Why It Is Called the Ground of Joy
Vajragarbha explains the name in thirty clauses: nine kinds of abundant joy that arise directly from what this ground has already accomplished, nine further reflections on what is yet to come, nine more on the ordinary life just left behind, and — closing this section — the five fears that vanish the instant a bodhisattva stops believing there is a self left to protect.
Nine Kinds of Joy, and Nine Recollections of What Is Yet to Be Attained
經曰：諸佛子！是菩薩住菩薩歡喜地中，成就多歡喜、多信敬、多愛念、多慶悅、多調柔、多踊躍、多堪受、多不壞他意、多不惱眾生、多不瞋恨。
論曰：歡喜者名為心喜，體喜根喜。是歡喜有九種：一者敬歡喜，於三寶中恭敬故，如經「多信敬」故。二者愛歡喜，樂觀真如法，如經「多愛念」故。三者慶歡喜，自覺所證挍量勝，如經「多慶悅」故。四者調柔歡喜，自身心遍益成就，如經「多調柔」故。五者踊躍歡喜，自身心遍益增上滿足，如經「多踊躍」故。六者堪受歡喜，自見至菩提近，如經「多堪受」故。七者不壞歡喜，自心調伏，論義解說時心不擾動，如經「多不壞他意」故。八者不惱歡喜，教化他、攝取眾生時慈悲調柔，如經「多不惱眾生」故。九者不瞋歡喜，見諸眾生不如說修行、威儀不正時，忍不瞋故，如經「多不瞋恨」故。已說多歡喜，次說以何念故歡喜成？是第二十句、第三十句說。是念有二種：一、念當得；二、念現得。何者念當得？
經曰：諸佛子！菩薩住是歡喜地中，念諸佛故生歡喜心、念諸佛法故生歡喜心、念諸菩薩摩訶薩故生歡喜心、念諸菩薩所行故生歡喜心、念諸波羅蜜清淨相故生歡喜心、念諸菩薩地挍量勝故生歡喜心、念諸菩薩力不退故生歡喜心、念諸如來教化法故生歡喜心、念能利益眾生故生歡喜心、念入一切如來智行故生歡喜心。
論曰：云何念？如佛所得我亦當得，如是念。此念佛有九種：一者念佛法，如經「念諸佛法故生歡喜心」。二者念佛菩薩，如經「念諸菩薩摩訶薩故生歡喜心」。三者念佛行，如經「念諸菩薩所行故生歡喜心」。四者念佛淨，如經「念諸波羅蜜清淨相故生歡喜心」。五者念佛勝，如經「念諸菩薩地挍量勝故生歡喜心」。六者念佛不退，如經「念諸菩薩力不退故生歡喜心」。七者念佛教化，如經「念諸如來教化法故生歡喜心」。八者念佛利益，如經「念能利益眾生故生歡喜心」。九者念佛入，如經「念入一切如來智行故生歡喜心」。於中初二念，共念佛，如佛所得我亦當得故。念佛法，念諸佛法故，佛、佛法二故。念佛菩薩二，念諸菩薩故。念佛行，念諸菩薩行故。如是次第餘有六句，念佛淨，念諸波羅蜜清淨相故。念佛勝念，諸菩薩地挍量勝故。念佛不退，念諸菩薩力不退故。念佛教化，念諸如來教化法故。念佛利益，念能利益眾生故。
念佛入，念入一切如來智行故。隨所顯彼菩薩行。以何顯？如是諸念應知。復何顯？彼波羅蜜淨顯。云何顯？彼菩薩行地挍量勝，轉去故，地盡去故。於中餘者，得教化法故，作利益眾生行不虛故，入如來地行故。是中念佛行者亦總亦別。已說念當得故生歡喜心，次說念現得故生歡喜心。
Sūtra: Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, dwelling within the bodhisattva's Ground of Joy, accomplishes abundant joy, abundant faith and reverence, abundant love and recollection, abundant delight, abundant gentleness, abundant exultation, abundant capacity, abundant freedom from disturbing others' minds, abundant freedom from troubling sentient beings, and abundant freedom from anger.
Commentary: "Joy" means the joy of mind, the joy of essence, and the joy of root. This joy is of nine kinds. First, the joy of reverence: because of reverence toward the Three Jewels — as the sūtra says, "abundant faith and reverence." Second, the joy of love: delighting in contemplating the dharma of suchness — as the sūtra says, "abundant love and recollection." Third, the joy of delight: awakening of oneself to the realization one has attained, compared and measured as superior — as the sūtra says, "abundant delight." Fourth, the joy of gentleness: one's own body and mind pervasively benefited and accomplished — as the sūtra says, "abundant gentleness." Fifth, the joy of exultation: one's own body and mind pervasively benefited, increased, and fulfilled — as the sūtra says, "abundant exultation." Sixth, the joy of capacity: seeing for oneself that one has drawn near to enlightenment — as the sūtra says, "abundant capacity." Seventh, the joy of being unshaken: one's own mind tamed, so that when discussing and expounding doctrine the mind is never disturbed — as the sūtra says, "abundant freedom from disturbing others' minds." Eighth, the joy of not troubling: when teaching and transforming others, gathering in sentient beings, one's compassion is gentle — as the sūtra says, "abundant freedom from troubling sentient beings." Ninth, the joy of freedom from anger: seeing sentient beings who do not practice as taught, or whose deportment is improper, one is forbearing and free of anger — as the sūtra says, "abundant freedom from anger." Having now explained abundant joy, next this explains through what reflection this joy is accomplished — spoken of in the second set of ten clauses and the third set of ten clauses. This reflection is of two kinds: reflecting on what is yet to be attained, and reflecting on what has already been attained. What is reflecting on what is yet to be attained?
Sūtra: Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva dwelling within this Ground of Joy gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the buddhas; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the buddha-dharmas; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the practice of the bodhisattvas; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the pure mark of the perfections; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the superiority of the bodhisattva grounds, compared and measured; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the irreversibility of the bodhisattvas' power; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the tathāgatas' dharma of teaching and transformation; gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the benefiting of sentient beings; and gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting entry into every tathāgata's wisdom and practice.
Commentary: What is this recollection? Reflecting, "what the Buddha has attained, I too shall attain" — this is the reflection meant. This recollection of the Buddha is of nine kinds. First, recollecting the buddha-dharmas — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the buddha-dharmas." Second, recollecting the buddha's bodhisattvas — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas." Third, recollecting the buddha's practice — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the practice of the bodhisattvas." Fourth, recollecting the buddha's purity — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the pure mark of the perfections." Fifth, recollecting the buddha's superiority — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the superiority of the bodhisattva grounds, compared and measured." Sixth, recollecting the buddha's irreversibility — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the irreversibility of the bodhisattvas' power." Seventh, recollecting the buddha's teaching and transformation — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the tathāgatas' dharma of teaching and transformation." Eighth, recollecting the buddha's benefiting — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting the benefiting of sentient beings." Ninth, recollecting the buddha's entry — as the sūtra says, "gives rise to a joyful mind through recollecting entry into every tathāgata's wisdom and practice." Of these, the first two recollections together recollect the Buddha, in the sense that "what the Buddha has attained, I too shall attain." Recollecting the buddha-dharmas means recollecting the buddha-dharmas, since the Buddha and the buddha-dharmas are two. Recollecting the buddha's bodhisattvas is two-fold, meaning recollecting the bodhisattvas. Recollecting the buddha's practice means recollecting the bodhisattvas' practice. In this same order, the remaining six clauses follow: recollecting the buddha's purity means recollecting the pure mark of the perfections; recollecting the buddha's superiority means recollecting the superiority of the bodhisattva grounds, compared and measured; recollecting the buddha's irreversibility means recollecting the irreversibility of the bodhisattvas' power; recollecting the buddha's teaching and transformation means recollecting the tathāgatas' dharma of teaching and transformation; recollecting the buddha's benefiting means recollecting the benefiting of sentient beings;
and recollecting the buddha's entry means recollecting entry into every tathāgata's wisdom and practice. In accordance with what is thus made manifest, that bodhisattva's practice is shown. By what is it shown? It should be understood through these very recollections. And what further is shown? The purity of the perfections is shown. In what manner is it shown? Through that bodhisattva's practice at each ground, compared and measured as superior, advancing onward until the grounds are entirely surpassed. Among the rest: attaining the dharma of teaching and transformation; the practice of benefiting sentient beings being never in vain; and entering into the practice of the tathāgata's own ground. Here, "recollecting the buddha's practice" is both universal and particular. Having now explained giving rise to a joyful mind through reflecting on what is yet to be attained, next this explains giving rise to a joyful mind through reflecting on what has already been attained.
Huiyuan sorts the nine kinds of joy into three grades of directness, matching the treatise's own opening gloss — 歡喜者名為心喜，體喜根喜, "joy means the joy of mind, the joy of essence, and the joy of root" — to specific clauses rather than leaving the triad unexplained: the first two (reverence and love) are only 喜行心，非正喜體 — "the mental activity of joy, not joy's true essence" — since reverence and delight in contemplation are preparatory states rather than joy itself; the next three (delight, gentleness, exultation) are 正是喜心之體 — "precisely the essence of the mind of joy" — the direct experience the whole passage is naming; and the final four, beginning with capacity, describe joy's downstream effects, with the very last three specifically addressing how this joy manifests toward others (not disturbing them in debate, not troubling them while teaching, not resenting them when they fail to practice well). The nine-part list, on this reading, is not a flat inventory of nine similar feelings but a structured progression from joy's causes, through joy itself, to joy's visible fruits.
On why the treatise turns to recollecting what is "yet to be attained" before what has "already been attained" — the reverse of what might seem the more natural order, celebrating what one has just accomplished before looking further ahead — Huiyuan's account of the underlying logic is direct: 如佛所得我亦當得，如是念 — "reflecting, 'what the Buddha has attained, I too shall attain' — this is the reflection meant." Every one of the nine recollections here follows this identical structure, holding up some aspect of a buddha's own attainment (the buddha-dharmas, the buddha's practice, the buddha's irreversibility) as a future one's own recollection projects toward, rather than dwelling on the ground one already occupies. This distinguishes it cleanly from the section that follows immediately after, where the same word "recollection" instead surveys, in the past tense, the ordinary life a bodhisattva has already left behind — future-facing aspiration first, retrospective assessment second, a sequencing that keeps the newly arisen joy oriented forward even while accounting for what has changed behind it.
Nine Recollections of What Has Been Left Behind, and the Five Fears That Vanish
經曰：諸佛子！菩薩復作是念：我轉離一切世間境界故生歡喜心、近入如來所故生歡喜心、遠離凡夫地故生歡喜心、近到智慧地故生歡喜心、斷一切惡道故生歡喜心、與一切眾生作依止故生歡喜心、近見一切諸佛故生歡喜心、生諸佛境界故生歡喜心、入一切菩薩真如法故生歡喜心、我離一切怖畏毛竪等事故生歡喜心。
論曰：我轉離一切世間境界者，轉離一切凡夫取著事。此轉離有九種：一者入轉離，如經「近入如來所故生歡喜心」。二者遠轉離，如經「遠離凡夫地故生歡喜心」。三者近至轉離，如經「近到智慧地故生歡喜心」。四者斷轉離，如經「斷一切惡道故生歡喜心」。
五者依止轉離，如經「與一切眾生作依止故生歡喜心」。六者近見轉離，如經「近見一切諸佛故生歡喜心」。七者生轉離，如經「生諸佛境界故生歡喜心」。八者平等轉離，如經「入一切菩薩真如法故生歡喜心」。九者捨轉離，如經「我離一切怖畏毛竪等事故生歡喜心」。於中入轉離者，顯事不相似故。遠轉離近至轉離者，示自身不相似故。餘有六句，斷轉離、依止轉離、近見轉離、生轉離、平等轉離、捨轉離，如是次第行不相似故，迭相依止不相似故，他力不相似故，處不相似故，生業不相似故，成就不相似故。怖畏者，不愛疑慮憂想共心相應故。復身相差別，謂毛竪等事。次說何者是怖畏。云何怖畏因？遠離此因無怖畏故。
經曰：所以者何？是菩薩摩訶薩得歡喜地已，所有諸怖畏即皆遠離，所謂不活畏、惡名畏、死畏、墮惡道畏、大眾威德畏，離如是等一切諸畏。何以故？是菩薩離我想故，尚不貪身，何況所用之事，是故無有不活畏。心不悕望供養恭敬，我應供養一切眾生、供給一切所須之具，是故無有惡名畏。遠離我見，無我想故無有死畏。又作是念，我若死已，生必不離諸佛菩薩，是故無有墮惡道畏。我所志樂，一切世間身心無與等者，何況有勝，是故無有大眾威德畏。諸佛子！菩薩如是離諸怖畏毛竪等事。
論曰：此五怖畏是初地障，復說地利益勝。是五怖畏，第一第二第五依身口意，第三第四依身。依身者，愛憎善道惡道，捨得依身故。何故但說五怖畏？打縛等諸畏皆五所攝故。此怖畏因，略有二種：一、邪智妄取想見愛著故；二、善根微少故。此對治，如經「離我想故，尚不貪身乃至無有大眾威德畏」故。怖畏毛竪等事，何故二處說？前說身怖畏，後說異身怖畏故。
Sūtra: Sons of the Buddha! The bodhisattva further reflects thus: I have turned away from and left behind every worldly object-realm — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I have drawn near to and entered the abode of the Tathāgata — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I am far removed from the ground of the ordinary person — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I have drawn near to the ground of wisdom — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I have cut off every evil destiny — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I have become a support for every sentient being — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I have drawn near to seeing every buddha — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I am born within the domain of the buddhas — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; I have entered into every bodhisattva's dharma of suchness — through this I give rise to a joyful mind; and I am free of every fear, of the standing of hair on end, and the like — through this I give rise to a joyful mind.
Commentary: "I have turned away from and left behind every worldly object-realm" means turning away from and leaving behind every matter an ordinary person grasps and clings to. This turning-away-and-leaving-behind is of nine kinds. First, the turning-away of entry — as the sūtra says, "I have drawn near to and entered the abode of the Tathāgata — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Second, the turning-away of distance — as the sūtra says, "I am far removed from the ground of the ordinary person — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Third, the turning-away of drawing near — as the sūtra says, "I have drawn near to the ground of wisdom — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Fourth, the turning-away of cutting off — as the sūtra says, "I have cut off every evil destiny — through this I give rise to a joyful mind."
Fifth, the turning-away of becoming a support — as the sūtra says, "I have become a support for every sentient being — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Sixth, the turning-away of drawing near to seeing — as the sūtra says, "I have drawn near to seeing every buddha — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Seventh, the turning-away of birth — as the sūtra says, "I am born within the domain of the buddhas — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Eighth, the turning-away of equality — as the sūtra says, "I have entered into every bodhisattva's dharma of suchness — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Ninth, the turning-away of relinquishing — as the sūtra says, "I am free of every fear, of the standing of hair on end, and the like — through this I give rise to a joyful mind." Of these, the turning-away of entry makes manifest that the matter itself is not truly alike to before; the turning-away of distance and the turning-away of drawing near show that one's own person is not truly alike. The remaining six clauses — the turning-away of cutting off, the turning-away of becoming a support, the turning-away of drawing near to seeing, the turning-away of birth, the turning-away of equality, and the turning-away of relinquishing — show, in this same sequence, that the practice is not truly alike, that mutual support is not truly alike, that another's power is not truly alike, that the place is not truly alike, that the karmic activity of birth is not truly alike, and that the accomplishment is not truly alike. "Fear" means being unloving, apprehensive, and worried, arising together with the mind; and further, a distinct bodily mark, namely the standing of hair on end and the like. Next this explains what these fears are. What is the cause of fear? Because, once free of this cause, there is no fear.
Sūtra: Why is this? Because, once this bodhisattva-mahāsattva has attained the Ground of Joy, every fear he had is thereby left behind entirely — namely, the fear of not surviving, the fear of a bad reputation, the fear of death, the fear of falling into an evil destiny, and the fear of an assembly's awesome majesty — free of every such fear. Why is this? Because this bodhisattva, free of the notion of a self, does not even cherish his own body, still less whatever he makes use of — and this is why he has no fear of not surviving. His mind holds no expectation of offerings or reverence; rather, he thinks, "I myself should make offerings to every sentient being, providing whatever they may need" — and this is why he has no fear of a bad reputation. Far removed from the view of a self, having no notion of a self, he has no fear of death. He further reflects, "Should I die, in my next birth I will surely never be separated from the buddhas and bodhisattvas" — and this is why he has no fear of falling into an evil destiny. What he himself aspires to and delights in has no equal, in body or mind, among all beings of the world — how much less could there be anyone superior to it — and this is why he has no fear of an assembly's awesome majesty. Sons of the Buddha! In this way, a bodhisattva is free of every fear, of the standing of hair on end, and the like.
Commentary: These five fears are hindrances belonging to the First Ground, and further, this passage speaks of the benefit and superiority of this ground. Of these five fears, the first, second, and fifth depend on body, speech, and mind; the third and fourth depend on the body. "Depend on the body" means that love and hatred, the good destinies and the evil destinies, and relinquishing and grasping, all depend on the body. Why does it speak of only five fears? Because every other fear, such as the fear of beating or binding, is entirely encompassed within these five. The cause of this fear is, in brief, of two kinds: false views and craving-attachment arising from mistaken wisdom's grasping at notions; and a paucity of roots of goodness. The antidote to this is as the sūtra says, "free of the notion of a self, he does not even cherish his own body... down to... he has no fear of an assembly's awesome majesty." Why does the standing of hair on end and the like get spoken of in two separate places? Because the earlier passage spoke of bodily fear, while this later passage speaks of fear distinct from the body.
Huiyuan draws a direct structural line between this ninefold "turning away" and the eightfold "passing beyond" that closed the earlier section on dwelling, treating them as the same underlying claim examined twice from different angles: both lists insist that an apparently ordinary continuity — the same body, walking the same roads — conceals a discontinuity so total that the old categories no longer genuinely apply. Where the earlier eight terms compared the arising of bodhicitta to birth into a new family, here the nine terms work in reverse, cataloguing what has been left behind rather than what has been entered — and Huiyuan is careful to note that six of the nine explicitly repeat the earlier list's own vocabulary of non-resemblance (行不似, "the practice is not truly alike"; 他力不似, "another's power is not truly alike"; 處不似, "the place is not truly alike," and so on down the same set of categories: family, lineage, path, essence, place, activity, and destiny). The same eightfold analysis from dwelling is functioning here as the deep structure beneath a passage that could otherwise look like an unrelated second list.
On the five fears, Huiyuan is precise that the treatise names exactly these five not because no other fears exist, but because every other fear reduces to one of them: 打縛等諸畏皆五所攝故 — "every other fear, such as the fear of beating or binding, is entirely encompassed within these five." More significant, on his reading, is what the sūtra's own explanation for each fear's disappearance actually says: not that the bodhisattva has become powerful enough to no longer need to fear these things, nor that circumstances have changed so that the threats no longer apply, but that the specific notion of self each fear depends on has simply stopped being held. The fear of not surviving depended on cherishing a body there is no longer a self to cherish; the fear of death depended on a view of self there is no longer a view to hold; even the fear of an assembly's awesome majesty depended on a self capable of being outmatched, and that self is what has gone. Huiyuan's summary is exact about where the cause of fear actually lies: 邪智妄取想見愛著故 — "false views and craving-attachment arising from mistaken wisdom's grasping at notions" — a claim about what generates fear in the first place, not merely about what happens to counteract it once it has already arisen.
Part 8 Complete
This closes Part 8, and with it the entire explanation of the name: why this ground is called the Ground of Joy, through thirty clauses spanning nine kinds of joy directly experienced, nine recollections of the buddhahood still to come, nine recollections of the ordinary life just left behind, and the five fears that vanish the instant the self they depended on is no longer held. Part 9 turns to the third and final division of this section of exposition — abiding — where a bodhisattva's arousal of bodhicitta is shown to require thirty further clauses of its own: faith, practice, and dedication, each sustaining what the previous two divisions have already described.
Continue to Part 9 — Abiding: Faith, Practice, and Dedication →