The Practice Method of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva (3)

"虚空无二，佛国本同，于同发明，得无生忍。" The empty space of the ten directions and the buddha-lands of the ten directions are non-dual; they are all empty, all illusory and false appearances, all the tathāgatagarbha nature of the fundamental mind, all seed-functions within the substance of the tathāgatagarbha, and are non-dual with the tathāgatagarbha. The Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha realized that the worlds and lands of the ten directions, as well as empty space, are all non-dual with the tathāgatagarbha and are all empty, and thus the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha gave rise to the profound patience with the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) and attained deeper and more wondrous wisdom. Because of this deep and wondrous wisdom, the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha then brought forth even more profound meditative concentration, entering the samādhi in which meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom are perfectly fused and equally maintained, and thereby possessed the spiritual powers described above. Then he was able to employ these spiritual powers, his body entering empty space, becoming identical with empty space, merging into the worlds of the ten directions, and delivering sentient beings in accordance with conditions. Since the worlds of the ten directions, empty space, and the four great elements all have nothing to rely upon, empty space can contain the material form composed of the four great elements and the worlds as numerous as dust motes in the ten directions, and at the same time, all the worlds as numerous as dust motes in the ten directions can also be transformed entirely into empty space. The empty-space body of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha himself is composed of the four great elements; the four great elements and empty space are non-dual, both being the tathāgatagarbha nature, manifested and revealed by the tathāgatagarbha, so the physical body of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha can be as vast and boundless as empty space. Empty space and the buddha-lands are fundamentally the same; the buddha-lands are also material worlds composed of the four great elements, and like empty space, they are all manifested by the tathāgatagarbha; in essence they are all the tathāgatagarbha, so the material four great elements of the buddha-lands can also be transformed into empty space. Empty space is also the tathāgatagarbha nature, the material four great elements are also the tathāgatagarbha nature, and the worlds as numerous as dust motes in the buddha-lands of the ten directions are also the tathāgatagarbha nature. Since they are all the tathāgatagarbha nature, they can be mutually unobstructed; all being empty, there is no obstruction. The worlds of the ten directions can be transformed into empty space, and empty space can contain the worlds of the ten directions; the physical body of the Boundless-Body Bodhisattva can also be transformed into empty space and can also contain the worlds as numerous as dust motes in the buddha-lands of the ten directions — this is the great spiritual power of perfectly luminous samādhi and wisdom. This great spiritual power was accomplished by the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha through the equal maintenance of meditative concentration and wisdom; the immeasurable and boundless spiritual powers are all accomplished jointly by meditative concentration and wisdom, jointly by śamatha and vipaśyanā; lacking either one, they cannot be accomplished. Because the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha realized awakening within this sameness, this sameness represents non-duality — non-dual with whom? Non-dual with the tathāgatagarbha. Whether it is the material form of the four great elements, or empty space, or the worlds and buddha-lands of the ten directions, all are non-dual with the tathāgatagarbha, their essence being the same. Because the essence is the same, all being empty, the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha gave rise to great wisdom. Realizing awakening within this sameness — the so-called realization means that he realized, discovered, understood, and attained this great wisdom; luminosity is wisdom. He awakened to the fact that the four great elements have nothing to rely upon, that they are all imagined by delusion, and that they are all subject to arising and ceasing. Empty space is non-dual, and the buddha-lands are fundamentally the same — awakening to this point, that all are the essence of the tathāgatagarbha, all the emptiness (śūnyatā) of the tathāgatagarbha, their essence all being empty — therefore they are mutually unobstructed. In this way the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha attained the profound patience with the non-arising of dharmas, and by attaining this great wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas, he possessed great spiritual power. His great spiritual power is incomparably great: buddha-lands as numerous as dust motes can merge into His physical body, and the buddha-lands of the ten directions can all be transformed into empty space; his physical body, empty space, the buddha-lands of the ten directions, and the material form of the material-realm (inanimate) environment of the universe are mutually unobstructed, without hindrance, perfectly fused with one another.

The Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha further said: "佛问圆通，我以观察虚空无边，入三摩地，妙力圆明，斯为第一。" Because he had already observed that empty space is vast and boundless, he entered samādhi within this observation — this is concentration born of wisdom, from which spiritual powers then arise. Empty space has no bounds; why does it have no bounds? If it had bounds, it would be material form. The essence of empty space is also the tathāgatagarbha nature, and the essence of material form and the worlds of the ten directions is also the tathāgatagarbha nature; their essence is empty, being the tathāgatagarbha nature. The Bodhisattva contemplated this principle and entered samādhi; samādhi is the realm where meditative concentration and wisdom are perfectly fused, indicating that the Bodhisattva entered the realm of profound meditative concentration through the realm of wisdom, and thereby attained vast spiritual powers and boundless wisdom — wondrous powers perfectly luminous, this being the foremost. The wondrous powers are the subtle spiritual powers of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha, perfectly revealed, perfectly attaining the wondrous power of the perfect penetration. The Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha observed that empty space is non-dual and the buddha-lands are fundamentally the same — this is the foremost. His method of cultivation is one of meditative concentration and one of wisdom; śamatha and vipaśyanā are of one substance, contemplating that all dharmas are the tathāgatagarbha nature, non-dual with the tathāgatagarbha; therefore all dharmas are empty. Since all dharmas are empty, they are mutually unobstructed, without hindrance, able to be perfectly fused and mutually containing: his body can contain empty space, being the same as empty space, and can also enable empty space to contain the worlds of the ten directions; his body can also contain the worlds of the ten directions; he can also go to the worlds of the ten directions, according with sentient beings and according with the buddha-lands, widely performing buddha-deeds — this is the dharma gate of cultivation of the Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha.