PART ONE: Avalokiteśvara asks about the Bhumi Stages
The Ten Bhumi Stages are:
1st Stage – PRAMUDITĀ / EXTREME JOY 歡喜
2nd Stage – VIMALĀ / ‘STAINLESS’ 離垢
3rd Stage – PRABHĀKARĪ / LIGHT-MAKER 發光
4th Stage – ARCIṢMATĪ / RADIANT INTELLECT 焰慧
5th Stage – SUDURJAYĀ / DIFFICULT TO MASTER 極難勝
6th Stage – ABHIMUKHĪ / MANIFESTATION 現前
7th Stage – DŪRAṂGAMĀ / GONE AFAR 遠行
8th Stage – ACALĀ / IMMOVABLE 不動
9th Stage – SĀDHUMATĪ / SUBTLE INTELLIGENCE 善慧
10th Stage – DHARMAMEGHĀ / DHARMA CLOUD 法雲
The four kinds of purity encompassed by the stages
1. Purity of ‘mind-joy’ or ‘intention’ (manobhirāma) integral to the Initial Stage.
2. Purity of moral discipline integral to the Second Stage.
3. Purity of mind (citta) integral to the Third Stage.
4. Purity of intellect (wisdom) integral from the Fourth Stage to the Stage of Buddhahood.
The eleven aspects encompassed by each of the stages
1. Realization of the correct nature of bodhisattvas being beyond birth.
2. Removing the appearance of subtle errors and mistakes
3. Attaining [the] perfect hearing retention dhāraṇī
4. The mind relinquishing affection for the equanimous and affection for the Dharma
5. Relinquishing attachment to one-sided attraction or aversion for birth and death and Nirvana, the cultivation of skillful means that harmonize (embrace) the Factors of Awakening.
6. The ability to abide for long in characteristicless states of mind
7. The ability to cause characteristicless states of mind without pause or interruption
8. The ability to let go of purpose [use, function] while abiding in the characteristicless, and the attainment of sovereignty over characteristics
9. The ability to attain Great Sovereignty over different terms, groups, and characteristics, different ways of saying things, and all the different categories and interpretations of dharmas
10. The ability to attain fulfill realization of the appearance of the Dharma Body
11. The ability to attain all-pervasive, subtle knowledge and subtle vision of all knowable realms of existence without attachment and without obstruction
The names of the Stages
1. Extreme Joy = accomplishing great meaning and attaining a transcendent mind not hitherto attained in the world, there arises great delight and joy
2. Purity = being far removed from all the minutest infractions of discipline
3. Refulgence = attaining the immeasurable Light of Wisdom
4. Blazing Intellect = all afflictions are burned away, knowledge being like flames of a fire
5. Difficult to Conquer = having skillfully cultivated what is extremely difficult about the Dharma
6. Manifestation = observing the flow of transformations of saṃskāra manifest before them, and also from continual cultivation of mind-states on characteristiclessness, it manifests before them
7. Gone Afar = being able to enter far-reaching realization of a mind-state without pause or interruption and without characteristics, having parity with the characteristic of the stage of purity
8. Immovability = having attained purposelessness in regard to characteristiclessness, and being among all characteristics but not being moved by the appearance of afflictions
9. Good Intellect = obtaining infallible, expansive intellect, and mastery of all kinds of explanations
10. Dharma Cloud = the body of ‘coarse heaviness’ being as broad as vacuous space, the Dharma Body being fulfilled, just like a great cloud, able to completely cover everything
11. Buddhahood = forever having severed the most minute, subtle afflictions and barriers to knowledge, without attachment, without obstruction, having correctly awakened to every kind of knowable realm
Delusions and Weaknesses counteracted by the Bhumi Stages
Twenty-two kinds of ignorance are counteracted, along with eleven corresponding ‘coarse heaviness’ (sthūla)
First Stage counteracts:
- The ignorance of clinging to the pudgala and dharmas
- Ignorance of what leads to an evil rebirth
Second Stage counteracts:
- The ignorance of subtle transgressions
- Ignorance of where all the various karmic actions lead
Third Stage counteracts:
- The ignorance of desirousness
- Ignorance of perfection of the hearing retention dhāraṇī
Fourth Stage counteracts:
- The ignorance of being in love with arriving at equanimity
- Ignorantly loving Dharma (dharmas?)
Fifth Stage counteracts
- The ignorance of being singularly focused on rejecting birth & death
- The ignorance of being singularly focused on being directed toward Nirvana
Sixth Stage counteracts:
- The ignorance of continuity within the flow of conditioned actions (saṃskāra)
- The ignorance of frequently bringing to presence images
Seventh Stage counteracts:
- The ignorance of bringing to presence subtle characteristics of conditioned actions
- The ignorance of being singularly focused on bringing to mind characteristiclessness
Eighth Stage counteracts
- The ignorance of making effort toward characteristiclessness
- Ignorance of being sovereign over characteristics
Ninth Stage counteracts
- Ignorance of the sovereign mastery of wise elocution of immeasurable explanations of the Dharma, immeasurable words, phrases and collections of Dharma and their dhāraṇīs
- Ignorance of the sovereign mastery of interpretation
Tenth Stage counteracts:
- Ignorance of Great Spiritual Power
- Ignorance of awakened entry into the subtle mysteries
Stage of a Thus Come One counteracts:
- The ignorance of an extremely subtle attachment to all knowable realms
- The ignorance of extremely subtle obstacles
Eight kinds of ‘excellences’ that establish the Bhumi Stages
1. Purity of superior thoughtfulness or intention (manobhirāma)
2. Purity of mind (citta)
3. Purity of compassion (karuṇā)
4. Purity of reaching the other shore (pāramitā)
5. Purity of seeing Buddhas and making offerings to them
6. Purity of maturing sentient beings
7. Purity of birth
8. Purity of awe-inspiring respect (tejas
The Birth of a Bodhisattva
1. From the most pure good roots
2. From penetrating thought
3. Birth from Compassion
4. Being Undefiled
The Great Vow of the Bodhisattva
Although they can abide in peaceful cessation, they remain among great suffering for the benefit of all sentient beings.
PART TWO: Avalokiteśvara asks about the pāramitās
The Six ‘Precepts’ (Paramitas) of the Bodhisattva are:
1. Giving = dāna
2. Moral Discipline = śīla
3. Patience = kṣānti
4. Determination = vīrya
5. Meditation = dhyāna
6. Wisdom = prajñā
The pāramitās in regard to the three divisions of the Dharma (śīla, samādhi, prajñā)
- Dāna, śīla, and kṣānti = śīla
- Dhyāna = samādhi
- Prajñā = prajñā
- Vīrya permeates śīla, samādhi, and prajñā
The pāramitās in regard to the ‘supplies’ (saṃbhāra) of merit and wisdom
- Superior discipline (i.e. dāna, śīla, and kṣānti) = merit
- Superior wisdom (i.e. prajñā) = wisdom
- Vīrya and dhyāna = both merit and wisdom
How should bodhisattvas cultivate the pāramitās?
1. Faith in the Bodhisattva Treasury [of teachings]
2. Cultivating the ten practices concerning Dharma: copying, honoring, propagating, attending to, reading, maintaining, explaining, reciting, pondering, and cultivating sutras
3. Preserve and protect the mind of awakening
4. The draw near to a spiritual friends (kalyāṇamitra)
5. Cultivate good qualities without interruption.
Why these six pāramitās?
1. The first three [pāramitās] benefit sentient beings
2. The latter three counteract all the passions
The four additional pāramitās
1. Upāya = skilfull means assists the first three pāramitās (by the Four Means of Unification)
2. Praṇidhāna = vowing assists determination (vīrya)
3. Bala = power assists meditation
4. Jñāna = knowledge assists wisdom
Why are the pāramitās in the order they are in?
A: Because each enables the next.
Three subdivisions of each pāramitā
Giving: 1. Giving the Dharma, 2. Giving goods, and 3. Giving fearlessness
Discipline: 1. Turning away from what is not good, 2. Turning toward what is good, and 3. Turning toward benefiting sentient beings.
Patience: 1. Enduring insult and injury, 2. Abiding peacefully upon receiving suffering, and 3. Investigating dharmas.
Determination: 1. Protects like armor, 2. Engendering good Dharmas, and 3. Benefiting others
Meditation: 1. Abiding in a joyful mind, 2. Engenders virtue (merit); and 3. Benefit others
Wisdom: 1. Conventional truth, 2. Truth of ultimate meaning (paramārtha), and 3. Benefiting others
Five characteristics of the pāramitās
1. Unattached
2. Disinterested
3. Irreproachable,
4. Nondiscriminatory
5. They transfer [merit]
The opposites of the pāramitās
1. Taking pleasure in wealth, and power
2. Indulging in the pleasures of body, speech, and mind
3. Not being patient when humiliated by others
4. Not motivating oneself to practice and being attached to pleasures
5. The hectic confusion and wild activities of the world
6. Taking pleasure in what is seen, heard, understood, known, talked about, and debated
Fruits (results) of the pāramitās
1. The attainment of great wealth 2. Rebirth in good destinies 3. Great pleasure and total joy without enemies or ruin 4. Rulership among sentient beings 5. A body without affliction or injury 6. Being of great renown
Things that ‘stain’ the pāramitās Four kinds of intensified effort (prayoga): 1. Intensified effort without compassion 2. Intensified effort that is not logical 3. Intensified effort that is not consistent 4. Intensified effort without consideration
Practices that are not expedient
“If bodhisattvas only benefit sentient beings and bring them joy by means of material things, and yet they do not bring about them leaving bad places and becoming peacefully established in good places, this is what is called a practice that is not expedient.”
Purity of the pāramitās in terms of the Five Characteristics
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitās in general
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitā of giving
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitā of discipline
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitā of patience
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitā of determination
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitā of meditation
Seven pure characteristics of the pāramitā of wisdom
Karmic effect of the pāramitās in terms of the Five Characteristics
Being unattached, they increase their practice without laxity
Being disinterested, they embrace the causes of not be lax in the future
Being irreproachable, they are able to correctly cultivate the pāramitās
Being nondiscriminatory, their expedient skillfullness in the pāramitās quickly attains fulfillment.
Being able to correctly transfer [merit], their pleasant fruits will all be inexhaustible, up to their unsurpassable, correct awakening (anuttarā-saṃyak-saṃbodhi)
What is most expansive, most radiant, immovable, and most purified about the pāramitās in terms of the Five Characteristics?
A: Being without defiling attachment, disinterested, and correctly transferring [of merit] are what are most expansive. Being irreproachable and nondiscriminatory are what are without defilement. Thoughtful action is what is most radiant. One who has entered the stage of a non-regressing Dharma turning is called immovable. If the Ten Stages have been embraced, and one has embraced the stage of Buddha[hood], this is called most purified.”
Why are the pleasant fruits and developments of the pāramitās eternal and inexhaustible?
A: Because of the uninterrupted cultivation of severance [from] the dependent arising of the characteristics of expansion and revolution.
Why do bodhisattvas have profound faith and joyful fondness for the pāramitās?
A: There are five reasons
How many kinds of august qualities does each of the pāramitās have?
A: Each has four kinds
What is the cause of each of the pāramitās?
A: Great Compassion
If bodhisattvas are endowed with inexhaustible riches, why is there still poverty to be found among people in the world?"
A: That is the error of all sentient being’s own karma!
By which pāramitā do bodhisattvas apprehend the inherent nature-less nature of all dharmas?
A: Prajñāpāramitā
What is pāramitā? What is nearing pāramitā? What is great pāramitā?
A: They correspond to different Stages.
How many kinds of afflicted torpor are to be found?
A: Three
By cutting off how many kinds of ‘coarse heavinesses’ are these torpors revealed?
A: Two. The ‘coarse heaviness’ of the skin (’the superficial’) being cut off, the first two [torpors] are revealed, and the ‘coarse heaviness’ of the flesh being cut off, the third is revealed. If one cuts off the ‘coarse heaviness’ of the bones, I say that one has forever left all torpor and is established in the stage of Buddha[hood].
How many incalculable kalpas [does it take] to be able to cut off ‘coarse heaviness’ like this?
A: Three.
What are the characteristics of the afflictions that arise in these bodhisattvas in the stages?
A: Undefiled characteristics
The World-Honored One has said, ‘Whether the Voice-Hearer Vehicle or the Great Vehicle, there is only one vehicle.’ What is the secret meaning to this?
A: Within that vehicle for voice-hearers I have proclaimed the inherent nature of all the various dharmas, such as the five aggregates, the six internal bases, the six external bases, and these kinds of things. Within the Great Vehicle it is then explained that those dharmas are identical to the Dharmadhatu, are identical to the same principle, therefore I do not say that the vehicles have a differentiated nature.