Tranquil Extinction, and Twelve Contemplations
The night-deva Light Free of Defilement names her own Dharma-gate — Tranquil Extinction, the Bliss of Samādhi, and Diligence — and explains why a tathāgata can never be grasped as past, future, present, ceasing, real, or false. She enters the four dhyānas in turn, then teaches twelve contemplations to householders bound by heedlessness and desire, before sending Sudhana onward.
Why a Buddha Can Never Be Grasped
善男子！我已成就菩薩寂滅、定樂、精進法門，悉見三世嚴淨佛剎一切諸佛及眷屬海、無量無邊佛神力海。分別了知佛名號海，轉法輪海，知彼諸佛壽命無量，音聲微妙，法身清淨充滿法界，亦不著如來一切諸相。何以故？如來非過去，除滅世間一切取故；如來非未來，無所起故；如來非現在，無生身故；如來非滅，離語言道故；如來非實，現幻法故；如來非虛妄，饒益一切眾生出興世故；如來去無所至，滅死此生彼故；如來不可壞，法性無壞故；如來一性，離語言道故；如來無性，究竟法性故。善男子！我如是了知一切如來，開發增廣菩薩寂滅、定樂、精進法門，照明莊嚴，深入隨順、平等、堅固境界；分別了知遠離虛妄，發起大悲，攝取眾生，未曾捨離，一心寂定，正受初禪。除滅意業，得寂智力，攝取眾生，歡喜悅樂，入第二禪。捨離生死，寂滅涅槃，觀眾生性，修第三禪。滅一切眾生諸煩惱苦，修第四禪。增長一切智菩提心願，出生菩薩一切三昧海，巧妙方便，究竟菩薩一切法門海，成就菩薩遊戲神通，出生菩薩自在所行，明淨智慧，深入普門法界。
"Good son, I have accomplished the bodhisattva's own Dharma-gate of Tranquil Extinction, the Bliss of Samādhi, and Diligence. I behold entirely the whole ocean of every buddha, purely adorning their own lands throughout the three times, and their own retinues, the boundless, limitless ocean of every buddha's own spiritual power. I discern and understand entirely the ocean of every buddha's own name, the ocean of their turning of the Dharma-wheel, knowing that these buddhas' own lifespans are boundless, their voice sublime and subtle, their Dharma-body pure and filling the whole Dharma-realm — and yet I am not attached to any mark of the Tathāgata at all. Why is this? The Tathāgata is not the past, since he has extinguished every worldly grasping entirely; the Tathāgata is not the future, since nothing at all arises in him; the Tathāgata is not the present, since he has no body that is born; the Tathāgata does not cease, since he is apart from the very path of language; the Tathāgata is not real, since he manifests as an illusory dharma; the Tathāgata is not false, since he arises in the world to benefit every sentient being; the Tathāgata, in going, arrives nowhere at all, since he does not truly die here and take birth there; the Tathāgata cannot be destroyed, since the nature of the Dharma itself cannot be destroyed; the Tathāgata is of a single nature, apart from the very path of language; the Tathāgata has no nature at all, reaching the very end of the Dharma's own nature. Good son, understanding every tathāgata in this way, I open up and broaden the bodhisattva's own Dharma-gate of Tranquil Extinction, the Bliss of Samādhi, and Diligence, its light illumining, its adornment complete, entering deeply into the domain of according with, of equanimity, and of firmness; discerning and understanding entirely, departing far from falsehood, giving rise to great compassion, gathering in sentient beings, never once abandoning them, single-mindedly tranquil and concentrated, I directly and rightly receive the first dhyāna. Extinguishing mental karma, attaining the power of tranquil wisdom, gathering in sentient beings, rejoicing and delighting, I enter the second dhyāna. Relinquishing birth and death, tranquil in nirvāṇa, contemplating the nature of sentient beings, I cultivate the third dhyāna. Extinguishing every sentient being's own afflicted suffering, I cultivate the fourth dhyāna. Increasing the mind and vow of omniscient bodhi, giving rise to the whole ocean of the bodhisattva's own samādhi, skillful and sublime in means, reaching the very end of the whole ocean of the bodhisattva's own Dharma-gate, accomplishing the bodhisattva's own playful spiritual power, giving rise to the bodhisattva's own sovereign practice, my wisdom bright and pure, entering deeply into the universal gate of the Dharma-realm."
Fazang names the Dharma-gate's own three parts directly: 寂滅定樂，本智內證也。精進者，後智策修也 — "'tranquil extinction' and 'the bliss of samādhi' are the inner realization of original wisdom; 'diligence' is subsequently-attained wisdom spurring further cultivation" — and notes that, in what follows, its substance turns out to be the four dhyānas together with the four right forms of diligent effort. He divides the ten reasons a tathāgata cannot be attached to into four groups: the first three transcend the three times utterly; the fourth goes beyond the very reach of language; the next two hold him free of both the real and the false at once; the next two hold his own substance beyond all change; and the last two collapse "having one nature" and "having no nature" into the very same point. The upshot, on his reading, is that the buddha's own form-body, merit-body, and every other body already beheld in the previous teaching are, in exactly this same way, beyond any fixed grasp — which is precisely why beholding them so fully still leaves no attachment behind. On the four dhyānas, he reads each as accomplishing something specific rather than a mere sequence of depths: the first extinguishes coarse mental unwholesomeness while establishing the very substance of concentration; the second extinguishes the coarse investigation and subtle reflection that still trouble birth and death, without ever abandoning the gathering of beings; the third extinguishes the suffering of affliction outright, yielding what he calls "true bliss"; and the fourth becomes the very ground on which the great bodhi-mind and vow themselves increase.
Twelve Contemplations for a Householder Bound by Heedlessness
善男子！我如是修習菩薩寂滅、定樂、精進法門，種種方便，度脫眾生。在家放逸、貪欲眾生，令修不淨想、不樂想、憂惱想、逼迫想、繫縛想、羅剎想、無常想、苦想、無我想、空想、不自在想、老死想，令彼眾生遠離五欲，常樂正法，信家非家，出家學道，思惟坐禪，為障亂聲，除鬼神怖。
若於中夜欲出行時，為開門戶，光明照路，除滅闇冥。讚佛法僧及善知識，又復讚歎近善知識。令諸眾生未生惡法方便不生，已生惡法方便令滅，未生善法方便令生，已生善法方便增廣。行菩薩行，修波羅蜜，滿足大願，出生一切智；習大慈悲欲令眾生得人天樂，除滅妄想，增長善法，順薩婆若。善男子！我唯知此菩薩寂滅、定樂、精進法門。諸大菩薩滿普賢願，具足普賢菩薩所行，究竟得離癡闇法界，具諸善根，成就如來智力光明，於佛境界無所障礙，住生死中，心無所染，薩婆若願具足、成滿，深入一切諸佛剎海，攝取一切諸佛大海，受一切佛妙法雲海，滅一切眾生生死闇海，薩婆若光照生死夜；我當云何能知、能說彼功德行？善男子！去此不遠，如來右面有一夜天，名曰喜目觀察眾生。汝詣彼問云何菩薩學菩薩行、修菩薩道。」
"Good son, cultivating in this way the bodhisattva's own Dharma-gate of Tranquil Extinction, the Bliss of Samādhi, and Diligence, through every kind of skillful means, I deliver sentient beings. For householders given to heedlessness and greedy desire, I cause them to cultivate the contemplation of impurity, the contemplation of non-delight, the contemplation of worry and vexation, the contemplation of oppression, the contemplation of bondage, the contemplation of the rākṣasa, the contemplation of impermanence, the contemplation of suffering, the contemplation of non-self, the contemplation of emptiness, the contemplation of lacking sovereign mastery, and the contemplation of old age and death, causing these sentient beings to depart far from the five desires, constantly delighting in the true Dharma, believing that the household life is no true home, going forth to learn the path, contemplating and sitting in meditation; for the sake of those disturbed by frightening sounds, I dispel their fear of ghosts and spirits.
"Should they wish to travel abroad at midnight, I open the door for them, my light illumining the road, dispelling the darkness. I praise the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and every good spiritual friend, and further praise the drawing near to good spiritual friends. I cause sentient beings, through skillful means, not to give rise to evil dharmas not yet arisen; through skillful means, to extinguish evil dharmas already arisen; through skillful means, to give rise to wholesome dharmas not yet arisen; and through skillful means, to broaden and increase wholesome dharmas already arisen. Practicing the bodhisattva's own practice, cultivating the perfections, fulfilling the great vow, giving rise to omniscience; cultivating great loving-kindness and compassion, wishing to cause sentient beings to attain the bliss of gods and humans, extinguishing false thought, increasing wholesome dharmas, according with omniscience. Good son, I know only this bodhisattva's own Dharma-gate of Tranquil Extinction, the Bliss of Samādhi, and Diligence. The great bodhisattvas, fulfilling Samantabhadra's own vow, fully endowed with Samantabhadra's own practice, reach the very end of a Dharma-realm free of the darkness of folly, endowed with every root of goodness, accomplishing the light of the Tathāgata's own power of wisdom, unobstructed within the buddha's own domain, abiding amid birth and death, their mind untainted by anything, the vow of omniscience fully endowed and accomplished, entering deeply into the whole ocean of every buddha-land, gathering in the whole ocean of every buddha, receiving the whole ocean of every buddha's own cloud of sublime Dharma, extinguishing the whole dark ocean of every sentient being's own birth and death, the light of omniscience illumining the very night of birth and death. How could I possibly know, how could I possibly speak of, such merit and practice as this? Good son, not far from here, to the Tathāgata's own right, there is a night-deva, named Joyful Eyes Observing Sentient Beings. Go to her and ask how a bodhisattva learns the bodhisattva's own practice, cultivates the bodhisattva path."
Fazang explains the term "diligence" here in two senses at once: a bodhisattva who relies on dhyāna to transform sentient beings is, by that very fact, already called diligent; and transforming beings so that they depart from heedlessness is likewise called diligence. The twelve contemplations she teaches householders — impurity, non-delight, worry, oppression, bondage, the rākṣasa, impermanence, suffering, non-self, emptiness, the absence of sovereign mastery, and old age and death — are, on his reading, exactly this second sense of diligence made concrete: a full curriculum aimed at heedlessness rather than a random list. He locates the site named "not far from here, to the Tathāgata's own right" precisely: since realizing principle matches the buddha's own fruit, and this position also serves the convenience of gathering beings in, that is why the next teacher stands specifically at his right hand. Her own name, Joyful Eyes Observing Sentient Beings, he reads plainly — inward realization of profound principle, outwardly manifest as eyes of compassion that watch over every being — noting that the Indian original names her, more fully, "Joyful Eyes, Light Touching and Illumining Sentient Beings."
Part 58 In Progress
Part 58 continues in Part 59: this night-deva's own closing hymn, fourteen stanzas returning once more to the vision of Vairocana beneath the bodhi tree, before Sudhana takes his leave for the third teacher of the Ten Grounds.
Continue to Part 59 — A Closing Hymn, and Joyful Eyes →