The Sūtra Spoken by the Buddha on the Universal Gateway

聞如是：

Thus have I heard.

一時佛遊王舍城靈鷲山中，與大比
丘眾俱，比丘八百，菩薩四萬二千——得諸總持，
神通已達，聖智弘暢，辯才無礙，三昧已定，無
所不博。

At one time the Buddha was dwelling at Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, Vulture Peak, in Rājagṛha, together with a great assembly of monks: eight hundred bhikṣus and forty two thousand bodhisattvas. They had attained all dhāraṇīs; their supernormal powers were already mastered; their noble wisdom was vast and freely flowing; their eloquence was unobstructed; they were established in samādhi; and there was nothing in which they were not broadly learned.

時有菩薩名離垢藏，與九萬二千菩
薩，從普華如來國來，其世界名曰淨行，今遊
在此，欲詣忍界靈鷲山有所諮受。

At that time there was a bodhisattva named Vimalagarbha who, together with ninety two thousand bodhisattvas, came from the buddha-land of Samantakusuma Tathāgata. That world was named Pure Conduct. They were now journeying here, wishing to proceed to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, Vulture Peak, in the World of Endurance, the Sahā world, in order to inquire of and receive the teaching.

時佛遙見
即笑，口中光焰乃有殊特異色光明，普照十
方內外明徹無不通達。

Then the Buddha, seeing them from afar, at once smiled, and from his mouth came forth flames of light, a radiance of extraordinary and distinctive colour, which universally illuminated the ten directions, within and without, shining clear through and reaching everywhere without obstruction.

爾時大士溥首僮真
菩薩，即於大眾會中，起整衣服，偏袒右肩，長
跪叉手，白佛言：「世尊！何笑耶？笑乃有諮澤，非
世所明，非菩薩大士之所能堪，憐愇乃如此。
唯所尊笑當有意，願示不及，咸亦樂聞。」

At that time the great being Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, in the midst of the great assembly, rose, straightened his robe, bared his right shoulder, knelt upright, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honoured One, why do you smile? This smile surely bears a gracious intent, one not understood by the world, one that not even bodhisattvas and great beings can fully bear. Such is its compassionate concern. Surely the smile of the Honoured One must have its meaning. I pray that you reveal what we cannot understand, for the whole assembly also wishes to hear it.”

於是
世尊告溥首菩薩：「乃東方去此無量無數不
可計會阿僧祇百千姟數，有世界名淨行。其
佛號普華如來，常與無數億億百千菩薩摩
訶薩圍遶，共講不退轉、不思議之法。有尊菩
薩名離垢藏，與無數千諸菩薩大士眷屬圍
遶，幡飛遊步虛空。佛心念斯離垢藏，簡別由
路遠步諸國，宣普華如來至真等正覺命，來
受普門品，今尋當還會詣菩薩眾。于時大聖，
即如其像，顯揚其教，示現咸應，令無數無限
世界諸菩薩眾尋時悉來，至斯忍土，往於大
梵天。是故我笑耳！」

Then the World-Honoured One said to Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī: “Far to the east from this place, beyond immeasurable, innumerable, incalculable asaṃkhyeya hundreds of thousands of koṭi numbers, there is a world named Pure Conduct. The Buddha of that world is called Samantakusuma Tathāgata. He is constantly surrounded by innumerable koṭis of koṭis, hundreds of thousands of bodhisattva mahāsattvas, and together with them he expounds the Dharma of non-retrogression and the inconceivable Dharma.

“In that world there is a noble bodhisattva named Vimalagarbha, surrounded by an immeasurable thousandfold retinue of bodhisattvas, great beings. With banners flying, they travel through empty space. That Buddha, calling this Vimalagarbha to mind, selected him to travel the distant route through many lands, to proclaim the command of Samantakusuma Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, and to come to receive the Universal Gateway teaching. He will presently return and join the company of bodhisattvas.

“At that time the Great Sage manifested forth in such forms, displayed and proclaimed his teaching, and showed manifestations in response to all, causing the bodhisattva assemblies from worlds without number and without limit all to come at once to this Land of Endurance, the Sahā world, extending up to the Great Brahmā Heaven. This is why I smiled.”

言適竟，彼離垢藏菩薩與
諸大眾，忽然以別，到此靈鷲山，眷屬圍遶行

到佛所，稽首足下，却住一面。此靈鷲山中諸
菩薩眾，閑居燕者，悉來集會，禮畢竟却就坐。

As soon as these words were spoken, Bodhisattva Vimalagarbha, together with the great assemblies, suddenly departed and came to this Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, his retinue surrounding him. They proceeded to where the Buddha was, bowed their heads at the Buddha’s feet, and withdrew to stand to one side. The bodhisattva assemblies on this Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, those who lived in quiet seclusion, all came and gathered together; and when they had completed their homage, they withdrew and took their seats.

時離垢藏菩薩，應時化作七寶蓮花，其葉有
千，持詣能仁如來、至真、等正覺，稽首奉上，白
曰：「普華如來、至真、等正覺，淨行世界，聖尊敬
問：『無量遊步康彊，勢力輕利，起居安隱，多所
救濟。』今見遣來，宣敬誨啟，受普門品等不可
思議清淨之品，為開士說。」

Then Bodhisattva Vimalagarbha, at that very moment, manifested by transformation a lotus of the seven jewels, having a thousand petals. Bearing it, he approached the Tathāgata Śākyamuni, the Worthy One, the Perfectly and Completely Awakened One. He bowed his head, offered it up, and said: “Samantakusuma Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly and Completely Awakened One, in the world of Pure Conduct, the Holy Honoured One, respectfully asks: ‘Are you well and strong in your boundless course of activity? Is your strength light and keen? Is your daily living peaceful and secure? Do you rescue and relieve many?’ I have now been sent to convey his respectful instruction and request: that you take up the Universal Gateway and other teachings of inconceivable purity, and expound them for the bodhisattvas.”

時離垢藏菩薩大
士，問訊周畢，退在虛空，結加趺坐，與諸開士，
坐寶蓮花上。

Then, when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Vimalagarbha had fully completed his formal salutation, he withdrew into open space above, sat in the cross-legged posture, and together with the other bodhisattvas took his seat upon jeweled lotuses.

爾時溥首僮真，便於大眾會中
起，更整衣服，偏袒右肩前，長跪叉手，而白佛
言：「善哉，世尊！願說普門品不可思議道品法
原，為菩薩分別演之！憶念往古過久遠世時，
從普證明如來、至真、等正覺，聞斯經典，興立
八十四萬百千億姟三昧，又還七十七億百
千諸姟總持門行。唯願世尊，愍諸菩薩，重宣
揚之。」

At that time Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta rose in the midst of the great assembly, again straightened his robe, advanced with his right shoulder bared, knelt upright, joined his palms, and addressed the Buddha, saying: “Excellent, World-Honoured One. May you expound the Universal Gateway, the inconceivable source of the Dharma of the Path-factors, and distinguish and unfold it for the bodhisattvas. I recall that long ago, in an age that had passed into the far distant past, I heard this sūtra from the Tathāgata Samantaprabhāsa, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One. I brought forth and established eighty-four hundred-thousand koṭi-nayuta samādhis, and further practised seventy-seven hundred-thousand koṭi-nayuta gateways of dhāraṇī. I pray only that the World-Honoured One, out of compassion for the bodhisattvas, will proclaim it once again.”

佛告溥首僮真：「諦聽，善思念之！吾當為
汝，具說普門內藏不可思議祕寶中心之事。」

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta: “Listen well, and think carefully upon it. I shall fully explain for you the matter concerning the heart of the inconceivable secret treasure stored within the Universal Gateway.”

於是溥首菩薩并其大眾，咸共答曰：「唯，世尊！
願樂欲聞。」

Then Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, together with the great assembly, all answered as one, saying: “Yes, World-Honoured One. We would gladly hear it.”

爾時溥首僮真與諸菩薩，一心受
教而聽。

At that time Mañjuśrī Kumārabhūta, together with the bodhisattvas, received the teaching with one mind and listened.

佛告溥首：「若有菩薩摩訶薩，欲學普
門品所入之法，等遊於色，等遊音聲，等遊臭
香，等遊眾味，等遊細滑，等遊心界，等遊女
人，等遊男子，等遊僮女，等遊童子，等遊諸
天，等遊諸龍，等遊諸鬼神，等遊揵沓和，等
遊阿須倫，等遊迦樓羅，等遊真陀羅，等遊摩
睺勒，等遊地獄，等遊餓鬼，等遊畜生，等遊貪
婬，等遊瞋恚，等遊愚癡，等遊諸善，等遊眾德
本，等遊諸有為，等遊諸無為。如是，溥首！諸開

士所可周旋為若此，一切悉等，以居平等，具
足至道不轉，普入法要，深微一密，空無寂靜，
是為學入普門定門之法。」

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“If there is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who wishes to learn the Dharma entered through the Universal Gateway, he moves equally through form, moves equally through sound, moves equally through odours and fragrances, moves equally through various tastes, moves equally through the tangible, and moves equally through the mind realm.

“He moves equally through women, through men, through girls and through boys; through devas, nāgas, ghosts and spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṃnaras and mahoragas; through the hells, hungry ghosts and animals; through craving and lust, anger and hatred, and delusion; through wholesome dharmas and the roots of virtue; through all conditioned dharmas and all unconditioned dharmas.

“In this way, Mañjuśrī, such is the sphere in which bodhisattvas move. All without exception is equal. Abiding in equality, they fully accomplish the Supreme Way without turning back, universally enter the essential Dharma, profound, subtle, single and hidden, empty and quiescent.

“This is the Dharma of learning to enter the samādhi-gateway of the Universal Gateway.”

佛告溥首僮真：「何謂菩薩等遊於色者？曉了
解色，如水之沫而不可得，不可護持，無有堅
固，則為等意觀無有色，是謂菩薩等遊於色。」

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through form? It is to clearly understand and discern form: that it is like foam upon water and cannot be grasped, cannot be held onto, and has no firmness or solidity. Then, with mind made equal, one observes that there is no substantial form. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through form.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊音聲？如人呼聲而
有嚮應，尋即消滅，則無形像，不知所至。一切
無有若干之事，而無差特，亦無有相，已了無
相，人所言者虛無無實，已曉諸音深山嚮報，
則能等觀，是為菩薩等遊音聲也。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through sound? It is like a person who calls out, and an echo answers; immediately it dies away, having no form or image, and one does not know where it has gone. In all of it there is no manifold differentiation, no distinction, nor is there any sign. Having fully understood signlessness, one knows that what people speak is empty, void, and without substance. Having understood all sounds to be like the echo’s response in the deep mountains, one is then able to contemplate equally. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through sound.”

又告溥首：
「何謂菩薩等遊臭香？周旋往返百億劫數，鼻
之所嗅而無有厭，眾香來趣劇於風雨，皆集
歸身，如大海淵無有充滿，其香之像無常百
變，變化如幻無有根原，或亂道德而不可擁，
如此則為虛偽法也！無有真諦，設求審試亦
無合會處。由是倫之，斯無所有而不可持，虛
無無實，恍惚若空，如幻如化，亦無本形，影想
識着緣起成形，若能分別虛無無實，是為菩
薩等觀，則遊於臭香。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through smells and scents? Through a hundred koṭis of kalpas he turns about, coming and going, and the nose, in its smelling, is never sated. The many scents come rushing more intensely than wind and rain, all gathering and returning to the body, like the ocean abyss that is never filled. The appearance of scent is impermanent, changing a hundredfold; its transformations are like illusion and have no root or origin. Though it may disturb the practice of virtue, the scent itself cannot be grasped. Such, then, is a false and fabricated phenomenon. It has no ultimate truth, and even if one seeks and examines it closely, there is no place where it comes together.

“Reasoning in this way, it is nothing that can be grasped, empty, void, and without substance, indistinct as space, like illusion, like magical conjuration, and without any underlying form. Through shadow-like conceptions and the attachment of consciousness, conditioned arising gives it form. If one is able to discern it as empty, void, and without substance, this is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through smells and scents.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等
遊眾味？至於喉咽不知醎味，亦無不味。從因
緣分別，但舌之所甘耳！由緣合會百千種味，
斯為幻化。地之所生滋同一味，無若干也。曉
了覺知，無想不念，一切同甘，是為菩薩等觀
遊於眾味。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through various tastes? When it reaches the throat, salty taste is not known as such, yet it is not that there is no taste at all. Taste is distinguished through causes and conditions; it is merely what the tongue savours, nothing more. Through the conjunction of conditions there come hundreds of thousands of flavours, and these are illusory transformation. The nourishment produced by the earth is of one single taste, and there is no manifold in it. To comprehend this clearly and know it, without conceptual notions and without grasping thought, taking all as equally one savour, this is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through various tastes.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊細滑者？志有所存，
緣起求之，身服華蒻加榮好色，珍寶異奇，其
柔軟者，而不可得，已都斯緣，細滑䩕𩉳適住，亦無所著。計于細滑無益，已世之慾，愚

惡所貪，立生死本，皆由斯起。明智大士，則知
其釁，不與從事，永世無患。一切所有地之所
載，有形之屬一等無二也。但聞色所造，橫作
人民，使作種種異色，已被服之，迷亂道德不
親賢眾。達者覺知，不與從事也。隱居被褐懷
智作愚，外若夷人內懷明珠，千億萬劫與道
同軀，遠離吾我，亦無我想，細滑與我二者同。
無虛無實，如幻如化，亦無所依，亦無住處。因
著被服乃有所猗，達士覩之覺無所有，是為
菩薩等觀遊於細滑。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī: “What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the tangible? When the mind dwells upon something and, through conditions, seeks after it, the body is clothed in fine flowered cloth and adorned with splendid colours, with jewels and rare and marvellous things. Though they are soft to the touch, they cannot be grasped. When all these conditions are fully understood, the tangible, though soft and pleasant as it rests against the body, is not clung to.

“Reckoning that there is no benefit in the tangible, that it is a worldly desire greedily craved by the foolish and the evil, and that it establishes the root of birth and death, saṃsāra, all of which arises from this, the wise and illumined great being knows its danger, does not engage with it, and is forever without affliction.

“All that is borne upon the earth, everything that has form, is one and the same, without a second. Merely hearing of what is fashioned by form, people perversely make and produce all kinds of varied colours; and once they are clothed in them, they are deluded away from the Path and from virtue, and no longer keep close to the company of the worthy. The realised one knows this and does not engage with it.

“He dwells in concealment, clad in coarse cloth, holding wisdom yet appearing as a fool, outwardly like a common person yet inwardly bearing the bright pearl. For a thousand koṭis of myriad kalpas his body is one with the Path, far removed from the self and without the notion of a self. The tangible and the self, these two are the same. They are neither false nor real, like an illusion, like a magical conjuration, without support and without dwelling place. It is from clinging to what is worn that there comes to be something to lean upon. The realised one, beholding it, awakens to its nothingness. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the tangible.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等
遊心法？心法者，三界人之護也。安慰勸樂，悉
令集會，安之以德，勸之以權，授之以慧，普修
梵行，於三界澹然立在一處，亦無合離，使永
執心莫知所存；不見形像音聲往來，亦無猶
豫。所應如心，眾無合散，不知住處，亦無所適。
若現若干種色，色色各異，於內亦無處，處亦
無有住，如幻如化，虛無處無，處無所處。達士
覩之，了無所有，便自執心，無念無求，見若不
見，聞若不聞，澹然自守，是為菩薩等觀遊於
心法。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the domain of mind-objects? The domain of mind-objects is the protector of the beings of the three realms. He consoles and gladdens them, gathering them all together; he settles them with virtue, exhorts them by skilful means, confers wisdom upon them, and universally cultivates the holy life.

“Within the three realms he abides tranquilly, established in one place, neither uniting nor separating, causing the mind to be held steadfast so that none knows where it abides. He does not see form or image, nor the coming and going of sound, and he has no hesitation. Whatever corresponds to the mind, the many do not gather or scatter; no abiding place is known, and there is nowhere to which they go.

“Though various kinds of form may appear, and each form differs from the others, within there is no place for them, and the place itself has no dwelling. They are like illusion, like magical conjuration, void and placeless, and the place is no place at all. The discerning one beholds this and understands that there is nothing whatever; thereupon he masters his own mind, without thought and without seeking, seeing as though not seeing, hearing as though not hearing, tranquilly guarding himself. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the domain of mind-objects.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊於意？意遊女
人，察于四大，則無女人。志癡惑者，悉於愛欲，
荒于虛無，其體一等，無可毀者。計有女者，猶
如幻士，化作人像，低昂鞊曲，隨人意起，因彼
所行，從其所樂，女人如幻，起色欲意，彼無有
女也。人同一等，癡者所惑，意者從欲，欲便致
愛，愛致樂此，不可猶放，急宜調之䩭達之，分別如空，空無寂靜而無有形；緣起因
對，無對無起也。若能分別如斯者，是為菩薩
等觀遊於女人意法。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through perception? When perception moves toward the object ‘woman’ and one investigates her by way of the four great elements, then no woman is found. Those whose intention is deluded and confused are wholly caught up in craving and desire, lost in what is unreal; yet its nature is one equality, with nothing that can be impaired.

“To reckon that there is a woman is like a conjurer who fashions a human likeness: it lowers and raises, bends and sways, arises according to the mind of the perceiver, moves in accord with what he does, and follows what he delights in. Woman is like illusion. When desire for form arises in the mind, there is no woman there.

“All persons are of one same equality; only the deluded are confused by it. Perception follows desire, desire then produces craving, and craving produces delight in this. Such a mind must not be let loose. It must urgently be disciplined and reined in, and discerned as like emptiness. Emptiness is quiescent and without form. It arises through dependent conditions matched to an object, yet there is no real correlate and so no real arising. If one can discern in this way, this is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the domain of mind concerning woman.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等

遊淨法也？淨為如男子，如令男子等自發意，
其心如金剛，專意獨雄猛興，念斯女人，欲心
為無色，其實不可獲，亦不現女像等，惟諸色
欲，發起女人想。設欲所思想，斯男斯女人等
如野馬、水中月，如是觀者，則無男女。了無男
形，女人俱然，虛偽而立，如無久存，但化幻示
現，慌現便滅。以能分別覺知男意女意，此兩
者空無所有也，已能平等，則能現女，復化成
男。是為菩薩等觀遊於男子淨法。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the pure dharmas? Purity is to be understood as with the male. Suppose a man gives rise to intention by himself: his mind is like vajra, his intention concentrated, arising alone with heroic vigour, and he calls to mind a woman. The mind of desire is formless; in truth it cannot be grasped, nor does any image of a woman appear. It is only that the various objects of desire give rise to the notion of a woman.

“If one forms a thought of desire, this man and this woman alike are as a mirage, as the moon in water. Contemplating in this way, there is neither male nor female. There is no male form at all, and the woman is likewise so. Both are falsely set up and do not long endure. They are only conjured displays, made to appear, that flicker into appearance and then vanish.

“Being able to discern and know male cognition and female cognition, one knows that these two are empty and without anything at all. Having realised this equality, the bodhisattva can then manifest as a woman, and again transform into a man. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the pure dharmas concerning man.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊僮女也？如拔樹根，
萌終不復生，心不復起，從是則止，其明智者
不於求果，果亦不可得。若有種姓之家詪詪
之子，聰達別議，曉發一切勇猛想無念，如枯
樹不生花實，如枯竭江河水不流，斯等於僮
女女子，如此所現平等，如空無無實，觀彼女
人本亦清淨，觀彼男子本亦清淨，觀彼泥洹
本亦清淨，如是等者，則為等觀遊於僮女。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the maiden? It is like pulling up the root of a tree, so that the sprout never grows again. The mind no longer arises, and from this it comes to rest. The one of clear wisdom does not seek a fruit, and no fruit can be obtained.

“Suppose there is a son of a family of good lineage, keen and discerning, intelligent and skilled in distinguishing meanings, who clearly illumines all things. He gives rise to courageous resolve, yet is without fixed thought. As a withered tree puts forth neither flower nor fruit, as a parched river has no water to flow, so is he toward the maiden, toward the young woman.

“What appears in this way is equal, like emptiness, without existence and without reality. He contemplates that woman as also originally pure. He contemplates that man as also originally pure. He contemplates that nirvāṇa as also originally pure. One who is thus is one who contemplates equally, and thus moves through the maiden.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊僮男？若如樹木，設
無有萌牙則無根莖，設無有根莖則無華實，
設無華實則無果名字也。女人如是，設無女
人則無男子，等於男女則無吾我，緣號立字
想於無知，覺女無生，不有子性，解一切人無，
無則為等則平等。是為等觀菩薩如是遊於
僮男。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the youth? It is like a tree: if there is no sprout, then there is no root or stem; if there is no root or stem, then there is no flower or fruit; and if there is no flower or fruit, then there is no name ‘fruit.’

“So it is with woman. If there is no woman, then there is no man. When male and female are made equal, there is no self, no ‘I’ and mine. Names are established by dependent designation, and concepts are formed upon what is not known. Realising that woman is unborn, one sees that there is no offspring-nature. Understanding that all persons are without inherent existence, and that being without is equality, then there is equality.

“This is equal contemplation; thus does the bodhisattva move through the youth.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩遊於諸天？諸天嚴淨功
德自然，其意鮮潔，心淨口淨，無有瑕穢，宮殿
綺飾無造立者，心樹妙華亦無種者，福德自
然，若如幻化，生無思議，淨光琉璃，械度淨了，
亦無尸爽，虛無成立天為偽體，自然生形恍

惚而現，勝說平等現諸天像，是為虛無，無借
外之喻。案內觀歷三十二天，宮殿樓閣自然
之數，無有見者，唯得道人乃知之耳。是以菩
薩深觀內外平等無異，是為菩薩等遊諸天。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move among the devas? The devas are majestic and pure, their merit arising spontaneously. Their intention is fresh and clean; their mind is pure and their speech is pure, without blemish or defilement. Their palaces are ornately adorned, yet there is no maker who has built them. The wondrous flowers of the mind-tree have no sower. Their merit arises spontaneously, like illusory transformation, born beyond all conceiving.

“They are of pure radiance like beryl, with clarity perfectly pure, and there is in them no corpse-like dimness. Constituted of voidness, the deva body is a merely apparent body. A form arising spontaneously, it appears dimly and indistinctly. Supremely taught as equality, the appearances of the devas manifest. This is voidness, requiring no simile borrowed from without.

“Through inward contemplation, the bodhisattva passes through the thirty two heavens, where palaces, towers and pavilions spontaneously arise in countless number. None can perceive them; only one who has attained the Way knows them. Therefore the bodhisattva deeply contemplates inner and outer as equal and without difference. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally among the devas.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊諸龍也？見無水興
雲七日，雨所露潤無不澹浴，不在外內，遍閻
浮利，漸歸大海所滿水所由來。眾生如是，學
若干緣，緣此多求起滅致憂，現無數罪種種
不同，案內觀歷瞋怒何從？龍反鮫驚，人人皆
然，崩天破地，皆從龍興，內龍不反，外龍不從，
福無自然，眾生無有。愚冥之子，以虛為實；菩
薩大士覩龍平等，內外相應，慈同一等。是為
菩薩等遊於龍。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the nāgas? He sees that where there was no water, the nāgas raise up clouds for seven days, and the rain that falls moistens and bathes all things in tranquillity, without distinction of outer or inner. It pervades Jambudvīpa and gradually returns to the great ocean, the source from which all its waters came.

“So it is with sentient beings. They learn by way of manifold conditions, and because of these conditions they seek much. From arising and ceasing they incur grief, and they manifest countless faults of many different kinds. Examining inwardly, one contemplates: from where does anger arise?

“When the dragon turns and responds, the sea creatures take fright; with person after person, it is so with all. The heavens are shaken and the earth is rent, and all of this arises from the nāgas. Yet if the inner dragon does not respond, the outer dragon does not follow. Merit has no self-existence; sentient beings likewise have none. The deluded children of darkness take the unreal to be real.

“But the bodhisattva-mahāsattva beholds the nāgas as equal: inner and outer correspond, and loving-kindness is one and the same in equality. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the nāgas.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊鬼神？心如門開，與
色有像，其身高大，為不可及，諸念一會；百千
之眾，亦無形像，音響為應。譬如飲毒，自害其
已。其心一類，無可畏者，皆由放恣，遊盜自縱。
因難所禁，會有恐懼，此法無有實也。眾想並
來歸，其想不可議，無實為空說。案內觀歷鬼
神從何興也？其內鬼神若干百千之眾，其外
亦然。內不發恐懼，外則無畏；其內不悲哀，外
則不淚出。內發鬼神之想，外有若干百千鬼
神之眾，皆來歸之。緣此致病或至死亡，受無
數苦，皆由邪心不正故也。菩薩大士覺知虛
無，無鬼神，一切從心意起，則能平等心淨，意
寂平等不邪，是以無有嬈害菩薩者。若現鬼
像種種變化，內自觀察了無鬼神，外者尋滅，
此之謂也。是為菩薩等遊鬼神。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through ghosts and spirits? The mind is like a door flung open: it joins form with image, and the conjured body is towering and vast, beyond reach, where manifold thoughts converge as one. Yet this host of hundreds of thousands has no real form or image; its sound and echo are merely responsive.

“It is like drinking poison: one harms only oneself. The mind is all of a single kind; there is nothing to be feared. All such fear comes from indulgence, from roaming and stealing, from giving oneself free rein. Then, because one is hemmed in by difficulty, fear inevitably arises. This phenomenon has no reality. The many thoughts all come together and return as ghosts and spirits. These thoughts are inconceivable, and being without reality they are declared empty.

“Examining inwardly, one contemplates: from where do ghosts and spirits arise? When inwardly there is a host of hundreds of thousands of ghosts and spirits, outwardly it is also so. When inwardly no terror is roused, outwardly there is no fear. When inwardly there is no grief, outwardly no tears come forth. When inwardly the thought of ghosts and spirits is generated, outwardly there appear hundreds of thousands of ghosts and spirits, all coming to converge upon one.

“Through this one falls ill, or comes even to death, and suffers countless pains, all because of a deviant mind that is not upright. The bodhisattva-mahāsattva awakens to what is empty and unreal: there are no ghosts and spirits, and all arises from mind and thought. Then he is able to attain a mind equal and pure, his intention stilled, equal and not deviant. Therefore there is nothing that can disturb or harm the bodhisattva.

“Should ghostly forms manifest in manifold transformations, inwardly he examines and contemplates, clearly finds no ghosts or spirits, and the outer apparitions immediately vanish. This is what is meant. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through ghosts and spirits.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊揵沓和？其法無性

而音說往，曉無往來亦無還返，如空無形，隨
聲如立。若有菩薩大士內觀察之，若無想識
則無揵沓和，揵沓和者，鬼神之導首也。內不
起想，外無邪念，何緣致此眾病要集？揵沓和
者，有名無形，音響往返，無有見者。等說之要，
了無所有。揵沓和者，虛無無實，菩薩等觀，斯
由幻化。是為菩薩等遊揵沓和。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the gandharvas? The gandharva phenomenon is without self-nature, yet it comes by way of sound and speech. Understand that there is no coming and no going, and no returning either. Like empty space, it is without form, appearing in dependence upon sound as though standing forth.

“If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva inwardly contemplates this, then where there is no perception and no consciousness, there is no gandharva. The gandharva is the chief of ghosts and spirits. When inwardly no notion is conceived, and outwardly no wrong thought arises, on what basis would this host of ailments necessarily gather?

“The gandharva is name without form, sound and echo coming and going, with none who is ever seen. Spoken of with even mind, its essential point is this: it is utterly without anything existing. The gandharva is empty, void, and without substance. The bodhisattva contemplates it equally, and finds it to be mere illusory transformation. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the gandharvas.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊阿須倫？以事有證
因，阿須倫心等，無起無滅，無生無盡，而現平
等。一切瞋怒毒意，皆由阿倫。阿倫者，龍神也，
多嫉妬心而現平等，是為菩薩等觀遊於阿
須倫為意法。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the asuras? By means of an occasioning matter, there is a demonstrative ground. The mind of the asuras is equal: without arising and without ceasing, without birth and without exhaustion, it manifests equality.

“All anger, wrath and venomous intention arise from the asura. The asura is a spirit-being. Though its mind is full of jealousy and envy, it manifests equality. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the asuras as an object of mind.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊迦樓羅？告受立辭
名號，設無名色，名色由舌，從舌致禍，立罪根
本。菩薩大士學深智遠，覺之為空無，如斯幻
化從意生形，無有見者，音聲往返因羸弱耶！
心不政者，如是變化億百千眾，案內觀歷，二
者俱空無所有也！菩薩等觀無迦樓羅，是為
菩薩等觀遊於迦樓羅。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the garuḍas? There is the receiving and establishing of phrases and names, yet if there is no name and form, name and form arise from the tongue. From the tongue calamity is reached, establishing the root of transgression.

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva, whose learning is deep and whose wisdom is far-reaching, awakens to this as empty and void. In this way, illusory transformation gives rise to form from the mind, yet there is no one who sees. Sound and voice go forth and return. Is this not due to weakness?

“When the mind is not rightly ordered, in this way it transforms into hundreds of thousands of myriads of multitudes. Examining inwardly and contemplating through this, the two are both empty and without anything at all.

“The bodhisattva contemplates equally that there is no garuḍa. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the garuḍas.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊真陀羅也！法無作
而作，無作不作，亦能有所立，復能有壞。飛行
於虛空無有及者，立號真陀羅。一切皆由手，
手執諸作事，意生手則動，動則犯大乘，是使
有獄苦，皆由真陀羅。若菩薩分別無所生眾，
離於作事，手自不動搖，何因有真陀羅也？案
內觀歷，不動則不搖，不起則不滅，不生則不
死，內動則外發，意走手則作事，事便墮苦，墮
苦則有病，病者皆有鬼神，鬼神者則真陀羅
也！菩薩大士曉了於空，空而復空，無空無實，

等觀真陀羅。一切皆由化，無有正法形，平等
諸作事，則無真陀羅。是為菩薩等觀遊於真
陀羅。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the kiṃnaras? This dharma acts while being without action; it neither acts nor refrains from acting. Yet it can establish, and it can also destroy. One who travels through empty space, whom none can equal, is given the name kiṃnara.

“All of this proceeds from the hand. The hand grasps and performs the various deeds. When the mind arises, the hand then moves. When it moves, one transgresses against the Great Vehicle. This causes the sufferings of hell, and all of it proceeds from the kiṃnara.

“If the bodhisattva discerns that there is no being produced, and is freed from the doing of deeds, then the hand of itself does not move or tremble. What cause would there then be for any kiṃnara?

“Examining inwardly and contemplating through this: what is unmoved does not tremble, what does not arise does not cease, what is not born does not die. When there is movement within, there is issuing forth without. When the mind runs, the hand then performs the deed. The deed then falls into suffering; falling into suffering, there is sickness; the sick all have ghosts and spirits; and ghosts and spirits are precisely the kiṃnara.

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva clearly understands emptiness: emptiness is again empty, neither emptiness nor anything real. He contemplates the kiṃnara equally. All is conjured transformation. True dharma has no fixed form. When all deeds are made equal, there is no kiṃnara. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the kiṃnara.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊摩睺勒？其法所名，
立若干人，種種受形莫不由之，人之本類，隨
其種數，現若干法，一切立，形其名故，法無所
有，職號如是。在形為胸臆，離形為摩睺勒，所
想為虛無，道成於胸臆。胸臆執大祿，心正得
成道，分別諸想識，諸念亦俱止，無想致自然，
但說平等音，一切為斷決疑，故現摩睺勒。是
為菩薩深入等觀。案內觀歷，內無所起，外無
所造，是則無摩睺勒之名字也！是為菩薩等
觀遊於摩睺勒。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the mahoragas? This dharma is a designation by which various beings are established; their receiving of manifold forms is in every case derived from it. The basic kinds of beings, according to the number of their species, appear as various dharmas. All are provisionally established: form gives rise to their names. Yet this dharma has nothing existent in it; such is its assigned designation.

“Within form it is the inmost heart; apart from form it is the mahoraga. What is conceived is empty and unreal, and the Way is accomplished in the inmost heart. The inmost heart holds the great endowment, and when the mind is upright, the Way is attained. When one discerns the various perceptions and consciousnesses, all thoughts likewise come to rest together. With no conceptual perception, one reaches the spontaneous state.

“Speaking only the voice of equality, the bodhisattva manifests as a mahoraga in order to sever and resolve all doubts. This is the bodhisattva’s deep entry into equal contemplation.

“Examining inwardly and contemplating through this: inwardly, nothing arises; outwardly, nothing is fabricated. Thus there is no name or designation ‘mahoraga.’ This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the mahoraga.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊地獄也？法無，無地
獄，想識成形，地獄無主，求者自然，如呼聲
響應，蠅投燈火，自然之數無可救者。所以者
何？身口招之，自然對至，空無造者，從己想與。
想無所有，空返往空返，厄難之緣自從己起，
己自賢勅病無從入。身口無犯，亦無死者，地
獄清淨，鮮潔無垢。菩薩大士所以不畏生死
者，無地獄之緣。所以者何？不犯禁故。知覺如
幻，亦無所有，雖立諸相，相無、不著相，亦無不
相，相無所有，幻化成象。其見相者無不喜悅，
喜悅至慈，因登大願，別如虛空平等寂然，而
現地獄諸苦惱患。案內觀歷，口致身怨，口為
獄戶，但入不出，入便消盡，出為泥土，如是懃
苦當更億數。是以菩薩閉口不語，不以諮口
有所食噉，亦無言說澹而自守，不入眾會，不
稱為己，口無二言，忍諸所作；菩薩如是則無

地獄。地獄之緣但由口，言出罪入，無離此患。
菩薩守口不擇其味，慈同一等無有細軟，食
噉充軀支形而已。是為菩薩等觀遊於地獄。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the hell-realm? As a real dharma, hell cannot be found; there is no hell. Perception and consciousness form the apparent body, yet the hell-realm has no master. What is sought there arises of itself, as an echo answers a call, as a fly throws itself into a lamp’s flame. It follows its own self-arising reckoning, and there is none who can rescue it.

“Why is this so? Body and speech summon it, and the consequence arrives of itself. It is empty, with no maker; it is given forth from one’s own perception. Perception has nothing existent in it: empty, it returns; going, it returns to empty. The condition of calamity arises of itself from oneself. When one is oneself worthy and self-governed, affliction has no way to enter.

“Where body and speech commit no offence, there is also no one who dies, and the hell-realm is pure, fresh, clean and without defilement. The reason the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not fear birth and death is that he has no karmic condition that leads to hell. Why is this so? Because he commits no breach of the precepts.

“He knows awareness to be like an illusion, having nothing existent. Though marks are set up, marks are absent; he does not cling to marks, yet there is also no marklessness. Marks have nothing existent in them, illusory appearances conjured into form. One who sees this is filled with joy, and joy reaches into compassion. Through this he ascends to the great vow, undifferentiated like empty space, equal and quiescent, while yet manifesting all the sufferings, torments and afflictions of the hells.

“Holding fast and surveying inwardly through contemplation: speech draws enmity upon the body. Speech is the gate of hell. It only enters and does not come out. Once it enters, it is consumed away; what comes out becomes mire and earth. Such toil and suffering must be reckoned in further millions.

“Therefore the bodhisattva closes his mouth and does not speak; he does not consult the mouth’s preferences in what he eats; he makes no utterance, but is tranquil and self-guarded; he does not enter into assemblies; he does not call attention to himself; his mouth holds no double speech; he endures all that is done to him. The bodhisattva being thus, he has no hell.

“The condition of hell comes only from the mouth. Words go out and offence comes in; there is no escape from this affliction. The bodhisattva guards his mouth and does not choose among flavours. His compassion is one and the same in equality, with no preference for the fine or the soft. He eats only to fill the body and support the frame, and nothing more. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation, and thus he moves through the hell-realm.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊餓鬼也？餓鬼無形
亦無有名，本無處所，亦無所止，因慳而立，貪
欲致之，慳亦無所住。不解所有，不知大法，計
有吾我不覩無常，香聞億萬，老之甫甚，從慳
致貪，從貪致欲，從欲致愛，從愛致樂，從樂致
憂，從憂致苦，從苦致痛，從痛致結，從結致
病，病致死處。在三難之中不得衣食，身裸飢
乏不得水漿，立號為字名曰餓鬼。菩薩大士
知悉本無，了無餓鬼，寂靜如空。所以者何？菩
薩常行平等，摜鼻不嗅眾香，一無所慕樂。慳
從鼻入，致斯大殃，鼻為心壹混淪之精，亦無
所入，亦無所出，不受香色，則無所貪，設無所
貪，則無慳惜。是為菩薩等觀餓鬼。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through hungry ghosts? The hungry ghost has no form and no name. From the beginning, it has no place and no dwelling. It is established through miserliness, and greed and desire bring it about; yet miserliness itself has no dwelling place.

“Such a being does not understand what exists, does not know the Great Dharma, reckons that there is a self and does not perceive impermanence. It smells fragrances by the myriads and millions, and the burden of age presses heavily upon it. From miserliness comes greed, from greed comes desire, from desire comes craving, from craving comes pleasure, from pleasure comes sorrow, from sorrow comes suffering, from suffering comes pain, from pain comes the fetter, from the fetter comes sickness, and sickness leads to the place of death.

“Caught among the three difficult states, it cannot obtain clothing or food. Its body is naked, starving and exhausted, and it cannot obtain water or gruel. By such a state it is given its designation and called a hungry ghost.

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva knows that all of this is originally empty, clearly understands that there is no hungry ghost, and sees it as quiescent, like empty space. Why is this so? Because the bodhisattva constantly practises equality. He lays down attachment by way of the nose and does not smell the manifold fragrances, and there is not one thing he longs for or delights in.

“Miserliness enters through the nose and brings about this great calamity. The nose is the single, undifferentiated essence of the mind; yet it receives nothing in and sends nothing out. Not receiving scent and form, there is then nothing he covets; and if there is nothing he covets, there is then no miserliness or clinging. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation of hungry ghosts.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊畜生？法無畜生，從
因緣起，如雲霧像，現若干色，色各不同。見之
悅喜便致想，生死起滅恚從中起，起想念識
十二連著，閉結不解招致畜生。彼則無根，悉
無所有，心思虛無，皆由諸色。色則德根馳走
五道，宛轉生死受形無數，或為飛鳥，或為走
獸。空無常名，因形立字，等如陰霧，種種色像，
畜生志性，罪福如幻，迷惑虛妄，而說畜形。菩
薩大士計無吾我，了無名字，目初視色，意不
貪色，心不念色，身不利色。菩薩以是四等心，
亦觀內色外色，飛行十方窈冥之處，無不通
達，皆從眼出入。眼者日月之精，有二名：入色
為金翅鳥，出色為文殊師利。案內觀歷，一切

諸名皆從眼入，動生死根本，橫有所造，皆由
金翅鳥，故號畜生。畜生群萌之類，蠕動喘息
𮄲身中都計合之，亦為三千大千國土，國有百
億之數，如是不可一一計之，上有三十三天，
下至金剛剎土，其中間有大泥犁十八之難。
諸天人民所居處，各有宮殿及非人、鬼神、龍、飛
鳥走獸，下及樹木草茅，其有形之屬皆在人
身中，其數這停等，一物不等者，其人便其
短；物物相應，無差特者，其人便聰明有黠慧。
若人盜賊，虎狼毒獸，若墮溝坑，樹木所拒，蛇
犬所害，皆從發外，乃有應崩身碎體，當責現
在之事，不可倚着前世宿仇，當自內外思惟。
𣭖形外形等等無異，人人皆如是。內起惡意，外
尋來應，內有反臣，外臣便反，害便人身。愚癡
之人，不能自知，坐怨鬼神，一切由色。入眼
之物，眼為心候，主名百凶，快心之歡，必有後
患，一切由之。致斯畜生等說寂聲，是為菩薩
等遊畜生。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the animal realm? As a real dharma, no animal can be found. It arises from causes and conditions, like the semblance of clouds and mist, manifesting forms of many kinds, each form different from another. Seeing them, delight arises, and from this perception is produced. Birth and death arise and cease, and aversion arises within. From the arising of perception, recollection and consciousness, the twelve links are bound together. The closing of knots that are not loosened summons rebirth as an animal.

“Yet this has no root. It is wholly without anything existent. The mind’s thought is empty and unreal, and all of it is due to forms. Form is the faculty of grasping that races through the five destinies, turning and tumbling through birth and death, receiving countless bodies, becoming now a flying bird, now a running beast.

“The name is empty and impermanent. On the basis of shape, a designation is established, equal to the dimness of mist, the manifold images of form. The disposition of the animal, its guilt and its merit, are like illusion, deluded and unreal, and yet one speaks of an animal shape.

“The bodhisattva-mahāsattva reckons that there is no self and clearly understands that there are no names. When the eye first sees form, the mind does not crave form, the mind does not dwell on form, and the body does not profit by form. By means of this fourfold equal mind, namely loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity, the bodhisattva also contemplates inner form and outer form. Flying through the ten directions to places hidden and dark, he penetrates everywhere, and all of this issues out and in through the eye.

“The eye is the essence of the sun and the moon, and it has two names: when form enters, it is the garuḍa, the golden-winged bird; when form goes out, it is Mañjuśrī.

“Examining inwardly and contemplating through this, all names enter through the eye and stir the root of birth and death. Wherever crosswise fabrication occurs, it is all due to the garuḍa. Therefore it is called the animal realm.

“The throngs of animal kinds, the crawling and creeping things that breathe, all of them are reckoned together as present within the body. So too the trichiliocosm, the three thousand great thousandfold world, whose lands number a hundred koṭis, cannot be reckoned one by one. Above is the Heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods, below extends the adamantine realm, and in between lie the calamities of the eighteen great hells.

The dwelling places of gods and humans, with their palaces, together with nonhumans, ghosts and spirits, nāgas, flying birds and running beasts, down even to trees, grasses and thatch, all that possesses form is present within the human body. If even one correspondence among them is lacking, that person is thereby deficient. But when each thing corresponds with each thing without difference, that person is intelligent and endowed with keen wisdom.

“If a person meets with thieves and robbers, with tigers, wolves and venomous beasts, falls into a ditch or pit, is blocked by trees, or is harmed by snakes and dogs, all of this issues from within; only then comes the answering response that crushes the body and breaks the frame. One should hold responsible the matter present now and must not lean upon old enmities from a former life. One should reflect upon inner and outer. The inner form and the outer form are equal, the same and without difference, and so it is with every person.

“When evil intent arises within, the outer at once comes in response. When there is a rebellious minister within, the outer minister then rebels, and harm comes to the person’s body. The ignorant person, unable to know himself, idly lays blame on spirits, when all is due to form.

“As for what enters the eye, the eye is the scout of the mind, the master named the hundred calamities. The delight that gladdens the mind must have its later affliction, and all is due to this. Thus the animal realm is summoned, and it is expounded equally as the sound of quiescence. This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the animal realm.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊貪婬也？法無貪婬，
從因緣起，緣起致貪，貪愛欲，欲從想起，所
想無有想，如虛空，空無處所，因欲致惑，賊亂
本性，立憂患本。貪婬如空，處不可得，隨形如
影，隨聲如響，無實無像，獲不可得。愚類顛
倒，思想塵勞。法無塵垢，空無寂靜，欲虛如空，
無能救盡者，至於十方，求不可見。貪婬無形，
愚冥所貪，貪欲自喪，亡失人形，懼不安隱在
藏匿處，與世悼別，長不復會。若如走獸常懷
畏懅，譬如丈夫向敵，心懷怖懼走，棄捨馳走，

得無見我也！我者亦空，奔走疲極，亦無追者，
唐自苦體，執勞如斯，居家恩愛，是亦復空。然
人慈慕用貪欲故，欲為繫閉牢獄之憂，欲為
猛志，存恤群生，無著婬泆，一切無患，中惡之
兆，普得安隱。一切皆空而無所有，空復遂
空未之有也。彼無解脫，愚癡顛倒，反告想闇
冥，不解法如虛空無存無亡。去來今佛解諸
貪欲，貪欲無脫，結在眾難，愛欲悉空，虛無無
實，其譏貪婬則求脫欲，欲脫欲者不起二念。
斯皆無本，本無有本，本自然淨，無有沾污，如
佛道場平等無想。覩婬泆者，不離殃釁，從如
寂者，彼慕離欲，所想皆空，乃離諸想。如所發
念，念無所念，僥脫貪婬，謂當度欲想無所求，
不懷本際，貪欲無思，本淨如斯，則不想脫，
假令度欲，則謂為淨。貪欲空無，計此無二，愚
冥不解，便作二想。法無男女，平等一體，天之
為父，地之為母，天地所生有何異者？菩薩等
行，則無男女之求，如幻如化本末如斯，覩男
女別者是為離本，則失議句，發諸想念，眾網
來然，貪欲無起，不興想念則無眾網，不燒諸
結，眾網不解，解貪婬者，假號愛欲無染著，諸
名無礙知，欲無無得，覩真究竟，不懷靜修，等
志內外無假見。貪欲者知不得脫，貪欲佛法
等如泥洹，解貪欲除，等離吾我，知貪欲寂，等
術澹泊。案內觀歷，諸欲從耳，耳與意通，轉相
承受，勇猛無能當者，一切無不降伏，有二名：
入欲為師子王，出欲為維摩詰。於三界猶出，
無所不入，無所不出。是以菩薩等於淨穢，耳
不受五音，為十方天上天下之導，造成大導，

不以勞惓。要聞法者當先食，十方內外三千
大千國土，其中人物類數，日月雖明，由不能
照，人雖有眼目，不能見遠遠之事，耳處在閑
居之地，不覩光目顏色之數而為第一，十方
上下內外細微之事，先來歸耳！耳者無所慕
樂，是號無垢之稱。等觀諸法，以法為食，耳之
先聞，聞法者為先食也。所以菩薩得不飢渴，
但以無聞為食，無見為漿，少語言以為百味，
平等欲淨，欲如虛空，空無塵埃，如泥洹而澹
泊，於諸見如幻化，是為菩薩平等觀於諸法
遊於貪婬。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through craving and lust? As real dharmas, craving and lust cannot be found. It arises from causes and conditions. Dependent arising brings about craving; craving leads to desire; desire arises from perception. Yet what is perceived has no perception in it, like empty space, empty and without location. Through desire, delusion is brought about, a thief that disorders one’s root nature and establishes the root of grief and trouble.

“Craving and lust are like empty space; their place cannot be found. They follow form as a shadow follows form, and follow sound as an echo follows sound. Without substance and without image, they are gained and yet cannot be grasped. The foolish, being inverted, take perception and thought to be defilement and toil. In dharmas, there is no dust or defilement. It is empty, quiescent and still. Desire is empty like space; none can be saved from it as from a thing, for though one search throughout the ten directions, it cannot be seen.

“Craving and lust are without form, yet those in dark delusion crave them. Through craving, a person loses himself, forfeiting the human form, fearful, uneasy and hidden away, parted from the world in grief, never to meet again. He is like a wild beast constantly harbouring fear, or like a man facing an enemy: his heart filled with dread, he flees, casting all aside and running, so that he may not be seen.

“Yet the self too is empty. He runs until utterly exhausted, though there is no pursuer at all. In vain he afflicts his own body and toils to no purpose. The love and affection of household life, this too is empty. Yet because people use craving in their tender longing, desire becomes the sorrow of a fettered prison. If desire becomes instead a fierce resolve to cherish and care for living beings, without attachment to lust and dissipation, then there is no affliction at all, and even amid evil omens, all attain peace and security.

“All is empty and without anything existent; and emptiness itself is emptied, never having come to be. Those without liberation, foolish and inverted, declare instead that perception is darkness. They do not understand that dharmas are like empty space: neither abiding nor perishing. The Buddhas of past, future and present understand all craving. Craving has no separate liberation. Its fetters are bound up in many difficulties. Love and desire are wholly empty, void and without substance.

“One who blames craving thereby seeks liberation from desire; but one who would be liberated from desire does not give rise to dual thought. All these are without root. The root has no root. The root is naturally pure of itself, with no stain or defilement, like the Buddha’s place of awakening, equal and without perception. One who beholds lust and dissipation does not depart from calamity and fault. One who follows the quiescent longs to be free of desire; since all that is perceived is empty, he departs from all perceptions.

“As for thoughts that arise, in thought there is nothing thought. One who hopes to be freed from craving says that he should cross beyond desire, with perception seeking nothing, not harbouring any prior limit. Craving has no thought. Since the root is pure in this way, one does not even perceive liberation. If one crosses beyond desire, this is called purity. Craving is empty; reckoning this, there is no duality. The dark and deluded, not understanding, then produce a dual perception.

“Male and female cannot be found as real dharmas; all are of one equal substance. Heaven is taken as father and earth as mother, yet among what is born of heaven and earth, what difference is there? The bodhisattva, moving in equality, has no seeking after male or female. They are like illusion and magical transformation; root and branch are thus. One who sees male and female as distinct departs from the root and loses the point of the teaching, giving rise to perceptions and thoughts, so that the whole net comes upon him.

“When craving does not arise and perception and thought are not stirred up, there is no net at all. One does not burn in the fetters, and the net need not be unravelled. One who understands craving knows that “love and desire” are provisional names and are without defilement. Knowing all names to be unobstructed, one sees that in desire there is nothing to obtain. Beholding the true, ultimately, one does not cling to quiet cultivation. With equal resolve toward inner and outer, there is no provisional seeing.

“One who craves knows that he does not attain liberation. Craving and the Buddha-Dharma are equal, like nirvāṇa. Understanding craving and removing it, one equally departs from self and I. Knowing craving to be quiescent, one practises equally, calm and unstirred.

“Examining inwardly and contemplating through this, all desires come by way of the ear, for the ear communicates with the mind, and they are received and passed on in turn. So fierce and bold is this that none can withstand it; there is nothing it does not subdue. It has two names: when desire enters, it is the lion king; when desire issues forth, it is Vimalakīrti. Even while issuing from the three realms, there is nowhere it does not enter and nowhere it does not issue forth.

“Therefore the bodhisattva is equal toward purity and defilement. The ear does not receive the five sounds. He becomes a guide for the heavens above and the worlds below throughout the ten directions, establishing the great guidance and never growing weary.

“One who wishes to hear the Dharma should first eat. Throughout the ten directions, inner and outer, in the three thousand great thousandfold world-system, even the sun and moon, though bright, cannot illuminate the kinds and numbers of beings and things within it; and human beings, though they have eyes, cannot see things far away. The ear dwells in a place of quiet seclusion. Though it does not behold the measure of radiance, eyes, faces and colours, it is foremost: subtle things in the ten directions, above and below, inner and outer, first come and return to the ear.

“The ear longs for nothing and delights in nothing. This is called the designation “undefiled.” Contemplating all dharmas equally, one takes the Dharma as food. Since the ear hears first, one who hears the Dharma has first eaten. Therefore the bodhisattva does not come to hunger or thirst, but takes non-hearing as food, non-seeing as drink, and few words as a hundred flavours. Desire is pure in equality: like empty space, empty and without dust, like nirvāṇa, calm and unstirred. Toward all views, he regards them as illusion and magical transformation. This is the bodhisattva’s equal contemplation of all dharmas, and thus he moves through craving and lust.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊瞋恚也？法無瞋恚
因緣。溥首！恚從對起，無對不起，因倚生對，無
我號我，立無量事。如樹木生，先從萌類，結恨
急毒，聲自然空，無想、無念。如閑居樹，坐自相
揩，火然還燒其樹。因緣雖散，各歸本生，火滅
不現，虛無起身，鹿聲亦然。因欲稱量，二者俱
空，智者解之，不興恚怒。緣從聲起，不處內身，
不從外來，不由空從他緣起，因對而立，各各
分別，種種類數，引勝負者。菩薩等觀則無瞋
恚，如風種過，有恨有慢，若知方便，因想立緣；
穢聲如是，恚因空生，恚還自燒，無有代者。而
色其身，放逸自可，由己惡言，坐自縱恣，不能
自禁，福盡禍至，如然燈生，麻油以盡還燒其
炷，無有救者；瞋恚如是。能分別瞋怒者，竟無
形像，平等察聲聽，瞋怒恨本際等，無本無持，
分別法界則覩平等，意由四懼，攬竟第一瞋
怒，瞋怒橫有所造；意者空無，尋生便滅，而無
究竟。恍惚之間，意不可諮，諮之亂德，剬意無

念，則無貪婬。貪婬之欲，皆從意起。無貪婬者，
瞋怒何從來？意動心起，毒龍因作，便致瞋怒，
口開罪入，如江河投海，如揵燒天地，無形不
盡，案內觀歷，無可瞋恚者。所以者何？十方同
共，等無三塗。等意者，無瞋恚，無瞋恚者，無三
毒，無三毒者，何緣等有病也？其有病者，當毀。
三界眾生從意生形，因瞋怒入此病，不自悔
責，七十五日，七十五夜，日日三自歎責，今在
現世立形，從意所作，犯三界人民，及非飛禽
走獸，射獵魚網，或籠繫飛鳥，傷剜身體，或逝
四支，至今蹇跘，手足不任，加痛於彼，而對歡
喜。愚癡之人不知己，還害己身，旬歲之中身
被重病，如其所害，處所不掖。若起瞋恚毒意，
一作意勇怫欝，或以刀兵，或持弓矢，欲相挌
射，或以鎌斧欲斬人頭首，舉意如是斯為犯
三界眾生已。若有菩薩摩訶薩，身體病痛，小
病大病，一等無異，當知犯三界眾生，隨其痛
處，呼三界眾生名字，深自考責，投身散髮墮
淚，自懺悔三尊。三尊者內有六事，名曰六度
無極治內病，外有三尊，亦有六事，名曰六度
無極治外病。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through anger and hatred? Anger and hatred have no real causes and conditions.

“Mañjuśrī, anger arises from an opposing object. Where there is no opposing object, it does not arise. Through dependence, the opposing object is produced. Where there is no self, one declares a self and establishes immeasurable things. It is like a tree growing from its first sprout: resentment binds and swiftly turns venomous, yet the sound itself is naturally empty, without perception and without thought.

"It is like trees in a secluded place rubbing against one another by themselves, so that fire is kindled and burns back upon those very trees. When the causes and conditions disperse, each returns to its own source; the fire is extinguished and appears no more. What has arisen is empty and unreal. The cry of the deer is likewise. Through desire one measures and weighs, yet both sides are empty. The wise, understanding this, do not give rise to anger.

“The condition arises from sound. It does not dwell within the body, does not come from outside, and does not arise from emptiness or from some other condition. It is established through the opposing object, each thing discriminated, with kinds and counts of every sort, drawing in those who contend over victory and defeat. When the bodhisattva contemplates equally, there is no anger.

“As when the wind passes by, there is rancour and pride; but if one knows skilful means, the condition is established through perception. Defiled sound is just so. Anger arises from emptiness, anger burns itself, and there is none to take its place. Yet one indulges the body, given over to heedlessness as though it were one’s right. Through one’s own evil words one sits in self-abandon, unable to restrain oneself, until merit is exhausted and calamity comes. It is like a lamp being lit: when the sesame oil is spent, it burns back upon its own wick, and there is none to save it. Anger is just so.

“One who can discern anger and wrath finds that, in the end, they have no form or image. Contemplating sound and hearing as equal, one sees that the original limit of anger and rancour is the same, without root and without anything to sustain it. When one discerns the dharma realm, one beholds equality. The mind, through the four fears, grasps and ultimately produces foremost anger, and anger fabricates recklessly. Yet the mind is empty and without substance; as soon as it arises, it ceases, and there is no finality.

“In a flash and a flicker, the mind cannot be consulted. To consult it disorders virtue. When the mind is restrained and without thought, then there is no craving and lust. The desires of craving and lust all arise from mind. For one without craving and lust, from where would anger come? When intention moves and mind arises, the venomous dragon thereby acts, and anger is brought about. The mouth opens and transgression enters, as rivers flow into the sea, as a blaze burns heaven and earth, leaving no form unconsumed.

“Examining inwardly and contemplating through this, there is nothing that can be angered. Why is this? Throughout the ten directions all is shared equally, and equally there are no three lower realms. For one of equal mind there is no anger. For one without anger there are no three poisons. For one without the three poisons, from what condition would there equally be sickness?

“One who suffers illness should examine and reproach the cause. The beings of the three realms take form from mind, and through anger one enters into such sickness. If one does not repent and reproach oneself for seventy-five days and seventy-five nights, reproaching oneself three times each day, then the form established in this present life is known to be made by mind.

“One has transgressed against the people of the three realms, and also against flying birds and running beasts: shooting and hunting them, netting fish, caging and binding birds, wounding and cutting their bodies, or severing their four limbs so that to this day they limp and stumble, hand and foot useless. One inflicts pain upon them and instead takes delight in it. The deluded person, not knowing himself, harms his own body in return. Within the course of a year his body suffers grave sickness, and as he has harmed others, his dwelling place gives him no support.

“If one gives rise to the venomous mind of anger, in a single act of attention, fierce and seething, or takes up sword or spear, or holds bow and arrow, wishing to strike and shoot another, or with sickle or axe wishes to cut off a person’s head, then raising the mind in this way is already to have transgressed against the beings of the three realms.

“If there is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva whose body suffers sickness and pain, whether small sickness or great sickness, both are one and the same, without difference. He should know that he has transgressed against the beings of the three realms. According to the place of his pain, he should call out the names of the beings of the three realms, deeply examine and reproach himself, cast down his body, let his hair fall loose, shed tears, and confess in repentance to the Three Honoured Ones.

“As for the Three Honoured Ones, inwardly there are six matters, named the Six Pāramitās, which heal inner sickness. Outwardly there are the Three Honoured Ones, which also have six matters, named the Six Pāramitās, which heal outer sickness.”

溥首復問：「何等為三尊內六事
也？」答曰：「內三尊者，第一、心尊，於內三界安慰
眾生，開示大明，悉令安隱，名曰無上正真之
信，亦號如來等正覺。第二、耳尊，常居寂靜之
地而無縛飾，飛行周旋，往返十方。天上天下
窈冥之處悉到其中，無所不聞，無所不知，而
無言說，澹泊無為，惟往來周旋，以情歸心，一
一告說：初、無異言，名無垢稱；二、名普持律；三、
名廣開度；四、名大忍辱；五、名諸佛信；六、名如

來心；七、名淨復淨；八、名不動轉；九、名無所不
樂；十、名惟那離大城，無所不容受。如是十德
之行，與如來同軀。第三、眼尊，常居色欲之地，
不自貢高，將導一切非飛行，十方內外明了，
無有見者，亦有十德之行：一、名曰文殊師利；
二、名無所不入；三、名淨穢悉除；四、名常清淨；
五、名日月精；六、名開導一切非；七、名無能沾
污者；八、名將導十方人；九、名諸漏已盡，無有
眾穢；十、名如來信將護一切。是為內三尊，常
行大慈大悲，憂念生死苦。當知三界中群萌
之類而不可毀。毀者為毀三尊已，復有三尊。
常當歸命、懺悔、慚愧。何謂三尊？第一、意淨名
波旬。第二、欲淨名師子王。第三、色淨名金翅
鳥。」

Mañjuśrī again asked:

“What are the six matters within the inner Three Honoured Ones?”

The Buddha answered:

“As for the inner Three Honoured Ones, the first is the Honoured One of Mind. Within the inner three realms, it consoles beings, opens and reveals the great radiance, and causes all to be peaceful and secure. It is named the unsurpassed, true and right faith, and it is also called the Tathāgata, the Perfectly and Rightly Awakened One.

“The second is the Honoured One of Ear. It constantly dwells in the place of quiescence, without bonds or adornments. It moves and circles freely, going and returning through the ten directions. It reaches all places, above the heavens and below them, hidden and dark; there is nothing it does not hear and nothing it does not know, yet it makes no utterance. Tranquil and unconditioned, it only comes, goes and circles, bringing its understanding back to the mind, and to each one it proclaims, first, without contrary speech.

“It is named, first, the Stainlessly Renowned; second, the One Who Universally Upholds the Discipline; third, the One Who Widely Opens the Way of Liberation; fourth, Great Patience; fifth, the Faith of all Buddhas; sixth, the Mind of the Tathāgata; seventh, Pure Beyond Pure; eighth, the Unmoved and Unturning; ninth, the One Who Delights in Nothing; tenth, the Great City of Vaiśālī, which receives and contains all things. These ten practices of virtue are of one body with the Tathāgata.

“The third is the Honoured One of Eye. It constantly dwells in the ground of form and desire, yet does not exalt itself. It leads and guides all, without travelling through the air. It is clear and luminous within and without throughout the ten directions, yet there is none who sees it. It also has ten practices of virtue.

“First, it is named Mañjuśrī; second, the One There Is Nowhere It Does Not Enter; third, the One Who Removes All Purity and Defilement; fourth, the Ever Pure; fifth, the Essence of Sun and Moon; sixth, the One Who Opens and Guides All That Is Not Right; seventh, the One That Nothing Can Stain; eighth, the One Who Leads and Guides the People of the Ten Directions; ninth, the One Whose Outflows Are Ended, in Whom There Is No Defilement; tenth, the Tathāgata Faith That Leads and Protects All.

“These are the inner Three Honoured Ones. They constantly practise great loving-kindness and great compassion, grieving over the suffering of birth and death. Therefore know that the multitude of beings within the three realms must not be harmed. To harm them is already to harm the Three Honoured Ones.

“There are also Three Honoured Ones to whom one should constantly entrust one’s life, confess in repentance, and feel shame and moral dread. What are these Three Honoured Ones? The first is purified mind, named Pāpīyas. The second is purified desire, named the Lion King. The third is purified form, named the Golden-Winged Bird.”

又問曰：「如是三尊，為應何謂法也？」

He asked again, saying: "These three honoured ones, to what dharma, then, do they correspond?"

答曰：「意
斷者無瞋怒，眾魔皆降伏。意為身神，名曰波
旬，晉言眾想心隨護為善者。師子王者耳神，
耳不受眾塵埃，於三界獨忍一切諸想，不與校
會，故名曰師子王，晉言一切無畏，常為十方
為導，當作佛者，為作座席而不患厭。金翅鳥
者眼神也，眼入眾色，色則斷。飛行十方莫能
知者，降伏諸魔，踐踏眾龍，龍神欲反興瞋怒
意，金翅鳥在海上影現水中，諸龍恐怖不敢
出外，波旬興龍欲有所受，眼陰以斷，金翅鳥
在上，常以百千種色懼如金光，不能等於明
月之精，明月之精不能當金翅鳥之毛，是使
金翅鳥於三界獨尊雄。其有為導當作佛者，
我皆當在上，以身金毛照之，使令身皆黃金
色，一切相見之，莫不歡喜。」

He answered: "When thought is cut off there is no anger, and all the Māras are subdued. Mind is the body-spirit, named Pāpīyas, which in the Jin tongue means 'the host of thoughts, the mind following and guarding so as to do good.' The Lion-King is the ear-spirit. The ear does not receive the host of dusts; alone in the three realms it endures all conceptions and does not conjoin with them. Therefore it is named the Lion-King, which in the Jin tongue means 'fearless in all things.' It is ever a guide for the ten directions, and for those who are to become Buddhas it makes itself a seat, without distress and without weariness. The garuḍa, the golden-winged bird, is the eye-spirit. The eye enters all forms, yet the forms are thereupon cut off. Flying through the ten directions where none can know it, it subdues the Māras and tramples the nāgas. When the nāga-spirits would turn against it and rouse a mind of anger, the garuḍa above the sea casts its reflection into the water, and the nāgas, terrified, dare not come forth. When Pāpīyas stirs up the nāgas, wishing to take hold of something, the eye-aggregate is severed. The garuḍa is above. It is ever arrayed in a hundred thousand kinds of colours, awesome as golden light, such that the radiance of the bright moon cannot equal it, and the radiance of the bright moon cannot withstand a single feather of the garuḍa. Thus the garuḍa alone is the lord and hero among the three realms. For those who are guides and are to become Buddhas, I shall always be above them, and with the golden plumage of my body I shall shine upon them, so that their bodies all become the colour of yellow gold, and all who behold their marks rejoice without exception."

佛言：「是三尊六人
者，是內事六度無極。是以菩薩行六度，不壞

色無常視。痛痒思想生死痛痒思想生死識
者，則無六度無極。若菩薩摩訶薩身軀不安
隱者，當知與內六度無極違錯，不順其教。當
思上頭所語滓自綶形，勿以自可用剛強之
性，自言無罪。若不詪詪至心懺悔者，殺身不
久，此事非良醫所能治也。」

The Buddha said:

“These Three Honoured Ones and six persons are the inner practice of the Six Pāramitās. Therefore, when a bodhisattva practises the Six Pāramitās, he does not destroy the contemplation of form as impermanent. Were he to destroy feeling, perception, formations and consciousness, then there would be no Six Pāramitās.

“If the body of a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is not peaceful and secure, he should know that he has transgressed against the inner Six Pāramitās and has not followed their teaching. He should reflect upon the instruction just given concerning the defiling residues that bind the body, and should not rely on his own hard and obstinate nature, saying of himself that he is without fault.

“If he does not repent wholeheartedly and sincerely, the death of the body will not be long in coming. This is not something a good physician can cure.”

溥首復問佛言：「何
謂外三尊六事也？」

Mañjuśrī again asked the Buddha, saying: "What are the outer Three Honoured Ones and the six matters?"

答曰：「第一、佛尊。第二、法尊。
第三、比丘僧尊。是復有三尊。何等為三？第一、
淨尊。第二、色尊。第三、欲尊。」

The Buddha answered:

“First, the Buddha as the Honoured One. Second, the Dharma as the Honoured One. Third, the Saṅgha of monks as the Honoured One.

“These, in turn, also have three honoured ones. What are the three? First, purity as the Honoured One. Second, form as the Honoured One. Third, desire as the Honoured One.”

溥首復問曰：「此三
尊，皆何應也？」

Mañjuśrī asked further:

“With what does each of these three Honoured Ones correspond?”

佛言：「捨欲布施，身得其福，是為
施度無極。二曰、捨色持戒，身得清淨，是為戒
度無極。三曰、捨諸塵勞，行大忍辱而離眾想，
得清淨慧，是為忍度無極。四曰、知比丘僧清
淨，捨諸因起滅因緣之事而建精進，得至道
場，住清淨地，是為進度無極。五曰、知法清
淨捨諸邪念者，想之緣而定一心，身得安
隱知去來今，是為禪度無極。六曰、知佛清
淨，悉捨諸著，適無所住，深入要法，空無想
念，泥洹之事一切本無，是為智度無極。」

The Buddha said:

“Relinquishing desire, one practises giving, and so one obtains its merit. This is the Pāramitā of Giving.

“Second, relinquishing sensuality, one keeps the precepts, and so one attains purity. This is the Pāramitā of Moral Discipline.

“Third, relinquishing all defilements, one practises great patience and departs from all conceptual notions, and so one gains pure wisdom. This is the Pāramitā of Patience.

“Fourth, knowing the purity of the Saṅgha of monks, one abandons fixation on matters of arising and ceasing through causes and conditions and establishes vigour. One then reaches the place of awakening and dwells upon the pure ground. This is the Pāramitā of Vigour.

“Fifth, knowing the purity of the Dharma, one casts off all wrong thoughts, which are the conditions of conceptual notion, and concentrates the mind one-pointedly. One then attains ease and knows past, future and present. This is the Pāramitā of Meditation.

“Sixth, knowing the purity of the Buddha, one abandons all attachments, dwells nowhere, enters deeply into the essential Dharma, and is empty and without conceptual notion. The matter of nirvāṇa is, from the very origin, unarisen. This is the Pāramitā of Wisdom.”

佛言：
「是為外六度無極也！如是內外法十二事解
者，便為開十二門。雖解由不制，因對起想，遊
於恣意不能忍辱，放心口意，瞋恚惡言，便
為十二因緣，隨俗三流，不離五趣。菩薩大
士等，於內外亦無所譏，一切無礙，如水月形，
平等察聲無瞋怒音，恨本際等，無本無際，分
別法界，則覩平等。是菩薩等遊瞋恚為意法
也！」

The Buddha said:

“These are the outer Six Pāramitās. When the twelve matters of inner and outer dharmas are thus understood, the twelve gates are opened.

“Yet if one understands but still does not restrain oneself, perception arises in dependence on an opposing object. Roaming in the indulgence of one’s own mind, unable to abide in patience, giving free rein to mind, mouth and intention, one speaks angry and harmful words. Such a person becomes the twelve links of dependent arising, follows the three currents of the world and does not escape the five destinies.

“But the bodhisattva-mahāsattva finds nothing to reproach in inner or outer. He is unobstructed in all things, like the form of the moon in water. Contemplating sound equally, he hears no angry tone. When resentment is traced back to its original limit, it is seen as equal, without root and without boundary. Discerning the dharma realm, he beholds equality.

“This is the bodhisattva traversing anger as a domain of mind.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊愚癡也？愚從無起，
察癡無有；設無所有，愚癡本無，永無狂冥，人

無弊願，無礙如空，為虛澹泊。想礙求空，方面
造愚，立虛為實，而起忿恨，愚癡所行，求名達
字，行清白名，欣欣難獲。諸法無明，因想為塵，
想為礙，慚虛無形，譬如丈夫欲度虛空，亦無
羽翅，行不合道，不入於空，億劫不得也！能會
不能，知空本末，愚癡亦如是。本際無思議，蔽
冥不生，塵無所志而成滿，如住於虛空不知
方面處，亦無具足人，無能出度者。如百千億
劫姟習樂闇蔽者，彼亦無厭足，常飢無飽滿。
如僮子者，好色如吹胞，滿中氣短，解脫口中
無所有，罪福如空胞，求勝真高亦然，卑忑清
淨亦然，習於愚者，求不可得。空來空去，懷抱
罪欲，喜亦行惡亦不捨，見善不習，專入倒見，
如是行者，謂愚無底也！斷根、無根形，無根無
住，故不可盡。設愚不可盡，癡亦不可得，猶如
眾生如幻如化，斯不可賜。設有造喻，三界眾
生類，日度一切，令得泥洹。佛壽住世，億劫難
計，濟脫梨度人不可盡。因遇立種，人界無想，
癡冥如幻，是不可得；佛淨與愚癡等，觀斯無
二。設能等觀，則能念道，癡慧一等，無諸蔽礙，
眾生群萌，等無思議，癡不可計，思念意迹，其
心無，無有邊際，愚冥無限，由不可得。空著無
名，因倚有形，無有見者，永不可持。志性無明，
了無所有，何從致起，而有瞋恚也？計無吾我，
癡已不起，闇冥何類？如癡無處，佛道亦爾，了
無崖底，諸法無二，別聲平等，等察癡響，了雲
一等，愚冥如雲，分別平等，則曉定意。是為菩
薩等遊愚癡。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through delusion? Folly has no source from which it arises. When delusion is examined, nothing real can be found. Since nothing real can be found, delusion is originally unarisen. There is no enduring madness, no lasting darkness; in the person there is no defiled aspiration. Unobstructed like space, it is empty and tranquil.”

“Obstructed by conceptual perception, one seeks emptiness in the wrong way. Thus folly is fabricated: what is empty is taken as real, and anger and resentment arise. Such is the course of delusion: it chases names and grasps at words, pursues only the name of purity and cleanness, and longs again and again for what is hard to attain.

“Dharmas themselves are without illumination. Through conceptual perception, dust-like defilement is formed; conceptual perception itself becomes obstruction. What is insubstantial has no form. It is like a man who wishes to cross open space without wings: his course does not accord with the Way, he does not enter emptiness, and though koṭis of kalpas pass, he cannot attain it. To understand that this cannot be done, and to know emptiness from beginning to end, is to know that delusion is just so.

“When one seeks the original limit of delusion, no conceivable beginning can be found. The darkness that seems to cover the mind does not truly arise. The dust of defilement has no fixed ground, yet the deluded mind imagines it to be complete. It is like someone dwelling in open space, unable to find direction or place. There is no fully established person there, and no inherently existing one who passes beyond.”

“One who has long habituated himself, through hundreds of thousands of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas, to delight in darkness and obscuration is never satisfied, always hungry and never full. Like a child craving forms, he is like an inflated bladder: filled inside with breath, soon exhausted; once its opening is released, nothing remains within. Wrongdoing and merit are like an empty bladder. So too are what is sought as victorious, true and lofty, and what is regarded as lowly, troubled and pure. For one habituated to folly, what is sought cannot be obtained.

“Empty it comes, empty it goes. Embracing wrongdoing and desire, taking delight in evil, he does not relinquish it; seeing the wholesome, he does not practise it, but enters wholly into inverted views. One who conducts himself in this way is said to have bottomless folly.

“Once the root is cut off, no rooted form remains. Rootless and without dwelling, folly cannot be exhausted. Yet because it cannot be exhausted, delusion also cannot be obtained. Like sentient beings themselves, it is like illusion and magical transformation; it cannot be bestowed.

“If one were to offer a comparison: even if all beings in the three realms were delivered day after day and brought to nirvāṇa, and even if the Buddha remained in the world for koṭis of kalpas beyond reckoning, rescuing, liberating and ferrying beings across without end, still, through the meeting of conditions, seeds are established. In the realm of persons, conceptual perception has no real basis. The darkness of delusion is like an illusion and cannot be obtained.

“The purity of the Buddha and delusion are equal; seen thus, there are no two. If one can contemplate them equally, then one can be mindful of the Way. Folly and wisdom are of one equality, without any covering or obstruction. Sentient beings, the teeming multitudes, are equal and beyond conceiving. Folly cannot be reckoned.

“The traces of thought and intention have no fixed mind that can be found; they are without boundary and without limit. The darkness of folly is limitless, and therefore cannot be obtained. Emptiness attaches to no name; depending on conditions, form is established. Yet no seer can be found, and it can never be grasped.

“The disposition and its nature lack illumination; when clearly understood, they are found to be nothing at all. From where, then, could anger arise? Once one sees that there is no self, delusion no longer arises. What kind of thing, then, is darkness?

“As delusion has no fixed place, so too it is with the Buddha Way. When this is understood, there is no shore and no bottom. All dharmas are without duality. Distinct sounds are equal; the echo of delusion too is contemplated equally. Clouds are understood as one equality, and the darkness of folly is like a cloud. Discerning equality in this way, one awakens to settled concentration.

“This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through delusion.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊不善？欲行無形，瞋

行無處，不行癡行，知眾平等，諸塵亦等，諸生
滅悉等，等解虛無，空無所有，了淨如是。是菩
薩等遊不善也。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the unwholesome? The activity of desire has no form; the activity of anger has no place; the activity of delusion is not performed. He knows that beings are equal, that the sense-objects too are equal, and that all arising and ceasing are equal. Understanding them equally as void, empty and without anything of their own, he understands purity in this way.

“This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the unwholesome.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊諸善德本？眾生修
善，心行若干，諸行一等，無不等行，一行而行，
無礙現行，了行無二，則能平等。以知平等，眾
行如幻，色聲一等，則了語音；語音無二，由如
影響，往來周旋，亦無處所，德本亦然如幻化。
是為菩薩等遊眾善德本。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the roots of all wholesome virtue? Beings cultivate the wholesome, and their mental practices are manifold; yet all practices are of one equality, and there is no practice that is not equal.

“Practising as a single practice, the bodhisattva manifests practice without obstruction. Understanding practice as non-dual, he is thereby able to be equal.

“Knowing equality, he sees that all practices are like illusion. Form and sound are of one equality, and thus he understands speech and sound. Speech and sound are non-dual, like shadow and echo, coming and going and circling about, yet having no fixed place. The roots of merit are likewise like illusion and magical transformation.

“This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the roots of all wholesome virtue.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊有為也？所有無有，
一切從念。念者空念，計不可量，無量難計，無
邊無際，所起為想。想從念緣，是之數亦不可
盡。曉平等者，了無央數，無行無像，解說等寂，
覩一切安，已安已榮，不計無常。是為菩薩等
遊有為。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the conditioned? All that exists is without existence; everything arises from thought. Thought is empty thought, reckoned as immeasurable, immeasurable and hard to count, without bound and without limit. What arises from it is conceptual perception. Conceptual perception arises through the condition of thought, and its number too cannot be exhausted.

“One who understands equality clearly knows it to be numberless, without formative activity and without image, and expounds it as equally quiescent. Seeing all things as at peace, already at peace and already complete, he no longer reckons them in terms of impermanence.

“This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the conditioned.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊無為？本淨法寂，亦
無合會，無明之形，假聲等察，音聲無言、無教，
皆了無為，眾著言聲，等觀如是。是為菩薩等
遊無為。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through the unconditioned? Dharmas are originally pure and quiescent, and there is no coming together, no real combining. The form of ignorance, and what is provisionally taken as sound, are examined equally. Sound and voice are without word and without teaching; all is understood as unconditioned. Beings cling to words and sounds, but the bodhisattva contemplates them equally in this way.

“This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through the unconditioned.”

又告溥首：「何謂菩薩等遊平等？處有為中，不
住有為，諸行平等，如空無礙，不住三界，三界
本無，何求泥洹？泥洹寂靜，不出不入，無言無
說，乃至大安，度脫眾生，解無若干。法身如空，
不合不散，亦無往來，亦無還返，如空寂寞，是
為菩薩等遊於平等。」

Again the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“What is it for a bodhisattva to move equally through equality? Dwelling within the conditioned, he does not abide in the conditioned. All formations are equal, like space, unobstructed. He does not abide in the three realms, for the three realms are originally empty. Why then seek nirvāṇa?

“Nirvāṇa is quiescent, neither going out nor coming in, without word and without speech, extending to the great peace. He liberates beings, understanding that there is no plurality.

“The Dharma-body is like space: it neither combines nor disperses, neither comes nor goes, neither returns nor turns back, still and silent like space.

“This is what it is for a bodhisattva to move equally through equality.”

於是世尊，說斯章句，至
未曾有，順如應行，不可思議，世之希有。時有
萬二千菩薩皆得不起法忍，七十二億百千
天人皆發無上正真道意，二百六十萬比丘
漏盡意解，有六千比丘尼皆發無上正真道

意，有二千二百清信士、千八百清信女，亦皆
發無上正真道意。

Then, when the World-Honoured One had spoken these ordered phrases of teaching, they were unprecedented, accorded with suchness and with what should be practised, were inconceivable, and were rare in the world.

At that time twelve thousand bodhisattvas all attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Gods and humans beyond number all aroused the intention toward unsurpassed, right and true awakening. Two million six hundred thousand bhikṣus exhausted the outflows and attained liberation of mind. Six thousand bhikṣuṇīs all aroused the intention toward unsurpassed, right and true awakening. Two thousand two hundred laymen and one thousand eight hundred laywomen also all aroused the intention toward unsurpassed, right and true awakening.

爾時溥首僮真，復白世尊曰：「唯願大聖！演是
三昧號，菩薩由斯，而致至德，諸根明了，聞
三昧所因名號，則當獲得一切法明，靡不通
達，而悉降伏一切迷惑邪見之眾，樂一文字，
分別曉了一切諸文，以一切文而了一文，辯
才之慧不可限量，為諸群生講說經法，分別
曉了，緣應法忍，以一切行入于一相，逮得無
量無限之議，曉了識議，四分別辯。」

At that time Mañjuśrī the youth again addressed the World-Honoured One, saying:

“I beg only this of the Great Sage: expound the name of this samādhi. By means of it, the bodhisattva arrives at the utmost virtue and all his faculties become clear and illumined. Hearing the name of this samādhi and the cause from which it is named, he will obtain the illumination of all dharmas, penetrating all things without obstruction, and will subdue all multitudes given over to confusion and wrong views.

“Delighting in a single letter, he discerns and comprehends all letters; and by means of all letters, he comprehends the one letter. The wisdom of his eloquence is beyond measure.

“For the host of living beings, he expounds the Dharma teachings, discerning and comprehending it. He attains the forbearance regarding dharmas in accord with conditions, and causes all practices to enter into a single mark. He attains discourse measureless and without limit, comprehending discriminative knowledge and the four analytical discriminations.”

於是世尊，
告溥首僮真：「諦聽！善思念之！今當為仁分別
本末。」

Then the World-Honoured One said to Mañjuśrī the youth: "Listen carefully, and reflect well upon it. Now, for your sake, I will expound it in full, from root to branch."

溥首答曰：「甚善！願樂欲聞。」

Mañjuśrī answered, "Very good. I gladly wish to hear."

佛言：「有三昧
名離無量垢，假使菩薩逮得斯定，普見一切
諸色清淨。」

The Buddha said:

“There is a samādhi named Free from Measureless Defilement. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he universally perceives all forms as pure.”

佛告溥首：「有三昧名壞若干，假使
菩薩逮得斯定，智慧光明覆蔽一切日月之
明。有三昧名成具光明，假使菩薩逮得斯定，
威曜覆蔽帝釋、梵王，三界之寶悉蒙安隱，諸
天光曜忽不復現。有三昧名捨界，假使菩薩
逮得斯定，處於眾會，蠲除一切婬怒癡病。有
三昧名莫能當，假使菩薩逮得斯定，照明一
切八方上下諸佛國土。有三昧名諸法無所
生，假使菩薩逮得斯定，總攬諸佛經典訓
誨一切，為眾會分別要義，敷演微妙無着之
業。有三昧名無念雷音，假使菩薩逮得斯定，
言語音聲暢于梵天，十方所演無能過者，窈
冥蔽礙，無不聞者。有三昧名曉了一切應心所
樂，假使菩薩逮得斯定，悅可眾生，隨其所樂
而令解脫拘礙之緣，一切眾會普得安隱。有
三昧名無會現悅精進，假使菩薩逮得斯定，

覩見無為，無有限數終始之惑，所聞所見莫
不通達，一切所入莫能過也。有三昧名無念
寶德樂於世界，假使菩薩逮得斯定者，放諸
神足施化眾生。有三昧名諸音緣會，假使菩
薩逮斯定者，覺諸言音，以無數字了一文字，
以一文字說無數字，以了內字、外字，悲了於
內不達，外亦不了，內外相應，無有異文。有三
昧名積眾善德，假使菩薩逮斯定者，分別罪
福，興顯平等，多所悅可一切眾生，使聞佛音
法音，眾聲聞音，緣覺音，菩薩音，度無極音，
一切智音；彼有所說，亦無音聲，一切了知深
要之業。有三昧名起諸總持為一切王，假使
菩薩逮得斯定者，分別一切，無量總持，眾慧
之要，無礙之法悉令明了。有三昧名淨諸辯
才無為之行，假使菩薩逮斯定者，寂除一切
音聲言說，皆無言教，亦無響應，無言無教，亦
無所有。」

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“There is a samādhi named Destroying the Manifold. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, the radiance of his wisdom outshines all the brightness of the sun and moon.

“There is a samādhi named Perfecting Radiance. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, his majestic splendour outshines Śakra and King Brahmā, all the treasures of the three realms are made peaceful and secure, and the radiance of the gods suddenly appears no more.

“There is a samādhi named Relinquishing the Realm. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, dwelling amid the assembly, he removes every disease of desire, anger and ignorance.

“There is a samādhi named None Can Withstand. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he illumines all buddha-fields in the eight directions, above and below.

“There is a samādhi named The Non-arising of All Dharmas. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he comprehends in full the scriptural teachings of all buddhas, instructs all beings, sets forth the essential meaning for the assembly in its distinctions, and expounds the subtle and wondrous activity of non-attachment.

“There is a samādhi named Thunder-Voice Free of Conceiving. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, the sound of his speech reaches up to the Brahmā-heaven, and nothing proclaimed in the ten directions can surpass it; through what is deep, dark, covered and obstructed, there is none who does not hear it.

“There is a samādhi named Comprehending All in Accord with What the Mind Delights In. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he gladdens beings and, in accord with what each delights in, frees them from the conditions that bind and obstruct, so that the whole assembly everywhere attains peace and security.

“There is a samādhi named Manifesting Joy and Vigour Beyond Gathering. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he beholds the unconditioned, free from the delusion of limit and number, of beginning and end. Whatever he hears and whatever he sees, he wholly penetrates; and into all that he enters, none can surpass him.

“There is a samādhi named Jewel-Virtue Free of Conceiving, Delighting in the World. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he sends forth his spiritual powers and teaches beings through transformative manifestations.

“There is a samādhi named The Conjunction of All Sounds. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he awakens to all spoken sounds. By means of innumerable syllables he comprehends a single syllable, and by means of a single syllable he expounds innumerable syllables. He comprehends inner syllables and outer syllables; where the inner is not penetrated, the outer too is not comprehended. For him, inner and outer correspond, and there is no divergent letter.

“There is a samādhi named Amassing the Manifold Roots of Wholesome Virtue. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he distinguishes wrongdoing and merit, brings forth and reveals equality, and greatly gladdens all beings. He causes them to hear the buddha-sound, the Dharma-sound, the sound of the śrāvakas, the sound of the pratyekabuddhas, the sound of the bodhisattvas, the sound of the Pāramitās and the sound of all-knowledge. Yet whatever he expounds is without sound. He completely understands the activity of what is deep and essential.”

“There is a samādhi named Arousing All Dhāraṇīs, King of All. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he distinguishes all the immeasurable dhāraṇīs, the essentials of the multitude of wisdoms, and makes wholly clear the unobstructed Dharma.

“There is a samādhi named Purifying All Eloquence, the Practice of the Unconditioned. If a bodhisattva attains this concentration, he stills and removes all sounds and verbal teachings. All is without verbal teaching, without echo or response, without word, without teaching, and without anything whatsoever.”

於是溥首白世尊：「唯然大聖！鄙身寧應講斯
典訓之功德乎？」

Then Mañjuśrī said to the World-Honoured One: "Even so, Great Sage. Is one so humble as myself indeed fit to expound the merit of this scriptural teaching?"

告曰：「宜講。」

He said: "It is fitting that you expound it."

溥首白佛：「假使菩
薩聞斯經典而不狐疑，發心受持而諷誦講
讀，其人現在得妙辯才，聰明辯、欣豫辯、深妙
辯、無合會，常行慈心加諸眾生，無毀復意。所
以者何？設使憂念所作趣，奉行其行，知諦隨
身，未曾捨離。」

Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha, saying:

“Should a bodhisattva hear this sūtra and harbour no wavering doubt, arouse the mind to receive and uphold it, and recite, expound and read it, that person in the present life attains excellent eloquence: discerning eloquence, joyous eloquence, profound and subtle eloquence, and eloquence unconjoined.

“He constantly practises the mind of loving-kindness, extending it to all beings, with no thought of harm or denigration. Why is this so? Even when he is mindful and concerned about the course of what is to be done, he practises that very practice; the knowledge of truth follows with his body and is never abandoned.”

爾時世尊讚溥首曰：「善哉，善哉！快說此言，誠
如之意。譬如布施獲致大富而不虛假，持戒
生天亦不虛假，令斯經典亦復如茲，學致辯
才亦不虛假，悉得本志，猶如日光出照天下
眾冥悉除。斯經如是，諷誦學者懷來辯才靡

不通達，喻如菩薩坐于道場，於佛樹下還得
無上真正之道，成最正覺。菩薩如是，學誦斯
經必得辯才，除諸狐疑。是故，溥首！假使菩薩
現欲興辯曉練諸法，聞斯經典心不猶豫，即
當受持、講說、諷誦，為諸眾會廣演其義。」

At that time the World-Honoured One praised Mañjuśrī, saying:

“Excellent, excellent! Well have you spoken these words. Truly it is as you intend.

“It is like giving, which brings about great wealth and is not false; like keeping the precepts, which brings rebirth in the heavens and is not false. So too it is with this sūtra: the eloquence attained through study is not false, and one fully fulfils one’s original aspiration.

“It is like the light of the sun, which rises and shines upon the world, dispelling all darkness. So it is with this sūtra. One who recites and studies it comes to possess eloquence, and there is nothing he does not penetrate.

“It is like a bodhisattva seated at the seat of awakening beneath the bodhi-tree, who thereupon attains the unsurpassed true and right Way and accomplishes perfect awakening. So it is with the bodhisattva: one who studies and recites this sūtra will surely attain eloquence and be freed of all wavering doubt.

“Therefore, Mañjuśrī, if a bodhisattva now wishes to bring forth eloquence and to master all dharmas, then upon hearing this sūtra, with no hesitation in mind, he should receive and uphold it, expound it and recite it, and set forth its meaning at large for all assemblies.”

爾時是離垢藏菩薩，前白佛言：「滅度後，其有
受持、諷誦、講說斯經法者，為眾會敷演其義，
鄙親當為宣解所歸，使不狐疑，疾得辯才。」

At that time the bodhisattva Vimalagarbha came forward and addressed the Buddha, saying:

“After the Blessed One’s parinirvāṇa, if there are those who receive and uphold, recite and expound this sūtra and its Dharma, setting forth its meaning for the assembly, I myself will proclaim and clarify for them that to which they should resort, so that they do not waver in doubt and swiftly attain eloquence.”

於
時弊魔愁毒垂淚，來詣佛所，白世尊曰：「唯無
建立於斯經，如來、至真、等正覺常懷大哀，其
有苦患施以大安。幸哉，大聖！願除吾惑。如昔
世尊初坐樹下處于道場，演此典法；今復重
加說斯經典。我今憂欝，心懷懊惱。其於如來
始得佛道，所救濟時，我之反側不能自勝；一
切皆當得不退轉，逮無上正真之道，成最正
覺，其有黎庶，耳聞斯經，聽音服名，悉當得道，
至于滅度。空我境界，虛魔宮殿。大聖撫育，興
建大悲，唯見矜濟。」

At that time the wicked Māra, poisoned by sorrow and shedding tears, came to where the Buddha was and addressed the World-Honoured One, saying:

“Would that this sūtra were not established. The Tathāgata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Awakened One, always cherishes great compassion, and to those who suffer affliction he bestows great peace. Be gracious, Great Sage. I beg you, remove my confusion.

“Just as in the past, when the World-Honoured One first sat beneath the tree at the seat of awakening and expounded this Dharma teaching, so now once again you expound this sūtra. I am now oppressed with sorrow, my heart filled with anguish.

“When the Tathāgata first attained the Buddha Way and brought beings to deliverance, I was restless and could not master myself. All beings will attain non-retrogression, reach the unsurpassed true and right Way, and accomplish perfect awakening. If the common people hear this sūtra with their ears, listen to its sound, and take up its name, they will all attain the Way and reach nirvāṇa.

“My domain will be emptied; Māra’s palace will be left void. Great Sage, protect and nurture me. Raise up your great compassion and look upon me with pity and rescue.”

佛告魔曰：「波旬！莫恐，勿怖，
勿懅！一切眾生不悉滅度，如來亦不建立斯
經。」

The Buddha said to Māra: "Pāpīyas, do not be afraid, do not be frightened, do not be alarmed. Not all beings attain final extinction, nor does the Tathāgata establish this sūtra."

魔聞佛教，踊躍歡喜，善心生矣，忽然不現。

When Māra heard the Buddha's teaching, he leapt up with joy, and a wholesome mind arose in him, and suddenly he was no longer seen.

溥首白佛：「何故為魔而說斯教？」

Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha: "For what reason was this teaching expounded for the sake of Māra?"

佛告溥首：「斯
經典者，住無所住，是故為魔而說斯言：『吾不
建立斯經典也！』至誠不虛。一切諸法住無所
住，不可逮得，無有言教，離於二事，本際平等。
當諦無本，法界如稱，平若虛空，無適無莫，真
正無異。今經流布斯閻浮提，於天下當有瑞
應。」

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

“This sūtra abides in non-abiding. Therefore, before Māra, this word was spoken: ‘I do not establish this sūtra.’ This is sincerely true and not false.

"All dharmas abide in non-abiding. They cannot be attained; they are without verbal teaching and free from the duality of subject and object. When traced to their ultimate ground, all dharmas are equal. In true reality, they have no root. The dharma realm is like a balance, level as empty space, without attachment or aversion, truly without difference.

“Now this sūtra shall circulate throughout Jambudvīpa, and in the world there shall be an auspicious sign.”

世尊適建誠諦之教，自然空中音普廣聞，
誠如佛言，至誠不虛。

No sooner had the World-Honoured One set forth the teaching of sincere truth than a voice was spontaneously heard far and wide throughout space, saying: Truly it is as the Buddha has said, sincerely true and not false.

佛告阿難：「受斯普門品
經之要，持諷誦讀宣示同學。」

The Buddha said to Ānanda: "Receive the essentials of this Sūtra of the Universal Gateway. Retain it, recite it, read it aloud, and proclaim it to your fellow students."

又言：「阿難！是經

八萬四千法品之藏，計比斯典，等無差特。所
以者何？此經一句，普入無量之慧門，法界諸
要，唯如來分別曉了。眾生解斯經典而成佛
道，然後講說八萬四千諸經品藏。是故，阿難！
當受斯經消息，將慎諦持、諷誦。」

He spoke further:

“Ānanda, this sūtra is the treasury of the eighty-four thousand Dharma divisions. Measured against this teaching, it is equal, without difference or distinction.

“Why is this so? A single phrase of this sūtra universally enters the immeasurable gateways of wisdom, and the essentials of the dharma realm are discerned and fully understood by the Tathāgata alone. When beings understand this sūtra, they accomplish the Buddha Way; only thereafter is the treasury of the eighty-four thousand Dharma divisions expounded.

“Therefore, Ānanda, you should receive the essential meaning of this sūtra, carefully and attentively uphold it, and recite it.”

為眾人說此
已，離垢藏菩薩、溥首僮真、賢者阿難，諸天、世
人、揵沓和、阿須倫，聞經歡喜，稽首作禮而退。

When the Buddha had finished speaking this to the assembly, the bodhisattva Vimalagarbha, Mañjuśrī the youth, and the venerable Ānanda, together with the devas, the people of the world, the gandharvas, and the asuras, having heard the sūtra, rejoiced, bowed their heads in homage, and withdrew.