A Commentary on the Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness

Original text:佛见贤护。举身放光。流照贤护。贤护尔时。便获无畏。绕佛三匝。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。唯愿世尊。悲愍教授。我今始于佛所。得净信心。心悕妙法。欲有所问。而我久处生死。溺烦恼苦。乱念纷杂。于戒等业。无作冥资。虽心奇重。我今不知。于此愚惑。疑网之中。如何超出。得度生死。世尊是一切智。普见一切。佛出甚难。希有逢遇。如如意珠。施众生乐。佛是大如意宝。 一切众生。咸由依佛。得大安乐。是大父母。众生善本。因佛父母。得见正路。唯愿悲愍。开晓疑闇。

佛告贤护。汝有所疑。恣汝意问。我当为汝。分别解说。尔时贤护。蒙佛听许。心专请问。在一面住。

Explanation: Bhadrapāla said to the World-Honored One: "I hope the World-Honored One will compassionately pity me and instruct me. I have just now gained pure faith here with the World-Honored One, and my heart deeply longs to hear the sublime Dharma. I have questions I wish to ask of the World-Honored One. For countless kalpas I have long dwelt in birth-and-death, drowning in the suffering of afflictions, with scattered and jumbled thoughts in my mind. I have been careless in cultivating precepts and other karmic practices, making no effort and receiving no hidden support. Although my heart deeply yearns for liberation, I still do not know how, from within this net of folly and doubt, I can transcend and cross over the sea of birth-and-death."

The Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla repented of his lax mind in practice—his indolent mental conduct of failing to cultivate precepts, samādhi, and wisdom—yet he had nonetheless received the hidden blessing of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. He understood part of his own karmic actions and afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, but not yet completely. At this time his mind was still in a state of folly, without having attained true wisdom, and he still had many doubts. He wished to resolve all his doubts, to eliminate his folly and dispel his confusion. He asked the Buddha how one could transcend the abyss of afflictions and the cycle of birth-and-death, and escape the ocean of suffering of saṃsāra. In fact, his question represents the question of all sentient beings who are just beginning to study the Buddha's Dharma: how can one be delivered from birth-and-death, transcend the ocean of suffering in the cycle of saṃsāra, and attain liberation? Only when this question is resolved can studying Buddhism bring true benefit.

The Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla continued: "The World-Honored One is the Omniscient One, able to universally see all dharmas, and also able to know each sentient being's spiritual faculties and the roots of their afflictions—what karmic actions sentient beings have performed over countless kalpas and what retributive results they will obtain in the future. The World-Honored One knows all of this. It is truly rare for a Buddha to appear in this world, so difficult to encounter. The Buddha is like a wish-fulfilling jewel, bestowing all happiness upon sentient beings. The Buddha is the great wish-fulfilling treasure; all sentient beings can rely on the Buddha and attain great peace and bliss. The Buddha is the most beloved and revered parent of sentient beings, able to bring them the most fundamental benefit, and is the root of sentient beings' wholesome dharmas. Relying on the Buddha as such a parent, sentient beings can see the correct path, walk upon it, and ultimately attain liberation. May the World-Honored One compassionately pity us and dispel the doubts and darkness in our minds through teaching."