新華嚴經論 36.5

36.5

In the first [section], the gate of directly entering the dharma gate of the appropriate stage, from "At that time the youth Sudhana..." downward to "I only know this liberation gate of the inexhaustible treasury of merit and virtue" is roughly divided into twenty gates: first, contemplating the kalyāṇamitra's teaching gate as vast as an ocean, reflecting and advancing upward; second, gradually traveling south; third, arriving at the city of Samudrapratiṣṭhāna and seeking the good friend; fourth, the people telling him that she is in this city; fifth, Sudhana going to the gate, joining his palms and standing; sixth, the observed circumstantial fruition, with her residence being vast and adorned in diverse ways; seventh, Sudhana, having entered, seeing the upāsikā seated on a jeweled throne; eighth, observing her primary fruition, with her physical marks and deportment worthy of veneration; ninth, seeing ten billion marvelous seats arranged inside her residence; tenth, seeing her small vessel placed before her seat, with ten thousand young maidens as attendants, and having no other clothing, food, or drink; eleventh, Sudhana, having seen her, paying homage and making his request; twelfth, the upāsikā telling Sudhana the dharma gate she cultivates; thirteenth, bringing forward the name of her dharma gate as the Bodhisattva's Inexhaustible Treasury of Merit and Virtue; fourteenth, that by means of her small vessel, whatever food, drink, and diverse flavors sentient beings of the ten directions and six destinies require are all fully provided; fifteenth, that bodhisattvas bound to one [more] birth, having eaten, all attain buddhahood beneath the bodhi tree; sixteenth, bringing forward the community of one million asaṃkhyeyas of fellow practitioners whose three karmas are all identical; seventeenth, Sudhana seeing immeasurable sentient beings enter through the four gates; eighteenth, that in accordance with whatever vows are requested and whatever food is required, all are completely satisfied; nineteenth, bringing forward her [statement], "I only know this gate of the Bodhisattva's Treasury of Merit and Virtue"; twentieth, praising virtues and advancing upward to accomplish the subsequent practice. The ten thousand young maidens signify that the myriad practices are complete. Entering through the four gates signifies the four immeasurable minds. Using a single small vessel to bestow food and drink universally filling and satisfying limitless sentient beings clarifies that although the vessel's capacity is small, when considered through the wisdom of giving of the dharmadhātu entering the Indra gate, the small contains the inexhaustible. Furthermore, added to the vast mind of the power of wisdom-vows of the dharmadhātu, with food the size of a single fine dust mote, she causes all sentient beings born in the ten directions who eat it to be fully satisfied, while from the outset it is not diminished by the slightest fraction. This is because food the size of a single fine dust mote is identical to the measure of the dharmadhātu, unobstructed by limitations of interior, exterior, middle, or edge. The dharma gate being named the Bodhisattva's Treasury of Merit and Virtue clarifies that the vows of giving are vast. This is the third practice, the practice of non-opposition, where the patience pāramitā is primary and the remaining nine are its companions. In terms of the wisdom gate, the ten practices are universally cultivated across the five stages; in terms of the gate of stages, it takes patience as its substance. Taking patience as the small vessel, because no practice is not fully present, through humility there is nothing that is not beneficial.