大智度論 往生品之中 · 卷三十九Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Rebirth, Part 2 of 3

If beings are ultimately unfindable, and even the name ‘bodhisattva’ is only a provisional name with no real dharma behind it, then is it not a superfluous question to ask from where one’s life ended, whence one came to be born here, and where one will be reborn next? The Chapter on Rebirth sets this hard question on the table at its very opening, and at once gives the pivot of the whole chapter: in the Buddha’s Dharma there are two truths; for the sake of the worldly truth it is said that there are beings, and for the sake of the truth of the highest meaning it is said that beings have no existence. To ask about rebirth is in fact to ask about the bodhisattva’s place of practice, and the bodhisattva’s place of practice falls exactly on this non-dual ground, where there is no self and no coming or going, and yet beings and rebirth are not abandoned. So the Buddha first answers where the bodhisattva comes from with three places: from another Buddha-land, from the Tuṣita heaven, or from among humans; then he distinguishes at length where the bodhisattva goes, laying out the many marks of rebirth. Those who come from elsewhere are of keen faculties and those who come from among humans of dull faculties, and the difference lies only in whether they constantly meet the Buddhas and whether, by the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha, they come swiftly into accord with prajñā. Everything listed thereafter deepens this one matter: there are bodhisattvas who have obtained the body born of dharma-nature, whose transformation bodies enter the three realms everywhere without being bound by karma; there are bodhisattvas who by the power of skilful means enter the meditations yet are not born according to the meditations, but return to a great clan of the desire realm to deliver beings; there are bodhisattvas whom the Brahmā king entreats to turn the wheel of Dharma, bodhisattvas in Tuṣita who are one birth from buddhahood, and bodhisattvas who with the six supernormal powers roam at play through the ten directions praising the Three Jewels. By the middle fascicle, skilful means and concentration and wisdom are gathered deeper still: the bodhisattva can enter the leaping absorption without falling under the limits of the small vehicle’s laws of absorption, can decline the four fruits and yet, by the eightfold noble path, bring beings to attain the fruits, and indeed the fruits and knowledge of all arhats and pratyekabuddha are, on the bodhisattva’s side, but one corner of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; and the division of pure from coarse karma turns from outward marks to the inside, where to grasp the mark of a dharma is itself offence, and the unfindability of dharmas is what is called purifying the Buddha path. The last fascicle closes with the sequence of the five eyes: the fleshly eye and the heavenly eye seek to see; the wisdom eye breaks through falsehood and sees the real mark; the Dharma eye distinguishes beings’ capacities and stages; the Buddha eye enters the vajra samādhi and illumines all without remainder. Prajñā can give birth to the five eyes, and one who trains in the five eyes attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. So too the supernormal powers: each of the six is empty of own-nature and apart from own-nature, cultivated for nothing but the mind set on sarvajñā; and the six perfections each dwell in ultimate emptiness, like a vajra mountain with winds coming from four sides while the mind does not stir. At the end it returns to giving rise to an equal mind toward all beings and attaining the equality of all dharmas, being held in mind in this very life by the Buddhas of the ten directions, and closes with the case of three hundred bhikṣu who offered their robes and aroused the mind, the Buddha smiling and predicting their buddhahood sixty-one kalpas hence, and ten thousand people vowing to be born in a pure land under the name King of Adornment: the continuity of karma, cause, condition, and fruit is inconceivable. In reading this chapter there is no need first to fit rebirth with a real place gone to or come from; one need only see the same one thing in every mark of rebirth: whether where one goes still faces omniscience and all beings, and whether deliverer and delivered have already been made light in ultimate emptiness. With no being to be found, one is born everywhere to deliver beings; with no coming or going to grasp, one constantly meets the Buddhas. This is the very path of rebirth that prajñā’s two truths open.

The Leaping Absorption: How the Bodhisattva Moves Freely Forward and Back among the Absorptions

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a kind of bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising prajñāpāramitā, has already attained the four meditations, the four immeasurable minds, and the four formless absorptions, and is able to sport freely within these absorptions—first he enters the first meditation; rising from the first meditation he leaps straight into the absorption of cessation; rising again from the absorption of cessation he returns to enter, up to, the fourth meditation; rising from the fourth meditation he enters the absorption of cessation; rising from the absorption of cessation he enters the station of empty space; rising from the station of empty space he enters the absorption of cessation again; and in this way, going upward in order, he goes as far as entering the station of neither perception nor non-perception, and rising from the station of neither perception nor non-perception he enters the absorption of cessation. Śāriputra! In this way the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, practising prajñāpāramitā, enters the leaping absorption by the power of skilful means.’

Question: Since ordinary people cannot enter the absorption of cessation, how can the bodhisattva, the moment he rises from the first meditation, enter the absorption of cessation directly?

Answer: It is the Small Vehicle that speaks this way in the Abhidharma-vibhāṣā; it is not what the Buddha said in the Tripiṭaka. Moreover, the state of this bodhisattva is beyond the reach even of the śrāvaka sages, still less comparable to that of ordinary people. It is like the six-tusked white elephant: even with a poisoned arrow in his body, he still pitied the hostile hunter who shot it; a mind of compassion like this not even the arhats possess. If he was like this even in the body of an animal, how much more the bodhisattva who has obtained a human body, has already left desire behind, and has entered the meditations—is it possible that he still cannot enter the absorption of cessation?

Question: Again: if the bodhisattva attains the absorption of cessation, that can still be accepted; but the rule of the leaping absorption is that one cannot skip two levels, and to say ‘rising from the first meditation he goes as far as entering the absorption of cessation’—there is no such thing!

Answer: Although others also have the dharma of absorption, their power is small and they cannot leap very far; the bodhisattva has the power of immeasurable merit and wisdom, enters absorption deeply, and yet his mind does not cling, so he is able to leap far. It is like a great strongman among humans, whose single leap does not exceed three or four zhang; but a strongman of the heavens has no limit of number at all. In the dharma of the Small Vehicle, only leaping over a single level is allowed to count as the dharma of absorption; the bodhisattva's power of meditative absorption is great and his mind clings to nothing, so near or far follows his own intention.

Question: Once more: if it is put this way, then the leaping absorption is the great one—does that not mean the successive absorptions do not count as great?

Answer: Both are great. Why? Rising from the first meditation to the second, there is no other stray thought in between; in a single thought he enters; and so on up to the absorption of cessation, all is like this. The leaping absorption, for its part, rises from the first meditation and enters the third meditation directly, likewise without letting any other thought intervene, and so on up to the absorption of cessation, going upward in order and downward in reverse, all is like this. Some say: the leaping absorption is more excellent, the reason being that it both admits no other thought and is able to leap over; it is like a fine horse skilled at wheeling round, turning its body in every way as its rider wishes.

Not Taking the Fruits of the Two Vehicles, Yet Using the Eightfold Noble Path to Bring Beings to the Fruits

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising prajñāpāramitā, cultivates the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, yet does not take the fruit of the stream-enterer, the fruit of the once-returner, the fruit of the non-returner, the fruit of the arhat, or the path of the pratyekabuddha; only by the power of skilful means, in order to ferry beings across, he gives rise to the limbs of the eightfold noble path, and with this eightfold right path he enables beings to attain the fruit of the stream-enterer up to the path of the pratyekabuddha.’ The Buddha further told Śāriputra: ‘All the fruits and knowledges of the arhats and pratyekabuddhas are, for this bodhisattva-mahāsattva, his acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Śāriputra! You should know that this bodhisattva-mahāsattva, practising prajñāpāramitā, abides on the ground of the avaivartika.’

Question: Why is it not said that this bodhisattva cultivates the six perfections, but only that he attains the four foundations of mindfulness?

Answer: Whether it is said or not, one should know that this bodhisattva cultivates all the six perfections; it is only that among the thirty-seven limbs of the path he cultivates some and not others. That he does not realise and take the path of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha is because he has great kindness and great compassion, and is also deeply complete in the power of skilful means and so on, as was said earlier.

Question: Again: if he himself does not take those fruits of the path, how can he use them to transform and ferry others?

Answer: This is the cause and condition stated by the Buddha himself—the fruits and knowledges of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are all the bodhisattva's acceptance of dharmas; it is only that he does not receive the names of those fruits of the path, and the fruits and knowledges are all gathered into the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. Furthermore, it is only that he does not take the realisation; all else that should be cultivated he cultivates. Because he has attained the bodhisattva path, he is named ‘avaivartika’.

The Bodhisattva of the Auspicious Kalpa Who Purifies the Path to the Tuṣita Heaven

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in the six perfections and has purified the path to birth in the Tuṣita Heaven; you should know that this is a bodhisattva of the Auspicious Kalpa.’

The treatise-author explains: Bodhisattvas each have their own path, each their own practice, each their own vow. By the causes and conditions of the deeds he has cultivated, this bodhisattva is born in the Tuṣita Heaven, enters the assembly of the thousand bodhisattvas, and becomes a Buddha in his turn. When there are marks such as these, one knows that he is a bodhisattva of the Auspicious Kalpa.

The Final-Birth Bodhisattva Who Deliberately Leaves the Four Truths Unrealised

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who cultivates the four meditations up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, yet has not realised the four truths; you should know that this is a final-birth bodhisattva.’

Question: This final-birth bodhisattva should be born in the Tuṣita Heaven; why is it also said that he attains the four meditations and so on?

Answer: This bodhisattva, born in the Tuṣita Heaven, attains the four meditations and so on once he has left desire behind. Furthermore, this successor-bodhisattva left desire behind long ago and is complete in the Buddha-dharmas; it is only by the power of skilful means, following the constant rule for successors, that he is born in the Tuṣita Heaven. As for ‘has not realised the four truths’: he deliberately leaves them unrealised; if he really took the realisation, he would become a pratyekabuddha; because he means to become a Buddha, he does not realise them.

Dull Faculties and Long Cultivation, Yet Awakening at Last

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who passes through immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas of practice and only then attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.’

The treatise-author explains: Although this bodhisattva has planted wholesome roots and seeks anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, because his faculties are dull and he also mixes in other practices, it takes him a long time to attain it. But because the wholesome roots he has planted are deep, in the end he is certain to attain it.

Not Speaking of Useless Things: Self-Restraint in the Deeds of Speech

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in the six perfections, is always diligent and vigorous, benefits beings, and does not speak useless words.’

The treatise-author explains: In the past this bodhisattva had the fault of harsh speech, so he aroused the bodhisattva mind and made a vow: ‘I will forever leave the four faults of the deeds of speech, and walk this path.’ Furthermore, this bodhisattva knows that within prajñāpāramitā all dharmas have no fixed mark, cannot be clung to, and cannot be pinned down by the marks of words, and so he knows: whatever can benefit people is the Buddha-dharma; if it cannot benefit people, then however fine it sounds, it is not the Buddha-dharma. It is like all kinds of good medicines: if they cannot cure the illness, they are not called medicine; even something such as earth picked up at hand, if it can cure the illness, only that is called medicine. For this reason, fearing that he might speak wrongly and mislead people, he does not speak useless words.

Cutting Off the Three Evil Paths with the Six Superknowledges

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who practises the six perfections, is always diligent and vigorous, benefits beings, and going from one Buddha-land to another, cuts off the three evil paths of beings.’

The treatise-author explains: This bodhisattva abides in the six superknowledges, goes to the worlds of the ten directions, and blocks the three unwholesome paths, upper, middle, and lower.

Putting Giving First to Bring Beings Ease and Joy

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in the six perfections, puts giving first, and brings ease and joy to all beings: to those who need food and drink he gives food and drink; clothing, bedding, necklaces, flowers and incense, dwellings, lamps and candles—whatever they need, he supplies each one.’

The treatise-author explains: Bodhisattvas are of two kinds: the first can enable beings to leave suffering; the second can give beings ease and joy. There are again two kinds: the first pities the beings of the three evil paths; the second pities humans. This bodhisattva wishes to give beings ease and joy; because he pities humans, he gives them whatever they need.

Transforming His Body to Resemble a Buddha and Entering the Three Evil Paths to Teach the Dharma

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising prajñāpāramitā, transforms his body to resemble a Buddha and teaches the Dharma for the beings in the hells, and also teaches the Dharma for the beings among the animals and the hungry ghosts.’

Question: Why does this bodhisattva transform himself into a Buddha's body? Does this not seem like disrespect for the Buddha?

Answer: Some beings can be ferried across only on seeing a Buddha's body; others are ferried across only on seeing a wheel-turning sage king or some other bodily form; therefore he transforms his body into a Buddha. Furthermore, the world all calls the Buddha by the titles Great Compassion and World-Honored One; if he enters the hells in a Buddha's body, King Yama and the ghosts and spirits will not obstruct him—this is the teacher I revere; how could I stop him?

Question: Again: in the hells there is the burning of fire, there is constant suffering and pain, and the mind is constantly scattered, so they cannot take in the Dharma; how can they be transformed?

Answer: This bodhisattva, by the power of inconceivable supernormal abilities, breaks the cauldrons, extinguishes the fires, restrains the hell-wardens, and shines light upon them, causing the beings' minds to feel gladness and joy; only then does he teach them the Dharma, and as soon as they hear it they are able to receive and uphold it.

Question: Once more: then are there beings in the hells who attain the path?

Answer: Although they do not attain the path, they can plant the wholesome-root causes and conditions for attaining the path. Why? Because their offences are too heavy, and the time for attaining the path has not yet come. As for the path of animals, one must distinguish: some can attain the path and some cannot; for example, the nāga king Anavatapta, the nāga king Sāgara, and others have attained the bodhisattva path. On the path of ghosts and spirits, there are also those such as the yakṣas, the Vajra of Secret Traces, the Mother of Demons, and others who have already attained the path of seeing; these are all great bodhisattvas.

Transforming His Body Throughout the Ten Directions, Surveying and Gathering from Pure Lands, and Raising a Surpassing World of His Own

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising the six perfections, transforms his body to resemble a Buddha, goes everywhere to the Buddha-worlds of the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and teaches the Dharma for beings; he also makes offerings to the Buddhas, adorns and purifies Buddha-worlds, and listens to the Buddhas teach the Dharma; he observes and gathers the marks of the pure and wondrous lands of the ten directions and raises up a surpassing world of his own, in which the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas are all final-birth bodhisattvas.’

The treatise-author explains: This bodhisattva teaches the Dharma to all six destinies everywhere, and teaches the Dharma to the beings of the ten directions in a Buddha's body. If beings hear the instruction of a disciple, they do not necessarily believe and accept it; if they hear the Dharma spoken by the one who alone is honored, the Buddha, the sovereign one, they believe and accept his words. This bodhisattva makes offerings to the Buddhas and adorns worlds for the sake of two things: first, to hear the Dharma-gate of adorning worlds; second, to go to the Buddha-lands of the ten directions and gather the marks of pure worlds. By the causes and conditions of the deeds of this practice, he becomes all the more excellent and his radiance increases. Why? Because in this land all are final-birth bodhisattvas.

Question: Earlier it was already said, ‘the final-birth bodhisattva in the Tuṣita Heaven’; why is it now said again, ‘the bodhisattvas of the worlds of other directions are all final-birth’?

Answer: The final-birth bodhisattva in the Tuṣita Heaven is the constant rule of the three-thousand world; in other places it is not fixed. What is called the foremost purity is so because on turning from this body one at once becomes a Buddha.

The Thirty-Two Marks and Pure, Keen Faculties: Liberating Beings by the Three Vehicles

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising the six perfections, accomplishes the thirty-two marks and faculties that are pure and keen. Because his faculties are pure and keen, people love and revere him; because he is loved and revered, he gradually liberates beings by the dharmas of the three vehicles. Śāriputra! In this way, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising prajñāpāramitā, should train in purity of body and purity of speech.’

The treatise-author explains: This bodhisattva wishes beings to be ferried across as soon as they see his bodily form, so he adorns his body with the thirty-two marks. As for ‘faculties that are pure and keen’: the eye and the other faculties are bright and keen, surpassing those of others; the faculties among the mental factors, such as the faculty of faith and the faculty of wisdom, are also foremost in purity and keenness. Those who see him praise this as rare: “I have nothing like this!” So they love and revere this bodhisattva, believe and accept his words, are complete in the dharmas of the path life after life, and by the paths of the three vehicles enter nirvāṇa. These thirty-two marks and the eye and other faculties are all obtained from the purity of the causes and conditions of the deeds of body and speech, and so the Buddha says: ‘The bodhisattva should purify the deeds of body and speech.’

Attaining Pure Faculties Without Exalting Himself or Belittling Others

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising the six perfections, attains purity of the faculties, yet with these pure faculties does not exalt himself and does not look down on others.’

The treatise-author explains: Because this bodhisattva constantly, deeply, and purely practises the six perfections, he attains eye and other faculties that are pure and keen, and everyone loves and reveres him; the faculties among the mental-factor dharmas, such as wisdom, are pure and keen beyond compare, and all this is for ferrying beings across. The common way of the world is this: once someone has gained some distinction, the mind exalts itself and belittles others, giving rise to such a thought as: “You do not have this; I alone have it!” Because of this, one loses the Buddha path instead. It is as said in the sūtra: “If a bodhisattva slights other bodhisattvas, with each thought he falls one kalpa further from the Buddha path; he must pass through that many kalpas before he can cultivate the Buddha path anew.” Therefore he does not exalt himself and does not look down on others.

From the First Arousing of the Mind, Never Falling into the Evil Paths

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, from the first arousing of the mind, abides in the perfection of giving and the perfection of morality, and right up to the ground of the avaivartika never falls into the evil paths.’

The treatise-author explains: From the very beginning this bodhisattva fears the evil paths, and for all the merits he makes he vows not to fall. As for ‘right up to the ground of the avaivartika’: it is because during the interval before he reaches that ground he fears falling into the evil paths, and so he makes the vow. The bodhisattva thinks: “If I fall into the three evil paths, I cannot even ferry myself across—how could I ferry others? Moreover, while undergoing the suffering and torment of the three evil paths, because of anger and torment the fetters grow; I would again produce evil deeds and again undergo painful recompense; if it goes on like this without end, when would I ever practise the Buddha path?”

Question: Since the fruit of keeping the precepts is precisely not falling into the evil paths, why is giving also mentioned?

Answer: Keeping the precepts is the root of not falling into the evil paths, and giving can also keep one from falling. Furthermore, although a bodhisattva who keeps the precepts does not fall into the evil paths, he may be born poor among humans, unable to benefit himself and unable to benefit others; therefore he practises giving. The other perfections also each have their own use.

Never Abandoning the Ten Wholesome Practices

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who from the first arousing of the mind right up to the ground of the avaivartika never abandons the ten wholesome practices.’

The treatise-author explains: The Buddha said earlier that by keeping the precepts one does not fall into the evil paths, with giving following along; now, fearing that people still do not know how to practise the perfection of morality (śīla) right up to the ground of the avaivartika, he says further, ‘constantly practises the ten wholesome deeds’. Furthermore, earlier it was said that the bodhisattva's keeping of the precepts was not yet firm and needed giving to help it; now it is said that as long as he keeps the precepts firmly and does not abandon the ten wholesome deeds, he does not fall into the three evil paths.

Vowing to Be a Wheel-Turning Sage King: Establishing Beings in the Ten Wholesome Deeds

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, abiding in the perfection of giving and the perfection of morality, becomes a wheel-turning sage king, establishes beings on the path of the ten wholesome deeds, and also gives wealth and goods to beings.’

The treatise-author explains: Because of the causes and conditions of these two perfections, giving and morality, he becomes a wheel-turning sage king. Because he practises the perfection of morality, he is able to make beings believe and accept the ten wholesome deeds; because he practises the perfection of giving, he gives wealth and treasure to beings and his giving is never exhausted.

Question: Must all bodhisattvas practise these two perfections and become wheel-turning sage kings?

Answer: Not necessarily! Why? As in this very chapter, the bodhisattvas enter the Buddha path by all kinds of Dharma-gates. Some bodhisattvas hear of the conduct and ordinances of a wheel-turning sage king and consider that in that position they can benefit beings, and so they make such a vow; there are also bodhisattvas who, though they have planted the causes and conditions for becoming a wheel-turning sage king, have made no vow, and likewise obtain the recompense of a wheel-turning sage king. He himself practises these two perfections, and so he becomes a wheel-turning sage king, and he also teaches all beings to practise the path of the ten wholesome deeds, and himself also practises giving. The listeners then raise a doubt: “Does he become one for only a single life, or life after life?” Therefore what follows—

Becoming a Wheel-Turning Sage King for Immeasurable Thousands of Myriads of Lives and Making Offerings to the Buddhas

The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, abiding in the perfection of giving and the perfection of morality, becomes a wheel-turning sage king for immeasurable thousands of myriads of lives, meets immeasurable hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and makes offerings to them, reveres them, honors them, and praises them.’

The treatise-author explains: If a bodhisattva knows that becoming a wheel-turning sage king can greatly benefit beings, he becomes a wheel-turning sage king; if he himself knows that taking some other bodily form would benefit them more, then he takes that other body. Furthermore, it is in order to make great offerings to the Buddha by means of worldly dharmas that he becomes a wheel-turning sage king.

Illuminating with the Dharma: How the Bodhisattva Lights Up Beings

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who constantly illuminates beings with the Dharma and also uses it to illuminate himself; right up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi he never parts from this illumination. Śāriputra! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva is already honored within the Buddha-dharma. Śāriputra! Therefore, when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises prajñāpāramitā, he does not let impurities of body, speech, and mind arise at random.’

The treatise-author explains: The bodhisattva above practised giving and morality and became a wheel-turning sage king; this one devotes himself to distinguishing the sūtras, reciting, recollecting, reflecting on, and distinguishing the dharmas, and uses this to seek the Buddha path. With the light of this wisdom he benefits himself and can also benefit beings; it is like a person lighting a lamp on a dark road, illuminating himself and illuminating others too. As for ‘never parts’: it means that for this reason he never parts from the light of wisdom, right up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.

Furthermore, this bodhisattva practises the giving of Dharma purely, not seeking fame and gain, offerings, or reverence, not greedy for disciples, not relying on his own wisdom, neither exalting himself and belittling others nor mocking anyone; he only keeps in mind that the Buddhas of the ten directions remember beings with a kind mind, and I too should train in the Buddha path in this way: when teaching the Dharma, relying on nothing and clinging to nothing, doing it only for beings, so that they may know the real mark of all dharmas. Teaching the Dharma purely in this way, life after life he does not lose the light of wisdom, right up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. As for ‘already honored’: it means that if all the bodhisattvas described above can be like this, they are honored by all beings. As for ‘does not let impurities of body, speech, and mind arise at random’: it means that one who can practise the pure giving of Dharma should not further give rise, in a mixed way, to evil deeds of body, speech, and mind. Why? If he gives rise to evil deeds of body, speech, and mind, the listeners may perhaps not believe and accept; if the deeds of mind are impure, wisdom is not bright; if wisdom is not bright, he cannot practise the bodhisattva path well. Furthermore, it is not only this one bodhisattva: all the bodhisattvas spoken of earlier who can practise this dharma are named ones who honor the Buddha's teaching. If bodhisattvas wish to practise the bodhisattva path, none of them should mix in offences; all evil, offending deeds they do not let arise at random. Those who practise in a mixed way find the practice of the path difficult and cannot quickly accomplish the Buddha path, because the causes and conditions of offending deeds ruin all kinds of merit.

Śāriputra Asks: What Are Impurities of Body, Speech, and Mind?

Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What counts as the bodhisattva's impure deeds of body, impure deeds of speech, and impure deeds of mind?’

Question: Śāriputra is foremost in wisdom; how could he fail to recognise the evil deeds of body, speech, and mind?

Answer: Within the śrāvaka dharma Śāriputra does recognise them; it is only because the bodhisattva's matters are different that he does not know them; as the sūtra says, if a bodhisattva gives rise to the mind of a śrāvaka or a pratyekabuddha, this is the bodhisattva's breaking of the precepts. Therefore Śāriputra had a doubt, not knowing what is an offence for a bodhisattva and what is not an offence. Furthermore, Śāriputra knows the three unwholesome paths of body, the four unwholesome paths of speech, and the three unwholesome paths of mind, and that these are the offences of body, speech, and mind; yet here the Buddha's answer is: ‘If the bodhisattva grasps and clings to the marks of body, speech, and mind, this is the bodhisattva's offence of body, speech, and mind.’ For causes and conditions such as these, Śāriputra asks the question.

Grasping Marks Is Precisely the Bodhisattva's Offence of Body, Speech, and Mind

The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives rise to such a thought—this is body, this is speech, this is mind—grasping marks in this way and taking them as objects; Śāriputra! This is called the bodhisattva's offence of body, speech, and mind. Śāriputra! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises prajñāpāramitā, he does not obtain body, does not obtain speech, does not obtain mind. Śāriputra! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises prajñāpāramitā, if he obtains body, obtains speech, obtains mind, then because of obtaining body, speech, and mind he is able to give rise to the mind of stinginess, the mind of breaking the precepts, the mind of anger, the mind of laziness, the mind of distraction, and the mind of delusion. You should know that this bodhisattva, when practising the six perfections, cannot remove the coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind.’

The treatise-author explains: The Buddha makes clear to Śāriputra—the bodhisattva within the emptiness of dharmas does not see these three deeds, and this is freedom from offence; if he sees these three deeds, that is offence. In the śrāvaka dharma, only the ten unwholesome paths count as offending deeds; in the Mahāyāna, seeing that there is something done by body, speech, or mind counts as offence. Why? Because where there is something done and something seen, the doer and the seer are both false and deceptive. The coarse person has coarse offences; the subtle person has subtle offences. It is as when leaving the desire of the desire realm: the five desires and the five hindrances are evil offences, and the wholesome initial and sustained thought included in the first meditation is free from offence; when leaving the first meditation and entering the second, initial and sustained thought become offence, and the wholesome joy included in the second meditation is free from offence; and so on up to the station of neither perception nor non-perception, all is like this. Once one enters the real mark of all dharmas, every contemplation, every view, every dharma is named offence. Because people of the Small Vehicle fear the three evil paths, they take the ten unwholesome deeds as offence; people of the Great Vehicle name as offence every dharma that can give rise to clinging and grasping of marks and that runs counter to the three gates of liberation. Because the angle from which they look is different, it is named the Great Vehicle.

If one sees that these three deeds exist, then even without giving rise to evil, it does not count as firm; only not seeing these three deeds of body, speech, and mind is the root, and only this counts as firm. Because of the emptiness of dharmas, this bodhisattva does not see these three things; it is precisely by grasping and clinging to these three things that one gives rise to the mark of stinginess, the mark of breaking the precepts, the mark of anger, the mark of laziness, the mark of distraction, and the mark of delusion. Since the cause is absent, the fruit is also absent, just as where there is no tree there is no shade of a tree; if one is able to contemplate in this way, one can remove the coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind.

Question: Earlier it said ‘offending deeds’; why does it now say ‘coarse deeds’?

Answer: Coarse deeds and offending deeds are not different; offence is precisely coarse and cannot be called subtle. Furthermore, śrāvakas call the unwholesome deeds of body and speech coarse, and the unwholesome deeds of mind subtle; they call fetters such as anger and wrong views coarse offences, and fetters such as craving and conceit subtle offences; they call the three evil thoughts—the thought of desire, the thought of anger, and the thought of harming—coarse, and the thought of kin, the thought of homeland, and the thought of not dying subtle, and only wholesome thought is called very subtle—but in the Mahāyāna all of these count as coarse, and so here coarse offences are spoken of.

How to Remove the Coarse Deeds of Body, Speech, and Mind

Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva remove the coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘If the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not obtain body, does not obtain speech, does not obtain mind, such a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is able to remove the coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind. Furthermore, Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who from the first arousing of intention practises the path of the ten wholesome deeds, and does not give rise to the śrāvaka mind or the pratyekabuddha mind—such a bodhisattva-mahāsattva is able to remove the coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind.’

Question: What kind of subtle deeds of body, speech, and mind are they, such that what runs counter to them counts as coarse?

Answer: It is just as was said earlier. Furthermore, the deeds of ordinary people are coarse compared with the deeds of śrāvakas, and the deeds of śrāvakas are coarse compared with the Great Vehicle. Furthermore, stained deeds are coarse and unstained deeds are subtle; deeds that can produce the causes and conditions of painful feeling are coarse, and deeds that do not produce the causes and conditions of painful feeling are subtle; deeds with initial and sustained thought are coarse, and deeds without initial and sustained thought are subtle. Furthermore, seeing that there is a self, up to seeing that there is a knower and a seer, is coarse; if one does not see a self, up to a knower and a seer, and sees only the places of the three deeds, the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements, that is subtle. Furthermore, what has something seen is named coarse, and what has nothing seen is named subtle. Therefore the Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘If the bodhisattva does not obtain body, speech, and mind, then he removes the three kinds of coarse deeds.’ Furthermore, from the first arousing of intention abiding in ultimate emptiness, where all dharmas are unfindable, yet constantly practising the path of the ten wholesome deeds, and not giving rise to the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha mind; with a mind that does not grasp marks, dedicating all wholesome roots to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi—this is called the bodhisattva's removal of the offence of coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind, and is named purity.

Purifying the Buddha Path: All Dharmas Are Unfindable

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising prajñāpāramitā and purifying the Buddha path, practises the perfection of giving, the perfection of morality, the perfection of patience, the perfection of vigour, and the perfection of meditation; this is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's removal of the coarse deeds of body, speech, and mind.’ Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What is the Buddha path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘What is called the Buddha path means that the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not obtain body, does not obtain speech, does not obtain mind, does not obtain the perfection of giving, up to not obtaining the perfection of prajñā, does not obtain śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas, does not obtain bodhisattvas, does not obtain Buddhas. Śāriputra! This is called the Buddha path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, and it is precisely because all dharmas are unfindable.’

The treatise-author explains: This bodhisattva purifies the Buddha path by the general mark of the six perfections.

Question: Śāriputra heard from the Buddha that ‘removing the three evils and removing the three coarse deeds is purifying the Buddha path’; why does he ask again now?

Answer: What was spoken of earlier is the mark of purity of the three deeds; what is spoken of now is the mark of purity of all dharmas; earlier it was stated briefly, now it is stated in terms of the particular marks. Earlier it spoke only of not obtaining the three deeds; now it speaks of not obtaining the six perfections, the worthies and sages, the bodhisattvas, and the Buddha—only this is called purifying the Buddha path, because all dharmas are unfindable. ‘Not obtaining body, up to not obtaining the perfection of prajñā’ is the emptiness of dharmas; ‘not obtaining śrāvakas, up to not obtaining Buddhas’ is the emptiness of beings. Abiding in these two emptinesses, the bodhisattva gradually attains the emptiness of all that is unfindable, and the emptiness of the unfindable is precisely the real mark of all dharmas. The meaning of this ‘emptiness of the unfindable’ is as was said earlier among the ‘eighteen emptinesses’.

Practising the Six Perfections, and No One Can Ruin Him

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising the six perfections, cannot be ruined by anyone.’ Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises the six perfections, how is it that no one can ruin him?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘If the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising the six perfections, does not think that there is form, up to consciousness; does not think that there is the eye, up to the mind; does not think that there are forms, up to dharmas; does not think that there is the eye-element, up to the dharma-element; does not think that there are the four foundations of mindfulness, up to the limbs of the eightfold noble path; does not think that there is the perfection of giving, up to the perfection of prajñā; does not think that there are the ten powers, up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; does not think that there is the fruit of the stream-enterer, up to the fruit of the arhat; does not think that there is the pratyekabuddha, up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Śāriputra! The bodhisattva-mahāsattva who practises in this way increases the six perfections, and no one can ruin him.’

The treatise-author explains: The Buddha has distinguished the bodhisattvas for Śāriputra in all kinds of ways, and next says that there is a kind of bodhisattva whom no one can ruin from the moment he arouses the mind. Śāriputra, both astonished and glad, and revering the bodhisattvas, therefore asks: ‘The bodhisattva's fetters are not yet cut off, and he has not yet realised the dharma of the real mark; by what cause and condition can he not be ruined?’ The Buddha answers: ‘If the bodhisattva does not think that there is form, up to not thinking that there is anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; having attained this emptiness of dharmas, he also attains the emptiness of beings. If dharmas are empty, then that which contemplates emptiness is also empty. Abiding in this unobstructed prajñāpāramitā, no one can ruin him.’

Complete in Wisdom, Never Falling into the Evil Paths

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in prajñāpāramitā and is complete in wisdom. Because of this wisdom, he never falls into the evil paths, is not born among wretched and evil people, and does not become a poor person; and the body he receives is not hated by humans, gods, or asuras.’

The treatise-author explains: This bodhisattva, from past lives onward, has loved wisdom, studied all scriptures and writings extensively, observed and reflected, listened to and gathered the dharmas, and by the power of his own wisdom investigated the real mark in all dharmas. Because he has attained the real mark of all these dharmas, he is deeply loved and kept in mind by the Buddhas. By the causes and conditions of this immeasurable wisdom and merit, he is complete in body and mind, constantly enjoys wealth and happiness, and has none of the various things that go against his wishes.

What Is the Bodhisattva's Wisdom?

Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What is the wisdom of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘With this wisdom the bodhisattva-mahāsattva accomplishes seeing the Buddhas of the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, hearing the Dharma, seeing the Saṅgha, and also seeing pure and adorned Buddha-lands. With this wisdom the bodhisattva-mahāsattva nevertheless does not form the notion of a Buddha, does not form the notion of a bodhisattva, does not form the notion of a śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, does not form the notion of a self, does not form the notion of a Buddha-land. With this wisdom he practises the perfection of giving yet does not obtain the perfection of giving, up to practising the perfection of prajñā yet not obtaining the perfection of prajñā; he practises the four foundations of mindfulness yet does not obtain the four foundations of mindfulness, up to practising the eighteen unshared dharmas yet not obtaining the eighteen unshared dharmas. Śāriputra! This is called the wisdom of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. With this wisdom he is able to be complete in all dharmas, and yet does not obtain any dharma.’

The treatise-author explains: Here the Buddha speaks of two kinds of wisdom: the first can distinguish and break down the dharmas without grasping marks; the second, with a mind that does not cling and without grasping marks, attains the seeing of the Buddhas of the ten directions and the hearing of the Dharma.

Question: How does one practise the perfection of giving and yet not obtain giving?

Answer: He does not grasp whether this giving is one or different, real or empty. This giving arises from the coming together of many causes and conditions; within this giving he enables beings to attain wealth and happiness and also encourages and assists the Buddha path; therefore he practises giving yet does not obtain giving. The meaning of ‘not obtaining’ is as was said earlier. Up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, all is likewise. This is called ‘the bodhisattva's wisdom is able to be complete in all dharmas and yet does not obtain the dharmas’.

Purifying the Five Eyes, and the Purity of the Fleshly Eye

The Buddha said: ‘Śāriputra! There is a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who, when practising prajñāpāramitā, purifies the five eyes: the fleshly eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, the Dharma eye, and the Buddha eye.’ Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What counts as the purity of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's fleshly eye?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘There are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye can see a hundred yojanas; there are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye sees two hundred yojanas; there are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye sees one Jambudvīpa; there are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye sees two continents, three continents, four continents; there are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye sees a small-thousand world; there are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye sees a middle-thousand world; there are bodhisattvas whose fleshly eye sees the three-thousand great-thousand world. Śāriputra! This is the purity of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's fleshly eye.’

Question: Why does the Buddha not say ‘practising prajñāpāramitā produces the five eyes’, but says ‘purifies the five eyes’?

Answer: The bodhisattva originally has the fleshly eye, and also has a share of the other four eyes; it is only that they are covered by offences and fetters and are not pure. It is like a mirror, whose nature is able to reflect clearly; because of accumulated grime it does not reflect; if the grime is removed, it reflects clearly as before. The bodhisattva practises the six perfections and extinguishes the dharmas of grime, so his eyes become pure. The fleshly eye is purified by the causes and conditions of deeds; the divine eye is purified by the causes and conditions of meditative absorption and of deeds; the other three eyes are purified by the causes and conditions of cultivating immeasurable wisdom and merit. The greatest bodhisattva has the most excellent fleshly eye, able to see the three-thousand great-thousand world.

Question: In the three-thousand great-thousand world there are a hundred koṭi Sumeru mountains, the Iron Ring mountains, hills and mounds, trees and so on, all of which are obstructions; how can one see through all of it? If one can see it, why the need for the divine eye? If one cannot see it, how can it be said here, ‘sees the three-thousand great-thousand world’?

Answer: He does not see through obstructions; rather, without any obstruction he gets to see the three-thousand world, as clearly as looking at the palm of his own hand. Furthermore, some say: the bodhisattva's divine eye is of two kinds—the first obtained from the power of meditative absorption, the second obtained as the recompense of the deeds of past lives. The divine eye born of the recompense of deeds is always present within the fleshly eye, so nothing in the three-thousand world can obstruct it; because the divine eye has opened up the obstructions, the fleshly eye gets to see. Therefore the fleshly eye borrows the name ‘divine eye born of recompense’, is always present, and has no need to gather the mind.

Question: Again: the Buddha is the World-Honored One and his power extends to everything; why does he see only one three-thousand great-thousand world and cannot see more?

Answer: If the fleshly eye could see beyond the three-thousand great-thousand world, why the need for the divine eye? It is precisely because the fleshly eye cannot reach there that one trains in the divine eye. Furthermore, the three-thousand great-thousand world arises all together at one time at the beginning of the kalpa and perishes all together at one time at the end of the kalpa; beyond the world there are countless yojanas that are all empty space, and in the empty space there is always wind. The fleshly eye runs counter to the wind; because of this contrariety it cannot pass beyond to see other worlds. Or there may be a bodhisattva who dwells at the edge of the domain of a three-thousand world; reckoning the distance in between, he too should be able to see the neighbouring worlds of other directions.

Question: Once more: why do bodhisattvas and Buddhas not accumulate immeasurable pure merit so that the fleshly eye can see farther?

Answer: The causes and conditions of the fleshly eye are false, deceptive, and impure; only the causes and conditions of the divine eye are pure; it is only when there is no divine eye that one forcibly cultivates the fleshly eye and forces it to see far. Furthermore, as the sūtra says, at the very farthest one sees no more than the three-thousand world; but the Buddha-dharma is inconceivable and the sūtras and dharmas are extremely many, so perhaps one can see farther, only it is not said here.

A bodhisattva a little less far along, who sees the Buddha path, can see a two-thousand middle world; because the pure deeds he has planted as causes and conditions are few, it is somewhat smaller; one less than that sees a small-thousand world; one less again sees four continents, one Mount Sumeru, one place of a sun and moon; and again there are those who see three continents, two continents, one continent, a thousand yojanas, down to a hundred yojanas. This is the smallest purity of the fleshly eye.

Question: Why not take ninety, eighty yojanas and so on as the smallest?

Answer: What a wheel-turning sage king sees already surpasses others; again, some people, through causes and conditions such as lighting lamps in past lives, obtain a firm eye-faculty and can see far; but however far, in the end they cannot see as far as a hundred yojanas. Therefore even the smallest among bodhisattvas can see a hundred yojanas.

Question: Again: the sun and moon are in the sky, forty-two thousand yojanas from the earth, and everyone can see them; why then can one not see a hundred yojanas? And what is there worth praising in being able to see a hundred yojanas?

Answer: Although the sun and moon are far off, they have their own light that reflects their forms back, and so people get to see them; other colors are not like this. Moreover, the sun and moon are so far away that, though seen, they are seen inverted. Why? The sun and moon are five hundred yojanas across, yet what is now seen is no bigger than a fan; being originally large yet seen as small—this is inverted and not true. The bodhisattva's fleshly eye is not like this!

Question: Once more: once the bodhisattva has attained the fleshly eye, what things can he see?

Answer: He can see all visible forms. As for the meaning of ‘form’, it has been explained in detail in the section on ‘the aggregate of form’.

The Purity of the Divine Eye

Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What counts as the purity of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's divine eye?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘The divine eye of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva can see all that is seen by the gods of the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings; can see what is seen by the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, the Yāma Heaven, the Tuṣita Heaven, the Heaven of Delight in Transformations, and the Heaven Sovereign over Others' Transformations; can see what is seen by the Brahmā king, up to what is seen by the Akaniṣṭha Heaven. What the bodhisattva's divine eye sees, the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings up to the Akaniṣṭha Heaven do not know and do not see. Śāriputra! The divine eye of this bodhisattva-mahāsattva can see the beings in the Buddha-worlds of the ten directions, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, dying in this place and being born in that. Śāriputra! This is the purity of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's divine eye.’

The treatise-author explains: The bodhisattva's divine eye is of two kinds: the first obtained as recompense, the second obtained by cultivating meditation. The one obtained as recompense is always used together with the fleshly eye; only in the dark of night is the divine eye used alone. The recompense divine eye that ordinary people obtain sees only the four continents and the gods of the desire realm, and can see downward but not upward; the recompense divine eye that the bodhisattva obtains, however, can see the three-thousand great-thousand world. As for what is seen by the divine eye obtained through meditative absorption and leaving desire, it is as said earlier in ‘the knowledge of the divine eye among the ten powers’. With this divine eye the bodhisattva sees, without any obstruction, the births and deaths, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, and the causes and conditions of good and evil deeds of the beings in worlds of the ten directions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. What he sees fully encompasses what is seen by the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings up to the Akaniṣṭha Heaven, and goes beyond it too; yet these heavens cannot know what the bodhisattva's divine eye sees. Why? Because this bodhisattva has already left the three realms, has attained the body born of dharma-nature, and has attained the ten powers of a bodhisattva. For causes and conditions such as these, the bodhisattva's divine eye is pure. The remaining discussion of the bodhisattva's divine eye is as said in ‘Praising the Five Supernormal Powers of the Bodhisattva’.

The Purity of the Wisdom Eye

Śāriputra said to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! What counts as the purity of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's wisdom eye?’ The Buddha told Śāriputra: ‘The bodhisattva of the wisdom eye does not give rise to such a thought: that there is a dharma which is conditioned or unconditioned, worldly or world-transcending, with outflows or without outflows. This bodhisattva of the wisdom eye has no dharma he does not see, no dharma he does not hear, no dharma he does not know, no dharma he does not cognise. Śāriputra! This is the purity of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva's wisdom eye.’

The treatise-author explains: The fleshly eye cannot see things beyond obstructions, nor can it see far, and therefore one seeks the divine eye. Although the divine eye can see, it too is false and deceptive: it sees marks of one and different, grasps the marks of male and female, grasps the marks of all kinds of things such as trees; what it sees are false, deceptive dharmas made of many things coming together, and therefore one seeks the wisdom eye; in the wisdom eye there are no such faults.

Question: If so, what then is the mark of the wisdom eye?

Answer: Some say that right view within the eightfold noble path is the mark of the wisdom eye, because it can see the real mark of the five aggregates of clinging and break the inversions. Some say that the wisdom which can take nirvāṇa as its object is named the wisdom eye, because its object cannot be ruined, so this wisdom is not false. Some say that only the wisdom associated with the three gates of liberation is called the wisdom eye, because it can open the gate of nirvāṇa. Some say that when wisdom is present, can contemplate the reality-limit, penetrates clearly and deeply, and comprehends and knows completely—only this is called the wisdom eye. Some say it is that which can penetrate dharma-nature, passing straight through without obstruction. Some say that the concentrated mind clearly knowing the suchness of the marks of dharmas—only this is called the wisdom eye. Some say that the emptiness of dharmas is called the wisdom eye. Some say that when, within the emptiness of the unfindable, there is not even the emptiness of dharmas—only this is called the wisdom eye. Some say that the eighteen emptinesses are all the wisdom eye. Some say that delusion and wisdom are neither one nor different; worldly dharmas are not different from the world-transcending, and world-transcending dharmas are not different from the worldly; worldly dharmas are precisely the world-transcending, and world-transcending dharmas are precisely the worldly. Why? Because their difference is utterly unfindable. All contemplations are extinguished, all the movements of mind turn back and have nowhere to go, all words and speech are extinguished, and the mark of worldly dharmas is like nirvāṇa, no different—such wisdom is what is called the wisdom eye.

Furthermore, here the Buddha himself says: ‘The bodhisattva of the wisdom eye, among all dharmas, does not think of conditioned or unconditioned, does not think of worldly or world-transcending, does not think of with outflows or without outflows, and so on.’ Only this is called the wisdom eye. If a bodhisattva sees the conditioned, the worldly, and what has outflows, he falls into the view of existence; if he sees the unconditioned, the world-transcending, and what is without outflows, he falls into the view of non-existence. Abandoning both these views of existence and non-existence, and walking the middle way with the wisdom that is free of idle discourse—only this is called the wisdom eye. Having attained this wisdom eye, there is no dharma he does not see, hear, know, or cognise. Why? Because having attained this wisdom eye, he can break crooked dharmas and dharmas of ignorance; whether general marks or particular marks, it is so with each.

Question: Arhats and pratyekabuddhas also attain the wisdom eye; why is it not said of them that ‘there is no dharma they do not see, no dharma they do not hear, no dharma they do not know, no dharma they do not cognise’?

Answer: The wisdom eye is of two kinds: the first of the general mark, the second of the particular mark. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas see only the general marks of dharmas, namely impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and so on; the Buddha contemplates the dharmas with the wisdom of both general and particular marks. Although śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have the wisdom eye, it is measured and limited. Furthermore, although the wisdom eye of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas sees the real mark of dharmas, because their causes and conditions are few, their wisdom eye is also small and cannot illuminate dharma-nature everywhere; it is like a lamp whose oil and wick, though pure, cannot illuminate widely because it is small. The wisdom eye of the Buddhas illuminates the real nature of dharmas through and through, to its very edge and bottom, so there is no dharma it does not see, hear, know, or cognise; it is like the great fire at the end of the kalpa burning the three-thousand world, whose light illuminates everything. Furthermore, if the wisdom eye of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas truly knew every dharma, how would they differ from the all-knowing one? And what use would there be in the bodhisattva's accumulating merit, wisdom, and ascetic practice life after life?

Question: It is with the Buddha eye that the Buddha knows every dharma, and that is not the wisdom eye; why is it now said that ‘the wisdom eye knows every dharma’?

Answer: When one becomes a Buddha, the wisdom eye changes its name and is called the Buddha eye, because ignorance and the other afflictions, together with their habit-energies, have all been extinguished, so it is clear with regard to all dharmas. It is as said in ‘the Buddha eye’: ‘There is no dharma it does not see, hear, know, or cognise.’ Therefore the fleshly eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, and the Dharma eye all lose their original names upon becoming a Buddha, and are named only the Buddha eye. It is like the four great rivers of Jambudvīpa, which lose their original names when they flow into the great ocean. Why? The fleshly eye is born of the afflictions and deeds with outflows, and is false, deceptive, and not real; only the Buddha eye has no deceptive dharma. The divine eye, too, arises from the coming together of the causes and conditions of meditative absorption, so it is false and deceptive and cannot see things as they really are. The wisdom eye and the Dharma eye, because the habit-energies of the afflictions are not yet exhausted, are not ultimately pure, and so they must be relinquished. In the Buddha eye there is no error; it reaches to the very limit! Therefore the wisdom eye of the arhats and pratyekabuddhas cannot be ultimately pure, and so it cannot see every dharma.

Question: Again: the Buddha presently has a fleshly eye obtained as recompense, which can see forms; how is this so?

Answer: Although the fleshly eye gives rise to eye-consciousness, the Buddha does not follow it in using it and does not take it as real; as said in ‘the Sovereign Supernormal Powers of the Noble Ones’, the Buddha told Ānanda: ‘Among the pleasing forms that are seen, give rise to a mind of aversion; when the eye sees displeasing forms, give rise to a mind of non-aversion; or when seeing forms, give rise neither to the sense of the foul nor to the sense of the not-foul, but give rise only to a mind of equanimity.’ In this way the fleshly eye has nothing to do. Furthermore, some say that on attaining the noble path the five senses are all purified and differ from what they were originally. Furthermore, the ultimate emptiness of all dharmas and the unobstructed penetration of all dharmas—these two taken together are precisely the wisdom eye.