འཕགས་པ་བ་མ་རྣམ་དག་དད་པས་ཞས་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 9

9

because the mind has become similar to liberation; and because the mind has become similar to nirvāṇa. These are called the eight kinds of balanced constitution of the mind.”

Then the Blessed One spoke again in verse:

“Because the mind is similar to earth,⁵⁴
It can carry any load,
And, whether there is virtue or nonvirtue,
It never increases or diminishes.

“Because the mind is similar to water,
It washes away all stains and impurities
And, nourishing all worlds,
Dispels the distress of the afflictions.⁵⁵

“Because the mind is similar to fire,
It burns away all the afflictions,
And, like the light of a huge torch,
There is nothing it does not illuminate.

“Because the mind is similar to wind,
It neither dwells anywhere nor depends on anything,
And the fragrance of discipline and learning
Pervades everywhere throughout the three times.

“Because the mind is similar to space,
It is free from views and completely pure,
And, although it interacts with everything,
It does not follow after Māra.

“Because the mind is similar to the expanse of reality,
It is established in the very essence of bliss
And, without ever increasing or diminishing,
Always dwells in equanimity.

“Even when liberation is attained
By hearers and the solitary realizers,⁵⁶
There is neither bondage,
Nor is there liberation.

“Saṃsāra and nirvāṇa
Are said to be beyond coming and going,
So, peacefully maintaining disengagement,
One acts everywhere throughout the three times.

“Furthermore, girl, when bodhisattvas are endowed with eight qualities, they become sources of awakening.⁵⁷ What are these eight qualities? First,⁵⁸ they have become sources of generosity, because they give away everything they own. Second, they have become sources of discipline, because they are free of transgressions. Third,