Veneration, Drawing Near, and the Brahmā Abidings
After two fascicles devoted entirely to the six perfections, the treatise returns to devotional and relational ground: how a bodhisattva venerates the buddhas, how he draws near to a good spiritual friend, and how he cultivates the four Brahmā abidings — loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Offering and drawing near are each broken into the identical eightfold scheme of basis, object, condition, dedication, cause, wisdom, field, and support, and each is made supreme through the same five aspects of one's own intention. The chapter on the Brahmā abidings then opens onto the fascicle's longest sustained meditation: great compassion alone, its ten objects, its tree of six stages from root to fruit, and six verses in which compassion itself speaks, teaching the bodhisattva how to give.
Where This Fascicle Picks Up
Fascicle 8 closed the treatise's most exhaustive single-chapter treatment, the two fascicles on the perfections and gathering beings. This fascicle opens two short chapters that mirror each other closely — 供養品第十八, on offering to the Tathāgatas, and 親近品第十九, on drawing near to a good spiritual friend — before turning to 梵住品第二十, the chapter on the four Brahmā abidings, whose second half becomes an extended, freestanding meditation on great compassion that runs longer than either of the two chapters before it.
Classical text is set in the left-hand column, our English in the right. See also this site's note on translation method.
1. Eight Kinds of Offering to the Tathāgatas
釋曰：已說業所聚集諸行，未說供養如來。此供養，今當說。偈曰：
依物緣迴向， 因智田依止，
如是八供養， 供養諸如來。
釋曰：略說供養如來有八種。何謂為八？一者依供養、二者物供養、三者緣起供養、四者迴向供養、五者因供養、六者智供養、七者田供養、八者依止供養。問：此八義云何？偈曰：
現前不現前， 衣服飲食等，
深起善淨心， 為滿於二聚，
常願生佛世， 三輪不分別，
成熟諸眾生， 最後十一種。
釋曰：此二偈八句，顯示前八義應知。現前不現前者，謂依供養，依現在及過去未來諸佛而供養故。衣服飲食等者，謂物供養，以衣服等而供養故。深起善淨心者，謂緣起供養，以深淨信心而供養故。為滿於二聚者，謂迴向供養，為滿福智二聚而供養故。常願生佛世者，謂因供養，由有宿願，願生佛世令我有益，不虛供養故。三輪不分別者，謂智供養，設供、受供、供具三事不可得故。成熟諸眾生者，謂田供養，眾生為田，教彼供養令種善根故。最後十一種者，謂依止供養。此依止有十一種：一者依止物，由依財物而供養故。二者依止思惟，由依味思惟、隨喜思惟、希望思惟故。三者依止信，由信大乘發菩提心故。四者依止願，由發弘誓願故。五者依止悲，由憐愍眾生故。六者依止忍，由難行能行故。七者依止行，由諸波羅蜜故。八者依止正念，由如法不倒故。九者依止正見，由如實覺了故。十者依止解脫，由聲聞煩惱滅故。十一者依止真實，由得大菩提故。
The exposition: the practices gathered by karmic activity having been explained, offering to the Tathāgatas has not yet been explained. This offering shall now be explained.
Basis, object, condition, and dedication;
cause, wisdom, field, and support —
these eight kinds of offering
are offered to the Tathāgatas.
The exposition: in brief, offering to the Tathāgatas is of eight kinds. What are the eight? First, the offering of basis; second, the offering of the object; third, the offering of arising condition; fourth, the offering of dedication; fifth, the offering of cause; sixth, the offering of wisdom; seventh, the offering of field; and eighth, the offering of support. Question: what is the meaning of these eight?
Present or not present; clothing, food, and the rest;
a deep and pure mind arising; to fulfill the two accumulations;
the constant vow to be born in a buddha's era; the three wheels undiscriminated;
maturing all sentient beings; and, last, eleven kinds.
The exposition: these two verses, in eight lines, display the eight meanings just stated, which should be understood as follows. Present or not present is the offering of basis, offering to buddhas present, past, and future alike. Clothing, food, and the rest is the offering of the object, offering with clothing, food, and such things. A deep and pure mind arising is the offering of arising condition, offering with a deep and pure mind of faith. To fulfill the two accumulations is the offering of dedication, offering in order to fulfill the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. The constant vow to be born in a buddha's era is the offering of cause, since, through a vow made long ago, one vows to be born in a buddha's era so as to gain benefit, and the offering is thereby not made in vain. The three wheels undiscriminated is the offering of wisdom, since the three things — the one who offers, the one who receives, and what is offered — cannot be apprehended. Maturing all sentient beings is the offering of field, sentient beings being the field, teaching them to make offerings so that they plant wholesome roots. And, last, eleven kinds is the offering of support. This support is of eleven kinds: first, support in the object, offering in reliance on wealth and goods; second, support in reflection, in reliance on the reflection of relish, the reflection of sympathetic joy, and the reflection of longing; third, support in faith, through faith in the Mahāyāna arousing the mind of enlightenment; fourth, support in the vow, through arousing the vast vow; fifth, support in compassion, through pity for sentient beings; sixth, support in patience, through being able to do what is difficult to do; seventh, support in practice, through the perfections; eighth, support in right mindfulness, being in accord with the Dharma and free of error; ninth, support in right view, through awakening to things as they truly are; tenth, support in liberation, through the extinguishing of the śrāvaka's afflictions; and eleventh, support in truth, through attaining great enlightenment.
The eightfold scheme here — basis, object, condition, dedication, cause, wisdom, field, support — is a near-exact reuse of the eight unsurpassed qualities that closed each perfection's analysis in the previous fascicle, with only 類 (class) replaced by 物 (object) to fit an act of offering rather than a virtue being cultivated. The treatise is quite explicit elsewhere about recycling its own templates, and this is one more instance: rather than devise a fresh analytic grid for veneration, it takes the grid already built for the six perfections and simply reapplies it.
The eleven-fold expansion of support is worth comparing to the five supports for cultivating the perfections from fascicle 7 — object, reflection, mind, skillful means, and power. Two of those five reappear here almost verbatim, support in the object and support in reflection, but the remaining nine are new: faith, vow, compassion, patience, practice, right mindfulness, right view, liberation, and truth. Where the five supports described the inner architecture of cultivation in general, this longer list is built specifically for the devotional act of offering, and reaches for categories — being forsaken by none of the wholesome qualities already established elsewhere in the treatise — that describe not how one practices, but who one has already become by the time an offering is genuinely complete.
2. Offering's Distinctions, and the Supreme Offering
問：供養種差別云何？偈曰：
因果及內外， 麁細與大小，
亦遠近差別， 是名供養種。
釋曰：世等差別為供養種差別。彼過去為因、現在為果，現在為因、未來為果，如是因果謂去來今應知。內者，自供養。外者，令他供養。麁者，利供養。細者，隨順供養。小者，劣供養。大者，勝供養。有慢者為劣，無慢者為勝，三輪不分別故。遠者，欲後時供養。近者，即今時供養。復次隔世供養者為遠，無間供養者為近。復次發願於未來欲供養者為遠，發願於現在即供養者為近。
問：何等供養如來為最上供養？偈曰：
供養諸如來， 最上由自意，
信心通方便， 和合五勝故。
釋曰：五種自意供養如來，應知此供養為最上供養。何謂為五？一者淨信、二者深心、三者神通、四者方便、五者和合。淨信者，於大乘法說供養處生淨信故。深心者，此心有九種：一味心、二隨喜心、三希望心、四無厭心、五廣大心、六勝喜心、七勝利心、八無染心、九善淨心，此九心如修諸波羅蜜中說。神通者，謂依虛空藏等諸三摩提故。方便者，謂無分別智方便攝故。和合者，謂一切諸大菩薩和合一果入一切果故。供養品究竟。
The exposition: what are the classes of offering's distinction?
Cause and fruit, and inner and outer;
coarse and fine, and great and small;
and the distinction of far and near —
these are called the classes of offering.
The exposition: distinctions such as these are the classes of offering. As for cause and fruit: the past offering is the cause, the present its fruit; the present offering is the cause, the future its fruit — cause and fruit should thus be understood across past, future, and present. Inner is offering by oneself; outer is causing another to offer. Coarse is offering for benefit; fine is offering in accordance with what is fitting. Small is inferior offering; great is supreme offering — offering with pride being inferior, offering without pride being supreme, since the three wheels are undiscriminated. Far is offering intended for a later time; near is offering made in the present moment. Further, offering separated by a lifetime is far, and uninterrupted offering is near. Further, vowing to offer in the future is far, and vowing to offer in the very present is near.
The exposition: what offering to the Tathāgatas is the supreme offering?
Offering to the Tathāgatas
is supreme through one's own intention:
faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means,
and concord — these five kinds of supremacy.
The exposition: offering to the Tathāgatas through these five aspects of one's own intention should be understood as the supreme offering. What are the five? Pure faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means, and concord. Pure faith is giving rise to pure faith regarding the place of offering as taught in the Mahāyāna Dharma. Deep mind is of nine kinds: the mind of relish, the mind of sympathetic joy, the mind of longing, the mind without satiety, the vast mind, the mind of surpassing joy, the mind of surpassing benefit, the mind free of taint, and the mind of good purity — these nine minds are as explained in the cultivation of the perfections. Supernormal power is resting on such absorptions as the treasury of space. Skillful means is being gathered by the skillful means of non-discriminating wisdom. And concord is all the great bodhisattvas entering every fruit through one fruit alike. The chapter on offering is complete.
The claim that pride makes an offering inferior and its absence makes an offering supreme, 有慢者為劣、無慢者為勝，三輪不分別故, is explained by appeal to the three wheels rather than to humility as a virtue in its own right — the same non-discrimination of giver, gift, and recipient that fascicle 8 made the criterion for generosity's own supremacy. Pride, on this account, is not primarily an emotional fault but a cognitive one: it is what happens when the three wheels are, in fact, being discriminated, with the offerer implicitly counted as a substantial someone standing apart from the offering and its recipient.
The nine-fold deep mind reappears here as a bare cross-reference — "as explained in the cultivation of the perfections" — pointing back to the five supports for the perfections in fascicle 7, where six of these nine were named as kinds of mind and three more as kinds of reflection. Their silent merger into a single ninefold list, redeployed now for offering rather than for cultivating a perfection, is one more sign that this treatise regards its analytic vocabulary as portable: the same inner dispositions that make giving genuine make an offering genuine, without needing to be re-derived from scratch.
3. Eight Kinds of Drawing Near, and the Teacher's Ten Qualities
釋曰：已說供養如來。云何親近善知識？偈曰：
如前供養佛， 略說有八種，
親近於善友， 應知八亦然。
釋曰：應知親近善知識亦有依等八種。問：此中八義復云何？偈曰：
調靜除德增， 有勇阿含富，
覺真善說法， 悲深離退減。
釋曰：此偈顯示第一依親近。若善知識具足十種功德者，應堪親近。何謂為十？一者調伏、二者寂靜、三者惑除、四者德增、五者有勇、六者經富、七者覺真、八者善說、九者悲深、十者離退。調伏者，與戒相應，由根調故。寂靜者，與定相應，由內攝故。惑除者，信念與慧相應，煩惱斷故。德增者，戒定慧具，不缺減故。有勇者，利益他時不疲惓故。經富者，得多聞故。覺真者，了實義故。善說者，不顛倒故。悲深者，絕希望故。離退者，於一切時恭敬說故。
The exposition: offering to the Tathāgatas having been explained, how does one draw near to a good spiritual friend?
As offering to the buddhas,
briefly stated, is of eight kinds,
so drawing near to a good friend
should be known to be likewise eight.
The exposition: it should be understood that drawing near to a good spiritual friend also has the same eight kinds, beginning with basis. Question: what, here too, are these eight meanings?
Tamed, quiescent, freed of confusion, and of increasing merit;
possessing valor, and rich in the āgamas;
awake to the truth, and skilled in explaining it;
deep in compassion, and free of decline.
The exposition: this verse displays the first support of drawing near, that of basis. If a good spiritual friend is complete with ten kinds of merit, he is fit to be drawn near. What are the ten? Being tamed, being quiescent, having confusion removed, having merit increase, possessing valor, being rich in the āgamas, being awake to the truth, teaching skillfully, being deep in compassion, and being free of decline. Being tamed corresponds to morality, the faculties being tamed. Being quiescent corresponds to concentration, being inwardly gathered. Having confusion removed corresponds to faith, mindfulness, and wisdom, the afflictions being cut off. Having merit increase is being complete with morality, concentration, and wisdom, without deficiency. Possessing valor is not growing weary in benefiting others. Being rich in the āgamas is having gained extensive learning. Being awake to the truth is understanding the true meaning. Teaching skillfully is being free of error. Being deep in compassion is being cut off from any hope of reward. And being free of decline is teaching with reverence at all times.
The ten qualities that make a teacher fit to be drawn near are not a fresh list so much as a portrait assembled from virtues the treatise has already spent eight fascicles establishing — morality, concentration, and wisdom underlie the first four alone, and valor, learning, realization, teaching skill, compassion, and constancy fill out the rest. What is new here is only the assembly: this is the first place the treatise pauses to ask, of a person rather than a practice, what combination of already-familiar qualities would actually make someone worth relying on as a teacher.
4. Drawing Near, Continued: Condition, Dedication, Cause, Wisdom, Field, and Support
偈曰：
敬養及給侍， 身心亦相應，
願樂及以時， 下心為緣起。
釋曰：此偈上半顯示物親近，下半顯示緣起親近。物親近有三：一者財，謂恭敬供養。二者身，謂隨順給侍。三者心，謂給侍時身心相應。緣起親近亦有三種：一者願樂、二者知時、三者除慢。
偈曰：
為離於貪著， 為求隨順行，
隨順如所教， 以此令彼喜。
釋曰：此偈上半顯示迴向親近，下半顯示因親近。迴向親近者，不為貪著利養故，但為隨順修行故。因親近者，菩薩如所教授隨順修行，為親近善知識因。何以故？菩薩以此隨順，令彼善知識心生歡喜故。
偈曰：
善解於三乘， 自乘令成就，
成生及淨土， 為法不為財。
釋曰：此偈顯示智、田、依止三種親近。善解於三乘自乘令成就者，顯示智親近，善解三乘者由智故。成生及淨土者，顯示田親近。田有二種：一眾生田、二佛土田。問：此二云何名田？答：自所聞法於眾生相續中而建立故、隨所住佛土修清淨因故。為法不為財者，顯示依止親近。菩薩但以法利具足為依止，是故親近善知識，不以財利具足為依止故。
Reverent offering, and attendance;
body and mind, in correspondence;
aspiration, and also timeliness;
and lowering the mind — these are the arising condition.
The exposition: the first half of this verse displays drawing near through the object, and the second half displays drawing near through arising condition. Drawing near through the object is of three kinds: wealth, meaning reverent offering; body, meaning attending in accord with the teacher; and mind, meaning body and mind corresponding to one another while attending. Drawing near through arising condition is likewise of three kinds: aspiration, knowing the time, and removing pride.
To depart from craving and attachment;
to seek conduct in accordance with the teacher;
according with what one is taught —
by this, one gladdens him.
The exposition: the first half of this verse displays drawing near through dedication, and the second half displays drawing near through cause. Drawing near through dedication is not for the sake of craving gain, but only for according with and practicing the teaching. Drawing near through cause is the bodhisattva practicing in accordance with what he is taught, which is the cause of drawing near to a good spiritual friend — for by this according, the bodhisattva gladdens the mind of that good spiritual friend.
Skilled in understanding the three vehicles,
bringing one's own vehicle to accomplishment;
maturing beings, and purifying the buddha-land;
for the sake of the Dharma, not for wealth.
The exposition: this verse displays the three kinds of drawing near — through wisdom, field, and support. Being skilled in understanding the three vehicles and bringing one's own vehicle to accomplishment displays drawing near through wisdom, understanding the three vehicles well by means of wisdom. Maturing beings and purifying the buddha-land displays drawing near through field. Field is of two kinds: the field of sentient beings, and the field of the buddha-land. Question: how are these two called fields? Answer: because the Dharma one has heard is thereby established within the continuum of sentient beings, and because, wherever one dwells in a buddha-land, one cultivates the cause of its purification. For the sake of the Dharma, not for wealth displays drawing near through support. The bodhisattva takes only the fullness of the Dharma's benefit as his support; therefore he draws near to a good spiritual friend not taking the fullness of material benefit as his support.
Field, 田, does different work in each place this treatise uses it. In fascicle 8's account of generosity, the field was ranked by the recipient's own merit, from one who merely seeks to one complete in virtue. Here it splits instead into the field of sentient beings and the field of the buddha-land — not a hierarchy of worthier and less worthy recipients, but two distinct places where what is drawn near bears fruit: what one has learned, planted into other beings' continuums, and the purifying cause one cultivates toward one's own future buddha-land. The word stays the same; the metaphor it extends changes with what is actually being cultivated.
5. Drawing Near's Distinctions, and the Supreme Instance
問：親近善知識種差別云何？偈曰：
因果及隨法， 內外與麁細，
勝劣亦遠近， 是謂種差別。
釋曰：因果差別者，謂過去親近為因、現在親近為果，現在親近為因、未來親近為果。隨法差別者，謂善知識所流法門，隨其差別而修行故。內外差別者，自親近為內、令他親近為外。麁細差別者，自聽為麁、內心思惟為細。勝劣差別者，有慢親近為劣、無慢親近為勝。遠近差別者，現在趣中親近為近、生報趣中親近為遠。復次生報趣中親近為近，後報趣中親近為遠。復次無間親近為近，隔世親近為遠。復次願於現在親近為近，願於未來親近為遠。
問：何等親近善知識得為最上？偈曰：
親近善友勝， 自意五如前，
信心通方便， 和合等別故。
釋曰：如前供養諸佛，由五種自意故得為最勝，謂淨信、深心、神通、方便、和合。此中親近善知識，最勝亦爾。由淨信者，於大乘經說親近處生淨信故。由深心者，心亦九種，謂味心乃至善淨心，親近修行故。由神通者，謂依虛空藏等三摩提而親近故。由方便者，謂依無分別智攝故。由和合者，諸大菩薩以一果入一切果故。親近品究竟。
Cause and fruit, and conformity to the Dharma;
inner and outer, coarse and fine;
supreme and inferior, and far and near —
these are called the classes of distinction.
The exposition: the distinction of cause and fruit is that a past drawing-near is the cause, a present one its fruit; a present drawing-near is the cause, a future one its fruit. The distinction of conformity to the Dharma is practicing in accordance with the particular Dharma-gate that flows from the good spiritual friend. The distinction of inner and outer is drawing near oneself being inner, causing another to draw near being outer. The distinction of coarse and fine is one's own listening being coarse, inward reflection being fine. The distinction of supreme and inferior is drawing near with pride being inferior, drawing near without pride being supreme. The distinction of far and near is that drawing near within the present destiny is near, drawing near within a destiny to be born into is far. Further, drawing near within the destiny of the very next birth is near, drawing near within a later-ripening destiny is far. Further, uninterrupted drawing-near is near, drawing-near separated by a lifetime is far. Further, vowing to draw near in the present is near, vowing to draw near in the future is far.
The exposition: what drawing near to a good spiritual friend is supreme?
Drawing near to a good friend is supreme
through the same five aspects of one's own intention as before:
faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means,
and concord — through these distinctions.
The exposition: just as, in offering to the buddhas, the five aspects of one's own intention — pure faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means, and concord — make it supreme, so too, here, drawing near to a good spiritual friend is made supreme in just the same way. Through pure faith: giving rise to pure faith regarding the place of drawing near as taught in the Mahāyāna sūtras. Through deep mind: the mind likewise of nine kinds, from the mind of relish through the mind of good purity, practiced in drawing near. Through supernormal power: drawing near resting on such absorptions as the treasury of space. Through skillful means: being gathered by non-discriminating wisdom. And through concord: all the great bodhisattvas entering every fruit through one fruit. The chapter on drawing near is complete.
Both chapters so far close on the identical formula, and the source text says so outright — 自意五如前, "the same five aspects of one's own intention as before." The treatise could have varied the ending for variety's sake; instead it insists, twice now, that the same five qualities of intention make an act of veneration and an act of discipleship equally supreme. Read alongside fascicle 8's account of the merit shared by all six perfections, a pattern becomes visible across the whole treatise: it tends to treat the outward form of a practice as almost incidental, and the inward quality brought to it as what actually determines the practice's worth.
6. The Four Brahmā Abidings: Structure, Objects, and Grades of Practice
釋曰：菩薩所修四梵住，此云何？偈曰：
梵住有四種， 一一有四相，
治障與合智， 轉境及成生。
釋曰：梵住者，謂四無量，即慈悲喜捨。此中應知菩薩四無量，一一各有四種相：一治障，由所治斷故；二合智，得無分別智對治勝故；三轉境，由眾生緣、法緣、無緣故；四成生，由作勝業成就眾生故。
問：何等眾生為眾生緣？何等法及無緣為法緣及無緣？偈曰：
樂苦喜煩惱， 如是眾生緣，
法緣說彼法， 無緣即彼如。
釋曰：四種眾生聚是眾生緣，一求樂眾生聚、二有苦眾生聚、三有喜眾生聚、四煩惱眾生聚。慈者於求樂眾生聚起與樂行，悲者於有苦眾生聚起拔苦行，喜者於有喜眾生聚起不離行，捨者於諸受起煩惱眾生聚起令離行，是名眾生緣。法緣者，即是說彼四種梵住法，說名法緣。無緣者，即是彼如，以無分別故說名無緣。
偈曰：
及彼如義故， 忍位得清淨，
身口業所攝， 亦盡諸煩惱。
釋曰：彼四種行應知。無緣慈者，以如緣故，八地無生法忍時得，一切善根亦得圓滿，彼清淨故。及慈所依身口二業所攝者，諸煩惱亦盡。如煩惱所緣，說意自體諸煩惱斷，斷所緣故。如是修多羅中說。
問：彼四梵住何等行差別？偈曰：
有動及不動， 亦噉及不噉，
應知四梵住， 如是行差別。
釋曰：彼四梵住應知有四種行差別，一者動、二者不動、三者噉、四者不噉。動者退分，可退故。不動者住分及勝分，不可退故。噉者染污，貪著樂味無大心故。不噉者不染污也。此退等行，是梵住差別。諸菩薩住不動及不噉中，不住於動及噉中。
問：梵住種差別云何？偈曰：
前六及前二， 下地亦下心，
相似等為下， 翻下則為上。
釋曰：下上差別者，彼不定地自性，前六品為下。一切定地前二品亦為下，謂軟軟、軟中。下地亦為下，謂下七地菩薩觀上地故。下心亦為下，謂諸聲聞故。相似亦為下，謂未得無生法忍菩薩故。如所說下，翻此下則為上應知。
問：此四梵住能得幾果？偈曰：
所生欲界報， 滿聚亦成生，
不離及離障， 具足五為果。
釋曰：菩薩住諸梵住為因，具得五果。一者欲界眾生中生，是果報果。二者二聚圓滿，是增上果。三者成熟眾生，是丈夫果。四者一切生處不離梵住，是依果。五者所生之處恒離彼障，是相離果。
The exposition: what are the four Brahmā abidings that the bodhisattva cultivates?
The Brahmā abidings are of four kinds;
each of them has four aspects:
remedying obstruction, and being joined with wisdom;
turning toward its object, and maturing beings.
The exposition: the Brahmā abidings are the four measureless minds — loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. Here it should be understood that the bodhisattva's four measureless minds each have four aspects: first, remedying obstruction, since what is to be remedied is cut off; second, being joined with wisdom, since non-discriminating wisdom is attained as the surpassing remedy; third, turning toward its object, whether the object of sentient beings, the object of the Dharma, or the object without object; and fourth, maturing beings, since supreme deeds are performed that bring sentient beings to accomplishment.
The exposition: what beings are the object of sentient beings? What dharma, and what is the object without object?
Bliss, suffering, joy, and affliction —
such is the object of sentient beings;
the object of the Dharma is the teaching of these four;
and the object without object is their very suchness.
The exposition: the object of sentient beings is four groups of beings: those who seek bliss, those who have suffering, those who have joy, and those caught in affliction. Loving-kindness gives rise to the conduct of bestowing bliss toward the group seeking bliss; compassion gives rise to the conduct of drawing out suffering toward the group with suffering; sympathetic joy gives rise to the conduct of not being apart from it toward the group with joy; and equanimity gives rise to the conduct of freeing from it toward the group caught, amid all their feelings, in affliction — this is called the object of sentient beings. The object of the Dharma is precisely the teaching of these four Brahmā-dharmas, and is so named. The object without object is precisely their very suchness, and is so named because it is without discrimination.
And, through this meaning of suchness,
at the stage of forbearance, purity is attained;
and the deeds of body and speech it comprises
likewise exhaust every affliction.
The exposition: these four aspects of conduct should be understood as follows. Loving-kindness without object, taking suchness as its object, is attained at the eighth ground at the time of the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, at which every wholesome root also reaches fulfillment, being thereby purified. And the deeds of body and speech that this loving-kindness rests on and comprises likewise have every affliction exhausted — just as, with respect to what afflictions take as their object, it is said that the afflictions of the mind's own substance are cut off, their object being cut off. So it is taught in the sūtras.
The exposition: what distinctions of conduct do the four Brahmā abidings have?
Moving, and unmoving;
and consuming, and not consuming —
the four Brahmā abidings should be known
to have these distinctions of conduct.
The exposition: the four Brahmā abidings should be understood to have four distinctions of conduct: moving, unmoving, consuming, and not consuming. Moving belongs to the portion of retrogression, being liable to retrogress. Unmoving belongs to the portion of abiding and the portion of surpassing, being incapable of retrogression. Consuming is defiled, craving and clinging to the savor of bliss without the great mind. Not consuming is undefiled. This retrogression and the rest are the distinctions among the Brahmā abidings; bodhisattvas abide in the unmoving and the not-consuming, not in the moving and the consuming.
The exposition: what are the classes of distinction among the Brahmā abidings?
The first six, and the first two;
the lower grounds, and the lower mind;
and the merely similar — these are inferior;
the reverse of the inferior is superior.
The exposition: the distinction of inferior and superior is this. Among the own-nature of the undetermined grounds, the first six grades are inferior. Among all the determined grounds, the first two grades — the very soft and the soft-middling — are also inferior. The lower grounds are inferior, the bodhisattvas of the first seven grounds still contemplating the grounds above them. The lower mind is inferior, referring to the śrāvakas. The merely similar is also inferior, referring to bodhisattvas who have not yet attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. What has been called inferior in this way — its reverse should be understood as superior.
The exposition: how many fruits can the four Brahmā abidings obtain?
Birth taken as its result in the desire realm;
the two accumulations fulfilled, and beings matured;
never apart from it, and freedom from obstruction —
these five, complete, are its fruit.
The exposition: the bodhisattva's abiding in the Brahmā abidings, as cause, fully obtains five fruits. First, birth among beings of the desire realm — this is the fruit of ripening. Second, the fulfillment of the two accumulations — this is the fruit of dominant condition. Third, the maturing of sentient beings — this is the fruit proper to a great man. Fourth, never being apart from the Brahmā abidings in any place of birth — this is the fruit of dependence. And fifth, being forever free, in every place one is born, from their obstruction — this is the fruit of separation.
The object of sentient beings divides beings into exactly four groups — those seeking bliss, those suffering, those already joyful, and those caught in affliction — and each of the four Brahmā minds is aimed at precisely one. Between them, the first three exhaust the possible conditions any being can be found in; there is no one to whom none of the four applies. Equanimity's object, those caught in affliction amid all their feelings, is then the odd one out, aimed not at a circumstance but at a distortion running through every circumstance alike — which is presumably why it alone, among the four, is defined by what it removes rather than by what it bestows.
Consuming versus not consuming, 噉 versus 不噉, is an unusually visceral pair of terms for what the exposition glosses as craving the savor of one's own bliss. The image is not of the practitioner enjoying meditative absorption from a safe distance, but of being eaten by it — clinging to a pleasant taste until the taste has, in effect, consumed the very mind that was supposed to be cultivating loving-kindness for others. It is a sharper way of naming a danger this treatise has already flagged more abstractly elsewhere: that even a wholesome practice, pursued for its own savor, can quietly reverse who is feeding on whom.
7. The Bodhisattva's Mark, and the Faults of Losing the Brahmā Abidings
問：此梵住中有何等事是菩薩相？偈曰：
設遇重障緣， 及以自放逸，
欲知菩薩相， 梵心無退轉。
釋曰：菩薩有二事梵心不動，應知是為菩薩相。一者設遇重障因緣，心終無異，是菩薩相。二者設自放逸，謂能治不現前時，心亦無異，是菩薩相。況無量現前時。
問：梵住障礙云何？偈曰：
四梵有四障， 瞋惱憂欲故，
菩薩具此障， 多種過失起。
釋曰：彼四梵所對治具有四障，如其次第，一瞋、二惱、三憂、四欲。由如此障梵無體故。若有此四，復生多種過失。
問：多失云何？偈曰：
如是諸煩惱， 起則有三害，
自害亦害彼， 及以尸羅害。
釋曰：此偈顯示三害過失。一自害，謂自苦思作。二他害，謂他苦思作。三尸羅害，謂俱苦思作。
偈曰：
有悔亦失利， 失護及師捨，
治罰并惡名， 如是六呵責。
釋曰：此偈顯示得六種呵責過失。一者自呵責，由有憂悔故。二者他呵責，由失利養故。三者天呵責，由失擁護故。四者大師呵責，由大師所捨故。五者梵行呵責，由智慧梵行人如法治罰故。六者十方人呵責，惡名流出故。
偈曰：
後身諸難墮， 梵住今亦退，
心數亦苦得， 復此三過生。
釋曰：此偈顯示後得三種過失。一者墮難，由此惡業得後世惡報故。二者退行，由已得退及未得退，退失現在未來梵住故。三者苦生，由心數法從彼生大憂苦故。
問：已說過失，何者是功德？偈曰：
善住梵住人， 遠離彼諸惡，
生死不能污， 不捨濟群生。
釋曰：住梵住者得二功德，一者捨煩惱，如前所說過失悉遠離故；二者不捨眾生，為成熟眾生生死不能污故。
問：已知功德。此功德云何知最尊最上？偈曰：
如人有一子， 有德生極愛，
菩薩於一切， 起梵勝過彼。
釋曰：由過此譬則顯示菩薩四種梵住最尊最上。
The exposition: within these Brahmā abidings, what is the bodhisattva's mark?
Even meeting a condition of grave obstruction,
or a lapse into one's own heedlessness —
to know the bodhisattva's mark:
the Brahmā-mind never turns back.
The exposition: there are two circumstances in which the bodhisattva's Brahmā-mind remains unmoved, and these should be understood as the bodhisattva's mark. First, even meeting the causes and conditions of grave obstruction, his mind is never otherwise — this is the bodhisattva's mark. Second, even in his own heedlessness, when the remedy is not consciously present, his mind is likewise never otherwise — this is the bodhisattva's mark. How much more so, then, when the measureless minds are actually present.
The exposition: what obstructs the Brahmā abidings?
The four Brahmā minds have four obstructions —
hatred, vexation, distress, and desire;
should the bodhisattva be caught by these obstructions,
many kinds of fault arise.
The exposition: what each of the four Brahmā minds remedies is exactly countered by four obstructions, in order: first, hatred; second, vexation; third, distress; and fourth, desire — since, where such obstruction is present, the Brahmā mind has no substance. And where these four are present, many further faults arise.
The exposition: what are these many faults?
When such afflictions arise,
there are three kinds of harm:
harm to oneself, and harm to another,
and harm to one's own moral discipline.
The exposition: this verse displays the fault of three harms. First, harm to oneself, meaning one contrives one's own suffering. Second, harm to another, meaning one contrives another's suffering. And third, harm to moral discipline, meaning one contrives the suffering of both together.
Regret, and the loss of gain;
the loss of protection, and being forsaken by one's teacher;
disciplinary correction, and ill repute —
these are the six reproaches.
The exposition: this verse displays the fault of incurring six kinds of reproach. First, self-reproach, through having regret. Second, others' reproach, through the loss of one's gain and support. Third, the gods' reproach, through the loss of their protection. Fourth, the great teacher's reproach, through being forsaken by the great teacher. Fifth, the reproach of those who practice the holy life, through being lawfully corrected by wise practitioners of the holy life. And sixth, the reproach of people in the ten directions, through the spreading of one's ill repute.
Falling, in a future body, into difficulty;
retrogressing, even now, from the Brahmā abidings;
and mental factors that bring forth suffering —
these three further faults arise.
The exposition: this verse displays three faults obtained afterward. First, falling into difficulty, through this unwholesome karma bringing an evil result in a future life. Second, retrogression in practice, through losing, whether already attained or not yet attained, the Brahmā abidings of both present and future. And third, the arising of suffering, through the mental factors that arise from this producing great distress.
The exposition: the faults having been explained, what is the merit?
One who well abides in the Brahmā abidings
departs far from every such evil;
saṃsāra is unable to defile him,
and he never abandons the rescue of the multitude of beings.
The exposition: one who abides in the Brahmā abidings obtains two merits: first, relinquishing the afflictions, all the faults explained above being departed from entirely; and second, not relinquishing sentient beings, since, in order to mature sentient beings, saṃsāra is unable to defile him.
The exposition: the merit having been made known, how is it known to be foremost and supreme?
As a person with an only son,
possessed of virtue, gives rise to the utmost love —
the bodhisattva, toward all beings,
gives rise to a Brahmā-mind surpassing even that.
The exposition: by exceeding this simile, it is shown that the bodhisattva's four Brahmā abidings are foremost and supreme.
The bodhisattva's mark is defined by two absences rather than by any positive experience: the mind does not change under grave provocation, and it does not change even in a moment of one's own carelessness, when no deliberate remedy is being applied. This is a behavioral test rather than an introspective claim — one that could, in principle, be checked from outside by watching what a person does under exactly these two kinds of pressure — and it fits a pattern already visible elsewhere in this literature, where a state of mind is verified by what fails to happen to it rather than by any report of how it feels.
The escalating sequence of three harms, then six reproaches, then three further faults traces a widening circle in both scope and time: three harms name immediate psychological damage to oneself, another, and one's own discipline; six reproaches name how this registers in the eyes of others, from one's own regret outward through society to the ten directions; and three later faults name what follows into future lives. The passage does not simply list twelve consequences — it moves outward exactly as its own subject, compassion for beings without limit, is elsewhere said to move outward, only here tracing the cost of the four Brahmā abidings' loss rather than the reach of their practice.
8. Great Compassion's Ten Objects, Fruit, Non-Abiding, and Differentiation
問：大悲以何等眾生為所緣？偈曰：
熾然及怨勝， 苦逼亦闇覆，
住險將大縛， 食毒并失道，
復有非道住， 及以瘦澁者，
如此十眾生， 大悲心所緣。
釋曰：菩薩大悲略以十種眾生為境界。一是熾然眾生，謂樂著欲染者。二是怨勝眾生，謂修善時為魔障礙者。三是苦逼眾生，謂在三塗者。四是闇覆眾生，謂恒行不善者，由不識業報故。五是住險眾生，謂不樂涅槃者，由生死險道不斷絕故。六是大縛眾生，謂外道僻見者，由欲向解脫為種種僻見堅縛所縛故。七是食毒眾生，謂噉定味者，譬如美食雜毒則能害人；善定亦爾，為貪所著則便退失。八是失道眾生，謂增上慢者，由於真實解脫道中而迷謬故。九是非道住眾生，謂於下乘不定者，由有退故。十是瘦澁眾生，謂諸菩薩於二聚未滿者。如此十種眾生，是菩薩大悲所緣境界。
已說大悲境界，次說大悲得果。偈曰：
障斷及覺因， 與樂亦愛果，
自流五依故， 是人去佛近。
釋曰：障斷者，是相離果，彼障斷故。覺因者，是增上果，利益眾生故。與樂者，是丈夫果，丈夫所作故。愛果者，是果報果，得可愛報故。自流者，是依果，與未來勝悲故。如是五果皆依大悲所得。當知如此菩薩，去佛菩提則為不遠。
已說大悲得果，次說大悲不住。偈曰：
生死苦為體， 及以無我性，
不厭亦不惱， 大悲勝覺故。
釋曰：一切生死以苦為體、以無我為性，菩薩於苦得如實知、於無我得無上覺，如是得知覺已，由大悲故於生死不生厭離，由勝覺故亦不為煩惱所惱，是故菩薩得不住涅槃亦不住生死。
已說大悲不住，次說大悲功德。偈曰：
見苦自性時， 知苦生悲苦，
亦知捨方便， 恒修不厭生。
釋曰：菩薩觀世間苦，見其自性時即生悲苦。如彼遠離方便，亦求如實知，知已恒修不厭，是名大悲功德。
已說大悲功德，次說大悲差別。偈曰：
自性與數擇， 宿習及障斷，
應知菩薩悲， 如此四差別。
釋曰：此大悲隨其次第有四差別。一者自性，成自然故。二者數擇，見功德過失故。三者宿習，由先世久修故。四者障斷，由得離欲斷所治惱障清淨故。
復有六種差別。偈曰：
非等亦非常， 非深亦非順，
非道非不得， 翻六悲如是。
釋曰：翻非大悲六種差別，即是大悲六種差別。一者平等、二者常恒、三者深極、四者隨順、五者淨道、六者不得。平等者，於樂受等眾生所有諸受皆知是苦故。常恒者，乃至無餘涅槃亦無盡故。深極者，入地諸菩薩得自他平等故。隨順者，於一切眾生苦如理拔濟故。淨道者，所對治惱得斷除故。不得者，得無生法忍時諸法不可得故。
The exposition: what beings does great compassion take as its object?
Those ablaze, and those overcome by a foe;
those pressed by suffering, and those covered in darkness;
those dwelling in danger, and those in great bondage;
those who eat poison, and those who have lost the path;
and further, those who dwell off the path,
and those wasted and parched —
these ten kinds of beings
are the objects of the mind of great compassion.
The exposition: the bodhisattva's great compassion takes, in brief, ten kinds of beings as its domain. First, beings ablaze — those who delight and are attached to the defilement of desire. Second, beings overcome by a foe — those obstructed by Māra while cultivating what is wholesome. Third, beings pressed by suffering — those in the three evil destinies. Fourth, beings covered in darkness — those who constantly do what is unwholesome, not recognizing karmic result. Fifth, beings dwelling in danger — those who do not delight in nirvāṇa, the perilous path of saṃsāra never being cut off for them. Sixth, beings in great bondage — outsiders of deviant view, bound fast by their various deviant views even as they wish to turn toward liberation. Seventh, beings who eat poison — those who feast on the savor of concentration; just as delicious food laced with poison can harm a person, so too a good concentration, once clung to with craving, brings about retrogression. Eighth, beings who have lost the path — those of overweening pride, deluded and mistaken with regard to the true path of liberation. Ninth, beings dwelling off the path — those undetermined within the lesser vehicles, since they are liable to retrogress. And tenth, beings wasted and parched — bodhisattvas whose two accumulations are not yet fulfilled. These ten kinds of beings are the domain that is the object of the bodhisattva's great compassion.
The exposition: great compassion's domain having been explained, next its attainment of fruit is explained.
The cutting off of obstruction, and the cause of awakening;
the bestowal of bliss, and a pleasing result;
and its own outflow — through these five,
this person draws near to buddhahood.
The exposition: the cutting off of obstruction is the fruit of separation, that obstruction being cut off. The cause of awakening is the fruit of dominant condition, since it benefits sentient beings. The bestowal of bliss is the fruit proper to a great man, being what a great man does. The pleasing result is the fruit of ripening, obtaining a pleasing result. And its own outflow is the fruit of dependence, giving rise to a still more surpassing compassion in the future. These five fruits are all obtained in dependence on great compassion, and such a bodhisattva should be known to be, then, not far from the Buddha's enlightenment.
The exposition: great compassion's attainment of fruit having been explained, next its non-abiding is explained.
Saṃsāra has suffering as its substance,
and selflessness as its nature;
neither wearied nor afflicted by it —
through great compassion, and through surpassing awakening.
The exposition: all of saṃsāra has suffering as its substance and selflessness as its nature. The bodhisattva attains true knowledge of suffering and unsurpassed awakening to selflessness; having thus known and awakened, through great compassion he gives rise to no weariness or aversion toward saṃsāra, and through this surpassing awakening he is likewise not afflicted by the afflictions. For this reason the bodhisattva attains neither abiding in nirvāṇa nor abiding in saṃsāra.
The exposition: great compassion's non-abiding having been explained, next its merit is explained.
At the moment of seeing suffering's own nature,
knowing suffering, the suffering of compassion arises;
knowing, too, the means of relinquishing it,
he constantly cultivates it, never wearied by its arising.
The exposition: as the bodhisattva contemplates the suffering of the world, at the very moment he sees its own nature, the suffering of compassion arises in him. Just as he seeks the means of departing from it, he also seeks true knowledge of it; and having known it, he constantly cultivates compassion without weariness — this is called the merit of great compassion.
The exposition: great compassion's merit having been explained, next its differentiation is explained.
Own-nature, and discerning reflection;
former habituation, and the cutting off of obstruction —
the bodhisattva's compassion should be known
to have these four distinctions.
The exposition: this great compassion, in order, has four distinctions. First, own-nature, becoming natural and spontaneous. Second, discerning reflection, seeing its merit and fault. Third, former habituation, through long cultivation in former lives. And fourth, the cutting off of obstruction, through attaining freedom from desire and cutting off the afflictive obstruction that is to be remedied, thereby becoming pure.
The exposition: there is, furthermore, a sixfold distinction.
Not equal, and not constant;
not utterly deep, and not accordant;
not a path of purification, and not beyond apprehension —
the reverse of these six is great compassion.
The exposition: the reverse of these six distinctions of what is not great compassion is precisely the sixfold distinction of great compassion itself: first, equality; second, constancy; third, the utmost depth; fourth, accordance; fifth, the path of purification; and sixth, being beyond apprehension. Equality is knowing that every feeling — even what is felt as pleasure — belongs to beings, and is suffering. Constancy is being inexhaustible even unto nirvāṇa without remainder. The utmost depth is bodhisattvas who have entered the grounds attaining the equality of self and other. Accordance is rescuing every sentient being's suffering exactly as is fitting. The path of purification is the cutting off of the affliction it remedies. And being beyond apprehension is that, at the attainment of the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, no dharma whatsoever can be apprehended.
What makes this list of ten unusual is how few of its members are obviously wretched. Alongside beings in the three evil destinies sit beings absorbed in the very pleasure of successful meditation, deluded only by having attained something genuinely good, and, in tenth place, bodhisattvas themselves, whose sole fault is that their own accumulations are not yet complete. Great compassion, on this accounting, is not reserved for the visibly suffering; it extends to every kind of incompleteness, the meditator's no less than the sinner's, and — by the treatise's own last item — potentially the practitioner's own.
The sixth item in compassion's own sixfold distinction, being beyond apprehension, closes the list on the same paradox fascicle 8 reached with patience: at the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas, no dharma can be apprehended, which means there is, strictly, no longer a self who compassionates, no other who is compassionated toward, and no compassion apprehended as a separate thing standing between them. The treatise does not treat this as compassion's disappearance but as its purification — the same virtue, freed at last of the three terms it once required.
9. The Simile of the Tree, and Great Compassion Praised
已說大悲差別，次說大悲如樹。偈曰：
悲忍思願生， 成熟次第說，
大根至大果， 悲樹六事成。
釋曰：此大悲樹應知以六事成就，一者大悲、二者忍辱、三者思惟、四者勝願、五者勝生、六者成熟，此即是根、莖、枝、葉、華、果六位。問：此事云何？答：此樹以大悲為根，以忍辱為莖，以利益眾生思惟為枝，以勝生願為葉，以所得勝生為華，以成熟眾生為果。
問：何故六事先後如此？偈曰：
無悲則無忍， 如是六次第，
勝生若不得， 成熟眾生無。
釋曰：若無大悲則不能起大苦難行忍，若無大苦難行忍則不能起利益眾生思惟，若無利益眾生思惟則不能起勝生願，若無勝生願則不能向勝生處，若不向勝生處則不能成熟眾生。
問：前後相似如此，成立相似復云何？偈曰：
根生以慈潤， 莖擢以樂廣，
念正則增枝， 願續則長葉，
內緣成為華， 外緣成為果，
當知悲根等， 如是次第成。
釋曰：此中成立相似者，悲以慈潤能令滋生，由有慈者見他苦已生悲苦故，是故以悲為根。忍以樂想能令抽擢，由菩薩利他苦生樂想，樂想生已能令忍辱得廣大故，是故以忍為莖。思以正念能令增進，由忍廣已能於利他事中起正念故，是故以思為枝。願以相續能令長成，由前滅後生，譬如葉長落故抽新，是故以願為葉。生以內緣成為實，由自身成熟則受生不虛，是故以生為華。成熟者，以外緣成為實，由他身成熟則利益不虛，是故以成熟眾生為果。如是次第成立應知。
已說大悲如樹，次讚大悲功德。偈曰：
大悲利益作， 誰於他不起？
於苦勝樂生， 樂生由悲故。
釋曰：此義如偈所說。
已讚大悲功德，次說大悲無著。偈曰：
菩薩悲自在， 寂靜尚不住，
世樂及身命， 此愛云何起？
釋曰：一切世間皆愛世樂及自身命。一切聲聞緣覺雖不愛世樂及自身命，而於涅槃起住著意。菩薩不爾，大悲自在故，於涅槃尚不住，何況住彼二愛中。
已說大悲無著，次說大悲愛勝。偈曰：
貪愛非無障， 世悲亦世間，
菩薩悲愛起， 障盡亦過世。
釋曰：悲愛最勝自有二義，一者障盡、二者過世。愛親等貪則自體是障，行世間悲體雖非障而是世間。菩薩悲愛自體障盡而復過世，故為最勝。
問：云何障盡？偈曰：
有苦及無智， 大海及大闇，
拔濟以方便， 云何不障盡？
釋曰：有苦為大海，無智為大闇。能拔濟方便是大悲，此悲愛則障盡。
問：云何過世？偈曰：
羅漢及緣覺， 如是悲愛無，
何況餘世間， 豈得不過世？
釋曰：阿羅漢辟支佛尚無大悲愛，況餘世間而有可得。若如是者，豈不過世乎？
The exposition: great compassion's distinctions having been explained, next great compassion as a tree is explained.
Compassion, patience, reflection, the vow, birth,
and maturation — explained in order;
from the great root to the great fruit,
the tree of compassion is accomplished through six things.
The exposition: this tree of great compassion should be understood to be accomplished through six things: first, great compassion; second, patience; third, reflection; fourth, the surpassing vow; fifth, surpassing birth; and sixth, maturation — these are precisely the six positions of root, stalk, branch, leaf, flower, and fruit. Question: how is this so? Answer: this tree takes great compassion as its root, patience as its stalk, reflection on benefiting sentient beings as its branches, the vow for surpassing birth as its leaves, the surpassing birth obtained as its flower, and the maturing of sentient beings as its fruit.
The exposition: why do these six things follow one another in just this order?
Without compassion, there is no patience —
such is the sequence of these six;
if surpassing birth is not attained,
there is no maturing of sentient beings.
The exposition: without great compassion, one cannot give rise to the patience that endures great and difficult hardship; without the patience that endures great and difficult hardship, one cannot give rise to reflection on benefiting sentient beings; without reflection on benefiting sentient beings, one cannot give rise to the vow for surpassing birth; without the vow for surpassing birth, one cannot go toward a place of surpassing birth; and without going toward a place of surpassing birth, one cannot mature sentient beings.
The exposition: given that they resemble one another in this before-and-after sequence, how do they resemble one another in what establishes each?
The root grows moistened by loving-kindness;
the stalk rises tall through the broadening of joy;
right mindfulness makes the branches increase;
the continuing vow makes the leaves grow long;
the inner condition ripens into the flower;
the outer condition ripens into the fruit;
know that compassion as root, and the rest,
are established in just this order.
The exposition: as for what establishes their resemblance here — compassion, moistened by loving-kindness, is able to bring about growth, since one possessed of loving-kindness gives rise to the suffering of compassion upon seeing another's suffering; therefore compassion is the root. Patience, through the perception of joy, is able to rise tall, since the bodhisattva, amid the hardship of benefiting others, gives rise to the perception of joy, and once this perception of joy has arisen, patience is able to grow broad; therefore patience is the stalk. Reflection, through right mindfulness, is able to increase, since, once patience has grown broad, right mindfulness is able to arise within the work of benefiting others; therefore reflection is the branches. The vow, through continuity, is able to grow to fullness, since what came before ceases and what comes after arises, as a leaf, once grown long, falls and a new one is put forth; therefore the vow is the leaves. Birth, through the inner condition, ripens into substance, since, once one's own person has matured, the birth one receives is not in vain; therefore birth is the flower. And maturation, through the outer condition, ripens into substance, since, once another's person has matured, the benefit is not in vain; therefore the maturing of sentient beings is the fruit. This order of establishment should be understood accordingly.
The exposition: great compassion as a tree having been explained, next great compassion's merit is praised.
Great compassion accomplishes benefit —
in whom does it not arise toward another?
Amid suffering, a surpassing bliss is born;
that bliss is born through compassion.
The exposition: this meaning is as the verse states.
The exposition: great compassion's merit having been praised, next great compassion's non-attachment is explained.
The bodhisattva's compassion has mastery:
he does not abide even in quiescence —
worldly bliss, and his own body and life —
how could love for these arise?
The exposition: everyone in the world loves worldly bliss and their own body and life. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, though they do not love worldly bliss or their own body and life, nonetheless give rise to a mind of abiding attachment toward nirvāṇa. The bodhisattva is not so: through the mastery of great compassion, he does not abide even in nirvāṇa — how much less, then, would he abide in attachment to those other two.
The exposition: great compassion's non-attachment having been explained, next the superiority of great compassion's love is explained.
Craving love is not without obstruction;
worldly compassion, too, is of the world;
the bodhisattva's compassionate love arises
with its obstruction exhausted, and transcending the world.
The exposition: the love of compassion is supreme for two reasons of its own: the exhaustion of obstruction, and transcending the world. Craving love for one's kin and the like has obstruction as its very substance; ordinary, worldly compassion, though not obstruction in its own substance, is nonetheless of the world. The bodhisattva's compassionate love has its own substance free of obstruction and, further, transcends the world — and is thus supreme.
The exposition: how is it that its obstruction is exhausted?
Suffering is a great ocean,
and ignorance a great darkness;
to rescue beings by skillful means —
how could its obstruction not be exhausted?
The exposition: suffering is the great ocean; ignorance is the great darkness. What is able to rescue beings by skillful means is great compassion, and this compassionate love has its obstruction thereby exhausted.
The exposition: how does it transcend the world?
Arhats and pratyekabuddhas
are without such compassionate love;
how much more, then, is it absent from the rest of the world —
how could it fail to transcend the world?
The exposition: arhats and pratyekabuddhas do not even have this compassionate love, much less could it be found in the rest of the world. This being so, how could it not transcend the world?
Each pairing in the tree simile names a specific mechanism rather than a loose resemblance: moisture enables growth, a perception of joy enables height, mindfulness enables branching, the vow's own continuity — old leaf falling, new leaf put forth — enables renewal, and two kinds of ripening, inward and outward, produce flower and fruit respectively. What is easy to miss on a first pass is where patience sits: not as the tender, inward part of the tree but as its stalk, the exposed structure that must bear real weight before anything else can rise. Compassion, by contrast, is buried at the root, invisible and foundational. The ordering runs against an intuitive picture in which compassion is the soft part and patience the hard one; the treatise insists on the reverse, that compassion is what must be planted first and out of sight, and patience is what visibly stands up to adversity once it has been.
Great compassion's superiority is argued almost entirely by contrast rather than by direct description: it transcends the world because arhats and pratyekabuddhas — beings who have already left craving behind — still lack it, so a fortiori nothing less awakened could possess it either. This is the same rhetorical shape fascicle 8 used to dissolve patience into the disappearance of anything to be patient about: rather than describe what great compassion positively is, the treatise repeatedly proves how far above ordinary categories it stands by showing that even the most accomplished non-bodhisattvas fall short of it.
10. Great Compassion's Superiority to Bliss, and Its Fruits of Giving
已說大悲愛勝，次說大悲無厭。偈曰：
得悲諸菩薩， 捨苦而起苦，
彼初起苦怖， 證時欣樂甚。
釋曰：捨苦者，謂諸菩薩以大悲故欲捨他苦。而起苦者，由捨他苦則起自苦。彼初起苦怖者，彼初謂信行地菩薩。彼於起苦中而生怯怖，由自他平等未見故、由苦如實未觸故。證時欣樂甚者，證時謂淨心地菩薩。彼於起苦中生極欣樂，由見自他平等故、由苦如實已觸故。
已說大悲無厭，次說大悲苦勝。偈曰：
悲苦最希有， 苦勝一切樂，
更樂悲生故， 辦非有況餘。
釋曰：悲苦最希有者，謂從他苦而生大悲，從大悲而生自苦。如是悲苦有何希有，而得過此故為最希有。苦勝一切樂者，即此悲苦勝於一切世間之樂。問：何故？答：更樂悲生故。此諸菩薩更以悲苦為樂，由此苦從大悲生故。辦非有況餘者，彼樂所作已辦者尚無，況餘世間而得有也。
已說大悲苦勝，次說大悲施勝。偈曰：
施與悲共起， 能令菩薩樂，
三界中樂受， 比此無一分。
釋曰：若布施與大悲俱生，則能起菩薩勝樂。於三界中所作諸樂，欲比大悲施所作樂，無有一分而得相似。
已說大悲施勝，次說大悲忍苦。偈曰：
生死苦自性， 不捨由悲故，
起苦利他因， 云何捨不習？
釋曰：一切苦悉入生死苦中。諸菩薩不捨生死，由大悲故。菩薩起苦，是利他因。菩薩不捨生死時，即是不捨一切苦。
已說大悲忍苦，次說大悲施果。偈曰：
悲施財三果， 悲者恒增長，
愛生及攝生， 資生復三樂。
釋曰：悲施財三果悲者恒增長者，謂菩薩大悲能增長三種果：一者增悲，由修習故能令自體增長。二者增施，由悲自在故能令施得增長。三者增財，由施自在故能令財得增長。愛生及攝生資生復三樂者，從是三果復生三樂：一者從悲為因生愛生樂、二者從施為因生攝生樂、三者從財為因生資生樂。
已說大悲增果，次說大悲勸進。偈曰：
悲長及施增， 成生亦樂起，
牽來復將去， 大悲勸如是。
釋曰：大悲勸進菩薩行六種功德。大悲義言：菩薩！汝修習我令我滋長，汝捨資財令施增進，汝應以施成熟眾生，汝應以施令自樂起，汝若施者招引大菩提二聚及餘令向己來，汝若施者將導二聚及餘令向大菩提去。
已說大悲勸進，次說大悲樂勝。偈曰：
苦者悲諸苦， 不施云何樂？
以令自樂故， 施樂拔他苦。
釋曰：苦者悲諸苦者，諸菩薩以悲起諸苦，是故名苦者。不施云何樂者，菩薩大悲故以他苦為自苦，若不施他樂云何得自樂？以令自樂故施樂拔他苦者，若菩薩施眾生樂、拔眾生苦時，即是菩薩自作樂。
The exposition: the superiority of great compassion's love having been explained, next great compassion's freedom from satiation is explained.
Bodhisattvas who have attained compassion
relinquish suffering, yet give rise to suffering;
at first, giving rise to it, they feel dread;
at realization, they feel the utmost joy.
The exposition: relinquishing suffering is bodhisattvas wishing, through great compassion, to relinquish another's suffering. Yet giving rise to suffering is that, by relinquishing another's suffering, one's own suffering thereby arises. At first, giving rise to it, they feel dread refers to the bodhisattva at the ground of faith and practice: in giving rise to this suffering he feels timid dread, not yet having seen the equality of self and other, and not yet having truly touched suffering as it is. At realization, they feel the utmost joy refers to the bodhisattva at the ground of the pure mind: in giving rise to this suffering he feels the utmost joy, having seen the equality of self and other, and having truly touched suffering as it is.
The exposition: great compassion's freedom from satiation having been explained, next it is explained that the suffering of great compassion surpasses all bliss.
The suffering of compassion is the most rare of things;
this suffering surpasses every bliss;
it is loved anew, since it is born of compassion;
such accomplishment does not even exist elsewhere, much less anything further.
The exposition: the suffering of compassion is the most rare of things — arising from another's suffering, great compassion is born; and from great compassion, one's own suffering is born. What could be more rare than a suffering that comes about in this way, surpassing every such thing — hence it is called the most rare. This suffering surpasses every bliss: this very suffering of compassion surpasses every bliss of the world. Question: why? Answer: because it is loved anew, being born of compassion — these bodhisattvas love this suffering of compassion as a fresh bliss, since this suffering is born from great compassion. Such accomplishment does not even exist elsewhere, much less anything further: even the bliss of one whose work is already accomplished does not exist for the bodhisattva to prefer, much less could such a thing be found anywhere else in the world.
The exposition: the suffering of great compassion having been explained as supreme, next the superiority of great compassion joined with giving is explained.
Giving, arising together with compassion,
is able to bring the bodhisattva joy;
of all the feelings of bliss within the three realms,
not one part compares to this.
The exposition: if giving is born together with great compassion, it is able to give rise to the bodhisattva's surpassing bliss. Of every bliss produced within the three realms, seeking to compare it to the bliss produced by giving joined with great compassion, not a single part could be found to resemble it.
The exposition: the superiority of giving joined with great compassion having been explained, next great compassion's endurance of suffering is explained.
Saṃsāra has suffering as its own nature;
not relinquishing it is through compassion;
giving rise to suffering is the cause of benefiting others —
how could one relinquish it, and not practice it?
The exposition: every suffering is entirely included within the suffering of saṃsāra. Bodhisattvas do not relinquish saṃsāra, through great compassion. The bodhisattva's giving rise to suffering is the cause of benefiting others; when the bodhisattva does not relinquish saṃsāra, this is precisely not relinquishing every suffering.
The exposition: great compassion's endurance of suffering having been explained, next great compassion's fruit of giving is explained.
Compassion, giving, and wealth — three fruits;
the compassionate constantly increase through them;
love arising, and gathering beings,
and provision for life — three further blisses.
The exposition: compassion, giving, and wealth — three fruits; the compassionate constantly increase means the bodhisattva's great compassion is able to increase three kinds of fruit: first, the increase of compassion, since through cultivation its own substance is made to increase; second, the increase of giving, since through the mastery of compassion, giving is made to increase; and third, the increase of wealth, since through the mastery of giving, wealth is made to increase. Love arising, and gathering beings, and provision for life — three further blisses means that from these three fruits, three further blisses are born: first, from compassion as cause, the bliss of love arising is born; second, from giving as cause, the bliss of gathering beings is born; and third, from wealth as cause, the bliss of provision for life is born.
The exposition: great compassion's increase of fruit having been explained, next great compassion's exhortation is explained.
Compassion's growth, and giving's increase;
beings matured, and bliss arisen;
drawing in, and further leading onward —
thus does great compassion exhort.
The exposition: great compassion exhorts the bodhisattva to practice six kinds of merit. Great compassion, in effect, says: Bodhisattva! You who cultivate me make me grow; you who relinquish your wealth make giving increase; you should, through giving, mature sentient beings; you should, through giving, give rise to your own bliss; if you give, you draw the two accumulations of great enlightenment, and all else besides, toward yourself; and if you give, you lead the two accumulations, and all else besides, onward toward great enlightenment.
The exposition: great compassion's exhortation having been explained, next the superiority of great compassion's bliss is explained.
One who suffers, compassionate toward every suffering —
without giving, how could there be bliss?
Since it brings about one's own bliss,
one gives bliss and draws out another's suffering.
The exposition: one who suffers, compassionate toward every suffering: bodhisattvas, through compassion, give rise to suffering, and are therefore called sufferers. Without giving, how could there be bliss?: the bodhisattva, through great compassion, takes another's suffering as his own; if he does not give another bliss, how could he obtain bliss for himself? Since it brings about one's own bliss, one gives bliss and draws out another's suffering: when the bodhisattva gives sentient beings bliss and draws out their suffering, this is precisely the bodhisattva making his own bliss.
The same act — deliberately taking on another's suffering — is said to feel like dread at the ground of faith and practice and like the utmost joy at the ground of the pure mind, with nothing about the act itself changing between the two. What changes is only whether the bodhisattva has actually seen the equality of self and other, rather than holding it as a doctrine taken on faith. This is a rare moment where the treatise names how a single practice's emotional register transforms across two specific stages of the path, rather than simply asserting that realization brings joy in the abstract.
The final several verses collapse any residual distinction between benefiting oneself and benefiting another: compassion produces giving, giving produces wealth, and each in turn produces its own bliss, but every one of these blisses is explicitly the bliss of another's need being met — the bodhisattva's own joy is said to be made precisely by giving bliss and drawing out another's suffering, not somehow alongside it. Earlier fascicles were careful to name self-benefit and other-benefit as two distinct things a bodhisattva must hold together; here, at the level of great compassion specifically, the two are no longer even described as two.
11. Great Compassion's Teaching on Giving Practice
已說大悲樂勝，次說大悲教施。偈曰：
悲者教自施， 施彼勿自求，
施報願不受， 有願還以施。
釋曰：此偈教行無求施。悲者教自施施彼勿自求者，大悲義言：汝施施他時莫求自樂，他樂若無自樂亦無。何以故？樂不別故。施報願不受有願還以施者，若我施果亦願不受，設有果時還以布施。
偈曰：
施及於施果， 普施於一切，
彼樂我樂故， 施彼我無須。
釋曰：此偈教行施果施。謂施及施所得果，普施一切眾生。何以故？悲者以彼樂為自樂故。是故菩薩所有施果，皆應布施一切眾生。大悲作如是教授。
偈曰：
輕財而以施， 來多復來好，
不用而自來， 還用展轉施。
釋曰：此偈教行厭財施。若人厭財而行施者，是人雖不欲財而財自來。極廣極妙道理如此，以大心故。若有如此還用布施，是則資財來而復來，菩薩則施而復施。何以故？非求自樂，欲令施施無窮故。
偈曰：
悲者以大悲， 盡施及常施，
應作如是施， 慎勿求施果。
釋曰：此偈教行無間施應知。
偈曰：
若我不樂施， 施果不施時，
施無一剎那， 以無施愛故。
釋曰：此偈教行無厭施應知。
偈曰：
不作不與果， 與果與作者，
是汝觀恩過， 與我不相似。
釋曰：此偈教行捨恩施。菩薩語施云：若人行汝者，汝方與果，是汝待報恩過失。我則不爾，是汝不與我相似。復次若人行汝者，汝但與此人果，汝則是待報恩者。我則不爾，所行施果與一切眾生，是汝不與我相似。
已說大悲教施，次說大悲行施。
The exposition: the superiority of great compassion's bliss having been explained, next great compassion's teaching on giving is explained.
Compassion itself teaches giving:
giving to another, seek nothing for yourself;
vow not to receive the reward of giving —
and should there be a vow, give that too.
The exposition: this verse teaches the practice of giving without seeking. Compassion itself teaches giving: giving to another, seek nothing for yourself — great compassion, in effect, says: when you give to another, do not seek your own bliss; if the other has no bliss, you yourself have none either, since bliss is not, in truth, a separate thing. Vow not to receive the reward of giving, and should there be a vow, give that too — even the fruit of my giving, I vow not to receive; should such a fruit arise, I give that away as well.
The gift, and the fruit of the gift —
give both universally, to all;
since their bliss is my bliss,
giving to them, I myself need nothing.
The exposition: this verse teaches the practice of giving even the fruit of giving — that is, giving both the gift and the fruit obtained from it universally to all sentient beings. Why? Because compassion takes another's bliss as its own bliss. Therefore, whatever fruit of giving the bodhisattva has, he should give it entirely to all sentient beings. Such is great compassion's own teaching.
Making light of wealth, and giving it away —
it comes again, more and better;
unsought, it comes of itself —
and, once used, is given on again.
The exposition: this verse teaches the practice of giving without valuing wealth. If a person, making light of wealth, practices giving, then although he has no wish for wealth, wealth comes to him of itself — such is the utterly vast and wondrous principle here, owing to the greatness of his mind. If he then gives this away again in turn, resources come, and come again; the bodhisattva gives, and gives again. Why? Not seeking his own bliss, he wishes only that his giving continue giving without end.
The compassionate, through great compassion,
give everything, and give constantly;
one should give in just this way,
and take care never to seek the fruit of giving.
The exposition: this verse should be understood to teach the practice of uninterrupted giving.
If I do not delight in giving,
in the fruit of giving, or when not giving —
then there is not one instant of giving at all,
since there is no love of giving.
The exposition: this verse should be understood to teach the practice of giving without ever being sated.
Not to act, yet still to grant the fruit;
to grant the fruit only to the one who acts —
this is your fault of watching for repaid kindness;
it is not like me at all.
The exposition: this verse teaches the practice of giving that relinquishes the expectation of gratitude. The bodhisattva addresses giving itself, saying: if you grant your fruit only once someone has practiced you, this is your fault of watching for repaid kindness — you are not like me. Furthermore, if you grant your fruit only to the particular person who has practiced you, then you are one who watches for repaid kindness — I am not like this; the fruit of the giving I practice, I give to all sentient beings alike. In this you are not like me.
The exposition: great compassion's teaching on giving having been explained, next great compassion's practice of giving is explained.
These six verses stage a small drama rather than simply stating six rules. Great compassion is personified as a teacher addressing the bodhisattva directly — "Bodhisattva! ..." — for the first five; then, in the sixth, the direction of address reverses, and it is the bodhisattva who turns to speak to giving itself, chiding it for watching to see who has practiced it before granting any reward, and insisting that he himself is not like that. The device makes vivid, rather than merely asserting, the difference between a virtue still transacting in reciprocity and one that has genuinely let it go: even an abstraction like giving can be imagined as still owing someone something, and the bodhisattva's whole point is that he no longer does.
12. The Qualities of the Gift, and the Chapter's Close
偈曰：
無障及淨句， 利彼亦自量，
無求與無著， 悲者如是施。
釋曰：無障者，謂不奪他物行施故。淨句者，以如法財行施，謂不以毒物兵杖酒等施故。利彼者，以施攝他時置於善根故。自量者，不令自眷屬有乏少故。無求者，謂前眾生或無心求或無口求，見彼乏少自然而施，及不簡福田故。無著者，不求報恩及以果報故。
偈曰：
盡廣勝常喜， 離著亦清淨，
迴向於二處， 菩提及善根。
釋曰：盡者，內外物施故。廣者，多物施故。勝者，妙物施故。常者，恒施故。喜者，離瞋施故。謂乞求者作不饒益時，忍而喜施。離著者，無希望故，如前無著說。清淨者，以如法故，如前淨句說。迴向菩提者，迴向大菩提故。迴向善根者，迴向隨順善根器故。
已說大悲行施，次說大悲受用差別。偈曰：
有財而自用， 及用施眾生，
得喜施喜勝， 三樂養心故。
釋曰：菩薩自受用財生喜，及用財布施眾生生喜，二喜相比施喜為勝。何以故？三樂養心故。三樂者，一布施喜、二攝他喜、三菩提聚滿足喜。
已說大悲受用差別，次說大悲增長諸度。偈曰：
慳惡瞋放逸， 緣著及邪著，
如是六蔽者， 悲令六度增。
釋曰：慳者，少物不能捨故。惡者，破戒及惱他故。瞋者，於少不饒益起大瞋故。放逸者，於諸善法不勤行故。緣著者，五欲亂心故。邪著者，外道無慧故。如是住六蔽者，大悲憐愍為說過失，令六波羅蜜而得增長。
說大悲增長諸度已，此大悲從四緣生亦應顯示。偈曰：
苦樂不苦樂， 因力及善友，
自體相續流， 大悲四緣義。
釋曰：苦樂不苦樂者，顯示緣緣具緣，三受三苦俱起悲故。問：捨受云何苦？答：由行苦故。因力者，顯示因緣。善友者，顯示增上緣。自體相續流者，顯示次第緣。
問：大悲如是生已，云何得平等？偈曰：
行相及思惟， 隨順與離障，
不得亦清淨， 六義悲平等。
釋曰：大悲平等有六種。一者行相平等，由三受位眾生平等知是苦故。二者思惟平等，由平等憐愍故。三者隨順平等，由平等救濟故。四者離障平等，由平等不惱故。五者不得平等，由自他及悲三輪平等不可得故。六者清淨平等，由八地無生忍時平等得故。
問：如是別說大悲已，此四梵住云何修習得令無上？偈曰：
慈等令無上， 自意修亦五，
信心通方便， 和合如前說。
釋曰：如前供養諸佛、親近善友，皆由五種自意修習得令無上，梵住亦爾。由淨信者，於大乘經說梵住處生淨信故。由深心者，以九種心修梵住故。由神通者，依虛空等定而修習故。由方便者，依無分別智所攝故。由和合者，以一果入一切果故。梵住品究竟。
Free of obstruction, and of pure phrase;
benefiting others, yet measuring what is one's own;
free of seeking, and free of attachment —
thus does the compassionate one give.
The exposition: free of obstruction is practicing giving without seizing another's belongings. Of pure phrase is giving with wealth that accords with the Dharma — that is, not giving poison, weapons, or liquor. Benefiting others is, in gathering another through giving, establishing him in a wholesome root. Measuring what is one's own is not leaving one's own household in want. Free of seeking is that, whether the being before him asks with his mind or asks aloud, seeing his want one gives spontaneously, without discriminating among fields of merit. And free of attachment is seeking neither repayment nor any resulting reward.
Complete, and vast, and of excellent things, and constant, and joyful;
free of attachment, and pure;
dedicated to two things —
enlightenment, and wholesome roots.
The exposition: complete is giving both inner and outer things. Vast is giving many things. Excellent is giving fine things. Constant is giving continually. Joyful is giving free of hatred — that is, when one who begs treats him with what is unkind, he bears it and gives with joy nonetheless. Free of attachment is being without expectation, as explained above under free of attachment. Pure is according with the Dharma, as explained above under of pure phrase. Dedicated to enlightenment is dedicating it to great enlightenment. And dedicated to wholesome roots is dedicating it to the vessel that accords with wholesome roots.
The exposition: great compassion's practice of giving having been explained, next the distinction in great compassion's own enjoyment is explained.
Having wealth, and using it for oneself;
or using it, giving it to sentient beings;
the joy of receiving, and the greater joy of giving —
through three blisses, the mind is nourished.
The exposition: the bodhisattva feels joy in using wealth for himself, and feels joy in using wealth to give to sentient beings; comparing these two joys, the joy of giving is the greater. Why? Because three blisses nourish the mind: the bliss of giving, the bliss of gathering others, and the bliss of the fulfillment of the accumulation for enlightenment.
The exposition: the distinction in great compassion's enjoyment having been explained, next great compassion's increase of the perfections is explained.
Stinginess, wrongdoing, hatred, and heedlessness;
attachment to objects, and deviant attachment —
these six kinds of hindrance:
compassion causes the six perfections to increase against them.
The exposition: stinginess is being unable to give up even a small possession. Wrongdoing is breaking the precepts and vexing others. Hatred is giving rise to great anger over a small unkindness. Heedlessness is not diligently practicing the wholesome dharmas. Attachment to objects is the mind disturbed by the five desires. And deviant attachment is the outsiders' lack of wisdom. For those abiding in these six hindrances, great compassion, out of pity, expounds their fault, and causes the six perfections to increase in their place.
The exposition: great compassion's increase of the perfections having been explained, it should further be shown that great compassion is born from four conditions.
Suffering, bliss, and neither suffering nor bliss;
the power of cause, and a good friend;
and its own substance flowing on in continuity —
such is the meaning of great compassion's four conditions.
The exposition: suffering, bliss, and neither suffering nor bliss displays the condition that is its object together with the condition that furnishes it, since compassion arises together with all three feelings and their three corresponding kinds of suffering. Question: how is the feeling of equanimity suffering? Answer: through the suffering of formations. The power of cause displays the causal condition. A good friend displays the dominant condition. And its own substance flowing on in continuity displays the condition of immediate succession.
The exposition: great compassion having thus arisen, how does it attain equality?
Its aspect, and its reflection;
its accordance, and its freedom from obstruction;
its being beyond apprehension, and its purity —
these six meanings are compassion's equality.
The exposition: great compassion's equality is of six kinds. First, equality of aspect, since it knows, equally, that every feeling of beings in all three states is suffering. Second, equality of reflection, through equal pity. Third, equality of accordance, through equal rescue. Fourth, equality free of obstruction, through equally causing no vexation. Fifth, equality beyond apprehension, since self, other, and compassion — the three wheels — are all equally beyond apprehension. And sixth, equality of purity, through being equally attained at the time of the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas at the eighth ground.
The exposition: great compassion having thus been separately explained, how is the cultivation of these four Brahmā abidings made unsurpassed?
Loving-kindness and the rest are made unsurpassed
through the same five aspects of one's own intention, cultivated:
faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means,
and concord — as explained before.
The exposition: just as offering to the buddhas and drawing near to a good spiritual friend are both made unsurpassed through cultivating the five aspects of one's own intention, so too are the Brahmā abidings. Through pure faith: giving rise to pure faith regarding the place of the Brahmā abidings as taught in the Mahāyāna sūtras. Through deep mind: cultivating the Brahmā abidings with the nine kinds of mind. Through supernormal power: cultivating them resting on such absorptions as the treasury of space. Through skillful means: being gathered by non-discriminating wisdom. And through concord: entering every fruit through one fruit alike. The chapter on the Brahmā abidings is complete.
Great compassion's four conditions borrow, without comment, the standard fourfold scheme of causal condition, dominant condition, immediate succession, and the object condition that any Abhidharma analysis of ordinary mental events would use to explain how a thought arises. Applying this same technical apparatus to compassion — a good friend counted as its dominant condition, its own past instances as the condition of immediate succession — is characteristic of this treatise's method throughout: even its most devotional material is ultimately accounted for with the same causal grammar used for everything else, rather than being set apart as a special, ungrounded exception.
All three chapters of this fascicle end on the identical fivefold scheme of one's own intention — pure faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means, and concord — and the source text says so outright each time, closing the Brahmā abidings with 如前說, "as explained before." Offering to the buddhas, drawing near to a good spiritual friend, and cultivating loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity could hardly look more different as outward practices. The treatise's insistence on ending all three in exactly the same place makes its underlying claim hard to miss: veneration, discipleship, and the measureless minds are, at bottom, the same inward act, performed on three different objects.
Fascicle 9 Complete
Three chapters, each shorter and more devotional than anything in the two fascicles before it, yet together comprising the treatise's fullest treatment of what stands outside strict philosophical analysis: how a bodhisattva venerates the buddhas, how he chooses and draws near to a good spiritual friend, and how he cultivates the four Brahmā abidings. Offering and drawing near mirror each other almost line for line, each broken into the same eight kinds — basis, object, condition, dedication, cause, wisdom, field, and support — and each made supreme through the identical five aspects of one's own intention: pure faith, deep mind, supernormal power, skillful means, and concord. The chapter on the Brahmā abidings opens with the same structural rigor — four aspects, three kinds of object, four distinctions of conduct, five fruits — before giving way to its second half, an extended meditation on great compassion alone that runs longer than either of the two chapters before it: its ten objects, spanning from beings ablaze with desire to bodhisattvas whose own accumulations are still incomplete; its tree of six stages from the buried root of compassion itself to the fruit of maturing others; its freedom from satiation, proven supreme over every worldly bliss; and, at its close, six verses in which compassion is personified as a teacher, instructing the bodhisattva directly in how to give without ever seeking a return. Fascicle 10 opens 覺分品第二十一, the chapter on the factors of enlightenment.
Continue to Fascicle 10 — The Factors of Enlightenment →