The Seed of Every Buddha
Maitreya begins the great catalogue: why is this so? Because the mind of bodhi is the seed of every buddha, for it can give rise to every buddha-dharma; it is a good field, for it nurtures the pure white dharmas of sentient beings; it is the great earth, for it upholds every world; it is pure water, for it washes away the defilement of every affliction; it is the great wind, for it moves through every world without obstruction; it is a blazing fire, for it burns away every wrong view and craving; it is a pure sun, for it universally illuminates every class of sentient being; it is a bright moon, for every pure white dharma is fully perfected within it — and so the catalogue continues, one simile flowing into the next without pause.
From the Seed of Every Buddha to a Kind Mother and Nurse
何以故？菩提心者，則為一切諸佛種子，能生一切諸佛法故；菩提心者，則為良田，長養眾生白淨法故；菩提心者，則為大地，能持一切諸世間故；菩提心者，則為淨水，洗濯一切煩惱垢故；菩提心者，則為大風，一切世間無障礙故；菩提心者，則為盛火，能燒一切邪見愛故；菩提心者，則為淨日，普照一切眾生類故；菩提心者，則為明月，諸白淨法悉圓滿故；菩提心者，則為淨燈，普照一切諸法界故；菩提心者，則為淨眼，悉能覩見邪正道故；菩提心者，則為大道，皆令得入一切智城故；菩提心者，則為正濟，悉令得到出要處故；菩提心者，則為大乘，容載一切諸菩薩故；菩提心者，則為門戶，令入一切菩薩行故；菩提心者，則為宮殿，安住修習三昧法故；菩提心者，則為園觀，於中遊戲受法樂故；菩提心者，則為勝宅，一切眾生所歸依故；菩提心者，則為依止，因修一切菩薩行故；菩提心者，則為守護，能滿菩薩諸大願故；菩提心者，則為慈母，增長一切諸菩薩故；菩提心者，則為養育，守護一切諸菩薩故；
"Why is this so? The mind of bodhi is the seed of every buddha, for it can give rise to every buddha-dharma; the mind of bodhi is a good field, for it nurtures the pure white dharmas of sentient beings; the mind of bodhi is the great earth, for it upholds every world; the mind of bodhi is pure water, for it washes away the defilement of every affliction; the mind of bodhi is the great wind, for it moves through every world without obstruction; the mind of bodhi is a blazing fire, for it burns away every wrong view and craving; the mind of bodhi is a pure sun, for it universally illuminates every class of sentient being; the mind of bodhi is a bright moon, for every pure white dharma is fully perfected within it; the mind of bodhi is a pure lamp, for it universally illuminates every dharma-realm; the mind of bodhi is a pure eye, for it is able to see clearly the wrong path and the right; the mind of bodhi is the great road, for it causes all to enter the city of all-knowing wisdom; the mind of bodhi is the true crossing, for it brings all to the place of true escape; the mind of bodhi is the great vehicle, for it carries every bodhisattva; the mind of bodhi is a gateway, for it admits one into every bodhisattva practice; the mind of bodhi is a palace, for one dwells within it cultivating the dharma of samādhi; the mind of bodhi is a garden park, for one plays freely within it, receiving the joy of the Dharma; the mind of bodhi is a supreme dwelling, for every sentient being takes refuge in it; the mind of bodhi is a support, for through it one cultivates every bodhisattva practice; the mind of bodhi is a guardian, for it can fulfill every great vow of the bodhisattva; the mind of bodhi is a kind mother, for it nurtures the growth of every bodhisattva; the mind of bodhi is a nurse, for it protects and rears every bodhisattva;"
This catalogue, running to well over a hundred similes before it closes, is among the most celebrated single passages in the entire Avataṃsaka corpus — later Chinese commentators frequently excerpt and anthologize it apart from its narrative context here. Fazang groups the similes loosely by register as they unfold: this opening stretch draws chiefly on agriculture and architecture — seed, field, earth, road, vehicle, gateway, palace, garden, house — establishing bodhicitta as at once a point of origin and a place of dwelling, before the catalogue turns to cosmological and then medicinal and martial imagery in the stretches that follow. Ru-Yi renders every simile in full, without exception, in keeping with this site's practice for all such catalogues in the sūtra.
Part 336 In Progress
The great catalogue of similes for the mind of bodhi has only just begun. Part 337 continues with the mind of bodhi as a good friend, a great king, the great ocean, and the mountains, both Sumeru and the encircling ranges of the world.
Continue to Part 337 →