大智度論 照明品之上Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Illumination, Part 1 of 2

Illumination, First Part: How the Bodhisattva Path Is Made Complete; Not Destroying, Not Following, and Not Grasping; Dharmas Are without Nature, and Yet Ordinary People and Sages Are Known; Teaching the Dharma While Abiding in the Two Truths; the Extended Account of Practising Dāna to Bring Beings to Accomplishment

What Is Being Asked

The preceding chapters have already told out in full the numbered dharmas that bodhisattvas practise—the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, the Buddha's ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas—listing them one by one and stating their marks one by one. The dharmas having been told out in full, Subhūti, right at this point, raises a most vital doubt: however complete the list of dharmas, if one 「不具足菩薩道」 tr. "does not make complete the bodhisattva path", one still 「不能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "cannot obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". Then between having practised these dharmas to the full and 「具足菩薩道」 tr. "making complete the bodhisattva path", where after all does the difference lie? The chapter opens with precisely this question. The Buddha's answer has the backbone of only one sentence: by the power of skilful means one practises dānapāramitā, and 「不得施、不得施者、不得受者」 tr. "does not find the giving, does not find the giver, does not find the recipient", and further 「不遠離是法行檀波羅蜜」 tr. "is not far from this dharma as he practises dānapāramitā"—this is called 「照明菩薩道」 tr. "the illumination of the bodhisattva path". The illumining in the chapter name 「照明」 tr. "Illumination" is not the setting-up of a separate dharma; it is that share of clarity, while practising dharmas, that does not fall to either of the two sides; illumination is precisely completeness, and only when complete does one obtain awakening.

Once the backbone is set up, the difficulties come straight after, and they press downward layer by layer. Śāriputra's addressing the Buddha occurs six times in all in this unit: four of these are difficulties, one asks the reason, and one is praise. The four difficulties go deeper layer by layer: since the nature of dharmas is non-existent, how does one train in prajñā (the first difficulty); since there is no self-nature that can be destroyed or followed, where does this 「習」 tr. "training" still land (the second difficulty); since dharmas are without nature, without substance, without root, and without foundation, on what ground can ordinary people and the Buddha still be told apart (the third difficulty); since beings are from the first without anything existent, to teach them giving and keeping morality and make them obtain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat—is that not being with something to be attained (the fourth difficulty)? Each of the four difficulties is deeper than the one before, and the last presses straight at the legitimacy of the bodhisattva's delivering of beings—if beings are all without anything existent, can the one matter of delivering beings still stand or not? The Buddha's four answers follow step by step: he does not destroy form and does not follow form, and because the nature is non-existent he does not destroy and does not follow; because not one dharma is findable he does not grasp, and even the mark of training is unfindable; dharmas are without nature, and ordinary people cling by reason of an inverted mind, and from this the names of the worthies and sages are distinguished; the bodhisattva abides within the two truths, worldly truth and the truth of the highest meaning, and teaches the Dharma, and so is without the fault of being with something to be attained. At the last Śāriputra closes the preceding difficulties with one word of praise, 「心曠大」 tr. "the mind is vast and great", and the Buddha in turn breaks his holding with 「先有後無，諸佛、菩薩則有過罪」 tr. "if first existent and afterwards non-existent, the buddhas and bodhisattvas would have fault", and brings out the simile of a conjurer conjuring hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of people—the food and drink are set out plainly there, and yet not a single person is truly filled.

The latter half changes hands: Subhūti asks again 「何等是菩薩摩訶薩道」 tr. "What is the path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva?", and the Buddha does not set up a new dharma; he takes only the first of the six perfections—dānapāramitā—and explains it at length to the end. Giving oneself, teaching giving, praising giving, rejoicing in giving; being born in a great clan and becoming a sage king, and gathering in beings with the four things; abiding in dāna, making people keep morality, making people be patient, making people be vigorous, making people cultivate meditation, making people cultivate wisdom; and so on up to making them cultivate the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path with the requisites of offering, and having them, with the things they need, turn and gather in beings in their turn. Within one gate are gathered in all six perfections, all four means of gathering, all the fruits of the three vehicles. What the First Part has to answer is just these two questions: whether illumination and completeness are two matters; and how, among no beings, the matter of delivering beings is established.

Passage by Passage

1. Subhūti's question—the dharmas practised to the full and yet the path not complete, awakening is still unfindable. At the opening of the sūtra text, Subhūti says to the Buddha: if a bodhisattva-mahāsattva practises the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, the Buddha's ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, and the eighteen unshared dharmas, and 「不具足菩薩道，不能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "does not make complete the bodhisattva path, he cannot obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". So he asks: 「菩薩摩訶薩當云何具足菩薩道，能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提？」 tr. "How should the bodhisattva-mahāsattva make complete the bodhisattva path, so as to be able to obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi?" This question is very sharp. The dharmas spoken in the preceding chapters have already been listed without omission; a practitioner practising according to them should by rights lack nothing; yet here the sūtra text sets up a threshold—having the dharmas is not the same as the path being complete. What is asked is not ‘which dharma is still missing’ but ‘with these same dharmas, how must one practise for it to count as complete’. The guiding rope of the whole chapter hangs on this one question.

2. The Buddha's answer—not finding the three things and yet not being far from the three things: this is the illumination of the bodhisattva path. The Buddha tells Subhūti: when the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā, 「以方便力故，行檀波羅蜜，不得施、不得施者、不得受者，亦不遠離是法行檀波羅蜜，是則照明菩薩道」 tr. "by reason of the power of skilful means he practises dānapāramitā, not finding the giving, not finding the giver, not finding the recipient, and also not being far from this dharma as he practises dānapāramitā: this is the illumination of the bodhisattva path". The crux of the answer lies wholly in the four Chinese characters 「亦不遠離」 tr. "and also not being far from". If one said only that the three things are not found, people would take giving to be dispensable; if one said only that one practises dānapāramitā, people would take the three things to be graspable. The power of skilful means is precisely still practising within not finding, and still not finding within practising. The Buddha further says plainly: 「菩薩以方便力故具足菩薩道；具足已，能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "By reason of the power of skilful means the bodhisattva makes complete the bodhisattva path; having made it complete, he can obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." Illumination and completeness are joined here—illumination is not another matter outside completeness; it is that share of clarity by which completeness can be accomplished. At the end, with the one sentence 「持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧乃至十八不共法亦如是」 tr. "keeping morality, patience, vigour, meditative concentration, wisdom, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are likewise", it extends to all the dharmas by analogy: as with one perfection, so with every perfection.

3. Śāriputra's first question—how does one train in prajñā. Here the questioner changes: before it was Subhūti; now Śāriputra says to the Buddha: 「世尊！云何菩薩摩訶薩習般若波羅蜜？」 tr. "World-Honored One! How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva train in prajñāpāramitā?" The question is extremely brief, yet it comes on from what went before—since the Buddha has said that the power of skilful means is the key, and the power of skilful means comes forth from prajñā, then how should prajñā itself be 「習」 tr. "trained in"? What the one foremost in wisdom asks is not its merit; he asks only where to set one's hand.

4. The Buddha's answer—not destroying and not following; because the nature is non-existent, there is no destroying and no following. The Buddha tells Śāriputra: practising prajñāpāramitā, 「以方便力故，不壞色、不隨色」 tr. "by reason of the power of skilful means, he does not destroy form and does not follow form". Why? 「是色性無故不壞、不隨」 tr. "Because the nature of this form is non-existent, he does not destroy it and does not follow it", and so on up to consciousness, likewise; dānapāramitā is the same, 「檀波羅蜜性無故」 tr. "because the nature of dānapāramitā is non-existent", and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, likewise. Each of the two sides has a sickness: to destroy form is forcibly to call form impermanent, empty and without anything existent, counting it as contemplating emptiness only once form has been smashed; to follow form is to grasp at marks and cling just as the eye sees. The answer does not lie in compromising in the middle but in taking the firewood from under the cauldron—the nature of form is from the first non-existent; since there is nothing to destroy, there is also nothing to follow. Training in prajñā is not doing a thing; it is recognising clearly something that is so from the first.

5. Śāriputra's second difficulty—if there is no self-nature that can be destroyed or followed, where is the place of training. Śāriputra presses further: 「若諸法無自性可壞、可隨者，云何菩薩摩訶薩能習般若波羅蜜諸菩薩摩訶薩所學處？」 tr. "If dharmas have no self-nature that can be destroyed or can be followed, how can the bodhisattva-mahāsattva train in prajñāpāramitā, the place where all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas train?" And he states for himself why he cannot but ask: 「菩薩摩訶薩不學般若波羅蜜，不能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "If the bodhisattva-mahāsattva does not train in prajñāpāramitā, he cannot obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." This difficulty is a true difficulty: without training one certainly does not obtain awakening, and yet the dharma to be trained in has no self-nature to set one's hand to; both ends are blocked. Śāriputra sets the contradiction out squarely; this is not wrangling, but seeking a footing on behalf of all who cultivate and train.

6. The Buddha's answer—because one is not apart from the power of skilful means it can be obtained; because not one dharma is findable one does not grasp, and the mark of training too is unfindable. The Buddha first grants what he says: 「菩薩不學般若波羅蜜，不能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "If the bodhisattva does not train in prajñāpāramitā, he cannot obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." Then at once he points out the key: 「不離方便力故可得。」 tr. "Because he is not apart from the power of skilful means, it can be obtained." Next he establishes the meaning with a pair of suppositions—「若有一法可得，應當取；若不可得，何所取？」 tr. "If there were one dharma that could be found, he should grasp it; if it is unfindable, what would he grasp?" Namely the six perfections prajñā, dhyāna, vīrya, kṣānti, śīla, dāna; form, feeling, perception, constructions, consciousness; and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi—each is named one by one and each in turn is returned to the mark of what cannot be grasped. Therefore 「是名不取般若波羅蜜乃至佛法，是菩薩摩訶薩所應學」 tr. "this is named not grasping prajñāpāramitā and so on up to the dharmas of the Buddha; this is what the bodhisattva-mahāsattva should train in"—the place of training is not some one dharma; it is 「不取」 tr. "not grasping". A layer further: 「菩薩摩訶薩於是中學時，學相亦不可得」 tr. "when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva trains within this, even the mark of training is unfindable", how much less the dharmas trained in. At the end, by non-nature, names and words are shown in reverse: since among dharmas not one dharma has nature, to what are the names ordinary person, srota-āpanna, and so on up to bodhisattva and Buddha attached? 「若無是諸賢聖，云何有法？」 tr. "If there are none of these worthies and sages, how could there be dharmas?" Name and dharma each rely on the other and both are without self-nature; this is just the fuse for the next difficulty.

7. Śāriputra's third difficulty—without nature, without substance, without root, and without foundation, how are the ordinary person and so on up to the Buddha known. Śāriputra at once presses on this: 「若諸法無性、無實、無根、無本，云何知是凡夫人乃至是佛？」 tr. "If dharmas are without nature, without substance, without root, and without foundation, how is it known that this is an ordinary person, and so on up to this is a Buddha?" The previous difficulty asked where 「學」 tr. "training" lies; this difficulty asks on what 「知」 tr. "knowing" relies. If all names and words have nothing to attach to, then the stages of cultivation and realisation, and the difference between ordinary people and sages, should collapse as well—this is the pass at which the meaning of emptiness is most often blocked.

8. The Buddha's counter-question—does the form at which ordinary people cling have nature and substance or not. The Buddha does not answer head-on but returns a question: 「凡夫人所著處色，有性、有實不？」 tr. "The form that is the place where ordinary people cling—does it have nature, does it have substance?" This is the skill of debate: since the difficulty lies in ‘without nature, ordinary people and sages are not distinguished’, he first examines the 「有」 tr. "existence" that ordinary people hold to—whether after all it exists or not. The problem is handed back to the asker, and the answer comes out of the asker's own mouth.

9. Śāriputra's answer—No; it is only by reason of an inverted mind. Śāriputra answers: 「不也！世尊！但以顛倒心故。」 tr. "No! World-Honored One! It is only by reason of an inverted mind." Feeling, perception, constructions, consciousness, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are likewise. With the one sentence 「但以顛倒心故」 tr. "it is only by reason of an inverted mind", the ground of the distinction between ordinary people and sages shows itself on the spot: it is not that in dharmas there is a real ordinary nature or a real sagely nature; it lies only in inversion and non-inversion. The third difficulty here resolves itself—the distinction is not set up by dharmas but by delusion and awakening.

10. The Buddha's conclusion—because he sees that dharmas are without nature and without root, he can arouse the mind of awakening. The Buddha concludes on his answer: 「菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，以方便力故，見諸法無性、無根本故，能發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is practising prajñāpāramitā, by reason of the power of skilful means, because he sees that dharmas are without nature and without root, he can arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." This conclusion is most worth savouring: seeing non-nature not only does not obstruct the arousing of the mind; it is precisely what makes arousing the mind possible. If dharmas had fixed nature, the ordinary would forever be ordinary and suffering forever suffering, and the arousing of the mind would have nowhere to apply its strength; only because they are without nature and without root can delusion be turned, beings be delivered, and awakening be sought. Emptiness does not cut off the road; emptiness is precisely why the road goes through.

11. Śāriputra further asks the reason—how does one see non-nature and arouse the mind. Śāriputra still does not let it go and asks again on this: 「云何菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，以方便力故，見諸法無性、無根本故，發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心？」 tr. "When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is practising prajñāpāramitā, how, by reason of the power of skilful means, because he sees that dharmas are without nature and without root, does he arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi?" The preceding sentence was a conclusion; this question wants the process: between seeing and arousing, what after all does the bodhisattva pass through in his mind. Because the question is fine, the answer is thereby able to spread out the whole breadth of the latter half of this chapter.

12. The Buddha's answer—not retreating and sinking, not slack; he sets himself up like a conjurer, giving medicine according to the sickness. The Buddha's answer is in two parts. First a blocking: the bodhisattva 「不見諸法根本住中退沒、生懈怠心」 tr. "does not, on seeing the root of dharmas, halt there in retreat and sinking and give rise to a mind of slackness"—having seen that the root of dharmas is in reality 「無我、無所有、性常空」 tr. "non-self, without anything existent, its nature ever empty", he does not stay in that emptiness and sink down or grow lax. This is the most dangerous place to lose one's footing at the gate of emptiness, and the sūtra text blocks it one step ahead. Next an affirmation: knowing that beings cling to the aggregates, the sense-fields, and the elements 「但顛倒愚癡故」 tr. "only by reason of inversion and delusion", the bodhisattva therefore 「自立如幻師，為眾生說法」 tr. "sets himself up like a conjurer and teaches the Dharma for beings"—「慳者為說布施法，破戒者為說持戒法，瞋者為說忍辱法，懈怠者為說精進法，亂想者為說禪定法，愚癡者為說智慧法」 tr. "for the stingy he teaches the dharma of giving, for those who break morality he teaches the dharma of keeping morality, for the angry he teaches the dharma of patience, for the slack he teaches the dharma of vigour, for those of scattered thought he teaches the dharma of meditative concentration, for the deluded he teaches the dharma of wisdom". Six sicknesses and six medicines, each matched to each: this is where the setting-up of the six perfections comes from—it is not that six Dharma-gates hang there, but that six kinds of sickness call forth six kinds of medicine. After making beings abide in giving and so on up to wisdom, 「然後為說聖法能出苦」 tr. "he then proclaims for them the holy Dharma that can lead out of suffering"—first he settles their minds with worldly wholesome dharmas, afterwards he brings them out of suffering with the world-transcending holy Dharma; the sequence is plain. And the three Chinese characters 「如幻師」 tr. "like a conjurer" run all the way through: the medicine is truly given and the sickness truly cured, and yet the giver and the receiver are both unfindable.

13. Śāriputra's fourth difficulty—beings are without anything existent, yet they are taught and made to obtain the fruits: is this not being with something to be attained. Śāriputra restates it and challenges it: the bodhisattva 「得是眾生無所有」 tr. "has come to know that these beings are without anything existent", yet teaches them giving, keeping morality, and so on up to wisdom, then proclaims for them the holy Dharma that can lead out of suffering, and by this they obtain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. This difficulty is the deepest: the first three difficulties asked about dharmas, about knowing, about training; this difficulty asks about practice—if beings are from the first non-existent, would not all this teaching and transforming and realising of fruits be the bodhisattva himself falling into being with something to be attained? The contradiction between delivering beings and the meaning of emptiness is here laid open face to face.

14. The Buddha's answer—the continuity of empty dharmas is named a being; abiding in the two truths he teaches the Dharma for beings. The Buddha says decisively: 「菩薩摩訶薩行般若波羅蜜時，無有所得過罪。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is practising prajñāpāramitā, there is no fault of being with something to be attained." Why? When practising prajñā, 「不得眾生，但空法相續故名為眾生」 tr. "he does not find beings; it is only that the continuity of empty dharmas is named a being"—a being is not some really existent thing that is delivered, nor is it that there is nothing at all to speak of; it is that empty dharmas continue without break, and this provisional name is set upon them. With this meaning established, there follows the most vital criterion of this chapter: 「菩薩摩訶薩住二諦中為眾生說法：世諦、第一義諦。」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the two truths and teaches the Dharma for beings: worldly truth and the truth of the highest meaning." In the truth of the highest meaning beings are unfindable; in worldly truth one teaches the Dharma and delivers beings by provisional name; the two truths go together, and so although one teaches the Dharma there is no fault of being with something to be attained. At the end it further proves this meaning by the content of what is taught: beings hearing the Dharma find that even 「今世吾我尚不可得」 tr. "I and self in this present life are unfindable", how much less the awakening that is to be obtained and the dharmas that are used—the Dharma taught itself dissolves the obtainer and the obtained; teaching the Dharma does not become being with something to be attained precisely because this is what is taught.

15. Śāriputra's praise—the mind is vast and great; with no dharma findable, he can yet take on the great adornment of the oath. Śāriputra here turns difficulty into praise: 「是菩薩摩訶薩心曠大！」 tr. "This bodhisattva-mahāsattva's mind is vast and great!" Not one dharma is findable—whether one mark, or a different mark, or a specific mark—and yet he can thus take on 「大誓莊嚴」 tr. "the great adornment of the oath". Because of this adornment he is not born in the realm of desire, the realm of form, or the formless realm, does not see the conditioned nature, does not see the unconditioned nature, and yet within the three realms he delivers beings and also does not find beings. The words of praise at once push out a further linked chain: beings are 「不縛不解」 tr. "neither bound nor released", and therefore without stain and without purity; being without stain and without purity, there is no discrimination of the five destinies; being without discrimination, they are without deeds and without afflictions; being without deeds and without afflictions, there should be no retribution, nor should they by retribution be born in the three realms. This chain is pushed to the utmost: it praises the bodhisattva's doing what is hard to do, and it also presses the question ‘are there after all beings to be delivered’ to its last layer—if one pushes on all the way down, the birth and death of the three realms would turn out to be set up in vain.

16. The Buddha's answer—if first existent and afterwards non-existent, the buddhas and bodhisattvas would have fault; the marks of dharmas abide constantly and do not differ, and so, arousing the great oath, he does not retreat. The Buddha first seals it: 「如是！如是！如汝所言。」 tr. "Just so! Just so! It is as you say." Then at once he gives a turning word to break a possible one-sidedness: 「若眾生先有後無，諸佛、菩薩則有過罪。」 tr. "If beings were first existent and afterwards non-existent, the buddhas and bodhisattvas would have fault." Dharmas and the birth and death of the five destinies are likewise. These words are the sharpest cut in the whole chapter: if the meaning of emptiness were understood as ‘originally existent and then emptied away’, the buddhas and bodhisattvas would become destroyers of beings, and the fault would be extremely great. So next he establishes the right meaning—「今有佛、無佛，諸法相常住不異」 tr. "now, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the marks of dharmas abide constantly and do not differ"; within this mark of dharmas there is already no self, no being, no life, and so on up to no knower and no seer, how much less form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness. Since these dharmas do not exist, the going and coming of the five destinies and 「拔出眾生處」 tr. "a place where beings are pulled out" can none of them be established. Therefore 「諸法性常空」 tr. "the nature of dharmas is ever empty", and the bodhisattva, hearing this mark of dharmas from the buddhas of the past, arouses the intent of awakening: within it 「無有法我當得」 tr. "there is no dharma that I shall obtain", nor is there any dharma where beings definitely cling that cannot be left behind; 「但以眾生顛倒故著」 tr. "it is only by reason of beings' inversion that they cling". Since what is clung to is only inversion, he arouses the great adornment of the oath and 「常不退阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "constantly does not retreat from anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"—the bodhisattva does not doubt whether he shall obtain it or not, but knows decisively 「我必當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "I shall certainly obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", and having obtained it he 「用實法利益眾生，令出顛倒」 tr. "benefits beings with the real Dharma and makes them leave inversion". Emptiness without annihilation lies just here: what is removed is inversion, not beings. At the end the Buddha raises a simile and puts a question: it is as a conjurer conjures up hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of people, gives them all kinds of food and drink and makes them full, and, delighted, cries aloud 「我得大福！我得大福！」 tr. "I have obtained great merit! I have obtained great merit!"—and he asks Śāriputra: 「是中有人食飲飽滿不？」 tr. "Within this, has anyone eaten and drunk and been made full?"

17. The answer is No, and the Buddha concludes—making complete the bodhisattva path, and yet there is no dharma of beings to be delivered. Śāriputra answers: 「不也！世尊！」 tr. "No! World-Honored One!" The illusory people are without reality; though food and drink are given, no one is filled. The Buddha at once concludes on this: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, from the first arousing of intent onward, practises the six perfections, 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 fourteen emptinesses, the three gates of liberation, the eight liberations, the nine successive absorptions, the Buddha's ten powers and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; 「具足菩薩道，成就眾生、淨佛國土，無眾生法可度」 tr. "he makes complete the bodhisattva path, brings beings to accomplishment, and purifies buddha-lands, and there is no dharma of beings to be delivered". The simile of the conjurer here covers both sides: as regards the conjurer, the giving of food and drink is plainly not empty; as regards the illusory people, the reality of being filled is utterly unfindable. The bodhisattva's delivering of beings is just like this—in the matter of phenomena not one dharma is reduced; in principle not one person is found. And the five Chinese characters 「具足菩薩道」 tr. "makes complete the bodhisattva path" appear here once more, sealing from afar the answer in passage 2: what is called completeness is, from beginning to end, this kind of practice.

18. Subhūti asks again—what is the bodhisattva path, practising which one can bring beings to accomplishment and purify buddha-lands. Here the questioner changes: Subhūti says to the Buddha: 「何等是菩薩摩訶薩道？菩薩行是道，能成就眾生、淨佛國土？」 tr. "What is the path of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva? Does the bodhisattva, practising this path, become able to bring beings to accomplishment and purify buddha-lands?" The first half of the text pressed out, through Śāriputra's four difficulties, the conclusion in principle—there are no beings to be delivered; the latter half is taken up by Subhūti, who asks the route in practice—then what after all is this 「道」 tr. "path", and how is it walked. The two questions, of principle and of practice, belong to two people, and the structure of the sūtra text turns at this point.

19. The Buddha's answer—from the first arousing of intent he practises the six perfections and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. The Buddha's answer is extremely plain: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, 「從初發意已來，行檀波羅蜜，行尸羅、羼提、毘梨耶、禪、般若波羅蜜，乃至行十八不共法，成就眾生、淨佛國土」 tr. "from the first arousing of intent onward, practises dānapāramitā, practises śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to practising the eighteen unshared dharmas; he brings beings to accomplishment and purifies buddha-lands". He does not set up some extraordinary path of another kind—asked ‘what is the bodhisattva path’, he still answers with these few old dharmas. One can see that the meaning of 「具足」 tr. "completeness" established above, when it comes down to practice, does not change the dharmas practised; it changes only the eye of the person practising them.

20. Subhūti asks separately about dānapāramitā—how does one practise dāna and bring beings to accomplishment. Subhūti does not ask broadly about the six perfections but singles out the first perfection: 「云何菩薩摩訶薩行檀波羅蜜成就眾生？」 tr. "How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva practise dānapāramitā and bring beings to accomplishment?" It is a question that enters deeply by one gate. All the Buddha's extended explanation below arises from this one question, right to the end of this unit—and this is just where the bulk of this unit lies: of the six perfections only dāna is spoken of, and yet the one gate of dāna already gathers in all the other perfections.

21. The Buddha's extended explanation, one—giving by himself and teaching giving while not finding the three things, gathering in with the four things, and urging them to arouse the mind of awakening. In answering this question, the Buddha first says that the bodhisattva 「自布施，亦教眾生布施」 tr. "himself gives and also teaches beings to give", and within the teaching first breaks the clinging of those taught: 「汝等莫著布施！汝著布施故當更受身，受身故多受眾苦。」 tr. "Do not cling to giving! Because you cling to giving, you will receive a body again; because of receiving a body, you will receive much suffering." Next he tells them why—「諸法相中無所施、無施者、無受者，是三法性皆空」 tr. "within the marks of dharmas there is no thing given, no giver, no recipient; the nature of these three dharmas is all empty", and 「是性空法不可取，不可取相是性空」 tr. "this dharma of the emptiness of nature cannot be grasped, and the mark of what cannot be grasped is the emptiness of nature". Therefore when the bodhisattva practises dāna he gives to beings and yet 「不得布施、不得施者、不得受者」 tr. "does not find the giving, does not find the giver, does not find the recipient", and he explains its name for himself: 「無所得檀波羅蜜是名為檀波羅蜜。」 tr. "Dānapāramitā with nothing to be attained is named dānapāramitā." Precisely because he does not find the three dharmas, he can teach beings and make them obtain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat, the pratyekabuddha path, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Next he speaks of the four marks of this practice—himself practising giving, teaching others to practise giving, praising the dharma of giving, rejoicing in and praising those who practise giving: the four marks of urging and following, for himself and for others, are all complete. Next he speaks of the use of its retribution: being born in a great kṣatriya clan, a great brahmin clan, or a great householder family, or becoming a minor king, or becoming a wheel-turning sage king, 「以四事攝取眾生。何等四？布施、愛語、利行、同事」 tr. "he gathers in beings with the four things. What are the four? Giving, kind speech, beneficial action, and shared endeavour"—the retribution is not for enjoyment; it is the means of gathering in beings. Having gathered them in, he makes beings little by little abide in morality, 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, and the emptiness, signless, and non-action samādhis, obtain entry into the right position and realise the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat and the pratyekabuddha path, or he teaches them so that they obtain awakening, and spurs them on with one word: 「是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提易得耳！」 tr. "This anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi is simply easy to obtain!" Why does he say it is easy? 「無有定法眾生所著處，但顛倒故眾生著」 tr. "There is not one fixed dharma that is a place where beings cling; it is only by reason of inversion that beings cling"—what should be removed is only inversion; there is from the first no real dharma to be broken; therefore he says it is easy. At the end he urges benefit for both self and others: 「汝當自離生死，亦當教他離生死」 tr. "You should yourselves leave birth and death, and should also teach others to leave birth and death".

22. The Buddha's extended explanation, two—the retribution of practising dāna is constantly to be a wheel-turning sage king; seeing those who beg, he begrudges nothing. Next it makes clear the long-range retribution of practising dāna: by the causes and conditions of practising dāna, from the first arousing of intent onward he 「終不墮惡道，常作轉輪聖王」 tr. "never, from beginning to end, falls into the evil destinies, and constantly becomes a wheel-turning sage king"; the reason is that 「隨其所種，得大果報」 tr. "according to the cause he has planted, he obtains great retribution". And in receiving this kingship the bodhisattva has his own thought: 「我不為餘事故受轉輪聖王果，但為利益一切眾生故。」 tr. "I have not received the fruit of a wheel-turning sage king for any other matter; it is only for the sake of benefiting all beings." So on seeing those who beg he says: 「此是汝物，汝自取之，莫有所難，我無所惜！」 tr. "This is your thing; take it yourself, do not hesitate, I begrudge nothing!" And he states for himself why he can begrudge nothing—「我為眾生故受生死，憐愍汝等故具足大悲。」 tr. "For the sake of beings I receive birth and death; out of pity for you I am complete with great compassion." Practising great compassion he benefits beings, and yet he 「不得實定眾生相」 tr. "does not find a real, fixed mark of beings"; it is only because there is a provisional name that one can speak of beings; 「是名字亦空，如嚮聲，實不可說相」 tr. "this name too is empty, like the sound of an echo, and its mark is in truth unspeakable". The simile of the echo continues the earlier simile of the conjurer: the one makes clear that what is delivered is not real, the other that the name which speaks is not real either. At the end it pushes to the utmost: among beings he begrudges nothing, 「乃至不惜自身肌肉，何況外物」 tr. "even to not begrudging the flesh of his own body, how much less outer things"; and what can bring beings out of birth and death is not the gift of wealth alone, but the six perfections dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas. That 「法」 tr. "dharma" beyond the gift of wealth, the sūtra text here makes plain.

23. The Buddha's extended explanation, three—abiding in dāna, he supplies what they lack and makes them keep morality. The five passages below are all 「住檀波羅蜜中」 tr. "abiding within dānapāramitā" while making beings cultivate the other perfections; this is where this unit most shows the bodhisattva's hand and eye. The first passage makes them keep morality: having given, the bodhisattva says to them: 「汝等來持戒，我當供給汝等，令無乏短」 tr. "Come and keep morality; I shall supply you, so that you have no lack or shortage", and clothing, food, bedding, and so on up to the things needed to sustain life, he will give them all. The reason, the sūtra text states most down-to-earth—「汝等乏少故破戒」 tr. "You break morality because of lack and shortage". The cause of breaking morality is not necessarily in the mind and not in the body; under the press of hunger and cold, keeping morality is hard to accomplish; so first he removes their lack, afterwards he makes them abide in the restraint of the precepts, and 「漸漸當得盡苦，成於三乘而得度脫」 tr. "little by little they shall end suffering, accomplish the three vehicles, and be delivered". Supporting morality with wealth: this is the first meaning of the bodhisattva's gathering in morality with dāna.

24. The Buddha's extended explanation, four—abiding in dāna, he removes their wanting and makes them practise patience. The second passage makes them patient. Seeing beings angry and vexed, the bodhisattva first asks their causes and conditions and first grants what they need: 「我當與汝所須；汝等所欲，從我取之」 tr. "I shall give you what you need; whatever you want, take it from me"—again first removing their lack. Only then does he teach the principle of patience: 「一切法中無有堅實，汝等所瞋，是因緣空無堅實」 tr. "Within all dharmas there is nothing firm and substantial; that at which you are angry—its causes and conditions are empty and without firm substance", all born from false recollection and imagining; 「汝無有根本」 tr. "you have no root". Next he shows the fruit of their anger: anger ruins the mind, they revile with evil mouths, set upon one another with knives and staves, even to taking life, and by this fall into the hells, among the animals, among the hungry ghosts, and into the other evil destinies, receiving immeasurable suffering; and so on, by these sinful deeds they 「尚不得人身，何況得生佛世」 tr. "will not even obtain a human body, how much less be born in the age of a Buddha". Next he spurs them with the thought of what is hard to obtain: 「佛世難值、人身難得，汝等莫失好時！若失好時，則不可救。」 tr. "The age of a Buddha is hard to meet, a human body is hard to obtain; do not lose the good time! If you lose the good time, you cannot be saved." And the bodhisattva himself still has the four marks of practising himself, teaching others, praising, and rejoicing all complete, making beings abide in patience and 「漸以三乘得盡眾苦」 tr. "little by little by the three vehicles end all suffering". First giving things and afterwards giving the Dharma; the previous passage cured lack, this passage cures anger—the things given are the same, the sickness cured is different.

25. The Buddha's extended explanation, five—abiding in dāna, he completes their causes and conditions and makes them vigorous. The third passage makes them vigorous. The bodhisattva, seeing beings slack, asks 「汝等何以懈怠」 tr. "Why are you slack?", and beings answer 「因緣少故」 tr. "Because our causes and conditions are few". This answer is most honest: slackness is not necessarily all laziness of mind; a lack of means too makes a person's resolve sink. The bodhisattva at once grants it: 「我當令汝因緣具足，若布施、若持戒、若忍辱。」 tr. "I shall make your causes and conditions complete, whether giving, or keeping morality, or patience." By the causes and conditions of obtaining this benefit, beings have vigour of body, vigour of speech, and vigour of mind; because of vigour in the three places of body, speech, and mind, 「一切善法具足，修聖無漏法」 tr. "all wholesome dharmas are complete, and they train in the noble dharmas without outflows", and thereby obtain the fruit of srota-āpanna and so on up to the fruit of arhat, the pratyekabuddha path, and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The sūtra text here says plainly that the bodhisattva 「住精進波羅蜜，攝取眾生」 tr. "abides in the vigour pāramitā and gathers in beings"—his person is practising dāna, and yet what he abides in is vigour: this is precisely the mark of one gate gathering in all gates.

26. The Buddha sets up a question himself—within practising dāna, how does one make them cultivate meditation. For the question of the fourth passage, the sūtra text brings out a separate interrogative sentence: 「須菩提！云何菩薩摩訶薩行檀波羅蜜時，教化眾生令修禪波羅蜜？」 tr. "Subhūti! How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, when practising dānapāramitā, teach and transform beings and make them cultivate dhyānapāramitā?" The first three passages the Buddha spoke continuously, one after another; here the Buddha sets up a question himself and then answers it himself, and the flow of the text pauses. The place where it pauses is just where it turns from outer matters into the inner mind—giving, keeping morality, patience, and vigour still have outward matters to draw on; meditative concentration belongs purely to inward gathering, and so it is asked separately and answered separately.

27. The Buddha's answer—giving them causes and conditions so that the mind does not follow initial and sustained thought; they enter the four dhyānas and the four immeasurables and never lose the path. The bodhisattva, seeing beings with scattered minds, urges them to cultivate meditative concentration, and beings again answer 「我等因緣不具足故」 tr. "Because our causes and conditions are not complete". The bodhisattva says: 「我當與汝等作因緣，以是因緣故，令汝心不隨覺觀，亦不馳散。」 tr. "I shall make causes and conditions for you; by reason of these causes and conditions, your minds will not follow initial and sustained thought, nor run off scattered." By reason of these causes and conditions beings sever initial and sustained thought, enter the first dhyāna, the second dhyāna, the third dhyāna, and the fourth dhyāna, and practise the minds of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity; again, with these dhyānas and immeasurable minds as causes and conditions, they can cultivate the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eightfold noble path; when cultivating the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, 「漸入三乘而得涅槃，終不失道」 tr. "little by little they enter the three vehicles and obtain nirvāṇa, never, from beginning to end, losing the path". Dhyāna does not stop at dhyāna—from dhyāna one enters the limbs of the path, from the limbs of the path one enters the three vehicles; the thread is clear. And what the bodhisattva does is still only the three Chinese characters 「作因緣」 tr. "make causes and conditions": he cannot enter concentration on another's behalf; he can only remove the obstacles to their entering concentration.

28. The Buddha's extended explanation, six—abiding in dāna, he gives them the means of wisdom and makes them reflect that in prajñā there is no dharma to be found. The fifth passage makes them cultivate wisdom. Beings answer 「因緣未具故」 tr. "Because our causes and conditions are not yet complete", and the bodhisattva at once says that the means of wisdom they need may be taken from him, 「所謂布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、入禪定」 tr. "namely giving, keeping morality, patience, vigour, and entering meditative concentration"—the first five perfections are precisely the provisions for wisdom, and this sentence tells out the whole sequence of the six perfections at once. When the causes and conditions are complete, he then teaches them to reflect: when reflecting on prajñāpāramitā, is there any dharma that can be found? Can self, beings, a life, and so on up to a knower and a seer be found? Can form, feeling, perception, constructions, consciousness, the three realms, the six perfections, the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, the fruit of srota-āpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, the fruit of arhat, the pratyekabuddha path, and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi be found? When reflecting thus, within prajñāpāramitā 「無有法可得可著處」 tr. "there is no dharma that can be found, no place that can be clung to"; because they do not cling to dharmas they do not see that dharmas have arising and ceasing, have stain and purity, and they also do not discriminate hells, animals, hungry ghosts, the host of asuras, gods, humans; keeping morality, breaking morality; srota-āpanna, sakṛdāgāmin, anāgāmin, arhat, pratyekabuddha, Buddha. The content that this passage has beings reflect on for themselves is precisely the meaning of the Buddha's answers to Śāriputra in the first half of this unit—in the first half the Buddha spoke it for Śāriputra; here the bodhisattva has beings reflect on it themselves: the principle is the same and the position different.

29. The Buddha's extended explanation, seven—benefiting beings with the requisites of offering, he makes them cultivate the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path. Next it gathers up in general the other perfections and the limbs of the path: the bodhisattva abides within dānapāramitā and 「以供養具利益眾生」 tr. "benefits beings with the requisites of offering"; by the causes and conditions of this benefit beings can cultivate 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, and the eightfold noble path; practising these thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, they 「於生死中得解脫」 tr. "obtain liberation within birth and death". The sūtra text concludes it: 「菩薩摩訶薩以無漏聖法攝取眾生」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattva gathers in beings with the holy Dharma without outflows"—the requisites of offering are things with outflows, while the dharma into which beings are gathered is the holy Dharma without outflows. Leading practice without outflows by means with outflows: here the use of dānapāramitā reaches its utmost.

30. The Buddha's extended explanation, eight—he has them take the things they need and in turn gather in beings, with benefit, ease, and happiness through the long night. A layer further: the bodhisattva not only gives things to people, but also has the recipients take these things and go to gather in others—「汝等從我取所須物」 tr. "Take from me the things you need", food and drink, clothing, bedding, incense and flowers, and so on up to the seven jewels and the various other things needed to sustain life—「汝當以是攝取眾生」 tr. "you should gather in beings with these". And he breaks beforehand their thought of keeping themselves outside: they are not to have this thought, 「是物非我所有」 tr. "these things are not mine", because 「我長夜為眾生故，集此諸物」 tr. "through the long night, for the sake of beings, I have accumulated these things", and so 「汝等當取是物，如己物無異」 tr. "you should take these things as no different from your own things". The recipient turns into a giver, and the one matter of giving thus does not end in one person's hands. What they are taught is still giving and so on up to wisdom, the thirty-seven dharmas that aid the path, the Buddha's ten powers and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, and the fruit of the dharma without outflows, and what is hoped for is 「令得離三惡道及一切生死往來苦」 tr. "to make them leave the three evil destinies and all the suffering of going and coming in birth and death".

31. The Buddha's extended explanation, nine—abiding in śīlapāramitā, he makes them practise the ten wholesome paths; the other four perfections are likewise. The final passage turns out of dānapāramitā and into śīla: the bodhisattva abides in śīlapāramitā and teaches and transforms beings, still first asking what they lack—「汝等少何因緣故破戒？」 tr. "For lack of what causes and conditions do you break morality?"—and still first granting them complete causes and conditions, 「若布施乃至智慧及種種資生所須」 tr. "whether giving and so on up to wisdom, and the various things needed to sustain life". Then he benefits beings, 「令行十善，遠離十不善道」 tr. "makes them practise the ten wholesome paths and be far from the ten unwholesome paths", makes them keep the precepts and 「不破戒、不缺戒、不濁戒、不雜戒、不取戒」 tr. "not break the precepts, not let the precepts be deficient, not let the precepts be turbid, not let the precepts be mixed, not grasp at the precepts", and 「漸以三乘而得盡苦」 tr. "little by little by the three vehicles end suffering". At the end, with one sentence it extends to all the perfections: 「尸羅波羅蜜為首，如檀波羅蜜說，餘四波羅蜜亦如是。」 tr. "With śīlapāramitā as the head, it is as was said of dānapāramitā; the other four pāramitās are likewise." One perfection is explained at length, and the other five are known by analogy—the sūtra text of this unit stops here; the Buddha's extended explanation is not yet ended, but its pattern is already sufficient.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「照明」 tr. "illumination" as another dharma. The 「照明」 tr. "Illumination" of the chapter title has its fixed place in the sūtra text: 「不得施、不得施者、不得受者，亦不遠離是法行檀波羅蜜，是則照明菩薩道。」 tr. "Not finding the giving, not finding the giver, not finding the recipient, and also not being far from this dharma as he practises dānapāramitā: this is the illumination of the bodhisattva path." Illumination is not a further perfection added outside the six perfections, nor is it a kind of light obtained separately after the dharmas have been practised to the full; it is just that share of clarity, in the very moment of practising dharmas, that does not fall to the two sides of existence and non-existence. So the Buddha goes on to say 「菩薩以方便力故具足菩薩道」 tr. "by reason of the power of skilful means the bodhisattva makes complete the bodhisattva path"—illumination and completeness are two ways of saying one and the same matter, not two layers in sequence.

Do not read 「不得施、不得施者、不得受者」 tr. "not finding the giving, not finding the giver, not finding the recipient" as there being no need to give. The sūtra text immediately adds the sentence 「亦不遠離是法行檀波羅蜜」 tr. "and also not being far from this dharma as he practises dānapāramitā" precisely to prevent this error. The three things not being found is said of their emptiness of nature; the practice of dāna not being abandoned is said of their provisional names; if because of not finding one abandons the practice, one falls to the side of annihilation that the later text of the sūtra breaks. That whole long passage in the latter half of this unit explaining the practice of dāna at length—giving by oneself, teaching giving, supplying what they lack, giving what they need, even to not begrudging the flesh of one's own body—is the entire commentary on the three Chinese characters 「不遠離」 tr. "not being far from": the one who speaks most emptily acts most solidly.

Do not read 「無眾生法可度」 tr. "there is no dharma of beings to be delivered" as there being no need to deliver beings. Only after the Buddha himself has said that one makes complete the bodhisattva path and 「成就眾生、淨佛國土」 tr. "brings beings to accomplishment and purifies buddha-lands" does he go on to 「無眾生法可度」 tr. "there is no dharma of beings to be delivered"; the simile of the conjurer is the same—that the illusory people are not filled is true, and yet the giving of food and drink is plainly there. The sūtra text further blocks this error from the reverse side: 「若眾生先有後無，諸佛、菩薩則有過罪。」 tr. "If beings were first existent and afterwards non-existent, the buddhas and bodhisattvas would have fault." If emptiness is understood as emptying beings away, the buddhas and bodhisattvas become destroyers of beings. What is removed is inversion, not beings.

Do not read 「見諸法無性」 tr. "seeing that dharmas are without nature" as leave to stop. The very first thing the sūtra text blocks is just this: the bodhisattva 「不見諸法根本住中退沒、生懈怠心」 tr. "does not, on seeing the root of dharmas, halt there in retreat and sinking and give rise to a mind of slackness". To abide within the root of dharmas and retreat, sink, and grow slack is a misstep peculiar to the gate of emptiness—not falling into evil, but falling into doing nothing. Right after this the sūtra text joins on the various teachings of 「自立如幻師」 tr. "setting himself up like a conjurer", precisely so that people will know: the movement after seeing non-nature is not stopping but rising.

Do not read 「是阿耨多羅三藐三菩提易得耳」 tr. "this anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi is simply easy to obtain" as a light and slighting mind. These words have their reason: 「無有定法眾生所著處，但顛倒故眾生著。」 tr. "There is not one fixed dharma that is a place where beings cling; it is only by reason of inversion that beings cling." The ease lies in what is to be broken being only inversion, there being from the first no real dharma to oppose; it does not lie in the work of practice being reducible. In the same passage, immediately after, comes 「汝當自離生死，亦當教他離生死」 tr. "you should yourselves leave birth and death, and should also teach others to leave birth and death"—ease is spoken of to break the timid and weak mind, not to open the door to slackness.

Do not read the teaching of the Dharma while abiding in the two truths as the provisional and the real being two separate stakes. The sūtra text says 「菩薩摩訶薩住二諦中為眾生說法：世諦、第一義諦」 tr. "the bodhisattva-mahāsattva abides in the two truths and teaches the Dharma for beings: worldly truth and the truth of the highest meaning"—it is 「住二諦中」 tr. "abiding within the two truths", not sometimes abiding in this and sometimes in that. If the two truths are cut into two pieces, then when teaching worldly truth one would truly take beings to be findable, and when teaching the highest meaning one would truly take it that there is no Dharma to teach; the mark the sūtra text shows is that, within one and the same teaching of the Dharma, the provisional name is plainly there and yet in reality unfindable; therefore it says 「無有所得過罪」 tr. "there is no fault of being with something to be attained".

Bearing on Practice

When practising any wholesome dharma, check both ends at the same time: ‘are the three things found?’ and ‘is one far from it?’. After giving, keeping morality, listening to the Dharma, or doing work, when the matter is done one may well ask oneself two questions: does the mind still keep a mark of I give, he receives, this thing?—this is the sickness of finding the three things; and, having grown used to hearing of the emptiness of nature, has one done what should be done more thinly, more coldly?—this is the sickness of being far from it. The place to set one's hand to the illumination of the bodhisattva path is nowhere else; it is just that share of unbiased clarity between these two sicknesses.

Recognise the distinction between ordinary people and sages by 「但以顛倒心故」 tr. "it is only by reason of an inverted mind", not by searching in dharmas. Seeing one's own afflictions present, there is no need to suspect that one's own nature truly has an ordinary person's bedrock; seeing another practise the path with strength, there is also no need to put it down to an inborn difference of lineage. The sūtra text says plainly that the form at which ordinary people cling is without nature and without substance, and exists 「但以顛倒心故」 tr. "only by reason of an inverted mind". What can be turned is inversion, and this is just why practice is possible—put the distinction of ordinary and sage back onto delusion and awakening, and effort has a footing.

Seeing non-nature, rise to practice; do not, seeing non-nature, stop. When one's work begins to gain some strength, it is easiest to give rise to a flavour of ‘since it is ultimate emptiness, why make so much ado’; the sūtra text has long since named this sickness 「住中退沒、生懈怠心」 tr. "halting there in retreat and sinking and giving rise to a mind of slackness". The remedy lies in the same passage—after seeing that there is nothing existent and that the nature is ever empty, what the bodhisattva does is 「自立如幻師，為眾生說法」 tr. "set himself up like a conjurer and teach the Dharma for beings". So whenever one feels the state of mind turning emptier and practice in deed turning lazier, that is exactly the time to rise into function.

In working together with people and in teaching people to practise, first remove their lack, then give them the Dharma. The five passages of extended explanation in this unit all follow one pattern: beings answer 「因緣少故」 tr. "because our causes and conditions are few", 「我等因緣不具足故」 tr. "because our causes and conditions are not complete", 「因緣未具故」 tr. "because our causes and conditions are not yet complete", and the bodhisattva in every case first grants what they need and then teaches them right practice. Urging people to practise today is the same—when a person has present lack, anger, scatteredness, or not-knowing, first give him a condition in which he can settle, and only then can the Dharma be heard. Not first removing the lack and yet blaming him for not progressing is not understanding the use of dānapāramitā.

Whoever receives kindness from others in turn becomes a giver. The sūtra text has those who receive giving take what they received and go to gather in others, and first breaks their thought 「是物非我所有」 tr. "these things are not mine". All who obtain the Dharma or things from teachers and elders, from a place of practice, or from others may conduct themselves accordingly: there is no need to feel ashamed at receiving, nor may one stop at receiving; take it as one's own and pass it on to others—only then does the line of giving not end with oneself.

Settle one's resolve by 「我必當得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "I shall certainly obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". The sūtra text says that the bodhisattva does not doubt 「我當不得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "shall I be unable to obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi?" but knows decisively that he will certainly obtain it. This is not overweening pride—what it rests on is precisely that the nature of dharmas is ever empty and that what beings cling to is only inversion, so that there is no one dharma that can decisively obstruct me. That one's resolve can be settled lies exactly in seeing that no dharma has fixed nature.

Further Resonances

The one unit of the First Part has the sūtra without the treatise; it sets up the entire sūtra framework of the chapter "Illumination". At the opening comes Subhūti's one question—the dharmas and practices all present and yet the path not complete, awakening is still unfindable; the Buddha, with the one sentence 「不得施、不得施者、不得受者，亦不遠離是法行檀波羅蜜」 tr. "not finding the giving, not finding the giver, not finding the recipient, and also not being far from this dharma as he practises dānapāramitā", fixes the meaning of 「照明」 tr. "illumination", and at once seals that illumination is completeness with 「具足已，能得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "having made it complete, he can obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi". In the middle section Śāriputra's four difficulties go deeper layer by layer—how does one train in it, how does one train, how are ordinary people and sages known, how are beings who are without anything existent delivered—and the Buddha gathers them in with four answers: not destroying and not following, not grasping dharmas, only by reason of an inverted mind, and teaching the Dharma while abiding in the two truths; and with the one simile of a conjurer conjuring hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of people he illumines both phenomena and principle together: the setting-out is plainly there, and yet no one is filled. In the latter section Subhūti asks again about the bodhisattva path, and the Buddha does not set up a separate new dharma but takes dānapāramitā alone and explains it at length to the end: giving by oneself, teaching giving, praising giving, rejoicing in giving; gathering in with the four things; constantly being a sage king and begrudging nothing; abiding in dāna, making them keep morality, making them patient, making them vigorous, making them cultivate meditation, making them cultivate wisdom; making them cultivate the limbs of the path with the requisites of offering; making the recipients turn into givers; and at the end, with abiding in śīla to make them practise the ten wholesome paths and with the one sentence 「餘四波羅蜜亦如是」 tr. "the other four pāramitās are likewise", it extends to all the perfections. Emptiness without abandoning practice, practice without clinging to marks—the First Part has set this one principle firmly in the sūtra text. As for how the treatise-author explains this sūtra following its text—why illumination and completeness are one meaning, where the fault of the two sides lies, the fourfold explanation of not destroying and not following, why the nature of form is non-existent, why beyond the six perfections the superior dharma is further spoken of, the distinction between the initial dharma and the superior dharma, why within the two truths one teaches neither only emptiness nor only existence, together with the six rounds of question and answer the treatise-author sets up for himself and the various similes that follow the text—the Last Part of this chapter unfolds it in continuation; here it is not anticipated.