The Good Friend as the Root of Everything
The children's entire, sweeping teaching closes on its single governing claim: every bodhisattva practice, pāramitā, ground, forbearance, dhāraṇī, samādhi, and vow is consummated through a good friend — and every such dharma takes the good friend as its own root, arising, being born, being grasped, growing, abiding, and being attained all in dependence on this one relationship.
"Depending on a Good Friend, One Arises, Is Born, Is Grasped, Grows, Abides, and Attains"
「善男子！略說菩薩，因善知識究竟一切菩薩行、一切菩薩波羅蜜、一切菩薩地、一切菩薩忍、一切菩薩陀羅尼、一切菩薩三昧門、一切菩薩通明智自在、一切菩薩迴向、一切菩薩大願。善男子！如是等一切法，善知識為本：依善知識起、依善知識生、依善知識取、依善知識發、依善知識長、依善知識住、依善知識得。」
"Good man, to speak briefly: a bodhisattva, through a good friend, consummates every bodhisattva practice, every bodhisattva pāramitā, every bodhisattva ground, every bodhisattva forbearance, every bodhisattva dhāraṇī, every bodhisattva samādhi-gate, every bodhisattva's own sovereign, penetrating wisdom, every bodhisattva dedication, and every bodhisattva's own great vow. Good man, all such dharmas as these take the good friend as their own root: depending on a good friend, one arises; depending on a good friend, one is born; depending on a good friend, one is grasped; depending on a good friend, one is raised up; depending on a good friend, one grows; depending on a good friend, one abides; and depending on a good friend, one attains."
Seven verbs in a row — arise, be born, be grasped, be raised, grow, abide, attain — trace a single life-cycle from origin to completion, each stage explicitly dependent on the same one cause. Fazang reads this sevenfold formula as the entire teaching's own final compression: everything said across dozens of parts, from the boundless-qualities list through the ten similes, the twenty-two minds, and the ten paired reflections, reduces here to one claim, stated as plainly as this collection ever states anything — nothing arises, nothing grows, and nothing is attained apart from the good friend.
Part 271 Complete — The Children's Entire Referral Speech Concludes
With this, the two children's enormous teaching — spanning the boundless-qualities list, the ten similes, the twenty-two mind-attitudes, the ten paired reflections, and these closing declarations — is finally complete. Part 272 turns to what happens next: Sudhana, overjoyed, at last sets out on the actual journey toward Sea-Torrent country and the tower where Maitreya himself awaits.
Continue to Part 272 →