Perfection of Wisdom in 700 Lines
Pāli / Sanskrit:Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā
Mañjuśrī's Prajñāpāramitā — non-dual emptiness.
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Exposition of the Perfection of Wisdom in 700 Lines (Saptaśatikā Prajñāpāramitā)
Context
The Perfection of Wisdom in 700 Lines is one of the quintessential works of the Prajnaparamita bodhisattva conduct tradition within the Northern Mahayana canon. This sutra is composed in the form of a dialogue between Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, the bodhisattva of great wisdom, and other bodhisattvas, in order to clarify the most profound nature of Prajñāpāramitā, the Prajnaparamita wisdom developed to the utmost contemplation.
In the Northern tradition, Mañjuśrī is venerated as the symbol of absolute wisdom, the capacity to penetrate all phenomena in their deepest root. This sutra is not a long-winded doctrine, but consists of concise teachings focused on the nature of emptiness (śūnyatā) of existence, thereby helping practitioners transcend coarse misunderstandings about reality.
Main Contents
The Perfection of Wisdom in 700 Lines focuses on the nondual (advaya) view of emptiness. Unlike mistaken understandings that "emptiness" is an existent or that "being" is reality, this sutra teaches that the distinctions between being and nonbeing, existence and nonexistence, are all errors that cause us to become trapped in the net of concepts.
Mañjuśrī explains that Prajñāpāramitā is not a dharma that can be learned in the ordinary way. It cannot be taught through words, because all words are conditioned (pratītyasamutpāda) and cannot express the absolute nature. Prajnaparamita wisdom is direct wisdom, in which there is no longer a knowing subject and an object known; it is the emptiness of these very distinctions.
The sutra teaches that all bodhisattvas, all merit, and even the bodhisattva path itself have no fixed nature (svabhāva). When this state is attained, the practitioner no longer has craving, attachment, or clinging to views, and the bodhisattva's spontaneous wondrous conduct naturally unfolds.
The distinctive feature of this sutra is its nondual approach: it accepts nothing as absolute, not even "emptiness" or "non-absoluteness."
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