Enlightenment
One chapter fills this entire fascicle — the treatise's longest, and, in Li Baiyao's own preface, its most subtle: "it transforms the eight consciousnesses to accomplish the four wisdoms, and gathers the four wisdoms to furnish the three bodies." The chapter opens from omniscience as the fruit of every practice described so far, moves through the buddha as the unsurpassed refuge and the transformation of the basis with its ten qualities, states the dharma-realm's profundity in three dimensions — character, place, and activity — and along the way states, in a single quiet verse, that all sentient beings are called the tathāgatagarbha. It closes by working out what a buddha's transformations, maturing of beings, three bodies, and four wisdoms actually consist in, and ends on the image of separate rivers entering one sea.
Where This Fascicle Picks Up
Fascicle 2 closed with the bodhisattva maturing both himself and others, the six perfections applied to beings across this life and the next. This fascicle asks what all of that practice is for: what omniscience actually is, what happens when the basis is transformed, how profound the resulting dharma-realm is in its character, its place, and its activity, and what a buddha's body, wisdom, and ceaseless activity toward beings actually consist in. The single chapter here, 菩提品, is unbroken by any internal division in the source beyond its own verse-and-prose alternation; the section headings below are this translation's own, added for navigation.
Classical text is set in the left-hand column, our English in the right. See also this site's note on translation method.
1. The Fruit of Omniscience, and the Buddha-Body Free of Duality
釋曰：已說菩薩成熟眾生，次說菩薩得一切種智。
偈曰：
一切難已行， 一切善已集，
一切時已度， 一切障已斷。
釋曰：此偈顯一切種智因圓滿。一切難已行者，由具足行無量百千種難行行未曾疲倦故。一切善已集者，由具足聚集諸波羅蜜自性善根故。一切時已度者，由具足經長時大劫阿僧祇故。一切障已斷者，由具足斷一切大乘障，謂諸地所有微細障故。
偈曰：
成就一切種， 此即為佛身，
譬如大篋開， 眾寶無不現。
釋曰：此偈顯一切種智果圓滿。有三義分別：一至得、二自性、三譬喻。成就一切種者，謂至得分別，從此已後成就一切種智故。此即為佛身者，謂自性分別，即說一切種智為佛身體故。譬如大篋開眾寶無不現者，謂譬喻分別，不可思議菩提分寶皆現前故。已說一切種智為佛身，次說此身無二相。
The exposition: the bodhisattva's maturing of sentient beings having been stated, next the bodhisattva's attainment of omniscience is explained.
Every difficulty has been practiced through;
every good has been gathered in;
every span of time has been traversed;
every obstruction has been cut off.
The exposition: this verse displays the fulfillment of the causes of omniscience. Every difficulty has been practiced through means that one has fully practiced measureless hundreds of thousands of kinds of difficult practices without ever tiring. Every good has been gathered in means gathering the wholesome roots that are the own-nature of the perfections. Every span of time has been traversed means passing through vast, incalculable eons. Every obstruction has been cut off means fully cutting off every obstruction of the Mahāyāna — the subtle obstructions belonging to each of the grounds.
Accomplishing every mode of knowing —
this is itself the buddha-body;
it is like a great casket opened,
where every jewel appears, none lacking.
The exposition: this verse displays the fulfillment of the fruit of omniscience, distinguished by three aspects: attainment, own-nature, and simile. Accomplishing every mode of knowing refers to attainment, in that from this point on omniscience is accomplished. This is itself the buddha-body refers to own-nature, in that omniscience itself is said to be the substance of the buddha-body. Like a great casket opened, where every jewel appears refers to simile, in that the inconceivable jewels that are the factors of enlightenment all appear before one. Omniscience having been explained as the buddha-body, next this body's mark of non-duality is explained.
偈曰：
白法為佛身， 非無亦非有，
佛為法寶因， 法則善根因。
釋曰：白法為佛身者，轉六波羅蜜等一切善法為佛體故。非無亦非有者，此體非無。何以故？真如無別故。亦復非有。何以故？自性不成就故。是名無二相。佛為法寶因者，佛說一切法故，及以神通力故。法則善根因者，眾生為田，善根為穀，如是法寶於所化眾生田生長善根穀故。
偈曰：
具法亦離法， 如藏亦如雲，
生法雨法雨， 故成如是譬。
釋曰：此偈重顯前義。具法亦離法者，諸佛具足一切善法故、遠離一切不善法故。如藏亦如雲者，佛寶如藏，法寶如雲。問：此以何義？答：生法雨。法雨故，成如是譬。佛寶能出生法寶，與大藏相似。法寶能生長一切眾生善根，與大雲相似。已說佛身無二相，次說是無上歸依。
White dharmas make up the buddha-body;
it is neither non-existent nor existent;
the Buddha is the cause of the Dharma-jewel,
and the Dharma is the cause of wholesome roots.
The exposition: white dharmas make up the buddha-body means that the six perfections and all wholesome dharmas are transformed into the buddha's own substance. Neither non-existent nor existent means: this substance is not non-existent, since suchness is not something separate from it; and it is not existent, since it does not have an own-nature independently accomplished. This is called the mark of non-duality. The Buddha is the cause of the Dharma-jewel means that the Buddha teaches every dharma, and acts by the power of supernormal ability. The Dharma is the cause of wholesome roots means: sentient beings are the field, and wholesome roots the grain, so that this Dharma-jewel causes the grain of wholesome roots to grow in the field of the beings it transforms.
Complete with dharmas, yet apart from dharmas;
like a treasury, and like a cloud;
giving birth to the Dharma, raining the rain of the Dharma —
for this reason these similes hold.
The exposition: this verse restates the previous meaning. Complete with dharmas, yet apart from dharmas means the buddhas are complete in every wholesome dharma, and far removed from every unwholesome one. Like a treasury, and like a cloud means the Buddha-jewel is like a treasury, and the Dharma-jewel is like a cloud. Question: what is the sense of this? Answer: giving birth to the Dharma, raining the rain of the Dharma — this is why these similes hold. The Buddha-jewel gives birth to the Dharma-jewel, resembling a great treasury; the Dharma-jewel gives rise to and increases the wholesome roots of all sentient beings, resembling a great cloud. The buddha-body's mark of non-duality having been explained, next it is explained that this is the unsurpassed refuge.
非無亦非有 sets the pattern for how this entire chapter will handle the buddha-body, and it is worth noticing how differently it argues for "not existent" than for "not non-existent." Not non-existent rests on identity with suchness — nothing could make suchness itself absent. Not existent rests on the buddha-body's lacking any independently accomplished own-nature — even the highest attainment in this treatise's system does not get to be a self-standing substance. The same two-sided refusal that fascicle 2 used to describe ultimate reality in general is now applied to the single most exalted thing this treatise has to describe.
The treasury-and-cloud pairing works because a treasury and a cloud fail in opposite directions if pushed too far: a treasury just sits there, however full; a cloud produces without limit but has nothing of its own to give, only what it releases. Pairing the Buddha-jewel with the treasury and the Dharma-jewel with the cloud credits the Buddha with a fixed, if inexhaustible, store, and credits the Dharma he teaches with an active, self-renewing generativity — together accounting for how a teaching can be received once and yet never be exhausted by any number of hearers.
2. The Unsurpassed Refuge: What the Buddhas Save Beings From
偈曰：
諸佛常救護， 眾生三染污，
諸惑諸惡行， 及以生老死。
釋曰：此偈略顯救護義。諸佛常救護者，由畢竟救護故。問：救護何法？答：眾生三染污，謂煩惱染污、業染污、生染污。諸惑者，即煩惱染污。諸惡行者，即業染污。及以生老死者，即生染污。問：云何救護？答：於此三種眾生，一切時救護不捨，即是畢竟義。
偈曰：
諸災及惡趣， 身見亦小乘，
如是諸眾生， 一切皆救護。
釋曰：此偈廣顯救護義。諸災者，謂盲聾瘖瘂狂亂形殘等眾生。由佛力故，盲者得視、聾者得聽、瘂者能言、狂者得正、亂者得定、形殘者得具足，如是救護。惡趣者，謂地獄等眾生，放光照觸，令得離苦不復更入，如是救護。身見者，謂著我眾生，令得人無我，解入二乘涅槃，如是救護。小乘者，謂二乘性不定眾生，方便引入大乘，如是救護。
The buddhas constantly rescue and protect
sentient beings from three defilements:
the afflictions, unwholesome deeds,
and birth, old age, and death.
The exposition: this verse briefly displays the meaning of rescue and protection. The buddhas constantly rescue and protect means they do so to the very end. Question: from what do they rescue and protect beings? Answer: from the three defilements of sentient beings — of the afflictions, of karma, and of birth. The afflictions is the defilement of the afflictions. Unwholesome deeds is the defilement of karma. And birth, old age, and death is the defilement of birth. Question: how do they rescue and protect? Answer: with regard to these three, they rescue and protect at all times without forsaking them — this is the sense of "to the very end."
Every calamity, and the evil destinies,
the view of a substantial body, and the Lesser Vehicle —
all sentient beings such as these
are, every one, rescued and protected.
The exposition: this verse displays the meaning of rescue at length. Every calamity refers to beings who are blind, deaf, mute, deranged, disturbed, or maimed in body. By the Buddha's power, the blind gain sight, the deaf gain hearing, the mute speak, the deranged gain sanity, the disturbed gain stability, and the maimed gain wholeness — this is how they are rescued. The evil destinies refers to beings such as those in the hells; by radiating light that touches them, he frees them from suffering and they enter such destinies no more — this is how they are rescued. The view of a substantial body refers to beings attached to a self; he causes them to attain the selflessness of persons, and to enter the nirvāṇa of the two vehicles — this is how they are rescued. The Lesser Vehicle refers to beings of unfixed disposition within the two vehicles; by skillful means he draws them into the Mahāyāna — this is how they are rescued.
偈曰：
佛為勝歸處， 無比故無上，
如前種種畏， 無不令脫者。
釋曰：此偈顯歸依勝。由佛無譬喻，故為無上。是故如前所說三種染污眾生，及餘災等眾生，一切皆能救護。
偈曰：
諸佛善滿身， 一切世間勝，
妙法化眾生， 以度悲海故。
釋曰：此偈顯歸依勝因。諸佛善滿身一切世間勝者，此由自利究竟，由力無畏等諸善功德自性滿故。妙法化眾生以度悲海故者，善解教化眾生方便，及度大悲海岸究竟故。
偈曰：
盡於未來際， 普及一切生，
恒時利益彼， 是說歸依大。
釋曰：此偈顯歸依大。大有三義：一者時大，窮一切眾生生死際故。二者境大，以一切眾生為境故。三者事大，恒時作利益救脫其苦令出離故。已說無上歸依，次說如來轉依相。
The Buddha is the supreme refuge,
unequaled, and therefore unsurpassed;
of the various fears described above,
there is none from which he does not bring release.
The exposition: this verse displays the supremacy of this refuge. Since the Buddha has no equal, he is unsurpassed; therefore all the beings afflicted by the three defilements above, and by calamity and the rest, he is able to rescue and protect, every one.
The buddhas' bodies are full of good,
surpassing all the world;
the wondrous Dharma transforms sentient beings,
for the sea of compassion has been crossed.
The exposition: this verse displays the cause of this refuge's supremacy. The buddhas' bodies are full of good, surpassing all the world means this comes from the culmination of self-benefit, the own-nature of their good qualities — the powers, the fearlessnesses, and the rest — being full. The wondrous Dharma transforms sentient beings, for the sea of compassion has been crossed means they have mastered the means of transforming beings, and reached the far shore of the sea of great compassion to its culmination.
To the very limit of the future,
reaching universally to every being,
constantly benefiting them —
this is called the greatness of the refuge.
The exposition: this verse displays the greatness of this refuge, of three kinds: the greatness of time, reaching through the entire span of every being's saṃsāra; the greatness of scope, taking all sentient beings as its scope; and the greatness of deed, constantly benefiting, rescuing, and freeing beings from suffering. The unsurpassed refuge having been explained, next the mark of the Tathāgata's transformation of the basis is explained.
The three defilements — of the afflictions, of karma, and of birth — are the same threefold scheme used to classify defilement throughout this site's Yogācāra corpus, and naming them at the head of the chapter on enlightenment is a deliberate move: before describing what buddhahood is, the treatise first describes what buddhahood is for. The catalogue of specific calamities that follows — blindness, deafness, muteness, madness — reads almost like a hospital ward, and the specificity is the point. This chapter's later pages will rise to the most abstract vocabulary in the entire treatise; it opens instead on bodies that cannot see or hear or speak, made whole.
身見, the view of a substantial body, and 小乘, the Lesser Vehicle, are listed as calamities to be rescued from in exactly the same breath as blindness and hell — a placement that says something about how this treatise ranks its categories of harm. Being attached to a self, or being fixed in a vehicle aimed only at one's own liberation, are treated here not as intellectual errors to be corrected in argument (as fascicle 1's chapter on establishing the tenet handled them) but as afflictions on the same footing as physical and karmic suffering, addressed by the same compassionate rescue.
3. The Transformation of the Basis, and Its Ten Qualities
偈曰：
二障種恒隨， 彼滅極廣斷，
白法圓滿故， 依轉二道成。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉依有離有得。二障種恒隨彼滅極廣斷者，此明所治遠離，謂煩惱障、智障二種種子，無始已來恒時隨逐，今得永滅。極者，一切地。廣者，一切種。此皆斷故。白法圓滿故依轉二道成者，此明能治成就。謂佛體與最上圓滿白法相應，爾時依轉得二道成就：一得極清淨出世智道、二得無邊所識境界智道，是名轉依。
偈曰：
彼處如來住， 不動如山王，
尚悲樂滅人， 況著諸有者。
釋曰：此偈顯示如來轉依諸轉中勝。何以故？如來轉依住無漏界處，如山王鎮地安住不動。如此轉已，見於聲聞緣覺樂寂滅人尚生憐愍，何況遠邊下賤著有苦惱眾生。
The seeds of the two obstructions constantly follow along;
their cessation is cut off to the utmost, everywhere;
because the white dharmas are brought to fullness,
the transformed basis accomplishes two paths.
The exposition: this verse displays that the transformation of the basis involves both a departure and an attainment. The seeds of the two obstructions constantly follow along; their cessation is cut off to the utmost, everywhere clarifies the departure from what is remedied: the seeds of the afflictive and cognitive obstructions, which have followed along since beginningless time, are now forever extinguished. To the utmost means at every ground; everywhere means in every kind — all cut off. Because the white dharmas are brought to fullness, the transformed basis accomplishes two paths clarifies the accomplishment of the remedy: the buddha's substance corresponds to the supreme, fulfilled white dharmas, and by this transformation two paths are accomplished — the path of utterly pure, transcendent wisdom, and the path of the wisdom of the boundless field of what is known. This is called the transformation of the basis.
In that state the Tathāgata abides,
unmoving, like the king of mountains;
he has compassion even for those who delight in cessation —
how much more for those attached to existence.
The exposition: this verse displays that the Tathāgata's transformation of the basis is supreme among all transformations. Why? Because the Tathāgata's transformed basis abides in the uncontaminated realm, as fixed and unmoving as the king of mountains planted in the earth. Having so transformed, he has pity even for śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas who delight in quiescence — how much more for beings, distant and lowly, attached to existence and afflicted by suffering.
偈曰：
他利及無上， 不轉及不生，
廣大與無二， 無住亦平等，
殊勝與遍授， 是說如來轉，
顯示十功德， 差別義應知。
釋曰：此二偈顯示如來轉依有十種功德差別。何等為十？一者他義轉，謂轉依已，為利他故。二者無上轉，謂轉依已，一切法中而得自在，過二乘轉故。三者不轉轉，謂轉依已，染污諸因不能轉此依，彼依轉故。四者不生轉，謂轉依已，一切染污法畢竟不起故。五者廣大轉，謂轉依已，示現得大菩提及般涅槃故。六者無二轉，謂轉依已，生死涅槃無有二故。七者不住轉，謂轉依已，有為無為俱不住故。八者平等轉，謂轉依已，與聲聞緣覺同解脫煩惱障故。九者殊勝轉，謂轉依已，力無畏等一切佛法無與等故。十者遍授轉，謂轉依已，恒以一切乘而教授故。
Benefiting others, and the unsurpassed;
not transforming back, and not arising;
vast, and non-dual;
non-abiding, and equal;
surpassing, and universally bestowing —
these describe the Tathāgata's transformation,
displaying ten distinct qualities
that should be known.
The exposition: these two verses display that the Tathāgata's transformation of the basis has ten distinct qualities. What are the ten? First, for the benefit of others, in that, once transformed, it is for others' benefit. Second, unsurpassed, in that one obtains mastery over all things, surpassing the transformation of the two vehicles. Third, not transforming back, in that the causes of defilement can no longer transform this basis, it having itself been transformed. Fourth, not arising, in that no defiled dharma ever arises again. Fifth, vast, in that one displays the attainment of great enlightenment and final nirvāṇa. Sixth, non-dual, in that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are not two. Seventh, non-abiding, in that one abides neither in the conditioned nor the unconditioned. Eighth, equal, in that one is liberated from the afflictive obstruction equally with śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Ninth, surpassing, in that the powers, the fearlessnesses, and the rest have nothing equal to them. And tenth, universally bestowing, in that one constantly teaches by means of every vehicle.
轉依有離有得— the transformation of the basis involves both a departure and an attainment — states in five characters a structural point this treatise has been building toward since fascicle 1: liberation is never described here as pure subtraction. The seeds of the two obstructions are indeed extinguished, but the verse pairs that departure with an equally real attainment, the path of transcendent wisdom and the path of knowing the boundless field of objects. A reading that treated enlightenment as simply the absence of affliction would only have half the picture this treatise is offering.
Of the ten qualities, the eighth is easy to read past and worth pausing on: 平等轉, equal transformation, is the one place in the entire list where the buddha's attainment is deliberately described as no different from the śrāvaka's — 與聲聞緣覺同解脫煩惱障故, equally liberated from the afflictive obstruction. Every other quality in the list marks a way the buddha's transformation surpasses the two vehicles; this one marks a point of genuine parity. The distinction the treatise cares about is not that buddhas are free of affliction and arhats are not, but that buddhas are additionally free of the cognitive obstruction the other nine qualities describe.
4. The Buddha Pervading All Like Space, and Why Some Do Not See It
偈曰：
如空遍一切， 佛亦一切遍；
虛空遍諸色， 諸佛遍眾生。
釋曰：此偈顯示佛體一切遍，與虛空相似。初二句直說，後二句釋說。譬如虛空遍一切色聚，佛體亦爾，遍一切眾生聚。若以眾生現非佛故，言佛體不遍者，是義不然，未成就故。
偈曰：
譬如水器壞， 月像不現前；
如是眾生過， 佛像亦不現。
釋曰：此偈顯示佛體雖遍而眾生不見。譬如水器破壞不見月像，如是眾生過失不見佛像，此義得成。
偈曰：
譬如火聚性， 或然或滅盡；
如是諸佛化， 或出或涅槃。
釋曰：此偈顯示諸佛教化有出有沒。譬如火性有時熾然有時滅盡，諸佛教化亦復如是，有時示現出世、有時示現涅槃。如是已說如來轉依，次說如來事業恒無功用。
As space pervades everything,
the Buddha too pervades everything;
as empty space pervades all form,
the buddhas pervade all sentient beings.
The exposition: this verse displays that the buddha-substance pervades everything, resembling empty space. The first two lines state this directly; the last two explain it. It is like empty space, which pervades every mass of form; the buddha-substance is just the same, pervading every mass of sentient beings. If one were to say, because sentient beings do not presently appear as buddhas, that the buddha-substance does not pervade them, this would not follow, since they have simply not yet accomplished it.
It is like a water-vessel that is broken —
the moon's reflection does not appear in it;
just so, owing to the fault of sentient beings,
the buddha's reflection likewise does not appear.
The exposition: this verse displays that, although the buddha-substance pervades all, sentient beings do not see it. It is like a broken water-vessel in which the moon's reflection is not seen; just so, owing to the fault of sentient beings, the buddha's reflection is not seen — this is how the point is established.
It is like the nature of a mass of fire,
now blazing, now extinguished entirely;
just so, the buddhas' transformative teaching
now appears in the world, now enters nirvāṇa.
The exposition: this verse displays that the buddhas' teaching and transformation of beings has both an appearing and a disappearing. It is like the nature of fire, at times blazing and at times extinguished; the buddhas' teaching is just the same, at times displaying an appearance in the world, and at times displaying entry into nirvāṇa. The Tathāgata's transformation of the basis having thus been explained, next it is explained that the Tathāgata's activity is constantly without exertion.
The broken-vessel simile is doing careful philosophical work, not just decorating the point. If the buddha-substance pervades all beings equally, as the space simile just established, then the difference between a being who perceives a buddha and one who does not cannot lie in the buddha at all — it has to lie entirely on the receiving end. A cracked vessel does not diminish the moon; it only fails to hold a reflection of it. The doctrine of universal pervasion and the fact that most beings do not experience it are not in tension on this account, because the whole explanatory burden has been shifted onto 眾生過, the fault of sentient beings, before the tension can even arise.
5. Effortless Buddha-Activity, and the Four Marks of the Pure Dharma-Realm
偈曰：
意珠及天鼓， 自然成自事；
佛化及佛說， 無思亦如是。
釋曰：此偈顯示佛事無功用。譬如如意寶珠雖復無心，自然能作種種變現。如來亦爾，雖復無功用心，自然能起種種變化。譬如天鼓雖復無心，自然能出種種音聲。如來亦爾，雖復無功用心，自然能說種種妙法。
偈曰：
依空業無間， 而業有增減；
依界事不斷， 而事有生滅。
釋曰：此偈顯示佛事無間。譬如世間，依空所作無時斷絕。諸佛亦爾，依無漏界而作佛事亦無斷絕。譬如世間，依空所作有增有減。諸佛亦爾，依無漏界而作佛事亦有生滅。已說無功用心不捨佛事，次說無漏法界甚深。
偈曰：
如前後亦爾， 及離一切障，
非淨非不淨， 佛說名為如。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界清淨相。如前後亦爾者，所謂非淨。由自性不染故，及離一切障者，所謂非不淨。由後時客塵離故，非淨非不淨佛說名為如者。是故佛說是如非淨非不淨，是名法界清淨相。
The wish-fulfilling jewel, and the celestial drum,
naturally accomplish their own work;
the Buddha's transformations, and the Buddha's teaching,
are effortless in just the same way.
The exposition: this verse displays that the Buddha's activity is without exertion. It is like a wish-fulfilling jewel, which, though without a mind, naturally produces various manifestations; the Tathāgata is just the same — though without a mind that exerts itself, he naturally brings forth various transformations. It is like a celestial drum, which, though without a mind, naturally produces various sounds; the Tathāgata is just the same — though without an exerting mind, he naturally teaches various wondrous dharmas.
In reliance on space, activity is without interval,
yet that activity has its increase and decrease;
in reliance on the realm, the deed is unceasing,
yet that deed has its arising and its ceasing.
The exposition: this verse displays that the Buddha's activity is without interval. It is like the world, whose doings, in reliance on space, are never interrupted; the buddhas are just the same — their activity, in reliance on the uncontaminated realm, is likewise never interrupted. It is like the world, whose doings, in reliance on space, have their increase and decrease; the buddhas are just the same — their activity, in reliance on the uncontaminated realm, likewise has its arising and ceasing. The effortless mind's not forsaking buddha-activity having been explained, next the profundity of the uncontaminated dharma-realm is explained.
As it was before, so it is after;
and it is free of every obstruction;
neither pure nor impure —
this the Buddha calls suchness.
The exposition: this verse displays the mark of the dharma-realm's purity. As it was before, so it is after refers to its not being merely pure, since its own-nature was never tainted to begin with. Free of every obstruction refers to its not being impure, since adventitious dust has since departed. Neither pure nor impure, this the Buddha calls suchness — therefore the Buddha teaches that suchness is neither pure nor impure; this is called the dharma-realm's mark of purity.
偈曰：
清淨空無我， 佛說第一我；
諸佛我淨故， 故佛名大我。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界大我相。清淨空無我者，此無漏界由第一無我為自性故。佛說第一我者，第一無我謂清淨如，彼清淨如即是諸佛我自性。諸佛我淨故故佛名大我者，由佛此我最得清淨，是故號佛以為大我。由此義意，諸佛於無漏界建立第一我，是名法界大我相。
偈曰：
非體非非體， 如是說佛體；
是故作是論， 定是無記法。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界無記相。非體者，人法二相不可說故。非非體者，如相實有故。如是說佛體者，由此因緣故說佛體非體非非體。是故作是論定是無記法者，無記謂死後有如來、死後無如來、死後亦有如來亦無如來、死後非有如來非無如來，如是四句不可記故，是故法界是無記相。
偈曰：
譬如鐵熱息， 譬如眼瞖除，
心智息亦爾， 不說有無體。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界解脫相。譬如鐵熱息譬如眼瞖除者，如是二物熱息瞖除，可說非體非非體。何以故？非體者，由熱瞖無相故。非非體者，由息相有體故。心智息亦爾不說有無體者，諸佛心智以貪為熱、以無明為瞖，彼二若息，亦說非體非非體。何以故？非體者，由貪及無明息故。非非體者，由心慧解脫有故。是名法界解脫相。已說相甚深，次說處甚深。
The purity that is empty and without self —
this the Buddha calls the ultimate self;
because the buddhas' self is pure,
the Buddha is therefore called the great self.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's mark of the great self. The purity that is empty and without self means this uncontaminated realm has the ultimate selflessness as its own-nature. This the Buddha calls the ultimate self means that this ultimate selflessness is pure suchness, and that pure suchness is itself the buddhas' own-nature as self. Because the buddhas' self is pure, the Buddha is therefore called the great self means that, because this self of the Buddha's has attained the utmost purity, the Buddha is accordingly styled the great self. By this reasoning, the buddhas establish the ultimate self within the uncontaminated realm — this is called the dharma-realm's mark of the great self.
Neither substance nor non-substance —
thus is the buddha-substance described;
and for this reason it is taught
to be definitively an indeterminate matter.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's indeterminate mark. Neither substance means the two marks of person and of things cannot be predicated of it. Nor non-substance means the mark of suchness really exists. Thus is the buddha-substance described means that, for this reason, it is described as neither substance nor non-substance. And for this reason it is taught to be definitively an indeterminate matter means: the indeterminate refers to whether the Tathāgata exists after death, does not exist, both exists and does not, or neither exists nor does not — since these four propositions cannot be determined, the dharma-realm is accordingly indeterminate.
It is like the heat of iron subsiding,
it is like a cataract removed from the eye;
the subsiding of mind and its afflictions is just the same —
one cannot say it has substance, or has none.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's mark of liberation. The heat of iron subsiding, a cataract removed means: once subsided and removed, one can say these are neither substance nor non-substance. Not substance, because the mark of the heat or cataract is now absent; not non-substance, because the mark of their having subsided does have a substance. The subsiding of mind and its afflictions is just the same means: for the buddhas' mind, craving is the heat and ignorance the cataract, and once these subside, this too is neither substance nor non-substance. Not substance, because craving and ignorance have subsided; not non-substance, because the liberation of mind and wisdom does exist. This is called the dharma-realm's mark of liberation. The profundity of its character having been explained, next the profundity of its place is explained.
大我, the great self, is the most provocative term in this section, and the treatise is careful to define it in a way that keeps it from collapsing back into exactly the self it spent fascicle 1 and fascicle 2 refuting. The "self" here is not a substantial owner of experience but 清淨如, pure suchness itself — selflessness pushed to its own purity and then re-named, not a self smuggled back in through the side door. Reading 大我 as continuous with the earlier chapters' selflessness, rather than as a reversal of it, is necessary to keep the whole treatise consistent with itself.
The four marks of the pure dharma-realm — purity, the great self, the indeterminate, and liberation — each get their non-dual treatment through a different analytic strategy: purity through the never-tainted/now-cleared pair, the great self through a redefinition of the term itself, the indeterminate through an explicit citation of the classical fourfold undetermined questions about the Tathāgata after death, and liberation through the iron-and-cataract simile's careful "neither X nor not-X" applied to the ending of a state rather than to a substance. Four marks, four different tools — the chapter does not force a single argument-form to do all the work.
6. The Profundity of Place and of Activity: Eight Similes
偈曰：
諸佛無漏界， 非一亦非多，
前身隨順故， 非身如空故。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界處甚深。諸佛無漏法界非一亦非多。何以故？非一者，由前身隨順故。非多者，由非身故。問：云何非身？答：如虛空故。是名法界處甚深。已說處甚深，次說業甚深。
偈曰：
譬如大寶藏， 眾寶之所依；
淨界亦如是， 佛法之依止。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界依止業，由清淨法界為力無畏等諸菩提分寶所依止故。
偈曰：
譬如密雲布， 灑雨成百穀；
淨界亦如是， 流善熟眾生。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界成熟眾生業，由從清淨法界流諸善根成熟眾生故。
偈曰：
譬如日月盈， 皎淨輪圓滿；
淨界亦如是， 善淨聚圓滿。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界到究竟業。聚謂福智，由清淨法界，如此二聚得圓滿故。
The buddhas' uncontaminated realm
is neither one nor many;
because it accords with their former bodies, not one;
because it is not a body, like space, not many.
The exposition: this verse displays the profundity of the dharma-realm's place. The buddhas' uncontaminated dharma-realm is neither one nor many. Not one, because it accords with each buddha's former body. Not many, because it is not itself a body. Question: how is it not a body? Answer: because it is like empty space. This is called the profundity of the dharma-realm's place. The profundity of place having been explained, next the profundity of activity is explained.
It is like a great treasury of jewels,
the support on which every jewel depends;
the pure realm is just the same,
the support on which the buddha-dharmas depend.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's activity as support, in that the pure dharma-realm is the support for the jewels that are the factors of enlightenment — the powers, the fearlessnesses, and the rest.
It is like dense clouds spreading,
releasing rain that ripens every grain;
the pure realm is just the same,
its wholesome roots flowing forth to mature sentient beings.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's activity of maturing sentient beings, in that wholesome roots flow forth from the pure dharma-realm and mature sentient beings.
It is like the sun and moon waxing full,
their bright, pure disk complete;
the pure realm is just the same,
its accumulation of wholesome purity complete.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's activity of reaching culmination. The accumulation refers to merit and wisdom; by the pure dharma-realm, these two are brought to fullness.
偈曰：
譬如日輪出， 流光照一切；
淨界亦如是， 流說化群生。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界說正法業。
偈曰：
譬如日光合， 同事照世間；
淨界亦如是， 佛合同業化。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界化所作業。譬如多日多光一時和合同作一事，謂乾熟等。如是多佛多智一時和合同作一業，謂變化等。
偈曰：
譬如日光照， 無限亦一時；
淨界佛光照， 二事亦如是。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界無分別業。譬如日光普照，無有分限亦復一時。如是佛光普照，無限一時亦復如是。
偈曰：
譬如諸日光， 說有雲等翳；
淨界諸佛智， 說有眾生障。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界不作業。譬如日光，雲等為翳，是故不照。如是佛光，眾生過失為障，五濁多故，是故不有所作。
偈曰：
譬如滋灰力， 染衣種種色；
淨界行願力， 解脫種種智。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界解脫智業。譬如別衣由滋灰力，有處得種種色、有處不得種種色。三乘淨界亦爾，由行願力，諸佛解脫得種種智、二乘解脫不得種種智。
偈曰：
無漏界甚深， 相處業三種，
諸佛如是說， 譬如染畫空。
釋曰：此偈重顯前甚深義。無漏界甚深相處業三種者，此無漏界，世尊略說三種甚深：一者相甚深、二者處甚深、三者業甚深。相甚深有四種：一清淨相、二大我相、三無記相、四解脫相，如其次第。由前四偈所顯處甚深一種，謂一多不住故。由第五偈所顯業甚深有八種：一寶依止業、二成熟眾生業、三到究竟業、四說正法業、五化所作業、六無分別業、七智不作業、八解脫智業，如其次第。由後八偈所顯，諸佛如是說，譬如染畫空者，此無漏界無有戲論，譬如虛空是故甚深。如是甚深差別說者，譬如染於虛空、畫於虛空，是義應知。
It is like the sun's disk rising,
its rays flowing forth to illumine everything;
the pure realm is just the same,
its teaching flowing forth to transform the multitude of beings.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's activity of teaching the true Dharma.
It is like the light of many suns joined together,
together lighting the world with a single work;
the pure realm is just the same,
the buddhas joined together in a single transformative deed.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's activity of transformative deeds. It is like many suns and their rays joining together at one time to accomplish a single task — drying and ripening, and the like; just so, many buddhas and their wisdoms join together to accomplish a single deed — transformation, and the like.
It is like the light of the sun shining,
unbounded, and all at one time;
the pure realm's buddha-light shines
with these same two qualities.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's non-discriminating activity. It is like the sun's light shining everywhere, without limit and all at one time; the buddha's light shines in just the same way, unbounded and simultaneous.
It is said that the light of the sun
can be obscured by clouds and the like;
it is said that the pure realm's buddha-wisdom
can be obstructed by sentient beings.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's failing to act. It is like the sun's light, obscured by clouds, unable to shine through; just so, the buddha's light, obstructed by the faults of sentient beings, is unable to act where the five corruptions abound.
It is like the power of mordant and lime,
dyeing cloth with various colors;
the pure realm's power of practice and vow
brings various kinds of wisdom to liberation.
The exposition: this verse displays the dharma-realm's activity in the wisdom of liberation. It is like different cloth: by the power of mordant and lime, some acquire various colors and some do not. The pure realm of the three vehicles is just the same: by the power of practice and vow, the buddhas' liberation attains manifold wisdom, while the liberation of the two vehicles does not.
The uncontaminated realm's profundity
is of three kinds — of character, of place, and of activity —
thus do the buddhas teach it,
as though it were dyed or painted upon space.
The exposition: this verse restates the profundity explained above. The Bhagavat, in brief, teaches this uncontaminated realm's profundity as threefold: of character, of place, and of activity. Profundity of character is fourfold — the mark of purity, of the great self, the indeterminate mark, and the mark of liberation, in order. The profundity of place, of one kind, was displayed by the four preceding verses — not abiding as either one or many. The profundity of activity, of eight kinds, was displayed by the verses above: support for the jewels, maturing sentient beings, reaching culmination, teaching the true Dharma, transformative deeds, non-discrimination, not acting, and the wisdom of liberation, in order. Thus do the buddhas teach it, as though it were dyed or painted upon space means: this uncontaminated realm has no discursive elaboration, and is like empty space, and is therefore profound — its profundity spoken of in these distinct ways as one speaks of dyeing or painting upon empty space.
非一亦非多 for the dharma-realm's place is a different non-duality from anything argued in the preceding sections, and its reasoning is worth isolating: not one, because each buddha's dharma-realm accords with the distinct path that particular buddha traversed to reach it (前身隨順); not many, because the dharma-realm is not itself a body or substance that could be multiplied like objects in space. The same move recurs at the chapter's most famous line, a few verses ahead: individuality is preserved on the side of the path each being walks, while the realm reached is not the kind of thing that comes in countable units to begin with.
The seventh of the eight similes for activity is the one that qualifies everything around it, and it would be easy to build a triumphalist reading of buddha-activity without it: light "obscured by clouds," 眾生過失為障, obstructed by the faults of sentient beings — an explicit admission that the dharma-realm's activity does not simply overpower every obstacle. Read against the broken-vessel simile earlier in this fascicle, the pattern is consistent throughout the chapter: whatever fails to reach a being is explained by a fault on that being's side, never by any limitation in what is pervading and shining on the other.
7. "All Sentient Beings Are Called the Tathāgatagarbha"
偈曰：
一切無別故， 得如清淨故，
故說諸眾生， 名為如來藏。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界是如來藏。一切無別故者，一切眾生、一切諸佛等無差別，故名為如。得如清淨故者，得清淨如以為自性，故名如來。以是義故，可說一切眾生名為如來藏。已說無漏界甚深，次說諸佛變化。
Because there is no difference among all beings,
and because purity, once attained, is suchness —
therefore it is said that all sentient beings
are called the tathāgatagarbha.
The exposition: this verse displays that the dharma-realm is the tathāgatagarbha. Because there is no difference among all beings means that all sentient beings and all buddhas are equally without difference, and are therefore called suchness. Because purity, once attained, is suchness means that, having attained pure suchness as one's own-nature, one is called a tathāgata. For this reason, it can be said that all sentient beings are called the tathāgatagarbha. The profundity of the uncontaminated realm having been explained, next the buddhas' transformations are explained.
This is one verse and three lines of prose, and it is easy to read past at the pace this chapter otherwise moves — but it is the single most consequential sentence in the treatise. The argument is compressed to the point of terseness: all beings are without difference from all buddhas (in the sense already established at length — the dharma-realm they share is neither one nor many, and purity was never something added from outside); and a tathāgata just is one who has taken pure suchness as his own-nature. Put the two together and the conclusion follows in the space of a single verse: every being already stands in the relation to buddhahood that the word "womb" or "matrix" (garbha) names — not yet born as a buddha, but already carrying what buddhahood consists in.
It is worth being precise about what this verse does and does not claim, since the doctrine became one of the most contested in later Buddhist philosophy. It does not say all beings are already buddhas in every respect — the entire treatise up to this point has been describing a path, with grounds, obstructions, and a transformation of the basis still to be accomplished. What it grounds is narrower and, if anything, more radical: that the difference between an unenlightened being and a buddha is not a difference in what each fundamentally is, only in whether purity has yet been attained. The chapter does not pause to reconcile this with fascicle 1's separate teaching that some beings lack the lineage altogether (無性位); readers curious about how later Yogācāra and other Mahāyāna traditions handled that tension may wish to consult this site's translation-notes page for this collection.
8. Buddha Transformations: Their Supremacy, Depth, and the Transformed Faculties
偈曰：
聲聞及緣覺， 菩薩與如來，
初化退世間， 至佛退菩薩。
釋曰：此偈顯示增上變化。一切世間變化，聲聞變化能退。一切聲聞變化、緣覺變化能退。一切緣覺變化，菩薩變化能退。一切菩薩變化，諸佛變化能退。無有一人變化，能退諸佛變化，是故如來變化最得增上。
偈曰：
如是佛變化， 無量不思議，
隨人隨世界， 隨時種種現。
釋曰：此偈顯示甚深變化。此甚深有二種：一者無量、二者不思議。問：此事云何？答：隨何根人、隨何世界、隨何時節，如其差別，若多若少種種變化。如是無量亦不思議，是故如來變化最為甚深。自下次說別轉變化。
偈曰：
如是五根轉， 變化得增上，
諸義遍所作， 功德千二百。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉五根變化。此變化得二種增上：一者得諸義遍所作，謂一一根皆能互用一切境界故。二者得功德千二百，謂一一根各得千二百功德故。
偈曰：
如是意根轉， 變化得增上，
極淨無分別， 恒隨變化行。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉意根變化。意根，謂染污識。由此轉故，得極淨無分別智，恒與一切變化隨行共所作故。
偈曰：
如是義受轉， 變化得增上，
淨土如所欲， 受用皆現前。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉義受變化。義謂五塵，受謂五識，由此二轉，剎土清淨，所欲現前隨意受用。
偈曰：
如是分別轉， 變化得增上，
諸智所作業， 恒時無礙行。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉分別變化。分別謂意識，由此轉故，諸智所作一切時變化無有障礙。
Śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas,
bodhisattvas, and tathāgatas —
the first transformation surpasses the world's,
and so on, up to the Buddha's, which surpasses the bodhisattva's.
The exposition: this verse displays the ascending superiority of transformation. Every transformation of the world can be surpassed by that of a śrāvaka; every śrāvaka transformation by that of a pratyekabuddha; every pratyekabuddha transformation by that of a bodhisattva; and every bodhisattva transformation by that of the buddhas. No one's transformation can surpass the buddhas' — therefore the Tathāgata's transformation is supreme of all.
Thus the Buddha's transformations
are measureless and inconceivable,
appearing in various ways
according to the person, the world, and the time.
The exposition: this verse displays the profundity of transformation, of two kinds: measureless, and inconceivable. Question: what is meant? Answer: according to whatever person, world, and time, in keeping with their differences, transformation appears in various ways, many or few. Being thus measureless and inconceivable, the Tathāgata's transformation is the most profound of all. From here, the distinct transformations of each transformed faculty are explained in turn.
Thus the five faculties transformed
attain a superior transformation:
each acts universally upon every object,
with twelve hundred merits.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of the transformed five faculties, which attains two kinds of superiority: universal action upon every object, in that each faculty can interchangeably act upon every domain; and twelve hundred merits, each faculty attaining twelve hundred of its own.
Thus the mental faculty transformed
attains a superior transformation:
utterly pure and non-discriminating,
it constantly accompanies every transformation.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of the transformed mental faculty [manas]. Through its transformation, one attains the utterly pure, non-discriminating wisdom, which constantly accompanies every transformation.
Thus objects and their sensing transformed
attain a superior transformation:
a pure land appears just as one wishes,
and all enjoyment is present at hand.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of the transformed objects and their sensing. Objects are the five sense-fields; sensing is the five sense-consciousnesses. Through the transformation of these two, one's buddha-land becomes pure, and whatever one wishes appears before one, freely enjoyed.
Thus discrimination transformed
attains a superior transformation:
whatever deed each wisdom performs
proceeds at all times without hindrance.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of transformed discrimination [mano-vijñāna]. Through its transformation, whatever each wisdom performs proceeds, at all times, without obstruction.
偈曰：
如是安立轉， 變化得增上，
住佛不動句， 不住於涅槃。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉安立變化。安立謂器世界，由此轉故，住佛不動無漏法界，得不般涅槃，恒起增上變化。
偈曰：
如是欲染轉， 變化得增上，
住佛無上樂， 示現妻無染。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉欲染變化。由此轉故得二種變化：一者得無上樂住、二者得於妻無染。
偈曰：
如是空想轉， 變化得增上，
隨欲一切得， 所去皆無擁。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉空想變化。由此轉故得二種變化：一者所欲皆得，得虛空藏故。二者所去無擁，得虛空解故。
偈曰：
如是無量轉， 如是無量化，
不思議所作， 諸佛依無垢。
釋曰：此偈總結前義。由無量轉故，得無量變化。如是諸佛不思議業，一切皆依無漏法界，是義應知。已說諸佛變化，次說諸佛成熟眾生。
Thus what is established transformed
attains a superior transformation:
abiding in the Buddha's unmoving state,
it does not abide in nirvāṇa.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of the transformed establishment — the container world. Through its transformation, one abides in the Buddha's unmoving, uncontaminated dharma-realm, attaining the state of not entering final nirvāṇa, constantly giving rise to superior transformations.
Thus desire and its defilement transformed
attain a superior transformation:
abiding in the Buddha's unsurpassed bliss,
one displays a consort without any taint.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of transformed desire and defilement. Through this transformation, two kinds are attained: abiding in unsurpassed bliss, and being without taint even in displaying a consort.
Thus the notion of space transformed
attains a superior transformation:
whatever one wishes for is entirely attained,
and wherever one goes, nothing obstructs.
The exposition: this verse displays the transformation of the transformed notion of space. Through this transformation, two kinds are attained: whatever one wishes for is entirely attained, through attaining the treasury of space; and wherever one goes, nothing obstructs, through attaining liberation like space.
Such are the measureless transformations,
and such the measureless transformations they produce;
this inconceivable activity
the buddhas base upon the stainless.
The exposition: this verse summarizes the preceding meaning. Because of these measureless transformations, measureless further transformations are attained. All this inconceivable activity of the buddhas is based upon the uncontaminated dharma-realm. The buddhas' transformations having been explained, next the buddhas' maturing of sentient beings is explained.
The four-tier hierarchy of transformation — world, śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, buddha — reads as a scale of what can be overridden by what, and it is worth noticing that it is a purely relative measure: nothing here says what a buddha's transformation consists in positively, only that nothing else can surpass it. The positive content arrives only in the eight faculty-by-faculty transformations that follow, which read almost like an inventory audit of everything an unenlightened being is made of — the five senses, the defiled mental faculty, sense-objects and their consciousnesses, discrimination, the container world itself, desire, and even the notion of space — each one claimed back and re-described as a vehicle for benefiting beings rather than a source of bondage.
示現妻無染, displaying a consort without any taint, is a startling item to find on this list, and it is there for a specific doctrinal reason: it addresses the biographical fact that the historical Buddha, before his renunciation, had a wife and a child. Rather than treating this as an embarrassment to be explained away, the treatise absorbs it into the very structure of transformed desire — a buddha can display the outward form of desire's objects while the defilement that ordinarily accompanies them has already been transformed out of existence. The same logic that let the treatise call an enlightenment-lifetime's biography "skillful means" earlier in this fascicle is doing its most concrete work here.
9. How Buddhas Mature Beings Without End
偈曰：
令集亦令長， 令熟亦令脫，
熟熟不無餘， 世間無盡故。
釋曰：此偈顯示次第成熟因。未集善根者令聚集、已集善根者令增長、已長善根者令成熟、已熟善根者令解脫，使得最極清淨，如是十方諸佛各各善說。熟已復熟不般涅槃。何以故？由諸世間無有盡故。
偈曰：
難得已具得， 處處為物歸，
希有非希有， 由得善方便。
釋曰：此偈顯示已熟菩薩行非希有相。難得已具得處處為物歸者，無上菩提最上功德此未曾有，今已具足相應，由此相應故能恒於十方世界為物歸處。希有非希有者，如是處處成熟眾生，是為希有。如此希有亦非希有。何以故？由得善方便故。善方便者，謂隨機道即是清淨行。
偈曰：
轉法及法沒， 得道亦涅槃，
處處方便起， 不動真法界。
釋曰：此偈顯示普遍成熟因。轉法及法沒得道亦涅槃者，謂於一剎那中，有處示現轉無量法輪、有處示現正法滅盡、有處示現得大菩提、有處示現入於涅槃，此由眾生行不同故。處處方便起不動真法界者，若眾生應可成熟，如來隨彼住處處處教化，然於無漏法界亦復不動。
Causing them to gather, and causing them to grow;
causing them to ripen, and causing them to be freed;
ripened again and again, never without remainder —
for the world is inexhaustible.
The exposition: this verse displays the causes of maturation in sequence. Those whose wholesome roots are not yet gathered are caused to gather them; those already gathered, to increase them; those already increased, to ripen them; and those already ripened, to be freed, attaining the utmost purity — thus do the buddhas of the ten directions each skillfully teach. Once ripened, they are ripened yet again, without entering final nirvāṇa. Why? Because the world is without end.
What is hard to attain has already been fully attained;
everywhere he becomes the refuge of beings;
it is rare, yet not rare,
by reason of his attaining skillful means.
The exposition: this verse displays that the mark of a bodhisattva's already-ripened conduct is not, after all, so rare a thing. What is hard to attain has already been fully attained; everywhere he becomes the refuge of beings means that the supreme merit of unsurpassed enlightenment, once unprecedented, is now fully accomplished, and by this he is constantly the refuge of beings throughout the ten directions. It is rare, yet not rare means: maturing sentient beings everywhere is indeed rare, and yet not rare — why? because he has attained skillful means, the path suited to each being's capacity being itself pure conduct.
Turning the Dharma-wheel, and the Dharma's disappearance;
attaining the path, and entering nirvāṇa —
skillful means arise everywhere,
yet the true dharma-realm is unmoved.
The exposition: this verse displays the universal cause of maturation. Turning the Dharma-wheel, and the Dharma's disappearance; attaining the path, and entering nirvāṇa means: within a single instant, in one place he displays the turning of measureless Dharma-wheels, in another the Dharma's disappearance, in another great enlightenment, and in another nirvāṇa — owing to the differing conduct of sentient beings. Skillful means arise everywhere, yet the true dharma-realm is unmoved means: wherever beings are ready to be matured, the Tathāgata teaches them according to their place, and yet remains unmoved within the uncontaminated dharma-realm.
偈曰：
不起分別意， 成熟去來今，
處處化眾生， 三門常示現。
釋曰：此偈顯示自然成熟因。不起分別意成熟去來今者，一切諸佛不作是念：我曾成熟眾生、我當成熟眾生、我今成熟眾生。何以故？由無分別故。處處化眾生三門常示現者，雖無功用，而一切時以諸善根於十方世界遍以三門成熟眾生。三門者，謂三乘教門故。
偈曰：
如日自然光， 照闇成百穀，
法日光亦爾， 滅惑熟眾生。
釋曰：此偈譬顯自然義。譬如日輪無勤方便自然放光，處處破闇成熟百穀。諸佛亦爾，雖無功用，以法日光處處滅惑成熟眾生。
偈曰：
一燈燃眾燈， 極聚明無盡；
一熟化多熟， 無盡化亦然。
釋曰：此偈顯示展轉成熟因。譬如一燈傳然眾燈，極大燈聚無量無數，而一燈無盡。諸佛亦爾，一佛成熟，化多成熟極大眾生聚無量無數，然其化力亦復無盡。
偈曰：
巨海納眾流， 無厭復無溢；
佛界攝眾善， 不滿亦不增。
釋曰：此偈顯示無厭成熟因。譬如巨海廣納百川，無有厭足亦無盈溢，為容受故。佛界亦爾，常攝無量清淨善根，而不滿足亦不增長，由希有故。已說諸佛成熟眾生，次說諸佛法界清淨。
Without giving rise to a discriminating mind,
he matures beings of the past, future, and present;
everywhere transforming sentient beings,
he constantly manifests through three gates.
The exposition: this verse displays the natural cause of maturation. Without a discriminating mind, he matures beings of past, future, and present means that no buddha ever thinks, "I have matured beings," "I shall mature beings," or "I am now maturing beings" — since they are without discrimination. Everywhere transforming beings, he constantly manifests through three gates means that, though without exertion, at all times, by their wholesome roots, they mature beings throughout the ten directions through the three gates — the teaching-gates of the three vehicles.
As the sun's light shines of itself,
dispelling darkness and ripening every grain,
so too the light of the Dharma-sun
extinguishes affliction and matures sentient beings.
The exposition: this verse illustrates naturalness with a simile. It is like the sun's disk, which, without diligent exertion, naturally radiates light, everywhere dispelling darkness and ripening grain; the buddhas are just the same — though without exertion, by the light of the Dharma-sun, they everywhere extinguish affliction and mature sentient beings.
One lamp kindles a multitude of lamps,
an immense mass of light, inexhaustible;
one who is ripened brings many others to ripening,
and this ripening too is inexhaustible.
The exposition: this verse displays maturation passed from one to another. It is like a single lamp lighting a multitude of others, an immense mass of lamps, and yet the first lamp is not exhausted; the buddhas are just the same — one buddha's maturation matures an immense mass of sentient beings, and yet his transformative power is likewise never exhausted.
The vast ocean takes in every river,
never sated, and never overflowing;
the buddha-realm gathers in every wholesome thing,
never full, and never increased.
The exposition: this verse displays the cause of maturation that is never sated. It is like the vast ocean, taking in the hundred rivers, never sated and never overflowing, having the capacity to receive them; the buddha-realm is just the same — it constantly gathers in measureless pure wholesome roots, and yet is neither filled nor increased, this being its rare nature. The buddhas' maturing of sentient beings having been explained, next the purity of the buddhas' dharma-realm is explained.
熟熟不無餘 — ripened again and again, never without remainder — quietly closes off a question the chapter's earlier language might otherwise invite. If maturation runs all the way from gathering through growth, ripening, and freedom, a reader could suppose the process eventually completes and stops. The verse insists otherwise: because the world itself is inexhaustible, ripening keeps recurring even after a being reaches the final stage, which is another way of saying that a buddha's work toward any one being is genuinely never finished, not merely open-ended in principle.
The four similes that close this section — a lamp lighting other lamps without dimming, a sun radiating without effort, an ocean receiving every river without filling, and the earlier casting of light without discrimination — share a single structural feature worth naming: in every case, the source is undiminished by what it gives. This is the section's real answer to a question a careful reader might ask after fascicle 2's chapter on the twofold benefit: does a buddha's activity toward measureless beings eventually run into any kind of limit or cost? Four different images, and each gives the same answer.
10. The Purity of the Dharma-Realm, and the Three Bodies
偈曰：
二障已永除， 法如得清淨，
諸物及緣智， 自在亦無盡。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界性義。二障已永除法如得清淨者，謂清淨相，由煩惱障及智障悉永盡故。諸物及緣智自在亦無盡者，謂自在相，由於諸物及緣彼智二種自在永無盡故。
偈曰：
一切種如智， 修淨法界因，
利樂化眾生， 此果亦無盡。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界因義。一切種如智修淨法界因者，謂為清淨法界，於一切時修一切種如門智以為因故。利樂化眾生此果亦無盡者，謂為教化眾生，於一切時與一切眾生利樂二果恒無盡故。
偈曰：
發起身口心， 三業恒時化，
二門及二聚， 方便悉圓滿。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界業義。發起身口心三業恒時化者，謂起身業口業心業，一切時教化眾生故。二門及二聚方便悉圓滿者，謂具足二門二聚為方便故。二門，謂三昧門、陀羅尼門。二聚，謂福德聚、智慧聚。
偈曰：
自性及法食， 變化位差別，
此由法界淨， 諸佛之所說。
釋曰：此偈顯示法界位義。自性及法食變化位差別者，謂自性身、食身、化身，位差別故。此由法界淨諸佛之所說者，若法界不清淨，此位不成故。已說諸佛法界清淨，次說諸佛三身。
The two obstructions are forever removed,
and the suchness of things attains purity;
mastery over things, and the wisdom that takes them as object,
are both without limit.
The exposition: this verse displays the sense of the dharma-realm's nature. The two obstructions forever removed, the suchness of things attaining purity means the mark of purity, the afflictive and cognitive obstructions being both forever exhausted. Mastery over things, and the wisdom that takes them as object, both without limit means the mark of mastery, both being forever without limit.
Wisdom of suchness in every mode
cultivates the cause of the pure dharma-realm;
benefiting, delighting, and transforming sentient beings
is its fruit, likewise without end.
The exposition: this verse displays the sense of the dharma-realm's cause. Wisdom of suchness in every mode cultivates the cause of the pure dharma-realm means that, for the pure dharma-realm's sake, one cultivates at all times the wisdom of the gate of suchness in every mode, as its cause. Benefiting, delighting, and transforming sentient beings is its fruit, likewise without end means that, to teach and transform beings, the twofold fruit of benefit and joy is bestowed on all beings at all times, forever without end.
Giving rise to the three deeds of body, speech, and mind,
one constantly transforms beings through them;
the two gates, and the two accumulations,
are skillful means brought entirely to fullness.
The exposition: this verse displays the sense of the dharma-realm's activity. Giving rise to the three deeds of body, speech, and mind, one constantly transforms beings through them means teaching and transforming beings at all times through deeds of body, speech, and mind. The two gates, and the two accumulations, are skillful means brought entirely to fullness means being complete in the two gates — of absorption and of the mnemonic formulas — and the two accumulations, of merit and of wisdom, as one's skillful means.
The intrinsic-nature body, and the body that feasts on the Dharma,
and the transformation body — these stages are distinct;
this, owing to the dharma-realm's purity,
is what the buddhas teach.
The exposition: this verse displays the sense of the dharma-realm's stages. The intrinsic-nature body, the body that feasts on the Dharma, and the transformation body — these stages are distinct means the intrinsic-nature body, the enjoyment body, and the transformation body are distinct stages. This, owing to the dharma-realm's purity, is what the buddhas teach means that, were the dharma-realm not pure, these stages could not be accomplished. The purity of the buddhas' dharma-realm having been explained, next the buddhas' three bodies are explained.
偈曰：
性身及食身、 化身合三身，
應知第一身， 餘二之依止。
釋曰：一切諸佛有三種身。一者自性身，由轉依相故。二者食身，由於大集眾中作法食故。三者化身，由作所化眾生利益故。此中應知，自性身為食身、化身依止，由是本故。
偈曰：
食身於諸界， 受用有差別，
眾土名身業， 一切皆異故。
釋曰：食身於一切世界中，諸徒眾、諸剎土、諸名號、諸身、諸業，如此諸受用事悉皆不同。
偈曰：
平等微細身， 受用身相合，
應知受用身， 得是化身因。
釋曰：平等，謂自性身，一切諸佛等無別故。微細者，由此身難知故。受用身，謂食身，此身與平等身合，由依起故。應知受用身復是化身因者，由所欲受用，一切示現故。
偈曰：
化佛無量化， 是故名化身，
二身二利成， 一切種建立。
釋曰：由化身諸佛於一切時化作無量差別，佛由此化故名為化身。二身者，謂食身、化身。二利者，謂自利、他利。食身以自利成就為相，化身以他利成就為相。如此二利，一切種成就故，次第建立食身及化身。
偈曰：
工巧及出生， 得道般涅槃，
示此大方便， 令他得解脫。
釋曰：復次化身者，於一切時教化眾生，或現工巧、或現出生、或現得菩提、或現般涅槃，如是種種示大方便，皆令眾生而得解脫。此是他利成就相。
The intrinsic-nature body, and the enjoyment body,
and the transformation body — together, three bodies;
the first body should be known
as the support for the other two.
The exposition: every buddha has three kinds of body: the intrinsic-nature body, by reason of its mark as the transformed basis; the enjoyment body, by reason of its making the Dharma-food amid a great assembly; and the transformation body, by reason of its acting for the benefit of the beings it transforms. Here it should be understood that the intrinsic-nature body is the support for the other two, since it is their root.
The enjoyment body, in the various realms,
has distinct forms of enjoyment;
its assemblies, lands, names, bodies, and deeds
are all, every one, different.
The exposition: the enjoyment body, in every world, differs entirely in its assemblies, lands, names, bodies, and deeds — all these matters of enjoyment are never the same.
The equal, subtle body
is joined with the enjoyment body;
the enjoyment body should be known
as the cause of the transformation body.
The exposition: equal refers to the intrinsic-nature body, all buddhas being equally without difference. Subtle means this body is hard to know. The enjoyment body refers to the body that feasts on the Dharma; this body is joined with the equal body, arising in dependence on it. The enjoyment body should further be understood as the cause of the transformation body, since it manifests everything wished to be enjoyed.
The transformation-buddha transforms without limit —
for this reason it is called the transformation body;
the two bodies accomplish the two benefits,
established in every mode.
The exposition: through the transformation body, the buddhas at all times transform themselves into measureless, distinct forms, and it is by this transforming that this body is called the transformation body. The two bodies are the enjoyment body and the transformation body. The two benefits are the benefit of self and of others. The enjoyment body has the mark of accomplishing self-benefit; the transformation body, the benefit of others. Since these two are accomplished in every mode, the enjoyment body and the transformation body are established in this order.
Skilled craft, and birth;
attaining the path, and final nirvāṇa —
displaying this great skillful means,
he causes others to attain liberation.
The exposition: furthermore, the transformation body, at all times, teaches and transforms sentient beings — now displaying skilled craft, now birth, now the attainment of enlightenment, now final nirvāṇa. Displaying such various forms of great skillful means, it causes beings, every one, to attain liberation. This is the mark of accomplishing the benefit of others.
偈曰：
應知佛三身， 是佛身皆攝，
自他利依止， 示現悉三身。
釋曰：應知此三身攝一切諸佛身，示現一切自利他利依止故。
偈曰：
由依心業故， 三佛俱平等，
自性無間續， 三佛俱常住。
釋曰：彼三種身，如其次第，一切諸佛悉皆平等。由依故，一切諸佛自性身平等，法界無別故。由心故，一切諸佛食身平等，佛心無別故。由業故，一切諸佛化身平等，同一所作故。復次一切諸佛悉同常住，由自性常故，一切諸佛自性身常住，畢竟無漏故。由無間常故，一切諸佛食身常住，說法無斷絕故。由相續常故，一切諸佛化身常住，雖於此滅復彼現故。已說諸佛身，次說諸佛智。
It should be known that these three bodies of the Buddha
comprise every buddha-body whatsoever,
the support for the benefit of self and other,
manifested entirely through these three bodies.
The exposition: it should be understood that these three bodies comprise every buddha-body whatsoever, since they are the support through which every benefit, of self and of other, is manifested.
By reason of support, mind, and deed,
the three bodies of the buddha are equally alike;
by reason of intrinsic nature, uninterrupted continuity, and succession,
the three bodies of the buddha are equally constant.
The exposition: these three bodies, in this order, are equal among all buddhas. By reason of support, the intrinsic-nature body is equal, the dharma-realm not differing from buddha to buddha. By reason of mind, the enjoyment body is equal, the buddha-mind not differing. By reason of deed, the transformation body is equal, their activity being one and the same. Furthermore, all buddhas are equally constant: by constancy of intrinsic nature, the intrinsic-nature body is constant, being ultimately uncontaminated; by uninterrupted constancy, the enjoyment body is constant, its teaching never breaking off; and by the constancy of succession, the transformation body is constant, ceasing in one place only to appear again in another. The buddhas' bodies having been explained, next the buddhas' wisdom is explained.
食身, literally "the body that feasts," is this treatise's own preferred term for what other texts on this site, and this very chapter a few lines later, call 受用身, the enjoyment body — the text explicitly glosses the two as the same thing (受用身，謂食身). The literal image is worth keeping in view even where the translation uses the more familiar "enjoyment body": this is the body that partakes of the Dharma as food, 於大集眾中作法食, making the Dharma-food amid a great assembly. It is a body defined by an act of communal nourishment, not merely by private bliss.
The three-way division of labor among the bodies is exact and worth holding onto: the intrinsic-nature body is the support (由依), the enjoyment body is defined through mind (由心), and the transformation body through deed (由業) — support, mind, and deed being three genuinely different categories, not three synonyms for "aspect." And the causal chain running through them — the intrinsic-nature body as root, the enjoyment body arising from it and in turn causing the transformation body — means the three are not simply parallel manifestations but a single lineage, each generating the one after it, which is why the treatise can call the enjoyment body's accomplishment self-benefit and the transformation body's accomplishment the benefit of others: the more private attainment must exist before it can be extended outward.
11. The Four Wisdoms, and the Non-Oneness of Buddhas
偈曰：
四智鏡不動， 三智之所依，
八七六五識， 次第轉得故。
釋曰：四智鏡不動三智之所依者，一切諸佛有四種智：一者鏡智、二者平等智、三者觀智、四者作事智。彼鏡智以不動為相，恒為餘三智之所依止。何以故？三智動故。八七六五識次第轉得故者，轉第八識得鏡智，轉第七識得平等智，轉第六識得觀智，轉前五識得作事智，是義應知。
偈曰：
鏡智緣無分， 相續恒不斷，
不愚諸所識， 諸相不現前。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉第八識得鏡智。鏡智緣無分者，於一切境界不作分段緣故。相續恒不斷者，於一切時常行不斷絕故。不愚諸所識者，了知一切境界障永盡故。諸相不現前者，於諸境界離行相緣無分別故。
偈曰：
鏡智諸智因， 說是大智藏，
餘身及餘智， 像現從此起。
釋曰：此偈顯示鏡智用。鏡智諸智因說是大智藏者，彼平等智等諸智一切種皆以鏡智為因，是故此智譬如大藏，由是諸智藏故。餘身及餘智像現從此起者，餘身，謂受用身等。餘智，謂平等智等。由彼身像及彼智像，一切皆從此智出生，是故佛說此智以為鏡智。
Four wisdoms — the mirror wisdom unmoving,
the support for the other three;
from the eighth, seventh, sixth, and fifth consciousnesses,
each in turn transformed and attained.
The exposition: every buddha has four kinds of wisdom — the mirror wisdom, the wisdom of equality, the wisdom of wondrous contemplation, and the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done. That mirror wisdom has unmovingness as its mark, and is constantly the support for the other three, since the other three wisdoms move. From the eighth, seventh, sixth, and fifth consciousnesses, each in turn transformed and attained means: transforming the eighth, one attains the mirror wisdom; the seventh, the wisdom of equality; the sixth, the wisdom of wondrous contemplation; and the first five, the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done.
The mirror wisdom takes its object without division,
its continuity constantly unbroken;
it is not deluded regarding anything known,
and no mark appears before it.
The exposition: this verse displays the mirror wisdom attained by transforming the eighth consciousness. It takes its object without division means it does not take any domain as object in discrete segments. Its continuity constantly unbroken means it operates at all times, never breaking off. It is not deluded regarding anything known means it thoroughly knows that the obstruction to every domain is forever exhausted. No mark appears before it means that, with respect to every domain, it is free of any activity, mark, or object, being without discrimination.
The mirror wisdom is the cause of all the other wisdoms,
and is called the great treasury of wisdom;
the other bodies, and the other wisdoms,
arise as reflections from it.
The exposition: this verse displays the function of the mirror wisdom. It is the cause of all the other wisdoms, and is called the great treasury of wisdom means the wisdom of equality and the rest, in every mode, take the mirror wisdom as their cause, and this wisdom is therefore likened to a great treasury, being the treasury of the others. The other bodies, and the other wisdoms, arise as reflections from it means: the other bodies are the enjoyment body and the rest; the other wisdoms, the wisdom of equality and the rest — since their reflections all arise from this wisdom, the Buddha teaches this wisdom to be the mirror wisdom.
偈曰：
眾生平等智， 修淨證菩提，
不住於涅槃， 以無究竟故。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉第七識得平等智。眾生平等智修淨證菩提者，若諸菩薩證法現前時，即得一切眾生平等智。若修習此智最極清淨，即得無上菩提。不住於涅槃以無究竟故者，由眾生無盡故無究竟，無究竟故不住涅槃。由此義故，說為平等智。
偈曰：
大慈與大悲， 是二恒無絕，
眾生若有信， 佛像即現前。
釋曰：此偈顯示平等智用。大慈與大悲是二恒無絕者，諸佛如來於一切時隨逐眾生。何以故？大慈大悲無斷絕故。眾生若有信佛像即現前者，如其所信，隨彼現故。是故或有眾生見如來青色、或有眾生見如來黃色，如是一切。此前二智即是法身。
偈曰：
觀智識所識， 恒時無有礙，
此智如大藏， 總持三昧依。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉第六識得觀智。觀智於所識一切境界恒無障礙，譬如大藏，與一切陀羅尼門、一切三昧門而為依止。何以故？如是二門皆從此智生故。
偈曰：
恒在大眾中， 種種皆示現，
能斷諸疑網， 雨大法雨故。
釋曰：此偈顯示觀智用，義如偈說。此觀智即是食身。
偈曰：
事智於諸界， 種種化事起，
無量不思議， 為利群生故。
釋曰：此偈顯示轉前五識得作事智。彼作事智於一切世界中作種種變化事，無量無邊不可思議。如此等業，皆為利益一切眾生故。此作事智即是化身。
The wisdom of equality toward sentient beings,
cultivated in purity, realizes enlightenment;
it does not abide in nirvāṇa,
since there is no final end to beings.
The exposition: this verse displays the wisdom of equality attained by transforming the seventh consciousness. Cultivated in purity, it realizes enlightenment means: when bodhisattvas realize the Dharma directly before them, they attain this wisdom of equality toward all beings, and cultivating it to utmost purity, they attain unsurpassed enlightenment. It does not abide in nirvāṇa, since there is no final end to beings means: because sentient beings are inexhaustible, there is no final end, and so one does not abide in nirvāṇa. For this reason, it is called the wisdom of equality.
Great loving-kindness, and great compassion —
these two are never broken off;
if sentient beings have faith,
the buddha's image appears before them at once.
The exposition: this verse displays the function of the wisdom of equality. Great loving-kindness and great compassion, never broken off means the tathāgatas, at all times, follow after sentient beings, since these two never break off. If beings have faith, the buddha's image appears at once means it appears according to what each believes — so some see the Tathāgata as blue, some as yellow, and so on for every color. These first two wisdoms are themselves the Dharma-body.
The wisdom of wondrous contemplation, toward all that consciousness knows,
is at all times without any hindrance;
this wisdom is like a great treasury,
the support for the mnemonic formulas and absorptions.
The exposition: this verse displays the wisdom of wondrous contemplation attained by transforming the sixth consciousness. Toward every domain known, it is constantly without obstruction, and is like a great treasury, the support for every gate of the mnemonic formulas and of absorption, since both these gates arise from this wisdom.
Constantly present amid the great assembly,
manifesting every kind of display,
it is able to cut through the net of every doubt,
raining down the great rain of the Dharma.
The exposition: this verse displays the function of the wisdom of wondrous contemplation, its meaning as the verse states. This wisdom is itself the enjoyment body.
The wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done, throughout every realm,
gives rise to every kind of transformative deed,
measureless and inconceivable,
for the benefit of the multitude of beings.
The exposition: this verse displays the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done, attained by transforming the first five consciousnesses. Throughout every world, it performs every kind of transformative deed, measureless, boundless, and inconceivable, all for the benefit of all sentient beings. This wisdom is itself the transformation body.
偈曰：
攝持及等心， 開法亦作事，
如是依四義， 次第四智起。
釋曰：攝持者，謂聞法攝持故。等心者，謂於一切眾生得自他平等故。開法者，謂演說正法故。作事者，謂起種種化業故。依第一義，鏡智起。依第二義，平等智起。依第三義，觀智起。依第四義，作事智起。
偈曰：
性別及不虛， 一切亦無始，
無別故不一， 依同故不多。
釋曰：此偈顯示諸佛不一不多。不一者，由性別故、不虛故、一切故、無始故、無別故。性別者，由無邊諸佛性別。若言唯有一佛，而有當得菩提者，是義不然，故佛不一。不虛者，若福智聚虛，則應餘菩薩不得菩提；由二聚不虛故，是義不然，故佛不一。一切者，若言唯有一佛，則應是佛不利益一切眾生；由佛建立一切眾生作佛故，是義不然，故佛不一。無始者，若言唯有最初一佛，是佛應無福智二聚而得成佛，是義不然，故佛不一。無別者，若言有別佛無福智二聚，是義不然，故佛不一。不多者，由依同故，一切諸佛法身由依無漏界故。已說諸佛智，次說入佛方便。
Upholding what is heard, and a mind of equality;
opening up the Dharma, and performing deeds —
in dependence on these four meanings,
the four wisdoms arise in this order.
The exposition: upholding what is heard means upholding the Dharma one has heard. A mind of equality means attaining equality between self and other with regard to all beings. Opening up the Dharma means expounding the true Dharma. Performing deeds means giving rise to every kind of transformative activity. In dependence on the first, the mirror wisdom arises; the second, the wisdom of equality; the third, the wisdom of wondrous contemplation; the fourth, the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done.
Distinctness of nature, and not being in vain;
universality, and beginninglessness;
because of these, not one —
because of a common basis, not many.
The exposition: this verse displays that the buddhas are neither one nor many. Not one: by distinctness of nature, of not being in vain, of universality, of beginninglessness, and of lacking difference. Distinctness of nature: the natures of the boundless buddhas are each distinct — were there only one buddha, those still to attain enlightenment could not; this does not follow, so the buddhas are not one. Not in vain: were the accumulation of merit and wisdom in vain, other bodhisattvas would fail to attain enlightenment; since it is not in vain, this does not follow, so the buddhas are not one. Universality: were there only one buddha, that buddha would fail to benefit all beings; since the Buddha establishes all beings as future buddhas, this does not follow, so the buddhas are not one. Beginninglessness: were there only one original buddha, that buddha would have attained buddhahood without the twofold accumulation; this does not follow, so the buddhas are not one. Lacking difference: were there a distinct buddha lacking the twofold accumulation, this does not follow, so the buddhas are not one. Not many: by reason of a common basis, the Dharma-body of every buddha resting upon the very same uncontaminated realm. The buddhas' wisdom having been explained, next the means of entering buddhahood are explained.
The mapping from eight consciousnesses to four wisdoms is not one-to-one, and the asymmetry is worth flagging: the eighth consciousness alone becomes the mirror wisdom, the seventh alone becomes the wisdom of equality, the sixth alone becomes the wisdom of wondrous contemplation — but the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done absorbs all five sense-consciousnesses at once. Eight consciousnesses become four wisdoms not because pairs of them merge, but because the five sense-consciousnesses, which never individuated into separate wisdoms the way the deeper three did, collapse together into a single outward-facing function once transformed. The mirror wisdom's role as 諸智因, the cause of all the others, together with this asymmetric collapse, is why this treatise's own summary can then align each wisdom with one of the three bodies — mirror and equality wisdom together as the Dharma-body, contemplative wisdom as the enjoyment body, and the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done as the transformation body.
The five-part proof that buddhas are not one is a genuine philosophical argument, not a devotional flourish, and its structure deserves to be seen clearly: each of the five reasons is a reductio, assuming a single buddha and showing that some fact already established elsewhere in this treatise — that beings still attain enlightenment, that the two accumulations are not wasted effort, that the Buddha benefits everyone, that buddhahood requires the twofold accumulation as its cause — would then become false. The conclusion "not many," by contrast, needs only one sentence, since it rests on the single fact, already established in this chapter, that every buddha's Dharma-body rests on the same uncontaminated realm. Multiplicity is disproven at length; unity through a shared basis is disproven briefly — the treatise clearly considers the second claim the easier of the two to establish.
12. Entering Buddhahood, and the Rivers That Become One Sea
偈曰：
分別若恒有， 真實則永無；
分別若永無， 真實則恒有。
釋曰：若分別自性是恒有，則真實自性是永無，由不可得故。若分別自性是永無，則真實自性是恒有，由可得故。
偈曰：
欲修最上修， 不見一切修；
欲得最上得， 不見一切得。
釋曰：彼如是最上修，彼修不可得。彼如是最上得，彼得不可得。
偈曰：
尊重及長時， 觀佛希有法，
緣此速得佛， 去佛菩提遠。
釋曰：若有菩薩於佛世尊極生尊重，及長時正勤觀佛未曾有法，緣此觀心及長時精進，而謂我當速得無上菩提。應知如是菩薩，去佛菩提則為甚遠。何以故？彼有慢故。
偈曰：
觀法唯分別， 此義如前知；
菩薩無分別， 說彼速成佛。
釋曰：若菩薩觀一切諸法唯是分別，觀彼分別亦無分別，即得入彼無生忍位。由如此義，說得菩提。已說入佛方便，次說諸佛同事。
If discrimination were constantly present,
the real would then be forever absent;
if discrimination is forever absent,
the real is then constantly present.
The exposition: if the own-nature of discrimination were constantly present, the own-nature of the real would then be forever absent, since it could never be obtained; if the own-nature of discrimination is forever absent, the own-nature of the real is then constantly present, since it can be obtained.
Wishing to cultivate the highest cultivation,
one sees no cultivation whatsoever;
wishing to attain the highest attainment,
one sees no attainment whatsoever.
The exposition: such is the highest cultivation, that this very cultivation cannot be found; such is the highest attainment, that this very attainment cannot be found.
With reverence, and for a long time,
contemplating the Buddha's rare qualities,
thinking thereby to swiftly attain buddhahood —
one is in fact far from the Buddha's enlightenment.
The exposition: if a bodhisattva gives rise to the utmost reverence toward the Bhagavat, and for a long time diligently contemplates the Buddha's unprecedented qualities, and, on the strength of this contemplation and this long diligence, supposes "I shall swiftly attain unsurpassed enlightenment" — one should know that such a bodhisattva is in fact very far from the Buddha's enlightenment. Why? Because he still has conceit.
Observing that things are only discrimination,
this meaning as understood before;
the bodhisattva who is without discrimination —
of him it is said that he swiftly becomes a buddha.
The exposition: if a bodhisattva observes that all things are only discrimination, and observes that this very discrimination is also without discrimination, he then enters the stage of the forbearance of non-arising. By this reasoning, he is said to attain enlightenment. The means of entering buddhahood having been explained, next the buddhas' shared work is explained.
偈曰：
應知諸河水， 別依亦別事，
水少虫用少， 未入大海故。
一切入大海， 一依亦一事，
水大虫用大， 亦復常無盡。
如是諸別解， 別意亦別業，
解少利益少， 未入佛體故。
一切入佛體， 一解亦一意，
解大利益大， 極聚亦無盡。
釋曰：別水，譬諸菩薩別解。別依，譬諸菩薩別意。一水，譬諸如來一解。一依，譬諸如來一意。由諸河水別故，水事業亦別。由水少故，水虫受用亦少。何以故？未得同入大海故。諸菩薩亦爾，由解別故作業亦別，由解少故利益眾生亦少。何以故？未得同入佛體故。諸水若入大海，即同一依、即同一體，由水一故事業亦一，由水大故水虫受用亦大。若諸菩薩同入佛體，即同一意、即同一解，由解一故作業亦一，由解大故利益亦大，極一切眾生聚亦無有盡。
如是已說諸佛體用，次說一偈勸進悕求。
偈曰：
無比圓白法， 眾生利樂因，
樂住無盡藏， 智者應求發。
釋曰：無比圓白法者，由佛自利成就故。眾生利樂因者，由佛利他成就故。樂住無盡藏者，由佛善根無過無上，是無盡樂藏故。智者應求發者，有智之人應求如此最勝樂住而發大菩提心故。菩提品究竟。
Know that the waters of the rivers
have separate beds and separate work;
their water is little, and what their creatures can use is little,
since they have not yet entered the great sea.
Once all have entered the great sea,
they share one bed and one work;
their water is vast, and what their creatures can use is vast,
and this, moreover, is never exhausted.
Just so, the separate understandings of bodhisattvas
have separate intents and separate deeds;
their understanding is little, and their benefit is little,
since they have not yet entered the buddha-substance.
Once all have entered the buddha-substance,
they share one understanding and one intent;
their understanding is vast, and their benefit is vast,
and this immense accumulation, too, is never exhausted.
The exposition: separate waters are a simile for the separate understandings of bodhisattvas; separate beds, for their separate intents; one water, for the tathāgatas' one understanding; and one bed, for their one intent. Because the rivers' waters are separate, their work is also separate; because their water is little, what their creatures can use is also little — why? because they have not yet come together into the great sea. Bodhisattvas are just the same: because their understanding is separate, their deeds are also separate, and because their understanding is little, the benefit they bring to sentient beings is also little — why? because they have not yet come together into the buddha-substance. Once the waters enter the great sea, they share one bed and one substance; their water being one, their work is one, and their water being vast, what their creatures can use is also vast. Once bodhisattvas together enter the buddha-substance, they share one intent and one understanding; their understanding being one, their deeds are one, and their understanding being vast, their benefit is vast, and this immense accumulation, for the sake of all sentient beings, is never exhausted.
The substance and function of the buddhas having thus been explained, one final verse is given to encourage the seeking of it.
The unequaled, complete white dharmas,
the cause of benefit and joy for sentient beings,
the treasury, inexhaustible, of blissful abiding —
the wise should seek to arouse the mind for this.
The exposition: the unequaled, complete white dharmas refers to the accomplishment of the Buddha's own benefit. The cause of benefit and joy for sentient beings refers to the accomplishment of the Buddha's benefit of others. The treasury, inexhaustible, of blissful abiding refers to the Buddha's wholesome roots, unsurpassed and beyond compare, being this inexhaustible treasury of bliss. The wise should seek to arouse the mind for this means that a person of wisdom should seek this most excellent, blissful abiding, and thereby arouse the great mind of enlightenment. The chapter on enlightenment is complete.
分別若恒有，真實則永無 states, as a bare conditional, the same logic this treatise has used since fascicle 2's chapter on reality: discrimination and the real are not two competing items that might coexist in different proportions, but strict alternatives — wherever one is fully present, the other is fully absent, and vice versa. What is new here is the pointed application: a bodhisattva who spends long years reverently contemplating the Buddha's extraordinary qualities, hoping this devotion will speed his own attainment, is engaged in an activity that is itself still discrimination — subject and admired object, self and other still standing apart — and is therefore, on this treatise's own logic, moving no closer to what he seeks. 彼有慢故, because he still has conceit, is a startlingly blunt diagnosis to apply to what looks, on the surface, like devout practice.
The rivers-into-the-sea image closes the treatise's longest chapter on a claim about plurality answered, at last, by union rather than by argument. Every earlier section of this fascicle proved non-duality analytically — five characteristics, ten qualities, eight similes, five reductios against buddhas being one. This final image instead just shows what happens: separate rivers, each with its own bed and its own modest capacity, become, on entering the sea, one bed, one capacity, vastly larger than the sum of what any of them held alone. The treatise's closing exhortation — that the wise should seek to arouse the mind for this — asks for exactly the same thing the very first fascicle asked for at its opening similes: not agreement with an argument, but the arousing of a mind that wants to become part of what has just been described.
Fascicle 3 Complete
One chapter, the treatise's longest and, by its own preface, its most subtle. Omniscience is given as the fruit of every practice in the two fascicles before it, and the buddha-body that results is neither existent nor non-existent. The buddha is named the unsurpassed refuge from three defilements, and the transformation of the basis that produces him is given ten distinct qualities. The dharma-realm's profundity is stated in three dimensions — character, place, and activity — with four marks and eight similes, and, at the chapter's quiet center, all sentient beings are called the tathāgatagarbha. The buddhas' transformations reach into every faculty a being is made of; their maturing of beings never completes, since the world itself never ends; their three bodies stand in a single causal lineage from intrinsic nature through enjoyment to transformation; their four wisdoms arise from the transformation of eight consciousnesses; and they are shown to be neither one nor many, entered not by devotion alone but by a discrimination that finally discriminates itself away — ending, like separate rivers reaching one sea, in a single understanding vast enough for every being it was ever meant to benefit. Fascicle 4 opens the chapter on faith and understanding (明信品) and begins the chapter on seeking (述求品).
Continue to Fascicle 4 — Faith and Understanding, and Seeking →