Ten Kinds of Arrogant Deeds
Ten kinds of arrogant deeds move from failing to revere teachers, parents, and every field of merit, through escalating grades of conceit given their own names, to a final entry describing a being so covered by arrogance that new wholesomeness cannot arise and buddhas cannot even be approached — and yet who still, in the end, awakens, because the mind of awakening was once aroused.
A Vow That Outlasts Even Arrogance
The tenth entry describes the bleakest consequence in the whole list — a being who cannot approach a buddha even when one appears in the world, who will fall into a perilous pit and go without meeting a buddha for a hundred thousand kalpas — and then reverses it in a single clause: because the mind of awakening was once aroused, that being will, in the end, awaken of themselves.
佛子！菩薩摩訶薩有十種慢業。何等為十？所謂：於師、僧、父母、沙門、婆羅門、住於正道向正道者，尊重福田所而不恭敬，是慢業；或有法師獲最勝法，乘於大乘，知出要道，得陀羅尼，演說契經廣大之法無有休息，而於其所起高慢心，及於所說法不生恭敬，是慢業；於眾會中聞說妙法，不肯歎美令人信受，是慢業；好起過慢，自高陵物，不見己失，不知自短，是慢業；好起過過慢，見有德人應讚不讚，見他讚歎不生歡喜，是慢業；
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva has ten kinds of arrogant deeds. What are these ten? Namely: failing to show reverence toward one's teachers, the sangha, one's parents, śramaṇas, brāhmaṇs, those who abide in the right path, and those turning toward the right path — every one a field of merit deserving honor — this is an arrogant deed. There being a dharma-teacher who has attained the most excellent dharma, who rides the great vehicle, who knows the path leading beyond, who has attained dhāraṇī, and who expounds the vast dharma of the sūtras without ever resting, and yet giving rise toward that very person to a mind of arrogance and conceit, and giving rise to no reverence toward the dharma they teach — this is an arrogant deed. Hearing the wondrous dharma spoken within an assembly and refusing to praise it so as to cause others to believe and accept it — this is an arrogant deed. Delighting in giving rise to excessive conceit, exalting oneself and belittling others, unable to see one's own faults, unaware of one's own shortcomings — this is an arrogant deed. Delighting in giving rise to conceit surpassing even excessive conceit, seeing a person of virtue who ought to be praised and yet not praising them, seeing another praise them and giving rise to no rejoicing — this is an arrogant deed.
見有法師為人說法，知是法、是律、是真實、是佛語，為嫌其人亦嫌其法，自起誹謗亦令他謗，是慢業；自求高座，自稱法師，應受供給，不應執事，見有耆舊久修行人不起逢迎、不肯承事，是慢業；見有德人，顰蹙不喜，言辭麁獷，伺其過失，是慢業；見有聰慧知法之人，不肯親近恭敬供養，不肯諮問：『何等為善？何等不善？何等應作？何等不應作？作何等業，於長夜中而得種種利益安樂？』愚癡頑很，我慢所吞，終不能見出要之道，是慢業；復有眾生慢心所覆，諸佛出世不能親近恭敬供養，新善不起，舊善消滅，不應說而說，不應諍而諍，未來必墮險難深坑，於百千劫尚不值佛，何況聞法！但以曾發菩提心故，終自醒悟，是慢業。是為十。
Seeing a dharma-teacher expounding the dharma for others, knowing it to be the dharma, the discipline, the truth, and the buddha's own word, and yet disdaining that person and disdaining their dharma as well, giving rise oneself to slander and causing others to slander it too — this is an arrogant deed. Seeking a high seat for oneself, calling oneself a dharma-teacher, claiming one ought to receive offerings and support rather than perform any service, and seeing an elder of long-standing practice without rising to welcome them, unwilling to attend upon them — this is an arrogant deed. Seeing a person of virtue, frowning with displeasure, speaking with coarse and harsh words, watching for their faults — this is an arrogant deed. Seeing an intelligent, wise person who knows the dharma, refusing to draw close to them, to revere them, or to make offerings to them, refusing to ask: "What is wholesome? What is unwholesome? What ought to be done? What ought not to be done? What deed, once done, brings every kind of benefit and ease throughout the long night?" — being foolish, obstinate, and swallowed up by self-conceit, in the end never able to see the path leading beyond — this is an arrogant deed. There is, further, a sentient being covered over by a mind of arrogance who, even when buddhas appear in the world, is unable to draw close to them, revere them, or make offerings to them; new wholesomeness fails to arise, and wholesomeness already accumulated is extinguished; speaking when one ought not to speak, contending when one ought not to contend — in the future such a being will certainly fall into a perilous, deep pit, and for a hundred thousand kalpas will not even encounter a buddha, much less hear the dharma; yet because they had once given rise to the mind of awakening, they will in the end awaken of themselves — this is an arrogant deed. These are the ten.
但以曾發菩提心故，終自醒悟 — yet because they had once given rise to the mind of awakening, they will in the end awaken of themselves. Placed at the close of the single bleakest entry in the list — a being unable even to approach a buddha for a hundred thousand kalpas — this clause treats the mind of awakening, once aroused, as a seed that outlasts every consequence of arrogance piled on top of it.
Part 785 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-eight. Part 786 opens ten kinds of wisdom-deeds, the direct counterpart to this list, beginning with believing and understanding karmic recompense without ever damaging cause and effect.