The Fifth Ground Complete

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, having accomplished practice in this way, teaches and transforms sentient beings through giving; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings through kind speech, beneficial action, and cooperative work; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by manifesting his own physical body; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by expounding the Dharma; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by widely displaying the spiritual matters of the bodhisattva's own practice; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by proclaiming the great matters of the buddhas; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by showing forth the faults and evils of the world; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by proclaiming the benefit of the buddhas' own wisdom; and he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by manifesting the adorned marks of great spiritual power and likewise expounding all manner of practice. This bodhisattva, having thus accomplished the skillful means of teaching and transforming sentient beings, his body and mind constantly advance toward the wisdom of the buddhas without regression or loss, and the practice of every root of goodness is constantly and diligently cultivated, turning ever more toward the supreme path.

Commentary: Here, the excellence of teaching and transforming sentient beings means teaching through the four means of attraction — as the sūtra says, "this bodhisattva, having accomplished practice in this way, teaches and transforms sentient beings through giving; he also teaches and transforms sentient beings through kind speech, beneficial action, and cooperative work." For the sake of cooperative work, according with sentient beings, he responds by transforming them as his own following — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by manifesting his own physical body." For sentient beings caught in doubt and confusion, the Dharma can be expounded to bring them to accomplishment — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by expounding the Dharma." For sentient beings who lack skillful means toward enlightenment — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by widely displaying the spiritual matters of the bodhisattva's own practice." For sentient beings grown weary of the Great Vehicle — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by proclaiming the great matters of the buddhas." For sentient beings who delight in the world — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by showing forth the faults and evils of the world." For sentient beings who do not believe in the Great Vehicle — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by proclaiming the benefit of the buddhas' own wisdom." For sentient beings without wisdom, he manifests spiritual power and adornment, displays all manner of practice, and with a single body shows boundless bodies, causing them, in this way, to give rise to resolute faith — as the sūtra says, "he also teaches and transforms sentient beings by manifesting the adorned marks of great spiritual power and likewise expounding all manner of practice." "This bodhisattva, having thus accomplished the skillful means of teaching and transforming sentient beings" is as already explained before. "His body and mind constantly advance toward the wisdom of the buddhas" means that, for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings, he seeks this supreme power. "Without regression or loss of the practice of every root of goodness" means that whatever merit and wisdom he attains is never lost through regression. "Constantly and diligently cultivated, turning ever more toward the supreme path" means that he wishes every practice he cultivates to increase and excel. This is called the excellence of teaching and transforming sentient beings. What, then, is the arising of a worldly wisdom, according with the world, that excels in the antidote to the hindrance of defilement?

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, for the benefit of sentient beings, well masters every worldly writing and treatise, seals, arithmetic and computation, treatises on the nature of stones and the like, and every medical formula for curing disease — namely, curing the disease of wasting and desiccation, curing the disease of madness, curing the disease of possession by ghosts, curing the disease of venomous curses, and the rest — whatever harms sentient beings, he is entirely able to cure, through spells, medicines, and the like. He masters the composing of treatises, scriptures, and writings, music, jest and laughter, amusement and entertainment, and the like; lands and cities, villages and dwellings, rivers, springs, ponds and streams, gardens, groves, flowers and fruit, medicinal herbs and forest trees, and the like; the properties of gold, silver, lapis lazuli, wish-fulfilling pearls, coral, amber, tridacna-shell, and agate, and every kind of jewel; the sun, the moon, the constellations, earthquakes, dreams, and every auspicious and inauspicious sign entering the body's every mark; the practice-ground of upholding the precepts, meditative concentration and spiritual power, the four immeasurable minds, and the four formless absorptions; every matter that does not trouble sentient beings, and every matter able to benefit sentient beings and bring them ease and joy. He brings all this forth out of compassion for sentient beings, gradually causing them to gain faith and enter the unsurpassed buddha-dharma.

Commentary: "A worldly wisdom according with the world" means the antidote to the hindrance of defilement — as the sūtra says, "this bodhisattva, for the benefit of sentient beings, well masters every worldly writing and treatise," and the rest. Here, writing and the rest serve as the antidote to four kinds of hindrance. The four kinds of hindrance are these: first, the hindrance of forgetting amid the matters one puts to use — taking and giving, entrusting and dispatching, hearing the Dharma and reflecting on its meaning, matters done and undone, matters already done and not yet done, matters that should be done and should not be done — the antidote to this is writing. Second, the hindrance of a false view and a feeble wisdom — through the treatise on causes and the treatise on sound, this twofold hindrance is countered — the antidote to this is treatises. Third, the hindrance of failing to safeguard what one has received — the antidote to this is the seal. Fourth, the hindrance of doubt arising in taking and giving — the antidote to this is arithmetic and computation. "Number" means one and one make two, two and two make four, and so forth; "computation" means one placed vertically and ten horizontally, and so forth. "Treatises on the nature of stones and the like" serve as the antidote to the hindrance of poverty. "Medical formulas for curing every disease" serve as the antidote to the hindrance of disease, the poisonous marks of sentient beings whose four elements are out of balance. "The disease of wasting and desiccation" and "the disease of madness" are marks of the four elements out of balance; "the disease of possession by ghosts" and the like are marks belonging to other sentient beings; "the disease of venomous curses" is likewise a matter of the four elements out of balance and likewise a mark belonging to other sentient beings, both the cause of disease and the cause of death — the antidote to this is spells, medicines, and the like. As for "the sun, the moon, the constellations, earthquakes, dreams, and every auspicious and inauspicious sign entering the body's every mark" — here there are only the marks seen in the sun and the like, since the sun and the rest are subsumed under the luminaries. "Entering" means entering the fruit of the eight karmic actions. "Every mark entering the body" means the conduct of desirable and undesirable fruit. As for "the practice-ground of upholding the precepts" and the rest — here, the practice-ground of upholding the precepts, meditative concentration and spiritual power, the four immeasurable minds, and the four formless absorptions, in this same order, counter the defilement of breaking the precepts, the defilement of greed and desire, the defilement of taking wrong refuge, the defilement of falsely practicing for merit, and the defilement of falsely cultivating liberation — explained in just this order, as the sūtra says, "treatises on the nature of stones and the like... spells, medicines, and the like." "Composing treatises, scriptures, and writings, music, jest and laughter, amusement and entertainment, and the like" serves as the antidote to the hindrance of worry and vexation. "Lands and cities... medicinal herbs and forest trees, and the like" serves as the antidote to the hindrance of finding no joy. "Gold, silver, lapis lazuli... every kind of jewel" counters the hindrance of being bound and confined, and the like. "The sun, the moon... every mark entering the body" counters the hindrance of the fault attached to the portion of retribution one has obtained, the cause of committing evil. "The practice-ground of upholding the precepts... the formless absorptions" are the antidote to five kinds of defilement. What are these five kinds of defilement? The defilement of breaking the precepts, and so forth, up to the defilement of falsely cultivating liberation. This arising of worldly wisdom is complete with four marks: first, being free of hindrance amid every other hindrance — as the sūtra says, "every matter that does not trouble sentient beings"; second, granting a joy free of fault — as the sūtra says, "every matter able to benefit sentient beings and bring them ease and joy"; third, the purity of what gives rise to it — as the sūtra says, "he brings this forth out of compassion for sentient beings"; fourth, the purity of what it is put to use for — as the sūtra says, "gradually causing them to gain faith and enter the unsurpassed buddha-dharma."

Sūtra: Sons of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, having dwelt in this bodhisattva's Sudurjayā, the Ground Difficult to Conquer, sees many buddhas. Through great spiritual power and the power of his great vows, he sees hundreds of buddhas, thousands of buddhas, hundreds of thousands of buddhas, hundreds of thousands of niyutas of buddhas, koṭis of buddhas, hundreds of koṭis of buddhas, thousands of koṭis of buddhas, hundreds of thousands of koṭis of buddhas, and hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of niyutas of buddhas — through great spiritual power and the power of his great vows. When this bodhisattva sees these buddhas, with a supreme, deep mind he makes offerings to them, reveres, honors, and praises them, presenting robes, food and drink, bedding, and medicine, every requisite entirely as offerings; and, with the supreme and sublime objects of delight belonging to the bodhisattvas, he makes offerings to the entire monastic assembly, dedicating this root of goodness, wishing for unsurpassed, perfect, complete enlightenment. Toward the buddhas he gives rise to a supreme mind of reverence, single-mindedly listening to the Dharma; having heard it, he upholds it and, in accordance with his own strength, practices it; within the buddha-dharma he goes forth from the household life; and, having gone forth, he listens to and receives the sūtra-teachings from the buddhas themselves and becomes a master of the Dharma, expounding the Dharma for others' benefit, attaining a dhāraṇī of ever more supreme, vast learning, and becoming an accomplished master of the Dharma.

This bodhisattva, at that time dwelling within this bodhisattva's Sudurjayā, throughout boundless hundreds of eons, these roots of goodness of his become ever more excellent, radiant, and pure; throughout boundless thousands of eons, boundless hundreds of thousands of eons, boundless hundreds of thousands of niyutas of eons, boundless koṭis of eons, boundless hundreds of koṭis of eons, boundless thousands of koṭis of eons, boundless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of eons, and boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of niyutas of eons, these roots of goodness of his become ever more excellent, radiant, and pure, and this bodhisattva accomplishes this Dharma of teaching and transforming sentient beings. Sons of the Buddha! It is like genuine gold that, polished with tridacna-shell, becomes ever more excellent in its radiant color, and pure. Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva, dwelling within this bodhisattva's Sudurjayā, these roots of goodness of his, through the power of reflection belonging to skillful, expedient wisdom, become ever more excellent, radiant, and pure; these roots of goodness of his wisdom are accomplished without regression, their reflection ever more excellent, and the roots of goodness of the lower grounds cannot equal them.

Sons of the Buddha! It is like the sun, the moon, the constellations, and the palaces of the heavenly beings, whose full and perfect halo of light is accomplished, indestructible, and cannot be moved by any wind. Just so, Sons of the Buddha! A bodhisattva, dwelling within this bodhisattva's Sudurjayā, these roots of goodness of his, through the power of reflection belonging to skillful, expedient wisdom, are accomplished without regression, and the worldly roots of goodness of every śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha cannot equal them. Among this bodhisattva's ten perfections, the perfection of meditative concentration now excels — the other perfections he does not fail to cultivate, but in accordance with his own strength and portion. Sons of the Buddha! This is what is briefly called a bodhisattva's Fifth Ground, the bodhisattva's Sudurjayā.

Should a bodhisattva dwell in this ground, he often becomes a king of Tuṣita Heaven, self-mastering in all that he does, subduing every heterodox teacher's false view, and causing sentient beings to abide in the truth of reality. 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, mindfulness of the Dharma, mindfulness of the monastic assembly, mindfulness of every bodhisattva, mindfulness of the bodhisattva's own practice, mindfulness of every perfection, mindfulness of the ten grounds, mindfulness of unbreakable power, mindfulness of fearlessness, 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.

Further, from this thought he sets forth diligent exertion. Through the power of this diligence, within a single thought-moment he attains a thousand koṭis of samādhis, sees a thousand koṭis of buddhas, knows the spiritual power of a thousand koṭis of buddhas, is able to shake a thousand koṭis of buddha-worlds, is able to enter a thousand koṭis of buddha-worlds, is able to illumine a thousand koṭis of buddha-worlds, is able to transform the sentient beings of a thousand koṭis of buddha-worlds, is able to dwell in life for a thousand koṭis of eons, is able to know the affairs of a thousand koṭis of eons each in the past and the future, is able to enter skillfully into a thousand koṭis of Dharma-gates, and is able to transform his own body into a thousand koṭis of bodies, manifesting, within each and every one of those bodies, a thousand koṭis of bodhisattvas as its own retinue. 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: "Attaining a dhāraṇī of ever more supreme, vast learning and becoming an accomplished master of the Dharma" — this is not the attainment of the dhāraṇī of meaning, since a mind of equanimity and purity is exceedingly difficult to attain. And, since delighting in supramundane wisdom while manifesting worldly wisdom is most difficult of all, he attains this dhāraṇī of vast learning and retention. This ground's light of wisdom makes manifest the matter of suchness itself realized — as the sūtra says, "Sons of the Buddha! It is like genuine gold... the roots of goodness of the lower grounds cannot equal them." As for the halo of the sun and moon: in dependence on scriptural transmission, the light of wisdom grows and increases, surpassing the wisdom of the previous ground — as the sūtra says, "Sons of the Buddha! It is like the sun, the moon... the worldly roots of goodness cannot equal them."