Unequaled Abidings Conclude, Fascicle 54 Ends
The final unequaled abidings close on a bodhisattva who knows every kalpa is, in truth, no kalpa at all while still stating exact numbers of kalpas, and who serves a single sentient being across unspeakably many kalpas exactly as they would serve every being at once — ending fascicle fifty-four with a bodhisattva who refuses to realize awakening because the whole of their practice was always undertaken for others, not for themselves.
Refusing Awakening for the Sake of Others
The fascicle's final abiding brings the whole list to its sharpest point: a bodhisattva whose practice is already perfectly complete deliberately does not realize awakening, not out of any lack but because their entire undertaking was, from the very beginning, on behalf of sentient beings rather than themselves — so remaining within birth-and-death becomes the fulfillment of that vow, not a failure to reach its goal.
菩薩摩訶薩知一切劫皆即非劫，而真實說一切劫數，是為第六無等住。菩薩摩訶薩知一切法悉無所作，而不捨作道，求諸佛法，是為第七無等住。菩薩摩訶薩知三界唯心、三世唯心，而了知其心無量無邊，是為第八無等住。菩薩摩訶薩為一眾生，於不可說劫行菩薩行，欲令安住一切智地；如為一眾生，為一切眾生悉亦如是，而不生疲厭，是為第九無等住。
"A bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that every kalpa is itself no kalpa at all, and yet truthfully speaks of the exact number of every kalpa — this is the sixth unequaled abiding. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that every dharma is entirely without any contrived action at all, and yet never abandons the path of action, seeking every dharma of the buddhas — this is the seventh unequaled abiding. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that the three realms are mind alone, and the three times are mind alone, and yet fully understands that this very mind is measureless and boundless — this is the eighth unequaled abiding. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, for the sake of a single sentient being, carries out bodhisattva practice across unspeakably many kalpas, wishing to cause them to abide in the ground of all-knowing wisdom; and just as they do this for a single sentient being, they do the very same for every sentient being, never once giving rise to weariness — this is the ninth unequaled abiding.
菩薩摩訶薩雖修行圓滿，而不證菩提。何以故？菩薩作如是念：『我之所作本為眾生，是故我應久處生死，方便利益，皆令安住無上佛道。』是為第十無等住。佛子！是為菩薩摩訶薩十種無等住。若諸菩薩安住其中，則得無上大智、一切佛法無等住。大方廣佛華嚴經卷第五十四
A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, though their practice is perfectly complete, does not realize awakening. Why is this? A bodhisattva thinks in this way: "What I do is, at its root, for the sake of sentient beings; therefore I should remain long within birth-and-death, benefiting them through skillful means, causing every one of them to abide in the unsurpassed path of the Buddha." This is the tenth unequaled abiding. Son of the Buddha! These are the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's ten unequaled abidings. If bodhisattvas abide within these, they attain the unsurpassed, great wisdom and the unequaled abiding shared by every dharma of the buddhas. Fascicle Fifty-Four of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra.
我之所作本為眾生，是故我應久處生死 — what I do is, at its root, for the sake of sentient beings; therefore I should remain long within birth-and-death. The tenth unequaled abiding reframes not realizing awakening as itself an achievement rather than an unfinished task — the bodhisattva's practice was never aimed at their own exit from birth-and-death in the first place, so choosing to remain is not a delay of the goal but a direct expression of what the goal always was.
Part 712 Complete — Fascicle 54 Complete
This completes fascicle fifty-four of eighty. Chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, continues without a break into fascicle fifty-five, where Part 713 opens ten minds free of inferiority, beginning with a bodhisattva's resolve to subdue every heavenly māra and their whole retinue.