Every Hair on Their Body Standing on End
The third practice pushes patience to its outer limit: an assembly of living beings, each multiplying into countless mouths and hands, reviles the bodhisattva with every kind of hateful speech and assaults them with every kind of weapon, continuing through asaṃkhyeya kalpas without a single pause — and the bodhisattva's own mind never once turns to disorder.
The Third Practice: Never Opposing
「佛子！何等為菩薩摩訶薩無違逆行？此菩薩常修忍法，謙下恭敬；不自害，不他害，不兩害；不自取，不他取，不兩取；不自著，不他著，不兩著；亦不貪求名聞利養，但作是念：『我當常為眾生說法，令離一切惡，斷貪、瞋、癡、憍慢、覆藏、慳嫉、諂誑，令恒安住忍辱柔和。』
"Son of the Buddha! What is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva's own practice of never opposing? This bodhisattva forever cultivates the dharma of patience, humble and reverent; they never harm themselves, never harm another, and never harm both; they never grasp for themselves, never grasp for another, and never grasp for both; they never cling for themselves, never cling for another, and never cling for both; nor do they covet renown or gain, but simply reflect in this way: 'I shall forever teach the Dharma to living beings, causing them to leave every evil behind, cutting off greed, anger, delusion, pride and conceit, concealment, stinginess and envy, and flattery and deceit, causing them forever to abide settled in patience and gentleness.'
佛子！菩薩成就如是忍法。假使有百千億那由他阿僧祇眾生來至其所，一一眾生化作百千億那由他阿僧祇口，一一口出百千億那由他阿僧祇語，所謂：不可喜語、非善法語、不悅意語、不可愛語、非仁賢語、非聖智語、非聖相應語、非聖親近語、深可厭惡語、不堪聽聞語，以是言辭毀辱菩薩。
Son of the Buddha, the bodhisattva accomplishes such a dharma of patience as this. Suppose that hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of living beings were to come to that bodhisattva's own place, and each and every one of those living beings were to conjure hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of mouths, and each and every one of those mouths were to utter hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of words — namely, displeasing words, words of no wholesome dharma, unpleasant words, unlovely words, words unbefitting the benevolent and worthy, words unbefitting the noble and wise, words at odds with what is noble, words estranged from what is noble, words deeply loathsome, and words unbearable to hear — reviling and insulting the bodhisattva with such speech as this.
又此眾生一一各有百千億那由他阿僧祇手，一一手各執百千億那由他阿僧祇器仗逼害菩薩。如是經於阿僧祇劫，曾無休息。菩薩遭此極大楚毒，身毛皆豎，命將欲斷，作是念言：『我因是苦，心若動亂，則自不調伏、自不守護、自不明了、自不修習、自不正定、自不寂靜、自不愛惜、自生執著，何能令他心得清淨？』
And, moreover, each and every one of those living beings has hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of hands, and each and every hand grasps hundreds of thousands of millions of nayutas of asaṃkhyeyas of weapons and instruments, assaulting and injuring the bodhisattva. This continues through asaṃkhyeya kalpas, never once ceasing. The bodhisattva, encountering such extreme and bitter suffering as this, every hair on their body standing on end, their very life about to be cut off, reflects and speaks in this way: 'Were my mind to become agitated and disordered because of this suffering, then I myself would not be tamed, I myself would not be guarded, I myself would not be clear, I myself would not be cultivated, I myself would not be rightly concentrated, I myself would not be tranquil, I myself would not treasure this practice, and I myself would give rise to attachment — how, then, could I ever cause another's mind to attain purity?'
菩薩爾時復作是念：『我從無始劫，住於生死，受諸苦惱。』如是思惟，重自勸勵，令心清淨，而得歡喜。善自調攝，自能安住於佛法中，亦令眾生同得此法。
The bodhisattva, at that time, further reflects in this way: 'I have, since kalpas without beginning, abided within birth-and-death, receiving every kind of suffering and affliction.' Reflecting in this way, they once again encourage and exhort themselves, causing their mind to become pure, and attaining joy. Skillfully regulating and mastering themselves, they are able to abide settled within the buddha-dharma, and likewise cause living beings to attain this same Dharma together.
復更思惟：『此身空寂，無我、我所，無有真實，性空無二；若苦若樂，皆無所有，諸法空故。我當解了，廣為人說，令諸眾生滅除此見。是故，我今雖遭苦毒，應當忍受；為慈念眾生故，饒益眾生故，安樂眾生故，憐愍眾生故，攝受眾生故，不捨眾生故，自得覺悟故，令他覺悟故，心不退轉故，趣向佛道故。』是名菩薩摩訶薩第三無違逆行。
They further reflect: 'This body is empty and quiescent, without self and without anything belonging to a self, having nothing truly real to it at all, its very nature empty and without duality; whether suffering or happiness, neither has anything to it at all, because every dharma is empty. I shall understand this fully, and broadly teach it to others, causing living beings to remove this fixed view. For this reason, though I now encounter bitter suffering, I should bear and endure it — for the sake of holding living beings in loving-kindness, for the sake of benefiting living beings, for the sake of bringing living beings peace and happiness, for the sake of taking pity on living beings, for the sake of gathering in living beings, for the sake of never abandoning living beings, for the sake of attaining my own awakening, for the sake of causing others to awaken, for the sake of a mind that never turns back, and for the sake of advancing toward the path of buddhahood.' This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's own third practice, the practice of never opposing.
The bodhisattva's own reasoning here is worth noting closely: they do not endure the abuse because pain does not matter, but because losing composure under it would make them unfit to help anyone else — "how, then, could I ever cause another's mind to attain purity?" The turn to emptiness that follows is not a denial that the suffering is real, but a second, independent ground for endurance: a body without fixed self has nothing final to defend, so patience costs less than it first appears to.
Part 134 Complete
This closes Part 134. Chapter 21 continues in Part 135 with the fourth practice, the practice of never yielding.