佛藏經

Chapter One: The True Aspect of All Dharmas

Thus have I heard. At that time, the Buddha was dwelling on Mount Gridhrakuta near the city of Rajagriha, together with a great Sangha of bhikshus, all of whom were wise and learned, and with an immeasurable, innumerable assembly of boundless great bodhisattva-mahasattvas.

At that time, Shariputra emerged from samadhi and went to where the Buddha was. He bared his right shoulder, bowed with his head at the Buddha’s feet, and said: “Rare indeed, World-Honored One! The Tathagata teaches that all dharmas are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty, enabling people to believe and understand.”

The Buddha said to Shariputra: “What benefit do you perceive that causes you to praise this as rare—the Tathagata’s teaching that all dharmas are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty, enabling people to believe and understand?”

Shariputra said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! Whenever I dwell in solitude, I reflect upon this matter. World-Honored One! Moreover, regarding dharmas that have neither names nor characteristics, names and characteristics are spoken. Dharmas that are beyond language are explained through language. Reflecting in this way, a sense of wonder arises in my mind.”

The Buddha said to Shariputra: “So it is! So it is! This rare matter is rare above all others. It is called the anuttara-samyak-sambodhi of all Buddhas.

“Shariputra! Suppose a highly skilled painter were to paint in empty space and manifest all manner of colors, forms, and appearances. What do you think? Would that painter not be exceedingly rare?”

“Exceedingly rare, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! The Tathagata attained anuttara-samyak-sambodhi and teaches that all dharmas are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty, enabling people to believe and understand. This is many times rarer still.

Why is this? Dharmas have no names, no characteristics, no recollection, no attainment, and no cultivation. They cannot be discussed.

By relying upon the unreal mind, there arises unreal conceptual proliferation and contention; yet one can bring that unreal conceptual proliferation and contention, which depend upon apparent attainment, to an end. There is no sensation, no observation, no grasping, and no abiding within the mind. What is unreal is regarded as attained.

This does not exist, and that does not exist. There is no discrimination, no movement, and no inherent nature. From the beginning, they have been empty in themselves.

They cannot be conceived and cannot be expressed; all the world finds them difficult to believe. Dharmas without names or characteristics are explained by means of names and characteristics.

“Thus, Shariputra, the teaching that all dharmas are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty, enabling people to believe and understand, is many times exceedingly rare.

“Shariputra! Suppose a person could gnaw away Mount Sumeru until it disappeared, and could fly through empty space without considering it difficult. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Buddhas are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Suppose a city measuring about twenty kilometers in both length and breadth were engulfed in flames, with fierce fire issuing from its four gates. A person carrying dry grass wished to leave the city, but a great wind blew the flames against his body. That person could cause the fire neither to burn the grass nor to burn his body and could run out from within the city, remaining entirely unchanged from before. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Suppose a person fashioned a raft from stone and crossed by sea from this shore to the other shore. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Suppose a person carried the four continents, together with Mount Sumeru, rivers, vegetation, and trees, and used a mosquito’s leg as a ladder to climb up to the Brahma Heaven. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Suppose a fiber from a lotus root suspended Mount Sumeru in midair. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Suppose that, when the kalpa ended and the great conflagration burned, a person could extinguish that fire with a single mouthful of saliva and then, with a single breath, restore the world and the heavenly palaces. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Is the great Ganges River not immeasurably vast?”

“So it is, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! Suppose rain fell everywhere throughout the four continents, each raindrop as large as the Ganges River, and a person caught all those raindrops in his hands without spilling any. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Is Mount Sumeru, king of mountains, not lofty and vast?”

“It is lofty and vast, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! Suppose great hail fell everywhere throughout the four continents, each hailstone as large as Mount Sumeru, and a person caught those hailstones in his hands without spilling them, as though they were mustard seeds. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! Suppose a person placed all sentient beings in the palm of his left hand and, with his right hand, caught and upheld the rivers, vegetation, and trees of the three-thousandfold world. He could cause all those sentient beings to become joyful with one mind, their intentions not differing. What do you think? Would this not be rare?”

“Rare indeed, World-Honored One.”

“Shariputra! All dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn, unceasing, signless, and empty. Enabling people to believe and understand this is many times rarer still.

“Shariputra! The dharmas taught by the Tathagata are without inherent nature, empty, and unattainable. All the world finds them difficult to believe and understand.

Why is this? Shariputra! These dharmas are without recollection and have abandoned all recollections; they are without thought and have abandoned all thoughts.

They neither grasp nor relinquish; they are without conceptual proliferation or contention and without afflicting disturbance. They are neither this shore, nor the other shore, nor the land between. They are neither ignorance nor illumination; only through abundant wisdom can they be understood.

They cannot be known through thought, reckoning, or measurement. They are without activity, without characteristics, and without afflicting disturbance. They are without thought and transcend all thoughts.

They are without mind and transcend all minds. They have no direction and no reverse side; they are neither bound nor released. They have no ignorance, no dharma of ignorance, and no net of ignorance.

They have no name and are inexpressible. They are neither spoken nor unspoken; neither exhaustible nor inexhaustible; neither active nor conjoined with activity. They have no Path and no fruit of the Path.

They do not abandon and transcend all abandonment. They are without thought and without confusion; they neither grasp nor relinquish.”

Neither attainable nor unattainable, it dispels all obstructions. It sees the elimination of greed, hatred, and delusion. It is neither real nor false, neither permanent nor changing, neither luminous nor possessing luminosity, neither dark nor illuminating, and does not abide within the mind.

It has no nature; its nature is originally empty. It can subdue Mara and subdue the afflictions. It subdues the darkness of the five skandhas, subdues the twelve ayatanas, and subdues the eighteen dhatus.

It subdues assertions that the five skandhas exist, subdues assertions that the twelve ayatanas exist, and subdues assertions that the eighteen dhatus exist. It subdues assertions that sentient beings exist and that persons exist; assertions of longevity and of a life faculty; assertions of attainment and of non-attainment. It subdues all erroneous practices.

Shariputra! This noble Dharma of mine can subdue every form of greedy attachment, even the assertion that dharmas exist. Those who do not faithfully delight in dharmas as being without characteristics oppose the Buddha’s Dharma. Why is this? Shariputra! If sentient beings assert the existence of a self, assert the existence of a person, assert the existence of sentient beings, assert annihilationism, assert permanence, assert existence, assert nonexistence, assert dharmas, assert provisional names, or assert boundaries, they all oppose the Buddha and contend with the Buddha.

Shariputra! Even the slightest notion that there is a dharma that can be apprehended is contention with the Buddha. All who contend with the Buddha enter a false path. They are not my disciples. If they are not my disciples, they thereby contend with nirvana, contend with the Buddha, contend with the Dharma, and contend with the Sangha.

Shariputra! When I see people such as these, I certainly do not permit them to leave the household life and receive the precepts. Shariputra! When I see people such as these, I certainly do not permit them to receive even a little water brought as a personal offering.

Shariputra! If a person casts off such unwholesome greedy attachments, leaves the household life within my Dharma, and trains in the Path without conceptualizing nirvana, without taking nirvana as an object of thought, and without craving nirvana, then, with regard to the ultimate emptiness of dharmas, that person will neither be alarmed nor afraid. Because that person has not yet extinguished all dharmas, that person must practice diligently. How much more must one abandon such unwholesome greedy attachments as attachment to a self, attachment to sentient beings, attachment to a person, and attachment to dharmas!

Because that person is able to eliminate greedy attachment, that person need only cultivate the signless samadhi. Yet even the signless samadhi is neither grasped nor rejected as a characteristic. That person comprehends that the characteristics of all dharmas are entirely the single characteristic called signlessness.

Shariputra! This is assuredly called the Receptivity of Conformity with the Dharma within the noble Dharma. It is attained by bodhisattvas of the fourth through sixth stages, who are also called my disciples. They are able to fully consume and accept bodily offerings. Why is this? Shariputra! The true characteristic of my Dharma cannot be entered, grasped, released, or craved. It cannot be expressed in words. In it, sorrow and joy are no more, and the mind’s craving for pleasure and delight is utterly exhausted. Unreal conditions do not combine, all causes and conditions are relinquished, and there is no path that eliminates the Path; one arrives where there is no path.

All speech, discussion, and sound are utterly cut off. It is without form or appearance, without grasping, reliance, or use. It is neither real nor illusory, neither dark nor bright, neither destructive nor obstructive, neither conjoined nor dispersed, neither moving nor conceptualizing, and without discrimination. It cannot be manifested. It is neither defiled nor pure, neither name nor characteristic. It is not the mind, not a dharma calculated by the mind, and not something comprehended by the mind.

Within this Dharma of mine, there is neither male nor female; neither deva nor naga, yaksha, gandharva, kumbhanda, or pishacha. There is neither annihilation nor change; there is no self, no sentient being, and no person. There is neither coming nor going, neither emerging nor entering, neither precepts nor violation of precepts, neither purity nor defilement.

There is neither samadhi nor concentration nor faculty of concentration; neither dhyana nor faculty of dhyana; neither knowing nor seeing; neither craving nor obstruction. There is neither Path nor fruit of the Path; neither wisdom nor faculty of wisdom. Delusion itself is luminosity.

There is no liberation; it is simply liberation. There is neither fruit nor attainment of fruit. There is power, yet it is not power.

There is fear and fearlessness; there is mindfulness, yet no faculty of mindfulness. There is neither sitting nor walking, and no deportment.

There is neither this nor that, neither conception nor discrimination, neither bodhi nor factors of bodhi. There is no wisdom; it is simply wisdom. There is neither earth nor water, neither fire nor wind, neither transgression nor merit. There are no dharmas; it is simply Dharma. There is neither suffering nor happiness. It uproots the very foundation of all frivolous discourse and contention and forever departs from all coldness, without smoke or flame.

Shariputra! To state only the essential point: my Dharma demolishes nearly all conceptualizations, all views, all fetters, and every form of heightened conceit. It does not conceptualize any kind of object of thought and cuts off every kind of language. Within this Dharma of mine, there is neither change nor permanence, neither suffering nor happiness, neither defilement nor purity, neither annihilation nor change, neither self nor sentient being, neither person nor experiencer, neither life faculty nor birth nor death.

Why is this? Shariputra! With regard to this Dharma, the Tathagata neither attains nor loses anything. Although it is named nirvana, he does not perceive any nirvana that can be attained. Shariputra! The Buddha also does not conceptualize nirvana, does not take nirvana as an object of thought, and does not greedily cling to nirvana. Therefore, you should know that this is supremely wondrous, exceptional, and rare: all dharmas taught by the Tathagata are unborn and unceasing, without characteristics and empty. Those who believe and understand this become exceedingly rare.

Chapter Two: Recollection of the Buddha.

At that time, Shariputra said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One! In this Dharma, who is an evil spiritual friend, and who is a good spiritual friend?”

The Buddha told Shariputra: “Suppose a bhikshu teaches another bhikshu, saying: ‘Bhikshu! Every day you should recollect the Buddha, recollect the Dharma, recollect the Sangha, recollect the precepts, and recollect generosity. Bhikshu!

You should contemplate the body while apprehending the characteristics of that body, regarding it as impure. You should contemplate all conditioned dharmas as entirely subject to change. Contemplate all dharmas as empty and without self.

Bhikshu! You should apprehend the characteristics of the conditions obtained and bind them within the conditioned mind. Concentrate upon contemplating the characteristic of emptiness.

You should delight in wholesome dharmas while apprehending the characteristics of unwholesome dharmas. Having apprehended the characteristics of unwholesome dharmas, contemplate, recollect, and cultivate in order to eradicate them. That is, to eradicate sensual desire, contemplate the impurity of objects; to eliminate hatred and anger, contemplate the mind of loving-kindness; to eradicate delusion, contemplate dependent origination.

Constantly contemplate the purity of the precepts and apprehend the profound object of emptiness. Diligently practice vigor in order to attain the fourth dhyana. Single-mindedly seek the Path, contemplating all unwholesome dharmas as ruinous, afflictive, and disturbing.

Contemplate the attainment of these wholesome dharmas as the foremost peace and security. Single-mindedly cultivate the Path, discerning and contemplating correctly. Having correctly apprehended the characteristics of wholesome and unwholesome dharmas, contemplate only the peace and quiescence of nirvana.

Love only the ultimate purity of nirvana.’ One who teaches in this way is said to teach incorrectly. Though regarded as correct teaching, it is incorrect teaching.

“Shariputra! One who teaches in this way is called an evil spiritual friend. Such a person is said to slander me and assist followers of non-Buddhist paths, and also to expound the Dharma of the Path incorrectly to others. Shariputra! From such an evil person, I would not even accept a little water as an offering to myself. I expound the teaching, but I do not say that such people should be accepted.

“Shariputra! Within my Dharma, there are many who teach arrogant people in this way. Shariputra! If one has received the teaching and undertaken the precepts for five years but cannot relinquish all such teachings, and within those teachings diligently and vigorously seeks personal attainment where there is nothing to attain, without visiting or inquiring of other bhikshus, I say that although this person has completed five years, he is still called one who holds wrong views, mingling with the teachings of non-Buddhist paths and following the teachings of Mara.

“Shariputra! If a bhikshu who has received those teachings hears the Dharma of emptiness and non-attainment and immediately awakens for himself, knowing, ‘All that I previously accepted consisted of wrong views,’ and if he has neither doubt nor regret concerning the Dharma of emptiness and non-attainment, penetrates it with profound understanding, and does not rely upon any view of self or view of persons, Shariputra, I say that this person has attained the pure practice of brahmacarya.

“Shariputra! If a bhikshu accomplishes such acceptance of non-attainment, although he has not yet attained nirvana without remainder in this present life, I make a prediction concerning him: at the time of Maitreya Buddha, he will be present in the first assembly. Then Maitreya Buddha will joyfully proclaim three times: ‘This person, within the Dharma of Shakyamuni Buddha, accomplished acceptance of non-attainment.’ Shariputra! If a monastic or a householder accomplishes this acceptance, I predict that person will certainly attain nirvana.

“Shariputra! If someone who has received teachings such as these hears the Dharma of emptiness and non-attainment and is immediately startled and terrified, that person is pitiable. With no one to rescue him and no refuge to support him, he will proceed directly to hell. Why is this? Shariputra! One who is startled, doubtful, and afraid within the Buddha’s teaching will certainly possess the evil paths in full. Why is this so? I have always said that those who apprehend existence belong to the evil paths. Why is this? Shariputra! The Dharma attained by a Buddha is without differentiation. If one differentiates between right and wrong, that is apprehension of existence.

“Shariputra! A person may certainly have committed the five heinous offenses and the four grave offenses, yet does not form a view of self, a view of sentient beings, a view of persons, a view of a living being, or a view of a life span, nor ignorantly enter into views concerning the world. He does not greedily cling to keeping the precepts or rely upon views about keeping the precepts. He does not greedily cling to samadhi or rely upon views about samadhi. By relying upon recollection of the Buddha, he gains recollection of the Dharma. Regarding the Sangha, he eliminates notions concerning the Buddha and does not form a view of self. Why is this? One who forms a personal view of self within the Buddha-Dharma is not counted among the Sangha.

“Shariputra! The minds of the Buddha’s disciples are without discrimination. Shariputra! The Buddha’s disciples are good persons: they do not break the precepts, do not destroy right view, and do not abandon dignified conduct. Shariputra! What is evil and unwholesome? To regard the Buddha as being among an assembly but not within the Sangha is called evil and unwholesome. What are regarded as mind, the mental factors, and the conjunction of various conditions are unreal phenomena formed solely through discrimination. Because of carrying discrimination, one calculates and apprehends them. Such a person may even say that mind follows mind continuously, and may speak of wholesome and unwholesome dharmas. Within the Noble Dharma, this is called evil and unwholesome.

“Why is this? Shariputra! Wherever pleasure is apprehended, suffering is certain to be present. The Dharma of the Tathagata extinguishes that suffering and pleasure. Shariputra! What the Tathagata attains therein is devoid of desire, and even desire itself is merely desire. There is neither pleasure nor suffering, neither thought nor recollection nor cultivation. There is not even a recollection of the nonexistence of emptiness. Why is this? Shariputra! If one calculates and recollects emptiness, this is recollection of self, recollection of sentient beings, recollection of permanence, and recollection of annihilation. Why is this? Shariputra! According to whatever recollection is apprehended, various recollections immediately arise, and all of them fall into error.

“Shariputra! Emptiness is called non-recollection; this is called emptiness. The recollection of emptiness is itself also empty; this is called emptiness. Shariputra! Within emptiness there is neither good nor evil, nor is there even a recollection of emptiness. Therefore it is called emptiness. Shariputra! Conditioned dharmas can be known and understood. Emptiness cannot truly be known, cannot truly be understood, and cannot truly be pondered or measured. Therefore it is called emptiness.

“Shariputra! Emptiness cannot be recollected. Why is this? Because emptiness is without conceptions, it is called emptiness. Shariputra! Why is the practice of the practice of emptiness spoken of? It is not to recollect any conception whatsoever. Even the conception of emptiness is likewise not recollected. This is called practicing emptiness.

“Shariputra! Whatever the mind obtains and recollects is immediately called a conception. Where there is no recollection, it is again called non-conception. Because all conceptions have been abandoned, it is called being without conception. Pursuing and grasping conceptions are all wrong views. Why is this? Shariputra! Within the Noble Dharma, calculating that quiescence can be attained falls entirely into wrong views—how much more so speech, and how much more so the speaker. By what means can such a Dharma of emptiness be spoken?

“Shariputra! Why are all the words spoken by the Buddhas called erroneous? Because they cannot penetrate all dharmas, they are necessarily expressions concealed by language. Therefore the Tathagata knows that all words are of the nature of error. Not even the slightest word can be truly obtained.

“Shariputra! The anuttara-samyak-sambodhi of all Buddhas is entirely without conception and without recollection. Why is this?”

The Tathagata does not apprehend the marks or nature of dharmas, nor does he apprehend recollection. Śāriputra! Why, then, does the Tathagata speak of foundations of mindfulness? Śāriputra! The sutras say that if a person attains the four foundations of mindfulness, that person can apprehend the essential nature of all dharmas, can apprehend a self, a body belonging to a self, and a person.

Yet there is no such foundation. It is only through manifesting distinctions among dharmas, together with emptiness, that the four foundations of mindfulness are taught. The nature of the four foundations of mindfulness is without nature and without any abiding place.

There is no recollection and no discourse, no craving and no reliance. Even the nature of recollection does not exist; how much less any foundation of mindfulness! Therefore, the Tathagata speaks of what is called a foundation of mindfulness.

Śāriputra! If all dharmas possessed a determinate essential nature, even as minute as one hundredth part of a strand of hair, the Buddhas assuredly would not appear in the world, nor would they ultimately teach that the nature of all dharmas is empty. Śāriputra! All dharmas are truly empty, devoid of nature, and of a single mark, namely, marklessness. The Tathagata sees all this, and on that basis the Tathagata teaches that there are foundations of mindfulness.

Śāriputra! A foundation of mindfulness is so called because there is no foundation—only a designation. There is neither a foundation of mindfulness nor any activity of mindfulness; no remembrance and no discrimination; no thought and no activity of thought; no reflection and no activity of reflection; no dharma and no mark of a dharma. There is neither combination nor dissolution. Therefore, the name of the Noble Ones is “nondiscrimination.” This is called a foundation of mindfulness. On this basis the Tathagata teaches that there are foundations of mindfulness. Because it accords with nonattainment, it is called a foundation of mindfulness. Mindfulness that accords with recollection of the Buddha is called a foundation of mindfulness.

Śāriputra! What is called recollection of the Buddha? Seeing that nothing can be apprehended is called recollection of the Buddha. Śāriputra! The Buddhas are immeasurable, inconceivable, ineffable, and beyond reckoning. For this reason, seeing that nothing can be apprehended is called recollection of the Buddha. Names are truly without discrimination, and the Buddhas are without discrimination. Therefore it is said: Recollection free from discrimination is itself recollection of the Buddha.

Furthermore, seeing the true mark of all dharmas is called seeing the Buddha. What is called the true mark of all dharmas? It means that all dharmas are ultimately empty and cannot be apprehended. To recollect the Buddha by means of dharmas that are ultimately empty and cannot be apprehended is recollection of the Buddha. Furthermore, within dharmas such as these, not even the slightest thought can be apprehended. This is called recollection of the Buddha.

Śāriputra! This method of recollecting the Buddha cuts off speech and words and transcends all recollections. Recollection that cannot be apprehended is called recollection of the Buddha. Śāriputra! All recollections are quiescent domains. To accord with this method is indeed called cultivating recollection of the Buddha. One cannot recollect the Buddha by means of the physical body. Why is this? To recollect the physical body, grasp its marks, crave its flavor, and cognize it—this is perception. To be without marks, without a physical body, without conditions, and without nature is called recollection of the Buddha. Therefore, you should know that nondiscrimination, neither grasping nor relinquishing, is the true recollection of the Buddha.

Chapter Three: Recollection of the Dharma

At that time, Śāriputra addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! Why is it that a person who also teaches this Dharma is called an unwholesome spiritual friend? World-Honored One! Why is it that a person who also teaches this Dharma is called a wholesome spiritual friend?”

The Buddha told Śāriputra: “Suppose a bhikshu instructs another bhikshu: ‘Bhikshu! You should now understand that recollection of the Buddha is recollection of emptiness. That which is apprehended as an object should not be recollected. Your recollection is empty, and recollection itself is likewise empty. Emptiness devoid of nature can eliminate the perception of form and can eliminate grasping at perception. At that time, that person does not apprehend nonperception, much less recollection. At that time, that person apprehends neither quiescence nor any nature. Not cultivating any perceptions, that person extinguishes all dharmas. This indeed is called cultivating recollection of the Buddha.

“‘Recollecting the Buddha’s name destroys all wholesome and unwholesome faculties. Neither sensing nor contemplating, and neither perceiving nor recollecting quiescence, is called recollection of the Buddha. Why is this? One should not recollect the Buddhas by means of the faculties of perception and recollection. Neither sensing nor contemplating is called pure recollection of the Buddha. Within this recollection there is not even the slightest mind or mental activity of recollection, much less bodily or verbal activity.

“‘Moreover, one who recollects the Buddha abandons all perceptions, and perceptions do not abide in the mind. There is no discrimination, no names or words, no obstruction, no desire, no apprehension by the faculties, and no arising. Why is this? Śāriputra! From all recollections arise all perceptions, and all of them are wrong views. Śāriputra! In accordance with nonattainment, there is no sensing, no contemplation, no arising, and no cessation. To comprehend this is called recollection of the Buddha.

“‘Within such recollection there is neither craving nor reliance, neither opposition nor conformity, neither name nor perception. Śāriputra! That which is without perception and without speech is further called recollection of the Buddha. Within it there is not even the slightest subtle recollection, much less coarse activities of body, speech, and mind. Where there is no activity of body, speech, or mind, there is neither grasping nor relinquishing, neither dispute nor contention, neither recollection nor discrimination. Empty and quiescent, devoid of nature, and extinguishing all faculties—this is called recollection of the Buddha.

“‘Śāriputra! If a person perfects such recollection, that person can move at will the lands of the four continents beneath heaven, and can also subdue hundreds of thousands of millions of Māras. How much more so can that person overcome the darkness of ignorance, which arises from deluded conditions and possesses no determinate marks! Such a dharma is without perception and without frivolous debate, neither arising nor ceasing, ineffable and indiscriminable, neither dark nor bright. Māra and Māra’s hosts cannot fathom it.

“‘Only by using conventional worldly language can one teach beings, saying: When you recollect the Buddha, do not grasp even the slightest perception; do not give rise to frivolous debate; and do not discriminate. Why is this? These dharmas are all empty, without nature or form. The single mark cannot be recollected; it is called marklessness. This is called true recollection of the Buddha; it is said to be neither arising nor ceasing, markless and empty.

“‘Why is this? The Tathagata is not called form, is not called perception, and is not called recollection. He is not called discrimination, neither opposed nor conforming, neither grasping nor relinquishing, neither samadhi nor wisdom, neither illumination nor ignorance. The Tathagata is ineffable, inconceivable, and without marks. You should not now delight in grasping marks, nor delight in frivolous debate. The Buddha and all dharmas are without attachment and beyond measurement. If a person sees a dharma that can be attached to or measured, that person has not yet attained the Path in relation to the Buddha, much less in recollection.’

Śāriputra! Instruction such as this is called a wholesome spiritual friend. Within the meaning of the true mark, there is no determinate distinction as either a wholesome spiritual friend or an unwholesome spiritual friend.”

Furthermore, Sariputra! Suppose a bhiksu instructs another bhiksu, saying: “Bhiksu! You should discern and contemplate all dharmas, yet you should not entertain recollections of the characteristics of dharmas.” When that bhiksu cultivates in this way, his mind is neither bound nor dependent. He will surely be able to penetrate the single characteristic of all dharmas, which is called signlessness. Since that person has not yet given rise to the conception of dharmas, how much less would he conceive of a self or conceive of a person?

Sariputra! What do you think? Can a person who conceives of dharmas extinguish all dharmas?”

“No, World-Honored One!”

“Sariputra! Just as a tree without roots cannot have branches, leaves, flowers, or fruit, so it is. Is that not so?”

“Indeed, World-Honored One!”

“In the same way, Sariputra! If a person fundamentally apprehends no dharmas, can that person give rise to conceptions of dharmas?”

“No, World-Honored One!”

“Sariputra! If a person neither apprehends nor conceives of dharmas, can that person extinguish all dharmas?”

“No, World-Honored One!”

“That person apprehends nothing. With regard to dharmas, he apprehends neither the characteristics of dharmas nor gain or loss. He also makes no distinctions and perceives neither arising nor cessation. At that very time, that person neither arises nor ceases. It cannot be said that he attains nirvana, nor can it be said that he does not attain nirvana. Sariputra! Instruction such as this is called that of a good spiritual friend. Within the meaning of the true characteristic, however, there is neither a good spiritual friend nor an evil spiritual friend. Sariputra! If a person accomplishes such a state, that person is rare in the world. Because he sees reality without inversion, this is called right view.

Furthermore, Sariputra! One who has right view is said to act rightly, possess right virtue, follow the right path, and understand rightly. Seeing reality without inversion, it is therefore called by the Tathagata ‘right view.’ Sariputra!

If sentient beings contemplate reality without inversion, they certainly possess right view. If they give rise to the conception of a self, the conception of a person, or the conception of a sentient being, you should know that they are all practicing wrongly. Sariputra!

The Buddha and his disciples do not teach that there is a self, do not teach that there is a person, do not teach that there is a sentient being, do not teach that there is a life span, and do not teach either permanence or annihilation. Therefore, the Buddha and his disciples are said to possess right view. Why is this?

Because they contemplate rightly, without inversion.

Sariputra! No ordinary person is able to enter deeply into this matter. Why is this?

All ordinary people lack right view and can only accord with right view so as to attain the Patience of Accordance; they are unable to perceive reality as it is. Sariputra! What is called right view is distinct from wrong view.

Because one sees reality as it is, it is called right view. To regard worldly happiness arising from increased wealth and gain as right view is merely the right view of the world. All such views are deceptive and deluded and cannot bring liberation from birth and death.

Sariputra! The Buddha says that worldly right view is the Dharma of indolent and base people. The noble sages do not entertain the thought, ‘This is right view; this is wrong view.’ Why is this so?

Every view arises through false and illusory conditions. Sariputra! If one entertains the thought, ‘This is right view,’ that person at once falls into wrong view.

Sariputra! In the Dharma of the noble ones, all views must fundamentally be relinquished, and every path of language must be completely cut off. Just as an empty hand encounters no obstruction in space, so too should all the dharmas of a sramana be.

Chapter Four: Conception of the Sangha

Sariputra addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One! Who are the noble ones?”

“Sariputra! If a person can believe in, understand, and penetrate the truth that all dharmas neither arise nor cease, are unproduced, and are signless, and accomplishes such patience, that person does not even apprehend a self. How much less would he apprehend a stream-enterer, a once-returner, or a non-returner? How much less would he apprehend an arhat, and how much less would he apprehend any Dharma? How much less would he apprehend male or female, and how much less would he apprehend the Path? One who does not apprehend any such thing is called a noble one; yet even the Path is not apprehended.”

Furthermore, Shariputra, few sentient beings are capable of believing in and understanding the Dharma that is unborn, unceasing, and formless. If one can believe in and understand the Dharma that is unborn, unceasing, and formless, one’s mind will not be inverted; one will understand the characteristics of objects, accord and harmonize with the Dharma, and thereafter no longer grasp at existence. Knowing that all worlds arise solely from delusive conditions, that person will certainly no longer abide in that body.

For this reason, such persons are called saints. Even these words cannot be apprehended by that person, for they are regarded merely as names and characteristics. Such a person only cultivates formlessness, without frivolous theorizing or contention.

This is called the Sangha Jewel, worthy of receiving offerings, because it has realized the true meaning free from inversion. When such a person employs skillful means to recollect the Sangha, that act too is empty.

Shariputra, one who teaches in this manner is called a good spiritual friend. Shariputra, those who have cut off every path of language are called saints. Why is this? Within the Dharma spoken by the saints, the true meaning is conveyed by means of language, yet even such language cannot be apprehended. Therefore, you should know that those who have cut off all language are called saints.

Shariputra, someone may say: “If in this matter there is no recitation or exposition and no determination, how can it be called the Sangha?” Shariputra, I answer this matter as follows: The name “Sangha” reveals things as they truly are, yet even this determination cannot be apprehended. All share one training, one patient acceptance, and one flavor. Even this is spoken only because it is the conventional language of worldly people; it is not the True Characteristic. Within the True Characteristic, there is no real, determinate entity called the Sangha, and the Dharma is eternally indestructible.

If a saint were to say that such a dharma exists, that statement would immediately be defiled. Why is this? If a person makes such distinctions as whether one is male or female, a deva or a naga, a yaksha, a gandharva, or a kumbhanda, or whether something is Dharma or not Dharma, then, having made these distinctions, that person apprehends all kinds of things.

Because all kinds of things are apprehended, one then says: “This person is sitting or lying down, walking or standing.” Because saints have realized the True Characteristic of all dharmas, they do not distinguish whether one is male or female, a deva or a naga, or even whether something is Dharma or not Dharma. Because they do not discriminate, they do not apprehend dharmas of various kinds. Can one who does not apprehend dharmas of various kinds speak of someone as sitting, lying down, walking, or standing?”

“No, World-Honored One.”

Shariputra, if someone says, “This is male or female, a deva or a naga, or even Dharma or not Dharma,” does that person speak without delusion?

“They speak delusively, World-Honored One.”

Shariputra, those who do not enter into such delusion are called saints. Because they are free from inversion, they are called saints.

Shariputra, whether something is unwholesome, unknowable, or apprehensible, all such unwholesome dharmas take names as their basis. In this Dharma of the noble ones, names are cut off. One no longer recollects names and does not apprehend names. Why, then, should one speak of “saints” or “the assembly”? Those who have cut off all names are called saints.

If there were anything within the Dharma that could be broken or cut off, then within the Dharma of the noble ones there would be no name, no characteristic, and no language. Having cut off all language, there is neither union nor disintegration. If one says, “There is no Sangha,” and thus supposes that the saints are destroyed, that too cannot be maintained. Through delusive recollection of names, one relies upon all kinds of wrong views. Because of those wrong views, one undergoes yet another body in a future life; craving and reliance upon views will certainly give rise to the five darkened skandhas.

Shariputra, the five darkened skandhas are entirely the product of delusive craving and reliance. They are called the evil path and are called wrong view. The noble ones have no such thing, for they know only that the Three Realms arise from delusive conditions. Because they know this, they are called saints.

Shariputra, if one looks for any of the following among the saints, none can be apprehended: the view of a self, the view of a sentient being, the view of a lifespan, the view of a person, the view of male or female, the view of heaven, the view of earth, the view of hell, the view of animals, the view of hungry ghosts, or the darkened view that enters into the world. Nor can there be heard the sound of jewels, the sound of drums, the sound of the earth, the sounds of wind, fire, and water; words concerning keeping the precepts or breaking the precepts; words that are correct or incorrect; pure sounds or impure sounds; sounds concerning dhyana, samadhi, and the Noble Eightfold Path; sounds concerning the attainment of the fruits of stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat;

sounds of liberation or sounds of attaining fruition; sounds of Buddha or sounds of Dharma; sounds of cessation or sounds of nirvana.

Shariputra, these are called the hearing of various delusive sounds. The noble ones, contemplating through the True Characteristic, do not apprehend them. They thoroughly understand that all kinds of sounds have the One Characteristic, which is called formlessness. Because they neither oppose nor contend, they accomplish acceptance of the Dharma; because they are free from inversion, they are called saints.

Shariputra, that acceptance of the Dharma which is free from inversion is itself formlessness. Because it is formless, it does not grasp characteristics; it neither opposes nor conforms, neither arises nor ceases. Within it, cessation naturally returns to itself. It is neither cultivated nor destroyed, neither produced nor attained. Because it does not discriminate between this and that, the mind constantly relinquishes all things. Why is this? Within this acceptance, there is neither this nirvana nor that nirvana. Without discrimination, one understands formlessness and accomplishes that acceptance. Such persons are called saints; because they have broken apart conjunction, they are called saints.

Shariputra, in another sutra I taught: “One who sees the Dharma sees me.” The Tathagata is neither Dharma nor non-Dharma. Why is this? Foolish people who engage in frivolous theorizing, as well as non-Buddhist practitioners, all seek to see the Buddha through the physical body. Shariputra, the Tathagata cannot be seen through the physical body, nor can he be seen through sound.

Shariputra, if a person sees the Buddha through the physical body, that person is still far from the Buddha. Why is this? The Buddha does not teach that seeing the physical body is seeing the Buddha.

Shariputra, if a person can see that all dharmas are formless, nameless, intangible, unrecollected, unconsidered, unborn, and unceasing; that they are free from frivolous theorizing and contention; if that person does not recollect any dharma, does not recollect nirvana, does not take nirvana as an object of thought, and does not crave nirvana; and if that person believes and understands that all dharmas are signless, which is called formlessness—Shariputra, this is called true seeing.

The Buddha is said to be the non-seeking, non-contentious, and unborn nature of all dharmas. Neither recollecting nor discriminating in this matter is called seeing the Buddha. If, within this Dharma, a person neither conceives nor discriminates, neither grasps nor relinquishes, neither craves nor opposes; neither recollects nor produces the karma of recollection, and does not delight in speaking or reciting; if that person knows that dharmas are merely provisional names and that none truly exist; if that person cuts off the path of language and is free from differentiation, frivolous theorizing, and contention—such a person is called a practitioner of non-arising and non-recollection. In the world, such persons are called saints.

Shariputra, because one sees the Dharma in this manner, it is called seeing the Buddha. This means neither recollecting nor discriminating, and being free from frivolous theorizing and contention.

One does not apprehend any dharma, whether through the gate of emptiness, the gate of quiescence, or the gate of relinquishment. Seeing without conceptual thought, even seeing itself is not apprehended; that too is not apprehended and is merely called a name and designation. Even that locus is not apprehended; it is called nirvana. Why is this? Shariputra, I do not even conceive of nirvana. How then could it be said that you should conceive of nirvana or are attaining nirvana?

Shariputra, if a person supposes that nirvana can be attained, that person has not gone forth in accordance with the Tathagata but has gone forth in accordance with the six non-Buddhist teachers. Shariputra, know that such a person is a thief within this Dharma, who has entered into my Dharma. Know that such a person defiles my Dharma; know that such a person is a great and vicious thief, like a great and vicious thief within a large city or settlement. Why is this? Such a foolish person has not even attained nirvana, much less found a self or a person.

Shariputra, I restrain such a foolish person with my own hand. He is not my disciple and is not numbered among the Sangha. I am not his teacher.

Shariputra, one who knows that all dharmas neither arise nor cease, and neither recollects nor conceptualizes them, attains acceptance of this Dharma. Yet even that person does not attain nirvana, much less a self or a person.

Shariputra, when the Buddha speaks in this way, it is called seeing the Dharma. One who can see this is said to see the Buddha. Shariputra, what is called the Buddha? The suchness of all dharmas, being undifferentiated and indestructible, is called the Tathagata. Those who have no doubt or regret concerning this Dharma are called noble ones.

Shariputra, in former times there was a foolish man who did not recognize monkeys. Entering a great forest, he saw a troop of monkeys gathered in one place. Having once heard of the palace of the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, he immediately imagined that these were the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. He then left the forest and returned to his former village, where many people were gathered. He said to them, “Have you ever seen the palace of the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three?”

They replied, “We have never seen it.”

He immediately said, “I have seen it. Would you like to see it?”

They all said, “We would like to see it.”

He then went with the multitude into that forest to see the troop of monkeys and said, “Observe these gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.”

They all said, “These are not gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. These are monkeys that delight in dwelling in the forest. Because you are foolish and confused, you did not recognize the monkeys; moreover, you do not know the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.”

Shariputra, that man had gone there in vain, taking the multitude with him into the forest.

So too, Shariputra, in a future age there will be bhikshus who go to the homes of laypeople and say, “Would you like to see the Buddha and the noble ones and hear the Buddha-Dharma?” Among them will be laypeople who have faith in the Buddha-Dharma, and they will all say, “We wish to see them and hear and receive the Buddha-Dharma.”

Shariputra, among them will be laypeople who, delighting in discourse, enter monasteries and stupas. There will be bhikshus fond of verbal exposition who can expound the sutras. Relying upon eloquent speech, they embellish their words with literary ornament.

Those shramanas preach the Dharma in conformity with such preferences and regard it as the true path. They merely gather a crowd, like a herdsman letting loose a herd of cattle. They delight only in reciting sutras and do not penetrate reality.

They merely please people’s minds and prize fame and gain. Skilled in worldly affairs, they preach an impure Dharma. They can speak only of clever ways to practice the worldly path.

They possess no awe-inspiring virtue and destroy the causes of nirvana. Silently abandoning the noble path, they do not delight in meditation. Day and night they constantly delight in discussion and disputation.

Though they wear the robes and sit for long periods, they do not have even a single thought concordant with meditation, much less can they attain the fruits of the shramana. Even while asleep, such people remain constantly associated with worldly thoughts. During the beginning and end of the night, they do not cultivate the signless Dharma but delight in inferior teachings.

Such people also receive abundant offerings of clothing, food, and drink. Why is this? They are constantly seized by evil Mara and delight in shallow speech. They cannot diligently study the meaning of true reality. They cannot recite and retain the foremost profound sutras. Upon hearing them, they are certain to become alarmed and afraid and cast them aside, retaining the dregs while rejecting what is genuine and pure.

Some ordinary people, seeing that they receive profitable offerings, develop greed and seek refuge with them. They think and say, “We too shall cultivate such discourse.”

Shariputra, such people abandon the precious Dharma of equality and fall into wrong views. Those shramanas are evil people. When laypeople come to their dwellings, these evil people preach the Dharma to them.

Out of greed for profitable offerings, they praise the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. They seek only long life, wealth, and servants. Craving and valuing food and clothing, they praise the pleasures obtained by the self.

They say that if one practices giving, one will be reborn in the heavens. Within the Buddha-Dharma, giving is an elementary and final teaching, yet they extol it as supreme, saying, “Through the great causes and conditions of giving, one will be reborn in the heavens.” They neither understand the teaching nor explain its meaning. They know only the initial entry into the shallow, elementary teaching.

Greedily clinging to self and person, they abandon the meaning of true reality.

Shariputra, when the Dharma is taught in this way, people may sometimes develop faith and go forth, joining together with those evil people. They cannot diligently seek the profound meaning of true reality. Apprehending existence, they claim that there are a self, a person, and a living being with a lifespan. Through conceptualization and discrimination, they fail to attain the Dharma. In studying the Abhidharma, they engage in jealous contention and delight in their own theories. Some teach annihilation or permanence; some teach that there is an agent, while others teach that there is no agent.

Shariputra, at that time my Dharma will largely become a teaching of non-Buddhists, causing sentient beings to destroy the mind of right view. Thus, Shariputra, through these causes and effects, my pure Dharma will gradually disappear entirely. Shariputra, for a long time amid birth and death I endured every affliction and attained bodhi, yet those evil people will then destroy it.

Shariputra, if there is a bhikshu who cannot relinquish such apprehensions and views—the view of a self and the view of a person—and who does not understand that the Tathagata teaches the Dharma according to what is appropriate, but instead asserts decisively that a self, a person, and dharmas truly exist, I certainly would not permit such a person to receive even a little water. If, however, that person hears the Dharma of emptiness and, with a mind of pure faith, is neither alarmed nor doubtful, he should immediately turn back and guide others into the meaning of true reality. He should then seek to go forth and receive the precepts of a shramanera.

Why is this? Shariputra, anyone who does not relinquish such views is called a non-Buddhist.

Shariputra, in accordance with worldly cause and effect, I provisionally speak of a self, but this is not the meaning of true reality. If someone says, “I too speak of a self in accordance with worldly cause and effect,” and if that person can comprehend the unborn, unceasing, and signless Dharma and does not contradict my teaching, then that person is my disciple.

Shariputra, suppose someone says, “Why does the Tathagata conform to worldly cause and effect and speak of a person with respect to dharmas that are without self? Surely the Tathagata would not deliberately speak false words for the sake of the world. Moreover, in many sutras he speaks of persons. What the Buddha has said cannot be wrong.”

Shariputra, one should answer that person: “The Buddha teaches that all dharmas are empty, without a master and without intrinsic nature. They are merely illusory and are not the meaning of true reality. The Tathagata does not speak of a self or a person according to the meaning of true reality. The noble ones teach that one must not greedily cling to them.”

Those without wisdom are neither equal to the Buddhas nor do they surpass them. Shariputra! The wisdom of the Tathagata is inconceivable.

By means of that wisdom, he knows the minds of sentient beings and knows with certainty whether anyone is equal to the Buddhas. The Buddha is the great King of the Dharma, a Great Dragon, invincible and difficult to gainsay. The Buddha has said: “There are people throughout the world who constantly contend with me, yet I never contend with the world.” Shariputra!

The claim that a self truly exists is indeed pitiable. Herein, there is neither dharma nor self. Most sentient beings do not understand that the Tathagata teaches the Dharma according to what is appropriate.

By opposing the precious Dharma, many fall into the evil destinies. Shariputra! I know erroneous views without being bound by erroneous views.

To recognize erroneous views is itself right view. Shariputra! Erroneous views ultimately do not transform into right view; seeing is neither seen nor known.

Shariputra! The anuttara-samyak-sambodhi of all Buddha-Tathagatas is difficult for the entire world to believe. Among all the devas and the entire world, I am worthy of the highest faith; it is not that faith is impossible.

Shariputra! I teach the Dharma for the sake of attaining nirvana, yet therein there is also no attainment of nirvana. I teach the Dharma for the sake of bringing all conditioned activities to an end, yet therein there is also no ending of conditioned activities.

I teach the Dharma for the sake of quiescence, yet therein there is also no quiescence. I teach the Dharma for the sake of a Buddha’s bodhi, yet therein there is also no Buddha’s bodhi. I teach the Dharma for the sake of liberation, yet therein there is also no liberation.

I teach the Dharma for the sake of all wisdom, yet therein there is also no wisdom. I teach the Dharma for the sake of purity from defilement, yet therein there is also neither purity nor defilement. Shariputra!

The Tathagata teaches the Dharma to devas, yet there are no devas. He teaches the Dharma to human beings, yet there are no human beings. He teaches the Dharma to sentient beings, yet there are no sentient beings.

Shariputra! The Tathagata teaches that both illumination and liberation are present. Therein, darkness and liberation are also present.

I teach mindfulness of the Buddha, yet the Buddha cannot be conceived through mindfulness. I teach the practice of emptiness, yet emptiness cannot be practiced, nor can it be conceived through mindfulness. Shariputra!

Although the Tathagata is said to have spoken the chapters, passages, and phrases of the sutras and Dharma, therein nothing has been spoken. Evil people obtain these passages and expound them to others, while also taking me as their Teacher. Though they possess none of the merit of the Tathagata or the noble ones, they count themselves among the Sangha.

Shariputra! Just as a troop of small monkeys is nothing like the devas of Trayastrimsha Heaven, so those evil people are nothing like my noble ones. Shariputra!

Those evil people rely only upon the sounds of speech and call themselves shramanas. They are like foolish people who see a troop of small monkeys and take them to be the devas of Trayastrimsha Heaven.

Shariputra! Among them, there are renunciants who delight in posing difficult questions. If they personally encounter a good teacher who explains that name-and-form is quiescent, who has severed the pathways of speech, who neither gives rise to anything nor becomes distracted, and who has penetrated the absence of attributes, and if, upon hearing such a Dharma—unborn, unceasing, and without attributes—they are not alarmed or frightened, you should know that such people have formerly made offerings to immeasurable Buddhas. They can understand my Dharma and may be called noble ones.

Chapter Five: Pure Precepts. (First Part)

The Buddha told Shariputra: “A bhikshu who breaks the precepts has ten arrows of anxiety and affliction that are difficult to endure. A bhikshu in whom these ten arrows of anxiety and affliction have arisen certainly cannot develop any appreciation for the Buddha-Dharma; he hates those who teach the Dharma and does not wish to draw near them. What are the ten?

“Shariputra! When a bhikshu who breaks the precepts sees the Sangha dwelling in harmony, no joy arises in his heart. Why is this? Because those who dwell harmoniously in purity will certainly and swiftly remove him from my community. That evil bhikshu knows that he is at fault and is constantly beset by anxiety and affliction. He is hostile toward those who uphold the precepts and takes no delight in them. Shariputra! This is called the first arrow of anxiety and affliction of a bhikshu who breaks the precepts; he will certainly fall into an evil destiny.

“Furthermore, Shariputra! A bhikshu who breaks the precepts is despised by others, who do not wish to draw near him. He is like a vicious ox with sharp horns, from which everyone keeps their distance. That evil bhikshu knows that he is at fault and is constantly beset by anxiety and affliction. Shariputra! This is called the second arrow of anxiety and affliction of a bhikshu who breaks the precepts; he will certainly fall into an evil destiny.

“Furthermore, Shariputra! When a bhikshu who breaks the precepts sees other bhikshus assembling, he knows that his own mind is evil, cannot live harmoniously with them, and departs. Because of his troubled thoughts and shame, he cannot enter the assembly. Shariputra! This is called the third arrow of anxiety and affliction of a bhikshu who breaks the precepts; he will certainly fall into an evil destiny.

“Furthermore, Shariputra! The vicious mind of a bhikshu who breaks the precepts blazes fiercely, and he cannot be taught or guided. He does not even possess the disciplinary principles of non-Buddhist paths, much less the pure precepts. Because of the karmic consequences of his breaking the precepts, people do not draw near him. Shariputra! This is called the fourth arrow of anxiety and affliction of a bhikshu who breaks the precepts; he will certainly fall into an evil destiny.

“Furthermore, Shariputra! A bhikshu who breaks the precepts sustains his body with the possessions of others. I say that such a person bears a heavy burden.

Why is this? A practitioner is worthy to receive offerings, but a bhikshu who breaks the precepts is neither a practitioner nor one who has attained the Way. Therefore, Shariputra, throughout hundreds of thousands of millions of kalpas, a bhikshu who breaks the precepts must cut flesh from his own body to repay the donors.

If born as an animal, he will constantly bear heavy burdens. Why is this? Suppose a single hair were divided into a thousand million parts: a bhikshu who breaks the precepts could not digest even one such part of the offerings he has received.

How could the recitation of spells enable him to digest the clothing, food and drink, bedding, and medicines for illness that he receives?

“Shariputra! A bhikshu who breaks the precepts takes refuge beneath the robe of the Dharma of the noble ones, yet he should not even wish to take a single step into a monastery, much less receive so little as a measure of water or even a bamboo cot. Why is this? Shariputra! Such an evil person is a great thief among devas and human beings, whom the entire world wishes to avoid. Shariputra! That corrupt person is indeed an enemy. When the Tathagata’s teachings are heard, the entire world comes to where I dwell, but one who breaks the precepts is personally barred by the Tathagata’s own hand. He is not my disciple. How much less could he remain for even a single day within my Dharma?

“Shariputra! Suppose there were the corpses of a human being, a snake, and a dog, all exceedingly foul-smelling. When pure devas wished to go forth and enjoy themselves, they would not wish to see them; and if they did see them, they would certainly move far away. So it is, Shariputra, with a bhikshu who breaks the precepts: like those three corpses, he is foul-smelling and impure. Those with wisdom keep their distance and do not associate with him, for he acts willfully and indulges himself.

“Shariputra! A bhikshu who breaks the precepts finds no auspiciousness within my Dharma. When a bhikshu who upholds the precepts sees one who has broken them, he immediately moves far away.

Why is this? If the hand of a bhikshu who breaks the precepts touches any object or receives anything, it is certainly harmful to one who upholds the precepts. Shariputra!

Even if the ground were covered with those three kinds of foul-smelling corpses, I could still walk, stand, sit, and lie down among them; but I could not remain together with a bhikshu who breaks the precepts for even a moment. Why is this? Shariputra!

Such a person is the vilest and most debased among shramanas. Among shramanas, he is wicked, rotten, and corrupt; among shramanas, he is mere chaff; among shramanas, he is filth; among shramanas, he is evil and turbid; among shramanas, he is defiled; among shramanas, he is crooked; among shramanas, he is coarse and contemptible; among shramanas, he has lost the noble path. People such as these renounce the household life within my Dharma to seek the Way, yet incur grave offenses.

Shariputra!”

Such a person within my Dharma is a rebellious brigand, a brigand who destroys the Dharma. He is deluded, deceitful, and false, seeking only to sustain his life, greedily attaching importance to food and clothing. He is assuredly called a slave to worldly pleasures.

Śāriputra! It is like a child under three years of age, who is neither a man nor a woman. A precept-breaking bhikshu is likewise: he bears neither the name of a householder nor the name of one gone forth, and after death he goes directly into hell.

Śāriputra! It is like a bat: when it wishes to fly, it is a bird, but upon entering a cave, it is surely a mouse; when, as a mouse, it wishes to fly, then while flying through the air it is surely a bird. Yet in truth it has none of the abilities of a great bird; its body is always foul-smelling, and it delights only in darkness.

Śāriputra! A precept-breaking bhikshu is likewise. He neither enters into the discipline, instead acting according to his own notions and indulging himself, nor does he enter a noble household to command servants. He bears neither the name of a common person nor the name of one gone forth. He is like firewood used to burn a corpse to ashes: once its task is finished, it never returns.

Such a bhikshu possesses neither the aggregate of virtue, the aggregate of concentration, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, nor the aggregate of the knowledge and vision of liberation. He possesses only the aggregate of violating the pure precepts in full and is unable to utter the great and wondrous sounds: the sound of virtue, the sound of wisdom, the sound of liberation, and the sound of the knowledge and vision of liberation.

He utters only the vile and evil sound of destroying the precepts. Together with all evildoers, he utters evil sounds. He speaks only of clothing, food and drink, and bedding.

He accepts offerings of trees, flowers, and fruits and allows himself to be commanded by the wealthy and powerful. He joins in talk about the good and bad affairs of kingdoms, their peace, danger, and security, as well as jokes and unwholesome speech. Day and night, he constantly seeks defiled and impure things for himself.

Such a bhikshu is impure in bodily karma, impure in verbal karma, and impure in mental karma, and is bound to fall into hell.

Śāriputra! That precept-breaking bhikshu delights in dwelling in darkness, like the bat. When he hears the true sutras being taught, anxiety and affliction arise in him. Why is this? Because they speak in accordance with reality. Worldly people take no delight in hearing the truth; they delight only in what accords with their wishes. Such a bhikshu harbors an impure mind toward the one who teaches the Dharma, thereby making his offenses still heavier and further increasing the causes that lead to hell.

Śāriputra! This is called the fifth arrow of anxiety and affliction of a precept-breaking bhikshu, who will certainly fall into hell.

Furthermore, Śāriputra, a shameless bhikshu who violates the precepts has scattered faculties and impure conduct. His bodily, verbal, and mental actions and his deportment are impure. Even the robes upon which he relies are not worn in accordance with the Dharma. Delighting in frivolous talk, he cannot guard his verbal karma, and his mind constantly pursues defilement and impurity.

Śāriputra, suppose a new earthenware vessel were used to hold a foul mixture of feces, urine, blood, and pus. Afterward, the impurities were removed and sandalwood incense was placed inside. Then the sandalwood was also removed. What odor would that earthenware vessel retain?

“World-Honored One, that new earthenware vessel would first have firmly absorbed the many foul odors of feces and urine. It would retain only the stench of those impurities and not the fragrance of sandalwood.”

Śāriputra, a person endowed with faith and pure faculties may leave the household life to train in the Path, yet encounter evil spiritual friends and follow their instruction.

Śāriputra, what is an evil spiritual friend? An evil spiritual friend constantly delights in jesting and derision, is irascible and shameless, speaks confused and disorderly words, does not restrain the faculties, has an unfocused mind, and is as foolish as a white sheep.

By associating with such evil spiritual friends, one loses the fruits of stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner, and arhat. One even loses the opportunity to be reborn in the heavens and enjoy bliss, to say nothing of attaining the path to nirvana. One can only cultivate the sinful karma of destroying the Dharma, joining and acting together with those who destroy the Dharma. Such a person brings to fulfillment impure bodily karma, impure verbal karma, impure mental karma, and impure observance of the precepts. After death, that person enters an evil destiny.

What are the evil destinies? The evil destinies are called the hells, the realm of animals, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of asuras. There are also such evil destinies as the worms called A-do-lặc, Bà-già-la-mục-khư, Phù-di-tu-già-ca, and Tu-chi-mục-ca. For many kalpas, that person is born among these kinds of worms.

Śāriputra, because that person follows evil spiritual friends, if born among human beings, that person is separated from father and mother from birth, dies far from home, and is lost without funeral rites. Relatives and neighbors decline and suffer; the country is ruined. That person is born amid the eight difficulties and is deprived of the eight places of joy.

Filled with desire, anger, and delusion, that person constantly delights in jesting, is contemptuous and shameless, and speaks confused and disorderly words. Unable to restrain the mind and as foolish as a white sheep, that person is ruined by greed, lust, hatred, and delusion; is mute, deaf, blind, weak or crippled in the limbs, and bent or deformed; and is born together with evil spiritual friends in a place where no Buddha is present.

Even if born directly at a time when a Buddha is in the world, that person takes no joy in beholding him, takes no joy in hearing the Dharma, and does not live in harmony with the Buddhas. Having generated such evil karma, that person is born among evil people who delight in inferior teachings. Regarding right view, that person conceives it to be wrong view; regarding wrong view, that person conceives it to be right view. This is called inferior aspiration, inferior patience, and inferior wisdom.

Śāriputra, a person of inferior wisdom can never become disenchanted with loss and abandon it, nor give rise to the mind that seeks the path to nirvana.

Śāriputra, through encountering evil spiritual friends, that person undergoes such decline, affliction, and calamity. Possessing these characteristics, upon hearing such profound Dharma sutras, that person becomes alarmed, doubtful, and terrified, as though falling into a deep pit, and will certainly fall into the deep chasms of grave offenses.

Why is this? Śāriputra, as stated in the sutras, a bhikshu who violates the precepts incurs extremely grave offenses. Because of such causes and effects, he is called a violator of the precepts. Having embraced the breaking of precepts, he can scarcely expound the teachings. His conduct deviates from the standards and is mostly contrary to them. He constantly acts from attachment and, for the most part, behaves in a confused and disorderly manner. Acting out of greed, hatred, and delusion and delighting in all manner of confused discourse—this is called violating the precepts.

Furthermore, he delights in numerous undertakings, enjoys extensive reading and recitation, and indulges excessively in sleep. His speech is incoherent and without order. His words are impure, and he is attached to reliance upon a self, a person, and a living being. Therefore, he is called a vile bhikshu.

He knows no moderation, does not know the Dharma of the bodhisattvas, and does not know the Dharma of the brahmins. He delights in practicing medicine and magical arts, engaging in trade, and seeking profit. He is engrossed in accepting commissions from the state and defiles the clans of families. He likes to serve laypeople, carrying out their errands and work, and makes offerings of trees, leaves, flowers, and fruit. He enjoys teaching doctrines of non-Buddhist paths to laypeople. His mind constantly abandons the supramundane Dharma. Before reaching the age of twenty, he receives full ordination. Many requirements for receiving the precepts remain unfulfilled; his physical form is deficient and does not accord with the Dharma.

He becomes preoccupied with rice, grain, money, silk, gold, and silver. He does not follow instruction but opposes his teacher’s commands. He neither knows himself nor knows others and cannot distinguish between those of noble and lowly station. Delighting in reckless speech and greedily relying upon his observance of precepts, he acts in a scattered manner, and his mind lacks depth and concentration. He openly displays hatred, stinginess, and greed. He has no faith, does not understand kindness or gratitude, and is mostly preoccupied with sensual desire.

He sleeps excessively, speaks nonsense, harbors doubts, reproaches others, grows angry and hateful, conceals his offenses, and likes to exercise arbitrary and obstinate control. He is jealous, envious, deceitful, and shameless; conceited, haughty, unrestrained, arrogant, self-important, exceedingly proud, and possessed of perverse pride. He delights in deception and falsehood, praising himself and claiming his own excellence. He devises many expedient schemes and opens numerous avenues for obtaining profit and offerings. He humiliates and tramples upon laypeople while feigning closeness and generous treatment. Relying upon the influence through which he has acquired wealth, he ostentatiously displays it before everyone.

He destroys the aggregate of precepts, the aggregate of meditative concentration, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of the knowledge and vision of liberation. His faith in sentient beings, the Buddha, and the Dharma is unstable. He does not believe in karmic retribution and prizes immediate gain. He holds that there is no future life and is filled with doubt and regret. His disposition is shallow, weak, and short-sighted, and he is constantly alarmed and terrified by what is wholesome.

Such a person is called a vile bhikshu. A deluded person such as this is forever like foul and impure feces and urine within my Dharma. Because he has brought to fulfillment impure bodily, verbal, mental, and livelihood karma, after relinquishing his life he enters an evil destiny and falls into a great hell.

Such a bhikshu is always shunned and kept at a distance by the Buddha Tathagatas and their assemblies of disciples. Those who seek the other paths and those who seek the Buddha’s bodhi likewise do not approach him.

Śāriputra, just as sandalwood placed in an unclean vessel becomes as impure as that vessel and cannot be used again, so too, Śāriputra, whether householders or monastics associate closely with that person and cultivate his practices, before long they too destroy the aggregate of precepts and become equally evil. Their countenances become ruined, and they lose their dignified deportment. After relinquishing their lives, they are born in hell.

Śāriputra, such an evil person is shunned and kept at a distance by the Buddha Tathagatas and their assemblies of disciples. All who seek the Path and aspire to the Buddha’s bodhi likewise keep far away from him.

Śāriputra, just as sandalwood placed in an unclean vessel cannot be used again, so too, Śāriputra, whether householders or monastics associate with such a person, it is as though they smear their bodies with filthy impurities.

Śāriputra, that evil bhikshu is likewise so. Although he sits within the assembly and wears the sacred Dharma robe, he nevertheless displays evil characteristics. Bhikshus who practice the pure life see this impurity and keep far away, refusing to approach him. When he sees them depart, his mind inevitably gives rise to hatred. Because of this cause and effect, after death he enters hell.

Śāriputra, this is called the sixth arrow of anxious affliction suffered by a bhikshu who violates the precepts: he will certainly fall into hell.

The Sutra of the Buddha Treasury

End of the first fascicle