入楞伽經

Fascicle Eight

Chapter Fourteen: The Moment

At that time, the noble Mahamati, the great bodhisattva, again said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! I beseech the Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, to explain this for me! I beseech the Sugata to teach me the marks of the arising and cessation of all dharmas! Why does the Tathagata say that all dharmas do not abide from thought-moment to thought-moment?”

The Buddha told Bodhisattva Mahamati:

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Mahamati, listen attentively now! I shall explain this for you!”

Mahamati said:

“Excellent, World-Honored One! Yes, indeed! I shall respectfully receive the teaching!”

The Buddha said:

“Mahamati! All dharmas! ‘All dharmas’ refers to what are called wholesome dharmas, unwholesome dharmas, conditioned dharmas, unconditioned dharmas, worldly dharmas, supramundane dharmas, contaminated dharmas, uncontaminated dharmas, internal dharmas, external dharmas, and so forth. Mahamati! Briefly stated, the dharmas of the five skandhas arise through the perfuming and growth of mind, mentation, and consciousness. Ordinary people rely upon the perfuming of mind, mentation, and consciousness and thus discriminate between wholesome and unwholesome dharmas.

“Mahamati! Noble ones directly realize samadhi and samapatti and delight in the practice of wholesome dharmas. Mahamati! These are called wholesome dharmas.

“Furthermore, Mahamati! What are called wholesome and unwholesome dharmas refer to the eight consciousnesses. What are the eight? First, the alaya-consciousness. Second, mentation. Third, mental consciousness. Fourth, eye-consciousness. Fifth, ear-consciousness. Sixth, nose-consciousness. Seventh, tongue-consciousness. Eighth, body-consciousness.

“Mahamati! The five sensory consciousnesses, together with the mental consciousness, continue in reciprocal differentiation with respect to wholesome and unwholesome dharmas. Their essence has no distinct embodiment. Following the arising of a dharma, they arise and then cease again. Not knowing that the perceived realm is a delusive manifestation of their own mind, at the moment of cessation they grasp the conditions of that realm—forms that are large or small, superior or equal.

“Mahamati! The mental consciousness arises in conjunction with the five sensory consciousnesses and does not abide for even a single thought-moment. Therefore, I say that those dharmas do not abide for the duration of a thought-moment.

“Mahamati! What is called kshanika refers to emptiness. The alaya-consciousness is called the Tathagatagarbha. Because it is devoid of the perfuming shared with mentation and the active consciousnesses, it is called empty; because it is fully endowed with the perfuming of uncontaminated dharmas, it is called not empty. Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary people neither awaken to nor understand this. Clinging to the non-abiding of dharmas from moment to moment, they fall into wrong views and say: ‘Even uncontaminated dharmas do not abide for a moment,’ thereby repudiating the true suchness of the Tathagatagarbha.

“Mahamati! The five sensory consciousnesses do not give rise to the six paths, do not experience suffering or pleasure, and do not create the causes of nirvana.

“Mahamati! The Tathagatagarbha does not experience suffering or pleasure and is not the cause of samsara, while other dharmas arise and cease together with it. Relying upon intoxication by the four kinds of perfuming, ordinary people neither awaken nor understand. Perfumed by wrong views, they say that all dharmas do not abide for a moment.

“Furthermore, Mahamati! The Vajra Tathagatagarbha, the Dharma realized by the Tathagata, is not momentary and non-abiding. Mahamati! If the Dharma realized by the Tathagata were momentary and non-abiding, none of the noble ones would become noble ones. Mahamati! Yet noble ones are not non-noble ones. Mahamati! The vajra abides for a kalpa; its abiding is said to be immeasurable, neither increasing nor diminishing.

“Mahamati! How can ignorant ordinary people discriminate dharmas and say that they do not abide for a moment, when those ordinary people have not understood my meaning and neither awaken to nor understand that internal and external dharmas do not abide from thought-moment to thought-moment?”

Mahamati said to the Buddha:

“World-Honored One! The Tathagata has always said that by perfecting the six paramitas one attains unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment. World-Honored One! What are the six paramitas? How are they perfected?”

The Buddha told Bodhisattva Mahamati:

“Mahamati! There are three distinct kinds of paramita: worldly paramitas, supramundane paramitas, and supreme supramundane paramitas.

“Mahamati! What are called worldly paramitas are practiced by ignorant ordinary people who cling to self and what belongs to self, fall into the two extremes, and practice the paramitas for the sake of various sublime realms, seeking the rewards of realms of form and so forth.

“Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary people practice the Dana Paramita, Shila Paramita, Kshanti Paramita, Virya Paramita, Dhyana Paramita, and Prajna Paramita, even to the point of seeking birth in the Brahma heavens and the worldly five supernatural powers. Mahamati! These are called the worldly paramitas.

“Mahamati! What are called supramundane paramitas are the paramitas cultivated by shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, who adopt the resolve for the nirvana of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas. Mahamati! Just as those ignorant worldly people perform worldly paramita practices to seek the bliss of nirvana for themselves, so too do shravakas and pratyekabuddhas cultivate supramundane paramita practices for their own sake, seeking the bliss of nirvana that is not ultimate.

“Mahamati! The supreme supramundane paramitas consist in knowing in accordance with reality that the perception of external realms is nothing but the delusive discrimination of one’s own mind. One then truly knows that the internal and external dharmas perceived are only one’s own mind, does not engage in delusive discrimination, and does not grasp the internal or external forms of one’s own mind. Because a great bodhisattva can know all dharmas in accordance with reality, the bodhisattva practices the Dana Paramita so that all sentient beings may attain peaceful joy and freedom from fear. This is called the Dana Paramita.

“Mahamati! A bodhisattva observes that all dharmas do not give rise to discrimination and accords with serenity. This is called the Shila Paramita.

“Mahamati! A bodhisattva patiently endures while free from the discriminating mind. Through practice in accordance with reality, that bodhisattva knows that the realms of the grasper and the grasped are unreal. This is called the bodhisattva’s Kshanti Paramita.

“Mahamati! How does a bodhisattva cultivate the practice of diligence? During the first watch of the night, the middle watch of the night, and the final watch of the night, the bodhisattva constantly and diligently cultivates in accordance with reality and puts an end to all discrimination. This is called the Virya Paramita.

“Mahamati! A bodhisattva is free from the discriminating mind and does not conform to the non-Buddhist marks of an external realm comprising grasper and grasped. This is called the Dhyana Paramita.

“Mahamati! What is the bodhisattva’s Prajna Paramita? A bodhisattva observes in accordance with reality the discriminated marks of the mind itself, sees no discrimination, and does not fall into the two extremes. Relying upon practice in accordance with reality, the bodhisattva transforms the body, sees no dharma arise, sees no dharma cease, and personally realizes within the noble practice of cultivation. This is called the bodhisattva’s Prajna Paramita.

“Mahamati! When the meaning of the paramitas is perfected in this way, unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment is attained.”

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

Empty, impermanent, and momentary—

Fools discriminate the conditioned.

Like a river, a lamp, and a seed:

Empty, impermanent, and momentary.

The discriminated meaning of the moment

Is likewise momentary.

Unarisen, kshanika,

Quiescent and free from fabrication.

All dharmas do not arise;

This I call the meaning of the moment.

Whatever arises will then cease—

I do not teach this for ordinary people.

Discriminating the continuity of dharmas,

Deluded thought perceives the six paths.

If ignorance is the cause

Capable of giving rise to those minds,

Then until form has yet to arise,

Upon what do they abide in the interval?

If there is cessation, then there is arising,

And mind arises in accordance with it.

Form does not abide for a single thought-moment;

Through observing what dharma does it arise?

Upon what cause does a dharma arise?

Mind arises without a cause;

Therefore, arising cannot be established!

How can one know that a thought-moment perishes?

Those who realize samadhi and cultivate the practice,

The vajra and the Buddha’s relics

The palace of the Ābhāsvara Heaven

Worldly phenomena are not destroyed

Suchness realizes the true Dharma

The wisdom of the Tathagata is accomplished

Bhikshus attain equality

How can thoughts not abide!

Illusions, cities of Gandharvas...

Why do thoughts not abide!

If form is seen without the four great elements

Then what do the four great elements do!

Chapter Fifteen: Transformation

At that time, the noble Mahāmati Bodhisattva again addressed the Buddha, saying:

“World-Honored One! The Buddha, the World-Honored One, has bestowed predictions of unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment upon the arhats. The Tathagata has also said that the Buddha-Tathagatas do not enter nirvana.

He has further said that the Tathagata, Worthy One, Perfectly Enlightened One, attained great enlightenment on a certain night, entered parinirvana on a certain night, and between those two nights did not utter a single word. The Tathagata has also said that the Buddha-Tathagatas constantly enter samadhi without initial application of thought, sustained application of thought, or discrimination; yet he has also said that they manifest transformations of every kind to liberate sentient beings.

The World-Honored One has further said that the various consciousnesses do not abide from thought-moment to thought-moment, while Vajrapāṇi, the Lord of Mysteries, constantly attends and guards him. He has also said that the beginning of the world is difficult to know, and that sentient beings enter parinirvana; yet if they enter nirvana, there should be an original beginning. He has further said that the Buddhas have no enemies, yet Māras are seen.

He has also said that the Tathagata has severed all obstructions, yet Cañcā, Māṇavikā, Sundarī, and others are seen slandering him. When the Buddha entered the village of Śālina, he ultimately received no food and departed with an empty bowl.

“World-Honored One! If this is so, then the Tathagata must possess immeasurable sinful karma. How, without having become free from all such evil transgressions, did the Tathagata attain unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment and acquire omniscience in all its aspects?”

The Buddha told the noble Mahāmati Bodhisattva:

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Mahāmati, now listen carefully! I shall explain this for you.”

Mahāmati addressed the Buddha, saying:

“Excellent, World-Honored One! Yes, I shall reverently receive the teaching.”

The Buddha taught:

“Mahāmati, I bestowed predictions on those śrāvakas and others who had formerly practiced the bodhisattva conduct, based upon nirvana without remainder. Mahāmati, I bestowed predictions upon the śrāvakas in order to inspire courage in timid sentient beings.

“Mahāmati, in this world and in other Buddha lands, there are sentient beings who practice the bodhisattva conduct but delight in the practices of the śrāvaka Dharma. In order to turn them toward choosing great bodhi, a transformation Buddha bestows predictions upon transformation śrāvakas. It is not the enjoyment-body Buddha or the Dharma-body Buddha who bestows such predictions.

“Mahāmati, there is no difference between the nirvana of śrāvakas and that of pratyekabuddhas. Why is this? Because there is no difference in their severing of the afflictions: they sever the obstruction of the afflictions, but do not sever the obstruction to knowledge.

“Furthermore, Mahāmati, by seeing the selflessness of dharmas, one can sever the obstruction to knowledge. By seeing the selflessness of persons, one severs the obstruction of the afflictions. Mahāmati, through the transformation of the conceptual consciousness, the obstruction of dharmas and the obstruction of karma are severed. Through the transformation of the perfuming of the ālayavijñāna by the mind, ultimate purity is attained.

“Mahāmati, I constantly abide in reliance upon the essence of the fundamental Dharma, which does not give rise to dharmas. Relying upon the original names, words, phrases, and clauses, I teach the dharmas without awareness or deliberation. Mahāmati, the Tathagata always knows spontaneously as he wishes and is never without mindfulness; therefore, the Tathagata is without initial or sustained application of thought. Having transcended the four kinds of stages, the Buddha-Tathagatas are far removed from the two kinds of death, the two kinds of obstruction, and the two kinds of karma.

“Mahāmati, the seven kinds of consciousness—mind, conceptual consciousness, eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, and body-consciousness—do not abide from thought-moment to thought-moment. Because they depend upon false perfuming, they are separated from undefiled wholesome dharmas. Mahāmati, the worldly Tathagatagarbha is unborn and undying; it neither comes nor goes, and is eternal, serene, and immutable.

“Furthermore, Mahāmati, because of reliance upon the Tathagatagarbha, there are the world, nirvana, and the causes of suffering and happiness. Ordinary beings neither awaken to nor understand this, and thus fall into emptiness, falsity, and delusion.

“Mahāmati, Vajrapāṇi, the Lord of Mysteries, constantly attends and guards the manifested Tathagata, surrounding him before and behind. He does not attend the Dharma-body Buddha, the enjoyment-body Buddha, or the fundamental Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One.

“Mahāmati, the fundamental Tathagata is far removed from all faculties, whether great or small, and from all measures; he is far removed from all ordinary beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and others. Mahāmati, those who practice in accordance with reality and attain that realm of the blissful practice of suchness know the fundamental Buddha through attaining the Dharma-patience of equality. Therefore, Vajrapāṇi, the Lord of Mysteries, follows the transformation Buddha.

“Mahāmati, the transformation Buddha has neither karma nor slander. The transformation Buddha is neither different from nor identical with the Dharma Buddha and the enjoyment Buddha-Tathagata. Just as potters, salt-makers, and others carry out their work, the transformation Buddha carries out the work of transforming sentient beings.

He teaches the Dharma through forms different from the true form, but does not teach the realm of the inwardly realized Dharma of noble wisdom. Furthermore, Mahāmati, when ordinary beings, non-Buddhists, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and others see the six consciousnesses cease, they fall into the view of annihilation. When they do not see the ālayavijñāna, they fall into the view of permanence.

Furthermore, Mahāmati, because they do not see that the conception of an original beginning is a discrimination of their own minds, the world is said to have no original beginning.

“Mahāmati, to become free from the discriminative views of one’s own mind is called liberation and the realization of nirvana. Mahāmati, the Buddha-Tathagatas are free from the four kinds of perfumed habitual tendencies; therefore, they are without fault.”

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

The three vehicles and the non-vehicle,

The immeasurable vehicles of the Buddhas—

All are given predictions of the Buddha-stage

And are said to have severed the afflictions.

They realize inward noble wisdom

And nirvana without remainder;

To encourage frightened sentient beings,

Thus the concealed teaching is spoken.

The Tathagata’s realized wisdom

Is also said to extend to that supreme path;

Sentient beings rely upon the path,

But the Two Vehicles have no nirvana.

Seeing Desire, Form, and Existence,

And the perfuming of the four kinds of stages,

Conceptual consciousness is also produced,

And is seen to abide together with mind.

Seeing mind, eye-consciousness, and the rest as permanent,

Or as impermanent and annihilated,

The view of permanence arises in dependence upon mind and the rest,

And thus arises the view of nirvana.

Chapter Sixteen: Prohibiting the Eating of Meat

At that time, the noble Mahāmati Bodhisattva addressed the Buddha, saying:

“World-Honored One! I observe that in the world, beings revolve through birth and death, their resentments and enmities bound together, and fall into the evil destinies. All of this is due to eating meat and killing one another, thereby increasing greed and anger and preventing their escape. This is exceedingly painful.

“World-Honored One! Those who eat meat sever the seed of great loving-kindness. Those who cultivate the noble path should not eat meat!

World-Honored One! Non-Buddhists and others who teach the false views of Lokāyata fall into mundane doctrines and into the two views of annihilation and permanence, existence and nonexistence; yet even they prohibit the eating of meat, neither eating it themselves nor permitting others to eat it. Why, then, in the pure Dharma of the Tathagata, do practitioners of the holy life eat it themselves and permit others to eat it, without prohibiting it at all?

Since the Tathagata, the World-Honored One, possesses supreme compassion for all sentient beings, why does he permit meat to be used as food? Excellent, World-Honored One! Out of compassion for the world, I beseech you to explain to me the faults of eating meat and the merits of not eating meat!

Having heard this, the bodhisattvas and I shall rely upon it to practice in accordance with reality, proclaim it, and spread it widely, so that all sentient beings, both present and future, may understand and know it!”

The Buddha told the noble Mahāmati Bodhisattva:

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent! Mahāmati, because in your great loving-kindness and compassion you pity sentient beings, you are able to ask about this matter! Now listen carefully! I shall explain it for you.”

Mahāmati Bodhisattva addressed the Buddha, saying:

– Excellent, World-Honored One! Yes, indeed, I shall respectfully receive your teaching!

The Buddha said:

– Mahamati! As for eating meat, it entails immeasurable faults! Great bodhisattvas who cultivate great loving-kindness and compassion must not eat meat! I shall explain a small portion of the faults and merits of eating meat and abstaining from meat. Listen attentively now! Mahamati! I observe that, from beginningless time until now, sentient beings have become accustomed to eating meat and are greedily attached to its flavor. Moreover, they kill and harm one another, distance themselves from sages and saints, and undergo the sufferings of birth and death. Those who relinquish the taste of meat, hear the flavor of the true Dharma, and practice in accordance with reality upon the bodhisattva grounds quickly attain unsurpassed, perfect enlightenment. Furthermore, they enable sentient beings to enter the place of cessation attained by shravakas and pratyekabuddhas. Once they have attained cessation, they then enable them to enter the ground of the Tathagata.

Mahamati! Such teachings have loving-kindness as their root. How could those who eat meat and sever the seed of great loving-kindness ever obtain such great benefit?

Therefore, Mahamati, I observe that sentient beings revolving among the six realms, dwelling together within birth and death and sustaining one another, have successively become fathers and mothers, elder and younger brothers, elder and younger sisters, males or females, and have been counted among one's relatives of the six degrees of kinship, both within and beyond the family. Or they have been born in other realms, whether good or evil, and have repeatedly become one another's kin.

For this reason, when I observe sentient beings eating one another's flesh, I see that none of them is not a relative! Because of their craving for the taste of meat, they successively devour one another, continually give rise to cruel and harmful thoughts, increase the karma of suffering, and wander through birth and death, unable to escape.

When the Buddha spoke these words, the evil rakshasas, hearing the Buddha's teaching, all abandoned their malicious thoughts and ceased eating meat. They exhorted one another to awaken loving-kindness and compassion and to protect the lives of sentient beings even more than they protected their own bodies. They renounced every kind of meat and ate it no more. Weeping sorrowfully and shedding tears, they addressed the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! Having heard the Buddha's words and carefully contemplated the six realms, I see that all the flesh I have eaten was indeed the flesh of my own relatives. Only now do I understand that eating the flesh of sentient beings creates great enmity, severs the seed of great loving-kindness, increases unwholesome karma, and is truly the root of great suffering. World-Honored One! From this day onward, I shall cease eating meat, and my retinue shall likewise not be permitted to eat it. If any disciples of the Tathagata abstain from meat, I shall remain close to them day and night and support and protect them. If anyone eats meat, I shall cause that person to obtain little benefit!

The Buddha said:

– Mahamati! Even the evil rakshasas, beings who habitually eat flesh, upon hearing my words awaken loving-kindness and abandon meat, refusing to eat it. How much less could my disciples, who cultivate wholesome Dharma, be permitted to eat meat! If anyone eats meat, you should know that such a person is a great enemy of sentient beings and severs my sacred lineage.

Mahamati! If my disciples hear my words yet, failing to examine them carefully, still eat meat, you should know that they belong to the lineage of chandalas. They are not my disciples, and I am not their teacher. Therefore, Mahamati, those who wish to belong to my spiritual family should not eat meat of any kind!

Furthermore, Mahamati! A bodhisattva should contemplate that all flesh arises from the conjunction of the impure red and white substances—the blood and reproductive fluids—of one's father and mother, from which an impure body is born. Therefore, contemplating flesh as impure, a bodhisattva should not eat meat.

Furthermore, Mahamati! When sentient beings detect the scent of a person who eats meat, they become terrified and flee far away. Therefore, a bodhisattva who practices in accordance with reality for the sake of liberating sentient beings should not eat meat.

Mahamati! Consider chandalas, hunters, slaughterers, fishermen, bird-catchers, and others of this kind: when sentient beings see their every activity from afar, they all think, “I shall certainly die now! The person approaching is exceedingly evil, unable to distinguish transgression from merit. He takes the lives of sentient beings in pursuit of immediate profit and is now coming here in search of us. Our bodies are all made of flesh; therefore, we shall surely die now.”

Mahamati! Because those who eat meat cause sentient beings who see them to become terrified in this way, all sentient beings in the sky and upon the earth are frightened at the sight of a meat-eater and give rise to suspicious thoughts: “Will I live or die today? Such an evil person does not cultivate loving-kindness. Like a jackal or wolf roaming through the world, he constantly searches for flesh to eat, just as an ox eats grass or a dung beetle consumes excrement, never knowing satisfaction. My body is made of flesh and is precisely his food; I must not let him see me.” Those sentient beings immediately flee and keep far away from such killers, no differently from people terrified of rakshasas.

Mahamati! Those who eat meat cause all sentient beings who see them to become terrified in this way. You should know that eating the flesh of sentient beings creates great enmity! Therefore, bodhisattvas who cultivate loving-kindness and compassion in order to gather in sentient beings should not eat their flesh. It is not food for sages possessed of wisdom; it spreads an evil reputation and is condemned by the noble ones. Therefore, Mahamati, bodhisattvas should not eat meat, for they seek to gather in all sentient beings.

Furthermore, Mahamati! Bodhisattvas should not eat meat, for they must safeguard the faith of sentient beings. Why is this? Mahamati! When bodhisattvas are spoken of, sentient beings all know them to be seeds of the loving mind of the Buddha Tathagata, capable of providing sentient beings with a place of refuge. Those who hear of them naturally give rise to neither doubt nor fear, but regard them as friends, spiritual benefactors, and those in whose presence there is no fear. They also say, “We have found a refuge, a place of peace and security, and an excellent guiding teacher.”

Mahamati! By abstaining from meat, bodhisattvas can inspire such faith in sentient beings. But if they eat meat, sentient beings immediately lose all faith and say, “There is no one in the world who can be trusted.” They then sever their faculty of faith. Therefore, Mahamati, to safeguard the faith of sentient beings, bodhisattvas should not eat meat of any kind.

Furthermore, Mahamati! To protect the world and prevent slander against the Three Jewels, my disciples should not eat meat. Why is this?

Because when worldly people see them eating meat, they slander the Three Jewels, saying: “Where within the Buddha-Dharma can there be shramanas or brahmins who truly cultivate the pure conduct? They forsake the food that should be eaten, the sustenance of the noble ones, and instead eat the flesh of sentient beings. Like rakshasas, they fill their bellies with meat and then sleep soundly without stirring.

Relying upon wealthy and powerful ordinary people of the world, they seek meat to eat, just as rakshasa kings terrify sentient beings.” Therefore, everywhere they proclaim: “Where are there shramanas or brahmins who genuinely cultivate pure conduct? Here there is no Dharma, no shramana, no Vinaya, and no practitioner of purity.” Thus they give rise to immeasurable and boundless evil and unwholesome thoughts, and so forth, cutting off the turning of my Dharma wheel and extinguishing the sacred lineage.

All this arises from the fault of those who eat meat. Therefore, Mahamati! To guard against evil people slandering the Three Jewels, my disciples should not even give rise to the notion of meat, much less eat it.

Furthermore, Mahamati! Bodhisattvas who seek a pure Buddha-land and wish to teach and transform sentient beings should not eat meat. They should regard all kinds of flesh as the corpses of human beings: the eyes do not wish to behold them, nor do the ears wish to hear of them; how much less could one bear to smell them and place them in one's mouth? All kinds of meat should likewise be regarded in this way.

O Mahamati! Just as the foul, impure stench of burning a corpse is no different from the filthy odor of burning other flesh, how could there be any distinction between what is food and what is not food? Therefore, O Mahamati, bodhisattvas who seek a pure Buddha-land and wish to teach and transform sentient beings should not eat meat.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, bodhisattvas who seek liberation from birth and death should single-mindedly cultivate loving-kindness and compassion, have few desires and know contentment, become disenchanted with the suffering of the world, and swiftly seek liberation. They should abandon turmoil and clamor, go to secluded places, dwell in charnel forests, aranyas, and burial grounds, and sit alone beneath trees to contemplate and observe that nothing in any world is worthy of delight.

They should regard wives, children, and relatives as shackles; palaces, towers, and pavilions as prisons; precious treasures as heaps of dung; and food and drink as pus and blood. They should accept food and drink as one applies medicine to a festering sore, merely to preserve life, keeping their minds fixed upon the Noble Path and not craving flavors. They should completely abstain from wine, meat, onions, chives, garlic, scallions, and all other foul-smelling foods.

O Mahamati! Such a person is truly a genuine practitioner, worthy of receiving offerings from all humans and devas. But if one does not become disenchanted with the world, remains attached to many flavors—wine, meat, pungent and strongly flavored foods—and greedily devours whatever one obtains, one should not accept the offerings of the faithful in the world.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, there are sentient beings who in the past cultivated immeasurable causes and conditions, possess only slight roots of goodness, and now hear my Dharma. Some who leave home in faith under my Dharma were formerly relatives of Rakshasas or were born among tigers, wolves, lions, cats, and foxes. Although they now abide within my Dharma, their habitual tendency to eat meat persists.

When they see people eating meat, they rejoice and draw near. They enter cities, towns, villages, stupas, and monasteries, where they drink wine and eat meat, taking delight in doing so. Yet all people regard them as no different from Rakshasas contending with one another to devour corpses.

Unaware of this themselves, they lose their place in my assembly and become relatives of Rakshasas. Although they wear the kasaya robe and shave their beards and hair, living beings who see them become terrified, as though beholding Rakshasas. Therefore, O Mahamati, those who honor me as their teacher should not eat meat of any kind.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, even worldly masters of spells who hold wrong views find that their spells will not succeed if they eat meat. They abstain from meat merely to accomplish evil arts; how much more should my disciples abstain when seeking the Tathagata’s unsurpassed Noble Path and liberation beyond the world! Even while cultivating great loving-kindness and compassion and diligently practicing austerities, they may still fear that they will not attain it. How, then, could such liberation be attained by a foolish person through eating meat? Therefore, O Mahamati, my disciples who seek the joy of supramundane liberation should not eat meat.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, eating meat may give rise to physical strength, but those who eat it become deeply attached to its flavor; this should be carefully contemplated. All living beings in the world cherish themselves, fear the suffering of death, and protect and treasure their lives. In this respect, humans and animals are no different. They would rather preserve even a scab-covered, wretched body than relinquish their lives to enjoy the pleasures of heaven. Why is this? Because they fear the suffering of death.

O Mahamati! Through such contemplation, one sees that death is a great suffering and truly something to be feared. If one fears death for oneself, how could one eat the flesh of others? Therefore, O Mahamati, those who desire to eat meat should first reflect upon their own bodies and then contemplate sentient beings; they should not eat meat.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, the devas keep far away from those who eat meat; how much more so do noble beings! Therefore, bodhisattvas who wish to behold noble beings should cultivate compassion and should not eat meat. O Mahamati! Those who eat meat suffer even while sleeping and suffer upon awakening. In dreams they may see all manner of evil things, causing them to tremble with fear and their hair to stand on end; their minds are constantly uneasy. Because they lack loving-kindness, their wholesome powers are deficient. If such a person dwells alone in a secluded place, many nonhuman beings watch for an opportunity to harm him. Tigers, wolves, and lions also come prowling, seeking an opportunity to devour him, so his mind is constantly fearful and never at peace.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, the craving of meat eaters is difficult to satisfy. They eat without moderation, cannot digest their food, and thereby aggravate the four great elements. Their breath reeks of raw flesh, and within their bodies dwell innumerable harmful worms. Their bodies abound in sores, ringworm, and illnesses of every kind and are unclean. Even ordinary people in the present do not delight in seeing or hearing of this; how, then, could such persons obtain fragrant, pure, and healthy human bodies in future lives?

Furthermore, O Mahamati, I teach that even when ordinary beings consume pure food to sustain a pure livelihood, they should still give rise to the perception that they are eating the flesh of their own children. How, then, could I permit them to eat what is not the food of noble beings and from which noble beings abstain? Meat gives rise to immeasurable faults and destroys all supramundane merit. How could anyone say that I permit my disciples to consume meat, blood, and other impure flavors? Whoever says that I permit this is slandering me.

O Mahamati! I permit my disciples to eat the food eaten by noble beings, not food from which noble beings abstain. The food of noble beings can produce immeasurable merit and keeps one far removed from all transgressions.

O Mahamati! The foods of noble beings in the past and present include rice, barley, wheat, beans, various oils, honey, sugarcane, sugarcane juice, kienda flour, kandi, and so forth. When such pure foods are obtained at the proper time, I permit them to be eaten.

O Mahamati! In the future age, foolish people will cite various Vinaya teachings and say that meat may be eaten. Because they were habituated to eating meat in past lives and remain attached to its flavor, they will speak according to their own views and inclinations. Such words are not spoken by Buddhas or noble beings for the sake of delicious food.

O Mahamati! Those who abstain from meat have, in the past, made offerings to the Buddhas and planted roots of goodness. They are able to trust the Buddha’s words, steadfastly abide by the Vinaya, believe in causes and their fruits, and restrain and regulate their bodies and speech. They do not crave the flavors of the world, and when they see those who eat meat, they are able to give rise to a compassionate mind.

O Mahamati! I recall that in the past there was a king named Lion-Servant who ate all kinds of meat and was attached to its flavor. Gradually, he went so far as to eat human flesh. Because this king ate human flesh, his parents, brothers, wife, children, and relatives all abandoned him. All the ministers and people throughout the kingdom, towns, and villages then conspired to rebel and together put the king to death. Such are the faults of eating meat. Therefore, no meat whatsoever should be eaten.

Furthermore, O Mahamati, the heavenly king Isvara transformed himself into a dove. Sakra, Lord of the Devas, because of his habitual tendency to eat meat in past lives, transformed himself into a hawk and pursued the dove. The dove flew to me and sought refuge. At that time, I was King Sivi. Out of compassion for sentient beings who devour one another, I weighed out flesh from my own body and gave it to the hawk in place of the dove’s flesh. Yet even after cutting flesh from my body, it was not enough to balance the scale, and I endured great suffering.

O Mahamati! Thus, through the habitual consumption of meat over immeasurable lifetimes, such faults befall one’s own body and the bodies of others. How much more is this true of those who constantly eat meat without shame!

O Mahamati! There was also another king who did not eat meat. While riding on horseback for recreation, his horse became frightened and carried him deep into the mountains. Separated from his attendants, he did not know the way home. Because that king did not eat meat, the lions, tigers, and wolves who saw him had no thought of harming him. He then engaged in sexual relations with a lioness, and in time they produced a son, King Spotted Feet, and so forth. Because of past-life habituation to eating meat, and because, as a human king, he also habitually ate meat, he dwelt in the Village of Seven Households, where many people delighted in eating meat. Indulging excessively in meat, they eventually ate even human flesh; therefore, most of the sons and daughters born to them were rakshasas.

O Mahamati! Because meat-eating beings have been habituated to eating meat in past lives, most of them are born among rakshasas, lions, tigers, wolves, leopards, cats, foxes, owls, kites, hawks, and the like. All creatures possessing life protect themselves and do not allow such beings an opportunity to seize them. Tormented by hunger and thirst, those beings continually give rise to evil thoughts and contemplate eating the flesh of others. When their lives end, they again fall into the evil destinies. It is difficult for them to obtain birth in a human body, much less attain the path to nirvana.

O Mahamati! You should know that those who eat meat incur immeasurable transgressions such as these. Those who do not eat meat thereby amass immeasurable merit.

O Mahamati! Yet ordinary beings do not understand the faults of eating meat or the merit of abstaining from it. I shall now explain briefly why eating meat is not permitted!

O Mahamati! If no one ate meat, no one would kill sentient beings. Because there are meat-eaters, if meat is unavailable, they go everywhere seeking to buy it; and those who desire profit kill creatures in order to sell their flesh. Since the killing is done for the buyer, the buyer and the killer are no different. Therefore, eating meat can obstruct the Noble Path.

O Mahamati! Meat-eaters crave and cling to its flavor. When there are no domesticated animals available, they will even eat human flesh, much less the flesh of deer, antelope, pheasants, rabbits, geese, pigs, goats, chickens, dogs, camels, donkeys, elephants, horses, dragons, snakes, fish, soft-shelled turtles, and other living creatures of the waters and the land.

Once they have caught them, how could they refrain from eating them? Because of craving and attachment to the taste of meat, they devise various means of killing sentient beings, making all kinds of nets, snares, traps, and so forth. They encircle mountains with nets, spread nets over the ground, dam rivers, blockade seas, and everywhere on land and in water set enclosing nets and traps, dig pits, and place bows, knives, poisoned arrows, and other devices so densely that no space remains.

All kinds of sentient beings living in the air, on land, and in water are killed for the sake of eating meat.

O Mahamati! Hunters, slaughterers, meat-eaters, and the like have firmly established evil in their hearts and are capable of acts devoid of compassion. When they see a sentient being whose body is plump and whose flesh is fresh, the thought of savoring it arises in them. They point it out to one another, saying, “This can be eaten,” without giving rise to even a single compassionate thought. Therefore, I say that meat-eaters sever the seed of Great Compassion.

O Mahamati! When I observe the world, I see no meat that is not derived from a living being. There is nowhere to be found any meat for which one has not killed personally, has not instructed another to kill, which has not been killed by someone else, and which has not come from a living being. If there were meat that did not come from a living being and were wholesome food, for what reason would I not permit people to eat it? Yet search throughout the entire world and no such meat can be found. Therefore, I say that eating meat is an offense that cuts off the seed of the Tathagata, and thus I do not permit it.

O Mahamati! After I enter nirvana, in a future age when the Dharma is about to perish, there will be people within my Dharma who leave the household life and shave off their hair and beards, calling themselves “shramanas, sons of the Shakyas.” Wearing my kasaya robes, they will be as deluded as children. They will call themselves masters of the Vinaya, yet fall into the two extremes.

Harboring all manner of false reflections and discursive thoughts, their minds will be confused and they will crave and cling to the flavor of meat. Following views arising from their own minds, they will say that the Vinaya permits the eating of meat. They will also slander me, saying that the Buddha-Tathagatas permit people to eat meat.

They will further claim that, despite the prohibitions, meat may still be eaten, and they will slander me by saying that the Tathagata, the Blessed One, himself ate meat.

O Mahamati! In all my sutras, such as the Tượng Dịch, Angulimala, Nirvana, and Great Cloud Sutras, and others, I do not permit the eating of meat, nor do I include meat among foods fit to be consumed.

O Mahamati! If I permitted my shravaka disciples to take meat as food, I certainly could not continually praise those who cultivate compassion and practice in accordance with reality. Nor could I praise those who practice dhutanga in charnel-ground forests; nor those who cultivate the Mahayana and abide in the Mahayana; nor those who abstain from eating meat.

I myself do not eat meat, nor do I permit others to eat it. Therefore, I exhort practitioners of the bodhisattva conduct and praise abstention from meat; I exhort them to regard all beings as their only child. How, then, could I proclaim that I permit the eating of meat?

For the sake of disciples cultivating the practices of the Three Vehicles so that they may swiftly attain the fruit, I prohibit all meat and do not permit it to be eaten. How, then, could anyone say that my Vinaya permits people to eat meat?

Furthermore, some say that in other sutras the Tathagata taught that three kinds of meat are permitted to be eaten. You should know that such people do not understand the Vinaya; they sever teachings from their proper sequence and then proclaim that meat may be eaten. Why is this?

O Mahamati! There are two kinds of meat: that from an animal killed by others and that from an animal that died naturally. People in the world say that some kinds of meat may be eaten and others may not.

They say that elephants, horses, dragons, snakes, humans, ghosts, monkeys, apes, pigs, dogs, and cattle may not be eaten, while other creatures may be eaten. Slaughterers, however, do not ask whether a creature may or may not be eaten; they kill them all and display their flesh for sale everywhere! Innocent sentient beings are thus wantonly killed.

Therefore, I prohibit meat whether the creature was killed by another or died naturally; neither may be eaten. Meat concerning which one has heard, seen, or suspects that the creature was killed is called meat from one killed by another; meat concerning which one has neither heard, seen, nor suspects this is called meat from one that died naturally. Therefore, O Mahamati, in my Vinaya I proclaim as follows: All meat available to shramanas, sons of the Shakyas, is impure food; it defiles pure livelihood, obstructs the factors of the Noble Path, and under no circumstances may it be eaten.

If anyone says that the Buddha’s Vinaya speaks of three kinds of meat, it is to declare them impermissible, not to permit their consumption. You should know that those who firmly abide by the Vinaya do not slander me.

O Mahamati! Now, in this Lankavatara Sutra, at all times and under all circumstances, no kind of meat may be eaten by any expedient whatsoever. Therefore, O Mahamati, my prohibition against eating meat is not intended for only one person: both now and in the future, no one may eat it. Therefore, O Mahamati, if those deluded people call themselves masters of the Vinaya and say that the Vinaya permits people to eat meat, and also slander me by saying that the Tathagata himself ate meat, those deluded people incur grave karmic obstructions. They will forever fall into places devoid of benefit, places without Noble Ones, and places where the Dharma cannot be heard. They will not be able to see the disciples of the noble sages, either now or in the future, much less see the Buddha-Tathagatas.

O Mahamati! Shravakas should ordinarily eat rice, wheat, oil, honey, and various kinds of sesame seeds and beans, which sustain pure livelihood. Even such foods, if unlawfully stored or unlawfully received, I declare impure and do not permit them to be eaten—how much less could I permit the consumption of impure blood and flesh?

O Mahamati! My shravaka disciples, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas partake of Dharma-food, not material food and drink; how much less would the Tathagata do so! O Mahamati!

The Dharma-food and Dharma-abiding of the Buddhas are not sustained by a body that eats and drinks, nor by consuming material food. Their bodies do not subsist upon any food or drink. They have transcended worldly possessions and the pleasures of existence, and have completely abandoned all the faults of afflictions and habitual tendencies.

They skillfully discern the mind and possess the wisdom of omniscience and all-seeing knowledge, regarding all sentient beings with equal compassion. Therefore, O Mahamati, since I regard all sentient beings equally, as though each were my only child, how could I permit meat to be used as food? I do not even rejoice in others eating it, much less eat it myself.

O Mahamati! Likewise, asafoetida, garlic, scallions, leeks, and other foul and impure substances can obstruct the noble path and also impair the purity of worldly humans and devas, to say nothing of the fruition of the pure realms of the Buddhas. The same is true of alcohol: it can obstruct the noble path, harm wholesome karma, and give rise to many transgressions. Therefore, O Mahamati, those who enter the noble path should not consume alcohol, meat, scallions, leeks, garlic, asafoetida, or any other substances that produce strong odors!

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

Bodhisattva Mahamati asked:

“Alcohol, meat, garlic, asafoetida, scallions—

The Buddha says they are impure

And permits no one

To consume any of them!

They are devoured by rakshasa demons;

They are not food for the noble ones.

Those who eat them are reproached by the noble ones

And spread an evil reputation.

May the Buddha clearly explain

The demerit and merit of eating or abstaining!”

“O Mahamati! Listen carefully!

I shall explain the faults of consuming them.

Alcohol, meat, scallions, leeks, and garlic

Obstruct the path of noble beings.

I contemplate throughout the three realms

Those beings who attain the noble path.

Since beginningless time, throughout the worlds,

They have exchanged one body for another;

How, then, could there be among them

Anything to be eaten or not eaten?

Contemplate the origin of meat:

Its source is impure,

Born amid blood and pus,

Mingled with feces, urine, and filth.

Those who cultivate pure conduct

Should contemplate this and refrain from eating it.

All kinds of meat, scallions, and leeks

Should not be consumed;

Nor should alcohol be drunk.

All kinds of garlic and asafoetida

Should always be avoided by practitioners.

Sesame oil should be avoided;

Do not sleep on beds with holes,

For tiny insects may emerge,

Causing the lives of other beings to be destroyed.

Eating meat increases bodily strength;

From that strength, improper thoughts arise.

Improper thoughts give rise to lust and craving;

Therefore, I do not permit the eating of meat.

Eating meat gives rise to craving;

Craving intoxicates and deludes the mind.

This intoxication increases sensual desire,

And one is not liberated from birth and death.

For profit, sentient beings are killed;

For meat, wealth is sought.

The evil karma harms that person,

Who enters the Howling Hell.

The three conditions called ‘pure meat’ are:

Not suspected, not seen, and not heard.

There is no such meat in the world;

Those who eat meat fall

Into loathsome and defiled realms of suffering,

And are continually born among the deranged.

They are born into families of butchers,

Chandalas, and hunters;

Or they are born as female rakshasas

And in places where meat is consumed.

Among rakshasas, cats, jackals, and the like—

Meat-eaters are born among them.

In the Elephant-Armpit Sutra, the Great Cloud Sutra,

The Nirvana Sutra, the Srimala Sutra,

And also the Lankavatara Sutra,

I do not permit the eating of meat.

Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and shravakas

All likewise condemn it.

Those who shamelessly eat meat

Will be deranged life after life.

Previously I spoke of suspicion, seeing, and hearing,

Thus prohibiting every kind of meat;

But because deluded thinkers fail to understand,

The notion that meat may be eaten arises.

Like the fault of lust and craving,

It obstructs noble liberation.

Alcohol, meat, scallions, garlic, and asafoetida

All obstruct the noble path.

Sentient beings in future ages,

In their ignorance concerning meat, will say:

‘This meat is pure and without fault;

The Buddha permits us to eat it!’

Regard pure food as medicine,

And regard eating meat as though eating the flesh of one’s own child.

Contented, give rise to revulsion and detachment,

And practice by going forth to seek alms.

Those who abide with a compassionate heart,

I say, should always cultivate revulsion and detachment.

Lions, wolves, and tigers

Will constantly follow and remain near them.

When meat-eaters see them, they become afraid;

How then could they eat meat?

Therefore, practitioners

Who possess compassionate hearts do not eat meat.

Eating meat severs the compassionate heart

And separates one from liberation and nirvana.

It contradicts the teaching of the noble ones;

Therefore, I do not permit the eating of meat.

Those who wish to be born among the lineage of Brahma do not eat meat,

Nor do those who cultivate the path.

Wisdom and prosperity

Arise from abstaining from meat.”

Chapter Seventeen: Dharani

At that time, the Blessed One said to the noble Mahamati, the great bodhisattva:

“O Mahamati! You should listen attentively to and uphold my mantra of the Lankavatara Sutra! This mantra has been spoken, is being spoken, and will be spoken by all Buddhas of the past, future, and present.

“O Mahamati! I shall now also proclaim it. For the Dharma masters who uphold and recite the Lankavatara Sutra, I speak this mantra:

Ðâu đế đâu đế - Chúc đế chúc đế - Tô pha đế tô pha đế - Ca đế ca đế - A ma lị - A ma đế - Tỳ ma lê tỳ ma lê - Ni di ni di - Hề di hề di - Bà mê bà mê - Ca lê ca lê - Ca la ca lê - A tề ma tề - Già tề đâu tề - Nhượng tề - Tô phất tề - Cát đệ cát đệ - Ba đệ ba đệ - Hề mễ hề mễ địa mễ địa mễ - La chế la chế - Ba chế ba chế - Bàn đệ bàn đệ - A chế di chế - Trúc trà lê đâu trà đệ - Ba la đệ - Át kế át kế - Chước kế chước kế lê lợi - Nhỉ dương mễ - Hề mễ hề mễ - Trú trú trú trú - Trừu súc trừu súc - Trừu trừu trừu trừu - Trừ trừ trừ trừ - Tô bà ha.

“O Mahamati! These are called the mantra phrases of the Great Lankavatara Sutra. Good men and good women, bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas, upasikas, and others who can uphold and recite these phrases and expound them to others cannot have their faults discovered by anyone.

Whether devas or daughters of devas; nagas or daughters of nagas; yakshas or daughters of yakshas; asuras or daughters of asuras; garudas or daughters of garudas; kinnaras or daughters of kinnaras; mahoragas or daughters of mahoragas; bhutas or daughters of bhutas; kumbhandas or daughters of kumbhandas; pishachas or daughters of pishachas; Udalas or daughters of Udalas; Apalas or daughters of Upalas; rakshasas or daughters of rakshasas; Chajas or daughters of Chajas; Uzhuhalas or daughters of Uzhuhalas; Jiazha Fuduoluo beings or daughters of Jiazha Fuduoluo beings; humans or nonhumans; daughters of humans or daughters of nonhumans—none can discover the faults of those people.

If evil spirits harm someone and one wishes to make those evil spirits depart quickly, one should recite this dharani one hundred times. Those evil spirits will become terrified, cry out, and flee in haste.”

The Buddha again said to Bodhisattva Mahamati:

“O Mahamati! To protect and uphold the Dharma masters who safeguard this Dharma, I shall proclaim another dharani!”

The Buddha spoke the mantra:

“Ba đâu di - Ba đầu di đề tỳ - Hề ni hề ni hề nỉ chư lê - Chư la - Chư lệ - Hầu la - Hầu lệ - Do lê - Do la - Do lệ - Ba lệ - Ba la - Ba lệ - Văn chế - Sân điệt tần điệt bàn thệ mạt điệt trì na - Ca lê tô ba ha.”

O Mahamati! If good men or good women uphold and recite the words of this dharani mantra and expound them to others, no being will be able to cause them harm. Whether a deva or a daughter of a deva, a naga or a daughter of a naga, a yaksha or a daughter of a yaksha, an asura or a daughter of an asura, a garuda or a daughter of a garuda, a mahoraga or a daughter of a mahoraga, a gandharva or a daughter of a gandharva, a bhuta or a daughter of a bhuta, a kumbhanda or a daughter of a kumbhanda, an apasmara or a daughter of an apasmara, a rakshasa or a daughter of a rakshasa, an Uthadala or a daughter of an Uthadala, a Katra Putana or a daughter of a Katra Putana, whether human or nonhuman,

a daughter of a human or a daughter of a nonhuman—all such beings will be unable to find any fault in those persons.

O Mahamati! If anyone is able to uphold and recite the words of this mantra, that person is said to have recited the entire Lankavatara Sutra. Therefore, I proclaim this dharani to restrain all rakshasas and to protect all good men and good women who preserve this Sutra.

The Lankavatara Sutra

– End of the Eighth Fascicle -