Ten Kinds of Great Consolation Begin
Fascicle fifty-four opens with a question answered not through terse phrases but through a bodhisattva's own extended, first-person reflections — anticipating every future buddha, recalling the fears left behind the instant the mind of awakening first arose, and resolving to adorn every world-system throughout the ten directions.
Five Fears Left Behind in a Single Moment
Unlike the terse, parallel phrases that filled most of the chapter so far, each of these ten consolations unfolds as a small first-person reflection in full — including a striking inventory of five specific fears a bodhisattva names and says were left behind the instant the mind of awakening first arose: not surviving, a bad reputation, death, a bad rebirth, and the authority of a crowd.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種大欣慰。何等為十？所謂：諸菩薩發如是心：『盡未來世所有諸佛出興于世，我當皆得隨逐承事令生歡喜。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。復作是念：『彼諸如來出興於世，我當悉以無上供具恭敬供養。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。復作是念：『我於諸佛所興供養時，彼諸如來必示誨我法，我悉以深心恭敬聽受、如說修行，於菩薩地必得已生、現生、當生。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。復作是念：『我當於不可說不可說劫行菩薩行，常與一切諸佛菩薩而得共俱。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of great consolation. What are these ten? Namely: a bodhisattva gives rise to a thought such as this: 'Throughout every future age, whatever buddhas appear in the world, I shall be able to follow and attend upon every one of them, bringing them joy.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation. They further think: 'When those tathāgatas appear in the world, I shall make offerings to every one of them with unsurpassed offerings, reverently and respectfully.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation. They further think: 'When I make offerings before these buddhas, those tathāgatas will surely instruct me in the dharma, and I shall listen to and receive it with a profound, reverent mind, practicing exactly as taught; and with regard to the bodhisattva grounds, I shall surely be born there already, be being born there now, and be about to be born there.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation. They further think: 'I shall carry out bodhisattva practice for unspeakably, unspeakably many kalpas, forever remaining together with every buddha and bodhisattva.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation.
復作是念：『我於往昔未發無上大菩提心，有諸怖畏，所謂：不活畏、惡名畏、死畏、墮惡道畏、大眾威德畏。自一發心，悉皆遠離，不驚不恐，不畏不懼，不怯不怖，一切眾魔及諸外道所不能壞。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。復作是念：『我當令一切眾生成無上菩提；成菩提已，我當於彼佛所修菩薩行盡其形壽，以大信心興所應供佛諸供養具而為供養；及涅槃後，各起無量塔供養舍利，及受持守護所有遺法。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。又作是念：『十方所有一切世界，我當悉以無上莊嚴而莊嚴之，皆令具足種種奇妙平等清淨，復以種種大神通力住持震動，光明照曜普使周遍。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。復作是念：『我當斷一切眾生疑惑，淨一切眾生欲樂，啟一切眾生心意，滅一切眾生煩惱，閉一切眾生惡道門，開一切眾生善趣門，破一切眾生黑闇，與一切眾生光明，令一切眾生離眾魔業，使一切眾生至安隱處。』如是思惟，心大欣慰。
They further think: 'In the past, before I had given rise to the unsurpassed, great mind of awakening, I had various fears: the fear of not surviving, the fear of a bad reputation, the fear of death, the fear of falling into an evil destiny, and the fear of a great assembly's own majestic authority. From the very moment I gave rise to this mind, I left every one of them far behind — I am no longer startled, no longer afraid, no longer fearful, no longer timid, no longer terrified, and no host of māras or any other path can ever destroy me.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation. They further think: 'I shall cause every sentient being to attain unsurpassed awakening; and once they have attained awakening, I shall, before that buddha, carry out bodhisattva practice for the entire span of my life, raising up, with great faith, every offering fit for a buddha and making offerings with them; and after their nirvāṇa, I shall raise up measureless stūpas to make offerings to their relics, and shall uphold and protect every one of their bequeathed teachings.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation. They further think: 'Every world-system throughout the ten directions, I shall adorn entirely with unsurpassed adornment, causing every one of them to be complete with every kind of wondrous, equal purity, and shall further sustain and shake them through every kind of great spiritual power, causing their light to shine and universally pervade everywhere.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation. They further think: 'I shall cut off the doubt and confusion of every sentient being, purify the desires and pleasures of every sentient being, open the mind and intention of every sentient being, extinguish the afflictions of every sentient being, close the gate of every evil destiny for every sentient being, open the gate of every wholesome destiny for every sentient being, break through the darkness of every sentient being, give light to every sentient being, cause every sentient being to leave behind every activity of the māras, and bring every sentient being to a place of peace and stability.' Reflecting in this way, the mind feels great consolation.
不活畏、惡名畏、死畏、墮惡道畏、大眾威德畏 — the fear of not surviving, the fear of a bad reputation, the fear of death, the fear of falling into an evil destiny, and the fear of a great assembly's own majestic authority. This is a traditional list of five specific fears, named here only to say they have already been overcome — the bodhisattva does not describe struggling against them but recalls them the way someone might name symptoms of an illness they no longer have, entirely in the past tense from the moment the mind of awakening first arose.
Part 697 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-four. Part 698 completes the ten kinds of great consolation by comparing every buddha to the rare udumbara flower and resolving to become one, then opens the next question on entering deeply into the Buddha's own dharma.