Never Once Forgetting the Indestructible Mind of Bodhi
"Good man, in every single one of those kalpas, I beheld buddhas as numerous as the motes of dust in an ocean of unspeakable, unspeakable worlds, cultivating the mind of bodhi. In every single kalpa, throughout every world, I held vast assemblies of giving, unspeakable, unspeakable in their number, giving to all: sometimes giving away my own wife and children, my cities and villages, my head, eyes, marrow and brain, my limbs and joints, my blood and flesh — every part of my own body — never begrudging my own life, single-mindedly seeking only all-species wisdom. In every single kalpa, I reverently made offerings to buddhas as numerous as the motes of dust in an ocean of unspeakable, unspeakable worlds, and at the presence of those very buddhas, left home to study the path, upholding the true Dharma; I never once gave rise to a mind of greed, hatred, or delusion, a mind of self or what-is-mine, a mind delighting in and attached to the false emptiness of birth and death, a mind of contempt toward others, or any hindering mind at all — cultivating the indestructible mind of the buddha's own bodhi, never once forgetting it."
Total Giving, Across Unspeakable, Unspeakable Kalpas
「善男子！我於過去不可說不可說世界海微塵等劫，修菩薩行，專求菩提；一一劫中，見不可說不可說世界海微塵等佛，修菩提心；一一劫中，於一切世界，設不可說不可說廣大施會，給施一切：或施妻子、城邑、聚落、頭目、髓腦、肢節、血肉，一切身分；不惜壽命，一向專求一切種智。於一一劫，恭敬供養不可說不可說世界海微塵等佛，於彼佛所，出家學道，受持正法，未曾生於貪恚癡心、我我所心、樂著生死虛妄之心、輕慢他心、諸障礙心，修不可壞佛菩提心，未曾忘失。
"Good man, across unspeakable, unspeakable numbers of kalpas, as many as the motes of dust in an ocean of worlds, in ages long past, I have cultivated the bodhisattva's own practice, seeking only bodhi. In every single one of those kalpas, I beheld buddhas as numerous as the motes of dust in an ocean of unspeakable, unspeakable worlds, cultivating the mind of bodhi. In every single kalpa, throughout every world, I held vast assemblies of giving, unspeakable, unspeakable in their number, giving to all: sometimes giving away my own wife and children, my cities and villages, my head, eyes, marrow and brain, my limbs and joints, my blood and flesh — every part of my own body — never begrudging my own life, single-mindedly seeking only all-species wisdom. In every single kalpa, I reverently made offerings to buddhas as numerous as the motes of dust in an ocean of unspeakable, unspeakable worlds, and at the presence of those very buddhas, left home to study the path, upholding the true Dharma; I never once gave rise to a mind of greed, hatred, or delusion, a mind of self or what-is-mine, a mind delighting in and attached to the false emptiness of birth and death, a mind of contempt toward others, or any hindering mind at all — cultivating the indestructible mind of the buddha's own bodhi, never once forgetting it."
Samantabhadra's own account here directly recalls, and vastly exceeds in stated scale, the very jātaka-style self-giving already narrated of Maitreya's own past lives several parts earlier — the same catalogue of body parts (head, eyes, marrow, limbs), but now explicitly repeated within every single kalpa of an unspeakable, unspeakable number of kalpas, rather than across a bounded sequence of individual past lives. Fazang reads the negative list closing this passage — never greed, hatred, delusion, self-view, attachment to birth and death, contempt, or hindrance — as this whole practice's own psychological guarantee: total external giving is paired with total internal purity, since giving away everything while still harboring pride or self-regard would not constitute the indestructible mind of bodhi this passage insists Samantabhadra never once lost.
Part 427 Complete
Samantabhadra's account of his own countless kalpas of total self-giving is now given in full. Part 428 turns to what follows: his description of the bodhisattva practices he has cultivated — purifying buddha-lands, nurturing great compassion, and relinquishing everything within and without.
Continue to Part 428 →