Closing the Avalokiteśvara Contemplation
Almost every mark of Avalokiteśvara's own body is declared identical to the Buddha's — except two, deliberately incomplete, marking the boundary between teacher and disciple even at this most exalted level.
Identical to the Buddha, Except Where He Is Not
八、從舉足時下，至莫不彌滿已來，正明足有德用之相。九、從其餘身相已下，指同於佛。
十、從唯頂上下，至不及世尊已來，正明師徒位別、果願未圓，致使二相有虧，表居不足之地也。十一、從是為下，總結。
Eighth, from "when he raises his own foot" down through "nothing that is not entirely filled," this makes plain that his own feet possess this very same virtuous function. Ninth, from "as for the rest of his own bodily marks" onward, this points out that these are identical to the Buddha's own.
Tenth, from "only upon the crown of his head" down through "he does not equal the World-Honored One," this makes plain that, teacher and disciple occupying distinct positions, his own fruit and vow not yet fully perfected, these two marks remain incomplete — signifying that he still occupies a position not yet entirely sufficient. Eleventh, from "this, then, is" onward, this gathers together the general conclusion.
These two deliberately unfinished marks matter precisely because everything else about Avalokiteśvara has just been described as matching the Buddha's own splendor point for point. Shandao reads this small, specific incompleteness as doctrinally meaningful rather than incidental: even a bodhisattva of this stature, whose "own fruit and vow" are not yet fully perfected, remains marked as distinct from full buddhahood — a visible boundary preserved within an otherwise near-total resemblance.
An Exhortation, and the Close of This Contemplation
十二、從佛告阿難下，至當作是觀已來，正明重結前文生其後益。十三、從作是觀者下，至何況諦觀已來，正明勸觀利益。
十四、從若有欲觀觀音下，至如觀掌中已來，正明重顯觀儀勸物傾心，使沾兩益。十五、從作是觀已下，正明辨觀邪正相。斯乃觀音願重影現十方，寶手停輝隨機引接。上來雖有十五句不同，廣明觀音觀竟。
Twelfth, from "the Buddha told Ānanda" down through "one should form this very contemplation," this makes plain the renewed conclusion of the preceding text, opening the benefit that follows. Thirteenth, from "one who forms this contemplation" down through "how much more so through attentive contemplation," this makes plain the exhortation toward the benefit of this contemplation.
Fourteenth, from "should one wish to contemplate Avalokiteśvara" down through "as though seeing it in the palm of one's own hand," this makes plain the renewed revealing of the manner of this contemplation, exhorting all beings to turn their own hearts toward it, so that they might receive both these benefits together. Fifteenth, from "having formed this contemplation" onward, this makes plain the distinguishing of the mark of what is correct from what is mistaken in this practice. This, then, is Avalokiteśvara, whose own weighty vow casts his reflection throughout the ten directions, his jeweled hands holding their own radiance still, guiding beings according to each one's own capacity. Though the above has unfolded across fifteen distinct points, this concludes the full explanation of the Avalokiteśvara contemplation.
Tenth Contemplation Complete
This closes Part 63, and with it the Avalokiteśvara contemplation, the tenth of the sixteen, in full — spanning Parts 62 through 63. Part 64 turns to the eleventh contemplation, that of Mahāsthāmaprāpta (勢至觀) — the second attendant bodhisattva, whose every mark of body and light is described largely by direct comparison to Avalokiteśvara's own, before diverging in his own distinctive manner of walking and sitting.
Continue to Part 64 — The Mahāsthāmaprāpta Contemplation Begins →