大智度論 諸波羅蜜品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Perfections

The Perfections: Why Prajñā Can Bear Ninety Different Names; Why Boundless Has a Threefold Explanation; Why Unarisen Is Answered with Unceasing and Unceasing with Unarisen; Why in Dream, Echo, Shadow, Mirage, and Illusion the Simile and the Matter Itself Are Both Empty; Why Without Desire, Without Hatred, and Without Delusion Are Neither a Leaving Behind nor an Extinguishing; Why Prajñā, the Ever-Abiding Nature of Dharmas, Is Also Said to Be Impermanent; How Prajñā Is Praised by Prajñā; and Why the Buddha Pāramitā Is So Called Not by the Buddha's Body but by Omniscience of All Kinds

What Is Being Asked

This chapter's name is 「諸波羅蜜品」 tr. "the chapter The Perfections," and it is the chapter of the strangest form in the whole work: no new question is raised, there is no long disputation going back and forth over doctrine; there is only Subhūti, ninety times in a row, praising one and the same prajñā by ninety different names—‘World-Honored One! The boundless pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā.’ ‘World-Honored One! The equal pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā.’ One name, one declaration; and the Buddha, one name, one answer, each answer only a single sentence: ‘Because it is boundless like space.’ ‘Because all dharmas are equal.’ The ninety names are divided into three sūtra passages: the first passage has seventeen names, from boundless, equal, apart, and indestructible up to without anything done, without knowing, not arriving, and not lost; the second passage has twenty-six names, starting from the five similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion, passing through unstained, without purity, unsullied, and without idle discourse, up to immeasurable and space; the last passage has forty-seven names, from impermanence, suffering, no-self, emptiness, and the signless, through the eighteen emptinesses, the thirty-seven limbs of the path, the three gates of liberation, the liberations, the nine absorptions, and the six perfections, rising finally to the ten powers, fearlessness, unobstructed knowledge, the dharmas of the Buddha, speaking as it really is, and of itself, and crowned with 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā."

What is this chapter asking? On the surface it is praise; in its bones it is examination: by what right can prajñā bear these ninety names? Under each name, the Buddha's one-sentence answer is where the examination takes place—he says it is boundless, because it is boundless like space; he says it is a dream, because even what is seen in a dream is unfindable; he says it is dāna, because stinginess and greed are unfindable; he says it is the Buddha, because it knows all dharmas, omniscience of all kinds. The ninety names are not ninety kinds of prajñā; they are the same real mark looked into through ninety gates. The treatise-author's explanation accounts for how this chapter came about: Subhūti, hearing the Buddha speak the meaning of the great precious treasure pāramitā, knew deeply the merit of prajñā, gave rise to great joy, and wished to praise prajñā by all kinds of causes and conditions—so this chapter is a chapter of praise arising from the momentum of the preceding chapter; its manner of praising uses different names throughout, and its manner of answering uses 「不可得」 tr. "unfindable" throughout, which is exactly praising prajñā in the way of prajñā. The treatise-author explains the meaning name by name, and at the crucial points sets up three rounds of question and answer: since prajñā is the nature of dharmas that ever abides, why is it again said to be impermanent? Other dharmas may be used to praise prajñā; how can prajñā again be used to praise prajñā?—these are what the sūtra and treatise of this chapter must account for name by name.

Passage by Passage

1. The occasion that opens the chapter—hearing of the great precious treasure, he breaks into praise. The treatise-author first accounts for where the first name came from: Subhūti heard the Buddha speak the meaning of the great precious treasure pāramitā, and thereupon of himself praised prajñā as mahāpāramitā; further, entering deeply with wisdom into all kinds of gates of the Dharma, he contemplated prajñāpāramitā as the waters of the great sea, immeasurable and boundless; knowing deeply the merit of prajñā, he therefore gave rise to great joy and wished to praise prajñā by all kinds of causes and conditions, and so he said to the Buddha that the boundless pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā. The long praise of ninety rounds arises from a single thought of joy—not praise offered on command, but praise from one who knows its virtue deeply and cannot hold himself back; the whole form of this chapter flows out of this one thought.

2. Boundless—because it is boundless like space. The first name is 「無邊波羅蜜」 tr. "the boundless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because it is boundless like space. The treatise-author gives a threefold explanation. The first layer: the meaning of 「無邊」 tr. "boundless," from the beginning of the chapter to its end, is everywhere the meaning of boundlessness; it is spoken of briefly only because it would get in the way of speaking of other matters, and if it were spoken of broadly it would be immeasurable—that is to say, the ninety names can in fact all be gathered into the single name boundless. The second layer: permanence and impermanence, self and no-self, existence and non-existence, the world and beings having a bound or having no bound—these are called the extremes of wrong view; one who attains prajñāpāramitā has none of these extremes, and therefore it is called boundless—this explains boundlessness as leaving behind the two extremes of wrong view. The third layer: the place where a thing runs out is called its bound; space, being without colour and without form, is without bound; prajñā is ultimately pure, and therefore it is boundless, inexhaustible, without a place of grasping, without a place of receiving—this explains the Buddha's answer directly through the simile of space. The three layers overlap: boundless is the general name, is leaving behind the extremes, is inexhaustible.

3. Equal—because all dharmas are equal. The second name is 「等波羅蜜」 tr. "the equal pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are equal. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva attains the acceptance of dharmas and contemplates all dharmas as all equal. Equality is not pulling unequal things level; it is that when the acceptance of dharmas is present, no mark of high or low can any longer be found among dharmas to hold on to.

4. Apart—because of ultimate emptiness. The third name is 「離波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā apart"; the Buddha answers: because of ultimate emptiness. The treatise explains: with the mind of ultimate emptiness the bodhisattva is apart from the afflictions, and is also apart from all dharmas. Being apart has two layers—being apart from the afflictions everyone is willing to accept; being apart from all dharmas is the handiwork of ultimate emptiness: not setting up even the dharmas relied upon—only this is called truly apart.

5. Indestructible—because all dharmas are unfindable. The fourth name is 「不壞波羅蜜」 tr. "the indestructible pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva seeks dharmas by their general marks and particular marks, and does not find a fixed mark even the size of a hair; because they are unfindable, his mind is not attached to any dharma. People of wrong views and idle discourse wish, with attached minds, to destroy the bodhisattva; because the bodhisattva is attached to nothing, he cannot be destroyed. The wonder of the meaning of indestructible lies in a reversal: it is not that it cannot be destroyed because it is firm, but that because it is attached to nothing there is nowhere to lay hands on it—what can be destroyed has always been the place of attachment.

6. Without a further shore—because it is without name and without body. The fifth name is 「無彼岸波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without a further shore"; the Buddha answers: because it is without name and without body. The treatise explains: this shore is called birth and death, the further shore is called nirvāṇa, and between them is the great river of the afflictions; all who have gone forth wish to abandon this shore and covet the further shore; yet prajñā is without a further shore—the further shore is nirvāṇa, without colour and without name. The root meaning of pāramitā is reaching the further shore; this name speaks, against the grain, of there being no further shore, in order to block the mind that covets the further shore: nirvāṇa is without colour and without name, and there is no shore to land on or to dwell on.

7. Of the kind of emptiness—because in-breath and out-breath are unfindable. The sixth name is 「空種波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the kind of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because in-breath and out-breath are unfindable. The treatise explains: where there is space there are out-breath and in-breath; out-breath and in-breath are born from the causes and conditions of false and deceptive karma; what goes out is not what comes in, what comes in is not what goes out; arising and ceasing thought by thought, their real mark is unfindable; because the breath is unfindable, all dharmas too are unfindable. To examine emptiness by the breath is to bring the meaning of emptiness down to where it touches the body most closely—seeking the real mark within the space of a single breath, it is utterly unfindable; how much more the other dharmas.

8. Unspeakable—because initial and sustained thought are unfindable. The seventh name is 「不可說波羅蜜」 tr. "the unspeakable pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because initial and sustained thought are unfindable. The treatise explains: because all dharmas have the mark of emptiness and stillness, there is no need for initial and sustained thought; because there is no initial and sustained thought, there is no speech; because there is no speech, prajñā is said to cut off the path of language. The root of speech lies in initial and sustained thought—the searching and examining discrimination in the mind; since the root is unfindable, the stream of language is cut off of itself.

9. Nameless—because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable. The eighth name is 「無名波羅蜜」 tr. "the nameless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable. The treatise explains: the two dharmas of name and form gather in all dharmas—the four great elements and derived form are gathered under form, the four aggregates of feeling and the rest are gathered under name; those who analyse dharmas say that prajñā has the mark of wisdom and is gathered under name; now in reality form is not apart from name and name is not apart from form, and prajñā has the mark of not-knowing; therefore it says that feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable, and speaks of the nameless pāramitā. This passage is a subtle point in the learning of names and marks: if prajñā could be filed under name, it would become one dharma among dharmas; nameless is precisely withdrawing it from the files of name and form.

10. Not going—because all dharmas do not come. The ninth name is 「不去波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not going"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not come. The treatise's explanation is a single sentence: all dharmas are without coming and without going, therefore it is called the pāramitā without going. Asked about going, he answers about coming, and the treatise takes in both coming and going—going and coming depend on each other; where there is no coming there is no going.

11. Unmoving—because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The tenth name is 「無移波羅蜜」 tr. "the unmoving pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The treatise explains: prajñā is the Dharma treasury of the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions, sealed with the three Dharma seals, and neither gods nor humans can break it; therefore it is called unmoving. To be moved is to be shaken, to be shifted and changed; the Dharma sealed by the three Dharma seals cannot be broken by gods or humans—the meaning of what cannot be moved stands on the Dharma seal, not on defence.

12. Exhausted—because all dharmas are ultimately exhausted. The eleventh name is 「盡波羅蜜」 tr. "the exhausted pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are ultimately exhausted. The treatise explains: all conditioned dharmas are exhausted and cease thought by thought, with no time of abiding; if so, past dharmas are not exhausted, future dharmas are not exhausted either, and present dharmas, because they do not abide, are not exhausted; the exhaustion of the three times is in every case unfindable, and this is called ultimately exhausted. This passage must be read closely: precisely because they are exhausted and cease thought by thought, on the contrary there is not a single place in the three times where 「盡」 tr. "exhaustion" can be found—exhausted so thoroughly that not even the mark of exhaustion is set up; only this is called ultimately exhausted.

13. Unarisen and unceasing—each raised as the answer to the other. The twelfth name is 「不生波羅蜜」 tr. "the unarisen pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not cease. The thirteenth name is 「不滅波羅蜜」 tr. "the unceasing pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not arise. The two answers of the sūtra are exactly exchanged, the most striking point in the manner of answering in this chapter. The treatise explains: because arising is unfindable in all dharmas in the three times, there is no arising; because there is no arising, it is called the pāramitā without arising; not ceasing is likewise. Arising and ceasing stand in dependence on each other—since there is no arising to be found, ceasing has nowhere to be set up; therefore when speaking of unarisen he raises unceasing, and when speaking of unceasing he raises unarisen, and the two names enter together into the meaning of non-arising.

14. Without anything done—because the doer is unfindable. The fourteenth name is 「無作波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without anything done"; the Buddha answers: because the doer is unfindable. The treatise explains: doing is of two kinds—doing by beings, such as giving, keeping the precepts, and the like; doing by dharmas, such as fire burning and water soaking, which the mind and consciousness know. Because beings are empty, there is no doer; because all dharmas are dull and do not give rise to the mark of doing, dharmas too do not do; since both are without doing, it is called the pāramitā without anything done. Only when the 「作」 tr. "doing" along both roads, of persons and of dharmas, is seen through together is the meaning of without anything done complete.

15. Without knowing—because the knower is unfindable. The fifteenth name is 「無知波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without knowing"; the Buddha answers: because the knower is unfindable. The treatise explains: without knowing is likewise—because all dharmas are dull, there is nothing they know. It has the same form as without anything done: because the doer is unfindable there is no doing, because the knower is unfindable there is no knowing; dharmas in themselves are dark and dull, knowing neither themselves nor others.

16. Not arriving—because birth and death are unfindable. The sixteenth name is 「不到波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not arriving"; the Buddha answers: because birth and death are unfindable. The treatise explains: the divine eye sees that there is birth and death; with the wisdom-eye of emptiness one sees that birth and death are unfindable; the beings of this life die, and none arrives at a later life; only the five aggregates, through the causes and conditions of former karma, are born in continuity; therefore it is called the pāramitā not arriving. This passage states the meaning of rebirth with great precision: there is no real self crossing over from this life to that life, and yet the continuity of karma and its fruit is not disordered—not arriving is not annihilation; it is a continuity without one who crosses.

17. Not lost—because all dharmas are not lost. The seventeenth name is 「不失波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not lost"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are not lost. The treatise explains: prajñā does not lose the real mark of all dharmas, and can also cause all dharmas not to lose their real mark; apart from prajñā, all dharmas are lost; contemplating the real mark of all dharmas, one attains prajñāpāramitā; therefore it is called not lost. The seventeen names of Sūtra ① are brought to a close here: rising from boundless and ending at not lost—prajñā is boundless and yet loses not the slightest thing; one letting out, one gathering in, exactly forming head and tail.

18. Dream—because even what is seen in a dream is unfindable. Sūtra ② turns to names drawn from similes. The eighteenth name is 「夢波羅蜜」 tr. "the dream pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because even what is seen in a dream is unfindable. The treatise explains: Subhūti, praising prajñā, shows beings that the world is empty like a dream; the Buddha says that the dream too is unfindable. Subhūti uses the dream as a simile for the emptiness of the world; the Buddha goes one level further: the dream that illustrates is itself also unfindable—the simile for emptiness is itself empty.

19. Echo, shadow, mirage, illusion—because the one who hears the sound, the face of the mirror, the flowing water, and the conjuring act are unfindable. The nineteenth name is 「響波羅蜜」 tr. "the echo pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the one who hears the sound is unfindable. The twentieth name is 「影波羅蜜」 tr. "the shadow pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the face of the mirror is unfindable. The twenty-first name is 「焰波羅蜜」 tr. "the mirage pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the flowing water is unfindable. The twenty-second name is 「幻波羅蜜」 tr. "the illusion pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the conjuring act is unfindable. The treatise's explanation sums up their meaning: people's minds take the voice as real and the echo as false; with the shadow, they take the person's face and the mirror as real and the image as false; with the mirage, they take wind, dust, and sunlight as real and the water as false; with the illusion, they take the spell-craft as real and what it produces as false—Subhūti praises prajñā by using similes for emptiness; the Buddha says that both the simile and the matter itself are empty; because the matter itself is empty, this simile too is empty. This passage is the eye common to all five similes: when ordinary people use a simile, they always keep half of it real—using the real to compare the false; the Buddha's manner of answering sees through both sides together. The one who hears the sound in the echo, the face of the mirror in the shadow, the conjuring act in the illusion—these are exactly the half of each simile that is taken as 「實」 tr. "real"; the mirage simile alone is different—the treatise takes wind, dust, and sunlight as real and the water as false, yet the Buddha answers that the flowing water, on its false side, is unfindable. The real side and the false side are both unfindable; the simile and the matter itself are both empty; not even half can be kept.

20. Without stain—because the afflictions are unfindable. The twenty-third name is 「不垢波羅蜜」 tr. "the unstained pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the afflictions are unfindable. The treatise explains: prajñā is without stain and can cut off and extinguish all stains; the Buddha says the afflictions from the very beginning have always been non-existent—what is there now to cut off? Because stain is from the beginning non-existent, it is without stain—not that it is without stain only after being washed clean, but that stain has never really existed.

21. Without purity—because the afflictions are false and deceptive. The twenty-fourth name is 「無淨波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without purity"; the Buddha answers: because the afflictions are false and deceptive. The treatise explains: without purity is likewise; to be without afflictions is purity. At first sight this name jars—how could prajñā be without purity? Yet the meaning runs through consistently: purity is a name set up over against stain; since the afflictions are false, deceptive, and not real, stain is unfindable, and purity too has nothing to stand over against. Without purity is precisely being pure to the point that there is no mark of purity to grasp.

22. Not sullied—because the place is unfindable. The twenty-fifth name is 「不污波羅蜜」 tr. "the unsullied pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the place is unfindable. The treatise explains: lust, anger, and the other afflictions are called sullying; prajñā is not sullied by any stained dharma; the six faculties are the place of the afflictions; of the six faculties and all dharmas, the place the afflictions take as object and the place where they dwell are both unfindable; therefore it is called not sullied. Stain has no place to dwell—that is the reason it is not sullied: sullying needs a place; the place being unfindable, where could sullying be applied?

23. Without idle discourse—because all idle discourse is broken. The twenty-sixth name is 「不戲論波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without idle discourse"; the Buddha answers: because all idle discourse is broken. The treatise explains: when one attains this prajñā, all idle discourse and recollection, imagining, and discrimination cease. Idle discourse is the mind adding legs to the snake on top of the real mark; when prajñā is present, every added leg is broken away.

24. Not thinking—because all thought is broken. The twenty-seventh name is 「不念波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not thinking"; the Buddha answers: because all thought is broken. The treatise explains: because all dharmas are ultimately empty, there is no mark of recollection or thought; because there is no mark of recollection or thought, it is called the pāramitā without thought. Thought is connected with idle discourse but finer: idle discourse is the coarse form of discrimination, thought is the subtle working of the mind; in ultimate emptiness, coarse and subtle both come to rest.

25. Immovable—because the nature of dharmas ever abides. The twenty-eighth name is 「不動波羅蜜」 tr. "the immovable pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the nature of dharmas ever abides. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva who abides in the nature of dharmas cannot be overcome by any debater, cannot be covered by any fetters or wrong views, and when all dharmas are impermanent and destroyed his mind gives rise to no sorrow—because of causes and conditions such as these it is called immovable. Immovable is not holding stiffly still; it is that what one abides in ever abides: the place of abiding does not move, and the one who abides does not move of himself.

26. Undefiled—because one knows all dharmas as false understanding. The twenty-ninth name is 「無染波羅蜜」 tr. "the undefiled pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because one knows all dharmas as false understanding. The treatise explains: all dharmas are false understanding, not only the defilement of craving. The scope of defilement is here enlarged: it is not only the defilement of affection and craving that is defilement; every false understanding arising toward dharmas is defilement; only knowing that all of it is false is being undefiled.

27. Not rising—because all dharmas are without discrimination. The thirtieth name is 「不起波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not rising up"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without discrimination. The treatise explains: recollection, imagining, and discrimination are the root of all fetters; where there are fetters, they can give rise to the karma of a later body; knowing that recollection, imagining, and discrimination are false, all karma of birth in later lives no longer rises, and therefore it is called the pāramitā not rising. Not rising points straight at the karma of taking birth: karma rises from the fetters, the fetters rise from recollection, imagining, and discrimination; when the root is cut, later existence does not rise.

28. Quiescent extinction—because the marks of all dharmas are unfindable. The thirty-first name is 「寂滅波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of quiescent extinction"; the Buddha answers: because the marks of all dharmas are unfindable. The treatise explains: in prajñā one does not grasp the mark of the fire of the three poisons, therefore it is said to be quiescent extinction; the Buddha says that not only are the marks of the three poisons quiescent and extinguished, but the marks of all dharmas are unfindable. Subhūti speaks of quiescent extinction in terms of the stilling of the three poisons; the Buddha extends it to the marks of all dharmas—quiescent extinction is not the quiet after the afflictions have gone out; it is the original quiescence in which all marks are from the beginning unfindable.

29. Without desire—because desire is unfindable. The thirty-second name is 「無欲波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without desire"; the Buddha answers: because desire is unfindable. The treatise explains: prajñā does not crave even among wholesome dharmas, how much less other desires; the Buddha says that desire from the very beginning is unfindable; greed and desire are false and deceptive, and their self-nature is unfindable, therefore it is called the pāramitā without desire—it is not called without desire because desire has been left behind. The last sentence is the iron limit shared by the three names from here on: without desire is not a without achieved by cultivating the practice of leaving desire behind; it is the without of the nature of desire being from the beginning unfindable.

30. Without hatred—because hatred is not real. The thirty-third name is 「無瞋波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without hatred"; the Buddha answers: because hatred is not real. The treatise explains: the nature of hatred is ultimately without anything existent, therefore it is called the pāramitā without hatred—it is not called without hatred because hatred has been left behind. The same form as without desire: the nature of hatred is from the beginning non-existent; it is not a without achieved by holding hatred down.

31. Without delusion—because the darkness of ignorance is extinguished. The thirty-fourth name is 「無癡波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without delusion"; the Buddha answers: because the darkness of ignorance is extinguished. The treatise explains: in all dharmas the darkness of ignorance is broken, therefore it is called the pāramitā without delusion—it is not called without delusion because delusion has been extinguished. Reading the three names together, the treatise-author repeats three times the sentence that it is neither a leaving behind nor an extinguishing: the without of the three poisons is in every case spoken of in terms of their nature being from the beginning unfindable, not in terms of the success of counteracting them.

32. Without afflictions—because discrimination and recollection are false. The thirty-fifth name is 「無煩惱波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without afflictions"; the Buddha answers: because discrimination and recollection are false. The treatise explains: because the bodhisattva attains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, all afflictions cease; the Buddha says that recollection, imagining, and discrimination are the root of the afflictions; if even recollection and imagining do not exist, how much less the afflictions. The answer lies at the root: it does not count off the non-existence of the afflictions, but points straight at the falseness of their root.

33. Without beings—because beings are without anything existent. The thirty-sixth name is 「無眾生波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without beings"; the Buddha answers: because beings are without anything existent. The treatise explains: prajñā can break the inversion that there are beings where there are no beings, therefore it is called the pāramitā without beings; the Buddha says that these beings from the very beginning do not arise and are without anything existent. The word beings here names an attachment to be broken, not people to be abandoned—what is broken is the inversion of 「無眾生中有眾生」 tr. "beings where there are no beings," not a sweeping denial of the work of delivering beings.

34. Cut off—because dharmas do not rise. The thirty-seventh name is 「斷波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā cut off"; the Buddha answers: because dharmas do not rise. The treatise explains: Subhūti's intent is that because prajñā can cut off all dharmas with outflows, it is called cut off; the Buddha says that dharmas do not rise, do not arise, and are without anything done; because dharmas have of themselves the mark of being cut off, it is called cut off. The two meanings of cutting off, the higher and the lower, stand out at once: cutting off where the cutter and the cut stand over against each other is cutting off by cultivation; dharmas from the beginning not rising of themselves, being of themselves the mark of being cut off, is cutting off by nature. The Buddha's answer takes the latter.

35. Without the two extremes—because it is apart from the two extremes. The thirty-eighth name is 「無二邊波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without the two extremes"; the Buddha answers: because it is apart from the two extremes. The treatise explains: the two extremes means self and no-self, cutting off and not cutting off, dharmas that can be cut off and dharmas without cutting off, permanence and cessation, existence and non-existence—immeasurable pairs of extremes such as these; in prajñā there are none of these extremes; the Buddha says that these extremes from the very beginning are non-existent, and one is attached to them only because of falsehood, deception, and inversion; the bodhisattva, because he seeks what is real, is apart from these inverted extremes. Being apart from the extremes is not compromising to take the middle: the extremes are from the beginning not existent; they become extremes through attachment; to be apart from attachment is to be apart from the extremes.

36. Not broken—because all dharmas are not apart from one another. The thirty-ninth name is 「不破波羅蜜」 tr. "the unbroken pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are not apart from one another. The treatise explains: prajñā is of one mark and, because it is empty, cannot be broken; the Buddha says that it is not only prajñā—all dharmas are without fixed different marks: the fruit is not apart from the cause and the cause is not apart from the fruit, the conditioned is not apart from the unconditioned and the unconditioned is not apart from the conditioned, prajñā is not apart from all dharmas and all dharmas are not apart from prajñā; the real mark of all dharmas is prajñā, therefore it is called not broken; to be broken is for dharmas to be each scattered apart. Breaking must first have separation—only what can be scattered apart one by one can be broken open; dharma and dharma are one with each other and not apart from one another, and so there is no place to lay hands on to break them.

37. Not grasping—because it passes beyond the grounds of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. The fortieth name is 「不取波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not grasping"; the Buddha answers: because it passes beyond the grounds of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. The treatise explains: all dharmas have faults such as permanence and impermanence, and therefore prajñā does not grasp any dharma; the Buddha says that all dharmas, up to even the pure world-transcending dharmas of the two vehicles, are also not grasped. The boundary of not grasping is drawn at the highest place: not only are worldly dharmas not grasped, even the pure fruit-dharmas of the two vehicles are not grasped—the meaning of passing beyond the two grounds lies exactly here.

38. Without discrimination—because false thoughts are unfindable. The forty-first name is 「不分別波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without discrimination"; the Buddha answers: because all false thoughts are unfindable. The treatise explains: discrimination means grasping at marks and giving rise to mind, false thought and discrimination; prajñā is the real mark and therefore is without this false thought and discrimination; the Buddha says that it is only because of recollection, imagining, and discrimination that there is the discrimination of existence and non-existence, and now recollection, imagining, and discrimination are from the very beginning non-existent. The dispute over existence and non-existence has its root in recollection and imagining; recollection and imagining being from the beginning non-existent, existence and non-existence come to rest of themselves.

39. Immeasurable—because the measure of dharmas is unfindable. The forty-second name is 「無量波羅蜜」 tr. "the immeasurable pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the measure of dharmas is unfindable. The treatise brings out four meanings: prajñā brings forth the four immeasurables, therefore it is called immeasurable; because it is ultimately empty, and for the sake of attaining the immeasurable dharma of nirvāṇa, it is called immeasurable; wisdom cannot reach its edge, therefore it is called immeasurable; measure is what the six faculties reckon, and this dharma is empty, signless, without arising and ceasing, what the six faculties cannot measure—why? Because the thing is much and the measuring vessel is small. The last simile is the most apt: it is not that the dharma lies far beyond measure, but that the measuring vessel is too small—the measure of the six faculties cannot measure the dharma of ultimate emptiness.

40. Space—because all dharmas are without anything existent. The forty-third name is 「虛空波羅蜜」 tr. "the space pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without anything existent. The treatise explains: as space is without colour and without form and can do nothing, prajñā is likewise; the Buddha says that not only is space without anything existent, but form and all dharmas are without anything existent. Sūtra ② is brought to a close here: rising from dream and ending at space, the twenty-six names all praise their way in along the single road of the 「虛」 tr. "insubstantial," and the Buddha's answers push the 「虛」 tr. "insubstantial" one by one to the very bottom—even the insubstantiality that illustrates is unfindable.

41. Impermanence—because all dharmas are broken and destroyed. Sūtra ③ begins from 「無常波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of impermanence." It is the forty-fourth name; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are broken and destroyed. The treatise explains: in prajñā there is the noble practice of impermanence, therefore it is called the pāramitā of impermanence; the Buddha says that not only is there impermanence in prajñā, but because one contemplates all dharmas as impermanent it is called the pāramitā of impermanence. Impermanence here is the name of a noble practice—that practice of entering the path by the contemplation of impermanence, gathered within prajñā.

42. Reconciling permanence and impermanence—the conditioned prajñā and the ever-abiding prajñā. Here the treatise-author raises a question: above it was said that prajñā is the nature of dharmas that ever abides; why is it now said to be impermanent? Answer: prajñā is wisdom; it contemplates dharmas as born from the coming together of causes and conditions; being a conditioned dharma, it is impermanent; the place that prajñā takes as object—suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality—is unconditioned dharma, and therefore permanent; Subhūti speaks of the conditioned prajñā, therefore he says impermanent. A further question: if so, why does the Buddha say that all dharmas are entirely broken, destroyed, and impermanent, while unconditioned dharmas have no mark of destruction? Answer: all dharmas is a name for the six faculties; inner and outer are all made dharmas, and made dharmas must return to the mark of destruction; apart from conditioned dharmas there are no unconditioned dharmas, nor is there any further mark of dharmas; it is because of the mark of conditioned dharmas that unconditioned dharmas are said to be not arising and not ceasing. Further, all conditioned dharmas are of two kinds—the all of names and the real all; all conditioned dharmas are destroyed, therefore it is called all impermanent. These two rounds of question and answer are the pivot of meaning of Sūtra ③: the wisdom that contemplates is conditioned, the nature that is entered is unconditioned; speaking of permanence and speaking of impermanence each have their own referent and do not contradict or harm each other.

43. Suffering, no-self, emptiness, the signless—because of the mark of vexation, of non-attachment, of unfindability, of non-arising. The forty-fifth name is 「苦波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of suffering"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas have the mark of vexation. The forty-sixth name is 「無我波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of no-self"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without attachment. The forty-seventh name is 「空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The forty-eighth name is 「無相波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not arise. The treatise sums up: suffering and the rest, up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, are likewise—Subhūti speaks of the marks of all dharmas to praise prajñā; the Buddha raises all dharmas to answer. Impermanence, suffering, no-self, emptiness, and the signless are the backbone names of the three Dharma seals and the four noble practices; under each name the Buddha answers with all dharmas, which lets one see that the noble practices are not practices outside prajñā, and the marks of dharmas are not marks outside prajñā.

44. The eighteen emptinesses, first part—from inner emptiness up to the emptiness of the highest meaning. The forty-ninth name is 「內空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of inner emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because inner dharmas are unfindable. The fiftieth name is 「外空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of outer emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because outer dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-first name is 「內外空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of inner-and-outer emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because inner and outer dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-second name is 「空空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because the dharma of the emptiness of emptiness is unfindable. The fifty-third name is 「大空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of great emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-fourth name is 「第一義空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of the highest meaning"; the Buddha answers: because nirvāṇa is unfindable. All six names take as their answer that the dharma made empty is unfindable; among them the emptiness of emptiness, with emptiness itself empty, and the emptiness of the highest meaning, with nirvāṇa unfindable, are the two locks within the gate of emptiness by which the attachment to emptiness takes itself apart.

45. The eighteen emptinesses, latter part—from the emptiness of the conditioned up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. The fifty-fifth name is 「有為空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of the conditioned"; the Buddha answers: because conditioned dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-sixth name is 「無為空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of the unconditioned"; the Buddha answers: because unconditioned dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-seventh name is 「畢竟空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of ultimate emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because dharmas are ultimately unfindable. The fifty-eighth name is 「無始空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of beginningless emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because the beginninglessness of dharmas is unfindable. The fifty-ninth name is 「散空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of dispersal"; the Buddha answers: because dispersed dharmas are unfindable. The sixtieth name is 「性空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of nature"; the Buddha answers: because conditioned and unconditioned dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-first name is 「諸法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of all dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-second name is 「自相空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of specific marks"; the Buddha answers: because specific marks are apart. The sixty-third name is 「無法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of non-existent dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because non-existent dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-fourth name is 「有法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of existent dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because existent dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-fifth name is 「無法有法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because non-existent dharmas and existent dharmas are unfindable. The eighteen emptinesses become seventeen names in this chapter—the sūtra here does not list 「不可得空」 tr. "the emptiness of the unfindable," and the remaining seventeen names are called out one by one—and the form of answer is uniform: each speaks of what it empties as unfindable; only the emptiness of specific marks answers 「自相離」 tr. "specific marks are apart," the word apart taking the place of unfindable, because specific marks from the beginning have nothing findable of which to speak, and so it speaks directly of their being apart.

46. The foundations of mindfulness—because body, feeling, mind, and dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-sixth name is 「念處波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the foundations of mindfulness"; the Buddha answers: because body, feeling, mind, and dharmas are unfindable. The treatise explains in particular detail: the right contemplation of the four dharmas of body and the rest arises from the four foundations of mindfulness; the four foundations of mindfulness are the first gate of the four truths, the four truths are the first gate of the four fruits of the śramaṇa, and the fruit of arhatship, when analysed, is the three vehicles; the four foundations of mindfulness are spoken of broadly in all kinds of ways within prajñā; the Buddha says that the place these four kinds of dharmas take as object is from the very beginning unfindable, therefore it is called the pāramitā of the foundations of mindfulness. At the head of the limbs of the path, the treatise-author marks it out as the first gate through which all three vehicles alike pass—and the place this first gate takes as object is from the beginning unfindable; this is exactly where the limbs of the path enter prajñā.

47. From right exertion up to meditation—the limbs of the path, the three gates, the liberations, the nine absorptions, and the six perfections, name by name. The sixty-seventh name is 「正懃波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of right exertion"; the Buddha answers: because wholesome and unwholesome dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-eighth name is 「如意足波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the bases of supernormal power"; the Buddha answers: because the four bases of supernormal power are unfindable. The sixty-ninth name is 「根波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the faculties"; the Buddha answers: because the five faculties are unfindable. The seventieth name is 「力波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the powers"; the Buddha answers: because the five powers are unfindable. The seventy-first name is 「覺波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the limbs of awakening"; the Buddha answers: because the seven limbs of awakening are unfindable. The seventy-second name is 「道波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the path"; the Buddha answers: because the eight limbs of the noble path are unfindable. The seventy-third name is 「無作波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-action pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because non-action is unfindable. The seventy-fourth name is 「空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because the mark of emptiness is unfindable. The seventy-fifth name is 「無相波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the mark of quiescent extinction is unfindable. The seventy-sixth name is 「背捨波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the liberations"; the Buddha answers: because the eight liberations are unfindable. The seventy-seventh name is 「定波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of absorption"; the Buddha answers: because the nine successive absorptions are unfindable. The seventy-eighth name is 「檀波羅蜜」 tr. "dānapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because stinginess and greed are unfindable. The seventy-ninth name is 「尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "śīlapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because breaking the precepts is unfindable. The eightieth name is 「羼提波羅蜜」 tr. "kṣāntipāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because patience and impatience are unfindable. The eighty-first name is 「毘梨耶波羅蜜」 tr. "vīryapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because laziness and vigour are unfindable. The eighty-second name is 「禪波羅蜜」 tr. "dhyānapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because concentration and distraction are unfindable. Among these, for the six groups—the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, the eight liberations, and the nine successive absorptions—the sūtra in every case only calls out the collective name and answers with 「不可得故」 tr. "because they are unfindable," without setting out the marks of the individual members; here, following their names, the members are briefly explained one by one, so that afterward one knows what dharmas it is that the sūtra dispels. The five faculties are the five dharmas of faith, vigour, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom in their position as faculties able to give rise to wholesome dharmas: faith is giving rise to decisive faith and acceptance toward the Dharma one has heard, the mind clear and without doubt; vigour is urging oneself on without rest among wholesome dharmas, not slackening midway; mindfulness is binding the dharma one cultivates to the mind, recollecting and holding it without forgetting, so that the mind is not scattered; concentration is gathering the mind in one place, not turning with objects; wisdom is sifting and penetrating dharmas, not obscured by delusion. The five powers are these same five dharmas having become powers that cannot be destroyed: faith become a power, doubt cannot move it; vigour become a power, laziness cannot rob it; mindfulness become a power, forgetting cannot confuse it; concentration become a power, scattering cannot shake it; wisdom become a power, wrong delusion cannot topple it—the faculty does not yet have power, while the power can already get the work done; the same dharmas in different positions, and therefore the sūtra sets up the name powers separately beside the faculties. The seven limbs of awakening are the seven—mindfulness, discernment of dharmas, vigour, joy, removal, concentration, and equanimity: the limb of awakening of mindfulness recollects and holds what is cultivated without forgetting, and is what the other six limbs are tied to; the limb of awakening of discernment of dharmas sifts dharmas as true or false, taking the true and discarding the false; the limb of awakening of vigour practises diligently, without retreating, the true dharma that has been discerned; the limb of awakening of joy is the mind giving rise to delight on attaining the Dharma, not the joy of worldly pleasure; the limb of awakening of removal removes the coarse heaviness of body and mind, making them light, nimble, attuned, and fit for work; the limb of awakening of concentration is the mind abiding on one object without confusion; the limb of awakening of equanimity is not being attached to what is attained, the mind even and not leaning to either side—the reason these seven are called awakening lies in their relying on separation, relying on non-defilement, and tending toward nirvāṇa; apart from these three phrases, the seven dharmas become only worldly goodness, not the awakening that tends toward stillness. The eight limbs of the noble path are the eight—right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right vigour, right mindfulness, and right concentration: right view is seeing dharmas as they really are, not inverted, not grasping wrongly, the head of the whole path; right thought is deliberation arising on the basis of right view, not mixed with thoughts of greed, anger, or harm; right speech is words that accord with the Dharma, neither false nor harmful; right action is the body's conduct apart from all that is not Dharma, pure in movement and in rest; right livelihood is obtaining the requisites for sustaining the body in accordance with the Dharma, not living by wrong seeking; right vigour is exerting strength in cutting off evil and giving rise to good, not using that strength the wrong way round; right mindfulness is binding mindfulness to its object, not turning with what is false; right concentration is the concentration completed on the basis of the preceding seven, the mind on one object and unmoving—only when the eight are complete do they form one whole path; lacking one, what is practised is not the path. The eight liberations (also called the eight deliverances) take the power of concentration as their substance; the name is made of turning the back, which is turning away and discarding, and of relinquishing, which is letting go and leaving: toward the form that is craved and the feeling that is clung to, one turns one's back and does not face them, relinquishes them and does not grasp them: first, with the inner perception of form not yet removed, contemplating outer forms; second, with no perception of form within, still contemplating outer forms; third, taking pure form as object and realising it with the body; fourth, passing beyond all marks of form, extinguishing the marks of resistance, not attending to any marks of diversity, and entering the sphere of boundless space; fifth, passing beyond the sphere of space and entering the sphere of boundless consciousness; sixth, passing beyond the sphere of consciousness and entering the sphere of nothingness; seventh, passing beyond the sphere of nothingness and entering the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; eighth, passing beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception and entering the absorption of the cessation of feeling and perception—when relinquishing is complete it is called deliverance, and so the two names have one reality. The nine successive absorptions lay their weight on succession: once one absorption has arisen, one next enters the following absorption, with no other mind mixed in between. The first dhyāna is apart from desire and apart from evil and unwholesome dharmas, with initial and sustained thought, and with joy and pleasure born of separation; the second dhyāna extinguishes initial and sustained thought, with inner purity and one-pointedness of mind, without initial and sustained thought, and with joy and pleasure born of concentration; the third dhyāna leaves joy behind and practises equanimity, experiencing pleasure with the body, mindful and dwelling in pleasure; the fourth dhyāna cuts off suffering and pleasure, sorrow and joy having earlier been extinguished, neither suffering nor pleasure, with equanimity and mindfulness pure; the four above these are apart from form and take the formless as object, each with its own object: the sphere of boundless space, passing beyond all marks of form, extinguishing the marks of resistance, not attending to any marks of diversity, takes boundless space as object and abides; the sphere of boundless consciousness relinquishes the mark of space, turns to take as object the boundlessness of the consciousness that takes objects, and abides; the sphere of nothingness relinquishes even the mark of consciousness, contemplates that not the least dharma is findable, and abides; in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, coarse perception is already gone and subtle perception is not yet exhausted, and so it is neither called having perception nor called without perception. Last, the absorption of the cessation of feeling and perception: feeling, perception, and the associated mind and mental factors all cease; this is the summit of the nine absorptions—the nine absorptions ascend in succession with no mixed thought between, and therefore they are called the nine successive absorptions. Once the members of the six groups are clear, one sees that what the sūtra dispels is not an empty name: what is dispelled are the dharmas to which the practitioner, step by step, can become attached; each is answered with unfindable, and it is precisely in this that the limbs of the path are Mahāyāna. The treatise's explanation gathers it in one sentence: from the four right exertions up to prajñāpāramitā, it is likewise—all are like the example of the foundations of mindfulness: the place they take as object is from the beginning unfindable. In the manner of answering here there is a fine turn: the names of the limbs of the path are answered in terms of their own substance being unfindable, while the names of the six perfections raise both what is counteracted and what counteracts—stinginess and greed, breaking the precepts, patience and impatience, laziness and vigour, concentration and distraction—what is counteracted is unfindable, and what counteracts has nothing to stand on either; only then is the meaning of perfection pure. Further, the single name 「無作」 tr. "without anything done" appears again in both Sūtra ① and Sūtra ③: the without anything done of Sūtra ① stands next to without knowing and speaks in terms of the doer and the knower being unfindable; the without anything done here speaks in terms of the mark of the three gates of liberation being unfindable—the name is the same but the gate differs. Sūtra ① separately has 「空種」 tr. "of the kind of emptiness," which is close in name to 「空」 tr. "emptiness" here but different in substance; 「無相」 tr. "signless" is not listed in Sūtra ①, and is found only here.

48. Prajñā praising prajñā—because delusion and wisdom are unfindable. The eighty-third name is 「般若波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is prajñāpāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because delusion and wisdom are unfindable. The treatise-author raises a question: other dharmas may be used to praise prajñā; how can prajñā again be used to praise prajñā? Answer: prajñā is of two kinds—first, the ever-abiding prajñā; second, the prajñāpāramitā that has a use, which practises together with the five perfections; Subhūti praises the prajñā that has a use, which can break the darkness of ignorance and can give true wisdom; therefore the Buddha speaks of the ever-abiding prajñāpāramitā: because delusion and wisdom are unfindable. Praising prajñā by prajñā is not saying the same thing twice: what is praised is the prajñā that has a use, practising together with the five perfections; what the praise returns to is the ever-abiding prajñā—in the ever-abiding prajñā, even the opposition of delusion and wisdom is unfindable.

49. The ten powers—because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The eighty-fourth name is 「十力波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the ten powers"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva who practises prajñā first attains the bodhisattva's ten powers and later attains the Buddha's ten powers, therefore it speaks of the pāramitā of the ten powers; the Buddha says that not only can the one with the ten powers not be broken and not be subdued, but the real mark of all dharmas too cannot be broken and cannot be subdued; the Buddha's intent is that for the sake of delivering beings he speaks of the power of the buddhas of the ten directions as immeasurable and boundless; like the Buddha's power, the real mark of all dharmas likewise cannot be subdued. The name of power returns to the real mark: the Buddha's power cannot be subdued, and the real mark equally cannot be subdued—the power of the pāramitā of the powers is the power of the real mark.

50. Fearlessness—because knowledge of the kinds of paths does not sink. The eighty-fifth name is 「無所畏波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of fearlessness"; the Buddha answers: because knowledge of the kinds of paths does not sink. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva who attains the power of prajñā can expound the Dharma and debate before the Buddha, how much more elsewhere; he does not fear even the Māra king, how much less those of the outside paths. Knowledge of the kinds of paths is called the Dharma-eye: it knows by which path all beings attain nirvāṇa; prajñā is always of the mark of quiescent extinction and cannot be spoken; the bodhisattva with knowledge of the kinds of paths guides beings and roars the lion's roar in the great assembly; because knowledge of the kinds of paths increases, he does not sink and is fearless, and also is not arrogant of himself, thinking that he has this dharma. The source of fearlessness lies not in courage but in the Dharma-eye not sinking—knowing by which path beings are delivered, facing the assembly one is naturally without timidity; and fearlessness not turning into arrogance is its true quality.

51. Unobstructed knowledge—because all dharmas are without hindrance and without obstruction. The eighty-sixth name is 「無礙智波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of unobstructed knowledge"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without hindrance and without obstruction. The treatise explains: Subhūti, hearing from the Buddha, grew deeper in fearlessness, and so he praised it, saying the unobstructed pāramitā; the Buddha says that it is not only the four unobstructed knowledges—because all dharmas enter suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, all are of the mark of non-obstruction. The four unobstructed knowledges are the heading for eloquence at the stage of the fruit; the Buddha's answer opens one level wider—dharma after dharma enters suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, and is from the beginning unobstructed; the non-obstruction of eloquence is only one of its uses.

52. The dharmas of the Buddha—because they pass beyond all dharmas. The eighty-seventh name is 「佛法波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the dharmas of the Buddha"; the Buddha answers: because they pass beyond all dharmas. The treatise explains: through prajñā the bodhisattva can gather the dharmas of the buddhas—the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, great kindness and great compassion, and so on—therefore it speaks of the pāramitā of the dharmas of the Buddha; the Buddha says that the dharma of the śrāvaka surpasses the dharma of ordinary people, the dharma of the pratyekabuddha surpasses the dharma of the śrāvaka, and the dharma of the Buddha is supreme among all dharmas; as among all forms space is vast, the dharma of the Buddha is supreme, none can reach it, nothing can be compared to it, it passes beyond all dharmas. The gradations of the ordinary and the holy are set in order in this one sentence, and the supremacy of the dharma of the Buddha is illustrated by space—not a supremacy by one portion more, but a supremacy vast and without outside.

53. Tathāgata and speaking as it really is—because all speaking is as it really is. The eighty-eighth name is 「如實說者波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of one who speaks as it really is"; the Buddha answers: because all speaking is as it really is. The treatise's explanation also brings out the name 「多陀阿伽陀波羅蜜」 tr. "the tathāgata pāramitā": as the buddhas of the past practised the six perfections and attained the suchness-mark of all dharmas, the present Buddha too likewise practised the six perfections and attained the Buddha path, therefore it is called the tathāgata pāramitā; tathāgata is rendered either the Tathāgata, or one who speaks as it really is, or one who knows as it really is. Here the Buddha says: not only is the Buddha's speaking called speaking as it really is—all language is as it really is, therefore it is called the pāramitā of one who speaks as it really is. The name Tathāgata means coming forth from suchness, and the meaning of speaking as it really is also comes out of suchness; 「一切語言皆是如實」 tr. "all language is as it really is" is the utmost statement from the side of the real mark—language arises depending on suchness, and within suchness not one word goes outside suchness.

54. Of itself—because it is sovereign among all dharmas. The eighty-ninth name is 「自然波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of itself"; the Buddha answers: because it is sovereign among all dharmas. The treatise explains in three layers: prajñā being complete, in the last body one becomes a buddha of oneself, therefore it is called the pāramitā of itself—of itself is a name for the Buddha, and because it is what the Buddha speaks, it is called the pāramitā of itself; further, the real mark of prajñā is so of itself and not made by another, therefore it is called of itself; the Buddha says that the Buddha attains sovereign power among all dharmas, therefore it is called the pāramitā of itself. The words of itself are read three ways: of itself as in becoming a buddha of oneself, of itself as in not being made by another, of itself as in being sovereign over dharmas.

55. The Buddha—because he knows all dharmas, omniscience of all kinds. The ninetieth name is 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because he knows all dharmas, omniscience of all kinds. The treatise explains: completing the ten grounds, attaining the ten powers and the four fearlessnesses, turning the wheel of the Dharma, beating the drum of the Dharma, awakening the beings of the world asleep in ignorance—therefore it is called the Buddha pāramitā. Buddha, in the language of Qin, means the awakened one, the knower—what is it that he knows? Rightly knowing all dharmas and all kinds, therefore he is called awakened. All dharmas means the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, the eighteen elements, and so on; further, all dharmas means the scriptures of those of the outside paths, arts and crafts, meditative absorptions, and so on, spoken of briefly as five kinds—the dharma of ordinary people, the dharma of the śrāvaka, the dharma of the pratyekabuddha, the dharma of the bodhisattva, and the dharma of the Buddha. The Buddha's knowing in brief has two kinds of mark—the general mark and the particular mark—and further, by the mark of discrimination and the mark of ultimate emptiness; his knowing in full is all kinds—all kinds are all the immeasurable and boundless gates of the Dharma. Because of this matter it is called the Buddha pāramitā; it is not because of the Buddha's body that it is called the Buddha pāramitā, but only because of omniscience of all kinds. The ninety names are crowned here, and at the crowning point the crown takes itself apart: the Buddha of the Buddha pāramitā does not point to the Buddha's body, it points to omniscience of all kinds—praise reaching its ultimate point, what is praised is still knowledge, not marks.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the ninety rounds as a heap of synonyms, a rhetorical spreading-out. Each of the ninety names has its own gate: boundless praises from measure, equal praises from equality, apart, indestructible, and without a further shore praise from the blocking of attachment, dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion praise from simile, the eighteen emptinesses praise from the gate of emptiness, the limbs of the path and the six perfections praise from the gate of practice, the ten powers and fearlessness up to the Buddha praise from the virtues of the fruit—name after name has a different gate, and the Buddha's answers give, one by one, the reason why that name holds. When the treatise-author explained 「無邊」 tr. "boundless," he already said plainly: from the beginning of the chapter to its end, everything is the meaning of boundlessness, and it is spoken of briefly because it would get in the way of speaking of other matters—the ninety names can be gathered into one name, and one name can be opened into ninety; in reading, one should look under each name at that word 「故」 tr. "because"; that is the pivot on which each name's gate turns.

Do not read names of negation such as 「無淨波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without purity," 「無知波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without knowing," and 「無常波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of impermanence" as belittling prajñā. Without purity does not say that prajñā is soiled—to be without afflictions is purity, and because the afflictions are false and deceptive, not even the mark of purity is set up; without knowing does not say that prajñā is foolish and benighted—it is because the knower is unfindable and all dharmas are dull; for the name impermanence, the treatise-author specially sets up two rounds of question and answer to sort it out: what Subhūti speaks of is the conditioned prajñā that practises together with the five perfections and contemplates dharmas born of causes and conditions, therefore he says impermanent; what it takes as object—suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality—is unconditioned dharma, therefore permanent. Using negation in words of praise is exactly the house method of prajñā—whatever can be set up as a mark is negated until nothing of it is left, and what remains is the real.

Do not read 「非是離欲故名無欲」 tr. "it is not called without desire because desire has been left behind," 「非是離瞋故名無瞋」 tr. "it is not called without hatred because hatred has been left behind," and 「非是滅癡故名無癡」 tr. "it is not called without delusion because delusion has been extinguished" as saying that there is no need to counteract the afflictions. What the treatise-author's three sentences block is mistaking without desire, without hatred, and without delusion for the state after counteraction has succeeded—such a without still stands in dependence on existence, still lies within gain and loss. That the nature of the three poisons is from the beginning unfindable is spoken from the side of the real mark; the practitioner's counteracting greed and counteracting hatred in daily use is spoken from the side of the gate of practice—being from the beginning non-existent in nature is exactly the reason why counteraction can be thorough, not a reason for abandoning counteraction. In the same way, for 「斷波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā cut off," the Buddha answers: because dharmas do not rise, the mark of being cut off of themselves—cutting off by nature does not abandon cutting off by cultivation; it is where cutting off by cultivation returns.

Do not read the praise of 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā" as praise of the Buddha's body. The end of the treatise deliberately points this out: it is not because of the Buddha's body that it is called the Buddha pāramitā, but only because of omniscience of all kinds. The ninety names rise step by step and reach their height at the Buddha; if the reader here gives rise to an imagining of the Buddha's body with the thirty-two marks, that runs precisely against the intent of the crowning point—what makes the Buddha the Buddha lies in rightly knowing all dharmas and all kinds; praising prajñā up to the Buddha pāramitā says that where prajñā is fully reached is omniscience of all kinds, not that above prajñā there is another honoured figure to look up to.

Bearing on Practice

The first benefit this chapter gives the one who practises is that the ninety names are ninety gates of contemplation. This chapter has no plot and no disputation, and is just right for use as gates of contemplation: each day take one name; first recite Subhūti's declaration, then recite the Buddha's answer, and then examine that word 「故」 tr. "because" in one's own mind—it says indestructible: examine where in oneself one can be destroyed. The place that can be destroyed is the place of attachment. It says not sullied: examine where the afflictions dwell. The place being unfindable, sullying has no ground of itself. Going once through the ninety names is pressing close to prajñā once from ninety directions.

The second benefit lies in the use of the five similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion. When ordinary people use similes to contemplate emptiness, they always keep half as real to stand on—contemplating the world as a dream, they secretly take themselves to be the one awake; contemplating the image as false, they secretly take the face of the mirror as real. The Buddha's answers pull out the ground to stand on, one by one: what is seen in a dream is unfindable, the one who hears the sound is unfindable, the face of the mirror is unfindable, the flowing water is unfindable, the conjuring act is unfindable. In daily use, when making the contemplation of things as like an illusion, one should remember to turn back and examine the place that contemplates: the simile and the matter itself are both empty, and the mind that contemplates is also among what is contemplated.

The third benefit is the form of answer for the names of the six perfections. The answer for dāna lies not in giving but in stinginess and greed being unfindable; the answer for śīla lies not in the precepts but in breaking the precepts being unfindable; the answers for kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā all raise both what counteracts and what is counteracted and say they are unfindable. People who practise the six perfections often find a sense of benefit in the thought ‘I am giving, I am keeping the precepts’; this answer teaches one to move one's eye from the practice that counteracts to the nature of what is counteracted—stinginess and greed are from the beginning unfindable, and so giving is inexhaustible; breaking the precepts is from the beginning unfindable, and so the precepts are signless. That a perfection is a perfection lies in this one turn.

The fourth benefit is self-examination through the passage on the pāramitā of fearlessness. The treatise-author says that the bodhisattva roars the lion's roar because of knowledge of the kinds of paths, that because knowledge of the kinds of paths increases he does not sink and is fearless, and that he 「不自憍慢我有是法」 tr. "is not arrogant of himself, thinking that he has this dharma." When one who practises has attained a little, in the course of expounding the Dharma and debating, the thought 「我有是法」 tr. "I have this dharma" arises most easily; this passage gives the dividing line between fearlessness and arrogance—fearlessness comes from the Dharma-eye, arrogance comes from the mark of a self; both roar the lion's roar before people, one standing on knowledge of the kinds of paths, one standing on the self; they resemble each other, and yet are as far apart as heaven and the abyss.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is the praise by different names in ninety rounds across three sūtra passages, and the Buddha's answers name by name. The seventeen names of Sūtra ①—boundless, equal, apart, indestructible, without a further shore, of the kind of emptiness, unspeakable, nameless, not going, unmoving, exhausted, unarisen, unceasing, without anything done, without knowing, not arriving, not lost—the treatise-author explains name by name, setting up a threefold explanation for boundless, distinguishing nameless through the twofold gathering of name and form, seeing in unarisen and unceasing the answers raised each for the other, and making clear in not arriving a continuity without one who crosses. The twenty-six names of Sūtra ②—the five similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion, together with unstained, without purity, unsullied, without idle discourse, not thinking, immovable, undefiled, not rising, quiescent extinction, without desire, without hatred, without delusion, without afflictions, without beings, cut off, without the two extremes, not broken, not grasping, without discrimination, immeasurable, and space—the treatise-author gathers in the five similes by the simile and the matter itself being both empty, settles the without of the three poisons by the three sentences of neither leaving behind nor extinguishing, explains cut off by the distinction between cutting off by nature and cutting off by cultivation, and illustrates immeasurable by the thing being much and the measuring vessel small. The forty-seven names of Sūtra ③—impermanence, suffering, no-self, emptiness, and the signless; the eighteen emptinesses from inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas; the limbs of the path from the foundations of mindfulness up to the path; the three gates of non-action, emptiness, and the signless; the liberations and absorption; the six perfections of dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā; the ten powers, fearlessness, unobstructed knowledge, the dharmas of the Buddha, one who speaks as it really is, of itself, and the Buddha—the treatise-author reconciles permanence and impermanence by the distinction between the conditioned prajñā and the ever-abiding prajñā, answers the question of praising prajñā by prajñā with the two kinds of prajñā, and at the end explains the Buddha pāramitā by the awakened one and the knower, the general mark and the particular mark, and omniscience of all kinds, and settles it by saying: not because of the Buddha's body, but only because of omniscience of all kinds.

Of the veins of meaning between this chapter and the chapters before and after it, three lines are most visible. First, the treatise-author makes it clear himself at the opening: Subhūti, hearing the Buddha speak the meaning of the great precious treasure pāramitā, thereupon of himself praised prajñā as mahāpāramitā—the praise of this chapter arises directly from the words 「大珍寶」 tr. "great precious treasure" of the preceding chapter; it is a chapter of praising further upon hearing praise, of praise added upon praise. Second, the earlier chapter "Praise of Purity" praises purity in fifteen rounds, and the Buddha answers them all together with ultimate purity; this chapter praises by names in ninety rounds, and the Buddha answers each with unfindable—the two chapters share one form but differ greatly in scale, and ultimate purity and unfindability are one meaning through two gates: that one negates from the gate of purity, this one negates from the gate of attainment, both returning to ultimate emptiness. Third, among the ninety names of this chapter, the names of the limbs of the path, the six perfections, the ten powers, and fearlessness gather together, under the different names of prajñā, all the gates of practice and virtues of the fruit spoken of here and there in the preceding chapters, and the meaning that prajñā gathers in all the perfections and all the perfections enter prajñā here becomes manifest; the last name, the Buddha pāramitā, crowned with omniscience of all kinds, precisely reserves the ground for the chapters that follow to go on making clear the meaning of sarvajñā and of skilful means. The reader may view the preceding and following chapters together, to see the single continuous vein in which the gate of praise passes from purity to name and from name to knowledge (the variant names of the chapters and the examination of the transmitted texts are detailed in the Apparatus).