A Kingdom Given Away, A Farther Shore Reached

The bodhisattva relinquishes that great throne of kingship, together with his land and every city and town, his palaces, towers, and gardens, his servants and guards — none of it withheld with any stinginess. Throughout immeasurable hundreds of thousands of kalpas, he travels everywhere, giving in every place, and by means of this he guides and instructs every living being, causing them all to rise beyond to the unsurpassed shore. Beings of immeasurable kinds, each one different, gather and converge from worlds in the ten directions; the bodhisattva, having seen them, rejoices in his heart, and according to whatever they lack, causes them to be satisfied entirely. Just as the buddhas of the three times have dedicated their merit, the bodhisattva likewise cultivates this same deed; whatever the Tamer, the most honored among people, has practiced, he follows and learns all of it entirely, reaching the farther shore.

The bodhisattva contemplates all dharmas: who is it that is able to enter this dharma? How does one enter, and into what does one enter? Giving practiced in this way leaves the mind without any abode. The bodhisattva's dedication is a skillful wisdom; the bodhisattva's dedication is a skillful means; the bodhisattva's dedication is the true and real meaning — and within that dharma, he holds no attachment at all. His mind does not discriminate among any karmic act, nor is it defiled by attachment to the fruit of karma; knowing that the nature of enlightenment arises from conditions, he enters the profound Dharma-realm without any contradiction. Karma does not exist within the body, nor does it rely upon and abide in the mind; through wisdom he clearly knows that karma has no fixed nature of its own, and yet, because of causes and conditions, karma is never lost. His mind does not wrongly grasp at dharmas of the past, nor does it covet and cling to matters of the future; he does not abide anywhere in the present either, fully comprehending that the three times are all empty and still.

The bodhisattva has already reached the farther shore of form, and likewise of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness; he has gone beyond the stream of birth and death in the world, his mind humble and forever pure. He truly observes the five aggregates, the eighteen elements, the twelve sense-fields, and his own body, and seeking enlightenment within each and every one of these, finds that their essential nature can ultimately never be found. He does not grasp at any mark of permanence in any dharma, nor is he attached to any mark of annihilation either; the nature of dharmas is neither existent nor non-existent, and the principle of karma, unfolding in sequence, is never exhausted. He abides nowhere at all within any dharma; he sees no sentient being and no enlightenment; within lands of the ten directions, throughout the three times, however one ultimately seeks it, nothing at all can be found. If one is able to contemplate every dharma in this way, then one accords with what every buddha has understood; though their nature, however sought, can never be found, the bodhisattva's own practice is never in vain.

The bodhisattva clearly understands that dharmas exist through conditions, and does not violate any path of practice at all; he opens up, reveals, and explains every trace of karmic action, wishing to cause all sentient beings to become entirely pure. This is the path practiced by the wise, spoken by every Tathāgata without exception; according with it and reflecting upon it, one enters its true meaning, and naturally awakens to accomplish enlightenment. Every dharma neither arises nor ceases, and likewise neither comes nor goes; one does not die here to be born there — a person who understands this has awakened to the Dharma of every buddha. He fully comprehends the true and real nature of every dharma, and yet holds no discrimination at all regarding the nature of dharmas; knowing that dharmas are without any fixed nature and without discrimination, this person skillfully enters the wisdom of every buddha. The nature of dharmas pervades every place, every sentient being, and every land; it is present throughout the three times without exception, and yet no form or mark of it can ever be found. Everything that every buddha has awakened to and clearly understood is entirely gathered in without exception; though every dharma of the three times is spoken of, every such dharma is, in this way, entirely without true existence. Just as the nature of dharmas pervades everything entirely, so too is the bodhisattva's dedication just the same; dedicating it in this way to every sentient being, he forever remains within the world without ever regressing.