大智度論義疏通講 · 冊7Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 7

歎淨品—諸波羅蜜品 · 6 單元 · 第 7／28 冊 · Praise of Purity — The Perfections · 6 units · Vol. 7 of 28 · 冊目次Volume index

歎淨品Praise of Purity

義疏Exposition

歎淨品：清淨何以甚深而以畢竟淨故總答十五番，智淨緣淨何以相待而實相本自清淨，我淨故色淨何以是易解喻難解，無所有與自相空何以分說，二淨與真清淨何以有別，取心相何以是礙而取相念諸佛何以是微細礙，般若何以難知難解不可思議

在問什麼

這一品的品名叫「歎淨品」，取自品首舍利弗的第一聲讚歎——『世尊！這清淨甚深！』前品信毀對舉，明信般若之福與謗般若之罪；本品承其信之一路而入，全品所歎、所問、所勘，只是一個「淨」字。開場是舍利弗一連十五番的讚歎問答：淨甚深、淨明、淨不相續、淨無垢、淨無得無著、淨無生、不生欲界、不生色界、不生無色界、淨無知、色無知是淨淨、受想行識無知是淨淨、一切法淨是淨淨、般若於薩婆若無益無損、般若淨於諸法無所受——每一番，佛都先以同一句「畢竟淨故」總答，再依所問追加別答。同一句總答重複十五次，正是本品的教法：清淨之所以有這許多面目，根柢只是一個畢竟清淨。

第二重是須菩提接手的「我淨故」問答：我淨故色淨、受想行識淨、六度淨、四念處乃至十八不共法淨、須陀洹果乃至佛道淨、一切智淨，二淨故無得無著，我無邊故色等淨，能如是知是名般若——佛仍以畢竟淨總答，而別答依次立出無所有、自相空、無相無念、無垢無淨、畢竟空無始空、知道種諸義；末後歸到行般若以方便力故無諸憶想分別，十三空破諸法盡而無所礙。第三重轉入帝釋之問：什麼是求菩薩道人的礙法？須菩提答以取心相迴向；佛更進一層，自說微細礙相——取相憶念諸佛也是礙；由此引出般若甚深、應禮而無能得者、諸法一性無性、難知難解、不可思議的五重歎問。論主逐段釋此三重，末後以猛風除雲之喻收束：諸法可與般若作因緣，而不能生般若。這三重，就是本品經、論要逐段交代的。

逐段解明

一、淨甚深——畢竟淨故。 品首舍利弗向佛稟白：『世尊！這清淨甚深！』佛答：「畢竟淨故。」舍利弗追問什麼法清淨故甚深，佛答：色清淨故，受想行識、四念處乃至八聖道分、佛十力乃至十八不共法、菩薩、佛、一切智一切種智清淨故，這清淨甚深。第一番便立下全品的格局：所歎的淨不是某一法獨具之德，而是從五眾直到種智、從凡夫境直到佛境，一體同淨；淨之所以深，正因無一法在此淨外。

二、淨明——般若乃至檀波羅蜜淨故。 第二番歎「淨明」。佛別答：般若波羅蜜清淨故是淨明，乃至檀波羅蜜清淨故、四念處乃至一切智清淨故，是淨明。明是照用：前品品名照明，已明般若能照一切法；此處把明歸到淨上——六度道品之明，皆是清淨之明，不是離淨別有一種光明。

三、淨不相續——不去不相續故。 第三番歎「淨不相續」。佛別答：色不去、不相續故，乃至一切種智不去、不相續故。相續是生死之相：前法滅、後法生，念念遷流。清淨中色等諸法不去亦不相續——不是斷滅其流，而是照見流轉之相本不可得，故淨中無相續可立。

四、淨無垢——性常淨故。 第四番歎「淨無垢」。佛別答：色之性常淨故，乃至一切種智之性常淨故。此答最可玩味：無垢不是垢去而後淨，而是性本常淨——垢從來不曾真正染著其性。後文論釋百八煩惱不能遮覆污染，正申此義。

五、淨無得無著——無得無著故。 第五番歎「淨無得無著」。佛別答：色無得無著故，乃至一切種智無得無著故。得與著是心對法的兩種攀取：求而獲之為得，執而守之為著。清淨中一一法自身即無得無著之相，故緣之之心亦無所得、無所著。

六、淨無生——無生故。 第六番歎「淨無生」。佛別答：色無生故，乃至一切種智無生故。無生是諸番中最徹底的一句：不相續猶就流轉遮，無生則直指諸法從本不起。後文論釋以不取相故不起不作三種業，把無生落到業不起上，是此番之注腳。

七、不生欲界中——欲界性不可得故。 第七番歎「淨不生欲界中」。佛別答：欲界之性不可得故。三界是生死的地圖；說淨不生欲界，不是說淨迴避欲界，而是欲界自性求之不可得，無一實界可供其生。

八、不生色界中——色界性不可得故。 第八番同式歎色界。色界禪定之境勝於欲界，然其性同樣不可得；清淨於勝境亦無所生，防的是捨欲界而貪色界的細執。

九、不生無色界中——無色界性不可得故。 第九番歎無色界。無色界是三有之頂，最細最深之境；其性亦不可得，故淨亦不生其中。三番連讀，是把三界從粗到細一一勘破：清淨不在三界任何一層安身，因為三界無一層有實性可安。

十、淨無知——諸法鈍故。 第十番歎「淨無知」。佛別答：「諸法鈍故，是淨無知。」鈍是無知無覺之意：諸法自身冥然無知，不能自知亦不能知他。說淨無知，是遮『淨是一種能知之明』的想像——淨非能知之體，諸法亦非所知之實。

十一、色無知是淨淨——色自性空故。 第十一番轉深一層：色無知，是清淨之淨。佛別答：色自性空故。前番總說諸法鈍，此番落到色上並加一「淨」字——淨之又淨：色不但無知，其無知正由自性空來；空故無知，無知故淨上加淨。

十二、受想行識無知是淨淨——自性空故。 第十二番以受想行識同式申之：四眾無知是淨淨，自性空故。色心並舉，五眾齊收——無知非色獨然，心法亦然；能知之心自性亦空，故心之無知亦是淨淨。

十三、一切法淨故是淨淨——不可得故。 第十三番總收：一切法淨故，是淨淨；佛別答：一切法不可得故。前二番就五眾別說，此番就一切法總說；不可得三字收攝自性空義——法不可得，故淨亦無淨相可得，是名淨淨。

十四、般若於薩婆若無益無損——法常住相故。 第十四番轉出驚人之句：般若波羅蜜於薩婆若無益無損。佛別答：法常住相故。般若是能趣之因，薩婆若是所趣之果，因於果竟無益無損——因為法常住相，果體本具，非因所增；此句遮的是把般若當作能造作佛果的工具之想。論釋以夢幻虛空之喻申之，見後段。

十五、般若淨於諸法無所受——法性不動故。 第十五番收束經①：般若波羅蜜清淨，於諸法無所受。佛別答：法性不動故。受是領納攀緣；般若之淨不在諸法上有一毫領受，因為它所入的是不動的法性。十五番至此圓足：由淨之深、明，而無相續、無垢、無得著、無生，而三界不生、無知、淨淨，末歸無益無損、無所受——層層遮遣，只顯一個畢竟淨。

十六、論釋淨二種——智慧淨、所緣法淨，相待如薪火。 論主釋「是淨甚深」先立分別：清淨有二種，一是智慧淨，二是所緣法淨。二事相待——離智淨無緣淨，離緣淨無智淨；因為一切心心數法從緣生，無緣則智不生，譬如無薪則火無所燃；而有智方知緣淨，無智則不知。智淨緣淨相待，是世間常法。此段先就世諦立能所相待，為下段翻出實相張本。

十七、離智離緣，實相本自清淨——美食同毒器喻。 論主隨即翻上一層：離了智、離了緣，諸法實相本自清淨。被心心數法所緣，則污染不清淨——譬如百種美食與毒同器，即不可食。諸法實相常淨，非佛所作，非菩薩、辟支佛、聲聞、凡夫所作；有佛無佛，常住不壞。落在顛倒虛誑法及果報中，才污染不淨。此段是全品義理的地基：淨不由能所成立，恰在能所之先；心緣是染，不緣本淨——美食本美，毒器使不可食，非食之過。

十八、清淨之種種名——如、法性、實際乃至畢竟空。 論主列清淨異名：或名如、法性、實際，或名般若波羅蜜，或名道，或名無生無滅、空、無相、無作、無知無得，或名畢竟空等，無量無邊名字。一法多名，名異體一；知此，則前十五番的種種歎辭，皆是就不同門稱歎同一實相，不是十五種淨。

十九、舍利弗發希有心之由——謗得大罪、信得大果。 論主交代第一番之來歷：舍利弗觀般若之相不可見、不可聞、不可說、不可破壞，然而誹謗它得無量罪，信受正行得無上果報——於此發希有歡喜心而歎淨甚深。不可見聞之法而罪福宛然，正是希有處；此亦緊承前品信毀之義而來。

二十、佛答過汝所見——乃至淨體亦不著。 佛答舍利弗：你所見以為希有，實相中還超過你所見——一切法中畢竟淨、無所著，乃至淨體也不著，是名畢竟清淨。淨而不著淨，是畢竟二字的正解：若於淨上更立一淨相可守，即非畢竟。

廿一、清淨主諸佛亦不著——賢聖苦盡亦不著般若。 論主更申：清淨之主即十方三世諸佛，而諸佛也不著這清淨；清淨般若能令一切賢聖無邊苦盡，有此大利益，而亦不著這般若。連佛於淨亦不著、連救拔之功亦不恃，無量因緣畢竟清淨，故淨甚深。以佛之不著證淨之畢竟，是最高的保任。

廿二、色等本末因果清淨。 論釋別答：色等諸法清淨故淨甚深，因為色等諸法本末因果清淨——如上品所說，菩薩於色等法中觀行斷故，得如是清淨。本末因果四字把淨說遍：非但現前一念淨，其本其末、其因其果，無一節不淨；觀行斷惑是入處，本自清淨是實際。

廿三、釋淨明——破戲論無明、與智慧光明、與有餘涅槃。 論釋第二番：這淨能破一切法中戲論無明，能與畢竟空智慧光明，故言淨明；行檀等菩薩妙法故得淨明；能與有餘涅槃故言淨明。明有三義：破闇是遮、與光是照、與涅槃是果——淨之為明，即破即立即證。

廿四、釋淨不相續——與無餘涅槃、壽盡不去不相續。 論釋第三番：與無餘涅槃故言淨不相續——先以空等三三昧捨諸善法，後壽命自然盡，色等五眾不去亦不相續。有餘無餘二涅槃分屬二番：明是有餘之照，不相續是無餘之息；壽盡而五眾不續，非斷滅其法，是緣盡而流自息。

廿五、釋淨無垢——百八煩惱不能遮覆。 論釋第四番：以百八諸煩惱不能遮覆污染淨故，言淨無垢。煩惱百八，遮覆之力不可謂不重；然性常淨故，能遮者終不能染——遮是客，淨是主。

廿六、釋無得無著二釋——十六心與菩薩位。 論釋第五番出二解：行諸法實相不二道，從苦法忍乃至第十五心名「得」，第十六心得沙門果名「著」——著是著而不墮落，得之別名；復次行六波羅蜜乃至生柔順忍名「得」，能生無生法忍入菩薩位名「著」。清淨法中用無所得心，無此二事，故名無得無著。此二釋一就聲聞道、一就菩薩道：連證果入位這樣的正得正著，於畢竟淨中亦不立——非貶其果，是遮果上之執。

廿七、釋無生——不取相故業不起、三界性不可得。 論釋第六番並收三界三番：行如是法，知一切法畢竟空；畢竟空故不取相，不取相故不起不作三種業，不作業故一切世間無生——世間即三界。二因緣故不生：一者三種生業不起故，二者三界自性不可得故。無生之義在此落到最實處：生死由業，業由取相，取相由不知空；知空則環環俱解。佛總說因緣即三界自性空，故說三界色等諸法自性不可得。

廿八、性常不生故畢竟清淨——淨無知如上品說。 論釋第十番但云：是淨無知，諸法鈍故，如上品中說；又總結：一切諸法性常不生，不生故不可得，不可得故畢竟清淨。三句成鏈——不生、不可得、畢竟清淨，把前面諸番的別答收歸一線：一切別義，皆從性常不生流出。

廿九、釋無益無損——斷菩薩貪著；夢幻虛空喻。 論釋第十四番先明問意：舍利弗得聲聞波羅蜜，佛是一切智人，二人問答之故，諸菩薩轉而貪著般若；舍利弗欲斷其貪著，故說般若雖有如是功德，畢竟清淨故於薩婆若亦無益無損。如夢如幻中雖有得失，亦無益無損；如虛空畢竟清淨無所有，亦因虛空有所成濟——不得言空有所作，亦不得言空無所益；檀波羅蜜因般若有所作，故言無益無損。虛空一喻兩面俱到：萬物因空得成而空無所作；般若之於薩婆若亦然——非無其功，功不在有所加。

三十、釋無所受——滅諸觀戲論、入法性相。 論釋第十五番：般若觀一切法有失、不淨、無常苦空無我、不生不滅非不生非不滅等，以種種因緣讚歎滅諸觀戲論、斷語言道，故說般若清淨於諸法無所受；滅觀戲論、斷語言道，即是入法性相，故說法性不動故。觀是入門，滅觀是到家：諸觀本為破執而設，執破則觀亦不受——無所受不是不觀，是觀盡而不住於觀。

卅一、經②首番——我淨故色淨，我無所有故。 經②轉由須菩提發問，句式一變：不再問法之淨，而說「我淨故色淨」。佛仍答畢竟淨故；別答則是：我無所有故，色無所有，畢竟淨。從我說起是此下諸番的關鍵：我是眾生執之根；我既無所有，色亦無所有——同一畢竟淨。

卅二、我淨故受想行識淨。 第二番以受想行識同式申之：我淨故四眾淨，我無所有故，受想行識無所有，畢竟淨。五眾之中色粗心細，逐一按過，見我空與五眾空同一無所有，無一眾獨在其外。

卅三、我淨故六度淨、四念處乃至十八不共法淨。 第三番一氣連舉：我淨故檀、尸羅、羼提、毘梨耶、禪波羅蜜淨，我淨故般若波羅蜜淨，我淨故四念處乃至八聖道分淨、佛十力乃至十八不共法淨。佛別答同前：我無所有故，檀波羅蜜無所有而淨，乃至十八不共法無所有故淨。行法與果德一體同收——六度是能行、道品是所修、十力不共法是佛德，我空之淨貫徹始終，無一階位在畢竟淨外。

卅四、我淨故須陀洹果乃至佛道淨——自相空故。 第四番舉四果、辟支佛道、佛道：我淨故果道淨。佛別答忽換一辭：「自相空故。」不再說無所有而說自相空——這一換辭，論主下文特設問答申其所以：果道是無為法，與有為的五眾六度立義不同。此處先記其文，義詳論釋段。

卅五、我淨故一切智淨——無相無念故。 第五番舉一切智：我淨故一切智淨。佛別答：無相無念故。一切智是究極之智，別答亦最微：無相是不取相，無念是連無相亦不念——義詳論釋段。

卅六、二淨故無得無著——無垢無淨故。 須菩提續白：以二淨故無得無著。佛答畢竟淨；別答：無垢無淨故。二淨者我淨法淨；此問把前番一一分說的淨合為一句，而佛答直遮垢淨之對——無垢無淨，才是二淨之實。

卅七、我無邊故色等淨——畢竟空、無始空故。 須菩提又白：我無邊故色淨、受想行識淨。佛別答：畢竟空、無始空故。我不但無所有，且無邊際可求；無邊之故，佛以二空並答——義詳論釋段之眾生空無始空。

卅八、能如是知是名般若——知道種故。 須菩提總結：若菩薩能如是知，是名菩薩摩訶薩般若波羅蜜。佛答畢竟淨故；別答：「知道種故。」能如是知——知我淨法淨、無所有、自相空、無垢無淨——即是般若；而佛不以畢竟空印之，卻以知道種印之，此中深意論主下文特為發明。

卅九、色不知色之念——方便力故作是念。 須菩提進白：若菩薩行般若以方便力故，作是念：色不知色，受想行識不知識，過去法不知過去法，未來法不知未來法，現在法不知現在法。法法不相知，是把無所有義落到法與法之間：非但我不可得，法與法之間亦無一能知一被知的實關係。

四十、佛答方便力不作是念——十三空故無諸憶想分別。 佛答則從不作處說：菩薩行般若以方便力故，不作是念——我施與彼人、我持戒、我修忍、我精進、我入禪、我修智慧、我得福德、我當入菩薩法位、我當淨佛世界成就眾生當得一切種智。無諸憶想分別，以內空、外空、內外空、空空、大空、第一義空、有為空、無為空、無始空、散空、性空、諸法空、自相空故。是名菩薩行般若，方便力故無所礙。從初發心的布施直到成佛的種智，一路的『我如何』之念俱遣；十三空是遣之之具，無所礙是遣盡之效。

四一、論②釋佛作證——易解喻難解。 論主先明體例：佛初命須菩提說般若，他有所說不應求其因緣；餘人所說才當求因緣。舍利弗問清淨相，佛作證；今須菩提說清淨相，佛亦為證。釋「我淨故五眾淨」：如我畢竟無所有不可得，五眾亦如是；畢竟空即是我清淨、五眾清淨。解我空易，解五眾空難，故以易解喻難解。此段點出經②句式的用心：人於我尚易信其空——尋覓自我了不可得，是共許之境；於五眾則執其實有。從我淨說起，是借易信處引入難信處。六波羅蜜乃至十八不共法、果道亦如是，我淨故是法亦淨。

四二、無所有與自相空之辨——有為無為分說。 論主設問：上言我無所有故色乃至十八不共法亦無所有，今何以說須陀洹果乃至佛道自相空？答：我從和合因緣假名生，於無我中有我顛倒，故說我虛妄無所有；五眾以著處因緣故無所有；檀等諸法雖善，是有為作法、菩薩所著故，言無所有。須陀洹果等是無為法，無為法自相空——無生無滅、無住異故——是故不說無所有，但言自相空。兩辭之別立在有為無為之界：有為法是顛倒所執之境，故就其虛妄言無所有；無為法本無生滅住異，故就其本相言自相空。辭異而空同，各稱其法。

四三、邪行多故無所有、無邪行故自相空。 論主復以第二義申之：有為法中邪行多故，說無所有；無為法中無生無滅、無邪行故，說自相空。邪行謂顛倒攀緣之所行：有為境上邪行紛然，故須以無所有奪其所執；無為法上無邪行可奪，直示自相之空即足。

四四、釋無相無念——於無相三昧亦不念。 論釋一切智番：我淨一切種智淨，以菩薩深著故說無相無念。無相者是無相三昧；無念者，於無相三昧亦不念。菩薩於究極之智最易深著，故遮之最細：入無相三昧猶是有所依，於此三昧亦不念，方是智淨之實。

四五、二法清淨與不二法清淨——名字清淨與真清淨。 論釋二淨番：須菩提知般若真清淨，故白佛用二淨故無得無著。清淨有二種：一者用二法清淨，二者用不二法清淨。二法清淨是名字清淨；用不二法清淨者，是真清淨。佛言諸法畢竟空相；此中說因緣，所謂一切法無垢無淨——二清淨中，才分別是垢是淨。此段立了本品最要的一個判分：凡待垢而立的淨，是名字之淨；垢淨對待俱遣，方是真淨。前十五番之淨若作對待解，即墮名字淨中。

四六、我無邊即眾生空——人畏空故言清淨。 論釋我無邊番：如我空，空故無邊，五眾亦如是。又設問：常言畢竟清淨，今何以言畢竟空無始空？答：畢竟空即是畢竟清淨，以人畏空故言清淨。此中說我無邊，我即眾生，是眾生空；何以故，無始空故。此段揭開全品用辭的底牌：淨與空是一義兩名——說空則人畏，說淨則人親；歎淨十五番，實是歎畢竟空十五番。

四七、眾生空法空畢竟空是名般若。 論釋能如是知番：能以眾生空、法空，以一切法畢竟空，是名般若波羅蜜；般若即是畢竟清淨。般若不是空外之智：二空徹了、畢竟空現前，其現前處即名般若——能知與所知在畢竟空中不作兩橛。

四八、知道種故——畢竟空為破著心說、非是實空。 論主設問：佛常答畢竟空，何以言菩薩能如是知是名菩薩般若？佛言知道種故。菩薩雖知一切法畢竟空，欲令眾生得此畢竟空、遠離著心；畢竟空但為破著心故說，非是實空。此是全品眼目之一：畢竟空自身也不是一個實法——它是藥，不是境；菩薩之知不止於自證空，更知以何道何門引眾生離著，故印之以知道種。

四九、般若無定相、以道種智分別說。 論釋色不知色之問：佛意般若無定相，但以道種智故分別說，令菩薩行般若有方便；法雖畢竟空，亦如是知色不知色法等。觀一切法畢竟空，唯有能觀智慧在，不應把它也畢竟空去，以引導眾生著心令入畢竟空。此段與上段相承：空不礙分別說，分別說不壞空；能觀之智暫留不遣，非為自恃，為導他也。

五十、外觀內觀——不作我施彼受之念。 論釋佛答：若菩薩行般若有方便，能觀外法畢竟空、色不知色等；內自觀內心亦如是，方便力故，行檀時不作是念：我施與彼，彼是受施。外法內心同一觀法：外觀法法不相知，內觀則施者受者之相不起——觀不徒為知解，直接落在行檀之時的心相上。

五一、不相知故無所作——破受者所施物二事。 論釋色不知色等：一切法空故不相知，不相知故無所作，破二事——所謂受者、所施物；今破與者乃至我修一切種智亦如是。布施一事三輪：與者、受者、所施物；法法不相知，則三輪一時俱破，推而至於我修一切種智之念亦破。

五二、十三空破諸法盡——是名無所礙。 論結經②：此中說因緣——菩薩行般若，方便故無如是分別；以內空故乃至自相空，是十三空破諸法盡，後五種空總相說，是名菩薩無所礙。無所礙者，以是諸空於一切法無所礙。十三空各有所破，破盡則無一法為礙；礙本由執立，執盡則法法無礙。卷六十三至此終，卷六十四重標品題，經③續起。

五三、帝釋問礙法——取心相迴向是礙。 經③帝釋問須菩提：什麼是求菩薩道善男子的礙法？須菩提答：有求菩薩道的善男子善女人取心相——取六度相、內空乃至無法有法空相、四念處乃至八聖道分相、佛十力乃至十八不共法相、諸佛相、於諸佛種善根相——把這一切福德和合，取相迴向阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，是名礙法；用是法故不能無礙行般若。何以故？色相不可迴向，受想行識相不可迴向，乃至一切智相不可迴向。所取無一是惡法——六度、空門、道品、佛德、善根，皆是妙善；礙不在所取之法，而在取相之心。相不可迴向，是其所以：迴向若憑相立，所迴向者即墮有盡之相中。

五四、示教利喜以實相——自無錯謬、如佛所許。 須菩提續說無礙之路：若菩薩以阿耨多羅三藐三菩提示教利喜他人，應以一切諸法實相示教利喜——行檀時不應分別我施與、我持戒、我忍辱、我精進、我入禪、我修智慧、我行內空乃至我行阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。如是示教利喜，自無錯謬，亦如佛所許法示教利喜，令善男子善女人遠離一切礙法。教人之法即是自行之法：以實相教，則教者不墮我相之謬，受者不種取相之因，兩利俱成。

五五、佛自說微細礙相——取相念諸佛皆是礙相。 佛讚須菩提善哉善哉，命更聽微細礙相：有善男子善女人發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心，取相憶念諸佛——凡所有相，皆是礙相；於諸佛從初發意乃至法住，中間所有善根取相憶念、迴向——皆是礙相；於諸佛及弟子善根及餘眾生善根取相迴向——皆是礙相。何以故？不應取相憶念諸佛，亦不應取相念諸佛善根。此是本品最峻的一段：念佛、念佛善根、以善根迴向菩提，是最正的行門；而一涉取相，同判為礙。所遮愈善，其相愈細——正行中之取相，非佛自說不能勘出。

五六、般若甚深——一切法常離故。 須菩提聞而歎：般若波羅蜜甚深！佛答：「一切法常離故。」深不在遠，在離：一切法常自遠離——離相、離名、離執取處——般若稱性而照此常離，故深不可測。

五七、我當禮般若——無起無作故無有能得者。 須菩提言：我當禮般若波羅蜜！佛告：般若無起無作故，無有能得者。禮敬之心方生，佛即遮其能所：般若無起無作，不是一個可以對之作禮、從之有得的對象；此遮非拒其敬，是防敬中之取相——正與微細礙相之教一貫。

五八、一切法一性非二性——無性即是性。 須菩提言：一切諸法亦不可得。佛言：一切法一性，非二性；是一法性，是亦無性；是無性即是性，是性不起不作。菩薩若知諸法一性——所謂無性——無起無作，則遠離一切礙相。此段是經③義理之頂：一性不是萬法背後別有一體，一性即是無性；無性亦不是斷無，無性即是性。於此不起不作處知之，礙相自遠。

五九、難知難解——無見者無聞者無知者無識者無得者。 須菩提白佛：般若難知難解！佛言：如所言——般若無見者、無聞者、無知者、無識者、無得者。五重之無，把能緣般若的一切門一齊關閉：見聞知識得，是心識取法的全部通路；般若於此俱無其者，故難不在義理艱深，在無路可通。

六十、不可思議——不從心生乃至不從十八不共法生。 須菩提又白：般若不可思議！佛言：如所言——般若不從心生，不從色受想行識生，乃至不從十八不共法生。思議是心之行；般若既不從心生，亦不從五眾乃至佛德生，則思議之具於它無所施——不可思議不是讚辭之極，是實相之述。

六一、論③釋帝釋更問之由——礙法微妙、鈍根不覺。 論主設問：若與無礙相違是名為礙，帝釋何以更問礙？答：菩薩礙法微妙，入諸善法和合，利根者所覺，鈍根者不覺；以難解故，於佛前更問。礙若現於惡法中，人人能識；正因它混在善法裡，與善行和合難分，才須特為拈出——帝釋之問，問在眾人不見處。

六二、取心相之釋——食雖香美過噉則病。 論釋取心相：菩薩分別慳心施心，捨慳心、取施心，是名取心相；知布施物貴賤，知修集布施能一切與——是檀波羅蜜乃至隨喜福德取相諸善法，雖為是妙，內著我、外著法，墮礙法中；譬如食雖香美，過噉則病。捨慳取施本是正行，病在取捨之際心存能所：內有能施之我、外有所施之法。喻取食病：食非毒也，噉之過度則成病；善法非礙也，取相行之則成礙。

六三、畢竟空故不可得迴向。 論引須菩提自說因緣：「色等諸法相畢竟空故，不可得迴向無上道。」迴向所以不得憑相，正因相畢竟空：以空相迴向，如捉影而投之遠方，終無所至；不取相之迴向，方與無上道的無相之體相應。

六四、無礙相——實法者滅諸憶想分別、得二種利。 論釋無礙相：菩薩若欲教他無上道，應以實法示教利喜；實法者，所謂滅諸憶想分別，故說行檀時不分別我與等。若能如是教化，得二種利：一者自無錯謬，二者亦如佛所得法以化他人。如是等與無量礙相相違，是名無礙相。實法不是另一套法，即是諸行之中憶想分別滅處；以此教人，教者受者同離礙網。

六五、微細礙相佛自說之由——須菩提力所不及。 論主設問：佛已讚須菩提說無礙相，今何以復更自說微細礙相？答：佛就須菩提力中讚歎——汝是捨眾生人，而能說菩薩礙相；微細礙相，須菩提力所不及，是故佛自說。讚與自說不相妨：就其力之所及而讚其盡善，就其力所未及而自補其微——亦見微細礙相之細，非佛智不能盡照。

六六、微細礙相之釋——無相相是般若、雜毒果報不得無上道。 論釋微細礙：礙相微細故汝一心好聽——菩薩用取相心念諸佛等，皆是礙；無相相是般若波羅蜜，佛從般若中出，亦是無相相；諸善根著心取相迴向，是世間果報，有盡、雜毒故，不能得無上道。念佛而取相，所念已非佛之實——佛是無相相，取相則失其所念；善根著相迴向，果報墮在世間，有盡而雜毒。毒謂取相之執滲入善中：果雖善而不純，故不任運至於無盡的無上道。

六七、麁礙與微細礙之辨——念佛三昧中之礙。 論主設問：上說麁礙言取相，今微細礙中亦言取相，有何差別？答：上說我是與者、彼是受者，如是等；今但說取相。復次，今說諸菩薩念佛三昧故微細相——微細心人中礙，是故名微細礙。麁礙帶我人之相，其執顯然；微細礙只是一念取相，且現於念佛三昧這樣的微細心行之中——心愈細，礙愈隱，故別立微細之名。

六八、讚甚深與佛答——般若遠一切法故微細相不得入。 論釋須菩提之讚：知佛所說深妙非己所及，故讚言甚深。佛答一切法常遠離相故——佛說是般若遠一切法；遠一切法故，微細相不得入般若中。此答直承微細礙而來：礙相再細，亦是相；般若遠一切法，細相亦無隙可入——深之實義，是無隙。

六九、作禮之念與佛答——十方沙佛無能得者。 論釋作禮一段：須菩提歡喜言我當為般若作禮，意謂我得解是般若甚深相故發心，我應作禮。佛言：般若無起無作故，十方如恒河沙佛無能得者，汝聲聞人云何言得？連十方沙數之佛於般若尚無能得——得須有起作之相，般若無起無作，故無得者可立；遮須菩提之得，非抑聲聞，是明般若體上本無得義。

七十、諸法一性無二——畢竟空不應著不應取相。 須菩提言一切法皆無知無得；佛言諸法一性無二。論釋：一性所謂畢竟空；無二者，無畢竟不畢竟；一法性即是無性。畢竟空不應著、不應取相——所以者何？從因緣和合生故。此釋補足經文一性無性之義：畢竟空亦不得執為畢竟——執畢竟則與不畢竟成二；空解從因緣生，生法無可著，故於畢竟空亦不著。

七一、須菩提二念——以為得而佛謂不得。 論述須菩提之領解：念言若無性即是性，以不起不作故後世苦不相續；能如是知般若，一切諸礙皆遠離；若遠離諸礙，則自在得無上道。聞佛說已復念：我以為得，佛謂不得；是般若難解難知。前念是正解——無性即性、苦不相續、離礙自在；後念是被勘——自以為得處，佛言無得。二念之間，正是難解之難：解處即是得想生處，得想生處即是所遮處。

七二、非獨汝難——般若出過六種知。 論釋佛答：非獨汝難，一切眾生無見者、無聞者、無知者、無識者、無得者——耳鼻舌身所不知，意所不識不得；是般若出過六種知，故言難解。六種知是眾生知法之全部官能；般若非其境界，故人人於此同難——難不因根鈍，因般若超出知之為知的整個格局。

七三、智力窮極故言不可思議。 論釋不可思議之歎：須菩提入深般若中，智力窮極，故言不可思議。此歎非泛讚：是入到智力盡頭處的實供——思議之力用至無可用處，方知有思議所不及者在。

七四、無生相故——非心生非五眾生。 論釋佛答：是般若非心生、非五眾生，乃至不從十八不共法生，無生相故。般若若從心生，即是心之所出、有生之法；有生則有滅，何足為畢竟淨之體？無生相故，一切能生之位——從心到佛德——皆非其父母。

七五、略說廣說之辨——猛風除雲喻。 論末設問：若說不從心生，何以復說五眾？五眾中識眾即是心。答：先說心是略說，後說五眾等是廣說。五眾乃至十八不共法可與般若作因緣，不能生般若；譬如猛風除雲，能令日月出現，而不能作日月。此喻收束全品：修行諸法——五眾之身、道品之行、佛德之嚴——皆如猛風，能除遮蔽之雲，令般若之日月現前；然日月本自在天，非風所造。般若畢竟清淨、本自現成，諸行為之除障而不為之作體——歎淨一品之淨，至此歸於本有。

不要讀錯

不要把十五番的「畢竟淨故」讀成一句敷衍的套語。佛於十五問同答此句，不是無別可答，而是明示：甚深、明、不相續、無垢、無得著、無生、不生三界、無知、淨淨、無益無損、無所受——這許多面目同出一源，源即畢竟清淨；別答是隨問開門，總答是門門同歸。論主釋畢竟空即是畢竟清淨、以人畏空故言清淨，正是此意：讀十五番，當於重複處見其不重複——每一番是畢竟空的一個別門，而非十五種淨各自為政。

不要把「般若波羅蜜於薩婆若無益無損」讀成般若無用、修行徒勞。論主明說此語是舍利弗欲斷諸菩薩對般若之貪著而發；其義如虛空——不得言空有所作，亦不得言空無所益，萬物因空得成而空無所加；檀波羅蜜因般若有所作，正見其功。無益無損遮的是把般若當作能於果體有所增益的造作之具，不是撥其導成之用。同理，末段猛風除雲之喻——諸行不能生般若，非謂諸行可廢：無風則雲不除，日月終不現前。

不要把「我淨故色淨」的我，讀成實有一個清淨之我。論主釋之甚明：我從和合因緣假名生，於無我中有我顛倒，故說我虛妄無所有；我淨即是我畢竟無所有不可得，五眾亦如是。從我說起，只因解我空易、解法空難，以易解喻難解——是借人所易信之無我，引入所難信之法空；若於此立一淨我，恰與所教相反。又「無所有」與「自相空」兩辭勿混：有為法就其虛妄執著言無所有，無為法就其無生滅住異言自相空，辭各稱法而空義無二。

不要把微細礙相之教，讀成不可念佛、不可迴向善根。佛所遮的二字分明——「取相」：取相念諸佛是礙，非念諸佛是礙；著心取相迴向墮世間果報，非迴向自體是過。佛自身即從般若中出、是無相相；離相而念，所念方是佛之實。此教愈峻，愈見其護行門之切：正行至於念佛三昧之細，猶有一念取相可勘——非欲人廢行，欲人行而無執。連須菩提我當禮般若之敬、我以為得之解，佛皆隨手勘破，即是此意的層層示範。

修行作用

本品給用功人的第一件受用，是「畢竟淨」三字的安心。十五番所歎，從五眾到種智無一法不淨，而其淨不由造作——實相常淨，非佛所作，有佛無佛常住不壞；煩惱百八不能遮覆污染。用功人常覺自身垢重、淨境遙遠；本品教人先信得及：淨不是修出來的新物，是本自清淨被心緣所覆。美食同毒器之喻可作日用觀法——境非咎，心緣之染為咎；用功不在別造一淨，在歇其能染之緣。

第二件受用，在「我淨故色淨」的觀門次第。論主點明此是以易解喻難解：先於自我上尋覓——我在何處？從和合因緣假名生，求之了不可得——此步人人可下手；我空信得及，再以同一眼光觀色受想行識、觀六度道品乃至佛道，見其同一無所有、自相空。由我空入法空，是本品給的現成階梯；日用中我執起處，即是此觀用武之地。

第三件受用，是行門中勘「取相」的一面鏡子。經③把礙法說到最細：布施時分別我施彼受是礙，行善法取善法相是礙，乃至念佛取相、善根取相迴向皆是礙。用功人當以此自照：所礙者從來不是惡法，是善行中的著心——捨慳取施之際、誦經念佛之時、迴向發願之頃，有無一個能行之我、所行之法、可取之相潛在其中？食雖香美、過噉則病之喻當常記取：行門之病，多不在不行，在行之而執。

第四件受用，是難解處的老實。佛言般若無見者無聞者無知者無識者無得者，出過六種知；又言非獨汝難，一切眾生皆難。用功人於般若義中自覺有省處，正好記取須菩提的樣子——我以為得，佛謂不得。解處慎勿即安：以為得時，正是取相微細現行時。然亦不必因難而退：諸行如猛風除雲，日月本在——但盡除障之功，勿計生月之效，功深障薄，本淨自現。

承衍

本品的骨幹，是由「淨」之一字貫串的三重問答：先是舍利弗十五番歎淨——甚深、明、不相續、無垢、無得無著、無生、不生三界、無知、淨淨、無益無損、無所受——佛皆以畢竟淨故總答而隨問別答；論主以智淨緣淨相待、實相離智離緣本自清淨立其地基，以清淨異名、乃至淨體亦不著、諸佛亦不著申其畢竟之義，以夢幻虛空喻收無益無損之疑。次是須菩提我淨故色淨乃至十八不共法淨的問答——無所有與自相空分稱有為無為，無相無念遮究極之著，二法清淨與不二法清淨判名字淨與真淨，我無邊歸眾生空無始空，畢竟空即是畢竟清淨而以人畏空故言淨，能如是知是名般若而印以知道種——歸到方便力故無諸憶想分別、十三空破諸法盡無所礙。末是帝釋問礙法——取心相迴向是礙、以實相示教利喜是無礙，佛自說微細礙相——取相念諸佛皆是礙相，而以一切法常離、一性無性、無見聞知識得者、不從心生，答般若甚深、難知難解、不可思議之歎；論主以食美過噉、猛風除雲二喻，把礙之因與淨之本說到極處。

本品與前後諸品的義脈，最可見者有三線。其一，前品信毀對舉，信般若者得如所說果報；本品開場即是信者之極致——舍利弗發希有歡喜心而歎淨，帝釋、須菩提層層承之，是由信門轉入淨門。其二，前品照明品以畢竟淨故能照一切法立般若之明；本品第二番淨明及論釋破戲論無明、與智慧光明，正是同一義脈的深化——彼就照用歎般若，此就淨體歎清淨。其三，本品末後取相是礙、無相相是般若之教，把此前諸品累說的無所得義推入行門最細處——念佛迴向亦不許取相——而諸法一性無性、般若不從一切法生之答，為後品續說無作實相之義預留其地。讀者可合前後諸品觀之，以見般若由讚德、勘辨而入淨體、辨礙相的一貫之脈（其品目相承與傳本品名之考，詳考據層）。

Praise of Purity: Why Purity Is Very Deep and Receives the One General Answer ‘Because It Is Ultimately Pure’ in Fifteen Rounds; Why the Purity of Wisdom and the Purity of the Object Depend on Each Other while the Real Mark Is of Itself Pure from the Beginning; Why ‘Because I Am Pure, Form Is Pure’ Uses What Is Easily Understood as a Simile for What Is Hard to Understand; Why Being without Anything Existent and the Emptiness of Specific Marks Are Spoken of Separately; How the Two Purities Differ from True Purity; Why Grasping at the Mark of the Mind Is Obstruction and Why Grasping Marks in Recollecting the Buddhas Is Subtle Obstruction; and Why Prajñā Is Hard to Know, Hard to Understand, and Inconceivable

What Is Being Asked

This chapter’s name is 「歎淨品」 tr. "Praise of Purity," taken from Śāriputra’s first cry of praise at the head of the chapter—‘World-Honored One! This purity is very deep!’ The previous chapter set faith and disparagement side by side, making clear the merit of having faith in prajñā and the offence of slandering prajñā; this chapter enters along the road of that faith, and all that the whole chapter praises, asks, and examines is only the one character 「淨」 tr. "purity." The opening is Śāriputra’s unbroken series of fifteen rounds of praise and question: purity is very deep, purity is bright, purity is not continuous, purity is without stain, purity is without attainment and without attachment, purity is without arising, it does not arise in the desire realm, it does not arise in the form realm, it does not arise in the formless realm, purity is without knowing, form’s being without knowing is purity that is pure, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness being without knowing is purity that is pure, all dharmas being pure is purity that is pure, prajñā neither benefits nor harms sarvajñā (omniscience), prajñā is pure and receives nothing among dharmas—and in every round the Buddha first answers in general with the same one sentence, 「畢竟淨故」 tr. "because it is ultimately pure," and then adds a particular answer according to what was asked. That the same general answer is repeated fifteen times is precisely the teaching of this chapter: the reason purity has so many faces is that at root it is only one ultimate purity.

The second layer is the question-and-answer of 「我淨故」 tr. "because I am pure," which Subhūti takes over: because I am pure, form is pure; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are pure; the six perfections are pure; the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are pure; the fruit of the srota-āpanna up to the path of the Buddha is pure; omniscience is pure; because of the two purities there is no attainment and no attachment; because I am boundless, form and the rest are pure; to be able to know thus is called prajñā—the Buddha still answers in general with ultimate purity, while his particular answers set up, one after another, the meanings of being without anything existent, the emptiness of specific marks, the signless and the thoughtless, without stain and without purity, ultimate emptiness and beginningless emptiness, and knowing the seeds of the path; at the end it returns to this, that one who practises prajñā, by the power of skilful means, has none of the recollection, imagining, and discrimination, and the thirteen emptinesses break all dharmas completely and there is nothing that obstructs. The third layer turns to Śakra’s question: what are the obstructing dharmas of one who seeks the bodhisattva path? Subhūti answers with grasping at the mark of the mind and dedicating; the Buddha goes one level further and himself tells of the subtle marks of obstruction—to grasp marks in recollecting the buddhas is also obstruction; from this are drawn out the five layers of praise and question: prajñā is very deep, it should be worshipped yet there is no one who can attain it, all dharmas are of one nature and without nature, it is hard to know and hard to understand, it is inconceivable. The treatise-author explains these three layers passage by passage, and at the end gathers them in with the simile of the fierce wind that removes the clouds: dharmas can serve as causes and conditions for prajñā, but cannot give birth to prajñā. These three layers are exactly what the sūtra and treatise of this chapter must account for passage by passage.

Passage by Passage

1. Purity is very deep—because it is ultimately pure. At the head of the chapter Śāriputra says to the Buddha: ‘World-Honored One! This purity is very deep!’ The Buddha answers: 「畢竟淨故。」 tr. "Because it is ultimately pure." Śāriputra asks further by the purity of what dharma it is very deep, and the Buddha answers: because form is pure, because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eight limbs of the noble path, the Buddha’s ten powers up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, the bodhisattva, the Buddha, omniscience and omniscience of all kinds are pure, this purity is very deep. The first round at once sets up the pattern of the whole chapter: the purity that is praised is not a virtue possessed by some one dharma alone, but, from the five aggregates all the way to omniscience of all kinds, from the realm of ordinary people all the way to the realm of the Buddha, all are pure together as one body; the reason purity is deep is precisely that not one dharma lies outside this purity.

2. Purity is bright—because prajñā and so on up to dānapāramitā are pure. The second round praises 「淨明」 tr. "purity is bright." The Buddha answers in particular: because prajñāpāramitā is pure, this is purity is bright, and so on up to because dānapāramitā is pure, because the four foundations of mindfulness up to omniscience are pure, this is purity is bright. Brightness is the function of illuminating: the name of the previous chapter, "Illumination," already made clear that prajñā can illuminate all dharmas; here brightness is returned to purity—the brightness of the six perfections and the limbs of the path is in every case the brightness of purity, and it is not that there is some other kind of light apart from purity.

3. Purity is not continuous—because there is no going and no continuity. The third round praises 「淨不相續」 tr. "purity is not continuous." The Buddha answers in particular: because form does not go and is not continuous, and so on up to because omniscience of all kinds does not go and is not continuous. Continuity is the mark of birth and death: the prior dharma ceases, the later dharma arises, shifting and flowing thought after thought. Within purity, form and the other dharmas neither go nor continue—not that their flow is cut off and annihilated, but that the mark of flowing on is seen to be originally unfindable, and so within purity no continuity can be set up.

4. Purity is without stain—because its nature is ever pure. The fourth round praises 「淨無垢」 tr. "purity is without stain." The Buddha answers in particular: because the nature of form is ever pure, and so on up to because the nature of omniscience of all kinds is ever pure. This answer is most worth savouring: being without stain does not mean that the stain departs and then there is purity, but that the nature is originally ever pure—stain has never truly defiled its nature. The treatise’s explanation below, that the hundred and eight afflictions cannot cover and defile it, extends precisely this meaning.

5. Purity is without attainment and without attachment—because there is no attainment and no attachment. The fifth round praises 「淨無得無著」 tr. "purity is without attainment and without attachment." The Buddha answers in particular: because form is without attainment and without attachment, and so on up to because omniscience of all kinds is without attainment and without attachment. Attainment and attachment are two ways the mind clutches at dharmas: to seek and obtain is attainment, to hold on and guard is attachment. Within purity each dharma is in itself without the mark of attainment or attachment, and so the mind that takes it as object also has nothing it attains and nothing it is attached to.

6. Purity is without arising—because there is no arising. The sixth round praises 「淨無生」 tr. "purity is without arising." The Buddha answers in particular: because form is without arising, and so on up to because omniscience of all kinds is without arising. Non-arising is the most thoroughgoing phrase of all the rounds: ‘not continuous’ still denies with reference to the flowing on, while ‘non-arising’ points directly to all dharmas never having arisen from the beginning. The treatise’s explanation below, that because one does not grasp at marks one does not give rise to or make the three kinds of karma, brings non-arising down to karma’s not arising; it is the footnote to this round.

7. It does not arise in the desire realm—because the nature of the desire realm is unfindable. The seventh round praises 「淨不生欲界中」 tr. "purity does not arise in the desire realm." The Buddha answers in particular: because the nature of the desire realm is unfindable. The three realms are the map of birth and death; to say that purity does not arise in the desire realm does not mean that purity avoids the desire realm, but that the self-nature of the desire realm, when sought, is unfindable, and there is not one real realm in which it could arise.

8. It does not arise in the form realm—because the nature of the form realm is unfindable. The eighth round praises the form realm in the same pattern. The realm of the dhyāna absorptions of the form realm surpasses the desire realm, yet its nature is likewise unfindable; purity arises in nothing even in the superior realm, and what this guards against is the subtle attachment of abandoning the desire realm and craving the form realm.

9. It does not arise in the formless realm—because the nature of the formless realm is unfindable. The ninth round praises the formless realm. The formless realm is the summit of the three existences, the subtlest and deepest realm; its nature too is unfindable, and so purity does not arise in it either. Read the three rounds together, and they see through the three realms one by one from the coarse to the subtle: purity settles itself in no layer of the three realms, because not one layer of the three realms has a real nature in which to settle.

10. Purity is without knowing—because dharmas are dull. The tenth round praises 「淨無知」 tr. "purity is without knowing." The Buddha answers in particular: 「諸法鈍故，是淨無知。」 tr. "Because dharmas are dull, purity is without knowing." Dullness means without knowing and without awareness: dharmas in themselves are dark and without knowing, unable to know themselves and unable to know others. To say that purity is without knowing is to deny the imagining that ‘purity is a kind of brightness that can know’—purity is not a substance that knows, and dharmas are not realities that are known.

11. Form’s being without knowing is purity that is pure—because the self-nature of form is empty. The eleventh round turns one layer deeper: form’s being without knowing is the purity of purity. The Buddha answers in particular: because the self-nature of form is empty. The previous round spoke in general of dharmas being dull; this round comes down to form and adds one character, 「淨」 tr. "pure"—pure and pure again: not only is form without knowing, but its being without knowing comes precisely from the emptiness of its self-nature; because it is empty it is without knowing, and because it is without knowing, purity is added to purity.

12. Feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness being without knowing is purity that is pure—because their self-nature is empty. The twelfth round extends it in the same pattern with feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness: the four aggregates’ being without knowing is purity that is pure, because their self-nature is empty. Form and mind are raised together, and the five aggregates are gathered in entirely—being without knowing is not so of form alone; mental dharmas are so as well; the self-nature of the mind that can know is also empty, and so the mind’s being without knowing is also purity that is pure.

13. Because all dharmas are pure, this is purity that is pure—because they are unfindable. The thirteenth round gathers in the whole: because all dharmas are pure, this is purity that is pure; the Buddha answers in particular: because all dharmas are unfindable. The previous two rounds spoke separately with reference to the five aggregates; this round speaks in general with reference to all dharmas; the one word ‘unfindable’ gathers in the meaning of the emptiness of self-nature—dharmas are unfindable, and so purity too has no mark of purity to be found; this is called purity that is pure.

14. Prajñā neither benefits nor harms sarvajñā—because dharmas have the mark of ever abiding. The fourteenth round turns out a startling phrase: prajñāpāramitā neither benefits nor harms sarvajñā. The Buddha answers in particular: because dharmas have the mark of ever abiding. Prajñā is the cause that can lead toward, and sarvajñā is the fruit that is led toward; that the cause should after all neither benefit nor harm the fruit—this is because dharmas have the mark of ever abiding, the substance of the fruit is originally complete, and it is not increased by the cause; what this phrase denies is the idea of treating prajñā as a tool that can fabricate the fruit of buddhahood. The treatise’s explanation extends it with the similes of the dream, the illusion, and space; see the passage below.

15. Prajñā is pure and receives nothing among dharmas—because the nature of dharmas does not move. The fifteenth round brings Sūtra Section One to a close: prajñāpāramitā is pure, and receives nothing among dharmas. The Buddha answers in particular: because the nature of dharmas does not move. Receiving is taking in and clutching at objects; the purity of prajñā does not receive the slightest thing from dharmas, because what it enters is the unmoving nature of dharmas. With this the fifteen rounds are complete: from the depth and brightness of purity, to no continuity, no stain, no attainment or attachment, no arising, to not arising in the three realms, being without knowing, purity that is pure, and at last to neither benefiting nor harming and receiving nothing—layer upon layer of denial and dispelling that reveal only one ultimate purity.

16. The treatise explains the two kinds of purity—the purity of wisdom and the purity of the dharmas taken as object, dependent on each other like firewood and fire. In explaining 「是淨甚深」 tr. "this purity is very deep," the treatise-author first sets up a distinction: purity is of two kinds, first the purity of wisdom, second the purity of the dharmas taken as object. The two depend on each other—apart from the purity of wisdom there is no purity of the object, and apart from the purity of the object there is no purity of wisdom; because all mind and mental-factor dharmas are born from objects, and without an object wisdom does not arise, as when there is no firewood, fire has nothing to burn; and only when there is wisdom does one know the purity of the object, while without wisdom one does not know it. That the purity of wisdom and the purity of the object depend on each other is the ordinary way of the world. This passage first sets up, with reference to worldly truth, the mutual dependence of the knower and the known, laying the ground for the next passage to turn over into the real mark.

17. Apart from wisdom and apart from the object, the real mark is of itself pure from the beginning—the simile of fine food in the same vessel with poison. The treatise-author at once turns up one layer higher: apart from wisdom and apart from the object, the real mark of all dharmas is of itself pure from the beginning. When it is taken as object by mind and mental-factor dharmas, it is defiled and not pure—as when a hundred kinds of fine food are put in the same vessel with poison, they cannot be eaten. The real mark of all dharmas is ever pure; it is not made by the Buddha, and not made by bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, śrāvakas, or ordinary people; whether there is a buddha or no buddha, it ever abides and is not destroyed. Only when it falls among inverted, false, and deceiving dharmas and their results is it defiled and impure. This passage is the foundation of the meaning of the whole chapter: purity is not established by the knower and the known, but lies precisely before the knower and the known; the mind’s taking as object is the defilement, and not taking as object is the original purity—the fine food is originally fine, and the poisoned vessel makes it inedible; the fault is not the food’s.

18. The various names of purity—suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality, and so on up to ultimate emptiness. The treatise-author lists other names of purity: it is called suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality; or it is called prajñāpāramitā; or it is called the path; or it is called neither arising nor ceasing, emptiness, the signless, non-action, without knowing and without attainment; or it is called ultimate emptiness and so on—immeasurable and boundless names. One dharma, many names; the names differ and the substance is one. Knowing this, one sees that the various words of praise in the fifteen rounds above all praise the same real mark through different gates, and are not fifteen kinds of purity.

19. Why Śāriputra aroused a mind of rare wonder—slander incurs great offence, faith obtains great fruit. The treatise-author accounts for how the first round came about: Śāriputra contemplated that the mark of prajñā cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be spoken, and cannot be broken or destroyed, and yet one who slanders it incurs immeasurable offence, while one who receives it in faith and practises it rightly obtains the unsurpassed result—at this he aroused a mind of rare wonder and joy and praised purity as very deep. That a dharma which cannot be seen or heard should yet have its offence and merit so plainly present is precisely where the rare wonder lies; this too follows closely on the meaning of faith and disparagement in the previous chapter.

20. The Buddha answers that it surpasses what you see—up to not being attached even to the substance of purity. The Buddha answers Śāriputra: what you see you take to be rare and wondrous, yet in the real mark it surpasses even what you see—among all dharmas it is ultimately pure and attached to nothing, and even to the substance of purity it is not attached; this is called ultimate purity. To be pure and not attached to purity is the right understanding of the word ‘ultimate’: if on top of purity one further set up a mark of purity to guard, it would not be ultimate.

21. The masters of purity, the buddhas, are not attached either—the worthy and noble end their suffering, and still there is no attachment to prajñā. The treatise-author extends it further: the masters of purity are the buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, and the buddhas too are not attached to this purity; pure prajñā can bring the boundless suffering of all the worthy and noble to an end, and has this great benefit, and yet one is not attached to this prajñā either. Even the Buddha is not attached to purity, and not even the merit of rescue is relied upon; by immeasurable causes and conditions it is ultimately pure, and so purity is very deep. To confirm the ultimacy of purity by the Buddha’s non-attachment is the highest guarantee.

22. The root and branch, cause and result of form and the rest are pure. The treatise explains the particular answer: purity is very deep because form and the other dharmas are pure, since the root and branch, cause and result of form and the other dharmas are pure—as was said in the chapter above, it is because the bodhisattva cuts off by contemplative practice within form and the other dharmas that he obtains such purity. The four words root, branch, cause, and result carry purity everywhere: not only is the present moment of thought pure, but its root and its branch, its cause and its result—there is not one link that is not pure; contemplative practice cutting off delusion is the way in, and being originally pure is the reality.

23. Explaining ‘purity is bright’—it breaks the ignorance of idle discourse, gives the light of wisdom, gives nirvāṇa with remainder. The treatise explains the second round: this purity can break the ignorance of idle discourse within all dharmas and can give the light of the wisdom of ultimate emptiness, and so it is said that purity is bright; because one practises giving and the other wondrous dharmas of the bodhisattva, one obtains the brightness of purity; because it can give nirvāṇa with remainder, it is said that purity is bright. Brightness has three meanings: breaking the darkness is denial, giving light is illumination, giving nirvāṇa is the fruit—purity as brightness at once breaks, establishes, and realises.

24. Explaining ‘purity is not continuous’—it gives nirvāṇa without remainder; when life ends there is no going and no continuity. The treatise explains the third round: because it gives nirvāṇa without remainder, it is said that purity is not continuous—first, by the three samādhi of emptiness and the rest, one relinquishes all wholesome dharmas; afterwards, life comes naturally to its end, and the five aggregates of form and the rest do not go and are not continuous. The two nirvāṇas, with and without remainder, belong to two rounds: brightness is the illumination of the one with remainder, not being continuous is the stilling of the one without remainder; when life ends and the five aggregates do not continue, it is not that the dharmas are cut off and annihilated, but that the conditions are exhausted and the flow stills of itself.

25. Explaining ‘purity is without stain’—the hundred and eight afflictions cannot cover it. The treatise explains the fourth round: because the hundred and eight afflictions cannot cover and defile purity, it is said that purity is without stain. The afflictions number a hundred and eight, and their power to cover cannot be called light; yet because the nature is ever pure, what can cover can never defile—the covering is the guest, and purity is the host.

26. The two explanations of ‘without attainment and without attachment’—the sixteen minds and the bodhisattva position. The treatise gives two explanations of the fifth round: for one who practises the non-dual path of the real mark of all dharmas, from the acceptance of the dharma of suffering up to the fifteenth mind is called 「得」 tr. "attainment," and the sixteenth mind, attaining the fruit of the śramaṇa, is called 「著」 tr. "attachment"—attachment here means being attached and not falling back, another name for attainment; further, practising the six perfections up to giving rise to compliant acceptance is called 「得」 tr. "attainment," and being able to give rise to the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas and enter the bodhisattva position is called 「著」 tr. "attachment." Within pure dharmas one uses the mind that has nothing to be attained, and these two things are absent, and so it is called without attainment and without attachment. Of these two explanations one refers to the śrāvaka path and one to the bodhisattva path: even such right attainment and right attachment as realising the fruit and entering the position are not set up within ultimate purity—not to belittle the fruit, but to deny attachment to the fruit.

27. Explaining non-arising—because one does not grasp at marks, karma does not arise; the nature of the three realms is unfindable. The treatise explains the sixth round and gathers in the three rounds of the three realms along with it: practising such a dharma, one knows that all dharmas are ultimately empty; because they are ultimately empty one does not grasp at marks; because one does not grasp at marks one does not give rise to or make the three kinds of karma; because one does not make karma, in the whole world there is no arising—the world is the three realms. For two causes and conditions there is no arising: first, because the three kinds of karma that produce birth do not arise; second, because the self-nature of the three realms is unfindable. Here the meaning of non-arising comes down to its most concrete point: birth and death come from karma, karma comes from grasping at marks, and grasping at marks comes from not knowing emptiness; know emptiness, and every link of the chain comes undone. The Buddha, speaking in general, says that causes and conditions are the emptiness of the self-nature of the three realms, and so says that the self-nature of the three realms, of form and the other dharmas, is unfindable.

28. Because their nature ever does not arise, they are ultimately pure—‘purity is without knowing’ is as said in the chapter above. The treatise explains the tenth round only by saying: this purity is without knowing because dharmas are dull, as was said in the chapter above; and it further concludes in general: the nature of all dharmas ever does not arise; because it does not arise it is unfindable; because it is unfindable it is ultimately pure. The three phrases form a chain—not arising, unfindable, ultimately pure—and gather the particular answers of the preceding rounds into a single line: every particular meaning flows out from the nature’s ever not arising.

29. Explaining ‘neither benefits nor harms’—cutting off the bodhisattvas’ craving and attachment; the similes of dream, illusion, and space. The treatise explains the fourteenth round by first making clear the intent of the question: Śāriputra has attained the śrāvaka’s pāramitā, and the Buddha is the omniscient one; because of the questions and answers between these two, the bodhisattvas in turn come to crave and be attached to prajñā; Śāriputra wishes to cut off their craving and attachment, and so says that although prajñā has such merits, because it is ultimately pure it neither benefits nor harms even sarvajñā. As in a dream or an illusion, though there is gain and loss, there is neither benefit nor harm; as space is ultimately pure and without anything existent, yet because of space things are accomplished and helped—one may not say that space does anything, nor may one say that space brings no benefit; dānapāramitā does something because of prajñā, and so it is said that there is neither benefit nor harm. The one simile of space covers both sides: the myriad things are accomplished because of space, and yet space does nothing; so too with prajñā toward sarvajñā—it is not without its merit, but its merit does not lie in adding anything.

30. Explaining ‘receives nothing’—extinguishing all contemplations and idle discourse, entering the mark of the nature of dharmas. The treatise explains the fifteenth round: prajñā contemplates all dharmas as having faults, as impure, as impermanent, suffering, empty, and without self, as neither arising nor ceasing and as neither not arising nor not ceasing, and so on; by all kinds of causes and conditions it praises the extinguishing of all contemplations and idle discourse and the cutting off of the path of language, and so it is said that prajñā is pure and receives nothing among dharmas; to extinguish contemplation and idle discourse and to cut off the path of language is precisely to enter the mark of the nature of dharmas, and so it is said that it is because the nature of dharmas does not move. Contemplation is the gate of entry, and extinguishing contemplation is arriving home: all contemplations were set up in the first place to break attachment, and when attachment is broken the contemplations too are not received—receiving nothing does not mean not contemplating; it means contemplating to the end and not abiding in contemplation.

31. The first round of Sūtra Section Two—because I am pure, form is pure; because I am without anything existent. In Sūtra Section Two the questioner turns to Subhūti, and the pattern of the sentence changes: it no longer asks about the purity of dharmas, but says 「我淨故色淨」 tr. "because I am pure, form is pure." The Buddha still answers that it is because it is ultimately pure; the particular answer is: because I am without anything existent, form is without anything existent, and is ultimately pure. Starting from the self is the key to all the rounds that follow: the self is the root of the attachment of beings; since the self is without anything existent, form too is without anything existent—the same ultimate purity.

32. Because I am pure, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are pure. The second round extends it in the same pattern with feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness: because I am pure, the four aggregates are pure; because I am without anything existent, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are without anything existent, and are ultimately pure. Among the five aggregates form is coarse and mind subtle; pressing on each in turn, one sees that the emptiness of the self and the emptiness of the five aggregates are the same being without anything existent, and not one aggregate stands alone outside it.

33. Because I am pure, the six perfections are pure, and the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are pure. The third round raises them all in one breath: because I am pure, dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, and dhyāna pāramitā are pure; because I am pure, prajñāpāramitā is pure; because I am pure, the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eight limbs of the noble path are pure, and the Buddha’s ten powers up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are pure. The Buddha’s particular answer is as before: because I am without anything existent, dānapāramitā is without anything existent and is pure, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas being pure because they are without anything existent. The dharmas of practice and the virtues of the fruit are gathered in together as one body—the six perfections are what practises, the limbs of the path are what is cultivated, the ten powers and the unshared dharmas are the Buddha’s virtues; the purity of the emptiness of the self runs through from beginning to end, and not one stage lies outside ultimate purity.

34. Because I am pure, the fruit of the srota-āpanna up to the path of the Buddha is pure—because of the emptiness of specific marks. The fourth round raises the four fruits, the path of the pratyekabuddha, and the path of the Buddha: because I am pure, the fruits and the paths are pure. The Buddha’s particular answer suddenly changes its wording: 「自相空故。」 tr. "Because of the emptiness of specific marks." He no longer says ‘without anything existent’ but says ‘the emptiness of specific marks’—for this one change of wording the treatise-author below sets up a special question and answer to extend the reason: the fruits and paths are unconditioned dharmas, and differ in the meaning they establish from the conditioned five aggregates and six perfections. Here the text is first recorded; its meaning is detailed in the passage of the treatise’s explanation.

35. Because I am pure, omniscience is pure—because it is signless and without thought. The fifth round raises omniscience: because I am pure, omniscience is pure. The Buddha answers in particular: because it is signless and without thought. Omniscience is the ultimate knowledge, and the particular answer too is the subtlest: being signless is not grasping at marks; being thoughtless is not thinking even of the signless—its meaning is detailed in the passage of the treatise’s explanation.

36. Because of the two purities there is no attainment and no attachment—because it is without stain and without purity. Subhūti continues: because of the two purities there is no attainment and no attachment. The Buddha answers with ultimate purity; the particular answer: because it is without stain and without purity. The two purities are the purity of the self and the purity of dharmas; this question joins into one sentence the purities spoken of separately one by one in the preceding rounds, and the Buddha’s answer directly denies the pairing of stain and purity—only being without stain and without purity is the reality of the two purities.

37. Because I am boundless, form and the rest are pure—because of ultimate emptiness and beginningless emptiness. Subhūti further says: because I am boundless, form is pure, and feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are pure. The Buddha answers in particular: because of ultimate emptiness and beginningless emptiness. Not only is the self without anything existent, but it has no boundary to be sought; because it is boundless, the Buddha answers with two emptinesses together—its meaning is detailed in the passage of the treatise’s explanation on the emptiness of beings and beginningless emptiness.

38. To be able to know thus is called prajñā—because he knows the seeds of the path. Subhūti sums up: if a bodhisattva can know thus, this is called the prajñāpāramitā of the bodhisattva-mahāsattva. The Buddha answers that it is because it is ultimately pure; the particular answer: 「知道種故。」 tr. "Because he knows the seeds of the path." To be able to know thus—to know the purity of the self and the purity of dharmas, being without anything existent, the emptiness of specific marks, being without stain and without purity—is precisely prajñā; yet the Buddha does not seal it with ultimate emptiness, but seals it with knowing the seeds of the path; the deep meaning in this the treatise-author below brings out especially.

39. The thought that form does not know form—he forms this thought by the power of skilful means. Subhūti goes on to say: if a bodhisattva practises prajñā by the power of skilful means, he forms this thought: form does not know form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness do not know consciousness, past dharmas do not know past dharmas, future dharmas do not know future dharmas, present dharmas do not know present dharmas. That dharma does not know dharma brings the meaning of being without anything existent down to the relation between dharma and dharma: not only is the self unfindable, but between dharma and dharma there is also no real relation of one that knows and one that is known.

40. The Buddha answers that by the power of skilful means he does not form this thought—because of the thirteen emptinesses there is none of the recollection, imagining, and discrimination. The Buddha’s answer speaks from the side of not forming: a bodhisattva who practises prajñā by the power of skilful means does not form this thought—I give to that person, I keep the precepts, I cultivate patience, I am vigorous, I enter meditation, I cultivate wisdom, I obtain merit, I shall enter the bodhisattva’s Dharma-position, I shall purify buddha-worlds, bring beings to maturity, and attain omniscience of all kinds. There is none of the recollection, imagining, and discrimination, because of inner emptiness, outer emptiness, inner-and-outer emptiness, the emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, the emptiness of the highest meaning, the emptiness of the conditioned, the emptiness of the unconditioned, beginningless emptiness, the emptiness of dispersal, the emptiness of nature, the emptiness of all dharmas, and the emptiness of specific marks. This is called the bodhisattva’s practising prajñā; by the power of skilful means there is nothing that obstructs. From the giving at the first arousing of the mind all the way to the omniscience of all kinds at becoming a buddha, every thought of ‘how I …’ along the way is dispelled; the thirteen emptinesses are the tools of dispelling, and there being nothing that obstructs is the effect of dispelling completely.

41. Treatise Section Two explains the Buddha’s bearing witness—what is easily understood as a simile for what is hard to understand. The treatise-author first makes clear the pattern: the Buddha at first commanded Subhūti to speak prajñā, and for what he says one should not seek its causes and conditions; only for what others say should causes and conditions be sought. When Śāriputra asked about the mark of purity, the Buddha bore witness; now when Subhūti speaks of the mark of purity, the Buddha likewise bears witness for him. Explaining 「我淨故五眾淨」 tr. "because I am pure, the five aggregates are pure": just as the self is ultimately without anything existent and unfindable, so too are the five aggregates; ultimate emptiness is precisely the purity of the self and the purity of the five aggregates. To understand the emptiness of the self is easy, to understand the emptiness of the five aggregates is hard, and so what is easily understood is used as a simile for what is hard to understand. This passage points out the intent behind the sentence pattern of Sūtra Section Two: people still easily believe in the emptiness of the self—that searching for the self one finds it wholly unfindable is a realm commonly granted; toward the five aggregates, however, they hold them to be really existent. Starting from the purity of the self is borrowing the place of easy faith to lead into the place of hard faith. The six perfections up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, and the fruits and paths, are also thus: because I am pure, these dharmas too are pure.

42. Distinguishing being without anything existent from the emptiness of specific marks—spoken of separately for the conditioned and the unconditioned. The treatise-author raises a question: above it was said that because I am without anything existent, form up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are also without anything existent; why now say that the fruit of the srota-āpanna up to the path of the Buddha is the emptiness of specific marks? The answer: the self is born as a provisional name from the coming together of causes and conditions, and in what is without self there is the inversion of a self, and so it is said that the self is false and without anything existent; the five aggregates are without anything existent because they are the causes and conditions of places of attachment; dāna and the other dharmas, though wholesome, are conditioned, made dharmas and are what bodhisattvas are attached to, and so it is said that they are without anything existent. The fruit of the srota-āpanna and the rest are unconditioned dharmas, and unconditioned dharmas are the emptiness of specific marks—because they have no arising and no ceasing, no abiding and no change—and so it is not said that they are without anything existent, but only said that they are the emptiness of specific marks. The distinction between the two words stands at the boundary of the conditioned and the unconditioned: conditioned dharmas are the realm held by inversion, and so, with reference to their falseness, it is said they are without anything existent; unconditioned dharmas originally have no arising, ceasing, abiding, or change, and so, with reference to their original mark, it is said they are the emptiness of specific marks. The words differ and the emptiness is the same; each fits its dharma.

43. Because wrong practice is much, without anything existent; because there is no wrong practice, the emptiness of specific marks. The treatise-author extends it again with a second meaning: because within conditioned dharmas wrong practice is much, it is said they are without anything existent; because within unconditioned dharmas there is no arising and no ceasing and no wrong practice, it is said they are the emptiness of specific marks. Wrong practice means what is practised by inverted clutching at objects: upon the conditioned realm wrong practice is rife, and so ‘without anything existent’ must be used to snatch away what it holds; upon unconditioned dharmas there is no wrong practice to snatch away, and simply showing the emptiness of specific marks is enough.

44. Explaining ‘signless and without thought’—not thinking even of the signless samādhi. The treatise explains the round of omniscience: because I am pure, omniscience of all kinds is pure; it is because bodhisattvas are deeply attached that ‘signless and without thought’ is said. Signless is the signless samādhi; thoughtless means not thinking even of the signless samādhi. Bodhisattvas are most easily deeply attached to the ultimate knowledge, and so it is denied most subtly: entering the signless samādhi is still having something to rely on; only not thinking even of this samādhi is the reality of the purity of knowledge.

45. Purity by way of dual dharmas and purity by way of non-dual dharmas—purity in name and true purity. The treatise explains the round of the two purities: Subhūti knew that prajñā is truly pure, and so said to the Buddha that because of the two purities there is no attainment and no attachment. Purity is of two kinds: first, purity by way of dual dharmas; second, purity by way of non-dual dharmas. Purity by way of dual dharmas is purity in name; purity by way of non-dual dharmas is true purity. The Buddha speaks of the mark of all dharmas as ultimately empty; here he speaks of the causes and conditions, namely that all dharmas are without stain and without purity—only within the two purities is there discrimination of this as stain and that as purity. This passage sets up the most essential judgement of this chapter: any purity established in dependence on stain is purity in name; only when stain and purity in their pairing are both dispelled is there true purity. If the purity of the fifteen rounds above is understood as a paired opposite, it falls into purity in name.

46. ‘I am boundless’ is the emptiness of beings—because people fear emptiness, it is called purity. The treatise explains the round of ‘I am boundless’: as the self is empty, and because it is empty it is boundless, so too are the five aggregates. It further raises a question: it is always said to be ultimately pure; why now say ultimate emptiness and beginningless emptiness? The answer: ultimate emptiness is precisely ultimate purity; because people fear emptiness, it is called purity. Here it speaks of the self as boundless; the self is beings, and this is the emptiness of beings; why? Because of beginningless emptiness. This passage lays bare the card held under the wording of the whole chapter: purity and emptiness are one meaning with two names—speak of emptiness and people fear it, speak of purity and people draw near to it; the fifteen rounds of praising purity are in reality fifteen rounds of praising ultimate emptiness.

47. The emptiness of beings, the emptiness of dharmas, ultimate emptiness—this is called prajñā. The treatise explains the round of ‘being able to know thus’: to be able, by the emptiness of beings and the emptiness of dharmas, by the ultimate emptiness of all dharmas—this is called prajñāpāramitā; prajñā is precisely ultimate purity. Prajñā is not a wisdom outside emptiness: when the two emptinesses are thoroughly penetrated and ultimate emptiness is present, the very place where it is present is called prajñā—the knower and the known are not made into two pieces within ultimate emptiness.

48. Because he knows the seeds of the path—ultimate emptiness is spoken to break the attached mind; it is not a real emptiness. The treatise-author raises a question: the Buddha always answers with ultimate emptiness; why does he say that a bodhisattva’s being able to know thus is called the bodhisattva’s prajñā? The Buddha says it is because he knows the seeds of the path. Though the bodhisattva knows all dharmas to be ultimately empty, he wishes beings to attain this ultimate emptiness and to leave far behind the attached mind; ultimate emptiness is spoken only in order to break the attached mind; it is not a real emptiness. This is one of the eyes of the whole chapter: ultimate emptiness itself is not a real dharma either—it is a medicine, not a realm; the bodhisattva’s knowing does not stop at realising emptiness for himself, but further knows by what path and what gate to lead beings away from attachment, and so it is sealed with knowing the seeds of the path.

49. Prajñā has no fixed mark; it is spoken of with discrimination by the knowledge of the kinds of paths. The treatise explains the question of form not knowing form: the Buddha’s intent is that prajñā has no fixed mark, but because of the knowledge of the kinds of paths it is spoken of with discrimination, so that the bodhisattva practising prajñā has skilful means; though dharmas are ultimately empty, he likewise knows thus that form does not know the dharma of form, and so on. Contemplating all dharmas as ultimately empty, there remains only the wisdom that contemplates, and one should not make that too ultimately empty, in order to guide beings’ attached minds and let them enter ultimate emptiness. This passage continues from the one above: emptiness does not hinder speaking with discrimination, and speaking with discrimination does not destroy emptiness; the wisdom that contemplates is kept for a time and not dispelled, not in order to rely on oneself, but in order to guide others.

50. Outer contemplation and inner contemplation—not forming the thought ‘I give, he receives’. The treatise explains the Buddha’s answer: if a bodhisattva practising prajñā has skilful means, he can contemplate outer dharmas as ultimately empty, form as not knowing form, and so on; contemplating his own inner mind within, it is likewise; by the power of skilful means, when practising giving he does not form this thought: I give to him, he is the one who receives the gift. Outer dharmas and the inner mind are one and the same method of contemplation: contemplating outwardly, dharma does not know dharma; contemplating inwardly, the marks of giver and receiver do not arise—contemplation is not merely for understanding, but comes down directly on the mark of the mind at the time of practising giving.

51. Because they do not know each other there is nothing done—breaking the two things of the receiver and the thing given. The treatise explains form not knowing form and the rest: because all dharmas are empty they do not know each other; because they do not know each other there is nothing done; this breaks two things—namely the receiver and the thing given; now the breaking of the giver, and so on up to ‘I cultivate omniscience of all kinds’, is likewise. The one matter of giving has three wheels: the giver, the receiver, and the thing given; when dharma does not know dharma, the three wheels are broken all at once, and pushing on to the thought ‘I cultivate omniscience of all kinds’, that too is broken.

52. The thirteen emptinesses break all dharmas completely—this is called nothing that obstructs. The treatise concludes Sūtra Section Two: here it speaks of the causes and conditions—the bodhisattva practising prajñā, because of skilful means, has no such discrimination; because of inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of specific marks, these thirteen emptinesses break all dharmas completely, and the last five kinds of emptiness speak of the general mark; this is called the bodhisattva’s having nothing that obstructs. Having nothing that obstructs means that these emptinesses are not obstructed by anything among all dharmas. Each of the thirteen emptinesses has what it breaks, and when the breaking is complete not one dharma is an obstruction; obstruction is originally set up by attachment, and when attachment is exhausted dharma after dharma is unobstructed. Fascicle sixty-three ends here; fascicle sixty-four sets out the chapter title again, and Sūtra Section Three begins.

53. Śakra asks about obstructing dharmas—grasping at the mark of the mind and dedicating is obstruction. In Sūtra Section Three Śakra asks Subhūti: what are the obstructing dharmas of a good man who seeks the bodhisattva path? Subhūti answers: there are good men and good women seeking the bodhisattva path who grasp at the mark of the mind—grasp at the mark of the six perfections, the mark of inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the mark of the four foundations of mindfulness up to the eight limbs of the noble path, the mark of the Buddha’s ten powers up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, the mark of the buddhas, the mark of planting roots of goodness with the buddhas—and, joining all this merit together, grasp its mark and dedicate it to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; this is called obstructing dharmas; because of these dharmas one cannot practise prajñā without obstruction. Why? The mark of form cannot be dedicated, the marks of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness cannot be dedicated, and so on up to the mark of omniscience cannot be dedicated. Not one of the things grasped is an evil dharma—the six perfections, the gates of emptiness, the limbs of the path, the virtues of the Buddha, the roots of goodness are all wondrous and good; the obstruction lies not in the dharmas grasped, but in the mind that grasps at marks. That marks cannot be dedicated is the reason: if dedication is set up on the strength of marks, what is dedicated falls into marks that have an end.

54. Showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening by the real mark—oneself without error, as the Buddha permits. Subhūti goes on to speak of the road without obstruction: if a bodhisattva shows, teaches, benefits, and gladdens others with anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, he should show, teach, benefit, and gladden them with the real mark of all dharmas—when practising giving he should not discriminate ‘I give’, ‘I keep the precepts’, ‘I am patient’, ‘I am vigorous’, ‘I enter meditation’, ‘I cultivate wisdom’, ‘I practise inner emptiness’, and so on up to ‘I practise anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi’. Showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening thus, he himself is without error, and he also shows, teaches, benefits, and gladdens by the dharma the Buddha permits, letting good men and good women leave far behind all obstructing dharmas. The way of teaching others is precisely the way of one’s own practice: teaching by the real mark, the teacher does not fall into the error of the mark of self, the receiver does not plant the cause of grasping at marks, and both benefits are accomplished together.

55. The Buddha himself tells of the subtle marks of obstruction—grasping marks in recollecting the buddhas is in every case a mark of obstruction. The Buddha praises Subhūti, ‘Excellent, excellent,’ and bids him listen further to the subtle marks of obstruction: there are good men and good women who arouse the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi and grasp marks in recollecting the buddhas—whatever marks there may be, all are marks of obstruction; with regard to the buddhas, from the first arousing of intent up to the abiding of the Dharma, to grasp marks and recollect and dedicate all the roots of goodness in between—all are marks of obstruction; to grasp marks and dedicate the roots of goodness of the buddhas and their disciples and the roots of goodness of the remaining beings—all are marks of obstruction. Why? One should not grasp marks in recollecting the buddhas, nor should one grasp marks in thinking of the roots of goodness of the buddhas. This is the steepest passage of this chapter: recollecting the Buddha, thinking of the Buddha’s roots of goodness, dedicating roots of goodness to awakening, are the most correct gates of practice; yet once grasping at marks is involved, they are judged alike as obstruction. The better what is denied, the subtler its mark—grasping at marks within right practice could not be seen through unless the Buddha himself spoke of it.

56. Prajñā is very deep—because all dharmas are ever apart. Hearing this, Subhūti praises: prajñāpāramitā is very deep! The Buddha answers: 「一切法常離故。」 tr. "Because all dharmas are ever apart." Depth lies not in distance but in being apart: all dharmas are ever of themselves far apart—apart from marks, apart from names, apart from the place of attachment and grasping—and prajñā, in accord with the nature, illuminates this ever being apart, and so it is deep beyond fathoming.

57. I shall worship prajñā—because it is without origination and without action, there is no one who can attain it. Subhūti says: I shall worship prajñāpāramitā! The Buddha tells him: because prajñā is without origination and without action, there is no one who can attain it. The moment the mind of worship and reverence arises, the Buddha at once denies its knower and known: prajñā is without origination and without action, and is not an object before which one can make worship and from which one can obtain something; this denial does not refuse his reverence, but guards against grasping at marks within reverence—exactly of a piece with the teaching on the subtle marks of obstruction.

58. All dharmas are of one nature, not of two natures—absence of nature is precisely the nature. Subhūti says: all dharmas too are unfindable. The Buddha says: all dharmas are of one nature, not of two natures; this one nature of dharmas is also without nature; this absence of nature is precisely the nature, and this nature does not originate and does not act. If a bodhisattva knows that all dharmas are of one nature—namely without nature—without origination and without action, he leaves far behind all marks of obstruction. This passage is the summit of the meaning of Sūtra Section Three: the one nature is not some separate substance behind the myriad dharmas; the one nature is precisely absence of nature; and absence of nature is not annihilated non-existence either; absence of nature is precisely the nature. Knowing it at the place where there is no origination and no action, the marks of obstruction are of themselves far away.

59. Hard to know and hard to understand—no seer, no hearer, no knower, no cognizer, no attainer. Subhūti says to the Buddha: prajñā is hard to know and hard to understand! The Buddha says: it is as you say—prajñā has no seer, no hearer, no knower, no cognizer, no attainer. The fivefold ‘no’ closes at once every gate by which one might take prajñā as an object: seeing, hearing, knowing, cognising, and attaining are the whole of the passages by which mind and consciousness grasp dharmas; prajñā has no one who does any of these, and so its difficulty lies not in the difficulty of its meaning but in there being no road through.

60. Inconceivable—not born from the mind, and so on up to not born from the eighteen unshared dharmas. Subhūti further says: prajñā is inconceivable! The Buddha says: it is as you say—prajñā is not born from the mind, not born from form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to not born from the eighteen unshared dharmas. Conceiving is the activity of the mind; since prajñā is not born from the mind, nor born from the five aggregates up to the Buddha’s virtues, the tools of conceiving have nothing to be applied to in it—inconceivable is not the utmost word of praise, but a statement of the real mark.

61. Treatise Section Three explains why Śakra asks further—obstructing dharmas are subtle, and those of dull faculties do not perceive them. The treatise-author raises a question: if what runs contrary to non-obstruction is called obstruction, why does Śakra ask further about obstruction? The answer: the bodhisattva’s obstructing dharmas are subtle and enter into combination with wholesome dharmas; those of sharp faculties perceive them, those of dull faculties do not; because they are hard to understand, he asks further before the Buddha. If obstruction appeared within evil dharmas, everyone could recognise it; precisely because it is mixed in among wholesome dharmas and combined with good practice so as to be hard to tell apart, it must be specially picked out—Śakra’s question asks about what the many do not see.

62. The explanation of grasping at the mark of the mind—though food is fragrant and fine, eaten to excess it makes one sick. The treatise explains grasping at the mark of the mind: the bodhisattva discriminates the mind of stinginess from the mind of giving, abandons the mind of stinginess and grasps the mind of giving—this is called grasping at the mark of the mind; he knows the thing given as precious or cheap, and knows that by cultivating and accumulating giving he can give away everything—these, dānapāramitā up to the merit of rejoicing, wholesome dharmas grasped by their marks, though they are wondrous, are attached inwardly to the self and outwardly to dharmas, and fall among obstructing dharmas; as food, though fragrant and fine, makes one sick when eaten to excess. Abandoning stinginess and grasping giving is in itself right practice; the sickness lies in the mind, at the moment of grasping and abandoning, holding a knower and a known: inwardly there is a self that can give, outwardly there is a dharma that is given. The simile of eating and sickness: the food is not poison, but eaten to excess it becomes sickness; wholesome dharmas are not obstruction, but practised with grasping at marks they become obstruction.

63. Because they are ultimately empty, they cannot be dedicated. The treatise cites Subhūti’s own statement of the cause and condition: 「色等諸法相畢竟空故，不可得迴向無上道。」 tr. "Because the marks of form and the other dharmas are ultimately empty, they cannot be dedicated to the unsurpassed path." The reason dedication cannot rely on marks is precisely that marks are ultimately empty: to dedicate by empty marks is like catching a shadow and throwing it far away—in the end it arrives nowhere; only dedication that does not grasp at marks accords with the signless substance of the unsurpassed path.

64. The mark of non-obstruction—the real dharma is the extinguishing of all recollection, imagining, and discrimination, and obtains two kinds of benefit. The treatise explains the mark of non-obstruction: if a bodhisattva wishes to teach others the unsurpassed path, he should show, teach, benefit, and gladden them with the real dharma; the real dharma is namely the extinguishing of all recollection, imagining, and discrimination, and so it says that when practising giving one does not discriminate ‘I give’ and the like. If one can teach and transform in this way, one obtains two kinds of benefit: first, one is oneself without error; second, one also transforms others by the dharma as the Buddha obtained it. Such things run contrary to the immeasurable marks of obstruction; this is called the mark of non-obstruction. The real dharma is not some other set of dharmas; it is precisely the place within all practices where recollection, imagining, and discrimination are extinguished; teaching people by this, teacher and receiver alike leave the net of obstruction.

65. Why the Buddha himself tells of the subtle marks of obstruction—they are beyond the reach of Subhūti’s power. The treatise-author raises a question: the Buddha has already praised Subhūti for speaking of the mark of non-obstruction; why does he now further tell of the subtle marks of obstruction himself? The answer: the Buddha praises Subhūti within the measure of his power—you are one who has abandoned beings, and yet you can speak of the bodhisattva’s marks of obstruction; the subtle marks of obstruction are beyond the reach of Subhūti’s power, and therefore the Buddha tells of them himself. Praising and telling of it himself do not hinder each other: within what his power reaches, the Buddha praises him as thoroughly good; for what his power does not reach, the Buddha himself supplies the subtlety—and this also shows the subtlety of the subtle marks of obstruction, which nothing but the Buddha’s knowledge can illuminate completely.

66. The explanation of the subtle marks of obstruction—the mark of the signless is prajñā; results mixed with poison do not attain the unsurpassed path. The treatise explains subtle obstruction: because the marks of obstruction are subtle, listen well with one mind—for a bodhisattva to recollect the buddhas and the rest with a mind that grasps at marks is in every case obstruction; the mark of the signless is prajñāpāramitā, and the Buddha comes forth from prajñā and is likewise the mark of the signless; roots of goodness dedicated with an attached mind that grasps at marks are a worldly result, and because they are exhaustible and mixed with poison they cannot attain the unsurpassed path. To recollect the Buddha while grasping at marks is already not the reality of the Buddha recollected—the Buddha is the mark of the signless, and grasping at marks loses what is recollected; roots of goodness dedicated with attachment to marks have their results fall within the world, exhaustible and mixed with poison. Poison means the attachment of grasping at marks seeping into the good: though the result is good it is not pure, and so it cannot of its own course reach the inexhaustible unsurpassed path.

67. Distinguishing coarse obstruction from subtle obstruction—the obstruction within the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha. The treatise-author raises a question: above, in speaking of coarse obstruction, grasping at marks was mentioned; now within subtle obstruction grasping at marks is also mentioned—what is the difference? The answer: above it spoke of ‘I am the giver, he is the receiver’, and the like; now it speaks only of grasping at marks. Further, now it speaks of the subtle mark because of the bodhisattvas’ samādhi of recollecting the Buddha—it is obstruction within a person of subtle mind, and therefore it is called subtle obstruction. Coarse obstruction carries the marks of self and other, and its attachment is plain; subtle obstruction is only a single thought of grasping at marks, and appears besides within such subtle activity of mind as the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha—the subtler the mind, the more hidden the obstruction, and so the name ‘subtle’ is set up separately.

68. The praise of very deep and the Buddha’s answer—because prajñā is far from all dharmas, subtle marks cannot enter it. The treatise explains Subhūti’s praise: knowing that what the Buddha spoke is deep and wondrous and not within his own reach, he praises it as very deep. The Buddha answers that it is because all dharmas have the mark of being ever far apart—the Buddha is saying that this prajñā is far from all dharmas; because it is far from all dharmas, subtle marks cannot enter into prajñā. This answer follows directly from the subtle obstruction: however subtle a mark of obstruction may be, it is still a mark; prajñā is far from all dharmas, and even a subtle mark has no crack by which to enter—the real meaning of depth is having no crack.

69. The thought of making worship and the Buddha’s answer—the buddhas as many as the sands of the ten directions, none can attain it. The treatise explains the passage on making worship: Subhūti rejoices and says, I shall make worship to prajñā, meaning: because I have understood this very deep mark of prajñā, I arouse the mind, and I ought to make worship. The Buddha says: because prajñā is without origination and without action, the buddhas of the ten directions, as many as the sands of the Ganges, none of them can attain it—how can you, a śrāvaka, speak of attaining it? Even the buddhas as many as the sands of the ten directions cannot attain prajñā—attaining requires the mark of origination and action, and prajñā is without origination and without action, so no one who attains can be set up; denying Subhūti’s attainment is not to put down the śrāvaka, but to make clear that in the substance of prajñā there is originally no meaning of attainment.

70. All dharmas are of one nature without duality—one should not be attached to ultimate emptiness nor grasp at its mark. Subhūti says that all dharmas are without knowing and without attainment; the Buddha says that all dharmas are of one nature without duality. The treatise explains: the one nature is namely ultimate emptiness; without duality means there is no ultimate and not-ultimate; the one nature of dharmas is precisely without nature. One should not be attached to ultimate emptiness, nor grasp at its mark—why? Because it is born from the coming together of causes and conditions. This explanation fills out the sūtra text’s meaning of one nature and absence of nature: ultimate emptiness too may not be held as ultimate—to hold to the ultimate is to make a pair with the not-ultimate; the understanding of emptiness is born from causes and conditions, and a born dharma has nothing to be attached to, so one is not attached even to ultimate emptiness.

71. Subhūti’s two thoughts—he took it that he had attained, and the Buddha says he has not. The treatise recounts Subhūti’s understanding: he thought, if absence of nature is precisely the nature, then, because there is no origination and no action, the suffering of later lives does not continue; if one can know prajñā thus, all obstructions are left far behind; if one leaves obstructions far behind, then one freely attains the unsurpassed path. Having heard the Buddha speak, he further thought: I took it that I had attained, and the Buddha says I have not attained; this prajñā is hard to understand and hard to know. The first thought is right understanding—absence of nature is the nature, suffering does not continue, leaving obstruction one is free; the second thought is what is seen through—where he took himself to have attained, the Buddha says there is no attainment. Between the two thoughts lies exactly the difficulty of being hard to understand: the place of understanding is precisely where the idea of attainment arises, and the place where the idea of attainment arises is precisely what is denied.

72. It is not hard for you alone—prajñā goes beyond the six kinds of knowing. The treatise explains the Buddha’s answer: it is not hard for you alone; for all beings there is no seer, no hearer, no knower, no cognizer, no attainer—it is not known by ear, nose, tongue, or body, and not cognised or attained by mind; this prajñā goes beyond the six kinds of knowing, and so it is said to be hard to understand. The six kinds of knowing are the whole of the faculties by which beings know dharmas; prajñā is not their realm, and so everyone alike finds it hard here—the difficulty is not because of dull faculties, but because prajñā goes beyond the whole framework of knowing as knowing.

73. His power of wisdom exhausted, he says it is inconceivable. The treatise explains the praise ‘inconceivable’: Subhūti entered into the deep prajñā, and his power of wisdom was exhausted, and so he said it is inconceivable. This praise is not general praise: it is a true report from one who has gone to the end of the power of wisdom—only when the power of conceiving is used to the point where it has no further use does one know that there is something conceiving cannot reach.

74. Because it has no mark of arising—not born from the mind, not born from the five aggregates. The treatise explains the Buddha’s answer: this prajñā is not born from the mind, not born from the five aggregates, and so on up to not born from the eighteen unshared dharmas, because it has no mark of arising. If prajñā were born from the mind, it would be what comes out of the mind, a dharma that has arising; what has arising has ceasing—how would it be fit to be the substance of ultimate purity? Because it has no mark of arising, none of the positions that can give birth—from the mind to the Buddha’s virtues—is its father or mother.

75. Distinguishing the brief statement from the extended statement—the simile of the fierce wind that removes the clouds. At the end the treatise raises a question: if it is said that it is not born from the mind, why is it further said of the five aggregates? Within the five aggregates, the aggregate of consciousness is precisely the mind. The answer: first speaking of the mind is the brief statement; afterwards speaking of the five aggregates and the rest is the extended statement. The five aggregates up to the eighteen unshared dharmas can serve as causes and conditions for prajñā, but cannot give birth to prajñā; as a fierce wind, removing the clouds, can let the sun and moon appear, yet cannot make the sun and moon. This simile gathers in the whole chapter: all the dharmas of practice—the body of the five aggregates, the practice of the limbs of the path, the adornment of the Buddha’s virtues—are all like the fierce wind, able to remove the clouds that cover and let the sun and moon of prajñā appear before one; yet the sun and moon are in the sky of themselves, not made by the wind. Prajñā is ultimately pure and originally already complete; the practices remove the obstructions for it and do not make its substance—the purity of this whole chapter of praising purity here returns to what is originally present.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the 「畢竟淨故」 tr. "because it is ultimately pure" of the fifteen rounds as a perfunctory formula. That the Buddha answers the fifteen questions alike with this sentence is not because he has no particular answer to give, but to show plainly that very deep, bright, not continuous, without stain, without attainment and attachment, without arising, not arising in the three realms, without knowing, purity that is pure, neither benefiting nor harming, receiving nothing—these many faces come out of the same source, and the source is ultimate purity; the particular answers open a gate according to the question, and the general answer is every gate returning to the same place. The treatise-author’s explanation, that ultimate emptiness is precisely ultimate purity and that because people fear emptiness it is called purity, is exactly this meaning: in reading the fifteen rounds, one should see what is not repeated in what is repeated—each round is a particular gate of ultimate emptiness, and not fifteen kinds of purity each going its own way.

Do not read 「般若波羅蜜於薩婆若無益無損」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā neither benefits nor harms sarvajñā" as meaning that prajñā is useless and practice is in vain. The treatise-author says clearly that these words were spoken because Śāriputra wished to cut off the bodhisattvas’ craving and attachment to prajñā; its meaning is like space—one may not say that space does anything, nor may one say that space brings no benefit; the myriad things are accomplished because of space, and space adds nothing; dānapāramitā does something because of prajñā, which shows precisely its merit. Neither benefiting nor harming denies treating prajñā as a tool of fabrication that can add something to the substance of the fruit; it does not brush aside its function of guiding to completion. In the same way, the simile of the fierce wind removing the clouds at the end—that the practices cannot give birth to prajñā—does not mean the practices may be discarded: without the wind the clouds are not removed, and the sun and moon never appear.

Do not read the self in 「我淨故色淨」 tr. "because I am pure, form is pure" as a really existent pure self. The treatise-author’s explanation is very clear: the self is born as a provisional name from the coming together of causes and conditions, and in what is without self there is the inversion of a self, and so it is said that the self is false and without anything existent; the purity of the self is precisely the self’s being ultimately without anything existent and unfindable, and so too are the five aggregates. Starting from the self is only because understanding the emptiness of the self is easy and understanding the emptiness of dharmas is hard, using what is easily understood as a simile for what is hard to understand—borrowing the non-self that people easily believe to lead into the emptiness of dharmas that they find hard to believe; if a pure self were set up here, it would be exactly contrary to what is taught. Again, do not confuse the two words 「無所有」 tr. "without anything existent" and 「自相空」 tr. "the emptiness of specific marks": conditioned dharmas are said to be without anything existent with reference to false attachment, and unconditioned dharmas are said to be the emptiness of specific marks with reference to their having no arising, ceasing, abiding, or change; each word fits its dharma, while the meaning of emptiness is not two.

Do not read the teaching on the subtle marks of obstruction as meaning that one may not recollect the Buddha, or may not dedicate roots of goodness. The two Chinese characters the Buddha denies are plain—「取相」 tr. "grasping at marks": it is grasping marks in recollecting the buddhas that is obstruction, not the recollecting of the buddhas; it is dedicating with an attached mind that grasps at marks that falls into a worldly result, not dedication itself that is at fault. The Buddha himself comes forth from prajñā and is the mark of the signless; only when one recollects apart from marks is what is recollected the reality of the Buddha. The steeper this teaching, the more one sees how earnestly it protects the gates of practice: even when right practice reaches the subtlety of the samādhi of recollecting the Buddha, there is still a single thought of grasping at marks to be examined—not wishing people to abandon practice, but wishing them to practise without attachment. That the Buddha sees through, at a touch, even Subhūti’s reverence in ‘I shall worship prajñā’ and his understanding in ‘I took it that I had attained’ is precisely the layer-upon-layer demonstration of this meaning.

Bearing on Practice

The first benefit this chapter gives to one who applies himself is the settling of the mind in the word 「畢竟淨」 tr. "ultimately pure." In what the fifteen rounds praise, from the five aggregates to omniscience of all kinds not one dharma is impure, and its purity does not come from fabrication—the real mark is ever pure, not made by the Buddha, and whether there is a buddha or no buddha it ever abides and is not destroyed; the hundred and eight afflictions cannot cover and defile it. One who applies himself often feels his own stains to be heavy and the realm of purity far away; this chapter teaches people first to have enough faith in this: purity is not a new thing produced by cultivation, but the original purity covered over by the mind’s taking of objects. The simile of the fine food in the same vessel with poison can serve as a method of contemplation in daily use—the object is not to blame; the defilement of the mind’s taking of objects is to blame; applying oneself does not lie in making some other purity, but in resting the taking of objects that can defile.

The second benefit lies in the order of the gate of contemplation in 「我淨故色淨」 tr. "because I am pure, form is pure." The treatise-author points out that this uses what is easily understood as a simile for what is hard to understand: first search in one’s own self—where is the self? It is born as a provisional name from the coming together of causes and conditions, and when sought it is wholly unfindable—this step anyone can take in hand; when one has enough faith in the emptiness of the self, contemplate form, feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness with the same eye, contemplate the six perfections and the limbs of the path up to the path of the Buddha, and see that they are the same being without anything existent, the same emptiness of specific marks. Entering the emptiness of dharmas by way of the emptiness of the self is the ready-made ladder this chapter gives; in daily use, wherever self-attachment arises is exactly where this contemplation is put to work.

The third benefit is a mirror in the gate of practice for examining 「取相」 tr. "grasping at marks." Sūtra Section Three speaks of obstructing dharmas to their subtlest: to discriminate, when giving, ‘I give, he receives’ is obstruction; to practise wholesome dharmas grasping the mark of wholesome dharmas is obstruction; and so on up to recollecting the Buddha grasping at marks and dedicating roots of goodness grasping at marks—all are obstruction. One who applies himself should reflect on himself by this: what obstructs has never been evil dharmas, but the attached mind within good practice—at the moment of abandoning stinginess and grasping giving, at the time of reciting sūtras and recollecting the Buddha, in the instant of dedicating and making vows, is there or is there not a self that practises, a dharma that is practised, a mark that can be grasped lurking within? The simile ‘though food is fragrant and fine, eaten to excess it makes one sick’ should be kept always in mind: the sickness of the gate of practice lies mostly not in not practising, but in practising and holding on.

The fourth benefit is honesty in the place of difficulty. The Buddha says that prajñā has no seer, no hearer, no knower, no cognizer, no attainer, and goes beyond the six kinds of knowing; he further says it is not hard for you alone—for all beings it is hard. When one who applies himself feels he has some insight into the meaning of prajñā, it is just the time to remember Subhūti’s example—I took it that I had attained, and the Buddha says I have not attained. Where there is understanding, be careful not to settle at once: the time one takes oneself to have attained is exactly the time the subtle grasping at marks is active. Yet neither need one retreat because of the difficulty: the practices are like the fierce wind removing the clouds, and the sun and moon are there from the beginning—only exhaust the work of removing obstructions, and do not count on the effect of giving birth to the moon; when the work is deep and the obstructions thin, the original purity appears of itself.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is a threefold question-and-answer strung together by the one character 「淨」 tr. "purity": first comes Śāriputra’s fifteen rounds of praising purity—very deep, bright, not continuous, without stain, without attainment and without attachment, without arising, not arising in the three realms, without knowing, purity that is pure, neither benefiting nor harming, receiving nothing—to all of which the Buddha answers in general with ‘because it is ultimately pure’ and in particular according to the question; the treatise-author lays its foundation with the mutual dependence of the purity of wisdom and the purity of the object, and the real mark’s being of itself pure from the beginning apart from wisdom and apart from the object; extends its meaning of ultimacy with the other names of purity, with not being attached even to the substance of purity, and with the buddhas too not being attached; and gathers in the doubt about neither benefiting nor harming with the similes of dream, illusion, and space. Next comes the question-and-answer of Subhūti’s ‘because I am pure, form is pure’ up to ‘the eighteen unshared dharmas are pure’—being without anything existent and the emptiness of specific marks fitting the conditioned and the unconditioned respectively, the signless and the thoughtless denying attachment to the ultimate, purity by way of dual dharmas and purity by way of non-dual dharmas judging purity in name and true purity, ‘I am boundless’ returning to the emptiness of beings and beginningless emptiness, ultimate emptiness being precisely ultimate purity yet called purity because people fear emptiness, and being able to know thus being called prajñā and sealed with knowing the seeds of the path—returning to having none of the recollection, imagining, and discrimination by the power of skilful means, and the thirteen emptinesses breaking all dharmas completely with nothing that obstructs. Last comes Śakra’s question about obstructing dharmas—grasping at the mark of the mind and dedicating is obstruction, showing, teaching, benefiting, and gladdening by the real mark is non-obstruction; the Buddha himself tells of the subtle marks of obstruction—grasping marks in recollecting the buddhas is in every case a mark of obstruction; and with all dharmas being ever apart, one nature and absence of nature, there being no seer, hearer, knower, cognizer, or attainer, and not being born from the mind, he answers the praises that prajñā is very deep, hard to know and hard to understand, and inconceivable; the treatise-author, with the two similes of fine food eaten to excess and the fierce wind removing the clouds, speaks to the utmost of the cause of obstruction and the root of purity.

Of the veins of meaning linking this chapter with the chapters before and after, three lines are most visible. First, the previous chapter set faith and disparagement side by side, and those who have faith in prajñā obtain the result as spoken; this chapter at its opening is the utmost of the one who has faith—Śāriputra arouses a mind of rare wonder and joy and praises purity, and Śakra and Subhūti take it up layer upon layer, turning from the gate of faith into the gate of purity. Second, the chapter "Illumination" before it established the brightness of prajñā in that, because it is ultimately pure, it can illuminate all dharmas; this chapter’s second round, purity is bright, and the treatise’s explanation of breaking the ignorance of idle discourse and giving the light of wisdom, are precisely a deepening of the same vein of meaning—that praised prajñā from the side of the function of illumination, this praises purity from the side of the substance of purity. Third, this chapter’s closing teaching that grasping at marks is obstruction and the mark of the signless is prajñā pushes the meaning of nothing to be attained, spoken of repeatedly in the chapters before, into the subtlest place of the gate of practice—not even recollecting the Buddha and dedicating may grasp at marks—and the answers that all dharmas are of one nature and without nature and that prajñā is not born from any dharma set aside ground in advance for the meaning of the uncontrived real mark that the following chapter goes on to speak of. The reader may view the preceding and following chapters together, to see the single continuous vein of prajñā passing from the praise of its virtues and examination and discernment into the substance of purity and the discerning of the marks of obstruction (the carrying-on of the chapters and the examination of the chapter names in the transmitted texts are detailed in the Apparatus).

無作實相品The Uncontrived Real Mark

全文五層 →Full five layers →

義疏Exposition

總說

〈無作實相品〉開篇只有一句：須菩提白佛言：「是般若波羅蜜無所作。」佛印之曰：「作者不可得故，色不可得，乃至一切法不可得故。」——知者尚無，何況作者？品名之眼即在此立：般若之為實相，是無作之相；不是有一個能作者造出一番清淨，而是作者、所作、作法三事俱不可得。然而無作二字，最易被誤讀為無可修、無可行——若無作者，誰斷煩惱、誰修善法？故須菩提緊接著問的正是：菩薩摩訶薩欲行般若波羅蜜，應云何行？佛答以一路「不行」：「不行色，是行般若波羅蜜」，不行受想行識乃至一切種智，不行常無常、苦樂、我無我、淨不淨——「是色無所有性，云何有常無常、苦樂、我無我、淨不淨？」不行，正是行；無作，正是實相。全品五番經、五番論，就從這一句「無所作」次第鋪展：先明不行之行，次明無護之護，次明十方千佛同說之證與十番清淨之譬，次明大珍寶之用，終於在「非第一轉、非第二轉」的法輪義中，把無作實相說到收處。

之上三番，立宗、破護、證清淨。經①立不行之行：不行色不具足——「色不具足者，是不名色」；不行礙不礙相，論釋一語判之：「礙者是非道，無礙者是道」。須菩提歎「是甚深法，若說亦不增不減，若不說亦不增不減」，佛以虛空、幻人為譬：「讚時亦不增不減，毀時亦不增不減」，諸法相若說若不說，如本不異；論更下一喻——「如種種諸色到須彌山邊，同為金色」，行者雖是罪業因緣所生虛誑之法，般若合故無有異。須菩提遂發希有之讚：「修般若波羅蜜，如修虛空」，虛空中無六度、無諸法、無諸果，「是人欲度眾生，如欲度虛空」——而菩薩正為度如虛空等眾生故發心，故「應禮是諸菩薩摩訶薩，能大莊嚴」。論釋眾生空因緣：十方恒沙諸佛各度無量眾生入涅槃，而眾生性亦不減亦不增，「眾生無所有故、眾生離故」；「若眾生實空，和合因緣有假名眾生」，故度而無減、不度亦無增——欲舉虛空是為難，菩薩「欲舉三界眾生著涅槃中」，是故名大莊嚴。一比丘聞畢竟空相驚喜作禮：「我當禮般若波羅蜜」——般若中雖無法生無法滅，而有戒定慧眾、有三寶、有轉法輪。經②轉入護持之問：帝釋問習般若為習何法，須菩提答「憍尸迦！是菩薩摩訶薩習般若波羅蜜，為習空。」帝釋願作守護，須菩提反詰：「汝頗見是法可守護者不？」帝釋不能護夢焰影響幻化、不能護佛所化、不能護法性實際——「若人欲護行般若波羅蜜菩薩，為欲護虛空」。論釋守護之義倒轉過來：「若行者如所說般若中住，即是守護」；如伽羅夜叉以拳打舍利弗頭而舍利弗入滅盡定不覺打痛，「般若波羅蜜氣分即是滅盡定」，若人若非人不能得便；欲守護虛空者「徒自疲苦，於空無益」。帝釋更問云何知諸法如夢如焰而於夢亦不著，須菩提答「不念色、不念是色、不念用色、不念我色」——論分疏念夢、念是夢、念用夢、念我夢四種著，用夢等譬喻破著五眾，「破著故，於夢中亦不錯」。經③證與譬雙至：佛神力故諸天散栴檀來禮，見十方各千佛說般若，「諸比丘皆字須菩提，問難般若波羅蜜品者皆字釋提桓因」；佛記彌勒得道時「亦當於是處說般若波羅蜜」，說法之門亦同——色非常非無常、非縛非解、非三世，「色畢竟淨，當如是說法」。須菩提歎「是般若波羅蜜清淨」，佛答以十番清淨之譬：「色清淨故，般若波羅蜜清淨」，虛空清淨、色不污、虛空不可取、虛空可說、虛空不可說、虛空不可得，乃至「一切法畢竟清淨故，般若波羅蜜清淨」。論③釋諸天所以來供：「是品中了了說諸法實相故」；引彌勒「以足指開山頂」出迦葉骨身、讚其「行頭陀弟子中第一」之事，證般若三世諸佛同說；釋清淨義「因果相似故」——「如虛空塵水不著，性清淨故」，邪見戲論不能染污；響喻判凡聖——響與口聲二聲皆虛誑，「而人以聲為實、以響為虛」，凡夫法聖法皆畢竟空，小菩薩以聖法因持戒禪定智慧修集功德所成故以為實；末以虛空無語言相收——般若「第一深義、畢竟空，無有言說，一切語言道斷故」，「有無相不可得故清淨」，「正憶念者，畢竟空清淨」。

之下兩番，先說珍寶之用，後說法輪之空。經④由現世功德入：受持般若親近正憶念者，「終不病眼，耳、鼻、舌、身亦終不病，身無刑殘，亦不衰耄，終不橫死」，諸天隨從聽受，六齋日諸天眾會，說般若者得無量福德；佛印之而自說因緣：「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶」——「能拔地獄、畜生、餓鬼及人中貧窮」，能與剎利婆羅門大姓乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，以其中廣說十善道、四禪、四無量心乃至一切智故。而珍寶即無所得：珍寶波羅蜜中無有法可得若生若滅、若垢若淨，是名「無所得珍寶波羅蜜」；無有法能染污，是名「無染珍寶波羅蜜」；菩薩如是不知、不分別、不得、不戲論，是為能修行般若。末後歸於法相常住：般若於諸法無有力、無非力，不生不滅、不增不減，非三世、不捨不住三界，與諸法皆不與不捨——「若有諸佛、若無諸佛，是諸法相常住不異」。論④先解功德之疑：受持般若猶有眾患者，「非必受報業」故——「譬如良藥，能破眾病；若不能將順，則不除患，非藥之失」，行者先世重罪、今世不如所說行，故「不得般若力，非般若過」；此一句把福德承諾的因果責任說得毫不含糊——功德是實，而藥須將順。次釋諸天何以下來聽法：天上經卷傳聞非佛說，佛勅帝釋「汝當誦念般若」、兜率有補處菩薩說法故可有；閻浮提人以三因緣勝諸天——「一者、能斷淫欲，二者、強識念力，三者、能精懃勇猛」；諸天來下禮拜經卷，「諸天尚來，何況我等！」六齋日「是六齋日是惡日，令人衰凶」，受八戒持齋布施聽法則諸天歡喜、小鬼不得其便。次釋珍寶之名：「如如意寶珠能滿一切人願」，般若能令眾生離苦得樂；而如意寶失則憂惱，般若不生不滅常不失，出世間般若「不分別善、不善」，能利眾生「畢竟無憂」——「善法尚不能污染，何況不善法！」末釋無力無非力：譬如虛空雖無有法「而因虛空得有所作」；「諸法性者，即是諸法實相；諸法實相者，即是般若波羅蜜」，入法性中求則無有錯謬。經⑤以天讚起：諸天子虛空中散四種蓮華，言「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉」，無量百千天子得無生法忍；佛即奪其言：「是法輪非第一轉、非第二轉」，般若「不為轉故出、不為還故出，無法有法空故」——「般若波羅蜜般若波羅蜜相空」，乃至一切種智相空。須菩提讚「是摩訶波羅蜜」：一切法雖自相空，而菩薩因般若得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦無法可得、無法可轉可還；能如是說般若，教、照、開、示、分別、顯現、解釋、淺易，是名清淨說般若波羅蜜——「亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者」，是說法中「亦無畢定福田」。論⑤釋第二轉之義：「因初轉乃至法盡，通名為轉」，初轉八萬諸天得無生法忍，今無量諸天得忍，故讚言第二；「諸佛事有二種：一者、密，二者、現」，初轉法輪聲聞人見八萬得忍，諸菩薩見無數阿僧祇人乃至坐道場疾成佛道，是名密轉法輪相——「譬如大雨，大樹則多受，小樹則少受」。釋非一非二：「法輪即是般若波羅蜜」，無起無作相故無轉無還，並以「無法有法空故」一句分疏轉還二邊；破非有非無有二種，用上三句破、用涅槃實相破，恐新發意菩薩於無法有法空中還生邪見，故佛說有法無法亦自相空。釋摩訶波羅蜜之難：「自性空中亦無自性空，是故名摩訶波羅蜜」，以畢竟空故無所礙而能行諸善法得道，「世俗法故，非第一義」。釋轉還：煩惱虛誑無有定相，「若無定相，為何所斷？」無所斷則無轉無還；六畏雙遣——「畏墮常故不轉，畏墮滅故不還」，畏墮有畏墮無、「畏著世間故不轉，畏著涅槃故不還」——入三解脫門，「捨我、我所心，是名說得解脫」。末以十義訓詁收：說者案文口傳，教者令受持讀誦，照者「如人執燈照物」，開者「開邪疑扉、折無明關」，示者指示好醜，分別、顯現、說法、解釋，淺易者「如深水難渡」分散令淺——「能以十種為首說甚深義，是名清淨說般若波羅蜜義」。而「第一義中，實無所說」，無說故無受、無證、無滅煩惱者，故無福田；信受讀誦為受，得沙門果無生法忍為證，證時得有餘涅槃是畢定福田——「諸法同無餘涅槃性，故說無畢定福田」，品至此終。

全品經論各五番相間而進，跨卷六十四、六十五兩卷，依卷界分作之上、之下兩分弧，之下卷首帶「之餘」續題。之上收前三番——無所作之宗、不行之行、無護之護、夢喻破著、十方千佛之證、十番清淨之譬；之下收後兩番——大珍寶波羅蜜之用與現世功德之因果、第二法輪之讚與非轉非還之奪、十義說法之門、無畢定福田之收。之上把「無作」立成行門與護門，之下把「無作」用到福德與轉法輪上——先給到極處（大珍寶能滿一切願），再空到極處（無說無受無證），一與一奪之間，無作實相方才立體。

因此，讀每一番問答時，至少可問三層。其一，這一番的「無」落在何處——是無作者而非無行（不行正是行），是無可護而非無護（如所說住即是守護），是無轉還而非無法輪（因中說果，通名為轉）？其二，譬喻的力用何在——虛空一喻貫串全品：修如修虛空、度如度虛空、護如護虛空、清淨如虛空、無力而有所作如虛空，同一虛空，番番轉出新義，各在破哪一重著？其三，說得如此之空，功德何以是實——「終不病眼」之諾與「非必受報業」之解如何並立，「大珍寶」與「無所得」如何同名一法，「得福無量」與「無畢定福田」如何不相違？順著五番對答讀下去，終會落在同一處：般若無所作，正因無所作故無所不作；法輪不轉不還，正因不轉不還故從初轉乃至法盡通名為轉——無作，是實相之相。

依原論次序讀下去

Overview

"The Uncontrived Real Mark" opens with only one sentence: Subhūti says to the Buddha: 「是般若波羅蜜無所作。」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is without anything done." The Buddha seals it, saying: 「作者不可得故，色不可得，乃至一切法不可得故。」 tr. "Because the doer is unfindable; because form is unfindable, and so on up to all dharmas being unfindable."—even a knower there is not; how much less a doer? The eye of the chapter's name is set up right here: prajñā, as the real mark, is the mark of the uncontrived; it is not that there is a doer who produces a measure of purity, but that the three things—the doer, what is done, and the dharma of doing—are all unfindable. Yet the two characters rendered here as ‘uncontrived’ are most easily misread as meaning nothing to cultivate and nothing to practise—if there is no doer, who cuts off the afflictions, who cultivates wholesome dharmas? Therefore what Subhūti asks immediately afterwards is precisely this: if the bodhisattva-mahāsattva wishes to practise prajñāpāramitā, how should he practise? The Buddha answers with a whole run of 「不行」 tr. "does not practise": 「不行色，是行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "not practising form is practising prajñāpāramitā"; not practising feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds; not practising permanent or impermanent, suffering or bliss, self or no-self, pure or impure—「是色無所有性，云何有常無常、苦樂、我無我、淨不淨？」 tr. "this form is of a nature without anything existent; how could there be permanent or impermanent, suffering or bliss, self or no-self, pure or impure?" Not practising is precisely practising; the uncontrived is precisely the real mark. The five rounds of sūtra and the five rounds of treatise of the whole chapter unfold in sequence from this one phrase 「無所作」 tr. "without anything done": first making clear the practice of not practising, next the protection that is no protecting, next the proof of the thousand buddhas of the ten directions speaking alike and the simile of the ten rounds of purity, next the use of the great precious treasure, and at last, in the meaning of the wheel of the Dharma that is 「非第一轉、非第二轉」 tr. "neither a first turning nor a second turning", bringing the uncontrived real mark to the place where it is gathered up.

The three rounds of the First Part set up the thesis, break down protection, and prove purity. Sūtra round ① sets up the practice of not practising: not practising the incompleteness of form—「色不具足者，是不名色」 tr. "form that is incomplete is not called form"; not practising the marks of obstruction or non-obstruction, which the treatise's explanation judges in one phrase: 「礙者是非道，無礙者是道」 tr. "obstruction is the non-path; non-obstruction is the path". Subhūti praises: 「是甚深法，若說亦不增不減，若不說亦不增不減」 tr. "this very deep dharma, if spoken, neither increases nor decreases; if not spoken, neither increases nor decreases"; the Buddha takes space and an illusory person as similes: 「讚時亦不增不減，毀時亦不增不減」 tr. "when praised it neither increases nor decreases; when reviled it neither increases nor decreases"—the marks of dharmas, whether spoken or not spoken, are as they fundamentally are and not different; the treatise goes on to lay down one more simile—「如種種諸色到須彌山邊，同為金色」 tr. "as the various colours, coming to the side of Mount Sumeru, all alike become golden": although the practitioner is a false dharma born from the causes and conditions of sinful karma, because he is joined with prajñā he is not different from it. Subhūti then utters a praise of wonder: 「修般若波羅蜜，如修虛空」 tr. "to cultivate prajñāpāramitā is like cultivating space"; in space there are no six perfections, no dharmas, no fruits—「是人欲度眾生，如欲度虛空」 tr. "this person, wishing to deliver beings, is like one wishing to deliver space"—and it is precisely in order to deliver beings equal to space that the bodhisattva arouses the mind, and therefore 「應禮是諸菩薩摩訶薩，能大莊嚴」 tr. "one should worship these bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, who are able to put on the great adornment". The treatise explains the causes and conditions of the emptiness of beings: the buddhas of the ten directions, as many as the sands of the Ganges, each deliver immeasurable beings into nirvāṇa, and yet the nature of beings neither decreases nor increases, 「眾生無所有故、眾生離故」 tr. "because beings are without anything existent, because beings are apart"; 「若眾生實空，和合因緣有假名眾生」 tr. "if beings are really empty, there are beings as a provisional name from the coming together of causes and conditions", and therefore they are delivered without decrease and left undelivered without increase—to wish to lift space is hard, and the bodhisattva 「欲舉三界眾生著涅槃中」 tr. "wishes to lift the beings of the three realms and set them in nirvāṇa", and therefore it is called the great adornment. A bhikṣu, hearing the mark of ultimate emptiness, bows in astonished joy: 「我當禮般若波羅蜜」 tr. "I shall worship prajñāpāramitā"—within prajñā, though no dharma arises and no dharma ceases, there are the aggregates of morality, of concentration, and of wisdom, there are the Three Jewels, there is the turning of the wheel of the Dharma. Sūtra round ② turns to the question of protection: Śakra asks what dharma one trains in when training in prajñā, and Subhūti answers: 「憍尸迦！是菩薩摩訶薩習般若波羅蜜，為習空。」 tr. "Kauśika! This bodhisattva-mahāsattva, in training in prajñāpāramitā, trains in emptiness." Śakra wishes to act as protector; Subhūti asks back: 「汝頗見是法可守護者不？」 tr. "Do you see any dharma here that could be protected?" Śakra cannot protect a dream, a mirage, a shadow, an echo, an illusion, or a transformation, cannot protect what the Buddha has conjured, cannot protect the nature of dharmas or the limit of reality—「若人欲護行般若波羅蜜菩薩，為欲護虛空」 tr. "if anyone wishes to protect a bodhisattva who practises prajñāpāramitā, he is wishing to protect space". The treatise's explanation turns the meaning of protection round: 「若行者如所說般若中住，即是守護」 tr. "if the practitioner abides within prajñā as it is taught, that is protection"; as when the yakṣa Kāla struck Śāriputra on the head with his fist and Śāriputra, having entered the absorption of cessation, felt no pain from the blow—「般若波羅蜜氣分即是滅盡定」 tr. "the very breath of prajñāpāramitā is the absorption of cessation"—neither human nor non-human can find an opening; one who wishes to protect space 「徒自疲苦，於空無益」 tr. "only wearies and pains himself, and it is of no benefit to space". Śakra asks further how, knowing dharmas to be like a dream and like a mirage, one is not attached even to the dream; Subhūti answers: 「不念色、不念是色、不念用色、不念我色」 tr. "not thinking of form, not thinking that it is form, not thinking of using form, not thinking that it is my form"—the treatise distinguishes four kinds of attachment: to think of the dream, to think that it is a dream, to think of using the dream, and to think that I dream; it uses the dream and the other similes to break attachment to the five aggregates, 「破著故，於夢中亦不錯」 tr. "because attachment is broken, one does not err even within the dream". In sūtra round ③ proof and simile arrive together: by the Buddha's supernormal power the gods scatter sandalwood and come to worship, and they see in each of the ten directions a thousand buddhas expounding prajñā—「諸比丘皆字須菩提，問難般若波羅蜜品者皆字釋提桓因」 tr. "the bhikṣus were all named Subhūti, and those who questioned and challenged on the chapters of prajñāpāramitā were all named Śakra Devānām Indra"; the Buddha predicts that when Maitreya attains the path he 「亦當於是處說般若波羅蜜」 tr. "will also expound prajñāpāramitā in this very place", and that the gate of expounding the Dharma will be the same—form is neither permanent nor impermanent, neither bound nor freed, not of the three times: 「色畢竟淨，當如是說法」 tr. "form is ultimately pure; thus should the Dharma be expounded". Subhūti praises: 「是般若波羅蜜清淨」 tr. "this prajñāpāramitā is pure"; the Buddha answers with the simile of the ten rounds of purity: 「色清淨故，般若波羅蜜清淨」 tr. "because form is pure, prajñāpāramitā is pure"; space is pure, form is undefiled, space cannot be grasped, space can be spoken, space cannot be spoken, space is unfindable, and so on up to 「一切法畢竟清淨故，般若波羅蜜清淨」 tr. "because all dharmas are ultimately pure, prajñāpāramitā is pure". Treatise round ③ explains why the gods come to make offerings: 「是品中了了說諸法實相故」 tr. "because in this chapter the real mark of all dharmas is spoken clearly"; it cites the event of Maitreya 「以足指開山頂」 tr. "opening the summit of the mountain with his toe" to bring forth Kāśyapa's skeleton and praising him as 「行頭陀弟子中第一」 tr. "foremost among the disciples in practising the dhūta austerities", to prove that prajñā is spoken alike by the buddhas of the three times; it explains the meaning of purity 「因果相似故」 tr. "because cause and effect resemble each other"—「如虛空塵水不著，性清淨故」 tr. "as dust and water do not cling to space, because its nature is pure", so wrong views and idle discourse cannot defile it; with the simile of the echo it judges between the ordinary and the noble—the echo and the voice from the mouth, both sounds are false, 「而人以聲為實、以響為虛」 tr. "yet people take the voice as real and the echo as false"; the dharmas of ordinary people and the dharmas of the noble are all ultimately empty, yet lesser bodhisattvas take the noble dharmas as real, because these are accomplished by cultivating and gathering merit through the causes of the noble dharmas—upholding the precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom; at the end it gathers up with space's being without the mark of words—prajñā is 「第一深義、畢竟空，無有言說，一切語言道斷故」 tr. "the foremost deep meaning, ultimate emptiness, without words, because the path of all words is cut off"; 「有無相不可得故清淨」 tr. "because the marks of existence and non-existence are unfindable, it is pure"; 「正憶念者，畢竟空清淨」 tr. "to rightly recollect is the purity of ultimate emptiness".

The two rounds of the Last Part first speak of the use of the precious treasure, and then of the emptiness of the wheel of the Dharma. Sūtra round ④ enters by way of merit in the present life: one who receives and upholds prajñā, draws near to it, and rightly recollects it 「終不病眼，耳、鼻、舌、身亦終不病，身無刑殘，亦不衰耄，終不橫死」 tr. "will never suffer sickness of the eye; ear, nose, tongue, and body likewise will never be sick; the body will suffer no mutilation, will not decline into senility, and will never die an untimely death"; the gods follow him to hear and receive; on the six fast-days the assemblies of the gods gather; one who expounds prajñā obtains immeasurable merit; the Buddha seals this and himself speaks its causes and conditions: 「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the great precious treasure"—it 「能拔地獄、畜生、餓鬼及人中貧窮」 tr. "can pull beings out of the hells, the animals, the hungry ghosts, and poverty among humans", and can give great families of kṣatriyas and brahmins and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, because within it the ten wholesome paths, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, and so on up to omniscience are widely taught. Yet the treasure is itself nothing to be attained: in the precious-treasure pāramitā there is no dharma to be found, whether arising or ceasing, defiled or pure—this is called 「無所得珍寶波羅蜜」 tr. "the precious-treasure pāramitā of nothing to be attained"; there is no dharma that can defile it—this is called 「無染珍寶波羅蜜」 tr. "the undefiled precious-treasure pāramitā"; the bodhisattva who in this way does not know, does not discriminate, does not find, and does not engage in idle discourse is one who can cultivate prajñā. At the very end it returns to the ever-abiding of the mark of dharmas: prajñā has neither power nor non-power with regard to dharmas, neither arises nor ceases, neither increases nor decreases, is not of the three times, neither relinquishes nor abides in the three realms, and neither gives nor relinquishes any dharma—「若有諸佛、若無諸佛，是諸法相常住不異」 tr. "whether there are buddhas or there are no buddhas, this mark of dharmas ever abides and is not other". Treatise round ④ first resolves the doubt about merit: that those who receive and uphold prajñā still have many afflictions is because it is 「非必受報業」 tr. "not karma whose result must necessarily be received"—「譬如良藥，能破眾病；若不能將順，則不除患，非藥之失」 tr. "just as a fine medicine can break all sicknesses, but if one cannot follow its regimen it does not remove the affliction, and that is not the medicine's fault"; the practitioner has heavy sins from former lives and in this life does not practise as it is taught, and therefore he 「不得般若力，非般若過」 tr. "does not obtain the power of prajñā, and that is not the fault of prajñā"; this one sentence states without the least ambiguity the causal responsibility of the promise of merit—the merit is real, but the medicine must be followed with its regimen. It next explains why the gods come down to hear the Dharma: the sūtra scrolls in the heavens, passed on by hearsay rather than spoken by the Buddha, can still be had, because the Buddha commanded Śakra, 「汝當誦念般若」 tr. "you should recite and keep prajñā in mind", and because in the Tuṣita heaven there is a bodhisattva bound to buddhahood in one more birth who expounds the Dharma; the people of Jambudvīpa surpass the gods by three causes and conditions—「一者、能斷淫欲，二者、強識念力，三者、能精懃勇猛」 tr. "first, they can cut off sexual desire; second, they have strong powers of memory and recollection; third, they can be diligent, vigorous, and brave"; the gods come down to worship the sūtra scroll—「諸天尚來，何況我等！」 tr. "Even the gods come—how much more should we!" As for the six fast-days, 「是六齋日是惡日，令人衰凶」 tr. "these six fast-days are evil days, which bring people decline and misfortune"; if one receives the eight precepts, keeps the fast, gives, and hears the Dharma, the gods rejoice and the petty ghosts cannot find an opening. It next explains the name of treasure: 「如如意寶珠能滿一切人願」 tr. "as the wish-fulfilling jewel can fulfil the wishes of all people", so prajñā can make beings leave suffering and gain happiness; yet when the wish-fulfilling jewel is lost there is grief and vexation, whereas prajñā neither arises nor ceases and is never lost; world-transcending prajñā 「不分別善、不善」 tr. "does not discriminate between wholesome and unwholesome", and can benefit beings so that they are 「畢竟無憂」 tr. "ultimately without grief"—「善法尚不能污染，何況不善法！」 tr. "even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it—how much less unwholesome dharmas!" At the end it explains being without power and without non-power: just as in space there is no dharma, 「而因虛空得有所作」 tr. "and yet because of space things can be done"; 「諸法性者，即是諸法實相；諸法實相者，即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the nature of dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas; the real mark of all dharmas is precisely prajñāpāramitā", and if one seeks by entering the nature of dharmas, there is no error. Sūtra round ⑤ rises with the praise of the gods: the gods scatter four kinds of lotus in the air and say, 「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉」 tr. "we in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma", and immeasurable hundreds of thousands of gods attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; the Buddha at once takes their words away: 「是法輪非第一轉、非第二轉」 tr. "this wheel of the Dharma is neither a first turning nor a second turning"; prajñā 「不為轉故出、不為還故出，無法有法空故」 tr. "does not come forth in order to turn, does not come forth in order to return, because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"—「般若波羅蜜般若波羅蜜相空」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is empty of the mark of prajñāpāramitā", and so on up to omniscience of all kinds being empty of the mark of omniscience of all kinds. Subhūti praises: 「是摩訶波羅蜜」 tr. "this is mahāpāramitā": although all dharmas are empty of specific marks, the bodhisattva by prajñā attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and yet there is no dharma to be attained, no dharma that can be turned or returned; to be able to expound prajñā thus—teaching, illuminating, opening, showing, distinguishing, manifesting, explaining, making plain and easy—is called the pure expounding of prajñāpāramitā: 「亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者」 tr. "there is also no one who speaks, no one who receives, no one who realises", and in this expounding of the Dharma 「亦無畢定福田」 tr. "there is also no fixed field of merit". Treatise round ⑤ explains the meaning of the second turning: 「因初轉乃至法盡，通名為轉」 tr. "from the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted, it is all alike called turning"; at the first turning eighty thousand gods attained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and now immeasurable gods attain acceptance, and therefore it is praised as the second; 「諸佛事有二種：一者、密，二者、現」 tr. "the affairs of the buddhas are of two kinds: first, hidden; second, manifest"—at the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma the śrāvakas saw eighty thousand attain acceptance, while the bodhisattvas saw countless asaṃkhyeya people attain the path, and so on up to sitting on the seat of awakening and swiftly accomplishing the path of the Buddha; this is called the mark of the hidden turning of the wheel of the Dharma—「譬如大雨，大樹則多受，小樹則少受」 tr. "just as in a great rain a great tree receives much and a small tree receives little". It explains neither first nor second: 「法輪即是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "the wheel of the Dharma is precisely prajñāpāramitā"; because its mark is without origination and without action, there is no turning and no returning, and it distinguishes the two extremes of turning and returning with the one phrase 「無法有法空故」 tr. "because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; the refutation of neither existent nor non-existent is of two kinds—refuting with the three phrases above, and refuting with the real mark of nirvāṇa; fearing that bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind would, within the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, again give rise to wrong views, the Buddha says that existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas are also empty of specific marks. It explains the difficulty about mahāpāramitā: 「自性空中亦無自性空，是故名摩訶波羅蜜」 tr. "within the emptiness of self-nature there is not even the emptiness of self-nature; therefore it is called mahāpāramitā"; because of ultimate emptiness nothing is obstructed, and one can practise wholesome dharmas and attain the path—「世俗法故，非第一義」 tr. "by way of worldly dharma, not the highest meaning". It explains turning and returning: the afflictions are false and have no fixed mark—「若無定相，為何所斷？」 tr. "if they have no fixed mark, what is there to cut off?"—and with nothing to cut off there is no turning and no returning; the six fears are both set aside—「畏墮常故不轉，畏墮滅故不還」 tr. "for fear of falling into permanence it does not turn; for fear of falling into annihilation it does not return"; for fear of falling into existence, for fear of falling into non-existence; 「畏著世間故不轉，畏著涅槃故不還」 tr. "for fear of attachment to the world it does not turn; for fear of attachment to nirvāṇa it does not return"—entering the three gates of liberation, 「捨我、我所心，是名說得解脫」 tr. "abandoning the mind of self and mine—this is called speaking of the attainment of liberation". At the end it gathers up with glosses on the ten meanings: speaking is transmitting orally according to the text; teaching is causing one to receive and uphold, read, and recite; illuminating is 「如人執燈照物」 tr. "like a person holding a lamp to light things"; opening is 「開邪疑扉、折無明關」 tr. "opening the door-leaves of wrongness and doubt, breaking the bar of ignorance"; showing is pointing out the good and the bad; then distinguishing, manifesting, expounding the Dharma, explaining; making plain and easy is, 「如深水難渡」 tr. "as deep water is hard to cross", dividing it so that it becomes shallow—「能以十種為首說甚深義，是名清淨說般若波羅蜜義」 tr. "to be able to speak the very deep meaning with these ten at the head is called the meaning of the pure expounding of prajñāpāramitā". Yet 「第一義中，實無所說」 tr. "in the highest meaning there is really nothing spoken"; because nothing is spoken there is no receiving, no realising, and no one who extinguishes the afflictions, and therefore there is no field of merit; believing, receiving, reading, and reciting are receiving; attaining the fruits of the śramaṇa and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is realising; at the time of realisation one attains nirvāṇa with remainder, which is a fixed field of merit—「諸法同無餘涅槃性，故說無畢定福田」 tr. "all dharmas are alike of the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore it is said that there is no fixed field of merit"—and here the chapter ends.

For the whole chapter the sūtra and the treatise each come in five rounds, advancing in alternation; spanning the two fascicles sixty-four and sixty-five, it is divided at the boundary of the fascicles into two arcs, the First Part and the Last Part, the head of the fascicle of the Last Part carrying the continuation title 「之餘」 tr. "the remainder". The First Part takes in the first three rounds—the thesis of being without anything done, the practice of not practising, the protection that is no protecting, the breaking of attachment by the simile of the dream, the proof of the thousand buddhas of the ten directions, and the simile of the ten rounds of purity; the Last Part takes in the latter two rounds—the use of the great precious-treasure pāramitā and the cause and effect of merit in the present life, the praise of the second wheel of the Dharma and the taking of it away with neither turning nor returning, the gate of the ten meanings of expounding the Dharma, and the gathering-up with no fixed field of merit. The First Part establishes 「無作」 tr. "the uncontrived" as the gate of practice and the gate of protection; the Last Part applies 「無作」 tr. "the uncontrived" to merit and to the turning of the wheel of the Dharma—first giving to the utmost (the great precious treasure can fulfil all wishes), then emptying to the utmost (nothing spoken, nothing received, nothing realised); between one giving and one taking away, the uncontrived real mark at last stands in full dimension.

Therefore, in reading each round of question and answer, one can ask at least three layers of questions. First, where does this round's 「無」 tr. "without" fall—is it being without a doer rather than without practice (not practising is precisely practising), being without anything to protect rather than without protection (abiding as it is taught is protection), being without turning and returning rather than without a wheel of the Dharma (the result being spoken of within the cause, it is all alike called turning)? Second, where does the force of the similes lie—the one simile of space runs through the whole chapter: cultivating is like cultivating space, delivering is like delivering space, protecting is like protecting space, purity is like space, being without power and yet things being done is like space; the same space, round after round, turns out a new meaning—which layer of attachment is each one breaking? Third, spoken so emptily, how is merit nonetheless real—how do the promise 「終不病眼」 tr. "will never suffer sickness of the eye" and the explanation 「非必受報業」 tr. "not karma whose result must necessarily be received" stand together, how can 「大珍寶」 tr. "the great precious treasure" and 「無所得」 tr. "nothing to be attained" name one and the same dharma, and how do 「得福無量」 tr. "obtaining immeasurable merit" and 「無畢定福田」 tr. "no fixed field of merit" not contradict each other? Read on along these five rounds of dialogue, and one will come at last to the same place: prajñā is without anything done, and precisely because it is without anything done there is nothing it does not do; the wheel of the Dharma neither turns nor returns, and precisely because it neither turns nor returns, from the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted it is all alike called turning—the uncontrived is the mark of the real mark.

Reading On in the Order of the Treatise

無作實相品之上The Uncontrived Real Mark, Part 1 of 2

全文五層 →Full five layers →

義疏Exposition

無作實相品之上：般若無所作；守護行般若者為欲護虛空；十方千佛現與般若清淨

在問什麼

品題「無作實相」，之上一單元開卷第一句就把它立起來：須菩提在佛前說「是般若波羅蜜無所作」，佛出因緣——「作者不可得故」，色不可得，乃至一切法不可得。既無所作，應云何行？佛答以一路「不行」：不行色乃至一切種智，不行常無常、苦樂、我無我、淨不淨，不行不具足、不行不礙——不行正是行。由此推到說與不說：這甚深法「若說亦不增不減，若不說亦不增不減」，如讚毀虛空、如讚毀幻人；再推到行者：修般若如修虛空，度眾生如度虛空，眾生性不減不增，而菩薩為此發心，故名大莊嚴，一比丘聞畢竟空相而驚喜禮讚。接著帝釋兩問把無作之義逼到日用處：習般若為習何法——「為習空」；受持般若當作何護——須菩提反詰「汝頗見是法可守護者不」，護行般若者「為欲護虛空」，如所說而行「即是守護」；又問如夢知見何以不念夢，答以不念色故不念夢。末後佛神力現十方各千佛同說此品，證彌勒及賢劫諸菩薩亦當於是處說般若，三世佛所說同；由清淨一讚引出連番問答——色清淨、虛空清淨、不污、不可取、可說、不可說、不可得，皆歸「一切法畢竟清淨故」。無所作、無可護、無增減，而行者行之、諸天供之、三世佛說之——無作與實相不二，正是品題之所立。

逐段解明

一、般若無所作——作者不可得。 開卷須菩提白佛：「是般若波羅蜜無所作。」佛言：「作者不可得故，色不可得，乃至一切法不可得故。」無所作不是般若怠惰不起用，是作這件事本身立不起來：凡言作，須有作者；遍求作者了不可得，能作既無，所作何立？佛不孤立地說無作者，連舉色乃至一切法皆不可得——作者與所作之法一齊落空，無作之義纔徹底。品題「無作」二字，即從此句立宗。

二、不行諸法、不行常無常等——是行般若。 須菩提問應云何行，佛答：不行色，是行般若波羅蜜；不行受、想、行、識，乃至不行一切種智，是行般若波羅蜜；於色乃至一切種智，不行常、無常，不行苦、樂，不行我、非我，不行淨、不淨，皆是行般若波羅蜜。所以者何——「是色無所有性」，受想行識乃至一切種智皆無所有性，性既無所有，常無常等四對從何安立？不行不是不修，是於無所有性上不安立定相；經文一句一句遍歷諸法，正示無一法可以例外。

三、不行不具足——色不具足者是不名色。 佛復說：不行色不具足，是行般若波羅蜜，乃至一切種智亦然。因緣是「色不具足者，是不名色」——既不名色，這「不具足」也無處掛搭，如是亦不行，纔是行般若。行者離了常等定相，或轉計諸法有虧欠相；經文把這一計也遮掉：具足不可得，不具足同樣不可得，兩頭俱不行，方是中道之行。

四、礙不礙相——不行不礙。 須菩提讚未曾有：世尊善說求菩薩道善男子善女人「礙不礙相」；佛印可，復廣說：不行色不礙，不行受想行識不礙，不行眼耳鼻舌身意不礙，不行六波羅蜜不礙，乃至不行一切種智不礙，是行般若波羅蜜；如是行時，知色是不礙，乃至知一切種智是不礙，知須陀洹果乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提道不礙。不礙是道，然連這不礙之相也不行——知其不礙而不取不礙為相，礙不礙兩關齊過，故稱善說。

五、甚深法若說不說不增不減。 慧命須菩提白佛：「是甚深法，若說亦不增不減，若不說亦不增不減。」這一句把無作義從行門推到說門：法若因說而增、因默而減，便是有作之法；甚深法非造作所成，故說與不說於它無所加損。佛即印可「如是！如是！」——下文兩喻正為此句作腳注，而卷末清淨連番問答之「不增不減」，亦遙遙以此句為根。

六、讚毀虛空幻人喻——如本不異。 佛自說二喻：譬如佛盡形壽讚虛空、毀虛空，讚時亦不增不減，毀時亦不增不減；如幻人，讚毀皆不增不減，「讚時不喜，毀時不憂」。虛空喻法體之無得無損，幻人喻並無一個受讚受毀的主人；諸法相亦如是，若說「如本不異」，若不說亦「如本不異」。讚毀是他人口業，於虛空幻人了無交涉——說與不說之於實相，亦復如是。

七、修般若如修虛空——應禮能大莊嚴。 須菩提歎菩薩所為甚難：修行般若時不憂不喜，於菩提不轉還。何以故？「修般若波羅蜜，如修虛空」——虛空中無般若乃至無檀波羅蜜，無色受想行識，無內空乃至無法有法空，無四念處乃至八聖道分，無佛十力乃至十八不共法，無四果、辟支佛道，無阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。所修之法一無所有而修之不輟，此其所以難；故言應禮是諸菩薩摩訶薩，「能大莊嚴」。

八、為度虛空等眾生發心——眾生性不減不增。 須菩提申其義：是人為眾生大莊嚴，如為虛空大莊嚴；欲度眾生，如欲度虛空、如舉虛空。故讚菩薩大精進力、大莊嚴、大勇猛，為度如虛空等眾生故發阿耨多羅三藐三菩提心。因緣是：假使三千大千世界滿中諸佛，譬如竹葦、甘蔗、稻麻、叢林，一一佛度無量無邊阿僧祇眾生入涅槃，「是眾生性亦不減、亦不增」——「眾生無所有故、眾生離故」。所度本空而度願彌堅，大莊嚴之名由此而立。

九、一比丘禮般若——無法生滅而有戒眾乃至轉法輪。 時有一比丘言：「我當禮般若波羅蜜！」般若波羅蜜中雖無法生、無法滅，而有戒眾、定眾、慧眾、解脫眾、解脫知見眾，而有諸須陀洹、斯陀含、阿那含、阿羅漢、辟支佛，有諸佛，有佛寶、法寶、比丘僧寶，而有轉法輪。這一讚是經①的收束：畢竟空中五分法身、四果三寶、轉法輪一一宛然——無生滅與有果報不相妨，正是聞空不墮斷滅的正信之聲。

十、論釋無所作——知者尚無，何況作者。 論主釋曰：須菩提聞佛說般若無起無作相，故今在佛前說「無所作」。若無作者，不能斷諸煩惱、不能修集諸善法——這是無作義自然引出的疑難。此中佛說因緣：從作者乃至一切法不可得故；「知者尚無，何況作者」。知是最微細的能邊，知者尚不可得，粗於知的作者更無論矣。論主先把疑難擺出，再以佛語按定，無作之宗立而疑路已見，下文正是循此疑而釋。

十一、不行不得一切法——般若不受無常，以能生著心故。 須菩提躡疑而問：若無作者，般若無所能作，云何行、云何得？佛答：若菩薩不行一切法、不得一切法——所謂若常若無常乃至若淨若不淨——是名行般若波羅蜜。論主釋：一切法者從色乃至一切種智，是菩薩行法；無智人行諸法常等，智人行諸法無常等；般若示諸法畢竟實相，故不說諸法常、無常。要緊在此句：無常等雖能破常等顛倒，般若中不受是法，「以能生著心故」——藥能治病，執藥還成病；思惟籌量，常無常相皆不可得定實。

十二、名字不淨苦——隨意安穩為淨樂。 問曰：色等罪法可觀不淨、苦，餘善法云何觀不淨、苦？答曰：是名字不淨、苦——隨意安穩好法名清淨、快樂，不隨意非安穩法名不淨、苦；於善法中愛樂悅可者以為淨樂，厭惡不喜者以為不淨苦。這一問答勘定：淨穢苦樂之名多分是隨心安立的名字，非法上有定性；善法之被觀為不淨苦，是就其名字隨心而立說，不是抹殺善惡之辨。

十三、具足二解——憶想分別與補處如實觀。 論主先敘須菩提之慮：若離諸觀法，將無不具足菩薩道耶？故佛說不行色等不具足是行般若。釋「色具足」有二家：一家言，色等法中常無常等憶想分別是名具足，用無常觀破常是名不具足，少常等故——今於色中無常等亦不行，故言不行色不具足；一家言，具足謂補處菩薩能如色實觀乃至一切種智，餘者不具足。二解並存：一以分別為具足而遮之，一以如實觀為具足而許之，論主誌兩家而不斷，正見此句可從兩門入。

十四、實清淨亦不行；礙非道、無礙是道。 論主又出佛意：出眾生於常中，著無所有中，隨語言音聲故，是故說「如是實清淨亦不行，是為行般若波羅蜜」——救出常執之人若轉抱無所有，仍是隨語言起著，故連實清淨也不立。又釋須菩提「希有」之讚在善說道非道：「礙者是非道，無礙者是道」；佛觀會眾心多迴向空，知般若無礙相，故說不行色等無礙是行般若，能如是行者於色等法無礙。道非道判然，而無礙之相亦不取，與前段兩頭俱遣一貫。

十五、佛可若說不說無增無減——常不生相故。 論主釋：須菩提雖不能究盡知畢竟空理而常樂說，是空法希有、與一切世間法相違。佛可其說：若說、不說，無增無減——是諸法實相，「若以身業毀壞，亦不能令異，何況口說」！因為它「常不生相故」。口說之毀尚屬輕，身業之壞猶不能令實相有異，則增減之不可得明矣；不生故無可增，不生故亦無可減，一句常不生相收盡上文兩喻。

十六、虛空是般若、幻人是行者——同為金色。 論主合前二喻：譬如虛空——虛空是般若波羅蜜；幻人是行者。行者雖罪業因緣生、是虛誑法，與般若波羅蜜合故無有異；「如種種諸色到須彌山邊，同為金色」。虛誑之身一入般若，與實相更無二致，如雜色臨山同成金色。是諸法實相不可知、不可說，故若說、不說，「如本不異」——喻各有所主而同證一句，讀者當識其合法之處。

十七、難信難受故應禮拜。 論主敘須菩提之念：若諸法畢竟空、無所有如虛空，乃至無有微細相，而菩薩能修集善法、得無上道，「是事難信難受」！作是念已白佛：諸菩薩所為甚難，能為難事故應禮拜，謂能大莊嚴故；復以希有心言，是菩薩為阿耨多羅三藐三菩提大莊嚴，一切天人皆應禮拜。難不在空之深，在於空而能行——畢竟無所有處修集善法，此乃可禮之難。

十八、為虛空勤精進喻——大莊嚴之證。 問曰：云何知是大莊嚴？答曰：須菩提此中自說譬喻——如有人為虛空故勤行精進、利益故大莊嚴，菩薩為利益眾生勤精進亦如是；若有人欲度虛空，菩薩欲度眾生亦如是。為虛空而精進，世間視為徒勞；菩薩明知眾生畢竟空如虛空而精進度之，正以無所得而行，其莊嚴乃大——喻中之難即是讚中之難。

十九、利益與欲度——一事再說之由。 問曰：一事何以再說？答曰：利益者，未得涅槃，但令得智慧、禪定等今世、後世樂；欲度者，令得漏盡、成三乘道、入無餘涅槃。兩句非重複：利益淺而欲度深，一是與樂於生死中，一是拔出於生死外。菩薩兩事並行，故經文兩番言之——論主以二種因緣分之，再說之疑即解。

二十、如虛空無生滅苦樂縛脫——舉三界眾生著涅槃。 論主續釋喻：如虛空無生無滅、無苦無樂、無縛無脫，無所有故；眾生亦如是——故說為度虛空等眾生故大莊嚴。又如虛空無色無形，若有欲舉虛空，是為難；眾生法亦如是畢竟空，而菩薩欲舉三界眾生著涅槃中，是故名大莊嚴。度與舉二喻相成：度言其願之遍，舉言其力之艱——所舉者無形而必欲安之於涅槃，難中之難，莊嚴之所以為大。

廿一、眾生空因緣——爾所佛度眾生實無減少。 論主釋須菩提復讚大精進力、大勇猛：不隨邪疑心故，未得佛道、未滅諸結而能為眾生行道，眾生亦空，譬如以種種彩色欲畫虛空。此中佛說眾生空因緣：十方如恒河沙諸佛以神通力無量劫說法，一一佛度無量阿僧祇眾生入涅槃，假令如是，於眾生無所減少——若實有眾生實有減少者，「諸佛應有減眾生罪」；眾生實空，和合因緣有假名眾生，「無有定相」，故爾所佛度眾生實無減少，不度亦不增，諸佛無減眾生咎。以反證立空：度而有減，佛反成有咎，其不可通如此。

廿二、一比丘驚喜作結——無定實相而有果報。 論主結經①：爾時一比丘聞畢竟空相，驚喜言「我當禮般若波羅蜜」——般若中無有法定實相，而有戒眾等及諸果報。與第九段經文對讀，論主拈出的正是「驚喜」二字：聞畢竟空而不驚怖、反生歡喜，且喜的正是空不壞果報這一義——此一比丘是聞是品而得正信的現場見證，故論主兩度引之。

廿三、帝釋問習何法——為習空。 經②開卷，釋提桓因問須菩提：菩薩摩訶薩習般若波羅蜜，為習何法？須菩提答：「憍尸迦！是菩薩摩訶薩習般若波羅蜜，為習空。」上來廣說無作、不行，帝釋把它收成一個修學的問題——所習者何；答處直截：習般若即是習空。一問一答，把經①的義理落到行門的入手處，下文守護之辨即由此展開。

廿四、受持當作何護——汝頗見是法可守護者不。 帝釋白佛：善男子善女人受持般若，親近、讀、誦、說、正憶念，我當作何等護？須菩提代答，反詰：「汝頗見是法可守護者不？」帝釋言：不也，不見是法可守護者。護的前提是有可護之物；般若中遍覓一法可守護者了不可得，護字便無處安放。反詰不是拒絕好意，是把問題翻上一層——所護既空，能護何施。

廿五、如所說行即是守護——護行般若者為欲護虛空。 須菩提正答：若如般若波羅蜜中所說行，「即是守護」，所謂常不遠離如所說般若波羅蜜行；是善男子善女人，若人、若非人不得其便。反之，「若人欲護行般若波羅蜜菩薩，為欲護虛空」。守護不從外來，就在不離所說之行中；行處即護處，離行則無可護——此是本單元行門的第一義，下文論主廣釋之。

廿六、不能護夢焰幻化、佛所化、法性實際——三重反覆。 須菩提三番設問：汝能護夢、焰、影、響、幻、化不？能護佛所化不？能護法性、實際、如、不可思議性不？帝釋三答「不能護」，須菩提三結「若人欲護行般若波羅蜜諸菩薩摩訶薩亦如是」。三重由淺入深：夢幻等是虛誑無實故無可護，佛所化雖似有而非實故無可護，法性實際是無為常住故不待護——行般若者體同此三，故護之徒勞。

廿七、如夢知見而不念夢——帝釋躡問。 帝釋復問：云何菩薩行般若波羅蜜，知見諸法如夢、如焰、如影、如響、如幻、如化，而如所知見故，不念夢、不念是夢、不念用夢、不念我夢？焰影響幻化亦如是。問意深細：既用夢等作能知之喻，於此喻境何以連念亦不起——喻本為破著而設，若於喻復生念，著轉一層而已；四句之問正逼出這一層。

廿八、不念色故能不念夢——乃至一切智。 須菩提答：若菩薩行般若波羅蜜，不念色、不念是色、不念用色、不念我色，是菩薩亦能不念夢、不念是夢、不念用夢、不念我夢，乃至化亦不念；受、想、行、識亦如是，乃至一切智，不念一切智、不念是一切智、不念用一切智、不念我一切智。答意直指根本：夢喻之著不從夢生，從五眾之著生；於色等法四句不念，於夢等喻自然不念——治著當治其本，不在喻上另作功夫。

廿九、論釋習空——諸法久久皆歸涅槃。 論主釋曰：即時帝釋問從佛、須菩提所聞是甚深般若，為習何法；須菩提言：諸法久久皆歸涅槃故，當習諸法空，是故說欲習般若當習空。答處補出一個因緣：諸法終歸涅槃，是其本性空寂之徵；習空不是強加一個空觀於法上，是順諸法歸趣而習之——習空即是隨順諸法實相。

三十、帝釋願護之由——惡鬼魔民常惱行者。 論主敘帝釋發問因緣：帝釋是人天王，於世間自在，能與所須，故願作守護；聞般若歡喜，白佛言我當作何事守護，隨其所須盡當與之。須菩提及一比丘，出家法敬禮而已；諸惡鬼常惱是人，魔、若魔民常惱行者，故問佛當以何事守護——若自守護、若遣子弟、若遣官屬侍衛，隨佛教勅。帝釋之問出於實情實惠，非戲論；正因其誠，下文奪其護而不傷其敬。

卅一、般若貴重不用受恩——若可見者不名畢竟空。 論主釋須菩提反詰之意：須菩提知般若有無量力，又知佛意欲令般若波羅蜜貴重、不用受恩，故語帝釋：般若波羅蜜中皆空，如幻如夢，汝頗見定有一法可守護不？帝釋言不也。若可見者，不名為般若波羅蜜畢竟空；若不可見，云何說言我當作何事守護？兩句鎖定：可護則非畢竟空，畢竟空則無可護——帝釋之願與般若之體，只能成立其一。

卅二、如所說住即是守護——是人不須守護。 論主廣釋正答：若菩薩如般若中所說，一心信受、思惟、正憶念，入禪定，觀諸法實相，得畢竟空智慧，應無生法忍，入菩薩位——如是人不惜身命，何況外物，是人不須守護。守護名遮諸苦惱、令得安樂；是人離一切世間法，無有憂愁苦惱，得世間事不以為喜、失世間事不以為憂，所謂常不離如所說般若波羅蜜行。若人少時應行、後還失者，宜須守護；若常不離所說而行，則不須守護——須不須之判，只在行之久暫離合。

卅三、伽羅夜叉喻——般若氣分即是滅盡定。 論主引事證：如伽羅夜叉以拳打舍利弗頭，舍利弗時入滅盡定，不覺打痛。「般若波羅蜜氣分即是滅盡定」，是故若人、若非人不能得便。滅盡定中受想不行，拳擊之痛無處著落；行般若者常在畢竟空慧，人非人之惱同樣無隙可乘。氣分之言妙：不必全同滅盡定，但得般若之氣分，已足令惱害者失其所施。

卅四、二種因緣不須守護——如斬草木不生憂愁。 論主略說二種因緣，不須守護、人非人不得便：一者從身乃至一切諸法皆厭離，無我、無我所故皆無所著，「如斬草木，不生憂愁」；二者得上妙法故，為十方諸佛菩薩、諸天守護。二因緣一內一外：內無所著則無可劫奪，害之如斬草木，行者不以為憂；外有勝護則不勞帝釋，護自具足。合而觀之，不須守護非無護，是護不由請。

卅五、守護虛空喻——徒自疲苦，於空無益。 論主復以喻明：譬如人欲守護虛空——虛空，雨不能壞，風日不能乾，刀杖等不能傷；若有人欲守護虛空者，「徒自疲苦，於空無益」。若人欲守護行般若菩薩亦如是。為明此事故問汝能守護空及夢中所見人、影響幻化人不，答言不也——此法但誑心眼，暫現已滅，云何可守護？行般若菩薩觀五眾如夢等虛誑，護之亦然：於所護無益，於能護徒勞。

卅六、如無為法無能守護——得利不喜、破壞不憂。 論主釋第三重：如無為法——如、法性、實際、不可思議性，無能守護者，亦無所利益。行般若菩薩知身如如、法性、實際，不分別；得供養利時不喜，破壞失時不憂。如是人何須守護？前喻明外護之徒勞，此段明行者自體之不待護：身同無為，利衰不動，護之一字於彼全無用武之地。

卅七、夢等喻五眾——於夢復生著故問。 論主釋帝釋躡問之由：帝釋貪貴是如夢等智慧——菩薩得是智慧力，不須外守護——故問云何菩薩知是如夢等空法。「如所知見不念夢等」者，夢等喻五眾；五眾人所著，夢等人所不著，欲令離著事，故以不著事為喻，欲令觀五眾如夢。然於夢亦復生著，是故帝釋問：如夢，亦不著是夢。喻之為物，用得其正則破著，執之則轉成新著——帝釋所問，正是喻上之著。

卅八、四種念夢——凡夫著夢之相。 論主開凡夫著夢四相：凡夫人以夢喻五眾，即復著夢，作是言定有夢法眠睡時生，是名「念夢」；是夢惡、是夢好，如是分別，是名「念是夢」，夢得好事則心高，得惡事則心愁；又用此夢譬喻得是如夢實智慧，是名「念用夢」；聞是譬喻，我因此夢得知諸法如夢，是名「念我夢」。四相由粗至細：執夢為實法、於夢起好惡、恃夢喻為得慧之具、緣夢喻自負能知——乃至以喻自高，仍是著也。餘喻亦如是。

卅九、不念色四句——入無我門，直至諸法實相中。 論主釋須菩提之答：若行者不念色——是色，人色、非人色，樹色、山色，是四大、若四大所造色等；不念是色若常若無常等，不以色故心生憍慢；不念色是我所、非我所，「入無我門，直至諸法實相中」。四句各有所遮：不念色遮執實，不念是色遮分別計度，不念用色遮恃之生慢，不念我色遮我所之計——我所計破則無我門開，直至實相更無迂曲。

四十、用夢喻破著五眾——於夢中亦不錯。 論主結經②：是人能不念夢、不念是夢等；用是夢等譬喻破著五眾，破著故「於夢中亦不錯」。若不能破色著，是人於色錯、於夢亦錯。受想行識乃至一切種智亦如是，幻焰響影化等亦如是；諸菩薩知諸法如夢，於夢亦不念。錯與不錯之判在著不在喻：著破則喻境法境兩不錯，著存則兩處俱錯——喻還其為喻，功夫全在破著。

四十一、諸天散栴檀禮佛——十方各千佛現。 經③開卷：佛神力故，三千大千世界中，四天王天、三十三天、夜摩天、兜率陀天、化樂天、他化自在天，梵身天、梵輔天、梵眾天、大梵天、少光天乃至淨居天，一切諸天以天栴檀遙散佛上，來詣佛所，頭面禮佛足。復以佛神力，見東方千佛說法，如是相、如是名字，說是般若波羅蜜品；諸比丘皆字須菩提，問難者皆字釋提桓因；南西北方、四維、上下亦各千佛現。一會之說遍現十方，說者問者同名同字——此品所說是十方共說之法，非一方一時之教。

四十二、彌勒當於是處說般若——賢劫諸菩薩亦如是。 佛告須菩提：彌勒菩薩摩訶薩得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提時，亦當於是處說般若波羅蜜；如賢劫中諸菩薩摩訶薩得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提時，亦當於是處說般若波羅蜜。上段十方各千佛是橫遍，此段彌勒賢劫是豎窮：現在十方同說，未來諸佛亦當於此處同說——般若之說貫徹三世，此正為卷末「過去、未來、現在佛所說」一句預立其證。

四十三、彌勒以何相何因何義說——畢竟淨故當如是說法。 須菩提問：彌勒得菩提時，用何相、何因、何義說是般若波羅蜜義？佛答：色非常非無常，當如是說法；色非苦非樂、非我非無我、非淨非不淨、非縛非解，當如是說法；色非過去、非未來、非現在，當如是說法；受想行識亦如是；色畢竟淨，當如是說法，受想行識乃至一切智畢竟淨，當如是說法。前番五對是遮，畢竟淨一句是表：雙非遣盡諸相，所顯即畢竟淨——彌勒所說法門與今佛無異，法同故說同。

四十四、般若清淨連番問答——皆歸畢竟清淨。 須菩提讚「是般若波羅蜜清淨」，佛與之連番往復：色清淨故般若清淨——色不生不滅、不垢不淨是名色清淨；虛空清淨故般若清淨——「虛空不生不滅故清淨」；色不污故般若清淨——如虛空不可污故，虛空不可取故虛空清淨；虛空可說故般若清淨——「因虛空中二聲出」；虛空不可說故般若清淨；虛空不可得故般若清淨——虛空無所得相；一切法不生不滅、不垢不淨故般若清淨——「一切法畢竟清淨故」。層層以虛空轉喻，末後總歸畢竟清淨一句：清淨不從對治得，是諸法本相。

四十五、了了說實相故諸天供養——舊天新天二說。 論③釋曰：是般若波羅蜜雖皆甚深，是品中了了說諸法實相故，三千大千世界諸天持供養具來供養佛。問曰：即是上諸天，今更來？答曰：有人言「事久故去，竟更來」；有人言更有新天來者。欲令信般若故，十方面各千佛現；是人福德因緣應見千佛，佛神力故在會眾人皆見十方佛——人天所見有限，非佛威神，無由得見彼諸佛。供養之至與千佛之現，皆繫於一句：此品了了說實相。

四十六、彌勒迦葉事——三世佛所說，應當信受。 論主釋千比丘千帝釋：佛前說法者皆字須菩提，難問者皆字釋提桓因，「取其同字者有千人」；須菩提、帝釋歡喜言「非獨我等能說、能問」。佛欲證彌勒當於是處說法，廣引其事：彌勒將大眾到耆闍崛山，「以足指開山頂」，摩訶迦葉骨身著僧伽梨、執杖持鉢而出；彌勒為大眾說：過去釋迦牟尼佛人壽百歲時，是人少欲知足、行頭陀弟子中第一，具六神通、得三明，以神通力令此骨身至今——因此小身得如是利，何況汝等大身、生於好世而不能自利？彌勒因是事廣說法，令無量眾生得盡苦際。以此事故知彌勒在耆闍崛山中說法；是般若波羅蜜，過去、未來、現在佛所說，應當信受。

四十七、彌勒說法門與佛同——第一清淨，因果相似故。 論主釋須菩提問彌勒以何相、何因、何法門說：佛言「如我說」——色等諸法非常非無常、非縛非解等如先說，亦不說色過去、未來、現在；如涅槃出三世，色等諸法亦如是，如先說一切法如涅槃相，彌勒所說亦如是。又釋第一清淨之讚：佛言色等諸法清淨故，「因果相似故」——色等法不失業因緣故、不得諸法生相定實故不生不滅，諸法相常不污染故不垢不淨。因清淨故果清淨，般若之淨即諸法之淨。

四十八、塵水不著喻、不可染污喻——無色無形故不可取。 論主釋喻：此中說譬喻，欲令事明了故。如虛空塵水不著，性清淨故；般若波羅蜜亦如是，不生不滅故常清淨。如虛空不可染污；般若亦如是，雖有邪見戲論不能染污，刀杖惡事不能壞——無色無形故不可取，不可取故則不可染污。二喻遞進：塵水不著言其性本淨，不可染污言其淨不可壞；而不可壞之故追到不可取，不可取之故追到無色無形——淨之不可奪，根在無相。

四十九、可說如虛空；響喻——凡夫法聖法皆虛誑。 論主釋可說：諸菩薩住辯才樂說無礙智中，為眾生說十二部經、八萬四千法聚，皆是般若波羅蜜一事而分別為說，故說般若可說、清淨如虛空。復釋響喻：因虛空及山谷，有人聲從口中空出，因是出聲故名響；如響空，口聲亦如是，是二聲皆虛誑不實，而人以聲為實、以響為虛。般若亦如是：一切法皆畢竟空，如幻如夢，凡夫法、聖法皆是虛誑；小菩薩以凡夫法為虛誑、聖法為實。聲響齊虛而人偏執其一，正照出凡聖之判在情不在法。

五十、何以聖法為實——修集功德所成。 問曰：是二皆虛誑，何以故小菩薩以凡夫法為虛、聖法為實？答曰：聖法因持戒、禪定、智慧，修集功德所成，故以為實；凡夫法自然有，如響自然出，非是故作，以為虛。眾生無始世來著此身故，聲從身出以為實；小菩薩深樂善法故以為實。論主兩邊各與其故：凡夫執聲，出於無始身見；小菩薩執聖法，出於深樂善法——其執可原而其為執一也，畢竟空中乃得齊觀。

五十一、虛空無音聲語言相——一切語言道斷故。 論主釋不可說：如虛空中無音聲語言相故無所說；是語言音聲皆是作法，虛空是無作法。般若波羅蜜亦如是，第一深義、畢竟空，無有言說，「一切語言道斷故」。可說就辯才門言，不可說就深義門言：語言是作法，般若是無作法，以作法詮無作法，詮之所及終非其體——與品題無作二字於此再照面。

五十二、虛空無所得相——有無相不可得故清淨。 論主釋不可得：如虛空無所得相，不得有、不得無——若有「無相」，如先破虛空相；若無，因是虛空造無量事！般若波羅蜜亦如是，「有無相不可得故清淨」。虛空說有則覓相不得，說無則萬事因之而辦；般若亦爾，有無兩楹俱不可安。不可得非一無所有之謂，是有無之計於此俱盡。

五十三、般若因正憶念生——畢竟空清淨。 論主結卷：般若波羅蜜因諸法正憶念故生；「正憶念者，畢竟空清淨」，故一切法不生不滅、不垢不淨。連番清淨之問答收於此句：般若非從外得，從於諸法正憶念生，而正憶念之體即是畢竟空清淨——能生之念淨故，所生之慧淨；所照之法本淨故，能照之淨有其歸。卷第六十四於此而終，之下續說受持功德。

不要讀錯

不要把「無所作」讀成撥無修行。經文自己先堵了這條路：一比丘禮般若之讚說得分明——般若中雖無法生、無法滅，而有戒眾、定眾、慧眾、解脫眾、解脫知見眾，有四果、辟支佛、諸佛三寶，「而有轉法輪」。無所作是作者不可得，不是斷滅因果；論主也先出此疑——若無作者，不能斷煩惱、修善法——而後以佛語釋之。聞無作而廢修，正是把藥吞成了病。

不要把一路「不行」讀成什麼都不修。不行色、不行常無常，經文明言「是行般若波羅蜜」——不行正是行，所不行的是於法安立定相，不是六度萬行之事。論主釋得更細：無常觀雖能破常倒，般若中不受是法，「以能生著心故」——連能治之藥也不執，纔是不行的本義；若讀成廢觀廢行，與經義恰相反。

不要把不須守護之語讀成行者可以無防、或帝釋好意被拒。須菩提正答是：如所說而行，「即是守護」——守護不是取消了，是收歸於行；且論主明說第二因緣：得上妙法故，「為十方諸佛菩薩、諸天守護」——不須守護的人恰是被護最厚的人，只是護不由請。帝釋之願出於實情，須菩提奪其所護而不損其敬，讀者勿於此起『般若拒天護』之想。

不要把「凡夫法、聖法皆是虛誑」讀成善惡齊平、修無所用。論主緊接著自設此問而答之：聖法因持戒、禪定、智慧修集功德所成，故小菩薩以為實；凡夫法自然有，如響自然出。畢竟空中齊觀，是就實相言；功德所成與自然而有，差別宛然，是就因緣言。兩句各有其位，執前句廢修與執後句昧空，同為讀錯。

修行作用

於所修之法不安立定相。此單元行門的總句是「不行」：布施持戒禪誦，事相照作，但於所作之上，常無常、淨不淨、具足不具足、礙不礙，一概不立定相自縛。日用檢點處極簡：每覺自己於某一法門生出『必如此』『唯此實』之念，即是行了常等——記取般若不受無常之語，連能破之見也不抱持。

讚毀之際自驗增減。若說不增不減、若不說不增不減，落到日用即是八風關口：受讚時自問增了什麼，遭毀時自問減了什麼——如讚毀虛空，如讚毀幻人，「讚時不喜，毀時不憂」。實相既不因說默而動，行者之心亦不當因褒貶而搖；此一喻可作臨境時的現成話頭。

求外護不如自住所說。聞經此段，遇怖畏惱害時第一反應不是四出求護，是回頭檢點：我還在不在如所說而行之中？一心信受、思惟、正憶念、入禪定觀實相——住此即是守護，人非人不得其便；離此則帝釋親臨亦護不得虛空。兩種因緣併記：內於諸法無所著，如斬草木不生憂愁；外則上妙法自感諸佛諸天之護。

用喻而勿著喻。夢幻等喻是破五眾之著的工具，凡夫四種念夢——執夢為實、於夢分別好惡、恃喻為得、緣喻自高——把工具又變成了執境。日用中聞一善喻、得一法門，覺受明利之際正須提防「念用夢」「念我夢」二關：以得喻自負，即是著；破著之功全在不念色四句上做，喻上無功夫可做。

承衍

之上一單元，三經三論，是無作實相品的立宗之段。經①立「無所作」之宗——作者不可得故，一路不行而正是行，說與不說不增不減，如虛空、如幻人；菩薩於畢竟空中為度如虛空等眾生發心，眾生性不減不增，故名大莊嚴；一比丘之讚先為空不壞果報留了明證。經②把無作逼到行門——習般若為習空；守護之問三重翻轉，如所說行即是守護，護行般若者為欲護虛空；四種念夢之破，把著喻之細惑也勘盡，不念色故不念夢，入無我門直至諸法實相。經③以事證法——十方各千佛同說此品，彌勒及賢劫諸菩薩當於是處說般若，足指開山、迦葉骨身之事為之作證，三世佛所說同；末後清淨連番問答，以虛空七轉為喻，色清淨、不污、不可取、可說、不可說、不可得，皆歸一切法畢竟清淨，而收於般若因正憶念生、正憶念者畢竟空清淨。無可作、無可護、無可增減，而說者說之、行者行之、諸天供之——無作與實相不二，之上已說其體。受持般若現世得何等功德、終不病眼耳鼻舌身之諾云何會通業報、珍寶波羅蜜之名何所取義、有佛無佛法相常住之句云何安立、乃至諸天讚第二法輪轉而佛言非轉非還——本品之下單元繼此展開，此處不預。

The Uncontrived Real Mark, First Part: Prajñā Is Without Anything Done; Whoever Would Protect One Who Practises Prajñā Wishes to Protect Space; A Thousand Buddhas of the Ten Directions Appear, and Prajñā Is Pure

What Is Being Asked

The chapter's title is 「無作實相」 tr. "the uncontrived real mark", and the First Part sets it up with the very first sentence of the unit: Subhūti says before the Buddha 「是般若波羅蜜無所作」 tr. "this prajñāpāramitā is without anything done", and the Buddha gives the cause and condition—「作者不可得故」 tr. "because the doer is unfindable"; form is unfindable, and so on up to all dharmas being unfindable. Since nothing is done, how should one practise? The Buddha answers with a whole line of 「不行」 tr. "does not practise": he does not practise form, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds; does not practise permanent or impermanent, suffering or bliss, self or no-self, pure or impure; does not practise incompleteness, does not practise non-obstruction—not practising is precisely practising. From this it is pushed on to speaking and not speaking: this very deep dharma, 「若說亦不增不減，若不說亦不增不減」 tr. "if spoken, neither increases nor decreases; if not spoken, neither increases nor decreases", like praising or reviling space, like praising or reviling an illusory person; and then on to the practitioner: to cultivate prajñā is like cultivating space, to deliver beings is like delivering space, the nature of beings neither decreases nor increases, and yet the bodhisattva arouses the mind for this—therefore it is called the great adornment; and a bhikṣu, hearing the mark of ultimate emptiness, speaks out in astonished joy and in worshipful praise. Next, Śakra's two questions press the meaning of the uncontrived into the place of daily use: in training in prajñā, what dharma does one train in?—「為習空」 tr. "it is emptiness that one trains in"; for one who receives and upholds prajñā, what protection should be given?—Subhūti asks back, 「汝頗見是法可守護者不」 tr. "do you see any dharma here that could be protected?"; whoever would protect one who practises prajñā 「為欲護虛空」 tr. "wishes to protect space", and to practise as it is taught 「即是守護」 tr. "is protection"; he asks further why one who knows and sees as a dream does not think of the dream, and the answer is that because one does not think of form one does not think of the dream. At the end, by the Buddha's supernormal power, a thousand buddhas appear in each of the ten directions, all speaking this chapter, attesting that Maitreya and the bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa will also expound prajñā in this place, and that what the buddhas of the three times speak is the same; from a single praise of purity comes a series of questions and answers—form is pure, space is pure, undefiled, ungraspable, speakable, unspeakable, unfindable—all returning to 「一切法畢竟清淨故」 tr. "because all dharmas are ultimately pure". Without anything done, nothing to protect, without increase or decrease—and yet the practitioner practises it, the gods make offerings to it, the buddhas of the three times speak it: the uncontrived and the real mark are not two, and this is exactly what the chapter's title establishes.

Passage by Passage

1. Prajñā is without anything done—the doer is unfindable. At the opening Subhūti says to the Buddha: 「是般若波羅蜜無所作。」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is without anything done." The Buddha says: 「作者不可得故，色不可得，乃至一切法不可得故。」 tr. "Because the doer is unfindable; because form is unfindable, and so on up to all dharmas being unfindable." To be without anything done does not mean that prajñā is idle and does not rise into function; it means that the very matter of doing cannot stand: wherever doing is spoken of, there must be a doer; search everywhere for the doer and he is utterly unfindable—since the one who can do is absent, how could what is done be established? The Buddha does not speak of the absence of a doer in isolation; he goes on to cite form and so on up to all dharmas as all unfindable—the doer and the dharmas done fall empty together, and only then is the meaning of the uncontrived thorough. The two characters of the title, 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived", establish their tenet from this very sentence.

2. Not practising dharmas, not practising permanent, impermanent, and the rest—this is practising prajñā. Subhūti asks how one should practise, and the Buddha answers: not practising form is practising prajñāpāramitā; not practising feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to not practising omniscience of all kinds, is practising prajñāpāramitā; with regard to form and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, not practising permanent or impermanent, not practising suffering or bliss, not practising self or non-self, not practising pure or impure—all this is practising prajñāpāramitā. Why is this so?—「是色無所有性」 tr. "this form is of a nature without anything existent"; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, are all of a nature without anything existent; since the nature is without anything existent, from where could the four pairs of permanent and impermanent and the rest be set up? Not practising is not failing to cultivate; it is not setting up fixed marks upon a nature without anything existent; the sūtra text goes through the dharmas sentence by sentence precisely to show that not a single dharma can be an exception.

3. Not practising incompleteness—form that is incomplete is not called form. The Buddha further says: not practising the incompleteness of form is practising prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds likewise. The cause and condition is 「色不具足者，是不名色」 tr. "form that is incomplete is not called form"—since it is not called form, this 「不具足」 tr. "incompleteness" too has nowhere to hang; not practising even this is what practising prajñā is. Once the practitioner has left behind fixed marks such as permanence, he may turn round and reckon that dharmas have a mark of deficiency; the sūtra text blocks off this reckoning too: completeness is unfindable, and incompleteness is likewise unfindable; not practising either end—only this is the practice of the middle path.

4. The mark of obstruction and non-obstruction—not practising non-obstruction. Subhūti praises it as never before: the World-Honored One has well spoken, for good men and good women who seek the bodhisattva path, of 「礙不礙相」 tr. "the mark of obstruction and non-obstruction"; the Buddha confirms it and expounds further: not practising the non-obstruction of form, not practising the non-obstruction of feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, not practising the non-obstruction of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, not practising the non-obstruction of the six perfections, and so on up to not practising the non-obstruction of omniscience of all kinds—this is practising prajñāpāramitā; when practising thus, one knows that form is non-obstruction, and so on up to knowing that omniscience of all kinds is non-obstruction, and knows that the fruit of srota-āpanna, and so on up to the path of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, is non-obstruction. Non-obstruction is the path, yet even this mark of non-obstruction is not practised—knowing it as non-obstruction yet not taking non-obstruction as a mark: the two barriers of obstruction and non-obstruction are passed at once, and therefore it is called well spoken.

5. The very deep dharma, spoken or not spoken, neither increases nor decreases. The venerable Subhūti says to the Buddha: 「是甚深法，若說亦不增不減，若不說亦不增不減。」 tr. "This very deep dharma, if spoken, neither increases nor decreases; if not spoken, neither increases nor decreases." This sentence pushes the meaning of the uncontrived from the gate of practice on to the gate of speaking: if a dharma increased by being spoken and decreased by silence, it would be a contrived dharma; the very deep dharma is not produced by contrivance, and therefore speaking and not speaking add nothing to it and take nothing from it. The Buddha at once confirms: 「如是！如是！」 tr. "Just so! Just so!"—the two similes that follow are a footnote to precisely this sentence, and the 「不增不減」 tr. "neither increases nor decreases" of the series of questions and answers on purity at the end of the fascicle also takes this sentence, from afar, as its root.

6. The simile of praising and reviling space and the illusory person—as it originally is, not different. The Buddha himself gives two similes: suppose a Buddha, to the end of his life, praised space and reviled space—when praised it neither increases nor decreases, when reviled it neither increases nor decreases; so too an illusory person—praised or reviled, he neither increases nor decreases, 「讚時不喜，毀時不憂」 tr. "not glad when praised, not grieved when reviled". Space is a simile for the substance of the dharma being without gain and without loss; the illusory person is a simile for there being no master at all who receives the praise and the reviling; the mark of dharmas is likewise: if spoken, it is 「如本不異」 tr. "as it originally is, not different"; if not spoken, it is also 「如本不異」 tr. "as it originally is, not different". Praise and reviling are the speech-karma of others and have nothing whatever to do with space or the illusory person—speaking and not speaking, in relation to the real mark, are just the same.

7. To cultivate prajñā is like cultivating space—one should worship those who can take on the great adornment. Subhūti exclaims that what bodhisattvas do is very hard: when cultivating prajñā they are neither grieved nor glad, and they do not turn back from awakening. Why? 「修般若波羅蜜，如修虛空」 tr. "to cultivate prajñāpāramitā is like cultivating space"—in space there is no prajñā, and so on up to no dānapāramitā; no form, feeling, perception, constructions, or consciousness; no inner emptiness, and so on up to no emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas; no four foundations of mindfulness, and so on up to no eight limbs of the noble path; no ten powers of the Buddha, and so on up to no eighteen unshared dharmas; no four fruits, no path of the pratyekabuddha; no anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The dharma cultivated is wholly without anything existent, and yet the cultivation does not cease—this is why it is hard; and so it is said that one should worship these bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, who are 「能大莊嚴」 tr. "able to take on the great adornment".

8. Arousing the mind in order to deliver beings equal to space—the nature of beings neither decreases nor increases. Subhūti extends its meaning: this person takes on the great adornment for beings as though taking on the great adornment for space; wishing to deliver beings is like wishing to deliver space, like wishing to lift space. Therefore he praises the bodhisattva's great power of vigour, great adornment, and great valour, who arouses the mind of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi in order to deliver beings equal to space. The cause and condition is this: suppose the three-thousand great-thousand world were filled with buddhas, as thick as bamboo and reeds, sugar-cane, rice and hemp, and thickets, and each Buddha delivered immeasurable, boundless asaṃkhyeya beings into nirvāṇa—「是眾生性亦不減、亦不增」 tr. "this nature of beings neither decreases nor increases"—「眾生無所有故、眾生離故」 tr. "because beings are without anything existent, because beings are apart". What is delivered is fundamentally empty, and yet the vow to deliver grows ever firmer; the name of the great adornment is established from this.

9. A bhikṣu worships prajñā—no dharma arises or ceases, and yet there are the aggregate of morality and so on up to the turning of the wheel of the Dharma. At that time a bhikṣu said: 「我當禮般若波羅蜜！」 tr. "I shall worship prajñāpāramitā!" Within prajñāpāramitā, though no dharma arises and no dharma ceases, yet there are the aggregate of morality, the aggregate of concentration, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of the knowledge and vision of liberation; yet there are srota-āpannas, sakṛdāgāmins, anāgāmins, arhats, and pratyekabuddhas; there are buddhas; there are the Buddha Jewel, the Dharma Jewel, and the Jewel of the Bhikṣu Saṅgha; and yet there is the turning of the wheel of the Dharma. This praise is the close of Sūtra Section One: within ultimate emptiness the five aggregates of the Dharma body, the four fruits, the Three Jewels, and the turning of the wheel of the Dharma are each plainly there—the absence of arising and ceasing and the presence of fruits and results do not obstruct each other; this is precisely the voice of right faith, which hears emptiness without falling into annihilation.

10. The treatise explains being without anything done—even a knower there is not, how much less a doer. The treatise-author explains: Subhūti had heard the Buddha speak of prajñā as having the mark of neither rising nor doing, and so now, before the Buddha, he says 「無所作」 tr. "without anything done". If there is no doer, one cannot cut off the afflictions and cannot cultivate and gather wholesome dharmas—this is the difficulty that the meaning of the uncontrived naturally draws out. Here the Buddha speaks the cause and condition: because from the doer up to all dharmas all are unfindable; 「知者尚無，何況作者」 tr. "even a knower there is not—how much less a doer?" Knowing is the subtlest thing on the side of the agent; if even the knower is unfindable, how much less the doer, which is coarser than knowing. The treatise-author first lays out the difficulty, then settles it with the Buddha's words; the tenet of the uncontrived is established, and the path the doubt will take is already in view—what follows explains precisely by following this doubt.

11. Not practising and not attaining any dharma—prajñā does not accept impermanence, because it can give rise to the attached mind. Subhūti, following up the doubt, asks: if there is no doer, prajñā can do nothing—how does one practise, how does one attain? The Buddha answers: if a bodhisattva does not practise any dharma and does not attain any dharma—namely permanent or impermanent, and so on up to pure or impure—this is called practising prajñāpāramitā. The treatise-author explains: all dharmas, from form up to omniscience of all kinds, are the dharmas the bodhisattva practises; people without wisdom practise dharmas as permanent and the like, the wise practise dharmas as impermanent and the like; prajñā shows the ultimate real mark of dharmas, and therefore does not speak of dharmas as permanent or as impermanent. The crux is this sentence: although impermanence and the like can break inversions such as permanence, within prajñā this dharma is not accepted, 「以能生著心故」 tr. "because it can give rise to the attached mind"—medicine can cure sickness, but clinging to the medicine becomes sickness in turn; reflect and weigh it, and the marks of permanence and impermanence are both unfindable as fixed and real.

12. Impure and suffering as names—what goes as one wishes and is secure is called pure and blissful. Question: Sinful dharmas such as form can be contemplated as impure and as suffering; how can the other, wholesome dharmas be contemplated as impure and as suffering? Answer: These are impure and suffering as names—good dharmas that go as one wishes and are secure are named pure and blissful, dharmas that do not go as one wishes and are not secure are named impure and suffering; among wholesome dharmas, what one loves, delights in, and approves is taken as pure and blissful, what one loathes and dislikes is taken as impure and suffering. This question and answer settles the matter: the names of pure and defiled, of suffering and bliss, are for the most part names set up according to the mind, not a fixed nature in the dharmas; that wholesome dharmas are contemplated as impure and suffering is said in terms of names set up according to the mind, and is not an erasing of the distinction between wholesome and unwholesome.

13. Two readings of completeness—recollection, imagining, and discrimination; and the true contemplation of the bodhisattva bound to buddhahood in one more birth. The treatise-author first sets out Subhūti's concern: if one leaves behind all the contemplations, will one not be incomplete in the bodhisattva path? Therefore the Buddha says that not practising the incompleteness of form and the rest is practising prajñā. On the explanation of 「色具足」 tr. "the completeness of form" there are two schools: one says that the recollection, imagining, and discrimination of permanence, impermanence, and the rest within dharmas such as form is called completeness, and to break permanence with the contemplation of impermanence is called incompleteness, because permanence and the rest are lacking—now even impermanence and the rest are not practised within form, and therefore it is said that one does not practise the incompleteness of form; the other says that completeness means that the bodhisattva bound to buddhahood in one more birth can contemplate form truly, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, while the rest are incomplete. The two readings stand side by side: one takes discrimination as completeness and blocks it off, the other takes true contemplation as completeness and allows it; the treatise-author records both schools and does not decide between them, which shows precisely that this sentence can be entered through two gates.

14. Even real purity is not practised; obstruction is the non-path, non-obstruction is the path. The treatise-author further brings out the Buddha's intent: beings, brought out of permanence, cling within the without-anything-existent, following the sound of words; therefore it is said, 「如是實清淨亦不行，是為行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "not practising even such real purity—this is practising prajñāpāramitā"—if one who has been rescued from clinging to permanence turns round and embraces the without-anything-existent, that is still giving rise to attachment by following words, and so even real purity is not set up. He also explains that Subhūti's praise, 「希有」 tr. "rare", lies in the good exposition of path and non-path: 「礙者是非道，無礙者是道」 tr. "obstruction is the non-path; non-obstruction is the path"; the Buddha, observing that the minds of the assembly mostly turned toward emptiness, knew that prajñā has the mark of non-obstruction, and therefore said that not practising the non-obstruction of form and the rest is practising prajñā, and that one who can practise thus is without obstruction toward dharmas such as form. Path and non-path are clearly distinguished, yet the mark of non-obstruction too is not taken up—of a piece with the preceding passage, where both ends are sent away.

15. The Buddha approves: spoken or not spoken, without increase or decrease—because it is ever of the mark of non-arising. The treatise-author explains: although Subhūti could not know the principle of ultimate emptiness to the full, he always delighted in speaking of it, this dharma of emptiness being rare and contrary to all worldly dharmas. The Buddha approves his words: spoken or not spoken, it is without increase and without decrease—this is the real mark of all dharmas; 「若以身業毀壞，亦不能令異，何況口說」 tr. "even if one were to destroy it with the karma of the body, it could not be made other—how much less by speech!" For it is so 「常不生相故」 tr. "because it is ever of the mark of non-arising". Reviling by speech is still light; if even destruction by bodily karma cannot make the real mark other, then it is clear that increase and decrease are unfindable; because it does not arise there is nothing to increase, because it does not arise there is also nothing to decrease—the single phrase of the ever non-arising mark gathers up entirely the two similes above.

16. Space is prajñā, the illusory person is the practitioner—all alike become golden. The treatise-author joins the two similes: as with space—space is prajñāpāramitā; the illusory person is the practitioner. Though the practitioner is born from the causes and conditions of sinful karma and is a false and deceptive dharma, because he joins with prajñāpāramitā he is not different from it: 「如種種諸色到須彌山邊，同為金色」 tr. "as the various colours, coming to the side of Mount Sumeru, all alike become golden". Once the false and deceptive body enters prajñā, it is no different at all from the real mark, as mixed colours drawing near the mountain all become gold. This real mark of all dharmas cannot be known and cannot be spoken, and therefore, spoken or not spoken, it is 「如本不異」 tr. "as it originally is, not different"—each simile has its own point, yet together they attest a single sentence; the reader should recognise where they are matched to the dharma.

17. Hard to believe and hard to accept, and therefore to be worshipped. The treatise-author sets out Subhūti's thought: if all dharmas are ultimately empty, without anything existent, like space, down to there being not even a subtle mark, and yet the bodhisattva can cultivate and gather wholesome dharmas and attain the unsurpassed path—「是事難信難受」 tr. "this matter is hard to believe and hard to accept"! Having thought this, he says to the Buddha: what bodhisattvas do is very hard; because they can do what is hard they should be worshipped, namely because they are able to take on the great adornment; and again, with a mind of wonder, he says that these bodhisattvas take on the great adornment for anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and all gods and humans should worship them. The hardness lies not in the depth of emptiness but in being able to practise within emptiness—to cultivate and gather wholesome dharmas where there is ultimately nothing existent: this is the hardness worthy of worship.

18. The simile of striving with vigour for space—proof of the great adornment. Question: How is it known that this is the great adornment? Answer: Subhūti himself gives the simile here—as if someone, for the sake of space, diligently practised vigour and, to benefit it, took on the great adornment, so too the bodhisattva is diligent in vigour to benefit beings; as if someone wished to deliver space, so too the bodhisattva wishes to deliver beings. To strive for space the world regards as futile labour; the bodhisattva, knowing clearly that beings are ultimately empty like space, strives to deliver them, practising precisely with nothing to be attained, and so his adornment is great—the hardness in the simile is the very hardness in the praise.

19. Benefiting and wishing to deliver—why one matter is said twice. Question: Why is one matter said twice? Answer: Benefiting means that, before nirvāṇa is attained, one only causes them to obtain the happiness of this life and later lives, such as wisdom and meditative concentration; wishing to deliver means causing them to exhaust the outflows, accomplish the path of the three vehicles, and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. The two sentences are not a repetition: benefiting is shallow and wishing to deliver is deep; the one gives happiness within birth and death, the other pulls out beyond birth and death. The bodhisattva practises both matters together, and therefore the sūtra text speaks of it twice—the treatise-author distinguishes them by two kinds of causes and conditions, and the doubt about saying it twice is resolved.

20. Like space, without arising or ceasing, suffering or bliss, bondage or release—lifting the beings of the three realms and setting them in nirvāṇa. The treatise-author continues explaining the simile: as space is without arising and without ceasing, without suffering and without bliss, without bondage and without release, because it is without anything existent, so too are beings—therefore it is said that one takes on the great adornment in order to deliver beings equal to space. Again, as space is without colour and without form, and if anyone wished to lift space, that would be hard; the dharma of beings too is likewise ultimately empty, and yet the bodhisattva wishes to lift the beings of the three realms and set them in nirvāṇa, and therefore it is called the great adornment. The two similes of delivering and lifting complete each other: delivering speaks of the universality of the vow, lifting speaks of the arduousness of the power—what is lifted is formless, and yet he is determined to settle it in nirvāṇa: the hardest of the hard, which is why the adornment is great.

21. The causes and conditions of the emptiness of beings—though so many buddhas deliver beings, there is really no decrease. The treatise-author explains Subhūti's further praise of great power of vigour and great valour: because he does not follow a mind of wrong doubt, before attaining the Buddha path and before extinguishing the fetters he can practise the path for beings, and beings too are empty—like wishing to paint space with all kinds of colours. Here the Buddha speaks of the causes and conditions of the emptiness of beings: the buddhas of the ten directions, as many as the sands of the Ganges, expound the Dharma with their supernormal powers for immeasurable kalpas, each Buddha delivering immeasurable asaṃkhyeya beings into nirvāṇa; even supposing this, there is no decrease in beings—if beings really existed and really decreased, 「諸佛應有減眾生罪」 tr. "the buddhas ought to bear the sin of diminishing beings"; beings are really empty; from the coming together of causes and conditions there are beings as a provisional name, 「無有定相」 tr. "without any fixed mark", and therefore, though so many buddhas deliver beings, there is really no decrease, and not delivering them there is also no increase; the buddhas bear no fault of diminishing beings. Emptiness is established by counter-proof: if delivering brought decrease, the Buddha would on the contrary be at fault—so impossible is it.

22. A bhikṣu's astonished joy makes the conclusion—there is no fixed real mark, and yet there are fruits and results. The treatise-author concludes Sūtra Section One: at that time a bhikṣu, hearing the mark of ultimate emptiness, said in astonished joy, 「我當禮般若波羅蜜」 tr. "I shall worship prajñāpāramitā"—within prajñā no dharma has a fixed real mark, and yet there are the aggregate of morality and the rest, and the various fruits and results. Read against the sūtra text of Passage 9, what the treatise-author picks out is precisely the words 「驚喜」 tr. "astonished joy": hearing ultimate emptiness he is not startled or terrified but on the contrary gives rise to joy, and what he rejoices in is precisely this meaning, that emptiness does not destroy fruits and results—this bhikṣu is an eyewitness on the spot of one who hears this chapter and gains right faith, and therefore the treatise-author cites him twice.

23. Śakra asks what dharma one trains—it is emptiness that one trains in. Sūtra Section Two opens with Śakra Devānām Indra asking Subhūti: when a bodhisattva-mahāsattva trains in prajñāpāramitā, what dharma does he train in? Subhūti answers: 「憍尸迦！是菩薩摩訶薩習般若波羅蜜，為習空。」 tr. "Kauśika! When this bodhisattva-mahāsattva trains in prajñāpāramitā, it is emptiness that he trains in." Above, the uncontrived and not practising were spoken of broadly; Śakra gathers it into a question of cultivation and training—what is it that one trains; the answer is direct: to train in prajñā is to train in emptiness. In one question and one answer the doctrine of Sūtra Section One is set down at the point of entry of the gate of practice, and the discussion of protection below unfolds from here.

24. What protection should be given to one who receives and upholds—do you see any dharma here that could be protected? Śakra says to the Buddha: good men and good women receive and uphold prajñā, draw near to it, read it, recite it, expound it, rightly recollect it—what protection should I give them? Subhūti answers in the Buddha's stead, asking back: 「汝頗見是法可守護者不？」 tr. "Do you see any dharma here that could be protected?" Śakra says: No, I see no dharma here that could be protected. The premise of protection is that there is something to protect; seek throughout prajñā for a single dharma that could be protected and it is utterly unfindable, and so the word protection has nowhere to be placed. The counter-question is not a refusal of his goodwill; it turns the question up one level—since what is to be protected is empty, what could the protector apply?

25. To practise as it is taught is protection—whoever would protect one who practises prajñā wishes to protect space. Subhūti answers directly: if one practises as it is taught within prajñāpāramitā, 「即是守護」 tr. "that is protection", namely never departing from the practice of prajñāpāramitā as it is taught; such good men and good women—neither humans nor non-humans find an opening in them. Conversely, 「若人欲護行般若波羅蜜菩薩，為欲護虛空」 tr. "if anyone wishes to protect a bodhisattva who practises prajñāpāramitā, he wishes to protect space". Protection does not come from outside; it lies right in not departing from the practice as it is taught; where the practice is, there the protection is, and apart from the practice there is nothing to protect—this is the first meaning of the gate of practice in this unit, which the treatise-author below explains broadly.

26. One cannot protect dream, mirage, illusion, or transformation, what the Buddha has conjured, the nature of dharmas or the limit of reality—a threefold turning. Subhūti poses his question three times: can you protect a dream, a mirage, a shadow, an echo, an illusion, a transformation? Can you protect what the Buddha has conjured? Can you protect the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality, suchness, the nature of the inconceivable? Śakra answers three times 「不能護」 tr. "I cannot protect it", and Subhūti concludes three times, 「若人欲護行般若波羅蜜諸菩薩摩訶薩亦如是」 tr. "if anyone wishes to protect the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who practise prajñāpāramitā, it is likewise". The three layers go from shallow to deep: dream, illusion, and the rest are false and deceptive, without reality, and so there is nothing to protect; what the Buddha has conjured, though it seems to exist, is not real, and so there is nothing to protect; the nature of dharmas and the limit of reality are unconditioned and ever-abiding, and so do not wait on protection—those who practise prajñā are of one substance with these three, and so to protect them is futile labour.

27. Knowing and seeing as a dream, yet not thinking of the dream—Śakra follows up with a question. Śakra asks further: how does a bodhisattva, practising prajñāpāramitā, know and see dharmas as like a dream, like a mirage, like a shadow, like an echo, like an illusion, like a transformation, and yet, because of knowing and seeing as he does, not think of the dream, not think that it is a dream, not think of using the dream, not think that I dream? Mirage, shadow, echo, illusion, and transformation likewise. The intent of the question is deep and fine: since the dream and the rest are used as similes for the knowing, why is not even a thought raised toward the objects of these similes? The simile is set up in the first place to break attachment; if one again gives rise to thought toward the simile, attachment has only shifted one layer—this four-phrase question presses out exactly this layer.

28. Because he does not think of form he can not think of the dream—and so on up to omniscience. Subhūti answers: if a bodhisattva practising prajñāpāramitā does not think of form, does not think that it is form, does not think of using form, does not think of my form, then this bodhisattva can also not think of the dream, not think that it is a dream, not think of using the dream, not think that I dream, and so on up to transformation, which likewise he does not think of; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness likewise, and so on up to omniscience: he does not think of omniscience, does not think that it is omniscience, does not think of using omniscience, does not think of my omniscience. The intent of the answer points straight at the root: attachment to the dream simile does not arise from the dream; it arises from attachment to the five aggregates; not thinking of dharmas such as form in the four phrases, one naturally does not think of the similes such as the dream—to treat attachment one must treat its root, and not do separate work on the simile.

29. The treatise explains training in emptiness—all dharmas in the long run return to nirvāṇa. The treatise-author explains: at that moment Śakra asks about this very deep prajñā he has heard from the Buddha and from Subhūti—what dharma does one train in? Subhūti says: because all dharmas in the long run all return to nirvāṇa, one should train in the emptiness of dharmas; therefore it is said that one who wishes to train in prajñā should train in emptiness. The answer adds a cause and condition: that dharmas in the end return to nirvāṇa is the sign that their original nature is empty and still; training in emptiness is not forcing a contemplation of emptiness onto dharmas but training in it in accord with where dharmas tend—practising emptiness is precisely according with the real mark of all dharmas.

30. Why Śakra wished to protect—evil ghosts and Māra's people constantly trouble the practitioner. The treatise-author sets out the cause and condition of Śakra's question: Śakra is a king among humans and gods, sovereign in the world, able to give what is needed, and so he wishes to act as protector; hearing prajñā he rejoices and says to the Buddha, what shall I do to protect them—whatever they need I shall give them all. Subhūti and the bhikṣu, by the dharma of those who have left home, only pay reverence; but evil ghosts constantly trouble such people, and Māra or Māra's people constantly trouble the practitioner, and therefore he asks the Buddha by what means he should protect them—whether protecting them himself, or sending his sons and followers, or sending his officials and attendants to guard them, as the Buddha instructs. Śakra's question comes from real circumstance and real kindness and is not idle discourse; precisely because it is sincere, what follows takes away his protecting without harming his reverence.

31. Prajñā is precious and need not receive favours—if it could be seen, it would not be called ultimate emptiness. The treatise-author explains the intent of Subhūti's counter-question: Subhūti knew that prajñā has immeasurable power, and also knew the Buddha's intent to make prajñāpāramitā precious and not needing to receive favours, and so he said to Śakra: within prajñāpāramitā all is empty, like an illusion, like a dream; do you see any fixed dharma that could be protected? Śakra said: No. If it could be seen, it would not be called the ultimate emptiness of prajñāpāramitā; if it cannot be seen, how can he say what he will do to protect it? The two sentences lock it in place: if it can be protected, it is not ultimate emptiness; if it is ultimate emptiness, there is nothing to protect—of Śakra's wish and the substance of prajñā, only one can stand.

32. Abiding as it is taught is protection—this person needs no protection. The treatise-author broadly explains the direct answer: if a bodhisattva, as it is taught in prajñā, with a single mind believes and accepts, reflects, rightly recollects, enters meditative concentration, contemplates the real mark of all dharmas, attains the wisdom of ultimate emptiness, accords with the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and enters the bodhisattva position—such a person does not begrudge even body and life, how much less outer things; this person needs no protection. Protection means warding off sufferings and vexations and causing one to gain happiness; this person has left all worldly dharmas, has no worry, sorrow, suffering, or vexation, does not rejoice at gaining worldly things and does not grieve at losing worldly things—this is what is meant by never departing from the practice of prajñāpāramitā as it is taught. If a person practises in accord for a short time and later loses it again, he ought to be protected; if he never departs from practice as it is taught, he needs no protection—the judgement of needing or not needing lies only in whether the practice is long or brief, held to or let go.

33. The simile of the yakṣa Kāla—the breath of prajñā is the absorption of cessation. The treatise-author cites an event as proof: as when the yakṣa Kāla struck Śāriputra on the head with his fist, Śāriputra was at that time in the absorption of cessation and did not feel the pain of the blow. 「般若波羅蜜氣分即是滅盡定」 tr. "the very breath of prajñāpāramitā is the absorption of cessation", and therefore neither humans nor non-humans can find an opening. In the absorption of cessation feeling and perception do not operate, and the pain of the fist has nowhere to land; one who practises prajñā is always in the wisdom of ultimate emptiness, and the troubles from humans and non-humans likewise find no gap to exploit. The word breath is apt: one need not be wholly the same as the absorption of cessation—merely to have the breath of prajñā is already enough to leave those who would trouble and harm with nothing to act upon.

34. Two causes and conditions for needing no protection—like cutting grass and trees, giving rise to no sorrow. The treatise-author briefly gives two causes and conditions for needing no protection and for humans and non-humans finding no opening: first, from the body up to all dharmas he is weary of and detached from them all, and because there is no self and nothing belonging to self he is attached to nothing, 「如斬草木，不生憂愁」 tr. "like cutting grass and trees, giving rise to no sorrow"; second, because he has attained the supreme and wondrous Dharma, he is protected by the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and by the gods. Of the two causes and conditions one is inner and one outer: within, attached to nothing, there is nothing that can be plundered, and harming him is like cutting grass and trees—the practitioner does not take it as sorrow; without, there is superior protection, so Śakra need not trouble himself, and protection is complete of itself. Taken together, needing no protection is not being without protection; it is that the protection does not come by request.

35. The simile of protecting space—wearying oneself in vain, of no benefit to space. The treatise-author further makes it clear with a simile: suppose a person wished to protect space—space, rain cannot spoil, wind and sun cannot dry, knives and staves cannot wound; if anyone wished to protect space, he would be 「徒自疲苦，於空無益」 tr. "wearying himself in vain, of no benefit to space". If anyone wishes to protect a bodhisattva who practises prajñā, it is likewise. To make this matter clear he asks whether one can protect space and the persons seen in a dream, shadows, echoes, and conjured persons, and the answer is no—these dharmas only deceive the mind and the eye, appearing briefly and then ceasing; how could they be protected? The bodhisattva who practises prajñā contemplates the five aggregates as false and deceptive, like a dream and the rest, and protecting him is likewise: of no benefit to the one protected, futile labour for the protector.

36. As no one can protect unconditioned dharmas—not glad at gain, not grieved at ruin. The treatise-author explains the third layer: as with unconditioned dharmas—suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality, the nature of the inconceivable—there is no one who can protect them, nor are they benefited by anything. The bodhisattva who practises prajñā knows his body as suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality, and does not discriminate; when he gains the benefit of offerings he is not glad, when he meets ruin and loss he is not grieved. What need has such a person of protection? The preceding simile made clear the futility of outer protection; this passage makes clear that the practitioner, in his own substance, does not wait upon protection: his body the same as the unconditioned, unmoved by gain and decline, the one word protection has nowhere at all to be put to use on him.

37. Dream and the rest as similes for the five aggregates—because one again gives rise to attachment toward the dream, he asks. The treatise-author explains why Śakra followed up: Śakra greatly prizes this wisdom that is like a dream and the rest—a bodhisattva who gains the power of this wisdom needs no outer protection—and so he asks how the bodhisattva knows these empty dharmas that are like a dream and the rest. As for 「如所知見不念夢等」 tr. "as he knows and sees, he does not think of the dream and the rest": dream and the rest are similes for the five aggregates; the five aggregates are what people cling to, dream and the rest are what people do not cling to; wishing to make them leave the thing clung to, he takes the thing not clung to as the simile, wishing to make them contemplate the five aggregates as a dream. Yet toward the dream too one again gives rise to attachment, and therefore Śakra asks: like a dream, and also not clinging to this dream. As for a simile: used rightly it breaks attachment; clung to, it turns into a new attachment—what Śakra asks about is precisely attachment upon the simile.

38. Four kinds of thinking of the dream—the marks of ordinary people's attachment to the dream. The treatise-author opens up the four marks of ordinary people's attachment to the dream: ordinary people use the dream as a simile for the five aggregates and then cling to the dream, saying that there definitely is a dream-dharma that arises in sleep—this is called 「念夢」 tr. "thinking of the dream"; this dream is bad, this dream is good—discriminating thus is called 「念是夢」 tr. "thinking that it is a dream", and when the dream brings good things the mind is elated, when it brings bad things the mind is grieved; again, using this dream as a simile to gain this dream-like real wisdom is called 「念用夢」 tr. "thinking of using the dream"; hearing this simile and thinking, through this dream I have come to know that all dharmas are like a dream—this is called 「念我夢」 tr. "thinking that I dream". The four marks go from coarse to fine: clinging to the dream as a real dharma, raising likes and dislikes toward the dream, relying on the dream-simile as the tool for gaining wisdom, taking the dream-simile as ground for pride in one's own ability to know—even to exalt oneself by the simile is still attachment. The other similes are likewise.

39. The four phrases of not thinking of form—entering the gate of no-self, going straight into the real mark of all dharmas. The treatise-author explains Subhūti's answer: if the practitioner does not think of form—this form, the form of humans and the form of non-humans, the form of trees and the form of mountains, the four great elements or the form made from the four great elements, and so on; does not think that this form is permanent or impermanent and so on; does not, because of form, give rise to pride in the mind; does not think of form as belonging to self or as not belonging to self, 「入無我門，直至諸法實相中」 tr. "he enters the gate of no-self and goes straight into the real mark of all dharmas". Each of the four phrases blocks something: not thinking of form blocks clinging to it as real, not thinking that it is form blocks discriminating reckoning, not thinking of using form blocks relying on it to give rise to pride, not thinking of my form blocks the reckoning of what belongs to self—when the reckoning of what belongs to self is broken, the gate of no-self opens, and one goes straight to the real mark without any detour.

40. Using the dream simile to break attachment to the five aggregates—even in the dream one does not err. The treatise-author concludes Sūtra Section Two: this person can not think of the dream, not think that it is a dream, and so on; using these similes of the dream and the rest he breaks attachment to the five aggregates, and because attachment is broken, 「於夢中亦不錯」 tr. "even in the dream he does not err". If one cannot break attachment to form, this person errs about form and errs about the dream as well. Feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience of all kinds, are likewise; illusion, mirage, echo, shadow, transformation, and the rest are likewise; the bodhisattvas know all dharmas as a dream, and toward the dream too they do not think. The judgement of erring and not erring lies in attachment, not in the simile: when attachment is broken, neither the object of the simile nor the object of the dharma is erred about; while attachment remains, both places are erred about—let the simile go back to being a simile; the whole of the work lies in breaking attachment.

41. The gods scatter sandalwood and bow to the Buddha—a thousand buddhas appear in each of the ten directions. Sūtra Section Three opens: by the Buddha's supernormal power, in the three-thousand great-thousand world, all the gods—of the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-three, the Yāma heaven, the Tuṣita heaven, the Heaven of Delight in Transformation, the heaven of the gods Sovereign over Others' Transformations, the Heaven of Brahmā's Body, the Heaven of Brahmā's Ministers, the Heaven of Brahmā's Assembly, the Great Brahmā Heaven, the Heaven of Lesser Light, and so on up to the Pure Abodes—scattered heavenly sandalwood from afar over the Buddha, came to where the Buddha was, and bowed their heads to the Buddha's feet. Again by the Buddha's supernormal power, they saw a thousand buddhas in the east expounding the Dharma, with such marks and such names, expounding this chapter of prajñāpāramitā; the bhikṣus were all named Subhūti, and the questioners were all named Śakra Devānām Indra; in the south, the west, and the north, in the four intermediate directions, above and below, a thousand buddhas likewise appeared in each. The speaking of one assembly appears throughout the ten directions, the speaker and the questioner bearing the same names—what this chapter speaks is a dharma spoken in common by the ten directions, not a teaching of one place and one time.

42. Maitreya will expound prajñā in this place—so too the bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa. The Buddha tells Subhūti: when the bodhisattva-mahāsattva Maitreya attains anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, he too will expound prajñāpāramitā in this place; just as when the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, they too will expound prajñāpāramitā in this place. The thousand buddhas in each of the ten directions, above, extend across space; Maitreya and the Auspicious Kalpa, here, reach through time: at present the ten directions speak it together, and the buddhas of the future too will speak it together in this place—the speaking of prajñā runs through the three times, and this sets up in advance the very proof for the sentence at the end of the fascicle, 「過去、未來、現在佛所說」 tr. "spoken by the buddhas of the past, the future, and the present".

43. With what mark, what cause, and what meaning Maitreya will expound—because it is ultimately pure, the Dharma should be expounded thus. Subhūti asks: when Maitreya attains awakening, with what mark, what cause, and what meaning will he expound the meaning of this prajñāpāramitā? The Buddha answers: form is neither permanent nor impermanent—thus the Dharma should be expounded; form is neither suffering nor bliss, neither self nor no-self, neither pure nor impure, neither bound nor released—thus the Dharma should be expounded; form is neither past, nor future, nor present—thus the Dharma should be expounded; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness likewise; form is ultimately pure—thus the Dharma should be expounded; feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness, and so on up to omniscience, are ultimately pure—thus the Dharma should be expounded. The earlier five pairs are negations, the one sentence of ultimate purity is an affirmation: the double negations send away all marks, and what is revealed is ultimate purity—the gate of the Dharma that Maitreya will expound is no different from the present Buddha's; because the Dharma is the same, the speaking is the same.

44. The series of questions and answers on the purity of prajñā—all returning to ultimate purity. Subhūti praises, 「是般若波羅蜜清淨」 tr. "this prajñāpāramitā is pure", and the Buddha goes back and forth with him in series: because form is pure, prajñā is pure—form neither arises nor ceases, is neither stained nor pure: this is called the purity of form; because space is pure, prajñā is pure—「虛空不生不滅故清淨」 tr. "space is pure because it neither arises nor ceases"; because form is undefiled, prajñā is pure—as space cannot be defiled; because space cannot be grasped, space is pure; because space can be spoken of, prajñā is pure—「因虛空中二聲出」 tr. "because two sounds come forth within space"; because space cannot be spoken of, prajñā is pure; because space is unfindable, prajñā is pure—space is without the mark of anything to be attained; because all dharmas neither arise nor cease and are neither stained nor pure, prajñā is pure—「一切法畢竟清淨故」 tr. "because all dharmas are ultimately pure". Layer upon layer, with space as the turning simile, at the end it all returns to the one sentence of ultimate purity: purity is not gained by counteracting; it is the original mark of dharmas.

45. Because the real mark is spoken clearly, the gods make offerings—two accounts, of the former gods and of new gods. Treatise Section Three explains: although this prajñāpāramitā is all very deep, because this chapter speaks the real mark of all dharmas clearly and distinctly, the gods of the three-thousand great-thousand world bring offerings to offer to the Buddha. Question: These are the very gods mentioned above—do they now come again? Answer: Someone says, 「事久故去，竟更來」 tr. "because the affair was long, they left, and in the end came again"; someone says that there are other, new gods who come. To make people believe in prajñā, a thousand buddhas appear in each of the ten directions; these people, by the causes and conditions of their merit, were fit to see the thousand buddhas, and by the Buddha's supernormal power the whole assembly saw the buddhas of the ten directions—what humans and gods can see is limited; without the Buddha's majestic power there would be no way to see those buddhas. The height of the offerings and the appearing of the thousand buddhas both hang on one sentence: this chapter speaks the real mark clearly.

46. The matter of Maitreya and Kāśyapa—spoken by the buddhas of the three times, it should be believed and received. The treatise-author explains the thousand bhikṣus and the thousand Śakras: those who expound the Dharma before the buddhas are all named Subhūti, those who raise questions are all named Śakra Devānām Indra, 「取其同字者有千人」 tr. "taking those of the same name, there are a thousand persons"; Subhūti and Śakra rejoice, saying 「非獨我等能說、能問」 tr. "it is not we alone who can speak and can ask". The Buddha, wishing to attest that Maitreya will expound the Dharma in this place, cites the matter at length: Maitreya will lead the great assembly to Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa and 「以足指開山頂」 tr. "open the summit of the mountain with his toe", and Mahākāśyapa's skeleton, wearing the saṃghāṭī, holding staff and bowl, will come forth; Maitreya will tell the great assembly: in the past, in the time of Śākyamuni Buddha, when human life was a hundred years, this person was foremost among the disciples in having few desires and being content and in practising dhūta; he possessed the six supernormal powers and attained the three clarities, and by the power of his supernormal powers has kept this skeleton until now—if through this small body such benefit is obtained, how is it that you, with great bodies, born in a good age, cannot benefit yourselves? Through this matter Maitreya will expound the Dharma broadly and cause immeasurable beings to reach the end of suffering. By this matter it is known that Maitreya will expound the Dharma on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa; this prajñāpāramitā is spoken by the buddhas of the past, the future, and the present, and should be believed and received.

47. The gate of the Dharma Maitreya expounds is the same as the Buddha's—the foremost purity, because cause and result resemble each other. The treatise-author explains Subhūti's question of with what mark, what cause, and what gate of the Dharma Maitreya will expound: the Buddha says, 「如我說」 tr. "as I speak"—dharmas such as form are neither permanent nor impermanent, neither bound nor released, and so on, as said before, and form is not spoken of as past, future, or present; as nirvāṇa goes beyond the three times, so too are dharmas such as form; as it was said before that all dharmas are like the mark of nirvāṇa, what Maitreya speaks is likewise. He also explains the praise of the foremost purity: the Buddha says that dharmas such as form are pure 「因果相似故」 tr. "because cause and result resemble each other"—because dharmas such as form do not lose the causes and conditions of karma, and because the mark of arising of dharmas is not found to be fixed and real, they neither arise nor cease; because the mark of dharmas is never defiled, they are neither stained nor pure. Because the cause is pure, the result is pure; the purity of prajñā is the purity of dharmas.

48. The simile of dust and water not clinging and the simile of being undefilable—having neither colour nor form, it cannot be grasped. The treatise-author explains the similes: similes are spoken here to make the matter clear. As dust and water do not cling to space, because its nature is pure, so too prajñāpāramitā, because it neither arises nor ceases, is ever pure. As space cannot be defiled, so too prajñā: although there are wrong views and idle discourse, they cannot defile it, and knives, staves, and evil things cannot destroy it—having neither colour nor form, it cannot be grasped, and because it cannot be grasped, it cannot be defiled. The two similes advance step by step: dust and water not clinging speaks of its nature being originally pure; being undefilable speaks of its purity being indestructible; the reason it cannot be destroyed is traced to its being ungraspable, and the reason it is ungraspable is traced to its having neither colour nor form—that its purity cannot be taken away is rooted in its being without marks.

49. Speakable like space; the simile of the echo—the dharmas of ordinary people and the dharmas of the noble are all false and deceptive. The treatise-author explains speakability: the bodhisattvas, abiding in eloquence and in the unobstructed knowledge of delight in speaking, expound for beings the twelve divisions of the scriptures and the eighty-four thousand heaps of Dharma—all of it the one matter of prajñāpāramitā, spoken in distinctions; therefore it is said that prajñā can be spoken and is pure like space. He further explains the simile of the echo: from space and the mountain valley, a person's voice comes out of the space of the mouth, and because a sound comes forth from this it is called an echo; as the echo is empty, so too is the voice of the mouth—both sounds are false and deceptive and not real, yet people take the voice as real and the echo as false. Prajñā too is like this: all dharmas are ultimately empty, like an illusion, like a dream; the dharmas of ordinary people and the dharmas of the noble are all false and deceptive; lesser bodhisattvas take the dharmas of ordinary people as false and deceptive and the noble dharmas as real. Voice and echo are equally false, yet people cling one-sidedly to one of them—this precisely illuminates that the division between ordinary and noble lies in feeling, not in the dharma.

50. Why noble dharmas are taken as real—they are accomplished by cultivating and gathering merit. Question: Both are false and deceptive; why do lesser bodhisattvas take the dharmas of ordinary people as false and the noble dharmas as real? Answer: Noble dharmas are accomplished by cultivating and gathering merit through keeping the precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, and therefore they are taken as real; the dharmas of ordinary people exist naturally, as the echo comes out naturally, not deliberately made, and so they are taken as false. Beings, from beginningless ages, have clung to this body, and since the voice comes from the body they take it as real; lesser bodhisattvas deeply delight in wholesome dharmas, and therefore take them as real. The treatise-author gives each side its reason: the clinging of ordinary people to the voice comes from the beginningless view of the body; the clinging of lesser bodhisattvas to noble dharmas comes from deep delight in wholesome dharmas—their clinging is understandable, yet as clinging it is one and the same, and only within ultimate emptiness can the two be seen as equal.

51. Space has no mark of sound, voice, or words—because the path of all language is cut off. The treatise-author explains unspeakability: as in space there is no mark of sound, voice, or words, and so nothing is spoken; words, sounds, and voices are all contrived dharmas, and space is an uncontrived dharma. Prajñāpāramitā too is like this: the foremost deep meaning, ultimate emptiness, without any spoken word, 「一切語言道斷故」 tr. "because the path of all language is cut off". Speakability is said from the gate of eloquence, unspeakability from the gate of the deep meaning: language is a contrived dharma, prajñā is an uncontrived dharma; to express the uncontrived by the contrived, what the expression reaches is in the end not its substance—here the two Chinese characters of the title rendered here as ‘uncontrived’ meet us once more.

52. Space is without the mark of anything to be attained—pure because the marks of existence and non-existence are unfindable. The treatise-author explains unfindability: as space is without the mark of anything to be attained, one does not find it existent and does not find it non-existent—if it existed, it would be 「無相」 tr. "without marks", as the mark of space was refuted earlier; if it did not exist, yet through this space immeasurable things are made! Prajñāpāramitā too is like this: 「有無相不可得故清淨」 tr. "it is pure because the marks of existence and non-existence are unfindable". Of space, if one says it exists, one seeks its mark and does not find it; if one says it does not exist, the myriad things are accomplished through it; prajñā is so as well—it cannot be set on either pillar, existence or non-existence. Unfindability does not mean utterly nothing existent; it means that the reckonings of existence and non-existence are here both exhausted.

53. Prajñā arises from right recollection—ultimately empty and pure. The treatise-author concludes the fascicle: prajñāpāramitā arises because of the right recollection of all dharmas; 「正憶念者，畢竟空清淨」 tr. "right recollection is ultimately empty and pure", and therefore all dharmas neither arise nor cease and are neither stained nor pure. The series of questions and answers on purity is gathered into this sentence: prajñā is not obtained from outside; it arises from the right recollection of dharmas, and the substance of right recollection is ultimate emptiness and purity—because the recollection that gives rise is pure, the wisdom that arises is pure; because the dharmas illuminated are originally pure, the purity that illuminates has somewhere to return. Fascicle sixty-four ends here, and the Last Part goes on to speak of the merit of receiving and upholding.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「無所作」 tr. "without anything done" as a denial of practice. The sūtra text itself first blocks this road: the bhikṣu's praise in worship of prajñā says it plainly—within prajñā, though no dharma arises and no dharma ceases, yet there are the aggregate of morality, the aggregate of concentration, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of the knowledge and vision of liberation; there are the four fruits, the pratyekabuddhas, the buddhas, and the Three Jewels, 「而有轉法輪」 tr. "and yet there is the turning of the wheel of the Dharma". Being without anything done means that the doer is unfindable; it does not mean the annihilation of cause and effect; the treatise-author too first raises this doubt—if there is no doer, one cannot cut off the afflictions or cultivate wholesome dharmas—and then explains it with the Buddha's words. To hear of the uncontrived and abandon cultivation is precisely to swallow the medicine and turn it into sickness.

Do not read the whole line of 「不行」 tr. "does not practise" as cultivating nothing at all. Not practising form, not practising permanent and impermanent—the sūtra text says plainly, 「是行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "this is practising prajñāpāramitā"—not practising is precisely practising; what is not practised is the setting up of fixed marks upon dharmas, not the works of the six perfections and the myriad practices. The treatise-author explains it more finely still: although the contemplation of impermanence can break the inversion of permanence, within prajñā this dharma is not accepted, 「以能生著心故」 tr. "because it can give rise to the attached mind"—not clinging even to the medicine that can cure: only this is the root meaning of not practising; to read it as abandoning contemplation and abandoning practice is exactly the opposite of the sūtra's meaning.

Do not read the words about needing no protection as saying that the practitioner may go unguarded, or that Śakra's goodwill is rejected. Subhūti's direct answer is: to practise as it is taught 「即是守護」 tr. "is protection"—protection is not cancelled; it is gathered back into practice; and the treatise-author states plainly the second cause and condition: because he has attained the supreme and wondrous Dharma, he is 「為十方諸佛菩薩、諸天守護」 tr. "protected by the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and by the gods"—the person who needs no protection is precisely the one most richly protected; it is only that the protection does not come by request. Śakra's wish comes from real circumstance; Subhūti takes away what he would protect without diminishing his reverence; let the reader not conceive here the idea that ‘prajñā refuses the protection of the gods’.

Do not read 「凡夫法、聖法皆是虛誑」 tr. "the dharmas of ordinary people and the dharmas of the noble are all false and deceptive" as saying that wholesome and unwholesome are level and that cultivation is of no use. The treatise-author immediately raises this question himself and answers it: noble dharmas are accomplished by cultivating and gathering merit through keeping the precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, and so lesser bodhisattvas take them as real; the dharmas of ordinary people exist naturally, as the echo comes out naturally. Seeing them as equal within ultimate emptiness is said in terms of the real mark; the plain difference between what is accomplished by merit and what exists naturally is said in terms of causes and conditions. Each of the two statements has its place; to cling to the first and abandon cultivation, or to cling to the second and be blind to emptiness, is equally a misreading.

Bearing on Practice

Set up no fixed marks upon the dharmas one cultivates. The summary phrase of the gate of practice in this unit is 「不行」 tr. "does not practise": giving, keeping the precepts, meditation, and recitation are carried out in their outward form as before, but upon what is done, permanent and impermanent, pure and impure, complete and incomplete, obstruction and non-obstruction—none of these is set up as a fixed mark to bind oneself. The place to examine oneself in daily use is very simple: whenever one notices arising toward some gate of the Dharma the thought ‘it must be thus’ or ‘only this is real’, that is practising permanence and the rest—remember the words that prajñā does not accept impermanence, and do not hold on even to the view that can break.

In the moment of praise and reviling, test for increase and decrease. If spoken, neither increasing nor decreasing; if not spoken, neither increasing nor decreasing—brought down to daily use, this is the checkpoint of the eight winds: when praised, ask oneself what has increased; when reviled, ask oneself what has decreased—like praising or reviling space, like praising or reviling an illusory person, 「讚時不喜，毀時不憂」 tr. "not glad when praised, not grieved when reviled". Since the real mark is not moved by speech or silence, the practitioner's mind too should not be shaken by approval or censure; this one simile can serve as a ready watchword when one meets the situation.

Rather than seek outer protection, abide in what is taught. Having heard this passage of the sūtra, when one meets fear, trouble, or harm, the first reaction is not to go out in all directions seeking protection but to turn back and examine oneself: am I still within practising as it is taught? With a single mind believing and accepting, reflecting, rightly recollecting, entering meditative concentration and contemplating the real mark—to abide in this is protection, and neither humans nor non-humans find an opening; apart from this, even Śakra in person could not protect space. Keep the two causes and conditions together in mind: within, attached to nothing among dharmas, like cutting grass and trees, giving rise to no sorrow; without, the supreme and wondrous Dharma itself calls forth the protection of the buddhas and the gods.

Use the simile and do not cling to the simile. The similes of dream, illusion, and the rest are tools for breaking attachment to the five aggregates; the four kinds of thinking of the dream in ordinary people—clinging to the dream as real, discriminating likes and dislikes in the dream, relying on the simile as an attainment, exalting oneself by the simile—turn the tool into an object of clinging once again. In daily use, when one hears a good simile or gains a gate of the Dharma, just as the experience is bright and keen one must guard against the two barriers of 「念用夢」 tr. "thinking of using the dream" and 「念我夢」 tr. "thinking that I dream": to take pride in having gained a simile is attachment; the whole work of breaking attachment is done on the four phrases of not thinking of form, and there is no work to be done on the simile.

Further Resonances

The First Part, three sūtra sections and three treatise sections, is the passage in which the chapter on the uncontrived real mark establishes its tenet. Sūtra Section One establishes the tenet of 「無所作」 tr. "without anything done"—because the doer is unfindable, a whole line of not practising is precisely practising, and spoken or not spoken it neither increases nor decreases, like space, like an illusory person; within ultimate emptiness the bodhisattva arouses the mind in order to deliver beings equal to space, the nature of beings neither decreases nor increases, and therefore it is called the great adornment; the bhikṣu's praise first leaves clear proof that emptiness does not destroy fruits and results. Sūtra Section Two presses the uncontrived into the gate of practice—to train in prajñā is to train in emptiness; the question of protection turns over three times, to practise as it is taught is protection, and whoever would protect one who practises prajñā wishes to protect space; the breaking of the four kinds of thinking of the dream searches out even the subtle delusion of clinging to the simile—because one does not think of form one does not think of the dream, entering the gate of no-self and going straight into the real mark of all dharmas. Sūtra Section Three attests the Dharma by events—a thousand buddhas in each of the ten directions speak this chapter together, Maitreya and the bodhisattvas of the Auspicious Kalpa will expound prajñā in this place, the events of the toe opening the mountain and Kāśyapa's skeleton bear witness to it, and what the buddhas of the three times speak is the same; at the end the series of questions and answers on purity, with space turned seven times as the simile—form is pure, undefiled, ungraspable, speakable, unspeakable, unfindable—all returns to the ultimate purity of all dharmas, and is gathered into prajñā arising from right recollection, right recollection being ultimately empty and pure. Nothing to do, nothing to protect, nothing to increase or decrease, and yet the speaker speaks it, the practitioner practises it, the gods make offerings to it—the uncontrived and the real mark are not two, and the First Part has spoken of their substance. What merits one who receives and upholds prajñā gains in this life; how the promise never to suffer sickness of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body is reconciled with karmic retribution; what the name of the precious-treasure pāramitā takes as its meaning; how the sentence that, whether there are buddhas or no buddhas, the mark of dharmas ever abides is established; and on to the gods' praise of the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma, and the Buddha's saying that it is neither turning nor returning—the Last Part of this chapter unfolds these in continuation; they are not anticipated here.

無作實相品之下The Uncontrived Real Mark, Part 2 of 2

全文五層 →Full five layers →

義疏Exposition

無作實相品之下：受持般若現世功德與諸天護持、大珍寶波羅蜜、第二法輪轉非轉非還、清淨說般若十義、無畢定福田

在問什麼

之上把「無作」立為全品之眼：般若無所作，作者不可得；不行諸法、不行常無常，是行般若；說與不說皆不增不減，如虛空、如幻人；菩薩為度如虛空等眾生而大莊嚴；帝釋問守護而須菩提答以無法可護；十方各千佛現，彌勒當於是處說般若；末後十番清淨譬喻，把般若收於畢竟清淨。之下承此清淨之體，轉問清淨之用：畢竟清淨的般若，落在受持者身上是什麼樣的果報？——終不病眼耳鼻舌身、不刑殘不衰耄不橫死，諸天隨從，六齋日眾會，福德無量；佛更以「大珍寶」稱之——能拔三惡道貧窮、能與大姓諸天四果乃至菩提，而珍寶之為珍寶，正在其無所得、無染污、無力無非力、不與不捨。經末諸天讚見第二法輪轉，佛卻答非第一非第二、無轉無還——用之極盛處，體之無作依然。之下要問的，是體用一如的一問：無作之法何以有大用？大用之中何以仍是無作？珍寶波羅蜜答前半，轉法輪非轉非還答後半；而清淨說般若十義與無畢定福田，把說法者與福田也一併攝入無作實相之中，全品至此首尾圓合。

逐段解明

一、受持般若現世功德；諸天隨從；六齋日說般若福德無量。 之下開篇，須菩提向佛稟白：善男子善女人受持般若、親近正憶念者，終不病眼，耳鼻舌身亦終不病，身無刑殘、不衰耄、終不橫死；無數百千萬諸天——四天王天乃至淨居諸天——皆悉隨從聽受；六齋日（月八日、二十三日、十四日、二十九日、十五日、三十日）諸天眾會，法師所說般若處皆悉來集；在大眾中說般若，得無量無邊阿僧祇不可思議不可稱量福德。此段把之上的清淨體翻到受持者的現世身上：不病不殘不橫死是身報，諸天隨從是眷屬報，說法福德無量是法施報。須注意經文的條件語——受持、親近、正憶念三事並舉，功德繫於如法行持，非繫於一卷在手；此意待論④「非必受報業」一問方全部剖明。

二、般若是大珍寶：能拔能與。 佛可其言而自標一名：般若波羅蜜是大珍寶。何等是大珍寶？能拔地獄、畜生、餓鬼及人中貧窮；能與剎利、婆羅門大姓、居士大家，能與四天王天處乃至非有想非無想處，能與四果、辟支佛道、阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。所以能如此，是因般若中廣說十善道、四禪、四無量心、四無色定、四念處乃至八聖道分、六波羅蜜、內空乃至無法有法空、佛十力乃至一切智；從中修學，出生人中大姓、欲界六天、色界諸天乃至非有想非無想處天，得四果、辟支佛道乃至菩提。「拔」與「與」二字是珍寶義的兩翼：拔是離苦，與是得樂；從人天善趣直至無上菩提，一切樂因緣善法皆從般若中出——珍寶之「大」，大在無一善法在其外。

三、無所得珍寶波羅蜜。 珍寶波羅蜜中，無有法可得——若生若滅、若垢若淨、若取若捨；亦無有法若善若不善、若世間若出世間、若有漏若無漏、若有為若無為——是名無所得珍寶波羅蜜。這一段緊接在能拔能與的大用之後，正是全品「無作」之眼的重現：能與一切善法的寶藏，其中卻無一法可得。生滅垢淨取捨是三對行相，善惡世出世漏無漏為無為是四對法類——七對並遣，是要人於珍寶之中覓不得一件「寶物」；寶不在所得之物，正在無所得之照。

四、無染珍寶波羅蜜。 是珍寶波羅蜜，無有法能染污。何以故？所用染法不可得故——名無染珍寶波羅蜜。染污須有能染之法；能染之法既不可得，染於何立？此與之上十番清淨中「虛空不可污」一喻同脈：非是垢來而拒之，是垢本不可得。無所得故無染，無染故是珍寶——三名相貫，同一畢竟空。

五、如是不知不分別不得不戲論；禮覲諸佛，成就眾生淨佛國土。 菩薩行般若時，亦如是不知、亦如是不分別、亦如是不得、亦如是不戲論，是為能修行般若；亦能禮覲諸佛，從一佛國至一佛國，供養恭敬尊重讚歎諸佛，遊諸佛剎，成就眾生、淨佛國土。四個「不」字是修行珍寶波羅蜜的行相：不知是不作知解，不分別是不立自他，不得是不取定相，不戲論是言思路絕。而緊接的卻是遍歷佛國、成熟眾生、莊嚴佛土的大行——經文自己把「無作」與「大用」擺在同一句中：唯其四不，方能遍行；此意論④以「無所得方便力」點破。

六、無力無非力，不與不捨；有佛無佛，法相常住。 般若於諸法無有力、無非力，亦無受亦無與，不生不滅、不垢不淨、不增不減；非過去未來現在；於三界不捨不住；於六波羅蜜、內空乃至無法有法空、四念處乃至八聖道分、佛十力乃至十八不共法、四果乃至一切智，皆不與亦不捨；不與阿羅漢法不捨凡人法，不與辟支佛法不捨阿羅漢法，不與佛法不捨辟支佛法，不與無為法不捨有為法。何以故？若有諸佛、若無諸佛，是諸法相常住不異，法相、法住、法位常住，不謬不失故。這一大段逐法疊過，把珍寶波羅蜜的「不」推到極處：從凡人法到佛法，從有為到無為，般若一律不與不捨——不與，是無一法可授；不捨，是無一法可離。而其所以然收在「法相常住」：般若非造作諸法者，諸法實相本自常住，有佛無佛不增不減；般若只是如實照之，故於一切位中無與無捨。

七、非必受報業故無眾患；良藥、𤻝人利器之喻。 論主開卷即設難：受持般若正憶念，猶有眾患，云何言終不病眼等？答：上〈功德、地獄品〉中已廣說，所謂「非必受報業」故無眾患；又常受持正憶念、如所說行般若故無眾患。譬如良藥能破眾病，若不能將順，則不除患，非藥之失；又如𤻝人雖得利器，不能御難，非器之過。行者如是，先世重罪、今世不如所說行故，不得般若力，非般若過。這一答把經①的功德許諾放回因果的正位：不病不橫死所轉者，是「非必受報」之業——可轉之業；先世定業與今世不如說行，二者皆能障般若之力現前。藥喻責將順，器喻責御用——功德不驗時，過在受持者之行，不在般若之力；此是護持經文而不墮迷信的關鍵一判。

八、天上經卷傳聞非佛說；帝釋誦念與兜率補處。 論主再設問：天上亦有般若，諸天何以於六齋日隨逐不淨人身求聞般若？答：「天上有經卷」是傳聞如是，亦非佛說。若令有者，忉利、兜率當有——阿修羅共忉利天鬪時，佛勅帝釋「汝當誦念般若」；兜率天上常有補處菩薩為諸天說，故可有。色界諸天身及衣服輕微，乃至無兩數，常樂宴寂、受禪定味，故不應有經卷。論主考訂傳聞的手法可觀：不直斥其妄，而按天界的實情分層裁量——有誦念因緣者（忉利）、有說法主者（兜率）可有，樂定無為者（色界）不應有。經卷所在，繫於法緣之有無，不繫於處所之高下。

九、閻浮提人三因緣勝諸天。 諸天著二種樂——欲樂、定樂，不能懃苦書持般若；閻浮提人能精進書、持、受學、正憶念。如經說：「閻浮提人以三因緣勝諸天及欝單曰人：一者、能斷淫欲，二者、強識念力，三者、能精懃勇猛。」是故諸天來下，禮拜般若經卷，或欲聞說。此段是全單元最能振起行者的一筆：樂報勝處反成法行之障——著樂則不能懃苦；苦樂參半的閻浮提，正以能斷、能記、能勤三事勝過天人。諸天下禮人間經卷，尊的不是紙墨，是懃苦書持之行；生在此土者當識自家長處所在。

十、諸天來下增眾生信敬；大力諸天來則小鬼避去。 復有人言：天上若有經卷，遠來供養，福德增益，求般若亦無厭足；有菩薩，天欲令般若尊重，故來下，欲令眾生益加信敬——「諸天尚來，何況我等！」行者若聞好香、若見光明，有是希有事故，深心信樂般若。又未離欲人，惡鬼魔民常逐伺便，令墮惡處；從四天王乃至淨居天，是大力諸天來，小鬼避去。菩薩能生清淨大心，如先品中說，故來隨逐法師。諸天來下的因緣至此列足：自增福德、令法尊重、增人信敬、卻鬼護行——護持之義不在代行者修，而在成其信、卻其障；香光之瑞只是助信之緣，信之所託仍是般若自身。

十一、六齋日觀人心；惡日受八戒則諸天歡喜。 六齋日，諸天來觀人心，十五日、三十日上白諸天。復次，是六齋日是惡日，令人衰凶；若有是日受八戒、持齋、布施、聽法，是時諸天歡喜，小鬼不得其便，利益行者；是日法師高座說法，如是等種種因緣故諸天皆來。齋日之制由此得其理據：日之「惡」不在日辰本身有咎，而在其為衰凶易起之時；正於此時攝身受戒、布施聽法，轉最險之日為最勝之緣。諸天觀心而喜，喜的是人心向善，非喜祭祀供養——齋日之義在自淨其心。

十二、說法者得福無量；諸天利根福田勝。 說法者讚歎無量無邊無上法——所謂般若波羅蜜，亦得無量無邊福德。若為人說，人鈍根、福德薄，故得福少；諸天利根、福德多、福田勝，故得福多。故佛說：行者齋日於諸天及大眾中說般若，得福無量。福從田生，田以受法之器為勝——同一說法，聽者根器利鈍、福德厚薄不同，說者所得之福亦異。此段回應經①六齋日於諸天眾前說般若得福無量之義（原文歷數月八日、二十三日、十四日、二十九日、十五日、三十日，說是般若波羅蜜者得「無量、無邊、阿僧祇、不可思議、不可稱量福德」）：齋日說法福勝，正因諸天來會、福田殊勝故。

十三、珍寶波羅蜜如如意寶珠：離苦與樂。 此中佛可須菩提所言，復自說無量福德因緣，所謂「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶波羅蜜」。如如意寶珠能滿一切人願；般若能滿一切眾生願，所謂離苦、得樂。離苦者，能拔眾生地獄、畜生、餓鬼及人中貧窮；與樂者，能與剎利大姓乃至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。是樂因緣善法，般若中廣說，所謂十善道乃至一切智。如如意寶能出衣服飲食金銀等隨意所須；般若亦如是，能令得十善道乃至一切智、剎利大姓乃至佛。如意珠喻把經②的拔與二義收入一喻：珠隨意出物，般若隨機與法——從衣食之願到成佛之願，願無大小皆滿，故稱「大」珍寶。

十四、如意寶失則憂惱，般若常不失；出世間般若不分別善不善。 復次，如人得如意寶，隨意所須皆得，失則憂惱；般若不生不滅、常不失，世世與眾生樂，末後令得佛道。又如人得如意寶則心生自高、輕賤他人，是為衰因緣；若人得世間般若，亦如是分別——著諸善法、捨諸惡法，生高心、輕蔑餘人，則開諸罪門。珍寶般若波羅蜜出世間般若波羅蜜中，不分別善不善，是名大珍寶波羅蜜，能利眾生畢竟無憂；是珍寶波羅蜜，善法尚不能污染，何況不善法！這一段是喻中翻進一層：如意寶有得失之憂，般若無失；如意寶令人自高，世間般若亦令人挾善自高——著善捨惡之分別心，正是開罪之門。出世間般若不分別善不善，非是善惡不辨，是不於善法上生著、不於惡人上生慢；「善法尚不能污染」一句最峻——著善即染，此是珍寶無染義的最細處。

十五、「如是亦不知」：不取相不生著，斷諸戲論。 如此中說「如是亦不知」者：如上說般若相，亦不作是知、不作知者；不取相亦不生著，不分別，不得定相；是名「無有過患、無有法愛、斷諸戲論」。論主釋經文四不之首：於般若相上更不立一個「知」與「知者」——知相若立，能所即分，取著隨起。無過患、無法愛、斷戲論三句是不知之果：法愛者，於善法上生愛著，亦是縛；連法愛俱遣，方是珍寶之無染。

十六、實修行者以法禮佛，自利利他，得淨佛世界。 如是人能實修行般若，以法禮佛、自得實法利益故，能利益眾生；能自離惡、能令眾生離惡故，得淨佛世界。用無所得方便力故，知諸法畢竟寂滅相，而能為眾生故起諸善法。此段點破經③四不與大行並陳之疑：「無所得方便力」六字是樞紐——知畢竟寂滅是照體，為眾生起善法是起用；唯無所得，起法而不著法，故寂滅與善行不相妨。以法禮佛者，禮在如法行持，不在形儀；自得實利方能利他，自離惡方能令他離惡——淨佛世界從自淨行來。

十七、無力無非力：虛空喻。 般若畢竟清淨故，無力、無非力；譬如虛空，雖無有法，而因虛空得有所作。無有一法定相可著，故無有力；得諸法實相，於諸善法無礙，乃至降魔成佛，非無有力。「不受不與」「不生不滅」等乃至「不捨有為法、不與無為法」，亦如是。虛空喻答盡經④「無力無非力」之兩難：虛空自身無一物，而一切造作皆因虛空得成——般若無一法可著故無力，而降魔成佛之大用皆因般若得成故非無力。力不在把持一法，正在無礙。

十八、有佛無佛，諸法性常住；入法性中求則無錯謬。 此中說因緣：「有佛、無佛，諸法性常住世間。」諸法性者即是諸法實相，諸法實相者即是般若波羅蜜。若以常無常等求諸法實相，是皆為錯；若人入法性中求，則無有錯謬；法性常故不失。論主以三個「即是」把法性、實相、般若連成一貫：般若非佛所造、亦非佛滅而亡，是諸法本然之性；佛出世只是說之，不出世法性自若。求之之道亦由此定：以常無常等相求，是拿戲論量實相，必錯；入法性中求——放下相待之量而如實照之，方無錯謬。

十九、諸天散華：我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉。 經⑤開篇：諸天子虛空中立，發大音聲，踊躍歡喜，以漚鉢羅華、波頭摩華、拘物頭華、分陀利華而散佛上，如是言：「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉。」是中無量百千天子得無生法忍。四華齊散、大聲唱讚，是全品供養之最盛處；「第二法輪轉」一唱，把此會說般若直接接上鹿野苑初轉之統——諸天眼中，此會之利益堪與初轉並稱。而無量天子即席得無生法忍，正是「第二轉」之現證。

二十、非第一轉非第二轉：無法有法空故。 佛告須菩提：是法輪非第一轉、非第二轉；是般若波羅蜜不為轉故出、不為還故出，無法有法空故。諸天讚聲未落，佛即遮之——非抑此會，是遮「第一第二」之數相：法輪若有第一第二，即墮生滅次第之中；般若之出，不為建立一法（轉）、不為除遣一法（還）。「無法有法空」是所依之空：有法空故無可轉，無法空故無可還——此句待論⑤逐層剖之。

廿一、諸法相空：般若相空乃至一切種智相空。 須菩提問：云何無法有法空故，般若不為轉不為還故出？佛答：般若波羅蜜般若波羅蜜相空，乃至檀波羅蜜檀波羅蜜相空；內空內空相空，乃至無法有法空無法有法空相空；四念處相空乃至八聖道分相空；佛十力相空乃至十八不共法相空；四果、辟支佛道相空；一切種智一切種智相空。每法疊其自名而言「相空」，句式本身即是法義：非是般若之外別有一空來空之，是般若自相即空——法法自相空，故無一法可為所轉、無一法可為所還。連「無法有法空」自身亦相空，空亦不立，方是徹底。

廿二、摩訶波羅蜜：雖得無所得，雖轉無所轉。 須菩提讚：諸菩薩摩訶薩般若波羅蜜是摩訶波羅蜜！雖一切法自相空，而諸菩薩因般若得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦無法可得；轉法輪，亦無法可轉、亦無法可還；摩訶般若中亦無有法可見。是法不可得，若轉若還，一切法畢竟不生故；空相不能轉不能還，無相相不能轉不能還，無作相不能轉不能還。須菩提之讚，讚在兩不相礙處：自相空而能令菩薩得菩提，是空不礙得；得而無所得、轉而無所轉，是得不礙空——能於此二邊俱不墮者，方稱「摩訶」。三解脫門之相亦不能轉還，遮至能遮之門自身，無一法立於轉還之數。

廿三、清淨說般若：十義標目與無畢定福田。 若能如是說般若——教、照、開、示，分別，顯現，解釋，淺易——有能如是教者，是名清淨說般若波羅蜜。亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者；若無說無受無證，亦無滅者，是說法中亦無畢定福田。經⑤末後把說法自身攝入無作：能以十事說之，名「清淨說」；而清淨說之極，說者受者證者滅者俱不可得，乃至福田亦無畢定。說法之盛與說者之空同在一句，正是全品體用一如的縮影；十義之訓詁與福田之義，論⑤末後逐一開之。

廿四、諸天歡喜之故：畢竟清淨平等實相，大利益眾生。 論⑤釋曰：諸天聞般若大歡喜踊躍。諸天身輕、利根，分別著相，知有輕重；聞般若畢竟清淨、平等實相，大利益眾生，無有過者，是故踊躍歡喜；起身業口業，持供養具蓮華等供養於佛，作是言「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉」。論主先明讚者之器：諸天利根而善分別，其讚非泛泛隨喜，是稱量諸法輕重之後的判語——無有過於般若者。身口二業並供，唱言載於口業，散華載於身業，讚之至也。

廿五、因初轉乃至法盡通名為轉；見利益故讚言第二。 問曰：初說法令人得道是名轉法輪，今何以言第二法輪轉？若以佛說名為轉法輪者，皆是法輪，何限第二？答曰：初說法名定實一法輪，因初轉乃至法盡，通名為轉。是諸天見是會中多有人發無上道、得無生法忍，見是利益故讚言「第二轉法輪」。初轉法輪，八萬諸天得無生法忍，阿若憍陳如一人得初道；今無量諸天得無生法忍，是故說第二法輪轉；今轉法輪似如初轉。兩難並設而一答收之：定實而數者唯初轉一輪，其後通名為轉，本無第二之數；諸天言第二，是見利益之盛堪比初轉而發的讚辭——以得忍人數相況（八萬對無量），故曰「似如初轉」。讚辭非法數，此是會通經文與佛遮之言的第一層。

廿六、諸佛事密現二種：大雨大樹之喻。 問曰：今轉法輪多人得道，初轉得道者少，云何以大喻小？答曰：諸佛事有二種：一者密，二者現。初轉法輪，聲聞人見八萬、一人得初道；諸菩薩見無數阿僧祇人得聲聞道，無數人種辟支佛道因緣，無數阿僧祇人發無上道心、行六波羅蜜道、得諸深三昧陀羅尼門，十方無量眾生得無生法忍，無量阿僧祇眾生從初地乃至十地住、得一生補處、得坐道場，聞是法疾成佛道——如是等不可思議相，是名密轉法輪相。譬如大雨，大樹則多受，小樹則少受。以是故當知初轉法輪亦大，以後喻前無咎。密現之判是佛事觀的大開眼：同一初轉，聲聞所見與菩薩所見廣狹懸絕——所見隨器，非事有二。大雨之喻雙關：雨無偏私，受有大小；初轉之大，小樹之量不足以量之。

廿七、轉法輪非一非二：因中說果；無轉是有法空，無還是無法空。 「轉法輪非一非二」者，為畢竟空及轉法輪果報涅槃故如是說，是則因中說果。法輪即是般若波羅蜜；般若無起無作相，故無轉無還。如十二因緣中說：無明畢竟空故不能實生諸行等；無明虛妄顛倒、無有實定故，無法可滅。說世間生法故名為轉，說世間滅法故名為還；般若中無此二事，故說無轉無還。「無法有法空故」——無轉是「有法空」，無還是「無法空」。論主至此把經⑤的關鍵句全部拆開：轉還二字先訓其義——轉是說生法（流轉門），還是說滅法（還滅門）；再以無明畢竟空證之——生法本不實生，滅法無可實滅；故有法空遮轉、無法空遮還，一句「無法有法空」恰好雙遮二門。法輪即般若、般若無起無作——全品品題「無作實相」四字，在此與轉法輪義合為一處。

廿八、四種相與四種邪正行；破非有非無故名無法有法空。 問曰：須菩提何以作是問——有法無法空故，般若不為轉不為還故出？而佛還以空答？答曰：有人說：諸法有四種相：一者說有，二者說無，三者說亦有亦無，四者說非有非無。是中邪憶念故四種邪行，著此四法故名為邪道；是中正憶念故四種正行，中不著故名為正道。是中破非有非無故名「無法有法空」；佛說乃至破非有非無，故說無有轉無有還。四句之判在憶念之邪正、著與不著，不在句之自身：同是四句，邪念而著即邪道，正念不著即正道。無法有法空所破者是四句之最後一句——非有非無；最後一句若存，猶有一微細住處，破至此句，四句俱盡。

廿九、破非有非無有二種：三句破與涅槃實相破。 破「非有非無」有二種：一者用上三句破，二者用涅槃實相破。須菩提雖知佛以涅槃破有無，是中有新發意菩薩或錯謬故用三句破非有非無，於無法有法空中還生邪見；是故佛說「有法無法亦自相空」，故說般若無轉無還。般若中無般若相，一切法無相故；乃至檀波羅蜜亦如是；內空乃至一切種智相空亦如是。二破之別是根器之別：以三句破第四句，是以句遣句，遣者自身仍是句，新學於此易於「無法有法空」上更生一見；以涅槃實相破，則句與能破俱寂。佛答「有法無法亦自相空」正堵前一路之弊——空亦自空，無可住腳。

三十、大波羅蜜：雖得亦無所得，雖轉亦無所轉。 爾時須菩提及大眾歡喜讚歎般若，作是言：「大波羅蜜，所謂般若波羅蜜。」大波羅蜜者，所謂一切法雖自性空，而般若能利益菩薩，令得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提；雖得亦無所得，雖轉法輪亦無所轉。此讚與廿二段經文相應而論主重宣其義：「大」之所以為大，不在力用之廣，在空與用之並立無違——自性空而利益不虛，得與轉宛然而無所得無所轉。

卅一、自性空中亦無自性空，是故名摩訶波羅蜜。 問曰：若諸法空、般若空、阿耨多羅三藐三菩提亦空，不應讚般若為摩訶波羅蜜？答曰：此中說一切法自性空故，自性空中亦無自性空，是故名摩訶波羅蜜。若無空相，不應作難。以畢竟空故無所礙，而能行諸善法、得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提；世俗法故，非第一義。難者以空害讚，答者以空成讚：空若是一法，則讚與所讚俱壞；空自身亦空，故空不礙讚、不礙行、不礙得。末句「世俗法故，非第一義」把讚辭安於二諦之正位：摩訶波羅蜜之名是世俗施設，第一義中名亦不立——讚而知其為世俗，讚即無過。

卅二、無定相故無所斷，無所斷故無轉無還。 諸佛雖說法令他得道、破煩惱、從此至彼，名為「轉」。今我等諸煩惱虛誑、顛倒、妄語、無有定相；若無定相，為何所斷？若無所斷，亦無轉無還，是故說「雖轉法輪，亦無轉還」。何以故？般若中無有法五眼所能見若轉若還，一切法從本已來畢竟不生故。此段從所破一邊再證無轉：轉義本繫於破煩惱；煩惱既虛誑無定相，能斷所斷俱不可得——斷尚不立，轉於何有？「無有法五眼所能見若轉、若還」一句最重：肉眼天眼慧眼法眼佛眼遍照之極，猶覓不得一法若轉若還——非眼力不及，是法本不生。

卅三、六畏不轉不還；三解脫門，捨我我所，是名說得解脫。 是自性空、畢竟空，非轉相非還相。畏墮常故不轉，畏墮滅故不還；畏墮有故不轉，畏墮無故不還；畏著世間故不轉，畏著涅槃故不還。如是自性空、畢竟空、十八空等無量諸空，是空解脫門，不轉不還；無相、無作亦如是。入是三解脫門，捨我我所心，是名說得解脫。六畏三對——常滅、有無、世間涅槃——把不轉不還說成離邊之行相：轉則墮常墮有墮世間，還則墮滅墮無墮涅槃；不轉不還，正是於六邊俱不安腳。三解脫門同此不轉不還，而入門之效只在一事：捨我我所心——解脫不是得一個出離處，是放下能執之心；「說得解脫」者，就世俗言說名之為得。

卅四、說教照開示分別顯現解釋淺易：十義訓詁。 能如是不取相不著心，說般若波羅蜜，教照等。「說」者，若案文、若口傳。「教」者，為人讚般若，令受持讀誦正憶念。「照」者，如人執燈照物；人不知般若，以智慧明照之令知。「開」者，如寶藏閉門，雖有好物而不能得，開其門則隨意所取；如人疑不信般若者，開邪疑扉、折無明關，是人則隨意所取。「示」者，如人眼視不明，指示好醜；如人有小信小智者，示是道非道、是利是失等。「分別」者，分別諸法是善是不善、是罪是福、是世間是涅槃；經書略說難解難信，能廣為分別解說令得信解。「顯現」者，佛為種種眾生說種種法，或時毀呰善法、助不善法，趣令眾生得解。「說法」者，說佛意趣以應眾生，令知輕重相。「解釋」者，如囊中寶物繫口則人不知，解經卷囊、解釋義理；又如重物披析令輕，種種因緣譬喻解釋本末令易解。「淺易」者，如深水難渡，分散此水令淺則渡者皆易；般若如水甚深，論議方便力故種種說，能令淺易，乃至小智之人皆能信解。能以十種為首說甚深義，是名清淨說般若波羅蜜義。十義是一部完整的說法學：說教立其傳，照開示破其暗而導其入，分別顯現說法解釋淺易應其機而竟其解——燈、藏、囊、水諸喻皆取日用之物，正見說法之功在令深者淺、閉者開、重者輕。而十義之首冠以「不取相、不著心」六字——清淨說之「清淨」，不在辭令之工，在說者之無著。

卅五、第一義中實無所說：無說無受無證無滅無福田。 第一義中，實無所說，畢竟空故「無說」，無說故「無受」，無受故「無證」，無證故「無滅諸煩惱」者，若無滅煩惱則「無福田」。五無相貫如鎖鏈：說受證滅田，後後依前前而立；第一義中第一環既不立，五環俱寂。此與前段十義說法非是相違：十義是世俗門中的清淨說，五無是第一義中的實無說——說得愈善巧，愈須知實無所說；二諦並立，說者方不自負其說。

卅六、受與證；畢定者諸法同無餘涅槃性，故說無畢定福田。 「受」者名信受、讀、誦；行是法，得沙門果、無生法忍，是名為「證」。證時諸煩惱滅，得有餘涅槃；得有餘涅槃故是畢定福田。畢定者，諸法同無餘涅槃性，故說無畢定福田。品末此段把「無畢定福田」訓至字根：受是信持之位，證是果忍之位，證者煩惱滅、得有餘涅槃，就世俗說正是畢定福田；而「畢定」二字若究其實——諸法同無餘涅槃性，本自寂滅，則無一法可畢定安立為福田。世俗有福田，第一義無畢定——全品以此一句作結：福田宛然而畢定不可得，正是無作實相品之「無作」落在福田義上的最後一印。

不要讀錯

不要把「終不病眼，耳、鼻、舌、身亦終不病……終不橫死」讀成持誦必無病的護符。論主明釋：所轉者是「非必受報」之業，且須常受持、正憶念、如所說行；先世重罪、今世不如所說行者，不得般若力——非般若過。良藥不將順則不除患，利器不能御則不濟難：功德繫於行，不繫於誦數。

不要把珍寶般若「不分別善、不善」讀成善惡不辨。論主明判：世間般若著善捨惡、生高心輕蔑餘人，則開諸罪門；出世間般若不分別者，是不於善法生著、不挾善自高——「善法尚不能污染」，斥的是著善之染，不是廢善之行。

不要把「天上有經卷」當作論主所許之定說。論主明言此是「傳聞如是，亦非佛說」，唯就忉利、兜率之法緣裁其可有，色界不應有——引之者當存傳聞之分際，勿轉為天藏實有之談。

不要把佛言「非第一轉、非第二轉」讀成貶抑諸天之讚。論主會通：諸天見利益之盛，讚言第二，是稱歎之辭；佛遮第一第二，是遮法輪之數相——讚不誤，執數則誤。密現二種更明初轉之大非聲聞所見之量，「以後喻前無咎」。

不要把「無轉無還」讀成般若廢說法、廢斷惑。轉還所遮者是實有一法可轉、實有煩惱可斷之執；煩惱虛誑無定相故無所斷，非謂不修不斷。緊接十義訓詁正是廣開說法之門：世俗門中清淨說宛然，第一義中無說無受——二諦各有其位。

不要把「無畢定福田」讀成受供無福、僧非福田。論主明釋：證者煩惱滅、得有餘涅槃，是畢定福田——世俗門中福田儼然；無畢定者，是就諸法同無餘涅槃性的第一義說。若執此句而慢福田，正是取無法相而墮於還。

修行作用

拿「非必受報業」與藥器二喻自檢受持之效。誦般若而患難不息時，不疑經、不怨法，先自問二事：先世之業屬可轉否，今世之行如所說否。將順其藥、善御其器——把功德不驗處轉為檢點行持處，此是受持般若的正確用心。

拿閻浮提三因緣自重此生。能斷淫欲、強識念力、能精懃勇猛——三事是此土行者勝過諸天之處。諸天著欲樂定樂而不能懃苦書持，人身苦樂相參，正堪精進；每覺此土多苦，當念諸天尚且下來禮拜人間經卷，勿自輕此生此身。

拿六齋日之義立自家的攝心之日。惡日非咒，是衰凶易起、放逸易乘之時；於此日受八戒、持齋、布施、聽法，轉險日為勝緣。今人未必依六齋古制，可自立定期攝心之日——要在以定期之律，防不覺之逸。

拿「無所得方便力」調和空觀與善行。日用中或疑：既觀諸法畢竟寂滅，何必更起善法？記取論主之語——知畢竟寂滅相，而能為眾生故起諸善法；四不（不知不分別不得不戲論）不是四樁廢行之令，是行善而不著善的心法。空觀愈明，行門愈不礙。

拿『著善開罪門』照自家的法愛。得少善法便自高輕人，是世間般若之病；於善法生愛著，論主名之「法愛」，亦在斷諸戲論之列。日課可自問：我持的善，是在淨心，還是在長慢？善法尚不能染的珍寶義，是懸在一切修善人頭上的明鏡。

拿六畏作離邊的路標。畏墮常故不轉、畏墮滅故不還，乃至畏著世間、畏著涅槃——修行人取捨之間，常在六邊上安腳而不自知：求一常果、慕一滅境、厭世間而執涅槃。六畏之文可作定期自檢：我今所求，落在哪一邊上？不轉不還，是於六邊俱不安腳的行處。

拿十義自量說法與勸人之分寸。為人說深法，當依十義次第：先照其暗、開其疑、示其道，再分別解釋令淺易——不取相不著心為之首。勸人學般若而人不解時，先自問十事備否，勿遽責聽者之鈍。

承衍

之下承之上而來的，是由清淨之體開出大用、再把大用收歸無作的一條線。之上立起無作實相的全幅義理：般若無所作、作者不可得，不行諸法是行般若，說與不說不增不減如虛空如幻人，菩薩為度如虛空等眾生故大莊嚴，守護行般若者如護虛空，十番清淨譬喻收於畢竟清淨。之下先開其用：受持親近正憶念者現世不病不橫死、諸天隨從、六齋日眾會福德無量；佛自標「大珍寶」之名——能拔三惡道貧窮、能與大姓諸天四果乃至菩提，而即拔即與之中，無所得、無染污、無力無非力、不與不捨，法相法住法位有佛無佛常住不異。論主以「非必受報業」與藥器二喻把功德安於行持之正位，以天上經卷之辨、三因緣之勝、六齋之制、如意珠之喻，把諸天護持與珍寶大用一一落實。經末諸天讚見第二法輪轉，佛答非一非二、無轉無還——論主拆之：轉是說生法、還是說滅法，無明畢竟空故生法不實生、滅法無可滅，有法空遮轉、無法空遮還；密現二種明初轉之大，四句二破明空亦自空；六畏三解脫門把不轉不還行在離邊之處；十義訓詁把清淨說法之門大開，而第一義中無說無受無證無滅無福田——畢定者諸法同無餘涅槃性，故無畢定福田。一品首尾，「無作實相」四字至此稱足：之上明法之無作，之下明用之無作——珍寶能與一切而中無一法可得，法輪日轉而實無轉還，福田儼然而畢定不立；體用一如，即用即寂，正是般若畢竟清淨、有佛無佛常住不異之實相。

The Uncontrived Real Mark, Last Part: The Present-Life Merits of Receiving and Upholding Prajñā and the Protection of the Gods; the Great Precious-Treasure Pāramitā; the Second Wheel of the Dharma, Neither a Turning Nor a Returning; the Ten Meanings of Purely Expounding Prajñā; No Fixed Field of Merit

What Is Being Asked

The First Part set up 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived" as the eye of the whole chapter: prajñā is without anything done, and the doer is unfindable; not to practise dharmas, not to practise permanent or impermanent, is to practise prajñā; whether it is spoken or not spoken, it neither increases nor decreases, like space, like an illusory person; the bodhisattva raises the great adornment in order to deliver beings equal to space; Śakra asks about protection, and Subhūti answers that there is no dharma to be protected; in each of the ten directions a thousand buddhas appear, and Maitreya will expound prajñā in this very place; at the end, the ten rounds of purity and their similes gather prajñā into ultimate purity. The Last Part takes up this substance of purity and turns to ask about the function of purity: when prajñā, ultimately pure, comes to rest in the one who receives and upholds it, what kind of fruit does it bear?—he will never suffer sickness of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, or body, will suffer no mutilation, will not decline into senility, will not die an untimely death; the gods follow him, gather in assembly on the six fast-days, and his merit is immeasurable; the Buddha further calls it 「大珍寶」 tr. "the great precious treasure"—it can pull beings out of the poverty of the three evil destinies, and can give great families, the heavens, the four fruits, and so on up to awakening; and yet what makes the precious treasure a precious treasure lies precisely in its being with nothing to be attained, undefiled, without power and without non-power, neither giving nor relinquishing. At the end of the sūtra passage the gods praise it, saying they see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma, yet the Buddha answers that it is neither a first nor a second, without turning and without returning—at the very height of its function, the uncontrived character of its substance remains as it was. What the Last Part asks is the one question of substance and function being one: how does an uncontrived dharma have a great function? And within the great function, how is it still uncontrived? The precious-treasure pāramitā answers the first half, and the turning of the wheel of the Dharma that is neither a turning nor a returning answers the second half; and the ten meanings of purely expounding prajñā, together with there being no fixed field of merit, draw the one who expounds the Dharma and the field of merit as well into the uncontrived real mark, and here the chapter closes, its beginning and end joined in a full circle.

Passage by Passage

1. The present-life merits of receiving and upholding prajñā; the gods follow; on the six fast-days the merit of expounding prajñā is immeasurable. At the opening of the Last Part, Subhūti addresses the Buddha: good men and good women who receive and uphold prajñā, draw near to it, and rightly recollect it will never suffer sickness of the eye, and ear, nose, tongue, and body too will never be sick; the body will suffer no mutilation, will not decline into senility, will never die an untimely death; countless hundreds of thousands of myriads of gods—from the gods of the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings up to the gods of the Pure Abodes—all follow them to hear and receive; on the six fast-days (the eighth, the twenty-third, the fourteenth, the twenty-ninth, the fifteenth, and the thirtieth of the month) the gods gather in assembly, and all come together at the place where the Dharma-teacher expounds prajñā; one who expounds prajñā in the great assembly gains immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya, inconceivable, and incalculable merit. This passage turns the substance of purity from the First Part over onto the present-life person of the one who receives and upholds: not falling sick, not being mutilated, not dying an untimely death are the recompense of the body; the gods following is the recompense of retinue; the immeasurable merit of expounding the Dharma is the recompense of the gift of Dharma. One must note the conditional wording of the sūtra text—receiving and upholding, drawing near, and rightly recollecting, three things set side by side: the merit is tied to practising and upholding in accord with the Dharma, not tied to having a scroll in hand; this meaning is fully laid open only when Treatise ④ comes to the question of 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense".

2. Prajñā is the great precious treasure: it can pull out and it can give. The Buddha approves his words and himself sets up a name: prajñāpāramitā is the great precious treasure. What is the great precious treasure? It can pull beings out of the hells, out of the animals, out of the hungry ghosts, and out of poverty among humans; it can give kṣatriya and brahmin great families and great householder families; it can give the place of the heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings and so on up to the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; it can give the four fruits, the path of the pratyekabuddha, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. The reason it can do this is that within prajñā are broadly taught the ten wholesome paths, the four dhyānas, the four immeasurable minds, the four formless absorptions, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, the six perfections, inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to omniscience; by training in these, one is born into great families among humans, into the six heavens of the desire realm, into the heavens of the form realm and so on up to the heaven of the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, and attains the four fruits, the path of the pratyekabuddha, and so on up to awakening. The two words 「拔」 tr. "pull out" and 「與」 tr. "give" are the two wings of the meaning of the precious treasure: pulling out is leaving suffering, giving is gaining happiness; from the good destinies of humans and gods straight through to unsurpassed awakening, all the wholesome dharmas that are causes and conditions of happiness come forth from within prajñā—the 「大」 tr. "great" of the precious treasure is great in that not a single wholesome dharma lies outside it.

3. The precious-treasure pāramitā of nothing to be attained. Within the precious-treasure pāramitā there is no dharma that can be attained—whether arising or ceasing, defiled or pure, grasped or relinquished; nor is there any dharma whether wholesome or unwholesome, worldly or world-transcending, with outflows or without outflows, conditioned or unconditioned—this is called the precious-treasure pāramitā of nothing to be attained. This passage follows right upon the great function of pulling out and giving, and it is precisely the reappearance of the eye of the whole chapter, 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived": the treasury that can give all wholesome dharmas has within it not a single dharma that can be attained. Arising and ceasing, defiled and pure, grasped and relinquished are three pairs of modes of practice; wholesome and unwholesome, worldly and world-transcending, with and without outflows, conditioned and unconditioned are four pairs of classes of dharmas—the seven pairs are set aside together so that within the precious treasure one cannot find a single 「寶物」 tr. "treasure-object"; the treasure lies not in a thing attained, but precisely in the illumination of nothing to be attained.

4. The undefiled precious-treasure pāramitā. In this precious-treasure pāramitā there is no dharma that can defile it. Why? Because the defiling dharmas that would be used are unfindable—it is called the undefiled precious-treasure pāramitā. Defilement requires a dharma that can defile; since the dharma that can defile is unfindable, on what could defilement stand? This runs in the same vein as the simile 「虛空不可污」 tr. "space cannot be defiled" among the ten rounds of purity in the First Part: it is not that when stain comes it is warded off, but that stain is from the first unfindable. Because there is nothing to be attained, it is undefiled; because it is undefiled, it is the precious treasure—the three names run through one another, one and the same ultimate emptiness.

5. In this way not knowing, not discriminating, not attaining, not engaging in idle discourse; paying homage to the buddhas, bringing beings to maturity, and purifying buddha-lands. When the bodhisattva practises prajñā, in this way too he does not know, in this way too he does not discriminate, in this way too he does not attain, in this way too he does not engage in idle discourse—this is being able to cultivate and practise prajñā; he is also able to pay homage to the buddhas, going from one buddha-land to another buddha-land, making offerings to, revering, honouring, and praising the buddhas, travelling through the buddha-fields, bringing beings to maturity and purifying buddha-lands. The four words of 「不」 tr. "not" are the modes of practice in cultivating the precious-treasure pāramitā: not knowing is not forming intellectual understanding; not discriminating is not setting up self and other; not attaining is not grasping at fixed marks; not engaging in idle discourse is where the road of words and thought is cut off. And what follows at once is the great practice of passing through all the buddha-lands, bringing beings to maturity, and adorning buddha-lands—the sūtra text itself sets 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived" and 「大用」 tr. "great function" in one and the same sentence: only because of the four nots can one practise everywhere; this meaning Treatise ④ lays bare with 「無所得方便力」 tr. "the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained".

6. Without power and without non-power, neither giving nor relinquishing; whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the mark of dharmas ever abides. Prajñā has with regard to dharmas no power and no non-power, and neither receives nor gives; it neither arises nor ceases, is neither stained nor pure, neither increases nor decreases; it is not past, future, or present; with regard to the three realms it neither relinquishes nor abides; with regard to the six perfections, inner emptiness and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, the four foundations of mindfulness and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path, the ten powers of the Buddha and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas, the four fruits and so on up to omniscience, it neither gives nor relinquishes any of them; it does not give the dharmas of the arhat and does not relinquish the dharmas of ordinary people, does not give the dharmas of the pratyekabuddha and does not relinquish the dharmas of the arhat, does not give the dharmas of the Buddha and does not relinquish the dharmas of the pratyekabuddha, does not give unconditioned dharmas and does not relinquish conditioned dharmas. Why? Because whether there are buddhas or there are no buddhas, this mark of dharmas ever abides and is not other; the mark of dharmas, the abiding of dharmas, the position of dharmas ever abide, without error and without loss. This great passage goes over dharma after dharma, one upon another, and pushes the 「不」 tr. "not" of the precious-treasure pāramitā to its limit: from the dharmas of ordinary people to the dharmas of the Buddha, from the conditioned to the unconditioned, prajñā uniformly neither gives nor relinquishes—not giving, because there is not one dharma to be handed over; not relinquishing, because there is not one dharma to be left behind. And why it is so is gathered up in 「法相常住」 tr. "the mark of dharmas ever abides": prajñā is not the maker of dharmas; the real mark of all dharmas from the first ever abides of itself, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, neither increasing nor decreasing; prajñā only illumines it as it really is, and therefore in every position it neither gives nor relinquishes.

7. Because the karma is not bound to be received as recompense, there are no afflictions; the similes of the fine medicine and of the feeble person's sharp weapon. The treatise-author, as soon as he opens his explanation, sets up a difficulty: those who receive and uphold prajñā and rightly recollect it still have many afflictions—how can it be said that they will never suffer sickness of the eye and the rest? Answer: it has already been broadly explained above in the 〈Chapters on Merit and on the Hells〉: it is because of 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense" that they have no afflictions; and again, it is because they constantly receive and uphold it, rightly recollect it, and practise prajñā as it is taught, that they have no afflictions. It is like a fine medicine that can break all sicknesses: if one cannot follow its regimen, it does not remove the affliction, and that is not the medicine's fault; again, it is like a weakling who, though he has obtained a sharp weapon, cannot ward off danger, and that is not the weapon's fault. The practitioner is like this: because of heavy sins from former lives, and because in this life he does not practise as it is taught, he does not obtain the power of prajñā, and that is not the fault of prajñā. This answer puts the promise of merit in Sūtra ① back into the right position of cause and effect: what is turned aside by not falling sick and not dying an untimely death is karma that is 「非必受報」 tr. "not bound to be received as recompense"—karma that can be turned; fixed karma from former lives and not practising in this life as it is taught can both obstruct the power of prajñā from appearing. The medicine simile lays the charge on following the regimen, the weapon simile on wielding it—when merit does not show its effect, the fault lies in the practice of the one who receives and upholds, not in the power of prajñā; this is the key judgement for guarding the sūtra text without falling into superstition.

8. The report of sūtra scrolls in the heavens is hearsay and not spoken by the Buddha; Śakra's recitation and the one bound to buddhahood in one more birth in Tuṣita. The treatise-author again sets up a question: there is prajñā in the heavens as well, so why do the gods, on the six fast-days, follow after the impure human body seeking to hear prajñā? Answer: 「天上有經卷」 tr. "there are sūtra scrolls in the heavens" is hearsay that it is so, and is not spoken by the Buddha. If there were any, they would be in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and in Tuṣita—when the asuras fought with the gods of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, the Buddha commanded Śakra, 「汝當誦念般若」 tr. "You should recite and keep prajñā in mind"; and in the Tuṣita heaven there is always the bodhisattva bound to buddhahood in one more birth who expounds for the gods, and so there could be. The bodies and clothing of the gods of the form realm are light and fine, even to the point of having no weight at all; they constantly delight in quiet stillness and taste the flavour of meditative absorption, and so there should not be sūtra scrolls there. The treatise-author's way of examining a report is worth observing: he does not flatly reject it as false, but weighs it level by level according to the actual conditions of the heavenly realms—where there are causes and conditions of recitation (Trāyastriṃśa) or a master who expounds the Dharma (Tuṣita), there could be; where they delight in absorption and are without activity (the form realm), there should not be. Where sūtra scrolls are is tied to the presence or absence of Dharma-conditions, not to the height or lowness of the place.

9. By three causes and conditions the people of Jambudvīpa surpass the gods. The gods are attached to two kinds of pleasure—the pleasure of desire and the pleasure of absorption—and cannot toil diligently to write and uphold prajñā; the people of Jambudvīpa can with vigour write, uphold, receive and study, and rightly recollect it. As a sūtra says: 「閻浮提人以三因緣勝諸天及欝單曰人：一者、能斷淫欲，二者、強識念力，三者、能精懃勇猛。」 tr. "The people of Jambudvīpa surpass the gods and the people of Uttarakuru by three causes and conditions: first, they can cut off sexual desire; second, they have strong memory and power of recollection; third, they can be diligent, vigorous, and bold." Therefore the gods come down to pay homage to the scrolls of the prajñā sūtra, or wish to hear it expounded. This passage is the stroke in the whole unit most able to rouse the practitioner: the place of superior pleasurable recompense turns instead into an obstruction to the practice of the Dharma—attached to pleasure, one cannot toil diligently; Jambudvīpa, half suffering and half pleasure, surpasses gods and humans precisely by the three things of being able to cut off, being able to remember, and being able to be diligent. When the gods come down to pay homage to the sūtra scrolls of the human world, what they honour is not paper and ink but the practice of diligently writing and upholding; one born in this land should recognise where one's own strength lies.

10. The gods come down to increase the faith and reverence of beings; when the gods of great power come, the lesser ghosts withdraw. Again, someone says: even if there were sūtra scrolls in the heavens, coming from afar to make offerings increases merit, and in seeking prajñā there is no satiety; there are bodhisattvas among the gods who wish prajñā to be honoured, and so come down, wishing to make beings increase in faith and reverence—「諸天尚來，何況我等！」 tr. "Even the gods come—how much more should we!" If the practitioner smells a fine fragrance or sees a light, because of such rare events he believes in and delights in prajñā with a deep mind. Again, for people not yet free from desire, evil ghosts and Māra's people constantly follow and watch for an opening, to make them fall into evil places; when the gods of great power come, from the Four Heavenly Kings up to the gods of the Pure Abodes, the lesser ghosts withdraw. The bodhisattva can give rise to a pure and great mind, as was said in an earlier chapter, and therefore they come to follow the Dharma-teacher. Here the causes and conditions of the gods' coming down are listed in full: to increase their own merit, to make the Dharma honoured, to increase people's faith and reverence, and to drive off ghosts and protect practice—the meaning of protection lies not in cultivating on the practitioner's behalf, but in completing his faith and removing his obstructions; the auspicious signs of fragrance and light are only conditions that help faith, and what faith rests on is still prajñā itself.

11. On the six fast-days the gods observe people's minds; on the evil days, when one takes the eight precepts, the gods rejoice. On the six fast-days the gods come to observe people's minds, and on the fifteenth and the thirtieth they report to the gods above. Moreover, these six fast-days are evil days, which make people decline and meet misfortune; if on these days one takes the eight precepts, keeps the fast, gives, and listens to the Dharma, then the gods rejoice, the lesser ghosts cannot find an opening, and the practitioner is benefited; on these days the Dharma-teacher sits on the high seat and expounds the Dharma—for all these various causes and conditions the gods all come. From this the institution of the fast-days gains its rationale: the 「惡」 tr. "evil" of the day lies not in any fault of the day and hour themselves, but in its being a time when decline and misfortune easily arise; precisely at this time to restrain the body and take the precepts, to give and listen to the Dharma, turns the most perilous day into the most excellent condition. The gods observe the mind and rejoice, and what they rejoice in is people's minds turning toward the good, not rejoicing in sacrifices and offerings—the meaning of the fast-days lies in purifying one's own mind.

12. The one who expounds the Dharma gains immeasurable merit; the gods are of sharp faculties and their field of merit is superior. The one who expounds the Dharma praises the immeasurable, boundless, unsurpassed Dharma—namely prajñāpāramitā—and also gains immeasurable, boundless merit. If he expounds for humans, humans are of dull faculties and thin merit, and so the merit gained is small; the gods are of sharp faculties, have much merit, and are a superior field of merit, and so the merit gained is great. Therefore the Buddha says: the practitioner who on the fast-days expounds prajñā among the gods and the great assembly gains immeasurable merit. Merit is born from the field, and the field is superior according to the vessel that receives the Dharma—with one and the same expounding of the Dharma, the listeners differ in sharpness or dullness of faculties and in thickness or thinness of merit, and the merit gained by the one who expounds differs too. This passage answers the meaning in Sūtra ① that one who expounds prajñā before the gods on the six fast-days gains immeasurable merit (the original text lists one by one the eighth, the twenty-third, the fourteenth, the twenty-ninth, the fifteenth, and the thirtieth of the month, saying that one who expounds this prajñāpāramitā gains 「無量、無邊、阿僧祇、不可思議、不可稱量福德」 tr. "immeasurable, boundless, asaṃkhyeya, inconceivable, and incalculable merit"): the merit of expounding the Dharma on the fast-days is superior precisely because the gods come to the assembly and the field of merit is surpassing.

13. The precious-treasure pāramitā is like the wish-fulfilling jewel: it removes suffering and gives happiness. Here the Buddha approves what Subhūti said, and himself further speaks of the causes and conditions of immeasurable merit, namely 「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶波羅蜜」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the great precious-treasure pāramitā". As the wish-fulfilling jewel can fulfil the wishes of all people, prajñā can fulfil the wishes of all beings, namely to leave suffering and to gain happiness. Leaving suffering: it can pull beings out of the hells, out of the animals, out of the hungry ghosts, and out of poverty among humans; giving happiness: it can give kṣatriya great families and so on up to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. These wholesome dharmas that are causes and conditions of happiness are broadly taught within prajñā, namely the ten wholesome paths and so on up to omniscience. As the wish-fulfilling jewel can bring forth clothing, food and drink, gold and silver, and whatever is needed as one wishes, so too prajñā can make one attain the ten wholesome paths and so on up to omniscience, kṣatriya great families and so on up to buddhahood. The simile of the wish-fulfilling jewel gathers the two meanings of pulling out and giving in Sūtra ② into a single simile: the jewel brings forth things as one wishes, prajñā gives dharmas according to the capacity—from the wish for clothing and food to the wish to become a Buddha, wishes great and small are all fulfilled, and so it is called the 「大」 tr. "great" precious treasure.

14. When the wish-fulfilling jewel is lost there is grief and vexation, while prajñā is never lost; world-transcending prajñā does not discriminate between wholesome and unwholesome. Moreover, when a person obtains the wish-fulfilling jewel, whatever he needs he obtains as he wishes, and when it is lost he grieves and is vexed; prajñā neither arises nor ceases, is never lost, gives beings happiness life after life, and at the last makes them attain the path of the Buddha. Again, when a person obtains the wish-fulfilling jewel, his mind grows proud and he despises others, and this is a cause and condition of decline; if a person obtains worldly prajñā, he likewise discriminates in this way—attached to wholesome dharmas and rejecting unwholesome dharmas, he gives rise to a proud mind and looks down on others, and then opens all the doors of sin. The precious-treasure prajñāpāramitā, within world-transcending prajñāpāramitā, does not discriminate between wholesome and unwholesome; this is called the great precious-treasure pāramitā, able to benefit beings so that they are ultimately without grief; this precious-treasure pāramitā—even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it, how much less unwholesome dharmas! This passage goes one layer further within the simile: the wish-fulfilling jewel carries the grief of gain and loss, prajñā has no loss; the wish-fulfilling jewel makes a person proud, and worldly prajñā too makes a person proud by holding on to the wholesome—the discriminating mind that is attached to the wholesome and rejects the unwholesome is precisely the door that opens onto sin. World-transcending prajñā not discriminating between wholesome and unwholesome is not a failure to tell good from evil; it is not giving rise to attachment to wholesome dharmas and not giving rise to pride toward evil people; the sentence 「善法尚不能污染」 tr. "even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it" is the steepest—to be attached to the wholesome is itself defilement, and this is the finest point of the meaning of the precious treasure as undefiled.

15. 「如是亦不知」 tr. "In this way too he does not know" : not grasping at marks, not giving rise to attachment, cutting off all idle discourse. As is said here, 「如是亦不知」 tr. "in this way too he does not know": as the mark of prajñā was spoken of above, he also does not form this knowledge and does not become a knower; he does not grasp at marks and does not give rise to attachment, does not discriminate, and does not attain a fixed mark; this is called 「無有過患、無有法愛、斷諸戲論」 tr. "without fault, without love of dharma, cutting off all idle discourse". The treatise-author explains the first of the four nots in the sūtra text: upon the mark of prajñā one does not further set up a 「知」 tr. "knowing" and a 「知者」 tr. "knower"—once the mark of knowing is set up, subject and object divide, and grasping and attachment arise with it. Without fault, without love of dharma, and cutting off idle discourse are the three phrases that are the fruit of not knowing: love of dharma is giving rise to love and attachment toward wholesome dharmas, and this too is a bond; only when even love of dharma is set aside is it the undefiled character of the precious treasure.

16. One who truly cultivates and practises pays homage to the Buddha with the Dharma, benefits himself and others, and attains a purified buddha-world. Such a person can truly cultivate and practise prajñā; because he pays homage to the Buddha with the Dharma and himself gains the benefit of the real Dharma, he can benefit beings; because he can himself leave evil and can make beings leave evil, he attains a purified buddha-world. Because he uses the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained, he knows the mark of the ultimate quiescent cessation of all dharmas, and yet for the sake of beings he can give rise to all wholesome dharmas. This passage lays bare the doubt raised by Sūtra ③ setting the four nots side by side with the great practice: the words 「無所得方便力」 tr. "the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained" are the hinge—knowing ultimate quiescent cessation is the substance that illumines, giving rise to wholesome dharmas for the sake of beings is the function that arises; only because there is nothing to be attained does one give rise to dharmas without being attached to dharmas, and so quiescent cessation and wholesome practice do not hinder one another. To pay homage to the Buddha with the Dharma is homage that lies in practising and upholding in accord with the Dharma, not in outward form; only when one gains the real benefit oneself can one benefit others, only when one leaves evil oneself can one make others leave evil—the purified buddha-world comes from the practice of purifying oneself.

17. Without power and without non-power: the simile of space. Because prajñā is ultimately pure, it is without power and without non-power; it is like space: though there is no dharma in it, yet because of space there can be activity. There is not a single dharma with a fixed mark that can be attached to, and so it has no power; it attains the real mark of all dharmas and is unobstructed with regard to all wholesome dharmas, up to subduing Māra and becoming a Buddha, and so it is not without power. 「不受不與」 tr. "Neither receiving nor giving", 「不生不滅」 tr. "neither arising nor ceasing", and so on up to 「不捨有為法、不與無為法」 tr. "not relinquishing conditioned dharmas, not giving unconditioned dharmas", are likewise so. The simile of space answers in full the dilemma of 「無力無非力」 tr. "without power and without non-power" in Sūtra ④: space itself has not a single thing, and yet all activity is accomplished because of space—prajñā has not a single dharma to be attached to, and so has no power; and yet the great function of subduing Māra and becoming a Buddha is all accomplished because of prajñā, and so it is not without power. Power lies not in holding on to one dharma, but precisely in being unobstructed.

18. Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the nature of dharmas ever abides; seeking it by entering into the nature of dharmas, there is no error. Here the causes and conditions are spoken of: 「有佛、無佛，諸法性常住世間。」 tr. "Whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, the nature of all dharmas ever abides in the world." The nature of all dharmas is precisely the real mark of all dharmas, and the real mark of all dharmas is precisely prajñāpāramitā. If one seeks the real mark of all dharmas by way of permanent or impermanent and the like, all of it is error; if a person seeks by entering into the nature of dharmas, there is no error; because the nature of dharmas is constant, it is not lost. With three instances of 「即是」 tr. "is precisely", the treatise-author links the nature of dharmas, the real mark, and prajñā into one thread: prajñā is not made by the Buddha, nor does it perish when the Buddha passes away; it is the inherent nature of all dharmas; the Buddha appearing in the world only speaks of it, and when he does not appear, the nature of dharmas is as it is. The way of seeking it is settled by this as well: to seek it by marks such as permanent and impermanent is to measure the real mark with idle discourse, and one will surely err; to seek by entering into the nature of dharmas—setting down the measures of mutual dependence and illumining it as it really is—only then is there no error.

19. The gods scatter flowers: we in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma. The opening of Sūtra ⑤: the gods stand in the air, raise a great voice, leap with joy, scatter utpala flowers, padma flowers, kumuda flowers, and puṇḍarīka flowers over the Buddha, and speak thus: 「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉。」 tr. "We in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma." Among them immeasurable hundreds of thousands of gods attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas. The four kinds of flowers scattered together, the great voice raised in praise, are the height of offering in the whole chapter; the single proclamation of 「第二法輪轉」 tr. "the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma" joins the expounding of prajñā at this assembly directly onto the lineage of the first turning at the Deer Park—in the eyes of the gods, the benefit of this assembly may be ranked with the first turning. And the immeasurable gods who on the spot attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas are precisely the present realisation of 「第二轉」 tr. "the second turning".

20. Neither a first turning nor a second turning: because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. The Buddha tells Subhūti: this wheel of the Dharma is neither a first turning nor a second turning; this prajñāpāramitā does not come forth in order to turn and does not come forth in order to return, because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. Before the gods' voice of praise has died away, the Buddha at once blocks it—not to belittle this assembly, but to block the numbering-mark of 「第一第二」 tr. "first and second": if the wheel of the Dharma had a first and a second, it would fall into the sequence of arising and ceasing; the coming forth of prajñā is not in order to establish a dharma (turning), and not in order to remove a dharma (returning). 「無法有法空」 tr. "The emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas" is the emptiness on which it rests: because of the emptiness of existent dharmas there is nothing to turn; because of the emptiness of non-existent dharmas there is nothing to return—this sentence awaits Treatise ⑤ to be opened layer by layer.

21. The mark of all dharmas is empty: the mark of prajñā is empty, and so on up to the mark of omniscience of all kinds is empty. Subhūti asks: how is it that because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, prajñā comes forth neither in order to turn nor in order to return? The Buddha answers: prajñāpāramitā is empty of the mark of prajñāpāramitā, and so on up to dānapāramitā is empty of the mark of dānapāramitā; inner emptiness is empty of the mark of inner emptiness, and so on up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas is empty of the mark of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas; the four foundations of mindfulness are empty of their mark, and so on up to the eight limbs of the noble path are empty of their mark; the ten powers of the Buddha are empty of their mark, and so on up to the eighteen unshared dharmas are empty of their mark; the four fruits and the path of the pratyekabuddha are empty of their mark; omniscience of all kinds is empty of the mark of omniscience of all kinds. Each dharma repeats its own name and is said to be 「相空」 tr. "empty of its mark", and the very form of the sentence is the meaning of the Dharma: it is not that apart from prajñā there is some other emptiness that comes to empty it, but that the own mark of prajñā is itself empty—every dharma is empty of its own mark, and so there is not a single dharma that can be what is turned and not a single dharma that can be what is returned. Only when even 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas" itself is empty of its mark, so that emptiness too is not set up, is it thorough.

22. Mahāpāramitā: though attaining, nothing is attained; though turning, nothing is turned. Subhūti praises: the prajñāpāramitā of the bodhisattva-mahāsattvas is mahāpāramitā! Though all dharmas are empty of their own marks, yet the bodhisattvas, because of prajñā, attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and yet there is no dharma to be attained; they turn the wheel of the Dharma, and yet there is no dharma to be turned and no dharma to be returned; within the great prajñā too there is no dharma that can be seen. This dharma is unfindable, whether turning or returning, because all dharmas are ultimately non-arising; the mark of emptiness cannot turn and cannot return, the mark of the signless cannot turn and cannot return, the mark of non-action cannot turn and cannot return. Subhūti's praise praises the place where the two do not obstruct each other: to be empty of its own mark and yet able to make bodhisattvas attain awakening—this is emptiness not obstructing attainment; to attain and yet have nothing attained, to turn and yet have nothing turned—this is attainment not obstructing emptiness; only one who falls into neither of these two sides is called 「摩訶」 tr. "mahā". The marks of the three gates of liberation too cannot turn or return; the blocking reaches even the gates that do the blocking, and not a single dharma stands within the reckoning of turning and returning.

23. Purely expounding prajñā: the heads of the ten meanings, and no fixed field of merit. If one can expound prajñā in this way—teaching, illuminating, opening, showing, distinguishing, manifesting, explaining, making plain and easy—one who can teach in this way is called one who purely expounds prajñāpāramitā. There is also no one who expounds, no one who receives, no one who realises; if there is no expounding, no receiving, and no realising, there is also no one who extinguishes, and within this expounding of the Dharma there is also no fixed field of merit. At the end of Sūtra ⑤, expounding the Dharma itself is drawn into the uncontrived: to be able to expound it with the ten things is called 「清淨說」 tr. "pure expounding"; and at the utmost of pure expounding, the one who expounds, the one who receives, the one who realises, and the one who extinguishes are all unfindable, down to the field of merit too being without fixity. The fullness of expounding the Dharma and the emptiness of the one who expounds stand in the same sentence, and this is precisely the whole chapter's oneness of substance and function in miniature; the glosses on the ten meanings and the meaning of the field of merit are opened one by one at the end of Treatise ⑤.

24. Why the gods rejoice: the ultimately pure, equal real mark greatly benefits beings. Treatise ⑤ explains: the gods, hearing prajñā, greatly rejoice and leap for joy. The gods are light of body and sharp of faculties; they discriminate and attach to marks and know what is light and what is heavy; hearing that prajñā is ultimately pure, the equal real mark, greatly benefiting beings, with nothing surpassing it, they therefore leap and rejoice; they give rise to bodily karma and verbal karma, take lotus flowers and other articles of offering to make offerings to the Buddha, and say 「我等於閻浮提見第二法輪轉」 tr. "We in Jambudvīpa see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma". The treatise-author first makes clear the capacity of those who praise: the gods are of sharp faculties and good at discriminating; their praise is not a vague rejoicing along with others, but a judgement made after weighing the lightness and heaviness of all dharmas—there is nothing surpassing prajñā. The two karmas of body and speech make offerings together: the proclamation is carried by verbal karma, the scattering of flowers by bodily karma, and this is praise at its utmost.

25. From the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted, all alike is called turning; seeing the benefit, they praise it as the second. Question: When the Dharma is first expounded and people are made to attain the path, this is called turning the wheel of the Dharma; why now speak of the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma? If what the Buddha expounds is called turning the wheel of the Dharma, it is all the wheel of the Dharma—why limit it to the second? Answer: The first expounding of the Dharma is called the one fixed and real wheel of the Dharma; from the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted, all alike is called turning. These gods saw that in this assembly many people aroused the unsurpassed path and attained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; seeing this benefit, they praised it, saying 「第二轉法輪」 tr. "the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma". At the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma, eighty thousand gods attained the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and one person, Ājñāta-Kauṇḍinya, attained the first path; now immeasurable gods attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, and therefore it is said to be the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma; the present turning of the wheel of the Dharma seems like the first turning. Two difficulties are set up together and one answer gathers them both: what is fixed and real and so can be counted is only the one wheel of the first turning; after that, all alike is called turning, and there is from the first no number ‘second’; the gods speaking of the second is a word of praise uttered on seeing that the fullness of the benefit may be ranked with the first turning—comparing the numbers of those who attained acceptance (eighty thousand against immeasurable), and so it is said 「似如初轉」 tr. "it seems like the first turning". A word of praise is not a numbering of the Dharma; this is the first layer in reconciling the sūtra text with the Buddha's blocking words.

26. The affairs of the buddhas appear in two kinds, hidden and manifest: the simile of the great rain and the great tree. Question: Now at this turning of the wheel of the Dharma many people attain the path, while at the first turning those who attained the path were few; how can the great be used as a simile for the small? Answer: The affairs of the buddhas are of two kinds: first, hidden; second, manifest. At the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma, the śrāvakas saw eighty thousand, and one person attaining the first path; the bodhisattvas saw countless asaṃkhyeya people attain the path of the śrāvaka, countless people plant the causes and conditions of the path of the pratyekabuddha, countless asaṃkhyeya people arouse the mind of the unsurpassed path, practise the path of the six perfections, and attain all the gates of deep samādhi and dhāraṇī; immeasurable beings of the ten directions attain the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas; immeasurable asaṃkhyeya beings, from the first ground up to the tenth ground, abide, become bound to buddhahood in one more birth, attain the sitting on the seat of awakening, and, hearing this Dharma, swiftly accomplish the path of the Buddha—inconceivable marks such as these are called the marks of the hidden turning of the wheel of the Dharma. It is like a great rain: a great tree receives much, a small tree receives little. For this reason one should know that the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma was also great; there is no fault in using the later as a simile for the earlier. The judgement of hidden and manifest is a great opening of the eye in the view of the affairs of the buddhas: the same first turning, as seen by the śrāvakas and as seen by the bodhisattvas, differs vastly in breadth—what is seen follows the vessel; it is not that the event is twofold. The simile of the great rain carries a double meaning: the rain has no partiality, the receiving is great or small; the greatness of the first turning is something the measure of a small tree is not enough to measure.

27. The turning of the wheel of the Dharma is neither one nor two: speaking of the fruit within the cause; no turning is the emptiness of existent dharmas, no returning is the emptiness of non-existent dharmas. 「轉法輪非一非二」 tr. "The turning of the wheel of the Dharma is neither one nor two" is said thus for the sake of ultimate emptiness and of nirvāṇa, the fruit of the turning of the wheel of the Dharma; this is speaking of the fruit within the cause. The wheel of the Dharma is precisely prajñāpāramitā; prajñā is of the mark without arising and uncontrived, and therefore there is no turning and no returning. As is said in the twelve links of causes and conditions: because ignorance is ultimately empty, it cannot really give rise to constructions and the rest; because ignorance is false and inverted and has nothing real and fixed, there is no dharma that can cease. To speak of the worldly dharma of arising is called turning; to speak of the worldly dharma of ceasing is called returning; within prajñā there are neither of these two things, and therefore it is said that there is no turning and no returning. 「無法有法空故」 tr. "Because of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"—no turning is 「有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of existent dharmas", no returning is 「無法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent dharmas". Here the treatise-author takes apart the key sentence of Sūtra ⑤ completely: first he glosses the meaning of the two words turning and returning—turning is speaking of the dharma of arising (the gate of flowing on), returning is speaking of the dharma of ceasing (the gate of returning to cessation); then he proves it with ignorance being ultimately empty—the dharma of arising from the first does not really arise, the dharma of ceasing has nothing that can really cease; therefore the emptiness of existent dharmas blocks turning and the emptiness of non-existent dharmas blocks returning, and the one phrase 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas" exactly blocks both gates. The wheel of the Dharma is prajñā, and prajñā is without arising and uncontrived—the four characters of the chapter's title, 「無作實相」 tr. "the uncontrived real mark", here join with the meaning of the turning of the wheel of the Dharma in a single place.

28. The four kinds of marks and the four kinds of wrong and right practice; because it breaks neither existent nor non-existent, it is called the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. Question: Why did Subhūti ask this question—because of the emptiness of existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas, prajñā comes forth neither in order to turn nor in order to return? And why did the Buddha in turn answer with emptiness? Answer: Someone says: all dharmas have four kinds of marks: first, speaking of existence; second, speaking of non-existence; third, speaking of both existent and non-existent; fourth, speaking of neither existent nor non-existent. Among these, because of wrong recollection there are four kinds of wrong practice, and because of attachment to these four dharmas it is called the wrong path; among these, because of right recollection there are four kinds of right practice, and because one is not attached in the midst of them it is called the right path. Here, because it breaks neither existent nor non-existent, it is called 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; the Buddha speaks of breaking even neither existent nor non-existent, and therefore says that there is no turning and no returning. The judgement of the four propositions lies in whether recollection is wrong or right, attached or unattached, not in the propositions themselves: the same four propositions, with wrong recollection and attachment, are the wrong path; with right recollection and non-attachment, they are the right path. What the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas breaks is the last of the four propositions—neither existent nor non-existent; if the last proposition remains, there is still one subtle place of abiding; when the breaking reaches this proposition, all four propositions are exhausted.

29. The breaking of neither existent nor non-existent is of two kinds: breaking with the three propositions and breaking with the real mark of nirvāṇa. The breaking of 「非有非無」 tr. "neither existent nor non-existent" is of two kinds: first, breaking it with the three propositions above; second, breaking it with the real mark of nirvāṇa. Although Subhūti knew that the Buddha breaks existence and non-existence with nirvāṇa, here there are bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the mind who might err and break neither existent nor non-existent with the three propositions, and then, within the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, give rise to wrong views once again; therefore the Buddha says 「有法無法亦自相空」 tr. "existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas too are empty of their specific marks", and so says that prajñā has no turning and no returning. Within prajñā there is no mark of prajñā, because all dharmas are signless; and so on up to dānapāramitā, likewise; inner emptiness and so on up to omniscience of all kinds being empty of their marks, likewise. The difference between the two breakings is a difference of capacity: breaking the fourth proposition with the three propositions is removing propositions with propositions, and the remover is itself still a proposition; the new trainee easily gives rise to yet another view upon 「無法有法空」 tr. "the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; breaking it with the real mark of nirvāṇa, the propositions and what breaks them both fall still. The Buddha's answer 「有法無法亦自相空」 tr. "existent dharmas and non-existent dharmas too are empty of their specific marks" blocks precisely the fault of the former road—emptiness too is empty of itself, and there is nowhere to set one's foot.

30. The great pāramitā: though attaining, yet nothing is attained; though turning, yet nothing is turned. At that time Subhūti and the great assembly rejoice and praise prajñā, saying: 「大波羅蜜，所謂般若波羅蜜。」 tr. "The great pāramitā—namely prajñāpāramitā." The great pāramitā means: though all dharmas are empty in self-nature, yet prajñā can benefit bodhisattvas and make them attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; though attaining, yet nothing is attained; though turning the wheel of the Dharma, yet nothing is turned. This praise corresponds to the sūtra text of passage 22, and the treatise-author proclaims its meaning again: why the 「大」 tr. "great" is great lies not in the breadth of its power and function, but in emptiness and function standing together without contradiction—empty in self-nature, yet its benefit is not in vain; attaining and turning are plainly there, yet nothing is attained and nothing is turned.

31. Within the emptiness of self-nature there is not even the emptiness of self-nature; therefore it is called mahāpāramitā. Question: If all dharmas are empty, prajñā is empty, and anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi too is empty, one should not praise prajñā as mahāpāramitā? Answer: Here it is said that because all dharmas are empty in self-nature, within the emptiness of self-nature there is not even the emptiness of self-nature, and therefore it is called mahāpāramitā. If there is no mark of emptiness, one should not raise the difficulty. Because of ultimate emptiness there is nothing obstructed, and yet one can practise all wholesome dharmas and attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; this is because it is a worldly dharma, not the highest meaning. The questioner uses emptiness to harm the praise, the answerer uses emptiness to complete the praise: if emptiness were a dharma, then both the praise and what is praised would be destroyed; emptiness itself is also empty, and so emptiness does not obstruct praise, does not obstruct practice, does not obstruct attainment. The last sentence, 「世俗法故，非第一義」 tr. "because it is a worldly dharma, not the highest meaning", sets the word of praise in its right position within the two truths: the name mahāpāramitā is a worldly designation, and in the highest meaning even the name is not set up—to praise while knowing that it is worldly, the praise is without fault.

32. Because there is no fixed mark there is nothing to be cut off; because there is nothing to be cut off there is no turning and no returning. Although the buddhas expound the Dharma and make others attain the path, break the afflictions, and go from this to that, which is called 「轉」 tr. "turning", now all our afflictions are empty deceptions, inverted, false speech, without any fixed mark; if there is no fixed mark, what is there to be cut off? If there is nothing to be cut off, there is also no turning and no returning, and therefore it is said 「雖轉法輪，亦無轉還」 tr. "though the wheel of the Dharma is turned, there is no turning or returning". Why? Because within prajñā there is no dharma that the five eyes can see, whether turning or returning, since all dharmas from the very beginning are ultimately non-arising. This passage proves again from the side of what is broken that there is no turning: the meaning of turning from the first is tied to breaking the afflictions; since the afflictions are empty deceptions without fixed mark, both what cuts off and what is cut off are unfindable—if even cutting off is not set up, where would turning be? The sentence 「無有法五眼所能見若轉、若還」 tr. "there is no dharma that the five eyes can see, whether turning or returning" is the weightiest: at the utmost of the all-illumining fleshly eye, divine eye, wisdom-eye, Dharma-eye, and Buddha-eye, still not a single dharma can be found, whether turning or returning—not because the power of the eye falls short, but because dharmas from the first do not arise.

33. The six fears: not turning and not returning; the three gates of liberation, relinquishing self and mine—this is called speaking of attaining liberation. This emptiness of self-nature, this ultimate emptiness, is not a mark of turning and not a mark of returning. Fearing to fall into permanence, it does not turn; fearing to fall into annihilation, it does not return; fearing to fall into existence, it does not turn; fearing to fall into non-existence, it does not return; fearing attachment to the world, it does not turn; fearing attachment to nirvāṇa, it does not return. In this way the emptiness of self-nature, ultimate emptiness, the eighteen emptinesses, and the immeasurable emptinesses are the gate of liberation of emptiness, not turning and not returning; the signless and non-action are likewise. Entering these three gates of liberation and relinquishing the mind of self and mine—this is called 「說得解脫」 tr. "speaking of attaining liberation". The six fears in three pairs—permanence and annihilation, existence and non-existence, the world and nirvāṇa—speak of not turning and not returning as the mode of practice that leaves the extremes: to turn is to fall into permanence, into existence, into the world; to return is to fall into annihilation, into non-existence, into nirvāṇa; not turning and not returning is precisely setting one's foot on none of the six extremes. The three gates of liberation are the same not turning and not returning, and the effect of entering the gates lies in one thing only: relinquishing the mind of self and mine—liberation is not attaining a place of escape, but setting down the mind that can grasp; ‘speaking of attaining’ means that, in terms of worldly speech, it is named attaining.

34. Speaking, teaching, illuminating, opening, showing, distinguishing, manifesting, explaining, making plain and easy: glosses on the ten meanings. One who can in this way, not grasping at marks and not attaching the mind, expound prajñāpāramitā, teaching, illuminating, and the rest: 「說」 tr. "speaking" is either according to the text or by oral transmission. 「教」 tr. "Teaching" is praising prajñā for people, making them receive and uphold it, read and recite it, and rightly recollect it. 「照」 tr. "Illuminating" is like a person holding a lamp to light things; when people do not know prajñā, one illumines it with the brightness of wisdom and makes them know. 「開」 tr. "Opening" is like a treasure-house with its door closed: though there are fine things inside, one cannot get them, but when its door is opened one takes whatever one wishes; so, for a person who doubts and does not believe in prajñā, one opens the door-leaves of wrongness and doubt and breaks the barrier of ignorance, and this person then takes whatever he wishes. 「示」 tr. "Showing" is like a person whose eyes do not see clearly, to whom one points out what is fine and what is ugly; so, for a person of little faith and little wisdom, one shows what is the path and what is not the path, what is benefit and what is loss, and the like. 「分別」 tr. "Distinguishing" is distinguishing all dharmas as wholesome or unwholesome, as sin or merit, as the world or nirvāṇa; the sūtras speak briefly and are hard to understand and hard to believe, and one can broadly distinguish and explain them for people so that they attain belief and understanding. 「顯現」 tr. "Manifesting" is the Buddha expounding all kinds of dharmas for all kinds of beings, at times disparaging wholesome dharmas and assisting unwholesome dharmas, aiming to make beings attain understanding. 「說法」 tr. "Expounding the Dharma" is expounding the Buddha's intent so as to respond to beings, making them know the marks of light and heavy. 「解釋」 tr. "Explaining" is like precious things in a bag whose mouth is tied, so that people do not know them: one unties the bag of the sūtra scroll and explains its meaning; again, it is like a heavy thing split apart to make it light: with all kinds of causes and conditions and similes one explains the root and the branches and makes it easy to understand. 「淺易」 tr. "Making plain and easy" is like deep water that is hard to cross: if one divides this water to make it shallow, all who cross will cross easily; prajñā is like water, very deep, and by the power of the skilful means of discussion it is expounded in all kinds of ways and can be made plain and easy, so that even people of small wisdom can all believe and understand. To be able to expound the very deep meaning with these ten at the head is called the meaning of purely expounding prajñāpāramitā. The ten meanings are a complete study of expounding the Dharma: speaking and teaching establish its transmission; illuminating, opening, and showing break its darkness and lead one in; distinguishing, manifesting, expounding the Dharma, explaining, and making plain and easy respond to capacity and complete the understanding—the similes of the lamp, the treasure-house, the bag, and the water are all taken from things of daily use, and in them one sees precisely that the work of expounding the Dharma lies in making the deep shallow, the closed open, the heavy light. And at the head of the ten meanings stand the words 「不取相、不著心」 tr. "not grasping at marks, not attaching the mind"—the 「清淨」 tr. "pure" of pure expounding lies not in the skill of the words, but in the non-attachment of the one who expounds.

35. In the highest meaning there is really nothing spoken: no speaking, no receiving, no realising, no extinguishing, no field of merit. In the highest meaning there is really nothing spoken: because of ultimate emptiness there is 「無說」 tr. "nothing spoken"; because nothing is spoken there is 「無受」 tr. "nothing received"; because nothing is received there is 「無證」 tr. "nothing realised"; because nothing is realised there is 「無滅諸煩惱」 tr. "no one who extinguishes the afflictions"; if there is no extinguishing of the afflictions, then there is 「無福田」 tr. "no field of merit". The five nos are linked like a chain: speaking, receiving, realising, extinguishing, and the field each later one stands on the earlier one; in the highest meaning the first link is not set up, and all five links fall still. This is not in contradiction with the ten meanings of expounding the Dharma in the previous passage: the ten meanings are pure expounding within the gate of the worldly, the five nos are the real absence of speaking within the highest meaning—the more skilfully one expounds, the more one must know that nothing is really spoken; with the two truths standing together, the one who expounds does not take pride in his own expounding.

36. Receiving and realising; to be fixed is that all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore it is said there is no fixed field of merit. 「受」 tr. "Receiving" is called believing and receiving, reading, and reciting; practising this Dharma and attaining the śramaṇa fruits and the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas is called 「證」 tr. "realising". At the time of realisation all afflictions cease and one attains nirvāṇa with remainder; because one attains nirvāṇa with remainder, one is a fixed field of merit. As for fixed: all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore it is said that there is no fixed field of merit. At the end of the chapter this passage glosses 「無畢定福田」 tr. "no fixed field of merit" down to the root of the words: receiving is the position of believing and upholding, realising is the position of fruit and acceptance; the one who has realised has ceased the afflictions and attained nirvāṇa with remainder, and speaking in worldly terms, is precisely a fixed field of merit; yet if one investigates the reality of the words 「畢定」 tr. "fixed"—all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder and are from the first quiescent and ceased—then there is not one dharma that can be fixed and established as a field of merit. In the worldly there is a field of merit; in the highest meaning there is no fixity—the whole chapter concludes with this one sentence: the field of merit is plainly there, yet fixity is unfindable; this is precisely the last seal that the 「無作」 tr. "uncontrived" of the chapter on the uncontrived real mark sets upon the meaning of the field of merit.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「終不病眼，耳、鼻、舌、身亦終不病……終不橫死」 tr. "will never suffer sickness of the eye; ear, nose, tongue, and body too will never be sick … will never die an untimely death" as an amulet by which reciting it guarantees freedom from sickness. The treatise-author explains plainly: what is turned aside is karma that is 「非必受報」 tr. "not bound to be received as recompense", and one must constantly receive and uphold, rightly recollect, and practise as it is taught; those with heavy sins from former lives and those who in this life do not practise as it is taught do not obtain the power of prajñā—it is not the fault of prajñā. A fine medicine whose regimen is not followed does not remove the affliction; a sharp weapon that cannot be wielded does not help in danger: merit is tied to practice, not tied to the number of recitations.

Do not read the precious-treasure prajñā's 「不分別善、不善」 tr. "not discriminating between wholesome and unwholesome" as failing to tell good from evil. The treatise-author judges plainly: worldly prajñā is attached to the wholesome and rejects the unwholesome, gives rise to a proud mind and looks down on others, and then opens all the doors of sin; world-transcending prajñā's not discriminating is not giving rise to attachment toward wholesome dharmas and not becoming proud by holding on to the wholesome—「善法尚不能污染」 tr. "even wholesome dharmas cannot defile it" rebukes the defilement of attachment to the wholesome, not the practice of the wholesome.

Do not take 「天上有經卷」 tr. "there are sūtra scrolls in the heavens" as a settled teaching the treatise-author allows. The treatise-author says plainly that this is 「傳聞如是，亦非佛說」 tr. "hearsay that it is so, and not spoken by the Buddha", and only by the Dharma-conditions of the Trāyastriṃśa heaven and Tuṣita does he judge that there could be some, while in the form realm there should not be—one who cites it should keep to the limits of hearsay, and not turn it into talk of a heavenly canon really existing.

Do not read the Buddha's words 「非第一轉、非第二轉」 tr. "neither a first turning nor a second turning" as belittling the gods' praise. The treatise-author reconciles them: the gods, seeing the fullness of the benefit, praise it as the second, and this is a word of praise; the Buddha blocking first and second is blocking the numbering-mark of the wheel of the Dharma—the praise is not mistaken; clinging to the number is the mistake. The two kinds, hidden and manifest, further make clear that the greatness of the first turning is not of the measure seen by the śrāvakas: 「以後喻前無咎」 tr. "there is no fault in using the later as a simile for the earlier".

Do not read 「無轉無還」 tr. "no turning and no returning" as prajñā abolishing the expounding of the Dharma and abolishing the cutting off of delusion. What turning and returning block is the clinging to there really being a dharma that can be turned and really being afflictions that can be cut off; because the afflictions are empty deceptions without fixed mark there is nothing to be cut off—it does not mean not cultivating and not cutting off. The glosses on the ten meanings that follow immediately are precisely a broad opening of the gate of expounding the Dharma: within the gate of the worldly, pure expounding is plainly there; within the highest meaning, nothing is spoken and nothing received—each of the two truths has its own position.

Do not read 「無畢定福田」 tr. "no fixed field of merit" as receiving offerings being without merit, or the Saṅgha not being a field of merit. The treatise-author explains plainly: the one who has realised has ceased the afflictions and attained nirvāṇa with remainder, and is a fixed field of merit—within the gate of the worldly the field of merit is solemnly present; being without fixity is spoken in terms of the highest meaning, in which all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder. If one clings to this sentence and becomes proud toward the field of merit, that is precisely grasping at the mark of non-existent dharmas and falling into returning.

Bearing on Practice

Take 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense" and the two similes of the medicine and the weapon to examine yourself on the effect of receiving and upholding. When you recite prajñā and afflictions and hardships do not cease, do not doubt the sūtra and do not resent the Dharma; first ask yourself two things: whether the karma of former lives is of the kind that can be turned, and whether your practice in this life is as it is taught. Follow the medicine's regimen, wield the weapon well—turning the place where merit does not show its effect into the place where you examine your practice and upholding: this is the right use of the mind in receiving and upholding prajñā.

Take the three causes and conditions of Jambudvīpa to value this life of yours. Being able to cut off sexual desire, strong memory and power of recollection, being able to be diligent, vigorous, and bold—these three things are where the practitioner of this land surpasses the gods. The gods are attached to the pleasure of desire and the pleasure of absorption and cannot toil diligently to write and uphold; the human body, with suffering and pleasure intermingled, is just right for vigour; whenever you feel that this land has much suffering, remember that even the gods come down to pay homage to the sūtra scrolls of the human world, and do not make light of this life and this body.

Take the meaning of the six fast-days to set up days of your own for gathering the mind. The evil days are not a curse; they are times when decline and misfortune easily arise and negligence easily takes hold; on these days take the eight precepts, keep the fast, give, and listen to the Dharma, turning perilous days into excellent conditions. People today need not follow the ancient institution of the six fast-days; they can set up their own regular days for gathering the mind—the point is to use a regular discipline to guard against unnoticed negligence.

Take 「無所得方便力」 tr. "the power of skilful means of nothing to be attained" to harmonise the contemplation of emptiness with wholesome practice. In daily use one may doubt: since one contemplates all dharmas as ultimately quiescent and ceased, why further give rise to wholesome dharmas? Remember the treatise-author's words—knowing the mark of ultimate quiescent cessation, and yet for the sake of beings being able to give rise to all wholesome dharmas; the four nots (not knowing, not discriminating, not attaining, not engaging in idle discourse) are not four orders to abolish practice, but the method of mind for doing good without being attached to the good. The clearer the contemplation of emptiness, the less it obstructs the gate of practice.

Take ‘attachment to the wholesome opens the door of sin’ to shine on your own love of dharma. To gain a little wholesome dharma and then grow proud and make light of others is the sickness of worldly prajñā; giving rise to love and attachment toward wholesome dharmas the treatise-author names 「法愛」 tr. "love of dharma", and it too falls among what is cut off in cutting off all idle discourse. In the daily round you can ask yourself: is the good I keep purifying the mind, or feeding pride? The meaning of the precious treasure that even wholesome dharmas cannot defile is a clear mirror hanging above the head of everyone who cultivates the good.

Take the six fears as road-signs for leaving the extremes. Fearing to fall into permanence, it does not turn; fearing to fall into annihilation, it does not return; and so on up to fearing attachment to the world and fearing attachment to nirvāṇa—in taking up and setting down, the practitioner often sets his foot on the six extremes without knowing it: seeking a permanent fruit, longing for a state of cessation, loathing the world and clinging to nirvāṇa. The text of the six fears can serve for a regular self-examination: what I now seek—on which extreme does it fall? Not turning and not returning is the place of practice that sets its foot on none of the six extremes.

Take the ten meanings to gauge your own measure in expounding the Dharma and encouraging others. When you expound the deep Dharma for others, you should follow the order of the ten meanings: first illumine their darkness, open their doubts, show them the path, then distinguish and explain to make it plain and easy—with not grasping at marks and not attaching the mind at the head. When you encourage others to study prajñā and they do not understand, first ask yourself whether the ten things are complete, and do not hastily blame the listener's dullness.

Further Resonances

What the Last Part carries on from the First Part is a single line: from the substance of purity it opens out the great function, and then gathers the great function back into the uncontrived. The First Part set up the full compass of the meaning of the uncontrived real mark: prajñā is without anything done and the doer is unfindable; not practising dharmas is practising prajñā; whether spoken or not spoken it neither increases nor decreases, like space, like an illusory person; the bodhisattva raises the great adornment in order to deliver beings equal to space; to protect one who practises prajñā is like protecting space; the ten rounds of purity and their similes are gathered into ultimate purity. The Last Part first opens its function: one who receives and upholds, draws near, and rightly recollects will in the present life not fall sick and not die an untimely death, the gods follow him, they gather in assembly on the six fast-days, and his merit is immeasurable; the Buddha himself sets up the name 「大珍寶」 tr. "the great precious treasure"—it can pull beings out of the poverty of the three evil destinies, can give great families, the heavens, the four fruits, and so on up to awakening; and yet, right within the pulling out and the giving, it is with nothing to be attained, undefiled, without power and without non-power, neither giving nor relinquishing, and the mark of dharmas, the abiding of dharmas, and the position of dharmas, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, ever abide and are not other. The treatise-author, with 「非必受報業」 tr. "karma not bound to be received as recompense" and the two similes of the medicine and the weapon, sets merit in its right position in practice and upholding; with the examination of sūtra scrolls in the heavens, the superiority of the three causes and conditions, the institution of the six fast-days, and the simile of the wish-fulfilling jewel, he makes the protection of the gods and the great function of the precious treasure concrete one by one. At the end of the sūtra passage the gods praise it, saying they see the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma; the Buddha answers that it is neither one nor two, without turning and without returning—the treatise-author takes this apart: turning is speaking of the dharma of arising, returning is speaking of the dharma of ceasing; because ignorance is ultimately empty, the dharma of arising does not really arise and the dharma of ceasing has nothing that can cease; the emptiness of existent dharmas blocks turning, the emptiness of non-existent dharmas blocks returning; the two kinds, hidden and manifest, make clear the greatness of the first turning; the four propositions and the two breakings make clear that emptiness too is empty of itself; the six fears and the three gates of liberation carry not turning and not returning out in practice at the place of leaving the extremes; the glosses on the ten meanings open wide the gate of purely expounding the Dharma, and yet in the highest meaning there is no speaking, no receiving, no realising, no extinguishing, and no field of merit—to be fixed is that all dharmas share the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder, and therefore there is no fixed field of merit. From the beginning to the end of the chapter, the four characters 「無作實相」 tr. "the uncontrived real mark" here find their full measure: the First Part makes clear the uncontrived character of the Dharma, the Last Part makes clear the uncontrived character of its function—the precious treasure can give everything and yet within it not one dharma can be attained, the wheel of the Dharma turns day by day and yet there is really no turning or returning, the field of merit is solemnly present and yet fixity is not established; substance and function are one, function is itself quiescence, and this is precisely the real mark of prajñā, ultimately pure, which, whether there is a Buddha or no Buddha, ever abides and is not other.

無作實相品 · 承衍The Uncontrived Real Mark · Further Resonances

全文五層 →Full five layers →

義疏Exposition

承衍

〈無作實相品〉的義脈，前有所承，後有所啟。所承者是前之〈歎淨品〉：彼品由舍利弗發歎而起——「世尊！是淨甚深！」佛言：「畢竟淨故。」問何法淨故是淨甚深，佛答「色淨故，是淨甚深」，一路推到一切種智，番番皆歸「畢竟淨故」一句；品中佛又明說：「是般若波羅蜜無起無作故，無有能得者。」本品開篇，須菩提正躡此語而白佛：「是般若波羅蜜無所作。」——前品歎其淨，本品究其所以淨：淨非有一能作者作出來的淨，是「作者不可得故」的無作之淨。前品把畢竟淨立為般若之相，本品便把這無起無作展開成行門（不行是行）、護門（如所說住即是守護）、譬門（十番清淨皆繫虛空）、用門（大珍寶而無所得），終於在法輪非轉非還處說到收場。所啟者，品末已露端倪：本品五番既竟，虛空一喻貫串首尾——修如修虛空、度如度虛空、護如護虛空、清淨如虛空；而次品〈諸波羅蜜品〉開篇，須菩提正以一連串異名歎般若，第一句便是「無邊波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜」，佛答：「如虛空無邊故。」次言「等波羅蜜」，佛答「諸法等故」——本品以虛空作譬而說無作實相，次品便以虛空無邊居首，把般若的無量異名逐一數過；本品末「亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者」之空，正是次品諸波羅蜜異名皆歸畢竟空之先聲——義脈便順此而下。

後來古德讀此品，於品名一事所存最富，為本輯諸品之冠。本論底本題「無作實相品」；所釋大經之傳本及後世簡稱多作「無作品」——為所釋大經作科疏、最重綱目開合的一家，於此品即標曰「無作品第四十三」，取其簡；而大經傳本品題之下，別有夾註誌一異名曰「千佛品」。此異名非孤證：另有一家古德，嘗為此論自身作疏，其書今存殘卷，而本品適在所存之列——其標題與本論底本全稱同作「釋無作實相品第四十三」，為諸家中唯一與底本全名吻合者；而其行文自曰「第四十二品者，名面名千佛品」，既以「千佛」俗稱本品，品次又較今本差一階，此據殘卷實況如實記之。一品而無作實相、無作、千佛三名並陳於諸傳本疏記之間：曰「無作」者，取開篇「是般若波羅蜜無所作」之宗；曰「實相」者，取無作即實相之義；曰「千佛」者，取品中佛神力故十方各千佛現、同說般若、「諸比丘皆字須菩提」之瑞——三名各摘一面，並誌不判。至若本品之見引於後世：遍檢所及之天台一系止觀疏記，未見以「無作品」「無作實相品」或「千佛品」具名徵引本品之文，如實誌之，不強牽合。

把這一路承衍帶回本品，古德所誌的品名之歧，正照見本品義理之全：取「無作」為名者，見的是宗——「作者不可得故」，知者尚無，何況作者；取「千佛」為名者，見的是證——十方各千佛同說此法，彌勒得道時「亦當於是處說般若波羅蜜」，無作之法不因無作而斷說法之相續。而本品自身早已把這兩面收攝為一：法輪即是般若波羅蜜，無起無作相故無轉無還，而「因初轉乃至法盡，通名為轉」——無作故非第一轉非第二轉，通名為轉故千佛同說、賢劫續說。珍寶一門亦然：「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶」，能拔三惡道及人中貧窮，乃至「終不病眼」之現世功德，說得極實；而同一珍寶即是「無所得珍寶波羅蜜」，功德不驗處不在法而在人——「譬如良藥，能破眾病；若不能將順，則不除患，非藥之失」。說空說到「亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者」，說用說到能滿一切願，兩頭俱到而不相妨，正是無作實相之為實相。

因此，〈無作實相品〉最終留下的，是一條可反覆使用的問路法：我發心行道時，是求一個能作者的成績，還是知「不行色，是行般若波羅蜜」而行？我求外護時，是望人守護我，還是「如所說般若中住，即是守護」？我持誦而功德未驗時，是疑藥之失，還是自問將順與否？我見法會興盛、聞「第二法輪轉」之讚時，記得「是法輪非第一轉、非第二轉」而不生量見；我聞畢竟空而恐無福田時，記得信受讀誦為受、得忍為證，「諸法同無餘涅槃性，故說無畢定福田」——無畢定，不是無福田，是福田亦不可得而福不唐捐。在每一番行持裡把這幾問答好，無作二字便不再是無可奈何之詞，而是虛空之喻的正面：如虛空無有法，「而因虛空得有所作」。

Further Resonances

The vein of meaning in the chapter "The Uncontrived Real Mark" has something it inherits before it and something it opens after it. What it inherits is the preceding chapter, "Praise of Purity": that chapter arises from Śāriputra's exclamation of praise—「世尊！是淨甚深！」 tr. "World-Honored One! This purity is very deep!" The Buddha says: 「畢竟淨故。」 tr. "Because it is ultimately pure." Asked by the purity of what dharma this purity is very deep, the Buddha answers 「色淨故，是淨甚深」 tr. "because form is pure, this purity is very deep," and pushes it all the way to omniscience of all kinds, every round returning to the one phrase 「畢竟淨故」 tr. "because it is ultimately pure"; within that chapter the Buddha also says plainly: 「是般若波羅蜜無起無作故，無有能得者。」 tr. "Because this prajñāpāramitā is without origination and without action, there is no one who can attain it." At the opening of this chapter Subhūti takes up exactly these words and says to the Buddha: 「是般若波羅蜜無所作。」 tr. "This prajñāpāramitā is without anything done."—the preceding chapter praises its purity, and this chapter searches out why it is pure: the purity is not a purity produced by some doer who could make it, but the uncontrived purity of 「作者不可得故」 tr. "because the doer is unfindable." The preceding chapter set up ultimate purity as the mark of prajñā; this chapter then unfolds this being without origination and without action into the gate of practice (not practising is practising), the gate of protection (to abide as it is taught is protection), the gate of simile (the ten rounds of purity all tied to space), and the gate of use (the great precious treasure, and yet with nothing to be attained), and at last comes to its close where the wheel of the Dharma neither turns nor returns. As for what it opens, the chapter's end already shows the first signs of it: when the five rounds of this chapter are finished, the one simile of space runs through it from beginning to end—cultivating is like cultivating space, delivering is like delivering space, protecting is like protecting space, purity is like space; and the next chapter, "The Perfections," opens precisely with Subhūti praising prajñā by a long string of other names, the very first line being 「無邊波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "The boundless pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā," and the Buddha answers: 「如虛空無邊故。」 tr. "Because it is boundless like space." Next he says 「等波羅蜜」 tr. "the equal pāramitā," and the Buddha answers 「諸法等故」 tr. "because all dharmas are equal"—this chapter uses space as a simile to speak of the uncontrived real mark, and the next chapter then puts the boundlessness of space at the head and counts over, one by one, the immeasurable other names of prajñā; the emptiness at the end of this chapter, 「亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者」 tr. "there is no one who speaks, no one who receives, no one who realises," is precisely the forerunner of the next chapter, where the other names of the perfections all return to ultimate emptiness—and the vein of meaning flows on downward from this.

Among the ancient masters who later read this chapter, what is preserved on the one matter of the chapter's name is the richest of all, the foremost among the chapters of this collection. This treatise's base text heads it 「無作實相品」 tr. "The Uncontrived Real Mark"; the transmitted texts of the great sūtra it explains, and the abbreviations of later ages, mostly write 「無作品」 tr. "The Uncontrived"—the one master who composed a sectional commentary on the great sūtra this treatise explains, and who most values the opening and closing of headings and sub-headings, marks this chapter 「無作品第四十三」 tr. "Chapter Forty-three, The Uncontrived," taking the short form; and beneath the chapter title in the transmitted text of the great sūtra there is, besides, an interlinear note recording another name, 「千佛品」 tr. "Chapter of the Thousand Buddhas." This other name is not a lone witness: there is another ancient master, who once composed a commentary on this treatise itself; his work survives today in incomplete fascicles, and this chapter happens to be among those that survive—its heading, like the full name in this treatise's base text, reads 「釋無作實相品第四十三」 tr. "Explaining Chapter Forty-three, The Uncontrived Real Mark," and it is the only one among the masters that agrees with the full name of the base text; yet in its running text it says of itself 「第四十二品者，名面名千佛品」 tr. "As for the forty-second chapter, its name on its face is the Thousand Buddhas chapter," so that it both calls this chapter by the common name 「千佛」 tr. "Thousand Buddhas," and also numbers the chapter one step off from the present text—this records it faithfully according to the actual state of the incomplete fascicles. One chapter, and three names—the Uncontrived Real Mark, the Uncontrived, the Thousand Buddhas—set side by side among the transmitted texts, commentaries, and notes: the name 「無作」 tr. "Uncontrived" takes up the tenet of the opening, 「是般若波羅蜜無所作」 tr. "this prajñāpāramitā is without anything done"; the name 「實相」 tr. "Real Mark" takes up the meaning that being uncontrived is precisely the real mark; the name 「千佛」 tr. "Thousand Buddhas" takes up the auspicious sign in the chapter, where by the Buddha's supernormal power a thousand buddhas appear in each of the ten directions, all expounding prajñā, and 「諸比丘皆字須菩提」 tr. "the bhikṣus were all named Subhūti"—the three names each pick out one face, recorded side by side without judgement. As for this chapter's being cited in later ages: searching the commentaries and notes on calming and contemplation of the Tiantai line as far as they could be reached, no case was found of the text of this chapter being cited by name as 「無作品」 tr. "The Uncontrived", 「無作實相品」 tr. "The Uncontrived Real Mark", or 「千佛品」 tr. "Chapter of the Thousand Buddhas"; this is recorded as it is, without forcing a connection.

Bringing this whole line of further resonances back to this chapter, the divergence over the chapter's name that the ancient masters recorded mirrors exactly the wholeness of this chapter's meaning: those who take 「無作」 tr. "Uncontrived" as the name see the tenet—「作者不可得故」 tr. "because the doer is unfindable"; even a knower there is not, how much less a doer; those who take 「千佛」 tr. "Thousand Buddhas" as the name see the witness—a thousand buddhas in each of the ten directions expound this same dharma, and when Maitreya attains the path he 「亦當於是處說般若波羅蜜」 tr. "will also expound prajñāpāramitā in this very place"; the uncontrived dharma does not, because it is uncontrived, break off the continuity of the expounding of the Dharma. And this chapter itself had long since gathered these two faces into one: the wheel of the Dharma is prajñāpāramitā, and because its mark is without origination and without action there is no turning and no returning, and yet 「因初轉乃至法盡，通名為轉」 tr. "from the first turning until the Dharma is exhausted, all alike is called turning"—because it is uncontrived it is neither a first turning nor a second turning; because all alike is called turning, the thousand buddhas expound it together and the Auspicious Kalpa expounds it on and on. The gate of the precious treasure is the same: 「般若波羅蜜是大珍寶」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is the great precious treasure," able to pull beings out of the three evil destinies and out of poverty among humans, and so on up to the present-life merit of 「終不病眼」 tr. "will never suffer sickness of the eye"—this is spoken most concretely; and yet the same treasure is precisely 「無所得珍寶波羅蜜」 tr. "the precious-treasure pāramitā of nothing to be attained," and where merit fails to show itself, the failure lies not in the Dharma but in the person—「譬如良藥，能破眾病；若不能將順，則不除患，非藥之失」 tr. "It is like a fine medicine, which can break all sicknesses; but if one cannot follow its regimen, it does not remove the affliction, and that is not the medicine's fault." Speaking of emptiness, it speaks all the way to 「亦無說者、亦無受者、亦無證者」 tr. "there is no one who speaks, no one who receives, no one who realises"; speaking of use, it speaks all the way to being able to satisfy all wishes—reaching both ends without the one hindering the other is precisely what makes the uncontrived real mark the real mark.

Therefore what the chapter "The Uncontrived Real Mark" finally leaves behind is a way of asking that can be used again and again: when I arouse the mind and practise the path, am I seeking the achievement of a doer who can make something, or do I practise knowing that 「不行色，是行般若波羅蜜」 tr. "not practising form, this is practising prajñāpāramitā"? When I seek protection from outside, am I hoping that others will protect me, or is it that 「如所說般若中住，即是守護」 tr. "to abide within prajñā as it is taught is protection"? When I uphold and recite and the merit has not yet shown itself, do I suspect the medicine of fault, or do I ask myself whether I have followed its regimen? When I see an assembly of the Dharma flourish and hear the praise 「第二法輪轉」 tr. "the second turning of the wheel of the Dharma," I remember 「是法輪非第一轉、非第二轉」 tr. "this wheel of the Dharma is neither a first turning nor a second turning" and do not give rise to a measuring view; when I hear of ultimate emptiness and fear that there will be no field of merit, I remember that believing, receiving, reading, and reciting are the receiving, and attaining acceptance is the realising, and 「諸法同無餘涅槃性，故說無畢定福田」 tr. "all dharmas are alike of the nature of nirvāṇa without remainder; therefore it is said that there is no fixed field of merit"—no fixed field is not no field of merit; it is that the field of merit too is unfindable, and yet merit is not spent in vain. Answer these few questions well in every round of practice and upholding, and the word ‘uncontrived’ is no longer a word of helplessness, but the positive face of the simile of space: as in space there is no dharma, 「而因虛空得有所作」 tr. "and yet because of space there can be something done."

諸波羅蜜品The Perfections

全文五層 →Full five layers →

義疏Exposition

諸波羅蜜品：般若何以堪受九十異名，無邊何以有三重之釋，不生何以以不滅答而不滅何以以不生答，夢響影焰幻何以喻與本事皆空，無欲無瞋無癡何以非離非滅，般若法性常住何以復言無常，云何以般若讚般若，佛波羅蜜何以不以佛身而以一切種智

在問什麼

這一品的品名叫「諸波羅蜜品」，是全帙中體式最奇的一品：沒有新問題發起，沒有義理往復的長篇辯難，只是須菩提一連九十番，以九十個異名讚歎同一個般若——『世尊！無邊波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜。』『世尊！等波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜。』一名一白，佛則一名一答，每答只一句：『如虛空無邊故。』『諸法等故。』九十名分作三段經文：初段十七名，從無邊、等、離、不壞，到無作、無知、不到、不失；次段二十六名，從夢、響、影、焰、幻五喻起，經不垢、無淨、不污、不戲論，到無量、虛空；末段四十七名，從無常、苦、無我、空、無相，歷十八空、三十七道品、三解脫門、背捨、九定、六度，最後升到十力、無所畏、無礙智、佛法、如實說、自然，以「佛波羅蜜」收頂。

這一品在問什麼？表面看是讚歎，骨子裡是勘驗：般若憑什麼堪受這九十個名字？每一名之下，佛的一句答就是勘驗之處——說它無邊，因為如虛空無邊；說它是夢，因為連夢中所見也不可得；說它是檀，因為慳貪不可得；說它是佛，因為知一切法、一切種智。九十名不是九十種般若，是從九十個門望進去的同一實相。論主的釋文交代了這一品的來歷：須菩提聽佛說大珍寶波羅蜜之義，深知般若功德，發大歡喜，欲以種種因緣讚歎般若——所以這一品是承前品之勢而起的讚歎之品，而其讚法全用異名，其答法全用「不可得」，正是以般若的方式讚般若。論主逐名解義，於緊要處設三番問答：般若既法性常住，何以復言無常？餘法可以讚般若，云何復以般若讚般若？——這些，就是本品經、論要逐名交代的。

逐段解明

一、開品之由——聞大珍寶而發讚。 論主先交代第一名的來歷：須菩提聽佛說大珍寶波羅蜜之義，因而自讚般若為摩訶波羅蜜；又以智慧深入種種法門，觀般若波羅蜜如大海之水無量無邊；深知般若功德，因發大歡喜，欲以種種因緣讚歎般若，所以白佛言無邊波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜。九十番的長讚，起於一念歡喜——不是奉命而讚，是深知其德、不能自已而讚；此品全部的體式，皆從這一念流出。

二、無邊——如虛空無邊故。 第一名「無邊波羅蜜」，佛答：如虛空無邊故。論主給了三重釋。第一重：「無邊」之義從品初直到品末，皆是無邊義，只因妨說餘事故略說，若廣說則無量——這是說，九十名其實皆可攝入無邊一名。第二重：常與無常、我與無我、有與無、世間眾生的有邊無邊，這些名為邪見之邊；得般若波羅蜜則無這些邊，故言無邊——這是以離邪見二邊釋無邊。第三重：物的盡處名為邊，虛空無色無形故無邊；般若畢竟清淨，故無邊、無盡、無取處、無受處——這是正面以虛空喻釋佛答。三重相疊：無邊是總名，是離邊，是無盡。

三、等——諸法等故。 第二名「等波羅蜜」，佛答：諸法等故。論釋：菩薩得法忍，觀一切法皆平等。等不是把不等的東西拉平，是法忍現前時，於諸法上再找不到高下之相可執。

四、離——畢竟空故。 第三名「離波羅蜜」，佛答：畢竟空故。論釋：菩薩用畢竟空心離諸煩惱，亦離諸法。離有兩層——離煩惱人人肯，離諸法則是畢竟空的手筆：連所依之法也不立，方名真離。

五、不壞——一切法不可得故。 第四名「不壞波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不可得故。論釋：菩薩以總相、別相求諸法，不得如毛髮許的定相；以不可得故，於一切法心不著。邪見戲論之人以著心欲破壞菩薩，菩薩無所著故不可破壞。不壞之義妙在倒轉：不是堅固故不可壞，是無所著故無處下手——可壞的從來是所著之處。

六、無彼岸——無名無身故。 第五名「無彼岸波羅蜜」，佛答：無名無身故。論釋：此岸名生死，彼岸名涅槃，中有煩惱大河；一切出家人欲捨此岸、貪著彼岸；而般若無彼岸——彼岸是涅槃，無色無名。波羅蜜本義是到彼岸，此名偏說無彼岸，是遮貪著彼岸之心：涅槃無色無名，無一岸可登可住。

七、空種——入出息不可得故。 第六名「空種波羅蜜」，佛答：入出息不可得故。論釋：有虛空則有出入息，出入息從虛誑業因緣生；出者非入、入者非出，念念生滅，不可得實相；息不可得故，一切法亦不可得。以呼吸勘空，是把空義落到最貼身處——一息之間求其實相了不可得，何況餘法。

八、不可說——覺觀不可得故。 第七名「不可說波羅蜜」，佛答：覺觀不可得故。論釋：一切法空寂相故不須覺觀；覺觀無故則無言說；無言說故，說般若斷語言道。言說之根在覺觀——心中的尋伺分別；根既不可得，語言之流自斷。

九、無名——受想行識不可得故。 第八名「無名波羅蜜」，佛答：受、想、行、識不可得故。論釋：名色二法攝一切法——四大及造色屬色攝，受等四眾屬名攝；分別諸法者說般若是智慧相、屬名所攝；今實不離色是名、不離名是色，般若是無知相，故說受想行識不可得，言無名波羅蜜。此段是名相學的精微處：若般若可以歸檔於名，它就成了諸法中的一法；無名，正是把它從名色的檔案裡撤出來。

十、不去——一切法不來故。 第九名「不去波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不來故。論釋只一句：一切法無來無去，故名無去波羅蜜。問去而答來，論則來去雙收——去來相待，無來則無去。

十一、無移——一切法不可伏故。 第十名「無移波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不可伏故。論釋：般若是三世十方佛的法藏，以三法印印定，無天無人能破，故名無移。移是被撼動、被遷改；三法印所印之法，天人不能破——不可移之義，立在法印上，不在防守上。

十二、盡——一切法畢竟盡故。 第十一名「盡波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法畢竟盡故。論釋：諸有為法念念盡滅，無有住時；若爾，過去法不盡，未來法亦不盡，現在法不住故不盡；三世之盡皆不可得，名為畢竟盡。此段須細讀：正因念念盡滅，反而三世中無一處有「盡」可得——盡得太徹底，連盡相也不立，方名畢竟盡。

十三、不生與不滅——互舉為答。 第十二名「不生波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不滅故；第十三名「不滅波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不生故。經文兩答恰好互換，是本品答式中最醒目的一處。論釋：一切法三世中生不可得故無生，無生故名無生波羅蜜；不滅亦如是。生滅相待而立——既無生可得，滅亦無從安立；故說不生時舉不滅，說不滅時舉不生，二名同入無生之義。

十四、無作——作者不可得故。 第十四名「無作波羅蜜」，佛答：作者不可得故。論釋：作有二種——眾生作，如布施持戒等；法作，如火燒水爛，心識所知。眾生空故無作者；一切法鈍、不起作相故，法亦不作；二者皆無作，故名無作波羅蜜。人與法兩路的「作」一齊勘破，無作之義方圓。

十五、無知——知者不可得故。 第十五名「無知波羅蜜」，佛答：知者不可得故。論釋：無知亦如是——一切法鈍故無所知。與無作同式：作者不可得故無作，知者不可得故無知；法自身冥鈍，不自知亦不知他。

十六、不到——生死不可得故。 第十六名「不到波羅蜜」，佛答：生死不可得故。論釋：天眼見有生死，用空慧眼見生死不可得；今世眾生死，無到後世者，但五眾以先業因緣相續生，故名不到波羅蜜。此段把輪迴義說得極準：無一實我從此生渡到彼生，而業果相續不亂——不到，不是斷滅，是無渡者的相續。

十七、不失——一切法不失故。 第十七名「不失波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不失故。論釋：般若不失諸法實相，亦能令一切法不失實相；離般若則一切法皆失；觀一切法實相，得般若波羅蜜，故名不失。經①十七名至此收束：由無邊起，至不失終——般若無邊而絲毫不失，一收一放，恰成首尾。

十八、夢——乃至夢中所見不可得故。 經②轉入喻名。第十八名「夢波羅蜜」，佛答：乃至夢中所見不可得故。論釋：須菩提讚般若，示眾生世間空如夢；佛言夢亦不可得。須菩提以夢喻世間之空，佛更進一層：能喻的夢自身也不可得——喻空之喻亦空。

十九、響、影、焰、幻——聞聲者、鏡面、水流、術事不可得故。 第十九名「響波羅蜜」，佛答聞聲者不可得故；第二十名「影波羅蜜」，佛答鏡面不可得故；第二十一名「焰波羅蜜」，佛答水流不可得故；第二十二名「幻波羅蜜」，佛答術事不可得故。論釋總其義：人心以聲為實、以響為虛；影以人面鏡為實、像為虛；焰以風塵日光為實、水為虛；幻以祝術為實、所作為虛——須菩提讚般若以喻為空，佛說喻與本事皆空；本事皆空故，是喻亦空。這一段是五喻共通的眼目：常人用喻，總留一半實——以實況虛；佛的答法把兩邊一併勘破。響之聞聲者、影之鏡面、幻之術事，正是各喻中被當作「實」的那一半；焰一喻獨異——論以風、塵、日光為實、水為虛，佛卻就其虛邊的水流答不可得。實邊虛邊皆不可得，喻與本事俱空，一半也留不住。

二十、不垢——諸煩惱不可得故。 第二十三名「不垢波羅蜜」，佛答：諸煩惱不可得故。論釋：般若無垢，能斷滅一切垢；佛言諸煩惱從本已來常無，今何所斷？垢本無故不垢——不是洗淨了才不垢，是垢從來不曾實有。

廿一、無淨——煩惱虛誑故。 第二十四名「無淨波羅蜜」，佛答：煩惱虛誑故。論釋：無淨亦如是，無煩惱即是淨。此名初看刺眼——般若怎會無淨？義實一貫：淨是對垢立的名；煩惱既虛誑不實，垢不可得，淨亦無所對而立。無淨，正是淨到無淨相可取。

廿二、不污——處不可得故。 第二十五名「不污波羅蜜」，佛答：處不可得故。論釋：淫欲瞋恚等諸煩惱名為污；般若為一切垢法所不污；六情是諸煩惱處，六情及一切法，諸煩惱的緣處、住處皆不可得，故名不污。垢無處可住，是不污的所以然——污須有處，處不可得，污於何施。

廿三、不戲論——一切戲論破故。 第二十六名「不戲論波羅蜜」，佛答：一切戲論破故。論釋：得是般若，一切戲論憶想分別滅。戲論是心於實相之上的添足；般若現前，添足處盡破。

廿四、不念——一切念破故。 第二十七名「不念波羅蜜」，佛答：一切念破故。論釋：一切法畢竟空故，無憶無念相；無憶無念相，故名無念波羅蜜。念與戲論相連而更細：戲論是分別之粗者，念是心行之微者；畢竟空中，粗細俱息。

廿五、不動——法性常住故。 第二十八名「不動波羅蜜」，佛答：法性常住故。論釋：住法性的菩薩，一切論議者所不能勝，一切結使邪見所不能覆，一切法無常破壞而心不生憂——如是等因緣故名不動。不動不是硬撐不動，是所住者常住：住處不動，住者自不動。

廿六、無染——知一切法妄解故。 第二十九名「無染波羅蜜」，佛答：知一切法妄解故。論釋：一切法妄解，非但愛染。染的範圍在此被放大：不只情愛之染是染，凡於法起虛妄之解皆是染；知其皆妄，方是無染。

廿七、不起——一切法無分別故。 第三十名「不起波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法無分別故。論釋：憶想分別是一切結使的根本；有結使能起後身業；知憶想分別虛妄，一切後世生業更不復起，故名不起波羅蜜。不起直指受生之業：業從結使起，結使從憶想分別起；根斷則後有不起。

廿八、寂滅——一切法相不可得故。 第三十一名「寂滅波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法相不可得故。論釋：般若中不取三毒火相，故言寂滅；佛言非但三毒相寂滅，一切法相不可得。須菩提就三毒之息說寂滅，佛擴至一切法相——寂滅不是煩惱熄了的安靜，是一切相本不可得的本寂。

廿九、無欲——欲不可得故。 第三十二名「無欲波羅蜜」，佛答：欲不可得故。論釋：般若乃至善法中尚不貪，何況餘欲；佛說欲從本已來不可得，貪欲虛誑、自性不可得，故名無欲波羅蜜——非是離欲故名無欲。末句是此下三名共同的鐵限：無欲不是修離欲行修成的無，是欲性本不可得的無。

三十、無瞋——瞋恚不實故。 第三十三名「無瞋波羅蜜」，佛答：瞋恚不實故。論釋：瞋恚性畢竟無所有，故名無瞋波羅蜜——非是離瞋故名無瞋。與無欲同式：瞋性本無，非壓伏之無。

卅一、無癡——無明黑闇滅故。 第三十四名「無癡波羅蜜」，佛答：無明黑闇滅故。論釋：一切法中無明黑闇破，故名無癡波羅蜜——非是滅癡故名無癡。三名連讀，論主三次重複非離非滅之句：三毒之無，皆就其性本不可得說，不就對治功成說。

卅二、無煩惱——分別憶想虛妄故。 第三十五名「無煩惱波羅蜜」，佛答：分別憶想虛妄故。論釋：菩薩得無生法忍故一切煩惱滅；佛言憶想分別是煩惱根本，憶想尚無，何況煩惱。答在根上：不數煩惱之無，直指其根之虛。

卅三、無眾生——眾生無所有故。 第三十六名「無眾生波羅蜜」，佛答：眾生無所有故。論釋：般若能破無眾生中有眾生的顛倒，故名無眾生波羅蜜；佛言是眾生從本已來不生、無所有。眾生二字在此是所破之執，不是所棄之人——破的是「無眾生中有眾生」的顛倒，不是撥無度生之事。

卅四、斷——諸法不起故。 第三十七名「斷波羅蜜」，佛答：諸法不起故。論釋：須菩提意，以般若能斷一切有漏法故名斷；佛言諸法不起不生、無所作，諸法自然斷相故名斷。兩層斷義高下立見：能斷所斷相對而斷，是修斷；諸法本自不起、自然是斷相，是性斷。佛答取後者。

卅五、無二邊——離二邊故。 第三十八名「無二邊波羅蜜」，佛答：離二邊故。論釋：二邊謂我無我、斷無斷、可斷法無斷法、常滅、有無——如是等無量二邊；般若中無是諸邊；佛言是諸邊從本已來無，但以虛誑顛倒故著；菩薩求實事故離是顛倒邊。離邊不是折中取中間：邊本非有，著故成邊；離著即離邊。

卅六、不破——一切法不相離故。 第三十九名「不破波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不相離故。論釋：般若一相、空故不可破；佛言不但般若，一切法皆無定異相——果不離因、因不離果，有為不離無為、無為不離有為，般若不離一切法、一切法不離般若；一切法實相即是般若，故名不破；破者，諸法各各離散。破必先離——能各各離散才破得開；法法相即不相離，故無下手破處。

卅七、不取——過聲聞辟支佛地故。 第四十名「不取波羅蜜」，佛答：過聲聞辟支佛地故。論釋：一切法有常無常等過失，故般若不取一切法；佛言一切法乃至二乘出世間清淨法亦不取。不取的界線劃到最高處：非但世間法不取，二乘的清淨果法也不取——過二地之義即在此。

卅八、不分別——諸妄想不可得故。 第四十一名「不分別波羅蜜」，佛答：諸妄想不可得故。論釋：分別名取相生心、妄想分別；般若是實相故無是妄想分別；佛言因憶想分別纔有有無之分別，今憶想分別從本已來無。有無之爭，根在憶想；憶想本無，有無自息。

卅九、無量——諸法量不可得故。 第四十二名「無量波羅蜜」，佛答：諸法量不可得故。論釋出四義：般若出四無量故名無量；畢竟空、為得涅槃無量法故名無量；智慧不能到其邊崖故名無量；量是六情所籌度，是法空、無相、無生滅，六情所不能量——何以故？物多而量器小故。末喻最切：不是法遠在量外，是量器太小——六情之量，量不動畢竟空之法。

四十、虛空——一切法無所有故。 第四十三名「虛空波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法無所有故。論釋：如虛空無色無形、無所能作，般若亦如是；佛言非但虛空無所有，色等諸法皆無所有。經②至此收束：從夢起、至虛空終，二十六名皆從「虛」之一路讚入，而佛答一一把「虛」推到底——連能喻之虛亦不可得。

四一、無常——一切法破壞故。 經③自「無常波羅蜜」起。第四十四名，佛答：一切法破壞故。論釋：般若中有無常聖行，故名無常波羅蜜；佛言非但般若中有無常，觀一切法無常故名無常波羅蜜。無常在此是聖行之名——以無常觀入道的那一行，攝在般若中。

四二、常與無常之會通——有為般若與常住般若。 論主於此設問：上來說般若法性常住，今何以說無常？答：般若是智慧，觀法從因緣和合生，是有為法故無常；般若所緣之處——如、法性、實際——無為法故常；須菩提說有為般若，故言無常。又問：若爾，佛何以說一切法盡是破壞無常、無為法無破壞相？答：一切法名六情，內外皆是作法，作法必歸破壞相；離有為法無無為法，亦更無有法相，因有為法相故說無為法不生不滅。復次，一切有為法有二種——名字一切、實一切；一切有為法破壞，故名一切無常。這兩番問答是經③的義理樞紐：能觀之智是有為，所入之性是無為；說常說無常，各有所指，不相違害。

四三、苦、無我、空、無相——惱相、不著、不可得、不生故。 第四十五名「苦波羅蜜」，佛答一切法惱相故；第四十六名「無我波羅蜜」，佛答一切法不著故；第四十七名「空波羅蜜」，佛答一切法不可得故；第四十八名「無相波羅蜜」，佛答一切法不生故。論釋總云：苦等乃至無法有法空亦如是——須菩提說一切法相讚般若，佛舉一切法答。無常苦無我空無相，是三法印四聖行的骨幹名目；一一名之下，佛皆以一切法答，見得聖行非般若外之行，法相非般若外之相。

四四、十八空前段——內空乃至第一義空。 第四十九名「內空波羅蜜」，佛答內法不可得故；第五十名「外空波羅蜜」，佛答外法不可得故；第五十一名「內外空波羅蜜」，佛答內外法不可得故；第五十二名「空空波羅蜜」，佛答空空法不可得故；第五十三名「大空波羅蜜」，佛答一切法不可得故；第五十四名「第一義空波羅蜜」，佛答涅槃不可得故。六名皆以所空之法不可得為答；其中空空以空亦空、第一義空以涅槃不可得，是空門中自拆空執的兩鎖。

四五、十八空後段——有為空乃至無法有法空。 第五十五名「有為空波羅蜜」，佛答有為法不可得故；第五十六名「無為空波羅蜜」，佛答無為法不可得故；第五十七名「畢竟空波羅蜜」，佛答諸法畢竟不可得故；第五十八名「無始空波羅蜜」，佛答諸法無始不可得故；第五十九名「散空波羅蜜」，佛答散法不可得故；第六十名「性空波羅蜜」，佛答有為無為法不可得故；第六十一名「諸法空波羅蜜」，佛答一切法不可得故；第六十二名「自相空波羅蜜」，佛答自相離故；第六十三名「無法空波羅蜜」，佛答無法不可得故；第六十四名「有法空波羅蜜」，佛答有法不可得故；第六十五名「無法有法空波羅蜜」，佛答無法有法不可得故。十八空之目在本品化作十七名——經文此處不列「不可得空」，餘十七名逐一唱過——答式如一——各就其所空言不可得；唯自相空答「自相離」，離字換不可得，因自相本無可得者可言，直言其離。

四六、念處——身受心法不可得故。 第六十六名「念處波羅蜜」，佛答：身、受、心、法不可得故。論釋特詳：正觀身等四法從四念處生；四念處是四諦初門，四諦是四沙門果初門，阿羅漢果分別即是三乘；四念處於般若中種種廣說；佛言是四種法緣處從本已來皆不可得，故名念處波羅蜜。道品之首，論主標其為三乘共由之初門——而初門之緣處本不可得，即是道品入般若之處。

四七、正懃乃至禪——道品、三門、背捨、九定、六度逐名。 第六十七名「正懃波羅蜜」，佛答善不善法不可得故；第六十八名「如意足波羅蜜」，佛答四如意足不可得故；第六十九名「根波羅蜜」，佛答五根不可得故；第七十名「力波羅蜜」，佛答五力不可得故；第七十一名「覺波羅蜜」，佛答七覺分不可得故；第七十二名「道波羅蜜」，佛答八聖道分不可得故；第七十三名「無作波羅蜜」，佛答無作不可得故；第七十四名「空波羅蜜」，佛答空相不可得故；第七十五名「無相波羅蜜」，佛答寂滅相不可得故；第七十六名「背捨波羅蜜」，佛答八背捨不可得故；第七十七名「定波羅蜜」，佛答九次第定不可得故；第七十八名「檀波羅蜜」，佛答慳貪不可得故；第七十九名「尸羅波羅蜜」，佛答破戒不可得故；第八十名「羼提波羅蜜」，佛答忍不忍辱不可得故；第八十一名「毘梨耶波羅蜜」，佛答懈怠精進不可得故；第八十二名「禪波羅蜜」，佛答定亂不可得故。此中五根、五力、七覺分、八聖道分、八背捨、九次第定六組，經皆但唱其總名而答以「不可得故」，各員之相未及開列；今隨其名逐員略釋，然後知經所遣者是何法。五根是信、精進、念、定、慧五法在能生善法的根位：信是於所聞之法起決定信受，心澄而不疑；精進是於善法中策勤不息，不中道而懈；念是繫所修之法於心，憶持不忘而令心不散；定是攝心一處，不隨境轉；慧是於法簡擇通達，不為癡所蔽。五力則是同此五法已成不可壞之力：信成力而疑不能動、精進成力而懈怠不能奪、念成力而忘失不能亂、定成力而散動不能搖、慧成力而邪惑不能傾——根未有力而力已能辦事，同法而位別，故經於根外別立力名。七覺分是念、擇法、精進、喜、除、定、捨七者：念覺分憶持所修而不忘，為餘六分之所繫；擇法覺分於法簡擇真偽，取真而捨偽；精進覺分於所擇之真法勤行不退；喜覺分得法而心生歡悅，非世樂之喜；除覺分除身心麤重，令輕利調適而堪任；定覺分心住一境而不亂；捨覺分於所得不著，心平等而不偏倚——七者之所以名覺，在其依遠離、依無染而趣向涅槃；離此三句，七法但成世間之善，不成趣寂之覺。八聖道分是正見、正思惟、正語、正業、正命、正精進、正念、正定八者：正見是於法如實而見，不顛倒、不邪取，為一道之首；正思惟是依正見而起籌量，不雜貪、恚、害之思；正語是所出之言與法相應，不虛不害；正業是身所行離諸非法，動止皆淨；正命是資身之具取之以法，不以邪求自活；正精進是策力於斷惡生善而不倒用其力；正念是繫念所緣，不隨妄轉；正定是依前七而成之定，心一境而不動——八者具足乃成一條全道，闕一則所行非道。八背捨（亦名八解脫）以定力為體，背者背棄、捨者捨離，於所貪之色、所著之受，背之而不向、捨之而不取：一、內心未除色想而觀外色，二、內已無色想而仍觀外色，三、緣淨色而身作證，四、過一切色相、滅有對相、不念一切異相而入無邊虛空處，五、過虛空處入無邊識處，六、過識處入無所有處，七、過無所有處入非有想非無想處，八、過非想非非想處入滅受想定——捨之既盡即名解脫，故二名而同實。九次第定重在次第：一定既起，次入後定，中間不雜餘心。初禪離欲、離惡不善法，有覺有觀而離生喜樂；二禪滅諸覺觀，內清淨一心，無覺無觀而定生喜樂；三禪離喜行捨，受身樂、念行樂；四禪斷苦樂、先滅憂喜，不苦不樂而捨念清淨；再上四者離色而緣無色，各有所緣：空無邊處，過一切色相、滅有對相、不念一切異相，緣無邊虛空而住；識無邊處，捨虛空之相，轉緣能緣之識無邊而住；無所有處，併識相亦捨，觀無少法可得而住；非有想非無想處，麤想已無、細想未盡，故不名有想亦不名無想。最後滅受想定，受、想與相應心數俱滅，是九定之極——九定相次而上，中無雜念，故名九次第定。六組之員既明，方見經文之遣不是遣一個空名：所遣者是行人步步可著之法，一一皆答以不可得，而道品之為摩訶衍正在此。論釋總攝一句：從四正懃乃至般若波羅蜜，亦如是——皆如念處之例，其緣處本不可得。此中答式有一細轉：道品諸名就其自體不可得答，六度諸名則就其所治與能治雙舉——慳貪、破戒、忍不忍、懈怠精進、定亂——所治不可得，能治亦無所立，度義方淨。又「無作」一名重出於經①經③：經①之無作與無知相次，就作者知者不可得說；此之無作則就三解脫門之相不可得說——名同而門異。經①別有「空種」，與此之「空」名近而實異；「無相」則經①未列，唯見於此。

四八、般若讚般若——癡慧不可得故。 第八十三名「般若波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜」，佛答：癡慧不可得故。論主設問：餘法可以讚般若，云何復以般若讚般若？答：般若有二種——一者常住般若，二者與五波羅蜜共行、有用般若波羅蜜；須菩提讚有用般若，能破無明黑闇、能與真智慧；是故佛說常住般若波羅蜜，癡慧不可得故。以般若讚般若不是同語反覆：所讚是與五度共行的有用般若，能讚所歸是常住般若——常住般若中，連癡與慧的對待也不可得。

四九、十力——一切法不可伏故。 第八十四名「十力波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法不可伏故。論釋：行般若的菩薩初得菩薩十力、後得佛十力，故說十力波羅蜜；佛言非但十力者不可破不可伏，一切法實相亦不可破不可伏；佛意為度眾生故說十方佛力無量無邊，如佛力，一切法實相亦如是不可伏。力之名歸到實相：佛力不可伏，實相同樣不可伏——力波羅蜜之力，是實相之力。

五十、無所畏——道種智不沒故。 第八十五名「無所畏波羅蜜」，佛答：道種智不沒故。論釋：菩薩得般若力，於佛前能說法論議，何況餘處；尚不畏魔王，何況外道。道種智名法眼，知一切眾生以何道得涅槃；般若常寂滅相、不可說，菩薩以道種智引導眾生，於大眾中師子吼；道種智增益故不沒、無所畏，亦不自憍慢我有是法。無畏之源不在膽力，在法眼不沒——知眾生以何道得度，臨眾自然無怯；而無畏不轉為憍慢，是其成色。

五一、無礙智——一切諸法無障無礙故。 第八十六名「無礙智波羅蜜」，佛答：一切諸法無障無礙故。論釋：須菩提從佛聞，無畏轉深，故讚言無礙波羅蜜；佛言非但四無礙，一切法入如、法性、實際故，皆是無礙相。四無礙是果位辯才之目；佛答放開一層——法法入於如、法性、實際，本自無礙，辯才之無礙特其一用。

五二、佛法——過一切法故。 第八十七名「佛法波羅蜜」，佛答：過一切法故。論釋：菩薩因般若能集十力、四無所畏、四無礙智、大慈大悲等諸佛法，故說佛法波羅蜜；佛言聲聞法於凡夫法為勝，辟支佛法於聲聞法為勝，佛法於一切法最勝；如一切色中虛空廣大，佛法最勝、無能及、無可喻，過一切法。凡聖階差在此一句排定，而佛法之勝以虛空為喻——不是多一分的勝，是廣大無外的勝。

五三、多陀阿伽陀與如實說——一切說如實故。 第八十八名「如實說者波羅蜜」，佛答：一切說如實故。論釋兼出「多陀阿伽陀波羅蜜」之名：如過去佛行六波羅蜜得諸法如相，今佛亦如是行六波羅蜜得佛道，故名多陀阿伽陀波羅蜜；多陀阿伽陀者，或言如來，或言如實說，或言如實知。此中佛說：非但佛說名如實說，一切語言皆是如實，故名如實說波羅蜜。如來之名從如中來，如實說之義亦從如中出；「一切語言皆是如實」是實相邊的極談——語言依如而起，於如之中無一語出如之外。

五四、自然——一切法中自在故。 第八十九名「自然波羅蜜」，佛答：一切法中自在故。論釋三重：般若具足，後身自然作佛，故名自然波羅蜜——自然名佛，佛所說故名自然波羅蜜；復次般若實相自然、不由他作，故名自然；佛言佛一切法中得自在力，故名自然波羅蜜。自然二字三讀：是自然成佛之自然，是不由他作之自然，是於法自在之自然。

五五、佛——知一切法一切種智故。 第九十名「佛波羅蜜」，佛答：知一切法、一切種智故。論釋：具足十地，得十力、四無所畏，轉法輪、擊法鼓，覺世間無明睡眾生，故名為佛波羅蜜。佛，秦言覺者、知者——何者是？正知一切法、一切種故名覺。一切法者，五眾、十二入、十八界等；復次一切法名外道經書、伎術、禪定等，略說五種——凡夫法、聲聞法、辟支佛法、菩薩法、佛法。佛略知有二種相——總相、別相，又以分別相、畢竟空相；廣知則一切種——一切種是一切無量無邊法門。以是事故名佛波羅蜜；不以佛身故名為佛波羅蜜，但以一切種智故。九十名以此收頂，而收頂處自拆其頂：佛波羅蜜之佛，不指佛身，指一切種智——讚到究竟處，所讚仍是智，不是相。

不要讀錯

不要把九十番讀成同義的堆疊、修辭的鋪張。九十名各有其門：無邊從量上讚，等從平等上讚，離、不壞、無彼岸從遮執上讚，夢響影焰幻從喻上讚，十八空從空門讚，道品六度從行門讚，十力無畏乃至佛從果德讚——名名不同門，而佛答一一給出該名成立的所以然。論主釋「無邊」時已明言：從品初至竟皆是無邊義，妨說餘事故略說——九十名可攝於一名，一名可開作九十；讀時當於一一名下看那句「故」字，那是每一名的門軸。

不要把「無淨波羅蜜」「無知波羅蜜」「無常波羅蜜」這類遮辭之名，讀成貶低般若。無淨不是說般若污穢——無煩惱即是淨，煩惱虛誑故連淨相亦不立；無知不是說般若愚暗——知者不可得、一切法鈍故；無常一名論主特設兩番問答分疏：須菩提說的是與五度共行、觀因緣生法的有為般若，故言無常；所緣的如、法性、實際是無為法，故常。讚辭用遮，正是般若家法——凡可立為相的，皆遮之令盡，所餘乃是實。

不要把「非是離欲故名無欲」「非是離瞋故名無瞋」「非是滅癡故名無癡」讀成不必對治煩惱。論主三句所遮，是把無欲無瞋無癡誤認作對治功成後的狀態——那樣的無，仍與有相待，仍在得失中。三毒之性本不可得，是就實相說；行人日用中治貪治瞋，是就行門說——性上本無，正是治得徹底的所以然，不是廢治之由。同理，「斷波羅蜜」佛答諸法不起故、自然斷相——性斷不廢修斷，是修斷之所歸。

不要把「佛波羅蜜」之讚讀成讚佛身。論末特意點破：不以佛身故名為佛波羅蜜，但以一切種智故。九十名步步升高，至佛而極；若讀者在此生出對三十二相佛身的想像，恰違收頂處的本意——佛之為佛，在正知一切法、一切種；讚般若至於佛波羅蜜，是說般若窮處即一切種智，不是說般若之上另有一尊可仰。

修行作用

本品給用功人的第一件受用，是九十名即九十觀門。這一品沒有情節、沒有辯難，正宜作觀門用：每日取一名，先誦須菩提之白，再誦佛之答，然後在自心上勘那一句「故」——說不壞，勘自己何處可壞？可壞處即所著處；說不污，勘煩惱住在何處？處不可得，污自無地。九十名輪過一遍，是把般若從九十個方向逼近一遍。

第二件受用，在夢響影焰幻五喻的用法。常人用喻觀空，總留一半實作立足處——觀世間如夢，暗中以醒者自居；觀像虛，暗中以鏡面為實。佛答把立足處一一抽去：夢中所見不可得，聞聲者不可得，鏡面不可得，水流不可得，術事不可得。日用中作如幻觀時，當記得回勘能觀之處：喻與本事皆空，能觀之心亦在所觀之數。

第三件受用，是六度諸名的答式。檀之答不在施而在慳貪不可得，尸羅之答不在戒而在破戒不可得，羼提毘梨耶禪般若之答皆雙舉能治所治而言不可得。行六度的人常在『我在布施、我在持戒』的念頭上生受用感；此答教人把眼從能治之行移到所治之性上——慳貪本不可得，施乃無盡；破戒本不可得，戒乃無相。度之為度，在此一轉。

第四件受用，是無所畏波羅蜜一段的自勘。論主說菩薩以道種智故師子吼，道種智增益故不沒、無所畏，而「不自憍慢我有是法」。用功人稍有所得，說法論議之際最易生「我有是法」之念；此段給出無畏與憍慢的分界——無畏從法眼來，憍慢從我相來；同在人前作獅子吼，一在道種智上立，一在我上立，相似而天淵。

承衍

本品的骨幹，是三段經文九十番的異名之讚與佛的逐名之答。經①十七名——無邊、等、離、不壞、無彼岸、空種、不可說、無名、不去、無移、盡、不生、不滅、無作、無知、不到、不失——論主逐名解義，於無邊立三重之釋，於名色二攝辨無名，於不生不滅見互舉之答，於不到明無渡者的相續。經②二十六名——夢、響、影、焰、幻五喻與不垢、無淨、不污、不戲論、不念、不動、無染、不起、寂滅、無欲、無瞋、無癡、無煩惱、無眾生、斷、無二邊、不破、不取、不分別、無量、虛空——論主以喻本事皆空收五喻，以非離非滅三句定三毒之無，以性斷修斷之辨釋斷，以物多量器小喻無量。經③四十七名——無常、苦、無我、空、無相，內空乃至無法有法空十八空，念處乃至道之道品，無作空無相三門，背捨、定，檀尸羅羼提毘梨耶禪般若六度，十力、無所畏、無礙智、佛法、如實說者、自然、佛——論主以有為般若常住般若之辨會通常與無常，以二種般若答以般若讚般若之問，末以覺者知者、總相別相、一切種智釋佛波羅蜜，而斷之曰不以佛身、但以一切種智。

本品與前後諸品的義脈，最可見者有三線。其一，論主開篇自明：須菩提聞佛說大珍寶波羅蜜義，因而自讚般若為摩訶波羅蜜——本品之讚直承前品「大珍寶」之語而起，是聞讚而更讚、讚上加讚之品。其二，前之歎淨一品十五番歎淨、佛皆以畢竟淨總答；本品九十番歎名、佛皆以不可得作答——兩品同一體式而規模懸殊，畢竟淨與不可得亦是一義兩門：彼就淨門遮，此就得門遮，皆歸畢竟空。其三，本品九十名中道品、六度、十力無畏諸名，把此前諸品散說的行門果德一總收入般若異名之下，般若總攝諸度、諸度皆入般若之義至此形著；末名佛波羅蜜以一切種智收頂，正為此後諸品續明薩婆若與方便之義預留其地。讀者可合前後諸品觀之，以見讚歎之門由淨而名、由名而智的一貫之脈（其品目異稱與傳本之考，詳考據層）。

The Perfections: Why Prajñā Can Bear Ninety Different Names; Why Boundless Has a Threefold Explanation; Why Unarisen Is Answered with Unceasing and Unceasing with Unarisen; Why in Dream, Echo, Shadow, Mirage, and Illusion the Simile and the Matter Itself Are Both Empty; Why Without Desire, Without Hatred, and Without Delusion Are Neither a Leaving Behind nor an Extinguishing; Why Prajñā, the Ever-Abiding Nature of Dharmas, Is Also Said to Be Impermanent; How Prajñā Is Praised by Prajñā; and Why the Buddha Pāramitā Is So Called Not by the Buddha's Body but by Omniscience of All Kinds

What Is Being Asked

This chapter's name is 「諸波羅蜜品」 tr. "the chapter The Perfections," and it is the chapter of the strangest form in the whole work: no new question is raised, there is no long disputation going back and forth over doctrine; there is only Subhūti, ninety times in a row, praising one and the same prajñā by ninety different names—‘World-Honored One! The boundless pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā.’ ‘World-Honored One! The equal pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā.’ One name, one declaration; and the Buddha, one name, one answer, each answer only a single sentence: ‘Because it is boundless like space.’ ‘Because all dharmas are equal.’ The ninety names are divided into three sūtra passages: the first passage has seventeen names, from boundless, equal, apart, and indestructible up to without anything done, without knowing, not arriving, and not lost; the second passage has twenty-six names, starting from the five similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion, passing through unstained, without purity, unsullied, and without idle discourse, up to immeasurable and space; the last passage has forty-seven names, from impermanence, suffering, no-self, emptiness, and the signless, through the eighteen emptinesses, the thirty-seven limbs of the path, the three gates of liberation, the liberations, the nine absorptions, and the six perfections, rising finally to the ten powers, fearlessness, unobstructed knowledge, the dharmas of the Buddha, speaking as it really is, and of itself, and crowned with 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā."

What is this chapter asking? On the surface it is praise; in its bones it is examination: by what right can prajñā bear these ninety names? Under each name, the Buddha's one-sentence answer is where the examination takes place—he says it is boundless, because it is boundless like space; he says it is a dream, because even what is seen in a dream is unfindable; he says it is dāna, because stinginess and greed are unfindable; he says it is the Buddha, because it knows all dharmas, omniscience of all kinds. The ninety names are not ninety kinds of prajñā; they are the same real mark looked into through ninety gates. The treatise-author's explanation accounts for how this chapter came about: Subhūti, hearing the Buddha speak the meaning of the great precious treasure pāramitā, knew deeply the merit of prajñā, gave rise to great joy, and wished to praise prajñā by all kinds of causes and conditions—so this chapter is a chapter of praise arising from the momentum of the preceding chapter; its manner of praising uses different names throughout, and its manner of answering uses 「不可得」 tr. "unfindable" throughout, which is exactly praising prajñā in the way of prajñā. The treatise-author explains the meaning name by name, and at the crucial points sets up three rounds of question and answer: since prajñā is the nature of dharmas that ever abides, why is it again said to be impermanent? Other dharmas may be used to praise prajñā; how can prajñā again be used to praise prajñā?—these are what the sūtra and treatise of this chapter must account for name by name.

Passage by Passage

1. The occasion that opens the chapter—hearing of the great precious treasure, he breaks into praise. The treatise-author first accounts for where the first name came from: Subhūti heard the Buddha speak the meaning of the great precious treasure pāramitā, and thereupon of himself praised prajñā as mahāpāramitā; further, entering deeply with wisdom into all kinds of gates of the Dharma, he contemplated prajñāpāramitā as the waters of the great sea, immeasurable and boundless; knowing deeply the merit of prajñā, he therefore gave rise to great joy and wished to praise prajñā by all kinds of causes and conditions, and so he said to the Buddha that the boundless pāramitā is prajñāpāramitā. The long praise of ninety rounds arises from a single thought of joy—not praise offered on command, but praise from one who knows its virtue deeply and cannot hold himself back; the whole form of this chapter flows out of this one thought.

2. Boundless—because it is boundless like space. The first name is 「無邊波羅蜜」 tr. "the boundless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because it is boundless like space. The treatise-author gives a threefold explanation. The first layer: the meaning of 「無邊」 tr. "boundless," from the beginning of the chapter to its end, is everywhere the meaning of boundlessness; it is spoken of briefly only because it would get in the way of speaking of other matters, and if it were spoken of broadly it would be immeasurable—that is to say, the ninety names can in fact all be gathered into the single name boundless. The second layer: permanence and impermanence, self and no-self, existence and non-existence, the world and beings having a bound or having no bound—these are called the extremes of wrong view; one who attains prajñāpāramitā has none of these extremes, and therefore it is called boundless—this explains boundlessness as leaving behind the two extremes of wrong view. The third layer: the place where a thing runs out is called its bound; space, being without colour and without form, is without bound; prajñā is ultimately pure, and therefore it is boundless, inexhaustible, without a place of grasping, without a place of receiving—this explains the Buddha's answer directly through the simile of space. The three layers overlap: boundless is the general name, is leaving behind the extremes, is inexhaustible.

3. Equal—because all dharmas are equal. The second name is 「等波羅蜜」 tr. "the equal pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are equal. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva attains the acceptance of dharmas and contemplates all dharmas as all equal. Equality is not pulling unequal things level; it is that when the acceptance of dharmas is present, no mark of high or low can any longer be found among dharmas to hold on to.

4. Apart—because of ultimate emptiness. The third name is 「離波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā apart"; the Buddha answers: because of ultimate emptiness. The treatise explains: with the mind of ultimate emptiness the bodhisattva is apart from the afflictions, and is also apart from all dharmas. Being apart has two layers—being apart from the afflictions everyone is willing to accept; being apart from all dharmas is the handiwork of ultimate emptiness: not setting up even the dharmas relied upon—only this is called truly apart.

5. Indestructible—because all dharmas are unfindable. The fourth name is 「不壞波羅蜜」 tr. "the indestructible pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva seeks dharmas by their general marks and particular marks, and does not find a fixed mark even the size of a hair; because they are unfindable, his mind is not attached to any dharma. People of wrong views and idle discourse wish, with attached minds, to destroy the bodhisattva; because the bodhisattva is attached to nothing, he cannot be destroyed. The wonder of the meaning of indestructible lies in a reversal: it is not that it cannot be destroyed because it is firm, but that because it is attached to nothing there is nowhere to lay hands on it—what can be destroyed has always been the place of attachment.

6. Without a further shore—because it is without name and without body. The fifth name is 「無彼岸波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without a further shore"; the Buddha answers: because it is without name and without body. The treatise explains: this shore is called birth and death, the further shore is called nirvāṇa, and between them is the great river of the afflictions; all who have gone forth wish to abandon this shore and covet the further shore; yet prajñā is without a further shore—the further shore is nirvāṇa, without colour and without name. The root meaning of pāramitā is reaching the further shore; this name speaks, against the grain, of there being no further shore, in order to block the mind that covets the further shore: nirvāṇa is without colour and without name, and there is no shore to land on or to dwell on.

7. Of the kind of emptiness—because in-breath and out-breath are unfindable. The sixth name is 「空種波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the kind of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because in-breath and out-breath are unfindable. The treatise explains: where there is space there are out-breath and in-breath; out-breath and in-breath are born from the causes and conditions of false and deceptive karma; what goes out is not what comes in, what comes in is not what goes out; arising and ceasing thought by thought, their real mark is unfindable; because the breath is unfindable, all dharmas too are unfindable. To examine emptiness by the breath is to bring the meaning of emptiness down to where it touches the body most closely—seeking the real mark within the space of a single breath, it is utterly unfindable; how much more the other dharmas.

8. Unspeakable—because initial and sustained thought are unfindable. The seventh name is 「不可說波羅蜜」 tr. "the unspeakable pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because initial and sustained thought are unfindable. The treatise explains: because all dharmas have the mark of emptiness and stillness, there is no need for initial and sustained thought; because there is no initial and sustained thought, there is no speech; because there is no speech, prajñā is said to cut off the path of language. The root of speech lies in initial and sustained thought—the searching and examining discrimination in the mind; since the root is unfindable, the stream of language is cut off of itself.

9. Nameless—because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable. The eighth name is 「無名波羅蜜」 tr. "the nameless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable. The treatise explains: the two dharmas of name and form gather in all dharmas—the four great elements and derived form are gathered under form, the four aggregates of feeling and the rest are gathered under name; those who analyse dharmas say that prajñā has the mark of wisdom and is gathered under name; now in reality form is not apart from name and name is not apart from form, and prajñā has the mark of not-knowing; therefore it says that feeling, perception, constructions, and consciousness are unfindable, and speaks of the nameless pāramitā. This passage is a subtle point in the learning of names and marks: if prajñā could be filed under name, it would become one dharma among dharmas; nameless is precisely withdrawing it from the files of name and form.

10. Not going—because all dharmas do not come. The ninth name is 「不去波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not going"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not come. The treatise's explanation is a single sentence: all dharmas are without coming and without going, therefore it is called the pāramitā without going. Asked about going, he answers about coming, and the treatise takes in both coming and going—going and coming depend on each other; where there is no coming there is no going.

11. Unmoving—because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The tenth name is 「無移波羅蜜」 tr. "the unmoving pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The treatise explains: prajñā is the Dharma treasury of the buddhas of the three times and the ten directions, sealed with the three Dharma seals, and neither gods nor humans can break it; therefore it is called unmoving. To be moved is to be shaken, to be shifted and changed; the Dharma sealed by the three Dharma seals cannot be broken by gods or humans—the meaning of what cannot be moved stands on the Dharma seal, not on defence.

12. Exhausted—because all dharmas are ultimately exhausted. The eleventh name is 「盡波羅蜜」 tr. "the exhausted pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are ultimately exhausted. The treatise explains: all conditioned dharmas are exhausted and cease thought by thought, with no time of abiding; if so, past dharmas are not exhausted, future dharmas are not exhausted either, and present dharmas, because they do not abide, are not exhausted; the exhaustion of the three times is in every case unfindable, and this is called ultimately exhausted. This passage must be read closely: precisely because they are exhausted and cease thought by thought, on the contrary there is not a single place in the three times where 「盡」 tr. "exhaustion" can be found—exhausted so thoroughly that not even the mark of exhaustion is set up; only this is called ultimately exhausted.

13. Unarisen and unceasing—each raised as the answer to the other. The twelfth name is 「不生波羅蜜」 tr. "the unarisen pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not cease. The thirteenth name is 「不滅波羅蜜」 tr. "the unceasing pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not arise. The two answers of the sūtra are exactly exchanged, the most striking point in the manner of answering in this chapter. The treatise explains: because arising is unfindable in all dharmas in the three times, there is no arising; because there is no arising, it is called the pāramitā without arising; not ceasing is likewise. Arising and ceasing stand in dependence on each other—since there is no arising to be found, ceasing has nowhere to be set up; therefore when speaking of unarisen he raises unceasing, and when speaking of unceasing he raises unarisen, and the two names enter together into the meaning of non-arising.

14. Without anything done—because the doer is unfindable. The fourteenth name is 「無作波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without anything done"; the Buddha answers: because the doer is unfindable. The treatise explains: doing is of two kinds—doing by beings, such as giving, keeping the precepts, and the like; doing by dharmas, such as fire burning and water soaking, which the mind and consciousness know. Because beings are empty, there is no doer; because all dharmas are dull and do not give rise to the mark of doing, dharmas too do not do; since both are without doing, it is called the pāramitā without anything done. Only when the 「作」 tr. "doing" along both roads, of persons and of dharmas, is seen through together is the meaning of without anything done complete.

15. Without knowing—because the knower is unfindable. The fifteenth name is 「無知波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without knowing"; the Buddha answers: because the knower is unfindable. The treatise explains: without knowing is likewise—because all dharmas are dull, there is nothing they know. It has the same form as without anything done: because the doer is unfindable there is no doing, because the knower is unfindable there is no knowing; dharmas in themselves are dark and dull, knowing neither themselves nor others.

16. Not arriving—because birth and death are unfindable. The sixteenth name is 「不到波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not arriving"; the Buddha answers: because birth and death are unfindable. The treatise explains: the divine eye sees that there is birth and death; with the wisdom-eye of emptiness one sees that birth and death are unfindable; the beings of this life die, and none arrives at a later life; only the five aggregates, through the causes and conditions of former karma, are born in continuity; therefore it is called the pāramitā not arriving. This passage states the meaning of rebirth with great precision: there is no real self crossing over from this life to that life, and yet the continuity of karma and its fruit is not disordered—not arriving is not annihilation; it is a continuity without one who crosses.

17. Not lost—because all dharmas are not lost. The seventeenth name is 「不失波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not lost"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are not lost. The treatise explains: prajñā does not lose the real mark of all dharmas, and can also cause all dharmas not to lose their real mark; apart from prajñā, all dharmas are lost; contemplating the real mark of all dharmas, one attains prajñāpāramitā; therefore it is called not lost. The seventeen names of Sūtra ① are brought to a close here: rising from boundless and ending at not lost—prajñā is boundless and yet loses not the slightest thing; one letting out, one gathering in, exactly forming head and tail.

18. Dream—because even what is seen in a dream is unfindable. Sūtra ② turns to names drawn from similes. The eighteenth name is 「夢波羅蜜」 tr. "the dream pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because even what is seen in a dream is unfindable. The treatise explains: Subhūti, praising prajñā, shows beings that the world is empty like a dream; the Buddha says that the dream too is unfindable. Subhūti uses the dream as a simile for the emptiness of the world; the Buddha goes one level further: the dream that illustrates is itself also unfindable—the simile for emptiness is itself empty.

19. Echo, shadow, mirage, illusion—because the one who hears the sound, the face of the mirror, the flowing water, and the conjuring act are unfindable. The nineteenth name is 「響波羅蜜」 tr. "the echo pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the one who hears the sound is unfindable. The twentieth name is 「影波羅蜜」 tr. "the shadow pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the face of the mirror is unfindable. The twenty-first name is 「焰波羅蜜」 tr. "the mirage pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the flowing water is unfindable. The twenty-second name is 「幻波羅蜜」 tr. "the illusion pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the conjuring act is unfindable. The treatise's explanation sums up their meaning: people's minds take the voice as real and the echo as false; with the shadow, they take the person's face and the mirror as real and the image as false; with the mirage, they take wind, dust, and sunlight as real and the water as false; with the illusion, they take the spell-craft as real and what it produces as false—Subhūti praises prajñā by using similes for emptiness; the Buddha says that both the simile and the matter itself are empty; because the matter itself is empty, this simile too is empty. This passage is the eye common to all five similes: when ordinary people use a simile, they always keep half of it real—using the real to compare the false; the Buddha's manner of answering sees through both sides together. The one who hears the sound in the echo, the face of the mirror in the shadow, the conjuring act in the illusion—these are exactly the half of each simile that is taken as 「實」 tr. "real"; the mirage simile alone is different—the treatise takes wind, dust, and sunlight as real and the water as false, yet the Buddha answers that the flowing water, on its false side, is unfindable. The real side and the false side are both unfindable; the simile and the matter itself are both empty; not even half can be kept.

20. Without stain—because the afflictions are unfindable. The twenty-third name is 「不垢波羅蜜」 tr. "the unstained pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the afflictions are unfindable. The treatise explains: prajñā is without stain and can cut off and extinguish all stains; the Buddha says the afflictions from the very beginning have always been non-existent—what is there now to cut off? Because stain is from the beginning non-existent, it is without stain—not that it is without stain only after being washed clean, but that stain has never really existed.

21. Without purity—because the afflictions are false and deceptive. The twenty-fourth name is 「無淨波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without purity"; the Buddha answers: because the afflictions are false and deceptive. The treatise explains: without purity is likewise; to be without afflictions is purity. At first sight this name jars—how could prajñā be without purity? Yet the meaning runs through consistently: purity is a name set up over against stain; since the afflictions are false, deceptive, and not real, stain is unfindable, and purity too has nothing to stand over against. Without purity is precisely being pure to the point that there is no mark of purity to grasp.

22. Not sullied—because the place is unfindable. The twenty-fifth name is 「不污波羅蜜」 tr. "the unsullied pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the place is unfindable. The treatise explains: lust, anger, and the other afflictions are called sullying; prajñā is not sullied by any stained dharma; the six faculties are the place of the afflictions; of the six faculties and all dharmas, the place the afflictions take as object and the place where they dwell are both unfindable; therefore it is called not sullied. Stain has no place to dwell—that is the reason it is not sullied: sullying needs a place; the place being unfindable, where could sullying be applied?

23. Without idle discourse—because all idle discourse is broken. The twenty-sixth name is 「不戲論波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without idle discourse"; the Buddha answers: because all idle discourse is broken. The treatise explains: when one attains this prajñā, all idle discourse and recollection, imagining, and discrimination cease. Idle discourse is the mind adding legs to the snake on top of the real mark; when prajñā is present, every added leg is broken away.

24. Not thinking—because all thought is broken. The twenty-seventh name is 「不念波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not thinking"; the Buddha answers: because all thought is broken. The treatise explains: because all dharmas are ultimately empty, there is no mark of recollection or thought; because there is no mark of recollection or thought, it is called the pāramitā without thought. Thought is connected with idle discourse but finer: idle discourse is the coarse form of discrimination, thought is the subtle working of the mind; in ultimate emptiness, coarse and subtle both come to rest.

25. Immovable—because the nature of dharmas ever abides. The twenty-eighth name is 「不動波羅蜜」 tr. "the immovable pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the nature of dharmas ever abides. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva who abides in the nature of dharmas cannot be overcome by any debater, cannot be covered by any fetters or wrong views, and when all dharmas are impermanent and destroyed his mind gives rise to no sorrow—because of causes and conditions such as these it is called immovable. Immovable is not holding stiffly still; it is that what one abides in ever abides: the place of abiding does not move, and the one who abides does not move of himself.

26. Undefiled—because one knows all dharmas as false understanding. The twenty-ninth name is 「無染波羅蜜」 tr. "the undefiled pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because one knows all dharmas as false understanding. The treatise explains: all dharmas are false understanding, not only the defilement of craving. The scope of defilement is here enlarged: it is not only the defilement of affection and craving that is defilement; every false understanding arising toward dharmas is defilement; only knowing that all of it is false is being undefiled.

27. Not rising—because all dharmas are without discrimination. The thirtieth name is 「不起波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not rising up"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without discrimination. The treatise explains: recollection, imagining, and discrimination are the root of all fetters; where there are fetters, they can give rise to the karma of a later body; knowing that recollection, imagining, and discrimination are false, all karma of birth in later lives no longer rises, and therefore it is called the pāramitā not rising. Not rising points straight at the karma of taking birth: karma rises from the fetters, the fetters rise from recollection, imagining, and discrimination; when the root is cut, later existence does not rise.

28. Quiescent extinction—because the marks of all dharmas are unfindable. The thirty-first name is 「寂滅波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of quiescent extinction"; the Buddha answers: because the marks of all dharmas are unfindable. The treatise explains: in prajñā one does not grasp the mark of the fire of the three poisons, therefore it is said to be quiescent extinction; the Buddha says that not only are the marks of the three poisons quiescent and extinguished, but the marks of all dharmas are unfindable. Subhūti speaks of quiescent extinction in terms of the stilling of the three poisons; the Buddha extends it to the marks of all dharmas—quiescent extinction is not the quiet after the afflictions have gone out; it is the original quiescence in which all marks are from the beginning unfindable.

29. Without desire—because desire is unfindable. The thirty-second name is 「無欲波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without desire"; the Buddha answers: because desire is unfindable. The treatise explains: prajñā does not crave even among wholesome dharmas, how much less other desires; the Buddha says that desire from the very beginning is unfindable; greed and desire are false and deceptive, and their self-nature is unfindable, therefore it is called the pāramitā without desire—it is not called without desire because desire has been left behind. The last sentence is the iron limit shared by the three names from here on: without desire is not a without achieved by cultivating the practice of leaving desire behind; it is the without of the nature of desire being from the beginning unfindable.

30. Without hatred—because hatred is not real. The thirty-third name is 「無瞋波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without hatred"; the Buddha answers: because hatred is not real. The treatise explains: the nature of hatred is ultimately without anything existent, therefore it is called the pāramitā without hatred—it is not called without hatred because hatred has been left behind. The same form as without desire: the nature of hatred is from the beginning non-existent; it is not a without achieved by holding hatred down.

31. Without delusion—because the darkness of ignorance is extinguished. The thirty-fourth name is 「無癡波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without delusion"; the Buddha answers: because the darkness of ignorance is extinguished. The treatise explains: in all dharmas the darkness of ignorance is broken, therefore it is called the pāramitā without delusion—it is not called without delusion because delusion has been extinguished. Reading the three names together, the treatise-author repeats three times the sentence that it is neither a leaving behind nor an extinguishing: the without of the three poisons is in every case spoken of in terms of their nature being from the beginning unfindable, not in terms of the success of counteracting them.

32. Without afflictions—because discrimination and recollection are false. The thirty-fifth name is 「無煩惱波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without afflictions"; the Buddha answers: because discrimination and recollection are false. The treatise explains: because the bodhisattva attains the acceptance of the non-arising of dharmas, all afflictions cease; the Buddha says that recollection, imagining, and discrimination are the root of the afflictions; if even recollection and imagining do not exist, how much less the afflictions. The answer lies at the root: it does not count off the non-existence of the afflictions, but points straight at the falseness of their root.

33. Without beings—because beings are without anything existent. The thirty-sixth name is 「無眾生波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without beings"; the Buddha answers: because beings are without anything existent. The treatise explains: prajñā can break the inversion that there are beings where there are no beings, therefore it is called the pāramitā without beings; the Buddha says that these beings from the very beginning do not arise and are without anything existent. The word beings here names an attachment to be broken, not people to be abandoned—what is broken is the inversion of 「無眾生中有眾生」 tr. "beings where there are no beings," not a sweeping denial of the work of delivering beings.

34. Cut off—because dharmas do not rise. The thirty-seventh name is 「斷波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā cut off"; the Buddha answers: because dharmas do not rise. The treatise explains: Subhūti's intent is that because prajñā can cut off all dharmas with outflows, it is called cut off; the Buddha says that dharmas do not rise, do not arise, and are without anything done; because dharmas have of themselves the mark of being cut off, it is called cut off. The two meanings of cutting off, the higher and the lower, stand out at once: cutting off where the cutter and the cut stand over against each other is cutting off by cultivation; dharmas from the beginning not rising of themselves, being of themselves the mark of being cut off, is cutting off by nature. The Buddha's answer takes the latter.

35. Without the two extremes—because it is apart from the two extremes. The thirty-eighth name is 「無二邊波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without the two extremes"; the Buddha answers: because it is apart from the two extremes. The treatise explains: the two extremes means self and no-self, cutting off and not cutting off, dharmas that can be cut off and dharmas without cutting off, permanence and cessation, existence and non-existence—immeasurable pairs of extremes such as these; in prajñā there are none of these extremes; the Buddha says that these extremes from the very beginning are non-existent, and one is attached to them only because of falsehood, deception, and inversion; the bodhisattva, because he seeks what is real, is apart from these inverted extremes. Being apart from the extremes is not compromising to take the middle: the extremes are from the beginning not existent; they become extremes through attachment; to be apart from attachment is to be apart from the extremes.

36. Not broken—because all dharmas are not apart from one another. The thirty-ninth name is 「不破波羅蜜」 tr. "the unbroken pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are not apart from one another. The treatise explains: prajñā is of one mark and, because it is empty, cannot be broken; the Buddha says that it is not only prajñā—all dharmas are without fixed different marks: the fruit is not apart from the cause and the cause is not apart from the fruit, the conditioned is not apart from the unconditioned and the unconditioned is not apart from the conditioned, prajñā is not apart from all dharmas and all dharmas are not apart from prajñā; the real mark of all dharmas is prajñā, therefore it is called not broken; to be broken is for dharmas to be each scattered apart. Breaking must first have separation—only what can be scattered apart one by one can be broken open; dharma and dharma are one with each other and not apart from one another, and so there is no place to lay hands on to break them.

37. Not grasping—because it passes beyond the grounds of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. The fortieth name is 「不取波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā not grasping"; the Buddha answers: because it passes beyond the grounds of the śrāvaka and the pratyekabuddha. The treatise explains: all dharmas have faults such as permanence and impermanence, and therefore prajñā does not grasp any dharma; the Buddha says that all dharmas, up to even the pure world-transcending dharmas of the two vehicles, are also not grasped. The boundary of not grasping is drawn at the highest place: not only are worldly dharmas not grasped, even the pure fruit-dharmas of the two vehicles are not grasped—the meaning of passing beyond the two grounds lies exactly here.

38. Without discrimination—because false thoughts are unfindable. The forty-first name is 「不分別波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without discrimination"; the Buddha answers: because all false thoughts are unfindable. The treatise explains: discrimination means grasping at marks and giving rise to mind, false thought and discrimination; prajñā is the real mark and therefore is without this false thought and discrimination; the Buddha says that it is only because of recollection, imagining, and discrimination that there is the discrimination of existence and non-existence, and now recollection, imagining, and discrimination are from the very beginning non-existent. The dispute over existence and non-existence has its root in recollection and imagining; recollection and imagining being from the beginning non-existent, existence and non-existence come to rest of themselves.

39. Immeasurable—because the measure of dharmas is unfindable. The forty-second name is 「無量波羅蜜」 tr. "the immeasurable pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the measure of dharmas is unfindable. The treatise brings out four meanings: prajñā brings forth the four immeasurables, therefore it is called immeasurable; because it is ultimately empty, and for the sake of attaining the immeasurable dharma of nirvāṇa, it is called immeasurable; wisdom cannot reach its edge, therefore it is called immeasurable; measure is what the six faculties reckon, and this dharma is empty, signless, without arising and ceasing, what the six faculties cannot measure—why? Because the thing is much and the measuring vessel is small. The last simile is the most apt: it is not that the dharma lies far beyond measure, but that the measuring vessel is too small—the measure of the six faculties cannot measure the dharma of ultimate emptiness.

40. Space—because all dharmas are without anything existent. The forty-third name is 「虛空波羅蜜」 tr. "the space pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without anything existent. The treatise explains: as space is without colour and without form and can do nothing, prajñā is likewise; the Buddha says that not only is space without anything existent, but form and all dharmas are without anything existent. Sūtra ② is brought to a close here: rising from dream and ending at space, the twenty-six names all praise their way in along the single road of the 「虛」 tr. "insubstantial," and the Buddha's answers push the 「虛」 tr. "insubstantial" one by one to the very bottom—even the insubstantiality that illustrates is unfindable.

41. Impermanence—because all dharmas are broken and destroyed. Sūtra ③ begins from 「無常波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of impermanence." It is the forty-fourth name; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are broken and destroyed. The treatise explains: in prajñā there is the noble practice of impermanence, therefore it is called the pāramitā of impermanence; the Buddha says that not only is there impermanence in prajñā, but because one contemplates all dharmas as impermanent it is called the pāramitā of impermanence. Impermanence here is the name of a noble practice—that practice of entering the path by the contemplation of impermanence, gathered within prajñā.

42. Reconciling permanence and impermanence—the conditioned prajñā and the ever-abiding prajñā. Here the treatise-author raises a question: above it was said that prajñā is the nature of dharmas that ever abides; why is it now said to be impermanent? Answer: prajñā is wisdom; it contemplates dharmas as born from the coming together of causes and conditions; being a conditioned dharma, it is impermanent; the place that prajñā takes as object—suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality—is unconditioned dharma, and therefore permanent; Subhūti speaks of the conditioned prajñā, therefore he says impermanent. A further question: if so, why does the Buddha say that all dharmas are entirely broken, destroyed, and impermanent, while unconditioned dharmas have no mark of destruction? Answer: all dharmas is a name for the six faculties; inner and outer are all made dharmas, and made dharmas must return to the mark of destruction; apart from conditioned dharmas there are no unconditioned dharmas, nor is there any further mark of dharmas; it is because of the mark of conditioned dharmas that unconditioned dharmas are said to be not arising and not ceasing. Further, all conditioned dharmas are of two kinds—the all of names and the real all; all conditioned dharmas are destroyed, therefore it is called all impermanent. These two rounds of question and answer are the pivot of meaning of Sūtra ③: the wisdom that contemplates is conditioned, the nature that is entered is unconditioned; speaking of permanence and speaking of impermanence each have their own referent and do not contradict or harm each other.

43. Suffering, no-self, emptiness, the signless—because of the mark of vexation, of non-attachment, of unfindability, of non-arising. The forty-fifth name is 「苦波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of suffering"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas have the mark of vexation. The forty-sixth name is 「無我波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of no-self"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without attachment. The forty-seventh name is 「空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The forty-eighth name is 「無相波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas do not arise. The treatise sums up: suffering and the rest, up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas, are likewise—Subhūti speaks of the marks of all dharmas to praise prajñā; the Buddha raises all dharmas to answer. Impermanence, suffering, no-self, emptiness, and the signless are the backbone names of the three Dharma seals and the four noble practices; under each name the Buddha answers with all dharmas, which lets one see that the noble practices are not practices outside prajñā, and the marks of dharmas are not marks outside prajñā.

44. The eighteen emptinesses, first part—from inner emptiness up to the emptiness of the highest meaning. The forty-ninth name is 「內空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of inner emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because inner dharmas are unfindable. The fiftieth name is 「外空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of outer emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because outer dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-first name is 「內外空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of inner-and-outer emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because inner and outer dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-second name is 「空空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because the dharma of the emptiness of emptiness is unfindable. The fifty-third name is 「大空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of great emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-fourth name is 「第一義空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of the highest meaning"; the Buddha answers: because nirvāṇa is unfindable. All six names take as their answer that the dharma made empty is unfindable; among them the emptiness of emptiness, with emptiness itself empty, and the emptiness of the highest meaning, with nirvāṇa unfindable, are the two locks within the gate of emptiness by which the attachment to emptiness takes itself apart.

45. The eighteen emptinesses, latter part—from the emptiness of the conditioned up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas. The fifty-fifth name is 「有為空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of the conditioned"; the Buddha answers: because conditioned dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-sixth name is 「無為空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of the unconditioned"; the Buddha answers: because unconditioned dharmas are unfindable. The fifty-seventh name is 「畢竟空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of ultimate emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because dharmas are ultimately unfindable. The fifty-eighth name is 「無始空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of beginningless emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because the beginninglessness of dharmas is unfindable. The fifty-ninth name is 「散空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of dispersal"; the Buddha answers: because dispersed dharmas are unfindable. The sixtieth name is 「性空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of nature"; the Buddha answers: because conditioned and unconditioned dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-first name is 「諸法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of all dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-second name is 「自相空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of specific marks"; the Buddha answers: because specific marks are apart. The sixty-third name is 「無法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of non-existent dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because non-existent dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-fourth name is 「有法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of existent dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because existent dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-fifth name is 「無法有法空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas"; the Buddha answers: because non-existent dharmas and existent dharmas are unfindable. The eighteen emptinesses become seventeen names in this chapter—the sūtra here does not list 「不可得空」 tr. "the emptiness of the unfindable," and the remaining seventeen names are called out one by one—and the form of answer is uniform: each speaks of what it empties as unfindable; only the emptiness of specific marks answers 「自相離」 tr. "specific marks are apart," the word apart taking the place of unfindable, because specific marks from the beginning have nothing findable of which to speak, and so it speaks directly of their being apart.

46. The foundations of mindfulness—because body, feeling, mind, and dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-sixth name is 「念處波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the foundations of mindfulness"; the Buddha answers: because body, feeling, mind, and dharmas are unfindable. The treatise explains in particular detail: the right contemplation of the four dharmas of body and the rest arises from the four foundations of mindfulness; the four foundations of mindfulness are the first gate of the four truths, the four truths are the first gate of the four fruits of the śramaṇa, and the fruit of arhatship, when analysed, is the three vehicles; the four foundations of mindfulness are spoken of broadly in all kinds of ways within prajñā; the Buddha says that the place these four kinds of dharmas take as object is from the very beginning unfindable, therefore it is called the pāramitā of the foundations of mindfulness. At the head of the limbs of the path, the treatise-author marks it out as the first gate through which all three vehicles alike pass—and the place this first gate takes as object is from the beginning unfindable; this is exactly where the limbs of the path enter prajñā.

47. From right exertion up to meditation—the limbs of the path, the three gates, the liberations, the nine absorptions, and the six perfections, name by name. The sixty-seventh name is 「正懃波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of right exertion"; the Buddha answers: because wholesome and unwholesome dharmas are unfindable. The sixty-eighth name is 「如意足波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the bases of supernormal power"; the Buddha answers: because the four bases of supernormal power are unfindable. The sixty-ninth name is 「根波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the faculties"; the Buddha answers: because the five faculties are unfindable. The seventieth name is 「力波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the powers"; the Buddha answers: because the five powers are unfindable. The seventy-first name is 「覺波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the limbs of awakening"; the Buddha answers: because the seven limbs of awakening are unfindable. The seventy-second name is 「道波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the path"; the Buddha answers: because the eight limbs of the noble path are unfindable. The seventy-third name is 「無作波羅蜜」 tr. "the non-action pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because non-action is unfindable. The seventy-fourth name is 「空波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of emptiness"; the Buddha answers: because the mark of emptiness is unfindable. The seventy-fifth name is 「無相波羅蜜」 tr. "the signless pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because the mark of quiescent extinction is unfindable. The seventy-sixth name is 「背捨波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the liberations"; the Buddha answers: because the eight liberations are unfindable. The seventy-seventh name is 「定波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of absorption"; the Buddha answers: because the nine successive absorptions are unfindable. The seventy-eighth name is 「檀波羅蜜」 tr. "dānapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because stinginess and greed are unfindable. The seventy-ninth name is 「尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "śīlapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because breaking the precepts is unfindable. The eightieth name is 「羼提波羅蜜」 tr. "kṣāntipāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because patience and impatience are unfindable. The eighty-first name is 「毘梨耶波羅蜜」 tr. "vīryapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because laziness and vigour are unfindable. The eighty-second name is 「禪波羅蜜」 tr. "dhyānapāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because concentration and distraction are unfindable. Among these, for the six groups—the five faculties, the five powers, the seven limbs of awakening, the eight limbs of the noble path, the eight liberations, and the nine successive absorptions—the sūtra in every case only calls out the collective name and answers with 「不可得故」 tr. "because they are unfindable," without setting out the marks of the individual members; here, following their names, the members are briefly explained one by one, so that afterward one knows what dharmas it is that the sūtra dispels. The five faculties are the five dharmas of faith, vigour, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom in their position as faculties able to give rise to wholesome dharmas: faith is giving rise to decisive faith and acceptance toward the Dharma one has heard, the mind clear and without doubt; vigour is urging oneself on without rest among wholesome dharmas, not slackening midway; mindfulness is binding the dharma one cultivates to the mind, recollecting and holding it without forgetting, so that the mind is not scattered; concentration is gathering the mind in one place, not turning with objects; wisdom is sifting and penetrating dharmas, not obscured by delusion. The five powers are these same five dharmas having become powers that cannot be destroyed: faith become a power, doubt cannot move it; vigour become a power, laziness cannot rob it; mindfulness become a power, forgetting cannot confuse it; concentration become a power, scattering cannot shake it; wisdom become a power, wrong delusion cannot topple it—the faculty does not yet have power, while the power can already get the work done; the same dharmas in different positions, and therefore the sūtra sets up the name powers separately beside the faculties. The seven limbs of awakening are the seven—mindfulness, discernment of dharmas, vigour, joy, removal, concentration, and equanimity: the limb of awakening of mindfulness recollects and holds what is cultivated without forgetting, and is what the other six limbs are tied to; the limb of awakening of discernment of dharmas sifts dharmas as true or false, taking the true and discarding the false; the limb of awakening of vigour practises diligently, without retreating, the true dharma that has been discerned; the limb of awakening of joy is the mind giving rise to delight on attaining the Dharma, not the joy of worldly pleasure; the limb of awakening of removal removes the coarse heaviness of body and mind, making them light, nimble, attuned, and fit for work; the limb of awakening of concentration is the mind abiding on one object without confusion; the limb of awakening of equanimity is not being attached to what is attained, the mind even and not leaning to either side—the reason these seven are called awakening lies in their relying on separation, relying on non-defilement, and tending toward nirvāṇa; apart from these three phrases, the seven dharmas become only worldly goodness, not the awakening that tends toward stillness. The eight limbs of the noble path are the eight—right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right vigour, right mindfulness, and right concentration: right view is seeing dharmas as they really are, not inverted, not grasping wrongly, the head of the whole path; right thought is deliberation arising on the basis of right view, not mixed with thoughts of greed, anger, or harm; right speech is words that accord with the Dharma, neither false nor harmful; right action is the body's conduct apart from all that is not Dharma, pure in movement and in rest; right livelihood is obtaining the requisites for sustaining the body in accordance with the Dharma, not living by wrong seeking; right vigour is exerting strength in cutting off evil and giving rise to good, not using that strength the wrong way round; right mindfulness is binding mindfulness to its object, not turning with what is false; right concentration is the concentration completed on the basis of the preceding seven, the mind on one object and unmoving—only when the eight are complete do they form one whole path; lacking one, what is practised is not the path. The eight liberations (also called the eight deliverances) take the power of concentration as their substance; the name is made of turning the back, which is turning away and discarding, and of relinquishing, which is letting go and leaving: toward the form that is craved and the feeling that is clung to, one turns one's back and does not face them, relinquishes them and does not grasp them: first, with the inner perception of form not yet removed, contemplating outer forms; second, with no perception of form within, still contemplating outer forms; third, taking pure form as object and realising it with the body; fourth, passing beyond all marks of form, extinguishing the marks of resistance, not attending to any marks of diversity, and entering the sphere of boundless space; fifth, passing beyond the sphere of space and entering the sphere of boundless consciousness; sixth, passing beyond the sphere of consciousness and entering the sphere of nothingness; seventh, passing beyond the sphere of nothingness and entering the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception; eighth, passing beyond the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception and entering the absorption of the cessation of feeling and perception—when relinquishing is complete it is called deliverance, and so the two names have one reality. The nine successive absorptions lay their weight on succession: once one absorption has arisen, one next enters the following absorption, with no other mind mixed in between. The first dhyāna is apart from desire and apart from evil and unwholesome dharmas, with initial and sustained thought, and with joy and pleasure born of separation; the second dhyāna extinguishes initial and sustained thought, with inner purity and one-pointedness of mind, without initial and sustained thought, and with joy and pleasure born of concentration; the third dhyāna leaves joy behind and practises equanimity, experiencing pleasure with the body, mindful and dwelling in pleasure; the fourth dhyāna cuts off suffering and pleasure, sorrow and joy having earlier been extinguished, neither suffering nor pleasure, with equanimity and mindfulness pure; the four above these are apart from form and take the formless as object, each with its own object: the sphere of boundless space, passing beyond all marks of form, extinguishing the marks of resistance, not attending to any marks of diversity, takes boundless space as object and abides; the sphere of boundless consciousness relinquishes the mark of space, turns to take as object the boundlessness of the consciousness that takes objects, and abides; the sphere of nothingness relinquishes even the mark of consciousness, contemplates that not the least dharma is findable, and abides; in the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, coarse perception is already gone and subtle perception is not yet exhausted, and so it is neither called having perception nor called without perception. Last, the absorption of the cessation of feeling and perception: feeling, perception, and the associated mind and mental factors all cease; this is the summit of the nine absorptions—the nine absorptions ascend in succession with no mixed thought between, and therefore they are called the nine successive absorptions. Once the members of the six groups are clear, one sees that what the sūtra dispels is not an empty name: what is dispelled are the dharmas to which the practitioner, step by step, can become attached; each is answered with unfindable, and it is precisely in this that the limbs of the path are Mahāyāna. The treatise's explanation gathers it in one sentence: from the four right exertions up to prajñāpāramitā, it is likewise—all are like the example of the foundations of mindfulness: the place they take as object is from the beginning unfindable. In the manner of answering here there is a fine turn: the names of the limbs of the path are answered in terms of their own substance being unfindable, while the names of the six perfections raise both what is counteracted and what counteracts—stinginess and greed, breaking the precepts, patience and impatience, laziness and vigour, concentration and distraction—what is counteracted is unfindable, and what counteracts has nothing to stand on either; only then is the meaning of perfection pure. Further, the single name 「無作」 tr. "without anything done" appears again in both Sūtra ① and Sūtra ③: the without anything done of Sūtra ① stands next to without knowing and speaks in terms of the doer and the knower being unfindable; the without anything done here speaks in terms of the mark of the three gates of liberation being unfindable—the name is the same but the gate differs. Sūtra ① separately has 「空種」 tr. "of the kind of emptiness," which is close in name to 「空」 tr. "emptiness" here but different in substance; 「無相」 tr. "signless" is not listed in Sūtra ①, and is found only here.

48. Prajñā praising prajñā—because delusion and wisdom are unfindable. The eighty-third name is 「般若波羅蜜是般若波羅蜜」 tr. "prajñāpāramitā is prajñāpāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because delusion and wisdom are unfindable. The treatise-author raises a question: other dharmas may be used to praise prajñā; how can prajñā again be used to praise prajñā? Answer: prajñā is of two kinds—first, the ever-abiding prajñā; second, the prajñāpāramitā that has a use, which practises together with the five perfections; Subhūti praises the prajñā that has a use, which can break the darkness of ignorance and can give true wisdom; therefore the Buddha speaks of the ever-abiding prajñāpāramitā: because delusion and wisdom are unfindable. Praising prajñā by prajñā is not saying the same thing twice: what is praised is the prajñā that has a use, practising together with the five perfections; what the praise returns to is the ever-abiding prajñā—in the ever-abiding prajñā, even the opposition of delusion and wisdom is unfindable.

49. The ten powers—because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The eighty-fourth name is 「十力波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the ten powers"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas cannot be subdued. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva who practises prajñā first attains the bodhisattva's ten powers and later attains the Buddha's ten powers, therefore it speaks of the pāramitā of the ten powers; the Buddha says that not only can the one with the ten powers not be broken and not be subdued, but the real mark of all dharmas too cannot be broken and cannot be subdued; the Buddha's intent is that for the sake of delivering beings he speaks of the power of the buddhas of the ten directions as immeasurable and boundless; like the Buddha's power, the real mark of all dharmas likewise cannot be subdued. The name of power returns to the real mark: the Buddha's power cannot be subdued, and the real mark equally cannot be subdued—the power of the pāramitā of the powers is the power of the real mark.

50. Fearlessness—because knowledge of the kinds of paths does not sink. The eighty-fifth name is 「無所畏波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of fearlessness"; the Buddha answers: because knowledge of the kinds of paths does not sink. The treatise explains: the bodhisattva who attains the power of prajñā can expound the Dharma and debate before the Buddha, how much more elsewhere; he does not fear even the Māra king, how much less those of the outside paths. Knowledge of the kinds of paths is called the Dharma-eye: it knows by which path all beings attain nirvāṇa; prajñā is always of the mark of quiescent extinction and cannot be spoken; the bodhisattva with knowledge of the kinds of paths guides beings and roars the lion's roar in the great assembly; because knowledge of the kinds of paths increases, he does not sink and is fearless, and also is not arrogant of himself, thinking that he has this dharma. The source of fearlessness lies not in courage but in the Dharma-eye not sinking—knowing by which path beings are delivered, facing the assembly one is naturally without timidity; and fearlessness not turning into arrogance is its true quality.

51. Unobstructed knowledge—because all dharmas are without hindrance and without obstruction. The eighty-sixth name is 「無礙智波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of unobstructed knowledge"; the Buddha answers: because all dharmas are without hindrance and without obstruction. The treatise explains: Subhūti, hearing from the Buddha, grew deeper in fearlessness, and so he praised it, saying the unobstructed pāramitā; the Buddha says that it is not only the four unobstructed knowledges—because all dharmas enter suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, all are of the mark of non-obstruction. The four unobstructed knowledges are the heading for eloquence at the stage of the fruit; the Buddha's answer opens one level wider—dharma after dharma enters suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, and is from the beginning unobstructed; the non-obstruction of eloquence is only one of its uses.

52. The dharmas of the Buddha—because they pass beyond all dharmas. The eighty-seventh name is 「佛法波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of the dharmas of the Buddha"; the Buddha answers: because they pass beyond all dharmas. The treatise explains: through prajñā the bodhisattva can gather the dharmas of the buddhas—the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four unobstructed knowledges, great kindness and great compassion, and so on—therefore it speaks of the pāramitā of the dharmas of the Buddha; the Buddha says that the dharma of the śrāvaka surpasses the dharma of ordinary people, the dharma of the pratyekabuddha surpasses the dharma of the śrāvaka, and the dharma of the Buddha is supreme among all dharmas; as among all forms space is vast, the dharma of the Buddha is supreme, none can reach it, nothing can be compared to it, it passes beyond all dharmas. The gradations of the ordinary and the holy are set in order in this one sentence, and the supremacy of the dharma of the Buddha is illustrated by space—not a supremacy by one portion more, but a supremacy vast and without outside.

53. Tathāgata and speaking as it really is—because all speaking is as it really is. The eighty-eighth name is 「如實說者波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of one who speaks as it really is"; the Buddha answers: because all speaking is as it really is. The treatise's explanation also brings out the name 「多陀阿伽陀波羅蜜」 tr. "the tathāgata pāramitā": as the buddhas of the past practised the six perfections and attained the suchness-mark of all dharmas, the present Buddha too likewise practised the six perfections and attained the Buddha path, therefore it is called the tathāgata pāramitā; tathāgata is rendered either the Tathāgata, or one who speaks as it really is, or one who knows as it really is. Here the Buddha says: not only is the Buddha's speaking called speaking as it really is—all language is as it really is, therefore it is called the pāramitā of one who speaks as it really is. The name Tathāgata means coming forth from suchness, and the meaning of speaking as it really is also comes out of suchness; 「一切語言皆是如實」 tr. "all language is as it really is" is the utmost statement from the side of the real mark—language arises depending on suchness, and within suchness not one word goes outside suchness.

54. Of itself—because it is sovereign among all dharmas. The eighty-ninth name is 「自然波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of itself"; the Buddha answers: because it is sovereign among all dharmas. The treatise explains in three layers: prajñā being complete, in the last body one becomes a buddha of oneself, therefore it is called the pāramitā of itself—of itself is a name for the Buddha, and because it is what the Buddha speaks, it is called the pāramitā of itself; further, the real mark of prajñā is so of itself and not made by another, therefore it is called of itself; the Buddha says that the Buddha attains sovereign power among all dharmas, therefore it is called the pāramitā of itself. The words of itself are read three ways: of itself as in becoming a buddha of oneself, of itself as in not being made by another, of itself as in being sovereign over dharmas.

55. The Buddha—because he knows all dharmas, omniscience of all kinds. The ninetieth name is 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā"; the Buddha answers: because he knows all dharmas, omniscience of all kinds. The treatise explains: completing the ten grounds, attaining the ten powers and the four fearlessnesses, turning the wheel of the Dharma, beating the drum of the Dharma, awakening the beings of the world asleep in ignorance—therefore it is called the Buddha pāramitā. Buddha, in the language of Qin, means the awakened one, the knower—what is it that he knows? Rightly knowing all dharmas and all kinds, therefore he is called awakened. All dharmas means the five aggregates, the twelve sense-fields, the eighteen elements, and so on; further, all dharmas means the scriptures of those of the outside paths, arts and crafts, meditative absorptions, and so on, spoken of briefly as five kinds—the dharma of ordinary people, the dharma of the śrāvaka, the dharma of the pratyekabuddha, the dharma of the bodhisattva, and the dharma of the Buddha. The Buddha's knowing in brief has two kinds of mark—the general mark and the particular mark—and further, by the mark of discrimination and the mark of ultimate emptiness; his knowing in full is all kinds—all kinds are all the immeasurable and boundless gates of the Dharma. Because of this matter it is called the Buddha pāramitā; it is not because of the Buddha's body that it is called the Buddha pāramitā, but only because of omniscience of all kinds. The ninety names are crowned here, and at the crowning point the crown takes itself apart: the Buddha of the Buddha pāramitā does not point to the Buddha's body, it points to omniscience of all kinds—praise reaching its ultimate point, what is praised is still knowledge, not marks.

Do Not Misread

Do not read the ninety rounds as a heap of synonyms, a rhetorical spreading-out. Each of the ninety names has its own gate: boundless praises from measure, equal praises from equality, apart, indestructible, and without a further shore praise from the blocking of attachment, dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion praise from simile, the eighteen emptinesses praise from the gate of emptiness, the limbs of the path and the six perfections praise from the gate of practice, the ten powers and fearlessness up to the Buddha praise from the virtues of the fruit—name after name has a different gate, and the Buddha's answers give, one by one, the reason why that name holds. When the treatise-author explained 「無邊」 tr. "boundless," he already said plainly: from the beginning of the chapter to its end, everything is the meaning of boundlessness, and it is spoken of briefly because it would get in the way of speaking of other matters—the ninety names can be gathered into one name, and one name can be opened into ninety; in reading, one should look under each name at that word 「故」 tr. "because"; that is the pivot on which each name's gate turns.

Do not read names of negation such as 「無淨波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without purity," 「無知波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā without knowing," and 「無常波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā of impermanence" as belittling prajñā. Without purity does not say that prajñā is soiled—to be without afflictions is purity, and because the afflictions are false and deceptive, not even the mark of purity is set up; without knowing does not say that prajñā is foolish and benighted—it is because the knower is unfindable and all dharmas are dull; for the name impermanence, the treatise-author specially sets up two rounds of question and answer to sort it out: what Subhūti speaks of is the conditioned prajñā that practises together with the five perfections and contemplates dharmas born of causes and conditions, therefore he says impermanent; what it takes as object—suchness, the nature of dharmas, the limit of reality—is unconditioned dharma, therefore permanent. Using negation in words of praise is exactly the house method of prajñā—whatever can be set up as a mark is negated until nothing of it is left, and what remains is the real.

Do not read 「非是離欲故名無欲」 tr. "it is not called without desire because desire has been left behind," 「非是離瞋故名無瞋」 tr. "it is not called without hatred because hatred has been left behind," and 「非是滅癡故名無癡」 tr. "it is not called without delusion because delusion has been extinguished" as saying that there is no need to counteract the afflictions. What the treatise-author's three sentences block is mistaking without desire, without hatred, and without delusion for the state after counteraction has succeeded—such a without still stands in dependence on existence, still lies within gain and loss. That the nature of the three poisons is from the beginning unfindable is spoken from the side of the real mark; the practitioner's counteracting greed and counteracting hatred in daily use is spoken from the side of the gate of practice—being from the beginning non-existent in nature is exactly the reason why counteraction can be thorough, not a reason for abandoning counteraction. In the same way, for 「斷波羅蜜」 tr. "the pāramitā cut off," the Buddha answers: because dharmas do not rise, the mark of being cut off of themselves—cutting off by nature does not abandon cutting off by cultivation; it is where cutting off by cultivation returns.

Do not read the praise of 「佛波羅蜜」 tr. "the Buddha pāramitā" as praise of the Buddha's body. The end of the treatise deliberately points this out: it is not because of the Buddha's body that it is called the Buddha pāramitā, but only because of omniscience of all kinds. The ninety names rise step by step and reach their height at the Buddha; if the reader here gives rise to an imagining of the Buddha's body with the thirty-two marks, that runs precisely against the intent of the crowning point—what makes the Buddha the Buddha lies in rightly knowing all dharmas and all kinds; praising prajñā up to the Buddha pāramitā says that where prajñā is fully reached is omniscience of all kinds, not that above prajñā there is another honoured figure to look up to.

Bearing on Practice

The first benefit this chapter gives the one who practises is that the ninety names are ninety gates of contemplation. This chapter has no plot and no disputation, and is just right for use as gates of contemplation: each day take one name; first recite Subhūti's declaration, then recite the Buddha's answer, and then examine that word 「故」 tr. "because" in one's own mind—it says indestructible: examine where in oneself one can be destroyed. The place that can be destroyed is the place of attachment. It says not sullied: examine where the afflictions dwell. The place being unfindable, sullying has no ground of itself. Going once through the ninety names is pressing close to prajñā once from ninety directions.

The second benefit lies in the use of the five similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion. When ordinary people use similes to contemplate emptiness, they always keep half as real to stand on—contemplating the world as a dream, they secretly take themselves to be the one awake; contemplating the image as false, they secretly take the face of the mirror as real. The Buddha's answers pull out the ground to stand on, one by one: what is seen in a dream is unfindable, the one who hears the sound is unfindable, the face of the mirror is unfindable, the flowing water is unfindable, the conjuring act is unfindable. In daily use, when making the contemplation of things as like an illusion, one should remember to turn back and examine the place that contemplates: the simile and the matter itself are both empty, and the mind that contemplates is also among what is contemplated.

The third benefit is the form of answer for the names of the six perfections. The answer for dāna lies not in giving but in stinginess and greed being unfindable; the answer for śīla lies not in the precepts but in breaking the precepts being unfindable; the answers for kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā all raise both what counteracts and what is counteracted and say they are unfindable. People who practise the six perfections often find a sense of benefit in the thought ‘I am giving, I am keeping the precepts’; this answer teaches one to move one's eye from the practice that counteracts to the nature of what is counteracted—stinginess and greed are from the beginning unfindable, and so giving is inexhaustible; breaking the precepts is from the beginning unfindable, and so the precepts are signless. That a perfection is a perfection lies in this one turn.

The fourth benefit is self-examination through the passage on the pāramitā of fearlessness. The treatise-author says that the bodhisattva roars the lion's roar because of knowledge of the kinds of paths, that because knowledge of the kinds of paths increases he does not sink and is fearless, and that he 「不自憍慢我有是法」 tr. "is not arrogant of himself, thinking that he has this dharma." When one who practises has attained a little, in the course of expounding the Dharma and debating, the thought 「我有是法」 tr. "I have this dharma" arises most easily; this passage gives the dividing line between fearlessness and arrogance—fearlessness comes from the Dharma-eye, arrogance comes from the mark of a self; both roar the lion's roar before people, one standing on knowledge of the kinds of paths, one standing on the self; they resemble each other, and yet are as far apart as heaven and the abyss.

Further Resonances

The backbone of this chapter is the praise by different names in ninety rounds across three sūtra passages, and the Buddha's answers name by name. The seventeen names of Sūtra ①—boundless, equal, apart, indestructible, without a further shore, of the kind of emptiness, unspeakable, nameless, not going, unmoving, exhausted, unarisen, unceasing, without anything done, without knowing, not arriving, not lost—the treatise-author explains name by name, setting up a threefold explanation for boundless, distinguishing nameless through the twofold gathering of name and form, seeing in unarisen and unceasing the answers raised each for the other, and making clear in not arriving a continuity without one who crosses. The twenty-six names of Sūtra ②—the five similes of dream, echo, shadow, mirage, and illusion, together with unstained, without purity, unsullied, without idle discourse, not thinking, immovable, undefiled, not rising, quiescent extinction, without desire, without hatred, without delusion, without afflictions, without beings, cut off, without the two extremes, not broken, not grasping, without discrimination, immeasurable, and space—the treatise-author gathers in the five similes by the simile and the matter itself being both empty, settles the without of the three poisons by the three sentences of neither leaving behind nor extinguishing, explains cut off by the distinction between cutting off by nature and cutting off by cultivation, and illustrates immeasurable by the thing being much and the measuring vessel small. The forty-seven names of Sūtra ③—impermanence, suffering, no-self, emptiness, and the signless; the eighteen emptinesses from inner emptiness up to the emptiness of non-existent and existent dharmas; the limbs of the path from the foundations of mindfulness up to the path; the three gates of non-action, emptiness, and the signless; the liberations and absorption; the six perfections of dāna, śīla, kṣānti, vīrya, dhyāna, and prajñā; the ten powers, fearlessness, unobstructed knowledge, the dharmas of the Buddha, one who speaks as it really is, of itself, and the Buddha—the treatise-author reconciles permanence and impermanence by the distinction between the conditioned prajñā and the ever-abiding prajñā, answers the question of praising prajñā by prajñā with the two kinds of prajñā, and at the end explains the Buddha pāramitā by the awakened one and the knower, the general mark and the particular mark, and omniscience of all kinds, and settles it by saying: not because of the Buddha's body, but only because of omniscience of all kinds.

Of the veins of meaning between this chapter and the chapters before and after it, three lines are most visible. First, the treatise-author makes it clear himself at the opening: Subhūti, hearing the Buddha speak the meaning of the great precious treasure pāramitā, thereupon of himself praised prajñā as mahāpāramitā—the praise of this chapter arises directly from the words 「大珍寶」 tr. "great precious treasure" of the preceding chapter; it is a chapter of praising further upon hearing praise, of praise added upon praise. Second, the earlier chapter "Praise of Purity" praises purity in fifteen rounds, and the Buddha answers them all together with ultimate purity; this chapter praises by names in ninety rounds, and the Buddha answers each with unfindable—the two chapters share one form but differ greatly in scale, and ultimate purity and unfindability are one meaning through two gates: that one negates from the gate of purity, this one negates from the gate of attainment, both returning to ultimate emptiness. Third, among the ninety names of this chapter, the names of the limbs of the path, the six perfections, the ten powers, and fearlessness gather together, under the different names of prajñā, all the gates of practice and virtues of the fruit spoken of here and there in the preceding chapters, and the meaning that prajñā gathers in all the perfections and all the perfections enter prajñā here becomes manifest; the last name, the Buddha pāramitā, crowned with omniscience of all kinds, precisely reserves the ground for the chapters that follow to go on making clear the meaning of sarvajñā and of skilful means. The reader may view the preceding and following chapters together, to see the single continuous vein in which the gate of praise passes from purity to name and from name to knowledge (the variant names of the chapters and the examination of the transmitted texts are detailed in the Apparatus).

大智度論 義疏通講 · 冊7Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 7

歎淨品Praise of Purity

在問什麼

逐段解明

不要讀錯

修行作用

承衍

What Is Being Asked

Passage by Passage

Do Not Misread

Bearing on Practice

Further Resonances

無作實相品The Uncontrived Real Mark

總說

依原論次序讀下去

Overview

Reading On in the Order of the Treatise

無作實相品之上The Uncontrived Real Mark, Part 1 of 2

無作實相品之上：般若無所作；守護行般若者為欲護虛空；十方千佛現與般若清淨

在問什麼

逐段解明

不要讀錯

修行作用

承衍

The Uncontrived Real Mark, First Part: Prajñā Is Without Anything Done; Whoever Would Protect One Who Practises Prajñā Wishes to Protect Space; A Thousand Buddhas of the Ten Directions Appear, and Prajñā Is Pure

What Is Being Asked

Passage by Passage

Do Not Misread

Bearing on Practice

Further Resonances

無作實相品之下The Uncontrived Real Mark, Part 2 of 2

無作實相品之下：受持般若現世功德與諸天護持、大珍寶波羅蜜、第二法輪轉非轉非還、清淨說般若十義、無畢定福田

在問什麼

逐段解明

不要讀錯

修行作用

承衍

What Is Being Asked

Passage by Passage

Do Not Misread

Bearing on Practice

Further Resonances

無作實相品 · 承衍The Uncontrived Real Mark · Further Resonances

承衍

Further Resonances

諸波羅蜜品The Perfections

在問什麼

逐段解明

不要讀錯

修行作用

承衍

What Is Being Asked

Passage by Passage

Do Not Misread

Bearing on Practice

Further Resonances

大智度論義疏通講 · 冊7Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · Exposition Throughout · Vol. 7