The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (14)

How does the Tathāgata skillfully protect and be mindful of all bodhisattvas? A sentient being begins cultivation from the stage of the ten faiths of an ordinary being, progressing through the ten abodes, the ten practices, and the ten dedications, and then on to the ten bhūmis, and the stages of equal enlightenment and wondrous enlightenment—fifty-two stages in all. At every stage, one cannot be apart from the Buddha's blessing and protective mindfulness; otherwise one would be obscured by karmic obstructions and unable to continue upward cultivation. Therefore it is said that the Buddha's grace is vast and mighty, and without attaining buddhahood there is no way to repay it. Can the Buddha then be mindful of and protect so many sentient beings? Of course He can, because the Buddha is also called the One of the Wisdom of All Aspects (sarvākārajñatā), whose wisdom and virtuous capabilities are perfectly and completely endowed. There is not a single dharma in the mundane or supramundane world that He does not know, not a single dharma that He is not aware of. The Buddha knows the minds of every sentient being in the worlds of the ten directions; He knows the events of countless kalpas for every sentient being; even when it rains simultaneously throughout the worlds of the ten directions, the Buddha knows exactly how many raindrops there are in total. Since the Buddha can know the minds of sentient beings, He can protect and support their cultivation, helping them cross every barrier until they attain buddhahood.

Beginning at the stage of the ten faiths, the bodhisattva cultivates faith in the Three Jewels: understanding the Buddha's thirty-two marks and eighty minor marks, the causes and conditions of His cultivation of the bodhisattva path over countless kalpas, the merit and significance of the Buddha's ten epithets, and the formation and scope of the Buddha-lands, so as to give rise to a mind of aspiration. Then one comes to understand the rough contents of the Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of scriptures taught by the Buddha, and the meaning of the three refuges and the five precepts; then one comes to understand the Sangha Jewel—what is meant by ordinary monks, monks who uphold the Sangha, and noble Sangha of ultimate meaning, as well as the Three Jewels as one essence and the Three Jewels of self-nature. In this way, moving from blind faith to reverent faith and devoted faith, one arrives at correct faith—that is, believing that the Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha truly abide in the worlds of the ten directions, believing that all sentient beings in the ten directions possess the true suchness of buddha-nature and can all attain buddhahood, and that one oneself can also attain buddhahood. When the faith to attain buddhahood is complete, the stage of the ten faiths is fulfilled. How long this cultivation takes depends on the depth of each individual's wholesome roots and merit, and on the degree of one's diligence; and all of this cultivation cannot be apart from the Buddha's protection and blessing.