The First Ground Complete
A bodhisattva's insatiable questioning of every ground is likened to a caravan guide who asks about the whole road before a single step is taken; a king who never loses himself in his own kingship, his every act of state bound to mindfulness of the Three Jewels; and, closing the entire First Ground, the boundless spiritual powers a bodhisattva's own vow makes possible — before the treatise turns, at last, to Vimalā, the Ground Free of Defilement.
The Fruit of Advancing Forth: The Caravan Guide
經曰：復次諸佛子！菩薩摩訶薩住此菩薩歡喜地，於初地中諸相得果，應從諸佛菩薩善知識所推求請問成地諸法無有厭足。如是菩薩住初地中，應從諸佛菩薩善知識所推求請問第二地中諸相得果成地諸法無有厭足，如是第三第四第五第六第七第八第九第十地中諸相得果，應從諸佛菩薩善知識所推求請問成十地法無有厭足。是菩薩善知諸地障對治、善知地成壞、善知地相、善知地得修、善知地清淨分、善知地地轉行、善知地地住處、善知地地挍量勝智、善知地得不退轉、善知一切菩薩地清淨轉入如來智地。諸佛子！菩薩如是善起地相，發於初地不住意成乃至轉入十地，無障礙故。以得十地智慧光明故，能得諸佛智慧光明。諸佛子！譬如善巧導師，多將人眾向彼大城。未發之時應先問道中利益諸事，復問道中退患過咎，復問道處中間勝事，復問道處中間退患過咎。具道資糧，作所應作，推求請問。未發初處，是大導師乃至善知到彼大城。未發初處，此導師能以智慧思惟籌量，具諸資用令無所乏，正導眾人乃至得到大城，於嶮道中免諸患難，身及眾人皆無憂惱。諸佛子！菩薩摩訶薩善巧導師亦復如是，住於初地善知地障對治，乃至善知一切菩薩地清淨轉入如來智地。爾時菩薩具大福德助道資糧、善擇智慧助道，欲將一切眾生向薩婆若大城。未發初處，應先問地道功德，復問諸地退患，復問地道處中間勝事，復問地道處中間退患。具大功德智慧資糧，作所應作，應從諸佛菩薩善知識所推求請問。未發初處，是菩薩善知地障對治，乃至善知能到薩婆若大城。未發初處，菩薩如是智慧分別具大功德智慧資糧，將一切眾生如應教化，出過世間嶮難惡處，乃至令住薩婆若大城，不為世間生死嶮過所染，身及眾生無諸衰惱。諸佛子！是故菩薩摩訶薩常應心不疲惓勤修諸地業勝智本行。諸佛子！是名略說菩薩摩訶薩入初菩薩歡喜地門，廣說則有無量百千萬億阿僧祇事。
論曰：諸相者，隨諸地中所有諸障及對治相故。得者，證出世間智故。果者，因證智力得世間出世間智故。成地諸法者，所謂信等，為滿足彼故。有五種方便：一、觀方便；二、得方便；三、增上方便；四、不退方便；五、盡至方便。觀方便者，障對治成壞善巧，如經「是菩薩善知諸地障對治故、善知地成壞故，十種地障對治故，名為十地」。如本分中說，如是次第集故成、散故壞。得方便者，欲入方便、已入方便，彼勝進方便，如經「善知地相故、善知地得修故、善知地清淨分」故。增上方便者，地地轉行、地地住處、地地增長善巧，如經「善知地地轉行故、善知地地住處故、善知地地挍量勝智」故。不退方便者，如經「善知地得不退轉」故。
盡至方便者，菩薩地盡入如來地善巧，如經「善知一切菩薩地清淨轉入如來智地」故。諸佛子譬如善巧導師多將人眾向彼大城者，令得正行故。於中導師者，有二種方便：一者不迷道方便，於道路中是利是退患，於道路處是勝是過咎，皆善巧知。如經「先問道中利益諸事故，復問道中退患過咎故，復問道處中間勝事故，復問道處中間退患過咎」故。二者資具利益方便，如經「具道資糧，作所應作」故。云何攝報果利益勝？
Sūtra: Furthermore, sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, dwelling in this bodhisattva's Ground of Joy, is never satisfied in seeking out, from the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and good spiritual friends, the marks, realizations, and fruit belonging to the First Ground, together with the dharmas that accomplish this ground. And this bodhisattva, dwelling in the First Ground, is likewise never satisfied in seeking out the marks, realizations, and fruit belonging to the Second Ground, together with the dharmas that accomplish it; and likewise, for the Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Grounds' marks, realizations, and fruit, he is never satisfied in seeking out, from the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and good spiritual friends, the dharmas that accomplish all ten grounds. This bodhisattva well knows the hindrance and antidote belonging to every ground; well knows the formation and disintegration of every ground; well knows the mark of every ground; well knows the realization and cultivation of every ground; well knows the pure portion of every ground; well knows the turning from ground to ground; well knows the abiding-place of every ground; well knows the comparative excellence and wisdom of every ground; well knows the irreversibility of every ground; and well knows the pure turning of every bodhisattva ground into the ground of the tathāgatas' own wisdom. Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva who thus well gives rise to the mark of the grounds, setting out from the First Ground, his mind unmoved, all the way through his turning into the Tenth Ground, is free of obstruction — and, through attaining the light of wisdom of the ten grounds, he is able to attain the light of wisdom of every buddha. Sons of the Buddha! It is like a skillful guide, leading a great multitude of people toward a great city. Before setting out, he first asks about every beneficial matter along the road, and further asks about every danger and fault along the road; he further asks about the excellent places partway along the road, and further asks about the dangers and faults partway along the road. Having equipped himself with provisions for the road, and having done whatever should be done, he seeks and inquires. Before he sets out, this great guide already well knows how to reach that great city. Before he sets out, this guide is able, through wisdom, to reflect and consider, equipping every provision so that nothing is lacking, rightly guiding the multitude all the way to the great city, avoiding every danger along the perilous road, so that neither he nor the multitude suffers any distress. Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, this skillful guide, is just the same: dwelling in the First Ground, he well knows the hindrance and antidote of every ground, all the way to well knowing the pure turning of every bodhisattva ground into the ground of the tathāgatas' own wisdom. At that time, this bodhisattva, equipped with the provisions of great merit that assist the path and the wisdom of skillful discernment that assists the path, wishes to lead every sentient being toward the great city of omniscience. Before setting out, he first asks about the merit of the path of the grounds, and further asks about every danger along the grounds; he further asks about the excellent places partway along the path of the grounds, and further asks about the dangers partway along the path of the grounds. Having equipped himself with the provisions of great merit and wisdom, and having done whatever should be done, he seeks and inquires from the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and good spiritual friends. Before he sets out, this bodhisattva already well knows the hindrance and antidote of every ground, all the way to well knowing how to reach the great city of omniscience. Before he sets out, a bodhisattva, thus discerning through wisdom and equipped with the provisions of great merit and wisdom, leads every sentient being, teaching and transforming them as is fitting, out beyond the perilous, evil places of the world, all the way to causing them to abide in the great city of omniscience, untainted by the perilous faults of birth-and-death in the world, so that neither he nor any sentient being suffers any affliction. Sons of the Buddha! This is why a bodhisattva-mahāsattva should constantly, with an untiring mind, diligently cultivate the karmic activities of every ground, the very root of supreme wisdom. Sons of the Buddha! This is what is briefly called a bodhisattva-mahāsattva's gateway into entering the First Ground, the bodhisattva's Ground of Joy; spoken of at length, it would be boundless hundreds of thousands of myriad asaṃkhyeya matters.
Commentary: "Marks" refers to the hindrances and their antidotes present within every ground. "Realization" means realizing supramundane wisdom. "Fruit" means, through the power of realized wisdom as cause, attaining both worldly and supramundane wisdom. "The dharmas that accomplish the ground" refers to faith and the rest, for the sake of fulfilling them. There are five kinds of skillful means: the skillful means of contemplation; the skillful means of realization; the skillful means of increase; the skillful means of irreversibility; and the skillful means of ultimate arrival. The skillful means of contemplation means the skillful mastery of the hindrance, its antidote, formation, and disintegration — as the sūtra says, "this bodhisattva well knows the hindrance and antidote of every ground," and "well knows the formation and disintegration of every ground" — "through the antidote to the ten kinds of hindrance belonging to the grounds, they are called the ten grounds," as explained in the section of the outline; in this same sequence, gathering together is formation, and dispersing is disintegration. The skillful means of realization means the skillful means of about to enter and of having already entered, and the skillful means of further advancement — as the sūtra says, "well knows the mark of every ground," "well knows the realization and cultivation of every ground," and "well knows the pure portion of every ground." The skillful means of increase means the skillful mastery of turning from ground to ground, the abiding-place of every ground, and the increase of every ground — as the sūtra says, "well knows the turning from ground to ground," "well knows the abiding-place of every ground," and "well knows the comparative excellence and wisdom of every ground." The skillful means of irreversibility is as the sūtra says, "well knows the irreversibility of every ground."
The skillful means of ultimate arrival means the skillful mastery of the exhaustion of every bodhisattva ground and entry into the ground of the tathāgatas — as the sūtra says, "well knows the pure turning of every bodhisattva ground into the ground of the tathāgatas' own wisdom." "Sons of the Buddha, it is like a skillful guide, leading a great multitude of people toward a great city" means causing them to attain correct practice. Here, the guide has two kinds of skillful means: first, the skillful means of not losing the way, knowing skillfully whether, along the road, there is benefit or danger, and whether, at any place along the road, there is excellence or fault — as the sūtra says, "he first asks about every beneficial matter along the road, and further asks about every danger and fault along the road; he further asks about the excellent places partway along the road, and further asks about the dangers and faults partway along the road." Second, the skillful means of the benefit of provisions — as the sūtra says, "having equipped himself with provisions for the road, and having done whatever should be done." What is the excellence of the fruit and benefit of gathered retribution?
Huiyuan reads the caravan-guide simile as a precise, four-part structure — asking, knowing, being able to practice, and being able to arrive (問、知、能行、能到) — with only the second of the four, knowing, actually corresponding to what this passage calls "advancing forth": 正取知為發趣，知是見解，能趣向故 — "what is properly taken as 'advancing forth' is knowing specifically, since knowing is insight, and insight is what enables one to advance toward the next ground." Asking exists only to produce that knowing; being able to practice and being able to arrive are what that knowing then makes possible, cited in the passage to demonstrate what the knowing is worth, not because they are themselves part of "advancing forth" in the narrow sense. He also catches a question a careful reader might raise about the passage's own internal logic: if a bodhisattva has just completed the First Ground, why does the text have him inquire about the First Ground's own marks, realizations, and fruit all over again, rather than moving straight to asking about the second? His answer distinguishes two layers within any single ground's own accomplishment — 自分，當地所成 (what is proper to this ground, already accomplished here) and 勝進，於地滿中仰修二地方便之道 (further advancement, cultivated in anticipation of the next ground's skillful means even while still completing this one) — so that what is being asked about, even while phrased as "the First Ground," is in fact the forward-looking portion of that ground's own content, the part oriented toward what comes next rather than the part already settled.
On why this particular fruit — advancing forth — belongs uniquely to the First Ground and not, by the same logic, to every other ground a bodhisattva eventually completes, Huiyuan's answer turns on what kind of seeing is available at each stage: 此地見道於他地中照見分明，堪能趣入，故此論之。餘非見道，廢而不辨 — "this ground is the path of seeing, and with respect to every other ground it illumines them with clarity, being capable of advancing into them — and this is why it is discussed here. The other grounds are not the path of seeing, and so this is not separately discussed for them." The First Ground alone offers the specific kind of clear-sighted anticipation of what lies ahead that makes "advancing forth" a distinct fruit worth naming; later grounds, built on cultivation rather than this initial clarity of vision, do not generate the same forward-looking fruit in the same explicit way — not because nothing comes after them, but because what comes after is reached differently.
The Fruits of Gathered Retribution and of Vow and Wisdom — The First Ground Complete
經曰：菩薩摩訶薩住此初地，多作閻浮提王，豪貴自在常護正法，能以大施攝取眾生，善除眾生慳貪嫉妬之垢，常行大捨而無窮盡。
所作善業，布施、愛語、利益、同事，是諸福德皆不離念佛、不離念法、不離念僧、不離念諸菩薩、不離念菩薩行、不離念諸波羅蜜、不離念十地、不離念不壞力、不離念無畏、不離念佛不共法，乃至不離念具足一切種一切智智。常生是心：我當於一切眾生中為首為勝、為大為妙為微妙、為上為無上、為導為將、為師為尊，乃至為一切智智依止者。諸佛子！是菩薩摩訶薩若欲捨家勤行精進，於佛法中便能捨家妻子五欲。得出家已勤行精進，於一念間得百三昧、得見百佛、知百佛神力，能動百佛世界、能入百佛世界、能照百佛世界、能教化百佛世界眾生、能住壽百劫、能知過去未來世各百劫事、能善入百法門、能變身為百，於一一身能示百菩薩以為眷屬。
論曰：攝報果利益勝者，有二種：一、在家果；二、出家果。在家果復有二種：一者上勝身，閻浮提王等，如經「菩薩摩訶薩住此初地多作閻浮提王，豪貴自在常護正法」故。二者上勝果，善巧調伏慳貪嫉妬等，如經「能以大施攝取眾生，善除眾生慳貪嫉妬垢」等。能以大施攝取眾生者，自行布施善勸他施，攝取眾生善轉眾生慳嫉之垢，方便善巧以四攝法攝取眾生故。不離念佛等者，示現不離念自利益事。如是諸念於事中行已，成大恭敬除諸妄想。此念略有四種：一者上念，念三寶故；二者同法念，念諸菩薩故；三者功德念，念自身他身菩薩行自體轉勝故；四者求義念，念諸力等此是真實究竟故。何者是上念？念佛等，念佛法等故。於施者受者財物及菩提，不生分別不取著故。如是一切所作業中，作者不著、境界不著、作事不著、果報不著，以此一切諸行皆願迴向大菩提故。為首者，有二種：一者勝首，光明功德故；二者大首，獨無二故。勝者，有二種：一者妙智，自在勝故；二者微妙，離一切煩惱自在勝故。大者，有二種：一者上，無與等故；二者無上，無能過故。如是顯示自體功德故。導者，於阿含中分別法義正說故。將者，令他證得義滅諸煩惱故。師者，教授令入正道故。乃至一切智智依止者，以大菩提道教化故。是名在家菩薩攝報果利益勝。復次出家菩薩禪定勝業。勝業有二種：一者三昧勝，所謂於一念間得百三昧，得三昧自在力故。二者三昧所作勝，謂見百佛等。以得是三昧力故，於十方諸佛及佛所加諸菩薩所修習智慧故。能動百佛世界者，令可化眾生生正信故。能入百佛世界、能照百佛世界、能教化百佛世界眾生者，往至及見正化眾生故。能住壽百劫者，攝取勝生故。
能知過去未來世各百劫事者，化諸眾生作離惡上首，說善惡業道故。能善入百法門者，為增長自智慧，思惟種種法門義故。能變身為百，於一一身能示百菩薩以為眷屬者，作多利益速疾行故。云何願智果利益勝？
經曰：若以願力自在勝上，菩薩願力示現過於此數，示種種神通，或身、或光明、或神通、或眼、或境界、或音聲、或行、或莊嚴、或加、或信、或業，是諸神通乃至無量百千萬億那由他劫不可數知。
論曰：於中身者，是一切菩薩行根本所依故。依彼身故有光明及神通，依光明有天眼，以有天眼見前境界。一切眼有五種應知。依神通有音聲及行莊嚴加等。音聲者，應彼言說故。行者，遍至十方故。莊嚴者，作種種應現故。加者，神力加彼故。信者，依三昧門現神通力，隨眾生信利益成就故。業者，依慧眼所攝陀羅尼門現說法故。略說一切諸地各有因體果相應知。
Sūtra: A bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwelling in this First Ground often becomes a king of Jambudvīpa, noble, of high rank, self-mastering, constantly protecting the true Dharma, able to gather sentient beings through great giving, well removing sentient beings' own taint of stinginess, greed, and envy, constantly practicing great renunciation without ever exhausting it.
The wholesome deeds he performs — giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and cooperative work — every one of these merits is never apart from mindfulness of the buddhas, never apart from mindfulness of the Dharma, never apart from mindfulness of the monastic assembly, never apart from mindfulness of every bodhisattva, never apart from mindfulness of the bodhisattva's own practice, never apart from mindfulness of every perfection, never apart from mindfulness of the ten grounds, never apart from mindfulness of unbreakable power, never apart from mindfulness of fearlessness, never apart from mindfulness of the unshared buddha-dharmas, all the way to never apart from mindfulness of being complete in the wisdom of all modes, the wisdom of omniscience. He constantly gives rise to this thought: among all sentient beings, I shall be foremost, I shall be supreme, I shall be great, I shall be sublime, I shall be exceedingly sublime, I shall be highest, I shall be unsurpassed, I shall be a guide, I shall be a leader, I shall be a teacher, I shall be one held in honor, all the way to being the very support of the wisdom of omniscience. Sons of the Buddha! Should this bodhisattva-mahāsattva then wish to leave home and diligently exert himself, within the buddha-dharma he is thereupon able to leave home, his wife and children, and the five desires behind. Having gone forth into homelessness, diligently exerting himself, within a single thought-moment he attains a hundred samādhis, is able to see a hundred buddhas, comes to know the spiritual power of a hundred buddhas, is able to shake a hundred buddha-worlds, is able to enter a hundred buddha-worlds, is able to illumine a hundred buddha-worlds, is able to teach and transform the sentient beings of a hundred buddha-worlds, is able to dwell in life for a hundred eons, is able to know the affairs of a hundred eons each in the past and the future, is able to enter skillfully into a hundred Dharma-gates, and is able to transform his own body into a hundred bodies, manifesting, within each and every one of those hundred bodies, a hundred bodhisattvas as its own retinue.
Commentary: The excellence of the fruit and benefit of gathered retribution is of two kinds: the fruit of the householder, and the fruit of the one gone forth. The fruit of the householder is, again, of two kinds: first, a supreme, superior body, that of a king of Jambudvīpa and the like — as the sūtra says, "a bodhisattva-mahāsattva dwelling in this First Ground often becomes a king of Jambudvīpa, noble, of high rank, self-mastering, constantly protecting the true Dharma"; second, a supreme, superior fruit, skillfully taming stinginess, greed, envy, and the rest — as the sūtra says, "able to gather sentient beings through great giving, well removing sentient beings' own taint of stinginess, greed, and envy," and the rest. "Able to gather sentient beings through great giving" means that, himself practicing giving, he well exhorts others to give as well, gathering in sentient beings and well transforming sentient beings' own taint of stinginess and envy, through skillful means gathering in sentient beings by means of the four means of attraction. "Never apart from mindfulness of the buddhas" and the rest make manifest that he is never apart from mindfulness of what benefits himself. Once these various forms of mindfulness have been carried out in actual matters, they accomplish a state of great reverence, free of every false thought. This mindfulness is, in brief, of four kinds: first, supreme mindfulness, mindfulness of the Three Jewels; second, mindfulness of the same Dharma, mindfulness of every bodhisattva; third, mindfulness of merit, mindfulness that the bodhisattva-practice of both his own person and others' persons, and its own essence, turns ever more excellent; and fourth, mindfulness that seeks the meaning, mindfulness of every power and the rest, since this is what is truly ultimate. What is supreme mindfulness? Mindfulness of the buddhas and the rest, mindfulness of the buddha-dharmas and the rest. With respect to the giver, the receiver, the material object, and enlightenment itself, he gives rise to no discrimination and no attachment. In this way, within every deed he performs, he is free of attachment to the agent, free of attachment to the object-realm, free of attachment to the act performed, and free of attachment to the fruit of retribution — since he dedicates every one of these practices, entirely, toward great enlightenment. "Foremost" is of two kinds: first, the supreme foremost, through radiant merit; second, the great foremost, since he is unique, without a second. "Supreme" is of two kinds: first, sublime wisdom, through the supremacy of self-mastery; second, exceedingly sublime, through the supremacy of self-mastery in being free of every affliction. "Great" is of two kinds: first, highest, since none is his equal; second, unsurpassed, since none can surpass him. This makes manifest the merit of his own essence in this way. "Guide" means correctly teaching, discerning the meaning of the Dharma within scriptural transmission. "Leader" means causing others to realize this meaning and extinguish every affliction. "Teacher" means instructing others so that they enter the correct path. "All the way to the very support of the wisdom of omniscience" means teaching and transforming through the path of great enlightenment. This is called the excellence of the fruit and benefit of gathered retribution belonging to a householder bodhisattva. Further, the one gone forth has the supreme karmic activity of meditative concentration. This supreme karmic activity is of two kinds: first, the supremacy of samādhi — namely, attaining a hundred samādhis within a single thought-moment, attaining the power of self-mastery in samādhi; second, the supremacy of what samādhi accomplishes — namely, seeing a hundred buddhas and the rest. Through attaining the power of this samādhi, he cultivates the wisdom of the buddhas of the ten directions and the bodhisattvas whom those buddhas have empowered. "Able to shake a hundred buddha-worlds" means causing the sentient beings to be transformed to give rise to correct faith. "Able to enter a hundred buddha-worlds, able to illumine a hundred buddha-worlds, able to teach and transform the sentient beings of a hundred buddha-worlds" means going to, and seeing, sentient beings correctly transformed. "Able to dwell in life for a hundred eons" means gathering in a superior birth.
"Able to know the affairs of a hundred eons each in the past and the future" means transforming sentient beings, becoming their guide in leaving evil behind, teaching them the paths of wholesome and unwholesome karma. "Able to enter skillfully into a hundred Dharma-gates" means, for the sake of increasing his own wisdom, reflecting on the meaning of manifold Dharma-gates. "Able to transform his own body into a hundred bodies, manifesting, within each and every one of those hundred bodies, a hundred bodhisattvas as its own retinue" means bringing about manifold benefit through swift action. What is the excellence of the fruit and benefit of vow and wisdom?
Sūtra: Should he, through the power of vow, be self-mastering and supreme, a bodhisattva's power of vow manifests beyond even this number, manifesting all manner of spiritual power — whether of body, or of radiance, or of spiritual power itself, or of the eye, or of the object-realm, or of voice, or of activity, or of adornment, or of empowerment, or of faith, or of karmic function — every one of these spiritual powers, throughout boundless hundreds of thousands of myriad koṭis of niyutas of eons, beyond all counting or knowing.
Commentary: Here, "body" is what every bodhisattva practice fundamentally depends on. In dependence on that body, there is radiance and spiritual power; in dependence on radiance, there is the divine eye; and, having the divine eye, one sees the object-realm before oneself. Every eye should be understood to be of five kinds. In dependence on spiritual power, there is voice, activity, adornment, empowerment, and the rest. "Voice" means responding through speech. "Activity" means reaching pervasively throughout the ten directions. "Adornment" means manifesting all manner of responsive forms. "Empowerment" means empowering others through spiritual power. "Faith" means, in dependence on the gate of samādhi, manifesting spiritual power in accordance with sentient beings' own faith, accomplishing their benefit. "Karmic function" means, in dependence on the gate of dhāraṇī encompassed by the eye of wisdom, manifesting the teaching of the Dharma. In brief, every ground, respectively, has its cause, its essence, and its fruit — this should be understood.
Huiyuan reads the fourfold mindfulness closing the fruit of gathered retribution — supreme mindfulness of the Three Jewels, mindfulness of fellow bodhisattvas, mindfulness of merit's own increase, and mindfulness that seeks the ultimate meaning — as the mechanism by which worldly kingship is kept from becoming a spiritual liability rather than an asset. A bodhisattva who becomes an actual king of Jambudvīpa holds every ordinary lever of power a king holds; what keeps this from being simply worldly success dressed in Buddhist language is that every single act of statecraft remains tethered to these four forms of recollection, so that governing itself becomes indistinguishable from practice. He is equally precise about the string of self-descriptions that follows — foremost, supreme, great, sublime, highest, unsurpassed — insisting each pair names something distinct rather than piling up synonyms for emphasis: 勝者，有二種：一者妙智，自在勝故；二者微妙，離一切煩惱自在勝故 — "'supreme' is of two kinds: sublime wisdom, through the supremacy of self-mastery, and exceedingly sublime, through the supremacy of self-mastery specifically in being free of every affliction" — the first naming a general mastery, the second naming that same mastery applied specifically to freedom from affliction. What could read as royal boasting is, on this account, a carefully differentiated inventory of exactly which qualities a bodhisattva-king actually possesses and why each one matters.
On the seven kinds of spiritual manifestation closing the entire First Ground — body, radiance, spiritual power proper, the eye, the object-realm, voice, activity, adornment, empowerment, faith, and karmic function — Huiyuan traces a dependency chain rather than a flat list: body grounds radiance and spiritual power; radiance grounds the divine eye; the divine eye grounds seeing the object-realm; and spiritual power itself grounds voice, activity, adornment, empowerment, faith, and karmic function, the last of these — 依慧眼所攝陀羅尼門現說法故, "manifesting the teaching of the Dharma in dependence on the gate of dhāraṇī encompassed by the eye of wisdom" — closing the chain by returning, through teaching, to the very wisdom the chain began from. The treatise's own final line for the whole First Ground — 略說一切諸地各有因體果相應知, "in brief, every ground, respectively, has its cause, its essence, and its fruit; this should be understood" — is offered as a formula meant to carry forward through all nine remaining grounds, not a summary specific to this one alone: whatever else changes from ground to ground, each will still be organized around its own cause, its own essence, and its own fruit, a structural constant beneath the ten grounds' otherwise wildly differing content.
Part 14 Complete — Pramuditā, the Ground of Joy, Now Entirely Translated
This closes Part 14, and with it the entire First Ground: Pramuditā, the Ground of Joy. Fourteen parts, from Vajragarbha's naming and the buddhas' light through the ten great vows, the ten inexhaustible clauses, the three contemplations behind great compassion, the Great Renunciation, and the fourfold fruit of comparative excellence, have now translated the whole of fascicles one through three of this twelve-fascicle treatise. Part 15 turns to Vimalā, the Ground Free of Defilement — the Second Ground, where Jingying Huiyuan's own surviving commentary continues in full before breaking off partway through the Third Ground, at which point this collection's reading notes will shift to Fazang's 華嚴經探玄記.
Continue to Part 15 — Vimalā, the Ground Free of Defilement →