大般若波羅蜜多經

EIGHTH ASSEMBLY

THE NAGAŚRĪ SECTION

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Blessed One was dwelling in Anāthapiṇḍada’s Park in the Jeta Grove at Śrāvastī, expounding the true Dharma to the great assembly.

Then, just as dawn was breaking, the great bodhisattva Mañjuśrī put on his robe, took up his alms bowl, and was about to enter the city of Śrāvastī when he encountered the bodhisattva Nāgaśrī, who asked:

– Venerable One, where are you going?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– I wish to enter the city of Śrāvastī and make the alms round, desiring to bring benefit and happiness to all sentient beings, out of universal compassion for sentient beings in the world, and for the benefit and happiness of devas and humans.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– Is that so? But, Venerable One, have you still not overcome the perception of food?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– With regard to the perception of food, I do not even perceive it as existent, so what would there be to overcome? Why? Because the original nature of all dharmas is empty and quiescent, like space, neither subject to destruction nor cessation. How, then, could I overcome it? Devas, Māra, Brahmā, the world, śramaṇas, brahmins, and others cannot overcome it either. Why? Because the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is identical to space, ultimately empty; no one can cause it to move or destroy it.

Furthermore, all dharmas are like space: no deva, Māra, Brahmā, śramaṇa, or any sentient being can apprehend them. Why? Because the nature of all dharmas is utterly detached and therefore cannot be apprehended.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– If it is truly as the Venerable One says, why do bodhisattvas contend with Māra?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– Bodhisattvas have never sounded the great drum of war against Māra’s armies. At such a time, a bodhisattva also does not perceive even the slightest real dharma upon which to rely and become settled. Why? Because although a bodhisattva sees Māra sounding his drums and so forth, he feels no fear. It is like an illusionist who conjures up an enemy: although that enemy creates disturbances and causes harm, no one is frightened. So too, a bodhisattva knows that the nature of all dharmas is empty and that they are all like illusions, and therefore feels no fear.

If a bodhisattva were fearful, devas, humans, and others would not make offerings to him. But because bodhisattvas clearly understand emptiness, they are free from fear and consent to become a truly pure field of merit for all.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– Is there anyone who attains bodhi?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– There is.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– Who is it that attains it?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– One who establishes verbal conventions without clinging to names or natures is one who attains it.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– How, then, does that person attain it?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– His mind does not arise; he does not conceive of bodhi or the seat of bodhi, nor does he cherish thoughts of all sentient beings. With a mind that is inexpressible, a mind free from views, and so forth, he attains unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– If that is so, Venerable One, with what kinds of mind do you attain bodhi?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– I do not perceive myself as proceeding toward it, nor do I perceive any destination toward which to proceed; there is nowhere at all to train. Nor will there be a future self who goes to the bodhi tree, sits upon the Vajra Seat, realizes great bodhi, and turns the wheel of the wondrous Dharma to rescue beings from saṃsāra. Why? Because all dharmas are unmoving, indestructible, incapable of being apprehended, ultimately empty, and quiescent. With such minds that proceed nowhere, I attain bodhi.

Nāgaśrī said:

– Everything the Venerable One has said is based upon ultimate truth, enabling sentient beings who faithfully understand this Dharma to be liberated from afflictions. If sentient beings are liberated from afflictions, they can destroy all of Māra’s nets.

Mañjuśrī said:

– Māra’s nets cannot be destroyed. Why? Because the concept of Māra is no different from bodhi. Why? Because the nature of Māra and Māra’s armies does not exist and is wholly unobtainable. Therefore, I say that the concept of Māra is no different from bodhi.

Nāgaśrī asked:

– What is called bodhi?

Mañjuśrī replied:

– Bodhi pervades all dharmas, times, and places. Just as space is unobstructed with respect to all dharmas, times, and places and abides everywhere, so too is bodhi unobstructed and therefore pervades all dharmas, times, and places. Such bodhi is truly unsurpassed. What level of bodhi do you now wish to attain?

Nāgaśrī said:

– I wish to attain the unsurpassed.

Mañjuśrī said:

– The Dharma of unsurpassed bodhi that you now wish to attain cannot be attained. To wish to attain that Dharma is to engage in conceptual proliferation. Why? Because unsurpassed bodhi is free from characteristics and utterly quiescent. Do you then wish to become one who grasps at conceptual proliferation? It is as though someone were to say, “I shall have an illusory person sit upon the seat of bodhi and attain illusory unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment.” Such a statement would indeed be mere conceptual proliferation. Even the illusory person is unobtainable; how much more so could one cause him to attain illusory great bodhi!

An illusion neither joins with nor separates from an illusory dharma; it neither grasps nor rejects, and both are empty in their intrinsic nature. The Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, teach that all dharmas cannot be discriminated and are all like illusions and dreams. Since you now wish to attain unsurpassed bodhi, would this not make you one who discriminates among illusory dharmas?

Yet all dharmas can neither be grasped nor rejected; they neither come into being nor perish. No dharma acts upon or destroys another dharma. No dharma joins with or separates from any other dharma.

Why? Because all dharmas neither unite nor disperse; their intrinsic nature is empty. They are free from self and what belongs to self, identical to the realm of space, beyond speech and indication, beyond praise and blame, neither high nor low, neither diminished nor increased, inconceivable, beyond conceptual proliferation, originally empty and quiescent, and all ultimately empty.

They are like illusions and dreams, without counterpart or comparison. How, then, could one give rise to a discriminating mind regarding them?

Nāgaśrī said:

– Excellent, Venerable One! Because of this, I shall now certainly attain bodhi. Why? Because you have expounded the profound Dharma for me.

Mañjuśrī said:

– I have never expounded any Dharma for you, whether explicit or esoteric, profound or shallow. How, then, could I cause you to attain bodhi? Why? Because the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is inexpressible. To say that I have expounded this most profound Dharma is itself to engage in conceptual proliferation. Yet I am truly not one who habitually expounds the Dharma, and the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is also inexpressible.

Suppose someone claimed, “I am capable of explaining the characteristics of an illusory person’s consciousness,” meaning that he could describe the various distinctions among the characteristics of that illusory person’s consciousness. By speaking in this way, that person would undermine his own truthful words. Why? Because that illusory person does not even possess consciousness; how much less could there be characteristics of consciousness! Your present claim that I have expounded the profound Dharma and thereby enabled you to attain unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment is just the same. Since all dharmas are like illusory phenomena and their nature is ultimately empty, they cannot even be known; how much less could they be expounded!

At that time, the great bodhisattva Ajita came to that place. Having heard this, he praised them, saying:

– Excellent! Excellent! Noble beings, great beings, you have skillfully discussed this profound Dharma gateway together.

Mañjuśrī challenged Ajita:

– What Dharma have the noble beings, the great beings, taught? A bodhisattva does not think, “I am a bodhisattva, a noble being, a great being, capable of teaching the profound Dharma to sentient beings.” Whoever gives rise to such a thought is engaging in conceptual proliferation.

Furthermore, Ajita! Can the intrinsic nature of an echo in a mountain valley truly utter speech, enable listeners to understand, and discourse upon all dharmas?

Ajita replied:

– No.

Mañjuśrī said:

– It is so. All dharmas are unreal; they are all like echoes, without name, without characteristic, and impossible to apprehend. To become attached to these dharmas is to engage in conceptual proliferation. If one engages in conceptual proliferation, one continues to revolve through birth and death. Sentient beings do not know in accordance with reality that all dharmas are like echoes, and thus they give rise to various disputes. Because they give rise to disputes, their minds become disturbed. When their minds are disturbed, they create many delusions. As their delusions increase, they wander in samsara through the various destinies.

Therefore, day and night, the Blessed One personally admonishes the bhiksus: “Bhiksus! Do not engage in conceptual proliferation. You should constantly reflect upon, contemplate, and correctly examine the Dharma of quiescent cessation that I have taught, and diligently cultivate the patience regarding dharmas as unattainable.

Thus, the Great Sage Sakyamuni, the Dharma King, teaches that the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is empty, quiescent, undefiled, unattainable, and without any abiding support. Whoever skillfully knows this in accordance with reality is liberated from birth and death and will certainly realize bodhi and nirvana.”

After hearing these words, Dragon Auspiciousness asked Manjusri:

– Venerable One, from what birth and death are you liberated?

Manjusri replied:

– Tell me, from what birth and death is the Tathagata liberated? The Blessed One, Possessor of the Ten Powers, always teaches that the past, future, and present are dharmas of birth and death.

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– Did the Blessed One not teach that all dharmas are like illusions? If so, how could a sentient being who has already realized unsurpassed bodhi still undergo birth and death? Why? Because you, Venerable One, have also said that all dharmas are unreal and are all like illusions.

Manjusri said:

– Since time immemorial, with regard to the nature and characteristics of dharmas, I have never expounded them, nor have I discriminated, apprehended, or fabricated them. Why? Because the nature and characteristics of dharmas cannot be expressed, discriminated, apprehended, or fabricated. If all sentient beings were to fully understand in accordance with reality that all dharmas are like illusions, they would already have realized unsurpassed bodhi. Yet because sentient beings do not comprehend that all dharmas are like illusions, they continue to revolve through birth and death in the various realms. Just as an illusionist can rely upon any object to conjure all manner of illusory things—worldly beings, devas, Mara, Brahma, Sakra, sramanas, brahmins, religious mendicants, dragons, yaksas, asuras, and other human and nonhuman beings—the foolish and deluded cling to these as truly existent. The illusionist and the wise know that they possess no true nature and are merely various false appearances that manifest through transformation.

Although dharmas are thus like illusions and conjurations, foolish sentient beings do not clearly understand them. Therefore, they regard what does not exist as existent and cling to the impermanent as permanent. Among dharmas, they make all manner of discriminations: discriminating form, discriminating mind, the conditioned and unconditioned, the contaminated and uncontaminated, and so forth. They make all manner of such discriminations. Because of these discriminations, they do not know in accordance with reality that all dharmas are like illusions. Because they do not know, they revolve through birth and death.

If sentient beings were to know clearly in accordance with reality that all dharmas are like illusions, then nothing further would be added to the Buddha-Dharma. Why? Because all sentient beings have primordially possessed the wondrous Dharma of the Buddhas.

Since all already possess it in this way, they do not regress from the wisdom of a Buddha. Therefore, all sentient beings can be established in the wondrous Dharma of the Buddha, with unwavering awakened wisdom, knowing the Dharma-nature to be empty, without name, without characteristic, without support, without abiding, without grasping, without attachment, unobstructed, and unbound; like space, it neither stores nor apprehends anything.

It is unsurpassed quiescence, ultimate quiescence, neither arising nor ceasing, neither defiled nor pure, neither formed nor destroyed, neither existent nor nonexistent. Therefore, dwelling within the citadel of profound patience, they never depart from the wondrous Dharma of the Buddhas. Why?

Because the wondrous Dharma of the Buddhas is apart from nature and characteristics; it cannot be established, proclaimed, or expressed, and throughout all classes of sentient beings it is like space.

When Dragon Auspiciousness heard this profound Dharma, he rejoiced with delight and praised Manjusri:

– Excellent, excellent! The Venerable One has taught this profound, wondrous, and inconceivable Dharma, saying that sentient beings never depart from the wondrous Dharma of the Buddhas. Who can believe and understand this?

Manjusri replied:

– The true disciples of the Buddha can all believe and understand it. These are those who practice by following faith, those who practice by following the Dharma, those approaching the fruit of stream-entry, stream-enterers, once-returners, non-returners, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas who have attained non-retrogression, remain unmoving and unshaken with respect to wholesome dharmas, and are skillfully established in the Dharma of ultimate emptiness and the Dharma of non-attainment. Such persons are able to believe and understand it. Why? Because the wondrous seat of bodhi has already appeared before these bodhisattvas, and before the worlds with their devas, Mara, Brahma, Sakra, sramanas, religious mendicants, asuras, humans, nonhumans, and others, they can utter a great lion’s roar: “I shall sit cross-legged upon this seat until I attain unsurpassed bodhi. If I have not yet realized it, I shall resolutely never leave this seat.” Why? Because these bodhisattvas are skillfully established in the Dharma of ultimate emptiness and the Dharma of non-attainment and therefore cannot be moved. It is like a stake driven firmly into the ground, which even mighty bulls and others bound to it cannot shake. In the same way, a bodhisattva who is skillfully established in the Dharma of ultimate emptiness and the Dharma of non-attainment cannot be swayed by any sentient being, nor can any sentient being cause that bodhisattva to depart from the one who awakens, that which is awakened to, or the seat of bodhi.

Dragon Auspiciousness asked:

– Can the one who awakens, that which is awakened to, and the seat of bodhi be spoken of?

Manjusri questioned him in return:

– What is called a transformation-body of the Tathagata? What is called the place where the Tathagata manifests transformations? What is the basis upon which the Tathagata manifests transformations? What is the Dharma realized by the Tathagata’s transformation-body, on account of which it is said that the Tathagata’s transformation-body teaches the Dharma and provides guidance?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– I do not even perceive any truly existent Tathagata, much less a transformation-body of the Tathagata, a place of transformation, a basis for transformation, or a Dharma realized through transformation, on account of which one could say that the Tathagata’s transformation-body teaches the Dharma and provides guidance.

Manjusri said:

– Excellent, excellent! What you have said and what you know accord perfectly with reason. Because you have realized the patience regarding all dharmas as unattainable, you are able to speak in this way. You should know that the one who awakens, that which is awakened to, and so forth are likewise so.

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– It is not the case that the patience regarding all dharmas as unattainable has arising or cessation. Why? Because all dharmas are empty and lack intrinsic nature; their own characteristics are also empty. Since dharmas are thus without characteristics, without counterparts, without form, invisible, and equal to space, how could the patience regarding all dharmas as unattainable arise?

If it were meaningful to say that the patience regarding all dharmas as unattainable can arise, then it would also have to be meaningful to say that patience regarding an echo in a valley, patience regarding light, patience regarding spittle, patience regarding a water bubble, patience regarding a mirage, patience regarding a plantain tree, patience regarding an illusion, patience regarding a dream, patience regarding a conjuration, patience regarding an image in a mirror, patience regarding a city of gandharvas, or patience regarding the realm of space can arise. Why? Because it is certainly impossible for patience regarding space and the like to arise.

If a great bodhisattva hears such a Dharma without alarm or fear, without confusion or doubt, and without the mind becoming obscured, this is a bodhisattva’s unsurpassed patience regarding dharmas.

Manjusri asked:

– Could it be that there are no distinctions among the assemblies of bodhisattvas who attain patience regarding dharmas?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– If bodhisattvas have even the slightest attachment to any dharma, this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I fully understand the profound patience concerning dharmas,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am one who has perfected profound patience,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to accept with faith all profound dharmas,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to understand all meanings clearly,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to penetrate all dharmas thoroughly,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to understand clearly the intrinsic nature of all dharmas,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to cultivate the bodhisattva paths,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to adorn and purify many Buddha-fields,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to bring sentient beings to maturity,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I shall assuredly realize bodhi,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I shall certainly turn the unsurpassed wheel of Dharma,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to save sentient beings,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I have practice; I have realization,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to cultivate the paramitas of generosity, pure morality, patient endurance, diligence, meditative concentration, and prajnaparamita,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to cultivate the four establishments of mindfulness and the thirty-seven factors of bodhi,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to cultivate meditative concentrations, immeasurable states, samadhis, meditative attainments, and dharani gateways,” this is called practice with attainment.

If bodhisattvas think, “I am able to attain the immeasurable and boundless wondrous dharmas of the Buddhas, such as the Tathagata’s ten powers, four fearlessnesses, four unobstructed understandings, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, and the eighteen distinctive qualities of a Buddha,” this is called practice with attainment. If bodhisattvas do not engage in practice with attainment, they will not attain the undifferentiated patience concerning dharmas.

Wondrous Auspiciousness asked:

– If so, how should bodhisattvas train in the practice leading toward bodhi?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– If bodhisattvas do not grasp any dharma, that is training in the practice leading toward bodhi. If bodhisattvas do not rely or depend upon any dharma, that is training in the practice leading toward bodhi. If bodhisattvas directly contemplate all dharmas as dependent upon conditions, empty, devoid of intrinsic nature, and free from self and what belongs to self, that is training in the practice leading toward bodhi. If bodhisattvas engage in practices yet form no conception of practicing, that is training in the practice leading toward bodhi.

Wondrous Auspiciousness said:

– So it is, so it is! It is exactly as you have said. A person in a dream may be said to travel here and there and stop to rest in various places, yet in truth there is no walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, nor is there truly any place to which that person comes or goes. Bodhisattvas are likewise: although they cultivate practices while awake, they form no conception of practicing. They contemplate the practices performed as intrinsically empty. They grasp none of the dharmas. They penetrate all dharmas as being without characteristics, neither accumulated nor appropriated, like empty space and so forth—intrinsically empty and quiescent. If bodhisattvas are able to practice in this way, grasping nothing and remaining free from all conceptual proliferation, they are true and pure fields of merit for devas, humans, and others, and are worthy to receive the offerings and reverence of the world.

Having heard this, the great bodhisattva Dragon Auspiciousness rejoiced with delight and said:

– Venerable One! I now wish to enter the city of Śrāvastī and go on an alms round for the sake of sentient beings.

Wondrous Auspiciousness said:

– Go as you please. Yet as you go, do not raise a foot or set a foot down; do not bend or extend your limbs; do not give rise to the thought of “I”; do not arouse conceptual proliferation; do not form conceptions of roads, cities, towns, or villages; do not form conceptions of men or women, old or young; and do not form conceptions of thoroughfares, narrow lanes, gardens, groves, houses, and so forth. Why? Because bodhi is utterly free from all conceptions of possession. It is neither high nor low, neither grasping nor relinquishing. In it, the mind’s agitation has ceased, verbal proliferation has vanished, and there is no measure. This is the bodhi toward which bodhisattvas proceed. If you are able to travel in this way, then go as you please on your alms round.

Relying upon the power of this instruction, Dragon Auspiciousness entered the Ocean Analogy Samadhi. Just as the great ocean is vast and deep, tranquil and still, containing many precious jewels and filled with the living beings of the aquatic realms, so too was this samadhi: its power was vast and profound, its wondrous functions inconceivable, the three kinds of action were serene, it possessed every jewel of merit, and it embraced and nourished sentient beings.

At that time, a bodhisattva named Good Reflection, wishing Dragon Auspiciousness to emerge quickly from samadhi, undertook a great preparatory effort to cause contact and movement in his body. Good Reflection caused the mountains and the great earth throughout the trichiliocosm to quake in six ways. Yet Dragon Auspiciousness remained peaceful and stable in body and mind, firm and unmoving like Mount Sumeru. Why? Because through that samadhi, his body, speech, and mind abided without movement. After emerging from samadhi, he caused fragrant flowers to rain down, then faced the Jeta Grove, bowed with palms joined, and spoke with utmost sincerity and reverence:

– Homage to the Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One! You have realized and taught the supremely wondrous and profound Dharma, whose intrinsic nature is entirely empty, undefiled, and unattainable, enabling those who hear it to attain this supreme samadhi.

The bodhisattva Good Reflection then asked:

– While you were in samadhi, did you perceive the earthquake?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– Good Reflection, you should know that those whose bodies and minds are agitated see the great earth and other things as also agitated. The Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, irreversible bodhisattvas, great pratyekabuddhas, and great arhats are peaceful in body and mind and utterly free from agitation. Among all dharmas, they neither see nor know any movement, turning, tilting, or shaking. Why? Because they perpetually abide in the dharma that neither moves, turns, tilts, nor shakes—that is, the realization of emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, quiescence, detachment, and the intrinsic emptiness of dharmas. Because they abide in this dharma, their bodies and minds do not move.

Seeing and hearing this, Wondrous Auspiciousness rejoiced and praised Dragon Auspiciousness:

– Excellent, excellent! You have accomplished this. Now enter the city and go on your alms round as you please.

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– I have now realized the Dharma-nourishment of the unsurpassed Ocean Analogy Samadhi, and therefore no longer seek any kind of material food. I now seek only the paramitas of generosity, pure morality, patient endurance, diligence, meditative concentration, prajna, skillful means, wondrous vows, power, and wisdom, together with the boundless other supreme practices of bodhisattvas, so that I may swiftly realize unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment, turn the wheel of the wondrous Dharma, rescue sentient beings from the great suffering of birth and death, and cause them to abide in ultimate, pure nirvana. I now wish only to relinquish all conditioned formations and do not wish to nourish this impure body and mind. Through the compassionate assistance of the Venerable One, a true and pure spiritual friend, I have attained this supreme samadhi. I therefore bow in homage to Wondrous Auspiciousness, Boundless Auspiciousness, Valiant Auspiciousness, Vast Auspiciousness, Wondrous Dharma Auspiciousness, Supreme Wisdom Auspiciousness, and Inconceivable Auspiciousness—the spiritual friend of great sages, the true and pure spiritual friend.

Wondrous Auspiciousness said:

– Excellent, excellent! You have attained such supreme concentration called the Ocean Simile, clearly seeing all dharmas as echoes, images, dreams, illusions, mirages, lights, magical transformations, and cities of the Gandharvas. You should now seek the immeasurable and boundless unsurpassed Dharma-food: the ten powers of the Tathagata, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed understandings, great loving-kindness, great compassion, great sympathetic joy, great equanimity, the eighteen unique qualities of a Buddha, and so forth, thereby further nourishing your liberated Dharma-body. All Tathagatas, Arhats, Perfectly and Completely Awakened Ones, abide by means of this Dharma-food throughout immeasurable, innumerable, boundless, inconceivable great kalpas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Why? Because such Dharma-food is uncontaminated, unfettered, and entirely liberated from all sinking and drowning; it cannot be abandoned by worldly dharmas. It also brings all pride to a complete end; it is neither stored nor grasped, is free from all conceptual proliferation, and is empty and quiescent in its intrinsic nature. All assemblies of great bodhisattvas seek this Dharma-food. You too should seek it and should not seek inferior worldly food!

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– Now that I have heard you praise the unsurpassed Dharma-food in this way, I already wish to be satisfied by it, how much more so to partake of it! If, in a future life, I can consume that Dharma-food, I shall employ non-consumption as a skillful means; once I myself am satisfied, I shall also enable all sentient beings to be satisfied.

Mañjuśrī asked:

– Can you cause the realm of space to be satisfied?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– I cannot.

Mañjuśrī asked:

– Can you cause echoes, images, dreams, illusions, mirages, lights, magical transformations, and cities of the Gandharvas to be satisfied?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– I cannot.

Mañjuśrī asked:

– Can you divert the rivers so that they flow into and fill all the great oceans?

Dragon Auspiciousness replied:

– I cannot.

Mañjuśrī said:

– All dharmas are likewise. How could you wish to satisfy them all? To wish that all be satisfied is to wish to satisfy the realm of space; it is also to wish to satisfy echoes, images, dreams, and so forth; to wish to fill all the great oceans; to wish to satisfy all dharmas that are empty, signless, wishless, unconditioned, inactive, unborn, and unceasing; to wish to satisfy all detachment, quiescence, freedom from defilement, nirvana, and ultimate liberation; and to wish to satisfy true suchness and the dharmadhatu, which are without form, invisible, without resistance, of one characteristic identical to space, and incapable of being grasped.

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– According to what you have said, both the food and the eater are entirely empty. If so, sentient beings should not need to depend upon food.

Mañjuśrī said:

– So it is, so it is! No sentient being depends upon food. Suppose the Buddha magically created kinds of sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges and so forth, and they required food: whom would he have produce that food?

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– Magically created beings do not eat, so why would food need to be produced?

Mañjuśrī said:

– Dharmas and sentient beings alike are illusory transformations; therefore, none of them need to eat. If sentient beings do not truly comprehend that all dharmas are like illusory transformations, they will revolve through birth and death in the various realms. Falsely imagining that there is something upon which they can depend, they nevertheless find that all such supports are unobtainable. If they contemplate dharmas and sentient beings in accordance with reality and see that their intrinsic nature is entirely empty, without the slightest reality, they will have no need to depend upon any food.

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– I now wish to put a complete end to hunger and thirst.

Mañjuśrī said:

– Hunger and thirst do not even exist, much less can they be ended. It is as though an illusory person were to say, “I wish to seek water in a mirage to eliminate my hunger and thirst.” You are likewise. Why? Because all dharmas are like mirages, and all sentient beings are like illusory persons; how then could one wish to eliminate hunger and thirst? Within dharmas fabricated through false discrimination, both the one who eliminates and that which is to be eliminated are unobtainable. Since hunger and thirst do not exist, who eliminates what? From the beginning, all dharmas have been satisfied in their intrinsic nature and are entirely free from hunger and thirst; what, then, is there to eliminate?

Foolish people do not know this Dharma in accordance with reality. They believe, “I am hungry and thirsty,” and therefore seek some way to eliminate that hunger and thirst. The wise, however, know in accordance with reality that hunger and thirst have never existed, and so they do not seek to eliminate them. Having fully understood the emptiness of all dharmas, they no longer revolve through birth and death in the various destinies. They remain far removed from conceptual proliferation and free from discrimination. With regard to all dharmas, they abide in non-abiding, without dependence or defilement, neither entering nor emerging, ultimately liberated, with discrimination completely exhausted.

Dragon Auspiciousness said:

– The essential teachings you have spoken, Venerable One, are indeed so, indeed so! The dharmadhatu as such has now appeared!

Mañjuśrī said:

– The true dharmadhatu neither appears nor disappears, neither contracts nor expands. Why? Because the true dharmadhatu is free from characteristics and quiescent; it neither appears nor disappears, cannot be discriminated, admits of no conceptual proliferation, neither depends nor abides, neither grasps nor rejects, neither moves nor turns, and is neither defiled nor purified. Just as the realm of space neither moves nor turns, neither grasps nor rejects, neither depends nor abides, admits of no conceptual proliferation, cannot be discriminated, and neither appears nor disappears, so too are all dharmas. Their own characteristics have always been empty; this nature itself is also without characteristics and is unobtainable. If the characteristics of all dharmas could be obtained, then the Buddha’s entry into nirvana could also be obtained.

All dharmas are neither accumulated nor grasped; they have no form, are invisible, without resistance, without characteristics, and originally quiescent. Therefore, although Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges have entered nirvana, not a single dharma has ceased. That is, there is no cessation of the form skandha, nor any cessation of the skandhas of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

Nor is there any cessation of the eye ayatana, or of the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind ayatanas. Nor is there any cessation of the form ayatana, or of the sound, odor, taste, touch, and dharma ayatanas. Nor is there any cessation of the eye dhatu, or of the ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind dhatus.

Nor is there any cessation of the form dhatu, or of the sound, odor, taste, touch, and dharma dhatus. Nor is there any cessation of the eye-consciousness dhatu, or of the ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, and mind-consciousness dhatus. Nor is there any cessation of eye-contact, or of ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, and mind-contact.

Nor is there any cessation of the feelings arising with eye-contact as condition, or of the feelings arising with ear-, nose-, tongue-, body-, and mind-contact as condition. Nor is there any cessation of the earth dhatu, or of the water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness dhatus. Thus, although the Buddhas enter nirvana, not a single dharma enters nirvana.

Those who wish nirvana to entail the cessation of some dharma thereby also wish the realm of space to cease. Why? Because the nature of all dharmas has been quiescent from the beginning; their intrinsic nature is quiescent and utterly quiescent, and therefore cannot cease.

Those deluded people do not know things as they truly are. Only when entering nirvana do they conceive the notion of cessation, thinking that the self and what belongs to the self are only now extinguished. Because they cling to a self and a sentient being, up to a knower and a seer, and because they cling to whether the intrinsic nature of dharmas exists or does not exist, they believe that all is utterly extinguished upon entering nirvana.

I say that such people cannot be liberated from birth, aging, sickness, death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and distress. Why? Because those deluded people neither know nor realize the fundamental nature of all dharmas.

Since they do not understand the fundamental nature of all dharmas, they continually oppose and contend with the Buddha, the Blessed One, and his great disciples—the non-retrogressing bodhisattvas who, with regard to the profound Dharma, possess wholehearted faith and understanding; who always delight in receiving and practicing the conduct of non-apprehension; who have planted many roots of virtue in the presence of past Buddhas; who possess great supernormal powers and great might; and who are the true and pure caravan leaders, the unsurpassed sages.

Because of such contention, those deluded people remain forever submerged in foul impurity. All noble ones keep far away from it, and the wise unanimously denounce the vile evils of samsara. It is like a heap of excrement near a city or village, where people and animals pass to and fro day and night: it becomes increasingly filthy, repulsive, and foul-smelling, and serves the convenience of unclean creatures.

So too, because deluded people cannot understand the fundamental nature of dharmas, their evil deeds increase ever further, producing the foul impurity of samsara, which the noble ones denounce and the wise abandon. I say that such people can never be liberated from the various faults of birth, aging, sickness, death, and so forth.

Long Jixiang asked:

– Venerable sir! How can one know dharmas as they truly are?

Miaojixiang replied:

– Those who are able, with a non-discriminating mind, to accord with detachment, advance toward detachment, and fully enter detachment are able to know dharmas as they truly are.

Long Jixiang asked:

– Who can detach themselves from illusory phenomena?

Miaojixiang replied:

– Those very people can detach themselves from illusory phenomena.

At that time, Subhuti came to that place and asked:

– What are the two Great Beings discussing?

Miaojixiang asked in return:

– Venerable sir! What dharma now being spoken of is called a Great Being? We do not see even the slightest dharma that can be called a Great Being and engage in discussion. Nor has the Great Sage, the Dharma King, ever taught that there is even the slightest real dharma called a Great Being. All dharmas are like echoes and are not real. What discussion could an echo possibly conduct!

After hearing these words, the elder Subhuti entered the samadhi-door of non-apprehension. A short while later, he emerged from concentration, reverently joined his palms, faced the Jeta Grove, and said:

– I now take refuge in that which the Buddha has realized and taught. This Dharma is extremely profound, subtle, quiescent, difficult to see and difficult to know, inconceivable, beyond the sphere of thought, utterly eliminating grasping and severing all bonds. Such wondrous Dharma is inconceivable and enables sentient beings who hear it to obtain benefit, peace, and happiness. The bodhisattvas who have attained non-retrogression, foremost among whom is Manjusri, and even the assemblies of bodhisattvas who have only recently aroused the aspiration for great bodhi, all dwell together within this profound Dharma and gradually discuss this matter with one another.

Miaojixiang said:

– Venerable sir! You should know that herein there is no friend, nor is there an absence of friends; there is also no deluded person, nor is there an absence of deluded people. Moreover, there is no gradual discussion with one another. Why? Because not even the slightest dharma can be a friend or enemy to even the slightest dharma.... Why? Because all dharmas are nonexistent.

The elder Subhuti asked again:

– Just now I saw the two Great Beings discussing the profound Dharma together. Why do you say that there was no discussion?

Miaojixiang asked in return:

– Venerable sir, have you ever heard of an illusory person, a dream scene, an echo, a reflected image, a mirage, a ray of light, a magical transformation, or a city of gandharvas gradually discussing the meaning of the profound Dharma with one another?

– I have not.

Miaojixiang said:

– All dharmas are like illusions, dream scenes, echoes, and so forth. How could one say that they are seen discussing with one another? Could an illusory person hear a magically created Buddha expound the profound meaning of the Dharma, then believe, understand, receive, uphold, grasp its characteristics, and contemplate groups of words...?

Upon hearing this, Subhuti immediately entered the concentration of cessation.

At that time, Sariputra came and asked Miaojixiang:

– Great Being! Do you know which concentrations Subhuti has entered?

Miaojixiang replied:

– Sariputra! The venerable Subhuti does not contradict even the slightest dharma; therefore, he always enters concentrations that do not contradict dharmas: the concentration of non-abiding, the concentration of non-reliance upon dharmas, the concentration of not grasping a storehouse, and the concentration that destroys grasping at a storehouse. Herein, he does not abide in words or speech, coming or going, standing or lying down. Why? Because the venerable Subhuti believes and understands that the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is empty and cannot be apprehended.

Sariputra asked again:

– What do all dharmas take as their nature?

Miaojixiang replied:

– All dharmas take the absence of intrinsic nature as their nature. Yet even this absence of intrinsic nature cannot be apprehended.

At that very moment, Subhuti emerged from concentration. Miaojixiang urged him:

– The mealtime is approaching. We should quickly enter the city and walk about for alms!

Subhuti said:

– Great Being, you should know! I shall no longer enter the city to seek alms. Why? Because I have already detached myself from all notions of cities, towns, and villages; I have also detached myself from notions of forms, sounds, odors, tastes, tangible objects, and dharmas.

Miaojixiang asked:

– Venerable Subhuti! If you have already detached yourself from all notions, why do you still come and go, pass back and forth?

Subhuti challenged him in return:

– How then does a Tathagata’s magical creation now possess the dharmas of form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness, and so forth? Why does it now come and go, pass back and forth, bend and extend its limbs, and look about?

Miaojixiang replied:

– Excellent, excellent! Venerable Subhuti! You are a true son of the Buddha! Therefore, the Tathagata has always declared that Subhuti is foremost among those who abide in the supreme state of non-contention.

He then said:

– Venerable sir! Enough; let us set this matter aside. I wish to enter the city and make the rounds for alms. After finishing the meal, I shall go to the Tathagata and respectfully invite him, then serve the venerable ones an exceptionally rare meal so that you may obtain excellent benefit!

Sariputra asked:

– Great Being, what foods will you now serve us?

Miaojixiang replied:

– Venerable sir! I shall serve food that cannot be cut into portions or divided into pieces, cannot be tasted, held in the mouth, chewed, or swallowed; that is neither odor, taste, nor tangible object; that is not included within the three realms, yet is also not unbound. Venerable sir, you should know that such wondrous food is the food of the Tathagata and no other food.

Sariputra said:

– Having now heard the Great Being speak the name of this rare food, we are all already completely satisfied, how much more so if we were actually to eat it.

Miaojixiang said:

– My food cannot be seen by the physical eye, the divine eye, or the wisdom eye.

At that time, upon hearing these truthful words, Subhuti and Sariputra immediately entered the concentration of cessation.

The bodhisattva Shansi asked Miaojixiang:

– What food are these two superior persons now eating? What concentrations have they entered?

Miaojixiang replied:

– These two venerable ones are eating uncontaminated food and have entered the concentration that is unsupported and free from defilement. Those who eat this food and abide in this concentration will never again eat the food of the three realms.

Subhuti and Sariputra then emerged from concentration. Together with Miaojixiang and the assemblies of bodhisattvas, sravakas, and others, they joyfully exchanged greetings and then entered the city together, each walking about as he wished in search of alms.

The elder Subhuti came to an empty house and stood there silently. A female lay follower saw him and asked:

– Venerable sir, what do you seek by standing here?

Subhuti replied:

– You should know that I have come to stand here for the sake of seeking alms.

The female lay follower asked:

– Venerable Subhuti! Have you not yet fully understood the perception of food?

Subhuti replied:

– All perceptions of food that have ever arisen from the beginning until now, I have fully understood. Why? Because all perceptions of food—before, during, and after—are naturally empty.

The female lay follower said:

– Indeed! Venerable sir, please extend your hand, and I shall offer you food.

Venerable Subhuti then extended his hand.

The female lay follower asked:

– Venerable Subhuti! Is this the hand of an arhat?

Subhuti replied:

– The hand of an arhat cannot be seen, nor can it be extended. It is as though an illusory person were to ask another illusory person, “What is called the hand of an illusory person? I now wish to see it; please extend it for me.” You should know: could the hand of that illusory person be seen or extended?

The female lay follower said:

– Venerable sir! It could not be seen.

Subhuti said:

– So it is. Good woman! The Buddha taught that everything is like an illusion and is empty; therefore, one cannot say that the hand of an arhat is real or that it can be seen or extended.

When she heard these words, the woman could no longer see Subhuti’s hand. His hand remained invisible for a long time, preventing her from offering the food. She wished to place it in his alms bowl, but the bowl also did not appear. The female lay follower looked all around Subhuti’s body and searched everywhere, but could not find his hand. In the blink of an eye, his entire body also vanished. With reverence, the female lay follower praised Subhuti:

– Excellent, excellent! Only a noble one could accomplish such a thing! His body does not abide, nor do its characteristics appear—this is truly rare. Therefore, the Tathagata often says, “Subhuti is foremost and supreme among those who abide in the samadhi of non-contention.”

At that very moment, the female lay follower completely eradicated the view of self and attained the fruit of stream-entry.

Venerable Subhuti then manifested his body and praised her, saying:

– Excellent, excellent! You have accomplished such a heroic deed.

The woman was then filled with joy and delight and offered the food to Subhuti. After accepting it, Subhuti returned to take his meal.

Mañjuśrī, together with the assemblies of bodhisattvas, sravakas, and others, finished their meal and went together to the Buddha. They bowed at his feet, circumambulated him three times to the right, withdrew, and sat to one side. They then related in full to the Blessed One what had just occurred.

When the Tathagata heard their account, he praised them, saying:

– Excellent, excellent! You have accomplished this extraordinary deed. You should know that it was all through the Buddha’s spiritual power.

Venerable Subhuti also reported to the Buddha how he had just taught and transformed the female lay follower, enabling her to attain the first fruit. The Blessed One likewise praised Subhuti’s skillful means.

Mañjuśrī said to Subhuti:

– That female lay follower eradicated the view of self, which is precisely not a view of self; therefore, the Tathagata calls it the view of self. In the same way, Venerable sir, those who arouse the aspiration toward the bodhisattva vehicle should know, see, and deeply believe and understand all dharmas.

How should they believe and understand? They should believe and understand in accordance with the Dharma, without abiding in perceptions. Why is this? Venerable Subhuti! Because a perception of dharmas is precisely not a perception of dharmas; therefore, the Tathagata calls it a perception of dharmas.

Venerable sir, you should know! Suppose a great bodhisattva were to give in generosity the seven precious substances filling innumerable worlds. Suppose also that a good man, good woman, or another person were to receive and uphold even so little as a single four-line verse from this prajnaparamita and explain it to others, without entertaining the perception of explaining it. The merit attained by this good man, good woman, or other person would surpass the former merit.

At that time, the Blessed One spoke this verse:

All conditioned dharmas

Are like a blurred star, an illusory lamp,

Dew, bubbles, dreams, lightning, and clouds;

They should be contemplated thus.

When the Bhagavat had finished teaching this sutra, the entire assembly of bodhisattvas and bhiksus, together with the worlds of devas, humans, asuras, and others, heard what the Buddha had taught. They all rejoiced greatly, faithfully accepted it, and reverently practiced it.

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