Part 257 of the collection · Fascicle 25 of 80 · 十迴向品第二十五之三(續) · T279

No Person Found in Any Dharma

The bodhisattva's insight into non-discrimination sharpens into direct seeing: no living being within the realm of living beings, no lifespan, no doer, no person, no contention within any dharma at all — every dharma arising from conditions and abiding nowhere. From this seeing, the bodhisattva accomplishes the treasury of merit that is the wish-fulfilling maṇi-jewel, a mind that grows ever more vast, equal to all-knowing wisdom, vast as the Dharma-realm and ultimate as empty space.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 257 — no living being, lifespan, doer, or person found in any dharma Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

Ten Things Not Found

The passage's opening list works through the classic Buddhist inventory of what a permanent self would require — a living being, a lifespan, a doer, a person — and finds none of it within any dharma. This is not a denial that beings and actions occur; it is the observation that nothing within them stays put long enough to be the fixed subject grammar suggests. What follows this seeing is not withdrawal but accomplishment: a treasury of merit compared to the wish-fulfilling maṇi-jewel, and a mind that keeps expanding precisely because it has stopped grasping at anything to hold it back.

Chinese Source

「佛子!菩薩摩訶薩以一切善根如是迴向時,了一切眾生界無有眾生,解一切法無有壽命,知一切法無有作者,悟一切法無補伽羅,了一切法無有忿諍,觀一切法皆從緣起、無有住處,知一切物皆無所依,了一切剎悉無所住,觀一切菩薩行亦無處所,見一切境界悉無所有。佛子!菩薩摩訶薩如是迴向時,眼終不見不淨佛剎,亦復不見異相眾生,無有少法為智所入,亦無少智而入於法,解如來身非如虛空;一切功德無量妙法所圓滿故,於一切處令諸眾生積集善根悉充足故。

Ru-Yi Translation

"Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates every wholesome root in just this way, they understand that the entire realm of living beings has no living being within it at all; they comprehend that every dharma has no lifespan within it at all; they know that every dharma has no doer at all; they awaken to the fact that every dharma has no person at all; they understand that every dharma has no contention at all; they contemplate that every dharma arises entirely from conditions and abides nowhere at all; they know that every thing relies on nothing at all; they understand that every land abides nowhere at all; they contemplate that even the bodhisattva's own practice has no place at all; they see that every state possesses nothing at all. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates in just this way, their eyes never once see an impure buddha-land, nor do they ever see a living being of differing form; there is not the slightest dharma entered by wisdom, nor is there the slightest wisdom that enters into dharma; they understand that the Tathāgata's own body is not like empty space — because it is brought to complete fulfillment by immeasurable, wondrous dharmas of every merit, and because, in every place, they cause every living being to accumulate wholesome roots entirely to the full.

Chinese Source

「佛子!此菩薩摩訶薩於念念中得不可說不可說十力地,具足一切福德,成就清淨善根,為一切眾生福田。此菩薩摩訶薩成就如意摩尼功德藏,隨有所須,一切樂具悉皆得故;隨所遊方悉能嚴淨一切國土,隨所行處令不可說不可說眾生皆悉清淨,攝取福德修治諸行故。佛子!菩薩摩訶薩如是迴向時,修一切菩薩行,福德殊勝,色相無比;威力光明超諸世間,魔及魔民莫能瞻對;善根具足,大願成就;其心彌廣,等一切智;於一念中,悉能周遍無量佛剎;智力無量,了達一切諸佛境界,於一切佛得深信解;住無邊智菩提心力,廣大如法界,究竟如虛空。

Ru-Yi Translation

Child of the Buddha! This bodhisattva mahāsattva, within thought after thought, attains indescribably indescribable grounds of the ten powers, is fully endowed with every merit, accomplishes pure wholesome roots, and becomes the field of merit for every living being. This bodhisattva mahāsattva accomplishes the treasury of merit that is the wish-fulfilling maṇi-jewel — according with whatever is needed, they obtain every implement of bliss entirely; wherever they journey, they are able to adorn and purify every land entirely; wherever they go, they cause indescribably indescribable living beings to become entirely pure, gathering in merit and cultivating and perfecting every practice. Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva dedicates in just this way, they cultivate every bodhisattva practice, their merit supreme, their form and appearance incomparable; their majestic power and light surpass every world, and neither Māra nor Māra's own followers are able to face them directly; their wholesome root is fully endowed, their great vow accomplished; their mind grows ever more vast, equal to all-knowing wisdom; within a single thought, they are able to pervade immeasurable buddha-lands entirely; their power of wisdom is immeasurable, penetrating and understanding every buddha's own state, attaining deep faith and understanding in every buddha; abiding in the power of boundless wisdom and the mind of bodhi, vast as the Dharma-realm, ultimate as empty space.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

"They understand that the Tathāgata's own body is not like empty space" is easy to read past, but it corrects a possible misreading of everything just said. Seeing that no dharma has a living being, a doer, or a person within it does not mean the Tathāgata's body is a mere absence or void — emptiness of self is not the same as emptiness of substance. The Tathāgata's body is instead described as full: brought to complete fulfillment by immeasurable, wondrous dharmas of merit, not by being empty of them.

Part 257 Complete

This closes Part 257. Chapter 25 continues in Part 258 as the bodhisattva's dedication continues to describe qualities gained through this very practice, extending the vision of a mind vast as the Dharma-realm into further named attainments.