Every Worldly Art

"Good son! I know only this bodhisattva's own liberation-gate of Skilled in Every Art. As for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, who are able, through wisdom, to penetrate every skillful worldly and transcendent-worldly dharma all the way to its far shore; who master every extraordinary art from every distant land, without a single one left out; who hold a profound understanding of writing and arithmetic; who are skilled in medicine and incantation, healing every kind of illness; who are able to rescue and bring to full recovery every being possessed by ghosts or demons, cursed by hatred and malediction, afflicted by evil stars and strange calamities, pursued by a wandering corpse, or suffering from epilepsy, wasting sickness, and every other kind of disease; who are, moreover, skilled in distinguishing gold and jade, pearls and shells, coral, lapis lazuli, maṇi-jewels, mother-of-pearl, and kesara-gems, together with every kind of treasure — knowing where each is found, its every distinct grade, and its exact worth; who can, throughout every village and hamlet, every great and small city, every palace and garden, every crag and spring and marsh and moor — wherever any multitude of people dwells — protect and provide for them according to what each place requires; who are, moreover, skilled in observing astronomy and geography, the fortunate and unfortunate signs of the human countenance, the cries of birds and beasts, the clouds and mists and weather, the abundance or scarcity of the year's own harvest, and the safety or peril of every land — mastering every worldly art such as these, down to its very root and source; and who are, moreover, able to discern the transcendent-worldly dharma, rightly naming it and distinguishing its meaning, contemplating its essence and characteristics, cultivating it in accordance with itself, their wisdom entering into it entirely — free of doubt, free of obstruction, free of ignorance's darkness, free of dullness, free of anguish, free of drowning, and with nothing at all left unrealized — how could I possibly know, or possibly speak, of their own virtuous practice? Good son! In this land of Magadha, there is a settlement, and within it a city, named Vatana; there is a laywoman there, called Worthy Superior. Go to her, and ask: how does a bodhisattva study the bodhisattva's own practice, and cultivate the bodhisattva's own path?" At that time, Good-Wealth bowed his head in reverence at the feet of Skilled in Every Art, circled him countless times, gazed up at him with longing and devotion, and took his leave. He made his way to that settlement's city, arrived at Worthy Superior's own place, bowed at her feet, circled her, stood reverently to one side with his palms joined, and said: "Noble one! I have already given rise to the mind of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, yet I do not yet know how a bodhisattva studies the bodhisattva's own practice, or how one cultivates the bodhisattva's own path. I have heard that you, noble one, are skillfully able to guide and instruct — I beg you, teach me!"