發菩提心經論

Chapter 1: Exhortation to Resolve

I reverently bow throughout the Dharma realm

To the Buddhas of the past, future, and present,

The greatly compassionate Ones who save the world,

Equal to space1, with unmoving wisdom2.

There is a Dharma called the Great Vaipulya3, supreme and wondrous4, belonging to the Matrika Treasury5, which is the sphere of practice of bodhisattvas. This Dharma has the power to: (one) encourage bodhisattvas to delight in cultivating unsurpassed bodhi; (two) enable sentient beings to give rise to a vast and profound resolve; (three) establish vows, all for the adornment of bodhi6; (four) subdue greed and miserliness by relinquishing body, life, and material wealth; (five) cultivate the five groups of precepts7 to guide and teach sentient beings not to violate the prescribed conduct; (six) practice ultimate patience8 to tame anger and delusion; (seven) arouse vigorous diligence to establish sentient beings in peace;

(eight) practice the various meditative concentrations in order to understand the various kinds of mental dispositions; (nine) cultivate wisdom to eradicate ignorance; (ten) enter and realize the Dharma-gate of suchness in order to depart from all attachments; (eleven) expound the exceedingly profound teachings of emptiness and signlessness; and (twelve) praise virtues and merits so that the lineage of the Buddhas will not be severed.

Immeasurable skillful means such as these constitute pure Dharma-gates that assist the path to bodhi. These are precisely the supremely excellent wholesome Dharmas that I wish to distinguish and clearly explain, so that all sentient beings may reach the ultimate attainment: unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

Children of the Buddha, those who are disciples of the Buddha, who receive and uphold the Buddha’s teachings and constantly expound the Dharma for sentient beings, should first extol the virtues and merits of the Buddha. After hearing them, sentient beings will be able to resolve to seek the Buddha’s wisdom. Because they give rise to such a resolve, the lineage of the Buddhas will not be severed.

Bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, and upasikas should constantly recollect the Buddha and the Dharma, and should also recollect the meritorious deeds of the Tathagata: While practicing the bodhisattva path, in his quest for the Dharma, the bodhisattva endured hardships throughout asamkhya kalpas. With such a mind intent upon seeking the Dharma, the bodhisattva was able to hear the Dharma taught, even if it was only a single verse.

Having heard the teaching through instruction that brought benefit and joy9, the bodhisattva planted roots of goodness, cultivated the Buddhadharma, and attained unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment in order to eradicate the suffering and afflictions of immeasurable sentient beings wandering in beginningless birth and death. Great bodhisattvas who wish to perfect their immeasurable body and mind must cultivate diligence, make profound and great vows, practice great skillful means, arouse great loving-kindness and compassion, and seek the great wisdom of the invisible crown protuberance10.

Having sought such great Dharmas of the Buddhas, they must also understand that those Dharmas are immeasurable and boundless. Because the Dharma is immeasurable, the resulting merit and reward are likewise immeasurable. The Tathagata taught: “Even if, when first giving rise to the resolve, bodhisattvas have only a single inferior thought, their meritorious rewards could not be fully described throughout hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas.

How much less could the meritorious rewards be fully described if, for one day, one month, one year, or even a hundred years, they repeatedly cultivate many such thoughts? Why is this? Because the deeds of bodhisattvas are inexhaustible, for they wish all sentient beings to abide in the patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas11 and attain unsurpassed, complete enlightenment.”

Children of the Buddha, when a bodhisattva first gives rise to the resolve for bodhi, it is like the great ocean when it first begins to dry up. One should know that, as the drying proceeds over time, from the lower, middle, and upper levels until no levels remain, the place containing the wish-fulfilling jewel is revealed. Such precious jewels all arise from the great ocean. A bodhisattva’s generation of resolve is likewise: from the initial generation of resolve, it gradually develops. One should know that the bodhi-mind grows through the stages of humans, devas, sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. The bodhi-mind is the source from which all wholesome Dharmas, meditative concentrations, and wisdom arise12.

Furthermore, just as, from the initial creation of the trichiliocosm until its formation, the twenty-five forms of existence13 arise in sequence, and all sentient beings within those forms of existence bear their respective causes and effects and serve as mutual supports, so too is it when bodhisattvas give rise to the resolve for bodhi. From the initial generation of resolve, they gradually develop it throughout the various forms of existence and, for the sake of all immeasurable sentient beings—including those of the six destinies and four modes of birth; those holding right views or wrong views; those cultivating good or practicing evil; those safeguarding the pure precepts or committing the four grave offenses; those venerating the Three Jewels or slandering the true Dharma;

maras, non-Buddhist practitioners, sramanas, brahmacarins, ksatriyas, brahmins, vaisyas, and sudras—they bear responsibility for all and become a refuge for sentient beings.

Furthermore, when bodhisattvas give rise to the resolve, they take loving-kindness and compassion as foremost. Because a bodhisattva’s mind of great loving-kindness is immeasurable and boundless, the resolve that is generated also has no limit and pervades the entire realm of sentient beings. Just as space pervades everything, being absent nowhere, so too is a bodhisattva’s generation of resolve: because the resolve is generated for the sake of all sentient beings, there is nowhere that the bodhisattva’s resolve does not extend.

Just as the realm of sentient beings is immeasurable, boundless, and inexhaustible, so too is a bodhisattva’s generation of resolve immeasurable, boundless, and inexhaustible. Because space is inexhaustible, the realm of sentient beings is inexhaustible. Because a bodhisattva’s generation of resolve is equal in extent to the realm of sentient beings14, and because the realm of sentient beings has no limit, the generation of resolve likewise has no limit15.

Relying now upon the Buddha’s intent, I shall describe a small portion of the realm of sentient beings as follows:

In the east there are a thousand kotis of Ganges-sands of asamkhya Buddha-worlds; likewise, in the south, west, and north, and in the four intermediate directions, above, and below, there are in each direction a thousand kotis of Ganges-sands of asamkhya Buddha-worlds. Grind all of them into minute particles of dust. These particles are so exceedingly small that they cannot be seen with the physical eye.

Let all the sentient beings dwelling in a million kotis of Ganges-sands of asamkhya trichiliocosms assemble and together take one particle of dust. Let all the sentient beings dwelling in two million kotis of Ganges-sands of asamkhya trichiliocosms together take two particles. Proceeding successively in this manner through the ten directions, in each of which there are a thousand kotis of Ganges-sands of asamkhya Buddha-worlds, grind into minute particles all the earth element found therein and gather all those particles together; even then, the realm of sentient beings could not be exhausted.

It is as though someone were to split a single hair into one hundred parts and dip one part of that hair into the great ocean. The small portion of the realm of sentient beings that I now describe is like the water upon that one part of the hair, while what remains unspoken is like the water of the great ocean. Even if all the Buddhas, throughout immeasurable and boundless asamkhyas, were to set forth extensive analogies, they still could not finish describing the realm of sentient beings.

A bodhisattva’s generation of resolve is capable of encompassing the entirety of the realm of sentient beings in this way. Why is this? Children of the Buddha, it is because the bodhi-mind can never be exhausted.

If bodhisattvas hear these words and are neither alarmed nor afraid, neither retreat nor forget them, one should know that they will assuredly be able to generate the bodhi-mind. Even if immeasurable Buddhas, throughout immeasurable asamkhya kalpas, were to praise the virtues and merits of such persons, they could not exhaust them. Why is this?

Because the bodhi-mind has neither limit nor end and therefore possesses immeasurable benefits such as these. Thus I now proclaim this teaching so that all sentient beings may hear it and generate the bodhi-mind.

Chapter 2: Generating the Resolve

Why do bodhisattvas generate the resolve for bodhi, and through what causes and conditions do they cultivate bodhi?

If a bodhisattva draws near to good spiritual friends16, makes offerings to the Buddhas17, cultivates roots of goodness18, earnestly seeks the true Dharma19, maintains a mind that is always gentle and harmonious, patiently endures suffering when it arises, is pure and steadfast in loving-kindness and compassion, possesses a profound mind of equanimity20, has faith in and delights in the Mahayana21, and seeks the wisdom of the Buddha22—only one who possesses these ten qualities can generate the resolve to seek the path of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

There are also four conditions for generating the resolve to cultivate unsurpassed bodhi. What are these four conditions? First, generating the bodhi mind by contemplating the Buddhas; second, generating the bodhi mind by contemplating the faults and afflictions of the body; third, generating the bodhi mind out of compassion for sentient beings; and fourth, generating the bodhi mind by seeking the supreme fruit.

1. Contemplating the Buddhas comprises five further matters:

1. Contemplate how the Buddhas of the ten directions throughout the past, future, and present, when they first generated the resolve, also possessed the same afflictive dispositions that I possess today, yet ultimately attained perfect enlightenment and became unsurpassed honored ones. Through this condition, generate the bodhi mind.

2. Contemplate how all Buddhas of the three times, by giving rise to great courage and vigor, attained the fruit of unsurpassed bodhi. If this fruit of bodhi is a Dharma that can be realized, then I too shall realize it. Through this condition, generate the bodhi mind.

3. Contemplate how all Buddhas of the three times, by giving rise to great luminous wisdom, established a supreme resolve while still enclosed within the shell of ignorance and accumulated arduous practices. They were all able to save themselves and transcend the three realms. I too must likewise save myself. Through this condition, generate the bodhi mind.

4. Contemplate how all Buddhas of the three times, while among human beings, possessed heroic resolve and therefore crossed the great ocean of birth, death, and afflictions. I too am a person of courage and can cross it as well. Through this condition, generate the bodhi mind.

5. Contemplate how all Buddhas of the three times, by giving rise to great diligence, relinquished their bodies, lives, and wealth in pursuit of omniscience. I too must now train in the same way as the Buddhas. Through this condition, generate the bodhi mind.

2. Generating the bodhi mind by contemplating the faults and afflictions of the body also comprises five matters:

1. Contemplate that the five skandhas and four great elements of my own body are capable of producing immeasurable evil karma; therefore, I wish to abandon and separate from them.

2. Contemplate that my own body has nine openings from which foul and impure substances constantly flow; therefore, I give rise to disenchantment.

3. Contemplate that the immeasurable afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion within my own body burn away the wholesome mind; therefore, I wish to eliminate them.

4. Contemplate that my own body is like a bubble or foam upon water, arising and ceasing from moment to moment, a phenomenon that ought to be relinquished; therefore, I wish to let it go.

5. Contemplate that my own body is obscured by ignorance, constantly creates evil karma, and revolves through the six destinies without benefit.

Generating the bodhi mind by seeking the supreme fruit also comprises five matters:

1. Seeing that the Tathagatas are adorned with excellent marks, their radiance pure and

clear, and that encountering a Buddha dispels the afflictions, one generates the resolve to cultivate.

2. Seeing the eternally abiding, pure, and undefiled Dharma bodies of the Tathagatas, one generates the resolve to cultivate.

3. Seeing that the Tathagatas possess morality, concentration, wisdom, liberation, the knowledge and vision of liberation, and pure moral Dharma, one generates the resolve to cultivate.

4. Seeing that the Tathagatas possess the ten powers23, the four fearlessnesses24, great compassion, and the three foundations of mindfulness25, one generates the resolve to cultivate.

5. Seeing that the Tathagatas possess omniscience, have compassion for sentient beings, universally extend loving-kindness and compassion, and always serve as true guides for all who are foolish and deluded, one generates the resolve to cultivate.

Generating the bodhi mind out of compassion for sentient beings also comprises five matters:

1. Seeing sentient beings bound by ignorance.

2. Seeing sentient beings oppressed by suffering.

3. Seeing sentient beings habituated to unwholesome karma.

4. Seeing sentient beings commit extremely grave evils.

5. Seeing sentient beings fail to cultivate the true Dharma.

Being bound by ignorance further comprises four points:

a. Seeing sentient beings deluded by ignorance and craving and consequently receiving exceedingly severe fruits of suffering.

Seeing sentient beings disbelieve cause and effect and create evil karma.

Seeing sentient beings abandon the true Dharma and accept false paths in faith.

Seeing sentient beings submerged in the river of afflictions and swept along by the four currents26.

Being oppressed by suffering further comprises four points:

Seeing sentient beings fear birth, aging, illness, and death, yet have no aspiration to seek liberation and instead continue creating karma.

Seeing sentient beings afflicted by sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress, yet constantly create karmic causes without cease.

Seeing sentient beings suffer from separation from those they love, yet remain unawakened and entangled in craving and attachment.

Seeing sentient beings suffer from encountering those they hate, constantly giving rise to suspicion, resentment, and jealousy, thereby creating still more enmity.

Being habituated to unwholesome karma further comprises four points:

Seeing sentient beings commit evil deeds because of sensual craving.

Seeing sentient beings know that desire gives rise to suffering, yet fail to abandon desire.

Seeing sentient beings wish to seek peace and happiness, yet remain unwilling to observe the precepts they have received.

Seeing sentient beings dislike the fruits of suffering, yet create the causes of suffering without cease.

Committing extremely grave evils further comprises four points:

Seeing sentient beings violate grave precepts, become sorrowful and afraid, yet still remain heedless.

Seeing sentient beings commit the most extreme evils—the five karmas of immediate retribution—becoming fierce and obstinate, concealing their own deeds, and possessing no sense of shame.

Seeing sentient beings slander the true Dharma and the Mahayana Vaipulya teachings, stubbornly cling to their foolish views, and give rise to arrogance.

Seeing sentient beings cling tightly to their cleverness and understanding, thereby creating all the conditions for severing their roots of goodness, yet becoming still more haughty and remaining forever obstinate without repentance.

Failing to cultivate the true Dharma further comprises four points:

Seeing sentient beings born amid the eight difficulties27, unable to hear the true Dharma and not knowing how to cultivate goodness.

Seeing sentient beings encounter a Buddha appearing in the world and hear the true Dharma, yet lack the ability to accept and uphold it.

Seeing sentient beings become habituated to heterodox paths and torment their bodies in their practices, yet ultimately fail to attain the result they seek.

Seeing sentient beings cultivate and attain the concentration of neither perception nor non-perception28, regard it as nirvana, and, when the reward of their wholesome karma is exhausted, fall again into the three evil destinies.

Seeing sentient beings create karma through ignorance, endure suffering throughout the long night, remain far removed from the true Dharma, and lose the path of escape, the bodhisattva, because of these things, generates a mind of great loving-kindness and compassion and earnestly seeks the fruit of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. As though rescuing those whose heads are ablaze, I must save and assist every sentient being who suffers, without leaving anyone behind29. Children of the Buddha, I have now briefly explained the bodhisattva’s initial practice and the causes and conditions for generating the resolve. If explained in detail, they would be immeasurable and boundless.

Chapter 3: Vows and Pledges

How does a bodhisattva generate the resolve directed toward bodhi, and through what practices and deeds does a bodhisattva accomplish bodhi?

A bodhisattva who generates the resolve and abides on the Ground of Dry Wisdom30 must first firmly establish true vows in order to embrace and guide all immeasurable sentient beings, declaring: I seek the path of unsurpassed bodhi in order to rescue, protect, and liberate every sentient being without leaving anyone behind, and in order to lead sentient beings to ultimate nirvana without remainder. Therefore, when a bodhisattva first generates the resolve, great compassion must be foremost, for only the mind of great compassion can give rise to and set in motion the ten true, sublime, and lofty vows. What are these ten?

I vow that all roots of goodness I have diligently cultivated from former lives until the present day shall be bestowed upon all boundless sentient beings, and that together with sentient beings I shall dedicate them to unsurpassed bodhi. May this supreme vow of mine increase with every thought. In whatever life I am born, may I always bind this vow to my heart, never forgetting it until the very end, and take it as a dharani that safeguards my wisdom-life.

Having dedicated these roots of goodness to the fruit of great bodhi, I vow that throughout all realms inhabited by sentient beings where a Buddha appears in the world, I shall always be able to make offerings to all Buddhas, and I vow never to be born in a land without a Buddha.

Having been born in a land with a Buddha, I vow always to draw near to him and attend on either side of him like a shadow following its form, never being separated from the Buddha for even a single kshana.

Having drawn near to the Buddha, I vow that, in accordance with what I seek, he will expound the Dharma for me, whereupon I shall attain the bodhisattva’s five superknowledges31.

Having attained the bodhisattva’s five superknowledges, I vow immediately to comprehend conventional truth32—the universally pervasive, nominally designated characteristics of phenomena33—and to comprehend ultimate truth34—the genuine suchness of the Dharma-nature35—and thereby attain knowledge of the true Dharma36.

Having attained knowledge of the true Dharma, I vow never to forget it for even a single thought. I shall expound the Dharma to sentient beings through instruction, benefit, encouragement, and rejoicing, enabling them all to understand the Buddha-Dharma37.

Having become capable of enabling sentient beings to understand, I vow, relying on the Buddha’s spiritual power, to manifest throughout the worlds of the ten directions without omitting a single world, there to make offerings to the Buddhas, hear and receive the true Dharma, and extensively gather in sentient beings.

Having heard and received the true Dharma in the presence of the Buddhas, I vow immediately to become capable of turning the pure Dharma wheel accordingly. When all sentient beings throughout the worlds of the ten directions hear me expound the Dharma or hear my name, they shall immediately abandon all afflictions and arouse the mind of bodhi.

Having helped all sentient beings arouse the mind of bodhi, I vow that we shall always protect one another, eliminate all that is unbeneficial, bring immeasurable peace and happiness, relinquish body, life, and wealth, gather in sentient beings, and together shoulder the true Dharma.

Having always shouldered the true Dharma, I vow that although I practice the true Dharma, my mind shall have nothing that it practices38. Just as the bodhisattvas practice the true Dharma while their minds have nothing that they practice, yet leave nothing unpracticed39, so shall I never forsake my original vow to teach and transform sentient beings.

These are the ten great true vows of a bodhisattva who has aroused the mind of bodhi. These ten great true vows pervade the realm of sentient beings and encompass all the vows of sentient beings, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Only when the realm of sentient beings is exhausted shall my vows be exhausted. Yet the realm of sentient beings can never truly be exhausted; therefore, these great vows of mine shall likewise never be exhausted.

Furthermore, generosity is the direct cause of bodhi because it gathers in all sentient beings. Moral discipline is the direct cause of bodhi because it perfects the roots of goodness and fulfills the original vows. Patience is the direct cause of bodhi because it brings to perfection the thirty-two excellent marks and the eighty subsidiary characteristics. Diligence is the direct cause of bodhi because it increases wholesome conduct and tirelessly teaches and transforms sentient beings. Meditative concentration is the direct cause of bodhi because a bodhisattva skillfully disciplines himself and is able to know the mental activities of sentient beings. Wisdom is the direct cause of bodhi because it perfects the ability to know clearly the nature and characteristics of all phenomena.40

In brief, the six paramitas are the direct cause of bodhi. The four immeasurable minds, the thirty-seven factors conducive to awakening, and the myriad wholesome practices mutually support and encompass one another to bring bodhi to fulfillment. If a bodhisattva cultivates the six paramitas, he gradually approaches the fruit of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment in accordance with his practice.

Children of the Buddha, those who seek bodhi must not be heedless41, for heedlessness in the three kinds of karma will destroy their roots of goodness. If a bodhisattva restrains the six sense faculties and does not allow them to become heedless42, that person can cultivate the six paramitas. A bodhisattva who arouses the mind of bodhi must first establish firm vows with utmost sincerity. One who establishes vows will never be heedless, indolent, contemptuous, or prone to retreat. Why is this so? To establish firm vows, five conditions of preservation are required:

Always keep the mind steadfast.

Always subdue the afflictions.

Always guard against heedlessness.

Always destroy the five hindrances43.

Always diligently cultivate and practice the six paramitas.

As the Buddhas praise:

The Tathagata, honored for great wisdom,

Proclaimed the merit of realization:

Patience, wisdom, and the power of meritorious deeds—

Yet vows are the most supreme.

How should vows be established? If someone comes to ask various things of me, I shall give to that person at the appropriate time, never allowing even a single thought of stinginess or regret to arise. If, for as little as the snap of a finger, I give rise to an unwholesome mind and use generosity as a cause and condition for seeking a pure reward, I, the author of this treatise, strongly censure it. The present and future Buddhas throughout the immeasurable, boundless worlds of the ten directions and throughout asamkhyeya kalpas also declare that such a person will certainly not attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

If I cultivate moral discipline, then even at the loss of my body and life, I shall establish a pure mind and vow never to change or regret it. If I cultivate patience, then even if others assault me or cut my body into pieces, I shall still maintain loving-kindness and vow never to become angry or resentful. If I cultivate diligence, then whether suddenly encountering cold or heat, calamities caused by kings and officials, bandits, floods, or fires; whether encountering lions, tigers, or wolves; or whether finding myself where there is no water to drink and no food to eat, my mind shall remain resolute and strong, and I vow never to retreat or lose the mind of bodhi.

If I cultivate meditative concentration and external conditions disturb me so that I cannot collect my mind, I must bind my mindfulness and forget those objects, vowing never to give rise, even momentarily, to confused or unlawful thoughts. If I cultivate wisdom, I shall contemplate all phenomena in accordance with their true nature and accept and uphold them accordingly, without giving rise to dualistic views concerning wholesome and unwholesome, conditioned and unconditioned, samsara and nirvana.

If, after making these vows, my mind gives rise to regret, anger, resentment, retreat, confused thoughts, or dualistic views, and if, for even as little as the snap of a finger, I cultivate moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, or wisdom in pursuit of a pure reward, I, the author of this treatise, strongly censure it. The present and future Buddhas throughout the immeasurable, boundless worlds of the ten directions and throughout asamkhyeya kalpas also declare that such a person will certainly not attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

If a bodhisattva takes the ten great vows as the practice that protects and upholds the true Dharma, and the six great pledges as the mind that prevents and eliminates heedlessness, he will certainly be able to cultivate the six paramitas diligently and attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

Chapter 4: Dana Paramita

How does a bodhisattva cultivate the practice of generosity? A bodhisattva practices generosity for his own benefit, for the benefit of others, and for the benefit of both. Generosity practiced in this way can adorn the path of bodhi.

A bodhisattva practices generosity because he wishes to discipline sentient beings and free them from suffering and affliction. One who cultivates generosity constantly gives rise to a mind of relinquishment toward his own possessions. When sentient beings come to ask for something, he gives rise to a mind of respect, regarding them as his parents, teachers, elders, and spiritual friends. Toward the poor, destitute, and lowly, he gives rise to compassion, regarding them as his own children. In accordance with their needs, the bodhisattva gives rise to joy and respectfully assists them. This is called the initial cultivation of generosity by a bodhisattva who has aroused the mind of bodhi.

Because he cultivates generosity, his good name becomes widely known, and wherever he is born, he possesses abundant wealth and treasures. This is called benefiting oneself. The bodhisattva is able to bring contentment to sentient beings and then teach and discipline them so that they are free from stinginess. This is called benefiting others. Because the bodhisattva has practiced great generosity free of characteristics44 and teaches sentient beings so that they may obtain the same benefit as himself, this is called benefiting both. Through cultivating generosity, he attains the position of a wheel-turning sage king, gathers in immeasurable sentient beings, and ultimately perfects the inexhaustible treasury of the Dharma of the Buddhas. This is called adorning the path of bodhi.

Giving has three divisions: first, the gift of Dharma; second, the gift of fearlessness; and third, the gift of material possessions.

When a bodhisattva gives the Dharma, the bodhisattva must first exhort people to receive the precepts, cultivate the mind, and leave the household life; dispel wrong views by explaining the errors and suffering inherent in attachment to eternalism and annihilationism within the scope of the four inversions45; further distinguish and reveal the meaning of ultimate truth46; praise the merits of diligence; and explain the grave faults of heedlessness. This is called the gift of Dharma.

If sentient beings are afraid of dangers from kings, lions, tigers, wolves, floods, fires, thieves, and so forth, and the bodhisattva, having seen them, is able to rescue and assist them, this is called the gift of fearlessness.

A bodhisattva is not miserly when giving material possessions. From precious jewels, elephants, horses, carriages, silk, glutinous rice, clothing, food, and drink, down to a handful of rice or an inch of cloth, whether little or much, the bodhisattva gives according to their needs and satisfies those who ask. This is called material giving.47

Material giving has five elements:

Giving with wholehearted sincerity.

Giving with a mind of faith.

Giving at the appropriate time.

Giving with one's own hands.

Giving in accordance with the Dharma48.

There are five things that should not be given:

Goods acquired unrighteously should not be given to others, because they are impure objects.

Alcohol and poisons should not be given to others, because they cause sentient beings to become disordered.

Nets, snares, crossbows, and traps should not be given to others, because they cause suffering and distress to sentient beings.

Knives, clubs, bows, and arrows should not be given to others, because they injure sentient beings.

Music and female beauty should not be given to others, because they destroy people's pure minds.

In brief, things that are contrary to the Dharma and cause disturbance and distress to sentient beings should not be given to others. All other things that can help sentient beings attain peace and happiness are called giving in accordance with the true Dharma.

Those who delight in giving also accomplish five things that bring renown and benefit:

They are always able to draw near to all sages and noble ones.

All sentient beings are delighted to see them.

When they enter a great assembly, everyone honors them.

Their good name and virtuous reputation resound throughout the ten directions.

Their giving becomes a supremely wondrous cause and condition for unsurpassed bodhi.

A bodhisattva who gives in this way is said to possess all-encompassing giving.

What is all-encompassing giving? It does not mean giving others great wealth, but rather giving with one's whole heart. One who seeks wealth in accordance with the Dharma in order to give is said to practice all-encompassing giving.

Giving with a pure mind free from deceit and crookedness49 is called all-encompassing giving. Seeing the poor and destitute, one gives with a compassionate heart; this is called all-encompassing giving. Seeing those in peril and distress, one gives with loving-kindness and compassion; this is called all-encompassing giving.

Being able to practice giving while poor and possessing little is called all-encompassing giving. Giving precious and highly valued treasures in order to open the minds of others is called all-encompassing giving. Giving without discriminating between those who uphold the precepts and those who violate them, or between worthy and unworthy fields of merit, is called all-encompassing giving.

Giving without seeking the fruits of birth among humans or devas, or any other wondrous fruits of wholesome happiness, is called all-encompassing giving. Giving while earnestly seeking unsurpassed great bodhi is called all-encompassing giving. Arousing the resolve to give, rejoicing while giving, and feeling no regret after giving is called all-encompassing giving.

If one gives flowers, one fully attains the flowers and fruits of dharani and the seven factors of awakening50.

If one gives incense, one's body becomes fully permeated with moral discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom.

If one gives fruit, one fully accomplishes the untainted fruit.

If one gives food, one perfects longevity, eloquence, beauty, strength, and happiness.

If one gives clothing, one fully attains a pure physical body and casts off shamelessness.

If one gives lamps, one fully attains the Buddha-eye and thoroughly comprehends the distinctive characteristics of all dharmas.

If one gives elephants, horses, and carriages, one attains the fruit of the unsurpassed vehicle and fully acquires supernormal powers.

If one gives jeweled necklaces, one fully attains the eighty minor marks of excellence.

If one gives precious jewels, one fully attains the thirty-two marks of a great person.

If one offers one's physical strength51 in service, submitting to others' commands as an act of giving, one accomplishes the ten powers and the four fearlessnesses of a Buddha.

In brief, one gives even one's kingdom and cities, wife and children, head, eyes, hands, feet, and entire life and body with a mind free from regret, in order to realize unsurpassed bodhi and liberate sentient beings. When bodhisattva mahasattvas practice giving, they do not perceive material possessions, a giver, or a recipient. Because they give in this way, free from characteristics, they are said to have perfected dana paramita.

Chapter 5: Sila Paramita

How do bodhisattvas cultivate the practice of observing the precepts? Bodhisattvas observe the precepts for their own benefit, for the benefit of others, and for the benefit of both. Observing the precepts in this way can adorn the path to bodhi.

Bodhisattvas observe the precepts because they wish to discipline sentient beings and enable them to leave suffering and distress behind. Those who cultivate the observance of the precepts must purify the three karmic activities of body, speech, and mind; be able to relinquish all unwholesome conduct; skillfully rebuke the seeds of evil conduct and the conditions that lead to the violation of the precepts; and remain constantly apprehensive even regarding minor transgressions. Only this accords with the meaning of newly resolved bodhisattvas cultivating the observance of the precepts.

Through cultivating the observance of the precepts, one leaves behind all evil and transgressions and is continually reborn in places of peace and happiness. This is called benefiting oneself.

Bodhisattvas teach and transform sentient beings so that they do not commit evil. This is called benefiting others.

To dedicate all one's cultivation and observance of the precepts toward the bodhi precepts52, and to teach and transform all sentient beings so that they may receive the same benefits as oneself, is called benefiting both.

Through the true cause of cultivating and observing the precepts, one attains freedom from desire53, ultimately exhausts all tainted karma54, and accomplishes supreme perfect awakening. This is called adorning the path to bodhi.

There are three kinds of precepts: 1. Precepts of the body, 2. Precepts of speech, 3. Precepts of the mind.

To observe the precepts of the body, one must completely abstain from every act of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. This means that one must not take the life of any creature or human being, appropriate another person's property, or violate another person's body. Nor should one kill sentient beings for any reason or by any means; nor injure sentient beings with wooden clubs, tiles, stones, and so forth. If an object belongs to another person who has the right to use it, then even if it is only a blade of grass or a single leaf, one must not take it unless the owner gives permission. Nor should one gaze at, glance at, or stare at alluring beauty. In the four deportments, one must be solemn, respectful, cautious, and clearly discerning. These are called the precepts of the body.

To observe the precepts of speech, one must eliminate all false speech, divisive speech, harsh speech, and frivolous speech. One should never use deceptive words, words that divide those who live in harmony, slanderous or disparaging words, or ornate and embellished words; nor should one devise any means to vex the hearts of others. One's speech must be utterly sincere, gentle, and trustworthy. One's words should always benefit others and encourage and guide them to cultivate goodness. These are called the precepts of speech.

To uphold the precepts of the mind, one must eradicate craving, anger, and wrong views; constantly cultivate a gentle and harmonious mind; commit no offenses; and believe that all evil karma arising from body, speech, and mind will certainly bring evil retribution. Through the power of contemplative cultivation, one refrains from all evil deeds, and in one’s heart regards even a minor offense with the same concern as a very grave offense.

If one should inadvertently commit a fault, one must feel fear and anxiety, and repent. One must never give rise to anger or resentment toward any sentient being, but regard sentient beings with a mind of loving concern55. One should have a mind that recognizes and repays kindness, a mind free from regret and stinginess, delight in performing meritorious deeds, constantly seek to liberate everyone, continually cultivate loving-kindness, and have compassion for all.

This is called the precepts of the mind.

The foregoing explains the precepts of the Ten Wholesome Karmic Actions. The precepts of the Ten Wholesome Karmic Actions have five benefits:

1. Restraining evil conduct.

Giving rise to a wholesome mind.

Preventing afflictions.

Accomplishing a pure mind.

Increasing the virtue of moral discipline.

If a person skillfully cultivates heedfulness, is fully endowed with right mindfulness56, and distinguishes good from evil, one should know that this person is certainly capable of cultivating the precepts of the Ten Wholesome Karmic Actions. The eighty-four thousand modes of dignified conduct and the immeasurable categories of precepts are all encompassed within the Ten Wholesome Precepts. These Ten Wholesome Precepts are the very foundation of all wholesome precepts.

To eliminate the three evil karmas of body, speech, and mind is to restrain all unwholesome dharmas; therefore, this is called moral discipline. Moral discipline has five meanings:

The pratimoksha precepts.

The precepts concomitant with concentration.

The undefiled precepts.

The precepts of restraining the faculties.

The precepts of non-action.

After the formal act consisting of one motion and three proclamations57, the precepts received from the precept master are called the pratimoksha precepts58. When, on the basis of fundamental concentration59, one cultivates the four dhyanas but has not yet attained any fruition pertaining to the four dhyanas, these are called the precepts concomitant with concentration60. When, on the basis of fundamental concentration, one cultivates the four dhyanas, attains the first dhyana, but has not yet gone beyond the four dhyanas, these are called the undefiled precepts61.

To gather in and restrain the faculties and cultivate right mindfulness—although seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing62 forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and tangible objects, one does not become heedless—is called the precepts of restraining the faculties63. To relinquish body and life and, even after being born into a future existence, still refrain from evil is called the precepts of non-action64.

Because bodhisattvas who cultivate and uphold the precepts do not share the same practices as shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, their practice is called skillful observance of the precepts. Skillful observance of the precepts necessarily benefits all sentient beings, as follows:

Upholding the precepts of loving-kindness means protecting and rescuing sentient beings so that they may attain peace and happiness.

Upholding the precepts of compassion means patiently enduring every suffering and rescuing sentient beings from danger and distress.

Upholding the precepts of sympathetic joy means encouraging and guiding sentient beings to delight in cultivating wholesome dharmas without indolence.

Upholding the precepts of equanimity means treating enemies and loved ones equally and abandoning attachment and aversion.

Upholding the precepts of giving wisdom means teaching, transforming, and taming sentient beings.

Upholding the precepts of patience means that the mind is always gentle and pliant, without anger or delusion.

By upholding the precepts of diligence, wholesome karma increases day by day without regression.

Upholding the precepts of meditative concentration means abandoning desire and unwholesome states and developing the factors of dhyana65.

Upholding the precepts of wisdom means learning broadly and hearing much in order to increase the roots of goodness66, without ever feeling satisfied.

Upholding the precepts of associating with good spiritual friends means helping one another accomplish the path of unsurpassed bodhi.

Upholding the precepts of remaining distant from evil friends means severing oneself from the three evil destinies and the eight difficult circumstances.

When followers of the bodhisattva practice cultivate and uphold the pure precepts, they do not rely upon the Desire Realm, draw near to the Form Realm, or abide in the Formless Realm. This is called pure moral discipline.

Abandoning the defilements of sensual objects, removing anger and delusion, and extinguishing the obstruction of ignorance is called pure moral discipline.

Abandoning the views of annihilationism and eternalism and not contradicting the principle of causes and conditions is called pure moral discipline.

Not clinging to form, feeling, perception, formations, or consciousness, all of which are merely conventionally designated characteristics, is called pure moral discipline.

Not being bound by causes, not giving rise to any discriminative attachments, and not abiding in doubt or regret is called pure moral discipline.

Not abiding in greed, anger, and delusion—the three unwholesome roots—is called pure moral discipline.

Not abiding in self-conceit67, arrogance68, conceit of superiority69, conceit about conceit70, or great conceit71, but being gentle and skillfully accommodating to sentient beings, is called pure moral discipline.

Remaining unmoved by prosperity or decline, gain or loss, blame or praise, suffering or pleasure is called pure moral discipline.

Not being defiled by conventional truth, which is fundamentally false and merely designated, but conforming to ultimate truth is called pure moral discipline.

Being free from afflictions and agitation, with the mind always quiescent, extinguished, and detached from characteristics, is called pure moral discipline.

In brief, when bodhisattvas cultivate and uphold the precepts, they do not cherish body or life; they contemplate impermanence, give rise to disenchantment and renunciation, diligently cultivate roots of goodness, and advance with courageous vigor. This is called pure moral discipline.

When bodhisattva-mahasattvas cultivate and uphold the precepts, they do not perceive their own minds as pure, because they are free from attachment to characteristics. This is called the perfection of shila paramita.

Chapter 6: Kshanti Paramita

How do bodhisattvas cultivate patience? Bodhisattvas cultivate patience for their own benefit, for the benefit of others, and for the benefit of both. Such patience is capable of adorning the path of bodhi.

Bodhisattvas cultivate patience because they wish to tame sentient beings and enable them to escape suffering and distress. Those who cultivate patience always maintain a humble mind. They forgive all stubborn and arrogant sentient beings without clinging to their faults or reproaching them, and whenever they see dangerous or evil people, they always give rise to compassion. Their speech is always gentle and pliant; they encourage and guide others to cultivate goodness, and they distinguish and explain the differing karmic consequences of anger and patient harmony. This is called the practice of patience cultivated by bodhisattvas who have first given rise to the aspiration for bodhi.

By cultivating patience, one remains far removed from all evil, and body and mind are peaceful and happy; this is called benefiting oneself. Guiding sentient beings to live harmoniously with one another is called benefiting others. Cultivating patience every day until unsurpassed patience is attained, and teaching sentient beings so that they receive the same benefits as oneself, is called benefiting both.

By cultivating patience as the true cause, one attains a dignified and handsome body and mind, inspiring reverence in those who see one; and upon attaining Buddhahood, one possesses supremely wondrous marks and characteristics. This is called adorning the path of bodhi.

Patience has three forms: 1. Patience of the body, 2. Patience of speech, and 3. Patience of mind.

What is patience of the body? If someone with malicious intent comes to oppress, humiliate, beat, or even injure us, we are still able to endure it all. When we see sentient beings being oppressed or frightened, we are ready to use our own bodies to bear their suffering in their stead72, without becoming weary or delaying. This is called patience of the body.

What is patience of speech? If someone comes and reviles us, we remain silent and patiently endure it, without any wish to retaliate. If someone unreasonably comes to rebuke us, we should respond with gentle words and accommodate them. If someone falsely accuses us without cause or slanders us most severely, we must patiently endure it all. This is called patience of speech.

What is patience of mind? If someone is angry and deluded toward us, we harbor no resentment. If someone vexes or torments us, our minds remain unmoved. If someone attacks or humiliates us, our hearts bear no grievance. This is called patience of mind.

In the world, there are two circumstances in which one is beaten: 1. With just cause. 2. Without cause.

If we have committed a fault and are suspected and beaten by others, we should patiently endure it as though drinking ambrosia. We should also give rise to reverence for that person, because what they have done serves to admonish, instruct, and tame us skillfully, enabling us to abandon our faults.

If an unruly person, with malicious intent, harms me, I should reflect: “I am now without fault; this has arisen through the ripening of past karma, and therefore I must patiently endure it.” I should further reflect: “This body is a provisional combination of the four great elements, and the five skandhas come together through conditions; who, then, is being struck?” I should also contemplate that the person before me who strikes me is deluded and deranged. I should have compassion for that person; how could I fail to be patient?

Furthermore, those who insult and revile are of two kinds: 1. Those who speak the truth, and 2. Those who speak falsely.

If a person speaks the truth, I should give rise to a sense of shame.

If a person speaks falsely, the matter has nothing to do with me. I should regard it as an echo or a passing breeze, incapable of harming me; nevertheless, I must still be patient.

Furthermore, the same applies to one who is angry. If that person pours all their anger upon me, I must patiently endure it. If I become angry with that person in return, then in a future life I shall fall into an evil destiny and undergo great suffering and affliction. For this reason, even if my body is cut apart and dismembered, I must not give rise to anger. Instead, I must deeply contemplate the karmic causes and conditions of previous lives and cultivate loving-kindness and compassion for all beings. If I am unable to endure such minor suffering, then I am unable to discipline my own mind. How, then, could I discipline sentient beings, enable them to be liberated from all unwholesome dharmas, and bring them to the attainment of the unsurpassed fruit?

If a wise person delights in cultivating patience, that person will possess a handsome and dignified appearance and abundant wealth and treasures. When others see that person, they will give rise to joy, reverence, admiration, and obedience. One should further contemplate that if a person has a fierce appearance, an ugly countenance, incomplete faculties, and meager possessions, one should understand that these are the results of previous anger. Understanding causes and conditions in this way, the wise resolutely cultivate patience in great depth.

There are ten conditions that give rise to patience:

Not contemplating the characteristics of self and what belongs to self.

Not thinking about lineage or caste.

Destroying pride and arrogance.

Not retaliating when evil befalls oneself.

Contemplating impermanence.

Cultivating a mind of loving-kindness and compassion.

Maintaining a mind free from negligence.

Setting aside one’s own hunger, thirst, suffering, pleasure, and so forth.

Eliminating anger.

Cultivating wisdom.

If anyone can fulfill these ten practices, one should know that such a person is capable of cultivating patience.

When bodhisattva-mahasattvas cultivate ultimate pure patience—that is, when they awaken to and enter “emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, and non-action”73—they do not allow “views, perception, aspiration, and action”74 to combine with them. Nor do they cling to “emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, and non-action”; therefore, “views, perception, aspiration, and action” are all empty. Such patience is a dharma free from dual characteristics, and is called ultimate pure patience.75

If they enter the exhaustion of the fetters76 or enter quiescent cessation, they do not allow the fetters and samsara to combine with them. Nor do they cling to the exhaustion of the fetters or to quiescent cessation; therefore, the fetters and samsara are all empty. Such patience is a dharma free from dual characteristics, and is called ultimate pure patience.

If the nature of dharmas is not self-produced, is not produced by another, is not produced through combination, does not come from anywhere, and cannot be destroyed, then because it cannot be destroyed, it is inexhaustible. Such patience is a dharma free from dual characteristics, and is called ultimate pure patience.

There is no doing, yet there is nothing left undone; there is no attachment to what is done, no discrimination, no adornment, no alteration, no arising, and no coming or going. Ultimately, there is no fabrication or arising whatsoever. Such patience is called patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas.77

When bodhisattvas cultivate such patience, they attain the patience of receiving a prediction. When bodhisattva-mahasattvas cultivate patience, both its nature and its characteristics are ultimately empty, for they do not perceive themselves as being patient, nor do they perceive any sentient beings as the objects toward whom patience is exercised. This is called the complete fulfillment of the kshanti-paramita.

COMMENTARY

1. Equal to emptiness: equal like empty space.

2. Unmoving wisdom: The wisdom of the Buddha takes the great bodhi-mind as its essence. The great bodhi-mind is intrinsically pure, unconditioned, and quiescent; therefore, it is called unmoving.

3. Great Vaipulya: According to the Mahayana tradition, scriptures are called vaipulya because their meaning is as vast as empty space and because they expound the precise and vast truth. Vaipulya is also called “extensive exposition”: it encompasses all teachings associated with the bodhisattva-pitaka and serves as the basis for bringing benefit and happiness to sentient beings. It is also called “extensive destruction” because it is capable of extensively destroying obstacles. It is also called “incomparable” because no dharma can equal it. (Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Abhidharma-samuccaya)

4. Supremely wondrous: The central subject of this treatise is the arousing of the bodhi-mind. The bodhi-mind is the most essential foundation of the bodhisattva path and is therefore called supreme. As this treatise states, “The bodhi-mind is the source from which all wholesome dharmas, meditative concentration, and wisdom arise”; therefore, it is called wondrous.

5. Matrika-pitaka: A specific name for the Abhidharma-pitaka, translated as “matrix” or “matrix of practices.” The teachings are the root, and the Abhidharma-pitaka is the mother from which the teachings are born; therefore, it is called the matrix. The Abhidharma-pitaka is also the mother that gives birth to the practices—the teachings to be cultivated—and is therefore called the matrix of practices.

6. Adorning bodhi: Bodhi means knowledge and awakening; that is, enlightenment, whose foundation is the mental factor of wisdom. Throughout this treatise, “adorning bodhi” means adorning unsurpassed bodhi (anuttara-samyak-sambodhi = supreme enlightenment, unsurpassed complete and perfect awakening). This is the meaning of the word bodhi in bodhi-mind.

7. Five groups of precepts: 1. Pratimoksha, 2. Precepts associated with concentration, 3. Undefiled precepts, 4. Precepts of guarding the faculties, and 5. Precepts of non-action. See Chapter Five, Shila-paramita.

8. Ultimate patience = ultimate pure patience: patience that is not confined by dual characteristics. See Chapter Six, Kshanti-paramita.

9. Demonstrating, instructing, benefiting, and delighting: The original text reads “demonstration, instruction, benefit, and joy.” This is the manner in which Buddhas and bodhisattvas expound the Dharma. “Demonstration” means clearly presenting to listeners what is wholesome and unwholesome, good and bad; “instruction” means persuading listeners to abandon evil and practice good, to leave what is bad and follow what is good; “benefit” means revealing the benefits of such practice; and “joy” means praising such practice so that listeners rejoice.

10. The characteristic of the invisible crown of the head: At the crown of the Buddha’s head is a raised protuberance of flesh, also called the ushnisha, which is one of the Buddha’s thirty-two marks of a great person. Within this mark is a summit that no deva or human being can see. The wisdom of the characteristic of the invisible crown refers to the highest wisdom, namely, the wisdom of a Buddha.

11. Patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas = insight into non-arising: Non-arising means that afflictions and evil karma do not arise. The dharma of non-arising—that is, neither emerging nor arising—is the true characteristic, the essential nature, which is originally not affliction and does not produce affliction. Realization of this dharma of non-arising is called patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas. Attaining this insight is to reach the stage of non-retrogression (avaivartika).

12. Wholesome dharmas include the thirty-seven factors conducive to awakening of the shravakas. Meditative concentration and wisdom refer to the six paramitas and myriad practices of bodhisattvas.

13. The Buddhist worldview holds that, because of the differing karma of sentient beings, the world is divided into three realms: the Desire Realm (Kamadhatu), the Form Realm (Rupadhatu), and the Formless Realm (Arupadhatu). The Desire Realm is where sentient beings are still defiled by the five sensual pleasures.

The Form Realm is where sentient beings have departed from sensual desire but still possess the splendid forms of body and environment. The Formless Realm may be called the spiritual realm, for here the appearances of body and environment have entirely ceased; there is no form skandha, and only the four skandhas of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness remain. These three realms are divided into twenty-five states of existence.

“Existence” means “having causes and effects, with birth and death continuing without interruption, and not being liberated.” The Desire Realm contains fourteen states of existence, divided into three groups: 1. The four evil destinies: hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, and asuras. 2. The four great continents: Jambudvipa in the south, Purvavideha in the east, Aparagodaniya in the west, and Uttarakuru in the north. 3.

The six heavens of desire: the Heaven of the Four Great Kings, the Trayastrimsa Heaven, the Yama Heaven, the Tusita Heaven, the Heaven of Delight in Creation, and the Heaven of Freely Enjoying the Creations of Others. The Form Realm contains seven states of existence: the First Dhyana, Second Dhyana, Third Dhyana, Fourth Dhyana, the Great Brahma Heaven within the First Dhyana, the Heaven of Non-Perception, and the Pure Abodes within the Fourth Dhyana.

The Formless Realm contains four states of existence: the Sphere of Infinite Space, the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, the Sphere of Nothingness, and the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception.

14. An example is the vow made by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva: Only when all sentient beings have been liberated shall I realize bodhi. Because the realm of sentient beings is inexhaustible, Ksitigarbha perpetually remains a bodhisattva, journeying throughout the ten directions.

15. Because the bodhisattva gives rise to the aspiration ... limit: Following the original text closely, this should properly be translated as: Because the realm of sentient beings has no end, the bodhisattva gives rise to an aspiration equal in extent to the realm of sentient beings. (This is because) the realm of sentient beings has no limit.

16. Spiritual friend: The Buddha taught: “Ananda, do not say that spiritual friendship is half of the holy life, for spiritual friendship is the whole of the holy life.” A spiritual friend is one whom we may approach to learn the Buddhadharma, and one who can support and guide us in cultivation.

17. The Chapter on Conduct and Vows states: Among all forms of offering, the offering of the Dharma is supreme. The offering of the Dharma means following and practicing the Buddha’s teachings and guiding sentient beings to liberation. The Avatamsaka Sutra states: Even though in every thought one makes offerings to immeasurable Buddhas, if one does not yet know the true Dharma, this is not called making offerings. The Sutra of Supreme Contemplation teaches: Not producing unwholesome karma, not producing meritorious karma, and not producing imperturbable karma—this is called making offerings to the Buddha.

18. The cultivation of wholesome roots is fundamentally the preservation of pure precepts, because “pure precepts are the most secure place, serving as a refuge for every kind of virtue.”

19. Earnestly seeking the true Dharma = receiving and upholding the true Dharma: this is the most essential foundation for giving rise to the bodhi mind. Receiving and upholding the true Dharma is encompassed within the three collections of pure precepts: the precepts of restraining conduct, the precepts of embracing wholesome dharmas, and the precepts of benefiting sentient beings.

20. “The house of the Tathagata is the great compassionate mind directed toward all sentient beings; the robe of the Tathagata is the gentle and forbearing mind; the seat of the Tathagata is the emptiness of all dharmas.” One who abides in these is a messenger of the Tathagata and performs the work of the Tathagata. As the treatise states: the mind is always gentle; when encountering suffering, it patiently endures; its loving-kindness and compassion are pure and profound; its deepest mind is impartial.

21. Faith in and delight in the Mahayana = Mahayana faith: faith in the essence, attributes, and functions of Mind. This Mind is the Buddha; this Mind becomes Buddha. This Mind leads great beings to the great state.

22. Seeking the wisdom of the Buddha: A bodhisattva takes wisdom—the Buddha’s wisdom—as his vocation, for without wisdom one will revolve in samsara for endless kalpas, and how then could one attain unsurpassed enlightenment? Therefore, “the bodhisattva studies broadly and listens extensively, increases wisdom, perfects eloquence, and teaches all beings through the Mahayana Dharma.” (Sutra of the Eight Realizations of Great Beings)

23. The Buddha’s wisdom possesses ten powers: 1. The power of knowing what is possible and what is impossible, 2. The power of knowing karma, 3. The power of knowing meditative concentrations, 4. The power of knowing beings’ faculties and dispositions, 5. The power of knowing beings’ aspirations and inclinations, 6. The power of knowing the various realms, 7. The power of knowing the paths leading to all destinations, 8. The power of knowing past lives, 9. The power of the divine eye, 10. The power of knowing the exhaustion of the defilements.

24. The Buddha’s four kinds of fearlessness: 1. Fearlessness in omniscience, 2. Fearlessness in the exhaustion of the defilements, 3. Fearlessness in teaching the path, 4. Fearlessness in teaching the path leading to the cessation of suffering.

25. The three foundations of mindfulness: Also called the three abidings in mindfulness. Out of great compassion, the Buddha gathers in and transforms sentient beings, always abiding in right mindfulness and right knowledge under three circumstances: 1. He does not become joyful when sentient beings have faith in the Buddha, 2. He does not become distressed when sentient beings lack faith in the Buddha, 3. He becomes neither joyful nor sorrowful when, at the same time, some sentient beings have faith in the Buddha and others do not.

26. The four floods: Also called the four violent currents, referring to afflictions capable of sweeping away wholesome dharmas, just as a great torrent can sweep away houses, trees, and so forth. The four currents of affliction are: 1. The flood of sensual desire: greed, anger, delusion, conceit, doubt, and so forth, comprising twenty-nine delusions belonging to the Desire Realm, 2. The flood of existence: greed, conceit, doubt, and so forth, comprising twenty-eight delusions belonging to the Form Realm and Formless Realm, 3. The flood of views: the thirty-six erroneous views of the three realms, 4. The flood of ignorance: the fifteen kinds of ignorance of the three realms.

27. The eight difficulties: Eight adverse conditions that obstruct seeing a Buddha and hearing the Dharma, also called the eight conditions in which there is no leisure to cultivate. They are: 1. Being born in hell, 2. Being born as a hungry ghost, 3. Being born as an animal, 4. Being born human on the great northern continent of Uttarakuru, where life is excessively pleasurable, 5. Being born in a heaven of long life, where one lives excessively long, 6. Being born human but blind, deaf, mute, or unable to speak clearly, 7. Being born human but possessing worldly intelligence and eloquence, cleverly reasoning according to mundane knowledge, 8. Being born human before or after the appearance of a Buddha in the world, or living where the Buddhadharma is absent.

28. The meditative concentration of the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception is the fourth concentration among the Four Formless Attainments, which belong to worldly meditation, the meditation of ordinary beings, or the meditation of non-Buddhist practitioners. They are so called because these meditative states cannot yet lead practitioners beyond the three realms; practitioners have not yet realized the noble fruits and still remain within the sphere of ordinary beings and the mundane world.

29. This passage shows the nature of the bodhisattva’s great compassion and great vow.

30. The stage of dry wisdom: This is the first of the Ten Stages. The wisdom here is dry and has not yet matured; it is therefore called dry wisdom.

31. The five superknowledges: the divine eye, the divine ear, knowledge of others’ minds, knowledge of past lives, and miraculous powers.

32. Conventional truth: From the conventional and relative standpoint, when one observes and reasons, both persons and dharmas are seen to exist.

33. Provisional designation: There are two explanations. 1. In terms of names: Dharmas originally have no names; people provisionally assign names to them.

Thus all names are false and unreal and do not accord with true reality. It is like giving a poor person the designation “wealthy”; this is a provisional designation. 2. In terms of dharmas: All dharmas arise through the conjunction of causes and conditions and possess no true, substantial essence; therefore, they cannot be differentiated in themselves.

On the basis of provisional designations, distinct dharmas appear to exist; apart from these names, no distinct dharmas exist. Thus it is shown that all dharmas are merely provisional designations. To disseminate dharmas by means of provisional designations is to function from the standpoint of conventional truth in carrying out the work of teaching and transforming beings.

For although all dharmas are contemplated as empty and nothing can be attained, their fundamental nature inherently contains all dharmas in their myriad forms and appearances, without lacking a single dharma.

34. Ultimate truth = true meaning: From the absolute standpoint, both self and dharmas exist only provisionally and do not truly exist. Ultimate truth refers to the absence of intrinsic nature in the ultimate sense, because the ultimate meaning of all dharmas is their absence of intrinsic nature; it is the ultimate meaning revealed through the selflessness of persons and the selflessness of dharmas. Ultimate truth is also none other than the one true Dharma-realm.

35. Such true Dharma-nature = suchness. That suchness is the perfectly accomplished nature of all dharmas.

36. Wisdom of the true Dharma (the wisdom capable of cognizing the true Dharma) = wisdom in accord with reality, eternally abiding wisdom. Wisdom in accord with reality is the wisdom that clearly perceives the intrinsic nature of all dharmas, namely, the wisdom that realizes suchness.

Eternally abiding wisdom is the originally inherent wisdom that is not governed by any arising or cessation within the phenomenal realm. Some explain that the wisdom of the true Dharma is precisely the wisdom of the six perfections, and this may be the wisdom of the true Dharma to which Venerable Vasubandhu refers. Generally speaking, aspiring to attain the wisdom of the true Dharma means aspiring to study all the Buddha-Dharma.

Since the Buddha-Dharma is inexhaustible, the vow is likewise inexhaustible. The nature of the world is itself the Buddha-Dharma; therefore, aspiring to comprehend thoroughly the nature of the world is also aspiring to enter deeply into the ocean of the Buddha-Dharma. What is important is to manifest practice through wisdom in every gesture and action, in every environment, and toward every object, while directing all of them toward the same sublime culmination: unsurpassed bodhi.

37. When compared with the three great vows in the Srimala Sutra, the first two vows correspond to the fifth and sixth vows here: The first vow is, “I dedicate my roots of goodness and vow that in every life I shall attain the wisdom of the true Dharma.” The second vow is, “Wherever I may be born, I shall attain the wisdom of the true Dharma; then I vow tirelessly to expound it for sentient beings.”

38. A mind with nothing upon which it acts: To realize the truth of signlessness, with nothing grasped and no discrimination in the mind.

39. Nothing that is not practiced: All dharmas are the Buddha-Dharma (none of all dharmas is other than the Buddha-Dharma). Therefore, in everything the eyes see, the ears hear, the nose smells, the mouth tastes, the body touches, and the mind thinks, and so forth, the bodhisattva practices each and every one; even walking, standing, lying down, and sitting are all practice. Every matter and every activity—from the inner mind to external circumstances, from benefiting oneself to benefiting others, from a single mote of dust to the mountains, rivers, and great earth—is a Dharma practice of the bodhisattva.

40. The Sutra of the Questions of Brahma says: “If a bodhisattva relinquishes all afflictions, this is called the perfection of generosity; if the mind does not arise in relation to any dharma, this is called the perfection of moral discipline; if no harm is done in relation to any dharma, this is called the perfection of patience; if the characteristics of phenomena are left far behind in relation to all dharmas, this is called the perfection of diligence; if the mind abides nowhere in relation to all dharmas, this is called the perfection of meditative concentration;

if the mind engages in no conceptual proliferation in relation to all dharmas, this is called the perfection of wisdom.” In the Chapter on Vows and Pledges, in addition to the ten great vows above, the six great pledges are pledges to cultivate the six perfections.

Among them, generosity and patience pertain to compassion; meditative concentration and wisdom pertain to wisdom; moral discipline and diligence pertain to courage. Compassion, wisdom, and courage are the three essential conditions for a practitioner on the path to the precious destination. Courage has the function of governing and spurring on compassion and wisdom.

To attain Buddhahood is to bring the two virtues of compassion and wisdom to ultimate perfection.

41. Heedlessness: This is readily understood as lack of restraint. However, heedlessness is not manifested only as indulgence or laxity; here it should be understood that failing to be constantly diligent in accordance with the true Dharma, or allowing one’s resolve to become even slightly lax or superficial regarding the practice of the true Dharma, is already heedlessness. “Therefore, bhiksus, you should not be heedless. Through heedfulness I myself attained perfect awakening. Countless wholesome qualities are all accomplished through heedfulness. These are my final words.” (Dirgha Agama)

42. The Sutra of the Bequeathed Teaching teaches: “Bandits and thieves inflict painful harm for only one lifetime, whereas the thieves of the sense faculties bring calamity for many kalpas.... When the mind is restrained and brought to one point, there is nothing that cannot be accomplished.”

43. Five hindrances: Five dharmas capable of covering and obscuring the nature of the mind, preventing wholesome dharmas from arising and obstructing meditative concentration: 1. Sensual desire, 2. Anger, 3. Sloth and torpor, 4. Restlessness and remorse, 5. Doubt. (Abhidharmakosa Treatise)

44. Great signless generosity: The great act of giving that benefits the recipient by enabling that person to awaken to and enter the signless Dharma—the transcendent essence. Here it is understood as the gift of Dharma and also as generosity in which “the three spheres are empty and quiescent”: no discrimination is made among giver, recipient, and gift.

45. Four inversions: Four kinds of inverted deluded views, of which there are two categories: 1. Regarding samsara, which is impermanent, suffering, without self, and impure, one instead grasps it as permanent, blissful, possessing a self, and pure. These are the four inverted deluded views of ordinary beings and pertain to the conditioned. 2. Regarding nirvana, which is permanent, blissful, self, and pure, one instead grasps it as impermanent, without bliss, without self, and impure. These are the four inverted deluded views of practitioners of the Two Vehicles and pertain to the unconditioned. One who eliminates the eight inversions concerning the conditioned and the unconditioned is a bodhisattva.

46. Truth in the ultimate sense: “True” means that which is genuine and not false; “truth” means that which inherently is. Truth in the ultimate sense is contrasted with conventional truth. For example, if worldly dharmas are called conventional truth, then supramundane dharmas are truth in the ultimate sense.

47. Generosity, whether the giving of inner wealth or outer wealth, is practiced to counteract greed and stinginess. The giving of inner wealth is certainly more exalted than the giving of outer wealth, yet giving outer wealth is no easy matter.

The human habit of greed and miserliness is deeply rooted. Because people do not understand the principles of good and evil, they do not understand generosity or the meritorious recompense of generosity. When they “see someone coming to ask for something, their hearts are displeased.

If circumstances compel them to give, they then feel profound pain and regret, as though their own flesh were being cut. Moreover, many who are greedy and stingy hoard their possessions but do not even make use of them for themselves, much less give them to their parents, wives and children, servants, workers, or those who come seeking alms” (Medicine Buddha Sutra). Such conduct arises entirely from ignorance, lack of wisdom, and lack of faith.

In cultivating generosity, one must first gradually break through the mind of greedy attachment, regard possessions lightly, and make the great vow to practice the giving of outer wealth, giving with humility and sincerity, seeking merit rather than bestowing favors. Next comes the giving of inner wealth: giving one’s head, eyes, hands, feet, blood, flesh, strength, life, and so forth with a mind free from regret. Higher still is to give away even the deluded thoughts and afflictions within one’s mind.

The sutra says: “To relinquish one thing is to relinquish everything; to give one thing is to give everything.” Give everything; give until not even a single strand of silk remains as an attachment; give through great signless generosity.

48. The Chapter on the Perfection of Generosity in the Sutra on the Upasaka Precepts also teaches the five methods of giving described above.

49. Deviousness: circuitousness and duplicity. Giving with a calculating mind, maneuvering for fame and gain, flattering, fawning, and behaving deviously.

50. Seven factors of awakening: Also called the seven constituents of bodhi (awakening = bodhi; factor = constituent). They are the seven branches, the seven means leading to the goal of awakening, comprising: 1. Investigation of dharmas, 2. Diligence, 3. Joy, 4. Tranquillity, 5. Mindfulness, 6. Concentration, 7. Equanimity.

51. The gift of material wealth means giving possessions to others, but possessions are of two kinds: 1. External possessions, in the literal sense, called outer wealth; 2. Internal possessions, one’s true possessions—namely, one’s body, life, and strength—called inner wealth.

52. Bodhi precepts = mind-ground precepts = bodhisattva precepts: The bodhisattva precepts take the fulfillment of sentient beings as their standard. Therefore, the function of the precepts is not merely to guard the sense faculties, as in the śrāvaka precepts, but consists precisely of the three collections of pure precepts: “The precepts that embrace wholesome dharmas comprise eighty-four thousand Dharma gates; the precepts that embrace sentient beings consist of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, bringing peace and happiness to all sentient beings; the precepts that embrace the disciplinary rules comprise the ten pārājikas.” (Brahmā’s Net of Jewels Vinaya).

The Yogācārabhūmi Treatise says: “After bodhisattvas have received the disciplinary precepts, they accumulate all roots of goodness through body, speech, and mind, entirely for the sake of great bodhi.” That is, bodhisattvas practice and accumulate wholesome dharmas while advancing toward the ultimate goal of the Buddha Vehicle. The bodhisattvas’ disciplinary rules guard all three kinds of karma, but mental karma is primary, while bodily and verbal karma are secondary.

Because of the predominance of mind (= intention = consciousness), the bodhisattva precepts are also called the mind-ground precepts.

53. Freedom from desire = remaining far removed from the harmful effects of desire. Desire is a characteristic of the mind. There are many kinds of desire, such as: indulgent desire, which is both suffering and the cause of suffering; desires arising from greed, hatred, delusion, and equal combinations of these; the restless desire of the monkey-like mind within the sense faculties, which obstructs cultivation; and harmful desire, which is the source from which wrongdoing arises in oneself and others.

54. Completely ending all outflow-producing karma = exhaustion of the outflows: Through the unrestrained activity of the six sense faculties, ordinary beings leak forth (outflow) afflictions; hence afflictions are called outflows. At the ultimate fruition of the Three Vehicles (arhatship), noble wisdom is used to eliminate all these kinds of afflictions; hence this is called the exhaustion of the outflows (arhatship).

55. A mind of loving remembrance = a mind of affectionate concern: A mind like that of a mother who lovingly remembers her child.

56. Right mindfulness overthrows deluded thoughts and gives them no opportunity to arise. Right mindfulness means contemplating and focusing one’s mindfulness upon the true Dharma that one hears, reflects upon, and cultivates.

Without right mindfulness, hearing, reflecting upon, and cultivating the true Dharma are difficult even to undertake; and even if undertaken, they cannot be retained or brought to fulfillment. For example, one may hear teachings on the precepts, reflect upon their benefits, and cultivate and uphold them; but without right mindfulness, this hearing, reflection, and cultivation of the precepts can scarcely be accomplished.

Thus right mindfulness is also mindfulness of the precepts, a means of samādhi for counteracting heedlessness. “Therefore, you should always gather right mindfulness within your minds. To lose right mindfulness is to lose merit.

If the power of right mindfulness is firm and strong, then even if you enter among the bandits of the five sensual desires, you will not be slain by them. It is like a warrior entering battle clad in copper-plated armor, who consequently has nothing more to fear.” (Sūtra of the Bequeathed Teaching)

57. The motion with one announcement and three proclamations: Karman, stated in full as Saṅgha-karman, refers to a formal decision of the Sangha. There are three kinds of Sangha karman: a single announcement, one announcement followed by one proclamation, and one announcement followed by three proclamations. With a single announcement, a Sangha matter is accomplished after only one formal announcement. With one announcement and one proclamation, there is one formal announcement and one karman proclamation (decision). The procedure of one announcement and three proclamations is used in important cases, in which one declaration and three proclamations of unanimous consent are required before the Sangha matter is accomplished. The conferral and reception of precepts require this procedure.

58. Prātimokṣa (Pātimokkha): This means individual liberation, liberation in each and every circumstance, and accordance with liberation. The Prātimokṣa is the essential basis of liberation and possesses the power to guide correctly; that is, it preserves the three kinds of karma so that they do not fall into error, prevents violations and deficiencies, and transforms the evil of the three kinds of karma so that the three kinds of liberated karma are accomplished.

The Buddha established a community of those who had gone forth and received full ordination: the Sangha of śrāvaka monastics, who live self-restrained through the restraint of the Prātimokṣa code, namely, the disciplinary rules that must be observed for the purpose of attaining liberation. “It is called individual liberation because the afflictions eliminated during the stages of the path of seeing and the path of cultivation are relinquished one by one.” (Compendium of the Fundamental Vinaya)

59. Fundamental concentration: Called “fundamental” for short, this means that while practitioners’ bodies still remain in the Desire Realm, before they are reborn in the Form Realm or Formless Realm, through their own cultivation they completely eliminate the lower-realm portion of the afflictions to be abandoned on the path of cultivation and attain the concentration of a higher realm. This is called fundamental concentration.

60. Precepts concomitant with concentration: This means taking concentration (samādhi) as the precepts. Through cultivating meditative concentration, body and mind are purified, the outflows and afflictions are eliminated, the substance of the precepts is perfected, and liberation arises from concentration.

61. Uncontaminated precepts = precepts concomitant with the Path: This means that when noble ones enter uncontaminated concentration (the four dhyānas) in the Form Realm, uncontaminated wisdom also arises within them, and they perfect the substance of the precepts that “guards against wrongdoing and stops evil.” This is called uncontaminated disciplinary restraint. Because this uncontaminated disciplinary restraint arises and ceases together with the uncontaminated Path, it is called the precepts concomitant with the Path.

These precepts belong to non-manifest karma. According to the Sarvāstivāda school, non-manifest karma is regarded as real form. Thus, although noble ones born in the Formless Realm are capable of perfecting these precepts, they certainly cannot cause them to become manifest.

According to the Consciousness-Only school, all non-manifest karma is regarded as not being real form. Among all kinds of non-manifest karma, those pertaining to the uncontaminated paths of the Form Realm and the Formless Realm operate together and both possess the capacity to eliminate violations of the precepts; hence they are called uncontaminated disciplinary restraint. Here, Vasubandhu holds that uncontaminated precepts exist only in the Form Realm, namely, the four dhyānas: the stage of joy and bliss born of seclusion; the stage of joy and bliss born of concentration; the stage of sublime bliss apart from joy; and the stage of purity through equanimity and mindfulness.

62. Seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing = the cognition of the six consciousnesses: Seeing pertains to the eye; hearing to the ear; sensing to the three faculties of nose, tongue, and body; and knowing to the mind. The three consciousnesses of eye, ear, and mind are distinguished separately because they contribute greatly to the factors of bodhi and also know both worldly and supramundane phenomena. The remaining three consciousnesses—nose, tongue, and body—are not equal to the former three and are therefore grouped together as one.

63. Precepts of restraining the faculties: When the sense faculties are unrestrained, this is both suffering and the cause of suffering. That suffering is counteracted by the means of samādhi, namely, the focused mindfulness (right mindfulness) that arises from maintaining pure precepts.

64. Non-active precepts: The substance of the precepts is of two kinds: 1. active precepts, and 2. non-active precepts. Active precepts refer to the time when one receives the precepts and the three kinds of bodily, verbal, and mental karma act in accordance with the Dharma; at that time, the manifest substance of the three kinds of karma can be seen and heard.

Non-active precepts, however, are the non-manifest substance of the three kinds of karma. They arise within the body solely in dependence upon the causes and conditions present when the active precepts are undertaken, and therefore cannot be seen or heard. When that karmic substance first arises, it does so through the activity of body, speech, and mind; but once it has arisen, it continues uninterruptedly without further dependence upon the activity of the three kinds of karma.

It is therefore called non-active.

65. Factors of dhyāna: “Factor” means a constituent or component. The four dhyāna concentrations have eighteen factors. The first dhyāna has five factors: initial application, sustained application, joy, bliss, and one-pointedness of mind. The second dhyāna has four factors: inner purity, joy, bliss, and one-pointedness of mind. The third dhyāna has five factors: equanimity, mindfulness, wisdom (knowledge), bliss, and one-pointedness of mind. The fourth dhyāna has four factors: neither suffering nor pleasure, equanimity, mindfulness, and one-pointedness of mind.

66. The roots of goodness here are wisdom born of reflection and wisdom born of cultivation.

67. Conceit of self: Clinging to self and what belongs to self causes the mind to exalt itself.

68. Arrogance: Insolent and overbearing, regarding no one as worthy of respect.

69. Conceit of superiority: Not yet having realized the Noble Path, one claims to have realized it.

70. Conceit upon conceit = excessive conceit: Toward those superior to oneself, one claims to be far superior to them.

71. Great conceit: Pride and self-importance, even to the point of proclaiming oneself the Unsurpassed Teacher.

72. Taking the place of others with one’s own body: This is the practice of undergoing suffering in another’s stead. To undergo suffering in another’s stead means to bear suffering on behalf of others, or to bear the pains and afflictions of sentient beings in their place. Undergoing suffering in another’s stead belongs to the third precept, “benefiting sentient beings,” among the three categories of pure precepts. To undergo suffering in this way is the bodhisattva practice and the bodhisattva’s great compassion and great vow.

73. Emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness are the three gates of liberation leading into nirvana; hence they are called the Three Gates of Liberation: 1. Gate of Emptiness: Contemplate that all dharmas lack inherent nature and arise through the convergence of causes and conditions.

If one thoroughly comprehends this, one attains mastery with respect to all dharmas. 2. Gate of Signlessness: Having understood that all dharmas are empty, one contemplates and sees that such characteristics as male, female, identity, difference, and so forth are truly unobtainable. By thoroughly comprehending the signlessness of all dharmas, one transcends distinctions and attains mastery. 3.

Gate of Wishlessness: If one knows that all dharmas are signless, one has nothing to seek within the three realms. Because one seeks nothing, one does not create karma leading to birth and death. If one does not create karma leading to birth and death, one also does not experience the suffering of karmic retribution and thus attains mastery.

The Gate of Non-Action is also the Gate of Wishlessness, but it emphasizes not creating karma leading to birth and death.

74. Views, cognition, wishes, and action: These refer to the mental processes of ordinary beings. Views are thoughts and inquiries intended to gain clear understanding, make choices, and affirm principles and phenomena; they may be either proper or improper.

Cognition refers to the aspect of awareness: when a sense faculty comes into contact with its object, discriminating consciousness arises. As the sutras often summarize it, these are seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing (eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-, tongue-, and body-consciousness, and mind-consciousness). It is precisely this seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing that gives rise to conceptual proliferation in words, which is regarded as profound, excellent, and beneficial.

Wishes are craving, yearning, seeking, and desire in their many forms: “seeking pleasure now here and now there—that is, craving for sensual pleasures (sensual craving), craving for existence and becoming (craving for existence), and craving for nonexistence (craving for cessation).” It is precisely wishes, or craving, that give rise to every form of suffering and to birth and death. It is solely because of the will to live, exist, be reborn, become, grow, and accumulate that volition, intention, and the creation of karma leading to birth and death through body, speech, and mind arise; this is called action.

75. Ultimately pure patience: This is completely pure and ultimate patient endurance, the patient endurance free from dualistic characteristics: neither engaging in birth and death nor engaging in nirvana.

76. Exhaustion of the fetters = the complete ending of afflictions. “Fetters” means accumulation and bondage and is another name for the afflictions. Because the causes and conditions of the afflictions accumulate birth and death, they are called fetters. Because they bind sentient beings and prevent their liberation, they are called fetters.

77. Patience regarding non-arising: Also called the patience regarding the non-arising of dharmas, it means realizing Buddha-nature, the principle that neither arises nor ceases, or the essential reality of the true characteristic, which is unmoving suchness. “To accept with faith and thoroughly comprehend, without obstruction or retreat, the true characteristic of all dharmas as neither arising nor ceasing is called patience regarding non-arising.” (Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom). Only bodhisattvas from the First Bhumi through the Eighth Bhumi can enter patience regarding non-arising.