The Path-Mind's Embryo, Nurturing the Tathāgata-Treasury
Maitreya's hymn continues: pure faith is the wick, compassion the fragrant oil, right mindfulness the jeweled vessel — together kindling a lamp that illuminates the world. The mind set upon the path is the kalala, the earliest embryonic stage; compassion is the flesh; the limbs of bodhi are the very limbs and joints, nurturing the tathāgata-treasury, increasing the treasury of merit, the pure treasury of wisdom, the blazing treasury of wisdom, and perfecting the treasury of every vow. Such a great adornment, rescuing and protecting every multitude of beings, is rarely heard of or seen even among gods and humans; such a tree of wisdom, its roots deep and unshakable, its skillful means spreading into luxuriant branches, benefits every multitude of beings.
Nurturing the Tathāgata-Treasury Through Every Stage of Growth
「淨信心為炷， 慈悲為香油，
正念為寶器， 然彼耀世燈。
道心迦羅邏， 慈悲為胞段，
菩提分肢節， 長養如來藏。
增益功德藏， 清淨智慧藏，
熾盛智慧藏， 成滿諸願藏。
如是大莊嚴， 救護諸群生，
一切天人中， 難聞難得見。
如是智慧樹， 根深不可動，
方便為敷茂， 饒益諸群生。」
"Pure faith is the wick, compassion the fragrant oil,
Right mindfulness the jeweled vessel, kindling that lamp which illuminates the world.
The mind set upon the path is the kalala, the very first embryonic stage, compassion its flesh,
The limbs of bodhi its own limbs and joints, nurturing the tathāgata-treasury.
Increasing the treasury of merit, the pure treasury of wisdom,
The blazing treasury of wisdom, perfecting the treasury of every vow.
Such a great adornment, rescuing and protecting every multitude of beings,
Is rarely heard of and rarely seen, even among every god and human.
Such a tree of wisdom, its roots so deep it cannot be shaken,
Its skillful means spreading into luxuriant branches, benefiting every multitude of beings."
"Kalala" (迦羅邏, Skt. kalala) names the very first of the five classical stages of embryonic development in Indian embryology, adopted throughout Buddhist literature as a stock image for the earliest, still-formless beginning of a process — here applied to the mind set upon the path itself, at the very moment it is first conceived, before any of the bodhisattva's own qualities have yet taken visible shape. Fazang reads the sequence from kalala through flesh, limbs, and joints as a deliberate embryological metaphor for spiritual gestation: bodhicitta is not born fully formed but grows, stage by stage, exactly as a body grows within the womb, each stage of the metaphor corresponding to a stage of nurturing the tathāgata's own treasury.
Part 330 In Progress
Maitreya's hymn continues toward its close. Part 331 turns to Sudhana's desire to hear every Dharma and dispel every doubt, his subduing of the māras of affliction, and his opening of the eightfold true path.
Continue to Part 331 →