The Tathāgata's Wisdom-Sun Dispels All Delusion
After thirty vows for the delight of every sentient being, the passage turns to what this practice does to the bodhisattva himself: wisdom clarified, gathered in by good spiritual friends, the Tathāgata's own wisdom-sun illuminating his mind and forever extinguishing the darkness of delusion. What follows is a portrait of non-attachment as thorough as any in this dedication — unattached to the world, grasping at no sentient being, seeing the emptiness of karma even while cultivating it faithfully.
Unattached, Yet Never Idle
The passage's central tension is stated directly: "though he skillfully cultivates true karma, he knows the nature of karma to be empty." Every clause that follows holds the same balance — practicing the buddha path while seeing every dharma as illusion, dwelling among bodhisattvas while grasping at no fixed self, according with worldly speech while remaining attached to none of it.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩修習如是諸善根時，得智慧明，為善知識之所攝受，如來慧日明照其心，永滅癡冥；勤修正法，入諸智業，善學智地，流布善根，充滿法界，以智迴向；盡諸菩薩善根源底，以智深入大方便海，成就無量廣大善根。
"Child of the Buddha! When the bodhisattva mahāsattva cultivates and practices these wholesome roots, he attains the clarity of wisdom, gathered in by good spiritual friends, the Tathāgata's own wisdom-sun illuminating his mind, forever extinguishing the darkness of delusion; he diligently cultivates the true Dharma, enters into every wise deed, skillfully learns the ground of wisdom, spreads wholesome roots to fill the Dharma-realm entirely, and dedicates them with wisdom; reaching the very depth and source of every bodhisattva's wholesome roots, with wisdom entering deeply into the great ocean of skillful means, he accomplishes immeasurable, vast wholesome roots."
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩以此善根如是迴向，所謂：『不著世間，不取眾生；其心清淨，無所依止；正念諸法，離分別見；不捨一切佛自在慧，不違三世一切諸佛正迴向門；隨順一切平等正法，不壞如來真實之相，等觀三世無眾生相；善順佛道，善說於法，深了其義，入最勝地，悟真實法，智慧圓滿，信樂堅固；雖善修正業而知業性空，了一切法皆如幻化，知一切法無有自性；觀一切義及種種行，隨世言說而無所著；除滅一切執著因緣，知如實理，觀諸法性皆悉寂滅，了一切法同一實相，知諸法相不相違背；與諸菩薩而共同止，修行其道，善攝眾生，入去、來、今一切菩薩迴向之門；於諸佛法心無驚怖，以無量心令諸眾生普得清淨；於十方世界不起執取我、我所心，於諸世間無所分別；於一切境界不生染著，勤修一切出世間法；於諸世間無取無依，於深妙道正見牢固，離諸妄見，了真實法。
"Child of the Buddha! The bodhisattva mahāsattva, with these wholesome roots, dedicates them in this way, namely: 'Unattached to the world, grasping at no sentient being; his mind pure, relying on nothing; true mindfulness of every dharma, leaving behind every discriminating view; never abandoning the sovereign wisdom of any buddha, never contradicting the true gateway of dedication of the buddhas of the three times; according with every equal, true Dharma, never destroying the true mark of the Tathāgata, contemplating the three times equally, seeing no mark of any sentient being; skillfully according with the buddha path, skillfully expounding the Dharma, deeply comprehending its meaning, entering the most excellent ground, awakening to the true Dharma, his wisdom perfected, his faith and delight firm; though he skillfully cultivates true karma, he knows the nature of karma to be empty, comprehending that every dharma is like an illusion, knowing that every dharma has no intrinsic nature; contemplating every meaning and every kind of practice, according with worldly speech and yet attached to none of it; extinguishing and removing every cause and condition of attachment, knowing the principle exactly as it is, contemplating the nature of every dharma as entirely quiescent, comprehending that every dharma shares the same single true mark, knowing that the characteristics of dharmas do not contradict one another; dwelling together with every bodhisattva, cultivating and practicing their path, skillfully gathering in sentient beings, entering the gateway of dedication of every bodhisattva of the past, future, and present; his mind free of any alarm or fear regarding the Dharma of any buddha, with an immeasurable mind causing every sentient being to become universally pure; within worlds of the ten directions, never giving rise to a mind that grasps at self or what belongs to self, holding no discrimination regarding any world; giving rise to no defiling attachment regarding any domain, diligently cultivating every dharma that transcends the world; grasping at nothing and relying on nothing within any world, his true view firm and unshakable upon the profound and wondrous path, leaving behind every false view, comprehending the true and real Dharma.'"
"Comprehending that every dharma shares the same single true mark, knowing that the characteristics of dharmas do not contradict one another" prepares directly for what comes next in the chapter: an extended series of comparisons between this dedication and true suchness itself — the ground this entire non-attachment has been quietly describing all along, under a different name.
Part 347 Complete
This continues the eighth dedication's account of the bodhisattva's wisdom. Chapter 25 continues in Part 348 as the sūtra explains, through a long series of similes, exactly why this dedication is named for true suchness: just as suchness pervades every place without limit, so too does this dedication of wholesome roots pervade every place without limit — the first of many such comparisons to come.