文殊師利所說摩訶般若波羅蜜經

Thus have I heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the Jeta Grove monastery in the country of Śrāvastī, with a thousand bhikṣus following the Saṅgha and ten thousand great Bodhisattvas following him to hear the Dharma. These ones all adorned themselves with the most exalted of ornaments, and all had abided upon the stages from which there is no more turning back.

The names of these ones are: Maitreya Bodhisattva, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, Unobstructed Eloquence Bodhisattva, Never-Forsaking-the-Burden Bodhisattva, together with a number of such bodhisattvas gathered in assembly. As the sky was just brightening into dawn, Mañjuśrī, the great Bodhisattva of youthful form, came from his dwelling place over to where the Buddha was residing; arriving there, he stood waiting for the Buddha outside the door.

At that time the great Śrāvakas Śāriputra, Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Mahākāśyapa, Mahākātyāyana, and Mahākauṣṭhila all came from their dwelling places to call upon the Buddha, and arriving there they likewise stood waiting together outside. The Buddha, knowing that the great assembly had already gathered together in full, then left his dwelling place, came outside, spread out a sitting mat, and sat down upon it.

At that time the Buddha then said to Śāriputra:

Today, for what reason have you, as the sky was just brightening into dawn, come and stood waiting by the door?

Śāriputra replied:

World-Honored One! Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva of youthful form, came and stood waiting by the door foremost of all, while we are only ones who came afterward.

The Buddha then turned and asked Mañjuśrī:

Is it true that you came first of all, hoping to call upon the Tathāgata?

The Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī then replied:

It is just so, World-Honored One! I truly came here hoping to call upon the Tathāgata. Why have I done so? It is because I cherish the true Dharma and wish to bring benefit to sentient beings. I contemplate the Tathāgata: the mark of suchness, the mark of non-difference, the mark of non-moving, the mark of non-doing, the mark of non-arising, the mark of non-ceasing, the mark of non-existence, the mark of non-nonexistence, not abiding in any direction yet not apart from any direction, neither of the three times nor not of the three times, neither a dual mark nor not a dual mark, neither a defiled mark nor a pure mark... I employ this right contemplation of the Tathāgata in this way in order to bring true benefit to sentient beings.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

Mañjuśrī! If you have the full capacity to behold the Tathāgata, your mind retains no impression and yet it is not that no impression is retained; it accumulates no image and yet it is not that nothing is accumulated.

Then Śāriputra said to the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī:

According to the words you have just spoken, your seeing of the Tathāgata is truly rare in the world. For the sake of all sentient beings you see the Tathāgata, yet your mind retains no impression or image of sentient beings; you teach and transform all sentient beings, leading them toward Nirvāṇa, yet you do not retain any mark of Nirvāṇa; for the sake of all sentient beings you cultivate vast merit, yet what mind ever perceives that mark of adornment?

Mañjuśrī, the Bodhisattva of youthful form, then said to Śāriputra:

Just so! Just so! As you have just spoken: all is for the sake of all sentient beings, cultivating vast merit, yet the mind always perceives not the slightest mark of sentient beings; for the sake of sentient beings one cultivates merit and establishes virtue most exalted, yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases.

Suppose there were a Buddha dwelling in the world, who lived for a kalpa or more than a kalpa, with a world transformed by such a Buddha; and suppose there were furthermore immeasurable, boundless Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, each one of these Buddhas abiding in the world for a kalpa or more than a kalpa, expounding the Dharma day and night with not a single thought of pause in the mind, each one of these Buddhas delivering immeasurable sentient beings numerous as the Ganges sands, causing all this number of sentient beings to enter into Nirvāṇa.

Yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases... and even so it is for the Buddhas teaching and transforming the worlds throughout all the ten directions: each one of these Buddhas expounds the Dharma, teaches and transforms and delivers immeasurable sentient beings numerous as the Ganges sands, leading all of them into Nirvāṇa, yet the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases.

Why is this so?

Because the fixed mark of a sentient being is unobtainable, it cannot be found; therefore the realm of sentient beings never increases nor does it ever decrease.

Śāriputra again asked Mañjuśrī:

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

Mañjuśrī, turning toward the Buddha, said:

If all sentient beings are without mark, then there is also no matter of a Bodhisattva seeking supreme awakened wisdom, and there are also no sentient beings for whose sake the Bodhisattva expounds the Dharma. Why is this so? It is because within the Dharma that you, the Teacher, expound, there is not a single dharma that can be obtained at all.

Thereupon the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

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

Mañjuśrī said:

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

Is the realm of sentient beings finite in measure?

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

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

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

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

Sentient beings are without abiding, just like empty space.

The Buddha then asked Mañjuśrī:

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

Mañjuśrī replied:

Taking non-abiding as the dharma is to abide in the Prajñāpāramitā.

The Buddha again asked:

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

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

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

When abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā, how do the roots of goodness grow and increase? How do they diminish and decrease?

Mañjuśrī replied:

If one has abided in the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, the roots of goodness neither increase nor decrease, and even all dharmas likewise neither increase nor decrease; the nature and mark of the Prajñāpāramitā neither increase nor decrease.

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

It is because, abiding in the Prajñāpāramitā, one sees no dharma that can be grasped or relinquished. Cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one also does not see a Nirvāṇa worth delighting in, nor birth-and-death that should be loathed. Why is this so?

Because, since one does not see that there is birth-and-death, how then could there still be anything to be wearied of? And since one does not see that there is a Nirvāṇa, how could there still be anything to delight in? If one cultivates the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, one does not see defiled, impure afflictions that should be abandoned, nor pure merit that should be sought; toward all dharmas the mind is unmoved, neither pursuing nor fleeing.

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

If it is like this, only then is it called cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā.

World-Honored One! Not seeing any dharma as having arising or ceasing is cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā.

World-Honored One! Not seeing dharmas as having increase or decrease, the mind seeks nothing; not seeing a mark of dharma, there is nothing to be sought; not seeing the fine or the foul; not regarding anything as exalted or base; neither grasping nor relinquishing. Why is this so? Dharmas have no fine or foul, because they are apart from all marks. Dharmas have no exalted or base, because they are equal with the nature of dharmas. Dharmas should be neither grasped nor relinquished, because they abide in the true reality-limit. This is cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā.

The Buddha again asked Mañjuśrī:

Is it the case that the dharma realized and attained by the Buddha is not supreme and excelling?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I do not see any dharma as having a mark of being supreme and excelling, but only suchness as it is. The Tathāgata, of his own awakening, knows that all dharmas are entirely empty; he has realized and understood this.

The Buddha replied:

Just so! Just so! The Tathāgata, the Rightly Awakened One, realizes for himself the emptiness of dharmas.

Mañjuśrī asked the Buddha:

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

The Buddha replied:

Excellent! Very good! Mañjuśrī! Is what you have just asked the true Dharma? Then the Buddha continued: Is the unsurpassed the Buddha-Dharma?

Mañjuśrī replied:

As the Buddha teaches, the unsurpassed is the Buddha-Dharma. Why do I say so? It is because there is no dharma that can be obtained — that is the unsurpassed.

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

World-Honored One! When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one sees no dharma that exists to be discriminated or pondered.

The Buddha asked:

Do you then not ponder the Buddha-Dharma?

Mañjuśrī replied:

It is not so, World-Honored One! As I ponder, I see no Buddha-Dharma, nor can I discriminate whether it is the dharma of ordinary worldlings, or the dharma of Śrāvakas, or the dharma of Pratyekabuddhas. This is called the unsurpassed Buddha-Dharma.

Furthermore, World-Honored One! When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one sees no mark of ordinary worldlings, sees no mark of the Buddha-Dharma, sees no dharma as having a fixed and determined mark. When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one also sees no desire-realm, form-realm, formless-realm, or realm of quiescent cessation. Why is this so? Because wherever a dharma is seen to exist, there is a mark of cessation and extinction.

When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one does not see a Buddha-Dharma to be sought after, nor a dharma of ordinary worldlings that needs to be relinquished; one does not see ordinary-worldling dharmas that must be eradicated, nor a mind that realizes and knows the Buddha-Dharma.

The Buddha taught:

Excellent! Very good! Mañjuśrī, you have spoken in a most profound and clear manner about the mark of the Prajñāpāramitā, which is the Dharma-seal that the great Bodhisattvas should cultivate and learn; and even the Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, those still in training, and those beyond training must also not let go of this seal of realization in cultivating the fruit of the Path.

Mañjuśrī! If anyone, upon merely hearing this Dharma, has a mind not startled or frightened, you should know that this person has already planted roots of goodness before a thousand Buddhas, and has indeed sown the seeds of merit before a hundred thousand koṭis of Buddhas, and therefore has the full capacity to hear this Prajñāpāramitā Dharma without feeling fear and trembling in himself.

Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha:

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

The Buddha replied:

Very well, you may speak!

World-Honored One! When cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one sees no dharma as that which should be abided in, nor any realm as that which should be held onto or relinquished. Why is this so?

Because the Tathāgatas do not see a mark or form of the realm of the Buddhas — how then would they grasp the realms of Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, or ordinary worldlings? Not retaining a mark of conceptual thought, nor retaining a mark of what cannot be conceived or reckoned, one realizes for oneself the EMPTINESS OF DHARMAS, which is beyond the domain of intellectual knowledge, and one sees no dharmas as having any such marks.

Great Bodhisattvas who are able to cultivate in this way have already made offerings to immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of Buddhas and planted roots of goodness, and therefore have the full capacity to comprehend the profound Prajñāpāramitā Dharma without giving rise to a mind of fear.

World-Honored One! Furthermore, when cultivating the Prajñāpāramitā, one sees no being bound nor being released; toward ordinary worldlings and even those within the three vehicles, one sees no mark of difference or distinction.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

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

Mañjuśrī replied:

I and the Buddhas are like illusory transformations in their marks; I see neither one who makes offerings nor one who receives them.

Now then, do you abide in the Buddha-Vehicle?

As I contemplate it, I see not even a single dharma — how then could one abide in the Buddha-Vehicle?

In that case, have you then not attained the Buddha-Vehicle?

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

Mañjuśrī! Have you attained the wisdom of non-obstruction?

I am myself non-obstruction — why then would there be any matter of using non-obstruction to attain non-obstruction?

Do you sit at the place of awakening?

All the Tathāgatas do not sit at the place of awakening — why then would I alone, by myself, sit at the place of awakening? Why is there such a matter? Because it is manifestly seen that dharmas abide in the true reality-limit.

What is the true reality-limit?

The view of the body is the true reality-limit.

How is the view of the body the true reality-limit?

The mark of the view of the body is suchness, neither real nor false, neither going nor coming; it is both the body and yet also not the body — that is the true reality-limit.

Śāriputra said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! Whoever can clearly discern this true meaning is called a great Bodhisattva. Why do I say so? It is because such a one has the full capacity to comprehend the lofty and far-reaching Prajñāpāramitā, and his mind is never afraid, never startled, and never regretful.

Maitreya Bodhisattva also said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! One who hears the Prajñāpāramitā in this way, fulfilling the mark of dharmas, is already near to where the Buddha sits. Why? Because the Tathāgata is presently awakened to this mark of dharmas.

Mañjuśrī furthermore said:

World-Honored One! Whoever hears this lofty and far-reaching Prajñāpāramitā without fear, without alarm, without confusion, without regret — you should know that they have already beheld the Buddha.

At that time there was a faithful woman named Markless (Animittā) who also spoke up to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! The dharmas of ordinary worldlings, Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, Buddhas... all these dharmas are markless. Therefore, hearing the Prajñāpāramitā, one is without fear, without alarm, without confusion, without regret. Why? Because all dharmas are inherently markless.

The Buddha taught Śāriputra:

Śāriputra! If there is any good son or good daughter who hears the lofty and far-reaching Prajñāpāramitā in this way and the mind truly accepts it, without fear, without alarm, without confusion, without regret — you should know that this person abides in the stage of non-retrogression.

If there is a person who, hearing the Prajñāpāramitā, has a mind without fear and moreover delights in it, upholding and keeping it, rejoicing without any thought of weariness, then they have already fulfilled the perfection of giving (dāna-pāramitā), the perfection of moral discipline (śīla-pāramitā), the perfection of patience (kṣānti-pāramitā), the perfection of vigor (vīrya-pāramitā), the perfection of meditative absorption (dhyāna-pāramitā), and the perfection of wisdom (prajñā-pāramitā). They furthermore have the full capacity to clearly explain the Prajñāpāramitā to others so that they may believe and understand it, and according to the teaching, then put it into practice.

The Buddha again said to Mañjuśrī:

Upon contemplating what meaning does one attain supreme, perfect awakening and abide in supreme, perfect awakening?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I do not attain supreme, perfect, complete awakening; since I do not abide in the Buddha-Vehicle, how then would I still go on to attain supreme, perfect awakening? What I have just said is itself the mark of perfect awakening.

The Buddha praised Mañjuśrī:

Excellent! Very true! You have the full capacity, with respect to this lofty and far-reaching Dharma, to expound its meaning in a most skillful manner. You have followed the Buddhas of the past, planting roots of goodness for a very long time already, employing the markless dharma to purely cultivate the holy life (brahmacarya).

Mañjuśrī said:

Ordinarily, because one sees that there is a mark, then when it is absent one speaks of marklessness; but I now see neither that there is a mark nor that there is no mark — how then do you say that I employ the markless dharma to purely cultivate the holy life?

The Buddha asked Mañjuśrī:

Do you see the realm of the Śrāvakas?

I see it.

How do you see it?

I do not give rise to seeing in the manner of ordinary worldlings, seeing in the manner of the noble sages, seeing in the manner of those still in training, seeing in the manner of those who have attained the Path, seeing in the manner of the Great Vehicle, seeing in the manner of the Lesser Vehicle, seeing as already tamed, seeing as not yet to be tamed; neither seeing nor yet not seeing.

Śāriputra then asked Mañjuśrī:

If you now contemplate and see the Śrāvaka-Vehicle in this way, then as for contemplating the Buddha-Vehicle, how would that be?

Mañjuśrī replied:

I do not see a Bodhisattva-dharma, nor do I see the cultivation of the practice of awakening (bodhi), nor one who realizes the fruit of awakening.

Śāriputra further asked:

What is the Buddha? What is contemplation?

Mañjuśrī asked in return:

What is the "self"?

The self is no more than a mere designation, and a designation, in turn, is without mark.

Just so! Just so! As the "self" is also merely a designation, the Buddha too is merely another kind of designation. The mark of the designation being empty is itself awakening; one does not chase after the designation in seeking the mark of awakening, for the mark of awakening is beyond all verbal expression. Why? Because verbal expression and awakening are both empty.

Furthermore, Śāriputra! You asked me, what is the Buddha, what is contemplation? To contemplate the Buddha is to truly realize the non-arising, non-ceasing, non-going, non-coming, neither name nor mark — this is called the Buddha. As one contemplates the true mark of one's own body, the contemplation of the Buddha is likewise; only those of wisdom are able to understand it. As above, this is called the contemplation of the Buddha.

Right then Śāriputra said to the Buddha:

World-Honored One! As Mañjuśrī speaks about the Prajñāpāramitā, it is truly not within the domain of understanding of beginning Bodhisattvas in their first learning.

Mañjuśrī continued:

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

Śāriputra again asked Mañjuśrī:

Does the Buddha not realize awakening in the Dharma-realm?

It is not so at all!

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

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

Śāriputra! Within the absence of discrimination there is no one who knows; the absence of one who knows is itself the absence of verbal expression; the absence of a mark of verbal expression is itself neither existence nor nonexistence, neither knowing nor not-knowing. All dharmas are thus.

Why? Because all dharmas are entirely beyond seeing and knowing; their inherent nature is fixed and determined, like the unpardonable offenses, which cannot be reckoned. Why do I say this?

It is because the true mark of dharmas cannot be destroyed, and the unpardonable offenses are likewise so: they too have no fundamental nature, neither arising up into the heavens nor falling into the hells, and they too cannot enter Nirvāṇa. Why? Because all karma and conditions abide in the true reality-limit, neither going nor coming, neither cause nor effect.

Why?

Because the Dharma-realm has no boundary or limit, having no interval before or behind. Therefore, Śāriputra! If a person sees that there is a bhikṣu who has transgressed the grave precepts yet does not fall into the hells, and that one who purely cultivates does not enter Nirvāṇa — such a bhikṣu is neither one who should be made offerings to nor one who should not be made offerings to, neither one whose afflictions are entirely purified nor one who still has afflictions.

Why?

Because toward all dharmas the mind is consistently and uniformly impartial.

What is called the patient acceptance of dharmas (dharma-kṣānti) of non-retrogression?

When there is not the slightest dharma having even a little mark of arising or ceasing, that is the patient acceptance of dharmas of non-retrogression.

May I ask, then, what is a bhikṣu who is not to be tamed?

The Arhats, who have entirely cut off and purified their afflictions, are precisely those not to be tamed. Why? It is because the fetters and proclivities have already been entirely eradicated, so there is nothing further that needs to be tamed; therefore they are called those not to be tamed.

If the conduct of the mind has faults, that is called an ordinary worldling, for ordinary, worldling sentient beings do not accord with the Dharma-realm, and therefore are called faulty.

Excellent! As you teach, only now do I clearly understand the meaning of the Arhat who has entirely purified all afflictions.

Just so! I myself am the true Arhat who has purified all afflictions, for I have already cut off and abandoned any longing to seek the fruit of the Śrāvakas or Pratyekabuddhas; therefore it is called purifying all afflictions and attaining the fruit of Arhatship.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

When the Bodhisattvas sit at the place of awakening, do they awaken to supreme awakening (anuttara-bodhi)?

The Bodhisattvas, when sitting at the place of awakening, do not awaken to supreme awakening. Why do I say so? Since the mark of awakening has not the slightest dharma that can be attained, it is therefore called supreme awakening. Awakening being markless, no one is able to sit down at it, and no one is able to rise up from it. For this reason I do not see Bodhisattvas sitting at the place of awakening, nor do I see them awakening to and realizing supreme awakening.

World-Honored One! Awakening is itself the five unpardonable offenses, and the five unpardonable offenses are themselves awakening. Awakening and the five offenses are not two different marks: there is no awakening and no one awakened, no seeing and no one who sees, no knowing and no one who knows, no discrimination and no one who discriminates... marks such as these are called awakening, and seeing the mark of the five unpardonable offenses is likewise the same. If anyone says that he sees awakening and thereby grasps its realization, you should know that this person belongs to the class of those of overweening pride.

Right then the Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

You say that I AM ( ) the Tathāgata; does it also mean that I DO ( ) the Tathāgata?

It is not so, World-Honored One! Have I then not said that the Tathāgata "does" the Tathāgata? There is no mark of SUCHNESS by which one could speak of "DOING SUCHNESS." Nor are the Tathāgata and wisdom two separate marks. The nature of EMPTINESS that "does" the Tathāgata is merely a designation — how then could I say that there IS a Tathāgata?

The Buddha asked:

Do you have doubts about the Tathāgata?

I do not, World-Honored One! I contemplate the Tathāgata as having no fixed and determined nature, neither arising nor ceasing, and therefore I have no remaining thread of doubt.

Now then, do you not think that the Tathāgata appears in the world?

If there were a Tathāgata appearing in the world, then all the Dharma-realm would also be present in the world.

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

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

Just so! Just so! The Buddha is of a single mark, a mark that cannot be reckoned.

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

It is just so.

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

A mark that cannot be reckoned is non-arising and non-ceasing. If the Buddhas of the future appear in the world, then all the other Buddhas likewise appear in the world. Why? Because within that which cannot be reckoned there is no mark of abiding in past, future, or present; it is only due to sentient beings' attachment, holding on, that it is held that the Buddha has emerged into the world and has passed into extinction.

The Buddha said to Mañjuśrī:

This belongs to the domain of understanding of the Tathāgatas, the Arhats, and the non-retrogressing Bodhisattvas. Why is this so? It is because these three classes, on hearing the profound Dharma, give rise neither to a mind of slander nor to praise.

Mañjuśrī said to the Buddha:

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

The Buddha replied:

Mañjuśrī! The Tathāgata is beyond all conception and reckoning, and ordinary worldlings are also beyond all conception and reckoning.

World-Honored One! Are ordinary worldlings also beyond all conception and reckoning?

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

If it is said in this way that the Tathāgata is beyond all conception and reckoning, and ordinary worldlings are also beyond all conception and reckoning, then the countless Buddhas who presently seek Nirvāṇa are only laboring vainly in painful toil. Why do I say so? Because the dharma that is beyond all conception and reckoning is itself Nirvāṇa, for both are equal, without distinction.

If there is any good son or good daughter who has already cultivated roots of goodness over a long and distant time and drawn near to good spiritual friends, only then will they be able to know that ordinary worldlings are beyond all reckoning and that the Buddhas are beyond all conception and reckoning in this way.

The Buddha again said to Mañjuśrī:

Do you wish to place the Tathāgata at the supreme and most victorious rank among sentient beings?

I wish to place the Tathāgata at the foremost, supreme rank among sentient beings. Yet the mark of a sentient being likewise cannot be found.

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

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

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

I wish the Tathāgata to expound the Dharma to teach and transform, yet both the one who expounds and the one who hears cannot be obtained. Why? It is because of abiding in the Dharma-realm. In the Dharma-realm sentient beings have no mark of difference or distinction.

Do you wish to establish the Tathāgata as the unsurpassed field of merit?

The Tathāgata is the inexhaustible field of merit, the inexhaustible mark. The inexhaustible mark is itself the unsurpassed field of merit. Neither a field of merit nor not a field of merit, having no marks of brightness or darkness, arising or ceasing — that is the field of merit. If anyone is able to understand the mark of the field of merit in this way, they will plant roots of goodness in a firm and steadfast manner, neither increasing nor decreasing.

What is it to plant without increase and without decrease?

The mark of the field of merit truly can hardly be reckoned; if anyone abides herein and, just as the true Dharma directs, cultivates the roots of goodness, that too can hardly be reckoned. To plant in this way is called neither increasing nor decreasing, and is also the most victorious, unsurpassed field of merit.

Right then, by the spiritual power of the Buddha, the entire earth quaked and trembled in six ways, manifesting the mark of impermanence. Sixteen thousand people thereupon attained the patient acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti); seven hundred bhikṣus, three thousand laymen, forty thousand laywomen, and sixty koṭis of nayutas of devas of the six desire heavens — all this number of beings became far removed from the dust and defilement and attained the pure Dharma-eye with respect to all dharmas.