Great Initiatives Conclude, Ten Ultimate Great Matters
The tenth great initiative gathers a long chain of reasons — great loving-kindness first, great compassion at its ultimate end, sharing one essence with every buddha of the three times — into a single vow to teach without rest; a shorter, plainer list follows immediately, naming ten matters called simply "ultimate," from revering every buddha to hearing and upholding every buddha's own true dharma.
What Counts as Ultimate
The tenth great initiative closes the list with its longest single sentence, stacking reason upon reason for why a bodhisattva's teaching never rests; the ten ultimate great matters that follow reset entirely to a plainer register, each one a short, unadorned phrase — reverence, rescue, seeking, accumulating, reflecting, fulfilling, accomplishing, serving, journeying, hearing — with no explanation offered for why these ten, and no others, earn the name "ultimate."
菩薩摩訶薩又作是念：『我當以此善根成無上菩提，得入一切諸如來地，與一切如來體性平等。』是為第九大發起。菩薩摩訶薩復作是念：『我當成正覺已，於一切世界不可說劫，演說正法，示現不可思議自在神通，身、語及意不生疲倦，不離正法。以佛力所持故，為一切眾生勤行大願故，大慈為首故，大悲究竟故，達無相法故，住真實語故，證一切法皆寂滅故；知一切眾生悉不可得而亦不違諸業所作故，與三世佛同一體故，周遍法界、虛空界故，通達諸法無相故，成就不生不滅故，具足一切佛法故，以大願力調伏眾生，作大佛事無有休息。』是為第十大發起。佛子！是為菩薩摩訶薩十種大發起。若諸菩薩安住此法，則不斷菩薩行，具足如來無上大智。
"A bodhisattva-mahāsattva further thinks: 'I shall, through these roots of goodness, attain unsurpassed awakening, entering the ground of every tathāgata, and become equal to every tathāgata in essential nature.' This is the ninth great initiative. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva further thinks: 'Once I have attained right awakening, I shall, throughout every world, for unspeakably many kalpas, expound the true dharma, manifesting inconceivable and sovereign spiritual powers, my body, speech, and mind never growing weary, never departing from the true dharma — because I am sustained by the buddha's own power; because I diligently carry out a great vow for the sake of every sentient being; because great loving-kindness comes first; because great compassion reaches its ultimate end; because I have penetrated the dharma of no mark; because I abide in truthful speech; because I have realized that every dharma is entirely still and extinguished; because, knowing that no sentient being can ever be found, I still never violate the working of any karmic deed; because I share a single essence with every buddha of the three times; because I pervade the whole dharma-realm and the whole realm of empty space; because I have penetrated every dharma's lack of any mark; because I have accomplished what neither arises nor ceases; and because I am complete in every buddha-dharma — with the power of this great vow, I shall tame sentient beings, carrying out the great work of a buddha without ever resting.' This is the tenth great initiative. Son of the Buddha! These are the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's ten kinds of great initiative. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they never interrupt bodhisattva practice and become complete in the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, great wisdom.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種究竟大事。何等為十？所謂：恭敬供養一切如來究竟大事；隨所念眾生悉能救護究竟大事；專求一切佛法究竟大事；積集一切善根究竟大事；思惟一切佛法究竟大事；滿足一切誓願究竟大事；成就一切菩薩行究竟大事；奉事一切善知識究竟大事；往詣一切世界諸如來所究竟大事；聞持一切諸佛正法究竟大事。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提大智慧究竟事。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of ultimate great matter. What are these ten? Namely: the ultimate great matter of revering and making offerings to every tathāgata; the ultimate great matter of being able to rescue and protect every sentient being called to mind; the ultimate great matter of single-mindedly seeking every buddha-dharma; the ultimate great matter of accumulating every root of goodness; the ultimate great matter of reflecting on every buddha-dharma; the ultimate great matter of fulfilling every vow; the ultimate great matter of accomplishing every bodhisattva practice; the ultimate great matter of serving every good spiritual friend; the ultimate great matter of journeying to the place of every tathāgata in every world; and the ultimate great matter of hearing and upholding the true dharma of every buddha. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the ultimate matter of the great wisdom of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening.
大慈為首故，大悲究竟故 — because great loving-kindness comes first; because great compassion reaches its ultimate end. The tenth great initiative places loving-kindness and compassion at opposite ends of the same list of reasons — one as the starting point, the other as the final destination — framing everything named between them as simply what happens along that single line.
Part 724 Complete
This completes the ten great initiatives and the ten ultimate great matters, continuing chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-five. Part 725 opens ten kinds of unbroken faith, beginning with unbroken faith in every buddha.