Part 515 of the collection · Fascicle 42 of 80 · 十定品第二十七之三 · T279

From the Defiled, into the Pure

The pairs keep going, and the middle of the list is farmland — crops, groves, the dark hills. From there the scale runs out to worlds beyond speaking, and the sequence ends by moving between defiled beings and pure ones in both directions, twice.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 515 — the pairs continued Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

Mountains, Crops, Ornaments

After the elements comes the visible world in three steps: the great mountain, the jewel mountains, and then what people actually live among.

Chinese Source

無生法中入,妙高山中起;妙高山中入,七寶山中起;七寶山中入,一切地種種稼穡樹林黑山中起;一切地種種稼穡樹林黑山中入,一切妙香華寶莊嚴中起;一切妙香華寶莊嚴中入,一切四天下下方、上方一切眾生受生中起;一切四天下下方、上方一切眾生受生中入,小千世界眾生眾中起;小千世界眾生眾中入,中千世界眾生眾中起;中千世界眾生眾中入,大千世界眾生眾中起。

Ru-Yi Translation

They enter in the dharma of non-arising and rise in Sumeru; enter in Sumeru and rise in the seven jewel mountains; enter in the seven jewel mountains and rise among all the earth's various crops and groves and dark hills; enter among all the earth's various crops and groves and dark hills and rise among all the adornments of fine incense and flowers and jewels; enter among all the adornments of fine incense and flowers and jewels and rise among all the beings taking birth below and above the four continents; enter among all the beings taking birth below and above the four continents and rise among the beings of a lesser chiliocosm; enter among the beings of a lesser chiliocosm and rise among the beings of a middling chiliocosm; and enter among the beings of a middling chiliocosm and rise among the beings of a great chiliocosm.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

一切地種種稼穡樹林黑山 — all the earth's various crops and groves and dark hills. 稼穡 is sowing and reaping, the classical term for farming, and 黑山 the ordinary unlovely hills that are not made of jewels. The list has come down from Sumeru and the seven jewel ranges to fields and scrub, and the samādhi passes through them in the same grammar.

Out to Worlds Beyond Speaking, and Back

The scale expands to the limit of the counting words, and the last three pairs bring it back to a distinction anyone would recognize: beings who are defiled and beings who are pure.

Chinese Source

大千世界眾生眾中入,百千億那由他三千大千世界眾生眾中起;百千億那由他三千大千世界眾生眾中入,無數世界眾生眾中起;無數世界眾生眾中入,無量世界眾生眾中起;無量世界眾生眾中入,無邊佛剎眾生眾中起;無邊佛剎眾生眾中入,無等佛剎眾生眾中起;無等佛剎眾生眾中入,不可數世界眾生眾中起;不可數世界眾生眾中入,不可稱世界眾生眾中起;不可稱世界眾生眾中入,不可思世界眾生眾中起;不可思世界眾生眾中入,不可量世界眾生眾中起;不可量世界眾生眾中入,不可說世界眾生眾中起;不可說世界眾生眾中入,不可說不可說世界眾生眾中起。

Ru-Yi Translation

They enter among the beings of a great chiliocosm and rise among the beings of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of great trichiliocosms; enter among the beings of a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of great trichiliocosms and rise among the beings of numberless worlds; enter among the beings of numberless worlds and rise among the beings of measureless worlds; enter among the beings of measureless worlds and rise among the beings of boundless buddha-lands; enter among the beings of boundless buddha-lands and rise among the beings of buddha-lands without equal; enter among the beings of buddha-lands without equal and rise among the beings of worlds that cannot be counted; enter among the beings of worlds that cannot be counted and rise among the beings of worlds that cannot be reckoned; enter among the beings of worlds that cannot be reckoned and rise among the beings of worlds that cannot be conceived; enter among the beings of worlds that cannot be conceived and rise among the beings of worlds that cannot be measured; enter among the beings of worlds that cannot be measured and rise among the beings of worlds that cannot be spoken; and enter among the beings of worlds that cannot be spoken and rise among the beings of worlds ineffably ineffable.

Chinese Source

不可說不可說世界眾生眾中入,雜染眾生眾中起;雜染眾生眾中入,清淨眾生眾中起;清淨眾生眾中入,雜染眾生眾中起。

Ru-Yi Translation

They enter among the beings of worlds ineffably ineffable and rise among defiled beings; enter among defiled beings and rise among pure beings; and enter among pure beings and rise among defiled beings.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

清淨眾生眾中入,雜染眾生眾中起 — enter among pure beings and rise among defiled beings. The pair is given in both directions and the defiled direction is given last, which is the same movement as 天中入,地獄起 in Part 514. A samādhi that could only be left upward would be of no use to anyone; the sūtra keeps insisting on the return.

Part 515 Complete

This continues chapter twenty-seven, 十定品, The Ten Concentrations, in fascicle forty-two. Part 516 finishes the pairs — eye and ear, self and other, one dust-mote and the dust of numberless worlds, a thought and a koṭi of kalpas, suchness and speech — and gives four similes for them, including a man in the grip of a spirit and a corpse made to walk by a spell.