Twenty Wishes for the Vehicle of Liberation
The bejeweled carts offered to every buddha, present and past, carry a dedication of twenty distinct wishes — leaving behind the vow of the two lesser vehicles, attaining a body that flies swiftly without ever growing weary, manifesting throughout the realm of empty space within a single instant, and finally ascending the vehicle of incomparable wisdom to see the nature of dharmas exactly as it truly is. The vehicle given becomes, in the wish itself, the vehicle of liberation received.
From Wheels to Wings
The twenty wishes trace a single arc: they begin with ordinary devotion — single-mindedly turning toward the Buddha, holding nothing back — and end with bodies that fly, manifest everywhere at once, and ascend a vehicle no longer made of wood or jewel at all. The literal cart given becomes, across the length of this dedication, an image the wish itself outgrows, until what is finally asked for is not transportation but a body unconstrained by any distance whatsoever.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以如是等眾妙寶車奉施佛時，以此善根如是迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生悉解供養最上福田，深信施佛，得無量報；願一切眾生一心向佛，常遇無量清淨福田；願一切眾生於諸如來無所吝惜，具足成就大捨之心；願一切眾生於諸佛所修行施行，離二乘願，逮得如來無礙解脫一切智智；願一切眾生於諸佛所行無盡施，入佛無量功德智慧；願一切眾生入佛勝智，得成清淨無上智王；願一切眾生得佛遍至無礙神通，隨所欲往，靡不自在；願一切眾生深入大乘，獲無量智，安住不動；願一切眾生皆能出生一切智法，為諸天人最上福田；願一切眾生於諸佛所無嫌恨心，勤種善根，樂求佛智。』
"Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva offers every such wondrous jeweled cart to a buddha, they dedicate this very wholesome root in just this way, namely: 'May every living being thoroughly understand making offerings to the most supreme field of merit, deeply believing that offering to a buddha attains immeasurable reward; may every living being single-mindedly turn toward the Buddha, forever encountering immeasurable pure fields of merit; may every living being hold nothing back at all toward any Tathāgata, fully accomplishing the mind of great relinquishment; may every living being cultivate and practice giving in the presence of every buddha, leaving behind the vow of the two lesser vehicles, reaching the Tathāgata's own unobstructed liberation, the wisdom of all-knowing wisdom; may every living being practice inexhaustible giving in the presence of every buddha, entering the Buddha's own immeasurable merit and wisdom; may every living being enter the Buddha's own supreme wisdom, attaining the status of a pure and unsurpassed king of wisdom; may every living being attain the Buddha's own unobstructed spiritual power to reach everywhere, going wherever they wish, sovereign and free in every way; may every living being deeply enter the Mahāyāna, attaining immeasurable wisdom, abiding unmoved; may every living being be able to give birth to every dharma of all-knowing wisdom, becoming the most supreme field of merit for every heavenly being and human; may every living being hold no resentment at all toward any buddha, diligently planting wholesome roots, delighting in seeking the Buddha's own wisdom.'
『願一切眾生任運能往一切佛剎，一剎那中普周法界而無懈倦；願一切眾生逮得菩薩自在神通，分身遍滿等虛空界一切佛所親近供養；願一切眾生得無比身，遍往十方而無厭倦；願一切眾生得廣大身，飛行迅疾，隨意所往，終無懈退；願一切眾生得佛究竟自在威力，一剎那中盡虛空界，悉現諸佛神通變化；願一切眾生修安樂行，隨順一切諸菩薩道；願一切眾生得速疾行，究竟十力智慧神通；願一切眾生普入法界十方國土，悉盡邊際等無差別；願一切眾生行普賢行無有退轉，到於彼岸成一切智；願一切眾生昇於無比智慧之乘，隨順法性見如實理。』是為菩薩摩訶薩以眾寶車奉施現在一切諸佛及佛滅後所有塔廟善根迴向，為令眾生得於如來究竟出離無礙乘故。
"May every living being spontaneously be able to go to every buddha-land, universally pervading the Dharma-realm within a single instant without ever growing weary; may every living being reach the bodhisattva's own sovereign spiritual power, their manifested bodies filling entirely a realm equal to empty space, drawing near and making offerings at the place of every buddha; may every living being attain an incomparable body, going everywhere throughout the ten directions without ever growing weary; may every living being attain a vast and expansive body, flying swiftly, going wherever they wish, never once growing weary or retreating; may every living being attain the Buddha's own ultimate, sovereign, majestic power, manifesting the spiritual transformations of every buddha entirely throughout the realm of empty space within a single instant; may every living being cultivate the practice of peace and bliss, according with every bodhisattva path; may every living being attain swift and speedy practice, reaching the ultimate wisdom and spiritual power of the ten powers; may every living being universally enter the Dharma-realm and every land of the ten directions, entirely reaching every limit equally, without any distinction at all; may every living being practice the practice of Samantabhadra without ever regressing, reaching the far shore and accomplishing all-knowing wisdom; may every living being ascend the vehicle of incomparable wisdom, according with the nature of dharmas and seeing the principle exactly as it truly is." This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of the wholesome root of offering every jeweled cart to every buddha of the present and to every stūpa and shrine remaining after a buddha's parinirvāṇa; it is done so that living beings attain the Tathāgata's own ultimate, unobstructed vehicle of liberation.
"Leaving behind the vow of the two lesser vehicles" names, early in this list, exactly what the wish series as a whole is refusing: a liberation aimed only at one's own escape. Every wish that follows keeps every living being's benefit explicitly in the frame, from manifesting bodies "equal to empty space" to expounding practice according with "every bodhisattva path" — the incomparable vehicle finally ascended is one built to carry everyone at once.
Part 271 Complete
This closes Part 271. Chapter 25 continues in Part 272 as the sixth dedication's litany of specific gifts continues.