楞伽阿跋多羅寶經

The Mind of the Words of All Buddhas Chapter (Part 1)

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha was on the summit of Mount Lanka by the southern sea, adorned with all kinds of precious flowers. At that time, the assembly of great bhiksus and the great bodhisattvas had come from various Buddha-lands. Those great bodhisattvas all possessed powers of mastery, immeasurable samadhis, and the playful exercise of spiritual powers.

Bodhisattva Mahamati was foremost among them—the principal representative for whom this sutra was taught. He had personally received the anointing of consecration from all the Buddhas. With regard to the realm of direct realization in one’s own mind, he was able to manifest universally, category by category, for all beings, all minds and forms, immeasurable Dharma gates, and even the five dharmas, the three self-natures, and the two kinds of non-self. He skillfully understood their meanings and principles and had penetrated them to their ultimate extent.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati, together with Bodhisattva Mati, had journeyed throughout all Buddha-lands. Empowered by the Buddha’s majestic spiritual power, he rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, placed his palms together, knelt, and reverently praised the Buddha in verse:

The world is free from arising and cessation,

Like an illusory flower in the sky.

Wisdom abides in neither existence nor nonexistence,

Yet gives rise to the mind of great compassion.

All dharmas are like illusions,

Far removed from mind and consciousness.

Wisdom abides in neither existence nor nonexistence,

Yet gives rise to the mind of great compassion.

Far removed from views of annihilation and permanence,

Worldly dharmas are like dreams.

Wisdom abides in neither existence nor nonexistence,

Yet gives rise to the mind of great compassion.

Knowing the non-self of persons and dharmas,

Afflictions and nhĩ diệm (1)

Are ever pure and without characteristics,

Yet one gives rise to the mind of great compassion.

(1) NHĨ DIỆM: According to the Practical Dictionary of Buddhist Studies, this term includes four meanings: that which is known, the objective realm, the mother of wisdom, and the object of wisdom. These four expressions are in some respects similar and in others slightly different. “That which is known” and “the objective realm” apply to both the wise and the ignorant, whereas “the object of wisdom” and “the mother of wisdom” pertain specifically to the wise and also include both subject and object: the mother of wisdom is that which gives rise, while the object of wisdom is that which is produced. Because it encompasses so many meanings, the translator merely transliterated its original sound; we likewise retain that transliteration and provide notes according to the context.

Nirvana cannot be established;

There is no nirvana of a Buddha,

Nor any Buddha entering nirvana,

Apart from the knower and the known.

Whether existent or nonexistent,

Both are entirely transcended.

The Dharma of tranquil meditative contemplation

Is originally free from arising.

It belongs neither to this life nor the next;

This is called neither grasping nor rejecting.

At that time, after Bodhisattva Mahamati had finished speaking these verses of praise, he announced his own name and said:

My name is Mahamati;

I comprehend the Dharma of the Mahayana.

Concerning the one hundred and eight questions,

I shall question the World-Honored One in verse.

Having heard these verses, the Buddha

Surveyed the entire assembly

And told the Buddha’s children:

Now ask whatever you wish.

For your sake, I shall explain

The realm of self-realization.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati respectfully obeyed the Buddha’s instruction, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, placed his palms together reverently, and asked in verse:

How is thought purified?

How does thought increase?

Why do deluded perceptions arise?

How does delusion increase?

How are Buddha-lands,

Sentient beings, and non-Buddhists taught and transformed?

What are reception and non-reception?

Why is it called non-reception?

What is meant by a Buddha’s child?

To what extent does liberation reach?

Who binds, and who is liberated?

What is the realm of meditation?

Why are there three vehicles?

May the Buddha explain these matters.

From where does dependent origination arise?

Why are actor and action spoken of?

Why are there dharmas of sameness and difference,

Diminishment and increase?

What is called the formless attainment,

And what is called the samadhi of cessation?

What is the cessation of perception?

Why does one emerge from samadhi?

Why do actions arise,

Together with diligence and the sustaining of the body?

How does discrimination manifest?

From where do the bodhisattva bhumis arise?

Who destroys the three realms?

What kind of body is this body?

Where does one go to be reborn?

Through what causes do the bodhisattvas,

The supreme children of the Victorious One, attain spiritual powers

And mastery of samadhi?

What is called the mind of samadhi?

I humbly ask you to explain it for me.

What is the meaning of the word “treasury”?

What are mind and consciousness?

What are arising and cessation?

That which is seen can be returned—

To where can that which sees be returned?

What is the measure of mind,

And what are lineage and absence of lineage?

How are characteristics established,

And the meanings of self and non-self?

Why is it said that there are no sentient beings?

What is called conventional teaching?

How does one prevent arising,

Annihilationism, and eternalism?

Why are the Buddhas and non-Buddhists

Not in contradiction with one another?

Buddha-nature is originally nondual;

Why, in future ages,

Will there be many different schools?

For what reason is the meaning of emptiness established?

Why is momentary destruction taught?

What is birth from the womb-treasury?

Why are worldly dharmas unmoving?

For what reason are they like dreams and illusions,

Like a city of the gandharvas,

Like the moon’s reflection in water?

Why is the world like a mirage?

Why are the factors of awakening

And the seven factors of bodhi taught?

Why are lands thrown into disorder?

Why does attachment to the view of existence arise?

How can there be neither arising nor cessation,

And worldly dharmas be like illusory flowers?

How does one awaken to the world

And teach the Dharma apart from written words?

Who is free from false conceptualization?

Why is it likened to empty space?

How many kinds of dharmas conform to reality?

How many minds of paramita are there?

For what reason does one pass through the bhumis,

Reach the state of non-reception,

And realize the two kinds of non-self?

How is the realm of wisdom purified?

How many kinds of wisdom are there?

How many natures of morality are there?

From where do the mani pearl

And its true nature arise?

Who established language

And the various lineages of sentient beings?

From where do learning and the arts

Come to be revealed?

How many kinds of verses are there—

Long verses and short verses—

And how many kinds are there altogether?

What is called a treatise?

Why are there food and drink,

And the arising of sensual desires?

Why are there those called kings,

Wheel-Turning Monarchs, and lesser kings?

How many kinds of heavens are there?

What lands do they protect?

What are the earth,

The stars, the sun, and the moon?

For practitioners seeking liberation,

How many kinds are there in each approach?

How many kinds of disciples are there?

What is called an acarya?

How many kinds of Buddhas are there?

How many kinds of birth are there?

How many kinds are there, respectively,

Of Maras and non-Buddhists?

How many distinctions are there

Between self-nature and original mind?

What are the various designations of number?

What is discerning thought?

I humbly ask the Buddha to reveal these matters.

Empty space, wind, and clouds,

Plants, trees, and dense forests—

What are all these?

Why are elephants,

Horses, and deer captured?

What does it mean to be lowly?

What causes one to be lowly?

How are the six sense faculties brought to an end?

What is called an icchantika?

Male, female, and neither male nor female—

From where do they arise?

How does one generate the resolve to practice?

Why does one regress in practice?

What Dharma does a meditation master use,

And whom does the master instruct?

When sentient beings enter the various realms,

Which characteristics belong to which kind?

What is wealth and nobility?

What causes one to attain wealth and nobility?

What is the Sakya lineage?

What causes one to enter the Sakya lineage?

What is the Sugarcane lineage (1)?

May the World-Honored One explain it.

How did the ascetic seers

Transmit their teachings?

How does the Buddha’s body appear

Throughout all time and space,

Surrounded by all kinds of sentient beings

And bodhisattvas?

Why should meat not be eaten?

Why is eating meat forbidden?

What kinds of beings eat meat?

For what reason do they eat meat?

How did the sun and moon,

Mount Sumeru, and the lotus come into being?

How do the most excellent lands

Extend throughout the entire world?

Like Indra’s precious net,

(1) THE SUGARCANE LINEAGE: This is the Sakya clan. Because its members were descendants of King Sugarcane, it is called the Sugarcane lineage.

How are all those precious jewels,

Lutes shaped like hourglass drums,

And every kind of fragrant flower,

Radiant without sun or moon,

Each and all immeasurable?

What is a Transformation Buddha?

What is a Buddha of the Reward Body?

What is the Buddha of Suchness?

What is the Buddha of Wisdom?

Why is perfect, unsurpassed awakening

Not attained within the desire realm?

Why is bodhi attained through freedom from desire

In the Akanistha Heaven of the form realm?

When the Buddhas enter nirvana,

Who maintains the true Dharma?

How long do the Tathagata and the true Dharma

Remain in the world?

How many kinds are there, respectively,

Of attainments and attachments to views?

From the precepts of the bhiksus,

The sravakas and pratyekabuddhas,

Up to the bodhisattvas,

Through what causes and conditions were they established?

What causes the many transformations?

Why is there non-reception?

What is worldly higher knowledge?

Why is it supramundane?

What is the Seventh Bhumi?

I humbly beseech the Buddha to expound.

How many kinds of Sangha are there?

How is the Sangha disrupted?

What is the Science of Medicine?

Through what causes and conditions,

And why did the Buddha, the Blessed One,

Utter such words as these:

“Buddha Kasyapa, Buddha Krakucchanda,

And Buddha Kanakamuni were I”?

Why speak of annihilationism and eternalism?

Is there a self or no-self?

Why not at all times

Expound the true meaning,

But instead, for the sake of sentient beings,

Distinctly teach the measures of mind?

Why is the Saha world,

With its Vajra and Iron-Encircling Mountains,

Entirely filled,

Like an amra fruit?

*

The Buddha heard the verses of inquiry

Concerning the liberating gateways of the Mahayana

And the wondrous mind of all Buddhas;

“Excellent are these questions.

Mahamati, listen well.

Now, for all of you,

I shall answer them in due order:

Dharmas arising and not arising,

The various kinds who reach nirvana,

And how the instant has no intrinsic nature;

From disciples of the Buddha and non-Buddhists,

Sravakas and pratyekabuddhas,

The paramitas of bodhisattvas,

And practices in the Formless Realm.

Each matter such as these;

Mount Sumeru and the great oceans,

The continents and lands,

The constellations, sun, and moon,

The realms of devas and asuras,

The power of dhyana and samadhi,

And the mastery attained through liberation;

The Factors of Enlightenment, the Bases of Spiritual Power,

And all the aids to the path;

From bodies composed of the five skandhas

To the Attainment of Cessation,

Including immeasurable meditative absorptions;

The Buddha’s emergence from samadhi

And teaching the Dharma to liberate sentient beings;

Mind (the eighth consciousness), Manas (the seventh consciousness), and mental consciousness (the sixth consciousness),

The five dharmas and no-self,

The perceiver and the perceived,

And the two views manifested by intrinsic nature;

The vehicles and spiritual lineages,

Gold, silver, and mani jewels,

Even the icchantikas,

The many kinds and the One Buddha,

And the attainment of jneyam wisdom;

Whether sentient beings exist or do not exist;

Why birds, beasts, elephants, and horses

Are captured;

How things are accomplished through causes and conditions;

The agent and what is acted upon,

Groves and delusion;

How the measures of mind do not exist,

And how the bhumis do not reach one another;

Manifestations that receive and do not receive,

Medicine and crafts,

The inner and outer branches of the Five Sciences;

The great earth, Mount Sumeru,

The oceans, sun, moon, and stars;

Sentient beings of superior, middling, and inferior grades,

Lands and material bodies,

And the number of motes of dust in each;

Feet, inches, and the number of miles,

From the smallest to the largest numbers.

Generally speaking, questions such as these,

The terms for various quantities

That describe existence,

Space, and time—

These are the matters that should be asked;

What need is there to ask about anything else?

Sravakas and pratyekabuddhas,

Bodhisattvas, and even Buddhas—

How many particles comprise each body,

And what is the quantity of the four great elements?

Human bodies of the five skandhas,

Kings and rulers in the world,

And even Wheel-Turning Kings

All delight in retaining wealth;

How can they attain liberation?

Meanings both concise and extensive,

As contained in your questions,

Are what a disciple of the Buddha should ask.

To accord with each and every matter,

One must abandon attachment to views

And accomplish freedom from words and speech.

I shall now reveal and explain them,

Carefully, layer by layer.

Disciples of the Buddha, listen well.

These one hundred and eight propositions

Were taught by all Buddhas.”

The proposition of arising and the proposition of non-arising; the proposition of permanence and the proposition of impermanence; the proposition of abiding in change and the proposition of not abiding in change; the proposition of the instant and the proposition of the non-instant; the proposition of intrinsic nature and the proposition of no intrinsic nature; the proposition of emptiness and the proposition of non-emptiness; the proposition of annihilation and the proposition of non-annihilation; the proposition of an extreme and the proposition of no extreme; the proposition of a middle and the proposition of no middle; the proposition of conditions and the proposition of non-conditions; the proposition of a cause and the proposition of a non-cause;

the proposition of affliction and the proposition of non-affliction; the proposition of craving and the proposition of non-craving; the proposition of skillful means and the proposition of non-skillful means; the proposition of skill and the proposition of non-skill; the proposition of purity and the proposition of non-purity; the proposition of accomplishment and the proposition of non-accomplishment; the proposition of analogy and the proposition of non-analogy; the proposition of a disciple and the proposition of a non-disciple; the proposition of a teacher and the proposition of a non-teacher; the proposition of spiritual lineage and the proposition of no spiritual lineage; the proposition of the Three Vehicles and the proposition of no Three Vehicles;

the proposition of possession and the proposition of non-possession; the proposition of a vow and the proposition of no vow; the proposition of the threefold wheel and the proposition of no threefold wheel; the proposition of existence and the proposition of non-existence; the proposition of conjunction and the proposition of non-conjunction; the proposition of the bliss of the present Dharma arising through self-realized noble wisdom and the proposition of no bliss of the present Dharma; the proposition of lands and the proposition of non-lands; the proposition of water and the proposition of non-water; the proposition of a bow and the proposition of a non-bow; the proposition of reality and the proposition of unreality; the proposition of number and the proposition of non-number;

the proposition of science and the proposition of non-science; the proposition of empty space and the proposition of non-empty space; the proposition of clouds and the proposition of non-clouds; the proposition of the field of knowledge concerning crafts and technical arts and the proposition of no field of knowledge concerning crafts and technical arts; the proposition of wind and the proposition of non-wind; the proposition of earth and the proposition of non-earth; the proposition of mind and the proposition of non-mind; the proposition of designation and the proposition of non-designation; the proposition of the skandhas and the proposition of non-skandhas; the proposition of sentient beings and the proposition of non-sentient beings;

the proposition of wisdom and the proposition of non-wisdom; the proposition of nirvana and the proposition of non-nirvana; the proposition of jneyam and the proposition of non-jneyam; the proposition of non-Buddhists and the proposition of those who are not non-Buddhists; the proposition of confusion and the proposition of non-confusion; the proposition of illusion and the proposition of non-illusion; the proposition of dreams and the proposition of non-dreams; the proposition of a mirage and the proposition of a non-mirage; the proposition of an image and the proposition of a non-image; the proposition of a wheel and the proposition of a non-wheel; the proposition of gandharvas and the proposition of non-gandharvas; the proposition of devas and the proposition of non-devas;

the proposition of food and drink and the proposition of no food and drink; the proposition of sexual desire and the proposition of no sexual desire; the proposition of views and the proposition of no views; the proposition of the paramitas and the proposition of no paramitas; the proposition of moral discipline and the proposition of no moral discipline; the proposition of the sun, moon, and constellations and the proposition of no sun, moon, and constellations; the proposition of truth and the proposition of non-truth; the proposition of fruition and the proposition of non-fruition; the proposition of arising and ceasing and the proposition of no arising and ceasing; the proposition of curing and the proposition of non-curing; the proposition of limbs and the proposition of non-limbs;

the proposition of dhyana and the proposition of non-dhyana; the proposition of delusion and the proposition of non-delusion; the proposition of manifestation and the proposition of non-manifestation; the proposition of protection and the proposition of non-protection; the proposition of convention and the proposition of non-convention; the proposition of seers and the proposition of non-seers; the proposition of kings and the proposition of non-kings; the proposition of acceptance and the proposition of non-acceptance; the proposition of jewels and the proposition of non-jewels; the proposition of prediction and the proposition of non-prediction; the proposition of icchantikas and the proposition of non-icchantikas;

the proposition of female, male, and neither male nor female and the proposition of neither female, male, nor neither male nor female; the proposition of flavors and the proposition of non-flavors; the proposition of things and the proposition of non-things; the proposition of a body and the proposition of no body; the proposition of awakening and the proposition of non-awakening; the proposition of motion and the proposition of non-motion; the proposition of faculties and the proposition of non-faculties; the proposition of the conditioned and the proposition of the non-conditioned; the proposition of the unconditioned and the proposition of the non-unconditioned; the proposition of cause and effect and the proposition of no cause and effect;

the proposition of the ultimate limit of form and the proposition of no ultimate limit of form; the proposition of construction and the proposition of non-construction; the proposition of vines, trees, and creepers and the proposition of no vines, trees, and creepers; the proposition of mixture and the proposition of non-mixture; the proposition of teaching and the proposition of non-teaching; the proposition of Vinaya and the proposition of non-Vinaya; the proposition of bhiksus and the proposition of non-bhiksus; the proposition of a place and the proposition of no place; the proposition of written characters and the proposition of no written characters.

The Buddha said to Mahamati:

“These are the one hundred and eight propositions taught by the Buddhas of the past. You and all the great bodhisattvas should cultivate and study them.”

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati again addressed the Buddha:

“Blessed One! How many kinds of arising, abiding, and ceasing do the consciousnesses have?”

The Buddha said to Mahamati:

“The consciousnesses have two kinds of arising, abiding, and ceasing, which cannot be known through conceptual thought. The two kinds of arising are called continuous arising and characteristic arising; the two kinds of abiding are called continuous abiding and characteristic abiding; the two kinds of ceasing are called continuous ceasing and characteristic ceasing.

“Mahamati! The consciousnesses have three kinds of characteristics, called the characteristic of transformation, the characteristic of karma, and the characteristic of suchness. In brief, there are three kinds of consciousness; explained extensively, there are eight kinds of characteristics. The three kinds of consciousness are true consciousness, manifesting consciousness, and object-discriminating consciousness. Mahamati! Just as a bright mirror reveals various forms and appearances, so too is what is manifested by manifesting consciousness.

“Mahamati! Manifesting consciousness and object-discriminating consciousness—these two consciousnesses, whose characteristics are destructible and indestructible, serve as causes for one another. Mahamati! Inconceivable perfuming and inconceivable transformation are the causes of manifesting consciousness. The apprehension of sensory objects and the perfuming of false conceptualization since beginningless time are the causes of object-discriminating consciousness.

“Mahamati! When each and every unreal falsity that obscures true consciousness is extinguished, all the consciousnesses associated with the faculties are extinguished. This is called the characteristic of cessation.

“Mahamati! Why is it called CONTINUOUS CESSATION? Because when the cause of continuity has ceased, continuity must cease. When the supporting cause ceases, the conditioning object also ceases. When both the supporting cause and the conditioning object cease, continuity must cease. Why? Because it has a basis upon which it depends. ‘Basis of dependence’ refers to the perfuming of false conceptualization since beginningless time; ‘conditioning object’ refers to the objects of false conceptualization manifested by one’s own mind and consciousness.”

– Mahamati! Just as a lump of clay and its particles of dust are neither different nor not different, so too is it with ornaments fashioned from pure gold. Mahamati! If the lump of clay were different from the particles of dust, then the lump of clay would not be composed of particles of dust; yet in truth it is composed of particles of dust, and therefore they are said not to be different. If one holds that they are truly not different, then there would be no distinction between the lump of clay and the particles of dust.

– In the same way, Mahamati! If the true nature of the evolving consciousnesses and the storehouse consciousness were different, then the storehouse consciousness would not be the cause of the evolving consciousnesses. If they were not different, then when the evolving consciousnesses ceased, the storehouse consciousness would also have to cease; yet its true nature does not in fact cease. Therefore, Mahamati! It is not the consciousness belonging to the true nature that ceases; only its karmic aspect ceases. If the consciousness belonging to the true nature ceased, the storehouse consciousness would also have to cease. Mahamati! If the storehouse consciousness ceased, this would be no different from the annihilationist view of the non-Buddhist schools.

– Mahamati! The non-Buddhist schools argue as follows: “When the objects of apprehension cease, the continuous flow of consciousness also ceases.” If the continuous flow of consciousness ceased, then the beginningless flow would be cut off. Mahamati! The non-Buddhists say that the cause giving rise to this flow is not the conjunction of eye-consciousness, form, space, and light or darkness, but that there are other causes besides these. Mahamati! The causes of which they speak include a supreme principle, a person (1), a sovereign lord, time, particles of dust, and so forth.

(1) PERSON: The Chinese term means an intellectual or worthy person; here it alludes to the agent or that which is acted upon.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! There are seven kinds of natures of intrinsic nature, namely: the intrinsic nature of conjunction, the intrinsic nature of nature, the intrinsic nature of characteristics, the intrinsic nature of the great elements, the intrinsic nature of causes, the intrinsic nature of conditions, and the intrinsic nature of accomplishment.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! There are seven kinds of Ultimate Truth, namely: the realm of mind, the realm of prajna, the realm of wisdom, the realm of vision, the realm transcending the two views, the realm transcending the stage of the perishable body (transcending afflictions), and the realm of the Tathagata’s mastery. Mahamati! This is the mind of Ultimate Truth concerning intrinsic nature. It is also that by which all Buddhas, Arhats, and Perfectly Enlightened Ones of the past, present, and future accomplish worldly and supramundane dharmas, up to the supreme among supreme supramundane dharmas. Through the wisdom-eye of the noble ones, establishments are made by illuminating individual and common characteristics; these establishments are unlike the doctrines founded upon the wrong views of the non-Buddhists.

– Mahamati! What are the doctrines founded upon the wrong views of the non-Buddhists? They are the realm of deluded conceptualization arising from attachment to one’s own views. They do not understand that these arise from attachment to what is manifested by one’s own mind, because they have not penetrated the absence of boundaries. (Intrinsic nature pervades space and time and is originally without boundaries, but because the mind arises and clings to things as real, boundaries come to be.) Mahamati! Because of the ignorant nature of ordinary beings, they establish doctrines of dualistic views—relative dharmas—within the nonduality of the intrinsic nature that is devoid of intrinsic nature, which is Ultimate Truth.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! When the cause of the deluded suffering of the three realms ceases, the conditions of ignorance, craving, and karma immediately cease. I shall now explain the illusory realms that accord with attachment to what is manifested by one’s own mind.

– Mahamati! If there are sramanas or brahmins who maintain that the causes and effects of existence arise from seeds or without seeds, that things and time have an abiding basis, and that those things arising from attachment to the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas (1) undergo manifestations of arising, abiding, and change—or who say that after arising they cease—and if they maintain that things either arise or exist, or that nirvana, the path, karma, its fruit, truth, or permanence exists, all these are doctrines of annihilation. Why? Because all the matters mentioned above are beginningless—without any point of origin—and therefore none can be apprehended in the present.

– Mahamati! It is like a broken jar that can no longer be used, or a burned seed that cannot sprout. In the same way, Mahamati! If the natures of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas have ceased, are now ceasing, or will cease, and this is held to occur without a cause merely through deluded views and conceptualizations of one’s own mind, then their arising would have no sequential order.

– Mahamati! If it is further said that consciousness, whether seedless or produced from seeds, arises from the conjunction of three conditions—vision, characteristics, and consciousness—then a tortoise ought to grow hair, and sand should yield oil when pressed. Such a doctrine must necessarily destroy itself, for it contradicts the definitive meaning. The doctrine of arising from seeds or without seeds has such faults; if activities are established in accordance with it,

they are all false and meaningless.

(1) SKANDHAS, AYATANAS, AND DHATUS: The skandhas are the five skandhas: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. The ayatanas are the six ayatanas: the six sense faculties apprehend the six sense objects, giving rise to sensory experience; these are called the six ayatanas. The dhatus are the eighteen dhatus: when the six sense faculties make contact with the six sense objects, the six consciousnesses arise; these are called the eighteen dhatus.

– Mahamati! The non-Buddhist doctrine that things arise from the conjunction of three conditions establishes expediently the individual characteristics of cause and effect in the past, present, and future. The notions of arising from seeds and without seeds, regarded since ancient times as established facts, revolve within thought and cognition and are transmitted successively. Such doctrines are taught because of the faults of habit-energy arising from attachment to one’s own views.

– Mahamati! Ignorant ordinary beings, intoxicated by erroneous conceptions and with their wisdom devoured by wrong views, falsely proclaim their doctrine of ignorance to be omniscience.

– Mahamati! If sramanas and brahmins abandon attachment to intrinsic nature and know that what appears within and without is manifested by mind, like floating clouds, a firebrand’s circle, a city of the gandharvas, a mirage, the moon’s reflection in water, or a dream and illusion, then they understand that beginningless false conceptualizations are never apart from their own mind. If the causes and conditions of deluded conceptualization are completely extinguished, they become free from the imagined speaker and what is spoken, the observer and what is observed, as well as the establishment of a body founded upon the storehouse consciousness, and from enjoyment, objects apprehended, the apprehending subject, and so forth within the realm of consciousness. They no longer correspond with any of the foregoing matters; none of those realms exists. They are free from arising, abiding, and cessation; free from what arises through their own mind; and free from discriminations made according to whatever they enter. A bodhisattva who attains this will before long realize the equality of samsara and nirvana and attain great compassion and skillful means, without perceiving any development of skillful means.

– Mahamati! All sentient beings are like illusions and do not arise from causes and conditions. Being far removed from internal and external realms, one sees no dharma apart from mind and successively enters the state free from conception. Proceeding from the realm of samadhi of one bhumi to another, one discriminates, contemplates, and thoroughly understands that the three realms are like illusions. One will realize the illusion-like samadhi, transcend what is manifested by one’s own mind, abide in prajnaparamita, abandon expedient means, and go beyond the Vajropama Samadhi. One will immediately enter the body of the Tathagata, enter the mastery of spiritual powers and transformations, and be fully adorned with compassion and skillful means. One will enter all Buddha lands and the abodes of non-Buddhists, remaining equally in suchness and free from mind, mentation, and consciousness. This is the bodhisattva’s successive transformation of bodies until the Dharma-body of the Tathagata is realized, ultimately returning to non-attainment.

– Mahamati! Therefore, one who wishes to enter the Dharma-body of the Tathagata must abandon the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas, as well as causes and conditions employed as the mind’s expedient means. One must directly contemplate mind-only and the faults of false, beginningless habit-energy and deluded conceptualization. Arising, abiding, and cessation are false conceptualizations; the Buddha-bhumi is unborn. One must contemplate that the three realms have no true existence, arrive at the noble wisdom of self-realization and mastery of one’s own mind, and reach the practice in which there is nothing practiced. Like a mani jewel that assumes the colors around it (the jewel itself has no color, yet it displays colors according to the colors seen by the observer), one manifests bodily forms in accordance with the subtle measures of sentient beings’ minds. Thus, the successive bhumis are continuously established. Therefore, Mahamati! One must diligently cultivate and learn the wholesome dharmas that bring about self-accomplishment.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati again addressed the Buddha, saying:

– The Blessed One taught that mind, mentation, consciousness, the five dharmas, and the characteristics of the self-natures constitute the practice of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Their object and domain are not compounded; they reveal that all dharmas are manifested by the mind itself and establish the characteristic of true reality. THE MIND OF ALL THE BUDDHAS’ TEACHINGS is the Buddha’s exposition of the domain of the storehouse consciousness of the Dharma-body, at the dwelling place of the great bodhisattvas on Mount Malaya, in the sea off the land of Lanka.

At that time, the Blessed One told Bodhisattva Mahamati:

– The eye consciousness evolves because of four causes and conditions. What are the four? 1. Unawareness that what is apprehended is manifested by one’s own mind. 2. The fault of beginningless habit-energy of falsity. 3. Attachment to the self-nature of the nature of consciousness. 4. The desire to see the various forms and appearances. These are called the four causes and conditions whereby, from the flowing stream of the storehouse consciousness, the waves of the evolving consciousnesses arise.

– Just as the eye consciousness evolves, so consciousness arises throughout all the minute particles and pores of all the faculties; the other domains arise accordingly in the same way. It is like a bright mirror reflecting forms and appearances. It is also like a great wind blowing upon the sea: the wind of external domains blows upon the ocean of mind, causing waves of consciousness to rise in the same manner. Because the characteristics of what is produced are either different or not different, characteristics arise through the conjunction of karmic conditions and are then deeply grasped. Since the self-nature of forms cannot be fully known, the body of the five consciousnesses evolves accordingly.

– Mahamati! That body of the five consciousnesses exists because of cognition of the differentiated characteristics of discrete segments; you should know that this is the body of mental consciousness. That evolving body does not itself conceive, “It is my characteristic that evolves.” Rather, it evolves because of deluded conceptualization and attachment manifested by the mind itself; thus, each illusory characteristic evolves together with it. Through differentiating discrete segments and discriminating domains, it is called evolution. It is like a practitioner who enters the right meditative concentration: subtle habit-energy evolves without his knowing it, and he further supposes that consciousness must cease before he enters meditative concentration. In truth, he enters right concentration without consciousness ceasing. Because the seeds of habit-energy have not ceased, the domains evolve while consciousness does not cease; it does not cease merely because there is no apprehension.

– Mahamati! The ultimate limit of the subtle storehouse consciousness is such that, apart from the Buddhas and bodhisattvas abiding on the stages, neither shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, nor practitioners of non-Buddhist paths—despite the power of wisdom acquired through samadhi—can measure or fully comprehend it.

– Only those who possess the characteristics of wisdom skillful in discrimination, who discern the meanings of words and phrases, who advance supremely and without limit, whose wholesome roots have matured, who have abandoned the false and deceptive conceptualizations manifested by their own minds, who sit quietly in forests and mountains, and who cultivate through the lower, middle, and higher stages, come to see the continuous flow of conceptualization within their own minds. They receive consecration from the Buddhas of innumerable lands, attain the sovereign powers of supernormal knowledge and samadhi, and come to know spiritual friends and the retinues of the Buddha’s children. They understand that mind, mentation, and consciousness; sentient beings’ karma, craving, and ignorance that enter the sea of birth and death; and those domains of illusory thought and so forth are all manifested by the mind itself. Upon reaching this point, they have transcended all the various causes and conditions described above. Therefore, Mahamati, practitioners should draw near to the most excellent spiritual guides.

At that time, wishing to restate this meaning, the Blessed One spoke in verse:

Like waves upon the vast ocean,

Raised by a powerful wind,

Great waves beat across the boundless sea,

Never ceasing for a moment.

The ocean of storehouse consciousness ever abides;

The wind of domains stirs it.

Each and every wave of consciousness

Surges forth tumultuously.

All kinds of beautiful colors,

All kinds of delicious food,

All kinds of fine flowers and fruits,

The radiance of the sun and moon—

Whether different or not different,

They are like waves rising on the sea.

The seven consciousnesses are likewise:

They arise from the conjunction of mind and its domains.

Just as the waters of the sea are transformed,

Giving rise to all kinds of waves,

The seven consciousnesses are likewise:

They arise from the conjunction of mind and its domains.

Speaking of that storehouse consciousness,

Each of the consciousnesses evolves.

This occurs because mental consciousness

Reflects upon the meanings of characteristics.

There are eight characteristics that do not perish;

The signless is originally without characteristics.

Just as ocean waves

Are not different from the seawater,

Consciousness and mind are likewise:

No difference can be established between them.

Mind is called the accumulation of karma;

Mentation is called the extensive accumulation.

Consciousness cognizes by means of consciousness;

When domains appear, five are spoken of. (1)

(1) WHEN DOMAINS APPEAR, FIVE ARE SPOKEN OF: The first five consciousnesses—eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body—have as their immediately present domains the external objects of form, sound, fragrance, taste, and touch.

Bodhisattva Mahamati asked the Buddha in verse:

The forms and appearances of blue and red

Arise from the various consciousnesses.

Dharmas rise like waves—

I pray the Buddha to explain this meaning.

The Blessed One replied in verse:

The forms and appearances of blue and red—

The waves are originally nonexistent.

All arise from the accumulation of mind.

If ordinary beings awaken,

That karma is originally nonexistent,

Being apprehended by the mind itself.

Apart from apprehender and apprehended,

They are just like those waves.

The body and its objects of enjoyment are established

As manifestations of sentient beings’ consciousness.

The karma manifested therein

Is altogether like waves upon water.

*

Bodhisattva Mahamati again spoke in verse:

The nature of waves upon the vast ocean,

Though surging, can still be understood.

The storehouse and karma are likewise;

Why, then, can they not be understood?

The Blessed One replied in verse:

Ordinary beings lack wisdom.

The storehouse consciousness is like the vast ocean,

And karmic characteristics are like waves;

This analogy is given to help them understand.

*

Bodhisattva Mahamati again asked in verse:

The brilliant sun shines everywhere

Upon beings of higher, middling, and lower capacities.

The Tathagata illuminates the world,

Revealing words of truth.

Why divide the teaching into many vehicles

And teach doctrines said not to be true?

At that time, the Blessed One replied in verse:

If words of truth were spoken,

Their minds would not accord with the truth.

Like waves upon the sea,

Like images in a mirror, dreams, and illusions,

All appear simultaneously;

The domains of mind are likewise.

(The essence of mind pervades space

and time; therefore, all appear simultaneously, without before or after.)

That the domains are now incomplete

Is because karma evolves and gives them birth.

Consciousness cognizes by means of consciousness;

Mentation considers by means of mentation.

The five consciousnesses appear according to their domains,

Without any fixed sequential order.

It is like a skilled painter

And the painter’s apprentices:

With colored pigments they paint forms and images;

My teaching is likewise.

Colors themselves have no meaning,

Nor do the brush and silk.

To satisfy the minds of sentient beings,

All kinds of images are painted.

Words are used to reveal the teaching,

But the true meaning transcends written words.

Discriminative teachings guide beginners,

Whose cultivation leads them to the truth.

The realm of truth is personally realized,

Apart from knower and known.

This is taught for the Buddha’s children;

The foolish engage in false discrimination.

The world is entirely like an illusion;

Though it appears, it is not real.

The teaching of Dharma is likewise:

Skillful means are established according to circumstances.

A good physician treats the sick,

Giving medicine according to each disease.

If the Dharma taught does not suit their capacities,

For them it becomes no teaching at all.

According to the measure of sentient beings’ minds,

The Tathagata teaches in response to their capacities.

This is not a domain of deluded conceptualization;

Shravakas have no share in it.

Out of compassion for the deluded,

He teaches the domain of self-realization.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! If a great bodhisattva wishes to know the direct perception of the mind itself, and the apprehended and the apprehender within the domain of deluded conceptualization, he must abandon worldly customs and habits. Throughout the six periods of day and night, he should constantly remain self-vigilant and cultivate through skillful means. He must abandon the discourses of those who hold wrong views and the characteristics of the shravaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles, and penetrate the characteristics of deluded conceptualization manifested by the mind itself.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! To establish wisdom, a great bodhisattva should diligently cultivate and study the three characteristics of noble wisdom.

– What are the three characteristics of noble wisdom? They are the characteristic of nonexistence, the characteristic of the place of the personal vows of all Buddhas, and the characteristic of the ultimate noble wisdom of self-realization. Having cultivated and reached this point, one must relinquish the diseased characteristic of the wisdom-mind and ascend to the Eighth Bodhisattva Stage. This arises through the process of cultivating the three characteristics described above.

– Mahamati! The CHARACTERISTIC OF NONEXISTENCE arises from cultivating the characteristics taught by shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and followers of other paths. The CHARACTERISTIC OF THE GROUND OF ONE’S OWN VOWS refers to that which arises from the vows cultivated by all Buddhas of the past. The CHARACTERISTIC OF THE ULTIMATE NOBLE WISDOM OF SELF-REALIZATION means not becoming attached to the characteristics of any dharma and proceeding until one attains the samadhi-body of the Buddhas, which is like an illusion. These are called the three characteristics of noble wisdom. Whoever perfects these three characteristics of noble wisdom reaches the ultimate realm of the Noble Wisdom of Self-Realization. Therefore, Mahamati, you should diligently cultivate and study these three characteristics of noble wisdom.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati knew that the assembly of great bodhisattvas was thinking about the name of the Sutra of the Noble Wisdom That Discerns Intrinsic Nature. Therefore, empowered by the spiritual might of all the Buddhas, he said:

– Blessed One! I beseech the Buddha to expound the Sutra of the Noble Wisdom That Discerns Intrinsic Nature. Following the Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, please distinguish the meanings of the one hundred and eight statements and, in accordance with them, explain how great bodhisattvas enter the individual and shared characteristics of the imagined intrinsic nature. Through discerning and explaining the imagined intrinsic nature, they are able to skillfully contemplate the selflessness of persons and dharmas, cleanse themselves of delusion, illuminate the various bhumis, transcend all shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and the meditative concentrations of followers of other paths, and fully know the inconceivable realm of practice of the Tathagata, abandoning the five dharmas and the intrinsic natures. Adorning themselves well with the wisdom of the Dharma-body of all Buddha-Tathagatas, they manifest illusory realms and ascend to the Tushita Heavenly Palace and the Akanishtha Heavenly Palace in all Buddha lands, until they attain the eternally abiding Dharma-body of the Tathagata (just as Buddha Shakyamuni descended from the Tushita Heavenly Palace and attained Buddhahood).

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– There is a kind of follower of other paths who gives rise to the deluded attachment to annihilation. Erasing the cause of cognition, they regard everything as void, like a hare without horns, and claim that all dharmas are likewise. Other followers of other paths, relying upon the subtle point of dravya (ultimate truth), falsely cling to the individual differences among dharmas. Giving rise to this view, they claim that because a hare has no horns, an ox must therefore have horns. Mahamati! They fall into the dual views of EXISTENCE and NONEXISTENCE. Failing to understand that these are realms measured by their own minds, they deludedly add and subtract, establishing a body and its objects of enjoyment and imagining that these have a basis in quantity. Mahamati! The nature of all dharmas is likewise apart from existence and nonexistence. One should not conceive them as truly existing or truly nonexistent.

– Mahamati! If, while claiming to be free from existence and nonexistence, one imagines that the absence of a hare’s horns is truly nonexistent and that an ox’s horns are truly existent, both are called erroneous conceptions. Mahamati! In accordance with the realm of noble wisdom, one should abandon these two opposing views.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One! When one who does not engage in deluded conception sees the characteristic of non-arising and then reflects upon and contemplates it without giving rise to deluded conception, is this called NONEXISTENCE?

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– It is not because one contemplates and does not give rise to deluded conception that it is called NONEXISTENCE. Why is this? Because deluded conception arises from clinging to things as real, just as deluded conceptions arise from clinging to the real existence or nonexistence of horns. If one does not cling to things as real, one is free from the two relative characteristics. By contemplating EXISTENCE, one says that a hare has no horns; by contemplating NONEXISTENCE, one says that an ox has horns. Mahamati! Because relative dharmas are not a valid cause, statements of existence and nonexistence are both untenable. What is said to be ESTABLISHED is established through attachment to relative dharmas.

– Mahamati! There are also followers of other paths who, clinging to the non-arising of form, give rise to views. Not knowing the reality of empty space, they claim that form is separate from empty space and thereby give rise to extreme deluded views.

– Mahamati! Empty space is form and belongs to the category of form. Form is empty space. Through that which supports and that which is supported, the nature of form and the nature of emptiness are established and distinguished. Mahamati! You should know that when the four great elements arise, their individual characteristics are distinct and do not abide in empty space; yet this does not mean that empty space does not exist.

– Likewise, Mahamati! Because they cling to relative dharmas, contemplating that an ox has horns, they say that a hare has no horns. If an ox’s horns are analyzed into minute particles, and those particles are further analyzed down to the most minute particle, then from moment to moment there is nowhere for them to abide. On the basis of what contemplation, then, do they call them NONEXISTENT? If they contemplate other things, those dharmas are likewise.

At that time, the Blessed One told Bodhisattva Mahamati:

– One should abandon deluded views and conceptions concerning a hare’s horns, an ox’s horns, the characteristics of form, and empty space. Great bodhisattvas should examine the deluded conceptions manifested by their own minds. Entering all lands, bodhisattvas should employ skillful means arising from their own minds to instruct sentient beings.

At that time, wishing to restate this meaning, the Blessed One spoke these verses:

All forms and the mind

Arise from emptiness.

The body and its objects of enjoyment are established;

The storehouse consciousness manifests sentient beings.

Mind, mentation, and consciousness,

And the five dharmas of intrinsic nature (1).

There are two kinds of selflessness (2),

Extensively taught by the Tathagata.

Long and short, existence and nonexistence,

Arise successively in mutual dependence.

Because of NONEXISTENCE, EXISTENCE is established;

Because of EXISTENCE, NONEXISTENCE is established.

If minute particles are discriminated,

Deluded form cannot arise.

Wherever mind’s measurements are established,

Erroneous views should not be entertained.

This is not the realm of conceptual cognition,

Nor is it the conception of shravakas.

It is the realm of self-realization,

Taught through skillful means by the Savior of the World.

1) THE FIVE DHARMAS OF INTRINSIC NATURE: characteristics, names, discrimination, right wisdom, and suchness.

(2) THE TWO KINDS OF SELFLESSNESS: 1. The selflessness of persons. 2. The selflessness of dharmas.

At that time, to completely eliminate the stream of consciousness manifested by the mind itself, Bodhisattva Mahamati again asked the Tathagata:

– Blessed One! How is the stream of consciousness manifested by the minds of all sentient beings completely eliminated? Is this a sudden or a gradual process?

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– It is neither gradual nor sudden, and it is both gradual and sudden. It is said to be GRADUAL, just as the amalaka fruit gradually ripens, or as the great earth gradually produces the myriad things. The Tathagata’s elimination of the stream of consciousness manifested by the minds of all sentient beings is likewise. It is said to be SUDDEN, just as a bright mirror instantly reflects all forms and formless appearances, or as sunlight instantly illuminates all forms. The Tathagata’s elimination of the stream of consciousness manifested by the minds of all sentient beings is likewise.

– Mahamati! The Nishyanda Buddha teaches that the individual and shared characteristics of all dharmas are habitual tendencies manifested by the mind itself. Deluded conceptions continue because the mind itself compares and clings to them, yet each is unreal, like an illusion. In truth, all such comparisons and attachments are unobtainable.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! Through comparison and attachment to the dependently arisen intrinsic nature, the characteristics of the imagined intrinsic nature arise. Mahamati! It is like an illusionist who, relying upon grasses, trees, tiles, and stones, creates all manner of illusory scenes. Consequently, numerous shapes and forms arise, giving rise to all kinds of deluded conceptions, although those deluded conceptions are fundamentally unreal.

– Likewise, Mahamati! Deluded conceptions arise in dependence upon the dependently arisen nature, and in dependence upon each deluded conception, each presently functioning phenomenon is formed. This is called the Dharma taught by the Nishyanda Buddha.

– Mahamati! The TRANSFORMATION BUDDHA teaches generosity, moral discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom; freedom from the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas; liberation; and discrimination concerning the characteristics of consciousness. These are established through contemplation and transcend the views of followers of other paths and views concerning the Formless Realm.

– Mahamati! The DHARMA BUDDHA is free from the grasping of conditions and from all activity. The characteristics of the faculties and all measurements are extinguished. It is not the characteristic of attachment to a self, nor is it the realm grasped by ordinary beings, shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, or followers of other paths. It is established through the ultimate differentiated characteristic of the Noble Wisdom of Self-Realization. Therefore, Mahamati, you should diligently cultivate and study the ultimate differentiated characteristic of the Noble Wisdom of Self-Realization, and the views manifested by your own mind must be eliminated.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! There are two kinds of distinguishing characteristics common to the shravaka vehicle: attachment to the characteristic of distinctions in the attainment of self-realized noble wisdom, and the characteristic of comparative attachment to the imagined nature of intrinsic nature.

– What is the shravakas’ “attainment of distinctions in self-realized noble wisdom”? It is the realm of ultimate truth: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, non-self, freedom from desire, quiescent cessation, the cessation of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas, and their individual and common characteristics; apart from external indestructible characteristics, they know the mind as it truly is and attain tranquility. Once the mind has become tranquil, they attain dhyana, liberation, samadhi, the Path, and its fruits. Yet that meditative attainment and liberation are not free from the habitual tendencies of the inconceivable transformational birth and death. Attaining self-realized noble wisdom, they delight in abiding in the shravaka vehicle. This is called the shravakas’ characteristic of distinctions in the attainment of self-realized noble wisdom.

– Mahamati! Great bodhisattvas who delight in abiding in distinctions in the attainment of self-realized noble wisdom do not delight in the Dharma-gate of cessation or in meditative attainment; solely out of compassion for sentient beings and in accordance with their original vows, they do not appropriate realization for themselves. Mahamati! Great bodhisattvas should not cultivate or study the characteristics in which those of the shravaka vehicle delight—distinctions in the attainment of self-realized noble wisdom.

– Mahamati! What is the shravaka vehicle’s comparative attachment to the imagined nature of intrinsic nature? It is the belief that the primary elements—blue, yellow, red, and white, earth, water, fire, and wind—arise without being created and possess individual and common characteristics, whereas these are merely expedient means taught by the Buddha. On this basis, shravakas give rise to imaginings concerning intrinsic nature. Great bodhisattvas should understand and relinquish this teaching, immediately enter the characteristic of the non-self of dharmas, and extinguish the characteristic of the non-self of persons, gradually advancing through the bodhisattva bhumis. This is called the shravaka vehicle’s characteristic of comparative attachment to the imagined nature of intrinsic nature.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! Is not the realm of the eternal and inconceivable, and the realm of ultimate meaning, taught by the World-Honored One concerning the supreme noble wisdom, the same as the eternal and inconceivable causes and conditions taught by the followers of other paths?

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– It is not the eternal and inconceivable attained through the causes and conditions of the followers of other paths. Why? The eternal and inconceivable of those followers of other paths is not established through its own characteristic. If the eternal and inconceivable is not established through its own characteristic, how could the eternal and inconceivable be manifested? Furthermore, Mahamati! If the inconceivable were established through its own characteristic, it would necessarily be an eternal dharma. If it were produced by someone, it could not constitute the eternal and inconceivable, for it would exist only after being made and would not have existed eternally.

– Mahamati! I teach the eternal and inconceivable of ultimate meaning. The causal characteristic establishing ultimate meaning is free from being and non-being; therefore, the characteristic of self-realization is attained while remaining without characteristics. Ultimate wisdom has as its cause that which is free from being and non-being. Like empty space, which is uncreated, and nirvana, in which there is complete cessation, this Dharma is inherently eternal and is not made eternal through creation. Thus, it is not the same as the fixed doctrine of the eternal and inconceivable held by the followers of other paths.

– Mahamati! This eternal and inconceivable is realized through the Tathagatas’ self-realized noble wisdom. Therefore, the eternal and inconceivable of self-realized noble wisdom must be cultivated and studied.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! The eternal and inconceivable dharma of the followers of other paths does not possess an eternal nature, because it has as its cause a characteristic other than itself and does not arise through the power of its own self-established characteristic. Furthermore, Mahamati! The eternal and inconceivable dharma of the followers of other paths is something created. Though its nature is non-existent and impermanent, through conceptual views they deem it eternal.

– Mahamati! My Dharma also employs causes and conditions in this way: because it is free from being and non-being, it establishes nothing created and holds no view of permanence. Within the realm of self-realized noble wisdom, it is said that this eternity is itself without a cause—that is, without a beginning. Mahamati! If the followers of other paths establish a causal characteristic as constituting the eternal and inconceivable, establish a cause of its own characteristic, and speak of being and non-being, then it is like a hare’s horn, for their eternal and inconceivable dharma consists only of imagined words. The followers of other paths have this fault. Why? Because it consists only of imagined words, like a hare’s horn, and is not inherently complete through its own characteristic.

– Mahamati! My eternal and inconceivable Dharma is realized through the characteristic of self-realization. Being free from anything created and from being and non-being, it is therefore inherently eternal. It is not by standing outside being and non-being and conceptualizing an impermanent dharma as eternal. Mahamati! To stand outside being and non-being and conceptualize an impermanent dharma as eternal is the followers of other paths’ doctrine of the eternal and inconceivable. Because they do not know the inherently complete characteristic of the self-cause of the eternal and inconceivable, they are far removed from the characteristic of the realm attained through self-realized noble wisdom. They should not expound it.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! Shravakas fear the suffering of imagined birth and death and seek nirvana. They do not know that all distinctions between birth and death and nirvana are imagined and devoid of intrinsic nature. Taking the cessation of activity in the realm of the sense faculties to be nirvana, they do not transform the storehouse consciousness into self-realized noble wisdom.

– Therefore, the Buddha teaches ordinary beings that there are three vehicles and explains that such measurements of mind are fundamentally unreal. They do not know the realm manifested by mind itself as realized by the Tathagatas of the past, present, and future. Comparatively discriminating and clinging to a realm manifested outside the mind, they perpetually revolve within the cycle of birth and death.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! All dharmas are originally unborn. This is what the Buddhas of the past, present, and future teach. Why? To say that they are MANIFESTED BY MIND ITSELF means that their nature is neither being nor non-being and that they arise apart from existence and non-existence. Mahamati! Since all natures are unborn, all dharmas are like a hare’s horn; yet foolish ordinary beings, through imaginings concerning intrinsic nature, cling to them as real.

– Mahamati! The unborn nature of all dharmas is the realm of self-realized noble wisdom. All characteristics of intrinsic nature within all natures are originally unborn. It is not the twofold realm of the dualistic imaginings of ordinary beings, which establishes characteristics of intrinsic nature for the material body and its possessions. Mahamati! Ordinary beings fall into dualistic views concerning arising, abiding, and cessation by taking the transformed characteristics of grasper and grasped in the storehouse consciousness to be real. They hope that all natures have arisen and produce imaginings of existence and non-existence; this is not the state of noble sages.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! There are five kinds of uninterrupted lineage. What are the five? They are the uninterrupted lineage of the shravaka vehicle, the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, the uninterrupted lineage of the Tathagata vehicle, the indeterminate lineage, and the various distinct lineages—the lineages of the followers of other paths.

– What is the UNINTERRUPTED LINEAGE OF THE SHRAVAKA VEHICLE? If, upon hearing teachings concerning the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas and their individual and common characteristics, a person feels ease and peaceful joy throughout every pore of the body and delights in cultivating wisdom concerning characteristics, but does not cultivate the characteristic of dependent origination that gives rise to awakening, that person gives rise to the resolve to eliminate the habitual tendencies of the afflictions but does not eliminate them. That person does not transcend the inconceivable transformational birth and death, but transcends only segmented birth and death, believing: “My birth and death have ended; the holy life has been established; there will be no further rebirth.” That person knows as it truly is how to cultivate the non-self of persons and eventually realizes the nirvana of the shravakas. This is called the uninterrupted lineage of the shravaka vehicle.

– Mahamati! What is the UNINTERRUPTED LINEAGE OF THE PRATYEKABUDDHA VEHICLE? If, upon hearing of the various distinctions in uninterrupted causes and conditions, a person’s bodily hair stands on end and tears stream down, and that person feels no delight in characteristics that do not pertain to the twelve links of dependent origination; if, in each individual body, that person displays various supernormal powers, whether in separation or conjunction, and all manner of transformations, then upon hearing this teaching, that person’s mind immediately awakens and enters realization. Having recognized that such people belong to the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, one should accord with their faculties and dispositions and teach them the Dharma of the pratyekabuddha vehicle. This is called the characteristic of the uninterrupted lineage of the pratyekabuddha vehicle.

– Mahamati! The TATHAGATA VEHICLE’S UNINTERRUPTED LINEAGE is of four kinds: 1. The uninterrupted lineage of the intrinsic nature of dharmas. 2. The uninterrupted lineage apart from the intrinsic nature of dharmas. 3. The uninterrupted lineage that attains the sacred state of self-realization. 4. The uninterrupted lineage beyond the supreme kshetra (beyond the supreme realm, meaning non-abiding). Mahamati! If, upon hearing these four matters explained, a person hears that the inconceivable realm of body and possessions (self and what belongs to self) is established by the manifestations of one’s own mind, and the mind is not frightened, this is called the characteristic of the Tathagata Vehicle’s Uninterrupted Lineage.

– Mahamati! The INDETERMINATE LINEAGE is this: When people hear the three kinds of lineage described above, whichever lineage they hear about at that time, they awaken to and enter that lineage, cultivate accordingly, and attain accomplishment. Thus, on hearing the teaching of the shravaka vehicle, they enter the shravaka lineage; on hearing the teaching of the pratyekabuddha vehicle, they enter the pratyekabuddha lineage; and on hearing the teaching of the Tathagata vehicle, they enter the Tathagata lineage. This is called the Indeterminate Lineage.

– Mahamati! The DISTINCTLY UNINTERRUPTED LINEAGE is this: Those beings who still cling as real to views and perceptions such as self, person, sentient being, lifespan, the growth of wholesome roots, the individual, and so forth, seek to realize nirvana. Moreover, upon hearing the doctrines preached by adherents of other paths, they hold that every nature has a creator, declare this to be nirvana, and regard such a view as enlightenment. They have no share in the Dharma of non-self and therefore cannot attain liberation. These are practitioners of the shravaka vehicle who belong to the uninterrupted lineage of adherents of other paths. Though they have not escaped samsara, they believe that they have escaped it. This is called the Distinctly Uninterrupted Lineage.

– Mahamati! The beginner in Cultivating the Ground (1) speaks of establishing lineages because he wishes to transcend and enter the Ground of Nothing Whatsoever; hence this establishment is made. Those who cultivate and awaken by themselves must completely eliminate the habitual tendencies of affliction and perceive the non-self of dharmas. Beginning with the attainment of the shravaka samadhi and extending through those five kinds of lineage, all will ultimately realize the Tathagata’s supreme Dharma-body.

At that time, the Blessed One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke these verses:

The stream-enterer, srotapanna,

The once-returner, sakridagamin,

The non-returner, anagamin,

And attainment of the fruit of arhatship:

These are called the shravaka vehicle.

The Three Vehicles and the One Vehicle,

And the non-vehicle, I rightly teach.

Ordinary beings are deficient in wisdom;

The noble ones leave quiescence far behind.

The Dharma gateway of ultimate truth

Leaves the teachings of the Two Vehicles far behind

And abides in the Ground of Nothing Whatsoever.

Why, then, establish the Three Vehicles?

The dhyanas and immeasurable states,

The formless samadhis,

And the cessation of sensation and perception—

None of these involves the mind’s conceptual measure.

(1) CULTIVATING THE GROUND: Cultivating the ground of the mind is like clearing uncultivated land.

– Mahamati! Those called ICCHANTIKAS are not truly icchantikas. If icchantikas truly existed, who could transform whom? How, then, could the world attain liberation? Mahamati! There are two kinds of icchantika:

1. Those who abandon all wholesome roots and those who abandon their beginningless vows concerning sentient beings. What does it mean to abandon all wholesome roots? It means slandering the Bodhisattva Treasury and uttering the malicious words: “Liberation is not attained by following the sutras and Vinaya.” Because they abandon all wholesome roots, they cannot realize and enter nirvana.

2. Bodhisattvas who, in order to bring all sentient beings to the realization of nirvana, possess the fundamental vow and skillful means not to personally appropriate the realization of nirvana. Mahamati! Their Dharma of nirvana is called the Dharma-characteristic of non-nirvana. They also belong to the class of icchantikas.

Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

– Blessed One! Why is it certain that they do not personally appropriate the realization of nirvana?

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– Bodhisattva icchantikas know that all dharmas are originally nirvana. They no longer seek to appropriate the realization of nirvana; they are not those who abandon all wholesome roots and thereby become icchantikas.

– Mahamati! Icchantikas who have abandoned all wholesome roots may, through the spiritual power of the Tathagata, give rise to wholesome roots anew. Why? Because the Tathagata abandons no sentient being. Therefore, it is said that bodhisattva icchantikas do not personally appropriate the realization of nirvana.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! Mahabodhisattvas must thoroughly understand the three intrinsic natures. What are the three intrinsic natures (1)? They are the imagined intrinsic nature (parikalpita), the dependently arisen intrinsic nature (paratantra), and the perfected intrinsic nature (parinishpanna). The imagined intrinsic nature arises from attachment to characteristics.

(1) THE THREE INTRINSIC NATURES: There are two sets: A. The three natures of wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate, which belong to numerical classifications. B. The three natures of the imagined, the dependently arisen, and the perfected, which belong to technical terminology.

Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha:

– Why is it said that the imagined intrinsic nature arises from characteristics?

The Buddha told Mahamati:

– Within the phenomenal characteristics of the intrinsic nature of dependent arising, characteristics of activity reveal the characteristics of phenomena. Through calculation and attachment regarding those characteristics, two characteristics of the imagined intrinsic nature come to exist. These are provisionally established by the Tathagata, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One, and are called attachment to the characteristics of names and attachment to the characteristics of phenomena. ATTACHMENT TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF NAMES means attachment to all internal and external dharmas. ATTACHMENT TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF PHENOMENA means that attachment arises in this manner in accordance with the internal and external phenomena of individual and common characteristics. These are called the characteristics of the two kinds of imagined intrinsic nature. Because they arise in dependence upon causes and conditions, this is called the intrinsic nature of dependent arising.

– What is the PERFECTED INTRINSIC NATURE? It is freedom from the imagined conceptions of the two kinds of characteristics—names and phenomena. It is the sphere of activity of the sacred wisdom of self-realization, realized by sacred wisdom. This is called the Perfected Intrinsic Nature and is also called the Mind of the Tathagatagarbha.

At that time, the Blessed One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke these verses:

Names, characteristics, and discrimination,

Together with the two intrinsic natures;

Right wisdom and suchness

Complete the characteristics of the Five Dharmas.

– Mahamati! This is called the Sutra on Contemplating the Characteristics of the Five Dharmas and the Intrinsic Natures. The sphere of activity of this sutra is the purport of the sacred wisdom of self-realization; the assembly of mahabodhisattvas should cultivate and study it.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! Mahabodhisattvas skillfully contemplate the two characteristics of non-self. What are the two characteristics of non-self? They are the non-self of persons and the non-self of dharmas.

– What is the WISDOM OF THE NON-SELF OF PERSONS? It is freedom from self and what belongs to self; freedom from the conditioned aggregation of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas; freedom from the arising of ignorance, karma, and craving; and freedom from attachments whereby the six faculties apprehend the six sense objects and give rise to the six consciousnesses. All such attachments must be relinquished. For all faculties, the body (the direct retribution), and the surrounding world (the dependent retribution) are manifestations of one’s own mind and characteristics of one’s own deluded imagination. Like a flowing stream, a seed, a lamp, the wind, or a cloud, they perish successively from one kshana to the next. They move crudely and restlessly like apes; delight in impure places like flies; and are insatiable like wind fanning a fire. Because of false habitual tendencies from beginningless time, beings revolve through birth and death in the six destinies, assuming bodies of every form and color, like illusions and spells. One who gives rise to wisdom according to circumstances and skillfully knows that all those characteristics are unreal can destroy attachment to the self of persons. This is called the Wisdom of the Non-Self of Persons.

– What is WISDOM OF DHARMA-SELFLESSNESS? It is to know that the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas are discriminations and characteristics of self-nature, devoid of self and what belongs to self. The accumulated skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas arise successively in mutual dependence through the bonds of karma and craving, while the true characteristic is originally unmoving; all dharmas are likewise. They are devoid of the unreal characteristics of discriminated individual and shared characteristics, which arise through the power of ordinary beings’ discrimination and do not belong to the noble sages, for self-nature is free from mind, mentation, consciousness, and the five dharmas. Mahamati! When a great bodhisattva skillfully contemplates the selflessness of all dharmas and skillfully cultivates Dharma-selflessness, before long that great bodhisattva will attain the First Bhumi. Contemplating the characteristic of the Bhumi of Nothing Whatsoever, he observes and expands awakened wisdom, reaches the Bhumi of Joy, and advances successively, transcending the characteristics of the nine bhumis and realizing the Dharma-Cloud Bhumi. Thereupon, immeasurable jeweled adornments manifest, and he sits upon a Great Jeweled Lotus within a Great Jeweled Palace, bearing the appearance of a sovereign and surrounded by a retinue of bodhisattvas who have come from all Buddha lands. He receives consecration from the Buddhas’ hands, like the consecration of the crown prince of a wheel-turning sage-king. Beginning as an ordinary being who cultivates and brings forth the illusory realm of self-nature, he reaches the stage surpassing that of a Buddha-child and proceeds as far as the Dharma of Self-Realized Noble Wisdom. He will attain the Tathagata’s Dharma-body of its own consummation and manifest Dharma-selflessness. This is called the characteristic of Dharma-selflessness. The assemblies of great bodhisattvas should cultivate and study it.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati again said to the Buddha:

– World-Honored One! I beseech the Buddha to teach the doctrine of establishment and negation, so that I and all great bodhisattvas may abandon the two extreme wrong views of establishment and negation and swiftly attain unsurpassed complete and perfect enlightenment.

The World-Honored One assented to Bodhisattva Mahamati’s request and spoke this verse:

Establishment and negation

Are fundamentally absent from the mind’s measure.

The body and its enjoyments are established,

But ordinary minds cannot know them.

The ignorant, devoid of wisdom,

Cling to establishment and negation.

At that time, wishing to reveal this great meaning, the World-Honored One told Mahamati:

– There are four kinds of establishment regarding what does not exist. What are the four?

1. Establishment of characteristics that do not exist.

2. Establishment of views that do not exist.

3. Establishment of causes that do not exist.

4. Establishment of natures that do not exist.

These are called the four kinds of establishment. As for NEGATION, it means that nothing whatsoever can originally be apprehended in what has been established, yet because of erroneous observation, a thought of negation arises. This is called the Characteristic of Establishment and Negation.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! What is the CHARACTERISTIC OF ESTABLISHING CHARACTERISTICS THAT DO NOT EXIST? It means that although the individual and shared characteristics of the skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas do not exist, attachment arises, asserting that they are this way or that way. This is called the Characteristic of Establishing Characteristics That Do Not Exist. This characteristic of establishing what does not exist is the error of false discrimination beginninglessly produced by the various habitual tendencies of attachment to views.

– Mahamati! The CHARACTERISTIC OF ESTABLISHING VIEWS THAT DO NOT EXIST is attachment to views concerning the skandhas, dhatus, ayatanas, self, person, sentient being, life span, the nurturer of wholesome roots—the doer—the person—the recipient—and so forth. This is called the Characteristic of Establishing Views That Do Not Exist.

– The CHARACTERISTIC OF ESTABLISHING CAUSES THAT DO NOT EXIST means that when mental consciousness first arises, it is not born from a cause. It was originally unborn before, and only afterward arises as an illusion, without anything that serves as its cause. For example, eye-consciousness arises through discrimination concerning form, space, light, and darkness; once consciousness has arisen, it immediately ceases. This is called the Characteristic of Establishing Causes That Do Not Exist.

– Mahamati! The CHARACTERISTIC OF ESTABLISHING NATURES THAT DO NOT EXIST refers to the self-natures of the three unconditioned dharmas—space, nirvana, and analytical cessation, cessation realized through the power of wisdom—which originally have no self-nature. Like a turtle’s hair or a rabbit’s horns, they appear apart from existence and nonexistence. This is called the Characteristic of Establishing Natures That Do Not Exist.

– Establishment and negation arise from the discriminations of ordinary beings who do not skillfully observe what is manifested by their own minds; they are not what the noble sages perceive. Great bodhisattvas should diligently cultivate and study so as to abandon the two wrong views of establishment and negation.

– Furthermore, Mahamati! Great bodhisattvas must skillfully understand mind, mentation, consciousness, the five dharmas, self-nature, and the two characteristics of selflessness, and should advance toward the ultimate for the peace and security of sentient beings. Just as a wish-fulfilling jewel displays all manner of forms and colors, these arise through the causes and conditions of discriminative thought. At all assemblies where the Tathagata teaches the Dharma, the multitudes hear the Buddha teach that dharmas are like dreams and illusions, like light, and like the moon’s reflection in water. This Dharma is free from arising and cessation, annihilationism and eternalism, and is apart from the paths of shravakas and pratyekabuddhas. They attain hundreds of thousands of samadhis, even hundreds of thousands of kotis of nayutas of samadhis. Having attained samadhi, they travel throughout all Buddha lands, make offerings to the Buddhas, ascend to celestial palaces to propagate the Three Jewels, and manifest the body of a Buddha, surrounded by assemblies of shravakas and bodhisattvas. Using what is manifested by their own minds, they liberate sentient beings and expound through distinctions that external nature is devoid of nature, enabling them all to abandon attachments to existence, nonexistence, and so forth.

At that time, the World-Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke this verse:

The Buddha-children skillfully observe

That worldly dharmas are created by mind.

They manifest all manner of bodies

Through the sovereign power of spiritual abilities.

They accomplish all things,

And their deeds are without obstruction.

At that time, Bodhisattva Mahamati said to the Buddha: I beseech the World-Honored One to teach us the emptiness of the nature of all dharmas, which is apart from the characteristics of self-nature, originally unborn and nondual, so that we and all bodhisattvas may awaken, abandon the two discriminations of existence and nonexistence, realize the unborn and nondual, and be free from the characteristics of self-nature.

– Mahamati! Briefly stated, there are seven kinds of emptiness: emptiness of characteristics, emptiness of self-nature, emptiness of activities, emptiness of non-activity, emptiness of all dharmas apart from verbal expression, the great emptiness of the noble wisdom of ultimate truth, and mutual emptiness.

– What is EMPTINESS OF CHARACTERISTICS? It is the emptiness of the individual and shared characteristics of all dharmas. The characteristics of self, other, and both cannot arise; they exist only through the accumulation of mutually dependent discriminations. If they are observed and analyzed, they are ultimately devoid of nature. Because they are devoid of nature, their nature does not abide. Therefore, it is said that all natures and characteristics are empty. This is called Emptiness of Characteristics.

– What is EMPTINESS OF THE NATURE OF SELF-NATURE? It means that one’s own self-nature is originally unborn; that is, the self-nature of all dharmas is empty. Therefore, it is called Emptiness of the Nature of Self-Nature.

– What is EMPTINESS OF ACTIVITIES? It means that the skandha of volitional formations is devoid of self and what belongs to self and is formed through the performance of karma; that is, it arises from the conjunction of causes and conditions. This is called Emptiness of Activities.

– What is EMPTINESS OF NON-ACTIVITY? Although activities arise in mutual dependence in this way, their self-nature is originally devoid of nature. This is called Emptiness of Non-Activity.

– What is EMPTINESS OF ALL DHARMAS APART FROM VERBAL EXPRESSION? Since the discriminated self-nature has no verbal expression, all dharmas are apart from verbal expression. This is called Emptiness of All Dharmas Apart from Verbal Expression.

– What is the GREAT EMPTINESS OF THE NOBLE WISDOM OF THE ULTIMATE TRUTH OF ALL DHARMAS? For one who attains Self-Realized Noble Wisdom, all attachments to views and habitual tendencies are empty. This is called the Great Emptiness of the Noble Wisdom of the Ultimate Truth of All Dharmas.

– What is MUTUAL EMPTINESS? It means that in a certain place, a certain thing is absent; this is called Mutual Emptiness. Mahamati! For example, the mother of Mrigara, the female lay devotee Visakha, built a monastery for bhikshus to reside in, where elephants, horses, cattle, goats, and so forth were not kept. When it is now said that the place is empty of those things, this does not mean that bhikshus are absent there, nor that the monastery itself is empty and nonexistent, nor that the nature of the bhikshus is empty, nor that elephants and horses are absent from other places. Rather, with respect to the individual characteristics of all dharmas, a particular thing is absent in a particular place; this is called Mutual Emptiness. In general, among the seven kinds of emptiness, Mutual Emptiness is the coarsest kind of emptiness. You should abandon it.

– Mahamati! To say that things DO NOT ARISE FROM THEMSELVES is not the same as non-arising. Apart from abiding in right concentration, what is called non-arising means that freedom from self-nature is itself non-arising. The continuous flow from moment to moment is originally free from self-nature; and when the nature of maturation—that which ripens later—manifests, all natures are likewise free from self-nature. Therefore, it is said that all natures are free from self-nature.

– Why is it called NON-DUALITY? Because all dharmas, such as yin and yang, long and short, white and black, and so forth, are dual. Their characteristics exist only through mutually conditioning one another. Samsara does not exist apart from nirvana, nor does nirvana exist apart from samsara. Samsara and nirvana bear no characteristics opposed to one another. All dharmas are likewise so; therefore, this is called non-duality. Hence, one should cultivate and study the Dharma of emptiness, the Dharma of non-arising, the Dharma of non-duality, and the Dharma of freedom from the characteristics of self-nature.

At that time, the Blessed One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke these verses:

I constantly teach the Dharma of emptiness,

Far removed from annihilationism and eternalism.

Samsara is like a dream or illusion,

Yet the nature of karma is not destroyed.

Space and nirvana,

Quiescent extinction, are likewise so.

Ordinary beings cling to deluded conceptions;

The noble ones are free from existence and nonexistence.

At that time, the Blessed One again said to Mahamati:

– Mahamati! The Dharma of emptiness, the Dharma of non-arising, the Dharma of non-duality, the Dharma of freedom from self-nature, and so forth, are all recorded in the Buddha’s scriptural teachings. All sutras expound this meaning. In accordance with the hopes and inclinations of sentient beings, these teachings are provisionally distinguished and expounded in order to reveal their meaning and principle; reality is not contained in words. It is like a herd of thirsty deer, deluded into pursuing a mirage—the reflection of sunlight—believing it to be water, although the mirage is not real water. The dharmas taught by the Buddha and recorded in the scriptures are likewise so. They are intended to inspire ordinary beings to bring forth joyful resolve and diligently cultivate the path; true noble wisdom is not found in words. Therefore, one should rely upon the meaning and not cling to verbal expressions.

END OF FASCICLE ONE