The Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom
in Eighteen Thousand Lines - 384
Daśasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā
– Chapter 84 - Summary in verses –
Source: https://read.84000.co/translation/toh10.html
More Analysis of Mahayana Sutras : https://www.gilehtblog.com/2022/07/toc-400.html
[Back to Résumés of chapters 42-87]
[Introductory notes:
All Buddhist teachings, including the Prajnaparamita Sutras, are about
awakening from the illusions of our indirect (dualistic, conceptual) knowledge,
from our mistaken motivations and actions based on this indirect knowledge,
from the limitless & centerless self-conditioning / karmic cycle based on our ignorance.
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All Buddhist teachings, including the Prajnaparamita Sutras, are about
awakening to the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now (direct knowledge),
and to choose & act more and more in accord with it.
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So it is not about improving our capacity for discrimination / differentiation;
it is not about 'accepting / affirming / seeking / doing this'
while 'rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / stopping / not-doing that'
as if things were inherently existing,
and having inherently existing characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / oppositions / processes / activities.
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It is more about personally spontaneously non-dualistically non-conceptually
directly perceiving / realising / experiencing the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of all dharmas [U2T].
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It is this inconceivable 'non-dualistic non-conceptual non-conditioned pure direct knowledge / wisdom' that is the liberating factor.
That is the perfection of wisdom (Prajnaparamita).This true nature of Reality as it is here & now, true nature & dynamic of all dharmas,
is indescribable / inconceivable for our flawed dualistic conceptual conditioned ordinary mind(s).
It is beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all dualistic conceptual proliferations, beyond all defining limitations,
beyond all conditioning / karma. It is beyond all conditioned indirect knowledge and activities based on them.
It is beyond all description / conceptualisation, discrimination / differentiation / dualities,
causality / production / laws, form / matter-energy, space & time.
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And 'beyond / free-from / transcending' does not mean that we need to
reject / negate / abandon / eliminate / stop / not-do those,
but just to directly realise their inconceivable true nature & dynamic as it is here & now [U2T],
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[U2T] We need to directly realise that all dharmas are more like a Union of being empty of inherent existence [T2], not really existent / caused / functional <==> and being conventionally dependently co-arisen relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances / tools / adapted skillful means [T1], merely labeled / imputed by the mind in dependence of its conditioning / karma [U3S], not completely non-existent / non-caused / non-functional / useless / meaningless. And that one aspect / truth implies / proves / enables the other (<==>) [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T].
To understand and then directly realise the exact nature of the inter-relation between those two aspects / truths (dependent origination and emptiness) is the ultimate realisation of a Buddha.
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[U3S] We need to directly realise that all perceived objects / phenomena are co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving with the subject / mind perceiving / fabricating / imagining / merely labeling them [U3S] in dependence of its already accumulated conditioning / karma. The perceived world is not purely objective (objects-only), not purely subjective (subject/mind-only), not purely processes / actions (processes/actions-only), not a combination of them, not none of them. And vice versa for the subject / mind, and relation / action. [U3S / U3S-2T / U3S-opp]
The non-duality subject / observer and object / observed / world and their inter-relation / action is an important aspect to gain omniscience, liberation from all cognitive obscurations.
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[Uopp] We need to directly realise that apparent opposites of any duality / triad / quad / etc. are not really different / separate / in opposition, but are more like inseparable, interdependent, co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony [T1] <==> thus all empty of inherent existence [T2] <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind [U3S] in dependence of its past / conditioning / karma [Uopp / Uopp-2T / Uopp-3S].
The non-duality of all dharmas is an important concept / tool; the Union of the three spheres [U3S], and the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] are specific cases of the Union of opposites [Uopp]; and vice versa.
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[U2T-2T] We need to directly realise that even the two truths are like that : they are themselves empty of inherent existence <==> because themselves conventionally dependently co-arisen (interdependent) relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances / tools / adapted skillful means [U2T-2T], themselves merely labeled / imputed by the mind [U3S-2T]; themselves two inseparable apparent opposites [Uopp-2T].
The two truths and their relation:
T1: The first truth, relative truth, covers the multiplicity of conventionally dependently co-arisen (interdependent) relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances / tools / adapted skillful means, merely labeled / imputed / imagined / co-created by the mind in dependence of its conditioning / karma (in a limitless and centerless cycle [U3S]), not completely non-existence / non-causality / non-functionality.
Note: Something could be co-dependent with its parts and wholes (when applicable), with its causes & conditions and effects (when applicable), with its conceptual opposite(s) (always), and especially co-dependent with the subject / mind merely labeling / imputing it (always).
The conventional / relative truth covers everything physical / body, conceptual / speech, mental / mind; all subjects / beings, relations / actions, objects / phenomena; all apparent opposites; even the two truths themselves. It covers all tools, adapted skillful means, words, symbols, images, concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, milestones, goals, teachings, all dharmas of the Buddha-dharma, even the Ground / Basis / Source / Suchness / Buddha-nature / Genuine-emptiness / Union of the Two Truths. It covers everything in both samsara & nirvana, pure & impure, enlightened or unenlightened.T2: The second truth covers the unicity of the emptiness of inherent existence of all dharmas, not real existence / causality / functionality.
U2T: These two truths, like any other pair of apparent opposites, are not really separate and in opposition, but are more like: inseparable, interdependent, co-defined, co-relative, co-dependent, co-emergent, co-evolving, co-ceasing / co-transcended, in harmony [T1] <==> thus themselves empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T-2T]. We call their inconceivable inter-relation 'the Union of the Two Truths'; but it is not like the coming together of two previously separate / independent things. They are more like: primordially not different / separate / multiple / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth. Meaning indescribable / inconceivable, beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all dualistic conceptual proliferations, beyond all defining limitations, beyond all conditioning / karma.
The two truths (dependent origination and emptiness) are mere temporary imperfect tools, a raft,
to help us to get to the 'inconceivable' by refuting what 'Reality as it is' is not;
by refuting all conditioned extreme views, like:
– existence / dharma, non-existence / non-dharma, both together, neither;
– having characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / features / relations / oppositions / processes / activities / changes, not having characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / features / relations / oppositions / processes / activities / changes, both together, neither;
– being joined, being disjoined, both together, neither;
– being limited / spatially / timely, unlimited / spaceless / timeless, both together, neither;
– difference / manyness / diversity / duality, identity / oneness / sameness / non-duality, both together, neither;
– permanence / continuity / eternity, impermanence / discontinuity / annihilation, both together, neither;
– dependence / causality / production / functionality, independence / acausality / non-production / non-functionality, both together, neither;
– emptiness, non-emptiness, both together, neither;
– conventional / relative / illusory / unreal / false, absolute / universal / non-illusory / real / true, both together, neither;
– dependent origination [T1 - 1st truth only], emptiness of inherent existence [T2 - 2nd truth only],
both truths together [2T - as if different and in opposition], neither of the two truths [1T - as if identical and one];
– subject / mind, relation / action / process, object / phenomena, a combination of those, none of those;
– past, present, future, a combination of those, none of those;
– individuality, collectivity, universality, a combination of those, none of those;
– being equal / pure / perfect / divine / complete / free / enlightened,
being unequal / impure / imperfect / ordinary / incomplete / unenlightened, both together, neither;
– originated/born / existent / changing / ceasing/dying, unarisen / non-existent / unchanging / unceasing, both together, neither;
– describable / conceivable / comparable, indescribable / inconceivable / incomparable, both together, neither;
– with name & sign / existent / wishful, signlessness / emptiness / wishfulness, both together, neither;
– 'this', 'not-this', both together, neither – for whatever 'this' is.So, in a sense, all dharmas – physical / body, conceptual / speech, mental / mind; subject / beings, relation / action, object / phenomena; of samsara or nirvana – are like illusions / reflections / mirages / dreams / echos / 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. Meaning indescribable / inconceivable for our flawed dualistic conceptual ordinary mind(s). They are like illusions … but not exactly the same. Ex. Dreaming that a bus is running toward you cannot permanently injure you; the same for a monster on TV.
'The inconceivable Union of the Two Truths [U2T]' is the inconceivable unique all-encompassing timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, true nature & dynamic of all dharmas in both samsara & nirvana. It is the only thing that is like that: unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing. It is also called the Ground / Basis / Source / Genuine-emptiness / Buddha-nature / Suchness / Dharmata / Dharmadhatu / Primordial awareness / the very limit of reality / Dharma-constituent … It looks like an 'ultimate' but nobody should grasp at it, get attached to it either. It is just like a finger pointing at the moon, not the moon itself, which is indescribable / inconceivable, and has to be directly perceived / realised / experienced in the here & now. It is what meditators are trying to directly perceive / realise / experience, their true nature as it is here & now, the true nature of their mind / subject inseparable from all phenomena / object: not one, not two, not both together, not neither. But this Ground is inseparable from its manifestations [UGM]; so it is not by rejecting appearances / thinking / concepts / the world that one will directly perceive his/her true nature as it is here & now. It is by directly realising that everything, all manifestations inseparable from the Ground, partake its primordial qualities: timelessness, spacelessness, equality, purity, perfection, divinity, completeness, freedom, enlightenment – in the non-dual sense of these words: not this, not non-this, not both together, not neither. Everything is this Ground / Union of the Two Truths [U2T].
The two truths in terms of activities:
T1: The first truth covers acting more and more in accord with valid useful conventional / relative / inter-subjective truths, views, methods, practices, milestones, goals, teachings … It is using valid useful conventional / relative / inter-subjective tools, adapted skillful means, words, symbols, images, concepts, ideas, truths, views, methods, practices, milestones, goals, teachings; thus acting more and more in accord with the first truth: dependent origination, relativity, causality, not complete non-existence / non-causality / non-functionality.
T2: The second truth covers acting without acting in absolute terms, without any grasping / attachment / apprehension / obsession / fixation / reification / reference points / absolutes about anything involved – subject, relation / action, objects –; without falling into any extreme or middle (ex. non-existence / nothingness / mere-emptiness / nihilism); not accepting / affirming / seeking / adding / improving / doing in absolute terms, not rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / subtracting / stopping / not-doing anything in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively; without any di-vision between the three spheres; thus more and more the second truth: the emptiness of inherent existence of all dharmas.
U2T: Acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths [U2T] is acting more and more in accord with valid useful conventional truths, methods, goals … but without grasping at anything (ex. subject / cause, relation / action / causality / production, object / effect) as if inherently existing and with inherently existing characteristics / properties / attributes / qualities / relations / opposition / actions, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes.
Examples:
existing without existing, being without being, having without having,
acting without acting without any attachment / fixation / absolutes, acquiring without acquiring,
arising without arising, changing without changing, moving / relaxing / resting without moving / relaxing / resting, ceasing without ceasing,
seeing / perceiving without seeing / perceiving,
apprehending without apprehending,
constructing without constructing thoughts,
hoping without hoping, desiring without desiring, fearing without fearing, ignoring without ignoring,
understanding without understanding,
knowing without knowing, finding without finding,
paying attention to without paying attention to, standing in without standing in, settling down on without settling down on,
entertaining without entertain the notion of the three spheres,
producing / causing / making / occasioning without producing / causing / making / occasioning,
generating without generating the motivations of bodhicitta,
practicing without practicing the six paramitas,
giving without giving, guarding without guarding morality, cultivating without cultivating patience, making without making effort,
meditating / contemplating without meditating / contemplating, cultivating without cultivating wisdom,
perfecting without perfecting, completing without completing,
mastering without mastering, being skilled in without being skilled in,
training without training, teaching without teaching, leading / guiding without leading / guiding, establishing without establishing,
purifying / defiling without purifying / defiling the five aggregates, accomplishing without accomplishing,
incorporating without incorporating, reaching without reaching, realising without realising,
experiencing without experiencing, actualising without actualising, illuminating without illuminating,
awakening without awakening, unifying without unifying,
thinking without thinking, conceptualising without conceptualising, differentiating without differentiating,
labeling without labeling, designating without designating, characterising without characterising, defining without defining,
separating without separating, joining without joining, unifying without unifying,
comparing without comparing, ranking without ranking, accumulating without accumulating,
accepting / affirming / seeking / adding / doing without accepting / affirming / seeking / adding / doing,
rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / stopping / subtracting / not-doing without rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / stopping / not-doing,
composing without composing, liberating without liberating.The important point is that in Reality as it is, in awakening / enlightenment, there are still valid useful conventional tools / adapted skillful means / qualities / virtues / words / symbols / images / concepts / thoughts / feelings / ideas / truths / views / methods / practices / goals / three spheres – subject / beings / relations / activities, objects / phenomena – / body, speech & mind … that can be used without being used to help all sentient beings still stuck in samsara because of their ignorance of the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T / Middle Way free from all extremes & middle]. Emptiness does not deny conventional truths & activities; on the contrary the two truths are primordially inseparable / interdependent / in harmony. The same for samsara & nirvana.
The three spheres: ex.
i. The subject / actor / goer / perceiver / knower / acquirer / owner / characteristic,
ii. The relation / action / going / perceiving / knowing / acquiring / having / characterisation,
iii. The object / result / destination / perceived / known / acquired / possessions / karma / 5 aggregates / body & speech & mind / characterised.
Generalisations:
Whenever it is possible the comments of each section are expressed into a more global context.
So they always cover more than just what is said in the various translations.
The goal is to make the Big Picture more visible.
Note: All comments within (i.e. …) or [...] are from the commentator (me), not the translators.)
84. COLLECTION – The Verse Summary of the Jewel Qualities
(i.e. Résumé:
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Liberation / completion / purification / omniscience / enlightenment is not gained by rejecting / abandoning samsara / appearances and accepting / seeking nirvana / emptiness. It is gained by training and directly perceiving / realising / experiencing the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now beyond all extremes & middle [U2T].
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So, Bodhisattvas should train in perceiving / realising / experiencing without perceiving / realising / experiencing the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths about any & all dharmas: that all dharmas are 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 / designated by the mind [U3S] in dependence of its conditioning / karma, not completely non-existent / non-caused / non-functional / useless / meaningless.
And vice versa; one aspect / truth implies / proves / enables the other (<==>) [U2T].
Note: Something could be co-dependent with its parts and wholes (when applicable), with its causes & conditions and effects (when applicable), with its conceptual opposite(s) (always), and especially co-dependent with the subject / mind merely labeling / imputing it (always).
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That all dharmas are like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, magical tricks: 'There, but not there.' [U2T].
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That all dharmas are not existent / caused / functional, not completely non-existent / non-caused / non-functional, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth; not different / separate / multiple / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth; not permanent / continuous / eternal, not impermanent / discontinuous / annihilated, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth; not dependent, not independent, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth; not empty, not non-empty, not both together, not neither, and there is no fifth; not dependently arisen, not empty of inherent existence, not both truths together, not neither of the two truths, and there is no fifth; not equal / pure / perfect / divine / complete / free / enlightened, not unequal / impure / imperfect / ordinary / incomplete / non-enlightened, 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 the true nature & dynamic as it is of any / all dharmas is indescribable / inconceivable for our flawed dualistic conceptual conditioned ordinary mind(s);
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That all dharmas have no real three stages of becoming: origination, duration / change, cessation, or complete absence of those.
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That there is no independent / universal / absolute / inherently existing basis to discriminate / differentiate them in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively.
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That there is nothing to accept / affirm / seek / add / do in absolute terms, nothing to reject / nagate / abandon / eliminate / subtract / not-do in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively.
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That we may as well perceive everything as primordially equal, pure, perfect, divine, complete, free, enlightened, the inseparable three pure kayas, the true Buddha – in the non-dual sense of those terms: not this, not non-this …
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All this applies to all dharmas: ex. the three vajras – physical / body, conceptual / speech, mental / mind –; the three spheres – subject, relation / action / process, object –; apparent opposites in any duality / triad / quad / etc.; name / label & referent / basis; the three stages of becoming – origination, duration / change, cessation –, the three times & space; all Buddha-dharmas, all words / concepts / ideas / teachings / views / methods / practices / milestones / levels / goals; samsara & nirvana; even the two truths themselves, and their 'Union', even the Ground and its manifestations.
.
This way one can still use valid useful dharmas / tools / adapted skillful means … conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively, but never in absolute terms.
That is 'acting without acting', without any grasping / attachment / apprehension / obsession / fixation / reification / reference points / absolutes about anything involved – ex. subject, relation / action, object; or apparent opposites –;
without falling into any extreme or middle in relation to any group of opposites;
without accepting / affirming / seeking / adding / improving / doing anything in absolute terms,
without rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / subtracting / not-doing anything in absolute terms,
without changing / defiling / improving / purifying anything in absolute terms,
just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively if it helps somebody to get closer to the inconceivable liberating Truth;
without any di-vision between the three spheres – subject, relation / action, object –;
thus more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now,
more and more in accord with the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle.
.
The important point is that in Reality as it is, in awakening / enlightenment, there are still valid useful conventional tools / adapted skillful means / qualities / virtues / words / symbols / images / concepts / thoughts / feelings / ideas / truths / views / methods / practices / goals / three spheres – subject / beings / relations / activities, objects / phenomena – / body, speech & mind … that can be used without being used to help all sentient beings still stuck in samsara because of their ignorance of the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T / Middle Way free from all extremes & middle]. Emptiness does not deny conventional concepts, truths & activities; on the contrary the two truths are primordially inseparable / interdependent / in harmony. The same for samsara & nirvana.)
(i.e. From the introduction – The Structure of the Eighteen Thousand:
According to that structure, there are five major divisions [I–V] and eleven sections [(1)–(11)].
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I. Introduction: Chapter 1
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II. Brief Exegesis: Chapter 2
Following the introduction there is the single statement by the Lord at the beginning of chapter 2.:
"Here, Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms
should make an effort at the perfection of wisdom."
This says it all in brief.
The reader should understand that the Lord remains silent after saying this.
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III. Intermediate Exegesis: Chapters 2-21
Then, beginning the intermediate exegesis there is Śāriputra's question (2.2),
"How then, Lord, should bodhisattva great beings who want to fully awaken to all dharmas in all forms
make an effort at the Perfection of Wisdom?"
followed by the Lord's response.
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Śāriputra's inquiry raises the following questions:
- What is a bodhisattva and a great being?
- What is it to want fully to awaken to all dharmas in all forms?
- What is "making an effort"?
- And, what is the Perfection of Wisdom?
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Śāriputra's inquiry thus introduces the reader to
(i) bodhisattva great beings,
(ii) all dharmas,
(iii) the Perfection of Wisdom,
(iv) full awakening, and
(v) making an effort — that is, actually putting the Perfection of Wisdom into practice.
These five provide the outline of the intermediate exegesis."
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Informing both the Lord's statement and Śāriputra's question is the important word want — a word that signals a bodhisattva's compassionate aspiration because it references a bodhisattva's motivation. Hence, what truly informs the statement is bodhicitta ("the thought of awakening"), a technical term for a special altruism.
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This section has two parts:
(1) the explanation for and by Śāriputra that goes from chapter 2 through chapter 5 and
(2) the explanation for and by Subhūti, from chapter 6 through chapter 21.
This two-part section corresponds to the first chapter of the Eight Thousand (8k)."
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IV. The detailed exegesis of the opening statement goes from chapters 22 to 82."
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It comprises an explanation of the conceptual and non-conceptual Perfection of Wisdom in
a detailed exposition based on relative [T1] and ultimate truth [T2] [U2T]
for the sake of those who understand from a longer explanation.
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The explanation is subdivided into
(3) an explanation for the head god Śatakratu (chapter 22) and
(4) an explanation by Subhūti (chapters 23–32).
(5) Then there is an explanation that includes an exchange with Maitreya (chapter 33) and
(6–9) three more sections associated with Subhūti and one with Śatakratu.
(10) A second explanation for Maitreya is chapter 83, titled "The Categorization of a Bodhisattva's Training."
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V. Summaries
– Chapter 84 is the summary in verse for Subhūti that circulates separately as The Verse Summary of the Jewel Qualities. In the Eighteen Thousand it is not divided into chapters. ⇐
(11) Chapters 85 and 86 are a summary of the earlier chapters in the form of a story about Sadāprarudita's quest to find his teacher Dharmodgata and learn the Perfection of Wisdom, and the final chapter is a short one in which the Lord entrusts the Perfection of Wisdom to Ānanda and the retinue rejoices.)
(i.e. From the Introduction: Summary of the chapters: i.187
This summary in verse circulates separately as The Verse Summary of the Jewel Qualities (Toh 13).
Here it is not divided into chapters.
The first verses say that the Tathāgata is speaking through the voices of the other interlocutors,
that the Perfection of Wisdom cannot be apprehended through any causal sign,
and that the mendicant Śreṇika gained nirvāṇa through listening to the Perfection of Wisdom.
These verses follow the order of the Eight Thousand (8K).
The verses then generally follow the order of the Long Perfection of Wisdom
and give a very helpful summary up until the end of the second of the three volumes
of the Degé Kangyur Eighteen Thousand.
The verse summary ends with an explanation of each of the six interlinked perfections,
the maturation of beings, the purification of the buddhafield, and awakening.)
[Listening without listening to the perfection of wisdom that cannot be apprehended, with an awareness of non-production & non-non-production; free from all extremes & middle. Standing without standing in the perfection of wisdom, the six paramitas, the Union of the Two Truths [U2T], etc. Practicing without practicing without causal signs – without any di-vision between the three spheres [U3S]; non-dualistically [Uopp].]
Furthermore, the Lord, yet again teaching this perfection of wisdom [U2T]
in order to cause a great joy in those four retinues,
at that time spoke these verses: 864
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(i.e. The Perfection of Wisdom: The sixth of the six perfections, it refers to the profound understanding of the [genuine-]emptiness [free from all extremes & middle] of all phenomena, the realization of ultimate reality [Genuine emptiness free from all extremes & middle = The Union of the Two Truths [U2T] free from all extremes & middle.)
(i.e. The four retinues: These are monks, nuns, and male and female followers of the householder code of conduct.)
With the finest liking, respect, and serene confidence
That clear away obscuring afflictions and pass beyond stains [afflictive obscuration] , 865
Listen to this perfection of wisdom [U2T] of the brave,
Practiced by heroes who have set out for the sake of the world. 866
All the rivers flowing here in Jambudvīpa,
Which make medicinal plants and forests with flowers and fruit grow,
Have their source in the powerful nāga who rules in Lake Anavatapta,
And are all that Nāga-Lord's glorious power. 867
So too all doctrine that the Victor's hearers teach,
Explain, and logically expound, the attainment of a supreme
Noble state of happiness and its results —
all these are the Tathāgata's personal heroic power.
And why? Because the finest people in the form of his disciples
Train in the kinds of Dharma the Victor teaches,
And having realized them, teach as they trained.
This is done by the power of the Buddha, not by the power of their own strength. 868
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(i.e. Enlightenment is not caused / produced by one's own effort. It is beyond causality / production, acausality / non-production, both together, neither. It is part of the inconceivable true nature of Reality as it is here & now.)
Those who have no perplexity or fear when hearing
That the finest perfection of wisdom [T1 - object] cannot be apprehended [T2] [U2T],
A bodhisattva [T1 - subject] cannot be apprehended [T2] [U2T],
the thought of awakening [T1 / relation / action] cannot be apprehended [T2] [U2T] —
those bodhisattvas practice 869 the wisdom of the sugatas [U2T].
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(i.e. Note about 'apprehended: … "commonly refers to the apprehending of a subject, an object, and the relationships that exist between them." — Meaning: Those three spheres – subject / bodhisattva, relation / action / awakening, object / the perfection of wisdom – cannot be apprehended in absolute terms, as three separate / independent / related or opposed entities; just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively [U2T-3S].)
They have no [T2] [inherently existing five aggregates or irreducible elements:] [T1] [U2T]
form, no feeling, no perception, no intention —
Not even an atom's worth of a place for consciousness to stand.
They do not stand on [T2] any [inherently existing] dharmas [T1] [U2T],
they live without a dwelling place [in absolute terms],
And, not grasping,
they [still] find the awakening of the sugatas [U2T].
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(i.e. Living / standing without living / standing, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes. No dharmas in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively.)
(i.e. The Middle Way free from all extremes & middle: not accepting / affirming / seeking / doing anything in absolute terms, not rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / not-doing anything in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively if it helps someone to get close the the inconceivable liberating Truth. Ex. Not rejecting / abandoning / eliminating / stopping all activities in absolute terms / all the time; may be useful in certain situations.)
Just as the mendicant Śreṇika with his knowledge apprehends nothing
And the disintegration of the aggregates occurs,
So too the bodhisattvas comprehend the dharmas
And do not touch nirvāṇa — they dwell in wisdom [U2T]. 870
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
"What is this wisdom [U2T]? Whose is it? Where is it from?"
They consider that all these dharmas [T1] are empty [T2] [U2T].
-
(i.e. Clear realization about the true nature & dynamic of all dharmas: All dharmas are 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 indescribable / inconceivable, beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all dualistic conceptual proliferations, beyond all defining limitations, beyond all conditioning / karma. They are appearing / conventional / relative, but still empty of inherent existence; they are empty of inherent existence [T2], but still conventionally dependently co-arisen (interdependent) relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labeled / imputed by the mind [U3S] in dependence of its conditioning / karma. One aspect / truth implies / proves / enables the other (<==>) [U2T].)
Looking closely, they are not cowed and are not scared —
Those bodhisattvas are close to awakening.
But if without wisdom they make a practice of 871
The form, perception, feeling, intention, and consciousness aggregates,
And imagine the aggregates [T1] to be empty [T2], (i.e. Imagining that the five aggregates are real, and have the inherent characteristics of being impermanent, suffering, empty …. [2T]. Grasping at both truths together.)
they practice causal signs.
Their faith is not in what does not arise and does not stop. 872
-
(i.e. Union of the Two Truths about the three stages of becoming [U2T-3T]: There are no real three stages of becoming – origination / arising / coming / past, duration / change / present, cessation / stopping / future – for anything, nor is there total absence of them. The three stages are not inherently existent, not completely non-existent, not both together, not neither.)
(i.e. Union of the Two Truths about the Two Truths themselves [U2T-2T]: …)
Not in form or feeling,
not in perception or intention,
Not practicing in consciousness,
wandering without a place to stay,
With steady wisdom [U2T] not apprehending [T2]
"one is practicing," [T1] with an awareness of non-production [T2] 873
They touch the most excellent calm meditative stabilization. 874
Those bodhisattvas who thus abide here personally at peace 875
Have been prophesied by the previous tathāgatas.
They do not falsely project
"I have entered into meditative equipoise" or "I have emerged."
And why? Because they have comprehended the basic nature of dharmas [U2T]. 876
When practicing like that they practice the wisdom of the sugatas.
And because they comprehend that no practice is the practice, 877
They do not even apprehend the Dharma that they practice —
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
That which does not exist 878 is called non-existent.
Fools have imagined it and fashion it as existing and not existing.
Dharmas are not these two — existing and not existing.
Bodhisattvas who know that will go forth. 879
-
(i.e. Clear realization: "They are not completely 'non-existent' either": All dharmas are 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 indescribable / inconceivable, beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all dualistic conceptual proliferations, beyond all defining limitations, beyond all conditioning / karma. They are appearing / conventional / relative, but still empty of inherent existence; they are empty of inherent existence [T2], but still conventionally dependently co-arisen (interdependent) relatively functional ever-changing impermanent appearances [T1], merely labeled / imputed by the mind [U3S] in dependence of its conditioning / karma. One aspect / truth implies / proves / enables the other (<==>) [U2T].)
Those who know that these five aggregates are like an illusion,
And do not make illusion one thing and the aggregates another,
Free from the perception of variety, practicing at peace —
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Those with spiritual friends, with special insight,
Do not get scared when listening to the Mother of Victors.
Those with bad friends, placing their trust in others,
Break apart like an unfired pot coming into contact with water. 880
[Why are they called Bodhisattva Great Beings?]
Why are they called a bodhisattva?
They want to cut attachments, to extinguish attachments everywhere,
And touch the awakening of the victors that is without attachment. 881
Therefore they get the name bodhisattva.
Why then are they called a great being?
They will become foremost in a great mass of beings.
They chop down the many views of a mass of beings.
Therefore, they get called a great being.
Greatly generous, with great intellect and great power,
They have set out in the supreme Great Vehicle of the victors,
And buckled on the great armor to conquer Māra's deceit.
Therefore, they are called a great being.
As when a magician at a crossroads conjures
The illusion of many people and severs ten million heads,
The bodhisattvas know that, like those victims, all beings
Are like illusions, and so have no fear.
[Not bound, not freed.]
Form, 882 feeling, perception, intention, and consciousness
Are not bound, are not freed, and are not real.
Therefore, the uncowed ones set out for awakening.
This is the finest armor of the best people.
[Why is it called the Great Vehicle? Why is it called the finest perfection of wisdom?]
Why is it called the awakening vehicle?
It is because having mounted on it causes all beings to enter nirvāṇa;
This vehicle is a space-like celestial mansion, the finest vehicle
In which they reach happiness, the state of bliss, and security.
You cannot find a direction in which those who mount on it go.
They are said to go to nirvāṇa but you cannot find where they went,
Just like when a fire goes out, it does not go anywhere,
And that is the reason it is said to be nirvāna. 883
Bodhisattvas purified of the three time periods
Do not apprehend a prior limit, a later limit, or a present.
Those who are purified are uncompounded
and without thought construction [in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively].
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
-
(i.e. Thinking without thinking, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes. No thoughts in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively.).
(i.e. The Middle Way free from all extremes & middle: not accepting / affirming / seeking / doing anything in absolute terms, not rejecting / negating / abandoning / eliminating / not-doing anything in absolute terms, just conventionally / relatively / inter-subjectively if it helps someone to get close the the inconceivable liberating Truth. Ex. Not rejecting / abandoning / eliminating / stopping all thoughts in absolute terms / all the time; but may be useful when starting to meditate.)
When smart bodhisattvas think about non-production,
At that time, practicing like that,
they generate great compassion [T1], but without a perception of beings [T2] [U2T].
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
If bodhisattvas have a perception of a being, a perception of suffering,
Think, "I will eliminate suffering and benefit beings,"
Or conceive of a self and beings,
This is not the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Knowing that just as they are, all beings are like that too;
Knowing that just as all beings are, all dharmas are like that too; 884
Not entertaining the idea of either production or non-production [in absolute terms] —
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Having eliminated a production and a beyond in all
The dharma-names, as many as there are, spoken in all the worlds,
A perfect, matchless knowledge that does not die is gained.
Therefore, it is called the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
You should know that bodhisattvas are those who practice
Like that without hesitation, endowed with wisdom, abiding in sameness.
Comprehending that dharmas [T1] are without a basic nature [T2] [U2T]
Is practicing the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 885
Those who do not stand [T2] in form [T1] [U2T]
and do not stand [T2] in feeling [T1] [U2T],
do not stand [T2] in perception [T1] [U2T],
do not stand [T2] in intention [T1] [U2T],
who do not stand In consciousness [T1] [U2T] —
they stand in the true nature of dharmas [U2T].
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
They do not stand [T2] in permanent or impermanent,
Happiness or suffering, clean or dirty, self or selfless,
Or in suchness,
and similarly they do not stand [T2] in emptiness [T1] [U2T-2T],
The attainment of the results, the worthy one level, the pratyeka level, or the buddha level.
Just as the Leader does not stand in the uncompounded element,
Does not stand in the compounded element, and wanders without a home,
So too the Victor says the bodhisattva who stands like that stands,
Not standing on a place to stand, standing without standing.
Those who want to become a tathāgata's śrāvaka,
A pratyekabuddha, and similarly a Dharma king,
Cannot do so without relying on this forbearance,
Like going from this shore to that shore without seeing the dock.
The Tathāgata says teaching and listening to the Dharma
And what is taught, the results obtained,
The pratyekabuddha, and the lord of the world too, the nirvāṇa
Those with clear intelligence obtain — they are all like illusions.
These four persons are not scared of that:
The victor's child skilled in the truths, the irreversible, the worthy one
Who has cleared away the dirt and eliminated doubt,
And the fourth, 886 who is the one looked after by spiritual friends.
[Training without training for the sake of all-knowledge beyond all extremes & middle, beyond all dualistic conceptual proliferations, beyond all defining limitations, beyond all conditioning / karma, beyond causality & acausality, matter-energy, space & time.]
Smart bodhisattvas practicing like that do not train
In the worthy one level, nor in the pratyekabuddha level,
But train in the buddha-dharmas for the sake of all-knowledge.
Those not 887 training in training and not training are training.
-
(i.e. Knowledge of all aspects (omniscience): Knowledge of all valid useful conventionally dependently co-arisen (interdependent) relatively functional ever-changing impermanent concepts / ideas / truths / views / methods / practices / goals / adapted skillful means / antidotes [T1], merely labeled / imputed by the mind <==> together with their emptiness of inherent existence [T2], as a Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]. Thus being able to use conventionally / relatively, but without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; thus not slaves to them. Bodhisattvas wants to know all of those aspects because they awant to be able to help all sentient beings without discrimination. It is not omniscience about objects and relations in an objective world (like with sciences), but omniscience about the way beings think and about how to help them, about the functioning of the karmic cycle and how to disarm it.)
The training is not done for the increase, reduction, or appropriation
Of form, nor for the appropriation of the variety of dharmas.
While training they get hold of all-knowledge. This emergence
Is the training of those who take pleasure in the qualities. 888
Form is not wisdom, wisdom is not in form;
These — consciousness, perception, feeling, and intention —
Are not wisdom and also wisdom is not in them.
It is equal to the space element, without distinction.
The basic nature of those objective supports is boundless,
The basic nature of beings is boundless,
The basic nature of the space element is boundless, 889
And the wisdom of the knowers of worlds is boundless too.
The Leader proclaims that perception is the near shore.
When perception, having disintegrated, has been abandoned,
One crosses to the far shore. Those who have subsequently attained this freedom
From perception, having crossed over, stand in the Teacher's words.
Even if the Teacher were to remain for as many eons as there are
Sand particles in the Gaṅgā River proclaiming the word being,
However could beings, pure from the beginning, be born?
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
The Victor said, "When I had become a speaker in harmony
With this finest perfection, the finest person
Of an earlier time made a prophecy that
I would in the future become a buddha." 890
Poison, weapons, fire, and water do not overpower,
And Māra and those on Māra's side find no way to cause trouble
To those who respectfully 891 take up and master
This perfection of wisdom [U2T], the protectors' practice. 892
[Immeasurable merit & benefits comes from this perfection of wisdom.]
Were someone who worships the stūpa of a sugata
Who has passed into nirvāṇa, made of the seven precious stones,
To fill a hundred thousand one hundred million regions
With as many of those stūpas as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River,
And, theoretically, were all those beings, as many as there are,
Living in an infinity of one hundred million regions to do
Nothing else but worship them with divine flowers, the finest incense,
And fragrance for eons during the three time periods, or even longer,
Still, were someone to write down in a book this mother of the sugatas
From which the ten powers of the leaders arise, bear it in mind,
And honor it with flowers and fragrances, the merit created from worshiping the stūpas
That have been made would not approach that merit even by a fraction.
This perfection of wisdom [U2T] of the victors is a great knowledge mantra
Relieving the phenomena of pain and suffering of great masses of beings.
Having trained in this knowledge mantra, those protectors of the past
In worlds in the ten directions became unsurpassed doctor-kings.
Those who practice a practice of benefit together with compassion
Train in this knowledge mantra; they are smart and touch awakening.
You should know that the happinesses that are compounded and the happinesses
That are uncompounded, all those happinesses issue forth from this. 893
Seeds are sown, lodge in the earth, and are ready to sprout.
They grow up in a variety of forms when conditions are complete.
The five perfections and the qualities of awakening,
As many as there are, all grow from the perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 894
On whichever path a wheel-turning emperor travels,
All the seven precious treasures and the mass of forces always travel on that very path too.
Wherever the Victor's perfection of wisdom [U2T] travels,
Right there all the dharmas — the good qualities — travel along too. 895
[Choosing the perfection of wisdom over anything else in the world.]
Śatakratu responded when questioned by the Victor: 896
If the buddhafields, as many as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River,
Were all to be filled right to the top with the physical remains of the tathāgatas,
Still I would take just his perfection of wisdom [U2T].
And why? Not because I do not respect the physical remains, 897
But because they are worshiped for being suffused by wisdom.
Just as a person who is supported by the king receives worship,
The physical remains of the tathāgatas are supported by perfect wisdom. 898
A casket graced by a priceless precious jewel endowed
With good qualities is worthy of reverence, and even after
It has been taken out you take pleasure in the casket.
The good qualities are those of that precious jewel. 899
Similarly, even when a victor has passed into nirvāṇa, the physical remains
Invite worship because of the good qualities of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
So those who want to appropriate a victor's good qualities
Should take hold of this perfection of wisdom [U2T]. It is freedom.
[Wisdom is what perfects / purifies / completes all other virtues, and ultimately everything.]
Wisdom is the leader for giving gifts, 900 so too for morality,
Patience, perseverance, and concentration.
It is the help so that wholesome dharmas will not be lost. 901
It shows the single way of all dharmas.
To illustrate, there are a thousand one hundred million trees in Jambudvīpa
In many forms, of various kinds and various types,
But still there are not various kinds of shadows; there is no difference
Apart from talking about the number of things that have become shaded. 902
Similarly, these five perfections of a victor
Get the very name perfection of wisdom [U2T].
When they have been dedicated to all-knowledge,
All six of them become the single taste called awakening. 903
If bodhisattvas who are unaware explain form,
Feeling, perception, intention, and consciousness as
Impermanent, they are engaged in a counterfeit.
The learned never ever make dharmas perish. 904
Knowing the mode in which all dharmas [T1] are unproduced and empty [T2] [U2T],
Where form is not apprehended [in absolute terms], nor feeling, nor perception,
Nor consciousness, nor intention is apprehended [in absolute terms],
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 905
The merit of someone who has written out this perfection of wisdom [U2T]
And bestowed it on an excellent 906 being is superior to someone
Who has led all the beings, as many as there are, in as many regions
As there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River to the state of a worthy one. 907
And why? Because, having trained in this, the most excellent speakers
Make all phenomena [T1] known here in emptiness [T2] [U2T],
And, having listened to them, śrāvakas will quickly touch freedom,
Touch a pratyekabuddha's awakening, and a buddha's awakening. 908
[The thought of awakening is the seed of all goodness when united with wisdom.]
Without seeds there would be no trees in the world,
So how would there be branches, blossoms, and fruit there?
Without the thought of awakening there would be no victors possible in the world,
So how could there be the results, Śatakratus, Brahmās, and śrāvakas?
When the circle of the sun sends forth its latticework of light,
Beings work hard at the work they have to do.
When the thought of awakening comes to be in the world for the sake of the knowledge of the wise,
By means of knowledge, beings become endowed with the dharmas — the good qualities. 909
To illustrate, were the Nāga Lord not to be in Anavatapta
How would the rivers in this Jambudvīpa ever flow?
Without the rivers there would be no blossoms or fruit,
And there would not be the many-colored jewels in the oceans.
So too, when there is no thought of awakening here,
How will there ever be the knowledge of a sugata in all these worlds?
And when there is no knowledge there is no increase in good qualities,
No awakening, and no ocean-like buddha-dharmas.
A single ray of light from the circle of the sun is far greater than
All the light emitted by all the light-making insects in this world.
All the light of the mass of light-makers
Is not even a fraction of it. 910
The mass of merit that the śrāvaka communities, as many as there are, create, 911
Associated with giving, morality, and meditation,
That mass of merit that the śrāvaka communities create is not even a fraction
Of what a bodhisattva's single thought of rejoicing creates.
All the merits of those past hundred million billion buddhas in times gone by,
Of the thousand hundred million presently standing in infinitely many buddhafields,
Of all the world protectors who have passed into nirvāṇa,
And from the teaching of the precious Dharma that puts an end to suffering —
All the merits of those victors,
From their first generation of the production of the thought of supreme awakening
Up until the time the good Dharma of the leaders is extinguished —
The endowment of the perfections, all the buddha-dharmas,
[Proper accumulation of merit and proper dedication – with more and more wisdom.]
All the buddha's children, the śrāvakas,
Trainees and non-trainees, the good with outflows,
And without — the bodhisattvas gather it all together, rejoice in it,
And dedicate it all to awakening as a catalyst for the welfare of the world.
If the dedication occurs with a perception of a thought, a perception of an awakening,
And a perception of a dedication and beings, it does not rank as a dedication,
Because it apprehends something, because a perception
Is based on wrong view, and the mind is triply attached.
If such dharmas as these stop and come to an end,
If that to which the dedication is made comes to an end, 912
If there is an understanding that no dharma ever dedicates to any dharma,
In that case the dedication has been made with awareness.
If it is done with causal signs it is not a dedication,
But if it is done without causal signs it is a dedication to awakening.
The Victor has said that falsely apprehending a bright dharma as a fact
Is like eating good food mixed with poison.
Therefore, the dedication in which they have to train is like this.
And the rejoicing and dedication should be in line with what
Those victors know to be the type, origin,
And mark of the wholesome, exactly like that.
If merits are thus dedicated to awakening, one is not poisoned,
Does not forsake the buddhas, and propounds what the victors have taught. 913
The hero who dedicates like that surpasses all the bodhisattvas
In the world, as many as there are, caught up in apprehending things. 914
[Wisdom is what gives the other perfections their name. Like space, it does not stand anywhere at all.]
Without a guide a billion people born blind
Cannot even find the road, so how could they ever
Make it to the city? Without wisdom as a guide
These five blind perfections cannot touch awakening. 915
When wisdom has taken hold of them,
They gain eyes and get their names,
Like when an artist has finished the work but not the eyes,
And they do not get paid until the eyes are painted in.
When wisdom dissects the compounded and uncompounded,
Good and bad dharmas, and does not apprehend even an atom,
Then the wisdom is counted in the world as perfect.
Like space, it does not stand anywhere at all.
Were bodhisattvas to think, "I will practice the wisdom of the victors
And will free many billions of beings from the experience of suffering,"
They would construct in thought the notion of beings.
This is not the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
When learned bodhisattvas who have practiced before are practicing,
They practice this perfection without hesitation,
And as soon as they have heard it, perceive it as the Teacher
And quickly realize the peace of awakening.
Those with tiny intellects who, when practicing previously,
Showed respect to a billion buddhas but did not place their trust
In the perfection of wisdom [U2T], reject it when they hear it and,
Having abandoned it, are defenseless and go to the Avīci hell.
So put your trust in this mother of victors
If you want to experience the finest buddha knowledge.
Do not be like the trader who came back from a journey
To an island of precious jewels without anything to sell. 916
[Perceiving with wisdom the primordial purity of all dharmas.]
Know that the purity of form is just the purity of the result.
The purity of the result and form is the purity of all-knowledge.
The purity of all-knowledge and the result, and the purity of form,
Are equal to the space element, not divided and not cut apart.
Heroes go beyond the three realms but not into liberation
Because of the perfection of wisdom [U2T] that they practice.
Though they have eliminated the afflictions, they reveal birth.
Though they do not get old, get sick, and die, they reveal death.
Knowing that living beings are stuck in the mud of name 917 and form,
Wandering in the wheel of saṃsāra that is like a windmill,
And confused like animals caught in a trap,
The wise move about like birds in the sky.
When a perfectly pure practitioner does not practice form
And does not practice consciousness, perception, feeling, or intention,
Such a practitioner abandons all attachments
And, freed from all attachments, practices the wisdom of the sugatas. 918
Bodhisattvas with clear intelligence who practice like that
Cut attachments and go forth without attachment to the world,
Like the sun that has escaped from an eclipse and shines brightly,
And like a fire set loose that burns grass, trees, and forests.
When bodhisattvas see with the perfection of wisdom [U2T]
That all dharmas are pure, perfectly pure in their basic nature,
They do not apprehend [T2] a doer (subject) [T1] [U2T],
do not apprehend [T2] any dharma (objects) [T1] [U2T] [U3S] —
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 919
[Making an effort without making an effort.]
Śatakratu, king of the gods, asks the Victor: 920
How do bodhisattvas practicing wisdom make an effort?
They do not make even just a speck of effort at the aggregates and constituents.
Not making an effort at the aggregates [T2] is the bodhisattvas' effort [T1] [U2T].
If someone hears that dharmas are like magical creations,
Like illusions, and makes an effort to train without hesitation,
Know that they have served a billion buddhas well
And have long since set out in the vehicle.
[Signs of proper practice.]
A person who has gone many yojanas on a wild jungle path 921
Might see cow herders and tended forest boundary-markers,
And thinking that they are signs a village or town is near,
Will breathe out a sigh of relief and have no fear.
Similarly, when those set on awakening have gotten to listen
To this perfection of wisdom [U2T] of the victors,
They breathe out a sigh of relief and have no fear,
Not of the level of a worthy one and not of the level of a pratyekabuddha.
If those who go off to see the water in an ocean
See trees, forests, and mountains, it is still a long way off,
But if they do not see such signs, they become certain
The great sea is near and have no doubt about it.
Similarly, those who have set out for awakening and are listening
To the perfection of wisdom [U2T] of the victors are like that,
And should know, "Even if I have not come face to face with the Leader
And been prophesied, before long I will experience a buddha's awakening." 922
In brilliant springtime when buds have come out on the trees,
Leaves, flowers, and fruit will appear on the branches before long.
Whoever has taken this perfection of wisdom [U2T] into their arms
Before long will attain the awakening of the leaders.
Just as when a woman is pregnant and suffers the pain
Of contractions, it is said "the time is at hand for giving birth,"
Similarly, bodhisattvas who hear the victor's wisdom and feel delight
And a desire to act will quickly experience awakening. 923
When yogic practitioners practice the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]
They do not see [T2] an increase or a decline in form [T1] [U2T].
Someone who does not see [T2] a dharma, non-dharma, or dharma-constituent [T1] [U2T],
And does not experience [T2] nirvāṇa [T1], is standing in wisdom [U2T]. 924
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
Those practicing this do not mentally construct [T2] the buddha-dharmas [T1] [U2T],
And do not mentally construct [T2] the powers, legs of miraculous power, awakening, or peace [T1] [U2T].
Practice imbued with the special power that is non-conceptual [in absolute terms],
Free from mental construction [in absolute terms],
this is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 925
[Hindrances]
Subhūti asks the Buddha, the moon-like speaker: 926
What are the hindrances faced by those who delight in the good qualities?
And the Teacher says,
There will be many hindrances,
So, for a start, I will proclaim just a few of them.
When writing out this perfection of wisdom [U2T] of the victors
Many different types of confidence giving a readiness to speak will arise
That have not been of benefit to beings, and also that happen too fast, like lightning,
And disappear. This is the work of Māra. 927
While it is explained some will harbor doubts:
"The Leader has not even proclaimed my name here;
He has not proclaimed my social class, station, or lineage."
They will not listen and reject it — the work of Māra. 928
Those without such an understanding who have heard
The perfection of wisdom [U2T] but go on looking for sūtras
Are like fools who reject the roots and look for branches and leaves,
Or like those who keep tracking an elephant after finding it.
Bodhisattvas seeking awakening at the level
Of a worthy one after obtaining this perfection
Are like those who have obtained food with a hundred tastes —
Obtained the finest food — yet go looking for food of poor quality. 929
When they want respect, want wealth,
Have ulterior motives to become intimate with householders,
Forsake what is right and engage in actions that are wrong,
Or have left the path and gone astray — this is the work of Māra. 930
At that time there are those who, out of longing and faith,
Go to listen to the good Dharma,
But come away feeling dislike and unhappiness
When they come to know the Dharma preacher's preoccupations. 931
At that time these works of Māra occur.
At that time many other hindrances also occur
On account of which many monks become upset
And do not uphold this perfection of wisdom [U2T].
Just as jewels that have become priceless are rare
And always come with many things that make trouble,
So too the victors' finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]
Is a precious Dharma that is rare and comes with many things that make trouble. 932
Māra is eager to block narrow-minded beings
Newly set out in the vehicle from acquiring this rare jewel,
But the buddhas in the ten directions
Are there to assist them. 933
[Protectors of the Dharma]
When a mother with many sons has fallen sick,
They are all worried and attend to her needs. 934
So too the buddhas in world systems in the ten directions
Watch over this supreme wisdom that serves as their mother.
World protectors in the past, in the ten directions now,
And those who will appear in the future arise from her —
The mother, the revealer of the world, who gives birth to the victors,
And reveals the thought activities of other beings.
[The inconceivable all-pervasive timeless unique unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Suchness / true nature & dynamic as it is of all dharmas / Union of the Two Truths – I]
The suchness of the world, the suchness of a worthy one,
The suchness of a pratyekabuddha, and the suchness of a victor's child
Are just a single suchness separated from existing things, without another. 935
A tathāgata knows the perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 936
-
(i.e. The inconceivable unique all-encompassing timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Very limit of reality / Suchness / the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is / the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths / [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T] — free from all extremes & middle, free from all dualistic conceptual proliferations, free from all defining limitations, free from all conditioning / karma.)
Whether the wise stand in the world or in nirvāṇa,
This true nature, the fixed nature of dharmas — that dharmas [T1] are empty [T2] [U2T] — remains.
Bodhisattvas understand this suchness,
So those who have awakened are given the name realized one. 937
This pleasure park that is the perfection of wisdom [U2T], the resort
Of leaders with the ten powers, is the area over which they range.
Even though they extricate beings from suffering in the
Three terrible forms of life [T1] they never entertain the idea of a being [T2] [U2T].
Just as a lion having resorted to its mountain lair is fearless,
And, roaring, frightens many lesser animals,
So too the human lion resorts to the perfection of wisdom [U2T]
And, roaring in the world, 938 frightens many tīrthikas.
Just as the light rays of the sun suspended in the sky
Dry out this earth and reveal shapes,
So too the Dharma king, having resorted to the perfection of wisdom [U2T],
Dries up the rivers of craving and reveals the Dharma.
The Tathāgata says that where you
do not see [T2] forms [T1] [U2T],
Do not see [T2] feelings [T1] [U2T],
do not see [T2] perceptions [T1] [U2T],
Do not see [T2] intentions [T1] [U2T],
and do not see [T2] consciousness, Mind, or thinking minds [T1] [U2T],
you "see the Dharma [U2T]." 939
Beings say the words "see the space,"
But how do you see a space?
Consider what this means [U2T].
The Tathāgata's exposition of seeing the Dharma is like that,
Because the seeing cannot be expressed with any analogy. (i.e. inconceivable) 940
Those who see like that see all dharmas [U2T].
Like rulers sitting dispassionately having their minister do everything,
Whatever the work of the buddhas and the doctrines of śrāvakas,
The perfection of wisdom [U2T] does it all. 941
A ruler does not travel to villages, does not travel the countryside,
But gathers in all that is amassed from the realm.
A bodhisattva does not stray from the true nature of dharmas [U2T]
But gathers in all the good qualities of the buddha level. 942
[Faith has to be assisted by skillful means and wisdom]
Those who have firm faith in the sugatas and bodhisattvas,
With an intention yoked to the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T],
Go beyond both śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha levels
And, unsurpassable, quickly reach the awakening of the victors. 943
To illustrate, when a boat on the ocean breaks up,
People who do not grab hold of a corpse, thatch, or a log
Will perish in the middle of the water without reaching the shore.
But those who do grab hold get to the other side of the ocean. 944
Those with such faith who have gained a serene confidence
Do not do so having set aside the mother perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 945
When the good qualities of skillful means are assisted by wisdom,
They quickly experience the finest marvelous awakening of the sugatas.
You should know that it is like when somebody transports water
In an unfired pot, which quickly disintegrates because it is flimsy.
Carrying water in a fired pot, one does not worry that it will
Fall to pieces along the way — one arrives home happily.
Similarly, even if bodhisattvas have a lot of faith,
If they are lacking in wisdom they will quickly become unfit,
-
But when their faith has been assisted by wisdom,
they pass beyond the two levels and gain the highest awakening.
It is like when a ship that has not been well constructed
Gets destroyed on the ocean together with its cargo and traders,
But if that ship has been well constructed,
It does not break up and reaches the shore with its cargo.
Similarly, even bodhisattvas who have cultivated faith will quickly
Be lacking in what it takes for awakening if they have no wisdom.
-
But if they are endowed with the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T],
They will quickly, unharmed and uninjured, experience a victor's awakening.
Even if an ailing one hundred and twenty-year-old person
Gets up, they are unable to walk on their own.
But if they are supported by people on the left and the right,
They have no fear of falling and move about easily.
Similarly, even after they have set out, bodhisattvas
Who are weak in wisdom degenerate in the interim.
-
But if they are assisted by skillful means and wisdom,
They do not degenerate and touch a tathāgata's awakening. 946
[Relying on learned spiritual friend]
Those bodhisattvas standing on the level of someone beginning the work 947
Who have set out with a surpassing aspiration for a buddha's finest awakening,
Who are good trainees with respect for their gurus,
Must continually rely on learned spiritual friends.
Why? The good qualities of the learned come from them.
They give instruction in the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
The Victor, holder of all the finest qualities, says,
"The buddha-dharmas are contingent on a spiritual friend."
Dedicate giving, morality, patience, and similarly perseverance,
Concentration, and wisdom to awakening.
Do not settle down on awakening and the aggregates 948
and grasp them as an absolute.
Those who are beginning the work have to be taught that.
Those practicing like that, oceans of good qualities, 949 moon-like speakers,
Are the world's refuge, final allies, resting place, support,
Intelligence, 950 island, leaders, helpers, illuminators,
Lamps, propounders of the finest doctrine, and imperturbable.
Greatly glorified, they wear the armor difficult to wear,
An armor not of aggregates, constituents, and sense fields. 951
They are free from and not grabbed by the notion of three vehicles;
They are irreversible, unshaken, and have the quality of being imperturbable.
You should know that those endowed with such dharmas, free from thought construction,
Free from doubt, hesitation, and uncertainty, purposeful,
Not procrastinating after hearing the perfection of wisdom [U2T],
Do not place their trust in others
and are irreversible.
[Even though it is deep, hard to see, there is no attainment without wisdom. The inconceivable all-pervasive timeless unique unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine Ground / Basis / Source / Suchness / true nature & dynamic as it is of all dharmas / Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T]. It is without a distinguishing feature, free from a differentiation of dharmas.]
This Dharma of the leaders is deep and hard to see [U2T].
Nobody has realized it and nobody attains it.
Therefore, the helpful and compassionate one, having reached awakening,
Is uninclined 952 to teach, wondering, "Which group of beings will understand?"
Beings like foundations and want objects.
They keep on grasping like blind, uneducated fools.
The dharma to be acquired has no foundation and is free from grasping,
So it comes up as a topic for dispute 953 with the world. 954
The space element in the eastern direction, southern direction,
And, similarly, in the western direction and northern direction is without an end.
It is there above and below, in the ten directions as far as they go,
Without differences and without specific features.
The suchness of what has gone and the suchness of what is yet to come,
The suchness of the present and the suchness of worthy ones,
The suchness of the totality of dharmas, the suchness of victors —
All this suchness of dharmas is without a distinguishing feature. 955
Bodhisattvas who want to reach this —
The awakening of the sugatas free from a differentiation of dharmas —
Should unite with the perfection of wisdom [U2T] united with skillful means.
There is no attainment without the wisdom of the leaders.
When a bird with a large body of a hundred and fifty yojanas,
Feeble and with wings that give out and fail,
Launches itself from Trāyastriṃśa to Jambudvīpa,
It gets utterly tired out there and drops.
Even were the victors to have accomplished
These five perfections [T1] for many billions of eons,
And to have always resorted to infinite vast prayers in the world, 956
Without method, separated from wisdom [T2] [U2T], they would have fallen to the state of a śrāvaka. 957
Those who want to go forth in the Buddha Vehicle 958
Should regard all beings equally [Uopp], perceive them as father and mother,
And train in the thought to benefit and in a mind that is kind.
They should be without malice, 959 straightforward, and gentle in speech. 960
The elder Subhūti petitioned the world protector:
Please teach the signs of the conflict-free
Oceans of good qualities, how those who are powerful are irreversible from awakening.
Victor, please give us just an indication of such good qualities. 961
Free from the perception of difference [Uopp], speaking appropriate words,
Not relying on others who lead a secluded religious life or brahmins,
The wise avoid the three terrible forms of life at all times
And work hard on the ten wholesome actions. 962
They instruct the world in the Dharma for no material benefit,
Take singular delight in the Dharma, always speak gently,
Are fully mindful when going out, walking, sitting, and resting,
And look ahead just as much as a yoke-length when going, without thoughts veering off.
They are clean, wear immaculate clothes, are pure on account of three isolations, 963
Do not want wealth, are like dominant bulls always wanting the Dharma,
Are beyond the range of Māra, 964 do not place trust in others,
And are absorbed in the four concentrations but do not stand 965 in those concentrations.
They do not want to be famous, their minds are not enveloped in anger,
And they become householders without attachment to all real bases,
Without seeking possessions by wrong livelihood
Through black magic spells or spells to procure women. 966
They do not foretell a boy or a girl to those who engage in sexual intercourse. 967
They have endeavored at the finest, very isolated perfection of wisdom [U2T];
Have steered clear of fights and quarrels; have steady loving minds;
Always want all-knowledge and have thoughts set on the Dharma; 968
Have avoided border areas, outer regions where barbarians are born; 969
Are not uncertain about their own level, always like Mount Sumeru; 970
Will forsake even their life for the sake of the Dharma; and have worked hard at yoga 971 —
Know that these are the signs they are irreversible from awakening. 972
Form, feeling, perception, intention, and consciousness are deep.
In their basic nature they are without signs and are at peace. 973
Like trying to reach the bottom of the ocean with a reed,
When examined with wisdom, a bottom to the aggregates [T1] cannot be found [T2] [U2T].
What greater accomplishment of merit is there
Than that of bodhisattvas who have become deep like that,
Who realize the Dharma, the ultimate vehicle free from attachment [T1]
In which there are no aggregates, no sense fields, and no constituents [T2] [U2T]? 974
[Merit becomes immeasurable when combined with more and more wisdom of realising the true nature & dynamic of all dharmas involved in the practices [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T].]
As many times in a single day as a man with a strong libido
Actively imagines a woman in his mind
After setting up a date but not getting her,
For that many eons the bodhisattva gets merit. 975
Bodhisattvas endowed with 976 the perfection of wisdom [U2T]
Who give expression to the Dharma are better than those who give gifts
To worthy ones and pratyekabuddhas and guard morality for a thousand
One hundred million eons.
Such giving and morality do not equal a fraction of that merit. 977
There is nothing in the three worlds that can match the virtue
Of bodhisattvas who, having meditated on the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T],
Arise from it and give expression to the unsullied Dharma,
And dedicate it as the cause of awakening for the sake of the world.
Understanding, 978 furthermore, that such merit
Rings hollow, is empty, in vain, a fraud, and pointless,
They thus practice the practice of the wisdom of the sugatas,
And when practicing appropriate infinite merit. 979
They know that all these dharmas the buddha has explained,
Advocated, and explicated are simply just talk.
Even if they are talked about for many billion eons,
In the dharma-constituent nothing diminishes and nothing increases.
Those dharmas of the victors called "perfections"
Are proclaimed to be just words.
Bodhisattvas who dedicate
Without falsely projecting them are not ruined
And will experience a buddha's finest awakening. 980
[The inconceivable true nature & dynamic of causality / production.]
Just as the wick of an oil lamp is not burned up by its first encounter
With a flame, yet not burned up without it either,
And just as the wick is not burned up by its last encounter with a tongue of fire
Yet the wick is not burned up without the last tongue of fire either,
The finest awakening is not touched because of the first thought,
Yet it cannot be touched without it either.
The peace of awakening is not gained through the last thought
Yet it cannot be gained without it either. 981
-
(i.e. Causing / producing without causing / producing merit and awakening, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / cause / producer, relation / action / causality / production, object / result / effect / product –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T]. – No cause with / without effect, no effect with / without cause. No continuity, not discontinuity. No real dependent origination, duration / change, cessation in absolute terms; just conventional / relative / inter-subjective ones.)
The seedling, flowers, and fruit come forth from the seed.
If it has ceased, the tree does not exist since it does not.
Similarly, the first thought is also the cause of awakening.
If it has ceased, awakening does not exist since it does not.
Just as a pot is gradually filled up with drops of water,
The first to the last, with fewer and fewer, 982
So too the first thought is a cause of the finest awakening —
Gradually buddhas become replete with good qualities.
[Bodhisattvas do not abandon sentient beings in samsara for an illusory separate nirvana – they do not reject appearances while fixating on emptiness / nothingness / non-existence – because they know the true nature & dynamic of the world [U2T].]
Practicing empty, signless, and wishless dharmas
They do not touch nirvāṇa and are not involved with causal signs;
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
-
Like skilled boatmen they cross over and return again,
Not alighting at either shore, and not alighting in the ocean either.
Bodhisattvas practicing like that do not falsely project superiority, thinking,
"I will be prophesied by those with the ten powers and will touch awakening."
They are not scared of awakening because "there is nothing whatsoever here."
Practicing like that they practice the wisdom of the sugatas. 983
Seeing the world as a wilderness with starvation and disease
They are not scared, and from then they are clothed in armor;
Always striving and wisely understanding until the final limit,
They do not entertain even a speck of despondency. 984
Bodhisattvas practicing the wisdom of the victors
Know that these aggregates [T1] are not produced and are empty from the beginning [T2] [U2T].
When not in equipoise their compassion for the mass of beings is set in motion,
And during that time they do not let the buddha-dharmas decline. 985
It is just like a skillful person endowed with all the good qualities,
Strong, hard to beat, expert, 986 skilled in vocational arts and rituals,
Gone as far as you can go in archery and many crafts,
An accomplished magician wanting the welfare of the world,
Who, having brought together parents and spouse
And taken them into a wilderness bristling with enemies,
Magically conjures up many heroic and brave people,
So that they journey and return home safely.
Similarly, at that time skillful bodhisattvas generate great compassion
For the entire mass of beings, and having passed beyond
The four Māras and two levels, abide in the finest
Meditative stabilization and do not touch awakening. 987
Space supports the wind and it supports the bodies of water;
They support this great earth, and it supports the world.
The causal basis for a being's experience of karma is like that.
Where is space located?
Think about the meaning of this.
Similarly, bodhisattvas abiding in emptiness [T2],
Based on the prayer that is a vow to help beings in the world understand,
Demonstrate many and varied kinds of work [T1];
They do not touch nirvāṇa, and do not stand in emptiness. 988
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
When bodhisattvas with clear intelligence
Practice the finest meditative stabilization of empty calm,
During that time they do not meditate on causal signs;
They stand in signlessness, 989 the calmest of calm. 990
A bird flying in the sky has not taken up a position.
It does not stand there yet does not fall to the ground.
So too bodhisattvas practicing the three gateways to liberation
Do not touch nirvāṇa yet do not practice with causal signs. 991
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
It is just like a person trained in archery who shoots an arrow into the sky,
And with a series of other arrows in succession
Keeps the first arrow from falling to the ground —
If the person wished, the arrow would fall to the ground.
So too those practicing the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T] —
Practicing intelligently with wisdom, skillful means, powers,
And miraculous powers, they do not obtain that ultimate emptiness
Unless and until the wholesome roots are complete. 992
It is just like a monk endowed with supreme magical power
Who stands in the sky with a double and performs miracles,
Making a show of standing, walking, lying down, and sitting,
Without getting sick of it and without finding it difficult. 993
So too smart bodhisattvas stand [T1] in emptiness
With perfected knowledge and magical power, without a dwelling place [T2] [U2T],
Making a show of infinite types of work for the worlds
Over a billion eons, without getting sick of it and without finding it difficult.
It is just like somebody standing at the edge of a precipice,
With both hands holding two wind-sails, who leaps into the sky
To throw their body into the abyss,
Not falling for as long as they glide.
Similarly, the smart bodhisattvas stand in compassion,
Grasping the two wind-sails of skillful means and knowledge (wisdom),
Considering dharmas [T1] as empty, signless, and wishless [T2] [U2T] —
Without touching nirvāṇa, they still see the dharmas [U2T]. 994
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
It is just like those desiring jewels who go to a jewel island
And, having discovered jewels, return home —
These traders do not live a happy life alone there,
Ignoring the unhappiness of their relatives and friends.
So too the bodhisattvas who have gone to the emptiness jewel island
And obtained the concentrations, faculties, and powers —
They do not enjoy alone the experience of nirvāṇa,
Ignoring the sufferings of beings.
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
It is just like traders seeking business who, to gain familiarity,
Go to the towns, markets, and villages along the way,
But do not stay in them and do not stay even on a jewel island.
Clever persons do not stay home but become experts at the path.
Similarly, smart bodhisattvas are expert in all the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha
Knowledges and liberations [T1]
but do not stand in [T2] them,
Do not stand in [T2] the knowledge of a buddha,
do not stand in [T2] the uncompounded,
and have a proper understanding of paths [T1] [U2T]. 995
When, having forged a connection with the world out of love,
They practice empty, signless, and wishless meditative stabilization
It is impossible to designate them either as
Having reached nirvāṇa [the uncompounded] or as something compounded. 996
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
Just like the body of a person who has been magically conjured
Is not invisible, you can designate it in words.
Similarly, with bodhisattvas practicing the gateways to liberation,
You can designate them in words as well. 997
[Prophesied to be irreversible from awakening, or simply being boosted by Māra.]
If, when asked about practice and faculties,
Bodhisattvas do not teach the empty and signless dharmas,
And do not explain the dharmas of the irreversible level,
You should know that they have not been prophesied to awakening. 998
If they do not long for the worthy one level, pratyekabuddha knowledge,
Or anything in the three realms even in a dream,
And if they see the buddhas, and teach the doctrine in the world,
You should know that they have been prophesied to be irreversible from awakening. 999
Those who, in a dream, see beings living in the three terrible forms of life
And immediately make a prayer that is a vow to cut the continuum of those terrible forms of life;
Who quell a conflagration by means of the controlling power of truth —
You should know that they have been prophesied to be irreversible from awakening. 1000
When through the controlling power of truth, with goodwill and empathy,
They cure the world of mortals of many demonic spirits and diseases,
But without a false sense of superiority and without generating pride —
You should know that they have been prophesied to be irreversible from awakening. 1001
If they accomplish all sorts of things through the controlling power of truth
And get a false sense of superiority, thinking, "I have been prophesied" —
If the false prophecy by someone else makes those bodhisattvas feel superior —
You should know that they are slightly intelligent with a false sense of superiority. 1002
Māra approaches 1003 through the controlling power of a name 1004
And says, "These are the names of your mother and father,
These are the names of your ancestors going back seven generations, 1005
And when you become a buddha this will be your name;
The types of good qualities you had before are similar
To the sorts of asceticism, restraint, and yogic practices you will have."
The bodhisattvas who listen to this and have a false sense of pride —
You should know that they are slightly intelligent and being boosted by Māra. 1006
Bodhisattvas doing a retreat in an isolated house,
Village, mountain lair, jungle, or isolated forest,
Who praise themselves and disparage others —
You should know that they are slightly intelligent and being boosted by Māra. 1007
Those who live constantly in a house, in a city or market town,
But, apart from bringing beings to maturity and making an effort at awakening,
Do not generate a longing for the worthy one or pratyekabuddha vehicles —
The children of the sugatas say that they are in isolation. 1008
-
(i.e. 55.21 ""Subhūti," replied the Lord, "if bodhisattva great beings are isolated from attention connected with śrāvakas, are isolated from attention connected with pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattva great beings are in isolation. Subhūti, I have endorsed that as the bodhisattva great beings' isolation. Living in jungle, forest, and frontier retreats is not the bodhisattva great beings' isolation.")
Were they, unaware of this isolation, to live for many hundreds
Of millions of years in a mountain fastness
Stretching five hundred yojanas, infested with snakes,
Still such bodhisattvas would be living a crowded life with unfounded conceit.
If they look down on bodhisattvas who endeavor for the welfare of the world,
Who have gained the concentrations, powers, faculties, liberations,
And meditative stabilizations, thinking, "They are not practicing in forest isolation,"
The victors say that they are living within the range of Māra.
Whether they live at home or whether they live in the forest,
If free from thoughts of the two vehicles and destined for the supreme awakening,
They are in the isolation of those who have set out for the welfare of the world.
Bodhisattvas who think that they are greater than that one 1009 have demeaned themselves. 1010
Therefore, scholars with a fierce aspiration 1011 seeking the best awakening
Totally overcome a false sense of superiority;
Like relying on a doctor to cure a group of patients,
They must rely on a spiritual friend without becoming lazy. 1012
Rely on spiritual friends — buddhas, and bodhisattvas who have set out
For the supreme awakening who possess the perfections.
They are the instructors; this is the ground of accomplishment.
On account of these two causes there is a speedy realization of a buddha's awakening. 1013
[The path is practicing without practicing the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].]
For all the victors 1014 gone by, yet to come, and now standing
In the ten directions, the path is this perfection, nothing else is.
This perfection is explained to be the illumination, the light, the torch,
The finest teacher of those who have set out for supreme awakening. 1015
Bodhisattvas understand that just as
the perfection of wisdom [U2T] [T1] Is marked as empty [T2] [U2T],
all these dharmas [T1] are marked as empty too [T2] [U2T].
Understanding that dharmas [T1] are empty and without signs [T2] [U2T],
They thus practice the practice of the sugatas' wisdom. 1016
A being with false imagination wants food,
And with a mind attached to saṃsāra always circles around.
Both dharmas — "I" and "mine" [T1] — are unreal, are empty [T2] [U2T];
Those that are foolish tie knots in space.
It is like those who worry that they have taken poison,
And even though no poison was ingested, still collapse.
Similarly, fools assenting to "I" and "mine"
Have the notion of "I" that is unreal. 1017
They are born and die continually.
I have explained that to the extent there is grasping, there is defilement,
And said that purification is not apprehending "I" and "mine."
Here, understanding that nothing will be defiled or purified,
Bodhisattvas realize the perfection of wisdom [U2T]. 1018
Were all the beings, as many as there are in Jambudvīpa,
To produce the thought of supreme awakening,
To give gifts for many hundreds of millions of millennia,
And dedicate it all as a cause for awakening for the sake of the world,
Still, were someone to work hard at the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]
And comply with it 1019 even for as little as a single day,
The merit from the aggregate of giving would not be even a fraction of that.
So one should continually enter into wisdom without becoming lazy. 1020
Yogins practicing the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]
Generate great compassion [T1] yet have no perception of beings [T2] [U2T].
At that point they are smart and worthy of the offerings of the world.
They make use of a city's almsgiving that is never in vain. 1021
Bodhisattvas who want to show the realm of beings the highway to the other side
In order to liberate gods, humans, and beings
In the three terrible forms of life, linked there for so long,
Should make an effort at the perfection of wisdom [U2T] day and night. 1022
Persons who previously lost their prized precious jewel
Are overjoyed when later it is found.
If as soon as they have found it, they lose it again through carelessness;
They suffer continually from wanting the precious jewel they have lost.
Thus, yogins who have set out for the finest awakening
Should not part from the perfection of wisdom [U2T] that is like a precious jewel,
As if taking up a precious jewel that is found,
Diligently wrapping it, going quickly, and being at peace. 1023
The sun's lattice of light rays when the clouds have gone
Shines and destroys the blinding dense darkness in its entirety,
Surpassing the light of all animals, the light-making insects,
And the light of all the hosts of stars and the moon.
Similarly, bodhisattvas skilled at practicing the empty and signless
Practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T]
Destroy the darkness of views and surpass
Śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and many bodhisattvas. 1024
It is just like the generous and socially responsible son of a king
Who is the most excellent of all and rightly sought out.
He makes many beings happy even at that time,
Not to mention after gaining the resources when he has become king.
So too bodhisattvas skilled at the practice of wisdom
Are generous with the elixir of immortality, 1025 delighting humans and gods.
Even at that time they endeavor to benefit many beings,
Not to mention later when established as Dharma kings. 1026
At that time the Māras feel a stab and are wracked by pain,
Suffer, undergo mental anguish, and feel weak,
And in order to make these bodhisattvas lose confidence, to cause a frightful spectacle,
They set the directions on fire and let loose a shower of meteors. 1027
But when those smart bodhisattvas with fierce aspirations
Day and night keep the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T] in view,
Then their physical, mental, and verbal 1028 conduct is like a bird flying through space —
How could the friends of the dark find a way to hurt them?
When bodhisattvas fight, quarrel,
Fall out, and harbor angry thoughts toward one another,
Māra then feels joy and an intense pleasure,
Thinking, "Both are distant from a victor's knowledge; 1029
"Both are far removed and have become like flesh-eating fiends;
Both have broken their promise.
How could there be Awakening for those who are angry and impatient?"
At that time the Māras and those on their side are pleased.
If bodhisattvas who have not been prophesied entertain angry thoughts
About those who have been prophesied, and provoke them into an argument,
They will have to buckle on the armor yet again
For as many eons as the instants of their hardhearted, faulty thinking.
[Training without training in the perfection of wisdom…]
Those who generate mindfulness, thinking, "Buddhas touch awakening
Through the perfection of patience; these thoughts are not good";
Who make a confession of each, restrain themselves in the future,
And are not pleased, 1030 train here in the buddha-dharmas. 1031
Those who, when training [T1], do not assert any training whatsoever [T2] [U2T],
Do not apprehend someone training or dharmas 1032 to be trained in,
And do not conceive of either training or not training —
Those who train like that train here in the buddha-dharmas.
-
(i.e. Training without training in the six perfections …, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / bodhisattva, relation / action / training, object / results –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
The bodhisattvas who understand that sort of training
Will never be incompletely trained and never be immoral.
They train here in the dharmas to be pleasing to the buddhas; 1033
Training with skill in the superior training [T1], they do not apprehend anything [T2] [U2T].
Thus, they train in the wisdom of the learned light-makers
And do not think even a mere single thought that is not wholesome,
Just as when the sun moves through space
Its rays outshine the darkness before it.
When training in the perfection of wisdom [U2T] is being done,
All the perfections are included in it;
Just as the sixty-two views are included in the view of the perishable collection,
So too these perfections are said to be included in it.
It is just like when the life faculty shuts down,
And all the other sense faculties, as many as there are, shut down too.
Similarly, when the finest of experts practice wisdom,
It is said that all the perfections are included there as well. 1034
Smart bodhisattvas train in all the good qualities of śrāvakas,
So too all the good qualities of pratyekabuddhas [T1],
But they do not stand in them and do not long for them [T2] [U2T].
"I have to train in them," they think, and train because of that. 1035
-
(i.e. Training without training in the six perfections …, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / bodhisattva, relation / action / training, object / results –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
[Unobstructed like space]
It is possible to take the measure of a billion Sumerus by weighing it against
A unit of weight, but not the goodness of that rejoicing —
The rejoicing, with an aspiration, in the production of the thought
Of irreversible bodhisattvas who have set out for supreme awakening. 1036
It becomes a rejoicing in the mass of merit of all beings
Striving for the wholesome and wanting to be of benefit.
So, they acquire the good qualities of the Victor
And make the gift of Dharma to the world to bring suffering to an end.
Bodhisattvas free from conceptualization [in absolute terms], comprehending
That all dharmas [T1] are empty, signless, and cannot be elaborated on [T2] [U2T],
Who do not strive for awakening with dualistic wisdom 1037 —
Those yogins endeavor at the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
There is no obstruction of the space element by a space;
Nobody can find such a thing.
So too the bodhisattvas skilled in the practice of wisdom
Are like space, pursuing a course of action at peace. 1038
It does not occur to a person conjured by magic, when among people, to think,
"I have to make these people happy." But still it does.
It is seen demonstrating various miraculous powers,
Though it has no body, has no mind, and does not even have a name.
Similarly, it never occurs to those practicing wisdom to think,
"Having realized awakening I will liberate the world."
Though they demonstrate, like illusions, various births and many works [T1],
They practice without conceptualization [in absolute terms] [T2] [U2T].
It is just like a magically created buddha who does a buddha's work,
Without even a speck of vanity arising while it is being done.
Similarly, bodhisattvas skilled in the practice of wisdom
Demonstrate every action like a magically created illusion.
A skilled carpenter produces a contraption
Like a woman or a man that also does all that has to be done.
So too with bodhisattvas skilled in the practice of wisdom —
Free from conceptualization, knowledge does all the work. 1039
The many assemblies of gods cup their palms together in a gesture of supplication
And bow down and prostrate to those with such a skillful practice,
And the buddhas, as many as there are, in worlds
In the ten directions, garland their good qualities with praise. 1040
Even if beings in realms as numerous as there are sand particles in the Gaṅgā River,
All of them, were hypothetically to become Māras,
And even if each of their pores were to magically create that many again,
Still all those would be incapable of hindering the smart bodhisattvas. 1041
[Standing without standing in the best / finest / highest: the perfection of wisdom…]
There are four reasons why the four Māras cannot
Overcome and sway smart and powerful bodhisattvas:
They stand in emptiness [T2], do not forsake beings [T1] [U2T],
-
(i.e. They stand without standing in the inconceivable true nature & dynamic or Reality as it is here & now, in Genuine-emptiness free from all extremes & middle = in the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]. Ex. Even though all beings are empty of inherent existence, Bodhisattvas stand by them.)
Are true to their word, and are imbued with the special power of the sugatas. 1042
Know that the fine bodhisattvas who believe
In this perfection of wisdom [U2T], the mother of the tathāgatas,
When it is being explained, and sincerely make an effort
To accomplish it, have set out to be a knower of all. 1043
The dharma-constituent does not come to stand in suchness, 1044
Just like a cloud in the sky that stands without a place to stand,
Or a wandering sky-flying sorcerer who wants a place to stand
And casts a spell that makes unexpected flowers and trees appear right there in space.
Bodhisattvas with clear intelligence practicing like that
Do not apprehend [T2] an awakening or the buddha-dharmas [T1] [U2T]
And do not apprehend [T2] a teacher or someone who wants and sees the Dharma [T1] [U2T]. 1045
This is where those who seek peace and delight in good qualities stand. 1046
(i.e. Standing without standing in the perfection of wisdom, the six perfections, the four immeasurables, the Union of the Two Truths …, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / bodhisattva, relation / action / standing, object / a place to stand –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].
-
Quotes from above:
"They have no form, no feeling, no perception, no intention —
Not even an atom's worth of a place for consciousness to stand.
They do not stand on any [inherently existing] dharmas,
they live without a dwelling place [in absolute terms],
And, not grasping, they [still] find the awakening of the sugatas.
-
Those who do not stand in form
and do not stand in feeling,
do not stand in perception,
do not stand in intention,
who do not stand In consciousness —
they stand in the true nature of dharmas [U2T].
This is the practice of the finest perfection of wisdom [U2T].
-
They do not stand in permanent or impermanent,
Happiness or suffering, clean or dirty, self or selfless,
Or in suchness,
and similarly they do not stand in emptiness [T1] [U2T-2T],
The attainment of the results, the worthy one level, the pratyeka level, or the buddha level.
-
Just as the Leader does not stand in the uncompounded element,
Does not stand in the compounded element, and wanders without a home,
So too the Victor says the bodhisattva who stands like that stands,
Not standing on a place to stand, standing without standing.
-
When wisdom dissects the compounded and uncompounded,
Good and bad dharmas, and does not apprehend even an atom,
Then the wisdom is counted in the world as perfect.
Like space, it does not stand anywhere at all.
-
Whether the wise stand in the world or in nirvāṇa,
This true nature, the fixed nature of dharmas — that dharmas [T1] are empty [T2] [U2T] — remains.
Bodhisattvas understand this suchness,
So those who have awakened are given the name realized one.
-
Similarly, bodhisattvas abiding in emptiness [T2],
Based on the prayer that is a vow to help beings in the world understand,
Demonstrate many and varied kinds of work [T1];
They do not touch nirvāṇa, and do not stand in emptiness.
So too smart bodhisattvas stand in emptiness
With perfected knowledge and magical power, without a dwelling place,
Making a show of infinite types of work for the worlds
Over a billion eons, without getting sick of it and without finding it difficult.
-
Similarly, the smart bodhisattvas stand in compassion,
Grasping the two wind-sails of skillful means and knowledge (wisdom),
Considering dharmas as empty, signless, and wishless —
Without touching nirvāṇa, they still see the dharmas. 994
-
Similarly, smart bodhisattvas are expert in all the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha
Knowledges and liberations but do not stand in them,
Do not stand in the knowledge of a buddha,
do not stand In the uncompounded,
and have a proper understanding of paths.)
Setting aside the arhat-liberation 1047 of a tathāgata,
__________________________________________________
This standing place is the finest, the highest,
__________________________________________________
Among as many śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha standing places as there are
Conjoined with calm meditative stabilization, peace, and ease.
Just as a bird lives in the sky but does not fall to the ground, 1048
And a fish lives in water but does not drown,
Bodhisattvas gone beyond through concentrations and powers
Stand in emptiness [T2] but do not pass into complete nirvāṇa [T1] [U2T].
-
(i.e. Bodhisattvas do not reject / negate / abandon / escape the world [T1], even if everything is empty of inherent existence [T2] [U2T]. Just directly realising its inconceivable all-pervading timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing pristine true nature & dynamic as it is [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T] is enough to become free from the self-conditioning / karmic cycle [U3S]. That is nirvana here & now. Apparent opposites like samsara and nirvana are inseparable; the same for the two truths, they are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended / in harmony <==> thus empty of inherent existence <==> merely labeled / imputed by the mind.)
Those who want to go to the finest quality of all beings,
To touch the finest, most supremely marvelous buddha knowledge,
And bestow the best, the finest, the most excellent gift of Dharma
Should resort to this finest station of those who bring benefit. 1049
Of all the trainings the guides elucidate,
This training is the finest, the highest training unrivaled by all.
Someone smart who wants to go beyond all training,
Should train in this training of a buddha, the perfection of wisdom [U2T].
This is the finest dharma lode, the most excellent dharma treasury,
The buddha lineage, the world's storehouse of happiness and well-being.
The protectors of the past, still to come, and now in the worlds of the ten directions
Are born from it, and yet this dharma-constituent is not exhausted. 1050
As many trees, fruits, and blossoms — whole forests — as there are,
They all come forth and appear from the earth,
But still the earth is not exhausted, is not increased, is not diminished,
Is without conceptualization, and does not feel oppressed. 1051
Buddhas, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, gods,
And all the happiness and well-being dharmas, as many as there are,
Originate from the finest of perfections, wisdom,
But the wisdoms are never exhausted and never increased.
The sugatas have said that the least, the middling, and the best of sentient beings,
As many as there are, all originate from ignorance.
When the conditions are assembled, the suffering contrivance runs.
That ignorance contrivance is never exhausted and never increased.
Knowledge, ways, gateways, means, and roots, as many as there are, 1052
All originate from the finest of perfections, wisdom.
When the conditions are assembled, the karma 1053 contrivance runs.
The perfection of wisdom [U2T] is never exhausted and never increased.
Bodhisattvas who know this wisdom to be a dependent origination,
Not produced and not exhausted, destroy the darkness of ignorance
And obtain the self-originated state, like the sun when there are no clouds,
Emitting light rays and clearing away darkness. 1054
Possessed of great might they abide in the four concentrations
Without making them into a foundation or a standing place.
But still the four concentrations together with their branches
Become the foundation for gaining the most excellent and finest awakening.
Those who gain the finest wisdom 1055 abide in the concentrations
And also experience the four excellent formless meditative stabilizations.
These concentrations are beneficial to the most excellent and finest awakening.
Bodhisattvas do not train in them to extinguish the outflows.
This is a totally amazing, marvelous accumulation of good qualities.
Having dwelled in the concentrations and meditative stabilizations,
There is no causal sign. 1056
Those dwelling there, if their bodies
Are destroyed, are again born in the desire realm just as they intend.
It is just like a human in Jambudvīpa who has not been
To the finest city of the gods in the land of the gods before 1057
But later on goes there and sees the places that are gained
And, having come back here, is not attached.
Similarly, bodhisattvas who bear the finest qualities, endeavoring at
Yogic practice, having dwelled in the concentrations and stabilizations,
Again later dwell in the desire realm without any attachment to it,
Like a water lotus, they do not stand in the dharmas of childish fools.
[Perfecting the six perfections with more and more wisdom]
Great persons complete the perfections in order to
Bring beings to maturity and purify a buddhafield, simply that.
They do not do it in order to be born in the formless realm,
Lest the good qualities of awakening and the perfections decline. 1058
-
(i.e. Practicing without practicing the six perfections, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / cause / the-practice, relation / action / causality, object / result / effect –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
It is just like persons who find a cache of precious stones
And do not feel any desire for them, but at a different time
Lay claim to them and, having claimed them,
Return home but are not attached to them. 1059
Similarly, smart bodhisattvas who have attained the four calm
Concentrations and meditative stabilizations that give joy and happiness,
Having forsaken the happiness of concentration,
and the concentrations and meditative stabilizations they have attained,
Again enter into the desire realm out of compassion for the world. 1060
-
(i.e. Enlightenment is not about rejecting / negating / abandoning / leaving samsara (appearances / concepts …) to accept / seek / hide-in nirvana (or emptiness / non-conceptualisation…). Apparent opposites – like samsara & nirvana, or appearances & emptiness, or conceptualisation & non-conceptualisation, or self & others – are inseparable / interdependent / co-defined / co-relative / co-dependent / co-emergent / co-evolving / co-ceasing / co-transcended <==> thus both empty of inherent existence. They are not existent, not non-existent, not both together, not neither; not different / separate / multiple / dual, not identical / united / one / nn-dual, not both together, not neither; not pure, not impure, not both together, not neither; not to accept, not to reject, not both together, not neither; not 'this', not 'non-this', not both together, not neither. There is no independent / universal / absolute / inherently existing basis to discriminate between them, to differentiate them, to accept one and reject the other.)
If bodhisattvas dwell in the meditative stabilizations and concentrations
And feel desire for the worthy one and pratyekabuddha vehicles,
They have become uncollected, grossly excited, and mentally distracted.
The buddha qualities are ruined, like a ferryman whose boat has broken up.
Furthermore, you should know that even though they manifest a zeal for
The five sorts of sense objects, for shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings,
Separated from the worthy one and pratyekabuddha vehicles,
Enjoying the thought of awakening, they are brave and always in equipoise.
Purified bodhisattvas 1061 work hard at practicing
The perfection of perseverance because of other persons.
Like a female slave carrying a water pot under the control of a master,
Heroes go about under the control of all beings.
Whether criticized or continually struck,
Scared when she thinks about it and overcome with fear,
Thinking, "I will get killed for it,"
The female slave does not tell her master to stop.
Similarly, for the sake of awakening, those who have set out
For the finest awakening should be servants, as it were, of the entire world.
From this they will reach awakening and complete the good qualities.
Fire starts from tinder and sticks and then burns them up. 1062
Forsaking their own happiness, they work hard day and night
At what other beings need without any expectations,
Like a mother attending to her only son. 1063
Be determined to keep at it without feeling it is hard. 1064
When bodhisattva practitioners willing to spend a long time in saṃsāra
Persevering at the welfare of beings and the purification of a buddhafield
Do not have even a speck of the feeling of being oppressed,
They are endowed with the perfection of perseverance and are not lazy.
If bodhisattvas who are not smart calculate one hundred million eons
And have the idea that it is a long time, they will painfully progress toward awakening.
They will suffer for a long time while trying to accomplish the Dharma.
They are deficient in the perfection of wisdom [U2T] and are lazy.
If they think in their minds that starting from the first production
Of the thought up until reaching unsurpassed awakening
Is just one day and night, they should be known
As those with clear intelligence making a vigorous attempt. 1065
If someone says, "After Mount Sumeru is destroyed
You will reach supreme awakening," and if that produces
A feeling of oppression and they think about the size,
Then those bodhisattvas have become lazy.
If they produce the thought that Sumeru is pulverized to dust
In just an instant, thinking, "It is only this size — what is the problem?"
They are smart bodhisattvas making a vigorous attempt.
Before long they will reach the finest awakening of the leaders.
If with the thought, "I will bring beings to maturity and work for their welfare,"
They work hard with body, speech, and mind,
Standing in the perception of self, they have become lazy.
They are as far from all-knowledge as the sky from the earth.
When they have no notion of body, mind, or sentient being,
When they have turned back from forming notions
And practice a non-dual Dharma, the Beneficial One says that is the perfection of perseverance
Of those who want the finest awakening, the peace that is never lost.
If they hear someone rebuke or speak harshly to them,
Smart bodhisattvas feel pleasure, thinking, "This is my happiness."
Who speaks? Who hears? Who speaks to whom and why?
Those endowed with the finest perfection of patience are wise.
-
(i.e. Perceiving / knowing without perceiving / knowing, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / actor / perceiver / knower, relation / action / perception / cognition, object / result / perceived / known –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
Should someone fill the billionfold world with precious stones and give them
To the knowers of worlds, buddhas, worthy ones, and pratyekabuddhas,
The merit from that aggregate of giving would not be even a fraction
Of that of the bodhisattvas endowed with the excellent dharma of patience.
The bodies of those who remain patient become pure, 1066
With thirty-two major marks and infinite strength.
They proclaim the best Dharma,
[Genuine-]emptiness, to beings.
(Note: Genuine-emptiness free from all extremes & middle = Union of the Two Truths [U2T / U3S / Uopp / U2T-2T].)
Patient and wise, they are loved by the world.
-
(i.e. Teaching without teaching, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / actor / teacher, relation / action / teaching, objects / teachings / students –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
If a certain being takes up a container of sandalwood paste
And with great respect rubs it on a bodhisattva,
And another throws burning ashes over his entire head,
He should regard both the same, with a dispassionate attitude.
When smart bodhisattvas who exercise such patience
Dedicate that production of the thought to supreme awakening,
They are heroes with forbearance for the whole world, surpassing the worthy ones,
Pratyekabuddhas, and mass of beings, as many as there are.
Bodhisattvas exercising patience should produce this thought as well:
"Given that the hells, animal world, and world of Yama have much suffering,
And I have been hurt through being powerless because of sense objects,
Why would I not put up with what I have up to now, for awakening?"
Thinking, "I will put up with as much suffering as there is in the world —
The whips, sticks, swords, murder, prison, and torture,
Decapitation, and the amputation of ears, arms, legs, and nose,"
Bodhisattvas stand in the perfection of patience. 1067
Those longing for calm are ennobled by their morality.
Standing within the range of the ten powers their morality is unflagging.
They carry out all the actions of restraint, as many as there are,
For the benefit of all beings and dedicate it to awakening.
Those longing to touch the worthy one and pratyekabuddha awakening
Are immoral, not smart, and have a degenerate practice too.
Those who dedicate to awakening, the finest peace,
Stand in the perfection of morality even if engaged with sense objects.
The Leader says the law from which the heroic ones' awakened qualities come
Is the crux of the morality incumbent upon the righteous,
And whatever law causes the awakening of the beneficial ones
To degenerate is immorality. 1068
Even if bodhisattvas enjoy the five sense objects,
If, having gone for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma, and noble Saṅgha,
They are intent upon all-knowledge, thinking, "I have to awaken,"
You should know that they are smart and stand in the perfection of morality.
Even if they practice the ten wholesome actions for a hundred million eons,
If they generate a longing for the state of a worthy one or pratyekabuddha,
Then their morality is faulty, their morality is degenerate.
The production of that thought is heavier than even a pārājika defeat.
Bodhisattvas guarding morality, dedicating it
To the finest awakening, not falsely projecting anything,
Not smug, and avoiding the idea of a self and the idea of beings
Are said to stand in the perfection of morality.
Bodhisattvas practicing the path of the victors
Are extremely immoral if they entertain various notions,
Thinking, "These beings are moral, these immoral."
They have a degenerate morality, not a morality that has been purified.
However could someone without the notion of self or the notion of beings,
Free from notions and attachment, not be restrained? 1069
The Leader has said that someone who does not falsely project
Being restrained and not being restrained is restrained by morality.
Purified beings endowed with such a morality
Are unconcerned with all that is pleasant and unpleasant, 1070
Uncowed when giving away their head and arms and legs,
And always detached when giving away all that they own.
-
(i.e. Acting / giving without acting / giving, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – subject / actor / giver, relation / action / giving, objects / result / gift / recipient –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
They understand that phenomena are in their basic nature selfless and a fraud,
So, since even when they give away their own flesh
Their minds are not cowed, what need is there to mention
External things? It would be impossible for them to be stingy.
Fools have the notion of self and are attached
Because of grasping at things as "mine,"
so how could they intend to give things away?
Someone who is stingy is born in the abode of ghosts,
Or, if born human, will still be destitute.
And so bodhisattvas, knowing that beings are in poverty,
Come to admire giving and always give away freely,
Feeling joy from giving away the four beautifully decorated continents
As though they were a gob of spit, but not so from gaining the continents.
Bodhisattvas with clear intelligence give a gift
While focusing on the thought, "May this become a gift given to all beings,
As many as there are on the three planes of existence,"
Also dedicating it to the finest awakening for the sake of the world.
Without making it into a real thing on which to take a stand,
Never hoping for a result,
They are smart at giving like that and give away everything.
Having given away a trifle it becomes many and immeasurable. 1071
Were as many beings as there are on the three planes of existence,
All of them without any left out, hypothetically to give gifts
To knowers of worlds, buddhas, worthy ones, and pratyekabuddhas
For eons without end seeking the good qualities of a śrāvaka,
And were someone with skillful means
To rejoice in their bases of meritorious action
And dedicate it to the finest awakening for the sake of beings,
That smart bodhisattva dedicating thus would surpass all the worlds.
-
(i.e. Non-dualistic merit is incommensurably better than dualistic merit. Non-dualistic merit is always combined with more and more wisdom – ex. without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without any di-vision between the three spheres; while knowing their true nature & dynamic as it is here & now…)
A single precious of stone of beryl surpasses
Glittering stones, all of them, even a great pile,
And, similarly, a rejoicing bodhisattva surpasses
All the vast heaps of gifts of all the worlds.
If bodhisattvas giving a gift to the world do not make it
Their own and do not value it as if property,
Then the wholesome roots grow to have great might,
Like the cloudless shining circle of the waxing moon. 1072
Through giving bodhisattvas cut off life as a ghost,
Cut off destitution and all the afflictive emotions,
While practicing gain an unending spread of things to use and enjoy,
And through giving cause suffering beings to mature.
By being moral they avoid the many forms of life in the animal world
And the eight places that preclude a perfect human birth.
They always find a perfect human birth. 1073
-
By being patient they obtain
A most excellent and broad body, golden in color, beloved, and attractive to the world.
By persevering, bright good qualities do not decline,
And infinite knowledge, the storehouse of the victor's treasure, is gained.
-
On account of concentration they quit sense objects in disgust
And accomplish esoteric knowledge, clairvoyance, and meditative stabilization.
[Conclusion]
And with wisdom they comprehend
the basic nature of all dharmas,
-
(i.e. They personally spontaneously non-dualistically non-conceptually directly perceive / realise / experience the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, as pointed by the concept of the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T / U2T-3S / U2T-opp / U2T-2T]. Also called Genuine-emptiness / Buddha-nature / Suchness / …)
Pass perfectly beyond all three realms,
And, having turned the precious wheel, as the dominant bull among humans,
Teach the Dharma in the world to put an end to suffering.
-
(i.e. Comprehending / realising / completing without comprehending / realising / completing, without any attachment / fixation / absolutes; without falling into any extreme or middle; without entertaining any di-vision between the three spheres – ex. subject / actor / bodhisattvas, relation / action / comprehending / realising / completing, object / comprehended / known / completed –; while being aware of their true nature & dynamic; without accepting or rejecting anything in absolute terms, just relatively / conventionally / inter-subjectively. Thus acting more and more in accord with the inconceivable true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is here & now, more and more in accord with the Union of the Two Truths free from all extremes & middle [U2T].)
Those bodhisattvas, having brought these dharmas to completion [perfection],
Look after a purified buddhafield and purified beings,
Look after the line of the Buddha and the line of the Dharma,
And similarly look after the Saṅgha and all dharmas as well.
The supreme doctor who cures the sickness of the world has given
This instruction on wisdom and the awakening path titled
"The Collection of Jewel Qualities, the Awakening Path,"
So that all beings will obtain this path.
This was the eighty-fourth chapter, "Collection," of "The Perfection of Wisdom in Eighteen Thousand Lines." [B59]
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 [U2T]
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 [cause / path]
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]