The Ten Kinds of Acceptance Begin
A new chapter names ten kinds of 忍 — acceptance, or forbearance — a register of attainment measured not by what a bodhisattva can reach or manifest, but by what no longer shakes him. It opens with the sound of the dharma itself, and closes its third item in an eleven-step chain of pure implication.
Ten Kinds of Acceptance Begin
Samantabhadra names all ten before explaining any of them — sound, compliance, non-arising, and seven similes still to come.
爾時，普賢菩薩告諸菩薩言：「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種忍，若得此忍，則得到於一切菩薩無礙忍地，一切佛法無礙無盡。何者為十？所謂：音聲忍、順忍、無生法忍、如幻忍、如焰忍、如夢忍、如響忍、如影忍、如化忍、如空忍。此十種忍，三世諸佛已說、今說、當說。
At that time, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva said to the assembled bodhisattvas: "Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of acceptance. If one attains these acceptances, one reaches the ground of unobstructed acceptance shared by every bodhisattva, and every buddha-dharma becomes unobstructed and inexhaustible. What are these ten? They are: the acceptance of sound, the acceptance of compliance, the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, the acceptance like an illusion, the acceptance like a mirage, the acceptance like a dream, the acceptance like an echo, the acceptance like a reflection, the acceptance like a magical creation, and the acceptance like space. These ten kinds of acceptance have been spoken by the buddhas of the past, are spoken by them now, and will be spoken by them in the future."
「佛子！云何為菩薩摩訶薩音聲忍？謂聞諸佛所說之法不驚、不怖、不畏，深信悟解，愛樂趣向，專心憶念，修習安住。是名：菩薩摩訶薩第一音聲忍。「佛子！云何為菩薩摩訶薩順忍？謂於諸法，思惟觀察，平等無違，隨順了知，令心清淨，正住修習，趣入成就。是名：菩薩摩訶薩第二順忍。
Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of sound? It means that on hearing the dharma spoken by the buddhas, he is not startled, not frightened, not afraid; deeply believing and understanding it, delighting in it and inclining toward it, single-mindedly keeping it in mind, cultivating it and abiding securely in it. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's first acceptance, the acceptance of sound. Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of compliance? It means that with regard to all dharmas, contemplating and observing them, finding them equal and without contradiction, comprehending them in accordance with their nature, causing the mind to become pure, abiding rightly and cultivating this understanding, and advancing toward accomplishment. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's second acceptance, the acceptance of compliance.
不驚、不怖、不畏 — not startled, not frightened, not afraid. The first of ten acceptances is not defined by any wisdom attained but by a fear that fails to arise. 忍, kṣānti, names a different kind of accomplishment than the samādhis of chapter twenty-seven or the penetrations of chapter twenty-eight — not a state entered or a power exercised, but simply what no longer shakes a person.
A Chain of Eleven Links
The third acceptance is built differently from the first two — not a description of a mental quality, but a single chain of logical necessity, one step forcing the next.
「佛子！云何為菩薩摩訶薩無生法忍？佛子！此菩薩摩訶薩不見有少法生，亦不見有少法滅。何以故？若無生則無滅，若無滅則無盡，若無盡則離垢，若離垢則無差別，若無差別則無處所，若無處所則寂靜，若寂靜則離欲，若離欲則無作，若無作則無願，若無願則無住，若無住則無去無來。是名：菩薩摩訶薩第三無生法忍。
Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not see even the slightest dharma arise, nor does he see even the slightest dharma cease. Why is this so? If there is no arising, then there is no ceasing; if there is no ceasing, then there is no exhaustion; if there is no exhaustion, then there is freedom from defilement; if there is freedom from defilement, then there is no distinction; if there is no distinction, then there is no location; if there is no location, then there is quiescence; if there is quiescence, then there is freedom from desire; if there is freedom from desire, then there is no contrivance; if there is no contrivance, then there is no wishing; if there is no wishing, then there is no abiding; and if there is no abiding, then there is no going and no coming. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's third acceptance, the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas.
若無生則無滅…若無住則無去無來 — if there is no arising, then there is no ceasing… if there is no abiding, then there is no going or coming. Eleven links, each stated as a necessary consequence of the one before it, rather than eleven parallel qualities in a list. No other passage in this sutra so far has built an argument this way — one single deduction, run from beginning to end without a branch.
Part 555 Complete
This continues chapter twenty-nine, 十忍品, The Ten Kinds of Acceptance, in fascicle forty-four. Part 556 turns to the fourth acceptance, 如幻忍, the acceptance like an illusion — a bodhisattva who observes ten kinds of "world" as illusory, followed by a long list of things an illusion is not: not an elephant, not a horse, not a chariot, not a man, not a woman.