新華嚴經論 38.2

38.2

The stages of the ten grounds of the youth Sudhana's spiritual friends: From this point forward, cultivation within the ten grounds entirely relies upon the practice of wisdom and compassion at the abode of the earth spirit Sthāvarā. Because within the stages of the ten abodes and ten practices the practice of world-transcending wisdom and compassion still largely stagnated in purity, through the great vows of the ten dedications the two wisdoms—world-transcending ultimate and conventional—are harmonized, causing one to constantly dwell in the world and practice great compassion while wisdom is devoid of both purity and defilement. Although dwelling in the world, just as a pure lotus flower dwelling in water is undefiled, blossoming with petals of supreme color and fragrance, so too the flower of the bodhisattva's practice of great compassion blooming in the world possesses supreme merit. The following nine celestial spirits and one Gopā are all female, and all belong to the lay stream without any monastic category, indicating that previously having transcended the world, one now enters into the world; like the Dharma of dedication nurturing great compassion, this is symbolized by females. "Night spirits": this indicates entering into the great night of worldly ignorance, illuminating ordinary beings with the Dharma, causing them to blossom with clear understanding. Entering the conventional to receive living beings with wondrous wisdom freed from entanglements is called "spirit." Furthermore, with the practice of compassion, dwelling within heaven, earth, day, and night constitutes the status of a spirit; maintaining worldly regulations so as to nurture sentient beings, they transform beginners whose wisdom is not yet complete through domestic rules. When wisdom is fulfilled, one becomes identical to laymen, manifesting identically with externalists in technical skills and crafts; when wisdom increases and compassion becomes subtle, one enters into the positions of numinous spirits of heaven and earth, maintaining worldly dharmas and protecting sentient beings. Because their numinous wisdom manifests in response to the ten directions in diverse ways, yet their original body does not depart from the assemblies of all Buddhas, nor does it disrupt the Buddha-bodies manifested in the ten directions. One should know that one cultivates and learns in such a sequence without stagnating in one's effort.