The Wish-Fulfilling Gem, and a Sea of Vows
This fascicle opens 梵行品, the chapter on pure conduct, with the seven forms of knowledge that make up a bodhisattva's pure conduct — beginning with a full definition of the twelve divisions into which the Buddhist scriptures themselves are traditionally sorted — before turning to the four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Kāśyapa presses the Buddha from every angle to explain why these four should not really be counted as one, two, or three, and the Buddha answers with an extended argument for why compassion at the ordinary bodhisattva stages, however genuine, still falls short of "great compassion" — a title reserved for the first bodhisattva ground alone, where even the icchantika draws no anger at all. The fascicle closes with a bodhisattva's own practice of giving: food, drink, a carriage, clothing, incense, a bed, a dwelling, and a lamp, each offered with its own renewed vow that the gift itself become a seed of awakening for every being who receives it.
Twelve Kinds of Scripture
「善男子！云何菩薩摩訶薩梵行？善男子！菩薩摩訶薩住於大乘大般涅槃，住七善法，得具梵行。何等為七？一者知法，二者知義，三者知時，四者知足，五者自知，六者知眾，七者知尊卑。善男子！云何菩薩摩訶薩知法？善男子！是菩薩摩訶薩知十二部經，謂修多羅、祇夜、授記、伽陀、優陀那、尼陀那、阿波陀那、伊帝曰(他本云目)多伽、闍陀伽、毘佛略、阿浮陀達摩、優波提舍。
「善男子！何等名為修多羅經？從如是我聞乃至歡喜奉行，如是一切名修多羅。
「何等名為祇夜經？佛告諸比丘，昔我與汝愚無智慧，不能如實見四真諦，是故流轉久處生死，沒大苦海。何等為四？苦、集、滅、道。如佛昔日為諸比丘說契經竟，爾時復有利根眾生，為聽法故，後至佛所，即便問人：『如來向者為說何事？』佛時知已，即因本經，以偈頌曰：
「『我昔與汝等， 不見四真諦，
是故久流轉， 生死大苦海。
若能見四諦， 則得斷生死，
生有既已盡， 更不受諸有。』
「是名祇夜經。
「何等名為授記經？如有經律，如來說時，為諸大人，受佛記別：『汝阿逸多，未來有王，名曰蠰佉，當於是世，而成佛道，號曰彌勒。』是名授記經。
「何等名為伽陀經？除修多羅及諸戒律，其餘有說四句之偈，所謂：
「『諸惡莫作， 諸善奉行。 自淨其意，
是諸佛教。』
「是名伽陀經。
「何等名為優陀那經？如佛晡時入於禪定，為諸天眾廣說法要。時諸比丘各作是念：『如來今者為何所作？』如來明旦從禪定起，無有人問，以他心智即自說言：『比丘當知，一切諸天壽命極長。汝諸比丘！善哉為他，不求己利。善哉少欲，善哉知足，善哉寂靜。』如是諸經無問自說，是名優陀那經。
「何等名為尼陀那經？如諸經偈，所因根本，為他演說。如舍衛國，有一丈夫，羅網捕鳥，得已籠繫，隨與水穀而復還放。世尊知其本末因緣，而說偈言：
「『莫輕小罪， 以為無殃。 水渧雖微，
漸盈大器。』
「是名尼陀那經。
「何等名為阿波陀那經？如戒律中所說譬喻，是名阿波陀那經。
「何等名為伊帝曰(他本云目)多伽經？如佛所說，比丘當知，我出世時，所可說者，名曰戒經。鳩留秦佛出世之時，名甘露鼓。拘那含牟尼佛時，名曰法鏡。迦葉佛時，名分別空。是名伊帝曰多伽經。
「何等名為闍陀伽經？如佛世尊，本為菩薩，修諸苦行。所謂比丘當知，我於過去作鹿、作羆、作麞、作兔，作粟散王、轉輪聖王、龍、金翅鳥，諸如是等，行菩薩道時所可受身，是名闍陀伽。
「何等名為毘佛略經？所謂大乘方等經典，其義廣大猶如虛空，是名毘佛略。
「何等名為未曾有經？如彼菩薩，初出生時，無人扶持，即行七步，放大光明，遍觀十方。亦如獼猴手捧蜜器，以獻如來。如白項狗，佛邊聽法。如魔波旬變為青牛，行瓦鉢間，令諸瓦鉢互相橖觸，無所傷損。如佛初生，入天廟時，令彼天像，起下禮敬。如是等經，名未曾有經。
「何等名為優波提舍經？如佛世尊所說諸經，若作議論，分別廣說，辯其相貌，是名優波提舍經。菩薩若能如是了知十二部經，名為知法。◎
「◎云何菩薩摩訶薩知義？菩薩摩訶薩若於一切文字、語言，廣知其義，是名知義。云何菩薩摩訶薩知時？善男子！菩薩善知，如是時中任修寂靜，如是時中任修精進，如是時中任修捨定，如是時中任供養佛，如是時中任供養師，如是時中任修布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定，具足般若波羅蜜，是名知時。云何菩薩摩訶薩知足？善男子！菩薩摩訶薩知足，所謂食飲衣藥、行住坐臥、睡寤語默，是名知足。善男子！云何菩薩摩訶薩自知？是菩薩自知，我有如是信、如是戒、如是多聞、如是捨、如是慧、如是去來、如是正念、如是善行，如是問、如是答，是名自知。云何菩薩摩訶薩知眾？善男子！是菩薩知如是等，是剎利眾、婆羅門眾、居士眾、沙門眾，應於是眾如是行來、如是坐起、如是說法、如是問答，是名知眾。
「善男子！云何菩薩摩訶薩知人中尊卑？善男子！人有二種：一者信，二者不信。菩薩當知信者是善，其不信者不名為善。復次信有二種：一者常往僧坊，二者不往菩薩。當知其往者善，其不往者不名為善。往僧坊者復有二種：一者禮拜，二不禮拜。菩薩當知禮拜者善，不禮拜者不名為善。其禮拜者復有二種：一者聽法，二者不聽法。菩薩當知聽法者善，不聽法者不名為善。其聽法者復有二種：一至心聽，二不至心。菩薩當知至心聽者是則名善，不至心者不名為善。至心聽法復有二種：一者思義，二不思義。菩薩當知思義者善，不思義者不名為善。其思義者復有二種：一如說行，二不如說行。如說行者是則為善，不如說行不名為善。如說行者復有二種：一求聲聞，不能利安饒益一切苦惱眾生；二者迴向無上大乘，利益多人令得安樂。菩薩應知能利多人得安樂者，最上最善。善男子！如諸寶中，如意寶珠最為勝妙，如諸味中甘露最上，如是菩薩於人天中最勝最上，不可譬喻。善男子！是名菩薩摩訶薩住於大乘大涅槃經，住七善法。菩薩住是七善法已，得具梵行。
"Good son, what is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's own pure conduct? Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding within this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, abides in seven wholesome dharmas, and thereby is fully endowed with pure conduct. What are these seven? Knowing the Dharma, knowing its meaning, knowing the proper time, knowing sufficiency, knowing oneself, knowing the assembly, and knowing what is superior and what is inferior. Good son, how does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the Dharma? Good son, this bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows the twelve divisions of the scriptures — namely, sūtra, geya, vyākaraṇa, gāthā, udāna, nidāna, avadāna, itivṛttaka (in other editions, itivuttaka), jātaka, vaipulya, adbhutadharma, and upadeśa.
"Good son, what is called the sūtra? Everything from 'thus have I heard' through to 'received it with joy and put it into practice' — all of this, in its entirety, is called sūtra.
"What is called the geya? The Buddha told the monks: 'In ages past, you and I, foolish and without wisdom, were unable to see the Four Noble Truths as they truly are, and it was for this reason that we wandered on for so long, sunk within the great ocean of suffering that is birth-and-death.' What are these four? Suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. It happened once that, after the Buddha had finished teaching the monks a discourse in prose, a being of sharp faculties arrived later at the Buddha's own place, wishing to hear the Dharma, and at once asked another: 'What has the Tathāgata just now been teaching?' The Buddha, knowing this, thereupon, on the basis of this same original discourse, spoke a verse, saying:
"'In ages past, you and I together,
not seeing the Four Noble Truths,
wandered on for so long,
within the great ocean of suffering that is birth-and-death.
Could we but see these Four Truths,
we would thereby sever birth-and-death —
and, our states of existence once exhausted,
would take on no further existence at all.'
"This is called the geya.
"What is called the vyākaraṇa? It is as when, within a scripture or a Vinaya text, the Tathāgata, in the course of his teaching, grants a prediction to some great being, saying: 'You, Ajita, in a future age, when there is a king named Śaṅkha, shall, in that very age, attain the path of buddhahood, and shall be named Maitreya.' This is called the vyākaraṇa.
"What is called the gāthā? Apart from the sūtra and every precept and Vinaya text, whatever else is spoken as a verse of four lines — such as:
"'Commit no evil whatsoever, uphold and practice every good,
purify one's own mind entirely — this is the teaching of every buddha.'
"This is called the gāthā.
"What is called the udāna? It is as when the Buddha, in the late afternoon, entered meditative concentration, and expounded the essentials of the Dharma at length for the assembly of gods. At that time, the monks each thought to themselves: 'What is the Tathāgata doing now?' The Tathāgata, rising the next morning from his meditative concentration, though no one had asked him anything, of his own accord, through his knowledge of others' minds, spoke these words: 'Monks, you should know that the lifespan of every god is exceedingly long. You monks — excellent is it to act for the sake of others, and not to seek one's own benefit; excellent is having few desires; excellent is being content with what one has; excellent is stillness.' Scriptures of this kind, spoken of one's own accord without being asked, are called udāna.
"What is called the nidāna? It is as when, on the basis of some root cause and condition, a scripture's verse is expounded for the sake of others. It is as when, in the city of Śrāvastī, there was a man who caught birds with a net, and, having caught one, kept it caged, giving it water and grain, and, after a time, released it once more. The World-Honored One, knowing the full cause and condition behind this matter, spoke a verse, saying:
"'Do not make light of a small transgression, thinking it brings no misfortune —
for, though a single drop of water is a tiny thing,
it can, drop by drop, fill a great vessel in time.'
"This is called the nidāna.
"What is called the avadāna? It is like the similes spoken within the Vinaya texts. This is called the avadāna.
"What is called the itivṛttaka? It is as the Buddha has taught it: 'Monks, you should know that, at the time of my own appearance in the world, what I have to teach is named the Scripture of the Precepts. At the time of the buddha Krakucchanda's appearance in the world, it was named the Drum of Nectar. At the time of the buddha Kanakamuni, it was named the Mirror of the Dharma. At the time of the buddha Kāśyapa, it was named the Discernment of Emptiness.' This is called the itivṛttaka.
"What is called the jātaka? It is as when the Buddha, the World-Honored One, having originally been a bodhisattva, cultivated every kind of austerity — as when he says: 'Monks, you should know that, in ages past, I took on the body of a deer, a bear, a musk deer, a rabbit, a petty king, a cakravartin king, a nāga, and a garuḍa' — every body of this kind that he took on while practicing the bodhisattva path. This is called the jātaka.
"What is called the vaipulya? It is the scriptures of the Great Vehicle's own Vaipulya teaching, whose meaning is as vast and broad as empty space itself. This is called the vaipulya.
"What is called the adbhutadharma? It is as when that bodhisattva, at the very moment of his birth, without anyone supporting him, at once walked seven steps, radiating great light, gazing all about in every direction; or as when a monkey, cupping a vessel of honey in its hands, offered it to the Tathāgata; or as when a white-necked dog listened to the Dharma at the Buddha's own side; or as when Māra Pāpīyas transformed himself into a blue ox, walking among a pile of clay bowls, causing them to knock against one another without any of them being damaged; or as when the Buddha, newly born, entered a shrine to the gods, and caused the images of the gods there to rise and bow down before him in reverence. Scriptures of this kind are called adbhutadharma.
"What is called the upadeśa? It is when, with regard to whatever scriptures the Buddha, the World-Honored One, has taught, one composes a discussion, distinguishing and expounding them at length, examining their every characteristic — this is called the upadeśa. Should a bodhisattva be able to know the twelve divisions of the scriptures in this way, this is called 'knowing the Dharma.'
"How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the meaning? Should the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with regard to every letter and every word, know its meaning extensively, this is called 'knowing the meaning.' How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the proper time? Good son, the bodhisattva knows well: at such a time, it is fitting to cultivate stillness; at such a time, it is fitting to cultivate diligence; at such a time, it is fitting to cultivate the concentration of equanimity; at such a time, it is fitting to make offerings to the Buddha; at such a time, it is fitting to make offerings to one's teacher; at such a time, it is fitting to cultivate giving, moral discipline, patience, diligence, and meditative concentration, thereby becoming fully endowed with the perfection of wisdom — this is called 'knowing the proper time.' How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know sufficiency? Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's knowing sufficiency means this: with regard to food and drink, clothing and medicine, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, sleeping and waking, speaking and remaining silent — this is called 'knowing sufficiency.' Good son, how does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know himself? This bodhisattva knows of himself: 'I have such faith, such moral discipline, such vast learning, such generosity, such wisdom, such a manner of coming and going, such right mindfulness, such wholesome conduct, such a way of questioning, and such a way of answering' — this is called 'knowing oneself.' How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know the assembly? Good son, this bodhisattva knows: this is an assembly of kṣatriyas, this is an assembly of brahmins, this is an assembly of householders, this is an assembly of śramaṇas — and knows that, before this particular assembly, he should walk and come in such a way, sit and rise in such a way, teach the Dharma in such a way, and question and answer in such a way — this is called 'knowing the assembly.'
"Good son, how does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva know what is superior and what is inferior among people? Good son, people are of two kinds: those with faith, and those without faith. The bodhisattva should know that one with faith is wholesome, and one without faith is not called wholesome. Furthermore, faith is of two kinds: one who constantly goes to the monastery, and one who, though a bodhisattva by name, does not go. One should know that the one who goes is wholesome, and the one who does not go is not called wholesome. One who goes to the monastery is, further, of two kinds: one who pays reverence, and one who does not. The bodhisattva should know that the one who pays reverence is wholesome, and the one who does not is not called wholesome. One who pays reverence is, further, of two kinds: one who listens to the Dharma, and one who does not. The bodhisattva should know that the one who listens to the Dharma is wholesome, and the one who does not is not called wholesome. One who listens to the Dharma is, further, of two kinds: one who listens with a wholehearted mind, and one who does not. The bodhisattva should know that the one who listens wholeheartedly is called wholesome, and the one who does not is not called wholesome. One who listens to the Dharma wholeheartedly is, further, of two kinds: one who reflects on its meaning, and one who does not. The bodhisattva should know that the one who reflects on its meaning is wholesome, and the one who does not is not called wholesome. One who reflects on its meaning is, further, of two kinds: one who practices in accordance with what is taught, and one who does not. One who practices in accordance with the teaching is wholesome; one who does not practice in accordance with it is not called wholesome. One who practices in accordance with the teaching is, further, of two kinds: one who seeks only the śrāvaka path, unable to benefit, comfort, and enrich every suffering being; and one who dedicates his practice toward the unsurpassed Great Vehicle, bringing benefit to many people and causing them to attain peace and happiness. The bodhisattva should know that the one able to benefit many people and cause them to attain peace and happiness is the very highest and the very best. Good son, just as, among every jewel, the wish-fulfilling gem is the finest and most wondrous, and, among every flavor, nectar is the very highest, so too is a bodhisattva of this kind the very finest and the very highest among gods and men, beyond all comparison. Good son, this is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's abiding, while dwelling within this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, in the seven wholesome dharmas. The bodhisattva, having abided in these seven wholesome dharmas, is thereby fully endowed with pure conduct."
Huiyuan reads the twelve divisions as falling into three overlapping senses of "sūtra" rather than twelve unrelated genres: in its broadest sense, "sūtra" names every discourse from "thus have I heard" to "received it with joy," the whole canon considered as one thing; in a narrower sense, it names specifically the eleventh division listed here (the plain prose discourse, as distinct from verse, prediction, or parable); and in a third sense, it names just the opening formula itself, before a discourse is further classified under one of the other eleven headings. He glosses several terms this collection keeps as loanwords: itivṛttaka as "former matters" (narrating events from other people's past), jātaka as "former lives" (narrating events from the Buddha's own past, distinguishing it from itivṛttaka by whose story is being told), vaipulya as literally "square and broad" — "square" for its correct principle, "broad" for its inexhaustible scope — and adbhutadharma as marking events "rare since antiquity," extraordinary enough to be remarked upon simply for having occurred at all, independent of whatever doctrinal point they might also illustrate.
On the seven forms of knowledge as a whole, Huiyuan notes that "knowing the proper time" divides into an inward, contemplative half (knowing when to cultivate stillness or diligence) and an outward, situational half (knowing when to make offerings, when to give, when to keep precepts) — the passage moves from one register to the other without flagging the shift, and a careless reading can miss that two different kinds of "timing" are being discussed in the same breath. He also reads "knowing what is superior and inferior" as a single chain of eight nested distinctions, each one a stricter test than the last (faith, then temple attendance, then reverence, then listening, then wholehearted listening, then reflection, then practice, then which vehicle that practice is dedicated toward) — a structure meant to show that "faith" by itself, the first and loosest criterion, says almost nothing yet about a person's actual attainment, since seven further, progressively narrower tests remain before reaching the bodhisattva's own standard of value: benefiting the greatest number of beings, not merely one's own liberation.
Three Objects, Four Names
「復次善男子！復有梵行，謂慈、悲、喜、捨。」
迦葉菩薩白佛言：「世尊！若多修慈，能斷瞋恚，修悲心者亦斷瞋恚，云何而言四無量心？推義而言，則應有三。世尊！慈有三緣：一緣眾生，二緣於法，三則無緣。悲、喜、捨心亦復如是。若從是義，唯應有三，不應有四。眾生緣者，緣於五陰願與其樂，是名眾生緣。法緣者，緣諸眾生所須之物而施與之，是名法緣。無緣者，緣於如來，是名無緣。慈者多緣貧窮眾生，如來大師永離貧窮受第一樂，若緣眾生，則不緣佛，法亦如是。以是義故，緣如來者，名曰無緣。世尊！慈之所緣一切眾生，如緣父母、妻子親屬，以是義故，名曰眾生緣。法緣者，不見父母、妻子親屬，見一切法皆從緣生，是名法緣。無緣者，不住法相及眾生相，是名無緣。悲、喜、捨心亦復如是，是故應三，不應有四。世尊！人有二種：一者見行，二者愛行。見行之人多修慈悲，愛行之人多修喜捨。是故應二，不應有四。世尊！夫無量者，名曰無邊，邊不可得，故名無量。若無量者，則應是一，不應言四。若言四者，何得無量？是故應一，不應四也。」
佛告迦葉：「善男子！諸佛如來為諸眾生所宣法要，其言祕密，難可了知。或為眾生說一因緣。如說何等為一因緣？所謂一切有為之法。善男子！或說二種：因之與果。或說三種：煩惱、業，苦。或說四種，無明、諸行、生與老死。或說五種，所謂受、愛、取、有及生。或說六種，三世因果。或說七種，謂識、名、色、六入、觸、受及以愛取。或說八種，除無明、行及生老死，其餘八事；或說九種，如城經中，除無明、行、識，其餘九事。或說十一，如為薩遮尼犍子說，除生一法，其餘十一。或時具說十二因緣，如王舍城，為迦葉等，具說十二無明乃至生老病死。善男子！如一因緣，為眾生故，種種分別，無量心法亦復如是。善男子！以是義故，於諸如來深祕行處，不應生疑。善男子！如來世尊，有大方便，無常說常，常說無常；說樂為苦，說苦為樂；不淨說淨，淨說不淨；我說無我，無我說我；於非眾生說為眾生，於實眾生說非眾生；非物說物，物說非物；非實說實，實說非實；非境說境，境說非境；非生說生，生說非生；乃至無明說明、明說無明；色說非色，非色說色；非道說道，道說非道。善男子！如來以是無量方便，為調眾生，豈虛妄耶？善男子！或有眾生貪於財貨，我於其人自化其身作轉輪王，於無量歲，隨其所須種種供給，然後教化，令其安住阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若有眾生貪著五欲，於無量歲，以妙五欲充足其願，然後勸化，令其安住阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若有眾生榮豪自貴，我於其人無量歲中為作僕使，趍走給侍，得其心已，即復勸化令其安住阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。若有眾生性悷自是，須人呵諫，我於無量百千歲中，教訶敦喻，令其心調，然後復勸，令其安住阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。善男子！如來如是，於無量歲，以種種方便，令諸眾生安住阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，豈虛妄耶？諸佛如來，雖處眾惡，無所染污，猶如蓮花。善男子！應如是知四無量義。
「善男子！是無量心，體性有四，若有修行，生大梵處。善男子！如是無量，伴侶有四，是故名四。夫修慈者能斷貪欲，修悲心者能斷瞋恚，修喜心者能斷不樂，修捨心者能斷貪欲瞋恚眾生。善男子！以是義故，得名為四，非一、二、三。善男子！如汝所言，慈能斷瞋，悲亦如是，應說三者，汝今不應作如是難。何以故？善男子，恚有二種：一能奪命，二能鞭撻。修慈則能斷彼奪命，修悲能除彼鞭撻者。善男子！以是義故，豈非四耶？復次瞋有二種：一瞋眾生，二瞋非眾生。修慈心者斷瞋眾生，修悲心者斷非眾生。復次瞋有二種：一有因緣，二無因緣。修慈心者斷有因緣，修悲心者斷無因緣。復次瞋有二種：一者久於過去修習，二者於今現在修習。修慈心者能斷過去，修悲心者斷於現在。復次瞋有二種：一瞋聖人，二瞋凡夫。修慈心者斷瞋聖人，修悲心者斷瞋凡夫。復次瞋有二種：一上、二中。修慈斷上，修悲斷中。善男子！以是義故，則名為四，何得難言應三非四？是故迦葉！是無量心，伴侶相對，分別為四。復以器故，應名為四。器若有慈，則不得有悲、喜、捨心。以是義故，應四無減。善男子！以行分別，故應有四，若行慈時，無悲、喜、捨，是故有四。
「善男子！以無量故，亦得名四。夫無量者則有四種，有無量心，有緣、非自在；有無量心，自在、非緣；有無量心，亦緣、亦自在；有無量心，非緣、非自在。何等無量，有緣、非自在？緣於無量無邊眾生，而不能得自在三昧，雖得不定，或得或失。何等無量，自在、非緣？如緣父母、兄弟姊妹，欲令安樂，非無量緣。何等無量，亦緣、亦自在？謂諸佛菩薩。何等無量，非緣、非自在？聲聞緣覺，不能廣緣無量眾生，亦非自在。善男子！以是義故，名四無量，非諸聲聞緣覺所知，乃是諸佛如來境界。善男子！如是四事，聲聞緣覺雖名無量，少不足言。諸佛菩薩，則得名為無量無邊。」
"Furthermore, good son, there is a further pure conduct, namely loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity."
The bodhisattva Kāśyapa said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, if extensively cultivating loving-kindness is able to sever anger, and cultivating compassion likewise severs anger, why then does the teaching speak of 'four' immeasurable minds? Reasoning it through, there should really be only three. World-Honored One, loving-kindness has three objects: one takes beings as its object, one takes dharmas as its object, and one is without any object at all. Compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are just the same. Reasoning from this, there should be only three, not four. Taking beings as its object means taking the five aggregates as its object, wishing to give them happiness — this is called taking beings as its object. Taking dharmas as its object means taking whatever a being requires as its object, and giving it to him — this is called taking dharmas as its object. Being without any object means taking the Tathāgata as its object — this is called being without any object. Loving-kindness mostly takes the poor and destitute as its object, and, since the Tathāgata, the great teacher, has forever left poverty behind and receives the very highest bliss, when one's loving-kindness takes beings as its object, it does not take the Buddha as its object; and it is just the same for its taking a dharma as its object. It is for this very reason that taking the Tathāgata as one's object is named 'being without any object.' World-Honored One, loving-kindness's object is every being — as one takes one's own parents, wife and children, and relatives as its object — and it is for this very reason that this is named 'taking beings as its object.' Taking dharmas as its object means not seeing one's parents, wife and children, or relatives at all, but seeing every dharma as arising from causes and conditions — this is called 'taking dharmas as its object.' Being without any object means not abiding in the mark of a dharma or the mark of a being at all — this is called 'being without any object.' Compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity are just the same — and it is for this very reason that there should be three, not four. World-Honored One, people are of two kinds: those whose conduct is governed by their views, and those whose conduct is governed by their attachments. A person whose conduct is governed by views mostly cultivates loving-kindness and compassion; a person whose conduct is governed by attachment mostly cultivates sympathetic joy and equanimity. It is for this very reason that there should be two, not four. World-Honored One, what is called 'immeasurable' is named 'boundless' — its boundary cannot be found, and it is for this reason called immeasurable. If it is truly immeasurable, then it should be one single thing, and one should not speak of 'four.' And if one speaks of 'four,' how can it still be called immeasurable? It is for this very reason that there should be one, not four."
The Buddha told Kāśyapa: "Good son, whatever essential teaching every buddha, every tathāgata, proclaims for the sake of beings, its language is secret, and hard to fully understand. At times, for the sake of beings, a single cause and condition is taught. What, one might ask, is this single cause and condition? It is every conditioned dharma. Good son, at times it is taught as two kinds: cause and result. At times it is taught as three kinds: affliction, karma, and suffering. At times it is taught as four kinds: ignorance, volitional formations, birth, and old-age-and-death. At times it is taught as five kinds: namely, feeling, craving, grasping, existence, and birth. At times it is taught as six kinds: the cause and result across the three time periods. At times it is taught as seven kinds: namely, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense-fields, contact, feeling, and craving-and-grasping. At times it is taught as eight kinds: setting aside ignorance, volitional formations, birth, and old-age-and-death, the remaining eight factors. At times it is taught as nine kinds, as in the City Sūtra: setting aside ignorance, volitional formations, and consciousness, the remaining nine factors. At times it is taught as eleven, as when taught for the naked ascetic Satyaka: setting aside the single factor of birth, the remaining eleven. And, at times, it is taught in full as the twelve links of dependent origination, as at Rājagṛha, when it was taught in full to Kāśyapa and others — ignorance, all the way through to birth, old age, illness, and death. Good son, just as this single cause and condition is distinguished in many different ways for the sake of beings, the dharma of the immeasurable minds is just the same. Good son, it is for this very reason that one should not give rise to doubt regarding the Tathāgata's own deeply secret conduct. Good son, the Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, possesses great skillful means: he teaches the impermanent as permanent, and the permanent as impermanent; he teaches bliss as suffering, and suffering as bliss; he teaches the impure as pure, and the pure as impure; he teaches self as no-self, and no-self as self; with regard to what is not a being, he teaches it as a being, and with regard to what is truly a being, he teaches it as not a being; he teaches the non-thing as a thing, and the thing as a non-thing; he teaches the unreal as real, and the real as unreal; he teaches the non-object as an object, and the object as a non-object; he teaches the non-arisen as arisen, and the arisen as non-arisen; on up through teaching ignorance as illumination, and illumination as ignorance; he teaches form as non-form, and non-form as form; he teaches the non-path as the path, and the path as the non-path. Good son, is it, then, mere falsehood that the Tathāgata employs these immeasurable skillful means to tame beings? Good son, should there be beings covetous of wealth and possessions, I transform my own body, for the sake of such a person, into a cakravartin king, and, over immeasurable years, supply him with every provision he requires, and only then teach and transform him, causing him to abide firmly in unsurpassed, complete awakening. Should there be beings attached with craving to the five desires, I satisfy their every wish, over immeasurable years, with the finest of the five desires, and only then encourage and transform them, causing them to abide firmly in unsurpassed, complete awakening. Should there be beings who glory in their own rank and consider themselves noble, I become, for such a person, over immeasurable years, his very servant, running errands and attending upon him, and, once I have won his heart, I then encourage and transform him, causing him to abide firmly in unsurpassed, complete awakening. Should there be beings of an obstinate and self-righteous nature, requiring someone to reprove them, I, over immeasurable hundreds of thousands of years, teach, reprove, and earnestly instruct them, until their minds are tamed, and only then encourage them further, causing them to abide firmly in unsurpassed, complete awakening. Good son, is it, then, mere falsehood that the Tathāgata, over immeasurable years, employs skillful means of every kind in this way, causing beings to abide firmly in unsurpassed, complete awakening? Every buddha, every tathāgata, though dwelling amid every kind of evil, remains entirely undefiled by it, just like a lotus flower. Good son, one should understand the meaning of the four immeasurable minds in just this way.
"Good son, these immeasurable minds have four distinct essential natures, and, should one cultivate them, one is thereby reborn in the great Brahmā heaven. Good son, these immeasurable minds, likewise, have four mutually supporting companions, and this is why they are named four. Cultivating loving-kindness is able to sever craving; cultivating compassion is able to sever anger; cultivating sympathetic joy is able to sever displeasure; cultivating equanimity is able to sever both craving and anger toward beings. Good son, it is for this very reason that they are named four, and not one, two, or three. Good son, as you have said, loving-kindness is able to sever anger, and compassion does so as well, and so there should only be three — you should not, in fact, raise this objection. Why is this? Good son, anger is of two kinds: one that can take a life, and one that can merely lash out and strike. Cultivating loving-kindness is able to sever the kind that takes a life; cultivating compassion is able to remove the kind that merely lashes out and strikes. Good son, is this not, then, a reason for four? Furthermore, anger is of two kinds: anger directed at a being, and anger directed at what is not a being. Cultivating loving-kindness severs anger directed at a being; cultivating compassion severs anger directed at what is not a being. Furthermore, anger is of two kinds: that which has a cause and condition, and that which has none. Cultivating loving-kindness severs the kind that has a cause and condition; cultivating compassion severs the kind that has none. Furthermore, anger is of two kinds: that which has long been cultivated from the past, and that which is being cultivated in the present. Cultivating loving-kindness is able to sever the kind from the past; cultivating compassion severs the kind in the present. Furthermore, anger is of two kinds: anger directed at a noble one, and anger directed at an ordinary person. Cultivating loving-kindness severs anger directed at a noble one; cultivating compassion severs anger directed at an ordinary person. Furthermore, anger is of two kinds: the superior grade, and the middling grade. Cultivating loving-kindness severs the superior grade; cultivating compassion severs the middling grade. Good son, it is for this very reason that they are named four — how, then, can you object that there should be three, and not four? It is for this very reason, Kāśyapa, that these immeasurable minds, paired together as mutually supporting companions, are distinguished as four. Furthermore, on account of their vessel, they should be named four: where the vessel holds loving-kindness, it cannot, at that same moment, hold compassion, sympathetic joy, or equanimity. It is for this very reason that there should be four, without any reduction. Good son, distinguished by the practice itself, there should be four: when one practices loving-kindness, there is, at that time, no compassion, sympathetic joy, or equanimity present — and it is for this reason that there are four.
"Good son, on account of their being immeasurable, they are likewise rightly named four. What is immeasurable is, in fact, of four kinds: there is an immeasurable mind that has an object but lacks mastery; there is an immeasurable mind that has mastery but lacks an object; there is an immeasurable mind that has both an object and mastery; and there is an immeasurable mind that has neither an object nor mastery. What is the immeasurable mind that has an object but lacks mastery? It takes immeasurable, boundless beings as its object, yet is unable to attain mastery in concentration — though it is attained, it is not stable, sometimes present, sometimes lost. What is the immeasurable mind that has mastery but lacks an object? It is as when one takes one's own parents, brothers, and sisters as one's object, wishing them to be at peace — this is not an immeasurable object. What is the immeasurable mind that has both an object and mastery? This is found in every buddha and bodhisattva. What is the immeasurable mind that has neither an object nor mastery? The śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha are unable to take immeasurable beings broadly as their object, nor do they possess mastery. Good son, it is for this very reason that these are named the four immeasurable minds — something not known by any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, but only the domain of every buddha, every tathāgata. Good son, with regard to these same four things, the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, though they, too, are said to possess something called 'immeasurable,' possess too little of it even to speak of; every buddha and bodhisattva alone may rightly be called truly immeasurable and boundless."
Huiyuan reads Kāśyapa's fourfold assault on "four" as four separate, deliberately escalating challenges rather than one repeated complaint: the three-objects argument (each of the four minds can take a being, a dharma, or nothing at all as its object, so there should be three, not four); the two-persons argument (a person governed by views mostly needs loving-kindness and compassion, a person governed by attachment mostly needs joy and equanimity, so there should be two); and the one-immeasurable argument (something truly boundless cannot coherently be counted at all, so there should be one). The Buddha's opening answer does not engage any of these three head-on; instead, it reframes the whole question by analogy — the doctrine of dependent origination is itself taught as one link, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eleven, or the full twelve, depending entirely on the audience, without this variability ever being treated as a contradiction needing resolution. The point, on Huiyuan's reading, is that a numbered doctrine's "correct" count is relative to the pedagogical purpose it serves in context, not a fixed metaphysical fact — which is why the sūtra follows immediately with the sweeping catalogue of paired opposites (permanent taught as impermanent, self as no-self, and so on): if the Tathāgata can teach opposite things about the very same reality without either being false, teaching the same four minds as sometimes one and sometimes four is a far smaller variation to explain.
Only after this reframing does the Buddha answer Kāśyapa's specific number directly, and Huiyuan finds four independent arguments stacked here, each sufficient on its own: first, the four minds have four distinct essential natures (a loving heart, a heart that aches for another's pain, a heart that rejoices, and a heart of even-handed release, respectively); second, they function as four mutually necessary companions — loving-kindness alone gives happiness but leaves suffering unaddressed, so compassion is needed to remove it; compassion and loving-kindness together still lack the resource to celebrate another's good fortune, so joy is needed; and all three, without equanimity, remain uneven in whom they reach, so equanimity is needed to complete the set — with the further point, against Kāśyapa's specific loving-kindness/compassion overlap objection, that anger itself divides into finer pairs (life-threatening vs. merely abusive, aimed at a being vs. aimed at a non-being, caused vs. uncaused, past-rooted vs. present-arising, directed at the noble vs. the ordinary, and severe vs. moderate) so that loving-kindness and compassion are shown to target genuinely different halves of anger in every one of six separate ways, not the same half twice; third, they function as four distinct receptacles, since a mind actually holding loving-kindness at a given moment cannot simultaneously hold compassion, joy, or equanimity, the way one vessel cannot hold two different contents at once; and fourth, "immeasurable" itself divides into four combinations of having a genuine object and having mastery over it, with only the fourth combination — both an unlimited object and full mastery — belonging to a buddha or bodhisattva, which is what makes "four immeasurables" a precise technical count rather than an arbitrary one.
Small Compassion, Great Compassion
迦葉菩薩白佛言：「世尊！如是，如是，實如聖教，諸佛如來所有境界，非諸聲聞緣覺所及。世尊！頗有菩薩住於大乘大般涅槃，得慈悲心，非是大慈大悲心不？」
佛言有：「善男子！菩薩若於諸眾生中，三品分別：一者親人，二者怨憎，三者中人。於親人中，復作三品，謂上、中、下；怨憎亦爾。是菩薩摩訶薩於上親中與增上樂，於中下親亦復平等與增上樂，於上怨中與少分樂，於中怨所與中品樂，於下怨中與增上樂。菩薩如是轉復修習，於上怨中與中品樂，於中下怨等與增上樂。轉復修習，於上中下等與上樂，若上怨中與上樂者，爾時得名慈心成就。菩薩爾時於父母所及上怨中，得平等心，無有差別。善男子！是名得慈，非大慈也。」
「世尊！何緣菩薩得如是慈，猶故不得名為大慈？」
「善男子！以難成故，不名大慈。何以故？久於過去無量劫中，多集煩惱，未修善法，是故不能於一日中，調伏其心。善男子！譬如剜豆，乾時錐刺，終不可著。煩惱堅硬，亦復如是，雖一日夜，繫心不散，難可調伏。又如家犬，不畏於人，山林野鹿，見人怖走。瞋恚難去，如守家狗；慈心易失，如彼野鹿。是故此心難可調伏，以是義故，不名大慈。復次善男子！譬如畫石，其文常在。畫水速滅，勢不久住。瞋如畫石，諸善根本如彼畫水，是故此心難得調伏。如大火聚，其明久住；電光之明不得暫停。瞋如火聚，慈如電明，是故此心難得調伏，以是義故，不名大慈。
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩住於初地，名曰大慈。何以故？善男子！最極惡者名一闡提，初住菩薩修大慈時，於一闡提心無差別，不見其過故不生瞋，以是義故得名大慈。善男子！為諸眾生除無利益，是名大慈；欲與眾生無量利樂，是名大悲；於諸眾生心生歡喜，是名大喜；無所擁護，名為大捨；若不見我、法相、己身，見一切法平等無二，是名大捨；自捨己樂，施與他人，是名大捨。善男子！唯四無量，能令菩薩增長具足六波羅蜜，其餘諸行不必能爾。善男子！菩薩摩訶薩先得世間四無量心，然後乃發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，次第方得出世間者。善男子！因世無量，得出世無量，以是義故，名大無量。」
The bodhisattva Kāśyapa said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, it is so, it is so — truly, as the sacred teaching says, the very domain of every buddha, every tathāgata, is beyond the reach of any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. World-Honored One, is there, then, a bodhisattva who, abiding within this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, attains loving-kindness and compassion, and yet whose loving-kindness and compassion are not yet 'great' loving-kindness and 'great' compassion?"
The Buddha said: "There is. Good son, should a bodhisattva, with regard to every being, make a threefold distinction — one's own loved ones, one's enemies, and those in between — and, within the category of one's own loved ones, further make a threefold distinction of superior, middling, and inferior, and likewise for one's enemies: this bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives the very highest happiness to his superior loved ones, and gives this same highest happiness equally to his middling and inferior loved ones as well; he gives a small measure of happiness to his superior enemies, a middling measure of happiness to his middling enemies, and the very highest happiness to his inferior enemies. The bodhisattva, cultivating further in this way, then gives a middling measure of happiness to his superior enemies, and the very highest happiness equally to his middling and inferior enemies. Cultivating yet further, he gives the very highest happiness equally to the superior, the middling, and the inferior alike — and, once he is able to give the very highest happiness even to his superior enemies, at that time, this is called the accomplishment of loving-kindness. The bodhisattva, at that time, attains a mind of complete equality toward his own parents and his superior enemies alike, without any difference between them at all. Good son, this is called attaining loving-kindness — it is not yet 'great' loving-kindness."
"World-Honored One, for what reason does a bodhisattva, though he attains loving-kindness of this kind, still not attain what is called 'great' loving-kindness?"
"Good son, it is because it is hard to accomplish that it is not called 'great' loving-kindness. Why is this? Having, over immeasurable kalpas in the past, accumulated so much affliction, and not yet cultivated wholesome dharmas, one is, for this very reason, unable to tame one's own mind within the space of a single day. Good son, it is like a dried bean: pierce it, once it is dry, with an awl, and the awl will never take hold within it. Affliction, hard and unyielding, is just the same — though one fixes one's mind upon it for a single day and night, without letting it scatter, it remains hard to tame. It is, further, like a house-dog, which does not fear a person, while a wild deer of the mountain forest, upon seeing a person, flees in terror. Anger is as hard to drive away as a dog that guards its own house; loving-kindness is as easily lost as that wild deer. It is for this very reason that this mind is hard to tame, and it is for this very reason that it is not called 'great' loving-kindness. Furthermore, good son, it is like a mark drawn upon stone, whose pattern endures forever, as against a mark drawn upon water, which vanishes at once, its trace unable to last for long. Anger is like the mark drawn on stone; the very roots of every wholesome dharma are like the mark drawn on water — and it is for this very reason that this mind is hard to tame. It is like a great mass of fire, whose light endures for a long time, as against the light of lightning, which cannot remain even for a moment. Anger is like the mass of fire; loving-kindness is like the light of lightning — and it is for this very reason that this mind is hard to tame, and it is for this very reason that it is not called 'great' loving-kindness.
"Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding at the first ground, is named to possess 'great' loving-kindness. Why is this? Good son, the very worst of all beings is named the icchantika, and, when a bodhisattva newly abiding at this ground cultivates great loving-kindness, his mind holds no difference at all with regard to the icchantika — he does not see any fault in him, and so gives rise to no anger toward him — and it is for this very reason that this is named 'great' loving-kindness. Good son, removing whatever is of no benefit to beings is named great loving-kindness; wishing to give beings immeasurable benefit and happiness is named great compassion; giving rise, in one's mind, to joy on behalf of beings is named great sympathetic joy; holding on to nothing at all is named great equanimity; not seeing a self, the mark of a dharma, or one's own body, and seeing every dharma as equal, without duality, is named great equanimity; giving up one's own happiness and bestowing it upon another is named great equanimity. Good son, only these four immeasurable minds are able to cause a bodhisattva to grow and become fully endowed with the six perfections — every other practice cannot necessarily accomplish this. Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva first attains the four immeasurable minds of the mundane world, and only afterward gives rise to the mind of unsurpassed, complete awakening, coming, in due sequence, to attain what transcends the world. Good son, it is by means of the mundane immeasurable that one attains the immeasurable that transcends the world, and it is for this very reason that this is named the great immeasurable."
Huiyuan reads the seven-grade schema (loved ones and enemies each split into superior, middling, and inferior, with those in between left undivided as a seventh, "middle" category too undifferentiated to need further grading) as the same sevenfold division found in the *Abhidharma-mahāvibhāṣā*, and notes that other traditions, wrongly in his judgment, sometimes describe it as ninefold. He also flags that two entire scholastic systems disagree about what happens at the seventh and final stage of this practice: the *Satyasiddhi* tradition holds that reaching perfect equality with even one's superior enemy simply *is* what "equanimity" (捨) means — the seventh grade of loving-kindness practice and equanimity are the same accomplishment under two names — while the Abhidharma tradition insists equanimity must be cultivated as its own, separate fourth practice afterward, since the seventh grade of loving-kindness, however evenhanded, is still built on treating people as loved ones rather than release from that very category of thought. Both traditions agree the sequence itself starts with the person hardest to feel goodwill toward (removing the worst grade of enmity first) rather than building outward from those already loved, on the reasoning that if equanimity toward the least tractable case can be reached, everything easier falls into place automatically.
On why this same accomplishment still falls short of "great," Huiyuan reads the four similes (the dried bean resisting the awl, the loyal house-dog against the skittish wild deer, ink on stone against ink on water, a bonfire's steady light against a lightning-flash) as each isolating a different reason ordinary loving-kindness remains fragile: affliction's sheer resistance to being worked on at all, anger's tenacity against loving-kindness's tendency to startle and vanish, anger's durability against wholesome roots' tendency to fade, and anger's sustained blaze against loving-kindness's momentary flare. What changes at the first bodhisattva ground, on his reading, is not that the icchantika becomes a slightly harder case successfully handled by the same practice, but that the icchantika is the theoretical limit case — the being in whom every other tradition would expect this practice to finally break down — and it does not break down there, which is precisely why "great" is reserved for this one threshold rather than any earlier degree of success with ordinary enemies.
Real Compassion, Not an Empty Thought
迦葉菩薩白佛言：「世尊！除無利益，與利樂者實無所為。如是思惟，即是虛觀，無有實利。世尊！譬如比丘，觀不淨時，見所著衣，悉是皮相，而實非皮。所可食噉，皆作虫相，而實非虫。觀大豆羹，作下汁想，而實非糞。觀所食酪，猶如髓腦，而實非腦。觀骨碎末，猶如麨相，而實非麨。四無量心亦復如是，不能真實利益眾生，令其得樂。雖口發言與眾生樂，而實不得，如是之觀非虛妄耶？世尊！若非虛妄，實與樂者，而諸眾生何故不以諸佛菩薩威德力故，一切受樂？若當真實，不得樂者，如佛所說：『我念往昔，獨修慈心，經此劫世七返成壞，不來此生。世界成時，生梵天中。世界壞時，生光音天。若生梵天，力勢自在，無能摧伏，於千梵中最勝最上，名大梵王。有諸眾生，皆於我所，生最上想。三十六返，作忉利天王釋提桓因，無量百千，作轉輪王，獨修慈心，乃得如是人天果報。』若不實者，云何得與此義相應？」
佛言：「善哉，善哉！善男子！汝真勇猛，無所畏懼。」即為迦葉而說偈言：
「若於一眾生， 不生瞋恚心，
而願與彼樂， 是名為慈善。
一切眾生中， 若起於悲心，
是名聖種性， 得福報無量。
設使五通仙， 悉滿此大地，
有大自在天， 奉施其所安。
象馬種種物， 所得福報果，
不及修一慈， 十六分中一。
「善男子！夫修慈者，實非妄想，諦是真實。若是聲聞緣覺之慈，是名虛妄。諸佛菩薩真實不虛。云何知耶？善男子！菩薩摩訶薩修行如是大涅槃者，觀土為金，觀金為土，地作水相，水作地相，水作火相，火作水相，地作風相，風作地相，隨意成就無有虛妄；觀實眾生為非眾生，觀非眾生為實眾生，悉隨意成，無有虛妄。善男子！當知菩薩四無量心，是實思惟，非不真實。復次善男子！云何名為真實思惟？謂能斷除諸煩惱故。善男子！夫修慈者能斷貪欲，修悲心者能斷瞋恚，修喜心者能斷不樂，修捨心者能斷貪恚及眾生相，以是故名真實思惟。
The bodhisattva Kāśyapa said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, removing what is of no benefit and giving benefit and happiness — in truth, nothing at all is actually accomplished by this. To contemplate in this way is itself an empty contemplation, without any real benefit at all. World-Honored One, it is like a monk who, contemplating impurity, sees the very clothes he wears as nothing but a layer of skin, though, in reality, it is not skin at all; sees whatever he eats as nothing but worms, though, in reality, it is not worms at all; contemplates a soup of large beans as a foul liquid, though, in reality, it is not excrement at all; contemplates the curds he eats as though they were marrow and brain, though, in reality, they are not brain at all; contemplates ground bone-powder as though it were roasted flour, though, in reality, it is not flour at all. The four immeasurable minds are just the same: they are unable truly to benefit beings, or cause them to attain happiness. Though one's mouth utters words of giving beings happiness, nothing is, in reality, actually obtained — is a contemplation of this kind not itself false? World-Honored One, if it is not false, and beings truly receive happiness through it, then why do not all beings, through the awesome power and virtue of every buddha and bodhisattva, receive happiness without exception? And if, in truth, no happiness is actually obtained, then how does this accord with what the Buddha has himself taught: 'I recall that, in ages past, cultivating loving-kindness alone, throughout seven cycles of this world's formation and destruction, I was not reborn into this world at all. When the world was in formation, I was born within the Brahmā heaven; when the world was in destruction, I was born within the Ābhāsvara heaven. Whenever I was born within the Brahmā heaven, my power and mastery were such that none could overcome me, and, among a thousand Brahmās, I was the very finest and highest, named the great lord Brahmā, with every being, in my presence, giving rise to the notion that I was the very highest of all. Thirty-six times, I became Śakra, the king of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven; immeasurable hundreds of thousands of times, I became a cakravartin king — and it was through cultivating loving-kindness alone that I attained fruits of this kind among gods and men.' If this is not real, then how could it possibly accord with this same teaching?"
The Buddha said: "Excellent, excellent, good son! You are truly courageous, and hold nothing back." He then spoke a verse for Kāśyapa's sake, saying:
"'Should one, toward even a single being,
give rise to no mind of anger at all,
and wish to give him happiness —
this is called wholesome loving-kindness.
Should one give rise, toward every being without exception,
to a mind of compassion —
this is named the very lineage of the noble ones,
and brings a fruit of immeasurable merit.
Even should every immortal possessed of the five supernatural powers
fill this entire earth,
and even should Maheśvara himself
make offering to bring them ease and comfort,
the fruit of merit obtained from elephants, horses, and every kind of gift such as these
does not equal even one sixteenth
of what is obtained
by cultivating a single moment of loving-kindness.'
"Good son, one who cultivates loving-kindness is, in truth, engaged in no mere fantasy at all — it is, truly, entirely real. Should it be the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, this is indeed called empty; but the loving-kindness of every buddha and bodhisattva is truly real, and not empty at all. How does one know this? Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who cultivates this Mahāparinirvāṇa is able to view earth as gold, and gold as earth; to make earth take on the mark of water, and water take on the mark of earth; to make water take on the mark of fire, and fire take on the mark of water; to make earth take on the mark of wind, and wind take on the mark of earth — accomplishing this entirely at will, without any falsehood in it at all; and is able to view a real being as not a being, and what is not a being as a real being, all of this accomplished entirely at will, without any falsehood in it at all. Good son, one should know that a bodhisattva's four immeasurable minds are a real and true contemplation, and are not lacking in reality at all. Furthermore, good son, what is meant by a "real and true contemplation"? It means one that is able to sever and remove every affliction. Good son, one who cultivates loving-kindness is able to sever craving; one who cultivates compassion is able to sever anger; one who cultivates sympathetic joy is able to sever displeasure; one who cultivates equanimity is able to sever both craving and anger, together with the mark of a being — and it is for this very reason that this is called a real and true contemplation.
Huiyuan reads Kāśyapa's five meditation-similes (skin that is not skin, worms that are not worms, filth that is not filth, brain that is not brain, flour that is not flour) as naming a real category of Buddhist practice — the deliberate use of a false mental image to weaken an unwholesome craving — and his challenge is sharp precisely because it is fair: if the four immeasurable minds work the same way the loathsomeness meditation does, wishing well toward a being one merely *pictures* as happy, without the being actually becoming happy, then calling this "true" benefit looks like the same kind of category error contemplative similes are supposed to avoid, not commit. Huiyuan reads the Buddha's answer as declining to grant the parallel at the level Kāśyapa poses it: the loathsomeness contemplations are visualizations layered over an unchanged external object for the sake of weakening the practitioner's own craving, while the bodhisattva's transformations — earth into gold, water into fire, a being seen as no being — are not visualizations at all but a demonstrated mastery over how reality itself actually appears, evidenced by the fact that a buddha or bodhisattva's mind can make these transformations "come true, entirely at will, without falsehood," which no amount of imagining skin as non-skin could ever do to an actual garment. The real/empty distinction, on this reading, tracks whether the practice actually severs the affliction it targets: loving-kindness severs craving, compassion severs anger, joy severs displeasure, and equanimity severs both craving and anger together with the very notion of a fixed being — an effect measurable in the practitioner regardless of whether the being wished well ever visibly receives anything, which is also why the four verses immediately preceding this point to merit accumulated by the one practicing, not happiness necessarily delivered to the one wished well.
Eight Gifts, Eight Vows
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩四無量心，能為一切諸善根本。善男子！菩薩摩訶薩若不得見貧窮眾生，無緣生慈。若不生慈，則不能起惠施之心，以施因緣，令諸眾生得安隱樂，所謂食飲、車乘衣服、花香床臥、舍宅燈明，如是施時，心無繫縛，不生貪著，必定迴向阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。其心爾時，無所依止，妄想永斷，不為怖畏、名稱利養，不求人天所受快樂，不生憍慢，不望返報，不為誑他。故行布施不求富貴，凡行施時不見受者、持戒、破戒、是田、非田，此是知識、此非知識，施時不見是器、非器，不擇日時、是處、非處，亦復不計飢饉、豐樂，不見因果、此是眾生、此非眾生，是福、非福，雖復不見施者、受者、及以財物，乃至不見斷及果報，而常行施無有斷絕。善男子！菩薩若見持戒、破戒乃至果報，終不能施。若不布施，則不具足檀波羅蜜。若不具足檀波羅蜜，則不能成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
「善男子！譬如有人，身被毒箭。其人眷屬，欲令安隱，為除毒故，即命良醫而為拔箭。彼人方言：『且待莫觸，我今當觀，如是毒箭從何方來？誰之所射？為是剎利、婆羅門、毘舍、首陀？』復更作念：『是何木耶？竹耶？柳耶？其鏃鐵者，何冶所出？剛耶？柔耶？其毛羽者，是何鳥翼？烏鵄鷲耶？所有毒者，為從作生自然而有？為是人毒？惡蛇毒耶？』如是癡人，竟未能知，尋便命終。善男子！菩薩亦爾，若行施時，分別受者、持戒、破戒、乃至果報，終不能施。若不能施，則不具足檀波羅蜜。若不具足檀波羅蜜，則不能成阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩行布施時，於諸眾生，慈心平等，猶如子想。又行施時，於諸眾生，起悲愍心，譬如父母瞻視病子。行施之時，其心歡喜，猶如父母，見子病愈。既施之後，其心放捨，猶如父母，見子長大，能自在活。是菩薩摩訶薩，於慈心中，布施食時，常作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生得大智食，勤進迴向無上大乘。願諸眾生得善智食，不求聲聞緣覺之食。願諸眾生得法喜食，不求愛食。願諸眾生悉得般若波羅蜜食，皆令充滿，攝取無礙增上善根。願諸眾生悟解空相，得無礙身，猶如虛空。願諸眾生常為受者，憐愍一切，為眾福田。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩修慈心時，凡所施食，應當堅發如是等願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中布施漿時，當作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生趣大乘河，飲八味水，速涉無上菩提之道。離於聲聞緣覺枯竭，渴仰求於無上佛乘。斷煩惱渴，渴仰法味。離生死愛，愛樂大乘大般涅槃，具足法身，得諸三昧，入於甚深智慧大海。願諸眾生，得甘露味、菩提出世、離欲寂靜如是諸味。願諸眾生具足無量百千法味，具法味已，得見佛性，見佛性已，能雨法雨，雨法雨已，佛性遍覆，猶如虛空，復令其餘無量眾生得一法味，所謂大乘，非諸聲聞辟支佛味。願諸眾生得一甜味，無有六種差別之味。願諸眾生唯求法味，無礙佛法所行之味，不求餘味。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中布施漿時，應當堅發如是等願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中施車乘時，應作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，普令眾生成於大乘、得住大乘、不退於乘、不動轉乘、金剛座乘，不求聲聞辟支佛乘，向於佛乘、無能伏乘、無羸乏乘、不退沒乘、無上乘、十力乘、大功德乘、未曾有乘、希有乘、難得乘、無邊乘、知一切乘。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中施車乘時、常應如是堅發誓願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中布施衣時，當作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生得慚愧衣，法界覆身，裂諸見衣，衣服離身一尺六寸，得金色身，所受諸觸柔軟無礙，光色潤澤、皮膚細軟、常光無量、無色離色，願諸眾生皆悉普得無色之身，過一切色，得入無色大般涅槃。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩布施衣時，應當如是堅發誓願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於修慈中，布施花香、塗香、末香、諸雜香時，應作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生一切皆得佛花三昧，七覺妙鬘繫其首頂。願諸眾生形如滿月，所見諸色微妙第一。願諸眾生皆成一相，百福莊嚴。願諸眾生隨意得見可意之色。願諸眾生常遇善友，得無礙香，離諸臭穢。願諸眾生具諸善根無上珍寶。願諸眾生相視和悅，無有憂苦，眾善各備，不相憂念。願諸眾生戒香具足。願諸眾生持無礙戒，香氣馚馥，充滿十方。願諸眾生得堅牢戒、無悔之戒、一切智戒、離諸破戒，悉得無戒、未曾有戒、無師戒、無作戒、無荒戒、無污染戒、竟已戒、究竟戒，得平等戒，於香塗身及以斫刺，等無憎愛。願諸眾生得無上戒、大乘之戒非小乘戒。願諸眾生悉得具足尸波羅蜜，猶如諸佛所成就戒。願諸眾生悉為布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪智之所薰修。願諸眾生悉得成於大般涅槃微妙蓮花，其花香氣充滿十方。願諸眾生純食大乘大般涅槃無上香饌，猶蜂採花但取香味。願諸眾生悉得成就，無量功德所薰之身。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中施花香時，常當堅發如是誓願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中施床敷時，應作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生得天中天所臥之床，得大智慧，坐四禪處；臥於菩薩所臥之床，不臥聲聞、辟支佛床，離臥惡床。願諸眾生得安樂臥，離生死床，成大涅槃師子臥床。願諸眾生坐此床已，復為其餘無量眾生，示現神通師子遊戲。願諸眾生住此大乘大宮殿中，為諸眾生演說佛性。願諸眾生坐無上床，不為世法之所降伏。願諸眾生得忍辱床，離於生死飢饉凍餓。願諸眾生得無畏床，永離一切煩惱怨賊。願諸眾生得清淨床，專求無上正真之道。願諸眾生得善法床，常為善友之所擁護。願諸眾生得右脇臥床，依因諸佛所行之法。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中，施床敷時，應當堅發如是誓願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中，施舍宅時，常作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生處大乘舍，修行善友所行之行、修大悲行、六波羅蜜行、大正覺行、一切菩薩所行道行、無邊廣大如虛空行。願諸眾生皆得正念，遠離惡念。願諸眾生悉得安住常樂我淨，永離四倒。願諸眾生悉皆受持出世文字。願諸眾生必為無上一切智器。願諸眾生悉得入於甘露屋宅。願諸眾生初、中、後心，常入大乘涅槃屋宅。願諸眾生於未來世，常處菩薩所居宮殿。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中，施舍宅時，常當堅發如是誓願。
「復次善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中，施燈明時，常作是願：『我今所施，悉與一切眾生共之，以是因緣，令諸眾生光明無量，安住佛法。願諸眾生常得照明。願諸眾生得色微妙，光澤第一。願諸眾生其目清淨，無諸翳網。願諸眾生得大智炬，善解無我、無眾生相、無人無命。願諸眾生皆得覩見清淨佛性，猶如虛空。願諸眾生肉眼清淨，徹見十方恒沙世界。願諸眾生得佛光明，普照十方。願諸眾生得無礙明，皆悉得見清淨佛性。願諸眾生得大智明，破一切闇及一闡提。願諸眾生得無量光，普照無量諸佛世界。願諸眾生然大乘燈，離二乘燈。願諸眾生所得光明，滅無明闇，過於千日普照之功。願諸眾生得火珠明，悉滅三千大千世界所有黑闇。願諸眾生具足五眼，悟諸法相，成無師覺。願諸眾生無見無明。願諸眾生悉得大乘大般涅槃微妙光明，示悟眾生真實佛性。』善男子！菩薩摩訶薩於慈心中施燈明時，常應勤發如是誓願。
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's four immeasurable minds are able to serve as the very root of every wholesome dharma. Good son, should the bodhisattva-mahāsattva fail to encounter a poor and destitute being, he has no object through which loving-kindness might arise. Should loving-kindness fail to arise, he is unable to give rise to a mind of charitable giving; and it is through the very cause and condition of giving that beings come to attain peace and happiness — namely, food and drink, carriages and clothing, flowers and incense, bedding, dwellings, and lamplight. When giving in this way, his mind is bound by nothing at all, gives rise to no craving or attachment, and is certain to dedicate itself toward unsurpassed, complete awakening. His mind, at that time, rests upon nothing at all, every false notion forever severed; he does not give out of fear, for the sake of fame, or for personal gain; he does not seek any happiness to be received among gods or men; he gives rise to no arrogance; he expects no return; and he does not deceive another. He practices giving, then, without seeking wealth or noble rank at all. Whenever he practices giving, he does not distinguish the recipient — whether he keeps the precepts or breaks them, whether he is a worthy field of merit or not, whether this one is a friend or not — and, when giving, he does not distinguish a fitting vessel from an unfitting one, nor does he choose a particular day or hour, a fitting place or an unfitting one; nor does he reckon whether there is famine or abundance; nor does he see cause and result, this being a sentient being or not, this being meritorious or not — and though he sees no giver, no recipient, and no material object at all, nor even any cessation or fruit of the act, he nonetheless practices giving continuously, without any interruption at all. Good son, should a bodhisattva discriminate between the keeping and breaking of precepts, and so on up through the resulting fruit, he would, in the end, be unable to give at all. And should he be unable to give, he would fail to become fully endowed with the perfection of giving; and should he fail to become fully endowed with the perfection of giving, he would be unable to attain unsurpassed, complete awakening.
"Good son, it is like a man whose body has been struck by a poisoned arrow. His own family, wishing to bring him relief and remove the poison, at once summons a skilled physician to draw out the arrow. This man, however, says: 'Wait a moment, do not touch it — I must first examine this matter: from what direction did this poisoned arrow come, and who shot it? Was it a kṣatriya, a brahmin, a vaiśya, or a śūdra?' He then thinks further: 'What wood is this arrow made of — bamboo, or willow? And its iron arrowhead — from what forge was it made? Is it hard, or soft? And its feathered fletching — from what bird's wing does it come — a crow, an owl, or a vulture? And this poison upon it — did it arise on its own, naturally, or was it made by human hand? Is it a human poison, or the venom of some evil serpent?' A foolish man of this kind, in the end, never comes to know the answer, and, before long, simply dies. Good son, the bodhisattva is just the same: should he, while practicing giving, discriminate among recipients — whether they keep the precepts or break them, and so on up through the resulting fruit — he would, in the end, be unable to give at all. And should he be unable to give, he would fail to become fully endowed with the perfection of giving; and should he fail to become fully endowed with the perfection of giving, he would be unable to attain unsurpassed, complete awakening.
"Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practicing giving, holds a mind of loving-kindness equal toward every being, as though they were his own children. And, when practicing giving, he gives rise, toward every being, to a mind of compassionate sorrow, just as a parent watches over a sick child. At the very moment of giving, his mind is filled with joy, just as a parent rejoices upon seeing a sick child recover. And, once the gift has been given, his mind releases it entirely, just as a parent, seeing a child grown to maturity, able to live his own life freely. This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives food, always makes this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being attain the food of great wisdom, and, diligently advancing, dedicate it toward the unsurpassed Great Vehicle. May every being attain the food of wholesome wisdom, and not seek the food of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. May every being attain the food of joy in the Dharma, and not seek the food of craving. May every being attain, in full, the food of the perfection of wisdom, and, thereby filled and satisfied, gather in, without any obstruction, ever-increasing wholesome roots. May every being awaken to and understand the mark of emptiness, and attain an unobstructed body, just like empty space. May every being forever be a recipient of giving, showing compassion toward all, becoming, themselves, a field of merit for others.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, cultivating a mind of loving-kindness, gives food, he should firmly give rise to vows of this very kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives drink, should make this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being flow toward the river of the Great Vehicle, drink its water of the eight flavors, and swiftly cross over to the path of unsurpassed bodhi. May they leave behind the parched dryness of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, thirsting instead for the unsurpassed vehicle of buddhahood. May they sever the thirst of affliction, thirsting instead for the flavor of the Dharma. May they leave behind craving for birth-and-death, delighting instead in this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, becoming fully endowed with the Dharma-body, attaining every concentration, and entering the great ocean of profound wisdom. May every being attain the flavor of nectar, the flavor of transcending the world through bodhi, the flavor of stillness free of desire, and every such flavor as this. May every being become fully endowed with the immeasurable hundreds of thousands of flavors of the Dharma, and, having become endowed with this flavor of the Dharma, come to see buddha-nature; and, having seen buddha-nature, become able to rain down the rain of the Dharma; and, having rained down the rain of the Dharma, may buddha-nature come to cover everything entirely, just like empty space, causing every other immeasurable being, too, to attain this single flavor of the Dharma — namely, the Great Vehicle, and not the flavor of any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. May every being attain this single sweet flavor, free of the six different ordinary flavors. May every being seek only the flavor of the Dharma, the unobstructed flavor of the Buddha-dharma's own practice, and seek no other flavor at all.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with a mind of loving-kindness, gives drink, he should firmly give rise to vows of this very kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives a vehicle, should make this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being everywhere come to accomplish the Great Vehicle, abide within the Great Vehicle, become a vehicle that never turns back, a vehicle unshaken and unmoved, the vehicle of the vajra seat itself, seeking not the vehicle of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, but turning toward the vehicle of buddhahood — a vehicle none can overcome, a vehicle never weakened or exhausted, a vehicle that never falls back or sinks, the unsurpassed vehicle, the vehicle of the ten powers, the vehicle of great merit, the vehicle never before seen, the vehicle rare in this world, the vehicle hard to obtain, the boundless vehicle, the vehicle that knows every vehicle.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with a mind of loving-kindness, gives a vehicle, he should always firmly give rise to a vow of this kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives clothing, should make this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being attain the garment of conscience and shame, their bodies covered over by the whole Dharma-realm, every garment of wrong view torn away, their clothing standing apart from their bodies by a full measure, attaining a body of golden color, every sensation they receive soft and unobstructed, their light and complexion lustrous, their skin fine and supple, forever radiating immeasurable light, formless and free of form — may every being everywhere attain a formless body, transcending every form entirely, and enter this formless Mahāparinirvāṇa.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives clothing, he should firmly give rise to a vow of this kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, cultivating loving-kindness, he gives flowers, incense, perfumed ointment, powdered incense, and every kind of mixed incense, should make this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being, without exception, attain the samādhi of the buddha's own flower, its wondrous garland of the seven factors of awakening bound about their heads. May every being's form be like the full moon, whatever they see of every color being the very finest and most subtle. May every being become of a single mark, adorned with a hundred merits. May every being, at will, see forms pleasing to them. May every being forever encounter good friends, attain an unobstructed fragrance, and leave behind every foul and impure odor. May every being become endowed with every wholesome root, the unsurpassed treasure. May every being regard one another with harmony and delight, free of sorrow and suffering, every wholesome quality complete in each, with no anxious concern for one another. May every being become endowed with the fragrance of moral discipline. May every being uphold unobstructed precepts, their fragrance spreading forth, filling the ten directions. May every being attain a firm and unbreakable discipline, a discipline free of regret, the discipline of all-knowing wisdom, free of every broken precept, attaining the disciplines that are without discipline, never before seen, without a teacher, uncontrived, undissolute, undefiled, complete, and ultimate, attaining an equal discipline, regarding fragrant unguent applied to the body and being cut and stabbed with a blade with equal indifference, neither hatred nor attachment. May every being attain the unsurpassed discipline, the discipline of the Great Vehicle, and not the discipline of the Lesser Vehicle. May every being become fully endowed with the perfection of moral discipline, just like the discipline accomplished by every buddha. May every being become perfumed and cultivated by giving, moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. May every being come to accomplish the wondrous lotus flower of this Mahāparinirvāṇa, its fragrance filling the ten directions. May every being feed purely upon the unsurpassed fragrant feast of this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, just as a bee gathers from a flower only its fragrant essence. May every being come to accomplish a body perfumed by immeasurable merit.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with a mind of loving-kindness, gives flowers and incense, he should always firmly give rise to vows of this kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives bedding, should make this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being attain the very bed on which the god above all gods himself reclines, attain great wisdom, and sit within the fourth dhyāna; may they recline upon the very bed a bodhisattva reclines upon, and not recline upon the bed of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, leaving behind every evil bed entirely. May every being attain a bed of peace and happiness, leaving behind the bed of birth-and-death, and accomplish the lion's own reclining-bed of this Mahāparinirvāṇa. May every being, having taken their seat upon this bed, then manifest, for the sake of every other immeasurable being, the lion's own playful display of supernatural power. May every being dwell within this great palace of the Great Vehicle, expounding buddha-nature for the sake of every being. May every being sit upon the unsurpassed bed, never subdued by any worldly dharma. May every being attain the bed of patience, leaving behind the famine, cold, and hunger of birth-and-death. May every being attain the bed of fearlessness, forever leaving behind every bandit of affliction. May every being attain the bed of purity, seeking only the unsurpassed, true, and real path. May every being attain the bed of wholesome dharmas, forever protected by good friends. May every being attain the bed on which one reclines upon the right side, according with the very practice followed by every buddha.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with a mind of loving-kindness, gives bedding, he should firmly give rise to vows of this kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives a dwelling, always makes this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being dwell within the house of the Great Vehicle, cultivating the conduct practiced by good and wise friends, cultivating the conduct of great compassion, the conduct of the six perfections, the conduct of true and complete awakening, the conduct of the path practiced by every bodhisattva, and a conduct as boundless and vast as empty space itself. May every being attain right mindfulness, forever leaving behind every unwholesome thought. May every being come to abide firmly in permanence, bliss, self, and purity, forever leaving behind the four inversions. May every being uphold and receive every letter that transcends the world. May every being certainly become a vessel for unsurpassed, all-knowing wisdom. May every being enter the very house of nectar itself. May every being, in the beginning, middle, and end of their own mind, forever enter the house of this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle. May every being, in future ages, forever dwell within the very palace where a bodhisattva himself resides.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with a mind of loving-kindness, gives a dwelling, he should always firmly give rise to vows of this kind.
"Furthermore, good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whenever, with a mind of loving-kindness, he gives a lamp's light, always makes this vow: 'May this gift I now give be shared, in its entirety, together with every being; and, through this very cause and condition, may every being possess immeasurable light, abiding firmly within the Buddha-dharma. May every being forever be illuminated by light. May every being attain a subtle and wondrous color, their radiance the very finest. May every being's own eyes become pure, free of every clouding film. May every being attain the great torch of wisdom, well understanding no-self, the absence of the mark of a being, the absence of a person, and the absence of a fixed lifespan. May every being come to behold pure buddha-nature, just like empty space. May every being's own fleshly eyes become pure, seeing clearly through worlds as numerous as the sands of the Gaṅgā in every direction. May every being attain the light of a buddha, illuminating every direction entirely. May every being attain unobstructed illumination, and thereby come to see pure buddha-nature. May every being attain the illumination of great wisdom, shattering every darkness, even that of the icchantika. May every being attain immeasurable light, illuminating every immeasurable buddha-world entirely. May every being kindle the lamp of the Great Vehicle, leaving behind the lamp of the two lesser vehicles. May every being, through the light they attain, extinguish the darkness of ignorance, its power to illuminate surpassing even a thousand suns. May every being attain the light of a fire-jewel, entirely extinguishing every darkness throughout an entire great trichiliocosm. May every being become endowed with the five eyes, awakening to the true mark of every dharma, and accomplishing an awakening without a teacher. May every being be free of the very perception of ignorance itself. May every being attain the subtle and wondrous light of this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, revealing and awakening every being to their own true buddha-nature.' Good son, whenever the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with a mind of loving-kindness, gives a lamp's light, he should always diligently give rise to vows of this kind."
Huiyuan structures the passage introducing these eight gifts around a purity of mind divided into two halves: purity in the giver's own practice, and purity in the intention extended toward others. Purity in one's own practice he further divides, following the *Bodhisattvabhūmi*'s own fivefold scheme, into freedom from the obstruction of stinginess, freedom from any concern for personal name or repayment, freedom from any procedural fault in how the gift is carried out, freedom from discriminating thought about the recipient, and dedication of the whole act toward bodhi — with the arrow-simile driving home specifically the fourth of these: a wound demands treatment before its origin is investigated, and a request for help demands a response before the merit of the person asking is assessed, since insisting on the second in either case guarantees the first never happens at all. Purity in intention toward others, the second half, is what the eight vow-sequences that follow exist to demonstrate: each of the eight gifts is paired with a vow that reframes the material object being given as an image for a spiritual attainment — food becomes wisdom to be digested, drink becomes the Dharma's own flavor, a vehicle becomes the path itself, clothing becomes freedom from every form, incense becomes moral fragrance carrying in every direction, a bed becomes the ground of realization, a house becomes the whole Dharma-realm as a dwelling, and a lamp becomes wisdom's own light dispelling ignorance even in the icchantika.
Two details in the list are worth flagging on their own. The clothing vow's "standing apart from the body by a full measure" describes a mark traditionally attributed to a buddha's own subtle body — that his robes do not touch his skin directly, a full measure of empty space intervening — extended here as an aspiration for every being rather than a description unique to a buddha. And the lamp vow's phrase "shattering every darkness, even that of the icchantique" deliberately echoes this collection's Part 9 reading note on the icchantika similes (scorched seed, vajra excepting tortoise shell) as naming a total absence of receptive capacity rather than a worse category of offense — here restated as something wisdom's own light is nonetheless aimed at dispelling, holding the same tension the sūtra has carried since Part 5 between the icchantika's present incapacity and the promise that no capacity is permanently fixed.
Loving-Kindness Is the Tathāgata
「善男子！一切聲聞、緣覺、菩薩、諸佛如來，所有善根，慈為根本。善男子！菩薩摩訶薩修習慈心，能生如是無量善根，所謂不淨、出息、入息、無常、生滅，四念處、七方便、三觀處、十二因緣、無我等觀，暖法、頂法、忍法、世第一法，見道、修道、正勤、如意、諸根，諸力、七菩提分、八聖道、四禪、四無量心、八解脫、八勝處、一切入、空、無相願、無諍三昧，知他心智、及諸神通、知本際智、聲聞智、緣覺智、菩薩智、佛智。善男子！如是等法，慈為根本。善男子！以是義故，慈是真實，非虛妄也。若有人問：『誰是一切諸善根本？』當言慈是。以是義故，慈是真實，非虛妄也。
善男子！能為善根者，名實思惟，實思惟者，即名為慈，慈即如來，慈即大乘，大乘即慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即菩提道，菩提道即如來，如來即慈。善男子！慈即大梵，大梵即慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈者能為一切眾生而作父母，父母即慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈者乃是不可思議，諸佛境界不可思議，諸佛境界即是慈也，當知慈者即是如來。善男子！慈者即是眾生佛性，如是佛性，久為煩惱之所覆蔽故，令眾生不得覩見，佛性即慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即大空，大空即慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即虛空，虛空即慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即是常，常即是法，法即是僧，僧即是慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即是樂，樂即是法，法即是僧，僧即是慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即是淨，淨即是法，法即是僧，僧即是慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即是我，我即是法，法即是僧，僧即是慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈即甘露，甘露即慈，慈即佛性，佛性即法，法即是僧，僧即是慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈者即是一切菩薩無上之道，道即是慈，慈即如來。善男子！慈者即是諸佛世尊無量境界，無量境界即是慈也，當知是慈即是如來。
「善男子，慈若無常，無常即慈，當知是慈，是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若是苦，苦即是慈，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若不淨，不淨即慈，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若無我，無我即慈，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若妄想，妄想即慈，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若不名檀波羅蜜，非檀之慈，當知是慈是聲聞慈，乃至般若波羅蜜亦復如是。善男子！慈若不能利益眾生，如是之慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若不入一乘之道，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若不能覺了諸法，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若不能見如來性，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若見法，悉是有相，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若有漏，有漏慈者是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若有為，有為之慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若不能住於初住，非初住慈，當知即是聲聞慈也。善男子！慈若不能得佛十力、四無所畏，當知是慈是聲聞慈。善男子！慈若能得四沙門果，當知是慈是聲聞慈也。
「善男子！慈若有、無、非有、非無，如是之慈，非諸聲聞、辟支佛等所能思議。善男子！慈若不可思議，法不可思議，佛性不可思議，如來亦不可思議。善男子！菩薩摩訶薩住於大乘大般涅槃，修如是慈，雖復安於睡眠之中，而不睡眠，勤精進故；雖常覺悟，亦無覺悟，以無眠故；於睡眠中，諸天雖護，亦無護者，不行惡故；眠不惡夢，無有不善，離睡眠故；命終之後，雖生梵天，亦無所生，得自在故。善男子！夫修慈者，能得成就如是無量無邊功德。善男子！是大涅槃微妙經典，亦能成就如是無量無邊功德，諸佛如來亦得成就如是無量無邊功德。」◎
"Good son, every wholesome root possessed by every śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, and buddha, every tathāgata, has loving-kindness as its root. Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's cultivation of a mind of loving-kindness is able to give rise to immeasurable wholesome roots of this kind — namely, the contemplation of impurity, of the outgoing and incoming breath, of impermanence, and of arising and ceasing; the four foundations of mindfulness, the seven expedient practices, the three contemplations, the twelve links of dependent origination, and the contemplation of no-self; the dharmas of heat, of the summit, of forbearance, and of the highest worldly dharma; the path of seeing, the path of cultivation, right diligence, the bases of supernatural power, the faculties, the powers, the seven factors of awakening, the eightfold noble path, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the eight liberations, the eight bases of mastery, the ten totalities, emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, and the concentration of non-contention; the knowledge of others' minds, and every supernatural power; the knowledge of the original limit; and the wisdom of the śrāvaka, the wisdom of the pratyekabuddha, the wisdom of the bodhisattva, and the wisdom of the buddha. Good son, dharmas of this kind all have loving-kindness as their root. Good son, it is for this very reason that loving-kindness is truly real, and not empty at all. Should anyone ask, 'What is the very root of every wholesome thing?' one should answer that it is loving-kindness. It is for this very reason that loving-kindness is truly real, and not empty at all.
Good son, that which is able to serve as a wholesome root is named a true and real contemplation, and a true and real contemplation is itself named loving-kindness — loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata; loving-kindness is itself the Great Vehicle, the Great Vehicle is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself the path of bodhi, the path of bodhi is itself the Tathāgata, and the Tathāgata is itself loving-kindness. Good son, loving-kindness is itself the great Brahmā, the great Brahmā is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is able to become a father and mother to every being; a father and mother is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself inconceivable; the domain of every buddha is inconceivable, and the domain of every buddha is itself loving-kindness — one should know that loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself the buddha-nature of every being; this very buddha-nature, long covered over by affliction, causes beings to be unable to behold it — buddha-nature is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself the great emptiness, the great emptiness is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself empty space, empty space is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself permanence, permanence is itself the Dharma, the Dharma is itself the Saṅgha, the Saṅgha is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself bliss, bliss is itself the Dharma, the Dharma is itself the Saṅgha, the Saṅgha is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself purity, purity is itself the Dharma, the Dharma is itself the Saṅgha, the Saṅgha is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself self, self is itself the Dharma, the Dharma is itself the Saṅgha, the Saṅgha is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself nectar, nectar is itself loving-kindness, loving-kindness is itself buddha-nature, buddha-nature is itself the Dharma, the Dharma is itself the Saṅgha, the Saṅgha is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself the unsurpassed path of every bodhisattva; the path is itself loving-kindness, and loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata. Good son, loving-kindness is itself the immeasurable domain of every buddha, every world-honored one; the immeasurable domain is itself loving-kindness — one should know that this loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata.
"Good son, should loving-kindness be impermanent, and impermanence be loving-kindness, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be suffering, and suffering be loving-kindness, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be impure, and impurity be loving-kindness, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be without self, and no-self be loving-kindness, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be a mere false notion, and this false notion be loving-kindness, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness not be named the perfection of giving, this loving-kindness apart from giving, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka — and it is just the same on up through the perfection of wisdom. Good son, should loving-kindness be unable to benefit beings, a loving-kindness of this kind is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness fail to enter the path of the one vehicle, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be unable to fully realize every dharma, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be unable to see the Tathāgata's own nature, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness see every dharma as entirely possessed of marks, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be subject to outflow, a loving-kindness subject to outflow is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be conditioned, a conditioned loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be unable to abide at the first abiding-stage, this is a loving-kindness not of the first abiding-stage, and one should know it to be the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be unable to attain a buddha's own ten powers and four kinds of fearlessness, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka. Good son, should loving-kindness be able to attain only the four fruits of the śramaṇa, one should know that this loving-kindness is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka.
"Good son, should loving-kindness be existent, non-existent, neither existent nor non-existent — a loving-kindness of this kind is beyond what any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha is able to conceive. Good son, should loving-kindness be inconceivable, the Dharma, too, is inconceivable, buddha-nature, too, is inconceivable, and the Tathāgata, too, is inconceivable. Good son, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding within this Mahāparinirvāṇa of the Great Vehicle, cultivating loving-kindness of this kind — though he rests amid sleep, he does not truly sleep, since he remains diligently exerting himself; though he is forever awake and aware, he has, in truth, no such awakening, since he never truly sleeps at all; amid sleep, though the gods protect him, he has, in truth, no need of their protection, since he engages in no unwholesome conduct at all; he sleeps without any evil dream, having nothing unwholesome within him, since he has left sleep itself behind; and, after the end of his life, though he is reborn within the Brahmā heaven, he is, in truth, reborn nowhere at all, since he has attained mastery over it. Good son, one who cultivates loving-kindness is able to accomplish merit and virtue of this immeasurable, boundless kind. Good son, this subtle and wondrous scripture of the Mahāparinirvāṇa, too, is able to accomplish merit and virtue of this immeasurable, boundless kind, and every buddha, every tathāgata, too, attains merit and virtue of this immeasurable, boundless kind."
Huiyuan reads the long catalogue of śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva practices rooted in loving-kindness as moving through the path in its own proper order: the opening contemplations (impurity, breath, impermanence) and the four foundations of mindfulness belong to the path of preparation; heat, summit, forbearance, and the highest worldly dharma mark its four culminating stages; the path of seeing and the path of cultivation follow; and the concentration of non-contention, the six supernatural powers, and the four kinds of wisdom belong to the path beyond further training. His point in tracing this out in full is that loving-kindness is not one practice alongside these others but the root feeding the entire sequence from its very first step to its last — which sets up why the passage can then say, without exaggeration, that loving-kindness simply *is* every one of these attainments in turn.
On the two sixteen-fold litanies that follow, Huiyuan reads them as mirror images of each other, built on the identical three-step pattern run in opposite directions. The affirmative litany ("loving-kindness is itself the Tathāgata," and so on through the Great Vehicle, the path of bodhi, Brahmā, a father and mother, the inconceivable, buddha-nature, emptiness, permanence-bliss-self-purity, nectar, and the buddha's own immeasurable domain) takes some genuine attainment, identifies it with loving-kindness, and then identifies loving-kindness with the Tathāgata — moving outward from a real virtue to what that virtue ultimately is. The negative litany ("should loving-kindness be impermanent... this is the loving-kindness of a śrāvaka") runs the same three-step structure in reverse and toward the opposite conclusion: it takes some defect (impermanence, suffering, impurity, a mere false notion, being conditioned, reaching no further than the four śrāvaka fruits), identifies that defect with a *counterfeit* loving-kindness, and identifies that counterfeit with the śrāvaka who mistakes it for the real thing. Read side by side, the two litanies are less a list of sixteen-plus-sixteen separate claims than a single sustained argument, twice as long as it needed to be only because the sūtra insists on stating both what loving-kindness truly is and what it is falsely mistaken for, term by matching term, so that no reader could later claim the two were never actually distinguished.
Part 15 Complete
This closes Part 15 (fascicle 15 of 40), opening 梵行品第八之一: the seven forms of knowledge that make up a bodhisattva's pure conduct, anchored by a full definition of the twelve divisions of Buddhist scripture; Kāśyapa's four-front argument that the four immeasurable minds should really be counted as one, two, or three, met by the Buddha's reframing through the many valid ways dependent origination itself is counted, and then by four independent arguments for exactly four; the case for why compassion at the ordinary stages, however genuine, still falls short of "great compassion" — reserved for the first bodhisattva ground, where even the icchantika draws no anger at all — defended against Kāśyapa's charge that wishing beings well without their visibly receiving anything is merely an empty contemplation; and a bodhisattva's practice of giving eight kinds of gift, each renewed with its own vow that the material object given become the seed of a spiritual attainment for everyone who receives it, closing on two matched litanies identifying loving-kindness, in the end, with the Tathāgata himself. Part 16 continues 梵行品第八之二.
Continue to Part 16 →