The Tathāgata's Conduct Begins
Having finished the tathāgata's domain, this new question turns to his conduct — unborn and unmoving like suchness itself, unmeasured like a bird's flight through boundless sky, a garuḍa king who parts the ocean to seize dying nāgas turned into an image for saving ripened beings, and the sun and moon crossing the sky without ever asking where they came from or where they go.
Three Images for Conduct Without a Trace
A bird's flight through sky with no far edge, a garuḍa king seizing the ripe from a parted sea, and the sun and moon that never ask where they came from — three similes for a conduct that is carried out everywhere yet leaves no place it can be said to have started from or arrived at.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應云何知如來、應、正等覺行？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應知無礙行是如來行，應知真如行是如來行。佛子！如真如，前際不生，後際不動，現在不起；如來行亦如是，不生、不動、不起。佛子！如法界，非量、非無量，無形故；如來行亦如是，非量、非無量，無形故。佛子！譬如鳥飛虛空，經於百年，已經過處、未經過處皆不可量。何以故？虛空界無邊際故。如來行亦如是，假使有人經百千億那由他劫分別演說，已說、未說皆不可量。何以故？如來行無邊際故。佛子！如來、應、正等覺住無礙行，無有住處，而能普為一切眾生示現所行，令其見已，出過一切諸障礙道。佛子！譬如金翅鳥王，飛行虛空，迴翔不去，以清淨眼觀察海內諸龍宮殿，奮勇猛力，以左右翅鼓揚海水悉令兩闢，知龍男女命將盡者而搏取之。如來、應、正等覺金翅鳥王亦復如是，住無礙行，以淨佛眼觀察法界諸宮殿中一切眾生，若曾種善根已成熟者，如來奮勇猛十力，以止觀兩翅鼓揚生死大愛水海，使其兩闢而撮取之，置佛法中，令斷一切妄想戲論，安住如來無分別無礙行。佛子！譬如日月，獨無等侶，周行虛空，利益眾生，不作是念：『我從何來，而至何所。』諸佛如來亦復如是，性本寂滅，無有分別，示現遊行一切法界，為欲饒益諸眾生故，作諸佛事無有休息，不生如是戲論分別：『我從彼來，而向彼去。』佛子！菩薩摩訶薩應以如是等無量方便、無量性相，知見如來、應、正等覺所行之行。」爾時，普賢菩薩欲重明此義而說頌言：
"Sons of the Buddha! How should bodhisattva-mahāsattvas come to know the conduct of the tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one? Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva should know that unobstructed conduct is the tathāgata's conduct, and should know that the conduct of suchness is the tathāgata's conduct. Sons of the Buddha! Just as suchness is not born in the prior limit, does not move in the latter limit, and does not arise in the present, the tathāgata's conduct is likewise so: unborn, unmoving, unarisen. Sons of the Buddha! Just as the dharma-realm is neither measured nor measureless, since it is without any form at all, the tathāgata's conduct is likewise so: neither measured nor measureless, since it is without any form at all. Sons of the Buddha! It is like a bird flying through open sky for a hundred years: the space it has already crossed and the space it has not yet crossed are both beyond measure. Why is this? Because the realm of open sky has no boundary or limit at all. The tathāgata's conduct is likewise so: even if someone were to speak of it in careful detail for a hundred thousand koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, what has already been spoken and what remains unspoken would both be beyond measure. Why is this? Because the tathāgata's conduct has no boundary or limit at all. Sons of the Buddha! The tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, abides in unobstructed conduct without any place of abiding at all, and yet is able to manifest that very conduct universally for every sentient being, so that once they have seen it, they pass beyond every obstructing path. Sons of the Buddha! It is like a garuḍa king who flies through open sky, circling without departing, and with clear, pure eyes observes every nāga palace within the ocean; then, rousing his fierce and vigorous power, beats the ocean's waters apart on both sides with his two wings, and, knowing which nāga males and females have lives about to end, seizes them. The tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one, is likewise the garuḍa king: abiding in unobstructed conduct, he observes with pure buddha-eyes every sentient being within every palace of the dharma-realm, and whoever has already planted wholesome roots now ripened, the tathāgata rouses his fierce and vigorous ten powers and, with the two wings of calming and insight, beats apart the great ocean of craving that is birth-and-death, seizing them and placing them within the Buddha's own dharma, causing them to cut off every deluded thought and idle discourse, and to abide in the tathāgata's own non-discriminating, unobstructed conduct. Sons of the Buddha! It is like the sun and moon, alone and without equal companion, which travel throughout open sky benefiting sentient beings, never once thinking: 'Where have I come from, and to where am I going?' Every buddha tathāgata is likewise so: their nature is originally still and extinguished, without any discrimination at all, and yet they manifest their travels throughout the whole dharma-realm, carrying out every buddha-work without rest for the sake of benefiting every sentient being, never giving rise to such idle, discriminating thoughts as: 'I have come from there, and I am going toward there.' Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva should, through measureless skillful means such as these and measureless natures and marks such as these, come to know and see the conduct carried out by the tathāgata, the worthy one, the perfectly and fully awakened one." At that time, wishing to restate this meaning once more, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva spoke these verses:
「譬如真如不生滅，無有方所無能見；大饒益者行如是，出過三世不可量。
法界非界非非界，非是有量非無量；大功德者行亦然，非量無量無身故。
如鳥飛行億千歲，前後虛空等無別；眾劫演說如來行，已說未說不可量。
金翅在空觀大海，闢水搏取龍男女；十力能拔善根人，令出有海除眾惑。
譬如日月遊虛空，照臨一切不分別；世尊周行於法界，教化眾生無動念。
"Just as suchness neither arises nor ceases, and has no place or location where it can ever be seen, the conduct of the greatly beneficial one is likewise so, passing beyond the three times, beyond all measure.
The dharma-realm is neither a realm nor a non-realm, is neither measured nor measureless; the conduct of the one of great merit is likewise so, neither measured nor measureless, since it has no body at all.
Just as a bird flying for a hundred million thousand years finds the sky before and behind it equally without distinction, so too, though the tathāgata's conduct were spoken of throughout countless kalpas, what has been spoken and what remains unspoken would both be beyond measure.
The garuḍa in the sky observes the great ocean, parting its waters to seize nāga males and females; the one of ten powers can likewise draw out those of wholesome roots, bringing them out of the ocean of existence and dispelling every affliction.
Just as the sun and moon travel through open sky, shining upon all things without discrimination, the World-Honored One travels throughout the dharma-realm, teaching and transforming sentient beings without a single stirring thought."
不生如是戲論分別：『我從彼來，而向彼去。』— never giving rise to such idle, discriminating thoughts as: "I have come from there, and I am going toward there." The three similes climb from stillness (suchness, unborn and unmoving) through decisive action (a garuḍa tearing the sea open) to constant motion (sun and moon crossing the whole sky) — and the text's point is that none of these actually contradicts the others: activity this total leaves no residue of a traveler who could ask where they started or where they are headed.
Part 671 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-seven, 如來出現品, in fascicle fifty-two. Part 672 opens a new section on how the tathāgata attains perfect awakening (成正覺), beginning with the claim that in a single thought he knows every phenomenon of the three times, likened to the great ocean's mirror reflecting all four continents at once.