Ten Kinds of Jewel-Like Abiding Begin
A new list opens with a bodhisattva who journeys to countless buddhas simply to pay them reverence, then moves through hearing and upholding the dharma, dying in one land to appear born in another without confusion, and knowing every dharma's many meanings as ultimately one — before closing this Part with the paradox of seeking a buddha and never finding one, yet never abandoning the vow to deliver every being.
Seeking a Buddha, Finding None
Each of these eight jewel-like abidings names something exalted and rare, then treats it exactly as a jewel is treated — held, not clung to. The eighth abiding pushes this furthest of all: a bodhisattva who searches for a buddha, a bodhisattva, a dharma, or a sentient being and finds none of them, and yet keeps blazing forward in practice for the sake of beings precisely because of what that search revealed.
菩薩摩訶薩於阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，有十種如寶住。何等為十？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩悉能往詣無數世界諸如來所，瞻覲頂禮，承事供養，是為第一如寶住。於不思議諸如來所，聽聞正法，受持憶念，不令忘失，分別思惟，覺慧增長，如是所作充滿十方，是為第二如寶住。於此剎歿，餘處現生，而於佛法無所迷惑，是為第三如寶住。知從一法出一切法，而能各各分別演說，以一切法種種義究竟皆是一義故，是為第四如寶住。知厭離煩惱，知止息煩惱，知防護煩惱，知除斷煩惱，修菩薩行不證實際，究竟到於實際彼岸，方便善巧，善學所學，令往昔願行皆得成滿，身不疲倦，是為第五如寶住。
"A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of jewel-like abiding regarding unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening. What are these ten? Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is able to go to the place of every tathāgata in countless worlds, to behold them, bow in reverence, attend upon them, and make offerings — this is the first jewel-like abiding. At the place of every inconceivable tathāgata, hearing the true dharma, upholding it and calling it to mind without ever letting it be forgotten, discerning it and reflecting on it so that awakened wisdom grows, carrying this out in a way that fills the ten directions — this is the second jewel-like abiding. Passing away in this land and appearing to be born in another, and yet never once being confused regarding the buddha-dharma — this is the third jewel-like abiding. Knowing that every dharma arises from a single dharma, and yet being able to expound each one distinctly, because the many different meanings of every dharma are, in the end, all a single meaning — this is the fourth jewel-like abiding. Knowing how to become weary of and depart from affliction, knowing how to bring affliction to rest, knowing how to guard against affliction, and knowing how to remove and cut off affliction; cultivating bodhisattva practice without realizing ultimate reality, while still ultimately reaching the far shore of ultimate reality; skillful in means, well trained in what is to be learned, causing every vow and practice made in ages past to be entirely fulfilled, the body never growing weary — this is the fifth jewel-like abiding.
知一切眾生心所分別皆無處所，而亦說有種種方處；雖無分別、無所造作，為欲調伏一切眾生而有修行、而有所作，是為第六如寶住。知一切法皆同一性，所謂：無性，無種種性，無無量性，無可算數性，無可稱量性，無色無相，若一若多皆不可得，而決定了知此是諸佛法、此是菩薩法、此是獨覺法、此是聲聞法、此是凡夫法、此是善法、此是不善法、此是世間法、此是出世間法、此是過失法、此是無過失法、此是有漏法、此是無漏法，乃至此是有為法、此是無為法，是為第七如寶住。菩薩摩訶薩求佛不可得、求菩薩不可得、求法不可得、求眾生不可得，而亦不捨調伏眾生令於諸法成正覺願。何以故？菩薩摩訶薩善巧觀察，知一切眾生分別，知一切眾生境界，方便化導令得涅槃；為欲滿足化眾生願，熾然修行菩薩行故。是為第八如寶住。
Knowing that whatever every sentient being's mind discriminates has no location at all, and yet still speaking of various places; though there is no discrimination and nothing at all is fashioned, still, for the sake of taming every sentient being, carrying out practice and taking action — this is the sixth jewel-like abiding. Knowing that every dharma shares a single nature, namely: no nature, no manifold nature, no measureless nature, no countable nature, no measurable nature, no form and no mark, and that whether one or many, none can ever be found; and yet still definitely understanding that this is the dharma of buddhas, this is the dharma of bodhisattvas, this is the dharma of solitary awakened ones, this is the dharma of śrāvakas, this is the dharma of ordinary beings, this is a wholesome dharma, this is an unwholesome dharma, this is a worldly dharma, this is a world-transcending dharma, this is a dharma of fault, this is a dharma free of fault, this is a dharma with outflows, this is a dharma free of outflows, and even that this is a conditioned dharma and this is an unconditioned dharma — this is the seventh jewel-like abiding. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, seeking a buddha, can never find one; seeking a bodhisattva, can never find one; seeking a dharma, can never find one; seeking a sentient being, can never find one; and yet never abandons the vow to tame sentient beings so that they attain right awakening within every dharma. Why is this? Because a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, observing skillfully, knows the discrimination of every sentient being and knows the domain of every sentient being, guiding them skillfully so that they attain nirvāṇa; and because, wishing to fulfill the vow to guide sentient beings, they blaze forth in cultivating bodhisattva practice. This is the eighth jewel-like abiding.
求佛不可得、求菩薩不可得、求法不可得、求眾生不可得，而亦不捨調伏眾生令於諸法成正覺願 — seeking a buddha, can never find one; seeking a bodhisattva, can never find one; seeking a dharma, can never find one; seeking a sentient being, can never find one; and yet never abandons the vow to tame sentient beings. The eighth jewel-like abiding does not resolve this tension between finding nothing and vowing to save everyone — it simply states both, back to back, as the abiding itself.
Part 719 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-five. Part 720 completes the ten jewel-like abidings with a bodhisattva who explains buddhas and skillful teaching as constructions of the mind, then one who hears countless predictions of awakening without ever being startled by them.