The Conjuror's Work
The eighth ground's verse ends, and the ten directions shake. What the devas sing this time is the sharpest thing they have said in the whole chapter — the bodhisattva's wisdom works as a conjuror works, and what it produces is neither existent nor non-existent.
The Eighth Ground Closes
Four last stanzas — the merit unexhausted, the crown, the Brahmā King, the samādhis in world-dust — and the same admission the seventh ground made, that the full account would take longer than there is.
此地功德無邊際，千萬億劫說不盡，復以供佛善益明，如王頂上莊嚴具。
菩薩住此第八地，多作梵王千界主，演說三乘無有窮，慈光普照除眾惑。
一念所獲諸三昧，百萬世界微塵等，諸所作事悉亦然，願力示現復過是。
菩薩第八不動地，我為汝等已略說，若欲次第廣分別，經於億劫不能盡。」
The merits of this ground have no farther shore, and a thousand ten-thousand koṭis of kalpas could not finish telling them; and by making offerings to the buddhas their goodness grows brighter still, like the ornament upon a king's own head. A bodhisattva abiding on this eighth ground most often becomes a Brahmā King, lord of a thousand worlds, expounding the three vehicles without ever coming to an end, their light of loving-kindness shining everywhere and removing the confusions of the many. The samādhis obtained in a single thought are equal to the dust-motes of a million worlds, and all that they do is likewise; and by the power of their vows they display more even than this. The bodhisattva's eighth ground, Acalā, the Immovable Ground, I have now set out for you in brief; were one to wish to discriminate it fully and in order, a koṭi of kalpas would not exhaust it."
The Ten Directions Shake
The response is the largest the chapter has staged since its opening — lands trembling, light on every world, bodhisattvas leaping into the air, deva women in their millions — and then a song built out of four similes.
第九地
說此菩薩八地時，如來現大神通力，震動十方諸國土，無量億數難思議。
一切知見無上尊，其身普放大光明，照耀彼諸無量土，悉使眾生獲安樂。
菩薩無量百千億，俱時踊在虛空住，以過諸天上妙供，供養說中最勝者。
大自在王自在天，悉共同心喜無量，各以種種眾供具，供養甚深功德海。
復有天女千萬億，身心歡喜悉充遍，各奏樂音無量種，供養人中大導師。
是時眾樂同時奏，百千萬億無量別，悉以善逝威神力，演出妙音而讚歎：
The Ninth Ground
When this bodhisattva's eighth ground was spoken, the Tathāgata displayed great spiritual power, shaking the lands of the ten directions, measureless koṭis of them, beyond conceiving. The Unsurpassed One who knows and sees all things sent forth from his body a great radiance everywhere, illumining those measureless lands and causing all beings to obtain ease and joy. Measureless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of bodhisattvas at the same moment leapt up and stood in open space, and with offerings finer than any of the heavens made offerings to the most surpassing of all who speak. Maheśvara the sovereign king and the Sovereign Devas, all of them of one mind and measureless in gladness, each with every kind of offering made offerings to that profound ocean of merit. There were also a thousand ten-thousand koṭis of deva women, joy filling their bodies and minds throughout, each performing measureless kinds of music, making offerings to the great guide among men. At that time all their music sounded at once, in a hundred thousand ten-thousand koṭis of measureless distinctions, and all of it, by the majestic spiritual power of the Well-Gone One, sent forth wondrous sound in praise, saying:
「寂靜調柔無垢害，隨所入地善修習，心如虛空詣十方，廣說佛道悟群生。
天上人間一切處，悉現無等妙莊嚴，以從如來功德生，令其見者樂佛智。
不離一剎詣眾土，如月普現照世間，音聲心念悉皆滅，譬猶谷響無不應。
若有眾生心下劣，為彼演說聲聞行；若心明利樂辟支，則為彼說中乘道。
若有慈悲樂饒益，為說菩薩所行事；若有最勝智慧心，則示如來無上法。
譬如幻師作眾事，種種形相皆非實，菩薩智幻亦如是，雖現一切離有無。」
如是美音千萬種，歌讚佛已默然住。解脫月言：「今眾淨，願說九地所行道！」
"Quiescent, gentle and pliant, without defilement or harm, they cultivate well according to the ground they have entered; their mind is like open space as they go to the ten directions, widely expounding the buddha-path and awakening the multitudes of beings. In the heavens and among men, in every place whatever, they display an unequalled and wondrous adornment; because it is born from the Tathāgata's merits, it causes those who see it to delight in the buddhas' wisdom. Without leaving a single land they go to all lands, as the moon appears everywhere and shines upon the world; sound and the thinking of mind are alike extinguished in them, and yet, like the echo in a valley, there is nothing to which they do not answer. If there are beings whose minds are lowly, for them they expound the practice of the śrāvakas; if a mind is keen and bright and delights in the pratyekabuddha, then for that one they expound the path of the middle vehicle. If there is one of loving-kindness and compassion who delights in benefiting others, for them they expound the deeds a bodhisattva does; and if there is a mind of the most surpassing wisdom, then they show the Tathāgata's unsurpassed Dharma. It is like a conjuror who performs many things, whose every kind of form and appearance is unreal; the bodhisattva's conjuring of wisdom is likewise — though they manifest all things, they are apart from existence and non-existence." In such lovely sounds, in a thousand ten-thousand kinds, they sang the Buddha's praises, and then remained silent. Vimuktacandra said: "Now the assembly is pure — may you expound the path practiced on the ninth ground!"
音聲心念悉皆滅，譬猶谷響無不應 — sound and the thinking of mind are alike extinguished in them, and yet, like the echo in a valley, there is nothing to which they do not answer. The valley does not decide to reply and has nothing stored up to reply with. This is the devas' way of saying what the prose said with the ship and the wind, and it may be the better image: an echo cannot be accused of effort.
菩薩智幻亦如是，雖現一切離有無 — the bodhisattva's conjuring of wisdom is likewise; though they manifest all things, they are apart from existence and non-existence. The illusionist simile is used across Buddhist literature to disparage appearances. Here it is used to praise a practice: the bodies of Part 459, the lands, the assemblies, are conjured work, and the point is not that they are worthless but that the one producing them is not deceived.
Part 464 Complete
Acalā, the Immovable Ground, the eighth of the Ten Grounds, is finished. Eight of the Ten Grounds are now complete. Part 465 opens Sādhumatī, the Ground of Excellent Wisdom, the ninth of the Ten Grounds, still within fascicle thirty-eight — as Vajragarbha describes the bodhisattva who, seeking a still more surpassing liberation of quiescence, enters the Tathāgata's secret Dharma and comes to know, exactly as they are, the wholesome, unwholesome and indeterminate conduct of every being.