Toh 238The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra “The Dharma Council”

Summary

The Dharma Council is a
Great Vehicle sūtra in which the path of a bodhisattva is
taught initially by the Buddha, but principally by a host of
bodhisattvas and śrāvakas. Among them, the bodhisattva
Nirārambha takes center stage, delivering long discourses
and engaging in dialogues and debates on the key points of
Great Vehicle Buddhism. Following Nirārambha’s example, a
number of the Buddha’s disciples express their own
understanding of the path, and they win praise and
confirmation from the Buddha for their eloquent expositions
of the Dharma. As a Great Vehicle sūtra, The Dharma Council is grounded
in the themes of emptiness, nonconceptuality, and skillful
compassionate conduct; from these doctrinal touchstones
spring a profound and wide-ranging presentation of the
Dharma.

Acknowledgements

This text was translated by Lozang Jamspal and David R.
Kittay of the Tibetan Classics Translators Guild of New
York. David R. Kittay wishes to express his gratitude to Dr.
Jamspal for his wisdom and kindness, and his example of a
life lived according to the Dharma.

The translation was completed under the patronage and
supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha.
It was revised, annotated, and introduced by Ryan Damron.
Ralph H. Craig III reviewed the translation and contributed
many helpful suggestions and corrections. Ven. Konchog Norbu
copyedited the text and Martina Cotter was in charge of the
digital publication process.

The translation of this text has been made possible
through the generous sponsorship of Lily Xu.

Introduction

The Dharma Council
is a Great Vehicle sūtra in which the view,
practices, and modes of conduct of a bodhisattva are
taught, debated, and confirmed communally by the
Buddhist saṅgha. Though the Buddha does teach in
this sūtra, his primary role is to confirm and
authorize the statements of his disciples as genuine
expressions of the Dharma. The majority of the
teachings are instead delivered by a host of
bodhisattvas and śrāvakas present in his assembly.
Among them, the bodhisattva Nirārambha takes center
stage, delivering long discourses and engaging in
dialogues and debates on the key points of Great
Vehicle Buddhism. Following Nirārambha’s example,
numerous bodhisattvas and śrāvakas express their own
understanding of the path, and they win praise and
confirmation from the Buddha for their eloquent
expositions of the Dharma. As a Great Vehicle sūtra,
The Dharma Council is
grounded in the themes of emptiness,
nonconceptuality, and skillful compassionate
conduct; from these doctrinal touchstones spring a
wide-ranging articulation of the Dharma that is the
fruit of the saṅgha’s collective engagement with the
teachings of the Buddha.

The Sanskrit title of this sūtra by which it is
most widely known is the Dharmasaṅgītisūtra. This is the
Sanskrit title given by the Tibetan translators, and
it is the title by which the sūtra is cited in
numerous Indian commentarial sources. The term dharmasaṅgīti has nuanced shades of
meaning that find expression in both the setting and
content of the sūtra. In perhaps its most basic
sense, the term saṅgīti describes a chorus
or ensemble musical performance. In a specifically
religious setting, it can refer to the communal
recitation and rehearsal of doctrine, of dharma. In
the Buddhist tradition, dharmasaṅgīti can thus refer
to a gathering of the Buddhist saṅgha to
collectively recite sections of the Tripiṭika, the
“Three Baskets” of the Buddhist canon: Sūtra,
Vinaya, and Abhidharma. Such a gathering would have
been led by one or more groups of Dharma reciters
(dharmabhāṇaka; chos smra
ba) who were responsible for memorizing
and faithfully transmitting specific sections of the
canon.

More broadly, the term dharmasaṅgīti refers not only to a
communal oral rehearsal of the Dharma, but also to a
gathering or “council” in which the Dharma is
collectively confirmed, refined, and codified. It is
just such a gathering that is depicted here in
The Dharma Council.
The sūtra describes an event in which the saṅgha has
gathered to listen to the teachings of the Buddha,
to discuss and debate the Dharma among themselves,
and then to present their understanding to the
Buddha as a way of refining that understanding and
ultimately receiving confirmation that it is genuine
and correct. The notion of a “Dharma council” would
eventually take on a new shade of meaning after the
passing of the Buddha, when the responsibility to
maintain the integrity of the Dharma, sustain its
faithful transmission, root out unwanted accretions,
and resolve disputes fell to the saṅgha. This latter
kind of Dharma council is not precisely what is
described in this sūtra, but it does further
underscore the role of saṅgītis in constituting and
preserving the Dharma as it has been transmitted
since the earliest days of the Buddhist
community.

While the term dharmasaṅgīti generally
refers to a communal event, it is also frequently
used to identify a specific “Dharma discourse” given
by the Buddha or one of his disciples. Thus, the
sūtra may have been titled the Dharmasaṅgītisūtra as
a reflection of its narrative setting, but also
because the sūtra is composed of numerous individual
discourses delivered by a range of figures that
includes the Buddha, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and
even a god (devaputra). In this series of discrete
discourses, a given member of the saṅgha presents or
discusses their understanding of the Dharma and then
asks the Buddha if their discourse is in accord with
his. The Buddha consistently agrees that it is,
thereby establishing that individual discourse as
part of the collective Dharma. Thus, The Dharma Council (Dharmasaṅgīti) describes
an event in which multiple Dharma discourses
(dharmasaṅgīti) are articulated and
authorized as the true Dharma.

Despite being well known in India, China, and
Tibet as the Dharmasaṅgītisūtra, this is not the
title given in the sūtra’s colophon as preserved in
the Tibetan translation. There, the text is
identified as the “Nirārambha Chapter” (rtsom pa med kyi le’u)
of a sūtra titled chos
thams cad yang dag par sdud pa stong phrag brgya
pa, Discourse on All
Dharmas, a Sūtra in One Hundred Thousand
Lines. This sūtra is counted as the
twelfth chapter of that text, and it is named after
its primary figure, Nirārambha. Thus, the text that
is now known as the Dharmasaṅgītisūtra was considered by
its compilers to be just one chapter of a much
longer text, which, given the title, may have
included the Dharma discourses of additional
śrāvakas, bodhisattvas, and perhaps other classes of
beings. We may never be able to determine the
constitution of such a text or what its other
chapters may have been—there are no other extant
texts that are identified with this title or as
chapters thereof, and all available evidence
suggests that this sūtra was known by the title
Dharmasaṅgītisūtra in India. It is
nonetheless noteworthy that a sūtra that already
contained a wealth of Dharma discourses delivered by
a variety of Buddhist figures was itself at one time
considered part of a much longer collection of
discourses on the Dharma.

Summary

In the second section of Vast Intelligence,
Mativikrama engages Nirārambha in a further
dialogue on specific points of the Dharma. Here,
Mativikrama asks about the six perfections, the
nature of awakening, the four truths of the noble
ones, and the ten applications of mindfulness,
among other topics. Nirārambha’s discourse on the
ten applications of mindfulness is particularly
detailed and extensive and takes up most of this
section of his teaching. Throughout his discourse,
no matter the specific topic, Nirārambha returns
again and again to the themes of emptiness, love
and compassion, and nonconceptuality, thus
underscoring the nondualistic and altruistic
orientation at the heart of bodhisattva practice.
When the two bodhisattvas conclude their dialogue,
they approach the Buddha to seek confirmation of
their understanding of the Dharma. Śākyamuni
readily approves, declaring their discourse to be
in accord with the discourse of all buddhas and to
have furthered the Buddha’s work.

With the conclusion of the Vast Intelligence discourse,
Mativikrama cedes the stage, but Nirārambha’s
central role continues. For the remainder of the
sūtra Nirārambha stays near the Buddha, fielding
questions from members of the assembly and posing
questions of his own to Śākyamuni. The first to
speak is the Buddha’s great śrāvaka disciple
Śāriputra, who rises from the assembly to ask
Nirārambha about the meaning of his name, which
can be interpreted to mean “disengaged,” and
presses him further on some of the points he made
in his earlier discourse. Nirārambha’s responses
to Śāriputra’s many questions again focus on
emptiness, nonduality, and nonconceptuality as the
determining principles behind not only his own,
but all bodhisattvas’ activities. Their
conversation involves much back-and-forth, and
some chiding from Nirārambha concerning
Śāriputra’s narrow and mistaken views, but in the
end Śāriputra accepts Nirārambha’s position as
superior to his own and rejoices in Nirārambha’s
confident command of the Dharma.

At the completion of this collective
expression of the Dharma, Nirārambha offers the
Buddha a precious pearl necklace, which, through
the Buddha’s miraculous power, becomes an ornate
palace that floats in the air above his head and
follows him wherever he goes. The Buddha smiles at
this, and so initiates a short vignette on the
Buddha’s smile that is common to many sūtras: rays
of multicolored light shine forth from his mouth,
illuminate infinite world systems and bring relief
to the beings suffering there, and then return to
dissolve into the crown of the Buddha’s head. As
in other sūtras, this miraculous display prompts
Ānanda to ask why the Buddha is smiling so. It is
because the Buddha, pleased by Nirārambha’s
offering and his elucidation of the Dharma, is
about to give him the prophecy of his awakening to
complete buddhahood. Subhūti then turns to
Nirārambha to offer words of congratulations, but
Nirārambha detects in his statements the traces of
the narrow conceptual view of a śrāvaka and
critiques him. Following Nirārambha’s incisive
interrogation, Subhūti concedes that the
conventions of śrāvakas are the same as those of
worldly beings, which in Nirārambha’s view are
only appropriate to protect worldly beings, who
are scared of the ultimate, and not for noble
ones, who take joy in ultimate truth. Nirārambha
then summarizes the truth of emptiness, dependent
arising, and nonarising and explains that the
prophecy of buddhahood is for those for whom
success does not exist, who feel no joy in hearing
the prophecy, and who do not leave ordinary people
behind.

Textual History

About this

Translation

The English translation presented here
is based on the Degé version of the Tibetan
translation. The Stok Palace and Phukdrak versions
were also consulted, as were the variant readings
reported in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) of the
Degé Kangyur. Though no complete version of the
sūtra is extant in Sanskrit, a number of passages
attested in the sources listed above, particularly
those in the Śikṣāsamuccaya,
informed the translation of the relevant sections
of the text. Passages where Sanskrit sources were
consulted have been noted.

The Translation

The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra

The Dharma Council

Homage to all buddhas
and bodhisattvas.

Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was
staying in an incomparable mansion that was so vast
as to be indistinct from the center of the expanse
of phenomena that extends throughout the domain of
space. It was a miraculous emanation of his own
accumulation of merit and wisdom, and it was unlike
any contrived phenomena in the three worlds.
Completely beyond comparison, it was born from the
Thus-Gone One’s inconceivable karmic ripening. He
resided there together with a great assembly of
1,250 monks, most of whom were arhats who had
attained correct discernment, and all of whom were
liberated from the two factors. Also present were
exceedingly pure bodhisattva great beings who were
constantly in samādhi, who
maintained the scope and referents of omniscient
wisdom, who reached the culmination of the sublime
expanse of phenomena that is without center or edge,
who had perfected all of the aims and intentions of
a bodhisattva, who had mastered the realization of
all the bodhisattva powers, who had attained the ten
culminations, who were adorned with infinite
ornaments of good qualities, and who had mastered
the realization of the samādhi, dhāraṇī, patience,
and correct discernments of a bodhisattva. There
were also hundreds of thousands of gods, nāgas,
yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras,
mahoragas, śakras, brahmās, and many hundreds of
thousands of resplendent world guardians, along with
many hundreds of thousands of attendants.

“By seeing the noble ones, one will attain
faith. By attaining faith, one will aspire to
virtuous qualities. By aspiring to virtuous
qualities, one will attain stream entry. By
attaining stream entry, one will fulfill one’s
purpose. By fulfilling one’s purpose, one will
attain mastery. By attaining mastery, one will
become generous. Through being generous, one will
attain great prosperity. Through discipline, one
will attain the higher realms. Through patience, one
will become attractive in all ways. Through
diligence, one will swiftly
gain the higher cognitions. Through meditative
stability, one’s mind will become pliable. Through
insight, one will rise above all worlds. Through
skillful means, one will adapt to any situation.
Through aspiration, one will face no difficulties.
Through strength, one will be invulnerable. Through
wisdom, one will teach in all the worlds. Through
renunciation, one will attain nobility. By going
forth, one will quell all harmful thoughts. By
living on alms, one will become irreproachable. By
living in solitude, one will become fearless. And
through inward composure, one will achieve
meditative stability, the higher cognitions, and the
brahmā states.

“By examining the Dharma just as it was heard
and by teaching it accurately, one will attain
correct discernment. Through expertise in
mindfulness, one will attain dhāraṇī. Through
expertise in confident eloquence, one will attain
the wisdom of accurate prophesy.
Through skillful intelligence, one will attain the
wisdom that discerns between phenomena and their
meaning. Through expertise in
dedication, one will attain fearlessness. Through
expertise in the aggregates, one will develop
discerning insight. Through expertise in the
elements, one will access the knowledge of subtle
dependent arising. Through expertise in the sense
bases, one will relinquish confusion regarding the
internal and external. Through expertise in truth,
one will not deceive any beings. Through expertise
in attention, one will please all the buddhas.
Through expertise in meditative calm, the mind will
be pacified. And, through expertise in meditative
insight, the mind will be tamed.

“Through undivided faith in the Three Jewels,
one will attain the strength of knowing what is
appropriate and inappropriate. By always engaging in
well-performed deeds, one will attain the strength
of knowing the ripening of karma. By connecting
beings with the path of wisdom and not despising
outsiders for their
ignorance, one will attain the strength of knowing
the supreme and ordinary sense faculties. By
comprehending subtle dependent arising, one will
attain the strength of knowing beings’ varying
dispositions. By causing all beings to engage with
and take an interest in the Three Jewels, one will
attain the strength of knowing beings’ varying
interests. By always being imperturbable in conduct
and by teaching the Dharma in a way that accords
with every being, one will attain the strength of
knowing the destinations of all paths. By connecting
beings with the path of meditative concentration,
one will attain the strength of knowing the
purification of the defilements affecting meditative
concentration, samādhi, and meditative attainment,
and of knowing how to overcome them. By showing the
path to those beings who have lost their way, one
will attain the strength of knowing the divine
eye. By imparting mindfulness to all
beings, one will attain the strength of knowledge of
recollecting previous lives. By teaching the path of
purification to all beings, one will attain the
strength of knowing the exhaustion of
contaminants.

“By connecting beings with extensive learning,
one will attain fearlessness. By
connecting beings with the Great Vehicle, one will
attain the unique qualities of a buddha. By
cultivating emptiness, one will eliminate the chain
of habitual patterns. By cultivating signlessness,
one will attain unobscured wisdom regarding all
phenomena. And by cultivating wishlessness, one will
attain the wisdom that discerns all phenomena.”

This is what the Blessed One taught as the great
Dharma discourse called Entering the Gate of the Progressive Approach to
All Dharmas.

Present in that assembly inside the mansion were
two bodhisattvas with their many servants. One was
named Nirārambha and the other Mativikrama. They met
and shared this thought: “There is a Dharma
discourse of bodhisattvas called Vast Intelligence.” They
then said aloud, “We should discuss it.”

The bodhisattva great being Mativikrama then
inquired of the bodhisattva great being Nirārambha,
“Child of good family, how should bodhisattva great
beings understand the arising of the thus-gone,
worthy, completely perfect buddhas? How should
bodhisattva great beings understand the essence of
the thus-gone ones? How should they understand the
different conditions through which thus-gone ones
arise? Child of good family, how should bodhisattvas
understand the state of the thus-gone ones? Child of
good family, how should bodhisattvas understand the
great final nirvāṇa of the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas? How should they
understand the approach? How should they understand
examples and comparisons?

“Child of good family, how should bodhisattvas
understand the different aspects of a buddha?
How should
bodhisattvas understand what the thus-gone, blessed,
completely perfect buddhas teach conventionally?
Child of good family, how should bodhisattvas
understand emptiness? How should they understand
opposition to emptiness? How should bodhisattvas
understand those who follow the teachings on
emptiness? How should bodhisattvas understand those
who follow the Dharma? How should they understand
the examples through which they promote the Dharma? How should
they understand the ways bodhisattvas should not
associate with others? How should they understand
the great emanation of bodhisattvas? How should they
understand the ripening power of the virtues? Child
of good family, how should bodhisattvas understand
the power of attaining the ripening of the undefiled
virtues?”

When the bodhisattva great being Mativikrama
finished speaking, the bodhisattva great being
Nirārambha said to him, “Child of good family, you
have asked about this exceedingly excellent Dharma
discourse of bodhisattva great beings. This Dharma
discourse called Vast
Intelligence is an exceedingly excellent
account. Child of good family, listen as I explain,
through the blessing of the Buddha, this Dharma discourse
called Vast
Intelligence.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the arising of thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas through ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The
approach that disrupts all concepts of
striving; ⁽²⁾ the approach of
transforming the mind, thought, and the mind
consciousness; ⁽³⁾ the approach in which birth and
dissolution counter birth and dissolution; ⁽⁴⁾ the approach that
completely ripens what has been suppressed by the
harmful effects of previous karmic formations; ⁽⁵⁾
the complete gathering of requisites for purifying
the expanse of phenomena that is free of attachment;
⁽⁶⁾ the complete revelation of teachings by means of
countless millions of aspirations; ⁽⁷⁾ the blessings
of the Buddha who has been blessed by all the
thus-gone ones; ⁽⁸⁾ all the ways ripened roots of
virtue provide an impetus; ⁽⁹⁾ the exceedingly vast
flow of great love and compassion; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ arising
in different forms depending on the influence of
time, place, and the intentions, virtuous yearnings,
and dispositions of beings. Child of good family,
bodhisattvas should understand the arising of the
thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect buddhas
through these ten approaches to the way of the
Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the essence of all the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas through ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The
essence of suchness, because they are naturally
stainless; ⁽²⁾ the essence of the expanse of
phenomena, because they are indivisible; ⁽³⁾ the
essence of the limit of reality, because they are
omnipresent; ⁽⁴⁾ the essence of emptiness,
signlessness, and wishlessness, because they are
devoid of essence; ⁽⁵⁾ the essence that is like an
illusion, a mirage, the moon’s reflection in water,
a magical creation, an echo, a city of gandharvas,
and the circling of a firebrand, because they are
instantiated through the power of external
conditions; ⁽⁶⁾ the essence of birthlessness and
nonarising, because they are immaterial; ⁽⁷⁾ the
essence of the nature of all things, because they
are naturally luminous; ⁽⁸⁾ never having arisen in
the past, because they are an unbroken continuity;
⁽⁹⁾ not transferring into the future, because they
are not physical; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ not existing in the
present, because they are absent in the past and
future. Child of good
family, bodhisattvas should thus understand the
essence of the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect
buddhas through these ten approaches to the way of
the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the different conditions through which
the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect buddhas
arise through ten approaches to the way of the
Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The seed of
vigilance, because it yields the fruit of the
Dharma; ⁽²⁾ developing insight and skillful means,
because they are irreproachable; ⁽³⁾ the legs of the
perfection of ethical discipline, because it leads
to good outcomes; ⁽⁴⁾ the faculty of the
lifeforce, the mind of awakening, because it is the
elixir of immortality; ⁽⁵⁾ the hands of meditative
calm and meditative insight, because they do good
work; ⁽⁶⁾ the eye that penetrates the ripening of
karma, because it is the magnificent mirror-like
wisdom; ⁽⁷⁾ the navel of accomplishing all the
perfections, because they are well oriented; ⁽⁸⁾ the
spine of the means of attracting disciples, because
perseverance is at their core; ⁽⁹⁾ the head, the
highest limb, meditating on emptiness, because it is
nonconceptual; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ enthusiasm without being
disheartened or frightened, because it does not
permit the rejection of any activity on behalf of
any being. Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
thus understand the different conditions through
which the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect
buddhas arise through these ten approaches to the
way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the state of the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas through ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ They
are free from all ill will and hatred because they
lack egotism and grasping; ⁽²⁾ they continually
provide sustenance for every being because they are
like medicine; ⁽³⁾ they defend the truth because
their prior commitments have not weakened; ⁽⁴⁾ they watch
over beings because they have purified great
compassion; ⁽⁵⁾ they think only of benefiting beings
because that is all they strive for; ⁽⁶⁾ they are
not concerned with their own happiness because they
are hurt by the suffering of others; ⁽⁷⁾ they are
free from concepts about nirvāṇa because saṃsāra and
nirvāṇa are of the same taste; ⁽⁸⁾ they are
characteristically indefatigable because they
dispense with their activities effortlessly; ⁽⁹⁾
they are free of all striving because they do not
have a body of flesh; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ they are
characteristically free of obstacles because they
constantly demonstrate passing into nirvāṇa. Child
of good family, bodhisattvas should know the state
of the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect buddhas
through these ten approaches to the way of the
Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the great final nirvāṇa of the thus-gone,
worthy, completely perfect buddhas through ten
approaches to the way of the Dharma. What are these
ten? ⁽¹⁾ Succeeding in abandoning all emotional and
cognitive obscurations; ⁽²⁾ understanding the
selflessness of persons and phenomena; ⁽³⁾
discovering the transformation of birth and
phenomena; ⁽⁴⁾ attaining the wisdom of uninterrupted
and effortless awakened activity done on behalf of
all beings; ⁽⁵⁾ attaining the undifferentiated
dharmakāya of all the thus-gone ones; ⁽⁶⁾ not
thinking that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are two different
things; ⁽⁷⁾ purifying the root of all phenomena; ⁽⁸⁾
becoming familiar with the fact that all phenomena
neither arise nor cease; ⁽⁹⁾ attaining the wisdom
that knows that suchness, the expanse of phenomena,
and the limit of reality are the same; and ⁽¹⁰⁾
attaining the wisdom that recognizes the equality of
the nature of all phenomena and the nature of
nirvāṇa. Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the great final nirvāṇa of the thus-gone,
worthy, completely perfect buddhas through these ten
approaches to the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the great final nirvāṇa of the thus-gone,
blessed, completely perfect buddhas through an
additional ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.
What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The root of all afflictive
emotions is aspiration
because the afflictive emotions arise from aspiration. The Thus-Gone One
lacks aspiration. Because
he is free of aspiration,
it is said that the Thus-Gone One has passed into
final nirvāṇa. ⁽²⁾ Because of his lack of aspiration, the Thus-Gone One
does not grasp at any phenomena. Because he does not
grasp, he does not accept or reject them. Because he
is free of grasping, it is said that the Thus-Gone
One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽³⁾ The
dharmakāya disrupts acceptance and rejection; it
neither arises nor ceases. Because he is free of
arising and ceasing, it is said that the Thus-Gone
One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽⁴⁾ That which is
unarisen and unceasing is utterly ineffable. Because
of being ineffable, it is said that the Thus-Gone
One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽⁵⁾ There is
neither a self nor beings; phenomena simply
transform through arising and ceasing. Therefore, it
is said that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽⁶⁾ All the afflictive emotions and
secondary afflictive emotions are adventitious.
Because the expanse of phenomena neither comes nor
goes, it is neither adventitious nor persistent.
Because the expanse of phenomena is unvarying, it is
said that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽⁷⁾ Suchness is true, while phenomena
distinct from suchness are false. Such is the
essence of truth. Being the essence of suchness, it
is said that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽⁸⁾ The limit of reality is unelaborate;
other phenomena are essentially elaborate. Because the limit
of reality is unvarying, it is said that the
Thus-Gone One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽⁹⁾
Nonarising is truth; other phenomena, like arising
and so forth, are not true, mistaken, and deceptive. The
Thus-Gone One is neither false nor deceptive. Being
the essence of truth, it is said that the Thus-Gone
One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽¹⁰⁾ That which
is contrived is unreal, and that which is real
is uncontrived. The dharmakāya of the Thus-Gone One
is real. Final nirvāṇa is said to be uncontrived.
Child of good family, bodhisattvas should understand
the great final nirvāṇa of the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas through these ten
approaches to the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the great final nirvāṇa of the thus-gone,
worthy, completely perfect buddhas through an
additional ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.
What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ Giving and the result of
giving are devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ Being
unmistaken about the transformation of concepts
through understanding giving and the result of
giving, it is said that the Thus-Gone One has passed
into final nirvāṇa. ⁽²⁾ Discipline and the result of
discipline are devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ Being
unmistaken about the transformation of concepts
through understanding discipline and the result of
discipline, it is said that the Thus-Gone One has
passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽³⁾ Patience and the
result of patience are devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
Being unmistaken about the transformation of
concepts through understanding patience and the
result of patience, it is said that the Thus-Gone
One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽⁴⁾
Diligence and the result of diligence are devoid of
‘I’ and ‘mine.’ Being unmistaken about the
transformation of concepts through understanding
diligence and the result of diligence, it is said
that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽⁵⁾ Meditative stability and the result of
meditative stability are devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’
Being unmistaken about the transformation of
concepts through understanding meditative stability
and the result of meditative stability, it is said
that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽⁶⁾ Insight and the result of insight are
devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ Being unmistaken about the
transformation of concepts through understanding
insight and the result of insight, it is said that
the Thus-Gone One has passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽⁷⁾
All phenomena, including all things sentient and
insentient, are devoid of a self. Being free of
erroneous perceptions regarding beings and
phenomena, it is said that the Thus-Gone One has
passed into final nirvāṇa. ⁽⁸⁾ Affection toward the
self is a kind of striving, and persistence in that
striving is affliction. Being free of affection
toward the self and being free of that striving is
the opposite, nonaffliction. Lacking affliction, it
is said that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽⁹⁾ That which is compounded is measurable;
that which is uncompounded is immeasurable. As an
immeasurable phenomenon that is free of compounded
and uncompounded phenomena and that has attained the
intrinsic quality of being uncompounded, it is said
that the Thus-Gone One has passed into final
nirvāṇa. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The Thus-Gone One does not see any
phenomenon that is beyond emptiness, nor does he see
any beings. Emptiness is a phenomenon (dharma);
as the dharmakāya, it is said that the Thus-Gone One
has passed into final nirvāṇa.
Child of good
family, bodhisattvas should understand the final
nirvāṇa of the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect
buddhas through these ten approaches to the way of
the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the approach of the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas through ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾
Remaining in the state of phenomena because
phenomena are utterly pure; ⁽²⁾ remaining in a state
of great courage by following through on what one
has promised; ⁽³⁾ regarding the purpose of self and
other to be of one taste because of the equivalence
of their purpose; ⁽⁴⁾ being nonconceptual like a
crystal insofar as the expanse of nonconceptuality
is utterly pure; ⁽⁵⁾ attaining
happiness because it dispels harm; ⁽⁶⁾ attaining
fearlessness because it defeats the enemy of the
afflictive emotions; ⁽⁷⁾ attaining fearlessness
because of not being in doubt about any phenomena;
⁽⁸⁾ defeating opponents due to maintaining
impartiality toward all beings; ⁽⁹⁾ being skilled in
emitting many hundreds of thousands of emanations
because of their utterly pure power; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ being
skilled at clearly displaying all forms because of
being utterly pure like the sky. Child of good
family, bodhisattvas should understand the approach
of the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect buddhas
through these approaches to the way of the
Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should know
the approach of the thus-gone, worthy, completely
perfect buddhas through an additional ten approaches
to the way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾
The Thus-Gone One does not think, ‘Saṃsāra has many
faults, while those beset with faults do not
recognize that nirvāṇa has good qualities.’ Rather,
finding saṃsāra and nirvāṇa to be the same, the
Thus-Gone One neither cycles in saṃsāra nor passes
into nirvāṇa, and is not averse to benefiting
beings. ⁽²⁾ The Thus-Gone
One does not at all think, ‘The minds of these
beings are afflicted by error, the afflictive
emotions, and the secondary afflictive emotions. I
should liberate them.’ Rather, the Thus-Gone One
effortlessly and nonconceptually acts in alignment
with the sense bases, faculties, and inclinations of
beings who are impelled by their previous conceptual
imputations. ⁽³⁾ The Thus-Gone One does not at all
think, ‘I teach the sūtras, verse narrations,
prophecies, verses, meaningful statements, framing
episodes, narratives, legends, accounts of former
lives, extensive discourses, accounts of miracles,
and expositions.’ Rather, he effortlessly
and nonconceptually teaches those beings the Dharma
of the thus-gone ones. ⁽⁴⁾ The Thus-Gone One does
not at all think, ‘I am entering this village, city,
town, or market for alms.’ Nor does he think, ‘I am
approaching a kṣatriya, brahmin, vaiśya, or śūdra; a
king, prince, or royal minister; or some other
person for alms.’ Rather, the Thus-Gone One engages
with them through his activities of body, speech,
and mind informed by his wisdom. ⁽⁵⁾ The Thus-Gone
One does not have hunger or thirst, he does not
defecate or urinate, nor does he have a weak body.
He goes for alms but does not ask for or request
food. In all situations he effortlessly and
nonconceptually acts to ripen beings without giving
up. ⁽⁶⁾ The Thus-Gone
One does not think, ‘This being is inferior, this
one is average, and this one is superior. I’ll speak
in an inferior way to this one, in an average way to
this one, and in a superior way to this one.’
Rather, he imparts the teachings of the thus-gone
ones nonconceptually, without addition or omission,
in accord with the recipient. ⁽⁷⁾ The Thus-Gone One
does not think, ‘This being does not honor me, does
not worship me, but disgraces me. I should not speak
with that one at all. That one honors me, worships
me, venerates me, and sings my praise. I should
speak with that one.’ Rather, the Thus-Gone One is
impartial, even toward rivals. ⁽⁸⁾ The Thus-Gone One
is not arrogant, careless, attached, angry,
covetous, possessive, clinging, servile, or subject
to the secondary afflictive emotions. Rather, he
speaks in praise of isolation from activity,
isolation from desire, and of those who delight in
isolation. ⁽⁹⁾ Because the Thus-Gone One has
mirror-like wisdom, he has no lack of knowledge
about, ignorance of, or misunderstanding of any kind
concerning objects of knowledge. Seeing what is to
be done and not done, he engages with beings as
appropriate. ⁽¹⁰⁾ The Thus-Gone One is not pleased
with beings with extensive wealth, nor displeased
with beings who are poor. Rather, he extends great
uninhibited love to those who have embarked on the
correct path, and great uninhibited compassion to
those who have embarked on a mistaken path. Child of
good family, bodhisattvas should understand the
approach of the thus-gone, worthy, completely
perfect buddhas through these ten approaches to the
way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the examples and comparisons of the
thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect buddhas
through ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.
What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ Take the example of the sun.
It rises equally for and shines equally on all
inferior, average, and superior beings, and on all
of those with and without faith. Similarly, the
thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect Buddha also
equally rises for and shines the light of wisdom on
inferior, average, and superior beings, and on those
with and without faith. ⁽²⁾ Take the example of
space. Its essential quality is that it does not
obstruct any being in any way. Otherwise, it would
always appear to have fleeting obscurations like
smoke, clouds, dust, and fog. Similarly, the
Thus-Gone One, like space, is essentially unobscured
for all beings. Otherwise, because of being obscured
by grasping at ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ which are comparable
to fleeting smoke, clouds, dust, and fog, the
Thus-Gone one would not be visible or accessible to
beings. ⁽³⁾ Take the example of fire. Although fire
can be found in all wood, without all the right
conditions and effort it will not ignite, thus not
fulfilling its own potential. Similarly, the
Thus-Gone One is present in all objects of
knowledge, but without all the right conditions,
like faith and so forth, and without effort, he will
not appear and will not perform awakened activities.
⁽⁴⁾ Take the example of pouring different colors
into a single vessel, and then soaking different
strips of cloth in those many colors. The colors
will take based on the potency of the
container, but the colors
have no conscious influence. Similarly, beings see
the Thus-Gone One and take on his good qualities
based on the immersion of the threads of their
belief in the many diverse collections of the roots
of virtue accumulated by the Thus-Gone One. ⁽⁵⁾ Take the
example of a river filled with water. It flows
downward when praised, and still flows downward when
spoken to with enmity and curses. Similarly, whether
one is praising or speaking badly of the Thus-Gone
One, he proceeds with wisdom, not with pride. ⁽⁶⁾
Take the example of sugarcane. It is cut into many
pieces but does not lose its sweet taste. Similarly,
it does not matter if the Thus-Gone One is worshiped
or not, when one attends to him the sweet taste of
liberation is not lost. ⁽⁷⁾ Take the example of the
earth. It persists without thinking or changing.
Those who want profit from it plow it, cultivate it,
and sow seeds so that their harvest will be
abundant. Those who do not plow it, cultivate it, or
sow seeds will not have an abundant harvest.
Similarly, the Thus-Gone One, like the earth,
persists without thinking or changing. Those who
wish for good qualities and arouse faith, sincerity,
and respect toward the Thus-Gone One will have an
abundant harvest of good qualities. Those who do not
arouse faith, sincerity, and respect toward the
Thus-Gone One will not have an abundant harvest of
good qualities. ⁽⁸⁾ Take, for example, the fact that
some people disparage sandalwood and camphor and say
that it is bad, while still smearing their bodies
with them. Sandalwood and camphor make them fragrant
and not smell bad. Similarly, people say nasty
things about the thus-gone, worthy, completely
perfect Buddha, but after disparaging him, they
serve and rely on him. The Thus-Gone One instills in
those who revere him the fragrance of awakened
qualities. ⁽⁹⁾ Take, for example, how a bridge, causeway, or royal
road
does not obstruct inferior, average, or superior
people, but rather permits easy travel equally.
Similarly, the Thus-Gone One shows no bias for
inferior, average, or superior beings, is not
obscured, and engages them equally by moving with
ease among them. ⁽¹⁰⁾ Take, for example, the king of
medicines called beautiful to
behold, found on the snowy king of
mountains. As soon as it is seen, all the illnesses
that beset all beings will disappear. Similarly, as
soon as the Thus-Gone One is seen, all of the
illnesses that beset all beings will be cured. Child
of good family, bodhisattvas should understand the
examples and comparisons of the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas through these ten
approaches to the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the buddha through
ten approaches to the way of the Dharma. What are
these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The buddha as a supporting cause, ⁽²⁾
the buddha as a resultant buddha, ⁽³⁾ the buddha of
samādhi, ⁽⁴⁾ the buddha of aspirations, ⁽⁵⁾ the
buddha of the mind, ⁽⁶⁾ the essential buddha, ⁽⁷⁾
the enjoyment buddha, ⁽⁸⁾ the emanation buddha, ⁽⁹⁾ the
conceptually designated buddha, ⁽¹⁰⁾ and the buddha
in one’s presence.

“What is the buddha as a supporting
cause? This refers to the buddha as the
supporting cause of the perfections and that which
causes the accomplishment of the quality of
perfection. That which is accomplished through those
two is the accomplished buddha, thus it is called
‘the buddha as a supporting cause.’

“What is the resultant
buddha? It is the result of the
perfections, which are the supporting cause. It is
the arising of the resultant body of the buddha from
that result. It is the product of the blessings of
beings and the blessings of the Dharma. This is what is
meant by ‘the resultant buddha.’

“What is the buddha of
samādhi? This refers to the samādhi
settled into—to the samādhi that, once settled into,
produces one hundred thousand buddhas naturally and
effortlessly. Because this buddha arises from
samādhi through the blessings of that samādhi, this
is called the buddha of samādhi. This is what is
meant by ‘the buddha of samādhi.’

“What is the buddha of
aspirations? After a bodhisattva makes
the aspiration, ‘May beings be tamed through
whatever forms, colors, and actions will tame them,’
the beings who can be tamed by a buddha are tamed by
the physical form of a buddha. Because of arising
from that aspiration, it is called the buddha of
aspiration. This is what is meant by ‘the buddha of
aspiration.’

“What is the buddha of
mind? It is the power over the mind that,
once attained by a bodhisattva, allows them to bring
into being whatever they imagine. When they see
beings who have been tamed by a buddha, they form
the resolve, ‘May I take the form of a buddha.’
Because this arises from the mind, it is the buddha
of mind. Those who were tamed also purify their own
minds and come to see and know the buddha. This is
what is meant by ‘the buddha of mind.’

“What is the emanation
buddha? Buddhas and bodhisattvas who
have attained the samādhi of displaying all forms
settle into that samādhi, attain power, and,
impelled by great compassion, emanate the form of a
buddha and tame beings. This is what is meant by
‘the emanation buddha.’

“What is the buddha in one’s
presence? Some people fashion images of
a buddha or have others fashion one for them. They
venerate it through all the practices of worship and
service, treat it with respect, paint it, invest it
with the qualities of the buddhas, and thereby make
it perfect. This achievement is called ‘the buddha
in one’s presence.’

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand ten types of conventional teachings given
by the thus-gone, worthy, completely perfect
buddhas. What are the ten? ⁽¹⁾ The teaching on the
aggregates, ⁽²⁾ the teaching on the elements, ⁽³⁾
the teaching on the sense bases, ⁽⁴⁾ the teaching on
beings, ⁽⁵⁾ the teaching on action, ⁽⁶⁾ the teaching
on birth, ⁽⁷⁾ the teaching on old age, ⁽⁸⁾ the
teaching on death, ⁽⁹⁾ the teaching on
transmigration upon death, and
⁽¹⁰⁾ the teaching on the peace of nirvāṇa.

“How is the teaching on the
aggregates a conventional teaching? The
aggregate of form does not ultimately exist. If the
aggregate of form were to exist ultimately,
existence would cease upon its abandonment.
Something that is freed through being abandoned
would then either exist as something that remained
or exist as something that changed. This is not the
case, therefore the teaching on the aggregate of
form is a conventional teaching. In the same way,
teachings on the aggregates of feeling, perception,
formations, and consciousness are conventional
teachings. The aggregate of consciousness does not
ultimately exist. If the aggregate of consciousness
were to exist ultimately, existence would cease upon
its abandonment. Something that is freed through
being abandoned would then either exist as something
that remained or exist as something that changed.
This is not the case, therefore the teaching on the
aggregate of consciousness is a conventional
teaching.

“How is the teaching on
action a conventional teaching? The
performance of actions is neither existent nor
nonexistent. If the performance of actions were to
exist, the performance of actions would not be
created, like space. But, if it were compounded like
the aggregates, it would not be created, just like
space. That which is uncreated could not be created,
entailing that no actions could ever be performed.
If actions do not exist, how could actions ever come
about? For these reasons,
the teaching on actions is a conventional
teaching.

“How is the teaching on
birth a conventional teaching? Birth
does not ultimately exist. If birth were to exist
ultimately, it would be perpetual, and birth would
not entail birth. That which is born through birth,
and also that which is tormented by birth, would not
exist. Therefore, the teaching on birth is a
conventional teaching.

“How is the teaching on old
age a conventional teaching? Old age
does not ultimately exist. If old age were to exist
ultimately, no one would become old. Those who are
aged could not have been young, old, or very old.
There would be no aging for a child, and thus a
child would never age. If there were no old age, how
would one become old? In such circumstances one who
is not old would never age. If an old person aged,
then why would a young person not age? Therefore,
the teaching on aging is a conventional
teaching.

“How is the teaching on
death a conventional teaching? Death
does not ultimately exist. If death were to exist
ultimately, it would be something acquired. It would
then be logical that if a single living being
acquired it, then all other living beings would not
die; however, there is no one who does not die.
Since it is taught that death does not come from
anywhere or go anywhere, the teaching on death is a
conventional teaching.

“How is the teaching on transmigration
upon death a conventional teaching?
Transmigration upon death does not ultimately exist.
If transmigration upon death were to exist
ultimately, the very same being who died would be
the being who is born, entailing that the one who
died would have two bodies upon birth: the body that
transmigrated and the body in which they
transmigrate. If transmigration were to exist, the
five aggregates would also exist. Why? Because the
consciousness that was freed from the aggregates
would not have a point of access. It is
consciousness that approaches and enters form, and
consciousness that approaches sensation, approaches
perception, and approaches formations. It is
consciousness that depends on them, observes them,
and enters them. An unsupported consciousness would
not enter for even a moment. Because transmigration
upon death occurs in the same way as any persisting
phenomenon arises—like a seed and a sprout—it is a
conventional teaching.

“How is the teaching on the peace of
nirvāṇa a conventional teaching?
Nirvāṇa does not ultimately exist. The pacification
of saṃsāra is called nirvāṇa. Saṃsāra is not itself
nirvāṇa, nor is nirvāṇa distinct from saṃsāra.
Saṃsāra, like a dream or an illusion, neither exists
nor does not exist, nor does it arise because of
being both existent and nonexistent. Just as saṃsāra
does not exist or not exist and does not arise
through being both existent and nonexistent, it does
not cease because of not existing, not
not existing, or being both existent
and nonexistent. Alternatively, the cessation of
perception and sensation is called nirvāṇa.
Perception is just like a mirage; sensation is like
a water bubble. Just as a mirages and water bubbles
arise and cease, so it is with saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
Therefore, the teaching on the peace of nirvāṇa is a
conventional teaching.

“Bodhisattvas should understand these ten as the
conventional teachings of the thus-gone, worthy,
completely perfect buddhas.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand emptiness through ten approaches to the
way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The
absence of self, ⁽²⁾ the absence of beings, ⁽³⁾ the
absence of life, ⁽⁴⁾ the absence of a person, ⁽⁵⁾
the absence of a governing power, ⁽⁶⁾ the absence of
birth, ⁽⁷⁾ the absence of cessation, ⁽⁸⁾ the absence of
conditioning, ⁽⁹⁾ the absence of doing, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ the
absence of ownership.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of self? Emptiness is neither something
substantial nor insubstantial. If emptiness were
substantial, it would be compounded and impermanent.
If emptiness were insubstantial, the empty would not
be empty. Therefore, emptiness is neither something
substantial nor insubstantial. Thus, emptiness
should be understood through the absence of
self.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of beings? Beings are neither empty nor not
empty. If beings were empty, then even killing would
not be an evil act. Yet if they were not empty, they
would be permanent. This is why the Blessed One
said, ‘Beings are neither permanent nor impermanent,
neither compounded nor uncompounded.’ This is how
emptiness should be understood through the absence
of beings.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of life? Emptiness neither lives nor dies.
For example, the eye is empty of ‘I’ and ‘mine’.
That which is empty of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ neither lives
nor dies. The ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are
similarly empty of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ and that which is
empty of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ neither lives nor dies. This
is how emptiness should be understood through the
absence of life.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of a person? Emptiness is not considered a
person. Emptiness is not considered a phenomenon.
The aggregates, elements, and sense bases are empty.
They are conceptually fixated on, and then
conceptually designated as ‘a person.’ It should not
be claimed that anything designated through
conceptual fixation exists or does not exist. This
is how emptiness should be understood through the
absence of a person.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of a governing power? Because there is
nothing that is beyond emptiness, there is nothing
to be a governing power of emptiness. This is how
emptiness should be understood through the absence
of a governing power.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of birth? Emptiness is not born. If
emptiness were born it would not be emptiness. The
empty would therefore not be empty. If something
that has been born were not empty, and emptiness
does not birth itself, then the unborn would not be
nonempty. This is how emptiness should be understood
through the absence of birth.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of conditioning? Emptiness is not acted on,
nor does it act. The aggregates, elements, and sense
bases are empty. When they are fixated on, they are
conceptually designated as emptiness. This is how
emptiness should be understood through the absence
of conditioning.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of doing? Emptiness cannot be effected by
saying, ‘You should do it this way.’ This is how
emptiness should be understood through the absence
of doing.

“How should emptiness be understood through the
absence of ownership? Emptiness is not an object and
does not have an object; it is
devoid of mind, thought, and the mind consciousness.
This is how emptiness should be understood through
the absence of ownership.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the factors that oppose emptiness through
ten approaches to the way of the Dharma. What are
these ten? The opposing factors of ⁽¹⁾ ignorance,
⁽²⁾ craving, ⁽³⁾
karma, ⁽⁴⁾ consciousness, ⁽⁵⁾ grasping, ⁽⁶⁾ view,
⁽⁷⁾ doubt, ⁽⁸⁾ a sense of superiority, ⁽⁹⁾ pride,
and ⁽¹⁰⁾ agitation. These are the ten factors that
oppose emptiness.

“There are two categories and four types of
ignorance. What are the two categories? The
obscuration of the afflictive emotions and cognitive
obscurations. What are the four types? Ignorance
that arises out of attachment to the desire realm,
ignorance that arises out of attachment to the form
realm, ignorance that arises out of attachment to
the formless realm, and ignorance that arises out of
attachment to the insubstantial.

“Craving has two bases and four types. What are
the two bases? A basis in existence and a basis in
enjoyment. What are the four aspects? Craving for
the desire realm, craving for the form realm,
craving for formless realms, and craving for the
insubstantial.

“Karma has one manifestation, three types, and
three results. What is the one manifestation? It is
mental karma. What are the three types? Karma that
arises from body, from speech, and from mind. What
then are the three results? Nonvirtuous results from
nonvirtuous deeds, virtuous results from virtuous
deeds, and a mixture of nonvirtuous and virtuous
results from a mixture of nonvirtuous and virtuous
deeds.

“Consciousness has six aspects: the
consciousnesses of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body,
and mind. These six aspects are consciousness; they
conceptually fixate on the mistaken, conceptually
fixate on the unmistaken, and are without conceptual
fixation. Conceptual fixation on the mistaken refers
to foolish ordinary people; it refers to the
mistaken, distracted minds that arise from the
desire, form, and formless realms as their cause.
Conceptual fixation on the unmistaken is the cause
of the nirvāṇa of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
Liberation from both of these two is the
bodhisattvas’ lack of conceptual fixation. It is the
cause of the Dharma of the Buddha.

“Grasping, the cause of existence, is of four
types: the grasping of desire, the grasping of view,
the grasping of discipline and ascetic practice, and
the grasping that promotes a self.

“There are two types of doubt: doubt that
impedes the vehicle and doubt that impedes
certainty. Doubt that impedes the vehicle are doubts
that consume one about how quickly one will become
fully awakened. Thinking, ‘What is the point in
staying for so long? In the śrāvaka and
pratyekabuddha vehicles suffering is quickly
transcended’ one abandons the Great Vehicle. This is
the kind of doubt that impedes the vehicle. What
doubt impedes certainty? Doubt due to which one does
not gain certainty. Not understanding the state of
certainty is the kind of doubt that impedes
certainty. These are the two types of doubt.

“A sense of superiority refers to aspiring for
the results of commendable acts of generosity and so
forth. One makes mistaken aspirations like, ‘Through
these acts of generosity, discipline, and so forth
may I become this or that god,’ and so on. This is
what is meant by a sense of superiority.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand those who follow the teachings on
emptiness through ten approaches to the way of the
Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ Not being swayed and
not moving; ⁽²⁾ being neither attached nor free from
attachment; ⁽³⁾ neither accepting nor rejecting; ⁽⁴⁾
neither fighting nor arguing; ⁽⁵⁾ neither
diminishing nor increasing; ⁽⁶⁾ tolerating the
natural cessation of all formations; ⁽⁷⁾ not being
afraid when hearing, ‘Nothing is ever produced by
ordinary people nor is brought to an end by the
buddhas’; ⁽⁸⁾ not being consumed with doubt when
hearing, ‘The nature of saṃsāra and the nature of
nirvāṇa are the same’; and ⁽⁹⁾ acting upon hearing,
‘The body of the Thus-Gone One is permanent and ⁽¹⁰⁾
its qualities are inexhaustible.’

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of not being
swayed? Followers of the teachings on emptiness are
not swayed by worldly phenomena because they are
without basis. They are neither excited by gain nor
depressed when not getting what they want. They are neither
elated by fame nor disheartened by infamy. They do
not cower when censured, nor delight in praise. They
are neither enamored with pleasure nor
dispirited by suffering. Those who are not diverted
by worldly phenomena have understood emptiness. This is how those who follow
the teachings on emptiness should be understood in
terms of not being swayed.

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of not moving?
Followers of the teachings on emptiness do not move
from somewhere or to somewhere. That which moves
from somewhere to somewhere is seen to be and known
as emptiness. That which does not go, which does not
move, is also understood as emptiness. This is how
those who follow the teachings on emptiness should
be understood in terms of not moving.

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of being neither
attached nor free from attachment? Followers of the
teachings on emptiness are not attached to anything
and are not devoid of attachment. That to which one
either is attached or is free from attachment is
known and seen to be emptiness. The one who is
either attached or free from attachment to some
phenomena is also seen as emptiness. This is how
those who follow the teachings on emptiness should
be understood in terms of neither being attached nor
being free from attachment.

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of not accepting or
rejecting? Followers of the teachings on emptiness
do not accept anything and do not reject anything.
That which is accepted and rejected is known and
seen as emptiness, but one does not reject the
requisites for awakening. Whatever is thus accepted
is known as emptiness. This is how those who follow
the teachings on emptiness should be understood in
terms of not accepting or rejecting.

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of not fighting and
arguing? Whoever fights and argues does not know
emptiness. Those with whom they fight and argue are
known and seen as emptiness. This
is how those who follow the teachings on emptiness
should be understood in terms of not fighting and
arguing.

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of tolerating the
natural cessation of all formations? Followers of
the teachings on emptiness do not recognize
phenomena as real or unreal. That which is neither
real nor unreal has fundamentally ceased. That which
has fundamentally ceased has naturally ceased.
Followers of the teachings on emptiness are correct
in not recognizing phenomena as being born or having
ceased. That is how one should understand those who
follow the teachings on emptiness in terms of
tolerating the natural cessation of all
formations.

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of not being afraid
when hearing, ‘Nothing is ever produced by ordinary
people nor is brought to an end by the buddhas’?
Followers of the teachings on emptiness do not
think, ‘These are ordinary people and those are
buddhas,’ but they do know the uniformity of
ordinary peoples’ qualities in terms of the
uniformity of the buddhas’ qualities. Those who
regard the ways of ordinary beings as inferior and
the qualities of the buddhas to be vast do not know
emptiness. This is how those who follow the
teachings on emptiness should be understood in terms
of not being afraid when hearing, ‘Nothing is ever
produced by ordinary people nor is brought to an end
by the buddhas.’

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of not being
consumed with doubt when hearing, ‘The nature of
saṃsāra and the nature of nirvāṇa are the same’?
Those who see a
difference between the nature of saṃsāra and the
nature of nirvāṇa do not know emptiness. Why? The
suchness of both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa share the same
characteristic of being uncompounded. Those who
recognize this equivalence in the suchness of
saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, that there is no difference
between them, have no doubts. This is how those who
follow the teachings on emptiness should be
understood in terms of not being consumed with doubt
when hearing, ‘The nature of saṃsāra and the nature
of nirvāṇa are the same.’

“How should those who follow the teachings on
emptiness be understood in terms of their engagement
upon hearing ‘the body of the Thus-Gone One is
permanent and its qualities are inexhaustible’?
Those who do not engage upon hearing ‘the body of
the Thus-Gone One is permanent and
inexhaustible’ do not know emptiness. Why?
The Thus-Gone One’s body is suchness and emptiness.
It is not a body with adventitious afflictive
emotions and secondary afflictive emotions. Those
who know this know emptiness. This is how those who
follow the teachings on emptiness should be
understood in terms of their engagement upon hearing
‘the body of the Thus-Gone One is permanent and its
qualities are inexhaustible.’

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand those who follow the Dharma through ten
approaches to the way of the Dharma. What are these
ten? ⁽¹⁾ They do not consider themselves to be
superior or inferior even though they have learned a
lot, retained what they learned, have an ocean of
learning, and have amassed learning; ⁽²⁾ they are
proficient in meaning, phenomena, language, and
confident eloquence, but never tire in
their pursuit of learning; ⁽³⁾ they know about time,
distance, medicine, phenomena, and meaning, but do
not neglect service to their elders; ⁽⁴⁾ they have
textual and practical knowledge and
know the Vinaya, but do not give up the practice of
posing questions to others; ⁽⁵⁾ they are easily
contented, easily satisfied, and splendidly elegant
in their formal behavior and their conduct, but
never forsake respectful service to their master;
⁽⁶⁾ they are disciplined, peaceful, pure, and
fearless, but do not stop cultivating propriety and
conscientiousness; ⁽⁷⁾ they are learned
in the meaning that is profound and difficult to
fathom, but still pursue worldly engagements both
complex and simple; ⁽⁸⁾ they take pleasure in being
naturally honest, gentle, and companionable in order
to maintain harmony with beings, but do not remain
among beings who are hostile, hateful, and have poor
discipline; ⁽⁹⁾ they delight in generosity, and
being tame, constant, gentle, ritually observant,
and stable, but their mind is never fixed, and they
never form concepts about
their experiences; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ they have removed their
latent impressions, entanglements, knots, and
thorns, but do not give up striving to eliminate the
afflictive emotions of other beings. Child of good
family, bodhisattvas should understand those who
follow the Dharma through these ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma.

“Bodhisattvas should understand those who
follow the Dharma through an additional ten
approaches to the way of the Dharma. What are these
ten? ⁽¹⁾ They are free of all desire, but do not
slacken in their effort to acquire the requisites of
a bodhisattva; ⁽²⁾ they know that phenomena never
transmigrate, but do not slacken in their effort to
give up all possessions; ⁽³⁾ they directly realize
the inexhaustible Dharma, but do not let their
patience or gentleness diminish; ⁽⁴⁾ they are
constantly immersed in samādhi, but do not slacken
in their encouragement of all beings’ virtuous
activity; ⁽⁵⁾ they are
immersed in peace and tranquility, but do not
slacken in their effort to ripen beings who are
distracted and make misjudgments; ⁽⁶⁾ they have
attained dhāraṇī and correct discernment, but do not
slacken in their effort to learn; ⁽⁷⁾ they are a
treasury of Dharma, but do not slacken in their
effort to traverse hundreds of thousands of yojanas
for the sake of a single eloquent expression; ⁽⁸⁾
they do not depend on the kindness of others for
anything, but do not slacken in their effort to seek
out a teacher and mentor; ⁽⁹⁾ they have no doubt
that phenomena are not born and do not cease, but
they do not slacken in their effort to uphold the
sublime Dharma; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ they do not conceptually
fixate on beings or those conceptually designated as
beings, but they do not slacken in their effort to
understand the awakening of a buddha. Child of good
family, bodhisattvas should understand those who
follow the Dharma through these ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand those who follow the Dharma through an
additional ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.
What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ They hold to their words
through generosity, speaking kindly, acting
benevolently, and being aligned in word and
deed; ⁽²⁾ their
words are gentle because they are produced with
great love; ⁽³⁾ their words are appropriate because
they align with solitude, a lack of attachment, and
liberation; ⁽⁴⁾ their words are in alignment because
they are in alignment with meditative calm,
meditative insight, and the path; ⁽⁵⁾ their words
are illuminating because they reveal secrets; ⁽⁶⁾
their words are not lacking in meaning or style
because they are not unpleasant and their meaning is
complete; ⁽⁷⁾ their words are neither deceptive nor
deceitful because they destroy confusion and the
darkness of delusion; ⁽⁸⁾ their words are free of
doubts because they result from the direct
perception of all phenomena; ⁽⁹⁾ their words are
free of latent impressions because they result from
the abandonment of the afflictive emotions and
secondary afflictive emotions; and
⁽¹⁰⁾ their words are untroubled because they are
unblemished and without instigation. Child of good
family, bodhisattvas should understand those who
follow the Dharma through these ten approaches to
the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand those who follow the Dharma through an
additional ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.
What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The Dharma they teach is
based on their mastery of the sublime Dharma, not on
gain and respect; ⁽²⁾ the Dharma they teach is based
on all the buddhas, not their own whim; ⁽³⁾ the
Dharma they teach is rooted in great love and great
compassion, not in the afflictive emotions and
secondary afflictive emotions; ⁽⁴⁾ the Dharma they
teach disrupts the continuity of ordinary people,
not the way of the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; ⁽⁵⁾
the Dharma they teach is moistened by the water of
great compassion, and not by the water of their own
happiness; ⁽⁶⁾ the Dharma they teach is profound
because of the realization of emptiness,
signlessness, and wishlessness; ⁽⁷⁾ the Dharma they
teach is aligned with virtuous people because it is
aligned with the turning of the wheel of Dharma; ⁽⁸⁾
the Dharma they teach defeats all māras because it
disrupts the māras of the aggregates, the lord of
death, the afflictive emotions, and the divine
māra;
⁽⁹⁾ the Dharma they teach reaches the seat of
awakening because it is worthy of being worshiped by
the whole world; and ⁽¹⁰⁾ the Dharma they teach
accords with omniscient wisdom because it leads to
the attainment of strength, fearlessness, and the
unique qualities of a buddha. Child of good family,
bodhisattvas should understand those who follow the
Dharma through these ten approaches to the way of
the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand those who follow the Dharma through an
additional ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.
What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ They delight in the
requisites of the spiritual life, not
in worldly things; ⁽²⁾ they delight in the way of
noble people, not in the way of ignoble people; ⁽³⁾
they delight in the ripening of ignoble people, not
in proscribed and negative actions; ⁽⁴⁾ they delight
in the food of the Dharma, not in physical food; ⁽⁵⁾
they delight in solitude and the wilderness, not in
the activities of a village, city, or market town;
⁽⁶⁾ they delight in the awakening of a buddha, not
in the awakening of a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha; ⁽⁷⁾
they delight in the abandonment of cognitive
obscurations, not in the abandonment of the
obscuration of the afflictive emotions alone; ⁽⁸⁾ they delight in achieving
a physical body with the major and minor auspicious
marks, not in merely realizing the dharmakāya; ⁽⁹⁾ they delight in
accomplishing strength, fearlessness, and the unique
qualities of a buddha, not in the realization of the
truths of the noble ones alone; ⁽¹⁰⁾ they delight in
the accomplishment of the roots of virtue of other
beings, not in the accomplishment of their own roots
of virtue; and ⁽¹¹⁾ they delight in the abandonment of
the nexus of habitual patterns, not in the
abandonment of the obscuration of the afflictive
emotions alone. Child of good family, bodhisattvas
should understand those who follow the Dharma
through these ten approaches to the way of the
Dharma.

“Bodhisattvas should understand those who
follow the Dharma through ten analogies for entering
the way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ As an
analogy, the great earth sustains all beings without
seeking the slightest recompense from anyone. In the same way,
bodhisattvas who propound the Dharma also sustain all beings like
the earth, without seeking the slightest recompense
from anyone. ⁽²⁾ As a further analogy, water brings
comfort to beings through its own qualities without
seeking the slightest recompense from anyone. In the
same way, bodhisattvas who propound the Dharma also
bring comfort to all beings through their own
qualities without seeking the slightest recompense
from anyone. ⁽³⁾ As a further analogy, the element
of fire sustains all beings through its own
qualities. It sustains all beings by ripening every
harvest without seeking the slightest recompense
from anyone. In the same way, bodhisattvas who
propound the Dharma sustain all beings through the
qualities of their insight. They sustain all beings
by ripening the harvest of the roots of virtue
without seeking the slightest recompense from
anyone. ⁽⁴⁾ As a further analogy, the element of air
fosters grass, shrubs, clusters of medicinal herbs,
and the mindstreams of beings even though it is
nonconceptual and unchanging. In the same way,
bodhisattvas who propound the Dharma foster the birth bodies of all beings
and the dharmakāya without seeking the slightest
recompense. ⁽⁵⁾ As a further analogy, the element of
space is infinite, boundless, and naturally
unobscured. It sustains all beings even though it is
nonconceptual, unchanging, and not attached to
anything. In the same way, bodhisattvas who propound
the Dharma have infinite and boundless good
qualities and a nature that is entirely unobscured.
They sustain all beings even though they are
nonconceptual, unchanging, and not attached to
anything. ⁽⁶⁾ As a further analogy, the moon always
shines gently on all beings everywhere, protecting
the world even though it is unsullied by worldly
phenomena. In the same way,
bodhisattvas who propound the Dharma shine gently on
all beings everywhere, protecting the world even
though they are unsullied by worldly phenomena. ⁽⁷⁾
As a further analogy, when the sun rises all deep
darkness vanishes, and by its shining light beings
can go about their respective activities. The sun
forms no concepts at
all and does not seek the slightest recompense from
anyone. In the same way, when bodhisattvas who
propound the Dharma appear, the deep darkness of all
beings’ ignorance vanishes, and by their shining
light beings cultivate their respective roots of
virtue. Followers of the Dharma form no concepts at all and do not seek
the slightest recompense from anyone. ⁽⁸⁾ As a
further analogy, a sturdy, stable, well-joined boat
is able to save beings from a mighty river without
being destroyed, and it does so without seeking even
the slightest recompense from anyone. In the same
way, bodhisattvas who propound the Dharma are well
endowed with stable insight and sturdy, perfect,
great compassion. They are able to save beings from
the mighty river of saṃsāra without being destroyed,
and they do so without seeking even a small ferry
toll. ⁽⁹⁾ As a further analogy, a bridge or causeway
is located at a raging and terrifying river to put
beings equally at ease, be they inferior, average,
or superior. It does not hold any concepts of ‘I’ or
‘mine.’ In the same way, bodhisattvas who propound
the Dharma serve as a great bridge or causeway that
puts beings equally at ease—be they inferior,
average, or superior—when facing saṃsāra that is
difficult to cross, and the descent into the
unbearable and cruel lower realms. While doing so
they do not hold any concepts of ‘I’ or ‘mine.’ ⁽¹⁰⁾
As a further analogy, a lamp illuminates darkness
equally for beings who are inferior, average, and
superior. It does not hold any concepts of ‘I’ or
‘mine.’ In the same way, bodhisattvas who propound
the Dharma deploy the lamp of insight within the
house of saṃsāra, which is dark with ignorance,
shining it equally for inferior, average, and
superior beings. They do not hold any concepts of
‘I’ or ‘mine.’ Bodhisattvas should understand those
who follow the Dharma through these ten examples of
entering the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the ways that bodhisattvas should not
associate with others through ten approaches to the
way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ They
should not associate with inferior beings who think
of and aspire for lesser things. ⁽²⁾ They should not
associate with beings who do not put out effort, are
not industrious, are lazy, and are not diligent. ⁽³⁾
They should not associate with beings who are proud,
feel pride in their superiority, are excessively
proud, have egotistical pride and the pride of
feeling inferior, are haughty, have misplaced pride,
or who are bloated with pride. ⁽⁴⁾ They should not
associate with beings who are innately stingy, have
poor discipline, think maliciously, or are lazy,
distracted, and have distorted intelligence. ⁽⁵⁾
They should not associate with those who seek
sensual gratification, think maliciously, or have
thoughts of violence. ⁽⁶⁾ They should not associate
with anyone who has thoughts, concepts, and
discursive thoughts. ⁽⁷⁾ They should not associate
with anyone who has obscurations, obstructions, or
entanglements. ⁽⁸⁾ They should not associate with
anyone whose mind is oriented toward śrāvakas or
pratyekabuddhas. ⁽⁹⁾ They should not associate with
anyone whose mind focuses on taking delight in gain,
respect, and adulation. And
⁽¹⁰⁾ they should not associate with those who grasp
at ‘I’ and ‘mine.’ The ways bodhisattvas should not
associate with others should be understood through
these ten approaches to the way of the Dharma.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should not
associate with anyone who has one of the ten types
of negligence. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ They should
not associate with those who neglect upholding the
sublime Dharma. ⁽²⁾ They should not associate with
those who neglect listening to the sublime Dharma.
⁽³⁾ They should not associate with those who neglect
ripening beings. ⁽⁴⁾ They should not associate with
those who neglect the gift of the sublime Dharma.
⁽⁵⁾ They should not associate with those who neglect
to venerate all masters. ⁽⁶⁾ They should not
associate with those who neglect the activities of
Māra. ⁽⁷⁾ They should not
associate with those who neglect rival
non-Buddhists. ⁽⁸⁾ They should not associate with
those who neglect the disintegration of the sublime
Dharma. ⁽⁹⁾ They should not associate with those who
neglect the perfections. And ⁽¹⁰⁾ they should not
associate with those who neglect the three sections
of dedication. Bodhisattvas should
not associate with anyone who has one of these ten
types of negligence.

“Bodhisattvas should understand ten types of
great emanation of bodhisattvas. What are these ten
types? ⁽¹⁾ Their emanation as a universal monarch,
⁽²⁾ their emanation as Śakra, ⁽³⁾ their emanation as
Brahmā, ⁽⁴⁾ their emanation as śrāvakas, ⁽⁵⁾ their
emanation as pratyekabuddhas, ⁽⁶⁾ their emanation as
bodhisattvas, ⁽⁷⁾ their emanation as buddhas, ⁽⁸⁾
their emanation as buddhafields, ⁽⁹⁾ their emanation
as the seat of awakening, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ their emanation
as the great retinue. These ten should be understood
as the great emanations of bodhisattvas. All of
these great emanations of bodhisattvas should be
recognized to be determined by the intention of
others.

“The precious elephant has perfect proportions
and six white tusks. It has an alluring form and
moves through the sky. It has a perfect, quick pace,
and moves like Airāvaṇa and Garuḍa. It arises through the power of
well-performed deeds. This is unlike those of other,
ordinary universal monarchs.

“The precious jewel has eight facets and is not
made by an artisan. Abundant with light, it
outshines fire and the sun. It moves as desired, and
fully bestows an abundance of desires. It fulfills
all wishes. This is unlike those of other, ordinary
universal monarchs.

“The precious lady is neither too light nor too
dark, too tall nor too short, and neither too slight
nor too stout. Her rites for training are complete,
and she is knowledgeable in the major treatises,
crafts, literature, and various sports. Her eloquent
speech, gentle and profound, is remarkable. She is
just like a wish-fulfilling jewel, is perfect in her
smile and comportment, delights in Dharma conduct,
and is unrivaled in appearance. This is unlike those
of other, ordinary universal monarchs.

“The precious householders are those like
Vajrapāṇi. They are well proportioned like
Vaiśravaṇa and Nārāyaṇa, and always speak gently,
pleasantly, softly, and with gratifying words. Their
physical eyes are clear, they have abundant love and
compassion, and they fulfill desires like a
wish-fulfilling jewel. They are accomplished because
their roots of virtue are equal to those of precious
people. This is unlike those of other,
ordinary universal monarchs.

“Once these and the other precious regalia of a
universal monarch have been emanated, bodhisattvas
will have power over the mind and possess a pure
motivation focused on the happiness and benefit of
all beings. These precious people engage in profound
and irreproachable deeds. They are tender, have the
exalted intent to be of benefit, and are inclined
toward the great Dharma. They are great universal
monarchs who serve the path of the ten virtuous
actions. They ripen all beings through their
thirty-two major marks of a great person. They are
called great bodhisattvas emanated as
universal monarchs.

“During times when Brahmā is considered
paramount in the world, bodhisattvas emanate in the
form of Brahmā, and ripen the
deities of the Brahmā Realm through the meditative
stability of tranquility and limitless meditative
stability.

“During times when beings are trained by
pratyekabuddhas and not by śrāvakas or buddhas,
bodhisattvas emanate in the form of pratyekabuddhas
and reveal the path of a pratyekabuddha’s awakening.
They ripen beings through instructions on isolation
and freedom from attachment; instructions on
meditative stability, samādhi, meditative
attainment, and liberation; and instructions on the
bases of miraculous power, being anointed as a
worthy recipient of offerings, stability, and the
way of liberation.

“During times when beings are tamed by
bodhisattvas, bodhisattvas remain in their own form
and ripen those beings through instructions on the
six perfections, the four transformative powers,
great love, great compassion, dhāraṇī, power,
tolerance, and the bodhisattva levels.

“During times when beings with vast and
extensive sense faculties and elements are to be
tamed by a buddha, bodhisattvas transform into
buddhas and ripen those beings through instructions
on strength, fearlessness, and the unique qualities
of a buddha, as well as through the great miraculous
emanations of a buddha.

“During times when beings are tamed by vast
buddhafields, bodhisattvas ripen those beings by
emanating as a trichiliocosm that is as flat as the
palm of a hand and pleasant to touch like soft
kācalindika—one as blue as lapis, crystalline, and made of
uragasāra sandalwood and gold from the Jambu River.
It is free of stones, sand, and gravel, and the land
does not rise and fall. There is no chance of
falling into the lower realms, no influence of
women, and no Black Mountains. The realm is
beautified by various jewel mountains, is free of
thorns, chasms, and precipices, and is graced with
tracts of bejeweled and fragrant trees.

“During times when beings are tamed by the
broad seat of awakening, bodhisattvas ripen beings
by emanating as the tree of awakening that is twelve
yojanas in size with roots that are firmly planted.
It is graced with a trunk of gold from the Jambu
River, branches of gold, silver, lapis, crystal, and
jewels, and leaves of various gems. It is also home
to hundreds of thousands of goddesses.

“During times when beings are tamed by a great
retinue, bodhisattvas ripen beings by emanating as a
brilliantly resplendent host of gods, nāgas, yakṣas,
gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas,
śakras, brahmās, and the world guardians. They
emanate as śrāvakas who have attained the correct
discernments and are liberated from both
factors, and as bodhisattvas
on the ten bodhisattva levels who have attained the
samādhi of valiant
progress.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
realize the ripening power of the virtues through
ten approaches to the way of the Dharma. What are
these ten?

⁽¹⁾ “As an analogy, the moon reflected in water
is an image of the moon in the sky, but there is no
moon in the water. In the same way, virtue that has
ripened based on contrived virtue appears as various
pleasing types of virtue. Just as the moon in the
sky is not transferred into the water, the
formations of virtuous actions also do not transfer
into the formations of existence. And
yet, there is the capacity for the formations of
existence to arise from the condition of
actions.

⁽²⁾ “As a further analogy, a variety of images
can appear to different beings in the single spot on
a peacock’s plume. In the same way, a single
contrived virtuous act performed by a bodhisattva
can appear in a variety of resultant forms. Even
though those formations of actions do not transfer
into the spot on a peacock’s plume, those conditions
allow for the ripening force of the peacock’s spot.
In the same way, the accumulation of virtuous
actions does not transfer to the next existence;
rather, the force for the ripening of the next
existence arises based on virtuous actions.

⁽³⁾ “As a further analogy, there is the
capacity for a rain of flowers to fall from the
sky—and for these flowers to be beautiful, fragrant,
and so forth—based on the creation of exceptionally
wondrous virtue. And yet, those exceptionally
wondrous roots of virtue are not transferred into
those flowers in the sky. The characteristics of the
exceptionally wonderful virtue are one thing, and
the characteristics of those flowers are another. In
the same way, virtuous action does not transfer to
the virtue of the next existence; rather, it is the
force for the ripening of actions as virtuous
actions.

⁽⁴⁾ “As a further analogy, for skilled Dharma
practitioners, the sound of cymbals arises naturally
without moving the cymbals during offering rites.
The practitioners are not transferred to the
cymbals. The characteristics of the practitioners
are one thing, and the characteristics of the
cymbals are another. And yet, the sound arises
naturally without moving the cymbals based on the
condition of the practitioner. In the same way, the
formations of enacted virtuous actions do not
transfer to the next existence, but the ripening
force in the next existence is based on the
corresponding conditions of the previous Dharma
practice.

⁽⁵⁾ “As a further analogy, a rainbow appears in
the sky through the power of the great elements, but
the great elements are not transferred to it;
rather, the ripening force of the form of the
rainbow is based on the great elements as
conditions. The color yellow appears due to the
influence of the earth element, the color blue due
to the influence of the water element, the color red
due to the influence of the fire element, and the
bow-like or round shape is due to the influence of
the air element. In the same way, the ripening force
in the next existence is based on the power of the
formations of virtuous actions of those who
previously created formations of virtuous
actions.

⁽⁶⁾ “As a further analogy, the seven jewels of
a universal monarch and their effects arise based on
the commitment to the path of the ten virtuous
actions; they do not require the sowing of seeds or
cultivation. The condition of being committed to the
path of the ten virtuous actions does not transfer
to those jewels or their effects. Rather, the
ripening force for being a universal monarch is
based on the commitment to the path of the ten
virtuous actions. In the same way, the ripening of
virtue in the next existence arises from
well-performed virtue that was vigorously perfected;
actions do not transfer to the next existence. This
is known as ‘dissimilar ripening.’

⁽⁷⁾ “As a further analogy, the mandārava
flowers of gods who are rich in virtue appear
without needing to grow, their palaces without
needing to be constructed, and their ambrosial food
without needing to be prepared. These results of
virtuous karmic formations do not transfer, but the
ripening force for being a god is based on virtuous
formations.

⁽⁸⁾ “As a further analogy, for those with great
magical ability, the capacity to be unhindered
derives from their contrived magical creations, but
those contrived magical creations do not transfer to
the condition of being unhindered; rather, for a
person with magical power the condition of being
unhindered is based on the contrived magical
creations. Being unhindered does not occur in
relation to passing through mountains and the like,
or in relation to
their mere intentions. In the same way, the ripening
force in the next existence is based on the
contrived virtue of those who are vigilant.

⁽¹⁰⁾ “As a further analogy, when a monk engaged
in yogic practice who has purified the collection of
uncontaminated virtue attains power, he
can, merely by thinking of it, become just like
space among the objects of meditative immersion. He
will become unobstructed by solidity, wetness, heat,
and movement, as well as blue, yellow, red, and
white. And
yet, the mind’s lack of obscuration is not
transferred to the lack of obscuration of space. It
is also not the case that one becomes unobscured
merely by thinking it, nor does a lack of
obscuration in regard to solidity and the rest occur
in the absence of lacking mental obscuration. The
ripening force of any virtue or nonvirtue born from
conditions should be understood in the same way.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the force of attaining the ripening of
the undefiled virtues through ten approaches to the
way of the Dharma. What are these ten? ⁽¹⁾ The six
higher cognitions, ⁽²⁾ the three types of knowledge,
⁽³⁾ the eight liberations, ⁽⁴⁾ the eight domains of
mastery, ⁽⁵⁾ the ten objects of meditative
immersion, ⁽⁶⁾ the ten powers, ⁽⁷⁾ the ten truths,
⁽⁸⁾ the nine successive states of meditative
attainment, ⁽⁹⁾ the ten strengths, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ the ten
types of knowledge.

“What is a bodhisattva’s divine sight? It is an
undiminished gathering of all collections of virtue;
it is unimpeded, immeasurable, unobscured, unfixed,
unblemished, unconfused, indemonstrable, and
irreproachable. It is not shared by worldly beings,
śrāvakas, or pratyekabuddhas, and has completely
overcome the nexus of habitual patterns. It sees
constantly and is continuously prophetic. Bodhisattvas see all beings with
this divine eye. They accurately see death and
birth, the attractive and unattractive, the inferior
and superior, and they accurately see the way karma
unfolds with its causes and results. A bodhisattva’s
divine eyes lead to the attainment of awakened
wisdom. That is certain.

“A bodhisattva’s divine hearing is an
unobscured divine hearing, a gathering of all
collections of virtue. More exalted than the hearing
of ordinary naive people, śakras, brahmās, all world
guardians, gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras,
garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, and all śrāvakas and
pratyekabuddhas, they hear all sounds through
uninterrupted luminosity. They hear the sounds of
the gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, asuras,
garuḍas, kinnaras, and mahoragas, and even those of
flies, ants, and mosquitoes. They hear sounds both
noble and ignoble. They do not get angry when they
hear ignoble sounds, nor do they become enamored
with noble sounds. They do not perceive the sounds
of ordinary people to be base, nor
do they perceive the sounds of śrāvakas and
pratyekabuddhas to be exalted. They do not become
angry with the comportment of the ignoble, nor
enamored with the comportment of the noble. They
perceive neither good qualities in the sounds they
hear, nor faults. Instead, they recognize that sound
is like an echo, empty and unmoving, lacking and
devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ and so do not invest any
effort in the sense bases of the ear and sound. Such
is the divine hearing of a bodhisattva.

“A bodhisattva’s capacity to know the minds of
others indicates they possess knowledge of their own
minds. Because they know their own minds, they are
aware of the thoughts and deeds of all beings. Some
other beings and people have desirous minds, and
bodhisattvas are precisely aware of those desirous
minds. Some have minds free of desire, and
bodhisattvas are precisely aware of minds that are
free of desire. Even though they know this, they do
not become angry with desirous minds, nor do they
become enamored with those minds that are free of
desire. Instead, they discover great compassion for
those with desirous minds, and discover great love
for those whose minds are free of desire. Similarly,
they are precisely aware of angry minds and minds
free of anger, dull minds and minds free of
dullness, minds with craving and minds free of
craving, minds that grasp and minds free of
grasping, minds affected by the afflictive emotions
and minds that are unafflicted, minds that are
reliable and minds that are unreliable, minds in
meditative composure and minds that are uncomposed,
and minds that are liberated and minds that are not
liberated. Even though they
know this, they do not become angry with beings
whose minds are not liberated, nor do they become
enamored with those whose minds are liberated.
Instead, they discover great compassion for those
whose minds are not liberated, and they discover
great love for those whose minds are liberated. Even
though they know all minds, those minds do not cause them to
be arrogant or proud toward those minds. By
knowing the minds of others, bodhisattvas are aware
of the minds and deeds of all beings; those beings
know nothing until given the opportunity by those
bodhisattvas. If even śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas
do not know the minds of others through their divine
wisdom, there is no need to mention whether they are
known by ordinary people. This is a bodhisattva’s
knowledge of the minds of others.

“A bodhisattva can recall various kinds of
previous states, both their own and those of other
beings. They recall a single life, two lives, a
hundred lives, a thousand lives, a hundred thousand
lives, all the way up to an infinite and
incalculable number of millions upon billions of
lives. They recall eons of dissolution and eons of
formation. Recalling these eons of dissolution and
formation, they recall up to an infinite and
incalculable number of millions upon billions of
great eons. Worldly beings and the gods would be
driven mad at this recollection, whereas thus-gone
ones and bodhisattvas on the ten bodhisattva levels
are not.

“A bodhisattva recalls, ‘I was a person named
so-and-so. I belonged to this clan and that family,
was of this caste, and had that name. I ate this
kind of food, my life lasted that long, and my body
was of these proportions. I experienced
such-and-such happiness and such-and-such suffering.
I died and passed on from there and was born in
such-and-such place. I again died and passed on from
there and was born here in
this clan, that family, this caste, and had that
name. I ate this kind of food, my life lasted that
long, and my body was of these proportions. I
experienced such-and-such happiness and
such-and-such suffering.’ They recall the previous
states of all beings, even flies and ants, as they
do their own. Their recollection is without
attachment, uninterrupted, unobscured, unobstructed,
unhurried, suffused with great love and compassion,
profound, difficult to fathom, free of latent
impressions, clear of the nexus of habitual
patterns, and graced by the complete collection of
merit and wisdom. This is what is called a
bodhisattva’s recall of previous states.

“A bodhisattva’s capacity to create miraculous
emanations is made stable by the complete collection of
merit and wisdom. It is unobscured, effortless,
unfabricated, magnanimous, disciplined, and
unchanging for an incalculable number of millions
upon billions of eons. It is restrained, and has
been cultivated through gentleness, meditative
stability, samādhi, and meditative attainment. It is
suffused with their own power, and the power of
buddhas and gods. Bodhisattvas use this power of
actualized miraculous emanations—uncontrived,
unobscured, and more exalted than anything in the
world—to serve beings. They can fulfill any desires
and manifest any desired object. The miraculous
power of a bodhisattva is used in any situation
without hindrance.

“If a single being could be tamed by the forms
of all beings, then a bodhisattva would display the
full complement of all beings as needed in the
presence of that single being. Those emanations will
act, eat, speak, and behave in different ways. If desired, if
bodhisattvas have the conviction that the bodies of
all beings are buddha bodies, then the bodies of all
beings will become buddha bodies. If they have the
conviction that the bodies of buddhas are the bodies
of beings, then the bodies of the buddhas will
become the bodies of beings. If they have the
conviction that the eon of dissolution is the eon of
formation, then the eon of dissolution will become
the eon of formation. Beings will understand it to
be the eon of formation. If bodhisattvas have the
conviction that the eon of formation is the eon of
dissolution, then the eon of formation will become
the eon of dissolution. Beings will understand it to
be the eon of dissolution. However, neither the eon
of dissolution nor the eon of formation transforms
into the other, it is only the conviction that
changes. Similarly, if they have the conviction that
a single eon is only equivalent to a morning, beings
will understand a single eon to be equivalent to a
morning. If they have the conviction that a morning
is equivalent to an eon, that will be the case. That
is what beings will understand. These are what are
called miraculous emanations born of a
bodhisattva’s conviction.

“An actualized miraculous emanation is one that
effortlessly accomplishes and makes manifest all
manner of auspiciousness spontaneously; it occurs
through the force of bodhisattvas’ inconceivable
merit and wisdom. This is called a bodhisattva’s
actualized miraculous
emanation.

“These are the six higher cognitions of a
bodhisattva.

“The knowledge of divine
sight is divine sight as knowing. The
knowledge of divine sight belongs to the most
supreme of the pure deities. The bodhisattva is the
one who possesses this knowledge of divine sight.
Śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas are pure
deities. They are pure deities, while the most
exalted of those pure deities are the thus-gone,
worthy, completely perfect buddhas. They are called
the most supreme of the pure deities. Bodhisattvas
acquire the knowledge of the divine sight of the
most supreme of the pure deities, unlike śrāvakas
and pratyekabuddhas. This is the first of the
knowledges.

“Next is the knowledge of recalling
previous states. Thus-gone-ones are not
unknowing about, not ignorant of, and not unaware of
their previous existences. Bodhisattvas acquire this
knowledge, unlike śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas. This
is the second of the knowledges.

“What is the knowledge of the
exhaustion of the contaminants? There
are four contaminants: desire, existence, ignorance,
and view. A bodhisattva gains direct realization by
training in the abandonment of these contaminants
along with their habitual patterns, not by training
in the abandonment of the obscuration of the
afflictive emotions as śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas
do. Once these contaminants have been exhausted,
bodhisattvas are unobstructed, and continue to take
birth in any of the birth states in order to ripen
beings. This is known as a bodhisattva’s ‘knowledge
of the exhaustion of the contaminants.’

“These are the three kinds of knowledge of a
bodhisattva.

“What are the eight liberations? The first
liberation is observing form while in the form
realm. The second liberation is observing forms
externally while perceiving the formless internally.
The third liberation is interest in what is
attractive. The fourth liberation is transcending
the perceptions of form in all aspects, letting
inhibiting perceptions end, and then perfecting and
remaining within the scope of infinite space by
ignoring various perceptions upon thinking, ‘This is
infinite space.’ The fifth liberation is
transcending the scope of infinite space in all
aspects, and then perfecting and remaining within
the scope of infinite consciousness upon thinking,
‘This is infinite consciousness.’ The sixth
liberation is transcending the scope of infinite
consciousness in all aspects, and then perfecting
and remaining within the scope of nothingness after
thinking, ‘There is nothing at all.’ The seventh
liberation is transcending the scope of nothingness
in all aspects, and then perfecting and remaining
within the scope of neither perception nor
nonperception. The eighth liberation is transcending
the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception,
and then perfecting and remaining within the state
of the cessation of perception and sensation.

“Transcending the sphere of neither
perception nor nonperception, and then perfecting
and remaining within the state of the cessation of
perception and sensation can be
understood as follows. One thinks, ‘Perceptions are
like illusions, and sensations are like bubbles on
water. A perception is itself a sensation and a
sensation is itself a perception. Therefore, there
is no one to perceive this, and no one
to sense it.’ Observing this, one is liberated. That
is why it is called a liberation.

“These are the eight liberations.

“What then are the eight domains of
mastery? ⁽¹⁾ An
embodied person looks at forms and understands after
mastering them, sees after mastering them. This is
the first domain of mastery. ⁽²⁾ One who perceives
formlessness internally looks at external forms with
attractive colors and unattractive colors and
understands after mastering them, sees after
mastering them. This is the second domain of
mastery. ⁽³⁾ One who perceives formlessness
internally looks at external forms as
unquantifiable, as large, as being of an attractive
or unattractive color, and understands after
mastering them, sees after mastering them. This is
the third domain of mastery. ⁽⁴⁾ One who perceives
formlessness internally looks at diminutive forms
with attractive colors and unattractive colors and
understands after mastering them, sees
after mastering them. This is the fourth domain of
mastery. ⁽⁵⁾ One who perceives formlessness
internally looks at external forms that are blue,
the color blue, something that appears to be blue,
or gives off blue light. This could be, for example,
a blue flax blossom, which is blue in
color, appears to be blue, and gives off blue light.
One who perceives formlessness internally looks at
external forms that are blue, the color blue,
something that appears to be blue, or gives off blue
light. They understand after mastering them, see
after mastering them. This is the fifth domain of
mastery. ⁽⁶⁾ One who perceives formlessness
internally looks at external forms that are yellow,
the color yellow, something that appears to be
yellow, or gives off yellow light. This could be,
for example, the blossom of the golden shower
tree, which is yellow
in color, appears to be yellow, and gives off yellow
light. One who perceives formlessness internally
looks at external forms that are yellow, the color
yellow, something that appears to be yellow, or
gives off yellow light. They understand after
mastering them, see after mastering them. This is
the sixth domain of mastery. ⁽⁷⁾ One who perceives
formlessness internally looks at external forms that
are red, the color red, something that appears to be
red, or gives off red light. This could be, for
example, a noon flower blossom, which is red in
color, appears to be red, and gives off red light.
One who perceives formlessness internally looks at
external forms that are red, the color red,
something that appears to be red, or gives off red
light. They understand after mastering them, see
after mastering them. This is the seventh domain of
mastery. ⁽⁸⁾ One who perceives formlessness
internally looks at external forms that are white,
the color white, something that appears to be white,
or gives off white light. This
could be, for example, the Venus-star blossom, which is white in color, appears to
be white, and gives off white light. One who
perceives formlessness internally looks at external
forms that are white, the color white, something
that appears to be white, or gives off white light.
They understand after mastering them, see after
mastering them. This is the eighth domain of
mastery.

“What are the ten objects of meditative
immersion? They are earth, water, fire, wind, space,
blue, yellow, red, white, and consciousness. These
are the ten objects of meditative immersion.

“If bodhisattvas have the conviction that all
elements are the earth element, they all become a
single element; they become the earth element
itself. If they have the conviction that all
elements are the water element, they all become a
single element; they become the water element
itself. If they have the conviction that all
elements are the fire element, they all become a
single element; they become the fire element itself.
If they have the conviction that all elements are
the air element, they all become a single element;
they become the air element itself. If they have the
conviction that all elements are the space element,
they all become a single element; they become the
space element itself. If they have the conviction
everything is blue, then everything becomes
blueness. If they have the conviction everything is
yellow, then everything becomes yellowness. If they
have the conviction everything is red, then
everything becomes redness. If they have the
conviction everything is white, then everything
becomes whiteness. If they have the conviction
everything is consciousness, then everything—earth,
water, fire, air, space, blue, yellow, red, and
white—becomes consciousness itself. For this reason,
these are called objects of meditative immersion.
Because they
increase the development of immersion, they are
called objects of meditative immersion. Because each
of them can become all of the objects, they are
called objects of meditative immersion.

“What are the ten powers of a bodhisattva?
Power over life, power over the mind, power over
possessions, power over karma, power over birth, the
power of miraculous emanations, the power of
conviction, the power of aspiration, the power of
wisdom, and the power of Dharma. These are the ten
powers.

“Because bodhisattvas have obtained amrita,
they have power over life. Because they recognize
that everything is mind alone, they have power over
the mind. Because they have discovered the
jewel-in-hand and the sky treasury, they have power over
possessions. Because they have eliminated all paths
of karma along with their habitual patterns, they
have power over karma. By discovering the meditative
stability to return from samādhi, they have power
over birth. Because they have attained the capacity
to act effortlessly, they have the power of
miraculous emanations. Because they have attained
the objects of meditative immersion, they have the
power of conviction. Because they can achieve their
goals by thought alone, they have the power of
aspiration. Because their actions of body, speech,
and mind are preceded by wisdom, they have the power
of wisdom. Because of their stainless wisdom in
which suchness, the expanse of phenomena, and the
limit of reality are equal, they have the power of
Dharma.

“Furthermore, child of good family, worldly
people are terrified of death; the antidote is the
power over life. Worldly people are terrified by the
defilements of the mind; the antidote is power over
the mind. Worldly people are terrified by
possessions; the antidote is the power over
possessions. Worldly people are terrified by bad
conduct; the antidote is the power over karma.
Worldly people are terrified of the lower states;
the antidote is the power over birth. Worldly people
are terrified of losing inspiration; the antidote is
the power of miraculous emanations. Worldly people
are terrified of having the karma to be excluded
from the sublime Dharma; the antidote is the power
of conviction. Worldly people are terrified by the
bondage of desire; the antidote is the power of
aspiration. Worldly people are terrified by the
thorn of doubt; the antidote is the power of wisdom.
Worldly people are terrified by the anxieties
inherent in saṃsāra; the antidote is the power of
Dharma.

“Furthermore, child of good family, giving up
killing and not having a mind that harbors anger
toward any being is the cause of attaining the power
over life. Feeling great unobscured love for those
who are happy and great unobscured compassion for
those who suffer are the causes for attaining power
over the mind. Equanimity of mind and dedicating
one’s relinquishment of all objects to the pursuit
of awakening is the cause of attaining power over
possessions. Once involved with karma and activity,
to act karmically through actions that are pure in
body, speech, and mind, to display engagement in
actions that have personal repercussions, is the
cause of attaining the power over karma. The path of
the ten virtuous actions coordinated with the mind
set on awakening is the cause of attaining the power
over birth. Giving away gain, respect, and praise,
and giving away means of transportation, are the
causes of attaining the power of miraculous
emanation. Orienting all beings toward and guiding
them to the Three Jewels, and giving them
conviction, is the cause of attaining the power of
conviction. Bringing about the purity of all beings’
body, speech, and mind is the cause of attaining the
power of aspiration. Giving the Dharma with a mind
free from interest in material things is the cause
of attaining the power of wisdom. Causing all beings
to understand the equality of phenomena, teaching in
accord with the Dharma, and making the distinction
that ‘the body of the Thus-Gone One is the
dharmakāya, not the material body’ are the causes of
attaining the power of Dharma. Child
of good family, these are the ten powers of a
bodhisattva.

“What then are the ten truths of a bodhisattva?
Conventional truth, ultimate truth, the truth of
characteristics, the truth of classification, the
truth of discernment, the truth of entities, the
truth of capacity, the truth of knowing exhaustion
and nonarising, the truth of knowing the entry point
to the path, and the truth of the source of all of
the wisdom of the thus-gone-ones. These are the ten
truths.

“Conventional truth
involves assessment; it is the delimitation of an
object, a conventional designation. As such, an
object is indicated by means of factors external to
it, such as ‘small’ being defined as ‘not large.’
This is conventional truth.

“Ultimate truth is
profound, is consistent with emptiness, does not
delimit objects, and is not dependent on external
factors. It is neither equivalent nor not equivalent
to anything, and it is undisturbed, indisputable,
and is the suchness of all phenomena. This is
ultimate truth.

“The truth of
characteristics is understood as
follows. Its characteristic of being harmful is the
truth of suffering, its
characteristic of arising is the truth of origin,
its characteristic of peace is the truth of
cessation, and its characteristic of emergence is
the truth of the path. This is what is known as the
truth of characteristics. Furthermore, knowing the
natural selflessness of all phenomena, a bodhisattva
finds certainty. This certainty in the mode of
characteristics is known
as the truth of characteristics. Likewise, upon
knowing that all phenomena have the characteristic
of natural peace, natural isolation, natural
emptiness, and that they do not naturally arise or
cease, a bodhisattva finds certainty. This certainty
in the mode of characteristics is known as the truth
of characteristics.

“The truth of entities
refers to the knowledge of entities. The entities
are the aggregates, elements, and sense bases. The
aggregates, elements, and sense bases are known to
be dependently arisen, empty, and insubstantial.
Knowing this, a bodhisattva reaches certainty. For
this reason, it is known as the truth of
entities.

“The truth of capacity
refers to the capacity to instigate the abandonment
of the afflictive emotions through wisdom,
abandonment, and the path; it the capacity to
understand the strengths, fearlessnesses, and unique
qualities of a buddha; and it is the capacity to
understand the abilities of the thus-gone ones. For
this reason, it is known as the truth of
capacity.

“The truth of knowing exhaustion and
nonarising demonstrates that all
compounded things will be exhausted. That
exhaustion, however, is not exhausted, as exhaustion
does not exist for exhaustion. If exhaustion were to
exist for exhaustion, cessation would be exhausted
as well. Therefore, exhaustion is not exhausted, and
that which is not exhausted does not arise. This is
known as the truth of knowing exhaustion and
nonarising.

“These are the ten truths of a bodhisattva.

“The sense pleasures are
anything not conducive to the first dhyāna.
Bodhisattvas are detached from such craving.
Evil and nonvirtuous factors
are desire, anger, and dullness, as well as what is
derived from them: the taking of life, taking what
is not given, sexual misconduct, lying, slander,
harsh speech, idle chatter, covetousness, ill will,
and wrong view. These are called evil and
nonvirtuous dharmas. The first dhyāna is isolated
from these.

“Because joy and bliss are born from isolation,
it is said that the first dhyāna includes
the experience of joy and bliss born from
isolation. In the phrase ‘perfects and
then sustains,’ ‘perfects’ means to be restrained
and bring about restraint, to protect and bring
about protection, to savor and take delight in.
Bodhisattvas who sustain the first dhyāna in this
way attain the yearning and desire to understand the
acceptance of the nonarising of phenomena. Through
this yearning and desire to understand acceptance of
the nonarising of phenomena, they perceive the very
essence of the dhyāna.

“This is the starting point for the second
dhyāna. Bodhisattvas quiet and bring an end to the
contemplation and analysis of the first dhyāna. They
clear their mind of them, then seek the cause for
perfecting the second dhyāna. After doing away with
contemplation and analysis, they reach inner
clarity. Then, with a one-pointed mind devoid of
contemplation and analysis, they perfect and sustain
the second dhyāna that includes the experience of
joy and bliss born from samādhi.

“Inner clarity is the
ending and clearing away of factors that are not
conducive to the second dhyāna. For this reason, it
is called inner clarity.
One-pointed indicates that
one has achieved a state of one taste, similar to
water in the ocean, upon clearing away the
contemplation and analysis of the first dhyāna. As
an analogy, just as rain that falls in the ocean
takes on the same salty flavor, so bodhisattvas
achieve the state of one taste upon clearing away
all the contemplation and analysis of the first
dhyāna while they rest in equipoise in the second
dhyāna. This is known as
samādhi, and from that
samādhi such bodhisattvas feel joy in the Buddha,
Dharma, and Saṅgha. Through this joy in the Three
Jewels, they perfect the virtues. Based on that they
achieve an intense yearning for the acceptance of
the nonarising of phenomena, as
well as bright luminosity of mind and a sense of
rapture. The yearning for the acceptance of the
nonarising of phenomena leads to a lack of
attachment to the second dhyāna, which is the
starting point for the third dhyāna.

“Bodhisattvas think, ‘Joy obscures the third
dhyāna.’ Then, upon being freed from attachment to
that joy, they possess equanimity and pure
mindfulness. They perfect and sustain the third
dhyāna, which the noble ones have described as
remaining in a state of bliss that is devoid of
joy. Bodhisattvas who have attained
freedom from attachment to the joy that arises from
samādhi come to the conclusion, ‘That bliss that is devoid of joy
is not an enduring bliss; rather, it is exhaustible
and perishable. It is impermanent and unstable, and
thus not perpetual. It is unreliable.’ Upon gaining
such an understanding, they acquire a fierce,
powerful yearning to attain acceptance of the
nonarising of phenomena. Because of this fierce
yearning for unarisen phenomena, they do not
experience attachment to happiness or suffering.

“They think, ‘In short, there are two types of
form: sources and what comes from those sources. The
types of forms that are sources are the elements of
earth, water, fire, and air. The forms that come
from those sources are colors, smells, tastes, and
textures. Thus we arrive at eight types of form.
After transcending perceptions of those kinds of
forms, obstructing perceptions will not arise, and
will decrease. Anytime there is a perception of form
it is a perception of obstruction, and so
perceptions of obstruction decrease when the
perceptions of form are transcended. When
perceptions of obstruction decrease, one no longer
fixates on perceptions of manifoldness. And, by not
fixating on perceptions of manifoldness, space is
infinite.’ Thinking, ‘Space is infinite,’
bodhisattvas perfect and sustain the basis of
infinite space.

“Bodhisattvas who have reached the meditative
attainment of the basis of infinite space think,
‘Space is infinite because it lacks a limit. Where
would the beginning be for something that has no
limit? Where would a middle be? In the same way, all
phenomena are without beginning, end, or middle.’
Bodhisattvas who have reached such a meditative
attainment will develop strong compassion for all
beings and will act with the understanding that all
phenomena are precisely equivalent to space. This is
the starting point for acceptance of the nonarising
of phenomena. Such
bodhisattvas transcend the basis of infinite space
in all its aspects; think,
‘Consciousness is infinite’; and then perfect and
sustain the basis for infinite consciousness.

“Bodhisattvas first think, ‘The perception of
space is consciousness,’ and then think, ‘Everything
is consciousness alone, and that infinite
consciousness neither exists nor does not exist.’
They attain acceptance of the nonarising of
phenomena through this meditative attainment, but it
is not fully realized. They transcend the basis of
infinite consciousness in all its aspects; think,
‘There is nothing at all’; and then perfect and
sustain the basis for there being nothing at
all.

“In the phrase ‘nothing at all’ the ‘things’
include desire, hatred, dullness, thoughts,
concepts, assumptions, and conceptual constructs, as
well as all that arises from false ideas. Thus,
there is ‘nothing at all.’ From among those
phenomena described as ‘nothing at all,’ that which
is further attenuated and increasingly subtle is
nothing at all. This indicates that the acceptance
of the nonarising of phenomena on the part of
bodhisattvas who sustain the attainment of nothing
at all is bright and blazing. They are not attached
to the basis of nothing at all because of its
causes, its conditions, its foundation, and its
attainment. They move beyond that, thinking as they
do, ‘Subtle karmic formations have been determined
to be nothing at all. That perception neither exists
nor does not exist.’ The perception does not exist
because it is empty. The perception is not something
nonexistent because it arises dependently. Such
bodhisattvas actualize the basis of perception that
neither exists nor does not exist, transcend the
basis of nothing at all in all its aspects, and then
perfect and sustain the basis of perception that
neither exists nor does not exist.

“These are the nine successive states of
meditative attainment of bodhisattvas.

“What are the bodhisattva’s ten strengths? The
strength of conviction, the strength of discernment,
the strength of cultivation, the strength of
patience, the strength of wisdom, the strength of
abandonment, the strength of learning, the strength
of confident eloquence, the strength of merit, and
the strength of practice.

“What is the strength of
conviction? It entails that everything
the bodhisattva has conviction in is how things turn
out to be. The strength of conviction is such that
the world with its gods cannot overcome it. This is
known as a bodhisattva’s strength of conviction.

“What is a bodhisattva’s strength of
patience? When mocked, bodhisattvas do
not respond with mockery due to the force of their
understanding that it is the same as the sound of an
echo. When threatened and beaten, they do not
respond with threats and beatings due to the force
of their understanding that they are like a
reflected image. When abused, they do not respond
with abuse due to the force of their understanding
that the mind is an illusion. When they meet with
anger, they do not respond with anger due to the
force of their understanding of inner purity. They
are not seduced by worldly phenomena due to the
force of their understanding that worldly phenomena
are pure. They are not under the sway of any
afflictive emotions due to the force of their
understanding that dependent arising is pure. Thus,
bodhisattvas see the gateway to peace wherever they
see a gateway to agitation. This is known as a
bodhisattva’s strength of patience.

“What is a bodhisattva’s strength of
abandonment? If bodhisattvas were
living in a certain place, and all the beings
approached them and reviled them, defamed them,
spoke harshly to them, or even debased the Buddha,
Dharma, and Saṅgha, they would not be agitated by or
be displeased with them. They
would not feel regret or develop a grudge. They would not develop a grudge even
if their body was chopped into pieces. Rather, they
would establish those beings in the Three Jewels.
This is known as a bodhisattva’s strength of
abandonment.

“What is a bodhisattva’s strength of
learning? Bodhisattvas learn a lot,
they retain what they learn, become oceans of
learning, and accumulate learning. Bodhisattvas are
those who possess this kind of strength of learning.
Even if every being in the trichiliocosm were to be
beset with doubt and approached a bodhisattva, and
if each of them asked a question none of the others
had and which was attended by a unique doubt, the
bodhisattva would instantly answer without the
slightest hesitation. Even if that bodhisattva were
questioned for a hundred or a thousand eons, they
would speak as needed. This is known as a
bodhisattva’s strength of learning.

“What is a bodhisattva’s strength of
confident eloquence? Were a bodhisattva
to teach the Dharma to and advance the learning of an
audience of many millions upon billions, that
bodhisattva would teach the Dharma according to the
needs of each being without thinking or
conceptualizing. Even then, the meaning of the
Dharma they taught would not be lost, not a word
would be lost, they would not repeat a single word,
there would be no obstacles, and the teaching would
not be disrupted. This is known as a bodhisattva’s
strength of confident eloquence.

“What is a bodhisattva’s practice of
discipline? A bodhisattva’s practice of
discipline has ten types: they practice the
discipline of the śrāvaka vows, the discipline of
the pratyekabuddha vows, the discipline of the
bodhisattva vows, the discipline that includes all
virtuous dharmas, the discipline of not giving up
the search for a spiritual friend, the discipline of
vowing to uphold the sublime Dharma, the discipline
of vowing to always fulfill the aims of others, the
discipline of vowing to ripen to awakening, the
discipline of vowing to always remain in meditative
composure, and the discipline of vowing to be
patient in overcoming the nexus of habitual
patterns. Bodhisattvas possess nonconceptual
discipline. The practice of their discipline is not
easy to understand for anyone but the omniscient.
This is known as a bodhisattva’s practice of
discipline.

“What is a bodhisattva’s practice of
diligence? In order to accomplish
virtuous qualities in any situation and in any way,
they apply the following perspective when engaged in
the relevant practice: ‘I will accomplish this
virtuous quality for all beings.’ This is known as a
bodhisattva’s practice of diligence.

“What is a bodhisattva’s practice of
meditative stability? Bodhisattvas do
not apprehend any phenomena that are not in a state
of meditative composure. For them, all phenomena are
naturally in a state of equipoise. Bodhisattvas are
at peace, free from the mind and the mind
consciousness, and experience the attainment that is
unarisen, unceasing, and unwavering. They do not
think, ‘I have meditative composure; others are
distracted.’ They do not apprehend another samādhi
that liberates from self and other. This
undiminished diligence for accomplishing awakening
is a bodhisattva’s practice of meditative
stability.

“What is a bodhisattva’s practice of
aspiration? Bodhisattvas do not observe
any phenomena that decrease or increase, and yet
they rejoice in the roots of virtue of all beings
and dedicate them to unsurpassable, completely
perfect awakening. They first share their own roots
of virtue with all beings, and then dedicate them to
unsurpassable, completely perfect awakening by
saying, ‘May I perfectly and completely awaken to
unsurpassable, completely perfect awakening. May my
buddhafield be like this. May my perfect assembly be
like that.’ These aspirations of theirs will be
perfectly fulfilled; they will not go unfulfilled.
Their discipline will not be broken, weaken, break
down, or be contaminated. It will be praised and
protected by the wise.
Bodhisattvas mentally fulfill their aspirations by
maintaining this discipline. This is known as a
bodhisattva’s practice of aspiration.

“What is a bodhisattva’s practice of
strength
? Even if someone were
to take the form of a buddha and then approach a
bodhisattva and try to turn them away from awakening
to buddhahood, turn them away from their intention,
and to separate them from it, the bodhisattva would
not turn away from their intention. They would call
to mind awakening and the seat of awakening, and
would actualize the taming of Māra, turning the
wheel of Dharma, and the experience of great
compassion. Bodhisattvas will not get angry even
when beings try to turn them away from their
intention, separate them from it, or reverse their
course. Instead, they will feel great love and great
compassion for them. The strength of their faith,
diligence, mindfulness, and samādhi will not falter.
Therefore, due to the strength of such
irreversibility, they will set and establish an
infinite, incalculable number of beings in the
awakening of buddhahood. This is known as a
bodhisattva’s practice of strength.

“What is a bodhisattva’s practice of
wisdom? Bodhisattvas think, ‘There is
no birth, death, or old age here. These are just the
way of phenomena. They are free of “I” and “mine.” ’
Thinking this, they perfectly understand exactly how
things are. Through exactly this strength of wisdom
they establish an infinite, incalculable number of
beings in that strength of wisdom. No being has the
capacity to turn them away from this basic reality
and set them in worldly ways. This is known as a
bodhisattva’s practice of wisdom.

“These are the ten types of practices. This
concludes the ten strengths of a bodhisattva.

“What are a bodhisattva’s ten types of
knowledge? Knowledge of suffering; knowledge of the
origin; knowledge of cessation; knowledge of the
path; knowledge of the phenomena associated with
suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path;
knowledge of the aggregates; knowledge of the
elements; knowledge of the sense bases; knowledge of
the past and future; and knowledge of the path and
its results. These are a bodhisattva’s ten types of
knowledge.

“What is knowledge of
suffering? It is to know suffering in
terms of suffering, suffering in terms of its
origin, suffering in terms of its cessation, and
suffering in terms of the path. Additionally, it is
to know suffering as empty, suffering as signless,
suffering as wishless, and suffering as dependently
originated. It is to know that this birth in the
world is suffering. Knowing ignorance, craving, and
grasping is to know suffering. This is what is known
as knowledge of suffering.

“What is knowledge of the
origin? Knowing that through which
suffering originates is knowledge of the origin.
Knowing that origin to be suffering itself is
knowledge of the origin. Knowing craving is also
knowledge of the origin. This is what is known as
knowledge of the origin.

“What is knowledge of the
path? It is the knowledge that seeks
out the knowledge of suffering, the knowledge of its
origin, and the knowledge of its cessation, and is
the knowledge that brings about attainment. This is what is
known as knowledge of the path.

“What is knowledge of the
aggregates? It is knowing the
aggregates to be like an illusion and a dream. It is
knowing them as conglomerates, as aggregations, and
knowing them to be something amassed. This is known
as knowledge of the aggregates. Furthermore, the
aggregate of form is known to be like foam, the
aggregate of sensation is known to be like a water
bubble, the aggregate of perception is known to be
like a mirage, the aggregate of formations is known
to be like a plantain tree, and the aggregate of
consciousness is known to be like an illusion. This
is known as knowledge of the aggregates.

“What is knowledge of the
elements? The element of earth is the
expanse of phenomena, and the expanse of phenomena
is not solid. Similarly, the element of water is the
expanse of phenomena, and the expanse of phenomena
is not wet. The element of fire is the expanse of
phenomena, and the expanse of phenomena is not hot.
The element of wind is the expanse of phenomena, and
the expanse of phenomena does not move. This kind of
knowledge is known as knowledge of the elements.

“Furthermore, knowledge of the subtle,
knowledge of the coarse, knowledge of small, and
knowledge of the root of all phenomena are known as
knowledge of the elements.

“Furthermore, the elements of the eye, form,
and visual consciousness are the expanse of
phenomena, but the expanse of
phenomena is not the eye, material substance, or
consciousness in essence. The elements of the ear,
sound, and ear consciousness are the expanse of
phenomena, but the expanse of phenomena is not the
subjective experience of sound, objective sound, or
auditory consciousness in essence. The elements of
the nose, smell, and olfactory consciousness are the
expanse of phenomena, but the expanse of phenomena
is not smelling, smell, or its consciousness. The
elements of the tongue, taste, and gustatory
consciousness are the expanse of phenomena, but the
expanse of phenomena is not within the domain of the
tongue, it is not the experience of flavor, and it
is not obtained through gustatory consciousness. The
elements of the body, texture, and body
consciousness are the expanse of phenomena, but the
expanse of phenomena does not have the
characteristics of mass, touch, or of being
mirage-like. The elements of mind, mental phenomena,
and mental consciousness are the expanse of
phenomena, but the expanse of phenomena does not
have the characteristics of arising, persisting, or
being destroyed. That which is understood in this
way is known as a bodhisattva’s knowledge of the
elements.

“Furthermore, the sense bases are known as an
empty village. An empty village, analogously, does
not itself think, ‘I am an empty village.’ In the
same way, the sense bases do not themselves think,
‘We are sense bases.’ To understand in this way is
known as a bodhisattva’s knowledge of the sense
bases.

“Furthermore, a bodhisattva thinks, ‘The twelve
sense bases—the sense bases of the eye and form, the
ear and sound, the nose and smell, the tongue and
taste, the body and texture, and the mind and mental
phenomena—are all nothing more than that. They do
not have notions of “I” and “mine.” ’ To understand
in this way is known as a bodhisattva’s knowledge of
the sense bases.

“What is a bodhisattva’s knowledge of
the past and future? It is knowing that
nothing has departed in the past and nothing will
come in the future. This is known as knowledge of
the past and future. Additionally, the bodhisattva
knows that the past is gone and nothing will be
created in the future. This, child of good family,
is a bodhisattva’s knowledge of the past and
future.

“Child of good family, these are the ten types
of knowledge of bodhisattvas.

“Child of good family, bodhisattvas should
understand the force of attaining the ripening of
the undefiled virtues through these ten approaches
to the way of the Dharma.”

Once this pronouncement of the Dharma had been
made, the seventy-six thousand bodhisattvas with
prior training attained acceptance of the nonarising
of phenomena.

The bodhisattva Mativikrama then addressed the
bodhisattva Nirārambha: “Child of good family,
please eloquently describe the Dharma of the
bodhisattvas that involves the perfections. For what purpose?
Child of good family, an account of the perfections
is the most eminent kind of account. Thus, child of
good family, what are the perfections? How are they
described?”

The bodhisattva Nirārambha responded to the
bodhisattva Mativikrama, “Child of good family, the
perfections are the perfection of generosity, the
perfection of discipline, the perfection of
patience, the perfection of diligence, the
perfection of meditative stability, the perfection
of insight, the perfection of skillful means, the
perfection of aspiration, the perfection of strength, and
the perfection of wisdom. Child of good family,
these are the perfections.

“These perfections can be described as follows.
Generosity without conceit is the perfection of
generosity; the failure to continuously give away
all wealth is not. Discipline without conceit is the
perfection of discipline; the failure to take up all
aspects of discipline, training, and the austere
practices, and the failure to reduce one’s
possessions, is not. Patience without conceit is the
perfection of patience; the failure to remain
patient and gentle is not. Diligence without conceit
is the perfection of diligence; the failure to
constantly perfect all roots of virtue is not.
Meditative stability without conceit is the
perfection of meditative stability; being
continuously irresolute is not. Insight without
conceit is the perfection of insight; failure to be
energetic in the quest for learning is not. Skillful
means without conceit is the perfection of skillful
means; failure to appear
among both rival communities and those beings who
seek to cultivate the roots of virtue is not.
Aspirations made without conceit is the perfection
of aspiration; to share access to the various roots
of virtue of oneself and all beings, and then to not
dedicate it to unsurpassable, completely perfect
awakening, is not. Strength without conceit is the perfection
of strength;
the failure of those with the forms of Nārāyaṇa and
Vajrapāṇi to tame beings who are puffed up with
pride, arrogance, and haughtiness is not. Wisdom
without conceit is the perfection of wisdom; the
failure to engage in any arts, expertise, or
profession is not. Child of good family, this
describes the Dharma of the bodhisattvas that
involves the perfections.

“Furthermore, child of good family,
bodhisattvas also do not hope for any result, and
yet strive to give away all material goods in every
way. They form no
concepts about discipline, and yet will not violate
their training even at the cost of their life. They
are fundamentally unshakeable, and yet they loathe
maliciousness even while not getting angry. They
have no desire, and yet they strive for all roots of
virtue. They are nonconceptual, and yet are
dedicated to meditative stability and the higher
cognitions. They have absolutely no doubts about
anything, and yet dedicatedly apply themselves to
study, reflection, and meditation. They do not seek
anything at all, and yet apprehend all the various
roots of virtue. Their minds remain nowhere, and yet
all their aspirations are accomplished. They have
defeated pride, arrogance, and haughtiness, and yet
they have attained an unbreakable body that is hard
like a diamond. They know all treatises, and
yet they seek
out teachers and masters. This,
child of good family, describes the Dharma of the
bodhisattvas that involves the perfections.

“Furthermore, child of good family,
bodhisattvas delight in generosity while engaging
harmoniously with stingy beings. They delight in
discipline while engaging harmoniously with beings
who have poor discipline. They delight in patience
while engaging harmoniously with beings whose minds
have been corrupted by maliciousness. They delight
in diligence while engaging harmoniously with beings
who are lazy and who have little or no diligence.
They delight in meditative stability while engaging
harmoniously with beings whose minds have been
corrupted by the distractions of many activities.
They delight in insight while engaging harmoniously
with dimwitted beings who are innately dull like
sheep and who are always faithless. They delight in
skillful means while not getting involved in any
activity at all. They delight in aspirations while
engaging harmoniously with beings who are depressed
by saṃsāra. They delight in strength while
engaging harmoniously with beings who are weak and
powerless. They delight in wisdom while engaging
harmoniously with those beings who find joy in
saṃsāra. This, child of good family, describes the
Dharma of the bodhisattvas that involves the
perfections.

“Furthermore, child of good family,
bodhisattvas attain the jewel-in-hand and the sky
treasury through the perfection of generosity. They
transcend lower states of rebirth, gain power over
transmigration and birth, and attain a noble mind
through the perfection of discipline. They attain
the body of a thus-gone one—well-adorned with the
major and minor marks and impossible to look away
from—through the perfection of patience. They attain
the swift higher cognitions and mastery over all
phenomena through the perfection of diligence. They
attain a pleasant body and mind, dhāraṇī, confident
eloquence, and the abandonment of the obscuration of
the afflictive emotions through the perfection of
meditative stability. They
attain fearlessness and the four correct
discernments through the perfection of insight. They
attain ease and irreproachability in physical,
verbal, and mental actions through the perfection of
skillful means. They attain the ability, in every
life, to recall their previous lives, to go wherever
they wish, and to take joy in whatever they wish
through the perfection of aspiration. They will not
be overcome by any afflictive emotion, māra, or
adversary and will achieve eminence through the
perfection of strength. They will reach transcendence
over the māras of the aggregates, death, the
afflictive emotions, and the divine māra through the
perfection of wisdom. This, child of good family,
describes the Dharma of the bodhisattvas that
involves the perfections.

“Furthermore, child of good family, bodhisattva
praise generosity but do not arrogantly think, ‘I am
pure because of generosity.’ In the same way, they
praise discipline, patience, diligence, meditative
stability, insight, skillful means, aspirations,
strength,
and wisdom, but do not arrogantly think, ‘I am pure
because of wisdom.’ Why? Because these things should
be abandoned once they are achieved. They all arise
through conceptual designation, and any conceptual
designation, any phenomena that arise through
conceptual designation, should be abandoned. That is
why bodhisattvas do not arrogantly think, ‘I am pure
because of phenomena that are conceptual
designations and that arise through conceptual
designation.’ Instead, bodhisattvas reach completely
perfect awakening upon attaining wisdom by means of
referents that are nonconceptual and conceptually
unelaborate.”

The bodhisattva Nirārambha replied, “Child of
good family, the words ‘nonconceptual and
conceptually unelaborate’ describe awakening. The
conceptual elaboration of grasping at an ‘I’ is not
awakening. Quieting the grasping at an ‘I’ and being
conceptually unelaborate is awakening. The
conceptual elaboration of grasping at ‘mine’ is not
awakening. Quieting the grasping at ‘mine’ and being
conceptually unelaborate is awakening. The
conceptual elaborations of old age, sickness, death,
and the continuity of suffering are not awakening.
Quieting the concepts of old age, sickness, death,
and the continuity of suffering, and being
conceptually unelaborate, is awakening. The
conceptual elaborations of stinginess, poor
discipline, maliciousness, laziness, distraction,
and faulty insight are not awakening. Conceptually
unelaborate generosity, discipline, patience,
diligence, meditative stability, and insight are
awakening. The conceptual elaborations of view,
concept, and aspiration are not awakening.
Emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, and being
conceptually unelaborate are awakening.

“Furthermore, all phenomena are awakening, and
all phenomena are not awakening.”

“Child of good family,” replied Nirārambha,
“people in the world fixate on arising and ceasing.
Therefore, the deeply compassionate Thus-Gone One
sought to soothe the fear of such worldly people by
speaking conventionally about arising and ceasing
even though there are absolutely no phenomena that
arise or cease.
Therefore, child of good family, bodhisattvas should
know the Buddha, the phenomena associated with a
buddha, beings, the phenomena associated with a
being, the self, and the phenomena associated with
the self.”

The bodhisattva great being Nirārambha then
made those same points in verse:

“What is the nature

Of the Buddha’s origin,

The Buddha, and the Buddha’s qualities,

Known to a vigilant bodhisattva?

“The Buddha, supreme knower of the world,

Is a collection of undefiled virtues.

He arises through the wishes of beings

And takes birth through previous karmic
formations.

“Perfect are the heroic,

Who have realized buddhahood.

They know everything;

They understand everything.

“No one can grant buddhahood,

Nor can anyone hold on to it.

The word buddha is said of
those

Who are buddhas through knowing the features of
the self.

“Those who innately know the self

To be nothing more than perception

Know what a buddha is like,

As well as the nature of awakening.

“All beings are mere perceptions,

And are described through conceptual constructs.

The terms illusion,
dream, and the like

Are well known to bodhisattvas.

“If someone were to wonder,

‘How is this way understood?’

They should know that meditative composure

Tames the horses of the senses.

“Then there is neither foe nor friend,

No purpose or lack of purpose,

And no rejecting or clinging—

Such is this Dharma discourse.

“True words about all phenomena

Are called a discourse on
phenomena.

Words about them that are not true

Are called flawed
Dharma.

“The qualities of attachment and nonattachment

Are seen as equal by those who are pure.

Such is also the case for anger and dullness—

This is a discourse on phenomena.

“One who, for the benefit of all beings,

Has donned the armor of intrinsic compassion

Does not see any being

Who is not empty of innate nature.

“Those who know the basic nature as such,

And have reached the state of fearlessness

About what is always entirely stainless,

Will come to realize buddhahood.

“A skilled magician will, for example,

Try to release their magical creations.

They know them to be magic from the start,

And so have no attachment to them.

“An awakened wise person

Knows the three worlds to be like a magical
creation.

They don armor to serve beings,

Knowing them to be such from the start.

“They see the self as imperfect,

And beings as empty by nature.

Seeing that phenomena are omnipresent,

They reach acceptance and remain in that
state.

“There is nothing at all to accept,

And there is nothing at all to reject.

A brahmin is one who maintains that state,

In which there is no accepting or rejecting.

“When someone rests with an even disposition

In the perfect expanse of phenomena,

The buddhas will prophesy

That they will be a perfect buddha.

“When I cast aside

The stains of seeing,

Just as the buddhas predicted,

The victors made their prophesy.

“Resting in the unobscured expanse,

I then progress from there toward nirvāṇa.

Embodying great compassion,

I am entirely free of blame.

“An intelligent bodhisattva

Who desires a perfect discourse on phenomena,

And who seeks a discourse on the Dharma,

Will follow this Dharma discourse.”

Then the bodhisattva great being Nirārambha
addressed the bodhisattva great being Mativikrama:
“Child of good family, a bodhisattva should
privilege the truth. Child of good family, a
bodhisattva’s discourse on the Dharma is a discourse
on the truth. Child of good
family, what is this truth that compels a
bodhisattva who has generated the mind set on
unsurpassable, completely perfect awakening to not
forsake that mind even at the cost of their life and
to not act adversely toward beings? It is the truth
of a bodhisattva. It would be a despicable lie to
say that a bodhisattva would generate the mind set
on unsurpassable, completely perfect awakening only
to forsake it later and act adversely toward
beings.”

Mativikrama asked, “Once they have generated
the mind set on unsurpassable, completely perfect
awakening, why will they not later forsake it and
not act adversely toward any being?”

Nirārambha replied, “When bodhisattvas
understand the truth of suffering, when they
understand the truth of its origin, the truth of its
cessation, and the truth of the path, they will not
forsake that mind and will not act adversely toward
any being.”

“What is the suffering that bodhisattvas know?”
asked Mativikrama.

Nirārambha answered, “Suffering is the ripening
of the experiences of pleasant and unpleasant in
relation to the five aggregates that are the bases
for clinging. This is suffering. When bodhisattvas
know that this suffering is dependently originated,
empty, unwavering, and devoid of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’
they are said to ‘know suffering.’ When they see
that suffering merely in terms of its origin, as
insubstantial and immaterial, as essenceless and
without agency, they are said to ‘know its origin.’
When they know that there is nothing that comes from
the previous life, migrates to the next life, or
that arises in the present, when they know that
suffering is beginningless and is naturally in a
state of cessation, naturally empty, and naturally
isolated, they are said to ‘know its
cessation.’”

“Child of good family,” replied Nirārambha,
“there is nothing that can express cessation.”

“Child of good family,” answered Nirārambha,
“cessation is free of adventitious obscurations; it
is false, nonexistent, and an imputation. When
something is false, it is an imputation. That is
considered cessation. A phenomenon that is false, an
imputation, and ceases cannot be destroyed in any
way. Therefore, all phenomena are said to have
utterly ceased.”

Mativikrama then said, “Child of good family,
the Blessed One also said, ‘A bodhisattva does not
actualize cessation. A bodhisattva who actualizes
cessation has fallen to the level of a śrāvaka or
pratyekabuddha.’ What did the Blessed One mean when
he said that?”

“Furthermore, child of good family, arrogance
is suffering. Why? Child of good family, the Blessed
One said, ‘The nature of arrogance is suffering.’
Arrogance is always false; therefore, the origin of
arrogance is the origin of suffering, the absence of
suffering is cessation, and the wisdom through which
arrogance ceases to be arrogance is the path.

When he finished explaining this teaching on
truth, six thousand bodhisattvas realized the state
of irreversible cultivation of the truth. For ten
thousand goddesses present in the sky, dust fell
away from their Dharma eye that sees phenomena, and
they became stainless and pure.

“A bodhisattva’s mindfulness has ten modes: ⁽¹⁾
the application of mindfulness of the body, ⁽²⁾ the
application of mindfulness of sensations, ⁽³⁾ the
application of mindfulness of mind, ⁽⁴⁾ the
application of mindfulness of phenomena, ⁽⁵⁾ the
application of mindfulness of recollecting the
Buddha, ⁽⁶⁾ the application of mindfulness of
recollecting the Dharma, ⁽⁷⁾ the application of
mindfulness of recollecting the Saṅgha, ⁽⁸⁾ the
application of mindfulness of recollecting
discipline, ⁽⁹⁾ the application of mindfulness of
recollecting giving, and ⁽¹⁰⁾ the application of
mindfulness of recollecting divinities. These are
the ten applications of mindfulness.

“What is the bodhisattvas’
application of mindfulness of the
body? Bodhisattvas apply mindfulness to
the body by thinking as follows: ‘This body did not
come from a previous life, it does not migrate to
the next life; it was not present in the previous
life, and it will not be present in the next life.
Otherwise, it would be false, and would arise from
error. It would be devoid of one who acts and one
who feels, and it would have no beginning, no end,
and no middle. There is no
fundamental root or
governing power. There is no “mine” and no
appropriation. Notions of “collection,” “body,”
“enjoyment,” “basis,” “corpse,” and
“sense base” are conventional designations based on
superficial conventions. This body is without
essence; it comes from the father’s semen and the
mother’s blood. It is innately unclean, putrid, and
foul-smelling. It is confounded by the thieves of
desire, anger, dullness, fear, and sloth. It is
continuously beset by decay, collapse,
disintegration, decomposition, and destruction, and
it is host to a hundred thousand different
diseases.’

“Furthermore, child of good family,
bodhisattvas think about what the body is like and
apply mindfulness to the body as follows: ‘This body is just a
collection composed of the feet, toes, calves,
thighs, sacrum, abdomen, navel, spine,
heart, sides, ribs, palms, forearms, shoulders, neck, cheeks,
forehead, and skull. It has been gathered through
the impetus of karma’s arising and persists as the
hundred thousand different afflictive emotions,
secondary afflictive emotions, notions, and
concepts. It is a collection of many substances:
head hair, body hair, nails, teeth, bone, skin,
muscle, marrow, tendons, omentum, fat, serum, liver,
urine, feces, stomach, intestines,
blood, saliva, bile, pus, mucus, skull, and
brain.’

“Bodhisattvas analytically think, ‘This body is
equal to space,’ and apply mindfulness to the body
that is space-like. They see everything as being
space-like. They neither apply
mindfulness to anything apart from that which
comprehends the body, nor do they avoid it. This
is known as sustaining mindfulness by
neither applying it nor avoiding it. To
sustain mindfulness in this way is to correctly know
that the body accords with awakening. There is
nothing that obstructs this. Why? Because anything
that obstructs it is not fundamental to it. This is
what is known as a bodhisattva’s application of
mindfulness of the body.

“What is a bodhisattva’s application
of mindfulness of sensations? A
bodhisattva thinks, ‘Sensations are something
understood; that knowledge is either erroneous, correct,
or free of both.’ The sensations of naive, ordinary
people, whose minds are distracted and in error, are
also in error. They experience the impermanent as
permanent, suffering as happiness, selflessness as
the self, and the impure as pure. These are
erroneous sensations. Experiencing the impermanent
as impermanent, suffering as suffering, selflessness
as selflessness, and the impure as impure are the
sensations of śrāvakas. Experiencing the impermanent
as neither impermanent nor not impermanent,
suffering as neither suffering nor happiness,
selflessness as neither selfless nor not selfless,
and the impure as neither impure nor not impure are
the sensations of bodhisattvas.

“A bodhisattva does not recognize an
experiencer of these sensations, and in not
recognizing one, does not in any way recognize
sensations either. A bodhisattva thinks, ‘The
Blessed One said, “All compounded things involve
sensation.” If all compounded things involve
sensation, there would be something
referred to as an “experiencer.” Sensations are not
the cause of sensations; there is nothing to be
sensed, no sensation, and no cause of sensation.
Even the
uncompounded is not the cause of sensation for the
compounded. There is nothing at all that causes
sensation that is independent of the compounded and
uncompounded. Thus, a bodhisattva recognizes that
there is no sensation in any of those sensations.’ A
bodhisattva does not recognize any kind of effort
derived through sensation. This correct recognition
of how sensation accords with awakening is what is
known as a bodhisattva’s application of mindfulness
of sensations.

“What is a bodhisattva’s application
of mindfulness of the mind? A
bodhisattva thinks, ‘A sensation is merely the mind,
and that mind has no location, has no grasping, and
has no body. What would the location be for that
which has no status, no grasping, and no body?’ The
bodhisattva sees that the mind is not known by the
mind, the mind is not seen by the mind, and that a
mind that arises on the basis of something is
dependent on something other and has no independent
agency. Even awakening is not known separately from
the mind. By knowing awakening as merely the
mind, bodhisattvas attain power over the mind, and
through their power over the mind they master the
Great Vehicle. They regard all beings equally and
cannot be dissuaded by others from the Great
Vehicle. This is known as a bodhisattva’s
application of mindfulness of the mind.

“The bodhisattva thinks, ‘All phenomena lack
something that possesses them; they are naturally
isolated. All phenomena lack a self; they are
naturally nondual. All phenomena are unobscured;
they have the nature of space. All phenomena are
nonconceptual; they are free of mind, thought, and
the mind consciousness. All phenomena are
essentially liberated; they are naturally free of
the afflictive emotions. All phenomena are
indescribable; they are naturally inexpressible. All
phenomena are inarticulable; they are naturally
uncontrived. All phenomena are incalculable; they
completely transcend all calculations. All phenomena
are straightforward; they completely transcend all
conceptual elaborations. All phenomena are rootless
because they are seedless. All phenomena are
faultless because they are purified at the root. No
phenomena arrive because they are incorporeal. No
phenomena depart because they are not located
anywhere. All phenomena are unobstructed because
they are empty. All phenomena are empty because they
originate dependently. All phenomena escape because
they are nonconceptual. All phenomena are
independent because they are understood in whatever
manner is desired. All phenomena are fully realized
because they are innately knowable. All phenomena
are mere designations because they are immaterial.
All phenomena are unobservable because they are
innately unsupported. All phenomena are unfettered
because they are incorporeal. All phenomena are
unliberated because they are essenceless. All
phenomena are not impervious because of their
essential state of suchness. All
phenomena are of a single scope because of the
indivisibility of the expanse of phenomena. And all
phenomena are undifferentiated because they are
equal to the limit of reality.’ Thinking this,
bodhisattvas examine phenomena in this way and
sustain that examination.

“Bodhisattvas who examine phenomena as such and
sustain that examination do not differentiate
between beings. They do not differentiate between
phenomena, vehicles, buddhas, or buddhafields. They
do not recognize inferior and superior, bondage and
release, or saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. They lack
abandonment, grasping, engaging, avoiding,
accepting, and rejecting. They attain and maintain a
state of nondistraction. Those bodhisattva great
beings who sustain peace will be seen by the blessed
buddhas residing in their different buddhafields,
and will be prophesied by them to attain
unsurpassable, completely perfect awakening. This is
known as a bodhisattva’s application of mindfulness
of phenomena.

“What is a bodhisattva’s application
of the mindfulness of recollecting the
Buddha? A bodhisattva’s application of
the mindfulness of recollecting the Buddha is to
cultivate the following: After bringing all beings
immediately to mind, they apply mindfulness with the
thought, ‘May I and all beings achieve
unsurpassable, completely perfect awakening. To that
end I will achieve the thus-gone, worthy, completely
perfect buddhas’ ten strengths of a thus-gone one,
four kinds of fearlessness, and eighteen unique
qualities.’ Through that mindfulness, bodhisattvas
recollect the mindfulness of the blessed buddhas,
which is inconceivable, stainless, pure, luminous,
and free of latent impressions; in which the entire
nexus of habitual patterns has been severed; which
is based in wisdom, governed by wisdom, and governed
by all the buddhas, the Dharma, and
the divine; in which all types of certainty have
been obtained; which lacks the stains that obscure
objects of knowledge and so cannot be comprehended
by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; and which is
spontaneously present, of unhindered power, is
sustained without obstruction, enhances the thoughts
of all beings, and is unchanging like space. They
recollect the buddhas through these ways of
recollection. They recollect with modes of
mindfulness that are the precious jewels of the
buddhas, the treasury of the buddhas. For that
reason, this is known as the recollection of the
Buddha.

“Buddhas are not conceptual; they are
nonconceptual. They do not accept or reject. They do
not cycle in saṃsāra or pass into nirvāṇa. They do
not arise or cease. A bodhisattva recollects these
points, which is why this is known as the
recollection of the Buddha.