入楞伽經

Book Three

Chapter Three: The Collection of All Buddha-Dharmas

II. Furthermore, Mahamati, a great bodhisattva should thoroughly understand the three intrinsic characteristics of dharmas. Mahamati, what are the three intrinsic characteristics of dharmas? First, the characteristic of names arising from false discrimination. Second, the intrinsic characteristic of the substance of dependently arisen dharmas. Third, the characteristic of the substance of the Dharma of the ultimate truth.

Mahamati, what is the characteristic of names arising from false discrimination? It means falsely discriminating all the characteristics of dharmas on the basis of names. This is called the characteristic of names arising from false discrimination.

Mahamati, what is the intrinsic characteristic of the substance of dependently arisen dharmas? Mahamati, the intrinsic characteristic of the substance of dependently arisen dharmas arises from objective realms. Mahamati, regarding the objective characteristics of conditions and phenomena that constitute the substance of dharmas, the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, the Worthy Ones, the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, have taught that false discrimination has two distinct kinds. What are the two? First, the false attachment to names through conceptual proliferation and discrimination. Second, the false attachment to the characteristics of names and the phenomenal characteristics of objective appearances.

Mahamati, what is the false attachment to the characteristics of names and the phenomenal characteristics of objective appearances? It is the individual and common characteristics of inner and outer dharmas. Mahamati, these are called the two kinds of intrinsic characteristics of the substance of dependently arisen dharmas, which arise by relying upon those dharmas and contemplating them. Mahamati, this is called the intrinsic characteristic of the substance of dependently arisen dharmas.

Mahamati, what is the characteristic of the substance of the Dharma of the ultimate truth? It is the sphere and domain cultivated by noble wisdom, wherein the Tathagatas have departed from the characteristics of names, objective appearances, and phenomena. Mahamati, this is called the characteristic of the ultimate truth, the mind of the Buddhas—the Tathagatagarbha.

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke this verse:

The discrimination of names and characteristics,

And dharmas, possesses two characteristics;

The true and wondrous characteristic of suchness

Is the characteristic of ultimate truth.

Mahamati, this is called the Dharma gateway of contemplating the intrinsic characteristics of the five dharmas, the characteristic of the inwardly realized sphere cultivated by the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. You and the other bodhisattvas should train yourselves in this way.

Furthermore, Mahamati, a great bodhisattva should skillfully contemplate the two characteristics of selflessness. What are the two? First, the wisdom of the selflessness of persons. Second, the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas.

What is called the wisdom of the selflessness of persons? It means being free from the notions of self and possessions of self in the aggregation of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas, together with ignorance, karma, craving, and birth. Relying upon the eyes, forms, and so forth, one falsely clings to and perceives as manifestations of one’s own mind all the faculties, implements, bodies, dwellings, and so forth.

The discriminations and successive cognitions of one’s own mind flow like a river; like seeds, a lamp, a flame, wind, and clouds, they differ from moment to moment, each succeeding the preceding. They move restlessly like monkeys and apes, or like flies and gnats. They delight in impure objective realms and are never satisfied, like fire.

Because of the perfuming influence of conceptual proliferation regarding objective realms since beginningless time, they turn like a mechanical wheel. Within the three realms, they produce various forms and various bodies, arising illusorily like magical transformations.

Mahamati, to contemplate the characteristics of dharmas in this way by means of wisdom and skillful means is called thoroughly understanding the characteristic of the sphere of the wisdom of the selflessness of persons.

Mahamati, what is the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas? It means discerning, in accordance with reality, the characteristics of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas. Mahamati, a bodhisattva contemplates the skandhas, dhatus, ayatanas, and so forth as devoid of self and possessions of self.

The skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas are aggregates bound together and mutually entangled by the cords of karma and craving. Because they arise through causes and conditions, they have neither a self nor an agent. Mahamati, the skandhas, dhatus, ayatanas, and so forth are free from the characteristics of sameness and difference; names are discriminated in reliance upon unreal characteristics.

Foolish ordinary beings falsely imagine and discriminate them to exist, but those who have realized reality do not regard them as existent. Mahamati, when a bodhisattva thus contemplates mind, manas, consciousness, and the essential characteristics of the five dharmas, all are transcended, and therefore all causes and conditions are empty. This is called thoroughly understanding the characteristic of the sphere of the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas.

Mahamati, after a bodhisattva has thoroughly understood the selflessness of dharmas, contemplates true suchness, and cultivates the practice of tranquility, before long he will attain the first ground, the Ground of Joy. Having become capable of skillfully contemplating the Ground of Joy, he will then pass successively through the grounds with ever-increasing clarity until he realizes the Ground of the Dharma Cloud. After the bodhisattva abides on the Ground of the Dharma Cloud, countless jeweled lotuses, interwoven and adorned, appear; and within a great jeweled palace produced by the illusory realm of karma, he sits in accordance with reality upon a great lotus throne.

Surrounded reverently by all the Buddha’s children who practice together with him and others, he receives consecration from the Buddhas of the ten directions, who extend their hands and confer upon him the rank of Buddhahood, just as a wheel-turning king performs the consecration of the crown prince. He then transcends the stage of a Buddha’s child. Having transcended the stage of a Buddha’s child, he contemplates all Buddha-Dharmas and cultivates them in accordance with reality, thereby attaining mastery over all dharmas.

Upon attaining mastery, he is said to have attained the Dharma body of the unsurpassed Tathagata, because he has seen the selflessness of dharmas. Mahamati, this is called the characteristic of the selflessness of dharmas in accordance with reality. Mahamati, you and the other bodhisattvas should train yourselves in this way.

At that time, the noble bodhisattva Mahamati again addressed the Buddha, saying:

“Blessed One, I beseech the Blessed One to explain to me the characteristics of affirmation and repudiation concerning existence and nonexistence. Blessed One, if the other bodhisattva-mahasattvas and I hear this teaching, we shall abandon the wrong views of existence and nonexistence and quickly attain unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment. After attaining unsurpassed, complete and perfect enlightenment, we shall abandon the establishment of the wrong views of annihilationism and eternalism and shall then be able to establish the true Dharma of the Buddhas.”

At that time, the Blessed One accepted the request of the noble great bodhisattva Mahamati and spoke this verse:

Within the mind there is neither annihilation nor permanence;

Body, possessions, birth, and dwelling place...

These are merely mind, devoid of penetrating wisdom;

Though nothing exists, one perceives existence.

Then the Blessed One, further elucidating the meaning of this verse, proclaimed once again and said to the noble bodhisattva Mahamati:

“Mahamati, there are four kinds of characteristics of affirmation subject to repudiation. What are the four? First, the characteristic of affirming what does not exist. Second, the characteristic of affirming what is not right view. Third, the characteristic of affirming what has no cause. Fourth, the characteristic of affirming what has no intrinsic substance. Mahamati, these are called the four kinds of affirmation.

“Mahamati, what is the characteristic of repudiation? Mahamati, upon examining doctrines established by wrong views and failing to perceive their true characteristics, one repudiates all dharmas by declaring that everything is nonexistent. Mahamati, this is called the characteristic of repudiating an affirmation.

“Furthermore, Mahamati, what is the characteristic of affirming what does not exist? It is discriminating that the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas do not exist as dharmas. Though the conceptual proliferation occurring since beginningless time has no real existence, one clings to the characteristics of sameness and difference, asserting that these dharmas are thus and thus and ultimately not otherwise. Mahamati, such attachment arises in reliance upon the perfuming influence of afflictions accumulated throughout immeasurable lifetimes. Mahamati, this is called the characteristic of affirming what does not exist.

“Mahamati, what is the characteristic of affirming what is not right view? Mahamati, within those skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas there is no self, person, sentient being, life principle, agent, or experiencer; yet wrong views are established that assert the existence of a self, person, and so forth. Mahamati, this is called the characteristic of affirming what is not right view.

“Mahamati, what is the characteristic of affirming what has no cause? It is the assertion that the initial consciousness does not arise from a cause: although originally unborn, it subsequently arises like an illusion. Though it does not come into existence by depending upon any substantial thing as its cause, consciousness arises in dependence upon the eye, form, light, and attention; having arisen, it then ceases again. Mahamati, this is called the characteristic of affirming what has no cause.”

O Mahamati! What is the characteristic of establishing the slander that things have no substance? It is to establish and cling to space, cessation, and nirvana as unconditioned and devoid of entities.

O Mahamati! These three dharmas are apart from existence and nonexistence. O Mahamati!

All dharmas, like the horns and hair of rabbits, horses, donkeys, camels, and so forth, are apart from the established characteristics of existence and nonexistence. O Mahamati! Establishing the characteristic of slander arises when ordinary beings falsely discriminate, unaware that what is perceived is merely mind.

To regard dharmas as existent is not the vision of the noble ones. O Mahamati! This is called establishing the characteristic of the slander that things have no substance.

O Mahamati! You must abandon the wrong view that establishes the characteristic of slandering the Dharma!

Furthermore, O Mahamati! The great bodhisattvas know, in accordance with reality, mind, mentation, consciousness, the essential characteristics of the five dharmas, and the two kinds of selflessness. To bring peace and security to sentient beings, they manifest various kinds and forms. Just as those illusory things, devoid of discrimination, arise in various ways in dependence upon causes and conditions,

O Mahamati! So too do the great bodhisattvas, in dependence upon sentient beings, manifest various forms, like a wish-fulfilling jewel responding to the thoughts of all sentient beings. Amid the assemblies in the Buddha lands, they appear like illusions, dreams, echoes, the moon in water, and images in a mirror.

They are apart from all dharmas, neither arising nor ceasing, neither eternal nor annihilated. Those bodhisattvas manifest as Buddha Tathagatas, apart from the vehicles of the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas. Upon hearing the Dharma of the Buddhas, they immediately attain immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of samadhi-bodies.

Having attained samadhi, the bodhisattvas rely upon the power of samadhi to travel from one Buddha land to another, make offerings to the Buddhas, manifest birth within palaces, praise the Three Jewels, and manifest as Buddhas surrounded by great assemblies of bodhisattvas and shravakas. They enable all sentient beings to enter the “realm perceived by their own minds.” For the sake of sentient beings, they teach that external objects are neither nonexistent things nor existent things, thereby enabling them to abandon the doctrine that establishes existence and nonexistence.

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke in verse:

The Buddha’s children see the world

As mind alone, devoid of dharmas;

Though diverse forms are not fashioned by a body,

Through attaining power, they master them freely.

Then the noble Bodhisattva Mahamati again implored the Buddha:

“May the Blessed One teach us that all dharmas are empty, unborn, nondual, and apart from characteristics of self-nature! When I and all the assemblies of bodhisattvas know that dharmas are empty, unborn, nondual, and apart from characteristics of self-nature, we shall abandon deluded notions of existence and nonexistence and swiftly attain unsurpassed complete perfect enlightenment.”

The Buddha then said to the noble great Bodhisattva Mahamati:

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! O Mahamati! Listen well! Listen well! I shall extensively distinguish and explain this for you.”

Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

“Excellent, Blessed One! Yes, we shall reverently receive your teaching.”

The Buddha said to Mahamati:

“O Mahamati! Emptiness is itself a statement concerning the imagined nature of dharmas. O Mahamati! In dependence upon deluded attachment to the nature of dharmas, one speaks of emptiness, non-arising, absence of essential characteristics, and nonduality. O Mahamati! There are seven kinds of emptiness. What are the seven? First, the emptiness of characteristics. Second, the emptiness of all dharmas as existent or nonexistent entities. Third, the emptiness of formations. Fourth, the emptiness of non-formation. Fifth, the emptiness of all dharmas as inexpressible. Sixth, the great emptiness of noble wisdom of ultimate truth. Seventh, the emptiness of one thing with respect to another.

“O Mahamati! What is the emptiness of characteristics? It is that the individual and common characteristics of all dharmas cannot be perceived when things are mutually assembled and accumulated. O Mahamati! When each dharma is examined, not a single individual or common characteristic can be apprehended. Apart from individual characteristics and characteristics of other things, neither characteristic can abide or be perceived. Therefore, this is called the emptiness of individual characteristics.

“O Mahamati! What is the emptiness of all dharmas as existent or nonexistent entities? It is that dharmas arise as though their essential characteristics truly existed. O Mahamati! Yet the essential characteristics of all dharmas, whether existent or nonexistent, are all empty. Therefore, this is called the emptiness of essential characteristics as existent or nonexistent entities.

“O Mahamati! What is the emptiness of formations? It is that the skandhas and so forth are apart from self and what belongs to self, and arise in dependence upon causes that produce karma. O Mahamati! Therefore, this is called the emptiness of formations.

“O Mahamati! What is the emptiness of non-formation? It is that within the dharmas of the skandhas, nirvana has never been active. O Mahamati! This is called the emptiness of non-formation.

“O Mahamati! What is the emptiness of all dharmas as inexpressible? It is that, although deluded discrimination imagines all dharmas, there is nothing expressible that can be expressed. O Mahamati! This is called the emptiness of all dharmas as inexpressible.

“O Mahamati! What is the great emptiness of noble wisdom of ultimate truth? It is the emptiness of the Dharma of noble wisdom personally realized within oneself, apart from all faults arising from the perfuming of wrong views. O Mahamati! This is called the great emptiness of noble wisdom of ultimate truth.

“O Mahamati! What is the emptiness of one thing with respect to another? It means that in one place or another, this thing is absent while that thing is present, or that thing is present while this thing is absent.

Therefore, it is said to be empty. O Mahamati! In the past, while dwelling at the Deer Mother’s preaching hall, I said that the hall was empty because it contained no elephants, horses, cattle, sheep, and so forth.

Yet because bhikshus and others were present, it was said not to be empty. Nevertheless, the hall’s own substance as a hall could not be apprehended, nor could the bhikshus’ own substance as bhikshus be apprehended; and it was not that elephants, horses, cattle, sheep, and so forth did not exist elsewhere. O Mahamati!

Likewise, the individual and common characteristics of all dharmas cannot be apprehended, apart from their presence in one place or another. Therefore, I say that this is the emptiness of one thing with respect to another. O Mahamati!

These are called the seven kinds of emptiness. O Mahamati! This emptiness of one thing with respect to another is extremely coarse and superficial.

O Mahamati! You should abandon the ‘emptiness of one thing with respect to another’ and need not cultivate it.”

Mahamati asked:

“What is non-arising?”

“O Mahamati! It means that the essential nature does not arise, yet it is not mere non-arising. In dependence upon conventional truth, arising is spoken of; in dependence upon what is originally unborn, non-arising is spoken of.”

Mahamati asked:

“What is the absence of essential characteristics?”

“O Mahamati! I say that the absence of essential characteristics means that the essential nature of all dharmas is originally unborn. Therefore, I say that dharmas are devoid of essential nature, while their momentary continuity does not abide. O Mahamati! This is because one sees distinct characteristic after distinct characteristic arising in succession. Therefore, all dharmas are devoid of essential characteristics.”

Mahamati asked:

“What is called the characteristic of nondual Dharma?”

“O Mahamati! The characteristics of dual dharmas are such things as shadow and sunlight, long and short, black and white. Dharmas such as these each have their own distinct names and therefore cannot be described as nondual. O Mahamati! Likewise, samsara and nirvana—all dharmas—each appear as a duality. O Mahamati! What is nirvana? It is that place where samsara does not exist. What is samsara? It is that place where nirvana does not exist, because their causal characteristics differ. Therefore, I say that all dharmas are nondual. The nonduality of all dharmas means that samsara and nirvana are not two. Therefore, you should cultivate and study the emptiness, signlessness, absence of essential nature, and nonduality of all dharmas.”

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke in verse:

I always teach that dharmas are empty,

Apart from annihilation and eternity;

Samsara is like illusion and dream,

Yet karma is never lost or dispersed.

Space and nirvana,

And cessation, both are likewise;

Ordinary beings give rise to discrimination,

While noble ones transcend existence and nonexistence.

At that time, the Buddha said to the venerable Mahabodhisattva Mahamati:

“Mahamati, all dharmas are empty, unborn, without self-nature, and devoid of dual characteristics. In the sutras taught by all Buddha-Tathagatas, every Dharma gateway expounds this meaning. Mahamati, all sutras make distinctions and reveal their teachings in accordance with the minds of all sentient beings.

Mahamati, it is like a shimmering heat haze that deludes birds and beasts, causing them falsely to cling to the perception of water, although in truth there is no water within the heat haze. Mahamati, the Dharma taught in all sutras is likewise. Because ordinary beings discriminate within their own minds, these teachings are given to bring them joy; they are not the words of the noble wisdom that knows reality as it is.

Mahamati, you should follow the meaning and not cling to the names, words, phrases, and sentences of speech.”

At that time, the venerable Mahabodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! World-Honored One! As stated in the sutras, the intrinsic nature of the tathagatagarbha is pure and endowed with the thirty-two marks.

It abides within the bodies of all sentient beings, yet is wrapped in the garment of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas and bound by the unreal, defiled afflictions of greed, anger, and ignorance, just as a priceless jewel is wrapped in a filthy garment. The Tathagata, the World-Honored One, has also said that it is eternal, ever-abiding, tranquil, and unchanging. The Tathagata further says that the tathagatagarbha is permanent and, continuing in this manner, unchanging.

World-Honored One, adherents of other paths also teach that there is an eternal creator, independent of conditions, existing spontaneously, all-pervading, and imperishable. If this is so, there is no difference between what the Tathagata teaches and what adherents of other paths teach.”

The Buddha said to the venerable Bodhisattva Mahamati:

“Mahamati, the permanence of the tathagatagarbha that I teach is not the same as the existence of a divine self taught by adherents of other paths. Mahamati, when I speak of the tathagatagarbha in words, phrases, and sentences, I call emptiness, the ultimate reality, nirvana, the unborn, the unceasing, the signless, the wishless, and so forth the tathagatagarbha.

“Mahamati, the Tathagata, Arhat, and Perfectly Enlightened One teaches the tathagatagarbha because foolish ordinary beings become frightened when they hear the doctrine of no-self. Yet the tathagatagarbha is free from discrimination, quiescent, and signless; this is what is called the tathagatagarbha.

“Mahamati, bodhisattvas of the present and future should not cling to the characteristic of a self. Mahamati, it is like a skilled potter who, relying upon fine clay, a potter’s wheel, a cord, the labor of his hands, and the expedient use of a wooden tool, produces all kinds of vessels.

“Mahamati, the Tathagata, the World-Honored One, is likewise. The no-self of dharmas is free from every characteristic of discrimination. Through skillful means and wisdom, it is called the tathagatagarbha; it is also called no-self, ultimate reality, nirvana, and so forth. All manner of names, phrases, and sentences are manifested, just as that skilled potter produces all kinds of vessels. Therefore, Mahamati, the tathagatagarbha I teach is not the same as the characteristic of a self taught by adherents of other paths.

“Mahamati, because adherents of other paths cling to a self, I teach the tathagatagarbha in order to draw them in. It enables those adherents of other paths to recognize the mind’s attachment to the false conception of a divine self, enter the three gates of liberation, and quickly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.

“Mahamati, it is for this reason that all Buddha-Tathagatas, Arhats, and Perfectly Enlightened Ones teach the tathagatagarbha. Thus, the tathagatagarbha I teach is not the same as the divine self to which adherents of other paths cling. Therefore, Mahamati, to free beings from all the wrong views of adherents of other paths, the Buddha-Tathagatas speak in this way. You should cultivate and study the Tathagata’s Dharma characterized by no-self.”

At that time, the World-Honored One once again spoke in verse:

Person, self, and the skandhas,

All conditions and minute particles,

An intrinsic nature or sovereign creator—

Such false distinctions are mind alone.

Then the venerable Bodhisattva Mahamati, contemplating all sentient beings of the future, again asked the Buddha:

“May the World-Honored One teach the bodhisattvas the Dharma of cultivation in accordance with reality. When those bodhisattvas hear the Dharma of cultivation in accordance with reality, they will immediately accomplish cultivation in accordance with reality.”

The Buddha said to the venerable Mahabodhisattva Mahamati:

“Mahamati, there are four dharmas called the great cultivation in accordance with reality. What are the four? The first is skillfully knowing that what is perceived is manifested by one’s own mind. The second is transcending arising, abiding, and cessation. The third is skillfully understanding the existence and nonexistence of external dharmas. The fourth is delighting in cultivating the wisdom realized inwardly within oneself. Mahamati, a bodhisattva who accomplishes these four dharmas accomplishes the great cultivation in accordance with reality.

“Mahamati, how does a Mahabodhisattva contemplate the three realms as created by mind alone? The bodhisattva is free from self and what belongs to self, neither moving nor apprehending, and free from grasping and relinquishing. Since beginningless time, attachment to false mental elaborations has perfumed the three realms, and beings have constantly been bound by various forms and activities, their bodies and material necessities. Thus, the six courses of existence in the world falsely appear. Mahamati, this is called the Mahabodhisattvas’ skillful knowledge that perceived characteristics are manifestations of their own minds.

“Mahamati, how do all Mahabodhisattvas perceive the transcendence of the arising, abiding, and cessation of dharmas? They contemplate all dharmas as illusions and dreams. Because neither self nor other, the two, exists, dharmas do not arise.

They understand that whatever is perceived appears according to their own minds. Because there are no external dharmas, the consciousnesses do not arise. They contemplate causes and conditions as lacking any aggregation.

Although they perceive the presence of causes and conditions, they see that all internal and external dharmas have no real substance. They abandon wrong views concerning the arising of dharmas and enter the illusory characteristics of all dharmas. At that time, the Mahabodhisattva is said to attain the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas on the first bhumi.

Transcending mind, mentation, and consciousness, as well as the fivefold characteristics of dharmas, and attaining the two kinds of no-self, the bodhisattva obtains a mind-made body according to intention, and ultimately reaches the eighth, Immovable Bhumi with such a mind-made body.”

Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One, why is it called a mind-made body according to intention?”

The Buddha replied:

“Mahamati, it travels as swiftly as the mind and arrives as soon as a thought arises, without obstruction; therefore, it is called a body according to intention. Mahamati, ‘according to intention’ means that although one may be separated by mountains and cliffs extending across immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of yojanas, once one recollects the various realms previously seen, the bonds of one’s own mind cannot obstruct one, and one travels there freely.

“Mahamati, the mind-made body is likewise. Adorned with the sovereign spiritual power of the illusion-like samadhi, that body advances unobstructed toward bodies of every kind endowed with noble wisdom. Recalling the realm of the power of its original vows, it travels freely in order to teach and transform all sentient beings. Mahamati, this is called the Mahabodhisattva’s transcendence of the characteristics of arising, abiding, and cessation.

“Mahamati, how does a Mahabodhisattva skillfully understand the characteristics of the existence and nonexistence of external dharmas? The bodhisattva sees all dharmas as a shimmering heat haze, a dream, or a circle of fire made by a whirling firebrand. Because attachment to all kinds of mental elaborations, discriminations, and false conceptions has perfumed the mind since beginningless time, all dharmas are perceived, although they possess no essential characteristics.

The bodhisattva seeks to realize through cultivation the realm of noble wisdom. Mahamati, this is called the bodhisattva’s skillful understanding of the characteristics of the existence and nonexistence of external dharmas, whereby the great cultivation in accordance with reality is accomplished. Mahamati, you should cultivate and study in this way!”

At that time, the venerable Bodhisattva Mahamati again asked the Buddha:

“World-Honored One, may the World-Honored One explain the characteristics of the causes and conditions of all dharmas! Then I and all the bodhisattvas will skillfully know the characteristics of the causes and conditions of dharmas, transcend false discriminations concerning existence, nonexistence, wrong views, and so forth, and understand whether dharmas arise successively or simultaneously.”

The Buddha said to Bodhisattva Mahamati:

“O Mahamati! All dharmas have two kinds of characteristics of causal accumulation: internal and external. O Mahamati!

The characteristic of the external accumulation of causes and conditions is as follows: through such causes and conditions as a lump of clay, a post, a potter’s wheel, a cord, labor, and skillful means, a jar is produced. O Mahamati! Just as a jar is produced through such causes and conditions as a lump of clay and so forth, so too hempen cloth, grass mats, seeds and sprouts, and so forth (?), and through labor, milk paste is produced (?).

Once milk paste (curds) is produced, cream is produced; once cream is produced, clarified butter is obtained. O Mahamati! This is called the characteristic of the external accumulation of causes and conditions.

You should understand it in progression from the lower to the higher.

“O Mahamati! What is the characteristic of the internal accumulation of causes and conditions? O Mahamati! Ignorance, karma, craving, and so forth—such dharmas are called the characteristic of the internal accumulation of causes and conditions. O Mahamati! Based upon ignorance and so forth, the skandhas, dhatus, ayatanas, and so forth are said to possess the characteristic of causal accumulation; yet ordinary beings, through false discrimination, perceive them all as having distinct characteristics.

“O Mahamati! Causes are of six kinds. What are the six? First, the immediate cause. Second, the continuous cause. Third, the characteristic cause. Fourth, the productive cause. Fifth, the revealing cause. Sixth, the mutually dependent cause.

“O Mahamati! The immediate cause is that which, having become an operative cause, can produce internal and external dharmas.

“O Mahamati! The continuous cause is that which can take as its conditions internal and external dharmas, the skandhas, seeds, and so forth.

“O Mahamati! The characteristic cause is that which can produce things in successive sequence, carrying out activities without interruption.

“O Mahamati! The productive cause is that which can serve as a predominant cause, like a wheel-turning king.

“O Mahamati! The revealing cause is that which, after a matter of false conception has arisen, can reveal it, as a lamp illuminates forms and so forth.

“O Mahamati! The mutually dependent cause is that whereby, when cessation occurs, the falsely produced dharmas are no longer perceived, because their continuity has been severed.

“O Mahamati! Such dharmas are falsely discriminated by the minds of ordinary beings. O Mahamati! These dharmas are neither produced sequentially nor produced simultaneously. Why is this? O Mahamati! If all dharmas were produced simultaneously, causes and effects could not be distinguished, because no distinct bodily characteristics of cause and effect would be perceived. If dharmas were produced sequentially, then before their bodily characteristics had been obtained, they could not be said to arise sequentially, just as, before a child exists, one cannot speak of a father.

“O Mahamati! Foolish ordinary beings, observing through their own minds a sequential continuity that is not in accord with reality, speak thus: ‘Causes and conditions, immediately antecedent conditions, objective conditions, predominant conditions, and so forth can produce all dharmas.’

“O Mahamati! Thus, all dharmas are unborn. O Mahamati! Through false discrimination, the essential characteristics of dharmas are grasped. They are produced neither simultaneously nor sequentially. Furthermore, O Mahamati! The body and the requisites of life are perceived within one’s own mind. O Mahamati! Since the individual characteristics, common characteristics, and external dharmas have no dharma-nature, they are produced neither sequentially nor simultaneously.

“O Mahamati! They are merely perceptions of one’s own mind, produced by false consciousness.

“O Mahamati! You should free yourself from erroneous views concerning causes and conditions and the sequential or simultaneous production of dharmas.”

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke in verse:

Causes and conditions are empty; nothing is born.

Because nothing is born, nothing is extinguished.

Birth and extinction are empty causes and conditions;

Neither birth nor extinction exists.

To refute all causes and conditions,

Foolish people engage in false discrimination.

Whether conditions exist or do not exist, nothing is born;

Therefore, no dharmas arise.

Because within the three realms

The mind is perfumed by delusion,

Causes and conditions are originally empty,

Neither arising nor ceasing.

Seeing conditioned dharmas

As magical illusions, the child of a barren woman, and empty space,

One turns to the grasped and the grasper,

Yet delusion and false views are unborn.

Present phenomena are originally all unborn;

Conditions, too, originally do not exist.

All dharmas such as these...

Are empty in their own essence,

And have no abiding place;

Their existence is taught for the sake of the world!

At that time, the noble bodhisattva Mahamati again addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! I pray that the Blessed One will teach me the Dharma gateway called discrimination of the characteristics of speech and mind. If I and all the bodhisattvas and others can fully understand this Dharma gateway of discrimination concerning the characteristics of speech and mind, we shall be able to penetrate the two dharmas of words and meaning and swiftly attain unsurpassed perfect enlightenment. Having attained bodhi, through words and meaning we shall be able to enable all sentient beings and others to attain purification and liberation.”

The Buddha told the noble bodhisattva Mahamati:

“Excellent! O Mahamati! Listen well! Listen well! I shall explain it for you.”

The bodhisattva Mahamati said:

“Excellent, Blessed One! Yes, I shall respectfully receive your teaching.”

The Buddha told the bodhisattva Mahamati:

“O Mahamati! There are four kinds of false conception concerning speech. What are the four? First, speech concerning characteristics. Second, dream speech. Third, speech arising from false attachment. Fourth, beginningless speech.

“O Mahamati! Speech concerning characteristics is speech produced through attachment to the characteristics of form and so forth.

“O Mahamati! Dream speech is produced by recollecting falsely experienced objects from the past. It arises in dependence upon those objects when, after awakening from a dream, one knows that the objects upon which it depended were false and unreal.

“O Mahamati! Speech arising from attachment is produced by recollecting things heard and karmic actions performed in the past.

“O Mahamati! Beginningless speech is produced by the beginningless perfuming of the seeds of attachment to conceptual proliferation and afflictions.

“O Mahamati! I have now finished explaining the four kinds of speech arising from false attachment.”

At that time, the noble bodhisattva Mahamati, with this same matter in mind, again entreated the Tathagata and addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! I pray that you will once again explain to me the four characteristics of speech arising from false attachment! From where does the speech of sentient beings arise? How does it arise? From what cause does it arise?”

The Buddha told the bodhisattva Mahamati:

“O Mahamati! Through the activity of the head, chest, throat, nose, lips, tongue, and teeth, sounds are produced in combination.”

The bodhisattva Mahamati addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! Are spoken language and the characteristics of false dharmas different or not different?”

The Buddha told Mahamati:

“O Mahamati! False speech is neither different nor not different. Why is this? O Mahamati! Speech arises on account of the characteristics of those false dharmas. O Mahamati! If speech were different from them, it would arise without a cause! O Mahamati! If it were not different from them, speech could not disclose the objects before one! O Mahamati! Yet speech does disclose the objects before one. Therefore, it is neither different nor not different.”

Mahamati again addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! Is language itself the ultimate truth, or is that which is expressed by language the ultimate truth?”

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– Language itself is not the ultimate meaning. Why is this so? Mahamati! It is because the ultimate meaning, expressed through language, leads one into the realm of the Noble Ones. Language speaks of the ultimate meaning, but language itself is not the ultimate meaning. Mahamati! The ultimate meaning is inwardly realized by noble wisdom; it is not a verbal dharma and is not the realm of conceptual knowledge, although language can elucidate that realm. Mahamati! If it were said that the ultimate meaning is language itself, it would then be a conditioned dharma subject to arising and ceasing, not abiding from one thought-moment to the next. Language arises through the conjunction of causes and conditions. Mahamati! That which arises through the conjunction of causes and conditions cannot elucidate the ultimate meaning. Why is this so? Because it possesses neither an intrinsic characteristic nor an extrinsic characteristic. Therefore, Mahamati, language cannot elucidate the ultimate meaning.

Furthermore, Mahamati! In accordance with what is seen by one’s own mind, no external dharmas exist that could be discriminated. Therefore, one cannot thereby fully know the ultimate meaning. Therefore, Mahamati, you should relinquish all the various characteristics of language arising from false discrimination!

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke in verse:

All dharmas are originally false;

They have no true intrinsic nature.

Therefore, all forms of language

Cannot declare that they exist or do not exist.

Empty and yet not empty—

Ordinary beings cannot know this.

The nature and characteristics of dharmas are empty;

So too, it is said, are sentient beings.

Discriminating dharmas as existent or nonexistent

Is like an illusion, a magical transformation, or a dream....

When all dharmas are examined,

They do not abide in nirvana,

Nor do they abide in the world.

Just as a king or an elder....

To make their children rejoice,

They fashion animals out of clay;

First they give them counterfeit objects,

And only afterward bestow the real things.

I teach various dharmas,

Images of one’s own dharmas reflected in a mirror,

To bring joy to the children of the Buddhas;

Afterward I elucidate ultimate reality.

At that time, the noble bodhisattva Mahamati again addressed the Buddha:

– Blessed One! I beseech the Blessed One, for the sake of the bodhisattvas and myself, to teach freedom from existence and nonexistence, unity and difference, both and neither, being and nonbeing, neither being nor nonbeing, permanence and impermanence; freedom from the practices of all non-Buddhist paths; the cultivation of the noble wisdom of self-realization; and freedom from the individual and common characteristics of dharmas. May we enter the true Dharma-nature of the ultimate meaning, ascend successively through the stages in purity, and enter the characteristics of the Tathagata stage. Relying upon the power of the original vows, like a wish-fulfilling jewel, may we spontaneously act within the immeasurable characteristics and realms of practice. May I and all the bodhisattvas, regarding the distinct characteristics of all dharmas that are perceived as manifestations of one’s own mind, be freed from the false discrimination of common and differing characteristics such as these, and quickly attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Having attained bodhi, may we bring peace and happiness to all sentient beings and cause them all to be fully satisfied.

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Mahamati! Out of compassion for all devas and humans, so that they may gain abundant happiness and benefit, you have been able to ask me about such a meaning! Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Mahamati! Listen carefully! Listen carefully! I shall distinguish and explain it for you!

Mahamati addressed the Buddha:

– Excellent, Blessed One! I shall respectfully receive your teaching.

The Buddha said:

– Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary beings are unable to understand that what they see is only their own mind. They cling to the various characteristics of external dharmas and take them to be truly existent. Therefore, they falsely discriminate unity and difference, both and neither, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence. These arise from the perfuming of their own minds and depend upon the mind’s false discrimination.

Mahamati! It is like a herd of animals tormented by thirst that, confused by the shimmering heat, imagines it to be water and runs about in every direction, not knowing that it is not water. Mahamati! In the same way, the minds of ignorant ordinary beings perceive dharmas as arising, abiding, and ceasing, and are incapable of discerning them properly. Because of the perfuming of false attachment and conceptual proliferation since beginningless time, and because the fires of greed, anger, and delusion torment and bewilder their minds, they delight in seeking all kinds of visible realms. Therefore, ordinary beings fall into unity and difference, both and neither, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence, and so forth.

Mahamati! It is like ordinary beings who see a city of the gandharvas and conceive it to be a real city. They see it because the seeds of their conception of a city have been perfumed by false discrimination since beginningless time.

Mahamati! That city is neither a city nor not a city.

Mahamati! All non-Buddhist practitioners are likewise. Because of the perfuming of conceptual proliferation since beginningless time, they cling to dharmas of unity and difference, both and neither, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence.

Mahamati! This is because they do not understand that what they falsely perceive is only their own mind.

Mahamati! It is like a person who, while asleep, dreams of sons and daughters, elephants and horses, carts and carriages, cities, towns and villages, cattle and buffaloes, gardens and forests, trees, all kinds of mountains and rivers, streams, bathing ponds, palaces, towers, and all manner of vast and magnificent adornments. Seeing himself within them, he suddenly awakens. After awakening, he remembers and reflects upon that vast city.

Mahamati! What do you think? Could that person be called a Noble One?

Mahamati addressed the Buddha:

– No, Blessed One!

The Buddha said:

– Mahamati! All ignorant ordinary beings, non-Buddhist practitioners, those holding wrong views, and followers of various doctrines are likewise. They cannot understand that all dharmas are dreams seen by their own minds while asleep; therefore, they cling to views of unity and difference, both and neither, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence.

Mahamati! It is like a painted elephant, which is neither tall nor short.

Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary beings falsely perceive dharmas as tall or short. Mahamati! In future ages, relying upon the perfuming of the wrong views of non-Buddhist minds, they will increasingly falsely discriminate unity and difference, both and neither, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence, and so forth.

Mahamati! Those non-Buddhist practitioners ruin themselves and others, speaking such words as: “Dharmas neither arise nor cease; they exist, do not exist, and are quiescent.” Such persons are said to lack right view.

Mahamati! Those non-Buddhist practitioners slander the Dharma of cause and effect. Because of their wrong views, they sever all roots of virtue and the pure causes and conditions of wholesome dharmas.

Mahamati! Those who seek the supreme Dharma must distance themselves from persons who teach such doctrines. The minds of such persons cling to the two views of self and other, grasp falsely at dharmas, fall into slander, establish wrong-minded doctrines, and enter the evil destinies.

Mahamati! It is like eyes obscured by a film that see circles of hair in empty space and say to others: “Yes! Yes! They are blue, yellow, white, and red. Why do you not see them?” Mahamati! Yet those circles of hair have no form or substance of their own. Why is this so? Because they are both seen and not seen. Mahamati! Non-Buddhist practitioners and others who rely upon minds of wrong views and false discrimination are likewise: they falsely cling to unity and difference, both and neither, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence, and thereby conceive that dharmas arise.

O Mahamati! It is like rain falling from the sky and producing bubbles upon the water that resemble crystal gems. Ignorant ordinary beings mistakenly perceive and cling to them, conceive them to be jewels, and run about everywhere in pursuit of them. O Mahamati! Yet those bubbles upon the water are neither jewels nor not jewels. Why is this? Because they are grasped or not grasped. O Mahamati! Those non-Buddhist teachers, relying upon the perfuming of the mind by false discrimination, are likewise. They say that dharmas that do not exist arise in dependence upon causes and conditions, while others say that truly existent dharmas perish.

Furthermore, O Mahamati! Those non-Buddhist teachers establish the three means of valid knowledge and the five-part syllogism, and declare that there truly exists the inwardly realized Dharma of the noble ones, apart from the two self-natures and false discrimination. O Mahamati!

When one is free from mind, mentation, and consciousness, then upon transforming the body one immediately obtains a body of the noble lineage. By cultivating practices free from the discriminating mind, one departs from the delusive realm, perceived by one’s own mind, of that which grasps and that which is grasped; one enters the stage of the Tathagata and personally advances to realize noble wisdom. One who practices in accordance with reality does not give rise to thoughts of existence or nonexistence.

O Mahamati! Such is assuredly the realm of one who practices in accordance with reality.

O Mahamati! If one grasps dharmas as existent or nonexistent, this is precisely the mark of a self, the mark of a person, the mark of a sentient being, and the mark of one who lives.

O Mahamati! To speak of the individual characteristics and common characteristics of existent and nonexistent dharmas is called the teaching spoken by a manifestation Buddha; it is not the Dharma spoken by the Buddha.

Furthermore, O Mahamati! The Tathagata’s manifestation teaches such Dharma in accord with the views in the minds of ignorant ordinary beings, in order to cause them to practice. It is not the establishment of practice in accordance with reality, revealing the blissful practice of the samadhi of noble wisdom inwardly realized by oneself.

O Mahamati! It is like a person seeing the reflection of a tree in water. O Mahamati! It is neither a reflection nor not a reflection. Why is this? Because when there is a tree, it appears; when there is no tree, it does not.

O Mahamati! Those non-Buddhist teachers, relying upon minds perfumed by the false conceptions of wrong views, are likewise. Their discrimination of one and different, both and not both, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence is false discrimination. Why is this? Because they are incapable of understanding and knowing that these are merely perceptions of their own minds.

O Mahamati! It is like a bright mirror in which, according to conditions, all forms and images are seen, though it has no discriminating thought. O Mahamati! They are neither forms nor not forms. Why is this? Because when conditions are present, they are seen; when conditions are absent, they are not seen.

O Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary beings, through the discrimination of their own minds, perceive images as existent or nonexistent.

O Mahamati! All non-Buddhist teachers, through the false conceptions of their own minds, discriminate the images in a mirror in the same way, perceiving them as one or different, both or not both.

O Mahamati! It is like echoes that are heard through the conjunction of a person, mountains, rivers, water, wind, empty space, houses, and so forth. The echo that is heard is neither existent nor nonexistent. Why is this? Because sound is heard by reason of sound.

O Mahamati! All non-Buddhist teachers, perfumed by the false discrimination of their own minds, perceive one and different, both and not both, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence.

O Mahamati! It is like a place upon the broad earth where there are no trees or grasses: because sunlight and dust come together, one sees shimmering waves of water, yet those waves are neither existent nor nonexistent. Why is this? Because they cause sentient beings either delight or the absence of delight.

O Mahamati! All non-Buddhist teachers and ignorant ordinary beings are likewise. Because their minds have, since beginningless time, been perfumed by the conceptual proliferation of afflictions, they discriminate arising, abiding, and cessation; one and different; both and not both; existence and nonexistence; neither existence nor nonexistence; permanence and impermanence. Within the gateway of wisdom inwardly realized by noble ones, they manifest the blazing activity of craving and thirst.

O Mahamati! It is like a person who, relying upon the power of an incantation, causes a corpse to rise. Or like a mechanical wooden figure, which is not a sentient being, that, relying upon the power of a pisaca and the skill of a craftsman, performs the actions of walking and moving; yet ignorant ordinary beings cling to it as truly existent because it walks and moves.

O Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary beings, non-Buddhist teachers, and others who have fallen into wrong views are likewise: they falsely cling to one and different, both and not both, existence and nonexistence, neither existence nor nonexistence, permanence and impermanence. Thus ordinary beings and non-Buddhist teachers falsely establish such dharmas.

Therefore, O Mahamati! You should abandon arising, abiding, and cessation; one and different; both and not both; existence and nonexistence; neither existence nor nonexistence; permanence and impermanence, and discern them through the noble wisdom inwardly realized by yourself.

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke in verse:

The five skandhas together with consciousness

Are like the reflection of a tree in water.

See them as illusion and as dream;

In grasping, do not rely upon consciousness.

All dharmas are like circles made by diseased vision,

Like water and fire that bewilder.

When the three realms are examined,

All are like illusions and dreams.

If one examines them in this way,

Through practice one attains liberation.

Like beasts in summer thirsting for water,

The shimmering appearance deludes the mind;

There is no water in that place,

Yet false conception sees water rising.

Like a seed, consciousness

Is stirred by its objects, and perceptions arise.

The ignorant take them to be real;

Those dharmas arise like an obscuring screen.

Through ignorance since beginningless time,

They grasp objects as though carrying them in their arms.

Because of this, that arises;

They enter the dharmas that deceive ordinary beings.

Illusions arise, as do mechanical devices,

Dreams, lightning, and clouds as well.

Contemplate the world in this way;

Then existence is severed and liberation is immediate.

Like heat shimmering in empty space,

They are beyond all consciousness and knowing.

Contemplate all dharmas in this way,

And do not cling to worldly dharmas.

There are only the names assigned by consciousness;

All characteristics are empty.

Seeing dharmas like circles made by diseased vision,

What is there to discriminate among dharmas?

Paintings and circles made by diseased vision,

A gandharva city, illusions, and dreams,

A bird seeking water, and a firebrand’s wheel—

They appear to exist but are truly nonexistent.

Permanent and impermanent, and one,

Two, both and not both as well—

Bound by causes since beginningless time,

They bewilder the minds of ordinary beings.

In water, mirrors, jewels, and the eye

Appear all manner of shapes and forms.

Delusively one sees all manner of appearances,

As in a dream of a barren woman bearing a child.

All dharmas as they truly are

Are empty, like the water for which beasts thirst.

Furthermore, O Mahamati! The Dharma taught by all Buddhas, the Tathagatas, is free from the four kinds of views. That is, it is free from one and different, both and not both, and it completely abandons the establishment of existence and nonexistence.

O Mahamati! All Buddhas, the Tathagatas, teach the Dharma in reliance upon ultimate reality, causes and conditions, quiescence, and liberation.

O Mahamati! All Buddhas, the Tathagatas, teach the Dharma in reliance upon the ultimate realm, not upon a primal cause, intrinsic nature, Isvara, causelessness, time, minute particles, and so forth. They do not teach the Dharma in reliance upon such things.

Furthermore, O Mahamati! The Buddhas teach the Dharma that frees beings from the two kinds of obstruction: the obstruction of the afflictions and the obstruction to knowledge. Like a great caravan leader who successively brings a multitude of people to an ultimately tranquil, secure place they have never seen before, they establish them stage by stage and enable them to understand the characteristics of the vehicles and the distinctions among the stages.

Furthermore, O Mahamati! There are four kinds of dhyana. What are the four? The first is the dhyana practiced by ignorant ordinary beings. The second is the dhyana that examines meaning. The third is the dhyana that contemplates Suchness. The fourth is the dhyana of the Buddhas, the Tathagatas.

O Mahamati! What is the meditation practiced by foolish ordinary beings? Practitioners among the shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and followers of non-Buddhist paths contemplate personal non-self, individual and common characteristics, skeletons linked together, impermanence, suffering, non-self, impurity, and so forth, while clinging to these characteristics. Having thus determined that the ultimate conclusion is no different, they progress in sequence according to the objects previously contemplated, ascending stage by stage, until they reach the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception and the attainment of cessation, which they regard as liberation. This is called the meditation of shravakas, followers of non-Buddhist paths, foolish ordinary beings, and so forth.

O Mahamati! What is the meditation that contemplates meaning? It is to contemplate personal non-self and individual and common characteristics, seeing that the characteristics of self and others, whether individual or common, are unreal; and to contemplate the non-self of phenomena and the meaning of the modes of practice of the successive bodhisattva grounds. O Mahamati! This is called the meditation that contemplates meaning.

O Mahamati! What is the meditation that contemplates Suchness? It is to contemplate the causes and conditions of false discrimination, to know the two kinds of non-self as they truly are, and to discern as it truly is that the essential characteristics of all phenomena are unreal. One then no longer abides in the discriminating mind and attains the realm of tranquility. O Mahamati! This is called the meditation that contemplates Suchness.

O Mahamati! What is the meditation that contemplates the Tathagata? It is to enter the ground of the Tathagata as it truly is, to enter the three emptinesses and the three kinds of blissful practice characterized by the inner realization of noble wisdom, and to be able to accomplish inconceivable works for sentient beings. O Mahamati! This is called the meditation that contemplates the Tathagata.

At that time, the Blessed One once again spoke in verse:

The meditation practiced by ordinary beings,

The meditation contemplating meanings and characteristics,

The meditation contemplating and recollecting Suchness,

And the Buddha's pure, ultimate meditation.

Forms like the sun and moon,

The appearance of a padma in the ocean,

The appearance of fire's extinction and of empty space—

When practitioners contemplate in this way

The various characteristics described above,

They fall into the doctrines of non-Buddhist paths;

They also fall into the shravaka path

And the practice of pratyekabuddhas.

When all these have been relinquished,

There is then nothing whatsoever to possess.

The Buddhas throughout the lands of the ten directions,

With their hands and feet,

Touch the practitioners upon the crown of the head,

And they enter signless Suchness.

At that time, the noble Mahamati, the great bodhisattva, addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! Please teach us about nirvana. By what doctrines is nirvana said to be nirvana?”

The Buddha said to the noble bodhisattva Mahamati:

“To speak of nirvana is to transform and extinguish the essential characteristics of the various consciousnesses, to transform the perfuming of views, and to transform the perfumed phenomenal characteristics of mind, mentation, and the alaya-consciousness. This is called nirvana. O Mahamati! I and all the Buddhas declare that the realm of nirvana and the essence of its phenomena are empty in this way.

“Furthermore, O Mahamati! Nirvana is the realm of practice realized inwardly by noble wisdom, free from the false discrimination of existence and nonexistence. O Mahamati! Why is it not eternal? Because it is free from discrimination concerning individual and common characteristics. This is called not eternal.

“O Mahamati! Why is it not annihilation? Because it is inwardly realized by all noble ones of the past, future, and present. Therefore, it is not annihilation.

“O Mahamati! Parinirvana is neither death nor extinction. O Mahamati! If parinirvana were a phenomenon of death, it would necessarily be bound to birth.

“O Mahamati! If parinirvana were a phenomenon of extinction, it would fall within conditioned phenomena. Therefore, O Mahamati, parinirvana is neither death nor extinction; it is the refuge of those who practice in accordance with reality.

“Furthermore, O Mahamati! Nirvana is neither something that can be acquired nor something that can be abandoned; it is neither here nor there, neither annihilation nor permanence, neither of one meaning nor of various meanings. Therefore, it is called nirvana.

“Furthermore, O Mahamati! The nirvana of shravakas consists in contemplating individual and common characteristics and thereby comprehending all phenomena; hence it is called the nirvana of shravakas. O Mahamati! The nirvana of pratyekabuddhas consists in taking no delight in commotion and clamor, seeing all realms as impermanent, devoid of happiness, devoid of self, and devoid of purity, and not giving rise to inverted characteristics. Therefore, the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas conceive of nirvana in that which is not the ultimate state.

“Furthermore, O Mahamati! I shall explain to you the two essential characteristics of phenomena. What are the two? The first is attachment to the essential characteristics of words. The second is attachment to the essential characteristics of worldly affairs.

“O Mahamati! What is attachment to the essential characteristics of words? It is that which arises from the beginningless perfuming of attachment to the conceptual proliferation of words.

“O Mahamati! What is attachment to the essential characteristics of worldly affairs? It is not knowing as it truly is that the external realm one sees is only one's own mind.

“Furthermore, O Mahamati! Relying upon two kinds of sustaining power born of vows, the great bodhisattvas bow before the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, the Worthy Ones, the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, and question them about their doubts.

“O Mahamati! What are the two kinds of sustaining power born of vows? The first is reliance upon the sustaining power of samadhi. The second is the joy that pervades the entire body, called the sustaining power of the Tathagata's hand touching the crown of the head and conferring the spiritual rank.

“O Mahamati! Great bodhisattvas abiding on the first ground, through the sustaining power of the Tathagatas, enter what is called the bodhisattva's Samadhi of the Great Vehicle's Radiance.

“O Mahamati! Once the great bodhisattvas have entered the Samadhi of the Great Vehicle's Radiance, the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, the Worthy Ones, the Perfectly Enlightened Ones, then bestow sustaining power upon those bodhisattvas and manifest through body, speech, and mind.

“O Mahamati! Vajragarbha Bodhisattva and other great bodhisattvas have perfected such characteristics of merit.

“O Mahamati! Such great bodhisattvas, abiding in samapatti through sustaining power on the first ground and employing the power of roots of virtue cultivated over hundreds of thousands of myriads of kotis of kalpas, progressively know as they truly are the characteristics of the phenomena that serve as remedies on each ground and bring them to perfection. When a great bodhisattva reaches the Dharma Cloud Ground, he abides in the royal palace of the Great Jeweled Lotus and sits upon a lion throne, surrounded by a retinue of great bodhisattvas of the same class. Jeweled crowns and necklaces adorn his body, which resembles Jambunada gold, champaka flowers, and the radiance of the sun and moon, surpassing even the color of the lotus.

“At that time, all the Buddhas of the ten directions extend their hands and, from afar, touch the crown of the great bodhisattva seated upon the royal lotus throne, just as a crown prince receives the consecration that confers his rank from the Lord of Sovereignty, King Shakra, or a wheel-turning king.

“O Mahamati! Because the bodhisattva upon whom the rank is conferred and the great bodhisattvas in his retinue receive the touch of the Tathagatas' hands upon the crowns of their heads, joy pervades their entire bodies. Therefore, this is called the sustaining power of the hand touching the bodhisattva's crown.

“O Mahamati! These are called the two kinds of sustaining power possessed by great bodhisattvas. O Mahamati! By relying upon these two kinds of sustaining power, great bodhisattvas are able to behold the bodies of all the Tathagatas.

“O Mahamati! Without these two kinds of sustaining power, they would not be able to behold the Buddhas, the Tathagatas.

“O Mahamati! If great bodhisattvas could teach the Dharma apart from these two kinds of sustaining power, then foolish ordinary beings should also be able to teach the Dharma. Why is this? Because without them, they would not receive the sustaining power of the Buddhas.

“O Mahamati! Through reliance upon the sustaining power of the Tathagatas, mountains, rivers, cliffs, grasses, trees, gardens, forests, various kinds of music, cities, towns, villages, palaces, houses, and so forth are all able to emit voices teaching the Dharma and naturally produce the sounds of music.

“O Mahamati! How much more, then, is this true of sentient beings! Immeasurable numbers of beings who are deaf, blind, mute, or speech-impaired are freed from their sufferings.

“O Mahamati! The sustaining power of the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, brings immeasurable benefit and grants peace and happiness to sentient beings!”

Bodhisattva Mahamati again addressed the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! Why, when the great bodhisattvas enter samadhi and samapatti and advance through the various bhumis, do the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, Arhats, Perfectly Enlightened Ones, exercise their sustaining power?”

The Buddha said:

“Great Wisdom! It is to protect them from the karma of Mara and from minds distracted by the afflictions; to prevent them from falling into the meditative states of the sravakas; to enable them to realize inwardly the stage of the Tathagata; and to increase the Dharma realized within themselves.

“Great Wisdom! Therefore, the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, Arhats, Perfectly Enlightened Ones, exercise their sustaining power for the bodhisattvas.

“Great Wisdom! If the Tathagatas did not exercise their sustaining power for the bodhisattvas, the bodhisattvas would fall prey to the works of Mara and to the paths of non-Buddhist practitioners, sravakas, and pratyekabuddhas, and would not attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment. Therefore, out of great compassion, the Buddhas, the Tathagatas, Arhats, Perfectly Enlightened Ones, embrace and gather in the bodhisattvas.”

At that time, the World-Honored One once again spoke in verse:

Bodhisattvas rely upon themselves,

Their original vows and powers made pure;

Entering samadhi, they advance in due course,

From the First through the Tenth Bhumi.

The Buddhas, honored among humankind,

Exercise spiritual power to sustain them.

The Lankavatara Sutra

—End of the Third Fascicle—