大智度論 歎信行品之上Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Praise of Practising in Faith, Part 1 of 2

Praise of Practising in Faith, First Part: Those Who Hear Prajñā and Can Have Faith Planted the Roots of Virtue Long Ago; To Worship Prajñā Is to Worship Omniscience; Not Abiding, Not Training; Four Similes for the Prior Signs of the Prediction; Entrusting Well the Affairs of the Bodhisattvas

What Is Being Asked

The chapter title is 「歎信行」 tr. "praise of practising in faith", and what it praises is the person who practises in faith. The First Part, a single unit, opens with one thought of Śakra: if a person gets to hear prajñā so that it 「經耳」 tr. "reaches the ears", this person has already made merit under the buddhas of former lives and kept company with good friends—if hearing is so, how much more receiving and upholding it, reading and reciting it, and practising as it is taught! Śāriputra then traces the two roads of faith and disparagement together back to former lives: one who can hear and is not startled or terrified is 「如阿鞞跋致」 tr. "like an avaivartika", and one who disparages also disparaged in a former life; Śakra therefore speaks out, 「我禮般若波羅蜜！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智」 tr. "I worship prajñāpāramitā! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience", and the Buddha confirms it—the omniscience of the buddhas is all born from prajñā; one who wishes to abide in omniscience, and so on up to gathering together the whole bhikṣu Saṅgha, should train in prajñā. From here Śakra presses on to ask about the gate of practice: how does one abide, how does one train? The Buddha answers with a single road of 「不住」 tr. "not abiding": not abiding in form is training in prajñā, and so on up to not abiding in the eighteen unshared dharmas is training in the eighteen unshared dharmas; not training in form is called training in form, the reason being that form in the three times is unfindable. Śāriputra praises three times—very deep, hard to fathom, immeasurable—and each time the Buddha responds with form and all dharmas, and then turns one level further: not practising the depth of form is what practising prajñā is; therefore the very deep Dharma should not be spoken before those who have newly aroused the mind, and those who disparage it and do not believe plant the karma of the three evil destinies. Śakra asks again: among those who have not received the prediction, is there anyone who hears and is not startled or terrified? The answer: there is, and this person will receive the prediction before long—Śāriputra first points out that practising the six perfections in a dream is already near to awakening, how much more when awake; then gives four similes in a row as proof: one crossing a dangerous road who sees herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens knows that the town is not far; one heading for the great sea who sees level ground without trees or mountains knows that the sea is not far; in early spring the old leaves fall, and one knows that flowers and fruit are about to come forth; a woman with child, when the prior signs are seen, is known to give birth before long. At the end Subhūti praises the 「善付菩薩事」 tr. "entrusting well of the affairs of the bodhisattvas", and the Buddha speaks at length of the bodhisattva's four means of gathering and ten wholesome paths, of practising himself and teaching others, and so on up to turning the wheel of the Dharma. Where faith comes from, what marks the one who has faith, how one practises, what verifies the one who practises—these four layers of the First Part are exactly the unfolding of the three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘praise of practising in faith’.

Passage by Passage

1. Śakra thinks that those whose ears prajñā reaches planted the roots of virtue long ago. At the opening Śakra Devānām Indra has this thought: if good men and good women 「得聞般若波羅蜜經耳者，是人於前世佛作功德，與善知識相隨」 tr. "get to hear prajñāpāramitā so that it reaches their ears, these people made merit under the buddhas of former lives and kept company with good friends", how much more those who receive and uphold it, draw near to it, read it, recite it, rightly recollect it, and practise as it is taught! Know that these people have drawn near to many buddhas, and can listen, receive, practise as it is taught, ask, and answer; because in former lives they made offerings to and drew near to many buddhas, on hearing this deep prajñā they are 「不驚、不怖、不畏」 tr. "not startled, not terrified, not afraid"; and for immeasurable koṭi of kalpas they have also practised the six perfections. Within a single thought there are three 「當知」 tr. "know that"s, reasoning back from today's hearing to the practice of former lives—hearing the Dharma is no accidental matter; the one phrase ‘reaching the ears’ is already the present working of a cause from former lives.

2. Śāriputra says that the two roads of faith and disparagement both come from former lives. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: of one who hears the deep prajñā and is not startled or terrified, and having heard receives and upholds it and trains as it is taught, 「當知是善男子、善女人如阿鞞跋致菩薩摩訶薩」 tr. "know that this good man or good woman is like an avaivartika bodhisattva-mahāsattva"; prajñā is very deep, and if in former lives one had not long practised the six perfections, one 「終不能信解深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "could never have faith in and understand the deep prajñāpāramitā". Conversely, of one who disparages it in this life, 「當知是人前世亦呰毀深般若波羅蜜」 tr. "know that this person in a former life also disparaged the deep prajñāpāramitā"—when such a person hears the Dharma there is no faith and no delight, and the mind is not pure, precisely because in former lives he did not ask and did not question the buddhas and their disciples: how does one practise the six perfections, cultivate 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? Faith and disparagement each have their history, and neither thread begins in this life.

3. Śakra states the reason for unbelief—I worship prajñā, and this is to worship omniscience. Śakra says to Śāriputra: as for this deep prajñā, if a person has not long practised the six perfections, does not practise inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, does not practise the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, and the four formless absorptions, does not practise the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, does not practise the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas—「如是人不信解是深般若波羅蜜，有何可怪！」 tr. "that such a person does not have faith in and understand this deep prajñāpāramitā—what is there to wonder at!" Unbelief is not the fault of prajñā; it is the ordinary state of one whose power of practice is not yet full. At once he turns out the first praise-worship of this chapter: 「大德舍利弗！我禮般若波羅蜜！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智。」 tr. "Venerable One Śāriputra! I worship prajñāpāramitā! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience." From explaining the reason for unbelief, it turns into the worship of one who can have faith.

4. The Buddha confirms it—omniscience is prajñā; one who wishes to gain the fruits should train in prajñā. The Buddha tells Śakra: 「如是！如是！憍尸迦！禮般若波羅蜜，是禮一切智。」 tr. "Just so! Just so! Kauśika! To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience." The causes and conditions are that 「諸佛一切智皆從般若波羅蜜生，一切智即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the omniscience of the buddhas is all born from prajñāpāramitā, and omniscience is prajñāpāramitā". Therefore one who wishes to abide in omniscience should abide in prajñā; one who wishes to give rise to knowledge of the kinds of paths, to cut off all fetters together with their residual habits, and to turn the wheel of the Dharma should train in prajñā; one who wishes to gain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat and the path of the pratyekabuddha, who wishes to teach beings to gain the fruits and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, who wishes to gather together the whole bhikṣu Saṅgha—all should train in prajñā. The realisation of the fruits of the three vehicles, training in oneself and transforming others, holding the Saṅgha together—all of it is gathered back into the one phrase ‘practise prajñā’: prajñā is the mother of all the fruits, and to worship it is to worship their source.

5. The treatise explains why Śakra aroused this mind—the simile of dry wool and wet wool. The treatise-author explains: Śakra is lord of the gods, and 「利根、智勝、信佛法故，倍復增益；如火得風，愈更熾盛」 tr. "because his faculties are sharp, his wisdom superior, and he has faith in the Buddha-dharma, it increases twice over; like fire that gets the wind, it blazes all the more". Having heard Subhūti praise prajñā by all kinds of causes and conditions, and the Buddha complete that praise with deep principle, he aroused a rare mind: because of offerings made to the buddhas in former lives and the condition of good friends in this life, one who hears prajñā can have faith; this person has for immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas practised the six perfections and other merits, and so, though he has not yet attained the ground of the avaivartika, he does not doubt and does not regret in the deep Dharma. The simile says: 「譬如新劈乾毳，隨風東西；濕毳緤緻，則不可動。」 tr. "It is like freshly split dry wool, which goes east and west with the wind; wet wool, densely felted, cannot be moved." A bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, thin in merit, follows what others say, like dry wool with the wind; one who has long cultivated merit does not follow what others say, like wet wool, tight and dense, unmoving—whether the power of faith is firm or brittle depends wholly on how thick or thin the accumulation is.

6. Śāriputra says to the Buddha—not yet having entered the bodhisattva position, yet no different from an avaivartika. While Śakra is reflecting on and thinking of the immeasurable merit of prajñā, Śāriputra knows what Śakra is thinking and says to the Buddha: good men and good women who, 「雖未入菩薩位，能信受深般若波羅蜜，不驚、不怖，如說修行」 tr. "though they have not yet entered the bodhisattva position, can have faith in and receive the deep prajñāpāramitā, are not startled, not terrified, and cultivate and practise as it is taught"—because of their great merit, wisdom, and power of faith, 「當知如阿鞞跋致無異」 tr. "know that they are like an avaivartika, no different". The rank has not yet been reached and yet faith and practice are already complete; the treatise-author specially records that Śāriputra utters this praise on behalf of the assembly—where the power of faith reaches, the rank can be granted in advance, and this is precisely the first level of praise in this chapter's praise of practising in faith.

7. Planting in the air and the simile of the inchworm—able to give up without anything to rely on: this is a rare thing. The treatise-author explains the causes and conditions the Buddha himself stated: prajñā is very deep; 「無相可取、可信、可受；若能信受，是為希有」 tr. "there is no mark that can be grasped, had faith in, or received; if one can have faith in it and receive it, this is rare", like a person planting in the air, which is exceedingly hard. When ordinary people gain a superior dharma they give up the thing they had—gaining the bliss of meditative absorption, they give up the pleasure of the five desires, and so on up to relying on the Summit of Existence and giving up the merits of the Sphere of Nothingness—they 「不能無所依止而有所捨」 tr. "cannot give something up without anything to rely on". It is like the inchworm following a twig: it sets down its front feet and moves up its back feet, and when it reaches the tip of the tree and there is nothing further to rely on, it goes back to where it started. That the bodhisattva who has not yet attained the path, in regard to prajñā, 「無所依止，而能修福德、捨五欲，是事希有」 tr. "without anything to rely on, can cultivate merit and give up the five desires—this is a rare thing"! The causes and conditions by which he can do so are still faith and receiving in former lives, long practice of the six perfections, and the great gathering of all merits.

8. Disparagement also comes from long habit; three explanations of how one who has fallen into hell and finished the penalty comes to hear prajñā again. The treatise-author explains the reverse side: 「與信相違，則毀呰般若波羅蜜。如厚福德者，從久積集；不信毀呰者，亦從久習。」 tr. "What is contrary to faith disparages prajñāpāramitā. As one of thick merit comes from long accumulation, so one who disbelieves and disparages also comes from long habit." Question: one who disparaged and slandered in a former life should fall into hell—by what condition does he come to hear prajñā again? The answer has three explanations: one explanation is that this person fell into hell, finished the penalty, and came back to disparage again, and it does not say this is the immediately following body; another explanation is that karma, when accumulated thick and heavy, can give its result, and this person, though he did not believe in a former life, had not yet accumulated thick karma and had not yet received its result, and 「以餘福德故生人中，續復不信」 tr. "because of remaining merit was born among humans, and still continues not to believe"; a third is that the five heinous offences must be received in the immediately following body, while other offences are not so—in the following body or in a body long after. Slander has its recompense, and hearing the Dharma has its condition; the three explanations stand side by side to reconcile them—the treatise-author records the various explanations and does not force a decision on one.

9. The explanation that the five heinous sins must be received in the immediately following body; Śakra concludes that unbelief is nothing to wonder at. Again, someone says: 「五逆罪，次後身必受；餘罪不爾，或次後身、或久後身。」 tr. "The five heinous sins are necessarily received in the immediately following body; other sins are not so—they may be received in the immediately following body, or in a body long after." The sin of slandering the Dharma is not among the fixed karma of the five heinous sins, so the recompense comes late or soon, and one whose recompense is late can still hear the Dharma in between. At that time Śakra says to Śāriputra: prajñā is 「畢竟空、無所有故甚深」 tr. "very deep because it is ultimate emptiness and without anything existent"; if a bodhisattva has not long practised merit, then his 「著心堅固、信力微弱」 tr. "attached mind is firm and his power of faith feeble", and that he does not believe in prajñā and so on up to omniscience—what is there to wonder at? The attached mind and the power of faith stand in inverse proportion—when attachment is firm, faith is weak; this is the pathology of unbelief, and it is also where the cultivation of faith sets to work.

10. Śakra utters the words of worshipping prajñā—to worship omniscience is to worship the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions. Śakra reflects and weighs it: 「信般若波羅蜜福德無量，不信者得罪深重。」 tr. "The merit of having faith in prajñāpāramitā is immeasurable; one who does not believe incurs deep and heavy sin." Because he deeply loves and reveres prajñā, he speaks out: I shall worship this prajñā! Why? 「禮般若波羅蜜，則為禮一切智；禮一切智者，則禮三世十方諸佛。」 tr. "To worship prajñāpāramitā is to worship omniscience; one who worships omniscience worships the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions." At that time the Buddha approves his words and further states the causes and conditions for praising prajñā: all the knowledge and wisdom of the buddhas is born from within prajñā, and so it says that one who wishes to abide in omniscience, and so on up to gathering together the whole bhikṣu Saṅgha, should train in prajñā. The reach of worship is pushed up layer by layer—prajñā, omniscience, the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions, three that are threaded as one; where one worships prajñā, one worships all the buddhas everywhere.

11. Śakra asks about the gate of practice—how does one abide, how does one train. At the opening of Sūtra ②, Śakra says to the Buddha: when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva wishes to practise prajñā, 「云何名住」 tr. "what is called abiding" in prajñāpāramitā, dhyāna, vīrya, kṣānti, śīla, and dānapāramitā? How does one abide in inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, in the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, and the five supernormal powers, in the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, in the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas? 「云何習行」 tr. "How does one train" prajñā and so on up to dānapāramitā, inner emptiness and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas? The passage above has already made clear that one should train in prajñā; this question presses 「當習」 tr. "one should train" into 「云何習」 tr. "how does one train"—turning from the exhortation to faith into the gate of practice, it is the pivot of the sūtra text of this unit.

12. The Buddha answers that not abiding is training—not abiding in form is training in prajñā; not training in form is called training in form. The Buddha first praises him, "Excellent!": 「汝能樂問是事，皆是佛神力！」 tr. "That you are able and glad to ask about this matter is all the Buddha's spiritual power!" Then he answers directly: if a bodhisattva 「不住色中，為習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "does not abide in form, that is training in prajñāpāramitā", and not abiding in feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness is likewise; so too with eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, with forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and dharmas, with the eye-element and so on up to the mind-consciousness element. Not abiding in prajñā is training in prajñā, and so it is with each of the six perfections; so it is with inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, with the four dhyānas and so on up to the five supernormal powers, with the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, with the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. The causes and conditions are that 「不得色可住可習處」 tr. "one does not find in form a place where one can abide or train". Then it turns one level further: 「菩薩摩訶薩不習色，若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not train in form; if he does not train in form, this is called training in form"—searching through the three times, 「色前際不可得、中際不可得、後際不可得」 tr. "the prior limit of form is unfindable, its middle limit is unfindable, its later limit is unfindable". Not abiding is exactly training, not training in is exactly practising; here the gate of practice has no place to be seized, and everywhere is practice.

13. Śāriputra's first praise, very deep and hard to fathom—because the suchness of form is very deep, prajñā is very deep. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: 「是般若波羅蜜甚深！」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is very deep!" The Buddha says: 「色如甚深故，般若波羅蜜甚深」 tr. "because the suchness of form is very deep, prajñāpāramitā is very deep", and it is likewise because the suchness of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness is very deep, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. Śāriputra says again: 「是般若波羅蜜難可測量！」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is hard to fathom!" The depth of prajñā is not a separate depth apart from dharmas; it is deep in respect of the 「如」 tr. "suchness" of form and all dharmas—suchness is the real mark of all dharmas; the form the eye sees is not deep, the suchness of form is what is deep. The words of praise land on prajñā, and the Buddha turns them, one by one, to point at all dharmas: the depth lies not in the one who contemplates but in the real mark that is contemplated.

14. The two praises hard to fathom and immeasurable—because form is hard to fathom, prajñā is hard to fathom; because form is immeasurable, prajñā is immeasurable. The Buddha answers the praise of being hard to fathom: 「色難可測量故，般若波羅蜜難可測量」 tr. "because form is hard to fathom, prajñāpāramitā is hard to fathom", and it is likewise because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, are hard to fathom. Śāriputra's third praise: 「世尊！是般若波羅蜜無量！」 tr. "World-Honored One! This prajñāpāramitā is immeasurable!" The Buddha says: 「色無量故，般若波羅蜜無量」 tr. "because form is immeasurable, prajñāpāramitā is immeasurable", and likewise because everything up to the eighteen unshared dharmas is immeasurable. The three praises—very deep, hard to fathom, immeasurable—are uniformly of one structure: the virtue of prajñā is the virtue of all dharmas; because every dharma is such, every dharma is deep—the three rounds of question and answer sung over one another teach one precisely to see prajñā in the one form, the one dharma right in front of one, and not to look for depth outside dharmas.

15. Not practising the very deep is practising prajñā—the mark of the very deep is not form. The Buddha tells Śāriputra: when a bodhisattva practises prajñā, 「不行色甚深，為行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "not practising the depth of form is practising prajñāpāramitā", and so on up to not practising the depth of the eighteen unshared dharmas, likewise. Why? 「色甚深相為非色」 tr. "The mark of the depth of form is not form"—if the mark of the very deep were set up as a fixed mark of form, that would no longer be the real mark of form. The two further layers, hard to fathom and immeasurable, follow the same pattern: not practising form's being hard to fathom, not practising form's being immeasurable, is practising prajñā; the mark of being hard to fathom and the mark of being immeasurable are both not form, and so on up to not the eighteen unshared dharmas. The earlier three praises were praise according to reality; these three negations examine the grasping of marks: to gain the praise and then cling to that praise turns the mark of depth into a new bond, and so even the mark of the very deep is not practised.

16. It should not be spoken before those who have newly aroused the mind—it should be spoken before the avaivartika. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: prajñā is very deep; 「甚深相難見、難解、不可思量，不應在新發意菩薩前說」 tr. "the mark of the very deep is hard to see, hard to understand, and not to be thought out or measured; it should not be spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind". Why? A bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, hearing this very deep prajñā, 「或當驚怖，心生疑悔，不信、不行」 tr. "may be startled and terrified, his mind giving rise to doubt and regret, and not believe and not practise". It should be spoken before avaivartika bodhisattvas; such a bodhisattva, hearing it, is 「不驚、不怖，心不疑悔，則能信行」 tr. "not startled, not terrified, his mind without doubt and regret, and so he can have faith and practise". The Dharma makes no selection, but hearers are fit or unfit, and the one who speaks the Dharma cannot but choose according to the capacity—when the very deep Dharma meets a capacity of shallow faith, not only is there no benefit, it becomes instead a condition of harm, and the passage below makes that fault clear.

17. The fault of speaking before those who have newly aroused the mind—disparaging and not believing plants the karma of the three evil destinies. Śakra asks Śāriputra: if this deep prajñā is spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind, 「有何等過」 tr. "what fault is there"? Śāriputra replies: a bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, hearing it, may be startled and terrified, disparage it, and not believe—「是新發意菩薩或有是處」 tr. "for this bodhisattva who has newly aroused the mind, this is possible"; if he disparages it and does not believe, he 「種三惡道業；是業因緣故，久久難得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "plants the karma of the three evil destinies; because of the causes and conditions of this karma, for a long, long time it is hard for him to attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". The fault lies not in hearing but in disparaging—hearing and giving rise to disparagement, a single word slandering the Dharma completes the karma of the three evil destinies, and awakening moves farther away. To protect the root of faith of the new trainee is precisely to protect his road to awakening; it is not keeping the Dharma secret and withholding it.

18. The treatise explains Śakra's question and why the Buddha praises him, "Excellent!" The treatise-author explains: because Śakra has heard from the Buddha the praise of prajñā in full, he now asks the Buddha: how does a bodhisattva abide in prajñā, from dhyānapāramitā and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas? The Buddha's praise, "Excellent, excellent!", is 「以釋提桓因諸天中主，言必可信。問是事，斷大眾疑，通達無礙，能大利益」 tr. "because Śakra Devānām Indra is lord among the gods, his words are sure to be trusted. Asking about this matter cuts off the doubts of the great assembly, penetrates without obstruction, and can greatly benefit". Again, because Śakra 「能捨上妙五欲、七寶、宮殿，能問佛賢聖所行事」 tr. "can give up the supremely wondrous five desires, the seven jewels, and palaces, and can ask about the matters practised by buddhas, sages, and saints", for this reason the Buddha says "Excellent!" One praise, two reasons: from the side of the hearers, when the lord of the gods asks, the doubts of the assembly are cut off together; from the side of the one who asks, giving up desire to ask about the path, his mind is precious—"Excellent!" is not a courtesy but a confirmation from both sides, the capacity and the mind.

19. By the Buddha's spiritual power he can ask; by not abiding in form one can train—ordinary people cling to form and lose the path. The treatise-author explains 「以佛神力故，汝能樂問此事」 tr. "it is by the Buddha's spiritual power that you are able and glad to ask about this matter": in the assembly there were also supremely wondrous gods who beheld the Buddha's immeasurable spiritual virtue, yet now Śakra can consult the Buddha on the Buddha's matters in the midst of the great assembly, and so it is the Buddha's majestic spiritual power; as the Sūtra of Holding the Mind says: 「佛光明入身中，能問佛事。」 tr. "The Buddha's light enters into the body, and one can ask about the Buddha's matters." He also explains the Buddha's answer: a bodhisattva 「見色無常、苦等過罪，故不住色；若不住色，即是能習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "sees the faults and wrongs of form—impermanence, suffering, and the rest—and so does not abide in form; if he does not abide in form, he is able to train in prajñāpāramitā". Ordinary people, 「見色著色故，起顛倒煩惱」 tr. "because they see form and cling to form, give rise to inverted afflictions", and lose this path of prajñā. For this reason, one who does not abide can train in prajñā; so too with the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements. The meaning of not abiding is first established from contemplating the faults—because one sees the faults one does not abide, and because one does not abide one does not lose.

20. The question of each of the six perfections training in its own practice—not clinging, one trains in purely. Question: why is it said that by not abiding in the six perfections and the rest, each trains in its own practice? Answer: 「是六波羅蜜等皆是善法行法」 tr. "these six perfections and the rest are all wholesome dharmas, dharmas of practice"; for this reason it speaks of not abiding in the six perfections and the rest as each training in its own practice; with the aggregates, the elements, and the sense-fields, it is training in prajñāpāramitā. If one does not cling in these dharmas, one cuts off loving attachment; 「斷愛著故，色等諸法中清淨習」 tr. "because loving attachment is cut off, in form and all dharmas one trains in purely". The wording of the sūtra text differs: of the six perfections it says not abiding in a given perfection is training in that perfection; of the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields it says not abiding is training in prajñā—wholesome dharmas can each be trained in respect of their own practice, while the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields serve only as the field contemplated by prajñā; yet the pivot is the same single not clinging, and because one does not cling one's training is pure.

21. The causes and conditions of not abiding and not training—training in form is called grasping at the mark of form. The treatise-author explains: here it states the causes and conditions of not abiding, 「所謂不得色等法住處，不得色等法習處」 tr. "namely, one does not find in form and other dharmas a place to abide, does not find in form and other dharmas a place to train". Again, because this matter is hard to understand, the Buddha further states the causes and conditions: 「不習色」 tr. "not training in form" means the bodhisattva sees the faults of form and so does not abide in form, and because he does not abide he does not practise it. 「習色」 tr. "Training in form" is called grasping at the mark of form, as permanent or as impermanent, and so on. Again, the bodhisattva constantly practises wholesome dharmas, right speech, right action, and the rest, 「積習純厚」 tr. "accumulating habit pure and thick", and so it is called practising form. The one word ‘train’ has two glosses: the habit of grasping at marks and discriminating is what is negated; the habit of accumulating wholesome dharmas is what is accomplished—the habit of grasping at marks is negated precisely to accomplish the habit of purity; do not misread ‘not training’ as abandoning practice.

22. Form in the three times is unfindable—contemplating dharmas as scattered and broken, not grasping at marks, is called being able to train in the real mark. The treatise-author explains the deep meaning of not training: now the bodhisattva, because he wishes to practise prajñā, 「散壞是色，不習」 tr. "scatters and breaks up this form, and does not train in it". Why? 「過去色已滅、未來色未有故不可習；現在色生時即滅故不住」 tr. "Past form has already ceased and future form does not yet exist, so they cannot be trained; present form ceases the moment it arises, so it does not abide"; if even abiding for one thought there is still no training, how much less when it ceases thought after thought? Therefore it states the causes and conditions of not training in form: 「三世色不可得。」 tr. "Form in the three times is unfindable." And so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, likewise. 「若能如是觀諸法散壞，不取相」 tr. "If one can in this way contemplate all dharmas as scattered and broken, and not grasp at marks", this is called 「能習色等諸法實相」 tr. "being able to train in the real mark of form and all dharmas". Not training to the very end turns over into being able to train—what is practised is not the mark of form but the real mark of form; the joint of the sūtra's words 「若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "if he does not train in form, this is called training in form" lies precisely in this turn.

23. The simile of raindrops and the great sea—form discriminated and entering what is as it really is, is therefore very deep. The treatise-author explains Śāriputra's praise: Śāriputra heard this meaning from the Buddha, 「歡喜，深入空智」 tr. "rejoiced, and entered deeply into the knowledge of emptiness", and said to the Buddha that prajñā is very deep; the Buddha affirmed it and completed his praise: because the suchness of form and all dharmas is so, it is very deep. The Buddha's words: 「不但眼見色甚深，以般若波羅蜜分別色入如實故甚深。」 tr. "It is not merely that the form the eye sees is very deep; it is because, by prajñāpāramitā, form is discriminated and enters what is as it really is, that it is very deep." The simile says: 「如雨渧渧，不名甚深；和合眾流，入於大海，乃名甚深。」 tr. "Raindrops, drop by drop, are not called very deep; gathered together in many streams and entering the great sea, they are then called very deep." A single drop of water does not make depth; only when many streams return to the sea is depth and breadth seen; the mark of a single form is not enough to call deep; when it is discriminated by prajñā and enters what is as it really is, form begins to show its depth—the depth lies in the entering, not on the surface of form.

24. The wisdom-eye contemplates the deep; because it is very deep it is immeasurable—weighing and measuring has faults. The treatise-author continues: 「天眼、肉眼，見淺而不深；若以慧眼觀，則深不可測。」 tr. "The divine eye and the fleshly eye see the shallow and not the deep; if one contemplates with the wisdom-eye, then it is deep beyond fathoming." Because it is very deep it is hard to fathom; 「唯有諸佛乃盡其底」 tr. "only the buddhas reach its bottom". Because it is very deep and cannot be fathomed, it is called immeasurable—「無有智慧能取色等實相，若常、若無常，籌量有過罪故」 tr. "there is no wisdom that can grasp the real mark of form and the rest, as permanent or as impermanent, because weighing and measuring has faults and wrongs". At this time Śāriputra and all the listeners had this thought: prajñā cannot be fathomed and has no measure; 「菩薩當云何行」 tr. "how should the bodhisattva practise"? The meaning of the three praises is gathered in here: deep, hard to fathom, and immeasurable are three advances of one meaning, and the thought of the listeners naturally turns out the question of the gate of practice—since it is immeasurable, where does one set to work?

25. The simile that the depth of water is not fixed—depth and shallowness are spoken of distinctly for beings sharp and dull. The Buddha knows their thought and tells Śāriputra: a bodhisattva, 「若行色等甚深者，則為失般若波羅蜜；若不行色甚深，是為得般若波羅蜜」 tr. "if he practises the depth of form and the rest, then he loses prajñāpāramitā; if he does not practise the depth of form, this is gaining prajñāpāramitā". The treatise-author explains: because ordinary people are dull in faculty, it is called very deep; for those of one-pointed mind, of merit, of sharp faculties, it is not very deep. 「譬如水深淺無定，若於小兒則深，長者則淺」 tr. "It is like water, whose depth and shallowness are not fixed: to a small child it is deep, to a grown man it is shallow"; and so on up to the great sea, deep to a human, shallow to the asura king Rāhu. To ordinary people, to those who have newly aroused the mind, and to the lazy it is very deep; to the avaivartika who has long accumulated virtue it is shallow; 「諸佛如羅睺阿修羅王，於一切法無有深者，得無礙解脫故」 tr. "the buddhas are like the asura king Rāhu: among all dharmas there is none that is deep to them, because they have attained unobstructed liberation". Depth and shallowness are not in the dharma but in the capacity—for the sake of beings, and of the season, sharp or dull, first or long-practised, lazy or vigorous, depth and shallowness are spoken of distinctly.

26. The mark of the very deep is not form; the question of why Śāriputra again speaks of the very deep. The treatise-author cites the causes and conditions the Buddha himself stated: 「色等法甚深相為非色。何以故？怖畏、心沒、疑悔故，以色為甚深，色相則無深。」 tr. "The mark of the depth of form and other dharmas is not form. Why? Because of fear, the sinking of the mind, and doubt and regret, one takes form as very deep; the mark of form in itself has no depth." Depth is cast onto the dharma by the fear, doubt, and regret in the mind; the mark of form itself has no depth that can be set up. Śāriputra says to the Buddha: prajñā is very deep, and the mark of the very deep is hard to see and hard to understand. Question: above it says 「菩薩不行甚深，為行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the bodhisattva not practising the very deep is practising prajñāpāramitā"; why now does Śāriputra again speak of the very deep? Having negated the practice of the very deep, why does he again praise the very deep with his mouth—this question brings into the open, on the reader's behalf, the surface contradiction in the sūtra text, and the next passage resolves it.

27. He speaks of the very deep for the sake of people—the simile of not letting a small child cross deep water. Answer: 「舍利弗非定心說甚深，得佛意趣，為人故說甚深。」 tr. "Śāriputra does not speak of the very deep with a fixed mind; he has grasped the Buddha's intent, and speaks of the very deep for the sake of people." For this reason it says here: this prajñā should not be spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind, for a bodhisattva new to the training, hearing this deep wisdom, 「則心沒」 tr. "then his mind sinks"; it should be spoken before avaivartika bodhisattvas, because the avaivartika's wisdom is deep, and he 「信而不沒」 tr. "has faith and does not sink". The simile says: 「譬如深水，不應使小兒渡，應教大人令渡。」 tr. "It is like deep water: one should not make a small child cross it; one should teach a grown person to cross it." To speak of depth is not to grasp at the mark of depth; it is a teaching set up according to the capacity—in one's own mind no fixed mark is set up, and for the sake of others one cannot but distinguish deep and shallow; the two do not obstruct each other.

28. A close explanation of the fault for those who have newly aroused the mind—the fear of annihilation and the bind of not receiving. The treatise-author explains Śakra's question, "what fault is there": Śāriputra answers that those who have newly aroused the mind then do not believe and their minds sink; 「心沒故生疑悔、怖畏」 tr. "because the mind sinks, doubt and regret, fear and dread arise"—the bind of being able neither to advance nor to retreat is: 「若受一切空法，我云何當墮斷滅中？若不受者，佛所說法，何可不受！」 tr. "If I receive the dharma that all is empty, how shall I not fall into annihilation? If I do not receive it—it is the Dharma spoken by the Buddha; how can I not receive it!" For this reason there is fear, and doubt and regret arise. If the mind becomes fixed, it gives rise to evil and wrong disparagement; the recompense of disparagement is as told in the Chapter on the Hells, and here it is stated in brief: 「種三惡道業因緣，久久難得無上道。」 tr. "One plants the causes and conditions of the karma of the three evil destinies, and for a long, long time it is hard to attain the unsurpassed path." Fear is still a light fault; a fixed mind giving rise to disparagement becomes heavy karma—the care with which the capacity is protected lies precisely at the gate of disparagement and slander.

29. One who has not received the prediction hears and can have faith—receiving the prediction within no more than one buddha or two. At the opening of Sūtra ③, Śakra asks Śāriputra: 「頗有未受記菩薩摩訶薩聞是深般若波羅蜜不驚、不怖者不？」 tr. "Is there any bodhisattva-mahāsattva who has not received the prediction, who hears this deep prajñāpāramitā and is not startled and not terrified?" Śāriputra says: there is! If a bodhisattva hears this deep prajñā and is not startled or terrified, 「當知是菩薩，受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久，不過一佛、兩佛」 tr. "know that this bodhisattva will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long, within no more than one buddha or two buddhas". Above it was said that faith comes from causes in former lives; here the predictive meaning of faith is turned out: to be able to have faith and not be startled is the mark that the prediction is at hand—faith is not only the verification on the side of the result; it is even more a pledge on the side of the cause.

30. The Buddha confirms it; Śāriputra gives the simile of the dream—practising the six perfections in a dream is already near to awakening. The Buddha tells Śāriputra: Just so! Just so! This bodhisattva has 「久發意、行六波羅蜜、多供養諸佛」 tr. "long aroused the intent, practised the six perfections, and made offerings to many buddhas", and hearing this deep prajñā is not startled, not terrified, not afraid, and on hearing it at once receives and upholds it and practises as it is taught. Śāriputra tells the Buddha he wishes to give a simile: one who seeks the bodhisattva path and 「夢中」 tr. "in a dream" cultivates and practises prajñā, enters meditative absorption, is diligent and vigorous, is complete in patience, guards morality, practises giving, cultivates and practises inner emptiness and outer emptiness, and so on up to sitting at the seat of awakening—know that this person is near to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; 「何況」 tr. "how much more" one who, awake, cultivates and practises the six perfections—how should he not swiftly accomplish awakening and sit at the seat of awakening! One whose roots of goodness are accomplished, who gets to hear prajñā, receives and upholds it, and so on up to practising as it is taught—know that he has long aroused the intent, planted roots of goodness, made offerings to many buddhas, and kept company with good friends, and is 「近受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記」 tr. "near to receiving the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", like an avaivartika, unmoving and unturning in regard to awakening. If practice in a dream is so, practice when awake can be known—reasoning from the light to the heavy, the momentum is like splitting bamboo.

31. The simile of the dangerous road—seeing herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens, one knows the town, city, and village are not far. Śāriputra gives the first simile: it is like a person who wishes to cross 「百由旬、若二百、三百、四百由旬曠野嶮道」 tr. "a dangerous road through the wilderness of a hundred yojanas, or two hundred, three hundred, or four hundred yojanas", who first sees various signs: herdsmen, boundary marks, gardens, and so knows he is near a city, a town, a village. Having seen these signs, this person thinks: from the signs I have seen, know that the town and the village are not far. 「心得安隱，不畏賊難、惡蟲、飢渴。」 tr. "His mind gains peace and security, and he does not fear the danger of bandits, evil insects, hunger, or thirst." The dangerous road is not yet ended, but the prior signs have already appeared, and the mind is at peace first—the crux of the simile lies in the two words ‘prior signs’: though the result has not yet arrived, the signs can be relied on, and in the fitting to the Dharma below each has its counterpart.

32. Fitting it to the Dharma—gaining prajñā is itself the prior sign; one should not fear falling to the ground of the two vehicles. Śāriputra fits it himself: so it is with the bodhisattva; 「若得是深般若波羅蜜，受持、讀、誦乃至正憶念，當知近受得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久」 tr. "if he gains this deep prajñāpāramitā and receives and upholds it, reads it, recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, know that he is near, and will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long"; know that this bodhisattva 「不應畏墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "need not fear falling to the ground of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha". What are the prior signs? 「是諸先相，所謂甚深般若波羅蜜，得聞、得見、得受乃至正憶念故。」 tr. "These prior signs are namely that the very deep prajñāpāramitā is heard, seen, received, and so on up to rightly recollected." Getting to hear prajñā is itself the sign that the prediction is about to arrive—the herdsmen, boundary marks, and gardens the traveller seeks on the dangerous road are this very scroll of prajñā in one's hands.

33. The simile of the great sea—level ground without trees or mountains, one knows the sea is not far. The Buddha says: if you are glad to speak further, then speak. Śāriputra gives the second simile: it is like a person who wishes to see the great sea and sets out toward it; he 「不見樹相、不見山相」 tr. "sees no sign of trees, sees no sign of mountains", and though he has not yet seen the great sea, he knows the great sea is not far; why? 「大海處平，無樹相、無山相故。」 tr. "Because where the great sea is, it is level, without the sign of trees, without the sign of mountains." When a bodhisattva hears this deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it, 「雖未佛前受劫數之記」 tr. "though he has not yet received before a Buddha the prediction with its count of kalpas", whether a hundred kalpas, a thousand kalpas, ten thousand kalpas, or a hundred thousand myriad koṭi of kalpas, this bodhisattva 「自知近受阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久」 tr. "himself knows that he is near, and will receive the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long". The previous simile takes the presence of signs as its sign; this simile takes the absence of signs as its sign—where the trees and mountains end is the seashore; where the signs gradually fade away is near to awakening; the two similes, one positive and one negative, complement each other.

34. The simile of the spring tree—the old leaves have fallen, and flowers and fruit are not far off. The third simile: it is like early spring, when 「諸樹陳葉已墮，當知此樹新葉華果出在不久」 tr. "the old leaves of the trees have already fallen, and one knows that this tree's new leaves, flowers, and fruit will come forth before long"; the people of Jambudvīpa, seeing the prior signs of the trees, all greatly rejoice. When a bodhisattva gets to hear the deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it and practising as it is taught, know that his roots of goodness are accomplished and he has made offerings to many buddhas. This bodhisattva should think thus: 「先世善根所追，趣阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "pursued by the roots of goodness of former lives, I am heading for anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", and by these causes and conditions I get to see and hear this deep prajñā. Among them, the gods who have seen the Buddha rejoice and leap for joy: 「先諸菩薩摩訶薩亦有如是受記先相」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of before also had such prior signs of receiving the prediction", and this bodhisattva too will receive the prediction before long. The falling of the old leaves is the season of new flourishing—where the afflictions wither, the roots of goodness put forth; even the gods watching from the side can recognise this sign, as one recognises the tidings of spring.

35. The simile of the woman with child—seeing the prior signs, one knows the birth is not far. The fourth simile: it is like a woman with child whose 「身體苦重，行步不便，坐起不安，眠食轉少，不喜言語，厭本所習」 tr. "body is burdened and heavy, whose walking is awkward, whose sitting and rising are uneasy, whose sleep and eating grow less, who does not like to talk, and who grows weary of her former habits", because she is undergoing pain; other women, seeing her prior signs, 「當知產生不久」 tr. "know that the birth is not far off". So it is with the bodhisattva: he plants roots of goodness, makes offerings to many buddhas, has long practised the six perfections, keeps company with good friends, his roots of goodness are accomplished, and he gets to hear the deep prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it and practising as it is taught; 「諸菩薩亦知是菩薩摩訶薩得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提記不久」 tr. "the bodhisattvas too know that this bodhisattva-mahāsattva will attain the prediction of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi before long". With this the four similes reach their most intimate point—the conception of the fruit of the path is complete, the marks of the body change of themselves, and one who knows recognises it at a glance; the phrase ‘weary of her former habits’ is above all the verification that the bearing of the practitioner is changing.

36. Subhūti praises the entrusting well; the Buddha speaks at length of the bodhisattva practising himself and teaching others. The Buddha praises Śāriputra: 「善哉！善哉！汝所樂說，皆是佛力。」 tr. "Excellent! Excellent! What you are glad to speak is all the Buddha's power." At that time Subhūti says to the Buddha: 「希有！世尊！諸多陀阿伽度、阿羅呵、三藐三佛陀善付諸菩薩摩訶薩事！」 tr. "It is rare, World-Honored One! How well the tathāgatas, arhats, samyaksaṃbuddhas entrust the affairs of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas!" The Buddha tells Subhūti: these bodhisattvas arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi 「安隱多眾生，令無量眾生得樂，憐愍、安樂、饒益諸天人故」 tr. "to bring peace and security to many beings, to let immeasurable beings gain happiness, and out of pity, to give ease and abundant benefit to gods and humans"; when they practise the bodhisattva path they gather immeasurable hundreds of thousands of beings by four things—「布施、愛語、利益、同事」 tr. "giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and shared endeavour"—and also bring beings to accomplishment by the ten wholesome paths; they themselves practise the first dhyāna and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, and themselves practise the six perfections, and teach others all these as well; having gained prajñā, by the power of skilful means they teach beings to gain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the path of the pratyekabuddha, while 「自於內不證」 tr. "he himself does not realise them within"; they themselves abide in the ground of the avaivartika, purify buddha-worlds, bring beings to accomplishment, gain the bodhisattva's supernormal powers, purify the gates of dhāraṇī, are complete in the eloquence of delighting in speech, accomplish the receiving of form, the thirty-two marks, the youthful state, the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen unshared dharmas, great kindness and great compassion, omniscience of all kinds, freedom from all fetters together with their residual habits, and so on up to 「自轉法輪，亦教他人轉法輪」 tr. "themselves turning the wheel of the Dharma and also teaching others to turn the wheel of the Dharma"—each one is practising oneself and teaching others.

37. The treatise explains the question of one who has not received the prediction yet can have faith—the simile of the fish that has swallowed the hook arises. The treatise-author explains: Śakra asks whether there is any bodhisattva who has not received the prediction who hears this deep prajñā and is not startled or terrified, and Śāriputra says: 「無有不受記聞般若能信者。若或時能信者，當知垂欲受記，不過見一佛、二佛，便得受記。」 tr. "There is no one who has not received the prediction who hears prajñā and can have faith. If at times there is one who can have faith, know that he is on the verge of receiving the prediction; within seeing no more than one buddha or two buddhas, he will receive the prediction." The Buddha approves Śāriputra's words. Śāriputra, hearing the Buddha approve what he said, rejoices in his mind, and because he wishes to make this matter still more distinct and clear, he gives similes: 「夢中心為睡所覆故，非真心所作」 tr. "because in a dream the mind is covered by sleep, it is not what the true mind does"; one who in a dream arouses the intent and practises the six perfections, and so on up to sitting at the seat of awakening—this person's merit is light and slight, yet he is near to receiving the prediction; how much more one who, awake, with a real mind arouses awakening and practises the six perfections—how should he not be near to receiving the prediction! If a person going back and forth in birth and death through the six destinies at some time gets to hear prajñā, receives and upholds it, reads and recites it, and rightly recollects it, 「必知是人不久得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "one knows for certain that this person will before long attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi".

38. The simile of the fish that has swallowed the hook—one who deeply believes in and delights in prajñā does not long abide in birth and death. The treatise-author gives a simile of his own: 「如吞鉤之魚，雖復遊戲池中，當知出在不久；行者亦如是，深信樂般若波羅蜜，不久住於生死。」 tr. "Like a fish that has swallowed the hook: though it still plays in the pond, know that it will be out before long; so it is with the practitioner: one who deeply believes in and delights in prajñāpāramitā will not long abide in birth and death." The fish has already swallowed the hook; it plays as before, yet the time of leaving the water is set; the practitioner with one thought deeply believes in prajñā; his traces are still in birth and death, but his going beyond is already fixed. This simile fills in a layer the four similes had not reached: the prior signs can be recognised not only from outward marks; the mind of faith and delight is itself the hook already swallowed—one who is caught by the hook of prajñā cannot be held by birth and death.

39. Fitting the simile of the dangerous road—two explanations of the four hundred yojanas. The treatise-author explains how the simile of the dangerous road fits the Dharma: ‘the dangerous road is the world’. A hundred yojanas is the desire realm, two hundred yojanas is the form realm, three hundred yojanas is the formless realm, four hundred yojanas is the path of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha; again, four hundred yojanas is the desire realm, three hundred yojanas is the form realm, two hundred yojanas is the formless realm, a hundred yojanas is the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. The two matchings stand side by side: the first takes the three realms as near and the two vehicles as far, speaking of the order of leaving; the second takes the desire realm as farthest, speaking of the weight of difficulty to cross—because the bonds of the desire realm are thickest, its road is longest. The treatise-author keeps both explanations, rightly showing that the living phrase of a simile is not to be read as dead.

40. The signs on the dangerous road fitted to the Dharma one by one—the bandits are wrong views, the evil insects are the afflictions. The treatise-author continues fitting: 「欲出」 tr. "wishing to get out" is the person who has faith in, receives, and practises prajñā. 「先見諸法相」 tr. "First seeing the signs of dharmas" is seeing great bodhisattvas give up the worldly pleasures of desire and with a deep mind delight in prajñā. 「壃界」 tr. "Boundary marks" is distinguishing dharmas—the dharma of the śrāvaka, the dharma of the pratyekabuddha, the dharma of the Great Vehicle; the small benefit is the śrāvaka, the great benefit is the bodhisattva; 「魔界是生死，佛界是般若波羅蜜、甘露法味不死之處」 tr. "Māra's realm is birth and death; the Buddha's realm is prajñāpāramitā, the ambrosial flavour of the Dharma, the place of the deathless". 「園林」 tr. "Gardens" is the bliss of meditative absorption, wisdom, and the like that accord with the Buddha path. 「聚落」 tr. "The village" is the compliant acceptance of dharmas, 「邑」 tr. "the town" is the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, 「城」 tr. "the city" is anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. 「賊」 tr. "Bandits" are the sixty-two wrong views of self and the like, 「惡蟲」 tr. "evil insects" are the afflictions of craving, hatred, and the like; not fearing bandits means humans find no opening, not fearing evil insects means non-humans find no opening; 「不畏飢」 tr. "not fearing hunger" is not fearing to be unable to gain the true wisdom of the sages, 「不畏渴」 tr. "not fearing thirst" is not fearing to be unable to gain the taste of the Dharma-bliss of meditative absorption, liberation, and the like. Matching sign by sign to the Dharma, the stages of acceptance are the post-stations of the journey, and awakening is the city one heads for.

41. Concluding the causes and conditions of the prior signs; not fearing to fall to the two vehicles; the coarse as simile for the subtle. The treatise-author concludes this simile: here it states the causes and conditions itself—「菩薩摩訶薩得先相者，不久當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who gains the prior signs will before long attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." 「不畏墮惡道中、飢餓死」 tr. "Not fearing to fall on the bad road and die of hunger" is fitted to the Dharma as 「不畏墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "not fearing to fall to the ground of the śrāvaka or the pratyekabuddha"—on the bodhisattva path, the realisation of the two vehicles becomes instead a danger midway, like the traveller's fear of dying of hunger by the roadside. 「佛然可其喻，以麁喻細，以世間喻出世間。」 tr. "The Buddha affirms his simile, using the coarse as a simile for the subtle, using the worldly as a simile for the world-transcending." The simile and what it illustrates are not equal in the first place; one takes only the resemblance; what the Buddha affirms is his using ordinary worldly feeling to lead people into the deep principle that transcends the world.

42. The remaining three similes fitted to the Dharma—the great sea, the tree's flowers and fruit, the woman. The treatise-author says: 「餘三譬喻，亦應如上分別說。」 tr. "The remaining three similes should also be distinguished and explained as above." In brief he shows the essentials: 「大海水」 tr. "the water of the great sea" is the unsurpassed path, 「平地無樹無山」 tr. "level ground without trees and without mountains" is the scrolls of the prajñāpāramitā sūtra and the like; 「樹果」 tr. "the fruit of the tree" is the unsurpassed path, 「樹華」 tr. "the flowers of the tree" is the ground of the avaivartika, 「春時陳葉落，更生新葉」 tr. "in spring the old leaves fall and new leaves grow again" is 「諸煩惱邪見、疑等滅」 tr. "the ceasing of the afflictions, wrong views, doubt, and the like", so that one can gain the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra and the like; 「母人」 tr. "the woman" is the practitioner, 「所任身」 tr. "the body she carries" is the unsurpassed path, 「欲產相」 tr. "the signs of approaching birth" are the bodhisattva's long training in prajñā, 「厭本所習」 tr. "weary of her former habits" is 「患世間婬欲樂，不復喜著」 tr. "being troubled by the worldly pleasures of sexual desire and no longer delighting in and clinging to them". The Buddha praises what he has said: "Excellent!" The fitting of all three similes takes the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra as the sign present before one and the unsurpassed path as the reality carried within—the meaning of the prior signs is threaded through by one.

43. Entrusting well the affairs of the bodhisattvas—the path of emptiness and the path of merit, entrusted to Ānanda, Maitreya, and others. The treatise-author explains Subhūti's praise: Subhūti, hearing the Buddha affirm what Śāriputra said and praise it as excellent, 「知佛意深敬念是菩薩」 tr. "knew that the Buddha's intent deeply reveres and cherishes these bodhisattvas", and so said to the Buddha: the World-Honored One is exceedingly rare, entrusting well the affairs of the bodhisattvas. 「菩薩事」 tr. "The affairs of the bodhisattvas" are 「空道，福德道」 tr. "the path of emptiness and the path of merit"; and as the Buddha has spoken in all kinds of general and particular marks, 「以寄付阿難、彌勒等」 tr. "he entrusts them to Ānanda, Maitreya, and others", so that after his entering nirvāṇa without remainder they may well uphold and practise them, teach and show them, benefit beings, and 「無令謬錯」 tr. "let there be no error"! The matter entrusted raises both paths together—the path of emptiness is the life of wisdom, the path of merit is the provisions; after the Buddha's extinction the Dharma is spread by people, and in the two words ‘entrusting well’ lies the Tathāgata's deep concern for what comes after him.

44. Explaining bringing peace and security to many beings—to those who cling to permanence teach impermanence, like taking bitter medicine. The treatise-author explains the causes and conditions of the entrusting well that the Buddha speaks of: the bodhisattvas arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. 「安穩多眾生」 tr. "Bringing peace and security to many beings": all beings are immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya, and none but the Buddha can count and know them; those who gain benefit from the Buddha cannot be counted, and so they are called many. 「安穩」 tr. "Peace and security": 「眾生著常，教無常；著樂者，教苦；著實者，教空；著我者，教無我」 tr. "beings cling to permanence—teach impermanence; to those who cling to pleasure, teach suffering; to those who cling to the real, teach emptiness; to those who cling to self, teach non-self"—things such as these are called peace and security. When ordinary people hear this, though at the time they do not like or delight in it, over a long time they extinguish their afflictions and gain the bliss of peace and security; 「如服苦藥，當時雖苦，後得除患」 tr. "like taking bitter medicine: though it is bitter at the time, afterwards one is rid of the sickness". Peace and security is not a comfort that follows feeling; it is a cure that pulls out the root—all four teachings go against ordinary feeling and accord with the real mark, and the bitter mouthful is exactly where peace and security come from.

45. Explaining gaining happiness and abundant benefit—the differences of benefit in three periods. The treatise-author explains 「無量眾生得樂」 tr. "letting immeasurable beings gain happiness": when a bodhisattva seeks prajñā and has not yet accomplished it, he 「以今世、後世樂利益眾生」 tr. "benefits beings with the happiness of this life and of later lives", as the Bodhisattva Jātaka Sūtra says; if he has gained prajñā and already cut off the afflictions, he also benefits beings with worldly happiness and world-transcending happiness; 「若得無上道時，但以出世間樂利益眾生」 tr. "when he gains the unsurpassed path, he benefits beings only with world-transcending happiness". 「安樂、饒益」 tr. "Giving ease and abundant benefit" means that only out of a mind of pity does he give ease and abundant benefit; 「饒者，多利益天、人；餘道中饒益少故不說」 tr. "‘abundant’ means that he greatly benefits gods and humans; in the other destinies the abundant benefit is small, so it is not mentioned". Three stages, three happinesses: not yet having attained the path, he gives worldly happiness; having gained prajñā, he bestows both worldly and world-transcending; having become a Buddha, he gives purely world-transcending happiness—the grade of benefiting others turns deeper according to the position of one's own realisation.

46. A broad explanation of the four means of gathering—kind speech and beneficial action each have two kinds; shared endeavour means sharing in what they practise. The treatise-author explains that 「利益事」 tr. "the matters of benefit" are namely the four means of gathering: gathering beings by the two kinds, the gift of wealth and the gift of Dharma. 「愛語」 tr. "Kind speech" has two kinds: 「一者、隨意愛語，二者、隨其所愛法為說」 tr. "first, kind speech that follows their wishes; second, speaking to them according to the dharma they love"—before attaining the path, he pities beings, breaks down his own arrogance, and speaks the Dharma as they wish; having attained the path, he speaks according to the dharma by which each should be delivered, as for a rich man of haughty mind he praises giving, whereas if he praised keeping morality and disparaged breaking morality, that man's mind would not be pleased; he speaks the Dharma according to what is fitting. 「利益」 tr. "Beneficial action" also has two kinds: first, he speaks the Dharma for benefit in this life and benefit in later lives, and by the Dharma manages livelihood and diligently cultivates beneficial affairs; second, 「未信教令信，破戒令持戒，寡識令多聞，不施者令布施，癡者教智慧」 tr. "those without faith he teaches to have faith, those who break morality he has keep morality, those of little learning he makes learned, those who do not give he has give, the deluded he teaches wisdom". 「同事」 tr. "Shared endeavour" means teaching and transforming beings, having them practise wholesome dharmas and sharing in what they practise—「菩薩善心，眾生惡心，能化其惡，令同己善」 tr. "the bodhisattva has a good mind and beings have evil minds; he can transform their evil and make it the same as his own goodness". The essential point of the four means of gathering lies in following the capacity: speech follows what they love, benefit follows what they lack, endeavour shares in what they practise.

47. The four means of gathering concluded and the extension of practising oneself and teaching others—entrusting well out of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment. The treatise-author concludes: the bodhisattva gathers beings by the four kinds and has them abide in the ten wholesome paths; this is the broad explanation of the meaning of the four means of gathering. Of the two gifts, the gift of Dharma is foremost; speaking the Dharma according to what they delight in is foremost in kind speech; having them practise the ten wholesome paths lets them gain long life, and among the benefits of all precious things 「法利最勝」 tr. "the benefit of the Dharma is supreme"; in shared endeavour, sharing in the practice of wholesome dharmas is superior. Someone says: the later practising the ten wholesome paths oneself and the rest is the fourth, the meaning of sharing, and so it says that he himself practises the ten wholesome paths and also teaches others to practise them. 「自行初禪，亦教他行」 tr. "He himself practises the first dhyāna and also teaches others to practise it"—the first dhyāna and the rest are 「同離欲，同持戒，是故名相攝；相攝故，漸漸能以三乘法度」 tr. "the same in leaving desire, the same in keeping morality, and therefore they are called gathering one another; because they gather one another, step by step one can deliver by the dharma of the three vehicles". Because of prajñā he lets beings gain a share of prajñā, namely gaining srota-āpanna and the rest, 「方便力故自不證」 tr. "by the power of skilful means himself not realising them"; he teaches immeasurable asaṃkhyeya bodhisattvas to abide in the six perfections, and so on up to himself turning the wheel of the Dharma and also teaching others to turn the wheel of the Dharma. At the end it returns to the mind of entrusting: 「是故我以慈悲心故善付是菩薩事，不以愛著故。」 tr. "Therefore I entrust well these affairs of the bodhisattvas out of a mind of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment." The single-word verdict between kindness and compassion and loving attachment is exactly why the entrusting well is well.

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘faith and disparagement both come from former lives’ as a doctrine of fixed destiny. The sūtra text says that those who can have faith planted the roots of virtue long ago, and that those who disparage also disparaged in former lives; this makes clear the momentum of cause and result continuing, not that nothing can be done in this life; where the treatise-author explains, he states plainly that the reason for unbelief is 「不久行功德，則著心堅固、信力微弱」 tr. "not having long practised merit, the attached mind is firm and the power of faith feeble"—the attached mind can be broken, merit can be accumulated, and the density of wet wool is accumulated precisely strand by strand. If one reads it as the root of faith fixed by heaven and the one who disparages beyond saving, then the question and answer about hearing prajñā again after finishing the penalty of hell all become empty words.

Do not read ‘not abiding, not training’ as abandoning cultivation. The Buddha says that not abiding in form is training in prajñā, and 「若不習色，是名習色」 tr. "if he does not train in form, this is called training in form"; the treatise-author distinguishes it in two layers: the training that is negated is 「取色相，若常、若無常等」 tr. "grasping at the mark of form, as permanent, as impermanent, and so on", and the training that is accomplished is the wholesome dharmas' 「積習純厚」 tr. "accumulating habit pure and thick" and 「能習色等諸法實相」 tr. "being able to train in the real mark of form and all dharmas"—what is negated is grasping at marks, not the six perfections and the myriad practices. Of the six perfections the sūtra text says directly, 「不住禪波羅蜜中，為習禪波羅蜜」 tr. "not abiding in dhyānapāramitā is training in dhyānapāramitā"; the word ‘train’ is never let go from beginning to end.

Do not read 「不應在新發意菩薩前說」 tr. "it should not be spoken before bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind" as prajñā having a secret. The reason for not speaking it is to protect their root of faith—hearing the deep Dharma, the mind sinks and gives rise to disparagement, and one 「種三惡道業」 tr. "plants the karma of the three evil destinies"; this is to protect people, not to begrudge the Dharma; and the treatise-author states plainly that Śāriputra 「非定心說甚深，得佛意趣，為人故說甚深」 tr. "does not speak of the very deep with a fixed mind; he has grasped the Buddha's intent, and speaks of the very deep for the sake of people". Depth and shallowness have no fixed mark in the first place, as water is deep to a small child and shallow to a grown man; speaking of shallow and deep according to capacity, and the Dharma-substance having no deep or shallow—each of the two statements has its own place.

Do not read the verification of the four similes as a guarantee that hearing the sūtra ensures the prediction. What the four similes verify is the person who 「受持、讀、誦乃至正憶念、如說行」 tr. "receives and upholds it, reads it, recites it, and so on up to rightly recollecting it and practising as it is taught"—the fitting of every simile to the Dharma carries this whole string of practice and upholding; the treatise-author's simile of the swallowed hook likewise says that one who 「深信樂般若波羅蜜」 tr. "deeply believes in and delights in prajñāpāramitā" will not long abide in birth and death. One hearing that reaches the ears is the sign of a cause from former lives; the nearness of the prediction depends on the practice after hearing; to read the prior signs as sufficient signs is precisely the conceit of mistaking the symptom for the realised result.

Bearing on Practice

By hearing the Dharma, verify for oneself the causes of former lives; by practice and upholding, make for oneself the causes to come. This unit teaches a kind of looking back: that today one can hear prajñā and not be startled or terrified lets one know that in former lives one once asked and once practised; if today on hearing it the mind resists, there is also no need to give up on oneself—the attached mind firm and the power of faith feeble is a symptom, not a verdict; practise the six perfections one matter at a time, and dry wool will of itself become wet wool. The single thought of joy or the single thought of doubt and regret at the moment of hearing the Dharma is the report card of one's own lessons from former lives; read it rightly, and then make up the lessons.

In every method of practice, examine the abiding in marks. In daily practice of giving, sitting in meditation, reciting and reading, do the outward matters as they are, but constantly ask oneself: am I abiding within this dharma—relying on giving as what I am able to do, clinging to meditative absorption as what I have gained? The measure of the sūtra text is extremely simple: 「不得色可住可習處」 tr. "one does not find in form a place where one can abide or train"; whenever one feels there is some result of practice where one can settle oneself, that is abiding; practise without abiding, and the practice is pure. Searching through the three times is a ready-made method of contemplation: what has been done has ceased, what has not been done does not exist, what is being done does not stop—where is there to abide?

When startlement and terror appear, recognise the doubt about annihilation. The treatise-author draws the mind-mark of the one who has newly aroused the mind: 「若受一切空法，我云何當墮斷滅中？若不受者，佛所說法，何可不受！」 tr. "If I receive the dharma that all is empty, how shall I not fall into annihilation? If I do not receive it—it is the Dharma spoken by the Buddha; how can I not receive it!" When on hearing the Dharma of emptiness one loses one's footing, able neither to advance nor retreat, first recognise that this is exactly the pass foretold in the sūtra; there is no need for shame, and one must not disparage—better to keep the doubt and diligently practise the six perfections than to give rise to disparagement with a fixed mind; one word of disparagement completes the karma, and for a long, long time it is hard to attain the unsurpassed path.

Take the prior signs for one's peace, and weariness of habit for one's verification. Midway on the path there is often the anxiety of not knowing where one has come to, and the four similes teach one to recognise the signposts: being able to give rise to joy in the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra and to receive and uphold them, gradually finding the pleasures of the world grow pale (weary of her former habits), seeing the afflictions drop away like old leaves—all are signs that the town is not far; to recognise them is to have the 「心得安隱」 tr. "mind gain peace and security", not fearing the danger of bandits, evil insects, hunger, or thirst. Again, to practise one dharma oneself is to teach others one dharma; the four means of gathering follow the capacity: speech chooses what they love, benefit supplies what they lack, endeavour shares in what they practise—out of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment: this is gathering others and also purifying oneself.

Further Resonances

The First Part, a single unit of three sūtra passages and three treatise passages, is the section of Praise of Practising in Faith that establishes faith. Sūtra ① establishes, from one thought of Śakra, the causes of faith in former lives—those whose ears prajñā reaches made merit in former lives, and the two roads of faith and disparagement both come from former lives; Śakra worships prajñā and the Buddha confirms it: to worship prajñā is to worship omniscience, and for all the fruits and all the virtues one should train in prajñā. Sūtra ② turns into the gate of practice—not abiding in form is training in prajñā, not training in form is called training in form, form in the three times is unfindable; the three praises of very deep, hard to fathom, and immeasurable, while the mark of the very deep is not form, so that even the mark of depth is not practised; the very deep Dharma should not be spoken before those who have newly aroused the mind, and to protect their root of faith is to protect their awakening. Sūtra ③ establishes the verification of faith—one who has not received the prediction yet can have faith will receive the prediction before long; practising the six perfections in a dream, the prior signs on the dangerous road, the sea where the land is level, the old leaves of the spring tree, the woman with child—the four similes, together with the fish that has swallowed the hook, all make clear that getting to hear prajñā is itself the prior sign of receiving the prediction; at the end, entrusting well the affairs of the bodhisattvas, the four means of gathering and the ten wholesome paths, practising oneself and teaching others and so on up to turning the wheel of the Dharma, out of kindness and compassion, not out of loving attachment. Faith has its cause, its practice, its verification, and its entrusting—the three Chinese characters rendered here as ‘praise of practising in faith’ have their substance established in the First Part. As for what the marks of fully practising prajñā are, the praise of the inconceivable, the guarding against hindrances and the deeds of Māra, the buddhas seeing with the Buddha-eye, knowing, and keeping in mind those who uphold the sūtra, and the prediction for the beings of the north in the age of the Dharma's end—the Last Part of this chapter goes on to unfold them; they are not anticipated here.