The Bodhisattva, "Maintaining the ground," arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet and said to the Buddha, "I remember when universal light Thus Come One appeared in the world in the past. I was a Bhikshu who continually worked on making level the major roads, ferry-landings, and the dangerous spots in the ground, where the disrepair might hinder or harm carriages or horses. I did everything from building bridges to hauling sand."
"I was diligent in this hard labor throughout the appearance of limitless Buddhas in the world. If there were beings at the walls and gates of the cities, who needed someone to carry their goods, I would carry them all the way to their destination, set the things down, and leave without taking any recompense.
"When the Buddha Vipashyin appeared in the world. There was a worldwide famine. I would carry people on my back, and no matter how far the distance, I would only accept one small coin. If there was an ox-cart stuck in the mud, I would use my spiritual strength to push the wheels and get it out of difficulty.
"Once a king asked the Buddha to accept a vegetarian feast. At the time, I served the Buddha by leveling the road as he went. Vipashyin Thus Come One rubbed my crown and said, 'You should level your mind-ground, then everything else in the world would be level.'
"Immediately my mind opened up and I saw that the particles of earth composing my own body were no different from all the particles of earth that made up the world. The nature of those particles of dust was such that they did not connect with one another nor could they be touched by the blade of a sword.
"Within the Dharma-nature I awakened to the patience with the non-production of Dharmas and accomplished Arhatship. I brought my mind back, to the extent that I have now entered the ranks of the Bodhisattvas. Hearing the Thus Come One proclaim the Wonderful Lotus Flower, the level of the Buddha's knowledge and vision, I have already been certified as having understood, and am a leader in the assembly.
"The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. Upon attentive contemplation of the body and the environment, I saw that these two dusts are exactly the same-that, fundamentally, everything is the treasury of the Thus Come One, but that an empty falseness arises and creates the dust. When the dust is eliminated, wisdom is perfected, and one accomplishes the unsurpassed Way. This is the foremost method."
The Pure Youth Moonlight arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet
Upali arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha, "I followed the Buddha in person when he fled the city and left the home-life. I observed the Thus Come One endure six years of diligent asceticism. I watched the Thus Come One subdue all the demons, control adherents of external paths and become liberated from all outflows which were based on worldly desire and greed.
"I based myself on the Buddha's teaching of percepts, encompassing the three thousand awesome deportments and the eighty thousand subtle aspects. Both my actual Karma and my contributing Karma became pure. My body and mind became tranquil, and I accomplished Arhatship.
"In the Thus Come One's assembly, I am a governor of the law. The Buddha's himself certified my mind's upholding of the precepts and my genuine cultivation of them. I am considered a leader of the assembly.
"The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I disciplined the body until the body attained ease and comfort. Then I disciplined the mind until the mind attained penetrating clarity. After that, the body and mind experienced keen and thorough absorption. This is the foremost method.
By Means of Breath
Sundarananda arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha, "When I first left home and followed the Buddha to enter the way, I received the complete precepts, but my mind was always too scattered for Samadhi, and I could not attain the state of having no outflows. The World Honored One taught Kaushthila and me to contemplate the white spot at the tip of our noses.
"From the first, I contemplated intently. After three weeks, I saw that the breath in my nostrils looked like smoke when I inhaled and exhaled. My body and mind became bright inside, and I perfectly understood the external world, to the point that everything became empty and pure, like crystal. The smoky appearance gradually disappeared, and the breath in my nostrils became white.
"My mind opened and any outflows were extinguished. Every inhalation and exhalation of breath was transformed into light which illumined the ten directions, and I attained Arhatship. The World Honored One predicted that in the future I would obtain Bodhi.
"The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I did it by means of the disappearance of the breath, until eventually the breath emitted light and the light completely extinguished my outflows. This is the foremost method.
By Contemplating the Power of Wind
The Dharma prince Vaidurya Light arose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha, "I can still remember back through aeons as many as the sands in the Ganges to the time of a Buddha named 'Limitless Sound,' who instructed the Bodhisattvas that fundamental enlightenment is wonderful and bright. He taught them to contemplate this world and all the beings in it as false conditions propelled by the power of wind.
"At that time, I contemplated the position of the world, and I regarded the passage of time in the world. I reflected on the movement and stillness in my body. I considered the arising of thoughts in the mind. All these kinds of movement were non-dual; they were equal and the same.
"I then understood that the nature of movement does not come from anywhere and does not go anywhere. Every single material particle throughout the ten directions and every upside-down living being in it is of the same empty falseness.
"And so, throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand worlds, the living beings in each of the worlds were like so many mosquitoes confined in a trap and droning monotonously. Caught in those few square inches, their hum built to a maddening crescendo. Not long after I encountered the Buddha, I attained patience with the now-production of Dharmas.
"My mind then opened, and I could see the country of the Buddha, 'unmoving', in the east. I became a Dharma prince and served the Buddhas of the ten directions. My body and mind emit a light that makes them completely clear and translucent.
"The Buddha asks about perfect penetration. I contemplated the power of wind as lacking anything to rely on, and I awakened to the Bodhi-mind. I entered Samadhi and meshed with the single, wonderful mind transmitted by all the Buddhas of the ten directions. This is the foremost method."
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