The Profound Meaning of Consciousness-Only in the Diamond Sutra (14)

How does the Tathagata protect and contemplate all bodhisattvas? Sentient beings begin cultivating from the Ten Faiths stage of ordinary beings, progressing through the Ten Abodes, Ten Practices, Ten Dedications, and further to the Ten Grounds, Equal Enlightenment, and Wondrous Enlightenment—fifty-two stages in total. At every stage, they rely on the Buddha's blessings and mindful protection; otherwise, they would be obstructed by karmic hindrances and unable to advance in their cultivation. Thus, the profound grace of the Buddha is vast and boundless, and only by attaining Buddhahood can one repay it. Can the Buddha protect and contemplate so many sentient beings? Certainly he can, for the Buddha is also known as the All-Knowing One, perfectly endowed with wisdom and virtuous capabilities. He knows every dharma of both the mundane and supramundane realms without missing a single one. The Buddha knows the thoughts of every sentient being in the ten directions and is aware of every event in their countless kalpas. Even when rain falls simultaneously throughout the ten directions, the Buddha knows the exact number of raindrops. Since the Buddha knows the minds of sentient beings, he can protect and support them in their practice, helping them overcome every obstacle until they attain Buddhahood.

Bodhisattvas begin cultivating faith in the Three Jewels from the Ten Faiths stage, learning about the Buddha's thirty-two major marks and eighty minor characteristics, the causes and conditions for practicing the bodhisattva path over countless kalpas, the merits contained in the Buddha's ten epithets, and the scope of the Buddha-lands, thereby giving rise to an aspirational mind. They then study the general content of the Tripitaka and the Twelve Divisions of Sutras taught by the Buddha, the meaning of the Three Refuges and Five Precepts, and further investigate the Sangha Jewel—understanding what constitutes an ordinary monastic, a resident monastic, a sublime monastic, as well as the Three Jewels in One and the Three Jewels of Self-Nature. In this way, they progress from blind faith to reverent faith and then to right faith, which means believing that the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha truly exist throughout the ten directions, that all sentient beings in the ten directions possess the Suchness Buddha-nature and can attain Buddhahood, and that they themselves can also attain Buddhahood. When they fully possess the faith for attaining Buddhahood, the Ten Faiths stage is perfected. The duration required for this depends on the depth of each individual's roots of virtue and their diligence in practice. Throughout this entire cultivation process, the protection of the Buddha is indispensable.