Bright Dharma Begins
The seventeenth chapter closed with the merit of the very first resolve. Now Diligent Wisdom Bodhisattva asks the question that carries the sūtra forward: once that resolve has been given rise to, how does a bodhisattva actually carry it through — in practice, without slackening — to its fulfillment?
Diligent Wisdom's Question
Fascicle eighteen opens with a new speaker: Diligent Wisdom Bodhisattva (精進慧菩薩) turns to Dharma Wisdom, who has just closed the previous chapter's hymn, and asks how the mind first resolved is actually carried forward into practice.
爾時，精進慧菩薩白法慧菩薩言：
At that time, Diligent Wisdom Bodhisattva said to Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva:
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩初發求一切智心，成就如是無量功德，具大莊嚴，昇一切智乘，入菩薩正位，捨諸世間法，得佛出世法，去、來、現在諸佛攝受，決定至於無上菩提究竟之處。彼諸菩薩於佛教中云何修習，令諸如來皆生歡喜，入諸菩薩所住之處，一切大行皆得清淨，所有大願悉使滿足，獲諸菩薩廣大之藏，隨所應化常為說法，而恒不捨波羅蜜行，所念眾生咸令得度，紹三寶種使不斷絕，善根方便皆悉不虛？佛子！彼諸菩薩以何方便，能令此法當得圓滿？願垂哀愍，為我宣說；此諸大會，靡不樂聞！」
"Son of the Buddha! Once a bodhisattva-mahāsattva first gives rise to the mind seeking the all-knowing wisdom, and accomplishes such immeasurable merit as this — fully endowed with great adornment, ascending the vehicle of all-knowing wisdom, entering the bodhisattva's own right position, giving up every worldly dharma and attaining the Buddha's own transcendent dharma, received and embraced by every buddha of the past, the future, and the present — they are then certain to arrive at the very ultimate place of unsurpassed bodhi. How, then, do those bodhisattvas cultivate and practice within the Buddha's own teaching, so as to cause every Tathāgata to rejoice, to enter the very place where every bodhisattva abides, to bring every great practice entirely to purity, to bring every great vow entirely to fulfillment, to obtain the bodhisattva's own vast and expansive treasury, to forever teach the Dharma in accordance with whomever should be transformed, to never once let go of the practice of the perfections, to cause every living being they hold in mind to be crossed over, to carry forward the seed of the Three Jewels so that it is never cut off, and to make every wholesome root and skillful means entirely unwasted? Son of the Buddha, by what skillful means are those bodhisattvas able to bring this Dharma to fulfillment? I beg you, out of compassion, to expound it for me — for there is no one in this whole great assembly who does not delight in hearing it!"
「復次，如諸菩薩摩訶薩常勤修習，滅除一切無明黑暗，降伏魔怨，制諸外道，永滌一切煩惱心垢；悉能成就一切善根，永出一切惡趣諸難，淨治一切大智境界；成就一切菩薩諸地、諸波羅蜜、總持三昧、六通、三明、四無所畏清淨功德，莊嚴一切諸佛國土，及諸相好身、語、心行成就滿足，善知一切諸佛如來力、無所畏、不共佛法、一切智智所行境界；為欲成熟一切眾生，隨其心樂而取佛土，隨根、隨時如應說法；種種無量廣大佛事，及餘無量諸功德法、諸行、諸道及諸境界，皆悉圓滿，疾與如來功德平等；於諸如來、應、正等覺百千阿僧祇劫修菩薩行時所集法藏，悉能守護，開示演說，諸魔外道無能沮壞，攝持正法無有窮盡；於一切世界演說法時，天王、龍王、夜叉王、乾闥婆王、阿脩羅王、迦樓羅王、緊那羅王、摩睺羅伽王、人王、梵王、如來法王，皆悉守護；一切世間，恭敬供養；同灌其頂，常為諸佛之所護念，一切菩薩亦皆愛敬；得善根力，增長白法，開演如來甚深法藏，攝持正法以自莊嚴。一切菩薩所行次第，願皆演說！」
"Furthermore — as for how bodhisattva-mahāsattvas forever diligently cultivate and practice, extinguishing every dark ignorance, subduing every demon adversary, mastering every non-Buddhist teacher, and forever cleansing every stain of affliction from their mind; how they are entirely able to accomplish every wholesome root, forever emerge from every peril within the evil destinies, and purify every realm of great wisdom; how they accomplish every bodhisattva ground, every perfection, every dhāraṇī and samādhi, the six superknowledges, the three insights, and the pure merit of the four fearlessnesses; how they adorn every buddha-land, and bring the excellent marks of their own body, speech, and mental conduct entirely to fulfillment; how they skillfully know every Tathāgata's own powers, fearlessnesses, unshared qualities, and the very realm in which the wisdom of all-knowing wisdom operates; how, wishing to bring every living being to maturity, they take up a buddha-land in accordance with what each one's heart delights in, teaching the Dharma in accordance with each one's faculties and the right time; how every kind of immeasurable, vast buddha-work, and every other immeasurable dharma of merit, practice, path, and realm there is, is brought entirely to fulfillment, swiftly becoming equal to the Tathāgata's own merit; how they are entirely able to guard, open up, and expound the very Dharma-treasury that every Tathāgata, Worthy One, and Fully Awakened One gathered while cultivating the bodhisattva practice through hundreds of thousands of asaṃkhyeya kalpas, a treasury that no demon or non-Buddhist teacher can ever damage or destroy, upholding the true Dharma without end; how, when they expound the Dharma throughout every world, the kings of the devas, the nāga-kings, the yakṣa-kings, the gandharva-kings, the asura-kings, the garuḍa-kings, the kiṃnara-kings, the mahoraga-kings, human kings, Brahmā-kings, and the Tathāgata himself, the Dharma-king, all entirely guard and protect them; how the whole world reveres and makes offerings to them, together anointing their crown, forever held in mind and guarded by every buddha, cherished and revered by every bodhisattva as well; how they obtain the power of wholesome roots, increase the pure dharmas, open up and expound the Tathāgata's own most profound Dharma-treasury, and uphold the true Dharma to adorn themselves — the entire sequence of a bodhisattva's own practice, I beg you to expound it in full!"
The Question Restated in Verse
How does a bodhisattva remain fearless as a lion, pure as the full moon, untouched by the water a lotus grows within?
爾時，精進慧菩薩欲重宣其義而說頌言：
At that time, wishing to restate this meaning once more, Diligent Wisdom Bodhisattva then spoke a verse, saying:
「大名稱者善能演，菩薩所成功德法，
深入無邊廣大行，具足清淨無師智。
若有菩薩初發心，成就福德智慧乘，
入離生位超世間，普獲正等菩提法。
彼復云何佛教中，堅固勤修轉增勝，
令諸如來悉歡喜，佛所住地速當入？
所行清淨願皆滿，及得廣大智慧藏，
常能說法度眾生，而心無依無所著。
菩薩一切波羅蜜，悉善修行無缺減，
所念眾生咸救度，常持佛種使不絕。
所作堅固不唐捐，一切功成得出離，
如諸勝者所修行，彼清淨道願宣說！
永破一切無明暗，降伏眾魔及外道，
所有垢穢悉滌除，得近如來大智慧。
永離惡趣諸險難，淨治大智殊勝境，
獲妙道力隣上尊，一切功德皆成就。
證得如來最勝智，住於無量諸國土，
隨眾生心而說法，及作廣大諸佛事。
云何而得諸妙道，開演如來正法藏，
常能受持諸佛法，無能超勝無與等？
云何無畏如師子，所行清淨如滿月？
云何修習佛功德，猶如蓮華不著水？」
"You of great renown, skillfully able to expound the very Dharma of merit a bodhisattva accomplishes, entering deeply into boundless, vast practice, fully endowed with a pure wisdom that needs no teacher — if there is a bodhisattva who has just given rise to the mind, accomplishing the vehicle of merit and wisdom, entering the stage beyond birth and transcending the world, universally attaining the Dharma of perfect and equal bodhi,
how then, within the Buddha's own teaching, do they firmly and diligently cultivate, ever increasing and becoming more supreme, causing every Tathāgata to entirely rejoice, and swiftly coming to enter the very ground the Buddha himself abides within? How is their every practice brought to purity, and their every vow brought to fulfillment, and how do they obtain the vast and expansive treasury of wisdom, forever able to teach the Dharma and cross living beings over, while their mind relies upon nothing and clings to nothing at all?
How does the bodhisattva skillfully cultivate and practice every single perfection, entirely without deficiency or diminishment, so that every living being they hold in mind is saved and crossed over, forever upholding the buddha-seed so that it is never cut off? How is what they do made firm and never wasted, so that every merit is accomplished and release is attained? Just as every supreme one has cultivated and practiced — I beg you to expound their very pure path!
How do they forever break through every dark ignorance, subdue every demon and every non-Buddhist teacher, and entirely cleanse every stain and defilement, drawing near to the Tathāgata's own great wisdom? How do they forever leave behind every peril within the evil destinies, purify the supreme realm of great wisdom, obtain the power of the wondrous path, and draw near to the most honored one, every merit entirely accomplished?
How do they realize and attain the Tathāgata's own most supreme wisdom, abiding within immeasurable lands, teaching the Dharma in accordance with living beings' own minds, and performing every vast buddha-work? How do they obtain every wondrous path, opening up and expounding the Tathāgata's own true Dharma-treasury, forever able to uphold every buddha-dharma, with nothing at all able to surpass or equal them?
How are they fearless as a lion, their every practice as pure as the full moon? How do they cultivate the Buddha's own merit, like a lotus flower untouched by the water it grows within?"
Chapter 18 opens with a question, not a teaching — and a very long one, listing nearly everything the rest of the chapter will go on to answer point by point: the ten dharmas of non-negligence, the ten kinds of purity that follow from it, the ten dharmas that please every buddha, and more, each introduced in turn as Dharma Wisdom answers Diligent Wisdom's question across the Parts ahead. The lotus-untouched-by-water image that closes the verse is one of the sūtra's most familiar figures for a bodhisattva's engagement with the world without attachment to it.
Part 101 Complete
This closes Part 101. Chapter 18 continues in Part 102 with Dharma Wisdom's own answer, beginning with the ten dharmas of non-negligence.