Ten Kinds of Mastery Begin
A new list opens, again numbered individually rather than repeated under one refrain: ten kinds of mastery, from perfect eloquence and unbroken timing, through worlds shaken in six ways without harming a single being inside them, to a buddha who stays alive for one sentient being exactly as long as for all sentient beings together.
Shaking Worlds Without Harm
The first four kinds of mastery run from eloquence and timing to something more startling: a buddha's power to shake every world in six ways, growing them or shrinking them, without a single being inside ever noticing.
「佛子！諸佛世尊有十種自在法。何等為十？所謂：一切諸佛於一切法悉得自在，明達種種句身、味身，演說諸法辯才無礙，是為諸佛第一自在法。一切諸佛教化眾生未曾失時，隨其願樂為說正法，咸令調伏無有斷絕，是為諸佛第二自在法。一切諸佛能令盡虛空界無量無數種種莊嚴，一切世界六種震動，令彼世界或舉或下、或大或小、或合或散，未曾惱害於一眾生，其中眾生不覺不知、無疑無怪，是為諸佛第三自在法。一切諸佛以神通力悉能嚴淨一切世界，於一念頃普現一切世界莊嚴，此諸莊嚴經無數劫說不能盡，悉皆離染，清淨無比，一切佛剎嚴淨之事，皆令平等入一剎中，是為諸佛第四自在法。
"Sons of the Buddha! The buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, have ten kinds of mastery. What are these ten? They are: every buddha attains complete mastery over every dharma, clearly understanding every manner of phrase-body and meaning-body, expounding every dharma with unobstructed eloquence — this is the buddhas' first kind of mastery. Every buddha, in teaching and transforming sentient beings, never once misses the right time, teaching the true dharma according to each being's own aspiration and delight, causing all of them to be tamed without any interruption — this is the buddhas' second kind of mastery. Every buddha is able to cause the entire realm of empty space to be filled with measureless, countless kinds of adornment, and every world to shake in six ways, causing those worlds to rise or fall, grow large or small, come together or scatter apart, yet never once causing harm to a single sentient being — the beings within remain entirely unaware and uncomprehending, without doubt and without alarm — this is the buddhas' third kind of mastery. Every buddha, through spiritual power, is entirely able to adorn and purify every world, universally manifesting the adornment of every world within a single thought-moment; these adornments could not be exhausted in an explanation lasting countless kalpas, all of them entirely free of defilement, matchlessly pure; and the adorning and purifying of every buddha-land is caused to enter, equally, into a single land — this is the buddhas' fourth kind of mastery.
未曾惱害於一眾生，其中眾生不覺不知、無疑無怪 — never once causing harm to a single sentient being; the beings within remain entirely unaware and uncomprehending, without doubt and without alarm. The mastery here is not simply that a buddha can move an entire world — it is that the beings living inside that world never notice it happening at all. The scale of the act and the imperceptibility of it to those most affected are named as the same accomplishment.
Staying Alive for One Being, and for All
The fifth through seventh kinds of mastery turn to a buddha's relationship with individual beings — remaining alive for a single one exactly as long as forever, reaching every world within a single thought, and a strange claim about awakening that seems to happen both already and not yet.
一切諸佛見一眾生應受化者，為其住壽，經不可說不可說劫，乃至盡未來際，結跏趺坐，身心無倦，專心憶念，未曾廢忘，方便調伏而不失時；如為一眾生，為一切眾生悉亦如是，是為諸佛第五自在法。一切諸佛悉能遍往一切世界一切如來所行之處，而不暫捨一切法界；十方各別，一一方有無量世界海，一一世界海有無量世界種，佛以神力一念咸到，轉於無礙清淨法輪，是為諸佛第六自在法。一切諸佛為欲調伏一切眾生，念念中成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，而於一切佛法非已現覺，亦非當覺，亦不住於有學之地，而悉知見，通達無礙，無量智慧，無量自在，教化調伏一切眾生，是為諸佛第七自在法。
Every buddha, seeing a single sentient being fit to be transformed, remains alive for their sake through unspeakable, unspeakable kalpas, even to the very end of future time, sitting cross-legged with body and mind never wearied, single-mindedly holding them in mind without ever once forgetting, applying skillful means to tame them without ever missing the time; and just as it is for one sentient being, so it is, entirely, for every sentient being — this is the buddhas' fifth kind of mastery. Every buddha is entirely able to travel universally to every place where any tathāgata has ever acted, throughout every world, without ever briefly abandoning the entire dharma-realm; the ten directions are each distinct, and within each direction there are measureless ocean-like assemblies of worlds, and within each ocean-like assembly there are measureless kinds of worlds — yet through spiritual power the buddha reaches every one of them within a single thought-moment, turning the unobstructed, pure dharma-wheel — this is the buddhas' sixth kind of mastery. Every buddha, wishing to tame every sentient being, attains unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment in thought after thought, and yet with regard to every buddha-dharma, has neither already awakened to it nor will awaken to it in the future, nor abides on the ground of one still in training; and yet knows and sees it entirely, penetrating it without obstruction, with measureless wisdom and measureless mastery, teaching and taming every sentient being — this is the buddhas' seventh kind of mastery.
如為一眾生，為一切眾生悉亦如是 — just as it is for one sentient being, so it is, entirely, for every sentient being. The fifth mastery does not say a buddha can attend to many beings at once because their resources scale — it says the commitment made to a single person, sustained through unspeakable kalpas without ever forgetting them, is exactly what is given to every being simultaneously. Nothing is divided among the many; the whole of it is given to each.
Part 589 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-three, 佛不思議法品, in fascicle forty-six. Part 590 completes the ten kinds of mastery and opens ten kinds of measureless, inconceivable, perfect buddha-dharma.