Gathering Every Treasure Without Depleting the Sea
The catalogue turns to jewels: it is like a person who holds a body-concealing medicine, whom no sentient being at all is able to see; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, having obtained the body-concealing medicine of the mind of bodhi, whom no māra at all is able to see. It is like the mani-jewel in the great ocean called Gathering Every Treasure — unless one carries it elsewhere, even should a great fire arise, it could never diminish the ocean's water by so much as a single drop; the mani-jewel of the mind of bodhi that gathers every treasure is likewise, dwelling within the ocean of the bodhisattva's own upright mind — even should one dedicate but a single root of goodness to all-knowing wisdom, it could never be forgotten or lost, and all-knowing wisdom, unstained by anything, never departs from that root of goodness. It is like the mani called Pure Radiant Light — one who wears it as an ornament eclipses every other jewel's light, making it appear, by comparison, like a heap of soot; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, adorning his body with the mani-jewel of the mind of bodhi, eclipsing the wisdom-jewel of every śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha.
The Jewel Similes Begin: Gathering Every Treasure and Pure Radiant Light
「善男子！譬如有人執翳身藥，一切眾生所不能見。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，得菩提心翳身藥者，一切諸魔所不能見。
「善男子！譬如大海有摩尼寶，名積眾寶，若不至他方，設火災起，乃至消減海水一渧無有是處。菩提之心積眾寶珠，亦復如是，處於菩薩直心海中，乃至以一善根迴向薩婆若，有忘失者，無有是處，而薩婆若無所染著，不離善根。
「善男子！譬如摩尼名淨光明，有人以此瓔珞身者，蔽餘寶光，悉如聚墨。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，以菩提心摩尼寶珠瓔珞其身，映蔽聲聞、緣覺心寶。
"Good man, it is like a person who holds a body-concealing medicine, whom no sentient being at all is able to see. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: having obtained the body-concealing medicine of the mind of bodhi, no māra at all is able to see him.
"Good man, it is like the mani-jewel in the great ocean called Gathering Every Treasure — so long as it is not carried away to another place, even should a great fire arise, there is no possibility that it could diminish the ocean's water by so much as a single drop. The mani-jewel of the mind of bodhi that gathers every treasure is likewise: dwelling within the ocean of the bodhisattva's own upright mind, there is no possibility that even a single root of goodness, once dedicated to all-knowing wisdom, could ever be forgotten or lost — and all-knowing wisdom, unstained by anything at all, never departs from that root of goodness.
"Good man, it is like the mani called Pure Radiant Light — one who wears it upon the body as an ornament eclipses every other jewel's light, making it appear, by comparison, like a heap of soot. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: adorning his own body with the mani-jewel of the mind of bodhi, he eclipses the wisdom-jewel of every śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha."
The ocean simile here draws a precise distinction Fazang treats as doctrinally significant: the jewel does not prevent the ocean's water from being used or drawn upon in the ordinary course of things, but guarantees specifically that no fire, however great, could diminish it "by so much as a single drop" — mapped onto the guarantee that a root of goodness once dedicated to all-knowing wisdom (迴向薩婆若, a technical term for the dedication of merit toward omniscience rather than toward a lesser goal) can never be forgotten or lost, no matter what afflictions or adverse conditions arise. This is among the more theologically load-bearing similes in the catalogue, since it addresses a real concern in Mahāyāna practice — whether dedicated merit can be undone — and answers it with the strongest possible image of permanence.
Part 347 Complete
The jewel similes have begun. Part 348 continues with the water-clarifying pearl that purifies whatever it touches, the water-dwelling pearl that prevents drowning, and the great nāga-pearl that protects against every nāga's harm.
Continue to Part 348 →