The Acceptance Like an Illusion
The fourth acceptance opens with the sūtra's own definition of illusion — not an elephant, not a horse, not a man or woman, not day or night — before turning that same lens on ten different kinds of "world," and closing on a run of paradoxes built entirely from what an illusion is and is not.
Not an Elephant, Not a Horse
Before saying what a bodhisattva does with the knowledge that dharmas are illusory, the text pauses to define the illusion itself, entirely in negatives.
「佛子！云何為菩薩摩訶薩如幻忍？佛子！此菩薩摩訶薩知一切法，皆悉如幻，從因緣起，於一法中解多法，於多法中解一法。此菩薩知諸法如幻已，了達國土，了達眾生，了達法界，了達世間平等，了達佛出現平等，了達三世平等，成就種種神通變化。
Sons of the Buddha! What is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's acceptance like an illusion? Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all dharmas are entirely like an illusion, arising from causes and conditions — understanding many dharmas within a single dharma, and a single dharma within many dharmas. This bodhisattva, having known that all dharmas are like an illusion, fully comprehends lands, fully comprehends beings, fully comprehends the dharma-realm, fully comprehends the equality of all worlds, fully comprehends the equality of every buddha's appearance, and fully comprehends the equality of the three times, thereby accomplishing manifold spiritual powers and transformations.
譬如幻，非象、非馬，非車、非步，非男、非女，非童男、非童女，非樹、非葉、非華、非果，非地、非水、非火、非風，非晝、非夜，非日、非月，非半月、非一月，非一年、非百年，非一劫、非多劫，非定、非亂，非純、非雜，非一、非異，非廣、非狹，非多、非少，非量、非無量，非麁、非細，非是一切種種眾物；種種非幻，幻非種種，然由幻故，示現種種差別之事。
It is like an illusion, which is not an elephant, not a horse, not a chariot, not someone on foot; not a man, not a woman, not a boy, not a girl; not a tree, not a leaf, not a flower, not a fruit; not earth, not water, not fire, not wind; not day, not night; not the sun, not the moon; not half a month, not a full month; not a year, not a hundred years; not one kalpa, not many kalpas; not fixed, not chaotic; not pure, not mixed; not singular, not different; not broad, not narrow; not many, not few; not measured, not measureless; not coarse, not fine — it is not any of the manifold multitude of things at all. The manifold things are not the illusion, and the illusion is not the manifold things, yet because of the illusion, manifold distinct things are displayed.
種種非幻，幻非種種，然由幻故，示現種種差別之事 — the manifold things are not the illusion, and the illusion is not the manifold things, yet because of the illusion, manifold distinct things are displayed. After nearly thirty items an illusion is declared not to be, the passage refuses the easy exit of collapsing illusion and thing into each other. Neither identical nor separate, and the display happens anyway.
Ten Illusory Worlds
The same lens that emptied out elephants and horses now turns to the word "world" itself, splitting it into ten kinds before returning to what a bodhisattva does and does not see.
菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，觀一切世間如幻，所謂：業世間、煩惱世間、國土世間、法世間、時世間、趣世間、成世間、壞世間、運動世間、造作世間。菩薩摩訶薩觀一切世間如幻時，不見眾生生，不見眾生滅；不見國土生，不見國土滅；不見諸法生，不見諸法滅；不見過去可分別，不見未來有起作，不見現在一念住；不觀察菩提，不分別菩提；不見佛出現，不見佛涅槃；不見住大願，不見入正住，不出平等性。
The bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: observing that every world is like an illusion — namely: the world of karma, the world of afflictions, the world of lands, the world of dharmas, the world of time, the world of destinies, the world of formation, the world of destruction, the world of movement, and the world of contrivance. When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva observes that every world is like an illusion, he does not see beings arise, does not see beings cease; does not see lands arise, does not see lands cease; does not see dharmas arise, does not see dharmas cease; does not see the past as something distinguishable, does not see the future as having any arising or action, does not see the present as abiding for even a single thought-moment; he does not contemplate bodhi, does not discriminate bodhi; does not see buddhas appear, does not see buddhas enter nirvāṇa; does not see himself abiding in great vows, does not see himself entering right abiding — yet he never departs from the nature of equality.
是菩薩雖成就佛國土，知國土無差別；雖成就眾生界，知眾生無差別；雖普觀法界，而安住法性寂然不動；雖達三世平等，而不違分別三世法；雖成就蘊、處，而永斷所依；雖度脫眾生，而了知法界平等無種種差別；雖知一切法遠離文字不可言說，而常說法辯才無盡；雖不取著化眾生事，而不捨大悲，為度一切轉於法輪；雖為開示過去因緣，而知因緣性無有動轉。是名：菩薩摩訶薩第四如幻忍。
Though this bodhisattva accomplishes buddha-lands, he knows that lands are without distinction; though he accomplishes the realm of beings, he knows that beings are without distinction; though he universally observes the dharma-realm, he abides in the nature of dharma, tranquil and unmoving; though he comprehends the equality of the three times, he does not contradict the distinguishing of the dharmas of the three times; though he accomplishes the aggregates and sense-bases, he has forever severed what they depend on; though he delivers beings, he fully knows that the dharma-realm is equal, without manifold distinction; though he knows all dharmas are far removed from words and cannot be spoken, he constantly teaches the dharma with inexhaustible eloquence; though he does not grasp at or become attached to the work of transforming beings, he does not abandon great compassion, turning the Dharma-wheel to deliver all; and though he reveals causes and conditions of the past, he knows the nature of causes and conditions never shifts or changes. This is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's fourth acceptance, the acceptance like an illusion.
業世間、煩惱世間、國土世間、法世間、時世間、趣世間、成世間、壞世間、運動世間、造作世間 — the world of karma, of afflictions, of lands, of dharmas, of time, of destinies, of formation, of destruction, of movement, of contrivance. "World" here names ten distinct categories rather than a single place — karma and affliction alongside land and time, formation alongside destruction — a taxonomy built to be exhaustive rather than intuitive.
Part 556 Complete
This continues chapter twenty-nine, 十忍品, The Ten Kinds of Acceptance, in fascicle forty-four. Part 557 turns to the fifth acceptance, 如焰忍, the acceptance like a mirage — a bodhisattva who observes that every world resembles the shimmer of heat above sand, with no fixed location, neither inside nor outside, neither existent nor nonexistent.