Ten Great Initiatives Begin
A new list of resolutions opens more simply than the vow-minds before it — revering every buddha, nurturing every bodhisattva's roots of goodness, adorning stūpas and worlds — before the sixth initiative turns unexpectedly personal: a vow to practice for a single sentient being across every kalpa exactly as fully as for every sentient being at once.
For One Being As for All Beings
The sixth great initiative makes an unusual move: rather than scaling a vow up toward all sentient beings, it first commits to carrying out bodhisattva practice for the sake of a single being, across every world, for every kalpa to come — and only then adds that the very same commitment holds, without any difference, for every sentient being at once.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種大發起。何等為十？佛子！菩薩摩訶薩作如是念：『我當供養恭敬一切諸佛。』是為第一大發起。又作是念：『我當長養一切菩薩所有善根。』是為第二大發起。又作是念：『我當於一切如來般涅槃後，莊嚴佛塔，以一切華、一切鬘、一切香、一切塗香、一切末香、一切衣、一切蓋、一切幢、一切幡而供養之，受持守護彼佛正法。』是為第三大發起。又作是念：『我當教化調伏一切眾生，令得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。』是為第四大發起。又作是念：『我當以諸佛國土無上莊嚴，而以莊嚴一切世界。』是為第五大發起。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of great initiative. What are these ten? Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva thinks in this way: 'I shall make offerings to and revere every buddha.' This is the first great initiative. They further think: 'I shall nurture and increase every root of goodness that belongs to every bodhisattva.' This is the second great initiative. They further think: 'After every tathāgata enters parinirvāṇa, I shall adorn their stūpas, making offerings with every kind of flower, every kind of garland, every kind of incense, every kind of scented ointment, every kind of powdered incense, every kind of robe, every kind of canopy, every kind of banner, and every kind of pennant, and shall uphold and guard that buddha's true dharma.' This is the third great initiative. They further think: 'I shall teach and tame every sentient being, causing them to attain unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening.' This is the fourth great initiative. They further think: 'I shall adorn every world with the unsurpassed adornments of every buddha's own land.' This is the fifth great initiative.
又作是念：『我當發大悲心，為一眾生，於一切世界，一一各盡未來際劫行菩薩行；如為一眾生，為一切眾生悉亦如是，皆令得佛無上菩提，乃至不生一念疲懈。』是為第六大發起。又作是念：『彼諸如來無量無邊，我當於一如來所，經不思議劫恭敬供養；如於一如來，於一切如來悉亦如是。』是為第七大發起。菩薩摩訶薩又作是念：『彼諸如來滅度之後，我當為一一如來所有舍利各起寶塔，其量高廣與不可說諸世界等；造佛形像亦復如是，於不可思議劫以一切寶幢、幡蓋、香華、衣服而為供養，不生一念厭倦之心。為成就佛法故，為供養諸佛故，為教化眾生故，為護持正法開示演說故。』是為第八大發起。
They further think: 'I shall give rise to a mind of great compassion, and for the sake of a single sentient being, in every world, carry out bodhisattva practice throughout each and every kalpa to the very limit of the future; and just as I do this for a single sentient being, so too shall I do this for every sentient being, causing every one of them to attain the buddha's unsurpassed awakening, without ever giving rise to a single thought of weariness.' This is the sixth great initiative. They further think: 'Those tathāgatas are measureless and boundless; I shall, at the place of a single tathāgata, revere and make offerings throughout inconceivable kalpas; and just as I do this for a single tathāgata, so too shall I do this for every tathāgata.' This is the seventh great initiative. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva further thinks: 'After those tathāgatas enter cessation, I shall, for the relics of each and every tathāgata, raise jeweled stūpas whose height and breadth equal unspeakably many worlds; and I shall fashion images of the buddha in just the same way, making offerings throughout inconceivable kalpas with every kind of jeweled banner, pennant, canopy, incense, flower, and robe, without ever giving rise to a single thought of weariness — for the sake of accomplishing the buddha-dharma, for the sake of making offerings to every buddha, for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings, and for the sake of upholding and protecting the true dharma, revealing and expounding it.' This is the eighth great initiative.
為一眾生，於一切世界，一一各盡未來際劫行菩薩行；如為一眾生，為一切眾生悉亦如是 — for the sake of a single sentient being, in every world, carry out bodhisattva practice throughout each and every kalpa to the very limit of the future; and just as I do this for a single sentient being, so too shall I do this for every sentient being. The sixth great initiative states the smaller commitment first and the larger one only as its equal, refusing any sense that saving all beings costs more effort or care than saving one.
Part 723 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-five. Part 724 completes the ten great initiatives with a bodhisattva who vows to attain the same nature as every tathāgata, then to teach the dharma throughout every world without ever once growing tired.