The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom
in Eighteen Thousand Lines - 307
Daśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā
– Chapter 07 - Entry into Flawlessness –
Source: https://read.84000.co/translation/toh10.html
More Analysis of Mahayana Sutras : https://www.gilehtblog.com/2021/03/table-of-content.html
07. ENTRY INTO FLAWLESSNESS – A bodhisattva great being is flawless if he doesn't fall into any extreme or middle – ex. any dharma or any of the emptinesses –, and does not accept or reject anything in absolute terms …
(i.e. Résumé:
The single, all-encompassing statement / the 'single thought': "Bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms should make an effort at the perfection of wisdom [U2T]." ( 2.1, 4.4)
"Even that thought [T1] is no thought [T2], because the basic nature of thought is clear light [U2T]", because the true nature & dynamic of all dharmas is indescribable / inconceivable / unthinkable in absolute terms – not thought can do the job –. (7.21)
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Bodhisattvas who want to comprehend any / all dharmas should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Bodhisattva who want to eliminate greed, hatred, and confusion… should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Bodhisattva who want to complete the six perfections… should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Bodhisattva who want to become absorbed in the various mental stabilisations… should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Bodhisattva who want to fulfill all the intentions of beings should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Bodhisattva who want to train in the śrāvaka level should concentrate and listen to, take up, bear in mind, read aloud, study, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom.
Bodhisattva who want to train in the pratyekabuddha level, the bodhisattva level, and the buddha level should also concentrate and listen to, take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom.
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How, Venerable Subhūti, do they fall into a bodhisattva's hardheadedness?
'Hardheadedness' is a love for dharmas. It is forming the notion that some dharmas are inherently existing and have inherently existing marks / signs / characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / oppositions / activities, or not having any in absolute terms – ex. good or bad, to be accepted or rejected, being permanent or impermanent, happiness or suffering, self or no-self, calm or not-calm, empty or non-empty, having sigh or signless, having a which or wishless, being produced or stopped, being past or present or future, strong or weak, existent or non-existent, different or identical, separate or united, multiple or one, dual or non-dual, caused or not-caused, functional or non-functional, born or unborn, changing or unchanging, ceasing or unceasing, pure or impure, perfect or imperfect, bounded or free, enlightened or not-enlightened, etc.
It is forming the notion that some dharmas have to be accepted while other dharmas have to be rejected, or changed / purified / completed / etc.
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What is a bodhisattva great being's flawlessness? It is when they practice without practicing the perfection of wisdom without any attachment / fixation / absolutes – not grasping at one truth or another – dependent origination [T1-] or emptiness (any of the 18 emptinesses) [T2] –, not grasping at both truths together as if different and in opposition [2T], not at neither of the two truths as if identical and one [1T]. It is staying free from all extremes & middle about everything involved. It is when they act / perceive / learn / understand / know without acting / perceiving / learning / understanding / knowing, without any attachment / fixation / absolute.)
Venerable Subhūti then said to the Lord,
"Lord, bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend form 129
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend eyes
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Similarly, bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend a form
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Similarly, bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, and a dharma
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend eye consciousness
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend up to thinking-mind consciousness
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend eye contact up to who want to comprehend thinking-mind contact
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend the feeling that arises from the condition of eye contact, up to [F.69.b] who want to comprehend the feeling that arises from the condition of thinking-mind contact
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend ignorance
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Similarly, bodhisattva great beings
who want to comprehend volitional factors, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, contact, feeling, craving, appropriation, existence, birth, and old age and death
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
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(i.e. To solve all problems and obtain all benefits, Bodhisattvas should train in the perfection of wisdom, in the inconceivable inseparability / interdependence / harmony / Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]; combining it with all other virtuous concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, goals, trainings & teachings.)"Bodhisattva great beings
who want to eliminate greed, hatred, and confusion
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to eliminate the view of the perishable collection, doubt, and grasping rules and rituals as absolute, as well as attachment to sense objects and malice;
who want to eliminate attachment to sense objects, attachment to forms, and attachment to formless states; and
who want to eliminate fetters, proclivities, and obsessions
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
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(i.e. To solve all problems and obtain all benefits, Bodhisattvas should train in the perfection of wisdom, in the inconceivable inseparability / interdependence / harmony / Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]; combining it with all other virtuous concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, goals, trainings & teachings.)"Furthermore, bodhisattva great beings
who want to eliminate the four bonds, four floods, four knots, four appropriations, and four errors 130
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T]."Bodhisattva great beings
who want to eliminate the ten unwholesome actions
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
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(i.e. To solve all problems and obtain all benefits, Bodhisattvas should train in the perfection of wisdom, in the inconceivable inseparability / interdependence / harmony / Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]; combining it with all other virtuous concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, goals, trainings & teachings.)"Bodhisattva great beings
who want to complete the ten wholesome actions
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T]."Bodhisattva great beings
who want to complete the perfection of giving [F.70.a]
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Similarly, bodhisattva great beings
who want to complete the perfection of morality, the perfection of patience, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of concentration, and the perfection of wisdom
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T]."Bodhisattva great beings
who want to complete the four concentrations, four immeasurables, four formless absorptions, four applications of mindfulness, four right efforts, four legs of miraculous power, five faculties, five powers, seven limbs of awakening, and the eightfold noble path, as well as the four detailed and thorough knowledges, four fearlessnesses, six clairvoyances, ten tathāgata powers, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
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(i.e. To solve all problems and obtain all benefits, Bodhisattvas should train in the perfection of wisdom, in the inconceivable inseparability / interdependence / harmony / Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]; combining it with all other virtuous concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, goals, trainings & teachings.)"Bodhisattva great beings
who want to become absorbed in the bodhyaṅgavatin meditative stabilization 131
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to become absorbed in the siṃhavikrīḍita meditative stabilization,
who want to become absorbed in the siṃhavijṛmbhita meditative stabilization,
who want to obtain all the dhāraṇī gateways and meditative stabilization gateways,
who want to become absorbed in the śūraṅgama meditative stabilization, and
who want to become absorbed in the ratnamudra meditative stabilization, candraprabha meditative stabilization, candradhvajaketu meditative stabilization, sarvadharmamudrāgata meditative stabilization, avalokita 132 meditative stabilization, dharmadhātuniyata meditative stabilization, niyatadhvajaketu meditative stabilization, [F.70.b] vajropama meditative stabilization, sarvadharmapraveśamukha meditative stabilization, samādhirāja meditative stabilization, rājamudra meditative stabilization, balavyūha meditative stabilization, samudgata meditative stabilization, sarvadharmaniruktiniyatapraveśa meditative stabilization, sarvadharmajñānādhivāsanapraveśa 133 meditative stabilization, daśadigvyavalokita meditative stabilization, sarvadharmadhāraṇīmukhamudra meditative stabilization, sarvadharmāsaṃpramoṣa meditative stabilization, sarvadharmasamavasaraṇākāramudra 134 meditative stabilization, trimaṇḍalapariśuddha meditative stabilization, ākāśāvasthita meditative stabilization, acyutābhijñā meditative stabilization, pātragata meditative stabilization, dhvajāgrakeyūra meditative stabilization, sarvakleśanirdahana meditative stabilization, caturmārabalavikaraṇa 135 meditative stabilization, jñānolka meditative stabilization, daśabalodgata meditative stabilization, and ākāśāsaṃgavimuktinirupalepa meditative stabilization
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].Bodhisattva great beings
who want to obtain all those meditative stabilization gateways and others as well
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T]. [B6]"Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings
who want to fulfill all the intentions of beings
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T]."Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings
who want to complete all the wholesome roots which, when those wholesome roots are completed, cause them not to fall into terrible forms of life, not to be born [F.71.a] in families that are wanting, not to fall to the śrāvaka level or the pratyekabuddha level, and not to fall into a bodhisattva's hardheadedness 136
should train in the perfection of wisdom [U2T]."
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(i.e. To solve all problems and obtain all benefits, Bodhisattvas should train in the perfection of wisdom, in the inconceivable inseparability / interdependence / harmony / Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]; combining it with all other virtuous concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, goals, trainings & teachings.)
Then venerable Śāriputra asked venerable Subhūti,
"How, Venerable Subhūti, do they fall into a bodhisattva's hardheadedness?"
Venerable Subhūti replied,
"Venerable Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practice the six perfections without skillful means.
Having resorted to the meditative stabilization on emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness without skillful means,
they do not fall to the śrāvaka level or the pratyekabuddha level,
but still they do not enter into the secure state of a bodhisattva. 137
This is called 'a bodhisattva's hardheadedness.' " 138
"Why, Venerable Subhūti, is this a bodhisattva's hardheadedness?" asked Śāriputra.
Subhūti replied, "Venerable Śāriputra,
a bodhisattva great being's 'hardheadedness' is just this: a love for dharmas."
"What, Venerable Subhūti, is a love for dharmas?" asked Śāriputra.
Subhūti replied,
"Venerable Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom settle down on, stand upon,
and form the notion that form is 'empty.' 139Similarly, they settle down on, stand upon,
and form the notion that feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are 'empty.'
That, Venerable Śāriputra, is the love for dharmas called hardheadedness that can come along with being a bodhisattva great being.
"Furthermore, Venerable Śāriputra, bodhisattvas bodhisattvas settle down on, stand upon,
and form the notion that form is 'impermanent,' and they also settle down on, stand upon, [F.71.b]and form the notion that to the notion that form is 'suffering, selfless, unpleasant, and calm, empty, signless, and wishless.' 140
Venerable Śāriputra, that love for dharmas that can come along with being a bodhisattva is hardheadedness.
"Similarly, they settle down on, stand upon,
and form the notion that feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are 'impermanent,'and they also settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are 'suffering, selfless, unpleasant, and calm, empty, signless, and wishless.'
Venerable Śāriputra, that love for dharmas that can come along with being a bodhisattva is hardheadedness.
"Bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom might settle down on, stand upon,
and form the notion about these dharmas:
'Thus form should be abandoned; with this, form should be abandoned.
Thus feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness should be abandoned; with this, they should be abandoned.
Thus should suffering be comprehended; with this should suffering be comprehended.
Thus should origination be abandoned; with this should origination be abandoned.
Thus should cessation be actualized; with this should cessation be actualized.
Thus should the path be cultivated; with this should the path be cultivated.
This is defilement, this is purification;
these dharmas are to be resorted to, these dharmas are not to be resorted to;
this should be practiced by a bodhisattva, this should not be practiced;
this is a bodhisattva's path, this is not the path;
this is a bodhisattva's training, this is not the training;
this is a bodhisattva's perfection of giving, and this is the perfection of morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom; [F.72.a]
this is not a bodhisattva's perfection of giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, or wisdom;
this is a bodhisattva's skillful means, this is not skillful means;
and this is the secure state of a bodhisattva, this is hardheadedness.'
If so, then that love for dharmas that can come along with being a bodhisattva is hardheadedness."
"What, Venerable Subhūti, is a bodhisattva great being's flawlessness?"
asked venerable Śāriputra. 141
Venerable Subhūti replied,
"Venerable Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom
do not see in inner emptiness (1) outer emptiness (2), and
do not see in outer emptiness inner emptiness;do not see in inner and outer emptiness (3) the emptiness of emptiness, and
do not see in the emptiness of emptiness inner and outer emptiness;do not see in the emptiness of emptiness (4) the great emptiness (5), and
do not see in the great emptiness the emptiness of emptiness;do not see in the great emptiness the emptiness of ultimate reality (6), and
do not see in the emptiness of ultimate reality the great emptiness;do not see in the emptiness of ultimate reality the emptiness of the compounded, and
do not see in the emptiness of the compounded the emptiness of ultimate reality;do not see in the emptiness of the compounded (7) the emptiness of the uncompounded (8), and
do not see in the emptiness of the uncompounded the emptiness of the compounded;do not see in the emptiness of the uncompounded the emptiness of what transcends limits, and
do not see in the emptiness of what transcends limits the emptiness of the uncompounded;do not see in the emptiness of what transcends limits (9) the emptiness of no beginning and no end (10), and
do not see in the emptiness of no beginning and no end the emptiness of what transcends limits;do not see in the emptiness of no beginning and no end the emptiness of non-repudiation, and
do not see in the emptiness of non-repudiation the emptiness of no beginning and no end;do not see in the emptiness of non-repudiation (11) the emptiness of a basic nature (12), and
do not see in the emptiness of a basic nature the emptiness of non-repudiation; [F.72.b]do not see in the emptiness of a basic nature the emptiness of its own mark (13), and
do not see in the emptiness of its own mark the emptiness of a basic nature;do not see in the emptiness of its own mark the emptiness of all dharmas (14), and
do not see in the emptiness of all dharmas the emptiness of its own mark; 142do not see in the emptiness of all dharmas the emptiness of a non-existent thing (16), and
do not see in the emptiness of a non-existent thing the emptiness of all dharmas;do not see in the emptiness of a non-existent thing the emptiness of an intrinsic nature (17), and
do not see in the emptiness of an intrinsic nature the emptiness of a non-existent thing;do not see in the emptiness of an intrinsic nature the emptiness that is the non-existence of an intrinsic nature, and
do not see in the emptiness that is the non-existence of an intrinsic nature the emptiness of an intrinsic nature (18).
Venerable Śāriputra, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom like that they enter into the secure state of a bodhisattva.
(Note: The eighteen emptinesses:
Quote: Furthermore, O Subhūti, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who wishes to become established (sthātukāma) in:
1. the emptiness of inner dharmas (adhyātmaśūnyatā),
2. the emptiness of outer dharmas (bahirdhāśūnyatā),
3. the emptiness of inner and outer dharmas (adhyātmabahirdhāśūnyatā),
4. the emptiness of emptiness (śūnyatāśūnyatā),
5. great emptiness (mahāśūnayatā),
6. the emptiness of the absolute (paramārthaśūnyatā),
7. the emptiness of the conditioned (saṃskṛtaśūnyatā),
8. the emptiness of the unconditioned (asaṃskṛtaśūnyatā),
9. absolute emptiness (atyantaśūnyatā),
10. the emptiness of beginningless dharmas (anagraśūnyatā),
11. the emptiness of dispersed dharmas (avakāraśūnyatā),
12. the emptiness of essences (prakṛtiśūnyatā),
13. the emptiness of specific characteristics (svalakṣaṇaśūnyatā),
14. the emptiness of all dharmas (sarvadharmaśūnyatā),
15. the emptiness consisting of non-preception (anupalambhaśūnyatā),
16. the emptiness of non-existence (abhāvaśūnyatā),
17. the emptiness of existence (svabhāvaśūnyatā),
18. the emptiness of non-existence and existence (abhāvasvabhāvaśūnyatā),
this bodhisattva-mahāsattva must practice the Perfection of Wisdom.)
https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/maha-prajnaparamita-sastra/d/doc82378.html
"Furthermore, venerable Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom train so that 143
they know form [T1] but do not falsely project anything because of it [T2] [U2T];
they know feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness but do not falsely project anything because of them;
they know the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind but do not falsely project anything because of them;
they know a form, a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, and a dharma but do not falsely project anything because of them;
they know the perfection of giving but do not falsely project anything because of it;
they know the perfection of morality, patience, perseverance, [F.73.a] concentration, and wisdom but do not falsely project anything because of them;
they know the concentrations, immeasurables, and formless absorptions but do not falsely project anything because of them;
and similarly they know the five clairvoyances, five eyes, applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, path, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha but do not falsely project anything because of them.
"Venerable Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom train so that
they do not falsely project anything even because of the thought of awakening;
they do not falsely project anything even because of the thought equal to the unequaled, the prodigious thought. 144
(Copied from chapter 2: "Here, Śāriputra, (i.e. the single, all-encompassing statement – the 'single thought'.) (similar to 4.4)
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bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms
should make an effort at the perfection of wisdom [U2T]."
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[Because that thought [T1] is no thought [T2] [U2T]
because the basic nature of thought is clear light [U2T].]
[Thus, it (the perfection of wisdom) should be taken up by way of no causal sign and no absence of causal sign, without taking it up.]
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(i.e. Pure perception & pure actions: Bodhisattvas should always combined conventional relative virtuous activities (all actions of the body, speech & mind) / perceptions / feelings / concepts / symbols / images / ideas / thoughts / views / methods / practices / goals / tools / adapted skillful means <==> with more and more wisdom / genuine-emptiness [U2T]; thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true & dynamic nature of Reality as it is, with the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths about all dharmas [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T].
Why?
Because, in Reality as it is, everything is like an inconceivable Union of being empty of inherent existence [T2], not really existent / caused / functional <==> because of being conventionally dependently co-arisen (interdependent) relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances / tools / adapted skillful means [T1], merely labeled / imputed by the mind in dependence of its conditioning / karma, not completely non-existent / non-caused / on-functional. And vice versa; one aspect / truth implies / proves / enables the other (<==>) [U2T]. Everything is like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, magical tricks: 'There, but not there.'. Not really existent / caused / functional, not completely non-existent / non-caused / non-functional, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth; not 'this', not 'non-this', not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth – for whatever 'this' is. Meaning that everything is indescribable / inconceivable for our flawed dualistic conceptual conditioned ordinary mind(s); it has to be personally spontaneously non-dualistically non-conceptually non-conditionally perceived / realised / experience in the here & now. Meaning there is no independent / universal / absolute / inherently existing basis for any discrimination / differentiation / ranking / judgment / acceptation / rejection in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively if it helps someone to get closer to the inconceivable liberating Truth [U2T]. In that sense everything is primordially equal, pure, perfect, divine, complete, free, enlightened, the inseparable three pure kayas, the true Buddha.))
And why?
Because that thought [T1] is no thought [T2] [inconceivable] [U2T]
because the basic nature of thought is clear light [U2T]." 145, 146
"Venerable Subhūti, what is the clear light that is the basic nature of thought [U2T]?" asked Śāriputra.
(i.e. The Union of the Two Truths about the mind and its fabrications – inconceivable, beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all dualistic conceptual proliferations, beyond all defining limitations, beyond all conditioning / karma. Not ‘this’, not ‘non-this’, not both together, not neither – for whatever ‘this’ is. Ex. Not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different / separate / multiple / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither; not permanent / continuous / eternal, not impermanent / discontinuous / annihilated, not both together, not neither; not dependent, not independent, not both together, not neither; not empty, not non-empty, not both together, not neither; not dependently co-arisen [T1-only], not empty of inherent existence [T2-only], not both truths together [2T], not neither truths [1T], not equal / pure / perfect / divine / complete / free, not unequal / impure / imperfect / ordinary / incomplete / bounded, not both together, not neither; etc.)
Subhūti replied, "Venerable Śāriputra,
a thought that is neither conjoined with greed nor disjoined from greed [U2T],
neither conjoined with hatred and confusion nor disjoined from hatred and confusion [U2T], and
neither conjoined with obsessions, obscurations, proclivities, fetters, distortions, and śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha thoughts nor disjoined from them [U2T] —
(i.e. Engaging without engaging: Bodhisattvas do not associate, in absolute terms, any dharma (ex. the five aggregates) with any marks / signs / characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / oppositions / activities – like being greed, hatred, confusion or not –. Bodhisattvas engage without engaging with the being greed, hatred, confusion or not of any/all dharmas; because they do not even perceive any inherently existing dharma (ex. five aggregates) or any marks / signs / characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / oppositions / activities like being greed, hatred, confusion or not <==> because these are all empty of inherent existence <==> because these are all dependently co-arisen / interdependent, merely labeled / imputed by the mind <==> like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, magical tricks: 'There, but not there.' [U2T].)
that, venerable Śāriputra, is the clear light that is the basic nature of a bodhisattva great being's thought [U2T]."
"Venerable Subhūti, the thought of which you say 'it is no thought,' does it exist?" 147 asked Śāriputra.
"Venerable Śāriputra," Subhūti asked in return,
"can you apprehend existence or non-existence there, in that state of no thought? [F.73.b]
(i.e All dharmas are not inherently existent, not completely non-existent, not both together, not neither. Meaning indescribable / inconceivable, beyond all extremes & middle …)
(i.e. Engaging without engaging: Bodhisattvas do not associate, in absolute terms, any dharma (ex. the five aggregates) with any marks / signs / characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / oppositions / activities – like their existence or non-existence –. Bodhisattvas engage without engaging with the existence or non-existence of any/all dharmas; because they do not even perceive any inherently existing dharma (ex. five aggregates) or any marks / signs / characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / oppositions / activities like their existence or non-existence <==> because these are all empty of inherent existence <==> because these are all dependently co-arisen / interdependent, merely labeled / imputed by the mind <==> like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, magical tricks: 'There, but not there.' [U2T].)
"No, Venerable Subhūti," replied Śāriputra.
Subhūti then asked,
"Venerable Śāriputra, if you cannot apprehend existence or non-existence there, in that state of no thought, is then, Venerable Śāriputra, this argumentative investigation of yours — 'The thought of which you say "it is no thought," does it exist?' — appropriate?"
7.26
"Venerable Subhūti," Śāriputra asked in return, "what is the state of no thought?"
"Venerable Śāriputra," replied Subhūti,
"the state of no thought is a state without distortion and without conceptualization
[i.e. It is no thought / conceptualisation in absolute terms [T2], just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively [T1] [U2T]];it is the state in which all dharmas are just so.
[i.e. It is being fully aware of the inconceivable true nature & dynamic as it is here & now (of the mind and its fabrications, of all dharmas – subject, relation / action, object –, of all apparent opposites, even of the two truths) [U2T], without trying to add something to it, or trying to subtract something to it. It is thinking without thinking, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes, free from all extremes & middle, free from all dualistic conceptual proliferations, free from all defining limitations, free from all conditioning / karma. And free from does not mean to be without or to eliminate thoughts & conceptualisation, but just to be not slaves to them, because of being aware of their true nature & dynamic as it is here & now.)It is called the state of no thought's 'unthinkability.' "
(i.e. It means not thought can understand this inconceivable true nature of Reality as it is, this Union of the Two Truths [U2T].)
Śāriputra then asked, "Venerable Subhūti,
just as thought is without distortion and without conceptualization,
so too is form without distortion and without conceptualization [in absolute terms],and similarly feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness
are without distortion and without conceptualization as well [in absolute terms];and just as thought is without distortion and without conceptualization
so too are the eye constituent, form constituent, and eye consciousness constituent without distortion and without conceptualization, and similarly the ear constituent . . . the nose constituent . . . the tongue constituent . . . the body constituent . . . and the thinking-mind constituent, dharma-constituent, and thinking-mind consciousness constituent
without distortion and without conceptualization as well —similarly, are the sense fields, dependent originations, perfections, clairvoyances, applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, path, fearlessnesses, detailed and thorough knowledges, powers, distinct attributes of a buddha, and unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening
without distortion and without conceptualization as well?"
7.28
"Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra!" replied Subhūti. [F.74.a]
"Just as thought is without distortion and without conceptualization,
so too are the aggregates, constituents, sense fields, dependent origination, perfections, clairvoyances, dharmas on the side of awakening, powers, fearlessnesses, distinct attributes of a buddha, and unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening
without distortion and without conceptualization as well."
7.29
"Excellent, excellent, Venerable Subhūti!" said Śāriputra.
"Because you are the Lord's son, close to his bosom, born from his mouth, born from his Dharma, magically produced from his Dharma, his Dharma heir and not heir to material possessions, a direct eyewitness to the dharmas who witnesses with your body — that is, because the Lord has proclaimed you the foremost of śrāvakas who are at the conflict-free stage, this is an exhibition of that fact.
"Venerable Subhūti,
bodhisattva great beings should train in the perfection of wisdom like that,
and because of that bodhisattva great beings must be considered irreversible,
and should be known as not lacking in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Venerable Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings
who want to train in the śrāvaka level
should concentrate and listen to, take up, bear in mind, read aloud, study, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom;and bodhisattva great beings
who want to train in the pratyekabuddha level, the bodhisattva level, and the buddha level
should also concentrate and listen to, take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom.
And why? [F.74.b]
Because in this perfection of wisdom is detailed instruction for the three vehicles
in which bodhisattva great beings should train on the level of śrāvakas
and pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas." 148
This was the seventh chapter, "Entry into Flawlessness," of "The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines."
Access to other chapters on the Blog:
(Work in progress. Empty files means they are not done yet.)
Chapter 0 – Introduction to the Sutra
Chapter 1 – Introduction / the Assembly
Chapter 2 – Production of the Thought
Chapter 3 – Designation
Chapter 4 – Equal to the Unequal
Chapter 5 – Tongue
Chapter 6 – Subhūti
Chapter 7 – Entry into flawlessness
Chapter 8 – The Religious Mendicant Śreṇika
Chapter 9 – Causal Signs
Chapter 10 – Illusion-like
Chapter 11 – Embarrassment
Chapter 12 – Elimination of Views
Chapter 13 – The Six Perfections
Chapter 14 – Neither Bound nor Freed
Chapter 15 – Meditative Stabilization
Chapter 16 – Dhāraṇī Gateway
Chapter 17 – Level Purification
Chapter 18 – The Exposition of Going Forth in the Great Vehicle
Chapter 19 – Surpassing
Chapter 20 – Not Two
Chapter 21 – Subhūti
Chapter 22 – Śatakratu
Chapter 23 – Hard to Understand
Chapter 24 – Unlimited
Chapter 25 – Second Śatakratu
Chapter 26 – Getting Old
Chapter 27 – Reliquary
Chapter 28 – Declaration of the Good Qualities of the Thought of Awakening
Chapter 29 – Different Tīrthika Religious Mendicants
Chapter 30 – The Benefits of Taking Up and Adoration
Chapter 31 – Physical Remains
Chapter 32 – The Superiority of Merit
Chapter 33 – Dedication
Chapter 34 – Perfect Praise of the Quality of Accomplishment
Chapter 35 – Hells
Chapter 36 – Teaching The Purity of all Dharmas
Chapter 37 – Nobody
Chapter 38 – Cannot Be Apprehended
Chapter 39 – The Northern Region
Chapter 40 – The Work of Māra
Chapter 41 – Not Complete Because of Māra
Chapter 42 – Revealing the World
Chapter 43 – Inconceivable
Chapter 44 – Made Up
Chapter 45 – A Boat
Chapter 46 – Teaching the Intrinsic Nature of All Dharmas
Chapter 47 – Taming Greed
Chapter 48 – A Presentation of the Bodhisattvas' Training
Chapter 49 – Irreversibility
Chapter 50 – Teaching the Signs of Irreversibility
Chapter 51 – Skillful means
Chapter 52 – Completion of the Means
Chapter 53 – The Prophecy about Gaṅgadevī
Chapter 54 – Teaching the Cultivation of Skillful Means
Chapter 55 – Teaching the Stopping of Thought Construction [in absolute terms]
Chapter 56 – Equal Training
Chapter 57 – Practice
Chapter 58 – Exposition of the Absence of Thought Construction [in absolute terms]
Chapter 59 – Non-attachment
Chapter 60 – Entrusting
Chapter 61 – Inexhaustible
Chapter 62 – Leaping Above Absorption
Chapter 63 – Many Inquiries about the Two Dharmas
Chapter 64 – Perfectly Displayed
Chapter 65 – Worshiping, Serving, and Attending on Spiritual Friends as Skillful Means
Chapter 66 – A Demonstration of Skillful Means
Chapter 67 – Morality
Chapter 68 – Growing and Flourishing
Chapter 69 – An Explanation of Meditation on The Path
Chapter 70 – An Explanation of Serial Action, Training, and Practice
Chapter 71 – The True Nature of Dharmas That Cannot Be Apprehended
Chapter 72 – Teaching the Absence of Marks
Chapter 73 – Exposition of the Major Marks and Minor Signs and the Completion of Letters
Chapter 74 – Exposition of the Sameness of Dharmas
Chapter 75 – Exposition of Non-complication –
Chapter 76 – The Armor for Bringing Beings to Maturity
Chapter 77 – Teaching the Purification of a Buddhafield
Chapter 78 – Teaching the Skillful Means for the Purification of a Buddhafield
Chapter 79 – Teaching the Non Existence of an Intrinsic Nature
Chapter 80 – Teaching that there is No Defilement or Purification
Chapter 81 – Yogic Practice of the Ultimate
Chapter 82 – The Unchanging True Nature of Dharmas
Chapter 83 – Categorization of a Bodhisattva's Training
Chapter 84 – Collection
Chapter 85 – Sadāprarudita
Chapter 86 – Dharmodgata
Chapter 87 – Entrusting
.
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