佛說自誓三昧經

Thus have I heard:

At one time, the Buddha came to the Crossroads Vihāra, in the forest of the land of Magadha, at the place of the Bodhimaṇḍa of the Manifestation and Sole Realization. This was the place where, when the Buddha had just attained realization, there was a radiant brilliance of light, and naturally there appeared precious lotus flowers. Accompanying the Buddha were thirty-two thousand great bhikṣus, all of them Arhats who had utterly extinguished the āsavas, masters of their minds, guarding their faculties, free and at ease throughout the three times, their supernormal powers without obstruction, like unto great dragons; what was to be done they had already done;

replete with holy wisdom, penetrating the very roots and origins of sentient beings—such as the venerable Śāriputra, the great Maudgalyāyana, and countless Bodhisattvas, all of them possessed of skillful means beyond conception, entering the treasury of all Buddhas, surpassing the works of Māra, going to lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to bestow the loving-kindness of the six pāramitās, succoring sentient beings in accordance with the times so that they attain peace and joy, their good repute spreading far and wide—such as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva Maitreya... and thus they were the foremost leaders.

Then the Tathāgata entered the samādhi of Pure Transformation and Realization, moving lands of Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Before the seat of the Buddha, a lotus throne naturally sprang up out of the earth. That flower was fragrant and beautiful, its radiance shining through to the ten directions. The flower had a thousand petals. Upon each lotus petal there was a transformation Bodhisattva, and in due order they stood in the midst of empty space. There, the Bodhisattvas prostrated with their five limbs touching the ground, circumambulated the Buddha seven times, and then stood before Him, reverently offering praise of what had never been before:

— Homage to the World-Honored One! In our land there is a Tree of Numinous Transformation and Auspiciousness; when the tree first sprouted, its light shone throughout lands of Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. The tree gave forth a great sound, clear and pure, harmonious and gentle, stirring the hearts of all; whoever heard it rejoiced, replete with the mind of equality, cultivating the six pāramitās of the practice of the Great Vehicle, and through the thirty-seven factors completing the works of a Buddha.

At that time each Buddha in the lands numerous as the sands of the Ganges directed the Bodhisattvas to expound and teach the Dharma so that the light of the Great Vehicle might shine resplendently. They instructed the Bodhisattvas of their own lands:

— From this Buddha-land, you are to pass beyond lands as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, where there is the Buddha-land of Sahā (in Chinese rendered: the Land of Endurance). The Buddha of that land is named the Tathāgata Able and Humane, the Worthy of No Attachment, the Truly Genuine, the Equally and Rightly Enlightened, who employs the Dharma-discipline and supernormal powers to teach and to perform the works of a Buddha.

Each Buddha-Tathāgata took up a thousand-petaled lotus and presented it to the Bodhisattva of his own land, saying:

— Bear my name with a heart of utmost sincerity and reverence, and convey it to the Tathāgata; He has practiced the conduct of a Bodhisattva with merit full and complete, His resolve and vow already accomplished, replete in the body of the Path, born into the world of the five turbidities to aid sentient beings, in due order advancing ahead of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, possessed of loving-kindness and compassion, cultivating the six pāramitās to rescue the multitude of beings. Are His going and dwelling in peace and joy? Is His teaching and transforming done with ease? My Tathāgata directs that this flower be offered up as a Dharma-offering, praying that all sentient beings may enter together into this Bodhimaṇḍa.

Then, relying upon the awesome spiritual power of the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas suddenly vanished from their own lands, entered deep into the samādhi of quiescent serenity, entered the samādhi of contemplation, and in a moment arrived at the Land of Endurance and Forbearance. Rising from their seats, the Bodhisattvas stood reverently gazing upon the World-Honored One, prostrated with their five limbs touching the ground, circumambulated seven times, and then withdrew to their places with surpassing supernormal powers, their dignified deportment grave and composed, their Dharma-robes neatly arranged, and addressed the Buddha:

— World-Honored One! Our Tathāgata sends boundless words of inquiry, with utmost sincerity and reverence, unto You. You have practiced the conduct of a Bodhisattva with merit full and complete, Your resolve and vow already accomplished, replete in the body of the Path, born into the world of the five turbidities to aid sentient beings, advancing in turn ahead of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, possessed of loving-kindness and compassion, cultivating the six pāramitās to rescue the multitude of beings. Are Your going and dwelling in peace and joy? Is Your teaching and transforming done with ease? Now we offer up this flower as a Dharma-offering, praying that all sentient beings may enter together into this Bodhimaṇḍa.

The Buddha said:

— O Right Ones! With wisdom, the Tathāgatas teach and transform without weariness, penetrating samādhi, their Dharma-body pure, their wisdom luminous, full and complete; the Dharma-body is entirely pure, with no more "this" and "that," praising what they have heard with joy of mind utterly exhaustive.

At that time, the Tathāgata Able and Humane received the flower and suddenly smiled, light issuing forth from His golden mouth, illuminating immeasurable Buddha-lands of the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. He took that flower and scattered it as an offering to the Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and the light shone through worlds numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Sentient beings, through the light of the Buddha's loving-kindness and compassion, attained luminous wisdom, clearly knowing their former lives.

That light shone in turn down upon the places of the hells, the three evil destinies, the eight difficulties, the heavenly palaces, the human realm... All, through the light of loving-kindness and compassion, attained liberation. A hundred thousand sentient beings with single-minded resolve gave rise to the aspiration for the Path of Unsurpassed, Right and Genuine awakening.

That light turned back and circled the Tathāgata three times, then entered into the crown of His head. At that time the Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges all beheld one another. Through the awesome spiritual power of the Buddhas, all sentient beings were able to behold Him.

After the transformations were complete, the Buddhas all reappeared as before. In the assembly there was a Bodhisattva named Worthy and Gentle, who came before the Buddha and spoke verses of praise:

— Excellent! The great holy transformation,

Compassion for the multitude of beings,

Through immeasurable numbers of kalpas

Accumulating the conduct of merit;

All the conduct of merit

Surpassing a hundred thousandfold;

A hundred blessings forming a single mark—

I bow to the Most Honored of the three realms.

Excellent! The great holy transformation,

Loving-kindness and wisdom without bound;

The Dharma-teaching, pure and most precious,

Teacher of Śākya, heaven amid the heavens;

Great wisdom, lofty and unsurpassed,

The Dharma-vessel rescuing the multitude of beings;

Holy wisdom, pure and immeasurable—

I bow down to the Unsurpassed One.

Excellent! The great holy transformation,

The light of loving-kindness numerous as the sands of the Ganges;

Ignorance and folly all utterly cut off,

Delusion and the turbid made clear;

Giving in accord with the times,

Skillful means to deliver sentient beings;

Seeking the Dharma to deliver all—

I reverently bow to the One of the three realms.

The Buddha said to Worthy and Gentle:

— According to the Dharma of the Buddhas, there are three reasons for the smile. What are the three reasons?

– The omniscient wisdom is profound, subtle, and wondrous, penetrating the three times, fully discerning the origins of sentient beings. Whoever turns toward the three vehicles possesses the fundamental conduct and the roots of faith complete. There may be a Bodhisattva who holds firm and fast to vast and great vows, donning the armor of great virtue to aid sentient beings, severing all the destinies, becoming a bridge and a ferry for sentient beings, single-mindedly cultivating the six pāramitās, never forsaking sentient beings, holding to the Path firm and unshaken, gradually advancing with heroic and valiant diligence, giving without any mark, upholding the precepts, cultivating the practice of patient endurance, in meditative concentration without distraction, with wisdom luminous, directed toward the state of Non-retrogression.

O Worthy and Gentle! The Buddha shall confer the prediction upon such a person. It is not only one Buddha who confers the prediction upon them, but they also receive the prediction from the present Buddhas of the ten directions. This is the first reason.

– O Worthy and Gentle! If there is a Bodhisattva who turns toward A-duy-nhan (the stage of one birth remaining to Buddhahood), planting many roots of virtue, replete with holy wisdom, making offerings to immeasurable Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges, then all confer the prediction upon him, judging it clearly and decisively; he purifies the Buddha-land, teaching and transforming sentient beings in equality, leading them into a single conduct; he invites the Buddhas, the Worthy Saints, and the great persons to become the vessel of the great Dharma amid the four fierce floods, drying up the sea of the six desires, parching the twelve links of dependent origination, entering the five destinies, purifying the five eyes, his mind and thought in quiescent serenity, dwelling in the Tuṣita palace where he gathers together the great Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, the pure Right Ones, moving through the three realms expounding the Dharma of Non-retrogression, praised by the present Buddhas of the ten directions amid the fourfold assembly. Just as this Bodhisattva praises the virtue of that one, saying: "Before long he shall descend in spirit and become a Buddha, and the sentient beings of the ten directions shall attain liberation." This is the second cause and condition.

– O Worthy and Gentle! If there is a Bodhisattva who, in the Tuṣita heaven, his lifespan there exhausted, shall descend in spirit and enter the samādhi of Ultimate Vast Manifestation. The devas of the Pure Abode realm survey throughout the three thousandfold great thousand worlds where there are vast lands, the people harmonious and concordant, the kṣatriyas, the brāhmaṇas, and the elders by the hundreds of koṭis—in every city and town there are virtue and the Way, purity, maturity, benevolence, and gentleness. The Wheel-turning Holy King in India then convenes and deliberates with the learned and erudite, with devas attending at his side. There appear within the palace handmaidens in constant attendance and service. He appears to study to the end all the worldly classics, contemplating the four impermanences. The devas of the Pure Abode heaven exhort him to leave the household life, to enter into the mountains to investigate thoroughly, to sit beneath the Bodhi tree, to shave off his beard and hair, to vow of himself to become a bhikṣu, to cultivate and study the Dharma of the former Buddhas, taking the Dharma as his teacher, with the devas of the Pure Abode realm as witness. In a single night he realizes the Three Knowledges, subdues the army of Māra, and completes the works of a Buddha. The Numinous Auspicious Tree grows everywhere, and each Tathāgata in the lands of the Buddhas numerous as the sands of the Ganges, in his own land amid the eightfold assembly, praises the merit of the Bodhisattva seated beneath the tree. The Buddhas direct the Bodhisattvas of their own lands to come and present flowers with a heart of utmost reverence and to extol the Great Vehicle.

Thus, O Worthy and Gentle! The present Buddhas of the ten directions all know that one, and the sentient beings in the assembly of the Bodhimaṇḍa rejoice greatly. This is the third reason.

The Bodhisattvas who came were all those who had originally a karmic affinity with the Tathāgata. Through hearing the Tathāgata expound the Dharma, the Bodhisattvas all attained the Non-arising, or some turned toward Pure Youth (kumārabhūta), or turned toward the Comprehension of Birth, or turned toward A-duy-nhan. The Tathāgata conferred the prediction upon each one distinctly, clearly, and fully. The Right Ones should know! The Buddha's smile is not without cause.

When the Buddha had spoken thus, seventy nayutas of Bodhisattvas attained the stage of Pure Youth, sixty koṭi-nayutas of Bodhisattvas attained the stage of the Comprehension of Birth, thirty koṭi-nayutas of Bodhisattvas attained A-duy-nhan, a hundred thousand bhikṣus attained Arhatship, ninety koṭi-nayutas of persons attained the footprint of the Path, and the devas of the three realms attained the pure Dharma-eye.

At that time the Holy Teacher spoke verses:

— The Dharma-realm is wholly empty,

The form-body genuinely pure;

Teaching and transforming, delivering to the utmost,

Samādhi without cause;

The Buddha-land too is not empty,

Pure wisdom too is not existent;

In pity for the world, He manifests a smile—

The Right Ones should swiftly receive it.

In the assembly there was a Bodhisattva named Bright-Seeing Light-and-Worthy, who rose, arranged his Dharma-robe, bared his right shoulder, set his right knee upon the ground, knelt with palms joined, and addressed the Buddha:

— I have something I wish to ask. I humbly beseech the Holy Teacher to employ immeasurable wisdom to illumine and explain, for the sake of those who have not yet heard.

The World-Honored One said:

— Excellent! Ask as you will. I shall expound for you the very core of the unsurpassed Dharma.

The Bodhisattva Bright-Seeing Light-and-Worthy said:

— World-Honored One! Why is it said that: the Bodhisattva, the Right One, leaves the household life replete in the Path and realizes omniscient wisdom?

The World-Honored One said:

— O Right One! Listen well and clearly, grasp the meaning, and ponder thoroughly its very core. The Buddhas' leaving of the household life surely has its cause and origin, so that in a place of quiet and seclusion they sit in meditation, contemplating the mysterious and wondrous teaching, penetrating through to the marvelous.

Whoever single-mindedly thinks upon the Path shall surely attain the reward of blessings. Whoever attains the reward of blessings becomes a deva of the Pure Abode realm, a Brahmā-deva, freely commanding Śakra to transform the four impermanent reflected images—aging, sickness, and death. Through hearing this Dharma expounded, all realize the freedom from desire and from the calamity of suffering, recalling and pondering the pure Path, entering the mountains to practice meditation with refined single-mindedness.

No sooner had he conceived this thought than the Four Heavenly Kings descended to the Bodhi tree, causing that one to recall the Dharma of the former leaving of the household life of the Buddha, taking the Dharma as his teacher, Brahmā as witness, the root of faith firm and steadfast, cultivating the six pāramitās, the four equalities, the four kindnesses, the four dhyānas, practicing the five supernormal powers, possessed of skillful means free and at ease, cultivating the thirty-seven factors, completing the works of a Buddha, having given rise to the aspiration that never forsakes sentient beings, and suddenly he awoke of himself. Śakra descended and presented him with a razor to shave his hair.

Then the Bodhisattva took the razor in his right hand and reflected: "Cutting off the habit-energies of suffering and affliction, the defiled and impure, planting the tree of non-attachment, severing the stream of birth-and-death, penetrating through to the source of Nirvāṇa. Having given rise to the aspiration and having now left the household life, my will firm and not indolent, with deep faith, not retrogressing, with full understanding, pondering clearly."

The razor had not yet touched the hair when suddenly the hair fell away, and naturally there arose a radiant and beautiful uṣṇīṣa. The Bodhisattva reflected: "Formerly, when the Buddha left the household life, when he shaved his hair there straightway appeared the Dharma-robe, the kāṣāya." No sooner had the Bodhisattva thought thus than the devas of the Pure Abode brought a kāṣāya of Kalpavāsa cloth from the heaven of the Form Realm, offered it to the Bodhisattva, and said:

— We humbly beseech the Right One to accept this Dharma-robe.

The Bodhisattva then accepted it and draped it upon himself; it fit perfectly, with a dignified and beautiful deportment. At that same moment, the Buddhas in lands without number as the sands of the Ganges all beheld this and presented kāṣāyas to the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva accepted the kāṣāyas of the Buddhas, and the kāṣāya of every Buddha manifested its awesome spiritual power and merged together into one, called Sarva-Buddha-Mūrdha-Vikampita (the Crown-Trembling-Surpassing of All Buddhas). This raiment is at present in the Brahmā realm. He sat in meditation for six years to complete the conditions of former lives, and on the final night of the sixth year the realization of the precepts first manifested.

What is the realization of the precepts?—It means establishing one's resolve in a place of quiet and seclusion and there enjoying the true Dharma, the spirit nimble and profound, guarding the precept-essence, practicing the Path without sparing one's body and life, casting it away because one regards oneself as equal to the myriad things, not craving gain and support, holding to emptiness and practicing quiescence, ever contemplating the pure Dharma, practicing the four equalities of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity, pure;

proclaiming the four kindnesses, giving with a heart of benevolence, bestowing benefit upon others in equality through boundless love, fully understanding the four dhyānas without any defilement, without discrimination, avoiding forms belonging to the eye, avoiding sounds belonging to the ear, abandoning fragrances belonging to the nose, severing tastes belonging to the mouth, not contacting things belonging to the body, ending deluded thoughts belonging to the mind, extinguishing the six desires, casting off old habit-energies—form stops at form, sound stops at sound, fragrance stops at fragrance, taste stops at taste, the thought that sees the nature of form pure makes quiescent the nose-faculty, restraining the power of the mouth, ending the craving for delight,

in concentration abiding in the awakened mind—form is not form, nor is it non-form, there is no extinction of form, it is not the form of form.

Casting away the great elements, extinguishing the old habit-energies. Sound is not sound, nor is it non-sound, it is not the sound of sound; severing this sensation, stopping the arising of that, with no object of opposition, warding off the object, severing at once the fundamental vow.

Fragrance is not fragrance, nor is it non-fragrance, it is not the fragrance of fragrance, the spirit entirely pure, the supernormal powers pure.

Taste is not taste, nor is it non-taste, it is not the taste of taste, quiescent and serene, exceedingly subtle, the faculties and powers strong and vigorous.

Joy is not joy, it is not the joy of joy, the four great elements all pure. Mind, thought, and consciousness condition the seven dharmas. The seven pure dharmas are that toward which purity is directed.

Mind is not mind, nor is it non-mind, it is not the mind of mind.

Thought is not thought, nor is it non-thought, it is not the thought of thought.

Consciousness is not consciousness, nor is it non-consciousness, it is not the consciousness of consciousness. It is not that thought-consciousness gathers together into one. By knowing the one, the one is cast away. That one is not shaken.

Mind is empty, the object is pure, casting away fame and honor, relinquishing the entrances, with no clan-nature, with no kindred, far removed from the dharmas of form, with no more self and what belongs to self, with no person, casting off body and life, with no notion of the three realms, no consciousness, no self, no what belongs to self, no person, no life-span, no thought, no name and surname, no transformation, no number, no fabrication, coming from nowhere, going nowhere, neither arising nor ceasing, no body and no transgression, no mouth and no speech, no mind and no pondering, no worldly affairs, no thinking or imagining, having an object to condition yet no place of abiding, with no precepts and nothing to guard, no thought formed, nothing decayed and ruined.

This is called the precept-restraint. Within and without, all is pure; he upholds the precept-restraint of the Buddha without the least blemish, and also does not cling to the precepts, without anger and without wrath, settled and pure, surpassing the path of the world.

O Right One! When the Bodhisattva first sits beneath the tree, he first purifies the realization of the precepts, casts away the root of the suffering of desire, severs the scattered and distracted mind, with no notion arising, no notion of movement, no notion even in the slightest, no notion of self, no notion of person, no notion of the in-between, no notion of "here" and "there," no notion of inside and outside, no notion of the Path, no notion of the worldly, no notion of extinction, extinguishing the notion of emptiness, with no notion of emptiness, no notion of "no notion of emptiness," exhausting all notions inexhaustibly.

O Right One! The Bodhisattva, seated beneath the tree, establishes the realization of one thousand eight hundred pure precept-fundamentals. When this number of realizations was complete, suddenly the Diamond Throne sprang up out of the earth, causing the sixth palace of Māra to quake. The devas of the three realms could not sit at ease, and all together descended to the Bodhi tree to make offerings throughout lands numerous as the sands of the Ganges; suddenly a great sound issued forth:

"Tonight the Bodhisattva, seated beneath the tree, shall attain awakening; all sentient beings hear and behold it."

O Right One! That is the Bodhisattva, replete in the precepts, realizing and attaining omniscient wisdom together with the three knowledges, the six supernormal powers, the thirty-seven factors, the eighteen distinctive dharmas, the ten powers of supernormal ability, the four fearlessnesses... all of them complete. The three thousandfold great thousand world quaked in six ways; there was the merit of subduing the army of Māra, and light shone throughout lands numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Sentient beings, through this light of loving-kindness and compassion, attained peace and joy and gave rise to the aspiration for the Unsurpassed, Right and Genuine.

When the Buddha had spoken thus, eight hundred bhikṣus attained Arhatship, thirty thousand devas attained the Dharma-eye, three thousand pure faithful gentlemen attained Anāgāmin, and the Right One Worthy and Gentle... attained the Comprehension of Birth. The entire assembly gave rise to the aspiration for the Unsurpassed, Right and Genuine.

The Holy Teacher said to Worthy and Gentle:

— Of old, I was in the land of Diyamiya, when suddenly a faction and band of celestial Māras forced its way into the great assembly, in strange and unusual garments, and quarreled with the great assembly, slandering one another. The bhikṣus of birth-and-death took no delight in the body of the Path, gave rise to anger, and all scattered away from the assembly; only the Arhats, the truly genuine, entered into the mountains and forests. At that time, on the fourteenth day of the seventh month, when the morning star arose, the World-Honored One bade Ānanda strike the gaṇḍī and spread the grass mat, and there remained only Myself together with Ānanda to perform the Pravāraṇā. At this time the devas of the Pure Abode, in the midst of empty space, addressed the Buddha:

"World-Honored One! The assembly of bhikṣus has scattered. Do You perform the Pravāraṇā alone?"

The Buddha said:

"Formerly, when I left the household life, you were the witness; and when I came to sit beneath the Bodhi tree, you too were the witness. I have returned to Jambudvīpa three thousand times, and in immeasurable lands of the Tathāgatas I have realized omniscient wisdom. From the time of becoming a Buddha until entering Nirvāṇa, you have been the witness three times, the luminous essence complete. Devas should know! The Tathāgata, possessed of the wisdom of the Path and supernormal powers, walking alone through the three realms, must yet cultivate and realize—how much more, then, should all sentient beings, for the sake of the Path, be without a teacher?"

The Buddha said to the devas of the Pure Abode:

— In ages to come, many people will hold to a resolve and vow of pure simplicity, their mind of the Path clear and bright, taking no delight in the worldly, dwelling in seclusion in the mountains and forests, establishing a firm resolve to leave the household life. If there is no Preceptor-master to teach the true Dharma, then they should follow the Dharma of leaving the household life of Mahā-Kāśyapa: which is to part from craving and relinquish desire as the realization; to part from the worldly and relinquish the worldly as the realization; to part from fame and honor and relinquish fame and honor as the realization; to make light of body and life, relinquishing the false and illusory body as the realization;

to forsake all seeking, relinquishing within and without all seeking as the realization.

O devas! Mahā-Kāśyapa, with these five realizations, shaved off his beard and hair, donned the kāṣāya, attained the naturally pure Dharma of the teacher, moved the Buddhas of the ten directions, sought and made supplication, in reverent admiration of the Dharma of leaving the household life of the Buddhas, and invited the devas of the Pure Abode to be witness. When these three realizations were clear, he became a bhikṣu, practicing the twelve dhūta-practices, single-mindedly firm and steadfast, raising no notion of realization.

Now, beneath the tree, Kāśyapa realized the complete supernormal powers, and afterward was replete in the six supernormal powers of a Buddha.

O devas! In ages to come, when bhikṣus ponder this Dharma clearly, let them not exalt themselves in seeking fame and so slight the great assembly in hope of receiving offerings; nor let them make light of and pass over this Dharma, opposing the assembly; nor refuse to serve the Saṅgha-assembly as teacher, holding that this Dharma has no bhikṣus at all; the one who may be made a teacher is one who delights in, admires, and practices in accordance with this Dharma. If there is a Saṅgha, then seek the Saṅgha to be witness, for the Three Jewels—Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha—are like the Tathāgata. The Tathāgata praises the pure and bright discipline, with the assembly of bhikṣus as the foremost leaders.

Devas should know that within the bhikṣus there are surely the three vehicles complete.

When they heard the Buddha expound this Dharma, the devas of the Pure Abode and the fourfold assembly rejoiced, performed obeisance, and then withdrew.