Self-Benefit and Benefiting Others: Two Names for One Act
The longest chapter of the sutra's second fascicle opens with a technical question — what exactly is bodhi, and what is the path to it? — and then, paragraph by careful paragraph, builds an entire architecture around a single claim the chapter states outright: benefiting oneself alone is never genuine; it is benefiting others that is truly called benefiting oneself. Along the way the Buddha inventories what "training" and "the fruit of training" mean at every stage of the path, walks through a long chain from drawing near a good friend to actually dwelling in the Dharma, catalogues eight kinds of wisdom and sixteen ways of speaking and listening well, and closes by insisting that the householder's path to this same benefit is the harder one.
1. Milestone: What Is Bodhi, and What Is the Path to Bodhi?
The chapter opens with Shansheng putting the most basic possible question to the Buddha, and receiving an answer built entirely on paradox: bodhi and the path to bodhi turn out, on examination, to be inseparable from each other.
善生言：「世尊！云何菩提？云何菩提道？」
佛言：「善男子！若離菩提無菩提道，離菩提道則無菩提；菩提之道即是菩提，菩提即是菩提之道；出勝一切聲聞、緣覺所得道果，是名菩提、菩提之道。」
Shansheng said, "World-Honored One, what is bodhi? What is the path to bodhi?" The Buddha said, "Good son, apart from bodhi there is no path to bodhi, and apart from the path to bodhi there is no bodhi; the path of bodhi is itself bodhi, and bodhi is itself the path of bodhi. That which surpasses every fruit attained by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas — this is called bodhi, the path of bodhi."
Taixu treats "bodhi" and "the path to bodhi" as genuinely distinct technical terms that this passage is deliberately collapsing back into one. In ordinary usage, bodhi names the awakened wisdom that attains a goal, while "the path" names the causal practice — the truth of the path among the four noble truths, the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment — that leads toward that goal as its fruit. But because Mahāyāna principle and wisdom are not, in the end, two separate things, the wisdom that attains and the path-fruit that is attained turn out to be neither identical nor different: take away the attaining wisdom and there is no path-fruit left to speak of; take away the path-fruit and there is no attaining wisdom left to speak of either.
He adds one further distinction worth holding onto for the rest of the chapter: the nirvāṇa reached by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is not simply a lesser version of this same bodhi. Only the Mahāyāna's unabiding nirvāṇa constitutes unsurpassed bodhi in the full sense — which is exactly why, whenever this chapter speaks of "bodhi" without further qualification from here on, it means that unsurpassed awakening alone.
2. Milestone: Why the Bodhisattva Path Surpasses the Two Vehicles
Shansheng presses the point immediately: if what the two vehicles attain is already called bodhi and the path of bodhi, in what sense can the bodhisattva path be called superior? The Buddha's answer turns on scope rather than authenticity.
善生言：「世尊！聲聞、緣覺所得道果，即是菩提，即是菩提道，云何言勝？」
「善男子！聲聞、緣覺道不廣大，非一切覺，是故菩提、菩提之道得名為勝。猶如一切世間經書，十二部經為最第一。何以故？所說不謬，無顛倒故。二乘之道比菩提道，亦復如是。」
Shansheng said, "World-Honored One, the fruit attained by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is itself bodhi, is itself the path of bodhi — so in what sense do you call it surpassed?" "Good son, the path of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is not vast and great, and it is not an awakening to all things — this is why bodhi and the path of bodhi are called superior. It is like all the world's various books and treatises: among them, the twelve divisions of the scriptures are foremost. Why? Because what they teach is never mistaken, never inverted. The path of the two vehicles compared to the path of bodhi is exactly the same."
Taixu reads "not vast and great" as a claim about reach rather than depth: the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha do genuinely awaken, but not to every single thing — their realization does not extend, the way a Buddha's does, to complete and universal awakening. The comparison to "the world's various books" is worth taking literally, he notes: it points to the non-Buddhist ethical and moral treatises current in the culture of the time, texts that teach real virtues but without the twelve divisions of the Buddhist scriptures' claim to being free of any distortion whatsoever. The two-vehicle path stands to the bodhisattva path exactly as those worldly treatises stand to the twelve divisions — genuinely valuable, yet still one degree short of the whole picture.
3. Milestone: Training and Its Fruit — Three Incalculable Kalpas of Giving
Having established that the bodhisattva path is the wider one, the Buddha turns to how it actually unfolds over time, introducing a distinction — "training" versus "the fruit of training" — that will structure most of the rest of the chapter.
「善男子！菩提道者，即是學，即是學果。云何名學？行菩提道未能具足不退轉心，是名為學；已得不退，是名學果。未得定有，是名為學；已得定有，第三劫中是名學果。初阿僧祇劫，猶故未能一切慧施、一切時施、一切眾生施；第二阿僧祇劫，雖一切施，未能一切時施、一切眾生施；如是二處是名為學。第三阿僧祇劫，能一切施、一切時施、一切眾生施，是名學果。善男子！菩薩修行施、戒、忍辱、進、定、智時，是名為學；到於彼岸，是名學果。」
"Good son, the path of bodhi is itself training, and is itself the fruit of training. What is called training? Practicing the path of bodhi without yet having perfected a mind that never turns back — this is called training; having already attained non-retrogression — this is called the fruit of training. Not yet having attained a fixed and favorable rebirth — this is called training; having already attained it, during the third incalculable kalpa — this is called the fruit of training. During the first incalculable kalpa, one is still unable to give with complete wisdom, to give at all times, and to give to all beings; during the second incalculable kalpa, although one gives in every way, one is still unable to give at all times and to all beings — both of these stages are called training. During the third incalculable kalpa, one is able to give in every way, at all times, to all beings — this is called the fruit of training. Good son, when a bodhisattva practices giving, moral discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom, this is called training; arriving at the far shore is called the fruit of training."
Taixu maps this passage onto the classical bodhisattva stages: "a fixed and favorable rebirth" refers to no longer falling into the lower destinies, which ordinarily requires having reached the first ground and thereby completed the first of the three incalculable kalpas; the second incalculable kalpa runs from the first ground up through the seventh; the third runs from the eighth ground onward. He is careful to underline that "training" here does not mean spiritual immaturity — a first-ground bodhisattva giving generously is real, valuable practice — but that even generous giving only becomes giving in the fullest, unrestricted sense once every restriction of scope, timing, and recipient has finally dropped away, which does not happen before the eighth ground.
4. Milestone: Nine Further Pairs of Training and Its Fruit
The Buddha continues in the same call-and-response rhythm, working systematically through giving as a pāramitā, the two knowledges that constitute bodhi itself, the qualities exclusive to a Buddha, and a string of everyday practices — each time naming the partial, still-learning version first and its completed fruit second.
「善男子！有是惠施非波羅蜜，有波羅蜜不名為施，有亦惠施亦波羅蜜，有非惠施非波羅蜜。善男子！是施非波羅蜜者，聲聞、緣覺、一切凡夫、外道異見、菩薩初、二阿僧祇劫所行施。是波羅蜜非惠施者，如尸波羅蜜乃至般若波羅蜜是。亦是惠施亦波羅蜜者，菩薩第三阿僧祇劫所行施是。非施非波羅蜜者，聲聞、緣覺持戒、修定、忍、慈、悲是。善男子！非施非波羅蜜，是名為學；亦施亦波羅蜜，是名學果。」
"Good son, there is giving that is not a pāramitā; there is a pāramitā not called giving; there is what is both giving and a pāramitā; and there is what is neither giving nor a pāramitā. Good son, giving that is not a pāramitā is the giving practiced by śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, all ordinary beings, followers of other paths and views, and bodhisattvas during the first and second incalculable kalpas. A pāramitā that is not giving is such things as the pāramitā of moral discipline, on through the pāramitā of wisdom. What is both giving and a pāramitā is the giving practiced by a bodhisattva during the third incalculable kalpa. What is neither giving nor a pāramitā is the moral discipline, concentration, patience, loving-kindness, and compassion practiced by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. Good son, what is neither giving nor a pāramitā — this is called training; what is both giving and a pāramitā — this is called the fruit of training."
「善男子！夫菩提者，即是盡智、無生智也。為此二智，勤心修集三十七品，是名為學；得菩提已，是名學果。」
"Good son, bodhi itself is the knowledge of exhaustion and the knowledge of non-arising. Diligently cultivating and gathering the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment for the sake of these two knowledges — this is called training; having already attained bodhi — this is called the fruit of training."
「自調諸根，次調眾生，是名為學；自得解脫，令眾生得，是名學果。」
"Taming one's own faculties first, and only then taming other beings — this is called training; having attained one's own liberation, and then enabling other beings to attain it — this is called the fruit of training."
「修集十力、四無所畏、大悲、三念，是名為學；具足獲得十八不共法，是名學果。」
"Cultivating and gathering the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, great compassion, and the three mindfulnesses — this is called training; having fully obtained the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha — this is called the fruit of training."
「為利自他，造作諸業，是名為學；能利他已，是名學果。」
"Undertaking various actions for the benefit of self and other — this is called training; having actually been able to benefit others — this is called the fruit of training."
「習學世法，是名為學；學出世法，是名學果。」
"Studying and learning worldly things — this is called training; learning what transcends the world — this is called the fruit of training."
「為諸眾生不惜身財，是名為學；為諸眾生，亦不悋惜身財、壽命，是名學果。」
"Not begrudging one's own body or wealth for the sake of other beings — this is called training; not begrudging one's own body, wealth, or even life itself for the sake of other beings — this is called the fruit of training."
「能化眾生作人、天業，是名為學；作無漏業，是名學果。」
「能施眾生一切財物，是名為學；能行法施，是名學果。」
"Being able to guide beings toward the karma of human and heavenly rebirth — this is called training; producing action free of all outflow — this is called the fruit of training." "Being able to give all manner of wealth and goods to other beings — this is called training; being able to give the gift of the Dharma — this is called the fruit of training."
「能自破壞慳貪、嫉妬，是名為學；破他慳貪、嫉妬之心，是名學果。受持五根，修行憶念，是名為學；教他修集成就具足，是名學果。」
"Being able to break down one's own stinginess, greed, and jealousy — this is called training; breaking down the stinginess, greed, and jealousy in the minds of others — this is called the fruit of training. Receiving and upholding the five faculties, and practicing mindful recollection — this is called training; teaching others to cultivate and gather these until they too achieve them in full — this is called the fruit of training."
Taixu unpacks the technical terms threaded through this catalogue. The "knowledge of exhaustion" is the arhat's knowledge that "my births are ended"; the "knowledge of non-arising" is the knowledge that one will never take on rebirth again — in the small vehicle both are reached only at arhatship, in the Mahāyāna only at buddhahood. The thirty-seven factors are the four foundations of mindfulness, four right efforts, four bases of spiritual power, five faculties, five powers, seven factors of enlightenment, and eightfold path, taken together. The eighteen unique qualities belong to a Buddha alone: freedom from fault in body, speech, and mind; conduct that follows wisdom without exception; six qualities — the wish to teach, effort, wisdom, liberation, the knowledge and vision of liberation — that never diminish; and unobstructed knowledge of past, present, and future alike.
He adds a cautionary aside on the danger of minor attainments mistaken for this last quality: even Śāriputra, foremost of the arhats in wisdom, once observed a dove and could trace its rebirths back eighty thousand kalpas without ever being able to discern why it kept returning as a dove — a limit that only a Buddha's wholly unshared knowledge can actually cross. Ordinary practitioners with small, partial powers should take this as a warning against overconfidence in what such powers can actually tell them.
5. Milestone: What "Benefiting Both Self and Other" Actually Means
Having laid the groundwork, the sutra now states its central paradox directly: benefiting oneself alone is not genuine benefit at all — only in benefiting others does a bodhisattva actually benefit himself.
「善男子！菩薩信根，既自利已，復利益他。自利益者，不名為實；利益他者，乃名自利。何以故？菩薩摩訶薩為利他故，於身、命、財不生慳悋，是名自利。菩薩定知若用聲聞、緣覺菩提教化眾生，眾生不受，則以天人世樂教之，是名利他；利益他者，即是自利。菩薩不能自他兼利，唯求自利，是名下品。何以故？如是菩薩於法、財中生貪著心，是故不能自利益也。行者若令他受苦惱、自處安樂，如是菩薩不能利他。若自不修施、戒、多聞，雖復教他，是名利他，不能自利。若自具足信等五根，然後轉教，是名菩薩自利利他。善男子！利益有二：一者、現世，二者、後世。菩薩若作現在利益，是不名實；若作後世，則能兼利。善男子！樂有二種——一者、世樂，二者、出世樂——福德亦爾。菩薩若能自具如是二樂、二福化眾生者，是則名為自利利他。」
"Good son, once a bodhisattva's faculty of faith has already benefited himself, it goes on to benefit others. Benefiting oneself alone is not called genuine; it is benefiting others that is truly called benefiting oneself. Why is this? Because when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, for the sake of benefiting others, gives rise to no stinginess regarding body, life, or wealth, this itself is called benefiting oneself. When a bodhisattva knows for certain that beings would not accept being taught with the bodhi of the śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas, and so instead teaches them with the joys of gods and humans in this world, this is called benefiting others — and benefiting others is itself benefiting oneself. A bodhisattva who is unable to benefit both self and other, and seeks only to benefit himself, is called of the lowest grade. Why? Because such a bodhisattva gives rise to a mind of greedy attachment toward the Dharma and toward wealth, and for this reason cannot even truly benefit himself. If a practitioner causes others to suffer while dwelling himself in ease, such a bodhisattva cannot be said to benefit others. If he himself does not cultivate giving, moral discipline, and broad learning, then even though he teaches others, this may be called benefiting others, but it cannot be called benefiting himself. Only if he himself is fully endowed with faith and the other four faculties, and then in turn teaches others, can this be called a bodhisattva who benefits both self and other. Good son, benefit is of two kinds: benefit in this present life, and benefit in lives to come. If a bodhisattva brings about only present benefit, this is not called genuine; if he brings about benefit for lives to come, then he is able to benefit both. Good son, happiness is of two kinds — worldly happiness, and happiness that transcends the world — and merit is exactly the same. If a bodhisattva is himself fully endowed with these two kinds of happiness and these two kinds of merit, and uses them to transform other beings, this is called benefiting both self and other."
Taixu treats teaching with "the joys of gods and humans" as the third rung of a graded teaching strategy, not a fallback for lack of anything better to offer: a skillful bodhisattva first tries to teach with the full Mahāyāna, and if that cannot be received, tries the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha teaching, and only if even that cannot be received does he teach the ordinary happiness of favorable rebirth — meeting each listener exactly where their capacity actually is. The deeper point he draws out is that "benefit" only becomes real once it reaches past the present moment: an act of kindness that helps someone today but plants nothing for their future, and an act of teaching that gives only worldly comfort without ever pointing toward what transcends the world, both fall short of what this passage calls genuine, twofold benefit.
6. Milestone: One Through Seven — Practices That Benefit Both
The Buddha now counts upward, one quality at a time, through a set of practices that each, on their own, are enough to let a bodhisattva benefit both himself and others.
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩具足一法，則能兼利，謂不放逸。復有二法能自他利：一者、多聞，二者、思惟。」
"Good son, there is a single quality which, when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva possesses it fully, enables him to benefit both — namely, heedfulness. There are also two qualities that can benefit both self and other: first, broad learning; second, reflection."
「復有三法能自他利：一者、憐愍眾生，二者、勤行精進，三者、具足念心。」
"There are also three qualities that can benefit both self and other: first, compassion for other beings; second, diligent effort; third, being fully endowed with a mindful heart."
「復有四法能自他利，謂四威儀。」
"There are also four qualities that can benefit both self and other — namely, the four dignified postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down."
「復有五法能自他利：一者、信根，二者、持戒，三者、多聞，四者、布施，五者、智慧。」
"There are also five qualities that can benefit both self and other: first, the faculty of faith; second, upholding moral discipline; third, broad learning; fourth, giving; fifth, wisdom."
「復有六法能自他利，所謂六念。」
"There are also six qualities that can benefit both self and other — namely, the six recollections of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, giving, moral discipline, and the heavens."
「復有七法能自他利，謂壞七慢。」
"There are also seven qualities that can benefit both self and other — namely, breaking down the seven kinds of pride."
Taixu glosses "heedfulness" with the old maxim: never neglect a good deed for being small, never commit an evil deed for being small — the whole quality is really about sustained, unrelaxed vigilance. He lists the seven kinds of pride Taixu inherits from Abhidharma tradition: pride itself, excessive pride, pride heaped on pride, the overweening pride of claiming attainments not yet reached, an inferiority complex that is itself a subtle pride, pride rooted in wrong views, and the basic pride of taking a fixed self as real. He notes that "good friend," which becomes the organizing thread of the next section, is deliberately left broad in the tradition — Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and any virtuous, accomplished practitioner all qualify.
7. Milestone: Meeting People Where They Are
Before turning to the long chain of qualities that follows, the Buddha inserts a single practical warning about how correction itself should be delivered.
「善男子！若沙門、婆羅門、長者、男女，或大眾中有諸過失，菩薩見已，先隨其意，然後說法令得調伏。如其不能先隨其意，便為說法，是則名為下品菩薩。」
"Good son, if renunciants, brāhmaṇas, elders, men or women, or anyone within a great assembly have committed some fault, a bodhisattva who sees this should first go along with their state of mind, and only afterward teach them the Dharma so as to bring them to submission. If he is unable first to go along with their state of mind, and instead teaches the Dharma right away, he is then called a bodhisattva of the lowest grade."
Taixu reads this as a corrective aimed squarely at well-meaning but tactless teaching: seeing another's fault and correcting it out of irritation, however doctrinally accurate the correction, is not yet the bodhisattva's way. Going along with a person's actual state of mind first — meeting their resistance or their pain before meeting their error — is what makes the Dharma that follows land at all; skip that step, and even true words fail to accomplish anything but provoke defensiveness.
8. Milestone: The Ladder from Good Friends to Dwelling in the Dharma
The Buddha now builds a long, single chain of binary distinctions, each rung resting on the one before it — from simply delighting in good friends, all the way up to genuinely dwelling in the Dharma.
「善男子！菩薩二種：一者、樂近善友，二者、不樂。樂善友者，能自他利；不樂近者，則不能得自他兼利。善男子！樂近善友復有二種：一、樂供養，二、不樂供養。樂供養者，能自他利；不樂供養，不能兼利。樂供養者，復有二種：一、能聽法，二、不能聽。至心聽者，能自他利；不至心聽，則無兼利。」
"Good son, bodhisattvas are of two kinds: those who delight in drawing close to good friends, and those who do not. Those who delight in good friends are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not delight in drawing close to them cannot attain the benefit of both. Good son, those who delight in drawing close to good friends are again of two kinds: those who delight in making offerings, and those who do not. Those who delight in making offerings are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not delight in making offerings cannot benefit both. Those who delight in making offerings are again of two kinds: those who are able to listen to the Dharma, and those who are not. Those who listen with a wholehearted mind are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not listen wholeheartedly gain no benefit for either."
「至心聽法，復有二種：一者、能問，二、不能問。能問義者，能自他利，不能問者，則不能得自利他利。能問義者，復有二種：一、至心持，二、不能持。至心持者，能自他利；不至心者，則不能得自利他利。至心持者，復有二種：一者、思惟，二、不思惟。能思惟者，能利自他；不思惟者，則不得名自利他利。」
"Those who listen to the Dharma wholeheartedly are again of two kinds: those who are able to ask questions, and those who are not. Those who are able to ask about the meaning are able to benefit both self and other; those who cannot ask cannot attain the benefit of self or other. Those who are able to ask about the meaning are again of two kinds: those who hold onto it wholeheartedly, and those who cannot. Those who hold onto it wholeheartedly are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not hold onto it wholeheartedly cannot attain the benefit of self or other. Those who hold onto it wholeheartedly are again of two kinds: those who reflect upon it, and those who do not. Those who are able to reflect upon it are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not reflect upon it cannot be said to benefit self or other."
「能思惟者，復有二種：一者、解義，二、不解義。能解義者，能自他利；不解義者，則不得名能自他利。解義之人，復有二種：一、如法住，二、不如法住。如法住者，能自他利；不如法住者，則不得名自利他利。」
"Those who are able to reflect upon it are again of two kinds: those who come to understand its meaning, and those who do not. Those who understand its meaning are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not understand its meaning cannot be said to benefit both. Those who understand the meaning are again of two kinds: those who dwell in accordance with the Dharma, and those who do not. Those who dwell in accordance with the Dharma are able to benefit both self and other; those who do not dwell in accordance with the Dharma cannot be said to benefit self or other."
Taixu reads each rung of this chain as adding a distinct capacity to the one before it: being able to ask draws out fuller teaching from whoever is speaking; being able to reflect means being able to examine and investigate what has been heard rather than merely retain it; understanding the meaning is the settled result of that investigation, a genuine and decisive grasp rather than a passing impression; and dwelling in accordance with the Dharma means one's body, speech, and mind together actually abide by what has been understood, rather than the understanding remaining a separate, unlived idea. He is explicit that the ladder is cumulative on purpose — each capacity depends on the one beneath it, and skipping a rung means the chain of self-and-other benefit breaks at exactly that point.
9. Milestone: Eight Kinds of Wisdom, Sixteen Ways of Speaking and Listening
Having reached the top rung of "dwelling in accordance with the Dharma," the Buddha now specifies exactly what that looks like in practice: eight kinds of wisdom that qualify someone to teach at all, and sixteen distinct qualities each for speaking well and for listening well.
「如法住者，復有二種：一者、具足八智，二者、不能具足。何等八智？一者、法智，二者、義智，三者、時智，四者、知足智，五者、自他智，六者、眾智，七者、根智，八、上下智。是人具足如是八智，凡有所說具十六事：一者、時說，二、至心說，三、次第說，四、和合說，五、隨義說，六、喜樂說，七、隨意說，八、不輕眾說，九、不呵眾說，十、如法說，十一、自他利說，十二、不散亂說，十三、合義說，十四、真正說，十五、說已不生憍慢，十六、說已不求世報。」
"Those who dwell in accordance with the Dharma are again of two kinds: those who are fully endowed with the eight kinds of wisdom, and those who are not. What are the eight kinds of wisdom? First, wisdom of the Dharma; second, wisdom of its meaning; third, wisdom of timing; fourth, wisdom of contentment; fifth, wisdom of self and other; sixth, wisdom of the assembly; seventh, wisdom of faculties; eighth, wisdom of the superior and the inferior. A person fully endowed with these eight kinds of wisdom, whenever he speaks, brings sixteen things to bear: first, speaking at the right time; second, speaking wholeheartedly; third, speaking in proper order; fourth, speaking in harmony; fifth, speaking in accordance with the meaning; sixth, speaking joyfully; seventh, speaking freely as needed; eighth, speaking without belittling the assembly; ninth, speaking without reproaching the assembly; tenth, speaking in accordance with the Dharma; eleventh, speaking so as to benefit both self and other; twelfth, speaking without distraction; thirteenth, speaking in accordance with the meaning; fourteenth, speaking truly and correctly; fifteenth, not giving rise to arrogance after speaking; sixteenth, not seeking any worldly reward after speaking."
「如是之人能從他聽，從他聽時具十六事：一者、時聽，二者、樂聽，三者、至心聽，四者、恭敬聽，五者、不求過聽，六者、不為論議聽，七者、不為勝聽，八者、聽時不輕說者，九者、聽時不輕於法，十者、聽時終不自輕，十一、聽時遠離五蓋，十二、聽時為受持讀，十三、聽時為除五欲，十四、聽時為具信心，十五、聽時為調眾生，十六、聽時為斷聞根。善男子！具八智者能說能聽，如是之人能自他利；不具足者，則不得名自利他利。」
"A person of this kind is also able to listen to others, and when listening to others brings sixteen things to bear: first, listening at the right time; second, listening joyfully; third, listening wholeheartedly; fourth, listening respectfully; fifth, not listening in order to find fault; sixth, not listening merely for the sake of debate; seventh, not listening merely to outdo another; eighth, not belittling the speaker while listening; ninth, not belittling the Dharma while listening; tenth, never belittling himself while listening; eleventh, staying far from the five hindrances while listening; twelfth, listening so as to receive, uphold, and recite what is heard; thirteenth, listening so as to remove the five desires; fourteenth, listening so as to be fully endowed with faith; fifteenth, listening so as to tame other beings; sixteenth, listening so as to move beyond mere hearing. Good son, one who is endowed with the eight kinds of wisdom is able both to speak and to listen, and a person of this kind is able to benefit both self and other; one who is not fully endowed with them cannot be said to benefit self or other."
Taixu glosses several of the eight wisdoms that are easy to misread: "wisdom of timing" is knowing the right causes and conditions for a given moment, not merely the clock; "wisdom of contentment" is freedom from craving, knowing when enough has been said or given; "wisdom of the assembly" and "wisdom of faculties" both concern reading an audience's actual capacity, from different angles. Among the sixteen ways of speaking, he singles out "speaking in harmony" as the ability to reconcile one teaching with another so that nothing appears to contradict, and "speaking without distraction" as simple orderliness — ideas presented in a sequence a listener can actually follow.
On the listening side, he reads "never belittling himself" as a warning against the specific despair of assuming the teaching is over one's own head before genuinely trying, and reads "moving beyond mere hearing" as naming a progression familiar throughout the tradition: from the wisdom born of hearing, to the wisdom born of reflection, to the wisdom born of actual cultivation — words and hearsay are only the first, necessary rung, never the destination.
10. Milestone: Pure and Impure Teaching, the Four Kinds of Listener, and Why a Bodhisattva Studies Outside Texts
The Buddha turns from the qualities of a good teacher in the abstract to the concrete motives that can corrupt teaching, the different capacities of those who listen, and a vivid extended simile about trees in a forest standing in for the different kinds of householders a bodhisattva must learn to work with.
「善男子！能說法者復有二種：一者、清淨，二、不清淨。不清淨者，復有五事：一者、為利故說，二者、為報而說，三者、為勝他說，四者、為世報說，五者、疑說。清淨說者，復有五事：一、先施食然後為說，二、為增長三寶故說，三、斷自他煩惱故說，四、為分別邪正故說，五、為聽者得最勝故說。善男子！不淨說者，名曰垢穢，名為賣法，亦名污辱，亦名錯謬，亦名失意。清淨說者，名曰淨潔，亦名正說，亦名實語，亦名法聚。」
"Good son, those able to teach the Dharma are again of two kinds: the pure, and the impure. The impure are marked by five things: first, teaching for the sake of profit; second, teaching in order to be repaid; third, teaching in order to outdo others; fourth, teaching for the sake of worldly reward; fifth, teaching while still in doubt. The pure are marked by five things: first, offering food before teaching; second, teaching so as to increase the Three Jewels; third, teaching so as to cut off the afflictions of self and other; fourth, teaching so as to distinguish the false from the true; fifth, teaching so that the listener may attain the most excellent good. Good son, impure teaching is called defiled; it is called selling the Dharma; it is also called defamation, error, and a loss of true intent. Pure teaching is called clean and undefiled; it is also called correct teaching, truthful speech, and a gathering-together of the Dharma."
「善男子！若具足知十二部經、聲論、因論，知因、知喻、知自他取，是名正說。聽者有四：一者、略聞多解，二者、隨分別解，三者、隨本意解，四者、於一一字一一句解。如來說法正為三人，不為第四。何以故？以非器故。如是四人分為二種：一者、熟，二者、生。熟者，現在調伏；生者，未來調伏。」
"Good son, if one is fully versed in the twelve divisions of the scriptures, in grammar, and in logic — knowing the reasons, knowing the analogies, knowing what belongs to oneself and what belongs to another — this is called correct teaching. Listeners are of four kinds: first, those who hear only a little and understand much; second, those who understand according to careful analysis; third, those who understand according to the original intent; fourth, those who must understand word by word and phrase by phrase. When the Tathāgata teaches the Dharma, he teaches truly for the first three kinds of people, not for the fourth. Why? Because the fourth is not a fit vessel. These four kinds of people can in turn be divided into two: the ripe, and the unripe. The ripe are tamed in this very life; the unripe are tamed only in lives to come."
「善男子！譬如樹林，凡有四種：一者、易伐難出，二者、難伐易出，三者、易伐易出，四者、難伐難出。在家之人亦有四種：一者、易調難出，二者、難調易出，三者、易調易出，四者、難調難出。如是四人分為三種：一者、呵責已調，二者、濡語而調，三者、呵責、濡語使得調伏。復有二種：一者、自能調伏不假他人，二者、自若不能請他令調。復有二種：一者、施調，二者、呪調。是調伏法，復有二時：一者、喜時，二者、苦時。為是四人說正法時，有二方便：一者、善知世事，二者、為其給使。善男子！菩薩若知是二方便，則能兼利，若不知者，則不能得自利他利。」
"Good son, trees in a forest are of four kinds: those easy to fell but hard to haul out; those hard to fell but easy to haul out; those easy to fell and easy to haul out; and those hard to fell and hard to haul out. Householders are likewise of four kinds: those easy to tame but hard to draw forth; those hard to tame but easy to draw forth; those easy to tame and easy to draw forth; and those hard to tame and hard to draw forth. These four kinds of people can be tamed in three ways: by reproach alone; by gentle words alone; and by a combination of reproach and gentle words together. There are also two further ways: taming oneself without relying on anyone else, or, if unable to tame oneself, asking another to bring about the taming. There are also two other ways: taming through giving, and taming through ritual invocation. The methods of taming likewise have two occasions: a time of joy, and a time of suffering. When teaching the true Dharma to these four kinds of people, there are two skillful means: first, being well versed in worldly affairs; second, personally serving and attending to them. Good son, if a bodhisattva knows these two skillful means, he is able to benefit both self and other; if he does not know them, he cannot attain the benefit of self or other."
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩為利他故，先學外典，然後分別十二部經；眾生若聞十二部經，乃於外典生於厭賤。復為眾生說煩惱過、煩惱解脫，歎善友德，呵惡友過，讚施功德，毀慳過失。菩薩常寂，讚寂功德，常修法行，讚法行德；若能如是，是名兼利。」
"Good son, for the sake of benefiting others, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva first studies the texts of outside traditions, and only afterward expounds the twelve divisions of the scriptures; for once beings have heard the twelve divisions of the scriptures, they naturally come to regard the outside texts as base and wearisome by comparison. He also explains to beings the faults of the afflictions and liberation from the afflictions, praises the virtues of good friends and reproaches the faults of bad friends, praises the merit of giving and condemns the fault of stinginess. The bodhisattva himself remains constantly still, praising the merit of stillness; he constantly practices the conduct of the Dharma, praising the merit of that conduct. If he is able to act in this way, this is called benefiting both."
Taixu maps "the twelve divisions of the scriptures, grammar, and logic" onto the classical five sciences: the scriptures themselves as inner learning, grammar as the science of language, and logic as the science of reasoning — knowing reasons, analogies, and what belongs to self versus other are all aspects of that same logical training. He reads the trees-in-a-forest simile as deliberately homely: felling corresponds to breaking down a person's resistance, hauling the felled tree out of the forest corresponds to actually drawing them forward into practice, and the two do not always go together — someone easily persuaded is not always easy to follow through, and vice versa. "Ritual invocation" he glosses simply as prayer and dedication of merit, an ordinary and legitimate tool alongside giving.
On learning outside texts first, he stresses that this is strategic rather than a compromise of principle: someone who has genuinely heard the twelve divisions of the scriptures loses interest in non-Buddhist writings on their own, once a real comparison becomes available to them — which is exactly why a bodhisattva studies the outside texts first, so as to be able to offer that comparison at all.
11. Milestone: Householder and Renunciant, Each an Ornament to the Other
The chapter now turns explicitly to the relationship between lay and monastic practice, insisting that neither could exist, in the form it actually takes, without the other.
「在家菩薩先自調伏，若不調伏，則不出家。在家菩薩能多度人，出家菩薩則不如是。何以故？若無在家，則無三乘出家之人，三乘出家、修道、持戒、誦經、坐禪皆由在家而為莊嚴。善男子！有道、有道莊嚴：道者，所謂法行；道莊嚴者，所謂在家。出家菩薩為在家者修行於道，在家之人為出家者而作法行。在家之人多修二法：一者、受，二者、施。出家之人亦修二法：一者、誦，二者、教。」
"A householder bodhisattva first tames himself, and only if he cannot be tamed does he then go forth into homelessness. A householder bodhisattva can bring many people across; a renunciant bodhisattva is not so, in this particular respect. Why? Because without householders there would be no one at all to go forth into homelessness in any of the three vehicles — all the going-forth, cultivation of the path, upholding of precepts, recitation of the scriptures, and sitting in meditation practiced in the three vehicles are made into a true adornment only because of householders. Good son, there is both the path and the adornment of the path: the path is what is called the conduct of the Dharma; the adornment of the path is what is called the householder's life. Renunciant bodhisattvas practice the path on behalf of householders; householders perform the conduct of the Dharma on behalf of renunciants. Householders chiefly cultivate two things: receiving the Dharma, and giving material support. Renunciants likewise cultivate two things: reciting the scriptures, and teaching."
Taixu reads this passage as a deliberate rebalancing against any assumption that renunciation alone constitutes real practice: without householders sustaining the tradition through giving and support, there would be no people of good roots available to go forth in the first place, and no material basis for the monastic life at all. "Receiving" refers to receiving the Dharma teaching; "giving" to material support for the Sangha; "reciting" to reciting the twelve divisions of the scriptures; "teaching" to using that learning to instruct others in turn — two mutually dependent halves of a single ongoing exchange, neither of which the other could function without.
12. Milestone: Four Practices, and Guarding Self Before Guarding Others
The Buddha now draws the fourfold pattern of receiving, giving, reciting, and teaching together into the bodhisattva's own single practice, before turning to a warning that self-cultivation must always come before — never after — the effort to transform anyone else.
「善男子！菩薩摩訶薩兼有四法：受、施、誦、教。如是名為自利利他。菩薩若欲為眾生說法界深義，先當為說世間之法，然後乃說甚深法界。何以故？為易化故。」
"Good son, a bodhisattva-mahāsattva together holds all four of these: receiving, giving, reciting, and teaching. This is called benefiting both self and other. If a bodhisattva wishes to expound the profound meaning of the Dharma-realm to other beings, he should first teach them the ways of the world, and only afterward speak of the profound Dharma-realm. Why? Because this makes them easier to transform."
「菩薩摩訶薩應護一切眾生之心，若不護者，則不能調一切眾生。菩薩亦應擁護自身，若不護身，亦不能得調伏眾生。菩薩不為貪身、命、財，護身、命、財，皆為調伏諸眾生故。菩薩摩訶薩先自除惡，後教人除，若不自除，能教他除，無有是處！是故菩薩先應自施、持戒、知足、勤行精進，然後化人。菩薩若不自行法行，則不能得教化眾生。」
"A bodhisattva-mahāsattva should guard the minds of all beings; if he does not guard them, he will be unable to tame all beings. A bodhisattva should also guard and protect his own person; if he does not guard his own person, he likewise will not be able to tame other beings. It is not out of greed for his own body, life, or wealth that a bodhisattva guards his body, life, and wealth — it is entirely for the sake of taming other beings. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva first removes evil from himself, and only afterward teaches others to remove it; if he has not removed it from himself, there is no possibility that he could actually teach others to remove it! For this reason a bodhisattva should first give, uphold the precepts, know contentment, and diligently apply effort himself, and only afterward transform others. If a bodhisattva does not himself practice the conduct of the Dharma, he cannot succeed in teaching and transforming other beings."
「善男子！眾生諸根凡有三種，菩薩諸根，亦復三種，謂下、中、上：下根菩薩能化下根，不及中、上；中根菩薩能化中、下，不及上根；上根菩薩，能三種化。」
"Good son, the faculties of beings are altogether of three kinds, and the faculties of bodhisattvas are likewise of three kinds — inferior, middling, and superior. A bodhisattva of inferior faculties can transform those of inferior faculties, but cannot reach those of middling or superior faculties; a bodhisattva of middling faculties can transform those of middling and inferior faculties, but cannot reach those of superior faculties; a bodhisattva of superior faculties is able to transform all three kinds."
Taixu reads "guarding oneself" as a specific caution against slander and false accusation rather than mere self-interest: even a bodhisattva who has genuinely realized the emptiness of a fixed self, and holds no attachment to that self, still cannot avoid the practical need to protect his own reputation and standing, precisely because his usefulness to others depends on it. On teaching the deep meaning of the Dharma-realm only after worldly matters, he warns against a specific and common failure among inexperienced teachers: opening with the most profound teaching available mainly to display one's own erudition, which impresses without actually helping anyone toward the path — the Buddha instead calibrates every teaching to how deep or shallow a listener's actual capacity happens to be, exactly as the closing lines here about inferior, middling, and superior faculties make explicit.
13. Milestone: Why the Householder Bodhisattva's Path Is Harder
The chapter closes where its argument has been heading all along — not with a doctrinal summary, but with a plain acknowledgment of who actually has the harder task.
「善男子！菩薩有二種：一者、在家，二者、出家。出家菩薩自利利他，是不為難；在家菩薩修是二利，是乃為難。何以故？在家菩薩多惡因緣所纏繞故。」
"Good son, bodhisattvas are of two kinds: householders, and renunciants. For a renunciant bodhisattva, benefiting both self and other is not difficult; for a householder bodhisattva, cultivating this same twofold benefit is truly difficult. Why? Because a householder bodhisattva is bound about by so many adverse conditions."
Taixu reads this closing line as a direct word of encouragement to the lay assembly this sutra was actually spoken for, not a statement of comparative merit between two ranks of practitioner. The point is not that householders fall short, but that they should recognize how much they are already accomplishing against real, ongoing resistance — the entanglements of family, livelihood, and worldly obligation that a renunciant has already set down — and take that recognition as a reason to press forward rather than to feel that genuine practice belongs to monastics alone.