大乘理趣六波羅蜜多經

Chapter 3: GIVING RISE TO THE BODHI-MIND

When the World-Honored One had uttered such words like the Lion's Roar (2), illuminating the Secret Dhāraṇī-Gate (3), thereupon the Great Bodhisattva Maitreya (Compassionate One) rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt with his right knee to the ground, with utmost sincerity joined his palms, faced the Buddha, and said: "Excellent, excellent! Great Saintly World-Honored One, you ever, out of a heart of great compassion, extol and proclaim such a 'Secret, sweet-dew, supreme Dhāraṇī (4)' in order to protect and guard the realms of the land.

I respectfully beseech the World-Honored One, out of pity for sentient beings, to expound the Dharma of Unsurpassed Bodhi—how may those sentient beings who have not yet given rise to the mind give rise to it? Once sentient beings have given rise to the mind, how are they to cultivate? And by what causes and conditions may they not retrogress from the Mahāyāna-mind?(5)

At that time, the World-Honored One said to the Great Bodhisattva Maitreya: "If there be good men or good women who, for the sake of sentient beings, wish to cultivate the practices of the Mahāyāna and wish to deliver sentient beings to the great Nirvāṇa, they must first give rise to five supreme minds. What are these five supreme minds? First, toward all sentient beings, to give rise to a mind of great loving-kindness and compassion, equal and all-pervading.

Second, toward the Knowledge of All Modes (6), to have a mind that does not retrogress. Third, toward all sentient beings, to give rise to the notion of them as close friends, and amid every danger and peril, to vow to rescue and protect them. Fourth, toward sentient beings, ever to give rise to the notion that one is indebted to them.

Fifth, ever to bear a heart of shame, thinking: when shall I finish repaying my debt to them? One who can give rise to these five minds will surely and swiftly realize the fruit of Unsurpassed, Perfect, Complete Enlightenment."(7)

Furthermore, Great Bodhisattva Maitreya! How is it that, within the Mahāyāna, with single-minded cultivation, one attains non-retrogression? In an age long ago, there was a merchant who was intelligent and clear-sighted, ever doing deeds of kindness and filial devotion.

Seeing his parents and kinsfolk poor and suffering, he was constantly sorrowful, his body and mind oppressed, wondering by what means he might provide for and help them. That merchant reflected thus: "Nothing is better than to go into the sea and gather the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel (8), bring it back to provide for them, and only thus can their poverty and suffering be relieved!" For this reason, that merchant gave rise to a valiant mind, not sparing his own body and life, and straightway set forth from his home, using all manner of means to seek provisions (food and supplies), and likewise to seek good companions, a ship, and a ship-master (helmsman).

While that merchant was traveling along, halfway upon his road he met a stranger returning from the sea. That stranger asked the merchant: "Where do you wish to go, and what are you seeking, that you hurry so?" The merchant fully recounted the causes and conditions as above: that because he wished to rescue and help the destitute, he now wished to go into the sea, to seek the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, and bring it back to provide for them.

The stranger said: "Formerly I too left my home and set forth just so, because I wished to rescue and help my kinsfolk afflicted by the sufferings of poverty. After I had given rise to the mind and left home to set forth, upon the road I met with many perils: I passed through vast plains, crossed boundless stretches of gravel and sand (deserts) without a drop of water, without a single tree or blade of grass, and there were many wild elephants, tigers, leopards, jackals, venomous snakes, lions; or I met with bandits and robbers, great mountains and mighty rivers, hunger and thirst, cold and heat, terror and fright.

Having passed through that place, I, together with the ship-master, came into the great sea, and again met with great winds, huge fish, evil dragons, thunder and lightning, hail, crashing waves, whirlpools—there were many drifting perils, more than can be told. Though I endured such sufferings and perils, still I did not find the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, but obtained only such things as aid the body, barely enough to provide for myself, and was not yet able to relieve the poverty and want of my kinsfolk.

Now I advise you, Worthy One, you should not force yourself to endure such hardship—it only wearies yourself in vain! I wish, together with you, Worthy One, to arrange some other matter, in some other place. Why is this?

Because within that great sea there are many calamities, not just one peril: black winds, black mountains, yakṣas, rākṣasas, sea-monsters, biting dragons—yet one has only ever heard the very name of the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel; in truth, of the thousands and tens of thousands who go to seek the jewel, it is not certain that even one or two have obtained that precious jewel. For this reason, I advise you, Worthy One, to turn back early!"

At that moment, when that merchant-chief heard these words, he grew all the more advancing, and gave rise to three supreme minds, resolved to enter the sea to seek the jewel without retreating. What are these three supreme minds? First, he thought: my parents, brothers, and kinsfolk are poor and suffering thus—how could I bear to return empty-handed, unable to rescue or help one another in any way?

Second, he thought: my kinsfolk, who in former times were wealthy, kindly granted me food and clothing and pitied me greatly; today they are stricken with poverty, their bodies and lives cannot be preserved—how could I bear to abandon them thus and wish to retreat homeward? Third, he thought: when I was at home, overseeing the affairs of the household, commanding the servants great and small, and even reproaching them in all manner of things—how could I bear, when they are poor and suffering, not to pity and help them so that they may be joyful, but instead wish to retreat homeward?

For these reasons, mindful of repaying kindness and virtue, that merchant gave rise to a mind of great valor, resolved to go forward, intent on entering the sea, seeking the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel; having obtained it, to return home and use it to help his kinsfolk, that they might freely spend and forever be free from hardship and utter destitution.(9)

The Great Bodhisattva is likewise so: the Great Bodhisattva gives rise to the Bodhi-mind, contemplating that the six destinies and four kinds of birth (10) throughout the ten directions are all my parents of former lives, who, out of pity for me, created all manner of evil karma, and so fell into the hells, the realm of hungry ghosts, and animals, undergoing every kind of suffering and affliction. For these reasons, I reflect to myself: "By what means may I rescue and help those who suffer such perils?" Having given rise to this thought, I see that only by entering the sea of the great Dharma of the Six Pāramitās, seeking the Buddha's Knowledge of All Modes, can I rescue and help sentient beings from the suffering of birth-and-death!

Having reflected thus, the Bodhisattva gives rise to a mind of great valor that does not shrink back, diligently striving and seeking without sloth or weariness, using all manner of means, seeking provisions, seeking good companions of awakening (Bodhi), together with the Dharma (the true Dharma) and the Dharma-master.

When the Bodhisattva had traveled halfway upon his road, he met a Demon-King who commanded a host of followers. He might manifest the form of a being of the heavenly realm, or manifest the form of a human, or manifest the form of a brahmin, or manifest the form of a merchant-chief, or manifest the form of a bhikṣu or bhikṣuṇī, or manifest the forms of other kinds of beings. That Demon-King then asked the Bodhisattva who had given rise to the mind: "Where do you now wish to go, that you hurry so?" That Bodhisattva replied: "For the sake of all sentient beings afflicted with suffering, I now wish to enter the great sea of the Six Perfections, to seek the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel of the Buddha's Knowledge of All Modes,

in order to rescue and help all sentient beings afflicted with poverty and want." The Demon-King said again: "When I first gave rise to the mind, it was likewise so: because I wished to deliver all sentient beings afflicted with suffering out of the house of birth-and-death, I crossed plains and deserts in great wandering (drifting and tossing endlessly), enduring all manner of hunger and thirst, robbers and bandits, fright and every peril—not just one peril—before I came into the sea of the great Dharma of the Six Perfections.

Sometimes I met one who begged for my head, or one who begged for my eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, hands, feet, joints, heart, lungs, intestines, stomach, liver, gall, spleen, kidneys; and even my country, my city, my wife, my children, my menservants, my maidservants, those whom I command—of all such things as the above, whatever anyone begged, I would give it, giving rise to no stingy or grudging heart, seeking only the precious treasure of wisdom (the jewel of wisdom, that is, the Buddha's wisdom).

Through immeasurable kalpas of birth-and-death, wandering in the sea of suffering, though I endured every suffering and peril, still I did not attain Unsurpassed Bodhi, but only turned back to seek the fruit of the Arhat, and thus came forth from the three realms and attained the quiescent extinction of Nirvāṇa. Now I advise you, sir, you should not force yourself to endure such toil and suffering; you should cultivate and uphold the practice for yourself.

I wish, together with you, to step up to the stage of that fruit. Why is this? Because I consider that in the three evil destinies one ever undergoes the suffering of hunger; the mind dwells upon food and drink; one lifts one's face to empty space—but is there anyone who would put even a single bowl of food into one's mouth to satisfy one?

All sufferings and perils oppress body and mind; human life is impermanent, swifter than water rushing down a mountain; a good and wise friend (a virtuous companion) is hard to meet; if one does not believe and accept this, repentance afterward will come too late! In the sea of birth-and-death, wandering without stability, the mind is like the moon at the bottom of the water—what is real therein? An evil and unwise companion (a bad friend) is easy to see and easy to meet, ever exhorting people to practice the path of the Bodhisattva, to relinquish wealth and to relinquish body and life in hope of attaining the path of Bodhi.

How much more so, when the Buddhas appear in the world only once after vast stretches of time, and of the thousands and tens of thousands who seek the path of Bodhi, it is not certain that even one or two will attain it. Therefore, I advise you, Worthy One, not to endure such toil and suffering, but to seek liberation and realize Nirvāṇa for yourself. Moreover, throughout three incalculable kalpas, undergoing every toil and suffering, one finally realizes the Buddha-fruit of Bodhi; whereas here, this very life—or within only three lifetimes—one will realize the fruit of the Arhat, becoming one Beyond Learning.

Why endure such suffering! The foolish and witless, whose minds long for and seek the Buddha-fruit, pass through immeasurable kalpas, enduring every hardship, and yet it has never been heard that they realized even the fruit of the Arhat—how much less that they realized the path-fruit of Unsurpassed Bodhi! It is like a person who has caught a small bird, but then catches sight of a golden-winged garuḍa; that person at once releases the bird he had caught and was grasping in his hand, advances forward, and chases after that golden-winged garuḍa—yet the great bird beats its wings and soars high, while the small bird too has flown away.

The fool who seeks the Buddha-fruit is likewise so: relinquishing this fruit of the Arhat to seek that Buddha-fruit, he loses both fruits altogether. Now that you know this, I hope you will soon turn your mind back, and this very life, you will surely realize the fruit of the Arhat!"

Right then, when the Bodhisattva heard these words, he grew all the more valiant, and gave rise to three minds. What are these three minds? First, he thought: all sentient beings, from the beginningless cycle of birth-and-death until now, are all my kinsfolk, or my friends and companions, presently undergoing suffering and affliction, not yet able to escape it—how could I bear to retreat and turn back?

Second, he thought: all sentient beings, from beginningless time until now, have provided me with food and clothing and pitied me deeply; now they must endure many sufferings and perils in transmigration, and I have not yet been able to repay them—how could I bear to give rise once more to a mind of retrogression? Third, he thought: all sentient beings, from beginningless time until now, are all my kinfolk; I have commanded them and at times reproached them, yet I have not in the least repaid their kindness!

For these reasons, I should not shrink back, but must grow all the more valiant in order to seek the realization of the path-fruit of Bodhi. If I realize the precious treasure of Bodhi, the Knowledge of All Modes, and use it to rescue and help sentient beings afflicted with the perils of birth-and-death—this is called the Great Bodhisattva who, within the Mahāyāna, with single-minded cultivation, attains non-retrogression.(11)

Furthermore, Bodhisattva Maitreya! You should know that this is the Great Bodhisattva cultivating the practices of the Mahāyāna, giving rise to five minds. Among these five minds: the first mind is, toward all sentient beings, to give rise to a mind of great compassion; the second mind is, for the sake of all sentient beings, to seek the Knowledge of All, with a mind that does not retrogress—these two minds, with respect to the Dharma of the Mahāyāna, the Bodhisattva must diligently strive to cultivate.

The third mind is that all sentient beings are my close friends; the fourth mind is that all sentient beings are those to whom I am indebted, and I have not in the least repaid them; the fifth mind is that all sentient beings are all my kinfolk, toward whom I have once given rise to unwholesome karma, reproaching, scolding, and unreasonably punishing them—with deep heartfelt shame: when shall I finish repaying them! These three minds cause the Bodhisattvas to be valiant and non-retrogressing, until they realize the path-fruit of Unsurpassed, Perfect, Complete Enlightenment."(12)

Annotations:

(1) This sūtra is sūtra number 261 in the Great Canon (Tripiṭaka). The title of this sūtra has already been explained in the volume "Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels." This sūtra has 10 chapters: the chapter on Taking Refuge in the Three Jewels is the first, the chapter on the Dhāraṇī is the second, and this chapter on Giving Rise to the Bodhi-Mind is the third. The Bodhi-mind is of three kinds: the Bodhi-mind of the Śrāvaka, the Bodhi-mind of the Pratyekabuddha, and the Bodhi-mind of the Buddha.

This refers to the Unsurpassed Bodhi-mind, that is, the Bodhi-mind of the Buddha. Bodhi: formerly translated as "Path," now translated as "Awakening." To give rise to the Bodhi-mind: this means to give rise to the mind that seeks the True Path, or to give rise to the mind that seeks Perfect Awakening.

(2) The Lion's Roar: The lion is the chief among beasts; when it lets out a single roar, all the other beasts are terrified. As for the Buddha, who is endowed with majestic virtue, whatever words he speaks amid the great assembly carry the import of certainty, without fear; and conversely, when the assembly hears them, their afflictions are dissolved and the Demon-King is terrified—therefore the Buddha's words are likened to the Lion's Roar.

(3) The Dhāraṇī-Gate: That is, the gate of the Dhāraṇī. Dhāraṇī, translated in China as "all-holding," means to hold the wholesome so that it is not lost, and to hold so that the unwholesome does not arise. It takes mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom as its essence; the Bodhisattva, cultivating mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom to fullness, attains this merit. "Gate" here means "Dharma-gate." The all-holding Dharma-gate properly comprises four kinds: Dharma, meaning, mantra, and forbearance; but it usually refers specifically to the mantra-gate of the Esoteric Teaching, called the Dhāraṇī-Gate.

(4) This Dhāraṇī-Gate is most secret, subtle and wondrous, supreme, and possesses the flavor of the sweet-dew of liberation.

(5) This is the occasioning circumstance: the Bodhisattva Maitreya extols the merit of the Buddha's illuminating of the secret Dhāraṇī-Gate, and at the same time the Bodhisattva Maitreya asks the Buddha: how may sentient beings give rise to the Unsurpassed Bodhi-mind, and having given rise to the mind, how are they to cultivate, and how may they not retrogress?

(6) The Knowledge of All Modes: That is, the Buddha's wisdom. It means that by the one perfect and luminous wisdom of the Buddha, one knows all the paths and dharmas of all the Buddhas, and knows all the causes and conditions of sentient beings.

(7) Above, the Buddha answers the question of the Bodhisattva Maitreya: that sentient beings who wish to cultivate the practices of the Mahāyāna and reach Nirvāṇa must give rise to the five supreme minds. Once they can give rise to these five minds, they will not retrogress and will swiftly realize the path-fruit of Unsurpassed Bodhi.

(8) The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel (Cintāmaṇi): Also called the Maṇi-jewel, meaning that from this jewel there issues forth everything that accords with the wishes and aspirations that sentient beings long for and seek. The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel here is a metaphor for the Buddha's wisdom, that is, the Knowledge of All Modes.

(9) The passage above is where the Buddha speaks of the merchant who, because he possessed intelligent wisdom, knew how to observe thoroughly, knew how to pity his parents and kinsfolk, and resolutely vowed to enter the sea to seek the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel and bring it back to rescue and help all; although along the way someone dissuaded him and he met with many perils, still he did not lose heart or grow discouraged, but reached the goal of his aspiration—to illustrate that the Bodhisattva who gives rise to the mind to cultivate the practices of the Mahāyāna must likewise be so.

(10) The Six Destinies: gods, humans, asuras, hell-beings, hungry ghosts, animals. The Four Kinds of Birth: those born from eggs, those born from the womb, those born from moisture, those born by transformation.

(11) The above says that the Bodhisattva who gives rise to the mind to cultivate the practices of the Mahāyāna and reach Unsurpassed Bodhi must above all be single-mindedly diligent, even though encountering many obstacles and the temptations of the Demon-King.

(12) The passage above forms the conclusion concerning the five supreme minds.