大智度論 無作實相品之下Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Uncontrived Real Mark, Part 2 of 2

The Uncontrived Real Mark, Last Part: The Present-Life Merits of Receiving and Upholding Prajñā and the Protection of the Gods; the Great Precious-Treasure Pāramitā; the Second Wheel of the Dharma, Neither a Turning Nor a Returning; the Ten Meanings of Purely Expounding Prajñā; No Fixed Field of Merit

What Is Being Asked

The First Part set up 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived" as the eye of the whole chapter: prajñā is without anything done, and the doer is unfindable; not to practise dharmas, not to practise permanent or impermanent, is to practise prajñā; whether it is spoken or not spoken, it neither increases nor decreases, like space, like an illusory person; the bodhisattva raises the great adornment in order to deliver beings equal to space; Śakra asks about protection, and Subhūti answers that there is no dharma to be protected; in each of the ten directions a thousand buddhas appear, and Maitreya will expound prajñā in this very place; at the end, the ten rounds of purity and their similes gather prajñā into ultimate purity. The Last Part takes up this substance of purity and turns to ask about the function of purity: when prajñā, ultimately pure, comes to rest in the one who receives and upholds it, what kind of fruit does it bear?—he will never suffer sickness of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body, will suffer no mutilation, will not decline into senility, will not die an untimely death; the gods follow him, gather in assembly on the six fast-days, and his merit is immeasurable; the Buddha further calls it 「大珍寶」 tr. "the great precious treasure"—it can pull beings out of the poverty of the three evil destinies, and can give great families, the heavens, the four fruits, and so on up to awakening; and yet what makes the precious treasure a precious treasure lies precisely in its being with nothing to be attained, undefiled, without power and without non-power, neither giving nor relinquishing. At the end of the sūtra passage the gods praise it, saying they see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma, yet the Buddha answers that it is neither a first nor a second, without turning and without returning—at the very height of its function, the uncontrived character of its substance remains as it was. What the Last Part asks is the one question of substance and function being one: how does an uncontrived dharma have a great function? And within the great function, how is it still uncontrived? The precious-treasure pāramitā answers the first half, and the turning of the wheel of the Dharma that is neither a turning nor a returning answers the second half; and the ten meanings of purely expounding prajñā, together with there being no fixed field of merit, draw the one who expounds the Dharma and the field of merit as well into the uncontrived real mark, and here the chapter closes, its beginning and end joined in a full circle.

Passage by Passage

1. The present-life merits of receiving and upholding prajñā; the gods follow; on the six fast-days the merit of expounding prajñā is immeasurable. At the opening of the Last Part, Subhūti addresses the Buddha: good men and good women who receive and uphold prajñā, draw near to it, and rightly recollect it will never suffer sickness of the eye, and ear, nose, tongue, and body too will never be sick; the body will suffer no mutilation, will not decline into senility, will never die an untimely death; countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of gods—from the gods of the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings up to the gods of the Pure Abodes—all follow them to hear and receive; on the six fast-days (the eighth, the twenty-third, the fourteenth, the twenty-ninth, the fifteenth, and the thirtieth of the month) the gods gather in assembly, and all come together at the place where the Dharma-teacher expounds prajñā; one who expounds prajñā in the great assembly gains immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya, inconceivable, and incalculable merit. This passage turns the substance of purity from the First Part over onto the present-life person of the one who receives and upholds: not falling sick, not being mutilated, not dying an untimely death are the recompense of the body; the gods following is the recompense of retinue; the immeasurable merit of expounding the Dharma is the recompense of the gift of Dharma. One must note the conditional wording of the sūtra text—receiving and upholding, drawing near, and rightly recollecting, three things set side by side: the merit is tied to practising and upholding in accord with the Dharma, not tied to having a scroll in hand; this meaning is fully laid open only when Treatise ④ comes to the question of 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense".

2. Prajñā is the great precious treasure: it can pull out and it can give. The Buddha approves his words and himself sets up a name: prajñāpāramitā is the great precious treasure. What is the great precious treasure? It can pull beings out of the hells, out of the animals, out of the hungry ghosts, and out of poverty among humans; it can give kṣatriya and brahmin great families and great householder families; it can give the place of the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; it can give the four fruits, the path of the pratyekabuddha, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The reason it can do this is that within prajñā are broadly taught the ten wholesome paths, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, the six perfections, inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to omniscience; by training in these, one is born into great families among humans, into the six heavens of the desire realm, into the heavens of the form realm and so on up to the heaven of the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, and attains the four fruits, the path of the pratyekabuddha, and so on up to awakening. The two words 「拔」 tr. "pull out" and 「與」 tr. "give" are the two wings of the meaning of the precious treasure: pulling out is leaving suffering, giving is gaining happiness; from the good destinies of humans and gods straight through to unsurpassed awakening, all the wholesome dharmas that are causes and conditions of happiness come forth from within prajñā—the 「大」 tr. "great" of the precious treasure is great in that not a single wholesome dharma lies outside it.

3. The precious-treasure pāramitā of nothing to be attained. Within the precious-treasure pāramitā there is no dharma that can be attained—whether arising or ceasing, defiled or pure, grasped or relinquished; nor is there any dharma whether wholesome or unwholesome, worldly or world-transcending, with outflows or without outflows, conditioned or unconditioned—this is called the precious-treasure pāramitā of nothing to be attained. This passage follows right upon the great function of pulling out and giving, and it is precisely the reappearance of the eye of the whole chapter, 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived": the treasury that can give all wholesome dharmas has within it not a single dharma that can be attained. Arising and ceasing, defiled and pure, grasped and relinquished are three pairs of modes of practice; wholesome and unwholesome, worldly and world-transcending, with and without outflows, conditioned and unconditioned are four pairs of classes of dharmas—the seven pairs are set aside together so that within the precious treasure one cannot find a single 「寶物」 tr. "treasure-object"; the treasure lies not in a thing attained, but precisely in the illumination of nothing to be attained.

4. The undefiled precious-treasure pāramitā. In this precious-treasure pāramitā there is no dharma that can defile it. Why? Because the defiling dharmas that would be used are unfindable—it is called the undefiled precious-treasure pāramitā. Defilement requires a dharma that can defile; since the dharma that can defile is unfindable, on what could defilement stand? This runs in the same vein as the simile 「虛空不可污」 tr. "space cannot be defiled" among the ten rounds of purity in the First Part: it is not that when stain comes it is warded off, but that stain is from the first unfindable. Because there is nothing to be attained, it is undefiled; because it is undefiled, it is the precious treasure—the three names run through one another, one and the same ultimate emptiness.

5. In this way not knowing, not discriminating, not attaining, not engaging in idle discourse; paying homage to the buddhas, bringing beings to maturity, and purifying buddha-lands. When the bodhisattva practises prajñā, in this way too he does not know, in this way too he does not discriminate, in this way too he does not attain, in this way too he does not engage in idle discourse—this is being able to cultivate and practise prajñā; he is also able to pay homage to the buddhas, going from one buddha-land to another buddha-land, making offerings to, revering, honouring, and praising the buddhas, travelling through the buddha-fields, bringing beings to maturity and purifying buddha-lands. The four words of 「不」 tr. "not" are the modes of practice in cultivating the precious-treasure pāramitā: not knowing is not forming intellectual understanding; not discriminating is not setting up self and other; not attaining is not grasping at fixed marks; not engaging in idle discourse is where the road of words and thought is cut off. And what follows at once is the great practice of passing through all the buddha-lands, bringing beings to maturity, and adorning buddha-lands—the sūtra text itself sets 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived" and 「大用」 tr. "great function" in one and the same sentence: only because of the four nots can one practise everywhere; this meaning Treatise ④ lays bare with 「無所得方便力」 tr. "the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained".

6. Without power and without non-power, neither giving nor relinquishing; whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the mark of dharmas ever abides. Prajñā has with regard to dharmas no power and no non-power, and neither receives nor gives; it neither arises nor ceases, is neither stained nor pure, neither increases nor decreases; it is not past, future, or present; with regard to the three realms it neither relinquishes nor abides; with regard to the six perfections, inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, the four fruits and so on up to omniscience, it neither gives nor relinquishes any of them; it does not give the dharmas of the arhat and does not relinquish the dharmas of ordinary people, does not give the dharmas of the pratyekabuddha and does not relinquish the dharmas of the arhat, does not give the dharmas of the Buddha and does not relinquish the dharmas of the pratyekabuddha, does not give unconditioned dharmas and does not relinquish conditioned dharmas. Why? Because whether there are buddhas or there are no buddhas, this mark of dharmas ever abides and is not other; the mark of dharmas, the abiding of dharmas, the position of dharmas ever abide, without error and without loss. This great passage goes over dharma after dharma, one upon another, and pushes the 「不」 tr. "not" of the precious-treasure pāramitā to its limit: from the dharmas of ordinary people to the dharmas of the Buddha, from the conditioned to the unconditioned, prajñā uniformly neither gives nor relinquishes—not giving, because there is not one dharma to be handed over; not relinquishing, because there is not one dharma to be left behind. And why it is so is gathered up in 「法相常住」 tr. "the mark of dharmas ever abides": prajñā is not the maker of dharmas; the real mark of all dharmas from the first ever abides of itself, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, neither increasing nor decreasing; prajñā only illumines it as it really is, and therefore in every position it neither gives nor relinquishes.

7. Because the karma is not bound to be received as recompense, there are no afflictions; the similes of the fine medicine and of the feeble person's sharp weapon. The treatise-author, as soon as he opens his explanation, sets up a difficulty: those who receive and uphold prajñā and rightly recollect it still have many afflictions—how can it be said that they will never suffer sickness of the eye and the rest? Answer: it has already been broadly explained above in the 〈Chapters on Merit and on the Hells〉: it is because of 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense" that they have no afflictions; and again, it is because they constantly receive and uphold it, rightly recollect it, and practise prajñā as it is taught, that they have no afflictions. It is like a fine medicine that can break all sicknesses: if one cannot follow its regimen, it does not remove the affliction, and that is not the medicine's fault; again, it is like a weakling who, though he has obtained a sharp weapon, cannot ward off danger, and that is not the weapon's fault. The practitioner is like this: because of heavy sins from former lives, and because in this life he does not practise as it is taught, he does not obtain the power of prajñā, and that is not the fault of prajñā. This answer puts the promise of merit in Sūtra ① back into the right position of cause and effect: what is turned aside by not falling sick and not dying an untimely death is karma that is 「非必受報」 tr. "not bound to be received as recompense"—karma that can be turned; fixed karma from former lives and not practising in this life as it is taught can both obstruct the power of prajñā from appearing. The medicine simile lays the charge on following the regimen, the weapon simile on wielding it—when merit does not show its effect, the fault lies in the practice of the one who receives and upholds, not in the power of prajñā; this is the key judgement for guarding the sūtra text without falling into superstition.

8. The report of sūtra scrolls in the heavens is hearsay and not spoken by the Buddha; Śakra's recitation and the one bound to buddhahood in one more birth in Tuṣita. The treatise-author again sets up a question: there is prajñā in the heavens as well, so why do the gods, on the six fast-days, follow after the impure human body seeking to hear prajñā? Answer: 「天上有經卷」 tr. "there are sūtra scrolls in the heavens" is hearsay that it is so, and is not spoken by the Buddha. If there were any, they would be in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and in Tuṣita—when the asuras fought with the gods of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, the Buddha commanded Śakra, 「汝當誦念般若」 tr. "You should recite and keep prajñā in mind"; and in the Tuṣita heaven there is always the bodhisattva bound to buddhahood in one more birth who expounds for the gods, and so there could be. The bodies and clothing of the gods of the form realm are light and fine, even to the point of having no weight at all; they constantly delight in quiet stillness and taste the flavour of meditative absorption, and so there should not be sūtra scrolls there. The treatise-author's way of examining a report is worth observing: he does not flatly reject it as false, but weighs it level by level according to the actual conditions of the heavenly realms—where there are causes and conditions of recitation (Trāyastriṃśa) or a master who expounds the Dharma (Tuṣita), there could be; where they delight in absorption and are without activity (the form realm), there should not be. Where sūtra scrolls are is tied to the presence or absence of Dharma-conditions, not to the height or lowness of the place.

9. By three causes and conditions the people of Jambudvīpa surpass the gods. The gods are attached to two kinds of pleasure—the pleasure of desire and the pleasure of absorption—and cannot toil diligently to write and uphold prajñā; the people of Jambudvīpa can with vigour write, uphold, receive and study, and rightly recollect it. As a sūtra says: 「閻浮提人以三因緣勝諸天及欝單曰人：一者、能斷淫欲，二者、強識念力，三者、能精懃勇猛。」 tr. "The people of Jambudvīpa surpass the gods and the people of Uttarakuru by three causes and conditions: first, they can cut off sexual desire; second, they have strong memory and power of recollection; third, they can be diligent, vigorous, and bold." Therefore the gods come down to pay homage to the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra, or wish to hear it expounded. This passage is the stroke in the whole unit most able to rouse the practitioner: the place of superior pleasurable recompense turns instead into an obstruction to the practice of the Dharma—attached to pleasure, one cannot toil diligently; Jambudvīpa, half suffering and half pleasure, surpasses gods and humans precisely by the three things of being able to cut off, being able to remember, and being able to be diligent. When the gods come down to pay homage to the sūtra scrolls of the human world, what they honour is not paper and ink but the practice of diligently writing and upholding; one born in this land should recognise where one's own strength lies.

10. The gods come down to increase the faith and reverence of beings; when the gods of great power come, the lesser ghosts withdraw. Again, someone says: even if there were sūtra scrolls in the heavens, coming from afar to make offerings increases merit, and in seeking prajñā there is no satiety; there are bodhisattvas among the gods who wish prajñā to be honoured, and so come down, wishing to make beings increase in faith and reverence—「諸天尚來，何況我等！」 tr. "Even the gods come—how much more should we!" If the practitioner smells a fine fragrance or sees a light, because of such rare events he believes in and delights in prajñā with a deep mind. Again, for people not yet free from desire, evil ghosts and Māra's people constantly follow and watch for an opening, to make them fall into evil places; when the gods of great power come, from the Four Heavenly Kings up to the gods of the Pure Abodes, the lesser ghosts withdraw. The bodhisattva can give rise to a pure and great mind, as was said in an earlier chapter, and therefore they come to follow the Dharma-teacher. Here the causes and conditions of the gods' coming down are listed in full: to increase their own merit, to make the Dharma honoured, to increase people's faith and reverence, and to drive off ghosts and protect practice—the meaning of protection lies not in cultivating on the practitioner's behalf, but in completing his faith and removing his obstructions; the auspicious signs of fragrance and light are only conditions that help faith, and what faith rests on is still prajñā itself.

11. On the six fast-days the gods observe people's minds; on the evil days, when one takes the eight precepts, the gods rejoice. On the six fast-days the gods come to observe people's minds, and on the fifteenth and the thirtieth they report to the gods above. Moreover, these six fast-days are evil days, which make people decline and meet misfortune; if on these days one takes the eight precepts, keeps the fast, gives, and listens to the Dharma, then the gods rejoice, the lesser ghosts cannot find an opening, and the practitioner is benefited; on these days the Dharma-teacher sits on the high seat and expounds the Dharma—for all these various causes and conditions the gods all come. From this the institution of the fast-days gains its rationale: the 「惡」 tr. "evil" of the day lies not in any fault of the day and hour themselves, but in its being a time when decline and misfortune easily arise; precisely at this time to restrain the body and take the precepts, to give and listen to the Dharma, turns the most perilous day into the most excellent condition. The gods observe the mind and rejoice, and what they rejoice in is people's minds turning toward the good, not rejoicing in sacrifices and offerings—the meaning of the fast-days lies in purifying one's own mind.

12. The one who expounds the Dharma gains immeasurable merit; the gods are of sharp faculties and their field of merit is superior. The one who expounds the Dharma praises the immeasurable, boundless, unsurpassed Dharma—namely prajñāpāramitā—and also gains immeasurable, boundless merit. If he expounds for humans, humans are of dull faculties and thin merit, and so the merit gained is small; the gods are of sharp faculties, have much merit, and are a superior field of merit, and so the merit gained is great. Therefore the Buddha says: the practitioner who on the fast-days expounds prajñā among the gods and the great assembly gains immeasurable merit. Merit is born from the field, and the field is superior according to the vessel that receives the Dharma—with one and the same expounding of the Dharma, the listeners differ in sharpness or dullness of faculties and in thickness or thinness of merit, and the merit gained by the one who expounds differs too. This passage answers the meaning in Sūtra ① that one who expounds prajñā before the gods on the six fast-days gains immeasurable merit (the original text lists one by one the eighth, the twenty-third, the fourteenth, the twenty-ninth, the fifteenth, and the thirtieth of the month, saying that one who expounds this prajñāpāramitā gains 「無量、無邊、阿僧祇、不可思議、不可稱量福德」 tr. "immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya, inconceivable, and incalculable merit"): the merit of expounding the Dharma on the fast-days is superior precisely because the gods come to the assembly and the field of merit is surpassing.

13. The precious-treasure pāramitā is like the wish-fulfilling jewel: it removes suffering and gives happiness. Here the Buddha approves what Subhūti said, and himself further speaks of the causes and conditions of immeasurable merit, namely 「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶波羅蜜」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the great precious-treasure pāramitā". As the wish-fulfilling jewel can fulfil the wishes of all people, prajñā can fulfil the wishes of all beings, namely to leave suffering and to gain happiness. Leaving suffering: it can pull beings out of the hells, out of the animals, out of the hungry ghosts, and out of poverty among humans; giving happiness: it can give kṣatriya great families and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. These wholesome dharmas that are causes and conditions of happiness are broadly taught within prajñā, namely the ten wholesome paths and so on up to omniscience. As the wish-fulfilling jewel can bring forth clothing, food and drink, gold and silver, and whatever is needed as one wishes, so too prajñā can make one attain the ten wholesome paths and so on up to omniscience, kṣatriya great families and so on up to buddhahood. The simile of the wish-fulfilling jewel gathers the two meanings of pulling out and giving in Sūtra ② into a single simile: the jewel brings forth things as one wishes, prajñā gives dharmas according to the capacity—from the wish for clothing and food to the wish to become a Buddha, wishes great and small are all fulfilled, and so it is called the 「大」 tr. "great" precious treasure.

14. When the wish-fulfilling jewel is lost there is grief and vexation, while prajñā is never lost; world-transcending prajñā does not discriminate between wholesome and unwholesome. Moreover, when a person obtains the wish-fulfilling jewel, whatever he needs he obtains as he wishes, and when it is lost he grieves and is vexed; prajñā neither arises nor ceases, is never lost, gives beings happiness life after life, and at the last makes them attain the path of the Buddha. Again, when a person obtains the wish-fulfilling jewel, his mind grows proud and he despises others, and this is a cause and condition of decline; if a person obtains worldly prajñā, he likewise discriminates in this way—attached to wholesome dharmas and rejecting unwholesome dharmas, he gives rise to a proud mind and looks down on others, and then opens all the doors of sin. The precious-treasure prajñāpāramitā, within world-transcending prajñāpāramitā, does not discriminate between wholesome and unwholesome; this is called the great precious-treasure pāramitā, able to benefit beings so that they are ultimately without grief; this precious-treasure pāramitā—even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it, how much less unwholesome dharmas! This passage goes one layer further within the simile: the wish-fulfilling jewel carries the grief of gain and loss, prajñā has no loss; the wish-fulfilling jewel makes a person proud, and worldly prajñā too makes a person proud by holding on to the wholesome—the discriminating mind that is attached to the wholesome and rejects the unwholesome is precisely the door that opens onto sin. World-transcending prajñā not discriminating between wholesome and unwholesome is not a failure to tell good from evil; it is not giving rise to attachment to wholesome dharmas and not giving rise to pride toward evil people; the sentence 「善法尚不能污染」 tr. "even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it" is the steepest—to be attached to the wholesome is itself defilement, and this is the finest point of the meaning of the precious treasure as undefiled.

15. 「如是亦不知」 tr. "In this way too he does not know" : not grasping at marks, not giving rise to attachment, cutting off all idle discourse. As is said here, 「如是亦不知」 tr. "in this way too he does not know": as the mark of prajñā was spoken of above, he also does not form this knowledge and does not become a knower; he does not grasp at marks and does not give rise to attachment, does not discriminate, and does not attain a fixed mark; this is called 「無有過患、無有法愛、斷諸戲論」 tr. "without fault, without love of dharma, cutting off all idle discourse". The treatise-author explains the first of the four nots in the sūtra text: upon the mark of prajñā one does not further set up a 「知」 tr. "knowing" and a 「知者」 tr. "knower"—once the mark of knowing is set up, subject and object divide, and grasping and attachment arise with it. Without fault, without love of dharma, and cutting off idle discourse are the three phrases that are the fruit of not knowing: love of dharma is giving rise to love and attachment toward wholesome dharmas, and this too is a bond; only when even love of dharma is set aside is it the undefiled character of the precious treasure.

16. One who truly cultivates and practises pays homage to the Buddha with the Dharma, benefits himself and others, and attains a purified buddha-world. Such a person can truly cultivate and practise prajñā; because he pays homage to the Buddha with the Dharma and himself gains the benefit of the real Dharma, he can benefit beings; because he can himself leave evil and can make beings leave evil, he attains a purified buddha-world. Because he uses the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained, he knows the mark of the ultimate quiescent cessation of all dharmas, and yet for the sake of beings he can give rise to all wholesome dharmas. This passage lays bare the doubt raised by Sūtra ③ setting the four nots side by side with the great practice: the words 「無所得方便力」 tr. "the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained" are the hinge—knowing ultimate quiescent cessation is the substance that illumines, giving rise to wholesome dharmas for the sake of beings is the function that arises; only because there is nothing to be attained does one give rise to dharmas without being attached to dharmas, and so quiescent cessation and wholesome practice do not hinder one another. To pay homage to the Buddha with the Dharma is homage that lies in practising and upholding in accord with the Dharma, not in outward form; only when one gains the real benefit oneself can one benefit others, only when one leaves evil oneself can one make others leave evil—the purified buddha-world comes from the practice of purifying oneself.

17. Without power and without non-power: the simile of space. Because prajñā is ultimately pure, it is without power and without non-power; it is like space: though there is no dharma in it, yet because of space there can be activity. There is not a single dharma with a fixed mark that can be attached to, and so it has no power; it attains the real mark of all dharmas and is unobstructed with regard to all wholesome dharmas, up to subduing Māra and becoming a Buddha, and so it is not without power. 「不受不與」 tr. "Neither receiving nor giving", 「不生不滅」 tr. "neither arising nor ceasing", and so on up to 「不捨有為法、不與無為法」 tr. "not relinquishing conditioned dharmas, not giving unconditioned dharmas", are likewise so. The simile of space answers in full the dilemma of 「無力無非力」 tr. "without power and without non-power" in Sūtra ④: space itself has not a single thing, and yet all activity is accomplished because of space—prajñā has not a single dharma to be attached to, and so has no power; and yet the great function of subduing Māra and becoming a Buddha is all accomplished because of prajñā, and so it is not without power. Power lies not in holding on to one dharma, but precisely in being unobstructed.

18. Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the nature of dharmas ever abides; seeking it by entering into the nature of dharmas, there is no error. Here the causes and conditions are spoken of: 「有佛、無佛，諸法性常住世間。」 tr. "Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the nature of all dharmas ever abides in the world." The nature of all dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas, and the real mark of all dharmas is precisely prajñāpāramitā. If one seeks the real mark of all dharmas by way of permanent or impermanent and the like, all of it is error; if a person seeks by entering into the nature of dharmas, there is no error; because the nature of dharmas is constant, it is not lost. With three instances of 「即是」 tr. "is precisely", the treatise-author links the nature of dharmas, the real mark, and prajñā into one thread: prajñā is not made by the Buddha, nor does it perish when the Buddha passes away; it is the inherent nature of all dharmas; the Buddha appearing in the world only speaks of it, and when he does not appear, the nature of dharmas is as it is. The way of seeking it is settled by this as well: to seek it by marks such as permanent and impermanent is to measure the real mark with idle discourse, and one will surely err; to seek by entering into the nature of dharmas—setting down the measures of mutual dependence and illumining it as it really is—only then is there no error.

19. The gods scatter flowers: we in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma. The opening of Sūtra ⑤: the gods stand in the air, raise a great voice, leap with joy, scatter utpala flowers, padma flowers, kumuda flowers, and puṇḍarīka flowers over the Buddha, and speak thus: 「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉。」 tr. "We in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma." Among them immeasurable hundreds of thousands of gods attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The four kinds of flowers scattered together, the great voice raised in praise, are the height of offering in the whole chapter; the single proclamation of 「第二法輪轉」 tr. "the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma" joins the expounding of prajñā at this assembly directly onto the lineage of the first turning at the Deer Park—in the eyes of the gods, the benefit of this assembly may be ranked with the first turning. And the immeasurable gods who on the spot attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas are precisely the present realisation of 「第二轉」 tr. "the second turning".

20. Neither a first turning nor a second turning: because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. The Buddha tells Subhūti: this wheel of the Dharma is neither a first turning nor a second turning; this prajñāpāramitā does not come forth in order to turn and does not come forth in order to return, because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. Before the gods' voice of praise has died away, the Buddha at once blocks it—not to belittle this assembly, but to block the numbering-mark of 「第一第二」 tr. "first and second": if the wheel of the Dharma had a first and a second, it would fall into the sequence of arising and ceasing; the coming forth of prajñā is not in order to establish a dharma (turning), and not in order to remove a dharma (returning). 「無法有法空」 tr. "The emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas" is the emptiness on which it rests: because of the emptiness of existent dharmas there is nothing to turn; because of the emptiness of non-existent dharmas there is nothing to return—this sentence awaits Treatise ⑤ to be opened layer by layer.

21. The mark of all dharmas is empty: the mark of prajñā is empty, and so on up to the mark of omniscience of all kinds is empty. Subhūti asks: how is it that because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, prajñā comes forth neither in order to turn nor in order to return? The Buddha answers: prajñāpāramitā is empty of the mark of prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to dānapāramitā is empty of the mark of dānapāramitā; inner emptiness is empty of the mark of inner emptiness, and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas is empty of the mark of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas; the four foundations of mindfulness are empty of their mark, and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path are empty of their mark; the ten powers of the Buddha are empty of their mark, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are empty of their mark; the four fruits and the path of the pratyekabuddha are empty of their mark; omniscience of all kinds is empty of the mark of omniscience of all kinds. Each dharma repeats its own name and is said to be 「相空」 tr. "empty of its mark", and the very form of the sentence is the meaning of the Dharma: it is not that apart from prajñā there is some other emptiness that comes to empty it, but that the own mark of prajñā is itself empty—every dharma is empty of its own mark, and so there is not a single dharma that can be what is turned and not a single dharma that can be what is returned. Only when even 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas" itself is empty of its mark, so that emptiness too is not set up, is it thorough.

22. Mahāpāramitā: though attaining, nothing is attained; though turning, nothing is turned. Subhūti praises: the prajñāpāramitā of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas is mahāpāramitā! Though all dharmas are empty of their own marks, yet the bodhisattvas, because of prajñā, attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and yet there is no dharma to be attained; they turn the wheel of the Dharma, and yet there is no dharma to be turned and no dharma to be returned; within the great prajñā too there is no dharma that can be seen. This dharma is unfindable, whether turning or returning, because all dharmas are ultimately non-arising; the mark of emptiness cannot turn and cannot return, the mark of the signless cannot turn and cannot return, the mark of non-action cannot turn and cannot return. Subhūti's praise praises the place where the two do not obstruct each other: to be empty of its own mark and yet able to make bodhisattvas attain awakening—this is emptiness not obstructing attainment; to attain and yet have nothing attained, to turn and yet have nothing turned—this is attainment not obstructing emptiness; only one who falls into neither of these two sides is called 「摩訶」 tr. "mahā". The marks of the three gates of liberation too cannot turn or return; the blocking reaches even the gates that do the blocking, and not a single dharma stands within the reckoning of turning and returning.

23. Purely expounding prajñā: the heads of the ten meanings, and no fixed field of merit. If one can expound prajñā in this way—teaching, illuminating, opening, showing, distinguishing, manifesting, explaining, making plain and easy—one who can teach in this way is called one who purely expounds prajñāpāramitā. There is also no one who expounds, no one who receives, no one who realises; if there is no expounding, no receiving, and no realising, there is also no one who extinguishes, and within this expounding of the Dharma there is also no fixed field of merit. At the end of Sūtra ⑤, expounding the Dharma itself is drawn into the uncontrived: to be able to expound it with the ten things is called 「清淨說」 tr. "pure expounding"; and at the utmost of pure expounding, the one who expounds, the one who receives, the one who realises, and the one who extinguishes are all unfindable, down to the field of merit too being without fixity. The fullness of expounding the Dharma and the emptiness of the one who expounds stand in the same sentence, and this is precisely the whole chapter's oneness of substance and function in miniature; the glosses on the ten meanings and the meaning of the field of merit are opened one by one at the end of Treatise ⑤.

24. Why the gods rejoice: the ultimately pure, equal real mark greatly benefits beings. Treatise ⑤ explains: the gods, hearing prajñā, greatly rejoice and leap for joy. The gods are light of body and sharp of faculties; they discriminate and attach to marks and know what is light and what is heavy; hearing that prajñā is ultimately pure, the equal real mark, greatly benefiting beings, with nothing surpassing it, they therefore leap and rejoice; they give rise to bodily karma and verbal karma, take lotus flowers and other articles of offering to make offerings to the Buddha, and say 「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉」 tr. "We in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma". The treatise-author first makes clear the capacity of those who praise: the gods are of sharp faculties and good at discriminating; their praise is not a vague rejoicing along with others, but a judgement made after weighing the lightness and heaviness of all dharmas—there is nothing surpassing prajñā. The two karmas of body and speech make offerings together: the proclamation is carried by verbal karma, the scattering of flowers by bodily karma, and this is praise at its utmost.

25. From the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted, all alike is called turning; seeing the benefit, they praise it as the second. Question: When the Dharma is first expounded and people are made to attain the path, this is called turning the wheel of the Dharma; why now speak of the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma? If what the Buddha expounds is called turning the wheel of the Dharma, it is all the wheel of the Dharma—why limit it to the second? Answer: The first expounding of the Dharma is called the one fixed and real wheel of the Dharma; from the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted, all alike is called turning. These gods saw that in this assembly many people aroused the unsurpassed path and attained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; seeing this benefit, they praised it, saying 「第二轉法輪」 tr. "the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma". At the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma, eighty thousand gods attained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and one person, Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, attained the first path; now immeasurable gods attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and therefore it is said to be the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma; the present turning of the wheel of the Dharma seems like the first turning. Two difficulties are set up together and one answer gathers them both: what is fixed and real and so can be counted is only the one wheel of the first turning; after that, all alike is called turning, and there is from the first no number ‘second’; the gods speaking of the second is a word of praise uttered on seeing that the fullness of the benefit may be ranked with the first turning—comparing the numbers of those who attained acceptance (eighty thousand against immeasurable), and so it is said 「似如初轉」 tr. "it seems like the first turning". A word of praise is not a numbering of the Dharma; this is the first layer in reconciling the sūtra text with the Buddha's blocking words.

26. The affairs of the buddhas appear in two kinds, hidden and manifest: the simile of the great rain and the great tree. Question: Now at this turning of the wheel of the Dharma many people attain the path, while at the first turning those who attained the path were few; how can the great be used as a simile for the small? Answer: The affairs of the buddhas are of two kinds: first, hidden; second, manifest. At the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma, the śrāvakas saw eighty thousand, and one person attaining the first path; the bodhisattvas saw countless asaṃkhyeya people attain the path of the śrāvaka, countless people plant the causes and conditions of the path of the pratyekabuddha, countless asaṃkhyeya people arouse the mind of the unsurpassed path, practise the path of the six perfections, and attain all the gates of deep samādhi and dhāraṇī; immeasurable beings of the ten directions attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; immeasurable asaṃkhyeya beings, from the first ground up to the tenth ground, abide, become bound to buddhahood in one more birth, attain the sitting on the seat of awakening, and, hearing this Dharma, swiftly accomplish the path of the Buddha—inconceivable marks such as these are called the marks of the hidden turning of the wheel of the Dharma. It is like a great rain: a great tree receives much, a small tree receives little. For this reason one should know that the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma was also great; there is no fault in using the later as a simile for the earlier. The judgement of hidden and manifest is a great opening of the eye in the view of the affairs of the buddhas: the same first turning, as seen by the śrāvakas and as seen by the bodhisattvas, differs vastly in breadth—what is seen follows the vessel; it is not that the event is twofold. The simile of the great rain carries a double meaning: the rain has no partiality, the receiving is great or small; the greatness of the first turning is something the measure of a small tree is not enough to measure.

27. The turning of the wheel of the Dharma is neither one nor two: speaking of the fruit within the cause; no turning is the emptiness of existent dharmas, no returning is the emptiness of non-existent dharmas. 「轉法輪非一非二」 tr. "The turning of the wheel of the Dharma is neither one nor two" is said thus for the sake of ultimate emptiness and of nirvāṇa, the fruit of the turning of the wheel of the Dharma; this is speaking of the fruit within the cause. The wheel of the Dharma is precisely prajñāpāramitā; prajñā is of the mark without arising and uncontrived, and therefore there is no turning and no returning. As is said in the twelve links of causes and conditions: because ignorance is ultimately empty, it cannot really give rise to constructions and the rest; because ignorance is false and inverted and has nothing real and fixed, there is no dharma that can cease. To speak of the worldly dharma of arising is called turning; to speak of the worldly dharma of ceasing is called returning; within prajñā there are neither of these two things, and therefore it is said that there is no turning and no returning. 「無法有法空故」 tr. "Because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"—no turning is 「有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of existent dharmas", no returning is 「無法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent dharmas". Here the treatise-author takes apart the key sentence of Sūtra ⑤ completely: first he glosses the meaning of the two words turning and returning—turning is speaking of the dharma of arising (the gate of flowing on), returning is speaking of the dharma of ceasing (the gate of returning to cessation); then he proves it with ignorance being ultimately empty—the dharma of arising from the first does not really arise, the dharma of ceasing has nothing that can really cease; therefore the emptiness of existent dharmas blocks turning and the emptiness of non-existent dharmas blocks returning, and the one phrase 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas" exactly blocks both gates. The wheel of the Dharma is prajñā, and prajñā is without arising and uncontrived—the four characters of the chapter's title, 「無作實相」 tr. "the uncontrived real mark", here join with the meaning of the turning of the wheel of the Dharma in a single place.

28. The four kinds of marks and the four kinds of wrong and right practice; because it breaks neither existent nor non-existent, it is called the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. Question: Why did Subhūti ask this question—because of the emptiness of existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas, prajñā comes forth neither in order to turn nor in order to return? And why did the Buddha in turn answer with emptiness? Answer: Someone says: all dharmas have four kinds of marks: first, speaking of existence; second, speaking of non-existence; third, speaking of both existent and non-existent; fourth, speaking of neither existent nor non-existent. Among these, because of wrong recollection there are four kinds of wrong practice, and because of attachment to these four dharmas it is called the wrong path; among these, because of right recollection there are four kinds of right practice, and because one is not attached in the midst of them it is called the right path. Here, because it breaks neither existent nor non-existent, it is called 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; the Buddha speaks of breaking even neither existent nor non-existent, and therefore says that there is no turning and no returning. The judgement of the four propositions lies in whether recollection is wrong or right, attached or unattached, not in the propositions themselves: the same four propositions, with wrong recollection and attachment, are the wrong path; with right recollection and non-attachment, they are the right path. What the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas breaks is the last of the four propositions—neither existent nor non-existent; if the last proposition remains, there is still one subtle place of abiding; when the breaking reaches this proposition, all four propositions are exhausted.

29. The breaking of neither existent nor non-existent is of two kinds: breaking with the three propositions and breaking with the real mark of nirvāṇa. The breaking of 「非有非無」 tr. "neither existent nor non-existent" is of two kinds: first, breaking it with the three propositions above; second, breaking it with the real mark of nirvāṇa. Although Subhūti knew that the Buddha breaks existence and non-existence with nirvāṇa, here there are bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind who might err and break neither existent nor non-existent with the three propositions, and then, within the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, give rise to wrong views once again; therefore the Buddha says 「有法無法亦自相空」 tr. "existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas too are empty of their specific marks", and so says that prajñā has no turning and no returning. Within prajñā there is no mark of prajñā, because all dharmas are signless; and so on up to dānapāramitā, likewise; inner emptiness and so on up to omniscience of all kinds being empty of their marks, likewise. The difference between the two breakings is a difference of capacity: breaking the fourth proposition with the three propositions is removing propositions with propositions, and the remover is itself still a proposition; the new trainee easily gives rise to yet another view upon 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; breaking it with the real mark of nirvāṇa, the propositions and what breaks them both fall still. The Buddha's answer 「有法無法亦自相空」 tr. "existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas too are empty of their specific marks" blocks precisely the fault of the former road—emptiness too is empty of itself, and there is nowhere to set one's foot.

30. The great pāramitā: though attaining, yet nothing is attained; though turning, yet nothing is turned. At that time Subhūti and the great assembly rejoice and praise prajñā, saying: 「大波羅蜜，所謂般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "The great pāramitā—namely prajñāpāramitā." The great pāramitā means: though all dharmas are empty in self-nature, yet prajñā can benefit bodhisattvas and make them attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; though attaining, yet nothing is attained; though turning the wheel of the Dharma, yet nothing is turned. This praise corresponds to the sūtra text of passage 22, and the treatise-author proclaims its meaning again: why the 「大」 tr. "great" is great lies not in the breadth of its power and function, but in emptiness and function standing together without contradiction—empty in self-nature, yet its benefit is not in vain; attaining and turning are plainly there, yet nothing is attained and nothing is turned.

31. Within the emptiness of self-nature there is not even the emptiness of self-nature; therefore it is called mahāpāramitā. Question: If all dharmas are empty, prajñā is empty, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi too is empty, one should not praise prajñā as mahāpāramitā? Answer: Here it is said that because all dharmas are empty in self-nature, within the emptiness of self-nature there is not even the emptiness of self-nature, and therefore it is called mahāpāramitā. If there is no mark of emptiness, one should not raise the difficulty. Because of ultimate emptiness there is nothing obstructed, and yet one can practise all wholesome dharmas and attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; this is because it is a worldly dharma, not the highest meaning. The questioner uses emptiness to harm the praise, the answerer uses emptiness to complete the praise: if emptiness were a dharma, then both the praise and what is praised would be destroyed; emptiness itself is also empty, and so emptiness does not obstruct praise, does not obstruct practice, does not obstruct attainment. The last sentence, 「世俗法故，非第一義」 tr. "because it is a worldly dharma, not the highest meaning", sets the word of praise in its right position within the two truths: the name mahāpāramitā is a worldly designation, and in the highest meaning even the name is not set up—to praise while knowing that it is worldly, the praise is without fault.

32. Because there is no fixed mark there is nothing to be cut off; because there is nothing to be cut off there is no turning and no returning. Although the buddhas expound the Dharma and make others attain the path, break the afflictions, and go from this to that, which is called 「轉」 tr. "turning", now all our afflictions are empty deceptions, inverted, false speech, without any fixed mark; if there is no fixed mark, what is there to be cut off? If there is nothing to be cut off, there is also no turning and no returning, and therefore it is said 「雖轉法輪，亦無轉還」 tr. "though the wheel of the Dharma is turned, there is no turning or returning". Why? Because within prajñā there is no dharma that the five eyes can see, whether turning or returning, since all dharmas from the very beginning are ultimately non-arising. This passage proves again from the side of what is broken that there is no turning: the meaning of turning from the first is tied to breaking the afflictions; since the afflictions are empty deceptions without fixed mark, both what cuts off and what is cut off are unfindable—if even cutting off is not set up, where would turning be? The sentence 「無有法五眼所能見若轉、若還」 tr. "there is no dharma that the five eyes can see, whether turning or returning" is the weightiest: at the utmost of the all-illumining fleshly eye, divine eye, wisdom-eye, Dharma-eye, and Buddha-eye, still not a single dharma can be found, whether turning or returning—not because the power of the eye falls short, but because dharmas from the first do not arise.

33. The six fears: not turning and not returning; the three gates of liberation, relinquishing self and mine—this is called speaking of attaining liberation. This emptiness of self-nature, this ultimate emptiness, is not a mark of turning and not a mark of returning. Fearing to fall into permanence, it does not turn; fearing to fall into annihilation, it does not return; fearing to fall into existence, it does not turn; fearing to fall into non-existence, it does not return; fearing attachment to the world, it does not turn; fearing attachment to nirvāṇa, it does not return. In this way the emptiness of self-nature, ultimate emptiness, the eighteen emptinesses, and the immeasurable emptinesses are the gate of liberation of emptiness, not turning and not returning; the signless and non-action are likewise. Entering these three gates of liberation and relinquishing the mind of self and mine—this is called 「說得解脫」 tr. "speaking of attaining liberation". The six fears in three pairs—permanence and annihilation, existence and non-existence, the world and nirvāṇa—speak of not turning and not returning as the mode of practice that leaves the extremes: to turn is to fall into permanence, into existence, into the world; to return is to fall into annihilation, into non-existence, into nirvāṇa; not turning and not returning is precisely setting one's foot on none of the six extremes. The three gates of liberation are the same not turning and not returning, and the effect of entering the gates lies in one thing only: relinquishing the mind of self and mine—liberation is not attaining a place of escape, but setting down the mind that can grasp; ‘speaking of attaining’ means that, in terms of worldly speech, it is named attaining.

34. Speaking, teaching, illuminating, opening, showing, distinguishing, manifesting, explaining, making plain and easy: glosses on the ten meanings. One who can in this way, not grasping at marks and not attaching the mind, expound prajñāpāramitā, teaching, illuminating, and the rest: 「說」 tr. "speaking" is either according to the text or by oral transmission. 「教」 tr. "Teaching" is praising prajñā for people, making them receive and uphold it, read and recite it, and rightly recollect it. 「照」 tr. "Illuminating" is like a person holding a lamp to light things; when people do not know prajñā, one illumines it with the brightness of wisdom and makes them know. 「開」 tr. "Opening" is like a treasure-house with its door closed: though there are fine things inside, one cannot get them, but when its door is opened one takes whatever one wishes; so, for a person who doubts and does not believe in prajñā, one opens the door-leaves of wrongness and doubt and breaks the barrier of ignorance, and this person then takes whatever he wishes. 「示」 tr. "Showing" is like a person whose eyes do not see clearly, to whom one points out what is fine and what is ugly; so, for a person of little faith and little wisdom, one shows what is the path and what is not the path, what is benefit and what is loss, and the like. 「分別」 tr. "Distinguishing" is distinguishing all dharmas as wholesome or unwholesome, as sin or merit, as the world or nirvāṇa; the sūtras speak briefly and are hard to understand and hard to believe, and one can broadly distinguish and explain them for people so that they attain belief and understanding. 「顯現」 tr. "Manifesting" is the Buddha expounding all kinds of dharmas for all kinds of beings, at times disparaging wholesome dharmas and assisting unwholesome dharmas, aiming to make beings attain understanding. 「說法」 tr. "Expounding the Dharma" is expounding the Buddha's intent so as to respond to beings, making them know the marks of light and heavy. 「解釋」 tr. "Explaining" is like precious things in a bag whose mouth is tied, so that people do not know them: one unties the bag of the sūtra scroll and explains its meaning; again, it is like a heavy thing split apart to make it light: with all kinds of causes and conditions and similes one explains the root and the branches and makes it easy to understand. 「淺易」 tr. "Making plain and easy" is like deep water that is hard to cross: if one divides this water to make it shallow, all who cross will cross easily; prajñā is like water, very deep, and by the power of the skilful means of discussion it is expounded in all kinds of ways and can be made plain and easy, so that even people of small wisdom can all believe and understand. To be able to expound the very deep meaning with these ten at the head is called the meaning of purely expounding prajñāpāramitā. The ten meanings are a complete study of expounding the Dharma: speaking and teaching establish its transmission; illuminating, opening, and showing break its darkness and lead one in; distinguishing, manifesting, expounding the Dharma, explaining, and making plain and easy respond to capacity and complete the understanding—the similes of the lamp, the treasure-house, the bag, and the water are all taken from things of daily use, and in them one sees precisely that the work of expounding the Dharma lies in making the deep shallow, the closed open, the heavy light. And at the head of the ten meanings stand the words 「不取相、不著心」 tr. "not grasping at marks, not attaching the mind"—the 「清淨」 tr. "pure" of pure expounding lies not in the skill of the words, but in the non-attachment of the one who expounds.

35. In the highest meaning there is really nothing spoken: no speaking, no receiving, no realising, no extinguishing, no field of merit. In the highest meaning there is really nothing spoken: because of ultimate emptiness there is 「無說」 tr. "nothing spoken"; because nothing is spoken there is 「無受」 tr. "nothing received"; because nothing is received there is 「無證」 tr. "nothing realised"; because nothing is realised there is 「無滅諸煩惱」 tr. "no one who extinguishes the afflictions"; if there is no extinguishing of the afflictions, then there is 「無福田」 tr. "no field of merit". The five nos are linked like a chain: speaking, receiving, realising, extinguishing, and the field each later one stands on the earlier one; in the highest meaning the first link is not set up, and all five links fall still. This is not in contradiction with the ten meanings of expounding the Dharma in the previous passage: the ten meanings are pure expounding within the gate of the worldly, the five nos are the real absence of speaking within the highest meaning—the more skilfully one expounds, the more one must know that nothing is really spoken; with the two truths standing together, the one who expounds does not take pride in his own expounding.

36. Receiving and realising; to be fixed is that all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore it is said there is no fixed field of merit. 「受」 tr. "Receiving" is called believing and receiving, reading, and reciting; practising this Dharma and attaining the śramaṇa fruits and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is called 「證」 tr. "realising". At the time of realisation all afflictions cease and one attains nirvāṇa with remainder; because one attains nirvāṇa with remainder, one is a fixed field of merit. As for fixed: all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore it is said that there is no fixed field of merit. At the end of the chapter this passage glosses 「無畢定福田」 tr. "no fixed field of merit" down to the root of the words: receiving is the position of believing and upholding, realising is the position of fruit and acceptance; the one who has realised has ceased the afflictions and attained nirvāṇa with remainder, and speaking in worldly terms, is precisely a fixed field of merit; yet if one investigates the reality of the words 「畢定」 tr. "fixed"—all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder and are from the first quiescent and ceased—then there is not one dharma that can be fixed and established as a field of merit. In the worldly there is a field of merit; in the highest meaning there is no fixity—the whole chapter concludes with this one sentence: the field of merit is plainly there, yet fixity is unfindable; this is precisely the last seal that the 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived" of the chapter on the uncontrived real mark sets upon the meaning of the field of merit.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「終不病眼，耳、鼻、舌、身亦終不病……終不橫死」 tr. "will never suffer sickness of the eye; ear, nose, tongue, and body too will never be sick … will never die an untimely death" as an amulet by which reciting it guarantees freedom from sickness. The treatise-author explains plainly: what is turned aside is karma that is 「非必受報」 tr. "not bound to be received as recompense", and one must constantly receive and uphold, rightly recollect, and practise as it is taught; those with heavy sins from former lives and those who in this life do not practise as it is taught do not obtain the power of prajñā—it is not the fault of prajñā. A fine medicine whose regimen is not followed does not remove the affliction; a sharp weapon that cannot be wielded does not help in danger: merit is tied to practice, not tied to the number of recitations.

Do not read the precious-treasure prajñā's 「不分別善、不善」 tr. "not discriminating between wholesome and unwholesome" as failing to tell good from evil. The treatise-author judges plainly: worldly prajñā is attached to the wholesome and rejects the unwholesome, gives rise to a proud mind and looks down on others, and then opens all the doors of sin; world-transcending prajñā's not discriminating is not giving rise to attachment toward wholesome dharmas and not becoming proud by holding on to the wholesome—「善法尚不能污染」 tr. "even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it" rebukes the defilement of attachment to the wholesome, not the practice of the wholesome.

Do not take 「天上有經卷」 tr. "there are sūtra scrolls in the heavens" as a settled teaching the treatise-author allows. The treatise-author says plainly that this is 「傳聞如是，亦非佛說」 tr. "hearsay that it is so, and not spoken by the Buddha", and only by the Dharma-conditions of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and Tuṣita does he judge that there could be some, while in the form realm there should not be—one who cites it should keep to the limits of hearsay, and not turn it into talk of a heavenly canon really existing.

Do not read the Buddha's words 「非第一轉、非第二轉」 tr. "neither a first turning nor a second turning" as belittling the gods' praise. The treatise-author reconciles them: the gods, seeing the fullness of the benefit, praise it as the second, and this is a word of praise; the Buddha blocking first and second is blocking the numbering-mark of the wheel of the Dharma—the praise is not mistaken; clinging to the number is the mistake. The two kinds, hidden and manifest, further make clear that the greatness of the first turning is not of the measure seen by the śrāvakas: 「以後喻前無咎」 tr. "there is no fault in using the later as a simile for the earlier".

Do not read 「無轉無還」 tr. "no turning and no returning" as prajñā abolishing the expounding of the Dharma and abolishing the cutting off of delusion. What turning and returning block is the clinging to there really being a dharma that can be turned and really being afflictions that can be cut off; because the afflictions are empty deceptions without fixed mark there is nothing to be cut off—it does not mean not cultivating and not cutting off. The glosses on the ten meanings that follow immediately are precisely a broad opening of the gate of expounding the Dharma: within the gate of the worldly, pure expounding is plainly there; within the highest meaning, nothing is spoken and nothing received—each of the two truths has its own position.

Do not read 「無畢定福田」 tr. "no fixed field of merit" as receiving offerings being without merit, or the Saṅgha not being a field of merit. The treatise-author explains plainly: the one who has realised has ceased the afflictions and attained nirvāṇa with remainder, and is a fixed field of merit—within the gate of the worldly the field of merit is solemnly present; being without fixity is spoken in terms of the highest meaning, in which all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder. If one clings to this sentence and becomes proud toward the field of merit, that is precisely grasping at the mark of non-existent dharmas and falling into returning.

Bearing on Practice

Take 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense" and the two similes of the medicine and the weapon to examine yourself on the effect of receiving and upholding. When you recite prajñā and afflictions and hardships do not cease, do not doubt the sūtra and do not resent the Dharma; first ask yourself two things: whether the karma of former lives is of the kind that can be turned, and whether your practice in this life is as it is taught. Follow the medicine's regimen, wield the weapon well—turning the place where merit does not show its effect into the place where you examine your practice and upholding: this is the right use of the mind in receiving and upholding prajñā.

Take the three causes and conditions of Jambudvīpa to value this life of yours. Being able to cut off sexual desire, strong memory and power of recollection, being able to be diligent, vigorous, and bold—these three things are where the practitioner of this land surpasses the gods. The gods are attached to the pleasure of desire and the pleasure of absorption and cannot toil diligently to write and uphold; the human body, with suffering and pleasure intermingled, is just right for vigour; whenever you feel that this land has much suffering, remember that even the gods come down to pay homage to the sūtra scrolls of the human world, and do not make light of this life and this body.

Take the meaning of the six fast-days to set up days of your own for gathering the mind. The evil days are not a curse; they are times when decline and misfortune easily arise and negligence easily takes hold; on these days take the eight precepts, keep the fast, give, and listen to the Dharma, turning perilous days into excellent conditions. People today need not follow the ancient institution of the six fast-days; they can set up their own regular days for gathering the mind—the point is to use a regular discipline to guard against unnoticed negligence.

Take 「無所得方便力」 tr. "the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained" to harmonise the contemplation of emptiness with wholesome practice. In daily use one may doubt: since one contemplates all dharmas as ultimately quiescent and ceased, why further give rise to wholesome dharmas? Remember the treatise-author's words—knowing the mark of ultimate quiescent cessation, and yet for the sake of beings being able to give rise to all wholesome dharmas; the four nots (not knowing, not discriminating, not attaining, not engaging in idle discourse) are not four orders to abolish practice, but the method of mind for doing good without being attached to the good. The clearer the contemplation of emptiness, the less it obstructs the gate of practice.

Take ‘attachment to the wholesome opens the door of sin’ to shine on your own love of dharma. To gain a little wholesome dharma and then grow proud and make light of others is the sickness of worldly prajñā; giving rise to love and attachment toward wholesome dharmas the treatise-author names 「法愛」 tr. "love of dharma", and it too falls among what is cut off in cutting off all idle discourse. In the daily round you can ask yourself: is the good I keep purifying the mind, or feeding pride? The meaning of the precious treasure that even wholesome dharmas cannot defile is a clear mirror hanging above the head of everyone who cultivates the good.

Take the six fears as road-signs for leaving the extremes. Fearing to fall into permanence, it does not turn; fearing to fall into annihilation, it does not return; and so on up to fearing attachment to the world and fearing attachment to nirvāṇa—in taking up and setting down, the practitioner often sets his foot on the six extremes without knowing it: seeking a permanent fruit, longing for a state of cessation, loathing the world and clinging to nirvāṇa. The text of the six fears can serve for a regular self-examination: what I now seek—on which extreme does it fall? Not turning and not returning is the place of practice that sets its foot on none of the six extremes.

Take the ten meanings to gauge your own measure in expounding the Dharma and encouraging others. When you expound the deep Dharma for others, you should follow the order of the ten meanings: first illumine their darkness, open their doubts, show them the path, then distinguish and explain to make it plain and easy—with not grasping at marks and not attaching the mind at the head. When you encourage others to study prajñā and they do not understand, first ask yourself whether the ten things are complete, and do not hastily blame the listener's dullness.

Further Resonances

What the Last Part carries on from the First Part is a single line: from the substance of purity it opens out the great function, and then gathers the great function back into the uncontrived. The First Part set up the full compass of the meaning of the uncontrived real mark: prajñā is without anything done and the doer is unfindable; not practising dharmas is practising prajñā; whether spoken or not spoken it neither increases nor decreases, like space, like an illusory person; the bodhisattva raises the great adornment in order to deliver beings equal to space; to protect one who practises prajñā is like protecting space; the ten rounds of purity and their similes are gathered into ultimate purity. The Last Part first opens its function: one who receives and upholds, draws near, and rightly recollects will in the present life not fall sick and not die an untimely death, the gods follow him, they gather in assembly on the six fast-days, and his merit is immeasurable; the Buddha himself sets up the name 「大珍寶」 tr. "the great precious treasure"—it can pull beings out of the poverty of the three evil destinies, can give great families, the heavens, the four fruits, and so on up to awakening; and yet, right within the pulling out and the giving, it is with nothing to be attained, undefiled, without power and without non-power, neither giving nor relinquishing, and the mark of dharmas, the abiding of dharmas, and the position of dharmas, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, ever abide and are not other. The treatise-author, with 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense" and the two similes of the medicine and the weapon, sets merit in its right position in practice and upholding; with the examination of sūtra scrolls in the heavens, the superiority of the three causes and conditions, the institution of the six fast-days, and the simile of the wish-fulfilling jewel, he makes the protection of the gods and the great function of the precious treasure concrete one by one. At the end of the sūtra passage the gods praise it, saying they see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma; the Buddha answers that it is neither one nor two, without turning and without returning—the treatise-author takes this apart: turning is speaking of the dharma of arising, returning is speaking of the dharma of ceasing; because ignorance is ultimately empty, the dharma of arising does not really arise and the dharma of ceasing has nothing that can cease; the emptiness of existent dharmas blocks turning, the emptiness of non-existent dharmas blocks returning; the two kinds, hidden and manifest, make clear the greatness of the first turning; the four propositions and the two breakings make clear that emptiness too is empty of itself; the six fears and the three gates of liberation carry not turning and not returning out in practice at the place of leaving the extremes; the glosses on the ten meanings open wide the gate of purely expounding the Dharma, and yet in the highest meaning there is no speaking, no receiving, no realising, no extinguishing, and no field of merit—to be fixed is that all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore there is no fixed field of merit. From the beginning to the end of the chapter, the four characters 「無作實相」 tr. "the uncontrived real mark" here find their full measure: the First Part makes clear the uncontrived character of the Dharma, the Last Part makes clear the uncontrived character of its function—the precious treasure can give everything and yet within it not one dharma can be attained, the wheel of the Dharma turns day by day and yet there is really no turning or returning, the field of merit is solemnly present and yet fixity is not established; substance and function are one, function is itself quiescence, and this is precisely the real mark of prajñā, ultimately pure, which, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, ever abides and is not other.