Verses from the Northwest
The eighth bodhisattva, Vow-Wisdom Light Banner, arriving from the northwest, is the first in this sequence to describe a practice rather than a description of the Buddha himself — moving from meditative observation, through relinquishing the world's own aggregates, to compassion for the ordinary beings still wandering through it.
From Observation to Compassion
Where most of the verses so far have described the Buddha from the outside, these ten stanzas describe the inner path of the one observing him — unwavering resolve, meditative stillness, relinquishing the world's own aggregates — arriving, only at the very end, at compassion for the ordinary beings still wandering through exactly what has just been renounced.
爾時，願智光明幢王菩薩，承佛神力，觀察十方而說頌言：
若能善觀察，
菩提無盡海，
則得離癡念，
決定受持法。
若得決定心，
則能修妙行，
禪寂自思慮，
永斷諸疑惑。
其心不疲倦，
亦復無懈怠，
展轉增進修，
究竟諸佛法。
信智已成就，
念念令增長，
常樂常觀察，
無得無依法。
無量億千劫，
所修功德行；
一切悉迴向，
諸佛所求道。
雖在於生死，
而心無染著，
安住諸佛法，
常樂如來行。
世間之所有，
蘊界等諸法；
一切皆捨離，
專求佛功德。
凡夫嬰妄惑，
於世常流轉；
菩薩心無礙，
救之令解脫。
菩薩行難稱，
舉世莫能思，
遍除一切苦，
普與群生樂。
已獲菩提智，
復愍諸群生，
光明照世間，
度脫一切眾。
At that time, Vow-Wisdom Light Banner Bodhisattva, sustained by the Buddha's own spiritual power, surveyed the ten directions and spoke these verses:
If one is able to skillfully observe the inexhaustible ocean of awakening, one then attains freedom from every deluded thought, and holds firmly to the dharma with unwavering resolve.
If one attains a mind of unwavering resolve, one is then able to cultivate wondrous practice; through the stillness of meditation, reflecting for oneself, one forever cuts off every doubt.
Such a mind never grows weary, and is likewise never idle or slack; advancing further and further in cultivation, it brings every buddha's own dharma to its ultimate completion.
Once faith and wisdom have been accomplished, they are made to grow moment after moment; one constantly delights in constantly observing the dharma that is neither attained nor relied upon.
Throughout measureless hundreds of millions of kalpas, whatever merit and practice has been cultivated — all of it is dedicated entirely toward the path that every buddha has sought.
Though remaining within birth and death, the mind is free of any stain or attachment; abiding securely in every buddha's own dharma, one constantly delights in the tathāgata's own conduct.
Whatever the world possesses — the aggregates, the elements, and every such dharma — all of it is entirely relinquished, in order to single-mindedly seek the Buddha's own merit.
Ordinary beings, caught in delusion, constantly wander through the world; the bodhisattva's own mind, unobstructed, rescues them and leads them to liberation.
The bodhisattva's own practice is difficult to describe, and no one in the entire world is able to conceive of it; it removes every kind of suffering everywhere, and universally grants happiness to every living being.
Having already attained the wisdom of awakening, one then has compassion for every living being; one's light illuminates the world, and delivers every being to liberation.
世間之所有，蘊界等諸法；一切皆捨離……凡夫嬰妄惑，於世常流轉；菩薩心無礙，救之令解脫 — whatever the world possesses is entirely relinquished, and yet the very next stanza turns back toward the ordinary beings still caught in that same world. Renunciation here is never an end in itself; it exists to free the bodhisattva's mind precisely so it can turn back and rescue everyone still wandering through what was just let go.
Part 864 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty. Part 865 turns to the ninth bodhisattva, Wisdom King of Valiant Courage Who Breaks Through Every Obstruction, arriving from below, who describes how rare it is even to hear a buddha's own name across measureless kalpas.