文殊師利所說摩訶般若波羅蜜經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling at the Jeta Grove Monastery in the country of Śrāvastī, together with a thousand bhikṣus who followed the Saṅgha and ten thousand great Bodhisattvas who came to listen to the Dharma. All these beings adorned themselves with the most exalted ornaments, and all had abided in the stage from which there is no longer any backsliding.

Their names were: Maitreya Bodhisattva, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva of Unobstructed Eloquence, Bodhisattva Who Never Forsakes His Burden, together with a host of such Bodhisattvas assembled there. As day was just breaking, Mañjuśrī, the great Bodhisattva of youthful purity, went from his dwelling place to where the Buddha was; having arrived, he stood waiting for the Buddha outside the door. At that time the great Śrāvakas—Śāriputra, Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Mahākātyāyana, Mahākauṣṭhila—all came from their dwelling places to pay homage to the Buddha, and arriving, they stood waiting together outside.

The Buddha, knowing that the great assembly had all gathered completely, then left his dwelling, went outside, spread out his sitting mat, and sat down upon it.

At that time the Buddha then said to Śāriputra:

What reason have you today that, just as day was breaking, you came and stood waiting outside the door?

Śāriputra said:

World-Honored One! Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva of youthful purity, came and stood waiting at the door earlier than all the rest; we are only those who came afterward.

The Buddha then turned and asked Mañjuśrī:

Is it true that you came first of all, hoping to pay homage to the Tathāgata?

The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī then replied:

It is so, World-Honored One! I have indeed come here hoping to pay homage to the Tathāgata. Why do I do this? It is because I admire the true Dharma and wish to bring benefit to sentient beings. I contemplate the Tathāgata: the mark of suchness, the mark of non-difference, the mark of non-movement, the mark of non-action, the mark of non-arising, the mark of non-cessation, the mark of non-being, the mark of non-nonbeing, not abiding in any direction, not apart from any direction, neither of the three times nor not of the three times, neither a dual mark nor not a dual mark, neither a defiled mark nor a pure mark... I employ this right contemplation of the Tathāgata in order to bring true benefit to sentient beings.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

Mañjuśrī! If you have the full capacity to behold the Tathāgata, the mind neither retains an impression nor does it fail to retain an impression; it neither accumulates an image nor does it fail to accumulate one.

Then Śāriputra said to the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī:

According to what you have just said, your way of seeing the Tathāgata is truly rare in this world. For the sake of all sentient beings, in seeing the Tathāgata the mind retains no impression or image of sentient beings; transforming and guiding all sentient beings, leading them toward Nirvāṇa, yet not retaining the mark of Nirvāṇa; for the sake of all sentient beings cultivating vast merit, yet what mind perceives those marks of adornment.

The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī of youthful purity then said to Śāriputra:

So it is! So it is! As you have just said: all for the sake of sentient beings to cultivate vast merit, yet the mind never perceives the slightest mark of sentient beings; for sentient beings cultivating merit and establishing exalted virtue, yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases.

Suppose there were a Buddha dwelling in the world who lived a kalpa or more than a kalpa, transforming and guiding a world in this manner; and suppose there were further immeasurable, boundless Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, each such Buddha abiding in the world a kalpa or more than a kalpa, expounding the Dharma day and night without a single moment of pause in mind, each Buddha delivering immeasurable sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, causing all these sentient beings to enter Nirvāṇa.

Yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases... and so too the Buddhas transforming and guiding the worlds throughout all the ten directions, each Buddha expounding the Dharma, transforming and delivering immeasurable sentient beings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, leading all of them into Nirvāṇa, yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases.

Why is this so?

Because the fixed mark of sentient beings is unattainable and cannot be found; therefore the realm of sentient beings never increases nor ever decreases.

Śāriputra again asked Mañjuśrī:

If the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases, why then do Bodhisattvas, for the sake of sentient beings, seek supreme awakened wisdom? And constantly practice the deed of expounding the Dharma?

Mañjuśrī, turning toward the Buddha, said:

If all sentient beings are without mark, then there is also no Bodhisattva seeking supreme awakened wisdom, and there are also no sentient beings for whom the Bodhisattva expounds the Dharma. Why is this so? It is because within the Dharma that you teach, there is not a single dharma that can be attained.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

If there are no sentient beings, why then is it said that there are sentient beings and a realm of sentient beings?

Mañjuśrī said:

The mark of the realm of sentient beings is like the realm of the Buddhas.

Is the realm of sentient beings finite?

The measure of the realm of sentient beings is like the measure of the realm of the Buddhas.

Does the measure of the realm of sentient beings have a boundary?

The measure of the realm of sentient beings is truly beyond the scope of reckoning.

Does the mark of the realm of sentient beings have an abode?

Sentient beings are without abode, like empty space.

The Buddha again asked Mañjuśrī:

When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, how should one abide in the Prajñāpāramitā?

Mañjuśrī replied:

Taking the dharma of non-abiding is abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā.

The Buddha again asked:

How is it that the dharma of non-abiding is called abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā?

Employing the mark of non-abiding is precisely abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

When abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā, how do the wholesome roots increase? And how do they diminish?

Mañjuśrī replied:

If one has abided in the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, the wholesome roots neither increase nor decrease; and so too all dharmas neither increase nor decrease, and the nature and mark of the Prajñāpāramitā neither increase nor decrease.

World-Honored One! Cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, one does not abandon the dharma of ordinary beings, yet one also does not grasp the dharma of the sages. Why do I say this?

It is because in abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā one sees no dharma that can be grasped or relinquished. In cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā one also does not see Nirvāṇa as worthy of delight, nor birth-and-death as worthy of revulsion. Why is this so?

Because not seeing any birth-and-death, why then would one feel revulsion? Not seeing any Nirvāṇa, how then would one feel delight? If one cultivates the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, one does not see defiling afflictions as something to be discarded, nor pure merit as something to be sought; toward all dharmas the mind does not waver, neither pursuing nor fleeing.

Why is this so? Because one does not see the Dharma-realm as having increase or decrease, accord or discord. World-Honored One!

If one can be thus, this is called cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā.

World-Honored One! Not seeing dharmas as having arising or cessation is cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā.

World-Honored One! Not seeing dharmas as having increase or decrease, the mind seeks nothing; not seeing a dharma-mark to be sought; not seeing the beautiful or the ugly; not regarding anything as lofty or as base; neither grasping nor relinquishing. Why is this so? Dharmas have neither beauty nor ugliness, for they are beyond all marks. Dharmas have neither loftiness nor baseness, for they are equal with the Dharma-nature. Dharmas are neither to be grasped nor relinquished, for they abide in the true reality. This is cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā.

The Buddha again asked Mañjuśrī:

Is the Dharma that the Buddha has realized not supreme and excellent?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I do not see any dharma that has a mark of being supreme and excellent; there is only suchness. The Tathāgata, by his own awakening, knows that all dharmas are empty; he has realized and understood this.

The Buddha replied:

So it is! So it is! The Tathāgata, the Rightly Awakened One, has himself realized that dharmas are empty.

Mañjuśrī asked the Buddha:

World-Honored One! Within the emptiness of dharmas, is there a supreme and excellent mark that can be grasped?

The Buddha replied:

Excellent! Very good! Mañjuśrī! What you have just asked—is this the true Dharma? Then the Buddha continued: Is the supreme indeed the Buddha-Dharma?

Mañjuśrī replied:

As the Buddha teaches, the supreme is the Buddha-Dharma. Why do I say this? It is because there is no dharma that can be attained—that is the supreme.

World-Honored One! Cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, it is not called a vessel of the Dharma, it is not the dharma of ordinary beings, nor is it the Buddha-Dharma, nor is it a dharma of increase.

World-Honored One! When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one does not see any dharma by which to discriminate or to ponder.

The Buddha asked:

Do you not ponder the Buddha-Dharma?

Mañjuśrī replied:

It is not so, World-Honored One! As I ponder, I do not see any Buddha-Dharma, nor can I discriminate whether it is the dharma of ordinary beings, the dharma of the Śrāvakas, or the dharma of the Pratyekabuddhas. This is what is called the supreme Buddha-Dharma.

Furthermore, World-Honored One! When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one does not see the mark of ordinary beings, does not see the mark of the Buddha-Dharma, does not see any dharma having a fixed mark. When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā one also does not see the desire-realm, the form-realm, the formless-realm, or the realm of cessation. Why is this so? Because wherever one sees a dharma, there is the mark of extinction and ending.

When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā one does not see a Buddha-Dharma to be sought, nor a dharma of ordinary beings to be cast away; one does not see ordinary-being dharmas to be eradicated, nor a mind that realizes and knows the Buddha-Dharma.

The Buddha taught:

Excellent! Very good! Mañjuśrī, you have spoken in a most profound and clear way about the mark of the Prajñāpāramitā, the Dharma-seal which the great Bodhisattvas must cultivate and study; and even the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, those still in training, and those beyond training must not forsake this seal of realization in cultivating the fruit of the Path.

Mañjuśrī! If anyone, upon merely hearing this Dharma, has a mind that is not alarmed or frightened, you should know that this person has cultivated wholesome roots before a thousand Buddhas, and indeed has planted the seeds of merit before hundreds of thousands of koṭis of Buddhas, and only thus has the capacity to hear this Prajñāpāramitā Dharma without himself feeling fear and trembling.

Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! I wish to say more about the meaning of the Prajñāpāramitā.

The Buddha replied:

Very well, speak on!

World-Honored One! When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one does not see any dharma in which one should abide, nor does one see any realm that should be grasped or relinquished. Why is this so?

Because the Tathāgatas do not see the mark of the realm of the Buddhas, how then would they grasp the realms of the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, or ordinary beings? One does not retain the mark of thought and conception, nor does one retain the mark of the inconceivable; one personally realizes THE EMPTINESS OF DHARMAS, which is beyond the domain of the intellect, and does not see dharmas as having any such marks. The great Bodhisattvas who can cultivate in this way have made offerings to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of Buddhas and have cultivated wholesome roots, and only thus have the capacity to comprehend the profound Prajñāpāramitā Dharma without giving rise to a mind of fear.

World-Honored One! Furthermore, when cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one does not see anything as bound or as liberated; toward ordinary beings and even those of the three vehicles, one does not see any mark of distinction.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

Mañjuśrī! And you—to how many Buddhas have you made offerings?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I and the Buddhas are like illusory transformations; I have not seen any who is one who makes offerings, nor any who is one who receives them.

Do you now abide in the Buddha-vehicle?

As I ponder it, I have not seen even a single dharma, so how then would I abide in the Buddha-vehicle?

So then, have you not attained the Buddha-vehicle?

That Buddha-vehicle is no more than a mere name; it cannot be grasped, nor can it be seen—how then would I attain it?

Mañjuśrī! Have you attained unobstructed wisdom?

I myself am precisely the unobstructed; why then would there be the matter of using the unobstructed to attain the unobstructed?

Do you sit at the place of awakening?

All the Tathāgatas have not sat at the place of awakening; why then would I alone sit at the place of awakening? Why is there such a matter? Because it is presently seen that dharmas abide in the true reality.

What is the true reality?

The view of self is the true reality.

How is the view of self the true reality?

The mark of the view of self is suchness: neither real nor false, neither going nor coming; it is also the self yet also not the self—that is the true reality.

Śāriputra said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! If anyone can clearly comprehend this true meaning, that person is called a great Bodhisattva. Why do I say this? It is because such a person has the full capacity to comprehend the lofty and far-reaching Prajñāpāramitā, the mind being never afraid, never alarmed, never regretful.

Maitreya Bodhisattva also said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! One who hears the Prajñāpāramitā in this way and perfectly fulfills the Dharma-mark is already close to the place where the Buddha sits. Why? Because the Tathāgata is presently awakened to this Dharma-mark.

Mañjuśrī again said:

World-Honored One! One who hears this lofty and far-reaching Prajñāpāramitā without fear, without alarm, without confusion, without regret—you should know that this person has already seen the Buddha.

At that time there was a faithful laywoman named Markless who also spoke to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! The dharma of ordinary beings, of Śrāvakas, of Pratyekabuddhas, of Bodhisattvas, of Buddhas... all these dharmas are markless. Therefore, hearing the Prajñāpāramitā, one has no fear, no alarm, no confusion, no regret. Why? Because all dharmas are originally markless.

The Buddha taught Śāriputra:

Śāriputra! If there be any good man or good woman who, hearing this lofty and far-reaching Prajñāpāramitā, can in mind truly accept it without fear, without alarm, without confusion, without regret, you should know that this person abides in the stage of non-retrogression.

If there be a person who, hearing the Prajñāpāramitā, has a mind without fear and who delights in it, upholds it, rejoices in it without any thought of weariness or revulsion—this person has already perfectly fulfilled the perfection of giving, the perfection of moral discipline, the perfection of patience, the perfection of vigor, the perfection of meditative concentration, and the perfection of wisdom. Such a person also has the full capacity to set forth clearly the Prajñāpāramitā for others, so that they believe and understand it, accord with the teaching, and then put it into practice.

The Buddha again said to Mañjuśrī:

What meaning do you contemplate by which to attain Supreme Perfect Awakening and to abide in Supreme Perfect Awakening?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I do not attain Supreme Perfect Awakening; since I do not abide in the Buddha-vehicle, how then would I yet attain Supreme Perfect Awakening? What I have just said is precisely the mark of Perfect Awakening.

The Buddha praised Mañjuśrī:

Excellent! Truly so! You have the full capacity, with regard to this lofty and far-reaching Dharma, to expound its meaning in a most skillful manner. You have long followed the Buddhas of the past in cultivating wholesome roots, employing the markless dharma to purely cultivate the holy life.

Mañjuśrī said:

Ordinarily one sees a mark, and so when it is absent one speaks of it as markless. But I now see neither any mark nor any marklessness—how then can you say that I employ the markless dharma to purely cultivate the holy life?

The Buddha asked Mañjuśrī:

Do you see the realm of the Śrāvakas?

I see it.

How do you see it?

I do not give rise to seeing it according to ordinary beings, seeing it according to the sages, seeing it according to those still in training, seeing it according to those who have attained the Path, seeing it according to the Great Vehicle, seeing it according to the Lesser Vehicle, seeing it as already tamed, seeing it as not yet tamed; it is neither seeing nor not-seeing.

Śāriputra then asked Mañjuśrī:

Right now you contemplate and see the Śrāvaka-vehicle in this way; how then would you contemplate the Buddha-vehicle?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I do not see any Bodhisattva-dharma, nor do I see the cultivation of the conduct of awakening, nor anyone who realizes the fruit of awakening.

Śāriputra again asked:

What is the Buddha? What is contemplation?

Mañjuśrī asked back, probing:

What is the self?

The self is no more than a mere name, and that name has no mark.

So it is! So it is! Just as the self is only a mere name, the Buddha too is only another kind of name. The mark of the name being empty is precisely awakening; one does not chase after the name to seek the mark of awakening, for the mark of awakening is beyond all words and speech. Why? Because words and speech and awakening are both empty.

Again, Śāriputra! You asked me, what is the Buddha? What is contemplation? To contemplate the Buddha is to truly comprehend the non-arising, the non-ceasing, the non-going, the non-coming, that which is neither name nor mark—this is called the Buddha. Just as one contemplates the true mark of one's own body, so too does one contemplate the Buddha; only those of wisdom can understand this. The above is called contemplating the Buddha.

Right then Śāriputra said again to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! As Mañjuśrī has spoken about the Prajñāpāramitā, it is truly not within the domain of understanding of beginning-Bodhisattvas.

Mañjuśrī continued:

Not only are beginning-Bodhisattvas unable to understand it; even those of the two vehicles whose deeds and conduct are already perfectly fulfilled still lack the capacity to understand it. The Dharma I speak in this way can hardly be understood by anyone. Why? Because the mark of awakening truly cannot be understood by relying on any dharma; it is not seen, not heard, not remembered, not arisen, not ceased, not spoken, not heard. The nature and mark of awakening being thus empty and still, it is not realized, not known, without form, without mark—how then can it be said that there will be someone who attains awakening?

Śāriputra again asked Mañjuśrī:

Does the Buddha, within the Dharma-realm, not realize awakening?

It is not so!

Śāriputra! Why do I say this? It is because the World-Honored One is precisely the Dharma-realm; how could there be the matter of using the Dharma-realm to realize the Dharma-realm!

Śāriputra! The mark of the Dharma-realm is precisely awakening. Why is this so? Because within the Dharma-realm there is no mark of sentient beings, for all dharmas are empty. All dharmas being empty is precisely awakening; without a dual mark, beyond all discrimination.

Śāriputra! Within non-discrimination there is no one who knows; where there is no one who knows there is no speech; without the mark of speech, it is neither being nor non-being, neither knowing nor not-knowing. All dharmas are thus. Why? Because all dharmas are beyond all seeing and knowing, their self-nature being fixed, like the heinous offenses which cannot be reckoned. Why do I say this? It is because the true mark of dharmas cannot be destroyed; the heinous offenses are likewise—they too have no fundamental nature, do not ascend to heaven, do not fall into the hells, and also cannot enter Nirvāṇa. Why? Because all karmic conditions abide in the true reality—not going, not coming, neither cause nor effect. Why?

Because the Dharma-realm has no boundary, has no span before or behind. Therefore, Śāriputra! If a person sees a bhikṣu who has transgressed the grave precepts not falling into the hells, and one who is pure and cultivating not entering Nirvāṇa—such a bhikṣu is neither one who should be made offerings to nor one who should not be made offerings to, neither one whose afflictions are wholly cleansed nor one who still has afflictions.

Why?

Because toward all dharmas the mind remains constantly and uniformly impartial.

What is called the non-retrogressive forbearance of the Dharma?

Where there is not the slightest dharma that has even a trace of the mark of arising and ceasing—that is the non-retrogressive forbearance of the Dharma.

And what, pray, is a bhikṣu who is not tamed?

The Arhat who has wholly exhausted the afflictions is precisely one who is not tamed. Why? It is because the fetters have already been wholly eradicated, so there is nothing further that needs to be tamed; hence he is called not tamed.

If the mind's conduct has faults, that is called an ordinary being; because ordinary beings, the worldly, do not accord with the Dharma-realm, this is called fault.

Excellent! As you have taught, now at last I clearly understand the meaning of the Arhat who has wholly exhausted the afflictions.

So it is! I myself am precisely the true Arhat who has wholly exhausted the afflictions, for I have cast away the desire to seek the fruit of the Śrāvakas and Pratyekabuddhas; therefore am I called one who has wholly exhausted the afflictions and attained the fruit of Arhatship.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

When the Bodhisattvas sit at the place of awakening, do they awaken to Supreme Awakening?

When the Bodhisattva sits at the place of awakening, he does not awaken to Supreme Awakening. Why do I say this? In the mark of awakening there is not the slightest dharma that can be attained; therefore it is called Supreme Awakening. Awakening is markless—no one can sit down upon it, nor can anyone rise up from it. For this reason I do not see a Bodhisattva sitting at the place of awakening, nor do I see anyone awaken to and realize Supreme Awakening.

World-Honored One! Awakening is precisely the five heinous offenses, and the five heinous offenses are precisely awakening. Awakening and the five heinous offenses are not two distinct marks: there is no awakening and no one who awakens, no seeing and no one who sees, no knowing and no one who knows, no discriminating and no one who discriminates... marks such as these are called awakening, and seeing the mark of the five heinous offenses is likewise the same. If anyone says that he sees awakening so as to grasp and realize it, you should know that this person belongs to the class of those of overweening pride.

Right then the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

You say that I AM ( ) the Tathāgata; does this also mean that I MADE ( ) the Tathāgata?

It is not so, World-Honored One! Have I not said that the Tathāgata makes the Tathāgata? There is no mark of SUCHNESS by which one could speak of MAKING SUCHNESS. Nor are there two separate marks of the Tathāgata and wisdom. The nature of EMPTINESS makes the Tathāgata—it is only a name; how then would I say I AM the Tathāgata?

The Buddha asked:

Do you doubt the Tathāgata?

No, World-Honored One! I contemplate the Tathāgata as having no fixed nature, not arising and not ceasing; therefore I have no remaining doubt.

Do you now not think that the Tathāgata appears in the world?

If a Tathāgata appears in the world, then all the Dharma-realm too will be present in the world.

Do you hold that all the Buddhas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, enter Nirvāṇa?

The Buddhas are of a single mark, beyond all understanding and reckoning.

So it is! So it is! The Buddha is of a single mark, a mark that cannot be reckoned.

World-Honored One! Does the Buddha now abide in the world?

It is just so.

If the Buddha abides in the world, then the Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges should also abide in the world. Why do I say this? It is because all the Buddhas are of the same single mark, a mark that cannot be reckoned.

The mark that cannot be reckoned is the non-arising and non-ceasing. If the Buddhas of the future appear in the world, then all the other Buddhas too will appear in the world. Why? It is because within that which cannot be reckoned there is no mark of abiding in past, future, or present; it is only because sentient beings cling and retain, holding that the Buddha has appeared in the world and has passed into extinction.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

This belongs to the domain of understanding of the Tathāgatas, the Arhats, and the non-retrogressive Bodhisattvas. Why is this so? It is because these three kinds of beings, hearing this profound Dharma, give rise to neither a mind that slanders it nor one that praises it.

Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! Since it is thus beyond all reckoning, how then would anyone slander it? Who would praise it?

The Buddha replied:

Mañjuśrī! The Tathāgata is beyond all reckoning, and ordinary beings too are beyond all reckoning.

World-Honored One! Are ordinary beings too beyond all reckoning?

They too are beyond all reckoning. Why? It is because all marks of mind are beyond all reckoning.

If it be so—if the Tathāgata is beyond all reckoning and ordinary beings too are beyond all reckoning—then the innumerable Buddhas now seeking Nirvāṇa only labor in vain. Why do I say this? Because the dharma that is beyond all reckoning is precisely Nirvāṇa. For the two are equal, without distinction.

If there be any good man or good woman who has long cultivated wholesome roots and drawn near to good spiritual friends, only then can one know that ordinary beings are beyond reckoning and that the Buddhas are likewise beyond all reckoning.

The Buddha again said to Mañjuśrī:

Do you wish to set the Tathāgata as supreme among sentient beings?

I wish to set the Tathāgata as the foremost and supreme among all sentient beings. Yet the mark of sentient beings also cannot be found.

Do you wish for the Tathāgata to attain the dharma that can hardly be reckoned?

I wish for the Tathāgata to attain the dharma that can hardly be reckoned, yet among dharmas there is no accomplishment.

Do you wish to have the Tathāgata expound the Dharma and transform beings?

I wish for the Tathāgata to expound the Dharma and transform beings, yet the one who speaks and the one who hears both cannot be found. Why? It is because of abiding in the Dharma-realm. The realm of the Dharma and of sentient beings has no mark of distinction.

Do you wish to set the Tathāgata as the supreme field of merit?

The Tathāgata is the inexhaustible field of merit, the inexhaustible mark. The inexhaustible mark is precisely the supreme field of merit. Neither a field of merit nor not a field of merit, without the marks of bright and dark, arising and ceasing—that is the field of merit. If anyone has the capacity to understand the mark of the field of merit in this way, he will cultivate wholesome roots firmly, neither increasing nor decreasing.

What is it to cultivate without increase and without decrease?

The mark of the field of merit is truly most difficult to reckon; if anyone abides herein and, in accordance with the true Dharma, cultivates wholesome roots, that too is truly difficult to reckon. To cultivate in this way is called neither increasing nor decreasing, and it is also the foremost and supreme field of merit.

Right then, through the spiritual power of the Buddha, the whole earth quaked in six ways, manifesting the mark of impermanence. Sixteen thousand people thereupon attained the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas; seven hundred bhikṣus, three thousand laymen, forty thousand laywomen, and sixty koṭis of nayutas of gods of the six desire-heavens—all this multitude of beings departed afar from the dust of defilement and attained the pure Dharma-eye with regard to all dharmas.