Sovereign Freedom Throughout Every Buddha-Land
The description continues through sovereign freedom in the buddha's own dharma-body and a single body filling every buddha-land, closing this passage with a power distinctive to this sūtra above almost any other teaching: causing the small and the great to interpenetrate freely.
The Small and the Great, Interpenetrating Freely
This passage closes on a single, quietly enormous claim: these bodhisattvas know that every dharma's own nature is unborn, and from that knowledge alone are able to cause the small and the great to interpenetrate freely — precisely the teaching this sūtra has demonstrated throughout, in every mote of dust holding an entire ocean of lands.
善巧成就諸菩薩行,以無二智知諸境界,普見一切世間諸趣,遍往一切諸佛國土;智燈圓滿,於一切法無諸暗障,放淨法光照十方界;為諸世間真實福田,若見若聞所願皆滿,福德高大超諸世間,勇猛無畏摧諸外道;演微妙音遍一切剎,普見諸佛心無厭足;於佛法身已得自在,隨所應化而為現身,一身充滿一切佛剎;已得自在清淨神通,乘大智舟,所往無礙,智慧圓滿周遍法界;譬如日出普照世間,隨眾生心現其色像;知諸眾生根性欲樂,入一切法無諍境界;知諸法性無生無起,能令小大自在相入。
They skillfully accomplish every bodhisattva practice, know every domain through non-dual wisdom, universally see every realm of existence throughout the world, and travel everywhere to every buddha-land; the lamp of their own wisdom is fully perfected, with no darkness or obstruction in any dharma, emitting a pure light of dharma that illuminates the ten directions. They are the true field of merit for every world — whether seen or heard, every wish is fulfilled — their own merit lofty and vast, transcending every world, valiant and fearless, subduing every non-Buddhist teacher; they proclaim a wondrous sound throughout every land, universally beholding every buddha with a mind never satiated or wearied. Having already attained sovereign freedom in the buddha's own dharma-body, they manifest a body exactly as fits whoever is to be transformed, a single body filling every buddha-land; having already attained sovereign, pure spiritual superknowledge, they ride the vessel of great wisdom, going wherever they wish without any obstruction, their own wisdom fully perfected and pervading the entire dharma-realm. It is like the sun rising and universally illuminating the world, manifesting its own form according to each sentient being's own mind; they know every sentient being's own faculty, nature, and desire, entering the domain of every dharma without any contention; they know that the nature of every dharma is unborn and unarising, and are able to cause the small and the great to interpenetrate freely.
能令小大自在相入 — able to cause the small and the great to interpenetrate freely. This single phrase names, almost in passing, the very principle this fascicle has been demonstrating all along: a single mote of dust holding an ocean of lands, a single pore containing a tathāgata's own assembly. Here it is stated directly as a power these bodhisattvas hold, rather than shown only through image after image.
Part 878 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-one. Part 879 continues this same description of the bodhisattvas, turning to their mastery of the tathāgata's own deep, mysterious teaching and their power to comprehend an entire sūtra within a single word.