Toh 158The Sūtra of the Questions of Brahmā

Summary

In the middle of the night, while the Buddha Śākyamuni is
immersed in meditation, Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world,
appears before him and asks him how bodhisattvas can quickly
achieve full awakening. In response, the Buddha gives a
teaching on mindfulness of the body. The following morning,
when Brahmā has departed, the Buddha relays his teaching to
the monks.

Acknowledgements

This text was translated by ErdeneBaatar Erdene-Ochir and
Jed Forman.

The translation was completed under the patronage and
supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
George FitzHerbert edited the translation and the
introduction, and Dawn Collins copyedited the text.
Martina Cotter was in charge of the digital publication
process.

Introduction

In the middle of the night at Kūṭāgāraśālā, the
monastery in the great forest grove near Vaiśālī,
the Buddha is seated cross-legged, engaged in a
progression of the four concentrations—proceeding
through them forward and then backward—at the end of
which he enters a meditative absorption which makes
his whole body radiant. Far away in the brahmā
heavens of the form realm, the great god Brahmā sees
the Buddha’s radiance and leaves his heaven in order
to ask him a question. Arriving there in an instant,
he politely rouses the Buddha from his absorption
with gentle verses of praise and then proceeds to
ask his question. The arrival of Brahmā is
especially noteworthy, considering that according to
Buddhist literature, it was Brahmā who first
beseeched the reluctant Buddha to teach, just after
the latter had gained awakening.

Brahmā’s question on this occasion is simple:
how many dharmas, or qualities, do bodhisattvas need
in order to quickly reach the complete awakening of
a buddha? The Bhagavān’s reply is surprising: one
needs only one dharma and that dharma is mindfulness
of the body.

Mindfulness of the body is the first of the four
applications of mindfulness recognized throughout
Buddhist literature—mindfulness concerning the body,
mindfulness concerning feelings, mindfulness
concerning the mind, and mindfulness concerning the
nature of phenomena. In this discourse, it is the
first of these that takes precedence, though
mindfulness concerning the mind and mindfulness
concerning phenomena are also addressed
sequentially.

First, he speaks of mindfulness of the body in
terms of being present and aware in undertaking
daily activities like sitting, walking, lying down,
and so on. He then explains mindfulness in terms of
reflection on the transience and essencelessness of
the physical body, which is prone to disease and
illness, and will ultimately be reduced to something
disgusting. Such reflection loosens attachment to
the physical body, and being without attachment to
the physical body and its trappings means living a
materially simple life.

This leads to a presentation of mindfulness in
terms of avoiding unvirtuous or unwholesome
activities. In particular, these are the first three
precepts: not killing, not taking what is not given,
and avoiding lust. This section on maintaining a
strict discipline is, however, softened by the
proviso that the body also needs to be nurtured,
since without a body a bodhisattva is unable to make
use of the opportunities that this life affords.

The Buddha then explains how the six perfections
may be used as antidotes to counter the mind’s
natural tendencies toward negative mental states.
The tendency to miserliness is countered by
generosity, the tendency toward immorality by
discipline, the tendency toward ill will by
forbearance, the tendency toward indolence by
effort, the tendency to distraction by
concentration, and the tendency to incorrect
understanding by wisdom. Particular attention is
paid to the final two. The instruction on
concentration, for example, includes a condensed
account of how bodhisattvas use meditation focused
on an object to stabilize the mind, and once it is
stable, proceed to looking for the mind, and to
objectless meditative equipoise. A further
contemplation is offered in which one examines
letters and words as a way of seeing the
“hollowness” of phenomena, and through this, of
experiencing all conditioned phenomena as dreamlike.
In the scheme of the four applications of
mindfulness, these reflections would correspond to
the third and fourth applications of mindfulness
concerning the mind and phenomena, respectively.

The instruction concerning wisdom also includes
a contemplation in which the elements that make up
our bodies—earth, water, fire, and wind—are analyzed
as being the same as the elements that are external
to our bodies, as a way of reducing attachment to
our own physicality.

The Buddha then summarizes the teachings he has
given to Brahmā in a short series of verses. These
verses recapitulate three of the four applications
of mindfulness that have already been covered:
mindfulness concerning the body, concerning the
mind, and concerning phenomena. The text does not
seem to reference the application of mindfulness
concerning feelings.

Brahmā’s Question
was translated into Tibetan by the Indian preceptor
Jinamitra and the Tibetan translator Bandé Yeshé Dé
in the late eighth or the early ninth century. The
translation is attested in both of the extant early
ninth-century imperial catalogs of translated
texts—the Phangthangma and the Denkarma. The
Sanskrit original seems to have been lost. The sūtra
does not appear to have been translated into Chinese
and is not included in the Chinese Buddhist canon. A
Mongolian translation from Tibetan is found in the
Mongolian Kangyur. An English translation by Peter
Skilling is included in his anthology of
translations, Questioning the
Buddha, published in 2021. No modern
academic treatments have been identified.

The central topic of the sutra, the applications
of mindfulness, is treated in a number of Kangyur
texts in terms that have considerable overlap with
the present text, such as, for example, parts of the Perfection
of Wisdom sūtras. There are also a
number of Pali suttas that address the subject of
mindfulness of the body.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

Brahmā’s Question

Homage to all the buddhas and
bodhisattvas!

In the middle of the night, the Bhagavān sat
awake in a cross-legged position, settled in
mindfulness. He entered the first meditative
concentration, wherein joy and happiness arise from
engaging in thought and scrutiny while in
seclusion. Emerging from that, the
Bhagavān entered the second meditative
concentration, wherein joy and happiness arise from
meditative absorption that involves no thought or
scrutiny. Emerging from that, the Bhagavān
entered the third meditative concentration, wherein
there is no attachment to joy, and one rests
comfortably with mindfulness and equanimity.
Emerging from that, the Bhagavān entered the fourth
meditative concentration, wherein happiness is
relinquished, and with suffering already having been
relinquished, notions of mental comfort and mental
discomfort subside and disappear, and there is only
mindfulness and equanimity in which there is neither
suffering nor happiness.

Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, dwelling in the
brahmā abodes, saw the Bhagavān shining with great
radiance, clear and bright, beautifully adorned with
the thirty-two marks of a great being. When he saw
this, he disappeared from the brahmā world
and he appeared in the great forest, bathing it and
everything in it in light, and he was seated before
the Bhagavān, very close to him.

Then Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, thought to
himself, “It is difficult to approach and difficult
to understand buddha bhagavāns. Since the Bhagavān
is immersed in meditative absorption, it would not
be appropriate for me to rouse him from his
meditation by making a noise like clearing my throat
or saying something. Instead, I should politely
request the Bhagavān to emerge from his meditation
by addressing him in verse.” Assuring himself that
this was the case, Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world,
draped his upper robe over one shoulder, and with
his palms joined, he bowed towards the Bhagavān and,
with his head still bowed, he urged the Bhagavān to
emerge from his meditation with the following
verses:

“Lord, unsullied, unblemished, and
immaculate,

You are justly worshipped by gods, by the best of
humans,

By gandharvas, nāgas, and asuras as well,

Worshipped in order to heal sentient beings.

“Sage, Most Excellent of Humans, engaged in
concentration,

You are as unshakable as a mountain,

As unfathomable as an ocean,

And imperturbable, even by hordes of māras.

“Sage, Holy One, engaged in concentration,

You are without material concern, without
marks,

Without distinctions, without reliance,

Without location, and without appearance.

“Your concentration is the perfection of
concentration;

It is beyond the scope of discursive thought,

Beyond the scope of childlike beings,

And it transcends the mind and mental
factors.

“Lord whose speech is like the roar of a
lion,

Sage whose voice reverberates like thunder,

Hero with the grace of the moon,

Homage to you, O jewel for sentient beings.”

Thereupon, becoming aware of these verses of
invocation uttered by Brahmā, lord of the Sahā
world, the Bhagavān emerged from his
meditative absorption while remaining cross-legged.
Once he had emerged, the Bhagavān cleared his throat
to summon Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world. When
Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, saw that the
Bhagavān had emerged from his absorption while
remaining cross-legged, he approached the Bhagavān,
circumambulated him three times, bowed his head at
the feet of the Bhagavān, and sat down to one side.

Once seated, Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world,
said to the Bhagavān, “Were the Bhagavān to grant me
a moment, I would like to request a teaching from
the tathāgata, arhat, truly complete Buddha,
regarding a certain point.” The Bhagavān replied to
Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, “Brahmā, the
Tathāgata always has time to grant you a teaching.
Brahmā, you may ask the Tathāgata whatever you like,
and I will oblige with a teaching that will delight
you.”

Granted the opportunity by the Bhagavān, Brahmā,
lord of the Sahā world, asked the Bhagavān,
“Bhagavān, do bodhisattva mahāsattvas require many
dharmas to quickly reach the unsurpassable, truly
complete awakening of buddhahood?” The Bhagavān
replied to Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, “Brahmā,
if bodhisattva mahāsattvas have just one dharma,
they will quickly reach the unsurpassable, truly
complete awakening of buddhahood. What is
that one dharma? It is mindfulness that observes the
body. Brahmā, how do bodhisattvas mindfully observe
the body? Brahmā, it is like this; when bodhisattvas
think ‘I am going,’ they are mindful that they are
going and recognize what they are doing exactly.
When they come back, they are mindful that they are
coming back, and they recognize what they are doing
exactly. When they lie down, stand, walk, or sit,
they are mindful that they are lying down, standing,
walking, or sitting, and they recognize what they
are doing exactly.

“Sitting alone in seclusion, absorbed inwardly,
with a peaceful mind, they reflect on the body as
follows: ‘Alas, the body is unstable, impermanent,
and inherently weak. It is without essence, in
constant flux, subject to disintegration, subject to
destruction, dependently originated, like an
illusion, and like a dewdrop. It is unstable and
impure, maculated with pus, eventually overcome by
wind and sun, at the end reduced to dust, and
ultimately repulsive. It is vulnerable to many
diseases, full of malignancy, beset by headaches,
and is by its nature ruined by illness. This
stinking, oozing pile of bones needs so much
attentive care!’

“By being mindful, bodhisattvas analyze these
faults of the body exactly as they are. In this way
they are not attached to the body, they do not
desire the body, and they do not grasp the body as
theirs. Because they do not esteem the body, they
are not attached to life, they do not desire life,
and they do not grasp life as theirs. Without
esteeming the body or life, they are content with
the bare necessities when it comes to monastic
robes, food, bedding, seating, medicines, and basic
goods. Every activity undertaken by those
engaged in the spiritual life—even those that are
beneficial or virtuous—are seen as empty, yet they
do not grow weary and they do not despair, and their
minds are not burdened with melancholy.

“When they go before preceptors or teachers,
they are mindful and think, ‘To meet a preceptor is
rare. To meet a teacher is rare. If I were to go
there, and they were to mention or make me recall
some wrong or unwholesome deed that I have
committed, that would be bad.’

“That consideration is the cause, condition, and
foundation for observing the precepts with respect,
with scrupulousness, with wholesome deeds, with
quiet composure, and with great thoroughness.
Observing the precepts with respect, with
scrupulousness, with wholesome deeds, with quiet
composure, and with great thoroughness, they are
able to go before preceptors and teachers without
any anxiety or timidity. They are fearless and do
not even show their burgeoning excitement. Why?
Because they are respectful, deferential, and
cautious, like a bride from a good family. Because
they are cautious, they avoid each and every kind of
fault and misdeed of the body.

“Brahmā, what are the faults and misdeeds of the
body for bodhisattvas? Brahmā, killing is a fault
and a misdeed of the body for bodhisattvas. Brahmā,
for bodhisattvas taking what is not given and
unchaste conduct are faults and misdeeds of the
body. Brahmā, how do bodhisattvas renounce killing?
Brahmā, bodhisattvas do not kill living
creatures under the sway of attachment, nor do they
kill under the sway of hatred or delusion. They hold
other sentient beings and other people dear, just as
they hold themselves and those they love dear. They
do not themselves kill other sentient beings or
other people, nor do they cause others to kill, nor
do they rejoice in any act of killing done by
others. They do not themselves cut beings, nor do
they cause others to cut them, nor do they rejoice
in any cutting done by others. They do not
themselves strike, nor do they cause others to
strike, nor do they rejoice when others strike.

“How do they renounce taking what is not given?
Brahmā, bodhisattvas have no desire for the worldly
possessions of beings, such as gold, jewels, pearls,
beryl, conch shells, crystal, coral, gold dust,
silver, and so on, or for clothing, adornments of
various kinds, cattle, grain, stores, or for any
kind of pleasing thing. Since they do not even give
them a thought, they do not steal or take them. They
do not steal, nor do they cause others to steal, nor
do they rejoice in the act of stealing. Whether they
are in a city or a remote place, they do not take
anything, not even a blade of grass, that has not
been given to them.

“How do they renounce unchaste conduct? Brahmā,
bodhisattvas always protect the doors of their sense
faculties. They are thoroughly restrained. They only
go to suitable places. They are mindful to be well
guarded. They are mindful to always be guarded. And
with such mindfulness, their minds are safeguarded.
They have control over their bodies and
their speech. Being mindful to visit only suitable
places, they develop the outlook that it would be
preferable to take burning hot sand in their cupped
hands and pour it into their own eyes than to look
at a beautiful local woman with lust. Why? Because
they have the thought that looking at a beautiful
local woman in such a way will lead to their ruin
and downfall, and to being miserable for a long
time.

“With physical observation of the body like
this, they maintain proper mindfulness toward food,
drink, lodging, bedding, and seating. They make use
of these things, but they do not relish them and
they are not attached to them. If they find
themselves really relishing them, then they should
reflect like this: ‘That which appears to be
pleasurable turns out to be the opposite—suffering.
There is no conditioned entity in the three realms
that can really bring happiness. Why? Because that
which is conditioned is impermanent. How can those
who are intelligent by nature find happiness in
impermanent things?’

“Brahmā, if bodhisattvas are thoroughly engaged
in practice and become oppressed by the sadness that
‘there is only suffering and no happiness,’ they
should counter that affliction with the
consideration that since this body requires
regulation and development, it needs bribery for
success. This body cannot be sustained with
only painful exertion. It must be sustained with
happy exertion. With a stable body through this
life, one can achieve virtuous qualities. By analogy, a
merchant who seeks profit may hire a thousand
porters and compensate them well. He does not do so
in order to enrich the porters with adornments, or
in order to make them happy, but rather to have the
loads carried. Similarly, when bodhisattvas eat
food, they do not eat in order to beautify the body
or to please the body, but rather in order
to be able to do those virtuous activities that
require a body and that lead to liberation.

“Brahmā, if bodhisattvas are not able to
understand the mind with the antidotes taught by the
Tathāgata, then they should reflect as follows:
‘that which we call “the mind” is difficult to
perfect. It grasps inappropriately. It is drawn
toward saṃsāra and not toward that which is
virtuous. It is drawn toward society and not toward
seclusion. It is drawn toward pleasure and not
toward suffering. It is drawn toward the joy of
speaking and not toward the view of reality. It is
drawn toward the impure and not toward the pure. It
is hard to control, it is hard to catch, for it is
baseless, void, hollow, momentary, and arises from
combinations of causes and conditions. Who among
those who are intelligent by nature would let
themselves be led astray by the mind, which has such
a nature?’ They think in this way and, by developing
awareness of the mind like this, they make effort to
tame the mind.

“In order to tame the tendency toward
miserliness, they practice giving. Even giving a
single mouthful of food, just a berry, a bean, or a grain
of sesame, is enough, so long as it is offered to
anyone, and not just to those whom one already holds
dear or with whom one is already acquainted.

“In order to tame the tendency toward ill will,
they cultivate forbearance. When they enter cities
or towns, they take no notice of the abuse they
receive. Even if they are struck, beaten,
threatened, overpowered, and insulted, they
think nothing of it. Even if they are harangued by
local people, saying, ‘Oh these śrāmaṇas with shaved
heads are bad! Oh, these śrāmaṇas with ugly shaved
heads are bad!’ —they think
nothing of it. Even when they are slandered with
false accusations, they accept it with forbearance
and remain focused on what they have to do. And
those with forbearance do not praise themselves or
disparage others.

“In order to tame the tendency toward indolence,
to attain those qualities oriented toward awakening
that have not yet been attained, to develop those
that have already been attained, to mature those
that have been developed, to master those that have
been matured, and to refine those that have been
mastered, they apply effort. When acting for the
sake of beings, they do not grow weary, they do not
despair, and they do not lose heart. Whether it is
to benefit an outcaste or a king, they will always
go the distance for them, without prejudice. Whether
bodhisattvas are offered some base, second-rate
object by a miserable and destitute person, or a
supremely wonderful gift by a prosperous and wealthy
person, bodhisattvas have compassion. They praise
them respectfully, encourage and reassure them, and
accept the second-rate object. Why? Because it is
not an easy thing for a miserable person to give a
gift.

“In order to tame the tendency toward
distraction, they develop stable meditative
concentration. How do they practice concentration?
Brahmā, first of all, bodhisattvas control their
body well. Physically, they live in seclusion and
avoid physical contact. They give up
excessive attachment to the body. When the body is
lethargic or agitated, they are aware of it. They
know what agrees with their body, what sustains it,
and what makes it strong. Likewise, they control
their speech well. They speak little and their
answers are short. What they do say is meaningful
and reasonable. They abandon any delight in
frivolous talk. Likewise, they also control the mind
well. They renounce all unwholesome thoughts.

“By purifying the three places in this
way, they strive to make blue, yellow, red, and
white visible forms disappear, not grasping at them
as characteristics and not grasping at them as
evidence. They do not grasp
onto the characteristics of adornments and clothing
or take them as indications of some object. They do
not grasp onto the characteristics of various
visible forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangible
objects, or take them as indications. They do not
grasp onto the characteristics of men, women, boys,
and girls, nor take them as indications.

“They stay alone in seclusion, settle inwardly,
and strive to make the mind stable. Whether taking
repulsion as the object of meditation,
loving-kindness as the object, or compassion as the
object, any despondency that may arise is focused on
in the same way, without any physical tension, and
the flow of the in breath and the out breath is
maintained without interruption so that the wind
element is not disturbed. Their minds do not veer
off and get distracted. Whether walking, lying,
standing, or sitting, they stay with the object and
they keep their mind focused on it.

“Brahmā, once bodhisattvas have achieved
stability of mind when focused on an object, they
enter meditative equipoise on the mind, in which
even the mind is not apprehended as an object by the
mind. The one who is in meditative equipoise
is not apprehended and the purpose of meditative
equipoise is not apprehended. They think to
themselves, ‘Alas! Foolish ordinary people are
fixated on worthless, hollow things.’ This is called
the special insight of bodhisattvas. With such
insight, they neither engage with mental afflictions
nor produce them anew. This is called the calm
abiding of bodhisattvas.

“Brahmā, moreover, when bodhisattvas staying in
seclusion are settled inwardly, they contemplate the
names and letters they have heard and think about
what is actually signified by words. When they
examine words in this way, they see that letters are
worthless and hollow. Having seen that letters are
worthless and hollow, they see that names are
worthless and hollow. They see that what is
signified by a name is also worthless and hollow.
They see that any forms that may appear are
worthless and hollow. By seeing them as worthless
and hollow, they correctly understand them. Because
they correctly understand them, conditioned
phenomena come to appear as dreamlike. Having
examined phenomena in this way, they rest with their
minds firmly established in great compassion toward
sentient beings.

“In order to tame the tendency toward erroneous
understanding, they cultivate wisdom. How do they
cultivate it? They take as unerring all
sūtras—whether expounded by means of relative truth
or expounded by means of ultimate truth—that have
been clearly and lucidly expressed. They
reflect unerringly on what they have understood from
the Dharma that has been unerringly taught therein.
They apply themselves with effort to the yoga of
meditation. With the strength of gnosis and wisdom
in particular, they do not apprehend sentient
beings, they do not apprehend life, they do
not apprehend hollowness, they do not apprehend
people, they do not apprehend persons, they do not
apprehend humankind, and they do not apprehend
humanity.

“Nevertheless, they do not fall into the view of
nihilism about everything. They carefully study
imputed designations. With correct wisdom, they
analyze the inner earth element and the outer earth
element as being
one. With correct wisdom, they likewise analyze the
inner water element, fire element, wind element, and
their outer counterparts, as being one. They see
both kinds of elements as worthless and hollow. They
see them as inanimate, essenceless, and as
emptiness. Because they see them as such, just as
they are not attached to the external elements, they
are also not attached to the internal elements.

“With wisdom, they analyze visual consciousness
and physical forms as being one. With wisdom, they
analyze auditory consciousness and sounds, olfactory
consciousness and smells, gustatory consciousness
and tastes, and tactile consciousness and tangible
objects as being one.

“Learned in wisdom, they have the wisdom that
fully realizes and the wisdom that is sharp. They
recognize those dharmas that are nonvirtuous and
they recognize those dharmas that are virtuous. They
recognize the dharmas that bring hearers their
attainment. They recognize the dharmas that bring
solitary realizers their attainment. They recognize
the dharmas that bring bodhisattvas their
attainment. They recognize the dharmas that bring
buddhas their attainment.

“They recognize how the weak, middling, and
strong ripening of nonvirtuous dharmas leads to
rebirth as ghosts, animals, and hell beings. They
recognize the weak, middling, and strong feelings of
beings who are reborn in those realms. They
recognize how the weak, middling, and strong
ripening of virtuous dharmas leads to rebirth among
gods or humans. And they recognize how the karmic
fruits for those reborn there may be weak, middling,
and strong.

They recognize the dharmas that bring the full
attainment of buddhahood: great miraculous
manifestation, great power, holiness, excellence,
preeminence, and greatness, which are not shared by
any hearer, solitary realizer, and bodhisattva, not
to mention other sentient beings.

“In this way, they view all phenomena in
accordance with the Dharma and properly maintain
mindfulness, free from all sinful dharmas, and fully
replete with virtuous dharmas. They commit no bodily
harm, they are not thrown off by consciousness, they
are not thrown off by mind, for they understand the
complex of causes and fruits of dharmas just as they
are.

“By analogy, virtuous dharmas spread like ocean
waves. But unlike ocean waves that come in only to
recede again, for bodhisattvas, those dharmas do not
recede. Rather the virtuous dharmas grow like the
waxing moon. But unlike how the waning moon recedes,
for bodhisattvas, those dharmas do not recede. The
virtuous dharmas grow like a raging torrent in the
summertime. But unlike a torrent that
recedes when the summer is over, for bodhisattvas,
those dharmas do not recede. Brahmā, bodhisattvas
who train in this way will soon completely awaken to
unsurpassable, truly complete buddhahood.”

Thereupon, the Bhagavān spoke these verses:

“When you recognize the faults of the body,

You won’t rely on the faults that the body has;

When you are mindful of the body,

You will obtain a state of faultless peace.

“When you don’t recognize the faults of the
body,

You won’t be aware of the faults the body
has;

When you are not mindful of the body,

You will find suffering hard to bear.

“When you recognize the faults of the mind,

You won’t rely on the faults that the mind
has;

When you are mindful of the mind,

You will obtain a state of faultless peace.

“When you do not recognize the faults of the
mind,

You won’t be aware of the faults the mind
has;

When you are not mindful of the mind,

You will find suffering hard to bear.

“One who relies on virtuous dharmas,

Will not rely on nonvirtuous dharmas;

One who is skilled in the dharmas

Will obtain a state of faultless peace.

“One who does not rely on virtuous dharmas,

Will rely on nonvirtuous dharmas;

One who is not skilled in the dharmas

Will find suffering hard to bear.”

After that, aware that dawn was breaking, the
Bhagavān took a seat that had been prepared for him
amongst the assembly of monks. Once seated, the
Bhagavān said to the monks, “Monks, last
night in the middle of the night, not yet asleep, I
was sitting alone in seclusion absorbed inwardly,
when Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, came before me,
bathing this great forest and everything in it with
light. He praised me, he circumambulated me three
times, and he sat down to one side. Once seated,
Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, said to me, ‘Were
the Bhagavān to grant me a moment, I would like to
request a teaching from the tathāgata, arhat, truly
complete Buddha, regarding a certain point.’ Monks,
this was his request, and I replied to Brahmā, lord
of the Sahā world, ‘Brahmā, the Tathāgata always
has time to grant you a teaching. Brahmā, ask the
Tathāgata whatever you like, and I will oblige with
a teaching that will delight you.’ Granted this
opportunity, Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, asked
me, ‘Bhagavān, do bodhisattva mahāsattvas require
many dharmas to quickly reach the unsurpassable,
truly complete awakening of buddhahood?’ I replied
to Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, ‘Brahmā, if
bodhisattva mahāsattvas have just one dharma, they
will quickly reach the unsurpassable, truly complete
awakening of buddhahood. What is that one dharma? It
is mindfulness that observes the body.’ Then, monks,
I taught Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, the causes,
practices, and results of mindfully observing the
body.”

Then, Venerable Ānanda said to the Bhagavān,
“Wonderful, wonderful! Please tell us what
the Bhagavān taught to Brahmā, lord of the Sahā
world, for the benefit of many beings, for the
happiness of many beings, for the benefit, health,
and happiness of gods and humans! When new monks,
who have only recently gone forth in the Dharma and
Vinaya and have not held it for long, or good people
who have only recently entered the Mahāyāna, listen
to it, they will be delighted, will gain faith, and
will maintain their effort in adhering to their
training.” Then the Bhagavān explained to the monks
the explanation he had given to Brahmā, lord of the
Sahā world.

Afterward, Venerable Ānanda said to the
Bhagavān, “The Bhagavān has spoken well. The Sugata
has spoken well. Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world,
also spoke well when he came before the Bhagavān to
request such a discourse and asked him to teach.
Bhagavān, even if Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world,
possessed no root of virtue before, just by the root
of virtue generated by requesting this discourse, he
will quickly awaken to unsurpassable, truly complete
awakening. Why? Because, Bhagavān, no hearer or
solitary realizer is capable of realizing the limit
and the end of this root of virtue. Why? Because,
Bhagavān, Brahmā, lord of the Sahā world, asked this
question for the common benefit of all sentient
beings.”

When the Bhagavān had finished speaking,
Venerable Ānanda, the monks, the bodhisattvas, the
entire retinue, and the entire world with its gods,
humans, asuras, and gandharvas, rejoiced and praised
what the Bhagavān had said.

Colophon

Notes

Bibliography

Source Text

Other Sources

mindfully
observing the body

generosity

perseverance