大智度論 一心具萬行品Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · One Mind Complete with All Practices

One Mind Complete with All Practices: Why the Nature of Dharmas Being without Anything Existent Is Not a Reason for Cancelling the Arousing of the Mind; Why Nothing to Be Attained Is Precisely the Path and Precisely the Fruit; Why the Nature of Dharmas Being Indestructible Is the Ground of This Sentence; Why the First Ground and So On up to the Tenth Ground and the Supernormal Powers Obtained as Retribution Still Stand; Why the Six Perfections and the Supernormal Powers Are Said to Be without Difference and yet Are Spoken of with Distinctions; Why Being Complete with All Practices within a Single Thought Is Not a Compressing of Time; Why Not Being Far from Prajñā Is Precisely the Cause of Being Complete within a Single Thought; Why the Mark of Non-duality Is the Real Meaning of a Single Thought; Why within Dānapāramitā All the Pāramitā Can Be Contained; Why, Giving while Abiding in the Mind without Outflows, One Does Not See Giver, Recipient, or the Thing Given; Why the Six Perfections Must Be Shown One by One within Dharmas That Are Signless, without Attaining, and without Making; Why Śīla Takes Not Even the Noble Fruits and the Retribution of a Wheel-Turning Sage King; Why Kṣānti Must Set Up Two Kinds, the Acceptance toward Beings and the Acceptance of Dharmas; Why Vīrya Is Divided into Bodily Vigour and Mental Vigour; Why Dhyāna Must Except the Dhyānas of the Buddha and Speak of All the Other Dhyānas; Why Prajñā Is Said Not to See a Fixed and Real Mark; Why the Land and the Goods That Sustain Life All Have No Owner; Why, When Both Questioner and Answerer Say Without Anything Existent, One Can Still Tell Who Asks and Who Answers; Why, When the Buddha Has Already Answered, Subhūti Asks Again; What a Single Thought Is; and Why the Bodhisattva Who Has Obtained the Acceptance of the Non-arising of Dharmas, Feeling No Pain When Cut and Severed, Is on the Contrary Said to Have a Great Share of Grace

What Is Being Asked

What this chapter asks is a question that very easily goes astray: since dharmas are all without anything existent, should practice still be practised or not? And once it is practised, does it count as something to be attained or not?

At the head of the chapter Subhūti asks very directly: the nature of all dharmas is without anything existent, so what benefit does the bodhisattva see, that only then he seeks unsurpassed awakening for the sake of beings? This question is not an objection against the Buddha; it is asked on behalf of those listening to the Dharma. Anyone who has grown used to hearing the meaning of emptiness without having digested it will give rise in his mind to a conclusion he takes to be thoroughgoing—since nothing at all exists, then arousing the mind, delivering beings, and becoming a Buddha do not exist either. The Buddha's answer, however, does not gather things in along this direction; instead it turns the whole thing around: precisely because the nature of all dharmas is without anything existent does the bodhisattva seek unsurpassed awakening for the sake of beings. Next he adds a sentence of reason—those with something to be attained and something clung to find it hard to be liberated, and those who grasp at marks have no path, no fruit, no unsurpassed awakening. And so the axial sentence of the whole chapter comes out: nothing to be attained is precisely the path, precisely the fruit, precisely unsurpassed awakening, because the nature of dharmas is indestructible.

Once this sentence stands, a second doubt follows at once: if nothing to be attained is precisely the path and the fruit, then the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground, the acceptance of non-arising, the supernormal powers and the six perfections obtained as retribution, bringing beings to accomplishment and purifying buddha-lands, and so on up to the relics receiving offerings after parinirvāṇa—how is this sequence to be established? The Buddha's answer is still in the same direction—precisely because dharmas are of the mark of nothing to be attained does he obtain the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground. The sequence is not propped up by 「有所得」 tr. "something to be attained"; it is established of itself within nothing to be attained. The third doubt follows, asking about difference: if all is nothing to be attained, do the six perfections and the supernormal powers not become one undifferentiated mass? The Buddha answers that there is no difference, and that the reason they are spoken of with distinctions is that beings cling.

Only after these three questions and three answers of the first half have been set firm does the sūtra text turn into the proper topic of this chapter. Subhūti asks: how does the bodhisattva within a single thought make complete the practice of the six perfections and so on up to the eighty minor marks? The Buddha's answers gather inward layer by layer: first he says that all giving and so on up to the marks and minor signs are not far from prajñā; asked again what not being far means, he answers: the mark of non-duality; asked again what the mark of non-duality means, he answers that when one wishes to make dānapāramitā complete, within dānapāramitā are at once contained all the pāramitā, as well as the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the marks and minor signs; asked again how, when giving, all the dharmas without outflows are contained, he answers: abiding in the mind without outflows one gives, and does not see who gives, who receives, or what thing is given. After the four layers of question and answer, the sūtra text again gathers it up with one general question—if dharmas are signless and without making, how after all are these six perfections and the thirty-seven limbs of the path and so on up to the marks and minor signs made complete?—and only then unfolds one by one the marks of the six perfections, dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā, being 「於無相、無得、無作法中具足」 tr. "made complete within dharmas that are signless, without attaining, and without making." The end of the sūtra section concludes with 「不受一切法」 tr. "receiving no dharma": when the bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, all the goods that sustain life in his land have no owner.

The treatise section does not set up any new meaning of its own; it only makes four rounds of question and answer and takes up the sūtra phrase by phrase to explain it. The first round asks very finely: the one who asks and the one who answers both say 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent"; how can one tell which sentence is the question and which the answer? The treatise-author answers more finely still: though the dharma is one, the minds differ—the one who asks asks with a clinging mind, and the one who answers answers with a mind without clinging. This answer is the key to the whole treatise section: all the occurrences of 「無所得」 tr. "nothing to be attained" throughout this chapter are exactly the same in wording, and the difference lies only in the mind of the speaker. The second round asks why, since the Buddha has already answered, Subhūti asks again; the answer lies in there being, in the assembly, bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind and who, hearing of emptiness, cling to emptiness. The third round asks why Subhūti asks about practising the six perfections within a single thought; the answer lies in this: having heard that prajñā is unobstructed toward all dharmas, then there is nothing it cannot do. The fourth round asks: the bodhisattva in a fleshly body, for whom being cut and severed hurts severely, is the one for whom it counts as hard; the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is like a conjured person and feels no pain, so what share of grace has he?—the treatise-author's answer moves the centre of gravity of 「難」 tr. "hard" from whether it hurts to whether one gives up, and this is the last and also the weightiest turn of the whole chapter.

Passage by Passage

1. The nature of dharmas is without anything existent: what benefit does the bodhisattva see, that he seeks awakening? The Buddha answers that it is precisely because of being without anything existent that he seeks. At the head of the chapter Subhūti addresses the Buddha: if the nature of all dharmas is without anything existent, what kind of benefit does the bodhisattva see, that only then he seeks unsurpassed awakening for the sake of beings? The point where this question puts its strength lies in the two Chinese characters ‘benefit’—whenever one speaks of seeking, there must be something one does it for; whenever there is something one does it for, there must be something attained. The Buddha's answer does not argue with him over whether benefit exists or not; it straightaway reverses cause and effect: 「以一切法性無所有故，菩薩為眾生求阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "Because the nature of all dharmas is without anything existent, the bodhisattva seeks anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi for the sake of beings." Then he himself brings out the reason: those with something attained and something clung to find it hard to be liberated, and those who grasp at marks have no path, no fruit, no unsurpassed awakening. One must see the layers here clearly—the Buddha is not saying that within being without anything existent one can still, with effort, arouse the mind; he is saying that being without anything existent is precisely what makes arousing the mind possible. The reason beings flow on in the round is that they are bound by attaining and clinging; the reason the bodhisattva can rescue them is precisely that he holds no such rope in his hand.

2. Does the one without the mark of attaining have a path and a fruit? The answer: nothing to be attained is precisely the path, precisely the fruit, precisely awakening, because the nature of dharmas is indestructible. Subhūti, following the momentum, asks again: since those who grasp at marks have no path and no fruit, then do those without the mark of attaining have a path, a fruit, and unsurpassed awakening? What he asks is a paired sentence—if with marks there is none, then without marks is there some? The Buddha's answer does not fall within this pairing: 「無所得即是道、即是果、即是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，法性不壞故。」 tr. "Nothing to be attained is precisely the path, precisely the fruit, precisely anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, because the nature of dharmas is indestructible." The last four Chinese characters are the ground of the whole sentence and may not be skipped over: the reason the path and the fruit can stand within nothing to be attained is not that nothing to be attained conjures up something else besides, but that the nature of dharmas is so from the start and has never been destroyed. The Buddha then adds a sentence from the reverse side—if within the dharma of nothing to be attained one still wants to obtain the path and obtain the fruit, that is wanting to destroy the nature of dharmas. This sentence drags out the most hidden single thought of the practitioner: with the mouth saying nothing to be attained while in the mind still seeking to attain, that very act of seeking is precisely what goes against the nature of dharmas.

3. If nothing to be attained is precisely the path and the fruit, how are there the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground and the merits obtained as retribution? The answer: it is precisely because of the mark of nothing to be attained that they are obtained. Subhūti's third question is the longest, counting out one by one the whole establishment of the bodhisattva path: the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground, the dharma of the acceptance of non-arising, the supernormal powers obtained as retribution, the six perfections obtained as retribution, abiding in the dharmas of retribution to bring beings to accomplishment and purify buddha-lands, making offerings to the buddhas of clothing, food and drink, incense, flowers, necklaces, dwellings, bedding, lamps and candles, and all kinds of implements that sustain life, and so on up to the relics and the disciples still receiving offerings after parinirvāṇa, with the merit never cut off. The meaning of the question is: if this whole sequence has nothing attained, can it still stand? The Buddha's answer is still in that direction—precisely because dharmas are of the mark of nothing to be attained does he obtain the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground and the five supernormal powers and the six perfections obtained as retribution; and also, because of the causes and conditions of the roots of goodness, he can benefit beings, and so on up to the relics receiving offerings after nirvāṇa. In reading this passage one must keep ‘nothing to be attained’ apart from ‘there being nothing’: the sūtra text never says there are no ten grounds; it says only that the ten grounds are not something that gets attained.

4. If dharmas are of the mark of nothing to be attained, what difference is there among the six perfections and the supernormal powers? The answer: there is no difference; because beings cling, they are spoken of with distinctions. The fourth question turns to difference: if everything is nothing to be attained, is there still any distinction among giving, keeping morality, patience, vigour, meditation, wisdom, and the supernormal powers? The Buddha answers crisply—within the dharma of nothing to be attained there is no difference, and the reason they are spoken of with distinctions is that beings cling to giving and so on up to the supernormal powers. This answer must be guarded on both sides: on the one side, one may not, because of 「無有差別」 tr. "without difference," abandon the separate cultivation of the six perfections, for speaking with distinctions is itself something the Buddha has set up; on the other side, one may not either, because of the sorting into gates and categories, take the six perfections to be six separate, independent things. Difference lies on the side of speaking the Dharma, not on the side of the nature of dharmas.

5. How is there no difference? The answer: not finding giving, he practises giving, and so on up to not finding the dharmas of the buddhas, he obtains awakening; one who practises thus, Māra cannot destroy. Subhūti asks again how after all this 「無差別」 tr. "no difference" is to be spoken of. The Buddha's answer is a string of evenly built sentences: not finding giving, with giver and recipient both unfindable, he practises giving; not finding morality, he keeps morality; not finding patience, he practises patience; not finding vigour, he practises vigour; not finding dhyāna, he practises dhyāna; not finding wisdom, he practises wisdom; not finding the supernormal powers, he practises the supernormal powers; not finding the four foundations of mindfulness, he practises the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on up to: not finding the eightfold noble path, he practises the eightfold noble path; not finding the emptiness, signless, and non-action samādhi, he practises the emptiness, signless, and non-action samādhi; not finding beings, he brings beings to accomplishment; not finding buddha-lands, he purifies buddha-lands; not finding the dharmas of the buddhas, he obtains unsurpassed awakening. Every sentence is in one and the same pattern—what is practised is practised, and what is obtained is not found. At the end the Buddha adds a sentence of practical effect: when the bodhisattva practises the prajñā of nothing to be attained in this way, Māra or the gods of Māra cannot destroy him. One can see that this sentence is not only correct in principle but, still more, secure in the gate of practice: where there is nothing that can be attained, there is nothing that can be seized.

6. How, within a single thought, does he make complete the practice of the six perfections and so on up to the eighty minor marks? The answer: all his giving and so on up to the marks and minor signs are not far from prajñā. The proper topic of this chapter is raised from this question on. Subhūti lists in one breath all the items to be made complete: the six perfections, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eightfold noble path, the three gates of liberation, the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas, great kindness and great compassion, the thirty-two marks, and the eighty minor marks—what he asks is how so vast a heap can be made complete within a single thought. The Buddha's first layer of answer is only one sentence: all the bodhisattva's giving is not far from prajñāpāramitā; the keeping of morality, patience, vigour, and meditation that he cultivates are not far from prajñāpāramitā; and so on up to the four dhyānas, the four immeasurables, the four formless absorptions, and the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the marks and minor signs—all are not far from prajñāpāramitā. What he answers is not ‘how to squeeze it into a single thought’, but ‘by what it comes to be within a single thought’.

7. How, because of not being far from it, is it complete within a single thought? The answer: giving and so on up to the marks and minor signs are all of the mark of non-duality. Subhūti asks again: how does not being far from prajñā come to be complete within a single thought? The Buddha's answer gathers in one layer further—all giving is not far from prajñā and is 「不二相」 tr. "of the mark of non-duality"; when keeping morality it is also of the mark of non-duality; cultivating patience, being diligent in vigour, and entering meditation are also of the mark of non-duality; and so on up to the eighty minor marks, these too are of the mark of non-duality. The three Chinese characters for the mark of non-duality turn 「不遠離」 tr. "not being far from" from a word of relation into a word of essential nature: it is not that giving is here and prajñā is there and the two are close together; it is that, at the time of practice, giving and prajñā have from the start no two marks that could be divided.

8. What is the mark of non-duality? The answer: wishing to make dānapāramitā complete, within dāna are at once contained all the pāramitā and the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the marks and minor signs. He asks again how the mark of non-duality is to be spoken of. The Buddha answers: when the bodhisattva practises prajñā and wishes to make dānapāramitā complete, within dānapāramitā he has contained all the pāramitā as well as the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eighty minor marks. This answer brings the previous question down onto the perfection with which cultivation first begins—giving. The containing of all practices need not wait until the sixth perfection to be discussed; on the first perfection it is already complete. Here the practitioner can obtain a fixed measure: do not wait until the dharma-gates have all been cultivated before speaking of completeness; if within one gate there are no two marks, every gate is within it.

9. How, when giving, does he contain all the dharmas without outflows? The answer: abiding in the mind without outflows he gives, and does not see who gives, who receives, or what thing is given, and so on up to not seeing all the dharmas of the Buddha. Subhūti asks more concretely still: when giving, how after all are the dharmas without outflows contained in it? The Buddha answers: the bodhisattva abides in the mind without outflows and gives, and within the mind without outflows sees no marks—who is giving, who is receiving, what the thing given is; with this signless mind, this mind without outflows, cutting off craving, cutting off the mind of stinginess and greed, he practises giving, and at this time he does not see giving, and so on up to not seeing the dharma of unsurpassed awakening. Keeping morality, patience, vigour, meditation, wisdom, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the marks and minor signs—these too are all practised with the signless mind, the mind without outflows, without seeing their dharmas. This passage is where the four preceding questions land: what is called the mark of non-duality, what is called being complete within a single thought—their side in practice is just this one word, 「不見」 tr. "does not see." Cutting off craving and cutting off stinginess and greed is the side of being able to give up; not seeing the three things is the side of not grasping; only when the two sides are present at once is it giving within the mind without outflows.

10. If dharmas are signless and without making, how are the six perfections and so on up to the thirty-two marks and the eighty minor marks made complete? At this point Subhūti changes his angle and asks once in general: if dharmas are signless and without making, how after all does one make complete the six perfections, dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā? How does one make complete the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path? How does one make complete the emptiness, signless, and non-action samādhi and the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas, and great kindness and great compassion? How does one make complete the thirty-two marks and the eighty minor marks? The four preceding questions asked ‘how a single thought can be complete’; this question asks ‘how within the signless one can be complete’. The Buddha no longer answers with short phrases, but from here on unfolds the six perfections one by one; therefore this question is in fact the general outline of the latter half of the sūtra text.

11. The marks of dānapāramitā (first part): giving with the signless mind without outflows, giving away everything inner and outer, not regretting when people rebuke, dedicating and yet not seeing the mark of dedication. In answering about dānapāramitā, the Buddha first speaks of the breadth of what is given: to one who needs food he gives food, and so on up to all kinds of needs, all are given; whether inner or outer—whether dismembering his own body, or his realm, cities, wife, and children—all are given to beings. Next he speaks of holding firm when meeting adverse conditions: if someone comes and says 「何用是布施為？是無所益！」 tr. "What use is this giving? It is of no benefit!", the bodhisattva who practises prajñā then has the thought 「是人雖來訶我布施，我終不悔！我當勤行布施，不應不與。」 tr. "Though this person comes to rebuke my giving, I shall never regret it! I should practise giving diligently and should not fail to give." This section is well worth savouring—the sūtra text does not give the bodhisattva an argument in reply; it only gives him an unmoving mind. Next again he speaks of the dedication after giving: holding it in common with all beings he dedicates it to unsurpassed awakening, and moreover does not see these marks—who gives, who receives, what thing is given, who it is that dedicates, what the dharma of dedication is, what the place of dedication is. As for why he can not see them, the sūtra text itself brings out the reason: all dharmas are empty through inner emptiness, empty through outer emptiness, empty through inner-and-outer emptiness, empty through the emptiness of emptiness, through the emptiness of the conditioned, through the emptiness of the unconditioned, through ultimate emptiness, through beginningless emptiness, through the emptiness of dispersal, through the emptiness of nature, through the emptiness of all dharmas, and empty through the emptiness of specific marks. This string of gates of emptiness says, one by one: body and mind, turning inward, are without self-nature; the receptacle world, turning outward, is without self-nature; contemplating inner and outer together, there is also no self-nature; the emptiness that empties may not be clung to either; made dharmas are without self-nature; unmade dharmas too are without self-nature; pushed to the ultimate, there is no self-nature; pushed back to its beginning, it is unfindable; dharmas that gather together scatter and have nothing real; their nature is so from the start; all dharmas, without exception; and so on up to each one's specific mark being unfindable too. Having contemplated thus, the bodhisattva has the thought 「迴向者誰？迴向何處？用何法迴向？」 tr. "Who is it that dedicates? Where is it dedicated? By what dharma is it dedicated?"—and the sūtra text says that only this is called right dedication.

12. The marks of dānapāramitā (last part): bringing beings to accomplishment and purifying buddha-lands, making all dharmas complete and yet not receiving worldly retribution, delivering beings by the three vehicles. The Buddha continues: at that time the bodhisattva can bring beings to accomplishment and purify buddha-lands, and can make complete the six perfections, dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā, and so on up to the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, the emptiness, signless, and non-action samādhi, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. That all dharmas are made complete within one perfection is precisely what this chapter's title points to. Next he speaks of the mark of the fruit: this bodhisattva can thus make dānapāramitā complete and yet does not receive worldly retribution—just as the gods Sovereign over Others' Transformations obtain at once whatever they need at will, so too the bodhisattva: whatever vow arises in his mind, he obtains at will. This simile may not be read as a promise of rewards of merit; the sūtra text at once goes on to make clear the use of this retribution: because of the retribution of this giving he can make offerings to the buddhas, and can also satisfy all beings, gods, humans, and asuras; he gathers in beings by dānapāramitā, and with the power of skilful means delivers beings by the dharma of the three vehicles. One can see that the fruit obtained is turned back entirely into gathering in beings; therefore, though there is the mark of retribution, it is said that he 「不受世間果報」 tr. "does not receive worldly retribution."

13. The marks of śīlapāramitā (first part): keeping all kinds of morality and yet taking nothing at all, only holding it in common with beings and dedicating it. From here on, the Buddha, without waiting for Subhūti to ask, directly sets up the next topic and answers it himself: how does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva make śīlapāramitā complete within dharmas that are signless, without attaining, and without making? Of the morality he keeps, the sūtra text lists five kinds—the noble morality without outflows that enters the eightfold noble path, natural morality, morality obtained as retribution, morality obtained by receiving, and morality born of the mind. The sūtra text only lists these five names as headings; this treatise does not gloss them item by item in this chapter, and the ancient masters do not explain them separately for this chapter either; therefore here the names are only listed according to the sūtra, and no analysis is supplied on their behalf. It also marks out its virtues in general as not deficient, not broken, not mixed, not turbid, and not clinging, together with sovereign morality and morality praised by the wise. Keeping this morality, he 「無所取」 tr. "takes nothing," and what he does not take the sūtra text counts out one by one: form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness; the thirty-two marks and the eighty minor marks; the great clans of the kṣatriyas, the great clans of the brahmins, and the great families of the householders; and the heavens from the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; and the fruit of the srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of the arhat and the pratyekabuddha path; and the wheel-turning sage king and the heavenly kings. The crucial point is this: what he does not take is not only the rewards of merit of humans and gods; even the four fruits and the pratyekabuddha path are among them. Keeping morality and not taking the noble fruits—this is śīla within the signless, without attaining, and without making. At the end it says that only in order to hold it in common with all beings does he dedicate it to unsurpassed awakening, dedicating it as signless, without attaining, and without duality—and it marks this itself as 「為世俗法故，非第一實義」 tr. "for the sake of worldly dharmas, not the foremost real meaning," telling the reader plainly that the talk of dedication is something set up in accord with worldly truth.

14. The marks of śīlapāramitā (last part): by the power of skilful means he gives rise to the four dhyānas and obtains the five supernormal powers, and each of the five supernormal powers has its use. The Buddha continues: this bodhisattva makes śīlapāramitā complete, by the power of skilful means gives rise to the four dhyānas and does not savour and cling to them, and therefore obtains the five supernormal powers. Because of the four dhyānas he obtains the divine eye, and abides in two kinds of divine eye, that obtained by cultivation and that obtained as retribution; having obtained the divine eye, he sees the buddhas present in the ten directions, and so on up to obtaining unsurpassed awakening, and what he has seen is not lost. With the pure divine ear that surpasses the human ear, he hears the buddhas of the ten directions speak the Dharma, and what he has heard is not lost; he can enrich himself and also benefit others. With the knowledge of others' minds, he knows the minds of the buddhas of the ten directions and the minds of all beings, and can also enrich all beings. With the knowledge of former lives, he knows the causes and conditions of past deeds; because these causes and conditions of deeds are not lost, he knows fully where beings are born, in place after place. With the knowledge of the exhaustion of outflows, he causes beings to obtain the fruit of the srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of the arhat and the pratyekabuddha path, and in place after place can cause beings to enter into wholesome dharmas. In this section two things must be seen: first, the obtaining of the five supernormal powers has its source in morality and not in seeking them separately, and so it is spoken of under śīlapāramitā; second, the uses of the five supernormal powers each fall, one by one, on 「饒益」 tr. "enriching" and 「令眾生得」 tr. "causing beings to obtain," and not one of them is for his own enjoyment.

15. The marks of kṣāntipāramitā (first part): the two kinds of acceptance, and contemplating the real nature of dharmas. Subhūti asks: dharmas being signless, without making, and without attaining, how can the bodhisattva make kṣāntipāramitā complete? The Buddha's answer first marks out the length of its span of time: from the first arousing of intent up to sitting at the seat of awakening, if in the interval all beings assail him with tiles and stones, knives and staves, the bodhisattva does not give rise to a mind of hatred, not even to a single thought. Next he sets up two kinds of acceptance: first, when all beings revile and abuse him with evil speech or assail him with knives and staves, tiles and stones, the mind of hatred does not arise; second, all dharmas are unarisen: the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The former is acceptance toward people, the latter acceptance toward dharmas; lacking the former, the acceptance of dharmas becomes empty talk; lacking the latter, acceptance toward people will in the end run dry. Next he shows the method by which one can accept: the bodhisattva should reflect thus, 「罵我者誰？譏訶者誰？打擲者誰？誰有受者？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who ridicules and rebukes? Who strikes and throws? Who is there that receives?", and at once reflect on the real nature of dharmas, namely ultimate emptiness, with no dharmas and no beings; dharmas themselves are unfindable, how much less are there beings. When he contemplates the marks of dharmas thus, he does not see the one who reviles, does not see the one who cuts and severs, and at once obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The sūtra text further explains for itself what is called the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas: knowing that the marks of dharmas are constantly unarisen, and that the afflictions too, from the very beginning, are constantly unarisen. This explanation most needs to be remembered—the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is not holding down something that has arisen; it is seeing clearly that it was never arisen from the start.

16. The marks of kṣāntipāramitā (last part): because he abides in the two kinds of acceptance, he makes complete all dharmas and the noble supernormal powers, and finally obtains the omniscience of all kinds and turns the wheel of the Dharma. The Buddha continues: the bodhisattva, abiding in these two kinds of acceptance, can make complete the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path, the three gates of liberation, the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas, and great kindness and great compassion; abiding in these noble, world-transcending dharmas without outflows, not shared with any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha, he makes complete the noble supernormal powers. Their uses too lie one by one in benefiting others: with the divine eye he sees the buddhas of the eastern direction and obtains the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha, and so on up to unsurpassed awakening, never cut off, and so in all ten directions; with the divine ear he hears the Dharma spoken by the buddhas of the ten directions and, as he has heard it, speaks it for beings; he knows the minds of the buddhas of the ten directions and the thoughts of all beings, and speaks the Dharma according to their minds; with the knowledge of former lives he knows the roots of goodness of beings in former lives, and speaks the Dharma for them, causing them to rejoice; with the supernormal power of the exhaustion of outflows he teaches and transforms beings, causing them to obtain the three vehicles. At the end it concludes: practising prajñā, with the power of skilful means he brings beings to accomplishment, makes complete the omniscience of all kinds, obtains unsurpassed awakening, and turns the wheel of the Dharma. What is obtained in the earlier passage on śīla is the five supernormal powers; what is obtained in this passage through the two kinds of acceptance is called the noble supernormal powers; the difference lies in the phrase 「不共一切聲聞、辟支佛」 tr. "not shared with any śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha"—do not confuse them in reading.

17. The bodily vigour of vīryapāramitā. Subhūti asks how, within the signless, without making, and without attaining, vīryapāramitā is made complete. The Buddha's answer first divides vigour into the two, bodily and mental, and speaks first of the bodily: when the bodhisattva practises prajñā he accomplishes bodily vigour and mental vigour, enters the first dhyāna and so on up to the fourth dhyāna, and receives all kinds of power of the supernormal powers: he can divide one body into many bodies, and so on up to stroking the sun and moon with his hand; because he accomplishes bodily vigour, he flies to the eastern direction, passes through immeasurable hundreds of thousands of myriads of buddha-worlds, and makes offerings to the buddhas of food and drink, clothing, medicine, bedding, flowers, incense, necklaces, and all kinds of needs, and so on up to obtaining unsurpassed awakening, and the retribution of the merit can never be exhausted. When he obtains awakening, the gods and humans of all the world diligently prepare offerings, and so on up to: after he enters nirvāṇa without remainder, the relics and the disciples receive offerings. Also because of this power of the supernormal powers he goes to where the buddhas are and hears and receives the teaching of the Dharma, and so on up to unsurpassed awakening, never failing in it; when he cultivates the omniscience of all kinds, he purifies buddha-worlds and brings beings to accomplishment. That bodily vigour is not running about in vain lies wholly in this: the place it goes to is where the buddhas are, and the work it does is making offerings and hearing the Dharma.

18. The mental vigour of vīryapāramitā. The Buddha continues and himself sets up the next topic: how does the bodhisattva accomplish mental vigour and make vīryapāramitā complete? He answers that the bodhisattva's mental vigour is noble and without outflows, the vigour that enters the eightfold noble path, and does not let the unwholesome of bodily deeds and verbal deeds enter. Its positive mark is a long string of 「不取」 tr. "not grasping": he does not grasp at the marks of dharmas—whether permanent or impermanent, whether suffering or pleasure, whether self or non-self, whether conditioned or unconditioned, whether the three realms, whether the nature with outflows or without outflows, whether the four dhyānas, whether kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, whether the four formless spheres, whether the thirty-seven limbs of the path, whether emptiness, the signless, and non-action, whether the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; he does not grasp at the marks of the fruits realised—whether the four fruits of the śramaṇa, whether the pratyekabuddha path, whether the bodhisattva path, whether unsurpassed awakening—nor does he grasp at the persons who realise them, whether a srota-āpanna and so on up to this being a bodhisattva, this being a Buddha; he does not grasp at the marks of cutting off the fetters—this being, because he cuts off the three fetters, obtains srota-āpanna; because the three poisons are thin, obtains sakṛdāgāmin; because he cuts off the lower fetters, obtains anāgāmin; because he cuts off the higher fetters, obtains arhatship; by the pratyekabuddha path becomes a pratyekabuddha; because he practises the knowledge of the kinds of paths, is named a bodhisattva. At the end one sentence gathers up why it is so: 「不可以性取相，是性無故。」 tr. "One may not grasp at a mark by nature, because this nature does not exist." That mental vigour is vigour lies precisely here—it is not the mind being strung tighter; it is that within the mind no mark can be grasped and held. At the end it says that because of this mental vigour he broadly benefits beings and yet does not find these beings either: this is making vīryapāramitā complete; making complete the dharmas of the buddhas, purifying buddha-lands, and bringing beings to accomplishment are all because of unfindability.

19. Because bodily and mental vigour are accomplished, he gathers in all wholesome dharmas and yet does not cling, and benefits beings by supernormal powers at will. The Buddha continues with the general mark after the two kinds of vigour, bodily and mental, are accomplished: he gathers in all wholesome dharmas and yet does not cling to these dharmas either, and therefore he can go from one buddha-land to another buddha-land, and the supernormal powers he performs for the sake of benefiting beings are unobstructed at will—whether raining down flowers, or raining down fine incenses, or making music, or shaking the great earth, or emitting light, or showing lands adorned with the seven jewels, or manifesting all kinds of bodies, or emitting the light of great knowledge, causing beings to know the noble path and causing them to be far from killing and so on up to wrong views; or he benefits beings by giving, or by keeping morality, or by dismembering his body, or by wife and children, or by his realm, or by giving his own body, benefiting beings according to whatever means are fitting. This passage places the uses of the supernormal powers and the practice of giving up the body side by side in one place, which shows precisely that the meaning of vigour lies not in being hard and fierce, but in there being nothing that cannot be given up and nothing that cannot be done.

20. The marks of dhyānapāramitā (first part): except for the dhyānas of the buddhas, all the other dhyānas and samādhi he can make complete. Subhūti asks how, abiding within dharmas that are signless, without making, and without attaining, dhyānapāramitā is made complete. The Buddha's answer first makes a distinction: except for the dhyānas and absorptions of the buddhas, all the other dhyānas and samādhi he can make complete. This distinction is very important—what is complete on the bodhisattva's ground is already extremely broad, and yet the dhyānas of the Buddha are still set apart outside it; one can know that the 「具足」 tr. "making complete" spoken of in this chapter is said with regard to the bodhisattva's position, and does not mean that the bodhisattva and the Buddha are without difference. What is made complete is listed in sequence: parting from all desires and all evil and unwholesome dharmas, with joy and bliss born of separation, with initial and sustained thought, he enters the first dhyāna, and so on up to entering the fourth dhyāna; with the mind of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity he pervades one direction and so on up to the ten directions; passing beyond all marks of form, extinguishing the marks of resistance, and because he does not think of the marks of difference, he enters the sphere of boundless space and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; abiding in dhyānapāramitā, in reverse and forward order he enters the eight liberations and the nine successive absorptions, enters the emptiness samādhi, the signless samādhi, and the non-action samādhi, at times enters the like-lightning samādhi, at times enters the noble right samādhi, at times enters the like-vajra samādhi.

21. The marks of dhyānapāramitā (last part): cultivating the dharmas that aid the path, he passes beyond the grounds and enters the bodhisattva's position, obtains dhāraṇī and the supernormal powers obtained as retribution, and sees dharmas as like an illusion and yet benefits beings. The Buddha continues: abiding in dhyānapāramitā, he cultivates the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, with the knowledge of the kinds of paths enters all dhyānas and absorptions, passes beyond the ground of dry wisdom, the ground of the stage of nature, the ground of the person of the eight, the ground of seeing, the ground of thinning, the ground of freedom from desire, the ground of what has been done, and the pratyekabuddha ground, and enters the bodhisattva's position; having entered the bodhisattva's position, he makes complete the Buddha ground; practising within these grounds, and so on up to unsurpassed awakening, he does not take the fruit of the path midway. Next it speaks of where he practises and of benefiting others: from one buddha-land to another buddha-land he makes offerings to the buddhas, plants all roots of goodness, purifies buddha-lands, and benefits beings; by giving, keeping morality, samādhi, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation he gathers in beings; he teaches beings, causing them to obtain the four fruits of the śramaṇa and the pratyekabuddha path; all the wholesome dharmas that can cause beings to obtain the path, he teaches them and causes them to obtain. Next it speaks of what he obtains: he can give rise to all the dhāraṇī gates, and obtains the four unobstructed knowledges and the supernormal powers obtained as retribution; he never enters a woman's womb, never receives the five desires, is without birth and is not born either; though he has birth, he is not defiled by the dharma of birth. As for why it is so, the sūtra text itself brings it out—he sees all made dharmas as like an illusion and yet benefits beings, and also does not find beings or any dharma, and teaches beings, causing them to obtain the place of nothing to be attained; and it marks this itself as 「世俗法故，非第一實義」 tr. "for the sake of worldly dharmas, not the foremost real meaning." At the end it says that, abiding in this dhyānapāramitā, all dhyānas, absorptions, liberations, and samādhi, and so on up to unsurpassed awakening, never part from dhyānapāramitā; when he practises such knowledge of the kinds of paths, he obtains the omniscience of all kinds, cuts off all the afflictions and their habitual residues, benefits himself and benefits others, and becomes a field of merit for the gods, humans, and asuras of all the world.

22. The marks of prajñāpāramitā: not seeing a fixed and real mark, practising inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, he makes the bodhisattva path complete. Subhūti asks how, abiding within dharmas that are signless, without making, and without attaining, one cultivates and makes prajñāpāramitā complete. The Buddha answers: when the bodhisattva practises prajñā, he does not see in dharmas a fixed and real mark—he sees form as not fixed and not a real mark, and so on up to seeing consciousness as not fixed and not a real mark; he does not see form arise, and so on up to not seeing consciousness arise; since he does not see arising, then of all dharmas, whether with outflows or without outflows, he does not see a place of coming, does not see a place of going, and also does not see a place of gathering. When he contemplates thus, he does not find the nature of form and so on up to the nature of consciousness, and also does not find the nature of dharmas with outflows and without outflows. Next it speaks of his faith and understanding: he has faith in and understands that all dharmas are of the mark of being without anything existent; having had faith and understanding thus, he practises inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, and clings to nothing in dharmas—whether form, or feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to unsurpassed awakening. At the end it concludes: the bodhisattva practises the prajñāpāramitā that is without anything existent and can make complete the bodhisattva path, namely the six perfections and so on up to the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, the ten powers of the Buddha, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas, the thirty-two marks, and the eighty minor marks. What is said of the first five perfections is in every case ‘practising and yet not finding’; here at prajñā it says directly 「不見」 tr. "does not see" and 「不得」 tr. "does not find"; therefore prajñā is that by which the first five perfections are able not to find.

23. Abiding in the pure Buddha path of emptiness, he teaches and transforms as is appropriate, manifests supernormal powers and delivers the multitudes, and by the six perfections and the five supernormal powers obtained as retribution accomplishes all merits. The Buddha continues with the mark of benefiting beings of one who practises prajñā: abiding in the pure Buddha path of emptiness—namely the six perfections, the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, and the supernormal powers obtained as retribution—with these dharmas he enriches beings: those suited to be gathered in by giving, he teaches to give; those suited to be gathered in by morality, he teaches to keep morality; those suited to be gathered in by meditation, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation, he teaches to cultivate them; those suited to be taught by the dharmas of the paths, he teaches to obtain the four fruits of the śramaṇa and the pratyekabuddha path; those suited to be transformed by the Buddha path, he teaches to obtain the bodhisattva path and make the Buddha path complete—like this, according to the ground of the path appropriate to each, he teaches and transforms them, causing each to obtain its place. Next it says that when he manifests all kinds of power of the supernormal powers, he passes beyond lands as immeasurable as the sands of the Ganges and delivers beings, and according to what they need, conjures it all and gives it, causing each to be satisfied; from one land to another land, he sees pure and wondrous lands and uses them to adorn his own buddha-land. Next, with two similes, it makes clear that he lacks nothing to sustain life: as in the heaven of the gods Sovereign over Others' Transformations the goods needed to sustain life come of themselves at will, and also as the pure buddha-lands are parted from seeking and desire. At the end it says that with these six perfections obtained as retribution and the five supernormal powers obtained as retribution, he practises the bodhisattva's knowledge of the kinds of paths, accomplishes all merits, and will obtain unsurpassed awakening. What is most worth observing in this passage is the phrase 「隨其所應道地」 tr. "according to the ground of the path appropriate to each"—within emptiness there is no fixed mark, so teaching and transforming have no fixed method either.

24. Because he receives no dharma, when he obtains awakening the land and the goods that sustain life all have no owner. The sūtra section concludes with this. The Buddha says that this bodhisattva at that time does not receive form and so on up to consciousness, does not receive any dharma—whether wholesome or unwholesome, whether worldly or world-transcending, whether with outflows or without outflows, whether conditioned or unconditioned; all dharmas like this he does not receive; when he obtains unsurpassed awakening, all the goods that sustain life in his land have no owner. As for why it is so, the sūtra text itself brings it out: this bodhisattva practises all dharmas without receiving, because they are unfindable. The three Chinese characters 「無有主」 tr. "have no owner" are where the whole sūtra section of the chapter comes to rest—before this it spoke of such broad practices and retributions, and at the very end it says that even the land and the goods that sustain life have no one who owns them. All practices complete and not one thing belonging to me—only this is the root meaning of 「一心具萬行」 tr. "one mind complete with all practices."

25. The treatise-author's first question and answer: both questioner and answerer say without anything existent; how can one tell who asks and who answers? At the very start of the treatise section a question is set up, asked very finely: the one who asks and the one who answers both say 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent" with their mouths; how can one distinguish which sentence is the question and which the answer? The treatise-author answers: 「所言法雖一而心異」 tr. "though the dharma spoken is one, the minds are different"—the one who asks asks with a clinging mind, the one who answers answers with a mind without clinging. This answer is the key to reading this chapter, and indeed to reading all the chapters on prajñā. The same three Chinese characters, coming from a clinging mind, are an objection; coming from a mind without clinging, they are an answer; in the wording there is no distinction—the distinction lies wholly in the mind that speaks. When the practitioner reads the sūtra up to here, he should turn the light back on himself: when he recites 「無所得」 tr. "nothing to be attained," which kind of mind is it?

26. Subhūti's meaning and why he asks. The treatise-author continues to explain: Subhūti's meaning is that within being without anything existent one should not arouse the mind; yet he asks this only for the sake of the clinging minds of those listening to the Dharma. Within the emptiness of dharmas one does not see a bodhisattva who arouses the mind, does not see beings who can be benefited, does not see unsurpassed awakening; therefore within the dharma of being without anything existent he raises the objection—「若一切法無所有性，菩薩見何利故發心？」 tr. "If all dharmas are of the nature of being without anything existent, what benefit does the bodhisattva see, that he arouses the mind?" The treatise-author at once makes a distinction in a most important sentence: Subhūti has no doubt about the three things, the bodhisattva, beings, and unsurpassed awakening; he only asks about the dharma of being without anything existent. This distinction guards against a misreading—one may not regard Subhūti as someone who has given rise to doubt about the Buddha path; he is asking the words out on behalf of the listeners with clinging minds.

27. Taking up the Buddha's answer and explaining it: it is precisely because of being without anything existent and empty that one can arouse the mind. The treatise-author cites the Buddha's answer, 「正以無所有、空故能發心」 tr. "it is precisely because of being without anything existent, because of emptiness, that one can arouse the mind," and at once sets out its reason: if it is without anything existent and empty, then the bodhisattva, beings, and unsurpassed awakening are likewise all empty and without anything existent; from where could this objection arise? Only if beings, the bodhisattva, and unsurpassed awakening were parted from being without anything existent and empty could there be this objection. He also cites what was said earlier, 「畢竟空於諸法無所障礙，何妨發心？」 tr. "Ultimate emptiness is without obstruction toward all dharmas; what hinders arousing the mind?", as proof. At the end the treatise-author lays bare the Buddha's method in one sentence—the Buddha still uses being without anything existent and emptiness to break what Subhūti asked. One must take note: what is broken is not Subhūti the person; it is the view hidden within that question, ‘emptiness can obstruct existence’.

28. He himself states the causes and conditions: those with a clinging mind find it hard to obtain liberation. The treatise-author cites the causes and conditions the Buddha himself states, 「須菩提！著心者難得解脫」 tr. "Subhūti! Those with a clinging mind find it hard to obtain liberation," and explains them at length: this person, from beginningless birth and death, because of all the afflictions, deeply clings to dharmas—hearing of existence he clings, hearing of emptiness he clings, to gain and loss he clings; such beings are hard to bring out by effort. Therefore the bodhisattva arouses the mind of the unsurpassed path, adorns his own body with the marks and minor signs, obtains the Brahmā voice, has great majestic virtue, knows the root of beings' minds in the three times, and by all kinds of power of the supernormal powers, causes and conditions, and similes, speaks for them the dharma of being without anything existent and the gate of liberation of emptiness, guiding their minds; when beings see such rare things, their minds at once become soft, and they have faith in the Buddha and receive the Dharma. At the end he cites the sūtra text, 「著有者難得解脫；有所得者，無道、無果、無阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "Those who cling to existence find it hard to obtain liberation; those with something to be attained have no path, no fruit, no anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi," as the conclusion. This passage gives where the intent of the first half of this chapter lies—the meaning of emptiness is not for cancelling the gate of practice; it is precisely for loosening that 「著」 tr. "clinging."

29. Taking up Subhūti's question and the Buddha's answer: being without anything existent is precisely the path, the fruit, and awakening. The treatise-author takes up the sūtra phrase by phrase: Subhūti asks, 「世尊！若有所得者，無道、無果、無阿耨多羅三藐三菩提；無所得者有道、有果不？」 tr. "World-Honored One! If those with something to be attained have no path, no fruit, no anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, do those with nothing to be attained have a path and a fruit, or not?" The Buddha answers, 「無所有即是道、即是果、即是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "Being without anything existent is precisely the path, precisely the fruit, precisely anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." These two sentences are the hinge by which the treatise-author carries on from what precedes and opens what follows; he takes them up without explaining them, and the explanation is in the next passage. In reading the treatise up to here one must keep the layers distinct: the words cited in the treatise come from the sūtra, and the treatise-author's own words lie outside the citations; the two may not be lumped together.

30. Explaining the principle that nothing to be attained is precisely the path and the fruit, and explaining that the nature of dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas. The treatise-author explains: if a person does not discriminate this as something to be attained and that as nothing to be attained, and enters the real mark of all dharmas, ultimate emptiness, this too is nothing to be attained, and is precisely the path, precisely the fruit, precisely unsurpassed awakening, because he does not destroy the real mark of all dharmas. At the end he adds a gloss—「法性即是諸法實相」 tr. "the nature of dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas." This sentence is extremely important: the sūtra text says 「法性不壞故」 tr. "because the nature of dharmas is indestructible"; if one does not know that the nature of dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas, one will imagine the nature of dharmas as a substance existing separately. The treatise-author points it out in a word, so that the 「不壞法性」 tr. "not destroying the nature of dharmas" in the sūtra and the 「不破壞諸法實相」 tr. "not destroying the real mark of all dharmas" in the treatise become one and the same matter.

31. Subhūti's doubt and the Buddha's answer: though the nature of dharmas cannot be destroyed, because of beings' wrong practice it is named destroyed. The treatise-author goes on to bring out Subhūti's meaning: the nature of dharmas, whether under right practice or wrong practice, can never be destroyed; why then does the Buddha say 「不壞法性是道、是果」 tr. "not destroying the nature of dharmas is the path, is the fruit"—since from the start it cannot be destroyed, is saying 「不壞」 tr. "not destroying" not superfluous? The Buddha answers, 「法性雖不可破壞，眾生邪行故名為破壞」 tr. "though the nature of dharmas cannot be destroyed, because of beings' wrong practice it is named destroyed," and the treatise-author makes it clear by a simile: as with space, though clouds, mist, earth, and dust cannot stain it, it is also called impure; as when a person really wishes to defile space, this person wishes to defile the nature of dharmas, and there is no such thing. The measure of this simile must be seen accurately—clouds and mist cannot really stain space, and yet people still say the sky is impure; likewise, wrong practice cannot really destroy the nature of dharmas, and yet the sūtra still speaks of destroying the nature of dharmas. The 「壞」 tr. "destroying" that is spoken of lies on the side of the practitioner, not on the side of the nature of dharmas.

32. The Buddha speaks a simile: one who wishes to destroy the nature of dharmas is precisely one who wishes, within the dharma of being without anything existent, to obtain the path and obtain the fruit. The treatise-author takes up the simile the Buddha speaks: 「若人欲壞法性，是人為欲於無所有法中得道、得果、得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "If a person wishes to destroy the nature of dharmas, this person is one who wishes, within the dharma of being without anything existent, to obtain the path, to obtain the fruit, to obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." This sentence brings the simile of the passage above back onto the gate of practice: what is called destroying the nature of dharmas is not some other kind of person going off to ruin something; it is precisely that mind which, within the dharma of nothing to be attained, still wants to take hold of the path and the fruit. If the reader feels that the three Chinese characters 「壞法性」 tr. "destroying the nature of dharmas" are too heavy, he can look back at this sentence—what it points to is in fact the most common single thought.

33. Taking up Subhūti's renewed question about the ten grounds and the other dharmas of the bodhisattva. The treatise-author takes up the sūtra: Subhūti said to the Buddha, 「若無所有即是道，云何有十地等諸菩薩法？」 tr. "If being without anything existent is precisely the path, how are there the ten grounds and the other dharmas of the bodhisattva?", and he notes with the four Chinese characters 「如經廣說」 tr. "as is said at length in the sūtra" that the full content of this question is already present in the sūtra section and is not restated in the treatise. This stroke is a set practice of this treatise—where the sūtra text is already complete, the treatise-author does not copy it out again, but takes only its essentials to connect with what follows.

34. The treatise-author's second question and answer: since the Buddha has already answered, why ask again? The answer: because bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind cling to the dharma that has been broken. The treatise-author himself sets up the second round of question and answer. Question: The Buddha has already answered this matter before, namely 「若法空，菩薩見何事故發心？」 tr. "If dharmas are empty, what does the bodhisattva see, that he arouses the mind?" Now it is said, 「若法空，云何有初地等？」 tr. "If dharmas are empty, how is there the first ground and the rest?" The Buddha answered each with emptiness; why does Subhūti now ask again? Answer: He asks again because beings' clinging minds are hard to loosen—in this assembly there are bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind; hearing this real mark of all dharmas, emptiness, they at once give rise to a clinging mind; the Buddha breaks their clinging, and they in turn cling to the dharma that has been broken; Subhūti asks again for the sake of such people. The five Chinese characters 「亦著所破法」 tr. "in turn cling to the dharma that has been broken" most need to be savoured: breaking existence, one clings to emptiness; breaking emptiness, one clings to ‘breaking emptiness’; the places of clinging turn over and over without end. The reason one and the same question has to be asked twice is not that the Buddha answered unclearly; it is that the listeners' place of clinging has changed position.

35. Taking up the Buddha's answer: because of nothing to be attained there is the first ground, and so on up to the relics receiving offerings. The treatise-author takes up the Buddha's answer, 「以無所得故有初地，乃至般涅槃後舍利得供養」 tr. "because of nothing to be attained there is the first ground, and so on up to: after parinirvāṇa the relics receive offerings," and adds a judgement of his own: within something clung to, one may not speak of the first ground and the merits. This judgement makes the meaning of the sūtra still more thorough—the reason the sequence and its merits can be spoken of is exactly that they are not something attained; within something clung to, these names on the contrary cannot stand.

36. Explaining that, because the six perfections and the supernormal powers are without difference, one should not raise an objection. The treatise-author continues to explain: also because of the causes and conditions of nothing to be attained, from giving up to the supernormal powers there is no difference; because there is no difference, one should not raise an objection. Here the three Chinese characters 「不應難」 tr. "one should not raise an objection" are the gathering-up of the earlier question—since difference does not exist, the question 「有何差別」 tr. "what difference is there" itself comes to nothing.

37. Taking up Subhūti's renewed question and the Buddha's answer: resembling the mark of quiescence of awakening, giving is ultimately empty, and Māra cannot destroy it. The treatise-author takes up the sūtra: Subhūti asks again, 「云何無所得布施乃至諸神通無有差別？」 tr. "How is it that, with nothing to be attained, giving and so on up to the supernormal powers are without difference?" The Buddha answers, 「菩薩從初發心已來，似阿耨多羅三藐三菩提寂滅相，布施畢竟空，所謂不得施者、受者、財物而行布施，如是布施中無有分別；乃至不得菩提而得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦如是。是名菩薩行無所得般若波羅蜜。行是無所得般若波羅蜜，魔、若魔天不能破壞。」 tr. "From the first arousing of the mind onward, the bodhisattva, resembling the mark of quiescence of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, gives, and his giving is ultimately empty: namely, not finding giver, recipient, or goods, he practises giving, and within such giving there is no discrimination; and so on up to: not finding awakening, he obtains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi—it is likewise. This is named the bodhisattva practising the prajñāpāramitā of nothing to be attained. One who practises this prajñāpāramitā of nothing to be attained, Māra and the gods of Māra cannot destroy." The Chinese character 「似」 tr. "resembling" is the eye of this passage: the mark of what the bodhisattva practises at the time of first arousing the mind already resembles the mark of quiescence of the unsurpassed awakening toward which he goes; therefore within the cause the mark of the fruit is already contained, and only this is the real meaning of 「無有差別」 tr. "without difference."

38. The treatise-author sets up a sub-heading: one who practises the six perfections within a single thought. Here the treatise-author sets up a one-sentence sub-heading—「一念中行六波羅蜜者」 tr. "one who practises the six perfections within a single thought." When this treatise explains the sūtra, wherever a single phrase is marked out alone at the head of a passage, it is telling the reader the scope of what is explained below. The three questions after this heading all arise around this chapter's title; therefore, though this sentence is short, it is the watershed of the latter half of the whole treatise section.

39. The treatise-author's third question and answer: why Subhūti asks about practising the six perfections within a single thought. Question: Why does Subhūti ask about 「一念中行六波羅蜜等諸功德」 tr. "practising the six perfections and the other merits within a single thought"? Answer: Subhūti has heard from the Buddha that prajñāpāramitā is of the very deep mark of being without anything existent, and is the unobstructed mark among dharmas; if so, there is nothing it cannot do and no matter it does not do; then how can the bodhisattva within a single thought contain the six perfections and so on up to the eighty minor marks? The treatise-author also himself brings out the source of there being this question: at the time of first arousing the mind, because the mind clinging to existence and non-existence is heavy, he practises little by little in sequence; now existence and non-existence are both given up, so there is nothing he cannot do; therefore he asks. This answer states the root of ‘being complete within a single thought’ with great clarity—it is not that the practitioner squeezes the six perfections into an instant; it is that once the twofold obstruction in the mind, clinging to existence and clinging to non-existence, has been entirely given up, practice can do anything. That one practises in sequence is not because the dharma has a sequence; it is because the mind has obstruction.

40. Taking up the Buddha's answer: because he does not part from prajñā, he can practise within a single thought; if far from it, then little by little in sequence. The treatise-author takes up the Buddha's answer, 「菩薩不離般若波羅蜜行布施等諸功德，無障礙故，能一念中行」 tr. "The bodhisattva, not parting from prajñāpāramitā, practises giving and the other merits; because he is without obstruction, he can practise them within a single thought," and himself adds a sentence from the reverse side: if he is far from prajñāpāramitā, then he practises little by little in sequence. Only when the positive and the reverse are brought out together does one see that the three Chinese characters 「不遠離」 tr. "not being far from" are the crux and not empty words.

41. Taking up the question and answer: what is named not being far from it? The answer: not practising giving and the rest by way of two marks. The treatise-author takes up Subhūti's question, 「云何名不遠離？」 tr. "What is named not being far from it?", and the Buddha's answer, 「菩薩不以二相行布施等。」 tr. "The bodhisattva does not practise giving and the rest by way of two marks." This one question and one answer are already in the sūtra section; the reason the treatise-author takes them up again is that he wants to attach the later 「何等是一念」 tr. "What is a single thought?" to this line.

42. Taking up the question and answer: what is it not to be by way of two marks? The answer: within a single thought of giving he contains all wholesome dharmas. The treatise-author takes up the further question, 「云何不以二相？」 tr. "What is it not to be by way of two marks?", and the Buddha's answer, 「菩薩行般若波羅蜜時，欲具足檀波羅蜜，於布施一念中攝一切善法。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā and wishes to make dānapāramitā complete, within a single thought of giving he contains all wholesome dharmas." At the end he appends the three Chinese characters 「如先說」 tr. "as was said before," pointing out that it is already present in the preceding chapter and is not explained again.

43. The treatise-author himself explains what a single thought is. This is the most important self-explanation of the treatise section. The treatise-author asks 「何等是一念」 tr. "What is a single thought?", and himself answers: namely, the bodhisattva obtains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, cuts off all the afflictions, removes all recollection, imagining, and discrimination, rests securely within the mind without outflows, and gives all. Next he explains the substance of the mind without outflows—「無漏心是無相相」 tr. "the mind without outflows is the mark of the signless." Next he speaks of its practising marks: the bodhisattva, abiding in this mind, does not see who gives, who receives, whose thing it is, and gives with a mind parted from all marks; he does not see a single dharma—even unsurpassed awakening he does not see, how much less the other dharmas; this is called the mark of non-duality; and so on up to the eighty minor marks, it is likewise. This passage gives a definition of the 「一念」 tr. "single thought" of this chapter's title—it is not an instant in time; it is that mind without outflows and signless, after the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas has been obtained, the afflictions have been cut off, and recollection, imagining, and discrimination have been removed. Therefore one knows that the teaching of one mind complete with all practices rests on the measure of realisation and not on speed.

44. Taking up Subhūti's asking again by way of another matter, and the Buddha's answer. The treatise-author continues to take up the sūtra: Subhūti again asks this meaning by way of another matter—「世尊！諸法無相、無作、無起，云何能具足檀波羅蜜等，乃至八十隨形好？」 tr. "World-Honored One! Dharmas are signless, without making, and non-rising; how can one make complete dānapāramitā and the rest, and so on up to the eighty minor marks?" The Buddha answers, 「菩薩無相、無作法中不取相故，無障礙心布施，須食與食等。」 tr. "Because the bodhisattva, within the dharma of the signless and without making, does not grasp at marks, he gives with an unobstructed mind: to one who needs food, giving food, and so on." The treatise-author at once explains why he does not explain it at length again: the sūtra has already spoken of it in full detail, and it was also spoken of at length in the preceding chapter, so it is not explained again. Wherever this treatise meets a place that the sūtra text has already made clear or that a preceding chapter has already treated at length, it abbreviates and does not explain; this is a set practice, not a gap in the text.

45. The treatise-author divides into two: the six perfections without outflows and signless are of two kinds. The treatise-author himself brings out a judgement: the six perfections without outflows and signless are of two kinds—first, those practised by the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; second, those practised by the bodhisattva who has not yet obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; and what is spoken of here is those practised by the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The reason, too, the treatise-author brings out himself: because he abides within the signless mind and the mind without outflows and practises giving and the other dharmas. This judgement is very important—it marks out for the reader the height at which this chapter speaks, so that the practitioner does not take ‘not seeing giver and recipient’ as something a beginner's mind can do ready-made.

46. The question of the treatise-author's fourth question and answer: the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas feels no pain when cut and severed—what share of grace has he? Question: The bodhisattva in a fleshly body has not yet removed greed and attachment, so when he is cut and severed it hurts severely; this is what is hard. The bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is as what a conjured person does: cut and severed, he feels no pain; what share of grace is there? This question is asked with great human feeling—by common sense, only one who endures pain is worthy of respect, and what is there to say of one who feels no pain? The treatise-author does not evade this common sense; instead he brings it out whole and makes it a question.

47. The answer: giving up the pleasure of quiescence and entering among beings to receive all kinds of bodies—this is what is hard. Answer: For the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, practising these six perfections is what is hard. Why—having obtained the quiescent mind of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, he ought to receive the pleasure of nirvāṇa, and yet he gives up this pleasure of quiescence and enters among beings to receive all kinds of bodies, now as a lowly person, now as an animal and the like: this is what is hard. As for the bodhisattva in a fleshly body, he has not yet removed greed and craving, and because he clings to the body of a Buddha, he gives his body in giving; this is hoping for something, not pure giving; therefore it is not as good. This answer changes the standard of 「難」 tr. "hard" entirely: the hardness lies not in the suffering the body undergoes, but in the greatness of the pleasure given up and the lowliness of the place entered. One who could have rested securely in quiescence, of his own will entering the six destinies to receive the body of a lowly person or an animal—only this is the hard practice spoken of in this chapter. The giving of the former case, 「有漏、有相」 tr. "with outflows and with marks," however piercing its pain, falls on the contrary to the lower place because hoping for something is mixed into it.

48. The treatise-author's general conclusion: the one who can make them complete has a great share of grace. In the last passage the treatise-author begins with 「復次」 tr. "Furthermore" and gathers it all up: practising the six perfections without outflows and signless, at that time he can make them complete; with outflows and with marks he cannot make them complete; therefore the one who can make them complete has a great share of grace. The whole treatise section turns back to the chapter's title with the two Chinese characters 「具足」 tr. "make complete," and ties the condition of making complete plainly and clearly to being without outflows and signless. Here the all practices opened up by the sūtra section and the single thought discussed by the treatise section join into one meaning: the reason all practices can be made complete within a single thought is precisely that that single thought is the mind without outflows and signless.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「一切法性無所有」 tr. "the nature of all dharmas is without anything existent" as there being nothing at all. The very first sentence of the Buddha's answer in the sūtra takes being without anything existent as the reason for seeking awakening, not as the reason it need not be sought. The treatise-author further points out that Subhūti has no doubt about the three things, the bodhisattva, beings, and unsurpassed awakening; he only asks about the dharma of being without anything existent. If it is read as annihilation, then of the later text that unfolds the six perfections and all practices one by one, not one sentence can be fitted in.

Do not read 「無所得即是道、即是果」 tr. "nothing to be attained is precisely the path, precisely the fruit" as there being no need to cultivate the path. The sūtra text carries its own ground—「法性不壞故」 tr. "because the nature of dharmas is indestructible"; the treatise-author also adds the gloss 「法性即是諸法實相」 tr. "the nature of dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas." The reason the path and the fruit stand within nothing to be attained is that the real mark of all dharmas is so of itself, not that there is no distinction between cultivating and not cultivating. Immediately after, the Buddha also says that if within the dharma of nothing to be attained one wants to obtain the path and obtain the fruit, that is wishing to destroy the nature of dharmas—one can see that what is blocked is the mind of ‘taking and attaining’, not the matter of 「行道」 tr. "practising the path."

Do not read 「一念中具足」 tr. "complete within a single thought" as compressing practice into an instant. The treatise-author himself asks 「何等是一念」 tr. "What is a single thought?" and himself answers: obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, cutting off all the afflictions, removing all recollection, imagining, and discrimination, resting securely within the mind without outflows. This single thought is spoken of with regard to the essential nature of the mind, not with regard to the length of time. He also himself judges that what is spoken of here belongs to the practice of the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and that there is another class, the practice of the bodhisattva who has not yet obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. If the practitioner reads it as a method of quick attainment, that is the very opposite of the treatise-author's distinction.

Do not read ‘giving and so on up to the supernormal powers are without difference’ as meaning that the six perfections need not be cultivated separately. In the same passage in which the Buddha says there is no difference, he immediately goes on to say 「以眾生著布施乃至神通故分別說」 tr. "because beings cling to giving and so on up to the supernormal powers, they are spoken of with distinctions"; and the latter half of the sūtra text precisely speaks separately, perfection by perfection, of the marks of dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā. No difference is said with regard to the dharma of nothing to be attained; speaking with distinctions is set up with regard to beings' clinging; both sentences come from the Buddha's mouth and do not hinder each other.

Do not read the 「無所取」 tr. "takes nothing" of the śīla passage as making light of the marks of morality. The sūtra text first lists one by one the morality kept as the noble morality without outflows that enters the eightfold noble path, natural morality, morality obtained as retribution, morality obtained by receiving, and morality born of the mind, and marks it as not deficient, not broken, not mixed, not turbid, and not clinging; only then does it say that with this morality he takes nothing. What he does not take is form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to the four fruits of the śramaṇa, the pratyekabuddha path, and the retribution of a wheel-turning sage king and a heavenly king—it is not taking the retribution of morality, not failing to keep morality. Moreover, of the five supernormal powers obtained in this passage, the sūtra text says plainly that they are obtained by giving rise to the four dhyānas because of morality; one can see that only when the marks of morality grow stricter while the grasping mind grows lighter is it the meaning of this passage.

Do not read the 「不見罵者、不見割截者」 tr. "does not see the one who reviles, does not see the one who cuts and severs" of the kṣānti passage as numbness. The path the sūtra text gives is first to reflect 「罵我者誰？譏訶者誰？打擲者誰？誰有受者？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who ridicules and rebukes? Who strikes and throws? Who is there that receives?", then to reflect that the real nature of dharmas is ultimate emptiness, and only then does it speak of not seeing. This is what contemplation brings about, not the disappearance of feeling. Moreover, of the two kinds of acceptance the sūtra text sets up, the first is precisely 「一切眾生惡口罵詈、若加刀杖瓦石，瞋心不起」 tr. "when all beings revile and abuse him with evil speech, or assail him with knives and staves, tiles and stones, the mind of hatred does not arise," saying plainly that there is one who assails and a matter of assailing; it is only that the mind of hatred does not arise.

Do not skip over the 「除佛諸禪定」 tr. "except for the dhyānas and absorptions of the buddhas" of the dhyānapāramitā passage. What the sūtra text makes complete is all the other dhyānas and samādhi; the dhyānas of the Buddha remain outside. This chapter says that one perfection contains all practices and that within the bodhisattva's position the Buddha ground is made complete; if one does not keep hold of this one distinction, one will read it as the bodhisattva and the Buddha already being without difference.

Do not read 「國土一切所有資生之物皆無有主」 tr. "all the goods that sustain life in his land have no owner" as the land being empty and void. The sūtra text itself brings out the reason—「是菩薩行一切法不受，以不可得故」 tr. "this bodhisattva practises all dharmas without receiving, because they are unfindable." Having no owner is said with regard to not receiving and not finding; it does not say that there are no goods to sustain life; just above it said that according to what they need he conjures it all and gives it, causing each to be satisfied. The ten thousand things complete and not one thing belonging to me—this is precisely the real meaning of the two Chinese characters 「不受」 tr. "not receiving."

Do not read the 「有何恩分」 tr. "what share of grace has he" of the treatise-author's fourth round of question and answer as the treatise-author too making light of the one who feels no pain. This is a question the treatise-author sets up himself, raising the objection on behalf of ordinary feeling; his answer at once replaces the standard of hardness—what is hard lies in giving up the pleasure of quiescence and entering the six destinies to receive the body of a lowly person or an animal, not in the pain the body undergoes. To read the question and not read the answer is to arrive at a conclusion opposite to the treatise-author's.

Bearing on Practice

The first benefit is to take 「無所得」 tr. "nothing to be attained" and use it to examine one's own mind rather than as a slogan. The treatise-author's first round of question and answer says it plainly: the same three Chinese characters 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent," coming from a clinging mind, are an objection; coming from a mind without clinging, they are an answer. In daily life, when reciting emptiness or speaking of emptiness, one can turn a light on oneself—is the mind that speaks of emptiness at this moment wanting to put one thing down, or wanting to obtain one thing more? If it is the latter, the treatise-author has already said it beforehand: that is precisely the single thought of 「欲壞法性」 tr. "wishing to destroy the nature of dharmas."

The second benefit is that the three not-seeings in giving can be trained in right now. The model the sūtra text gives is very concrete: abiding in the mind without outflows one gives, not seeing who gives, who receives, or what thing is given; cutting off craving, cutting off stinginess and greed, one practises giving; having given, one holds it in common with all beings and dedicates it, and does not see even who it is that dedicates, where it is dedicated, or by what dharma it is dedicated. Even if the practitioner has not yet obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, after each act of giving he can try not to keep count: not recording that he gave, not recording that the other received, not recording the thing given. Each degree less of recording and reckoning is a degree nearer to being without outflows.

The third benefit is that, when one meets with someone rebuking what one practises, there is a ready-made sentence to hold to. The sūtra text sets up such a scene: someone comes and says 「何用是布施為？是無所益！」 tr. "What use is this giving? It is of no benefit!", and the bodhisattva who practises prajñā has only one thought—「是人雖來訶我布施，我終不悔！我當勤行布施，不應不與。」 tr. "Though this person comes to rebuke my giving, I shall never regret it! I should practise giving diligently and should not fail to give." Here the Buddha does not teach the bodhisattva to argue; he only teaches him not to change. Whoever does good and meets with cold words can take up this one thought to guard himself: not arguing, not regretting, not lessening.

The fourth benefit is that in accepting there is a road one can walk. The sequence of the sūtra text is first asking, then contemplating: first asking 「罵我者誰？譏訶者誰？打擲者誰？誰有受者？」 tr. "Who is it that reviles me? Who ridicules and rebukes? Who strikes and throws? Who is there that receives?", then reflecting that the real nature of dharmas is ultimate emptiness, with no dharmas and no beings. These four questions are not words of self-consolation; they take apart the single sentence ‘I have been treated so’ and push at it: the first three questions ask about the one able to do harm—who is it that reviles, who is it that ridicules and rebukes, who is it that strikes and throws; only the last question, 「誰有受者？」 tr. "Who is there that receives?", asks about the one who receives. The two sides, the one who acts and the one acted upon, are pushed at together, and that is why the sūtra text goes on to say 「諸法尚不可得，何況有眾生！」 tr. "Dharmas themselves are unfindable, how much less are there beings!"—it is not first finding a receiver and then consoling him; it is that the one who acts and the one acted upon are both unfindable. Once the four questions arise, the mind of hatred naturally has nowhere to land—this takes far less effort than holding down one's temper, and is also more lasting.

The fifth benefit is to examine oneself on both sides, bodily vigour and mental vigour. The sūtra text sets the mark of bodily vigour on going to where the buddhas are, making offerings, hearing and receiving the teaching of the Dharma, and benefiting beings; it sets the mark of mental vigour on a long string of 「不取」 tr. "not grasping"—not grasping at the marks of dharmas, permanent and impermanent, suffering and pleasure, self and non-self; not grasping at the marks of the fruits realised; not grasping at the marks of cutting off the fetters. The practitioner can ask two questions each day: in today's running about, where was it that I went? In today's use of the mind, how many marks did I grasp? The former keeps the body's empty wasting in check; the latter keeps the mind's hidden knots in check.

The sixth benefit is to correct the standard of 「難」 tr. "hard." The standard given by the treatise-author's last round of question and answer is: hardness lies not in pain but in giving up. A pleasure in which one could have rested securely, and yet one is willing to give it up; a place one need not have entered, and yet one is willing to enter it—only this is a great share of grace. When making vows and when taking on burdens, the practitioner can hold to this one measuring-rule—there is no need to credit oneself by how much suffering one undergoes; one should look at how much ease one gives up and how low a place one enters.

The seventh benefit is to close the day's doings with 「無有主」 tr. "having no owner." At the end of the sūtra section it is said that when the bodhisattva becomes a Buddha, all the goods that sustain life in his land have no owner. In the course of a day, of all that the practitioner has cultivated and done, given and accomplished, he can, when evening comes, hold one thought: among these not one thing belongs to me, and not one thing needs me to own it. All practices complete and not one owner set up—this is the most direct sentence in which this chapter's title comes down into daily life.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is one long sūtra section and one long treatise section. Sūtra ① begins from Subhūti's asking what benefit the bodhisattva sees, the nature of all dharmas being without anything existent, that he seeks awakening for the sake of beings; the Buddha answers that he seeks because the nature is without anything existent, that those with something attained and something clung to are hard to liberate, and that those with the mark of attaining have no path, no fruit, no awakening; next he answers that nothing to be attained is precisely the path, precisely the fruit, precisely awakening, taking the indestructibility of the nature of dharmas as the ground, and brings out the warning that wishing to obtain the path and the fruit within the dharma of nothing to be attained is precisely wishing to destroy the nature of dharmas; next he answers that the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground, together with the acceptance of non-arising, the supernormal powers and the six perfections obtained as retribution, bringing beings to accomplishment and purifying buddha-lands, and so on up to the relics receiving offerings after nirvāṇa, are all obtained because of the mark of nothing to be attained; next he answers that the six perfections and the supernormal powers are without difference within the dharma of nothing to be attained and are spoken of with distinctions because of beings' clinging, and shows their actual practice with a string of sentences—not finding giving, he practises giving, and so on up to not finding the dharmas of the buddhas, he obtains awakening—concluding that Māra cannot destroy him; next it enters the proper topic of this chapter, gathering in layer by layer with four tiers of question and answer—being complete within a single thought comes from not being far from prajñā; not being far comes from the mark of non-duality; the mark of non-duality comes from this, that when one wishes to make dānapāramitā complete, within dāna are at once contained all the pāramitā and the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the marks and minor signs; and containing all the dharmas without outflows comes from abiding in the mind without outflows and giving without seeing giver, recipient, or the thing given; next, with the one general question 「若諸法無相、無作，云何具足」 tr. "if dharmas are signless and without making, how are they made complete," it opens out the item-by-item unfolding of the six perfections: for dāna, giving away everything inner and outer, not regretting when people rebuke, and dedicating without seeing the mark of dedication, with the emptinesses listed as its ground; for śīla, keeping the five kinds of morality and taking nothing at all, from form up to the heavens, the four fruits, the pratyekabuddha path, the wheel-turning sage king, and the heavenly kings, and by the power of skilful means giving rise to the four dhyānas and obtaining the five supernormal powers; for kṣānti, setting up the two kinds, the acceptance toward beings and the acceptance of dharmas, obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas by contemplating ultimate emptiness, and, because of abiding in the two kinds of acceptance, making complete all dharmas and the noble supernormal powers; for vīrya, dividing it into the two kinds of vigour, bodily and mental, with mental vigour having a string of not-graspings as its mark, gathered up at the end with 「不可以性取相，是性無故」 tr. "one may not grasp at a mark by nature, because this nature does not exist"; for dhyāna, excepting the dhyānas of the buddhas and having all the other dhyānas and samādhi complete, cultivating the dharmas that aid the path, passing beyond the eight grounds, entering the bodhisattva's position and making complete the Buddha ground, not taking realisation midway, seeing dharmas as like an illusion and yet benefiting beings; for prajñā, not seeing a fixed and real mark, not seeing form and so on up to consciousness arise, and practising inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas and so making the bodhisattva path complete; finally it says that, abiding in the pure Buddha path of emptiness, he teaches and transforms according to the ground of the path appropriate to each, causing each to obtain its place, and concludes that, because he receives no dharma, when he obtains awakening the land and the goods that sustain life all have no owner. Treatise ① takes the four rounds of question and answer as its bones and the explaining of the sūtra taken up phrase by phrase as its flesh: the first round discusses how questioner and answerer both say without anything existent, and distinguishes them by the clinging mind and the mind without clinging; next it explains that Subhūti asks because of the listeners' clinging minds, and makes the distinction that he has no doubt about the three things, the bodhisattva, beings, and awakening; next it takes up the Buddha's answer that it is precisely because of being without anything existent and empty that one can arouse the mind, and sets out the principle that emptiness does not obstruct arousing the mind; next it explains why those with a clinging mind find it hard to obtain liberation, and brings out how the bodhisattva guides their minds by the marks and minor signs, the Brahmā voice, majestic virtue, supernormal powers, causes and conditions, and similes; next it takes up that being without anything existent is precisely the path and the fruit, and explains that the nature of dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas; next it explains that, though the nature of dharmas cannot be destroyed, because of beings' wrong practice it is named destroyed, and brings out the simile of space and of clouds and mist; the second round discusses why, since the Buddha has already answered, the question is asked again, and traces it back to bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind clinging to the dharma that has been broken; next it takes up that because of nothing to be attained there is the first ground and so on up to the relics receiving offerings, and judges that within something clung to one may not speak of the first ground and the merits; the third round marks out the sub-heading 「一念中行六波羅蜜者」 tr. "one who practises the six perfections within a single thought" and discusses why Subhūti asks; next it takes up the answers—because he does not part from prajñā he can practise within a single thought; not by way of two marks; within a single thought of giving he contains all wholesome dharmas; next it explains for itself what a single thought is, taking obtaining the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, cutting off all the afflictions, removing all recollection, imagining, and discrimination, and resting securely in the mind without outflows as its substance, and judges that the six perfections without outflows and signless are of two kinds, those of one who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and those of one who has not; the fourth round discusses what share of grace the bodhisattva who has obtained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas has, feeling no pain when cut and severed, and takes giving up the pleasure of quiescence and entering among beings to receive all kinds of bodies as what is hard; finally it gathers everything up with 「復次」 tr. "Furthermore"—practising the six perfections without outflows and signless, at that time one can make them complete; with outflows and with marks one cannot make them complete; therefore the one who can make them complete has a great share of grace.

Of the ancient masters' explanations, three houses can be recorded for this chapter, and one house is lacking. Jizang, explaining this chapter in his Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, first takes two chapters as one section and marks out their intent in general, saying: 「此下第二段有兩品，明脩行純熟故一念具足斯備也。」 tr. "From here on, the second section has two chapters; it makes clear that because cultivation and practice are fully ripe, within a single thought all is complete and prepared." The reason for dividing the two chapters he gives as: 「先未得無生故未能無礙行，一念中不能具足眾行；今得無生，無生一念中具足一切行也。」 tr. "Before, because non-arising had not yet been obtained, one could not yet practise without obstruction, and within a single thought could not make the many practices complete; now non-arising has been obtained, and within a single thought of non-arising all practices are complete."—distinguishing the earlier and later of the two chapters by not yet having obtained non-arising and having obtained it, which bears out precisely this treatise's taking the obtaining of the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas as the substance when it explains for itself 「何等是一念」 tr. "What is a single thought?". His division of this chapter into three reads: 「初品為三：第一明於無所有中起行，第二明一念中具起萬行，第三明行空無相故具足諸行。」 tr. "The first chapter is in three: the first makes clear the arising of practice within being without anything existent; the second makes clear the complete arising of all practices within a single thought; the third makes clear that because one practises emptiness and the signless, all practices are made complete."—these three divisions correspond to the sequence of this treatise's sūtra section: the arising of practice within being without anything existent is the first three questions and answers; the complete arising of all practices within a single thought is the proper topic of this chapter; and all practices being made complete because one practises emptiness and the signless is the item-by-item unfolding of the six perfections. His explanation of the intent of the Buddha's answer about arousing the mind reads: 「良由無所有故得發心耳」 tr. "It is truly because of being without anything existent that one can arouse the mind."—the same in meaning as, though different in words from, the Buddha's answer as taken up in this treatise, 「正以無所有、空故能發心」 tr. "it is precisely because of being without anything existent, because of emptiness, that one can arouse the mind." His explanation of why the third section is set up reads: 「二乘有所得人，行三空則失萬行，修萬行則失三空，故是取捨生滅觀。」 tr. "People of the two vehicles who have something to be attained lose all practices when they practise the three emptinesses, and lose the three emptinesses when they cultivate all practices; therefore theirs is a contemplation of taking and giving up, of arising and ceasing."—by the two vehicles' three emptinesses and all practices being unable to exist together, it shows by contrast that the bodhisattva practises emptiness while all practices remain unmoved; this is Jizang's own judgement, this treatise has no such words, and the two are recorded side by side without judgement. In his explanation of the passage on being cut and severed, he sets up the question 「得無生忍割截不痛，何足為喻」 tr. "If one who has obtained the acceptance of non-arising feels no pain when cut and severed, how is it worth taking as an example?" and himself answers: 「得無生忍應不生六趣，今能以無生作生用，入六道中為割截，始為常有。」 tr. "One who has obtained the acceptance of non-arising ought not to be born in the six destinies; now he can use non-arising to serve as birth, entering the six paths to be cut and severed—only then is it constantly so."—the question he sets up and the answer he gives both accord with the wording of the question and the intent of the answer in this treatise's last round of question and answer, while the phrasing comes from Jizang; it can serve as supporting evidence. For the heading of this chapter Jizang writes 「一念品」 tr. "the One Thought chapter," and where he marks the start of the next chapter he also says: 「此下第二就譬說一心具萬行正意」 tr. "From here on, the second, by way of simile, speaks of the proper intent of one mind complete with all practices"—that is, he uses the short name for the chapter heading and the full name for the proper intent, the two names running side by side. Zhanran, in his Annotations on the Profound Meaning of the Lotus, explaining the passage on the Buddha of the fleshly body and the Buddha of the Dharma body hearing the Dharma and advancing on the path, marks plainly 「《大論》八十七」 tr. "Great Treatise, eighty-seven" and cites the last round of question and answer of this chapter's treatise section: his question reads 「生身菩薩，貪惜未除割截則難，若無生忍菩薩，猶如化人割截無痛，有何恩分？」 tr. "For the bodhisattva in a fleshly body, whose greed and attachment are not yet removed, being cut and severed is hard; as for the bodhisattva of the acceptance of non-arising, who is like a conjured person and feels no pain when cut and severed, what share of grace has he?", his answer reads 「雖得無生，行亦為難。」 tr. "Though he has obtained non-arising, practice is still hard for him.", and he takes 「能捨此樂入生死中，受於種種下賤之身。」 tr. "He can give up this pleasure and enter into birth and death, receiving all kinds of lowly bodies." as the reason why it is hard, finally gathering it into 「是故無生忍菩薩方名大恩。」 tr. "Therefore the bodhisattva of the acceptance of non-arising is the one named a great grace."—what he cites corresponds point by point in meaning with this treatise's last round of question and answer, while the phrasing comes from Zhanran's abridgement and is not identical word for word; therefore it is recorded as an abridged citation and not treated as a word-for-word quotation; the fascicle number he marks agrees with fascicle eighty-seven, where this chapter lies. Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises cites this passage of sūtra text, saying: 「十三卷一念品云：無所得即是道，即是果，即是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "The One Thought chapter of fascicle thirteen says: Nothing to be attained is precisely the path, is precisely the fruit, is precisely anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi."—only, the source he marks in the text above reads 「故大品經。」 tr. "Therefore the Larger Sūtra.", and the chapter name he uses is likewise 「一念品」 tr. "the One Thought chapter" (the name in the sūtra explained); therefore his attribution lies on the side of the sūtra explained; the sūtra text of this chapter of this treatise is the same text as his, which is the same evidence and not the same attribution. The text he cites agrees word for word with this treatise's sūtra text; only the marking of pauses within the sentence differs from the base text; the fascicle number he gives also differs from the base text of this collection. Of Huiying's Commentary, the extant text does not structurally reach this chapter; this chapter's explanation is lacking, the gap is marked as it really is, and it is not filled with text from elsewhere. Further, in Zhiyi's Profound Meaning of the Lotus there is separately the phrase 「一心具萬行」 tr. "one mind complete with all practices," the same in wording as the full name of this chapter's title; but there he speaks in terms of his own house's classification of the teachings, does not cite the text of this chapter word for word, and does not explicitly name this treatise's chapter title; therefore only the sameness of the wording is recorded—it is not treated as a citation, and it is not judged to be citing this chapter. As for the variant names of this chapter's title, the chapter order of the texts, and the differences of fascicle division, these are detailed in the Apparatus layer.