[Explanation of the Meaning] From this point onward, the World-Honored One gives Subhūti and the others his final and definitive teaching. Its meaning is that only in this way can one be said to have ultimately ascended to the ground of Buddhahood. When the mind is pure, the Buddha-land is pure. If one grasps at appearances, this cannot be called adornment; if one grasps at dharmas, this likewise cannot be called adornment. One must thoroughly understand the twofold absence of self and dharmas. One who is capable of benefiting oneself and others is truly called a bodhisattva. This is the ultimate and definitive point concerning the purification of one’s own land. (What follows is spoken for those who have already attained realization and reached ultimate certainty.)

“Subhūti, if a bodhisattva says, ‘I shall adorn a Buddha-land,’ that person cannot be called a bodhisattva. Why? The adornment of a Buddha-land of which the Tathāgata speaks is not adornment; it is called adornment. Subhūti, if a bodhisattva thoroughly understands the absence of self and dharmas, the Tathāgata says that this person is truly a bodhisattva.”

[Commentary] From this point onward, the World-Honored One speaks for those in the assembly who have reached ultimate certainty. The meaning is that the initial determination lies in first purifying one’s own land. Yet one must not cling to the existence of a Buddha-land that can be adorned, much less cling to a method of adornment; for if one establishes the four marks, one cannot be called a bodhisattva. Therefore, only by realizing the twofold emptiness of self and dharmas and thoroughly understanding true reality can one benefit oneself and others. The Tathāgata says that such a person is truly a bodhisattva. These words teach that one should purify one’s essence; this is the first definitive point.