佛說八大人覺經

As disciples of the Buddha, we should, day and night, with all our heart, recite and reflect upon the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings.

The First Realization:

The world is impermanent. Nations are perilous and fragile. The four great elements are suffering and emptiness. The five aggregates are without a self. All that arises and ceases is subject to change, false and illusory, and without a master. The mind is the source of evil; the body is the dwelling-place of transgression. Contemplating in this way, one will gradually become free from birth and death.

The Second Realization:

Excessive desire is suffering. The weariness of birth and death arises from the cravings of desire. With few desires and through non-doing, body and mind abide at ease.

The Third Realization:

This mind is never content and forever seeks after more. Thus it causes evil and transgression to increase. Bodhisattvas are not so. They always abide in right mindfulness and are content with what they have. They live in leisure and simplicity in order to cultivate the Way. Their sole endeavor is to cultivate wisdom.

The Fourth Realization:

Indolence leads to ruin. One must always cultivate with diligence, shatter the evil afflictions, subdue the four kinds of Māra, and escape from the prison of the five aggregates.

The Fifth Realization:

Ignorance leads to birth and death. For this reason, Bodhisattvas always abide in right mindfulness and in vast learning and wide study, so that wisdom may grow and eloquence be attained. To teach and transform living beings is their greatest joy.

The Sixth Realization:

Poverty and misery give rise to much resentment and forge adverse evil conditions. Therefore, Bodhisattvas always practice giving. They treat foe and kin with equal regard. They harbor no malice in their hearts, nor do they despise wicked people.

The Seventh Realization:

The five sensual desires lead to faults and calamities. Even as a layperson, one should not be defiled by the worldly pleasures of desire. One should always keep in mind the three robes, the earthen bowl, and the implements of the Dharma. One should set forth the aspiration to leave the household life, to cultivate the Way in purity, to live the lofty conduct of the holy life, and to be compassionate toward all.

The Eighth Realization:

Birth and death are like a raging, blazing fire, and they carry with them immeasurable suffering and affliction. Give rise to the Mahāyāna mind in order to deliver all beings far and wide. Vow, for the sake of living beings, to take upon yourself their immeasurable suffering, and to guide all of them to the ultimate bliss.

These are the eight things that the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas, and the great beings have realized. With diligence they practice the Way, with compassion they cultivate wisdom, and they sail the ship of the Dharma-body to the shore of Nirvāṇa. Then they return again to birth and death in order to deliver living beings. They use these eight things to guide and instruct all, causing living beings to awaken to the suffering of birth and death, to forsake the five sensual desires, and to cultivate the mind upon the holy Way.

If any disciple of the Buddha recites and upholds these eight things, then in thought after thought they will extinguish immeasurable transgressions, advance upon the Path of Bodhi, and swiftly attain Right Awakening. They will forever sever birth and death and ever abide in peace and joy.

The Sūtra on the Eight Realizations of the Great Beings, Spoken by the Buddha