大智度論 曇無竭品·卷九十九經段Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Dharmodgata, Part 1 of 3

Dharmodgata, Fascicle 99, Sūtra Section: Why the Buddhas Come from Nowhere and in Going Reach Nowhere; What the Three Similes of the Mirage, the Illusion, and the Dream and the Two Similes of the Ocean's Jewels and the Konghou Each Refute; Why the Dharma Body Cannot Be Seen by the Form Body; Why Not Falsely Consuming the Faithful Gifts of Others Is Tied to Not Discriminating Coming and Going; Why Śakra Offers Flowers Again and Again; Why Sadāprarudita, Having Given His Body Over to the Teacher, Turns and Presents It to the Teacher; Why for Seven Years He Walks and Stands, Not Sitting, Not Lying Down; Why Māra Hides the Water and Why the Practitioner Pierces His Body to Sprinkle the Ground; and Why the Joy of Seeing the Teacher Is Likened to a Bhikṣu Entering the Third Dhyāna

What Is Being Asked

In the previous chapter Sadāprarudita went through every hardship—selling his body to seek the Dharma, moving the buddhas to appear before him, travelling to the City of Many Fragrances—and at last met Dharmodgata. Having met him, the question only truly begins: the buddhas he saw in the sky—from where did they come, and to where did they go? This question was his deepest doubt along the whole road, and also his deepest clinging—precisely because he had seen the Buddha's marks and minor signs and heard the Buddha's voice, he would take the Buddha to be a person who can come and go. As this chapter opens, Dharmodgata's very first words pull this question up by the root: 「諸佛無所從來，去亦無所至。」 tr. "The buddhas come from nowhere, and in going reach nowhere." It is not that the Buddha comes too fast for you to see; it is that this pair of notions, 「來去」 tr. "coming and going", cannot from the very start be set upon the Buddha. So the grounds given below are not ‘the Buddha's supernormal powers surpass coming and going’, but 「諸法如不動相，諸法如即是佛」 tr. "the suchness of dharmas has the mark of not moving; the suchness of dharmas is precisely the Buddha"—the Buddha is not some further person apart from suchness; the Buddha is precisely the suchness of dharmas; and since suchness does not move, where could coming and going be set?

Then Dharmodgata lists them one by one: the dharma of non-arising, the dharma of non-ceasing, the dharma of the limit of reality, emptiness, the undefiled, quiescent extinction, the nature of space; of each he says 「無來無去」 tr. "neither comes nor goes", of each he says 「即是佛」 tr. "is precisely the Buddha". These are not seven buddhas; they are seven gates recognising one and the same thing. Then come five similes. The first three refute clinging—the mirage, the illusory thing, and the dream are all things ‘seen and yet in fact not there’, used to cut off the view 「有來有去」 tr. "there is coming and there is going"; the last two establish meaning—the jewels of the great ocean and the sound of the konghou are both things ‘truly existing and yet coming from no place’, used to guard against the doubt ‘since there is no coming and going, it is annihilation’. Refuting and establishing each have their share, and in reading they may not be mixed into one heap.

When the similes are finished, the sūtra text turns to narrative, and the narrative is in fact still speaking of the same thing. Śakra offering flowers, Sadāprarudita giving his body over to the teacher, the elder's daughter and the five hundred attendant maidens likewise giving themselves over, the carriages of the seven jewels and the offerings presented in full, Dharmodgata accepting and giving them back again, entering the palace at sunset, seven years in concentration, seven years of walking and standing, Māra hiding the water, piercing the body and drawing blood to sprinkle the ground, Śakra's three thousand dan of heavenly flowers—this long string is not an appendix after the doctrine, but how that person lives after ‘knowing that dharmas neither come nor go’. One who truly believes that the Buddha has no coming and going will not for that reason slight offering; quite the contrary, he gives even his body away. The Dharma body has no coming and going, and this body can be relinquished—in this unit these two things are two faces of one and the same thing.

So this unit has two questions to answer: the first concerns meaning—since the Buddha neither comes nor goes, what then is the Buddha I have seen, the Buddha to whom I make offerings? The second concerns practice—since all that is seen is like a mirage, like a dream, why still go seven years without sitting or lying down, why still pierce the body to sprinkle the ground? Only when these two questions are answered is Sūtra ① read through.

Passage by Passage

1. The general opening—the buddhas come from nowhere, and in going reach nowhere; suchness taught through seven gates, suchness always one, not two, not three. As soon as he opens his mouth Dharmodgata sets down the general headrope: 「善男子！諸佛無所從來，去亦無所至。」 tr. "Good man! The buddhas come from nowhere, and in going reach nowhere." Having set down the verdict, he at once asks himself the reason: 「何以故？諸法如不動相，諸法如即是佛。」 tr. "Why? The suchness of dharmas has the mark of not moving; the suchness of dharmas is precisely the Buddha." These two sentences are the foundation of the whole chapter. The first speaks of the substance and nature of 「如」 tr. "suchness"—suchness is the mark of not moving; were it to move there would be coming and going; not moving, coming and going have nowhere to be set up. The second speaks of the relation between the Buddha and suchness—it is not that the Buddha realised suchness, nor that the Buddha abides within suchness, but that 「諸法如即是佛」 tr. "the suchness of dharmas is precisely the Buddha". Since the Buddha is precisely suchness, and suchness does not move, the two marks of coming and going naturally cannot be established. Next, through seven gates, he says this one thing seven times: 「無生法無來無去，無生法即是佛」 tr. "the dharma of non-arising neither comes nor goes; the dharma of non-arising is precisely the Buddha", the dharma of non-ceasing, the dharma of the limit of reality, emptiness, the undefiled, quiescent extinction, the nature of space—the sentence pattern uniform, what is pointed to one. The seven gates are not seven meanings; from the seven angles of non-arising, non-ceasing, the limit of reality, emptiness, the undefiled, quiescent extinction, and space, they point to the one unmoving suchness. The three sentences at the end gather it in: 「離是諸法更無佛」 tr. "apart from these dharmas there is no further Buddha"—one may not seek a further Buddha outside these dharmas; 「諸佛如、諸法如，一如無分別」 tr. "the suchness of the buddhas and the suchness of dharmas are one and the same suchness, without discrimination"—the suchness of the Buddha and the suchness of dharmas are not two suchnesses; 「是如常一，無二、無三，出諸數法，無所有故」 tr. "this suchness is always one; it is not two, it is not three; it passes beyond all dharmas of number, because it is without anything existent"—suchness passes beyond all dharmas that can be counted, because it is itself without anything existent; being without anything existent, there is nothing by which to count it, and with nothing by which to count it there is no such thing as one Buddha coming and one Buddha going. On reading to this point, take note: Dharmodgata does not deny that there is a Buddha; what he denies is ‘the Buddha is a thing that can be described by coming and going’.

2. The mirage simile—one who sees a mirage and seeks water is precisely one who discriminates the Buddha as having coming and going; the Dharma body cannot be seen by the form body. The meaning set up, Dharmodgata at once sets out a simile: 「譬如春末月，日中熱時，有人見焰動，逐之求水望得。」 tr. "It is like the last month of spring, at midday when it is hot: a person sees a mirage shimmering, chases after it seeking water, and hopes to obtain it." Then he does not break it open directly, but asks Sadāprarudita in return: 「是水從何池、何山、何泉來？今何所去？」 tr. "From which pool, which mountain, which spring did this water come? And where does it now go?"—asking on through the four seas, pressing him to answer for himself. Sadāprarudita answers quite crisply: 「焰中尚無水，云何當有來處、去處？」 tr. "In a mirage there is not even water; how could there be a place it comes from or a place it goes to?" The water does not exist at all; to press after its coming and going is a joke. This answer hits the vital point exactly, and Dharmodgata then closes it: 「愚夫無智，為熱渴所逼，見焰動，無水生水想。」 tr. "The foolish ordinary person, without wisdom, pressed by heat and thirst, sees the mirage shimmer and, where there is no water, gives rise to the notion of water." The folly of the foolish person does not lie in seeing the mirage—the mirage truly can be seen; the folly lies in 「無水生水想」 tr. "where there is no water, giving rise to the notion of water", adding a really existent thing onto a visible mark. In the same way, 「若有人分別諸佛有來有去，當知是人皆是愚夫」 tr. "if anyone discriminates the buddhas as having coming and going, know that such people are all foolish ordinary persons". Immediately after comes the most vital sentence of the whole passage, settling the position: 「諸佛不可以色身見，諸佛法身無來無去」 tr. "the buddhas cannot be seen by the form body; the Dharma body of the buddhas neither comes nor goes". The Buddha has a form body, has marks and minor signs, has a voice; these can be seen and heard, as the mirage can be seen; but to take the form body as the Buddha himself is like taking the mirage for water. What is refuted is not the seeing, but the clinging added onto the seeing.

3. The illusion simile—an illusory thing has no reality, and so no coming and going; those who discriminate the Buddha as having coming and going are also like this. The second simile changes the angle: 「譬如幻師幻作種種」 tr. "it is like a conjurer who conjures up all kinds of things", an elephant, or a horse, or an ox, or a sheep, or a man, or a woman. The mirage is an error that arises of itself; the illusion is a false mark that someone makes. The mirage simile makes clear the clinging of ‘producing existence out of nothing’; the illusion simile makes clear the mark of ‘made yet not real’. Dharmodgata likewise asks in return about its coming and going, and Sadāprarudita likewise answers decisively: 「幻事無實，云何當有來去處？」 tr. "An illusory thing has no reality; how could there be a place of coming and going?" Dharmodgata gathers it in with one sentence: 「是人分別佛有來有去亦如是。」 tr. "Such people, discriminating the Buddha as having coming and going, are also like this." This passage is extremely short, so short it seems a repetition—precisely because it is short, readers easily slip past it. One must see its division of labour with the previous simile: the mirage is made by no one, the illusion is made by someone; the Buddha's body is 「從本業因緣果報生」 tr. "born from the causes and conditions and the retribution of original deeds", and has the mark of being made, so this move of the illusion simile is needed; otherwise, relying on the mirage simile alone, people would think the Buddha's body lacks even the provisional existence formed by causes and conditions.

4. The dream simile and the gathering-up—knowing as it really is, one does not discriminate coming and going, arising and ceasing; this is named a true disciple of the Buddha, a field of merit for the world. The third simile goes a layer further: 「譬如夢中見若象、若馬、若牛、若羊、若男、若女」 tr. "it is like seeing in a dream an elephant, or a horse, or an ox, or a sheep, or a man, or a woman"; asked about their coming and going, Sadāprarudita answers: 「是夢中所見虛妄，云何當有來去？」 tr. "What is seen in this dream is false; how could it have coming and going?" The mirage is an error of looking from afar; the illusion is made by another; the dream is what appears from one's own mind—the three similes go from outer to inner, coming nearer the further they go. So only here does Dharmodgata gather it all up: 「佛說諸法如夢。」 tr. "The Buddha said that dharmas are like a dream." Those who do not know this meaning and 「以名字色身著佛」 tr. "cling to the Buddha by name and by form body" then discriminate the buddhas as having coming and going; 「不知諸法實際相故，皆是愚夫無智之數」 tr. "because they do not know the mark of the limit of reality of dharmas, they all belong to the kind of foolish ordinary persons without wisdom"; their retribution is 「是人數數往來五道，遠離般若波羅蜜，遠離諸佛法」 tr. "such people go and come again and again within the five destinies, far from prajñāpāramitā, far from the dharmas of the buddhas"—note the fine symmetry of this sentence: those who cling to the Buddha as having coming and going themselves fall instead into real coming and going, going and coming again and again within the five destinies. Conversely, 「若有眾生如實知，是人不分別諸法若來若去、若生若滅」 tr. "if there are beings who know this as it really is, such people do not discriminate dharmas as coming or going, as arising or ceasing", 「則能知佛所說諸法實相」 tr. "then they can know the real mark of all dharmas taught by the Buddha", 「近阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，名為真佛弟子」 tr. "draw near to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and are named true disciples of the Buddha", and moreover 「不虛妄食人信施，是人應受供養，為世間福田」 tr. "do not falsely consume the faithful gifts of others; such people should receive offerings, and are a field of merit for the world". Here the doctrine is joined directly onto the qualification to receive offerings: being able to receive people's offerings without falsehood does not lie in having supernormal powers or name and rank, but in not giving rise to the discrimination of coming and going upon the Buddha's body. The reason a field of merit is a field of merit is that he truly clings to nothing.

5. The simile of the ocean's jewels—they exist because the conditions join, they perish because the conditions part; the Buddha's body is born from the causes and conditions and the retribution of original deeds. The first three similes all refute; here it turns to establishing. 「譬如大海水中諸寶，不從東方來」 tr. "It is like the many jewels in the waters of the great ocean: they do not come from the east", nor do they come from the south, the west, or the north, the four intermediate directions, or above and below; rather, 「眾生善根因緣故，海生此寶」 tr. "it is by the causes and conditions of beings' roots of goodness that the ocean produces these jewels". What is vital is the sharp turn of the next sentence: 「此寶亦不無因緣而生」 tr. "nor are these jewels produced without causes and conditions"—not coming from the ten directions is not the same as existing out of thin air. This is exactly the move that guards against annihilation: the misunderstanding that most easily arises in one who has heard the three similes is ‘since it is like a mirage, like a dream, then there is nothing at all’. The sūtra text at once closes the gap: the jewels really are jewels; it is only that 「諸緣合故有，諸緣離故滅」 tr. "when the conditions join they exist; when the conditions part they perish". Then it returns to the Buddha's body: 「諸佛身亦如是，從本業因緣果報生，生不從十方來，滅時亦不去至十方」 tr. "the bodies of the buddhas are also thus: they are born from the causes and conditions and the retribution of their original deeds; when born they do not come from the ten directions, and when they perish they do not go to the ten directions either". The existence of the Buddha's body is an existence formed by causes and conditions; the Buddha's body has no coming and going because it was never a thing carried over from some place. The jewels in the ocean, people diving down truly can obtain; the Buddha's body, beings truly can see—this does not hinder its neither coming nor going.

6. The simile of the sound of the konghou—only when the many conditions come together is there sound; it is not accomplished from a single matter alone. The fifth simile is finer still: 「譬如箜篌聲，出時無來處，滅時無去處。」 tr. "It is like the sound of a konghou: when it comes out it has no place it comes from, and when it ceases it has no place it goes to." The jewels are still things with form; sound does not even have form, and is best suited to show ‘existing yet having no place it comes from’. The sūtra text counts out the conditions to the last: 「有槽、有頸、有皮、有絃、有柱、有棍，有人以手鼓之」 tr. "there is the body, there is the neck, there is the skin, there are the strings, there are the pegs, there is the plectrum, and there is a person who plays it with the hand", and then denies them one by one: the sound does not come out of the body, does not come out of the neck, does not come out of the skin, does not come out of the strings, does not come out of the pegs, does not come out of the plectrum, nor does it come out of the person's hand; 「眾緣和合爾乃有聲」 tr. "only when the many conditions come together is there sound". This string of item-by-item exclusion has great power to teach: when ordinary people hear music, they always want to point out where it comes from—point to the strings? The strings do not sound of themselves. Point to the hand? An empty hand makes no sound. Point through all seven places, and each one is not it, and yet put together there is, after all, sound. 「是因緣離時，亦無去處」 tr. "when these causes and conditions part, it has no place it goes to either"—after the sound stops, you cannot say where it has withdrawn to either. The Buddha's body is just so: 「從無量功德因緣生，不從一因一緣一功德生，亦不無因緣有，眾緣和合故有。」 tr. "It is born from the causes and conditions of immeasurable merits, not born from one cause, one condition, one merit; nor does it exist without causes and conditions; it exists because the many conditions come together." The one phrase 「不獨從一事成」 tr. "not accomplished from a single matter alone" cuts off the thought of looking for a single origin in the Buddha's body; 「來無所從、去無所至」 tr. "when coming they come from nowhere, when going they reach nowhere" answers the general headrope at the opening, and the five similes are here brought to a close.

7. Conclusion—knowing that the Buddha and dharmas neither come nor go, neither arise nor cease, one will surely obtain awakening and be able to practise prajñā and the power of skilful means. Dharmodgata puts the similes away and hands the conclusion back to Sadāprarudita: 「應當如是知諸佛來相去相」 tr. "in this way you should know the mark of the buddhas' coming and the mark of their going", and moreover 「亦當知一切法無來去相」 tr. "you should also know that all dharmas are without the mark of coming and going". This extension is the key step of the whole passage—the Buddha's having no coming and going is not a special case of the Buddha; it is the common mark of all dharmas; if this contemplation is made only upon the Buddha's body, it is still discrimination. At the end he promises the fruit: 「必得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦能行般若波羅蜜及方便力。」 tr. "You will surely obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and will also be able to practise prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means." Obtaining awakening is named together with being able to practise prajñā and skilful means, which shows that this contemplation is not idle talk that stops at view; it is directly the point of entry for practising prajñā and giving rise to skilful means. The doctrinal passage of Sūtra ① is finished here; what follows turns to narrative.

8. Śakra offers flowers—by the power of his causes and conditions beings are benefited; a good person such as this is truly hard to meet. The teaching of the Dharma finished, Śakra Devānām Indra gives heavenly māndārava flowers to Sadāprarudita and bids him pass them on as an offering to Dharmodgata, saying of himself 「我當守護供養汝」 tr. "I shall protect you and make offerings to you". The reason he gives is not ‘you have understood the Dharma’ but 「汝因緣力故，今日饒益百千萬億眾生，使得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "by the power of your causes and conditions, today hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of beings are benefited and made to obtain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"—Sadāprarudita, one person seeking the Dharma, has drawn along the conditions for the deliverance of hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi of people, and so is worth protecting. Śakra further exclaims: 「如是善人，甚為難遇！」 tr. "A good person such as this is truly hard to meet!" Where does the hardness of meeting lie? In 「為饒益一切眾生故，無量阿僧祇劫受諸勤苦」 tr. "for the sake of benefiting all beings, through immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas he undergoes all kinds of toil and hardship". This passage looks like an interlude, but it has a deep intent: just as the doctrine has said that the Buddha neither comes nor goes, straight after comes the lord of the gods running up to make offerings to an ordinary person in a fleshly body—precisely because the Dharma body is not elsewhere, the causes and conditions of this present seeking of the Dharma are the very place where the Dharma body is manifest.

9. Giving his body over to the teacher—Sadāprarudita declares it three times; the elder's daughter and the five hundred attendant maidens likewise give themselves over. Sadāprarudita receives the flowers and scatters them over Dharmodgata's body, and then speaks the first sentence in this unit that is about 「以身」 tr. "with the body": 「我從今日以身屬師，供給供養。」 tr. "From this day on I give this body over to the teacher, to provide for you and make offerings to you." And moreover 「如是三白已，合手師前立」 tr. "having addressed him thus three times, he stood before the teacher with joined palms"—saying it three times is not wordiness; it is taking an oath; and after taking the oath he neither sits nor leaves, but stands with joined palms. The elder's daughter and the five hundred attendant maidens at once follow him: 「我等從今日亦以身屬師」 tr. "from this day on we too give these bodies over to the teacher", and they expect for themselves that by the causes and conditions of these roots of goodness 「當得如是法」 tr. "we shall obtain such a Dharma as this", 「亦如師所得」 tr. "just as the teacher has obtained it", and they vow life after life to make offerings to the buddhas together with the teacher, and life after life always to make offerings to the teacher. Here two layers of belonging must be seen: Sadāprarudita belongs to Dharmodgata; the elder's daughter and the others belong to Sadāprarudita. The person who has just heard 「諸佛無所從來」 tr. "the buddhas come from nowhere" turns round, and the first thing he does is hand himself over—this is not a contradiction. No coming and no going speaks of not being able to grasp; giving the body over to the teacher speaks of leaving nothing in reserve; both are equally the practice of 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent", the one in view, the other in deed.

10. Presenting the carriages to the teacher as well—Śakra praises relinquishing all one has; the buddhas of the past too abode thus in giving. Sadāprarudita first asks the elder's daughter and the others whether it is with a sincere mind, receives the answer 「我等以誠心屬師，當隨師教」 tr. "we give ourselves over to the teacher with a sincere mind, and shall follow the teacher's instruction", and then, people and carriages together, along with the adorning jewels and the finest offerings, presents them all on to Dharmodgata: 「我持是五百女人奉給大師，是五百乘車隨師所用。」 tr. "I present these five hundred women to provide for the great teacher; these five hundred carriages are for the teacher's use." What he has just received he at once hands on—toward the two Chinese characters 「屬我」 tr. "belong to me" he has not a moment of keeping anything as his own. Śakra Devānām Indra then praises him again: 「菩薩摩訶薩捨一切所有，應如是如是布施，疾得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "A bodhisattva-mahāsattva who relinquishes all that he has should give in just this way, in just this way, and then swiftly obtains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi." And he adds a sentence pointing straight at the matter at hand: 「作如是供養說法人，必得聞般若波羅蜜及方便力。」 tr. "Making offerings in this way to the one who teaches the Dharma, he will surely be able to hear prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means." And he cites the buddhas of the past, who, when they originally practised the bodhisattva path, likewise abode thus in giving and so heard prajñā and obtained awakening. Relinquishing and hearing are here tied into one line of cause and effect—it is not that the more one relinquishes the faster one learns, but that only when one has relinquished to the point of holding nothing back do the ears that hear the Dharma truly open.

11. Accepting and then giving back—the skilful means of making his roots of goodness complete; entering the palace at sunset; the oath to wait for the teacher walking and standing. Dharmodgata, 「欲令薩陀波崙菩薩善根具足故」 tr. "in order to make the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita's roots of goodness complete", accepted the five hundred carriages, the elder's daughter, and the five hundred attendant maidens; 「受已，還與薩陀波崙菩薩」 tr. "having accepted them, he gave them back to the bodhisattva Sadāprarudita". This one accepting and one giving back must be seen clearly: were he not to accept, the giver's dānapāramitā would not be accomplished and his roots of goodness could not be made complete; were he to accept and not give back, those who were given would have no way to be at ease, and the things given would also become a burden. First accepting, then giving back—both ends are whole. Then Dharmodgata taught the Dharma until sunset, rose, and went into the palace. Sadāprarudita at once has the thought: 「我為法故來，不應坐、臥，當以二事：若行、若立」 tr. "I have come for the sake of the Dharma; I should not sit or lie down; I should use two things—either walking or standing", and in this way waits for the Dharma teacher to come out of the palace and teach the Dharma. With the teacher gone into the palace, the disciple has no Dharma to listen to, and at this moment his mind is seen most clearly—he did not go away, nor did he sit down; he only made good the four Chinese characters 「為法故來」 tr. "came for the sake of the Dharma" as a standing body.

12. Seven years in concentration and seven years of walking and standing—not sitting, not lying down, without sleep, the mind not craving flavours; after seven years, the thought of spreading the Dharma seat. This one entry into concentration of Dharmodgata's is precisely 「七歲一心入無量阿僧祇菩薩三昧」 tr. "for seven years with one mind entering immeasurable asaṃkhyeya bodhisattva samādhis", practising at the same time prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means. Sadāprarudita, for his part, 「七歲經行、住立，不坐、不臥，無有睡眠，無欲、恚、惱，心不著味」 tr. "for seven years walked and stood, not sitting, not lying down, without sleep, without lust, anger, or harming, his mind not craving flavours". The sūtra text points out item by item his inner state through the seven years: in the body, walking and standing; in the mind, without lust, without anger, without harming, not craving flavours—it is not gritting the teeth and holding out by force; it is that the afflictions do not arise. And what supports all this is only one thought: 「何時當從三昧起，出而說法？」 tr. "When will he rise from samādhi and come out to teach the Dharma?" For seven years he thought only this one sentence. After seven years had passed, what he thought of was still not that he had at last endured to the end, but spreading the seat for the teacher: he should spread a seat for teaching the Dharma, should sprinkle the ground to make it clean, should scatter all kinds of flowers to adorn the place. So with the elder's daughter and the five hundred attendant maidens he spread a couch of the seven jewels, and the five hundred women each took off their upper garments and spread them on the seat. Take note of this move: seven years of waiting in the end come down to a seat spread ready.

13. Māra hides the water—wishing to make him give rise to a single thought of a timid and feeble mind, of a changed mind, so that his roots of goodness do not grow and his wisdom gives no illumination. The seat was spread, yet something went amiss: 「求水灑地而不能得。」 tr. "He sought water to sprinkle the ground but could not obtain it." The sūtra text itself breaks open the reason: 「惡魔隱蔽，令水不現。」 tr. "The evil Māra hid it and covered it over, so that the water did not appear." And it records Māra's reckoning word for word: he wants Sadāprarudita, seeking water and not obtaining it, 「乃至生一念劣心、異心，則善根不增、智慧不照，於一切智而有稽留」 tr. "to give rise even to a single thought of a timid and feeble mind, of a changed mind; then his roots of goodness will not grow, his wisdom will give no illumination, and toward omniscience there will be delay and obstruction". What Māra wants is not much—only a single thought. A single thought of belittling oneself, a single thought of change, and the roots of goodness stop growing, wisdom loses its illumination, and one is held back on the way to omniscience. This place is well worth savouring: seven years without sitting or lying down Māra could not destroy, yet a dipper of water might destroy it. The nearer the end and the smaller the matter, the more it is where hindrance lies; and what makes a hindrance a hindrance is not whether there is water or not, but whether the mind is feeble and changed.

14. Piercing the body to sprinkle the ground—what use is this body to me; none had a changed mind, and the evil Māra could not find his opening. Sadāprarudita's counteraction is not to go elsewhere to look for water, but 「我當自刺其身，以血灑地，令無塵土來坋大師」 tr. "I should pierce my own body and sprinkle the ground with my blood, so that no dust comes to soil the great teacher". The reasons he gives himself are three sentences: 「我何用此身！此身必當破壞。」 tr. "What use is this body to me! This body will surely break apart."—this body in the end returns to ruin, so what use is keeping it; 「我從無始生死已來數數喪身，未曾為法」 tr. "from beginningless birth and death until now I have lost my body again and again, and never once for the Dharma"—since beginningless time he has lost his body countless times, yet not once was it lost for the sake of the Dharma. So with a sharp knife he pierced himself and drew blood to sprinkle the ground. The result is: Sadāprarudita and the elder's daughter together with the five hundred attendant maidens 「皆無異心，惡魔亦不能得便」 tr. "none of them had a changed mind, and the evil Māra could not find his opening". What Māra wanted was a single thought of a changed mind; here, though it is plainly the most painful moment, it is precisely the moment when a changed mind has the least gap by which to enter—because he is not enduring, he is giving. Whether Māra finds his opening or does not find it hangs entirely on this.

15. Śakra's praise—the power of vigour vast, firm and hard to shake; the buddhas of the past too with a deep mind loved, cherished, and valued the Dharma. Śakra Devānām Indra, seeing this, has the thought: 「未曾有也！」 tr. "It is unprecedented!" He marvels at his loving the Dharma to the point of piercing himself with a knife and drawing blood to sprinkle the ground, and that 「薩陀波崙及眾女人心不動轉，惡魔波旬不能壞其善根」 tr. "the minds of Sadāprarudita and the women do not move or turn, and the evil Māra Pāpīyas cannot destroy their roots of goodness"; his mind is firm, he arouses the great adornment, does not spare body or life, and with a deep mind wishes to seek awakening, and will deliver all beings from the suffering of immeasurable births and deaths. Then he speaks his praise aloud: 「汝精進力大，堅固難動，不可思議！」 tr. "The power of your vigour is vast, firm and hard to shake, inconceivable!" And he praises again: 「汝愛法、求法，最為無上！」 tr. "Your love of the Dharma and your seeking of the Dharma are most unsurpassed!" At the end it returns still to the ancient precedent: the buddhas of the past were also thus, 「以深心愛法、惜法、重法，集諸功德」 tr. "with a deep mind they loved the Dharma, cherished the Dharma, and valued the Dharma, and accumulated all kinds of merits", and obtained anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Śakra praises twice: the first praise is of his relinquishing, this praise is of his patience, and both times it closes with 「過去諸佛亦如是」 tr. "the buddhas of the past were also thus"—this tells the reader that what is seen before the eyes is not some strange man of ascetic practice, but a road walked by all the buddhas together.

16. Three thousand dan of heavenly flowers; Dharmodgata comes out of concentration and takes the seat; seeing the teacher, his mind is pure, delighted and glad, as on entering the third dhyāna. The blood sprinkled on the ground, Sadāprarudita thinks again: 「當於何處得好名華莊嚴此地？」 tr. "Where shall I obtain fine flowers of renown to adorn this ground?"—the ground already clean, he still wishes to adorn it with flowers; and he has already thought ahead to scattering flowers as an offering when the Dharma is taught. Śakra Devānām Indra knew what he was thinking, and 「即以三千石天曼陀羅華與薩陀波崙」 tr. "at once gave Sadāprarudita three thousand dan of heavenly māndārava flowers". After receiving the flowers Sadāprarudita makes an extremely fine gesture: 「以半散地，留半待曇無竭菩薩摩訶薩坐法座上說法時當供養」 tr. "he scattered half of them on the ground, and kept half to make offerings with at the time when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Dharmodgata would sit on the Dharma seat to teach the Dharma"—one half used for the present, one half kept for when the Dharma is about to be taught. Here the causes and conditions are complete; Dharmodgata, 「過七歲已，從諸三昧起」 tr. "after seven years had passed, rose from the samādhis", and for the sake of teaching prajñāpāramitā, 「與無量百千萬眾恭敬圍遶，往法座上坐」 tr. "reverently surrounded by an immeasurable assembly of hundreds of thousands of myriads, went to the Dharma seat and sat down". And when Sadāprarudita saw the teacher, 「心淨悅樂，譬如比丘入第三禪」 tr. "his mind was pure, delighted and glad, like a bhikṣu entering the third dhyāna". Sūtra ① closes with this one sentence; its wonder lies in not saying that he was wild with joy, but saying that he was as one entering the third dhyāna—the third dhyāna is the ground where one parts from joy and abides in happiness, with happiness pervading the whole body, and this happiness is neither restless nor elated. Seven years of standing and a body's blood are exchanged not for excitement, but for purity. The sūtra segment stops here; the reasons why, the treatise-author explains one by one in what follows.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「無來無去」 tr. "neither coming nor going" as meaning that the Buddha does not exist. When Dharmodgata says 「離是諸法更無佛」 tr. "apart from these dharmas there is no further Buddha", he negates ‘seeking a separate Buddha outside dharmas’; he is not saying that there is no Buddha to be sought. He himself says right after, 「諸佛身亦如是，從本業因緣果報生」 tr. "the bodies of the buddhas are also thus: they are born from the causes and conditions and the retribution of their original deeds"—the Buddha's body does exist; only its existence is an existence formed by causes and conditions, not a substance moved over from some place and moved on to some place. What is refuted is the mark of coming and going, not the existence of the Buddha.

Do not mix the first three similes and the last two into one class. The three similes of the mirage, the illusion, and the dream speak of ‘seen yet not real’; what they refute is clinging. The two similes of the ocean's jewels and the konghou speak of ‘existing yet having no place it comes from’; what they guard against is annihilation. If the simile of the ocean's jewels too is read as ‘the jewels are false’, it goes against what the sūtra text plainly says, 「此寶亦不無因緣而生」 tr. "nor are these jewels produced without causes and conditions"; if the mirage simile too is read as ‘within the mirage there is in fact other, true water’, it goes against the answer 「焰中尚無水」 tr. "in a mirage there is not even water". The five similes each have their place and may not be swapped for one another.

Do not read 「諸佛不可以色身見」 tr. "the buddhas cannot be seen by the form body" as meaning that there is no need to venerate the form body. Dharmodgata, who speaks these words, right after accepts Sadāprarudita's flowers and accepts the five hundred carriages and the five hundred women, while Sadāprarudita, having said 「以身屬師」 tr. "I give this body over to the teacher", further 「經行住立」 tr. "walked to and fro and stood" for seven years. The sūtra text never slights the mark before the eyes because the Dharma body is signless; quite the contrary, the whole narrative exhausts reverence within marks. That he cannot be seen by the form body says that one may not take the form body as the ultimate of the Buddha; it does not say that the form body may be slighted.

Do not read the seven years of walking and standing as taking suffering to be the path. The sūtra text records his mental conduct as 「無欲、恚、惱，心不著味」 tr. "without lust, anger, or harming, his mind not craving flavours", and records what he thought as 「何時當從三昧起，出而說法」 tr. "when will he rise from samādhi and come out to teach the Dharma"—the content of the seven years is being without afflictions and a single thought of seeking the Dharma; the suffering is only an accompanying form. If one turns it round, taking long standing as merit and not lying down as virtue, one has mistaken a thing that aids the path for the path itself.

Do not read piercing the body to sprinkle the ground as the sūtra text urging people to destroy the body. Sadāprarudita's piercing of his body presupposes that Māra had hidden the water and no water could be obtained, and what he sought was only to keep the dust from soiling the great teacher; the reasoning he states himself is that this body will surely break apart, and that since beginningless time he has lost his body countless times and never once for the Dharma. What the sūtra text praises is his mind of 「心不動轉」 tr. "the mind not moving or turning" and of 「不惜身命」 tr. "not sparing body or life"; what Śakra marvels at likewise lies in 「愛法、求法，最為無上」 tr. "love of the Dharma and seeking of the Dharma, most unsurpassed", not in the quantity of blood. To take this as a precedent and harm one's own body is to mistake the place that is praised.

Do not read Māra's hindrance as the strength of an outside force. All Māra can do is hide a dipper of water, and all he hopes for is that the practitioner 「生一念劣心、異心」 tr. "gives rise to a single thought of a timid and feeble mind, of a changed mind". What truly decides victory and defeat is the mind: when everyone 「皆無異心」 tr. "had no changed mind", Māra 「不能得便」 tr. "could not find his opening". If it is read as Māra's power being able to destroy roots of goodness, it contradicts Māra's thought as the sūtra text itself records it—Māra himself says very clearly that the roots of goodness not growing is because of that single thought, not because of that dipper of water.

Bearing on Practice

Where you revere, first examine the clinging to 「來去」 tr. "coming and going". The person weightiest in one's mind, the Dharma one trusts most, is the most easily given a substance that can come and go: when he comes I have something to rely on; when he goes I lose what I rely on. Take the five similes of this passage to look at yourself—if what you rely on is a mark, the mark is like a mirage, like a dream; if what you rely on is suchness, suchness from the first does not move; with no coming, why need to welcome it; with no going, why need to detain it? Reverence not diminished while the clinging of reliance gradually thins—this is the most direct use of this unit.

Use 「不獨從一事成」 tr. "not accomplished from a single matter alone" to refute the notion of a single cause. In favourable circumstances wanting to find the one who earned the credit, in adverse circumstances wanting to find the chief culprit—this is the same mind as pointing out on the konghou the place the sound comes from. Count through them item by item—body, neck, skin, strings, pegs, plectrum, hand; each one is not it, and only together is there sound. In daily affairs, when meeting a matter, try listing its conditions one by one and denying to each its power to do it alone, and the mind will of itself turn from ‘whom to blame’ to ‘from what conditions’.

Look at relinquishing and hearing together. Sadāprarudita hands on to the teacher in full what he had just received, and Śakra at once says 「作如是供養說法人，必得聞般若波羅蜜及方便力」 tr. "making offerings in this way to the one who teaches the Dharma, he will surely be able to hear prajñāpāramitā and the power of skilful means". When in seeking the Dharma you always feel you cannot take it in or remember it, you need not work only on memory; turn back and see whether there is some place where you are still holding back. Only when you relinquish to the point of holding nothing back do the ears that hear the Dharma open.

Guard the last dipper of water. A person whom seven years did not break may break on a small matter; what Māra schemes for is not a great setback, but a single thought of a timid and feeble mind, of a changed mind. When something is about to be accomplished and an obstruction suddenly arises, that is precisely where hindrance is thickest. Recognise ‘this wants me to give rise to a single thought of belittling myself’; to recognise it is to guard against it, with no need to argue with it.

Gather up long waiting with the mind that spreads the seat. Seven years of standing in the end come down to a seat spread ready—if waiting has nothing to do, it is mere enduring; if the end of the waiting is joined to something prepared for others, the waiting becomes practice. Whenever there is something you wait for, ask yourself: the seat that will be needed when the waiting ends—have I spread it first?

Check joy by the happiness of the third dhyāna. Of the joy of seeing the teacher, the sūtra text does not say wild joy but 「譬如比丘入第三禪」 tr. "like a bhikṣu entering the third dhyāna"—parting from joy and abiding in happiness, the whole body at peace. If joy in the Dharma is restless, wants to be told to others, must keep being stepped up, it is most likely still in the ground of joy; when one has truly arrived, it is instead quiet. Checking oneself by this, one can avoid mistaking excitement for accord.

Further Resonances

This unit, a single sūtra segment, sets down the headrope of the whole chapter: taking 「諸佛無所從來，去亦無所至」 tr. "the buddhas come from nowhere, and in going reach nowhere" as the general opening, teaching suchness through seven gates and returning to one suchness without discrimination, five similes refuting and establishing together—the mirage, the illusion, and the dream refute the clinging to coming and going; the ocean's jewels and the konghou guard against falling into annihilation—and at the end, with 「亦當知一切法無來去相」 tr. "you should also know that all dharmas are without the mark of coming and going", extending the Buddha's having no coming and going into the common mark of all dharmas. The doctrine finished, it then, through ten matters—Śakra offering flowers, giving the body over to the teacher, presenting the carriages to the teacher as well, accepting and giving back again, entering the palace at sunset, seven years in concentration and seven years of walking and standing, Māra hiding the water, piercing the body to sprinkle the ground, the three thousand dan of heavenly flowers, coming out of concentration and taking the seat—sets ‘knowing that there is no coming and going’ down as the place where one person walks, and ends with 「心淨悅樂，譬如比丘入第三禪」 tr. "his mind was pure, delighted and glad, like a bhikṣu entering the third dhyāna".

In the old masters' explanations of this passage, one must first know that the chapter name differs from that of this treatise. Jizang made his commentary following the chapter headings of the Larger Sūtra, and the Larger Sūtra sets up a separate chapter for this chapter of this treatise, titled Dharma-Esteeming—Dharma-Esteeming is the rendering by meaning of Dharmodgata—so at the head of the chapter Jizang first explains its name: 「若曇無竭，此云法尚，以其弘於大法而物宜欽。」 tr. "As for Dharmodgata, here it is called Dharma-Esteeming, because he spreads the great Dharma and beings ought to revere him." In his commentary he mostly calls Dharmodgata Dharma-Esteeming and Sadāprarudita Ever Weeping; only the one sentence explaining the name still gives the name Dharmodgata, and the passage of debate likewise still calls him Sadāprarudita; in reading one must first recognise this pair of names. Before this, at the end of his commentary on the chapter Ever Weeping, Jizang marked off with one sentence where this chapter comes from: 「因曇無竭言下，第六、自護求法請決疑也。」 tr. "From the words ‘because of Dharmodgata’ below: sixth, guarding oneself in seeking the Dharma and requesting the resolution of doubt."—the seeking of the Dharma finished, what remains is resolving his doubt, and this chapter joins on here.

Having entered the chapter, Jizang first judges the bones of the whole chapter: 「斷疑即是明佛來，云無來去明果，我說般若妙法明因義。」 tr. "Cutting off doubt is precisely making clear the Buddha's coming: saying there is no coming or going makes clear the fruit; ‘I teach the wondrous Dharma of prajñā’ makes clear the meaning of the cause." The passage cutting off doubt makes clear the fruit, the passage teaching prajñā makes clear the cause; this unit belongs precisely to the gate of the fruit, cutting off doubt. Within cutting off doubt he divides again: 「初中為兩：第一明來去無來去辨法身義，二明無來去去辨應身義。」 tr. "Within the first there are two: first, making clear that coming and going is without coming and going, distinguishing the meaning of the Dharma body; second, making clear going without coming and going, distinguishing the meaning of the response body."—the first half speaks of no coming and going with respect to the Dharma body, the latter half speaks of no coming and going with respect to the response body; dividing the five similes by this corresponds exactly to this unit's division, in which the three similes of the mirage, the illusion, and the dream mainly refute and the two similes of the ocean's jewels and the konghou mainly establish. His explanation of the difference between the two similes says: 「二、譬異者，初譬正明感應因緣，次譬明因因緣果。」 tr. "Second, as for the difference of the similes: the first simile directly makes clear the causes and conditions of stimulus and response; the next simile makes clear the cause, the causes and conditions, and the fruit." The simile of the ocean's jewels makes clear the conditions of stimulus and response; the konghou simile makes clear the fruit of causes and conditions; the two similes cannot stand in for each other. The sūtra sentence to which Jizang ties this is also this unit's vital sentence: 「文言諸佛不可以色見，法佛法身無來無去」 tr. "The text says: the buddhas cannot be seen by form; the Dharma body of the Dharma Buddha neither comes nor goes." As to why Dharmodgata speaks particularly of this meaning, Jizang points straight at the reason: 「為對薩陀波崙去來疑，故云無去來耳。」 tr. "It is to answer Sadāprarudita's doubt about going and coming that he says there is no going and coming." He also asks why Sadāprarudita, having already obtained the samādhis and already understood the emptiness of dharmas, alone did not understand the Buddha's having no going and coming, and answers: 「始行之人雖總相知諸法空，於佛身來能了語，是故疑也。」 tr. "Although one who has begun to practise knows by the general mark that dharmas are empty, as to the coming of the Buddha's body he can understand the words; therefore he doubts."—knowing emptiness by the general mark and getting through on the Buddha's body are two different things; this answer can well explain why this unit must press the point again and again with five similes. On the simile of the ocean's jewels, Jizang further pairs seeking the jewels with seeing the Buddha: 「又大海有寶不惜身命，一心去乃得，不爾不得。眾生一心精進乃見佛，不爾不見也。」 tr. "Further, the great ocean has jewels: one who does not spare body and life and goes with one mind then obtains them; otherwise one does not obtain them. Beings who are vigorous with one mind then see the Buddha; otherwise they do not see him."

In the narrative passage too, Jizang brings out the intent matter by matter. Śakra gives flowers and Sadāprarudita offers his body: the difference lies in inner and outer: 「次常啼以身奉法尚者，天主唯教其外施，其今行內施也。」 tr. "Next, as for Ever Weeping offering his body to Dharma-Esteeming: the lord of the gods taught him only outer giving; now he practises inner giving." The intent of Dharmodgata's accepting and then giving back lies in producing, beyond wisdom, his merit as well: 「受以還施常啼者，前為說法生其慧也，今受其施生其福也。」 tr. "As for accepting and giving back to Ever Weeping: before, he taught the Dharma to give rise to his wisdom; now he accepts his giving to give rise to his merit." For the reason of the seven years in concentration Jizang gives several explanations, one of which is precisely to refute the doubt of those who have begun to practise: 「又七年入定者，常啼及始行之人，見法尚居家受五欲，或言有染，故七年入深三昧，則顯無所著也。」 tr. "Further, as for entering concentration for seven years: Ever Weeping and those who had begun to practise, seeing Dharma-Esteeming living at home and enjoying the five desires, might say that he was defiled; so for seven years he entered deep samādhi, which shows that he clings to nothing." He also poses himself the question of how one could bear seven years of walking and standing: 「問：常啼云何能七年不坐臥耶？答：此時好世七年如今七日。」 tr. "Question: How could Ever Weeping go seven years without sitting or lying down? Answer: In that good age seven years were like seven days now." And he adds, as aids to understanding, that the people of that time had merit and good health and were protected by heavenly spirits. For why, though water was sought and not obtained, the blood could succeed, his explanation lies in Māra stopping of himself: 「魔見其決志，雖求水不得其心不異，故不更惱之。」 tr. "Māra saw his resolve: though he sought water and could not obtain it, his mind did not change; so he troubled him no further." The two phrases in Māra's thought, 「善根不增、智慧不照」 tr. "his roots of goodness will not grow, his wisdom will give no illumination", Jizang explains as the two things of belittling oneself and sorrow: 「令其於身自輕心生愛染，則善根不增，以憂愁覆心故智慧不照，如霞覆日其明不照也。」 tr. "To make him belittle himself in body and give rise in mind to defiled love: then his roots of goodness do not grow; because sorrow covers the mind, his wisdom gives no illumination, as haze covering the sun keeps its light from shining." At the end, by Dharmodgata's having set himself a time limit when he entered concentration, he explains how Sadāprarudita knew that he would come out at seven years: 「又法尚初入定時，自誓云七年方於也。」 tr. "Further, when Dharma-Esteeming first entered concentration, he himself took an oath, saying: seven years, and only then." These explanations and the answers of this treatise's treatise segment are fuller or briefer than one another; the power of choosing between them does not lie here; they are recorded for reference.

The extant text of Huiying's Commentary does not reach this point, and this chapter lacks his explanation; only in the sectional divisions within his fascicles did he once, looking ahead, name the title of the chapter Dharmodgata. In the whole text of Junzheng's commentary no discussion of this chapter has been seen.

The sūtra segment having ended, the treatise-author's explanation rises after it: Sadāprarudita, though he already knew emptiness, had not entered it deeply, so Dharmodgata taught him no coming and no going; whether the five aggregates are the Buddha or not the Buddha, whether apart from the five aggregates there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the division of the two truths, the two kinds of Buddha-body, the Dharma body and the form body, and even why the ocean's jewels are produced in a place where they are hard to obtain; then a separate explanation of the konghou simile, making clear that the sound is not in the many conditions and yet apart from the many conditions there is no sound; and also why Śakra offered flowers, why the women gave themselves over to Sadāprarudita and not to Dharmodgata, why Dharmodgata accepted and then gave back, why a great bodhisattva entered the palace after teaching the Dharma, how a weak human body could go seven years without sitting or lying down, why the blood was sprinkled on the ground and why Māra could not find his opening, and why the happiness of the third dhyāna alone was taken as the simile—wherever there is something open to doubt in this unit's narrative, the treatise-author for the most part poses a question and answers it. All these are matters of the treatise segment of Fascicle 99, and are not anticipated here.