Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness (Da Cheng Xian Shi Jing), Chapters Seven and Eight

Original text:于是贤护胜上童真。谓大药王子言。善哉善哉。仁今所问。微妙甚深。月实之问。其义浅狭。犹如孾儿。心游外境。而不知内。正法希闻。诸佛难遇。佛圆广智。无测深慧。至妙之理。应专启请。

时大药王子。见佛熙怡。颜容舒悦。如秋莲开。踊跃欢喜。一心合掌。而白佛言。世尊。我爱深法。渴仰深法。常恐如来。入般涅槃。不闻正法。而于五浊。众生之中。愚无所知。不识善恶。于善不善。熟与不熟。不能觉了。迷惑轮转。生死苦趣。

Explanation: Thereupon the Bodhisattva Bhadrapāla said to Prince Mahābhaisajya: "Excellent, excellent! The question you now ask is subtle and profound. The question asked by Yue Shi (Candrasatya) was shallow and narrow in meaning, like an infant whose mind wanders among external objects without knowing to look within. The true Dharma is rare to hear, and the Buddhas are hard to encounter. The Buddha's wisdom is perfect, vast, and profound, beyond anyone's measure; His deep and wondrous wisdom and His most subtle principles—we should indeed earnestly inquire about them."

At that time Prince Mahābhaisajya, seeing the Buddha's serene and kindly countenance, His face relaxed and joyful like an autumn lotus in full bloom, was elated with joy. With single-minded devotion he pressed his palms together and addressed the Buddha, wishing to request the Buddha to expound the profound and wondrous Dharma. He said to the World-Honored One: "World-Honored One, I love the profound Dharma and yearn for the profound Dharma. I constantly fear that the Tathāgata will enter parinirvāṇa and I will not get to hear the true Dharma. Then, amid sentient beings of the five turbidities, I would remain in foolish ignorance, knowing nothing, unable to distinguish wholesome dharmas from unwholesome dharmas, unable to discern among wholesome and unwholesome dharmas which faculties are mature and which are not, and I would wander in delusion through the ocean of suffering of birth and death, unable to escape."

Those with deep roots of goodness are all like Prince Mahābhaisajya, thirsting for the profound and wondrous Dharma in order to attain wisdom and liberation. Those whose roots of goodness are not deep, if they were to encounter a Buddha dwelling in the world for a long time, would grow lax in mind; or they would no longer regard the Buddha as rare and marvelous, would not give rise to deep reverence, and would not take faith and delight in the Buddha's Dharma. In order to save this portion of sentient beings, the Buddha chose not to remain in the world for long, lest beings become lax in their practice. As a result, as soon as the Buddha announced that He was about to enter nirvāṇa, sentient beings hurried to inquire about the Dharma and hastened to cultivate, fearing they would never again receive the Buddha's guidance and instruction. For those prone to laxity, not seeing the Buddha often also has its benefits: it can give rise to pure faith in seeing the Buddha, revering the Buddha, and constantly following the Buddha's example in learning, so that their progress on the Path can advance.