百千頌大集經地藏菩薩請問法身讚

I take refuge in and bow to the Dharma body.

Amid all sentient beings,

Because they do not completely know it,

They wander through the three realms of existence.

Deluded about their nature, they undergo birth and death;

When purified, it remains as it was before.

Purity is nirvana,

And is itself the Dharma body.

Just as milk containing impurities

Cannot become ghee,

So, when mingled with afflictions,

The dharmadhatu cannot be seen.

Just as milk, when purified,

Becomes exquisite, stainless cream,

So, when the afflictions are purified,

The dharmadhatu is utterly pure.

Like a lamp placed inside a jar—

How could its light appear?

Within the jar of the afflictions,

The dharmadhatu does not shine.

When the lamp is placed at one side

And the jar has an opening,

Because the lamp stands at that side,

Its light shines outward.

With the pestle of samadhi,

Shatter the jar of the afflictions;

Filling the whole of space,

The light will illuminate everything.

The dharmadhatu is never born,

Nor has it ever been destroyed.

At all times it remains undefiled,

Pure from beginning through middle.

It is like vaidurya,

Ever exceedingly luminous;

When concealed in a rocky cavern,

Its light cannot shine forth.

So too, obscured by the afflictions,

The wondrously pure dharmadhatu

Does not shine within samsara,

But in nirvana blazes brightly.

If one possessing the nature makes effort,

One will behold genuine gold.

If one without the nature makes effort,

One suffers without attaining any fruit.

Just as grain covered by husks

Cannot be called rice,

So, when covered by afflictions,

One is not called a Buddha.

When the husks are removed,

The white rice is clearly revealed.

When the afflictions are cast far away,

The Dharma body becomes manifest.

The world uses the analogy

Of the plantain tree, which has no solid core,

Yet bears genuine fruit

Whose taste is like amrita.

Likewise, unreal samsara

Courses through the ocean of afflictions,

Yet its fruit is the very essence of Buddhahood,

Like the amrita that truly exists.

Thus, regarding every kind of thing,

It appears that fruit is produced.

Without a seed, there can be no fruit;

The wise will certainly not believe otherwise.

From the seed, the nature is produced,

The support of all dharmas.

If it is purified in stages,

The fruit of Buddhahood is attained.

The sun and moon are stainless,

Yet are obscured by five things:

Clouds, mist, and smoke,

Rāhu’s hand, and dust.

Likewise, the luminous mind

Is obscured by five defilements:

Craving, ill will, sloth and torpor,

Restlessness, and doubt.

It is like washing a garment with fire

To cleanse its various impurities:

If it is placed within the fire,

The stains burn, but not the garment.

Without exception, all the sutras

Were spoken by the Tathagata.

Like the earth beneath the water,

They remain abiding and pure.

Wisdom concealed within the afflictions

Is likewise pure.

The dharmadhatu is also not a self,

Neither female nor male.

Being free from every attachment,

Why discriminate a self?

Dharmas are not bound,

Nor do male and female exist.

To discipline those blinded by desire,

Male and female forms are manifested.

Impermanence, suffering, and emptiness—

There are three contemplations of mind.

The contemplation of mind is supreme;

All dharmas lack intrinsic nature.

Like a child within the womb,

Although present, it does not appear.

There are four kinds of discrimination,

Produced through the great elements.

The great vows of all Buddhas

Are nonexistent and signless.

Through correspondence with self-awakened wisdom,

The nature of all Buddhas’ Dharma is eternal.

To say that a rabbit has horns

Is discrimination, but they do not exist.

Likewise, all dharmas

Cannot be found through discrimination.

When analyzed into minute particles,

They cannot be found through discrimination.

As with the beginning, so with the end;

How could wisdom discriminate them?

Thus, things arise through combination,

And combinations also disintegrate.

Not one dharma arises by itself;

Why do fools discriminate?

The analogy of the two horns of rabbits and oxen

Is called the wholly imagined characteristic.

Abiding in the Middle Way

Is the dharma-nature of the Sugata.

Like the moon and stars

Appearing in a clean water jar,

Their reflected images become manifest;

Thus is the perfected characteristic.

Good in the beginning and the middle,

Eternal and never false,

It contains none of the five kinds of self;

Why call it the discrimination of self?

Just as water being boiled

Is called hot water,

And when it is allowed to cool,

It is called cold water,

So, when covered by the net of afflictions,

It is called mind;

When freed from the afflictions,

It is called complete awakening.

Eye-consciousness takes form as its object;

Its reflected image is utterly pure.

Neither arising nor ceasing,

The dharmadhatu has no form.

Ear-consciousness takes sound as its object;

The three kinds of consciousness are pure.

Through hearing within its own distinct sphere,

The dharmadhatu has no form.

The nose follows scents and smells them,

Without color and without form.

Nose-consciousness is true suchness;

Thus should the dharmadhatu be discerned.

The tongue-dhatu is empty of intrinsic nature;

It is free from the nature of the taste-dhatu.

There is neither support nor consciousness,

Because of the dharmadhatu’s intrinsic nature.

The intrinsic nature of the body is pure;

When contact and perception have combined,

It is free from an object of cognition.

This I call the dharmadhatu.

Mind is foremost among all dharmas;

It is free from discrimination of subject and object.

The dharmadhatu lacks intrinsic nature,

Yet the dharmadhatu is discriminated.

That which can see, hear, and smell,

Taste, and make contact—

Those who practice yoga should know

That thus is the perfected characteristic.

Eye, ear, and nose,

Tongue, body, and manas:

When the six ayatanas are all purified,

Such is their characteristic.

Mind is seen in two forms:

Worldly and supramundane.

Through attachment to self, one continues to wander;

Self-awakened wisdom is true suchness.

The inexhaustible is nirvana.

When craving and delusion are exhausted,

Know it as the essence of Buddhahood,

The refuge of sentient beings.

All who possess this body,

Whether wise or unwise,

Are bound by their own discriminations

And liberated through awakening.

Bodhi is neither near nor far;

It neither comes nor goes.

Its destruction and manifestation

Concern this net of afflictions.

The various sutras are taught

On the basis of one’s own contemplation.

When the lamp of wisdom shines,

Supreme peace is immediately attained.

Do not conceive bodhi as distant,

Nor conceive it as near.

The reflections of the six kinds of objects

Are all known in this manner.

Like water blended with milk,

Together in a single vessel,

The royal swan drinks all the milk,

Leaving only water in the vessel.

So too, afflictions and wisdom

Are blended within the vessel.

The yogin drinks the wisdom

And casts away the afflictions.

Thus, self and grasping at self,

Even grasping at the apprehended object—

If the two kinds of selflessness are seen,

Though their seeds exist, they are destroyed.

This is a Buddha’s parinirvana,

Eternally pure and stainless.

Ordinary beings discriminate duality;

The Yoga Sutra teaches nonduality.

Then all things are difficult.

Through ethical discipline, sentient beings are gathered in;

Through patience, every injury is endured.

The realms are increased to three.

One is diligent regarding all dharmas,

Applies oneself to contemplation of mind,

And constantly cultivates wisdom;

Thus bodhi is further increased.

Through skillful means together with wisdom,

Through vows, all is purified;

Through power and wondrous adamantine wisdom,

The realms are increased to four kinds.

“One should not bow to bodhisattvas”:

From this the Dharma body will not be born.

One dislikes the sugarcane plant,

Yet wishes to eat rock sugar.

If sugarcane is discarded,

How could there be rock sugar?

If sugarcane is preserved,

Three things can then be produced:

Sugar and half-refined rock sugar

Thereupon arise from it.

If the bodhi-mind is preserved,

Three things can then be produced.

It is like protecting rice seedlings and grain,

By which farmers sustain their lives.

Just as with the preceding practice of resolute faith,

The Tathagata taught that it must be preserved.

Like the bright full moon

Clearly seen on the fifteenth night,

So, in the practice of resolute faith,

The image of the Buddha’s form appears.

Like the newly waxing moon,

Increasing minute by minute,

So does one who enters the bhumis

See increase with every thought.

Like the bright moon on the fifteenth night,

When the lunar orb becomes fully round,

So, upon the ultimate bhumi,

The Dharma body is fully born.

That resolute faith is firm,

Constantly directed toward the Buddha-Dharma.

One who can arouse such a mind

Attains nonretrogression.

The defiled basis is transformed

And is called the Pure Basis.

Through a portion of awakening,

It is called the Bhumi of Utmost Joy.

Continually defiled

By desire and every kind of impurity,

It becomes stainless and purified,

And is called the Stainless Bhumi.

Destroying the net of afflictions,

Its stainless radiance shines.

Free from immeasurable darkness,

It is called the Luminous Bhumi.

Pure and always shining,

Far removed from worldly auspiciousness,

Wisdom radiates all around;

It is called the Blazing-Wisdom Bhumi.

All arts become luminous,

Adorning every contemplation.

The afflictions that are difficult to conquer are subdued;

Thus the Difficult-to-Conquer Bhumi is attained.

The three kinds of bodhi

Are embraced and brought to fulfillment.

Arising and cessation are exceedingly profound;

Thus it is called the Manifest Bhumi.

Sporting within the net of light,

Pervading the heaven of Śakra,

One crosses the torrent of desire;

Thus it is called the Far-Going Bhumi.

Empowered by all Buddhas,

Entering the ocean of wisdom,

Masterful and effortless,

One remains unmoved amid the domain of Māra.

With the unobstructed understandings,

The yogin reaches the other shore.

In discourse that proclaims the Dharma,

This is called the Bhumi of Excellent Wisdom.

The body is formed through wisdom,

Stainless like empty space.

All Buddhas protect and sustain it;

It pervades everywhere like a Dharma cloud.

As the support of the Buddha-Dharma,

It preserves both practice and its fruit.

All bases of reliance are transformed;

Therefore it is called the Dharma body.

Beyond inconceivable discourse

And free from the habits of cyclic existence,

You cannot conceive its conception;

How then could it be known?

It transcends all language

And is not an object of any faculty.

Mental consciousness grasps it

As though it possessed a self.

Having accumulated these stages,

The greatly renowned children of the Buddha

All employ the wisdom of the Dharma Cloud

To perceive the dharma-nature in its subtlety.

When the mind has been cleansed

And the ocean of birth and death crossed,

You take a great lotus

As a vast throne upon which to sit.

Its immeasurable radiant jeweled petals,

And jeweled light forming its dais,

Are surrounded everywhere

By immeasurable millions of lotuses.

First, through the ten powers,

The four kinds of fearlessness,

And the distinctive qualities of the Buddhas,

You sit in great mastery.

All virtues are assembled;

Merit and wisdom serve as provisions.

Like the full moon among the stars,

They surround you on every side.

Then, with the hands of the Buddha-suns,

Pure rays of precious light

Shine upon the crown prince’s head,

Completely suffusing him everywhere.

Abiding in Great Yoga,

You see all things with the divine eye:

Ignorance disturbing the world,

Evil habits, suffering, and fear.

Like the radiance of golden light,

From the light of yoga,

Those obscured by ignorance

Have the gate of ignorance opened.

Drawn forth through merit and wisdom,

Sustained by nonattached samadhi,

They enter quiescence through conditions,

And all their minds are transformed.

All dharmas lack intrinsic nature;

Intrinsic nature lies in the objective realm.

The bodhisattva king contemplates well

The wondrous, stainless Dharma body.

Entirely through the purified body,

Abiding within the ocean of wisdom,

You boldly benefit sentient beings,

Like an excellent mani jewel.

All yogins,

The masters of Great Yoga,

Manifest emanations of Buddha-images

That flow forth and pervade everywhere.

Some appear with eight arms,

Three eyes, and bodies blazing with light.

Through the king of yoga,

They flow forth and pervade everywhere.

All, through the hand of compassion

And supreme joy, take up the bow

And shoot arrows of prajna,

Severing the subtlest ignorance.

Advancing with great strength,

They wield the staff of wisdom;

Every seed of ignorance

Is utterly crushed.

For powerful sentient beings,

Their vajra bodies blaze brilliantly.

To discipline sentient beings,

They must employ the Vajra Hand.

Being themselves the agents,

They manifest various practices,

Teach in accordance with doctrine,

And transform into impartial kings.

For bodies scorched by hunger and thirst,

They appear as food and drink.

For those constantly suffering from illness,

They appear as excellent kings of medicine.

When the king of Māras seeks to disturb them

And Māra’s daughters seek to beguile them,

Bodhisattvas become their spiritual friends

And can bestow the place of bodhi.

Like the sun and moon,

Whose light delights everyone,

They stream like flashes of lightning,

Illuminating innumerable realms.

Through a single lamp,

Everywhere is illuminated.

If one lamp is extinguished,

All the lamps are extinguished with it.

Likewise, the Buddha’s ripened result

Manifests the various rays of light.

When one Buddha manifests nirvana,

The other Buddhas also return to quiescence.

Yet not one of them passes into extinction;

How could daylight become darkness?

They constantly manifest birth and cessation,

And constantly manifest oceans of realms,

Purifying the eyes of wisdom

Of the ignorant in the darkened world.

Journeying to innumerable realms

Out of compassion for sentient beings,

You never become weary,

Because of the armor of great loving-kindness.

With all supernormal powers,

The yogin reaches the other shore,

Contemplating what is timely and untimely,

And causing beings to progress through the path.

Those hardened in deceit and flattery

Immediately cast them away.

Immeasurable sentient beings are liberated

And at once made pure.

Immeasurable Buddha emanations

Instantly transform their forms.

Within the ocean of the three realms,

They spread the net of discipline.

Drawing in and extending the net of wondrous Dharma,

They universally bring beings to maturity.

Through this net of discipline,

Beings everywhere are brought to maturity,

And everywhere attain awakening—

Those drifting within it.

Though sentient beings number in the thousands,

All have been liberated.

Having liberated them, they lead them to awakening,

Without doubt in the wondrous Dharma.

The Blessed One’s bell of wondrous Dharma

Causes everyone to hear.

Through the reverberation of wondrous Dharma,

The dust of affliction is completely removed.

Those dominated by ignorance

Are immediately purified.

The power of the radiant sun

Shines through and destroys blind darkness.

Because of the darkness of the afflictions

And the body’s other transgressions,

They are led to act beneficially

And gradually attain purity.

Everywhere, emanated beings

Abide like moons reflected in water.

Those whose minds are disturbed by afflictions

Cannot see the Tathagata.

Like hungry ghosts at the ocean

Who see only a completely dry sea,

So those of little merit

Cannot behold the Buddha.

How could sentient beings of little merit

Become Tathagatas?!

Like one blind from birth

Seated upon a heap of jewels—

How could such a person see them?!

The Dharma body of the unsurpassed one,

With innumerable bodies of sunlight,

Is encircled by a net of radiance.

Devas of little virtuous merit

Are therefore unable to see it.

How could they behold

The great deva above?

His form cannot be seen.

Devas free from afflictions,

Devas, asuras, Brahmās, and others—

Why do they possess only a little wisdom?

Yet through the awesome power of the Buddha

And the purification of their own minds,

They are then able to behold the Buddha’s body

And obtain every benefit.

Before sentient beings adorned with merit,

The Buddha stands,

His body splendidly illuminated by light,

Bearing the thirty-two excellent marks.

Such a great being,

A Teacher like the vast ocean,

Needs no great length of time

To attain ocean-like wisdom.

The Blessed One’s form body

Abides for many kalpas,

Disciplining those difficult to discipline

And guiding them into the various dhatus.

The Great Yogin possesses long life;

Why, then, would he die prematurely?

For countless different people,

He manifests an increasing or decreasing lifespan.

Throughout immeasurable, innumerable kalpas,

Each lifetime continues to increase.

Because the causes and conditions are inexhaustible,

The inexhaustible fruit is attained.

Whoever understands and accords with this principle,

Analyzing the body itself with wisdom,

Will be born within a Pure Lotus

And hear the Buddha teach immeasurable life.

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND VERSES OF THE GREAT COLLECTION SUTRA

BODHISATTVA KṢITIGARBHA QUESTIONS THE BUDDHA CONCERNING THE DHARMA BODY.