Two Distortions, and the True Path to Bodhi

Sūtra: "Ānanda then rose from his seat, bowed his head at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: 'We are, by nature, foolish and dull, fond only of hearing much, and have not yet sought to escape this mind still subject to outflow. Yet, receiving the Buddha's own compassionate instruction, we have gained this true cultivation, and our body and mind feel light and clear, greatly benefited.'"

Commentary: Having already awakened to this root of perfect penetration, and having also heard this teaching on the platform's own practice, Ānanda, wishing to give thanks for the Buddha's kindness, rose at once from his seat, bowed his head, and spoke reverently. Where wisdom fails to prevail, this is called foolish; where the faculties are not sharp, this is called dull. Because of this inferior wisdom, he was fond only of hearing much, unable to reflect and cultivate true samādhi, and so unable to attain and realize perfect penetration; and because of these dull faculties, his mind, still subject to outflow, was unable to advance and sever the subtler delusions, in order to seek escape from them. Now, receiving the Buddha's own compassionate instruction — meaning the two-fold profound teaching of selecting the root faculty and its auxiliary practice — he has gained this true, aiding cultivation, this great Śūraṅgama samādhi; hence his body and mind feel light and at ease, and, this very day, he has gained this great, abundant benefit.

Sūtra: "'World-Honored One, such cultivation and realization as this, the Buddha's own samādhi, has not yet reached nirvāṇa. What is meant by the ground of dry wisdom? Through what gradual stages do the forty-four minds of the path proceed, and by what practice are they attained? At what point does one truly enter the grounds? And what is meant by a bodhisattva of universal enlightenment?'"

Commentary: This makes plain that the one being addressed, having already awakened to this teaching on aiding and true cultivation, now further requests these stages of practice. "Such as this" is a phrase referring to this teaching: the samādhi that every buddha of the ten directions first cultivates, upon first setting the mind on this path — from its very beginning to its very end, yet not having reached ultimate realization, nirvāṇa itself. What is meant by the ground of dry wisdom? The forty-four minds are the ten faiths, ten abidings, ten practices, ten transferences, and the four aids to penetration. This sūtra's own ten faiths differ from those of other sūtras, since it opens the first abiding out into these same ten faiths — as the later text makes explicit, further on, in speaking of these same ten minds arising, and again in speaking of these ten functions interpenetrating to perfect a single mind. "Through what gradual stages do they proceed, and by what practice are they attained" — these two clauses ought to be read together with "samādhi" above, before rejoining "not yet reached nirvāṇa"; only then does the order truly accord with the text that follows. "Gradual stages" here refers to the three gradual stages: first, cultivation, to remove the aiding cause; second, true cultivation, to scour out the very root-nature; and third, advancing further, to reverse present habitual activity. "By what practice are they attained" means exactly the very eye by which this path is accomplished. "At what point does one truly enter the grounds" — since the ten grounds sever obstruction ground by ground, and realize truth ground by ground, each with its own place and its own measure, never overstepping one another, this is called entering deeply into these ten grounds. "What is meant by a bodhisattva of universal enlightenment" asks how one cultivates so as to sever, at last, the subtlest mark of arising ignorance itself, and become a bodhisattva of universal enlightenment.

Sūtra: "Having spoken these words, he prostrated his entire body to the ground, and the assembly, with a single mind, waited upon the Buddha's own compassionate voice, gazing up at him in wide-eyed expectation."

Commentary: "Having spoken these words, he prostrated his entire body to the ground" shows the utmost sincerity of this request for the teaching — his whole body cast down upon the ground at once. "The assembly, with a single mind, waited upon the Buddha's own compassionate voice" means that the many members of the assembly, with a single mind together, waited upon the Tathāgata's own compassionate voice of Dharma. "Gazing up at him in wide-eyed expectation" means that their two eyes gazed directly at the Buddha, looking up and awaiting his teaching. This closes the first section, Ānanda giving thanks for the teaching and requesting these stages.

Sūtra: "At that time, the World-Honored One praised Ānanda, saying: 'Excellent, excellent! You are able, on behalf of this whole assembly, and of every sentient being of the final age as well, cultivating this samādhi and seeking the Great Vehicle, to ask that the true path of correct practice, from the ordinary being all the way to great nirvāṇa itself, be set forth and displayed in advance. Listen carefully now, and I will explain it for you.' Ānanda and the assembly, palms joined, their minds hollowed out and still, silently received this teaching."

Commentary: Praising Ānanda once more, saying, "Excellent, excellent" — first, praising him for having gained this true, aiding cultivation himself; and second, for the sake of the assembly, and of beings of the final age as well, giving rise to this mind that benefits others. Whoever cultivates this true Śūraṅgama samādhi and seeks the Great Vehicle — as described earlier, should you wish to relinquish the śrāvaka path and cultivate the bodhisattva vehicle, entering the Buddha's own knowledge and vision — begins from the ordinary being and, through the three gradual stages, arrives at last at wondrous enlightenment, the fruit-sea of great nirvāṇa; and throughout this whole span, passing through all fifty-five stages, this is the true path to bodhi. He wishes it displayed and set forth for them in advance: this unsurpassed bodhi, this true path of correct practice. The three gradual stages belong to the ordinary being's own stage, and the fruit-sea of nirvāṇa belongs to sagehood — yet neither, in itself, is this path; rather, it is exactly what causes present and future practitioners of true samādhi to flow, without deviation, straight through the very middle of the path, from its very beginning to its very end, with never the slightest crookedness along the way. "Listen carefully now, with full sincerity, and I will explain it for you." Ānanda and the whole assembly, palms joined, their minds hollowed out — hollowed out means scooped clean, as one hollows a log to make a boat, scraping away its solid core to leave it empty within — that is, scooping away every trace of the conditioned, discriminating mind, until not a single thought arises, and silently receiving this teaching. This closes the first section, the Tathāgata granting to speak, and the assembly receiving this teaching.

Sūtra: "The Buddha said: 'Ānanda, you should know: the wondrous nature, perfectly bright, stands apart from every name and appearance — originally there is no "world," no "sentient being" at all. Because of falseness, there is arising; because of arising, there is ceasing. Arising and ceasing together are called falseness; the ceasing of falseness itself is called truth — and this is what is meant by the two titles the Tathāgata turns toward and relies on: unsurpassed bodhi and great nirvāṇa.'"

Commentary: This raises up this same truth relied upon, so that Ānanda might arouse this same wisdom and observe it directly. True suchness is the very source relied upon by every defiled and every pure dharma alike, yet is never itself altered by any dharma, since true suchness possesses both these meanings at once — unchanging, and according with conditions. One should know that, within the very realm of true suchness, every false name of "being" or "buddha" is cut off, and every mark of defilement or purity stands apart. "The wondrous nature, perfectly bright" is exactly this wondrous nature of true suchness, perfectly filling the ten directions of emptiness, its brightness illumining without division, filling everything entirely, pure, admitting nothing else within it. Its own essence, originally, stands apart from every name and mark — no name or word yet established, no mark or appearance yet manifest — how, then, could there be any "world" or "sentient being," any name or mark of any kind at all, to be found? Exactly as the summary passage on the four categories puts it: within this true, constant nature, seeking any going or coming, confusion or awakening, birth or death, one finds, in the end, nothing at all to be gained. And exactly as the Sixth Patriarch puts it: originally there is not a single thing — where, then, could any dust ever settle? This describes the gate of true suchness itself; what follows describes the gate of arising and ceasing.

The passage above spoke in terms of its own essence, pure and unchanging; this passage speaks in terms of its own function, according with conditions at ease. According with the conditions of confusion or awakening, following the karma of defilement or purity, there come to be these names and marks of "being" and "buddha." These three clauses briefly indicate how defiled conditions arise. "Because of falseness" means because of that very first thought of ignorance, moving falsely — this is the mark of arising itself, the very root-source of every falseness. "There is arising" means that, the moment the three subtle marks suddenly stir and the six coarse marks contend to arise, there comes to be the birth of an insentient world, and the birth of sentient beings receiving life within it. Because there is this false arising, there must be a false ceasing as well — yet this arising is never a true arising, nor is this ceasing ever a true ceasing; hence, "arising and ceasing together are both called falseness." And so there come to be these two kinds of distortion, extending even to these twelve categories of birth. This is how, relying on the arising of defiled conditions, the very names and marks of "sentient being" and "world" come to be established.

This briefly indicates how pure conditions arise. Knowing that arising and ceasing are both called falseness, one then wishes to extinguish this falseness — only this is properly called truth — and so one sets the mind on cultivation and practice, and so there come to be these three gradual stages, these fifty-five stages, this true path of correct practice, proceeding straight to the fruit-sea of wondrous enlightenment; and this is called the Tathāgata. This is how, relying on the arising of pure conditions, the very names of "bodhi" and "nirvāṇa" come to be established. Unsurpassed bodhi is the Buddha's own fruit of wisdom, turned about from affliction itself; great nirvāṇa is the Buddha's own fruit of severance, attained by turning about birth and death itself. One thus knows that affliction and birth-and-death, bodhi and nirvāṇa, are nothing but these same two titles that being and buddha, confusion and awakening, mutually depend upon and turn toward — hence, "these two titles the Tathāgata turns toward and relies on" — and these, too, possess no real, fixed essence of their own, exactly what is meant by saying that nirvāṇa and birth-and-death alike are both like flowers conjured in the sky. This closes the second section, the truth relied upon as the very source of every dharma.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, if you now wish to cultivate true samādhi and proceed directly to the Tathāgata's great nirvāṇa, you must first recognize the two root distortions — of sentient beings, and of the world — that give rise to all this. Once these distortions no longer arise, that, precisely, is the Tathāgata's true samādhi."

Commentary: This makes plain the need to recognize the cause of these two distortions. Hence, addressing Ānanda, the Buddha tells him: now that you wish to cultivate this true samādhi, simply turn toward the gate of the ear, reversing hearing to illumine this nature — this alone is exactly the King of Śūraṅgama, this illusion-like samādhi, its whole substance giving rise to cultivation, its whole cultivation residing within this same nature — hence called "true." Setting to work from this gate of the ear, one may go directly to the Tathāgata's own great nirvāṇa — from cause to fruit, passing through, in between, these fifty-five stages, this true path to bodhi, never falling into any side-branch or deviation. Hence this gate of the ear is exactly the single path to nirvāṇa shared by every Bhagavān of the ten directions. Wishing to cultivate this gate, one must first recognize these two distortions — of sentient beings, and of the world — and the very cause from which they arise. This "world" is the sentient world, not the world of insentient vessels. These two root distortions are simply this same sentient world, this same sentient being, divided into two — both arising from that very first thought of distortion, taken as their own arising cause. Should that single thought never arise at all, then this distortion, too, would never arise — and this, precisely, is the Tathāgata's own true samādhi. Exactly what is meant by: "once this maddened mind comes to rest, that very rest is bodhi" — this most excellent, pure, bright mind, originally pervading the whole Dharma-realm, never gained from anyone else. This closes the first section, urging the recognition of these two distortions.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, what is meant by the distortion of sentient beings? Ānanda, because of the mind's own nature of brightness — this nature of brightness being perfectly complete — a false brightness is imposed upon it, giving rise to this same nature's own false seeing; and so, from what is, in the end, utterly without existence, there comes to be what is, in the end, taken as truly existing. This existence, and what it thereby possesses, are neither a true cause nor what is truly caused by it; this abiding, and what it thereby abides upon, have, when traced to their root, no root at all. And it is upon this very rootlessness that the world, and all sentient beings, come to be established."

Commentary: This makes plain how true suchness, according with defiled conditions, gives rise to falseness from truth itself. The first sentence poses this question; what follows explains the cause of this distortion. Because of the wondrously bright true mind of the nature of awareness — this nature originally bright of itself, illumining the Dharma-realm perfectly — this, relying on the very substance of this bright nature, perfectly contains the ten dharma-realms within it. What follows describes this same nature's false function, arising according with conditions. "A false brightness is imposed" means that a false brightness is added on top of this same substance of awareness, and so this same nature of the karmic-consciousness-mark is given rise to — exactly what is meant by "the nature of awareness is necessarily bright; because of this brightness, an object [that must be known] is established." "Brightness" here means this same ignorance that so brightens; "nature" means this same karmic mark that is thereby given rise to — exactly what the Awakening of Faith means in saying: "relying on this non-awareness, the mind moves — this very movement is the karmic mark." "This same nature's own false seeing" means that this same nature of the karmic consciousness, through the power of this ignorance, turns this originally possessed light of wisdom into this same false seeing that arises as its own seeing-portion — exactly what is meant by "once this object is falsely established, your own false capacity to know it is thereby given rise to as well," and exactly what the Awakening of Faith means in saying: "relying on this movement, there comes to be this capacity to see" — that is, the turning mark. "From what is, in the end, utterly without existence, there comes to be what is, in the end, taken as truly existing" means that, from within this state utterly without any name or mark at all, because of this same false seeing, there comes to be, in the end, this realm of marks taken as truly existing — exactly what is meant by "within what has no sameness and no difference at all, a blazing difference comes to be" — and exactly what the Awakening of Faith means in saying: "relying on this capacity to see, this same realm falsely appears" — that is, the manifesting mark. This false appearance arises entirely from that single thought of ignorance, empty and false though it truly is.

The first sentence: "this existence" means this same ignorance able to possess; "what it thereby possesses" means these same three subtle marks. The second sentence: "cause" means to depend upon — ignorance, able to possess, seems to be what is depended upon, since it is able to serve as what these three subtle marks depend upon; and these same three subtle marks, being thereby possessed, seem to be what depends upon it, since they depend on ignorance in order to exist at all. Yet, in truth, ignorance is not truly what is depended upon, nor are these marks truly what depends upon it — hence, "neither a true cause nor what is truly caused by it" — since ignorance itself has no essence of its own at all. "This abiding, and what it thereby abides upon" means that sentient beings are taken as what abides, and ignorance as what they abide upon; yet, since this ignorance that is abided upon is, at root, itself empty, how could these sentient beings who abide upon it ever be truly existent at all? Hence, "when traced to their root, they have no root at all" — since both, alike, are utterly false. "And it is upon this very rootlessness that the world, and all sentient beings, come to be established" — carrying on from above, since both being and world are, alike, this same falseness, there remains only this same true mind of the nature of awareness, wondrously bright. This mind, being itself the very root of this rootlessness, is not only the very root of every sentient being, but the world itself — the mountains, rivers, and the great earth — together with every sentient being as well, both alike come to be established entirely in dependence on it. If this is so, then sentient life comes first and the world after — this speaks of the sentient world. Here, though, the world comes first and sentient life after — this speaks of the world of insentient vessels. Yet this section is concerned solely with making plain the distortion of sentient beings; the two words "and world" are added here only in passing, as a matter of convenience. This closes the first section, arising as falseness from truth itself.

Sūtra: "It is by being confused about this same perfect, bright root that this falseness is given rise to. This nature of falseness has no substance of its own, and is not truly dependent on anything at all. Should one then wish to recover truth, this very wish to recover truth is already itself not true; for this truly suchness nature, sought after by a mind that is not itself true, becomes, in just this seeking, nothing but a false mark once again."

Commentary: As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: what false karma is unable to diminish is called this "perfect" root; what false confusion is unable to obscure is called this "bright" root — and this same perfect, bright root is exactly this same unchanging nature and substance. Sentient beings are, specifically, confused about this same unchanging nature and substance, and it is this that gives rise to this same delusion of false karma. Yet, tracing this exhaustively, this nature of falseness has no substance of its own at all, nor any real ground to depend upon — in short, truth is unchanging, and falseness is, at root, empty. Yet, since falseness is, at root, empty, there is no falseness that could ever truly be left behind; and since truth is unchanging, there is no truth that could ever truly be recovered! One who practices the sudden, complete teaching need only understand that truth is unchanging, and penetrate that falseness is, at root, empty — this alone suffices. Since truth is unchanging, it need not be recovered at all; and since falseness is, at root, empty, it need not be left behind at all. Exactly as the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment puts it: to know illusion is itself to leave it behind; to leave illusion behind is itself to awaken. The very instant one turns this light of awareness back, one is, at once, the same as what was originally attained.

The first clause: should one, long caught within the cycle of rebirth, grow weary of it in mind, and wish to leave falseness behind and recover truth — this very wish to recover truth is already itself not this same true suchness nature. As described earlier: "the moment the mind of bodhi arises, the mind of arising and ceasing is thereby extinguished" — this, too, is itself a form of arising and ceasing. Since the nature of this single truth admits no view whatsoever to be raised against it, the moment the mind stirs, one has already erred; the moment a single thought moves, one has already turned away from it. As Zhang Zhuo's own verse on awakening the path puts it: "to sever false thought only adds a further sickness; to turn toward true suchness is, itself, likewise a deviation." "Sought after by a mind that is not itself true, becomes, in just this seeking, nothing but a false mark once again" — "not true" means precisely this same mind of arising and ceasing; seeking, with this mind of arising and ceasing, to recover this true, constant nature, this true constancy itself becomes nothing but arising and ceasing once again. Exactly what the earlier verse means in saying: "words about falseness reveal what is true — yet falseness and truth alike are both still falseness" — hence, "becomes nothing but a false mark once again," this "false mark" being exactly this falseness itself, since this false mind gives rise to this false view. Exactly as the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment puts it: not yet out of this cycle of rebirth, and yet already trying to adjudicate perfect enlightenment — this same nature of perfect enlightenment, in that very act, becomes caught up in this same cycle once again, exactly like clouds racing while the moon seems to move, or a boat moving while the shore seems to shift. This closes the second section, being confused about this root, this difficulty in ever truly recovering it.

Sūtra: "None of this — neither this arising, nor this abiding, nor this mind, nor this dharma — is itself truly real; yet, one giving rise to the next in turn, this generative power grows increasingly manifest, and, through this same habitual influence, karma comes to be formed. Beings of shared karma draw one another together, and, because of this karma that draws them together, one mark ceases even as another arises — and it is from this that the distortion of sentient beings comes to be."

Commentary: This makes plain that ignorance belongs to the arising-mark, the karmic consciousness belongs to the abiding-mark, the seeing-portion belongs to the mind-mark, and the appearing-portion belongs to the dharma-mark — every one of these, in each case, is not truly real, hence, "neither this arising, nor this abiding, nor this mind, nor this dharma." All of these are, alike, utterly false. Yet falseness piles upon falseness still further, hence, "one giving rise to the next in turn" — this single clause spans both what precedes and what follows: what precedes is how ignorance gives rise to these three subtle marks; what follows is how this same objective realm extends into these six coarse marks, this dharma-mark giving rise, in turn, to the mark of intellect, the mark of continuity, the mark of grasping-and-clinging, and the mark of conceptualized names. "This generative power grows increasingly manifest" means that, through the power of this arising, one giving rise to the next in turn, it gradually becomes ever more manifest, giving rise to the coarse marks of these seven turning forms of consciousness, and so every affliction becomes complete.

"Through this same habitual influence, karma comes to be formed" means that every affliction, through this same habitual influence, is able to form these various kinds of karma — that is, giving rise to the mark of initiating karma. "Beings of shared karma draw one another together" is exactly the mark of suffering bound by karma. Because these beings share this same karma, they come to draw together this same affliction that ripens into birth; and so, in the very place where affinity exists between parent and child, exactly at the moment of union, a bright mark is seen to appear — this is exactly what is meant by "seeing gives rise to brightness, and form arises; this brightness, once seen, becomes a notion" — differing views become aversion, and shared thoughts become affection. The parent comes to sense the child through the very act of receiving this new life; the child comes to sense the parent through the very act of taking on this body of birth. Because of this karma that draws them together — once they meet and unite, the mark of the intermediate state ceases, and the mark of the later aggregate-body within the womb arises; and it is from this, dwelling ten months in the womb and, once born, growing into a full human being, that this mark of the distortion of sentient beings comes to be. This closes the exposition of the distortion of sentient beings.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, what is meant by the distortion of the world? This existence, and what it thereby possesses, gives rise falsely to this segmented body, and it is because of this that the boundaries of 'a world' come to be established; this is neither a true cause nor what is truly caused by it, neither a true abiding nor what it truly abides upon, yet, flowing on ceaselessly, it is because of this that 'time' comes to be formed. The three periods of time and the four directions of space, interweaving and interpenetrating with one another, transform sentient beings into these twelve categories."

Commentary: This distinguishes, specifically, the distortion of the world, belonging to the sentient world, likewise arising as falseness from truth itself. The first sentence poses this question; what follows explains the cause of this distortion. This should correspond to the section above: because of the bright mind of this nature, this nature being bright and perfectly complete, a false brightness is imposed on this nature, giving rise to this same nature's own false seeing, and so, from what is, in the end, utterly without existence, there comes to be what is, in the end, taken as truly existing — and it continues on into "this existence, and what it thereby possesses." This is left unstated here, in brief, because this "world" is exactly the world contained within a sentient being's own body, and so this same false cause described earlier applies equally to this passage, requiring no repetition — as is made clear by how "this existence, and what it thereby possesses" connects directly to "comes to be taken, in the end, as truly existing," just above. "This existence" refers to this same ignorance able to possess; "what it thereby possesses" refers to a sentient being's own physical body of the senses, which, through the false power of ignorance, gathers dust and knots together into these sense-faculties — and it is because of this that this false, segmented body is given rise to. Because of this falseness, the boundaries before and behind, left and right, come to be established; and, tracing this to its source, it is entirely this accumulated falseness that brings this about.

"This is neither a true cause nor what is truly caused by it, neither a true abiding nor what it truly abides upon" — ignorance itself is, at root, empty, and is not truly the cause, yet becomes what the world is caused by; and the world, too, is, at root, empty, originally without any abiding, and yet takes on this same mark of being abided upon — all of this because sentient beings falsely cling to the four elements as a self, and so, from beginning to end, thought after thought arises and ceases; and so past, present, and future flow on without ever stopping, and it is because of this falseness that these three periods of time come to be formed. "The three periods of time and the four directions of space, interweaving and interpenetrating with one another" means that these three periods enter into these four directions, and each of these four directions, in turn, possesses these same three periods, so that four times three makes twelve; and these four directions enter into these three periods, and each of these three periods, in turn, possesses these same four directions, so that three times four likewise makes twelve. Space and time interweave together — exactly what was described earlier as "a trading and shifting within the body itself, space and time interpenetrating one another." Through this inconceivable habitual influence, this inconceivable transformation, sentient beings, too, are transformed, corresponding to this same number, into these twelve categories. One thus knows that these twelve categories of birth are, every one, transformed through the habitual influence of that single thought of false, ignorant mind. This closes the first section, explaining the very name of "the distortion of the world."

Sūtra: "And so, in the world: because of motion, there is sound; because of sound, there is form; because of form, there is fragrance; because of fragrance, there is touch; because of touch, there is flavor; because of flavor, mental phenomena are known. These six confused, false thoughts, taken together, form the very nature of karma — and it is from this that the twelve divisions arise, turning endlessly in their wheel. And so the world's sound, fragrance, flavor, and touch, run through all twelve transformations, and return to complete a single cycle."

Commentary: This directly shows the mark of this habitual transformation — that it is because of the false power of ignorance that this false world comes to arise. Tracing this to its very cause: because of the wind of ignorance stirring, once it stirs, there is sound — hence, "because of motion, there is sound." Because of this habitual influence from this same stirring thought, there come to be these wild, conjured flowers, arising groundlessly, without cause, within this same still, essential brightness — arising where there was nothing before — hence, "because of sound, there is form." Because this realm of form, in turn, influences this false mind, hence, "because of form, there is fragrance" — "fragrance" carrying the sense of an active influence. Because this same returning influence, this vital energy, causes the mind to come into contact with its object, hence, "because of fragrance, there is touch" — "touch" meaning exactly to come into contact. Because this contact between mind and object, in turn, gives rise to attached love, hence, "because of touch, there is flavor" — "flavor" carrying exactly the sense of attached love. Because of this entangled love and attachment, taken up as a mental object, hence, "because of flavor, mental phenomena are known." "Known" belongs to the mind faculty; by analogy with what follows, from what precedes, there must equally be hearing sound, seeing form, and so forth. This, altogether, shows that this single thought of false conception, through this habitual influence from within, manifests as these six sense-objects; these objects inevitably pair with their faculties, faculty and object meeting, and consciousness arises between them. "These six confused, false thoughts, habituated into the very nature of karma" — this nature of karma is exactly these twelve distortions, taken as the cause of receiving birth as one of these twelve categories. Once this karmic cause is formed, its karmic fruit inevitably follows — hence, feeling these twelve divisions, this fruit of receiving birth. This is exactly what was meant earlier by "habituated into karma, and karma inevitably bears its fruit." Turning in this wheel through every destiny, birth and death never resting — is this not, indeed, something to be feared?

"And so the world's sound, fragrance, flavor, and touch, run through all twelve transformations, and return to complete a single cycle" — this makes plain how, following these sense-objects, one turns and returns, entirely because of this same cause bearing its own fruit. The world's sound, fragrance, flavor, and touch here briefly names four of the six sense-objects, though all six are, in substance, equally intended. "Run through all twelve transformations, and return to complete a single cycle" may be understood in two ways: first, that a single sense-object of sound, differing according to each category, transforms according to that category — the sound of egg-birth, the sound of womb-birth, and so on, up to the sound of neither-possessing-nor-lacking-conception, and every other sense-object equally so — running through all twelve transformations to complete a single circuit; "return" carries the sense of this same wheel of rebirth, so that these same twelve categories of birth, each and every category, possess all twelve distortions within it, and, following whichever is heaviest, receives its retribution first — as, when conception is heaviest, one first receives the fruit of egg-birth. In just this way, each and every distortion, following its own karmic seed, ripens earlier or later in turn, and receives its retribution earlier or later in turn, running through all twelve transformations to complete this one turning of the cycle, and then beginning yet another turning after that. Yet this must, in every case, be spoken of in terms of the transformation of these six sense-objects, since these six sense-objects are the very condition for creating karma, and this nature of karma is the very cause of this cycle of rebirth. Cause and condition coming together, falseness comes to arise, this cycle of rebirth never ceasing — and this is exactly why these categories of birth exist, forever, without end. This closes the second section, showing the mark of this habitual transformation.

Sūtra: "Riding this wheel of distorted turning, there comes to be a whole world of beings — egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born; possessing form, or without form; possessing conception, or without conception; neither possessing form nor entirely without it; neither possessing conception nor entirely without it."

Commentary: This reveals how defiled conditions arise, coming to pervade and form this entire cycle of rebirth. Should one be able to turn confusion back into awakening, this could become the arising of pure conditions instead, ascending through the sagely stages above; here, though, the discussion is confined to this state of confusion. "Riding this wheel of distorted turning" means that it is because of this same distortion of the world, likewise become these twelve categories, that this comes about — not merely a matter of delusion manifesting itself, but equally brought about by karma. Were there no such twelvefold distortion, then no delusion would ever arise, and no karma would ever be created — from where, then, could these twelve wheels of rebirth ever come?

"There comes to be a whole world of beings" refers to these twelve categories of the sentient world. What follows lists their names, each grouping four kinds of birth together — three groups of four making twelve — none departing from these two axes: emotion and thought, union and separation, each transforming further into the other. Egg-birth arises from thought, and this nature of thought, being light, tends to rise — hence, so often able to fly. Womb-birth arises from emotion, and this nature of emotion, being heavy, does not depart from the ground. Moisture-birth arises through union, formed through karmic power uniting with moisture. Transformation-birth arises through separation, formed through karmic power alone, casting off the old and emerging anew. These four kinds of birth are ordered according to how many conditions each requires: egg-birth requires four conditions — the father's, the mother's, one's own karmic condition, and union with the parents — with the further condition of warmth needed before birth is received. Womb-birth requires these same three conditions as above, without needing this condition of warmth. Moisture-birth requires only two conditions — karmic condition uniting with moisture, and receiving the further condition of a warm, sunlit environment, and birth follows at once. Transformation-birth requires only karmic condition alone — weary of the old, delighting in the new, and this molting is accomplished at once.

The remaining eight kinds of birth — possessing form, without form, possessing conception, without conception, forming one group; neither possessing nor lacking form, neither possessing nor lacking conception, forming another group. As the Consecration Sūtra puts it: possessing form, born through union, are beings of good and ill omen, spirits of light; without form, born through separation, are those dispersed into emptiness, sunk into stillness; possessing conception, thought that unites, are spirits, ghosts, and numinous beings; without conception, thought that separates, are earth, wood, metal, and stone. Neither possessing form, yet formed through the union of separation, are creatures such as the jellyfish; neither lacking form, yet formed through the separation of union, are those born through curses and incantations; neither possessing conception, yet united through separation, are creatures such as the wasp; and neither lacking conception, yet separated through union, are creatures such as the owl and the "mirror-breaker" bird. This, so far, is merely a general outline; what follows details each in turn. This closes the first section, listing the names of these categories of birth.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, because of the world's own false wheel of rebirth, this distortion of motion, beings unite through vital energy, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of flying or sinking come to be. And so there comes to be the egg-embryo, in its earliest congealed stage, drifting through every land — fish, birds, tortoises, and serpents fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of egg-birth, likewise arising falsely because of the world's own distortion. Eggs are born from thought alone, and this falseness is itself this same thought; through this false thought, turning on without rest, this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of motion belongs to delusion — since the nature of thought, being light, tends to rise, this is called "motion," standing opposed to this same unmoving true mind, and so is named this deluded distortion; and wherever there is delusion, karma inevitably arises from it. "Beings unite through vital energy, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of flying or sinking come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion: eggs are formed through the meeting of vital energy alone, as when the male cries out on the upwind side and the female on the downwind side — hence, "unite," this same vital energy being exactly this karma. "Eighty-four thousand" corresponds to the total number of afflictions. This energy has both a hard and a soft aspect: hardness forms the confused thought of soaring flight, and softness forms the confused thought of sinking heaviness. "And so there comes to be the egg-embryo, in its earliest congealed stage, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. "And so" refers to this same delusion and karma as the cause; "there comes to be" means that where there is a cause, there is inevitably a fruit as well. The egg-embryo's earliest congealed stage is the very first position within the womb, the mark of egg and womb not yet distinguished — this being exactly the fruit thereby felt, flowing on and spreading throughout every land. "Fish, birds, tortoises, and serpents" gives the names proper to this category — hard energy, soaring aloft, becomes birds; soft energy, sinking heavily, becomes fish, and so on; "fill this category" speaks, in the most emphatic terms, of just how many there are.

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth mixed with defilement, this distortion of desire, beings unite through moistening union, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of the upright and the sideways come to be. And so there comes to be the womb-embryo, in its blister stage, drifting through every land — humans, animals, dragons, and immortals fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of womb-birth, likewise arising falsely because of the world's own distortion. Wombs arise from emotion, and this mixed defilement is itself this same emotion; through this mixed, attached emotion, turning on without rest, this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of desire belongs to delusion — since craving after form and clinging in love is called "desire," standing opposed to this same pure true mind, this is named this deluded distortion; and wherever there is delusion, karma inevitably arises from it. "Beings unite through moistening union, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of the upright and the sideways come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion; wombs are formed through the meeting of vital essence, hence, "unite through moistening union," this moistening being exactly this same union and enrichment of essence, this being this karma. "Eighty-four thousand" likewise corresponds to the total number of afflictions. Emotion has both a slanted and an upright aspect: the upright forms the confused thought that becomes humans and immortals; the slanted forms the confused thought that becomes dragons and animals. "And so there comes to be the womb-embryo, in its blister stage, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. The womb-embryo's blister stage, in the second week within the womb, is the mark of egg and womb gradually differentiating — this being exactly the fruit thereby felt, flowing on and spreading throughout every land. "Humans, animals, dragons, and immortals" gives the names proper to this category — emotion upright and standing erect becomes humans and immortals; emotion slanted and moving sideways becomes dragons and animals; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through attachment, this distortion of inclination, beings unite through warmth, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of turning and overturning come to be. And so there comes to be the moisture-form, veiling the corpse it is born from, drifting through every land — every creeping, crawling, wriggling, and squirming thing fills this category."

Commentary: This is the category of moisture-birth, likewise arising falsely because of the world's own distortion. Moisture-birth arises through union, and this attachment is itself this same union; through this attached, clinging emotion, turning on without rest, this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of inclination belongs to delusion — since chasing after advantage and clinging to profit is called "inclination," standing opposed to this same still, tranquil true mind, this is named this deluded distortion; and wherever there is delusion, karma inevitably arises from it. "Beings unite through warmth, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of turning and overturning come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion; moisture-birth follows the scent and draws close to it, relying on warm energy to be born, hence, "unite through warmth," this being exactly this karma. Those who chase after advantage, seeking profit alone, turn this way and that without any constancy — hence, "confused thoughts of turning and overturning." "And so there comes to be the moisture-form, veiling the corpse it is born from, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. The moisture-form, here translated "soft flesh," is exactly the earliest mark of moisture-birth — since it does not enter a womb, it has no counterpart to the first two stages above; this is exactly the fruit thereby felt, flowing on and spreading throughout every land. "Every creeping, crawling, wriggling, and squirming thing" gives the names proper to this category — covered over is called creeping and crawling, turning about is called wriggling and squirming; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through change, this distortion of false borrowing, beings unite through contact, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of the new replacing the old come to be. And so there comes to be the transformation-form, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land — every creature that molts, sheds, or takes flight fills this category."

Commentary: This is the category of transformation-birth, likewise arising falsely because of the world's own distortion. Transformation-birth arises through separation, and this change is itself this same separation; through this casting off of the old for the new, turning on without rest, this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of false borrowing belongs to delusion — since depending falsely on something else to take form is called "false borrowing," standing opposed to this same unchanging true suchness, this is named this deluded distortion; and wherever there is delusion, karma inevitably arises from it. "Beings unite through contact, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of the new replacing the old come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion; transformation-birth changes through contact with its own kind, in the morning one thing and by evening another, loving this and forgetting that, hence, "unite through contact," this being exactly this karma. Following whim and impulse, weary of the old and delighting in the new, this is exactly this confused thought of the new replacing the old. "And so there comes to be the transformation-form, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. The transformation-form, here translated "hard flesh," since molting itself immediately produces solid substance, has no counterpart to the wriggling stage above; from this point on, every category alike is called by this same general name, "hardened flesh" — this being exactly the fruit thereby felt, flowing on and spreading throughout every land. "Molts, sheds, or takes flight" means exactly casting off the old to become new, giving the names proper to this category — as the silkworm transforms into the moth, shedding its crawling form for flight; as the sparrow transforms into the clam, shedding flight for submersion, and the like, all belonging to this same transformation; "fill this category." Heavenly beings, hell-beings, and the rest are likewise all transformation-born, their intermediate-state fruit arrived at swiftly, without difficulty.

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through obstruction, this distortion of hindrance, beings unite through fixation, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of radiant brilliance come to be. And so there comes to be the form-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land — beings of good and ill omen, spirits of light, fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of possessing form, likewise arising falsely because of the world's own distortion. Form is material substance, its nature not penetrating freely — this is obstruction — and so such beings serve the sun, moon, water, and fire, seeking a form of light, turning on without rest, and so this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of hindrance belongs to delusion — obstructed and unable to penetrate, stubbornly clinging to the wish for brightness, standing opposed to this same wondrously bright true nature, this is named this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through fixation, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of radiant brilliance come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion. "Fixation" means becoming fixed upon — whether serving the essence of the sun and moon, or serving the stars as one's own parents, seeking to move them and thereby gain their light, hence, "unite through fixation," this being exactly this karma. Thought fixed upon that other radiance, forming one's own radiant brilliance — this is exactly this confused thought of radiant brilliance. "And so there comes to be the form-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. "Beings of good and ill omen, spirits of light" gives the names proper to this category — whether the essence of the sun and moon, or the brilliance of the stars; the auspicious are called good omens, the inauspicious, ill omens; among ordinary things, these are the firefly and the pearl-bearing mussel; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through dissolution, this distortion of confusion, beings unite through darkness, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of hidden concealment come to be. And so there comes to be the formless-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land — beings dispersed into emptiness, dissolved and sunk into stillness, fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of formlessness, likewise arising falsely because of the world's own distortion. Formlessness is extinguishing form and returning to emptiness — this is dissolution — turning on without rest, and so this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of confusion belongs to delusion — taking bodily form as an affliction, wishing to extinguish this obstruction and enter emptiness, standing opposed to this same true emptiness inherent in form, this is named this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through darkness, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of hidden concealment come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion. "Darkness" means a dim, obscured spiritual awareness, a hidden, submerged consciousness, hence, "unite through darkness," this being exactly this karma. Thinking to extinguish form, dim and hidden — this is exactly this confused thought of hidden concealment. "And so there comes to be the formless-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. Since this category is, precisely, formless, why is it still called "hardened flesh"? Because, though lacking the form born of karmic fruit, it is not thereby prevented from taking this name based on the form produced by meditative attainment. "Dispersed into emptiness, dissolved and sunk into stillness" corresponds to the four heavens of formlessness: "dispersed" points to the sphere of empty space, since it extinguishes form and returns to emptiness; "emptiness" points to the sphere of infinite consciousness, since its object pervades everywhere without limit; "dissolved" points to the sphere of nothing whatsoever, since it dissolves away these seven turning forms of consciousness; and "sunk" points to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, since it sinks down into this same sea of emptiness. Down even to the deity Śūnyatā, the whirlwind-demon, and the rest — all belong to this formless category; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through vague semblance, this distortion of shadow, beings unite through recollection, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of hidden binding come to be. And so there comes to be the conception-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land — spirits, ghosts, and numinous beings fill this category."

Commentary: This category, called "possessing conception," means having only a conceiving mind, without any real form at all. "Vague semblance" means seeming to exist, seeming not to, dim and unreal. Sustaining this conceiving without rest, this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of shadow belongs to delusion — mistakenly clinging to a mere shadow-image, deviant and false, losing what is true, standing opposed to this same real mark of the Dharma-body, this is named this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through recollection, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of hidden binding come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion. "Recollection" means loving thought and recollection, and only afterward taking on this intermediate-state consciousness, hence, "unite through recollection," this being exactly this karma. As in this world, aspiring toward spiritual penetration, hiding one's own spirit within some sacred trace, binding thought into some fixed appearance — this is exactly this confused thought of hidden binding. "And so there comes to be the conception-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. "Spirits, ghosts, and numinous beings": spirits and ghosts, such as the guardians of great peaks and rivers, or city gods, or every kind of goblin, sprite, and specter; numinous beings, such as the essences of mountains, seas, and wind, or the spirits of shrines and local land-gods; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through dull ignorance, this distortion of delusion, beings unite through obstinacy, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of dull withering come to be. And so there comes to be the non-conception-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land — vital essence transformed into earth, wood, metal, or stone fills this category."

Commentary: This category, called "without conception," means having only form, without any thought at all. Foolish, dim, dull, and ignorant, discarding intelligence and casting aside all knowing, turning on without rest, this nature of the wheel of rebirth comes to be formed. This distortion of delusion belongs to delusion — deluded and lacking wisdom, mistakenly reckoning insentient things to possess life, mistaking metal and stone's own hardness for permanence, standing opposed to this same wondrously bright true mind, this is this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through obstinacy, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of dull withering come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion. Obstinate and unknowing, taking mindlessness itself as true cultivation, taking dull ignorance itself as the highest path, falsely joining together where there is no awareness at all, hence, "unite through obstinacy," this being exactly this karma. Thought like dead ash, mind like a withered tree — this is exactly this confused thought of dull withering. "And so there comes to be the non-conception-mark, its hardened flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. Possessing only this obstinate, obstructed form, without any thought or notion at all — hence, spirit transformed into earth and wood, consciousness become metal and stone, such as the spirit that becomes a memorial tablet, or a wife turned to stone from longing for her husband's return, filling this world. One should know that such beings, their deluded mind congealed, take this same dull, mindless notion and transform it into this same dull, mindless substance — like a withered tree, its root-nature still remaining. Once the force of this dull notion is exhausted, they still turn again in this same cycle, exactly as a withered tree, meeting spring, still puts forth new shoots again; and, once the retribution of non-conception is exhausted, entering back into this same cycle of rebirth, this too belongs to this same category.

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through mutual dependency, this distortion of falsity, beings unite through contagion, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of mutual reliance come to be. And so there comes to be that which, though not truly possessing form, becomes formed flesh, drifting through every land — every jellyfish and the like, which use shrimp as their eyes, fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of neither possessing form, meaning that these beings do not, in themselves, truly possess form, but borrow some other thing in order to take on form. Depending mutually on one another, turning on without rest, this cycle of rebirth comes to be. This distortion of falsity belongs to delusion — taking falseness itself as mind, borrowing some pretense of position, standing opposed to this same true, real, ultimate reality, this is this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through contagion, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of mutual reliance come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion: confused about their own true nature, borrowing some fleeting falseness, freely indulging in contagion, depending on another to take on form, hence, "unite through contagion," this being exactly this karma. As in this world, bending to power and borrowing influence, bowing oneself to follow another — this is exactly this confused thought of mutual reliance. "And so there comes to be that which, though not truly possessing form, becomes formed flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. Originally without any form of its own, borrowing some outward thing to form its own body, unable to make use of itself, depending on another thing for its own use. Every jellyfish and the like takes form from foam and water, its body like bean-curd, its shape like bedding — and so is not without form, yet, using shrimp as its eyes, depends on another for its own use, unable to be whole in itself — hence, "neither possessing form." And just as the jellyfish is able to move because of the shrimp, the shrimp, in turn, finds its own support because of the jellyfish, each mutually depending on the other in turn; the tapeworm depending on a human host belongs to this same category as well.

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through mutual summoning, this distortion of nature, beings unite through incantation, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of calling forth come to be. And so there comes to be that which, though not truly formless, takes on a formless mark, drifting through every land — beings produced through curses and incantations fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of neither lacking form, meaning that these beings originally have no form of their own, but, through some sound calling them forth, draw out and awaken some spirit — and so this is not, strictly, formlessness either — and, this summoning never ceasing, this cycle of rebirth comes to be. This distortion of nature belongs to delusion — confused about their own true nature, and, following the command of some conjured spell, standing opposed to this same unmoving true suchness, this is this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through incantation, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of calling forth come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion: for the most part, summoned forth by some deviant incantation, and so manifesting some strange, spiritual effect, hence, "unite through incantation," this being exactly this karma. As among human beings, those who fail to understand true principle mutually entice one another, and, thus summoned, obey and follow this command — this is exactly this confused thought of calling forth. "And so there comes to be that which, though not truly formless, takes on a formless mark, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma. Hence there come to be those who, through incantation, take on some strange, spiritual power, and are called immortals or sages; and those who, through curses and imprecations, become malevolent, becoming demons or monsters — every one of these being deviant things, obedient to human command, foretelling fortune and speaking of misfortune, such as the spirit-medium's altar or the willow-branch spirit; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through the union of falsehoods, this distortion of deception, beings unite through substitution, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of mutual exchange come to be. And so there comes to be that which, though not truly possessing conception, becomes conceiving flesh, drifting through every land — creatures like the wasp, taking on a different substance to complete themselves, fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of neither possessing conception — meaning, unlike egg-birth, in which life is transmitted through conceiving thought, this is rather two falsehoods joining together, each mutually taking on the other's place, and, this never ceasing, this cycle of rebirth comes to be. This distortion of deception belongs to delusion — nature and disposition deceived and dim, standing opposed to this same perfectly bright wondrous nature, this is this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through substitution, and eighty-four thousand confused thoughts of mutual exchange come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion: substitution means taking another as one's own self, taking difference as sameness, hence, "unite through substitution," this being exactly this karma. As in this world, turning one's back on one's own kin to follow some other line, wrongly taking up another lineage as one's own, accepting another as belonging to oneself, inheriting and continuing a succession though one originally has no child of one's own, and yet calling this a child; originally not this person's own father, and yet accepted as father — sameness and difference hard to distinguish, each mutually exchanging places with the other — this is exactly this confused thought of mutual exchange. "And so there comes to be that which, though not truly possessing conception, becomes conceiving flesh, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this karma: these beings of differing substance, though not originally possessing conception, come, in wishing to complete this form, through two falsehoods joining together, to complete this same conceiving thought after all, drifting through every land. "Creatures like the wasp, taking on a different substance to complete themselves" — the wasp, also called the slender-waisted bee, as the Book of Odes puts it: the caterpillar has its own young, and the wasp carries them off. The caterpillar is a green mulberry-worm; the wasp gathers mud to build its nest, carries off the mulberry-worm and places it within, and incants: "become like me, become like me" — and, after seven days, it transforms into the wasp's own young. This mulberry-worm originally has no conception of its own, yet, wishing to complete the wasp's own form, because of this incantation, comes to complete this same conception after all — this is exactly this taking on of a different substance to complete oneself. All of this belongs to the retribution of those given to false deception, luring away another's own possessions and property, taking them for their own; "fill this category."

Sūtra: "Because of the world's own wheel of rebirth through resentment and harm, this distortion of killing, beings unite through monstrousness, and eighty-four thousand thoughts of devouring one's own parents come to be. And so there comes to be that which, though not truly lacking conception, takes on a non-conceiving mark, drifting through every land — such as the owl, which gathers clods of earth to raise its young, or the 'mirror-breaker' bird, which broods its young over the fruit of a poisonous tree, so that, once the young are grown, they devour the very parents who raised them; fill this category."

Commentary: This is the category of neither lacking conception — originally arising from harboring resentment and hatred, seeking to do harm, this resentment never dissolving, and so this cycle of rebirth comes to be. This distortion of killing belongs to delusion — the intent to kill never ceasing, and karmic killing born together with it, turning even against one's own closest kin, parent and child, to carry out this most resentful harm, standing opposed to this same principle of compassion and forbearance, this is this deluded distortion. "Beings unite through monstrousness, and eighty-four thousand thoughts of devouring one's own parents come to be" — this is karma arising from delusion: "monstrous" means bizarre, beyond all expectation, a thing rarely seen or heard of — that one's own parents, one's own closest kin, should actually be devoured, going against heaven and defying principle, destroying every human bond and throwing order into chaos — hence, "unite through monstrousness," this thought of devouring one's own parents being exactly this karma. "And so there comes to be that which, though not truly lacking conception, takes on a non-conceiving mark, drifting through every land" is this same mark of receiving retribution according to this cause: this must, in every case, arise because, in some former life, one received another's deepest kindness and love, and, turning against it, betrayed that kindness and did harm in return, this resentment meeting its match at last, repaying this very grudge — hence this present birth. "Though not truly lacking conception, takes on a non-conceiving mark" means that, at first, taken up as one's own child, this is not without some thought of love; only afterward, once the parent is actually devoured, does this love and affection come to an end — this is exactly this lacking of conception. Arising quite beyond expectation, drifting through every land — such as the owl, gathering clods of earth to raise its own young, and the "mirror-breaker" bird, brooding its young over the fruit of a poisonous tree, so that, once the young are grown, they devour the very parents who raised them. Though this is, indeed, a repayment of resentment, it remains, in truth, one of the most heinous of crimes.

As the Records of the Grand Historian, Basic Annals of Emperor Wu, records: sacrifices to the Yellow Emperor made use of one owl and one "mirror-breaker." Meng Kang's own commentary explains: the owl is a bird that devours its mother; the mirror-breaker is a beast that devours its father — the Yellow Emperor, wishing to eliminate their kind entirely, decreed that every sacrifice make use of them. The Records of Strange Things, however, states: the mirror-breaker resembles a tiger or leopard, though smaller, and, no sooner born, devours its own mother in turn — differing yet again from Meng Kang's account of devouring the father and the mother respectively. This is recorded here for reference, pending further study. This closes the first section, listing each of these categories in turn.

Sūtra: "These, then, are named the twelve categories of sentient beings."

Commentary: This closes the section on how defiled conditions arise, coming to pervade and form this entire cycle of rebirth.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, within each and every one of these categories of birth, each also possesses all twelve distortions folded into it — like pressing on the eye until scattered flowers appear out of nowhere. It is this same wondrously perfect, true, pure, bright mind, turned upside down, that takes on this whole mass of empty, false, confused thought."

Commentary: This makes plain that the substance of true suchness, unchanging, is able, according with conditions, to become either defiled or pure. What precedes speaks of ignorance perfuming true suchness, becoming this same defiled function, these twelve distorted categories of birth; what follows speaks of true suchness perfuming ignorance, becoming this same pure function, these single-and-doubled sixty sagely stages. Hence, addressing Ānanda, the Buddha tells him: these same twelve categories of sentient beings, within each and every category, each also possesses all twelve distortions — this is exactly this same mutual possession. Since a sentient being's own mind, of whatever category, contains every false seed within it, one of these manifesting in the present is called "brought about in fact"; the rest, lying dormant, are called "inherent in principle." Taken altogether, counting both seed and manifestation, mutually possessed, there ought to be one hundred and forty-four distortions in all.

"Like pressing on the eye until scattered flowers appear out of nowhere" raises up this analogy to reveal this same falseness: the true mind is likened to the eye; a single false thought stirring is likened to pressing on the eye; and these scattered flowers appearing out of nowhere are likened to these twelve categories of birth, each mutually possessing every distortion within it. Yet a pure eye, gazing at a clear, bright sky, originally sees no such flowers at all — only through this pressing do they come to seem to exist, and, the moment the hand is released, they are, at root, always genuinely absent. "Distortion" here refers, within this analogy, to this false seed and manifestation, these one hundred and forty-four distortions — yet, since these arise from a single mind, originally true, this same mind is thereby able to contain this whole mass of falseness within it. "Wondrous" points to this unchanging substance; "perfect" points to this function, according with conditions. Though according with conditions, yet unchanging — this is called "true and pure"; though unchanging, yet according with conditions — this is called "true and bright"; this being the whole substance and great function together. This originally wondrous, perfect, true mind corresponds, in the analogy, to the eye itself; "turned upside down" is exactly this single thought stirring falsely, corresponding, in the analogy, to this pressing. "Takes on this whole mass of empty, false, confused thought" means that, since this single false thought stirring has, at root, no real substance at all — though, having no substance, it is at root empty, yet, within this state of confusion, it presently seems to exist — hence, "takes on this whole mass of empty, false, confused thought," corresponding, in the analogy, to these scattered flowers appearing out of nowhere. This being so, then this boundless cycle of birth and death is, in the end, nothing but false thought, originally empty; while this pure, bright, true mind remains, in its own substance, always just as it originally was — and so, to turn this falseness back into truth, transforming the ordinary being into the sage, what difficulty, then, could there possibly be? This closes the first section, tying off what precedes and opening what follows.

Sūtra: "Now that you are cultivating and realizing the Buddha's samādhi, you must work from this same root — the original confused thought itself — and establish three gradual stages, only then to remove it: like cleansing a vessel that once held poisoned honey, first scouring it with hot water mixed with ash and fragrant herbs, and only afterward storing sweet dew inside it."

Commentary: This is spoken in direct terms. It says: you now wish to attain this true cultivation and genuine realization, all fifty-five stages, all the way to wondrous enlightenment, ultimate buddhahood itself. This wondrous samādhi that is thereby attained is, in fact, no difficult matter at all. "Samādhi" here refers to this same ear-faculty samādhi, the first abiding of the perfect teaching, where cultivation and realization occur by degrees. Every single stage possesses both a fruit and a cause, both a cause and a fruit: the prior stage cultivates its own cause, and this present stage realizes its own fruit; this present stage, in turn, cultivates a further cause, and the later stage, in turn, realizes a further fruit — until, reaching this effortless path, one flows straight through the very middle of the path into the fruit-sea of wondrous enlightenment, this being the fulfillment of both cultivation and realization at once. The Standard Meaning Commentary categorizes this as "directly answering the question of cause and fruit throughout these stages." This talk of cause and fruit admits of both a permissive and a restrictive reading: read permissively, every earlier stage becomes the cause of every later one, and every later stage becomes the fruit of every earlier one; read restrictively, only buddhahood itself is the fruit, and everything before equal enlightenment is cause. One thus knows that the old commentaries, in judging realization here while saying nothing of cultivation, were not, in fact, giving a fully accurate account.

"This same root" refers to that very first thought, moving falsely, taken as the original cause of every falseness — as described earlier, in the analogy of pressing the eye. "The original confused thought" refers to this same distortion and confused thought originally arisen, seed and manifestation mutually possessed, as described earlier in these scattered flowers appearing out of nowhere: the sky originally has no flowers in it at all; only because of this pressing do they falsely appear, and what appears is never truly real. Yet the very place where this distortion and false thought arises never, in the end, departs from this same true, constant mind — and so it is here that these three gradual stages are established, only then to dissolve this false thought, extinguish this distortion, and turn defilement back into purity, so that every sagely stage, too, comes to be established from this very point. This does not mean that these three gradual stages alone are able to dissolve everything entirely; only after these three gradual stages, passing through every stage in turn, cutting off delusion stage by stage, are both the seed and the manifestation of this false thought finally, together, exhausted.

"A clean vessel" is this originally pure vessel, likening this to what is inherently possessed within the sense-root: this unborn, unceasing tathāgatagarbha nature, pure and so of itself, the whole substance and great function. "Removing the poisoned honey" likens this to removing the aiding cause, scouring out the very root-nature, and reversing present habitual activity. "Hot water" likens this to the samādhi within this perfect penetration; "ash and fragrant herbs" likens this to the wisdom within this perfect penetration. "Scouring the vessel clean" likens this to how, though the poisoned honey itself has been removed, its lingering scent still remains, and must still be scoured away with this same samādhi and wisdom, until both seed and manifestation are, together, exhausted, only then may sweet dew at last be stored within it. Though a clean vessel may have held poisoned honey, its own substance was, from the start, never altered — and so, once the poison is removed and the vessel scoured clean, it becomes fit to hold sweet dew once more; likening this to how, within the Buddha-fruit's own pure mind, one becomes fit to receive this most supreme flavor of the Dharma at last. This closes the second section, establishing these stages by turning defilement back into purity.

Sūtra: "What are these three gradual stages? First, cultivation to remove the aiding cause. Second, true cultivation to scour out the very root-nature of desire. Third, advancing further to reverse present habitual activity."

Commentary: The first two clauses pose this question; what follows lists their names. This overall statement of these three gradual stages directly makes plain the very vanguard by which one enters this path of cultivating samādhi. The six clauses that list their names all carry this same sense: cultivation above, and severance below. That is: first, wishing to cultivate the perfect penetration of the ear-faculty, one must first remove the aiding cause — this aiding cause being the five pungent roots, this cause that aids evil. Second, wishing to resolve upon true cultivation, one must first scour out the very root-nature — this root-nature being lust, killing, stealing, and false speech, exactly these offenses of the very nature of karma itself, which must be scoured out and emptied entirely. Third, wishing to advance toward the sagely stages, one must first reverse present habitual activity — this present habitual activity being the sense-faculties rushing outward toward their objects, this affliction and karma of the present moment, which further brings about future suffering and retribution in the cycle of birth and death, which must be reversed and departed from. Yet, of these three, the first two are simply the precepts, both belonging to auxiliary practice; the last is samādhi and wisdom, and is exactly the direct, true cultivation. And so, from the ordinary being to the sage, from cause to fruit, there is nothing that does not rely on this same combined cultivation, direct and auxiliary together. One thus knows that these three gradual stages are what advances the path, and these fifty-five stages are what is thereby advanced. Hence the later summary states: "it is exactly by means of these three advancements that one is able to accomplish these fifty-five stages, the true path to bodhi" — this is exactly what is meant. This closes the first section, posing this question and listing their names.

Sūtra: "What is meant by the aiding cause? Ānanda, these twelve categories of birth throughout the world are unable to sustain themselves alone, and depend on four kinds of nourishment to survive: nourishment taken in portions, nourishment taken in through contact, nourishment taken in through intention, and nourishment taken in through consciousness. And so the Buddha has said: all sentient beings live by nourishment. Ānanda, all sentient beings live because of what is sweet, and die because of what is poison. All these beings, seeking samādhi, should therefore sever the five pungent roots of this world."

Commentary: The first sentence poses this question; what follows makes plain that these categories of birth depend on nourishment to survive. One who seeks samādhi ought to sever the five pungent roots — this section details, specifically, this aiding cause, this cause that aids the forming of evil karma; what follows teaches how to depend on nourishment rightly. Ānanda, these twelve categories of beings throughout this world are unable to sustain their own bodies and lives alone; they must depend on these four kinds of nourishment before they can be sustained at all — unlike a being possessed of a dharma-nature body, who requires no nourishment whatsoever. This nourishment is what every being within these bounds depends upon for the safety of both physical life and wisdom-life alike, and so the practitioner ought to know how to discern it properly.

As for these four kinds of nourishment: beings of the desire realm — humans, devas, asuras, and animals — take nourishment in portions, since what they eat and drink inevitably comes in physical portions. Ghosts and spirits take nourishment through contact, since, whenever they encounter food and drink, they simply come into contact with its vital essence. The meditation heavens of the form realm take nourishment through intention, since these heavens have no food or drink at all, but take meditative intention itself as nourishment — not intention directed toward food and drink. The formless realm takes consciousness as nourishment, since, having no physical form at all, it relies solely on this same consciousness-samādhi to sustain its life — meaning, figuratively, that consciousness serves as its nourishment. This speaks of these nourishments in terms of their superior instances. As for their lesser instances — such as the hells and hungry ghosts, sustained across kalpas by karmic consciousness alone, unable to sever their own lives — these, too, belong to this same category of nourishment through consciousness. And other cases, such as gazing at plums to quench thirst, or imagining sand to stave off hunger, likewise belong to this same category of nourishment through intention. And so the Buddha has said: all sentient beings live by nourishment. As the Consecration Sūtra puts it: after the Buddha attained the path, in order to put an end to the practice of self-starvation among outside paths, he taught that all sentient beings live by nourishment — this being the true, correct teaching of a truly awakened being, something no other teacher could ever know. The outside paths mocked this, saying: even a fool knows this much — how can this be called the teaching of a truly awakened being? The Buddha, in turn, asked them: how many kinds of nourishment are there? — and the outside paths were unable to answer, and it was because of this that this teaching of the four kinds of nourishment was given.

Ānanda, whatever food, in this world, benefits body and mind is called "sweet" — this is not confined merely to a sweet taste; and whatever harms body and mind is, altogether, called "poison." "Beings live because of what is sweet, and die because of what is poison" makes plain, directly, that one must be careful indeed about what one eats and drinks. "All these beings, seeking samādhi" refers to one who cultivates the perfect penetration of the ear-faculty. "Should sever the five pungent roots of this world" — though these pungent roots are not, strictly, poisonous, they nonetheless carry within them something of poison's own nature; and because they pose so grave a danger to one's own wisdom-life, they ought to be severed entirely. As for these five pungent roots: the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra names them as onion, garlic, chive, scallion, and asafoetida, produced in the country of Uḍḍiyāna. Master Ci Min explains: its root resembles a turnip, pungent and foul-smelling when it comes out of the ground; when winter arrives in that country, its very sprout cannot be seen at all. This land has none of it, and so the name is left untranslated. This closes the first section, posing this question and, in terms of nourishment, explaining the severing of these pungent roots.

Sūtra: "These five pungent foods, cooked, arouse lust; eaten raw, they increase anger. Anyone in this world who eats these pungent foods, even if able to expound all twelve divisions of the scriptures, will be shunned by every heavenly immortal of the ten directions, who find the stench repugnant and stay far away entirely; and hungry ghosts, meanwhile, drawn by this very food, lick at such a person's lips, so that they dwell constantly in the company of ghosts, their store of merit wasting away day by day, with no benefit at all. Such a person eating these pungent foods, cultivating samādhi, will find that no bodhisattva, heavenly immortal, or good spirit of the ten directions comes to protect them; and a powerful demon-king, finding his opening, will appear in the very form of a buddha to expound the Dharma to them, denouncing the precepts and praising lust, anger, and delusion instead. At life's end, they themselves become one of that demon-king's own retinue, and, once that demonic merit is exhausted, fall into the unrelenting hell."

Commentary: The dangers of these five pungent foods are not just one: eaten cooked, they strengthen the fire element within the body and arouse thoughts of lust; eaten raw, they stir the liver's own energy and increase anger. What the Buddha's own wisdom perceives is never off by the slightest hair's breadth — this is simply how these substances behave by their own nature, and one ought to receive this teaching with reverent trust and guard against them.

This next passage shows how heaven grows distant and ghosts draw near. Anyone in this world who eats these pungent foods, even should they be skillfully able to expound all twelve divisions of the scriptures, will find that every heavenly immortal of the ten directions, though delighting to hear the Dharma, will, because they find the smell repugnant, be unwilling to draw near, and will stay far away entirely; and hungry ghosts, meanwhile, drawn by this same meal of pungent food, will secretly lick at such a person's own lips, so that they come to dwell constantly in the company of ghosts. Because the heavenly immortals stay distant, one's own store of merit is seen to waste away day by day; and because the hungry ghosts draw near, no benefit whatsoever follows.

This next passage shows how, lacking protection, one falls prey to demons. Such a person, eating these five pungent foods, having set the mind on cultivating samādhi — meaning the perfect penetration of the ear-faculty — wishing to practice this samādhi and yet unable to sever these pungent foods, finds that no bodhisattva, heavenly immortal, or good spirit of the ten directions comes to protect them. Having already drawn hungry ghosts above, this now draws demon-kings as well — the fault growing graver still. "A powerful demon-king" refers to the demon-king of the sixth heaven. "Finding his opening" means that he perceives this person is cultivating samādhi, aspiring toward buddhahood; and so, appearing in the very form of a buddha, he comes to expound the Dharma to them — this being nothing but slander, denouncing the upholding of precepts as a lesser path, and violating these same precepts — praising, instead, the three poisons as an unobstructed great path, claiming that great refinement is not bound by petty details, and that the great elephant does not walk the rabbit's narrow trail, praising lust, anger, and delusion — that is, precisely what precepts, samādhi, and wisdom are meant to overcome. Believing this to be the demon's own teaching, there is then no evil left undone.

At life's end, such a person becomes, of their own accord, a member of this demon-king's own retinue — of middle rank, one of the demon's own subjects; of lower rank, one of the demon's own consorts. Whatever samādhi they cultivated, all of it relied on outflow alone, and so they merely enjoy this demonic merit for a time; once that merit is exhausted, disaster follows, and they fall straight into the unrelenting hell. This closes the second section, explaining at length the dangers of eating these pungent foods.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, one who cultivates bodhi must permanently sever these five pungent foods — this is called the first advancing stage of practice."

Commentary: One who cultivates this perfect penetration and seeks the path to bodhi must permanently sever these five pungent foods; and should one truly be able to sever them permanently, this is called the very first advancing stage of practice, from the ordinary being's own ground upward. One might ask: why are these five pungent foods called the very first advancing stage of practice? The answer: these five pungent foods are the cause that aids evil, aiding lust, killing, stealing, and false speech — the very cause of these four grave precepts: cooked, they arouse lust, and so aid the cause of sexual misconduct; eaten raw, they increase anger, and so aid the cause of killing; and being able to expound all twelve divisions of the scriptures is nothing but seeking fame and support in the end, falsely discoursing on wisdom — and so aids, further, the cause of both stealing and false speech. Though these pungent vegetables are a small matter, being able to sever them and no longer eat them is exactly the fitting way to remove this cause that aids evil. This closes the first section, removing the aiding cause.

Sūtra: "What is meant by the root-nature? Ānanda, these beings, entering samādhi, must first strictly uphold the pure precepts: permanently severing the mind of lust, abstaining from wine and meat, taking only food purified by fire, never eating anything raw. Ānanda, should a practitioner fail to sever both lust and killing, there is no possibility whatsoever of ever leaving the three realms."

Commentary: The first sentence poses this question of the root-nature. That is: lust, killing, stealing, and false speech — while these five pungent foods, described above, serve only as the aiding cause — are themselves exactly this very nature and karma of this same evil, the true root-nature that sustains the continuity of birth and death. Ānanda, these beings, wishing to enter samādhi, this stage of true cultivation, must take this root-nature and scour it out entirely. The method of this scouring-out is to first, with utmost rigor, receive and uphold the pure precepts — only then can this practice truly begin, and samādhi be attained; this is exactly what is meant by "precepts give rise to samādhi."

Yet, of the many precepts, lust and killing are foremost, and must be permanently severed. Not merely refraining from acting on it with the body, but refraining even from letting the mind give rise to it at all — only this is true severance. This passage specifically names the mind of lust because every sentient being takes sexual desire as the very basis of their own life and continuity, and because it is, moreover, the greatest obstacle to cultivating samādhi. "Permanently sever" means that both seed and manifestation are, together, exhausted, like a withered tree that never sprouts again, like cold ashes that never blaze again. "Abstaining from wine and meat": wine disturbs the very nature, and risks becoming a stepping-stone toward lust; and meat inevitably involves harming life, being, in truth, the very root of killing. Even when eating only vegetarian food, whenever one encounters something still raw with the breath of life, one should eat it only once purified by fire; without having passed through fire, it is considered impure, and ought not to be eaten at once. If one may not even eat something merely raw with the breath of life, how much less could one ever kill? "Ānanda" onward makes plain what must be severed: this practitioner, aiming precisely to transcend the three realms — if unable to sever both lust and killing, and yet still able to transcend the three realms, there is, quite simply, no such possibility at all. This closes the first section, posing this question, severing lust and killing first.

Sūtra: "One should regard sexual desire exactly as one would a venomous snake, or as one would an enemy encountered on the road. First hold the śrāvaka precepts against the four, or the eight, gravest offenses, so that the body itself remains unmoved; then carry out the bodhisattva's own pure rules of conduct, so that even the mind no longer stirs toward transgression."

Commentary: The Tathāgata, constantly using this danger of sexual desire as his own recurring illustration, does so because the harm of desire is so very great indeed — and so he further charges: one should regard sexual desire exactly as one would a venomous snake, or as one would an enemy encountered on the road. Should one tread upon a venomous snake, one will certainly suffer its poison, even to the point of losing one's own life; and an enemy, once called an enemy, will certainly repay this old grudge upon meeting, even to the point of seizing one's own wealth or life. Yet, severe as this harm may be, it amounts, in the end, to only a single bodily death; whereas the harm of sexual desire causes the Dharma-body and wisdom-life themselves to sink forever, without interruption, throughout endless kalpas — within the span of a single day, one may undergo the retribution of ten thousand births and ten thousand deaths. How, then, could any practitioner ever afford to treat this lightly!

"First hold the śrāvaka precepts against the four" refers to killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and false speech — the four pārājika offenses. This is called "expulsion," meaning that whoever transgresses these is forever unable to dwell together with the community again, forever cast out beyond the very ocean of the Buddha-dharma. Beyond the bhikṣuṇī's own four root offenses, four further offenses are added — touching, the eight matters, concealment, and following — together called the eight, established specifically to guard against the habit of lust. "So that the body itself remains unmoved" means that none of the seven karmic actions of body and speech are permitted any transgression at all — not that the mind need not yet be held as well, but simply because one's own strength has not yet grown sufficient. As the saying goes: a long journey begins close to home; a great height is scaled from low ground. Once one is able to hold these lesser precepts, one may advance further to the greater — hence, "then carry out the bodhisattva's own pure rules of conduct." The bodhisattva, being of the Great Vehicle, possesses far greater capacity, and this pure conduct is exactly the precept of the Great Vehicle, cutting off transgression at the very root of the mind itself, so that not a single thought arises — hence, "even the mind no longer stirs toward transgression."

Sūtra: "Once these precepts are truly accomplished, one is forever free, in this world, from any karma of mutually giving rise to life or mutually killing one another; theft and robbery no longer occurring, there is no debt owed to anyone, and no old debt left owing to the world at all. A person purified in this way, cultivating samādhi, needs no heavenly eye to see, with this very body born of father and mother, the worlds of the ten directions with perfect clarity — beholding buddhas, hearing the Dharma, personally receiving the sacred instruction, gaining great spiritual powers, and roaming the ten directions, with a past entirely clean of obstruction. This is called the second advancing stage of practice."

Commentary: Once these precepts are truly accomplished, one is, forever, in this world, entirely free of any karma of mutually giving rise to life or mutually killing one another. Once the mind of lust is severed, there is no more mutual generation through desire; once the mind of killing is severed, there is no more mutual killing. "Theft" means taking by stealth, and "robbery" means taking by force; once theft and robbery no longer occur, there is no more karmic burden of debt owed in this world. Theft and robbery, moreover, encompass false speech as well — such as feigning a dignified bearing in order to seek support and offerings, falsely claiming attainment of sagehood in order to solicit others' reverence and confession, greedily accepting their offerings — this, too, is no different from theft and robbery. Repaying debt arises from this same burden of owing; once there is no more such burden, there is no more debt to repay at all.

The first sentence carries forward this upholding of the precepts just described — "a person purified in this way." The next sentence points to this greater samādhi thereby attained — "cultivating samādhi." Samādhi is the direct practice, and the precepts are the auxiliary practice, showing, in this way, the meaning of samādhi arising from the precepts. This section corresponds to the perfect teaching's own stage of resemblance, where, because of samādhi, spiritual powers are brought forth, and this person, cultivating samādhi, thereby comes to manifest something resembling all five spiritual powers.

This very body, born of father and mother — that is, with these very physical eyes — resembles the heavenly eye. "Needs no heavenly eye," without even any deliberate effort, naturally beholds the ten directions everywhere, without exception, personally beholding the Buddha directly — that is, with these very physical ears — resembles the heavenly ear, hearing the Buddha expound the Dharma; and "personally receiving the sacred instruction" means personally receiving the Tathāgata's own intention directly — resembling the power to know others' minds. "Gaining great spiritual powers, roaming the ten directions" resembles the power of unimpeded movement. "A past entirely clean of obstruction" resembles the power of knowledge of past lives — able, in this way, to move without obstruction across all three periods of time, hence called "purified"; and having gained this knowledge of past lives, one never again falls into the three lower destinies, those places of danger and difficulty.

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: beholding the ten directions with these very physical eyes corresponds to the stage where the form-aggregate is exhausted; the later text says, "the ten directions open wide, with no more hidden darkness remaining" — this is exactly the same. According to this stage, it corresponds to the first of the ten faiths; comparing this to the small vehicle's own path, it is equal to the very first fruit. The next four clauses correspond to the stage where the feeling-aggregate is exhausted; the later text says, "coming and going freely, no longer hindered or obstructed," and again, "attaining a mind-made body, going wherever one wishes, without hindrance" — here, speaking of beholding the Buddha and hearing the Dharma, and further of personally receiving this instruction, this must mean personally arriving there, not merely seeing and hearing from a distance; and what follows, of roaming freely through these worlds, accords with this even further. According to this stage, it corresponds to the second and third of the ten faiths, equal to the small vehicle's own second fruit. The final two clauses correspond to the stage where the conception-aggregate is exhausted; the later text says, "within this bright, aware mind, as though removing a film of dust, throughout this one continuity of birth and death, beginning and end alike perfectly illumined" — here, speaking of this purified knowledge of past lives, makes plain this same removal of that dust, illuminating this same birth and death. And "attaining freedom from danger and difficulty" means that, having thoroughly penetrated this knowledge of past lives, apart from one's own vow, one never again mistakenly enters an evil destiny — exactly what is meant by standing apart from every danger and difficulty of birth and death. According to this stage, it corresponds to the fourth and fifth of the ten faiths, equal to the small vehicle's own third fruit.

This retribution, in general terms, borrows the precepts as an auxiliary practice, yet is founded entirely on this hearing through the ear, this wondrous samādhi brought forth through cultivation — encompassing the first five of these ten faiths, fully displaying the purification of all six sense-faculties: beholding the ten directions purifies the eye-faculty; hearing the Dharma and personally receiving it purifies the ear-faculty; gaining these spiritual powers and roaming these worlds purifies the nose, tongue, and body faculties, since all three unite in this same knowing and reach equally far; and this purified freedom from danger through knowledge of past lives purifies the mind-faculty.

This is called the second advancing stage of practice. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: the first half of this passage uses these various precepts to help bring about this true samādhi — this is exactly the stage of contemplative practice; the latter half corresponds to the fifth of these faiths, equal to the small vehicle's own third fruit. Within this perfect penetration, this corresponds to the point where motion and stillness no longer arise. This, then, is the second advancement, named "second" in contrast to the first above; and also in contrast to this earlier, undetermined cultivation, now explained in terms of this determined practice, advancing by gradual stages. This closes the second section, scouring out the very root-nature.

Sūtra: "What is meant by present habitual activity? Ānanda, such a person, purified in this way, upholding these precepts, whose mind holds no lust at all, no longer streams outward toward the six sense-objects to any great degree. Because it no longer streams outward, it turns back and returns to its own source. With no sense-object left to fasten onto, the sense-faculties have nothing to pair with; the reversed stream becomes wholly unified, and the six functions cease their separate operation."

Commentary: This explains reversing present habitual activity. The present six sense-faculties, taking hold of their present six sense-objects, giving rise to delusion and creating karma — this is called present habitual activity; and to reverse it means exactly this same meaning of turning the faculty back and casting off its object. Yet, of these three gradual stages, the first two both carry forward the upholding of precepts, serving as auxiliary practice — this is samādhi arising from precepts; this present passage carries forward this same root of perfect penetration, accomplishing true, direct cultivation — this is wisdom brought forth through samādhi. Since direct and auxiliary practice are thus both present together, one is thereby able to establish every stage that follows below. What is meant here by reversing present habitual activity is exactly what was described earlier, in the second decisive meaning, as "going against this beginningless weaving together of this false stream of karma" — that is, in terms of the ear-faculty specifically, no longer permitting it to stream outward, hearing sense-objects, but instead causing it to stream inward, illuminating its own nature.

"Such a person, purified in this way, upholding these precepts" refers to these same precepts upheld, described in the first half of the section above. And specifically stating that the mind holds no lust at all is because this is foremost among the four grave offenses, the very chief of what destroys samādhi — a warning of the necessity of removing it entirely; and because of this prior upholding of precepts, one is thereby able to depart from sense-objects. "No longer streams outward toward the six sense-objects to any great degree" means that, toward the realm of these six outer sense-objects, one no longer follows this same stream, indulging without restraint. Yet it says "not to any great degree," rather than permitting no trace whatsoever, because the empty habitual tendency within the sense-faculty is not yet entirely removed, and the shadow of the sense-object still lingers — this is a matter of using what is free of outflow to perfume what still carries outflow, not yet entirely free of outflow altogether.

"Because it no longer streams outward, it turns back and returns to its own source" makes plain, directly, that the sense-object is dissolved and the sense-faculty exhausted. The first sentence carries forward what precedes, saying that this no-longer-streaming-outward shows that the achievement of dissolving this sense-object is not yet complete; because of this no-longer-streaming-outward, one advances further still in effort, reversing hearing to illumine this nature, and thereby attains this no-longer-streaming-outward, turning back and returning to this original brightness. "With no sense-object left to fasten onto" — corresponding to this perfect penetration of the ear-faculty, this is exactly the point of entering the stream and forgetting what is heard, motion and stillness no longer arising; "the sense-faculties have nothing to pair with" — "pair" means to correspond to — since there is no longer any correspondence, the sense-faculty, too, no longer stands on its own. Corresponding to this perfect penetration, this is exactly the point where hearing, and what is heard, are both exhausted. At this point, these six sense-faculties reverse their stream, returning wholly to this single nature of hearing, no longer possessing seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, sensing, or knowing, these functions that form these knots — hence, "the six functions cease their separate operation." This is exactly entering this single nature while these six functions cease. This is what is meant by attaining this dissolution while not yet forgetting this single nature — precisely the threshold of the small vehicle's own nirvāṇa. According to this stage, it corresponds to the seventh of the ten faiths, equal to the small vehicle's own fourth fruit. As the Detailed Commentary puts it: this very reversal of present habitual activity lies exactly here. Present habitual activity is of two kinds: first, streaming outward is itself this present habitual activity — and no longer doing so "to any great degree" is a partial reversal of it; second, these six functions are themselves this present habitual activity — and their ceasing to operate is a complete reversal of it. This closes the first section, posing this question, samādhi cultivated upon these precepts.

Sūtra: "The lands of the ten directions become bright and pure, like the moon suspended within lapis lazuli, body and mind at ease, wondrously perfect and equal throughout, gaining great peace and stability — and every Tathāgata's hidden, perfect, pure wonder appears within this very state. Such a person then attains forbearance of the unborn nature of all phenomena, and, cultivating gradually from there, according to whatever practice arises, becomes established in the sagely stages."

Commentary: As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: this is exactly the realization attained at the point where even the exhaustion of hearing no longer abides. The first two clauses mean that the mountains, rivers, and great earth, in response to this very thought, transform into unsurpassed awareness — precisely because, no longer abiding even in this inward state of self-awareness, every attachment to dharmas is entirely dissolved, and so this dissolution extends through the whole world, with no more distinction between sentient and insentient. "Bright and pure" describes this appearance of being thrown wide open. What follows illustrates this merely in terms of thoroughgoing clarity — for the moon, held within some obstructing object, cannot shine through it; this is like the two vehicles, illuminating only their own inward state, unable to interfuse with outer phenomena at all. Now, though, this bodhisattva has emptied both what is aware and what is thereby made aware, inside and outside alike thoroughly penetrated — hence, like the moon within lapis lazuli, how could it fail to shine all the way through? According to this stage, this corresponds to the eighth faith, resembling this same freedom of form.

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: this is exactly the realization attained where awareness itself is emptied to its very utmost. Before this, only this awareness of emptiness was itself emptied; now, this same emptiness is emptied once more — no longer wearied by this awareness, nor bound by this emptiness either. Hence, body and mind feel light and clear, utterly free and unencumbered — this being exactly the meaning of the Dharma-body dissolved entirely away, this true mind vast and open. "Wondrous" means free of all bondage; "perfect" means free of all obstruction. "Equal" carries three senses: first, that the measure of body and the measure of mind alike pervade the whole Dharma-realm; second, that sentient and insentient alike share this same substance, undivided; and third, that one's own mind, sentient beings, and buddhas are, without exception, in no way higher or lower than one another. "Gaining great peace and stability" — this corresponds to the ninth faith, this same freedom of mind, since body and mind are, in this way, one and the same, body being mind as well.

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: this is exactly the manifest state, entirely the same as the appearance of quiescent extinction itself — except that the earlier passage spoke in terms of one's own mind, while this passage speaks in terms of the Buddha's own principle, these two meanings being equal to one another. "Hidden" means secret, profound, firm, and remote, a state that no one is able to reach; "perfect" means perfectly interfused, penetrating and encompassing one another, a state without end, layer upon layer; "pure" means purity itself, this bright appearance refined to its very essence, not a single mote of dust remaining; "wondrous" means spiritual wonder, every manifestation and transformation alike posing no obstruction at all. These four aspects of the Buddha's own state appear within this bodhisattva's own dependent and direct retribution alike — this corresponds to the tenth faith, resembling this compassionate cloud that covers the sea of nirvāṇa. This is because the perfect, sudden principle interfuses so completely that this resembling stage is, in every respect, wholly the same as genuine, partial realization.

"Such a person then attains, before long, this forbearance of the unborn nature of all phenomena; and, cultivating gradually from there" — as the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: this closing statement is a promise given in advance concerning every stage that follows, hence, "cultivating gradually from there." "Then" means swiftly; "then attains" means, in effect, that realization will soon follow. This forbearance of the unborn nature of all phenomena is exactly the sagely stage realized at the first abiding, extending, in general reference, all the way through to equal enlightenment. As Wenling puts it: the Avataṃsaka Sūtra names ten kinds of forbearance, the third of which is this forbearance of the unborn nature of all phenomena — meaning that one no longer sees the slightest phenomenon arising, nor the slightest phenomenon ceasing; standing apart from this defilement of feeling, without any contrivance and without any wish, abiding securely in this path, this is called forbearance. As Wuxing puts it: this passage specifically points to the first abiding and above as this sagely stage. The later text states: it is exactly by means of these three advancements that one is able to accomplish these fifty-five stages, the true path to bodhi. This closes the second section, this dissolution resolved and this forbearance thereby attained.

Sūtra: "This is called the third advancing stage of practice."

Commentary: This names this third advancement, arising, in truth, from this second advancement described just before. There, one had attained only these first five faiths, equal to the small vehicle's own third fruit, not yet free of outflow entirely; now, though, one advances from the gradual into the sudden, dissolving away every knot of the sense-faculty's own awareness, its own emptiness, its own extinction, one after another. As the earlier text puts it: once this sense-faculty is first untied, one first attains this emptiness of self; once this nature of emptiness becomes perfectly bright, one accomplishes liberation through this same Dharma; once this liberation of Dharma is attained, both kinds of emptiness alike no longer arise — and it is at this very point that one attains this same forbearance of the unborn. This closes the first section, these three gradual stages.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, once this good person's craving desire has dried up entirely, the sense-faculties and their objects no longer pair with one another, and the residual matter of this present body no longer continues into further birth. The mind that holds to this is empty and bright, purely wisdom itself — its very nature of wisdom bright and full, shining clear throughout the ten directions. Wisdom alone, still dry, not yet moistened by the Dharma-stream, is called the ground of dry wisdom."

Commentary: This stage plainly gathers up all ten faiths, contained within the three gradual stages described above, forming them together into a single stage. Gushan holds that these ten faiths, combined, form this dry wisdom — a position beyond doubt. Yet this also carries the sense of perfect fulfillment; some have objected to this, seeing that the common teaching gives the same name, "dry wisdom," elsewhere. They fail to realize that this is simply borrowing a common name for a perfect-teaching stage, and one ought to follow the sūtra's own usage accordingly.

Ānanda, this good person, having diligently cultivated in accordance with these three gradual stages: through the second of these stages, the root-nature scoured out and emptied, the mind of lust permanently severed — reaching this point, even the very nature capable of severance is no more, hence, "craving desire has dried up entirely." Through the third of these stages, present habitual activity reversed, the six functions ceasing their separate operation — reaching this point, the sense-faculties and their objects no longer pair with one another, mind and object cut off from any counterpart, both seed and manifestation together dissolved, the conditions for birth within the three realms entirely unable to reach this person any longer — hence, "the residual matter of this present body no longer continues into further birth." "Residual matter" means this final body; "no longer continues" means that future existence is permanently severed. Continuing birth takes craving desire as its cause and the sense-faculties and objects as its condition; now that both are dried up and no longer pair with one another, both cause and condition are severed together, and this fruit of retribution has nothing left to depend upon — hence, no further continuation of birth. This gathers up the first seven of these ten faiths, the first half of these three gradual stages, only making plain this meaning of dryness.

"The mind that holds to this is empty and bright, purely wisdom itself" gathers up the last three of these ten faiths, the latter half of these three gradual stages complete, only now making plain this meaning of wisdom. This mind that holds and sustains, having attained this empty, spiritual clarity, free of all confusion, bright and thoroughgoing, without any doubt remaining, is purely this original wisdom inherent within the sense-root, this wondrous wisdom originally possessed — and, since this wisdom arises from this dry stage, it is called dry wisdom. "Its very nature of wisdom bright and full, shining clear throughout the ten directions" directly concludes this very name of dry wisdom: this nature of wisdom, wondrously bright, perfectly illuminating, shines clear and pure throughout the ocean-realms of the ten directions, like pure lapis lazuli holding a precious moon within it — this being exactly the mark of these ten faiths now fulfilled. "Wisdom alone, still dry, is called the ground of dry wisdom" — the word "dry" restates and fixes this term, precisely explaining this ground of dry wisdom: since this habitual desire has only just dried up, attaining what was never attained before, yet possessing only this wisdom in principle, not yet joined to the very stream of Dharma at the Tathāgata's own fruit-ground, not yet even touched by the taste of this stream of Dharma at all.

Sūtra: "With this very mind, flowing straight through the very middle of the path, this perfect wonder unfolds and opens; from this true, wondrous perfection, a further true wonder arises, and this wondrous faith abides constantly, every trace of false thought extinguished without remainder, the middle way become wholly genuine — this is called abiding in the mind of faith."

Commentary: This stage of the ten faiths shares its name with the ten faiths spoken of elsewhere, in the usual course of teaching, yet its meaning differs entirely from the usual account. This section follows the name "ten faiths," yet its meaning follows this sūtra alone, dissolving back into the first abiding in the end. The later text, on the first abiding, explicitly states that these same ten minds arise there, and again that these ten functions interpenetrate to perfect a single mind. Hence Gushan holds that this stage is opened out from the first abiding — a matter beyond doubt.

"With this very mind, flowing straight through the very middle of the path" — this mind refers to the fulfilled mind of these ten faiths, since these ten faiths are contained within these three gradual stages, and these three gradual stages together form dry wisdom; this mind is, likewise, exactly the final mind of dry wisdom. "Flowing straight through the very middle of the path" admits two readings: first, that, within this same nature of hearing, using this contemplative wisdom of the middle way, this effortless path flows deeply inward against the very stream of the Dharma, since every stage that follows never departs from this same middle way; second, that, with this very mind that cultivates and realizes perfect penetration, using this same suchness-wisdom at the very center of mind to contemplate this same suchness-principle at the very center of the middle way, one flows straight through the very middle of the path into the fruit-sea of wondrous enlightenment.

"This perfect wonder unfolds and opens" means that, at the very moment of flowing straight through the middle of the path, this same wondrous nature of perfect penetration continues to unfold and open, layer upon layer, exactly as a lotus flower opens, petal by petal, in gradual succession. "From this true, wondrous perfection, a further true wonder arises" — these two clauses make plain that, riding upon this same opening of mind and understanding, one advances and increases all the more; and this same wondrous nature of perfect penetration, having already reached the final mind of dry wisdom, has already given rise to this true wonder and perfection; and now, ascending to this present stage, this same truth grows ever more wondrous, and this same perfection grows ever more complete.

"This wondrous faith abides constantly, every trace of false thought extinguished without remainder" — at this stage, one breaks through one portion of ignorance and realizes one portion of the three virtues, already personally realized and genuinely attained. Believing and knowing that mind, buddha, and sentient being are, these three, without any difference at all — hence, "this wondrous faith abides constantly," resolutely never retreating. Every attachment to self, every attachment to dharmas, every attachment to emptiness, this whole mass of false thought, is washed entirely away, extinguished without remainder! "The middle way becomes wholly genuine — this is called abiding in the mind of faith" — falseness exhausted and truth made genuine, the principle of the middle way made manifest, personally believing this same principle, this faith becomes firm, abiding constantly, never retreating — hence named abiding in the mind of faith.

Sūtra: "This true faith fully clear, understanding penetrates everywhere, and the aggregates, sense-fields, and elements can no longer obstruct it. And so, even across countless kalpas of the past and future, every habitual tendency accumulated across every taking-on and laying-down of a body appears before this person — this good son able to recall, in mind, all of it, without any loss — this is called abiding in the mind of mindfulness."

Commentary: The first two clauses carry forward entirely from the prior stage. "True faith" is exactly this faith made wholly genuine through the middle way, showing that this is not merely a resembling stage of faith — proof that this stage of faith is opened out from the first abiding. Because false thought is exhausted, wisdom becomes clear, and so understanding penetrates everywhere.

What follows is the true function of mindfulness proper to this stage: because of this understanding penetrating everywhere described above, the five aggregates can no longer cover it over, the twelve sense-fields can no longer confine it, and the eighteen elements can no longer obstruct it; every dharma whatsoever becomes perfectly interfused and penetrated, merging and gathering everything together. "And so, even" introduces this function of mindfulness: "mindfulness" means recollection — not merely recollecting, without forgetting, the habitual tendencies that ought to be severed within this present life, but recollecting, even across countless kalpas of past and future, every habitual tendency that ought to be severed, across every taking-on and laying-down of a body, so that all of it appears present before this person — this good son able to recall all of it, without any loss.

As the Standard Meaning Commentary asks: how could a bodhisattva who has already entered the abidings still take on and lay down bodies? The answer: one of the sudden, complete teaching does not take up transformation-through-change, but constantly attains great freedom precisely within this same segment-by-segment birth and death. This belongs to the two powers of knowledge of past lives and of the exhaustion of outflow. Since this belongs, among the five faculties, to the faculty of mindfulness, this stage is named abiding in the mind of mindfulness.

Sūtra: "This wondrous perfection made wholly genuine, this true essence gives rise to transformation, so that beginningless habitual tendency is unified into a single, essential brightness, advancing only toward true purity — this is called the mind of vigor."

Commentary: The first two clauses gather up the stage of abiding in faith: from this true, wondrous perfection, the middle way made wholly genuine — yet not yet attaining this true essence giving rise to transformation. The next two clauses accomplish this word "essence," joining together these two meanings of "essence" and "vigor." "Essential brightness" is exactly this same substance of suchness-wisdom; "true purity" is exactly this same substance of suchness-principle. To say, here, that through this essential brightness one advances toward true purity means exactly that, through this suchness-wisdom alone, one comes into accord with this suchness-principle. As the Standard Meaning Commentary asks: if principle and wisdom are one and the same, why speak of "advancing toward" at all? The answer: though their substance is not two different things, this skillful means, according with this same accordance, is not without some mark of advancing toward it — this being what is meant by "the advancing toward that is no advancing toward at all," this same principle of nature never obstructing cultivation — hence named the mind of vigor.

Sūtra: "This essence of mind now manifest, wholly wisdom itself — this is called abiding in the mind of wisdom."

Commentary: The prior stage joined suchness-wisdom to suchness-principle, accomplished through both principle and wisdom together; this present stage is distinguished specifically in terms of wisdom's own accomplishment. Carrying forward this advancing toward true purity described above, one thereby attains this essence of mind, manifest at every moment, wholly wisdom itself at work. For the earlier stage of dry wisdom already spoke of being "purely wisdom itself," yet that made plain only the very first attainment of this resembling stage, where delusion and wisdom were not yet fully melted together. Here, though, to say "wholly wisdom itself" means that this true essence, giving rise to transformation, every affliction and habitual tendency alike, is nothing but wisdom itself. This is the true wisdom, the true understanding attained through this partial awakening — hence named abiding in the mind of wisdom.

Sūtra: "Holding to this bright wisdom, pervading and still everywhere, constantly settled in its own wondrous stillness — this is called abiding in the mind of concentration."

Commentary: This stage is distinguished specifically in terms of principle's own accomplishment; the first clause carries forward this abiding in the mind of wisdom. The meaning is that, though holding to this essential wisdom and brightness, without the power of concentration to hold it steady, false thought would still arise, and this stillness would be unable to pervade everywhere; true mindfulness would be lost, and this wondrous stillness would be unable to remain constantly settled. For an illumination without stillness is like a lamp in the wind; a stillness without illumination is like an eye in darkness. Now, with the power of concentration holding this bright wisdom steady, this pervading stillness is thereby able to reach everywhere, and this wondrous stillness is thereby able to remain constantly settled. As the Qingliang Commentary puts it: wisdom pervades and illumines, yet remains constantly still; its function multiplies and flourishes, yet remains constantly thus — this is exactly what is meant. And since it is said to remain "constantly settled," there is no moment at all when it is not in concentration — hence named abiding in the mind of concentration. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: these five stages above belong to the five faculties, like a fruit tree's own planting, rooted in the earth; the five stages below belong to the five powers, like a fruit tree, its roots long established, possessing of itself this same unshakeable strength and function.

Sūtra: "The light of concentration grows bright, its nature penetrating ever deeper, advancing only, never retreating — this is called the mind of non-retreat."

Commentary: This is the power of advancing. The first two clauses gather up both concentration and wisdom together, since concentration and wisdom, if one-sided or withered, so often lead to retreat and loss; here, though, concentration and wisdom sustain one another mutually. "The light of concentration grows bright" means that, once the achievement of concentration reaches its utmost, the light of wisdom grows bright — this is concentration giving rise to wisdom. "Its nature penetrating ever deeper" means that, as the nature of wisdom grows bright, the power of concentration grows ever deeper still — this is wisdom entering concentration. Concentration and wisdom held in equal measure, advancing only, never retreating — hence named the mind of non-retreat.

Sūtra: "Advancing at ease, preserved without loss, in communion with the very breath of the Tathāgatas of the ten directions — this is called the mind that guards the Dharma."

Commentary: This is the power of concentration. The first clause carries forward this power of advancing described above. "Advancing at ease" shows that this is not a matter of external practice, not some effortful advancement and cultivation, but rather this own mind's stillness and illumination flowing together as one, advancing spontaneously of its own accord — hence, "at ease," meaning without recourse to deliberate effort. And, being so, one is able to guard and sustain this, without ever losing this settled mind. Yet what dharma is thereby guarded and sustained? Exactly the tathāgatagarbha, this dharma pure and so of itself. "In communion with the very breath of the Tathāgatas of the ten directions" means that one's own breath and the Dharma-body Tathāgatas of the ten directions communicate and continue with one another mutually — precisely because this power of concentration pervades everywhere, hidden and secret, one is thereby able to become wholly attuned, mind and essence, with every buddha Tathāgata; and so, inwardly, one guards this dharma of mind, and, outwardly, one guards the Buddha's own Dharma — hence named the mind that guards the Dharma.

Sūtra: "Preserving this bright awareness, able through its wondrous power to turn the Buddha's own compassionate light back toward the Buddha and abide there — like two mirrors facing each other, their wondrous reflections entering one another layer upon layer — this is called the mind of dedication."

Commentary: This is the power of wisdom. The first clause means exactly that this awakened wisdom grows ever brighter, and is thereby preserved without loss. "Wondrous power" is exactly the function of this wondrous wisdom, able to turn another buddha's own compassionate light back to abide within this same light of one's own mind-buddha. Another buddha's mind and one's own mind-buddha, that light and this light, mutually dedicate themselves to one another — realizing, in the end, that mind and buddha are not two different things, while never obscuring the distinct reality of self and other all the same. "Like two mirrors facing each other" — their two lights face one another, each mutually illuminating the other, light appearing within light, reflection contained within reflection — hence, "their wondrous reflections entering one another layer upon layer." The Buddha's own light and one's own mind's light, one's own reflection and another's reflection, gather one another in and enter one another, layer upon layer without end. Dedication carries two meanings: dedicating oneself toward another buddha is turning toward the buddha-path; dedicating oneself toward one's own buddha-nature is turning toward true suchness. Realizing this true suchness to its very utmost is itself the accomplishment of the buddha-path — two, and yet not two — hence named the mind of dedication.

Sūtra: "The mind's light secretly turned back, gaining the Buddha's own constant, unsurpassed, wondrously pure stillness, abiding in the unconditioned without any loss — this is called abiding in the mind of precepts."

Commentary: This is the power of faith. The first clause carries forward the prior stage, making plain that the mind's light and the Buddha's light secretly interpenetrate, communicating in hidden response — hence, "secretly turned back." Others cannot see this at all; it belongs entirely to one's own inward realm of wisdom. Reaching this stage, one thereby gains this same mind-light and buddha-light, constantly settled and unmoving, abiding together as one with this unsurpassed, wondrously pure essence of the precepts. Uncontrived and unconditioned, not a single thought is ever lost, leaking away into anything conditioned at all. Should even a single thought leak away into what is conditioned, this would be called breaking the precepts — exactly what is meant by the great precept of the very ground of mind — hence named abiding in the mind of precepts.

Sūtra: "Settled at ease within the precepts, able to roam the ten directions, going wherever one wishes — this is called the mind of aspiration."

Commentary: This is the power of mindfulness, since aspiration is itself this same mindfulness of mind. "Settled within the precepts" refers to this same abiding in the unconditioned precept-essence, described in the prior stage; "at ease" belongs to this present stage — able, from this same essence, to give rise to this function, bringing forth this same great, unobstructed use. This is exactly what is meant by the precept of upholding the moral code, the precept of embracing every wholesome dharma, and the precept of benefiting sentient beings, brought to accomplishment at ease, and thereby able to roam and transform beings throughout the ten directions. As for "going wherever one wishes": wishing to go to whatever land, a single thought carries one there at once — exactly what is meant by upholding the Vinaya in its purity, serving as the standard for the three realms, manifesting boundless bodies to liberate sentient beings. Because the very root of the precepts is pure, wherever one goes, there is nowhere that does not follow the heart and fulfill its own wish — hence named the mind of aspiration. Speaking of these ten minds together: the first six cultivate one's own mind, and the last four unite with the Buddha's own virtue. This closes the third section, the ten stages of these ten faiths.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, this good son, through this true skillful means, gives rise to these ten minds; the essence of mind shining forth, these ten functions interpenetrate, perfecting a single mind — this is called the abiding of arousing the mind."

Commentary: This stage of the ten abidings is being born into the Buddha's own family, becoming a child of the Buddha; the sūtra shows this fully, being born into the Dharma-king's own household, dwelling at ease within this flower-adorned mansion, relying on this secret treasury, abiding without any abiding at all — hence named these ten abidings.

"Ānanda, this good son" refers to this same good son whose stage of the ten faiths is now fulfilled, hence called good. "Through this true skillful means" is exactly this perfect penetration of the ear-faculty. As Mañjuśrī's own verse of selection puts it: this perfect penetration surpasses every other approach — such is this true mind. Within this true mind, these ten wondrous functions are inherently possessed; without cultivating this skillful means of the ear-faculty, they could never, in the end, be brought forth; only through cultivating and realizing this perfect penetration of the ear-faculty are these ten wondrous functions of mind able to be brought forth — all of this referring to the prior stage of these ten faiths.

"These ten functions interpenetrate, perfecting a single mind" means exactly these same ten functions, interpenetrating this same fundamental stage described earlier, perfecting a single mind — so that these ten minds and this single mind are, at root, never two different substances at all. The earlier text spoke of the stage of these ten faiths as opened out from the first abiding; here, one knows that this stage of the first abiding is, itself, these ten faiths combined together. Named the abiding of arousing the mind because it is, at root, due to the arising of these ten minds, perfecting this single mind. And this bodhisattva, these three minds perfectly aroused, these myriad practices flourishing forth abundantly, samādhi and wisdom held in equal measure, flowing straight through the very middle of the path — like an intermediate-state being, drawing upon its own prior karma, first forming this same aggregate-body.

Sūtra: "Within this mind, understanding appears as if pure lapis lazuli held refined gold within it; and, walking upon this prior wondrous mind, one comes to form this very ground — this is called the abiding of cultivating the ground."

Commentary: "Within this mind" refers to this same single mind, these ten functions interpenetrating it, meaning that, relying on this wondrous mind, understanding and wisdom come to light. This wondrous mind is likened to lapis lazuli, pure and radiant; this wondrous wisdom is likened to refined gold, complete with its own essence — wisdom never departing from mind, mind never obstructing wisdom, inward and outward alike thoroughly bright.

"Walking upon this prior wondrous mind, one comes to form this very ground" — "walking upon" means making use of. This wondrous mind is exactly this same single mind, these ten functions interpenetrating it; this mind is itself the very principle of true suchness, and, having brought this wondrous wisdom to light, using this true wisdom to accord with this true principle, relying on this true principle to give rise to this true cultivation, treading upon true suchness, one advances toward this ground that belongs to the stage that follows. Every practice whatsoever proceeds by treading in just this way — as one who builds a tower first levels the ground beneath it, "cultivating" meaning exactly leveling — hence named the abiding of cultivating the ground. Like an intermediate-state being, riding upon that same karmic power, taking shape within this same realm, falsely forming, within it, this same place upon which to rely.

Sūtra: "The mind and the ground come into mutual contact and understanding, both becoming perfectly clear, roaming the ten directions without any obstruction — this is called the abiding of practice."

Commentary: "The mind and the ground come into mutual contact and understanding" means exactly this same mind of cultivating the ground described above — since mind is wisdom, and is also this same initial awakening; and ground is principle, and is also this same original awakening. Sharing this same single substance of awareness, wisdom illumines principle, and principle accords with wisdom; wisdom and principle mutually reflect one another — hence, "come into mutual contact." "Both becoming perfectly clear" means that principle and wisdom alike, together, become perfectly clear; and so one is able to roam throughout the ten directions, seeking the buddha-path above and liberating sentient beings below, benefiting both oneself and others, without any obstruction whatsoever — broadly cultivating this wondrous practice, greatly carrying out the Buddha's own work — hence named the abiding of practice. Like an intermediate-state being, seeing distant things as though right before its eyes, its own movement swift, unobstructed even by mountains or walls.

Sūtra: "This practice now the same as the Buddha's own, receiving the Buddha's very breath — like a being in the intermediate state seeking out its own parents, its hidden affinity secretly communicating and entering the Tathāgata's own lineage — this is called the abiding of noble birth."

Commentary: "This practice now the same as the Buddha's own" refers to this same wondrous practice cultivated in the prior stage, now the same as the Buddha's own practice, and so one comes to receive the Buddha's own true-suchness breath, about to be born into the Buddha's own family, becoming a child of the Buddha. This is like the meaning of an intermediate-state being seeking out its own parents of its own accord — this necessarily requires that one's own karma correspond to the karma of one's parents; only then does the intermediate-state mind and body come to trust one another and communicate, hence, "this hidden affinity secretly communicates." Spoken in terms of the Dharma, using one's own wisdom to seek the Buddha's own wisdom — the Buddha's provisional wisdom being like a father, and his real wisdom being like a mother — spontaneously uniting with them, this is called seeking out one's own parents of one's own accord. Secretly matching this fruit of virtue is called this hidden affinity secretly communicating. This is, then, receiving the Buddha's own remaining essence, first entrusted to this sagely embryo — hence, "entering the Tathāgata's own lineage" — named the abiding of noble birth.

Sūtra: "Having entered this way into the womb of the path, personally receiving the awakened heritage, complete in every mark like a fetus already formed with nothing lacking — this is called the abiding of fully equipped skillful means."

Commentary: The prior stage's entering the Tathāgata's lineage is exactly entering this same womb of every buddha's own true path. As Yongjia puts it: hiding this spiritual nature within the Dharma-realm — this is exactly this same meaning. "Personally receiving the awakened heritage" means personally taking hold of every buddha's own twofold wisdom, provisional and real, and so becoming a true heir of this great, awakened Dharma-king. This skillful means and wisdom, gradually, together, become fully equipped, likened to how, within the womb, the five stages of formation are already complete, every mark of the human form entirely present, lacking nothing at all — hence named the abiding of fully equipped skillful means.

Sūtra: "Countenance now like the Buddha's own, the marks of mind likewise the same — this is called the abiding of the rectified mind."

Commentary: The first clause carries forward what precedes: this provisional wisdom, manifest outwardly, is called countenance; teaching and transforming sentient beings, this skillful means fully equipped, is called being like the Buddha. "The marks of mind likewise the same" means that, taking this real wisdom as the basis, illuminating true suchness inwardly, the marks of mind become perfectly fulfilled, likewise entirely like the Buddha's own — hence, "likewise the same." Accomplishing correct knowledge and correct view — hence named the abiding of the rectified mind.

Sūtra: "Body and mind fused into one, growing daily further — this is called the abiding of non-retreat."

Commentary: The first clause carries forward what precedes: outward countenance and inward mind, both now resembling the Buddha's own. "Fused into one" means that outward and inward are now as one, body and mind alike the same as the Buddha's own. "Growing daily further" means that this embryo of the path grows daily, month by month, gradually maturing, without a single instant of interruption — hence named the abiding of non-retreat. This shares its name, though not its substance, with the mind of non-retreat among the ten faiths described earlier: there, only the mind of faith did not retreat; here, one's own abiding in the path itself does not retreat.

Sūtra: "All ten bodily, spiritual marks at once complete — this is called the abiding of the youth of true purity."

Commentary: In the prior stage, body and mind, fused together, grow ever further; and so, in this present stage, these ten bodily, spiritual marks naturally become complete — these ten bodies being exactly Vairocana's own: the body of a śrāvaka, the body of a pratyekabuddha, the body of a bodhisattva, the body of a tathāgata, the dharma-body, the wisdom-body, the body of empty space, the body of karmic retribution, the body of sentient beings, and the body of a buddha-land. And the tathāgata-body, too, of itself possesses these same ten kinds of body — as Wenling names them: the body of bodhi, the body of vow, the body of transformation, the body of power, the body of adornment, the body of majesty, the mind-made body, the body of merit, the dharma-body, and the wisdom-body. Among these ten bodies, bodhi, dharma, and wisdom belong to the inward body; the rest all belong to the outward body — these being opened out from within the Tathāgata's own body. According to the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, these are complete only at the eighth ground; in this sūtra, they are already complete at this eighth abiding — since both sūtras alike belong to the perfect teaching, they naturally interfuse with one another, before and after. "Youthful purity" means that, though this bodhisattva has already attained this body, it remains, though complete in substance, still subtle, not yet greatly manifest — like a fetus at full term, its six sense-faculties just born, its four limbs already complete, and yet its original simplicity not yet scattered — hence named the abiding of the youth of true purity.

Sūtra: "Form now complete and emerging from the womb, one's own person now truly a child of the Buddha — this is called the abiding as a Dharma-prince."

Commentary: The first clause carries forward what precedes: this form now complete, this embryo now emerged, one's own person truly attaining the status of the Buddha's own direct heir — born from the Buddha's own mouth, born through transformation by the Dharma — hence named the abiding as a Dharma-prince.

Sūtra: "Outwardly now fully formed, as when a great king delegates the affairs of state to his crown prince, and that prince, once grown, is formally anointed — this is called the abiding of anointment."

Commentary: The first clause carries forward the prior stage: though truly a child of the Buddha, still young in years; now, gradually grown to maturity, hence, "outwardly now fully formed," fit to be entrusted with great responsibility. As when a great king delegates the affairs of state to his crown prince, fearing that his own strength might not yet be equal to the task, first entrusting him with only a small portion, to test how capable he truly is. This illustrates how the Buddha, wishing to bestow a prophecy on this bodhisattva, yet fearing that his own wisdom and strength are not yet sufficient, first has him act on the Buddha's own behalf, proclaiming the teaching, taking up the Buddha's own work; and, seeing that his wisdom and strength have grown, and that he no longer fears to liberate beings, then bestows this prophecy upon him.

Now, "great king" here refers to the Cakravartin, ruler over the four great continents; and "kṣatriya king" refers to a lesser king, ruler of a single kingdom — hence the Cakravartin's own son is called the crown prince, while the kṣatriya king's own son is called the young lord. As for the Cakravartin's own rite of anointment: the Avataṃsaka Sūtra states that when this sage-king's crown prince is born, his mother being the true consort, his own bodily marks complete, seated upon a throne of white-elephant treasure and wondrous gold, a great canopy spread above, every kind of music sounding, water is drawn from the great ocean and placed within a golden vase, and the king himself takes up this vase and anoints the crown prince's own head with it — and, at that very moment, he is named as having received the royal office. A bodhisattva's own receiving of office is likewise just the same.

Though it is properly the tenth ground, the ground of the Dharma-cloud, that receives this rite in full, this present stage of the ten abidings is likewise named anointment because, just as a kṣatriya king's young lord, once grown, is formally anointed, showing forth the way of becoming an adult, this stage, too, partakes of this same name — it is not the same as that same anointment spoken of at the ten grounds in that other sūtra. As Wenling puts it: from arousing the mind through to noble birth is called entering the sagely embryo; from fully equipped skillful means through to the youth of true purity is called nurturing the sagely embryo; reaching the abiding as a Dharma-prince is called emerging from the embryo; and reaching this present stage is named the anointed prince. This closes the fourth section, the ten stages of these ten abidings.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, this good son, having become a child of the Buddha, complete with the Tathāgata's own boundless, wondrous virtues, accords with beings of the ten directions — this is called the practice of joy."

Commentary: This stage of the ten practices: the prior ten abidings were being born into the Buddha's own family, becoming a child of the Buddha; these ten practices now broaden the six perfections, carrying out the Buddha's own work, gathering beings in and benefiting them — exactly what is meant by every single thought being complete with every pāramitā at once. Though these practices are many, taken together they amount to no more than ten perfections, the last five being opened out from the perfection of wisdom.

Ānanda, this good son who has cultivated these ten abidings, having already been anointed and received this office, becoming a true child of every buddha, and complete with the countless, boundless meritorious virtue inherent in the tathāgatagarbha, taken in accord with this same nature, now carries out the perfection of giving. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: according with whatever land, wherever there is poverty, through the power of this vow, being born there, noble, wealthy, and great, possessed of boundless treasure, carrying out this giving of wealth, not even begrudging one's own flesh and body; carrying out the giving of Dharma, expounding the equality of the three periods of time, even unto bodhi and nirvāṇa — this is what is meant by according with the ten directions.

Naming this the practice of joy carries two meanings: first, seeing someone come begging, regarding them as a field of merit, regarding them as a good friend, one's own joy redoubled; second, giving in accordance with whatever is asked, causing every sentient being to be entirely satisfied, giving rise to a joyful mind. This is what is meant by benefiting both self and other together, giver and receiver both rejoicing — hence named the practice of joy.

Sūtra: "Skillfully benefiting every sentient being — this is called the practice of beneficial action."

Commentary: This is the perfection of precepts. Through the very virtue of the precepts, transforming beings, one is skillfully able to benefit them: this virtue of precepts, complete within oneself, transforms and is accomplished outwardly — exactly what is meant by trust arising without a word being spoken, transformation occurring without effort expended, and yet benefit reaching everywhere without exception! As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: causing every sentient being to abide in the unsurpassed precepts, even unto bodhi and nirvāṇa; and again, having attained liberation oneself, causing others to attain liberation, even unto attaining happiness oneself, causing others to attain happiness as well. Altogether, ten such statements are given, each in turn naming both benefits together — hence named the practice of beneficial action, benefiting beings through the very virtue of the precepts.

Sūtra: "Awakening oneself and awakening others, meeting with no resistance or refusal — this is called the practice free of anger and resentment."

Commentary: This is the perfection of forbearance. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, at the head of this stage, states that this bodhisattva constantly cultivates the forbearance of the Dharma — there named the practice free of opposition and resistance, which is exactly this same "meeting with no resistance or refusal." Whenever insult comes, to resist and refuse it, unwilling to receive it, is itself a failure of forbearance; here, meeting with no resistance or refusal is itself true forbearance. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: enduring with joy every manner of abuse and reviling, every manner of beating and insult. Now, speaking here of awakening oneself and awakening others, meeting with no resistance or refusal, this, too, accords with the Avataṃsaka Sūtra's own statement: the bodhisattva reflects that one's own suffering and happiness alike possess no real existence at all — this is awakening oneself; and again: I shall come to understand this fully, and proclaim it widely to others — this is awakening others.

Awakening oneself and awakening others, meeting with no resistance or refusal from either — anger and resentment have no way to arise at all. Not resisting or refusing on one's own part, willingly receiving whatever insult comes from without, the four marks of self, person, sentient being, and lifespan all together empty, no anger or resentment arises either — one thus knows that only this freedom from anger and resentment is truly forbearance at all.

Sūtra: "Giving rise to every kind of being across the furthest reaches of future time, the three periods equal and the ten directions penetrated — this is called the practice without limit."

Commentary: This is the perfection of vigor. "Giving rise to every kind of being" means that, according with each of these twelve categories of birth, one manifests a body suited to that same category, being born everywhere in turn, broadly carrying out this teaching and transformation; this bodhisattva's own conduct and vow, this vigor without end, thereby exhausts the furthest reaches of future time. And, being able to exhaust the furthest reaches of future time, one thereby universally enters all three periods of time, equally; and, being able to give rise to every kind of being, one thereby penetrates the ten directions entirely — this, then, reaching vertically to its very limit and pervading horizontally without end. Now, giving rise to every kind of being is exactly this same "first mind"; exhausting the furthest reaches of future time is exactly this same "constant mind"; the three periods equal is exactly this same "mind free of any distortion"; and the ten directions penetrated is exactly this same "vast and expansive mind." All four alike being without end, this is accordingly named the practice without limit.

Sūtra: "Every gateway of the Dharma brought into concord, without the slightest confusion or error — this is called the practice free from confusion and disorder."

Commentary: This is the perfection of meditative concentration. "Every dharma-gateway brought into concord" means that this bodhisattva's mind, free of scattering and disorder, firm and unmoving, takes hold, with this single thought of settled mind, of every kind of dharma-gateway, able to know that these many gateways all come together, united into a single substance. "Without the slightest confusion or error" means that one is thereby able to expound the Dharma according to each kind of being, receiving benefit according to each capacity; though a thousand difficulties assail at once, this wisdom is never dimmed; though ten thousand demands arrive together, this mind is never disturbed — and so one is able to remain without the slightest confusion or error. Unable to hold to these many dharma-gateways is itself a confused fixation; inevitably falling into error is itself a disordered mind. Now, this single thought of settled mind, still and yet constantly illuminating, is named the practice free from confusion and disorder.

Sūtra: "Revealing, within sameness itself, every kind of difference, and finding sameness present within each and every difference — this is called the practice of skillful manifestation."

Commentary: This is the perfection of wisdom; the four perfections that follow are opened out from this one, together forming these ten perfections. Here, oneness and multiplicity are unobstructed by one another, sameness and difference alike accomplished together. Oneness is exactly principle, and multiplicity is exactly phenomena; sameness is exactly principle, and difference is exactly phenomena. Since principle is able to manifest phenomena, then, within this single principle, every phenomenal mark whatsoever is revealed — this is oneness able to manifest multiplicity, principle never obstructing phenomena. And since phenomena are able to manifest principle, then, within every phenomenal mark whatsoever, this same complete principle is seen in each — this is multiplicity able to manifest oneness, phenomena never obstructing principle. Named the practice of skillful manifestation, this makes plain that this bodhisattva, in each and every practice, is able to interfuse the ultimate and the conventional freely with one another, phenomena and principle alike unobstructed.

Sūtra: "Down even to filling the whole of the ten directions' empty space with motes of dust, and within each single mote manifesting the worlds of the ten directions — the manifested motes and manifested worlds never obstructing one another — this is called the practice free of attachment."

Commentary: This is the perfection of skillful means, being exactly the very function this great skillful power is employed for. "Down even to" points back to this skillful manifestation, this unobstructed interpenetration of principle and phenomena, certainly already accomplished; what follows makes plain, further, this unobstructed interpenetration of phenomena with one another — exactly what is meant, among the ten profound gates, by the gate of the vast and the narrow, each at ease without obstruction. The empty space of the ten directions, filled entirely with motes of dust — the great manifesting the small; and each single mote of dust manifesting the worlds of the ten directions — the small manifesting the great. Manifesting motes and manifesting worlds, what manifests and what is manifested, neither one destroying the mark of the other: that is, within a mote, a world is manifested, and yet this world does not thereby shrink; and within a world, a mote is contained, and yet this mote does not thereby grow vast — manifested at once together, neither losing its own mark, neither obstructing the other. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: the world entering into the mote, and the world not thereby shrunk — this is the great never obstructing the small; the mote containing the world, and the mote not thereby made vast — this is the small never obstructing the great. Named the practice free of attachment: were there even the slightest attachment, how could great and small ever be so freely interfused as this? As the Third Patriarch puts it: "the utmost great is the same as the small, forever without any outward bound; the utmost small is the same as the great, every boundary dissolved away entirely." "Forever without" and "dissolved away entirely" are exactly this same freedom from attachment.

Sūtra: "Every kind of practice now manifest, each and every one this same supreme pāramitā — this is called the practice of veneration."

Commentary: This is the perfection of vow. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: this bodhisattva, with regard to the vow of the Great Vehicle, never turns back or falls away. "Every kind of practice now manifest" carries forward the point that this bodhisattva's wondrous practice is not confined to this unobstructed interpenetration of principle and phenomena, or of phenomena with one another, alone, but that every one of these wondrous practices is, without exception, entirely complete, every one of them now manifest. "Each and every one this same supreme pāramitā" means that, whichever single practice is taken up, each and every one arrives at this same ultimate, supreme place. To say "supreme" means exactly this meaning of "utmost"; and pāramitā means exactly this meaning of "ultimate" — that is, pāramitā, here translated "reaching the other shore," means departing from this shore of birth and death, crossing this midstream of affliction, and arriving at that shore of nirvāṇa.

As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: when this bodhisattva abides in this practice, they do not relinquish this great bodhisattva vow; they do not abide upon this shore of birth and death, nor upon that shore of nirvāṇa, nor within this midstream of affliction, and yet are able to ferry the beings of this shore across to that shore, free of every anxiety and affliction — and this bodhisattva, going back and forth, never once resting. This is exactly what is meant here by "supreme." Named the practice of veneration: to have arrived at such a practice as this is, indeed, truly worthy of veneration and reverence. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: this is called the practice difficult to attain — like some object greatly esteemed and venerated in this world, exceedingly difficult to obtain at all.

Sūtra: "Interfused and perfect in just this way, able to bring about the very standard followed by every buddha of the ten directions — this is called the practice of good dharma."

Commentary: This is the perfection of power, meaning that this bodhisattva is skillfully able to carry this out with body and personal effort both. "In just this way" refers to what precedes: every kind of dharma-gateway, each and every one this same supreme pāramitā, within a single practice complete with every boundless, wondrous practice, interfused and unobstructed. "Able to bring about the very standard followed by every buddha of the ten directions" makes plain, here, the establishing of this teaching that benefits others: traveling throughout the ten directions, assisting the Buddha in turning the wheel of the Dharma, teaching and transforming sentient beings, so that every single word and every single deed may serve as a track to follow, may serve as a standard to be upheld — hence named the practice of good dharma.

Sūtra: "Each and every one of these wholly pure and undefiled, the single true unconditioned, since this is the nature's own original state — this is called the practice of truth and reality."

Commentary: This is the perfection of wisdom, also named this wisdom of never departing from ultimate reality. "Each and every one of these" carries forward these nine practices before it: each and every one, benefiting oneself and benefiting others alike, every practice brought to its very completion, is nothing but this single, true reality. "Wholly pure and undefiled" means that this is not tainted by anything belonging to the ordinary being or the outside path, to desire or existence or ignorance, to any dharma bound by outflow at all. "The single true unconditioned" means that this is not toiled over through the provisional or the lesser vehicle, laboring over the very sinews and joints of cultivation and realization, through any conditioned function at all. "Since this is the nature's own original state" provides the reason for these two clauses: that is, cultivation arises from this nature, and this entire cultivation is nothing other than this nature itself; this nature has, from its very origin, always been pure, needing no washing before it becomes pure at all; originally this same single truth, needing no cultivation before it becomes true at all — and it is for this reason, this nature's own original state, that this is named the practice of truth and reality. This closes the fifth section, the ten stages of these ten practices.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, this good son, having perfected spiritual powers and accomplished the Buddha's own work, purely genuine and true, far from every remaining trouble, now turns to liberate beings while dissolving the very mark of 'liberating,' turning the unconditioned mind toward the path of nirvāṇa — this is called the transference of rescuing all beings while leaving behind the mark of 'being.'"

Commentary: These ten transferences turn the Buddha's own work back toward the Buddha's own mind — mind, buddha, and sentient being being, these three, without any difference at all. The Buddha's mind is exactly true suchness, complete with the buddha-path and sentient beings alike; measured against the Avataṃsaka Sūtra's own account of these transferences, this is exactly the arousing of this vow. Master Guifeng states: this transference amounts to no more than three destinations: first, transferring toward true suchness; second, transferring toward the buddha-path; third, transferring toward sentient beings. This present sūtra's own text is brief and condensed, each transference alternately making one destination explicit and leaving the others implicit. Where sentient beings are made explicit, the other two remain implicit; and this holds equally for the buddha-path and true suchness — what is explicit is being directly expounded, and what is implicit is likewise contained within the meaning, never truly absent. Hence, though this sūtra's own wording differs from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra's, their underlying intent is, in every case, in full accord.

This bodhisattva, in the ten practices before this, engaged worldly affairs with a mind inclined heavily toward this — and now takes up vow to bring this same practice to its rescue; for should there be practice without vow, that practice could never reach its own completion. Ānanda, this good son who has already cultivated these ten practices, from the first practice through the eighth, manifesting sameness, manifesting difference, manifesting motes of dust, manifesting worlds — these same spiritual powers are already perfected. The eighth practice's every kind of practice brought to its ultimate completion, and the ninth practice's own standard of buddhahood, have already accomplished the Buddha's own work. The tenth practice's own purity, free of outflow, has already purified the very substance of the tathāgatagarbha; and this single truth, unconditioned, has already refined the very function of the tathāgatagarbha to its genuine essence. "Far from every remaining trouble" gathers up these ten practices altogether: with these ten practices already complete, one perfectly accomplishes this practice that doubly transcends both emptiness and existence — within these bounds, no longer troubled by clinging to existence; beyond these bounds, no longer troubled by lingering in emptiness — this being exactly this same double transcendence of the worldly and the transcendent alike. Everything above belongs to what precedes; what follows now accomplishes this present stage proper.

"Now turns to liberate beings while dissolving the very mark of 'liberating'" means that, exactly at the moment of liberating beings, one dissolves this very mark of liberating beings at once — this being exactly this middle way that doubly transcends both emptiness and existence. Exactly at the moment of liberating beings, this does not fall into emptiness; dissolving the mark of liberating, this does not cling to existence — precisely the same meaning as the Diamond Sūtra's own teaching: "giving rise to this mind while abiding nowhere at all." Abiding nowhere at all means not abiding in any mark whatsoever — this is dissolving the mark of liberating; and yet giving rise to this mind that cultivates and liberates beings — this is exactly turning to liberate beings. And so, having liberated every sentient being entirely, one takes hold of no mark of having liberated them at all. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: turning this conditioned practice to enter this unconditioned mind is turning to enter this true cause; turning one's back on this path of birth and death, turning toward the path of nirvāṇa, is advancing toward this true fruit. These two clauses, spoken separately, together accomplish this same meaning of advancing toward truth.

As the Precious Mirror Commentary puts it: this method of liberating beings must recognize both taking hold of the mark and leaving the mark behind together, this wondrous meaning of the middle way — not falling into either extreme, only then is this truly proper. Because of taking hold of the mark, one liberates beings; because of leaving the mark behind, one must dissolve this mark of liberating; because of turning toward the unconditioned mind, one is not attached to leaving the mark behind and falling into emptiness, and so is able to rescue and protect sentient beings; and because of turning toward the path of nirvāṇa, one is not attached to taking hold of the mark and lingering in existence, and so is able to leave behind the mark of sentient beings. This, then, is the first transference, taking hold of the mark and leaving the mark behind together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "Destroying what can be destroyed, and leaving behind even the leaving-behind itself — this is called the indestructible transference."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to the conditioned and the unconditioned. "Destroying" is exactly this same "dissolving" described above; "what can be destroyed" is exactly this same "mark of liberating" described above — destroying what can be destroyed means, exactly, no longer clinging to this conditioned dharma of birth and death. "Leaving behind" is exactly this same "leaving behind" capable of it; "the leaving-behind" means not seeing oneself as this same one who leaves behind, nor seeing another as this same object left behind, nor seeing any dharma of liberating beings standing in between either — this is what is meant by "the leaving-behind." And leaving behind even this same leaving-behind, having already left this behind, one leaves this behind as well — and so one no longer clings, either, to this unconditioned dharma of nirvāṇa. This is exactly what is meant by: nirvāṇa brings no settled rest, birth and death is never truly established — and so this middle way is rightly attained; though knowing that every dharma is empty and still, one does not wish to give rise to any thought fixed upon emptiness either. Named indestructible because this does not destroy the very work of liberating beings, but continues, exactly as before, broadly carrying out this giving. This, then, is the second transference, taking hold of the conditioned and the unconditioned together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "Original awakening, still and clear, its awakening equal to the Buddha's own awakening — this is called the transference equal to all buddhas."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to original awakening and wondrous awakening. "Original awakening, still and clear" means that this original mind-buddha of awakening manifests, still and settled, this sea of awakening calm and at rest — exactly what the Avataṃsaka Sūtra means by "vast, expansive, and pure." "Its awakening equal to the Buddha's own awakening" means that this awakening, referring to one's own original awakening, is equal to the Buddha's own awakening, meaning equal to the wondrous awakening realized by every buddha, without the slightest difference between them. Named equal to all buddhas because this points to how one's own original awakening, this Dharma-body, and the Dharma-body of every buddha of the ten directions, are without any distinction of higher or lower whatsoever — exactly as the earlier text puts it: my own precious, awakened true mind and the Tathāgata's own are, without any difference, both alike perfectly complete. This, then, is the third transference, taking hold of original awakening and wondrous awakening together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "True essence brought to light, one's own ground now like the Buddha's own ground — this is called the transference reaching every place."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to the causal ground and the fruit ground. "True essence" is exactly this mind of the causal ground; "the Buddha's own ground" is exactly this awareness of the fruit ground. "Brought to light" means opened and illuminated, made manifest and understood — that is, within this mind of one's own causal ground, this boundless realm inherently contained is exactly the same as the countless buddha-lands manifested upon every buddha's own fruit-ground of principle. Named reaching every place because this carries exactly this same sense of exhausting every buddha's own realm entirely. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra describes this stage: this bodhisattva broadly cultivates offerings, reaching, everywhere, to every place a buddha dwells, and it is only afterward that this same threefold karma of body, speech, and mind universally enters every world, in order to carry out the Buddha's own work. This, then, is the fourth transference, taking hold of the causal ground and the fruit ground together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "Worlds and Tathāgatas mutually interpenetrating without obstruction — this is called the transference of the treasury of boundless merit."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to dependent and direct retribution. "World" is exactly this same place reached, dependent retribution; "Tathāgata" is exactly this same buddha equaled, direct retribution. In the prior two stages, though one's awakening was equal to the Buddha's own awakening, and one's own ground was like the Buddha's own ground, some distinction between self and other still remained; now, speaking of world and Tathāgata together, self and other are fused into one, no longer divided.

"Mutually interpenetrating without obstruction" means that, taking this dependent retribution as it interpenetrates this direct retribution, then, within each and every pore of the skin, there are countless jeweled realms, wondrously adorned; and, taking this direct retribution as it interpenetrates this dependent retribution, then, within each and every mote of dust, there are countless Tathāgatas turning the great wheel of the Dharma. Like Indra's own net of a thousand jewels, their light crossing and reflecting one another, one jewel entering many jewels, many jewels contained within one jewel, the one and the many gathering one another in, host and guest interweaving freely — hence one attains this state without obstruction.

Named the treasury of boundless merit because, as the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: abiding within this transference, one attains ten inexhaustible treasuries: first, seeing buddhas; second, hearing the Dharma; third, recollecting and upholding it; fourth, resolute wisdom; fifth, understanding its own meaning and purport; sixth, boundless awakening; seventh, merit; eighth, courageous wisdom and awareness; ninth, eloquence; and tenth, power free of every fear — since all such treasuries as these are, alike, inexhaustible. This, then, is the fifth transference, taking hold of dependent and direct retribution together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "Within this same ground as the Buddha's own, each individually giving rise to a pure cause, and, relying on that cause, taking up the path to nirvāṇa — this is called the transference according with the equal, good root."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to the one and the many, principle and phenomena. "This same ground as the Buddha's own" makes plain this oneness of principle; "each individually giving rise" makes plain this multiplicity of phenomena. The meaning is that, with regard to this same ground of principle shared with the Buddha, this same initial and original awakening, this principle is, indeed, one and the same; yet, giving rise, because of it, to this same purity, each individually becomes a true cause. Relying on this true cause, expanding and unfolding it, one by one, this is called "bringing to light," and, from this cause, arriving at this fruit, taking up directly this ultimate path of nirvāṇa.

Named according with the equal, good root because, according with this single principle, one thereby accomplishes this manifold phenomena — though principle and phenomena carry different names, their substance is, at root, never two different things, hence, "equal"; and, being able to give rise to this unsurpassed fruit of the path, this is named the good root. This, then, is the sixth transference, taking hold of the one and the many, principle and phenomena together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "The true root now accomplished, all beings of the ten directions are one's own original nature, that nature perfectly fulfilled without losing a single being — this is called the transference according with the equal contemplation of all beings."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to one's own body and the bodies of others born. "The true root now accomplished" refers to the prior stage, this same according with the equal, good root; and, from this, giving rise once more to this same mind of great compassion, contemplating all beings equally, hence: "all beings of the ten directions are one's own original nature." This original nature is exactly this buddha-nature of original awakening. The buddha-nature inherently possessed by sentient beings shares, from the very start, this same substance with one's own — and this is exactly giving rise to this same great compassion of shared substance, turning this back from others toward oneself.

"That nature perfectly fulfilled without losing a single being" means that, once one's own nature is already perfectly fulfilled and accomplished, one ought equally to bring this same accomplishment to sentient beings as well — how, then, could one ever lose sight of sentient beings, and fail to liberate them? This is exactly turning this back from oneself toward others. This is named according with this equal mind of great compassion, contemplating sentient beings, in this transference. This, then, is the seventh transference, taking hold of one's own body and the bodies of others born together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "Taking hold of every phenomenon while leaving every mark behind, attached neither to the taking-hold nor to the leaving-behind — this is called the transference of the mark of suchness."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to true suchness, changing and unchanging. The prior stage's "without losing a single being" is exactly taking hold of every phenomenon, in terms of this same meaning of true suchness according with conditions; "all beings are one's own original nature" is exactly leaving every mark behind, in terms of this same meaning of true suchness unchanging. What follows now enters this present stage proper. "Attached neither to the taking-hold nor to the leaving-behind" means: not attached is itself transcending existence; not leaving-behind is itself transcending emptiness. Should one speak of taking hold of every phenomenon, one must, at the same time, leave every mark behind; and should one speak of leaving every mark behind, one must, at the same time, take hold of every phenomenon. Should one speak of according with conditions, one must, at the same time, remain unchanging; and should one speak of remaining unchanging, one must, at the same time, according with conditions. Leaving behind even this leaving-behind, taking hold of even this non-taking-hold — the path of words is cut off entirely, and every place where the mind might operate is extinguished as well. This, then, is the eighth transference, taking hold of true suchness, changing and unchanging, together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "Truly attaining suchness itself, unobstructed throughout the ten directions — this is called the transference of unbound liberation."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to being unbound and being unliberated. The first clause carries forward the prior stage: attached neither to the taking-hold nor to the leaving-behind, one has already attained this same single mark with true suchness itself. Once one truth is attained, every truth is attained; there is no dharma that is not true. Once one suchness is attained, every suchness is attained; there is no dharma that is not thus. What follows now enters the text proper: since the substance of true suchness pervades the ten directions, and this same practice has become exactly what true suchness itself is suchness of, one ought, in just the same way, to attain, throughout the worlds of the ten directions, this same freedom from every obstruction, accomplishing Samantabhadra's own threefold karma of body, speech, and mind, this power of vigor and ease, even accomplishing Samantabhadra's own conduct and vow, filling the whole Dharma-realm entirely. The prior stage abided in this unobstructed interpenetration of principle alone; this present stage attains both this unobstructed interpenetration of principle and phenomena, and of phenomena with one another, both at once. Named unbound liberation because this is exactly entering the Dharma-realm, this inconceivable liberation. This, then, is the ninth transference, taking hold of being unbound and being unliberated together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Sūtra: "The virtue of one's own nature perfectly accomplished, the very measure of the Dharma-realm dissolved — this is called the transference of the boundlessness of the Dharma-realm."

Commentary: This next makes plain this wondrous meaning of the middle way as it pertains to the Dharma-realm's own measure, bounded or boundless. "The virtue of one's own nature perfectly accomplished" carries forward from the prior two stages: the eighth stage's freedom from attachment attains the whole substance of this virtue of nature; the ninth stage's freedom from obstruction attains the great function of this virtue of nature — substance and function both complete, hence, "perfectly accomplished." As Gushan puts it: these three wondrous virtues, these three natures, perfectly accomplished. Freedom from attachment is exactly the virtue of prajñā; freedom from obstruction is exactly the virtue of liberation; and boundlessness is exactly the virtue of the Dharma-body.

"The very measure of the Dharma-realm dissolved" means that, precisely because this substance pervades everywhere without exception, and this function reaches everywhere without exception, whichever single form or single fragrance one may raise up, none is anything but the middle way; whichever single mote of dust or single hair one may raise up, all alike are equal to the whole Dharma-realm, each and every one without any bound or measure at all — and so this dissolving of measure is itself this very boundlessness — hence named the transference of the boundlessness of the Dharma-realm. This, then, is the tenth transference, taking hold of the Dharma-realm's own measure, bounded and boundless together, making plain this meaning of the middle way.

Summarizing these ten transferences together, distinguished according to these three destinations, shows that differences do exist between them; and yet, in truth, every single stage is, alike, perfectly complete with this same middle way: first, compassion never obstructing wisdom; second, wisdom never destroying compassion — these two transfer toward sentient beings. Third, original wonder joined with awakening; fourth, cause and fruit sharing the same ground; fifth, dependent and direct retribution mutually interfused; sixth, nature and cultivation both taken hold of at once; seventh, self and other sharing the same root — these five transfer toward the buddha-path. Eighth, taking-hold and leaving-behind both transcended together; ninth, the ultimate and the conventional both at ease; tenth, substance and function both brought to their utmost — these three transfer toward true suchness. This closes the sixth section, the ten stages of these ten transferences.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, this good son, having brought all forty-one of these pure minds to their completion, next accomplishes four kinds of wondrous, perfect, additional practice."

Commentary: Ānanda, this good son, cultivating this true samādhi, beginning from dry wisdom and ending with these ten transferences, never abiding in this wondrous awakening, possesses this same mind of aspiring ever upward, this same spirit of a true hero — though blazing forth in cultivation, never abiding in any mark whatsoever, able to give rise to this cultivation and realization that is, itself, beyond all cultivation and realization, passing through every stage in full — hence, "having brought all forty-one of these pure minds to their completion." This gathers up what precedes.

"Next accomplishes four kinds of wondrous, perfect, additional practice" — while the teachings of the other vehicles, too, all speak of these same four kinds of additional practice, theirs are neither wondrous nor perfect, and so the Buddha here distinguishes this present teaching with these two words, "wondrous" and "perfect." Earlier, at dry wisdom, it was said: with this very mind, flowing straight through the very middle of the path, this perfect wonder unfolds and opens; from this true, wondrous perfection, a further true wonder and perfection arises — and, having passed through these faiths, abidings, practices, and transferences, one now, next, accomplishes these four kinds of additional practice. "Wondrous" here means growing ever more wondrous still; "perfect" means reaching ever more perfect still — this can hardly, then, be regarded as some ordinary kind of additional practice at all.

These four kinds are named additional practice because they are exactly the essential gateway for entering the path, and, from beginning to end, every single stage advances by means of them, deepening gradually, stage by stage — as the later text puts it: it is exactly by means of these three advancements that one is able to accomplish these fifty-five stages, the true path to bodhi. Just as, within these three gradual stages, without this additional practice one could never enter dry wisdom, so too, all the way to equal enlightenment, without this additional practice one could never enter wondrous enlightenment. That these four aids are listed here specifically, only after these ten transferences, is in order to display how supremely honored this teaching of the ten grounds truly is — nothing but this could ever allow one to advance into it. This opens what follows.

Sūtra: "Taking the Buddha's own awakening as one's own mind, as though about to emerge yet not yet emerged — like drilling wood to kindle fire, the wood on the verge of catching flame — this is called the ground of warmth."

Commentary: This distinguishes, specifically, these four kinds of additional practice, dissolving away every distinction and measure between mind and buddha, differing from the mere consciousness-only teaching, where each stage, in turn, possesses its own faculty that gives rise to samādhi, the contemplation thereby given rise to, and the dharma thereby contemplated. This present sūtra, though, simply contrasts mind and buddha with one another, forming these four stages: the ground of warmth may be put as "the Buddha is mind"; the ground of the summit, "mind is the Buddha"; the ground of forbearance, "mind and Buddha are exactly the same"; and the ground of being foremost in the world, "neither mind nor Buddha." "Mind" here gathers in sentient beings; "Buddha" here gathers in true suchness — this together gathering in these three destinations of these ten transferences entirely.

"Taking the Buddha's own awakening as one's own mind" means taking this same buddha-awakening, inherently possessed at the first ground, as this same causal mind of one's own additional practice, wishing to realize this same state in which the Buddha is exactly mind — yet this causal mind, about to be extinguished, is not yet extinguished, and this fruit-function, about to arise, has not yet arisen — hence, "as though about to emerge yet not yet emerged." This is likened to drilling to kindle a fire in wood: the fire likens this fire of wisdom inherent in original awakening at the first ground, originally present within the wood; the wood likens this same ignorance — now, this fire of wisdom of original awakening, about to emerge yet not yet emerged, from within this wood of ignorance, about to catch flame yet not yet caught. Applying effort, reaching this point, is likened to drilling for fire, about to kindle this wood, first attaining this mark of warmth appearing before it — hence named the ground of warmth. As Chan Master Longya puts it: "studying the path is like drilling for fire — meeting smoke, do not yet stop; only once the golden spark appears does one, at last, arrive home."

Sūtra: "Taking one's own mind as what the Buddha himself has walked upon, as though depending on it and yet not quite depending on it — like climbing a high mountain, one's body entering empty space while some slight obstruction still remains below — this is called the ground of the summit."

Commentary: Taking, further, this same causal mind of one's own additional practice as what this same buddha-awakening at the first ground has itself walked upon — mind serving as what the Buddha depends upon, like a foot walking upon the ground — contemplating one's own mind directly as this same realm of buddhahood itself. Yet, since the mark of mind is not yet entirely forgotten, this is "as though depending on it"; and since the mark of mind is nearly exhausted, this is "yet not quite depending on it" — likened to climbing a high mountain, one's own body having already entered empty space, only one's own heel not yet having left the mountain's summit, some slight obstruction still remaining below. Now, this slight obstruction remaining below is why it is said "as though depending on it"; and this body having entered empty space is why it is said "yet not quite depending on it." This obstruction has reached the point of being merely slight, and this mark of mind, too, is likewise nearly gone entirely — hence concluded and named the ground of the summit.

Sūtra: "Mind and Buddha now the same, having genuinely found the middle way — like someone bearing an injury who neither holds it in nor lets it fully out — this is called the ground of forbearance."

Commentary: At the ground of warmth, one takes this same buddha-awakening as one's own mind; at the ground of the summit, one, further, takes one's own mind as what the Buddha has walked upon — in both, mind and Buddha still remain as two distinct marks. Applying effort, reaching this point, mind and Buddha now become the same, exactly what is meant by "mind is exactly Buddha." This buddha-awakening dissolves into this causal mind, and this causal mind dissolves, becoming the same as this buddha-awakening; and though mind and Buddha remain, in this way, distinguishable, cause and fruit are, at the same time, fused into one — constantly, within this same mind of additional practice, seeing the Buddha's own karmic function at work, and, likewise, within every place a buddha acts, thoroughly penetrating one's own mind as well — hence, "having genuinely found the middle way." Yet, about to realize this and not yet having realized it, understood clearly within the mind, yet unable to give voice to it outwardly — likened to someone bearing an injury, who, wishing to hold it within their own mind, is on the verge of telling someone else of it; wishing to let it out through their own mouth, yet finding it something that words could never properly convey — hence, "neither holds it in nor lets it fully out" — this is called the ground of forbearance.

Sūtra: "Every trace of measurement and number dissolved, confusion and awakening in the middle way both no longer objects to fix upon — this is called the ground of being foremost in the world."

Commentary: "Every trace of measurement and number dissolved": at the ground of warmth, taking this same buddha-awakening as one's own mind, some measure of one's own mind still remained; at the ground of the summit, though taking one's own mind as what the Buddha has walked upon, some measure of the Buddha's own walking still remained — both of these being, alike, measures belonging to this same confusion regarding the middle way. At the ground of forbearance, mind and Buddha now the same, some measure of this same sameness still remained — this being, in turn, a measure belonging to this same awakening to the middle way. These two words, "confusion" and "awakening," both apply equally to this middle way: "confusion regarding the middle way" does not mean being confused about the middle way itself, but rather this same middle way as it is cultivated within this causal mind; "awakening to the middle way" likewise does not mean having awakened to the middle way, but rather this same middle way as it is realized at the fruit-stage. Now, though, there is no longer merely an absence of confusion, but an absence of awakening as well — below, no self-mind remains; above, no buddha-awakening remains; whether mind or Buddha, neither remains as any object to fix upon at all — every trace of measurement and number thereby dissolved together, mind and Buddha both extinguished at once — this is exactly what is meant by "neither mind, nor Buddha."

As Nanquan puts it: do not take hold of mind, and do not take hold of Buddha either — even what is taken hold of remains itself a realm to be transcended; the ancients called this the folly of what is merely known. As Great Master Ma puts it: not mind, not Buddha, not any thing at all. Named the ground of being foremost in the world because, among every worldly dharma, this stands foremost of all. And, within a single thought, this same Dharma-nature likewise inherently contains these four kinds of additional practice all at once; though these four kinds of additional practice are spoken of here in sequence, they are, in practice, accomplished within a single moment — and this is exactly why they are named wondrous and perfect. This closes the seventh section, these four stages of additional practice.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, this good son, having thoroughly penetrated great bodhi, understanding now reaching the entire domain of a Tathāgata's own awakening — this is called the ground of joy."

Commentary: Ānanda, this good son, at the ground of being foremost in the world, skillfully able to accomplish this, breaks through, all at once, that portion of ignorance obstructing this first ground, and fully, perfectly realizes the Tathāgata's own three secret treasuries of virtue. "Great bodhi" is exactly unsurpassed bodhi, encompassing the whole substance of these three treasuries and this wondrous function of these ten profound gates entirely. This bodhisattva's own stage is one of partial realization, and so it is not said that this is "accomplished," but only that it is "penetrated." And "skillfully attained" means exactly this direct, present realization, personally attained without ever departing from one's own mind, thoroughly penetrating this same buddha-awakening.

"Understanding now reaching the entire domain of a Tathāgata's own awakening" — these two clauses explain the two clauses above: one's own original awakening, and every buddha's own wondrous awakening, are interfused without any difference at all, able to reach every buddha's own subtle and wondrous domain entirely — exactly what the earlier text means by "only this wondrous awakening, bright, perfectly illuminates the Dharma-realm." This is not merely penetrating this domain, but reaching it entirely — as though everything the buddhas of the three periods of time ought to attain, I myself have already attained; and everything every sentient being inherently possesses, I myself have already realized — and so this gives rise to the most utmost joy, hence named the ground of joy.

Sūtra: "Difference merging into sameness, and sameness itself then also dissolving — this is called the ground free of defilement."

Commentary: "Difference" refers to the nature of the nine lesser realms; the prior stage's understanding reaching the Tathāgata's own domain is exactly this same difference of the nine realms entering into this same equal sameness of the Tathāgata. Though this is, indeed, this same single buddha-realm, this realm is not yet dissolved away, and remains, still, a subtle defilement within this pure mind. Since sameness is spoken of only in contrast to difference, difference is certainly a defilement, yet sameness, too, remains a defilement all the same. And so, within this uninterrupted path, cultivating without cultivation, samādhi and wisdom flowing together as one; and within this path of liberation, realizing without realization, this same sameness, too, is dissolved away — this being what is meant by being free of defilement, made pure — hence named the ground free of defilement.

Sūtra: "Purity brought to its utmost, brightness arising — this is called the ground of emitted light."

Commentary: "Purity brought to its utmost": in the prior stage, sameness itself was also dissolved, this subtle defilement already left behind, yet this leaving-behind itself had not yet been left behind; now, this same leaving-behind of defilement is, in turn, left behind — this is "purity brought to its utmost." "Brightness arising" is likened to an ancient mirror, polished once more — once every defilement is exhausted, polished still further, purity is brought to its utmost and brightness arises, this true awakening laid bare, this spiritual reflecting power unobstructed — exactly what is meant by "purity brought to its utmost, this light penetrating through" — hence named the ground of emitted light.

Sūtra: "Brightness at its utmost, awakening fully complete — this is called the ground of blazing wisdom."

Commentary: "Brightness at its utmost" carries forward the prior stage: this brightness only just having arisen, not yet reaching its utmost; at this present stage, this wondrous brightness reaches its very peak, this awakened wisdom growing ever greater, like a great mass of fire, able to burn away the very firewood of affliction. And to say "awakening fully complete" makes plain that this accords fully with this same nature — exactly what is meant by this awakened illumination filling everything entirely, pure, admitting nothing else within it — exactly as the earlier text puts it: this stillness and illumination containing empty space itself. Named "blazing" because this signifies a wisdom like a blazing flame, possessing this same supreme function of scorching everything away entirely.

Sūtra: "Every kind of sameness and difference alike unable to reach it — this is called the ground difficult to overcome."

Commentary: Before these grounds, wisdom is called "different"; upon these grounds, wisdom is called "the same." At the first ground, understanding reaches the Tathāgata, difference dissolved, only this single buddha-realm remaining — this is "sameness." At the second ground, sameness, too, is further dissolved, from purity to brightness, from brightness to fullness — passing, once more, through the cultivation and realization of these two grounds, this earlier difference and sameness, reaching this present point, become so distant as to be beyond all reach entirely. If even reaching it is no longer possible, how much less could anything ever surpass it? Hence named the ground difficult to overcome. As the consciousness-only teaching holds: at this ground, ultimate and conventional wisdom, whose functioning ordinarily conflicts with one another, are now made to correspond with one another — this being exceedingly difficult to overcome.

Sūtra: "The unconditioned true suchness, its pure nature laid bare — this is called the ground of manifestation."

Commentary: From the first ground to this present point, difference dissolved and sameness dissolved, brightness arisen and awakening complete, surpassing, once more, both sameness and difference alike, every view of the ordinary being and every understanding of the sage have, alike, been entirely swept away. This conditioned function reaching its very utmost is exactly according with this unconditioned true suchness. "Its pure nature laid bare" means that this wondrous nature of true suchness, originally pure, is now clearly manifest, laid bare, for the very first time personally realized. Yet the whole substance and great function of true suchness properly belongs to the eighth and ninth grounds; and, at the eighth ground, this is truly effortless — it is only at this present ground that one reaches this unconditioned state, for the first time manifesting true suchness, though only in terms of this nature made manifest — hence named the ground of manifestation.

Sūtra: "The very limit of true suchness exhausted — this is called the ground of traveling far."

Commentary: True suchness, originally, has no limit at all; gazing toward it, one sees no trace of it whatsoever; exhausting it, one finds no measure to it at all. To speak here of "exhausting this limit" means exactly reaching this true, ultimate limit — within this very limitlessness, far surpassing every utmost construction — hence named the ground of traveling far.

Sūtra: "The single, true, suchness mind — this is called the ground of immovability."

Commentary: Carrying forward from having already exhausted this limit, one thereby attains this whole substance. This single truth, congealed and settled, still and tranquil, unmoving. "Moving" means changing and shifting — yet this suchness-principle, true and essential, admits no change or shift whatsoever. The bodhisattva, dwelling within this ground, contemplates every dharma everywhere, and every dharma is, alike, true; every dharma is, alike, suchness — a single mote of dust, a single hair, each and every one nothing other than this true suchness, one's own mind. This is exactly what is meant by thoroughly penetrating to the very source of every dharma, without motion and without destruction — hence named the ground of immovability.

Sūtra: "The functioning of true suchness brought forth — this is called the ground of skillful wisdom."

Commentary: As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: the prior stage attains this whole substance of true suchness; this present stage brings forth this great function of true suchness — according with this substance, giving rise to this function, a matter of course entirely natural. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra and the Sūtra of Golden Light mostly point to meritorious conduct in describing this, while this present sūtra speaks only of this original truth, this substance's own function. In the prior stage, a single mote of dust, a single hair, are, each and every one, pure and so of themselves, pervading the whole Dharma-realm; at this present stage, each and every one, in turn, gathers in and enters into every other — pervading everything, encompassing everything — this being exactly the karmic function of these ten profound gates, all alike this same function of true suchness. Named skillful wisdom because this is exactly this unobstructed wisdom of the Dharma-realm.

One might ask: the seventh practice's motes and worlds mutually manifesting one another, and the fifth transference's dependent and direct retribution mutually interpenetrating — how does this differ from the present passage? The answer: at the seventh practice, this remained only a vow; it was not yet spoken of as this personal realization of this original truth, this substance's own function, inherently, naturally possessed, now made manifest and brought forth. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra, the Consciousness-Only teaching, and the Sūtra of Golden Light all state that, at this ground, one is complete with the four unobstructed eloquences, becoming a great Dharma-teacher, most skillfully able to expound the Dharma. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra names this bodhisattva as complete with these four unobstructed wisdoms, becoming a great Dharma-teacher, expounding boundless, asaṃkhyeya meanings, without ever coming to an end — hence named the functioning of true suchness brought forth. I would say, further, that expounding the Dharma may certainly be described as this function brought forth, yet this remains but a single function among this great function as a whole — and so, in making plain this function, this need not exclude expounding the Dharma, yet how could expounding the Dharma alone ever exhaust this great function entirely? Since even the other grounds are not all entirely identical with one another, why should this one be required to match them exactly? Hence, one must be complete with all ten profound gates before this may properly be called the function that matches truth itself — and yet how could this, either, ever exclude expounding the Dharma at all!

Sūtra: "Ānanda, these bodhisattvas, from this point onward, bring the very work of cultivation to its completion, this meritorious virtue perfectly fulfilled. This ground, too, is named the stage of cultivation."

Commentary: Ānanda, these bodhisattvas: "these" means many, referring nearby to these four aids all the way through to this present point, and referring, more distantly, to encompass all forty-one of these minds described before. "From this point onward" — "onward" means going forth — that is, from this ninth ground onward, the three stages that follow. This cannot refer to what precedes; were it to refer to what precedes, it would properly say "hitherto" instead, and, moreover, the meaning of the text that follows likewise points forward as well. "Brings the very work of cultivation to its completion, this meritorious virtue perfectly fulfilled" means that this same achievement of cultivation and practice is, at this point, already complete, and this transcendent meritorious virtue is, likewise, called perfectly fulfilled — from this point on, only realization is spoken of, no longer cultivation. This ground, too, is named the stage of cultivation, showing that the achievement of cultivation reaches its very culmination here — hence this separate conclusion, given here to make the matter entirely clear.

Sūtra: "A shading cloud of compassion covering the sea of nirvāṇa — this is called the ground of the dharma-cloud."

Commentary: Compassion and wisdom are this same dharma; shade and cloud are this same illustration. That is, true compassion, spreading everywhere universally, filling everything to become this shade; wondrous wisdom, this great cloud, gathering thick and heavy — principle and wisdom equally manifest, this ground made cool and refreshed. This is because this shading cloud of compassion and wisdom is exactly the causal virtue that fulfills these ten grounds, and this sea-nature of nirvāṇa is exactly the fruit-virtue about to be realized at these ten grounds. Nirvāṇa, a Sanskrit word, carries several meanings in translation; here, briefly, taking the meaning of perfect quiescence — meaning that truth is, in every respect, perfectly complete, and falseness is, in every respect, entirely still. That is, the bodhisattva, from the very first arousing of the mind and cultivation of practice, relying on this unborn, unceasing nature of the root faculty, samādhi and wisdom held in equal measure, flowing straight through the very middle of the path, advancing toward this fruit-sea of nirvāṇa — reaching this point, about to realize it and yet not having realized it fully, hence spoken of only as "covering" it. Named the ground of the dharma-cloud because compassion and wisdom are this same dharma, and this word "cloud" encompasses this word "shade" as well, still raising up both this dharma and this illustration together to conclude it. This closes the eighth section, these ten stages upon these ten grounds.

Sūtra: "The Tathāgata moves against the stream, outward, to rescue beings; this bodhisattva moves with the stream, inward, toward the Buddha, until the two arrive at exactly the same point — awakening and its very edge intersecting and meeting — this is called equal enlightenment."

Commentary: This directly makes plain this present stage. The Awakening of Faith and other sūtras and treatises do not open out this stage separately, after the ten grounds; at the ground of the dharma-cloud, this is said to be where skillful means reaches its fulfillment, initial awakening returning to its very source, initial and original awakening united as one, attaining this pure characteristic of wisdom, and so is simply folded into these ten grounds.

This stage, about to show that the bodhisattva's own initial awakening is equal to the Tathāgata's own wondrous awakening, on the very verge of the buddha's own boundary, breaking through the mark of arising itself. "The Tathāgata moves against the stream" means that the Tathāgata, cause perfected and fruit fulfilled, attains and realizes this fruit-sea of nirvāṇa, yet, because of never abandoning sentient beings, turns the compassionate ferry about, moving against the stream of nirvāṇa, emerging outward into this sea of birth and death, cultivating cause and bringing about fruit — this spoken of in terms of the fruit of severance. Speaking, further, in terms of the fruit of wisdom: the Tathāgata emerges from the very boundary of bodhi, while this bodhisattva enters into this same boundary of bodhi — the two of them meeting exactly at this same point, hence, "awakening and its very edge intersecting and meeting."

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "awakening and its very edge intersecting and meeting" means that this bodhisattva's own initial awakening and the Buddha's own wondrous awakening share exactly the same measure, differing only in that one moves against the stream and the other moves with it. It is like two merchants venturing into the sea to seek treasure: the former merchant, having already obtained every treasure, moves against the current, emerging outward, and arrives at the sea's own gate; the latter merchant, just now advancing to seek it, moves with the current, entering inward, and likewise arrives at this same sea's own gate — these two boats arriving at exactly the same point, only the former merchant's own bow faces outward, while the latter merchant's own bow faces inward — this alone being the difference between them.

As Wenling puts it: the Tathāgata moves against the stream, emerging out to be one with every being; the bodhisattva moves with the stream, entering in to advance toward wondrous enlightenment. Having already reached this very edge of awakening, this is hence named "entering and meeting"; and, being equal with the Buddha, this is hence named equal enlightenment.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, from the mind of dry wisdom all the way to equal enlightenment now attained, this awakening only then attains, within this vajra mind, this very first ground of dry wisdom."

Commentary: Ānanda, from this initial mind of dry wisdom, passing through, in between, faith, abiding, practice, transference, these four aids, and these ten grounds, all the way to this latter mind of equal enlightenment — this awakening refers exactly to this equal enlightenment; and this vajra mind is exactly that final portion of the uninterrupted path, just before the path of liberation, this most firm and sharp wisdom, able to break through this very substance of delusion belonging to the subtlest mark of arising — it is only at this stage of equal enlightenment that one first attains this same vajra mind, this very first ground of dry wisdom.

From the very first faith onward, one's aspiration is already set on severing ignorance; yet, because these accumulated habitual tendencies run so deep, one passes through fifty-four stages, all the way to the final mind of this vajra, at equal enlightenment, before this mark of arising ignorance is only just dried out — this samādhi and wisdom having, only now, grown firm and strong enough, only now is it permanently severed — hence, "this awakening only then attains, within this vajra mind, this very first ground of dry wisdom."

As Wenling puts it: the earlier stage was named dry wisdom because it was not yet joined to the Tathāgata's own stream of Dharma; this present stage is named dry wisdom because it is not yet joined to the sea of the Tathāgata's own wondrous adornment. As Wuxing puts it: because this obstructs wondrous enlightenment, this very first drying-out of ignorance is not yet joined to this final stream of the Tathāgata's own Dharma.

Sūtra: "In just this way, folded over, again and again, single then doubled, twelve times in all, only then is wondrous enlightenment reached to its very utmost, and the unsurpassed path accomplished."

Commentary: "In just this way" refers to this path beginning from dry wisdom and ending at wondrous enlightenment, folded over, again and again, single then doubled, twelve times in all, only then reaching the very fruit-stage of wondrous enlightenment to its utmost. "Single" refers to these seven stages each counted as a single position — dry wisdom, warmth, the summit, forbearance, being foremost in the world, equal enlightenment, and wondrous enlightenment, these seven. "Doubled" refers to these five stages each counted as ten positions — faith, abiding, practice, transference, and ground, these five. Since there are seven single stages and five doubled stages, this is said to be "folded over, again and again, single then doubled, twelve times in all."

"Only then is wondrous enlightenment reached to its very utmost, and the unsurpassed path accomplished": "reached" carries the sense of reaching the very limit — sentient beings, confused about truth, give rise to falseness, flowing forth from this same Dharma-realm; the bodhisattva turns falseness back into truth, returning to this same Dharma-realm once more, tracing this to its very source, realizing it to its very utmost, original and initial awakening united as one, subject and object both forgotten together — only this is truly reaching wondrous enlightenment to its utmost, this is named the ultimate fruit of awakening, the attainment of this unsurpassed, true awakening. Equal enlightenment is called "equal" only in a qualified sense, original and initial awakening not yet truly united as one; only now, within this final single instant, does one truly enter this stage — possessing only this original awakening, with no separate initial awakening remaining, stillness and illumination become one and the same, principle and phenomena mutually identical, the whole substance of these three treasuries of the tathāgatagarbha entirely manifest, the function of these four unobstructed dharma-realms entirely revealed, its mystery penetrated to its very utmost wonder, inconceivable entirely. "The unsurpassed path accomplished" means accomplishing this threefold bodhi, these three kinds of nirvāṇa, this path of the very utmost, unsurpassed height. This closes the first section, directly answering the question of cause and fruit throughout these stages.

Sūtra: "Every one of these various grounds is entered through this vajra contemplation, within these ten profound illusion-like analogies, using, within this śamatha, every Tathāgata's own vipaśyanā, this pure cultivation and realization, deepening by gradual stages."

Commentary: Everything above, this arising of cultivation according with this nature through this perfect penetration of the ear-faculty, and every one of these various grounds passed through along the way, are all established through this vajra treasury mind, this contemplation and wondrous wisdom. This vajra contemplation is exactly substance and function raised up together: vajra is exactly the substance of the tathāgatagarbha; contemplation is exactly the function of the tathāgatagarbha — this being exactly the whole substance and great function of the tathāgatagarbha, and exactly the substance and function of this Śūraṅgama samādhi as well. As described earlier, within this stage of the vajra king's own precious awakening, this partial realization, breaking through one portion of ignorance, realizing one portion of these three virtues — from this, stage by stage, entering ever more deeply, all the way to equal enlightenment, this final vajra mind, entirely accomplished through the power of this same vajra contemplation, this inward illumination brought to its completion.

"These ten profound illusion-like analogies": as Avalokiteśvara's own testimony states, "this illusion-like hearing, this perfuming, this cultivation, this vajra samādhi"; and as Mañjuśrī's own words put it, "proclaiming this vajra king, this illusion-like, inconceivable, mother-of-buddhas true samādhi." Hence the Tathāgata concludes: "every one of these various grounds uses this same vajra contemplation, this illusion-like samādhi."

As for these ten analogies: as the Larger Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra puts it: contemplate every karmic action as an illusion, every dharma as a mirage, every body as the moon reflected in water, every wondrous form as a flower conjured in the sky, every wondrous sound as an echo in a valley, every buddha-land as a gandharva's city, every buddha-work as a dream, every buddha-body as a shadow, every reward-body as a reflection, and every dharma-body as a transformation — nothing to be grasped, nothing to be relinquished, since all is empty. Though these analogies number ten, what they illustrate amounts to no more than this: liberating beings, expounding the Dharma, adorning lands, and making offerings to buddhas. Yet, since it is said "nothing to be grasped," there is, then, no being to liberate, no dharma to expound, no land to adorn, no buddha to make offerings to. And since it is said "nothing to be relinquished," one liberates beings spontaneously, expounds the Dharma spontaneously, adorns lands spontaneously, and makes offerings to buddhas spontaneously. And since it is said "all is empty," both grasping and relinquishing are together forgotten, and even this forgetting mind, too, is stilled — hence called "profound." As an ancient once put it: cultivating these ten thousand practices, empty as a flower conjured in the sky; sitting quietly in this place of practice, the moon reflected in water; subduing this army of demons, reflected in a mirror; carrying out this great work of buddhahood, as though within a dream — this is exactly this same meaning.

"Using, within this śamatha, every Tathāgata's own vipaśyanā": śamatha is this same perfectly complete samādhi inherently possessed by one's own nature — exactly this unborn, unceasing, unmoving nature within the sense-root, this naturally, inherently possessed substance of samādhi, able to illuminate this directly; this is this same subtle, secret contemplation and illumination, this perfect understanding greatly opened — and it is from within this that one, according with this nature, gives rise to cultivation, using, within it, every Tathāgata's own vipaśyanā — a name that appears nowhere else in the question-and-answer exchanges that came before.

As the Ornament Treatise puts it: settling the mind in correct samādhi is called stopping — this being exactly what is meant by śamatha; correctly abiding in this discernment of dharmas is called contemplation — this being exactly what is meant by vipaśyanā. As the Awakening of Faith puts it: what is called stopping means stopping every mark of every realm, according with this same meaning of śamatha; what is called contemplation means discerning this mark of arising and ceasing through causes and conditions, according with this same meaning of vipaśyanā.

Examining closely the tenor of this present sūtra's own language, it does not seem to fully match that same intent — this vipaśyanā belongs wholly to the meaning of cultivation, since this never departs from within this same original samādhi inherent in one's own nature, doubly employing this same samādhi that is itself wisdom, and this same wisdom that is itself samādhi, dissolving away sense-objects and illuminating this nature, samādhi and wisdom flowing forth together as one. Cultivating without cultivation, distinguished from that tainted cultivation belonging to the ordinary being or the outside path in mere external form; realizing without realization, distinguished from that newly accomplished, genuine realization belonging to the provisional or lesser vehicle. Hence: "this pure cultivation and realization." From within these three gradual stages, awakening to this perfect principle, and giving rise, from it, to this perfect cultivation, deepening by gradual stages, arriving, ultimately, at this very treasury of jewels. This closes the second section, concluding and displaying this pure method of cultivation.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, it is exactly by means of these three advancements that one is able to accomplish these fifty-five stages, the true path to bodhi."

Commentary: This gathers together the whole sūtra's own beginning and end concerning this great samādhi. From Ānanda's own opening request, seeking the samādhi by which the Tathāgatas of the ten directions accomplish bodhi — this wondrous śamatha, samādhi, and dhyāna, this very first skillful means — the Tathāgata first told him: there is a samādhi named the great Buddha-crown Śūraṅgama King, complete with every myriad practice, the single gateway through which the Tathāgatas of the ten directions transcend, this path of wondrous adornment. This first shows the Buddha's own samādhi under its general name, causing him to know that every buddha cultivates this same cause and attains this same fruit; and only then does he answer, one by one, these three names Ānanda himself asked about: second, speaking of the path of śamatha, causing him to awaken to this hidden cause, this vast, perfect understanding greatly opened; third, speaking of the practice of samādhi, causing him, from the ear-faculty, to enter deeply through this single gateway; and fourth, speaking of the stages realized through dhyāna, causing him to abide in this perfect samādhi, proceeding directly toward bodhi. The text, having reached this present point, is exactly these stages realized through dhyāna — hence, "in just this way, these various stages, one after another, are all accomplished by means of these three advancements." Direct and auxiliary practice cultivated together, from beginning to end, is able to accomplish these fifty-five stages, the true path to bodhi — these three advancements being exactly the very first skillful means for realizing this Śūraṅgama itself.

"Able to accomplish" means that, first, through this vast, perfect understanding greatly opened, one awakens and understands this unborn, unceasing nature inherent within the sense-root — this being exactly this naturally, inherently possessed substance of samādhi, this Śūraṅgama. Only afterward, riding upon this understanding, giving rise to this practice, relying on this unborn, unceasing nature as the root cause of this cultivation, setting to work from the ear-faculty, entering deeply through this single gateway, passing through, in between, faith, abiding, practice, transference, ground, these four aids, and equal enlightenment, these fifty-five stages — cultivating without cultivation, not thereby precluding this illusion-like cultivation; realizing without realization, not thereby precluding this illusion-like realization; within this same state, originally without any gradual stages, deepening deeply, not thereby precluding this illusion-like establishing of these gradual stages, and deepening deeply through them. "The true path to bodhi" refers exactly to every one of these stages above, this true path that truly returns home to bodhi. Dry wisdom is not itself true, and wondrous enlightenment is not itself a path — since dry wisdom resembles awakening only, true faith not yet aroused, not yet even having set out upon the journey, hence it is not itself this path, and so is excluded; and since wondrous enlightenment, this ultimate awakening, has already arrived home, this, too, is not itself this path, and so is likewise excluded. One thus knows that these fifty-five stages, this true path to bodhi, are exactly this same path of wondrous adornment, this single gateway through which every Tathāgata of the ten directions transcends. This closes the third section, esteeming this very first resolve and urging one onward.

Sūtra: "Whoever contemplates it this way contemplates rightly; whoever contemplates it any other way contemplates wrongly."

Commentary: The passage above states that every one of these various grounds uses this same vajra contemplation, this illusion-like samādhi; one thus knows that this true samādhi of the Śūraṅgama, this whole substance and great function, amounts to no more than this vajra contemplation — beginning from the causal ground and ending at the fruit-ground, first suddenly awakening to this nature of the sense-root as this causal mind, and only afterward, relying on this awakening, cultivating and realizing it. "Whoever contemplates it this way contemplates rightly" means wishing others to relinquish what is wrong and return to what is right. This "wrong" does not refer specifically to outside paths alone; anyone, generally, who takes the sixth consciousness as this true, causal mind, taking mere external activity as true cultivation, is called contemplating in some other way — this not being this same true samādhi inherent in one's own nature, and so is named wrong contemplation. Exactly as the first fascicle's own account of these two roots puts it: every practitioner, unable to accomplish unsurpassed bodhi, and instead separately becoming a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, or an outside path, or a heavenly demon-king or one of his own retinue — all of this arises from these same two roots, cultivated in confusion and disorder. This carries exactly this same meaning. This closes the fourth section, judging between the deviant and the correct, so that this may be clearly discerned. Together with the second section above, this closes this detailed showing of how pure conditions arise, coming to pervade and form every one of these stages. And, joined further with the third major section above, this closes the very first section of the main body of the teaching, directly expounding this wondrous samādhi from its very beginning to its very end.

Sūtra: "At that time Mañjuśrī, Dharma-Prince, rose from his seat in the midst of the assembly, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: 'What should this sūtra be called? How should I and all beings uphold it?'"

Commentary: This is Mañjuśrī's own request, asking for this sūtra's proper name. A name is, indeed, but the guest of reality; and meaning is the very substance of a name. This sūtra, from the main body of its teaching onward, has already, in substance, set forth this same meaning in full — yet the name capable of expressing it has not yet been made manifest; and so Mañjuśrī now asks for this sūtra's own proper name. This bodhisattva, being this same root wisdom itself, wishes the Tathāgata to establish this name in accordance with this meaning, so as to grasp hold of this essential, all-embracing principle. As Wenling puts it: the main body of the teaching not yet concluded, and yet this naming of the sūtra is already given here so abruptly — this is because, having first shown this hidden cause, and next opened up this cultivation and realization, arriving finally at this ultimate fruit, this sūtra's own true and proper model is already, at this point, complete. Everything in the text that follows this naming of the sūtra still belongs to the main body of the teaching; those who, in the past, named it merely "auxiliary practice" spoke only of this same auxiliary practice specifically. "At that time" refers to that very moment when every question raised had already, in turn, been fully answered. "In the midst of the assembly, he rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: What should this sūtra be called?" directly seeks that the Buddha, in accordance with this cause and meaning, establish this name, so that beings present and future alike might, through this name, reflect upon this meaning. "How should I and all beings uphold it" means upholding it, that I myself might cultivate by it, and holding to it, that I might transform the world by it.

Sūtra: "The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: 'This sūtra is named The Great Buddha's Crown, the Unsurpassed Jeweled Seal of Sitātapatra, the Pure Ocean-Eye of the Tathāgatas of the Ten Directions;'"

Commentary: Mañjuśrī having asked for this name, the Tathāgata answers him fully, telling Mañjuśrī: these two words, "this sūtra," govern the five names that follow entirely. This first title is named in terms of realm and wisdom. The first thirteen characters name this realm, belonging to the hidden title; the latter eight characters name this wisdom, belonging to the manifest title. Examining these five titles closely, each, alike, displays both the hidden and the manifest together. This character "realm," within this hidden title, is exactly this realm of principle, illuminated by this same wisdom of the manifest title.

"The great Buddha's crown": "great" refers exactly to a sentient being's own mind, named directly for its own substance, stretching horizontally without any bound, and reaching vertically without any depth exhausted; "Buddha's crown" is exactly the fleshy protuberance upon a buddha's own crown, representing this unsurpassed, most honored, most invisible, most wondrous state — precisely representing this single, true Dharma-realm itself.

"Sitātapatra": these two words are here translated "the white canopy"; elsewhere, the two words mahā originally precede this, translated "great," not listed here since it is already implied by this same use of "the great Buddha's crown" just above — this being exactly this greatness of substance. Sitā, tapatra: here translated "white canopy"; white is the very root of every color, purely undefiled, entirely free of any stain — this being exactly this greatness of characteristic. A canopy is an implement that spreads and covers, universally sheltering everything — this being exactly this greatness of function. This precisely represents this same meaning of the single mind's own three greatnesses.

"The unsurpassed jeweled seal" gathers together, altogether, this single, true Dharma-realm above, this single mind's own three greatnesses, perfectly interfused, cut off from every counterpart, with nothing left that could ever surpass it — hence, "the unsurpassed jeweled seal," exactly this same ocean-seal, this same mind-seal. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: the majestic, spiritual power of this ocean-seal samādhi. As the Dharmapada puts it: every phenomenon, every manifestation, all sealed by this one single dharma. This "one dharma" is exactly the dharma of this single mind; and what is sealed by it means that every dharma, without exception, is mind itself — this same mind-seal, transmitted, generation after generation, by every buddha and every patriarch alike. Everything above belongs to this hidden title, this realm of principle.

The final eight characters belong to this manifest title, this wisdom that illuminates it. "The Tathāgatas of the ten directions" refers to every Tathāgata of the past, this gateway already accomplished by them. "Pure" means standing apart from every discrimination, cut off from both subject and object alike; "ocean-eye" — "ocean" is exactly this same ocean of mind, and "eye" is exactly this same wisdom — meaning this eye of wisdom that illuminates this same ocean of mind. Like a jewel possessed of its own light, that same light, in turn, illuminating this jewel's own substance — hence named in terms of this realm and this wisdom together.

Sūtra: "'it is also named Rescuing the True Cause, Liberating Ānanda and the Bhikṣuṇī of the Nature [Prakṛti] in This Assembly to Attain the Mind of Bodhi and Enter the Ocean of Omniscience;'"

Commentary: This second title is named in terms of capacity and benefit. The first sixteen characters belong to capacity; the latter eight characters belong to benefit. The five titles described above, in every case, display both the hidden and the manifest together; only this present title displays the manifest alone, without any hidden aspect. Examined closely, though, rescuing this true cause, too, relies on the power of this secret Śūraṅgama Mantra. Ānanda and Prakṛti are, both alike, those directly addressed by this sūtra: everyone devoted to hearing much, yet not yet complete in this power of samādhi, may take Ānanda as their own standard; and everyone whose desire and confusion still blaze fiercely, unable to reflect on how to find their way out, may take Prakṛti as their own standard. Rescuing and liberating Ānanda from this calamity of desire, and protecting the bhikṣuṇī Prakṛti in this assembly, her own craving desire dried up entirely, suddenly realizing this third fruit — these two figures are, both alike, manifestations of great skillful means, and so, too, may properly be called hidden. Everything above belongs to capacity; what follows belongs to benefit. "Attaining the mind of bodhi" means suddenly awakening to this causal mind — this same root nature is exactly this causal mind, and, relying on it, cultivating, one swiftly proceeds toward this fruit of awakening, unsurpassed bodhi itself. "Entering the ocean of omniscience" means attaining entry into this same ocean of correct, all-pervading knowledge. Correct knowledge means that mind gives rise to the ten thousand dharmas; all-pervading knowledge means that the ten thousand dharmas are nothing but mind alone. Attaining this perfect wisdom — this, precisely, is what is meant by benefit.

Sūtra: "'it is also named The Tathāgata's Hidden Cause, Cultivation and Realization of Complete Meaning;'"

Commentary: This third title is named in terms of nature and cultivation. Every Tathāgata of the ten directions must first awaken to their own root nature, originally unborn, unceasing, being this cause of bodhi; and only afterward, relying on this, giving rise to cultivation, are they able to attain this fruit of bodhi. And this is called a "hidden cause" because it is exactly this secret mind of this causal ground — something the ordinary being, the outside path, and the provisional or lesser vehicle alike, none of them, ever know. These first four characters belong to this nature, inherently possessed, this hidden title; the latter four characters belong to this cultivation, brought to accomplishment, this manifest title. This says that, though this nature is, indeed, originally possessed, cultivation is nonetheless not absent either — exactly what is meant by cultivating without cultivation, distinguished from that tainted cultivation belonging to mere external activity; and realizing without realization, distinguished from that newly accomplished, genuine realization of the provisional or lesser vehicle — hence, "cultivation and realization of complete meaning."

Sūtra: "'it is also named The Dhāraṇī of the Great, Vast, Wondrous Lotus King, Mother of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions;'"

Commentary: This fourth title is named in terms of essence and wonder. The first seven characters name this utmost wonder, belonging to this manifest title. "Great, vast, expansive" correspond, in turn, to these three greatnesses of substance, characteristic, and function: "great" points directly to this substance of the nature, stretching horizontally without bound and reaching vertically without limit; "vast" means complete with every virtuous characteristic, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, each according with this nature; and "expansive" means this wondrous function according with this substance, giving rise to what is inexhaustible. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra is complete with these same three greatnesses, and this sūtra, too, is complete with them — showing, all the more, that its very purport is the same as the Avataṃsaka's own. "Wondrous" means inconceivable; "lotus flower" likens this to the tathāgatagarbha mind, cause and fruit interpenetrating one another entirely, defilement and purity one and the same — briefly taking the flower as itself the fruit, encompassing both these meanings of constancy and purity at once. "King" carries the meaning of being at ease and unrestrained — showing, further, that this sūtra shares this same single thread and unbroken lineage with the Lotus Sūtra as well.

The latter eight characters name this utmost essential, belonging to this hidden title. "Mother of the buddhas" represents this meaning of giving birth; "dhāraṇī," here translated "gathering all together," makes plain this meaning of encompassing everything — since every buddha of the ten directions, all alike, are born forth from this very sūtra. As described earlier: these subtle and wondrous verses of the Buddha-crown's gathered light, this secret Sitātapatra dhāraṇī, give rise to every buddha of the ten directions — hence called mother of the buddhas. Dhāraṇī, here translated "gathering together every dharma, upholding boundless meaning," refers exactly to this Buddha-crown mantra, able to gather together and uphold every dharma entirely; the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, relying on this mantra-mind, attain unsurpassed, true, correct awakening — hence crowned with this name, the dhāraṇī, mother of the buddhas of the ten directions.

Sūtra: "'and it is also named The Verses of Crown-Anointment, the Myriad Practices of All Bodhisattvas, Śūraṅgama.'"

Commentary: This fifth title is named in terms of cause and fruit. The first four characters, together with "Śūraṅgama," name this fruit, belonging to this hidden title; "the myriad practices of all bodhisattvas" names this cause, belonging to this manifest title. According to tradition, this sūtra originally came from the great place of practice at Nālandā Monastery, in central India, recorded within the Consecration Division, and copied out separately here — hence named "The Verses of Crown-Anointment." This relies on the general to display the specific, showing that every verse and phrase of this sūtra all belong to this same Consecration Division.

As the Consecration Commentary puts it: India's own esoteric division numbers five: to the east, the Buddha Akṣobhya, named the vajra division; to the south, the Buddha Ratnasambhava, named the consecration division; to the west, the Buddha Amitābha, named the lotus division; to the north, the Buddha Amoghasiddhi, named the karma division; and, at the center, the Buddha Vairocana, named the tathāgata division. This sūtra belongs to this consecration division: reciting these very verses and phrases, relying on their secret power, one awakens to this principle and gives rise to this cultivation, dissolving away sense-objects and illuminating this nature, swiftly proceeding toward these fifty-five stages, the true path to bodhi. Cultivating without cultivation, realizing without realization — this is exactly this myriad practice of every bodhisattva, this uncontrived, wondrous practice, receiving this anointment from the Tathāgata's own water of wisdom, likened, too, to a kṣatriya prince receiving this same office — realizing, and entering into, this ultimate, indestructible fruit of Śūraṅgama itself.

Sūtra: "'You should uphold it under all these names.'"

Commentary: Given these five names above, you ought, through each name, to reflect upon its meaning, reverently receiving and upholding it. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: one must, indeed, illuminate this realm through this wisdom, receive benefit according to one's own capacity, give rise to cultivation from this nature, exhaust this essential wonder, and fulfill this cause and fruit entirely — only then is one truly able to uphold it. Having already expounded this sūtra in full, and, further, having set forth its own titles completely, this is exactly how the Tathāgata, in answering this very request, spoke of it — one may indeed say that nothing whatsoever has been left out. This closes the second section, the Tathāgata fully setting forth these five names. Together with the larger section above, this closes the Tathāgata's own answer concerning this samādhi.

Sūtra: "Having spoken these words, at that very moment, Ānanda and the whole assembly, receiving the Tathāgata's own disclosure of this secret seal, this meaning of Sitātapatra, and having, together, heard this sūtra's own names of complete meaning —"

Commentary: This gives the total response to this naming of the sūtra. "Having spoken these words," at that very moment, Ānanda and the assembly of those still in training received the Tathāgata's own disclosure of this secret seal — referring exactly to this secret seal of mind, this wondrous substance of perfect penetration, taken as this causal mind of this ground — able to accomplish buddhahood is called a seal, and what sentient beings do not know is called secret. This is likewise exactly this meaning of mahā-sitātapatra, here translated "the great white canopy" — though without these first five characters here, this text being abbreviated. The earlier text proclaimed this mantra once more, recounting its merit and urging its upholding, together with this earnest showing of how to advance in cultivation, these fifty-five stages, this true path to bodhi. And, hearing this sūtra, Mañjuśrī asking its name, and the Tathāgata setting forth these five names of complete meaning in full — these five names, each and every one, expressing this principle to its very utmost, this direct pointing toward complete meaning. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: the name marks this general characteristic, and the meaning unfolds this specific characteristic — attaining this specific characteristic, one may thereby awaken; attaining this general characteristic, one may thereby uphold it. Awakening ought to be thorough and detailed, while upholding ought to be simple and brief; yet the general and the specific gather one another in mutually, and their benefit is, alike, equal — hence both are described together, displaying this same benefit twofold.

Sūtra: "this dhyāna suddenly awakened to, this practice advancing toward these sagely stages, this excellent, wondrous principle, this mind and every thought emptied and settled —"

Commentary: The prior passage recounted what was heard, together with the assembly; this awakening is this same awakening shared by the whole assembly together. "This dhyāna suddenly awakened to": from the Tathāgata's own successive answering of these three distinct names of samādhi, the word "dhyāna" itself was never once spoken — only here, for the first time, is it named directly, followed immediately by "this practice advancing toward these sagely stages," fully showing that wherever these sagely stages are discussed, this is exactly speaking of dhyāna itself. The text, from faith, abiding, practice, transference, these four aids, and these grounds, awakened suddenly and cultivated gradually, passing through these fifty-five stages, this whole substance giving rise to cultivation, this whole cultivation residing within this same substance. "This excellent, wondrous principle": "excellent" means supremely excellent; "wondrous principle" is exactly this mysterious, wondrous principle-substance, far surpassing the provisional and the gradual, this ultimate standard of the sudden and complete teaching. "This mind and every thought emptied and settled": as the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: this whole sūtra, luminous and thoroughly clear, every manifestation gathered into a single mind, this ocean-seal containing everything within it, densely arrayed — a state beyond the reach of words or thought entirely.

Sūtra: "severing, throughout the three realms, the six categories of subtle affliction cultivated away through this mind."

Commentary: Though awakening was shared equally with the whole assembly before, realization differs from one to the next; this passage speaks of Ānanda's own advance to this second fruit specifically, not something realized equally by the whole assembly together. "Severing, throughout the three realms, this affliction cultivated away through this mind" refers to severing this affliction of confused thought, severed within this stage of cultivating the path — hence, "cultivated through this mind." Yet this amounts, in full, to eighty-one categories altogether, spanning the nine grounds of the three realms, each ground possessing nine categories of its own: severing the first six categories of the desire realm attains this second fruit; severing the last three categories attains this third fruit; and severing all seventy-two categories across the eight grounds of the two higher realms attains this state beyond further training. Speaking here of six categories means exactly these first six categories of the desire realm.

Ānanda was, originally, one who had attained the first fruit; from hearing this sūtra all the way to the end of its third fascicle, he attained a vast and perfect understanding, suddenly gaining the Dharma-body — yet, though this principle was suddenly awakened to, riding this awakening, both together dissolved away, this matter itself was not thereby suddenly removed, but rather exhausted stage by stage in turn; and so it is only now, reaching this point, that he attains this second fruit. "Subtle affliction" refers exactly to this same confused thought, distinguished from the coarser affliction of confused views. This is enough to show that, though Ānanda's own hindrance of affliction weighs heavily upon him, his own hindrance of what can be known is comparatively light — and so, though he attains only this second fruit here, he nonetheless knows, with settled certainty, that his own attainment of buddhahood is beyond any doubt at all.

This request concerning these stages, reaching this point, is named the complete cycle of cause and fruit throughout these perfect stages. This closes the third section, the assembly's own attainment — and, with it, the very first section of the main body of the teaching, directly cultivating and fully displaying this wondrous samādhi by which buddhahood is accomplished.