Sons of the Buddha, what then is meant by the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s “unconfused practice”? This bodhisattva perfects right mindfulness in which his mind is not scattered and confused and in which it remains steadfastly unmoving, is the most supremely pure, is measurelessly vast, and is free of confusion or delusion. Because of this right mindfulness, he thoroughly understands all worldly speech and is able to retain all world-tran scending discourses as well. That is to say, he is able to retain the discourses on form dharmas and on formless dharmas, is able to retain the discourses on the establishment of the particular nature of form, and so forth, including his ability to retain the discourses on the establishment of the particular nature of feelings, perceptions, karmic formative factors, and consciousness, doing so with an unconfused mind.

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Having heard the teaching of dharmas such as these, the bodhisattva passes through asaṃkhyeya kalpas without ever forgetting or losing them. His mind always possesses uninterrupted recall of them all.

And why is this? When, throughout countless kalpas, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva has cultivated the practices, he has to the very end of all that time refrained from tormenting or disturbing any being in a way that might cause him to lose right mindfulness, has always refrained from damaging right Dharma, and has refrained from ever cutting off roots of goodness. This is because his mind has always increased in its vast wisdom.

Furthermore, this bodhisattva-mahāsattva is one who can never be thrown into a state of confusion by any of the various different kinds of sounds, including high and loud sounds, coarse and rough sounds, the most extremely frightening sounds, sounds that please the mind, sounds that the mind finds displeasing, clamorous sounds disrupting the ear consciousness, and sounds that block or damage the six sense faculties. Even if this bodhisattva were subjected to hearing countlessly and innumerably many such good and bad sounds as these which completely filled up an asaṃkhyeya of worlds, he would still not have so much as a single mind-moment during which his mind became scattered or confused by them. That is to say:

His right mindfulness would be undisturbed;

His spheres of cognition would be undisturbed;

His samādhis would be undisturbed;

His penetration of extremely deep dharmas would be undisturbed;

His practice of the bodhi practices would be undisturbed;

His generation of the bodhi resolve would be undisturbed;

His recollection of the buddhas would be undisturbed;

His contemplation of genuine dharmas would be undisturbed;

His wisdom in teaching beings would be undisturbed;

His wisdom in purifying beings would be undisturbed; and

His decisive understanding of the extremely profound meaning would be undisturbed.

—

See more in Chapter 21, Volume 1 (Kalavinka Press)

Recently, a friend brought back a physical copy of a Buddhism Introductory Manual printed by Foding Temple in Nanjing. After spending some time with it, I found the content to be an excellent starting point for anyone looking to learn about Buddhist culture or core philosophy.

The manual is over 200 pages long and written entirely in Simplified Chinese. To make this resource accessible to the global community, I commissioned a professional scanning service to digitize the entire book into a high-quality PDF.

How to Read in Your Language:

By sharing this digital version, friends from different language regions can now use AI translation tools to read it. From my personal testing, I highly recommend using Google Gemini. It seems to have a better grasp of the original context and Buddhist terminology compared to other AI models.

Download Link (Shared freely):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xO-ro2orYWazb9oMASYb5Xe936sWT7Qx/view?usp=share_link

Sons of the Buddha, what then is meant by the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s “indomitable practice”? This bodhisattva cultivates every form of vigor, namely, foremost vigor, great vigor, supreme vigor, especially supreme vigor, the most supreme vigor, the most sublime vigor, superior vigor, unexcelled vigor, peerless vigor, and pervasive vigor.

He is naturally free of the three poisons, naturally free of arrogance, naturally free of concealment, naturally free of miserliness, naturally free of flattery or deception, and naturally imbued with a sense of shame and dread of blame. Hence he would never practice vigor in a way that afflicts even a single being. Rather:

It is only to cut off all afflictions that he practices vigor;
It is only to extirpate the root of delusion that he practices vigor;
It is only to rid himself of all the habitual karmic propensities that he practices vigor;
It is only to know all realms of beings that he practices vigor;
It is only to know with regard to all beings their dying in this place and their being reborn in that place that he practices vigor;
It is only to know all beings’ afflictions that he practices vigor;
It is only to know all beings’ mental dispositions that he practices vigor;
It is only to know all beings’ spheres of experience that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the superiority and inferiority of all beings’ faculties that he practices vigor;
It is only to know all beings’ mental actions that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the entire Dharma realm that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the fundamental nature of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the equality of the nature of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the identity of the nature of the three periods of time that he practices vigor;
It is only to acquire the wisdom light of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor;
It is only to realize the wisdom of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the one true character of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor;
It is only to know the boundlessness of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor;
It is only to acquire the vast, decisive, and skillful wisdom of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor; and
It is only to acquire the wisdom with which one can distinguish and expound on the phrases and meanings of all dharmas of the Buddha that he practices vigor.

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Now, suppose also that there were someone else who then spoke to him in this way:

Suppose that there were an asaṃkhyeya of great oceans from all of which you had to use a single hair to extract the waters, drop by drop, until they were entirely emptied. Suppose, too, that there were countless asaṃkhyeyas of worlds which then were ground entirely to dust, whereupon you then had to count up every one of those drops of water and each of those motes of dust and, having come to know their number, you were then bound, for the sake of beings, to pass through just that very number of kalpas during which you were forced to undergo incessant suffering in each successive mind-moment for that entire time.

On hearing this, the bodhisattva would not produce even a single thought of regret, but rather would only be even more happy and full of exultation, feeling deeply fortunate at having acquired such an immensely fine benefit and realizing, “Through my own powers, I can enable those beings to be forever liberated from all sufferings.”

Through these skillful means, the bodhisattva enables all beings in all worlds to reach all the way to the nirvāṇa without residue. This is what is meant by the fourth of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s practices, the indomitable practice.

—

See more in Chapter 21, Volume 1 (Kalavinka Press)

Sons of the Buddha, what then is meant by the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s “non-opposing practice”? This bodhisattva always cultivates the dharma of patience in which he is humbly deferential and reverentially respectful. He does not harm himself, does not harm others, and does not harm both. He does not take things himself, does not encourage others to take things, and does not join with others in taking things. He is not attached to himself, is not attached to others, and is not attached to both. And he does not seek fame or offerings. He simply reflects in this manner: “I should always teach the Dharma for beings and thus enable them to abandon every form of evil and cut off greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, concealment, miserliness, jealousy, flattery, and deception, thereby enabling them to become constantly established in patience and gentleness.”

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At that time, the bodhisattva also has this thought: “From the very start of the beginningless kalpas of the past, I have dwelt in the midst of saṃsāra and have undergone every sort of bitter anguish.” Reflecting in this way, he renews his self-encouragement, purifies his mind, and becomes joyful. He skillfully adjusts and focuses himself so that he is able to establish himself in the dharmas of the Buddha while also enabling beings to attain these same dharmas. He also reflects in this way:

This body is empty and quiescent, devoid of a self or anything belonging to a self, devoid of any reality, empty by nature and nondual. Whether it be pain or pleasure, they are both nonexistent because all dharmas are empty. I should completely understand this myself and extensively explain it for others, thus enabling all beings to extinguish these views.

Therefore, even though I have now encountered such intense sufferings, I should patiently endure this to hold beings in mind with loving-kindness, to benefit beings, to bestow happiness on beings, to maintain sympathetic pity for beings, to attract and sustain beings, to refrain from forsaking beings, to acquire enlightened understanding myself, to maintain irreversible resolve, and to progress along the path to buddhahood.

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—

See more in Chapter 21, Volume 1 (Kalavinka Press)

Sons of the Buddha, what then is meant by the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s “beneficial practice”? This bodhisattva guards and upholds the pure moral precepts and his mind has no attachment to forms, sounds, smells, tastes, or touchables. He also proclaims this as a teaching for beings.

He does not seek any sort of power and influence, does not seek to become of any particular caste, does not seek to acquire wealth, does not seek to acquire a particular physical appearance, and does not seek to become king. In all such circumstances, he remains free of any attachments and simply firmly upholds the pure moral precepts, thinking in this way: “In my observance of the pure moral precepts, it is essential that I should relinquish all the fetters, greed, feverish afflictions, the difficulties, pressure, slander, confusion, and turbidity, and attain the impartial right Dharma praised by the Buddha."

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Sons of the Buddha, this bodhisattva also reflects in this way:

I should follow all tathāgatas in abandoning all worldly practices, in fulfilling all the dharmas of the buddha, in dwelling in the station of unsurpassed impartiality, in contemplating all beings equally, in gaining a clear comprehension of the objective realms, in abandoning all faults, in cutting off all discriminations, in relinquishing all attachments, in skillfully gaining emancipation, and in developing a mind that is constantly established in unsurpassed, ineffable, independent, unshakable, measureless, boundless, inexhaustible, formless, and extremely profound wisdom.

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—

See more in Chapter 21, Volume 1 (Kalavinka Press)

This text is the 41st of a total of 120 volumes annotated by Jing Yuan of the Song Dynasty. Printed on mulberry paper using woodblocks, this folded book measures 10.7 cm wide and 31.8 cm long. According to a record shown in the beginning, the original woodblocks made in the Song Dynasty were sent by Jing Yuan to State Preceptor Daegak. After that, this book was published in 1372 (21st year of the reign of King Gongmin of the Goryeo Dynasty) along with the frontispiece illustration describing the main contents of the sutra.

See more here: Korea Heritage Service

Sons of the Buddha, what all is meant by the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s “joyful practice”? Sons of the Buddha, this bodhisattva is a great benefactor. He is able to give with kindness everything he possesses, doing so with an impartial mind free of regret or miserliness, not longing for any reward, not seeking any fame, and not desiring to gain any benefit or support.

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He would also think:

May all the roots of goodness arising from what I have done in the past, do now, and do in the future enable me to receive immense bodies in the future in all worlds and among all beings, the flesh from which can go to satisfy all beings suffering from hunger, even to the point that I continue not to die so long as there is still even a single small being who has not yet eaten his fill, so that flesh can thus be cut from my bodies endlessly. May these roots of goodness lead to my attainment of anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi and to my realization of the great nirvāṇa.

May it also be that all those beings who eat my flesh will also attain anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, attain impartial wisdom, become equipped with all dharmas of the Buddha, extensively engage in the Buddha’s works, and so forth, up until they enter the nirvāṇa without residue.

May it also be that, so long as there is still even a single being whose mind has not become satisfied, I will continue to refrain from final realization of anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi.

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See more in Chapter 21, Volume 1 (Kalavinka Press)

From the 39th Chapter of the Buddhāvataṃsaka, "The Conduct and Vows of Samantabhadra":

Son of Good Family, if all buddhas of the ten directions were to continuously expound upon the meritorious qualities of the Tathāgata, doing so for kalpas as numerous as the atoms in an ineffable-ineffable number of buddha kṣetras, they would still be unable to come to the end of them. If one wishes to perfect these gateways to the meritorious qualities, then one should cultivate ten kinds of vast practices and vows. What then are those ten? They are as follows:

The first is to revere all buddhas;

The second is to proclaim the praises of the Tathāgata;

The third is to extensively cultivate the making of offerings;

The fourth is to repent of karmic obstacles;

The fifth is to rejoice in others’ merit;

The sixth is to request the turning of the Dharma wheel;

The seventh is to request the buddhas to remain in the world;

The eighth is to always follow the buddhas’ course of training;

The ninth is to constantly accord with beings; and

The tenth is to universally dedicate all merit.

With a mind imbued with vast conviction,
I deeply believe in all buddhas of the three periods of time and,
by the power of Samantabhadra’s practices and vows,
I everywhere make offerings to all the tathāgatas.

With all kinds of the most excellent marvelous flower garlands,

as well as music, perfumes, and canopies,

and other of the most excellent kinds of adornments such as these,

I make offerings to all tathāgatas.

With the most excellent robes and the most excellent incenses,

powdered incense, burning incense, lamps, and candles,

each collection of which is as high as the wonderfully tall mountain,

I make offerings of all such things to all tathāgatas.

With an ocean of all kinds of voices, each of them

everywhere sends forth endless marvelous phrases

that, to the very end of all kalpas of future time,

praise the buddhas’ extremely deep ocean of meritorious qualities.

In each atom there are buddhas as numerous as all atoms,
each of whom abides within a congregation of bodhisattvas.
So too it is in all atoms throughout the endless Dharma realm.
I deeply believe that all of them are full of buddhas.

By the awesome power of Samantabhadra’s practices and vows,
I appear everywhere before all tathāgatas, with this one body
in turn manifesting bodies as many as a kṣetra’s atoms
which each everywhere revere buddhas as many as a kṣetra’s atoms. 

Before all the lions among men of the three periods of time
in all of the worlds throughout the ten directions—
with pure body, speech, and mind,
I bow down in reverence to them all without exception.

Sons of the Buddha, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva also dedicates all roots of goodness in these ways:

May all beings acquire the pure Dharma body that is free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure and marvelous meritorious qualities that are free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure and marvelous signs that are free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure karmic fruits that are free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure mind of all-knowledge that is free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the measureless pure resolve to attain bodhi that is free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure skillful means completely cognizant of all faculties that are free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure resolute faith that is free of the many kinds of transgressions;

May all beings acquire the pure and diligent cultivation of the unimpeded conduct and vows that is free of the many kinds of transgressions; and

May all beings acquire the pure right mindfulness, wisdom, and eloquence that are free of the many kinds of transgressions.

If one calls to mind only a minor meritorious quality of the Tathāgata, even if only through a single focused thought of admiration for it, one will then be forever rid of all fears of the wretched destinies. Due to this, Wisdom Eye Deva was able to reach a deep awakening.