Toh 173The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “Questions on Selflessness”

Summary

Questions on Selflessness
consists of a dialogue between a group of followers of the
Mahāyāna tradition and a group of tīrthikas, who pose
several questions on the doctrine of selflessness. In the
exchange that follows, the Mahāyāna proponents elucidate
this and other key Buddhist doctrines, such as the
distinction between relative and ultimate reality, the
origin of suffering, the emptiness and illusoriness of all
phenomena, and the path to awakening.

Acknowledgements

This text was translated, introduced, and edited by the
Dharmasāgara Translation Group: Raktrul Ngawang Kunga
Rinpoche, Rebecca Hufen, Shanshan Jia, Jason Sanche, and
Arne Schelling. Thanks to Prof. Harunaga Isaacson
(University of Hamburg) for his kind help and support.

The translation was completed under the patronage and
supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the
Buddha.

Introduction

Questions on
Selflessness consists of a dialogue
between a group of followers of the Mahāyāna
tradition and a group of tīrthika philosophers, who
call upon the Buddhists to explain and defend their
doctrine of selflessness. In the exchange that
follows, the proponents of the Mahāyāna point out
some of the problems with categorically affirming or
denying the existence of a self, and they go on to
clarify several related Buddhist doctrines, such as
the distinction between relative and ultimate
reality, the illusory nature of perceptions, and the
emptiness of all phenomena. A passage of dialogue in
prose is followed by a set of verses that describe
the causes of suffering and the continuous
transmigration in cyclic existence, as well as the
liberation one attains by engendering the mind of
awakening and the perfection of insight. The
structure of the text deviates notably from the
standard sūtra format, in which a description of the
setting and the audience of the discourse is
presented, followed by the delivery of the discourse
itself and a conclusion extolling the benefits of
the teaching. Rather, the text has neither a
description of the setting nor the conclusion
extolling its benefits, and its content consists not
of the words of the Buddha himself but of those of
the anonymous followers of the Mahāyāna.

A Sanskrit manuscript of this sūtra, written in
Newari script, is preserved in the National Archives
of Nepal. It was edited, introduced,
and translated into French by Lévi (1928). Another
edition was prepared by Vaidya (1961) and recently a
revised edition was published by the
Nairātmaparipṛcchā Study Group (2019). For our
translation, we have compared the Tibetan text with
this most recent Sanskrit edition by the
Nairātmaparipṛcchā Study Group, and mention of the
Sanskrit in the notes refers to this edition.

There are also two Chinese translations of this
sūtra (Taishō 846 and Taishō 1643), both of which
contain some notable differences from the Tibetan
and the extant Sanskrit sources. In the earliest
Chinese translation (Taishō 846, 外道問聖大乘法無我義經, Wai dao wen sheng dasheng fa
wuwo yi jing), which was prepared by Fa
Tian (d. 1001) in the year 986, the sūtra begins
rather differently than it does in the Tibetan. Here
the text starts with the usual opening phrase, “Thus
did I hear at one time,” and we are moreover told
that the Buddha is present in the assembly and is
the one to whom the questions are posed. The other
translation (Taishō 1643, 尼乾子問無我義經, Ni gan
zi wen wuwo yi jing), which was prepared
by Ri Cheng (1017–78) in the year 1063, has the same
opening content as the Tibetan and Sanskrit sources,
but instead of employing the general designation
tīrthika, the
translation uses the more specific category of
nirgranthajñātiputra (尼乾子), which
usually designates the Jains. This specification
only exists in this later Chinese translation;
otherwise, this translation is quite close to the
extant Sanskrit. The translator also attributes the
text to Aśvaghoṣa and categorizes it as a treatise
(śāstra), rather than a sūtra.

According to the colophon to the Tibetan
translation, it was prepared by the Indian scholar
Kamalagupta and the great Tibetan translator Rinchen
Sangpo. We can therefore assume that it was
undertaken in the first half of the eleventh
century, when these two scholars flourished. The
first translation of this text from the Tibetan into
a Western language was the French translation by
Feer in 1883. The translation presented here is
based on the Tibetan version in the Degé Kangyur,
the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the Kangyur, and the
Stok Palace manuscript.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

Questions on Selflessness

Homage to all
buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Now, the tīrthikas—those who hold views based on
objectification and who engage in concepts and analysis—went
among the followers of the Mahāyāna. Respectfully,
with joined palms, they asked these questions on
selflessness: “Sons of noble family, the Omniscient
One taught that there is no self in the body. If
there truly is no self in the body,
then how do playfulness, laughter, crying,
enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny, and so
forth come about? Is there truly a self in the body
or not? It would be proper for you to dispel our
doubts.”

The followers of the Mahāyāna replied, “Friends,
it should not be said that there truly is or is not
a self in the body, because to say in this case that
there truly is or is not a self is mistaken speech.
Now, if there were a self, then why is it not
perceptible at all, even after searching through the
hair,
nails,
skin, head, flesh, bones,
marrow,
fat, ligaments, liver, intestines, throat, hands,
feet, limbs, and other minor parts, both inside and
outside the body?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna replied, “It is
not seen even by those with the divine eye. For how
can something that has no color, form, or shape be
seen?”

The tīrthikas asked, “Then
is it nonexistent?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “To say that
it is nonexistent or to say that
it is existent is mistaken speech. If it is
nonexistent, then why do playfulness, laughter,
crying, enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny,
and so forth arise so clearly? Therefore, it is not
correct to say that it is nonexistent. One should
not say that it is existent or nonexistent. Since
this would be a fault, one should not say that it
exists or that it does not exist.”

The tīrthikas asked, “Then what is apprehended
in this case?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “Nothing at
all is apprehended.”

The tīrthikas asked, “Is it as empty as the
sky?”

The tīrthikas asked, “How are they like an
illusion, a dream, and a magical deception?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “An illusion
is a mere analogy. A dream is a mere appearance that
is not graspable, empty by nature, and nonexistent
in essence. A magical deception is intentionally
fabricated. This is the way things are, friends. You
should regard all these things as being like an
illusion, a dream, and a magical deception.

“Relative and ultimate

Are explained as two categories:

The relative comprises worldly phenomena;

The ultimate is beyond the worldly.

“Engaging with relative phenomena,

Sentient beings are overpowered by emotional
defilements.

Not knowing the ultimate at all,

They wander for a long time in saṃsāra.

“The unwise form the concepts

Of relative worldly phenomena.

Due to such
conceptualization,

They experience suffering.

“Ordinary individuals, due to their
immaturity,

Do not know the path of liberation.

They experience sundry forms

Of unending suffering.

“Oblivious to the ultimate,

Where worldly existence ceases,

They are born and cease.

Although birthless, they come and go.

“Fools who dwell on worldly phenomena

Will rove around like a wheel.

In saṃsāra, the place of suffering,

They will revolve again and again.

“Just as the sun and the moon

Continue to come and go,

Likewise, these beings, transmigrating in the
world,

Come and go, again and again.

“The whole of saṃsāra is
impermanent and unstable,

Disintegrating at every moment.

That is why, by knowing the ultimate,

One abandons the state of relative reality.

“Devas from the higher realms,

As well as gandharvas, apsarases, and
humans,

Are all subject to transmigration—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Siddhas, vidyādharas, and yakṣas,

Gandharvas and
mahoragas,

Go again and again to hell—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Those with great perseverance who come to
abide

In the abode of the devas due to good
qualities

Must again pass away and fall from the higher
realms—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Whoever attains the supreme state

Of Śakra or of a universal monarch

Will once again enter the birthplace of
animals—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Abandoning the great bliss

Of the devas of the higher realms,

A yogin should always meditate

On the mind of awakening, which is
luminosity.

“Essenceless, unapprehendable,

Entirely empty, groundless,

And beyond all conceptual elaboration—

Such is the definition of the mind of
awakening.

“Neither hard nor soft,

Neither warm nor cold,

Neither tangible nor graspable—

Such is the definition of the mind of
awakening.

“Neither long nor short,

Neither round nor triangular,

Neither thin nor thick—

Such is the definition of the mind of
awakening.

“Beyond meditation,

Out of range for tīrthikas,

And having the perfection of insight as its
practice —

Such is the definition of the mind of
awakening.

“Beyond analogy, it is nothing to meditate
on.

The supreme unseen abode,

Completely pure by nature—

Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.

“All things are like foam,

Essenceless like water bubbles,

Neither permanent nor having self.

They are similar to magical illusions and
mirages.

“Like a vase that is made from a lump of clay,

Beings are filled with conceptual elaborations—

Desire, anger, and so forth—

They are utterly illusion-like.

“Just as in the morning where there was a dew drop

A moment later there is nothing to be seen,

So, too, when one sees the perfection of insight

The intellect gives way to the unconditioned.

“Continuous laughter and play,

Talking, singing, music,

The enjoyment of material things, and so
forth

Are all similar to dreams.

“Things constructed by beings

Are all similar to dreams.

Dreams are imaginings of the mind.

Mind itself is like the sky.

“One who constantly meditates

On this way of the perfection of insight

Becomes free of all entities

And attains the supreme state.

“Those who uphold, with meditation,

The highest awakening

Cultivated by all the buddhas

Will gain the fruit of the Mahāyāna.”

Here ends the noble Mahāyāna sūtra
“Questions on Selflessness.”

Colophon

Notes

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

Sanskrit and Secondary Sources

Chinese Sources