諸法無行經

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was dwelling on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa near the city of Rājagṛha, together with an assembly of five hundred great bhikṣus and ninety-two thousand bodhisattvas. Their names were: Great Bodhisattva Adorned with Multitudinous Virtues; Bodhisattva Lion’s Roaming Pace; Bodhisattva King of Pure Light Free from Obstruction; Bodhisattva Sovereign King of the Lofty Mountain Peak; Bodhisattva Loving Joy and Pure Light; Bodhisattva Light Illuminating the Sun and Moon; Bodhisattva Wondrous Pure Topknot; Bodhisattva Whose Body Emits Lotus Light; Bodhisattva Voice of the Sovereign Brahmā King; Bodhisattva Voice of the Lion King, Teacher of the World at Play; Bodhisattva Golden Pure Light, Awe-Inspiring Virtue; Bodhisattva Gentle and Supple Body;

Bodhisattva Body Adorned with the Perception of Golden Form; Bodhisattva Ten Lights That Shatter the Power of Māra; Bodhisattva Whose Faculties and Deportment Are Virtuous and Serene; Bodhisattva Whose Virtue Is Like a Lofty Mountain; Bodhisattva Celestial Voice; Bodhisattva Who Roams Freely through the Power of the Dharma; Bodhisattva Pure Body of Mountain Virtue; Great Bodhisattva Wondrous Virtue; and other bodhisattvas such as these, numbering ninety-two thousand.

At that time, Bodhisattva Lion’s Roaming Pace surveyed the great assembly, then rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, placed his right knee upon the ground, joined his palms toward the Buddha, and asked in verse:

World-Honored One, Great Guide,

Whose renowned virtue is immeasurable,

Now within this assembly,

Expound the Dharma of quiescent cessation.

Wrong views, craving, and arrogance,

Anger, resentment, and jealousy—

How are these themselves the path?

Proclaim this skillful means in a great voice.

How is the characteristic of nirvana

No different from worldly dharmas?

The nature of all dharmas is nondual;

Out of great compassion, expound this.

How is the nature of all dharmas

Ultimately without obstruction?

That nature is like nirvana

And is likewise the same as liberation.

Neither bound nor released,

It is like the characteristic of empty space.

With the voice of the kalaviṅka,

The pure voice of Great Brahmā,

With a form-body like heavenly gold,

A pure life of immeasurable virtue,

Expound the true characteristic of dharmas,

Ultimately neither bound nor released.

How are these five hindrances[1]

Again identical with bodhi?

How is this bodhi

Identical with the nature of all karma?

Whether Dharma or non-Dharma,

How do they share the single characteristic

And are ultimately pure in this way?

I beseech you to expound this.

Neither countable nor uncountable,

All dharmas are ultimately extinguished.

The characteristic of the wisdom of all modes

And the Dharma of the path to bodhi—

How are these two dharmas nonexistent?

I beseech you to expound this.

Neither action nor non-action,

Neither attachment nor non-attachment,

Ultimately there are no sentient beings;

Among all dharmas there is no obstruction.

There is neither morality nor patience,

Nor is there any violation of morality;

There is neither knowledge nor wisdom,

Nor is there absence of knowledge and wisdom.

These dharmas are ever pure;

I beseech you to expound this.

How are all dharmas

Quiescent like empty space,

Without mind or mental factors,

Without seeing, abandoning, realizing, or cultivating?

All sentient beings

Are alike in the characteristic of empty space;

Even the single characteristic of dharmas is nonexistent,

And mental activity also does not exist.

Dharmas neither arise nor cease;

There are neither trainees nor arhats,

Nor are there pratyekabuddhas,

Nor bodhisattvas who seek the path.

Neither abiding nor relying,

Neither coming nor going,

The characteristics of dharmas do not move,

Ever abiding like Mount Sumeru.

There is neither characteristic nor form;

The nature of form is itself the path.

The nature of form and the Buddha path are one—

Please teach such a Dharma.

How are there neither Buddha nor Dharma,

Nor any assembly of the Sangha,

And how do the Three Jewels have a single characteristic?

I beseech you to expound this.

Neither emptiness nor signlessness,

Nor is there actionlessness;

Neither joined nor dispersed,

Even the names and characteristics of dharmas are nonexistent.

All dharmas are ultimately empty,

Like echoes, without an agent;

Neither arising nor non-arising,

Neither cessation nor coming and going.

There are no devas, no nāgas,

No yakṣas, kinnaras, and so forth;

No humans and no hells,

No hungry ghosts or animals;

No sentient beings of the five destinies—

Please teach these dharmas.

The Guiding Teacher, the Buddha, the World-Honored One,

And non-Buddhists holding wrong views—

Both expound teachings;

How are they the same and not different?

All written characters and spoken words—

These dharmas all have a single characteristic.

World-Honored One of great loving-kindness and compassion,

Please open this Dharma gate.

The World-Honored One then praised Great Bodhisattva Lion’s Roaming Pace:

“Excellent, excellent! Good man! What you have asked is exceedingly rare and difficult for the entire world to believe.

“Good man! Stop, stop! Ask no more. Why? Because bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the aspiration cannot comprehend this Dharma and thus give rise to fixed views concerning emptiness, signlessness, actionlessness, non-arising, nonexistence, non-apprehension of characteristics, the Buddha, and bodhi.

“Good man! Such a Dharma should not be taught before bodhisattvas who are newly training. Why? After hearing this Dharma, they might abandon wholesome karma and inevitably follow a wrong path upon the Buddha path; or they might cling to annihilationism or fall into eternalism, not understanding the skillful means by which the Tathagata teaches the Dharma according to what is appropriate.”

At that time, Great Bodhisattva Lion’s Roaming Pace addressed the Buddha:

“World-Honored One, out of compassion for the world, I beseech you to teach this for us. In the future age, there will be bodhisattvas who cling to emptiness, cling to signlessness, cling to actionlessness, cling to non-arising, cling to nonexistence, cling to non-apprehension of characteristics, cling to the Buddha, and cling to bodhi. They discriminate that things are empty, signless, and actionless; delight in reading and study; diligently undertake activities; become intoxicated with literary expression; take eloquent discourse as their special strength; and prize fame and gain.

When such people hear the Tathagata teach this ultimately pure Dharma beyond written words, they will relinquish all those attachments. According to sentient beings’ capacities for faith and understanding, these bodhisattvas will employ the power of skillful means to teach them the Dharma. Although they teach fewness of desires, they do not regard it as supreme.

Although they teach the sutras and morality, they do not regard these as supreme. Although they speak of abiding among various faults, they also know that the characteristics of all dharmas are utterly transcendent. They constantly praise dwelling alone in secluded places, yet do not regard this as supreme.

Although they praise arousing the aspiration for bodhi, they know that the nature of mind is itself bodhi. Although they praise the Mahāyāna sutras, they know that all dharmas bear the characteristic of greatness. Although they teach the bodhisattva path, they make no distinctions among arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and Buddhas.

Although they praise generosity, they penetrate the equality of the characteristic of generosity. Although they praise the observance of morality, they clearly know that all dharmas are alike in having the nature of morality. Although they praise patience, they know that the characteristics of dharmas are unarisen, unceasing, and inexhaustible.

Although they praise diligence, they know that the characteristics of dharmas neither set forth nor proceed. Although they praise meditative concentration, they know that the characteristics of all dharmas are perpetually concentrated. Although they praise wisdom, they clearly know the true nature of wisdom.

Although they teach the faults of craving, they see no dharma that can be craved. Although they teach the faults of anger, they see no dharma at which one can be angry. Although they teach the faults of delusion, they know that all dharmas are free from delusion and obstruction.

Although they show sentient beings the terrifying suffering of falling into the three evil destinies, they see no characteristics of hell beings, hungry ghosts, or animals. Thus, according to sentient beings’ capacities for faith and understanding, bodhisattvas employ the power of skillful means to teach them the Dharma, enabling them to gain faith in and understanding of the single characteristic of dharmas: emptiness, signlessness, actionlessness, non-arising, nonexistence, and non-apprehension of characteristics.

“World-Honored One! I beseech you to teach this inconceivable Dharma of skillful means, which all śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the aspiration cannot comprehend, and which is taught solely for those who have faith in and understanding of the profound single characteristic of dharmas.”

The Buddha then told Great Bodhisattva Lion’s Roaming Pace:

“Good man! Listen attentively now and reflect well. I shall explain this meaning for you.”

“World-Honored One! Yes, indeed. I shall receive it.”

At that time, the World-Honored One replied in verse:

If one wishes to attain Buddhahood,

One should not destroy craving.

All dharmas are themselves craving;

Knowing this, one attains Buddhahood.

Craving, anger, and delusion—

There is no one who can obtain them.

These dharmas are all like emptiness;

Knowing this, one attains Buddhahood.

Views and non-views have a single characteristic;

Attachment and non-attachment are likewise so.

Here there is no Buddha, no Dharma;

To know this is great wisdom.

Like a person in a dream

Who attains the Way and liberates sentient beings—

There is no Way and no sentient beings;

The nature of Buddha and Dharma is likewise.

At the seat of awakening, nothing is attained;

If anything were attained, it would surely not exist.

Knowledge and ignorance have a single characteristic;

One who knows thus is a Buddha.

Sentient beings are precisely bodhi;

Bodhi is precisely sentient beings.

Bodhi and sentient beings are one;

One who knows thus is a Buddha.

Like a skilled illusionist

Who conjures all manner of things:

Though they are seen, they are not real,

Yet fools take them to be real.

Greed, anger, and delusion are like illusions;

Illusion is no different from the three poisons.

Ordinary beings make distinctions themselves:

“I am greedy; I am angry and deluded.”

Such foolish people

Will surely fall into the three evil paths.

In the true characteristic there is no greed or anger,

Nor can delusion be found.

By discriminating dharmas as illusions,

The inherent nature of afflictions arises.

In the true characteristic there are no afflictions,

No sentient beings, and no Buddha.

Discriminating dharmas that are unborn,

Ordinary beings aspire to become Buddhas.

They see neither the Buddha-Dharma

Nor sentient beings.

One who knows this characteristic of dharmas

Will swiftly become a World-Honored One.

If someone seeks bodhi,

There is surely no bodhi for them.

That person is far from bodhi,

As far apart as heaven and earth.

One who knows all dharmas to be like illusions

Will swiftly become a World-Honored One.

If someone discriminates moral precepts,

That person possesses no moral precepts.

Precepts and non-precepts have a single characteristic;

One who knows thus is a Great Teacher.

As in a dream one enjoys the five desires,

Sporting and delighting oneself,

Discriminating and seeing a woman’s form,

Though in reality no woman is there.

Keeping and breaking precepts are like a dream;

Ordinary beings distinguish them as two.

In reality there are neither precepts nor their violation;

One who knows thus is a Guide.

Ordinary beings cling to names and words,

Not knowing the nature of language.

Names and what is not named—

One who knows thus attains the unborn.

One considers oneself a bodhisattva,

Recites scriptures, and expounds them to others,

Yet does not practice oneself,

Relying only upon one’s lineage.

Merely reading sutras in pursuit of the Way,

One constantly sees the faults of others,

Clings to deportment and scriptural recitation,

And grows proud when seeing others show respect.

Relying upon lineage and literary learning,

One does not know the true characteristic of dharmas.

People such as these

Can never become Buddhas.

While teaching that all dharmas are empty,

They delight in disputation with malicious minds.

Such people possess neither the Buddha-Dharma

Nor bodhi.

Knowing that anger and patience have the same characteristic,

One penetrates this fully and is angry no more.

Failing to understand the nature of sentient beings,

One will surely give rise to anger.

Those who call themselves bodhisattvas

Further speak such words as these:

“I am compassionate toward all;

When I become a Buddha, I will liberate sentient beings.”

Yet when troubled by others, they become resentful

And refuse to speak with them.

They constantly seek out others’ faults

And delight in quarrels,

While also praising patience

And teaching that all dharmas are empty.

Their own minds are filled with arrogance;

They constantly see the faults of others,

Crave delicious food,

And remember the five desires day and night.

Such people enter towns and cities,

Claiming that they liberate others

And have compassion for sentient beings,

Yet they constantly seek their own benefit.

Though their mouths speak in this way,

Their minds delight in troubling others.

I have never seen or heard

Of compassion that troubles others,

Of people resentfully harming one another

And thereby being born in Amitabha’s realm.

If people as numerous as the sands of the Ganges

Were to revile and beat one,

And one could patiently endure it all,

One would surely be born in the Pure Land.

Buddha lands and what are not Buddha lands—

Know their characteristics to be like empty space.

Do not discriminate among lands

Or the merits of those lands.

People such as these

Will be born in the Buddha lands.

One claims to endure every evil

And to regard bodhisattvas as Buddhas,

Yet I have never seen or heard

Of a Buddha who harbored resentment.

Praising oneself and disparaging others,

Delighting in familiar donors,

One says, “Those whom I teach

I cause to accord with the Dharma.

You should be liberated by me;

Do not associate with anyone else.”

Such a person’s conduct is impure,

And they constantly dwell amid commotion.

On the path to Buddhahood, such a person

Does not practice diligently.

Those who truly seek the path to Buddhahood

Should, throughout the three periods of day and night,

Bow their heads before all bodhisattvas

And give rise to a reverent mind.

They should follow the bodhisattvas’ path

And not speak of their faults.

Even if they see them attached to the five desires,

They should not speak of their faults or shortcomings,

But should think, “This person

Will surely attain the Way in the future.”

They practice the work of the Way in due sequence

And cannot become Buddhas immediately;

Perhaps they awakened the aspiration only recently,

And therefore engage in such conduct.

Do not discriminate craving and desire;

The nature of craving and desire is the Way.

Afflictions were originally empty,

And in the future they will not exist either.

One who can believe and understand this

Thereupon attains patience regarding the unborn.

Contemplate pleasant and unpleasant sounds,

And know their nature to be beyond sound.

You will enter the Dharma gateway

Whose true characteristic is without written words.

If one can believe this Dharma,

There will surely be no lust, anger, or delusion.

Contemplate craving, desire, and delusion

As precisely the characteristic of the immeasurable.

Both are without written words,

Yet written words are used to speak of them.

Wherever written words are found,

None of them are real.

Contemplate all sounds

As having the single nature of sound.

The Buddha’s teaching and false teachings

Are all without distinction.

Although the Dharma is expressed through words,

In reality there is no Dharma and no speaking.

One who can enter the gateway of the single characteristic

Will surely attain unsurpassed patience.

“This is patience; this is not patience”—

Do not discriminate in this way.

Within minds of craving and anger,

Do not calculate benefit.

One who knows both to be unborn

Will become a World-Honored One.

In the east, west, south, and north,

Lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges

Are all ground into tiny particles of dust,

Each particle becoming one realm

Filled throughout with precious treasures.

If, for countless kalpas,

One offered them to the Tathagatas,

The merit gained by that person,

Compared with that of one who hears this sutra,

Would not equal even one part in a hundred thousand.

If there is a renunciant

Who single-mindedly seeks the path to Buddhahood,

I entrust to that person

This essential and secret Dharma.

If someone recites this sutra

And explains its meaning,

Immeasurable eloquence and dharani

Will naturally all be attained.

Keen faculties, inexhaustible wisdom,

And the eloquence of joyful teaching—

Immeasurable hundreds of millions of Buddhas

Will also bestow them upon that person,

And that person will naturally be able to expound

The wondrous Dharma of all the sutras.

At that time, Bodhisattva Lion’s Roaming Step addressed the Buddha:

“World-Honored One, among those hearing the verses spoken today, how many have personally benefited?”

The Buddha said:

“Good man, do you see this great assembly?”

“Yes, World-Honored One, I see it.”

“Today, as I teach this Dharma, immeasurable sentient beings have gathered in this assembly, together with devas, nagas, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, kimnaras, garudas, mahoragas, and others, filling empty space. Through the radiance of this Dharma teaching, many beings even in worlds of other directions have also gained benefit. Ninety-two thousand yaksha spirits have all aroused the aspiration for unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment.

Five hundred overweeningly arrogant bhikshus, who had not attained realization yet claimed to have attained it, heard this Dharma, abandoned their overweening arrogance, and gained faithful understanding of the true Dharma—that all dharmas have a single characteristic. By not grasping any dharma, they exhausted the outflows and attained liberation. At that time, among the bodhisattvas in the assembly, sixty-two thousand gained faithful understanding that all dharmas are without any obstructing characteristic and attained patience regarding the unborn.

Why is this? Because teaching the Dharma in this way is foremost among all Dharma teachings.

“Good man, when I was in the presence of Dipankara Buddha, I gained faithful understanding that all dharmas have the single, unobstructed characteristic. Only afterward did I attain patience regarding the unborn nature of dharmas and perfect the six paramitas. Why is this so? Even if a bodhisattva were to practice generosity, moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom for kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, if that bodhisattva did not know the characteristic of dharmas in this way, they might sever all their roots of goodness.

“Good man, do you see? Devadatta possessed vast roots of goodness and merit and had perfected the thirty-two marks of a great person. Although he possessed such merit, because he did not know this characteristic of dharmas, he severed his roots of goodness and fell into the great hell.”

Good man! In the immeasurable, boundless, inconceivable asamkhya kalpas of the past, there was a Buddha named King of Lofty Mount Sumeru Tathagata, Worthy of Offerings, Perfectly Enlightened, Perfect in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-Gone One, Knower of the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Devas and Humans, Buddha, Blessed One. His lifespan was nine thousand nine hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of years, and his land was called Radiance of Golden Flames.

In that land, the ground was made entirely of pure gold. That Buddha also taught the Dharma by means of the Three Vehicles to liberate sentient beings. At the first assembly, there were eighty hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of shravaka disciples; at the second assembly, there were seventy hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of shravaka disciples; at the third assembly, there were sixty hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of shravaka disciples; and at the fourth assembly, there were fifty hundred thousand myriads of kotis of nayutas of shravaka disciples.

They all attained arhatship, laid down their heavy burdens, attained their own benefit in the Dharma, exhausted all fetters of the Three Realms, and attained liberation through right wisdom. The assembly of bhikshunis was twice the number stated above; the assembly of upasakas was also twice that number; and the assembly of upasikas was likewise twice that number. The assembly of bodhisattvas was also twice that number.

They had all attained non-retrogression and the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. They had all attained immeasurable and boundless dharani gateways and samadhi gateways and were capable of turning the irreversible Dharma wheel. How much more immeasurable and boundless, then, were the bodhisattvas who had newly generated the aspiration and those who had generated the resolve to follow the path of a pratyekabuddha!

Good man! At that time, the assembly of disciples in that Buddha’s congregation was immeasurable and boundless. In that land of Golden Flames were trees made of the seven treasures, and those jeweled trees constantly resounded afar with voices proclaiming the Dharma: the voice declaring that all dharmas are empty, the voice of signlessness, the voice of non-action, the voice of non-possession, and the voice of non-apprehension of characteristics. When the people of that land heard these voices proclaiming the Dharma, they naturally all realized the true characteristic of all dharmas, and their minds attained liberation. After that Buddha entered nirvana, the Dharma remained for one thousand years, and the jeweled trees no longer emitted voices proclaiming the Dharma.

Good man! That Buddha, King of Lofty Mount Sumeru, entrusted the Dharma to the bodhisattva Pure Deportment, charging him to safeguard the true Dharma. Having made this entrustment, he entered nirvana without remainder. At that time, there was a bhikshu named Possessing Deportment. Although his observance of the precepts was impure, he had attained the four dhyanas, the four formless absorptions, and the five supernormal powers. He could recite the Vinaya Pitaka proficiently and delighted in ascetic practices, but he was not skilled in knowing the minds of others. His disciples also all practiced austerities and esteemed the dhutanga practices.

Dharma Master Pure Deportment observed the precepts purely and possessed skillful means regarding the Dharma of non-possession. One day, Dharma Master Pure Deportment brought his disciples to the dwelling of the bhikshu Possessing Deportment to reside together with him. Out of compassion for sentient beings, Dharma Master Pure Deportment would regularly leave his dwelling, enter villages to beg for alms, and then return.

He taught and transformed hundreds of thousands of myriads of households, making them all his disciples and causing them to generate the aspiration for unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment. His disciples were likewise skilled in teaching and transforming others. They went to villages to expound the Dharma, causing hundreds of thousands of sentient beings to generate the aspiration for unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment.

The bhikshu Possessing Deportment always preferred to remain at monasteries and stupas. His disciples did not observe the pure precepts, yet delighted in the dhutanga practices. The bhikshu Possessing Deportment was diligent and energetic.

Resolutely taking his own conduct as the standard, he taught his disciples, who clung to wholesome dharmas and perceived something to be attained. For example, he taught: “All conditioned dharmas are impermanent; all are suffering; and all dharmas are without self.” Yet he did not skillfully practice the dharmas of meditative concentration, nor was he proficient in the course of bodhisattva practice, because his mind was not pure and undivided.

Dharma Master Pure Deportment skillfully knew whether sentient beings’ faculties were sharp or dull. Because he knew the mind of the bhikshu Possessing Deportment, he ceased entering the villages, while his disciples continued going on alms rounds just as before, without any change. When the bhikshu Possessing Deportment saw that the disciples of Dharma Master Pure Deportment regularly entered the villages, an impure thought arose in him.

He then sounded the gandī, assembled the community, and established this rule: “From this day onward, you must not enter the villages. You do not know how to practice single-mindedly in peaceful seclusion, so what benefit is there in constantly entering villages? The aranya is a place praised by the Buddha.

You should single-mindedly cultivate meditative concentration and not go to householders’ homes.” The disciples of Dharma Master Pure Deportment refused to obey and continued entering the villages. Later, one day, the bhikshu Possessing Deportment saw those disciples returning from the villages. Again he sounded the gandī, assembled the community, and said: “If you enter the villages again, you will not be permitted to remain here.”

At that time, Dharma Master Pure Deportment, wishing to protect and care for the bhikshu Possessing Deportment, told his disciples: “From this day onward, do not enter the villages.” The disciples obeyed their teacher’s instruction and ceased entering the villages. When the people no longer saw the Dharma Master and his disciples, they became sorrowful and distressed, and their roots of goodness declined. After three months had passed and the pravarana ceremony was completed, Dharma Master Pure Deportment departed for another monastic dwelling.

There, master and disciples again entered cities, towns, and villages to expound the Dharma for the people. Some time later, the bhikshu Possessing Deportment saw Dharma Master Pure Deportment once again entering householders’ homes and saw that those disciples had abandoned the established rule. An evil and impure thought arose in him, and he reflected: “This bhikshu breaks and violates the precepts.

How could he possess bodhi?” He then told everyone: “This bhikshu engages in mixed practices and is very far from the path to Buddhahood.” After the bhikshu Possessing Deportment created this karma, he later died. As retribution for this karma, he later died; as retribution for this karma, he fell into the great Avici hell, where for nine hundred thousand kotis of kalpas he underwent every kind of suffering and torment.

After emerging from hell, he was constantly reviled for six hundred thirty thousand lifetimes. When that offense gradually became lighter, he became a bhikshu for three hundred twenty thousand lifetimes; yet after going forth, because of the causes and conditions of this karma, he was compelled to abandon the path and return to lay life. Moreover, because of the slight residual offense remaining from this karma, he went forth and entered the path under the Buddha Pure Radiance.

For thousands of myriads of kotis of years, he practiced earnestly and diligently, as though extinguishing a fire blazing upon his head, yet still did not attain the patient acceptance of gentle accord. For immeasurable thousands of myriads of lifetimes, his faculties remained dull and obscured.

Lion’s Roaming! What do you think? The bhikshu Possessing Deportment of that time was none other than I myself in a former life. At that time, because a subtle impure thought arose in me, I incurred such karmic offenses and fell into hell.

Lion’s Roaming! If a person does not wish to create such subtle karmic offenses, he should not give rise to evil thoughts toward other bodhisattvas. With regard to the paths practiced by bodhisattvas, he should have faith and understanding in them all and should not give rise to resentment or anger. He should think: “I am unable to know the minds of others clearly, and the conduct of sentient beings is also exceedingly difficult to know.”

Good man! Because the Tathagata sees such benefit, he constantly teaches this Dharma. Therefore, practitioners should not criticize others; only the Tathagata and those equal to the Buddha can truly know them.

Thus, practitioners who wish to safeguard themselves should take care not to criticize others and thereby give rise to opposition. Bodhisattvas who wish to cultivate should always be diligent in mind, day and night, maintaining mindful recollection. Those who have brought forth the profound aspiration for bodhi should not delight in seeking out the virtues and faults of others.

If a bodhisattva were able to teach and transform all beings throughout the three-thousand-great-thousand world system, causing them all to practice the ten wholesome deeds, this would not equal a bodhisattva who, for the duration of a single meal, single-mindedly abides in a quiet place and recollects the Dharma gate of the single characteristic, much less one who hears and receives it, reads and recites it, or explains it.

The merit of the latter person is far greater than that of the former. Why is this? By means of this Dharma gate, bodhisattvas can extinguish all karmic obstructions and grave offenses, free themselves from attachment and aversion toward all sentient beings, and swiftly attain the wisdom of all modes.

At that time, Mañjuśrī, Prince of the Dharma, addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! The Buddha has just spoken of extinguishing the offenses of karmic obstructions. How are the offenses of karmic obstructions extinguished?

The Buddha told Mañjuśrī:

– If a bodhisattva sees that the nature of all dharmas is without karma and without retribution, that bodhisattva will completely extinguish the offenses of karmic obstructions.

Furthermore, Mañjuśrī! If a bodhisattva sees that the ultimate limit of desire is itself the ultimate limit of reality, that the ultimate limit of anger is itself the ultimate limit of reality, and that the ultimate limit of delusion is itself the ultimate limit of reality, that bodhisattva will completely extinguish the offenses of karmic obstructions.

Furthermore, Mañjuśrī! If a bodhisattva sees that the nature of all sentient beings is itself the nature of nirvana, that bodhisattva will completely extinguish the offenses of karmic obstructions. Why is this so?

Whenever people hold a view of self, they give rise to karma without knowing or being aware of it. Ignorant ordinary beings do not know that the characteristics of dharmas are ultimately extinguished; therefore, they perceive a self and also perceive others. Because of such perception, they create various karmic deeds of body, speech, and mind.

Through false views, conceptualization, and discrimination, they think: “I am a person of desire, anger, and delusion.” Because they discriminate in this way, even after leaving home to study the path within the Buddha-Dharma, they further think: “I am one who upholds the precepts and cultivates the pure conduct. I shall transcend birth and death, enter nirvana, and be liberated from all suffering and affliction.” Such a person discriminates among dharmas as wholesome or unwholesome, as that which must be known, abandoned, realized, or cultivated—that is, suffering must be known, its origin must be abandoned, cessation must be realized, and the path must be cultivated.

They further discriminate that all conditioned activities are impermanent, that all conditioned activities are suffering, and that all conditioned activities are ablaze with the three poisons. “I must quickly abandon these conditioned dharmas.” Constantly thinking in this way, they grasp at characteristics amid conditioned activities and consequently give rise to aversion.

They then think: “To know conditioned activities in this way is to know suffering. To become averse to conditioned activities is to abandon the origin of suffering.” Discriminating among conditioned activities and perceiving cessation, they immediately think: “I now perceive cessation”; this, they believe, is realizing cessation. “I must cultivate the path”; they therefore go to a quiet place and contemplate dharmas in this way.

Having contemplated in this way, they gather the mind and abide in concentration. Because this person first acquired a mind of aversion and has now attained a concentrated mind, the mind consequently abandons all conditioned activities, while the person feels ashamed of and disgusted with them, taking neither gladness nor joy in them. They further think: “I have now attained liberation with regard to all dharmas and have nothing more to do.

I myself have attained the path of an arhat.” When this person's life ends and they perceive that they are to undergo further birth, they immediately give rise to doubt concerning bodhi. Because of this doubt, after death they fall into the great hells. Why is this?

Because this person discriminated within the Dharma of non-arising.

At that time, Mañjuśrī, Prince of the Dharma, addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! How, then, should the Four Noble Truths now be contemplated?

The Buddha told Mañjuśrī:

– If a practitioner knows that all dharmas are precisely the nature of non-arising, this is called knowing suffering. If one sees that all dharmas neither accumulate nor arise, this is abandoning the origin of suffering. If one sees that the characteristics of all dharmas are ultimately extinguished, this is realizing cessation. If one sees that the nature of all dharmas is without anything whatsoever, this is cultivating the path.

Mañjuśrī! If a practitioner can see the Four Noble Truths in this way, that person does not discriminate thus: “This dharma is wholesome, or this dharma is unwholesome; this dharma should be known, this dharma should be abandoned, this dharma should be realized, and this dharma should be cultivated. This is called suffering, which should be known; the origin, which should be abandoned; cessation, which should be realized; and the path, which should be cultivated.” Why is this so?

The practitioner sees that the dharmas of desire, anger, and delusion enacted by ordinary beings are all empty, non-arising, and without anything whatsoever; they cannot be discriminated and are merely accumulations of falsity. At that time, the practitioner neither grasps nor rejects any dharma, and the mind is unobstructed within the three realms. The practitioner sees that all three realms ultimately do not arise and that all wholesome and unwholesome dharmas are false and unreal, like illusions, dreams, shadows, echoes, and mirages.

The practitioner sees that the nature of desire is itself the nature of nirvana, that the nature of anger is itself the nature of nirvana, and that the nature of delusion is itself the nature of nirvana. If one can see the nature of all dharmas in this way, one does not give rise to attachment or aversion toward any sentient being. Why is this so?

This practitioner does not apprehend any dharma on account of which attachment or aversion might arise. If one abides instead in a mind like empty space, one does not even see the Buddha, does not see the Dharma, and does not see the Sangha; this is not seeing any dharma at all. If one does not see any dharma, one certainly gives rise to no doubt concerning any dharma.

Because no doubt arises, one does not accept or appropriate any dharma. Because one does not accept or appropriate any dharma, one is naturally quiescent and extinguished.

Mañjuśrī! The elder Subhūti understood the Dharma in this way and therefore did not approach to bow at the Buddha's feet. Subhūti did not even apprehend his own body; how much less could he apprehend the body of the Tathagata? For one who does not apprehend one's own body to apprehend the body of the Tathagata would be utterly unreasonable.

Mañjuśrī again addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! How should a practitioner contemplate the Four Foundations of Mindfulness?

The Buddha told Mañjuśrī:

– In a future age, there will be bhikṣus who say: “When contemplating the body internally, contemplating it as impure is the foundation of mindfulness of the body. Contemplating all pleasant feelings as suffering is the foundation of mindfulness of feelings. Contemplating the nature of mind as arising and ceasing is the foundation of mindfulness of mind. Contemplating the disintegration of compounded characteristics and apprehending only the characteristics of dharmas is the foundation of mindfulness of dharmas.”

Mañjuśrī addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! How, then, should the Four Foundations of Mindfulness now be correctly contemplated?

The Buddha said:

– Enough, enough! Mañjuśrī, you should not ask this. The Dharma proclaimed by the Tathagata is difficult to understand.

Mañjuśrī said:

– World-Honored One! Out of compassion for sentient beings, I beseech you to expound it.

The Buddha told Mañjuśrī:

– If a practitioner sees the body as empty space, this is the foundation of mindfulness of the body. If a practitioner knows that feelings abide neither within, nor without, nor in between, this is the foundation of mindfulness of feelings. If a practitioner knows that mind is merely a designation, this is the foundation of mindfulness of mind. If a practitioner apprehends neither wholesome dharmas nor unwholesome dharmas, this is the foundation of mindfulness of dharmas. Mañjuśrī! The Four Foundations of Mindfulness should be contemplated in this way.

Mañjuśrī again addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! How should a practitioner contemplate the eight factors of the Noble Path?

The Buddha told Mañjuśrī:

– If a practitioner sees all dharmas as equal, nondual, and without differentiation, this is right view; if one sees all dharmas as free from thought and differentiation, then because one sees in this way, it is called right intention; if one sees that all dharmas have no characteristic of verbal expression, then because one skillfully cultivates the equality of the characteristics of language and speech, it is called right speech; if one sees that all dharmas do not possess the characteristic of action, then because no agent can be apprehended, it is called right action; if one does not discriminate between right livelihood and wrong livelihood, then because one skillfully cultivates the equality of livelihood, it is called right livelihood; if one neither initiates nor arouses any dharma, then because there is nothing practiced, it is called right effort; if one has no recollection of any dharma, because the nature of all recollections is ever detached, it is called right mindfulness; if one sees that the nature of all dharmas is ever concentrated, then because there is no distraction, no grasping at conditions, and nothing apprehended, it is called right concentration. Manjusri! A practitioner should contemplate the eight factors of the Noble Path in this way.

Manjusri again addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! How should a practitioner contemplate the five faculties?

The Buddha told Manjusri:

– If a practitioner has faith that all dharmas are ultimately unborn and have always been naturally thus, this is the faculty of faith. If the mind never abides in any dharma, because it is free from the characteristics of nearness and remoteness, this is the faculty of effort. If one does not recollect any dharma, because the nature of conditions is detached, and therefore does not bind mindfulness to conditions, this is the faculty of mindfulness. If one does not conceive of any dharma, because mutually dependent dharmas cannot be apprehended, this is called the faculty of concentration. If one sees all dharmas as ever empty, because they are free from the characteristic of arising, this is the faculty of wisdom. Manjusri! A practitioner should contemplate the five faculties in this way.

Manjusri again addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! How should a practitioner contemplate the seven factors of awakening?

The Buddha told Manjusri:

– If a practitioner sees that all dharmas are without recollection, this is the mindfulness factor of awakening. If one sees that all dharmas, whether wholesome, unwholesome, or indeterminate, cannot be selected or apprehended, because they possess no fixed determination, this is the investigation-of-dharmas factor of awakening. If one does not grasp any characteristic of the three realms, because one skillfully destroys the characteristics of the three realms, this is the effort factor of awakening. If one does not give rise to the characteristic of joy regarding any conditioned dharma, because one skillfully destroys the characteristic of joy, this is the joy factor of awakening. If one relinquishes the mind that grasps at conditions in relation to all dharmas, because the characteristic of conditions cannot be apprehended, this is called the tranquility factor of awakening. If no dharma can be apprehended, because one skillfully cultivates the destruction of characteristics, this is the concentration factor of awakening. If one neither relies upon nor clings to any dharma, then because one does not grasp any dharma, one attains a mind of equanimity; this is the equanimity factor of awakening. Manjusri! A practitioner should contemplate the seven factors of awakening in this way.

If a practitioner sees the Four Noble Truths, the four foundations of mindfulness, the eight factors of the Noble Path, the five faculties, and the seven factors of awakening, the Buddha declares that this person has crossed over to the other shore, has ascended onto dry land where there is no longer any fear, has laid down the heavy burden, and has removed all defilements. This person is called one who possesses nothing, one who has no sorrow, one who receives nothing.

Such a one is an arhat, a sramana, a brahmin, a bhiksu, one who has bathed and become pure, a wise person, a liberated person, a person of renown, a child of the Buddha, a child of the Sakyan, one who has broken through the thorns, one who has escaped the fetters, one who has crossed the moat, one who has gone beyond craving, one who has opened the gate of liberation, and one who bears the sublime marks of the Noble Ones.

Manjusri! If a bhiksu accomplishes such dharmas, he is a field of merit worthy of receiving the offerings of devas and humans in the world.

Manjusri! If a bhiksu wishes not to consume in vain the offerings of the faithful in the land, wishes to shatter Mara's net, wishes to cross the ocean of birth and death, wishes to attain nirvana, wishes to escape all suffering and affliction, and wishes to become a field of merit for all devas and humans in the world, he must diligently cultivate such dharmas.

When this Dharma was spoken, thirty-two thousand devas attained the true characteristic of all dharmas. Each scattered celestial mandarava flowers over the Buddha and said:

– World-Honored One! If anyone is able to hear such a Dharma, this person is called one who has skillfully gone forth into homelessness; how much more so one who faithfully accepts it, reads and recites it, and practices in accordance with the teaching. World-Honored One! If anyone hears this Dharma even for a moment, that person is free from overweening pride.

At that time, Manjusri, Prince of the Dharma, addressed the Buddha:

– I beseech the World-Honored One to speak a dharani, for this dharani enables bodhisattvas to attain unobstructed eloquence and freedom from fear; with regard to all sounds, it enables them to transform all dharmas into the Buddha-Dharma and to faithfully understand that all dharmas have a single characteristic.

The Buddha told Manjusri:

– Listen attentively, and I shall teach you the Dharma gate of the Lineage of the Unmoving Abode. If bodhisattvas enter this Dharma gate, they will be able to illuminate all dharmas with the radiance of wisdom and realize the forbearance concerning the non-arising of dharmas.

Manjusri addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! What is called the Dharma gate of the Lineage of the Unmoving Abode?

The Buddha told Manjusri:

– The minds of all sentient beings are one; this is called the lineage.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the lineage?

– Manjusri! All sentient beings are without mind, because the nature of conditions cannot be apprehended; this is called the lineage.

Manjusri! All sentient beings are of one and the same measure; this is called the lineage.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the lineage?

– All sentient beings are immeasurable like empty space and ultimately return to unobstructedness; this is called the lineage.

Manjusri! All sentient beings are one sentient being; this is called the lineage.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the lineage?

– Manjusri! All sentient beings have a single characteristic, are ultimately unborn, and are free from all names; because neither oneness nor difference can be apprehended, this is called the lineage.

Manjusri! Desire has the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the characteristic of immovability?

– Desire has the characteristic of immovability and abides in the Dharma-nature precisely because it does not abide. This desire cannot be apprehended because its nature is ever detached; this is called the characteristic of immovability.

Manjusri! Anger is vajra.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called vajra?

– Manjusri! Anger cannot be severed or destroyed, just as vajra cannot be severed or destroyed. All dharmas are likewise: they cannot be severed or destroyed, because dharmas are fundamentally indeterminate. This is called vajra.

Manjusri! Delusion is the nature of wisdom.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the nature of wisdom?

– Manjusri! All dharmas are free from wisdom and also free from delusion. Just as empty space possesses neither wisdom nor delusion, all dharmas are likewise, possessing neither wisdom nor delusion. Because the wisdom that knows dharmas, wisdom itself, and delusion have all been quiescent and extinguished since the beginning, this is called the abode of the wisdom of delusion.

Manjusri! The form skandha is the unmoving abode.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the unmoving abode?

– Manjusri! Just as the banner of the Lord of Devas has a deep and secure base and cannot be shaken, so too are all dharmas. Because they do not abide in any dharma, they abide in the Dharma-nature. This dharma never comes and never goes, neither takes nor relinquishes; because it abides in non-abiding, form is therefore called the characteristic of immovability.

Manjusri! The feeling skandha is the nature of cessation.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the nature of cessation?

– Manjushri! The nature of all characteristics of feeling is eternally quiescent and extinguished. Therefore, feelings are neither internal nor external; they do not come from the east, the south, the west, the north, the four intermediate directions, above, or below. Why is this? If pleasant feeling were internal, all sentient beings should constantly experience pleasure. If painful feeling were internal, all sentient beings should constantly experience pain. If neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling were internal, all sentient beings should constantly experience neither pain nor pleasure.

Manjushri! In truth, all feelings are neither within nor without, neither in between, nor in the east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, or below. Therefore, know that all feelings are like grass, trees, tiles, and stones: ultimately unborn, unceasing, and signless. For this reason, feeling is called the characteristic of quiescent cessation.

Manjushri! The skandha of perception is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All such perceptions are recollections and discriminations arising from within delusion. They are like empty space, like a clenched fist, and like a mirage; their intrinsic nature is itself detached. Therefore, the skandha of perception is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! The skandha of formations is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All formations are apart from number and the absence of number and enter into equality. Like a plantain tree, they are ultimately without substance; their original nature is naturally thus. All dharmas are likewise without name and without nature. Therefore, the skandha of formations is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! The skandha of consciousness is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is this the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! Consciousness is like an illusion, without reality, without arising, and without birth; it is empty, signless, and unconditioned. It is like rubbing the five fingers in empty space: no characteristic appears in empty space. Therefore, the skandha of consciousness is the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Form is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is form called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! It is like a reflection in a mirror: although visible to the eye, it has no reality. All forms are likewise: although seen, they are unreal, merely deceiving the eye and deceiving the mind, false and without reality. Therefore, form is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Sound is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is sound the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas have no distinct or separate characteristic and are ultimately empty, like an echo in the mountains. Therefore, sound is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Odor is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is odor called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas have no characteristic of odor. Because their nature is insentient, they are empty, like empty space. The nose, odor, and consciousness are all unobtainable. Therefore, odor is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Taste is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is taste called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! The nature of taste is itself inconceivable and unknowable, for it is apart from that which is known and its intrinsic nature is eternally detached. Therefore, it is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Contact is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is contact called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! Like empty space, its nature is intrinsically detached, without contact or conjunction. All dharmas are likewise. Because the body is thoroughly disintegrated, because they are apart from the characteristic of contact, and because the one capable of making contact is unobtainable, contact is therefore called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Dharmas are the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why are dharmas called the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are signless and mindless, apart from the nature of mind and apart from names. Because they possess nothing determinate, they are all characteristics of the Dharma-nature. Therefore, dharmas are the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Earth is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is earth the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas have no characteristic of hardness and no characteristic of softness. Through their false conjunction, people regard them as hard. Therefore, earth is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Water is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is water the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are neither moist nor conjoined, like a mirage in which there is no water. Therefore, water is called the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Fire is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is fire the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are not hot and are apart from the false characteristic of heat. Their original nature is quiescent and extinguished. Because they are apart from inverted views, when discriminated they are truly indeterminate and unborn. Therefore, fire is the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Wind is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is wind the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are without obstruction, impediment, characteristics, or nature. Because they do not move and are apart from the characteristic of wind, wind is therefore the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Buddha is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is Buddha the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are without awareness and without knowing, for they are apart from the characteristic of knowing. Therefore, Buddha is the seed-nature.

Manjushri! Dharma is the seed-nature.

– World-Honored One! Why is Dharma the seed-nature?

– Manjushri! Dharmas cannot be destroyed or severed. Because they are apart from severance and destruction, they are signless, nameless, and without nature, transcending the paths of language. Therefore, Dharma is the seed-nature.

Manjushri! The Sangha is the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is the Sangha the characteristic of immovability?

– Manjushri! The noble assembly abides in the ultimate reality of the Dharma-nature and suchness, wherein concentration and distraction are equal. They abide in the equality within all dharmas of wisdom and ignorance, liberation and afflictions. The mind abides nowhere, for any abiding is unobtainable. Therefore, the Sangha is the characteristic of immovability.

Manjushri! Every sphere of activity is the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the characteristic of immovability?

– Manjushri! All dharmas have empty space as their sphere of activity, the inconceivable as their sphere of activity, and cessation as their sphere of activity. They are without root and without differentiation, for they are unobtainable. Therefore, every sphere of activity is the characteristic of immovability.

Manjushri! The nonconditionedness of all dharmas is the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the characteristic of immovability?

– Manjushri! All dharmas have no support, no dwelling place, no conditions, and no conformity, for they are apart from all conditions. Therefore, the nonconditionedness of all dharmas is called the characteristic of immovability.

Manjushri! The characteristic of all dharmas as neither grasped nor relinquished is called the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the characteristic of immovability?

– Manjushri! All dharmas return to suchness and are identical with the Dharma-nature. They can neither be grasped nor relinquished. There is no seeking and no aspiration, for all aspirations have ceased. Since beginningless time, their characteristic has always been quiescent and extinguished, identical with empty space. Therefore, neither grasping nor relinquishing is called the characteristic of immovability.

Manjushri! The faultlessness of all dharmas is the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the characteristic of immovability?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are undefiled and have no true existence. They are pure and luminous, like empty space, which is unobscured. Because any determinate characteristic of transgressions is unobtainable, the faultlessness of all dharmas is therefore called the characteristic of immovability.

Manjushri! That all dharmas have nowhere to return is called the characteristic of immovability.

– World-Honored One! Why is this called the characteristic of immovability?

– Manjushri! All dharmas are empty. Because they have no roots, they have nowhere to return. Therefore, having nowhere to return is called the characteristic of immovability.

“Manjusri! All dharmas beyond training are called the mark of immovability.”

“Blessed One! Why is this called the mark of immovability?”

“Manjusri! The nature of all dharmas beyond training should not be learned, should not be cultivated, should not be contemplated, should not be kept in mind, should not be abided in, should not be aroused, should not be practiced, should not be severed, should not be realized, should not be spoken of, should not be discussed, should not be sought, should not be grasped, should not be relinquished, should not be departed from, and should not be eliminated. Why is this? Manjusri! Because the marks of all dharmas are ultimately free from all things, there has never been anything to grasp from the beginning; they eternally bear the mark of relinquishment. Dharmas are neither where wisdom reaches nor where ignorance reaches. Therefore, being beyond training is called the mark of immovability.”

Notes:

[1] The five hindrances: sensual desire, ill will, sloth and torpor, restlessness and remorse, and doubt concerning the Dharma.