Definite Understanding, Fascicle 56 Complete
Fascicle fifty-six closes with three sets of definite understanding: one culminating in sovereign freedom over the timing of buddhahood itself, one that knows every world can enter a single pore and every world can enter a single sentient being's body, and one that knows the entire realm of sentient beings has, at its root, no fixed reality at all.
No Fixed Reality at the Root
The final list of this fascicle turns its definite understanding toward the realm of sentient beings itself, opening with the claim that this realm's own root nature has nothing real to it — and from that single starting point, moves outward to a sentient being's body containing every other being, and a bodhisattva manifesting whatever form, from a guardian deity to a tathāgata's own marks, that awakening requires.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種決定解。何等為十？所謂：最上決定解，種植尊重善根故；莊嚴決定解，出生種種莊嚴故；廣大決定解，其心未曾狹劣故；寂滅決定解，能入甚深法性故；普遍決定解，發心無所不及故；堪任決定解，能受佛力加持故；堅固決定解，摧破一切魔業故；明斷決定解，了知一切業報故；現前決定解，隨意能現神通故；紹隆決定解，一切佛所得記故；自在決定解，隨意、隨時成佛故。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得如來無上決定解。「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種決定解知諸世界。何等為十？所謂：知一切世界入一世界；知一世界入一切世界；知一切世界，一如來身、一蓮華座皆悉周遍；知一切世界皆如虛空；知一切世界具佛莊嚴；知一切世界菩薩充滿；知一切世界入一毛孔；知一切世界入一眾生身；知一切世界，一佛菩提樹、一佛道場皆悉周遍；知一切世界一音普遍，令諸眾生各別了知，心生歡喜。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得如來無上佛剎廣大決定解。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of definite understanding. What are these ten? Namely: the definite understanding of the utmost, because it plants roots of goodness held in reverence; the definite understanding of adornment, because it brings forth every kind of adornment; the vast definite understanding, because its mind is never narrow or inferior; the definite understanding of cessation, because it is able to enter the profound nature of the dharma; the universal definite understanding, because the mind it gives rise to reaches everywhere without exception; the definite understanding of capability, because it is able to receive the empowerment of a buddha's own power; the firm definite understanding, because it destroys every deed of māra; the definite understanding of clear judgment, because it fully understands every karmic retribution; the definite understanding manifest in the present, because it is able to manifest spiritual penetration exactly as it wishes; the definite understanding of carrying the lineage forward, because it receives a prediction at the place of every buddha; and the definite understanding of sovereign freedom, because it attains buddhahood exactly as it wishes, at whatever time it wishes. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, definite understanding. Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of definite understanding that knows every world. What are these ten? Namely: knowing that every world enters a single world; knowing that a single world enters every world; knowing that, throughout every world, a single tathāgata's body and a single lotus-seat are both entirely pervasive; knowing that every world is exactly like empty space; knowing that every world is complete with a buddha's own adornments; knowing that every world is filled with bodhisattvas; knowing that every world enters a single pore; knowing that every world enters a single sentient being's body; knowing that, throughout every world, a single buddha's bodhi tree and a single buddha's site of awakening are both entirely pervasive; and knowing that a single voice universally pervades every world, causing every sentient being to understand it each in their own way, their minds giving rise to joy. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, vast, definite understanding of every buddha-land.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種決定解知眾生界。何等為十？所謂：知一切眾生界本性無實；知一切眾生界悉入一眾生身；知一切眾生界悉入菩薩身；知一切眾生界悉入如來藏；知一眾生身普入一切眾生界；知一切眾生界悉堪為諸佛法器；知一切眾生界，隨其所欲，為現釋、梵、護世身；知一切眾生界，隨其所欲，為現聲聞、獨覺寂靜威儀；知一切眾生界，為現菩薩功德莊嚴身；知一切眾生界，為現如來相好寂靜威儀，開悟眾生。是為十。若諸菩薩安住此法，則得如來無上大威力決定解。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of definite understanding that knows the realm of sentient beings. What are these ten? Namely: knowing that the whole realm of sentient beings has, at its root nature, nothing real to it; knowing that the whole realm of sentient beings entirely enters a single sentient being's body; knowing that the whole realm of sentient beings entirely enters a bodhisattva's body; knowing that the whole realm of sentient beings entirely enters the tathāgata's own treasury; knowing that a single sentient being's body universally enters the whole realm of sentient beings; knowing that the whole realm of sentient beings is entirely capable of becoming a vessel for every buddha's dharma; knowing the whole realm of sentient beings, and manifesting, in accordance with their own wishes, the bodies of Śakra, Brahmā, and the guardians of the world for them; knowing the whole realm of sentient beings, and manifesting, in accordance with their own wishes, the tranquil bearing of a śrāvaka or a solitary awakened one for them; knowing the whole realm of sentient beings, and manifesting for them a body adorned with a bodhisattva's own merit; and knowing the whole realm of sentient beings, and manifesting for them a tathāgata's own excellent marks and tranquil bearing, awakening sentient beings. These are the ten. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unsurpassed, great and powerful, definite understanding.
知一切眾生界本性無實 — knowing that the whole realm of sentient beings has, at its root nature, nothing real to it. This opening entry sets the terms for everything that follows in the list: because the realm of sentient beings has no fixed reality to begin with, entering a single body, entering the tathāgata's own treasury, and manifesting as any of a dozen different forms are none of them treated as contradictions to be resolved.
Part 746 Complete — Fascicle 56 Complete
This completes fascicle fifty-six of the eighty-fascicle Avataṃsaka Sūtra. Chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, continues without interruption into fascicle fifty-seven. Part 747 opens the next set of ten in this long chapter, continuing where fascicle fifty-six leaves off.