Mountain-Like Minds Continue
Four more mountain-like minds move from enduring insult, beating, and mutilation without a single disturbed thought, through ten kinds of exalted merit held entirely without attachment, to a striking act of humility: a bodhisattva who, after measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas of unbroken practice, still describes their own resolve as only now beginning.
A Beginner After Measureless Kalpas
Ten kinds of exalted merit — heaven, humankind, form, power, royal rank — are named only to be immediately set aside as things never clung to; the mountain-like mind that follows takes this same refusal further, describing a bodhisattva who could attain awakening within a single thought but instead calls their own vow newly made, no matter how many kalpas of practice already lie behind it.
若有眾生罵辱、毀謗、打棒、屠割，苦其形體，乃至斷命，如是等事悉皆能受，終不因此生動亂心、生瞋害心，亦不退捨大悲弘誓，更令增長無有休息。何以故？菩薩於一切法如實出離，捨成就故；證得一切諸如來法，忍辱柔和已自在故。是為第五如山增上心。菩薩摩訶薩成就增上大功德，所謂：天增上功德、人增上功德、色增上功德、力增上功德、眷屬增上功德、欲增上功德、王位增上功德、自在增上功德、福德增上功德、智慧增上功德。雖復成就如是功德，終不於此而生染著，所謂：不著味、不著欲、不著財富、不著眷屬；但深樂法，隨法去、隨法住、隨法趣向、隨法究竟，以法為依、以法為救、以法為歸、以法為舍，守護法、愛樂法、希求法、思惟法。
"Should any sentient being revile and insult them, slander them, beat them with sticks, or torture and mutilate them, causing suffering to their body even to the point of taking their life, they are able to endure every such thing entirely, never once giving rise to a disturbed mind or a mind of hatred and harm because of it, and never once regressing from or abandoning their great vow of compassion, but instead causing it to increase further without any rest. Why is this? Because a bodhisattva has, exactly as it truly is, transcended every dharma, having relinquished every accomplishment; and because they have realized every dharma of the tathāgata, having already attained sovereign freedom through patience and gentleness — this is the fifth mind exalted like a mountain. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes exalted, great merits, namely: the exalted merit of the heavens, the exalted merit of humankind, the exalted merit of form, the exalted merit of power, the exalted merit of retinue, the exalted merit of desire, the exalted merit of royal rank, the exalted merit of sovereign freedom, the exalted merit of fortune and virtue, and the exalted merit of wisdom. Though they accomplish merits such as these, they never once give rise to any defiled attachment toward them: namely, they are not attached to flavor, not attached to desire, not attached to wealth, not attached to retinue; they only deeply delight in the dharma, going where the dharma goes, abiding where the dharma abides, heading toward where the dharma heads, reaching the ultimate the dharma reaches, taking the dharma as their reliance, the dharma as their rescue, the dharma as their refuge, and the dharma as their home, guarding the dharma, delighting in the dharma, seeking the dharma, and reflecting on the dharma.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩雖復具受種種法樂，而常遠離眾魔境界。何以故？菩薩摩訶薩於過去世發如是心：『我當令一切眾生皆悉永離眾魔境界，住佛境界故。』是為第六如山增上心。菩薩摩訶薩為求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，已於無量阿僧祇劫行菩薩道精勤匪懈，猶謂：『我今始發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。』行菩薩行，亦不驚、亦不怖、亦不畏。雖能一念即成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，然為眾生故，於無量劫行菩薩行無有休息，是為第七如山增上心。菩薩摩訶薩知一切眾生性不和善，難調難度，不能知恩，不能報恩，是故為其發大誓願，欲令皆得心意自在，所行無礙，捨離惡念，不於他所生諸煩惱，是為第八如山增上心。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, though fully receiving every kind of dharma-joy, forever stays far from the domain of every māra. Why is this? Because the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in a past age, gave rise to a thought such as this: "I shall cause every sentient being to leave the domain of every māra forever, and to abide in the Buddha's own domain." This is the sixth mind exalted like a mountain. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, seeking unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening, has already carried out the bodhisattva path diligently and without laziness for measureless asaṃkhyeya kalpas, and yet still says: "Only now am I first giving rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening," carrying out bodhisattva practice without being startled, without being afraid, and without being fearful. Though able to attain unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening within a single thought, they still, for the sake of sentient beings, carry out bodhisattva practice across measureless kalpas without ever resting — this is the seventh mind exalted like a mountain. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, knowing that the nature of every sentient being is discordant and unkind, difficult to tame and difficult to deliver, unable to recognize kindness and unable to repay kindness, therefore gives rise to a great vow on their behalf, wishing to cause every one of them to attain sovereign freedom of mind and intention, unobstructed in whatever they do, abandoning every evil thought, and never giving rise to any affliction on account of others — this is the eighth mind exalted like a mountain.
猶謂：『我今始發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心』 — yet still says: "Only now am I first giving rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening." This claim only makes sense as a discipline rather than a fact: the seventh mountain-like mind explicitly says such a bodhisattva could attain awakening within a single thought, which means calling their vow newly begun is a chosen posture toward measureless kalpas of accumulated practice, not an accurate report of how much has actually been done.
Part 715 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-five. Part 716 completes the mountain-like minds with the ninth and tenth entries, then opens ten kinds of ocean-like wisdom entering the vast path to unsurpassed awakening.