The Three Masteries and the Ten Bodies

Sūtra: Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, having attained the bodhisattva's Eighth Ground, from great skillful, expedient wisdom gives rise to a mind of effortless action, and, dwelling within the bodhisattva's own path, contemplates the power of the wisdom of omniscience — namely, contemplating the formation of world-systems, and contemplating the destruction of world-systems. This bodhisattva, according with the world's own formation, knows it just as it is; according with the world's own destruction, knows it just as it is. According with the gathering together of karmic causes and conditions, he likewise knows that the world is thereby formed; according with the exhaustion of karmic causes and conditions, he likewise knows that the world is thereby destroyed. According with how long the world takes to be formed, he likewise knows it; according with how long the world takes to be destroyed, he likewise knows it. According with how long the world, once formed, abides, he likewise knows it; according with how long the world, once destroyed, abides in its destruction, he likewise knows it. This bodhisattva knows the small mark of the realm of earth, knows the great mark of the realm of earth, knows the boundless mark of the realm of earth, and knows the distinct mark of the realm of earth. This bodhisattva knows the small mark of the realm of water, knows the great mark of the realm of water, knows the boundless mark of the realm of water, and knows the distinct mark of the realm of water. This bodhisattva knows the small mark of the realm of fire, knows the great mark of the realm of fire, knows the boundless mark of the realm of fire, and knows the distinct mark of the realm of fire. This bodhisattva knows the small mark of the realm of wind, knows the great mark of the realm of wind, knows the boundless mark of the realm of wind, and knows the distinct mark of the realm of wind. This bodhisattva knows the subtle mark of every particle of dust, its coarse mark, its boundless mark, and knows its distinct mark. Whatever world-system it may be, the gathering and scattering of every particle of dust within it, and every distinction among these particles, he is entirely able to know. Whatever world-system it may be, however many particles of dust make up the realm of earth there, he is entirely able to know; however many particles of dust make up the realm of water there, he is entirely able to know; however many particles of dust make up the realm of fire there, he is entirely able to know; however many particles of dust make up the realm of wind there, he is entirely able to know; however many particles of dust make up the bodies of sentient beings there, he is entirely able to know; and however many particles of dust make up the body of that land itself, he is entirely able to know. This bodhisattva knows how many particles of dust the coarse bodies and subtle bodies of every sentient being, in their distinctions, are made of; knows how many particles of dust the body of a hell-being depends upon and is made of; knows how many particles of dust the body of an animal depends upon and is made of; knows how many particles of dust the body of a hungry ghost depends upon and is made of; knows how many particles of dust the body of an asura depends upon and is made of; knows how many particles of dust the body of a god depends upon and is made of; and knows how many particles of dust the body of a human being depends upon and is made of. This bodhisattva, having thoroughly penetrated and entered wisdom that discriminates particles of dust in this way, knows the formation of the realm of desire, knows the formation of the realm of form, and knows the formation of the formless realm; knows the destruction of the realm of desire, knows the destruction of the realm of form, and knows the destruction of the formless realm; knows the small mark of the realm of desire, knows the great mark of the realm of desire, knows the boundless mark of the realm of desire, and knows the distinct mark of the realm of desire; knows the small mark of the realm of form, knows the great mark of the realm of form, knows the boundless mark of the realm of form, and knows the distinct mark of the realm of form; knows the small mark of the formless realm, knows the great mark of the formless realm, knows the boundless mark of the formless realm, and knows the distinct mark of the formless realm — and in this way enters into the wisdom that reflects upon the three realms.

This bodhisattva, further well arousing the light of wisdom, well knows the distinctions among the bodies of sentient beings, well knows how to discriminate the bodies of sentient beings, and well contemplates the place where each ought to be born. This bodhisattva, according with the place of birth of sentient beings and according with the karma gathered by the bodies of sentient beings, takes on a body accordingly, for the sake of teaching and transforming sentient beings. This bodhisattva manifests his own body filling an entire great trichiliocosm, and, according with the various distinctions among the bodies of sentient beings, in this way, according with their place of birth, gives rise to radiance directly present — whether within two great trichiliocosms, or three, four, or five, or ten, twenty, thirty, forty, or fifty, or a hundred great trichiliocosms, or a thousand, or a myriad, or a hundred myriads, or a thousand myriads, or a hundred thousand myriads, or a koṭi of myriads, or a hundred thousand myriads of koṭis of niyutas, all the way to boundless, limitless, ineffable, and inconceivable great trichiliocosms — his body filling every one of them, and, according with the differing confidence of sentient beings themselves in such a place of birth, giving rise to radiance directly present, according with wisdom. This bodhisattva, having accomplished wisdom such as this, within a single buddha-land, his body unmoved and unshaken, and all the way to ineffable buddha-lands, gives rise, within every assembly, to radiance directly present.

Commentary: "Mastery over the receptacle-world" has five kinds of mastery: first, according with whatever the mind desires, he is able to manifest it, and able not to manifest it; second, according with whatever he desires to know, he is able to manifest it; third, according with whenever he desires to know, he manifests it at that very time; fourth, according with however broad or narrow he desires his knowledge to be, he is able to manifest it; and fifth, according with however much the mind desires to know, he is able to manifest it. As the sūtra says, from "Son of the Buddha! This bodhisattva, having attained the bodhisattva's Eighth Ground, from great skillful, expedient wisdom gives rise to a mind of effortless action, and, dwelling within the bodhisattva's own path, contemplates the power of the wisdom of omniscience," all the way to "according with the world's own destruction, knows it just as it is." This formation and destruction of world-systems and the rest belongs to the first kind of mastery within mastery over the receptacle-world: according with whatever the mind desires, he is able to manifest it, and able not to manifest it. "According with the gathering together of karmic causes and conditions, he likewise knows that the world is thereby formed; according with the exhaustion of karmic causes and conditions, he likewise knows that the world is thereby destroyed" — this wisdom of the gathering and exhaustion of karma is the second kind of mastery: according with whatever he desires to know, he is able to manifest it. From "according with how long the world takes to be formed" all the way to the fourth clause, "according with how long the world, once destroyed, abides in its destruction, he likewise knows it" — this wisdom of how long the world takes to be formed and the rest is the third kind of mastery: according with whenever he desires to know, he manifests it at that very time. From "this bodhisattva knows the small mark of the realm of earth" all the way to "knows how many particles of dust the body of a human being depends upon and is made of" — this wisdom of the distinct marks of earth and the rest is the fourth kind of mastery: according with however broad or narrow he desires his knowledge to be, he is able to manifest it. From "this bodhisattva enters into wisdom that discriminates particles of dust in this way" all the way to the wisdom of radiance directly present and of formation and destruction, and all the way to "within a single buddha-land, his body unmoved and unshaken" — this is the fifth kind of mastery: according with however much the mind desires to know, he is able to manifest it.

Here, within the sequence of the realm of earth and the rest, there is the wisdom of the object-realm and the wisdom of characteristic-marks. What is the wisdom of the object-realm? The object-realm of the retribution-consciousness belonging to a stage lacking concentration is called the small mark; the object-realm of the consciousness belonging to a stage of concentration is called the great mark; and the object-realm of the Tathāgata is called the boundless mark. What is the wisdom of characteristic-marks? Own-characteristic and shared characteristic are called the distinct mark. "Coarse body and subtle body" refers to sentient beings of the realm of form and of the formless realm and the rest; in just this sequence, there is the wisdom of the object-realm and the wisdom of characteristic-marks belonging to the realm of desire and the rest. Within the realm of desire, the object-realm of a human being is called the small mark, and that of a god is the great mark; within the realm of form, the object-realm accompanied by initial thought and sustained thought is the small mark, and that free of initial thought and sustained thought is the great mark; within the formless realm, in the buddha-dharma, the object-realm of an ordinary being is the small mark, that of a śrāvaka or a bodhisattva is the great mark, and the object-realm of every Tathāgata is the boundless mark. "Well knowing the distinctions among the bodies of sentient beings, well knowing how to discriminate the bodies of sentient beings" means well knowing that bodies are not the same, and should be understood as the skillful means of manifesting a body different from or the same as that of the beings being born. "Within every buddha-land, giving rise, within every assembly, to radiance directly present" means that the very body of the Dharma-body is manifest in place after place. In this way, mastery over the receptacle-world, within the purifying of buddha-lands, has now been explained. What, then, is mastery over the world of sentient beings?

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, according with the distinctions in the confidence of the bodies of sentient beings, and according with the distinctions in their settled confidence, within buddha-land after buddha-land, and within great assembly after great assembly, manifests his own body accordingly, in just this way. This bodhisattva, when among an assembly of śramaṇas, manifests the form and appearance of a śramaṇa; when among an assembly of brāhmaṇas, manifests the form and appearance of a brāhmaṇa; when among an assembly of kṣatriyas, manifests the form and appearance of a kṣatriya; when among an assembly of vaiśyas, manifests the form and appearance of a vaiśya; when among an assembly of śūdras, manifests the form and appearance of a śūdra; when among an assembly of householders, manifests the form and appearance of a householder; when among an assembly of elders, manifests the form and appearance of an elder; when among an assembly of the Four Heavenly Kings, manifests the form and appearance of the Four Heavenly Kings; when among an assembly of Śakra, manifests the form and appearance of Śakra. Likewise, when among an assembly of Yāma's heaven, when among an assembly of Tuṣita, when among an assembly of Nirmāṇarati, when among an assembly of Paranirmita-vaśavartin, when among an assembly of māras, and when among an assembly of Brahmā, manifests the form and appearance of Brahmā, all the way to, when among an assembly of the Akaniṣṭha heaven, manifesting the form and appearance of the Akaniṣṭha heaven.

This bodhisattva, toward whoever ought to be liberated through the body of a śrāvaka, manifests the form and appearance of a śrāvaka; toward whoever ought to be liberated through the body of a pratyekabuddha, manifests the form and appearance of a pratyekabuddha; toward whoever ought to be liberated through the body of a bodhisattva, manifests the form and appearance of a bodhisattva; toward whoever ought to be liberated through the body of a buddha, manifests the form and appearance of a buddha's own body. Son of the Buddha! In this way, within all the ineffable buddha-lands there are, according with the distinctions in the confidence and joy of the bodies of sentient beings, within buddha-land after buddha-land, he manifests his own body accordingly, in these very distinctions.

Commentary: "Mastery over the world of sentient beings" means that, through his own mastery in taming sentient beings, in his practice of teaching and transforming sentient beings he takes on the same task in body and mind as they do, manifesting his own body and mind in equal measure with theirs. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva, according with the distinctions in the confidence of the bodies of sentient beings" all the way to "within buddha-land after buddha-land, manifests his own body accordingly, in these very distinctions." In this way, mastery over the world of sentient beings has now been explained. What, then, is the mastery of wisdom and realization? It is the wisdom of ultimate meaning and the wisdom of worldly truth, and the rest.

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, departed far from every discrimination of bodily characteristics, attains the equality of bodies. This bodhisattva knows the body of sentient beings, knows the body of lands, knows the body of karmic retribution, knows the body of the śrāvaka, knows the body of the pratyekabuddha, knows the body of the bodhisattva, knows the body of the Tathāgata, knows the body of wisdom, knows the body of the Dharma, and knows the body of space.

This bodhisattva, knowing in this way the joy that arises in the deep mind of sentient beings, is able, whether by taking the body of sentient beings as his own body, or, likewise, the body of lands, the body of karmic retribution, the body of the śrāvaka, the body of the pratyekabuddha, the body of the bodhisattva, the body of the Tathāgata, the body of wisdom, the body of the Dharma, or the body of space, in each case to take it as his own body. This bodhisattva, knowing in this way the joy that arises in the deep mind of sentient beings, is able, whether by taking his own body and making it the body of sentient beings, or, likewise, making it the body of lands, the body of karmic retribution, the body of the śrāvaka, the body of the pratyekabuddha, the body of the bodhisattva, the body of the Tathāgata, the body of wisdom, the body of the Dharma, or the body of space, in each case to make it the body of sentient beings. This bodhisattva, knowing in this way the joy that arises in the deep mind of sentient beings, is able, within whatever body and whatever body, to act with mastery.

This bodhisattva knows the body of sentient beings as the body of gathered karma, the body of retribution, the body of affliction, the body of form, and knows the formless body.

This bodhisattva knows the small mark, the great mark, the boundless mark, the defiled mark, the pure mark, the vast mark, the mark of dwelling in disorder, the mark of dwelling inverted, and the mark of dwelling level and upright belonging to the body of lands, knows the distinct mark of their directional network, knows the distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of karmic retribution, the distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of the śrāvaka, the distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of the pratyekabuddha, and knows the distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of the bodhisattva.

This bodhisattva knows the body of the Tathāgata as the body of enlightenment, the body of vow, the body of transformation, the body that receives spiritual power, the body adorned with excellent marks, the body of radiance, the mind-made body, the body of merit, and the body of the Dharma, and knows the body of wisdom.

This bodhisattva well knows the body of wisdom in its mark of skillful reflection, its mark of well contemplating things just as they are, its mark of being gathered within fruit and practice, its mark of the distinction between the mundane and supramundane, its mark of the distinction among the three vehicles, its mark of the shared and the unshared, its mark of the vehicle and what is not a vehicle, and well knows its mark of the trainee and the one beyond training.

This bodhisattva knows the body of the Dharma in its mark of equality, knows its mark of the indestructible, knows its mark of the distinctions of provisional designation across changing times, its mark of the distinction between the dharmas of sentient beings and of what is not a sentient being, and knows its mark of the distinctions among the dharmas of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the noble Saṅgha.

This bodhisattva knows the body of space in its boundless mark, its all-pervading mark, its formless mark, its mark of being without difference, and its limitless mark, and knows the mark of the distinct differences of manifest, colored bodies.

Commentary: "The wisdom of ultimate meaning" means departing far from every discrimination of bodily characteristics, manifesting the attainment of the equality of bodies, since he does not discriminate between his own body and the bodies of others. As the sūtra says, "this bodhisattva, departed far from every discrimination of bodily characteristics, attains the equality of bodies." This is what makes manifest a wisdom of ultimate meaning not shared with the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha.

"The wisdom of worldly truth" means well knowing the defiled portion, the pure portion, and the non-dual portion of the body of sentient beings and the rest, well discriminating and knowing them. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva knows the body of sentient beings" all the way to "knows the body of space." Here, the cause that gives rise to both the world of sentient beings and the receptacle-world is karma and affliction, which is the defiled portion; the three vehicles are the pure portion. As for these three vehicles, according with what wisdom, according with what dharma are they known? That purity is manifested through wisdom and through the Dharma — and space itself is the non-dual portion.

"This bodhisattva, knowing in this way the joy that arises in the deep mind of sentient beings, is able, whether by taking the body of sentient beings as his own body," all the way to "taking the body of space as his own body," and the rest; "this bodhisattva, knowing in this way the joy that arises in the deep mind of sentient beings, is able, whether by taking his own body and making it the body of sentient beings," all the way to "making his own body the body of space," and the rest. Here, "taking the body of sentient beings as his own body" means that, within this very mastery, the practice of gathering-in that he performs is manifest in manifold ways.

Here, "the body of sentient beings" means that the distinctions of the defilement of karma, birth, affliction, and false discrimination, and the distinctions between the realm of form and the formless realm, are all known just as they are. As the sūtra says, "this bodhisattva knows the body of sentient beings as the body of gathered karma, the body of retribution, the body of affliction, the body of form, and knows the formless body."

"The body of lands" should be understood as the distinctions among a thousand and so forth of world-systems; the distinctions between pure and impure world-systems are all well discriminated and known, and the distinctions among vast world-systems and the rest are all well discriminated and known. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva knows the body of lands" all the way to "knows the distinct mark of their directional network." The meaning of "the vast mark" and the other clauses is as already explained within the First Ground. "The distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of karmic retribution, the śrāvaka, the pratyekabuddha, and the bodhisattva" means that own-characteristic and shared characteristic, in their distinctions, are discriminated through provisional designation, since there is no self and no person in any of them. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva knows the distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of karmic retribution" all the way to "knows the distinctions of provisional designation belonging to the body of the bodhisattva."

"This bodhisattva knows the body of the Tathāgata" means: manifesting the accomplishment of true enlightenment — this is the body of enlightenment; vowing to be born in Tuṣita Heaven — this is the body of vow; every buddha's own responsive transformation — this is the body of transformation; his own relics upholding the Dharma — this is the body that upholds them; every one of his genuine, retributive bodies — this is the body adorned with excellent marks; every radiance that gathers in and subdues sentient beings — this is the body of radiance; every mastery and liberation of mind, whether the same as or different from the mundane and the supramundane — this is the mind-made body; every unshared cause able to accomplish vast and great benefit — this is the body of merit; every unconditioned realm belonging to the Tathāgata — this is the body of the Dharma; and every unobstructed wisdom — this is the body of wisdom. It is for this reason that this wisdom is able to accomplish every task, and every distinction among these tasks it is entirely able to know. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva knows the body of the Tathāgata, the body of enlightenment" all the way to "knows the body of wisdom."

"This bodhisattva knows the body of wisdom" means that the distinctions among the wisdom of hearing and reflection, the wisdom of cultivation, the wisdom of fruit and practice, and the wisdom of the mundane and the supramundane, are all known just as they are. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva well knows the body of wisdom" all the way to "knows the mark of the trainee and the one beyond training."

"This bodhisattva knows the body of the Dharma in its mark of equality" means that boundless Dharma-gates make manifest a single, equal Dharma-body; that it is grasped just as it is heard; that, according with the faculties and nature of the sentient beings being transformed, it is taught with distinctions suited to the time; that there is the distinct mark of what has faculties and what has none; and that the distinctions of its own supreme mark are known — all of this he is entirely able to know. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva knows the body of the Dharma in its mark of equality" all the way to "knows its mark of the distinctions among the dharmas of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the noble Saṅgha."

"This bodhisattva knows the body of space" means knowing its inexhaustible mark, its all-pervading mark, its invisible mark, its unobstructed mark, and its unconditioned mark, and being able to receive throughout every colored mark on account of color, discriminating and entirely knowing all of this. As the sūtra says, from "this bodhisattva knows the body of space in its boundless mark" all the way to "knows the mark of the distinct differences of manifest, colored bodies." In this way, the three kinds of mastery belonging to the purifying of buddha-lands, within the Eighth Ground, have now been explained. Next will be explained the attainment of the ten kinds of mastery.