Five Rebirth-Dharmas Explained

"Child of the Buddha, what is called the bodhisattva's rebirth-dharma of the Treasury of the Vow of Empty Space, the Skillful Means for Offering to Every Buddha? This bodhisattva-mahāsattva raises a vow such as this: 'I shall reverently make offerings to every buddha, beholding buddhas with a boundlessly joyful mind, never growing weary of it; endowed with unbreakable faith, I shall accumulate merit, making offerings to buddhas, my mind never satisfied nor wearied.' Child of the Buddha, this is the first rebirth-dharma, because it is the very first gate of omniscience by which roots of goodness are nurtured.

"Child of the Buddha, what is called the bodhisattva's rebirth-dharma of the Treasury of the Branches That Fulfill the Bodhi-Mind? This bodhisattva-mahāsattva raises the mind of unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening: raising the mind of great compassion, because he rescues and protects every sentient being; the mind of meeting buddhas, because he constantly beholds buddhas; the mind of seeking the true Dharma, because he spares nothing for it; the mind of great adornment, because he turns toward omniscience; raising the mind of great loving-kindness, because he universally covers and gathers in every sentient being; the mind that does not abandon any sentient being, because the adornment of omniscience cannot be destroyed; the mind free of flattery and crookedness, because he attains true wisdom; the mind that practices as he speaks, because he attains the bodhisattva's own path; the mind that does not deceive any buddha, because he fulfills every buddha's own great vow; and, for the sake of omniscience, raising the mind of the great vow, because he teaches and transforms every sentient being of the future. Fulfilling branches of the bodhi-mind as numerous as motes of dust in a buddha-land, such as these, he is born into the tathāgata's own family. Child of the Buddha, this is the second rebirth-dharma.

"Child of the Buddha, what is called the bodhisattva's rebirth-dharma of the Treasury of Empty Space, Directly Contemplating Tranquil Cessation Through Skillful Means? This bodhisattva-mahāsattva has the mind that contemplates the tranquil cessation of the whole ocean of dharmas; the mind, never growing weary, that reaches the very end and fully satisfies the path of omniscience; the mind rightly mindful of the whole ocean of wholesome deeds; the mind pure toward the whole ocean of every bodhisattva's own samādhis; the mind fully endowed with every bodhisattva's own merit; the mind that gives rise to every bodhisattva's own adorned path; the mind of valiant, diligent, unresting effort throughout boundless kalpas; the mind that gives rise to Samantabhadra's own conduct, transforming every sentient being; and the mind that skillfully studies dignified conduct, abides in the bodhisattva's own virtue, and knows every form of existence to be, in every case, without true existence. Child of the Buddha, this is the third rebirth-dharma."

"Child of the Buddha, what is called the bodhisattva's rebirth-dharma of the Treasury of Universally Illumining the Three Times With a Pure, Upright Mind? This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with the realm of a pure, upright mind, illumines the buddha's own bodhi, deeply enters the whole ocean of the bodhisattva's own skillful-means dharmas, and, his profound mind unbreakable, like a vajra itself, turns his back on every destiny of birth-and-death that partakes of existence, and turns toward every buddha; endowed with sovereign power, he advances toward every supreme path, increasing the bodhisattva's own faculties, his mind pure and free of every defilement, immovable; he nurtures the great vow, is constantly held in every buddha's own mindful protection, demolishes and scatters the mountain of every obstruction, and becomes, for every sentient being, a refuge. Child of the Buddha, this is the fourth rebirth-dharma.

"Child of the Buddha, what is called the bodhisattva's rebirth-dharma of the Treasury of Universally Illumining All? This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, fully endowed with skillful means, teaches and transforms sentient beings; not coveting wealth or profit, with a pure mind he relinquishes everything entirely; upholding boundless pure precepts, he abides in the buddha's own state; fully endowed with the dharma of patience, he attains every buddha's own patience; with the radiant dharma of valiant diligence, he reaches the very end of the state of omniscience; cultivating every dhyāna, he becomes fully endowed with the pure, perfect wisdom of the universal-gate samādhi; with the bright, pure sun of wisdom, he universally illumines the Dharma-realm, attains the unobstructed eye, and beholds the ocean of every buddha; deeply entering the very source of every dharma, praised by the wise, he causes sentient beings to rejoice, cultivates the true Dharma, and beholds the true mark of reality. Child of the Buddha, this is the fifth rebirth-dharma."