The Dharma Gate of Practice of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva (I)

Original text:虚空藏菩萨，即从座起，顶礼佛足，而白佛言：我与如来，定光佛所，得无边身。尔时手执四大宝珠，照明十方微尘佛刹，化成虚空。又于自心现大圆镜，内放十种微妙宝光，流灌十方尽虚空际。诸幢王刹来入镜内，涉入我身，身同虚空，不相妨碍。身能善入微尘国土，广作佛事，得大随顺。此大神力，由我谛观四大无依，妄想生灭，虚空无二，佛国本同，于同发明，得无生忍。佛问圆通，我以观察虚空无边，入三摩地，妙力圆明，斯为第一。

Explanation: The Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha begins by introducing the dharma gate he cultivated; he attained the boundless body at the place of Dīpaṃkara Buddha. The meaning of "boundless body" is that the body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is vast without limit; as vast as space is, so vast is the material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. Therefore the material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is called the boundless body, capable of containing space and embracing the worlds of the ten directions; hence his name, Ākāśagarbha (Space Treasury). Although the body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is as vast and boundless as space, it is still a material body; since there is the existence of a material body, there are the functions of a material body; and since it is called a material body, it has hands, which is why Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha can hold the four great precious jewels in his hands. These four great precious jewels can illuminate the Buddha-lands as numerous as fine dust motes in the ten directions; one Buddha-land is one buddha-world, and the ten directions represent the worlds of the ten directions. The ten directions stand for east, west, south, north, southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest, plus above and below, which together make ten directions. "Fine dust motes" indicates an extremely, extremely large number; there are countless fine dust motes in space, and each dust mote represents one Buddha-land, one buddha-world. The dust motes in the worlds of the ten directions are even more countless—even the dust motes within a single cubic meter cannot be counted, let alone the dust motes of the worlds of the ten directions. Such Buddha-lands are uncountable, beyond number, and the buddha-worlds are likewise immeasurable, boundless, and infinite. This shows how vast and unobstructed the spiritual power of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is. Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha holds the four great precious jewels in his hands, and these jewels can illuminate the Buddha-lands of the ten directions; all the boundlessly many buddha-worlds can be illuminated.

Then they transform into space. What transforms into space? All the fine-dust-mote Buddha-lands of the ten directions transform into space—this is the spiritual power employed by Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. Why can all the fine-dust-mote Buddha-lands of the ten directions transform into space? Because the Buddha-lands of the ten directions are also empty, illusory, and unreal; although they exist on the phenomenal level, in substance they do not exist—they are empty and illusory. Therefore, when Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha shines the four great precious jewels upon the buddha-worlds of the ten directions, those buddha-worlds immediately transform into space. There is also a special meaning here: the four great precious jewels of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha represent his great wisdom. When the Bodhisattva contemplates the buddha-worlds of the ten directions with his great wisdom, he clearly understands that all the buddha-worlds of the ten directions are unreal, that they are illusorily manifested by the tathāgatagarbha in dependence on conditions, and are therefore empty.

After the buddha-worlds of the ten directions transform into space, Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha then manifests a great perfect mirror within his own mind. What mind does this "own mind" refer to? No matter what He manifests, where does the manifested phenomenon come from? It all comes from the Bodhisattva's tathāgatagarbha. Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva; a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva has not yet become a Buddha, and before becoming a Buddha, his tathāgatagarbha cannot be called the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna); at this stage it can be called the vipāka-consciousness (retribution consciousness). The tathāgatagarbha of bodhisattvas at the eighth bhūmi and above is all called the vipāka-consciousness, and can also be called the tathāgatagarbha.

From the tathāgatagarbha mind of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha there manifests the great perfect mirror. This great perfect mirror may be actual physical matter, manifested through spiritual power. Within the great perfect mirror, ten kinds of extremely subtle and wondrous precious lights are emitted; these ten precious lights shine from the ten directions into the worlds of the ten directions. The ten directions represent all locations in space, all connected by precious lights; there is no place without precious light shining. Wherever there is space, there is precious light. The space of the worlds of the ten directions is boundless and infinite, and the precious lights emitted from the great perfect mirror manifested in his mind simultaneously illuminate the space of the ten directions. Wherever there is space, there is the flowing infusion of precious light.

Moreover, the precious lights also illuminate the banner-adorned royal lands (the Buddha-lands of the ten directions), and all the Buddha-lands manifest within the great perfect mirror manifested in the mind of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. This is the result of the vast spiritual power, the boundless spiritual power, of a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva. Because the great perfect mirror is manifested by the mind of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, the banner-adorned royal lands of the ten directions also come into the body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. Why? Because the body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is boundlessly vast, extending to the very limits of space; as vast as space is, so vast is the material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. Thus the banner-adorned royal lands all come within the great perfect mirror; the great perfect mirror is manifested by his mind, and thus is within the material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, within space, and within the bounds of space in the worlds of the ten directions.

At this time, the body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is like space. Space can contain the worlds of the ten directions, can contain the material universe (the inanimate world), and can contain all material form; space and material form do not obstruct each other—all material form can come into space, can be stored in space, can be established in space. Since the body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is like space, the banner-adorned royal lands of the ten directions, having come within the great perfect mirror, have thereby come within the material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha. The material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is like space, and does not obstruct the banner-adorned royal lands of the worlds of the ten directions; there is no obstruction or concealment, because the material body of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha is just like space.