The One Who Observes the Observer

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, I recall that in ages past, numberless as the sands of the Ganges, a buddha appeared in the world named Avalokiteśvara. Under that buddha I resolved on bodhi, and that buddha taught me to enter samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating."

Commentary: "Recall" is exactly remembrance, and "think of" is exactly reflection — together, calling to mind and pursuing in memory events from countless kalpas in the past. This is precisely the bodhisattva's own attainment of the knowledge of former lives, one of the three insights; measuring these kalpas by the sands of the Ganges speaks, in the most emphatic terms, of just how distant this past truly is. "In" that time carries exactly the sense of "at" — at that very time, a single buddha appeared in the world. A buddha appears in the world for the sake of one great cause and condition alone: to open and reveal to sentient beings the Buddha's own knowledge and vision, which they already possess in full; and to bring sentient beings to awaken to and enter this same knowledge and vision. That buddha, too, bore the name Avalokiteśvara — whether because he, too, at his own causal stage, cultivated and realized through the ear-faculty, or because, discerning the capacities of his own age, he judged that entry through the ear-faculty was best suited to it, and so took this very name for himself, handing down his own method of practice, in turn, to transform others.

That buddha taught entry into samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating — this is exactly opening, revealing, awakening to, and entering the Buddha's own knowledge and vision: opening and revealing to sentient beings that the ear-faculty's own nature of hearing is exactly the unborn, unceasing buddha-nature itself, and that this buddha-nature is exactly the Buddha's own knowledge and vision, already possessed in full. Having sentient beings proceed through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating: "hearing" means hearing the Buddha's own instruction and awakening clearly to this buddha-nature already possessed, taking this as the causal-stage mind; and, relying on this very awakening, giving rise to reflection and cultivation, one thereby attains realization and entry. This buddha-nature already possessed is the direct cause; awakening clearly to it is the perfecting cause; reflection and cultivation belong to the conditioning cause. Once the conditioning and perfecting causes have done their work, the direct cause stands revealed of itself, and one attains entry into the Buddha's own knowledge and vision — this is exactly the great cause and condition behind that buddha's own appearance in the world.

"Under that buddha I resolved on bodhi" is the bodhisattva's own account of their very first resolve. "That buddha" is exactly the Buddha Avalokiteśvara. The Sanskrit bodhi translates as "the path." To resolve on bodhi is exactly to resolve on this great path — seeking neither the blessings of humans or gods, nor the fruits of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, nor even the ranks of a bodhisattva of the provisional vehicles, but relying solely on the very highest vehicle, resolving on bodhi — that is, the mind that seeks, above, the unsurpassed path of bodhi itself.

The Sanskrit bodhi is also translated "awakening," and awakening carries three senses: original awakening, initial awakening, and ultimate awakening. Original awakening is exactly the buddha-nature every sentient being already possesses — every sentient being is, originally, already a buddha, only deluded and unawakened, this original, awakened buddha-nature buried beneath the five aggregates and their afflictions. Now, beginning to awaken, though deluded, nothing is actually lost — and, relying on this very wisdom of initial awakening, one resolves and diligently seeks the buddha-path of ultimate awakening: this is exactly what is meant by resolving on unsurpassed bodhi. The bodhi-mind is the very king among minds; in a bodhisattva's own practice, this mind comes first of all — without resolving on bodhi, no practice whatsoever can ever be established. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: "to forget and lose the bodhi-mind, and yet cultivate every other wholesome dharma, is called the work of Māra." There was once a bodhisattva who, encountering a buddha in ages past, had already resolved on bodhi — yet, practicing afterward in the world, forgot this earlier resolve entirely, retaining no memory of it at all, and so every mundane or transcendent wholesome deed cultivated from then on was called, alike, the work of Māra. One might ask: how could even a transcendent, world-surpassing wholesome dharma be called the work of Māra? The answer: this very sūtra's own fifty states of demonic interference lists the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha paths among them as well — and from this alone one may know that this is entirely because the bodhi-mind was never resolved on. If even forgetting it brings this result, how much more so never resolving on it at all!

The bodhi-mind is also exactly the three minds of the Awakening of Faith: first, the straightforward mind, because it holds true, correct mindfulness of suchness itself — and what makes this mindfulness correct is precisely that it clings to neither of the two extremes, giving rise to the wisdom that contemplates the true principle of suchness directly, exactly according with the very substance of the bodhi-mind. Second, the profound mind, because it delights in cultivating every wholesome practice — taking joy in cultivating every mundane and transcendent practice that benefits both oneself and others. Third, the mind of great compassion, because it wishes to draw out every sentient being's suffering — with this same equal, great compassionate mind, drawing out every sentient being's suffering, both the suffering of birth-and-death by fixed portions and the suffering of birth-and-death by inconceivable transformation. These latter two are both the functioning of the resolve on bodhi; resolving on this mind now is exactly seeking unsurpassed bodhi itself. The bodhi-mind is the most precious thing of all — the moment it is first resolved on is exactly like a prince still in the womb, already outranking every minister in the court, watched over by every buddha, blessed by every sage. Even a hundred analogies drawn from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra could not exhaust its full magnificence — and so, under that buddha, I first resolved on this very mind, taking it as my own causal-stage mind.

"That buddha taught me hearing, reflecting, and cultivating" makes plain how this Dharma-gate was received: having already resolved on this great mind, one must still seek the Buddha's own instruction — "that buddha" pointing exactly to the Buddha Avalokiteśvara, who taught me to take up these three kinds of wisdom, of hearing, reflection, and cultivation, as my own starting point. These three kinds of wisdom are not what is ordinarily meant by the same terms. In ordinary usage, the wisdom of hearing means hearing a sūtra recited and understanding its meaning — its very substance being exactly the ear-consciousness together with the mental consciousness accompanying it at the same moment, and the superior understanding this gives rise to; reflection and cultivation, likewise, are exactly the independently operating mental consciousness, taking the sound-teaching once heard and thinking it over, practicing it further. All of this, without exception, never departs from the arising-and-ceasing discriminating mind of consciousness — and this very discriminating mind is itself the obstruction to perfect penetration. This sūtra takes discarding consciousness and relying on the sense-faculty as its own central purpose, and so these three kinds of wisdom are not what is ordinarily meant by the same terms.

Here, this wisdom of hearing is exactly the wondrous wisdom of initial awakening arising from the ear-faculty's own wondrous principle, the nature of hearing — not hearing the sound that is the object heard, but hearing only the very nature of hearing that hears. The wisdom of reflection is exactly correct wisdom's own contemplation, asking who, precisely, is the one who hears — clinging to neither the extreme of emptiness nor of existence, single-mindedly turning hearing back to hear one's own nature. The wisdom of cultivation is exactly this illusion-like habituation of hearing, and the cultivation of hearing turned back — moment after moment turning back to its own origin and returning of itself, subsiding back into its own true origin, giving rise to its own original, bright radiance, untying the six knots, passing beyond the three emptinesses, breaking through the five aggregates, surpassing the five turbidities — relying entirely on non-discriminating wisdom, and on the sheer effort of turning hearing back upon itself.

"Entered samādhi" is exactly the very samādhi inherent within this wisdom itself — from hearing this teaching, believing and understanding it, one gives rise to cultivation and realization in turn. There is a samādhi within cultivation, which is exactly the effort of untying the knot at the sense-faculty's own root; and there is a samādhi within realization, which is exactly the state where still cessation appears of itself. The word "entered" here marks exactly this: once all six knots are fully untied, one realizes and enters the very samādhi of perfect penetration itself — exactly the wondrous samādhi among the three names Ānanda originally requested, and exactly the cultivation and realization of complete meaning named in the sūtra's own title.

Sūtra: "At first, within hearing itself, I entered the stream and let go of what was heard."

Commentary: "At first, within hearing itself" means exactly this: at the very outset, within the ear-faculty's own nature of hearing, one takes up the practice from there — taking the ear-faculty as the wondrous gate entered, and the nature of hearing as the principle-realm illuminated. From the sense-faculty's own original awakening, this wondrous principle, one gives rise to the illusion-like wondrous wisdom of initial awakening; using this wisdom to illuminate this principle is exactly the habituation of hearing, and the cultivation of hearing turned back upon itself.

These two words, "within hearing," must first be distinguished clearly of all else, lest one mistakenly take up the wrong cause of mind. First, this is not within the fleshly ear — the fleshly ear being a coarse, physical dharma of floating dust, and so it does not fit the gate of the second decisive meaning. Second, this is not within the ear-consciousness — the ear-consciousness discriminating instantly, moment by moment, and so it is certainly not the true, direct cause of bodhi. Third, this is not within mental consciousness — mental consciousness being exactly the very root of birth and death, and so it is exactly the obstruction to perfect penetration. This is exactly why, when Ānanda sought the Buddha's own certainty, the Buddha refuted consciousness three separate times, wishing to have it set aside and discarded, and displayed seeing ten separate times, wishing to have it taken up and put to use. Though the eye and the ear differ, their own nature is one and the same. This "within hearing," here, is exactly the same "within seeing" the Buddha displayed earlier; and it is exactly the very center of the three aspects of the tathāgatagarbha's own nature, displayed when the Tathāgata broadly harmonized the four categories and fully interfused the seven great elements; and it is exactly the very center of the middle way itself, this perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing nature the Tathāgata displayed, brightly illuminating the ten thousand dharmas, favoring neither emptiness nor existence. If one is able to discern this clearly here, and take it as one's own root cause of cultivation, one can naturally accomplish, perfectly and completely, the cultivation and realization of the fruit-stage.

"Entered the stream and let go of what was heard": the ancient Buddha Avalokiteśvara taught entry into samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating, and Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, relying on this teaching, took up the practice, starting, at first, within hearing itself — this being exactly the wisdom of hearing. Everything from this line up through "arising and ceasing were themselves extinguished" is exactly the two further kinds of wisdom, of reflection and cultivation; and "still cessation appeared of itself" is exactly entering samādhi. "Entering the stream" is spoken in contrast to "flowing outward": the ear-faculty following its own hearing, flowing outward, rushing after sound, is exactly the very origin of bondage; turning hearing back, entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly, is exactly the very root of liberation. And so every buddha, speaking with one and the same voice, tells Ānanda: what makes you turn in the wheel, the very root of the knot of birth and death, is nothing but your own six sense-faculties, nothing else at all; and what brings you to swift realization, peaceful, blissful liberation, the still, wondrous, ever-abiding — this too is nothing but your own six sense-faculties, nothing else at all. The Dharma-gate Avalokiteśvara cultivated, receiving this same teaching, exactly matches the very intention of our own founding teacher Śākyamuni, and of every buddha of the ten directions.

"Entering the stream": the wisdom of contemplation is what enters, and the ear-gate is what is entered — "entering" meaning exactly turning the mechanism of hearing back upon itself, no longer flowing outward to condition sound, but entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly. It is also exactly reversing that beginningless stream of interwoven, false karmic activity, and instead according with the ear-faculty's own true stream, the nature of hearing. Entering the stream is exactly the wisdom of reflection, together with the wisdom of cultivation as well — using the wisdom of contemplation to reflect and cultivate, not the discriminating thought of the mind of consciousness, asking: who, precisely, is the one who hears the world's sounds? This is exactly the same effort as an investigative inquiry — the same, as before, as not following the three continuities of the world, of karmic fruit, and of sentient beings in their discriminating, and thereby severing the three conditions. One simply raises up a single thread of doubt and pushes straight through with it, inquiring into who, exactly, is hearing — continuously, closely, without a single break. When sound stirs, inquire: who is it that hears this sound? When sound falls still, inquire: who is it that hears this stillness? This is exactly the same as, in the Chan lineage, taking up and investigating a huatō — at every moment, in every place, never departing from this single phrase. Only, that tradition mostly makes use of the mind-faculty, while this practice makes exclusive use of the ear-faculty — this being the one, slight difference between them. Both alike are the light of wisdom illuminating inward, exactly as the Buddha has said: if you simply do not follow after motion, stillness, and the other sense-objects, but slip loose from what you cling to and turn inward to subside, subsiding back into your own true origin, then the light of wisdom no longer leaks outward, and every sound-object, without even needing to be deliberately let go of, lets go of itself. Hence: "entered the stream and let go of what was heard." Entering the stream is exactly according with awareness; letting go of what was heard is exactly turning one's back on the sense-object — turning one's back on the sense-object while according with awareness is this sūtra's own wondrous path of practice, the most simple, essential, and skillful method of cultivation there is.

Sūtra: "Once what was entered into grew still, the two marks of motion and stillness became utterly unarisen."

Commentary: "Letting go of what was heard," above, untied the "knot of motion"; these three further lines untie the "knot of stillness" — the mark of motion is simply mentioned again alongside it. In the first phrase, the word "entered into" picks up exactly this same "letting go of what was heard" from before; the word "grew still" still refers to this same entering of the stream. This means: though every moving sense-object has already been let go of, one still turns hearing back, entering the stream, never setting aside this same root practice, never resting in this state of stillness either — for this state of stillness is itself exactly the domain of the aggregate of form, like a person with clear sight standing within a vast, darkened room. This "grew still" is by no means the stillness of a merely quiet objective state — it is exactly the state in which both the sense-objects of motion and of stillness alike have, at this point, both grown still together. And once what was entered into has thus grown still, both the knot of motion and the knot of stillness are untied together, the sound-object entirely dissolved away — hence, "the two marks of motion and stillness became utterly unarisen." This "utterly unarisen" means exactly that both sense-object marks, of motion and of stillness, can no longer be found at all — these two lines are themselves the very gloss on "grew still." And once effort has reached this point, both knots, of motion and stillness in the sound-object, being untied together, the aggregate of form is thereby broken through!

Sūtra: "Increasing this gradually, both the hearing and what is heard were exhausted."

Commentary: This unties the "knot of the sense-faculty." "This same" is a word pointing back to the method already described — pointing back to turning hearing back and leaving the sense-object behind, this same twofold wisdom of reflection and cultivation. With both knots within the sense-object now untied, the knot of the sense-faculty itself now comes into view — this faculty being exactly hearing gathered together into the ear, congealed and obstructed into this very faculty's own root — and this, too, is itself a knot, and must likewise be untied. Continuing to follow this same original method of cultivation, advancing gradually, applying still further effort, the power of samādhi growing ever deeper, the two sense-objects heard, of motion and stillness, having already become utterly unarisen, the very sense-faculty that hears is thereby exhausted together with what it hears. The sense-object no longer being conditioned at all, the sense-faculty has nothing left to pair with — and, at this point, the knot of the sense-faculty, too, is untied: there is no longer anything that receives, nor anything received, and so the aggregate of sensation is thereby broken through! Sense-faculty and sense-object both dissolved away, consciousness has nothing left from which to arise, and so the aggregate of perception, too, is broken through at this very point. This is exactly what the Buddha said earlier: once this sense-faculty is first untied, one first attains the emptiness of self — matching precisely this very point, since, the sense-object gone, the sense-faculty exhausted, and consciousness dissolved away, the self has nothing left to depend upon. These three knots here are also exactly what the Buddha displayed, in the sequence in which the six knots first arise, as "strained seeing giving rise to sense-objects" — now that these three coarser knots are already untied, sense-objects no longer arise, and seeing is no longer strained!

Sūtra: "Even this exhaustion of hearing did not become a resting place, and the awareness and what it was aware of became empty as well."

Commentary: This unties the "knot of awareness." The words "exhaustion of hearing" pick up exactly this same state, described above, in which both the hearing that hears and what is heard are exhausted together, sense-faculty and sense-object both dissolved away, all six functions no longer operating, only a single awareness remaining. Should one rest within this state, one attains only the emptiness of self, not yet the emptiness of dharmas, and falls forever into the deep pit of the unconditioned. "Did not become a resting place" means one still applies further effort, advancing to contemplate the nature of hearing further still. The line that follows names this newly realized state — as the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: after this exhaustion of hearing, sense-faculty and sense-object both slip entirely loose, and a single, calm, boundless state appears before one; and so, here, "awareness" refers exactly to the wisdom that illuminates this state, while "what it was aware of" refers exactly to this same calm, single state itself. Should this exhaustion of hearing become a resting place, then this state and this wisdom stand permanently opposed to one another, subject and object still remaining — and this becomes, in the end, an obstruction to further advance, exactly what Master Guishan called "still possessing mind and objective state both." Here, "the awareness and what it was aware of became empty as well" means exactly this: the very wisdom that is aware, and the very state that is its object, both alike become empty and still, dissolving away with nothing left standing over against anything else. Awareness belongs to the province of wisdom, to prajñā itself — how, then, could even this wisdom, capable of according with true principle, likewise become empty? One should know: this is exactly breaking through attachment to dharmas. Should one begrudge this very wisdom, unwilling to let it go, this is itself a kind of dharma-attachment, a fondness for wisdom itself — and this, too, is itself a knot, which must likewise be untied. As the Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra puts it: "because the illusory sense-object ceases, the illusory mind ceases as well; because the illusory mind ceases, the illusory wisdom ceases as well; because the illusory wisdom ceases, this very cessation of illusion ceases as well; and because this cessation of illusion itself ceases, what is not illusory does not cease." That passage describes exactly this same effort of untying the knot. This present knot of awareness is exactly that same illusory wisdom — and it is exactly what the Buddha displayed, in the sequence in which the six knots first arise, as "knowledge and vision falsely arising, this false arising never resting." Now that the knot of awareness is already untied, knowledge and vision no longer arise falsely, and this falseness no longer continues on!

Sūtra: "Once this emptiness and awareness reached their utmost fullness, even emptiness and what was emptied were extinguished. Once arising and ceasing were themselves extinguished, still cessation appeared of itself."

Commentary: This unties the "knot of emptiness." "Emptiness" here is exactly the very emptiness in "the awareness and what it was aware of became empty"; "awareness" is exactly both the awareness that is aware and what it is aware of together. Because there is this emptiness that empties out these two, the aware and the object of awareness — though the knot of awareness is thereby untied, this very emptiness is itself a knot as well, and must likewise be untied; for the emptying subject and the emptied object both still plainly remain, and the nature of emptiness itself has not yet reached its own fullness. Should one cherish this very principle of emptiness, unwilling to let it go, this is itself a fondness for principle, a dharma-attachment — one must still enter the stream to illuminate this nature directly, applying still further effort, inquiring into what, exactly, this emptiness itself depends upon, pursuing this inquiry to its very limit, so as to seek the full, perfect completion of the nature of emptiness itself.

"Even emptiness and what was emptied were extinguished": not only is the wisdom-realm that was emptied extinguished, but the very emptiness that did the emptying is extinguished as well — exactly like using one piece of wood to drill into another, until fire emerges and the wood itself burns away, both alike extinguished together. Now that the knot of emptiness is untied, the aggregate of formations is thereby broken through! This is exactly what the Buddha meant, saying that the nature of emptiness, perfectly bright and complete, accomplishes liberation from every dharma — matching precisely this very point, at which the state where both are already empty has been attained.

"Once arising and ceasing were themselves extinguished, still cessation appeared of itself": this unties the "knot of extinction." The words "arising and ceasing" refer, in general, to every one of these knots together: motion is extinguished and stillness arises; stillness is extinguished and the sense-faculty arises; the sense-faculty is extinguished and awareness arises; awareness is extinguished and emptiness arises; emptiness is extinguished and this very extinction arises — every one of the six knots is a dharma of arising and ceasing, and so this knot of extinction, too, must likewise be untied. Should this knot remain untied, and one rest forever within this state where both subject and object are already empty, this still remains a subtle obstruction to perfect penetration — exactly like the saying: "the one seated at the very top of a hundred-foot pole has attained the Dharma, yet not the true Dharma; take one further step from the very top of the hundred-foot pole, and one's whole body appears throughout the lands of the ten directions." It is exactly this knot that proves hardest of all to untie — the Chan lineage calls it the very last, most stubborn barrier; reaching this state, one is unwilling to take a single further step, calling it, too, a garment stuck fast to one's own flesh, impossible to shed. Only once this final knot is untied can one truly behold one's own original face directly.

This matches the Perfect Enlightenment Sūtra's own four marks of deluded wisdom, specifically the mark of a life-span. First, the mark of a self: what the mind takes as realized — taking the very nirvāṇa realized as one's own self-substance. Second, the mark of a person: what the mind takes as awakened to — awakening to the fact that what was realized is itself mistaken. Third, the mark of a sentient being: what the mind takes as understood — understanding that both the earlier awakening and the earlier realization were themselves mistaken. Fourth, the mark of a life-span: what the mind takes as aware of — aware that each of these earlier states was itself mistaken, yet still taking one's own present state as correct, and so remaining within this very mark, giving rise to a deep attachment to this dharma. It is exactly like a person unwilling to let their own life come to its end — the masters of the ancestral lineage call this "the life-root not yet severed."

And so one must still enter the stream to illuminate this nature directly, tracing this very stream back to its own root, the mark of extinction itself slipping entirely loose, all the way to the truly unborn and unceasing — only then does one arrive, at last, at one's own true home. "Were themselves extinguished" means exactly this: the wisdom of contemplation returns to its own origin, every arising and ceasing, without exception, already extinguished, with nothing whatsoever left to extinguish from this point on. This knot of extinction is exactly the very first knot the Buddha displayed, in the sequence in which the six knots first arise — arising, as he said, from your own mind-nature, beginninglessly deranged. Now that all six knots are fully untied and all five aggregates entirely broken through, this deranged mind has finally come to rest — and this very rest is itself bodhi. This is also exactly what the Buddha meant: once liberated from every dharma, both subject and object no longer arise, falseness exhausted and truth laid bare, the true principle of still cessation appearing before one. This so-called "still cessation": this "still" is not the stillness set against motion, but a stillness that has, from the beginningless past, never once moved at all; and this "cessation" is not the cessation set against arising, but a cessation that has, from the beginningless past, never once arisen at all. Mind emptied out, every counterpart severed, this wondrous substance stands alone, perfectly complete — this is exactly the tathāgatagarbha, this wondrous, true suchness itself; and it is exactly the one vehicle's own ground of still cessation, the true mind's own complete substance. As the Buddha said earlier: this is called a bodhisattva attaining, through samādhi, the forbearance of the unborn nature of all things. Untying the six knots, above, belongs to hearing, reflecting, and cultivating; this present "still cessation appeared of itself" is exactly entering samādhi, realizing and attaining perfect penetration. The method taught by the ancient Buddha Avalokiteśvara, and the untying of the knot in cultivation and realization taught by the Tathāgata Śākyamuni, are one and the same, without the slightest difference. Having attained this state where still cessation appears of itself, personally realizing the very nature of the tathāgatagarbha, and thereby entering the Śūraṅgama samādhi itself, one comes, at this point, to ascend to the very first of the ten abidings of the perfect teaching. Everything from "suddenly transcended," below, describes exactly the great function that arises from this same complete substance.

Sūtra: "and I suddenly transcended both the worldly and the transcendent, becoming perfectly bright throughout the ten directions, and gained two supreme qualities."

Commentary: Everything above describes the bodhisattva's own cultivation and realization of perfect penetration, the causal-stage practice that benefits oneself; everything below describes the bodhisattva's own arising of function from this same essence, the wondrous practice that benefits others. The practice that benefits oneself is spoken of only briefly; the practice that benefits others is elaborated at great length — for two reasons. First, untying the knot at the sense-faculty's own root: the Buddha, within the gate of the second decisive meaning, had already had everyone select the perfect faculty, entering deeply through this single gate, slipping loose from what it clings to and subsiding inward, together with the sequence of untying the knot and entering samādhi, set out with the utmost clarity — what need is there to elaborate further? Second, elaborating in detail on the fruit-stage function, the effortless, wondrous power, freely accomplished, is exactly meant to spur on those inclined toward the lesser vehicle to turn toward the greater, giving rise to admiration, resolving with joy to cultivate this same practice themselves — and so it cannot but be set forth at such length. "Suddenly transcended": this is exactly the very last instant of hearing, reflecting, and cultivating, the moment the essence of perfect penetration is realized and its freely functioning use first arises. "Transcended" carries exactly the sense of unobstructed liberation — the true substance of still cessation is, of itself, originally perfect and bright; the six ordinary destinies, obstructed by attachment to self, cannot transcend the worldly; the three vehicles, obstructed by attachment to dharmas, cannot transcend the transcendent; but the bodhisattva, entering samādhi, both self and dharmas alike empty, this very emptiness, too, no longer arising, thereby transcends both the worldly and the transcendent together.

"Becoming perfectly bright throughout the ten directions": this is exactly what the Buddha said in fascicle four: "taking what neither ceases nor arises, according with the tathāgatagarbha, this tathāgatagarbha, being nothing but wondrous, awakened brightness, perfectly illuminates the whole Dharma-realm." The bodhisattva, too, is exactly the same — as the Zhǐzhǎng commentary puts it: "every dharma throughout the ten directions is nothing but this own nature's own brightness, pervading and perfectly complete everywhere." As the ancients put it: the whole earth is nothing but one's own brightness, with not a single dharma standing outside this brightness. "Gained two supreme qualities": this stands, in summary, for the great function as a whole — exactly these two, according above and one with below, matters neither the provisional teachings nor the lesser vehicle can reach, hence called "supreme."

Sūtra: "First, above, according with the wondrous, enlightened mind original to all buddhas of the ten directions, sharing the very same power of compassion as the Tathāgatas."

Commentary: These next two sections make plain, individually, this same great function. The bodhisattva has already realized the principle that mind, buddha, and sentient beings are, all three, without the slightest difference — and so is able to accord, above, with the very same original, wondrous, awakened, true mind realized by every buddha of the ten directions; this mind, this buddha, this bodhisattva, and these sentient beings are all, without exception, one and the same, without the slightest difference — exactly what the Diamond Sūtra means by "this dharma is equal throughout, with nothing higher or lower." "According above" means exactly sharing the very same substance as the buddhas; "sharing the very same power of compassion" means exactly sharing the very same function as the buddhas — the buddhas exercising a compassion that conditions nothing at all (that is, a compassion excluding nothing whatsoever), liberating the realm of sentient beings; the thirty-two responses, below, are exactly this same function shared in common.

Sūtra: "Second, below, according with every sentient being of the six destinies throughout the ten directions, sharing the very same sorrowful yearning as all beings themselves."

Commentary: "According below with sentient beings" should likewise carry the phrase "the original, wondrous, awakened mind" — the text abbreviates it here, following the pattern already given above, and so it may be understood accordingly. This, too, is exactly sharing the very same substance as sentient beings — sentient being and buddha, though outwardly different, share one and the same substance throughout. "Sharing the very same sorrowful yearning" means exactly sharing the very same function as sentient beings — sentient beings and buddhas, though sharing the same substance, differ in their function: "sorrow" is grief, and "yearning" is looking upward in hope; sentient beings, their own bodies caught in suffering and hardship, grieving and pleading to be freed from suffering, hoping for happiness in its place — the bodhisattva shares this very function with them, and so bestows the power of fearlessness; the fourteen kinds of fearlessness, below, are exactly this same function shared in common.

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, because I made offerings to the Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara, and, receiving from that Tathāgata this illusion-like habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back, this vajra samādhi, I came to share the very same power of compassion as the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas — and so my own body comes to form thirty-two responsive manifestations, entering every land."

Commentary: This is the very great source, both substance and function together, of this wondrous responsiveness. "World-Honored One" here addresses Śākyamuni — the title held in common reverence by all nine Dharma-realms, the six ordinary destinies of sentient beings together with the three vehicles' own worlds of true awakening, and also the title reserved for the one who alone stands above and beyond all nine realms. "The Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara" is exactly the bodhisattva's own root teacher at the causal stage. "Because I made offerings" comes down to exactly two kinds: first, offerings made to the Buddha's own body — attending at his side, taking on labor and service; second, offerings made to the Buddha's own mind — taking up cultivation according to his teaching, so as to fulfill the Buddha's own original intention. "Receiving from that Tathāgata" means exactly this: the Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara handed down the Dharma-gate of cultivating and realizing through the ear-faculty.

"This illusion-like habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back, this vajra samādhi": "illusion-like" is the analogy, and "habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back" is the dharma itself; the vajra samādhi is exactly the same. The first "hearing," in "habituation of hearing," points to original awakening's own nature of hearing, habituating from within, giving rise to the wisdom of initial awakening; the second, "cultivation of hearing," is exactly this same initial awakening turning hearing back and taking it up in practice, the very effort of entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly. This particular method of cultivation is a cultivation with nothing cultivated, a cultivation that is itself no cultivation at all — exactly like an illusory event, arising from nothing into something, this something itself never truly existing at all; and, this cultivation accomplished, one attains samādhi, called exactly this vajra samādhi. This cultivation is exactly entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly, illuminating through and breaking apart the five aggregates, untying the six knots, tracing this stream back to its own root, all the way to the truly unborn and unceasing, penetrating through to the very bottom source of every dharma, unmoving and indestructible, utterly solid and firm — exactly like vajra, solid and indestructible. Samādhi is a Sanskrit word, translated here as "correct absorption" — exactly the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi; to realize this samādhi is exactly to attain perfect penetration.

"Sharing the very same power of compassion as the Buddhas, the Tathāgatas": having already realized perfect penetration, sharing the very same substance as the buddhas, one is thereby able to share the very same function as the buddhas, the Tathāgatas, as well. What follows, "my own body comes to form thirty-two responsive manifestations, entering every land," is exactly this wondrous function arising in response to each capacity. This function is exactly the bodhisattva's own attainment of the three inconceivable karmic functions of body, speech, and mind. First, the inconceivable function of the body: a single body able to manifest boundless bodies, manifesting whatever body will bring liberation to whoever is met. As Wenling put it: "these thirty-two responses manifest bodies throughout the ten Dharma-realms, perfectly answering every capacity at once." Second, the inconceivable function of speech: a single mouth able to speak boundless dharmas, speaking whatever dharma will bring liberation to whoever is met, every teaching alike according with both true principle and the capacity addressed. Third, the inconceivable function of mind: a single mind able to discern boundless capacities — every sentient being's own root-nature unequal, their own aspirations differing, some delighting in the conditioned, some in the unconditioned, some in engaging the world, some in transcending it — the bodhisattva, having discerned each capacity with certainty, manifests a body and expounds the Dharma accordingly, skillful and well-suited to each. "Wheel" carries exactly the sense of conveying and transporting — by means of these three wheels, entering every land, that is, every land throughout the ten directions, there is no realm in which this body does not manifest, universally conveying the deluded multitudes, together climbing toward the very ground of awakening.

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, should bodhisattvas enter samādhi, advancing their cultivation toward the undefiled, this superior understanding about to appear in its full completion, I manifest a Buddha's body before them and expound the Dharma, bringing about their liberation."

Commentary: This responds to what bodhisattvas themselves seek — since a bodhisattva's own aspiration is fixed on bodhi itself, a Buddha's body is manifested here. Of the remaining three responses in this group, sagely bodies are manifested; every group after this manifests, instead, a body of the very same kind as the beings themselves. "Should bodhisattvas": "should" is simply a grammatical particle here, though it may also be read as "however many" — "bodhisattvas" covers every rank, whether of the provisional or the real teaching; provisional and real, though differing, share one and the same hope of becoming a buddha. "Samādhi" is exactly the correct absorption belonging to whatever Dharma-gate is being cultivated, differing according to the stage of resembling-realization or of partial-realization; "undefiled" and "superior understanding" likewise differ by stage. "This superior understanding about to appear in its full completion": according to whichever Dharma-gate is being cultivated, the unbroken path's own causal practice already fulfilled, about to enter the path of liberation, the superior understanding thereby arising is on the verge of appearing in its full completion, though not yet fully complete. In every rank that follows, though the same word "superior understanding" recurs, its meaning differs — and even within this present category, it must be understood in two distinct senses: should a bodhisattva of the resembling-realization stage enter a resembling-realization samādhi, advancing in cultivation of the undefiled middle way, then this is a partially realized superior understanding about to appear in full completion; should a bodhisattva of the partial-realization stage enter a partial-realization samādhi, advancing in cultivation of vajra-like undefilement, then this is the ultimate superior understanding about to appear in full completion. The great being then manifests a Buddha's body, expounding the teaching of entering the Buddha-vehicle directly and at once, bringing about either a partial or an ultimate liberation.

One might ask: "the great being, realizing and entering perfect penetration, ascends only to the very first of the ten abidings of the perfect teaching — how, then, could they manifest a Buddha's body and expound the Dharma even to bodhisattvas of equal enlightenment?" The answer: "even at the first abiding, one is already able to divide one's own body across a hundred realms, manifesting the eight aspects of a buddha's own life — how, then, could this not suffice to expound the Dharma even to those of equal enlightenment? Moreover, though the great being's own recent trace stands at the first abiding, considered in terms of their own distant origin, they had already, long before, accomplished buddhahood as the Tathāgata Right Dharma Brightness — and so their expounding the Dharma even to those of equal enlightenment raises no doubt in principle at all."

Sūtra: "Should those still in training attain a stillness of wondrous brightness, this superior wonder about to appear in its full completion, I manifest, before them, the body of an independently-awakened being, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their liberation."

Commentary: This manifests the body of an independently-awakened being. All three of these categories speak of "those still in training," since none of them have yet realized the rank beyond further training. An independently-awakened being is one who, appearing in an age without a buddha, observes the transformation of things and awakens, of themselves, to the unborn — hence called "independently awakened." "Those still in training" who aspire to this independent awakening: "a stillness of wondrous brightness" means exactly this: within the path of cultivation, delighting in solitude and stillness is called "stillness"; seeking a wisdom that arises spontaneously, without a teacher, is called "wondrous brightness." "This superior wonder about to appear in its full completion" means exactly this: this superior, wondrous wisdom (that is, this spontaneous wisdom) is about to appear in its full completion, like drilling wood to make fire — the warmth already present, the fire itself about to emerge, though not yet emerged. I then manifest, before this one still in training, the body of an independently-awakened being, answering what they themselves seek, making it easy for them to believe and follow, expounding the teaching of the unborn, bringing about their liberation from the afflictions of views and thought, and their realization of the rank beyond further training. This is unlike the naturalist non-Buddhist teachers, since this being has, across many lifetimes, been habituated by the lesser teaching, and now, appearing in an age without a buddha, observes the flourishing and withering of things and, encountering these circumstances directly, awakens to the path.

Sūtra: "Should those still in training sever the twelve links of conditioned arising, this superior nature — the nature realized once these conditions are severed — this superior wonder about to appear in its full completion, I manifest, before them, the body of one awakened through causes and conditions, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their liberation."

Commentary: This manifests the body of one awakened through causes and conditions. Taking up the Buddha's own teaching of the twelve links of conditioned arising, and awakening to the principle of the unborn, such a being is called "awakened through causes and conditions." The twelve links admit of two gates: the gate of flowing on, meaning ceaseless transformation, turning endlessly through birth and death; and the gate of returning and ceasing, meaning returning to one's own original nature, extinguishing birth and death entirely. Observed forward, through the gate of flowing on, one comes to know the sequence in which these arise: twelve links in all, also called the twelve members of existence, coming down to nothing but delusion, karma, and suffering, forming the causes and effects of three lifetimes together. Ignorance conditions volitional formations (volitional formations being exactly karmic activity, arising from the delusion of ignorance — these two links being the cause, belonging to delusion and karma, in a past life); formations condition consciousness (exactly the eighth consciousness at the moment of entering the womb); consciousness conditions name-and-form (mind and form united within the womb — "name" being exactly the mind, since mind has no shape or form of its own and so is spoken of by name alone, this mind being exactly the craving and attachment that enters the womb, and "form" being exactly the father's semen and mother's blood entered within the womb); name-and-form conditions the six entrances (exactly the six sense-faculties possessed by a single body, able to take in sense-objects); the six entrances condition contact (in childhood, the six sense-faculties making contact with the six sense-objects); contact conditions sensation (a little older, sense-faculty and sense-object meeting, one comes to know reception — these five links being the effect, in the present life); sensation conditions craving (as an adult, giving rise to craving toward favorable circumstances and aversion toward adverse ones — "craving" here already includes aversion within it, this being the delusion of the present life); craving conditions grasping; grasping conditions existence (these two links being the karma of the present life — grasping is the beginning of this karma, and existence is its completion); existence conditions birth (exactly receiving birth in a future life); birth conditions old age and death (exactly the future life's own progression, from youth to old age, from old age to death — these two links being the suffering-effect of the future life). These twelve links, linked together like an unbroken chain, continue on without a break: from cause, one incurs an effect; upon this effect, one again creates a cause; from this cause, one again incurs an effect — delusion, karma, and suffering circling on endlessly, birth and death never ceasing. Hence, the gate of flowing on.

Observed in reverse, through the gate of returning and ceasing, one awakens to the principle of the unborn: ignorance ceasing, formations cease as well, and so on, all the way to birth ceasing, old age and death cease as well. What is here called "severing the twelve links" is spoken exactly in terms of this gate of returning and ceasing. "This superior nature — the nature realized once these conditions are severed": this superior nature is exactly the principle-nature of the unborn — called "superior" because it transcends every worldly dharma — and this nature is necessarily revealed only once these conditions are severed, hence, "the nature realized once these conditions are severed." "Superior wonder": because one awakens to the very emptiness of the nature of causes and conditions, it is called "superior wonder." Precisely at the moment when this superior wonder is about to appear in its full completion, though not yet fully complete, I manifest, before this one still in training, the body of one awakened through causes and conditions, comforting them in what they themselves seek, expounding the teaching that what arises through conditions has no fixed nature of its own, bringing about their liberation from birth and death by fixed portions, and their realization of the fruit of one awakened through causes and conditions.

Sūtra: "Should those still in training attain the emptiness of the four truths, cultivating the path toward cessation, this superior nature about to appear in its full completion, I manifest, before them, the body of a śrāvaka, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their liberation."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a śrāvaka. "Those still in training," within the stage of the path of seeing, through the eight forbearances and eight kinds of knowledge, these sixteen moments of mind, sever the delusions belonging to the four truths — the delusions of views already severed is called "attaining the emptiness of the four truths" — and thereby enter the stage of the path of cultivation, severing the delusions of thought throughout the three realms, eighty-one grades in all, each grade realizing its own portion of the unconditioned through analytical cessation — hence, "cultivating the path toward cessation." "This superior nature" is exactly the unborn nature of the truth of cessation, about to appear in its full completion — like clouds already gathering before the rain itself has fallen. I then manifest, before this one still in training, the body of a śrāvaka, matching their own inclination, expounding the teaching of the truth of cessation, the unborn, bringing about their liberation from every worldly outflow, transcending the three realms, and entering the nirvāṇa of the land with residue still remaining from skillful means.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings, their own minds clear and awakened regarding desire, not transgress the sense-object of desire, their own desirous body thereby made pure, I manifest, before them, the body of a Brahmā-king, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their liberation."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a Brahmā-king. "Sentient beings" here refers to beings within the desire realm. "Their own minds clear and awakened regarding desire" means exactly this: regarding the one matter of sexual desire, the mind attains clarity and awakening, understanding fully that desire is the very root that invites suffering — desire arising from craving, the body itself existing because of desire, this body being where every suffering gathers, nothing but what desire itself has invited — and so, keeping the precepts and cultivating the body, not transgressing the sense-object of desire, one brings this same desirous body to purity. This purity is exactly the cause of rebirth as a Brahmā, and so I manifest, before these sentient beings, the body of a Brahmā-king, expounding the four immeasurable minds and the treatise on leaving desire behind, teaching the cultivation of the samādhi that is free of desire. Should this samādhi be accomplished, one can transcend the desire realm entirely, rising to birth in the form realm — not through birth from a womb, but through transformative birth, one's own bodily appearance adorned and pure, liberated from the desire realm's own coarse suffering and obstruction, and attaining the form realm's own pure, wondrous freedom.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings wish to be the ruler of the gods, governing over every heaven, I manifest, before them, the body of Śakra, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of Śakra. "Sentient beings" here means either those of the human realm, or the gods of the first two heavens, wishing to become the ruler of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven. The Sanskrit Trāyastriṃśa means "thirty-three" — the second heaven of the six desire-realm heavens, at the summit of Mount Sumeru, eight heavens each to the east, west, south, and north, with Śakra, the ruler of this heaven, dwelling in the city of Sudarśana at the very center, making thirty-three heavens in all — governing not only every heaven of Trāyastriṃśa, but the Four Heavenly Kings as well. I then answer what they themselves seek, manifesting, before them, the body of Śakra — that is, the ruler of Trāyastriṃśa, Śakra Devānām Indra, meaning "able to be lord" — and expound the Dharma, teaching the superior grade of the ten wholesome deeds and every manner of wholesome discourse, bringing about their accomplishment of the fruit of Śakra.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings wish for a body of self-mastery, roaming freely through the ten directions, I manifest, before them, the body of a self-mastery deva, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a self-mastery deva. "Sentient beings" here refers to humankind and the gods of the desire realm, wishing to attain this body, free and at ease, roaming through the ten directions without hindrance. I manifest, before them, the body of a deva of the heaven where enjoyment is transformed by others (meaning that this heaven's own objects of enjoyment are transformed into being by another heaven, freely enjoyed there, its own blessed reward surpassing all others, dwelling at the very summit of the desire realm), and expound the superior grade of the ten wholesome deeds and other such teachings, bringing about their accomplishment of this self-mastery heaven's own blessed reward. Some say this same sixth heaven also holds the palace of the Māra-king within it, likewise included under self-mastery.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings wish for a body of self-mastery, flying through empty space itself, I manifest, before them, the body of a great self-mastery deva, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a great self-mastery deva. "Sentient beings" here refers to the gods of the desire realm, wishing to attain this same self-mastery of body, able to fly through empty space itself — "roaming" above referred to no more than the ten directions within the six desire heavens and four continents, whereas "flying through empty space" here surpasses mere roaming. This "empty space" is exactly the empty space of a great trichiliocosm itself — since a great trichiliocosm is covered above by the four dhyāna heavens, the great self-mastery heaven being exactly the very summit of the form realm, its own worldly blessed reward the most supreme of all, attaining great self-mastery indeed. I answer what they themselves seek, manifesting exactly the body of a great self-mastery deva, and expound the very highest grade of the ten wholesome deeds, together with the four dhyānas and four immeasurable minds, bringing about their accomplishment of this most supreme fruit and reward. Some say this same heaven is exactly the deva-king Maheśvara, having three eyes and eight arms, riding a white ox, holding a white whisk, able to fly through empty space itself.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love to govern spirits and ghosts, protecting the land, I manifest, before them, the body of a heavenly general, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a heavenly general. "Sentient beings" here refers to humankind and to the eight kinds of spirits themselves, the mind loving to govern spirits and ghosts — that is, the ghosts and spirits of the eight kinds. Those without merit are called ghosts; those with merit are called spirits. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "each of the Four Heavenly Kings' own commanding generals has eight lieutenant generals under him, with Skanda foremost among them; the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra names Sāṃjñin as a great general, governing twenty-eight divisions, patrolling throughout the world." What is here called "loving to govern spirits and ghosts" means exactly wishing to attain the body of a heavenly general. "Protecting the land" means exactly patrolling every land throughout the world, driving off malevolent spirits and bestowing blessings, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked. I then answer what they themselves seek, manifesting, before them, the body of a heavenly general, and expound the five precepts and the ten wholesome deeds, together with secret mantras and the method of summoning spirits and ghosts, bringing about their accomplishment of a majestic valor, protecting the common people.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love to govern the world, protecting sentient beings, I manifest, before them, the body of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of one of the Four Heavenly Kings. "Sentient beings" here refers to humankind, together with the gods of these four heavens, loving to govern the world's own four great continents, protecting the sentient beings of every land. I then answer what they themselves seek, manifesting, before them, the body of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and expound the superior grade of the ten wholesome deeds, together with the method of protecting the nation and bringing peace to its people, bringing about their accomplishment of this same vow to govern the world. The Four Kings dwell at the very waist of Mount Sumeru, serving as Śakra's own outer ministers, hence classed here among the heavenly ministers. In the east, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the Upholder of the Nation, dwells upon a mound of gold, governing the two divisions of gandharvas and pūtanas; in the south, Virūḍhaka, of Increasing Growth, dwells upon a mound of lapis lazuli, governing the two divisions of kumbhāṇḍas and pretas; in the west, Virūpākṣa, of the Broad Eye, dwells upon a mound of silver, governing the two divisions of piśācas and mahoragas; in the north, Vaiśravaṇa, of Wide Hearing, dwells upon a mound of crystal, governing the two divisions of yakṣas and rākṣasas.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love to be born within a heavenly palace, commanding spirits and ghosts, I manifest, before them, the body of a prince of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a heavenly king's own prince. "Sentient beings" here refers to humankind and the people of these four heavens, aspiring and longing to be born within one of the Four Heavenly Kings' own palaces, as a prince, able to command and direct every ghost and spirit. "Ghosts" here are exactly the eight kinds of spirits, and "spirits" are exactly the Four Kings' own generals, each with eight great generals under them; should any ghost or spirit cause disturbance, troubling the human realm, this same prince of the heavenly king is able to restrain and stop it — and should any defy this restraint, he sends forth a mighty ghost or spirit, or one of the heavenly generals, to subdue them, assisting the heavenly king and protecting sentient beings. I then answer what they themselves seek, manifesting the body of a prince of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, and expound the teaching of taking refuge, the fasting precepts, the ten wholesome deeds, and protective mantras, bringing about the accomplishment of this same aspiration.

As the Sūtra of Great and Auspicious Meaning puts it: "each of the Four Heavenly Kings, protectors of the world, has ninety-one sons, upright and handsome in bearing, possessed of great power — of the same kind as Naṭa." The Consecration Commentary records: during the Tianbao era of the Tang dynasty, five western tribal nations invaded Xi'an, and the nation's own army could not repel them; Emperor Xuanzong summoned the Tripiṭaka Master Amoghavajra into the palace, to hold and recite the Dhāraṇī of the Humane King Who Protects the Nation. After only fourteen recitations, five hundred spirit-generals suddenly appeared, bearing halberds before the palace hall, and answered: "the northern heavenly king's second son, Independently Vigorous, is going to Xi'an's own rescue." As the invaders pressed their attack, they looked up and saw countless heavenly soldiers and generals arrayed throughout the sky, and, terrified, exclaimed: "China has a sage among them — this land cannot be invaded!" — and withdrew their own troops at once. This was reported to the throne, and the emperor, delighted, decreed that every province and prefecture build a hall to the heavenly kings, to honor them there. Every great monastery within the four seas holds a hall to the heavenly kings to this very day — and this is exactly where that custom comes from. This closes the second group, responding to those who seek the heavens.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings delight in becoming a human king, I manifest, before them, the body of a human king, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a king. Chan Master Wenling Jiehuan said: from the gold-wheel king all the way down to the scattered-grain kings, all alike are called human kings. To explain: the world holds five kinds of human king. First, the gold-wheel king — that is, the wheel-turning sage-king — likewise complete with all thirty-two major marks, the seven treasures accompanying his own person, foremost among humankind, unsurpassed by any other. At the very moment he ascends the throne, a golden wheel-treasure flies down from the sky and arrives before him; riding upon this wheel-treasure, he is able, in a single day, to travel throughout all four great continents to the east, west, south, and north, every land submitting to him without exception, transforming the world through the ten wholesome deeds, and reigning over all four continents beneath the heavens. Second, the elephant-treasure, a white elephant king. Third, the horse-treasure, named Swift as the Wind. Fourth, the general-treasure, also called the minister-treasure who commands the army, named Eye Free of Defilement. Fifth, the treasurer-minister-treasure, wealth and treasure accompanying his own person, journeying together with the wheel-king — there being no need to carry any treasure at all, since, whenever the king wishes to give alms, wherever there is bare earth, the treasurer-minister has only to dig, and its use is inexhaustible. Sixth, the treasure-vase, which the king carries with him always — whatever he desires, it appears at once, exactly according to the wheel-king's own wish. Seventh, the woman-treasure — that is, the wheel-king's own foremost consort, named Pure and Wondrous Virtue, able to assist the king's own transformative rule; every land's own people, receiving the king's own transformative influence, cultivate the ten wholesome deeds without exception, the world entirely free of wicked persons — this, too, being brought about by the very power of blessed reward.

Second, the silver-wheel king: at the moment he ascends the throne, a silver wheel-treasure flies down from the sky, and, riding upon it, he is able, in a single day, to travel throughout the eastern, western, and southern continents (excluding the northern one), reigning over three continents beneath the heavens, every land submitting to him entirely. Third, the copper-wheel king, with a copper wheel-treasure, able to travel throughout the eastern and southern continents, every land coming under his own rule. Fourth, the iron-wheel king, with an iron wheel-treasure, able to travel throughout the southern continent alone, every land there coming under his own governance — King Aśoka being just such a king. Fifth, the scattered-grain kings — that is, every land's own minor kings, scattered about like grains of millet, found everywhere across the earth. "Sentient beings" here means humankind; "delight in becoming a human king" — a king is one to whom all turn: cherishing benevolence and spreading virtue, the four directions turning toward him, wishing to become a ruler of the path, governing the nation and its lands. I manifest, before them, the body of a human king, and expound the five precepts and the ten wholesome deeds, as the cause for a noble birth, and expound the virtuous conduct proper to emperors and kings, habituating the seed that carries across to the next life, bringing about their accomplishment of this wholesome cause, and their attainment of its blessed fruit. One might ask: "should someone harbor thoughts of usurpation and rebellion, scheming to seize the throne itself, would the bodhisattva still manifest a body and expound the Dharma to them?" The answer: "the bodhisattva's own aspiration lies entirely in benefiting beings — how could they ever assist rebellion?"

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love to head a clan of shared surname, honored and deferred to throughout the world, I manifest, before them, the body of an elder, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of an elder. In our own land, one advanced in years and weighty in virtue may simply be called an elder; in the Western Regions, the title is not so easily granted — one must possess ten virtues in full: noble birth, meaning a distinguished kṣatriya lineage, a great and honored family; high position, meaning a chief minister or chancellor, a senior official of the court; great wealth, meaning abundant riches, granaries filled to overflowing; a commanding bearing, meaning a dignity as forbidding as frost, awe-inspiring to behold; profound wisdom, meaning a mind like the sun and moon, wisdom brilliant as pearls; advanced age, meaning venerable years and long-accumulated virtue, growing only more vigorous with age; pure conduct, meaning a model fit to draw near to, a standard worth emulating; complete propriety, meaning a bearing composed and dignified, meeting others with easy harmony; praised from above, meaning praised by rulers themselves; and relied upon from below, meaning the very refuge the common people turn to. Only one complete with these ten virtues may properly be called an elder — hence listed here even before officials.

"Sentient beings" who love to head a single clan of shared surname, and further wish to be honored throughout the world, deferred to everywhere as foremost — I manifest, before them, the body of an elder, and expound the teaching of giving generously to aid the multitude, benevolence toward the people and care for all things, bringing about their accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love to discuss illustrious sayings, dwelling in purity of themselves, I manifest, before them, the body of a lay scholar, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a lay scholar. "Sentient beings" who love to discuss the illustrious figures of past and present, their fine sayings and canonical writings, fit to serve as a model and standard, instructing the world; "dwelling in purity of themselves" means dwelling amid the toil of the world while the mind remains ever pure, unstained by worldly desire, dwelling by the path alone. I manifest, before them, the body of a lay scholar, and expound the teaching of a pure mind with few desires, keeping oneself unstained and cultivating one's own person, bringing about their accomplishment. A lay scholar is exactly one who dwells by the path alone — that is, one who cultivates practice while remaining within lay life; some hold both virtue and position, as with Su Dongpo; others hold virtue without position, as with Wang Tong or Shao Yong, withdrawn from the world, never taking office.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love to govern the nation's own lands, adjudicating its provinces and districts, I manifest, before them, the body of an official, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of an official. "Sentient beings" who love to govern the nation's own territory, assisting its administration — Wenling identifies these as the Three Ducal ministers themselves — able to set order and establish discipline for the court, and to transform customs and reform habits among the people. "Adjudicating its provinces and districts": the larger units are called provinces, the smaller ones districts; "adjudicating" means clearing away injustice and grievance, and "deciding" means settling right from wrong — as with a single word that resolves a lawsuit, litigation kept simple and punishment kept clear. I manifest, before them, the body of an official — "governing" meaning exactly to administer, and "official" meaning exactly one who serves the public — from the Three Ducal ministers above, down to a prefect or magistrate below, all alike called officials. The bodhisattva manifests this body, and expounds the teaching of cultivating oneself, ordering one's household, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world, of protecting the nation and cherishing its people, bringing about their accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings love every art of calculation and technique, dwelling by regimens of self-preservation, I manifest, before them, the body of a brahmin, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a brahmin. "Sentient beings" who love every art of calculation and technique, dwelling by regimens of self-preservation: there exists a class of beings who love astronomy and geomancy, the calculations of yin and yang — called "calculation"; medicine, divination, physiognomy, water-charms and talismans — called "technique"; regulating body and mind, conserving effort and stilling the spirit — called "preservation"; and guarding one's own life, securing one's essence and nurturing one's vital energy — called "self-protection." As an earlier passage in this sūtra put it: seeking the essence of the great yin, mixed into an illusion-conjuring elixir, capable of extending life and of transforming the world — dwelling by these very arts and regimens, seeking no other learning at all.

I manifest, before them, the body of a brahmin: "brahmin" here means "pure descendant," referring to a descendant of Brahmā from the very beginning of the kalpa — "descendant" meaning exactly a later generation. "Brahmā" means "pure," also called "one whose aspiration is set on Brahmā," since their own aspiration is fixed on the Brahmā-heaven. The bodhisattva manifests this body, and expounds worldly wisdom, the methods of regulating vital energy and refining the spirit, bringing about their accomplishment in these very arts of calculation and regimens of self-preservation.

Sūtra: "Should any man delight in learning and leaving home, keeping every precept and monastic rule, I manifest, before him, the body of a monk, and expound the Dharma, bringing about his accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a monk. "Any man who delights in learning and leaving home" describes a man still in lay life, his own mind wearied by worldly toil, delighting in learning the Buddha-dharma, and so cutting off attachment and taking leave of his family, forsaking lay life to leave the household. "Keeping every precept and monastic rule": first, upon leaving home, one receives the novice's own ten precepts; advancing further, one receives the monk's own two hundred fifty precepts. The word "bhikṣu" carries three senses, one of the terms among the "five untranslated" left in the original Sanskrit for carrying multiple senses at once. The three senses: first, "one who begs" — begging the Dharma within, to nourish the life of wisdom, and begging food without, to sustain the life of the body. Second, "one who frightens Māra" — for, when one receives the bhikṣu precepts, ascending the platform and completing the fourfold formal proclamation, the earth-treading yakṣas praise this good deed, the sky-traveling and heaven-traveling yakṣas likewise praise it, this word passing on in turn all the way up through the six heavens, until the Māra-king, hearing of it, is struck with dread — dreading that his own realm of Māra will diminish, while the Buddha's own realm increases. Third, "one who destroys evil" — cultivating and upholding pure precepts, able to destroy the seven evils belonging to body and speech. I then manifest the body of a monk, and expound the trainings of precepts, samādhi, and wisdom, the teaching of a pure and undefiled conduct, bringing about his accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should any woman delight in learning and leaving home, keeping every precept and prohibition, I manifest, before her, the body of a nun, and expound the Dharma, bringing about her accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a nun. Should any woman, already wearied by the burden of worldly toil, further resent the five obstructions bound to her own body — unable to become a Brahmā-king, unable to become Śakra, unable to become a Māra-king, unable to become a wheel-turning sage-king, unable to become a buddha — and delight, instead, in learning the path and cultivating practice, leaving behind her own worldly household. "Keeping every precept and prohibition": the word "every" is inclusive here — a nun holds three hundred forty-eight precepts, together with the eight special rules of respect and other such rules, all alike prescribed and prohibited by the Buddha himself. "Nun" here means "woman" — a bhikṣuṇī being exactly a woman who has left the household and received the full precepts. I manifest the body of a nun, matching what she herself aspires to, and expound the Dharma — that is, the teaching of leaving defilement behind for purity, diligently cultivating a pure conduct, bringing about her completeness in the three trainings, and her accomplishment of the five virtues. The above manifests the two assemblies of those who have left the household, receiving the teaching directly.

Sūtra: "Should any man delight in keeping the five precepts, I manifest, before him, the body of an upāsaka, and expound the Dharma, bringing about his accomplishment; should any woman dwell by the five precepts, I manifest, before her, the body of an upāsikā, and expound the Dharma, bringing about her accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the two lay assemblies, receiving the teaching directly. Suppose there is a man whose aspiration turns toward the Buddhist teaching, yet who cannot leave lay life for the household — he simply delights in receiving and keeping the five precepts. The five precepts are the precepts held in common by monastic and lay practitioners alike: against killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, and alcohol. First, not to kill or harm any living creature, holding always to a benevolent, compassionate mind. Second, not to steal another's property, considering what is right whenever gain presents itself. Third, not to engage in sexual license (lay practitioners are enjoined against illicit sexual conduct alone — sexual relations proper to husband and wife remain permitted, though desire itself should still be tempered), upholding the world's own proper conduct. Fourth, not to speak falsely, keeping always to a path of honest, trustworthy speech. These first four — killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and false speech — are the root precepts, and are also called offenses of inherent nature: their very nature is itself already an offense, and so, not only does one who has received the precepts incur an offense by transgressing them, but even one who has never received them incurs a punishment under secular law for the same transgression. Fifth, not to drink alcohol to the point of confusion, thereby losing one's own inherent wisdom-nature. Alcohol itself carries no inherent offense — but drinking it to the point of confusion and losing one's own clarity, growing muddled while drunk, can become the very cause of committing further offenses; this is called an offense of prohibition, and so the Buddha prohibits it, forbidding the drinking of alcohol. This sūtra elsewhere sets out, in full, thirty-six distinct faults that come from drinking alcohol.

In ancient times, King Yu of the Xia dynasty had a minister named Yi Di, who brewed a fine-tasting wine and presented it as tribute to King Yu; King Yu, tasting it, recognized that this wine was capable of leading people astray and doing them harm, and so banished Yi Di to the distant seas of Su. And, in ancient times, there was once an upāsaka who broke all five precepts on account of alcohol: unable to keep his own precept against drinking, one day, having wine but no food to go with it, a neighbor's chicken wandered over, and he stole it away and hid it. The neighbor came looking for the chicken and asked whether he had seen it — he lied and said he had not, and, shortly after, killed and cooked it, stewing it together with his wine. A neighboring woman, smelling the aroma and growing suspicious, came to investigate, and he invited her to stay and share the food and drink with him; once drunk, he made improper advances toward her, and the two committed adultery together. In this way, on account of alcohol alone, all five precepts were broken at once.

These men and women, though dwelling amid worldly toil, delight in keeping the five precepts — wishing to dwell by these five precepts, keeping to them, cultivating their own persons thereby. I manifest, before them, the body of an upāsaka — meaning "a man who draws near and serves," a man able to draw close to and personally serve the Three Jewels — and the body of an upāsikā, meaning exactly the same for a woman. I expound the five precepts, as the cause of the human path: keeping all five precepts in full makes one a person of the highest grade; keeping only four leaves something regrettably wanting; keeping only three makes one a person of the middling grade; keeping only two, a person below the middling grade. Even keeping a single precept is enough not to lose a human body in the next life — though such a person, having kept so few precepts in a past life, though still attaining a human body, remains extremely foolish and beset with suffering; one ought, therefore, to keep the precepts in their full measure (that is, to keep all five in full). These five precepts are exactly the Confucian five constant virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness: not killing is benevolence; not stealing is righteousness; not engaging in sexual misconduct is propriety; not speaking falsely is trustworthiness; not drinking alcohol is wisdom. I expound these five precepts, bringing about their accomplishment as a pure and faithful man or woman.

Sūtra: "Should any woman establish herself through the governance of her own household, cultivating both family and nation thereby, I manifest, before her, the body of a queen, a noblewoman, a titled matron, or a female tutor, and expound the Dharma, bringing about her accomplishment."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a woman. "Establishing herself through the governance of the household": a woman's own rightful place is within — hence, "the governance of the household." Everything within the family's own gate is a woman's own charge: showing filial reverence to her parents-in-law, raising and educating her children — this is exactly the governance of the household. Noble yet diligent, wealthy yet frugal, chaste, calm, and reserved in cultivating her own womanly virtue — this is called "establishing herself." The women's own quarters are the very source of every transformation, bound up with the order or disorder, the rise or fall, of the nation itself — surveying from ancient times to the present, from the royal court above down to the household below, this holds true without exception. Women, moreover, are bound up with education itself — a mother's own teaching carries even greater force than a teacher's, as Mencius's own mother bears witness.

"Cultivating both family and nation": this is exactly establishing herself through the governance of the household, her own person thereby cultivated, moving her family by this same influence, bound up with the nation's own governance — as with the mother of Yue Fei, whose own teaching brought about his resolve of utter loyalty in service of the nation. "Family" extends to the rank of a great officer and above; "nation" extends to the rank of a feudal lord and above. Should a woman be able to establish herself through the governance of her own household, cultivating her own person thereby, this is exactly the very root of an ordered family and a well-governed nation.

I then, before her, observing her own aspiration, manifest either the body of a queen — that is, the consort of the Son of Heaven himself — or the body of a noblewoman — that is, the wife of a feudal lord, called "lady" by her own lord and "the lord's own lady" by the people of the realm, the wife of the one ruler of a single nation. A titled matron is one who has received formal investiture from the court itself, a wife ennobled through her own husband's honor, her husband holding office and she herself receiving this same investiture. A "family tutor," addressed as "aunt," is complete with both talent and virtue, able to serve as a queen's own teacher — as with the wife of Cao Shishu of Fufeng in the Han dynasty, herself the daughter of Ban Biao of the very same commandery, whom Emperor He of Han often summoned into the palace, having the empress and honored ladies study under her as their teacher, known to the age as "Madame Cao, the family tutor." I expound the teaching of the three forms of deference and the four virtues, of dignified, virtuous, and prudent conduct, bringing about her accomplishment.

Sūtra: "If there are those who wish to preserve their innocence as a young man, I manifest before them the body of a youth and expound the Dharma, bringing about their success."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a youth. Should there be a man who preserves his own heaven-given innocence, unstained by the sense-object of desire, this innocence never spent, his own manhood never violated, resolved to hold to this for his whole life — this is called "preserving innocence." I manifest, before him, the body of a youth, and expound the teaching of guarding this innocence and holding to simplicity, securing one's essence and preserving one's original vitality, bringing about his accomplishment of this same innocence.

Sūtra: "If there are maidens who love their unmarried state and do not wish to be violated, I manifest before them the body of a maiden and expound the Dharma, bringing about their success."

Commentary: This manifests the body of a maiden. A "maiden," also called an unmarried girl, is one not yet given in marriage, still within her own family's gate; "loving her unmarried state" means loving to remain a maiden, spotless as unblemished jade, seeking no marriage at all. Even should force be used against her, compelling her toward marriage, she vows never to submit, resolved to remain unbetrothed her whole life through, forever a maiden. I manifest, before her, the body of a maiden, and expound the teaching of steadfast, virtuous chastity, dwelling in purity of herself, bringing about her accomplishment. Everything from the Brahmā-king down to this point is exactly the great being's own use of the illusion-like samādhi's own power, answering the very hopes and longings of sentient beings — carrying, as it were, one's own staff and puppet-stage wherever one goes, performing however the occasion calls for, working alongside beings to gather and transform them, this wondrous skill. This closes the third group, responding to those who seek the human realm.

Sūtra: "Should any of the gods delight in leaving behind their own kind, I manifest a deva's body, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: Every category above responds to what is hoped for and sought, bringing about accomplishment of an aspiration either toward the transcendent or toward engagement with the world. Every category below, by contrast, responds to a wish for release, bringing about a being's leaving behind their own present station and attaining birth in the human path instead. One might ask: "that beings in every other destiny should wish for rebirth in the human path raises no doubt at all — but the heavens are inherently superior to the human realm, so why would they, in turn, seek to be reborn as humans instead?" The answer: "though the heavenly path is pleasurable, this pleasure eventually comes to its own end, the five signs of decline appearing at last, impermanence unavoidable in the end. Moreover, the gods, attached to their own pleasure, are unwilling to cultivate practice at all. As Chancellor Pei put it: setting one's mind and thought toward bodhi is something only the human path is capable of — and this is exactly why every buddha has attained the path from within the human realm, and every sage of the three vehicles has likewise cultivated and realized this same path within a human body." And so, should the gods delight in leaving their own kind behind, attaining birth in the human path, and, having attained a human body, they may then go on to accomplish any of the four sagely fruits. I manifest a deva's body, and expound the teaching of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and no-self, bringing about their accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should any of the nāgas delight in leaving behind their own kind, I manifest a nāga's body, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: The Consecration Commentary says: the Sanskrit nāga is translated "dragon." There are four kinds of dragon: those guarding heavenly palaces, those raising clouds and bringing down rain, those cutting channels and opening rivers, and those guarding hidden treasures — their kinds not being uniform, hence "the nāgas," plural. Having, in ages past, likewise cultivated merit, the palaces they now dwell in are themselves formed of treasure, their own bodies able to transform, most often taking human form — only at five particular times unable to avoid taking the form of a serpent: at birth, in sleep, in sexual union, in anger, and at death. The Dīrgha Āgama makes plain that dragons suffer three afflictions: scorching sand burning their bodies, wind destroying their palaces and garments, and being devoured by the garuḍa — and, having so much suffering, they long to be free of this state. The Āgama further says: because of excessive anger in a past life, a crooked and dishonest mind, transgressing precepts and engaging in quarrels and strife, one falls into the dragon's own state — yet, through the power of great generosity practiced in the past, their own palaces are formed of the seven treasures. I manifest a dragon's body, and expound the teaching of generosity and upholding the precepts, uprightness and gentleness, benevolence, compassion, and humility, bringing about their accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should any yakṣa delight in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, the body of a yakṣa, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: The Sanskrit yakṣa is translated "swift" — for their movement is swift indeed; also called "valiant," for their courage and strength; or "fierce," for their fierce appearance. There are three kinds: earth-traveling, sky-traveling, and flying. The Sūtra of the Most Victorious King says: these yakṣas, every one of them, love and delight in the Tathāgata's own true Dharma, guarding and upholding it with a profound mind. "Delight in being freed from their own kind": through the power of the Buddha-dharma's own habituating influence, knowing that fierceness itself is the very condition of their own fall, they long to be freed from this same kind. I manifest a yakṣa's body, and expound the teaching of upholding the precepts and cultivating merit, of gentleness and ready compliance, bringing about their accomplishment of a human birth — and, should they further cultivate the practice of wisdom as well, they may also come to accomplish a sagely birth.

Sūtra: "Should any gandharva delight in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, the body of a gandharva, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: A gandharva is translated "fragrance-aggregate," dwelling in the vajra cave on the southern slope of Mount Sumeru. This spirit eats neither meat nor drinks wine, feeding only on various fragrances to nourish its own five aggregates — it is Śakra's own musician-spirit. Whenever Śakra desires music, aloeswood incense is burned, and this spirit follows the fragrance to arrive. Delighting in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, the body of a gandharva, and expound the teaching of leaving behind indulgence and idleness, together with the five precepts and the middling grade of the ten wholesome deeds, bringing about their accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should any asura delight in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, the body of an asura, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: Asura is translated "non-deva," possessing the blessings of a deva without a deva's own virtue. This refers to the asuras born by transformation, classed among the heavenly destinies; there are further asuras born from a womb, classed among the human destiny, born from an egg, classed among the ghost destiny, and born from moisture, classed among the animal destiny. They are also called "without proper form," the males ugly and the females beautiful — hence, "without proper form" for the males specifically. The Dīrgha Āgama says: upon the vajra mountain of the southern continent stands an asura palace, six thousand yojanas across, with balustrades and rows of trees; three times each day, instruments of suffering arrive of themselves, swords, spears, and halberds flying down from the sky into the palace, and, should an asura fail to dodge them, they are certain to be wounded or killed — and so they grow weary of this state, and long to be free of their own kind. The Compendium of Names and Meanings says: because, at the causal stage, though practicing the five constant virtues, they harbored a suspicious, jealous mind, wishing to surpass others, and so performed only the lesser grade of the ten wholesome deeds, they came to incur the asura's own body as their result. I manifest, before them, the body of an asura, and expound the teaching of compassionate forbearance and humble respect, an open mind receptive to instruction, together with the middling grade of the ten wholesome deeds, bringing about their accomplishment.

According to the Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, after this same group there should follow the garuḍa, translated "golden-winged bird," which feeds on dragons. The dragons sought the Buddha's own rescue, and the Buddha gave them his own kāṣāya robe, having them wind it about their own horns — and even a dragon wound with no more than a single thread from this robe, the golden-winged bird would not dare devour. The bird, too, came to the Buddha seeking help, and the Buddha asked: "no one is eating you — why do you seek my help?" The bird answered: "without dragons to eat, I am certain to starve to death — how could the Buddha not rescue me as well?" The Buddha said: "follow my own teaching, and eat no more dragons — each day, when I myself receive my meal, I will give alms of food to you." The attendant who now offers food recites this very verse: "great garuḍa, golden-winged bird, and every ghost and spirit of the wilderness, rākṣasas, and Hārītī, mother of ghost-children — may this sweet dew fill you all completely." And so this being, too, longs to be freed from its own kind. The great being manifests a body of this same kind, and expounds the teaching of benevolence and compassion, cherishing every creature, bringing about their accomplishment. This present sūtra text lacks this group entirely — surely nothing more than an omission in copying.

Sūtra: "Should any kiṃnara delight in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, the body of a kiṃnara, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: A kiṃnara is translated "doubtful spirit," its own form resembling a human, with a single horn upon its head, causing whoever sees it to feel uncertain what it is; the Tang dynasty translated it "song-spirit," being Śakra's own singing spirit, ugly in appearance yet beautiful in voice. The Sūtra on Bodhisattvas in the Womb says: north of Mount Sumeru, among the ten treasure-mountains, dwell the kiṃnaras, governing that region — through the power of generosity practiced in ages past, they dwell in palaces of the seven treasures, their own lifespans extremely long; whenever the heavens wish for music, sweat appears beneath their own arms, and they ascend to the heavens of themselves. When Śakra invites the Buddha, and the devas sing and play stringed instruments in praise of the Dharma-gate, it is exactly this same spirit performing. Now, longing to be freed from their own kind, the great being manifests a body of this same kind, and expounds the teaching that song and verse disturb the mind, that pleasure itself is impermanent, together with the middling grade of the ten wholesome deeds, bringing about their accomplishment.

Sūtra: "Should any mahoraga delight in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, the body of a mahoraga, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: A mahoraga is translated "great python spirit," also called "earth-dragon" — possessing no supernatural power at all, moving instead upon its own belly, its own suffering doubly worse than the heavenly dragons. This kind, because of a mind heavy with delusion and hatred, incurs, as its own result, a deaf and witless ignorance, forever carrying poison and injuring living things, certain to fall further still. Now, longing to be freed from their own kind, seeking birth in the human path instead, the great being manifests a body of this same kind, and expounds the teaching of cultivating wisdom and compassion, forbearance and gentleness, together with the middling grade of the ten wholesome deeds, bringing about their accomplishment. This closes the fourth group, responding to those wishing release from the eight kinds of spirits.

Sūtra: "Should sentient beings delight in remaining human and cultivating as a human, I manifest a human body, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: "Sentient beings" is a name held in common across all six destinies. Set against the phrase that follows, "delight in remaining human and cultivating as a human" refers exactly to the human path — delighting in remaining human, lifetime after lifetime. As this sūtra says elsewhere: a human body is difficult to attain; having already attained one in this present life, one delights in cultivating and upholding the human path, so as not to lose this human body in the life to come — hence, "delight in remaining human and cultivating as a human." Among the six destinies, the gods are attached to their own pleasure, and the other destinies are mostly beset with suffering — and so beings delight in attaining a human body instead; moreover, only in a human body does one actually encounter the Buddha-dharma, since every buddha attains the path from within the human realm. The human path, further, is easier to cultivate and realize than any other — the four transcendent sages all having cultivated and accomplished their own fruit within a human path — and this is exactly why the eight kinds of spirits all long to be freed from their own kind, turning instead toward birth in the human path. "Human" (人) shares its sound with "benevolence" (仁): the feeling of compassion belongs to every human being alike, and this very compassion is itself benevolence. As Mencius put it: one without a compassionate heart is not truly human at all. And so both the inner teaching and the outer teachings alike hold human relations in high regard. I manifest, before them, a human body, and expound the five precepts and the middling grade of the ten wholesome deeds, bringing about their accomplishment. This closes the fifth group, responding to humans who cultivate as humans.

Sūtra: "Should any non-human being, whether possessing form or without form, whether possessing conception or without conception, delight in being freed from their own kind, I manifest, before them, whatever body fits, and expound the Dharma, bringing about their accomplishment."

Commentary: As the Zhǐzhǎng commentary puts it: the category of humankind, above, gathers in every capacity not yet included among human kings, officials, and the rest; this present category of non-human beings gathers in every kind not yet included among the devas, nāgas, and the eight kinds of spirits — since whatever those earlier categories do not cover, this final category covers in full. Master Zixuan of Changshui says: those possessing form possess the aggregate of form, such as spirits of good and ill omen; those without form lack the aggregate of form, such as beings dispersed into empty space; those possessing conception possess all four remaining aggregates, such as ghosts, spirits, and elemental beings; those without conception lack all four remaining aggregates, such as spiritual essences transformed into earth, wood, metal, or stone. Whichever among them delight in being freed from their own kind, turning instead toward birth in the human path, I manifest, before each of them, whatever body fits their own kind, and expound the Dharma matched to each one's own capacity, bringing about their accomplishment. This closes the second section, setting forth these wondrous responses in detail.

Sūtra: "This is called the thirty-two wondrous, pure bodies I manifest to enter into every land, all accomplished freely through the effortless, wondrous power of the samādhi of hearing, its habituation, and its cultivation."

Commentary: The first three lines here point to the bodies manifested; the last four give the very root of this arising function. "This" refers to answering the capacities of all nine Dharma-realms, displaying a bodily form through this universal gate. This closes and lists the overall name given above: called the thirty-two wondrous, pure bodies I manifest to enter into every land — manifesting all at once, each answering its own kind, hence "wondrous"; the bodily forms manifested clinging to no fixed form of their own, hence "pure." And "wondrous" means exactly inconceivable, while "pure" means exactly free of any defiling attachment — this being the very manifest proof that, having already realized perfect penetration, the great being has attained the three inconceivable wheels. First, through the wheel of mind, discerning each capacity with certainty; then, whatever body will bring liberation, that very body is manifested, and whatever dharma will bring liberation, that very dharma is expounded — the three wheels of body, speech, and mind, all alike inconceivable, called "wondrous"; each and every one free of any defiling attachment, called "pure" — and this is exactly these thirty-two wondrous, pure responses. "Entering into every land": that is, throughout every land of the ten directions, there is no realm in which this body does not manifest — with a single body universally entering every realm, performing the Buddha's own work within every realm at once. This wondrous function is exactly what arises from the very essence of perfect penetration, entirely through the power of the samādhi cultivated and realized through the ear-gate. "Through the habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing": through original awakening's own nature of hearing, habituating from within, giving rise to the wondrous wisdom of initial awakening, carrying out the effort of turning hearing back and taking it up in practice, turning hearing back upon one's own nature at every moment, transforming and habituating away every clinging habit, untying the six knots, breaking through the five aggregates, falseness exhausted and truth laid bare, arising and ceasing themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself. "Accomplished through this effortless, wondrous power": that is, a power and function inconceivable, requiring not the slightest deliberate intention at all — a single body, undivided, manifesting universally; every capacity, without exception, answered without the slightest failure — exactly like a single moon in the sky, its reflection falling upon every body of water at once; does the moon deliberately intend to fall upon the water? Wherever there is water in a thousand rivers, the moon appears in every one of them — even an ordinary, worldly thing behaves this way; how much more so the great being's own wondrous power of perfect penetration? "Accomplished freely": that is, responding spontaneously, wherever a call is felt, an answer follows at once — a thousand places entreating, a thousand places answered, an ever-ready boat ferrying beings across the sea of suffering.

These thirty-two responsive bodies manifested above, and the Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, alternately include and omit one another: as with the heavenly destiny, this sūtra includes the prince of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, which that other sūtra lacks; and, within the human destiny, this sūtra includes the queen and the noblewoman, which that other sūtra likewise lacks. Among the eight kinds of spirits, that other sūtra includes the garuḍa; and, beyond the eight kinds of spirits, that other sūtra includes the vajra-bearing spirit, neither of which this present sūtra lists at all. The great being's own wondrous responsiveness knows no fixed direction, its spiritual transformations beyond all reckoning — these thirty-two responses are themselves no more than a brief account; in truth, this responsive transformation is inexhaustible, and so the two sūtras each select and omit as they see fit, arriving at this same number of thirty-two. This closes the first section, on the thirty-two responses.

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, I further, through this same habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back, this vajra samādhi, this effortless, wondrous power, share this very same sorrowful yearning with every sentient being of the six destinies throughout the ten directions and three times — and so cause sentient beings to attain, through my own body and mind, fourteen kinds of merit and virtue of fearlessness."

Commentary: This marks how the very wondrous power of self-realized perfect penetration is able to share this same sorrowful yearning with sentient beings. This, too, comes from the great being turning hearing back and realizing this nature directly, according below with sentient beings — sharing, already, the very same original, wondrous, awakened mind, one and the same substance with them — and so exercising this same great compassion of shared substance, thereby able to share this very same sorrowful yearning with sentient beings. Addressing the World-Honored One, the bodhisattva recounts: I, further, through this same nature of hearing, habituating from within, giving rise to the wisdom of initial awakening — the light of this wisdom no longer leaking outward, turning hearing back and taking it up in practice, illuminating this very nature that hears — this is called turning the light back to illuminate its own source; illuminating all the way through to the very source of mind, unmoving and indestructible, this is called the vajra samādhi. These two lines describe the realized essence; what follows describes the function that arises from it, this function never departing from this same essence.

"This effortless, wondrous power": according with this nature, requiring no deliberate action at all, spontaneously bringing about benefit — hence, "wondrous power." Through this inconceivable power and function, one is thereby able to share, with every sentient being of the six destinies throughout the ten directions and three times, this same grief that draws out their suffering, this same looking-upward hope for their happiness. The word "and so" marks exactly this cause — the great being sharing this same sorrowful yearning with sentient beings — as the very root of this fearlessness. Sentient beings' own sorrowful, yearning mind is exactly what the great being's own body and mind bring about these fourteen kinds of merit and virtue of fearlessness for; "body" is exactly the great being's own wondrously responsive body, and "mind" is exactly the great being's own wondrously contemplating mind. Should sentient beings, caught in the midst of suffering, affliction, danger, and hardship, single-mindedly call upon this name, response and stimulus meeting one another exactly at the moment of their own greatest fear, and, receiving rescue, attain release — this is exactly attaining fearlessness. "Fearlessness" is spoken from the sentient being's own side; "merit and virtue" is spoken from the great being's own side. Through the great being's own wondrous power of perfect penetration, its function and virtue, sentient beings are thereby brought to freedom from suffering, freedom from fear. As the Universal Gate chapter puts it: "sentient beings caught in distress and hardship, countless sufferings pressing upon their bodies, Avalokiteśvara's own wondrous power of wisdom is able to rescue them from every worldly suffering."

Sūtra: "First, because I do not turn my own observing back on the sound itself, but instead observe the very one who observes, I cause the suffering, afflicted sentient beings of the ten directions who observe this sound to attain liberation at once."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of suffering and affliction. Of the eight dangers, this first stands for the whole; the remaining seven are given individually. What presses upon the outer body is called "suffering"; what presses upon the inner mind is called "affliction." The first three lines give the very root of self-cultivation; the four lines that follow make plain the function that benefits others. "First, because I do not turn my own observing back on the sound itself, but instead observe the very one who observes": "observing" here is exactly the wisdom that observes — this light of wisdom no longer illuminating outward — that is, not observing the world's own sounds, but instead observing who, exactly, is the one who observes. The first phrase is leaving the sense-object behind; the second is illuminating this nature directly — exactly slipping loose from what it clings to and subsiding inward, turning one's back on the sense-object while according with awareness. Through this same habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back, this vajra samādhi, this effortless, wondrous power, blessing sentient beings — I am thereby able to cause the suffering, afflicted sentient beings of the ten directions, should they simply single-mindedly recite my own name, to have me observe this very voice reciting my name, seeking out this voice to rescue them from suffering, bringing about their liberation from suffering and affliction at once — and this is exactly fearlessness from suffering and affliction!

This is exactly the very cause and condition behind Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's own name, at the fruit stage. In the Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, the Bodhisattva Akṣayamati asks the Buddha: by what cause and condition is Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva so named? The Buddha tells the Bodhisattva Akṣayamati: good son, should there be boundless hundreds of thousands of myriads of sentient beings, suffering every affliction, who hear of this Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva and single-mindedly recite this name (that is, recite the bodhisattva's own name), Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva observes their very voices at that very moment, and all of them attain liberation (observing the world's own voices reciting the bodhisattva's own name — hence, "the one who observes the world's sounds"). That other sūtra names the bodhisattva only in terms of benefiting others at the fruit stage, and so does not speak of the bodhisattva's own self-benefiting practice cultivated at the causal stage. This present sūtra addresses both benefits together, since only once the practice that benefits oneself has been accomplished can one then go on to benefit others as well.

Some take the phrase "observe this sound" to mean sentient beings themselves, while suffering, observing their own voices — but Master Jiao's own refutation of this is entirely correct! Because this present sūtra's own text, following "suffering, afflicted sentient beings," omits the words "single-mindedly recite this name" and the rest, this very misreading has arisen — and Master Jiao's own addition of the two words "call upon me" makes the true meaning plain at once. How many among sentient beings caught in the danger of suffering and affliction would even be capable of carrying out such an observation themselves? And even granting that they could carry out this observation and attain liberation by it, this still would not fit the passage stated at the very outset — "cause sentient beings to attain, through my own body and mind, fourteen kinds of merit and virtue of fearlessness." Examine this carefully.

Sūtra: "Second, knowledge and vision turned back to their own source, I cause sentient beings, should they enter a great fire, not to be burned by it."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of great fire. The two words "knowledge and vision" include all six sense-faculties' own seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, sensing, and knowing. "Turned back to their own source" means exactly turning false knowledge and false vision back to their own true source, turning back this false knowing and false seeing that conditions sense-objects, and returning to one's own nature's true knowing and true seeing. The great being, using the ear-faculty, the effort of turning hearing back and entering the stream, turns hearing back and becomes free of sound — having already turned back this false hearing, becoming free of the sound-object, sense-faculty and sense-object no longer paired — and, one faculty having already returned to its own source, all six faculties attain liberation together, and so every faculty, one after another, is able to turn back its own falseness and return to its own truth. Knowledge and vision turned back to their own source, the inner fire of seeing and awareness already stilled, the outer fire of the world can no longer do harm.

As Wenling put it: the four elements, inner and outer, constantly interact with one another; seeing and awareness belong to fire, and so, where the karma of seeing intersects with fire, one sees a raging fire before them. Now, knowledge and vision turned back to their own source, there is no longer any karma of seeing, and so fire cannot burn. Causing sentient beings, entering fire, not to be burned — this is exactly the great being's own self-realized power, blessing sentient beings. As the Universal Gate chapter puts it: "through this bodhisattva's own majestic, spiritual power." The Standard Meaning Commentary says: "realizing the Dharma-realm to its very limit, this majestic, spiritual power beyond measure, one who single-mindedly recites this name is thereby gathered within this same light of great compassion's own majesty, and does not fall into the danger of fire — exactly like entering the shade of a mountain, where the summer heat cannot penetrate." This ability to cause sentient beings not to be burned by great fire is exactly fearlessness from the danger of great fire!

That great fire cannot burn is difficult to believe, and so a specific proof is given here. The Accounts of Answered Prayers records: Zhu Changshu, during the Yuankang era of the Jin dynasty, dwelt in a thatched hut in Luoyang; when a great fire spread and was about to reach him, several neighboring households hurried to move their belongings away, while he remained within his own thatched hut, single-mindedly reciting the bodhisattva's own sacred name — and, blessed by the bodhisattva's own majestic, spiritual power, the wind turned and the fire reversed course, extinguishing itself only upon reaching his neighbor's house. Everyone found this remarkable — for even a single spark landing on a thatched hut should have burned it down at once — how, then, could he have remained entirely unharmed? Asked the reason, he answered: I did nothing but recite the sacred name of Avalokiteśvara. There was a certain man in the neighborhood who did not believe this recitation was truly the cause, and so, one dry, windy night, deliberately threw fire at the hut to burn it — once, it would not catch; he threw fire at it three nights running, and still it would not catch — and only then did he come to believe in the bodhisattva's own hidden, spiritual blessing, and went before him to confess this openly.

Sūtra: "Third, observing and listening turned back to their own source, I cause sentient beings, swept away by a great flood, not to drown."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of great water. "Observing and listening turned back to their own source" is this line's own wondrous power; what follows is its great function. This means: through contemplating this very nature of hearing and listening directly, turning back this false hearing, returning to true hearing — hearing belongs to water, and so, where the karma of hearing intersects with water, one sees a great flood before them; now, hearing already turned back to its own true nature, there is no longer any karma of hearing, and so water cannot drown. Causing sentient beings, swept away by a great flood, not to drown — this, too, is exactly the great being's own self-realized power, blessing sentient beings, and so this is fearlessness from the danger of great water!

Cen Wenben of the Tang dynasty, styled Jingren, a native of Jiyang, believed in the Buddha from youth, and often recited the Universal Gate chapter. One day, traveling on the Wu River, his boat capsized, and Wenben, too, found himself drowning in the water — when, suddenly, he heard a voice say: one who can recite the Universal Gate chapter should be spared this water-danger. This happened three times, and he then found himself floating upon the surface of the water; before long, the waves carried him ashore, where he was rescued by others, and thereby escaped this danger.

Sūtra: "Fourth, severing false thought entirely, the mind free of any wish to harm, I cause sentient beings, entering the land of any ghost, not to be harmed by them."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of rākṣasas. False thought is exactly the sixth, discriminating consciousness — as the Buddha's earlier refutation of consciousness as the mind put it: this is not your own mind at all, but merely a false image, a thought conjured from the sense-object before you, likened here to a thief, capable of killing off sentient beings' own dharma-body and life of wisdom, exactly as a rākṣasa is capable of devouring a person — deeply to be feared. The great being, turning hearing back and entering the stream, conditioning no sense-object without, following no sense-faculty within, sense-faculty and sense-object no longer paired, the discriminating mind of consciousness likewise extinguished — hence, "severing false thought entirely." False thought already extinguished, the mind holds no wish to harm at all, transcending entirely the very mental conduct of ghosts and spirits — and, through this same majestic power, blessing sentient beings, one is thereby able to cause sentient beings, entering the land of any rākṣasa ghost, simply by single-mindedly reciting this name, not to be harmed by these ghosts — and this is exactly fearlessness from the danger of rākṣasas! A traditional account records: more than a hundred merchants of Siṃhala set sail across the sea, and suddenly encountered a malevolent wind (that is, a ghost-wind), which drove their ship to the land of the rākṣasa ghosts, where many rākṣasa women came out to greet them warmly. Among the merchants was one of great wisdom, who recognized that they had entered the land of the rākṣasa ghosts, and called out to the assembled company: our ship has now entered this land of ghosts — you must all single-mindedly recite the name of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, and you will be spared this danger. The company followed his words and recited together, and a great wind suddenly rose, blowing their ship free and swiftly bringing them home to their own country — fully bearing out the truth of these sacred words.

Sūtra: "Fifth, habituated hearing become true hearing, all six sense-faculties dissolved and returned to their common source, one and the same as the very nature of hearing itself, I cause sentient beings, facing execution, to have the blade shatter piece by piece — their very weapons of war become like cutting through water, or like a blade swung through beams of light, this nature itself utterly unmoved."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of the sword and weapons of war. "Habituated hearing become true hearing": the great being, turning hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, original awakening habituating from within, habituating this false hearing until it becomes true hearing — the ear-faculty proceeding exactly this way, dissolving away falseness and returning to truth, all six sense-faculties, without exception, dissolved and returned together. The verse further on puts it: once a single faculty has returned to its own source, all six faculties attain liberation together — one and the same as the very nature of hearing that hears the sound-object, each and every one returning to its own true origin, the sense-object gone and the sense-faculty exhausted; sense-faculty and sense-object both dissolved away, how could this awakened brightness fail to become perfectly wondrous? The great being, through this self-realized root of the vajra samādhi, unmoving and indestructible, blesses sentient beings, and is thereby able to cause sentient beings, facing execution, to have the blade shatter piece by piece — this being exactly the power of the great being's own vajra samādhi, blessing the very being facing harm, their body made one with vajra itself, so that, the moment the blade touches this body, the blade itself shatters piece by piece. And even should the blade itself not shatter, this body suffers no injury at all — their very weapons of war become like a blade cutting through water, the water left with no trace of a cut, or like wind blowing through beams of light (that is, sunlight), this light never once extinguished. Since the blade that touches is itself, as form, exactly the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, and the body that is touched, as the body-faculty, is likewise exactly the nature of the tathāgatagarbha — this same nature meeting this same nature is exactly like emptiness meeting emptiness, this nature itself utterly unmoved — and so this is exactly fearlessness from the danger of the sword and weapons of war! The History of the Qi Dynasty records: Sun Jingde, stationed at a northern border post, made an image of Avalokiteśvara and paid it homage each day; later, falsely implicated by bandits, he was sentenced to death. A monk from India taught him to recite the Avalokiteśvara Sūtra (that is, the Universal Gate chapter) a thousand times, and, when the moment of execution came, the executioner's blade broke into three pieces, and his own neck remained entirely unharmed. The chancellor, on hearing of this, petitioned for his pardon. And, again, as with the Sixth Patriarch — an assassin swung a sharp blade at him three times, yet each blow passed through him as though cutting a mere shadow, the blade passing over his own head without the slightest injury — this, too, being exactly the power of the Sixth Patriarch's own self-realization.

Sūtra: "Sixth, hearing habituated into its own essential brightness, this brightness pervading the Dharma-realm entirely, so that every hidden darkness can no longer sustain its own nature, I cause sentient beings — though yakṣas, rākṣasas, kumbhāṇḍa ghosts, piśācas, pūtanas, and the like draw near beside them — not to be seen by their own eyes."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of every ghost. "Hearing habituated into its own essential brightness, this brightness pervading the Dharma-realm entirely": turning hearing back, habituating and cultivating, subsiding back into this own original, true, essential nature. Giving rise to this original, bright radiance, this radiant nature giving rise to brightness, pervading the whole Dharma-realm — every hidden, obscure, dark-natured ghost and spirit can no longer sustain its own nature at all! This makes plain that brightness is able to overcome darkness. The great being, through this same majestic light, blesses sentient beings, and is thereby able to cause sentient beings, relying upon this majestic light, that though every ghost draws near beside them, their own eyes cannot see them at all — since these ghosts turn their backs on brightness and face toward darkness, unable, in turn, to withstand this same radiant light. Just as an owl is blind by day and sees only by night, and a rākṣasa cannot see when facing the sun — unable even to see at all, how, then, could they do any harm?

A yakṣa, translated "swift," comes in three kinds — earth-traveling, sky-traveling, and heaven-traveling — and is a male ghost; a rākṣasa, translated "fearsome," is a female ghost; both are ghosts that devour humans — should a human corpse begin to smell, they use incantations to preserve it fresh before eating it — governed by the northern heavenly king, Vaiśravaṇa of Wide Hearing. A kumbhāṇḍa, translated "jar-shaped," is a nightmare-ghost, capable of causing nightmares in people, governed by the southern heavenly king, Virūḍhaka of Increasing Growth. A piśāca, translated "essence-devouring ghost," is capable of devouring the vital essence of both people and the five grains, governed by the eastern heavenly king, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, the Upholder of the Nation. A pūtana, translated "fever-ghost," is governed by the western heavenly king, Virūpākṣa of the Broad Eye. "And the like" includes every other kind of ghost besides these. All of them take concealment and hiddenness as their own nature, and so, though they draw near beside a being, the eye cannot see them at all — exactly like the local earth-spirit unable to see Dongshan — and, since they cannot even see at all, this is exactly fearlessness from the danger of every ghost!

Sūtra: "Seventh, the very nature of sound entirely dissolved, observing and hearing turned back and entering inward, leaving every sense-object and its falseness behind, I cause sentient beings, bound in chains and shackles, to find them unable to hold them fast."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of chains and shackles. "The very nature of sound entirely dissolved": both natures of sound, of motion and stillness, entirely dissolved away — exactly the two marks of motion and stillness becoming utterly unarisen — hence, "entirely dissolved." "Observing and hearing turned back and entering inward": that is, contemplating this very nature that hears, entering against the stream — hence, "turned back and entering inward." In this way, entering this single, unfalse state, not only is the sound-object dissolved away, but every other sense-object, such as form, is dissolved away together with it — hence, "leaving every sense-object and its falseness behind." The sense-object no longer conditioned at all, the sense-faculty has nothing left to pair with — seeing and every other faculty likewise turn back and return together with hearing, sense-faculty and sense-object both dissolved away together. Through this same wondrous power, blessing sentient beings, one is thereby able to cause people caught in danger, simply by reciting this name, to bring about a response at once, bound in chains and shackles, unable to hold their own bodies fast at all. Because this false sense-object is already left behind, this false body, too, is empty — and so imprisonment within a cell, the binding of the body, a cangue about the neck called a chain and fetters about the feet called a shackle, these being exactly the punishments imposed on the guilty, whether wrongly caught within the law's own net or unjustly framed — should one be able to single-mindedly recite this sacred name, liberation is attained in every case, and this is exactly fearlessness from the danger of chains and shackles! Dou Chuan of Henei, in the Jin dynasty, in the seventh year of the Yonghe era, served as a foot soldier of Gaochang, and was captured by Lü Hu. Together with seven companions, he was bound and held in prison, soon to be executed; a monk named Daoshan, then within Lü Hu's own camp, was acquainted with Chuan, and went to see him. Chuan said: my life hangs by a single thread — can you help save me? Daoshan said: recite Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's own name with utmost sincerity, and a response is certain to come. Chuan then recited silently, with utmost sincerity, for three full days and nights, and his own shackles suddenly loosened of themselves (the shackles here being exactly the fetters binding his own feet). Chuan, thinking of his companions still bound in these same fetters, could not bear to abandon them, and so further sought the bodhisattva's own spiritual power to save them all together, urging his companions to recite this same sacred name with him, with one mind — and every one of their own instruments of punishment loosened as well, and together they fled back to their own home village. From that time on, he became a devout follower of the Dharma, and no one in his own village failed to honor and serve Avalokiteśvara from then on.

Sūtra: "Eighth, the sound-object extinguished and hearing made perfectly complete, universally giving rise to a power of compassion, I cause sentient beings, passing through a dangerous road, not to be robbed by bandits."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the danger of robbers and bandits. "The sound-object extinguished and hearing made perfectly complete": at the very moment the great being turns hearing back and enters the stream, the sound-object is extinguished, and one is freed from it; hearing is made perfectly complete, and one realizes the sense-faculty's own nature to its very limit. The sense-object extinguished, there is no longer any adversary without; the sense-faculty made perfectly complete, everything returns together to a single mind — and so this power of compassion is able to arise universally, extending even to the most vicious, poisonous-hearted person, who, too, can no longer give rise to any evil at all, transformed entirely into kin bound by this same compassion! As the Lotus Sūtra puts it: "recollecting this same power of Avalokiteśvara, every one of them gives rise, at once, to a compassionate mind" — exactly this. The great being, through this same power of compassion, blesses sentient beings, and is thereby able to cause sentient beings, passing through a dangerous road — whether through open wilderness or a mountain pass, or a place where bandits might suddenly emerge, every one of these being a dangerous road — simply by reciting this sacred name, not to be robbed by bandits at all — and this is exactly fearlessness from the danger of robbers and bandits! In ancient times, the nun Zongben, a native of Jinxiang in Gaoping, held a pure faith from childhood, reciting the Universal Gate chapter daily, praised throughout her own village for it. Later, leaving the household to become a nun, she was seized and held captive, and urgently recited the Universal Gate chapter, whereupon she was soon released; on her way home, passing through Jizhou, she was again pursued by bandits, and, climbing up into a withered tree, sincerely recited Avalokiteśvara's own sacred name — the bandits searched for her but could not find her, and she thereby escaped this danger from bandits. This closes the first group, the eight kinds of fearlessness from danger.

Sūtra: "Ninth, hearing habituated to leave every sense-object behind, so that no form-object can rob it of its own treasure, I cause every sentient being given to excessive lust to be freed from craving and desire far behind."

Commentary: Craving, aversion, and delusion are called the three poisons — since they are able to poison the very life of the dharma-body and wisdom, hence named "the three poisons," deeply to be feared! Craving, aversion, and delusion are, further, the causes of the three lower destinies: a being of excessive craving falls into hell; a being of excessive aversion falls into the realm of hungry ghosts (aversion belongs to fire, and a hungry ghost thereby receives the retribution of burning by the fire of hunger); a being of excessive delusion falls into the animal realm — this, too, deeply to be feared! What is here called fearlessness from the three poisons does not mean indulging in evil without any fear at all, but rather this: through holding the name, one is freed from these poisons, through this great, majestic, spiritual power, and thereby attains fearlessness.

This is fearlessness from the poison of craving left behind. Among every kind of craving, craving for sexual desire stands foremost. It is exactly this one matter of sexual desire that people transgress most easily of all — the sight of beauty stirring the mind, one is certain to fall into the deep pit of craving and desire, and this is, moreover, the most difficult of all to sever, causing the greatest harm. Should one wish to leave desire behind, the Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sūtra says: constantly recollecting and reverently calling upon Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, one thereby attains freedom from desire — relying on the bodhisattva's own majestic, spiritual power, together with the power of one's own recollection in holding this name, using this power of recollection to counteract the mind of lust directly, relying on this majestic, spiritual power to dissolve away this very karmic obstruction.

"Hearing habituated to leave every sense-object behind": this is exactly the effort of turning hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, habituating this false hearing that flows outward until it becomes the true hearing that enters the stream — and, entering the stream, one is certain to let go of what was heard. The knot within the sound-object already untied, the knots within every other sense-object are untied together with it — how, then, could the form-object still rob one of one's own household treasure? "Cause every sentient being given to excessive lust": speaking of "excessive" lust means one whose past habituation runs especially deep, again and again giving rise to thoughts of lust, manifesting as lustful conduct — at its lightest, harming the body and losing one's own virtue; at its worst, ruining one's household and losing one's own life. In its most extreme form — since lust and desire belong to fire — the bodhisattva regards desire exactly as one would avoid a pit of fire.

The bhikṣuṇī Ratnakamala, holding the bodhisattva precepts, secretly engaged in lustful conduct, falsely claiming that lustful conduct was neither killing nor stealing, and so carried no karmic retribution at all. No sooner had she spoken these words than a great, fierce fire arose from her own female organ, and afterward, joint by joint, this same fierce fire burned through her entire body, and she fell into the Avīci hell. A being given to excessive lust who is able to constantly recollect the bodhisattva's own sacred name, blessed by the bodhisattva's own majestic power, is thereby able to be freed from craving and desire far behind — and so, freed from the poison of craving, one may naturally attain fearlessness!

Sūtra: "Tenth, this pure sound free of any sense-object at all, sense-faculty and sense-object perfectly interfused, with no counterpart standing over against anything, I cause every sentient being given to resentment and hatred to leave anger and hatred far behind."

Commentary: This is fearlessness from the poison of aversion left behind. "This pure sound free of any sense-object at all": this single, undivided, wondrous nature of hearing sound, with no sound-object left standing over against it at all — this line being exactly the same as the two marks of motion and stillness becoming utterly unarisen. There being no longer any objective realm standing over against it, nor any sense-faculty standing as its counterpart, sense-faculty and objective realm both dissolved away together, only a single, perfectly interfused, pure, precious awareness remaining, inner and outer one and the same, with nothing standing as counterpart and nothing standing as object — since anger and hatred arise precisely from opposition and resistance to a counterpart, the great being's own self-realized state, perfectly interfused into a single substance, holds no counterpart and no obstruction at all. Through this same state, blessing sentient beings, one is thereby able to cause every sentient being given to anger, resentment, and hatred, simply by constantly recollecting and reverently calling upon Avalokiteśvara, using this power of recollection to subdue the very mechanism of anger, relying on this same compassionate wind to sweep away the heat of hatred, to attain freedom from anger and hatred entirely — and so, freed from the poison of aversion, one may naturally attain fearlessness!

Sūtra: "Eleventh, the sense-object dissolved away and this brightness turned back to its own source, body and mind throughout the Dharma-realm exactly like lapis lazuli, bright and penetrating without any obstruction at all, I cause every being obstructed by a dull, benighted nature, every icchantika among them, to leave delusion's own darkness behind forever."

Commentary: Delusion arises from being obscured by false sense-objects, obstructed by ignorance. "The sense-object dissolved away and this brightness turned back to its own source": dissolving away the false sense-object conditioned, turning back to this own nature's original brightness — exactly what an earlier passage called slipping loose from what it clings to and subsiding inward, subsiding back into its own true origin, giving rise to its own original, bright radiance. And so the Dharma-realm without, and body and mind within, become exactly like a jewel of lapis lazuli, thoroughly bright and penetrating, inner and outer alike clear and radiant, without any obstruction at all. The great being, through this same self-realized power of wisdom, blesses sentient beings, and is thereby able to cause every being obstructed by a dull, benighted nature, every icchantika among them, to leave delusion's own darkness behind forever. A "dull, benighted nature" is exactly folly itself — folly taking confusion and dullness as its own nature, able to obstruct wisdom, hence "a dull, benighted, obstructed nature." An icchantika, translated "one without any wholesome mind," arises entirely from an especially heavy habituation of delusion, confused about correct knowledge and vision, blazing with wrong views, denying cause and effect altogether. Should one be able to constantly recollect and reverently call upon Avalokiteśvara, using right mindfulness to drive out wrong attachment, relying on this sun of wisdom to break through this same benighted confusion, one thereby attains freedom from delusion's own darkness forever — and so, freed from the poison of delusion, one may naturally attain fearlessness! This closes the second group, the three kinds of fearlessness from the three poisons.

Sūtra: "Twelfth, this form dissolved away and hearing returned to its own source, this very place of practice unmoved, entering into the world without harming the world itself, able to pervade the ten directions, making offerings to every buddha, every Tathāgata, as numerous as motes of dust, and, at each buddha's own side, serving as a son of the Dharma-king — I cause every childless being throughout the Dharma-realm who wishes for a son to give birth to a son endowed with merit, virtue, and wisdom."

Commentary: This is fearlessness in answering the prayer for a son. People of the world without a son fear three things: first, growing old with no one to attend them; second, having no one to entrust their own final affairs to; third, their own family line coming, inevitably, to an end. And so they are certain to pray for a son. As the Universal Gate chapter puts it: "should one wish for a son, worshipping and making offerings to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, one thereby gives birth to a son endowed with merit, virtue, and wisdom." That other sūtra speaks only of the method for praying for a son, without speaking of the bodhisattva's own blessing power; this present sūtra speaks only of this same blessing, without speaking of the method for praying for a son — read together, the two sūtras' own explanations complete one another fully.

"This form dissolved away and hearing returned to its own source, this very place of practice unmoved": these two lines point to the very cultivation and realization of principle — dissolving away the four elements' own illusory form (exactly "increasing this gradually, both the hearing and what is heard were exhausted"), and turning back to this single, true nature of hearing (exactly "once arising and ceasing were themselves extinguished, still cessation appeared of itself"), realizing and entering this unmoving, unshaken, unborn, unceasing principle-substance — exactly what the Buddha called attaining, altogether, this one vehicle's own ground of still cessation. The next seven lines, "entering into the world without harming the world itself" and what follows, describe this great function arising from this same essence. The bodhisattva's own body is well able to enter every buddha-land as numerous as motes of dust, manifesting boundless bodies from this single body, entering into all three worlds (the world of physical vessels, the world of sentient beings, and the world of true awakening), manifesting a body matched to each kind without harming the world's own appearance in the least — according with principle to accomplish actual affairs, proceeding from truth into the conventional world, this being exactly the wisdom of skillful means; skillful means belongs to the provisional, and the provisional is able to intervene in actual affairs — carrying, within it, the very meaning of giving birth to a son.

"Able to pervade the ten directions, making offerings to every buddha, every Tathāgata, as numerous as motes of dust, and, at each buddha's own side, serving as a son of the Dharma-king": offerings are of two kinds. First, offerings of the body — attending with towel and vessel in hand, offering one's own labor and service — this being the fulfillment of the accumulation of blessings sought. Second, offerings of the mind — constantly following the Buddha's own study, transmitting the wheel of Dharma on the Buddha's own behalf, this mind well according with the Buddha's own mind, bringing the Buddha's own original intention to fulfillment — at each buddha's own side, serving as a true son of the Dharma-king: this being the fulfillment of the accumulation of wisdom sought. Through this same surplus of blessing and surplus of wisdom, blessing sentient beings, one is thereby able to cause every childless being throughout the Dharma-realm, worshipping and making offerings to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, to give birth to a son endowed with merit, virtue, and wisdom. Possessing merit and virtue, one becomes both wealthy and honored; possessing wisdom, one becomes both upright and discerning. Should one have merit without wisdom, one's own understanding remains mediocre and shallow; should one have wisdom without merit, one's own household remains poor and one's own strength weak. For whoever prays, the bodhisattva causes the birth of a son complete with both merit and wisdom together — and so this is exactly fearlessness in answering the prayer for a son!

I, too, was born through my own parents' prayer to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. My own family register is in Gutian County, Fujian, of the Wu clan; my father was a timber merchant, and, at thirty-five years of age, had already had two daughters but no son. My father and mother together prayed to the great being Avalokiteśvara for a son, keeping an image of the great being enshrined at home, my mother worshipping before it each day; afterward, she became pregnant, and worshipped with even greater devotion still. One night, she dreamed she saw the great being, cradling an infant, who said to my mother: this child shall be your son. My mother, receiving the child with joy, awoke from this dream, and told my father and my own grandmother of it. That very day, they set out offerings, making offerings to the great being with devout reverence — and, three days later, I was born, and was raised with the utmost care. Sadly, both my parents passed away when I was five years old, and I was raised and educated by my grandmother and my uncle. At seven, I entered a private school, and both my teacher and the villagers regarded me as a child prodigy. By ten, I had grown fond of fighting, and, wrestling with a village child, injured him — the child ran home crying to tell his mother, who then came to my grandmother to settle the matter. My grandmother apologized to her repeatedly, and afterward scolded me: "who could have known that the great being Avalokiteśvara would send such an unruly, mischievous child as you into our own household!" Hearing this at the time, I did not understand what she meant. Later, when my grandmother was in good spirits, I asked her about it, and she told me the full story of my parents' prayer for a son. My grandmother said: "I had assumed that a child sent by the great being would surely turn out to be a fine son — who could have known you would turn out so mischievous instead!" I then thought to myself: should I fail to resolve upon becoming good, even the bodhisattva would be implicated in blame for it — and so I knelt before my grandmother and said: please do not worry, I will surely learn to be good. From that time on, I devoted myself single-mindedly to my studies. At fourteen, I sat for the civil examinations; by fifteen or sixteen, I often thought of entering the mountains to cultivate practice, though I did not yet know, at the time, that this meant becoming a monk. At seventeen, my grandmother passed away; at eighteen, I wished to leave the household to become a monk, but my uncle discovered this and would not allow it. Only at nineteen did I finally enter the Buddhist path; at twenty, I received the full monastic precepts, and went out at once to study with various teachers. At twenty-four, hearing the elder Dharma Master Tongzhi lecture on the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, I resolved at once to become a Dharma teacher myself, taking the benefiting of beings as my own life's work, propagating the Dharma as my own household duty, spreading this great teaching of the Śūraṅgama so that it might long remain in the world — I had earlier founded the Yuanming Śūraṅgama Specialized Seminary, and this very resolve is precisely its own original aspiration.

Sūtra: "Thirteenth, all six sense-faculties perfectly interfused, illuminating without any duality at all, embracing every world of the ten directions, establishing a great, perfectly round mirror, the empty tathāgatagarbha, according with and receiving, without the slightest loss, every hidden Dharma-gate of every Tathāgata as numerous as motes of dust throughout the ten directions — I cause every childless being throughout the Dharma-realm who wishes for a daughter to give birth to a daughter upright in appearance, blessed with merit and virtue, gentle and compliant, beloved and honored by all, complete with every fine mark."

Commentary: This is fearlessness in answering the prayer for a daughter. As the Zhǐzhǎng commentary puts it: a son continues the family line within, and a daughter forms outer bonds of kinship — having a son without a daughter is likewise not entirely satisfactory, and so there are those who pray for this same "half a child" as well. According to the Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sūtra, a woman wishing to bear a daughter, since they are of the same kind and thus feel a natural closeness, is likewise moved to pray for one — and the method of this prayer, too, comes down to nothing more than worship and making offerings.

"All six sense-faculties perfectly interfused": "perfect" means perfectly interfused — the six sense-faculties functioning interchangeably, each and every one, whichever is taken up, complete with seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, sensing, and knowing all at once. "Interfused" means penetrating through — the six sense-faculties no longer separated from one another by any obstruction. These two words, "perfectly interfused," govern every line that follows. Because of this penetration, illuminating without any duality: the six sense-faculties' own spiritual, bright illuminating function, without the slightest duality or distinction, and so a great, perfectly round mirror is established, able to accord with and receive every hidden Dharma-gate of every Tathāgata as numerous as motes of dust throughout the ten directions. Because of this interfusion, embracing every world of the ten directions: able to embrace and enclose every buddha-world of the ten directions, and so the empty tathāgatagarbha is established, able to receive every buddha's own Dharma-gate, whether great or small, provisional or real, in its entirety, without the slightest loss. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "according with" is exactly the gentle virtue proper to the earth itself, and "receiving" is exactly the very capability proper to the women's own quarters — and so this is exactly why this line answers the prayer for a daughter.

"Cause every childless being throughout the Dharma-realm who wishes for a daughter": the great being, through this same freely functioning, wondrous power, blesses sentient beings, and is thereby able to cause every being throughout the Dharma-realm without a daughter, wishing to bear one, who is indeed able to worship and make offerings to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, to give birth thereby to a daughter upright in appearance, blessed with merit, and gentle and compliant — outwardly, of upright appearance and dignified, graceful bearing, this being blessed with merit; inwardly, of a gentle, compliant temperament, chaste, calm, and reserved, this being blessed with virtue. Beholding one blessed with merit, everyone is moved to love her; beholding one blessed with virtue, everyone is moved to honor her — "complete with every fine mark" meaning exactly complete with both the mark of merit and the mark of virtue together. Should she be upright in appearance alone, without gentleness, she may be loved but not honored; should she be gentle alone, without an upright appearance, she may be honored but not loved. Of the two words "merit and virtue," "merit" connects to what comes before, and "virtue" to what follows — complete with both merit and virtue together, she thereby comes to be both loved and honored by all — and so this is exactly fearlessness in answering the prayer for a daughter! This closes the third group, the two kinds of fearlessness in answering these two prayers.

Sūtra: "Fourteenth, throughout this great trichiliocosm, its hundred million suns and moons, dwelling now within the world are sons of the Dharma-king as numerous as sixty-two Ganges' sands, each cultivating their own dharma and setting their own example, teaching and transforming sentient beings, according with each being's own capacity through their own skillful wisdom, each one differing from the next."

Commentary: This makes plain fearlessness through holding the name. Since one holds only Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's own single name, and not the names of every bodhisattva, one might fear that a single name could never match the power of many names combined. "This great trichiliocosm" refers to the Sahā world, holding, in all, a hundred million Mount Sumerus, a hundred million suns and moons, a hundred million sets of four continents. "Dwelling now within the world" means dwelling, at this very moment, within the three realms and six destinies, manifesting a transformation-body matched to each kind, riding upon their own vows to benefit beings; these sons of the Dharma-king number as many as sixty-two Ganges' sands — this being the sage's own direct perception, both known and seen directly.

"Each cultivating their own dharma and setting their own example" and what follows makes plain that these sons of the Dharma-king carry out their own teaching in ways that are by no means uniform — some cultivate an actual practice, a self-benefiting dharma, which may likewise serve as a model held up for sentient beings, an example for them to follow. "Teaching and transforming sentient beings": some cultivate a provisional practice that benefits others, according with each being's own root-nature, manifesting the four means of attraction (giving, kind speech, beneficial conduct, and working alongside others), using this same skillful, provisional wisdom — each one, again, differing from the next.

Sūtra: "Through this root of perfect penetration I myself attained, this wondrous ear-gate giving rise to it, my own body and mind, afterward, subtly and wondrously embracing and containing, pervading the whole Dharma-realm entirely, I am able to cause sentient beings who hold my own name, together with those who hold the names of these sixty-two Ganges' sands of sons of the Dharma-king, to receive, the two of them, one and the same merit and virtue, exactly equal, without the slightest difference."

Commentary: This makes plain how a single name is able to match the power of many names combined. What is the reason for this? Because this root of perfect penetration I myself attained is exactly the very root of perfect penetration itself. This "root" carries two senses: first, it is the very root of original benefit for this Sahā world — to take hold of samādhi, one truly enters through hearing itself. Second, it is the very root underlying every one of the twenty-five approaches to perfect penetration — this being the single gateway to nirvāṇa shared by buddhas as numerous as motes of dust. The line above names this root; what follows sets out its own substance and characteristics — meaning that this root of perfect penetration arises from within this same wondrous ear-gate. The reason the ear-gate is called "wondrous" is exactly this: the method of hearing, reflecting, and cultivating handed down by the ancient Buddha Avalokiteśvara, relying on the sense-faculty's own nature of hearing, this wondrous, unborn, unceasing principle, gives rise to the wondrous wisdom that turns hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, illuminating through and breaking apart the five aggregates, untying the six knots, arising and ceasing themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, realizing the very essence of perfect penetration and giving rise to its freely functioning use.

"My own body and mind, afterward, subtly and wondrously embracing and containing, pervading the whole Dharma-realm entirely": afterward, according with this essence, this function arises, responding and transforming without any fixed direction — this being the very subtlety and wonder of the body; discerning each capacity without the slightest error — this being the very subtlety and wonder of the mind. "Embracing and containing" points to this wondrous mind, meaning that this mind embraces the sentient beings of boundless worlds throughout the ten directions; "pervading" points to this wondrous body, meaning that this body pervades all ten Dharma-realms, sagely and ordinary, defiled and pure alike. And so I am able to cause sentient beings who hold my own name, Avalokiteśvara, together with those who hold the names of these sixty-two Ganges' sands of sons of the Dharma-king, to receive, the two of them, one and the same merit and virtue, without the slightest difference at all.

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, my own single name, and those many other names, carry no difference between them at all — for I have, through my own cultivation and practice, attained true perfect penetration itself."

Commentary: As the Zhǐzhǎng commentary puts it: a single name against many names, holding one alone against holding many together — considered in terms of the actual conduct involved for the two persons, these differ as greatly as heaven from earth; yet considered in terms of the merit and virtue attained by the two persons, they do not differ by so much as a single thread. What is the reason for this? The great being says: holding my own single name alone, and holding together the many names of every other bodhisattva, bring exactly the same merit and virtue — and so this is exactly fearlessness through holding the name! This is entirely because I myself have cultivated and practiced the samādhi of the ear-gate, and have thereby attained true and genuine perfect penetration itself. Being complete with the three true realities constantly present within perfect penetration, I am thereby able to surpass all twenty-four other sages and stand wondrously alone — fit to match every son of the Dharma-king without the slightest doubt! Observing these final two lines, one sees that the bodhisattva's own hidden intention has, already, here, selected themself as uniquely foremost among every sage's own perfect penetration. That the Buddha later commands Mañjuśrī to make this same selection once more is only for the sake of those who have not yet grasped this same hidden intention shared by the Buddha and Avalokiteśvara alike — adding, as it were, this further tangle of vines to make the point plain. This closes the second section, setting forth this fearlessness in detail.

Sūtra: "This is called the fourteen powers of bestowing fearlessness, blessing sentient beings in full."

Commentary: This closes and names this section. The passage stated at the very outset said: "causing sentient beings to attain, through my own body and mind, fourteen kinds of merit and virtue of fearlessness" — this refers exactly to these fourteen described above, hence named "the fourteen powers of bestowing fearlessness." The bodhisattva takes body and mind as the giver, the power of fearlessness as what is given, and these fourteen kinds of sentient beings as the recipients. The bodhisattva, the three wheels of this giving all empty of any substance, clings to no fixed mark whatsoever — no giver's own body and mind, no power of fearlessness given, no sentient being who receives it — and generosity given without dwelling on any such mark carries a merit and virtue beyond all measure or reckoning, and so is able to reach every sentient being of the ten directions universally, bringing about their freedom from suffering and their own benefit.

These fourteen kinds of sentient beings described above, their own capacities spanning the ten directions: beings in the eight dangers, their own bodies caught in suffering and hardship, fearing for their very lives — simply by holding this sacred name, they are blessed at once by the great being's own power of fearlessness, this merit and virtue complete in full, preserving their own lives whole. Beings under the three poisons, their own delusion and karma running deep, fearing their own future fall — simply by holding this sacred name, they are blessed at once by the great being's own power of fearlessness, this merit and virtue complete in full, bringing about their freedom from these same poisons. Beings praying for these two things, without an heir, fearing they will have no one to rely upon in old age and death — simply by holding this sacred name, they are blessed at once by the great being's own power of fearlessness, this merit and virtue complete in full, bringing about the birth of a son or daughter. Beings holding this single name, holding this one name in recollection, fearing their own merit and virtue insufficient — simply by attaining this single-mindedness, they are blessed at once by the great being's own power of fearlessness, this merit and virtue complete in full, made equal without the slightest difference. And so sentient beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions, every one of them, call Avalokiteśvara the Bodhisattva Who Bestows Fearlessness. This closes the second section, the fourteen kinds of fearlessness.