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T0669
佛說無上依經
fascicle 1 fascicle 2
Buddha Pronounces the Sūtra of the Unsurpassed Reliance
Translated From Sanskrit Into Chinese In The Southern Liang Dynasty
By The Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha From India
Fascicle 1 (of 2)
Chapter 1 – A Comparison of Merits
Thus I have heard:
At one time the Buddha-Bhagavān was staying in the Kalandaka bamboo grove,[1] north of the city of Rājagṛha, together with 1,250 great bhikṣus. All of them were Arhats, who had ended their afflictions, accomplished their undertakings, shed the heavy burden, ended the bondage of existence, and acquired benefits for themselves. Their minds had achieved liberation and ease, and they were accomplished in practicing śamatha and vipaśyanā. These great bhikṣus included Ājñātakauṇḍinya, Aśvajit, Bhadrajaya, Vāṣpa, Mahānāma, Uruvilvākāśyapa, Gayākāśyapa, Nadīkāśyapa, Yaśoda, Mahākāśyapa, Śāriputra, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, Subhūti, Suvahula, Mahākauṣṭhila, Upāli, Pūrṇa-Maitrāyaṇīputra, Mahācunda, Mahākapphiṇa, Revata, Pilindavatsa, Aniruddha, Sundara-Nanda, Rāhula, and Ānanda.[2] Among these 1,250 great bhikṣus, only Ānanda was still on the learning ground.[3] Present as well were five hundred great bhikṣuṇīs, including Mahāprajāpatī,[4] Yaśodharā,[5] Utpalavarṇā,[6] Cimā, Bhadrā, and Nandā, together with their retinues.
Also gathered there were innumerable hundreds of thousands of Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas from worlds in other directions. Headed by Maitreya Bodhisattva, who would become the next Buddha [in this world], these Bodhisattvas in this Worthy Kalpa had a full understanding of the profound dharma nature [dharmatā]. With an impartial mind, they tamed and transformed sentient beings, and performed good works as they walked the Bodhisattva Way. They truly were sentient beings’ beneficent learned friends. They acquired hindrance-free dhāraṇīs, made offerings to innumerable Buddhas, and continued to turn the no-regress Dharma wheel.
Present as well were billions of upāsakas headed by Bimbisāra, king of Magadha, and innumerable hundreds of thousands of upāsikās headed by Queen Vaidehī.[7]
While the World-Honored One was being revered, esteemed, and attended by gods and humans making offerings to Him, through the Buddha’s spiritual power Ānanda rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and bowed down at the Buddha’s feet. Kneeling on his right knee, with joined palms, he said to the Buddha, “Today, I dressed appropriately, took my begging bowl, and went into the city of Rājagṛha. As I begged for food from one house to the next, I saw a newly built tower, tall and majestic. It was decorated with carvings and paintings inside and outside. After seeing it, I had a thought: ‘Suppose that a good man or woman of pure faith builds a grand tower like that one, gives it away as alms to monks in places in the four directions, and provides them with the four necessities. Then suppose that after a Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa, someone takes one of His relics [śarīra] the size of a mustard seed and enshrines it in a memorial pagoda [stūpa]. And suppose that the pagoda he builds is the size of an āmra’s [mango] seed, its spire the size of a needle, its dew-catching plates the size of a jujube leaf, and its Buddha statue the size of a wheat berry. Which one of these two acquires more merit?’ Now I ask the World-Honored One and pray that He will explain.”
The Buddha said, “Very good, very good! Ānanda, you can ask the Tathāgata about this important matter because you can do training, acquire multiple benefits, pity the world, serve as a refuge, indicate the right path to gods and humans, bring them peace and happiness, and rescue sentient beings from their suffering. Therefore, Ānanda, now hearken, intently ponder my words, and believe in and accept them with a reverent mind.”
“Very good, World-Honored One. I would be delighted to hear them.”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, this southern continent, Jambudvīpa, is 7,000 yojanas long and wide. It is wide in its north and narrow in its south, as is a human face here. Suppose that it is filled with holy voice-hearers[8]—Srotāpannas, Sakṛdāgāmins, Anāgāmins, and Arhats—and Pratyekbuddhas, like densely growing sugar canes, bamboos, reeds, hemp plants, and rice plants, without any gaps. Then, Ānanda, suppose that someone in Jambudvīpa, throughout his life, offers these holy beings clothing, food and drink, medicine, and bedding. After any of them dies, he erects a huge memorial pagoda and offers lit lamps, burning incense, powdered incense, solid perfumes, garlands, clothing, umbrellas, and banners. Ānanda, what is your opinion? Does he acquire much merit through these causes and conditions?”
Ānanda answered, “A great deal, World-Honored One. A great deal, Sugata.[9]”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, the western continent, Aparagodānīya, is 8,000 yojanas long and wide. It is half-moon shaped, as is a human face there. Suppose that it is filled with holy beings, from Srotāpannas to Pratyekabuddhas, like densely growing sugar canes, bamboos, reeds, hemp plants, and rice plants, without any gaps. Then, Ānanda, suppose that someone in Aparagodānīya, throughout his life, offers these holy beings clothing, food and drink, medicine, and bedding. After any of them dies, he erects a huge memorial pagoda and offers lit lamps, burning incense, powdered incense, solid perfumes, garlands, clothing, umbrellas, and banners. Ānanda, what is your opinion? Does he acquire much merit through these causes and conditions?”
Ānanda answered, “A great deal, World-Honored One. A great deal, Sugata.”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, the eastern continent, Pūrvavideha, is 9,000 yojanas long and wide. It is full-moon shaped, as is a human face there. Suppose that it is filled with holy beings, from Srotāpannas to Pratyekabuddhas, like densely growing sugar canes, bamboos, reeds, hemp plants, and rice plants, without any gaps. Then, Ānanda, suppose that someone in Pūrvavideha, throughout his life, offers these holy beings clothing, food and drink, medicine, and bedding. After any of them dies, he erects a huge memorial pagoda and offers lit lamps, burning incense, powdered incense, solid perfumes, garlands, clothing, umbrellas, and banners. Ānanda, what is your opinion? Does he acquire much merit through these causes and conditions?”
Ānanda answered, “A great deal, World-Honored One. A great deal, Sugata.”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, the northern continent, Uttarakuru, is 10,000 yojanas long and wide. It is square shaped, as is a human face there. Suppose that it is filled with holy beings, from Srotāpannas to Pratyekabuddhas, like densely growing sugar canes, bamboos, reeds, hemp plants, and rice plants, without any gaps. Then, Ānanda, suppose that someone in Uttarakuru, throughout his life, offers these holy beings clothing, food and drink, medicine, and bedding. After any of them dies, he erects a huge memorial pagoda and offers lit lamps, burning incense, powdered incense, solid perfumes, garlands, clothing, umbrellas, and banners. Ānanda, what is your opinion? Does he acquire much merit through these causes and conditions?”
Ānanda answered, “A great deal, World-Honored One. A great deal, Sugata.”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, in the place where the god-king Śakra’s celestial palace is situated is a great soaring tower called Forever Victory Hall. It is surrounded by 84,000 tall towers with 84,000 aquamarine [vaiḍūrya] pillars. It is covered with a jeweled net of pure gold, and its four sides are draped with nets, with bells hanging off gold cords. Its ground is scattered with various celestial flowers and gold, silver, and gem dust, and sprinkled with sandalwood-perfumed water. It has 84,000 windows with beautiful decorations. It is adorned with interlaced aquamarine, crystal, jewels in the colors of lotus flowers, and the god-king Indra’s jewels. It has 84,000 stairs and railings made of pure blue aquamarine. Ānanda, suppose that a good man or woman of pure faith builds 100,000 koṭi towers just like the god-king Śakra’s soaring tower called Forever Victory Hall, and gives them away as alms to monks [and nuns] in places in the four directions. Then suppose that after a Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa, someone takes one of His relics the size of a mustard seed and enshrines it in a memorial pagoda. And suppose that the pagoda he builds is the size of an āmra’s seed, its spire the size of a needle, its dew-catching plates the size of a jujube leaf, and its Buddha statue the size of a wheat berry. His merit surpasses that of the former donor more than a hundred times, ten million koṭi times, or an asaṁkhyeya times, and even beyond analogy. Why? Because a Tathāgata is immeasurable.
“Ānanda, suppose that this Sahā World with its four continents—Jambudvīpa, Aparagodānīya, Pūrvavideha, and Uttarakuru—vast seas, Mount Sumeru, and the Iron Mountain Range [Cakravāḍa-parvata], is pulverized into dust particles. Then suppose that there are holy beings, such as Srotāpannas, Sakṛdāgāmins, Anāgāmin, Arhats, and Pratyekabuddhas, as numerous as those dust particles. And suppose that a good man or woman of pure faith, throughout his or her life, makes offerings to them. After any of them dies, he or she erects a memorial pagoda and makes offerings. What is your opinion? Does this man or woman acquire much merit?”
“A great deal, World-Honored One. A great deal, Sugata.”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “Suppose that someone, whether a good man or woman, after a Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, takes one of His relics the size of a mustard seed and enshrines it in a memorial pagoda. And suppose that the pagoda he builds is the size of an āmra’s seed, its spire the size of a needle, its dew-catching plates the size of a jujube leaf, and its Buddha statue the size of a wheat berry. His merit surpasses that of the former donor more than a hundred times or ten million koṭi times, and even beyond measure or analogy. Ānanda, even if he does not transfer this merit to his attaining anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi, it will bring him fortunate requitals as numerous as the dust particles in this Sahā World, and will enable him to be reborn as the god-king of any of the top five desire heavens[10]—Paranirmita-vaśa-vartin Heaven, Nirmāṇa-rati Heaven, Tuṣita Heaven, Yāma Heaven, or Trayastriṁśa Heaven—or reborn as a Wheel-Turning King.”
Chapter 2 – A Tathāgata’s Realm
The Buddha told Ānanda, “The merit of and the fortunate requitals to someone who erects temples, memorial pagodas, and Buddha images after a Buddha-Bhagavān’s parinirvāṇa are immeasurable, beyond measure. Why? Because, Ānanda, a Tathāgata is extraordinary and inconceivable. Why? Because a Tathāgata’s realm and nature are inconceivable; His bodhi and attainment are inconceivable; His merit and Dharma are inconceivable; His benefits and works are inconceivable.
“Ānanda, what is a Tathāgata’s realm [Tathāgata-dhātu]?[11] Why is a Tathāgata as a realm inconceivable? Ānanda, every sentient being is composed of the five aggregates, the six faculties, and the eighteen spheres. His various appearances are displays of his internal and external elements, in a continuous flow without a beginning. However, his nature is utmost radiance and wondrous goodness.
“If one’s mind [citta], mental faculty [manas], and consciousness [vijñāna] do not arise through conditions, one’s perception and differentiation cannot arise through conditions. Then one’s wrong thinking cannot arise through conditions. Free from wrong thinking, a Tathāgata’s realm within one never activates one’s ignorance. Never activating one’s ignorance, it is not the condition for the action of one’s Twelve Links of Dependent Arising. Not being the condition for the action of one’s Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, a Tathāgata’s realm has no appearance. Without appearances, it is not formed, has neither birth nor death, and neither diminishes nor ends. It is eternal, constant, quiet, and ever abiding. It is by nature pure and free from taints. Apart from taints, it is free from afflictions and beyond liberation. It fully accords with and is never apart from a Tathāgata’s Dharma [with teachings] more numerous than the sands of the Ganges. It never abandons wisdom and is inconceivable.
“Ānanda, as an analogy, a priceless wish-fulfilling jewel is superb, lustrous, lovely, and pure. Its body is perfectly clean, without spots. However, it is left in filthy mud for 100,000 kalpas. Then someone picks it up, washes it, and protects it from falling [into mud]. After it is cleaned, this wish-fulfilling jewel recovers the purity of a treasure.
“Indeed, Ānanda, when all Tathāgatas were on the Cause Ground, as Bodhisattvas They knew that a sentient being’s nature is pure, but tainted by his visitor-like afflictions [āgantuka kleśa].[12] They thought: ‘Visitor-like afflictions do not enter a sentient being’s pure realm because his filthy afflictions are external hindrances formed by his false thinking. We can expound the profound wondrous Dharma to sentient beings to have them eliminate their affliction hindrances.[13] We should not regard them as lowly. Because of our magnanimity, we will (1) respect sentient beings, (2) revere great teachers, (3) develop wisdom [prajñā], (4) acquire wisdom-knowledge [jñāna], and (5) elicit great compassion [for sentient beings]. Following these five ways, a Bodhisattva will reach avinivartanīya [the spiritual level of no regress].’
“These Bodhisattvas then thought: ‘One’s dirt-like afflictions have neither power nor ability, incoherent [asambaddha] with one’s root [true mind]. While one’s true mind is the pure root, they have no root of reality and no root of reliance. With no root, they arise from one’s false thinking and perverted habits. While the four domains—earth, water, fire, and wind—abide in one’s root, which relies on nothing, one’s afflictions have no root of reality. If one truly knows this, and observes one’s afflictions with right thinking, they cannot go against one’s true mind. I now should observe my afflictions so that they cannot taint me. If my afflictions cannot taint me, this is very good. If we are tainted by our afflictions, how can we expound the Dharma to sentient beings to free them from the fetters of their afflictions? Therefore, I should discard my afflictions and expound the true Dharma [saddharma] to sentient beings, enabling them to cut off their fetters. However, if afflictions that drive one’s repeated birth and death respond to one’s roots of goodness, I should accept such afflictions[14] in order to bring sentient beings to [spiritual] maturity through mastering the Buddha Dharma.’
“Thus, Ānanda, when a Tathāgata on the Cause Ground relied on the true reality [bhūta-koṭi][15] of dharmas to acquire knowledge and to train [as a Bodhisattva], He understood that a Tathāgata’s realm [within Him], which is free from taints and attachments, could undergo repeated birth and death, unfettered by His afflictions, and enable Him to acquire great skillful means, abide in quiet nirvāṇa that abides nowhere,[16] and quickly attain anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s realm [within one] is immeasurable and boundless, but shrouded by one’s afflictions. When it follows one’s births and deaths to transmigrate through the six life-paths, I say that it is called a sentient being. Ānanda, when a sentient being tires of his suffering through repeated birth and death, discards his desires for the six sense objects, enters 84,000 Dharma Doors [dharma-paryāya] encompassed in the ten pāramitās, and trains to attain bodhi, I say that he is called a Bodhisattva. Ānanda, when a sentient being has ended his afflictions, cleansed off their filth, passed all his suffering, and revealed his innate purity, become someone whom sentient beings wish to see, ascended to the wondrous highest ground of all wisdom-knowledge free from all hindrances, abided there until he has acquired the unparalleled ability and a Dharma King’s great commanding power, I say that he is called a Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyak-Saṁbuddha.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s realm within sentient beings in these three positions is the same in every way and is hindrance free, because it has always been quiet. As an analogy, the open sky cannot be covered, filled, or stuffed by any objects. The space in an earthen vessel, a silver vessel, and a gold vessel is the same. Likewise a Tathāgata’s realm within sentient beings in these three positions is the same in every way and is hindrance free.
“Ānanda, when all Tathāgatas were on the Cause Ground, as Bodhisattvas They relied on the true reality of dharmas to acquire knowledge and to train. They observed the five virtues of a Tathāgata’s realm: (1) ineffability, (2) sameness, (3) beyond sameness and difference, (4) beyond the states of perception, and (5) having the one flavor [the flavor of emptiness] wherever it is.
“When a Bodhisattva sees these five virtues, he removes his perceptions of a sentient being’s appearances, the different appearances of dharmas, and the appearances of his huge afflictions. Using his unimpeded wisdom-knowledge[17] to observe a Tathāgata’s realm within sentient beings undergoing successive lives, he has an extraordinary thought: ‘Sentient beings are amazing! Although a Tathāgata is in their bodies, they cannot see Him in accord with true reality. Therefore, I will reveal to them the complete holy path[18] and explain to them the hindrance caused by their attachment to appearances, which has no beginning, enabling them to use the power of the holy path to remove their attachment to appearances and to see in accord with true reality that the Tathāgata [within them] remains the same wherever they are.’[19] Why does he do so? Because all sentient beings, fettered by their attachment to appearances, do not recognize the Tathāgata within them, do not see Him, and cannot realize Him.
“Ānanda, when a Tathāgata was on the Cause Ground, He observed a Tathāgata’s realm [within Him] and fully understood it. He rightly realized that all dharmas are equal in their suchness, rightly turned the unsurpassed, wondrous Dharma wheel, and rightly brought to spiritual maturity innumerable holy disciples, who reverently surrounded Him. He abided in the tranquil nirvāṇa without remnants,[20] benefited sentient beings, and never abandoned them, even at the end of the world.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s realm is by nature pure and is the same within sentient beings, without any difference. It accords with equality, purity, brightness, and smoothness, and responds [to sentient beings] with the most wondrous tenderness and goodness. Ānanda, as an analogy, water is by nature pure and wet and can wet and grow all medicinal herbs and trees. Likewise, Ānanda, when all Tathāgatas were on the Cause ground, as Bodhisattvas They relied on a Tathāgata’s realm [within them] to develop roots of goodness and benefit sentient beings. For this reason, They entered the Three Realms of Existence and appeared to undergo birth, old age, illness, and death, which were unreal. Why? Because they had truly seen a Tathāgata’s realm.
“Ānanda, as an analogy, a rich and powerful elder has an only son, who is handsome and intelligent. He protects, cherishes, watches, and cares for him without interruption. This boy is young and loves to frolic. He missteps and falls into a deep pit of feces and putrid corpses. When his mother and relatives see him fall into the pit, they cry, ‘Alas, pain, trouble, distress!’ Although they wail in sorrow, they are too weak and timid to enter the pit to rescue him. Then the elder quickly arrives. Concerned about his son, undaunted by the filth and stench, he enters the pit and carries his son out of it. Thus, Ānanda, I use this analogy to reveal the true meaning. The pit of feces and corpses is like the Three Realms of Existence. The only son is like sentient beings, who are ordinary beings. The mother and relatives are like voice-hearers and Pratyekabuddhas. When these riders of the Two Vehicles see sentient beings drifting and sinking in the flow of existence, although out of compassion they worry about and pity them, they have no ability to relieve them and pull them out. The rich and powerful elder is like Bodhisattvas, who are pure, taint free, and free from an impure mind. They have already seen [a Tathāgata’s realm within them] without any study or training, and they accept their requital bodies in order to enter the filthy and stinking place of births and deaths, and relieve and rescue sentient beings.
“Ānanda, know that a Bodhisattva’s great compassion is rare and ineffable. Although he has shed his fetters and transcended the Three Realms of Existence, he enters them and accepts his rebirths there. By upāya-kauśalya [skillful means], he practices prajñā-pāramitā [the wisdom pāramitā],[21] and his afflictions cannot taint him. In this way he expounds the true Dharma to end sentient beings’ suffering.
“Ānanda, know that a Tathāgata’s realm has vast, awesome powers, and is changeless and gentle. Therefore, Ānanda, sentient beings have holy nature [Buddha nature], which is unaffected by cultivation or no cultivation, action or no action. It has neither mind nor mental functions, neither karma nor karmic requital, neither pain nor pleasure. When one enters it, one sees that this nature is the same [within all], has no different appearances, and stays far away from afflictions. It follows [sentient beings’ needs], and is vast and free from a self and its belongings, high or low. It is real, endless, ever abiding, radiant, and pure. Ānanda, why is this nature called the holy nature? Because all holy teachings are founded on it, and all holy beings rely on it to attain Buddhahood. Hence I say that it is the holy nature.
“Ānanda, Tathāgata nature is the exclusive truth of all Tathāgatas, who are more numerous than the sands of the Ganges. They arise from this nature, which is also called a Tathāgata’s realm. All should believe and delight in this true teaching, and appreciate and value [a Tathāgata’s realm within them], through which the precept, meditation, and wisdom bodies[22] of all sages and holies are formed. Therefore, this dharma [a Tathāgata’s realm] is called the dharma body [dharma-kāya].[23] It is all-encompassing, inseparable from wisdom, and free from understandings [based on one’s consciousness]. It is the reliance, support, and base of all dharmas. Even if a sentient being departs from its purity and wisdom, and relies on understandings based on his consciousness, it is still the reliance, support, and base of all dharmas. Therefore, I say that because it is the changeless store of all dharmas, it is called true suchness [bhūta-tathātā]; because it is never perverted, it is called the true reality [bhūta-koṭi]; because it has no appearances, it is called quietness; because it is the place walked by a holy being with differentiation-free wisdom-knowledge, it is called the highest truth. Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s realm is neither existent nor nonexistent, neither pure nor impure. It is by nature taint free and accords with purity. You should know this.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata as a realm inconceivable? Because, Ānanda, when a Tathāgata’s realm is on the tainted ground, pure and impure dharmas coexist. Their coexistence is inconceivable. Suppose that someone follows the profound doctrine and achieves liberation, becoming an Arhat or a Pratyekabuddha. It is not his place to know a Tathāgata’s realm. Ānanda, there are two things that he cannot understand: (1) the dharma realm, which is by nature pure, and (2) one’s affliction hindrances.[24] Only Bodhisattvas at the spiritual level of avinivartanīya can hear, accept, and uphold this great dharma [a Tathāgata’s realm]. Voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddha, and other Bodhisattvas come to know it because they believe in a Buddha’s words. Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s realm is inconceivable.”
Chapter 3 – The Unsurpassed Bodhi
The Buddha told Ānanda, “What is a Tathāgata’s anuttara-samyak-saṁbodhi? When a Buddha-Bhagavān abides in the affliction-free realm [nirvāṇa], He has forever eliminated all kinds of hindrances and realized His quiet, radiant, and pure [mind]. His unsurpassed bodhi comprises ten elements, and you should know them. What are these ten? They are (1) nature [svabhāva], (2) causes and conditions, (3) freedom from affliction hindrances, (4) perfect fruits, (5) works, (6) inclusiveness, (7) action range [vṛtti], (8) being ever abiding [nitya], (9) exclusivity [āveṇika], and (10) inconceivability [acintya].
The Nature of Bodhi
“Ānanda, what is the nature of bodhi? It is the quietness, radiance, and purity acquired through one’s proper training to transcend the world by practicing the ten pāramitās on the ten Bodhisattva grounds.[25] It is beyond the state of a voice-hearer or Pratyekabuddha. This is called the nature of bodhi.
“However, one has not removed one’s afflictions. So I reveal that one’s Tathāgata store [tathāgata-garbha] is the extremely pure dharma for one to turn to and rely on. One’s reliance on it is the condition for (1) the arising of the bodhi path, (2) ending one’s afflictions, (3) acquiring the Dharma fruit through intense pondering, and (4) realizing the body of the purest dharma realm. Why does the bodhi path arise? It arises so that Tathāgatas in all worlds will continue to appear. How does one end one’s afflictions? By following the bodhi path, one will end forever one’s three grades of afflictions—low, middling, and high—that arise from one’s ignorance [of the truth], the root affliction. How does one acquire the Dharma fruit? One acquires it when one has fully realized the true suchness of dharmas and attained bodhi. What is the body of the dharma realm? It is the purest dharma realm revealed by ending one’s afflictions and attachment to appearances. Ānanda, what one turns to and relies on is a Buddha-Bhagavān’s unsurpassed bodhi, also called the nature of bodhi.
The Causes of Bodhi
“Ānanda, there are four working causes [kāraṇa-hetu][26] of attaining the unsurpassed bodhi. What are these four? They are (1) delighting in learning Mahāyāna teachings, (2) practicing prajñā-pāramitā, (3) entering the samādhi door that ends the view of void,[27] and (4) learning a Tathāgata’s great compassion.
The Four Affliction Hindrances to Attaining Bodhi
“Ānanda, there are four afflictions that hinder one from acquiring the bodhi fruit. What are these four? They are (1) rejecting Mahāyāna teachings, (2) holding wrong views such as the wrong view that one has a self [ātman], (3) dreading suffering through repeated birth and death, and (4) refusing to do things to benefit others.
The Four Fruits of Bodhi
“Ānanda, the unsurpassed bodhi comes with four fruits. What are these four? They are (1) eternity, (2) bliss, (3) a true self, and (4) purity.”[28]
Ānanda’s Request for Teachings
After hearing the Buddha’s worlds, Ānanda, in the midst of the multitude, rose from his seat. He bared his right shoulder, bent over, and bowed down at the Buddha’s feet. Then, kneeling on his right knee, with joined palms, he asked the Buddha in verse:
You have revealed the profound principle for our training
To cross the flow of existence, never regressing,
And to end all our afflictions and fears.
So I bow down to ask Gotama.[29]
What are the causes of bodhi?
What are its hindrances and what are its fruits?
I pray that the great loving-kind and compassionate honored one
Will pity us and explain in detail.
Three Kinds of Sentient Beings
Then the World-Honored One praised, “Very good, very good! You can ask the Tathāgata about this great profound meaning because you have benefited many sentient beings, indicated the right path to gods and humans, and brought them peace and joy. Now hearken to, believe in, and accept my words with earnest longing and reverence.”
“Very good, World-Honored One. I would be delighted to hear them.”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “There are three kinds of sentient beings in the world: (1) those attached to existence, (2) those attached to nonexistence, and (3) those attached to neither.
“Those attached to existence are divided into two groups. The first group comprises those who turn away from the path to nirvāṇa because they have no proclivity for nirvāṇa. They do not seek nirvāṇa because they delight in their repeated birth and death. The second group comprises those who do not aspire to my Dharma but malign the Mahāyāna. Ānanda, these two groups are not a Buddha’s disciples because they think that a Buddha is not a great teacher and not a place of refuge. Foolish and blind, they fall into steep, terrifying, vast darkness. Wandering in a wilderness, they enter a filthy, dark, dense forest of thorns. Continuing to be fettered by birth and death in their future, they fall into the net of icchantikas [those who cut off their roots of goodness] and cannot break away on their own.
“Those attached to nonexistence are divided into two groups. The first group trains without skillful means, and the second group trains with skillful means. The first group training without skillful means is further divided into two bands: (1) those who follow any of the ninety-six non-Buddhist doctrines, such as [the doctrine advocated by] Ajita Kesakambala,[30] and (2) those who believe in the Buddha Dharma. However, in the second band are those who obstinately hold the view that one has a self and do not appreciate the true principle. I say that they are the same as those non-Buddhists [in the first band]. Then there are those with exceeding arrogance.[31] Although they observe the emptiness of dharmas in accordance with the true Dharma, they hold either the view of existence or the view of nonexistence. A true understanding of the emptiness of dharmas as revealed by a Tathāgata leads one to the one path to the unsurpassed bodhi through the pure liberation door. However, if someone holds the view of void, I say that he is beyond cure. Ānanda, if someone holds the view that one has a self, and his wrong view is as huge as Mount Sumeru, I will not be alarmed, nor will I rebuke him. However, if someone with exceeding arrogance holds the view of void, and his wrong view is as small as one sixteenth of a hair, I will not permit him. The second group training with skillful means is also divided into two bands: (1) riders of the Voice-Hearer Vehicle, who train with a view to benefiting themselves but do nothing to benefit others, and (2) riders of the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, who rarely benefit others and are satisfied with their few deeds.
“Those attached to neither existence nor nonexistence have the highest and keenest capacity to do spiritual training by riding the Mahāyāna, and they are attached to neither birth nor death.
“An icchantika neither does spiritual training nor has any skillful means; a non-Buddhist trains without skillful means. How should a rider of either of the Two Vehicles do spiritual training [like a Bodhisattva]? He should observe that saṁsāra and nirvāṇa are the same in the one appearance [the appearance of emptiness] in order to attain bodhi with his mind steadily abiding in pure nirvāṇa that abides nowhere, to roam through births and deaths without being tainted, to cultivate great compassion as his root, and to firmly abide in his high aspirations.”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, whoever maligns the Mahāyāna and is attached to existence and greedy for lingering in the Three Realms of Existence is called an icchantika. He falls into the group that definitely is on the wrong path. Whoever is attached to nonexistence and trains without skillful means falls into the group that is indecisive about its path.[32] Whoever is attached to nonexistence and trains with skillful means, and whoever is attached to neither existence nor nonexistence and trains on the path of equality, fall into the group that definitely progresses on the right path to bodhi.[33]
Four Kinds of People Cannot Realize a Tathāgata’s Dharma Body
“Ānanda, excepting those who are attached to neither existence nor nonexistence and train on the path of equality, there are four kinds of people who cannot attain the unsurpassed bodhi to realize a Tathāgata’s dharma body. Who are these four? They are (1) icchantikas, (2) non-Buddhists, (3) voice-hearers, and (4) Pratyekabuddhas. Each kind has its own affliction hindrance. What are their hindrances? First, rejecting the Mahāyāna is an icchantika’s hindrance. To eliminate this hindrance, I expound that a Bodhisattva believes and delights in Mahāyāna teachings and trains accordingly. Second, holding the wrong view that wherever one is one has a self is a non-Buddhist’s hindrance. To eliminate this hindrance, I expound that a Bodhisattva practices prajñā-pāramitā. Third, dreading his repeated birth and death is a voice-hearer’s hindrance. To eliminate this hindrance, I expound that a Bodhisattva enters the samādhi door that ends the view of void. Fourth, benefiting others rarely and feeling satisfied with his small deeds are a Pratyekabuddha’s hindrance. To eliminate this hindrance, I expound that a Bodhisattva cultivates great compassion [for all sentient beings].
“These four kinds of people have these four afflictions. To remove them, I expound the Four Noble Truths because the truth can correct their four inverted views, enabling them to realize a Tathāgata’s supreme and wondrous dharma body with the four virtues, which is the fruit of practicing the wisdom pāramitā.
The Four Inversions
“Ānanda, dharmas such as form are impermanent, yet one perceives them as permanent. Dharmas boil down to suffering, yet one perceives them as happiness. Dharmas have no self, yet one perceives [that they have] a self. Dharmas are impure, yet one perceives them as pure. This is the meaning of inversion. Then perceiving dharmas as impermanent, suffering, having no self, and impure is not called an inversion. However, if one applies this [non-inversion] to a Tathāgata’s wondrous dharma body, it becomes an inversion. To correct this inversion, I expound that a Tathāgata’s dharma body has four virtues. What are these four? They are (1) the eternity pāramitā, (2) the bliss pāramitā, (3) the true-self pāramitā, and (4) the purity pāramitā.[34]
“Ānanda, an ordinary being entertains the four inverted perceptions of the five aggregates, which constitute a sentient being. He takes impermanence as permanence, suffering as happiness, a nonexistent self as a self, and impurity as purity.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s dharma body is the object of His knowledge of all wisdom-knowledge [sarvajña-jñāna].[35] A voice-hearer or Pratyekabuddha cannot realize a Tathāgata’s dharma body because his inverted training cannot be rectified. Why not? Because he thinks that (1) he should train to realize a Tathāgata’s supreme eternal dharma body by taking it as impermanence, not permanence; (2) he should train to realize a Tathāgata’s supreme blissful dharma body by taking it as suffering, not bliss; (3) he should train to realize a Tathāgata’s supreme dharma body symbolized as a true self by taking it as no self, not a true self; (4) he should train to realize a Tathāgata’s supreme pure dharma body by taking it as impurity, not purity. Therefore, a voice-hearer or a Pratyekabuddha, who does inverted training on his path, cannot realize a Tathāgata’s dharma body with the four virtues. Therefore, its four virtues—eternity, bliss, a true self, and purity—are beyond his state.
Correction of Inversions
“Ānanda, if someone believes in a Tathāgata’s words and can see that His dharma body is eternity, bliss, a true self, and purity, his mind is not inverted and truly holds the right views. Why? Because, Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s dharma body has four virtues—the eternity, bliss, true-self, and purity pāramitās. If someone follows the excellent wondrous path to observe a Tathāgata’s body, he goes from illumination to higher illumination, and from a secure place to the utmost joyful place. He is a Buddha’s true son and is loved and remembered by Him. He is born from a Buddha’s mouth [i.e., from hearing the Dharma] and will attain what a Buddha has attained. He is born from being transformed by the Dharma and will acquire the Dharma wealth.
“Ānanda, an icchantika rejects the true Dharma because he is greedy for and delights in his stinking and filthy births and deaths. To remove this affliction, I expound that one should delight in the Mahāyāna and train accordingly in order to acquire the purity pāramitā as the fruit. Ānanda, a non-Buddhist holds the wrong view that one has a self, which leads to grasping and attachment. However, dharmas such as form have no self because they never contend. While other Buddhas everywhere in the three time frames [past, present, and future] and I expound that a Tathāgata is a true self, a non-Buddhist takes the five aggregates, which constitute a sentient being, as a self and feels secure and happy. To remove this affliction, I expound that one should practice prajñā-pāramitā in order to acquire the true-self pāramitā as the fruit. Ānanda, a voice-hearer dreads his repeated birth and death, and delights in cessation of his suffering. To remove this affliction, I expound that one should enter the samādhi door that ends the view of void in order to acquire the bliss pāramitā as the fruit. Ānanda, a Pratyekabuddha overlooks things that can benefit others, does not live with others, but enjoys pondering the truth in solitude. To remove this fixation, I expound that one should cultivate a Bodhisattva’s great compassion in order to go everywhere in the ten directions to do things that benefit sentient beings. Forever abiding in altruistic deeds, one acquires the eternity pāramitā as the fruit. Ānanda, because of these four virtues, a Tathāgata is actually called the dharma realm, which, like the vast open sky, the ultimate domain of space, is attached to neither existence nor nonexistence and is ever abiding, beyond past, present, and future.
A Holy Being’s Hindrances to Attaining Bodhi
“Ānanda, a holy being, such as an Arhat, a Pratyekabuddha, or a Bodhisattva on any Bodhisattva ground, cannot realize a Tathāgata’s dharma body with the four virtues because of four kinds of hindrances. What are these four? They are (1) the condition for the arising of his [subtle] afflictions, (2) the cause of the arising of his [subtle] afflictions, (3) his existence, and (4) his unreal existence.
“What is the condition for the arising of a holy being’s [subtle] afflictions? It is his ground-abiding ignorance, which produces his actions, just like an ordinary being’s ignorance, which produces his karmas. What is the cause of the arising of a holy being’s [subtle] afflictions? It is his actions produced by his ground-abiding ignorance, just like an ordinary being’s karmas produced by his ignorance. What is a holy being’s existence? Through his ground-abiding ignorance as the condition and his affliction-free karmas as the cause, his three kinds of mind-created bodies[36] arise, just like an ordinary being’s karmic bodies, which arise in the Three Realms of Existence through his four kinds of grasping[37] as the condition and his affliction-driven karmas as the cause. What is a holy being’s unreal existence? Through his three kinds of mind-created bodies as the condition, he experiences imperceptible, subtle death, just as an ordinary being in the Three Realms of Existence undergoes old age and death, thought after thought.
“Because his ground-abiding ignorance upon which his [subtle] afflictions depend is not ended, an Arhat, a Pratyekabuddha, or a holy Bodhisattva cannot reach the great purity pāramitā, which is free from all his filthy afflictions and habits. Because his ground-abiding ignorance triggers his subtle afflictions, he has not completely ended his false thinking; hence he cannot reach the great true-self pāramitā, which is quiet, takes no action, and does nothing. Because of his ground-abiding ignorance as the condition and his affliction-free karmas arising from his subtle thinking as the cause, he has not completely eliminated his mind-created bodies, each composed of the five aggregates; hence he cannot reach the great bliss pāramitā, which is free from all suffering.[38] Because he has not realized a Tathāgata’s realm of sweet dew by ending all his afflictions, karmas, and rebirths, the flow of his changeable death continues; hence he cannot reach the great eternity pāramitā, which is changeless.
“Ānanda, in the Three Realms of Existence, an ordinary being, who undergoes karmic birth and death, has four troubles: (1) afflictions, (2) karmas, (3) requitals, and (4) faults. [Outside the Three Realms of Existence, a holy being, such as an Arhat, a Pratyekabuddha, or a Bodhisattva on any Bodhisattva ground, has similar troubles.] Arising from his ground-abiding ignorance are his four kinds of changeable birth and death:[39] (1) his birth and death as skillful means are like the afflictions in the Three Realms of Existence; (2) his birth and death through causes and conditions are like the karmas in the Three Realms of Existence; (3) his birth and death as existence are like the existence in the Three Realms of Existence; (4) his birth and death as unreal existence are like the faults in the Three Realms of Existence.[40] You should know this. Ānanda, because he has not ended his four kinds of changeable birth and death, he continues to use his three kinds of mind-created bodies, which do not have the eternity, bliss, true-self, and purity pāramitās as the fruits. Only a Buddha’s dharma body has the eternity, bliss, true-self, and purity pāramitās [as the fruits of bodhi]. You should know this.
The Four Fruits of Bodhi, the Four Pāramitās
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s dharma body has the great purity pāramitā with two appearances: (1) purity by nature as its general appearance [in all sentient beings], and (2) purity free from taints as its particular appearance [in Buddhas]. His dharma body has the great true-self pāramitā for two reasons: (1) He stays far away from the fixation of those on non-Buddhist paths [tīrthika] because He has transcended their fantasy that one has a self, and (2) He stays far away from the fixation of riders of the Two Vehicles because He has transcended their limited understanding that one has no self. His dharma body has the great bliss pāramitā because He has achieved cessation of all His suffering in two ways: (1) ending His accumulation of afflictions and continuation of habits, and (2) eliminating His mind-created bodies. His dharma body has the great eternity pāramitā for two reasons: (1) He does not denounce impermanent processes [in saṁsāra] because He has transcended the view of cessation [uccheda-dṛṣṭi], and (2) He does not grasp the ever-abiding nirvāṇa because He has transcended the view of perpetuity [śāśvata-dṛṣṭi].[41] Seeing impermanent processes cease is called the view of cessation, while seeing nirvāṇa ever abide is called the view of perpetuity. Because He has eliminated the four affliction hindrances and corrected the four inversions, He harvests the perfect fruits of bodhi—eternity, bliss, a true self, and purity.
The Works of Bodhi
“Ānanda, what are the benefits of bodhi? One acquires two kinds of wisdom-knowledge: (1) differentiation-free wisdom-knowledge [root wisdom-knowledge] and (2) consequent wisdom-knowledge.[42] The first benefits oneself, the second benefits others. What are the benefits to oneself? Acquiring the liberation body, realizing the dharma body, eliminating affliction hindrances, and eliminating all hindrances to wisdom-knowledge are the benefits to oneself, brought by differentiation-free wisdom-knowledge. What are the benefits to others? After acquiring the differentiation-free wisdom-knowledge, manifesting, without thinking, the two kinds of bodies[43] throughout the endless future, and expounding the Dharma with no limit, interruption, or end, in order to rescue sentient beings on the three evil life-paths from their suffering, establish them [in the Dharma], and set them on the good paths of the Three Vehicles are the benefits to others.
“Moreover, the benefits to oneself are not apart from three virtues: (1) freedom from afflictions, (2) pervasiveness, and (3) freedom from causes and conditions. And the benefits to others are not apart from four virtues because one’s consequent wisdom-knowledge protects sentient beings from falling into four things: (1) wrong views, delusions, and doubts, (2) evil and painful life-paths, (3) maligning the true Dharma out of jealousy and hatred, and (4) delighting in the Small Vehicle because of a lowly mind. Ānanda, benefiting oneself and benefiting others are the two works of bodhi.
The Concomitant Virtues of Bodhi
“Ānanda, what virtues accord with bodhi? The unsurpassed bodhi is the ultimate truth, with nineteen virtues: (1) inconceivability, (2) subtlety, (3) truthfulness, (4) profundity, (5) invisibility, (6) unfathomability, (7) eternity, (8) constant presence, (9) quietness, (10) constancy, (11) tranquility, (12) pervasiveness, (13) freedom from differentiation, (14) freedom from attachment, (10) freedom from hindrance, (16) compliance, (17) ungraspability, (18) purity, and (19) clarity. These nineteen virtues are never apart from the unsurpassed bodhi. That is why they are called the concomitant virtues of bodhi.
The Action Range of Bodhi
“Ānanda, what is the action range of bodhi? It is revealed in [a Tathāgata’s] three bodies based on three principles respectively: (1) the profound principle, (2) the vast principle, and (3) the principle with myriad virtues.
“Ānanda, His first body [the dharma body] has five virtues and five attributes. Its five virtues are (1) freedom from causes and conditions, (2) constant presence, (3) freedom from polar opposites, (4) freedom from all hindrances, and (5) pure nature. Its five attributes are (1) immeasurability, (2) uncountability, (3) inconceivability, (4) exclusivity, and (5) absolute purity.
“His second body [the reward body] is manifested from His dharma body and formed with a Tathāgata’s immeasurable merit, great wisdom, and great compassion. It has five virtues: (1) freedom from differentiation, (2) freedom from an effortful mind, (3) benefiting sentient beings according to their preferences, (4) never being apart from the dharma body, and (5) never abandoning sentient beings.
“His third body [the response body] is manifested from His great wisdom and great compassion. It takes a physical form and has four virtues: (1) thirty-two physical marks [of a great man], (3) eighty excellent physical characteristics, (3) awe-inspiring dignity, and (4) strength. It responds to sentient beings’ capacities, natures, desires, and actions. In an impure Buddha Land, it displays various events in a Buddha’s life—ascending to Tuṣita Heaven, descending from Tuṣita Heaven into the human world, entering His mother’s womb, being born, living as a youth, engaging in eighteen studies, frolicking in a palace garden, renouncing family life, practicing asceticism, entering His bodhi place [bodhimaṇḍa], attaining Buddhahood, turning the wondrous Dharma wheel, and entering parinirvāṇa in a forest. It displays such events throughout the endless future. Ānanda, the unsurpassed bodhi encompasses these three bodies. Therefore, they are called the action range of bodhi.
The Ever-Abiding Bodhi
“Ānanda, why is the unsurpassed bodhi ever abiding? It is ever abiding because it has (1) neither birth nor death and (2) no end. That is why bodhi is ever abiding.
The Exclusivity of Bodhi
“Ānanda, what are the exclusive appearances of the unsurpassed bodhi? It is exclusive for two reasons: (1) it is unknowable because no ordinary being, voice-hearer, or Pratyekabuddha can understand it, for it is not their state, and (2) it is unattainable except by a Buddha. It has five exclusive appearances: (1) it is profound as is the true suchness of dharmas, (2) it is immovable and hindrance free, (3) it is encompassed in the affliction-free pure realm, (4) it knows all there is to know hindrance free, and (5) it completes works that benefit sentient beings. These are called the exclusive appearances of bodhi.
The Inconceivability of Bodhi
“Ānanda, why is the unsurpassed bodhi inconceivable? It is inconceivable for six reasons: (1) it is beyond the description of words, (2) it is encompassed in the highest truth, (3) it is beyond perception, differentiation, and thinking, (4) it is beyond analogy, (5) it is the highest among all dharmas, and (6) it is where neither saṁsāra nor nirvāṇa can dominate. That is why the unsurpassed bodhi is inconceivable.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata abiding in the unsurpassed bodhi inconceivable? Ānanda, all Tathāgatas abiding in the unsurpassed bodhi is inconceivable for five inconceivable reasons: (1) a Tathāgata as the nature of bodhi, (2) a Tathāgata as the bodhi place, (3) His abiding, (4) His being the same as or different [from other Tathāgatas], and (5) His performing beneficial works.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata as the nature of bodhi inconceivable? Because a Tathāgata can be captured neither in nor not in one’s form; neither in nor not in one’s sensory reception, perception, mental processing, or consciousness;[44] neither in nor not in the domain of earth; neither in nor not in the domain of water, fire, or wind; neither in nor not in one’s eye; neither in nor not in one’s ear, nose, tongue, or body; neither nor not in the Dharma. That is why a Tathāgata as the nature of bodhi is inconceivable.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata as the bodhi place inconceivable? Because a Tathāgata in or not in the desire realm is inconceivable; in or not in the form realm or the formless realm is inconceivable; in or not in the human world is inconceivable; on or not on the six life-paths is inconceivable; in or not in places in the ten directions is inconceivable.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata’s abiding inconceivable? Because a Tathāgata’s abiding in peace and joy is inconceivable, abiding in quietness [nirvāṇa] is inconceivable, abiding in a mind is inconceivable, and abiding in no mind is inconceivable. Indeed, a Tathāgata’s abiding in purity and holiness is inconceivable. That is why His abiding is inconceivable.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata being the same as or different [from other Tathāgatas] inconceivable? Because Tathāgatas in the three time frames abide in one place. What is the one place? It is the affliction-free pure dharma realm. It is inconceivable whether They are the same or different. That is why a Tathāgata’s being the same or different is inconceivable.
“Ānanda, why is a Tathāgata’s performing beneficial works inconceivable? Because Tathāgatas are the same as the one dharma realm. Their wisdom, spiritual power, right endeavors, and awesome virtues are the same. Abiding in the affliction-free pure dharma realm, They give sentient beings immeasurable benefits. That is why a Tathāgata’s performing beneficial works is inconceivable.
“Moreover, bodhi is inconceivable for two reasons: (1) its ineffability, because it is beyond the description of words; (2) its transcendence, because it is beyond analogy in the world. That is why bodhi is inconceivable. Moreover, the true suchness of dharmas has never been tainted, which is inconceivable. Ānanda, that is why bodhi is inconceivable.”
—Sūtra of the Unsurpassed Reliance, fascicle 1
Translated from the digital Chinese Canon (T16n0669)
Notes
1. For the Buddha and His disciples, an elder named Kalandaka had a monastery built in the bamboo grove given to the Buddha by Bimbisāra (558–491 BCE), king of Magadha. In another account, Kalandaka offered his bamboo grove, and Bimbisāra had a monastery built there. This Veṇuvana (Bamboo Grove) Monastery north of Rājagṛha and Jetavana Monastery outside Śrāvastī were the two major centers of the Buddha’s teaching activities.
2. Their short biographies are in the glossary, except Mahācunda, Bhadrajaya and Suvahula, whose names, here translated from Chinese, are uncertain.
3. Voice-hearers on the learning ground are “those who are still learning” as defined in the glossary’s “voice-hearer fruits.”
4. Mahāprajāpatī (摩訶波闍波提) was Śākyamuni Buddha’s aunt, the sister of His mother, Mahāmāyā, who died seven days after His birth. Mahāprajāpatī raised the Buddha. Five years after the Buddha attained Buddhahood, His father, King Śuddhodana, died. Then Mahāprajāpatī, leading five hundred women in the Śākya clan, requested the Buddha’s permission to renounce family life, and they became the first Buddhist nuns. Three months before the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa, to avoid her grief over His parinirvāṇa, she entered meditation, which deepened from the first dhyāna to the fourth dhyāna, and died.
5. Yaśodharā (耶輸陀羅) was the Buddha’s wife when He was Prince Siddhārtha, and the mother of Rāhula. Five years after the Buddha attained Buddhahood, she and Mahāprajāpatī, the Buddha’s aunt, became nuns, along with five hundred Śākya women.
6. Utpalavarṇā means the color of a blue lotus. She was from Ujayana, the capital of Avanti, in northwestern India, where she married and gave birth to a daughter. She left her husband after she found out that he was sleeping with her mother. Then she went to Vārāṇasī and married an elder there. He went to Ujayana to do business and married a young girl. When he brought her home, Utpalavarṇā discovered that the young girl was her daughter. Utterly disgusted with her unfortunate life, she went to Vaiśālī and lived as a prostitute. One day she heard Mahāmaudgalyāyana expound the Dharma, and she became a nun under Mahāprajāpatī. Utpalavarṇā acquired the six transcendental powers and became an Arhat. When Devadatta attempted to murder the Buddha, she rebuked him. He beat her to death.
7. As described in text 365 (T12n0365), the Chinese version of the Sūtra of Visualization of Amitāyus Buddha, an English translation of which appears in Thinking of Amitābha Buddha (Rulu 2012b, 89–105), King Bimbisāra was imprisoned by his son, the crown prince Ajātaśatru. His queen Vaidehī, on her visit to him in prison, prayed to the Buddha. Then the Buddha appeared to them and gave them teachings on visualizing Amitāyus Buddha in order to be reborn in His land. King Bimbisāra later died in prison.
8. For “holy voice-hearers,” see “voice-hearer fruits” in the glossary.
9. Sugata, Well-Gone One, is the fifth of a Buddha’s ten epithets.
10. See “six desire heavens” in the glossary.
11. In fascicle 1 of text 481 (in 4 fascicles), the Chinese version of the Sūtra of People-Supporting Bodhisattva, a passage states that no realm is a Tathāgata’s realm, and all realms are a Tathāgata’s realm (T14n0481, 0629a7–8). As stated in a following paragraph in chapter 2 of the present sūtra, “a Tathāgata’s realm [within one] is immeasurable and boundless, but shrouded by one’s afflictions.” This meaning is the same as that of one’s Tathāgata store (tathāgata-garbha). Later in chapter 2, it is revealed that it is also called true suchness, true reality, the dharma body (dharmakāya), and the holy nature (Tathāgata nature).
12. See note 39 in Sūtra 51 on this website.
13. See “affliction hindrances” defined in the glossary’s “three kinds of hindrances.”
14. A Bodhisattva retains his love of being, which is an affliction, in order to be reborn in the Three Realms of Existence to deliver sentient beings.
15. See “true reality” defined in the glossary’s “true suchness.”
16. See “nirvāṇa that abides nowhere” defined in the glossary’s “nirvāṇa.”
17. For “unimpeded wisdom-knowledge,” see the glossary’s “four kinds of unimpeded wisdom-knowledge.”
18. For “complete holy path,” see the glossary’s Eightfold Right Path.
19. A similar passage appears in fascicle 51 of text 279, the 80-fascicle Chinese version of the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra of Buddha Adornment (Buddhāvataṁsaka-mahāvaipulya-sūtra), in which a Buddha says, “Amazing! Amazing! Why do these sentient beings, deluded and confused, not know and not see that they have a Tathāgata’s wisdom? I will teach them the holy path, enabling them to discard forever their attachments and deluded perceptions. Then they will be able to see within them vast Tathāgata wisdom, no different from a Buddha’s” (T10n0279, 0272c25–0273a1).
20. See “nirvāṇa without remnants” defined in the glossary’s “nirvāṇa.”
21. See “prajñā-pāramitā” defined in the glossary’s “six pāramitās.”
22. By merging the first four into the second one, the six pāramitās are summarized into the Three Learnings (三學): śīla (precept), dhyāna (meditation), and prajñā (wisdom). By observing the precepts (śīla), one purifies one’s body, voice, and mind karmas. With purity one practices meditation (dhyāna), training in śamatha (mental stillness) and vipaśyanā (correct observation). The former leads to the right samādhi (meditative absorption), which subjugates one’s afflictions, and the latter develops one’s wisdom (prajñā), which ends one’s afflictions. With wisdom, and compassion for sentient beings, one attains Buddhahood, realizing a Buddha’s dharma body.
23. See “dharma body” defined in the glossary’s “three bodies of a Buddha.” According to text 353, the earlier of the two Chinese versions of the Sūtra of Śrīmālā’s Lion’s Roar, “when a Tathāgata’s dharma body is not free from one’s store of afflictions, it is called the Tathāgata store” (T12n0353, 0221c10–11).
24. These two things are stated in another way in the Śrīmālā Sūtra, in which the Buddha says, “There are two things that are hard to know: (1) one’s inherent pure mind and (2) its being tainted by afflictions” (Ibid., 0222c4–5).
25. See “ten Bodhisattva grounds” in the glossary’s “stages of the Bodhisattva Way.” Details of the ten Bodhisattva grounds are in the Mahāvaipulya Sūtra of Buddha Adornment (Buddhāvataṁsaka-mahāvaipulya-sūtra), chapter 26, whose English translation appears in The Bodhisattva Way (Rulu 2013, 111–244).
26. See “working cause” defined in the glossary’s “six causes.”
27. The samādhi door leads to all samādhis; the view of void is the wrong view that the emptiness of dharmas means nothingness, like the open sky, and that therefore causality can be ignored.
28. In this passage, the four fruits of bodhi are eternity, bliss, a true self, and purity. In a later section of this chapter 3, the four virtues of a Tathāgata’s dharma body, the four pāramitās, are also called the four fruits of bodhi. In different fascicles of text 374 (T12n0374), the 40-fascicle Chinese version of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, these four virtues variously belong to nirvāṇa, Buddha nature, a Tathāgata, or His dharma body.
29. Gotama, or Gaugama, is Śākyamuni Buddha’s family name.
30. Ajita Kesakambala was one of the six principal philosophers in ancient India, who were the Buddha’s contemporaries. Their and their students’ non-Buddhist doctrines number ninety-six.
31. See “exceeding arrogance” defined in the glossary’s “arrogance.”
32. It seems that whoever follows any non-Buddhist doctrine to train without skillful means falls into the group that definitely is on the wrong path, and that whoever neither follows nor rejects any path falls into the group that is indecisive about its path.
33. See “three groups” in the glossary.
34. See note 34 in Sūtra 51 on this website.
35. See “knowledge of all wisdom-knowledge” defined in the glossary’s “three kinds of wisdom-knowledge.”
36. According to fascicle 3 of text 670, the 4-fascicle Chinese version of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, the three kinds of mind-created body (manomaya-kāya, 意生身) are (1) a body that arises from the joy of samādhi and samāpatti, (2) a body that arises from the realization of the illusory nature of dharmas and enters all Buddha Lands at will, and (3) a body that arises from the realization that all doctrines are the Buddha Dharma and instantly manifests, without action, countless bodies of various kinds (T16n0670, 0497c20–22). A Bodhisattva on any of first five Bodhisattva grounds can produce the first kind of body; a Bodhisattva on any of the next three grounds can produce the second kind of body; a Bodhisattva on the ninth ground or above can produce the third kind of body.
37. All afflictions can be classified into four kinds of grasping (catur-upādāna, 四取): (1) grasping desire objects, (2) grasping wrong views, (3) grasping useless precepts as the cause of liberation, and (4) grasping claims that one has a self.
38. A holy being who undergoes changeable birth and death is still subject to causes and conditions, and experiences subtle suffering because of continuous change in every process. See “three kinds of suffering” defined in the glossary’s “suffering.”
39. See “changeable birth and death” defined in the glossary’s “two kinds of birth and death.”
40. These four troubles of a holy being are also described in text 1610 (in 4 fascicles), the Chinese version of A Treatise on Buddha Nature (Buddhagotra-śāstra). In fascicle 2, a passage states: “His ground-abiding ignorance is like an ordinary being’s ignorance, his affliction-free karmas are like an ordinary being’s [affliction-driven] karmas, his three kinds of mind-created bodies are like an ordinary being’s requital bodies, and his inconceivable regress is like an ordinary being’s faults” (T31n1610, 0799b12–14).
41. In the Śrīmālā Sūtra, Śrīmālā says, “An ordinary being holds the wrong view that there is a self [ātman] in the five aggregates that constitute a sentient being and, from that view, derives two opposite views, perpetuity and cessation. When he sees that all processes are impermanent, he holds the view of cessation, which is not the right view. When he seeks nirvāṇa, he holds the view of perpetuity, which is not the right view. These two opposite views arise from deluded thinking” (T12n0353, 0222a10–14).
42. See “root wisdom-knowledge” and “consequent wisdom-knowledge” defined in the glossary’s “two kinds of wisdom-knowledge.”
43. The “two kinds of bodies” refer to the reward body and the response body of a Buddha. See “three bodies of a Buddha” in the glossary.
44. See “form, sensory reception, perception, mental processing, and consciousness” in the glossary’s “five aggregates.”
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fascicle 1 fascicle 2
Buddha Pronounces the Sūtra of the Unsurpassed Reliance
Translated From Sanskrit Into Chinese In The Southern Liang Dynasty
By The Tripiṭaka Master Paramārtha From India
Fascicle 2 (of 2)
Chapter 4 – A Tathāgata’s Merits
The Buddha told Ānanda, “A Tathāgata’s wondrous merits are revealed by one hundred eighty dharmas: (1) thirty-two physical marks, (2) eighty excellent physical characteristics,[1] and (3) sixty-eight attainments.
His Thirty-two Physical Marks
“What are His thirty-two physical marks? While a Bodhisattva, He developed four causes and conditions: (1) observing the precepts, (2) practicing meditation, (3) enduring adversities, and (4) relinquishing His wealth and ending His afflictions. Because He persistently developed these four causes, He has acquired these two marks: (1) flat soles, which make the ground He treads smooth without potholes, and (2) a steady gait, never wobbly. Because He diligently and repeatedly made various offerings to his parents and teachers and gave various alms to the needy, He has acquired the mark of a thousand-spoke wheel on each sole. Because He never distressed others, never stole, robbed, or coveted things attractive to Him, was never conceited or arrogant, always rose to greet His elders or teachers, and respectfully attended them with His palms joined, He has acquired these two marks: (1) slender and not nubby fingers and (2) a well-formed, majestic body. Because of His preceding three karmas, He has acquired the mark of long heels. Because, in addition to doing the preceding three karmas, He practiced the Four Drawing-in Dharmas to benefit others, He has acquired the mark of finely webbed fingers and toes like a goose-king’s toes. Because He attended His parents and teachers, rubbed oil and medicinal ointment on them, massaged and bathed them, provided them with soft candies, and visited them, He has acquired the mark of soft smooth hands and feet, and red palms like red lotus flowers. Because He tirelessly practiced good dharmas, He has acquired the mark of plump ankles. Because He studied the true Dharma [saddharma] and tirelessly went everywhere to expound it to others, He has acquired the mark of [sinewy] calves like a deer-king’s. Because He diligently sought teachings that He had not received, benefited and transformed others with teachings that he had received, ended His evil body, voice, and mind karmas, kept His body and mind untainted by the six sense objects and evil dharmas, gave medicinal potions to the physically ill, and served as a good physician to the mentally ill, He has acquired the mark of a straight body. Because He rescued and protected those in fear, gave food and clothing to the poor and naked, and prevented His evildoing by having a sense of shame and a sense of dishonor,[2] He has acquired the mark of a hidden male organ. Because he protected His body, voice, and mind to keep them constantly pure, knew how much was enough of the things received, knew the right quantity of things to consume, gave medicine to the ill, gave money to the deprived, and taught sentient beings to stop doing inequitable karmas, which would bring them corresponding requitals, and to do things based on the principle of equality, He has acquired the mark of a well-proportioned body whose height and arm-span are equal, like a ficus tree. Because He used skillful means to do good dharmas to develop others, whether they were of low, middling, or high capacities, He has acquired the mark of body hair that swirls upward and clockwise. Because He used His keen capacity to ponder the meaning [of the Dharma], stayed close to the wise, encountered beneficent learned friends, cleaned His elders’ houses, bathed and massaged them, removed feces and filth from the surroundings of caityas [temples or funeral monuments], and prevented visitor-like afflictions from tainting His mind, He has acquired the mark of one body hair in each and every pore of His fine and smooth skin, free from dust and water. Because He delighted in giving away, without regrets, things such as clothing, food and drink, bedding, vehicles, and adornments, He has acquired the mark of a golden body with a halo ten feet across. Because he gave away fine food and drink without limit to sentient beings, to satiate them, He has acquired the mark of fullness in seven places [hands, feet, shoulders, and neck]. Because He gave good teachings to good sentient beings, taught them to make a right livelihood, served as their guide, established them in goodness, and ended their evildoing, He has acquired the mark of a chest like a lion’s. Because He trained in the Four Right Endeavors[3] with a lion-king’s fearless mind in order to benefit sentient beings, He has acquired these two marks: (1) level shoulders with fullness in the armpits and (2) rounded long arms that, like an elephant-king’s trunk, reach below the knees. Because He never used divisive speech, but spoke uniting words to those in conflict, carried out the Four Drawing-in Dharmas to draw sentient beings in, pondered the profound meaning [of the Dharma], and cultivated impartial lovingkindness, He has acquired these two marks: (1) forty well-aligned teeth without gaps and white like snow, and (2) four incisors like a new moon. Because He gave sentient beings to their satisfaction what they needed or desired, whether wealth or teachings, He has acquired these two marks: (1) cheeks like a lion’s and (2) a rounded clean neck. Because He protected and cared for sentient beings like an only son, trusted them, thought of them with immeasurable lovingkindness, and widely gave them medicine without ulterior motives, He has acquired these two marks: (1) a throat with a thousand veins that savor fine flavors moistened with saliva, and (2) collar bones like the god-king Nārāyaṇa’s. Because He did the ten good karmas and taught others to do the same, appreciated and praised spiritual trainees, pitied sentient beings with great compassion, and made vast vows to accept the true Dharma, He has acquired these two marks: (1) a bony bulge like a topknot on the crown of His head and (2) a broad, thin, and long tongue like a lotus flower petal. Because He always spoke truthful words, loving words, and beautiful words, and expounded the true Dharma without distortion, He has acquired the mark of a beautiful voice, like a kalaviṅka bird’s, that emits Dharma tones far and wide, like a sounding celestial drum. Because he respected all in the world and regarded them as His parents, and never exuded the three poisons [greed, anger, and delusion] or glared at sentient beings, He has acquired these two marks: (1) eyelids like a blue lotus flower and (2) purple eyelashes like an ox-king’s. Because He praised good sentient beings for their training in the Three Learnings [precepts, meditation, and wisdom],[4] never criticized them, and safeguarded them from slanderers, He has acquired the mark of a white hair between His eyebrows that swirls upward and clockwise.
“Moreover, Ānanda, a Tathāgata has acquired these thirty-two marks because of His four right karmas: (1) unwavering resolve, (2) scrupulous observation, (3) uninterrupted training, and (4) right action. Because of His first karma, He has acquired the mark of flat soles. Because of His second karma, He has acquired these nine marks: (1) the image of a thousand-spoke wheel on each sole, (2) plump ankles, (3) webbed fingers and toes, (4) fine and soft skin, (5) fullness in seven places, (6) level shoulders with fullness in the armpits, (7) rounded arms, (8) a broad and long tongue, and (9) a chest like a lion’s. Because of His third karma, He has acquired these five marks: (1) slender long fingers, (2) long heels, (3) a straight body, not bent, (4) a well-proportioned body whose height and arm-span are equal, and (5) a rounded clean neck. Because of His fourth karma, He has acquired the other marks.
“Moreover, Ānanda, suppose that all sentient beings [in worlds] in the ten directions do the ten good karmas, and that their acquired merits increase a hundredfold. Because of these good karmas, they can acquire the mark of only one of a Tathāgata’s hairs. When they acquire the mark of all His hairs, their merits will increase another hundredfold. Then they can acquire one of a Tathāgata’s eighty excellent physical characteristics. When they acquire all His physical characteristics, their merits will increase another hundredfold. Then they can acquire one of a Tathāgata’s thirty-two physical marks. When they acquire all His physical marks, excepting the mark of a white hair between His eyebrows and the mark of a bony bulge on His crown, their merits will increase another hundredfold. Then they can acquire a Tathāgata’s mark of a white hair between His eyebrows, and their merits will increase another hundredfold. Then they can acquire a Tathāgata’s mark of a bony bulge on His crown, and their merits will increase a thousandfold. Because they have acquired a Tathāgata’s exclusive physical marks and characteristics, they can acquire a Tathāgata’s one sound that pervades countless worlds in the ten directions.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata’s thirty-two physical marks are inconceivable for three reasons: (1) the required time is inconceivable, because He trained for three asaṁkhyeya kalpas; (2) His joy is inconceivable, because He trained to benefit all sentient beings and bring them peace and joy; (3) the kinds of His training are inconceivable, because He trained to do all good karmas and stayed away from all evil karmas, both of countless kinds. Therefore, the excellent marks of a Tathāgata’s body are inconceivable.
His Eighty Excellent Physical Characteristics
“Ānanda, what are a Tathāgata’s eighty excellent physical characteristics? They are (1) an invisible crown of His head, (2) a strong bone that forms His crown, (3) a wide smooth forehead, (4) high-set long eyebrows like a purple new moon, (5) broad and long eyes, (6) a high and straight nose with unexposed nostrils, (7) broad, thick, long ears with perfect earlobes, (8) a strong body like the god-king Nārāyaṇa’s, (9) strong limbs, (10) well-connected strong joints, (11) a body that can turn quickly, like an elephant-king’s, (12) a limber body, (13) a straight body, (14) an unblemished body, (15) a sleek body, (16) an upright body, not crooked, (17) perfect limbs, (18) perfect consciousness, (19) perfect looks and bearings, (20) an awesome spirit that reaches far, (21) [an appearance that] no one turns his back on, (22) [the ability] to abide and remain immovable, (23) a well-proportioned face, neither too wide nor too long, (24) a broad and beautiful face, (25) a clear face like a full moon, (26) perfect facial features, (27) good facial colors, (28) a majestic bearing like a lion’s, (29) a serene gait like an elephant-king’s, (30) an elegant gait like a goose-king’s, (31) a head like the fruit of a madana tree, (32) feet with plump tops, each leaving a footprint after it is four fingers’ width above the ground, (33) thin and lustrous fingernails [and toenails] the color of copper, (34) strong and rounded kneecaps, (35) splendid lines on each palm, (36) deep lines on each palm, (37) clear and straight lines on each palm, (38) long lines on each palm, (39) unbroken lines on each palm, (40) deft hands and feet, (41) pink hands and feet the color of a lotus flower, (42) perfect orifices, (43) evenly spaced steps, neither too long nor too short, (44) a rounded waist, (45) an unobtrusive abdomen, (46) a round and deep navel, (47) red-tinged blue hair the color of a peacock’s neck, (48) clean hair, (49) hair that swirls clockwise, (50) a mouth that emits [breath with] unsurpassed fragrance, and body hair that emits fragrance, (51) red lips like the fruit of the bimba tree, (52) a red tongue, (53) a thin tongue, (54) being a delightful sight to all beholders, (55) speaking kindly to sentient beings according to their minds, (56) speaking benevolent words in all situations, (57) speaking first [before a question is asked], (58) speaking neither too loudly nor too softly, according to sentient beings’ preferences, (59) expounding the Dharma in the languages of multitudes, (60) expounding the Dharma without attachment, (61) regarding sentient beings equally, (62) doing things after looking into them, (63) emitting one tone in response to multiple sounds, (64) expounding the Dharma systematically through causes and conditions, (65) [an appearance that] cannot be fully taken in by any sentient being’s eyes, (66) [an appearance that] beholders never tire of beholding, (67) emitting perfect sounds, (68) displaying good works, (69) [such an awe-inspiring presence that] when sentient beings see Him, the strong-willed are tamed and the timid acquire peace and joy, (70) a clear and pure voice, (71) a body that does not sway, (72) a large body, (73) a tall body, (74) an untainted body, (75) a body surrounded by light ten feet across, (76) a body illuminated by light when walking, (77) a clean body, (78) untangled shiny long hair the color of a blue jewel, (79) plump hands and feet, and (80) virtuous marks on His hands and feet. Ānanda, these eighty excellent characteristics adorn a Buddha’s body.
His Sixty-eight Attainments
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata has Ten Powers. What are these ten? He has the power of perfect wisdom-knowledge [jñāna] of (1) everyone’s right or wrong action in every situation, and its corresponding karmic consequences; (2) the karmic requitals of every sentient being; (3) all stages of dhyāna, liberation, and samādhi; (4) the capacity of every sentient being; (5) the desires and preferences of every sentient being; (6) the nature and kind of every sentient being; (7) the consequences of all actions, with or without afflictions; (8) all past lives of every sentient being; (9) all future rebirths of every sentient being; (10) the permanent ending of all His afflictions and habits [upon attainment of Buddhahood]. Because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge, a Tathāgata reveals the greatest state [Buddhahood], turns the unsurpassed pure Dharma wheel, and roars the lion’s roar in the midst of multitudes.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata has Four Fearlessnesses. He has (1) fearlessness because He has acquired the knowledge of all wisdom-knowledge [sarvajña-jñāna];[5] (2) fearlessness because He has eradicated all His afflictions; (3) fearlessness in explaining hindrances to one’s attaining bodhi; (4) fearlessness in explaining the right path to end one’s suffering.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata has three kinds of mindfulness: (1) right mindfulness of right actions, (2) right mindfulness of wrong actions, and (3) right mindfulness of mixed actions. Also, Ānanda, a Tathāgata has great compassion.
“Ānanda, a Tathāgata has Eighteen Exclusive Dharmas [which Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas do not have]. They are (1–3) faultless body, voice, and mind karmas, (4) impartiality to all; (5) abiding in constant meditation; (6) equability toward pleasure or pain; (7) never-diminishing desire to deliver sentient beings; (8) never-diminishing energy for delivering sentient beings; (9) never-diminishing memory of the Buddha Dharma; (10) never-diminishing wisdom; (11) never-diminishing liberation from afflictions and habits; (12) never-diminishing knowledge and views of liberation; (13–15) all body karmas, voice karmas, and mind karmas, led by wisdom; (16–18) perfect wisdom-knowledge of the past, present, and future.[6]
“Ānanda, only a Tathāgata has these [thirty-three] attainments: (1) hindrance-free transcendental power of instant arrival anywhere, (2) boundless transcendental power of manifestations, (3) countless transcendental powers, (4) a hindrance-free mind, (5) the ability of telepathy, (6) the ability of the god ear, (7) the ability to know the differences among sentient beings in the formless realm, (8) the ability to know holy beings’ states after they have entered parinirvāṇa, (9) the wisdom to give various answers, (10) [mastery of] the great [wisdom] pāramitā[7] to answer questions, (11) the ability to expound the Dharma in detail without faults, (12) the ability to develop sentient beings without fail, (13) being the foremost guiding teacher, (14) the ability not to be harmed or killed, (15) abiding in the Vajra Samādhi, (16) knowing all things, even if they are not material, not mental, or not coherent [sambaddha] with the mind, (17) hindrance-free liberation, (18) the three protection-free dharmas [faultless body, voice, and mind karmas], (19) complete end of His habits, (20) the knowledge of all wisdom-knowledge, (21) a vajra [adamantine] body, (22) the ability to accomplish all things without a thought, (23) complete purity in all His appearances and places, (24) certainty of His prophecies coming true, (25) the ability to forbid those anxious about victory or defeat to see a Buddha, (26) the ability to turn all wondrous Dharma wheels, (27) the ability to support all sentient beings and enable them to shed their heavy burdens, (28) the ability to enter parinirvāṇa and reactivate His mind, (29) completion of the causes of bodhi without remnants, (30) completion of the fruits of bodhi without remnants, (31) completion of works that benefit others without remnants, (32) endless unimpeded eloquence, and (33) expounding the Dharma in accord with the principle.
“Ānanda, in brief, a Tathāgata’s merits have six characteristics: (1) complete, (2) taint-free, (3) immovable, (4) hindrance-free, (5) altruistic, and (6) skillful. Ānanda, why are a Tathāgata’s merits inconceivable? Because, throughout kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, all of a Tathāgata’s boundless merits, whether acquired on the tainted ground or the pure ground, encompass and accord with one another, and are never apart from one another. Beyond purity and impurity, they are inconceivable.
Chapter 5 – A Tathāgata’s Works
“Ānanda, [to deliver sentient beings] a Tathāgata does eighteen things. (1) A Tathāgata is unparalleled, most wondrous, and supreme, with whom no one can compare. He inspires sentient beings to reverently make offerings to Him with an awestruck mind. This first thing is accomplished because of His body, with the thirty-two physical marks of a great man and the eighty excellent physical characteristics. (2) A Tathāgata fully understands causality according to the principle. If a śramaṇa or Brahmin claims that there is no causality or that a cause does not lead to a corresponding effect, He will refute him and make him realize that he is wrong. This second thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of everyone’s right or wrong action in every situation, and its corresponding karmic consequences. (3) A Tathāgata knows and sees that one, never another, receives the requital of one’s karma. If a śramaṇa or Brahmin expounds the [evil] doctrine that one can avoid one’s karmic requital, He will refute him and make him realize that he is wrong. This third thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of various kinds of karmas. (4) A Tathāgata uses three wheels—transcendental powers, mental powers, and teachings—to teach and guide His disciples to become a holy multitude. If a śramaṇa or Brahmin anxious about victory or defeat expounds wrong theories against the true Dharma, He will refute him and make him realize that he is wrong. This fourth thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge that arises from meditation. (5) A Tathāgata knows and sees sentient beings of high, middling, and low capacities, and teaches them accordingly, enabling them to plant bodhi seeds to come to [spiritual] maturity and achieve liberation. This fifth thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of various capacities. (6) A Tathāgata knows and sees the good and evil desires and preferences of three grades of sentient beings, and He ends their evil desires and increases their good desires. This sixth thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom knowledge of various desires and preferences. (7) A Tathāgata knows and sees three kinds of sentient beings—coarse, average, and fine—and enables them to enter various Dharma Doors [dharma-paryāya]. This seventh thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of various natures. (8) A Tathāgata clearly sees that the path of transcendence leads to liberation and that the path of hindrance leads to repeated birth and death. He enables sentient beings to leave the path of hindrance and take the path of transcendence. This eighth thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of the consequences of all actions. (9) A Tathāgata clearly sees everyone’s past lives and narrates past events to enable sentient beings to tire [of their repeated birth and death]. If a śramaṇa or Brahmin holds the view of perpetuity [of dharmas], He will refute him and make him realize that he is wrong. This ninth thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of past lives. (10) A Tathāgata clearly sees all sentient beings’ deaths here and rebirths there as properly recorded [in their consciousnesses]. If a śramaṇa or Brahmin holds the [wrong] view of cessation, He will refute him and make him realize that he is wrong. This tenth thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge of birth and death. (11) A Tathāgata knows that He has achieved complete liberation. If a śramaṇa or Brahmin with exceeding arrogance[8] claims that he has become an Arhat though he has not, He will refute him and make him realize that he is wrong. This eleventh thing is accomplished because of the power of His wisdom-knowledge that He has ended all His afflictions. (12) A Tathāgata uses the best skillful means to benefit sentient beings. If someone asks about a Tathāgata’s Ten Powers, He will give him truthful answers to resolve his doubts, because His right words can defeat others’ wrong words. This twelfth thing is accomplished because of His Four Fearlessnesses. (13) A Tathāgata is free from joy and woe in regard to the group that trains according to His teachings, the group that does not, and the group that comprises those who train accordingly and those who do not. This thirteenth thing is accomplished because of His three abidings of mindfulness. (14) A Tathāgata uses His Buddha eye day and night to constantly observe sentient beings in distress and rescues them. This fourteenth thing is accomplished because of His great compassion. (15) A Tathāgata can act and speak, and acts according to His words. This fifteenth thing is accomplished because of His three protection-free dharmas [faultless body, voice, and mind karmas]. (16) A Tathāgata does things to completion and without omission to benefit sentient beings. This sixteenth thing is accomplished because His right mindfulness never forgets anything. (17) A Tathāgata appropriately carries out His four deportments [walking, standing still, sitting, and lying down] without faults. This seventeenth thing is accomplished because He has ended all His habits. (18) A Tathāgata observes three kinds of actions—beneficial, harmful, and both—and teaches only beneficial actions. This eighteenth thing is accomplished because of His wisdom-knowledge and His exclusive dharmas. Ānanda, you should know that a Tathāgata does these things.
“Ānanda, why are the things done by a Tathāgata [to deliver sentient beings] inconceivable? Ānanda, a Tathāgata does countless things, but sentient beings in the world neither are aware of nor understand them because they cannot be displayed or described by words. All Buddha Lands are hindrance free, and all Tathāgatas abide in the equality of dharmas, which is beyond one’s state of mind. Like the open sky, all Tathāgatas make no differentiation because They accord with the dharma realm.
“Therefore, good men, I say that the things done by a Tathāgata are inconceivable and that His actions pervade everywhere, without omission, throughout the three time frames [past, present, and future], revealing the nature of the Three Jewels. As a Tathāgata abides in such things, His body is in the nature of the open sky as He appears in all Buddha Lands. As He speaks sentient beings’ languages to expound the true Dharma, His speech is not in the nature of sounds.[9] Although a Tathāgata does not take anyone’s mind as an object, He fully knows all sentient beings’ minds, capacities, natures, desires, and preferences. Ānanda, that is why the things done by a Tathāgata [to deliver sentient beings] are inconceivable.”
After the Buddha pronounced this sūtra, in this huge assembly, 75,000 Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas realized the perfect dharma body,[10] 75,000 Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas acquired the Mahāyāna Samādhi of Wondrous Light, and 75,000 Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas acquired endurance in their realization that dharmas have no birth. Also, innumerable asaṁkhyeyas of sentient beings activated the unsurpassed bodhi mind without regress, and innumerable asaṁkhyeyas of sentient beings shunned dust and filth [their afflictions] and acquired the pure dharma eye. Also, innumerable sentient beings acquired higher fruits [of their training].
Chapter 6 – Ānanda’s Praise
Then, after hearing the Buddha’s words, Ānanda rejoiced exuberantly because he acquired an understanding he never before had. He rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, and bowed down at the Buddha’s feet. Kneeling on his right knee, with joint palms, he reverently gazed at the Buddha’s face and, with a pure mind, praised Him in verse:
In the midst of sentient beings in the three time frames,
The Tathāgata is beyond analogy.
Unequaled in the human realm and the dharma realm,
He regards all equally.
He has forever ended what should be ended,
And fully knows all dharmas that should be known.
None but a Buddha-Bhagavān
Has such foremost splendid wisdom.
Truly He has power and fearlessness,
Because the Tathāgata has the Ten Powers and the Four Fearlessnesses.
That nothing can impair the World-Honored One’s great abilities
Is inconceivable and extraordinary.
Using skillful means to transform sentient beings
Cannot be accomplished by an evil or deluded mind.
Although sentient beings are arrogant and self-exalting,
The World-Honored One tames them and enables them to discard their ways.
If someone claims that he can surpass the Tathāgata,
His words are false and faulty.
If someone points out the Tathāgata as the Supreme Honored One,
His words are true and faultless.
If someone asks a Tathāgata challenging questions according to the principle,
There is no way he can defeat Him [in debate].
The invincible Tathāgata has no shortcomings,
And He guides sentient beings to the joyful place [enlightenment].
His four body karmas[11] are pure and faultless,
So He does not need to protect them.
Using the four kinds of unimpeded wisdom-knowledge,
He endlessly expounds the Dharma to fill sentient beings with Dharma flavors.
His wisdom-knowledge of dharmas has no lack,
And His abidings of mindfulness[12] are never lessened or lost.
He has equal compassion for all sentient beings,
And His mind is never tainted by worldly things.
He fully understands sentient beings’ capacities and natures,
And gives them teachings to deliver them.
For different kinds of afflictions,
He reveals different kinds of remedial measures.
The World-Honored One is foremost in expounding the Dharma,
But ordinary beings who encounter Him do not understand [His teachings].
Shrouded by the darkness of ignorance,
They are extremely hard to deliver.
The renown of the World-Honored One inspires one’s longing [to see Him],
And seeing Him brings one endless joy.
The Buddha’s words can purify one’s mind,
And His true teachings enable one to end one’s repeated birth and death.
Praising the Buddha can rid one of inauspicious things,
And thinking of Him can bring one constant joy.
Seeking the Buddha can bring one great wisdom,
And understanding His teachings can bring one wisdom-knowledge.
The Tathāgata is pure because He has observed the precepts,
And His mind is clear because He has practiced meditation,
The Tathāgata is immovable because of His wisdom,
And His Dharma is an ocean of sweet dew.
While sentient beings are asleep [unenlightened], only the Buddha is awake,
And He pervasively observes their capacities, natures, and desires.
While sentient beings abandon self-restraint, the Buddha does not,
And He regards all sentient beings equally.
The Buddha has revealed the methods to annihilate one’s affliction bandits,
And has removed the illusions produced by the māra-king.
He has indicated the faults of one’s repeated birth and death,
And revealed the direction of the place of fearlessness.
To give teachings that can deliver sentient beings,
The World-Honored One uses great compassion.
Devadatta is the best example of[13]
The World-Honored One giving bodhi to all sentient beings.
Although I cannot yet attain Buddhahood through the right training,
I will train in accordance with this sūtra to requite the kindness of the World-Honored One.
Even if someone has attained nirvāṇa without remnants,
He has not yet requited the Buddha’s kindness.
Even if someone can do the right training taught by the Buddha,
Maybe he trains only to benefit himself.
The World-Honored One tirelessly teaches sentient beings.
How can we requite His profound kindness?
The Tathāgata expounds His true Dharma,
Enabling one to train accordingly and teach it to others.
If He did not appear in the world,
Everyone would be oppressed by suffering,
Evil life-paths would prevail in the world,
And sentient beings’ loud wailing would be heard.
Sentient beings on the six life-paths undergo suffering just the same
Because they are fettered by their afflictions.
To untie the knots of their fetters,
The World-Honored One forever ties Himself to great compassion.
The World-Honored One is the unsurpassed fortune field[14]
For those who rely on Him in order to do the right training.
If I fail to see this great treasure, I will fall into poverty.
If I do evil karmas, I will fall as well.
If someone disregards the Buddha,
He will fall to the ground of poverty.
If someone hates and criticizes the Buddha,
He will without doubt forever remain in darkness.
As a great master recognizes his [dharma] body,
So too can other great masters recognize [their dharma bodies].
However, ordinary beings cannot.
I now make obeisance to all Buddhas in worlds in the ten directions,
Whose merits, wisdom, and powers are equal.
The World-Honored One has appeared in the world and revealed His dharma body.
Out of great compassion, He wants sentient beings to recognize [their dharma bodies].
Hence I now prostrate myself at His feet.
His wonderful fragrant body is a sight that beholders never tire of beholding.
His perfect physical marks are sublime.
A lovely flower is in bloom day and night,
And I make obeisance to such a Buddha flower.
The World-Honored One knows well the unsurpassed place [Buddhahood],
Which is free from all perils and tribulations, And has no trace, no assemblage, and no falsity.
Hence I now make obeisance to the Two-Footed Honored One.
The World-Honored One has washed off all taints
And abides in the true Dharma and the water of His merits.
He has always been pure inside and outside,
And I now make obeisance to the truly pure body.
The World-Honored One has completed all good works
And always gives sentient beings bountiful benefits.
He widely showers down sweet dew for sentient beings to drink their fill,
And I now make obeisance because He benefits others.
Although He is the Supreme One most revered in the world,
He still reveres other Buddhas.
He has ended all His evildoing and attained perfect enlightenment.
Hence I now make obeisance to the Supreme Honored One.
To rescue sentient beings,
He never omitted learning even one skillful means
To enable all to avoid the perilous pit of birth and death.
I now make obeisance to the refuge of the world.
I make obeisance to the sublime physical body beyond analogy
And make obeisance to the one who can give teachings like sweet dew.
I make obeisance to His pure wisdom
And make obeisance to His forest of merits.
Chapter 7 – Entrusting This Sūtra
The Buddha told Ānanda, “You should uphold this true Dharma Door.”
Ānanda fell on his knees and said to the Buddha, “Just now I received from the Buddha this profound teaching, and acquired what I never before had. I will uphold it with the utmost respect. World-Honored One, what is the name of this sūtra and how should we uphold it?”
The Buddha said, “Ānanda, this sūtra is called Unsurpassed Reliance, also called Unprecedented, also called Accepting Good Dharmas, also called Pure Action, also called Definitive Action. Ānanda, there are ten ways to uphold this sūtra. What are these ten? They are to (1) copy it, (2) make offerings to it, (3) propagate it, (4) listen to it, (5) study it, (6) memorize it, (7) widely expound it, (8) recite it, (9) ponder it, and (10) train accordingly.
“Ānanda, if someone upholds this sūtra in these ten ways, his accumulating merits will be immeasurable and endless. Ānanda, as an analogy, wherever a wish-fulfilling jewel is, all treasures appear. Likewise whoever upholds this sūtra can accomplish all good dharmas. Ānanda, as another analogy, all trees and medicinal herbs depend on the earth to grow. Likewise good dharmas grow because of this sūtra. Ānanda, as another analogy, all good dharmas in the past, present, and future are accomplished through exercising self-restraint, because it is the foremost dharma. Likewise, among sūtras, whether they give voice-hearer teachings, Pratyekabuddha teachings, or Bodhisattva teachings, this sūtra is the foremost sūtra. Ānanda, as another analogy, if a Wheel-Turning King abides in the world, his seven precious things[15] always follow him. Likewise, if this sūtra abides in the world, the Three Jewels will continue without end.
“Ānanda, you should successively expound this sūtra to bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, upāsikās, gods, dragons, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kiṁnaras, mahoragas, humans, and nonhumans. Why? Because this is the way to enable all sentient beings to plant roots of goodness where a Tathāgata is.”
After the Buddha pronounced this sūtra, in this huge assembly, Ānanda, Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas, the god-king Śakra, the four world-protecting god-kings, and all others, having heard this extraordinary Dharma Door revealed by the Buddha, rejoiced exuberantly. They believed in, accepted, and carried out His teachings.
—Sūtra of the Unsurpassed Reliance, fascicle 2
Translated from the digital Chinese Canon (T16n0669)
Notes
1. A Buddha’s thirty-two physical marks are easily discernible, but His eighty excellent physical characteristics, or secondary marks, are subtle and hard to discern. The two sets combined are called excellent marks. Although a Wheel-Turning King has the thirty-two physical marks as well, a Buddha’s are superior. Also, only a Buddha has the eighty excellent physical characteristics.
2. “Having a sense of shame” and “having a sense of dishonor” are two of the glossary’s “seven noble treasures.”
3. See “Four Right Endeavors” defined in the glossary’s “Thirty-seven Elements of Bodhi.”
4. For Three Learnings, see note 22 in fascicle 1 of this sūtra.
5. See “knowledge of all wisdom-knowledge” defined in the glossary’s “three kinds of wisdom-knowledge.”
6. Another set of eighteen comprises the Ten Powers, the Four Fearlessnesses, the three abidings of mindfulness, and great compassion. The three abidings of mindfulness means that a Buddha’s mind abides in right mindfulness and wisdom, free from joy and woe in regard to (1) the group that believes in the Dharma and trains accordingly, (2) the group that neither believes in the Dharma nor trains accordingly, and (3) the group that comprises believers and nonbelievers.
7. See “wisdom pāramitā” defined in the glossary’s “six pāramitās.”
8. See “exceeding arrogance” defined in the glossary’s “arrogance.”
9. As stated in text 358, the Chinese version of the Sūtra of Entering the States of All Buddhas Adorned with Wisdom, like echoes, the sounds voiced by a Tathāgata are neither inside nor outside nor in the middle, and have neither birth nor death, neither names nor appearances. He voices various sounds according to sentient beings’ preferences to make them understand (T12n0358, 0251c5–8). The English translation of this sūtra appears in Transcending the World (Rulu 2015, 165–78).
10. See “dharma body” defined in the glossary’s “three bodies of a Buddha.”
11. The “four body karmas” are the first four of the glossary’s “ten good karmas.”
12. See “Four Abidings of Mindfulness” in the glossary.
13. See Devadatta’s life story in the glossary’s “voice-hearer.”
14. For a Buddha as a fortune field, see the glossary’s “three fortune fields.”
15. According to text 456, the Chinese version of the Sūtra of Maitreya Bodhisattva’s Attainment of Buddhahood, a Wheel-Turning King with a gold wheel possesses seven precious things: (1) the gold wheel, (2) the white elephant, (3) the blue horse, (4) the divine jewel, (5) exquisite maidens, (6) the treasure minister, and (7) the military minister (T14n0456, 0429c27–0430a6; Rulu 2012a, 82).
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