Toh 259The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra “The Basket Without Words, The Illuminator’s Matrix”

Summary

The Basket Without Words, The Illuminator’s
Matrix unfolds in Rājagṛha on Vulture Peak, where the Buddha is
dwelling with a great assembly. The bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin requests the Buddha
to give a teaching on two words and asks him to explain one factor that
bodhisattvas should abandon, one quality that encompasses all the foundations of
the training when safeguarded by bodhisattvas, and one phenomenon to which
thus-gone ones truly and perfectly awaken. The Buddha responds by listing the
afflictions that bodhisattvas abandon. Next, he advises bodhisattvas not to do
to others what they themselves do not desire. Then, he teaches that there is no
phenomenon to which thus-gone ones truly and perfectly awaken, and that
thus-gone ones comprehend that all phenomena are free from going and coming,
causes and conditions, death and birth, acceptance and rejection, and decrease
and increase. At the conclusion of the sūtra, members of the assembly promise to
propagate this teaching, and the Buddha explains the benefits of doing so.

Acknowledgements

This translation was produced by Bhikṣuṇī Thubten Damcho and team.
Geshema Tenzin Lhadrön kindly reviewed this translation. Bhikṣuṇī Dr. Heng Ching
Shih pointed us to contemporary Chinese commentaries. We are also grateful to
Bhikṣuṇī Thubten Chodron and the Sravasti Abbey community, Dr. William Magee,
Dr. Paul Hackett, and Maitripa College for their support and advice regarding
this translation.

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

Introduction

The Basket without Words, The Illuminator’s
Matrix
begins with a
description of the marvelous qualities of a massive assembly of bodhisattvas
that has gathered in Rājagṛha on Vulture Peak together with the Buddha and
his monastics. There follows a list of the great bodhisattvas in attendance,
some of whom are accompanied by retinues of bodhisattvas, gods, goddesses,
and universal monarchs. Also present are arhats, nāgas, gandharvas, and
garuḍas, as well as more bodhisattvas from world systems in the ten
directions, each accompanied by a fourfold assembly.

The main interlocutor of this discourse is the bodhisattva
Viśeṣacintin, who is praised by the Buddha in The
Questions of Brahmaviśeṣacintin (Brahmaviśeṣacintiparipṛcchā, Toh 160) as “foremost among the bodhisattvas skilled in
asking questions correctly and thoroughly.” The bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin
requests the Buddha to give a teaching on two words, and he asks the Buddha
about one factor bodhisattvas abandon, one quality that encompasses all the
foundations of the training when bodhisattvas safeguard it, and one
phenomenon to which thus-gone ones truly and perfectly awaken.

The Buddha responds to the bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin’s first question
by listing eight afflictions that bodhisattvas should abandon: the three
poisons of attachment, anger, and delusion; afflictions derived from
ignorance such as grasping at a self, laziness, and lethargy and sleepiness;
and two of the twelve links of dependent origination that cause suffering in
cyclic existence, namely ignorance and craving.

To the second question, the Buddha responds that one quality that
encompasses all the foundations of the training when bodhisattvas safeguard
it is to not do to others what they themselves do not desire. The Buddha
illustrates this with the example of avoidance of the three nonvirtuous
physical actions—killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct—and explains that
those who seek full awakening seek the causes of their own and others’
happiness and do not desire their own and others’ suffering.

The Buddha’s response to the third question is a series of
paradoxical statements. He begins by stating that there is no phenomenon to
which thus-gone ones truly and perfectly awaken. Nonetheless, thus-gone ones
comprehend that although all phenomena are unborn, karma is appropriated.
All phenomena are without cessation, yet they depend on causes and
conditions. All phenomena are free from the two extremes and are unarisen,
yet there is arising that depends on causes and conditions.

Just as bodhisattvas must train in methods—by abandoning afflictions
and safeguarding ethical conduct—in conjunction with cultivating wisdom,
here the Buddha points to the complementary nature of dependent arising and
emptiness. He explains that bodhisattvas generate mundane and supramundane
wisdom by comprehending the empty yet dependently arising nature of all
phenomena. By examining the nature of that wisdom, they enter into the womb
of the perfection of wisdom, which is called the illuminator’s
matrix.

The Buddha concludes his explanation with the statement that
thus-gone ones comprehend how all phenomena are free from going and coming,
causes and conditions, death and birth, acceptance and rejection, and
decrease and increase.

Having heard the Buddha’s discourse, a multitude of beings attain
spiritual realization and higher rebirth. The Buddha exhorts his son,
Venerable Rāhula, to retain this Dharma instruction, and a multitude of
bodhisattvas promise to propagate it, while the Four Great Kings pledge to
fulfill the wishes of beings who are vessels of this teaching. The Buddha
concludes with a description of the great benefits that will accrue for
those who hear and preserve this sūtra, which includes seeing at the time of
death the Buddha Amitābha with his retinue and the Buddha with his retinue
at Vulture Peak, attaining supernormal powers, and becoming fully
awakened.

This text is listed in both the Denkarma and Phangthangma catalogs, which indicates it was translated prior to to the
compilation of the Denkarma catalog ca. 812 ce.
According to its colophon in the Degé Kangyur, the text was edited and
finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Munivarman and
by the chief editor-translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. The colophon in the Stok
Palace Kangyur does not include the names of the translators.

Butön Rinchen Drup (bu ston rin chen
grub, 1290–1364) cites the Buddha’s response to the
bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin’s second question in Cluster
of Scriptures, his
explanation of Haribhadra’s Commentary on Ornament for
the Clear Realizations (Abhisamayālaṅkāravṛtti), in the section
“Summarizing the Meaning of the Buddha’s Instructions through One
Phenomenon.” The fifteenth-century Tibetan scholar Pekar Sangpo groups this text under “Sūtras
Explaining the Mental States of Bodhisattvas” in his Presentation of the Sūtras in the
Kangyur
and
asserts that this sūtra teaches the doctrine that the three provisional
vehicles of the śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva lead to the one
final vehicle of buddhahood.

One folio of fragmented Sanskrit text from the end of the sūtra and
corresponding to Degé folios

263.b.2 to

264.a.3, has
been identified in the Vajracchedikā
manuscript held at the British Library. The manuscript, discovered by Sir Marc Aurel Stein in
1900 in present-day Xinjiang, China, is the oldest extant Sanskrit copy of
the Vajracchedikā and is dated to the late
fifth or early sixth century ce. Paul Harrison
notes that the Tibetan translation of this section matches the Sanskrit
fragments in general, whereas the Chinese translations differ in places.
Aside from these fragments, there is no extant Sanskrit version of the
present text.

There are four Chinese translations of this sūtra, the best known of
which is The Precious Casket without Words
translated by Bodhiruci between 508 and 535. The second translation with the same title made
by Buddhaśānta (dates unknown) in 529 ce has been
lost. Two other Chinese
translations were made by Divākara (613–87 ce):
The Mahāyāna Sūtra “Universally Radiant Treasury
Free from Words” in 683 and The Mahāyāna
Sūtra “Brilliant Treasury That Illuminates All, The Dharma Gateway
without Words” between 676 and 688.

These sources may shed light on an ambiguity concerning the “two
words” Viśeṣacintin refers to in his initial request. It is not entirely
clear in the Tibetan translation what these two words are. Bodhiruci’s
translation and Divākara’s translation The Mahāyāna
Sūtra “Brilliant Treasury That Illuminates All, The Dharma Gateway
without Words” appear to handle this ambiguity by grouping the
bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin’s three questions into two. The contemporary
Chinese commentary referenced above asserts that they
refer to rulai (如來), the Chinese translation of the
Sanskrit compound tathāgata, which can be parsed as “thus gone” (tathā + gata) or “thus come” (tathā + āgata). Read in this light, the
Buddha’s reply to the bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin seems to mirror a section in
The Ornament of the Light of Awareness That Enters
the Domain of All Buddhas (Sarvabuddhaviṣayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkāra, Toh 100), in which the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī asks the
Buddha to explain the meaning of two words, “non-arising” and
“non-cessation.” The Buddha responds that these two words refer to the
Tathāgata and provides a list of the causes of affliction
and purification, which he explains are by nature empty and not
perceived.

Divākara’s other translation, The Mahāyāna
Sūtra “Universally Radiant Treasury Free from Words,” continues
to be taught and recited today in the Chinese Buddhist tradition. It is
often accompanied by a preface of unknown authorship entitled “The
Miraculous Results of Reciting and Upholding The
Mahāyāna Sūtra ‘Universally Radiant
Treasury Free from Words’ through the Ages,” which relates stories of four historical
figures from the Tang through Ming Dynasties who derived benefits from
reciting this sūtra.

The Basket Without Words was translated
from Chinese into Japanese by Hokei Izumi and published in the Kokuyaku Issaikyō (Japanese Translations of the Scriptures) series. In 1986, Sakai
Shinten published a comparative study of the three extant Chinese
translations and a Japanese translation of the Tibetan. Sakai reads “the
basket without words” (anakṣarakaraṇḍaka) as referring to the Sanskrit letter
a, described in the Buddha’s
teaching to the bodhisattva Dṛḍhamati in Upholding the
Roots of Virtue (Kuśalamūlasaṃparigraha, Toh 101) as “a point of explanation for designating the
gate devoid of attributes” that all phenomena possess.

This English translation was prepared based on the Tibetan
translation in the Degé Kangyur in consultation with the Comparative Edition
(dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace
Kangyur.

The Translation

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

The Basket Without Words, The Illuminator’s

Matrix

Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in
Rājagṛha on Vulture Peak together with a great saṅgha of monastics.

There were also many hundred sextillions of bodhisattvas, all with
extensive knowledge, skilled in means, lucid, free from laziness, and
skilled in their command of words. They comprehended what is correct and what is
incorrect. They were completely liberated. Endowed with the bud of
discipline and the branch of conscience, they were compassionate by nature
and
affectionate toward sentient beings. They had attained many meditative
concentrations, possessed the hand of insight, and showed great respect to
their teachers.

They resembled the bodhisattva great being Ratnadvīpa. They knew what
was virtuous and nonvirtuous and comprehended deception. They comprehended
both semantic elucidation and inexhaustible eloquence. They had attained victory and they engendered
comprehension in all sentient beings. They emerged from and relied upon the limit of
reality.
Extremely heroic, they had no abode. They were
certain about the nature of the highest teachings. Their thoughts distinctly
focused on the lack of inherent existence, they were courageous with regard
to the matrix.

They were beings who despised rebirth. They comprehended phenomena
and knew their bases of characterization. They were guardians and protectors
of realms. They were renowned. They were endowed with the conqueror’s voice,
endowed with the treasury of conquest, and endowed with the matrix without
words. Absolutely awake and absorbed in the aggregate of knowledge, they
delighted in their own actions and relied on those who were like them. They were good in
every way, took delight in equality, and were completely pure. They had
purified their own and others’ continuums and attained victory.

Together there were the following: the bodhisattva great being Voice
of Victory, the bodhisattva great being Dharma Speaker, the bodhisattva
great being Conqueror’s Abode, the bodhisattva great being Emanation of the
Dharma, the bodhisattva great being Source of a Thousand Attributes, the
bodhisattva great being Aspirations Amassed, the bodhisattva great being
Viśeṣacintin, the bodhisattva great being Dharaṇīdhara, the bodhisattva
great being Jagatīndhara, the bodhisattva great being Melodious Song of the Earth,
the bodhisattva great being Pratibhānasampad, the bodhisattva great being
Supreme Accumulation, the bodhisattva great being Lotus Petal Eyes, the
bodhisattva great being Lotus Face, and the bodhisattva great being
Maṇicūḍa.

The bodhisattva great being Mañjuśrī was also there together with
bodhisattva great beings beyond number, all of whom were youthful. The
bodhisattva great being Maitreya was also there together with
bodhisattva great beings who were all regents, as many as the grains of sand
in the Ganges. The bodhisattva great being Viśeṣacintin was there together
with many Śakras. The bodhisattva great being Samantabhadra, the bodhisattva
great being Ākāśagarbha, and the Four Great Kings were there together with a
multitude of universal monarchs. The bodhisattva great being
Mahāsthāmaprāpta and the bodhisattva great being Avalokiteśvara were there
together with a multitude of Brahmās. The bodhisattva great being
Amoghadarśin was there together with a retinue of a multitude of
Vaiśravaṇas. The bodhisattva great being Nakṣatrarāja was there together
with the other guardians of the world. The bodhisattva great being Destroyer
of Doubt and the bodhisattva great being Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin were there
together with many thus-gone ones bearing the appearance of
bodhisattvas. Śāradvatīputra, Maudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, and so
forth were there together with all the arhats.

The bodhisattva great being Abundant Virtues and the
bodhisattva great being Viśeṣacintin
were there together with a multitude of thousands of goddesses. The
bodhisattva great being Bhaiṣajyarāja, the bodhisattva great being Arisen
from Remedies, and all the Moons and Suns in as many world systems of the
ten directions as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, proud of their own
splendor, proceeded to where the Blessed One was. When seated in the Blessed
One’s presence, it was as if lumps of soot had been placed before gold from
the Jambu River—those Moons and Suns were no longer beautiful, no longer
blazed, no longer shone, no longer gleamed, and no longer illuminated in the
Blessed One’s presence.

All the assemblies of gods such as Nārāyaṇa; all the kings of the
nāgas such as Varuṇa, Takṣaka, and Anavatapta, together with their retinues;
the lord of the gandharvas Sumanāpa together with many tens of millions of
gandharvas; and the king of the garuḍas Great Stainless One together with
seventy million garuḍas proceeded to the place where the Blessed One was.
All the bodhisattvas dwelling in as many world systems of the ten directions
as there are grains of sand in the Ganges obtained permission from their
respective thus-gone ones and, together with their fourfold assemblies,
proceeded there and made supramundane offerings to the Blessed One and to
the bodhisattvas and then sat on their respective lotus seats.

Then the bodhisattva great being Viśeṣacintin said to the Blessed
One, “If the Blessed One gives me permission, I would like to ask the
Blessed One about two words.”

The Blessed One replied, “I give my permission. Therefore, Viśeṣacintin, ask
the Thus-Gone One whatever you have in mind. The Thus-Gone One did not
appear here for the sake of just anyone's benefit, I appeared here for the
sake of your benefit.”

Then the bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin asked the Blessed One, “Blessed
One, what is one factor that bodhisattvas abandon? Blessed One, what is one
quality that, when safeguarded by bodhisattvas, encompasses all the
foundations of the training? Blessed One, what is one phenomenon to which
thus-gone ones have truly and perfectly awakened?”

Questioned in this way, the Blessed One gave his approval to the
bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin. “Brahmā, the words you have spoken are
excellent, excellent! Child of a good family, such eloquence arises through
the Thus-Gone One’s blessing. Child of a good family, if the Thus-Gone One
did not bestow blessings, no one would ask the Thus-Gone One such questions.
Viśeṣacintin, because of that, you should listen very carefully and keep
this in mind. I will explain this to you.”

After the Blessed One said this, the bodhisattva Viśeṣacintin
listened to the Blessed One accordingly.

The Blessed One said to him, “Child of a good family, someone may
ask, ‘What is one factor that bodhisattvas should abandon?’ It is the
quality of attachment. Child of a good family, this is one factor that
should be abandoned. Moreover, one factor that should be abandoned is the
quality of anger. This is one factor that should be abandoned. Moreover, one
factor that should be abandoned is the quality of delusion. This is one
factor that should be abandoned. Moreover, one factor that should be
abandoned is
grasping at a self. This is one factor that should be abandoned. Moreover,
one factor that should be abandoned is laziness. This is one factor that
should be abandoned. Moreover, one factor that should be abandoned is
lethargy and sleepiness. This is one factor that should be abandoned.
Moreover, one factor that should be abandoned is craving. This is one factor
that should be abandoned. Child of a good family, moreover, one factor that
bodhisattvas should abandon is ignorance. Child of a good family, this is
one factor that bodhisattvas should abandon.

“Child of a good family, someone may ask, ‘What is one quality that
bodhisattvas should constantly and continuously safeguard?’ Child of a good
family, whatever bodhisattvas do not desire, they should not do to others.
Child of a good family, those bodhisattvas who safeguard this one quality
will thereby safeguard all the foundations of the thus-gone ones’ training.
Why is this so? Child of a good family, whoever values their own life does
not kill.
Whoever values their own wealth does not take what has not been given.
Whoever values their wife does not approach another’s wife.
Child of a good family, I have explained that those who think in these or
similar ways and understand, 'I should act in accordance with the Thus-Gone
One’s teachings," should safeguard this one quality.

“Why is this so? Child of a good family, all those who seek
unsurpassed, perfect, and complete awakening seek the causes of their own happiness. That means that no one desires their own
suffering; beings desire happiness. I say, ‘Do not do to others what you do
not desire.’ Child of a good family, this is one quality that bodhisattvas
should constantly and continuously safeguard.

“Child of a good family, someone may ask, ‘What is one phenomenon
to which thus-gone ones have truly and perfectly awakened?’ Child of a good
family, there is no one phenomenon to which thus-gone ones have truly and
perfectly awakened. Child of a good family, without any phenomenon
whatsoever to realize, thus-gone ones have truly and
perfectly awakened.

“Child of a good family, thus-gone ones also comprehend that all
phenomena are unborn. Thus-gone ones comprehend that all phenomena are
without cessation. Child of a good family, thus-gone ones also comprehend
that all phenomena are free from the two extremes. Child of a good family,
thus-gone ones comprehend that all phenomena are unarisen. Child of a good
family, thus-gone ones comprehend the appropriation of karma. Thus-gone ones
comprehend that all phenomena depend on causes and conditions. Child of a
good family, thus-gone ones comprehend that causes and conditions are like
lightning. Thus-gone ones comprehend that there is no birth without causes
and conditions. In this way, thus-gone ones
comprehend the true nature that is the illuminator’s matrix.

“Someone may ask, ‘Why are these realizations called
the illuminator’s matrix?’ Child of a good family,
this is because they are the womb from which all mundane and supramundane
wisdom and so forth arises. When one examines the nature of that wisdom,
then one enters the womb of the perfection of wisdom. That is called
the illuminator’s matrix.

“Child of a good family, thus-gone ones also comprehend that all
phenomena are like a magician’s illusions and like mirages. Thus-gone ones
comprehend their own true nature that is
naturally liberated. That which is liberated is the true nature of the
illuminator’s matrix.

“Child of a good family, thus-gone ones also comprehend the single
gateway of the Dharma. Child of a good family, that which is without going,
without coming, without causes, without conditions, without death and
transmigration, without birth, without acceptance, without rejection, without
decrease, and without increase; and, child of a good family, what is
naturally natureless, what cannot be indicated by analogy, what cannot be
expressed by words or language—that single gateway of the Dharma is
comprehended by the thus-gone ones.”

When the teaching of the king of arrays, this Dharma discourse on
the basket without words, the illuminator’s matrix, was explained, as many
sentient beings as the minute particles that would appear to the eyes of a
bodhisattva abiding on the tenth ground generated the mind of unsurpassed,
perfect, and complete awakening. The same number attained arhatship.
Moreover, an even greater number of sentient beings than that died and
transmigrated from among the hell beings and were born as humans and gods.
Many bodhisattvas attained the grounds. Many bodhisattvas actualized
hundreds of thousands of meditative concentrations. Many found that due to
this discourse they did not lack anything they needed.

Then the Blessed One said to Venerable Rāhula, “Rāhula, you should
remember this Dharma instruction of mine enthusiastically.”

Immediately after the Blessed One spoke, by the power of the Buddha,
ninety million bodhisattvas from that retinue arose from their seats and
said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, we will remember this Dharma
instruction of the Thus-Gone One. At a later time, in the future, we will
explain it well in the Sahā world to those who seek the Bodhisattva
Collection.”

The Four Great Kings said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, we will
fulfill all the wishes of those bodhisattvas who become vessels of teachings
like this.”

Then the Blessed One looked upon the entire retinue and said,
“Friends, those who hear this Dharma discourse on the basket without words,
the illuminator’s matrix, which condenses the very extensive sūtras, will
not be endowed with lesser roots of virtue. Why is this so? This is because all those
excellent beings have served, venerated, and
honored me. Those children of a good family will carry my awakening on their
shoulders. Their consummate eloquence will be unceasing. Their buddha realms
will be thoroughly and completely pure.

“Also, at the time of death, they will see standing before them the
Thus-Gone One Amitābha surrounded by a saṅgha of śrāvakas and attended by an
assembly of bodhisattvas. They will also see me together with these very
bodhisattvas abiding on Vulture Peak, the king of mountains. The treasury of
the Dharma will never be exhausted for those children of a good family. They
will remember their past lives. They will not be born in the lower
realms.

“Child of a good family, I have spoken these words that contradict
the whole world. I have never seen
children of a good family who commit the five actions with immediate
retribution and then fasten this Dharma discourse to their bodies, write it
out, recite it, or master it fall into the lower realms. Those bodhisattvas
will be empowered by all the buddhas and attain the five eyes. They will not
have inferior faculties. They will be embraced by all buddhas.
They will be embraced by all bodhisattvas. Their limitless actions will be
purified. Child of a good family, I see that they will speak these words in
the future and become truly and perfectly awakened.”

When the Blessed One had spoken these words, Viśeṣacintin and the
other bodhisattvas, Śakra and the gods, the Four Great Kings, and the world
with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised what the
Blessed One had said.

This concludes the noble Mahāyāna sūtra “The Basket Without
Words, The Illuminator’s Matrix.”

Colophon

It was edited and finalized by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra,
Dānaśīla, and Munivarman, and the chief editor-translator Bandé Yeshé
Dé.

Notes

Abbreviations

C
Choné

D
Degé

J
Lithang

N
Narthang

Y
Yongle

Bibliography

Tibetan Sources

Secondary Sources

hand of insight

equality

universal monarch

gandharva

attachment

anger

delusion

grasping at a self

laziness

lethargy and sleepiness

craving

ignorance

ground

hell beings

five actions with immediate
retribution

five eyes

asura

Voice of Victory

Dharma Speaker

chos sgrogs
ཆོས་སྒྲོགས།

Conqueror’s Abode

Emanation of the Dharma

chos sprul pa
ཆོས་སྤྲུལ་པ།

Source of a Thousand Attributes

Aspirations Amassed

Viśeṣacintin

Dharaṇīdhara

Jagatīndhara

Melodious Song of the Earth

Pratibhānasampad

Supreme Accumulation

Lotus Petal Eyes

Lotus Face

Maitreya

Śakra

Samantabhadra

Ākāśagarbha

Mahāsthāmaprāpta

Avalokiteśvara

Amoghadarśin

Vaiśravaṇa

Destroyer of Doubt

Maudgalyāyana

Great Stainless One

Rājagṛha