Skillful Means, the Rectified Mind, and Non-Regression, in Verse
Three more abodes now follow in verse: the fifth directs every blessed merit toward rescuing living beings without exception, the sixth holds a mind that neither gods nor humans can move through any claim about the Buddha or the Dharma-realm, and the seventh stands firm through the sūtra's own characteristic paradoxes — the one that is the many, the letter that follows the meaning and the meaning that follows the letter.
The Fifth Abode: Fully Endowed Skillful Means, in Verse
Every merit cultivated is directed entirely toward rescuing living beings — removing calamity, taming and subduing each one without exception, causing every being, boundless and beyond all reckoning, to receive the Tathāgata's own Dharma.
「從此第五諸菩薩，說名具足方便住，
深入無量巧方便，發生究竟功德業。
菩薩所修眾福德，皆為救護諸群生，
專心利益與安樂，一向哀愍令度脫。
為一切世除眾難，引出諸有令歡喜，
一一調伏無所遺，皆令具德向涅槃。
一切眾生無有邊，無量無數不思議，
及以不可稱量等，聽受如來如是法。
此第五住真佛子，成就方便度眾生，
一切功德大智尊，以如是法而開示。」
"From here, the bodhisattva of the fifth abode is spoken of by the name Fully Endowed Skillful Means, entering profoundly into immeasurable, skillful means, giving rise to ultimate and meritorious deeds. Every blessed merit that the bodhisattva cultivates is entirely for the sake of rescuing and protecting the multitude of beings, single-mindedly benefiting them and bringing them peace and happiness, single-mindedly feeling pity and compassion, causing them to be delivered to liberation.
For the sake of the whole world, removing every calamity, drawing them out of every state of existence and causing them to rejoice, taming and subduing each and every one with nothing at all left out, causing every one of them to be endowed with virtue and to head toward nirvāṇa. Every living being there is, without any boundary at all, immeasurable, countless, and inconceivable, and likewise beyond all reckoning or measure — they all listen to and receive the Tathāgata's own Dharma, given in just this way.
This is the fifth abode's own true son of the Buddha, accomplishing skillful means and ferrying living beings across; the great and wise, honored one, endowed with every merit, opens up and reveals it by means of just such a Dharma as this."
The Sixth Abode: The Rectified Mind, in Verse
No confusion toward the true nature of dharmas, unmoved by any claim about the Buddha, the Dharma-realm, or living beings, however it is phrased — every dharma understood as without mark, without substance, like an illusion, like a dream.
「第六正心圓滿住，於法自性無迷惑，
正念思惟離分別，一切天人莫能動。
聞讚毀佛與佛法，菩薩及以所行行，
眾生有量若無量，有垢無垢難易度，
法界大小及成壞，若有若無心不動，
過去未來今現在，諦念思惟恒決定。
一切諸法皆無相，無體無性空無實，
如幻如夢離分別，常樂聽聞如是義。」
"The sixth abode, the Rectified Mind fully complete, has no confusion at all toward the very nature of dharmas; with right mindfulness and right contemplation, free of discrimination, neither gods nor humans are able to move him at all. Hearing the Buddha and the Buddha's own Dharma praised or disparaged, hearing bodhisattvas and their own practiced conduct praised or disparaged, hearing that living beings are limited or unlimited in number, defiled or undefiled, easy or hard to deliver,
hearing that the Dharma-realm is great or small, formed or destroyed, existing or not existing — his mind remains unmoved; throughout the past, the future, and the present now, his truthful mindfulness and contemplation are forever decisive. Every single dharma is entirely without any mark, without any substance and without any nature, empty and without any true reality, like an illusion, like a dream, free of discrimination — forever delighting to hear such a meaning as this."
The Seventh Abode: Non-Regression, in Verse
Not even the most searching metaphysical claims — that the three periods of time are one mark or many, that the one is itself the many, that the letter follows the meaning and the meaning the letter — can shake this bodhisattva's own mind; hearing such paradoxes, he attains the ultimate end rather than any doubt.
「第七不退轉菩薩，於佛及法菩薩行，
若有若無出不出，雖聞是說無退轉。
過去未來現在世，一切諸佛有以無，
佛智有盡或無盡，三世一相種種相，
一即是多多即一，文隨於義義隨文，
如是一切展轉成，此不退人應為說。
若法有相及無相，若法有性及無性，
種種差別互相屬，此人聞已得究竟。」
"The bodhisattva of the seventh abode, Non-Regression, hearing that the Buddha, the Dharma, and the practice of bodhisattvas exist or do not exist, lead to liberation or do not lead to liberation — even hearing such things said, does not regress at all. Throughout the past, the future, and the present, hearing that every buddha exists or does not exist, that the Buddha's own wisdom is exhaustible or inexhaustible, that the three periods of time are a single mark or are every kind of manifold mark,
that the one is itself the many and the many is itself the one, that the letter follows the meaning and the meaning follows the letter, that all of this comes about through mutual, unfolding transformation — such things should be spoken for this person of non-regression. Whether a dharma has a mark or has no mark, whether a dharma has a nature or has no nature, every manifold distinction belonging mutually to the other — this person, having heard it, attains the ultimate end."
The seventh abode's closing line is worth noting for what it reverses: elsewhere in this chapter, hearing paradoxical or unsettling claims is something the bodhisattva merely withstands without being disturbed. Here the verse goes further — hearing these very paradoxes is what brings this person to "the ultimate end" (究竟), suggesting that at this stage the paradox is no longer a test of stability but has itself become the teaching. What could unsettle a lesser understanding instead completes this one.
Part 83 Complete
This closes Part 83. The great hymn continues in Part 84 with the eighth, ninth, and tenth abodes, completing the full sequence of ten.