You can plant good roots or bad roots. If you do not believe in and make offerings to the Triple Jewel, your bad roots increase. When you withdraw from the Triple Jewel, your good roots decrease. When you are near the Triple Jewel your good roots increase. Take heed. Do not do bad deeds. Offer up only good conduct.

The inhabitants of Uttarakuru cannot see the Buddha, hear the Dharma, or see the Sangha, and so their good roots die. In order to plant good roots one should first take refuge with the Triple Jewel. To plant further good roots one can receive the five precepts, the eight precepts, or the ten major and forty-eight minor precepts of a Bodhisattva available for laymen; or the 250 bhikṣu or 348 bhikṣunī precepts available for those who wish to leave the home life.

The good roots one plants by accepting and holding the five precepts and cultivating the ten good acts cannot be seen, smelled, tasted, or touched because they are without a mark. “All with marks is empty and false,” but people do not realize that, and only know how to nurture their bodies, not their good roots.

“What are good roots?”

Good roots are another name for your dharma body and your wisdom. Good roots are the firm foundation which comes from cultivation. A good foundation causes your dharma body to manifest, your wisdom to increase, and your originally existent real mark prajña to function.

It Is essential, however, that you plant good roots before the Triple Jewel in order to reap the fruit of Bodhi. If you plant good roots with non-Buddhist religions, you will not be able to reap any ultimate benefit, no matter how many good roots you plant or how long you nurture them.

The words Subhūti said to the Buddha were added by the Venerable Ananda when the sutras were compiled.

Subhūti said, “Is it possible that living beings will hear this sutra which the Buddha has spoken and will actually believe it?” What he was really asking Śākyamuni Buddha was, “Is it the case that they will not believe it?”

The Buddha immediately admonished Subhūti for even suggesting such a possibility, and said that even in the last five hundred years beings would believe the sutra.

1. The first period of five hundred years is called “The Period Strong in Liberation.” It constitutes the time when the Buddha is in the world, and many people certify to the Way and attain liberation.
2. The second five hundred years is called “The Period Strong in Dhyana Samadhi.” That period follows the Buddha’s extinction and is a time when many people gain certification through the cultivation of dhyana samadhi.
3. The third five hundred years is called “The Period Strong in Learning.” During that time many people investigate sutras.
4. The fourth five hundred years is “The Period Strong in Fighting.” That is the period referred to in the text, the present Dharma Ending Age.

Śākyamuni Buddha said, “There will be people in the last five hundred years who believe and maintain the precepts and who cultivate blessings. They will believe the Vajra Sutra and accept its principles as true, actual, and not false. Such people will have planted good roots for limitless kalpas by making offerings to, showing respect for, and believing in the Triple Jewel Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.”

1. Nirvana of the pure, clear self-nature. The self-nature is inherent in everyone. It is not subject to birth and death and is not larger in sages or smaller in ordinary people.
2. Nirvana with residue. By using the flame of wisdom on the fuel of afflictions, the secondary bonds of delusion are severed; but the basic bond of the body remains. The body which remains is subject to share-section birth and death; that is said to be nirvana “with residue.”
3. Nirvana without residue. When afflictions and the residue of share-section birth and death are extinguished, the multitude of sufferings is eternally stilled. There is no further residue.
4. Nirvana of no dwelling. Here wisdom and compassion are mutually interactive. Those who have attained the nirvana of no dwelling continue to cross living beings over but are themselves not subject to birth and death.

The nirvana without residue mentioned in the text includes the latter two of the four kinds of nirvana.

The Seven Meanings of Mahāsattva will give an idea of his grandeur:

1. He has perfected great roots.

For limitless kalpas the Bodhisattva has made offerings before the Buddha to the Triple Jewel, bowing and revering the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, and performing many meritorious and virtuous deeds. From these acts great roots develop. In a later passage the Vajra Sutra says:

You should know that such people have not planted good roots with just one Buddha, two Buddhas, three, four, or five Buddhas, but have planted good roots with measureless millions of Buddhas.

2. He has great wisdom.

His great wisdom is evident in his resolve to realize Bodhi. Without wisdom such a decision cannot be made. Good roots and the wisdom acquired from cultivation in past lives enable people to read the sutras and participate in dhyana sessions. A person lacking good roots would, from the moment he entered the monastery door, find his heart jumping as though it were inhabited by a monkey, and pounding so hard that standing would be uncomfortable and sitting unbearable. He would resemble a god manifesting the Five Marks of Decay, squirming and fidgeting in his seat and finally running away. …

3. He believes the great dharma.

The Buddhadharma is deeper than the great sea, higher than Mount Sumeru. It is difficult to fathom and difficult to penetrate, but with faith one can taste its flavor. Entry into the ocean of Buddhadharma is impossible for the person who lacks faith. Just as one might gaze at the ocean and heave a great sigh, saying, “It’s so big I could not drink it dry in my entire life,” so too might one react when confronted with the precious store of Buddhadharma, saying, “How can I ever study all the sutras?” However, if one has faith, if one truly believes, then from the shallow one can enter the deep; from the near one can reach the far; from a little one can gain a lot. With constant investigation, little by little one penetrates the precious store of Buddhadharma. Deep faith, firm vows, and actual practice are the ingredients. No matter how wonderful the great dharma is, without firm faith the wonderful cannot be obtained. …

4. He understands the great principle.

This is the understanding that one is, oneself, originally a Buddha. The principle is Buddha; Buddha is the principle. The Buddha is one who has already realized Buddhahood. The Mahāsattva understands that he himself has not yet realized Buddhahood, but that basically the Buddha and he are one, not two and not different. The Buddha’s cultivation of virtue is perfected, that of living beings is not. Living beings are not-yet-realized Buddhas; Buddhas are already-realized living beings. One should not become confused about this and profess to be a Buddha, saying, “I am Buddha and the Buddha is me.” The Buddha is a living being who has realized Buddhahood; living beings are not-yet-realized Buddhas. …

5. He cultivated the great conduct.

In cultivation one should not have a little success and feel satisfied, mistaking the transformation city for the ultimate truth. People of the two vehicles obtain some small advantage and are content. Their satisfaction with certification to the first, second, third, or fourth fruits of Arhatship prevents them from turning from the small to the great.

Some come halfway and think they have reached the goal. There is the case of the ignorant bhikṣu who obtained the state of the fourth dhyana and thought he had certified to the fourth fruit of Arhatship, saying, “I’ve already arrived at my goal.” He was actually only halfway there.

Common men go halfway and then turn back. Without even reaching the fourth dhyana heavens they begin to retreat, “It is too far, too hard, for the likes of us,” they say.

Some are waylaid in a transformation city, like the one described in the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Blossom Sutra. Why was such a city conjured up? Followers of the two vehicles cultivated a day or so seeking the Bodhisattva Way without attaining it. Then they cultivated another day, and still did not become Bodhisattvas. The following day, although they reached the Bodhisattva Way, they did not reach its end, and they decided the process was just too long. These “days” represent years, decades, aeons of time. The longer the cultivators sought to obtain their goal, the more bitter their suffering became. The more weary they grew, the less they were able to proceed. “I cannot go on. It is too far. I didn’t know it was such a long way. I am really tired,” they cried.

Seeing their plight, the Buddha conjured up a transformation city and called to them, “Look! There’s a city ahead where we can rest a few days. Our goal is but a short distance beyond the city.” When they entered the city, the people of the two vehicles became infatuated with the abundance of gold, silver and precious gems and decided to settle there. “This place is a real treasure house,” they thought. …

6. He passes through great kalpas.

The cultivation of a Bodhisattva involves planting good roots, but not before one Buddha only. One who fully cultivates passes through three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas.

7. He seeks the great fruit.

The Bodhisattva Way is cultivated by those who seek the great fruit. Foreign lands are not sought after, because Bodhisattvas are not small landlords who set about conquering other countries in order to build an empire. Only Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, the highest fruit of cultivation, is the goal of great beings.

A Mahāsattva, one whose conduct encompasses those seven aspects, should thus subdue his thoughts.