The Ten Abodes Continue, Non-Regression and Youth
The seventh abode pushes the sixth abode's unmoved mind further still — ten pairs of existence and non-existence, spanning whether a buddha exists at all, whether one existed in the past, present, or future, whether the three periods of time are even one and the same mark. The eighth abode then turns to conduct itself: a bodhisattva whose every bodily, verbal, and mental act is entirely without fault.
The Seventh Abode: Non-Regression
Ten more pairs of claims are named — whether a buddha exists at all, whether one existed in the past, will exist in the future, exists now, whether the Buddha's own wisdom is exhaustible, whether the three periods of time share a single mark — and the bodhisattva's mind, hearing any of them, does not regress; deepened further by ten paradoxical formulas collapsing one into many, existence into non-existence, mark into no mark.
「佛子！云何為菩薩不退住？此菩薩聞十種法，堅固不退。何者為十？所謂：聞有佛、無佛，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞有法、無法，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞有菩薩、無菩薩，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞有菩薩行、無菩薩行，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞有菩薩修行出離、修行不出離，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞過去有佛、過去無佛，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞未來有佛、未來無佛，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞現在有佛、現在無佛，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞佛智有盡、佛智無盡，於佛法中，心不退轉；聞三世一相、三世非一相，於佛法中，心不退轉。是為十。佛子！此菩薩應勸學十種廣大法。何者為十？所謂：說一即多、說多即一、文隨於義、義隨於文、非有即有、有即非有、無相即相、相即無相、無性即性、性即無性。何以故？欲令增進，於一切法善能出離；有所聞法，即自開解，不由他教故。」
"Son of the Buddha! What is meant by the bodhisattva's Abode of Non-Regression? This bodhisattva, hearing ten kinds of things, remains firm and does not regress. What are these ten? Namely: hearing that a buddha exists, or that no buddha exists, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that the Dharma exists, or that no Dharma exists, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that bodhisattvas exist, or that no bodhisattvas exist, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that the practice of bodhisattvas exists, or that no such practice exists, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that bodhisattvas cultivate practice leading to liberation, or cultivate practice that does not lead to liberation, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that a buddha existed in the past, or that no buddha existed in the past, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that a buddha will exist in the future, or that no buddha will exist in the future, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that a buddha exists in the present, or that no buddha exists in the present, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; hearing that the Buddha's own wisdom is exhaustible, or that the Buddha's own wisdom is inexhaustible, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress; and hearing that the three periods of time are a single mark, or that the three periods of time are not a single mark, his mind, toward the Buddha's own Dharma, does not regress. These are the ten. Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva should be urged to study ten kinds of vast and expansive dharmas. What are these ten? Namely: that speaking of the one is itself speaking of the many; that speaking of the many is itself speaking of the one; that the letter follows the meaning; that the meaning follows the letter; that non-existence is itself existence; that existence is itself non-existence; that no mark is itself a mark; that a mark is itself no mark; that no nature is itself a nature; and that a nature is itself no nature. Why is this? It is in order to cause one to advance further, becoming skillfully able to depart from every dharma; so that, whatever Dharma he hears, he opens and understands it entirely of himself, and not by means of another's teaching."
The Eighth Abode: Youthful Innocence
The bodhisattva at this abode possesses conduct of body, speech, and mind entirely without fault, along with mastery over the very shape of birth and knowledge of every living being's own desires and dispositions — deepened further by a sovereign command over buddha-lands themselves, journeying through countless worlds and making offering to countless buddhas within a single instant.
「佛子！云何為菩薩童真住？此菩薩住十種業。何者為十？所謂：身行無失，語行無失，意行無失，隨意受生，知眾生種種欲，知眾生種種解，知眾生種種界，知眾生種種業，知世界成壞，神足自在、所行無礙。是為十。佛子！此菩薩應勸學十種法。何者為十？所謂：知一切佛剎、動一切佛剎、持一切佛剎、觀一切佛剎、詣一切佛剎、遊行無數世界、領受無數佛法、現變化自在身、出廣大遍滿音、一剎那中承事供養無數諸佛。何以故？欲令增進，於一切法能得善巧；有所聞法，即自開解，不由他教故。」
"Son of the Buddha! What is meant by the bodhisattva's Abode of Youthful Innocence? This bodhisattva abides within ten kinds of karmic activity. What are these ten? Namely: bodily conduct without any fault; verbal conduct without any fault; mental conduct without any fault; taking birth according to his own will; knowing living beings' every manner of desire; knowing living beings' every manner of understanding; knowing living beings' every manner of realm; knowing living beings' every manner of karma; knowing the forming and the destruction of worlds; and possessing sovereign and unhindered miraculous powers of movement, his own conduct free of every obstruction. These are the ten. Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva should be urged to study ten further dharmas. What are these ten? Namely: knowing every buddha-land; shaking every buddha-land; sustaining every buddha-land; contemplating every buddha-land; going to every buddha-land; journeying throughout countless worlds; receiving and holding countless buddha-dharmas; manifesting a body of sovereign and unhindered transformation; giving forth a vast and all-pervading voice; and, within a single instant, serving and making offering to countless buddhas. Why is this? It is in order to cause one to advance further, attaining skillful mastery over every dharma; so that, whatever Dharma he hears, he opens and understands it entirely of himself, and not by means of another's teaching."
The name "Youthful Innocence" (童真住) captures something specific about this stage: a child has not yet accumulated the habits, compromises, and defensive postures that make adult conduct so often fall short of its own stated intentions. This bodhisattva's freedom from bodily, verbal, and mental fault is meant to carry that same unspoiled quality — not caution learned through repeated failure, but a purity present from the very outset. The tenfold formula of paradoxical collapses that closes the seventh abode — one is itself many, existence is itself non-existence, mark is itself no mark — anticipates the more systematic teaching on emptiness and dependent origination that later chapters of this sūtra, particularly the Ten Grounds, will develop at far greater length.
Part 77 Complete
This closes Part 77. Chapter 15's teaching of the Ten Abodes continues in Part 78 with the ninth and tenth abodes — the Dharma-Prince and Consecration — completing the full sequence of ten.