大智度論 義疏通講 · 冊3Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 3

Overview

At the very opening of “Mahāyāna,” Subhūti puts several questions in a row—what is the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, how does one set out toward the Great Vehicle, from where does this vehicle set out, where does it arrive, where does it abide, and who rides this vehicle and goes forth—yet what this chapter answers falls on the first question alone: what, in the end, is the substance of the Great Vehicle. Mahāyāna is simply the Great Vehicle, originally a word of India; asked about its substance, the Buddha answers: 「六波羅蜜是菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍」 tr. "the six perfections are the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva". At the very opening the treatise-author picks out the pivot of the whole chapter—this sūtra is named prajñā, and the Buddha commanded Subhūti to speak prajñā for the bodhisattvas; why, then, does Subhūti ask about the Mahāyāna, and why does the Buddha too answer with the Mahāyāna? The resolution is this: 「般若波羅蜜、摩訶衍一義，但名字異」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā and Mahāyāna are one in meaning; only the names differ". Among the six perfections prajñā is greatest; to speak of prajñā is to contain the six perfections, and to speak of the six perfections is to speak fully of the bodhisattva path; therefore the Mahāyāna, as the Buddha-path, has as its substance precisely the six perfections. The eye of the whole chapter lies just here—of all the wholesome dharmas that aid the path, there is none that does not enter the six perfections, and the six perfections in turn are contained in prajñā; therefore the question “what is the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva” returns in the end to this: all wholesome dharmas in combination are called Mahāyāna.

Following this pivot, the chapter unfolds in two units. The First Part (Fascicle 46) first establishes the six perfections as the substance of the Mahāyāna—giving (dāna), morality (śīla), patience (kṣānti), vigour (vīrya), meditation (dhyāna), and prajñā have their names explained one by one, and all are practised 「應薩婆若心」 tr. "in accord with the mind of sarvajñā", omniscience, with 「用無所得故」 tr. "because of nothing to be attained" as their seal; next it says that the bodhisattva “further has a Mahāyāna,” namely the eighteen emptinesses and on to the emptinesses of marks in four statements, twenty-two items in all, taken up one by one in question and answer, with 「非常非滅故」 tr. "because it is neither permanent nor annihilated" and 「性自爾」 tr. "its nature is so of itself" as their fixed close. Here the treatise-author makes clear that the eighteen emptinesses are precisely the meaning of ‘not being attached to any dharma’ that belongs to the perfection of prajñā among the six perfections; to practise these emptinesses by the middle way, and to liberate beings by great compassion—this is called Mahāyāna. The Last Part (Fascicle 47) further takes the hundred and eight samādhi as the Mahāyāna, beginning with the Śūraṃgama and ending with Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space; the sūtra first lists their names and next explains them briefly one by one, and the treatise-author in turn explains their meaning one by one. The placement of this unit the treatise-author states completely in a single sentence: 「上以十八空釋般若波羅蜜，今以百八三昧釋禪波羅蜜」 tr. "above, the eighteen emptinesses were used to explain the perfection of prajñā; now the hundred and eight samādhi are used to explain the perfection of meditation"—the eighteen emptinesses are matched to the perfection of prajñā, the hundred and eight samādhi to the perfection of meditation; both alike are the meaning of the six perfections set out in detail, and neither sets up a separate substance outside the six perfections. Therefore the chapter’s final knot at its end is 「如是等無量無邊三昧和合，名為摩訶衍」 tr. "such immeasurable and boundless samādhi in combination are called Mahāyāna"—the samādhi in combination are precisely the vehicle, just as the six perfections in combination are precisely the vehicle; the substance of the Great Vehicle is thereupon gathered into the single main cord of the six perfections, with prajñā running through it all.

Mahāyāna, Part One: The Six Perfections as the Substance of the Mahāyāna; the Eighteen Emptinesses and the Four Emptinesses of Marks Reveal the Meaning of Prajñā by the Middle Way

What Is Being Asked

At the opening of this part, Subhūti puts six questions to the Buddha in a single breath: what is the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s Mahāyāna; how is it to be known that he is rightly setting out toward the Great Vehicle; from where does this vehicle go forth, to where does it arrive, where does it abide; and 「誰當乘是乘出者」 tr. "who is it that shall ride this vehicle forth?" Yet the Buddha answers only the first question—「六波羅蜜是菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍」 tr. "the six perfections are the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s Mahāyāna"—and leaves the other five questions for later chapters. This one answer and this one deferral are by themselves enough to bring out the questioning of the whole part.

The first layer of questioning falls on names and marks. This sūtra is plainly named prajñāpāramitā—why, then, does Subhūti change his wording and ask about the Mahāyāna, and why does the Buddha answer along with him? The treatise-author lays it bare in a single sentence: 「般若波羅蜜、摩訶衍一義」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā and Mahāyāna are one meaning," 「但名字異」 tr. "only the names differ." The names are two, yet the meaning is not two. And yet, the preface on the Mahāyāna had said that everything from the first arousing of the mind up to the path of the Buddha—all the wholesome dharmas gathered for the sake of the path of the Buddha—is called Mahāyāna, whereas here only the six perfections are spoken of; and the sūtra then goes on to give the Mahāyāna a second name—「復有摩訶衍，所謂內空」 tr. "again there is Mahāyāna, namely inner emptiness," and so on through the eighteen emptinesses—and after that adds the four kinds of emptiness of marks. And so a second layer of questioning surfaces: how can a single Mahāyāna have so many names—the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, and even the hundred and eight samādhi of the next part—without contradicting itself?

The third layer of questioning is finer still. The definition of each of the eighteen emptinesses carries at its tail the same phrase, 「非常非滅」 tr. "neither permanent nor annihilated"—what, after all, is this four-character phrase saying? If this phrase is not understood, emptiness is easily misread—either as the view of permanence, in which dharmas really exist and cannot be annihilated, or as the annihilation in which, having broken existence, one turns round and becomes attached to emptiness. What this part sets out to answer is precisely how, without shaking ultimate emptiness, to make clear both that the six perfections are the substance and that the eighteen emptinesses and the four emptinesses of marks are the meaning, and to let this one meaning of emptiness land firmly on the middle way that is free of the two extremes, without falling toward either end, permanence or annihilation. Besides this, several fine questions are interleaved that must be accounted for together: why does the Buddha not speak of the Mahāyāna from the moment he opens his mouth, but speaks first of prajñā? Why does the Buddha’s wisdom have two names, anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi (unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening) and sarvajñā (omniscience)? When the eighteen emptinesses have already been spoken in full, why are the four emptinesses of marks added?—These look like side-branches, yet they are exactly the joints by which the one meaning of “Mahāyāna” is settled securely.

Passage by Passage

First, the reason the six perfections are the very substance of the Mahāyāna lies not in the headings of giving, keeping the precepts and the rest in themselves, but in the thread that runs through all six perfections. In explaining the six perfections, the sūtra has each perfection arise from a mind in accord with sarvajñā and be accomplished 「用無所得」 tr. "by means of nothing to be attained." Giving is to give up everything inner and outer, to share it with all beings, and to dedicate it to awakening; keeping the precepts is 「自行十善道，亦教他行十善道」 tr. "oneself practising the ten paths of good action, and also teaching others to practise the ten paths of good action." Of the perfection of patience the sūtra says, 「自具足忍辱，亦教他行忍辱」 tr. "oneself fully possessing patience, and also teaching others to practise patience"—not only does one remain patient and unmoved oneself amid adverse circumstances, one must also pass this dharma of patience on to beings; only patience that is unattached to the one who endures and to what is endured becomes a perfection. Of the perfection of vigour the sūtra says, 「行五波羅蜜，懃修不息，亦安立一切眾生於五波羅蜜」 tr. "practising the five perfections, cultivating them diligently without rest, and also establishing all beings in the five perfections"—vigour is not some separate matter to be diligent about, but spurs the other five perfections to be cultivated diligently without rest and establishes beings one by one upon the five perfections: it is the tireless force that runs through all the perfections. Of the perfection of meditation the sūtra says, 「自以方便入諸禪，不隨禪生，亦教他令入諸禪」 tr. "oneself entering the meditations by skilful means, not being reborn according to the meditations, and also teaching others to enter the meditations"—the crux lies in the four characters “not being reborn according to the meditations”: to enter the meditations without being bound by the bliss of absorption, without being reborn in the upper realms through craving for absorption, entering and able to come out, and coming out to liberate people—only this is the perfection of meditation; otherwise it is only worldly meditation. Of the perfection of prajñā the sūtra says, 「不著一切法，亦觀一切法性」 tr. "not attached to any dharma, and also contemplating the nature of all dharmas"—on one side non-attachment, on the other illuminating contemplation, and neither may be lacking: non-attachment without contemplation sinks into withered stillness; contemplation that becomes attached again is still worldly knowledge. Pull out the mind in accord with sarvajñā and nothing to be attained, and the six perfections are merely worldly wholesome dharmas; tie on this thread, and only then do they become perfections, only then are they the Mahāyāna that can carry people to the ground of the Buddha. So the treatise-author says 「六波羅蜜是摩訶衍體」 tr. "the six perfections are the substance of the Mahāyāna": once the substance is established, the meaning can be broadened.

Second, the difference of names does not obstruct the oneness of meaning. The treatise-author explains the Mahāyāna by establishing its name from the path of the Buddha—practising this dharma one reaches buddhahood, and this dharma is the six perfections, and of the six perfections the first and greatest is precisely prajñā. Hence to speak of prajñā is to gather in the six perfections, and to speak of the six perfections is to speak fully of the bodhisattva path, from the first arousing of the mind right up to attaining buddhahood. The treatise uses the simile that when a king comes, his retinue must be with him: even if the retinue is not expressly mentioned, the retinue is certainly there. The Mahāyāna is like this too: all the wholesome dharmas that the bodhisattva gathers in seeking the path of the Buddha, and the various teachings of the sūtras spoken according to capacity, brought together are all called Mahāyāna; and among these many Dharma-gates prajñā is the greatest, so that the moment the name Mahāyāna is raised, prajñā is already within it. The name has changed but the meaning has not—this is the proportion of ‘different in name, one in meaning.’

Third, why the six perfections are neither more nor fewer—the answer lies in the compassionate mind. The treatise-author says that the Buddha is the Dharma-king, who according to the faculties and capacities of beings speaks now briefly of one, two, three or four, now broadly up to eighty-four thousand; here he speaks of exactly six perfections in order to counteract the suffering of the six destinies—the flogging and beating of the hells, the mutual slaughter of animals, the hunger of the hungry ghosts, the seeking of desires among humans, the parting from what is loved in the heavens, and the strife of the asuras. The bodhisattva arouses great compassion, wishing to extinguish the suffering of beings in the six destinies, and therefore gives rise to the six perfections. The number of the six perfections is not made up to fit; it is the medicine that the compassionate mind opens out, one by one, facing the sufferings of beings.

Fourth, the treatise-author further takes the two perfections of dāna (giving) and śīla (morality) to demonstrate how to read a teaching given in terms of the general mark. The marks of giving are immeasurable, yet the sūtra names only five—the mind in accord with sarvajñā, giving up the inner and the outer, sharing with beings, dedication, and by means of nothing to be attained—because these five marks already gather in all giving without remainder: “giving up the inner and the outer” is giving up all afflictions, “sharing with beings” is the mind of great compassion, and “dedication” is seeking only the path of the Buddha. Going further, the treatise-author distinguishes “the mind in accord with sarvajñā” from “dedication”: the former is the cause from which all merits arise, binding the mind to the Buddha’s omniscience; the latter is seeking no other reward and turning solely toward awakening. Keeping the precepts is the same: the sūtra speaks only of the ten good deeds and does not list the precepts of particular marks, because 「十善為總相戒」 tr. "the ten good deeds are the precepts of the general mark," and the immeasurable precepts of particular marks all follow them according to their meaning—not drinking alcohol comes under non-greed, and not laying a stick on beings comes under non-hatred. In reading a teaching of the general mark, one must know that the one gathers in all, and must not fault it for being incomplete.

Fifth, within the precepts the treatise-author further picks out the distinction between the old precepts and the guest precepts: the ten good deeds are always present, whether or not there is a buddha—these are the old precepts; the precepts of restraint, when there is a buddha, are sometimes present and sometimes absent—these are the guest precepts. Moreover, among the Vinaya precepts, though a precept be minute, when it is repented one becomes pure, whereas when the precepts of the ten good deeds are broken the offence of the three evil destinies is not removed. This distinction is not meant to exalt the ten good deeds and demote the precepts of restraint, but to bring out that the footing of the bodhisattva’s keeping of the precepts lies in the fundamental good, in not troubling beings, and not in stopping at the quantity of matters of form.

Sixth, the treatise-author takes special care to account for the circumstances in which the Buddha did not speak of the Mahāyāna the moment he opened his mouth, but spoke first of prajñā; this section must be read together with its narrative causes and conditions, and cannot be left as a single abstract conclusion. The first reason the treatise-author gives is 「般若波羅蜜最大，故應先說」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the greatest, therefore it should be spoken first"—since prajñā gathers in all six perfections and the six perfections gather in the whole bodhisattva path, to raise the greatest first is most fitting. The second reason is a whole chain of causes and conditions of emitting light and teaching the Dharma: the Buddha’s original intention was to speak the great prajñāpāramitā; first he emitted a great light; the bodhisattvas of the ten directions, seeing this light, each asked the buddha of their own land, “why is there now this light?”; the buddhas each answered, 「娑婆世界有佛，名釋迦牟尼，欲說般若波羅蜜」 tr. "in the Sahā world there is a buddha named Śākyamuni, who wishes to speak the prajñāpāramitā," and so the bodhisattvas of the ten directions, together with the gods and humans, came and assembled in concord; next, Śāriputra, there in the assembly, asked the Buddha, 「云何菩薩摩訶薩欲知一切法，習行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "how should a bodhisattva-mahāsattva who wishes to know all dharmas practise prajñāpāramitā?"; further, in the first chapter the Buddha had already praised the merits of prajñā in many ways, saying 「若欲得是者，當學般若波羅蜜」 tr. "if one wishes to obtain this, one should train in prajñāpāramitā." The emitting of light, the questions and answers of the ten directions, Śāriputra’s question, the praise of its merits in the first chapter—these several layers of causes and conditions, drawn out one after another, all point to the same thing: the origin of this assembly was from the first bound up with the word “prajñā,” and so prajñā should be spoken first, rather than going straight to the Mahāyāna. As for why, later, when Subhūti changed to asking about the Mahāyāna, the Buddha did not rebuke him, it is because the buddhas have cut off love of dharma, and further make clear that the meanings of prajñā and Mahāyāna are fundamentally no different; only so is there room for Subhūti to set up a different name and ask. With this narrative chain filled in, ‘different in name, one in meaning’ is not merely a verdict but has the history of how it came to ground.

Seventh, when explaining “the mind in accord with sarvajñā” in giving, the treatise-author incidentally points out that the Buddha’s knowledge has two names; this distinction must be singled out and taught. The treatise says that the Buddha’s knowledge is of two kinds: the first is 「無上正智」 tr. "unsurpassed right knowledge," named “anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi”; the second is 「一切種智」 tr. "omniscience of all kinds," named “sarvajñā.” It is the knowledge of one and the same Buddha—why two names? The first, with regard to its being unsurpassed, with nothing able to exceed it, is named anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi: the utmost right awakening toward which one tends. The second, with regard to its knowing all the various distinctions of all dharmas, is named sarvajñā: the omniscience of all kinds at the stage of fruition, illuminating perfectly and leaving nothing out. The two names are not two kinds of knowledge but two faces of the one knowledge of the Buddha. This distinction fastens neatly back onto the two phrases on giving: that the bodhisattva gives “with a mind in accord with sarvajñā” is to bind the mind to that omniscience at the stage of fruition, which knows everywhere, as the fruit sought; “dedicating it to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi” is to direct this giving toward that unsurpassed right awakening as the ground one tends toward. Seeking the fruit, tending toward awakening—each of the two phrases is bound to one face of the Buddha’s knowledge, and only taken together do they show that this giving is aroused wholly, from beginning to end, for the path of the Buddha.

Eighth, after the six perfections, the sūtra reveals the Mahāyāna again by the eighteen emptinesses. This section is the unfolding of the meaning of the perfection of prajñā, and its eye lies in emptying out, one by one, different kinds of grasping; it must not be blurred into a vague ‘all is empty.’ The treatise-author points out: the eighteen emptinesses are the meaning of prajñāpāramitā, and what they speak of is “not being attached to dharmas.” And each emptiness has what it breaks, which must be seen clearly item by item. Inner emptiness breaks the six sense-faculties—“the eye is empty of eye,” and so on up to the emptiness of mind—what it empties out is the attachment to the grasping faculties, to one’s own inner senses, as having a real substance. Outer emptiness breaks the six sense-objects—form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharmas are each empty of themselves—what it empties out is the attachment to the grasped objects as having a real substance. Inner-and-outer emptiness breaks the six sense-fields together, not allowing a single reality to lurk in the seam where faculty and object meet—a step further than the two preceding emptinesses. The emptiness of emptiness then turns to break the emptiness that empties—「一切法空，是空亦空」 tr. "all dharmas are empty, and this emptiness too is empty"—lest the practitioner, having broken all dharmas, should in turn set “emptiness” up as a real dharma to rely on and cling to; so even this emptiness that empties is emptied. Great emptiness breaks the ten directions—the east and so on through the zenith and nadir are each empty of themselves; directions seem to have no substance to be broken, so a separate emptiness is set up for them, emptying the attachment to the extent of space, to places and directions, as real. The emptiness of the highest meaning is the most perilous: 「第一義名涅槃」 tr. "the highest meaning is called nirvāṇa"—even nirvāṇa, the destination one turns toward, is empty; what it empties out is the hidden attachment to the supreme transmundane fruit as real. The emptiness of the conditioned breaks all the dharmas of fabrication, arising and ceasing in the three realms of desire, form and the formless; the emptiness of the unconditioned breaks the principle-substance of “the mark of non-arising, the mark of non-abiding, the mark of non-ceasing”—conditioned and unconditioned set against each other, both ends empty, not allowing one to cling partially to either side. As for ultimate emptiness, 「畢竟名諸法至竟不可得」 tr. "‘ultimate’ means that dharmas, to the very end, cannot be found"—what it empties out is not some one class of dharmas, but that dharmas, searched to the very bottom, have through and through nothing left to be found. As for the emptiness of the beginningless, 「若法初來處不可得」 tr. "if the place from which a dharma first came cannot be found"—it empties the attachment that dharmas have a first beginning, a place of origin at a primal limit. As for the emptiness of dispersal, 「散名諸法無滅」 tr. "‘dispersal’ means that dharmas have no ceasing"—it empties the attachment that dharmas that have come together have a solid, undispersing substance—they exist provisionally in combination and are gone when they disperse, with no truly real substance that could cease. As for the emptiness of nature, the nature of all dharmas is not made by the three vehicles, not made by the Buddha, not made by anyone else; 「是性，性空」 tr. "this nature—the nature is empty"—it empties the attachment that dharmas have an inherent own-nature, not allowing even the nature of dharmas to be clung to as real. As for the emptiness of specific marks, form has being broken as its mark, feeling has receiving as its mark, perception has grasping as its mark, constructions have making as their mark, consciousness has cognising as its mark; each of these specific marks is also empty—it empties the attachment that each dharma ‘has its own fixed mark that can be discerned.’ As for the emptiness of all dharmas, the five aggregates, the six sense-faculties, the six sense-objects and the eighteen elements are gathered in all together and are all empty—it gathers into one whole all that was broken item by item before. As for the emptiness of the unfindable, 「求諸法不可得」 tr. "seeking dharmas, they cannot be found," and this “cannot be found” is also empty—not allowing ‘seeking without finding’ to be set up as a state and made solid. As for the emptiness of non-existent dharmas, 「若法無，是亦空」 tr. "if a dharma is non-existent, this too is empty"—it empties the attachment to “non-existence”—the non-existence of what has already ceased or not yet arisen—lest “non-existence” be mistaken for a real vacancy. As for the emptiness of existent dharmas, 「有法名諸法和合中有自性相」 tr. "‘existent dharmas’ means that within the coming together of dharmas there is a mark of own-nature"—it empties the attachment to the mark of own-nature that seems to exist within the coming together. As for the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, 「諸法中無法，諸法和合中有自性相」 tr. "among dharmas there is no dharma; within the coming together of dharmas there is a mark of own-nature"—it takes the two meanings “non-existent” and “existent” together and empties them at once, not letting either be taken partially. Counting through the eighteen emptinesses in a row—breaking the faculties, breaking the objects, breaking emptiness, breaking directions, breaking nirvāṇa, breaking the conditioned and the unconditioned, breaking beginning and end, breaking own-nature and specific marks, breaking existence and breaking non-existence—each has what it empties, and their sequence is clear; they are by no means eighteen rounds of synonymous repetition.

Ninth, after the eighteen emptinesses the sūtra further speaks briefly of the four kinds of emptiness of marks; this is a renewed gathering-up of the same meaning of emptiness, and the four marks too must be taught item by item. As for the emptiness of dharmas and the mark of dharmas: 「法名五眾，五眾空」 tr. "‘dharmas’ means the five aggregates; the five aggregates are empty"; within all dharmas the mark of dharmas cannot be found, and within dharmas no dharma is produced, so it is called the emptiness of dharmas in dharmas—this is the most ready-to-hand of the four emptinesses of marks, and the treatise-author too picks it out as the demonstration. As for the emptiness of non-existent dharmas and the mark of non-existent dharmas: 「無法名無為法」 tr. "‘non-existent dharmas’ means unconditioned dharmas"; the mark of unconditioned dharmas cannot be found. Question: since the Buddha speaks of the unconditioned by way of the three marks of arising, abiding and ceasing, why does he also say it has no mark? Answer: it is to break arising that “non-arising” is said, to break abiding that “non-abiding” is said, to break ceasing that “non-ceasing” is said; all these names are set up from the side of arising, abiding and ceasing, and there is no separate dharma of non-arising and non-ceasing to be found, so its mark too is empty. As for the emptiness of own-dharmas in own-dharmas: 「諸法自法空，是空非智作，非見作」 tr. "the own-dharmas of all dharmas are empty; this emptiness is not made by knowledge, not made by views"—the own-nature of dharmas is of two kinds: one like the hardness of earth and so on among worldly dharmas; the other like the suchness, dharma-nature and limit of reality known by the noble ones; the emptiness of these two kinds of nature does not come about through being fabricated by wisdom and views, but is empty by its own nature from the beginning. As for the emptiness of other-dharmas in other-dharmas: 「若佛出、若佛未出，法住、法相、法位、法性、如、實際；過此諸法空」 tr. "whether a buddha appears or a buddha has not yet appeared, the abiding of dharmas, the mark of dharmas, the position of dharmas, dharma-nature, suchness, the limit of reality—beyond these, dharmas are empty"—someone who has not yet thoroughly cut off the fetter of views, hearing of suchness, dharma-nature and the limit of reality, then suspects ‘beyond these there are yet other dharmas,’ so it is specially said that beyond these too all is empty, cutting off his attachment of seeking something else further up. The four emptinesses of marks are not new emptinesses set up outside the eighteen; the treatise-author says plainly that the emptinesses at hand are already fully gathered in the eighteen emptinesses, and the four emptinesses are only the skilful means of teaching 「初廣後略」 tr. "first broad, afterwards brief": first the eighteen are spoken broadly, and afterwards the four marks are mentioned briefly—no more than a gathering-up.

Tenth, we return to the four characters “neither permanent nor annihilated” appended after every emptiness—this is the pivot of the whole section. The treatise-author’s way of explaining it is to leave both extremes: one who does not practise this emptiness, if he sees dharmas as really existent, falls into permanence; if, after breaking existence, he prizes emptiness and becomes attached to emptiness, he falls into annihilation. Therefore 「行是空以破有，亦不著空」 tr. "practise this emptiness in order to break existence, and yet do not become attached to emptiness"; 「離是二邊，以中道行是十八空」 tr. "leaving these two extremes, practise these eighteen emptinesses by the middle way," and do so with a mind of great compassion, for the sake of liberating beings. Breaking existence without being attached to emptiness—this is the weight of the four characters “neither permanent nor annihilated,” and only this is the Mahāyāna. That each emptiness has what it breaks is the particular meaning; the middle-way practice of “neither permanent nor annihilated” is the general meaning running through all eighteen emptinesses—the particular meaning shows their fineness, the general meaning fixes their destination; seen together, the eighteen emptinesses are neither blurred nor scattered.

Do Not Misread

Do not read different in name yet one in meaning as though the three names could be mixed together at will. Different in name yet one in meaning says that the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses and the hundred and eight samādhi point to one and the same Mahāyāna; but each of the three names reveals something of its own—the six perfections are the substance, the eighteen emptinesses reveal the meaning of the perfection of prajñā, the hundred and eight samādhi reveal the meaning of the perfection of meditation; the substance is one, while the meaning is broad or brief. To read non-duality as non-distinction is to erase the levels the treatise-author took pains to distinguish.

Do not read the eighteen emptinesses as eighteen rounds of synonymous repetition of ‘all is empty.’ Each emptiness has its own grasping to break—inner emptiness breaks the faculties, outer emptiness breaks the objects, the emptiness of emptiness breaks the emptiness that empties, great emptiness breaks directions, the emptiness of the highest meaning breaks the attachment to nirvāṇa, the emptiness of non-existent dharmas breaks “non-existence,” the emptiness of existent dharmas breaks “existence”—in orderly sequence. If they are read as eighteen emptinesses that change the broth but not the medicine, the fine work of the treatise-author, who breaks them apart item by item, is flattened out; conversely, if one attends only to the differences between the emptinesses and forgets the middle way of “neither permanent nor annihilated” that runs through them, one will again read the eighteen emptinesses as eighteen scattered matters. The particular meaning and the general meaning must be present together.

Do not read the “neither permanent nor annihilated” of the eighteen emptinesses as a compromise, or as saying that things are not really empty after all. These four characters are not a discount struck between emptiness and existence, but the language of the middle way that leaves both extremes: because it breaks existence it does not fall into permanence; because it is not attached to emptiness it does not fall into annihilation. If it is read as dharmas still having a little reality, one falls back into the view of permanence; if it is read as sweeping away even dependent arising entirely, one falls back into annihilation. Neither extreme is its meaning.

Do not read “by means of nothing to be attained” as abandoning good deeds and passively not cultivating. The treatise-author says precisely that merit cultivated with an attached mind grasping at marks is like a fire in the grass, easily put out when it meets water, whereas what is practised with great compassion, embodying the real mark, is like a fire in water, which nothing can put out. Nothing to be attained is not non-cultivation but cultivating without attachment, and the mind, on the contrary, is neither weak nor regretful. To take nothing to be attained as a pretext for being lazy in the many practices is precisely to read it backwards.

Do not read the six perfections merely as ethical virtues. Each perfection is bound to the mind in accord with sarvajñā, to dedication to awakening, and to “by means of nothing to be attained”; apart from these, giving and keeping the precepts, even if complete, are only worldly good; they cannot become perfections and cannot carry the Mahāyāna. Patience unattached to the one who endures and to what is endured, meditation that enters and yet is “not reborn according to the meditations,” prajñā that is “not attached to any dharma” and yet “contemplates the nature of all dharmas”—the watershed of each perfection lies right here, between attachment and non-attachment. To read the six perfections without seeing the thread that runs through them is to see the branches and leaves and lose the root.

Nor should the four emptinesses of marks be taken as new emptinesses beyond the eighteen. The emptinesses at hand are already fully gathered in the eighteen; the four emptinesses are only a re-telling, first broad and afterwards brief, for ease of receiving and upholding. To treat them as four newly added states of emptiness about which to speculate separately is to mistake a skilful means of teaching for an increase in the numbered lists of dharmas.

Bearing on Practice

This part can serve as a measuring rule for daily use. When giving, one can ask: is this gift of mine bound to the mind in accord with sarvajñā, dedicated to awakening, able to give up the inner and the outer without hoping for reward—or is it secretly seeking fame in this life, or wealth and rank in later lives? When keeping the precepts, one can ask: is what I keep the root of the ten good deeds, the mind that does not trouble beings—or am I merely calculating over the quantity of matters of form?

The eighteen emptinesses are, even more, a discipline of illuminating and breaking at every point, not something passed over with a single ‘all is empty.’ When applying effort one can illuminate place by place in the treatise-author’s order: where faculty and object meet, one can illuminate by inner emptiness and outer emptiness—this seeing, this hearing: am I taking the grasping faculty and the grasped object alike as real? On the view of emptiness I have cultivated, one can illuminate by the emptiness of emptiness—have I again set “emptiness” up as something to rely on and cling to? On the nirvāṇa I aspire to, one can illuminate by the emptiness of the highest meaning—has even the fruit I seek been quietly clung to as real? On “non-existence” illuminate by the emptiness of non-existent dharmas, on “existence” illuminate by the emptiness of existent dharmas, and make nothing solid on either side. Only by illuminating in this way, one emptiness after another, is one applying the eighteen emptinesses to the ground of the mind, rather than reciting eighteen headings.

In contemplating emptiness this rule must especially guard against slipping off at either end. After breaking the real existence of dharmas, one can turn back and look: have I again quietly set up emptiness as something to prize and cling to, sliding from the side of permanence over to the side of annihilation? Can I, as the treatise-author says, break existence without being attached to emptiness, leave the two extremes and practise the middle way—and is this middle way not for liberating myself alone, but 「以大悲心為度眾生」 tr. "with a mind of great compassion, for the sake of liberating beings"? When cultivating good one can further ask: is this bit of effort of mine made with an attached mind grasping at marks, like fire kindled in grass, put out at a touch—or does it embody something of the real mark, practised with a compassionate mind, hard to break and hard to seize? If one can stand firm on these questions, then one does not fall into annihilation or permanence within ultimate emptiness, and does not lose the many practices within nothing to be attained—this is exactly what the Mahāyāna looks like at the starting point.

Further Resonances

Among the ancient masters who later read this part, what was most often taken up were the two opening passages—「六波羅蜜是菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍」 tr. "the six perfections are the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s Mahāyāna" and 「復有摩訶衍，所謂內空」 tr. "again there is Mahāyāna, namely inner emptiness." Some, taking the eighteen emptinesses, distinguish between emptiness of objects and emptiness of knowledge, judging the greater ones to be emptiness on the side of objects and great emptiness to be emptiness on the side of knowledge, and the like; others cite the six perfections and eighteen emptinesses with which this chapter opens directly as scriptural proof of the dharma of the Mahāyāna, and take from the five questions the one, “who is it that shall ride this vehicle forth?”, to distinguish the person who rides from the dharma that is ridden. These readings each have their own context; here only their approach is recorded, without judging which is higher. As for commentary following the text phrase by phrase, in this part the eighteen emptinesses and the six perfections still have something worth seeing, whereas the hundred and eight samādhi of the next part are mostly passed over in a single sentence that directs people straight to the treatise itself—this too is how things are.

Bringing these readings back to this unit, what is most worth keeping is not a finer outline, but this part’s threefold rewriting of “Mahāyāna”: one substance—the six perfections—and three names: the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, and even the hundred and eight samādhi of the next part, different in name and not different in meaning; the eighteen emptinesses are the Mahāyāna not because they are a grade higher than the six perfections, but because they break attachment at every point and yet go by the middle way “neither permanent nor annihilated”—breaking existence without being attached to emptiness, leaving the two extremes without abandoning beings. The substance is established in the six perfections, the meaning is broadened in the emptinesses, and compassion and vow remain throughout the unbroken thread. This part restores the words “the Great Vehicle” from a mere name and mark to a path that can be walked, that can carry, that can liberate beings.

Mahāyāna, Part Two: The Hundred and Eight Samādhi—The Treatise-Author Explains Each Name in Turn, and the Coming Together of All the Samādhi Is Itself the Mahāyāna

What Is Being Asked

The first half of the chapter has already pointed to the Mahāyāna as the six perfections and the eighteen emptinesses; this half goes on to point it toward the hundred and eight samādhi. The sūtra’s way of doing this is quite unusual. First, in a single breath, it lists the names of the hundred and eight samādhi, counting all the way from the Śūraṃgama to Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space, adding no explanation in between. Then the sūtra itself turns back and, with one extremely brief circular sentence, gives a definition of each samādhi: what is called such-and-such a samādhi, what one abiding in this samādhi is able to do, this is called such-and-such a samādhi. When we come to the treatise, the treatise-author explains these hundred and eight samādhi afresh, one by one, all over again. And so a very natural question rises to the surface. The same set of samādhi is named by the sūtra, lightly explained by the sūtra, and explained again by the treatise—three passes one after another. In piling them up layer upon layer like this, is the aim after all to make people memorise these hundred and eight names and marks, or is there some other intent?

The treatise-author lays this layer bare the moment he opens his mouth. He says, 「上以十八空釋般若波羅蜜，今以百八三昧釋禪波羅蜜」 tr. "above, the eighteen emptinesses were used to explain the prajñāpāramitā; now the hundred and eight samādhi are used to explain the perfection of meditation." So the eighteen emptinesses show the Mahāyāna from the side of prajñā, and the hundred and eight samādhi show the Mahāyāna from the side of meditative concentration; only when the two halves are put together is there the body of the Great Vehicle in which concentration and wisdom are both made manifest. He also says, 「百八三昧，佛自說其義」 tr. "of the hundred and eight samādhi, the Buddha himself stated the meaning": those who heard the Dharma at that time were of keen faculties and believed and understood as soon as they heard, so the Buddha only briefly named them. But now it is not so, and so the treatise-author says: 「論者重釋其義，令得易解」 tr. "the treatise-writer explains their meaning again, so that it may be easily understood." This makes the method of the whole half-chapter clear: this is not a list for people to recite by heart, but the Buddha briefly setting out the aspects of fruition of the Mahāyāna’s gate of concentration, and the treatise-author then compassionately taking them apart and teaching them one by one. What really needs to be asked is whether, behind the explanation of these hundred and eight names one by one, there is a general principle, and on what ground such a great heap of samādhi can in the end come together into one Mahāyāna.

Passage by Passage

First, take a firm stand on where this half sits within the whole chapter. The treatise-author’s sentence of placement binds the upper and lower halves together in one place: the eighteen emptinesses are paired with the perfection of prajñā, the hundred and eight samādhi with the perfection of meditation, and so the Mahāyāna relies neither on wisdom alone nor on concentration alone, but is shown from these two sides at once. The sentence on the division of labour that follows immediately is also important: the Buddha himself stated the meaning because the people of that time were of keen faculties and believed and understood as soon as a name was raised; the treatise-author explains the meaning again because later people need each name taken apart before they can easily understand it. This sentence first sets the reader’s mind at ease: the explanation of the names one by one below, which looks tedious, is not the treatise-author’s fondness for spreading things out, but the teaching labour of receiving and guiding those of dull faculties, and is itself compassion.

Second, one must see that the treatise-author’s explanation of the names one by one in fact conceals a general principle. In explaining each samādhi he never speaks emptily of the name, but asks what function the name points to—that is, what one abiding in this samādhi is able to do. That name and function match is the fixed standard of his explanation of names. To make the function thoroughly clear, he takes similes as they come to hand: he speaks of the lion’s play, the purity of the full moon, the vajra’s power to pierce, the sun and the lamp illuminating the gates—all similes taken from what is close by. Where things are easily confused, he sets up question and answer to draw distinctions: for example, why the four unobstructed knowledges are spoken of only at the Pure Brightness samādhi, why the three samādhi bearing the word “vajra” are set side by side, and whether what is seen in the Heap of Jewels is after all seen by the eye of flesh or seen in meditative concentration. Where earlier masters explained things differently, he sets the several accounts side by side without forcing a verdict on right and wrong: for the Immovable samādhi he lists four accounts, for Dispersing Doubt three, for Firm and Solid two, and for Destroying Speech, like Space also three, only recording them without judging which is higher. Once this general principle is understood, these hundred and eight items are no longer loose sand, but one and the same labour of explaining names demonstrated again and again across a hundred and eight headings.

Third, pick out a few of the important samādhi and you can see how this general principle operates. For the Śūraṃgama samādhi at the start, the treatise-author first glosses its name, saying of it 「秦言健相」 tr. "in the language of Qin, ‘the mark of strength’": it can distinguish and know the depth and shallowness, the many and few, of all samādhi, as a great general knows the strength of all his troops, and whoever gains it is one whom 「諸煩惱魔及魔人無能壞者」 tr. "neither the Māra of the afflictions nor Māra’s people can destroy"—at the very outset it sets up the mark of strong advance that belongs to the head of the gate of concentration. For the three samādhi in the middle that all bear the word “vajra,” the treatise-author deliberately sets up a question, asking why the three names Vajra, Vajra Wheel, and Like a Vajra are raised together; the answer distinguishes the breaking-function proper to each of the three—one breaks all dharmas and enters the remainderless, one breaks and, like a wheel, meets no obstruction, one breaks all fetters leaving nothing behind—the names being distinct and the meanings also different, they should not be lumped together as one thing and made a difficulty of. The samādhi Equal to the Unequalled the treatise-author explains as 「觀一切眾生皆如佛，觀一切法皆同佛法」 tr. "contemplating all beings as all like the Buddha, contemplating all dharmas as all the same as the Buddha-Dharma," which accords exactly with the prajñā that is equal to the unequalled, joining the gate of concentration straight back to prajñā. The Moon-Pure samādhi uses simile alone, saying 「如月從十六日漸減」 tr. "as the moon from the sixteenth day gradually wanes": the moon turning from full to waning illustrates the gradual waning and falling of the ordinary person’s roots of goodness, and then, turning back, the moon gradually filling from the new moon illustrates the growth of the bodhisattva’s roots of goodness life after life. Set these few items side by side and the general principle of explaining names comes alive: every name is restored to a function that can be cultivated here and now.

Fourth, only now is the most important question forced out: on what ground does this great heap of samādhi come together into one Mahāyāna? The answer lies not in the number but in the gathering-up. At the end the sūtra says 「如是等無量無邊三昧和合，名為摩訶衍」 tr. "the coming together of such immeasurable and boundless samādhi as these is called the Mahāyāna"; it is plain that a hundred and eight is not a fixed quota to be filled, but one end raised from among the immeasurable and boundless. More crucial still is the treatise-author’s closing verdict at the end; he says 「是諸三昧末後，皆應言用無所得，以同般若故」 tr. "at the end of all these samādhi it should in every case be said, ‘by way of nothing to be attained,’ because they are the same as prajñā." This sentence is the pivot of the whole half-chapter. These hundred and eight samādhi, looked at one by one, each have their own name and each their own function, yet where they come to rest is one and the same: all return to nothing to be attained, all are of one flavour with prajñā. Precisely because every one of them leads to ultimate emptiness, they are not a hundred and eight separate attainments heaped together, but one and the same Great Vehicle appearing through a hundred and eight gates. The coming together in “coming together into the Vehicle” is not threading beads onto a string, but all streams returning alike to one ocean.

Fifth, the last question and answer accounts for the wording of the whole half-chapter. Question: the Buddha mostly speaks of all the samādhi, so why does the treatise-author speak only of dharmas? The treatise-author answers, 「佛多說果報，論者合因緣果報說」 tr. "the Buddha mostly speaks of the fruit of reward; the treatise-writer speaks of causes and conditions and the fruit of reward together." The Buddha sets up names from the aspect of fruition, so he mostly speaks of samādhi; the treatise-author wants to speak of causes and conditions together with the fruit of reward, so he mostly speaks of dharmas. This is not the sūtra and the treatise contradicting each other, but one and the same matter spoken of on two levels. He adds a further sentence: this bodhisattva has from the outset no doubt about the various practices of contemplation, but has not yet penetrated these samādhi, so the Buddha sets up names by way of the samādhi and the treatise-author unfolds them by way of dharmas; all the samādhi are in fact already gathered within dharmas. Only at this point do the three passes—the sūtra naming, the sūtra lightly explaining, the treatise explaining again—reveal themselves as one and the same Mahāyāna being unfolded all the way from the brief to the detailed, and, unfolded to its very end, it is still gathered up in the prajñā of nothing to be attained.

The Hundred and Eight Samādhi Named One by One

What was said above is the general principle. But if the general principle does not come down onto each name, the reader has still only heard a set of reasoning and has never seen for himself what each of these hundred and eight samādhi is. Below, then, following the order of the treatise-author’s explanation of the names, we walk through them one by one. Of each samādhi the same thing is asked: what function this name points to, what one abiding in it is able to do, and on what ground it therefore receives this name. Wherever the treatise-author has taken up a simile as it came to hand, that simile too is unpacked. The four items already discussed in detail in the third paragraph above—the Śūraṃgama, Moon-Pure, Equal to the Unequalled, and Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space—are here only briefly recalled, so that this succession of names may be complete from head to tail without a break.

One: From the Śūraṃgama to the Vajra (the head of the gate of concentration and the fundamental marks). The Śūraṃgama—in the language of Qin, “the mark of strength”—can distinguish and know the depth and shallowness, the many and few, of the practising marks of all samādhi, as a great general knows the strength of all his troops; whoever gains it cannot be destroyed by any the Māra of the afflictions or by Māra’s people, so it is named by “strength” and set up as the head of the gate of concentration. Treasure Seal: it can seal and settle all samādhi; the treasure of the Dharma is the real treasure among all treasures, able to benefit in this life and the lives after, all the way to nirvāṇa; and the three seals of the Dharma—all dharmas are without self, all made dharmas are impermanent, nirvāṇa is quiescence—cannot be destroyed in accordance with the Dharma by humans or gods; one abiding in this samādhi can contemplate all dharmas by the three seals of the Dharma, like the seal of approval on a treasure, so it is named Treasure Seal. Lion’s Play: in all samādhi one is free in entering and leaving, slow or swift, as when a lion plays the other beasts cower in fear while the lion is free and fearless; and again, as the lion among the herds kills the strong and lets go the submissive, so the bodhisattva among the outside teachers breaks the strong and liberates those who believe; so Lion’s Play is taken as its name. Wondrous Moon: as the full moon, pure and unclouded, can dispel the darkness of night, this samādhi can dispel the darkness and obscuration of wrong views and ignorance about all dharmas, so it is named Wondrous Moon. Moon-Banner Mark: as a general makes a banner with a moon-image of jewels and all who see it follow, one who enters this samādhi penetrates all dharmas without obstruction and there is nothing that does not follow, hence the name. Bringing Forth All Dharmas: it can make all samādhi grow, as timely rain makes forest trees flourish, so it is named Giving Birth to All Dharmas. Contemplating the Summit: it can see all samādhi everywhere, as one standing on a mountain summit sees all things, so it is named Contemplating the Summit. Certain Dharma-Nature: dharma-nature is immeasurable and non-dual and hard to take hold of; one who enters this samādhi can certainly gain its fixed mark, as space fundamentally has no one able to abide in it, yet one who gains the supernormal power of travel is able to dwell there; so it is named Certain (that is, determined) Dharma-Nature. Certain Banner Mark: one who enters this samādhi is most honoured and eldest among all samādhi, as a general gains a banner to display his great mark, hence the name. Vajra: as there is nothing a vajra does not pierce, this samādhi penetrates all dharmas without exception and lets each samādhi attain its function, as giant clam shell, agate, and vaiḍūrya can be pierced only by the vajra; so it is named Vajra.

Two: From Entering the Dharma-Seal to Undeceived (the marks of entering the real mark, of being established, of emitting light and illuminating, and of eloquent speech). Entering the Dharma-Seal: as when a person enters a peaceful and secure country, one who has a seal can enter and one without a seal cannot, the bodhisattva who gains this can enter the real mark of all dharmas, namely the ultimate emptiness of all dharmas; so it is named Entering the Dharma-Seal. King of Samādhi Established: as a great king abides in the main hall and summons his ministers and all obey his command, the bodhisattva who enters this emits great light and invites and summons the ten directions, and there are none that do not gather together; he also sends forth transformation-buddhas everywhere to the ten directions; body and mind at ease, without any fear, like a king dwelling at peace in the main hall; so it is named King of Samādhi Established. Emitting Light: by constantly cultivating the fire totality, supernormal powers arise, and one emits at will lights of various colours according to what beings delight in; and the light that illuminates is of two kinds, coloured light and the light of wisdom; one abiding in this illumines all samādhi and is without wrong views and ignorance; so it is named Emitting Light. Advance in Power: first one gains in all dharmas the five powers beginning with faith, and then in all samādhi the power of freedom; though abiding in samādhi, one can always transform by supernormal power and liberate beings; so it is named Advance in Power. Rising High: one who enters this samādhi grows in both merit and wisdom, and the nature of all samādhi comes forth from the mind; so it is named Rising High. Certain Entry into Eloquence: this is the samādhi in accord with the eloquence of language among the four unobstructed; whoever gains it knows completely the order of beings’ languages and the names in the scriptures and can distinguish them all without obstruction, hence the name. Explaining Names: though all dharmas are empty, yet by names one eloquently explains the meaning of all dharmas and lets people understand; so it is named Explaining Names. Contemplating the Directions: one contemplates the beings of the ten directions with a mind of kindness, compassion, and equality; and again, following the principle is called gaining the direction—by the power of this samādhi one gains the principle in all samādhi and is free in entering and leaving; so it is named Contemplating the Directions. Dhāraṇī Seal: whoever gains it can distinguish and know that all samādhi have dhāraṇī, hence the name. Undeceived: other samādhi may give rise to love, aversion, ignorance, and wrong views; this samādhi has no confusion whatever about any samādhi; so it is named Undeceived.

Three: From Ocean Gathering All Dharmas to Boundless Brightness (the marks of gathering all together, of covering everywhere, and of cutting off stains and making brightness). Ocean Gathering All Dharmas: as all streams return to the ocean, the dharmas of the three vehicles and all the other samādhi, down to the liberations and the nine successive absorptions gathered under the four meditations and the four formless states, all enter into this samādhi; so it is named Ocean Gathering All Dharmas. Covering All Space: space is immeasurable and boundless, yet the power of this samādhi can cover it entirely, whether sitting cross-legged, or emitting light, or filling it with sound; hence the name. Vajra Wheel: as a true vajra wheel meets no obstruction wherever it goes, whoever gains it meets no obstruction wherever he reaches among all dharmas; and it can also distinguish the boundaries of all samādhi—wheel means boundary—so it is named Vajra Wheel. Severing Jewel: as there is a jewel that can cleanse all jewels, this samādhi can remove the stains of affliction in all samādhi; and the stains of the five desires are easily dispelled while the stains of samādhi are hard to be rid of; so it is named Severing Jewel. Able to Illumine: whoever gains it can illumine all dharmas with the ten kinds of wisdom, as when the sun comes out the affairs of Jambudvīpa are all made clear; so it is named Able to Illumine. Not Seeking: one contemplates all dharmas as illusions and transformations, and craving for the three realms is cut off, so there is nothing at all that one seeks, and it is named Not Seeking. Non-Abiding: one abiding in this samādhi contemplates all dharmas as impermanent from thought-moment to thought-moment, with no time of abiding; so it is named Non-Abiding. No-Mind: this is the absorption of cessation or the absorption without perception; the Buddha himself states its causes and conditions—within this samādhi mind and all mental-factor dharmas do not operate—so it is named No-Mind. Pure Lamp: the lamp is the lamp of wisdom, the afflictions are called stains, and when the stains are left behind wisdom is pure; so it is named Pure Lamp. Boundless Brightness: boundless means immeasurable and numberless; its brightness is of two kinds: one is the light emitted from the body to liberate beings, the other is the brightness of wisdom that distinguishes the general marks and particular marks of all dharmas; whoever gains it can illumine the boundless worlds of the ten directions and boundless dharmas; so it is named Boundless Brightness.

Four: From Able to Make Brightness to Immovable (the marks of making brightness, of firmness and purity, and of joy). Able to Make Brightness (first occurrence): it can make brightness with regard to all dharmas, like lighting a torch in the dark, hence the name. Universal Illumination: as the jewel of the wheel-turning sage king illumines one yojana in each of the four directions beyond his army, the bodhisattva who gains it universally illumines the various gates of all dharmas; so it is named Universal Illumination. Making All Samādhi Firm and Pure: gaining the power of this samādhi makes all samādhi pure, firm, and solid, hence the name. Stainless Brightness: this is the samādhi in accord with the three gates of liberation; whoever gains it is free of the stains of all samādhi, free of all ignorance, craving, and the rest, and can also illumine all samādhi; so it is named Stainless Brightness. Joy: whoever gains it gives rise to the bliss of joy in all dharmas; the treatise-author cites one account saying that it is the first meditation, and cites as proof the Buddha’s teaching of the four cultivations of concentration (cultivating to gain present joy and bliss, cultivating to gain knowing and seeing—seeing the births and deaths of beings, cultivating to gain the discrimination of wisdom, cultivating to gain the exhaustion of the outflows), and further says that whoever gains this can give rise to immeasurable and boundless joy and bliss in the Dharma; so it is named Joy. Lightning Flash: as when lightning flashes for a moment the traveller finds his road, whoever gains it sees again the path that has been lost since the beginningless world; so it is named Lightning Flash. Inexhaustible: whoever gains it extinguishes the marks of impermanence and so on in all dharmas and enters non-arising and non-ceasing; so it is named Inexhaustible. Majestic Virtue: the bodhisattva who gains it is adorned with majestic virtue, hence the name. Free from Exhaustion: the bodhisattva who gains it will certainly attain the merit of the roots of goodness of immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas, and its fruit of reward is not lost; so it is named Free from Exhaustion. Immovable: on this item the treatise-author sets four accounts side by side, set out in detail in the section on divergent accounts below; once gained, one does not engage in idle discourse about any samādhi or any dharma.

Five: From Non-Retreating to Universal Brightness (the marks of non-retreat, of the illumination of sun and moon, and the distinction of the three vajras). Non-Retreating: one abiding in this does not see any samādhi retreat; the treatise-author goes on to say that the bodhisattva abiding in it never turns back, that it is the samādhi in accord with the wisdom of the avaivartika, and that not retreating means not falling from the summit; so it is named Non-Retreating. Sun-Lamp: whoever gains it can illumine the various gates of all dharmas and all samādhi, as when the sun comes out it illumines Jambudvīpa; so it is named Sun-Lamp. Moon-Pure: as the moon from the sixteenth day gradually wanes until it is gone, illustrating how the ordinary person’s roots of goodness gradually wane and he falls into the evil destinies; and again as the moon from the first day gradually waxes until on the fifteenth it is pure, illustrating how the bodhisattva’s roots of goodness grow life after life, all the way to the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; and it can also break the ignorance within all samādhi; so it is named Moon-Pure (discussed in detail in the third paragraph above). Pure Brightness: brightness is wisdom, stain is obstruction; whoever gains it is without obstruction in all dharmas; here alone the Buddha speaks of gaining the four unobstructed knowledges—the question and answer on why he speaks of them here alone is in the next section. Able to Make Brightness (second occurrence): the brightness here is wisdom, and among all wisdoms prajñā is the very foremost; this is the samādhi in accord with prajñā that can make brightness, hence the name. Initiating Practice: by the power of this samādhi one can set going all the samādhi previously gained; so it is named Initiating Practice. Knowing the Marks: whoever gains it sees within all samādhi the mark of real wisdom; so it is named Knowing the Marks. Like a Vajra: whoever gains it penetrates all dharmas with wisdom and yet does not see anything penetrated, because it is by way of nothing to be attained; as for the distinction among the three names raised together—it, Vajra, and Vajra Wheel—the treatise-author deliberately sets up a question and answer to separate them, as detailed in the third paragraph above: the names are all distinct and the Buddha’s meanings also differ, and no difficulty should be made of it. Mind Abiding: the mark of the mind is light, swift, going far, formless, hard to restrain and hard to hold, and always a mark of movement, like a monkey, like a flash of lightning, like a snake’s tongue; whoever gains this can gather it and make it abide, so that even heavenly desire does not move the mind—how much less human desire; so it is named Mind Abiding. Universal Brightness: whoever gains it sees in all dharmas the mark of light and not the mark of darkness, and what is seen by day and night, before and behind, above and below, is unobstructed; cultivating it one gains the supernormal power of the divine eye, and cultivating it well it becomes the wisdom-eye that universally illumines all dharmas; so it is named Universal Brightness.

Six: From Establishment to Free from Letters (the marks of establishment, of sealing the Dharma, and of distinguishing words and phrases). Establishment: whoever gains it is established firmly within all meritorious and wholesome dharmas, as Mount Sumeru stands established and unmoving in the great ocean; so it is named Establishment. Heap of Jewels: whoever gains it sees all the lands there are become the seven treasures; the question and answer on whether this is seen by the eye of flesh or seen in meditative concentration is in the next section. Seal of the Wondrous Dharma: the wondrous Dharma is the deep and wondrous merit and wisdom of all buddhas and bodhisattvas; whoever gains it gains all deep and wondrous merit and wisdom, and moreover seals by means of no seal; so it is named Seal of the Wondrous Dharma. Equality of Dharmas: equality is of two kinds, the equality of beings and the equality of dharmas; this is the samādhi in accord with the equality of dharmas, so it is named Equality of Dharmas. Cutting Off Delight: whoever gains it contemplates all dharmas as impermanent, suffering, empty, without self, and impure, and the mind gives rise to weariness and turning away; this is the samādhi in accord with the perception, among the ten perceptions, that nothing in the whole world is delightful; so it is named Cutting Off Delight. Reaching the Summit of Dharma: the Dharma is the Dharma of the bodhisattva, namely the six perfections; reaching into prajñā one gains the power of skilful means and reaches the summit of the mountain of the Dharma; whoever gains it can abide on this summit, and ignorance and the afflictions cannot shake him; so it is named Reaching the Summit of Dharma. Able to Scatter: whoever gains it can break up and scatter all dharmas; this is the samādhi in accord with the emptiness of dispersal; so it is named Able to Scatter. Distinguishing the Phrases of All Dharmas: whoever gains it can distinguish the words and phrases of all dharmas and speaks to beings without hindrance in language; this is the samādhi in accord with the eloquence of delight in speaking; hence the name. Equality of Letters: whoever gains it contemplates all letters and all words as entirely equal, and whether abused or praised has neither aversion nor love; so it is named Equality of Letters. Free from Letters: whoever gains it does not see letters within the meaning, nor sees the meaning within the letters; so it is named Free from Letters.

Seven: From Cutting Off Conditions to Abiding in No-Mind (the marks of cutting off conditions, of indestructibility, and of abiding in one’s own mark). Cutting Off Conditions: whoever gains it gives rise to no delight in inner and outer pleasure, no anger in pain, no equanimity in what is neither painful nor pleasant; far removed from the three feelings and unattached, the mind then returns to cessation, and when the mind ceases the conditions are cut off; so it is named Cutting Off Conditions. Indestructible: this is the samādhi in accord with ultimate emptiness that takes dharma-nature as its object; idle discourse cannot break it, impermanence cannot turn it, because it has already been destroyed beforehand; so it is named Indestructible. Without Various Marks: whoever gains it does not see the various marks of all dharmas, but sees only one mark, namely the signless; so it is named Without Various Marks. Practice Without Place: whoever gains it knows that the fire of the three poisons burns the three realms, so the mind does not rely on them, and that nirvāṇa is ultimately empty, so it does not rely on that either; relying on neither of the two places, it is named Practice Without Place. Free from Dimness: whoever gains it has entirely removed, within all samādhi, even the faint cataract of ignorance; so it is named Free from Dimness. No Going: whoever gains it does not see the mark of coming and going in any dharma; so it is named No Going. Unchanging: whoever gains it contemplates all dharmas—the cause does not change into the fruit, as milk does not change into curds; all dharmas abide in their own marks without moving; so it is named Unchanging. Crossing Beyond Objects: whoever gains it has extinguished all afflictions among the six sense-objects and crossed the great ocean of the six sense-objects, and can also pass beyond the wisdom born from the objects of all samādhi; so it is named Crossing Beyond Objects. Gathering All Merits: whoever gains it gathers all merits, from faith up to wisdom, practising without pause in the first watch and the last watch of the night, as the sun and moon revolve and never once rest; so it is named Gathering All Merits. Abiding in No-Mind: one who enters this samādhi does not follow the mind but follows only wisdom, and comes to abide within the real mark of all dharmas; so it is named Abiding in No-Mind.

Eight: From Pure Wondrous Flower to Giving Rise to Practice (the marks of opening flowers and changing into gold, of contemplating the Buddha, and of distinguishing all dharmas). Pure Wondrous Flower: as the flowers of a tree open out and adorn the tree, whoever gains it opens, within all samādhi, the flowers of all merits to adorn himself; so it is named Pure Wondrous Flower. Limbs of Awakening: whoever gains it makes all samādhi turn into the without-outflows and accord with the seven limbs of awakening, as one catty of stone-juice can turn a thousand catties of copper into gold; so it is named Limbs of Awakening. Immeasurable Eloquence: this is the eloquence of delight in speaking; whoever gains this power can take delight in speaking even a single phrase for immeasurable kalpas without exhausting it; so it is named Immeasurable Eloquence. Equal to the Unequalled: whoever gains it contemplates all beings as all like the Buddha and contemplates all dharmas as all the same as the Buddha-Dharma, and it accords with the prajñā that is equal to the unequalled; hence the name (discussed in detail in the third paragraph above). Crossing All Dharmas: whoever gains it enters the three gates of liberation, passes out beyond the three realms, and carries across the beings of the three vehicles; so it is named Crossing All Dharmas. Distinguishing All Dharmas: this is the samādhi in accord with discriminating wisdom; whoever gains it distinguishes the marks of all dharmas—good and not good, with outflows and without outflows, conditioned and unconditioned, and so on; hence the name. Dispersing Doubt: on this item the treatise-author sets three accounts side by side, see the next section. No Abiding-Place: this is the samādhi in accord with the wisdom of nothing received; whoever gains it does not see any dharma as having a fixed abiding-place; so it is named No Abiding-Place. One Adornment: whoever gains it contemplates all dharmas as all one—one because they have marks, or one because they are not, or one because they are empty; immeasurable such ways in which all are one—and adorns this samādhi with the wisdom of the one mark; so it is named One Adornment. Giving Rise to Practice: practice means contemplation; whoever gains it can contemplate the various marks of practice—the mark of entering, the mark of abiding, the mark of leaving—and yet these practices are all empty and also cannot be seen; so it is named Giving Rise to Practice.

Nine: From One Practice to Wondrously Complete in All Kinds (the marks of one practice, of penetrating to the bottom of existence, and of purifying and breaking). One Practice: this samādhi is always within the one practice in accord with ultimate emptiness, with no further sequence of other practices—as after the practice of impermanence there next comes the practice of suffering, and after the practice of suffering next the practice of non-self—and the bodhisattva in this does not see this shore or the other shore (the mark of entering is this shore, the mark of leaving is the other shore; first gaining is this shore, the mark of ceasing is the other shore); so it is named One Practice. Not One Practice: contrary to the one practice above, that is, the other practices of contemplation; so it is named Not One Practice. Wondrous Practice: this is the samādhi in accord with ultimate emptiness, so that one does not even see the mark of non-duality, and no idle discourse can break it; so it is named Wondrous Practice. Penetrating and Scattering the Bottom of All Existence: existence means the three existences; the bottom means neither perception nor non-perception (called the bottom because it is hard to reach); penetrating means that with wisdom without outflows one goes all the way to leaving neither perception nor non-perception and entering remainderless nirvāṇa, making the five aggregates of the three realms scatter and cease; and again, the bodhisattva who gains this wisdom of non-arising and non-ceasing penetrates all existences, scatters and destroys them, and they are all without anything whatever; so it is named Penetrating and Scattering the Bottom of All Existence. Entering Names and Words: whoever gains it recognises and knows the names of all beings, all things, and all dharmas, and can also transform people with these names and words; there is no language he does not understand, and all in their proper order; so it is named Entering Names and Words. Free from Sounds, Letters, and Words: whoever gains it contemplates all dharmas as all without sound, speech, or language, always of the mark of quiescence; so it is named Free from Sounds, Letters, and Words. Lit Torch: as one who carries a torch while walking at night does not fall into dangerous places, the bodhisattva who gains this, with the torch of wisdom, is without error and without attachment in all dharmas; so it is named Lit Torch. Pure Marks: whoever gains it can purify, complete, and adorn the thirty-two marks, and can also contemplate the general marks and particular marks of all dharmas in accordance with the Dharma, and can also contemplate the signless purity of all dharmas (namely emptiness, signlessness, and non-action); so it is named Pure Marks. Breaking Marks: whoever gains it does not see the mark of any dharma, how much less the marks of all samādhi; what is gained is the signless samādhi; so it is named Breaking Marks. Wondrously Complete in All Kinds: whoever gains it is completely adorned with all merits, namely good lineage, good family, good body, good retinue, and meditative concentration and wisdom all complete and pure; so it is named Wondrously Complete in All Kinds.

Ten: From Not Delighting in Pain or Pleasure to Great Adornment (the marks of not delighting in pain or pleasure, of firmness and solidity, and of pure light). Not Delighting in Pain or Pleasure: whoever gains it contemplates worldly pleasure as having many faults and many troubles, false and inverted, and contemplates worldly pain as like a sickness, like an arrow entering the body; he does not delight even in pleasure, how much less in pain; so it is named Not Delighting in Pain or Pleasure. Mark of the Inexhaustible: whoever gains it contemplates all dharmas as without destruction and without exhaustion; the question and answer on why, having contemplated the inexhaustible, one does not fall into the extreme of permanence is in the next section. Dhāraṇī: whoever gains this power naturally gains all the dhāraṇī, such as hearing and retaining; so it is named Dhāraṇī. Gathering the Marks of Wrong and Right: whoever gains it does not see beings in the three groups—rightly assured, wrongly assured, and unassured—and, rejecting none at all, gathers them in with one mind; and again in all dharmas he does not see a fixed mark of right or a fixed mark of wrong (because all dharmas are without fixed marks); so it is named Gathering the Marks of Wrong and Right. Extinguishing Aversion and Love: whoever gains it gives rise to no love for pleasing dharmas and no anger at hateful dharmas; so it is named Extinguishing Aversion and Love. Opposing and Complying: whoever gains it is free in opposing and complying with regard to all dharmas; he can break perverse and opposing beings, and can comply with beings who can be transformed; again, because he is free of attachment he breaks all dharmas, because his roots of goodness grow he accomplishes all dharmas, and yet he does not see any dharma as opposed or complied with; so it is named Opposing and Complying. Pure Light: whoever gains it finds that within all dharmas the stains of the afflictions are unfindable, and because they are unfindable all samādhi are pure; so it is named Pure Light. Firm and Solid: on this item the treatise-author sets two accounts side by side, see the next section. Pure Light of the Full Moon: whoever gains it speaks purely, without any error; as in autumn the sky is pure and the full moon’s light is cool, blissful, and delightful, the bodhisattva cultivates all merits like the moon’s fullness, breaks ignorance like the light of pure wisdom, extinguishes the fire of craving and aversion like cool merit, and is delightful because he greatly benefits beings; so it is named Pure Light of the Full Moon. Great Adornment: one sees worlds of the ten directions, as many as the sands of the Ganges, adorned with flowers and incense of the seven treasures, with buddhas dwelling within them; whoever gains it adorns all merits at a single time, and further contemplates this adornment as empty and without anything, the mind unattached to it; so it is named Great Adornment.

Eleven: From Able to Illumine All Worlds to Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space (the marks of illumining the world, of equality, and of destroying the body and destroying speech). Able to Illumine All Worlds: whoever gains it can illumine the three kinds of world—the world of beings, the world of dwelling places, and the world of the five aggregates—hence the name. Equality of Samādhi: whoever gains it contemplates all samādhi as all one and equal (namely the mark of gathering the mind); these samādhi are all born of causes and conditions, conditioned and made dharmas without depth or shallowness; whoever gains it finds them all entirely equal, and equal to all other dharmas too, without difference; therefore it is said in its meaning that in all dharmas the mark of concentration and distraction is unfindable; so it is named Equality of Samādhi. Gathering All Contention and Non-Contention: whoever gains it does not see this dharma as of such a mark and that dharma as not of such a mark, does not distinguish dharmas as contentious or non-contentious, and penetrates all dharmas without obstruction; toward beings too he has no contention over fair and ugly, but simply liberates them according to the workings of their minds; hence the name. Not Delighting in Any Abode: whoever gains it does not delight in abiding in the world (because of the fault of the world’s impermanence), nor delight in abiding in what is not the world (in what is not the world there are no dharmas at all; it is a place greatly to be feared); so it is named Not Delighting in Any Abode. Abiding in Suchness Fixed: whoever gains it knows all dharmas as the suchness of the real mark, and does not see any dharma that goes beyond this suchness; so it is named Abiding in Suchness Fixed. Destroying the Body’s Decay: the coming together of blood, flesh, sinew, and bone is called the body; this body has many troubles and is always contending with hunger, cold, chill, heat, and the like—this is called the body’s decay; whoever gains it, by the power of wisdom, destroys the mark of the body’s decay part by part until it is not seen and is unfindable; so it is named Destroying the Body’s Decay. Destroying Speech, like Space: speech is wind arising within, striking seven places so that there is sound, and depending on sound there is speech; because one contemplates the causes and conditions of this speech one can destroy speech and does not give rise to the mark of self or to love and aversion; on this item the treatise-author further sets three accounts side by side, see the next section; so it is named Destroying Speech, like Space. Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space: the bodhisattva contemplates all dharmas as ultimately empty, like space, with nothing that can serve as their simile; the bodhisattva of dull faculties instead becomes attached to this space; whoever gains this samādhi is free of attachment to space and all such dharmas, and is also not himself tainted by attachment to this samādhi—as when a person sunk in mud is pulled out by someone who then fetters his feet and makes him a slave, so it is when one is free of attachment to space and yet becomes attached to this samādhi; now this samādhi can free one of attachment to space and also frees itself of attachment (discussed in detail in the third paragraph above); so it is named Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space.

Having walked the whole way through, the general principle is no longer an empty phrase. Every one of these hundred and eight names is restored to a function that can be cultivated here and now, and the treatise-author’s closing verdict at the end reminds us again that where they come to rest is one and the same: all of them should be said to be by way of nothing to be attained, of one flavour with prajñā.

Divergent Accounts Set Side by Side and Distinctions Drawn by Question and Answer

In explaining this passage, the treatise-author in several places either sets up question and answer to draw distinctions, or sets the accounts of several masters side by side without judging which is higher. The former is to remove the reader’s doubts; the latter is to record the old explanations without forcing a verdict on right and wrong. What each of these places contains must be unfolded one by one; otherwise one would know only that there are so many accounts, without knowing what each account actually says.

One: Why the four unobstructed knowledges are spoken of only at the Pure Brightness samādhi (question and answer). Question: in explaining the many samādhi the Buddha mostly does not speak separately of supernormal powers and wisdom, so why is it only at the Pure Brightness samādhi that he speaks of gaining the four unobstructed knowledges? Answer: within samādhi there is fundamentally no mind of initial and sustained thought, while the delight in speaking that the four unobstructed require runs counter to concentration; concentration and speech do not go along with each other, and this is in itself a hard matter; precisely because the power of the Pure Brightness samādhi can gain the eloquence of delight in speaking within a concentration without initial and sustained thought, the Buddha specially points out here 「得四無礙智」 tr. "gains the four unobstructed knowledges." This question and answer ties the four unobstructed knowledges to the special excellence of this samādhi; it does not say in general that every concentration gains them. To see the difficulty here, one must first know that the four unobstructed are four kinds of freedom in teaching—of dharma, of meaning, of language, and of eloquence—each of which calls into play verbal discrimination; whereas in deep concentration the mind’s thoughts are stilled, without initial or sustained thought, which runs directly counter to verbal discrimination. The deeper the concentration the less one can speak, and once speech arises the mark of concentration has already been left behind—this is exactly what the Buddha specially has in view in this samādhi. Since the brightness of Pure Brightness is wisdom, and this wisdom can give rise to delight in speaking where obstructions have been entirely removed while the concentration is not disturbed by it, it is plain that the gaining of the four unobstructed knowledges does not come from forcing speech with a scattered mind, but from relying on the power of this samādhi to bring forth eloquence within still concentration; therefore it is tied to Pure Brightness alone and spoken of there.

Two: Whether what is seen in the Heap of Jewels samādhi is seen by the eye of flesh or seen in meditative concentration (question and answer). Question: whoever gains the Heap of Jewels samādhi sees all the lands there are become the seven treasures; is this mark of becoming the seven treasures after all seen by the eye of flesh, or seen within meditative concentration? Answer: both the divine eye and the eye of flesh can see it. Why can the eye of flesh see it too? Because the six outer sense-objects fundamentally have no fixed mark, and the practitioner, by the power of constantly cultivating meditative concentration, can transform their original mark; since the original mark can be transformed, what the eye of flesh faces changes along with it. This says that the power of concentration can transform the objective world, and not only by the single route of the divine eye. This answer in fact loosens a common preconception: that whenever an unusual mark is seen it must belong to the divine eye, and that what the eye of flesh sees is always the mark of what is really fixed. The treatise-author points out that the six sense-objects fundamentally have no fixed mark; form is form only as a temporary coming together of causes and conditions made to appear; once the power of the practitioner’s meditative concentration is deep, the outer objects faced can turn along with the concentration, and so even this pair of fleshly eyes can see the lands where one dwells all become the seven treasures. The key point here lies not in disputing over the names eye of flesh and divine eye, but in showing the reality of the power of concentration transforming the objective world; therefore the answer is that both eyes can see it, so that the questioner does not cling to one side.

Such is the question and answer under the single name of the Heap of Jewels samādhi, and the same may be inferred for all the other samādhi: all the various extraordinary marks the sūtra raises should be understood in terms of the power of concentration transforming the objective world, and there is no need to doubt whether they are empty or real.

Three: The four divergent accounts of the Immovable samādhi. Under the Immovable samādhi the treatise-author sets four accounts side by side. The first says the fourth meditation is the immovable, because the desire realm is moved by the five desires, the first meditation is moved by initial and sustained thought, the second meditation is moved by abundance of joy, the third meditation is moved by abundance of bliss, and only the fourth meditation, free of in-breath and out-breath and without any mark of movement, is therefore immovable. The second says the four formless absorptions are the immovable, because they are free of all form. The third says the absorption of cessation is the immovable, because it is free of mind and mental-factor dharmas. The fourth says that only the samādhi in accord with the wisdom of ultimate emptiness, which knows clearly the real mark of all dharmas, is immovable; whoever gains it does not engage in idle discourse about any samādhi or any dharma. The four accounts are recorded together, and the treatise-author does not judge which is right.

Four: The three divergent accounts of the Dispersing Doubt samādhi. Under the Dispersing Doubt samādhi the treatise-author sets three accounts side by side. One says it is the signless samādhi within the path of seeing the truths, because the fetter of doubt is cut off by the samādhi in accord with the knowledge of seeing the truths. One says it is the samādhi in accord with the bodhisattva’s acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; whoever gains it cuts off entirely the net of doubts within all dharmas, sees the buddhas of the ten directions, and gains the real mark of all dharmas. One says it is the samādhi in accord with unobstructed liberation; the buddhas who gain it are without doubt in all dharmas, and without near or far all is as seeing a thing in the palm of the hand. The three accounts point to stages of differing depth, and the treatise-author records them together without judging which is higher.

Five: The two divergent accounts of the Firm and Solid samādhi. Under the Firm and Solid samādhi the treatise-author sets two accounts side by side. One says it is the Vajra samādhi, taking the sense of being firm, solid, and indestructible. The other says it is not the Vajra, its reason being that though the vajra is firm it can still be broken; what is truly firm and solid is the samādhi in accord with the knowledge of the real mark of all dharmas—this samādhi cannot be broken, like space, and so is called firm and solid. The two accounts are recorded together, and the treatise-author does not decide which is right or wrong.

Six: The three divergent accounts of the Destroying Speech, like Space samādhi. Under the Destroying Speech, like Space samādhi, besides his own explanation of the causes and conditions of speech, the treatise-author further sets three accounts side by side. One says the second meditation, without initial and sustained thought, is the samādhi of destroying speech, because the worthies and sages are silent there. One says it is the samādhi of the formless absorptions, because there is no body there and one is free of all form. One says it is solely the samādhi of the bodhisattvas, which can break the impure body born of the causes and conditions of fetters and karma from former lives and receive the dharma-body, manifesting in various forms according to the beings who can be liberated. The three accounts are recorded together; the treatise-author notes them without judging.

Seven: The question and answer on “not falling into the extreme of permanence” for the Mark of the Inexhaustible samādhi. Question: whoever gains the Mark of the Inexhaustible samādhi contemplates all dharmas as without destruction and without exhaustion; since it speaks of the inexhaustible, does it not fall into the extreme of the view of permanence? Answer: just as the bodhisattva, though contemplating impermanence, does not fall into annihilation, so likewise contemplating the inexhaustible does not fall into the view of permanence, because these two marks, permanence and impermanence, are both unfindable in all dharmas. That these two accounts are still given is because one cultivates for a cause and condition: to show that sin and merit are not lost, permanence is provisionally spoken of; to make one free of attachment, impermanence is provisionally spoken of; speaking of permanence and speaking of impermanence are both skilful means suited to the occasion, not clinging fixedly to one extreme.

Taking these seven places together, the first two and the last set up question and answer to remove the reader’s doubts, and the four in the middle set old explanations side by side for reference. The two ways of proceeding must be kept distinct. In the questions and answers that remove doubt, the treatise-author has a position: the answer is precisely the right meaning he wishes to show. In the divergent accounts set side by side, however, the treatise-author deliberately does not judge, but only records the several masters’ accounts one by one, leaving the reader to see their depth for himself, not passing verdict on right and wrong on behalf of earlier masters. This is exactly the sense of proportion this treatise keeps throughout: wherever the doctrine has a fixed standard it chooses plainly, and wherever the transmissions of the old masters diverge it records without judging. In reading these items, if one takes the divergent accounts set side by side as an account the treatise-author has already endorsed, or reads the answers that remove doubt as dispensable side remarks, one has missed the treatise-author’s own intent.

Do Not Misread

Do not read these hundred and eight samādhi as a checklist of names and marks to be collected and recited. At the end the sūtra says plainly “immeasurable and boundless”; a hundred and eight is only one end raised, and the treatise-author says at the end besides that every item returns to nothing to be attained. If one attends only to memorising the names and the number, one misses precisely where they all come to rest, and reads the living gate of concentration as a dead catalogue. Nor should one regard the treatise-author’s explaining afresh, one by one, samādhi that the Buddha has already spoken of as repetitious wordiness. The Buddha briefly named them because the people of that time were of keen faculties and believed and understood; the treatise-author explains them again to make them easy for later people to understand; this further explanation is the compassionate labour of receiving and guiding those of dull faculties, not adding words to pad out a chapter. Still less should one take those divergent accounts set side by side as settled conclusions the treatise-author has already judged. Under the several items Immovable, Dispersing Doubt, Firm and Solid, and Destroying Speech, like Space, the treatise-author quite plainly records the several masters’ accounts together without judging which is higher; if one presumes to take one account as the correct one, one has misread his sense of proportion in recording without judging. Nor should one read “the Buddha speaks of samādhi, the treatise speaks of dharmas” as sūtra and treatise at odds; that is only a difference of wording on two levels, the aspect of fruition and causes and conditions with the fruit of reward. The most important move of all is not to pluck the hundred and eight samādhi off prajñā and look at them alone. They are indeed the meditative side of the Mahāyāna, yet every one of them, by way of nothing to be attained, is of one flavour with prajñā; if one pursues them as pure states of concentration apart from prajñā, that very last samādhi, Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space, has already closed the matter: even this samādhi that can free one of attachment to space may not in turn be clung to.

Bearing on Practice

This half can be used as a set of rulers for calibrating states of concentration. When one has cultivated a samādhi and tasted a portion of the flavour of concentration, first ask oneself according to the treatise-author’s general principle: do I regard this samādhi as a function turned toward liberating beings, breaking delusion, and illumining dharmas, or am I holding it as a state I have got in hand? In explaining every samādhi the treatise-author asks what one abiding in this samādhi is able to do; if concentration does not turn into function, it is merely self-guarding. Next, following his example of recording together without judging, ask oneself: where accounts differ, can I, as he does, let several masters stand side by side, without hurrying to contend for a verdict of right and wrong? And last, and most important, measure with that verdict of his: is where this samādhi comes to rest nothing to be attained? Any concentration that has become a place where one can abide and grasp has already left the flavour of prajñā. The very last item, the samādhi Free of Attachment, Undefiled as Space, says it most thoroughly: even that samādhi which can pull a person out of attachment to space, the practitioner may not turn back and cling to again. If all three questions can be answered steadily, these hundred and eight samādhi are no longer distant names and marks, but, right here in this present moment of concentration, the real matter of name and function matching and in the end returning to prajñā.

Further Resonances

On this passage of the hundred and eight samādhi, the ancient masters who later wrote phrase-by-phrase commentaries spent very little ink. The ancient master who wrote a phrase-by-phrase commentary on this chapter mostly passes over this passage with a single sentence, directing the reader straight to this treatise’s own explanation of the names one by one, and saying that its use lies in gaining concentration and in enabling one to hold and recite them and so head toward liberation. There was also an ancient master who announced in advance, in a chapter much earlier on, that on reaching the chapter on the Mahāyāna he would explain these hundred and eight samādhi one by one; yet that portion of the commentary has now been scattered and lost, and in the surviving text this promise was never fulfilled. This very sparseness shows one thing: the treatise-author’s labour of explaining them afresh one by one is in fact already the most complete receiving and guiding that later generations have for this passage, and the phrase-by-phrase commentators for the most part yielded it to this treatise. Bringing these back to this half-chapter, what most deserves to be kept is not those hundred and eight names, but the treatise-author’s general principle of explaining names and that gathering-up sentence: each name points to a present function, and every one of them returns again to nothing to be attained and is of one flavour with prajñā; therefore immeasurable and boundless samādhi can come together and be named the Mahāyāna. The first half-chapter shows the Mahāyāna’s gate of wisdom through the eighteen emptinesses; this half shows its gate of concentration through the hundred and eight samādhi; with both sides, concentration and wisdom, complete, the body of the Mahāyāna is whole. As for how this chapter carries on from the preceding Neither Bound nor Freed, and how it opens onto the four foundations of mindfulness in the text that follows, that is the matter the chapter-level Further Resonances must take up.

Further Resonances

The vein of meaning in the chapter on Mahāyāna has something it inherits before it and something it opens after it. What it inherits is the preceding chapter, Neither Bound nor Freed: that chapter, taking as its simile a conjurer who conjures up a crowd of beings, makes clear that although the bodhisattva's great adornment gives everywhere through the six perfections and teaches and transforms beings, in reality nothing is given, because all dharmas are like an illusion and ultimately empty; the five aggregates, up to omniscience of all kinds, are all neither bound nor released. Since the adorner and the adorned, up to the one who rides and what is ridden, all return to the neither-bound-nor-freed of ultimate emptiness, then what the Great Vehicle ridden by the bodhisattva finally takes as its substance becomes a question that must be asked; this chapter answers it head-on—the substance of Mahāyāna is the six perfections, is the eighteen emptinesses, is the hundred and eight samādhi. Yet this substance still does not go outside ultimate emptiness: of the eighteen emptinesses, each one is said to be so 「非常非滅故」 tr. "because it is neither permanent nor destroyed," and the hundred and eight samādhi likewise at the very end return together to prajñā, the treatise-author stating plainly: 「是諸三昧末後，皆應言用無所得，以同般若故」 tr. "At the end of all these samādhi one should say, 'using nothing to be attained,' because they are the same as prajñā." Therefore this chapter's establishing of the substance does not set up one more thing apart from the emptiness of the preceding chapter; rather, it establishes the substance of the Great Vehicle right in ultimate emptiness. What it opens is the chapter that comes after, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness: once the substance of Mahāyāna has been established, the sūtra text, following on from this, further takes up the limbs of the path, saying at its very opening 「菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍，所謂四念處」 tr. "The bodhisattva-mahāsattva's Mahāyāna is namely the four foundations of mindfulness"—turning from the overall headline of Mahāyāna into the first of the thirty-seven limbs of the path. The preceding chapter breaks through agent and object entirely and so reveals neither bound nor freed; this chapter establishes the substance right in emptiness and gathers in the six perfections, the emptinesses, and the samādhi; the following chapter takes this up and enters the limbs of the path: the three chapters are the successive unfolding of one and the same path of prajñā.

When later ancient masters read this chapter, owing to differences in the title given in the sūtra versions they relied on, there were from the start two readings of the chapter's name. Jizang, in his Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, takes the side of the sūtra being explained and titles this chapter "Questioning the Vehicle"; his passage-by-passage commentary gives a substantive division into sections for the six perfections and eighteen emptinesses of unit one, touching on the distinction between the emptiness of objects and the emptiness of knowing; when it reaches the hundred and eight samādhi of unit two, however, it passes over them in a single sentence—「百八三昧，如論釋定令誦解脫也」 tr. "The hundred and eight samādhi: as the treatise explains, they settle the mind and enable one to recite them unto liberation"—directing the reader to consult straight away this treatise's explanation of their names one by one, without producing a commentary of its own. Huiying's Commentary, by contrast, has no commentary at all on this chapter that can be cited: fascicles eighteen to twenty of his commentary are lost and no longer extant, and this chapter, which spans fascicles forty-six and forty-seven, falls as a whole squarely within that one missing stretch of fascicles; what survives today is only a single forward-looking sentence in fascicle seventeen of his commentary—「百八三昧義，至摩訶衍品當一一釋」 tr. "The meaning of the hundred and eight samādhi will be explained one by one when we reach the chapter on Mahāyāna"—yet the commentary this promise points to, the fascicles having been lost, is no longer found in the canon as it now stands; so it is that Huiying once promised to explain them one by one and his explanation does not survive, not that Huiying left them unexplained, and still less may one draft a substitute to fill the gap. Junzheng's Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises is a treatise on doctrine, not a passage-by-passage commentary, and in two places it draws on this chapter's opening definition as scriptural proof for its own teaching: in one it adapts the meaning of this chapter, saying 「六波羅蜜、十八空等，即是摩訶衍法也」 tr. "The six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, and so on—these are the dharmas of the Mahāyāna"; in the other it names explicitly "Questioning the Vehicle," citing the question at this chapter's opening as 「准當乘出者」 tr. "going by 'the one who shall ride it out'" to prove the person who rides. Here only the places where the various masters cite this chapter, how fully or briefly they do so, and whether their works survive or are lost, are recorded, to show how each master read this chapter; their interpretations are not judged higher or lower, nor is one master's judgement taken to settle the meaning of this chapter.

Bringing this whole line of further resonances back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is not a still more intricate table of the headings of Mahāyāna, but the way it lays down the method for the substance of the Great Vehicle. Mahāyāna is not one more thing apart from the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, and the hundred and eight samādhi; it is precisely that Great Vehicle in which these wholesome dharmas come together, are gathered together in prajñā, and together, using nothing to be attained, do not depart from ultimate emptiness. The six perfections are its framework; the emptinesses are the meaning of its perfection of prajñā; the samādhi are the meaning of its perfection of meditation; and even the four foundations of mindfulness of the following chapter are the beginning of its limbs of the path—there is none that does not come together and so is named yāna, the vehicle. Therefore this chapter leaves behind a way of reading that can be used again and again: whenever the sūtra takes up a dharma as Mahāyāna, ask how this dharma is gathered into the six perfections, how it returns to prajñā, and how, using nothing to be attained, it is the same as ultimate emptiness—answer these three questions well at every such place, and one knows that all wholesome dharmas coming together are named Mahāyāna, and that the substance of the Great Vehicle is always established right in emptiness and never departs from prajñā.

Overview

“The Four Foundations of Mindfulness” follows closely on the preceding chapter. The preceding “Mahāyāna” asked what the Great Vehicle takes as its substance; the Buddha answered that its substance is the six perfections, and further distinguished it at length by the eighteen emptinesses and the hundred and eight samādhi. This chapter goes on opening in the same sentence pattern—section after section, the sūtra text is headed with 「菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍」 tr. "the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva", and from “namely, the four foundations of mindfulness” onward, through the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power, the five faculties and five powers, the seven limbs of awakening and the eight limbs of the right path, the three samādhi, the various knowledges, and so on to entry through the forty-two syllables, it takes each one in turn into the Mahāyāna. The sūtra chapter explained here is titled “The Broad Vehicle,” meaning precisely that it sets out at large what the Great Vehicle contains; the treatise titles it “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” taking its name from the first of the items it sets out. The pivot of the whole chapter lies just here—that this long string of wholesome dharmas, the limbs of the path, can all be called Mahāyāna lies not in the multitude of their number, but in this: each one of them is crowned with this name Mahāyāna, and each receives the seal 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable". The four foundations of mindfulness are originally a dharma cultivated in common by the three vehicles; the treatise-author specially points out the bodhisattva’s difference: in this contemplation the bodhisattva 「不忘本願，不捨大悲，先用不可得空調伏心地」 tr. "does not forget his original vow, does not abandon great compassion, and first uses the emptiness of the unfindable to tame the ground of the mind", and therefore, though he cultivates all thirty-seven limbs of the path, he does not take nirvāṇa. Thus the very same four foundations of mindfulness, cultivated by the śrāvaka, tend toward quiescent cessation, while cultivated by the bodhisattva they become the Mahāyāna; that the limbs of the path are the Great Vehicle is judged precisely by the prajñā of nothing to be attained running through them as one.

The chapter unfolds along this pivot in two units. The first unit (the four foundations of mindfulness)—the sūtra first discloses the four contemplations of the four foundations of mindfulness, of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas, and sets out in detail the various contemplations following the body that belong to the foundation of mindfulness of the body: the four postures of walking, standing, sitting, and lying down; the counting of the breath going out and coming in; contemplating the body as the four great elements; the impurity of the thirty-six things from the feet to the crown; and on to the nine perceptions, from the discarded corpse swollen and bloated, blue and bruised, up to the white bones lying on the ground. The treatise explains their meaning one by one—the distinction of the inner and the outer body; 「循身觀」 tr. "contemplation following the body" as tracing along and following; 「不生身覺」 tr. "not giving rise to thoughts of the body" as not raising idle discourse; the reasons for “diligent vigour with a single mind” and for “removing covetousness and grief in the world”—making clear that the four noble practices break the four inversions and open the gate of the real mark, and, matched to the four truths, pass through heat, summit, acceptance, and the highest worldly dharma. Having reached the point where the śrāvaka takes the fruit, the treatise-author turns to the bodhisattva and makes clear that 「四念處實體是智慧」 tr. "the real substance of the four foundations of mindfulness is wisdom", and that the bodhisattva who cultivates them does not take nirvāṇa; at the end, with 「慧多故，名『四念處』；精進多故，名『四正勤』；定多故，名『四如意足』」 tr. "because wisdom predominates, they are called ‘the four foundations of mindfulness’; because vigour predominates, they are called ‘the four right efforts’; because concentration predominates, they are called ‘the four bases of supernormal power’", it runs through all thirty-seven limbs of the path as one, and with “as said before” and “as said in the first chapter” it gathers in advance the lists of dharmas below, closing them in the single sentence 「是諸法後皆用無所得故」 tr. "all these dharmas, afterward, are used by way of nothing to be attained". The second unit (the limbs of the path and the syllable gates)—the sūtra continues the preceding sentence pattern and raises one by one the four right efforts, the four divisions of the bases of supernormal power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, the three samādhi, the eleven knowledges, the three roots, the ten recollections, and on to the four meditations, the four immeasurable minds, the eight liberations, the nine successive absorptions, the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, and the eighteen unshared dharmas, ending with entry through the forty-two syllables: from the syllable a, 「一切法初不生」 tr. "all dharmas from the very first do not arise", through ra, pa, ca, na, and those below, to the syllable ḍha, 「邊竟處不可得」 tr. "the place where the edge ends is unfindable"; past ḍha there is no further syllable to be obtained, and 「當知一切諸法如虛空」 tr. "know that all dharmas are like empty space". The treatise explains specifically 「字等、語等」 tr. "syllables are equal, speech is equal", makes clear that 「四十二字是一切字根本」 tr. "the forty-two syllables are the root of all syllables", attaches to each syllable its gloss in the language of Qin, and returns to this—the bodhisattva distinguishes, breaks apart, and scatters the syllables; speech too is empty, the name empty and the meaning empty; 「得畢竟空，即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "attaining ultimate emptiness is precisely prajñāpāramitā". Within this single section, from the coarsest, the foundation of mindfulness of the body, to the finest, the sounds of the syllables, there is none not called Mahāyāna and none not returning to the unfindable; therefore the chapter’s close comes to its knot as 「如是等種種分別，是名『菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍』」 tr. "such various distinctions as these are called ‘the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’"—the breadth of the limbs of the path and the syllable gates never goes beyond the single substance of the prajñā of nothing to be attained.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Part One: The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Stand First among the Limbs of the Path and Are Embraced by the Great Vehicle; Why the Twelve Contemplations of the Foundation of Mindfulness of the Body First Cultivate Impurity; How One Contemplates the Body without Giving Rise to Body-Notions

What Is Being Asked

This section carries on from the Mahāyāna of the previous section, and the moment the Buddha opens his mouth he assigns the four foundations of mindfulness to the Great Vehicle—「菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍，所謂四念處」 tr. "the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva is, namely, the four foundations of mindfulness". The four foundations of mindfulness were originally the first group of the thirty-seven limbs of the path, a dharma cultivated alike by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; now, however, they are listed as the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, and here lies hidden the first question to be pressed: how can a contemplation shared with the two vehicles be the Great Vehicle? The key to the answer lies in the phrase that runs through the sūtra text from beginning to end, 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable"—body, feeling, mind, and dharmas can be contemplated distinctly, one by one, yet they are crowned with ultimate emptiness, and this one crowning rewrites a contemplation for concluding one’s own liberation into the path of the bodhisattva.

The second question pressed falls on the laying-out of the foundation of mindfulness of the body. The sūtra says that each of the four foundations of mindfulness has a threefold contemplation—inner, outer, and inner-and-outer—and that the four foundations together make twelve contemplations; but the only one actually unfolded item by item is the foundation of mindfulness of the body—from walking, standing, sitting, and lying down and the fine conduct of the four postures, to in- and out-breathing, the contemplation of the four great elements, and the impurity of the thirty-six things, and on to the nine contemplations of the corpse; the three foundations of feeling, mind, and dharmas are passed over with the single phrase “as said before.” And so the treatise-author sets ten questions in a row: why speak only of twelve contemplations? What is inner, what is outer, and, having contemplated inner and outer, why speak separately of inner-and-outer? Why not say “contemplating the body” but “contemplating the body by following it along”? How does one contemplate the body without giving rise to body-notions? Why say only “with one mind”? Why say only “removing covetousness” and “removing grief”? Why say only “impure”?—this string of questions picks out all the joints that this whole section has to explain.

The third question pressed is the most important: in cultivating these twelve contemplations, and even the thirty-seven limbs, what the śrāvaka attains is the dharmas of heat, summit, and acceptance, on up to arhatship; the bodhisattva cultivates the same set of dharmas, yet the fruit is different—what this section must answer is precisely this: on the premise of not wavering from ultimate emptiness and of cultivating in common the same gate of contemplation, why the bodhisattva’s four foundations of mindfulness do not fall into the śrāvaka’s concluding of his own liberation, but become the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas that does not take nirvāṇa and dedicates itself toward awakening.

Passage by Passage

First, the opening-out and gathering-in of the four foundations and twelve contemplations is the skeleton of this section. Each of the four foundations of mindfulness makes up twelve through the threefold contemplation of inner, outer, and inner-and-outer, yet only the foundation of mindfulness of the body is laid out as a complete model, while the three foundations of feeling, mind, and dharmas are passed over with “as for the remaining three foundations of mindfulness, the marks of inner and outer are as said before.” The treatise-author answers that the twelve contemplations are set up to break three kinds of wrong practice that were there beforehand—some people are attached mostly to inner faculties, some mostly to outer ones, some to both inner and outer alike; to break these three one-sided attachments, three kinds of right practice are set up—inner, outer, and inner-and-outer—and “from this the practitioner attains a concentrated mind.” The definition of inner and outer further has four layers: one’s own body is inner and another’s body is outer; the nine sense-fields that are received are inner and the nine sense-fields not received are outer; the five faculties such as the eye are inner and the five sense-objects such as form are outer. First one contemplates the inner body seeking purity, permanence, self, and bliss, and does not find them; then one contemplates the outer body and again does not find them; contemplating inner and outer together at one time, still they cannot be found—at this point 「心得正定」 tr. "the mind attains right concentration", and one knows the body to be like a sickness, like an abscess, like a sore, its nine openings flowing with filth, empty within and without an owner. The twelve contemplations are not twelve separate things; they are one and the same contemplation of ultimate emptiness closing in, layer by layer, at the two ends of inner and outer and between subject and object.

Second, “contemplating the body by following it along” and “not giving rise to body-notions” draw the line between the bodhisattva’s contemplation of the body and the ordinary person’s. Not saying “contemplating the body” but “contemplating the body by following it along” means tracing the marks of the body and observing in accord with them, from root to branch, knowing it to be impure, declining and decaying, worn away and returning to earth; “not giving rise to body-notions” is 「不取身一異相而生戲論」 tr. "not taking the marks of the body as one or as different and so giving rise to idle discourse"—beings, within the body, give rise now to notions of purity, now to notions of impurity, now to notions of anger that dwell on others’ faults and offences, or reckon whether the parts of the body are one or different; these notions and thoughts bring no benefit and on the contrary obstruct the path of nirvāṇa, so none of them is given rise to. The treatise-author lays bare the key in a single sentence: other ordinary people and śrāvakas can contemplate the body only by taking its marks, but 「菩薩不取身相而能觀身」 tr. "the bodhisattva does not take the marks of the body and yet is able to contemplate the body". Contemplating without taking marks is exactly where this section’s “because it is unfindable” comes to rest in the foundation of mindfulness of the body.

Third, “with one mind, diligent and vigorous” and “removing worldly covetousness and grief” are the two pillars of this gate of contemplation. Skill in worldly affairs has been habituated from beginningless time; leaving the body is easy and leaving the mind is hard, and without single-minded diligent vigour it cannot be accomplished; the treatise takes drilling wood for fire as its simile—「一心勤精進」 tr. "with one mind, diligent and vigorous", ceaseless and unresting, and only then is fire obtained. “Removing worldly covetousness and grief” means that once covetousness is removed the five hindrances all go; the treatise takes splitting bamboo as its simile: once the first node is split, the remaining nodes all go; and the reason covetousness and grief are spoken of together is that those who have left home have given up worldly pleasure but have not yet attained the pleasure of concentration, and their minds give rise to thoughts of grief like a fish longing for water, so the Buddha speaks of removing covetousness together with grief.

Fourth, as to why impurity is spoken of first among the many gates of contemplation, the treatise-author answers plainly: the human body is by nature impure, and only because it is covered by a thin skin does the mark of purity arise first; beings, moreover, are mostly attached to desire and take the mark of purity, so desire is treated first, impurity contemplated first, the body-thief broken first. And the contemplation of impurity cannot arise on its own—though the body be calm, within there are evil initial and sustained thought disturbing the mind, so one first guards against initial and sustained thought with the sixteen parts of ānāpāna; once the mind is free of confusion, the practice of the contemplation of impurity is then secure and firm; if the order is inverted, the crazed mind in its confusion instead takes the impure for the pure. In the Buddhadharma these two dharmas are called 「甘露初門」 tr. "the first gate to the ambrosia". When the contemplation of impurity is accomplished, 「觀身如草木瓦石無異」 tr. "one contemplates the body as no different from grass, trees, tiles, and stones"; the four great elements enter to form the body, each without I or mine; the self is not in the four great elements, and the four great elements are not in the self—only by inversion is it falsely reckoned to be a body.

Fifth, the nine contemplations of the corpse and the thirty-six things are the most startling passage among the twelve contemplations, yet each has its assignment. The treatise-author gathers it up: first contemplating the thirty-six things and the corpse swollen and bloated from the first to the fifth day is the contemplation of impurity; birds and beasts coming to eat it, on to its becoming the same colour as the earth, is the contemplation of impermanence; seeking I and mine within it and not finding them is the contemplation of non-self; contemplating that there is nothing in the body to delight in, and that attachment gives rise to grief, is the contemplation of suffering. Having contemplated the outer body with the four noble modes of practice, one also knows for oneself that one’s own body is thus, and then contemplates inner and outer together. This assignment gathers the fearful and loathsome marks of the corpse into the four contemplations of impurity, impermanence, non-self, and suffering—not to horrify, but to use the decay that the eye can see to point, by comparison, to the emptiness that is not seen.

Sixth, the conclusion of this section falls on the division between śrāvaka and bodhisattva, which is also the transition to the mutual inclusion of the thirty-seven limbs. Contemplating the four dharmas breaks the four inversions and opens the gate of the real mark; matched with the four truths of suffering, origination, cessation, and path, one has faith in the path of nirvāṇa, and the mind abides in happiness seemingly as if without outflows—this is “the dharma of heat”; having faith in the Three Jewels, with offence and merit held level, is the dharma of the summit; and on to acceptance, to arhat and pratyekabuddha—these are the fruits of recompense that the śrāvaka attains. The bodhisattva, however, within the same contemplation 「不忘本願，不捨大悲」 tr. "does not forget his original vow and does not abandon great compassion"; he first tames the ground of the mind with the emptiness of unfindability, so that though he has afflictions his mind never falls; his dharma of acceptance and highest worldly dharma are the compliant acceptance of dharmas, and his srota-āpanna path up to the pratyekabuddha path are 「須陀洹道，乃至阿羅漢、辟支佛道，即是菩薩無生法忍」 tr. "the srota-āpanna path, up to the arhat and pratyekabuddha paths, are the bodhisattva’s acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas". Although the four right efforts and the four bases of supernormal power each have their own position, all are within the four foundations of mindfulness—「慧多故，名『四念處』；精進多故，名『四正勤』；定多故，名『四如意足』」 tr. "because wisdom predominates, they are called ‘the four foundations of mindfulness’; because vigour predominates, they are called ‘the four right efforts’; because concentration predominates, they are called ‘the four bases of supernormal power’"—this is the mutual inclusion of the limbs of the path. As to why one who cultivates the thirty-seven limbs does not take nirvāṇa, the treatise-author answers 「本願牢故，大悲心深入故」 tr. "because his original vow is firm, and because the mind of great compassion has entered deeply", and gives as illustration the buddhas of the ten directions stretching out their hands to stroke his head, urging the bodhisattva not to extinguish the inverted mind, and that he ought to teach and transform beings with the Dharma of emptiness. Finally the three samādhi, the eleven knowledges, and on to the eighteen unshared dharmas are all passed over with “as said before,” and the whole section is gathered into a single sentence—「是諸法後皆用無所得故」 tr. "all these dharmas, in the end, are employed by way of there being nothing to be attained". The limbs of the path are shared with the two vehicles, but nothing-to-be-attained and the original vow are precisely the two unshared points by which they become the Great Vehicle.

Supplementary Notes on the Contemplations One by One: Three Similes, Two Kinds of Impurity, the Nine Contemplations of the Corpse

The preceding passage has already spoken of the opening-out and gathering-in of the twelve contemplations of the foundation of mindfulness of the body, and of contemplating the body by following it along and not giving rise to body-notions; here the details are filled in for three striking similes in the sūtra and the treatise, and for the successive stages of the nine contemplations of the corpse, so that this path of contemplating the body may be complete from head to tail.

First, the three similes. For contemplating in- and out-breathing, the sūtra takes the turner holding the cord as its simile—「入息長時知入息長，出息長時知出息長；入息短時知入息短，出息短時知出息短」 tr. "when the in-breath is long he knows the in-breath is long; when the out-breath is long he knows the out-breath is long; when the in-breath is short he knows the in-breath is short; when the out-breath is short he knows the out-breath is short", just as a master turner or his apprentice, working the cord, “knows long when the cord is long, knows short when the cord is short”; the length of each breath is distinct and clear and the mind does not run off after it—this is exactly where the sixteen parts of ānāpāna set against initial and sustained thought take hold. For contemplating the four great elements, the sūtra takes the cattle-butcher as its simile, and the treatise-author further takes the simile apart piece by piece: the ox is the practitioner’s body, the butcher is the practitioner, the knife is sharp wisdom, taking the ox’s life is breaking the mark of the body as one, the four portions are the four great elements—after the butcher has divided the ox into four portions, he sees before him only the four portions and no other ox, nor does he see anything called “ox”; the practitioner, contemplating the body with keen knowledge, sees only the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind and no other body, nor does he see any “my body.” What this simile would teach is precisely 「四大不名為身」 tr. "the four great elements are not called the body" and 「我不在四大中，四大不在我中」 tr. "the self is not in the four great elements, and the four great elements are not in the self"—the body is only a provisional name for the four great elements entering within. For contemplating the thirty-six things, the sūtra takes the farmer’s granary as its simile, and the treatise-author takes this apart too: the granary is the body, the farmer is the practitioner, the fields sown with grain are the causes and conditions of the practitioner’s bodily karma, the harvest brought into the granary is the practitioner’s obtaining a body when his causes and conditions ripen—a clear-eyed farmer, as soon as he opens the granary, distinguishes hemp, broomcorn millet, rice, foxtail millet, wheat, and beans, each of a different kind; the practitioner, opening this granary of the body with the eye of wisdom, knows that the thirty-six things, from the hair of the head, body hair, nails, and teeth up to the brain membrane, are filled with every kind of impurity and must surely decay. The three similes each treat one contemplation—the cord simile treats the breath, the ox simile treats self-clinging upon the four great elements, the granary simile treats the clinging to purity upon the body—and together they teach one thing: the body has no real self; it is only a provisional coming together of causes and conditions.

Next, the two kinds of impurity. The treatise-author divides impurity into two: “first, the already decayed; second, the not yet decayed.” First one contemplates one’s own body, not yet decayed and possessed of mind and consciousness; a person whose fetters are thin and whose faculties are sharp at once gives rise to revulsion; one of dull faculties and thick fetters must contemplate the already decayed dead, whose fearfulness and loathsomeness wrest away his clinging to purity. These are the two ways into the contemplation of impurity, the object contemplated differing according to whether the faculties are sharp or dull—not two dharmas, but the skilful adaptation of one and the same contemplation that treats desire to the two kinds of faculty, sharp and dull.

Last, the successive stages of the nine contemplations of the corpse. The sūtra enumerates nine marks of a corpse’s decay, and at each stage one reflects that one’s own body has such marks and such a nature and has not yet escaped this dharma. First: from the first to the fifth day, swollen and bloated, blue and bruised, pus and blood flowing out, the belly split and the organs rotting—the treatise-author fills in the scene: the kinsfolk still keep watch and birds and beasts have not yet eaten; facing this, the practitioner examines himself—「好色安在」 tr. "where now is the fair form?"—and knows that the beauty that once bewitched and beguiled people was only an illusory dharma that “deceives the eyes of the unwise”; second: on the sixth and seventh days, birds and beasts fighting over it to eat; third: when the birds and beasts have finished eating, the impurity rotting and stinking; fourth: the chain of bones smeared with blood and flesh, sinews and bones joined together; fifth: blood and flesh gone, sinews and bones joined together; sixth: the chain of bones scattered on the ground; seventh: the bones in different places—foot bones, shin and thigh bones, hips and ribs, spine and hands, neck bones, skull, each scattered to a different place; eighth: after many years, blown by wind and baked by sun, white as a conch shell; ninth: the old bones, sinews severed and joints loosened, dove-coloured, until they rot away and become the same colour as the earth. These nine stages are not meant to horrify; the treatise-author gathers them into four contemplations—first contemplating the thirty-six things and the five days of swelling is the contemplation of impurity; the birds and beasts eating, on to the same colour as the earth, is the contemplation of impermanence; seeking I and mine within it and not finding them is the contemplation of non-self; contemplating that there is nothing in the body to delight in is the contemplation of suffering—using the decay that the eye can see to point, by comparison, to the emptiness that is not seen.

Supplementary Notes on the Dharma-Meaning at the End of the Fascicle: Pleasant Feeling, the Impermanence of Mind, Foundation of Mindfulness and Foundation of Knowledge, Right Effort and Concentration

At the end of the fascicle of this unit, beyond the treatise’s explanation of heat, summit, and the other dharmas, there is a further complete doctrinal discussion that the preceding passages did not reach; it is supplied below.

First, the nature of pleasant feeling and the impermanence of mind. The treatise-author analyses worldly pleasure as having no reality at all—「此樂亦無住處，未來未有，過去已滅，現在不住，念念皆滅」 tr. "this pleasure, too, has no place of abiding: the future has not yet come to be, the past has already ceased, the present does not abide—moment by moment it all ceases"—and it is only because suffering is screened off that it is provisionally named pleasure. Taking food and drink as a simile: food and drink “are for the time being taken as pleasure because they remove the suffering of hunger and thirst; taken beyond measure, they give rise to suffering again,” which shows that pleasure arises from the causes and conditions of suffering and in turn gives rise to the result of suffering. Again, taking fine food mixed with poison as a simile: “though the food is fragrant and fine, the poison harms a person”; worldly pleasure is likewise, deceiving people for a moment and afterwards bringing immeasurable suffering. As for the mind that is able to feel pleasure, the treatise-author teaches that it arises and ceases moment by moment—「受苦心非樂心，受樂心非苦心，受不苦不樂心非苦樂心，時相各異」 tr. "the mind that feels suffering is not the mind of pleasure, the mind that feels pleasure is not the mind of suffering, the mind that feels neither suffering nor pleasure is not the mind of suffering or of pleasure; their times and marks are each different"—therefore the mind is impermanent; like “water-waves and a lamp’s flame,” it is precisely because the continuity is unbroken that its mark can be taken, while in reality it does not abide for an instant. Being impermanent it is not autonomous, and not being autonomous it is without self; perception, construction, and recollection are all likewise. The treatise-author first sets up this analysis in order to uproot the two thieves entrenched in the practice of contemplation—「貪、憂二賊，劫我法寶」 tr. "the two thieves, covetousness and grief, rob me of my Dharma-treasure": the practitioner reflects that this body is impermanent, impure, and loathsome—why then does he still covet it and stir up all kinds of causes and conditions for committing offences? Knowing that within there are the five faculties and without the five desires, and that only when the two come together does the inverted pleasure of the world arise, he is not robbed by this false pleasure. And the reason it is said that pleasure can rob a person is that the poison of the afflictions, such as sexual desire, has taken away the life of wisdom, and once a person is crazed and deluded he abandons benefit and chooses ruin; examined to its end, what feels the pleasure is nothing but that mind-consciousness which arises and ceases moment by moment. Seeing through this layer, the sweetness of pleasant feeling, the permanence of thought, and the reality of body and life—these three false appearances loosen all at once, and only then is the contemplation of the body not dragged back by covetousness and grief halfway through. This also connects back to the practice of “removing worldly covetousness and grief” in the preceding passage: once covetousness is removed the five hindrances all go, as when the first node of bamboo is split and the remaining nodes all follow; and the reason covetousness and grief are spoken of together is that those who have left home have given up worldly pleasure but have not yet attained the pleasure of concentration, and their minds easily give rise to grief like a fish longing for water, so the Buddha speaks of removing covetousness together with grief. Analysing pleasant feeling and analysing the impermanence of mind lays the doctrinal foundation for this removal of covetousness and grief—if one does not see the hollowness of pleasure and the impermanence of mind, covetousness and grief have no way to be cut off at the root.

Next, the simile of eating impurity at night. Practising the four noble modes of practice breaks the four inversions of purity, pleasure, permanence, and self, and so opens the gate of the real mark, and one is ashamed of what one had habitually practised before—the treatise-author uses eating at night as a simile: “as a person who eats something impure at night, when another makes clear to him that it was wrong, is ashamed of the matter”; a person who in the dark mistakenly eats something impure feels shame only once someone points it out; the practitioner, after breaking the inversions and seeing the real mark, looking back on the body he once loved and was attached to, which was impure from the first, is likewise ashamed of himself.

Next, foundation of mindfulness and foundation of knowledge. Question: since the real substance of the four foundations of mindfulness is wisdom, why are they not called “foundations of knowledge” but “foundations of mindfulness”? Answer: when one first practises, there is not yet time for knowledge to arise; 「念為初門，常念其事」 tr. "mindfulness is the first gate; one is constantly mindful of the matter", and wisdom arises following upon mindfulness, so mindfulness gives the name; moreover, 「念持智慧在緣中，不令散亂」 tr. "mindfulness holds wisdom within its object and does not let it scatter", which is exactly where the word “foundation” comes to rest—mindfulness is the move that binds wisdom fast to its object, hence the name foundation of mindfulness. This question and answer must not be skipped over: it points out the order of mindfulness and wisdom—mindfulness comes first and gathers, wisdom comes after and contemplates; the four foundations of mindfulness take their name from mindfulness and their substance from wisdom.

Last, right effort and concentration. Right effort is called “right” because it 「與九十六種邪行求道相違」 tr. "runs counter to the ninety-six kinds of wrong practice in seeking the path"—those of the outside paths give up the five desires and torment their own bodies, yet cannot give up what is evil and unwholesome nor gather wholesome dharmas; the Buddha, however, has two dharmas each for cutting off evil (removing what has already come, and guarding against what has not yet come so that it does not arise) and for producing good (causing what has not yet arisen to arise, and causing what has already arisen to grow), hence the name right effort. The treatise-author further uses fire and wind as a simile to weigh the excess and deficiency of vigour—「智慧火得正勤風，無所不燒」 tr. "the fire of wisdom, obtaining the wind of right effort, burns everything"; and yet 「正勤若過，心則散亂，智火微弱」 tr. "if right effort is excessive, the mind scatters and the fire of knowledge grows faint", just as a fire that gets wind in excess is instead either put out or made faint; so concentration is needed to check that wind of excessive vigour; concentration is of four kinds: concentration of desire, concentration of vigour, concentration of mind, and concentration of reflection. Finally, the treatise ranks the positions of these twelve dharmas (the four foundations of mindfulness, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernormal power): in people of dull faculties they are called “faculties,” as a tree has roots but not yet strength; in people of sharp faculties they are called “powers,” like a sharp knife cutting things, able to accomplish quickly. When the task is not yet accomplished they are called the “path”; when the task is accomplished and one reflects and cultivates, they are called “awakening.” These same twelve dharmas, according to whether the faculties are sharp or dull and whether the task is accomplished or not, bear the different names of faculty, power, path, and awakening.

Do Not Misread

Do not read “not giving rise to body-notions” as not contemplating the body, or as contemplating the body into emptiness and knowing nothing at all. Not giving rise to body-notions is not taking the marks of the body as one or different and so stirring up idle discourse; it is not a failure to contemplate; the treatise says plainly that the bodhisattva “does not take the marks of the body and yet is able to contemplate the body”—the contemplation is distinct and clear, only it does not fall into taking marks. To read it as closing one’s eyes and not contemplating is to read prajñā’s contemplation of the body as annihilation.

Do not read “first contemplating impurity” as meaning that impurity is final, or as taking the mark of impurity as real. The contemplation of impurity is only the first gate to the ambrosia, a skilful means that treats desire’s taking of the mark of purity; the nine contemplations of the corpse are in the end gathered into impermanence, non-self, and suffering, and further gathered into the ultimate emptiness of “because it is unfindable.” If one stops at the mark of impurity and treats it as a really existing object of loathing, one mistakes the first gate for the final ground.

Do not read “removing worldly covetousness and grief” as removing only the two afflictions of covetousness and grief. When covetousness is removed the five hindrances all go, as when the first node of bamboo is split and the remaining nodes all follow; covetousness and grief are spoken of together because, at the juncture of having given up worldly pleasure but not yet attained the pleasure of concentration, thoughts of grief easily arise, and covetousness is what accompanies worldly joy. Merely counting off one or two afflictions at the level of particulars loses the weight of “once the first node is split, the remaining nodes all go.”

Do not read the bodhisattva’s four foundations of mindfulness as the same road and the same fruit as the śrāvaka’s. The twelve contemplations cultivated are the same set, but the śrāvaka reaches only heat, summit, and acceptance, on up to arhatship, while the bodhisattva, adding the original vow and great compassion to the emptiness of unfindability, accomplishes compliant acceptance and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and cultivates the limbs of the path without taking nirvāṇa. To conflate the two is to erase the boundary between śrāvaka and bodhisattva that this section takes such care to draw.

Nor read “because it is unfindable” as discarding contemplative practice and passively not cultivating. This phrase is set as a crown precisely when body, feeling, mind, and dharmas are each being contemplated distinctly and clearly—it is contemplating without attachment, not not contemplating. To use ultimate emptiness as an excuse for lazy practice is exactly to read this section backwards.

Bearing on Practice

This section can serve as a measuring-rule for contemplating the body. When contemplating the body, one can ask: am I tracing and observing without taking the marks of the body, or have I once again quietly started reckoning whether the body is one or different, falling back into the idle discourse of “body-notions”? When cultivating impurity and the nine perceptions, one can ask: am I treating it as the first gate that treats covetous attachment, which must finally return to unfindability, or have I stopped at the loathsome marks, mistaking the skilful means for the final end?

This rule is of use in removing afflictions too: in removing covetousness and grief, am I like one splitting the first node of bamboo, so that the five hindrances follow and go, or am I only haggling over one or two particulars? In applying effort one can ask: is this diligent vigour of mine ceaseless and unresting like drilling wood for fire, one-minded and undisturbed, or is it scattered, slack, and powerless? The most important question is left for the arousing of the mind: in cultivating these four foundations of mindfulness, and even the thirty-seven limbs, am I seeking only heat, summit, and acceptance for my own escape, or do I not forget my original vow and not abandon great compassion, contemplating body, feeling, mind, and dharmas without taking nirvāṇa, and dedicating toward awakening? If one can hold firm in answering these questions, then one is contemplating the body without attachment within ultimate emptiness, and practising an unshared compassionate vow upon a gate of contemplation shared with the two vehicles—this is just how the four foundations of mindfulness look, at the starting-point, as they become Mahāyāna.

Further Resonances

The ancient masters who later read this section applied their effort most often to the definition of the inner and outer body and to the laying-out of the system of the limbs of the path: some, in terms of one’s own body and another’s body and of the division between the five faculties and the five sense-objects, finely distinguish what the inner body and the outer body refer to, developing along the same line as the treatise-author’s “one’s own body is called the inner body, another’s body is called the outer body”; some enumerate and distinguish the number of gates in the thirty-seven limbs of the path one by one, touching also on the mutual inclusion of numbered categories such as the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the three foundations of mindfulness, sorting out for the reader the skeleton of this long series of limbs of the path; and some compare the nine marks with the ten perceptions, distinguishing where the contemplation of impurity comes out and goes in between opening-out and gathering-in. There are also ancient masters who noticed that the text of this chapter falls into two sections—the first on the four foundations of mindfulness, the second on the limbs of the path and the syllable-gates—and treated them as one whole, their commentary showing no difference between the two. These readings each have their own provenance; here only their approach is recorded, without judging which is higher.

Brought back to this unit, what is most worth keeping is not a finer outline, but this section’s prajñā rewriting of the limbs of the path. The four foundations of mindfulness were originally first among the thirty-seven limbs, cultivated alike with śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; but once the sūtra crowns them with “because it is unfindable” and binds them to “does not forget his original vow and does not abandon great compassion,” the same set of twelve contemplations of the foundation of mindfulness of the body is, for the śrāvaka, the concluding of his own liberation from heat, summit, and acceptance on to arhatship, and for the bodhisattva becomes the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas that does not take nirvāṇa. Body, feeling, mind, and dharmas are illuminated and contemplated and never set aside, while ultimate emptiness and the compassionate vow remain throughout that one unbroken thread. This section restores the three words “four foundations of mindfulness” from an old road shared with the two vehicles to the first gate of the Great Vehicle, able to carry people to the ground of buddhahood.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, Part Two: The Limbs of the Path and the Syllable-Gates—The Forty-Two Syllable-Gates as the Entry into Prajñā, All Because They Are Unfindable

What Is Being Asked

This part carries on from the four foundations of mindfulness of the previous part. The previous part set up the four foundations of mindfulness as the first of the thirty-seven limbs of the path; this part then counts off the remaining limbs of the path in a single breath—the four right exertions, the four limbs of power at will, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the limbs of the eightfold noble path—completing the thirty-seven; next it counts the three samādhi, the eleven knowledges, the three outflow-free faculties, another set of three samādhi, the ten recollections, and the four meditations, the four immeasurables, the four formless absorptions, the eight liberations, and the nine successive absorptions; further up still, it counts to the Buddha's exclusive merits, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, and the eighteen unshared dharmas; and at last it comes to rest on the forty-two syllable-gates and the twenty merits. At first glance this looks like a vast and cluttered list of dharma-numbers, gate piled upon gate, each one trailed by the same phrase: 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable".

And so the question is forced out. A list of dharma-gates this long, from the four right exertions that cut off evil and give rise to good all the way to the ten powers that belong to the Buddha alone, differing so widely in nature and in rank—on what ground are they set side by side in one place, all counted as the bodhisattva's Mahāyāna? Stranger still, this great string of dharma-numbers ends up gathered into a set of letters—a, ra, pa, ca, all the way to ḍha. Are the forty-two syllables, then, a secret spell to be recited, or a mnemonic for counting? This is precisely what this part sets out to answer. What runs through this whole list of dharma-gates is nothing other than that recurring phrase, 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable"; and the forty-two syllable-gates are exactly the sharpest way of saying this phrase—they turn the most ordinary speech-sounds into forty-two gates, and every gate leads through to the unfindability of all dharmas. The syllable-gates are not a spell; they are the entry into prajñā. Fail to see this layer, and one will read the bodhisattva's limbs of the path as the ladder of the Small Vehicle, and read the syllable-dhāraṇī as a mystical worship of syllables.

Passage by Passage

First, see clearly where this long list of limbs of the path is attached, and why every gate is trailed by 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable". In the treatise of the previous part, the treatise-author had already made it plain that although the bodhisattva cultivates these thirty-seven limbs, his original vow is firm and his great compassion runs deep, and so he does not take nirvāṇa. The sūtra text of this part then lists the remaining limbs of the path one by one, and at the close of each gate it never forgets that one phrase about the unfindable. This phrase is exactly where the dividing line lies—the same four right exertions, five faculties and five powers, seven limbs of awakening and eightfold right path: the śrāvaka treads on them to climb up to nirvāṇa and there takes realisation and stops, whereas the bodhisattva practises them because they are unfindable, passing through without coming to rest. Take away this phrase, and what remains is the limbs of the path of the Small Vehicle; it is precisely because this phrase is there that they become the Mahāyāna.

Second, counting upward to the knowledges, the faculties, the absorptions, and even the Buddha's exclusive merits, the question becomes sharper. The bodhisattva himself has not yet become a buddha; why does the sūtra text count even the Buddha's ten powers, four fearlessnesses and eighteen unshared dharmas into the bodhisattva's Mahāyāna? The key here is again continuous with the treatise of the previous part—though the bodhisattva is not a buddha, he contemplates these dharmas, recites them and rightly keeps them in mind, and trains in the merits of the buddha-ground as matters within his own lot. So the Mahāyāna runs straight through: from the five faculties of faith and the rest in those still in training, it gathers in everything all the way up to the Buddha's ten powers, with no break in between, and what runs through it from beginning to end is still that same phrase, because it is unfindable. This long list looks cluttered, but in fact it is the single flavour of ultimate emptiness, stamped again and again upon dharma-gates of differing rank.

Third, the heart of this part is the gates of entry into all syllables, the sameness of syllables and the sameness of speech. The treatise-author states its general principle most clearly—「因字有語，因語有名，因名有義」 tr. "from syllables there is speech, from speech there are names, from names there is meaning": sounds join into words, words join into names, and names carry meaning; the bodhisattva need only hear a syllable, and he can follow this thread, reaching the meaning by way of the syllable. And 「四十二字是一切字根本」 tr. "the forty-two syllables are the root of all syllables", 「初阿、後荼，中有四十」 tr. "first a, last ḍha, and forty in between": the forty-two syllables exhaust all syllables; whatever the language, whatever the sound, none escapes beyond these forty-two syllables, and so every one of them is led to a meaning, and every meaning opened by a syllable-gate is, without exception, a kind of unfindability. Here there is no need to list the forty-two gates dryly one by one; it is enough to pick out a few key ones, and the general principle comes alive. Hearing the syllable a, one enters 「一切法初不生」 tr. "all dharmas are from the very first unarisen"—this is the deepest gate, and it is precisely the 「所謂阿字義」 tr. "what is called the meaning of the syllable a" of the whole dhāraṇī; hearing the syllable ra, one enters the freedom of all dharmas from defilement; hearing the syllable pa, one enters the highest meaning; hearing the syllable ca, one knows that all conditioned activities are not activities; hearing the syllable na, one knows neither gaining nor losing, neither coming nor going—and the syllable na is glossed in the language of Qin precisely as "not." Counting all the way to the last, hearing the syllable ḍha, one knows that the utmost limit is unfindable, and 「過荼無字可得」 tr. "beyond ḍha there is no syllable to be obtained", 「更無字故」 tr. "because there are no further syllables". The syllables run out at ḍha, the forty-two gates are all opened, and what remains is exactly that one phrase—「當知一切諸法如虛空」 tr. "know that all dharmas are like space". The reason the forty-two syllable-gates are the entry into prajñā lies just in this: they take the most ready-to-hand speech-sounds as forty-two gates, and every gate opens onto ultimate emptiness, opening until there is no gate left to open.

Fourth, the treatise-author's attaching a gloss in the language of Qin to each Sanskrit syllable-word has its intent along this same thread. He glosses ādi as "first" and anutpāda as "not arising," rajas as "defilement" and paramārtha as "the highest meaning"; this is not doing philological research, but demonstrating on the spot the path of 「因字有語，因語有名，因名有義」 tr. "from syllables there is speech, from speech there are names, from names there is meaning"—a syllable enters the ear, draws out a word, the word carries out a meaning, and the bodhisattva follows this straight into the real mark of all dharmas. Next the treatise-author further explains why these syllables are unobstructed, nameless, extinguished, and a writing that cannot be shown or seen: syllables resemble one another and continue, entering into all speech, so they are called unobstructed; once heard they are at once used up, so they are called extinguished; syllables are nothing but dharmas of form, names forcibly set up by beings, with no real causes and conditions of their own, so they are called unseeable and unwritable. Even the syllables themselves, which carry all of this, are teaching their own emptiness.

Fifth, this part closes on the twenty merits and on days, months, years and seasons. The treatise-author first poses a question—since the merits are immeasurable, why are only twenty told?—and answers it decisively: 「廢說般若波羅蜜故，但略說二十」 tr. "because it would set aside the telling of prajñāpāramitā, only twenty are told in brief"; the merits are listed as only twenty because they give way to prajñā. And the most important line among the twenty merits is 「得畢竟空，即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "attaining ultimate emptiness—this is prajñāpāramitā": analysing and breaking apart the syllables, speech is empty, names are empty, meaning is empty, dropping straight into ultimate emptiness—this is the true fruit of the syllable-dhāraṇī. In the last item, the skilful discrimination of days, months, years and seasons, the treatise-author pushes this unfindability onto time itself: the middle part of a single day has no place where it abides; by the time of the thirtieth day the twenty-ninth has long since perished; if the month does not exist, from where is the year assembled? From this is drawn out the Buddha's settled pronouncement—「世間法如幻、如夢，但是誑心法」 tr. "worldly dharmas are like an illusion, like a dream; they are only dharmas that deceive the mind". The bodhisattva can know how days, months and years are assembled, and can also know that they break apart into nothing at all—only this is called "skilful discrimination." From syllables to time, the same key of the unfindable gathers speech-sounds and calendar-reckoning together into ultimate emptiness, and this whole part is accordingly named 「菩薩摩訶薩摩訶衍」 tr. "the Mahāyāna of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva".

The Dharma-Numbers of the Limbs of the Path, Named Member by Member

The preceding section spoke of the general principle—every gate in this long list of limbs of the path is trailed by 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable", and every item returns alike to ultimate emptiness. Yet if the general principle does not come down to each member, the reader still remembers only a string of names, without ever having seen for himself what each member is in itself. What follows therefore goes, in the order of the sūtra text, through the remaining limbs that complete the thirty-seven, and then the knowledges and absorptions after them, and even the Buddha's exclusive merits, one by one; wherever the sūtra text carries its own definition, it is explained by that definition, and no meaning is added.

1. The remaining limbs that complete the thirty-seven (the four right exertions · the four limbs of power at will · the five faculties · the five powers · the seven limbs of awakening · the limbs of the eightfold noble path). The four right exertions are four branches of one matter: evil and unwholesome dharmas not yet arisen are made not to arise; evil and unwholesome dharmas already arisen are made to be cut off; wholesome dharmas not yet arisen are made to arise; wholesome dharmas already arisen are made to abide without being lost, and are cultivated to fullness and increased and broadened—the first two branches cut off evil and the latter two give rise to good, each spurred on by 「欲生勤精進攝心行道」 tr. "arousing desire, striving with vigour, gathering the mind, and practising the path", the forward-directed exertion of vigour. The four limbs of power at will (the four feet of power at will) are cultivated with four kinds of absorption as the chief, each 「斷行成就」 tr. "accomplished in the practice of cutting off"—the absorption of desire is an absorption that takes wishing as its starting point; the absorption of mind is an absorption that gathers the mind in one place; the absorption of vigour is an absorption of unflagging striving; the absorption of reflection is an absorption of contemplative discernment and selection; when the absorption is accomplished, what one wishes comes about at will, and hence it is named "at will." The five faculties are the five—faith, vigour, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—in their position as roots able to give rise to wholesome dharmas; the five powers are these same five once they have become indestructible powers—as faculties they do not yet have power, as powers they can already get things done: the same dharmas, different positions. The seven limbs of awakening are the seven—mindfulness, discernment of dharmas, vigour, joy, removal, concentration, and equanimity—and the sūtra specially appends three lines of purport: 「依離、依無染、向涅槃」 tr. "relying on separation, relying on non-defilement, turning toward nirvāṇa"—relying on detachment, relying on non-defilement, heading toward nirvāṇa; these three lines are the steering wheel of the limbs of awakening: without them the seven dharmas scatter into worldly good; with them they are the awakening that heads toward stillness. The limbs of the eightfold noble path are right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right vigour, right mindfulness, and right concentration; when the eight—view, thought, speech, action, livelihood, vigour, mindfulness, and concentration—are complete, that is the one whole path leading through to nirvāṇa. These six sets together with the four foundations of mindfulness of the previous part make exactly thirty-seven limbs; and at the end of each set the sūtra still does not forget 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable", which is precisely to rewrite the śrāvaka's stages of the path, one by one, as the bodhisattva's Mahāyāna.

2. The knowledges and the faculties (the three samādhi · the eleven knowledges · the three outflow-free faculties). The three samādhi are the three gates of liberation—emptiness, signlessness, and non-action: the emptiness samādhi contemplates all dharmas as empty of specific marks; the signless samādhi breaks down the marks of all dharmas, neither recollecting nor thinking of them; the non-action samādhi gives rise to no wish or seeking among dharmas. One gate breaks marks, one gate breaks recollection, one gate breaks wishing and seeking; the three gates open together onto ultimate emptiness, and so they are named liberation. The eleven knowledges divide "knowing" into eleven kinds of what is known: the knowledge of suffering knows that suffering does not arise, the knowledge of origination knows that origination should be cut off, the knowledge of cessation knows the cessation of suffering, the knowledge of the path knows the limbs of the eightfold noble path—these four are the knowledges of the four truths; the knowledge of exhaustion knows the exhaustion of lust, anger, and delusion, the knowledge of non-arising knows non-arising within all existences—these two are self-realisation at the stage where the outflows are exhausted; dharma-knowledge knows the five aggregates by analysing their underlying matter and knows them to be non-existent, subsequent knowledge infers by analogy from the impermanence of the eye all the way to the impermanence of feeling born of mind-contact—these two are the difference between direct perception and inference; worldly knowledge knows causes and conditions and names, a knowing on the level of worldly truth; the knowledge of others' minds knows the minds of other beings; and the knowledge as it really is knows the omniscience of all kinds of the buddhas—the eleven knowledges go from shallow to deep, and the last points straight to the Buddha's knowledge. The three outflow-free faculties are the faculty of coming to know what is not yet known, the faculty of knowing, and the faculty of one who knows; they divide the five faculties of faith and the rest according to three stages: the five faculties of faith and the rest in one still in training who has not yet attained the fruit are called the faculty of coming to know what is not yet known; in one still in training who has attained the fruit they are called the faculty of knowing; the five faculties of faith and the rest in those beyond training (arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and the buddhas) are called the faculty of one who knows—the same five faculties, given three names according to the depth of the stage of realisation.

3. The absorptions and the recollections (the three samādhi · the ten recollections · the nine gates of the four meditations and the rest). Another set of three samādhi is divided into three by the presence or absence of initial and sustained thought—the samādhi with initial thought and with sustained thought is the first meditation (free of desire, free of evil and unwholesome dharmas, yet still with initial and sustained thought); the samādhi without initial thought but with sustained thought is the intermediate stage between the first meditation and the second; the samādhi without initial or sustained thought runs from the second meditation all the way to the absorption of neither perception nor non-perception—passing gradually from coarse initial and sustained thought into subtle stillness, this is a measuring rod for the depth of absorption. The ten recollections bind the mind to ten kinds of object—recollection of the Buddha, recollection of the Dharma, recollection of the Saṅgha, recollection of morality, recollection of giving, recollection of the gods, recollection of cessation, recollection of breathing in and out, recollection of the body, and recollection of death—all of them methods of constant practice by which the scattered mind enters absorption and the fearful find peace. Of the four meditations, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the eight liberations, and the nine successive absorptions, the sūtra only lists the names, and their meaning is as said before: the four meditations are the four levels of fundamental absorption of the form realm; the four immeasurables are the universal regard of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity; the four formless absorptions are the four layers of formless absorption—boundless space, boundless consciousness, nothingness, and neither perception nor non-perception; the eight liberations are eight contemplations of successive relinquishing; the nine successive absorptions are the four meditations and the four formless absorptions plus the absorption of cessation, entered in nine unmixed layers—this set is the complete register of the training in absorption gathered under the perfection of meditation.

4. The Buddha's exclusive merits (the ten powers · the four fearlessnesses · the four unobstructed knowledges · the eighteen unshared dharmas). This set already belongs to the resultant virtues of the buddha-ground; although the bodhisattva has not yet become a buddha, he recites them, rightly keeps them in mind, and trains in them as matters within his own lot, and so they too enter the Mahāyāna. The Buddha's ten powers are ten kinds of knowing as it really is—knowing what is possible and what is impossible, knowing karma and its retribution, knowing the defilement and purity of the meditations, liberations, samādhi, and absorptions, knowing the higher and lower faculties of beings, knowing the various inclinations and understandings of beings, knowing the various natures of the world, knowing the paths that lead everywhere, knowing past lives, seeing with the divine eye the deaths and births of beings and the retribution they receive in good and evil destinies, and knowing the exhaustion of the outflows—from knowing principles and knowing karma, all the way to knowing the exhaustion of outflows in oneself and others. The four fearlessnesses are the Buddha's making four kinds of truthful declaration without fear—the fearlessness of right knowledge (I am one of all right knowledge), the fearlessness of the exhaustion of outflows (all my outflows are exhausted), the fearlessness in declaring the obstacles to the path (I declare the obstructing dharmas), and the fearlessness in declaring the path that ends suffering (the noble path I teach can lead out of the world and end suffering)—each sealing its security with 「乃至不見是微畏相」 tr. "not seeing even the slightest mark of fear in this", so that in the great assembly he utters "the lion's roar" and "is able to turn the Brahmā-wheel," which none can turn. The four unobstructed knowledges are four kinds of mastery in teaching the Dharma—meaning, dharma, expression, and eloquence: the unobstructed knowledge of meaning knows the meaning of the real mark of all dharmas; the unobstructed knowledge of dharma knows the names of all dharmas; the unobstructed knowledge of expression is without hindrance in words and phrases; unobstructed eloquence speaks with careful precision and without end. The eighteen unshared dharmas are the eighteen virtues possessed by the Buddha alone: no fault in the three actions of body, speech, and mindfulness, no discriminating thought, no unconcentrated mind, no equanimity that has not first known (these six are the purity of body and mind); no decline in the six of desire, vigour, mindfulness, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation (these six are the non-regression of virtue and function); all actions of body, speech, and mind proceeding in accordance with wisdom, and wisdom's knowledge and vision unobstructed and unhindered in the three times of past, future, and present (these six are the universal illumination of wisdom)—three sixes making eighteen, marking out the perfect virtue of the buddha-ground that is not shared with the two vehicles. This whole set is listed within the bodhisattva's Mahāyāna, and still that phrase 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable" carries through to the end: though the merits of the buddha-ground are exalted, they too may not be clung to as a realm really existent and obtainable.

A Supplement on the Syllable-Gates and the Twenty Merits

The passage-by-passage explanation above has already picked out the general principle of the forty-two syllable-gates and the fruit of 「得畢竟空，即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "attaining ultimate emptiness—this is prajñāpāramitā", without listing them dryly syllable by syllable; here only a few points are added, so that the particulars and the general principle illuminate each other more clearly.

As for the individual syllable-gates: apart from a (all dharmas from the very first unarisen), ra (free of defilement), pa (the highest meaning), ca (all conditioned activities are not activities), and na (neither gaining nor losing, neither coming nor going), already cited as examples, every other syllable is one kind of unfindability of some meaning upon entering dharmas—thus the syllable ka enters the unfindability of a maker in all dharmas, the syllable ma enters the unfindability of what is mine in all dharmas, the syllable ga enters the unfindability of a goer in all dharmas, the syllable tha enters the unfindability of place in all dharmas, the syllable ja enters the unfindability of birth in all dharmas, the syllable kṣa enters the unfindability of exhaustion in all dharmas, the syllable duo enters the unfindability of existence in all dharmas, and finally the syllable ḍha enters the unfindability of the utmost limit of all dharmas, and 「過荼無字可得」 tr. "beyond ḍha there is no syllable to be obtained". What the forty-odd syllables break differs—some break a maker, some break what is mine, some break going and coming, some break birth and exhaustion, existence and non-existence—but what they share is one: all return to the unfindable. This is just where the general principle is seen to be alive: one syllable enters the ear and draws out one meaning, and every meaning is empty. That is why it is said that the forty-two syllables exhaust all syllables—first a, last ḍha, forty in between—whatever the language, whatever the sound, none escapes beyond these forty-two gates, and so all are led to the unfindable; the syllables run out at ḍha, and where the gates have all been opened, what remains is exactly that one phrase, 「當知一切諸法如虛空」 tr. "know that all dharmas are like space".

As for the glosses in the language of Qin: the treatise-author's attaching a gloss in the language of Qin to each Sanskrit sound is not doing philological research, but demonstrating on the spot this path of 「因字有語，因語有名，因名有義」 tr. "from syllables there is speech, from speech there are names, from names there is meaning" into the real mark—as in 「阿提，秦言初」 tr. "ādi: in the language of Qin, 'first'", 「阿耨波陀，秦言不生」 tr. "anutpāda: in the language of Qin, 'not arising'", 「羅闍，秦言垢」 tr. "rajas: in the language of Qin, 'defilement'", 「波羅木陀，秦言第一義」 tr. "paramārtha: in the language of Qin, 'the highest meaning'": a syllable enters the ear, draws out a word, the word carries out a meaning, and the bodhisattva follows this straight into the real mark of all dharmas. The finer the glosses, the more it shows that a syllable is a dharma of form, perishes as soon as it is heard, is a name forcibly made by beings and has from the first no fixed reality; and so it is said to be unobstructed, nameless, extinguished, not to be shown, not to be seen, not to be written.

As for the twenty merits: the two items "attaining wisdom" (analysing and breaking apart the syllables, speech is empty, names are empty, meaning is empty; attaining ultimate emptiness is prajñā) and "attaining dhāraṇī" (the simile of splitting bamboo) have been treated in detail above; the remaining seventeen items each have their place too—attaining strong retentive mindfulness is constantly contemplating the syllables and cultivating recollection; attaining shame and conscience is gathering good and loathing evil so that great shame and conscience arise; attaining a firm mind is gathering merit and wisdom so that the mind is firm as vajra (so that even in the matter of the Avīci hell he does not retreat from awakening); attaining the purport of the sūtras is knowing the Buddha's five kinds of skilful means in teaching the Dharma; attaining unobstructed eloquence is that, because of original vow and great compassion to liberate beings, delight in speaking comes easily; attaining a mind free of doubt and regret is entering the real mark of all dharmas and having no doubt about the deep Dharma; not rejoicing on hearing good and not being angry on hearing evil is analysing the syllables so that there is neither praise nor blame; being neither elated nor downcast is that love and hatred are already cut off; skilfully knowing the languages of beings is attaining the samādhi that understands the speech of all beings; as for skilfully discriminating the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, the eighteen elements, the twelve links of causes and conditions, the four conditions, and the four truths, skilfully knowing the sharpness and dullness of beings' faculties, knowing others' minds, the divine ear, past lives, skilfully declaring what is possible and what is impossible, skilfully knowing deportment, and so on—their meaning is as told under the ten powers and in the chapter "Avaivartika." The twenty merits look rich and manifold, but their lifeblood still lies in the one line 「得畢竟空，即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "attaining ultimate emptiness—this is prajñāpāramitā"—the merits are listed as only twenty precisely because they give way to prajñā; twenty is only a pointing-out of the beginning, and all the rest of the immeasurable, boundless merits are already within this single giving-way.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the forty-two syllables as a secret spell. The sūtra text itself has put it beyond dispute—these syllables are unobstructed and nameless, and also not extinguished, and also cannot be spoken, cannot be shown, cannot be seen, cannot be written; and the treatise-author further says that syllables are nothing but dharmas of form, names forcibly made by beings. They are forty-two gates leading through to the unfindable, not syllables able to summon divine power. Whoever takes the syllable-dhāraṇī as a spell that generates merit by recitation turns his back on exactly the original intent of the sūtra and the treatise.

Nor should this long list of limbs of the path be read as a heaping-up of the dharma-numbers of the Small Vehicle. The phrase 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable" behind every gate is not a dispensable tail; it is precisely their lifeblood. The bodhisattva treads the same four right exertions, five faculties and five powers, seven limbs of awakening and eightfold right path, yet passes through them without taking realisation and stopping. If that phrase about the unfindable is erased, only then is what remains the śrāvaka's ladder; with that phrase, it is the Mahāyāna.

Do not take the treatise-author's glosses in the language of Qin as linguistic research. When he glosses ādi as "first" and rajas as "defilement," he is not comparing sounds of syllables, but demonstrating to people, syllable by syllable, this path into the real mark: from syllables there is speech, from speech there are names, from names there is meaning.

Nor should the twenty merits be read as a reward for reciting letters. The treatise-author says plainly that the merits are in fact immeasurable, and that only twenty are listed because they must give way to prajñā; the true fruit lies not in any wonder-working of those twenty items, but in 「得畢竟空，即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "attaining ultimate emptiness—this is prajñāpāramitā".

Finally, do not take the passage on days, months, years and seasons as knowledge of calendar-reckoning. What matters is not that the bodhisattva is expert in calculating the calendar, but that in the assembling of months and years the bodhisattva sees clearly that they break apart into nothing at all, like an illusion, like a dream. The finer the reckoning, the more it shows that time too is nothing but the unfindable.

Bearing on Practice

This part can serve as a measuring rod, to measure how one listens, how one reckons, and how one walks.

First measure how one listens. When words enter the ear, do I follow the sounds into greed and anger—this is praise, that is slander—or can I, like the forty-two gates of the syllable-dhāraṇī, let every sound lead through to the unfindable, so as not to rejoice on hearing good and not be angry on hearing evil? The practice of the syllable-gates comes down to just this moment of hearing.

Next measure how one walks. When I cultivate the four right exertions' cutting off evil and giving rise to good, and cultivate the five faculties and five powers, the seven limbs of awakening and the eightfold right path, am I clinging to a stage of fruition that I mean to seize, or am I practising because it is unfindable, not taking nirvāṇa? If the limbs of the path lack this one flavour, they fall back into a ladder; with this flavour, every step is the Mahāyāna.

Next measure how one reckons. When months, years and deadlines press in, can I, like the bodhisattva, see that the middle part of a day has from the first no place where it abides, and that once the twenty-ninth day has perished the month has nothing from which to be formed, and see that 「世間法如幻、如夢」 tr. "worldly dharmas are like an illusion, like a dream"? This is not to deny the calendar, but to loosen time's bondage on the mind.

The key to all three lies in that one syllable a—hearing a, one enters 「一切法初不生」 tr. "all dharmas are from the very first unarisen". If even the most ordinary sound can open the gate of non-arising, then speech, the limbs of the path, and time are, from the very first, all like space.

Further Resonances

This section on the syllable-gates received quite solid treatment at the hands of the ancient masters who wrote commentaries on this chapter text by text. One ancient master, in commenting on this chapter, specially expanded the passage on the forty-two syllables, saying that these forty-two syllables are exactly what is used to discern exhaustively all the names and marks of the Great Vehicle; and following the line of reasoning that from syllables there is speech, from speech there are names, from names there is meaning, he explained how through the syllable-gates one can enter all syllable-gates at once, and he also picked out the purport of the sameness of syllables and the sameness of speech—these readings each have their own provenance and context; here only their approach is recorded, without judging which is higher. The other side must also be set down honestly: the commentary another ancient master wrote on this treatise text by text happens to be lost in the portion that contains this fascicle, so that this section on the syllable-gates in this chapter has no place in the surviving commentary; and yet another ancient master only briefly cited a summary of this set of limbs of the path in the neighbouring next chapter, rather than commenting on this chapter directly. So as far as this part is concerned, what takes the syllable-gates apart all the way to the end and adds the glosses in the language of Qin is still this treatise's own exposition, and that is the most complete guide into this passage.

Bringing these back to this part, what is most worth keeping is not those forty-two syllables, nor the names of the twenty merits, but that one phrase running through them, because it is unfindable, and that single move of the forty-two syllable-gates as the entry into prajñā—the most ordinary speech-sounds, every gate opening onto ultimate emptiness. This second part carries the four foundations of mindfulness established in the first part forward into the complete limbs of the path and syllable-gates, every gate returning alike to the unfindable. As for how this whole chapter continues the Mahāyāna before it and opens onto the setting out that follows, that is for the chapter-level further resonances to take up.

Further Resonances

The vein of meaning in the chapter on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness has something it inherits before it and something it opens after it. What it inherits is the preceding chapter, Mahāyāna—that chapter asks what the Great Vehicle takes as its substance; the Buddha answers that its substance is the six perfections, and further distinguishes it broadly by the eighteen emptinesses and the hundred and eight samādhi, sealing each one with nothing to be attained. This chapter directly inherits this and broadens the vehicle: the sūtra text still marks the start of each section with “the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s Mahāyāna,” and from “namely, the four foundations of mindfulness” onward it lists in full the thirty-seven limbs of the path, the knowledges, the numbered sets of dharmas, and even entry through the gates of the forty-two letters, gathering each one into the Mahāyāna. Therefore in the sūtra being explained this is titled “Broadening the Vehicle,” taking as its sense the broad listing of what the Great Vehicle includes; this treatise titles it “The Four Foundations of Mindfulness,” taking its name from the first heading of what is broadened. The two names point to one and the same matter—continuing the preceding chapter’s question, broadening what the Great Vehicle includes. Yet its broadening still does not go beyond ultimate emptiness: each limb of the path and each letter-gate is gathered in by 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable," and the treatise at its end concludes with 「是諸法後皆用無所得故」 tr. "because all these dharmas are afterwards used by way of nothing to be attained," which is exactly the same seal as the preceding chapter’s eighteen emptinesses and hundred and eight samādhi returning alike to nothing to be attained. What it opens is the chapter after it, Setting Out. At the opening of the preceding chapter, what Subhūti asked was not one thing—he asked what the Great Vehicle takes as its substance, and further asked 「云何當知菩薩摩訶薩發趣大乘」 tr. "How should one know the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s setting out toward the Great Vehicle?"; the preceding chapter and this chapter broadly answer his first question, and by this chapter the substance and the breadth of the Mahāyāna have been listed in full. The next chapter, Setting Out, then turns to answer the second question: the Buddha says that when a bodhisattva 「行六波羅蜜時，從一地至一地，是名菩薩摩訶薩大乘發趣」 tr. "practises the six perfections, going from one ground to another ground—this is called the bodhisattva-mahāsattva’s setting out in the Great Vehicle," and thereupon, from the ten matters of the first ground and the eight dharmas of the second ground onward, it makes clear the practices and dharmas of setting out through the ten grounds. What the Mahāyāna includes having been listed in full, the sūtra text follows on from this into the ten grounds—the preceding chapter establishes the substance, this chapter broadly gathers in, the following chapter sets out: the three chapters are the successive unfolding of one and the same path of prajñā.

When later ancient masters read this chapter, because the sūtra texts they relied on differed in title, there were from the first two readings of the chapter’s name. Jizang, in his Commentary on the Larger Sūtra, working from the side of the sūtra being explained, titles this chapter “Chapter Nineteen, Broadening the Vehicle,” and himself says 「文句一二如此，疏皆無異也」 tr. "The text, in its one and two, is like this; the commentary is without difference throughout"—which shows he was already aware that the chapter’s text falls into two sections (close to this collection’s two units), while his commentary runs through both sections as one and does not give them separate explanations. His commentary has substantive structural division in both units: in the first unit, he distinguishes inner and outer body (in keeping with Treatise ①’s 「自身名內身，他身名外身」 tr. "one’s own body is called the inner body; another’s body is called the outer body"), lays out the system of the thirty-seven limbs of the path, saying 「三十七道品門，三十七門等空，共數六十力、四無畏、大悲三念處也」 tr. "The gates of the thirty-seven limbs of the path—the thirty-seven gates, and so on to emptiness—counted together make sixty; the powers, the four fearlessnesses, great compassion, and the three foundations of mindfulness," and explains the eighteen unshared dharmas item by item; in the second unit he writes most fully on the gates of the forty-two letters, saying 「此四十二字辨大乘一切名也」 tr. "These forty-two letters distinguish all the names of the Great Vehicle," making clear the chain of teaching 「因字有語，因語有名，因名有義」 tr. "Because of letters there are words; because of words there are names; because of names there is meaning," and explaining the meaning of “letters equal, words equal” as letters being equal with emptiness, giving rise to neither hatred nor love toward the fine letters—compared with unit two of the preceding chapter, which passes over them in a single sentence, Jizang’s commentary on the letter-gates in this chapter is on the contrary more detailed and complete. For Huiying’s Commentary, by contrast, there is for this chapter no commentary at all that can be verified: fascicles eighteen to twenty of his commentary are lost and do not survive, and fascicle forty-eight, in which this chapter falls, lies precisely within this gap of missing fascicles; though the surviving commentary also contains passages discussing the dhāraṇī of the forty-two letters, when one checks what they are attached to, they are the passages commenting on the forty-two letters as they first appear in the chapter on the Introduction, not commentary on this chapter—the name is the same, but what it points to differs. It is that the fascicles are lost and so the commentary is not seen in the present canon, not that Huiying did not comment on it; still less may one compose a substitute to fill the gap. Junzheng’s Profound Meaning of the Four Mahāyāna Treatises is a doctrinal treatise, not a line-by-line commentary; the words it cites recapitulating a group of limbs of the path, 「行六波羅蜜、四念處乃至十八不共法」 tr. "practising the six perfections, the four foundations of mindfulness, up to the eighteen unshared dharmas," are expressly marked as coming from “the very end of the chapter on Setting Out,” and so cite the chapter following this one, Setting Out, not this chapter, Broadening the Vehicle, itself; for this chapter there is in fact no direct word-for-word citation. As for the Tiantai line, which takes the four foundations of mindfulness as a key heading of contemplative practice, Zhiyi separately composed a work, The Four Foundations of Mindfulness, but what it opens up is the dharma-gate of the four foundations of mindfulness itself, not a commentary on this chapter of the treatise—the name is the same, but the matter differs. Here only the places where the various masters read this chapter, and how full or sparse, surviving or lost, their treatment is, are recorded, to show how each master read this chapter, or, because of a lost fascicle or a shared name, did not come to read it; their interpretations are not judged higher or lower, nor is one master’s judgement taken to settle the meaning of this chapter.

Bringing this whole line of further resonances back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is not a longer table of the names of the limbs of the path, but the way it lays down the rule for the limbs of the path. That everything from the four foundations of mindfulness onward, up to the sounds of the forty-two letters, is called Mahāyāna lies not in their great number but in each of them bearing the seal 「以不可得故」 tr. "because it is unfindable." Śrāvakas too cultivate the four foundations of mindfulness, yet they pass through heat, summit, and acceptance and head for quiescent cessation; the bodhisattva cultivates the same four foundations of mindfulness, yet 「不忘本願，不捨大悲，先用不可得空調伏心地」 tr. "does not forget his original vow, does not abandon great compassion, and first uses the emptiness of the unfindable to tame the ground of the mind," and so, though cultivating all thirty-seven limbs throughout, does not take realisation. Therefore this chapter leaves behind a way of reading that can be used again and again: whenever the sūtra raises a dharma as Mahāyāna—whether the impurity of the foundation of mindfulness of the body, the path-limbs of the seven limbs of awakening and the eightfold right path, or the sound of a single letter—ask how this dharma is practised by way of the unfindable, and how it returns alike to the prajñā of ultimate emptiness; answer this one question well at each place, and one knows that the breadth of the limbs of the path and the letter-gates in the end never goes beyond the one substance established in the preceding chapter, and that the broad listing of the Great Vehicle is, from start to finish, established right in emptiness and inseparable from prajñā.

Overview

What “Setting Out” asks is not a table of stages but a question that seems contradictory: since all dharmas have no coming and no going, and there is no real ground that can be obtained, how can the bodhisattva still advance from one ground to the next ground? The treatise-author keeps both sides at once. Seen from the nature of dharmas, no one moves and there is no ground to occupy; seen from great compassion, vigour, and skilful means, wholesome dharmas must still be cultivated, beings must still be liberated, and the one-sidedness of the preceding ground must still be adjusted. Setting out, therefore, is not carrying a self to a higher place; rather, at each ground one reaches, vow, practice, and wisdom become more able to bear beings, and ever less of what is practised is claimed as one’s own.

The chapter first lists two sets of names, ‘the shared grounds’ and ‘the grounds of bodhisattvas alone.’ The shared grounds are spoken of all the way from dry wisdom to the buddha ground, and serve to show that the Great Vehicle can encompass the paths of practice of the three vehicles; the grounds of bodhisattvas alone begin from the Ground of Joy and pass through the Ground Free of Stain and the Ground Possessing Light to reach the Ground of Increasing Radiance; after these come the Ground Hard to Conquer, the Present Ground, and the Ground of Deep Entry, and the last three grounds are the Unmoving Ground, the Ground of Roots of Goodness, and the Ground of the Dharma Cloud. The chapter does not force the two sets of names into item-by-item correspondence; rather, following the order of its own sūtra text, it assigns different works of preparing the ground to the ten grounds. The reader’s steadiest entrance is precisely to read along these works of preparing the ground, without first overlaying them with an outside framework.

Each of the ten grounds answers a difficulty of practice. The Ground of Joy asks: when the great vow has only just been set up, what keeps the mind from scattering toward the world, and yet from leaving beings? The Ground Free of Stain asks: how does the mind of the vow come to rest in morality, knowing kindness, patience, joy, and not abandoning? The Ground Possessing Light asks: how is the Dharma one has obtained turned into much hearing, a pure gift of Dharma, and the light of purified lands, without becoming self-exaltation? The Ground of Increasing Radiance asks: how, through the araṇya, few desires, contentment, the dhūta practices, morality, and relinquishing, is renunciation made to shine more brightly without grasping the mark of renunciation? The Ground Hard to Conquer asks: faced with the entanglements of human affairs, idle chatter, anger and pride, and the inversions, how is the purity that is hardest to guard kept guarded? The Present Ground asks: how are the six perfections made complete within giving that is right before one, without retreating, through sorrow, regret, and doubt, toward a narrower path? The Ground of Deep Entry asks: how does one pass from the twenty non-attachments into the twenty completions, so that emptiness, compassion, acceptance, knowledge, concentration, and wisdom enter deeply together? The Immovable Ground asks: after marks are no longer grasped, how is this not a halt, but the ability to know minds, roam in the spiritual powers, purify lands, enter samādhi, and receive bodies as occasions require? The Ground of Roots of Goodness asks: how does the vow to benefit beings become, concretely, the accomplishment of world, language, birth, family, retinue, and the seat of awakening? The Ground of the Dharma Cloud asks: how does what has been cultivated on ground after ground turn, like a great cloud sending down rain, into the Buddha’s unobstructed merits?

These ten questions also make up the inner order of the whole chapter: first the deep mind is set up, then relationships and conduct are purified; then, through hearing the Dharma, renunciation, keeping far from hindrances, and the six perfections, merit is put in order; the seventh ground tunes the wisdom of emptiness and great compassion into non-duality, the eighth and ninth grounds make benefiting others spontaneous and concrete, and only at the tenth ground is everything drawn together by the Dharma cloud. No ground throws away the ground before it; each carries the side of the previous ground that is not yet fully ripe into a deeper and broader practice.

The teaching of this chapter has two layers, sūtra and treatise. The sūtra text mostly first lists a number of dharmas for one ground; Subhūti then asks about them item by item, and the Buddha answers by their being unfindable, by there being nothing at all, or by the emptiness of marks. The treatise’s explanation presses on why only these dharmas are listed, why the numbers of dharmas differ, and how the grounds before and after are joined, and further uses stories and similes to bring out the weight of the practices. If one reads only the sūtra’s lists, the ten grounds easily become mere names; if one reads only the stories in the treatise, one again easily loses the particular work of preparing the ground that each story answers. The best way to read is first to recognise which kind of deviation a given ground means to cure, then to see how the sūtra text purifies it by nothing to be attained, and finally to see how the treatise’s explanation brings it back down into causes and conditions and into action.

Across the ten grounds three kinds of movement recur. The first is ‘turning toward’: at the first ground all roots of goodness turn only toward omniscience, and the later seeking of the Dharma, keeping of the precepts, giving, and purifying of lands are all governed by this direction. The second is ‘relinquishing’: relinquishing wealth, relinquishing pride, relinquishing what one is attached to, relinquishing love for the wisdom of emptiness—what is relinquished grows ever subtler, yet relinquishing beings is never taken as the ultimate. The third is ‘completion’: not storing merits away for oneself, but making a practice that originally leaned to one side possess the other side at the same time; concentration and wisdom must be equal, emptiness and compassion must go together, and purifying oneself and bringing beings to accomplishment must grow at the same time. Taking turning toward, relinquishing, and completion together, one can understand how setting out has sequence and yet is nothing to be attained.

From the first ground to the third, the emphasis falls first on how the mind of the vow takes on a trustworthy shape. The ten dharmas of the first ground begin from the deep mind and the equal mind and end at true speech, showing that the great vow must pass the test of wealth, of teachers and friends, of seeking the Dharma, of one’s way of life, of expounding the Dharma, and of the agreement of word and deed. The second ground then sets the vow into relations of kindness and grievance: when one receives kindness from others one can know it and repay it; when one is harmed by others one can be patient and not vexed; facing those hard to liberate one does not withdraw the original vow; seeking the Dharma from a teacher one does not shut oneself in through self-exaltation. The third ground further turns the Dharma one has obtained toward beings and lands; the more one hears, the more one must give a pure gift of Dharma without self-exaltation, and the more one must be able to bear long and diligent toil. What these three grounds together cure is a vow that stays only in the mind and has not yet passed through real relationships.

From the fourth ground to the sixth, the outer conditions and inner states that can let the mind of the vow leak away are drawn in step by step. The fourth ground, through the araṇya, few desires, contentment, the dhūta practices, morality, weariness and detachment, and relinquishing, simplifies the pull of desire; yet each item in turn uses nothing to be attained to keep renunciation from becoming an identity. The twelve things kept far away that are listed at the fifth ground reach from the fine details of associating, making offerings, and conversation all the way to anger, pride, the inversions, and the three poisons, showing that hindrances do not necessarily appear as great evils, but can also wear the garb of familiarity, convenience, or self-confidence. The sixth ground then brings the focus to the instant when giving is about to take place: first there is the retreating mind of the two vehicles, and after it sorrow, sinking, holding back, regret, and doubting the Dharma—this is exactly the sequence by which a vow shrinks step by step under pressure. The long bearing set up at the third ground meets its real test only at the sixth ground, when the one who asks stands before one.

The seventh ground is the longest in the whole chapter, because it brings every practice before it into a subtler nothing to be attained. It first speaks of the twenty non-attachments, whose range extends from self, beings, life-span, annihilation and permanence, all the way to name-and-form, the five aggregates, the elements, the sense-fields, and the three realms, and at last does not dwell even in views that arise in reliance on the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha, and the precepts. This is not tearing down every support altogether, but making it so that no support can any longer bear witness for a real self. The twenty completions that follow begin from emptiness, signlessness, and non-action, pass through the three kinds of action, kindness and compassion, purifying lands, equal contemplation, the real mark, acceptance and knowledge, and non-duality, and go right on to the equality of concentration and wisdom, the stillness and extinction of the mind, unobstructed knowledge, and not being stained by love. First non-attachment and then completion: this shows that clearing out is not the end point; what is cleared out is precisely the place where great compassion, the conduct of the precepts, and wisdom can work together without being possessed.

The acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas must likewise be set back into this sequence. The story of seeking the Dharma at the first ground says that the one who sought the Dharma attained acceptance through hearing the Dharma; the section on the dhūta practices at the fourth ground further says that one dwells in compliant acceptance and contemplates the acceptance of non-arising; only at the seventh ground is it formally explained, word by word, as being able, toward the real mark that neither arises nor ceases, to believe and receive, to penetrate, to be unobstructed, and not to retreat. The three places function differently: the story shows the weight of seeking the Dharma, the fourth ground distinguishes cause and fruit and where one stands, and only the seventh ground unfolds the content of acceptance. If, on seeing ‘non-arising,’ one reads every passage as one and the same degree of completion, one erases the progression that the chapter itself preserves. Acceptance is not the same as passive endurance precisely because after believing and receiving there are still penetrating, being unobstructed, and not retreating, and because the text that follows at once goes on to expounding the Dharma and liberating beings.

From the eighth ground on, the work of preparing the ground clearly turns from inner taming to freely benefiting beings, yet it does not leave the emptiness of the seventh ground. Knowing the minds of beings and knowing their faculties serve to discern the causes and conditions by which they can be liberated; playing in the spiritual powers and entering the illusion-like samādhi serve to go to boundless worlds to practise giving and to expound the Dharma; contemplating lands and adorning lands means first taking up a mark of purity to arouse the vow, and, once it is accomplished, still knowing that it cannot be obtained; receiving bodies according to roots of goodness keeps the bodhisattva from clinging fixedly to his own identity. ‘Immovable,’ therefore, is not a stillness cut off from beings, but not being dragged about by the one who liberates, those who are liberated, or the credit for liberating beings—and so being able to function in ever more forms.

The ninth ground arranges this functioning still more concretely. World, vow, language, entry into the womb, family, clan name, retinue, birth, leaving home, and the seat of awakening all become conditions through which beings come into contact with the Buddha’s Dharma. Some of the treatise’s narratives are expressed through spiritual powers and auspicious signs; the reader should still grasp their common direction: the bodhisattva is willing to enter the language, society, and circumstances of life in which beings are found, so that roots of goodness are not merely an inner realisation. If family and clan can gather beings in, they are only skilful means; the treatise at once points the deeper ‘family’ to the family of the dharmas of merit, and ‘clan’ to the deep mind and the acceptance of non-arising, guarding against worldly identity being mistaken for a nobility of own-nature.

The Dharma-cloud simile of the tenth ground joins together the two lines of the whole chapter. One line is purifying oneself: on ground after ground relinquishing attachment, subduing defilements, and balancing concentration and wisdom, until the afflictions and their habit-energies are cut off. The other line is benefiting others: from the equal mind and not abandoning beings at the first ground, through purifying lands, following faculties, receiving bodies, and expounding the Dharma, until at last one is like a great cloud raining everywhere. If one takes only purifying oneself, the cloud has no rain; if one takes only benefiting others without removing self-conceit, the inversions, and love and views, what is rained down will still be turbid. At the very end the treatise again runs the six perfections and skilful means through the shared grounds, showing that the earlier giving, morality, patience, vigour, concentration, and wisdom have not been weeded out by the higher grounds, but ripen ever more fully within nothing to be attained and great compassion.

Many of the chapter’s similes can also be located by these two lines. Horse, elephant, and dragon say that the capacity to convey must advance; light through a crack in a dark room says that first hearing prajñā, though faint, can already turn one’s direction; a seed awaiting rain says that past causes cannot erase the kindness of present conditions; the elder leading his children says that one should, following what beings delight in, lead them in by degrees; well water with no rope, and rain that does not stay on a mountain, say that arrogance can keep the water of the Dharma from entering; treasure kept in a shabby bag and a torch held by an evil man say that one should discern the benefit of the Dharma and not discard the Dharma entirely because of the faults of the one who holds it; fire breaking out on four sides says that in benefiting beings one’s days may not be spent on profitless talk. None of them are stray stories; they turn an abstract work of preparing the ground into a bent of mind that can be recognised.

Therefore, in reading each set of numbered dharmas, one must ask at least three layers of question. First, in what order are these items arranged: from vow to practice, from outer conditions to inner defilements, or from non-attachment to completion? Second, the unfindability the sūtra text speaks of—which mark, of the grasper, of the grasped, or of the attained, is it actually clearing away? Third, by which objection does the treatise’s explanation keep the reader from falling to the other side? The questions and answers of this chapter often first grant that the challenge has force, and then set limits to it by stage, by causes and conditions, and by the meaning of words; it is precisely this way of not carelessly flattening the two sides that makes the ten grounds neither a substantial ladder nor a provisional teaching that can be left out at will.

There is one more distinction that runs through the whole chapter: the same dharma appearing at different grounds does not mean repetition in place. When the first ground speaks of giving, the stress is on non-discrimination and relinquishing stinginess; when the fourth ground speaks of not begrudging anything whatever, the stress is on not seeking a return of kindness within ultimate emptiness; when the sixth ground speaks of giving all that one has, the stress is on not sorrowing and not regretting when the one who asks stands before one; the giving within the illusion-like samādhi at the eighth ground reaches everywhere through the ten directions and accomplishes benefit as occasions require. Morality, patience, emptiness, and purifying lands likewise all deepen in this way ground by ground. If the reader merges them merely by their names, he will fail to see the new pressure and the new capacity added at each ground; if he looks only at the differences, he will again miss how what went before is preserved. What is called being accomplished in sequence is just this: the same great vow, amid ever subtler attachments and ever broader causes and conditions of beings, can still keep its direction and turn with sovereign ease.

Reading On in the Order of the Treatise

First Arc: With No Coming or Going, Why Still Speak of Going from Ground to Ground

What Is Being Asked

Subhūti first asks about setting out toward the Great Vehicle, and the Buddha answers that when a bodhisattva cultivates the six perfections he goes from one ground to the next. Immediately afterwards, however, he says that dharmas have no coming or going, and neither arriving nor not arriving. From this the difficulty takes shape: if there is no real movement, will ‘setting out’ be nothing but an empty name? And if there really is an advance through stages, will one not then grasp both the grounds and the practitioner as real entities? The treatise-author does not hurry to list merits first; instead he sets this fundamental tension before the ten grounds.

Passage by Passage

The Buddha says that the bodhisattva does not think of the grounds and does not treat the grounds as something that can be thought about and attained, and yet he still cultivates and perfects the work of the grounds. The weight of this sentence lies in ‘and yet cultivates’: nothing to be attained does not cancel the cultivating and perfecting; it cancels only the fixation on the one who cultivates and perfects, on the ground cultivated, and on the stage attained. The treatise’s explanation then adds three driving forces. Great compassion makes it impossible for the bodhisattva to leave beings on the grounds of emptiness; vigour keeps him from stopping at what he has already attained; skilful means enables him, even while not grasping marks, still to discern which wholesome dharmas ought to be cultivated and which deviations ought to be adjusted.

The questioner presses further: since the question was about setting out toward the Great Vehicle, why does the answer speak of setting out on the grounds? The treatise answers that the Great Vehicle is the grounds, and illustrates this with the horse, the elephant, and the dragon. First one rides a horse to where the elephant is, and changes to riding the elephant; then one reaches where the dragon is, and changes to riding the dragon. The simile does not say that the earlier mount has no value at all; it says that each kind of conveyance has what it can do and what it cannot do, and that on reaching the edge of a new capacity one must turn to a greater conveyance. ‘Leaving behind’ here means going beyond a limit, not wiping out roots of goodness already formed.

The treatise further distinguishes the shared grounds from the grounds of bodhisattvas alone. The shared grounds are spoken of from the ground of dry wisdom up to the buddha ground, letting one see that the three vehicles are held in common in a number of the provisions of practice; the grounds of bodhisattvas alone mark out the particular path whose direction is unsurpassed awakening and the universal ferrying of beings across. Joy, Freedom from Stain, Possessing Light, Increasing Radiance, Hard to Conquer, Present, Deep Entry, Immovable, Roots of Goodness, Dharma Cloud—these are the ten names this chapter lists; what the later text actually unfolds are the dharmas that each ground ought to practise, ought to leave behind, and ought to bring to completion. The names supply the direction; the work of cultivating the grounds supplies a road that can be walked.

The Mahāyāna that the treatise uses throughout is the Great Vehicle; sarvajñā is omniscience; anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi is unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening. These transcriptions do not set up three separate mysterious objects: the Great Vehicle is the conveyance toward which one sets out, omniscience is where the roots of goodness are directed, and unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening is the buddha-fruit sought by the arousing of the mind. Only once the relation among the three is seen clearly will what the later text says—tending toward omniscience, not falling back into the mind of the two vehicles, and not grasping the mark of awakening—not be read as directions in conflict with one another.

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘no coming or going’ as meaning there is no difference in practice. If every stage could be skipped, the Buddha would have had no need to list the ten grounds, nor to question and answer item by item. Nor read ‘from ground to ground’ as meaning there is a permanent self accumulating an identity; at its very outset this chapter says that beings, grounds, and dharmas cannot be attained. The differences are established in causes and conditions and in capacity, not in own-nature.

Bearing on Practice

This arc first gives the whole chapter a check: whenever one feels oneself rising higher and surpassing others, one must look back to ‘not seeing the grounds’; whenever one wants to use the meaning of emptiness to skip over the morality, patience, hearing of the Dharma, or benefiting of beings that have not yet ripened, one must look back again to ‘still cultivating all wholesome dharmas’. Setting out moves forward precisely between these two lookings-back.

Second Arc — The Ground of Joy: How the Deep Mind Becomes the Ten Works of Preparing the Ground

What Is Being Asked

The question of the first ground is whether the starting point can be relied upon. The arousing of the mind can be very ardent, and yet it may branch off toward the blessings and happiness of this life, toward fame, long life, or security; or one may love the Buddha yet slight beings, seek the Dharma yet grow self-exalting, expound the Dharma yet have words and deeds that do not match. Therefore the sūtra lists ten things: the deep mind, the equal mind, giving, the good friend, seeking the Dharma, leaving home, loving the Buddha’s body, expounding the teaching of the Dharma, breaking arrogance, and true speech. They are not ten ornaments; rather, from the mind of the vow, relationships, and provisions, through one’s way of life and what one learns and what one speaks, up to the trustworthiness of one’s character, they test the arousing of the mind layer by layer.

Passage by Passage

First, the deep mind that is firm. The Buddha calls the gathering of roots of goodness with the mind of omniscience the deep mind; the treatise explains it as binding the vow to become a buddha to the mind, so that whatever one does—giving, keeping the precepts, cultivating concentration, and so on—is directed not toward happiness in this or later lives but only toward omniscience. ‘Deep’ does not mean an intense emotion; it means a direction that does not fork; at the same time it goes deep into the compassionate mind, vowing to benefit beings. The treatise uses the miser hoarding wealth as a counter-simile: the miser will not let even a single coin flow elsewhere, while the bodhisattva lets no merit, great or small, stray away from the unsurpassed path.

The questioner says: not yet knowing omniscience, never having tasted its flavour, how can one have such deep faith? The treatise answers from four sides. A person whose faculties are sharp, whose afflictions are thin, whose merit is thick, and who is weary of the world is by nature not easily bound by the five desires; the going forth of Mahākāśyapa and of Yaśas, and the elder’s daughter who sought the Dharma on hearing of the Buddha’s virtues, show that even without having seen the destination one can turn by way of past habituation and by the perfuming of hearing. The ripening, too, of the five faculties—faith, vigour, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom—makes a person like a child whose senses have grown up, able to tell good from evil and bondage from release. The first taste of prajñā is like seeing light through a tiny crack in the darkness; the treatise likens the twelve sense-fields and ignorance to a dark prison, and the faint light seen through the crack to first gaining the flavour of prajñā: though only a single thread is seen, one already knows there is a way out beyond the prison. Finally, having made the vow, one practises according to the vow, and the practice in turn deepens the vow; the deep mind is not something that becomes possible only after one first knows everything.

Second, the equal mind toward all beings. Beings always love their kin and hate their enemies; if the deep mind loves only the path of the Buddha and does not turn into equality, it is still incomplete. The Buddha speaks of the equal mind by way of the four immeasurables of kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity: seeing those who are happy, one wishes that they gain the happiness of a buddha and rejoices with them; seeing those who suffer, one wishes to pull out their suffering; seeing those who neither suffer nor are happy, one wishes that they be free of love and hatred. This is not to flatten the differences among beings; it is not letting one’s own nearness and distance decide who deserves to be saved.

Third, giving. The sūtra takes only giving without discrimination, because this chapter means to speak of its greatest side: giving to beings without setting up the mark of a giver or a receiver. The treatise acknowledges that giving can be divided into many gates—inner and outer, light and heavy, of wealth and of Dharma, worldly and world-transcending—yet says that the Buddha himself is unattached to dharmas and also teaches the bodhisattva to give without attachment. The ‘relinquishing’ here is first the relinquishing of wealth to remove stinginess, as a cause for later relinquishing the fetters and attaining the path; the first ground does not pass off a later cutting of the fetters as something already accomplished now.

Fourth, drawing near to the good friend. The good friend is not someone who only gives comfort, but someone able to teach a person to abide in the direction of omniscience. Drawing near includes asking, receiving, revering, and making offerings; ‘and yet not exalting oneself’ shows that the vessel that seeks the Dharma must be set low, or else even the best Dharma cannot enter it.

Fifth, seeking the Dharma. The treatise divides Dharma into three levels: the highest Dharma is nirvāṇa; the skilful means leading to nirvāṇa is the eightfold noble path; and every good word, every true word, and the teaching of the sūtra-collections that help to accomplish this path are also Dharma. Seeking the Dharma therefore includes writing out, reciting, and right recollection, like gathering medicines to cure the illness of beings’ minds. The bodhisattva Delight-in-Dharma vowed to take his skin as paper, his bone as a pen, and his blood as ink; after Māra vanished the Buddha appeared and expounded the Dharma, enabling him to gain the acceptance of non-arising; the treatise further lists Sadāprarudita, the five hundred nails driven into the body, King Golden-Firm cutting his body to make a lamp, and throwing oneself from a cliff or into fire, and other such deeds. What these stories share is not praise of bodily suffering, but the point that seeking the Dharma cannot hold only when it costs nothing, and that its aim throughout is for beings to obtain the medicine of the Dharma.

Within the third level, the treatise also expressly lists the eighty-four thousand collections of dharma, the twelve divisions of scripture, and the four collections; the four collections are the Āgama, the Abhidharma, the Vinaya, and the Miscellaneous Collection, and it names Great Vehicle sūtras such as the Mahāprajñāpāramitā. This enumeration spreads the good words and true words that help the path out into a range of teachings that can be written out, recited, and held in memory. Where the sūtra speaks of expounding the teaching of the Dharma, it again sums up the twelve divisions, from sūtra up to upadeśa, showing that what is expounded is not merely offhand exhortation to goodness, but must carry the many genres of the teaching the Buddha spoke; the treatise says the meaning of the twelve divisions is as given earlier, so this chapter does not here reopen the name and meaning of each division.

Sixth, always leaving home. The treatise compares the entanglements of the household with the purity of leaving home, and says that life after life one leaves home only on the path of the Buddha, not mixing into the ninety-six kinds of other paths; and it explains why one leaves home only within the Buddha’s Dharma by the fact that the path of the Buddha is complete with worldly right view and world-transcending right view. The outward signs of the shaven head and the dyed robe point to a deeper choice: even kings and nobles have their household possessions forcibly seized by death; the bodhisattva does not wait for death to seize them, but of his own accord turns his life into causes and conditions for keeping the precepts and seeking the path.

Seventh, loving and delighting in the Buddha’s body. What is loved is not only the outward form, but the ten powers, the fearlessnesses, great kindness and compassion, and all wisdom, as well as the possibility of becoming a buddha that the radiance of the marks and minor marks displays. On seeing the Buddha’s body, the bodhisattva thinks that he too should in the future be like this, and his mindfulness of the Buddha does not leave him, giving the vow a concrete direction; yet the marks and minor marks are still unfindable, so love and delight do not turn into a possessing of form and appearance.

Eighth, expounding the teaching of the Dharma. Having sought the Dharma, the bodhisattva then speaks it to beings, whether the Buddha is in the world or after his extinction. The treatise further divides the labour: householder bodhisattvas mostly give the gift of wealth, while home-leaving bodhisattvas, because their love for the Buddha is weighty, constantly give the gift of Dharma; both must keep the precepts, not seek fame or gain, and expound the Dharma equally for beings. For ‘good in the beginning, the middle, and the end’ the treatise retains three sets of readings: from giving and keeping the precepts to their fruits and recompense; from weariness of suffering to separation of the body and separation of the mind; and from the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas to the Great Vehicle. ‘Wondrous meaning and fine words’ requires both depth of meaning and sufficiency of wording; flowery wording with shallow meaning, or deep meaning with broken speech, are neither of them complete. Being apart from the mixed defilement of the three poisons is called pure; having the eightfold noble path and the six perfections complete is called complete.

Ninth, breaking arrogance. Leaving home, keeping the precepts, being able to expound the Dharma, being able to resolve doubts—all of these can, on the contrary, become material for self-reliance. The treatise teaches him to reflect that shaving the head, dyeing the robe, and holding the bowl to beg for food are in themselves dharmas for breaking arrogance; how could arrogance arise again within them? Even seeking worldly wealth requires humility; still less, in seeking the unsurpassed path, may one smother one’s merits with a lofty mind.

The treatise also states directly the consequences of arrogance: it smothers the merits one already has, makes one unloved, and spreads an evil name; in later lives one may fall among vile and wicked animals, and even when born among humans one is base and lowly; breaking arrogance, one is always born noble. This is not to prove character in reverse from one’s birth; rather, within the context of karma and fruit in this passage, it shows that exalting oneself in fact destroys the causes and conditions of reverence and faith that seeking the path requires.

Tenth, true speech. It is not only not stating mistaken facts, but ‘practising as one speaks’, so that one’s words correspond to one’s bodily conduct. The treatise even says that by cultivating true speech alone, without relying besides on giving, keeping the precepts, or learning, one can also gain immeasurable merit; this is to show that true speech is the root of all goodness. The questioner asks: verbal action is of four kinds, why does the first ground cite only true speech? The treatise answers that the Buddha’s Dharma values truth, that truth can gather in the rest, and that the four truths lead to nirvāṇa by being true and real; the offence of false speech is heavy, so at the first ground one first cuts off the heaviest, and only at the second ground purifies the four kinds of verbal action more completely. Finally it is asked why there are exactly ten things; the treatise answers with a good physician who chooses five medicines or ten medicines, enough to break the illness: the number of dharmas is set by what can cure the illness of the ground, and the number itself is not held sacred.

Do Not Misread

Do not understand the Ground of Joy as merely having joy in one’s mind. It is named joy because the great vow first has a place to abide; the content this chapter actually gives it is very strict: a single-minded direction, equality toward enemy and kin, the ability to relinquish, willingness to be taught, willingness to pay the price to seek the Dharma, a changed way of life, love for the Buddha’s virtues, the ability to expound a pure Dharma, the breaking of arrogance, and the correspondence of words and deeds. Nor should not grasping at marks be taken as omitting these ten things; the unfindability behind each item is precisely what keeps that item from being defiled by self-conceit.

Bearing on Practice

The first ground can serve as a map for examining one’s arousing of the mind. Ask yourself: is what I cultivate secretly directed toward fame and gain? Toward people I do not like, can I keep kindness and compassion? In seeking the Dharma, do I seek only confirmation of my own views? When I expound the Dharma, is it first visible in my life? If these ten questions still show gaps, one knows which ground it is that needs cultivating, rather than hurrying to proclaim which ground one stands on.

Arc Three — The Ground Free of Stain: How Morality, Knowing Kindness, and Patience Guard Not-Abandoning

What Is Being Asked

After the first ground has set up the vow, the second ground must deal with whether the vow-mind changes its character amid human relationships and adversity. The sūtra lists eight dharmas: purity of morality, knowing kindness and repaying kindness, abiding in patience, receiving joy, not abandoning beings, entering great compassion, revering the teacher and consulting and receiving from him, and diligently seeking the six perfections. These eight dharmas turn ‘I vow to liberate beings’ from a single sentence of grand aspiration into a life that can be tested by kindness and grievance, by teachers, by suffering, and by long, diligent practice.

Passage by Passage

First, purity of morality. The treatise says that on the first ground one mostly practises giving; on the second ground one goes a step further and sees that keeping morality can gather in all beings universally. Not killing is precisely giving the safety of life to immeasurable beings, and so the merit too is immeasurable. Whatever obstructs the path to buddhahood belongs to the defilements of morality; this chapter even includes among them the mind that falls back to take up the two vehicles, because the morality of this ground takes its direction from the vow of unsurpassed awakening.

Second, knowing kindness and repaying kindness. A person may say that what he has obtained is simply the ripening of merit from past lives, or may regard himself as noble by birth, and so erase the helping conditions present before him. The treatise breaks this view with the simile of grain-seed and rain: the past cause is like the seed, the present condition is like the rain; with seed and no rain, the grain still does not grow. Knowing kindness is therefore not a denial of one’s own past goodness, but an acknowledgement, true to fact, that others’ respect and affection, their offerings, and their help are also causes and conditions. The treatise further says that knowing kindness is the root of great compassion and the first gate of good action.

The birth-story (jātaka) of the great bear pushes ingratitude to its extreme. A man who had lost his way, amid a violent rainstorm, hunger and cold, and the threat of venomous beasts, was fed by a bear for seven days and shown the road; he promised not to disclose where the bear was, but later, lured by the hunters’ offer of gain, broke his pledge. When the bear’s flesh was taken, both his arms dropped off at the elbows, and only then did he understand that the bear had treated him as a father. The hunters, afraid, gave the flesh to the Saṅgha; the senior monk said the bear was a future buddha, and the king in turn exhorted knowing kindness by the law of the realm. The teaching of the story is not to frighten people with strange retribution, but to show that reducing a benefactor to an object that can be exchanged for profit first destroys one’s own root of great compassion.

The bodhisattva reflects further: even those who do evil to me ought to be liberated, how much more those who have been kind to me. This sentence places repaying kindness back within the great vow, rather than merely paying off a debt within intimate, friendly reciprocity; a benefactor certainly may not be abandoned, yet an enemy, for having shown no kindness, does not therefore drop out of the beings to be liberated either.

Third, abiding in patience. The questioner says that patience has many aspects—why speak only of not being angry and not vexing? The treatise answers that this is the substance of the initial practice: first there is anger, and only then does one vex others through body and speech; first stop this chain of growth. Here it is explicitly said to be patience toward beings; the patience toward dharmas that comes later is not yet brought forward.

Fourth, receiving joy. Morality makes body and speech pure, knowing kindness and patience make the mind pure; when the three kinds of action are pure, it is like bathing, putting on new clothes, wearing necklaces, and then looking in a mirror and rejoicing. At a deeper layer, the bodhisattva takes bringing beings to accomplishment as his joy. An elder keeps a child company at play, and then with something slightly better leads him to let go of what he liked before—a figure for the bodhisattva first giving people the wholesome joys of humans and gods and gradually leading them into the three vehicles. Joy is not the enjoyment of superiority, but rejoicing at seeing beings turn toward the good.

Fifth, not abandoning all beings. The treatise uses the simile of having promised someone a thing and afterwards not giving it; making a vow is equivalent to making a promise to beings, and to fall back and abandon them makes one’s words and vow lose their truth. The bodhisattva fears failing beings, and also does not wish to let the buddhas, the worthies, and the sages see his great words and small deeds.

Sixth, entering the mind of great compassion. The sūtra vows to undergo the suffering of hell for long kalpas for each and every being, until that being becomes a buddha. The questioner points out that no one can take another’s place in the retribution of karma; the treatise does not deny it, but says instead that this vow serves to show the measure of the mind: if there really were a principle by which one could take another’s place, one would certainly take it without hesitation. Again, seeing that in worldly sacrifices there are cases in which a person is permitted to undergo it in another’s place, he vows that if hell too could be like this, he would certainly take that place. The true meaning of great compassion is not a claim to be able to carry off another’s karma, but that not even the suffering most impossible to escape is made into a reason for abandoning a single person.

Seventh, having faith in the teacher, revering him, and consulting and receiving from him. The teacher is the cause and condition for attaining awakening; if the mind exalts itself, then however sharp its wisdom, it does not receive the Dharma. A deep well holds fine water, but without a rope it cannot be drawn; rain does not stay on the mountain-top, and the water of the Dharma likewise does not enter an arrogant mind. The questioner then presses a challenge: how can one regard an evil teacher as the Buddha? The treatise answers: take the benefit of his being able to open the deep meaning and untie the knots of doubt, and do not discard the Dharma on account of his other faults—just as, when a shabby bag holds a treasure or a base man holds a torch, one does not throw away the treasure and the light because the bag stinks or the man is evil. This does not declare faults to be no faults; it first discerns the benefit of the Dharma that one is seeking at this moment.

The same section further uses the trees that rely on the Snow Mountains and so flourish in root, stem, branch, leaf, flower, and fruit to say that relying on a good teacher can make morality, concentration, wisdom, and liberation increase. Facing a teacher’s faults, the treatise records two layers of self-restraint side by side: Sadāprarudita, having once received instruction, did not dwell on the Dharma-teacher’s shortcomings; and again, clay images and wooden images have in themselves no real merit, yet because one regards them as the Buddha one can still produce merit—how much more a person who can teach the Dharma with wisdom and skilful means. Finally it closes by contemplating all dharmas as ultimately empty and contemplating all beings as buddhas, saying that the Dharma-teacher can do the work of bringing about buddhahood, and all the more should one take up the benefit of his wisdom. These similes all speak of how the disciple does not lose the benefit of the Dharma; they have not rewritten faults as good deeds.

Eighth, diligently seeking the six perfections. The six perfections are the causes and conditions for becoming a buddha; one should, like a merchant who prepares goods according to his destination or a farmer who chooses seed according to the soil, attend to them diligently with a single mind. If one delays with a soft mind, one is easily broken by the afflictions and the deeds of Māra. Therefore the second ground, after reverently receiving the Dharma, closes with continuous practice.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the section on revering the teacher as cancelling the discernment of good and evil. The treatise states explicitly ‘not dwelling on his other evils’; precisely because it first acknowledges that there are other evils does it say not to discard, on their account, the Dharma that can be received; what it discusses is how a disciple takes the benefit of the Dharma, not an exemption granted to any conduct whatever. Nor should the vow to undergo suffering in another’s place be spoken of as though karmic results could be transferred at will; the question and answer have already explicitly denied this.

Bearing on Practice

The Ground Free of Stain can be used to test whether the great vow can withstand relationships. When receiving kindness, can one acknowledge others’ share? When meeting adversity, can one stop before anger turns into words and deeds? Toward a teacher, can one neither follow blindly nor, because of one fault of his, discard all the benefit of the Dharma? Toward the people hardest to liberate, does one still not withdraw one’s promise? The eight dharmas bring great compassion back from imagination into the choices of each day.

Arc Four — The Ground of Radiance: How Much Learning Turns into the Pure Gift of the Dharma

What Is Being Asked

The third ground has only five dharmas, yet it strings hearing, speaking, the land, long suffering, and shame and conscience into a single path. The question is this: much learning easily becomes the possession of knowledge, the gift of the Dharma easily seeks fame, adorning the land easily becomes self-exaltation, and long benefiting of beings easily grows weary. How does the Dharma one has obtained truly give off light, rather than lighting up one’s own status?

Passage by Passage

First, learning much without satiety. The bodhisattva vows to hear and hold what is spoken by the buddhas of this world and of the ten directions, as the great ocean takes in the waters of the ten directions. Much learning is a cause and condition of wisdom, making one like a person with eyes who can discern the road he walks; dhāraṇī, the pure divine ear, and the power of not forgetting speak of being able to receive, able to hold, and not scattering or losing—not of merely pursuing quantity.

Second, the pure gift of the Dharma, not exalting oneself. The treatise uses the simile of pulling weeds from among the seedlings: fame and gain, later reward, and even seeking only a lesser nirvāṇa for oneself are all weeds mixed into the gift of the Dharma. Removing these mixed seekings does not make the gift of the Dharma aimless; it is only, with great compassion, to turn the wheel of the Dharma following the Buddha.

Third, adorning the buddha-land, not exalting oneself. The sūtra dedicates roots of goodness to purifying the buddha-world. What is cultivated is not sealed away under one’s personal name, but turned toward the pure conditions of the life beings share in common; precisely because the merit is dedicated outward, there is one measure less of the conceit ‘this is my land.’

Fourth, undergoing immeasurable toil and suffering in the world without weariness. The questioner says that there are many causes for not wearying of birth and death—why take only bringing beings to accomplishment and adorning the buddha-realm? The treatise uses a good medicine smeared on a sore to say that roots of goodness make suffering and affliction thinner, and further uses one’s own experiencing of merit and happiness, being able to benefit according to one’s vow, and the land being adorned and pure to say that long practice has its supports; but what can best bear the great mind remains these two matters, beings and the land. It is not because suffering itself is lovable, but because what is done does not pass in vain.

Fifth, abiding in the place of shame and conscience. The treatise uses the simile of a bodhisattva who has already set out a great feast and invited the multitude, but who, on meeting a little suffering, with a stingy mind eats it himself and takes nirvāṇa alone, to point out that falling back from the great vow is most to be ashamed of. Shame and conscience are not self-loathing, but let the original promise illuminate the present retreating mind, so that one returns to the direction of the Great Vehicle.

Do Not Misread

Do not take much learning as the whole of the third ground; if after hearing one does not give, if in giving one seeks fame, if in dedicating one exalts oneself, if on meeting suffering one retreats, much learning instead becomes a new covering. Nor should not wearying of suffering be understood as seeking suffering. The treatise says that roots of goodness are like a medicine that lessens pain, which plainly does not count pain as merit; the point is to have a purpose and provisions sufficient for not retreating.

Bearing on Practice

The Ground of Radiance requires that what is heard be able to flow. With each dharma one learns, one can ask how it becomes an explanation useful to beings; with each portion of good one does, one can ask whether one is willing to dedicate it to a shared purity; when weary, one neither denies the suffering nor at once shrinks back to seeking only one’s own ease, but with shame and conscience reconnects with the ‘multitude’ one first invited.

Arc Five — The Ground of Increasing Radiance: How Ten Kinds of Not-Abandoning Keep Renunciation Free of Attachment to Marks

What Is Being Asked

The fourth ground lists ten kinds of not-abandoning and abandoning. On the surface they look like a set of ascetic rules for those who have left home, yet the treatise pushes them one by one toward nothing to be attained: not abandoning the araṇya while having to surpass the mind of the two vehicles; few desires, to the point of not taking even awakening by desire; keeping morality without taking up the mark of morality; wearying of the world while entering non-action; giving without seeking gratitude. The question is how to renounce without turning ‘I am one who has renounced’ into a new attachment.

Passage by Passage

First, not abandoning the araṇya dwelling. Leaving the assembly to dwell alone is not merely a change of place; it must pass beyond the mind that, on meeting suffering, takes nirvāṇa alone—otherwise the body has left the assembly, but the mind still guards only itself. Second, few desires. Not even unsurpassed awakening is taken by desire, how much less the other desires. This is not a not-wanting to become a buddha, but not treating awakening as an object that can be possessed.

Third, contentment. Contentment with food and drink, clothing, and bedding is a helping condition for wholesome dharmas, yet this chapter takes omniscience of all kinds as the ultimate contentment, since there is then no superior dharma left to seek. Contentment in living guards against desire scattering the mind; contentment in wisdom marks out where one is heading. Fourth, not abandoning the merits of the dhūta practices. The twelve dhūta practices make morality pure; morality supports concentration, and concentration gives rise to wisdom; the acceptance of non-arising is their fruit, and the text speaks of the cause by way of the fruit. The bodhisattva at this point abides in compliant acceptance and contemplates the acceptance of non-arising, without passing off the name of the fruit as something already realised.

Fifth, not abandoning morality. Knowing the real mark of all dharmas, one does not take up even the mark of keeping morality, yet all the more does not break morality. The gate of liberation of emptiness keeps morality from becoming a badge of self, without making morality lose its guarding. Sixth, loathing the desires as foul. Knowing the mind of desire to be empty and deceptive, one does not even give rise to it, how much less follow desire and indulge in it; what the loathing points to is the deceit of the defiled mind, not a hatred of the body and the world.

Seventh, the mind that wearies of the world. The treatise takes the gate of liberation of non-action as the fruit of this weariness. Weariness is not the fabricating of an identity that flees the world, but seeing that in all dharmas nothing is fabricated, and ceasing to demand eternal satisfaction from the dharmas of the three realms. Eighth, giving up all one has. Not begrudging inner and outer dharmas, one places both external wealth and possessions and inner attachments within the range of what can be given up.

Ninth, the mind does not sink. Eye and form, ear and sound, and so on up to mind and dharmas, are the sites of consciousness of two classes, faculty and object; the bodhisattva does not give rise to a grasping, attached consciousness at either of the two sites, contemplates what the six consciousnesses know as empty and deceptive, and further vows that beings abide in non-duality. ‘Not sinking’ is not a numb absence of consciousness, but not sinking into the prison of the opposition of subject and object.

Tenth, not begrudging anything. The deepest cause and condition is ultimate emptiness: not recollecting what was given, not taking up the mark of the recipient, not seeking gratitude from the recipient, and not giving rise to a lofty mind on account of being able to give. The first nine items are gathered up here into pure giving, showing that the renunciation of the fourth ground has not left the first perfection.

Do Not Misread

Do not read not taking up the mark of morality as morality being optional, and do not read not desiring even awakening as giving up awakening. This chapter consistently distinguishes direction from possession: the direction is still toward omniscience, while possession does not take up even the mark of omniscience. Do not describe the mind’s not giving rise to the two sites of consciousness as the stopping of the senses; what the treatise refutes is treating faculty, object, and consciousness as really existent and sinking into them.

Bearing on Practice

These ten dharmas can be used to discern whether ‘reduction’ is truly renunciation. Fewer things but increased self-conceit is not few desires; keeping morality while looking down on others is not the not-taking-up of marks; dwelling in a quiet place and caring only for one’s own ease is not the transcendence of the araṇya. True increasing brilliance is that, once outer conditions are simplified, giving, the vow-mind, and non-dual wisdom become all the brighter.

Arc Six — The Ground Hard to Conquer: How Twelve Kinds of Keeping Away Guard the Hardest Place

What Is Being Asked

What the fifth ground deals with is not the coarse evils that only beginners have, but the obstructions that, even as practice gradually deepens, can still invade through human affairs, talk, and self-assessment. The twelve kinds of keeping away begin from close association with householders, bhikṣuṇīs, stinginess over others’ families, and places of unprofitable talk, and advance to anger, self-importance, contempt for others, the ten evils, great conceit, self-will, the inversions, and the three poisons. What it asks is this: how does one who already has merit, receives others’ offerings, and can discuss the meaning of the Dharma, not lose one’s guard in the most familiar places?

Passage by Passage

First, keeping away from close association with householders. One leaves home in the first place to leave the conditions that hinder the path; if one again grows close to household life, one is no different from before. The treatise uses the simile of one who cannot swim going into the water to save a drowning man and both sinking together, to say that first seeking one’s own liberation is not refusing beings, but first acquiring the ability to save others; one who deeply keeps the Buddha in mind can still go to the lands of the buddhas, leave home, and gather virtue.

Second, keeping away from bhikṣuṇīs. The questioner challenges this with the equal mind: since one regards beings equally, why may one not dwell together? The treatise answers that this bodhisattva is not yet non-retrogressing and has not yet cut off the outflows, and moreover, because of his merit, easily becomes an object of love and attachment; he must avoid his own defilement and attachment and the slander of others. This is a safeguard for a mind and conduct not yet stable at that stage, not a judgement of beings as high or low by gender.

Third, keeping away from stinginess over others’ families. Having oneself already given up home, one should not turn round and regard other families’ offerings as one’s private property. The donors are helping the bodhisattva to bring ease and happiness to beings; what another obtains, moreover, comes from his own past merit, and the one who receives offerings has no reason for envy or stinginess. Fourth, keeping away from places of unprofitable talk. Talk of kings’ affairs, of bandits, of seas and mountains, of medicines and treasures, and local miscellany, if it only relieves boredom without profiting merit or the path, squanders the time for rescuing from suffering—just as, when fire breaks out on all four sides, one cannot sit calmly talking of other matters. This chapter even lists talk that merely draws one back to the two vehicles as unprofitable at this ground, because its direction does not accord with the great vow.

Fifth, keeping away from anger. The treatise analyses the order of its growth in detail: what first arises and is not yet settled is called anger; when it grows and one does harm with the body, it is called vexation; when one slanders with harsh speech, it is called contention; when one inflicts killing and binding, it is called fighting. Keeping away does not wait until one strikes someone to restrain it, but constantly keeps guard before the first angry thought comes in at the door.

Sixth, keeping away from self-importance; seventh, keeping away from contempt for others. Self-importance comes from treating the inner five aggregates as something that can be high; contempt for others comes from treating outer dharmas as something that can be low; when one contemplates inner and outer dharmas as unfindable, both kinds of comparison lose their real ground at once. Eighth, keeping away from the ten unwholesome paths of action. The ten evils already obstruct the noble eightfold path; still less could they bear the unsurpassed path.

Ninth, keeping away from great conceit. Practising the eighteen emptinesses, one does not see dharmas as having any fixed great or small, and so cannot set up great conceit on the scale of one’s cultivation and realisation. Tenth, keeping away from self-will. Only by uprooting the roots of the seven conceits, and moreover truly loving and delighting in wholesome dharmas, does one not take one’s own opinion as the only measure. Eleventh, keeping away from the inversions. Permanence, bliss, purity, and self are all unfindable, so one does not establish the world by inverted marks. Twelfth, keeping away from lust, anger, and delusion. The three poisons are not only harmful; their objects themselves have no fixed mark either; seeing that the objects are unreal leaves the poisons nothing to cling to.

Do Not Misread

Do not use ‘keeping away’ as grounds for contempt for others, for the seventh item of this very ground is precisely keeping away from contempt for others. Nor should one lift the protective rules out of their conditions and turn them into verdicts on the essential nature of all people; the treatise’s reasons are not yet being non-retrogressing, not yet having cut off the outflows, being easily attached to, and easily inviting slander—what it treats is a concrete risk.

Bearing on Practice

The Ground Hard to Conquer is best suited to examining the subtle forms of conceit: does one regard offerings as one’s own domain? Does one use the terms of the Buddhadharma for idle chatter? Before anything is spoken, does one allow anger to rehearse itself over and over? Because one keeps away from something oneself, does one look down on people still in it? Only by holding firm at these small entrances can one be said to have conquered the place hard to conquer.

Arc Seven — The Ground of the Present: How the Six Perfections Do Not Retreat When Giving Is Right Before One

What Is Being Asked

The sixth ground on the one hand speaks of fulfilling the six perfections, and on the other lists six things that should not be done. It no longer asks only whether one understands the six perfections, but whether, when giving actually takes place, the mind will grieve at the loss, fear the asking, hold back, regret afterwards, doubt when meeting the deep Dharma, and finally retreat toward seeking only its own liberation. The test of ‘the present’ lies precisely in the moment when the asker stands before one and the goods are about to leave one’s hand.

Passage by Passage

The six perfections are giving, morality, patience, vigour, meditation, and prajñā. The sūtra says that the buddhas, as well as the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, all reach the other shore by relying on the six perfections; the questioner doubts this: since this is the bodhisattva ground, why speak of the two vehicles? The treatise answers that the Great Vehicle can contain and receive the Small Vehicle, while the Small Vehicle cannot contain the Great Vehicle. This does not declare the results of the three vehicles to be all the same; it only says that the six perfections have a vast capacity to bear.

The six guards are linked item by item. First, not forming the intent of the two vehicles: not taking the narrower quiescence as the path of unsurpassed awakening. Second, giving without grief: not regarding giving as a loss because the goods leave one’s hand. Third, the mind not sinking on seeing the asker: not shrinking back when the need truly appears. Fourth, giving whatever one has: from the first arousing of the mind one does not first mark off which things may be given and which may never be given. Fifth, not regretting after giving: guarding what has been done by the power of loving-kindness and compassion. Sixth, not doubting the deep Dharma: bearing, by the power of the merit of faith, what is spoken by the Buddha’s wisdom that one has not yet fully penetrated.

The treatise says that the bodhisattva of the sixth ground has already contemplated all dharmas as empty, yet is not yet complete in skilful means, and may instead, fearing birth and death, fall into the two vehicles; therefore the Buddha especially keeps him in mind and protects him. Knowing ultimate emptiness leaves nothing begrudged at the time of giving; deeply keeping beings in mind brings no grief and no regret; great merit makes the power of faith great, so that even before one has attained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and the pratyutpanna samādhi, one is in no hurry to deny the deep Dharma with the disputations of ordinary people. The last sentence is not telling people to stop reasoning and discerning, but saying that all idle discourse has its shortcomings in each case, while the Buddha’s wisdom is both free of idle discourse and able to cultivate the good by skilful means, and both sides must be received in faith.

Do Not Misread

Do not describe the six perfections’ running through the three vehicles as the three vehicles being without difference; the treatise only says that the Great Vehicle contains the Small. Nor should ‘giving whatever one has’ be abstracted into an impulse that does not discern causes and conditions; the opening of this chapter has already listed the power of skilful means as a condition for cultivating the good; what is treated here is first marking off, by what is mine, a core that may not be touched.

Bearing on Practice

The sixth ground places the six perfections on a timeline to test them: before giving, does one hold something back in advance; when the asker appears, does the mind retreat; at the moment of giving, does one grieve; after giving, does one regret; and when meeting a meaning of emptiness that cannot be understood at once, does one shrink the vow out of fear? Only when these four points in time of giving, and this further situation, are seen clearly are the six perfections more than a list of names.

Eighth Arc — The Ground of Deep Entry, Part One: How the Twenty Non-Attachments Empty Out What One Relies On

What Is Being Asked

The seventh ground first lists twenty non-attachments, and then lists twenty completions. The order matters greatly: if what one is attached to were not first cleared away, the emptiness, the signlessness, the kindness and compassion, the acceptance and knowledge that follow could all become new things to rely on; if there were only emptying and no completion, one would in turn read the seventh ground as pure negation. The first group asks: in which names of persons and of dharmas does the bodhisattva’s deepest attachment hide?

Passage by Passage

The treatise first divides the twenty non-attachments into two gates: the view of self and so on up to the views of a knower and a seer, together with the views that arise from relying on the Buddha and relying on the Saṅgha, belong to what the emptiness of beings breaks; the views of annihilation and permanence and so on up to the view that relies on morality belong to what the emptiness of dharmas breaks. The first four items are not being attached to self, not being attached to beings, not being attached to life-span, and not being attached to the one counted in the multitude, and so on up to the knower and the seer. The names differ, but all of them are seeking a place for an enduring master; the sūtra answers with “ultimately cannot be obtained.” The fifth and sixth are not being attached to the view of annihilation and not being attached to the view of permanence. Since all dharmas ultimately do not arise, there is no single real dharma that could be annihilated; and non-arising is not the fabricating of a permanent substance either, so both extremes are left behind.

Seventh, not grasping at marks; eighth, not forming the view of causes. There is no affliction that could serve as a mark to be grasped, and the views cannot be obtained. The treatise explains the view of causes in particular: conditioned dharmas become causes and effects for one another in turn; if within them one fixes the mind in attachment and grasps at marks, calling what is not a cause a cause, or clinging to cause and effect as wholly one or wholly different, that is the view of causes. Emptiness does not break the order of cause and effect; what it breaks is the mistaken fixed view that arises toward the relation of cause and effect.

The ninth to the thirteenth are not being attached to name-and-form, not being attached to the five aggregates, not being attached to the eighteen elements, not being attached to the twelve sense-fields, and not being attached to the three realms. The five aggregates are the five kinds of bodily and mental aggregation—form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness; the twelve sense-fields are the six faculties of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind together with the six objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; the eighteen elements further add the six consciousnesses, eye-consciousness and so on up to mind-consciousness. The sūtra answers with “the mark of place is absent, own-nature is absent,” showing that from the combinations of body and mind, through the classifications of cognition, to the domains of existence, nothing can be found that stands on its own. The fourteenth to the sixteenth are not making a place of attachment, not making a place of expectation, and not making a place of reliance; even the inner structure of ‘I rely on this for now, and later I will obtain that’ is loosened.

The seventeenth to the twentieth are not being attached to the views that arise from relying on the Buddha, relying on the Dharma, relying on the Saṅgha, and relying on morality. The Buddha cannot be seen by a fixed view of reliance; the Dharma cannot be made into a visible thing; the mark of the Saṅgha’s harmony has no own-nature; and neither offence nor non-offence is grasped at. This is not abandoning the Three Jewels and morality, but not letting reliance turn into the grasping of views; if one clings to ‘I rely on the Three Jewels, therefore I truly exist,’ reliance turns instead into material for the view of self.

Do Not Misread

The twenty non-attachments are not twenty kinds of refusal. In particular, not being attached to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha, and morality must not be read as not revering, not training, not keeping; the first six grounds have already established revering teachers, seeking the Dharma, and pure morality, and the seventh ground only removes the view that makes them into substances. Nor should emptiness be used to negate cause and effect: what the passage on the view of causes criticises is precisely the misplacing of cause and effect.

Bearing on Practice

The twenty items can be observed in four circles: first look at the names of self and of beings; next at the views of annihilation and permanence and the view of causes; then at the aggregates, elements, sense-fields, and the three realms; and last at whether the most sacred reliances have been occupied by the self. The further toward the inner circle, the more what one is attached to resembles practice itself; only by being unattached here does one make room for the next group, the completions.

Ninth Arc — The Ground of Deep Entry, Part Two: The Twenty Completions and the Acceptance of the Non-Arising of Dharmas

What Is Being Asked

Once what one relies on has been emptied out, what is it that counts as completion? This chapter does not let the answer stop at the single word ‘emptiness,’ but speaks in order of emptiness, signlessness, non-action, the three kinds of action, kindness and compassion, the purified land, equal contemplation, the real mark, acceptance and knowledge, non-duality, turning views, turning afflictions, concentration and wisdom, quiescence, unobstructedness, and not being stained by love. The question becomes: how does the wisdom of emptiness not harm great compassion, how does quiescence not hinder teaching the Dharma, and how does non-arising not make practice rigid?

Passage by Passage

First, completing emptiness. The treatise sets three explanations side by side: being able to practise the eighteen emptinesses; being able to practise the emptiness of beings and the emptiness of dharmas; being able to practise ultimate emptiness without attachment. The Buddha speaks only of the emptiness of specific marks because these three gates are all gathered into the fact that the specific marks of dharmas cannot be obtained; at the sixth ground, merit being deep and faculties sharp, one is on the contrary prone to grasp at marks by the power of discrimination, and the seventh ground must cure this subtle illness with the emptiness of marks. The treatise also records side by side that the Buddha sometimes calls completing emptiness by the names of the emptiness of the conditioned and the emptiness of the unconditioned, and sometimes by the name of the emptiness of the unfindable, not ranking any one way of speaking as the only one.

Second, realising the signless. The signless is nirvāṇa itself; it can be realised, yet it is not some thing that could be fabricated and cultivated into being as a conditioned dharma; and because it cannot be discriminated, one does not speak of ‘knowing it exhaustively’ or of ‘completing it as a possession.’ Third, knowing non-action. Although all three gates of liberation can be known, the text sets up their names according to their different functions; for non-action it speaks only of knowing, to prevent it being taken once again for a dharma that can be made.

Fourth, purity in three parts. This is the ten wholesome paths of action made pure according to the three of body, the four of speech, and the three of mind. Some are pure in body but not pure in speech; some are pure in body and speech but not pure in mind; and there are also those whose three kinds of action look pure in the world’s eyes while the inner mind is still attached; the seventh ground requires that the three kinds of action and freedom from attachment be complete together.

Fifth, completing kindness, compassion, and knowledge toward all beings. Compassion takes beings as its object, dharmas as its object, or no object; here it is great compassion without an object that is taken. The nature of dharmas is empty, and even the real mark is empty; yet after entering deeply the bodhisattva still thinks of beings with compassion, as one with an only son, obtaining a treasure, wishes from the depths of the heart to give it. Being without an object does not mean there are no beings to care for, but that compassion is not confined by a fixed mark of beings.

Sixth, not thinking of any being. The questioner asks at once: without thinking of beings, how can one purify a land? The treatise answers that one teaches beings to abide in the ten wholesome deeds so as to adorn a buddha-land, yet does not grasp at the mark of beings; roots of goodness and merit are thereby made pure and become an unobstructed adornment. The fifth speaks of compassion not retreating, the sixth of marks not being grasped; only when the two are taken together is it great compassion without an object.

Seventh, contemplating all dharmas equally: adding no real existence to dharmas, and not diminishing the working of causes and conditions either. Eighth, knowing the real mark of all dharmas; the sūtra says the real mark is ‘without knowing’—not that there is no wisdom at all, but that there is no dual grasping in which a knower seizes a thing known. Equal contemplation keeps the mind from leaning; the real mark keeps what is contemplated from being fixed.

Ninth, the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The treatise’s definition is at its clearest: toward the real mark of all dharmas, which neither arises nor ceases, one is able to believe and receive it, to penetrate it, to be unobstructed, and not to retreat. Believing and receiving is not forcing oneself to believe; penetrating is not merely being able to handle names and marks; being unobstructed is not being caught on the surface appearances of arising and ceasing; not retreating is no longer, because of the deep meaning, falling back into the view of real existence. Tenth, the knowledge of non-arising. First it is named acceptance, afterward knowledge: the coarser patient acceptance comes first, the finer clear seeing comes after; the sūtra takes knowing that name-and-form does not arise as its content. Acceptance and knowledge are the before and after of one and the same deepening, not two unrelated sets of realisation.

Eleventh, teaching that all dharmas have one mark. The treatise contemplates the inner and outer twelve sense-fields, and the six consciousnesses born of them, as Māra’s net; only the non-dual dharma, which does not fall into the two marks of eye and form and so on up to mind and dharmas, is real, and therefore it teaches non-duality through many kinds of causes and conditions, so that beings may leave the net. Twelfth, breaking the marks of discrimination: breaking the outward discriminations of the objects—male and female, long and short, large and small, and so on. Thirteenth, turning recollection and imagining: turning the inner mind’s repeated imagining and grasping of the large and the small, the measureless, and so on. Both layers, outer objects and inner imagining, must be turned.

Fourteenth, turning views. Earlier, wrong views such as the view of self and the extreme views had already been turned; now even the view of dharmas and the view of nirvāṇa are turned: not abiding in the nirvāṇa of the two vehicles, one heads straight for the buddha-path. Fifteenth, turning afflictions. First the coarse delusions were subdued by merit and keeping the precepts, and subtle craving, views, and conceit still remained; this ground goes further and leaves the subtle delusions, and moreover, with real wisdom, contemplates afflictions as not apart from the real mark, just as one with spiritual powers can turn the impure into the pure. This is not calling the doing of evil pure, but not fashioning a separate real mark outside the afflictions.

Sixteenth, the ground of equal concentration and wisdom. The treatise says that in the first three grounds wisdom is greater and concentration less, and in the latter three grounds concentration is greater and wisdom less; at the seventh ground the emptiness of beings and the emptiness of dharmas are present before one, concentration and wisdom are equal, and only then can one travel the path in peace and security. Seventeenth, taming the mind, tamed through knowing the real mark and not being attached to the three realms. Eighteenth, the mind’s quiescence; earlier the five faculties drawn along by the five desires were subdued, and here the hard-to-subdue mind faculty becomes still.

Nineteenth, unobstructed knowledge. Prajñā makes one unobstructed among dharmas both real and unreal, and with the wisdom of the path one leads beings into the real dharma, training close to the buddha-eye. The questioner asks how the seventh ground could have the buddha-eye; the treatise specifically limits it as ‘ought to train’ and ‘resembling,’ not speaking of the bodhisattva as a buddha ahead of time. Twentieth, not being stained by love. At the seventh ground there are still the body of flesh from past karma and the residual force of loving attachment; after emerging from concentration one may love a good person before one’s eyes, and may even love the wisdom of the seventh ground; therefore one cultivates relinquishment toward the six sense-objects, not grasping the pleasing or the displeasing.

Do Not Misread

Do not extract the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas into a single phrase, ‘nothing at all exists.’ This chapter gives it four positive verbs: believing and receiving, penetrating, being unobstructed, not retreating; and after it still goes on to speak of teaching the Dharma, turning views, taming the mind, and ferrying beings across. Nor should afflictions being the real mark be read as indulging afflictions, since the same passage states clearly that the coarse delusions are subdued first and the subtle delusions left afterward; what the ‘is’ breaks is the setting up of two separate worlds of own-nature.

Bearing on Practice

The practical order of the seventh ground is very precise: first be unattached in everything one relies on; then make emptiness, compassion, morality, acceptance, knowledge, concentration, and wisdom complete; and last let go even of the love of wisdom. When in practice emptiness and compassion collide, concentration and wisdom lean to one side, or quiescence and teaching the Dharma obstruct each other, one can come back to these twenty items and see that what is lacking is not more names and marks, but which two sides are not yet in balance.

Tenth Arc — The Immovable Ground: How Not Grasping at Marks Turns into Sovereign Benefit of Beings

What Is Being Asked

The seventh ground brings inner concentration and wisdom into balance; the eighth ground then turns toward sovereign activity with regard to beings and the world. The sūtra divides it into two groups of five dharmas each: the first group runs from knowing the minds of beings, roaming in spiritual powers, contemplating buddha-lands, and adorning a land, to contemplating the Buddha’s body as it truly is; the latter group runs from knowing the faculties, purifying worlds, the illusion-like samādhi, and constantly entering samādhi, to taking bodies in accordance with roots of goodness. What it asks is: since the mind does not move, how is this not an abiding apart from objects, but instead a more precise entry into objects?

Passage by Passage

First, entering in accord with the minds of beings. The bodhisattva distinguishes whether beings’ faculties are ripe or unripe, whether they can or cannot be ferried across, whether it must take long kalpas or they can be ferried across in this present life, and also knows by which vehicle they should be guided, as a good physician examining an illness knows whether recovery will be slow or quick. ‘Entering in accord’ is following the actual faculties and capacities to find a path, not complying with desires to please.

Second, sporting in spiritual powers. Spiritual powers were already present before; at this ground one gains sovereignty in them and can go to boundless worlds. The treatise looks back to how at the seventh ground one had once wished to take nirvāṇa, and through the protective mindfulness of the buddhas again aroused the mind of ferrying beings across; so the direction of spiritual powers is not displaying ability, but throwing oneself anew among beings. Seeing the buddha-lands, one still does not grasp at the mark of buddha-lands.

Third, contemplating the buddha-lands. Some bodhisattvas go in person to the ten directions, some view them led by a buddha, and some, abiding in their own land, see them with the heavenly eye; first they take up pure marks to make vows and practise, and afterward, attaining non-attachment, relinquish the marks. Fourth, adorning one’s own land as one has seen. The eighth ground is like the jewel-wheel of a wheel-turning king, unobstructed wherever it reaches, and can rain down Dharma-jewels to fulfil wishes; ‘grasping at marks’ serves only as a skilful means for making vows, and in the end never becomes possession.

Fifth, contemplating the Buddha’s body as it truly is. The Buddha’s body is seen as long or short and in all kinds of ways according to the past karma of beings, like an illusion, like a transformation, not held in a fixed way by the aggregates, elements, and sense-fields. Only seeing the dharma-body is seeing the Buddha; the dharma-body is the emptiness of dharmas that cannot be obtained, which is to say that dharmas born of causes and conditions have no own-nature. This keeps the adorning of the Buddha’s body from falling into the worship of form and marks.

The first of the latter five dharmas is knowing the higher and lower faculties. Earlier one knew where minds were heading; here one goes further and chooses the dharma of ferrying across according to strengths such as much giving or much wisdom. Second, purifying buddha-worlds. It has two sides, purifying one’s own body and purifying the minds of beings; only when the causes and conditions of the other and oneself are purified together is the land one vows for pure.

Third, entering the illusion-like samādhi. The treatise takes as its simile an illusory person who, abiding in one place, can manifest armies, palaces and cities, food and drink, sorrow and joy, and such things; the bodhisattva, abiding in samādhi, can pervade the ten directions, first satisfying beings with giving, then teaching the Dharma to break the evil destinies and establishing the three vehicles. All the work of benefiting beings is accomplished, while the mind still does not move and does not grasp at the mark of mind. Fourth, constantly entering samādhi. The former still requires employing the mind, whereas the samādhi born of recompense runs of itself through ripened habit, just as wealth may be obtained by exerting effort, or may also come of itself when causes and conditions ripen.

Fifth, taking bodies in accordance with the roots of goodness that beings call for. The bodhisattva knows with what body, what speech, what causes and conditions, what matter, what path, and what skilful means he should appear, even taking the body of an animal to ferry beings across. Immovability is not the same as fixity of form; precisely because the mind is not bound by a self-image, it can change its form according to need.

Do Not Misread

Do not take spiritual powers and illusory transformations as a list of the eighth ground’s performances. Every spiritual power in this chapter is bounded by the causes and conditions of those who can be ferried across, by purifying beings, by establishing the three vehicles, and by not grasping at marks. The sūtra text of the first group in fact asks about five matters one by one, yet its closing sentence calls them four dharmas; in understanding the modes of this practice one must still go by the five questions, and must not on this account leave out contemplating the Buddha’s body as it truly is. Nor should the spontaneity of the samādhi born of recompense be read as automatic and without cause; the treatise states clearly that it comes from earlier practice turning ripe.

Bearing on Practice

The eighth ground gives ‘skilful means’ a concrete measure: whether one can see faculties and capacities precisely, choose fitting language and identity, and accomplish benefit without fixing the other person, the land, or one’s own abilities. The mind’s not moving is not doing less, but not being dragged off by the self and its achievements amid a great deal of action.

Eleventh Arc — The Ground of Roots of Goodness: How the Great Vow Becomes Worlds, Languages, and the Taking of Birth

What Is Being Asked

The twelve dharmas of the ninth ground seem to turn suddenly from abstract cultivation and realisation to dwelling in the womb, family, clan name, retinue, and the tree of awakening. In fact this is precisely the answer to how the vow to benefit beings enters the concrete world: if one is to ferry boundless beings across, one must have vows, languages, conditions of birth, a social position, a retinue travelling together, and the adornment of the seat of awakening. Roots of goodness are not only stored within the mind; they must form causes and conditions that beings can encounter.

Passage by Passage

First, receiving the share of boundless worlds to be ferried across. In the three kinds of worlds—pure, impure, and mixed—wherever there are causes and conditions and benefit is possible, all are gathered in, as a lamp gives light to those who have eyes. This is not dividing beings into the worthy and the unworthy, but discerning which causes and conditions are already able to receive the light and which must first have causes sown. The treatise further widens the worlds layer upon layer: one three-thousand great-thousand world, one buddha-world, a world-ocean, a world-seed, up to the share ferried across by one buddha, showing that the measure of the vow is not of one place or one time.

Second, obtaining as one vows. The hearer may take the boundless share to be ferried across as impossible; the treatise answers that the six perfections are complete: the first five perfections make merit, prajñā makes wisdom, and because merit and wisdom are both complete the vow can be accomplished. A vow does not rest only on strong wishing; it is supported by long-standing causes and conditions.

Third, knowing the languages of gods, nāgas, yakṣas, gandharvas, and others, and teaching the Dharma. The treatise lists the knowledge of past lives, the knowledge by vow, the samādhi of understanding the languages of beings, and the four unobstructed knowledges. The aim of linguistic ability is not wide learning for self-display, but enabling the Dharma to reach differing experiences of life.

Fourth, the accomplishment of dwelling in the womb. The treatise sets two accounts side by side: one says he rides a white elephant and enters the womb surrounded by the gods; one says the mother obtains the illusion-like samādhi, and within the womb it is like a vast palace, and the bodhisattva, without losing his activity in the heavens, manifests entering the womb. Both accounts present the taking of birth as a manifestation of skilful means, not letting the place of the womb confine the bodhisattva.

Fifth, the accomplishment of family: always taking birth in a great family; the treatise further uses the wisdom of the brahmin family and the power and influence of the kṣatriya family to explain two kinds of family that benefit the world, and turns the deepest layer into being born into the family of the dharma of non-retrogressing merit. Sixth, the accomplishment of what one is born into, which names explicitly the class of birth: born into a kṣatriya family, or born into a brahmin family, chosen because it is honoured by the world and makes it easy to gather in the multitude. The former speaks of how the family one relies on can form the conditions for benefiting beings; the latter speaks of which class of birth is concretely chosen; neither is pride of bloodline, but a skilful means for benefiting beings.

Seventh, the accomplishment of clan. The treatise first says that one observes which clan is valued by the world and able to gather in beings, and enters that clan; it also says that the deep mind first aroused, once firm, is itself the clan of the buddhas; and there are also some who take the acceptance of non-arising as the clan of the buddhas. The three accounts proceed from social approachability to the mind of the vow, and further to wisdom; the deepest clan is not a lineage, but the direction toward becoming a buddha having already entered the mind and its practice.

Eighth, the accomplishment of retinue. The retinue are wise and good people who have gathered virtue life after life, and the sūtra further says that bodhisattvas alone make up the retinue; the treatise cites Qupiye of the Inconceivable Sūtra, saying that bodhisattvas by the samādhi of skilful means manifest as men and as women and together form a retinue, and it also takes as a simile the householder-treasure of a wheel-turning king, originally a yakṣa spirit manifesting a human body. The point lies not in marvellous transformation, but in the fact that the work of becoming a buddha needs a community travelling together.

Ninth, the accomplishment of birth. When the bodhisattva is born there are a lotus seat, light, and bodhisattvas, gods, and nāgas coming to receive him; he is either womb-born or apparitionally born; being born into the two clans honoured in the world is for gathering in beings. The auspicious signs of birth turn an individual’s birth into a Dharma-condition that beings can hear of.

Tenth, the accomplishment of leaving home. In the palace he sees the palace women as if in the state of death; the gods hold offerings and come to receive him; Chandaka leads the horse, and the Four Heavenly Kings bear up its hooves as he leaves the city; that one so honoured still leaves home is precisely to show through his own person that the defilement of household life can be broken. Measureless multitudes follow him in leaving home, which turns an individual’s going forth into a condition for a community’s entering the three vehicles.

Eleventh, the accomplishment of adorning the buddha-tree. Golden roots, stems, joints, branches, and leaves of the seven treasures, and light shining everywhere show that the seat of awakening is brought about by merit and the power of vows; the buddhas may display different adornments, because what beings need differs, and there is no need to fix one form as the only one.

Twelfth, the fulfilment of all good merits. The treatise takes the breaking of afflictions at the seventh ground as benefiting oneself, and teaching beings and purifying lands at the eighth and ninth grounds as benefiting others; only when both sides are deep and great is it called complete. The two vehicles are heavy in benefiting self and light in benefiting others; bodhisattvas who are beginning to train benefit others while their own afflictions are not yet removed; neither can be called full on one side alone.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the ninth ground as a theory of sacred bloodlines. This chapter itself turns family and clan from worldly skilful means to the family of the dharma of merit, to the deep mind, and to the acceptance of non-arising; the honoured clans of the world count only because at that time they were better able to gather in the multitude, not because they are honoured by own-nature. Nor should the share to be ferried across be understood as ownership of territory: the treatise speaks of whether benefit can be received in terms of whether there are causes and conditions, and does not speak of to whom beings belong as possessions.

Bearing on Practice

The ninth ground reminds us that the mind of the vow must have a carrier. Though today we cannot discuss spiritual powers of dwelling in the womb, we can still ask: does the Dharma we teach use a language the other can understand? Do the family, community, and space we are in become conditions for roots of goodness? Do those who travel with us bring one another to accomplishment? If a vow has no form that can be encountered, it has not yet reached the concreteness shown by the ninth ground.

Twelfth Arc — The Ground of the Dharma Cloud: The Ten Grounds Like the Buddha, and the Close of the Whole Chapter

What Is Being Asked

The sūtra marks the tenth ground only with ‘one should know it is like the Buddha,’ and then speaks in detail of the six perfections, the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on up to the unshared dharmas of a buddha, omniscience of all kinds, and the cutting off of afflictions and their residual habits, and further of passing beyond, by skilful means, the nine names of the shared grounds and abiding in the buddha ground. The question is to what degree it is ‘like the Buddha,’ how the merits of ground after ground are turned into buddha-dharmas, and whether becoming a buddha still cannot do without the first six perfections and skilful means.

Passage by Passage

Having entered the tenth ground it is named Dharma Cloud; the treatise borrows a continuous great rain to speak of pure buddha-dharmas arising measurelessly thought after thought. The cloud simile takes up the lands and beings of the eighth and ninth grounds: the Dharma does not only ripen within the bodhisattva’s mind, but must rain everywhere over the world. The bodhisattva first knows that the Māra king of the desire realm has not yet been subdued, and emits light that darkens Māra’s palace; after Māra is subdued, the buddhas of the ten directions emit light that enters the crown of his head, showing that what has been cultivated ground by ground receives the seal of approval of the buddhas’ knowledge and is turned into buddha-dharmas.

At this point he cuts off all afflictions and their residual habits, and is endowed with the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, the eighteen unshared dharmas, great kindness and great compassion, and so on. The great earth quakes, the heavens rain flowers and incense, and the ten directions proclaim the attaining of buddhahood, showing that his merits are no longer merely approximate and partial, but have become the complete work of a buddha. When the preceding text spoke of the seventh ground training in the buddha-eye, it specifically limited this to resemblance; only here is it truly closed with the completion of a buddha’s virtues, and the order must not be inverted.

The treatise further restates the ten grounds in terms of the shared grounds: it is still practising the six perfections, still by the power of skilful means, passing beyond the nine grounds of dry wisdom, nature, the eight acceptances, seeing, thinning, freedom from desire, what has been done, the pratyekabuddha, and the bodhisattva, and abiding in the buddha ground. This way of closing has great force: becoming a buddha has not replaced the first six perfections, nor abandoned skilful means; it is only that the six perfections and skilful means have been fulfilled all the way to the buddha ground. The final phrase, ‘able to practise the ten grounds thus,’ draws the whole chapter back to practice, and does not end with the gaining of a name or rank.

Do Not Misread

Do not apply ‘like the Buddha’ ahead of time to the first nine grounds, and do not isolate the consecration, the light, and the quaking of the earth into a spectacle of marvels. In the treatise they have a strict before and after: first the practice of the ten grounds is fulfilled and Māra is subdued, then the light of the buddhas enters the crown, and only then are the merits turned into buddha-dharmas. Nor should the natural welling-up of the Dharma Cloud be used to deny the long, diligent seeking that came before; the rain from the cloud is precisely the result of the roots of goodness of ground after ground ripening.

Bearing on Practice

The ground of the Dharma Cloud answers one last question for the deep mind of the first ground: at the very beginning all roots of goodness were directed toward omniscience; at the very end, omniscience is not a private attainment, but falls everywhere like cloud and rain. If the deeper one’s practice goes, the fewer people can benefit, it is the opposite of the simile of the Dharma cloud; if one benefits many beings yet does not cut off self-conceit and afflictions, one has not yet reached the point where merits are turned into buddha-dharmas. Only when purifying oneself and raining everywhere are accomplished together is it this chapter’s end-point of the ten grounds.

Further Resonances

Later ancient masters each drew different essentials out of this chapter. Jizang gives weight to the threefold division of seeking the Dharma, to the equality of concentration and wisdom at the seventh ground, and to the tiers of worlds, letting one see that this chapter is not merely a set of names for stages and positions but also a structure that enters emptiness by way of hearing the Dharma and gives rise to function out of emptiness. Zhiyi takes up the six perfections as common to the three vehicles, and further places the ten grounds within his own classification of the teachings; that is a later way of organising, which can help in understanding how the tradition read this chapter, but it must still be kept in a separate layer from what the treatise-author himself says. Zhanran, for his part, preserves the set of cited images from the section on revering the teacher—a deep well without a rope, rain that does not stay on the mountain, a worn-out bag holding treasure, a bad man holding a torch—showing that the ancients gave particular weight to how one can still obtain the benefit of the Dharma when the Dharma teacher has faults.

Bringing these further resonances back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is not a still more intricate chart of stages, but its rewriting of ‘progress’. Progress in the ordinary person's manner usually takes as its measure that I am higher than yesterday and stronger than others; setting out is the opposite: with each ground advanced, one more layer of what is mine is given up, and one more layer of beings is taken on. The first ground does not divert its roots of goodness elsewhere; the second ground does not abandon people because of kindness or grievance; the third ground does not claim what it has heard as its own fame; the fourth ground does not take renunciation up as an identity; the fifth ground does not use purity to look down on others; the sixth ground does not shrink back before those who ask; the seventh ground does not abide even in emptiness and wisdom; the eighth ground manifests bodies according to faculties; the ninth ground turns vow into a world that beings can meet; the tenth ground, like a cloud raining everywhere, holds nothing back.

Therefore, the chapter on Setting Out in the end does not teach people to guess at which ground they stand on; rather, it offers a way of asking the road that can be used again and again: what is it that I am attached to now? Which wholesome dharma is not yet complete? Is what I cultivate still directed toward omniscience and toward all beings? Can I neither take the grounds as something I possess, nor give up the work of preparing the ground? To answer these four questions well in each present moment is already to be walking the path that, without coming or going, is yet able to set out.

Going Forth and Arriving: Going Forth Without Going Forth, Abiding Without Abiding, a Vehicle Without a Rider

What Is Being Asked

At the opening of this chapter the Buddha takes up again a question Subhūti asked earlier: 「是乘何處出，至何處住」 tr. "From where does this vehicle go forth, and where does it arrive and abide?"—this Great Vehicle, from what place does it go forth after all, and at what place does it come to rest? The Buddha’s overall answer is a single sentence: 「是乘從三界中出，至薩婆若中住，以不二法故。」 tr. "This vehicle goes forth from within the three realms and arrives to abide in sarvajñā, because it is a non-dual dharma." Mahāyāna is rendered in this land as the Great Vehicle; sarvajñā is rendered in this land as omniscience, the Buddha’s ultimate and perfect knowledge. The chapter’s name, “Going Forth and Arriving,” comes precisely from this overall answer: going forth from the three realms, arriving at sarvajñā—one “going forth” and one “arriving” form the frame of the whole chapter. Yet read on, and this frame is at once taken apart by the very same passage of the sūtra. First it says that anyone who wishes to make the limit of reality, the five aggregates, the six perfections, and so on up to the fruit of buddhahood “go forth” is in every case ‘wishing to make the signless dharma go forth’—and how could a signless dharma go forth anywhere? Next it says ‘this Great Vehicle has no place of abiding’—even that “abiding” has nowhere to abide. Last it says ‘there is no one who rides this vehicle and goes forth’—not even a person who rides this vehicle out exists. And so the question becomes threefold. First, having said ‘it goes forth from within the three realms and arrives to abide in sarvajñā,’ and then saying that the signless dharma neither goes forth nor abides—is this not a self-contradiction? Second, why must all dharmas, from the five aggregates of the ordinary person to the fruit-stage of the buddhas, be gathered item by item under the one word “signless,” not a single item let pass? Third, and the question closest to home: if no one rides this vehicle out, what then is the person now practising? And who is it that becomes a buddha? What this chapter sets out to answer is exactly how the two words “going forth” and “arriving” are established within no going forth and no arriving: going forth without going forth, abiding without abiding, a vehicle without a rider—and yet the bodhisattva still ‘rides this Mahāyāna and goes forth into sarvajñā.’

Passage by Passage

First, look at the Buddha’s overall answer and that list which leaves out not a single item. The Buddha says this vehicle goes forth from within the three realms and arrives to abide in sarvajñā, and it does so by the “non-dual dharma”: the two dharmas Mahāyāna and sarvajñā are together in one place, neither joined nor scattered, formless, shapeless, and without resistance, of a single mark, namely the signless. Next the sūtra runs, in one and the same sentence-pattern, through ten classes of dharmas one by one: if a person wishes to make the limit of reality go forth (together with suchness, dharma-nature, and the nature of the inconceivable, these other names for the real mark of all dharmas); wishes to make the emptiness of the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness—go forth; wishes to make the emptiness of the twelve sense-fields of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and so on up to the feeling born from the condition of mind-contact, go forth; wishes to make the six similes—dream, illusion, mirage, echo, reflection, and conjuration—go forth; wishes to make the six perfections—dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā—go forth; wishes to make the eighteen emptinesses, from inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, go forth; wishes to make the limbs of the path, from the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, go forth; wishes to make the places of going forth and birth of the three vehicles—arhat, pratyekabuddha, and Buddha—together with the fruit-stages from the fruit of srota-āpanna up to the omniscience of all kinds, go forth; wishes to make names, provisional names, designations, marks, and speech go forth; wishes to make the dharmas that are non-arising, non-ceasing, unstained, unpurified, and unmade go forth—such a person is in every case ‘wishing to make the signless dharma go forth.’ The reason is the same for every item: the marks of these dharmas are empty at root, and the mark of emptiness 「不出三界，亦不住薩婆若」 tr. "does not go forth from the three realms, nor does it abide in sarvajñā." The point of the list lies not in its profusion but in its being without a single exception: from the five aggregates of the ordinary person to the omniscience of all kinds of the buddhas, there is not one dharma that, carrying a mark, can go forth from the three realms and abide in sarvajñā; all dharmas, traced to the bottom, are alike signless, and the signless dharma has from the beginning no going out or coming in. At the end the Buddha himself concludes: 「摩訶衍從三界中出，至薩婆若中住，不動法故」 tr. "The Mahāyāna goes forth from within the three realms and arrives to abide in sarvajñā, because it is an unmoving dharma"—going forth and abiding can be spoken of precisely because it is an unmoving dharma.

The treatise-author takes over, and first resolves a small doubt: the Buddha knew all along what Subhūti was asking, so why restate it once more before answering? The answer is entirely down to earth: this Prajñā has a hundred thousand verses, three million two hundred thousand words, equal to the four Āgamas, and cannot be spoken in full at one sitting; the two earlier questions had already been answered, and only after an interval of days was this third question answered, and so it had to be raised again. He further adduces one more inconceivable thing: the Buddha has unobstructed liberation and the bodhisattvas have inconceivable samādhi, able to make a long time into a short time and a short time into a long time—as when the Buddha spent sixty minor kalpas expounding the Lotus Sūtra, and those listening felt it to be only the short while from dawn until the meal. Someone presses further: time has no shape—how can the near be made the far and the far the near? The treatise-author then lets fly the chapter’s first fine simile: as a person in a dream sees things and takes himself to be awake; and within the dream dreams again, and so on, one within another—yet in fact it is only one night. The length and brevity of time appear according to the mind from the start, and have nothing fixed or real about them.

Next he resolves “whose dharma this vehicle is.” Question: if this vehicle is the Buddha’s dharma, how can it still be said to go forth from the three realms? If it is the bodhisattva’s dharma, how is it fit to abide in sarvajñā? Answer: this vehicle is the bodhisattva’s dharma, up to the vajra samādhi as its utmost—beyond this, all merits being pure, it turns into the Buddha’s dharma. The vehicle has great power and reaches straight to buddhahood, with no superior place further to go, and so it is called “abiding.” There follows at once the most forceful simile of the chapter: the fire at the end of the kalpa burns the three-thousand world, its force immense, and when it has burned until there is nothing left to burn, it goes out of itself; the Mahāyāna is also like this—it cuts off all afflictions and gathers all merits, and when it has exhausted their furthest limit, with nothing more to cut off, nothing more to know, nothing more to gather, it returns of itself to stillness and extinction. This simile wants one to see clearly: the vehicle’s “abiding” is not arriving at a place and stopping there, but the natural coming to rest where its task is exhausted—the end of the Great Vehicle is not that something has been acquired, but that there is nothing more to acquire.

And the “non-dual dharma”? The treatise-author says it directly: these words are 「斷諸菩薩著故說」 tr. "said in order to cut off the attachments of bodhisattvas"—when a bodhisattva has gone deep in practice, the subtlest attachment is precisely to cling to the vehicle and the fruit as two real things: I ride this vehicle, I obtain that knowledge. The Buddha says the two dharmas are together, neither joined nor scattered: they are not one, so he does not speak of joining; they are not different, so he does not speak of scattering; what the six faculties know is all false, so they are formless, shapeless, and without resistance, of a single mark, namely the signless. Someone seizes on the wording: having said ‘because they are not one, they are not joined,’ how can he then say “a single mark”? Answer: what is called a single mark is exactly the signless; in the signless there is no such thing as going forth to arrive at the Buddha path—“a single mark” is a skilful turn of phrase spoken to guide ordinary people. Then he explains the terms one by one: the limit of reality is the final real mark of all dharmas, with no going out and no coming in, and only a madman would wish to make the limit of reality go forth to arrive at the Buddha path. On the single term “the nature of the inconceivable,” the treatise-author actually sets four accounts side by side—some say it is just suchness, dharma-nature, and the limit of reality, where mind and mental-factor dharmas all cease; some say it goes past the limit of reality and nirvāṇa to seek further the reality of all dharmas, where existence and non-existence are both cut off; some say that no one can think out or measure all the Buddha’s dharmas; some say that in all dharmas, discrimination and thought are alike the mark of nirvāṇa—four accounts left standing together, not one decided as the right one; to let many accounts stand together without forcing a verdict is exactly the consistent house style of this treatise’s explanations.

There is one more question that presses closer on the practitioner: the worldly six perfections can be clung to, so saying that they are empty is understandable; but the world-transcending six perfections, the thirty-seven limbs of the path, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, are free of attachment from the start—why are they too said to be empty? The treatise-author’s answer is utterly unambiguous: the bodhisattvas’ outflows are not yet exhausted—their afflictions have not yet been cut off cleanly—and practising these dharmas by the power of merit and wisdom, they still grasp at marks and cling in love; moreover, these dharmas are 「從凡夫法邊生」 tr. "born from the side of the dharmas of ordinary people"—how can what grows out of the ground of falsehood and inversion count as real? Therefore the Buddha says they too are empty, in order to make known the signless dharma. Here the first section comes to its close: the Great Vehicle is exactly the signless, and in the signless how could there be going forth and arriving? All dharmas are empty, having only names, marks, provisional names, and speech, and now even the names are empty; in the highest meaning they are unfindable, while in worldly dharmas there are marks—to go forth from the three realms and arrive to abide in sarvajñā with such a dharma is 「非是實法，亦無所動」 tr. "not a real dharma, and there is nothing that moves."

The second passage of the sūtra turns to “abiding.” The Buddha calls to Subhūti: you ask ‘where does this vehicle abide’—this Great Vehicle has no place of abiding. Why? Because all dharmas have no mark of abiding. If this vehicle is said to abide, it is also ‘abiding by the dharma of non-abiding’—taking non-abiding as its abiding. Just as dharma-nature is non-arising and non-ceasing, undefiled and unpurified, without arising and without making, neither abiding nor not abiding; this vehicle is also like this. The treatise-author first resolves the surface contradiction: just above it was said that ‘on arriving at sarvajñā there is no superior dharma further to go to’—how can it now be said to have no place of abiding? The answer: what was said earlier was that ‘it is said to abide by virtue of emptiness and the non-dual dharma’—like an illusion, like a dream, though there is sitting, lying, walking, and standing, it is not really abiding; although the bodhisattva is said to arrive and abide in sarvajñā, there is no fixed abiding either. Then he opens the pair of words “not abiding, not not abiding” into three readings. As to specific mark and different mark: in its specific mark it does not abide, and in a different mark it does not abide either. As to the two extremes of existence and non-existence: “not abiding” speaks of emptiness to refute existence, and “not not abiding” speaks of abiding by the skilful means of worldly truth. As to the two extremes of permanence and annihilation: “not abiding” refutes the mark of permanence by means of impermanence, and “not not abiding” in turn refutes the mark of annihilation. The three readings are all one and the same gesture: a cut on each side—emptied thoroughly, yet annihilation not permitted; established by skilful means, yet clinging to it as real not permitted—the middle way does not fall on either side.

The third passage of the sūtra answers the last question: ‘who is it that will ride this vehicle and go forth’—there is no one who rides this vehicle and goes forth. The reasons advance layer by layer: the vehicle, the one who goes forth, the dharma used, and the time of going forth—all these dharmas are without anything existent; since all dharmas are without anything existent, by what dharma would one go forth? There follows the longest string in the whole chapter of 「不可得，畢竟淨故」 tr. "unfindable, because of ultimate purity": the self, and so on up to the knower and the seer; the nature of the inconceivable; the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements; the six perfections; the eighteen emptinesses; the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; the srota-āpanna up to the Buddha; the fruit-stages up to the omniscience of all kinds; non-arising and non-ceasing; undefiled and unpurified; without arising and without making; the three times and arising, abiding, and ceasing; increase and decrease—not one of them is other than ‘unfindable, because of ultimate purity.’ Ultimate purity says that this unfindability is not a concealment and not a deficiency, but a purity that is so from the beginning, all the way through. The sūtra then asks itself: by virtue of what dharma being unfindable is it said to be unfindable? The answer: it is unfindable because dharma-nature is unfindable—suchness, the limit of reality, the nature of the inconceivable, dharma-nature, the mark of dharmas, the position of dharmas: this string of other names for the real mark of all dharmas is itself unfindable, and so everything set up upon them is unfindable too.

Right in the midst of this thoroughgoing unfindability, the sūtra suddenly raises a ladder of ten grounds: what are the first ground and so on up to the tenth ground? They are the ground of dry wisdom, the ground of the stage of nature, the ground of the person of the eight, the ground of seeing, the ground of thinning, the ground of freedom from desire, the ground of what has been done, the pratyekabuddha ground, the bodhisattva ground, and the Buddha ground—ten names, not a word omitted. Immediately after, they are taken down again layer by layer: within inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the first ground is unfindable, and the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth grounds are unfindable one by one; the first ground is neither obtained nor not obtained, and so on up to the tenth ground, neither obtained nor not obtained, because of ultimate purity; bringing beings to maturity, purifying Buddha-worlds, and the five eyes are likewise unfindable. Set up in perfect order, taken down without a trace—yet the concluding sentence is: the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, because all dharmas are unfindable, rides this Mahāyāna and goes forth into sarvajñā. Unfindability not only does not hinder going forth; it is, on the contrary, the very support of going forth.

The treatise-author finally draws the whole chapter together. He begins by explaining the two senses of the word “going forth”: first, practising this vehicle and travelling to the furthest limit of the Buddha path and so going forth; second, accomplishing sarvajñā by this vehicle, the great matter being done, which is called going forth. The Buddha himself states the causes and conditions of emptiness: the vehicle is the six perfections; the dharmas used are kindness and compassion, skilful means, and the like—dharmas not included in the six perfections; the one who goes forth is the bodhisattva—these three dharmas are all empty. From this the treatise-author gathers that long string of unfindables of the whole chapter into two phrases: the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, and the eighteen elements, the six perfections up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, the srota-āpanna up to sarvajñā, non-arising and non-ceasing up to the three times, the three marks, and increase and decrease—this is called the emptiness of dharmas; the self up to the knower and the seer, the srota-āpanna up to the Buddha—this is called the emptiness of beings. The emptiness of dharmas refutes attachment to things; the emptiness of beings refutes attachment to a personal self—for all the profusion of items in the whole chapter, gathered up they are only these two emptinesses. The last few questions and answers are short and draw blood. Question: unfindability is of two kinds—the dharma exists, but because wisdom is slight one cannot obtain it; or one has great wisdom and, searching, still cannot obtain it—which kind is this? Answer: 「是法無故不可得。」 tr. "It is unfindable because this dharma does not exist." It is not that the eye is not keen enough; it is that the thing was never there from the start. Question: all dharmas, from root to tip, are unfindable—what benefit is there in this for people? Answer: the Buddha himself says, ‘because of ultimate purity.’ The treatise-author adds one more cut: as for what is called ultimate—if the practitioner relies on ‘non-existence’ to refute ‘existence,’ he attains purity with respect to existence but is not yet pure with respect to non-existence—because there is still a place of reliance. Relying on emptiness to refute existence, if, once the refuting is done, one clutches that emptiness, purity is not yet thorough; only when even ‘non-existence’ is set down is it ultimate. Last: within the eighteen emptinesses there is no first ground and so on up to the tenth ground, no bringing beings to maturity, no purifying Buddha-worlds, no five eyes; they are empty by virtue of the eighteen emptinesses, and unfindable because of ultimate purity. The whole chapter ends on one sentence: 「菩薩用不可得法，乘是乘出薩婆若。」 tr. "The bodhisattva, using the dharma of unfindability, rides this vehicle and goes forth into sarvajñā."

Do Not Misread

Do not read ‘the signless dharma neither goes forth nor abides’ as saying that the Great Vehicle cannot go forth from the three realms and that practice cannot reach the Buddha ground. The sūtra says plainly, ‘The Mahāyāna goes forth from within the three realms and arrives to abide in sarvajñā’—what is negated is not going forth and abiding, but the mark that clings to going forth and abiding as a real coming and going; precisely because it is unmoving and signless can this going forth and abiding truly be established.

Do not read “a single mark” and ‘because they are not one, they are not joined’ as contradicting each other. The treatise-author makes it clear: a single mark is exactly the signless, a skilful means spoken to guide ordinary people; neither one nor different is the correct statement—one may neither join the vehicle and the knowledge into a single thing, nor cut them into two pieces.

Do not read ‘world-transcending dharmas are also empty’ as disparaging the six perfections and the limbs of the path, or as saying there is no need to practise. Emptiness is spoken because the practitioner’s outflows are not yet exhausted and he will grasp at marks and cling in love, and also because these dharmas are born from the side of the dharmas of ordinary people; the medicine is given against the illness, not against the dharma—the dharma is to be practised all the same, only its marks may not be clung to.

Do not read ‘this Great Vehicle has no place of abiding’ as a drifting annihilation with nowhere to return to. It is 「不住法住」 tr. "abiding by the dharma of non-abiding"—taking non-abiding as its abiding; among his three readings the treatise-author deliberately preserves the line ‘by the skilful means of worldly truth there is abiding,’ and emptiness and skilful means do not cancel each other out.

Do not read ‘there is no one who rides this vehicle and goes forth’ as saying that no one practises and no one becomes a buddha. This is the emptiness of beings—what it refutes is the “self” clung to as having a real own-nature, not a denial that there are practitioners; the sūtra’s concluding sentence is still that the bodhisattva, because all dharmas are unfindable, rides this Mahāyāna and goes forth into sarvajñā—a vehicle with no rider can be ridden all the same.

Do not take ‘relying on non-existence to refute existence’ as final. The treatise-author says plainly: one attains purity with respect to existence but is not yet pure with respect to non-existence, because of reliance—the illness of clinging to emptiness is harder to cure than that of clinging to existence; ultimate purity is not relying even on ‘non-existence.’

Bearing on Practice

On the path there is often the calculation ‘I am making progress, I have reached such-and-such a place’; the lesson this chapter gives is that passage on the ten grounds: the stages are distinct and clear, the ten names not a word omitted, and yet ground after ground is neither obtained nor not obtained—effort is to be applied according to the proper sequence, while the mind that tallies its merit is to be let go as it arises; a ladder is for climbing, not for clutching.

The two similes—‘sixty minor kalpas expounding the Lotus, which people took to be from dawn until the meal’ and ‘a dream within a dream, and so it is but one night’—can be used to hold a mirror to one’s own clinging to time: finding practice too long, finding attainments too slow, is mostly a matter of having clung to the mark of time as real; since length and brevity appear according to the mind, long practice need not bring anxiety, and slow results need not bring worry.

The simile of the kalpa-fire going out of itself when it has burned all is a medicine for ‘the mind that seeks fruit’: however great the fire, when it has burned until there is nothing to burn it goes out of itself; when the power of practising the path has been used to its furthest limit, with nothing more to cut off, nothing more to gather, it returns of itself to extinction—there is no need, at the very end, to demand in addition some “obtaining.”

The sentence 「依無破有，於無未清淨」 tr. "relying on non-existence to refute existence, one is not yet pure with respect to non-existence" is the one most worth checking oneself against: a beginner uses emptiness to break attachments, and in the course of breaking them comes to clutch emptiness and will not let go, forever saying ‘it is all empty’—that is exactly what the treatise-author points out as ‘because of reliance.’ The road of ultimate purity does not rely even on this sentence, ‘it is all empty.’

Most essential of all is still the chapter’s drawing-together: unfindable, because of ultimate purity. Unfindability is not a defeat of practice but its very support—it is precisely ‘using the dharma of unfindability’ that the bodhisattva rides this vehicle and goes forth into sarvajñā; to practise without clinging to the practice, to arrive without clinging to the arrival—what this chapter gives to daily life is just this gesture of bearing the load by putting one’s strength where it is light.

Further Resonances

Later an ancient master composed a commentary on this chapter, and first left a note on the chapter’s name: this chapter is also called “Going Forth in the Vehicle,” and the reason it is fixed as “Going Forth and Arriving” is that “Going Forth in the Vehicle” captures only the beginning, while “Going Forth and Arriving” embraces both beginning and end—going forth from the three realms is the beginning, arriving at sarvajñā is the end. On the two words “going forth and arriving” he further adds a layer of reading by the highest meaning and worldly truth: without beginning, it begins by going forth from within the three realms; without end, it ends by arriving at sarvajñā; without going forth, it goes forth from the three realms; without arriving, it arrives at sarvajñā—taking no going forth and no arriving as the substance, and going forth from the three realms and arriving at sarvajñā as the function, which accords exactly with this chapter’s intent of ‘going forth without going forth.’ The ancient master also links the several chapters before and after into a single framework of questions and answers, judging what the first section of this chapter answers to be the third question, which bears out the treatise-author’s own phrase ‘he restates the third question and answers it’; he further judges ‘who is it that will ride this vehicle and go forth’ to be the fifth question—so it can be seen that in the ancient master’s eyes this chapter is the pivotal chapter that answers several questions in succession. In his outline, the ancient master merges the ten-class list at the head of the chapter into seven classes; and he opens the passage on ‘the vehicle, the one who goes forth, the dharma used’ into four dharmas—the vehicle, the rider, what is used, and the time—whereas the treatise’s own text says only ‘these three dharmas are all empty’; the difference in numbers lets the reader see precisely the distinct eye and hand of the commentator and of the treatise-author, and here both are recorded together without judging which is higher. Besides this, another ancient master draws on this chapter’s sense of ‘riding with no rider and arriving at the ground of dry wisdom and the rest’ to show that the preceding chapter, “Setting Out,” and the sūtra text of this chapter follow one on the other in sequence—the preceding chapter makes clear setting out toward the ten grounds, this chapter makes clear arriving at the grounds with no rider; one establishes, the other clears away, the order plain to see; later learners in turn, on this basis, assign the ten grounds of the two chapters to their respective doctrinal gates, and those assignments each belong to their own house tradition—here only their approach is noted. Brought back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is still this one thing: going forth and arriving are going forth and arriving not because some real one who goes forth is moved from this shore to the other shore, but in 「用不可得法，乘是乘出薩婆若」 tr. "using the dharma of unfindability, riding this vehicle, and going forth into sarvajñā"—going forth without going forth, arriving without arriving: this is the full depth of meaning of this chapter’s title.

Surpassing: Surpassing Because Non-existent and Not a Dharma; Three Persons Cross the Evil Destinies, Yet Their Skilful Means Differ

What Is Being Asked

This chapter opens with a word of praise from the venerable Subhūti to the Buddha: 「摩訶衍、摩訶衍者，勝出一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅。」 tr. "Mahāyāna, Mahāyāna: it surpasses all the world and the gods, humans, and asuras." The name Mahāyāna the sūtra text itself at once makes plain—「以是故，是乘名摩訶衍」 tr. "for this reason this vehicle is called Mahāyāna"—it is a 「乘」 tr. "vehicle," the Great Vehicle that is able to carry beings. Subhūti describes it in several layers of words one after another: it is equal to space—as space contains and receives immeasurable, boundless asaṃkhyeya beings, so too does it contain and receive them; it has no place of coming, place of going, or place of abiding that can be seen; its prior limit, later limit, and middle limit are all unfindable, and the three times are equal. The Buddha approves, saying 「如是如是」 tr. "So it is, so it is," and at once sets out the substance of the Mahāyāna—the six perfections, all the dhāraṇī gates and samādhi gates, inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas—and then unfolds the most striking stretch of writing in the whole chapter: one and the same formula, running again and again through seventeen passages of sūtra text. 「若某某是有法、非無法者，是摩訶衍不能勝出一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅；以某某無法、非法，以是故，摩訶衍勝出。」 tr. "If such-and-such is an existent dharma, not a non-existent dharma, then this Mahāyāna cannot surpass all the world and the gods, humans, and asuras; because such-and-such is a non-existent dharma, not a dharma, for this reason the Mahāyāna surpasses." What is substituted into the formula runs from the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm, to form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, to the eye, the ear, and all the sense-fields, to dharma-nature, suchness, the limit of reality, and the nature of the inconceivable, to the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, and the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, then to a line of the worthy and noble—the person at the stage of nature, the person of the eight, up to the Buddha—to all the bodhisattva’s minds from the first arousing of the mind to the seat of awakening, and to wisdom like vajra; and at the very last it goes so far as to substitute the Buddha’s own thirty-two marks, radiance, voice, and wheel of the Dharma, and even the very beings the Buddha brings across. And so the questions arise. First, by virtue of what does it surpass? By common reason, surpassing is always by virtue of being more real, stronger, more permanent; yet the sūtra text speaks the whole way in reverse—precisely because all is non-existent and not a dharma does the Mahāyāna surpass—what principle is this? Second, as the formula sweeps all the way through, calling even dharma-nature and the limit of reality, the six perfections and the limbs of the path, and the Buddha’s merits non-existent and not dharmas, is not what practice relies on and what the fruit of buddhahood is made of swept away along with them? Third, at the opening of its explanation the treatise sets down the most famous simile of the whole chapter—the three persons crossing a perilous road: the three vehicles alike cross over birth and death, so by virtue of what does the Mahāyāna alone deserve to be called 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing"? Fourth, at the end what it surpasses is said to be 「一切世間及諸天、人、阿修羅」 tr. "all the world and the gods, humans, and asuras"—the six destinies are plainly six, so why mention only the three good destinies? What this chapter sets out to answer is exactly the true meaning of the two words 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing"—not ranking high and low among all that exists, but surpassing because non-existent and not a dharma.

Passage by Passage

First, look at Subhūti’s praise and the Buddha’s approval. Subhūti’s description has three layers: one layer is 「與虛空等」 tr. "equal to space," containing and receiving immeasurable, boundless beings without picking and choosing and without becoming full; one layer is 「不見來處、去處、住處」 tr. "no place of coming, place of going, or place of abiding is seen"—it is not a thing that comes from somewhere, goes somewhere, and stops somewhere; one layer is 「三世等」 tr. "the three times are equal," the prior limit, the later limit, and the middle limit all unfindable. These three layers in fact already bury the answer of what follows: only what is not 「一件東西」 tr. "a thing" can be equal to space. After his approval the Buddha first sets out the substance of the Mahāyāna—the six perfections are what is practised; the dhāraṇī gates and samādhi gates are what is held and what is entered: dhāraṇī is the name for being able to hold together wholesome dharmas without losing them, and samādhi is the concentration in which the mind abides on a single object; the eighteen emptinesses are what is contemplated, and the sūtra text names their head and tail with 「內空乃至無法有法空」 tr. "inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are a whole line of the Buddha’s dharmas, running from the limbs of the path all the way to the Buddha’s unshared merits. The Mahāyāna is not some separate thing outside these; it is precisely the collective name for these.

Next, look at that formula. The first half of the formula spreads 「有法」 tr. "an existent dharma" out into a string of expressions—really existent, not false, not changing, true and real, not inverted, constant and permanent, of an indestructible mark, not a non-existent dharma—and if the three realms were truly like this, the Mahāyāna could not surpass; the second half gives the reason why—the three realms are 「虛妄憶想分別、和合名字等有」 tr. "existent as false recollection, imagining, and discrimination, as a coming together, as names, and the like," all of them of the mark of impermanence and destruction, 「無法」 tr. "a non-existent dharma"—and therefore it surpasses. Here 「有法」 tr. "existent dharma" and 「無法」 tr. "non-existent dharma" are the pivot of the whole chapter: an existent dharma is a dharma having such a really existent self-nature, constant, permanent, and indestructible; a non-existent dharma does not mean that even the provisional existence now before us is absent, but that there is no such real nature as that string of words depicts—it exists only as a coming together of causes and conditions, provisionally set up by names. The treatise’s explanation says this principle more thoroughly still: the three realms are false and deceptive, like an illusion, like a dream, existing by reason of causes and conditions, and in cause and effect there is nothing fixed or real; the Mahāyāna and the three realms are 「相違」 tr. "mutually opposed," and so it can crush them and surpass them; if the three realms were fixed, real, permanent, and not false, the Mahāyāna could not crush them—why? 「力等故。」 tr. "Because their strength is equal." These few words are the eye of the whole chapter: when the real stands against the real, it is only an even match of strength, and neither can break the other; only because the three realms are at root false and deceptive, and the Mahāyāna sees through their deceptiveness thoroughly and does not stand on the same level of deceptiveness as they do, can there be talk of crushing and talk of surpassing. Surpassing is not being the strongest within existence; it is shining through.

Third, what is fearsome about the formula is that it goes upward the whole way and exempts nothing. Dharma-nature, suchness, the limit of reality, and the nature of the inconceivable are unconditioned, and they too enter the formula—and this is exactly what forces out the great question in the treatise’s explanation: conditioned dharmas are a false and deceptive coming together of causes and conditions, so calling them non-existent is understandable; the unconditioned is a 「實法」 tr. "real dharma"—how can it too be called non-existent? The treatise gives three answers in a row: first, the unconditioned is empty, and therefore it is called non-existent; second, the Buddha himself says 「離有為，無為法不可得；有為法實相即是無為法」 tr. "apart from the conditioned, unconditioned dharmas are unfindable; the real mark of conditioned dharmas is itself the unconditioned dharma"—the unconditioned is not another, more real thing outside the conditioned; it is just the real mark of conditioned dharmas; third, 「如、法性、實際」 tr. "suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality" are real in themselves, but because people grasp at marks and raise disputes over them, it is said that 「無法性」 tr. "there is no dharma-nature"—some say existent, some say non-existent, each with its own causes and conditions, and so none is at fault. Then the six perfections, the eighteen emptinesses, and the limbs of the path also enter the formula; the line of the worthy and noble—the person at the stage of nature, the person of the eight, up to the Buddha—together with the dharmas they accomplish—the dharma of the person at the stage of nature, the dharma of the person of the eight, up to the Buddha’s dharma—also enter the formula: the worthy and noble become worthy and noble precisely by relying on what is non-existent and not a dharma; they are not yet another batch of 「實有」 tr. "really existent" figures. All the bodhisattva’s minds between the first arousing of the mind and the seat of awakening also enter the formula; that wisdom, hard and sharp as vajra, also enters the formula—fetters is the name for the afflictions that bind beings, and traces are the residual breath of the afflictions after they have been cut off; precisely because this wisdom is itself non-existent and not a dharma can it know that all the fetters and their traces are non-existent and not dharmas, and so attain omniscience of all kinds, that is, the Buddha’s knowledge that knows fully and understands fully the general marks and particular marks of all dharmas. Last of all, the formula substitutes the Buddha himself: the thirty-two marks, the thirty-two marks of a great man on the Buddha’s body—because they are non-existent and not dharmas, their majestic virtue is brilliantly manifest; radiance—because it is non-existent and not a dharma, it can shine everywhere through worlds as many as the sands of the Ganges; the sixty kinds of adorned voice—because they are non-existent and not dharmas, they reach everywhere to the immeasurable worlds of the ten directions; the wheel of the Dharma—the Buddha’s teaching of the Dharma is called turning the wheel of the Dharma, turning like a wheel, without hindrance and without obstruction—because it is non-existent and not a dharma, the Buddha can turn the wheel of the Dharma that all the śramaṇas, brahmins, gods, Māra, and Brahmā are unable to turn; and even the beings brought across are non-existent and not dharmas, and so can, in nirvāṇa without remainder, have been extinguished, be extinguished now, and be yet to be extinguished. Only on reading this far does the true intent of the formula come into view: being non-existent and not a dharma does not cancel merit; it is exactly the reason why merit can come into function—wherever there is clinging to the real there is obstruction; because non-existent and not a dharma, there is no hindrance and no obstruction.

Fourth, the simile at the opening of the treatise’s explanation turns 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing" from a principle into a picture—three persons cross a perilous road: the first flees by night and escapes with his body alone; the second seeks release with money; the third, like a great king leading a great army, crushes the bandits and brings the whole army safely across, fearing nothing and finding nothing difficult. The treatise at once matches them with the three vehicles. The arhat is like the one who flees by night—weary of old age, sickness, and death, heading straight for nirvāṇa, but unable to know all general marks and particular marks, unable to defeat the Māra king, unable to subdue those of the outside paths; he has got his body free, but the band of bandits is untouched. The pratyekabuddha is like the one who seeks release with money—he enters the real mark of all dharmas more deeply than the śrāvaka, has a little compassion, and transforms and brings beings across by the power of supernormal powers; he can break the afflictions, yet still cannot defeat Māra’s people and those of the outside paths. The bodhisattva is like the king who is the general—from the first arousing of the mind he raises great kindness and great compassion toward all beings, and before becoming a buddha he has already, along the way, benefited immeasurable beings; he knows decisively the real mark of all dharmas and is complete in the six perfections, and so can defeat all the Māra kings and destroy those of the outside paths; he cuts off the afflictions and their traces, is complete in omniscience of all kinds, knows fully and understands fully the general marks and particular marks, and accomplishes anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, unsurpassed, right, and complete awakening. The treatise itself closes with one sentence: though the three persons all escape birth and death, their paths of skilful means differ. This simile and that formula are two sides of one thing: the reason the third person can 「舉軍全濟、無所畏難」 tr. "bring the whole army safely across, fearing nothing and finding nothing difficult" is exactly that what he rides is that Great Vehicle which stands on a level different from all that is false and deceptive and which, because non-existent and not a dharma, has no stronghold it cannot crush. After this, two similes of space complete the earlier praise: space holds and receives all lands without being exhausted, and the Mahāyāna holds and receives the buddhas of the three times and all their disciples without becoming full; space, being of a constant mark, has no entering, no leaving, and no abiding, and the Mahāyāna has no place of entry in the future, no place of leaving in the past, and no place of abiding in the present—because it breaks the three times, the three times are equal.

Fifth, cause and effect, and counteraction. The Buddha does not merely say ‘excellent’ once in praise; following what Subhūti praised, he first states in brief the marks of the Mahāyāna—the six perfections, all the dhāraṇī gates and samādhi gates, the eighteen emptinesses, the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas—and then sets them out at length, because the place above where the Mahāyāna was spoken of is already far back. And after the question about the unconditioned, the treatise brings 「說有說無」 tr. "speaking of existence and speaking of non-existence" down to a set of examples closest to one’s own life: worldly dānapāramitā exists by reason of clinging, and world-transcending dānapāramitā is empty because it has no such clinging; to break stinginess and greed, it is said that 「有檀波羅蜜」 tr. "there is dānapāramitā"; to break wrong view, it is said that 「檀波羅蜜無」 tr. "dānapāramitā does not exist"; to bring beginners across it is spoken of as existent, and in the minds of the noble ones it is spoken of as non-existent. The same giving is spoken of as existent or as non-existent, depending wholly on which illness it counteracts—「各有因緣故無咎」 tr. "each has its causes and conditions, and so there is no fault." This is the measure the whole chapter gives to 「無法非法」 tr. "non-existent and not a dharma": to speak of non-existence is a medicine, not a verdict. And so it is with beings too: if beings really existed and were not non-existent dharmas, one ought not to make them be forcibly extinguished and enter nirvāṇa without remainder—this sentence brings the deep meaning of the formula’s last section straight into the open.

Sixth, the intent of surpassing, and its benefit. Someone asks: after the thirty-two marks, why is 「摩訶衍勝出」 tr. "the Mahāyāna surpasses" no longer said passage by passage? The treatise answers plainly: it ought to be said, and is left unsaid only because the text would become cumbersome; moreover, the thirty-two marks, up to turning the wheel of the Dharma for beings, are all the Mahāyāna from the start, only under different names. Again, what came above spoke of surpassing by the general mark, and it was not yet known how exactly it surpasses, so it speaks again of four layers by particular marks: the Buddha adorns his body with the thirty-two marks and surpasses all beings; the Buddha’s radiance surpasses all the radiance of the sun, the moon, and the gods; the Buddha’s voice surpasses all music, the wondrous sounds of the world, and the Brahmā voices of the gods; the Buddha’s wheel of the Dharma surpasses the precious wheel of the wheel-turning sage king and all the wheels of dharma of those of the outside paths, without hindrance and without obstruction—the benefit of the other wheels of dharma is slight and shallow, one life, two lives, at the very most ten million lives, while the Buddha’s wheel of the Dharma can make one enter forever into nirvāṇa without remainder and never again return into birth and death. The benefit is then spoken of from the reverse side: if beings really existed, the Buddha’s leading beings into nirvāṇa would be pulling out their root forever, graver than killing a single body, and a great fault; precisely because beings see a self with an inverted mind, the Buddha speaks of nirvāṇa to break their inversion—there are no beings to be extinguished, and so there is no fault. What is extinguished is inversion, not beings.

Seventh, the whole chapter closes in a question and answer about the six destinies. All the world is at root the beings of the six destinies in the ten directions—why is it said only that it surpasses gods, humans, and asuras? Answer: among the six destinies there are three good and three evil; the Mahāyāna can break and surpass even the three good destinies—how much more the evil destinies—raising the difficult to make clear the easy: once the difficult has been spoken of, the easy is naturally included. A further challenge: the Nāga King Sūtra says that nāgas attain the bodhisattva path, so why are nāgas said to be an evil destiny? Answer: beings are immeasurable and boundless, the nāgas who attain the path are too few, and a small number does not change the name of a whole destiny; again, some say that those are great bodhisattvas transforming their bodily form, taking the body of a nāga king for the sake of teaching and transforming. Between one question and one answer, the phrase 「勝出一切世間」 tr. "surpasses all the world" comes down to solid ground: without picking between good destinies and evil destinies, the whole world—there is nothing the Mahāyāna does not surpass.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「無法非法故勝出」 tr. "surpassing because non-existent and not a dharma" as an annihilation in which everything is nothing at all. A non-existent dharma means there is no dharma with a really existent self-nature, constant, permanent, and indestructible; it does not wipe out even provisional existence by causes and conditions; the treatise says it clearly: some say existent, some say non-existent, each with its causes and conditions, and so without fault—to speak of non-existence is a medicine counteracting the grasping of marks, not a proclamation that nothing whatever exists.

Do not read the formula’s sweep, where it reaches the Buddha’s merits, as disparaging the Buddha. The thirty-two marks, radiance, voice, and the wheel of the Dharma are brilliantly manifest, shine everywhere, reach everywhere, and can be turned precisely because they are non-existent and not dharmas—being non-existent and not a dharma is the reason merit comes into function, not the cancellation of merit.

Do not read the simile of the three persons crossing a perilous road as saying that the three vehicles are without difference, nor as saying that the two vehicles do not get free. The treatise states plainly that the three persons 「俱免生死」 tr. "all escape birth and death"—the two vehicles truly have crossed the perilous road; it also states plainly that 「方便道各異」 tr. "their paths of skilful means differ"—going alone to free oneself, seeking release with money, and bringing the whole army safely across are, in the end, three ways of going. To level them out is wrong, and to wipe them out is wrong too.

Do not read 「不應令強滅、入無餘涅槃」 tr. "one ought not to make them be forcibly extinguished and enter nirvāṇa without remainder" as saying that the Buddha does not bring beings across, or read nirvāṇa as annihilation. The treatise’s original meaning is exactly the reverse: precisely because there are no beings to be extinguished is the Buddha’s speaking of nirvāṇa without fault—what the Buddha breaks is the 「我」 tr. "self" in the inverted mind, not the extinguishing of a really existent person.

Do not read 「勝出三善道何況惡道」 tr. "it surpasses the three good destinies, how much more the evil destinies" as looking down on the beings of the evil destinies. This is the order of exposition that raises the difficult to make clear the easy; the question and answer about the nāga king that immediately follows even deliberately keeps the sentence 「或是大菩薩變化作龍王身」 tr. "or it is a great bodhisattva transforming himself to take the body of a nāga king"—within the evil destinies, bodhisattvas are not necessarily absent.

Bearing on Practice

Hold the formula up to oneself. Wherever the mind has fixed on 「這是實有、恆常、不會壞」 tr. "this is really existent, permanent, and will not break down"—the body, wealth, name and position, views, even one’s own merit from practice—that is a place where one cannot surpass; the formula teaches one to substitute these item by item and look: is it or is it not existent as false recollection, imagining, and discrimination, as a coming together, as names, and the like?

Test the arousing of the mind with the simile of the three persons. Facing the great matter of birth and death, is one escaping alone by night, seeking release with money, or wishing to learn from the third person who brings the whole army safely across? There is no need to hurry to call oneself a follower of the Great Vehicle; first see honestly which road one is walking at this moment, and then ask whether one is willing to move one step forward.

Learn the measure of speech in 「各有因緣故無咎」 tr. "each has its causes and conditions, and so there is no fault." To a stingy person, say that giving truly has merit; to a person clinging to marks, say that giving is unfindable—the Dharma has no fixed saying, and the medicine is given according to the illness; so too when listening to someone teach the Dharma, first ask what this sentence is counteracting, and do not hurry to judge it a view of existence or a view of non-existence.

Do good without clinging to the mark of good. The Buddha’s marks and minor marks, radiance, voice, and wheel of the Dharma come into function because they are non-existent and not dharmas; all the less need one grip tight one’s own small good deeds—the less one clings to the real, the less the obstruction: this is how this chapter uses the word 「功德」 tr. "merit."

Remember 「滅的是顛倒，不是眾生」 tr. "what is extinguished is inversion, not beings." When urging others toward the path, and when seeking liberation oneself, what is to be put down is the 「我」 tr. "self" in the inverted mind, not a loathing and casting off of this person and this world—the Mahāyāna surpasses the world, yet it is right within the world that it brings beings across.

Further Resonances

Later an ancient master composed a commentary on this chapter, passage by passage, and the first thing he singled out was its place in the whole sūtra: in the preceding chapter Subhūti asked about the Mahāyāna by way of five matters, the Buddha answered each one in turn, and the great assembly, hearing the answers, understood and rejoiced; therefore in this chapter Subhūti offers praise on their behalf—which matches exactly the treatise’s opening words 「上以五事問摩訶衍，佛已答竟」 tr. "above, the Mahāyāna was asked about by way of five matters, and the Buddha has finished answering." In the commentary’s explanation of the meaning of 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing," it says that this vehicle is subtle and wondrous, surpassing and above humans, gods, and asuras, as high as space, holding and receiving immeasurable, boundless beings, without going and without coming, the three times equal—running almost meaning for meaning parallel with the opening of the sūtra text. It also sets up 「勝出二義」 tr. "two meanings of surpassing": first, it praises this vehicle as able to crush the three realms and the six destinies, and so it surpasses the three realms; second, the three vehicles alike go forth from the three realms, and the Great Vehicle is the superior among them—the Great Vehicle has no fault it does not cut off and no virtue it does not cultivate, while the two vehicles do not cut off delusion completely and their gathering of virtues is incomplete, and so they are inferior. It also divides this chapter into three sections—the direct account of surpassing, the intent of surpassing, and the clarification of benefit—whose turning-points coincide exactly with the treatise’s own divisions of passages; and it counts the string of expressions in the first half of the formula, from 「實有、不虛妄」 tr. "really existent, not false" onward, as eight phrases, looking over each one in turn, which brings out how rigorous the wording of the sūtra text is. These readings each have their own approach; here only what they see is noted, without judging which is higher. Brought back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is the reversal that the two words 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing" undergo through this chapter: surpassing is not standing on the highest rung among the myriad things that exist, but seeing thoroughly that all is non-existent and not a dharma, and thereby standing on a level different from all that is false and deceptive; the reason the third person among the three crossing a perilous road fears nothing and finds nothing difficult is not that his blades are sharper, but that the path he rides never contends with the bandits for a single city or a single plot of ground at all. That the Great Vehicle is great lies not in having one measure more of existence, but in this thorough shining through—only having shone through can it hold and receive immeasurable beings, and only so is it unable to let go of any single being.

Containing and Receiving: Equal to Space Because Without Anything Existent, Able to Contain and Receive Because Without Anything Existent

What Is Being Asked

This chapter opens with a word of the Buddha’s approval to Subhūti: 「汝所言：『衍與空等。』如是！如是！須菩提！摩訶衍與空等。」 tr. "What you have said—‘the vehicle is equal to space’—so it is! So it is! Subhūti! The Mahāyāna is equal to space." The Mahāyāna is exactly the Great Vehicle; 「衍」 tr. "yāna" is the transliteration of 「乘」 tr. "vehicle." At the end of the preceding chapter Subhūti had praised this vehicle in several layers of words in succession—it surpasses all worlds, it is equal to space, like space it receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings, it sees no place of coming, going, or abiding, it is equal in the three times. The layer of 「勝出」 tr. "surpassing" the Buddha has already answered in the preceding chapter; this chapter then takes up the remaining layers one by one and expounds and establishes them at length, layer by layer. The chapter’s name, 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving," means to contain and to hold; the sentence in the treatise 「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」 tr. "this Mahāyāna can contain and receive all beings and dharmas" uses exactly these two words. The whole chapter alternates four passages of the sūtra with four passages of the treatise’s explanation. First comes 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space": with the sentence-pattern ‘as space is thus, so too is the Mahāyāna,’ the Buddha runs from having no east, west, south, or north, no four intermediate directions, no above or below, to being neither long nor short, neither square nor round, neither blue, yellow, red, nor white, all the way to being neither findable nor unfindable, neither sayable nor unsayable—more than twenty classes of negation filling an entire passage of the sūtra. Next comes 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving": as space receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings, so too does the Mahāyāna receive them. Then comes 「無來去」 tr. "no coming or going": this Mahāyāna sees no place of coming, sees no place of going, sees no place of abiding. Last comes 「三世等」 tr. "equal in the three times": the prior limit, the later limit, and the middle limit are all unfindable. And so the questions arise. First: the Mahāyāna is the Great Vehicle that can carry beings, and the myriad practices such as giving and keeping the precepts are plainly conditioned affairs, whereas space is an unconditioned, formless dharma—how can the two be 「等」 tr. "equal"? Second, and the question in the whole chapter that most twists common sense: in saying that space can receive the myriad things, why does the sūtra not say 「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」 tr. "because space is vast and boundless it receives all things," but insists instead on saying 「眾生無所有故，當知虛空無所有；虛空無所有故，當知摩訶衍亦無所有。以是因緣故，摩訶衍受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生」 tr. "Because beings are without anything existent, know that space is without anything existent; because space is without anything existent, know that the Mahāyāna too is without anything existent. By these causes and conditions the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings"? How does being without anything existent turn out, on the contrary, to be the reason for being able to receive? Third: dharmas before our eyes plainly come and go—how can it be said that 「一切諸法不動相」 tr. "all dharmas are of the unmoving mark," without coming, without going, without abiding? Fourth: the three times are equal, equal to the point that even 「等」 tr. "equal" itself is unfindable—what then is the bodhisattva still to learn in this vehicle, and what is he to attain? What this chapter sets out to answer is exactly the two words of its name: what kind of 「大」 tr. "greatness" can contain and receive immeasurable, boundless beings.

Passage by Passage

First, look at 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space." The Buddha’s approval is not a sentence passed over lightly; he counts out to Subhūti, class by class, the 「無」 tr. "without" of space: without direction—no east, west, south, or north, no four intermediate directions, no above or below; without shape—neither long nor short, neither square nor round; without colour—neither blue, yellow, red, white, nor black; not past, not future, not present; neither increasing nor decreasing; without stain and without purity; without arising, without ceasing, without abiding, without alteration; neither wholesome nor unwholesome, neither determinate nor indeterminate; without seeing, without hearing, without knowing, without cognising; not knowable, not cognisable, not seeable, not to be cut off, not to be realised, not to be cultivated; neither of the mark of defilement nor of the mark of separation; not bound to the desire realm, the form realm, or the formless realm; without the ten minds from the first arousing of the mind to the tenth mind, without the ten grounds from the ground of dry wisdom to the ground of what has been done, without the fruits from the fruit of srota-āpanna up to the fruit of arhat, without the śrāvaka ground, the pratyekabuddha ground, or the Buddha ground; neither form nor formless, neither visible nor invisible, neither with resistance nor without resistance, neither joined nor scattered; neither permanent nor impermanent, neither pleasure nor suffering, neither self nor non-self; neither empty nor not empty, neither marked nor signless, neither making nor non-action; neither stillness-and-extinction nor not stillness-and-extinction, neither detached nor not detached; neither dark nor bright; neither findable nor unfindable; and so on up to neither sayable nor unsayable—each class concluded with 「摩訶衍亦如是」 tr. "the Mahāyāna too is like this." The treatise’s explanation at once raises the question on the reader’s behalf: space ought rightly to be so, for it is by nature an unconditioned dharma; but the Mahāyāna is a conditioned dharma, a form-dharma such as giving and keeping the precepts—how can it be equal to space? The treatise answers with great precision: the six perfections are of two kinds, worldly and world-transcending; the worldly six perfections are conditioned form-dharmas and are indeed unlike space; the world-transcending six perfections come together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, and so are 「似如虛空」 tr. "like space"; after one attains the acceptance of non-arising there is nothing discriminated, just as with space. It is asked again: to say 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent" once would be enough—why count class by class? Answer: 「初發心菩薩於內外種種因緣法中著心」 tr. "The bodhisattva who has first aroused the mind clings with the mind to all kinds of dharmas of causes and conditions, inner and outer." The Buddha is taking apart, place by place, precisely this clinging mind, place by place—the more than twenty classes of negation are not rhetorical profusion but a prescription matched to the illness.

Next, look at 「含受」 tr. "containing and receiving"—this is where the whole chapter gets its name, and it is also the passage deepest in meaning. The way the sūtra proceeds is unexpected: it does not say that space is great and the Mahāyāna great, but says all the way through 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent"—because beings are without anything existent, space is without anything existent; because space is without anything existent, the Mahāyāna is without anything existent; by these causes and conditions the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. The sūtra first lays down a leading chain—because the Mahāyāna is without anything existent, asaṃkhyeya is without anything existent, and so on up to: the immeasurable, the boundless, and all dharmas are without anything existent—and then, with nine ‘furthermores,’ lays this chain down anew, time after time: from suchness, dharma-nature, and the limit of reality, to the nature of the inconceivable and form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, to the eye up to the mind, to dānapāramitā up to prajñāpāramitā, to inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, to the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, to the ground of the stage of nature up to the ground of what has been done, to srota-āpanna up to arhat, to the śrāvaka vehicle, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, and the Buddha vehicle, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds. Each time it begins with words of the kind ‘the self, and so on up to the knower and the seer, is without anything existent’—the opening wording of the nine times differs slightly among the first five, the middle three, and the last one, while the meaning does not differ—passes through this layer of dharma-categories, and arrives at space being without anything existent and the Mahāyāna being without anything existent; and the concluding sentence is always the same: by these causes and conditions the Mahāyāna receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. At the end it draws the comparison with the nature of nirvāṇa: 「涅槃性中受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生，是摩訶衍亦受無量無邊阿僧祇眾生。」 tr. "Within the nature of nirvāṇa immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings are received; this Mahāyāna too receives immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings." Here the treatise’s explanation unfolds the most essential exchange of the whole chapter. Question: why not say 「虛空廣大無邊故受一切物」 tr. "because space is vast and boundless it receives all things"? Answer: 「現見虛空無所有，一切萬物皆在其中，以無所有故能受。」 tr. "We see before our eyes that space is without anything existent, and all the myriad things are within it; because it is without anything existent it can receive." One may well picture it thus: a room can hold things precisely because there is nothing there; space’s ability to receive lies not in its being a bigger thing, but in its not being a thing at all. The questioner presses again: mind and mental-factor dharmas are also without shape or substance—why can they not receive all things? The treatise distinguishes very finely: mind is of the mark of awareness and knowing, not of the mark of containing and receiving, and moreover it has no place of abiding; mind also picks and chooses—a mind of wrong view does not receive right view, a mind of right view does not receive wrong view—whereas space receives everything; mind arises and ceases and can be cut off, and space is not so. So it can be seen that merely being without form and without shape is not enough; only in being without picking and choosing, without abiding, without arising and ceasing, can one speak of receiving all. The questioner presses a third time: then simply say that space is immeasurable and boundless and can receive—why say ‘without anything existent’? The treatise goes so far as to take apart the image itself as well: space has no specific mark of its own; space is spoken of in dependence on the mark of form—where form does not reach is named space; if form existed first and space afterward, space would be a made dharma, and a made dharma is not called permanent; pushed all the way to the end, 「虛空不名為相、不名為所相，不名為法、不名為非法，不名為有、不名為無，斷諸語言，寂滅如無餘涅槃」 tr. "space is not called a mark and not called what is marked, not called a dharma and not called a non-dharma, not called existent and not called non-existent; it cuts off all words and speech, and is still and extinct like nirvāṇa without remainder." That being so, why still use space as a simile? Answer: beings give rise to clinging toward dharmas but do not give rise to clinging toward space, and therefore 「以麁現事破微細事」 tr. "a coarse, manifest thing is used to refute a subtle thing"—a simile is an instrument of guidance, not one more real dharma. Finally the simile is brought back to the dharma: space, because of form, has only a provisional name; beings, because of the coming together of the five aggregates, have only a provisional name; the Mahāyāna is likewise—by the emptiness of beings there is no Buddha and no bodhisattva; because there are beings, there are buddhas and bodhisattvas. 「若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子」 tr. "If it were an existent dharma, it could not receive immeasurable buddhas and disciples"—precisely because the Mahāyāna is not a really existent dharma can it contain and receive immeasurable buddhas and disciples. Then the treatise-author explains the names: 「僧祇」 tr. "saṃkhyeya" in the language of Qin means ‘number’; 「阿」 tr. "a" in the language of Qin means ‘without’—the boundaries of beings and of dharmas are each unfindable, hence the name ‘without number.’ 「無量」 tr. "Immeasurable": as one measures things with a peck-measure, so measuring dharmas with wisdom is also like this; 「量」 tr. "measure" names the general mark, 「邊」 tr. "boundary" names the particular mark; and so on up to: because the self does not exist, the limit of reality too does not exist; all dharmas do not exist; ultimate purity. At the end of the passage the weight of the chapter’s name is pointed out: 「是摩訶衍能含受一切眾生及法」 tr. "this Mahāyāna can contain and receive all beings and dharmas," and beings and dharmas are 「二事相因：若無眾生則無法，若無法則無眾生」 tr. "two things that depend on each other: if there were no beings there would be no dharmas; if there were no dharmas there would be no beings."

The third passage is 「無來去」 tr. "no coming or going." The sūtra runs through all dharmas with a five-item sentence-pattern—a given dharma, the dharma of that dharma, the suchness of that dharma, the nature of that dharma, the mark of that dharma—each 「無所從來，亦無所去，亦無所住」 tr. "comes from nowhere, goes nowhere, and abides nowhere": from form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, to eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, to the six elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, to suchness, the limit of reality, and the inconceivable, to dānapāramitā up to prajñāpāramitā, to the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, to the bodhisattva, the Buddha, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, to conditioned dharmas and unconditioned dharmas. The treatise’s explanation first states the point on the Buddha’s behalf: 「汝何以但讚摩訶衍無來、無去、無住」 tr. "Why do you praise only the Mahāyāna as without coming, without going, without abiding?" All dharmas are also like this, 「一切法實相不動故」 tr. "because the real mark of all dharmas is unmoving." At once it meets head-on the most natural doubt: dharmas now visibly come and go—how can it be said that they are unmoving? The treatise answers with this treatise’s consistent gate of contemplating the three times: 「已去中無去，未去中亦無去；離已去未去，去時亦無去。」 tr. "In the already-gone there is no going; in the not-yet-gone there is also no going; apart from the already-gone and the not-yet-gone, in the time of going there is also no going." The questioner argues that the place where the body moves is named going, and that in the time of going there should be going and coming; the treatise takes this apart layer by layer: apart from the mark of going, the time of going is unfindable; apart from the time of going, the mark of going is unfindable; if there were going in the time of going, there would have to be two goings, and if there were two goings there would be two goers; apart from the goer there is no mark of going, and apart from the mark of going there is no goer—therefore 「去者不去，不去者亦不去」 tr. "the goer does not go, and the non-goer also does not go"; apart from going and not going, there is no further going at all. The comer and the abider are likewise. This whole course of refuting and establishing is not a failure to recognise the comings and goings before one’s eyes; it is a call to see clearly the Buddha’s weighty words: 「凡夫人法虛誑無實，雖復肉眼所見，與畜生無異，是不可信。」 tr. "The dharmas of ordinary people are false and deceptive, without reality; though they are seen by the fleshly eye, this is no different from animals; they are not to be trusted." Then the treatise’s explanation unties the five items one by one: 「色」 tr. "form" names the thing the eye sees, not yet discriminated as fair or foul; 「色法」 tr. "the dharma of form" names impermanence, arising and ceasing, impurity, and the like; 「色如」 tr. "the suchness of form" names form as existing by coming together—like foam on water, not firm, gone once dispersed, false and deceiving the eye; the nature of form is ultimately pure and empty, 「性自爾故」 tr. "because its nature is so of itself." This nature is deep and subtle—how can it be known? It can be known by the power of the mark of form, 「如火以烟為相，見烟則知有火」 tr. "as fire has smoke as its mark, and seeing smoke one knows there is fire"; now, seeing in the form before one’s eyes the marks of impermanence, breaking apart, pain, and coarseness and roughness, one knows that its nature is so from the beginning. The five dharmas do not go, do not come, and do not abide, and so on up to unconditioned dharmas, which are likewise.

The last passage is 「三世等」 tr. "equal in the three times." The sūtra takes emptiness to its most thorough point: 「過去世、過去世空，未來世、未來世空，現在世、現在世空，三世等、三世等空；摩訶衍、摩訶衍空，菩薩、菩薩空」 tr. "The past world—the past world is empty; the future world—the future world is empty; the present world—the present world is empty; the equality of the three times—the equality of the three times is empty; the Mahāyāna—the Mahāyāna is empty; the bodhisattva—the bodhisattva is empty." And this emptiness is 「非一、非二、非三、非四、非五、非異」 tr. "not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not different"—it cannot be counted in, nor can it be differentiated out. In this vehicle the mark of equal and unequal is unfindable, and therefore passion and non-passion, anger and non-anger, delusion and non-delusion, pride and non-pride, and so on up to all wholesome and unwholesome dharmas are unfindable; the three realms and crossing beyond the three realms are all unfindable—「是摩訶衍自法不可得故」 tr. "because the own dharma of this Mahāyāna is unfindable." The sūtra keeps tightening with a recursive sentence-pattern: 「空中空亦不可得」 tr. "within emptiness, emptiness too is unfindable"—how much less are the three times and the five aggregates findable within emptiness; 「等中等亦不可得」 tr. "within equality, equality too is unfindable"—how much less are the three times, the six perfections, and the limbs of the path findable within equality. Not even emptiness itself or equality itself is left. The treatise’s explanation adds a sentence that most reveals the breadth of a bodhisattva’s mind: a bodhisattva who can understand the equality of the three times of all dharmas in this way is 「不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」 tr. "not wearied by the beginningless ages past, and does not find it hard because the future ages are boundless"—since the three times are equal, however long the road behind, it is not enough to weary his mind; however far the road ahead, it is not enough to wrest away his resolve. It further makes clear the nature of equality: because of dependence on the unequal there is the equal; since the unequal ultimately does not exist, the equal too does not exist; desire and non-desire, the three realms and crossing beyond the three realms—dependent dharmas are all like this; all dharmas come from the coming together of causes and conditions and are therefore without self-nature; because self-nature does not exist, they are empty. Here the sūtra and the treatise together point out one more layer: in the past world ordinary people are unfindable, and śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas are unfindable too; the future and the present are likewise—the equality of the three times comes to rest finally on the emptiness of beings, where even the person who can learn and realise is unfindable. And it is precisely within such unfindability that the sūtra says one who learns this equality of the three times fulfils omniscience of all kinds, surpasses all worlds, and accomplishes sarvajñā; Subhūti at once praises the fact that the bodhisattvas in the immeasurable worlds of the ten directions all learn in this vehicle and attain omniscience of all kinds, and the Buddha approves, saying: the buddhas of the past, the future, and the present all learn in this Mahāyāna—they have attained omniscience of all kinds, will attain it, and now attain it. The whole chapter closes with Subhūti’s renewed praise and a discernment. Some say that purity is attained without causes and conditions, that defilement and filth are also without causes and conditions, and that bondage and liberation are both not given by any master; some say that fair and foul, bondage and liberation, are attained of themselves when the season arrives; some say that the Buddha path is attained because merit is accomplished; some say that the Buddha path is attained only by attaining pure, real wisdom—「如是等說，皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」 tr. "Such accounts as these are all not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions, and are not what Subhūti praises." Now the Buddha sets aside what is not causes and conditions, sets aside incomplete causes and conditions as well, and speaks of complete causes and conditions—the six perfections: bodhisattvas of the three times learn this vehicle to completion and attain the Buddha path. The Buddha approves what Subhūti praises: 「如是！如是！」 tr. "So it is! So it is!" With this the whole chapter ends.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「與空等」 tr. "equal to space" as saying that in the Mahāyāna there is nothing whatever to cultivate. The treatise says plainly that the six perfections are of two kinds, worldly and world-transcending; it is the world-transcending six perfections that come together with suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, and wisdom, and only after one attains the acceptance of non-arising, with nothing discriminated, are they 「似如虛空」 tr. "like space." Being equal to space is the appearance of practice gone deep, not a pretext for not needing to set out in practice.

Do not read 「無所有故能受」 tr. "because it is without anything existent it can receive" as a reversal made to startle. It has present evidence: precisely because space is not a thing can it let the myriad things be within it; conversely, 「若是有法，不能受無量諸佛及弟子」 tr. "if it were an existent dharma, it could not receive immeasurable buddhas and disciples"—a real dharma has boundaries and obstructions; only what is without anything existent is without boundary and without obstruction.

Do not suppose, because at the end of the treatise space is taken apart and it says 「以是故無虛空」 tr. "for this reason there is no space," that this chapter contradicts itself—earlier using space as a simile, later saying there is no space. The treatise itself has accounted for the measure: beings give rise to clinging toward dharmas and do not give rise to clinging toward space, and therefore 「以麁現事破微細事」 tr. "a coarse, manifest thing is used to refute a subtle thing"; a simile is an instrument of guidance, and the image itself likewise may not be clung to as real—taking the simile apart is precisely the completion of using it, not its overturning.

Do not read 「無來無去」 tr. "no coming, no going" as denying, with eyes shut, the comings and goings before one’s eyes. Seeking going in the three times and finding it unfindable refutes a really existent goer and a really existent mark of going; of the comings and goings seen by the fleshly eye, the Buddha says that, like the false and deceptive views of ordinary people, they are 「不可信」 tr. "not to be trusted"—not to be trusted as real, not a statement that in the worldly there is no such thing.

Do not take the four accounts at the end of the chapter as four options the treatise-author lets stand side by side. Of the four accounts—without causes and conditions, attained of itself in due season, merit alone, wisdom alone—the treatise has already stated plainly that they 「皆是非因緣、少因緣，須菩提所不讚歎」 tr. "are all not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions, and are not what Subhūti praises"; the four accounts are recorded in order to be refuted, not kept as permitted. As for which schools the four accounts each come from, the treatise does not say, and there is no need to name them on its behalf.

Bearing on Practice

Those twenty-odd classes of 「非」 tr. "not" and 「無」 tr. "without" can be held up to the mind item by item: reckoning over long and short, square and round; self-conceit over wholesome and unwholesome, right and wrong; taking and rejecting over findable and unfindable—wherever the mind clings, loosen it with the sūtra’s sentence-pattern: space has no such mark, and the Mahāyāna has no such mark either. This passage of the sūtra is itself a prescription written out against the clinging, place by place, of those who have first aroused the mind.

‘Because it is without anything existent it can receive’—one may make one more comparison: a heart stuffed full of its own opinions, merits, name, and position is like a room piled with clutter, which can take in not one more person or matter; the more one can empty what one has, the more people and matters one can contain and receive. Learning the containing and receiving of the Mahāyāna begins with being willing to empty oneself.

The gate of contemplating the three times can be raised anywhere: while walking, try asking in which of the already-gone, the not-yet-gone, and the time of going this 「去」 tr. "going" is findable; seeking back and forth and finding no real goer—right there is the tidings of the 「不動相」 tr. "unmoving mark": not that the body does not move, but that the real mark does not move.

「不以無始世來為疲厭，不以未來世無邊故為難」 tr. "Not wearied by the beginningless ages past, not finding it hard because the future ages are boundless"—this is the endurance the equality of the three times gives the practitioner: looking back on the road already come, one does not grieve over having started too late; looking ahead, one does not quail at the road being too far. Since the three times are equal, the place to begin is always today.

The complete causes and conditions at the end of the chapter remind one to examine oneself: to think that the path is attained by luck and season, or by cultivating merit alone, or by cleverness alone, is in every case to fall among 「非因緣、少因緣」 tr. "not causes and conditions, or scant causes and conditions"; only the six perfections, with merit and wisdom practised together, are the complete causes and conditions the Buddha approves—practice does not pick the effortless route.

Further Resonances

Later an ancient master composed a commentary on this chapter passage by passage, and read the preceding chapter together with this one as a single set of fivefold praise: the preceding chapter is the praise of surpassing, and this chapter sets forth in order the praise of equality with space, the praise of containing and receiving, the praise of no coming or going, and the praise of the three times—the four passages of the sūtra are exactly the four praises, connecting one to one with the four passages of the treatise’s explanation. The commentary counts that string of negations at the head of the chapter as twenty-two kinds of praise; the sūtra sets them out sentence by sentence, so dense that not a needle can enter, and the counting of items may differ by one; the two ways of counting each have their own approach, and here both are kept without judgement. On the praise of containing and receiving, the ancient master deliberately refutes an old reading—that the Mahāyāna contains and receives only people with attachment and does not contain and receive all beings and all dharmas—pointing out that it goes against the Buddha’s words and the treatise-author’s intent, and making clear that the Mahāyāna is neither ordinary nor noble and contains both ordinary and noble, is neither person nor dharma and contains and receives both. On the containing-and-receiving passage he further points out, following the text, nine furthermores, which match exactly the nine 「復次」 tr. "furthermore" of the sūtra text; on the praise of no coming or going, he sets up ten divisions following the sūtra text, each division with five meanings, each meaning with three phrases—not coming, not going, no abiding—showing the brocade-like closeness of the weave of this passage. These readings each have their own provenance; here only their approach is noted, without judging which is higher. Brought back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is the reversal the two words of the chapter’s name undergo in the course of it: containing and receiving sounds like a kind of vast possession—only by possessing much can one hold much. This chapter insists on saying it through to the end: beings are without anything existent, space is without anything existent, the Mahāyāna is without anything existent, and so on up to: within equality, equality too is unfindable—it is precisely this thoroughgoing being without anything existent that can contain and receive immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya beings. Space can receive the myriad things not because it is big but because it is not a thing; the Mahāyāna can contain and receive everything not because it is the biggest dharma but because it is not a dharma. The capacity of containing and receiving is just the depth of being without anything existent; the capacity of mind of one who learns this vehicle should be likewise—only when emptied to the point of having not one thing to guard can one receive all beings.

Converging on the Tenet: The Names Differ, the Meaning Is One—Converging All Dharmas on the One Tenet of Prajñā

What Is Being Asked

This chapter opens with a question the venerable Pūrṇa Maitrāyaṇīputra puts to the Buddha: 「世尊！佛使須菩提為諸菩薩摩訶薩說般若波羅蜜，今乃說摩訶衍為？」 tr. "World-Honored One! The Buddha had Subhūti expound prajñāpāramitā for the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas; why does he now expound the Mahāyāna?"—the Buddha plainly told Subhūti to expound prajñāpāramitā for the bodhisattvas; how is it that, in the course of speaking, he has come to speak of the Mahāyāna? Mahāyāna is the transliteration of the Great Vehicle, and refers to the Great Vehicle that can carry countless beings toward the Buddha path; in the preceding several chapters Subhūti, following the course of question and answer, had set out the Mahāyāna again and again all along the way. Pūrṇa’s question sounds as though it were pointing out that the speaker had strayed from the topic. Immediately after, Subhūti does not defend himself; instead he turns and asks the Buddha: 「世尊！我說摩訶衍，將無離般若波羅蜜？」 tr. "World-Honored One! In speaking of the Mahāyāna, might I perhaps have departed from prajñāpāramitā?"—in speaking of the Great Vehicle, might I really have departed from prajñā? Between one question and one self-examination, the topic of the whole chapter is set up. The chapter’s name is 「會宗」 tr. "Converging on the Tenet": “converging” means bringing into accord and bringing back; “the tenet” means the point of return, the main purport. Converging on the tenet is bringing the many dharmas that have been spoken of back to this one tenet of prajñā. This chapter is extremely short—a single question and a single answer, and it is wrapped up—yet what it wraps up is the full account of the several preceding chapters’ broad exposition of the Mahāyāna. And so the question comes in three layers. First, the names have differed—does the meaning differ? Does speaking of the Mahāyāna count as departing from prajñā? Second, the Buddha’s reply is that all wholesome dharmas and dharmas that aid the path 「皆攝入般若波羅蜜中」 tr. "are all gathered into prajñāpāramitā"—what does being gathered in mean? Giving, keeping the precepts, the limbs of the path, and the gates of liberation are each a practice of its own—how can they all be gathered into prajñā? Third, at the end the sūtra pushes to the utmost, saying that the Mahāyāna and prajñā are 「無二無別」 tr. "without duality and without difference," and so on until dānapāramitā and the four foundations of mindfulness too are each, one by one, without duality and without difference from the Mahāyāna; yet the treatise-author, having explained these words, straightaway distinguishes further: 「三十七品、三脫門是三乘共法，六波羅蜜是菩薩法，十力乃至常捨行是佛法」 tr. "the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are dharmas shared by the three vehicles; the six perfections are bodhisattva dharmas; the ten powers and so on up to the practice of constant equanimity are Buddha dharmas"—having just said without duality and without difference, he then makes a threefold distinction; how can these two halves stand together without conflict? What this chapter sets out to answer is precisely the proper measure of the words 「會宗」 tr. "converging on the tenet": how to converge without confusing, how to be one without discarding the many.

Passage by Passage

First, look at the question. At the very outset the treatise-author lays bare the nature of this question: 「富樓那雖自無疑，為新學鈍根者不解義一而名字異，故發問。」 tr. "Although Pūrṇa himself had no doubt, he asked the question for the sake of newcomers of dull faculties who do not understand that the meaning is one while the names differ." Pūrṇa himself was not in doubt; he spoke up on behalf of people who are new to learning and slow in faculties—hearing the two names 「般若波羅蜜」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā" and 「摩訶衍」 tr. "Mahāyāna," they took them to be two things. The meaning is one while the names differ: these few words are the backbone of the whole chapter, and everything the Buddha and the treatise-author say below serves to make this one phrase solid. Subhūti’s response is also most remarkable: he does not justify himself, but brings the matter straight before the Buddha—「佛法甚深，我所說者將無有失？」 tr. "The Buddha-dharma is exceedingly deep; might there perhaps be some fault in what I have said?" The one who expounds the dharma does not guard his own words; he first asks whether he himself has erred. The Buddha settles the case in a single word: 「汝說摩訶衍，隨順般若，無有違錯。」 tr. "Your speaking of the Mahāyāna accords with prajñā; there is no contradiction or error." “Accords with” does not mean merely that it happens not to conflict; it means that, where he speaks of the Mahāyāna, he is walking precisely on the road of prajñā.

Next, look at the reason for 「攝入」 tr. "gathering in." The Buddha first gives the overall sentence: all wholesome dharmas and dharmas that aid the path whatsoever—wholesome dharmas being dharmas that accord with the path and can bring about good fruits; dharmas that aid the path being dharmas that support the accomplishment of the work of the path—whether śrāvaka dharmas, pratyekabuddha dharmas, bodhisattva dharmas, or Buddha dharmas, 「皆攝入般若波羅蜜中」 tr. "are all gathered into prajñāpāramitā." When Subhūti presses on to ask which they are, the Buddha lists them, and they are exactly four classes. First, the six perfections—dāna is giving, śīla is keeping the precepts, kṣānti is patience, vīrya is vigour, dhyāna is meditative stillness, prajñā is wisdom—six practices that cross over to the other shore. Second, the seven groups of the thirty-seven limbs of the path—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 eight limbs of the noble path. Third, the three gates of liberation—emptiness, the signless, and non-action—three gates that lead to liberation. Fourth, a list of merits that belong to the Buddha alone—the Buddha’s ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, great kindness and great compassion, the eighteen unshared dharmas, the mark of being without error, and the practice of constant equanimity. At the end, 「若聲聞法、若辟支佛法、若菩薩法、若佛法」 tr. "whether śrāvaka dharmas, pratyekabuddha dharmas, bodhisattva dharmas, or Buddha dharmas" gathers them all up: from the śrāvaka straight through to the Buddha, there is not one good dharma outside prajñā. Why can these four classes be gathered together? The treatise-author explains it fully in a single sentence: 「一切三乘善法皆為涅槃故。」 tr. "Because all the wholesome dharmas of the three vehicles are for the sake of nirvāṇa." Wholesome dharmas can be gathered together in one place not because their forms are alike, but because they share one destination.

Since the destination is nirvāṇa, the treatise-author goes on to make clear the gates of nirvāṇa: 「涅槃門有三種：一切法皆入空門、無相、無作門。」 tr. "The gates of nirvāṇa are of three kinds: all dharmas enter the gate of emptiness, the signless, and the gate of non-action." Emptiness is contemplating that dharmas have no real self-nature; the signless is not grasping the marks of dharmas; non-action is not giving rise, with respect to the three realms, to a mind that makes, wishes, and seeks. Though the gates are three, the nirvāṇa they lead to is one. Then comes the chapter’s own simile: 「如持戒能生禪定，禪定能生實智慧，不著世間故。」 tr. "Just as keeping the precepts can give rise to meditative concentration, and meditative concentration can give rise to real wisdom—because of not clinging to the world." Precepts give rise to concentration and concentration gives rise to wisdom, carrying a person upward rung by rung, and what one is carried to at the end is not clinging to the world. All wholesome dharmas are a ladder of this kind, and prajñā is exactly that wisdom which does not cling; the rungs each differ, but the place they deliver one to is one, and so it is said that they are all gathered into prajñā.

Next, look at the longest passage of the whole chapter. The first half speaks of gathering in: the wholesome dharmas remain distinctly each in its place and return together to one place. From 「須菩提！若摩訶衍，若般若波羅蜜」 tr. "Subhūti! Whether the Mahāyāna or prajñāpāramitā" onward, the sūtra shifts to another level of speaking—no longer counting the names of wholesome dharmas, but citing all dharmas as a whole and speaking directly of their real mark. This citing leaves nothing that needed saying unsaid: the six perfections—here counted backward from prajñā to dāna, the order of listing exactly the reverse of the preceding passage, the sūtra having its own wording; the five aggregates—form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, the same five aggregates under their other name; the five items opened by faculty and object—eye, form, eye-consciousness, eye-contact, and the feelings born from the condition of eye-contact, all the way to mind, dharmas, mind-consciousness, mind-contact, and the feelings born from the condition of mind-contact, with eye and mind as head and tail and ear, nose, tongue, and body in between covered by 「乃至」 tr. "and so on up to"; the six elements—the earth element and so on up to the consciousness element, that is, the six great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness, likewise cited by head and tail; the thirty-seven limbs of the path—the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path; the three gates of liberation; two paired contrasts among wholesome dharmas—with outflows and without outflows, conditioned and unconditioned; the four truths—suffering, origination, cessation, and the path; the three realms—the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm; the eighteen emptinesses—inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas; the samādhi gates and the dhāraṇī gates—samādhi being the concentration in which the mind abides on a single object, dhāraṇī being the power of holding all wholesome dharmas without losing them; the Buddha’s ten powers and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas; and a last list—the Buddha, the Buddha-dharma, dharma-nature, suchness, the limit of reality, the nature of the inconceivable, and nirvāṇa. From the five aggregates of the ordinary person right up to the Buddha and nirvāṇa, not one is left out; and then comes a single overall judgement: 「是一切諸法皆不合不散、無色、無形、無對，一相，所謂無相。」 tr. "All these dharmas are neither joined nor scattered, formless, shapeless, and without resistance, of a single mark, namely the signless." Neither joined nor scattered says that dharmas have never truly been joined into one body, nor ever truly scattered into different things; formless, shapeless, and without resistance says that this real mark has no form that can be seen, no shape that can be traced, no substance that can be touched or obstruct; a single mark, namely the signless—having just said “a single mark,” and fearing that people would again cling to the 「一」 tr. "one" as a thing, the sūtra at once adds its own note: this single mark is precisely the signless. It is precisely upon this same real mark that the sūtra dares to say everything: 「摩訶衍不異般若波羅蜜，般若波羅蜜不異摩訶衍，般若波羅蜜、摩訶衍無二無別」 tr. "The Mahāyāna is not different from prajñāpāramitā; prajñāpāramitā is not different from the Mahāyāna; prajñāpāramitā and the Mahāyāna are without duality and without difference"; dānapāramitā and so on up to dhyānapāramitā, and the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, are also each, one by one, without duality and without difference from the Mahāyāna. The concluding sentence wraps up the sūtra text of the whole chapter: 「汝說摩訶衍即是說般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "Your speaking of the Mahāyāna is precisely speaking of prajñāpāramitā."

Just when without duality and without difference has been said to the utmost, the treatise-author deliberately makes a further cut of distinction: 「此中三十七品、三脫門是三乘共法，六波羅蜜是菩薩法，十力乃至常捨行是佛法。」 tr. "Here, the thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are dharmas shared by the three vehicles; the six perfections are bodhisattva dharmas; the ten powers and so on up to the practice of constant equanimity are Buddha dharmas." The thirty-seven limbs of the path and the three gates of liberation are practised in common by the three vehicles of śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and bodhisattva, and so they are shared dharmas; the six perfections are practised in full only by the bodhisattva who has aroused the mind, and so they are bodhisattva dharmas; the seven kinds of merit from the ten powers onward exist only in the Buddha’s fruition, and so they are Buddha dharmas. After this distinction, the treatise-author also records alongside it the account of one school: 「六波羅蜜有具足、有不具足。不具足者共二乘法，具足者獨菩薩法。」 tr. "The six perfections are either complete or not complete. Those that are not complete are dharmas shared with the two vehicles; those that are complete are dharmas of the bodhisattva alone."—it is not that the two vehicles never give or keep the precepts; it is only that their practice of these cannot be complete and perfect, and the one who practises them completely belongs to the bodhisattva alone. This account cuts the six perfections again into two halves and differs slightly in breadth from the treatise-author’s earlier distinction; the treatise-author records it without appraising it, and the two accounts stand together. It can be seen that non-difference and distinction do not hinder each other: erasing differences is spoken with respect to the one real mark; distinguishing positions is spoken with respect to the setting-up of the gates of practice—converging on the tenet is not wiping out the marks.

The last two “moreover”s carry the reason for 「隨順無錯」 tr. "according without error" to the bottom. The first moreover speaks from emptiness: 「摩訶衍空，般若波羅蜜亦空，空義一故，須菩提隨順無錯。」 tr. "The Mahāyāna is empty, and prajñāpāramitā is also empty; because the meaning of emptiness is one, Subhūti accords without error." The Mahāyāna is ultimately empty, and prajñā too is ultimately empty; the meaning of emptiness is only one—the names divide it into two, but in meaning when was there ever two? And not only this pair: as prajñā is empty, so too are the five perfections and so on up to suchness, dharma-nature, the limit of reality, the nature of the inconceivable, and nirvāṇa. Suchness is dharmas being as they are in themselves; dharma-nature is the nature that dharmas inherently possess; the limit of reality is the limit of the real mark, the ultimate ground; the nature of the inconceivable is where the measure of the mind and the road of words cannot reach—this list is all other names for the real mark, and all share the one meaning of emptiness. The second moreover speaks from mark: 「從般若波羅蜜乃至涅槃，皆是不合、不散、無色、無形、無對，一相，所謂無相。」 tr. "From prajñāpāramitā up to nirvāṇa, all are neither joined nor scattered, formless, shapeless, and without resistance, of a single mark, namely the signless." Because they share the same mark, it is said that 「摩訶衍則是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the Mahāyāna is prajñāpāramitā," without duality and without difference. Of the two moreovers, one speaks from the oneness of the meaning of emptiness and one from the sameness of mark, yet they are in fact two sides of a single matter: because the meaning of emptiness is one, the names differ while the meaning is one; because it is the same one signlessness, the myriad dharmas are distinctly present and yet without duality. The 「會」 tr. "converging" of converging on the tenet here finds its footing: it is not moving the myriad dharmas into prajñā, but illuminating that the myriad dharmas are from the beginning the same one real mark—from the beginning one tenet, converging of themselves without waiting to be converged.

Do Not Misread

Do not read Pūrṇa’s question as a real doubt having arisen, or as a reproach to the one who expounds the dharma. The treatise-author says plainly, 「富樓那雖自無疑，為新學鈍根者不解義一而名字異，故發問」 tr. "although Pūrṇa himself had no doubt, he asked the question for the sake of newcomers of dull faculties who do not understand that the meaning is one while the names differ"—this question is asked on others’ behalf; the questioner in a dharma assembly is not necessarily confused himself, but often speaks up for those in the assembly who do not understand and cannot ask.

Do not read 「皆攝入般若波羅蜜中」 tr. "are all gathered into prajñāpāramitā" as meaning that one need only practise prajñā and may discard the other wholesome dharmas. Gathering in is not replacing: the sūtra lists by name the six perfections, the limbs of the path, the gates of liberation, and the Buddha’s merits one by one, which shows exactly that each dharma remains distinctly present; they can be gathered in because 「一切三乘善法皆為涅槃故」 tr. "all the wholesome dharmas of the three vehicles are for the sake of nirvāṇa"—they share a destination; their practice is not dispensed with. The ladder of precepts giving rise to concentration and concentration giving rise to wisdom cannot spare a single rung.

Do not read 「無二無別」 tr. "without duality and without difference" as everything mixed into one, with no further distinctions of shallow and deep or of position. The treatise-author at once distinguishes dharmas shared by the three vehicles, bodhisattva dharmas, and Buddha dharmas, and also records alongside them the account of complete and not complete—without duality and without difference is spoken with respect to the one real mark; the distinction is spoken with respect to the setting-up of the gates of practice. Erasing differences does not prevent distinguishing positions, and distinguishing positions does not obstruct erasing differences.

Do not read 「一相，所謂無相」 tr. "a single mark, namely the signless" as meaning that there is some other 「一相」 tr. "single mark" to be grasped and held. The sūtra, having just said “a single mark,” at once adds its own note, 「所謂無相」 tr. "namely the signless"—if one clings to the single mark as a thing, one has added yet another mark; this half-sentence is words that untie bonds, not another state handed to people to embrace and hold.

Do not read the differing account introduced by 「有人言」 tr. "some say" as the treatise-author failing to decide, or as meaning that one of the two accounts must be wrong. To judge the six perfections outright as bodhisattva dharmas is one account; to cut them into complete and not complete and assign them respectively to the bodhisattva and to the two vehicles is another—the treatise-author records both without judging, each establishing its words from one side, and their standing together is precisely the generosity of the treatise’s manner.

Bearing on Practice

Learn the eye for reading the sūtras that 「義一而名字異」 tr. "the meaning is one while the names differ" teaches. In reading the sūtras and hearing the dharma, when you meet differences of names and marks—here it speaks of prajñā, there of the Great Vehicle—do not rush to judge them two things; ask whether the meaning beneath the two names is one. Where the names differ and the meaning is one, converge and connect them; where the names are the same and the meaning differs, divide and distinguish them. What this chapter, Converging on the Tenet, gives is exactly this power of the eye.

Learn Pūrṇa’s asking and Subhūti’s self-examination. To see that people do not understand and cannot ask, and to speak up on their behalf, is kindness; having expounded the dharma, to turn back and ask oneself, 「我所說者將無有失」 tr. "might there perhaps be some fault in what I have said," is care. One willing to ask for others, one willing to examine his own faults—the homework of both sides, of expounding the dharma and of hearing it, is gathered into this very short chapter.

Check where your own wholesome dharmas are headed. The same giving and keeping of precepts, if headed toward fame and karmic reward, scatter in the world; if headed toward nirvāṇa and practised to the point of not clinging to the world, they are gathered into prajñā. The question this chapter gives the practitioner is: where are my good deeds of this moment headed?

Use 「無二無別」 tr. "without duality and without difference" to cure the mind that picks and chooses between high and low. Dānapāramitā and so on up to the four foundations of mindfulness are each, one by one, without duality and without difference from the Mahāyāna; so there is no need to slight the basic practices at hand and yearn after lofty, abstruse names—one precept, one concentration, one contemplation, practised to the point of not clinging, is not different from the Great Vehicle. At the same time, remember the treatise-author’s distinction—shared dharmas, bodhisattva dharmas, and Buddha dharmas, distinct and clear—knowing one’s position without overstepping it, aspiring upward without timidity.

Remember how to use 「一相，所謂無相」 tr. "a single mark, namely the signless." If in the course of practice you attain a state in which everything is one, that is just the time to hold this half-sentence up to it: even “a single mark” is still a word of skilful means—namely the signless; to feel that there is a single mark to guard is again a mark. Only when you can put down this 「一」 tr. "one" is it the converging and returning that this chapter speaks of.

Further Resonances

Later an ancient master composed a commentary on this chapter passage by passage, with a very concise outline: the whole chapter divides into two—first the doubt raised as a question, second the resolving of the doubt; and the Buddha’s resolving of the doubt again divides into two layers—first converging by way of the gate of teaching, making clear that all the dharmas of the three vehicles enter prajñā; then, from the phrase 「須菩提！若摩訶衍」 tr. "Subhūti! Whether the Mahāyāna" onward, converging by way of principle: because all dharmas are ultimately empty, they are non-dual. This pins the turning-point of the whole chapter exactly on that sentence where the sūtra turns from listing wholesome dharmas to speaking of the real mark as a whole, and it corresponds precisely in weight to the treatise-author’s two moreovers. The commentary also brings out the treatise-author’s threefold distinction and the differing account of 「有人言」 tr. "some say," likewise keeping both without deciding between them. Another ancient master sets beside this chapter the meaning of 「會三歸一」 tr. "converging the three and returning to the one" in another sūtra: there it is converging the three vehicles and returning them to the one vehicle; here it is, within the Great Vehicle itself, converging its different names—both are called converging, but the dharma of converging differs. There is also an ancient master who, surveying the divisions of the whole treatise, marks with 「訖至會宗品」 tr. "ending at the chapter Converging on the Tenet" the end-point of a large section of sūtra text—from the broad exposition of the Mahāyāna onward there are seven chapters of sūtra text, and they are wrapped up here—so it can be seen that, small as this chapter is, it is the closing tail of a great section of text. Later still, an ancient master who established gates of contemplation directly held up this chapter’s words that prajñā is precisely the Mahāyāna and 「無二無別」 tr. "without duality and without difference," using them to bring the path of contemplation he had established into accord with the Great Vehicle. These readings each take their own approach; here only what they saw is noted, without judging which is higher. Brought back to this chapter, what is most worth keeping is the proper measure of the word 「會」 tr. "converge": converging on the tenet is not swallowing up—prajñā has not drained the myriad goods dry, nor have the myriad goods spread prajñā thin; because they are alike for the sake of nirvāṇa, they are alike gathered in; because they are the same one signlessness, they are without duality. The names may be as many as they will; the point of return is only one. And so what Pūrṇa’s one question won was not the discarding of one name, but the lighting-up of the road between name and name that has been open from the beginning—to speak of the Mahāyāna is precisely to speak of prajñāpāramitā.