The Great Vast Wisdom Master says: If there are people of superior roots and superior wisdom, who do not delight in the paths of external teachings or the Two Vehicles, who possess great capacity, courage, sharpness, and are free from doubt, they are suited to cultivate the Buddha Vehicle. They should arouse such a mind: "I now aspire to seek Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (Unsurpassed, Perfect Enlightenment); I do not seek any other fruit." Because this vow is firmly determined, the demon palaces tremble, and all Buddhas of the ten directions bear witness and know it. They will constantly receive supreme bliss among humans and devas, and in whatever place they are born, they will remember and uphold this without forgetting. If one aspires to accomplish the forms of the various Bodhisattvas within Yoga, this is also called arousing the Bodhi-mind. Why? Because these honored ones are all identical to the body of Mahāvairocana Buddha. It is like a person who craves fame and office: they arouse a mind seeking fame and office, and cultivate conduct leading to fame and office. If one craves wealth and jewels, they arouse a mind seeking wealth and jewels, and engage in activities to manage and acquire wealth. Ordinary people, whether seeking good or evil, first set their mind on the goal, and afterward accomplish their aim. Therefore, those who seek Bodhi arouse the Bodhi-mind and cultivate Bodhi-conduct.
Having aroused such a mind, one must understand the characteristics of Bodhi-mind practice. Its characteristics are explained through three gates. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, formerly while on the causal ground, having aroused this mind, took the Ultimate Truth, the Vow of Practice, and Samādhi as their precept, and never forgot it for even a moment until attaining Buddhahood. It is only in the True Word (Mantra) Dharma that one attains Buddhahood in this very body; therefore, Samādhi is spoken of here, while it is lacking or not discussed in other teachings. The three are: 1) the Vow of Practice, 2) the Ultimate Truth, and 3) Samādhi.
For those who first set out on this path, the practitioner should always hold this intention: "I will bring benefit and well-being to all sentient beings without exception, viewing the beings of the ten directions as my own self."
What is meant by 'benefit'? It is to encourage and inspire all sentient beings, to establish them all in unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, and to never lead them to liberation through the teachings of the two lesser vehicles. The practitioner of mantra knows that all sentient beings inherently possess the Tathagata-garbha nature, that they are all capable of abiding in unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, one does not lead them to liberation through the teachings of the two lesser vehicles. As the *Avatamsaka Sutra* says: "There is not a single sentient being who does not possess the wisdom of the Tathagata. It is only due to deluded thoughts, inversions, and attachments that they fail to realize it. If they are free from deluded thoughts, then omniscient wisdom, spontaneous wisdom, and unobstructed wisdom will manifest immediately."
What is meant by 'well-being'? It is that the practitioner, knowing that all beings will ultimately attain Buddhahood, therefore does not dare to look down upon or slight them. Furthermore, from the gate of great compassion, one should especially strive to rescue them. Whatever beings seek, one should give and provide it to them, even to the point of one's own body and life, not begrudging or clinging to one's own life and safety, in order to bring them joy and happiness.
Once they have been drawn close and have developed trust in the teacher's words, because of this intimacy, they can then be taught and guided. Sentient beings are ignorant and confused; one cannot force them to cross over. The practitioner of mantra skillfully guides and introduces them.
The second, the supreme meaning, is to contemplate that all phenomena lack inherent nature. What does it mean to lack inherent nature? Ordinary people cling to fame, profit, support, and the means of livelihood, using them to secure their bodies, and freely indulge in the three poisons and five desires. Practitioners of the True Word should truly find this detestable and should truly abandon it. Furthermore, various non-Buddhists are attached to their bodies and lives, some aided by medicines to attain longevity in celestial palaces, or to be reborn in heavens, considering it the ultimate. Practitioners of the True Word should contemplate that when their karmic force is exhausted, not yet free from the three realms, their afflictions still remain, past calamities not extinguished, evil thoughts swiftly arise again. At that later time, they sink into the sea of suffering, difficult to escape. One should know that the methods of non-Buddhists are also like illusions, dreams, and mirages. Furthermore, people of the Two Vehicles: Hearers cling to the Four Noble Truths, Solitary Realizers cling to the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. Knowing that the four great elements and five aggregates ultimately perish, they deeply give rise to aversion, break the clinging of sentient beings, diligently cultivate their fundamental practices to attain their fruit, and proceed to the great Nirvana, considering it the ultimate. Practitioners of the True Word should contemplate that people of the Two Vehicles, although they have broken the clinging to self, still have clinging to phenomena; they only pacify the conscious mind and do not know other aspects. Furthermore, having attained their fruit stage, they have already extinguished body and mind, proceeding to their Nirvana, like the great void, serene and eternally still. Those with fixed nature are difficult to arouse; they must wait until their kalpa limit is fully exhausted before they are aroused. Those without fixed nature, regardless of kalpa limits, encounter conditions and then turn their minds toward the Great Vehicle, arising from the transformed city. Having transcended the three realms, it is said that due to past faith in the Buddha, they then receive the skillful means of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, thereby giving rise to the great mind, and then from the initial ten stages of faith downward, they traverse all stages, pass through three immeasurable kalpas of difficult practices and asceticism, and then attain Buddhahood. Knowing that the wisdom of Hearers and Solitary Realizers is narrow and inferior, it is also not to be delighted in. Furthermore, there are sentient beings who give rise to the mind of the Great Vehicle, practice the conduct of Bodhisattvas, cultivating all Dharma gates without exception, again passing through three asamkhyeya kalpas, cultivating the six perfections and ten thousand practices all completely fulfilled, and then realize the Buddha fruit, achieved over a long, distant time. This is because the practices they learn are scattered, leading to having stages. Now, practitioners of the True Word, having contemplated as before, again give rise to the mind that benefits, brings peace and joy, and leaves none behind, for all sentient beings of the realm of sentient beings. With great compassion as their determination, they eternally transcend the states of non-Buddhists and the Two Vehicles. Again cultivating the supreme yoga method, those who can enter the Buddha stage from an ordinary state also transcend the states of Bodhisattvas of the ten grounds. Furthermore, they deeply know that all phenomena lack inherent nature. What does it mean to lack inherent nature? It has been pointed out before. The methods of the misguided path arise from deluded thoughts, and even further, successively become immeasurable, boundless afflictions, revolving in the six destinies. If one is already awakened, deluded thoughts cease and are eliminated, all kinds of phenomena perish, therefore there is no inherent nature. Furthermore, the compassion of all Buddhas, arising from truth to function in saving and gathering sentient beings, giving medicine according to the illness, bestowing various Dharma gates, corresponding to their afflictions for counteraction, encountering a raft at the ford of delusion to reach the other shore; the Dharma should also be relinquished, because it lacks inherent nature. As the *Mahāvairocana Sūtra* says: "The signlessness of all phenomena is called the sign of emptiness. Making this contemplation is called the supreme meaning Bodhi mind." One should know that all phenomena are empty. Having realized that phenomena are originally unproduced, the essence of mind is naturally so, not seeing body or mind, abiding in the still, extinct, equal, ultimate, true wisdom, causing it not to regress or be lost. If deluded thoughts arise, know them and do not follow them. When delusion ceases, the source of mind is empty and still, all virtues are fully possessed, wonderful functions are inexhaustible. Therefore, all Buddhas of the ten directions take the supreme meaning and the vow of practice as their precept. Merely possessing this mind, one can turn the Dharma wheel, benefiting both self and others. As the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra* says: