The Ninth Ground Complete

Sūtra: Son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva who thus well knows the unhindered wisdoms, dwelling securely in this Ninth Bodhisattva Ground, is called one who has attained the buddhas' own Dharma-treasury, able to become a great Dharma teacher. He attains the dhāraṇī of manifold meanings, the dhāraṇī of manifold dharmas, the dhāraṇī that gives rise to wisdom, the dhāraṇī of light, the dhāraṇī of good intention, the dhāraṇī of manifold wealth, the dhāraṇī of majestic virtue, the dhāraṇī of the unobstructed gate, the dhāraṇī of boundlessness, and attains the dhāraṇī of manifold meaning. Having attained dhāraṇī-gateways such as these, he fulfills ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand dhāraṇī-gateways. Just so, ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand skillful means of voice; just so, ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand boundless gateways of faith and delight, through which he expounds the Dharma, each with its own distinction. This bodhisattva, having attained ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand boundless dhāraṇī-gateways such as these, is able, in the presence of boundless buddhas, to listen to the Dharma and, having heard it, never forget it; and, according with the Dharma he has heard, he is able to proclaim it to others through boundless distinct gateways.

Commentary: Accomplishing retention is of ten kinds of dhāraṇī. First, the dhāraṇī of meaning — as the sūtra says, "he attains the dhāraṇī of manifold meanings." Second, the dhāraṇī of hearing — as the sūtra says, "he attains the dhāraṇī of manifold dharmas." Third, the dhāraṇī of wisdom — as the sūtra says, "the dhāraṇī that gives rise to wisdom." Fourth, the dhāraṇī that emits light — as the sūtra says, "the dhāraṇī of light." Fifth, the dhāraṇī that subdues others — as the sūtra says, "the dhāraṇī of good intention." Sixth, the dhāraṇī of making offerings to the tathāgatas, of giving, and of gathering in impoverished sentient beings — as the sūtra says, "he attains the dhāraṇī of manifold wealth." Seventh, the dhāraṇī that instructs and benefits sentient beings of narrow, inferior capacity within the great vehicle — as the sūtra says, "the dhāraṇī of majestic virtue." Eighth, the dhāraṇī of unbroken eloquence — as the sūtra says, "he attains the dhāraṇī of the unobstructed gate." Ninth, the dhāraṇī of inexhaustible, joyful exposition — as the sūtra says, "he attains the dhāraṇī of boundlessness." Tenth, the dhāraṇī of the joyful exposition of manifold meanings — as the sūtra says, "he attains the dhāraṇī of manifold meaning." And so on, according with whatever he has heard, expounding it through boundless distinctions — the remaining sūtra text of this kind, concerning the accomplishment of teaching, the accomplishment of question-and-answer, and the accomplishment of further reception, should be understood just as the sūtra itself states; since it is easy to understand, it is not further explained here. The rest is as already explained before.

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, in the presence of a single buddha, receives the Dharma through ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand dhāraṇī-gateways; and just as he listens to the Dharma from that one buddha, so too is it with every one of the boundless, limitless other buddhas. This bodhisattva, at the moment of paying reverent homage to the buddhas, is able to receive the illuminating gateway of the Dharma he has heard — unlike a śrāvaka of much learning, for, having attained the power of great dhāraṇī, he is able to retain what he has received for a hundred thousand eons. This bodhisattva, having attained a power of dhāraṇī and a power of unhindered, joyful exposition such as this, expounds the Dharma. When he expounds the Dharma, seated at the Dharma-seat, he pervades every trichiliocosm, expounding the Dharma according to each distinction of sentient beings' own minds. This bodhisattva's Dharma-seat — save only for the buddhas and the bodhisattvas who have received their consecration — is, among all seats, the most excellent, attaining boundless illumination of the Dharma. This bodhisattva, seated upon the Dharma-seat, at times expounds through a single sound, causing the entire great assembly to attain understanding entirely, and understanding is attained at once. At times he expounds through manifold sounds, causing the entire great assembly to attain, each their own, understanding, and understanding is attained at once. At times he simply emits light and expounds, causing the entire great assembly to attain, each their own, understanding of the Dharma, and understanding of the Dharma is attained at once. At times every one of his pores emits the sound of the Dharma; at times every material thing within the trichiliocosm emits the sound of the Dharma; at times a single sound pervades the entire dharma-realm, causing understanding everywhere; at times every sound, every voice, sustains and upholds the Dharma; at times, throughout every world, the songs and music and every sound all emit the sound of the Dharma; at times, within the sound of a single syllable, every distinction of the Dharma's own words, phrases, and sounds is expounded, each with its own difference; at times, within each and every one of the fine motes of dust composing the boundless earth, water, fire, and wind of inexpressible worlds, he is able to expound entirely the inexpressible Dharma-gateways contained within it. This bodhisattva — should every sentient being within a trichiliocosm, within a single thought-moment, all at once raise questions and objections, each and every one of these sentient beings raising questions and objections through boundless, distinct sounds, each person's question differing from every other's — this bodhisattva, within a single thought-moment, receives every one of these questions and objections entirely, and, through a single sound alone, causes every one of them to attain understanding. And so it is with two trichiliocosms, or three, four, five; or ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty; or a hundred trichiliocosms; or a thousand trichiliocosms; or ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, or a koṭi of trichiliocosms; or ten koṭis, a hundred thousand koṭis of niyutas; all the way to boundless, limitless, inexpressible, inexpressible trichiliocosms — should every sentient being filling them, within a single thought-moment, all at once raise questions and objections, each and every one of these sentient beings raising questions and objections through boundless, distinct sounds, each person's question differing from every other's — this bodhisattva, within a single thought-moment, receives every one of these questions and objections entirely, and, through a single sound alone, causes every one of them to attain understanding.

This bodhisattva, pervading and filling inexpressible, inexpressible worlds, expounds the Dharma for sentient beings according to their minds, according to their faculties, and according to their faith, since he has attained the illumination of the Dharma. Seeking the tathāgatas' own power, he fulfills the buddhas' own work, and becomes the very support relied upon by every sentient being.

This bodhisattva, redoubling his diligent exertion again and again, gathers in this illumination of wisdom. Should there be, within each and every hair-tip, a number of great assemblies of tathāgatas equal to the fine motes of dust in inexpressible, inexpressible worlds, with a buddha present within each, expounding the Dharma; and should each and every one of these tathāgatas expound the Dharma for a number of sentient beings equal to the fine motes of dust in inexpressible, inexpressible worlds; and should there arise, within the mind of each and every one of these sentient beings, a number of minds equal to the fine motes of dust in inexpressible, inexpressible worlds — the tathāgatas, in just this way, bestow the Dharma-gateway according to each sentient being's own mind. And just as with a single buddha, so it is with every buddha present within each and every hair-tip. Throughout the entire dharma-realm in just this way, this bodhisattva gives rise, within it, to the power of great mindfulness, so that, within a single thought-moment, he receives from every buddha every illumination of the Dharma without losing a single phrase — how much more, then, the Dharma spoken to the sentient beings within every world.

This bodhisattva, dwelling within this bodhisattva's Sādhumatī Ground, becomes ever more excellent, day and night having no other thought but to enter the buddhas' own realm, constantly drawing near to every buddha, thoroughly penetrating the bodhisattva's own profound liberation. This bodhisattva, according with wisdom such as this, constantly enters samādhi, never departing from drawing near to the buddhas — and, within every single eon, sees boundless buddhas, boundless hundreds of buddhas, boundless thousands of buddhas, boundless hundreds of thousands of buddhas, boundless hundreds of thousands of niyutas of buddhas, boundless koṭis of buddhas, boundless hundreds of koṭis of buddhas, boundless thousands of koṭis of buddhas, boundless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of buddhas, and boundless hundreds of thousands of koṭis of niyutas of buddhas, drawing near to these buddhas with supreme, sublime offerings, revering, honoring, and praising them, and, in the presence of these buddhas, through manifold questions and objections, thoroughly penetrating the dhāraṇī of expounding the Dharma. This bodhisattva — these roots of goodness of his become ever more excellent, radiant, and pure. Son of the Buddha! It is like genuine gold that has been fashioned into an ornament and then fastened upon the neck or the crown of a wheel-turning sage king — no ornament belonging to any lesser king or to the people of the four continents is able to equal it. Just so, son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva, dwelling in this bodhisattva's Sādhumatī Ground, these roots of goodness of his become ever more excellent, radiant, and pure — no śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, or bodhisattva of a lower ground is able to destroy them. This bodhisattva's roots of goodness, becoming ever more radiant, are able to illumine the dense thicket-places of sentient beings' own afflicted minds, and, having illumined them, withdraw once more. Son of the Buddha! It is like a Great Brahmā King who is able to illumine every deep, dense thicket-place within two thousand worlds entirely.

Just so, son of the Buddha! A bodhisattva, dwelling in this bodhisattva's Sādhumatī Ground, the light of these roots of goodness of his illumines the dense thicket-places of every sentient being's own afflicted mind, and, having illumined them, withdraws once more. Among this bodhisattva's ten perfections, the perfection of power now excels — the other perfections he does not fail to cultivate, but in accordance with his own strength and portion. Son of the Buddha! This is what is briefly called a bodhisattva's Ninth Ground, the bodhisattva's Sādhumatī, the Ground of Excellent Wisdom; spoken of at length, throughout boundless eons, it could not be exhausted. Should a bodhisattva dwell in this ground, he often becomes a Great Brahmā Heaven King, attaining great power and sovereignty over two thousand worlds, self-mastering among the self-mastering, his true and correct understanding most excellent of all, well able to proclaim the practice of the perfections belonging to śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas — and, questioned and challenged by sentient beings, there is none able to exhaust him. 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 number of samādhis equal to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, sees a number of buddhas equal to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, knows the spiritual power of buddhas equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to shake worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to enter worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to illumine worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to transform the sentient beings of worlds equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to dwell in life for a number of eons equal to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to know the affairs of each past and future era equal in number to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, is able to enter skillfully into a number of Dharma-gateways equal to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, and is able to transform his own body into a number equal to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, manifesting, within each and every one of those bodies, a number of bodhisattvas equal to the fine motes of dust in ten asaṃkhyeya hundred-thousand buddha-lands, 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.