Ten Reasons for Austere Practice, Ten Events Proceeding to Awakening
Ten reasons for austere practice move from bringing beings of inferior understanding to maturity to simply waiting until the faculties of devas and people are ready to receive teaching. Ten events follow as the bodhisattva proceeds toward the site of awakening, culminating in a claim about his very footsteps: with each one lifted and set down, he enters samādhi and attains buddhahood in thought after thought, without any gap between them.
Buddhahood in Every Footstep
The eighth event describes something almost impossible to picture literally: with each lifting and setting down of the bodhisattva's foot on the way to the site of awakening, he enters samādhi and attains buddhahood in thought after thought, with no gap or interval between one attainment and the next — the entire walk itself already the awakening it is walking toward.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩為十種事故，示行苦行。何等為十？所謂：為成就劣解眾生故，示行苦行；為拔邪見眾生故，示行苦行；為不信業報眾生令見業報故，示行苦行；為隨順雜染世界法應爾故，示行苦行；示能忍劬勞勤修道故，示行苦行；為令眾生樂求法故，示行苦行；為著欲樂、我樂眾生故，示行苦行；為顯菩薩起行殊勝，乃至最後生猶不捨勤精進故，示行苦行；為令眾生樂寂靜法，增長善根故，示行苦行；為諸天、世人諸根未熟，待時成熟故，示行苦行。是為十。菩薩以此方便調伏一切眾生。
"Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, for ten reasons, manifests austere practice. What are these ten? Namely: in order to bring to maturity sentient beings of inferior understanding, he manifests austere practice; in order to uproot the wrong views of sentient beings, he manifests austere practice; in order to cause sentient beings who do not believe in karmic recompense to see karmic recompense, he manifests austere practice; because it is fitting to accord with the dharma of a defiled world, he manifests austere practice; in order to manifest the ability to endure hardship while diligently cultivating the path, he manifests austere practice; in order to cause sentient beings to delight in seeking the dharma, he manifests austere practice; for the sake of sentient beings attached to the pleasure of desire and the pleasure of self, he manifests austere practice; in order to display that a bodhisattva's own conduct is supremely excellent, never abandoning diligent effort even up through his final birth, he manifests austere practice; in order to cause sentient beings to delight in the dharma of stillness and increase their roots of goodness, he manifests austere practice; and because the faculties of devas and people of the world are not yet mature, and in order to wait for the time of their maturing, he manifests austere practice. These are the ten. It is by means of this skillful device that the bodhisattva tames every sentient being.
「佛子！菩薩摩訶薩往詣道場有十種事。何等為十？所謂：詣道場時，照耀一切世界；詣道場時，震動一切世界；詣道場時，於一切世界普現其身；詣道場時，覺悟一切菩薩及一切宿世同行眾生；詣道場時，示現道場一切莊嚴；詣道場時，隨諸眾生心之所欲，而為現身種種威儀，及菩提樹一切莊嚴；詣道場時，現見十方一切如來；詣道場時，舉足、下足常入三昧，念念成佛無有超隔；詣道場時，一切天、龍、夜叉、乾闥婆、阿脩羅、迦樓羅、緊那羅、摩睺羅伽、釋、梵、護世一切諸王各不相知，而興種種上妙供養；詣道場時，以無礙智，普觀一切諸佛如來於一切世界修菩薩行而成正覺。是為十。菩薩以此教化眾生。
Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, proceeding to the site of awakening, has ten events. What are these ten? Namely: when proceeding to the site of awakening, he illuminates every world; when proceeding to the site of awakening, he shakes every world; when proceeding to the site of awakening, he universally manifests his own body throughout every world; when proceeding to the site of awakening, he awakens every bodhisattva and every sentient being who practiced alongside him in ages past; when proceeding to the site of awakening, he manifests every adornment of the site of awakening; when proceeding to the site of awakening, according to whatever every sentient being's own mind desires, he manifests his body in every kind of dignified bearing, together with every adornment of the bodhi tree; when proceeding to the site of awakening, he manifests seeing every tathāgata throughout the ten directions; when proceeding to the site of awakening, with every lifting and setting down of his foot he constantly enters samādhi, attaining buddhahood in thought after thought without any gap or interval; when proceeding to the site of awakening, every deva, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kiṃnara, mahoraga, Śakra, Brahmā, and every guardian king of the world, each unaware of the others, brings forth every kind of most excellent offering; and when proceeding to the site of awakening, through unobstructed wisdom, he universally observes every buddha-tathāgata throughout every world cultivating bodhisattva practice and attaining right awakening. These are the ten. It is by means of these that the bodhisattva teaches and transforms sentient beings.
舉足、下足常入三昧，念念成佛無有超隔 — with every lifting and setting down of his foot he constantly enters samādhi, attaining buddhahood in thought after thought without any gap or interval. Rather than treating the walk to the site of awakening as mere travel before the real event, this entry collapses the distinction: each step already carries the full attainment, with nothing held back for the moment of arrival.
Part 798 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-nine. Part 799 opens ten events as the bodhisattva sits at the site of awakening, beginning with every world shaking in every kind of way.