Good-Wealth's First Teacher Is Named
Mañjuśrī moves from praise to practical counsel: giving rise to enlightenment is difficult, and seeking the bodhisattva's own practice afterward is harder still — so seek a good spiritual friend without weariness, without ever feeling you have had enough. And then, for the first time, he names a name: the monk Virtue-Cloud.
Four Rules for Seeking a Good Friend
Mañjuśrī's counsel narrows to four concrete instructions: never weary of the search itself, never feel satisfied once a good spiritual friend is found, follow every one of their instructions, and never perceive fault in whatever skillful means they use.
爾時，文殊師利菩薩說此頌已，告善財童子言：「善哉善哉！善男子！汝已發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，求菩薩行。善男子！若有眾生能發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，是事為難；能發心已，求菩薩行，倍更為難。「善男子！若欲成就一切智智，應決定求真善知識。善男子！求善知識勿生疲懈，見善知識勿生厭足，於善知識所有教誨皆應隨順，於善知識善巧方便勿見過失。
At that time, once Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva had spoken this verse, he told the boy Good-Wealth, saying: "Excellent, excellent! Good son! You have already given rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, and you seek the bodhisattva's own practice. Good son! If there is any sentient being able to give rise to the mind of unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, this in itself is difficult; and having given rise to this mind, to then seek the bodhisattva's own practice is more difficult still. Good son! If you wish to accomplish the wisdom of all-knowing wisdom itself, you should resolutely seek out a true and good spiritual friend. Good son! In seeking a good spiritual friend, give rise to no weariness or laxity; upon meeting a good spiritual friend, give rise to no dissatisfaction or sense of having had enough; toward every instruction a good spiritual friend gives, you should follow along in accord with it entirely; and toward a good spiritual friend's own skillful means, do not perceive any fault."
於善知識善巧方便勿見過失 — toward a good spiritual friend's own skillful means, do not perceive any fault. This fourth instruction anticipates something the rest of Good-Wealth's journey will bear out again and again: a teacher's methods will not always look, on the surface, like what a student expects a teacher to do.
A Name, at Last
After two full Parts of praise and counsel, Mañjuśrī finally answers the practical half of Good-Wealth's question with a place and a name: south of here, the country of Victorious-Joy; within it, Wondrous-Peak Mountain; upon it, a monk called Virtue-Cloud.
「善男子！於此南方有一國土，名為：勝樂；其國有山，名曰：妙峯；於彼山中，有一比丘，名曰：德雲。汝可往問：菩薩云何學菩薩行？菩薩云何修菩薩行？乃至菩薩云何於普賢行疾得圓滿？德雲比丘當為汝說。」
"Good son! To the south of here there is a country, named: Victorious-Joy; and in that country there is a mountain, named: Wondrous-Peak; and on that mountain, there is a monk, named: Virtue-Cloud. You may go and ask him: how does a bodhisattva study the bodhisattva's own practice? How does a bodhisattva cultivate the bodhisattva's own practice? And on up to: how does a bodhisattva swiftly bring Samantabhadra's own practice to completion? The monk Virtue-Cloud shall speak of this for you."
於此南方有一國土，名為：勝樂 — to the south of here there is a country, named: Victorious-Joy. This single sentence sets the entire remainder of the sūtra in motion: a direction, a country, a mountain, a name. Everything that follows for the rest of this fascicle, and for fascicles still to come, unfolds from this one piece of geography.
Part 901 Complete
This continues chapter thirty-nine, 入法界品, in fascicle sixty-two. Part 902 turns to Good-Wealth's own departure — bowing in tears of joy, traveling south, and searching Wondrous-Peak Mountain for seven days before finally finding Virtue-Cloud himself.