meditative power this phenomenon cannot be discovered; the air and breath normally invisible then became visible, extremely subtle like smoke, showing that breath is also material form, composed of various particles of the four great elements, only too subtle — those without profound meditation, whose minds are coarse, cannot see it. Being able to see subtle dharmas is great wisdom; because great wisdom was opened, he inwardly saw through body and mind, and outwardly clearly perceived the world, knowing the illusory unreality of the world, body, and mind. Supernatural powers appeared, afflictions were exhausted, and he became a great arhat of the fourth fruit.
Fifteen, Original text:富楼那弥多罗尼子。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我旷劫来。辩才无碍。宣说苦空。深达实相。如是乃至。恒沙如来。秘密法门。我于众中。微妙开示。得无所畏。世尊知我。有大辩才。以音声轮。教我发扬。我于佛前。助佛转轮。因狮子吼。成阿罗汉。世尊印我。说法无上。佛问圆通。我以法音。降伏魔怨。销灭诸漏。斯为第一。
Explanation: Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇīputra rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: For immeasurable kalpas my wisdom has been outstanding and my eloquence unobstructed. I proclaim to sentient beings the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates and the world — the Four Noble Truths — and can deeply penetrate the true reality of all dharmas. Because of such great eloquence, even the secret dharma gates of Tathāgatas as numerous as Ganges sands I can subtly expound amid the assembly, fearing nothing in these profound dharmas. The World-Honored One knew I had great eloquence and instructed me to fully develop my unobstructed eloquence, using the wheel of the voice to teach and transform sentient beings. Thus before the Buddha I was able to help the Buddha turn the Dharma wheel to save sentient beings. Because I was skilled at the lion's roar, I became a great arhat of the fourth fruit, and the World-Honored One confirmed that among the Buddha's disciples I was foremost in expounding the Dharma, with none surpassing me. Now the Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration I realized: I used the sound of my expounding the Dharma to subdue māras and enemies and extinguish all afflictions. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
Pūrṇa not only had profound wisdom but also superb ability of verbal expression, and thus for beginningless kalpas he had been helping the Buddha turn the Dharma wheel. He cut off afflictions and attained the fourth fruit of a great arhat, and could also expound the Tathāgatas' secret dharma gates; therefore his level of realization was equivalent to that of bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi or above. These great disciples of the Buddha all had distinguished backgrounds; they were all buddhas and bodhisattvas sailing the ship of compassion in reverse, deliberately manifesting as śrāvakas to help the Buddha spread the Dharma.
These great disciples all possessed great supernatural powers but did not casually display them, appearing about the same as ordinary people — even during famine, when they could not beg for food, Pūrṇa would rather eat cow dung than use supernatural powers to conjure food, and the Buddha also did not permit Maudgalyāyana and the others to use the supernormal power of travel to fly to Uttarakuru to beg for food. In fact these great arhats could entirely do without eating, but to demonstrate the Dharma they manifested the same as ordinary monastics, in order to teach those bhikṣus, so none of them could use supernatural powers. This was also for the sake of future monastics, lest future monastics without supernatural powers be ridiculed by sentient beings, causing sentient beings to create unwholesome karma.
Sixteen, Original text:优波离。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我亲随佛。逾城出家。亲观如来。六年勤苦。亲见如来。降伏诸魔。制诸外道。解脱世间。贪欲诸漏。承佛教戒。如是乃至。三千威仪。八万微细。性业遮业。悉皆清净。身心寂灭。成阿罗汉。我是如来。众中纲纪。亲印我心。持戒修身。众推无上。佛问圆通。我以执身。身得自在。次第执心。心得通达。然后身心。一切通利。斯为第一。
Explanation: Upāli rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and answered the Buddha: I personally followed the Buddha, climbing over the city wall at midnight to leave home and cultivate the Way in the snow mountains. With my own eyes I saw the Tathāgata's six years of arduous cultivation; with my own eyes I saw the Tathāgata subdue all māras and tame all non-Buddhists, and become liberated from the affliction-outflows of various greed and desire for the world. I received the Buddha's instruction on the precepts and strictly observed them, up to the three thousand dignified deportments and eighty thousand subtle pure practices that monastics should fulfill; the karmas by nature and the karmas by prohibition, the obstructions of evil karma created in past lives, were all eliminated, the mind attained purity, body and mind attained quiescence and cessation, and I became an arhat.
I was foremost in upholding the precepts among the Tathāgata's assembly of bhikṣus, the model and exemplar of bhikṣu precepts. The Buddha personally confirmed that my body and mind were pure, and in upholding precepts and cultivating oneself the assembly esteemed me as foremost. Now the Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: it was because I first restrained the body that the material body attained ease, never violating any of the bhikṣu deportment precepts under any circumstances. After restraining bodily actions, I then sequentially restrained mental actions, and the mind thus penetrated the world of the five aggregates; finally my body and mind penetrated all dharmas of the world without obstruction. I take upholding precepts and cultivating body and mind as my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
In the true Dharma age when the Buddha was in the world, perfect upholding of precepts could lead to realizing the fruits, up to becoming an arhat of the fourth fruit. In the Dharma-ending age, because sentient beings' indriya are inferior and the living environment is defiled, the single method of upholding precepts alone can no longer realize the fruits; precepts, meditation, and wisdom must be cultivated together, and only when all are complete can the fruits be realized. If the precepts are not observed, realizing the fruits is even more impossible; with a turbid and impure mind, meditation and wisdom cannot arise.
Seventeen, Original text:大目犍连。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我初于路乞食。逢遇优楼频螺。伽耶那提。三迦叶波。宣说如来。因缘深义。我顿发心。得大通达。如来惠我。袈裟着身。须发自落。心光发宣。如澄浊流。久成清莹。斯为第一。
Explanation: Mahāmaudgalyāyana rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: The first time I went begging for food on the road, I met Uruvilvā, Gayā, and Nadī — the three Kāśyapa brothers — discussing as they walked the profound meaning of the Tathāgata's teaching on causes and conditions. As soon as I heard it I was immediately awakened and penetrated the dharma of causes and conditions. The Tathāgata graciously bestowed on me [the fruit]: the kasāya robe draped over my body and my hair and beard fell away by themselves; the light of great wisdom within my mind shone forth, like clarifying a turbid stream — after long sustained effort the turbid water became clear and pure. This is the foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration through which I attained realization.
Mahāmaudgalyāyana's self-introduced method of cultivation, or one might call it his realization, is the simplest. Why so simple? Because he had already cultivated it in past lives; his manas had already realized it countless times, so in this life his new mind consciousness, upon hearing the relevant essential teaching, realized it in an instant of gathering in thought, without the trouble of again training the manas. His manas was born corresponding to that of a great arhat of the fourth fruit, with extremely high cultivation, no afflictions, and deep sharp wisdom; only the mind consciousness was lacking.
When a first-fruit person returns to the human world, because the manas already realized it in past lives but the new mind consciousness has not, upon realizing again it is faster than for ordinary people, but compared with arhats it is still slow. Because the manas' wisdom of realizing non-self is still shallow and its ignorance still heavy, its training of the mind consciousness is slight, and the mind consciousness' ignorance is heavy. Therefore, upon encountering the Buddha's teachings again, some time of cultivation is still needed before realizing the fruit again, but faster than for those who have never realized it. Facts prove that in the process of cultivation, not only is the mind consciousness' learning important, but the training of the manas is even more important. In later lives the manas can then influence and carry the mind consciousness; afterward the mind consciousness, learning new and profound dharmas, in turn influences and carries the manas; the two mutually influence and carry each other, and progress on the path is rapid.
Eighteen, Original text:乌刍瑟摩。于如来前。合掌顶礼。佛之双足。而白佛言。我常先忆。久远劫前。性多贪欲。有佛出世。名曰空王。说多淫人。成猛火聚。教我遍观。百骸四肢。诸冷暖气。神光内凝。化多淫心。成智慧火。从是诸佛。皆呼召我。名为火头。我以火光。三昧力故。成阿罗汉。心发大愿。诸佛成道。我为力士。亲伏魔怨。佛问圆通。我以谛观。身心暖触。无碍流通。诸漏既销。生大宝焰。登无上觉。斯为第一。
Explanation: Ucchuṣma came before the Tathāgata, pressed his palms together and bowed at the Tathāgata's two feet, and said to the Buddha: I often recall that long, long kalpas ago my nature was full of greed and lust. There was a Buddha in the world named Empty King, who said that people of much lust dwell where fierce great fires gather, burned by the fire of desire. He also taught me every day, within meditation, to contemplate thoroughly throughout the body's hundred bones and four limbs all the vapors, observing whether each was cold or warm. Within this contemplative practice meditation arose, the mind-spirit congealed inwardly and no longer scattered outward; the lustful mind was extinguished and the mind of wisdom was born. I was adept at transforming the lustful mind into the fire of wisdom, and from then on all buddhas called me Fire Head.
By virtue of the power of the fire-light samādhi I realized, I became a great arhat. Then I made a vow: when the buddhas attain the Way, I will be a strongman, personally subduing māras and enemies and protecting the buddhas. Now the Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: through deep and subtle contemplative practice of the warm sensation on body and mind, the warmth pervaded body and mind, all affliction-outflows were extinguished, the mind gave rise to a great flame of precious wisdom, and I ascended to unsurpassed enlightenment. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
With meditation and samādhi, why can one subdue and cut off the affliction of greed and lust? Because meditation can transform body and mind, giving body and mind a blissful sensation; this bliss is extremely pure and excellent, surpassing the pleasure of lust in the human world, especially the first dhyāna and the third dhyāna. When a person has the more excellent bliss of meditation, naturally he no longer likes the coarse, crude pleasure of lust. After attaining samādhi, the bliss of body and mind is even more excellent and pure, and the lustful mind becomes the fire of wisdom. Therefore meditation can subdue afflictions and samādhi can cut off afflictions; for liberation, neither can be lacking.
Nineteen, Original text:持地菩萨。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我念往昔。普光如来。出现于世。我为比丘。常于一切。要路津口。田地险隘。有不如法。妨损车马。我皆平填。或作桥梁。或负沙土。如是勤苦。经无量佛。出现于世。
或有众生。于阛阓处。要人擎物。我先为擎。至其所诣。放物即行。不取其直。毗舍浮佛。现在世时。世多饥荒。我为负人。无问远近。惟取一钱。或有车牛。被于陷溺。我有神力。为其推轮。拔其苦恼。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I recall that in the past, when the Universal Light Tathāgata appeared in the world, I was a bhikṣu and would often, at all important road junctions and ferry crossings, and in dangerous and narrow places between fields where conditions were not proper and hindered or harmed carts and horses, silently fill in and level them. In those places I would either build a bridge or personally carry sand and earth to level the road, so that carts and horses could pass without obstruction. Laboring diligently like this for sentient beings, I passed through immeasurable buddhas appearing in the world.
During those long kalpas, besides leveling roads, I also carried burdens for people. For example, some sentient beings in bustling marketplaces wanted someone to help carry heavy things; I would first come to their side, help them carry things, and upon reaching the place they designated, put the things down and walk away, taking no payment from them. When the Viśvabhū Buddha was in the world, the world was mostly in famine; as a laborer carrying burdens for people, no matter how far or near the home of the person asking me to carry things, I took only one coin. Or when an ox-cart was stuck in the mire, I used great strength to push out its wheels and relieve its suffering.
Original text:时国大王。筵佛设斋。我于尔时。平地待佛。毗舍如来。摩顶谓我。当平心地。则世界地。一切皆平。我即心开。见身微尘。与造世界。所有微尘。等无差别。微尘自性。不相触摩。乃至刀兵。亦无所触。我于法性。悟无生忍。成阿罗汉。
回心今入。菩萨位中。闻诸如来。宣妙莲花。佛知见地。我先证明。而为上首。佛问圆通。我以谛观。身界二尘。等无差别。本如来藏。虚妄发尘。尘销智圆。成无上道。斯为第一。
Explanation: At that time the king of the country prepared a meal to invite the Viśvabhū Buddha; I at that time leveled the road the Buddha was to travel, awaiting the arrival of the Viśvabhū Buddha. The Viśvabhū Tathāgata stroked my crown and told me: You should level your mind-ground; then the ground of the world will all be level. Hearing these words, my mind at once opened; I understood the connection between the mind-ground and the great earth of the world, the relationship between the material body and the world. With the wisdom eye I saw that the fine dust of the body and all the dust composing the world are identical, without any difference; the self-nature of the dust particles does not touch or rub against one another, and even weapons cannot touch them. On the dharma-nature of the dust I realized the patience of non-arising and became an arhat.
I have long since turned my mind and entered the bodhisattva stages; hearing the buddhas expound the wondrous lotus flower, the Buddha's knowledge and vision, I was the first to confirm it and became the foremost of the assembly. Now the Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: it is because I carefully observed that the two kinds of dust composing the body and the world are equally without difference, fundamentally dust conjured by the tathāgatagarbha. After the mark of dust was extinguished in my mind, wisdom became perfectly luminous and I accomplished the unsurpassed Way. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
When the Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara met the Viśvabhū Buddha, why could he open his mind-ground upon hearing a single sentence from the Viśvabhū Buddha and become an arhat? This is because the Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara had for countless kalpas made the bodhi mind vow, extensively benefited sentient beings, accumulated great merit, subdued his self-nature, and his meditation was also profound; the causes and conditions for awakening were fully complete. So upon hearing the Viśvabhū Buddha say that leveling one's own mind-ground would level the ground of the world, he immediately reflected and awakened to the subtle relationship between the material body and the material world, realizing the fourth fruit of arhatship. Therefore cultivators should accumulate as much as possible the merit provisions for seeing the Way; as long as the provisions for awakening are complete, when conditions ripen, awakening will occur without obstruction.
Twenty, Original text:月光童子。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我忆往昔。恒河沙劫。有佛出世。名为水天。教诸菩萨。修习水观。入三摩地。观于身中。水性无夺。初从涕唾。如是穷尽。津液精血。大小便利。身中旋复。水性一同。见水身中。与世界外。浮幢王刹。诸香水海。等无差别。我于是时。初成此观。但见其水。未得无身。
Explanation: The Youth Moonlight rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I recall that Ganges-sands kalpas ago there was a Buddha in the world named Water Heaven, who taught the bodhisattvas to cultivate water contemplation and enter samādhi. I entered samādhi and contemplated within my own material body: the nature of water is unobstructed, nothing gained and nothing lost. Beginning from mucus and saliva, I gradually contemplated throughout the whole body inside and out without missing a bit, all the way to saliva, humors, semen, blood, urine and feces, observing that the water nature circulating within the body is all the same. I saw that the water element within the body and the water realms in the Jeweled Banner King's lands floating outside the world, and in all the oceans of fragrant water in the world, were entirely identical, without any difference. At that time I had just completed this contemplation, only reaching the point of seeing the great water within the body, not yet reaching the state of emptying the material body; there was still awareness and concern regarding the body.
Original text:当为比丘。室中安禅。我有弟子。窥窗观室。惟见清水。遍在屋中。了无所见。童稚无知。取一瓦砾。投于水内。激水作声。顾盼而去。我出定后。顿觉心痛。如舍利弗。遭违害鬼。我自思惟。今我已得。阿罗汉道。久离病缘。云何今日。忽生心痛。将无退失。
Explanation: At that time I had left home as a bhikṣu, sitting in meditation in my room. A disciple peered through the window into the room and could only see clear water filling the room, seeing nothing else. Since he was still a child and did not understand the states of meditation, he picked up a piece of tile and threw it into the water in the room, making a splashing sound; looking around and seeing no one, he left. After I emerged from meditation, I suddenly felt pain in my chest, just as Śāriputra had been struck by the harmful ghost. I thought to myself: I have now attained the way of the arhat, karmic obstructions have been eliminated, and I have long been free of the conditions for illness; why do I now suddenly feel chest pain? Could my fruit of arhatship have regressed?
Original text:尔时童子。捷来我前。说如上事。我则告言。汝更见水。可即开门。入此水中。除去瓦砾。童子奉教。后入定时。还复见水。瓦砾宛然。开门除出。我后出定。身质如初。逢无量佛。如是至于。山海自在通王如来。方得亡身。与十方界。诸香水海。性合真空。无二无别。今于如来。得童真名。预菩萨会。佛问圆通。我以水性。一味流通。得无生忍。圆满菩提。斯为第一。
Explanation: At that moment the youth quickly ran to me and told me what had just happened with the tile. I told him: the next time you see the great water in the room, open the door, enter the room, go into the water, and take the tile out. The youth complied. Later when I entered meditation again, the youth again saw the great water in the room, with the tile still in its original place; so the youth opened the door and took the tile out. After I emerged from meditation, my body felt light and easy, the same as the original sensation.
Later I encountered immeasurable buddhas, until I met the Mountain-and-Sea Freedom Unobstructed King Tathāgata, and only then did I forget the body, emptying the material body, realizing that the nature of the material body and all the oceans of fragrant water in the worlds of the ten directions merge with true emptiness, not two, not different. Now I have received from the World-Honored One the name 'Youth of Innocence' and joined the assembly of bodhisattvas. The Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: it is because I contemplated the water nature flowing in one taste without obstruction, realized the patience of non-arising, and perfected the bodhi path. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
Twenty-one. The Dharma Prince of Lapis Lazuli Light introduces his own experience of cultivation and realization
Original text:琉璃光法王子。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我忆往昔。经恒沙劫。有佛出世。名无量声。开示菩萨。本觉妙明。观此世界。及众生身。皆是妄缘。风力所转。我于尔时。观界安立。观世动时。观身动止。观心动念。诸动无二。等无差别。我时觉了。此群动性。来无所从。去无所至。十方微尘。颠倒众生。同一虚妄。
Explanation: The Dharma Prince of Lapis Lazuli Light immediately rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's two feet, and said to the Buddha: I recall that Ganges-sands kalpas ago there was a Buddha in the world named Immeasurable Sound, who revealed to the bodhisattvas the originally awakened wondrous luminous mind, telling the bodhisattvas to observe that this world and the bodies of sentient beings are all turned by the power of the wind element through deluded conditions, without real existence. At that time I contemplated the establishment of the realm, the movement of the world, the movements and stillness of the body, and the arising of thoughts in the mind; these motions were not two, equally without difference, all being the wondrous true suchlike nature. I then awakened that the nature of these motions comes from nowhere and goes nowhere, without real coming or going, all illusory transformations; in worlds as numerous as dust motes in the ten directions, all inverted sentient beings are equally deluded.
Original text:如是乃至。三千大千。一世界内。所有众生，如一器中。貯百蚊蚋。啾啾乱鸣。于分寸中。鼓发狂闹。逢佛未几。得无生忍。尔时心开。乃见东方。不动佛国。为法王子。事十方佛。身心发光。洞彻无碍。佛问圆通。我以观察。风力无依。悟菩提心。入三摩地。合十方佛。传一妙心。斯为第一。
Explanation: Contemplating thus, even all the sentient beings within one world of the three-thousandfold great thousand worlds are like a hundred mosquitoes stored in a vessel, chirping clamorously, drumming up frenzied tumult within a tiny space. Not long after I met the Immeasurable Sound Buddha, I realized the patience of non-arising; at once my mind opened and I saw myself becoming a Dharma Prince in the land of the Immovable Buddha in the east, serving the buddhas of the ten directions, body and mind emitting light, penetrating everything in the world without obstruction. The Buddha asks me about my dharma gate of perfect penetration: by contemplating that the power of wind has nothing to rely on, I awakened the bodhi mind and entered samādhi, according with the wondrous mind transmitted by the buddhas of the ten directions. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
Bodhisattvas above the tenth bhūmi are Dharma Princes who will soon accomplish buddhahood and inherit the Buddha's position. Here the formation of the three-thousandfold great thousand world is introduced: it is formed from the seeds of the four great elements — earth, water, fire, and wind — within the originally awakened wondrous luminous minds of all sentient beings; according to the deluded karmic conditions of all sentient beings, the great thousand world is produced. The sentient beings' material bodies are also the individual bodies formed by original enlightenment outputting the seeds of the four great elements according to each being's own karmic conditions.
The turning of the great thousand world is the function of the wind element within the original enlightenment of all sentient beings, while the movements and activities of sentient beings' bodies, their bodily, verbal, and mental actions, are the beings' own deluded karmic conditions together with the function of the wind element within original enlightenment. The establishment of the great thousand world, the changes of past, present, and future, the movements and activities of sentient beings' bodies, and the thoughts produced by sentient beings' conscious minds — the nature of motion in all these is not different, without distinction. Why no difference? Because in substance they are all the function of the wind element within sentient beings' original enlightenment. Why is there the function of the wind element? Because sentient beings have deluded karmic conditions; with karma, when conditions manifest, results must be produced, and the result is ceaseless turning and transmigration. And after this karma is created, it is stored in original enlightenment. The wind element is also a seed-function within original enlightenment.
If sentient beings had no karma, conditions would not manifest, the four great elements within original enlightenment would not function, there would be no establishment, founding, and formation of the world, and sentient beings would not have the production of material bodies. But in order to accomplish the buddha-way and extensively save sentient beings, bodhisattvas cannot extinguish all conditions either; they must keep a little something to obtain a body and accomplish the path.
Sentient beings as numerous as dust motes in the worlds of the ten directions are all inverted, produced by the same kind of deluded karmic conditions. Sentient beings are mainly inverted in their incorrect cognition of themselves and external things, thereby producing incorrect bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and then having karma stored in original enlightenment, meeting conditions and receiving karmic results. Thus even all sentient beings within the three-thousandfold great thousand world are like a hundred mosquitoes in a container, buzzing clamorously. We sentient beings of Southern Jambudvīpa on the earth are also like crickets in a box, chirping clamorously. In fact all are drumming up frenzied tumult within their own minds — very noisy, very chaotic.
Because sentient beings refuse to rest their minds, and further produce incorrect attention and thinking about the world and themselves, various views, opinions, awarenesses, feelings, ideas, thoughts, and notions arise in their minds. Since all are incorrect, each with its own incorrectness, disagreements and disputes arise, and this world becomes chaotic and complicated with fighting and quarreling. These disputes, views, feelings, discriminations, and deluded views are all floating dust on sentient beings' minds, images manifested on the mind, not real.
Then how do these images manifest? How are dust-marks produced from the mind? Through cultivation and realization, the Dharma Prince of Lapis Lazuli Light realized this principle, realized the originally awakened wondrous luminosity, and obtained the patience of non-arising. Afterward, through deep cultivation, he became a bodhisattva of the tenth bhūmi or of equal enlightenment, able to penetrate body, mind, and world without obstruction. His dharma gate of perfect penetration is to contemplate the source of the wind's power: coming from nowhere, going nowhere, all being the tathāgatagarbha nature, the nature of original enlightenment's wondrous luminosity. He entered the samādhi of original enlightenment, in which both phenomena and principle accord with the pure wondrous mind transmitted by the buddhas of the ten directions, not contradicting original enlightenment. If it contradicts, it is mistaken awakening — awakening wrongly.
Twenty-two, Original text:弥勒菩萨。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我忆往昔。经微尘劫。有佛出世。名日月灯明。我从彼佛。而得出家。心重世名。好游族姓。尔时世尊。教我修习。惟心识定。入三摩地。历劫已来。以此三昧。事恒沙佛。求世名心。歇灭无有。
Explanation: The Bodhisattva Maitreya rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I recall that in the past, dust-mote kalpas ago, there was a Buddha in the world named Sun-Moon-Lamp-Bright. I left home and cultivated under that Buddha, but my mind still valued worldly fame and I liked to associate with prestigious great clans. At that time the World-Honored One taught me to cultivate the concentration of mind-only consciousness; after cultivating it, I entered samādhi. From then on, through kalpas, I served buddhas as numerous as Ganges sands with this samādhi, and the mind seeking worldly fame finally ceased and was extinguished without remainder.
Original text:至燃灯佛。出现于世。我乃得成。无上妙圆。识心三昧。乃至尽空。如来国土。净秽有无。皆是我心。变化所现。世尊。我了如是。惟心识故。识性流出。无量如来。今得授记。次补佛处。佛问圆通。我以谛观。十方惟识。识心圆明。入圆成实。远离依他。及遍计执。得无生忍。斯为第一。
Explanation: By the time Dīpaṃkara Buddha appeared in the world, I had accomplished the unsurpassed wondrous and perfect samādhi of the conscious mind, realizing that all Buddha lands throughout empty space, whether pure or defiled, existing or not existing, are all manifested by the transformations of my own mind. World-Honored One, because I understood this mind-only-consciousness, from my consciousness nature flow out immeasurable Tathāgatas; therefore in this life I have received your prediction and occupy the position of the next Buddha, the stage of wondrous enlightenment. Now the Buddha asks me about my dharma gate of perfect penetration: it is because I carefully contemplated that all dharmas of the worlds in the ten directions are consciousness-only; the conscious mind became more and more perfectly luminous, fully entering and relying on the true mind's perfectly accomplished nature, no longer depending on the dependent nature of the six consciousnesses and the imputed nature of the seventh consciousness, and thus I obtained the patience of non-arising. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.
