འཕགས་པ་བསད་ནམས་ཐམས་ཅད་བསྡས་པའ་ཏང་ང་འཛན་ཅས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.16

intro.16

The final section shifts into a loose, communal atmosphere of shared insights, as various characters, including several new ones, chime in whenever they are inspired to make comments. First a god named Free of Demons delivers an oration that is notable for its exhortation that bodhisattvas should engage in seemingly unethical practices as part of their spiritual endeavor—even “demonic” ones—if they can do so without being polluted by them. This sets the stage for a long string of abstract and often paradoxical statements regarding bodhisattva practice that come in turn from the mouths of the Buddha, Mañjuśrī, and others. Mañjuśrī later makes a comment on the irrelevance of monasticism to the bodhisattva endeavor, reiterating that true insight should be regarded as the decisive factor as to whether or not a bodhisattva is considered a “renunciant.” This would seem to suggest that the sūtra’s expected audience may indeed have consisted of—or at least included—laypeople. It also suggests that the sūtra emerged from a milieu in which lay spirituality was encouraged and considered respectable. Finally the text concludes with an explanation by the Buddha on the way in which merit creates what are known as the marks of one hundred merits, as well as his announcement that his life will soon end.