Reaching Every Place, Like the Very Limit of Reality
Vajra Banner Bodhisattva opens the fourth dedication — the dedication that reaches every place — describing a bodhisattva who wishes every wholesome root to reach everywhere, just as the very limit of reality itself reaches every thing, every world, every living being, every dharma, and every language and sound, leaving nothing at all unreached. The bodhisattva then contemplates bodhisattvas manifesting as Tathāgatas throughout every world of every kind, their Dharma-body pervading everywhere without difference.
Like the Very Limit of Reality
The fourth dedication opens with a simile that gives it its name: just as the very limit of reality reaches every thing, every world, every living being, every land, every dharma, every span of time, every conditioned and unconditioned thing, and every language and sound, the bodhisattva wishes their own wholesome root to reach everywhere in exactly the same way. From this universal reach, the bodhisattva turns to contemplate bodhisattvas of supreme understanding who manifest as Tathāgatas throughout every kind of world — revolving, tilted, upward-facing, downward-facing — their Dharma-body pervading all of them without any difference at all.
「佛子！云何為菩薩摩訶薩至一切處迴向？「佛子！此菩薩摩訶薩修習一切諸善根時，作是念言：『願此善根功德之力至一切處。譬如實際，無處不至，至一切物，至一切世間，至一切眾生，至一切國土，至一切法，至一切虛空，至一切三世，至一切有為、無為，至一切語言、音聲。願此善根亦復如是，遍至一切諸如來所，供養三世一切諸佛；過去諸佛所願悉滿，未來諸佛具足莊嚴，現在諸佛及其國土、道場，眾會遍滿一切虛空法界。願以信解大威力故，廣大智慧無障礙故，一切善根悉迴向故，以如諸天諸供養具而為供養，充滿無量無邊世界。』
"Child of the Buddha! What is called the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication that reaches every place? Child of the Buddha! This bodhisattva mahāsattva, when cultivating and practicing every wholesome root, gives rise to this thought, saying: 'May the power of merit of this wholesome root reach every place. Just as the very limit of reality reaches everywhere, with no place it fails to reach, reaching every thing, reaching every world, reaching every living being, reaching every land, reaching every dharma, reaching every empty space, reaching every one of the three periods of time, reaching every conditioned and unconditioned dharma, reaching every language and sound. May this very wholesome root likewise be just the same, universally reaching the place of every Tathāgata, making offerings to every buddha of the three periods of time; may every vow of every buddha of the past be entirely fulfilled; may every buddha of the future be fully endowed with adornment; may every buddha of the present, together with their own lands, places of enlightenment, and assemblies, pervade the entire realm of empty space and the Dharma-realm. May it be, through the great power of faith and understanding, through vast and unobstructed wisdom, through the entire dedication of every wholesome root, that offerings such as those of every heavenly being are made, filling immeasurable and boundless worlds.'
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩復作是念：『諸佛世尊普遍一切虛空法界。種種業所起，十方不可說一切世界種世界、不可說佛國土佛境界種種世界、無量世界、無分齊世界、轉世界、側世界、仰世界、覆世界，如是一切諸世界中，現住於壽，示現種種神通變化。彼有菩薩以勝解力，為諸眾生堪受化者，於彼一切諸世界中，現為如來出興於世，以至一切處智；普遍開示如來無量自在神力，法身遍往無有差別，平等普入一切法界；如來藏身不生不滅，善巧方便普現世間，證法實性超一切故，得不退轉無礙力故，生於如來無障礙見、廣大威德種性中故。』
Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva again gives rise to this thought: 'Every buddha, every World-Honored One, universally pervades the entire realm of empty space and the Dharma-realm. Arising from every kind of karmic activity, throughout the ten directions there are indescribable world-seed worlds of every kind, indescribable worlds of every kind that are the very domain of buddha-lands, immeasurable worlds, worlds without any boundary, revolving worlds, tilted worlds, upward-facing worlds, downward-facing worlds — throughout every one of these worlds, they abide in their own lifespan, manifesting every kind of spiritual transformation. There are bodhisattvas who, through the power of supreme understanding, for the sake of every living being capable of receiving transformation, manifest within every one of those worlds as a Tathāgata arising in the world, through the wisdom that reaches every place; universally opening up and revealing the Tathāgata's own immeasurable and sovereign spiritual power, their Dharma-body pervading everywhere without any difference, equally and universally entering every Dharma-realm; the Tathāgata's own treasury-body neither arises nor ceases, universally manifesting in the world through skillful means, because they have realized the true nature of dharmas that transcends all, because they have attained the unhindered power that never regresses, and because they are born within the lineage of the Tathāgata's own unobstructed vision and vast, awesome virtue.'
This dedication's governing simile — the very limit of reality, which reaches every place because it excludes nothing — sets a standard the wholesome root is asked to match, not merely resemble. The catalogue of world-shapes that follows — revolving, tilted, upward-facing, downward-facing — extends "every place" beyond ordinary geography into every conceivable orientation a world could take, insisting that even the strangest possible configuration of existence falls within the dedication's reach.
Part 245 Complete
This closes Part 245. Chapter 25 continues in Part 246 as the bodhisattva makes offerings of wondrous flowers, incense, garlands, and canopies to every buddha and every stūpa, dedicating through ten distinct kinds of undisturbed, single-minded dedication.