The Dharma Gate of Practice of Bodhisattva Ākāśagarbha (II)

Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva introduces himself, saying: “（我）身能善入微尘国土。” Since the ten directions' dust-land worlds all come within Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva's physical body, his physical body can likewise enter into the dust-land worlds of the ten directions; that is to say, the dust-land worlds of the ten directions and Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva's physical body interpenetrate without obstruction, merging into one another without hindrance. Such is the marvelous wonder of the bodhisattva's spiritual power; thereby he can extensively perform the Buddha's work, vastly benefit sentient beings, and greatly carry out the Buddha's work within the dream. Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva can accord with the conditions of sentient beings throughout the ten directions' worlds and widely deliver measureless sentient beings. The spiritual power of a bodhisattva on the bhūmis is beyond our imagination. Why does he possess such great spiritual power? Because he possesses extremely profound and subtle wisdom, as well as extremely deep states of meditative concentration (samādhi); measureless and boundless powers of supernatural ability can thereby be brought forth.

Why does Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva have such great spiritual power? Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva himself introduces it, saying: “此大神力，由我谛观，四大无依，妄想生灭。” Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva used deep and subtle wisdom to carefully observe and engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), giving rise to a mind of wisdom within samādhi and deliberating (manana) within concentration—this is called careful contemplation (谛观). Only with the dual operation of śamatha and vipaśyanā, the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, is there such careful contemplation. Bodhisattvas from the seventh bhūmi onward are in samādhi thought after thought, with no time when they are not in concentration. As a result of this careful contemplation, it was verified that the physical body composed of the four great elements has nothing to depend on and nowhere to abide, that no substantial physical body or material form exists. From this deep and subtle wisdom, measureless and vast supernatural powers were brought forth, and boundless, vast spiritual power was obtained.

This boundless spiritual power is accomplished jointly by samādhi and wisdom. Therefore, the content of Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva's careful contemplation is that the four great elements have nothing to depend on. The four great elements are the four greats formed by the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Then the tathāgatagarbha uses these four great elements to extensively create form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and to extensively create the universe's inanimate world (bhājanaloka). The inanimate world of the universe is created by the four great elements, and the physical bodies of all sentient beings are constituted by the four great elements. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the Buddha revealed that the four great elements are fundamentally the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; in substance they are also the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, all dharmas constituted by the four great elements have nothing to depend on and nowhere to abide; they are all illusory transformations, with no substantial material form existing.

Material form is generated by the four great elements of the tathāgatagarbha, and the four great elements themselves also have nothing to depend on; they arise due to the deluded thoughts of sentient beings. Because of sentient beings' deluded thoughts, the tathāgatagarbha relies on them and, in accordance, transforms and fabricates the material world of form composed of the four great elements. This deluded thought is the perception (saṃjñā) of the mind of the seven consciousnesses, the volition (cetanā) of the mind of the seven consciousnesses, the mental engagement (manaskāra) of the mind of the seven consciousnesses—the mental engagement, contact, feeling, perception, and volition of the mind of the seven consciousnesses. Thereupon the tathāgatagarbha uses the four great elements to generate the worlds of the ten directions. The worlds of the ten directions are formed by the four great elements; the tathāgatagarbha, relying on the deluded mind, relying on the mind of the seven consciousnesses, produced the dust-land worlds of the ten directions.