Part 368 of the collection · Fascicle 31 of 80 · 十迴向品第二十五之九 · T279

Every Kalpa, Utterly Subtle

Two more lists, now turning from worlds to time itself and then to dharmas as such. First, ten kinds of utterly subtle wisdom regarding kalpas — an inexpressible kalpa collapsed into a single thought, long and short kalpas freely interchanged — closing in ten distinct kinds of mind. Then ten kinds of utterly subtle wisdom regarding every dharma, where the single and the all pass into each other without contradiction.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 368 — every kalpa and every dharma, utterly subtle Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

Ten Kinds of Utterly Subtle Wisdom of Every Kalpa

The list treats time as fully malleable to a bodhisattva's own wisdom — an inexpressible kalpa folded into a single thought, a single thought unfolded into an inexpressible kalpa, an asaṃkhyeya kalpa entering a single kalpa and a single kalpa entering an asaṃkhyeya kalpa, long and short kalpas passing into each other — before closing not in more "utterly subtle" items but in ten distinct kinds of mind, from the mind of the king of perfect practice to a mind that never rests.

Chinese Source

以無著無縛解脫心,修普賢行,生諸劫甚微細智,所謂:以不可說劫為一念甚微細智、以一念為不可說劫甚微細智、以阿僧祇劫入一劫甚微細智、以一劫入阿僧祇劫甚微細智、以長劫入短劫甚微細智、以短劫入長劫甚微細智、入有佛劫無佛劫甚微細智、知一切劫數甚微細智、知一切劫非劫甚微細智、一念中見三世一切劫甚微細智——如是等一切諸劫甚微細,以如來智,於一念中皆如實知;得諸菩薩圓滿行王心、入普賢行心、離一切分別異道戲論心、發大願無懈息心、普見無量世界網無量諸佛充滿心、於諸佛善根諸菩薩行能聞持心、於安慰一切眾生廣大行聞已不忘心、能於一切劫現佛出世心、於一一世界盡未來際行不動行無休息心、於一切世界中以如來身業充滿菩薩身心。

Ru-Yi Translation

With a mind of non-attachment, non-bondage, and liberation, he cultivates Samantabhadra's own practice, giving rise to the utterly subtle wisdom of every kalpa, namely: the utterly subtle wisdom of treating an inexpressible kalpa as a single thought, the utterly subtle wisdom of treating a single thought as an inexpressible kalpa, the utterly subtle wisdom of entering an asaṃkhyeya kalpa into a single kalpa, the utterly subtle wisdom of entering a single kalpa into an asaṃkhyeya kalpa, the utterly subtle wisdom of entering a long kalpa into a short kalpa, the utterly subtle wisdom of entering a short kalpa into a long kalpa, the utterly subtle wisdom of entering a kalpa with a buddha and a kalpa without a buddha, the utterly subtle wisdom of knowing the count of every kalpa, the utterly subtle wisdom of knowing every kalpa as not a kalpa, and the utterly subtle wisdom of beholding, within a single thought, every kalpa throughout the three times — all such utterly subtle things regarding every kalpa as these, with the Tathāgata's own wisdom, within a single thought he knows them all exactly as they are; attaining every bodhisattva's own mind of the king of perfect practice, a mind entering Samantabhadra's own practice, a mind far removed from every discrimination and the idle discourse of divergent paths, a mind that raises a great vow without laziness or rest, a mind universally beholding immeasurable buddhas filling the net of immeasurable worlds, a mind able to hear and uphold every buddha's own wholesome roots and every bodhisattva's own practice, a mind that, having heard the vast practice of comforting every sentient being, never forgets it, a mind able to manifest a buddha's own appearance in the world throughout every kalpa, a mind that, within each single world, to the very end of future time, practices unmoving practice without any rest, and a mind that, throughout every world, fills a bodhisattva's own body with the Tathāgata's own bodily karma.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

The list ends not with more objects of knowledge but with ten kinds of mind — as though comprehending time this thoroughly is meant to culminate not in a fact known but in a disposition held: a mind that never forgets, a mind that never rests, a mind that fills every world with the Tathāgata's own bodily activity. The knowing and the being are treated as the same accomplishment.

Ten Kinds of Utterly Subtle Wisdom of Every Dharma

The second list turns from time to dharmas as such, closing in the same reversible logic the sūtra applies everywhere: every dharma entering a single dharma, a single dharma entering every dharma, every dharma entering what is not a dharma at all, and every dharma established within no dharma whatsoever, without the slightest contradiction.

Chinese Source

以無著無縛解脫心,修普賢行,成不退轉,得一切法甚微細智,所謂:甚深法甚微細智、廣大法甚微細智、種種法甚微細智、莊嚴法甚微細智、一切法無有量甚微細智、一切法入一法甚微細智、一法入一切法甚微細智、一切法入非法甚微細智、無法中安立一切法而不相違甚微細智、入一切佛法方便無有餘甚微細智——如是等一切世界一切言說所安立法諸微細智,與彼同等,其智無礙,皆如實知;得入無邊法界心,於一一法界深心堅住,成無礙行;以一切智充滿諸根,入諸佛智,正念方便,成就諸佛廣大功德;遍滿法界,普入一切諸如來身,現諸菩薩所有身業,隨順一切世界言辭,演說於法;得一切佛神力所加智慧意業,出生無量善巧方便分別諸法薩婆若智。

Ru-Yi Translation

With a mind of non-attachment, non-bondage, and liberation, he cultivates Samantabhadra's own practice, accomplishing non-regression, attaining the utterly subtle wisdom of every dharma, namely: the utterly subtle wisdom of profound dharmas, the utterly subtle wisdom of vast dharmas, the utterly subtle wisdom of every kind of dharma, the utterly subtle wisdom of adorned dharmas, the utterly subtle wisdom of every dharma being without measure, the utterly subtle wisdom of every dharma entering a single dharma, the utterly subtle wisdom of a single dharma entering every dharma, the utterly subtle wisdom of every dharma entering what is not a dharma, the utterly subtle wisdom of establishing every dharma within no dharma at all, without contradiction, and the utterly subtle wisdom of entering every skillful means of a buddha's own Dharma, with nothing left over — all such utterly subtle wisdoms of dharmas established through every kind of speech throughout every world as these, equal to them exactly, his wisdom unobstructed, he knows them all exactly as they are; attaining a mind that enters the boundless dharma-realm, within each single dharma-realm his profound mind firmly abiding, accomplishing unobstructed practice; filling every faculty with omniscience, entering the wisdom of every buddha, right mindfulness and skillful means, accomplishing every buddha's own vast merit; pervading and filling the whole dharma-realm, universally entering every Tathāgata's own body, manifesting every bodily karma a bodhisattva possesses, according with the speech of every world, expounding the Dharma; attaining the wisdom and mental karma empowered by every buddha's own spiritual power, giving rise to immeasurable skillful means for discriminating every dharma with the wisdom of omniscience.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

"Every dharma entering what is not a dharma" is the sharpest item in the list — not merely that all things interpenetrate one another, but that the totality of phenomena interpenetrates its own negation, without the passage treating this as paradox requiring resolution. It is simply named, alongside nine other kinds of utterly subtle wisdom, and left there.

Part 368 Complete

This continues the ninth dedication's litany of Samantabhadra's practice. Chapter 25 continues in Part 369 with one final list of utterly subtle wisdom — regarding what a bodhisattva gives rise to — before the litany's long grammatical structure changes entirely, opening a new passage addressed directly to "Buddha's son," on what a bodhisattva discriminates and does not discriminate at all.