The Six Auspicious Signs

Commentary on the Words of the Sūtra of the Lotus Blossom of the Wondrous Dharma, Fascicle Two, Upper Part

Expounded by the Great Master Zhiyi of Tiantai

"Gavāṃpati" is translated "Bull-Chewer," literally "cow's cud." The Sūtra of Immeasurable Life calls him "Bull-King." The Ekottarika Āgama says: "Bull-Tracks — long ago, for five hundred lifetimes he was a bull-king, and whenever a bull has eaten, it habitually works its jaw uselessly afterward; that karmic residue not yet exhausted, he still constantly chews and champs, and people of his time therefore called him 'the Bull-Chewer.'" Long ago, among five hundred wild geese, one goose regularly obtained flowers and fruit to offer to the goose-king; when the Buddha, during one summer retreat, accepted the invitation of King Agnidatta, and the five hundred bhikṣus all had to subsist on horse-fodder barley, Gavāṃpati alone remained in the Śirīṣa Grove in the heavens, receiving the offerings of the heavenly king. The Ekottarika says: "Among those who delight to dwell in the heavens and take no delight in the human world, the bhikṣu Bull-Tracks is foremost." Delighting to dwell in the heavens is a matter of following his own inclination and desire — this is the mundane siddhānta; that this resulted from the merit of offering to the goose-king is the individual siddhānta; that he avoided the mockery of human beings is the therapeutic siddhānta; that the heavenly beings did not mock him is the siddhānta of ultimate meaning (and so on). It is also said: "People, seeing only outward form, do not perceive inner virtue; were they to mock an arhat, they would incur an offense by it — so, to avoid human mockery, he dwelt constantly in the heavens, where the gods, knowing his inner virtue, did not mock his outward form; hence he dwelt in the heavens." After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, when Kāśyapa gathered the thousand great arhats [for the First Council], he sent a junior monk as messenger to summon Gavāṃpati. Gavāṃpati asked him: "How are the Buddha and my preceptor?" The messenger answered: "Both have entered extinction." Gavāṃpati at once said: "When the Buddha arose, I arose; when the Buddha abided, I abided; when the Buddha entered extinction, I too enter extinction." He then, by his spiritual power, flowed as water into the presence of Mahākāśyapa, and from within the water spoke this verse (and so on): "The great elephant having already departed, the young elephant follows after; now that the World-Honored One and my preceptor have both entered extinction, what further purpose have I in remaining here?" This too is the siddhānta of ultimate meaning.

As for Gavāṃpati in terms of the teachings: his dwelling in the heavenly grove displays good, and his bovine chewing displays evil — this is the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching. That he attained the path even in a body given to bovine chewing shows that this "evil" is not truly evil; that he dwelt in the heavenly grove and yet still chewed shows that this "good" is not truly good — this is the sense of the shared teaching. To display good and evil both within and beyond the three realms is the sense of the distinct teaching. To display good and evil as themselves true reality is the sense of the perfect teaching.

As for trace and origin: in his origin, Gavāṃpati abides in the four fearlessnesses, dwelling securely as a sagely lord, like a bull-king in the heaven of ultimate meaning; in trace he manifests as the Bull-Chewer who delights to dwell among the gods.

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate the principle of the middle way in the nature of mind, advancing steadily and evenly, swift as the wind — this is the contemplation of the bull-king.

"Revata," also rendered "Raivata," is translated "Constellation," or also "Lodging-Constellation," or also "Provisional Aggregate." The Questions of Mañjuśrī Sūtra calls him "Ever Speaking." His parents prayed to the stars and constellations for a son, and since he was thus obtained through a response to the stars, they named him after a star; though he later went forth as a monk, he still kept his original name. As for "Provisional Aggregate": someone has cited the Treatise [on the Great Perfection of Wisdom], telling how he once lodged for the night in an empty pavilion and saw two demons quarreling over a corpse, and was asked to settle their dispute. He reasoned that whether he answered truthfully or falsely, he could not escape harm either way, and so he answered according to the facts. The greater demon then tore off his hands and feet, and the lesser demon took flesh from the corpse and fitted it onto him in their place; when they had finished eating and wiped their mouths, they departed. Because of this, he could no longer be certain whose body — his own original one, ridden with affliction, or this replaced one — was truly his, and hence he is called "Provisional Aggregate."

As for "Ever Speaking": doubting this experience, he wondered — if this is truly my original body, I myself saw it torn away and taken; and if this is another's body, it nevertheless now follows me in every movement and rest.

Doubting and hesitating, he would ask everyone he met: "Have you seen my body?" — hence he is called "Ever Speaking." The assembly of monks said: "This man is easy to lead to liberation," and told him: "Your body was originally another's remains; it was never truly your own." At this he immediately attained the path (and so on). The Ekottarika says: "Among those who sit in meditation and enter concentration without their minds becoming inverted or confused, the bhikṣu Revata is foremost."

As for Revata in terms of the teachings: to analytically break apart the five aggregates and thereby see that they are not one's own possession is the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching. To comprehend directly that the five aggregates were never truly one's own possession is the sense of the shared teaching.

To distinguish that, throughout the ten dharma-realms, the five aggregates are never anyone's own possession is the sense of the distinct teaching. To comprehend that the five aggregates are neither one's own nor another's, and thereby to see the true reality of the aggregates, is the sense of the perfect teaching.

As for trace and origin: in his origin, Revata abides in the samādhi of the sun and the constellations; in trace he manifests under this name.

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate the mind while being mindful of the Buddha, and thereby to see the many buddhas of the ten directions, is like gazing at the stars by night (and so on).

"Piṇḍola-Bharadvāja" is translated "Residual Habit." For five hundred lifetimes he was born a brahmin, and the residual arrogance of that habit still lingered in him. Once, crossing the Ganges, he called out: "Halt, little slave-girl, and let the current stop!" — and the river-spirit parted the waters in two for him. The river-spirit went and complained of this to the Buddha, who directed him to apologize; he pressed his palms together and said: "Little slave-girl, do not be angry." The great assembly laughed at him for this, and even as he apologized he went on scolding her. The Buddha said: "This is merely his habitual manner from long ago; there is truly no arrogance in his heart." The Ekottarika says: "Among those who sit in austere practice beneath trees, undeterred by wind or rain, Bhikṣu Vatsa is foremost."

As for Piṇḍola-Bharadvāja in terms of the teachings: to extinguish arrogance and thereby be without arrogance is the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching. To see that arrogance is itself without arrogance is the sense of the shared teaching. To distinguish the higher and lower positions throughout the ten dharma-realms is the sense of the distinct teaching. To be fully endowed with the buddha-dharma through the eight sovereign selves is the sense of the perfect teaching.

As for trace and origin: in his origin, Piṇḍola-Bharadvāja abides in the eight sovereign selves of permanence, bliss, true self, and purity, possessed of a subtle and wondrous Brahmā-voice; in trace he merely manifests an arrogant mind and harsh speech.

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate that both coarse speech and gentle speech alike return to the ultimate meaning (and so on).

"Vakkula" is translated "Excellent Countenance," though it is also rendered "Robust in Form," "Great and Corpulent," "Fleshy Sack," "Gaunt-Browed," or "Merchant by Nature" — his features and countenance being handsome and dignified, he is called "Excellent Countenance." He lived to a hundred and sixty years of age, without illness and without dying prematurely, having received the karmic reward of five escapes from death. His stepmother once placed him in a heated pan and in boiling water, and fish devoured him and blades cut him, yet in every case he did not die — this was the reward for his having, in a past life, upheld the precept against killing, so that for ninety-one kalpas his life was never cut short. And because he had once offered a single myrobalan fruit to the saṅgha, his body was forever free of illness; he was able to keep a single precept adorned by the fourfold precepts, holding to it firmly without transgression, undeterred by fire or water — while other people, though they kept the five precepts, mostly violated them in one way or another (and so on). He delighted in bodily stillness, dwelling always in quiet solitude, taking no pleasure in crowds; his eyes took no delight in colors of black and yellow and the like, his ears took no delight in hearing the sounds of the world, his nose did not smell the world's fragrances and stenches, his tongue never spoke so much as a phrase or two to another person, and his mind constantly abided in meditative concentration without distraction — and even the stūpa built over his relics remained a place of quiet solitude. When King Aśoka went to pay homage at the stūpas of the various arhats, when he came in turn to Vakkula's stūpa he spoke this verse: "Though he cultivated only for himself, without knowledge, he brought little benefit to the world" — and he offered only twenty cowrie shells. The Ekottarika says: "Yet when he offered a single coin, the cowrie shells flew forth from the stūpa of their own accord and came to rest at the king's feet. The ministers, astonished, marveled that even now, his quiet solitude and few desires still carried this kind of power at his very stūpa." The Ekottarika also says: "Among those of the longest life who never die prematurely, who delight always in quiet solitude and do not dwell among crowds, the bhikṣu Vakkula is foremost."

As for Vakkula in terms of the teachings: to extinguish clamor and thereby enter the truth is the stillness of the Tripiṭaka teaching. To see that clamor is itself the truth is the stillness of the shared teaching. To depart from both extremes and enter the middle is the stillness of the distinct teaching. To see that the extremes are themselves the middle is the stillness of the perfect teaching.

As for his origin: Vakkula abides in the great concentration of quiescent extinction — his long life is permanence, his freedom from illness is bliss, his not dying prematurely is true self, and his stillness is purity; dwelling in this origin of the four virtues, he merely manifests in trace as one whose six sense-faculties are still.

As for the contemplation of mind: the middle way of the nature of mind — being at once empty, provisional, and the middle — is the contemplation of permanence, bliss, true self, and purity.

"Mahākauṣṭhila" is translated "Great Knee." He was Śāriputra's maternal uncle, and had always been bested by his sister in debate. When his sister became pregnant, he was defeated in debate even more thoroughly, and understood that the wisdom borrowed by the child she carried was already remarkable even before birth — how much more so, then, once the child had actually come forth from the womb? (and so on) He therefore abandoned his household and went to South India to study the eighteen canons. People of his time mocked him: "Even a lifetime spent across many generations could scarcely master them all — a single life is no hope at all." He sighed and said: "At home I was bested by my sister; abroad I am belittled by others." He vowed to read without ceasing, having no time even to trim his nails — and so people of the time called him "the Long-Nailed Brahmacārin." When his studies were complete and he returned home, he asked after his nephew's whereabouts, and was told: "He has become a disciple of the Buddha." At this he grew greatly arrogant, saying: "My nephew's fame shook the five regions of India by the age of eight — what manner of arts does this ascetic possess, that he could lure away my sister's son?" He went directly to where the Buddha was, and after pondering at great length he could find not a single teaching that took root in his mind, and said to the Buddha: "I do not accept any doctrine" — "accept" here meaning "to rest in" — that is, he meant: "I am able to refute every single doctrine, allowing none to stand at rest; hence I say I do not accept any doctrine." The Buddha asked him: "Do you accept this view of yours?" This placed him in a position where he could not win either way: if he answered that he did accept this view, then it contradicted what he had just said — that he accepted no doctrine at all; and if he answered that he did not accept this view either, then he had no way to defeat the Buddha. He bowed his head at once, and thereby attained the purity of the Dharma-eye. Śāriputra, who had been fanning the Buddha, overheard his uncle's debate and attained the fruit of arhatship as well. The Ekottarika says: "Among those who possess the four unhindered eloquences and can answer any challenge put to them, Kauṣṭhila is foremost." Virūḍhaka, the heavenly king of the south, constantly comes to attend upon him.

As for Mahākauṣṭhila in terms of the teachings: to be versed outwardly in the four Vedas and inwardly in the Tripiṭaka is the fourfold eloquence of the Tripiṭaka teaching. To have obtained no fixed self, and yet to speak with just such eloquence, is the eloquence of the shared teaching. To have both name and meaning pervade the ten dharma-realms is the eloquence of the distinct teaching. To speak with eloquence that pervades everything, grounded in true reality, is the eloquence of the perfect teaching.

As for his origin: Mahākauṣṭhila abides in the secret of speech and the inconceivable transformative power of the wheel of speech, in great concentration and great wisdom; in trace he merely manifests as "Great Knee."

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate that mind, being empty, is itself concentration, and, being provisional, is itself wisdom — thereby adorning the mind (and so on).

"Nanda," also called "Cowherd Nanda," is translated "Excellent Joy," also rendered "Delight." He was one of the hundred thousand Śākyas whom King Śuddhodana compelled to go forth. Some teachers say he is the same as the Upananda who appears in the Vinaya.

As for Nanda in terms of the teachings: joy as a phenomenal matter, with no principle of joy behind it, is the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching. That phenomenal joy is itself the joy of principle is the sense of the shared teaching. The ground of joy [the first of the ten bodhisattva grounds] is the sense of the distinct teaching. The abode of joy [the first of the ten abodes] is the sense of the perfect teaching.

As for his origin: Nanda abides in ultimate reality itself, which is neither joy nor the absence of joy; in trace he is named "Joy."

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate mind as corresponding in resemblance to principle is called the contemplation of joy.

"Sundarananda" — "Sundarī" is translated "Beloved," also "Handsome," while "Nanda" is as explained above; his clan is as described in the account of Aniruddha. He was born on the ninth day of the fourth month, and stood four fingers' breadth shorter than the Buddha; his bearing and countenance were so extraordinary and unlike the rest of the world's that, should someone unfamiliar with him enter the assembly, they would take him for the Buddha himself. The Mahīśāsaka Vinaya says: "In Magadha there was a naked ascetic of great intelligence, whom the people of the kingdom called 'the wise one' and 'the seer.' He debated with Śāriputra and was reduced to silence, whereupon a good mind arose in him, and he wished to go forth within the Buddha's Dharma. Seeing Nanda's handsome and imposing countenance, he exclaimed: 'Even this bhikṣu of short stature is one whose wisdom is difficult to fathom — how much more so, then, one so magnificent as this!' Nanda was thereupon led forth to ordination. His wife was Sundarī, a woman of the utmost beauty, who was never apart from him whether eating or resting. Once, when the Buddha and Ānanda were passing on their alms round and came to his door, Nanda was just then eating with his wife in an upper chamber; he rose at once to greet the Buddha, but his wife said: 'Wait until you return before we eat together' — and then said to the Buddha: 'How is it that one of the royal lineage of a wheel-turning king should so demean himself?' — and took the Buddha's bowl herself to fill it with food. The Buddha then returned to the Nyagrodha Grove and told Ānanda: 'Have Nanda bring the food here.' Ānanda conveyed the Buddha's instruction, and had Nanda deliver the meal to offer to the Buddha. The Buddha then ordered his head to be shaved; Nanda clenched his fist and said to the one who was to shave him: 'Do not bring a blade near the head of a king of Jambudvīpa!' — but, pressed by the Buddha, he could not refuse, and so his head was shaved. The next day, when the Buddha and five hundred bhikṣus went out to accept an invitation, Nanda asked to remain behind to watch over the monastery, intending to slip away. The Buddha had him close the gates and sweep the grounds — closing the south gate while the north stood open, sweeping one side while the other grew soiled — and, still fearing the Buddha would return, Nanda fled and made his way home. On the road he met the Buddha, and hid himself behind a tree; but the tree rose far up into the sky, and the Buddha, seeing him, called out and had him brought back. The Buddha asked: 'Why were you fleeing?' He answered: 'I parted from my wife only yesterday, and promised to eat together with her upon my return — I was merely thinking of my wife, and so I went.' The Buddha then took him to see the heavens and the hells (and so on)." Hence he is designated by the word "wife" [in his very name, Sundarī-Nanda].

As for Sundarananda in terms of the teachings: that there is Dharma-joy at the level of conventional truth, but no joy at the level of ultimate truth, is the Tripiṭaka teaching. That conventional joy is itself ultimate joy is the shared teaching. That, proceeding from the shared teaching's Dharma-joy, there is further the Dharma-joy of the conventional and the Dharma-joy of the middle, is the distinct teaching. That the joy of the shared teaching already contains every form of Dharma-joy is the perfect teaching.

His trace and origin, and the contemplation of mind, are as explained above [for Nanda] (and so on).

"Pūrṇa" is translated "Fulfilled Vow"; "Maitrāyaṇī" is translated "Loving-Kindness"; "putra" means "son." His father prayed to Brahmā at the Full River for a son, and it happened that the river was at that very moment full to overflowing; he also dreamed of a vessel of the seven treasures, brimming with treasure, entering his wife's bosom. When his wife then conceived this child, the father's prayer had been fulfilled, his wish granted in every particular — hence the name "Fulfilled Vow." His mother was named Maitrāyaṇī, translated "Conduct of Loving-Kindness," also called "Knowledge" [one versed in learning]. The four Vedas contain a section by this name, which his mother had memorized and recited, and from this he took his name. "Nī" means "female" — it is the general term for a woman, just as "na" is the general term for a man — and since he was born of this "Loving-Kindness," he is called "the Son of Loving-Kindness." The Ekottarika says: "My father is named Fulfilled, and my mother is named Loving-Kindness; hence all my fellow practitioners of the holy life call me the Son of Fulfilled Loving-Kindness." Since he received his name from these two causes, both father and mother, he is called "the Son of Fulfilled Loving-Kindness." This man was well versed in learning, leaving nothing unknown among the scriptures both within and beyond the Buddhist canon; and because of this thorough — literally "full" — knowledge, he is also named "Fulfilled" on that separate ground. The Ekottarika says: "Among those able to expound the Dharma broadly and to distinguish its meaning with skill, the son of Pūrṇamaitrāyaṇī is foremost." The text below likewise says: "Among those who teach the Dharma, he is foremost" — this "foremost" here plays on the character "full" as well. Wishing to return to his native country to benefit its people, he was asked by the Buddha: "That land is coarse and violent — what will you do?" He answered: "I will cultivate forbearance. If they should revile and insult me, I will consider myself fortunate that they have not struck me with their fists; if they strike me with their fists, I will consider myself fortunate that they have not beaten me with a rod; if they beat me with a rod, I will consider myself fortunate that they have not cut me with a blade; and if they cut me with a blade, I will consider myself fortunate to be freed at last from this poisonous vessel of the five aggregates." This is the fulfillment of the practice of forbearance, and hence he is called "Fulfilled." The Sūtra of the Simile of the Seven Chariots says: "He was praised by the great and wise Śāriputra, who said: 'All practitioners of the holy life ought to wrap up their robes and carry them upon their heads in his honor — whoever meets him gains great benefit.'" This is the fulfillment of praise, and hence he is called "Fulfilled."

As for Pūrṇa in terms of the teachings: to labor diligently in analytical dharma-practice until one's task is accomplished is the fulfillment of the vow according to the Tripiṭaka teaching. To comprehend directly that all is empty, and to attain realization within the dharma of emptiness, is the fulfillment of the vow according to the shared teaching. To have the Dharma-eye fully complete is the fulfillment of the vow according to the distinct teaching. To abide in the secret treasury is the fulfillment of the vow according to the perfect teaching.

As for trace and origin: in his origin, Pūrṇa's vow was fulfilled long ago; in trace he becomes foremost in teaching the Dharma, showing himself as a spiritual friend to sentient beings.

As for the contemplation of mind: this is as explained in the Mohe Zhiguan concerning the contemplation of the good spiritual friend — the person, the practice, and the principle alike.

"Subhūti" is translated "Born of Emptiness." At the time of his birth, every storehouse, chest, basket, and vessel in his household became empty. When a diviner was consulted, the diviner pronounced this auspicious. Because he was born amid this emptiness, he was named "Born of Emptiness" — his name for his dependent retribution [environment] taken from the auspicious emptiness of the household vessels, and applied by extension to his direct retribution [person]; since both dependent and direct retribution were auspicious, he is called "Born of Emptiness." Because he constantly cultivated the practice of emptiness, he is also called "Good Karma"; and because those who made offerings to him obtained visible rewards in this very life, he is also called "Excellently Auspicious." He always delighted to dwell and wander in quiet forests and stone caves, places of stillness and solitude; the practice he cultivated took emptiness as its root, and he constantly entered the concentration of emptiness, abiding in the samādhi of non-contention, delighting to expound the Dharma of emptiness — whatever he proclaimed or debated, all of it distinguished emptiness. Guarding and protecting sentient beings so as not to give rise to any obstruction in them, he would rest when they disliked his moving about, and move about when they disliked his resting. When the Buddha descended from the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, the whole land converged upon him, each vying to be first to bow at his feet; Subhūti alone sat upright in a stone cave, contemplating that all dharmas are empty — that form is not the Buddha, and so on up to consciousness not being the Buddha; that the eye is not the Buddha, and so on up to the mind not being the Buddha — and thereby suddenly awakened to the path.

The Buddha said to the bhikṣuṇī Padmā: "You are not truly the first to bow before me — you have only bowed before my physical body; it is Subhūti who was truly first, for he has seen my dharma-body."

As for Subhūti in terms of the teachings: there is the wisdom of emptiness that arises from extinguishing form [the Tripiṭaka teaching]; the wisdom of emptiness that arises from directly comprehending form [the shared teaching]; the wisdom of emptiness that arises from the wisdom of existence, from which the wisdom of the conventional then arises, and from which in turn the wisdom of the middle arises [the distinct teaching]; and the wisdom by which "Born of Emptiness" is himself the wisdom of existence — this is the wisdom of emptiness born perfect and complete, and this present instance is precisely that perfect wisdom of emptiness [the perfect teaching].

As for his origin: Subhūti abides in the dharma-body of true reality; in trace he manifests as one born through the seeing of emptiness.

As for the contemplation of mind: to see that mind is neither inside, nor outside, nor in between, and does not exist of itself, is the contemplation of the dharma-body of mind.

"Ānanda" is translated "Joy," also rendered "Undefiled." King Śuddhodana had hoped that the crown prince would become a wheel-turning king and rule over his clan and its ancestral shrine; when the prince suddenly abandoned the kingdom and renounced the throne, the king's grief and distress very nearly overwhelmed him. Māra then came to deceive him, saying: "Your son is already dead." The king wept, saying: "If the seer's prophecy proves false, then the auspicious signs too are unconfirmed." Then a deva came and told him: "Your son has become a buddha" — but the king remained uncertain, still undecided, until in a short while a messenger brought confirming word: "Last night heaven and earth shook greatly; the crown prince has become a buddha." The king rejoiced greatly, and at that same time word was brought to King Śuklodana: "A son has been born to you." The whole kingdom rejoiced together, and for this reason the child was named "Joy" — this being the name given him by his parents. Ānanda's countenance was handsome and dignified, and all who saw him were delighted; the Buddha had him wear an outer shoulder-robe. Once a woman, bringing her child to a well, saw Ānanda and gazed at him without blinking, and, without noticing what she did, tied the rope to her child's neck instead of the bucket. The Madhyama Āgama says: "Whenever the fourfold assembly heard Ānanda speak, whether much or little, there was none who was not delighted; when he was about to raise a question, he would first clear his throat, and the whole assembly would already be delighted. And whenever the fourfold assembly merely observed him in silence — in his walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, in his gestures and bearing, in his every movement and pause — they were delighted as well." Ānanda was born on the eighth day of the fourth month, the very day the Buddha attained enlightenment, and he attended upon the Buddha for twenty-five years; reckoning from this, when the Buddha was fifty-five years old, Ānanda was twenty-five. At that time the Buddha sought an attendant, and the five hundred [disciples present] each requested the position, as explained above; the assembly then urged Ānanda to accept it, and Ānanda complied, to the joy of all five hundred. Maudgalyāyana conveyed Ānanda's three requests to the Buddha: that he be told in advance of anything that might give rise to criticism or suspicion; that he not be required to accept the Buddha's used robes and food; and that, for his own convenience, he be permitted to come and go without fixed times. The Buddha sealed his approval and granted these requests. The Buddha said: "Ānanda surpasses my former attendants — my former attendants understood only after I had spoken, but now, before I have even opened my mouth, Ānanda has already grasped the Tathāgata's intent, knowing at once whether a thing is needed or not needed." For this reason the Buddha entrusted the Dharma to Ānanda, and the Tathāgata himself rejoiced in this. Once, when the Four Heavenly Kings each offered the Buddha an alms bowl, the Buddha stacked all four and pressed them together into a single bowl, so that the four separate bowls remained distinctly visible within it, yet this bowl was extremely heavy — and Ānanda joyfully carried it without ever tiring. The seventh fascicle of the Madhyama Āgama says: "Ānanda attended the Buddha for twenty-five years, and of the eighty thousand teaching-divisions he heard, he recited every one without omitting anything, never needing to ask a single question twice" — this is the joy of the power of memory. Ānanda accompanied the Buddha into the palaces of the gods, men, and nāgas, and, seeing the daughters of gods and nāgas, his mind remained free of any defiling attachment; though he had not yet exhausted every residual thought, he was nonetheless able to remain undefiled — and all the gods, men, nāgas, and spirits alike rejoiced at this. After the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, as Ānanda sat upon the lion throne, Kāśyapa and the great assembly praised him, saying: "His face is like the pure and full moon, his eyes like the blue lotus flower; the great ocean of the Buddha-dharma has flowed entirely into Ānanda's mind." Ānanda then vowed to sit and enter nirvāṇa himself: were he to remain, he feared the Licchavis would bear a grudge; were he to depart, he feared King Ajātaśatru would bear a grudge. So, in the midst of the Ganges River, he entered the samādhi of the swiftly-rising wind, and divided his body into four parts — one for the gods, one for the nāgas, one for Vaiśālī, and one for Ajātaśatru. When King Aśoka paid homage at Ānanda's stūpa, he offered ten million taels of gold, and praised him in verse, saying: "Able to uphold and preserve the dharma-body, the lamp of the Dharma, so that the Dharma endures; mindful of the vast ocean of the Buddha's wisdom, I therefore make this supreme offering. Mindful and retentive, of vast learning, from whose mouth came forth subtle and wondrous words, praised by the World-Honored One himself, beloved of gods and men." The Ekottarika says: "Among those who know the proper time and understand all things clearly, who go wherever needed without hesitation, who remember what they have heard without forgetting, who are of vast learning and broad understanding, and who are fit to receive and uphold the Dharma, Ānanda is foremost."

As for Ānanda in terms of the teachings: "Joyful Ānanda" belongs to the Tripiṭaka teaching; "Worthy Ānanda" belongs to the shared teaching; "Treasury-Keeper Ānanda" belongs to the distinct teaching; "Ocean Ānanda" belongs to the perfect teaching.

As for trace and origin: in his origin, Ānanda abides in that which is neither joy nor the absence of joy; his dharma-body is like empty space, his wisdom like clouds and rain, able both to uphold and to receive [the Dharma]. In trace he becomes "Joy."

As for the contemplation of mind: when the mind corresponds, in resemblance, to being empty, provisional, and the middle, this is the joy of the contemplation of mind; and it extends up to correspondence with the true contemplation itself (and so on).

"Rāhula" means "Obstruction." In a past life he had blocked up a mouse's burrow, and on another occasion had refused to look upon a brahmin for six days; because of these causes, he is called "Obstruction." When the crown prince sought to go forth, his father the king would not permit it; when the prince pressed his request again and again, the king said: "If you have a son, I will allow you to go forth." The bodhisattva then pointed at his consort's womb and said: "After six years have passed, you shall bear a son" — and the child indeed remained in the womb for six years, hence he is called "Obstruction." The Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha says: "Rāhu was originally the name of an asura who could block the sun and moon with his hand; translated accordingly, the name ought to mean 'Moon-Obstructor.'" The Buddha said: "My Dharma is like the moon; this child obstructed my going forth without delay, obstructing me life after life — and life after life I have been able to renounce him regardless — hence he is called 'Obstruction.'" After the Buddha had gone forth, Yaśodharā was found to be pregnant, and all the Śākyas were enraged, demanding to know how this could be; some wished to punish her, others to put her to death, and evil rumors filled every road. The jewel-maiden Kubjottarā testified on her behalf, which brought about only a slight easing of the matter. Yaśodharā therefore had a fire-pit built, and made a great vow before it: "If I have done wrong, let my child and I both perish in these flames; but if this is truly [the Buddha's] own child, let the heavens themselves bear witness!" — and, holding her child, she leapt into the pit. The pit at once transformed into a pool, and a lotus flower rose to support her body, and only then did the king and the people of the country cease to doubt her. Later, when the Buddha returned to his home country, Yaśodharā had Rāhula present the Buddha with a ball of sweetened dough as an offering; though still a young child, Rāhula carried it forward directly before the whole assembly and presented it to the Buddha, and by this Yaśodharā finally put the slander to rest. Since the slander had arisen on account of this child, he is again called "Obstruction." His grandfather the king rejoiced, saying: "Though I have lost my son, I have gained my grandson — my grandson will become a wheel-turning king; what regret have I left?" — and he looked forward to the boy's growing to manhood, hoping the seven divine treasures would then appear. But the Buddha sought to have him go forth as well; the king would not permit it, and Yaśodharā took the boy up to a high tower to keep him from the Buddha, but Maudgalyāyana flew up through the air and brought him down, and the Buddha had him ordained, entrusting him to Śāriputra as his teacher. Once he had gone forth, the throne too was lost to him — hence he is again called "Obstruction." In his years as a novice, Rāhula was much given to false speech; when kings, ministers, brahmins, and householders came seeking to see the Buddha, Rāhula would tell them: "He is not here" — thereby preventing countless people from seeing the Buddha, and this too counts as "obstructing others." Because of this habit of false speech, the Buddha rebuked him. Returning from a journey, the Buddha had Rāhula wash his feet, and had him overturn the washbasin three times and turn it upright three times; the Buddha then had it turned upside-down on the ground and ordered water poured over it. Rāhula said: "The basin is upside-down; the poured water cannot stand within it." The Buddha said: "You are like this overturned basin — the water of the Dharma cannot stand within you either. From now on you must speak truthfully, and never speak falsely again." Later, though he applied himself diligently to cultivating the path, he made no progress, and he asked the Buddha about this; the Buddha said: "Have you taught others about the five aggregates?" He answered: "Not yet." "You should teach this to others." When he had done so, the Buddha asked again: "Have you taught the twelve sense-fields? Have you taught the eighteen elements? Teaching the Dharma is itself the gateway to attaining the path — if you wish to attain the path, you must teach the Dharma to others." He then expounded the Dharma at length, and only afterward attained the path — this too is an instance of "Obstruction." Having attained the path, he had eliminated views and craving alike, and his rebirths within the three realms were exhausted — hence he is again called "Obstruction." With his rebirths within the three realms exhausted, no vow could any longer draw him back into them — hence he is again called "Obstruction." The Buddha decreed that Rāhula, together with three other great arhats, should not enter final extinction, but should remain until the Buddha's Dharma itself had entirely disappeared. For this reason he continues to abide and uphold the Dharma even to this day, not yet having entered the nirvāṇa without remainder — hence he is called "Obstruction" (and so on).

As for Rāhula in terms of the teachings: the path-truth of analytical dharma-practice obstructing the four kinds of affliction-abiding is the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching; the path-truth of directly comprehended dharma-practice obstructing the four kinds of affliction-abiding is the sense of the shared teaching; the three kinds of wisdom cultivated in sequence obstructing the five kinds of affliction-abiding is the sense of the distinct teaching; the three kinds of wisdom within a single mind obstructing the five kinds of affliction-abiding is the sense of the perfect teaching.

As for trace and origin: in his origin, Rāhula abides in the middle way, blocking off both extremes. Of the various "obstructions" recounted above, eight kinds obstruct the extreme of nirvāṇa, one kind obstructs the extreme of birth-and-death, and one kind neither obstructs birth-and-death nor obstructs nirvāṇa, but obstructs his entry into the nirvāṇa without remainder.

The contemplation of mind may be understood by analogy with what has come before (and so on).

Sixth, the conclusion. As for "such great arhats as these, known to the whole assembly": some say that "knowing" and "recognizing" here mean the same thing; others say that hearing a name constitutes "knowing" while seeing the form constitutes "recognizing"; still others say that seeing the form constitutes "knowing" while seeing the mind constitutes "recognizing."

As for their origin: these great arhats, in origin, serve as spiritual friends to sentient beings through the "full letters" of the complete teaching; in trace they appear as spiritual friends through the "half letters" of the partial teaching — an image, drawn from the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, of a child first taught simple half-syllables before whole words, applied here to the lesser teachings as against the complete Mahāyāna (and so on).

The contemplative practice of the spiritual friend is as explained in the Mohe Zhiguan.

Having concluded the assembly of the great, well-known disciples, the text next lists the lesser-known assembly. "There were also two thousand more, some still in training and some beyond training" — this merely states their rank and number without praising their virtues, and so this is called the "lesser-known assembly." In truth, sages hold no such distinctions from ordinary beings, nor do they themselves distinguish between the well-known and the lesser-known; it is only that those who admire and aspire to the lofty and the distant are drawn onward by the well-known, while those who conceal their names and hide their virtues in modest reticence are drawn onward by the lesser-known. Following the inclinations of sentient beings in this way, there arise these various distinctions — but one must not, on account of the trace of "many" or "few," lose sight of their common origin.

As for "those in training and those beyond training": in the Tripiṭaka teaching there are eighteen kinds of persons still in training and nine kinds beyond training. In the shared teaching, the first five [common] grounds are all called "in training," while the sixth ground is called "beyond training" — or, alternatively, the ninth ground of the shared teaching is called "in training" and the buddha-ground is called "beyond training." In the distinct and perfect teachings, "in training" and "beyond training" are distinguished either in terms of effortful versus effortless practice, or in terms of incomplete versus complete attainment. The Āgama says: "A follower of another path asked the Buddha: 'Does an arhat still undergo training?' The Buddha answered: 'An arhat commits no evil deed, and abides in what is good; his training in that which requires no further training is itself what may be called "training."'" If this is so, then one who is beyond training may also be called one in training. And one in training, having reached the limit of what is to be cut off for the time being, and not yet cutting off any further, may in that respect be called "beyond training" as well — hence there are these four possible statements. Taking into account as well the five expedient stages that precede stream-entry, which are neither in training nor beyond training, this makes five statements in all.

Applying this pattern across all four teachings likewise, four times five makes twenty statements in all.

As for trace and origin: in origin, these are great dharma-body bodhisattvas dwelling in the "full-letter" ranks of training and beyond training; for the sake of sentient beings they appear as the "half-letter" persons in training and beyond training, adorning the twin śāla trees.

As for contemplation: to contemplate the middle way directly, without dwelling on either extreme — that very middle is "beyond training"; and to be able to contemplate in just this way is called "training." If one accounts for these numbers in terms of the gate of contemplation: to contemplate that form and mind are each endowed with the ten dharma-realms and the ten suchnesses, and that, cross-multiplying realms and suchnesses, this comes to two thousand factors — this is to raise up the trace in order to signify the origin-dharma; the trace is itself the trace of the origin.

The text next lists the assembly of nuns. Some earlier commentators, following the pattern of what came before, treated this as forming two further assemblies; this reading is not adopted here. To follow the earlier pattern and divide this into a well-known assembly and a lesser-known assembly again finds no support in the text, nor does the sense of the passage allow it. This is simply the naming of the heads of two assemblies — why should one insist on forcing them into categories of "great" and "small," "many" and "few"?

The text first lists "Mahāprajāpatī," translated "Great Way of Love," also called "Gautamī," translated "Lord of the Assembly" — "nī" being the general term in India for a woman.

In origin, Mahāprajāpatī abides in the Dharma-gate of the perfection of wisdom; in trace she becomes the mother of a thousand buddhas, the one who nurtures and raises the Guide.

As for the contemplative explanation: the breadth and vastness of the contemplation of the middle is called "great"; unconditioned loving-kindness is called "love"; the empty and pervasive principle of the middle is called "way." "Great" pertains to practice for oneself; "love" pertains to the transformation of others — just as it is through love that one takes on rebirth, and through loving-kindness that one enters into existence to save beings; "way" pervades both practice for oneself and the transformation of others together.

"Six thousand" is simply a number [of her retinue].

As for the gate of contemplation: to contemplate that each of the six sense-faculties, when purified, is endowed with a thousand merits — though the eye has only eight hundred and the ear has twelve hundred, the greater numbers making up for the lesser — the total comes to six thousand in full; this signifies the Dharma-gate of the origin, and is likewise the meaning of contemplative practice.

"Rāhula's mother, Yaśodharā" is identified here by her son's name. "Yaśodharā" is translated "Flower-Colored," also rendered "Renowned," or, some say, left untranslated. Gentle, good, reverent, and modest, her virtue matched the crown prince's own; while a laywoman, she was the bodhisattva's wife and a spiritual friend to gods and men, and once gone forth, she became the head of the assembly of nuns, ranked among those beyond training — how, then, could she be reckoned among the unrenowned? The Sūtra of Twelve Wanderings names three consorts: first Gopī, second Yaśodharā, third Mṛgajā. The Sūtra of Wondrous Occurrences and the Sūtra of Auspicious Response both say that Rāhula was Gopī's son; the Nirvāṇa Sūtra and the Lotus Sūtra both say he was Yaśodharā's son. How can these two accounts be reconciled? It may be that those other sūtras name the principal consort as his mother by rank, while the present passage names the one who actually bore him. The Treatise [on the Great Perfection of Wisdom] says that Gopī, the jewel-maiden, was barren — which shows that this same Gopī is elsewhere translated "Bright Woman," and confirms that Rāhula was indeed Yaśodharā's own son.

As for trace and origin: a wife is, by definition, one's equal — how could an ordinary being of the lowest ground be consort to the crown prince? One thus knows that, in origin, Yaśodharā abides in tranquil concentration and subtle, wondrous Dharma-joy; in trace she becomes the Buddha's wife. The Sūtra of Compassionate Flowers says: "In the presence of the Buddha Ratnagarbha, she vowed to become his wife."

The Dharma-joy of contemplating emptiness, free of all outflow, is represented by "wife" in the figure of Mṛgajā; the Dharma-joy of contemplating the provisional, the wisdom of the paths, is represented by "wife" in the figure of Yaśodharā; and the Dharma-joy of contemplating the middle is represented by "wife" in the figure of Gopī.

Above, the trace and origin, and the contemplation of mind, have been explained one by one for each disciple; here they will be surveyed together as a whole, to display the Buddha's skillful means in their full subtlety and to make plain the fine workings of contemplative practice. The Śūraṅgama power manifests in every conceivable form, matching itself to the capacities of beings, leaving nothing undone; let us here take up only what lies nearest at hand. When the Buddha entrusted his trace to a royal palace and descended into the womb of a sacred queen, these dharma-body bodhisattvas all assisted him in carrying out his transformative teaching, scattering their own reflections into other households as well — as with the thirty-two auspicious signs, the golden form's manifested birth: each of these great beings was likewise born at that time, some appearing amid showers of jeweled rain from an empty chamber, some through eloquence lent in dreams. And when the resplendent crown prince abandoned his kingdom and renounced the throne, crossing the city wall by night to seek the path, all these great beings likewise sought instruction from teachers, mastering every art and accomplishment, and became themselves eminent masters in their own right. Then, when the wheel of the Dharma was first set turning and the gate of the nectar of immortality first opened, the Buddha, perceiving that the karmic conditions ripening these great beings toward transformation were not yet mature, displayed himself as their equal rather than accepting their homage, standing on the same footing with them so as to honor the truth of his own path — thus both the one who transforms and those transformed were, at that stage, entirely as raw milk. When the karmic conditions of those to be transformed had at last ripened, then — as raw silk takes dye easily, and the lotus in the pond opens early — the ordinary was transformed into the sagely, and the milk was turned into curds; the masters of these teachers-turned-disciples became the Buddha's foremost disciples, each foremost in his own right in wisdom, spiritual powers, eloquence, or samādhi, together assisting the Dharma-king in delivering those not yet delivered, and in ripening further those already ripened once. At the Vaipulya assemblies, hearing of the bodhisattvas' inconceivable merits, they grew ashamed of the lesser and aspired to the greater — ashamed of the lesser, they lamented and reproached themselves for having lost the Tathāgata's boundless knowledge and vision; aspiring to the greater, they did not yet know how they might attain the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom — this was the turning of curds into fresh butter. Next, hearing the gate of the Great Vehicle in the Prajñāpāramitā, ranging at first through form and mind and reaching at last the wisdom of all modes, embracing both the lesser and the greater, going out and coming in, taking and giving — whether shared or distinct, partial or perfect — they received and comprehended this teaching under instruction, without any further grasping of their own; though not yet suddenly relinquishing everything, they had already gradually attained a thoroughgoing ease — this was the turning of fresh butter into refined butter. Next, hearing the Lotus Sūtra, the heavenly nature was united, father and child were confirmed as one, the prediction of buddhahood was bestowed, and the Great Vehicle was entrusted to them; the three vehicles were set aside and merged into the one, just as the remaining four flavors are alike united in the single flavor of ghee — no one was to attain extinction alone, but all were to be brought to extinction by means of the Tathāgata's own extinction. The Dharma-king and his Dharma-ministers, in the great matter of their appearance in the world, skillfully employed expedient means: at first they used the "half-letter" teaching to break apart the tangled thicket of the twenty-five states of existence, forming the four withered trees for the benefit of ordinary beings; next they used the teaching that joins "half-letters" and "full-letters," breaking through the solitary self-benefit of the two vehicles and bringing to completion the vast greatness of the bodhisattva, forming the four flourishing trees for the benefit of the sagely; and finally they used the eternally abiding "full-letter" teaching, breaking through the sequence of the two extremes, bringing to completion the Buddha's secret treasury that is neither withered nor flourishing, the ultimate benefit of all. Once the labors of these commanders-in-chief were complete and the vows of their great oath fulfilled, Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana therefore ceased their transformative activity within the Lotus Sūtra itself; the sagely lord's own ransomed life, too, would not be long thereafter. The text says: "As I originally vowed, so it is now fulfilled; the Tathāgata will, before long, enter nirvāṇa" — the proclamation of his coming extinction arises from precisely this. The twenty thousand buddhas named Candrasūryapradīpa, the Buddha Kāśyapa, and others besides — all reached their culmination within their own Lotus Sūtras; and in the present case, both teacher and disciples alike put forth their traces within this very sūtra, secretly holding the bodhisattva path within while outwardly manifesting as śrāvakas. "In truth I attained buddhahood immeasurable koṭis of kalpas ago" — reasoning from this, one sees that all these great arhats, proceeding from the ground of the dharma-body, cast down their reflections in accordance with conditions, manifesting their traces across the ten thousand streams — becoming those in training or beyond training, appearing as men or as women, displaying the sagely or the worldly — there is nothing the power of the Śūraṅgama does not manifest; such is the nature of skillful means (and so on).

To speak generally of contemplation: everything the teacher and his disciples have done above in carrying out the dharma-body's transformative work is of no benefit to the practitioner unless it is turned into the expedient means of contemplation — like a poor man counting another's treasure, or a blind man holding a candle. Now, the mental factors are exceedingly numerous, but let us confine ourselves here to the wholesome factors, taking the disciples as an example, mentioning only ten in number. The ten wholesome factors are: faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom, joy, pliancy, equanimity, discernment, and morality. These ten factors assist the sovereign mind, able to transform evil into good, to change the ordinary into the sagely, and to accomplish every Dharma-gate; taking these ten mental states as the foundation is like the ten disciples assisting the Buddha in carrying out his transformative teaching, jointly ripening sentient beings and establishing the Buddha-dharma. The factor of faith corresponds to Aniruddha, foremost in the divine eye — the eye being chief among the five sense-faculties, just as every direction takes the east as its head, so faith is the very first of the mental factors by which one enters the Buddha-dharma. The factor of diligence corresponds to Kāśyapa, foremost in the dhūta austerities — the vigorous exertion of shaking off defilements corresponds to the factor of diligence. The factor of mindfulness corresponds to Upāli, foremost in upholding the vinaya — the power of mindfulness is firm and strong, retaining what is recollected without forgetting. The factor of concentration corresponds to Maudgalyāyana, foremost in spiritual powers; the factor of wisdom corresponds to Śāriputra, foremost in wisdom — both of these are self-evident. The factor of joy corresponds to Ānanda, foremost in learning — one of vast learning takes joy in discernment, and joy is itself this factor of joy. The factor of pliancy corresponds to Kātyāyana, whose debates fathomed the subtlest points and exhausted every principle, dispelling error and revealing the truth — just as pliancy departs from evil and attains the good, releasing suffering and entering into ease. The factor of equanimity corresponds to Subhūti, foremost in the understanding of emptiness — one who abides in the equality of emptiness corresponds to the factor of equanimity. The factor of discernment corresponds to Pūrṇa, foremost in teaching the Dharma — discernment is the root of speech, and once this root is established, eloquent exposition becomes inexhaustible. The factor of morality corresponds to Rāhula, foremost in upholding the precepts — this is self-evident. The ten factors, assisting the sovereign mind, are able to accomplish contemplative practice; entering deeply into the wholesome dharmas within a single thought, the Three Jewels stand complete: the sovereign mind is itself the Buddha-jewel; the factors are the Saṅgha-jewel; and their common object, ultimate reality — where there is no sovereign mind and no factors at all — is the Dharma-jewel. Once one has entered ultimate reality, the merit and function of the sovereign mind and its factors are complete and sufficient.

Again, taking up the ten factors of the great mental ground shared by every mental state, which arise together with the sovereign mind and pervade every wholesome and unwholesome state alike — namely: perception, intention, contact, wisdom, mindfulness, volition, liberation, recollection, concentration, and feeling. Perception corresponds to Pūrṇa: perception grasps conventional designations, and this man was well versed in conventional designations, his eloquence unobstructed. Intention corresponds to Kāśyapa: Kāśyapa had no worldly desire, yet he had, so to speak, an intention toward the unconditioned. Contact corresponds to Kātyāyana: contact is the mutual interpenetration of two things, and Kātyāyana excelled in debate, able to trace every argument back and forth to its conclusion. Wisdom corresponds simply to Śāriputra, which is self-evident. Mindfulness corresponds to Upāli, the very height of mindful upholding of the vinaya. Volition corresponds to Rāhula: volition is the aggregate of formations, and this man truly put his precept-keeping into actual practice. Liberation corresponds to Subhūti: liberation means being free of entanglement, and this man, understanding emptiness, attained liberation within existence itself. Recollection corresponds to Aniruddha: recollection stirs and draws forth its object, cultivating the divine eye, and readily attains samādhi. The factor of concentration corresponds to Maudgalyāyana, which is self-evident. Feeling corresponds to Ānanda: his vast learning received and retained everything without error. Each of these ten men was fully endowed with every virtue, yet each is singled out here for the one specialty by which he proclaimed the Buddha's path, according to what beings desired: those who desired wisdom took Śāriputra as their teacher, and so on up to those who desired vast learning, who took Ānanda as their teacher — together they assisted the Dharma-king, each holding his own office.

Now, the contemplation of mind is just the same: within every single thought, the sovereign mind and its factors are both fully present; to accomplish contemplation, the sovereign mind and its factors support one another in order to attain awakening — one may enter the path through the factor of perception, or enter through the factor of intention, whichever is most suited; the sovereign mind and its factors work upon this together, transforming and taking hold of every mind mired in the dust of affliction, and thereby carrying out the Buddha's work. To engage in this contemplation before awakening is contemplative practice like milk; once the untainted arises, contemplative practice is like curds; once the dust-and-sand delusions are broken, it is like fresh and refined butter; and once fundamental ignorance is broken, this contemplation is like ghee. At the stage of ghee, the sovereign mind and its factors are both brought to completion, and thought after thought, no further mental factors operate — hence this is called "practicing the perfection of wisdom." The Samantabhadra Contemplation Sūtra says: "Contemplating the mind, one finds no mind; dharmas do not abide in dharmas; my own mind is of itself empty, and offense and merit have no possessor." This — being without mind and without mental factors — is called correct contemplation. If the dust of affliction in the mind and its factors is not yet exhausted, contemplation is not yet complete; hence the sūtra says: "Until sentient beings are delivered, I myself will not attain perfect awakening" — this is precisely the meaning intended here (and so on).

The text next lists the second assembly, that of the bodhisattvas. The Treatise [on the Great Perfection of Wisdom] says: "Bodhisattvas are already included among the fourfold assembly of monastics and laypeople — why, then, are they listed separately? Answer: Some bodhisattvas fall within the fourfold assembly, but some members of the fourfold assembly do not fall within the bodhisattvas, since they have not aroused the resolve to become buddhas — for this reason they are listed here separately." Those who together arouse the resolve to seek buddhahood are called the "assembly of bodhisattvas." The text divides into six parts: first, their kind; second, their total number; third, their rank; fourth, praise of their virtues; fifth, the list of their names; sixth, the concluding phrase.

First, as to their kind: this is "bodhisattva-mahāsattva." Written in full, it should read "bodhi-sattva mahā-sattva"; Master Kumārajīva, finding this cumbersome, abbreviated it by dropping the two syllables "sattva." "Bodhi" means "the path"; "sattva" means "mind"; "mahā" means "great." All such persons seek the vast and expansive path, and, moreover, bring sentient beings to maturity — hence they are of the kind possessing "the mind set on the path" and "the mind set on the great path." Bodhisattvas are of many kinds, corresponding to the partial, shared, distinct, and perfect teachings. As when the Treatise cites Kātyāyanīputra's account of the six perfections fulfilled up to a fixed limit — this is meant to temper the blood of sentient beings into milk. Or as the Larger Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra explains, when there are bodhisattvas who, upon first arousing the resolve, immediately correspond with omniscience — this is meant to temper milk into curds. Or as the Larger Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra explains, when there are bodhisattvas who, upon arousing the resolve, sport freely with spiritual powers and purify buddha-lands — as also in the Vimalakīrti, those who have attained the inconceivable liberation, all of whom are able to transform their bodies and ascend to Vimalakīrti's seat, yet also submit to being rebuked and humbled — this is meant to temper curds into fresh and refined butter. Or as the Larger Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra explains, when there are bodhisattvas who, upon arousing the resolve, sit at once beneath the bodhi tree, attain perfect awakening, turn the wheel of the Dharma, and deliver sentient beings — this is the tempering of butter into ghee. Hence the text below says: "The bodhisattvas, hearing this Dharma, have had every net of doubt entirely dispelled." And it also says: "If a bodhisattva does not hear the Lotus Sūtra, he does not practice the bodhisattva path well; but if he hears this sūtra, he then practices the bodhisattva path well." And the Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "A bodhisattva who has not heard the Nirvāṇa Sūtra still harbors expectation; but once he hears the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, all such expectation entirely ceases." Hence there are, in outline, these four kinds of bodhisattva.

As for trace and origin: the origin-ground of these bodhisattvas is difficult to fathom — some dwell at the stage of equal enlightenment, some stand equal to the Dharma-king himself; just as, when Sudhana entered the Dharma-realm, he beheld Mañjuśrī's form as boundless and his Dharma-teachings as profound and far-reaching — in origin these bodhisattvas are neighbors to the buddhas themselves, and in trace they come to assist Śākyamuni, appearing as bodhisattvas, manifesting their bodies everywhere through the power of samādhi, scattering their reflections and lowering their countenances, expounding at length through the inconceivable transformative power of the wheel of speech as circumstances require — this can be known in the mind, but cannot be fully expressed in words. Hence, in trace, they draw beings through the four flavors toward the single true reality — like the hammer and anvil that shape all manner of raw ore into a single form; once ghee is achieved, the work of this particular age of transformation comes to rest. Yet how could their origin-ground's ultimate accomplishment have only begun with entering the Great Vehicle today? Nor is it the case that they were first illuminated, as the highest peak is first touched by the rising sun, at the site of quiescent enlightenment — whether sudden or gradual, all of this is merely what their trace has done.

As for the contemplative explanation: to contemplate mind by the middle way, illuminating the two truths at once, is called "great"; to penetrate through to the fruit of bodhi is called "the path"; and to break through the dust and affliction of the five kinds of affliction-abiding is called "bringing sentient beings to maturity" (and so on).

"Eighty thousand" is simply a number. Other sūtras gather assemblies far larger than this — why is the assembly of this sūtra so much smaller? It may be that this figure is given only in rough approximation; or it may be, by analogy, that when a king deliberates on a secret matter, he cannot summon the entire realm to take part in the planning (and so on).

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate that a single wholesome thought is endowed with the ten dharma-realms, and that, with the ten realms interpenetrating one another, this yields a hundred dharma-realms, each with its thousand aspects of nature and characteristic — the ten wholesome factors thus become ten thousand dharmas, and, reckoned in terms of the eightfold noble path, become eighty thousand Dharma-gates (and so on).

"All irreversible from unsurpassed, perfect and complete awakening" clarifies their rank. "Anuttara" is translated "unsurpassed" — the sense of "the path" is explained as in the chapter on the wondrous object [of the Fahua Xuanyi], and "rank" as in its chapter on wondrous rank. As for "irreversible": non-retrogression is discussed with respect to rank, practice, and mindfulness, and should be distinguished fourfold: not to be reborn in the three evil destinies is non-retrogression of rank; not to be reborn in a borderland, to have all one's faculties complete, and not to take on a female body, is non-retrogression of practice; to remember constantly one's past lives is non-retrogression of mindfulness — and one who possesses all of these is said to have reached the ground of avaivartika [irreversibility]. This is the meaning according to the Tripiṭaka teaching. According to the shared teaching: before the sixth of the ten degrees of faith, the "feather-light" bodhisattva has not yet firmly established the root of faith, and his rank may still retrogress; from the seventh degree of faith on up, through the first ground and up to the sixth [of the ten common grounds shared by the three vehicles], he no longer retrogresses into an ordinary being or a follower of the two lesser vehicles — this is called non-retrogression of rank; though the fundamental afflictions have already been exhausted, he has not yet been able to cultivate the ten thousand practices in full, so his practice may still retrogress. At the seventh ground this is called non-retrogression of practice, though he may still give rise to thoughts of the two lesser vehicles, and so there remains a retrogression of mindfulness; at the eighth ground, when the contemplation of the path flows in twin streams into the stream of the Dharma, this is called non-retrogression of mindfulness — this too is named the ground of avaivartika, though here it refers only to the sense of the ten common grounds shared by the three vehicles. The Dilun masters say: "The ten abodes constitute non-retrogression through realization; the ten practices constitute non-retrogression of rank; the ten transferences of merit constitute non-retrogression of practice; and the ten grounds constitute non-retrogression of mindfulness." This is the sense of the distinct teaching, and does not accord with the present sūtra — it is not adopted here. The Yingluo Sūtra says: "At the first ground, the threefold contemplation manifests before one, and mind after mind flows in of itself into quiescent extinction." This too is non-retrogression according to the distinct teaching, and likewise is not adopted here. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra, however, explains that at the first of the ten abodes one attains the Tathāgata's single body and his immeasurable bodies, complete with all three kinds of non-retrogression — this is non-retrogression according to the perfect teaching, and this is the single true reality; it is this reading that is used here to determine their rank.

As for trace and origin: in their origin-ground of quiescent extinction, these bodhisattvas are not even properly spoken of as being at the ten grounds — how much less at the first abode? Not even properly at the non-retrogression of the first abode — how much less within the distinct or shared teachings? The ranks of the distinct and shared teachings are appropriate for interpreting the assemblies listed in other sūtras; the rank of the perfect teaching belongs properly to the present sūtra alone. If the various sūtra-commentators have failed even to recognize the trace, how could they possibly know the origin? Once their praise has gone astray in this way, disparagement lies hidden within it as well, amounting to the two faults of both adding to and subtracting from the truth at once — how, then, could this be called a true praising of virtue?

As for the contemplation of mind: the threefold contemplation is itself the threefold non-retrogression, and, further, the threefold contemplation within a single mind is itself threefold non-retrogression within a single mind (and so on). Earlier commentators held that the praise of their virtues begins only from the phrase "they had all attained dhāraṇī" onward. Here, however, "irreversible" is taken to carry both senses at once: read with what precedes, it belongs to the clarification of their rank; read as the start of what follows, it belongs to the praise of their virtues. Earlier commentators say: "The praise of virtue forms twelve phrases, divided into four groups of meaning: the first three phrases praise their present virtue; the next three praise their past practice; the next four praise their inner substance; and the last two praise their outward renown. Though these four groups differ, virtue stands foremost among them, and so this whole passage is called 'the praise of virtue.' The praise of their present virtue further divides in two: the first phrase praises their own practice, the next two praise their transformation of others. The praise of their practice forms three: the first phrase praises the root of their practice, this root being the prajñā they obtained from the buddhas; the next phrase praises the practice rooted in this, namely the practice of merit — for, having merit, one is thereby able to nourish wisdom; the next phrase concerns their being praised by the buddhas. The praise of their substance likewise forms three: the first praises the response-body through compassion; the middle two phrases praise the recompense-body of mind and wisdom; the last phrase praises the dharma-body. The praise of their renown forms two: the first phrase praises the universal spread of their fame, the next praises their ability to deliver sentient beings." This division of the text is, on its face, very neatly reasoned — but examined against the actual substance of the teaching, it points nowhere in particular. If this is taken as praise according to the shared teaching, the shared teaching has no three bodies, nor does it enter the Buddha's wisdom, so "renown not universally spread" makes no sense, and every such point fails to hold together. If taken as praise according to the distinct teaching, in the distinct teaching the first ground has already surpassed the two lesser vehicles — how, then, could thoughts of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha still arise at the seventh ground? And if taken as praise according to the perfect teaching, it ought not to be said that there is no virtue of non-retrogression below the seventh ground — in either direction, the reading fits nowhere. In the end, whom is this praise even meant to describe? Hence this scheme is not adopted here.

The present thirteen phrases of praise may now be read both vertically and horizontally: first, vertically, matching them conveniently to the ten grounds; second, horizontally, matching them conveniently to the first abode. "Irreversible" completes what precedes — that is, it clarifies their rank — and, as the start of what follows, belongs to the praise of their virtue, corresponding to the first ground. The first ground is named "Joy," rejoicing that one no longer retrogresses into either extreme, having entered the middle way and attained the threefold non-retrogression — hence one knows this phrase praises the first ground, the Ground of Joy. "They had all attained dhāraṇī" praises the second ground. The second ground is named "Free of Defilement," also "Freed and Comprehending" — freed from every obstruction of evil, and comprehending and upholding every form of good: this is precisely the meaning of dhāraṇī — hence one knows this praises the Ground of Freedom from Defilement. "They delighted in eloquent speech" praises the third ground. The third ground is named "Illumination" — wisdom illumined within, eloquence expressed without; wishing to know where wisdom resides, look to its speech, and speech has many kinds of delight, this being the most excellent form of speech — hence one knows this praises the third ground, the Ground of Illumination. "They turned the wheel of the Dharma that never turns back" praises the fourth ground. The fourth ground is named "Blazing" — the blaze is able to break through darkness, and also able to scorch the wick; turning the wheel of the Dharma harms one's own remaining delusions as the flame scorches the wick, and breaks through others' confusion as it dispels darkness — hence one knows this praises the fourth ground, the Ground of the Blazing Flame. "They had made offerings to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of buddhas" praises the fifth ground. The fifth ground is named "Difficult to Surpass" — at this ground one attains profound meditative concentration, and, by the power of spiritual penetration difficult to surpass and difficult to equal, one is able within a single thought-moment to reach every direction and make offerings to the buddhas — hence one knows this praises the fifth ground. "They planted every root of merit in the presence of those buddhas" praises the sixth ground. The sixth ground is named "Manifestation" — through attaining meditative concentration one is able to make offerings to the buddhas, and merit nourishes the wisdom of all modes, which then manifests before one; wisdom is the root of merit, as a seed planted in the ground — hence one knows this praises the sixth ground. "They were constantly praised by them" praises the seventh ground, the Ground of Going Far. At this ground the twofold wisdom and its expedient means surpass all that came before, broadly cultivating benefit in accord with the Buddha's own mind — hence one knows this praises the seventh ground. "They cultivated their own bodies with loving-kindness" praises the eighth ground, the Ground of Immovability. True wisdom, unmoving, does not depart from the three realms, but through loving-kindness alone governs the body so as to respond within the five destinies, governs speech in order to teach the Dharma, and governs mind in order to establish expedient means — the Orthodox Lotus Sūtra [an earlier translation of this sūtra] fully states this governance of the three modes of karma — hence one knows this praises the eighth ground. "They had entered well into the Buddha's wisdom" praises the ninth ground. The ninth ground is named "Excellent Wisdom" — penetrating deeply into ultimate reality, reaching subtly through to its very source; this name and its meaning correspond most closely of all — hence one knows this praises the ninth ground. "They had penetrated great wisdom" praises the tenth ground. The tenth ground is named "Dharma Cloud" — the dharma-body is like empty space, meditative concentration is like the great cloud, and wisdom is like the great rain; entering skillfully into the Buddha-dharma is called "wisdom," while employing the Buddha-dharma skillfully is called "great wisdom" — the two terms are used interchangeably here. "They had reached its far shore" praises the inward virtue of the tenth ground — reaching the far shore of the three truths, speaking of the fruit already present within the cause; it also means that their arrival there is not long delayed. "Their renown had spread through immeasurable worlds" praises the outward virtue of the tenth ground — it is because their inward virtue is so deep and vast that their fame spreads universally, inward and outward corresponding to one another; and if the stage of equal enlightenment is to be accounted for separately, these two phrases would apply to it as well. As for "they were able to bring countless beings across": at the other grounds, one delivers beings — perhaps from the first dharma-realm up through the ninth — without yet being called "able to bring across," but the tenth ground surpasses what came before, and so is called "able to bring across." Every ground is in fact fully endowed with the whole range of merits, and the reason these are singled out and matched here in this fashion is simply that human sentiment favors variety, that following the names of the ten grounds is convenient, and that the vertical reading is easier to grasp — this is the one approach taken in unpacking the text here.

Next, as for the horizontal reading: this speaks directly in terms of the first abode, and every other rank may be understood by the same pattern. At the first abode of the arousal of the resolve, one arousal is an arousal of all — passing beyond both extremes, transforming the ordinary and surpassing the sagely, entering the middle way; the mind is quiescent and extinguished, flowing thought after thought into the ocean of omniscience — hence it is said they attained irreversibility. At the first abode one screens off and departs from the obstructions of grasping at characteristics, ignorance, and fundamental delusion, upholding and penetrating the virtues of prajñā, liberation, and the dharma-body — hence it is said they attained dhāraṇī. Even the semblance understanding of the ten degrees of faith is already able to fill the trichiliocosm with a wondrous voice — how much more so, then, the first abode? The true understanding and merit of the secret of speech is meant by "they delighted in eloquent speech." At the first abode one is able to divide one's body and become a buddha in a hundred worlds — and in truth this reaches immeasurable, boundless worlds; since one is able to become a buddha, teaching the Dharma and transforming beings, this is what is meant by "they were able to turn the wheel of the Dharma that never turns back." At the first abode one attains inconceivable spiritual power, able to serve every buddha throughout the dharma-realm — hence "they made offerings to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of buddhas." At the first abode one attains the root of true reality, able to plant every root of merit. At the first abode one opens the Buddha's knowledge and vision, and, this knowledge and vision now being one with that of every buddha, one is thereby praised by the buddhas. At the first abode, unconditioned loving-kindness manifests one's body everywhere, responding throughout the entire dharma-realm — hence "they cultivated their own bodies with loving-kindness." At the first abode one enters the secret treasury — hence "they had entered well into the Buddha's wisdom." At the first abode the threefold wisdom within a single mind meets with no obstruction whatsoever — hence "they had penetrated great wisdom." At the first abode phenomena and principle are, in their respective portions, already ultimate — hence "they had reached the far shore." At the first abode the perfect virtue is genuinely true, matching its very name — hence "their renown had spread through immeasurable worlds." At the first abode one is able to serve as the support and refuge of the ten dharma-realms, establishing and rescuing beings — hence "they were able to bring countless hundreds of thousands of beings across." The first abode possesses, beyond this, immeasurable, boundless, and inconceivable further merits of every kind, of which only these thirteen phrases have been stated in outline. From the second abode onward, up through the stage of equal enlightenment, it is likewise so in every case. Hence the Larger Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra says: "The gate of the initial letter A is already endowed with the merit of all forty-one letters; the final letter TA is likewise endowed with the merit of every letter; and it is the same in every letter between — the letters are equal, the words are equal, and the merits are equal as well."

Question: If this passage praises the virtue of having cut off delusion, then the Tripiṭaka teaching, which does not cut off delusion in this sense, ought not to be praised by it — yet even the śrāvakas are praised here; if their trace belongs to the shared or distinct teaching, why is their virtue not praised accordingly?

Answer: To praise them in a way that corresponds to their trace would indeed carry this sense — but the present sūtra is concerned precisely with praising those of the perfect teaching, and does not praise them according to the expedient means of their trace.

Question: Why, then, are all these phrases of merit taken to praise the first abode alone?

Answer: Every other rank is just the same — why should this apply to the first abode alone? Earlier commentators held that "the eighth ground possesses these merits," without any hesitation in saying so; here, when the perfect teaching's praise is applied to the first abode, what merit is not already subsumed within it? If this holds even at the first abode, how much more so at every later rank? The Fahua Lun [the Treatise on the Lotus Sūtra] says: "One should understand the 'upper branch' and 'lower branch' gates, the general characteristic and the particular characteristics." The single opening phrase, "they had attained irreversibility," is the general statement. This non-retrogression is manifested in ten particular forms: non-retrogression in hearing the Dharma, which is dhāraṇī; non-retrogression in delighting to speak, which is delighting in eloquent speech; non-retrogression in preaching, which is turning the wheel of the Dharma that never turns back; non-retrogression in relying on good spiritual friends, which is making offerings to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of buddhas and planting every root of merit; non-retrogression in the severing of doubt, which is being praised by the buddhas; non-retrogression in entering into phenomenal activity, which is cultivating one's own body with loving-kindness; non-retrogression in entering the true object of omniscience, which is entering well into the Buddha's wisdom; non-retrogression relying on the emptiness of self and of dharmas, which is penetrating great wisdom; non-retrogression in entering the true object itself, which is reaching the far shore; and non-retrogression in what ought to be done being done, which is bringing countless hundreds of thousands of beings across. Hence the first, general phrase is the "upper branch," and the several particular phrases that follow are the "lower branch." That the [Fahua] Ji [commentary] gives this horizontal praise of the virtue of the first abode accords with just this same meaning. The Treatise also says: "Second, as for the gate of comprehending the matter: this manifests in which pure ground the various bodhisattvas dwell, by what expedient means, within what objective sphere, and what they ought to do and accomplish there." If one follows this sense, then to give the vertical praise of the bodhisattvas' virtue presents no difficulty either.

As for the contemplative explanation of this praise of virtue: "irreversible" is as already explained above. As for "dhāraṇī": the contemplation of emptiness is the revolving dhāraṇī; the contemplation of the provisional is the dhāraṇī of a hundred thousand revolutions; the contemplation of the middle is the dhāraṇī of the Dharma-sound and its expedient means. Further: when the contemplation of emptiness contemplates that mind has only a name, this is the dhāraṇī of retaining what is heard; when the contemplation of the provisional contemplates that mind gives rise to immeasurable minds, and that every mind and mental factor is itself a Dharma-gate, this is the dhāraṇī of retaining what is practiced; when the contemplation of the middle contemplates that mind is itself true reality, this is the dhāraṇī of retaining the meaning. When the contemplation of the provisional contemplates that mind is endowed with the dharmas of the ten dharma-realms, this is unhindered eloquence in the Dharma; when the contemplation of the middle contemplates that the ten dharma-realms all enter into true reality, this is unhindered eloquence in meaning; when the contemplation of emptiness contemplates that the ten dharma-realms have only names and words, this is unhindered eloquence in language. To contemplate that the one mind is the three minds, and the three minds are the one mind, that one realm is every realm, revolving without any obstruction whatsoever — this is unhindered eloquence in joyful exposition. The contemplation of emptiness is the turning of the wheel of the Dharma that never retrogresses in rank; the contemplation of the provisional is the turning of the wheel that never retrogresses in practice; the contemplation of the middle is the turning of the wheel that never retrogresses in mindfulness. "Making offerings to the buddhas" means simply according with the Buddha's own words; now, to accord with the Buddha's teaching and cultivate the threefold contemplation of mind is itself making offerings to the Buddha; to do so for the sake of breaking through the five kinds of affliction-abiding and attaining liberation is making offerings to the Dharma; and the harmony of the principle of the three truths is making offerings to the Saṅgha. Again: the mind of the manifold practices nourishing the mind of contemplative wisdom is making offerings to the Buddha; the mind of contemplative wisdom opening forth its objective sphere is making offerings to the Dharma; and the harmony of the mind of the object and the mind of wisdom is making offerings to the Saṅgha. The mind of true reality is the root of the mind of contemplative wisdom, and the mind of contemplative wisdom is the root of the mind of the manifold practices; once this root is attained and planted, it becomes firmly established — hence "they planted every root of merit." The mind of contemplative wisdom merges with its objective sphere, and that objective sphere seals itself upon contemplative wisdom in turn; wisdom, illuminating its object, is constantly united with it — this is what is meant by "being praised by the buddhas." The contemplation of emptiness is suffused by loving-kindness conditioned upon dharmas; the contemplation of the provisional is suffused by loving-kindness conditioned upon sentient beings; the contemplation of the middle is suffused by unconditioned loving-kindness. The contemplation of emptiness enters the Buddha-wisdom of the shared teaching; the contemplation of the provisional enters the Buddha-wisdom of the distinct teaching; the contemplation of the middle enters the Buddha-wisdom of the perfect teaching. The contemplation of emptiness reaches the far shore of the wisdom of all things; the contemplation of the provisional reaches the far shore of the wisdom of the paths; the contemplation of the middle reaches the far shore of the wisdom of all modes. The contemplation of emptiness hears the ultimate truth; the contemplation of the provisional hears the conventional truth; the contemplation of the middle hears universally the ultimate truth of the middle way, and likewise hears universally all three truths at once. The contemplation of emptiness delivers the hundreds of thousands of beings caught in the four kinds of affliction-abiding; the contemplation of the provisional delivers the hundreds of thousands of beings caught in delusions numerous as dust and sand; the contemplation of the middle delivers the hundreds of thousands of beings caught in fundamental ignorance. The threefold contemplation within a single mind possesses immeasurable virtues, which no praise could ever exhaust — this account has only touched upon them in brief outline.

Fifth, as to the list of names: the great names of these great beings derive variously from a Dharma-gate, from a practice or virtue, or from an original vow; though each is a single name, it is endowed with immeasurable meaning. Here, following both the sūtra text and its contemplative sense, the names of the eighteen bodhisattvas will be explained.

"Mañjuśrī" means "Wondrous Virtue." The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "To see the buddha-nature with perfect clarity is like Wondrous Virtue and others such as him." The Sūtra of Unimpeded Practice renders the name "Mañjuśrī" [transliterated slightly differently], the Universal Transcendence Sūtra renders it "Soft-Crowned," and the Sūtra Requested by Viśeṣacinti says: "Though he expounds all dharmas, he gives rise neither to the characteristic of dharmas nor to the characteristic of their negation — hence he is named Wondrous Virtue." The Sūtra of Compassionate Flowers says: "Mañjuśrī vowed: 'I vow that, practicing the bodhisattva path, every being I transform will attain perfect awakening first, throughout the ten directions, before I do — let my divine eye behold each one of them; let every being in my land be a bodhisattva bound for buddhahood in a single further life, and let all of them, guided by me, arouse the resolve for the path; my practice of the bodhisattva path shall know no limit.' The Buddha Ratnagarbha said to him: 'The merit you have cultivated is exceedingly, exceedingly profound; you wish to obtain a wondrous land — I therefore now name you Mañjuśrī, and you shall become a buddha in the northern world of Joy, titled the Buddha of the Joyful Treasury, the Jeweled Accumulation of the Maṇi Gem.'" He remains present even now; simply hearing his name extinguishes the four grave offenses. He appears in the guise of a bodhisattva, an echo and reflection of Śākyamuni himself. As for the contemplation of mind: the principle of the nature of mind, the secret of the three virtues, neither vertical nor horizontal, yet perfectly united — this is why he is named Wondrous Virtue.

"Avalokiteśvara" — in Indian speech, Avalokiteśvara [transliterated]. The Sūtra Requested by Viśeṣacinti says: "If sentient beings merely see him, they are at once assured of attaining bodhi; if they call upon his name, they are freed from every suffering — hence he is named Avalokiteśvara [Sound-Observer]." The Sūtra of Compassionate Flowers says: "Avalokiteśvara vowed: 'If there are sentient beings undergoing suffering who call upon my name or hold me in mind, and yet, though seen and heard by my divine ear and divine eye, they are not freed from their suffering, then may I not attain perfect awakening.' The Buddha Ratnagarbha said: 'Since you contemplate every sentient being and give rise to great compassion, I shall now name you Avalokiteśvara.'" The text below explains his name in its own words (and so on). ◎

As for the interpretation through the contemplation of mind: the three kinds of wisdom are called "contemplating"; the three truths are called "the world"; and the three contemplations are "utterance" — and because this utterance is rooted in them, he is named "sound." [Thus is explained the name Avalokiteśvara, "the One Who Contemplates the World's Sounds."]

As for "He Who Has Attained Great Power" (Mahāsthāmaprāpta): the Sūtra of Śraddhābalādhāna says, "Wherever I set my foot, the great trichiliocosm and the palaces of Māra are shaken — hence I am named Mahāsthāmaprāpta." The Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka Sūtra says: "[He vowed,] 'May my world be no different from Avalokiteśvara's.' The Buddha Ratnagarbha said: 'Because of your vow to take up the great trichiliocosm, you shall now be named Mahāsthāmaprāpta.'"

As for the interpretation through the contemplation of mind: the three [forms of] calming are his "feet"; treading upon the ground of the three truths, he shakes the ten dharma-realms, and every place inhabited by the afflictions of views and craving is entirely overturned (and so on).

As for "Never-Resting": the Sūtra of Śraddhābalādhāna says, "A number of kalpas equal to the sands of the Ganges makes one day and night; thirty such days make one month, twelve such months make one year; and after passing through a hundred thousand koṭis of koṭis of such kalpas, one encounters a single buddha. Having in this way encountered as many buddhas as there are sands in the Ganges, practicing the pure conduct and cultivating merit, one thereafter receives the prediction of future buddhahood — and because his mind never rests throughout, he is named 'Never-Resting.'"

As for the contemplation of mind: to contemplate emptiness without dwelling in emptiness, to emerge into the provisional without dwelling in the provisional, and to enter the middle without dwelling in the middle, illuminating both truths at once without resting in either — this is what is meant by "Never-Resting."

As for "Jeweled Palm": the Sūtra of Universal Transcendence says, "He dons the armor of supreme virtue, such that even Māra cannot defeat or destroy him; he causes the Great Vehicle to be proclaimed; even in dream he never aspires to the two vehicles [of śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha]; he ever expounds the Dharma to others with a mind of truth and a mind of penetrating wisdom, and toward jewels and treasures his mind holds not the slightest attachment or regret — hence he is named 'Jeweled Palm.'"

As for the contemplation of mind: the inconceivable three truths are called "the jewel"; the three contemplations in a single mind are called "the palm." With this palm of contemplation he grasps this jewel of the truths, benefiting himself and benefiting others — hence he is called "Jeweled Palm."

As for "the Medicine King" (Bhaiṣajyarāja): the Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka Sūtra says, "[He vowed,] 'When each of the thousand and four buddhas of the Auspicious Kalpa first attains awakening, may I make offerings to every one of them; when each buddha enters extinction, may I raise up a stūpa for him; and when the kalpa comes to its end and suffering is at its height, may I rescue and protect all beings, becoming a great physician-king amid warfare and pestilence — and only thereafter become a buddha myself.' The Buddha Ratnagarbha said: 'You shall now be named Fire-Purifying Medicine King, and when you later become a buddha you shall be the Tathāgata Rucika.'" The interpretation through the contemplation of mind [is omitted here] (and so on). Below this point, the interpretations of seven bodhisattvas are missing from the received text.

As for "Bhadrapāla": this is translated "Good Guardian," also rendered "Worthy Guardian." The Sūtra of Śraddhābalādhāna says, "If sentient beings merely hear his name, they are certain to attain awakening — hence he is named 'Good Guardian.'"

As for the interpretation through contemplation: the true contemplation of the middle way is foremost among all good practices — hence he is called "Good Guardian."

As for "Maitreya": this is translated "the Loving-Kind One." The Sūtra of Śraddhābalādhāna says, "If sentient beings merely behold him, they at once attain the samādhi of loving-kindness — hence he is named 'the Loving-Kind One.'" The Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish says, "A certain king, seeing an elephant-trainer subdue an elephant, at once gave rise to a mind of loving-kindness, and from this he received the name 'the Loving-Kind One.'" The Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka Sūtra says, "He vowed to shelter and protect sentient beings amid the kalpa of sword and fire."

Now, as for the interpretation through contemplation: the true contemplation of the middle way is itself the great loving-kindness that has no conditioned object; the power of this wholesome root of loving-kindness causes every mental factor to enter into the great loving-kindness that shares one body with all beings, departing from every unwholesome state — hence he is called "the Loving-Kind One." It is also said that "Maitreya" is in fact his clan-name, and his personal name is Ajita, translated "Unsurpassed" — discussed further below (and so on). Below this point, the interpretation of the bodhisattva Ratnarāśi ("Jewel Heap") is missing from the received text.

As for "the Guide": the Sūtra of Śraddhābalādhāna says, "Toward sentient beings who have fallen into wrong paths, he gives rise to great compassion and leads them into the right path, seeking no repayment for this kindness — hence he is named 'the Guide.'"

As for the interpretation through contemplation: the sublime wisdom of the three contemplations guides every practice, so that none falls into either extreme, and all enter the true contemplation — hence he is named "the Guide." Those bodhisattvas not yet interpreted here await a supplementary annotation later (and so on).

Sixth, the passage beginning "thus" that follows this roll call is its concluding phrase.

As for the third listing, that of "the miscellaneous assembly": the old commentators called it "the assembly of ordinary beings," yet among them are the noble ones; they called it "the assembly of laypeople," yet among them are those of the path; they called it "the assembly of gods and humans," yet among them are dragons and spirits — none of these names fit well. Now I call it "the miscellaneous assembly," a designation that comprehends them all: what is meant is the five destinies, the two realms, and the eight groupings — and it is for this reason that it is called "miscellaneous." The Vaipulya sūtras likewise list the hell-realm among the assembly, and the Sūtra of the Intermediate State likewise brings forth transformation-born beings of the formless realm; all of this manifests appropriately according to the capacity of the assembly in question, and cannot be forced into a single uniform pattern, nor can any fixed sequence among them be established.

The old commentators said that human beings, being the lords of this land, yield precedence to their guests and so are listed first; yet the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings shares the very same seating with this sūtra, and in it kings, ministers, gentlemen, and gentlewomen of the realm are named without regard to any yielding of precedence between host and guest. The compiler of this sūtra simply followed his own inclination in arranging the text, and there may be some further intention behind it that remains unclear. Examining this text now, I find eight groupings: first Śakra is set forth, then the Four Kings are listed, then the dragons before the birds, with the spirits and demons appearing more than once — it is for this reason that I call it "the miscellaneous assembly," and no fixed sequence among them can be asserted.

Furthermore, as "the miscellaneous assembly": among them are those who have attained the path and those who have not yet attained it, their rewards and their outward forms and garments all intermingled — hence it is called "miscellaneous." Among them, those who have attained the path of the two vehicles have unafflicted wisdom intermingled with the afflictions of ignorance — hence it is called "miscellaneous"; those who have attained the bodhisattva path have skillful means intermingled with the capacities of the many beings they teach — hence it is called "miscellaneous"; and those who have attained buddhahood have the single dharma endowed with the whole of every dharma — hence it, too, is called "miscellaneous." Such is the meaning of "miscellaneous" — how, then, could one judge it merely by the outward forms of ordinary, worldly beings, or fix it merely according to the five destinies of gods and humans? Hence it is called "miscellaneous." This is the interpretation in terms of the teachings (and so on).

As for "Śakra Devānām Indra": this renders Indra, also transliterated Śatakratu, and is translated "the One Able to Act," the lord of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. "Trāyastriṃśa" is translated "the Thirty-Three": on its four sides there are eight cities each, and together with the city of Sudarśana at the center they total thirty-three, all dwelling together upon the summit of Mount Sumeru. "Sumeru" is translated "Well-Illumined," formed of the four precious substances, three million three hundred and sixty thousand li in height and breadth; he is the lord of the desire-realm gods, and hence is listed first. The Saṃyukta Āgama, fascicle forty, says: "A certain bhikṣu asked the Buddha: 'Why is he named Śakra Devānām Indra?' The Buddha answered: 'When he was formerly a human being, he practiced sudden and complete giving, and was thereby capable of becoming a lord — hence he is named Śakra Devānām Indra.' 'Why is he named Puraṃdara?' 'Because when he was a human being he practiced giving again and again.' 'Why is he named Maghavan?' 'Because that was his name when he was formerly a human being.' 'Why is he named Śabala?' 'Because when he was formerly a human being he gave away his own robe in charity.' 'Why is he named Kauśika?' 'Because that was his clan-name when he was formerly a human being.' 'Why is he named Śacīpati?' 'Śacī is his wife, and pati means husband.' 'Why is he named Sahasranetra, Thousand-Eyed?' 'Because when he was formerly a human being he was wise and intelligent, and once, sitting and reflecting on a thousand different matters, he examined and weighed them all — hence he is named Thousand-Eyed.' 'Why is he named Indrali?' 'Because he is the lord of the thirty-two heavens.'" The Yingluo Sūtra, fascicle three, says, "The lord of the gods is named Kauśika."

As for the teachings: in the Āgamas, Śakra is described as an anāgāmin; the Prajñāpāramitā literature sets forth Śakras in the ten directions, and all those who press their questions upon the Perfection of Wisdom in that context are named Śakra Devānām Indra. In the distinct and perfect teachings, it is explained that Śakra Devānām Indra has attained the Śūraṅgama-samādhi; his inward realization thus differs according to teaching, and after two thousand and twenty-four kalpas beyond the Bhadrakalpa he will become a buddha, titled the World-Honored One Asaṅga, "the Unattached" (and so on).

As for trace and origin: the ten abidings, the ten practices, and the ten transferences of merit together make thirty; the ten grounds make one further rank; equal enlightenment makes two; and sublime enlightenment is the master of them all, making thirty-three in all — dwelling together in the heaven of ultimate truth and partaking together of the ambrosia of true reality: this is his origin. His dwelling upon the summit of Mount Sumeru is his trace.

As for the interpretation through the contemplation of mind: practicing the ten wholesome actions oneself, and encouraging others to rejoice in and follow them, makes a total of thirty wholesome acts; and since each of these thirty is at once empty, provisional, and the middle, this is itself the thirty-three gates of contemplation.

The three celestial sons "Bright Moon" and the others are Śakra's inner ministers, comparable to high officials of state — or, it is said, they are simply the celestial sons of the three luminaries, sun, moon, and stars. "Bright Moon" is the moon-deity Ratnaśrī, "Jewel-Auspicious Moon," whose role is filled by Mahāsthāmaprāpta; "Universal Fragrance" is the star-deity, whose role is filled by Ākāśagarbha; and "Jeweled Light" is the sun-deity Ratnamati, whose role is filled by Avalokiteśvara. This is the interpretation through trace and origin.

As for the interpretation through contemplation: the three contemplations are the two forms of wisdom, and the three forms of wisdom are the three luminaries; from the three truths arise the three forms of wisdom — the truths are "the heavens," and the wisdom is "the sons" (and so on).

As for "the Four Great Heavenly Kings": these are Śakra's outer ministers, comparable to military generals. They dwell upon four mountains of precious substance, half the height of Mount Sumeru, and two hundred and forty thousand li in breadth. In the east, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, translated "Upholder of the Nation," also "Pacifier of the People," dwells upon the Golden Mountain and governs two classes of spirit: gandharvas and pūtanas. In the south, Virūḍhaka, translated "Increase and Growth," also "Freedom from Separation," dwells upon the Lapis Lazuli Mountain and governs two classes of spirit: pretas and kumbhāṇḍas. In the west, Virūpākṣa, translated "Not of Good Recompense," also "Evil Eye," also "Mixed Speech," dwells upon the Silver Mountain and governs two classes of spirit: poisonous dragons and piśācas. In the north, Vaiśravaṇa, translated "Hearer of All Manner of Things," also "Much-Hearing," dwells upon the Crystal Mountain and governs two classes of spirit: rākṣasas and yakṣas. Each governs his two classes of spirit so that they do not trouble human beings — hence they are called "the Protectors of the World."

As for trace and origin: in origin, these are the four kings of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, who uphold and protect the Buddha-dharma, not permitting outsiders to seize its branches and leaves, to hew them down or destroy them. The King of Permanence protects the twin trees of the permanent and impermanent in the east; the King of Bliss protects the twin trees of the blissful and the blissless in the south; the King of Self protects the twin trees of the self and no-self in the west; and the King of Purity protects the twin trees of the pure and the impure in the north. The branches and trunk are likened to permanence, the flower to self, the fruit to bliss, and the luxuriant leaves to purity; protecting these flowers and fruits, they are ever able to benefit all sentient beings — this is their origin — while their trace is to become the Four Kings who protect the world.

As for the interpretation through contemplation: the wisdom that contemplates the four truths is itself the four kings, and beneath each single truth, dispelling the two afflictions of craving and views is itself the protecting of the eight forms of craving and views. Next, above the Trāyastriṃśa heaven is the Yāma heaven, translated "Good Season" — the Great Treatise calls it "Sublimely Good" — three million three hundred and sixty thousand li above Trāyastriṃśa. Above the Good Season heaven is Tuṣita, translated "Sublimely Contented," as far above Yāma as Yāma is above the earth; that it is not listed here is simply an omission for brevity. Why so? If even the lower heavens, dull of faculty, and the upper heavens, attached to pleasure, are nonetheless known to have come and assembled, how much more should those neither attached nor dull fail to come?

"The Sovereign" is the fifth desire-realm heaven, and "the Great Sovereign" is the sixth: in the fifth, one transforms the five desires for oneself; in the sixth, others transform the five desires for one (and so on). Some say that "the Great Sovereign" here refers to Maheśvara at the summit of the form realm — but this listing, still among the desire-realm heavens, ought not to leap all the way up to that one.

As for trace and origin: in origin these two heavens abide in the Sovereign and Sovereign-King samādhis; in trace they merely become these two heavens.

As for the contemplation of mind: entering emptiness is the contemplation of the Sovereign; entering the middle is the contemplation of the Great Sovereign (and so on).

Next the text lists the heavens of the form realm. "Sahā" is translated "Endurance": the beings of this land are content in the ten evils and unwilling to depart from them, and the land is named after its people — hence it is called "the Land of Endurance." The Karuṇāpuṇḍarīka Sūtra says, "Why is it named Sahā? Because these sentient beings endure the three poisons and the other afflictions — hence it is named the Land of Endurance." It is also named "the mixed land," mixed because the nine destinies dwell there together (and so on).

"Brahmā" is translated "Freed from Desire": having removed the fetters of the lower stage and ascended into the form realm, he is named "Freed from Desire," also called "Lofty and Pure." "Śikhin" is translated "Crest," or, in a foreign tongue, "fire" is called Jyotiṣka-śikhin; this king originally cultivated the samādhi of fiery radiance, thereby destroying the afflictions of the desire realm, and his name derives from this virtue. Now, the sūtra names King Brahmā and also names Śikhin, as though these were two different persons; but according to the Great Treatise, Śikhin is properly the same king as Brahmā — this sūtra merely brings up his rank to display his name, and it is likely that only a single person is meant. Dwelling in the intermediate stage of dhyāna, with inward investigation and reflection and outward speech, and having attained the position of ruler, he is "king"; those who merely cultivate dhyāna without ruling are "the citizens of Brahmā," while adding the four immeasurable minds to dhyāna makes one "king." The first dhyāna has three heavens — the multitude of Brahmā, the ministers of Brahmā, and Great Brahmā — and here the king is named to encompass them all.

"Light" is the second dhyāna, which has three heavens: Parīttābha, "Lesser Light"; Apramāṇābha, "Immeasurable Light"; and Ābhāsvara, "Light-Sound." The third dhyāna has Parīttaśubha, "Lesser Purity"; Apramāṇaśubha, "Immeasurable Purity"; and Śubhakṛtsna, "All-Pervading Purity." The fourth dhyāna has Anabhraka, "Concealed Body," also "Without Obstruction"; Puṇyaprasava, "Immeasurably Concealed," also "Receiving Blessings"; Bṛhatphala, "Concealed Fruit," also "Extensive Fruit"; and Asaṃjñisattva, "Without Thought," also "No-Thought." There are also the five Anāgāmin heavens: Avṛha, "Without Vexation"; Atapa, "Without Heat"; Sudṛśa, "Well-Seen"; Sudarśana, "Well-Manifest"; and Akaniṣṭha, "Ultimate Form," also the heaven of Maheśvara. The sūtra's text preserves only an abbreviated list and does not enumerate them all in full, but simply gathers all these heavens together under "and so on." There would in each case be interpretations in terms of the teachings, of trace and origin, and of the contemplation of mind, following the same pattern — the reader may work these out for himself.

Next the text lists the eight dragon kings. "Nanda" means "Joy," and "Upananda" means "Good"; these two brothers ever protected the kingdom of Magadha, sending rain in its proper season so that the land knew no years of famine, and King Bimbisāra held a yearly assembly in their honor, which all the people rejoiced to hear of — from this they received their names. They are the very dragons subdued by Maudgalyāyana, and they dwell in the sea.

As for the interpretation through trace and origin: in origin they abide on the Ground of Joy, the first bodhisattva ground; in trace they dwell within the sea.

As for the interpretation through contemplation: the three contemplations are themselves the middle way, giving rise to the joy of the Dharma.

"Sāgara" receives his name from his dwelling in the ocean, as he is called in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra; the old commentators say he received his name from a kingdom. In origin he abides in the great ocean of the perfection of wisdom; in trace he dwells in the blue-green sea.

"Vāsuki" is translated "Many-Headed," also "Jewel-Renowned," and he dwells in the water. In origin he abides in the samādhi of universally manifesting physical bodies; in trace he displays many heads. As for contemplation: this is the contemplation of entering the provisional, distinguishing countless dharma-gates (and so on).

"Takṣaka" is translated "Manifesting Poison," also "Many-Tongued," or "Double-Tongued"; in origin he abides in the dharma-gate of unobstructed eloquence in joyful preaching; in trace he displays many tongues. "Anavatapta" receives his name from a lake, and is translated "Without Heat."

As for the Lake Without Heat: the Dīrgha Āgama, fascicle eighteen, says, "At the summit of the Himalayas there is a lake named Anavatapta, within which stands a hall upon five pillars; this dragon king takes his name from this lake, and the dragon king ever dwells within it. The dragons of Jambudvīpa suffer three afflictions: first, hot winds and hot sand adhere to their bodies, burning their skin, flesh, and marrow, causing them suffering; second, evil winds arise violently and blow upon their palaces, so that they lose their bejeweled ornaments and garments, and their dragon-bodies are exposed, causing them suffering; and third, when the dragons are at ease and enjoying themselves, garuḍas enter their palaces, seize their newly-born dragon offspring, and devour them, filling them with dread and burning anguish. This lake alone is free of these three afflictions; should any garuḍa merely conceive the intent to go there, it would die on the spot — hence it is named the Lake Without Heat and Vexation." In origin, Anavatapta abides in the cool and tranquil reality of permanence, bliss, self, and purity; in trace he dwells in this cool lake.

As for contemplation: the sublime wisdom of the three contemplations purifies the vexation of the five levels of afflictive abiding, and delivers one from the burning sand of the two kinds of death (and so on).

"Manasvin" is translated "Great Body," or also "Great Mind," "Great Strength," and so on. When the asuras once churned the sea and threatened to flood the city of Sudarśana, this dragon coiled his body about to hold back the sea-waters. In origin he abides in the dharma-gate of the boundless body; in trace he becomes this great body.

As for contemplation: the true contemplation of the middle way, whose nature is vast and expansive (and so on).

"Utpalaka" is translated "the Dark-Blue Lotus Pool," in which the dragon dwells, and from which he receives his name. In origin he abides in the Lotus Samādhi; in trace he dwells in this pool. As for contemplation: the three contemplations are themselves the causal practice, and this cause is itself the lotus flower.

The Saddharma-smṛtyupasthāna Sūtra says, "The dragons guard the borders on behalf of the gods, and when the asuras raise their armies, they first do battle with the dragons." Hence it is known that the dragons are under the governance of the gods.

Next the text lists the four kiṃnaras, also transliterated "Kindara," and translated "the Doubtful Spirits," for they resemble human beings yet bear a single horn — hence they are called "neither human nor non-human." They are Śakra's musicians of the Dharma, dwelling upon the Ten Jeweled Mountains; whenever their bodies display an unusual sign, they ascend to offer up music. Whenever the Buddha preaches the Dharma, these gods sing to the accompaniment of strings, sounding the pañcikā-vīṇā, and chant in praise of the gates of the Dharma. The old commentators say: "Dharma Kiṃnara plays the four truths; Sublime Kiṃnara plays the twelve links of dependent origination; Great Kiṃnara plays the six perfections; and Upholding Kiṃnara plays all three of the preceding together."

Now I say that they play the dharma-gates of the four teachings. In origin they abide in the inconceivable, never rising from the samādhi of cessation, at peace in meditation with palms joined, praising the kings of the Dharma with thousands upon thousands of verses; in trace they entrust themselves to strings and pipes, singing and chanting of the Buddha's ten powers. As for contemplation: to contemplate that sound and voice are themselves empty, provisional, and the middle, according with the three truths, is itself to praise the Buddha.

The four gandharvas: this is translated "Fragrance-Sniffer," for they take fragrance as their food; also "Fragrance-Aggregate," for their bodies emit fragrance. These are Śakra's musicians of secular music. "Music" refers to acrobatic and banner-tumbling performances; "musical sound" refers to drumming, rhythm, strings, and pipes; "beautiful" refers to the finest among the acrobatic and banner-tumbling performances; and "beautiful sound" refers to the finest among the strings and pipes.

As for "Asura": this is translated "Without Wine," for it is said that although the beings of the four continents gather flowers and ferment them in the great ocean, through the karmic power of the fish and dragons there its flavor never changes into wine; out of wrath and envy the asuras vowed to abstain from it — hence they are called "the Wineless Spirits." They are also called "the Unupright"; the Venerable An "who fills the heavens" (i.e. the eminent monk Dao'an) calls them "Zhiliang." Zhiliang means "upright and trustworthy" — yet these spirits are in fact flattering and crooked, and so do not live up to this name. There are two kinds: those belonging to the ghost destiny dwell at the edge of the great ocean, and those belonging to the animal destiny dwell at the bottom of the great ocean.

"Balī" is translated "Bound," or "Bound in Five Places," or "the Five Evils" — a cord bound about his neck that he cannot escape, hence "Bound"; also called "Having Bonds," for he was bound by Śakra. In origin he is able to bind with five bonds, binding Māra and the followers of other paths; in trace he takes on this form. The Zhengfahua translation calls him "Supreme Contemplation": with the wisdom of the three contemplations, he binds the afflictions of the five levels of abiding and enters into ultimate reality.

"Kharaskandha" is translated "Broad Shoulders," also "Evil Aggregate" — he who churns up the sea; the Zhengfahua text calls him "Jeweled Brocade." In origin he abides in the twofold wisdom of the provisional and the real, bearing sentient beings compassionately upon his shoulders; in trace he becomes "Broad Shoulders." As for contemplation: the three contemplations are able to churn up and overturn the great ocean of birth-and-death of the five levels of abiding.

"Vemacitra" is translated "Pure Mind," also "Various Doubts" — he who churns the sea-waters until they resound, and hence is named Vemacitra; he is the father of Śacī. The Sūtra on the Samādhi of Buddha-Visualization says: "Beings of the Ābhāsvara heaven were born in this land; the land caused desire to arise in them, and they entered the sea to wash away impurity, whereupon they fell into the mud and were transformed into eggs. After eight thousand years, one such being gave birth to a daughter with a thousand heads less one and twenty-four arms. This girl played in the water, and the essence of the water entered her body; after eight thousand years she gave birth to a son with twenty-four heads and a thousand arms less one — and because the sound of the sea's waves gave rise to him, he was named Vemacitra. He sought the daughter of a gandharva and by her begot Śacī; through Śakra's karmic power her father came to dwell in a palace of the seven treasures, and Śakra took her as his wife. Afterward, slandered by her against her father, he went to war with Śakra: with his feet he churned the sea-waters, and with his hands he assaulted the city of Sudarśana, but Śakra, by the power of the Prajñāpāramitā mantra, could not be harmed by him." The Zhengfahua text calls him "Dwelling in Peace." In origin, form and mind are fundamentally pure; in trace he bears this name. As for contemplation: the true contemplation of the middle way is itself "the pure mind."

"Rāhu" is translated "Obstructing and Seizing," for he obstructs and seizes the sun and moon. He belongs to the animal species, his body eighty-four thousand yojanas in length, his mouth a thousand yojanas across, his body adorned with jeweled pearls; he gazes upon the gardens and groves of the celestial maidens, and if the people of the four continents are filial in caring for their parents and make offerings to the śramaṇas, the gods possess awesome power and rain down knives from the sky against Rāhu when he threatens the sun and moon; but if not, the gods retreat into their palaces and do not come forth to protect him from Rāhu. Moreover, when the sun casts its light into his eyes, he cannot bear to look upon it, and raises his hand to shield the sun with his palm — and the people of the world all say that this is the strange and ominous portent of a solar eclipse, and put forward all manner of mistaken explanations; and it is the same when he covers the moon. Or he lets out a great roar, and the people of the world say that this is the roaring of a heavenly beast, an omen of turmoil and the decline of kings, again with all manner of mistaken explanations. When he thus threatens the sun and moon, he doubles the size of his body and breathes out upon them, so that the sun and moon lose their light. They come to complain to the Buddha, and the Buddha tells Rāhu: "Do not swallow the sun and moon." At this, every joint of Rāhu's body trembles, and his body streams with white sweat, and he at once releases the sun and moon — for by the combined power of the sun and moon, the power of sentient beings, and the power of the Buddha, working together through many causes and conditions, he is unable to do them harm.

Long ago there was a brahmin, wise and generous in giving, who loaded four thousand carts with food and distributed it in the wilderness. There was a stūpa of the Buddha there, which had been burned by evil men; the brahmin thereupon loaded four thousand carts with water, extinguished the fire, and rescued the stūpa, and, filled with joy, made a vow, wishing to obtain a great body and become foremost in the desire realm. Yet, lacking true faith, and fond of fighting and warfare and delighting in giving of a kind, he was thereby born in the City of Light, becoming Rāhu, lord of the asuras. The Zhengfahua text calls him "Breath-Drawer." The interpretations through origin and contemplation are omitted here (and so on).

Next the text lists the four garuḍas, translated "Golden Wings," their wing-feathers golden in color, dwelling in the great trees above the four continents, their two wings spanning three million three hundred and sixty thousand li apart. Some say that the Zhuangzi's "peng" bird refers to this, since when the peng travels, all the other birds shelter beneath its wings, and it is also called the phoenix. In my own view, the phoenix does not tread upon living grass, feeds on bamboo seeds, and roosts in the wutong tree that yields milk-sap — while the golden-winged bird devours dragons; how, then, could they be the same kind? "Great Awesome Virtue": his awesome power surpasses that of his fellows, and his awesome power also subdues the dragons; the Zhengfahua text calls him "Fully Endowed." "Great Body": great among his fellows. "Great Fullness": the dragons ever fulfill his every wish.

"Wish-Fulfilling": he bears this jewel upon his neck; the Zhengfahua text calls him "Immovable." The garuḍa birds possess supernatural power: the males can transform into celestial youths, and the females into celestial maidens, and where they dwell by transformation there stand jeweled palaces furnished with a hundred flavors of food — yet their karmic recompense still requires them to feed upon dragons. A womb-born garuḍa can devour womb-born dragons but not the other three kinds; an egg-born garuḍa can devour egg-born and womb-born dragons; a moisture-born garuḍa can devour three kinds; and a transformation-born garuḍa can devour all four kinds.

The Sūtra on the Samādhi of Buddha-Visualization says: "The garuḍa, properly pronounced, each day devours, on the eastern side of the mountain, one dragon king and five hundred lesser dragons, and likewise on each of the other three sides, cycling through in this way, for a lifespan of eight thousand years. As his life draws to its end and his strength fails, he seeks to devour dragon offspring, but the mother dragon shrieks at him and he cannot obtain his food; enraged, he plunges from the Diamond Mountain into the sea, bores through the wheel of earth and passes beyond it, but cannot pass beyond the wheel of wind, which flings him back, and he gushes back up through his own former hole to the Diamond Mountain — and thus seven times over, until at last, back at the mountain's summit, his life comes to its end: his flesh splits open and fire breaks forth, threatening to burn the jeweled mountain, until Nanda sends down rain to extinguish it. His flesh decays, and his heart, driven by the wheel of wind, likewise rebounds seven times, and falls upon the mountain, becoming the wish-fulfilling jewel; whatever dragon obtains it at once becomes king among dragons, and human kings, too, are those who have gained merit worthy of this very jewel."

Next the text lists the human beings. "Vaidehī" is the mother, translated "Thinking." Bimbisāra, translated "Model of Reality," is the father. "Ajātaśatru" means "Enmity Before Birth"; he is also called Balaruci, translated "Fingerless" — his attendants, wishing to shield him from this ominous name, called him instead "Well-Seen." "Well-Seen" is his original name, and "Fingerless" is a name expressing his trace. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, "'Ajā' means 'not born,' and 'śatru' means 'enmity.'" Because beings fail to give birth to the buddha-nature, the enmity of affliction is thereby born; and because the enmity of affliction is born, the buddha-nature is not seen; but where affliction is not born, the buddha-nature is thereby seen. It is also said that "ajā" means "not born," and "śatru" means "worldly dharma," and because he was unstained by the eight worldly dharmas he was named Ajātaśatru — this is his original meaning.

The Sūtra of Universal Transcendence says, "Ajātaśatru, through repentance before Mañjuśrī, attained the receptivity to the truth of non-arising that comes through gentle compliance; at the end of his life he entered the Prativi hell, but no sooner had he entered than he emerged again, and was born in a buddha-land above, where he attained the receptivity to the truth of non-arising itself; when Maitreya appears in this world, he will come again to this realm, named the Bodhisattva Acala, 'Unmoving,' and thereafter will become a buddha, titled the Tathāgata Pure-Realm." Since his trace was thus, how could his origin possibly be fathomed? At the time of the Lotus Sūtra he took part among the assembly of the pure, while at the time of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra he is cited as one guilty of the five heinous transgressions — how does this differ from Mahākāśyapa, who received the prediction of buddhahood at the Lotus Sūtra yet, at the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, appears unfit to receive the Buddha's final entrustment? One must not be deceived by the trace and thereby be led into doubt about the origin.

As for the interpretation through contemplation: craving is "the mother," and ignorance is "the father"; to slay these is called "transgression" — yet this very transgression is itself compliance, for it is by walking the improper path that one penetrates through to the buddha-path.

Question: The Buddha preached the Dharma among human beings — why, then, is the human assembly listed so briefly?

Answer: The text is abbreviated and does not record them all; the number of human beings present was in fact not small. The text says, "and the various minor kings and wheel-turning sage kings, and so on." In the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings, the four kinds of wheel-turning kings are listed, along with kings, ministers, subjects, gentlemen and gentlewomen of the realm — there the assembly is set forth at much greater length.

Question: The gods, humans, dragons, and spirits all see the Buddha and hear the Dharma — why, then, are the single destiny of hell and the single realm of the formless not listed?

Answer: This meaning must now be explained. The rising and falling among the various destinies depends upon whether the precepts are upheld or violated; whether one sees the Buddha or does not see him depends upon whether the vehicle is slack or urgent. Now, the upholding of precepts may be coarse or fine, and so karmic recompense is superior or inferior; the upholding of the vehicle may be lesser or greater, and the seeing of the Buddha may be provisional or real. Let us then, in brief, divide both precepts and vehicle each into three grades, and, following a single phrase from the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, open this into four propositions to explain the matter, whereby its meaning becomes clear: first, both precepts and vehicle urgent; second, precepts slack but vehicle urgent; third, precepts urgent but vehicle slack; and fourth, both precepts and vehicle slack. If we speak of precepts and vehicle in their broadest sense, then every wholesome dharma and every contemplative wisdom may be called "precepts," and may likewise all be called "vehicle" — the five vehicles of gods and humans are precisely this meaning, and the precepts of the path and of concentration and the like are all included in this broad sense.

Now, speaking in the narrower, particular sense: the three refuges, the five precepts, the ten wholesome actions, the eight precepts of a single day and night, the monastic disciplinary codes, and even the precepts arising together with concentration — whatever is able to guard body and speech, to bar the fruits of the evil destinies, and to obtain the rewards of gods and humans — this is called "precepts." If, on hearing the sūtras, one gives rise to understanding, and with contemplative wisdom investigates the four truths, the twelve links of dependent origination, the six perfections, arising-and-ceasing and non-arising-and-non-ceasing, and so forth, such that this wisdom is able to destroy the afflictions and carry one out beyond the three realms — this is called "vehicle." Hence the Larger Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra says, "Wholesome conduct that bears characteristics neither moves nor escapes the three realms; wholesome conduct without characteristics is able to move and able to escape" — this is precisely this meaning.

If both precepts and vehicle are urgent: one who upholds the lowest grade of precepts urgently receives recompense as a human being; if he also upholds the lesser vehicle urgently, then, in a human body, he sees the Buddha and hears the Dharma at the time of the Tripiṭaka teaching; if he upholds the middling vehicle urgently, then, in a human body of recompense, he sees the Buddha and hears the Dharma at the time of the shared teaching's Great Vehicle, or even amid the various Great Vehicle sūtras that carry an admixture of skillful means; if he upholds the supreme vehicle urgently, then, in a human body of recompense, he sees the Buddha and hears the Dharma at the Avataṃsaka, the Lotus, and the other teachings, and within the perfect teaching found in every teaching — and it is precisely such beings who are listed among this assembly of those hearing together with the Buddha. If he upholds the middling grade of precepts urgently, he receives recompense as a desire-realm god; if he also upholds the lesser vehicle urgently, then, in the body of a desire-realm god, he sees the Buddha and hears the Dharma at the time of the Tripiṭaka teaching, and the rest follows as explained above. If he upholds the highest grade of precepts urgently, and in addition cultivates meditative concentration, he receives recompense as a form-realm or formless-realm god; if he also upholds the lesser vehicle urgently, then, in the body of a form-realm or formless-realm god, he sees the Buddha and hears the Dharma amid the Tripiṭaka teaching, and the rest follows as explained above. This concludes the explanation of the first proposition.

If precepts are slack but vehicle urgent: all three grades of precepts are slack, and he falls into recompense among the three evil destinies; but if he upholds the lesser vehicle urgently, then, in the body of one of the three evil destinies, he sees the Buddha and hears the Dharma amid the Tripiṭaka teaching, and the rest follows as explained above. This concludes the explanation of the second proposition. If precepts are urgent but vehicle slack: because all three grades of precepts are urgent, he receives a body among the desire-realm gods and humans, or the form- and formless-realm gods; but because all three vehicles are slack, then, even though a buddha appears in the world and preaches the teachings of the three vehicles, he remains attached to the pleasures of his recompense, indulging and immersed in the five desires, and neither sees the Buddha nor hears the Dharma — such were the three hundred million households of Śrāvastī who neither saw nor heard the Buddha, and such are the gods of the three realms attached to pleasure. This concludes the explanation of the third proposition. If both precepts and vehicle are slack: he receives recompense among the three evil destinies, and neither sees the Buddha nor hears the Dharma. This concludes the explanation of the fourth proposition.

This text does not list the hell-realm because, its precepts being slack, its suffering is heavy and its recompense cut off from the possibility of encounter; and because even its highest vehicle is slack, it is unable to see the Buddha or hear the Dharma at the Lotus assembly. Where other sūtras do list beings of hell, it is because in those instances some vehicle among them was urgent. Nor does this text list the formless-realm gods, because, their highest grade of precepts being urgent, they receive a divine body attached to the savor of concentration, while their highest vehicle, being slack, is unable to see the Buddha or hear the Dharma at the Lotus assembly; where other sūtras do list them, it is because some vehicle among them was urgent. If one grasps this meaning, and examines each of the eight kinds of beings among the gods, dragons, and the rest in turn, one may fully understand the urgency or slackness of their original causal conditions, and thereby grasp entirely the meaning of why they come or do not come — a fuller explanation may be found in the Commentary on the Vimalakīrti Sūtra. Furthermore, recognizing how the provisional draws forth the real, the meaning of trace and origin becomes ever clearer; and applying this to one's own contemplative practice, the causes and effects of the three periods of time become brilliantly clear and knowable.

"Each bowed at the Buddha's feet" is the summary conclusion of the gathering of the assembly.

From "At that time, the World-Honored One" onward, to the end of the chapter, is named "the distinct prologue." The text falls into five parts: first, the gathering of the assembly; second, the manifestation of the auspicious signs; third, the arising of doubt; fourth, the posing of the question; and fifth, the answering of the question. Guangzhai traces their arising forward and backward: because the assembly gathers, the signs are therefore manifested; and so on, up to: because there is a question, there is therefore an answer — the answer arising from the question, and the signs, in turn, arising from the gathering of the assembly. But this is merely a reciprocal chain of causal arising, each link hooked to the next, and it never actually manages to show how the prologue relates to the principal meaning that follows it — it amounts to no more than a single reading through causes and conditions, and even this single reading remains unclear, let alone the second, third, and fourth readings, which are given no direction at all.

Now I explain that these five parts of the prologue serve as a prologue to the "four ones" within the main body of the teaching to come: the gathering of the assembly narrates the "one" of persons; the manifestation of the signs narrates the "one" of principle; the arising of doubt narrates the "one" of practice; and the question and answer narrate the "one" of the teaching. This is the interpretation in terms of causes and conditions. As for the teachings: this prologue serves as prologue to a main teaching that is neither the Tripiṭaka teaching, nor the shared, nor the distinct teaching, but is rather the prologue to the perfect and true teaching alone. As for trace and origin: if this prologue is taken as prologue to the "four ones" of the original ground set forth in the "Chapter on the Lifespan," this meaning may be understood of itself, and need not be recorded again here. The interpretation through the contemplation of mind may likewise be understood by extension (and so on).

Within the gathering of the assembly there are again two parts: first, the deportment of the assembly's gathering; and second, the offerings made by the assembly's gathering. The Fahua Lun designates this as "abiding in proper deportment, in accordance with the Dharma."

As for "the fourfold assembly": the old commentators said, "Those who have gone forth and those who remain in the household, each of two kinds, male and female, make the fourfold assembly." But this designation is too narrow, and its meaning does not fully cover the case. Now, taking any single assembly, I open it further into four: namely, the assembly of those who set things in motion, the assembly of those whose capacity has ripened, the assembly of those who lend resonant support, and the assembly of those forming karmic affinity. "Those who set things in motion": with skillful counsel and discerning wisdom, knowing the right capacity and the right time, they strike and set forth the occasion, bringing benefit to completion — like a great elephant that shakes a tree so that its young may eat their fill; that is, those who set in motion the gathering of the assembly, who set in motion the auspicious signs, and even those who set in motion the question and answer, are all named "the assembly of those who set things in motion." "Those whose capacity has ripened": having long ago planted roots of virtue, their conditions now come together and their time has ripened — like a boil about to burst — they need not even rise from their seats before, upon hearing the teaching, they attain the path at once; this is named "the assembly of those whose capacity has ripened." "Those who lend resonant support": buddhas of ages past, and bodhisattvas of the dharma-body, concealing their perfect and ultimate attainment, support and assist the Dharma-king — like the multitude of stars circling the moon, which, though they do nothing themselves, nonetheless provide immense benefit; this is named "the assembly of those who lend resonant support."

"Those forming karmic affinity": their power lacks the capacity to lead or set things in motion, and their virtue lacks the power to subdue and adorn things; their roots from past lives are shallow, obscured, outflowing, and defiled, so that the three kinds of wisdom do not arise in them; though in this present life they see the Buddha and hear the Dharma, they gain no benefit from the four siddhāntas, but merely form a karmic affinity toward liberation in some future life — this is named "the assembly of those forming karmic affinity." As it is for the assembly of bhikṣus, so it is for the other three assemblies as well, making sixteen assemblies in all. This is comparable to the time of the Buddha Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū: the princes who resumed his preaching were, at that time, the assembly of those who set things in motion; those who heard the Dharma and attained the path were, at that time, the assembly of those whose capacity had ripened; and those who heard the Dharma but were not yet liberated, meeting him again life after life, some of whom even now abide at the level of the śrāvaka, were, at that time, the assembly of those forming karmic affinity. If even in that buddha's age there were already these four sets of sixteen assemblies, how, now that the present Buddha's path is the same, could there fail to be the same? This is the sixteen assemblies of the perfect teaching; the pattern for the other three teachings may likewise be inferred by analogy.

The interpretation through trace and origin may be understood by extension.

As for the contemplation of mind: when one investigates one's object and undertakes contemplation while still at the stage of verbal understanding and contemplative practice, one thereby becomes "the assembly of those forming karmic affinity"; on entering the stage of resemblance, one becomes "the assembly of those whose capacity has ripened"; and on entering the stage of partial truth, one becomes "the assembly of those who set things in motion" and "of those who lend resonant support" (and so on).

As for "circumambulating": when the Buddha first appeared in the world, human beings did not yet know the Dharma, and so the gods of the Pure Abodes descended and transformed themselves into human forms; having arrived, they circled to the right, and having circled, they paid reverent homage, and having paid homage, they withdrew and sat down to hear the Dharma. Because of this reverence shown by the gods, human beings took it as their model — this is the interpretation through causes and conditions. "Circumambulating" is the deportment of walking in a circle, signifying that the capacities of beings at the four gates of the four directions are all set in motion and all behold the perfect principle; taking the perfect as set against the partial, there are, by analogy, four meanings for the four teachings — this is the interpretation in terms of the teachings. Furthermore, the Buddha's body, adorned all around with its major and minor marks, is gazed upon from all four sides as the assembly circles him, deepening their samādhi of buddha-recollection — this is the interpretation through the contemplation of mind. And if, by contemplating the Buddha's physical body, one comes to behold the dharma-body, this is the interpretation through trace and origin.

As for "making offerings": in general, all acts of the three karmic modes of body, speech, and mind are offerings; but, spoken of individually, humble and reverent obeisance is called "reverence"; focused and single-minded mindfulness is called "esteem"; speaking words of praise is called "eulogy"; and bestowing material support is called "offering" in the narrow sense. Here the text is abbreviated; a full account should be sought at length in the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings. Heavenly delicacies, heavenly incense, and heavenly bowls and vessels are "offerings" in this narrow sense; the Bodhisattva Mahāvyūha and the eighty thousand great beings, with palms joined and hands clasped, display "reverence"; gazing up single-mindedly is "esteem"; and reciting verses of seven characters is "eulogy." Now, in discussing the gathering of the assembly, I point to that text because, in that sūtra, after the assembly had gathered and the preaching of the Dharma was complete, the assembly remained composed and did not disperse, and it was in that very seat that the Lotus Sūtra was then preached — hence it is known that the threefold karmic offering cannot be any different between the two sūtras; that sūtra's fuller explanation may be used to supplement this sūtra's brevity, without fault to the meaning.

From "he taught, for the sake of the bodhisattvas, a Great Vehicle sūtra" down to "raised up stūpas of the seven treasures from the Buddha's relics," this is the prologue of manifesting signs. Master Yao explains seven auspicious signs, opening six in this world and gathering the rest into a single sign in other worlds; Guangzhai takes six signs in this world and six in other worlds, respectively. These six are: motion, in preaching the Dharma to liberate beings, and stillness, in entering samādhi to contemplate principle — motion and stillness make one pair; above, the heavens rain down the four flowers, and below, the earth quakes in six ways — above and below make one pair; and within, the great assembly harbors joy, while without, the Tathāgata emits radiant light — inner and outer make one pair.

Now, in my own view, tracing where the text begins and ends accords with Guangzhai's scheme; but if one merely takes up names and their easy meanings, the sense of what these signs "signify" and "recompense" still remains unrevealed. I now explain them instead as three pairs — wisdom and concentration, cause and effect, and stimulus and response: wisdom points to the "one" truth while speaking of "the many" expedients; concentration is the samādhi of the truths, the conditions, the meaning, and the object; cause is the heavenly flowers of the four ranks; effect is the six-fold quaking of the earth; stimulus is the arousal of the Great Vehicle capacity in the assembly; and response is the perfect buddha's radiant tuft of hair illuminating them. As for why all six are called "auspicious signs": the text says, "the signs now are as the signs of old" — a "sign" is simply a "mark"; it is merely popular usage that distinguishes a hidden recompense as "auspicious" and an unusual appearance as a "mark." But what, then, does the mark recompense? The sublime principle is so profound and subtle that it is exceedingly difficult to express in words, and ordinary sentiment is too idle and inattentive to hold it in due esteem; hence the Buddha first employs unusual marks to startle ordinary sentiment out of its habitual state, and once ordinary sentiment has been so transformed, reverent longing is thereby aroused — hence "the unusual" is used to explain "the mark," and "recompense" is used to explain "the auspicious." Briefly explaining the six auspicious signs as signifying and recompensing the ten wondrous aspects of the Dharma: the wonder of stimulus and response has already been discussed elsewhere; I will now further say that the sign of preaching the Dharma signifies and recompenses the wonder of preaching the Dharma and the wonder of wisdom; the sign of entering samādhi signifies and recompenses the wonder of practice; the sign of raining down flowers signifies and recompenses the wonder of rank; the sign of the earth's quaking signifies and recompenses the wonder of the object and the wonder of the vehicle; the sign of the assembly's joy signifies and recompenses the wonder of the retinue and the wonder of benefit; and the sign of emitting light signifies and recompenses the wonder of stimulus-and-response and the wonder of supernatural power — and it is for this reason that all six are together named "the prologue of manifesting signs."

As for "he taught a Great Vehicle sūtra": the Sūtra of Bodhisattva Good Precepts sets forth seven "greatnesses": first, the greatness of the Dharma, meaning the vaipulya among the twelve divisions of the canon; second, the greatness of mind, meaning the seeking of awakening; third, the greatness of understanding, meaning the understanding of the bodhisattva canon; fourth, the greatness of purity, meaning the purifying of the mind upon seeing the path (and so on); fifth, the greatness of adornment, meaning merit and wisdom; sixth, the greatness of time, meaning the practice carried out through the three incalculable kalpas; and seventh, the greatness of full endowment, meaning the attaining of awakening adorned with the major and minor marks. The first six are the greatness of cause, and the seventh is the greatness of effect; a great cause together with a great effect together make "a Great Vehicle sūtra." If one now applies the meaning of the ten wondrous aspects to this sūtra, its full sense should become clear.

Master Sheng says: "The principle of the emptiness of characteristics is the root of the Great Vehicle; beings have long been bound to the three vehicles, and to suddenly declare that there is no distinction of three would not win their trust — hence the doctrine of no characteristics is preached as the prologue to the Lotus." Master Guan's view agrees with this. But if this is so, then the Prajñāpāramitā and the Vimalakīrti Sūtras should equally count as this prologue — why should only the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings be singled out? He explains this by saying, "It is because of the five periods of teaching that the later teaching is thereby able to arise." One may further ask: "If so, then the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings merely gives rise to the other sūtras in the ordinary, general way that any earlier teaching gives rise to a later one, and has nothing to do with serving as this sūtra's own distinct prologue." Master Ji says: "The principle of emptiness is without form, hence it is called 'immeasurable' — his account of the prologue's meaning agrees with the one above, and the same objection applies to it as well." Master Yin says: "The good of no characteristics carries the meaning of attaining buddhahood, hence it is called 'immeasurable.'" He further says: "That sūtra does not speak of any difference between there being three vehicles and there being no three; the Larger Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra is not what the Lotus points to, for the sūtra it points to had not yet arrived in the land of Qin at the time in question."

Now, in my own view: this sūtra was received by the bhikṣu Huibiao in the third year of the Yuanjia era of the Liu Song [426 CE], at Chaoting Monastery in Nanhai commandery, from Dharmayaśas, and brought back to Mount Wudang, where it first began to circulate in the world in the third year of the Yongming era [485 CE]. Since the sūtra had thus already arrived in China long before the debate in question, how could it possibly have been "sent back to India"? Guangzhai says: "The Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings teaches that the ten thousand forms of goodness converge together and are able to accomplish the buddha-path, while the Lotus specifically clarifies that there is neither two nor three vehicles, breaking apart the difference between three and one — hence it serves as the prologue." But if the ten thousand forms of goodness converge together, why should the two and three vehicles not likewise converge? If the two and three do converge, then the prologue and the main teaching are no different in this respect; and if it is said that the Lotus breaks apart the two and the three, why does it not likewise break apart the ten thousand? If it broke apart the two and the three, then there would be neither two nor three; and since it has already, in this account, broken apart the ten thousand, then there would be no prologue at all distinguishing it from the main teaching. To take up the sūtras and cite them against one another, treating their meanings as different, does not in fact establish any real difference; and since the difference in meaning is not made evident, the meaning of "prologue" is likewise not established. Liu Qiu's commentary says: "No characteristics is the root; the single dharma of no characteristics contains meaning beyond measure." But if it contains meaning beyond measure, this is itself a kind of having characteristics — how, then, can it be called "no characteristics"?

Examining these various masters, each favors a single, partial view: to say that the good bearing characteristics carries the meaning of attaining buddhahood is merely the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching; to say that the good without characteristics carries the meaning of attaining buddhahood is merely the sense of the shared teaching; and to say that it contains dharmas beyond measure is merely the sense of the distinct teaching. All of these are what other sūtras set forth, and none of them is truly the meaning of the prologue to the Lotus. The Fahua Lun lists seventeen alternate names, all of which are other names for the Lotus itself, and "Immeasurable Meanings" is simply one such name for the Lotus. I now set forth the treatise's true intent: the Buddha directly spoke this very name of the sūtra to come and thereupon entered this samādhi — and it is on this basis that it can serve as a prologue.

The Larger Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Suvarṇaprabhāsa, and the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra all first announce their title, and this presents no difficulty for the notion of a prologue. In the present sūtra, Mañjuśrī cites an ancient buddha who likewise named his preliminary sūtra "Immeasurable Meanings"; and our sūtra also says, "he is about to preach a Great Vehicle sūtra named the Wondrous Dharma Lotus Flower" — this, too, is the announcing of a title within the prologue, in agreement with the treatise's intent. Now, examining that sūtra's own explanation, "immeasurable meanings" arise from a single dharma, and this single dharma is what is called "no characteristic"; "no characteristic" and "not any fixed characteristic" are named "true reality," and from this true reality arise immeasurable dharmas, namely the two dharmas, the three paths, and the four fruits. Explaining this text now: "no characteristic" means without the characteristic of birth-and-death; "not a fixed characteristic" means without the characteristic of nirvāṇa either — nirvāṇa, too, being absent as a fixed characteristic — hence it is said "not a fixed characteristic, no characteristic," pointing to the middle way as true reality. "The two dharmas" are the sudden and the gradual: "the sudden" refers to all the dharmas within the sudden teaching of the Avataṃsaka; "the gradual" refers to all the dharmas of the Tripiṭaka, Vaipulya, and Prajñāpāramitā periods. "The three paths" are the three vehicles, and "the four fruits" are the arhat, the pratyekabuddha, the bodhisattva, and the buddha — all these various dharmas are called "immeasurable." True reality is the locus of meaning; from this one locus of meaning issue immeasurable dharmas, and thus the sūtra can serve, through its immeasurable dharmas entering into this one locus of meaning, as a prologue. It is like a master reckoner: from a single reckoning-unit he sets down all the other reckoning-counters, and by removing these counters he returns them to the single unit — because he sets them down from the one, he can likewise remove them back into the one; the setting-down is the prologue to the removing. From the one, he branches out into the many; gathering the many, he returns them to the one; the opening-out is the prologue to the closing-together — the meaning is just the same here. Explained in this way, this reading does not contradict that sūtra's own text and commentary, and it also accords with the present sūtra (and so on).

Furthermore, the verses of praise in the Sūtra of Immeasurable Meanings make clear that the dharma-body, having thoroughly swept away the hundred negations, manifests as the sixteen-foot form radiant with purple-gold light. The Contemplation of Samantabhadra Sūtra makes clear the abode of the four pāramitās of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. Both the preceding and following texts make permanence clear — how, then, could the "Chapter on the Lifespan" in between possibly teach impermanence? Someone objects: "If the prologue has already spoken of permanence, what is left for the main teaching to say?" I now turn this objection back upon him: in the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the story of Cunda serves as its prologue, and this has already opened up the doctrine of permanence — what, then, is left for its main teaching to say, by this same logic? He further cites, as a parallel, the prologue of the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, which speaks of the indestructible and the numberless, while its main teaching does not clarify permanence — and says the Lotus should be the same. I now turn this back upon him as well: if Cunda's prologue speaks of permanence, then, by his own logic, the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra's main teaching ought to speak of impermanence — yet now this very prologue in our sūtra discusses permanence, and its main teaching too speaks of permanence — what doubt, then, can remain?

As for "the Dharma that teaches the bodhisattvas": it is by means of the locus of immeasurable meanings that the bodhisattvas are taught — "the locus of meaning" being the principle of the truths. Later in the text: "universally causing all the assembly likewise to attain this path," and again, "whenever I encounter sentient beings, I teach them all the way of the Buddha" — this is precisely this meaning.

As for "protected and kept in mind by the Buddha": the locus of immeasurable meanings is precisely what the Buddha himself has realized, and it is for this reason that the Tathāgata protects and keeps it in mind. Later in the text it says: "The Buddha himself abides in the Great Vehicle... though wishing to open and reveal it, since the faculties of sentient beings are dull, he has long kept silent about this essential truth, and has not striven to preach it quickly" — hence it is called "protected and kept in mind."

As for "having finished preaching the sūtra, the Buddha entered the samādhi of the locus of immeasurable meanings": wisdom and concentration bring one another to completion — without meditative concentration there is no wisdom, and one must first enter concentration; yet equally, without wisdom there is no true meditative concentration, and so the Buddha first preaches the Dharma. Wisdom is itself concentration, and concentration is itself wisdom; whether entered first or later, entering or emerging, there is no obstruction between them. One might doubt this, saying: "It would make sense to enter this samādhi before the Immeasurable Meanings had been preached — but having already finished preaching this sūtra, why does he then enter samādhi again?" The explanation is: "That he first enters this samādhi and only afterward preaches this sūtra is readily understood. But that, having finished preaching this sūtra, he enters samādhi once more — this is precisely what makes it the prologue to the Lotus. Why so? If the teaching of the three vehicles is not first opened up, there is nothing afterward for it to be merged back into; his first entering of the 'opening' samādhi serves as the prologue to the later 'merging' samādhi before the Lotus proper, and this is called an auspicious sign — this is precisely the meaning. If we speak in terms of sequence: having first entered the samādhi of Immeasurable Meanings, he should next enter the samādhi of the Lotus of the True Dharma; and were this made plainly evident in the text, the assembly at the time would simply have known it directly — what need, then, would there be for Maitreya's earnest inquiry and Mañjuśrī's firm reticence before answering? Hence it is known that, read as a prologue, its meaning becomes all the clearer."

As for "body and mind unmoving": this accords with the object upon which the mind rests. The fundamental source of the body is limpid as empty space; the principle-nature of the mind is, in the end, ever tranquil. As with the body, torso, hands, and feet of the Buddha Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū, still and at peace, unmoving, his mind ever calm and unagitated, never once scattered or confused — so too here: the body is like vajra, incapable of being moved or altered, and the mind is like empty space, without any discriminating distinction; it is the dharma of the samādhi of the locus of immeasurable meanings that sustains body and mind, and hence they are unmoving. As for why it is called "immeasurable": this samādhi is both tranquil and constant, illuminating and able to know the world, and from this single dharma issue immeasurable dharmas. If we take up its meaning as prologue: the substance of the body's dharma is ordinarily to move and act, but now it is made unmoving and unacting; the substance of the mind's dharma is ordinarily to discriminate, but now it is made free of discrimination — and thus the meaning of "prologue" becomes clear.

Question: An auspicious sign, by its very definition, must be something unusual and extraordinary — but preaching the Dharma and entering samādhi are the Buddha's ordinary practice. How, then, can they count as signs?

Answer: Although the preaching of the Dharma had come to its end, the assembly of the time did not disperse, but remained solemnly waiting for something further — and from this it is known that the earlier preaching, and the assembly's gathering together, were themselves in expectation of what was to be heard afterward; this circumstance is extraordinary and differs from an ordinary preaching — how, then, could it fail to be a sign? Although the Buddha enters the "opening" samādhi, his intent lies in the "merging" samādhi that is to follow — this differs from an ordinary entering of samādhi — how, then, could it fail to be an auspicious sign? Moreover, when Mañjuśrī cites the six signs of the ancient buddha, this very circumstance is included among them; if it were not an auspicious sign in that ancient case, how could it serve as evidence for the present one? Since past and present accord with one another in this way, how could one possibly reject it merely on the basis of ordinary, unreflective sentiment?

As for "the heavens rained down four kinds of flowers": the old commentators say these are "the lesser and greater white, and the lesser and greater red" flowers. The Zhengfahua translation calls them "the mandārava and great mandārava, the mañjūṣaka and great mañjūṣaka." The Great Treatise, fascicle ninety-nine, says, "The wondrous heavenly flower is named mandārava." And fascicle seventy-nine says, "In the buddha-land where the eight hundred bhikṣus in question will become buddhas, it ever rains down mandārava flowers of five colors." The old commentators hold that the lesser and greater white flowers signify the two lay assemblies, and the lesser and greater red flowers signify the two monastic assemblies, signifying that their past causal practice has not yet borne fruit. Now, in my own view, this reading is too narrow and does not fit the case: to speak simply of "the fourfold assembly" does not even exhaust the sixteen assemblies within the Tripiṭaka teaching alone, let alone the forty-eight assemblies of all four teachings together — hence it is too narrow. Moreover, the mark of the flowers secretly recompenses their cause; but the fourfold assembly's conduct in the past was already itself the cause — what need, then, is there for the flowers to recompense it further? And if the flowers were to recompense their fruit instead, the heavens ought to rain down actual fruit — why, then, rain down flowers? Hence this reading, too, does not fit.

Now I say that the raining of flowers makes clear that their past causes were not yet buddha-causes: within the Tripiṭaka teaching, the cause is the cause of the two lesser vehicles; within the shared teaching, it is a cause held in common with the two vehicles; within the distinct teaching, it is the bodhisattva's cause — none of these is yet the buddha-cause. Now the heavens rain down flowers to signify that they are about to obtain the buddha-cause. "The buddha-cause" is the cause of the four wheels of the cakravartin: the lesser white signifies the copper wheel, the nature cultivated through practice, opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision; the greater white signifies the silver wheel, the nature inherent in the ten practices, showing the Buddha's knowledge and vision; the lesser red signifies the golden wheel, the nature of the path in the ten transferences of merit, awakening to the Buddha's knowledge and vision; and the greater red signifies the crystal wheel, the noble nature of the ten grounds, entering the Buddha's knowledge and vision. All four wheels are equally causes, and, being causes, they arise from within — hence they rain down from the heavens; and because they belong to the stage of cause, they are signified by flowers. But since a cause carries within it the tendency toward its fruit, they are also scattered upon the Buddha himself. As for who among those present is capable of realizing such a cause and effect — it is simply this assembly gathered at this time, hence the text says "and the great assembly." Below, when Mañjuśrī resolves the doubt, he speaks of "blowing the great conch of the Dharma" and the other three phrases in his verse; and again, in the main teaching, "opening, showing, awakening, and entering"; and again, in the parable of the great cart traveling in the four directions — each of these, link by link, carries forward the same meaning of rank and stage, and hence it is known that the flowers signify the stage of cause.

Question: The four wheels belong to the ranks of the distinct teaching — how, then, can they be used to explain the ranks of the perfect teaching?

Answer: Even where the name is shared with another teaching but the meaning is perfect, there is still no fault in using it — how much less fault, then, when the name is merely distinct but the meaning is perfect, and yet may not be used at all?

Question: Does the perfect teaching, too, have its own worthies and sages, corresponding to the meaning of the distinct teaching?

Answer: This has already been explained in the Xuanyi. If it is said that all four flowers rain down from heaven to signify that the fourfold assembly is about to together accomplish a single cause, such an explanation transcends the meaning of the Tripiṭaka teaching but does not yet transcend the meaning of the shared teaching; if it is said that the fourfold assembly's cause is alike the bodhisattva's cause, this explanation transcends the meaning of the shared teaching but does not yet transcend the meaning of the distinct teaching — and neither is yet the buddha-cause, so neither is the true intent of the Lotus. The true intent of the Lotus is as explained above.

As for "the universal buddha-worlds quaked in six ways": the old commentators say this shakes loose the six kinds of attachment to the fixed and determinate causes and effects of the practitioners of the three vehicles — but this only refutes the Tripiṭaka teaching's six attachments regarding the three vehicles, and does not yet refute the shared teaching's six attachments regarding the three vehicles. In the shared teaching, considered in terms of the dharma itself, the causes and effects of the three kinds of persons are the same; but considered in terms of the persons themselves, the causes and effects of the three kinds of persons differ — and both this sameness and this difference must be refuted, yet the old commentators' intent in refuting does not reach this far. The distinct teaching has no separate name for "three vehicles," and hence, in that scheme, there are no corresponding six attachments — this the old commentators leave unrefuted as well. I now explain that, within the distinct teaching, the three dharmas of cause and effect are both vertically and horizontally interrelated at the stage of cause, and likewise vertically and horizontally interrelated at the stage of effect — and this, too, must be refuted. I now explain that the earth's six-fold quaking signifies the perfect teaching's six-fold breaking through of ignorance: ignorance, massed and solid, has never yet been breached or destroyed, and is now about to be broken apart — hence the earth is made to quake, to signify this; and once ignorance is overturned, it is at once transformed into illumination — hence "the universal buddha-worlds quaked in six ways."

The six kinds of quaking signify the six ranks of abiding, practice, transference of merit, ground, equal enlightenment, and sublime enlightenment. The Upāsaka-śīla Sūtra says, "When the bodhisattva was born, the earth quaked, showing that his births had come to their end and that no further affliction remained; for all sentient beings who are to attain the path, it is because their afflictions are about to be extinguished that the earth quakes" — this is precisely this meaning.

As for the interpretation through trace and origin: just as Mañjuśrī, in resolving the doubt, cites the ancient buddha in answer, so one who secretly grasps this meaning thereby recognizes the origin — it is not that some other buddha once manifested this sign long ago while our own World-Honored One's origin likewise manifests this same sign only now, as a single unprecedented occurrence (and so on).

As for the interpretation through contemplative practice: this is the moving of the six sense-faculties. The characteristic of the earth's solidity is like the fixed attachment of the six faculties, which have never yet entered upon the path of the Great Vehicle; the moving of this hard-to-move earth signifies the purifying of the as-yet-unpurified faculties. As for "rising in the east and sinking in the west": in the east, the color blue governs the liver, and the liver governs the eye; in the west, the color white governs the lungs, and the lungs govern the nose — this signifies that as the merit of the eye-faculty arises, the affliction of the nose-faculty is thereby extinguished, and as the merit of the nose-faculty arises, the affliction within the eye is thereby extinguished; and the rising and sinking in the other directions likewise signify the arising and ceasing of the other faculties in just the same way. As for the six modes of quaking — moving, rising, surging, shaking, roaring, and awakening — each of these again has three degrees: simple motion, universal motion, and equally universal motion. A direct, simple motion is "moving"; motion throughout the four continents is "universal motion"; and motion throughout the great trichiliocosm is "equally universal motion." The other five modes are likewise each threefold, making eighteen kinds of motion in all — and this signifies the purifying of the eighteen sense-realms (and so on).

Next, explaining the sign of the great assembly's inward joy: seeing the raining of flowers and the quaking of the earth, the assembly knows that the ambrosia of the Dharma is about to descend, and joy and exultation fill them within — signifying that their great capacity is about to be aroused, stirred by this sublime response.

Question: Joy and anger are ordinary human sentiments — how, then, can they count as a sign?

Answer: The heavenly flowers delight the eye, and the quaking earth stirs the heart; the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, "When the earth quakes, it is able to make the minds of sentient beings quake as well." The flowers and the earth's motion are external signs, while the heart's joy is an internal sign; this is no ordinary joy — though joy of some kind may have occurred before, in that past case the assembly was not moved by such joy as this while yet remaining single-mindedly focused on beholding the Buddha — how, then, could this fail to be a sign? If the joy that stirs is a joy that stirs the ordinary mind of the five aggregates, this is the meaning of gods and humans; if it is a joy that stirs the unafflicted mind of ultimate truth, this is the meaning of the Tripiṭaka and shared teachings; if it is a joy that stirs the mind of the provisional itself, this is the meaning of the distinct teaching; and if it is a joy that stirs the mind of true reality, this is the meaning of the perfect teaching.

Next, explaining the sign of the Buddha's emitting light: this signifies his responding to capacities by establishing teachings, breaking through delusion and dispelling doubt. The white tuft of hair between his brows is endowed with all manner of merit. The Sūtra on the Ocean-like Samādhi of Buddha-Visualization says: "When the Buddha was first born, this tuft, drawn out, measured five feet in length; during his ascetic practices it measured one zhang four feet; and upon attaining buddhahood it measured one zhang five feet. Both its interior and exterior are empty, like a tube of white lapis lazuli, pure within and without. From his first arousing of the awakening mind, through all the various forms of practice along the way, down to his entering nirvāṇa, every merit of his entire path appears within this tuft of hair." The tuft lies between his two brows, signifying the constancy of the middle way; its softness of form signifies bliss; its freedom to coil and unfurl signifies self; its whiteness signifies purity; and its emitting of light to break through darkness signifies the middle way giving rise to wisdom, while its light illuminating this world and other worlds signifies awakening himself and awakening others.

Furthermore: the two vehicles, though they penetrate the two truths, do not know the middle way — like having two brows but no white tuft between them; the distinct teaching, though it knows the three truths, is not able to show every dharma contained within the tuft itself. One should understand that the fact that everything within the dharma-realm, from beginning to end, appears entirely within this single tuft of hair, is precisely what signifies the meaning of the perfect teaching.

Furthermore, the various sūtras differ in how they describe the emitting of light. The Larger Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra has the Buddha emit light from the thousand-spoked wheel marks beneath his feet, and on up to his cranial protuberance, each place emitting sixty thousand koṭis of rays of light, as that sūtra explains at length. The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra has him emit light from between his brows, while this sūtra has him emit light from the white tuft — the circumstances calling for each simply differ. There is also a difference in how the light is drawn back in: the Aśokāvadāna says, "When the light is drawn back in through the back, this signifies matters of the past; when it is drawn back in through the front, this signifies matters of the future" — yet no mention is made of how matters of the present are signified; in my own view, drawing it in through the ribs ought to signify matters of the present. In that scheme, drawing it in through the feet signifies the hell-realm; through the ankles, the animal realm; through the toes, the hungry ghosts; through the knees, human beings; through the left palm, the iron-wheel kings; through the right palm, the golden-wheel kings and the gods; through the navel, the śrāvakas; through the mouth, the pratyekabuddhas; through the white tuft, the bodhisattvas; and through the fleshy cranial protuberance, the buddhas. Now, in the present sūtra, the Buddha emits light from the white tuft, but no text describing the light being drawn back in appears — this is simply an omission for brevity. There is also an explanation that says: the emitting of light illuminates matters of the present, while the drawing-in of light signifies matters yet to come; and since this sūtra is specifically concerned with showing that the buddhas of this world and of other worlds share the same path, it specifically discusses the emitting of light rather than its withdrawal. If one understands that the buddhas share the same path — that is, that all alike proceed through opening, showing, awakening, and entering, and spontaneously receive the same prediction — then the emitting of light is the primary matter and the drawing-in of light is secondary, and hence the text is abbreviated and does not speak of it. If it is the sixteen-foot manifested Buddha who emits the light, this is the sense of the Tripiṭaka teaching; if it is the venerable and sublime Buddha together with the sixteen-foot Buddha who together emit the light, this is the sense of the shared teaching; if it is the venerable and sublime Buddha alone who emits the light, this is the sense of the distinct teaching; and if it is the sixteen-foot Buddha who is himself Vairocana, the dharma-body, emitting the light, this is the sense of the perfect teaching.

The old commentators say, "The six signs of this world extend up through the Akaniṣṭha heaven." Now, examining the text, from "illuminating eighteen thousand lands to the east" onward is the text of the six signs of other worlds — though where exactly this boundary falls is a matter of individual judgment. The old commentators say: "In fact the light illuminates the ten directions; that it illuminates the east specifically, in the text, signifies that the one-vehicle cause and effect stands above all other causes and effects; 'ten thousand' is a round, complete number, signifying that the rank of effect is fulfilled, while 'eight thousand' falls short of a round number, signifying that cause and effect are not yet complete. If the illumination of the east already fully expresses this meaning, what further would illuminating the other nine directions signify?" I now explain that east is where direction itself begins, signifying that the ten abidings are the beginning of rank: in the trace-gate's preaching, physically-born bodhisattvas clearly behold the principle and enter the ten abidings, opening the Buddha's knowledge and vision. By citing the beginning, the middle and end are thereby known as well — hence it is said, "there was nowhere it did not pervade." One should understand that it is likewise so for the other directions, and likewise so for the other ranks. If, on the other hand, this is taken as the preaching of the origin-gate, then the gathering of buddhas from the four directions signifies the preaching of the origin-gate, in which dharma-body bodhisattvas increase the path and diminish further birth, growing through the four ranks.

As for the interpretation through contemplation of "eighteen thousand": in terms of the eighteen sense-realms, and speaking of the hundred dharma-realms and thousand qualities-and-characteristics that each realm contains, one arrives at exactly eighteen thousand — these are the objects for which the Buddha's wisdom has not yet been opened, and which must now be opened, and hence they are signified by this number. The text says, "from the Avīci hell up to the Akaniṣṭha heaven" — this is the six dharma-realms; and it also sees buddhas, bodhisattvas, bhikṣus, and the rest — the full ten dharma-realms — hence the text says "there was nowhere it did not pervade," which is precisely this meaning. If this passage is assigned to this world, it forms the sixth sign of this world; if assigned to other worlds, it is the general statement heading the text on illuminating other worlds.

Next, explaining the six signs of the light illuminating other worlds: first, seeing the six destinies; second, seeing the buddhas — these two together form the pair of the noble ones above and ordinary beings below. Third, hearing the buddhas preach the Dharma; fourth, seeing the fourfold assembly attain the path — these two together form the pair of persons and Dharma. Fifth, seeing the bodhisattvas' practice; sixth, seeing the buddhas enter nirvāṇa — these two together form the pair of beginning and end. Wherever there are sentient beings capable of being transformed by the teaching, there is a buddha capable of transforming them; where there is a buddha, there is the preaching of the Dharma; where there is the preaching of the Dharma, there are disciples; and disciples are the beginning of practice, and the beginning of practice must in the end arrive at its completion. If the six signs of this world, taken together, recompense sentient beings with the attainment of self-awakening, then the six signs of other worlds, taken together, recompense sentient beings with the attainment of awakening others.

Moreover, the six signs here and there together signify that the buddhas here and there share the same path. From "beholding entirely the sentient beings of the six destinies in that other land" down to "practicing the bodhisattva path" shows that other land already matching this one; from "and further beholding the buddhas" down to "the stūpas of the seven treasures" shows this land as about to match that one. This concludes the brief explanation.

To explain this more fully: from "and further beholding the sentient beings of the six destinies" onward, this shows that buddha appearing in the world on account of the five turbidities, just as our own Buddha does — the intent behind both buddhas' appearance in their respective worlds being the same. As for "hearing the sūtras preached by the buddhas," this shows that buddha, at the outset, teaching from the single dharma of no characteristics, in a manner neither sudden nor yet sudden — the same in intent as this world's first preaching of the Avataṃsaka. From "and also seeing the bhikṣus" onward, this shows that buddha's teaching as neither gradual nor yet gradual — the same in intent as this world's Buddha next preaching the Tripiṭaka teaching. From "and further seeing the bodhisattvas" onward, this shows that buddha, after his Tripiṭaka period, preaching the many sūtras of the Vaipulya and Prajñāpāramitā periods — the same in intent as this world's Buddha after his own Tripiṭaka period. From "and further seeing the buddhas" down to "raising up stūpas of the seven treasures," this shows that buddha, after his Prajñāpāramitā period, opening the provisional to reveal the real, gathering the immeasurable dharmas back into the one dharma, and proclaiming his entry into nirvāṇa, ceasing his transformative activity and having stūpas raised — the light illuminating that other land shows its beginning and end, in their ultimate completeness, brilliantly manifest before the eyes. One should understand that this world, too, proceeds from the one to issue forth the immeasurable, neither sudden nor yet sudden, neither gradual nor yet gradual; and when its own course has run to completion, it too must gather the immeasurable dharmas back into the one dharma, opening the provisional to reveal the real, ceasing its transformative activity and returning to the true — the same as that other land.

Furthermore, as for "various causes and conditions": past goodness serves as the cause, and the present teaching serves as the condition. Speaking of this more specifically: this refers precisely to the period after the Tripiṭaka teaching, where the shared and unshared teachings of the Prajñāpāramitā serve as cause, and the auxiliary practices of precepts, concentration, and wisdom serve as condition. Considered in terms of the three kinds of persons, there are accordingly various causes and conditions. And as for the various causes, conditions, and forms belonging to the shared and unshared persons: the shared and unshared teachings each have four gates, and within each gate there are again immeasurable forms — the five hundred bhikṣus each explaining the cause of their own present bodies is precisely an instance of this meaning. The four gates of the unshared teaching are likewise so. Hence it is known that causes, conditions, and forms are of countless different kinds, and yet all of these, there and here, are the same: that world makes clear this world's own forms of cause and condition, and these in turn are gathered back into a single cause, a single condition, a single form, and a single mark — and one should understand that this world, too, is the same as that one.

From "At that time Maitreya conceived this thought" down to "whom shall I now ask" is the prologue of the arising of doubt. This text falls into two parts: first, Maitreya's doubt, and second, the great assembly's doubt. Maitreya has three thoughts: first, reflecting directly on the six signs; second, wondering whom to ask; and third, thinking of Mañjuśrī. Once the thought of Mañjuśrī arises, the second thought of whom to ask is thereby dispelled, leaving only the first thought remaining — and so only a single doubt is finally formed.

As for "supernatural transformation": "supernatural" refers to the inward, and "transformation" refers to the outward. "Supernatural" is named for the heavenly mind, that is, the innate inward wisdom; "transformation" is named for change and motion, that is, the outward manifestation of the six signs. The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says, "The Buddha abides in the dharma of non-duality, and is thereby able to work supernatural powers; the power of the Dharma-king's Dharma surpasses and covers all things." Maitreya, unable to fathom the outward transformation nor to know the inward wisdom, is therefore moved to this thought. Just as an ordinary, mediocre person does not know the arts of one skilled in them, a scattered person does not know the state of one in concentration, an ordinary person does not know a noble one, a lesser noble one does not know Śāriputra, Śāriputra does not know a bodhisattva, a bodhisattva does not know one at the stage just prior to buddhahood, and one at the stage just prior to buddhahood does not know the venerable and ultimate Buddha — this pattern holds even at the most ultimate stage, where even that one does not know what lies beyond. Yet since Maitreya has, in meeting the Buddha, already planted a great abundance of wholesome roots, how could he possibly fail to have some faint intuition of this? He must, then, be concealing his clarity and displaying seeming obscurity, provisionally professing not to know.

The great assembly has two thoughts: first, reflecting directly on the six signs, and second, wondering whom to ask. If we compare this with the verse that follows below, the assembly might also be said to have three thoughts, for the verse says, "The fourfold assembly gazes up in joyful reverence at both you and me" — suggesting a third thought, of Mañjuśrī, for otherwise, why would they gaze up at "you"? That this third thought is absent here, in the prose account of the assembly, is because the text wishes to give Maitreya, the one at the stage just prior to buddhahood, precedence in raising the question. The old commentators explain that there are, in advance, three considerations favoring Maitreya as questioner: first, that he is at the stage just prior to buddhahood; second, that he has all three thoughts; and third, that he alone is capable of posing the question — and it is for this reason that the great assembly is left lacking this one, third, thought in the narrative's own account of them.

Question: Mañjuśrī and Maitreya are close to one another in virtue and rank — why, then, does one ask and the other answer?

Answer: Now, capacity to grasp the teaching, in a given assembly, may be present or absent; though their ranks are on a par, host and guest have different fitting roles, and the noble one who receives and answers the assembly's capacity cannot do so except through one who poses the question. Furthermore, the dharma-gates have both the provisional and the real: the provisional one at the stage just prior to buddhahood must be the one to ask, and the real one must be the one to answer. Furthermore, traces may be of long or recent standing: the more recent one asks, and the more long-standing one answers. Furthermore, their names carry their own fittingness: Maitreya's name means "Compassionate," or "Loving-Kindness," and it is fitting that compassion, for the sake of sentient beings, should be the one to ask; Mañjuśrī's name means "Sublime Virtue," and it is fitting that virtue should be the one to answer. These are the four ways of resolving the meaning of the text.