Fascicle Twenty-Three Complete
Vajra Banner Bodhisattva's verse reaches its final stanzas, describing a firm and unshakable path that no living being can destroy and a mind that discerns the language of every kind of being without any attachment at all. With the verse's closing line — every buddha throughout the ten directions praising this very teaching — both the first dedication and the entire twenty-third fascicle come to an end.
A Path No One Can Destroy
The verse's final stanzas gather its argument into a single image of stability: a firm and unshakable path, accomplished through penetrating the nature of every dharma, which no living being is able to destroy. The bodhisattva who has reached this path is shown discerning the languages of every kind of living being without the slightest attachment, before the verse closes on its own reception — every buddha throughout the worlds of the ten directions praising this teaching entirely.
精勤觀察一切法，隨順思惟有非有，
如是趣於真實理，得入甚深無諍處。
以此修成堅固道，一切眾生莫能壞，
善能了達諸法性，普於三世無所著。
如是迴向到彼岸，普使群生離眾垢，
永離一切諸所依，得入究竟無依處。
一切眾生語言道，隨其種類各差別，
菩薩悉能分別說，而心無著無所礙。
菩薩如是修迴向，功德方便不可說，
能令十方世界中，一切諸佛皆稱歎。」
"Diligently observing every dharma, according with contemplation of existence and non-existence together; in just this way advancing toward the true and real principle, they come to enter the profound place free of contention. Through this they cultivate and accomplish a firm and unshakable path, which no living being is able to destroy; skillfully able to penetrate the nature of every dharma, universally without attachment throughout the three periods of time. Dedicating in just this way, they reach the other shore, universally causing every kind of living being to leave behind every defilement; forever leaving behind every reliance, they come to enter the ultimate place that relies on nothing at all. The paths of language of every living being differ each according to their own kind; the bodhisattva is entirely able to discern and expound them all, their mind clinging to nothing and unobstructed by anything at all. The bodhisattva cultivates dedication in just this way, their merit and skillful means beyond description; they are able to cause every buddha throughout the worlds of the ten directions to praise and exclaim entirely."
"A firm and unshakable path, which no living being is able to destroy" gives the entire first dedication its final image of stability — fitting, since the dedication began with a vow to become a house, a protection, and a refuge for every living being. What began as the bodhisattva offering shelter to others closes with the bodhisattva's own path having become, through that very offering, something nothing can shake.
Fascicle 23 Complete — Ten Dedications, First Dedication
Fascicle twenty-three closes here, having completed the Tuṣita hymns of Chapter 24 and opened Chapter 25, "The Ten Dedications," through the entirety of its first dedication — rescuing and protecting every living being while leaving behind the mark of "living being." Across this fascicle, Vajra Banner Bodhisattva entered the Bodhisattva Wisdom-Light Samādhi, was empowered by a hundred thousand buddhas sharing his name, named all ten dedications that structure this teaching, and expounded the first one in full: ten opening vows, a pledge to endure hell itself rather than let living beings fall, a precise definition of dedication by its universal scope, a catalog of twenty ways dedication clings to nothing, and a closing verse comparing the bodhisattva to the great earth, the sun, and the wind moving unobstructed through space.
Part 224 Complete
This closes Part 224 and fascicle 23. Fascicle twenty-four opens in Part 225 with the second of the ten dedications — the indestructible dedication (不壞迴向) — as Vajra Banner Bodhisattva describes a bodhisattva who attains unbreakable faith in every buddha of the past, future, and present.