Toh 3823Untitled
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Explanation of the Prajnaparamita Collection (Toh 3823)
Context
This sutra belongs to the Prajnaparamita collection (Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra) in the Northern Mahayana tradition, a core body of scripture of Mahayana Buddhism. The Prajnaparamita collection is the doctrinal foundation of Buddhist schools in China, Japan, and East Asian countries, and is especially important in the practice of the Zen schools.
Prajnaparamita, or "Prajñāpāramitā," means "wisdom that has gone beyond," referring to the transcendent wisdom that thoroughly realizes sunyatā (emptiness). The Prajnaparamita sutras were taught by the Buddha at Śrāvastī with the support of the bodhisattvas, especially the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. They are regarded as the expression of the most profound true Dharma in the Mahayana.
Main Content
Although the sutra title is not clearly recorded in the descriptive information, the Prajnaparamita collection generally focuses on two central matters: the nature of prajñāpāramitā (prajna wisdom) and the essence of the bodhisattva path.
According to the Northern Canon tradition, the Prajnaparamita sutras teach that genuine prajñāpāramitā is wisdom without substance (aśūnya-jñāna), beyond all dualistic concepts. It is not ordinary knowledge, but the direct realization that all dharmas are without fixed essence and without self-nature (anātman). The phenomenal world (samaya) and consciousness (citta) are originally neither arising nor ceasing.
The sutra emphasizes that bodhisattvas cultivate prajna not in order to obtain anything at all, because there is nothing to be obtained. This is "無所得" (anupattisama), the mind that does not cling to words and does not grasp. When a bodhisattva practices prajñāpāramitā with an ungraspable mind (one that cannot be held fast by any concept), merit and wisdom naturally arise, not by intention.
The method of practice taught is "abandoning self for others" (para-artha), meaning that all the deeds and wisdom of the bodhisattva are directed toward the liberation of sentient beings. This is Bodhicitta, the foundation of bodhisattva conduct.
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