Extraordinary Thoughts, Practice, Good Friends, and Diligence
Samantabhadra moves through four more of Universal Wisdom's questions in quick succession: ten extraordinary thoughts a bodhisattva holds toward roots of goodness and buddhas alike, ten practices spanning every samādhi and every land, ten kinds of good spiritual friend, and ten kinds of diligent effort ending in every tathāgata's own joy.
Four Answers in Quick Succession
The chapter settles into its working rhythm: question, then ten parallel answers, then a brief closing line naming what abiding in them accomplishes — moving here from a bodhisattva's inner attitude toward their own roots of goodness, through the shape of their practice and their choice of spiritual friends, to the sustained effort that closes with every buddha's own joy.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種奇特想。何等為十？所謂：於一切善根生自善根想；於一切善根生菩提種子想；於一切眾生生菩提器想；於一切願生自願想；於一切法生出離想；於一切行生自行想；於一切法生佛法想；於一切語言法生語言道想；於一切佛生慈父想；於一切如來生無二想。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得無上善巧想。「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種行。何等為十？所謂：一切眾生行，普令成熟故；一切求法行，咸悉修學故；一切善根行，悉使增長故；一切三昧行，一心不亂故；一切智慧行，無不了知故；一切修習行，無不能修故；一切佛剎行，皆悉莊嚴故；一切善友行，恭敬供養故；一切如來行，尊重承事故。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得如來無上大智慧行。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten extraordinary thoughts. What are these ten? Namely: toward every root of goodness, giving rise to the thought that it is their own root of goodness; toward every root of goodness, giving rise to the thought that it is a seed of awakening; toward every sentient being, giving rise to the thought that they are a vessel for awakening; toward every vow, giving rise to the thought that it is their own vow; toward every dharma, giving rise to the thought of transcendence; toward every practice, giving rise to the thought that it is their own practice; toward every dharma, giving rise to the thought that it is the Buddha's own dharma; toward every dharma of language, giving rise to the thought of the path of language; toward every buddha, giving rise to the thought of a loving father; and toward every tathāgata, giving rise to the thought of non-duality. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide in this dharma, they attain unsurpassed, skillful thought. Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of practice. What are these ten? Namely: practice toward every sentient being, because it universally brings them to ripeness; practice of seeking the dharma, because it is entirely cultivated and studied; practice of every root of goodness, because it causes them all to increase; practice of every samādhi, because the mind remains single and undistracted; practice of every wisdom, because there is nothing it does not fully know; practice of every cultivation, because there is nothing it is unable to cultivate; practice toward every buddha-land, because it adorns every one of them completely; practice toward every good friend, because it reveres and makes offerings to them; and practice toward every tathāgata, because it honors and serves them. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide in this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, great practice of wisdom.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種善知識。何等為十？所謂：令住菩提心善知識；令生善根善知識；令行諸波羅蜜善知識；令解說一切法善知識；令成熟一切眾生善知識；令得決定辯才善知識；令不著一切世間善知識；令於一切劫修行無厭倦善知識；令安住普賢行善知識；令入一切佛智所入善知識。是為十。「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種勤精進。何等為十？所謂：教化一切眾生勤精進；深入一切法勤精進；嚴淨一切世界勤精進；修行一切菩薩所學勤精進；滅除一切眾生惡勤精進；止息一切三惡道苦勤精進；摧破一切眾魔勤精進；願為一切眾生作清淨眼勤精進；供養一切諸佛勤精進；令一切如來皆悉歡喜勤精進。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得具足如來無上精進波羅蜜。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of good spiritual friend. What are these ten? Namely: the good spiritual friend who causes them to abide in the mind of awakening; the good spiritual friend who causes roots of goodness to arise; the good spiritual friend who causes them to practice the pāramitās; the good spiritual friend who causes them to understand and expound every dharma; the good spiritual friend who causes every sentient being to reach ripeness; the good spiritual friend who causes them to attain decisive eloquence; the good spiritual friend who causes them not to be attached to anything worldly; the good spiritual friend who causes them to practice throughout every kalpa without any weariness; the good spiritual friend who causes them to abide in the practice of Samantabhadra; and the good spiritual friend who causes them to enter what every buddha's own wisdom has entered. These are the ten. Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of diligent effort. What are these ten? Namely: diligent effort in teaching and transforming every sentient being; diligent effort in penetrating deeply into every dharma; diligent effort in adorning and purifying every world; diligent effort in practicing everything a bodhisattva must learn; diligent effort in extinguishing every sentient being's evil; diligent effort in bringing the suffering of the three evil destinies to rest; diligent effort in destroying every host of māras; diligent effort in vowing to become a pure eye for every sentient being; diligent effort in making offerings to every buddha; and diligent effort in causing every tathāgata to give rise to complete joy. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide in this dharma, they become entirely complete in the tathāgata's own unsurpassed pāramitā of diligence.
令不著一切世間善知識 — the good spiritual friend who causes them not to be attached to anything worldly. Set inside a list otherwise built from active instruction — teaching the pāramitās, causing eloquence, urging tireless practice — this entry names a friend whose contribution is closer to a removal than an addition: what they give is a mind no longer stuck to the world, not a further skill layered on top of it.
Part 687 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-three. Part 688 answers the next question with ten ways a bodhisattva's mind attains peace and stability, each one paired with helping every other sentient being attain that same peace.