Fascicle Fifteen Opens, the Lights of the Bodhisattva
Fascicle fifteen opens directly into the continuation of Foremost in Virtue's hymn — no new introduction, simply more verse, carried over from fascicle fourteen. A samādhi named "Peace and Happiness" now unfolds into a long sequence of named lights, each one radiated for a specific purpose, each traced back to the exact practice that first gave rise to it.
Eight Lights, Each Traced to Its Own Cause
Each light in this sequence follows the same pattern: it is named, it describes the specific awakening it brings to those who encounter it, and it closes by naming the exact practice — offering lamps, building bridges, giving without restriction — that caused the bodhisattva to attain it in the first place.
「有勝三昧名安樂，能普救度諸群生，
放大光明不思議，令其見者悉調伏。
所放光明名善現，若有眾生遇此光，
必令獲益不唐捐，因是得成無上智。
彼光示現於諸佛，示法示僧示正道，
亦示佛塔及形像，是故得成此光明。
又放光明名照耀，映蔽一切諸天光，
所有闇障靡不除，普為眾生作饒益。
此光覺悟一切眾，令執燈明供養佛，
以燈供養諸佛故，得成世中無上燈。
然諸油燈及酥燈，亦然種種諸明炬，
眾香妙藥上寶燭，以是供佛獲此光。
又放光明名濟度，此光能覺一切眾，
令其普發大誓心，度脫欲海諸群生。
若能普發大誓心，度脫欲海諸群生，
則能越度四瀑流，示導無憂解脫城。
於諸行路大水處，造立橋梁及船筏，
毀呰有為讚寂靜，是故得成此光明。
又放光明名滅愛，此光能覺一切眾，
令其捨離於五欲，專思解脫妙法味。
若能捨離於五欲，專思解脫妙法味，
則能以佛甘露雨，普滅世間諸渴愛。
惠施池井及泉流，專求無上菩提道，
毀呰五欲讚禪定，是故得成此光明。
又放光明名歡喜，此光能覺一切眾，
令其愛慕佛菩提，發心願證無師道。
造立如來大悲像，眾相莊嚴坐華座，
恒歎最勝諸功德，是故得成此光明。
又放光明名愛樂，此光能覺一切眾，
令其心樂於諸佛，及以樂法樂眾僧。
若常心樂於諸佛，及以樂法樂眾僧，
則在如來眾會中，逮成無上深法忍。
開悟眾生無有量，普使念佛法僧寶，
及示發心功德行，是故得成此光明。
又放光明名福聚，此光能覺一切眾，
令行種種無量施，以此願求無上道。
設大施會無遮限，有來求者皆滿足，
不令其心有所乏，是故得成此光明。」
"There is a supreme samādhi named 'Peace and Happiness,' able to universally save and deliver the multitude of beings; it radiates a great, inconceivable light, causing whoever beholds it to be entirely tamed and subdued.
The light that is radiated is named 'Well Manifested'; if there are living beings who encounter this light, it is certain to cause them to gain benefit, never in vain, and by this they come to accomplish unsurpassed wisdom.
That light manifests the buddhas, manifests the Dharma, manifests the Sangha, manifests the true path, and likewise manifests stūpas and images of the Buddha — and it is for this reason that this light comes to be attained.
He further radiates a light named 'Illumining,' which outshines and eclipses the light of every god, so that there is no darkness or obstruction at all that it does not remove, universally acting for the enrichment of living beings.
This light awakens the whole multitude, causing them to hold up lamps to make offering to the Buddha; and because they make offering to every buddha with lamps, they come to become the unsurpassed lamp within the world.
Lighting oil-lamps and ghee-lamps, and likewise every kind of bright torch, fragrant and wondrous medicinal candles, and the finest jeweled tapers — it is by making offering to the Buddha with these that this light is obtained.
He further radiates a light named 'Ferrying to Salvation'; this light is able to awaken the whole multitude, causing them to universally give rise to the great vow, ferrying the multitude of beings across the ocean of desire.
If one is able to universally give rise to the great vow, ferrying the multitude of beings across the ocean of desire, one is thereby able to cross over the four torrents, showing and guiding others to the sorrowless city of liberation.
At every great water crossing along the road one travels, he builds bridges and rafts and boats, disparaging the conditioned and praising tranquil stillness — and it is for this reason that this light comes to be attained.
He further radiates a light named 'Extinguishing Craving'; this light is able to awaken the whole multitude, causing them to give up and leave behind the five desires, single-mindedly contemplating the wondrous flavor of the Dharma of liberation.
If one is able to give up and leave behind the five desires, single-mindedly contemplating the wondrous flavor of the Dharma of liberation, one is thereby able, with the Buddha's own rain of ambrosia, to universally extinguish every thirsting craving throughout the world.
Generously giving ponds, wells, and flowing springs, single-mindedly seeking the unsurpassed path of bodhi, disparaging the five desires and praising meditative concentration — and it is for this reason that this light comes to be attained.
He further radiates a light named 'Joy'; this light is able to awaken the whole multitude, causing them to love and long for the Buddha's own bodhi, giving rise to the resolve and the vow to realize the path that needs no teacher.
Fashioning images of the Tathāgata's own great compassion, adorned with every mark and seated upon a lotus throne, forever praising the most supreme of every merit — and it is for this reason that this light comes to be attained.
He further radiates a light named 'Love and Delight'; this light is able to awaken the whole multitude, causing their minds to delight in every buddha, and likewise to delight in the Dharma and delight in the Sangha.
If one forever delights in every buddha in one's own mind, and likewise delights in the Dharma and delights in the Sangha, one thereby, within the Tathāgata's own assembly, attains the unsurpassed and profound acceptance of the Dharma.
Awakening living beings without any measure, universally causing them to be mindful of the treasures of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, and showing them the merit of giving rise to the resolve — and it is for this reason that this light comes to be attained.
He further radiates a light named 'Mass of Blessings'; this light is able to awaken the whole multitude, causing them to practice every kind of immeasurable giving, thereby vowing to seek the unsurpassed path.
Establishing a great assembly of giving without any restriction or limit, so that whoever comes to request anything is entirely satisfied, never leaving their own mind wanting for anything — and it is for this reason that this light comes to be attained."
This sequence of named lights continues for a very long stretch of the sūtra — this Part covers only its first eight, out of dozens still to come. Each follows an unusually legible internal logic: a specific practice (offering lamps, building river crossings, giving without limit) becomes, in time, a specific light with a specific power to awaken beings toward that very same virtue in others. The structure quietly reinforces something the chapter's opening chain of causation already established two fascicles ago — that nothing here is arbitrary or granted from outside; every capacity the bodhisattva now has to help others is the direct, traceable fruit of something he himself once did.
Part 55 Complete
This closes Part 55. The sequence of lights continues in Part 56 with lights awakening wisdom, generosity, moral restraint, patience, and diligence in those who encounter them.