The Earth-Maintaining Bodhisattva in the Twenty-Five Sages' Perfect Penetration Methods, Volume Five of the Shurangama Sutra

Original text:持地菩萨即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我念往昔。普光如来。出现于世。我为比丘。常于一切要路津口。田地险隘。有不如法。妨损车马。我皆平填。或作桥梁。或负沙土。如是勤苦。经无量佛出现于世。或有众生。于阛阓处。要人擎物。我先为擎。至其所诣。放物即行。不取其直。毗舍浮佛现在世时。世多饥荒。我为负人。无问远近。惟取一钱。或有车牛被于陷溺。我有神力。为其推轮。拔其苦恼。时国大王筵佛设斋。我于尔时。平地待佛。毗舍如来。摩顶谓我。当平心地。则世界地。一切皆平。我即心开。见身微尘。与造世界所有微尘。等无差别。微尘自性。不相触摩。乃至刀兵。亦无所触。我于法性。悟无生忍。成阿罗汉。回心今入菩萨位中。闻诸如来。宣妙莲花佛知见地。我先证明。而为上首。佛问圆通。我以谛观。身界二尘。等无差别。本如来藏。虚妄发尘。尘销智圆。成无上道。斯为第一。

Explanation: The Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I recall that in the past, when the Buddha Prabhāketu appeared in the world, I was a bhikṣu who often, at all the important road junctions and ferry crossings, and in the dangerous and narrow places between fields, wherever there were gullies, pits, and other uneven spots that obstructed or damaged carts and horses, would quietly fill them in and level them. In those places, I would either build a bridge or personally carry sand and earth to level the road, so that carts and horses could pass without hindrance. Laboring diligently in this way for sentient beings, I passed through the appearance in the world of countless Buddhas. During such long eons, besides repairing roads, I also carried burdens for people. For example, when some sentient being in a very bustling place wanted to find someone to help carry heavy objects, I would come to his side first and help him carry his things; upon arriving at the place he designated, I would set down the load and walk away, never taking any payment or fee from him. When the Buddha Vipaśyin appeared in this world, the world was plagued by famine. As a laborer who carried burdens for others, no matter how far or near the residence of the person who asked me to carry things, I would only take one coin. Or when an ox and cart were stuck in the mud, I would use great strength to push out the wheel for them and relieve their distress. At that time, the king of the country prepared a meal of almsfood to host the Buddha, and it was then that I leveled and smoothed the road the Buddha was to travel, awaiting the arrival of Buddha Vipaśyin. The Tathāgata Vipaśyin touched my head and told me: You should level your mind-ground; then the roads of the world will all be level. Hearing these words, my mind at that moment became enlightened, and I understood the connection between the mind-ground and the great earth of the world, the relationship between the material body and the world. With the wisdom eye I observed that the fine dust particles composing the material body and all the fine dust particles that constitute the world are identical, without any difference; the self-nature of the dust particles does not touch or collide with one another, and even weapons cannot touch the dust particles. On the dharmatā of these dust particles I realized the patience of non-arising and became an arhat. I have long since turned my mind from the arhat stage to enter the bodhisattva stages of the Great Vehicle; hearing the various Buddhas proclaim the wondrous lotus flower and reveal the Buddha's knowledge and vision, I was the first to give proof, becoming the foremost among the assembly. Now the Buddha asks me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: it was because I carefully contemplated the two kinds of dust particles composing the material body and the world, which are equally without difference, fundamentally all dust particles conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha. After the marks of the dust particles were extinguished in my mind, wisdom became perfectly luminous, and I accomplished the unsurpassed Buddha Way—this is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration.

When the Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara met Buddha Vipaśyin, why was it that upon hearing just one sentence from Buddha Vipaśyin his mind-ground became enlightened and he became an arhat? This is because the Bodhisattva Dharanimdhara, over countless eons, had made the bodhicitta resolve, extensively benefited sentient beings, accumulated great merit, subdued his self-nature, and attained profound meditative concentration (samādhi); the causes and conditions for enlightenment had been completely fulfilled. Therefore, upon hearing Vipaśyin Buddha say that if one levels one's own mind-ground, the lands of the world will all be leveled, he immediately reflected and realized the subtle relationship between the material body and the material world, attaining the fourth fruit of arhatship. Therefore, practitioners should accumulate as much as possible the merit provisions for seeing the Way; as long as the provisions for enlightenment are complete, when the causes and conditions ripen, one will awaken to the Way without obstruction.