外道問聖大乘法無我義經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling amidst a great assembly. At that time a follower of an outside path, having a doubt he wished to resolve and a dim understanding of the Conduct of the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), came to the place where the Buddha was dwelling, bowed his head in reverence, joined his palms, and inquired about the meaning of No-Self (Anātman): "The Great Hero, who is the One of All-Knowing Wisdom, always says, 'This body has no Self (no-self).' If the body has no Self, and the Original Nature likewise does not exist, then why is it said that there are the affairs of the pair of tongues—grief and weeping, laughter and jest, love and hatred—joining with what, that they arise?

This is the place of my doubt. I beg you to grant the favor of cutting it off. When the Tathāgata speaks of 'the Body and the Original Nature,' do they exist or not?"

The Buddha said to the follower of the outside path: "Listen truly! Receive truly! I shall speak for your sake."

The Buddha said: "The substance of the Body and the Original Nature is fundamentally empty (Emptiness: Śūnya); thus it is said either to exist or not to exist, divided apart into two Dharmas. To say that it exists—this is false and deluded."

The Buddha said: "One should contemplate the entire body: hair, nails, skin, body-hair, the two hands, the two feet, even to the affairs of fat, sinew, spleen, intestines, bones, marrow… circling everywhere within and without… and one does not see the Original Nature."

The follower of the outside path said: "Great Hero! If this Original Nature cannot be seen, then how could it be seen using my eye of flesh? Or could it be seen using the Heavenly Eye (Divine Eye)?"

The Buddha said: "The Heavenly Eye sees this: it has no form, no characteristic, no abiding. This is seeing yet not seeing."

The follower of the outside path said: "If it is spoken thus, then the Great Sage has lied. If this is not so, then how does one presently see the affairs of the pair of tongues—weeping and laughing, sporting and jesting, anger, love and hatred? Because it is thus, how can it be said not to exist? Moreover, to say either that it exists or that it does not exist divides it apart into two meanings.

He further said: "Great Hero! If this neither existence nor non-existence cannot be spoken of, then how is it said that this has a place of defiled attachment (object of attachment), and that this has no place of defiled attachment (no object of attachment)? And if it is said to be empty (emptiness), then what is the True Suchness (Sōtathatā)?"

The Buddha said: "Thus! Thus! Emptiness is not the True Suchness, for the Substance cannot be attained."

The follower of the outside path said: "If this is so, then as for the affairs of the pair of tongues—laughing and weeping, jesting and sporting, anger, love and hatred—what is that which is seen (the object of seeing)?"

The Buddha said: "Like a dream, like an Illusion (Māyā), like a Conjuration, like the characteristic of a reflected image."

The follower of the outside path said: "What is the characteristic of a Dream? What is the characteristic of an Illusory Conjuration? What is the characteristic of a Reflected Image?"

The Buddha said: "Illusory Conjuration is not a characteristic; emptiness (Emptiness) is not something to be grasped. The Original Substance of a Dream is fundamentally empty (empty), like a Mirage (an image that is not real, seen through the reflection of the sunlight). A Reflected Image has no form, being false and unreal. That which is seen (the object of seeing) is thus, and even all affairs are like an Illusion, like a Conjuration, like a Dream, like a Reflection. One should see in this way.

Furthermore, there are two kinds of Seeing that adorn True Suchness. As for that Adornment: this is called Self (the "I"), this is called Other (that which is other), this is called the Person Pudgala (Pudgala: the individual), this is called the Worldly Conception of a Person (the world's deliberation about a human being), even to the names of the group: personal wealth (an individual's money and goods), man and woman, brothers, wife and concubine… the place of the adorning deliberation of the mind. Dharmas such as these have no Self (oneself), no Other (another person, that which is other), no person, no life, no man or woman, no friend, no wife or concubine… In all these affairs one does not see Self-Nature.

What is the Supramundane—that adornment of retribution, of the arising and ceasing of Good and Evil? As for True Suchness, that adornment of Retribution has no good and no evil, neither arising nor ceasing, no afflictions, no pleasures; and those Dharmas, each and every one, are thus.

Again, those two kinds of adornment—the Mundane and the Supramundane—cause sentient beings (those endowed with feeling) to be adorned and thereby to give rise to afflictions, dwelling within Saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death), revolving and turning over a long time, not knowing True Suchness. One who knows this Dharma, with adorning deliberation, doubts this Suffering, accepts that suffering, receives evil, departs far from liberation, and does not see the Way. Sentient beings, deluded and foolish, because of confused grasping, revolve through birth and death, falling into the evil destinies. As for the Dharmas of the worldly, who do not see True Suchness, that endless Saṃsāra is like weaving a net, using threads that turn over and revolve, passing back and forth.

Again, it is like the two kinds of passing (movements) of the sun and the moon—day and night, hidden and manifest, emerging and vanishing in the World. All formations are impermanent; before long they are broken and destroyed, revolving through birth and death, coming and going likewise. Yet the Substance of True Suchness departs from the phrases of adornment.

Again, those gods, humans, and Gandharvas, together with their womenfolk, dwell upon the Heavens; using that adornment of retribution, they thereby fall into all forms of Existence (Bhava).

Again, there are the Vidyādharas of accomplishment, Yakṣas, Kiṃnaras, and Mahoragas, who using all that adornment of retribution again fall into the Hells, into the heavens of evil striving… using their Spiritual Powers to perform Meritorious Deeds. Because of all that adornment of retribution, some fall among those gods.

Again, it is like Śakra (Indra) and the Wheel-Turning King, endowed with the supreme Virtue and the supreme phrase. Using all that adornment of retribution, they are again reborn among the Animal kind.

The Wise One, at all Times, ought fittingly to depart far from the supreme Great Bliss in the heavenly realms, ever contemplating the Mind of Awakening (Bodhicitta)—luminously bright and thoroughly penetrating, without Self-Nature, without obstruction, and also without any place of abiding, all being empty (empty), and also departing far from all conceptual elaboration (prapañca).

O follower of the outside path! The characteristic of the Mind of Awakening is neither hard nor soft, neither hot nor cold; it has no contact, no grasping.

Again, the characteristic of the Mind of Awakening is neither long nor short, neither round nor square, neither fat nor thin.

Again, the characteristic of the Mind of Awakening is neither white nor black, neither red nor yellow; it is not form, not characteristic.

That Mind of Awakening makes no characteristic, is not a manifest illumination, has no Nature, no binding, like empty space which has no form. The characteristic of the Mind of Awakening should be observed apart from observation.

O follower of the outside path! You do not know that the Characteristic of the Mind of Awakening and the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) correspond to one another.

Again, the characteristic of the Mind of Awakening, its Self-Nature being pure, has no thing and no simile, and cannot be seen. It is the supreme phrase.

Again, the characteristic of the Mind of Awakening is not the various forms of things; it has no resembling characteristic… Like water forming foam, which, though seen, is not real. Like an illusory conjuration, like a mirage; just as one takes clay to make various vessels of pottery, and though all the names are fully present, they all become conceptual elaboration. The group of Greed, Hatred, and Delusion likewise exist through illusory conjuration, of one flavor that is empty… like lightning abiding for a single instant (kṣaṇa) yet not to be seen.

Contemplating that Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā), together with the doing of all wholesome things, is likewise so. Even as for the places of conversing, laughing, jesting and sporting, singing and dancing, rejoicing and pleasure, eating and drinking, lust and desire… all are like a Dream. The formations of sentient beings are, in their ultimate Substance, empty. The mind is likened to empty space—upon what does doubt establish itself?!… Practicing the Conduct of Wisdom (Prajñā), ever contemplating thus, one clearly understands the nature of all things, is naturally liberated, and attains the Supreme phrase. The Buddhas have said: "Unsurpassed Awakening (Anuttara-Bodhi) arises from this; therefore make this Contemplation."

The one who makes this Contemplation attains the supreme Nirvāṇa, and even the various faults committed in former times are all eradicated; he gives rise to immeasurable Virtue, and then in this very life is not defiled by the various faults, but single-mindedly and diligently practices the Contemplative Conduct, attaining accomplishment with certainty.

If a person does not correspond with True Suchness, then he should recite the Non-True-Suchness Dhāraṇī, together with the Vajra-Bell True-Suchness Non-Arising Mudrā, in order to set into motion the practice that corresponds with True Suchness, and so attain with certainty the perfect fulfillment of Merit as described above.

At that time, when the follower of the outside path had heard those words, he examined them carefully, contemplated and observed them, and then that doubt was entirely cut off. Having made this contemplation, he came to dwell in the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna), gazed up in reverent service, rejoiced, made obeisance, and withdrew.

THE SCRIPTURE IN WHICH A FOLLOWER OF AN OUTSIDE PATH ASKS THE SAGE ABOUT THE MEANING OF NO-SELF IN THE GREAT VEHICLE

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