"I Shall Become a Garden for Every Being"
The bodhisattva gives away every garden, grove, pavilion, and terrace he possesses — and before the dedication even begins, he vows something stranger than the gift itself: that his own presence become a garden, a joy, a father, a mother to every sentient being. Even were every being in the world entirely ungrateful, the passage insists, he would harbor not the slightest resentment, seeking only to end their suffering, his mind like empty space toward the whole world.
Twelve Vows Before the Gift Is Even Given
Most gifts in this dedication describe what is given and only afterward what is wished for in return. Here the order reverses: twelve vows — "I shall become," said twelve times — precede any description of the actual gardens being given away, as though the physical gift were secondary to the prior commitment the bodhisattva has already made to be, himself, a source of joy for every being he encounters.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩布施種種園林、臺榭、遊戲快樂莊嚴之處，作是念言：『我當為一切眾生作好園林，我當為一切眾生示現法樂，我當施一切眾生歡喜之意，我當示一切眾生無邊喜樂，我當為一切眾生開淨法門，我當令一切眾生發歡喜心，我當令一切眾生得佛菩提，我當令一切眾生成滿大願，我當於一切眾生猶如慈父，我當令一切眾生智慧觀察，我當施一切眾生資生之具，我當於一切眾生猶如慈母，生長一切善根大願。』佛子！菩薩摩訶薩如是修行諸善根時，於惡眾生不生疲厭，亦不誤起棄捨之心。設滿世間一切眾生悉不知恩，菩薩於彼，初無嫌恨，不生一念求反報心，但欲滅其無量苦惱；於諸世間，心如虛空，無所染著，普觀諸法真實之相；發大誓願，滅眾生苦，永不厭捨大乘志願；滅一切見，修諸菩薩平等行願。佛子！菩薩摩訶薩如是觀察已，攝諸善根，悉以迴向，所謂：『願一切眾生念念滋生無量善法，成就無上園林之心；願一切眾生得不動法，見一切佛皆令歡喜；願一切眾生樂法園苑，得諸佛剎園苑妙樂；願一切眾生得淨妙心，常見如來神足園林；願一切眾生得佛戲樂，常善遊戲智慧境界；願一切眾生得遊戲樂，普詣佛剎道場眾會；願一切眾生成就菩薩解脫遊戲，盡未來劫，行菩薩行，心無疲倦；願一切眾生見一切佛充滿法界，發廣大心，住佛園林；願一切眾生悉能遍往一切佛剎，一一剎中供養諸佛；願一切眾生得善欲心，清淨莊嚴一切佛剎。』是為菩薩摩訶薩布施一切園林、臺榭善根迴向；為令眾生見一切佛，遊戲一切佛園林故。
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva gives away every kind of garden and grove, pavilion and terrace, and every place adorned for pleasure and delight, thinking to himself: 'I shall become a fine garden and grove for every sentient being; I shall reveal the joy of the Dharma to every sentient being; I shall give every sentient being a joyful intention; I shall show every sentient being boundless joy and happiness; I shall open the pure gateway of the Dharma for every sentient being; I shall cause every sentient being to give rise to a joyful mind; I shall cause every sentient being to obtain the Buddha's own bodhi; I shall cause every sentient being to fulfill their great vow completely; I shall become, for every sentient being, like a compassionate father; I shall cause every sentient being to contemplate with wisdom; I shall give every sentient being their means of livelihood; I shall become, for every sentient being, like a compassionate mother, giving birth to and growing every wholesome root and great vow.' Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva cultivates every wholesome root in this way, he gives rise to no weariness toward evil sentient beings, nor does he mistakenly give rise to a mind of abandoning them. Even were every sentient being throughout the world entirely ungrateful, the bodhisattva harbors, from the very start, not the slightest resentment toward them, and gives rise to not a single thought seeking any repayment in return — he wishes only to extinguish their immeasurable suffering and affliction; toward every world, his mind is like empty space, unstained by anything, universally beholding the true mark of every dharma; he gives rise to a great vow to extinguish the suffering of sentient beings, forever never wearying of or abandoning his aspiration for the Great Vehicle; extinguishing every view, he cultivates every bodhisattva's own equal practice and vow. Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva, having contemplated in this way, gathers every wholesome root and dedicates it entirely, namely: 'May all sentient beings, thought after thought, nourish and give rise to immeasurable wholesome dharmas, accomplishing the unsurpassed mind of a garden and grove; may all sentient beings obtain the unmoving dharma, beholding every buddha and causing them all to rejoice; may all sentient beings delight in the garden and park of the Dharma, obtaining the wondrous joy of the garden and park of every buddha-land; may all sentient beings obtain a pure and wondrous mind, forever beholding the garden and grove of the Tathāgata's own spiritual feet; may all sentient beings obtain the Buddha's own joyful play, forever skillfully sporting within the domain of wisdom; may all sentient beings obtain the joy of play, universally arriving at the assemblies of the awakening-site in every buddha-land; may all sentient beings accomplish a bodhisattva's own liberated play, to the very end of future kalpas practicing a bodhisattva's own conduct, their minds never wearied; may all sentient beings behold every buddha filling the entire Dharma-realm, giving rise to a vast and expansive mind, abiding within the buddha's own garden and grove; may all sentient beings be entirely able to journey throughout every buddha-land, making offerings to every buddha within each and every land; may all sentient beings obtain a mind of wholesome aspiration, purely adorning every buddha-land.' This is the bodhisattva mahāsattva's dedication of wholesome roots when giving away every garden, grove, pavilion, and terrace; it is so that sentient beings may behold every buddha, and sport within the garden and grove of every buddha.
"Not a single thought seeking any repayment in return" answers, in advance, the very question a garden given away for pleasure and delight might raise: was this generosity meant to be enjoyed by its recipients, or noticed and rewarded? The bodhisattva's own indifference to gratitude is what allows the gift to remain, purely, a garden — something simply there to be delighted in, asking nothing back.
Part 322 Complete
This closes the section on giving away gardens, groves, pavilions, and terraces (施園林、臺榭) within the sixth dedication. Chapter 25 continues in Part 323 as the bodhisattva mahāsattva holds vast assemblies of giving, hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas in number, entirely pure and never harming a single sentient being.