Eng“What is the bodhisatva’s skilled approach to accumulation? There are two things bodhisatvas accumulate. What are these two things? They are merit and knowledge. What is the accumulation of merit? It is the item of merit which is created through generosity, the item of merit which is created through morality, and the item of merit which is created through meditative cultivation. It is to remain in a mental state of love, and to get involved out of compassion. It is to apply oneself to all the roots of virtue, and to confession of one’s own evils and those of others. It is the item of merit which is created through rejoicing in all the roots of virtue of all sentient beings throughout the three times, of all those who are learning and who have no more to learn, of all pratyekabuddhas, of those who are newly committed, of those who are engaged in practice, of those whose progress is irreversible, of those who have only one birth remaining, the item of merit which is created through rejoicing in those who have committed themselves, the lords, the buddhas of the past, the future, and the present. It is the item of merit created through requesting the Dharma from all the buddhas and all the noble ones. It is the item of merit created through dedicating all one’s roots of virtue to awakening. It is to inspire the arising of the mind of awakening in all those in whom the mind of awakening has not yet arisen. [D174a]It is to teach the path of the perfections to those in whom the mind of awakening has arisen, and to collect material wealth for the poor. It is to provide medicine for sick, to treat them with respect, and to accept those who are in a wretched state with no hesitation. It is to not conceal one’s failings, and to confess what one has done wrong. It is to serve and revere, in many different ways, the lords, the buddhas of the present who have reached final nirvana. It is to respect the gurus and preceptors as spiritual friends. It is to search vigorously for the priceless, invaluable teachings. It is to show affection for those who preach the Dharma, and to still thirst to listen to the Dharma even after one has travelled for a hundred yojanas. It is to teach the Dharma without any thought of material gain. It is to serve one’s parents. It is to show gratitude. It is to be grateful. It is to have no regrets, and to not be satisfied with the merit one has accrued. It is to guard one’s physical conduct and not act in a hypocritical manner. It is to guard one’s speech, and not speak in a hypocritical manner. It is to guard one’s mind and not think hypocritical thoughts. It is to establish monuments in honor of tathāgatas, which brings one as much merit as is possessed by Brahmā. It is to perform boundless acts of worship which lead one to attain the perfect characteristics, [MS125a]and to gather the accumulations of various roots of virtue which lead one to attain the perfect characteristics. It is to ornament one’s body with the absence of conceit. It is to ornament one’s speech with the relinquishment of all wicked speech. It is to ornament the mind with an unimpeded intellect. It is to ornament the buddha realms with acts of transformation by using one’s superior abilities. It is to ornament the qualities of the Dharma with the purity of knowledge. It is to ornament assemblies with abstention from slander, harsh words, and divisive talk. It is to ornament the Dharma of non-attachment by upholding the Dharma. [D174b]It is to contribute to the presentation of Dharma not being ruined, by offering encouragement which brings delight. It is to provide effective teachings by removing obscurations and hindrances, and by listening to the Dharma respectfully. It is to ornament the tree of awakening by offering groves, and to ornament the seat of awakening by not relinquishing the mind of awakening, the mind which precedes all roots of virtue. It is to purify birth and death by not objectifying actions and the vices. It is to have a hand of wealth by giving away all one’s precious valuable objects, and to make one’s wealth inexhaustible by increasing it through the inexhaustible act of dedicating. “He displays no angry demeanor, and so he enjoys the open hearts, smiling faces, and pleasant conversation of all sentient beings. He radiates the same light on all sentient beings, and so he attains the adornment of sameness. He does not leave those who lack learning in darkness, and emits an array of light. His morality and his merit prosper, and so his births become pure. He does not present arguments to try to excuse his failures, and so the womb is purified. He maintains the purity of the ten wholesome forms of conduct, and so he is reborn as a god or a human being. He observes all the guidelines, and so attains unfaltering determination. He is not a teacher who holds any teachings back, and so he becomes a lord of the Dharma. His motivation is pure and excellent, and so the whole world becomes available to him. He does not settle for limited forms of conduct, but places his confidence in the vastness of the Dharma. By not abandoning the mind of omniscience, he takes up all meritorious kinds of action. Impelled by faith, he perfects the seven kinds of riches. He honors his previous commitments, and so he does not deceive anyone in the world. He perfects the wholesome forms of conduct, and so he perfects all the teachings of the Buddha. This is what is known as the bodhisatva’s skilled approach to accumulation. “What is the bodhisatva’s skilled approach to the accumulation of knowledge? Knowledge comes about on the basis of a particular cause, and there are different causes and conditions through which knowledge is attained. What are these causes? [D175a]What are these conditions? They are: to have a strong desire to search for the Dharma; to follow a friend who has attained knowledge; to rely on the knowledge of buddhas, and not to rely on the knowledge of śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas; not to entertain any pride with respect to these things; and to have affection for one’s guru, to have affection for one’s teacher.