Bodhisattvas Should Generate the Ten Inexhaustible Vows

At the time of completing the mind of the seventh bhūmi, one cultivates an even more supreme meditative absorption (samādhi). With the bliss of meditative absorption, one will not leave the three realms to enter nirvāṇa without remainder. Between the first and seventh bhūmi bodhisattvas, because craving and attachment to the world of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) have been eradicated, and one no longer delights in the dharmas of the world of the five aggregates, once all grasping has been completely severed, there is nothing left in the world of the three realms that can bind the manas, and so the bodhisattva would enter nirvāṇa without remainder. Therefore, during this period, one must retain a little afflictive delusion and karma, keeping a trace of craving toward certain subtle dharmas, using this to bind the manas so that it does not leave the three realms.

If one perseveres unwaveringly in the Buddha Way and perseveres unwaveringly in delivering sentient beings, one will not enter nirvāṇa without remainder. This is also a subtle form of grasping, but it must be retained for the time being. The Avataṃsaka Sūtra contains the bodhisattvas' Ten Inexhaustible Vows. Before a bodhisattva enters the first bhūmi, one must make these vows; only then can one be assured of cultivating the Buddha Way forever, of never abandoning sentient beings, of not entering nirvāṇa, and of ultimately accomplishing the Buddha Way.

Only when the mind is free from the grasping of self and the grasping of dharmas is it liberated with ease; the more one grasps, the smaller the mind's capacity becomes. An eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva's mind has no grasping; it is unconditioned and at ease, functioning naturally in accordance with vows, vast and unobstructed, and its powers of spiritual penetration are also the greatest—it can manifest a Buddha's body in the form of a bodhisattva, manifest Buddha lands, and extensively deliver immeasurable sentient beings. Before the third fruit (anāgāmin), one need not make these vows, yet one also cannot enter nirvāṇa without remainder. This is because all are still bound by the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion within the three realms; having craving and attachment toward the world of the five aggregates, they will not leave the bondage of birth-and-death in the three realms, and must still endure the suffering of karmic retribution. The heavier the craving and attachment, the heavier the hatred and resentment, the heavier the delusion, and the more suffering there is—the more severe the bondage of birth-and-death. Every person's grasping of themselves and craving for themselves is the chief culprit that harms them, yet they are unaware of it, still endlessly going on about "I, I, I"—truly pitiable and lamentable.