The Whole World Is Nothing but Thought

The Buddha's own power is immeasurable, and this too is just the same, like empty space itself, without any boundary at all; so that living beings may attain liberation, through a hundred million kalpas they diligently cultivate, never growing weary. In every kind of way they reflect upon the wondrous merit, skillfully cultivating the unsurpassed, foremost karma; toward every supreme practice they never once let go, single-mindedly intent on bringing forth the all-knowing wisdom.

From a single body they display immeasurable bodies, filling every world entirely and completely; their mind is pure, without discrimination, and such is the inconceivable power in a single thought. Toward every world they make no discrimination, and toward every dharma they hold no false thought; though they contemplate every dharma, they grasp at none of it, and they forever save living beings while crossing no one over at all.

The whole world is nothing but a projection of thought, and within it every kind of distinction appears; knowing the realm of thought to be both perilous and deep, they manifest spiritual powers in order to save and liberate beings. Just as a master of illusion wields his own sovereign power, so too are a bodhisattva's own spiritual transformations; their body fills the Dharma-realm and empty space itself, and there is not one living being's mind that fails to see them.

Subject and object, the two sides of discrimination, are both left behind; defilement and purity — of neither do they grasp anything at all; whether bound or liberated, their wisdom forgets the distinction entirely, wishing only to universally give happiness to living beings. The whole world is nothing but the power of thought; with wisdom they enter it, their mind without fear; reflecting upon every dharma, it is likewise so — searched for across the three periods of time, not one of them can be found.

They are able to enter the past, exhausting its furthest limit; they are able to enter the future, exhausting its furthest limit; they are able to enter every place within the present, forever diligently contemplating that there is nothing at all to be found. Following the tranquil, extinguished Dharma of nirvāṇa, they abide in a state without contention and without reliance; their mind is like the very reality-limit, with nothing at all to compare to it, single-mindedly turned toward bodhi, never to turn back.

Cultivating every supreme practice, they never retreat or falter; abiding settled in bodhi, they are never shaken; the buddhas, the bodhisattvas, and the world itself — throughout the whole Dharma-realm, all of it is entirely clear to them. Whoever wishes to attain the most supreme, foremost path, to become the very king of liberation through the all-knowing wisdom, should swiftly give rise to the mind of bodhi, forever exhausting every defilement to benefit the multitudes of beings.

The mind that turns toward bodhi is pure, and its merit is vast and expansive, beyond all telling; for the benefit of living beings, I now proclaim and describe it — all you worthy ones should listen well. Grind immeasurable worlds entirely into motes of dust, and within each and every mote there are immeasurable lands; the buddhas within them, too, are all immeasurable, and every one of them can be clearly seen, grasping at none of it.

Skillfully knowing living beings, they hold no notion of their arising; skillfully knowing language, they hold no notion of speech; toward every world their mind meets no obstruction, and they thoroughly and skillfully understand it all, clinging to nothing at all. Their mind is vast and expansive, like empty space; toward every matter across the three periods of time they are entirely clear and penetrating; every doubt and confusion is entirely removed and dissolved, and they rightly contemplate the buddha-dharma, grasping at none of it.

To the immeasurable lands of the ten directions, in a single thought they go, their mind clinging to nothing at all; thoroughly comprehending the many dharmas of suffering in the world, they abide entirely in the unborn, true reality-limit. To the immeasurable, inconceivable places of every buddha, they go entirely to those very assemblies to pay their respects; forever taking the foremost place, they ask the Tathāgata about the vows and practices a bodhisattva cultivates.

Their mind forever holds in memory the buddhas of the ten directions, and yet relies upon nothing at all, grasps at nothing at all; they forever urge living beings to plant wholesome roots, and adorn their lands, causing them to become pure. Every living being throughout the three realms of existence they contemplate entirely with an unobstructed eye; whatever habitual tendencies, faculties, and understanding there are, immeasurable and boundless, they see all of it clearly.