Commentary on the Sutra of the Father and Son Collection: Part CLXXVII

The State of the Eighth Ground Bodhisattva

If one contemplates where all phenomena in the world originate, where the conscious mind arises, and how the five aggregates and all worldly phenomena manifest, one can attain a great vehicle fruition. It is even more beneficial to emulate the father of the World-Honored One, achieving the Patient Endurance of the Non-Arising of Dharmas and becoming a Bodhisattva of the first ground. What fruition is attained when one is reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss after achieving the first ground Bodhisattva stage? By listening to Amitabha Buddha personally expound the profound Dharma of Consciousness-Only, one can swiftly attain the fruition of the eighth ground Bodhisattva.

A Bodhisattva of the eighth ground can manifest three thousandfold great chiliocosms in a single thought, instantly creating immeasurable planets. Holding Earth in one hand and sentient beings in the other, they can relocate beings to other galaxies without their awareness. When an eighth ground Bodhisattva opens their mouth, the waters of the four great oceans pour into it; beings like fish, shrimp, dragons, and others are drawn into the Bodhisattva’s belly without any awareness. When a planet is about to perish, the eighth ground Bodhisattva moves all beings on that planet to another, and the beings remain unaware.

A hundred billion Earths, a hundred billion Mount Sumerus, a hundred billion sixfold heavens of the desire realm—all heavenly realms number a hundred billion. A hundred billion hells, a hundred billion Yama realms, and a hundred billion four great oceans together form a three thousandfold great chiliocosm, which is immensely vast. An eighth ground Bodhisattva can manifest all of this entirely.

The states of great Bodhisattvas are beyond our imagination. When we cannot conceive of them, it is difficult to believe such inconceivable feats exist. In truth, when our roots of virtue, merit, and conditions are genuinely complete, realizing these Dharmas is not difficult, let alone believing in them. We must have faith in the Buddha and the Dharma, faith in the Bodhisattva Sangha, and faith in ourselves. By diligently cultivating precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom—with merit as the foundation—we must continually perfect and complete the provisions and conditions for practicing the Bodhisattva Path. When the conditions for realization arise swiftly, our aspirations will be fulfilled.