Wishes Fulfilled Without Depletion
The catalogue continues: it is like a moon-pearl, kindled by the light of the moon to produce cooling water; the pure moon-treasure-pearl of the mind of bodhi is likewise, kindled by the moonlight of dedicated roots of goodness, producing the water of every great vow. It is like a nāga king who wears a wish-fulfilling jewel-crown, thereby far removed from every fear; a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise, wearing the wish-fulfilling jewel-crown of great compassion that is the mind of bodhi, far removed from every peril of the evil destinies. It is like the mani-jewel called Adornment-Treasury of All Beings, able to fulfill every wish entirely, without any depletion at all; the wondrous adornment-treasury mani-jewel of the mind of bodhi is likewise, fulfilling the wishes and joys of every bodhisattva and every other sentient being alike, without any depletion at all.
The Nāga King's Crown and the Treasury of Every Wish
「善男子！譬如月珠，因月光發出清涼水，得菩提心。淨月寶珠亦復如是，因彼迴向善根，月光所感發已，出生善根諸大願水。
「善男子！譬如龍王著如意寶冠，遠離恐怖。菩薩摩訶薩亦復如是，著菩提心大悲如意寶冠，遠離一切惡道諸難。
「善男子！譬如莊嚴一切眾生藏摩尼寶，悉能成滿一切所願，無所損減，得菩提心。妙莊嚴藏摩尼寶者，成滿菩薩，及餘眾生所欲願樂，無所損減。
"Good man, it is like a moon-pearl, kindled by the light of the moon to produce cooling water. The pure moon-treasure-pearl of the mind of bodhi is likewise: kindled by the moonlight of dedicated roots of goodness, it produces the water of every great vow born of those roots of goodness.
"Good man, it is like a nāga king who wears a wish-fulfilling jewel-crown, and is thereby far removed from every fear. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva is likewise: wearing the wish-fulfilling jewel-crown of great compassion that is the mind of bodhi, he is far removed from every peril of the evil destinies.
"Good man, it is like the mani-jewel called Adornment-Treasury of All Beings, able to fulfill every wish entirely, with no depletion at all. The wondrous adornment-treasury mani-jewel of the mind of bodhi is likewise: it fulfills the wishes and joys of every bodhisattva, and of every other sentient being besides, with no depletion at all."
The moon-pearl simile's mechanism — moonlight "kindling" the production of water, a paradox since the moon is cool rather than hot — is mapped onto dedicated roots of goodness "kindling" the water of vows, a deliberate pairing of two counterintuitive processes: cool light producing water, and merit already given away producing yet more capacity for aspiration. Fazang treats the final simile's explicit denial of "any depletion at all," repeated verbatim in both halves of the comparison, as this catalogue's most direct statement yet of a principle threaded throughout: whatever bodhicitta gives, whether merit, protection, or fulfillment of wishes, is inexhaustible by its very nature, never diminished by however much or however often it is drawn upon.
Part 350 Complete
Three more jewel similes are now given in full. Part 351 turns to the wheel-turning king's own mani-jewel illuminating every palace and dispelling darkness, and the indigo-colored jewel-light that colors whatever it touches — nearing the end of this stretch of similes as first read.
Continue to Part 351 →